A few years ago, I was disinvited from speaking at an International Womens Day (IWD) corporate event when the organiser belatedly realised an article I wrote (which led to the booking) was satirical. It was called, Women should embrace inequality, not fight it. Organiser: So you didnt mean it when you wrote that we should prepare our daughters for working life by giving them less pocket money than our sons? Me: WTF? Another time, I was invited to talk about female empowerment at a women-only event. I suggested tackling female disempowerment at source instead by having a men-only workshop for the 21-member entirely male board. Me: Women dont need assertiveness workshops, we need equal pay, equal rights and equal representation at the top table. Organiser: Sorry, wrong number. More recently, I declined an invitation to speak at an IWD event because all six panel members were privileged white women. I suggested they give my place to a friend who fled persecution in Sudan and is now a kick-ass (very cool) doctor. I was replaced by... a privileged white woman. Perusing the week-long IWD events, I couldnt help noticing the glaringly absent voices. One panel had 16 women all of whom were white. Choose to challenge was this years IWD theme and some marginalised women chose to challenge the womens movement itself. When Minceir Beoir Rosemarie Maughan called out the exclusion of Traveller women from IWD panels, she was offered a last-minute slot resulting from a settled woman cancelling. She declined, instead joining other Traveller women on the Sligo Traveller Group forum where she expressed frustration at being excluded by female allies, adding: We deserve more than crumbs from other peoples plates. Catherine Coffey OBrien talked about her mother being picked up by the cruelty man (agents of the State that took Traveller children from their families and put them into institutions). Three other families were seized the same day, all of whom were first cousins, and all were split up and thrown like leaves in the wind. They never came back together as a family and our clan system, Catherine said, was destroyed. Catherine, a Bessborough survivor, also expressed irritation that Traveller and other marginalised womens voices were ignored by the Mother and Baby Home Commission. They never listened. We were not heard. If I could only challenge one act of state-sponsored misogyny this year it would be the egregious Mother and Baby Homes Report. An official document containing evidence of human rights abuses perpetrated against women and babies, yet describing them as lobbyists while dismissing, distorting and deleting their testimonies, cannot be accepted as a legitimate historical record. Bereft of moral and legal integrity, the process exposed survivors to retraumatisation, was underpinned by misogynistic preconceptions and enabled by silence past and present. Annette McKay, whose testimony documenting her mothers ordeal in Tuam was returned to her in tick-box form, vowed to continue the fight after lockdown. Bring a shovel, she tweeted, we are burying their report and digging up the truth. Direct provision has been described as Irelands contemporary Magdalene laundries and, despite international condemnation, our Government continues to force women who have endured torture and sexual violence to share living spaces with unknown men. Institutional racism and dehumanisation is inherent in this abhorrent system. Speaking on a recent podcast, Joy-Tendai Kangere, co-founder of Rooted in Africa, challenged a feminist movement that operates on an Animal Farm principle of all women are equal but some are more equal than others. Recounting the tears she privately sheds, she asked those of us who call ourselves allies whether we speak up when relatives make racist comments. Keep your performative allyship, she said. If youre not willing to stand up for me, youre not my friend. Debenhams and Arcadia workers challenged the Governments contempt for working-class women. Its clear women are not valued by the State, they said. 333 days on strike. Our lives are gone. How long must these women wait for the redundancy to which theyre entitled? Where is the womens movement when working-class women need it? With only 36 women TDs (22pc well below the European average) and principle decision-makers in Nphet overwhelmingly male, its unsurprising pandemic policies have had a hugely disproportionately negative impact on women. Sharon Lambert, psychology lecturer at University College Cork, expressed concern that the majority of essential, often low-paid jobs which keep society functioning are occupied by women. Along with 76pc of healthcare workers, women are disproportionately disadvantaged by coronavirus. Gender equality, she warned, took a big step back last year. A sharp increase in women seeking support from domestic violence services during the first six months of the pandemic, along with chronic underfunding, resulted in 800 women who sought help being turned away. The fight to dismantle centuries of hard-wired systemic sexism is hard enough. If we add into the mix the double and sometimes triple jeopardy of ethnicity, class, disability and sexuality, its even harder. Whether we make way for marginalised women at the table or demand a bigger table, the womens movement must be united in its inclusivity. Or, we could just give our daughters less pocket money than our sons in preparation for working life. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 49 Colleges In Michigan 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 49 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. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-colleges-in-michigan/ 2021 Colleges In Michigan featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Adrian College Albion College Alma College Andrews University Aquinas College Baker College Bay Mills Community College Calvin University Central Michigan University Cleary University College for Creative Studies Concordia University, Ann Arbor Cornerstone University Davenport University Delta College Eastern Michigan University Ferris State University Finlandia University Grace Christian University Grand Valley State University Great Lakes Christian College Hillsdale College Hope College Jackson College Kalamazoo College Kettering University Kirtland Community College Kuyper College Lake Superior State University Lawrence Technological University Madonna University Michigan State University Michigan Technological University Muskegon Community College Northern Michigan University Northwood University Oakland University Olivet College Rochester University Sacred Heart Major Seminary Saginaw Valley State University Siena Heights University Spring Arbor University University of Detroit Mercy University of Michigan University of Michigan-Flint University of Michigan, Dearborn Wayne State University Western Michigan 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/. "Medeze was the first stem cell banking company in Thailand to bank mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from placenta, cord tissue, and adipose tissue. Its excellence in conducting advanced stem cell-based regenerative therapies is reflected in more than 15,000 successful treatments in applications that help address emerging healthcare needs," said Norazah Bachok, Analyst, Best Practice, Asia-Pacific. "Through its non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) application, it managed to capture a 70% market share in Thailand within a year of introduction. Its comprehensive and advanced technologies, prestigious global accreditations, and strong customer-centric relationships contributed to a tremendous impact on its customer satisfaction rate, which is greater than 90%." On top of being Thailand's largest and most experienced MSC bank, Medeze offers cord blood banking, cord tissue banking, and adipose tissue banking. In addition, the company is involved in the full spectrum of stem cell research, with its research and development (R&D) department focused on assisting researchers and scientists in evolving the field of advanced regenerative medicine that could become a crucial tool in saving lives. The company has shown a firm commitment to upholding industry-leading quality and international standards, customer satisfaction, and future-focused initiatives both in storage and in the development of clinical applications and research. In addition to innovative stem cell applications, Medeze has experienced success in stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cirrhosis, and other degenerative diseases and has successfully delivered quality services with more than 97% customer satisfaction. Moreover, the company has provided storage services for 60 years, instead of the standard 20 or 25 years. With ten regional branches in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, New Zealand, and Australia, Medeze is firmly entrenched in the market. "Medeze pioneered the application of cord MSCs, early amniotic fluid collection, and the NIPT application to emerge as the undisputed leader in the market," noted Bachok. "Aggressive development of advanced facilities, excellent technology innovations, and continuous research partnerships with leading global industry organizations have established it as the stem cell banking partner of choice." Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Technology Innovation Leadership Award to the company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing and leveraging new technologies that deliver significant customer value. Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year Award to the organization that demonstrates excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of 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: Kala Mani.S. P: +6012-2323 550 E: [email protected] About Medeze Group We are creating a standard of practice that is paving the way for a transformation in the way we look at age and illness. We look towards a day when saving newborn stem cells will be a routine practice and stem cell therapy will be the first line of treatment for many of today's incurable diseases. Contact us for more info. SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links www.frost.com Emily Ratajkowski has welcomed her first child with husband Sebastian Bear-McClard. The model and actress announced the news to her 27.1 million Instagram followers with a photo of her breastfeeding the newborn. The 29-year-old wrote: Sylvester Apollo Bear has joined us earth side. Sly arrived 3/8/21 on the most surreal, beautiful, and love-filled morning of my life. Read More Ratajkowski has previously said they would be raising their child in a gender-neutral household. Fellow models Martha Hunt, Kate Bosworth and Ashley Graham were among those sending their congratulations to the new mother. Ratajkowski announced in October last year that she was expecting her first child with Bear-McClard, a film producer. Expand Close Emily Ratajkowski and Sebastian Bear-McClard (PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Emily Ratajkowski and Sebastian Bear-McClard (PA) She made the announcement in a video with Vogue magazine, showing off her growing baby bump in footage directed by TV writer Lena Dunham. The London-born actress who has starred in films including Gone Girl and I Feel Pretty found fame when she appeared in the video for Robin Thickes 2013 single Blurred Lines. The couple married in a ceremony at New York City Hall in 2018 and celebrated their honeymoon in Utah. Italy is expected to announce today that schools, restaurants and shops will close across much of the country as a third wave of Covid infections takes hold. Prime Minister Mario Draghi is due to hold a cabinet meeting this morning to decide on the exact measures, before an announcement in the afternoon. Combined with measures already in place, it could mean that 14 of Italy's 20 regions - two thirds of the country - are under the toughest measures by the end of the day. It comes almost exactly a year after Italy became the world's first country to enact a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the virus. A majority of European countries are now seeing Covid cases start to rise as new and more-infectious variant of the disease begin to spread. With the continent's vaccine drive in disarray and just seven per cent its population given at least one dose, leaders are being forced to turn once again to lockdowns to bring the virus under control. Italy has seen Covid infections rise sharply in recent days, with ministers set to announce a new 'red zone' strategy that is expected to close schools, restaurants and bars Deaths have also begun rising as Covid cases soar, with European leaders warning that the continent's third wave has begun Italy on Thursday recorded 25,649 new cases of coronavirus and another 373 death were attributed to the disease. That makes it one of the worst-hit countries in Europe, narrowly behind France - with the continent's highest daily case total on 27,166 - and Russia - with the worst one-day death toll at 459. Italy has reported more than 3.5million cases of Covid since the start of the pandemic, and more than 100,000 deaths. Repeated lockdowns have triggered one of its worst recessions since the Second World War, with GDP thought to have shrunk by almost 10 per cent last year. Italy's more populated northern regions such as Lombardy, which includes Milan, will reportedly join several others in being classified as the highest risk 'red zones' from Monday, as will Calabria in the south. Lazio, the region that includes Rome, could also join them, although the situation is uncertain. Draghi's new national unity government tightened restrictions for red zones earlier this month, to include not just the closure of bars, restaurants, shops and high schools but also primary schools. Residents are told to stay home where possible. Italy has administered almost 10 doses of vaccine per 100 people, in line with the European average but well behind world leaders such as the UK, which has given out 35 doses per 100 Other regions including Tuscany and Liguria are expected to pass into the medium-risk orange zone, with all shops, museums, bars and restaurants closed. That leaves only Sicily in the lower category of yellow, and Sardinia in the new category of white, with hardly any restrictions at all. The GIMBE health think tank on Thursday warned of an increase in the number of new cases for three consecutive weeks, which 'confirms the start of the third wave' of Covid-19. GIMBE president Nino Cartabellotta said that in more than half of Italy's 20 regions, 'hospitals and above all intensive care units are already overloaded', with ordinary health services suspended. Italy began its coronavirus vaccination campaign in late December but as elsewhere in Europe, it has been dogged by delays in deliveries of the jabs. Concerns over reported side effects of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine prompted the health regulator on Thursday to suspend a batch of the jabs, even while it warned there was no evidence of a link with blood clots. It comes just days after Italy blocked a batch of the vaccines from going to Australia, saying they were needed to help speed up its own drive. Italy has vaccinated just seven per cent of its population so far, in line with the European average but well behind the likes of the UK, which has jabbed 33 per cent. Italy is expected to announce the widespread closure of bars, restaurants and schools today as Covid cases rise and its vaccination programme stalls (file image, closed restaurant in Bari) Italy is also vaccinating people at a slower rate than the UK, jabbing just 0.28 people out of every hundred per day, compared to 0.52 people per hundred in Britain. Supply issues, particularly around the Astra jab, have hampered Europe's vaccine roll-out, but scaremongering has also led to people refusing to take Astra jabs. German officials have resorted to threatening those who refuse the vaccine in order to increase uptake, while health authorities in France have also waged a PR offensive - insisting the vaccine is safe and effective. Despite that, a host of nations - including the likes of Denmark, Norway and Iceland - have halted used of the AstraZeneca jab while investigations are carried out. European leaders continue to insist that all adults will have been vaccinated by September this year, but at the current rate a large portion of the adult population will remain wunvaccinated well into next year. Meanwhile UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that every UK adult will have been offered a vaccine by June 31, meaning all lockdown measures will be lifted on June 21 - provided infections don't soar again. The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and caretaker Minister for Finance, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has stated that the government will this year commence a new scheme that will provide eligible Ghanaians with low-interest loans to enable them to pay rent advance. He said the scheme will be called the National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS) and will initially be funded by the government with GH100 million. Presenting the 2021 budget statement and economic policy on the floor of Parliament on Friday, March 12, 2021, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu added that the scheme will also receive additional investment from the private sector. He said: "Mr Speaker, in partnership with the private sector, we will commence the establishment of a National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS), with a seed of GH100 million. The scheme will crowd-in additional investment from the private sector, to provide low-interest loans to eligible Ghanaians to enable them pay rent advance". Scheme The scheme was first mentioned by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia last August at the official launch of the New Patriotic Party's election 2020 manifesto, in Cape Coast last. At the time, the Vice President said the scheme will help young people with their accommodation problems. He also stated that the government was also looking for a longterm solution for some of the issues in Ghana's housing market. "While we continue to pursue longterm solutions to the development of the housing market, to address, in our second term, the short-to-medium term market failures in the renter-segment of the housing market, we will establish a National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS). In partnership with the private sector, the Scheme will provide low-interest loans to eligible Ghanaians to enable them to pay rent advance," he said. "There are lots of young people who when they finish school, to rent accommodation is a big problem especially because of the demand for rent allowance which is sometimes up to two years demand. But someone who just finished school and is starting a job doesnt have that savings to pay all these huge demands for rent allowance. This shows a market failure because of what the tenants and the landlords want. This is why the government has decided to come up with this to bridge this market failure by setting up a National Rental Assistance Scheme." Dr Bawumia also noted that the scheme will mainly serve people in formal employment who will be required to provide guarantors to access the funds. He said the loans will be repaid on a monthly basis to match the tenure of the rent and will be insured to ensure sustainability. The Scheme will target individuals (both in the formal and informal sectors) with identifiable and regular income. The rent advance loans will be paid directly into the bank accounts of landlords, who would have to register with the Scheme. Under this scheme, if you have a job and we can deduct regularly from your income under this scheme, the National rent assurance scheme will give you a loan to pay your rent allowance but it is to the landlord. You need to have formal employment. He further noted that the government will also focus on providing low-income housing for low-income earners and put in place reforms within the Rent Control Department. As part of our interventions, we will also implement the necessary regulatory, institutional, and operational reforms of the Rent Control Department, including the digitisation of its operations, to enhance delivery and make it better able to serve the changing needs of market players, including landlords and tenants. A new Rent Control Act has been drafted for review by Cabinet in this direction, he noted. 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 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Texans in financial trouble are at risk for added hardship after historic winter storms. To help victims, Consolidated Credit is offering free financial advice as well as resources for avoiding fraud and high utility bills. Consolidated Credit's certified counselors are available to help residents avoid additional debt and secure disaster aid. "An economy ravaged by COVID-19 makes the cost of natural disasters more severe," says Consolidated Credit President Gary Herman. "For those struggling with bills and debt, credit cards can be easy to abuse in times of emergency." Consolidated Credit has been offering help to Americans affected by natural disasters for 28 years. Credit card debt often becomes unmanageable after unexpected events. As a part of relief efforts, certified counselors will give free evaluations to consumers facing financial uncertainty due to the storms. Those who would benefit from a Debt Management Plan and live in FEMA-declared disaster areas may be enrolled free of charge and have initial program fees waived. Public Assistance is available to all Texas residents, and Individual Assistance (IA) is available to residents depending on their county. Texans can determine their eligibility Individual Assistance and apply for resources at disasterassistance.gov. Power outages and utility overcharges have been an additional source of stress for Texans. Consolidated Credit's educational resources will address ongoing developments related to water and power access. "Storm victims should also be aware of the steps to take if they face property damage and need help making insurance claims," says Herman. Consolidated Credit's Disaster Planning Guide can help consumers get organized in the aftermath of a disaster as well as appropriately respond to financial emergency. This publication is free to download at Consolidatedcredit.org. Texas residents who are financially vulnerable should call Consolidated Credit's toll-free Disaster Relief hotline at 844-331-7534. Callers can reach counselors for immediate assistance through the end of May 2021. About: Consolidated Credit, a non-profit organization, has helped more than 10 million people overcome debt and financial challenges in 28 years. Their mission is to assist families throughout the United States to end financial crises and solve money management issues through education and counseling. SOURCE Consolidated Credit Related Links https://www.consolidatedcredit.org No media source currently available The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Marking the seventh anniversary of Russias invasion and seizure of Crimea, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed this basic truth: Crimea is Ukraine. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. Every Sunday, Betty Grebenschikoff and Ana Maria Wahrenberg have a scheduled phone call. They often lose track of time talking, as best friends tend to do. The weekly calls are only a recent ritual. In fact, just four months ago, both women believed the other had died in the Holocaust. "For 82 years, I thought my best friend from Germany was dead," Grebenschikoff said. "I'd been looking for her for all those years, and I never found her." Everything changed when a string of fated flukes brought the childhood friends and Holocaust survivors - both now 91 - together again. The last time the two women saw each other was in the spring of 1939, when they were 9. Back then, Grebenschikoff went by the name Ilse, while Wahrenberg was known as Anne Marie. Both women changed their names later in life. They vividly recall standing across from one another in a Berlin schoolyard, and through tears, sharing one final hug before they each had to flee the country and the Nazis. The weight of that moment has stayed with them all their lives. "We did not want to separate. We loved each other very much," Wahrenberg said. "We promised we would keep in touch and meet again," echoed Grebenschikoff. They knew then that their promise might be impossible to keep, as the war was imminent. But the alternative, they said, was unthinkable. The women first met when they were 6. They attended school and synagogue together, took ballet lessons and played dress-up. More or less, their friendship was like any other wholesome bond between young kids. But, because they were Jewish, certain activities were placed off limits to them by the German government, "We couldn't play in the park and ride bicycles," Wahrenberg said. "We weren't allowed to go to the playgrounds and swimming pools and theaters," Grebenschikoff added. "We didn't quite understand why." So, they spent all their spare time holed up in each other's homes, telling stories and playing games. In hindsight, the countless hours together, secluded from the outside world, is what strengthened their bond, they said. Both girls were in Berlin during the November Pogrom of 1938 - also called Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass - a terrifying event they remember with unsettling clarity. Thousands of Jewish-owned stores and synagogues across the country were demolished by the Nazis, and 30,000 men were arrested just for being Jewish, including Wahrenberg's father. He spent a month in Germany's Sachsenhausen concentration camp before he managed to escape. "Kristallnacht was the warning bell that told Jews this was very serious, and we had to get out," Grebenschikoff said. The two separate families ultimately fled - Grebenschikoff settled in China, while Wahrenberg ended up in Chile. In a rare outcome, they all survived. Grebenschikoff, alongside her sister and parents, boarded a ship to Shanghai, one of the few places that took in Jews without visas, in the spring of 1939. About 20,000 European Jews settled there. Although the family was able to escape Europe in the nick of time, "life was very hard in Shanghai," Grebenschikoff said. "There was not enough food, not enough shelter, no medication and so on. But had we stayed in Germany, I wouldn't be alive," she continued, adding that most of her extended family was killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust. As time passed, Shanghai started to feel like home. Grebenschikoff settled into life there and got married in 1948. But not long after, in the wake of the Chinese Communist Revolution, she and her husband were forced to flee. "They wanted all the foreigners out, so we had to run away again," Grebenschikoff said. She was eight months pregnant with her first child when she and her husband traveled to Australia in 1950, where they lived for three years before settling in Atlantic City, N.J. Grebenschikoff went on to have five children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. As she moved through life, Wahrenberg was always on her mind, she said. She searched tirelessly for her long-lost friend, scouring databases and asking anyone and everyone for information on what might have happened to her. She eventually assumed the worst. As an adult, she began giving speeches about her experience in Nazi Germany and fleeing for her life to Shanghai. "Every time I gave a talk at schools or colleges, I always mentioned her and asked if anybody knows anything," said Grebenschikoff, who regularly shares testimony about her experience in the war. In her memoir, which was published in 1993, there is an entire chapter dedicated to Wahrenberg. When she wrote the book, Grebenschikoff had no idea her childhood best friend had settled in Santiago in November 1939 or that she had changed her name from Anne Marie to Ana Maria. Wahrenberg is an only child, and though her and her parents' lives were spared, her entire extended family was murdered by the Nazis. She got married and eventually had two children, six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. She, too, searched for Grebenschikoff over the years, but given that Grebenschikoff had changed her first name from Ilse to Betty, her friend was nowhere to be found. "It was impossible for me to find her," said Wahrenberg, who also wrote a memoir and speaks regularly at events about the Holocaust. But their lifelong search for one another suddenly culminated last November, when an indexer from the USC Shoah Foundation - a nonprofit organization founded by Steven Spielberg, which produces and preserves audiovisual testimony of Holocaust survivors - drew parallels between their testimonies. It started when Ita Gordon, an indexer for more than 20 years, attended a webinar hosted by the Latin American Network for the Teaching of the Shoah in early November. The event, which marked the anniversary of Kristallnacht, featured a guest speaker who shared a detailed testimony about her experience. It was Wahrenberg. Gordon, who is fluent in Spanish, was immediately intrigued by her story. Promptly after the event, she delved into the Shoah Foundation's archives, which contain 55,000 Holocaust testimonies, including Grebenschikoff's. She was hoping to uncover more information about Wahrenberg's life. Although Gordon did not find Wahrenberg's testimony in the archives, she did unearth something unexpected. Upon typing in Wahrenberg's name along with several key words - including the name of the Jewish day school both girls attended in Berlin - Gordon was led to Grebenschikoff's testimony, which she gave in 1997. She started listening, and abruptly paused when Grebenschikoff mentioned her dear friend, Anne Marie Wahrenberg. "I never knew what happened to her. I'm always wondering if maybe she's somewhere and can hear this," Grebenschikoff said during the interview. "It all started to make sense to me," Gordon said. "There was a voice inside me that told me to pursue this story. For their sake, I wouldn't let go." She probed deeper and cross-referenced additional details to confirm her suspicion that these two women grew up together in Berlin. Although both Grebenschikoff and Wahrenberg had changed their names, the neighborhood they grew up in, the school and synagogue they attended, as well as other small factors, all lined up. In a matter of hours, Gordon had found the "Anne Marie" that Grebenschikoff had fondly described in her testimony - the long-lost best friend she had sought for so many decades. Gordon immediately consulted with her colleagues, who joined forces with the Florida Holocaust Museum and the Interactive Jewish Museum of Chile to facilitate a virtual reunion between the two Holocaust survivors. When the women heard the other was still alive, they were shocked and delighted in equal measure. "It was such a miracle," said Grebenschikoff, who called the unlikely reunion "bashert," Yiddish for "destiny." Grebenschikoff joined the Zoom call on Nov. 19 from her home in St. Petersburg, Fla., while Wahrenberg signed on from Santiago. Right away, they started chatting in German, their shared language. "It was like no time had passed," Grebenschikoff said. "Of course, 82 years makes a difference, but more or less, we just picked up where we left off." Their families joined the call, too, as well as Gordon and other Shoah Foundation staff. They drank champagne and toasted the newfound friendship. "This is a total gift in her life," said Jennifer Grebenschikoff, 70, Grebenschikoff's eldest daughter. "All of us were just stunned to watch the two women connect so quickly and start laughing like they were still 9 years old." After 82 years, Grebenschikoff and Wahrenberg both said they felt deep friendship and love, as if they had never parted. They scheduled a standing phone date every Sunday, and they also email and call throughout the week to check in with one another. Plus, Wahrenberg added, "I have big plans to travel to Miami and be together for Rosh Hashana." While they agreed that their friendship should never have been halted in the first place, "once in a blue moon, there is a silver lining," Grebenschikoff said. "It's so rare to find that in Holocaust literature." The women have vowed to remain healthy so they can meet in person come September. Their plans for the reunion include going for walks, meeting each other's families and sharing several meals together. Mostly, though, "I just want to hug her again," Grebenschikoff said. "It would be a culmination of a lifelong journey." Oat Prices AND the Truth Behind the "White Gold" Rush Oat futures' recent surge to 7-year highs wasn't caused by the oat milk craze; think "market psychology" instead Generally speaking, the idea of oats is about as exciting as, well, a bowl of steel cut oatmeal. But this chart of oat futures shows why this ordinarily ordinary grain has stolen the commodity spotlight. For starters, February 2021 saw oat prices soar to their highest level in 7 years. As for what's behind this newfound dev-oat-tion -- mainstream experts like these below cite the craze for alternative milk products and oat milk specifically. "Oat Milk is Everywhere.... In fact, oat milk is the second most popular plant milk now, right behind almond milk, racking up over $249 million in sales last year." (Feb. 9 Today.com) "Industry Sewing Seeds as Oat Milk Popularity Rises." (Feb. 4 RNZ) For some perspective, fever for the world's most popular oat milk producer Oatly is so hot it was featured in this year's Super Bowl ad lineup in a still talked about spot featuring the company's CEO, sitting in a field of oats behind a single keyboard awkwardly singing "Wow No Cow!" over and over for 30 seconds! The spot became the butt of jokes across the globe and was dubbed the "Worst Superbowl Ad Ever" by Australia's news.com.au: Speaking of Wow Holy Cow! Oatly also announced in February its plans to go public in the U.S. Thanks to investments in the company by famous celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman and Jay-Z, its IPO is estimated to be worth between $5 and $10 billion. Ergo, the oat-milk craze caused the late 2020 rally in oat futures to 7-year highs -- right? Not exactly. We believe this line of thinking is a bit -- well -- lact-oat intolerant of the facts. See, the oat bloat trend is not a new phenomenon. For those following these trends for more than a hot minute, there was the summer of 2018, when a shortage on oat milk prompted news sites across the country to riff satirical about how hip cities like Brooklyn, NY would survive the alt-dairy deficit. See this August 15, 2018 Guardian headline, for example: In January 2019, the Guardian coined the term "white gold" for oats amidst the mania for alternative milk products In September 2020, oat milk was crowned #2 plant-based dairy alternative in the world. In February 2020, many experts warned that the ever-expanding "oat bubble was about to burst" (Feb. 28, 2020 Bloomberg) And, in June-July 2020, the star-studded line to board the Oatly bandwagon began to form with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Blackstone Group. Yet -- as you can see on the chart of oat futures below, the consistent craze for oat products during this period did not materialize as soaring prices, but rather as a down-up-down holding pattern that didn't end until late August 2020. In late August, the soaring commercial demand for oat products didn't change; however, the slacking trend in oat prices did -- from down to way UP! The question is, was there a way to anticipate the latter? Yes. In our September 11, 2020 Daily Commodity Junctures, we presented the oat chart below, which identified the August low as the end of a three-wave correction and start of a strong advance: From there, oat prices soared into the $3/bushel level. In the December 4 Daily Commodity Junctures, we revisited the grain to address its upside potential. Our chart extended its up arrow into the $3.75 levels of 2014, seen here: And from there, oat futures rallied to the upside target projected by Daily Commodity Junctures some two months earlier. At the end of the day, there will always be a perfect reason in the news to explain market action --- after the fact. For traders and investor, however, the goal is to arrive at those turns in advance. Here, our Commodity Junctures Service keeps you in front of high-confident setups in the world's leading markets in grain, livestock, meat, softs, and more. See below to read the latest forecasts now. Commodity Opportunities Abound: We'll Drink to That Whether you like oat milk or not, everyone likes the taste of anticipating market turns -- before they become front page news! FREE REPORT: Want to discover more about Elliott waves? You're in luck: For a limited time, we are offering "Learn How the Wave Principle Can Improve Your Trading" free (a $39 value). Here's how to read it instantly, right now. Get the Free Report Now This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Oat Prices AND the Truth Behind the "White Gold" Rush. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:36:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, March 12 (Xinhua) -- After almost one year, 59-year-old Sabitra Panthi finally visited Pasupati temple again, one of the holiest places for Hindus in the world on Thursday, to celebrate the biggest Hindu festival "Maha Shivaratri", the sacred night of Lord Shiva. "I do visit the temple on every special occasion but this year I couldn't till Thursday, so I came early in the morning," she expressed her excitement to Xinhua on Friday. To curb the pandemic, the Nepali government imposed a national lockdown in March 2020, which lasted four months. Even after the lockdown was lifted, religious sites were not allowed to open to the public till last December. Panthi is among the nearly one million devotees who visited Pasupati temple to offer prayers to Lord Shiva, who is regarded as the God of immense power and destruction. The festival is worshipped by millions of Hindus and Buddhists as their guardian deity, with the hope of better days in the future. "We have made logistics for 2 million people this year, but only 800 thousand devotees appeared on Thursday," Pradip Dhakal, Member Secretary of Pasupati Area Development Trust, told Xinhua on Friday over phone. The COVID-19 pandemic, according to his analysis, is the main trouble maker. "The international borders are closed in many areas, and the international flights are not regular. So devotees from other countries like India and Malaysia are only 10 percent of the total participants this year," Pradip said. Khadga Bahadur Basnet, 49, stayed in queue for more than three hours to pay homage to the god on Thursday, feeling obligated to thank Lord Shiva for saving the Nepali people from the COVID-19 crisis. "I express my gratitude to Lord Shiva inside Pasupati temple, because he is here to protect us, I am sure without his shelter, the disaster in Nepal will be more terrible." According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health and Population, till Friday, a total of 275,118 people got infected in Nepal, with 3,012 deaths and 929 current active cases. For 27-year-old Binod Acharya, to visit the temple is quite another story. He was attracted by the visiting sages, namely sadhus in Hindi, from within the country and neighboring India. According to Pashupati Area Development Trust, this year, around 3,000 sages of various clans have thronged into the temple, which is located on the banks of Bagmati River in the eastern part of Kathmandu Valley. Binod said it is high time for people to learn to be happy within themselves since the world is going through the COVID-19 crisis, adding that the lifestyles of sadhus in rags show that people could still be happy even if owning nothing. Enditem WALLINGFORD The Hungarian Community Club is beginning to hold events again after a year of cancellations. In memory of the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence, 1848-49, the club is holding an event on Sunday at the club, 147 Ward St. The program will include a special performer from Budapest, Hungarian folk songs and other cultural displays. Peter Nagy, an official with the Consulate General of Hungary in New York, is also expected to attend. The program will be the first major event since the pandemic started. Weve had nothing really, said Csilla Somogyi, a club board member. We had a food drive around Christmas and instead of our annual festival, there were four different meals that could be picked up. Everything had to be modified but it went well. Following the Sunday event, the club will be selling traditional Hungarian meals to be picked up. The meals include fresh sausage and stuffed cabbage. Orders are accepted until March 22 and pick up is on March 27 between 12 and 3 p.m. Club members are excited to resume events. This is really our home away from home, said Barbara Kapi, another board member. We are intensely proud, with many reasons to be. The major focuses of the club has always been family, faith, food and especially education. Kapis father was one of the founders of the Hungarian Club. People that spoke the same language and shared the same history could gather at the club and celebrate together. Before the pandemic, we had dances, luncheons for the members, picnics that eventually became festivals and folk dancers performing, Kapi said. Although they have not been able to use the club, they still have to pay bills. The pandemic also stopped the income the club received from renting the hall. COVID put an end to our events, said board member Balazs Somogyi. With things opening back up, we can hope for some normalcy. Our members can hardly wait. fwilliams@record-journal.com203-317-2373Twitter: @faith_williams2 For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Harry Sou had devoted two decades to building a Chinese restaurant empire in far north Queensland, serving up to 1000 hungry international tourists a time from its base at the Cairns casino. Now he has retreated from five restaurants to a 50-seat venue off a service station car park that caters for locals and the occasional road-tripper. Id like to think this pandemic is only once in 100 years, Sou quips. I dont think bad luck will come so regularly nothing like this scale. One of many vacant shops in the Cairns CBD. Credit:Brian Cassey Empty shops with For Lease signs and shuttered hotels highlight the economic pain the pandemic caused the tropical far north Queensland community, which is heavily reliant on international tourism. Australia slammed its international borders shut in its fight against COVID-19, and there is no clear timetable to reopen the country to overseas visitors. The federal governments JobKeeper program has provided a lifeline to struggling Cairns tourism operators, but they fear the fallout when the wage subsidy ends within weeks. Advertisement While the Queensland and federal governments have announced $200 travel vouchers, an aggressive marketing campaign, and a subsidy to reduce airfares to prop up the industry, many want JobKeeper extended beyond the end of this month. Well beyond a road trip for most tourists, Cairns is almost 1700 kilometres north of Brisbane. The drive from the Queensland capital to Sydney is significantly shorter. Sugar cane and tourism fuel the economy in Cairns, which is home to about 150,000 residents and a once-bustling international airport. Pre-pandemic, about 40 per cent of visitors came from overseas, driving a tourism sector worth $2 billion a year. Cairns restaurateur Harry Sou has had to downsize his business to survive. Credit:Brian Cassey Domestic tourists have failed to fill the breach caused by international border closures, tourism operators say. They welcome the government subsidies announced this week but stress that extending JobKeeper is the key to keeping them afloat and preventing further job losses. Sou waves as he issues a friendly thank you over the clanging of pots and pans in the kitchen just metres away at Cafe China. Until late last year, his restaurant occupied some of the best real estate in the Cairns CBD in the only casino a short stroll from the marina, where thousands of people would queue daily to board boats bound for the Great Barrier Reef. Advertisement After two decades working in the region, including 12 years spent slowly growing the Chinese tourist market, his restaurant could seat more than 900 diners at a time. But as border closures coincided with a number of leases expiring, Sou realised he had one option downsizing. We had no choice, he says. We wouldnt been able to survive in our older business model. Perry Jones and the Ocean Freedom return from a day out on the Great Barrier Reef. Credit:Brian Cassey Like many others who have managed to keep their doors open for the past year, he now caters largely to domestic tourists and locals. Other tourist attractions, such as the long-running Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, have fared worse. It is with great regret we announce that the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park (Tjapukai) will not be reopening, it announced. When the Ocean Freedom pulls into the Cairns Marlin Marina on a Wednesday afternoon, 10 paying customers step off the vessel, which ferried about 70 tourists a day to the reef before the pandemic. Advertisement The days takings would not even cover the fuel bill, owner Perry Jones says. I made nothing today, but the crew got a job, he says. Earlier in the week, Jones attended a breakfast with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and asked if the federal wage subsidy could continue and expand to allow operators to hire staff. At the moment I cant employ someone because with 10 [passengers], that doesnt even pay the fuel, Jones says. Loading He and two others of the larger family-owned operators have banded together to push through the tough times. Since July last year, they agreed to split the week so they were not cannibalising each others already-reduced business. Waived state port authority fees have helped significantly, too. Thats a very Cairns thing, Allan Wallish says around the table of his own tour boat, Passions of Paradise, which now runs four days a week at 20 per cent capacity. Ive been doing this now for 30 years and my competitors are still some of my best friends. Advertisement Tour boat operators have shared some research work and coral planting for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which has helped lift finances and staff morale. We didnt want to just fall off a cliff in March, Wallish says. So how you replicate JobKeeper, that was obviously a big thing for us. Tourism Tropical North Queensland chairman Ken Chapman says it is very disappointing the JobKeeper program is set to end. Passions of Paradise tour operator Allan Wallish. Credit:Brian Cassey At the end of March, we are going to see, unfortunately, quite a lot of people losing their jobs around town, he says at a press conference at the marina. But this is an opportunity for the people of Australia to do something about it. A few streets back from the waterfront, thousands of backpackers from around the globe have stayed within the terracotta-coloured walls of Travellers Oasis. Advertisement We are glad to add the unique capabilities of the TILE thrusters to enhance our product line for our customers and their ever-diverse missions, said F. Brent Abbott, CEO of NanoAvionics US Inc. Accion Systems, a leading in-space propulsion manufacturer, has signed a new partnership agreement with NanoAvionics US Inc., a US division of the multinational nanosatellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator. The TILE in-space propulsion system will be listed as a preferred option for all appropriate missions that require electric in-space propulsion and Accion Systems will provide preferred pricing to NanoAvionics US Inc. NanoAvionics is a nanosatellite mission integrator focused on delivering new generation satellite buses and propulsion systems for the satellite applications market. With facilities in North America and Europe, NanoAvionics has led over 85 successful satellite missions and commercial projects, and counting. Our partnership with NanoAvionics continues the expansion of our safe, reliable and efficient TILE thrusters into the growing global satellite market., said Peter Kant, CEO of Accion Systems. We are honored to have been selected by NanoAvionics and look forward to providing efficient and scalable propulsion on their high-quality satellites for their most discerning customers. The TILE propulsion system is uniquely superior to conventional electric propulsion, pioneering ionic liquid electrospray for commercial propulsion activities. TILE combines the use of a safe, inert liquid propellant with a simple mechanical design with few moving parts to create a propulsion system that is low-cost, compact, low pressure, and has less than 50% of the power draw of other propulsion technologies. The compact design and low power draw of the TILE system allow satellite bus manufacturers such as NanoAvionics to allocate more satellite volume and power to revenue generating payloads. We are glad to add the unique capabilities of the TILE thrusters to enhance our product line for our customers and their ever-diverse missions, said F. Brent Abbott, CEO of NanoAvionics US Inc. TILEs modular design can be flexibly configured to meet various mission needs, mounting on almost any surface of the spacecraft, and easily and seamlessly integrated with existing mission control software. About Accion Systems Inc. Accion Systems develops advanced satellite propulsion systems for the space industry. Accions in-space propulsion technologies optimize scalability, performance, and efficiency. Accions flagship product, TILE, uses proprietary ion electrospray thrusters, bringing electric propulsion to satellites of all sizes and redefining in-space capabilities. Accion Systems was founded in 2014 and is based in Boston, MA. http://www.accion-systems.com | Twitter: @AccionSystems About NanoAvionics NanoAvionics is a nanosatellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator currently having five hubs across the US, Lithuania and the UK. Its flagship multi-purpose M6P and M12P are the first preconfigured nanosatellite buses in the sector, designed to serve emerging commercial space markets. The companys efforts are focused on enabling critical satellite functions and optimising their launch, hardware and operation costs - ranging from single missions to constellations. Its core engineering team has implemented over 85 successful satellite missions and commercial projects during the past several years. http://www.nanoavionics.com | Twitter: @NanoAvionics KABUL - Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar met with his Danish counterpart Jeppe Kofod via video conference on Thursday evening. The two sides discussed the finalization of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the two countries, advancing the Afghan peace process, good governance, and the continuation of Denmark's valuable assistance to Afghanistan. Calling Denmark a valued partner, Mr. Atmar honored the sacrifices of Danish soldiers and expressed gratitude for Denmark's humanitarian and development assistance to Afghanistan over the past 20 years. Discussing good governance, Minister Atmar assured Danish Foreign Minister that Kabul was committed to combating corruption and spending international aid transparently, effectively, and responsibly. Referring to the endstate of the Afghan peace process, Minister Atmar stated that the Government of the IRoA believed in a political settlement supported by the Afghan nation and international community, and that can lead to lasting and sustainable peace. Expressing his government's strong support for the peace process, Foreign Minister Kofod said that Afghanistan must not become a terrorist haven again. Emphasizing the preservation of Afghanistan's democratic and human rights achievements, Mr. Kofod added that we must "avoid putting progress and sacrifices at risk." He assured the Afghan Foreign Minister of Denmark's continued commitment to the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. Every so often, Jackie Robinson goes to church with her dad. The first Sunday in January, she picked him up from his Algiers home and drove to Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ on Carrollton Avenue. Cautiously, they sat in the back of the church, socially distanced from others, and wearing masks. She wasnt feeling good the next day, so she got tested for the COVID-19 virus. Positive. She gave her dad the bad news and asked him to get tested. He got tested. Positive. It was not what her dad had expected. Norman Robinson wasnt feeling sick. He had been following public health guidelines consistently. Most days he stayed home, washed his hands regularly and masked up when going out. His daughter visited from time to time, and he was happy to see her and her dog those days. He didn't wear a mask when with her. He thought everything was OK. Jackie apologized for infecting him. She knew where she got it, at a Christmas family event. She felt bad later. Her sinuses were acting up, and she doesnt have sinus problems. She recovered quickly, going back to work the same week. It wasnt the same for her dad. Like clicking a wall light switch, one minute Norman Robinson was feeling fine, then he was feeling awful. I just couldnt get up. I felt like I couldnt do anything. I had no energy, Norman told me during a recent sidewalk conversation outside of Tout de Suite Cafe in his neighborhood. My mind was playing tricks on me. People would call and I didnt remember talking to them. Everything started looking dismal for me. I kept sinking further and further into the abyss of COVID. Weve lost more than 2.6 million people worldwide to the novel coronavirus, primarily because we didnt know what it was and we didnt see it coming. We werent prepared for its ravages. We werent prepared for what it would do to the 118 million people who got it. We simply wanted them to survive. More than 66 million survived the virus overall, including more than 420,000 in Louisiana. Thank God Norman is one of them. I regret that he experienced something so bad. After the diagnosis, Norman sunk into a funk that caused him to be someone I dont know. He was an irritable, mean mess. Fortunately for him, his wife knew what to do and how to handle him. My wife made me eat, he said. I had no appetite. He struggled to get climb stairs and get out of his recliner. Once he reached the upstairs bathroom, he would struggle to steady himself, holding onto the sink, bracing himself against the wall and leaning on the bowl of the toilet. Sometimes hed slump on the tile floor. Most days, he didnt have the energy to shave or shower. Norman refused to go to the hospital. He was afraid theyd intubate him, and he didnt want that. His primary care doctor agreed, as long as his respiratory problems didnt worsen. Norman, a Mississippi native who has made New Orleans his home for decades, had a successful television news career until he retired in 2014. He spent time with WVUE-TV and WWL-TV before leaving for a CBS national correspondent gig. He returned to New Orleans and he was an evening anchor at WDSU from 1990 until he retired, doing what he wishes, when he wishes, with whoever he wishes. This man of great success and prominence was beat down by COVID-19, and he contemplated suicide. As one point, I really didnt care whether I lived or died. I just wanted some relief, he said wistfully. It was the most horrific thing Ive ever experienced in my life. Id rather have a root canal without anesthesia than to go through the COVID thing again. It was just that horrible. Norman was fortunate. He had neighbors who wondered why he wasnt walking his dog, Tommy, in the afternoons. He had a primary care doctor who listened to him. He had a wife who took care of his every need, nursing him back to health. Norman doesnt like the aftereffects, including shortness of breath and tiredness at unexpected times. But he's alive. He doesnt want to see more deaths. He doesnt want anyone to go through what he went through. Hes getting vaccinated, and hes hoping more people will take the virus seriously. We can improve our chances of survival, with and without COVID-19, if we heed Normans call: Don't risk it. Protect yourself. Protect others. Wear a mask. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - Cascada Silver Corp. (CSE: CSS) ("Cascada") is very pleased to report that it has received all necessary regulatory and Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") approvals to commence trading of its common shares ("Common Shares") on the CSE today under the symbol "CSS". With receipt of listing approvals in hand, Cascada will increase its exploration activities on its portfolio of silver properties located in Chile's Atacama Region, including the historic Agua Amarga silver property where high grade silver-bearing veins were mined over a period of 70 years during the 19th century. Commenting on the receipt of listing approvals, Carl Hansen, Cascada's CEO stated, "We are pleased that Cascada will start trading on the CSE and, with approximately $3.7 million in the treasury, we can now focus on ramping up our exploration activities in Chile. We have had field crews active on the ground at Agua Amarga for the past month conducting mapping and structural analysis of the silver vein systems in preparation for a drilling program to commence during the second quarter of 2021. In addition, we will now mobilize field crews onto our Marilin and El Gringo silver-gold-copper properties to start sampling programs." Financings On March 12, 2021, 44,890,000 special warrants ("Special Warrant"), which were issued at a price of $0.10 per Special Warrant under the terms of a special warrant indenture (the "SW Indenture") dated October 15, 2020, pursuant to a private placement offering led by Mackie Research Capital Corporation as sole agent and sole bookrunner, were converted to units of Cascada (each a "SW Unit") on a 1.0 Special Warrant to 1.1 SW Unit basis, resulting in the issuance of 49,379,000 SW Units. Each SW Unit is comprised of one Common Share and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). In addition to the SW Units issued under the terms of the SW Indenture, a concurrent financing of 281,000 units (each, a "Financing Unit"), at a price of $0.10 per Financing Unit, for net proceeds of $28,100, also closed on March 12, 2021. Each Financing Unit is comprised of one Common Share and one Warrant. Each Warrant, whether issued under the SW Indenture or pursuant to the concurrent financing, will entitle the holder to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.15 until March 11, 2024. NI 43-101 Technical Disclosure The Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") of the Canadian Securities Administrators, for Cascada Silver Corp.'s exploration activities in Chile is Sergio Diaz, a resident of Santiago, Chile. Mr. Diaz is a Public Registered Person for Reserves and Resources N 51, in Chile, and is also registered in the Colegio de Geologos de Chile under N 315. About Cascada Silver Corp. Cascada is a mineral exploration company focused on silver and gold exploration in Latin America with four properties under option in Chile, including the historic Agua Amarga property where high-grade epithermal silver-bearing veins were mined during the 19th century. A historical article, published in 1812, reported 86 silver veins being mined at Agua Amarga with grades varying from 3,078 g/t to 41,035 g/t silver. Cascada's team of successful exploration professionals are dedicated to the discovery of mineral deposits that can be progressed into economically viable development projects creating value for all stakeholders. On behalf of Cascada Silver Corp., Carl Hansen, CEO For additional information, please contact us at info@cascadasilver.com. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, including predictions, projections and forecasts. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: plans for the evaluation of exploration properties; the success of evaluation plans; the success of exploration activities; mine development prospects; and, potential for future metals production. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "planning", "expects" or "does not expect", "continues", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "potential", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", 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. 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. Such factors include, among others: changes in economic parameters and assumptions; all aspects related to the timing of exploration activities and receipt of exploration results; the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; the results of regulatory and permitting processes; future metals price; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; the results of economic and technical studies; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration; as well as those factors disclosed in Cascada's publicly filed documents. Although Cascada 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. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. 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/76987 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmars civilian leader, was arrested as part of a military coup in February (John Stilwell/PA) Britons have been told to flee Myanmar unless they have an urgent reason to remain there as the Government grew increasingly concerned over violence in the wake of the military coup. The Foreign Office advised British nationals on Friday to leave the south-east Asian country by commercial means after one of the bloodiest days of the regimes crackdown. At least 10 people protesting against the coup were shot dead by Myanmars security forces on Thursday, as an independent UN expert cited mounting evidence of crimes against humanity. Updated advice for British Nationals in Myanmar: You should leave the country by commercial means unless you have an urgent reason to stay. The embassy and the will continue working in to support a return to democracy and an end to the violence. https://t.co/tWzLNuTiwo UK in Myanmar (@ukinmyanmar) March 12, 2021 Protests, strikes and other forms of civil disobedience have gripped the nation since the coup toppled Aung San Suu Kyis government on February 1. Around 300 British nationals are estimated to still be in Myanmar, with the vast majority being residents while a small number are thought to be on short-term business. They were urged to leave as concerns of a deteriorating security situation mounted, with an escalation of violence in residential areas. The official guidance was updated to: Advice for British nationals to leave the country by commercial means, unless there is an urgent need to stay. Tucker Carlson has accused Joe Biden of prioritizing 'woke' identity politics over national security, insisting on Thursday night that the president's drive to make the U.S. military more diverse and representative was misguided. The Fox News host doubled down on his controversial take earlier in the week where he said that having pregnant women in the armed forces was a 'mockery to the US military'. Carlson outraged senior military officials and veterans with his remarks, with Pentagon leaders speaking of their 'revulsion'. Carlson had been angered by Biden's announcement on Monday that the military was developing flight suits for pregnant women in the Air Force, and criticized it the following day. On Thursday he doubled down on his stance. 'Maybe pregnant women make the best pilots,' he said. 'As the Department of Defense measures everything, there's got to be extensive research on this question. 'If the Pentagon can show pregnant pilots are the best, we will be the first to demand an entire air force of pregnant pilots.' Tucker Carlson on Thursday night doubled down on Tuesday's criticism of military priorities Expectant mother and Air Force Capt. Beatrice Horne with the 964th Airborne Air Control Squadron helps the Air Force test out a new maternity flight suit in January Senior Airman Clare Slater aims her M9 gun at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, in 2018 Full Tucker Carlson segment responding to the DOD's criticisms of his show: "If the Pentagon can show that pregnant pilots are the best, we will be the first to demand an entire air force of them." "The U.S. military is not a vehicle for achieving equity." pic.twitter.com/kK2mZBWrOr Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 12, 2021 The Air Force in 2019 removed flight duty restrictions on pregnant women, in part to deal with a pilot shortage. After complaints from pregnant aviators that their uniforms did not fit, the service branch began testing maternity flight suits earlier this year, a development touted by Biden in his remarks. Carlson accused Biden of forgetting that the military was designed to fight wars, and said the Commander In Chief was instead using the armed forces as a sign of his 'wokeness'. 'Finding the most effective military pilots or infantry officers or seal teams is not his priority, it's not even close to his priority,' Carlson said. 'Identity politics is Joe Biden's priority, it's all that matters. 'You see this attitude throughout the U.S. Government as well as in the corporate world. 'Key positions filled based on the basis of physical appearance, without any reference to ability or experience.' Marine Corps recruit Kylieanne Fortin, 20, goes through close combat training at Parris Island Carlson said it was fine it you worked for a bank, which was only beholden to its shareholders. 'It is not fine if you are only job is to protect the United States from people who want to kill the rest of us,' he continued. 'That is the worst kind of dereliction of duty. Yet, it's happening right now.' The uproar began on Tuesday night, when Carlson responded to the news, announced on Monday by Biden, that two female generals were becoming combat commanders. General Jacqueline D. Van Ovost of the Air Force and Lt. General Laura J. Richardson of the Army were nominated to lead two of the military's combatant commands. Van Ovost on Thursday addressed the Women's Air and Space Power Symposium, praising the 'richness of diversity' in the U.S. military. Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night mocked efforts to recruit and retain more military women Tucker Carlson doesnt think women can serve in the military. Pretty bold words from a frozen food heir who couldnt be bothered to serve himself. pic.twitter.com/424Wr7rfTz VoteVets (@votevets) March 11, 2021 Van Ovost on Thursday addressed the Women's Air and Space Power Symposium Biden, at a White House ceremony, said that the military was making progress in recruiting more women to its ranks, including 'designing body armor that fits women properly, tailoring combat uniforms for women, creating maternity flight suits and updating requirements for their hairstyles.' Carlson ridiculed Biden's remarks the next night on his show. 'So, we've got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits,' he said. 'Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It's a mockery of the U.S. military.' Carlson went on to praise the Chinese military for increasing the number of ships in its navy, a move he described as 'more masculine.' On Thursday the Pentagon took the unusual step of issuing a press release condemning Carlson's words. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, condemned Carlson's words on Thursday Carlson mocked the military for what he termed its 'woke' obsession with recruiting women 'Press Secretary Smites Fox Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military,' they titled their article, which quoted John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman. Kirby described 'the diversity of our military' as 'one of our greatest strengths' and acknowledged that 'we still have a lot of work to do to make our military more inclusive, more respectful of everyone, especially women.' He continued: 'But what we absolutely won't do is take personnel advice from a talk show host or the Chinese military. 'Now, maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove. That's on them. 'We know we're the greatest military in the world today, and even for all the things we need to improve, we know exactly why that's so.' He added that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin 'shares the revulsion' of other leaders who have criticized Carlson's remarks. Senator Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in Iraq, joined the condemnation, tweeting: 'F*ck Tucker Carlson.' Duckworth mocked Carlson by pointing to his 2006 performance on the television show 'Dancing With the Stars,' which resulted in him being quickly eliminated from the competition. 'While he was practicing his two-step, America's female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of America's women,' she tweeted. 'Happy belated International Women's Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than.' Senator Tammy Duckworth led the criticism of Carlson's remarks Duckworth was a Black Hawk pilot before losing both her legs in combat in Iraq Army Gen. Paul Funk, head of Training and Doctrine Command, tweeted on Wednesday that female service members are 'beacons of freedom' who 'prove Carlson wrong through determination and dedication. We are fortunate they serve with us.' Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston also tweeted on Wednesday that women 'lead our most lethal units with character. They will dominate ANY future battlefield we're called to fight on. @TuckerCarlson's words are divisive, don't reflect our values.' John B. Richardson, deputy commanding general of Fort Hood, tweeted: 'Mothers in uniform fight & win our nations wars. Fathers in uniform fight & win our nations wars. 'Soldier is not a gendered noun. Americas army is made up of countless mothers and fathers. Being a parent (& being pregnant) does NOT negatively impact on our nations defense.' Master Gunnery Sgt. Scott Stalker, the top enlisted leader at U.S. Space Command, released a video message on Thursday denouncing 'drama TV.' He urged soldiers to 'get back to work' and 'remember that those opinions were made by an individual who has never served a day in his life.' His comments also infuriated military women. Amy McGrath, a former fighter pilot who challenged Mitch McConnell for his Kentucky senate seat in November, tweeted: 'Hey @TuckerCarlson, I've logged 20 years in the Corps, 2000 flight hours, 3 combat tours, 3 kids delivered on active duty. How about you?' On Thursday evening, Carlson responded to their criticism. 'You hear politicians like Tammy Duckworth say it's unpatriotic to question the Pentagon unless you have served in the military yourself. You haven't earned that right. 'Really?' he asked. 'Could only cops talk about police brutality? If you haven't been elected to office, are you allowed to criticize Congress? 'They're not making a real argument, they are trying to silence dissent.' Carlson also ridiculed the Pentagon press statement about him, accusing the military leadership of coordinating an assault on him. 'The DOD even issued a news release attacking us,' he said. '"Press secretary smites Fox News host" - like we are a hostile foreign power. 'We suspect this is one they may actually win: they have got a manpower advantage. 'Since when does the Pentagon declare war on a domestic news operation?' Carlson concluded that the incident was 'deeply worrisome' for the country. She was taking calls in her office Wednesday from residents who had seen Capital District Latinos flyers, the ones stating in Spanish and English that appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccine would be available Thursday morning at their building on Central Avenue. How can I help you?, said Micky Jimenez, executive director of Capital District Latinos. On the phone was yet another Latino checking if there were still slots available for a vaccine. OK, let me check," Jimenez said. "We dont want to lose you. The Albany County Department of Health and Capital District Latinos partnered Thursday to bring vaccines to the Latino community, which has been disproportionately under-vaccinated in the county and statewide. In Albany County, only 3 percent of the vaccine administered so far has gone to Latinos, who comprise 6 percent of the county's total population, state data shows. White residents, who make up 78 percent of Albanys population, account for 87 percent of people with at least one vaccine dose as of March 11. Seventy-eight residents were scheduled to receive their vaccine on Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon, which was the time window and number of vaccines allotted to Capital District Latinos by the county. Our goal is to target as many Latinos in the community as they can, said Dan Irizarry, chairman of Capital District Latinos. Phone calls, fliers, and face-to-face conversations is how the South End is getting vaccinated How did Hamilton New York's most far-flung county vaccinate half of its residents? Cuomo says vaccines for people 60 and over begins Wednesday Jimenez said she doesnt want "any barriers when people go to receive their shot. Some barriers, she said, can be difficult to overcome, such as not trusting vaccines for reasons rooted in historical wrongdoing done by the medical community and government, including the U.S. Public Health service, which ran experiments with sex workers in the 1940s to expose prisoners in Guatemalan jails to sexually transmitted diseases. Leer en espanol: Esfuerzo tiene como objetivo superar la cautela de las vacunas en comunidades minoritarias locales A Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows that more than half of Latino adults are in no rush to get vaccinated. But other barriers, she said, can be addressed more easily, such as urging the county to print vaccination forms in Spanish at all vaccination facilities. Those forms should be available in Spanish before they put their signatures on it, Jimenez said, adding that fact sheets about the vaccine should also be readily available in Spanish on-site. The county has translators at the Times Union Center, one of the primary hubs for Albany Countys vaccination efforts. Forms and fact sheets printed in Spanish, however, arent available at hand, but Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, the countys health commissioner, said translated forms can be printed at the facility when needed. The countys website, Whalen added, also has a translation feature. On Thursday morning, as volunteers showed residents to the auditorium, Capital District Latinos ensured the removal of most barriers: There were fact sheets about the vaccine written in Spanish; there were numerous translators; there were translated vaccine forms, and there was a doctor who spoke Spanish. Marleny Perdomo walked in to receive her vaccine at around 10 a.m., when she would usually be working, taking care of children. I feel relieved to be here right now, she said. Over the course of the pandemic, friends of hers had died in Honduras, where her family is from. For me, this whole experience was ugly. She adjusted her mask and waited to be called up. By the auditorium door was Ward 11 Common Council member Alfredo Balarin, who was volunteering to help direct people inside. This table is ready, Balarin told Urbano Anibal Llanos, 50, whos lived in Albany for over 30 years and owns the restaurant Salsa Latina. He took off his hoodie and rolled up his left shirt sleeve. Are you feeling sick?, a medic asked him. No, not at all, Llanos replied. He thought of when he was feeling sick late last year with COVID-19, how it prevented him from working and weakened his breathing. He thought of his two daughters who had contracted COVID-19 earlier this year, how their foreheads had felt so hot. And now he took a big breath as they wiped his skin and inserted the needle. Waiting in line was Elias Herrera, who moved to New York City from Mexico City when he was much younger. Hes been living in Albany for less than a year. I worked in a restaurant in New York City. And when the pandemic hit, I was laid off, and there were no more jobs for me. So here I am in Albany, without work, he said now, stepping to the door slowly. He was now the first in line, and he wondered if what his few employed friends had told him would hold up: That a vaccination record card from the Centers for Disease Control would make finding work easier, and if not easier, then safer. Well wait and see, he said. Hopefully things get better. States, cities get $325B in direct aid from COVID-19 package The mammoth COVID-19 relief bill headed to President Joe Bidens desk includes $195 billion in direct aid to states and the District of Columbia and $130 billion in direct aid for cities and counties. States with more unemployed residents will get a greater share of the money. Under the final bill, states and localities would have to use the funds to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and economic downturn through measures such as assisting small businesses, boosting essential worker pay, funding government services affected by a revenue shortfall or making infrastructure investments. Governments cant use the money to pay for tax cuts or to shore up pension funds. Biden is expected to sign the bill, which passed along party lines. The legislation also includes about $25 billion in direct aid to U.S. territories and tribal governments. Congressional Republicans opposed giving states, cities and counties more direct aid. Some Republican state lawmakers argue the aid isnt necessary, as state budgets are in better shape than many analysts initially expected last spring. Experts who study state budgets are divided on whether more aid for states and cities makes sense. The Senate-passed bill includes numerous improvements from the House bill, such as additional guardrails around the state and local aid, said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonprofit focused on fiscal issues, in a news release. But the bill still spends hundreds of billions of dollars on cities and states that dont need the money. Groups that lobby on the behalf of states, cities and counties are cheering the aid package, however. For too long, the pressing challenges and needs facing our counties have outstripped our depleted local resources, wrote Matthew Chase, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Counties, in a news release after the bill passed out of the Senate. Clarence Anthony, the CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based National League of Cities, wrote in a Saturday news release that the money would help cities recover from the pandemic. In particular, our nations small municipalities -- which have been passed over in all previous federal relief packages -- will finally be able to secure the direct relief they need, he said. This article was first published on Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Chennai: Actor-turned politician Kamal Haasan will make his electoral debut in the upcoming Assembly election in Tamil Nadu scheduled to take place on April 6, he is likely to contest from Coimbatore South constituency. Remembering his late father Sreenivasan, Haasan expressed confidence that the people of his constituency would enable him to voice his views in the assembly by voting for him. "My father's dream was I should become an IAS officer and then enter politics. Though I could not realise his dream (of becoming an IAS officer), my party comprises many (former) IAS officers. That is a proud moment for us," he said. Coimbatore south is headed for an interesting battle as it is one of the five constituencies in the state that will see a direct BJP-Congress face-off. Taking to Twitter he wrote in Tamil which roughly transalates to: I see in the battle in Coimbtatore South, a battle for the soil, language and people of Tamil Nadu. It is not me who will win this, it will be all of Tamil." The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president made the announcement in the state capital on Friday, releasing the second list of his party's candidates. Earlier, the MNM announced about 70 candidates from different constituencies in the poll-bound state. The BJP and Congress are yet to announce their candidates and with Kamal as a new entrant, it remains to be seen which way the votes will swing. JOHANNESBURG, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sasol Limited ("Sasol") herewith announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Sasol Financing USA LLC (the "Issuer") has priced an offering of US$-denominated, SEC-registered notes (the "Notes"), including $650 million of senior notes due 2026 (the "2026 Notes") and $850 million of senior notes due 2031 (the "2031 Notes"). The 2026 Notes will bear interest at a rate of 4,375% per annum. The 2031 Notes will bear interest at a rate of 5,50% per annum. The total orderbook amounted to approximately $4 600 million, which represents an oversubscription of more than 3 times. "We are very pleased with the uptake and interest in our senior notes. This issue is an important step in sharpening our focus on balance sheet management under volatile conditions," said Paul Victor, Chief Financial Officer, Sasol Limited. "It is testament to the high quality of our credit profile and a strong vote of confidence in Future Sasol." The Notes will be general unsecured obligations of the Issuer and will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Sasol Limited. The offering is expected to close on 18 March 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. The proceeds of the offering will be used for partial repayment of outstanding revolving credit facility (RCF) balances and is therefore leverage neutral. BofA Securities acted as Global Coordinator. BofA Securities, Citigroup, Mizuho and MUFG acted as active Joint Book-Running Managers. ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, J.P. Morgan, SMBC and UniCredit were appointed as Passive Joint Book-Running Managers. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus. A registration statement, preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering and containing detailed information about Sasol and its management, as well as financial statements, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on its website at http://www.sec.gov [http://www.sec.gov/]. When available, copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus for the offering may be obtained from: BofA Securities, Inc., telephone: +1 800 294 1322; Citigroup Global Markets Inc., telephone +1 800 831 9146; Mizuho International plc, telephone:+44 20 7090 6698; or MUFG Securities Americas Inc., telephone: +1 877 649 6848. This announcement 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 prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities being offered have not been approved or disapproved by any regulatory authority, nor has any such authority passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the prospectus supplement, base prospectus or the shelf registration statement. Issued by: Matebello Motloung, Manager: Group Media Relations Direct telephone: +27 (0) 10 344 9256; Mobile: +27 (0) 82 773 9457 matebello.motloung@sasol.com[mailto:matebello.motloung@sasol.com] About Sasol: Sasol is a global integrated chemicals and energy company. We harness our knowledge and experience to integrate sophisticated technologies and process into our world-scale operating facilities. We safely and sustainably source, produce and market a range of high-value product streams in 30 countries, creating superior value for our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. About Sasol's Information Privacy Policy: We wish to inform you about the processing of your Personal Information by Sasol South Africa Limited and your rights under applicable data protection law, as interpreted and included in Sasol Information Privacy Policy. Within our company, only Sasol Group Media Relations will receive your Personal Information to fulfil the purpose of maintaining the relationship with the receiver in his/her capacity as a member of the media. You have the right to request for the correction or deletion of your Personal Information stored by us at address: Sasol Place, 50 Katherine Street, Sandton in Johannesburg. You also have a right to restrict the processing of your Information. To exercise your privacy rights or find out more about Information Privacy Policy, kindly contact our Privacy Office on: privacy@sasol.com[mailto:privacy@sasol.com] Forward-looking statements - Disclaimer: Sasol may, in this document, make certain statements that are not historical facts and relate to analyses and other information which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to our future prospects, developments and business strategies. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the execution, timing and completion of the offering of the Notes and the use of proceeds therefrom. 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These factors are discussed more fully in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed on 24 August 2020 and in other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The list of factors discussed therein is not exhaustive; when relying on forward-looking statements to make investment decisions, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events and you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements apply only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. MiFIR professionals / ECPs-only / No PRIIPs KID - No PRIIPs/UK PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as not available to retail in EEA or the UK. No sales to retail clients in the EEA or the UK, as defined under MiFID II and UK MiFIR. Manufacturer target market (UK MiFIR product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). This communication is being distributed to, and is directed only at, persons in the United Kingdom in circumstances where section 21(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 does not apply. Please note: One billion is defined as one thousand million. bbl - barrel, bscf - billion standard cubic feet, mmscf - million standard cubic feet, oil references brent crude, mmboe - million barrels oil equivalent. All references to years refer to the financial year 30 June. Any reference to a calendar year is prefaced by the word "calendar". New Delhi, March 12 : The West Bengal Congress in-charge Jitin Prasada is upset over the delay in finalisation of the candidates list in the state, sources said that the decisions were being deliberately delayed which may hamper the Congress prospects in the elections. The source said that all decisions were being taken by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the state president, on the issue of alliance and also in the ticket finalisation. Prasada is in Delhi, said the source, and added that he is upset. The Congress had authorised a committee to take the decision on alliance in which Adhir Ranjan, Pradeep Bhattacharya, Nepal Mahto and Abdul Mannan are the members. The alliance with the ISF was even questioned by Anand Sharma. This was later clarified by the Congress that it is the Left which has given seats to ISF from its quota. The Congress has constituted a screening committee under J.P Aggarwal, which had a couple of meetings on the issue. However, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and state in-charge Jitin Prasada, both did not respond to the calls regarding the reason for the delay in the ticket finalization. The Congress is contesting 92 seats in the West Bengal Assembly in alliance with the Left and ISF. So far, it has announced candidates for 13 seats. Due to the delay in the finalisation of all the candidates, the visit of Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders for campaigning has not yet been finalised. The Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 and the results will be declared on May 2. Last week, the new head of the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Adam Smith, said in an interview that the F-35 fighter jet was a rathole draining money. He said the Pentagon should consider whether to cut its losses. That promptly set off another round of groaning about the most expensive weapon system ever built, and questions about whether it should or could be scrapped. Conceived in the 1990s as a sort of Swiss army knife of fighter jets, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was meant to come as a conventional fighter for the Air Force, as a carrier-based fighter for the Navy and as a vertical-landing version for the Marines. The problems, and there were lots of them, set in early. All three versions of the plane ended up at least three years behind schedule, and sharing less than a quarter of their parts instead of the anticipated 70 percent. Many of those already built need updates; hundreds of defects are still being corrected; the jet is so expensive to maintain that it costs around $36,000 per hour to fly (compared to $22,000 for an older F-16). At the current rate, it will cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion over its 60-year life span. So, kill the monster and start looking for alternatives? Or declare it too big to fail and make the best of it? Last month, the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Charles Brown Jr., gave his answer when he said that the F-35 should become the Ferrari of the fleet: You only drive it on Sundays. For other days, Air Force officials recently said they were exploring less expensive options, including new F-16s, low-cost tactical drones or building another fighter from scratch. But the F-35 was here to stay, General Brown insisted: The F-35 is the cornerstone of what were pursuing. Now were going to have the F-35, were getting it out, and were going to have it for the future. [March 11, 2021] Integral Ad Science Partners with Xandr to Offer Advertisers Stronger Contextual Capabilities MUMBAI, India, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Integral Ad Science (IAS), a global leader in digital ad verification, today announced that Xandr's buying platform, Xandr Invest, now offers IAS's contextual targeting and contextual avoidance capabilities across all programmatic buying. Available globally, advertisers using the Invest DSP can access IAS's curated list of 300+ contextual segments to target suitable content and optimize their programmatic campaigns on a pre-bid basis. "Programmatic growth continues to surpass expectations, and by partnering with Xandr we're helping more advertisers ahieve even stronger results for their campaigns with the latest contextual tools," said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO, IAS. "Context has never been more relevant for marketers in the current ad landscape, and now they have more control to ensure the most suitable contextual adjacencies for their campaigns directly within the Xandr's Invest DSP." A recent IAS study showed that 80% of consumers find ad messages related to adjacent content impact their perception of the brand. With Context Control, IAS offers programmatic buyers within Xandr's Invest DSP unprecedented precision to target content that is contextually relevant to their campaigns and avoid content that is unsuitable for their brand, all while achieving the necessary scale. These tools are initially available for campaigns in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, with additional languages coming soon. This integration expands on IAS and Xandr's existing relationship which includes brand safety, fraud, and viewability controls. "We see more marketers leaning into contextual targeting and avoidance today, which makes our expanded work with IAS all the more relevant," said Dylan McBride, Head of Global Partnerships, Xandr. "Our advertisers are looking for the transparency and controls to run their campaigns alongside trusted content, and that's exactly what IAS provides." About Integral Ad Science Integral Ad Science (IAS) is a global leader in digital ad verification, ensuring that ads are viewable by real people in safe and suitable environments. IAS's mission is to be the global benchmark for trust and transparency in digital media quality for the world's leading brands, publishers and platforms. We do this through data-driven technologies with actionable real-time signals and insight. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York, IAS works with thousands of top advertisers and premium publishers worldwide. IAS is part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio of companies. For more information, visit integralads.com . About Xandr A business unit within AT&T, Xandr powers a global marketplace for premium advertising. Our data-enabled technology platform, encompassing Xandr Invest and Xandr Monetize, optimizes return on investment for both buyers and sellers. For more than 143 years, AT&T has used data and technology to inform and improve the consumer experience. SOURCE Integral Ad Science (IAS) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Fresh global concern about AstraZeneca vaccine Fresh global concern about AstraZeneca vaccine Thailand delayed the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine scheduled to start on Friday with its prime minister and cabinet members taking the first shots, citing safety concerns after reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people in Europe. Bulgaria, meanwhile, temporary halted inoculations with the AstraZeneca vaccine until the European medicine regulator produces a written statement dispelling all doubts about the vaccine's safety. "Until all doubts are dispelled and as long as the experts do not give guarantees that it does not pose a risk to the people, we are halting the inoculations with this vaccine," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in a statement. Bulgaria joined Denmark, Norway and Iceland, who had temporary suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid reports that blood clots had formed in some who had received the shot. In a health ministry news conference in Thailand, Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital, confirmed the rollout would be delayed after a suspension of inoculations using the vaccine in some European countries. "AstraZeneca is still a good vaccine but with what has happened... the health ministry based on this advice would like to postpone the usage of the AstraZeneca vaccine momentarily," Kiattiphum Wongjit, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry. Thailand was in a position to suspend the rollout for safety investigations because it had largely brought a second wave of coronavirus under control through quarantines and border controls, he said. AstraZeneca said on Thursday it had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis marked by the formation of blood clots in safety data of more than 10 million records, even when considering subgroups based on age, gender, production batch or country of use. Yong Poonvorawan, a Thai virology expert, told the news conference the investigation would also check on whether any issues might be related to particular batches in Europe and said the vaccines supplied to Thailand were made in Asia. Thailand has so far recorded just over 26,500 coronavirus infections and 85 fatalities in a population of 66.5 million. New cases are now registering below 100 per day. The European Medicines Agency backed the use of the vaccine on Thursday, saying its benefits outweighed its risks and could continue to be administered. More than 11 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine have so far been administered across the United Kingdom. On Friday, Germany said it would continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine and France said it has shown great efficacy. "This may reflect how much the decision makers in a country tolerate temporary uncertainty about vaccine safety and balance that against the vaccines undoubted benefits of protection from Covid-19," said Julie Leask, a public health professor at the University of Sydney, referring to varying government decisions. (Reuters) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Guam's governor, Lourdes Aflague Leon Guerrero, has offered to send Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene a history book after the lawmaker falsely claimed the U.S. territory as a foreign land in a speech. The speech was about federal financial aid that is being sent to other countries. For his part, Del. Michael San Nicolas, a non-voting delegate representing Guam in Congress, said he would be happy to deliver Chamorro Chip Cookies to Greene. San Nicolas noted that giving out those cookies is part of their outreach to new members to introduce them to Guam, according to The Hill report. During her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida in late February, which surfaced on Tuesday, Marjorie Taylor Greene has falsely said that Guam is a foreign country that did not need any federal aid. "We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for what, China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam - whatever, wherever," the Georgia lawmaker said as reported by Business Insider. READ NEXT: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Keeps Promise, Files Impeachment Articles Against Biden Leaders of Guam Former chairman of the Republican Party of Guam called Greene's office. However, she was not available. The two-time former chairman, Phil Flores, talked to one of her assistants. Flores said that Guam is a part of America for 122 years, adding that he's calling Marjorie Taylor Greene to educate her, Guam Post reported. He further discussed that a lot of education is necessary in some parts of the world about the U.S. territory and other Pacific islands. Flores noted that the history that these lands played in history should be known and their efforts in current global affairs. He cited instances when Flores' son studied at West Virginia University and enjoyed a night out with friends. Flores said his son would show his Guam ID only to have it refuted, with authorities saying it was from a foreign country. Meanwhile, Sen. Telena Nelson in the Guam Legislature said that the comment was appalling since it came from a member of Congress. Nelson chairs the legislative committee, which includes federal affairs. She said this was not the first time and will not be the last that their land is mistaken for foreign soil. She noted that their mutually beneficial relationship with the United States had given them privileges. But their people and their contributions remain unknown and unimportant to many Americans. Controversies Surrounding Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene has already faced various issues and controversies after being elected to Congress, according to a Newsweek report. She was known to be a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, claiming that the high-profile school shootings did not actually occur and further suggested that a laser from space controlled by known Jews was responsible for California's forest fires. This prompted Democrats to push forward a motion to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from all her committee assignments, which was approved last month with some bipartisan support. A Reuters' recent poll showed that less than a quarter, or 23 percent of Republican voters, hold a positive view of Greene. READ MORE: Cotton, Greene Slam Biden for Causing 'Superspreader' After Migrants Released Into U.S. Test Positive WATCH: 40 Republicans Vote Against Marjorie Taylor Greene's Latest Motion to Adjourn - From The Hill WINDSOR LOCKS JetBlue said Friday that it would launch a route between Bradley International Airport and Miami in June, an announcement that came one day after the start of Southwest Airlines flights between Bradley and Nashville, Tenn. JetBlues year-round, daily service to Miami International Airport will begin on June 24. Flights will depart from Bradley at 9:25 a.m., and arrive at MIA at 12:30 p.m. Flights from MIA will leave at 1:15 p.m., and arrive at Bradley at 4:10 p.m. The new route will complement JetBlues existing nonstop flights from Bradley to other Florida destinations, which include Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach. Bradley is already connected to Miami through American Airlines and Frontier Airlines routes. Connecting customers in the Northeast and South Florida has been a hallmark of JetBlues success for more than 20 years and offering our award-winning service and low fares between Hartford and Miami means we can attract new customers and grow in both regions, Scott Laurence, JetBlues head of revenue and planning, said in a statement. We appreciate Gov. [Ned] Lamonts leadership and focus on safely driving Connecticuts recovery to benefit residents and visitors to the Nutmeg State. Despite the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, JetBlue has significantly expanded its presence at Bradley in the past few months. Nonstop service to Cancun, Mexico launched in November, and nonstop service to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco began in December. This is great news for both business and leisure travelers who utilize Bradley Airport, Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. Bradley International Airport is a vital asset for our region, serving as a convenient option for businesses and families, and seeing JetBlue commit to yet another route builds confidence in our residents and our economy. We are proud to see JetBlue expand at Bradley. JetBlue has deep roots in Connecticut. Founder and former CEO David Neeleman built up the airline in Darien during his run as chief executive through 2008. The carrier is now headquartered in Queens, N.Y. Neeleman has gained federal approval to launch Breeze Airways, which will focus on providing lower-cost trips through smaller planes that serve smaller cities. The Miami route will help Bradley offset the precipitous drop in passenger traffic that it has seen during the past year as a result of the pandemic. A total of about 2.4 million travelers passed through Bradley in 2020, down 64 percent from 2019. The announcement of new Miami service via JetBlue is a positive development for Bradley Airport as the aviation industry continues on its road to recovery, Thomas Tony Sheridan, chairman of the board of the Connecticut Airport Authority, which owns and operates Bradley, said in a statement. We thank JetBlue for their partnership, and we look forward to continuing this progress together so we can keep providing the vital services that the states tourism, meetings, and conventions industries rely on. Amid the declining passenger traffic during the pandemic, Bradley is still widely regarded as of the countrys leading small airports. It ranked No. 7 in USA Todays 2021 10 Best Readers Choice travel contest. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. The Glad Tidings (Bible) Camp Site - officially an isolation Centre for those patients of the Mental Health Centre who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has dismissed as "falsehoods the claims by the Public Service Union (PSU), including one that alleged some of the patients at the Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre (MHRC), who had been relocated to the Glad Tidings Bible Camp Site at Queens Drive, were sleeping on the floor. Since a cluster of COVID-19 cases had emerged at the MHRC at Glen, affected patients have been relocated to the Glad Tidings Camp Site located at Queens Drive, making that Site an official Isolation Centre, specific to patients of the MHR. Speaking last Sunday on his now usual spot on the Sunday morning interactive programme aired on WE FM, Dr. Gonsalves dismissed this claim and others made by the Union as "falsehoods, mingled with really lots of mischief. Addressing the allegations that patients were sleeping on the floor, Dr. Gonslaves said, "If you know the campsite, there is a lot of space on both floors and there are spaces to put particular persons. He added that the two floors were being occupied one for males and the other for females. According to Gonsalves, there were 75 males and 28 females at the Camp Site then, but there was enough space to accommodate up to at least 80 more patients, if the situation presented itself. There were platforms where mattresses were placed and were being used as makeshift beds, but none of the patients were made to sleep on the floor, Gonsalves emphasized. He disclosed, though, that it was reported that two male patients had left their beds and taken to the floor. This was the patients choice, not something occasioned by a shortage of bed space, Dr. Gonsalves assured, and added that sleeping on the floor was a common practice among patients at institutions for the mentally ill, including our own. And as for the PSU claim about the shortage of personal protective equipment for staff, including face masks, Prime Minister Gonsalves referenced a document dated February 27 and prepared by the MHRC Administrator Dr. Elizabeth Medford, in which she gave a detailed report on the operations at the temporary facility at Queens Drive. According to Gonsalves, Medford indicated in the document that the MHRC was in receipt of a quantity of items including gowns, masks and face shields. He dismissed this claim saying, "What happened is this, there are some who get information from persons not necessarily staff nurses, but persons who are not at that professional level but from those who have their personal and sometimes political grouses. Dr. Gonslaves also disposed of any truth in the PSU claim that there were only two shifts for workers at the Camp Site, with the explanation that the 27 staff members assigned to the Camp Site worked "three shifts 7am to 2pm, 2pm to 7pm and 7pm to 7am daily. And the call by the PSU for the removal of the Management at the Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre did not escape the Prime Minister. He highlighted the Unions assessment that the current Management at the Centre was negligent, and described it as outrageous not true and defamatory. The Prime Minister expressed his full confidence in the Centres Administrator, Dr. Elizabeth Medford, and her team. The Army's chief of staff said Thursday that the service has launched pilot programs that will send independent review teams out into the force to see whether the climate in units allows sexual harassment and assault to happen unchecked. "We are doing some pilots right now where we have an independent review team going out to a unit and doing a survey of the entire unit, getting a sense of what is actually going down," Gen. James McConville told reporters at a Defense Writers Group discussion. McConville's announcement comes three months after the Army publicly released the results of an independent review of Fort Hood, Texas, that revealed that the base's command climate allowed a culture of sexual assault and harassment to fester in the ranks. Read Next: 'In a Very Difficult Environment,' Coast Guard Offers Incentives to Entice Recruits The chief said he sees "some value" in using independent reviews in the future since standard Army investigations don't always present a clear picture of the true atmosphere within a unit. "We have done investigations before, but the investigations are more along the line of how compliant are you with, you know, how many sexual assault response coordinators do you have, have they been to the training?" McConville said. Independent reviews "are designed to get into the culture and to get into the climate and then we can actually get after that," he added. "I don't think it hurts to have people taking a look outside the organization sometimes; it's very hard to change if you are part of the system," he said. Military.com reached out to the Army on Friday for more details about which units will be part of the review pilot but did not receive an immediate answer. The Fort Hood independent review also revealed that the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) detachment at the post was made up of inexperienced, overworked agents who failed to control the post's culture of violent crime and drug use. The service is considering a proposal to redesign CID as an independent organization with civilian leadership instead of the current military police command structure, Army Times reported. Such a change could cost about half a billion dollars and take more than 10 years to complete, according to the outlet. "We are taking a look at it right now. ... There are opinions on both sides," McConville said. "It may not be just making it all civilianized, and it may not be making it all military. There may be a hybrid in there, but we are not ready to make that final decision." The Army does want to make sure CID has the "right level of expertise, especially on the sexual harassment side because we tended to view those as administrative-type investigations," he said. "I think it's very, very important that while we have sexual harassment, we have sexual assault, we have any type of racism and extremism, we [also] have the right investigators that can really have the skill sets that can get after that. "The end state is to get the best law enforcement in place, so we can hold people accountable for these horrible behaviors that are in the Army," McConville said. The Fort Hood independent review resulted in 70 recommendations to address major flaws in the Army's Sexual Harassment and Assault Response Prevention, or SHARP, program at the base. Service leaders are looking at those problems to see whether they exist across the force. The Army is also wrestling with how to rid its ranks of racism and extremism, problems that every service has been ordered to tackle. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III in February ordered each of the services to devote time daily to discuss the problem of extremism and extremist ideology, as military leaders try to determine how widespread these belief systems are among troops. "What it really comes down to is, when we look at where most of the problems occur in the United States Army, it's with our 17-to-24-year-olds," McConville said. "Young soldiers come in the Army ... and they bring the culture or the climate from where they come from. "And quite frankly, we have to change that in many, and we have to make sure they understand that there is no room in our Army for sexual harassment and sexual assault. There is no room in our Army for racism and extremism," he added. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Fort Hood's Inexperienced, Overburdened CID Faces New Scrutiny in Army Investigation Good morning, its Friday, March 12, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be uplifting or educational. Today, inspired by Joe Bidens first prime-time speech as president, I have two such passages. One is from Biden and the other from Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president who came to my mind last night as our new commander-in-chief addressed this fractured nation. Thats particularly fitting today, which is the 88th anniversary of FDRs first radio address to the nation -- talks that would become known as fireside chats. First, though, let me point you to RCPs front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors: * * * A Caveat-Laden Entreaty From Your Uncle Joe. Susan Crabtree has this analysis of President Bidens address last night. State AGs Are Right: Court Packing Is Wrong. Ryan Owens explains why the commission Biden will form to study the matter should reject expanding the number of justices to 13. 1.9 Trillion Glimmers of Gridlock Greatness for Stocks. At RealClearMarkets, Ken Fisher writes that a COVID relief bill was destined to happen, but that narrow Democratic majorities in both chambers will prevent other extreme measures from passing -- a boon for investors. Oversight Board Still Struggles With Puerto Ricos Insolvency. Also at RCM, Alex Pollock examines progress made, and sticking points that remain. What Democrats Should Learn From Texas Energy Debacle. At RealClearEnergy, Roosevelt Daniels warns of wrong conclusions that have spurred misguided legislation in the House. Worrying Signs From Mexico on Trade. At RealClearWorld, Sen. Marco Rubio spotlights steps taken by the Obrador government that could breach elements of the USMCA. * * * The day before President Bidens prime-time address about Americas progress in combating the coronavirus, his predecessor put out a terse press release written in Twitter-ese that attempted to remind Americans of his role in pushing for immunization research and development. I hope everyone remembers, Donald Trump proclaimed, that if I wasnt President, you wouldnt be getting that beautiful shot for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldnt be getting it at all. Overstatement, to be sure, but the former president had a point. It was not one stressed by Biden, however, who actually did a pretty fair Trump imitation in the beginning of last nights speech, what with all the boasting and dubious statistics -- all while airbrushing Operation Warp Speed from history. On the other hand, Biden did laud the scientific achievement of developing a vaccine so rapidly, which he portrayed as a triumph of the American mind and spirit, rather than the doing of any politician. Here, the 46th U.S. president was on solid ground. It was ground trod by Franklin Roosevelt, who talked about American know-how and American ingenuity -- the same expression Biden employed last night -- to describe how this country would meet challenges ranging from curing polio to fighting a two-front world war. Both FDR and Joe Biden also told their fellow citizens that Americas scientific might and entrepreneurial instincts alone werent enough. More was required -- a cooperative spirit, which both presidents exhorted Americans to summon from within themselves. On this date in 1933, Franklin Roosevelts eighth day in office, he gave the first of his fireside chats. The context was the rapidly deteriorating condition of the nations financial institutions. At a time when 90% of American households owned a radio, Roosevelt used this medium to explain what he was doing and why. I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking, the president began in his famously conversational tone. Roosevelt ended his speech with a simple exhortation: It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together, we cannot fail. When Biden struck this tone Thursday night, he was at his best. We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people, he said. But as I stand here tonight, we're proving once again something Ive said time and time again, until you're probably tired of hearing me say it. I say it to foreign leaders and domestic alike: It's never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people. America is coming back, he continued. The development, manufacture and distribution of vaccines in record time is a true miracle of science. It's one of the most extraordinary achievements any country has ever accomplished. And we also just saw the Perseverance Rover land on Mars -- stunning images of our dreams that are now a reality -- another example of the extraordinary American ingenuity, commitment and belief in science and one another. And those are your quotes of the week. Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com Alexei Navalny has been moved from jail to an unknown location, his lawyers have claimed. The opposition leader, 44, was last reported to be in penal colony number 2 - known as IK-2 - east of Moscow, where 'torture-like' conditions are so horrific inmates have severely injured themselves to avoid being sent there. But a post shared to Mr Navalny's Twitter account on Friday said his lawyers don't know where the Kremlin critic is now after he was transported today. They were banned from visiting him at a pre-trial detention centre in the morning, the tweet said. At around 2pm, they were told that Mr Navalny had been moved, but authorities refused to divulge where to. Mr Navalny was arrested on January 17 when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. He later was ordered to serve two and a half years in prison on the grounds that his time in Germany violated a suspended sentence he was handed in a money-laundering and fraud conviction. Alexei Navalny (pictured in court last month) has been moved from a jail to an unknown location, his lawyers have claimed The Putin (pictured) critic, 44, was set to be moved to a penal colony to serve his two and a half year prison sentence, a public commission said last month Mr Navalny (pictured in the dock last month) was arrested on January 17 when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin Penal colonies - where Mr Navalny was last known to be - combine detention with compulsory labour and are the most-common kind of Russian prison. It came the same day that dozens of countries - including the United States - called on Russia to release Navalny saying his imprisonment was unlawful and demanding an investigation into his poisoning last year. In a statement read out by Poland to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, they said that actions by Russian authorities against the opposition leader were 'unacceptable and politically motivated'. It came the same day that dozens of countries - including the United States (President Joe Biden, pictured) - called on Russia to release Navalny saying his imprisonment was unlawful and demanding an investigation into his poisoning last year The 45 countries were mainly European but also included Australia, Canada and Japan. 'We call on the Russian Federation for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Navalny and of all those unlawfully or arbitrarily detained, including for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of religion or belief,' the joint statement said. 'We are also concerned by the large number of arbitrary arrests of protesters who were expressing their support for Mr Navalny in many Russian cities,' the statement added. Russia has previously described such criticism as interference in its internal affairs. Britain's ambassador, Julian Braithwaite, said it was 'disgraceful' that Navalny, who was poisoned last year with what Western countries say was a military-grade nerve agent, had been jailed while the poisoning was not investigated. UN human rights experts said on March 1 that Russia was to blame for the attempt to kill Navalny, and called for an international investigation into his poisoning. Moscow denies poisoning Navalny and says it has seen no evidence. Navalny, 44, has arrived in penal colony number 2, known as IK-2, (pictured today) in the town of Pokrov, about 100km east of Moscow Last month, a former prisoner described the conditions of the penal facility (the outside, pictured) where Mr Navalny will serve his sentence 'Today's statement should be just the start of greater Council scrutiny and action to end the crackdown,' John Fisher of New York-based Human Rights Watch said. The US and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and entities over the Navalny case. The Kremlin called the moves absurd, unjustified and void of any real impact. Last month, a former prisoner described the conditions of the penal facility where Mr Navalny will serve his sentence. Politician Dmitry Demushkin, who served a two-year sentence for inciting hatred in IK-2, has claimed that the conditions are so horrific that people would 'cut their veins and stomachs' open so as to avoid being sent there. 'People did everything not to go there,' Demushkin told Russian television channel TV Rain. 'Even to the extent that they opened up their stomachs, opened up their veins. 'Therefore, the administration never notified the convicts that they were going to the [IK-2] to serve their sentences.' Pictures from the prison showed metallic grey buildings behind a grey fence and barbed wire inside the colony, as well as the gold domes of a church. Pictures from the prison showed metallic grey buildings behind a grey fence and barbed wire inside the colony, as well as the gold domes of a church A guard at the gate asked reporters to keep a distance of at least 100 yards if they wanted to film it. Demushkin claimed that the aim of the penal colony is to 'psychologically break people' and leave them isolated from the outside world. 'When I arrived there, through unofficial channels, only three weeks later my relatives found out where I was,' he said. 'My first letter that the colony sent was two and a half months later, and before that all my letters were destroyed, and they did not reach me from relatives and friends.' Demushkin said he spent the first eight months in the penal colony's notorious second sector, where conditions felt 'like torture'. 'I was forbidden to talk to other inmates, they were forbidden to look at me, my hands were always behind my back when I was out of my cell,' Demushkin told The Moscow Times. 'It was forbidden to attend the local prison church, to do any sporting activities.' Another former inmate, Konstantin Kotov, who spent two years in IK-2 after being arrested and charged during Moscow's election protests in 2019, said it was a 'strict prison'. Navalny (pictured with his wife Yulia) was arrested in January upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin 'This is, by any measure, an extremely strict prison,' he told said. 'They try to control your every step, your every thought. 'Inmates who have spent time in different prisons across Russia told me this was the toughest one they have been in. It definitely felt like a high-security prison for hard criminals.' The decision to move Navalny to IK-2 caused alarm to human rights activists who monitor the rights of Russian prisoners. Pyotr Kuryanov, a lawyer at the Defence of Prisoners' Rights Foundation NGO, said it is 'lawless' at the penal colony. 'Its completely lawless there,' he said. 'They will break you. Bad things have been going on there for a long time.' Ruslan Vakhapov, a local activist of the prisoners' rights group Jailed Russia, described conditions as particularly severe. 'In short, it's a bad colony,' she told Reuters. Many prisoners cooperate with the colony administration and help them to control other inmates closely, abusing them if they violate a strict daily schedule, Vakhapov said. 'If there is a need to prevent Navalny from communicating with others, nobody would talk to him,' the activist said. '(If anything happens), he wouldn't be able to ask for help until his lawyer arrives,' 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. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new trial by the University of Liverpool's Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) has demonstrated effective strategies for reducing the prescription of critically important antimicrobials in veterinary practice. Published today in Nature Communications, the findings are being used to inform development of a national veterinary antimicrobial stewardship scheme. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has recently been identified as one of the top ten health threats facing our planet. Currently, over 700,000 people per year die of resistant infections. This is forecast to exceed 10 million people per year by 2050, placing AMR as the leading cause of death worldwide. "Use of antimicrobials is a key driver for development of AMR. It is vital that the veterinary profession embraces the responsible use of antimicrobials, to safeguard human and animal health and to preserve the right to prescribe certain antimicrobials that are important in human medicine. Of these, the highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HPCIAs), including fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins, are considered of greatest importance by the World Health Organisation," explained lead researcher Dr. David Singleton. HPCIAs are frequently prescribed as first-line agents in companion animal practice, particularly to cats. Such antimicrobials should only be used third-line in response to clear evidence of likely or demonstrated treatment failure to other antimicrobials. In recognition of this issue, SAVSNET collaborated with one of the largest integrated veterinary services providers in the UK, CVS Group, on a randomized controlled trial to see if prescription of HPCIAs could be reduced. Relatively high frequency HPCIA prescribing veterinary practices were randomly placed into three trial arms: a control group, light intervention group and heavy intervention group, consisting of 20 veterinary practices in each group. The heavy group were allowed to volunteer to participate in the trial, to which most agreed. Light and heavy intervention groups were informed of their outlier status and were offered either remote (light group) or in-person (heavy group) support, in addition to their existing access to the SAVSNET portal which offers free benchmarking for antimicrobial prescription. CVS practice teams in the heavy group were asked to reflect on their HPCIA prescription and clinical decision-making to develop their own systems to promote responsible prescribing. Over eight months following initial intervention both intervention groups were associated with a significant post-intervention decrease in HPCIA prescription frequency in cats; the light group by 17% and the heavy group by 40%. In dogs, the only significant decrease was seen in the heavy group, which decreased HPCIA prescription frequency by 23%. "This trial demonstrates that companion animal veterinary practitioners respond to notification of being outside of a 'social norm' (i.e. being a high frequency HPCIA prescriber), and are responsive to involvement in structured antimicrobial stewardship programs," said Dr. Singleton. The findings are now forming the basis of a national antimicrobial stewardship program, in collaboration with SAVSNET, CVS Group and RCVS Knowledge. Co-author Angela Rayner, Director of Quality Improvement at CVS Group, added: "We are grateful for, and wish to say thank you to, the many people who have supported this trial and to the hard work of the practice teams in CVS, who responded to the call to action to produce these excellent results. Without these caring individuals, this would not have been possible." Explore further New study sheds light on medicines storage practices on UK dairy farms More information: David A. Singleton et al. A randomised controlled trial to reduce highest priority critically important antimicrobial prescription in companion animals, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications David A. Singleton et al. A randomised controlled trial to reduce highest priority critically important antimicrobial prescription in companion animals,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21864-3 Demonstrators protest outside the Chinese embassy against the military coup in Yangon, Burma, on Feb. 19, 2021. (Stringer/Reuters) Analysis: Chinese Business, Out! Burma Anger Threatens Investment Plans Chinas gas pipeline will be burned, chanted a group of protesters in Burma (also known as Myanmar) this week on the route of a Chinese pipeline. Hailed by the Chinese regime as a symbol of mutually beneficial cooperation, the pipeline has become a target for public anger over perceptions Beijing is backing the junta that seized power in a Feb. 1 coup. The rise in anti-China sentiment has raised questions in Burma business circles and in China, not only over the surge of Chinese investment in recent years but for billions of dollars earmarked for a strategic neighbor on Beijings Belt and Road infrastructure plan. China is a one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Chinas own citizens frequently protest the government due to a lack of an independent legal system and rights protections. However, due to threats to the safety of their families, information about the suffering of the Chinese people is largely censored by the party state. Chinese business, Out! Out!, the dozen or so protesters shouted in Mandalay city, a staging point on pipelines across Burma from the Indian Ocean to China. Social media carried many more threats. The gas pipeline, which carries gas from Burmas offshore fields, opened in 2013, as Burmas military was starting democratic reforms. The $1.5 billion 770-km (480 mile) oil pipe alongside, bringing crude mainly from the Middle East, started in 2017 under the government of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now detained and facing an array of charges. A PetroChina official who declined to be identified said there had been no problems with the operation of the oil pipelinethe only source of crude for the state energy giants refinery in Kunming, Yunnan province. Demonstrators display images of detained Burma leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Burma, on Feb. 16, 2021. (AP Photo) Protests over the pipeline flared after a Burma government document leaked from a Feb. 24 meeting showed Chinese officials had asked Burmas junta to provide better securityand intelligence on ethnic minority armed groups on the pipeline route. Reuters was unable to reach officials in Burma for comment on the document. Hostile Opinion Billions of dollars had been earmarked for such projects, including an economic corridor ending at a $1.3 billion deepwater port, industrial zones, a new city next to the commercial hub of Yangon and a railway to the border. Hostile public opinion will inflict long-term threats and damage to Chinas plan, said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center. She pointed in particular to the damage done to Beijings reputation over the Myitsone Dam project, which was shelved in 2011 amid a local outcryprompting a concerted effort by the Chinese regime to cultivate the public as well as political leaders. Public opinion has been treated as a priority for Chinas policy in Myanmar, she said. Efforts in recent years included everything from donating school backpacks to sponsoring inspection trips to China for officialsthough a 2018 survey in Burma still found an explicit bias against Chinese investments. Anti-coup protesters hold signs as they gather in Mandalay, Burma, on March 5, 2021. (AP Photo) The CCP had also tried to keep close to Suu Kyi, while maintaining ties to the army that overthrew her. Balancing the relationship has become even more precarious. While Western countries have condemned the coup, the Chinese regime has not even described it as onein line with the generals wishes. Its call for restraint from both sides draws scorn from opponents of the coup who point to the killing of more than 60 protesters. One policeman has died, the army says. China shame on you. Stop supporting the theft of a nation, read one protest placard outside the Chinese embassy before Burma security forces cordoned it off. Suspicions No matter how outlandish, allegations of Chinese involvement have swirled on social media. Some said they had seen soldiers with Chinese features or heard some speaking Mandarin. Suspicions were raised by an increase in night-time flights to Chinaflights the state airline said carried seafood for the Lunar New Year holiday. Unsubstantiated claims surfaced that the planes were bringing in soldiers or technicians to install an internet firewallan idea dismissed by the junta and described as nonsense by the Chinese ambassador. Concerns that anti-Beijing sentiment could turn on Chinese businesses has prompted some to reconsider their positionsespecially as anti-coup protests and strikes strangle the economy. They can only vent on the Chinese people on the ground, said one Chinese businessman who gave his name as Ran and is now seeking a way outwhile saying he had not faced any personal attacks. Burma also has a substantial minority with Chinese origins, whose older members remember anti-Chinese riots in 1967 in which an estimated 30 people were killed. Some younger members, however, have taken a conspicuous stand with the protesters. Our elders worry about the Sinophobic poststhings on Facebook like the Chinese will be the first people to be beaten but its only a small number of people making them, said Aung Aung, 23, a founder of the Young Burmese-Chinese Association. The people know where we stand. We want to get democracy back. By Matthew Tostevin Footwear major Bata India Limited has announced Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan as the companys new brand ambassador. Carrying forward Batas fashion-forward narrative, Kartik will be seen promoting popular brands under the Bata umbrella. The young actor is currently one of the most sought after and celebrated actors in the industry. Kartik has a great knack for fashion and is regarded a trend-setter. Owing to his stature as a youth icon, Kartik has amassed a huge fan following in a short span of time. The association will begin with the launch of new campaign by Bata. Kartik will be seen in a series of advertisements across television, digital and other mediums. Mr. Anand Narang, VP-Marketing, Bata India Limited said: We are happy to have Kartik Aaryan on board as our new ambassador. At Bata, we have been transforming the brand by making our stores more inviting & changing our portfolio to have more casuals, sneaker & fashion styles to attract more millennials. Kartik with his positive energy and easy-going approach relates very well with the youth today. Our association with Kartik will help in further strengthening our connection with the youth and bringing to fore our younger brands like Bata Red Label, North Star, Power & Hush Puppies. On associating with Bata India, Kartik Aaryan said: I am delighted to be associated with an iconic brand like Bata. As a child I remember Bata being the ultimate choice for footwear for everyone and the brand still has the same impact. It has always remained trendy and relevant to its time. I am impressed with the way Bata has revamped its image to emerge as a youth-centric, fashion-forward brand. I am excited to collaborate with Bata and create something special together. Credit Suisse Group AG froze four more funds that invested in the banks $10 billion supply chain finance strategy, adding to the widening scandal surrounding the banks exposure to Lex Greensills failed empire. The additional funds have about $1.2 billion in assets, some of which they had put into the four Greensill-linked funds that Credit Suisse is now liquidating. The bank suspended them effective March 1, the same day it froze the supply chain finance strategy. It posted the decision in an investor update on its website dated March 9. The largest of the additional funds are the $701 million Credit Suisse (Lux) Multi Strategy Bond Fund and the $303 million Credit Suisse (Lux) Multi Strategy Alternative Fund. Their suspension compounds a crisis thats forced Credit Suisse to seek outside help to deal with regulators queries and threatens to saddle the bank with losses from a loan that it made months before the collapse of Greensills empire. For Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein, its arguably the worst reputational hit since taking over about a year ago in the wake of a damaging spying scandal. Credit Suisse froze the supply chain finance strategy which invested in short-term financings arranged by Greensill after doubts emerged about the valuations of some of the assets, kicking off a chain of events that culminated in the collapse of Greensill Capital. The bank had held them up as a success story as recently as December. While the money pools have returned most of their cash, about two-thirds of investor money remains tied up. Read more: Credit Suisse Faces Questions from Regulators, Insurers After Collapse of Greensill Funds The bank said its looking at various options for reopening the additional four funds that it froze along with the Greensill-linked strategy. The other two funds in that group are the Credit Suisse (Lux) Qatar Enhanced Short Duration Fund and Credit Suisse (Lux) Institutional Target Volatility Fund. Credit Suisse has started an internal probe into the collapse of the supply chain finance strategy. It temporarily replaced three employees in its asset management unit tied to the funds. Michel Degen, head of asset management in Switzerland and EMEA, is being replaced on an interim basis by Filippo Rima, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Luc Mathys, head of fixed income in the unit, and another manager who ran the funds were also suspended from their roles, the person said. The Swiss lender is also reaching out to external firms to deal with regulators queries surrounding the collapse, people familiar with the matter said, asking for anonymity in discussing internal information. Credit Suisse has begun paying back money from the supply chain finance funds to investors. The first payments totaling just over $3 billion were made to investors earlier this week, according to an investor Q&A on the banks website. Further proceeds will be distributed in several installments. Many of the assets in the funds have insurance protection to make them more appealing for investors seeking alternatives to money markets, but a major insurer Japans Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. has since questioned the validity of the contracts with Greensill Capital. Greensills stunning fall in a matter of days was set in motion last year when Tokio Marines Bond & Credit Co. unit decided not to renew policies covering billions of dollars of loans the supply chain finance firm made. Protection against default on some $4.6 billion in credit lapsed this month after a futile effort by Greensill to get an injunction to keep it going, court documents show. Apart from the loss of insurance, Credit Suisse also pointed to separate valuation uncertainties for some of the funds holdings. A large portion of the assets had early on been tied to industrialist Sanjeev Gupta, Bloomberg has reported. Guptas GFG Alliance is now battling to negotiate a reprieve on its debt obligations to Greensill Capital. Photograph: Lights illuminate deserted office space inside a Credit Suisse Group AG office building at night in Muri, Bern, Switzerland, on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. Photo credit: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg. Related: Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Robert Owen arrived on the Greek island of Hydra in 1963, joining a storied exodus of boho expats that included Australian writers George Johnston and Charmian Clift. For a rebellious and curious kid from Wagga Wagga, enamoured with nature and Albert Namatjiras diaphanous watercolours, Europe unlocked a world of ideas. Canadian Leonard Cohen, then an aspiring novelist and poet, became a mentor. Leonard introduced me to the I Ching, the artist recalls. George and Charm gave me a copy of the Greek myths by Robert Graves. I didnt know anything about Greek history. I left school at 15. Artist Robert Owen: I was interested in this inner self, thats the soul inside thats full of light. Credit:Justin McManus Still curious and enthusiastic at 83, Owen enjoins me to read a Cohen quote pinned above a long desk in his neat Collingwood studio. It expresses his own artistic life: I treat this world that surrounds me with the integrity and dignity necessary to bring it through me to everyone else. Books, artworks, and posters from past shows surround him. Sculptures of abstracted hypercubes hover above like drawings in space personal zodiacs connecting newfound constellations. Under glass on a shelf perches Oscar, his stuffed pet cockatiel. A few moments later Owen is flipping through a diary he kept in Greece. He chuckles at the prescience of the first entry. Below his drawing of Earth, Owen has written it remains where it is but as for me I am passing. Campus News Donors leverage match program to enhance diversity initiatives Jeffrey and Irene Jacobson have endowed the Irene and Jeffrey Jacobson Fellowship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the School of Management. The two-year fellowship will fund a first- and second-year MBA student every year. By JENNIFER BOSCIA SMITH If you exclude half the population who happens to be female, which has happened for the longest time in the executive ranks, or African Americans or Hispanics and others, you are not integrating the best of the best in your business. To address such inequities, the Jacobsons endowed the Irene and Jeffrey Jacobson Fellowship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the School of Management. The two-year fellowship will fund a first- and second-year MBA student every year. In addition to receiving full cost of education support, Jacobson fellows will build leadership skills by participating in the schools diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. And with the universitys match, the Jacobsons immediately doubled the impact of their philanthropy. If you exclude half the population who happens to be female, which has happened for the longest time in the executive ranks, or African Americans or Hispanics and others, you are not integrating the best of the best in your business, he says. During his career, which included a stint as the CEO of Xerox, Jacobson says he has always wanted to hire the best person because it adds value to his business. But he knows that barriers to career advancement continue to exist. Jeffrey Jacobson, BS 81, and his wife, Irene, are dedicated supporters of UB. They were inspired to create a fellowship at the School of Management their second focused on diversity when they learned that their gift would result in double their intended impact, thanks to UBs Inclusive Excellence Scholarship and Program Initiative. Jeffrey and Irene Jacobson doubled the impact of their gift to UB, thanks to UBs Inclusive Excellence Scholarship and Program Initiative. The Inclusive Excellence Scholarship and Program Initiative was created by President Satish K. Tripathi earlier this year to encourage donors to make commitments to the university in support of endowed scholarships or programs that promote the core principles of inclusive excellence: equity, inclusion and diversity. Tripathi recently earmarked $2 million of a $10 million gift to UB from Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation, a medical records corporation founded by former professor Carl V. Granger, to match gifts that meet the initiatives standards. UB is committed to developing programs that attract and support students from all backgrounds including underrepresented minorities as we believe that true innovation occurs when diverse viewpoints are engaged, says Rod Grabowski, vice president for university advancement. The excitement that this match initiative has created among our alumni and friends has been remarkable, says Grabowski, noting that in the two months since the initiative was launched nearly all available funds have been allocated to new endowed scholarships and programs. To date, the initiative, which matches endowed gifts ranging from $25,000 to $250,000, has generated over $2.3 million in new commitments in support of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as part of the universitys comprehensive Boldly Buffalo campaign. Spanning nine of UBs schools and programs from the School of Public Health and Health Professions to the Department of Theatre and Dance in the College of Arts and Sciences these new gifts will support scholarships and fellowships for underrepresented minorities, experiential learning opportunities that are key to success post-graduation, and programs that will benefit the health and well-being of the Western New York community. When the match has been fully exhausted, more than $4.3 million will have been committed to supporting inclusive excellence at UB. Grabowski says his team has been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response this match has engendered. I offer my thanks to all those, like Jeff and Irene, who have stepped forward to support this important initiative and who are partnering with UB to ensure that the university benefits from an inclusive and diversified community in perpetuity, he says. Our donors and friends have shown that diversity is an issue that means a lot to them. We encourage others who want to help UB grow in this vital area to contact the universitys advancement office to learn more. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection of Poland has adopted a resolution allowing Linas Agro Group to implement the concentration and acquire the companies belonging to KG Group. Authorizations for concentrations have already been obtained by Linas Agro Group from the Latvian and Estonian competition authorities. The decision of the Lithuanian and Russian competition authorities on the implementation of the concentration is currently awaited. AB Linas Agro Group has signed share purchase agreements for acquisition of controlling stakes in AB Kauno Grudai, AB Kaisiadoriu Paukstynas, AB Vilniaus Paukstynas and related companies on October 1, 2020. About AB Linas Agro Group AB Linas Agro Group, together with its subsidiaries makes the Group of Companies established in 1991 and operates in four countries - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine. All companies within the Group employ more than 2,100 people. The consolidated revenue of the Group during the last financial year (2019/2020) amounted to 658 million euros. The companies of the Group produce, handle and merchandise agricultural and food products, also provide products and services for farming. The Group is the leading exporter of Lithuanian and Latvian grain and has own network of 13 grain elevators. It is also one of the leaders in supplies of agricultural inputs (such as certified seeds, fertilizers and agricultural machinery) in Lithuania and has a seed processing plant. The Group owns seven agricultural companies in Lithuania and is a major milk producer. It is the biggest poultry producer in Latvia and has four poultry companies there: AS Putnu fabrika Kekava, CIA Lielzeltini, SIA Broileks, SIA Cerova. Mazvydas Sileika, Finance Director of AB Linas Agro Group Mob. +370 619 19 403 E-mail m.sileika@linasagro.lt Members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma LP have offered roughly $4.3 billion to resolve sprawling opioid litigation, up from $3 billion initially proposed in settlement discussions underway in the OxyContin makers bankruptcy proceedings, four people familiar with the matter said. Sackler family members are now willing to contribute $4.275 billion to help settle about 3,000 lawsuits brought by U.S. communities seeking to hold them and Purdue responsible for damage wrought by the opioid epidemic, the sources said. Purdue and representatives for the Sacklers declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests. Details of a far-reaching settlement could be outlined in a Purdue reorganization plan filed in a U.S. bankruptcy court next week. Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019 facing on onslaught of opioid litigation. In November, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company pleaded guilty to three felonies arising from its marketing of prescription opioid painkillers. A previous proposed settlement that Purdue values at more than $10 billion guaranteed $3 billion from the Sacklers over seven years, with additional funds from family members contingent on sales of other international businesses they own. That offer as a practical matter decreased to $2.775 billion after the Sacklers agreed to pay $225 million to settle a Justice Department civil probe. Under terms of the latest proposal, the Sacklers could still use proceeds from sales of those businesses to cover the higher $4.275 billion payout, but would need to make good on it regardless. It is not clear how long the Sacklers would take to pay the proposed higher amount, but it would likely be a period of years, the sources said. ONGOING NEGOTIATIONS Settlement negotiations are ongoing and no final agreement, including on how much the Sacklers will pay, has yet been reached among the family members, Purdue and U.S. communities suing over the opioid crisis. Elsewhere in the settlement negotiations, some litigants have been pushing for Purdue to explore a sale in lieu of a current proposal to dissolve itself and shift assets to a public benefit company or similar entity run on behalf of plaintiffs and no longer controlled by the Sacklers, two people familiar with the matter said. Attorneys general from two dozen states and Washington, D.C., have opposed that plan because the new entity would continue selling OxyContin, which they view as improperly entangling them with the addictive painkiller. Purdue in November admitted to defrauding U.S. officials and paying illegal kickbacks to both doctors and an electronic healthcare records vendor, part of widespread criminal misconduct that facilitated improper opioid prescriptions. The company overall agreed to $8.3 billion in criminal in civil penalties to resolve U.S. Justice Department probes, most of which will go unpaid. A $3.54 billion criminal penalty and $2.8 billion civil penalty are set to be considered alongside trillions of dollars in unsecured claims as part of Purdues bankruptcy proceedings. Purdue agreed to pay $225 million toward a $2 billion criminal forfeiture, with the Justice Department foregoing the rest if the companys bankruptcy reorganization creates a public benefit company or similar entity steering the remaining $1.775 billion to U.S. communities for combating the opioid crisis. Sackler family members have not been criminally charged. They agreed to pay $225 million to resolve allegations they caused false claims for OxyContin to be made to government healthcare programs such as Medicare. They have denied the allegations. The opioid epidemic has claimed the lives of roughly 450,000 people across the United States since 1999 due to overdoses from prescription painkillers and illegal drugs such as heroin and fentanyl, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Purdues bankruptcy filing halted litigation against the company and its Sackler family owners. Since then, the company has been working toward proposing a reorganization plan that would serve as blueprint for settling the thousands of outstanding lawsuits. Purdues proposal to resolve cases in a deal it values at more than $10 billion is largely contingent on future donations of overdose reversal and addiction treatment medications the company has under development. How much the Sacklers will contribute has long been a key sticking point in negotiations among family members, Purdue and plaintiffs. Many states rejected their initial $3 billion offer as too low. In December, two Sackler family members offered apologies when testifying before a congressional panel over the role OxyContin played in the opioid crisis. The family members, both of whom previously served on Purdues board, insisted they were assured by management that the company was meeting regulatory and legal requirements as the opioid crisis unfolded. (Reporting by Mike Spector; Editing by Nick Zieminski) SAN FRANCISCO - A woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of pepper-spraying an Uber driver in San Francisco who was coughed at and insulted after he demanded a passenger wear a mask, police announced. SAN FRANCISCO - A woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of pepper-spraying an Uber driver in San Francisco who was coughed at and insulted after he demanded a passenger wear a mask, police announced. Malaysia King, 24, was arrested in Las Vegas on suspicion of assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery and other charges. She was being held without bail. It wasn't immediately clear whether she had an attorney to speak on her behalf. Arna Kimiai, 24, who also was sought in connection with Saturday's attack, indicated through legal counsel that she intended to turn herself in soon, a San Francisco Police Department statement said. The behaviour captured on video in this incident showed a callous disregard for the safety and wellbeing of an essential service worker in the midst of a deadly pandemic, Lt. Tracy McCray, who heads the Police Departments Robbery Detail, said in the statement. The Uber driver, Subhakar Khadkas, was attacked in the city's Bayview District after he picked up three women. When he noticed one woman wasn't masked, Khadkas stopped the ride and told the passengers he couldn't continue, according to police. A video then shows the women in the back seat berating Khadka, using profanities while the car is stopped on the shoulder of a highway. At one point, the woman without the mask coughs on him, grabs his cellphone from the centre dash area and rips off his face mask. Khadka told KPIX-TV Tuesday that after the women got out of the car, another of the women pepper-sprayed him through the front passenger window. Khadka says he had to get out of his car because it became difficult to breathe. I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way, Khadka said. Khadka said he believes he was attacked because he is a South Asian immigrant. He came to the U.S. eight years ago and works hard to support his family in Nepal. Uber said in a statement Thursday that it had banned all three riders. Uber does not tolerate racism or hate in any form, against any community," the statement said. CALGARY, AB, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Top Strike Resources Corp. d.b.a. "Vencanna Ventures" (the "Corporation" or "Vencanna") (CSE: VENI) (OTCQB: TPPRF) announces that it has entered into a loan agreement dated March 11, 2021 with The Cannavative Group LLC ("Cannavative"), a leading premium cannabis brand in the state of Nevada, whereby Vencanna will loan Cannavative US$2.0 million for facility expansion and general working capital purposes (the "Loan"). Vencanna is also pleased to announce that it has entered into an exclusive non-binding letter of intent with Cannavative dated January 25, 2021 (the "LOI"), pursuant to which Vencanna will acquire all of the common shares in the capital of Cannavative in an all share exchange through the issuance of an aggregate of 360,000,000 common shares of Vencanna ("Vencanna Shares") at a deemed issuance price of US$0.05 per Vencanna Share (the "Transaction"). The Transaction will be completed pursuant to a share purchase, take-over bid, or other similar structure or statutory procedure under the laws of Nevada. The Transaction is subject to, among other things, the execution of a definitive agreement between Vencanna and Cannavative (the "Definitive Agreement") and customary closing conditions. The Transaction is expected to constitute a "Fundamental Change" pursuant to the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") and is subject to the acceptance of the CSE and the approval of shareholders of Vencanna. Shareholders holding not less than 50% plus one Vencanna Share of the issued and outstanding Vencanna Shares will approve the Transaction by way of written resolution. It is anticipated that the Definitive Agreement will be executed as expeditiously as possible, and the Transaction is expected to be completed in the summer of 2021. Pursuant to the LOI, Cannavative has agreed to deal exclusively with Vencanna with regard to the Transaction. The all-share transaction closely aligns our respective principals and shareholders. Management and the board of directors of Vencanna post-Transaction will be comprised of professionals from both parties, creating a dynamic, integrated team, with the full capabilities to execute on all aspects of the Cannavative business plan. The attractive valuation, and being well capitalized with strong revenues and cash flow, will offer material upside, thereby further enabling Vencanna to exploit and accelerate on additional accretive transactions. The Loan matures on March 11, 2022, at which time Cannavative will repay the Loan in its entirety including any accrued interest. Prior to the execution of the Definitive Agreement, interest on the Loan shall be 17.5% per annum. Upon execution of the Definitive Agreement, interest shall be reduced to 12.5% per annum. Further, if Cannavative enters into an alternative transaction with a third party or if any break fee is payable by Cannavative pursuant to the terms of the Definitive Agreement, the Loan will accelerate to the day that is 30 days from such event. Certain lenders to Cannavative will enter into subordination or similar agreements providing that the Loan is senior in right of payment to such indebtedness of Cannavative. The Loan will also include customary positive and negative financial and operating covenants providing Vencanna with oversight over Cannavative's operations while the parties execute the Transaction. About Cannavative Cannavative is a leading premium cannabis brand in the state of Nevada, producing a wide variety of flower and extracted products, including its award-winning brand, the Motivator [infused pre-roll]. Cannavative's products are sold in over 80% of the state's dispensaries and retail outlets, resulting in monthly revenues approaching US$1.5 million per month. Their top products include the Motivator, Private Reserve Flower, and Resin8. Cannavative was a gold and silver medalist at the 2020 Las Vegas Cannabis Awards. In 2019 they won the Jack Herer Cup for their vape pen, the Sativa Clementine, and in 2018, Leafly named them the Best Flower Products brand. Based in Reno, Nevada, they have over 10,000 square feet ("sf") of indoor cultivation and 2,800 sf of greenhouse, with the ability to expand to 50,000 sf indoors and 280,000 sf of greenhouse grow space. In addition, the facility houses a 10,000 sf state-of-the-art pharmaceutical-grade extraction lab and kitchen. With capital-light expansion ability, the Loan will enable Cannavative to meet its growing demand. As an established and recognized brand, Cannavative will be looking to leverage its premium SOP's and products to expand into additional states where they have already received demand from the Nevada tourist industry. Nevada Market During the COVID-19 pandemic, international travel was almost non-existent and domestic travel was limited, resulting in Nevada tourism dropping to levels the state hasn't seen since 1993. This initially had a negative impact on cannabis sales as May 2020 saw sales down by 25% YOY. However, with tourism starting to return, and local resident purchases materially increasing, aggregate cannabis sales in December reached $75 million, or 23% higher than the previous December. BDS Analytics projects the market to grow to $1.0 billion of annual sales in 2021 and $1.2 billion in 2022. Message from Vencanna's Chief Executive Officer, David McGorman "The US cannabis market continues to expand as additional states legalize medical and recreational use. Currently, 75% of the US population in 38 states has access to medical marijuana, and 15 of those states have given the green light for recreational use. The combination of Vencanna and Cannavative offers our shareholders immediate participation in the largest and most dynamic cannabis market. Adding in our investments, including outstanding applications, along with an attractive opportunity landscape, Vencanna is well positioned for growth." Message from Cannavative's Chief Revenue Officer, Jason Crum "Cannavative is thrilled to join forces with Vencanna, a partner that not only brings the capital necessary to fuel our continued growth but also the industry expertise to expand our footprint to wherever legal cannabis is sold. As a combined entity, we will draw on both companies' extensive experience to push the boundaries of innovation in cannabis while remaining focused on delivering the highest quality products to consumers." Corporate Update Vencanna has been a disciplined steward of investor capital since inception, making over $13.0 million in investments with an average per annum return of 21%. The Corporation's current investments include Galenas LLC ("Galenas OH"), an Ohio Level II cultivator, and Galenas New Jersey LLC ("Galenas NJ"), a dispensary and cultivation license applicant in the state of New Jersey. Our insiders continue to support the Corporation having purchased over 12 million shares, and in addition the Corporation's normal course issuer bid has acquired another 6.7 million shares. Galenas OH is one of 33 licensed cultivators in the state of Ohio, and is the only organic certified cultivator in the state. Their 10,000-sf facility won Architect Newspaper's 2019 Best Green Building Award. The facility currently has 5,000 sf of cultivation with significant expansion potential on the property. Galenas OH's products command top tier pricing and are sold in all 52 operating dispensaries in the state. According to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, state sales in 2020 exceeded $220.0 million in its first full year of medical cannabis sales. Annualizing the most recent monthly sales would equate to over $300.0 million. The Galenas NJ applications were submitted in August 2019. However, the announcement of the winning applications has been delayed due to a legal challenge, and challenges related to the pandemic. However, on Feb 18, 2021, the New Jersey appellate court ruled in favour of the state and lifted the stay on issuing the 24 licenses (4 vertical licenses, 5 cultivation licenses and 15 dispensary licenses). While timing of when the licenses will be awarded is unknown, the application process is no longer being held up. This is all the more important given that on February 22, 2021, New Jersey legalized adult use cannabis. There currently are only 12 vertically integrated medical cannabis licenses in the state. Vencanna holds a 60% interest in the cultivation application and a 54% interest in the dispensary application. Cannabis reform has become more of a reality now that the Democrats control both the Senate and Congress. Senate Majority Leader Schumer has been on record to work to move cannabis reform legislation, such as the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, a bill to federally de-schedule cannabis. It's not clear at this time what the cannabis reform proposal will entail, or when it will be released, however Rep. Schumer has said lawmakers are in the process of merging various pieces of legislation, which could include his own cannabis de-scheduling bill that he filed in the last two Congresses. About Vencanna On September 24, 2018, the Corporation announced the completion of a recapitalization financing, the appointment of a new management team and board of directors and commencement of trading on the CSE. The transactions have transitioned the Corporation from an oil and gas issuer to a merchant capital firm, rebranded as "Vencanna Ventures Inc.". The recapitalized Corporation aims to be a go-to capital provider for early-stage global cannabis initiatives with an emphasis on strong management operating in state compliant jurisdictions with barriers to entry. The Corporation looks to provide investors with a diversified, high-growth, cannabis investment strategy through strategic investments focused through-out the value chain (cultivation, processing and distribution, and including ancillary businesses). Reader Advisories Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including, but not limited to, the execution of the Definitive Agreement, acceptance of the CSE and shareholder approval. The Transaction cannot close until the required CSE and shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. The CSE has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may include forward-looking statements including opinions, assumptions, estimates, the Corporation's assessment of future plans and investment strategy, and, more particularly: the signing of a Definitive Agreement in respect of the Transaction, including the terms thereof; timing for completion of the Transaction; required approvals for the completion of the Transaction and the expected receipt thereof; the business plan of the Corporation and Cannavative, including the business plan of the go-forward entity after completion of the Transaction; the anticipated benefits of the Transaction; the market for medical cannabis in the United States; the state of the cannabis market and U.S. regulatory changes in respect thereof; the effects of COVID-19 on the operations of Cannavative and the Nevada cannabis industry, generally; and the Corporation's investments in Galenas Ohio and Galena NJ and expectations regarding the business plans of such companies. When used in this news release, the words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by the Corporation, including expectations and assumptions concerning: the Transaction, including CSE and shareholder approvals, the execution of the Definitive Agreement in respect thereof and the satisfaction of other closing conditions in accordance with the terms of the Definitive Agreement; the future operations of, and transactions contemplated by, the Corporation and Cannavative; the impact of increasing competition; timing and amount of capital expenditures; the legislative and regulatory environments of the jurisdictions where the Corporation will carry on business, have operations or plan to have operations; the ability of the Corporation to enter into contracts with companies to provide financing on acceptable terms; conditions in general economic and financial markets; the ability of the Corporation's investments to execute on their business plan; and the Corporation's ability to obtain additional financing on satisfactory terms or at all. Forward-looking statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties, and although the Corporation believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will be realized. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, changes to global cannabis laws, how the developing U.S. legal regime will impact the cannabis industry, the ability of the Corporation to implement its corporate strategy, the state of domestic and international capital markets, the ability to obtain financing, changes in general market conditions and other factors more fully described from time to time in the reports and filings made by the Corporation with securities regulatory authorities. Except as required by applicable laws, the Corporation does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. To the knowledge of Vencanna's management, Vencanna's investments, including Galenas Ohio and Galenas NJ, are not in any material non-compliance with applicable licensing requirements and the regulatory framework enacted by the states in which such investments operate. SOURCE Top Strike Resources Corp. Related Links http://topstrikeresources.com/ Dr. Brent Roussin and Dr. Joss Reimer both had occasion to speak this week about one year at the helm of pandemic management. Advertisement Advertise With Us Dr. Brent Roussin and Dr. Joss Reimer both had occasion to speak this week about one year at the helm of pandemic management. Roussin is the provinces chief public health officer, and Reimer is the medical lead for the vaccine implementation task force. "In some ways, it feels like its been a lot more than a year and, in some ways, I cant believe that were already a year since the first case. It has been a bit of a blur, I think, for most of us in public health, who havent had much of a chance to take a breath in the last year," said Reimer. However, she said she was pleasantly surprised with how quickly vaccines became available. "Weve never seen the whole world come together to work so efficiently creating a new vaccine like we have, in this case. If you would have asked me in the fall when I thought a vaccine would be ready, I would not have said December," she said. "I would have thought it would have been into 2021." Reimer said it has been exciting to play a small role in getting Manitoba back to some version of normal, and as part of an amazing team. The province deployed almost 700,000 vaccines in 2009 and 2010. "Now were talking about millions of doses. So we set up brand new supersites, pop-up clinics and these tailored FIT (focused immunization) teams. And I think most of us on the task force are eager to get going even more than we are," said Reimer. Roussin said its tough to sum up the year but he walked through the peaks and valleys. "The pre-pandemic stage seems like a different lifetime ago to me and other people. I think that, early on, we went from hearing of a virus that we werent yet sure of its pandemic potential to one that quickly made its way around the world to quickly cause a lot of mortality," he said. He also mentioned the risk presented by international travel, then community transmission. Next came a fairly nice spring and summer. "Only to be hit with a very hard second wave," said Roussin. "Now were back to where we were in the spring and summer, where we start seeing numbers trending down. So we have to be really cognizant that we cant see that repeat of what we had in November and December. We have to stay cognizant of that." The vaccine needs to be rolled out, and it would be challenging to do with a 10 or 14 per cent positivity rate the province experienced in the fall and winter. Reimer said the task force cannot wait to get more doses and get them to Manitobans as quickly as possible. "Get this year behind us as quickly as possible, as well, and maybe start to feel a bit more normal as we go into the summer," she said. Roussin said there absolutely is reason to be optimistic. "But that doesnt mean we can let our guard down." 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. NEW DELHI: To commemorate the 75th year of Indias Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off a padyatra (foot march) similar to the Dandi March or Salt Satyagrah carried out by the Father of the Nation Mahatama Gandhi in 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. PM Modi will inaugurate the curtain-raiser activities of Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav. This Mahotsav will comprise a series of cultural events organised by the Government of India. The 'padyatra' to be flagged off by the PM, will be undertaken by 81 marchers from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to Dandi in Navsari, and this 241-mile- long journey will end on 5th April. Back in 2005, the Congress-led UPA government had organised a similar march to mark 75 years of the 1930 Dandi March. A memorial called the 'National Salt Satyagraha Memorial' was inaugurated in 2019 in Dandi, Gujarat to honour the activists and participants of the Salt Satyagraha and their struggle for Indias independence. The 1930 Dandi March was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi as a means of non-violent protest against the British Regime on salt production. Mahatma Gandhi started the 24-day long march on 12 March 1930 and concluded it on April 5 in Dandi. By breaking the British salt laws, Mahatma Gandhi sparked-off a large-scale Civil Disobedience Movement' which helped India achieve independence. It also gave impetus to the Indian Independence Movement. The Salt March was based on one of Gandhis most important principles of satyagraha. The Sanskrit origin word satyagraha comes from 2 words 'satya' meaning truth and agraha meaning insistence. Gandhi loosely translated the word into English as truth-force'. For the march, Gandhi wanted strict adherence to the principles of satyagraha and ahimsa. For this reason, he recruited the marchers, not from any political party, but from the residents of his own ashram, who were thoroughly trained in the principles of satya and ahimsa. The salt march became a globally talked about event as it demonstrated the effective use of non-violent means to fight social and political injustices. Gandhiji and the Dandi march had a deep impact on leaders and activists Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhis decision to use salt or salt tax for organising this protest was a very unique one, as salt being a daily use item, resonated with more people irrespective of caste, gender, or religion. A few days before beginning the march, Gandhi wrote to Lord Irwin, offering to stop the march if their demands like the abolition of salt tax among others were met. But the British underestimated the impact of the salt march and only after the protest gathered steam did they realise the power of salt as a symbol. GENEVA (Reuters) - Dozens of countries including the United States called on Russia on Friday to release Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny saying his imprisonment was unlawful and demanding an investigation into his poisoning last year. In a statement read out by Poland to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, they said that actions by Russian authorities against the opposition leader were "unacceptable and politically motivated". The 45 countries were mainly European but also included Australia, Canada and Japan. Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was jailed for two and a half years last month over alleged parole violations related to an embezzlement case he said was trumped up for political reasons, something the authorities deny. "We call on the Russian Federation for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Navalny and of all those unlawfully or arbitrarily detained, including for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of religion or belief," the joint statement said. "We are also concerned by the large number of arbitrary arrests of protesters who were expressing their support for Mr Navalny in many Russian cities," the statement added. Russia has previously described such criticism as interference in its internal affairs. Britain's ambassador, Julian Braithwaite, said it was "disgraceful" that Navalny, who was poisoned last year with what Western countries say was a military-grade nerve agent, had been jailed while the poisoning was not investigated. On Friday, Navalny's lawyers said he had been moved from a jail in Russia's Vladimir region and his whereabouts were unknown. U.N. human rights experts said on March 1 that Russia was to blame for the attempt to kill Navalny, and called for an international investigation into his poisoning. Moscow denies poisoning Navalny and says it has seen no evidence. Story continues "Todays statement should be just the start of greater Council scrutiny and action to end the crackdown," John Fisher of New York-based Human Rights Watch said. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and entities over the Navalny case. The Kremlin called the moves absurd, unjustified and void of any real impact. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Philippa Fletcher) The death of the Southern University nursing student who went missing for nearly two weeks and was found dead in Lake Pontchartrain on Thursday is being investigated by New Orleans police as a homicide, according to a family member. The mother of Marquise Jones said Friday that detectives havent told her how her 21-year-old son was slain only that they believe someone killed him before he turned up in the lake. I want people to know that this was a very good person who they took, Erica Jones said. If they wouldve given him a chance, he wouldve shined. But they didnt give him a chance. Detectives were still waiting for the Orleans Parish Coroners Office to complete its investigation into the cause and manner of Jones' death, the agency said in a statement. Missing Southern University student ID'd as victim found in Lake Pontchartrain The Southern University student who went missing for nearly two weeks was found dead in Lake Pontchartrain on Thursday afternoon, a family mem Marquise Jones family last saw him alive the night of Feb. 26, when he dropped food off at his mothers home in Slidell. According to Erica Jones, friends of her son said he went to a house party that day in the 2600 block of Onzaga Street near the Fairgrounds and left about 11:30 p.m. On March 5, a week later, police found Marquise Jones car parked in front of an abandoned apartment complex in New Orleans East. Police at the time acknowledged they were investigating the possibility that Jones disappearance resulted from foul play. The search for the Southern student ended about 3:15 p.m., when a crabber in the lake near Bonnabel Boulevard in Metairie saw Jones body floating on the water and called the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office. Deputies took off from the Bonnabel Boat Launch and recovered Jones body. Realizing Jones was actually found in waters in New Orleans, they turned the investigation over to the NOPD, according to officials with both agencies. 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 Erica Jones said she was shattered to learn her son had been found dead. She said he wanted to be a nurse since he was at Salmen High School in Slidell. He honestly just liked helping people, said Erica Jones, stifling sobs as she spoke. I believe he wouldve gone far in nursing, but well never know that. Erica Jones said Marquise was the second oldest of her six children, and the oldest of her three boys. He was especially close to his 13-year-old brother, Camron. Marquise would take Camron for long drives in his car, stay up late talking to him, and tell him stories about his adventures in and out of the classroom at Southern, according to Erica Jones. When Marquise and Camron were apart, they texted and spoke on the phone incessantly. My 13-year-old is taking it hard very hard, Erica Jones said. He was the best big brother. Theres nothing he wouldnt do or try to accomplish for his siblings. Erica Jones said she cant fathom why anyone would want to hurt Marquise, and she is praying that anyone who knows what happened comes forward to help detectives. Please, Erica Jones said. Marquise wouldve helped this world if they would have just given him the chance. The last time that Washington-Jones talked to her daughters was Feb. 26, which was a Friday, in the late afternoon. The original plan for the day, DaNetra said, was for Washington-Jones and her granddaughter to have a lunch date but DaNetra was busy with work and canceled. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has given the strongest indication that his government will soon re-engage Parliament on the way forward on the Agyapa Mineral Royalties transaction. Delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA) Tuesday 9 March, Akufo-Addo said the deal which was suspended last year will be revisited soon. Let me, at this point, assure the House that, in the course of this session of Parliament, Government will come back to engage the House on the steps it intends to take on the future of the Agyapa transaction, Akufo-Addo served notice. The announcement is coming barely a month after Databank withdrew from the controversial deal as transactional advisor. The decision, it says was based on attempt by certain persons to tarnish its reputation. Earlier, some 15 civil society groups had called for the termination of the deal arguing that it lacks transparency. Background In 2018, Parliament passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 which establishes the fund to manage the equity interests of Ghana in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of the government. The purpose of the fund is to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country. The government then, through the Minerals Income Investments Fund(MIIF), set up Agyapa Royalties Limited to monetize Ghanas gold royalties. This was after Parliament on August 14, 2020, approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited agreement with the government of Ghana despite the walkout by the minority. In exchange, the company plans to raise between $500 million and up to about $1 billion for the government on the Ghana and London Stock Exchanges to invest in developmental projects. The deal, however, has become a topical issue following concerns first by the opposition National Democratic Congress leading up to the December 2020 general elections. On August 14, 2020, a few days after approving an amendment to the MIIF Act, the Minority walked out during the approval process of the very transaction agreements, the facilitation of which the amendment to the Funds statute was amended. Civil society groups quickly added their voices to the opposition, describing the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), being created then, Agyapa Royalties of Jersey, as not being transparent, potentially corrupt, under valued and that it must be suspended for greater stakeholder involvement, according to some of the dissenting voice. The government has however insisted that the deal is in the best interest of the country. The President, last year, directed the Finance Minister and Attorney General to review the transaction agreements and make necessary adjustment to address some of the concerns raised by stakeholders, where appropriate. Source: asaaseradio 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 Acting Features Editor Jennifer Huberdeau is the acting features editor. Prior to The Eagle, she worked at The North Adams Transcript. She is a 2020 New England First Amendment Institute Fellow and a 2010 BCBS Health Care Fellow. I was outraged when I read Jim Shipleys rambling column Unleashing the Hounds of Hell in the Feb. 26 Heritage. Mr. Shipley seems intent to continue to stoke the fires of Trump hatred, even though he is out of office. He makes undue assumptions about President Trumps mindset and intentions and perpetuates lies and inaccuracies. I was first struck by Shipleys statement that when President Trump was elected in 2016 We did not know a whole lot about the guy. Donald Trump had been in the public eye in New York City for most of his adult life and had been on TV for many ye... 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. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Behind closed doors lawyers are negotiating how much Louisiana taxpayers are going to pay for defending an anti-abortion law the U.S. Supreme Court twice found unconstitutional. The parties wont discuss the negotiations. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles, of Baton Rouge, has ordered them to keep quiet. But a review of publicly available records from the federal court and state government, suggest taxpayers will be asked to pony up at least $8 million to perhaps more than $10 million just to pay the lawyers on both sides in June Medical Services, a case in which the Supreme Court twice killed the law that required physicians performing the legal pregnancy-ending procedure have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Attorney General Jeff Landry, who lost, contracted for about $2.5 million two private firms to handle much of the case, according to the state records. Counsel for the abortion clinics and physicians sought $4.7 million in 2017. That amount has surely grown, according to court filings, after Landry made a second go at defending the constitutionality of the admitting privileges law that the high court found unconstitutional in 2016 and again in 2020. These are aggressive and unnecessary challenges thats costing taxpayers a lot of money and they dont have a lot of success to show for it, said Ellie Schilling, a New Orleans commercial litigator who is recognized as one the nations leading authorities on reproductive rights law. She said that in addition to employing outside lawyers, Landry also assigned a brace of the Department of Justices 78 assistant attorney generals who deal with civil matters and whose salaries are already baked into the departments $81.3 million budget. Theres no reason to have hire outside counsel for these cases, at all. They could handle these cases in-house. And if they did it that way, then we as taxpayers would have already paid the salaries of the people working on these cases, Schilling said. U.S. Supreme Court decides to hear major abortion case over 2014 Louisiana law The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear oral arguments surrounding a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileg Benjamin Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, a Metairie-based group that opposes abortion, countered: Louisiana should be proud that Attorney General Jeff Landry and his office did everything they could to defend the constitutionality of our laws, the health and safety of Louisiana women, and the sanctity of life. Shamefully, the Louisiana abortion industry, rather than improve its safety standards, ran to federal court looking for another loophole, Clapper continued. While the abortion industry may be pleased with receiving legal fees from the state in this case, they know the June Medical decision damaged their goal of abortion-on-demand. Louisiana is defending constitutional challenges to dozens of restrictions that limit abortion procedures passed by legislators, which led the national anti-abortion organization, Americans United for Life, to name Louisiana the most pro-life state in America. But Louisiana lawmakers seemed to have costly litigation in mind when in May 2019 they passed a law forbidding any pregnancy terminating procedures once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which often is as early as 6 weeks, before most women are aware they are pregnant. Louisiana included a caveat that the law wouldnt go into effect until a similar Mississippi law was cleared by the federal courts. This Louisiana abortion law could become a major U.S. Supreme Court case next year Louisianas new abortion restrictions made national headlines earlier this year. Now, a 2014 state law could play a major part in the future Last years admitting privileges appeal was considered the most substantial abortion case in years. The July 31, 2020 final judgment for the abortion clinics and their physicians launched negotiations between the June Medical lawyers over how much the state would pay the winners. Under federal law, the losing party, the State of Louisiana, must pay attorney fees and court costs. The final agreement must be approved Judge deGravelles. Lawyers for both sides have met several times, the last time on March 3 over a closed video circuit with U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard L. Bourgeois Jr., of Baton Rouge, presiding. The next day Bourgeois entered a note in the court record saying that a few remaining issues remain and the parties would continue negotiating. New Louisiana anti-abortion law on hold as doctors challenge recent court ruling Enforcement of new anti-abortion restrictions will have to wait as the physicians who challenged Act 620s constitutionality asked for a revie Attorney General Landry on March 4 said wouldnt discuss the talks. Those are good faith negotiations with them that are ongoing. And in order to ensure the integrity of those negotiations, I wont make any further comment, Landry said. Lawyers for the physicians and clinics referred all queries to counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy group based in New York, who also refused comment. In its landmark June 2016 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-3 votes to reject a 2013 Texas law that was nearly identical to Act 620 passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2014. The high court ruled that the Texas law created restrictions on the delivery of abortion services that were an undue burden for women seeking an abortion. The number of abortion clinics in Texas had declined from 42 to 19. When the Louisiana law went into effect on Feb. 15, 2016, two of the states six clinics closed. +4 Louisiana pushing anti-abortion agenda 'just as strongly' as other states with these proposed laws As lawmakers across the South and Midwest go on an anti-abortion legislating spree led by an Alabama law that would represent a near-total b The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Oversight of June Medical transferred in January 2016 from the Louisiana Department of Health to newly elected Attorney General Landry, who found enough differences between the Texas law and Louisianas Act 620 to continue the litigation. After a trial, Judge deGravelles in April 2017 found in favor of the abortion clinics and their physicians citing the Supreme Court decision and stopped the state from enforcing the law. Landry appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which on a 2-1 vote in September 2018 overturned deGravelles. The majority found that Louisiana differed, essentially, because the state was smaller and women seeking abortions didnt need to drive as far as in Texas. The case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. A split 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 2020 found that, like it did in 2016 when reviewing the nearly identical Texas law, Louisiana requirement that physicians associate with a nearby hospital threatened the ability of the clinics to operate and amounted to an unnecessary hurdle for women seeking the legal procedure. Chief Justice John Roberts, who was among the dissenters in the Texas case, joined the majority in the Louisiana challenge basically saying the high court had already ruled on the issue. +2 Why Louisiana's abortion amendment makes the Nov. 3 election 'a unique moment' for voters Eyes tend to glaze over when voters hit the constitutional amendments part of their ballot. Historically, 13% fewer votes are cast at the bott The winning lawyers, the ones for clinics and physicians in Louisiana, had asked on May 20, 2017 for $4.7 million to cover their three years of unpacking complex questions of constitutional law that required scientific interpretation, conducting more than two dozen sworn depositions, numerous discovery motions and litigating other side issues as well as six days of trial before deGravelles. Louisiana law forbids state and local government agencies from hiring any law firm that has been employed by an abortion provider. Many Louisiana law firms avoid such clients under the threat of losing its ability to obtain any business from the entire public sector within the statean enormous lost source of possible clients and revenue, according to court records. In 2017, the key lawyers requested payment: Center for Reproductive Rights, based in New York: $2,007,913 for eight lawyers charging between $480 and $800 per hour, plus $187,085 for expenses. Experts: Court decision on abortion won't have impact in southwestern Louisiana A Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana abortion law case will keep a Shreveport clinic open for now. Morrison Foerster LLP, of San Francisco: $2,477,848.75 for 10 attorneys charging between $296 and $775 per hour, plus $170,863.65 expenses Rittenberg Samuel & Phillips, of New Orleans: $28,381.50 at $450 per hour for one lawyer. The state had a right to continue litigating after the Supreme Courts decision on the Texas law, the winning lawyers said in their filings. But Louisiana was the only state out of a dozen to continue defending its admitting privileges law after the Supreme Courts decision on the Texas law. Since coming to office in 2016, Landry contracted to pay $2.5 million to two firms Schaerr Jaffe LLP and Dowd Scheffel PLLC, both of Washington, D.C. to augment his team of lawyers already on the state payroll, according to state records. U.S. Supreme Court hears Louisiana abortion case, which has national implications WASHINGTON Liz Murrill, Louisiana's solicitor general, stood in front of the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to defend a s A dozen Schaerr Jaffe lawyers were paid between $285 and $385 per hour through 2020, but also were paid a lower fee when they travelled. For instance, Baton Rouge native Kyle Duncan, who now sits on the 5th U.S. Circuit of Court of Appeals, was paid $866.25 while flying to Louisiana to meet with assistant attorney generals on March 5, 2018 about what was redacted by Landrys office from the public records. He made another $962.50 to fly back to Washington. Duncan, and the other lawyers in his firm, specialized in litigating conservative positions on social issues. For instance, Duncan led the winning litigation in which Hobby Lobby challenged of the Affordable Care Acts mandate that insurance companies have to offer coverage for contraception. Duncan was confirmed for a seat on the 5th Circuit on April 24, 2018 and resigned from the case and the law firm before being commissioned to the bench on May 1, 2018. But at the time of his departure the law firm was being paid about $100,000 a month by the State of Louisiana. +6 Hundreds march in downtown Baton Rouge to oppose abortion, encourage votes for new state amendment Tara Wicker shared her personal story with the several hundred people who marched Saturday in downtown Baton Rouge in opposition to abortion. People forget that we didnt bring this to the Supreme Court. They did, Landry said. We won the case at the 5th Circuit. Our constitutional obligation is to defend the laws of the state and the actions of the Legislature. I take that obligation very seriously. Though Landry ran for attorney general with the campaign slogan of "stop the Buddy system," which criticized incumbent Buddy Caldwell for paying lawyers from private firms to do the work that assistant attorney generals could do, Landry has contracted to spend more than $16 million for outside counsel in a variety of cases, including lawsuits involving environmental issues, coastal concerns, and voting rights, according to state records. Its important for people to really understand what the legislators and the attorney general are doing: They know full well that these laws are unconstitutional, said Michelle Erenberg, the executive director of LIFT Louisiana, a New Orleans-based advocacy group. They know what the case law is, they know what the precedent is. We tell them when we go to the Legislature that a lot of these laws are not going to pass constitutional scrutiny. We warn them that they will be challenged in court and they pass the laws anyway. Then the attorney general spends millions of dollars on outside counsel which they know are unconstitutional. People deserve better from their elected officials. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. GS25 opens 100th store in Vietnam (Source: Pulse News Korea) Seoul - GS Retail from the Republic of Korea (RoK) has opened its 100th GS25 store in Vietnam, at the Becamex Binh Duong building in the southern province of Binh Duong, according to RoK broadcaster KBS. GS expanded the chain to other localities like Binh Duong and Vung Tau following the launch of its first store in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018. It has officially begun franchising its brand, thus opening more than 100 stores each year in different localities around Vietnam, including Hanoi. In the first two months of this year, GS25 posted a revenue increase of 46.7 percent year-on-year in Vietnam, while opening an additional 33 stores - putting its total among the highest for a grocery brand in the country. Cafe25, GS25s coffee brand, saw revenue increase 283 percent year-on-year in the first two months. The firm plans to open its first store in Mongolia in the first half of this year. New Zealand has removed remaining coronavirus restrictions on the city of Auckland after containing a small outbreak. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday the city of 1.6 million would join the rest of the country in having no restrictions other than an ongoing requirement to wear masks on public transport and planes. After a community outbreak of 15 cases last month, Auckland was placed first into a three-day lockdown and later into a weeklong lockdown. Since the end of the second lockdown Sunday, the city had continuing restrictions on crowd sizes. New Zealand has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to the virus and eliminated community spread. "I know everybody in our largest city will be looking forward to a weekend with fewer restrictions, with life feeling mostly back to normal," Ardern said. "And Auckland deserves that. Once again, the city has stepped up." (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) Shocking footage shows a German paramedic allegedly punching a Syrian refugee in the face and breaking his cheekbone while he was strapped down. Police said they had restrained the 32-year-old Syrian after he allegedly attacked them with a ladder while drunk at a refugee shelter. But what they did not reveal was that after the man had been tied down he was apparently thumped in the head by the paramedic's fist - with police looking on. Surveillance footage of the punch has now been obtained by Bild, which reports that the paramedic has been fired and the police officers are under investigation. Strapped down: The Syrian man was strapped down to a gurney after he allegedly attacked police at a refugee shelter in Kassel Impact: The paramedic is seen aiming a punch towards the man's head - although one police statement cast doubt on whether it had connected with his face or with the side of the gurney Injured: The 32-year-old refugee recoils after being punched in the head by the paramedic, who his employers say has been summarily dismissed The events unfolded in Kassel last November and were described in a police statement at the time which made no mention of the punch. It said the Syrian man, Amar H, had drunkenly emptied a fire extinguisher at the refugee shelter before collapsing on the ground by the time police found him. Once he came round, he grabbed hold of a ladder to threaten officers and spat in their face after he was pepper-sprayed, police said. He allegedly continued to resist even once he was taken to an emergency vehicle, where one officer was apparently flung outside but not injured. The police statement said Amar H had spent the night sobering up in a police cell and faced numerous charges including attacking emergency services. But it has now emerged that he himself was attacked, as seen on the surveillance footage which also shows police apparently failing to intervene on his behalf. Questioned by Bild, police initially put out a statement questioning whether the punch had actually connected with the man's head or had just hit the side of the gurney. In a subsequent statement they admitted that the punch 'in the direction of the man's head' by the 44-year-old paramedic had been included in a police report. Watching on: At least police officers were there when the paramedic punched the man but the footage did not show them intervening A medical report found that Amar H had broken his cheekbone, according to Bild, prompting his furious lawyer Adnan Aykac (pictured) to file complaints against the paramedic and police One officer is seen directly looking on as the punch occurs, while another walks around the paramedic immediately afterwards rather than confronting him about it. A medical report found that Amar H had broken his cheekbone, according to Bild, prompting his furious lawyer to file complaints against the paramedic and police. Lawyer Adnan Aykac accused police of 'downplaying' the punch in what he said was adding further insult to his client's injury. Prosecutors in Kassel say they are looking into the incident but their investigation is still ongoing. Meanwhile, the paramedic's employers say he was summarily dismissed as soon as they became aware of the allegation. The paramedic's alleged actions were 'incompatible with the values of our aid organization,' they said, adding that they wanted to distance themselves from 'any kind of violence'. Aerial photo taken on Feb. 22, 2021 shows a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin Municipality. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo) "China's investment under the transportation network planning will definitely help boost the global logistics industry, the global supply chain and the transportation network," Pakistani political economist Shakeel Ramay told Xinhua. LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's plan to expand and modernize its transport network will boost connectivity, the allocation of global resources, and trade across the globe, experts have said. China recently unveiled a program called the "Global 1-2-3 Logistics Circle" to expand the country's strength in the transport sector over the next 15 years, setting long-term goals for the industry to develop a modern, high-quality and comprehensive national transport network. The aim is for one-day domestic delivery of goods in China, two-day delivery from neighboring countries, and three-day delivery to major global cities, according to guidelines jointly released last month by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. Aerial photo shows a China-Europe freight train bound for Helsinki, Finland, departing from Putian Station of Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Nov. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Hao Yuan) A SMALLER WORLD "China's investment under the transportation network planning will definitely help boost the global logistics industry, the global supply chain and the transportation network" against the backdrop of global economic setbacks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Shakeel Ramay, director of the China Study Center at the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute, told Xinhua recently. "It will lead to a better allocation of global resources as goods can be transported farther and faster with less energy," Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, told Xinhua. Developing countries that lie on China's doorstep will be major beneficiaries of the expected growth, Tourk said. The program lays the foundation for the construction of a territorial transportation corridor that serves many members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said. "As such, countries like Myanmar and Vietnam are expected to be manufacturing hubs in the near future." The corridor would also promote a community built on common interests in the region and help ASEAN integration, with many landlocked countries being connected to the seas, he added. Europe will be another major beneficiary of the program, he said, as a large amount of goods transported through the China-Europe railway network tend to be of relatively high value. "Faster connectivity among nations results in cultures coming into more contact with one another. This bodes well for world peace," he said. "China has laid out a sweeping transportation plan that knits the world together," Tourk said. Photo taken on Nov. 8, 2020 shows an Orange Line metro train leaving a station in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore. (Photo by Sajjad/Xinhua) BOOSTING GLOBAL TRADE The plan will also "have a positive impact on global trade," Ramay said. Chinese investment under the plan will help improve customer satisfaction regarding product quality, and at the same time reduce logistics costs, he said. "Perishable commodities, agricultural commodities like fruits, vegetables, and even the meat industry will also be benefiting from this efficient transportation infrastructure," he said. Noting that Pakistan's transport infrastructure has been greatly improved with the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a landmark project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Ramay said the transport plan will further improve the land routes between the two countries and promote bilateral trade. They will "facilitate Pakistan's exports to China's Xinjiang and other regions and BRI countries, while China can also regard Pakistan as a transit country for trade with other countries. It will be a win-win situation," he said. Wu Kegang, director of the British Chambers of Commerce's Link to China program, believes China's transport plan will be meaningful to British businesses interested in the China and Asian markets. "Firstly, the expansion of transport networks into rural communities in China means greater markets for British products. Secondly, British exporters can use China as a distribution hub for Asia-Pacific countries if better logistics are provided," Wu said. Regarding Latin America, Argentine economist and sinologist Gustavo Girado said that although the region has no "natural geographic link" with China, the development of the Asian country's port system and railways will facilitate trade between the two sides. "If China improves its port system and railways, there will be an eventual drop in logistics costs. This would have an impact on the commercialization and distribution of its goods, especially on the final prices of both imported and exported products," said the expert. How to Get Away with Murder alum Aja Naomi King is going to be a mom. ADVERTISEMENT The 36-year-old actress is expecting her first child after experiencing two miscarriages. King shared the news Thursday on Instagram alongside a maternity photo. The picture shows King baring her baby bump, which is emphasized with colorful lights in the background. "I really can't begin to express the fullness of our immense joy to be welcoming a baby into our family," she captioned the post. "With that I also want to express that this beautiful journey has not been devoid of heartbreak. This is my beautiful little rainbow baby." King said she was "deeply moved" by hearing other people's stories after having two miscarriages of her own. She told fans she "will never have enough language" to express her experience. "No matter the size of it in your mind, pain is pain and loss is loss, whatever the degree. And once you are touched by it, it stays with you forever," the star said. "And I won't lie, it's been hard to not carry my fear with me throughout this pregnancy. To believe that it's real and that this baby will be okay. That this beautiful gift will remain. But I try to not ignore the facts, and the facts are that I am healthy and my baby is healthy," she added. King assured other people struggling with fertility issues that they "don't have to carry the weight of it alone." 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! "So I take this piece of freedom and I hope for someone else it allows them to feel a little less alone," she said. "Sending love always." Actresses Ashley Blaine Featherson, Alexandra Grey and Ashley Park were among those to congratulate King in the comments. "So so happy for you amen!" Featherson wrote. "Omg congrats beautiful wowwww," Grey added. "So happy for you and thank you for sharing your heart," Park said. King has not shared the identity of her partner. She sparked dating rumors in June when she posted a photo of herself with a man in Austria. King played Michaela Pratt on How to Get Away with Murder, which ended in May 2020 after six seasons on ABC. She has since appeared in the films The 24th and Sylvie's Love. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Australias central bank maintained its policy settings as it prepares to decide on extending its yield target and quantitative easing programs, with a Covid-19 lockdown complicating the outlook.The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate and three-year yield target at 0.10% in Sydney on Tuesday, as expected. It will make a decision in July on whether to extend the yield target and undertake further quantitative easing. A weeklong shutdown in the nations second-largest city adds a layer of uncertainty to the outlook.Despite the strong recovery in the economy and jobs, inflation and wage pressures are subdued, Governor Philip Lowe said. The board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions to support a return to full employment in Australia and inflation consistent with the target.The Australian dollar edged lower, trading at 77.41 U.S. cents at 2:53 p.m. in Sydney from 77.62 cents just before the release.The case for Lowe to maintain the April 2024 bond as the target maturity had been strengthening amid strong hiring, sentiment and investment plans. This was reinforced by the government keeping open the fiscal spigot in the May budget as it joins the RBA in seeking to drive down unemployment to revive wages growth and inflation.Progress in reducing unemployment has been faster than expected, Lowe said in his statement. There are reports of labor shortages in some parts of the economy.Risks AheadYet the RBA may be encouraged to err on the side of caution if Melbournes outbreak worsens and extend both of its bond programs to keep maximum support for the economy.An important ongoing source of uncertainty is the possibility of significant outbreaks of the virus, although this should diminish as more of the population is vaccinated, Lowe said. The board continues to place a high priority on a return to full employment.Globally, central banks are beginning to edge away from emergency monetary settings. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets last week in presenting projections of its official cash rate rising in the second half of next year.Back in Australia, economists predicted ahead of data Wednesday that gross domestic product rose 1.5% in the first three months of the year from the prior quarter, and advanced 0.6% from a year earlier.Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy, in testimony to a parliamentary panel earlier today, said partial data showed around 56,000 workers had lost their jobs in the four weeks following the end of the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy that expired March 28.He said strong employment data and forward indicators continue to give us confidence that the labor market has the underlying strength to absorb workers transitioning off the JobKeeper payment.End of Australias $68 Billion Job-Saving Stimulus Tests EconomyLowe estimates Australias jobless rate will need to fall to close to 4% before driving economy-wide pay increases. It stood at 5.5% in April.The governor expects wages growth will need to increase at a pace faster than 3% -- more than double the current rate -- for inflation to return sustainably to the central banks 2-3% target.Lowe reiterated that this is unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest.(Updates with further comments from governor throughout text.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Life Upended. The coronavirus outbreak has had a devastating impact on our nation, and it has touched Staten Islanders in countless ways. In this series, reporter Tracey Porpora will share the stories of those who have been thrust into situations that were unimaginable just a few months ago -- those who have seen their life completely upended. This is the thirty-seventh story of Life Upended. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Were the only ones who cant reopen, said Karen Torrone, a Rosebank resident, about New York City boutique fitness studios that only offer classes. Over the last 10 months, the owner of 5 Boro Power Yoga has watched as different types of businesses -- from nail salons to movie theaters -- have been allowed to reopen amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. And she said she feels NYC boutique fitness centers, such as yoga studios, have been left out of the reopening plans. Because of this, Torrone said she has suffered a 63% loss of revenue and lost about 60% of her regular clients since the pandemic shuttered her business in March 2020. Torrone recently signed on to be part of a lawsuit filed last month against Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio on behalf of more than 20 boutique fitness studios -- several of which are located on Staten Island -- due to gym classes still being banned across New York City. It takes time to build up a yoga studio and the Tottenville location was just beginning to get into its groove, and then the pandemic happened, Torrone explained. (Courtesy of Karen Torrone) DOWN TO ONE LOCATION At one time, Torrone had three yoga studio locations on Staten Island. Today, she is down to one location -- her initial site in New Dorp, which will celebrate its 10-year anniversary in 2021. Her kids studio, called 5BPY Kids in New Dorp, shuttered in October 2019 due to a need to consolidate studio space and avoid paying three rents, recalled Torrone. And as a result of being shuttered during the pandemic, she said she was recently forced to close her Tottenville studio -- which she opened in May 2018 -- because she couldnt pay two rents. It takes time to build up a yoga studio and the Tottenville location was just beginning to get into its groove, and then the pandemic happened, she said. When I saw I was losing half of my clients, I couldnt support two studios and two rents. ... I was really grateful my landlord agreed to let me out of my lease. She said she has been operating using limited funds that are coming in each month from the members we have left and the EIDL [Economic Injury Disaster Loan] loan we received. But she also has to start paying the loan back in June. I dont want to use the whole loan, and if Im still not open I have to start paying it back and will have little revenue coming in, she said. She received some money from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as well, but still not enough to turn a profit over the last year while in-person, indoor classes have been banned, said Torrone. In an effort to do anything she can to keep her one remaining studio open beyond the pandemic, Torrone has initiated T-shirt fundraisers to try to recover losses. We are going to do a third T-shirt sale as we approach a year of being closed, said Torrone. I want to bring light and attention to the fact that we are still closed. I want to ask the community to help by buying a shirt. Despite the mandate keeping her business closed, Torrone said she remains optimistic that she will eventually get the opportunity to reopen her remaining yoga studio. (Courtesy of Karen Torrone) WHY YOGA STUDIOS CANT OPEN While Cuomo said gyms across the state could reopen Aug. 24, he said that local elected officials -- in New York Citys case thats de Blasio -- may choose to delay resuming fitness classes. While many big box gyms were able to open Sept. 2, 2020, the mayor wont allow fitness classes to resume indoors. This has left boutique fitness studios, like yoga centers, CrossFit and Pilates studios, which rely on classes as the main draw to their business, unable to reopen. VIRTUAL CLASSES Immediately following the global shutdown, Torrone started offering classes on Zoom. But each month the physical studio was closed -- especially after big box gyms were allowed to reopen last year -- she gradually saw her membership decline. We started some outdoor classes in July when we were allowed to gather. We did classes on the sidewalk outside the studio, said Torrone. To help yogis who may have lost income due to the pandemic, Torrone also maintains free yoga classes a few days per week on Zoom. We want to continue to give people a sense of community and let them know theyre not alone and theres a place for them. During the pandemic the number of people with anxiety and depression has skyrocketed. And yoga is such a proven technique to lower stress and anxiety, she said. Even though our membership and finances are down, I felt I had to provide a place for people to come to exercise and be with community -- even if it is online, added Torrone. As soon as the weather gets warmer she said shes hoping to relaunch outdoor yoga classes in a park. Having a daily class outside is my plan for April, and also keeping the Zoom, said Torrone, noting she will continue Zoom classes even when she is allowed to reopen for people who may not be comfortable going back to an in-person practice. Torrone is having a donation class at the studio on Thursday to commemorate one year the studio is closed. There are 12 spots inside the studio, 15 spots outside the studio, and people can join online. All monies collected will be used toward rent, utilities and salaries, she said. FINDING YOGA For Torrone, yoga has been a way to get through lifes obstacles. And she had some major ones to overcome. More than 20 years ago, she said she felt like she had no where to turn. Her mother, Linda, was brutally murdered -- shot execution-style alongside her boyfriend in their Ward Hill home by a savage killer. Desperate to come to terms with her mothers death, Torrone sought answers. For some time she looked for a way to heal. But came up short. After my mom was murdered in 1998, I had to become aware of what I needed to do to heal. I was really angry. But I had to be strong for my grandparents, who lost their daughter, said Torrone. I really didnt get a chance to heal, and after a couple of years there was so much anger and so much pain, she added. Some years later, she saw an advertisement for a yoga class in Manhattan with famed yogi Baron Baptiste. At the time, Torrone had a successful expediting business on Staten Island. But she wanted something more. She began training to become a yoga instructor. So in 2009 she began teaching yoga. It was really attractive to me to be able to heal through this physical process, said Torrone. It wasnt long before Torrone became certified as a yoga instructor. Before she knew it, she opened 5 Boro Power Yoga in New Dorp in 2011. And at the same time, she co-founded Guyon Rescue, a grass roots volunteer group whose members worked for years helping Hurricane Sandy victims recover the great losses sustained during the worst storm to ever hit Staten Island. HOPE FOR THE FUTURE Despite the mandate keeping her business closed, Torrone said she remains optimistic that she will eventually get the opportunity to reopen her remaining yoga studio. We have put in a new air purification system as per the states guidelines, and we are ready to adhere to all the social distancing guidelines, she said. We are ready with hand sanitizing stations and we are implementing all kinds of cleaning protocol. Everything they want us to have, we put in place. We are ready to open as soon as we can. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** OTHER LIFE UPENDED STORIES: Life Upended: Childrens store owner trying to keep her head above water Life Upended: Small family business owner refuses to give up Life Upended: Non-profit forced to lay off more than 60% of disabled workers Life Upended: Spray tan shop owner sees 90% drop in business Life Upended: 5050 Skatepark is on the brink of closing Life Upended: Im going through hell, says restaurant owner Life Upended: DJ with no income refers to a life in limbo during pandemic Life Upended: Devastating impact of coronavirus on Bin 5 owner and his wife Life Upended: As workers stay remote, Leos Deli owner faces loss of revenue Life Upended: Im broke...I just want to hold onto my restaurant, says Portobello Cafe owner Life Upended: Physical therapist trying to tough it out to stay open Life Upended: With Broadway shuttered, Staten Island performer turns to teaching Life Upended: $125K in debt, rock climbing gym owner fears closure Life Upended: New pizzeria owner, 22, struggling to hold on Life Upended: With no cases, lawyer starts cooking business amid pandemic Life Upended: Owner of tour guide business left with no income Life Upended: Dancing school owner forced to close after 35 years Life Upended: Personal stylist adapts as clothing no longer a priority Life Upended: Trainer trying to win $20K in fitness contest to stay afloat Life Upended: No opening date in sight for devastated owner of adult day care center Life Upended: In fight to survive, gym owner launches auto business Life Upended: With live concerts banned, musician struggles for survival Life Upended: With gyms still unable to open, dojo owner on brink of ruin Life Upended: Jewelry store owner trying not to give up Life Upended: 58-year-old forced to shutter new business, then mom gets coronavirus Life Upended: Comic shop owner is driven by memory of her late partner Life Upended: Left destitute, single mom focuses on helping others Life Upended: Despite ovarian cancer diagnosis amid coronavirus crisis, nail salon owner to open Monday Life Upended: A fight to keep beloved gift shop afloat Life Upended: With clients gone, single mom takes job shopping for senior citizens Life Upended: Laid off for the first time at age 62 Life Upended: I have 3,000 dresses and no buyers Life Upended: With her business closed, single mom fears losing everything Life Upended: I might have to retire with no money, says business owner, 77 FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER GRAND HAVEN, Mich., March 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Access-Power & Co., Inc., (ACCR or the Company), a Grand Haven based diversified US Holding Company is pleased to announce we expect PCAOB completion by Friday April 2, 2021; A FORM 10 filing with the SEC right after the PCAOB audit completion, and we expect to go OTC Markets CURRENT INFORMATION on or about June 1st, 2021 Patrick J Jensen, our sole Director of ACCR, is so proud to announce our Corporate History. It has taken me over 20 years to bring our Companys first ever PCAOB audit to a winding close. What a Story!!! 1. In 1999, I liked the Symbol: ACCR so I started buying like CRAZY as a kid and eventually became a 10% Shareholder by 2007...Im not done. I keep on buying like a fool through present day in 2021. 1a. Clawed our way out of a toxic death spiral floorless debenture. 2. Learned all SEC laws and FL statutes from 2005-2013 3. ACCR FOUGHT SEC LAWYERS AND WON in 2012/2013 4. 2 FINRA Daily lists on September 6, 2018 and May 6, 2020 5. Director gets disabled Aug 2020 and Wife develops CANCER DEC 2020. 6. PATENT PENDING FOR https://www.clonesbydrones.com 7. BECOMES A CLEAN SHELL 2021. 8. PCAOB AUDIT NEAR COMPLETION April 2nd, 2021. 9. FORM 10 and 60 day review back and forth commentary 10. Once declared effective, per OTC MARKETS will remove that RED STOP SIGN and make ACCR a PINK CURRENT COMPANY, with no additional forms and fees. Its not over yetnow we go before the SEC FORM 10 will happen right after the PCAOB audit is officially over and prepared. ESTIMATED PROJECT COMPLETION DATE: On or around June 1st, 2021. Just keep believing in me, and I will get us there https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/ACCR/security NO PUMP NO PROMOTION NO DILUTION NO INSIDER DUMPING GO ACCR!!! Patrick Director of ACCR Established in 1996, Access-Power, Inc. is a Florida based for-profit Corporation with operations in West Michigan. There are various risk factors that should be carefully considered in evaluating our business; because such factors may have a significant impact on our business, our operating results, our liquidity and financial condition. As a result of these various risk factors, actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently consider to be immaterial, may also impact our business, result of operations, liquidity and financial condition. If any such risks occur, our business, its operating results, liquidity and financial condition could be materially affected in an adverse manner. Under such circumstances, if a stable trading market for our securities is established, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. SECURITIES ISSUED BY THE COMPANY INVOLVE A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK AND, THEREFORE, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EXTREMELY SPECULATIVE. THEY SHOULD NOT BE PURCHASED BY PERSONS WHO CANNOT AFFORD THE POSSIBILITY OF THE LOSS OF THE ENTIRE INVESTMENT. PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS SHOULD READ ALL OF THE COMPANY'S FILINGS, INCLUDING ALL EXHIBITS, AND CAREFULLY CONSIDER, AMONG OTHER FACTORS THE VARIOUS RISK FACTORS THAT MAY BE PRESENT. BEWARE OF NAKED SHORTING IN OUR COMMON SHARES You should be aware that there are many substantial risks to an investment in our common stock. Carefully consider these risk factors, along with any available information currently reported by the Company (of which there are note), before you decide to invest in shares of our common stock. If these risk factors were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations or future prospects could be materially adversely affected. If that happens, the market price for our common stock, if any, could decline, and prospective investors would likely lose all or even part of their investment. Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about the Company's business, based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and probably will, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Contact Information: Patrick J. Jensen Director Tel: 616.312.5390 Email: pjensen@myaccess-power.com Corporate Website: http://www.myaccess-power.com "Our corporate website is currently under construction to soon reflect our new business model in the Michigan Medical Marijuana Clone sector." Product Website http://www.mycbdpets.com http://www.clonesbydrones.com https://www.hempster19.com http://www.clonesbycars.com Access-Power & Co., Inc. OTC Ticker: ACCR Paleontologists from Canada, the United States and South Africa have unearthed the fossilized remains of larval and juvenile forms of four lamprey species that lived during the Paleozoic era, including a hatchling-to-adult growth series of the lamprey genus Priscomyzon from the Late Devonian of Gondwana. The discovery is overturning long-held ideas as to what modern lampreys may tell us about the origin of vertebrates. Lampreys are an extremely primitive lineage of jawless fish. They are found in temperate regions around the world, except Africa, and live mostly in coastal and fresh waters, although some species travel significant distances in the open ocean. They feed by latching onto other fish with a sucker around their mouth, securing their grip with circles of teeth and then drinking their victims blood after rasping a hole with special teeth on their tongue. Until now, it was commonly believed that modern lampreys were swimming time capsules that could give unique insights into the biology and genome of a truly ancient lineage. This belief was supported by the discovery of Priscomyzon riniensis, a lamprey species that lived 360 million years ago in what is now South Africa. The discovery was met with excitement worldwide as it was the oldest lamprey ever found, yet it appeared to have been essentially almost identical to modern adult lampreys. In many ways, modern lampreys indeed provide unique insights into their ancient ancestry. But new evidence shows that this is not the case when it comes to the juvenile larval stage. Lampreys and modern hagfish are the only jawless fish alive that branched off from the family tree of vertebrates before they got jaws, said Dr. Rob Gess, a paleontologist at the Albany Museum and the Department of Geology at Rhodes University. This makes them very interesting for researchers attempting to understand the earliest stages of vertebrate history. Called ammocoetes, the blind, filter-feeding, worm-like larvae of modern lampreys burrow in stream beds and filter water for minute food particles before slowly transforming into free-swimming, eyed, actively feeding adults. Crucially, this strange life history was thought to echo transformations some 500 million years ago, which gave rise to all fish lineages, including the one that ultimately led to humans. Hence, the last invertebrate ancestor of vertebrates is often portrayed as ammocoete-like, and the earliest vertebrate as being lamprey-like. But for this to be a reasonable model, both ammocoetes and lampreys would need to hark back to the dawn of vertebrate history. Now, for the first time, the conventional wisdom that our long chain of ancestors included an ammocoete-like form can be directly tested, and the evidence strongly contradicts such an assumption, Dr. Gess said. Lampreys are virtually never fossilized as they had no bones or spines and just minute teeth, but in the 360 million old Waterloo Farm black shales near Makhanda (Grahamstown) in South Africas Eastern Cape province, impressions of their soft bodies are preserved as silvery white films in the black shale. Details of their cartilaginous skeletons show through like X-rays. This is incredibly special. Nowhere else in the world are such ancient lamprey remains found. Painstaking excavation of these shale samples has revealed the growth series of Priscomyzon illustrating its development from hatchling to adult, he said. Remarkably, the smallest preserved individual, barely 15 mm in length, still carried a yolk sac. This signals that they had only just hatched before entering the fossil record. Of crucial importance: even the hatchlings were already sighted with large eyes and armed with a toothed sucker, much like the blood-sucking adult phase of modern lampreys and completely unlike their modern ammocoete counterparts. This drastically different structure of ancient lamprey infants provides evidence that modern lamprey larvae are not evolutionary relics. Rather, the modern filter-feeding phase is a more recent innovation that allowed lampreys to populate and thrive in rivers and lakes. Less complete and previously unpublished partial growth series of three types of slightly younger lampreys from North America support the finding. Distant human ancestry seemingly did not include a lamprey-larva-like stage, he concluded. Lampreys now appear to be a highly evolved side branch which shared a common ancestor with us: probably a jawless fish enclosed in bony armor. The findings are published in the journal Nature. _____ T. Miyashita et al. Non-ammocoete larvae of Palaeozoic stem lampreys. Nature, published online March 10, 2021; doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03305-9 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. Razor wire is attached to the top of temporary fencing as the U.S. Capitol is seen in the background, in Washington on March 4, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Judge Orders Release of Man Charged in Capitol Breach Who Previously Worked for FBI Alleged Oath Keepers member Thomas Caldwell, who was charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and was previously a section chief for the FBI, was granted a pretrial release from jail by a Washington judge on Friday. Caldwell was ordered by Judge Amit Mehta to be under strict home confinement pending trial. Mehta took into account a back injury that Caldwell, 65, had suffered. Caldwell claimed to be too disabled to partake in the breach or to be a flight risk. Mehta ultimately concluded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not fully show Caldwells direct role in planning the violence or breaching the Capitol during the Joint Session of Congress. There is an absence of direct evidence, at least, of planning by Caldwell to enter the Capitol building And ultimately, he did not enter the building, Mehta said, reported Politico, adding that Caldwell also cannot have access to computers or the internet. Caldwell, the judge said, also cannot have contact with anyone affiliated with the Jan. 6 investigation. Previously, court documents revealed that Caldwell had worked for the FBI and held a top-secret security clearance for several decades. Caldwell has also denied being a part of the Oath Keepers, a militia group, said attorney Thomas Plofchan. He has been vetted and found numerous times as a person worthy of the trust and confidence of the United States government, as indicated by granting him Top Secret clearances, Plofchan wrote in a motion in early February. Caldwell is not a member of the organization, nor has he ever been a member of the organization, and if he were, such membership would be protected activity under the First Amendment, wrote Plofchan, who added that the government hasnt provided a photo or video that shows Caldwell in the Capitol building on Jan. 6. The DOJ alleged that Caldwell sent Facebook messages coordinating with alleged members of the Oath Keepers militia group. Charging documents allegedly show messages between Caldwell and others about arranging hotel rooms in the Washington area before Jan. 6. One Facebook message reads, Will probably call you tomorrow mainly because I like to know wtf plan is. You are the man COMMANDER, according to the complaint. The DOJ on Friday, meanwhile, said in court documents that another 100 people are expected to be charged in connection to the Jan. 6 incident. So far, more than 300 have been charged. The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence, prosecutors wrote in their filing (pdf) while requesting a 60-day delay in a case against several alleged Oath Keepers members who are charged in connection to the incident. It was a year ago this week that the coronavirus crisis was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. It came a day after Michigan confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 -- and nobody, including experts, knew exactly what laid ahead. In fact, there were a considerable number of misconceptions in those first days and weeks, including incorrect assumptions by health experts and well as government officials and the general public. Below is a look at some of the ways we were totally wrong about COVID-19 and how the pandemic would unfold. Misconception No. 1: Its no worse than the flu. So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year, then-President Donald Trump tweeted on March 9, 2020. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that! Turns out, the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the deadliest events in U.S. history, with more than 527,000 deaths to date, and an estimated 1.8 million hospitalized. Misconception No. 2: Washing hands and surfaces are the most-important preventions. Experts initially assumed the primary form of COVID-19 transmission was getting the virus on your hands via contaminated surfaces such as door handles, which is how most respiratory diseases are spread. So in addition to social distancing and avoiding crowds, health officials emphasized the importance of hand-washing and wiping down anything people were touching. A Grand Rapids doctor even created a video that urged viewers to leave groceries outside on a back porch or in the garage for three days before bringing them into the house. If that was not possible, he demonstrated a surgical sterilization technique for use on groceries. The video got 23 million views in a week. Michigan doctor says leave groceries outside for 3 days if possible, shows how to disinfect By April, researchers came to the growing realization the original theory was wrong and the primary route of infection was probably airborne virus-laden droplets. The federal Centers for Disease Control website now says that touching surfaces is not thought to be a common way that COVID-19 spreads, and the primary mode of transmission is breathing the same air as someone who is infectious. Misconception No. 3: No need for masking. In the initial weeks of the pandemic, health experts actively discouraged the American public from buying and/or wearing masks. One reason: The pandemic disrupted supply chains and created a mask shortage for health-care workers, and experts didnt want to exacerbate that shortage. Another factor: Since experts didnt realize that COVID-19 is primarily transmitted by air, they thought the push to get Americans to mask up would be more trouble than it was worth. Culturally, the U.S. wasnt really prepared to wear masks, unlike some Asian countries where the practice is more common, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong in a June post on the University of California San Francisco website. On April 3, President Trump announced the CDC was recommending all Americans wear a mask outside the home. But Trump stressed that the recommendation was voluntary, adding, I dont think Im going to be doing it -- kicking off a political battle over masks that continues to this day. Misconception No. 4: Asymptomatic transmission isnt a big thing. Initially, experts figured the key to controlling COVID-19 was Infectious Disease Control 101: Identify the sick people and isolate them so they couldnt infect others. So they were truly shaken when it became apparent that people infected with COVID-19 can transmit the disease for a couple of days before they are sick, and some infected people never show symptoms at all but are still contagious. I think the biggest thing with COVID now that shapes all of this guidance on masks is that we cant tell whos infected, Chin-Hong said in that June blog post. You cant look in a crowd and say, oh, that person should wear mask. Theres a lot of asymptomatic infection, so everybody has to wear a mask. Misconception No. 5: Well run out of ventilators. At the start of the pandemic, many worried aloud the pandemic would reveal a crippling shortage of ventilators. There arent enough ventilators to cope with coronavirus, said a New York Times headline from March 19, 2020. But doctors soon discovered that many coronavirus patients did not do well on ventilators, and the machines should be used sparingly. This accompanied another discovery:: While coronavirus initially was seen as a serious but typical respiratory infection, but it turns out the virus can result in a wide range of medical problems, from kidney and/or heart damage, to blood clots that cause strokes, to long-lasting inflammatory issues, to cognitive and neurological symptoms. Misconception No. 6: It will take more than a year to develop a vaccine. In early April 2020, White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted it would take 12 to 18 months to develop a vaccine. To speed the process, the Trump administration unveiled Operation Warp Speed on May 15, a public-private partnership to accelerate the development and manufacturing of coronavirus vaccines. What also helped to speed the process: Coronavirus was so rampant that clinical trials went faster than expected as enough people in the control group quickly became infected, providing the needed contrast to those who received the trial vaccinations. The Pfizer vaccine was the first to receive emergency use authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration. The first shipments of that vaccine -- which is manufactured in Michigan -- went out for distribution on Dec. 13, a mere nine months from the start of the pandemic. How Pfizers coronavirus vaccine was produced and distributed from Michigan plant in record time Misconception No. 7: It will go away by Easter. No, by summer. But certainly by the fall. Especially last spring, it wasnt just President Trump predicting a quick end to the pandemic. A year ago, almost nobody was predicting the crisis would last so long and create such upheaval. Im a very, very optimistic person, said Stephanie Hartwell, a sociologist and the dean of Wayne State Universitys College of Arts and Sciences. But the biggest lesson that Ive learned this past year is that hopeful thinking doesnt always work out. If youre an optimist, youre wrong. Misconception No. 8: Rural communities dont have to worry. Last March and April, COVID-19 was ravaging several major metropolitan areas, including New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Boston and Chicago. The conventional wisdom then was the pandemic was basically a threat in densely populated areas. The next 11 months dispelled that idea, as communities large and small found themselves hard-hit by the pandemic. At this point, the Michigan counties with the highest COVID death rates for the past year are Baraga, Iron and Ontonagon, all sparsely populated counties in the Upper Peninsula. Misconception No. 9: Well run out of toilet paper. Toilet paper was hard to find for a few weeks. But we didnt run out. Read more on MLive: COVID-19 is reshaping Michigan. Its not the first epidemic to do so. To wed or not to wed?: How 6 brides are navigating weddings during a pandemic 7 things to know about Michigans expansion of vaccine eligible to ages 50 and older This 105-year old Michigan woman whos survived 2 pandemics has wise words to share [March 12, 2021] ADEA Hails Federal Approval for Role of Dentists and Qualified Dental Students in COVID Vaccinations The Biden administration's decision to allow dentists and qualified dental students to administer the COVID-19 vaccine is a welcome and important step in winning the fight against the deadly pandemic, according to the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). "During the pandemic, many states granted dentists the authority to administer the vaccine, and President Biden's decision to expand that authority at the federal level underscores the crucial role that dentists play in safeguarding our nation's health," said Dr. Karen West, ADEA President and CEO. "It's equally heartening to see a federal recognition of the pivotal role that dental students-with the proper training and under supervision-can play in this unprecedented vaccination effort." The Biden decision came in the form of an amendment to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which added "additional categories of qualified persons" to those who could administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Nine additional types of health care professionals, including dentists, are named, and a separate section mentions various kinds of tudents, including dental, "with appropriate training in administering vaccines as determined by his or her school or training program and supervision by a currently practicing health care professional experienced in administering intramuscular injections." The addition of dentists and dental students is part of an aggressive federal effort to expand the pool of qualified professionals able to administer shots and hasten the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to the U.S. population. President Biden outlined his plan in an address to the nation Thursday night, a speech that came one year after the outbreak of the pandemic brought the nation to a virtual halt. Biden said that life in the United States could return to some kind of normal by the Fourth of July-even though he urged Americans to adhere to social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines. "After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus," Biden said. The federal recognition of dentists on the COVID-19 vaccination front comes in the wake of months of sustained advocacy by several health organizations, including ADEA, for the government to take full advantage of the medical expertise that dentists possess. ADEA is also a member of Students Assist America, an interprofessional initiative of 11 associations that banded together to lobby state and federal leaders to give hundreds of thousands of students the opportunity to help vaccinate the public. Dr. West said the response of the dental community has been one of the silver linings during a challenging time for the nation. "At the onset of the pandemic, our community was hit especially hard by the pandemic as both the practice of dentistry and the education of students came to a temporary halt," Dr. West said. "But we didn't break. Instead, we've supported our communities by delivering crucial health care, and we've redoubled our efforts to educate the next generation of oral health professionals by embracing innovation in how we teach. Along the way, we've amply demonstrated that dentists and oral health professionals are invaluable partners in an integrated health care team." About ADEA: The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is The Voice of Dental Education. Our mission is to lead and support the health professions community in preparing future-ready oral health professionals. Our members include all 78 U.S. and Canadian dental schools, more than 800 allied and advanced dental education programs, more than 50 corporations and approximately 18,000 individuals. Our activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings and communications, including the esteemed Journal of Dental Education, as well as the dental school application services ADEA AADSAS, ADEA PASS, ADEA DHCAS and ADEA CAAPID. For more information, visit adea.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005516/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Never were the emotions of a nation so wrapped in one tiny vial. We have seen the elation after people get the Covid-19 vaccine and the dejection of the disappointment in those whose clinic appointment has been cancelled after a delivery no-show. For tens of thousands of others who are waiting, it promises a release from a year of fear. So its no wonder the battle over the failure to meet vaccine supply expectations between health officials and AstraZeneca has become a fraught drama. Love gone sour It was all so different in January. The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was supposed to be our game changer. Ministers and health officials were singing its praises. It was easy to handle and we could not wait to get our hands on it. It could be kept in a fridge rather than an ultra-cold freezer. The UK approved it in December but we had to wait until the end of January when it was given the green light. It was supposed to form the cornerstone of the vaccine roll-out for the over-70s here. The vaccine is delivered in two shots with the second given 4-12 weeks after the first. Ireland has advanced purchase agreements to buy 3.3 million doses of the vaccine, to be delivered in stages. Read More Deliveries so far Figures released this week show up to the end of last week there ere 122,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine delivered here. This includes 86,400 to the end of February and 36,000 in March. Ireland has found itself caught up in the row between Astra Zeneca and the European Commission. It started when the EUs order of 80 million doses of the vaccine by the end of March turned out to be much lower with initial estimates of around 31 million. This was later reviewed to 40 million. Bad news There was more bad news today that the supply of Astra Zeneca vaccine this quarter will now been reduced to 30 million doses. That will have knock-on effects here. The HSE said it could not say what level of doses will be rolled out next week and put it at between 75,000 and 85,000.The Astra Zeneca vaccine is currently given to healthcare workers and people with underlying illnesses leaving them at high risk of Covid-19. Best effort AstraZeneca has said that its contract is on a best-effort basis. It said it has suffered production problems at plants that make the vaccine in Europe particularly its site in Belgium. The sites with the lowest productivity in the network are those supplying Europe. The production problem is in the manufacture of the vaccine itself. Europe v AstraZeneca The tensions came to a head last week when Italy blocked a shipment of more than 250,000 AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia. It is the first use of an export-control system drawn up by the EU. It said it intervened because of the size of the shipment more than 250,700 doses destined for Australia which it did not consider a vulnerable nation. Frustration The HSE, which has borne the brunt of the public's frustration that we are lagging in vaccine roll-out, has spoken of the problems dealing with AstraZeneca over supply schedules. One delivery dropped from 52,000 to 10,000 with short notice. AstraZeneca has now appointed a country manager here which should help with communication. Vaccine use The National Immunisation Advisory Committee has recommended that the vaccine can be used in the over-70s. Initially there was not enough evidence of its efficacy in clinical trials but now real world research shows that it provides good protection to older people. This has yet to be accepted by the chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan and his deputy Dr Ronan Glynn who said the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines should be used for the over-70s. The vaccine has an advantage in that the second dose could be given in three months. This would mean there could be greater use of supplies in administering more as first doses and giving a greater number of people a level of protection earlier. AstraZeneca's view A spokesman for the company in Ireland recently said: AstraZeneca confirms today that its most recent Q2 forecast for the delivery of its Covid-19 vaccine aims to deliver in line with its contract with the European Commission. As per this contract, approximately half of the expected volume is due to come from the EU supply chain, while the remainder would come from its international supply network. "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. Read More HDFC Bank has announced that it will bear the cost of vaccination of over 1 lakh employees and their immediate family members against coronavirus. HDFC Bank, which is India's largest private bank in terms of m-cap, said it will reimburse vaccination cost for the two mandated doses. Vinay Razdan, Group Head - HR, said HDFC Bank employees have shown exemplary perseverance, professionalism and dedication to serve millions of customers amid Covid-times. "Covering the cost of vaccination for our employees and their dependent family members is a small gesture from the organisation to express our gratitude," he said. HDFC Bank group head Ashima Bhat said bank employees are like front-line workers, who ensured an essential service like banking was available for customers even during the lockdown. "For their health and safety, we are ensuring that our employees and their dependent family members are inoculated and protected from Covid-19." Also read: Infosys to cover COVID-19 vaccination cost for employees, immediate family members Many private companies in India have come forward to vaccinate their employees and their family members. Like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank has also decided to bear the cost of vaccination of its staff and their dependent family members. India's biggest business house Reliance Industries has said it'll also bear the coronavirus vaccine cost of its employees. Reliance employees along with their spouses, parents and children who are eligible to receive the vaccine will be covered. Global IT giant Accenture and IT major Infosys said that they would cover the coronavirus vaccine cost for all its employees and immediate family members enrolled in the medical benefits programme. Also read: Flipkart to cover COVID-19 vaccination cost of all its employees Flipkart also announced on Wednesday that it'll pay the COVID-19 vaccination cost of all its employees, including Myntra staff. The e-commerce major said that its employees can either choose to reimburse for the costs of the vaccinations or get free of charge at a partner hospital. Several other companies, including Capgemini, TVS Motor Company, and ReNew Power have committed to covering vaccine costs for employees and family members. In phase one, which started on March 16, the Centre targeted vaccination of 3 crore frontline and healthcare workers. Round two of the vaccination drive started on March 1. In this phase, people above the age of 60 and between 45-60 with co-morbidities will be vaccinated. The Centre aims to vaccinate 27 crore people in this phase. While government hospitals offer the Covid-19 jabs for free, private hospitals charge Rs 150 per dose plus Rs 100 administration fee. Also read: Reliance to bear COVID-19 vaccine cost of employees; urges staff to get vaccinated The chemo has stopped working. Now the other white fellas medicine immunotherapy has had to stop too. David Gulpilil knows that, with lung cancer and emphysema, the end is approaching. Im only waiting: David Gulpilil. Credit:Miles Rowland and Bing Rowland. Im only waiting, the great Aboriginal actor, dancer, singer and painter says in a new documentary. Im walking like across the desert of country long, long way until the time comes for me. After five decades of mesmerising performances on screen and stage, Gulpilil has been feted one more time hopefully not the last time at the world premiere of Molly Reynolds My Name Is Gulpilil at the Adelaide Festival on Friday night. Last May, the Trump administration pledged up to $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca to finance the development and manufacturing of its vaccine, which it developed with the University of Oxford, and to supply the United States with 300 million doses if it proved effective. Federal officials and public health experts last year viewed the vaccine, which is less expensive and easier to store for long periods than some other vaccines, as most likely to be among the first to receive authorization. That never happened, in part because of a pattern of communication blunders by AstraZeneca that weakened the companys relationship with American regulators and slowed the vaccines development. Last fall, AstraZenecas trial in the United States the same one that will soon report results was grounded for nearly seven weeks because the company was slow to provide the F.D.A. with evidence that the vaccine had not caused serious neurological side effects in two volunteers. The company is now grappling with another safety scare. Acting out of precaution, health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended use of the AstraZenecas vaccine on Thursday after several reports across the continent of severe blood clots. European official and the company said there was not evidence of any causal link. In the vast majority of cases, the emergence of such medical conditions has nothing to do with the vaccine. Some percentage of people are expected to fall ill by chance after getting vaccinated, as would happen in any group of people. AstraZeneca has also run into other problems as its vaccine has rolled out. The shortfall in supply has fueled tensions with European officials. Some people in Germany and other countries have balked at taking the vaccine, for fear it is second-class because of its lower overall efficacy in clinical trials compared with the vaccine from Pfizer. South Africa last month halted its plans to introduce the vaccine after a small clinical trial found that the vaccine did not appear to be protective against mild to moderate illness caused by a concerning coronavirus variant first seen there. For Amber and Lennie Ambrose, their journey toward vaccination started a lot like an old-school phone tree. The Ambroses, who live in Oak Forest, received a link from Ambers cousin in Jefferson County to book an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine sites in the counties bordering Louisiana had more doses than they had recipients, her family said. It cascaded from there, said Amber Ambrose, 39. With more vaccine supply flowing into Texas, the statewide mask mandate rollback and businesses reopening at 100 percent capacity, some Houstonians unable to get a COVID-19 vaccine close to home are making the drive two hours east to get their doses. More than 2.3 million people live in Houston, but the city and Texas Medical Center are only able to administer 232,000 doses a week. And demand is only growing: Starting Monday, those 50 and older are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in Texas. While Hardin, Orange and Jefferson counties are still prioritizing residents 65 and older, theyre now accepting vaccine appointments for anyone, even out-of-towners, according to county officials. While interest has dropped off from locals, they sought to keep their tens of thousands of doses from going to waste. On HoustonChronicle.com: Of 10 Houston ZIP codes with the most COVID cases, only one has vaccinated more than 5 percent of residents Dr. Jana Winberg, the Hardin County Health Authority, said people come from surrounding areas, like Houston, to get their shot in Hardin County. But that doesnt take away vaccines from county residents. We are still finding ways for people who want to get the shot to get in those slots, she said. Less than 24 hours after the Ambroses booked their appointments, they were on their way to Lumberton, a three-hour drive. The vaccine process went by so quickly that they were able to walk around downtown Beaumont that afternoon and drive back to Houston. In the two weeks since the Ambroses first appointment, theyve helped as many as 50 neighbors, co-workers and friends set up appointments in Southeast Texas. Its better for as many of us as possible at work to get it so we dont have any outbreaks, said Lennie Ambrose, 44, who works at St. Arnold Brewing Co. The Ambroses were initially anxious about taking doses from the people who needed them. But it was better to sign an out-of-towners vaccination card than to toss a half-full vial in the trash, local officials said. As of March 1, Hardin County opened registration to the public regardless of eligibility criteria, telling the Beaumont Enterprise that they had an extremely low turnout for vaccine appointments, said Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel. The Hardin County Health Department manages Orange Countys vaccines, but both are part of the Southeast Texas Regional Emergency Operations Center (SETROC) vaccine distribution hub, Winberg said. Divvying up the areas vaccines between Jefferson, Hardin, Jasper, Newton and Orange counties depends on which location can give the shots in a timely fashion, she said. Hardin County has fewer than 60,000 people, and neighboring Jasper County is smaller at 35,500, Winberg said. One week in February, the county received 300 doses and fewer than 100 people made appointments. Rather than have the Moderna vaccines sit in refrigerators, Winberg said they would prefer to bring doses to those who want them. On March 6, Keri Brown was flabbergasted by her good fortune: Hardin and Orange counties had opened their vaccination sites to the general public, and the 42-year-old had wrangled an appointment in Orange. On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas Children's has diagnosed more than 10K cases of COVID in kids. Here's what you need to know. At the start of the pandemic, Brown was somewhat obsessed with checking the Texas Medical Centers website for the latest virus case count, how many hospital beds were in use and the citys surge capacity. She worried about how long the virus survived on surfaces and how effective masks really were. She even checked, and double-checked, her life insurance policies. Late last year, when we finally started receiving news about successful vaccines, my optimism started to grow, she said. Browns husband is 45 and qualified under DSHSs 1B priority group, so he was able to get his vaccine in Houston. Two months after vaccines were first shipped to hospitals in Texas, Brown had yet to receive hers. In February, she joined a Facebook group called Vaccinate Houston Covid-19 Updates, which is where she learned about the other counties open registration. Brown remembered the only other time she had driven through Orange County was in 2005. At the time, it looked like Hurricane Rita would directly hit Houston, so she and her husband packed up and drove through Orange to stay with family in Southwest Louisiana. Sixteen years later, on March 9, Brown drove alone to Orange for her first dose. She said the needle prick felt like getting a flu shot. On the way back to her home on the west side of Houston, she stopped at Whataburger for a post-vaccination bite. Removing the Band-Aid was the only part that hurt, she said. I have half-joked that I feel like a year-long weight is slowly being lifted from my shoulders. In Houston, residents have resigned themselves to signing up on multiple waitlists. Sebastian Skalany, 45, one of the Ambroses neighbors, checked with a half-dozen vaccine providers. Chris Frankel, 37, registered in February on Houston Health Departments and Harris County Public Healths registries but did not receive a call, text or email. Skalany lives just 10 minutes away from Delmar Stadium, where city officials operate a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination site with United Memorial Medical Center. Instead, he made the three-hour round-trip drive to Beaumont on a weekday to get the shot. Everyone on my street has received their vaccines from Beaumont, he said. To pay it forward, Skalany sent the registration links to his mother, sister and close friends. Frankel, who works in the bar and restaurant industry, tried the neighborhood pharmacies: CVS, Walgreens, Walmart. It was like trying to buy concert tickets; if youre not up at 12 a.m. to get in that window, they will sell out, Frankel said. Eventually, Frankel lined up an appointment in Liberty County, 43 miles from downtown Houston on U.S. 90. He will return later this month for his second Pfizer shot. The first appointment was well-organized, not crowded and commenced quickly, he said. COVID Help Desk: What's safe during spring break now that Texas' mask mandate has ended? And there were no demands for insurance, proof of an underlying medical condition or judgment for being young. In Texas, about 10.8 million doses of the vaccine have been allocated, and 2.6 million Texans are now fully vaccinated, according to Chronicle data. In Harris County alone, 364,000 people have been fully vaccinated though many have traveled elsewhere to do so. Skalany knows hes lucky to be in this position. What about all the frontline individuals that cant do that? he said. How are we getting vaccines to them? Theyre the most vulnerable and it seems the ones that are more privileged like me have access. For some, that means paying it forward by spreading the word to their social media networks and driving others to get the vaccine. For others, such as the Ambroses, getting inoculated elsewhere means they can take their names off of vaccine waitlists in Houston, opening more spots for those who fall in Texas 1A-C criteria and cant get around. A lot of people say its skipping the line. I'm like, well, if they're going to throw away vaccine, nobody's skipping anything, Amber Ambrose said. Hopefully, were clearing the way for people here who don't have as much flexibility to drive there. julie.garcia@chron.com gwendolyn.wu@chron.com Renew Houston: Get the latest wellness news delivered to your inbox Gurugram, March 12 : The Gurugram police have arrested four men, including a company truck driver, for allegedly stealing 53 smartphones worth Rs 19 lakh from a leading e-commerce company's truck, the police said on Friday. The accused were identified as Kaishav Kumar, Kapil Kumar, Lokesh of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh and Amit Kumar of Badaun district in UP. The accused were nabbed by a team of Manesar crime branch led by Inspector Amit Kumar on Thursday, after receiving a tip-off. "All the accused have confessed to their involvement in the crime. One accused Amit Kumar used to work in a warehouse as a driver and used to share barcode and sealing/packing-related information of the goods with Kapil Kumar through phone and Kapil then prepared a fake barcode and sealing/packing of the smartphones from Delhi. Later, all the culprits used to change the barcode and sealing of the smartphones with the original one in the running truck so that no one tracks them via GPS technology," said Preet Pal Sangwan, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime). "Kaishav used to travel along with the truck in his Scorpio car and later, the culprits shifted the entire consignment into their vehicle and fled the spot. Kaishav and Kapil have also worked in different warehouses as truck drivers," he added. The police have also recovered a Scorpio car along with Rs 19 lakh worth goods from their hideout in Uttar Pradesh's Noida district. The accused were produced before the court on Friday for further legal proceedings. According to the police Manu Sharma, supervisor at a logistic firm, had filed a complaint about the stealing of the smartphones worth Rs 19 lakh on March 7, at Farrukhnagar police station. COUNCIL members who criticised the actions of students taking part in the street party found themselves the victims of toxic abuse on social media. Fine Gael councillors Daniel Butler and Olivia OSullivan spoke out in solidarity with the permanent resident population at College Court on Twitter. But the pair found themselves targetted by what was described as the anti-vaxx conspiracy theory people by Cllr Butler. Cllr OSullivan was called councillor Karen, a pejorative American term for a woman seeming to be entitled or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal. It came after she responded to a resident in Castletroy in solidarity with their plight, saying: If this was happening outside my door, Id be afraid to go out of my home. As I said that, they found it hilarious, she said, I was called councillor Karen and Maude Flanders, and part of the pearl necklace brigade, she said. This reply tweet was obviously shared on some anti lockdown WhatsApp group as Ive just blocked a flurry of anonymous accounts that replied in similar tone and all spouting the same contrarian rhetoric. Give it a rest lads and go to bed. https://t.co/01RjudvFI5 Cllr Olivia O'Sullivan (@oliviaos) March 2, 2021 The first-term councillor called for more support to be made available to members, and warned what they have to endure on social media may deter people who could be extremely capable in the role and make a huge contribution and difference getting into politics. Some of the messages were very personal. We dont have a special capacity to deal with this just because we have councillor in front of our name, said the Caherdavin woman, who called for training on this to be made available to politicians. Cllr Butler said: Its just reflective of how toxic social media can be at times. There is a certain cohort out there who have an agenda in relation to Covid-19 and vaccines, and they tend to operate in packs. When one comes after you, they all seem to come after you. They hunt in packs. President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a message of comfort to the family of former Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chairman Ibrahim Mohamed Hussein who passed away recently. In his message, the President described the late Ibrahim as a devoted and patriotic public servant whose commitment to improving the education sector in Kenya will remain a mark of his legacy. With the passing on of Mzee Ibrahim Hussein, our country has sadly lost a long-serving and highly accomplished educationist. Kenyans will forever remember Mzee Ibrahim for his immense contribution to the transformation of the our countrys education sector. During his long tenure as the Chairman of the Teachers Service Commission, Mzee Ibrahim engineered various reforms that helped enhance the management and welfare of Kenyan teachers, President Kenyatta eulogised. Besides his distinguished profile as an educationist and administrator, Mzee Ibrahim was a highly respected Somali elder and community leader who cherished and pursued peace among Northern Kenya communities. In years after his retirement from mainstream public service, Mzee Ibrahim relentlessly applied his position as an elder and community leader to pursue peace especially among his Somali community, the President said. President Kenyatta prayed to God to give the family of Mzee Ibrahim the fortitude and strength needed to bear the loss of their patriarch. BMS Professor Co-leads Research on Tissue-engineered Implants that Offer Hope for Patients with Vocal Injuries A collaborative team consisting of Purdue biomedical engineers and clinicians from IU has tissue-engineered component tissue replacements that support reconstruction of the larynx. (Stock image) New technology from innovators at Purdue University and the Indiana University School of Medicine may one day help patients who suffer devastating vocal injuries from surgery on the larynx. A collaborative team consisting of Purdue biomedical engineers and clinicians from IU has tissue-engineered component tissue replacements that support reconstruction of the larynx. The innovation team is led by Stacey Halum, MD, FACS, a fellowship-trained laryngologist specializing in head and neck surgery, along with Sherry Harbin, PhD, who holds a joint appointment as a professor of basic medical sciences in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine and professor of biomedical engineering in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. The teams work is published in The Laryngoscope. Dr. Sherry Harbin The larynx is a very complex human organ consisting of outer cartilage for structural support, inner muscle that contracts to permit voicing, swallowing, and breathing, and inner vibratory lining. Currently, thousands of patients each year with laryngeal cancer or trauma require a procedure called total laryngectomy in which the entire larynx is removed, and patients are left without a human voice and breathing through a hole in their neck called a stoma. There are very few options for laryngeal reconstruction and no options for restoration of laryngeal appearance, structure and function, said Dr. Halum, an associate professor in the IU School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery who has an adjunct appointment in Purdues Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and sees patients at the IU Health Voice Center in Carmel, Ind. While surgeons occasionally use local or free tissue transfers to repair laryngeal defects, these local or regional tissues just plug holes or close the defects without really restoring function because the transferred tissues are not dynamic they do not move or contract. They also tend to lose bulk and scar over time. The research team used a patented collagen polymer developed by Dr. Harbins lab to fabricate the three regenerative replacement tissues for the laryngeal reconstruction procedure. Our approach is unique in that we are using customized engineered tissue replacements, with the muscle component fabricated using the patients own muscle progenitor cells, Dr. Harbin said. We believe these engineering approaches will provide patients with better options for reconstruction so that total laryngectomies become something of the past. Dr. Harbin and Dr. Halum believe the technology has widespread applications for custom fabrication of engineered tissue replacements for tissue restoration in other parts of the body. Dr. Harbin founded GeniPhys, a Purdue startup focused on the commercialization of the collagen polymer technology. The research project is funded by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The innovators worked with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to patent the technology. The researchers are looking for partners to continue developing and commercializing their technology. For more information on licensing and other opportunities, contact Dr. Harbin at harbins@purdue.edu. Click here to view a complete news release. Writer(s): Chris Adam, Purdue Research Foundation | pvmnews@purdue.edu Wondering how to break into the cannabis industry in Massachusetts? The Botanist, a company with two dispensaries in Central Massachusetts, is hoping to reach entrepreneurs and social equity applicants to offer tips on making cannabis a career. The Botanist, which has locations at 65 Pullman St. in Worcester and 235 Hartford Turnpike in Shrewsbury that serve medical patients and adult-use customers, is planning an educational seminar at noon on March 16. The event is digital and the Botanist plans to share a Zoom link on social media the day of the event. Speakers plan to offer key insights, information on cannabis retail, advice on dispensary operations and other industry logistics. Weve always tried to push the educational bar, said Katie Majeski, the director of brand communications for The Botanist. Part of the effort is to help applicants of the state Cannabis Control Commissions social equity program break into the field, said Maura OBrien, the compliance officer at The Botanist. The social equity program was created to provide training and technical assistance to applicants who were most impacted by the War on Drugs and marijuana prohibition, arrests and incarceration. Massachusetts cannabis industry is largely white. Equity applicants have faced barriers, particularly with financing, trying to break into the industry. Its a struggle. The cannabis industry definitely doesnt make it easy for smaller companies or individuals to get into the industry so its also us as The Botanist to help out others not only get through the application portion, OBrien said, but what were really focusing on right now is giving them the business tools to really start their own company. The seminar is also part of The Botanists community outreach, something required of dispensaries through the CCC, said Brad Doyle, the general manager of The Botanist in Massachusetts. Doyle said research, of course, is the first step to entering the industry. There is a host of regulations in Massachusetts to read in addition to getting familiar with the local landscape of cannabis businesses. People with a passion for cannabis can apply skills from various fields. Theres positions in retail, such as a budtender, or cultivation, such as a horticulturist, or a grower, Doyle said. This industry, its still emerging, so we tell people dont be afraid to start at the ground level and take time to learn. Because the industry is still developing, Doyle said, flexibility is necessary. Attendees of the educational seminar will get information on applying for cannabis grants from The Botanist, OBrien said. There will also be a roadmap of what entrepreneurs will need to get going, Doyle said, to offer a realistic view of the road ahead. OBrien said when it comes to regulations, the seminar will offer best practices for record-keeping to be prepared for scenarios like when the CCC comes in for a surprise inspection. Christian Paraghamian, the Botanists Shrewsbury dispensary manager, plans to offer tips on outreach like marketing tactics and the importance of making connections with other businesses in the community. And Matthew Davidson, The Botanists Worcester dispensary manager, will give advice on inventory management and the need for transparency. In addition to Massachusetts, The Botanist has locations in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South. Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini is dead at the age of 72 after spending days in a hospital in his home country of South Africa. The monarch was admitted in a hospital in KwaZulu-Natal last week to monitor his diabetic condition. The controversial but revered king of South Africas largest ethnic group Zulu, however died on Friday March 12. The king wielded great influence among millions of Zulus through his largely ceremonial and spiritual role despite having no official power in modern South Africa. The palace said a statement signed by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a powerful veteran politician who is also a Zulu prince; It is with the utmost grief that I inform the nation of the passing of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini King of the Zulu nation. Tragically, while still in hospital, His Majestys health took a turn for the worse and he subsequently passed away in the early hours of this morning." Goodwill Zwelithini was named successor to the throne at the age of 20 following his father's death in 1968. He wasn't crowned until 1971 because he went into hiding after receiving death threats. 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 Japan's government announced Friday that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will travel to Washington next month for his first face-to-face summit with President Joe Biden after he and his entourage complete their COVID-19 vaccinations. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Suga is expected to be the first foreign leader that Biden meets with since he took office in January. The trip is expected to take place in the first half of April. Kato said the two leaders are expected to discuss pandemic measures, climate change and other regional concerns including North Korea. The meeting is also likely to touch on China's escalating assertiveness in the East and South China seas, which have become a growing concern for Tokyo and Washington. 'We hope to further strengthen our bilateral relations including the Japan-U.S. alliance and to confirm our close cooperation toward achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific,' Kato said. 'It would be a good opportunity for us to show the rest of the world the close unity of the Japan-U.S. alliance and the U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.' China has built and militarized manmade islands in the South China Sea and is pressing its claim to virtually all of the seas key fisheries and waterways. Japan is concerned about Chinas claim to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, called Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea. China has denied it is expansionist and said it is only defending its territorial rights. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will travel to Washington next month The Japanese meeting will be President Joe Biden's first face-to-face summit with a foreign leader Kato said officials are finalizing details of Suga's trip. The prime minister and all 80-90 accompanying staff will receive two doses of a coronavirus vaccine before the trip, Kato said, noting that Biden and all the White House staff they will meet have already been vaccinated. Suga has had online talks with Biden and on Friday was to join a virtual summit of the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S., a group known as 'the Quad' that shares concerns about China's growing economic and military might. The Biden administration is focusing heavily on Indo-Pacific region as part of its foreign policy strategy and Tokyo is one of its biggest allies in the region. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel Japan and South Korea next week to meet with their counter parts there. Austin will also travel to India. Blinken and Austin will end their journey in Anchorage, Alaska, where they will meet with Chinese foreign policy officials next Sunday. The White House said it was important to have that meeting on American soil. Each of the four nations in the 'Quad' has a complex, if not strained, relationship with China. Biden, in his calls with each of the leaders during the first weeks of his administration, has stressed the need for cooperation on China. Australia's relationship with China has soured over a series of trade disputes. India is in the midst of a 10-months-long military standoff with China along their disputed border in eastern Ladakh. Tens of thousands of soldiers are facing each other at friction points in the region. Biden, in his first call with Suga days into his administration, underscored his commitment to protecting the Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islets administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, according to the White House. China has called the Quad an attempt to contain its ambitions. Blinken has made clear that the Democratic administration believes the best counterweight to China is for U.S. allies to stand together 'The more China hears not just our opprobrium but a chorus of opprobrium from around the world, the better the chance that we'll get some changes,' Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week. Opinion Article 12 March 2021 Almost a year ago, the Pandemic changed the narrative in every aspect. Across the hospitality, ecosystem hotels had to undergo the exercise of number crunching and reviewing multiple scenarios to arrive at a future outlook. The stakeholders such as the investors, the owners, management companies and many others want more clarity. Advertisements The entire exercise is complicated further with the ever-changing policies and re introduction of lockdowns in many places. While some cities have enjoyed businesses returning to normalcy, it comes with its share of uncertainty that fluctuates with every single change in the pandemic story. Business on books even in current months have sometimes disappeared by 30% or more if the number of cases reported in a city/destination has gone up. It creates a highly uncertain situation that is difficult to forecast. Is Data Obsolete One of the most common discussions within the management circles for at least a year has been about the relevancy of past data sets to project trends, comparing performances and gaining a foothold competitively. Rather many felt that the existing data sets have now become obsolete. It has been a prevalent sentiment whenever hotels prepared forecasts/budgets or presented a strategy. To a great extent, the sentiment resonates - There is no basis of comparable performance year on year pace is irrelevant Customer and segment mix has changed and will continue to evolve as markets open Channels of distribution are not as weighted as before Some exert more influence Booking behavior is now different and requires total flexibility Customer preferences have changed Is your hotel in sync with customer behavior? The fact that every exercise including pricing, and forecasting has fundamentally been based on comparative past data has led many to believe that the datasets are unusable. What current datasets can be used? The Green Shoots In recent months, destinations that have eased regulations and have been open for tourism have seen their hotel occupancies climb up. Regions and Countries where domestic demand is a driver have seen hotel occupancies climb upwards due to lack of government restrictions. Destinations that are primarily leisure-oriented have seen healthy occupancies in recent months. How did they fare comparatively with previous years data? In a recent conversation I had with Gino Engels Chief Commercial Officer at OTA Insight, it became quite evident that the key in looking at meaningful data was to start examining trends wherever markets had opened up, and international travel was still valid. According to Gino leisure destinations, such as Dubai, Florida, and many other locations had started building pace 3-months in advance for summer and winter periods last year. OTA's and Meta's were key performing distribution elements in delivering healthier occupancies. The data will always tell a story, whether aggregated or disaggregated. It will be critical for revenue heads to spot these green shoots, identify the micro-segments within a larger segment and extrapolate the data points to build a narrative. Identify the channels being used to book and construct a strategic case that helps project, manage and grow the demand. Data and Data There is no scarcity of data points used to build simulations and narratives to construct a strategy. The revenue heads will need to dig at many fronts across a host of data points to put together the story, as the reasons to travel have changed. An easier way to understand is to view data in different categories. The Future What are the emerging trends, and can they be aggregated? Seek out market intelligence about future pace across different dimensions, such as length of stay, preference for accommodation type, etc. Examine hotel search data from metasearch, OTA and other different sources, and adjust strategy accordingly Look at all forward-looking data from flight searches, etc. and get an understanding of the volume of travelers expected to travel within your market Has your comp-set changed? Is it dynamic? Do not be limited to a pre-COVID static competitive landscape. Measure rates and availability against a wider selection of the competitors, which includes alternative accommodations Understand consumer sentiment and social behavior by scanning all platforms The Present Is there an existing customer database? Deploy your customer data for a competitive advantage. Seek feedback from your customers and cater to their needs by building appropriate experiences as their reasons to travel change. Be ready to reach out and communicate with them. The Past There is always something to compare. Spot the emerging trends and if the situations are comparable to any past event. Understanding various historical trends that could become comparable is key to plotting the way forward. Above all, stay agile, be flexible and be ready to develop a Green Shoots Strategy. Facebook deletes drug couriers vacancies ads at request of Russian media watchdog RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 14:36 12/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 12 (RAPSI) Facebook has notified Roskomnadzor that the social network complied with the bodys request to remove pages and accounts that advertised vacancies of drug mules, the press service of Russias media watchdog informs on Friday. In order to protect Russian citizens from malicious content, on March 5 Roskomnadzor sent a letter to the address of the Facebook administration, demanding that it immediately take measures to prevent publications advertising vacancies of drug couriers, among them those popularizing and positively evaluating these unlawful activities, in this social media. Roskomnadzor reminded that the distribution of such information on the territory of the Russian Federation is prohibited. The media watchdog also demanded from Facebook to check and bring its moderation and pre-moderation mechanisms as to advertising and user content in compliance with Russian laws. Representatives of Facebook reported to Roskomnadzor that the pages and accounts that disseminated advertising on which the agency pointed out were removed. Nevertheless, the investigation into the matter is to be continued, the statement reads. According to the national Code of Administrative Offenses, violations of the procedures for restricting access to this kind of unlawful content, as well as failures to remove prohibited information on the part of the owners of the respective Internet resources entails administrative fines ranging from 3 to 8 million rubles ($41,000 to $68,000 at the current exchange rate) where it concerns legal entities. In case of a re-offense, the amount of the fine is to be increased so to make up to one fifth of the total amount of the respective company's annual revenue. March 12, 2021 The Microsoft (News - Alert) Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) recently issued a vulnerability warning to on-premise Exchange Server users. According to the tech giant, bad actors are routinely targeting servers using zero-day exploits. Cybercriminals breached the servers of many American firms to access email accounts or install malware. The latter case enabled the hackers to facilitate long-term access to the servers. MSTIC linked the attack to a Chinese group known as Hafnium. It noted that the attacks mimic the profile of state-sponsored outfits. Microsoft issued the statement based on Hafnium's tactics, procedures, and victim selection strategies. Several IT experts shared their views on the issue and provided valuable advice to on-premise Exchange Servers users. Here are their opinions. Should People Still Run On-Premise Exchange? Ian Brady of Steadfast Solutions urged companies to stop using on-premise Exchange. He said most companies are discontinuing usage of the service, including highly regulated organizations. Alek Pirkhalo of Infiniwiz concurred with Brady on the issue. He stated that a few exceptions apply to companies bound by specific compliance or security requirements. Conversely, Ravi Jain of Technijian recommended continued use of the email servers. However, Ravi did not give any reasons for his advice. According to Troy Drever of Pure IT, email is a mission-critical service. Thus, he does not recommend continuing to run on-premise Exchange. The tech expert explained that minimal downtime was acceptable in the past, but nowadays, organizations demand round-the-clock reliability. He said up to 95 percent of Pure ITs client base has Microsoft 365 plans and uses Hosted Exchange. Clients with on-premise Exchange are contemplating switching to MS 365. Exchange Online is safer because Microsoft keeps the servers up to date and performs real-time monitoring to prevent, detect, and thwart attacks by sophisticated cybercriminals like Hafnium. Drever urges companies to take advantage of the Hosted Exchanges advanced security measures and high availability. He noted that the measures are challenging to achieve with self-hosted email servers. Guy Baroan of Baroan Technologies voiced his opinion on the matter, saying there is no reason to opt for on-premise servers. However, some larger organizations still prefer to run Exchange locally. On the other hand, Donna Hall of OnPar Technologies noted that self-hosted Exchange Servers come with advantages and disadvantages. On-premise servers require regular maintenance, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Failing to maintain the environment creates significant security vulnerabilities. Regular outages and downtime are additional stumbling blocks associated with on-premise email servers. This downside is due to the absence of redundancy in the system. When Would It Be Advisable for Organizations to Run On-Premise Exchange? For Michael Anderson (News - Alert) of 365 Technologies, on-premise Exchange is taxing on an organizations resources. Companies need to handle reporting and reconciliation of license counts, adhere to specific backup practices, maintain hardware, and apply regular security patches. In the meantime, Nick Allo of SemTech IT Solutions echoed Andersons words by saying running on-site servers is not advisable. Maintenance requirements are cumbersome. Also, companies face greater responsibility in terms of keeping the servers secure and running properly. Organizations can relieve the workload by paying $4 per inbox for Microsoft Hosted Exchange (News - Alert) . In doing so, organizations eliminate the need to hire more employees to keep on-premises servers working optimally. These systems typically require complex backup solutions and network configurations. Demetrius Cassidy of In The Cloud Technologies highlighted companies reluctance to upgrade an email server if they feel the system is working optimally. This mindset exposes organizations to considerable risk as it creates vulnerabilities. Failing to upgrade the servers over time makes it challenging to safeguard the environment from cyberattacks. He further stressed the need to switch to Hosted Exchange because there is no valid reason to continue running on-premise systems anymore. Unified messaging is no longer a factor since organizations now rely on Cloud Voicemail. Cassidy recommends opting for a single Microsoft Exchange 2019 mailbox server to handle management tasks. Companies should switch email to Hosted Exchange. Why Does Microsoft 365 or Other Hosted Exchange Services Make Sense Than On-Premise Exchange? Ian Brady of Steadfast Solutions believes corporate decision-makers with trust issues find on-premise email servers more attractive than Microsoft 365 and other hosted exchange services. For Alek Pirkhalo, the benefits of online servers include lower cost, better security, no maintenance responsibilities, and high availability. Carl Fransen, an IT expert at CTECH Consulting Group, added his voice to the discussion by saying there are no longer any valid economic or technical reasons to retain on-site Exchange servers. Companies lose more money running such servers, which typically come with a working life of approximately five years. Microsoft continues to invest heavily in its Hosted Exchange service. Businesses can take advantage of advanced features like enforceable data governance and data loss prevention, which are not available in self-hosted servers. Off-premise servers store data in tier four data centers worth billions of dollars. Fransen also highlighted cost savings since companies only pay for services they use. According to Ilan Sredni of Palindrome Consulting, organizations can still deploy and use on-premise servers, but the security requirements are coming to a tipping point. Email-based threats are increasingly becoming a major issue for businesses globally. Sredni believes Microsoft will eventually stop supporting the on-premise Exchange environment. He stated that a few clients at Palindrome Consulting still use on-premise servers due to the need to integrate with legacy applications. The tech expert recommends making the switch to Microsoft 365 sooner than later. Ferrell Fuller of ChaceTech LLC recommends taking advantage of enterprise tools offered by Microsoft 365, particularly Exchange Online servers. Doing so minimizes the security risks and increased costs associated with self-hosted email servers. Companies opting for Hosted Exchange enjoy peace of mind knowing that Microsoft handles security and maintenance. Kenny Riley of Velocity IT agrees with Ferrell Fuller on adopting Exchange Online. He noted that on-premise servers require a proactive approach to security to counteract evolving zero-day attacks, which can be costly and time-consuming. What Are Your Thoughts on This Security Issue For Sean Connery of Orbis Solutions, companies need to educate themselves regarding the pros and cons of self-hosted servers. The Hafnium exploit is a clear reminder of the dangers that come with on-premise systems. Tech experts at Orbis Solutions recommend installing patches to resolve specific vulnerabilities. Microsoft provided patches, which protect against gaps that enable attackers to access confidential data or execute code remotely. According to Ian Brady, achieving a system with zero vulnerabilities is a challenge. Thus, companies should rely on tech giants to provide email servers. This approach lessens the burden on internal tech departments. Alek Pirkhalo of Infiniwiz echoed Bradys statement saying that risk is ever-present, and some system administrators encounter issues, even after patching. Michael Anderson commented that the Hafnium zero-day exploit highlights the need to apply patches as quickly as possible. Delays in releasing and applying patches expose many businesses to attacks. Exchange Online is a better option because the platform makes it easier to apply security patches at short notice. Organizations should learn from the Hafnium cyberattacks and switch to Hosted Exchange without delay, says Troy Drever. Exposure to increased risk can prove devastating for companies that choose to continue with on-premise servers. Donna Hall warned smaller businesses about the dangers of running older technologies. Data protection is easier with Exchange Online, as evidenced by the mass adoption of the service. This option allows organizations to leverage flexibility concerning data protection and security patches. Turkey is on track to provide COVID-19 vaccines to 50 million people by the fall, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Thursday, the one-year anniversary of Turkeys first-recorded coronavirus case. Turkey is among the fastest acting in the race for vaccine supplies, Koca said in a televised statement. If we can vaccinate 50 million of our population before autumn as we plan, the pandemic will no longer be a heavy burden for us. The country of 89 million people began its nationwide vaccine drive in mid-January, with the priority given to frontline health care workers. As of Thursday, the country had administered more than 10.5 million doses of the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine, with more than 2 million people having received both jabs. Koca said Turkey expects to have obtained 105 million doses by the end of May, which would be enough to provide two jabs to everyone over the age of 20. Earlier this month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of a new, controlled normalization that would include the reopening of restaurants and cafes in some provinces and the resumption of in-person schooling. Weekend lockdowns were lifted in cities determined to be low or medium-risk, but a nationwide weekday curfew from 9:00am to 5:00pm remains in place. Forty-two of Turkey's provinces are currently considered low and medium-risk, while 39 high or very high-risk, Koca said. Turkey is now experiencing a surge in new infections, which Koca attributed to the spread of new variants. Health officials announced 14,046 new cases on Thursday, more than twice the average daily caseload of 6,000 in January. Since Turkeys first initial outbreak in March 2020, the Ministry of Health has confirmed over 2.8 million cases of the virus and a death toll of more than 29,000. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 04:04:39|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the Geneva-based UN health agency "systematically reviews safety signals, and is carefully assessing the current reports on the AstraZeneca vaccine." The COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been suspended in a number of countries across Europe and Asia, following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people. "WHO is aware that some countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines, based on reports of blood clots in some people who received doses of the vaccine from two batches. This measure was taken as a precaution while a full investigation is finalized," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on Friday. A number of countries like Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Romania and Thailand have suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine after it was linked to blood clots in recipients, while Austria and France have decided to continue using it. "It is important to note that the European Medicines Agency has said there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and blood clots, and that the vaccine can continue to be used while its investigation is ongoing," Tedros said. The European Commission said on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine is still safe to use, adding that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had adopted a preliminary review on the case in Austria "where they said there is no specific indication that the vaccination led to these conditions." "As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events, the findings and any changes to our current recommendations will be communicated immediately to the public," Tedros said. The WHO chief also said that more than 335 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally so far, and no deaths have been found to have been caused by them. "But at least 2.6 million people have been killed by the virus. And more will continue to die the longer it takes to distribute vaccines as rapidly and as equitably as possible," he said. As countries roll out COVID-19 vaccines, the WHO is continuing to keep a close eye on their safety, Tedros added. Also on Friday, WHO gave emergency use listing to Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the fourth vaccine to receive WHO's approval. Emergency use listing is the green light for a vaccine to be procured and rolled out by COVAX, he said, referencing the global WHO-led initiative to ensure vaccine equity. 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, 263 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 81 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 March 12. Enditem NSU swim coach Monanian moving on after four seasons Monanian moves on to Purdue after accepting an assistant position at their program. Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found evidence of volcanic activity reforming the atmosphere of Gliese 1132b, a rocky exoplanet that is similar to Earth in terms of size and density. Gliese 1132 is a red dwarf star located 39.3 light-years away in the constellation of Vela. Otherwise known as GJ 1132, the star is only 1/5 the size, much cooler and fainter than the Sun, emitting just 1/200th as much light. It hosts at least one planet Gliese 1132b that was recently discovered using the MEarth-South Observatory. The alien world is about 1.2 times the size of Earth, and its mass is 1.6 times the mass of the Earth. It circles its host star every 1.6 days at a distance of 1.4 million miles. As a result, the planet is baked to a temperature of about 232 degrees Celsius (450 degrees Fahrenheit). Gliese 1132b appears to have begun life as a sub-Neptune planet with a thick blanket of atmosphere. Starting out at several times the radius of Earth, the planet quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere, which was stripped away by the intense radiation from its hot, young star. In a short period of time, it was reduced to a bare core about the size of Earth. The new Hubble observations uncovered a secondary atmosphere that has replaced the first atmosphere of Gliese 1132b. It is rich in hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, methane and ammonia, and also has a hydrocarbon haze. The astronomers theorize that hydrogen from the original atmosphere was absorbed into the planets molten magma mantle and is now being slowly released by volcanism to form a new atmosphere. This second atmosphere, which continues to leak away into space, is continually being replenished from the reservoir of hydrogen in the mantles magma. This second atmosphere comes from the surface and interior of the planet, and so it is a window onto the geology of another world, said Dr. Paul Rimmer, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge. We first thought that these highly radiated planets would be pretty boring because we believed that they lost their atmospheres, said Dr. Raissa Estrela, an astronomer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But we looked at existing observations of this planet with Hubble and realized that there is an atmosphere there. Gliese 1132b is likely tidally locked, meaning that it has a permanent day and night side, presenting the same face to its star, much like the Moon is locked to the Earth. The question is, what is keeping the mantle hot enough to remain liquid and power volcanism? This system is special because it has the opportunity for quite a lot of tidal heating, said Dr. Mark Swain, an astronomer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The researchers believe the crust of Gliese 1132b is extremely thin, perhaps only hundreds of meters thick. Thats much too feeble to support anything resembling volcanic mountains. Its flat terrain may also be cracked like an eggshell by tidal flexing. Hydrogen and other gases could be released through such cracks. This atmosphere, if its thin meaning if it has a surface pressure similar to Earth probably means you can see right down to the ground at infrared wavelengths, Dr. Swain said. That means that if astronomers use the James Webb Space Telescope to observe this planet, theres a possibility that they will see not the spectrum of the atmosphere, but rather the spectrum of the surface. And if there are magma pools or volcanism going on, those areas will be hotter. That will generate more emission, and so theyll potentially be looking at the actual geological activity which is exciting! A paper on the findings will be published in the Astronomical Journal. _____ Mark R. Swain et al. 2021. Detection of an Atmosphere on a Rocky Exoplanet. AJ, in press; arXiv: 2103.05657 WASHINGTON Attorney General Merrick B. Garland promised on Thursday to protect the credibility of the Justice Department and Americans civil rights and civil liberties, delivering a short speech via video to the departments roughly 115,000 employees about an hour after he was sworn in. I am honored to work with you once again, Mr. Garland said, speaking from the departments Great Hall. Together, we will show the American people that the Department of Justice pursues equal justice and adheres to the rule of law. Mr. Garlands speech was his first official act as attorney general. He used the moment to assure the rank and file that the Justice Department would no longer face pressure to attack the presidents enemies and protect his allies a callback to the unyielding push by President Donald J. Trump that diminished public confidence in the institution and led some career lawyers to resign. The only way we can succeed and retain the trust of the American people is to adhere to the norms that have become part of the DNA of every Justice Department employee, Mr. Garland said. This is the seventh in a series of stories by AL.com to reflect on the 1-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic reaching Alabama. Each day leading up to March 13 we will elevate the voices of those impacted. A year ago - on March 12, 2020 - Alabama was still a day away from confirming its first case of COVID in the state. Numbers quickly rose and less than two weeks later the state had its first death of the pandemic. The first official coronavirus-linked death would occur on March 25, 2020, when Gov. Kay Ivey and other state officials announced that a north Alabama woman who worked for Jackson County died of the coronavirus at a Tennessee hospital. As we near the anniversary of that first COVID-19 death, more than 10,000 Alabamians have lost their lives to the virus more than the amount of American combat deaths in the countrys last three wars. The dead were wives, daughters, grandfathers, soldiers, law enforcement officers, athletes and fathers. They were husbands, sons, grandmothers, health care workers, elected officials and mothers. Store owner Tracy Lee Andress on COVID: I hope and pray it gets better Retired nurse Annie Kynard-Hackworth lost husband to COVID, stays active with Red Cross Mental health advocate Susan Baty-Pierce: COVID made my idealism stronger And their loved ones grief has only been compounded by the coronavirus, with restrictions intended to stop the spread of COVID-19 limiting how many people can attend funerals. Some didnt get the chance to say goodbye in person. That was the case for Vietnam veteran and Birmingham resident Dwight Love. Marlene, his wife of 52 years, died May 11 2020. He waited in the parking lot of St. Vincents Hospital and arrived separately to the hospital from his wife because of COVID-19 guidelines. I had to sit in the parking lot until noon until they called me and told me she was dead, Love told AL.com. I then had to wait in the family room at St. Vincents while they cleaned up everything. She was cold by the time I saw her. One year later, Love is still grieving. His pastor was quarantined at the time of Marlene Loves death, which meant she couldnt have a proper funeral, he said. A graveside service, for immediate family members only, was able to be held three weeks later. It still hurts, Love said. The hurt is being felt across the state. As Alabama continues operating under a statewide mask mandate and restrictions being placed on congregating in public, the isolation caused by COVID-19 guidelines is leading to complicated grief, said Stephen Schottgen, a mental health counselor for the Mobile County Department of Health. In the first part [of the pandemic], there was a lot of anger, anxiety, frustration, said Schottgen. As time rolled by, Im getting more depression, grief, loss. A lot more depression. People are able to stop and reflect, so its not always a positive thing for them. With fewer socialization options in the age of COVID-19, grief becomes a pervasive part of our lives, Schottgen said. Grief and loss, its so cliched, but admitting thats what youre feeling is a step in the right direction, he said. If its something that you cant shake off, then my advice would be to seek out somebody thats professional. Especially if its occupying more time than not, if thats what youre thinking about all the time, where people are doing the woulda-coulda-shouldas, thinking about the past. It may be time to talk to somebody thats not family, whether its clergy or whomever. The more that we sit there and ruminate, the deeper we go into our grief and loss, the harder it can become to shake off. It can become complicated grief. Health provider Stephen Schottgen: COVID isolation leads to complicated grief Veteran widowed during COVID: Wife was cold by the time I saw her Veterans services officer Eric Ervin: Death certificates put COVID in perspective Veterans home director Hiliary Hardwick: Loss of socializing during COVID hurts most Annie Kynard-Hackworth, a 66-year-old retired nurse from Alabaster who lost her husband to COVID-19 in April, said she frequently visits her husbands grave and reflects on the positives. He is over at the national cemetery in Montevallo and I visit every so often. Theres a nice little park. Its about maybe five miles from my house and its beautiful there. Its a happy place. The retired nurse also volunteers for the Red Cross as a greeter to alleviate pandemic fatigue. Schottgen said spending time outdoors while still abiding by guidelines could benefit the grieving. If possible, get outside. Just get a little bit of sunlight, he said. You dont have to get close to anybody. As long as people follow the guidelines, they can still walk out in their backyard or to the park. Just 10-15 minutes a day in sunlight does a whole bunch of good, physiologically and psychologically. INGHAM COUNTY, MI More than 150 firefighters helped fight a large brush fire in Leslie Township Wednesday that burned 30 acres and three barns. The first call for the fire came in at 12:37 p.m., March 10, Leslie Township Fire Chief Bruce Howe said. Between 25 and 30 agencies had responded by the time crews cleared the scene at the corner of Covert and Tuttle roads at 8:05 p.m. Crews battle large fire on farm north of Jackson Three barns, a large workshop and about 30 acres, including empty cornfields and woods, were destroyed by the fire, Howe said. The farmhouse was saved because fire crews were able to put extra resources into protecting it, Howe said. Strong winds created issues for the firefighters, including blowing embers across the road, Howe said. There were sustained winds around 20 mph and gusts of 32 mph, per the National Weather Service. It was a windy day, Howe said. Ninety percent, no I would say 99%, of our problem was wind. Firefighters were back on scene at 3 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday, March 11 because there were fire flare-ups, Howe said. No one was injured in the fire, which Howe said is amazing since there were between 150 and 200 firefighters on scene. Its cause is still unclear, Howe said. The community rallied around the firefighters to provide food, water and fuel, Howe said. The donations included pallets of water from the Mason Meijer, food from Leslie McDonalds, fuel from Fogg Oil, 15 pizzas from an unknown person, sandwiches made by the Leslie Auxiliary Fire Ladies and food and water from numerous community members. That was the best community action Ive seen, Howe said. It was great. Wow! Yesterdays fire was an amazing display of teamwork and community support. We would like to Thank all the Fire... Posted by Leslie Fire Department on Thursday, March 11, 2021 The fire was the worst Howe said hes seen in 35 years, and other long-time firefighters havent seen anything like it either, they said. It was one for the books, Howe said. Departments from Eaton, Ingham, Jackson, Livingston and Washtenaw counties assisted at the scene. Some agencies staged outside the fire to help respond to other emergency calls in Ingham County. Read more from MLive: Residents flee as fire rips through apartment building near Jackson Fire displaces residents from Jackson County house Student struggles prompt in-person class increase, COVID-19 variant hits Jackson: Top headlines March 6-11 With President Joe Bidens signature on the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the City of Laredo and Webb County are due to receive a combined $150 million, amounting to nearly half of their respective general fund revenue this year. READ MORE: Laredo announces details of COVID-19 vaccine partnership with Curative The City of Laredo will be receiving $96 million and the county $54 million, the intent being to recoup their monetary and opportunity losses brought by the pandemic. Both entities are exploring the limitations of this funding and how it will be best spent. City Manager Robert Eads estimates the city has lost around $30 million in this last year. But this $96 million will not necessarily be a tit for tat recoup of these losses or about filling the citys coffers, he said. For instance, last year as the city started buying COVID-19 tests, personal protective equipment and overtime for fire and police officers, the first budget item on the chopping block was $4 million they had set aside for street paving. With this federal funding, the city will be able to recommit the money for street paving, Eads said. But even when needs like this have been met, there will certainly be money leftover. Eads hopes that the city and the county will be able to put their money together to fund a substantial road project. Im all about infrastructure, Im all about roads, Im all about streets. So if thats a possibility, believe me, thats going to be one of the things that I push and try to communicate to our council, he said. The language of the stimulus bill makes clear that this funding cannot be used to deposit into any pension funds, Eads noted. Webb County Budget Officer Lalo Uribe said the county has incurred about $1 million in expenses relating to the pandemic money going to food banks, overtime for employees, PPE, laptops, etc. With this federal funding, he would like to add wifi to all the countys community centers and retrofit the county fairgrounds so it could become a shelter in the event of another freeze, power outage or natural disaster. But this $54 million cannot be used to supplant the countys general fund or pay for something like the fairgrounds redesign project, Uribe noted. He has considered that the county could provide aid to members of the local agriculture community, ranchers or even as property tax relief to taxpayers. Uribe said he and Judge Tano Tijerina are thinking of establishing a COVID relief committee so that they can gather input on how this money should be spent. Were probably not going to get money like this ever again, so we need to be extremely prudent. ... Id rather help as many people as we can with as much resources as we can, Uribe said. Eads first day as Laredos city manager was March 4, 2020; this pandemic has made up almost the entirety of his tenure thus far. With this funding coming down from Washington, D.C., he said he feels like he can breathe again. READ MORE: Laredoans wary about end of mandates as pandemic continues I started with a couple of boots on the back of my neck. One boot gets taken off, which is the funding source, Eads said. But I still have that other boot of COVID upon us still. Definitely, Ive felt a big sense of relief in the sense that I can finally see us getting to some norm. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Joan McDermott was 16 and fresh out of boarding school when she met her boyfriend Tony, a medical student, in their rural hometown in County Cork, Ireland. Together for about a year, they had sex twice. She fell pregnant. I honestly didnt know that was how you got a baby, says Joan, now 73 and living in the small coastal town of Cobh in Cork. When I told my mother I was three months pregnant, she said to go upstairs and pack a small bag; Id be going away. Then she stood in the hallway while I rang my boyfriend. His family ran a well-known local business; he said he was sorry but that he could do nothing for me. Joans father, a vet, had died earlier that year and her mother was in a new relationship with a local politician. It was the mid-1960s. She was about to marry this man if word of the pregnancy got out it could have ruined his career, says Joan, a handsome woman with pretty drop earrings and fair hair cut in an elegant short bob. She makes a point of dressing well, she tells me, even to walk her dog in the mornings. The next day, I was told to get in the car with them [her mother and future stepfather]. I had no idea where we were going and nobody said anything for the whole 40-kilometre journey. Then there were these big gates and a house with steps going up to a red door. My mother said, This is a home for unmarried girls and you will stay here. A nun came out onto the steps, they had a few words, then my mother turned on her heel and walked away. Joan was taken inside, where she was allocated a house name, her identity to be kept secret. It was a dreadful place, strict and humiliating, she tells me with finely controlled contempt. There was no contact with the outside world and I was told if you attempted to leave, the Gardai [police] would bring you back. It was summer when I got there and we girls were put to cutting the lawn with scissors, kneeling on all fours. In the winter months you had to clean the place. She had been there for six months when she had her first contractions. I told a nun and she said I was suffering because of the Devils work. When the pain got worse, she put me in a room and left me there all night, alone. There was no pain relief. She came back at 8am and I said I could feel the babys head presenting. I had to walk along a corridor holding it in. There was a metal table but I couldnt get up on it, so I lay across it. Advertisement After the birth a boy her baby was taken away to the nursery, Joan sent back to her chores. You werent allowed to go to the nursery except when the bell rang for feeding time. One morning, I was breastfeeding when a nun came and took my son away. He was seven weeks old. When I asked where he was, I was told, Hes gone. Two days later, Joans mother arrived to pick her up. She sent me to stay with an aunt in England. It was there that Joan eventually rebuilt her life, training as a nurse, meeting and marrying her husband and bearing two more children, both now in their 40s. I told no one my secret, not even my husband. Were divorced now. Joan McDermott, who fell pregnant at 16, says of meeting her son 47 years later: I thought my heart would burst. Credit: For most of the 20th century, Ireland was a dreadful place to be single and pregnant. According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, considered the guardian of the nations moral health, such women were grave sinners and a disgrace to their families. Abortion was illegal and continued to be so until 2018. Illegitimacy being born out of wedlock was denounced from the pulpit and remained a legal status until 1987. Families could not bear the shame and girls left home or were sent away, some barely in their teens, some pregnant as a result of rape or incest. Many, like Joan, were terrifyingly ignorant of the workings of their own bodies. For most, the only escape from destitution was recourse to one of the countrys 14 homes for unmarried mothers, run by religious orders and funded by the state, or one of the many county homes funded by local authorities. While at their peak in the 1960s and 70s, several of these homes did not close their doors until the late 90s. Unless paid for privately by their families, the women worked their passage by skivvying until, and often after, their babies were born. Advertisement A few returned alone to their families; some left to find work where they could; others would stay on in the homes with their babies. After adoption was made legal in 1953 decades later than in Australia or the UK almost all illegitimate babies were adopted out. This was often against the wishes of their mothers, though they had little choice in the matter. Until then, there were unofficial adoptions and what was called boarding out, a form of fostering. Babies who remained in the homes did not tend to thrive: conditions in some were appalling, food was usually poor and, in the worst places, the mortality rate was at least twice that of the general population. St Marys Mother and Baby Home was one such place, run by the Bon Secours Sisters at Tuam, County Galway. It housed destitute and disabled women and children as well as unmarried mothers who had fallen more than once. In 2012, local resident Catherine Corless began to share her research into the history of the home, which operated from 1925 to 1961. She found the names of 796 babies who had died, but no record of their burials. Where were all these small bodies? Not in the local graveyard; not in the churchyards of the parishes where their mothers came from. As a result of Corlesss dogged, multi-year pursuit of the truth, archaeologists would eventually discover the remains of hundreds of babies, deposited in a decommissioned septic tank in the grounds of the home. It was described as a chamber of horrors in 2017 by the then taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, Enda Kenny. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The unfolding scandal of Tuam, with its attendant international media coverage, led the Irish government to set up the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in 2015. It would scour the records of 18 homes many of which were incomplete or missing examining the living conditions for inmates and what happened to them afterwards. It would find that of the 57,000 babies born in those institutions, 9000 died while in their care, the majority without burial records. Five years in the compiling, when the commissions report landed 3000 pages in January this year, it contained quietly devastating details from the testimonies of former residents. Women told how they were stripped of their identities and, like Joan, given house names. No matter the cause of a pregnancy there was little empathy, you were there to atone for your sin. They spoke of being left alone in labour, as Joan was; some reported complications in later life as a result of their difficult first childbirth. Advertisement Catherine Corless: her discovery that there were no official burials for hundreds of babies at a mother and baby home in Galway, Ireland, led to an investigation into 17 more institutions. Credit:Getty Images Bonding with babies intended for adoption was discouraged, and they were to be fed on their backs, no cuddling. One woman told of hiding her child in the room for disabled babies so that no prospective adoptive parent would pick him. A few spoke of their time with the nuns as a refuge from violence and poverty at home, or a way to escape public judgment: You were [considered] an absolute slut if it happened to you. The rules of admission for one home stated: This community will direct their attention towards the reformation of unmarried mothers and their children but no girls who had a second child will be accepted under any circumstances. Some women would go back to their families after the birth but the babies all too obvious evidence of the mothers sin were rarely welcome. As the report noted, the moral stain of illegitimacy could affect the marriage prospects of other family members. Those who had stayed on as children in the homes and were later boarded out or sent to residential schools spoke of feeling unloved and unwanted the product of an evil union. They, as well as adoptees and birth mothers, told of the enduring pain of searching in vain for family and identity. At the launch of the report in January, the Taoiseach Micheal Martin said it was unforgivable that children born outside of marriage were treated as outcasts. He spoke of their sense of abandonment and of the stigma and lack of birth information which had been a terrible burden in their lives. We honoured piety but failed to show even basic kindness to those who needed it most. The Catholic Church acknowledged an underlying, but enormously influential, strain of misogyny, and a negative and oppressive attitude to sexuality, particularly in relation to women. Such statements were the latest in a litany of mea culpas from church and state prompted by similar official reports over two decades. Investigations of clerical child sexual abuse, of the suffering of children in orphanages and industrial schools and of the slavery of young women working in convent laundries have each thrown light on Irelands dark past. But for those waiting for the commission to acknowledge the fault of church and state in their suffering, the report was a savage disappointment. Noting that women who gave birth outside marriage were subjected to particularly harsh treatment, the report concluded, responsibility for that harsh treatment rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families. Advertisement There were angry and emotional scenes in the Dail the Irish Parliament as the house debated the report. One member said women were not just treated as second-class citizens as described in the report. They were a caste apart, she said. They were untouchable even by their own parents. Another was close to tears as he quoted from a 1943 health inspectors report describing babies in one home as miserable scraps of humanity, wizened, some emaciated and almost all had rash and sores all over their bodies, faces, hands and heads. The home in question only closed in 1999. In the weeks following the launch of the report, live TV and radio programs carried a stream of interviews with former residents. It has opened up a huge wound, says actor-playwright Noelle Brown, who was adopted from a home. People have taken to the airwaves and are haemorrhaging stories of absolute horror. There isnt a family in Ireland that hasnt been affected by this issue. It is massive. Childrens socks line a grotto on an unmarked mass grave at the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, which closed in 1961. Credit:Getty Images Many of the 550 witnesses who gave evidence to the commission were shocked to find the report contained only very brief extracts of their testimonies, or nothing at all. Their courage in coming forward had been utterly disrespected, says Brown, who was a witness herself. I was told, Everything you say will be put away and no one will ever hear it. I said, Well, why am I here? I want my story to be heard. It later emerged that the audio recordings of the testimonies had been destroyed and there were apparently no transcripts. But after a barrage of protests from witnesses, the Minister for Children, Roderic OGorman, said efforts were being made to retrieve the data and provide transcripts to all who requested them. On long northern winter days under COVID-19 lockdown, I sat for hours on Zoom and WhatsApp calls listening to Irish voices, in turn passionate, angry and confiding, telling me terrible things. Well, now, Jane, they would say, The thing was, you see Women who as young pregnant girls fled to England to escape censure, and labelled PFI pregnant from Ireland were found by the Catholic Protection and Rescue Society of Ireland and brought back to a mother and baby home. It was prison, said one, if you escaped, the Gardai would bring you back. Advertisement DUBLIN, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Therapeutics - Global Drug Forecast and Market Analysis to 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Over three decades ago, researchers identified the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the causative agent of a then-mysterious new illness, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). A member of the Lentivirus genus, HIV belongs to the family of retroviruses, which are RNA viruses with the ability to reverse transcribe their single-stranded RNA genome into double-stranded DNA. Following reverse transcription, the viral DNA is incorporated into the host cell genome. An estimated 75 million people have been infected with HIV since 1981, and AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 32 million people. In some countries, AIDS is the leading cause of death. Globally, one million people die from AIDS-related infections per year. Rapid progress has been underscored by the emergence of once-daily, single-tablet regimens (STRs) such as Gilead Science's Atripla, Stribild, Biktarvy and Genvoya. ViiV Healthcare, which is a collaboration between Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Shionogi is the other major developer of STRs for HIV. These therapies have revolutionized the treatment landscape for HIV and offer patients an unparalleled level of convenience. Nonetheless, there is need for therapies delivered via non-oral routes of administration, and the publisher expects a number of such treatment options to become available over the course of the forecast window which is 2019-2029. The publisher projects the global HIV marketplace - which, for the purposes of this report, comprises seven major pharmaceutical markets (US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, and Japan) - will experience modest growth during the forecast period. The HIV therapeutics market was valued at $22.9B in 2019. The launch of long-acting injectable therapies and continued success of single-tablet regimens (STRs) will drive growth in the market, which will expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2%. By 2029, sales of anti-HIV therapeutics will reach $28B. Key Highlights The global HIV market was worth an estimated $22.9B in 2019. The publisher projects that this market will expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2%, reaching $28B in 2029. in 2019. The publisher projects that this market will expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2%, reaching in 2029. Growth in the market is expected to be facilitated by the entry of non-oral therapies and pre-exposure prophylactic (PrEP) drugs, which will launch in all of the 7MM by the end of the forecast period. The long-term efficacy of the pharmacologic management of HIV is highly dependent on patient compliance. Poor compliance is a risk factor for a shortened life expectancy and greater chance of contracting opportunistic infections. Pharmaceutical companies are attempting to address this issue by developing injectable therapies that are administered less frequently than market-leading oral drugs which are taken daily and are linked to side effects such as osteoporosis, hepatotoxicity, and kidney dysfunction. By 2029, the US and 5EU markets will benefit from an influx of therapeutic agents that address different stages of HIV infection, including viral entry, reverse transcription, and integration of viral DNA into the host genome. There will be several drivers that promote growth in the HIV therapeutics market. One example is the fact that non-oral therapies will launch in the 7MM. These drugs will diversify treatment options for patients. Other market drivers include the use of drugs with low frequencies of administration and the emergence of biologic drugs that have high annual costs of therapy (ACOT) which can be used to treat patients with multidrug-resistant infections. Major barriers to growth in the HIV market during the forecast period will include the fact that social stigma prevents patients from seeking a diagnosis leading to a low diagnosis rate, increased disease transmission, and delayed initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The publisher also expects that lack of compliance among patients will persist, either because of the need to take multiple oral tablets on a daily basis in some treatment regimens, or because of undesirable side effects such as weight gain, changes in bone mineral density, lactic acidosis, or mental disorders. Furthermore, marketed products such as ViiV Healthcare's Tivicay (dolutegravir) and Mylan's Symfi (efavirenz, lamivudine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) will lose their patent protection during the forecast period, allowing cheaper generics to erode the sales of branded products. The US accounted for the vast majority of sales, generating $19.5B in the base year of the forecast window. This equates to a market share of 85.2%. The 5EU markets generated a combined $3.2B in sales in 2019. The publisher valued the Japanese market at $152.1M in 2019. Sales in all of the 7MM except for Germany are expected to increase over the course of the forecast window. The US is projected to gain market share during the forecast period, generating 85.8% of sales in 2029. in the base year of the forecast window. This equates to a market share of 85.2%. The 5EU markets generated a combined in sales in 2019. The publisher valued the Japanese market at in 2019. Sales in all of the 7MM except for are expected to increase over the course of the forecast window. The US is projected to gain market share during the forecast period, generating 85.8% of sales in 2029. In 2029, the 5EU markets will generate $3.8B . Japan is expected to contribute $225M in sales in the final year of the forecast window. . is expected to contribute in sales in the final year of the forecast window. The PrEP market was valued at $2.6B in 2019. Sales of therapeutics used in PrEP are expected to reach $3.3B in 2029. Drug sales will be limited by the impact of generic erosion. Companies Mentioned Abbvie Aelix Therapeutics BioNTech Biosantech BMS Boehringer Ingelheim CytoDyn Dewpoint Therapeutics Gilead Sciences GlaxoSmithKline Starpharma ImmunityBio Janssen Japan Tobacco Johnson and Johnson Merck Mylan Roche Shionogi TaiMed Biologics Theratechnologies ViiV Healthcare AIM ImmunoTech For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/w771w9 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! As his son continues to be embroiled in shocking claims of cannibalism, the apparent sins of Armie Hammer's father have been laid bare in a bombshell new report. Michael Hammer inherited almost the entire family fortune, was embroiled in New York City's biggest art fraud and allegedly almost came to blows with his son during the doomed Cayman Islands lockdown last year that led to Armie's unraveling. Insiders also claim the 65-year-old, who they say 'has the mindset of a teenage boy', keeps a 'sex throne' or as he allegedly calls it the 'naughty chair' in the Armand Hammer Foundation headquarters, which features the family coat of arms and a cage underneath. Michael is the son of Julian Hammer - who killed a man over a gambling debt in the 50s and allegedly sexually abused his daughter Casey - and Sue Kane. The strange past of the Hammer family was unearthed in a Vanity Fair expose this week which claimed many of the men going back five generations have been known to have 'a dark side.' It provides a backdrop to Armie's life before leaked messages said to be from the actor surfaced in January showed him claiming to be '100 percent a cannibal' and several women spoke out accusing him of emotional abuse and violent sexual escapades. One of the women, 22-year-old Paige Lorenze, told the magazine Armie had confided in her about the 'dark stuff' in his family and was 'proud' of it. Lorenze claimed Armie's mother Dru Mobley - the ex-wife of Michael who reportedly helped tame his playboy lifestyle - even confided in her that she is fearful her son has now been lost to 'the devil'. Armie Hammer with father Michael Hammer. As his son continues to be embroiled in shocking claims of cannibalism, the apparent sins of Armie Hammer's father have been laid bare in a bombshell new report Michael inherited the entire family business empire from his grandfather Armand who had made his fortune by investing his third wife's money in Occidental Petroleum, as well as - according to Vanity Fair - 'wide-ranging grifts, including laundering money; using artwork to fund Soviet espionage; bribing his way into the oil business; and knocking off Faberge eggs.' The revelation that Armand had left most other family members high and dry when he died in 1990 came as a shock and led to rifts that wrangled through the courts for years. The battle over the family estate - which was estimated to be worth around $180 million - is still ongoing today more than 35 years later. While her brother Michael inherited two art galleries, two foundations and a sizable chunk of the multi-million dollar fortune, Casey - Julian's daughter and Armie's estranged aunt - told Vanity Fair her father received just $250,000 of the fortune. Fast forward to today and she said she has just $100 in her savings account and is holding down a job at Home Depot in part due to her father Julian being disinherited. 'If you would have told me in my 20s that I would end up financially challenged, single, and working at Home Depot, I would have bet you a million dollars that wouldn't have happened,' she said. She thinks her brother Michael could help, given his fortune. She said just one of the family paintings he has would help her get on her feet. Michael's mother also previously told The Washington Post that her son 'forgot about us' after he came into the money from his grandfather. He also started offloading some of the family's legacy, handing the Hammer Museum to the UCLA art department in 1994 and asking the Metropolitan Museum of Art to remove Armand's name from the Hall of Arms and Armor so he didn't have to pay the remaining $1 million. Armie Hammer as a baby with grandfather Armand Hammer, Julian Hammer and Michael Hammer. Michael Hammer took almost the entire family fortune and was embroiled in New York City's biggest art fraud He was embroiled in a $70 million fraudulent ring selling counterfeit paintings going back to 1994 at the family-owned Knoedler Gallery Michael then moved his family - Dru, Armie and Armie's brother Viktor - to the Cayman Islands before returning to California around a decade later to a series of scandals. In 2011, Michael's galleries became embroiled in a huge art scam that went back almost two decades when the Knoedler Gallery and its former director Ann Freedman were sued for selling a fake Jackson Pollock painting. Michael had inherited the Knoedler Gallery in New York City from his grandfather who had bought the business in 1971 for $2.5 million. Accusations of a forgery ring surfaced in 2009 but only became public in 2011 when the gallery closed and hedge fund executive Pierre Lagrange sued the gallery and its director after he was sold the forged Pollock for $17 million. A probe into the allegations uncovered an alleged $70 million fraudulent ring selling counterfeit paintings going back to 1994. It turned out the paintings were actually the work of a relatively unknown artist in Queens. Ten lawsuits were settled and one case went to trial in 2016 with Sotheby's chairman Domenico De Sole and his wife Eleanor accusing the gallery of selling them a fake Mark Rothko for $8.3 million. Although Michael wasn't personally accused of wrongdoing in the fraud ring, during court testimony it was claimed he had been using the gallery's funds for his personal expenses including two luxury cars and a trip to Paris. But Michael never answered to the allegations as the case was settled just an hour before he was due to testify. One source told Vanity Fair this was all part of the family's penchant for 'spending other people's money' as they called them the 'lucky sperm club.' Michael Armand Hammer attends the Petersen Automotive Museum 22nd Annual Gala at the Petersen Automotive Museum in 2016 Armand, Julian, Michael and Armie Hammer. Insiders claim Michael keeps a 'sex throne' or as he allegedly calls it the 'naughty chair' in the Armand Hammer Foundation HQ 'We call these guys the lucky sperm club here,' the insider said. 'Never accomplished anything. They know a whole lot about spending other people's money.' Other habits that allegedly run in the family include a fondness for kinky sex, with a former friend of Michael's saying he was 'not the least bit surprised' when he heard the allegations about Armie's sex life. The friend - as well as two other sources - told Vanity Fair Michael bragged about having a sex throne inside the family business's HQ. The chair is reportedly about 'seven feet high, features a chair with a hole in the seat, a cage underneath, and a hook' with the Hammer coat of arms painted on the seat. According to the report, a smiling Michael is pictured in a photo sitting on top of the throne while holding the head of a smiling blonde woman, who is sitting in the cage below. Counsel for Michael Hammer and the Armand Hammer Foundation told Vanity Fair the claims about his sex throne, drug and alcohol use, finances, and history with women are 'absurd'. 'These questions, which ask about unsolicited gag gifts sent by friends, conduct that sounds pretty typical of recently-divorced people, and entirely legal financial transactions that were properly accounted for, are absurd,' said the counsel Clare. But friends told the outlet he 'has the mindset of a teenage boy', would send x-rated photos to his friends and embarked on 'a string of women, illicit substances, and tattoos' after his split from Dru. It was an apparent bust-up with his son that contributed to hopping on a plane out of the Cayman Islands in June - a move that was said to have triggered divorce proceedings by Armie's wife Elizabeth Chambers and the damaging claims brought by several women. Armie and Michael. A source claims Michael and Armie almost got into a fist fight while quarantining in the Cayman Islands last year Armie with his two young children whom he shares with his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers, 38 (pictured together) Courtney Vucekovich, who claimed in January Armie was into 'master-slave fetishes' and told her he wanted to break and eat her ribs, told Vanity Fair Armie confided in her he was escaping his 'crazy family' after almost getting into fist fights with his father. Armie and Michael had been holing up in a luxury villa in the Cayman Islands under lockdown alongside Michael's latest wife Misty, Elizabeth and Armie's two kids. 'Within the first five minutes, he was basically like, this all goes back to my horrible childhood,' said Vucekovich. 'It's not the most romantic thing, but we bonded over past trauma.' His June departure in the middle of the pandemic was reportedly the 'final straw' for Elizabeth who had endured years of infidelity, a friend told Vanity Fair, and she filed for divorce the following month. Vucekovich revealed new details about her relationship with Armie telling Vanity Fair he made her 'feel bad for him' before he 'love-bombs you like crazy... And then he starts the manipulation and the darker stuff.' She told Vanity Fair she was left 'with regret' following one encounter after she said she agreed to 'a bondage scenario that I was not comfortable with.' While Armie allegedly opened up about tensions with his father, one of the other women to come forward in January claimed Armie's mother confided in her she was 'so worried' about her son and feared the devil was trying to 'take' him. Dru allegedly told Lorenze she was 'so worried about Armie and so grateful for me because she felt like I was a good influence on him. 'And that she just wanted him to accept God back into his life. And that he had just been fighting everything for a long time.' Armie's parents are only part of the picture. Scandal and shocking tales have rocked the family for at least five generations starting with Dr. Julius Hammer, Armie's great-great-grandfather and a central figure in the US Communist Party, who was convicted of manslaughter for performing a botched abortion on the wife of a Russian diplomat in 1919 where she later died. While in prison, his son Armand (the man behind the family empire) took over his pharma business Allied Drug and was personally endorsed by Vladimir Lenin in a letter to Joseph Stalin. Armand Hammer in 1977 who made the family fortune and snubbed most of the family when he died Armand, who married three times, later tried to distance himself from his Soviet past and reportedly mingled with senior political figures including Senator Al Gore Sr., attended the presidential inaugurations of FDR, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush and hung out with Prince Charles. He was pardoned by Bush in 1989 after he made an illegal contribution to Richard Nixon's reelection campaign which is said to have helped pay toward the Watergate scandal. His son Julian, Armie's grandfather, carried on the legacy for scandal when he killed longtime friend Bruce Whitlock in Los Angeles in 1955. The FBI said the killing was over a gambling debt and he was charged with first-degree manslaughter but the charges were dropped. According to Vanity Fair, Armand sent $50,000 in cash to a lawyer in Los Angeles before the charges were dismissed. Julian has also been accused of sexually abusing his daughter Casey when she was a child. Casey made the claims in her 2015 memoir Surviving My Birthright. She also claims Julian was abusive to other members of the family. Jan Ward, Casey and Michael's half sister, declined to comment on the allegations when approached by Vanity Fair. 'I will say that I love my family very much which includes my brother, my sister, and my nephewsI do have wonderful memories of us kids spending every summer at Laguna Beach with our Grandma Olga and spending the holidays with our parents and grandparents,' she said in a statement. 'We were all blessed to be able to attend excellent schools thanks to Grandpa Hammer who was a great supporter of education. Our family taught us the value of hard work and I have had a fulfilling career and a wonderful family life.' Published: 12 March 2021 Completion of university of applied sciences education faster than before, large differences between sexes According to Statistics Finlands education statistics, completion of university of applied sciences education and university education accelerated. In turn, the completion of vocational education and upper secondary general school education slowed down. In all, 57 per cent of those having started studies completed a university of applied sciences degree in four-and-a-half years in 2019, while in the previous statistical year 53 per cent completed a university of applied sciences degree within the target period. Pass rates by sector of education, % The pass rate tells how many per cent of those that started education have completed a qualification within the examined study time. The examined time is 3.5 years for upper secondary general and vocational education. 4.5 years for university of applied sciences education and 5.5 years for university education. In upper secondary general school education, 80 per cent passed the matriculation examination in at most three-and-a-half years. The pass rate of upper secondary general school education is stable and a high percentage of those having started the education pass the examination. In 2015, altogether 81 per cent of those having started upper secondary general school education passed it, in which case the share of those having passed the education within the target period has fallen by one percentage point in five years. Of those having started initial vocational qualifications, 63 per cent completed a qualification within the target period, while 68 per cent completed a qualification within the target period in 2015. During the reference period, the pass rate of initial vocational education was at its highest in 2016, when 68 per cent of the students having started the education completed it within the target period. The pass rate of initial vocational education has fallen for the past four statistical years in a row. In 2019, more students completed both university of applied sciences education and university education than before. In all, 57 per cent of those having started university of applied sciences education completed it within the target period, while in 2015 the share of those having completed it within the target period was 47 per cent. The share of those having completed education within the target period has grown by ten percentage points in five years. Sixty-six per cent of university students completed a higher or lower university degree in at most five-and-a-half years. The pass rate of university education has grown by 10 percentage points in five years. Pass rates for upper secondary general education by gender in different reference periods in 2019 According to the data for 2019, upper secondary general school education was completed typically in 3.5 to 4.5 years: Eighty per cent of new students in upper secondary general schools completed the upper secondary general school syllabus in at most three-and-a-half years and 89 per cent in at most four-and-a-half years. Men studying in upper secondary general school passed their qualifications slightly slower than women studying there did. Altogether 81 per cent of women and 79 per cent of men completed upper secondary general school education in three-and-a-half years, whereby the difference between the sexes was two percentage points. Ninety per cent of women and 87 per cent of men completed upper secondary general school education in four-and-a-half years, which meant that the difference between the sexes was three percentage points. Pass rates for initial vocational education by gender in different reference periods in 2019 The duration of completing initial vocational education varies more than that of upper secondary general qualifications. Sixty-five per cent of vocational education students passed their vocational qualifications in three and a half years or faster. Seventy-three per cent of students completed their education in at most four and a half years The completion time for vocational education varied between men and women. Sixty-two per cent of male students passed a vocational qualification in three-and-a-half years and 70 per cent in four-and-a-half years. Sixty-three per cent of female students passed a vocational qualification in three-and-a-half years and 72 per cent in four-and-a-half years. Pass rates for university of applied sciences education by gender in different reference periods in 2019 Fifty-seven per cent of those who started studying for a university of applied sciences degree completed their studies in four-and-a-half years. Sixty-five per cent of those having started studies completed a qualification in five-and-a-half years. Six-and-a-half years after starting studies the pass rate rose to 68 per cent. There are large differences in attainment of university of applied sciences education between the genders. Forty-one per cent of men completed a qualification in four-and-a-half years and 71 per cent of women, so the difference between the pass rates was 30 percentage points. Men's pass rate rose to 54 per cent and women's to 76 per cent five-and-a-half years after starting studies. The difference in the pass rates was then 22 percentage points. Sixty-one per cent of men and 78 per cent of women completed education in seven-and-a-half years, that is, the difference between the pass rates was 17 percentage points. Pass rates for university education by gender in different reference periods in 2018 Sixty-seven per cent of university students completed a higher or lower university degree in at most five-and-a-half years. The older the cohort of new students is examined, the higher the pass rate became: 74 per cent of students completed a higher or lower university degree in at most seven-and-a-half years. As in university of applied sciences education, there were large differences between sexes in completing university education. Sixty per cent of male students and 72 per cent of female students had completed a higher or lower university degree in five-and-a-half years, so the difference between sexes in pass rates was 12 per cent. In at most seven-and-a-half years, 79 per cent of women and 68 per cent of men completed university education. The database tables of these statistics contain information on the differences between the pass rates for different fields of sectors of education (see Tables in databases ). The database tables also include information on those students who did not attain their qualification in the target time. More statistics on student flow statistics. ( Discontinuation of education , Employment of students ). Source: Education Statistics, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Mika Witting 029 551 3530, koulutustilastot@stat.fi Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala Publication in pdf-format (285.8 kB) Updated 12.3.2021 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Progress of studies [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-1021. 2020. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 2.6.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/opku/2020/opku_2020_2021-03-12_tie_001_en.html 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. Trai has directed telcos to ensure a time-bound registration of entities that send out bulk commercial messages to consumers and has allowed government entities easy provisional registration. TRAI has observed that some of the principal entities have not fulfilled the requirements as envisaged in Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations 2018 (TCCCPR). As a result, their SMS was getting dropped after implementation of the scrubbing of SMS by telecom service providers. In order to protect the interest of consumers, it has been decided that scrubbing of SMS by TSPs shall be suspended temporarily for seven days to enable the principal entities to register the template of SMS so that no inconvenience is faced by the customers. Even after that, if the principal entities dont follow these rules, then telecom companies would be required to submit their names and this will be put on the TRAI website. Also, if they dont follow the orders, they will not be allowed to send bulk messages. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. LOS ANGELESThe movement to decriminalize sex work has now spread to the South, as a Louisiana state representative last week introduced a bill to roll back anti-prostitution laws in that state. Mandie Landry, who represents State House District 91 located in the city of New Orleans says the bill is all about getting the government out of individuals private lives. "The younger generation, people my age and younger, don't understand at all how the government could ever enter your bedroom and tell you what to do, Landry, a Democrat, told local TV station WDSU. If two people engage in a relationship in their own home, whether they exchange money or not, it's between them." Landry said that she plans to formally introduce the bill on April 12, when the new Louisiana legislative session gets underway. She introduced a similar bill in 2020, but allowed it to be shelved due to the legislatures need to focus on issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Landry also says that she believes the bill will increase safety for sex workers. Taking away criminal penalties will make it easier for sex workers who have been victims of violence or sex trafficking to report the crimes against them to law enforcement. She added that if the bill passes, she will then introduce legislation to expunge all prior prostitiution-related offenses from sex workers criminal records. She also said that decriminalizing prostitution promotes safe sexual practices overall, because the presence of condoms is often used by police as evidence that a sexual encounter is illegal. If thats evidence of the crime, people who are engaging in the activity are less likely to use them, she told a local TV news outlet. That creates more of a public health risk, especially for those who are most at-risk. The bill also states that while the United States 50 years ago had an incarceration rate that was roughly equivalent to that in other Western democracies, today that rate is five times higher than in comparable countries. Removing criminal penalties for sex work would be a step toward large-scale decarceration, in an effort to address structural inequities that impeded the safety, dignity, and well-being of all individuals especially those most vulnerable to discrimination on the basis of race, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status and citizenship. While Nevada remains the only U.S. state to have legal, though highly regulated, sex work, legislators in New York have intrduced a bill to bring decriminalization to that state in 2021, and the current St. Louis mayoral race has featured debate over decriminalizing sex work in that city. A recent citizens petition in Canada appears likely to force the parliament there to debate the sex ork decriminalization issue north of the border as well. Photo By Louisiana House of Representatives While Munson is new to the race, he is no stranger to libraries and the space they provide for authors and readers alike. Munson is a published author of seven books and has given presentations in libraries across the country, including the Hinsdale Public Library where he spoke about his biography of Nikola Tesla. If elected, his first order of business would be to keep the library safe and solvent. Regions of the protein's flexibility: not very flexible (blue), moderately flexible (green/yellow) and highly flexible (red). However, both the central alpha helix and the N-terminus (start of the protein) display stable folding in comparison with the rest of the protein Credit: Adam Damry Proteins are the key component in all modern forms of life. Hemoglobin, for example, transports the oxygen in our blood; photosynthesis proteins in the leaves of plants convert sunlight into energy; and fungal enzymes help us to brew beer and bake bread. Researchers have long been examining the question of how proteins mutate or come into existence in the course of millennia. That completely new proteinsand, with them, new propertiescan emerge practically out of nothing, was inconceivable for decades, in line with what the Greek philosopher Parmenides said: "Nothing can emerge from nothing" (ex nihilo nihil fit). Working with colleagues from the U.S. and Australia, researchers from the University of Munster (Germany) have now reconstructed how evolution forms the structure and function of a newly emerged protein in flies. This protein is essential for male fertility. The results have been published in the journal Nature Communications. It had been assumed up to now that new proteins emerge from already existing proteinsby a duplication of the underlying genes and by a series of small mutations in one or both gene copies. In the past ten years, however, a new understanding of protein evolution has come about: proteins can also develop from so-called non-coding DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)in other words, from that part of the genetic material which does not normally produce proteinsand can subsequently develop into functional cell components. This is surprising for several reasons: for many years, it had been assumed that, in order to be functional, proteins had to take on a highly developed geometrical form (a 3D structure). It had further been assumed that such a form could not develop from a gene emerging at random, but would require a complex combination of amino-acids enabling this protein to exist in its functional form. Despite decades of trying, researchers worldwide have not yet succeeded in constructing proteins with the desired 3D structures and functions, which means that the "code" for the formation of a functioning protein is essentially unknown. While this task remains a puzzle for scientists, nature has proven to be more adept at the formation of new proteins. A team of researchers headed by Prof. Erich Bornberg-Bauer, from the Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Munster, discovered, by comparing the newly analyzed genomes in numerous organisms, that species not only differ through duplicated protein-coding genes adapted in the course of evolution. In addition, proteins are constantly being formed de novo (anew)i.e. without any related precursor protein going through a selection process. Fruit flies (shown here mating) served as the study model. Credit: Mareike Kopping The vast majority of these de novo proteins are useless, or even slightly deleterious, as they can interfere with existing proteins in the cell. Such new proteins are quickly lost again after several generations, as organisms carrying the new gene encoding the protein have impaired survival or reproduction. However, a select few de novo proteins prove to have beneficial functions. These proteins integrate into the molecular components of cells and eventually, after millions of years of minor modifications, become indispensable. There are some important questions which many reearchers wonder about in this context: How do such novel proteins look like upon birth? How do they change, and which functions do they assume as the 'new kids on the block'? Spearheaded by Prof. Bornberg-Bauer's group in Munster, an international team of researchers has answered this question in much detail for Goddard, a fruit fly protein that is essential for male fertility. The research proceeded on three related fronts across three continents. At the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, U.S., Dr. Prajal Patel and Prof. Geoff Findlay used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to show that male flies that do not produce Goddard are sterile, but otherwise healthy. Meanwhile, Dr. Andreas Lange and Ph.D. student Brennen Heames of Prof. Bornberg-Bauer's group used biochemical techniques to predict the shape of the novel protein in present-day flies. They then used evolutionary methods to reconstruct the likely structure of Goddard ~50 million years ago when the protein first arose. What they found was quite a surprise: "The ancestral Goddard protein looked already very much like the ones which exist in fly species today," Erich Bornberg-Bauer explains. "Right from the beginning, Goddard contained some structural elements, so called alpha-helices, which are believed to be essential for most proteins." To confirm these findings, the scene shifted to the Australian National University in Canberra, where Dr. Adam Damry and Prof. Colin Jackson used intensive, computational simulations to verify the predicted shape of the Goddard protein. They validated the structural analysis of Dr. Lange and showed that Goddard, in spite of its young age, is already quite stablethough not quite as stable as most fly proteins that are believed to have existed for longer, perhaps hundreds of millions of years. The results match up with several other current studies, which have shown that the genomic elements from which protein-coding genes emerge are activated frequentlytens of thousands of times in each individual. These fragments are then sorted through the process of evolutionary selection. The ones which are useless or harmfulthe vast majorityare quickly discarded. But those which are neutral, or are slightly beneficial, can be optimized over millions of years and changed into something useful. Explore further Bioinformaticians examine new genes the moment they are born More information: Andreas Lange et al, Structural and functional characterization of a putative de novo gene in Drosophila, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Andreas Lange et al, Structural and functional characterization of a putative de novo gene in Drosophila,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21667-6 Former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday stressed on further strengthening economic ties with neighbouring Sri Lanka and said that Indian investments in the island nation will take it to a higher growth trajectory and create more local jobs. Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII, Prabhu said India wants Sri Lanka to benefit from the former's progress towards the goal of $5 trillion economy. "India would like to ensure that we make investment in Sri Lanka for the benefit of Sri Lankans... Investments from India will create local jobs in Sri Lanka which will propel Sri Lanka in the higher growth trajectory," Prabhu, who is also India's Sherpa to G20 and G7 summits, said. He emphasised that India will focus on the green sector in Sri Lanka. Prabhu added that India wants to deepen economic relationship with Sri Lanka with the partnership of the private sector. "The government will be the facilitator but the private sector will be the leader," he explained. Prabhu also mentioned about the scope of medical tourism in Sri Lanka. He also suggested that CII must bring parliamentarians of both countries together to discuss issues related to trade and economy. Also Read | Sri Lanka to offer strategic deep-sea port to India, Japan Also speaking at the event, Sri Lanka's foreign minister Dinesh Gunawardena said both nations accord highest priority to each other and urged Indian investors to come forward and explore the untapped potential that exists in the renewable energy sector and light engineering sector. "Close geographical proximity and close knitted relations provide huge opportunities," he said. Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay said that implementation of large scale projects in the infrastructure sector would be a win-win situation for both nations. Baglay also stressed on the need for connectivity between two countries from sea and air including resumption of airlink from Chennai and Jaffna. He also sought Sri Lankan investment in India. Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 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. WASHINGTON He had been president for only two years, but that night in fall 1965 he had had enough. Lyndon B. Johnson had spiraled into depression, and from his hospital bed after gallbladder surgery, he talked of throwing it all away and retreating into seclusion back home in Texas. To a visiting Supreme Court justice, he dictated thoughts for a statement announcing he was indefinitely turning over his duties to Vice President Hubert Humphrey while recovering from fatigue. I want to go to the ranch. I dont want even Hubert to be able to call me, he told his wife, Lady Bird Johnson. They may demand that I resign. They may even want to impeach me. Eventually, Mrs. Johnson coaxed him through that period of doubt and despair, enabling him to complete the final three years of his term. The episode was hidden from the public, and although Mrs. Johnson documented it in her diary, she ordered the entry kept secret for years after her death. But a new book reveals the full scope of those once-shrouded diaries as never before, shedding fresh light on the former first lady and her partnership with the 36th president. The diaries reveal how central Mrs. Johnson was to her husbands presidency. She not only provided a spouses emotional ballast but also served as an unrivaled counselor who helped persuade him to stay in office at critical junctures, advised him on how to use the office to achieve their mutual goals, guided him during the most arduous moments and helped chart his decision to give up power years later. Within 24 hours from the time of the incident, the Trinamool Congress supremo released a two-minute video clip in which she said that she got badly 'hurt'. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged on Wednesday that the incident, in which she had received leg injuries in East Midnapore's Nandigram while campaigning, was a 'conspiracy'. The mismatching statements of the West Bengal CM sparked off a raging debate ahead of the high-octane state Assembly elections, at a time when the incumbent Trinamool Congress is facing a stiff challenge from its arch-rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bengal. After the incident, Banerjee had claimed it was a conspiracy. "There were about four five men who did it. See how it is swelling up," she had said while pointing to her legs. She had also said, "Of course it is a conspiracy. There were no security personnel around me." Accordingly, the Trinamool Congress leadership accused the BJP and the Election Commission (EC) for the incident. It also pointed fingers at the role of the poll panel as it had removed the state Director General of Police without consulting the state government. Interestingly, within 24 hours, Banerjee released a video where she deliberately bypassed the 'conspiracy' theory completely, and said she got 'hurt'. "It is true that I got badly hurt yesterday. I got a leg injury, a bone injury and in the ligament. I had pain in my head and chest as a result of the injury. I was greeting people from the car bonnet and a huge push ensued, and the car crushed my foot," she said in the video. Quite surprisingly, the Trinamool chief never mentioned the 'conspiracy' theory again on Thursday. Meanwhile, the EC responded to Trinamool Congress' letter over the Nandigram incident in which Banerjee was injured. As per sources, the EC said in the communication: "The incident was quite unfortunate. It is also full of insinuations and averments." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Torrington Police / Contributed Photo TORRINGTON A local woman has been charged with hindering prosecution in connection with a fatal motor vehicle accident investigation after she allegedly misled investigators, according to police. Amber Sans, 23, of Avenue A, was arrested on Thursday. She also faces an interfering with police charge. She was held on a $50,000 bond. After a harsh 2020 and slow post-pandemic recovery Argentinas hydrocarbon sector has come roaring back to life. A combination of substantially higher oil prices, government subsidies, favorable legislation and growing demand for light sweet crude oil and natural gas has caused activity in Argentinas Vaca Muerta (Spanish for dead cow) soar. After fracking activity slowed to almost zero during May 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it then soared to a 17-month high in January 2021. Data obtained by S&P Global Platts shows there were 662 frac stages in the Vaca Muerta by January 2021 or roughly double the 340 stages reported for the same month a year earlier. As a result, crude oil production in the Vaca Muerta is growing at an impressive clip. According to industry consultancy Rystad Energy oil production from the shale oil and natural gas play reached a record high of 124,000 barrels daily during December 2020. The consultancy also announced it had identified greater well productivity, an increase of 6% to 7% between 2019 and 2020, in the Vaca Muerta which along with growing cost efficiencies sees it competing with the U.S. Eagle Ford and Midlands shale oil basins. Neuquen, where the Vaca Muerta is located, is Argentinas most productive province for hydrocarbon extraction. The provinces governor declared record (Spanish) January 2021 oil production of 172,865 barrels per day, which was 5.44% greater than a month earlier. It is the substantial uptick of unconventional oil and natural gas operations in the Vaca Muerta which is responsible for this impressive provincial production growth. For January 2021, Argentinas Ministry of Economy reported (Spanish) unconventional oil production for Neuquen of almost 135,000 barrels daily, which was not only a new record but a notable 7% greater month over month and a whopping 18% higher than a year earlier. Those numbers demonstrate that despite the considerable headwinds impacting Argentinas petroleum industry production, unconventional oil extraction from the Vaca Muerta shale play is expanding at a rapid clip. Related Video: Can Saudis Defend Aramco from Houthis? Argentinas economically important overall hydrocarbon production is also expanding at a solid rate. For January 2021 crude oil output averaged 503,149 barrels daily, which was 1.6% greater than a month earlier and a mere 2% lower than for the equivalent period a year earlier. Natural gas production also rose, gaining 2% month over month to be 729,688 barrels of oil equivalent daily, although that was still 11% lower than January 2020. Source: Argentina Ministry of Economy and U.S. EIA. A key de-facto measure of increasing activity in Argentinas hydrocarbon sector is a rising drill rig count. Baker Hughes February 2021 international rig count revealed that at the end of that month there were 38 operational drill rigs in Argentina, or four higher than a month earlier and only 11 less than for the equivalent period pre-pandemic in 2020. Source: Baker Hughes and U.S. EIA. Those numbers highlight that investment in oil and natural gas projects is picking up since Argentina lifted its pandemic lockdown and oil prices rallied on the back of Saudi Arabias surprise one million barrels per day production cut. Related: Biden Is Playing A Dangerous Game In The Middle East Despite the considerable pessimism surrounding Argentinas energy sector, operations are returning to pre-pandemic levels. These are especially important developments for a near-bankrupt Buenos Aires which perceives the Vaca Muerta to be a silver bullet for its mammoth economic troubles. The unconventional shale hydrocarbon plays potential is immense. According to the U.S. EIA the Vaca Muerta holds almost two-thirds of Argentinas estimated 27 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil resources along with an impressive 308 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources. That ranks the Vaca Muerta fourth globally by recoverable oil resources for shale oil plays and second for natural gas. There is growing speculation that if oil prices remain high and Argentinas national oil company YPF, which is 51% owned by the central government, can maintain sufficient investment the Vaca Muerta could eventually challenge the prolific Permian Basin. High breakeven prices, estimated at an average of $45 to $50 per barrel, in the massive shale play have been a deterrent to investment by foreign energy companies especially in the difficult operating environment which existed after the March 2020 oil price crash. Heightened geopolitical risk in Latin Americas third-largest economy is further impeding investment, but the perception is likely higher than reality. While President Alberto Fernandez is a Peronist, which conjures up images of resource nationalism, heavy taxation, unwieldy energy subsidies and excessive capital controls, he has implemented a series of policies aimed at attracting energy investment. These include establishing a $45 per barrel price floor for the local criollo barrel, suspended the 8% tax on oil exports and in October 2020 announcing $5 billion in subsidies for Argentinas hydrocarbon sector. That strategy is enhancing the attractiveness of investing in Argentinas petroleum industry, although as the latest debt crisis which enveloped YPF shows there is still a considerable way to go before regaining the confidence of foreign energy investors. State-controlled energy company YPF, which is the leading force for developing the Vaca Muerta, narrowly avoided disaster when it was able to restructure $6.2 billion of debt and avoid a cash crunch. YPF was able to avoid a near-term credit default after 60% of short-term bond holders supported its plans to reissue short-term bonds and 32% of all holders agreed to the debt swap. That along with Argentinas central bank providing access to the US dollars needed to meet its short-term financial obligations allowed YPF to avoid defaulting on its $413 million March 2021 debt repayment. YPF will be the primary motor for developing the Vaca Muertas considerable hydrocarbon resources for the immediate future. Buenos Aires' increasingly favorable approach to the oil industry will boost overseas investment in what has become an increasingly economically vital sector, that possesses the potential to ease many of Argentinas fiscal tribulations. By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Boris Johnson said that the UK is acting lawfully and correctly by taking action to halt border checks in Northern Ireland as he visited the country today. The Prime Minister warned that the deal he signed at the end of last year that included the Northern Ireland Protocol was having an 'impact on the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement'. Mr Johnson met DUP leader Arlene Foster amid a furious row with the EU over the impact of Brexit on the country. Extra checks on goods passing through Northern Ireland's ports from the rest of the UK following Brexit have angered unionists, while their temporary removal has sparked threats of legal action from Brussels, which says the move is illegal. Ms Foster told the PM he had to 'stand up for Northern Ireland' and ditch the 'intolerable' Protocol governing Irish Sea trade post-Brexit. Speaking after a visit to Queen's University in Belfast Mr Johnson said the protocol should guarantee the peace process and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which officially ended decades of sectarian bloodshed. Mr Johnson said: 'We are taking some lawful, technical measures to build up confidence in the East-West operation as well. 'We think it is lawful, indeed we think it is right, in view of the impact on the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement and the need to have consent from both communities.' The Prime Minister warned that the deal he signed at the end of last year that included the Northern Ireland Protocol was having an 'impact on the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement'. The Prime minister was told to to 'stand up for Northern Ireland' and ditch the 'intolerable' Protocol governing Irish Sea trade post-Brexit by DUP leader Arlene Foster. The Prime Minister flew straight into a political row over checks on goods that have set up a fresh confrontation with Brussels. Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute For Experimental Medicine at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland today But Mr Johnson flew straight into a political row over his visit, as Sinn Fein snubbed an invitation to join him on the visit. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill refused to be seen with him after he rejected her demand for a political meeting with Sinn Fein leaders But he held a 'frank' conversations with the DUP's First Minister Ms Foster, who said he had been in 'listening mode' and 'alive to the issues'. The First Minister said: 'Not a single unionist party in Northern Ireland supports this unworkable Protocol. Mr Johnson said: 'We are taking some lawful, technical measures to build up confidence in the East-West operation as well. 'Rather than protect the Belfast Agreement and its successor agreements, the Protocol has created societal division and economic harm. 'Whilst grace periods have been extended unilaterally, we need a permanent solution so business can plan and the integrity of the United Kingdom internal market can be restored.' The Government had agreed to phase in customs requirements for GB imports from the EU over a six-month period in the first half of 2021. But the Government has now extended the timetable by a further six months after businesses said they needed more time to prepare. Full border control processes will now be introduced on January 1 2022 six months later than originally planned. The move has triggered threats of legal action from the EU and a war of words over the Brexit deal signed less than three months ago. Mr Johnson toured a mass vaccination centre in Arlene Foster's Co Fermanagh constituency. Last night Michael Gove announced Britain will delay the introduction of the controls on some imports from the European Union because of coronavirus disruption, amid growing loyalist anger. Mr Johnson toured a mass vaccination centre in Arlene Foster's Co Fermanagh constituency. He was joined by the DUP leader and Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann at the converted Lakeland Forum leisure centre in Enniskillen. Mr Johnson speaking to people waiting to be vaccinated at the Lakeland Forum vaccination centre in Enniskillen Stormont's leaders are deeply divided over the wisdom of Brexit and the Protocol. The Protocol was agreed by the EU and UK during the withdrawal negotiations to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. It achieves that by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods, with regulatory checks and inspections now required on agri-food produce moving into the region from the rest of the UK. The new arrangements have caused some disruption to trade since the start of the year as firms have struggled with new processes and administration. Unionists are opposed to the protocol, claiming it undermines Northern Ireland's place in the UK internal market. Nationalists acknowledge teething problems with the new arrangements but argue that they can be finessed. Northern Ireland's centenary programme marking the anniversary of the state's foundation will champion young people of the future, Mr Johnson said. Mr Johnson later visited Queen's University in Belfast It will also pay tribute to those who worked tirelessly to support the region during the pandemic, he added. Plans for 2021 include a major business showcase in London, a 1 million Shared History Fund, an ambitious programme for young people, tree-planting projects, academic and historic events and an international church service for all denominations. Mr Johnson said 2021 'marks 100 years since the creation of Northern Ireland, which has paved the way for the formation of the UK as we know it. 'Our centenary programme will reflect on the past and on the people and developments that make Northern Ireland the great place it is today.' Nationalists and unionists hold sharply differing views of the history of Northern Ireland: on its past governance and public representation; the security situation including decades of conflict; seismic events like the Second World War or the civil rights movement; and over issues like public housing, freedom to demonstrate and equal voter representation. Want more on the latest royal news, fashion and drama? Sign up for Yahoo Lifestyle Canadas newsletter! Yahoo Lifestyle Canada is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. Theres no doubt that the Brits are known for their keep calm and carry on mentality, which the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge displayed in full form on Thursday morning. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge seen on their first official engagement following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's controversial Oprah interview. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) Following Meghan and Harrys bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night, the Cambridges were spotted for the first time as they returned to their regularly scheduled engagements. Visiting a school in east London, the couple helped launch the Mentally Healthy Schools initiative in support of the Anna Freud Centre, which helps to provide secondary schools and colleges with mental health information. The Duke of Cambridge shared that the royals are 'not a racist family' following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Oprah interview. (Photo by Justin Tallis - WPA Pool/Getty Images) During the visit, Prince William addressed his brother's controversial interview. ALSO SEE: Why this photo of Meghan Markle sends a powerful message about what mental health looks like In response to the allegations of racism and mistreatment that the Sussexes endured during their time as senior royals, the Duke of Cambridge stated that the royals are "very much not a racist family." Click here to sign up for Yahoo Canada's lifestyle newsletter. The Duke also said he had not yet spoken to Prince Harry, but promised he would. Perhaps inspired by Meghan Markles remarks that shes a good person, the Duchess of Cambridge chose to wear a vibrant shade of pink for the days events. The Duchess of Cambridge was seen wearing a vibrant pink coat from Max&Co. (Photo by Justin Tallis - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Typically associated with kindness, compassion, and understanding, wearing the colour is also associated with the Pink Shirt Day movement, which fights against bullying in schools. ALSO SEE: Meghan Markle gave Oprah a tour of 'Archie's Chick Inn' wearing these $180 boots Kate was seen wearing the Pure Wool Runaway Belted Coat from Max&Co, along with a Hambleden Scallop Jumper from Boden in a coordinating shade of bubblegum pink. Story continues Since the colour is a perfect choice for the coming spring season, weve gathered some of our favourite Duchess-inspired outerwear styles, all in an equally stunning shade of pink. Victoria Beckham Wool-felt coat. Image via The Outnet. SHOP IT: The Outnet, $510 CAD/$404 USD Handmade wool coat. Image via Mango. SHOP IT: Mango, $280 CAD/$230 USD Dual Pockets Shawl Collar Overcoat. Image via SHEIN. SHOP IT: SHEIN, $31 CAD/$24 USD Publisher Double-Breasted Wool Blend Coat. Image via Belle &Bloom. SHOP IT: Belle & Bloom, $278 CAD/$221 USD Loose jacket coat. Image via Simons. SHOP IT: Simons, $109 CAD Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter. Members of the K-Pop boy group A.C.E join women around the world in solidarity for International Women's Day by showing love and support to the important women in their own lives. All five members - Jun, Donghun, Wow, Byeongkwan and Chan - took to Twitter to express appreciation to their mothers, sisters, and Beat Interactive CEO Kim Hye-im - who is among the few female talent management agency executives in the South Korean music industry. The five A.C.E members expressed their sentiments through the group's official Twitter account, March 8. First was the group's maknae, Chan, born Kang Yu Chan. Praising his mother, he wrote in Korean that she is "the most beautiful and more beautiful than anyone else," adding that while he does not know how to express his feelings in writing, he loves her a lot. A few hours later, it was Kim Byeongkwan's turn, who commended his mother and the group's beloved CEO, Kim Hye-im. Byeongkwan thanked his mom for raising him, and for the Beat Interactive executive - expressing his high respect to the two women. His post included two photos, one featuring a younger Byeongkwan with his mom and the other featuring all five A.C.E members with CEO Kim. Third of the members to express love and support is their leader, Jun, Park Jun Hee. Sharing a picture of his younger self with his mom and his siblings. Expressing his love and gratitude, the ever mindful leader also included the readers in his message - wishing everyone a great day ahead. Next is Kim Seh Yoon, better known to fans as Wow. Posting adorable pictures of his younger self, he shared a lesson he learned from his mother - that when he's having a hard time, his mom is there for him to rely on. "You make me happy. To the one who gives out blessings," he wrote. Last to share is Lee Dong Hun, or simply Donghun to the millions of Choice worldwide. " I can exist because of my mother, the woman I respect the most," he wrote on Twitter. Donghun added that he can hold on to anything, and that the word "mom" alone gives him a lot of strength. The five members of A.C.E have released their fourth album, "HJZM: The Butterfly Phantasy" last September 2, with its title track "Favorite Boys" getting an international version. Retitled "Fav Boyz," the track received a remix from American celebrity DJ Steve Aoki and features a verse from rapper Thutmose. "Benefits outweigh risks" says the EMA which points out that there have been 30 cases of "thromboembolic events" among the five million Europeans who have received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Italian premier Mario Draghi spoke with European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen on 11 March, with both leaders agreeing there was no evidence of a link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine and blood clots, according to a statement released by the prime minister's office. The phonecall between Draghi and Von der Leyen took place after the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) issued a nationwide ban on the ABV2856 batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to serious adverse events after inoculation. In a statement AIFA said the ban was being taken as a precautionary measure, stressing that at present no link had been established between the vaccine and subsequent adverse reactions. The ban comes amid a probe into the suspicious deaths of two men in Sicily who had recently been inoculated with the AstraZeneca batch in question. "There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine," stated the European Medicines Agency (EMA), adding: "The vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing." The EU agency also underlined that there had been 30 cases of "thromboembolic events" among the five million Europeans who have received the jab. The EMA statement came after a number of European countries, including Italy, suspended part or all of their roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood-clotting fears, prompting Von der Leyen to promise a "further, accelerated review" into the AstraZeneca vaccine. Italian news agency ANSA reported last night that Italy's suspension of the AstraZeneca batch has led to a flood of calls to the offices of ASL health authorities and vaccination centres around the country. Doctors at an vaccination hub in Catanzaro in the southern Calabria region said they were receiving calls from "fragile patients" who sought reassurance also about the Pfizer vaccine, as well as cancellations and requests for general information. "We do not know how many people will show up tomorrow for the inoculations," doctors at Catanzaro told ANSA. The ABV2856 batch banned by the Italian regulator is different to that suspended by Austria earlier this week, identified by the EMA as ABV5300, after a 49-year-old nurse died of severe blood coagulation days after receiving the shot. Other European countries have partially suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine, with Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspending it entirely. The statement from the EMA can be read in full, in English, here. Two police officers have been injured and a police vehicle damaged following an incident in Crossmaglen on Thursday evening. Officers on patrol in the Corrasmoo Road area of Cullaville were alerted to a dark blue Transit-type van that was causing an obstruction around 11.20pm. When officers stopped to speak with the van driver, the driver made off at speed, ramming the police vehicle and injuring one of the officers who was getting out of the car to investigate. The officer suffered leg and arm injuries while his colleague sustained injuries to his wrist and back. Newry, Mourne and Down District Commander, Superintendent Norman Haslett said: "This was a reckless incident which has left two of our officers injured. "These were officers from the local policing team in Crossmaglen who were carrying out their duties to keep people and the community safe. "Unfortunately, due to the nature of the injuries sustained by our officers, they have been unable to return to duty today (Friday)." He added: We have also had to take the police vehicle off the road so it can be examined for road worthiness, which affects our service delivery. There is also the impact in terms of our officers and their welfare, as well as the cost of repairs to the vehicle. "We are working to locate both the van and the driver involved in this cowardly incident and we are appealing to anyone who was in the area and witnessed the incident, or has information which may assist us, to call us. The number to call is 101, and quote reference number 1888 of 11/03/21." A report can also be made using the online reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport. Alternatively, information can be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org The cross-border e-commerce and retail group said it has raised gross proceeds of 17mln ahead of its planned admission on March 22 Samarkand Group PLC, a cross-border e-commerce and retail group, has hailed what it said was a significantly oversubscribed fundraising ahead of its planned admission to the Aquis stock exchange on March 22. The company said it has raised gross proceeds of 17mln, scaled up from the initial target of 10mln to partially accommodate demand, from institutional and qualified investors at a price of 115p per share, which will give the company a market cap on admission at 59.4mln. Samarkand said the proceeds of the fundraising will be used primarily to further develop the functionality of its Nomad platform as well as expand its business development activities and make further strategic acquisitions. "We're thrilled with the reaction that we've received and look forward to welcoming our new shareholders. This is a clear validation of our business model and I would like to thank our employees, customers, partners and existing shareholders for helping us to reach this exciting stage, Samarkand chief executive David Hampstead said in a statement. Our upcoming flotation on the Aquis Stock Exchange is a hugely significant moment for Samarkand. The increased capital raise will enable us to invest across all aspects of the business and help us take full advantage of the market opportunity", he added. toasts Aquis listing Samarkand will be following closely behind premium spirits firm Rogue Baron PLC ( ), which hailed its first day of dealing on the Aquis exchange on Friday. The listing followed a successful fundraising in which the company raised 755,000 through the placing of around 10.8mln shares at 7p each, giving it a market cap of just over 6mln. Rogue Baron said its float on the exchange is designed to raise the public profile of the company as well as provide new funds for its long-term growth strategy. Rogue Barons debut on the AQSE Growth Market is a major step forward in our corporate development and provides a strong foundation from which to execute our long-term growth strategy. We are delighted to have received such strong support from both institutional and retail shareholders, and look forward to providing regular updates on the exciting progress we expect in the Rogue Baron story, chief executive Ryan Dolder said in a statement. Rogue Baron shares were trading at around 8p in early deals. The horrifying practices of former cult leader-turned-child killer Anna Young are being laid bare in a new true crime podcast that details how she lured vulnerable people into her twisted 'House of Prayer' before subjecting them to 'abuse' and 'brainwashing.' Hosted by journalist Leila Day and former prosecutor and investigative journalist Beth Karas, UCP Audios six-part series The Followers: House of Prayer explores the year-long investigation into the now 79-year-old Young, who was known as 'Mother Anna' to the members of her tightly-controlled religious community in Micanopy, Florida. 'The House of Prayer was a place where people gathered to pray, to find community,' Day explained in the first episode, which aired on March 3, weeks after Young was convicted of the murder of two children in the 1980s. 'It was also a place with a lot of secrets, but those secrets are now out because the person closest to Anna has turned her in.' True crime: The new podcast The Followers: House of Prayer is exploring the allegations of torture and abuse against former 'House of Prayer' cult leader Anna Young Compound: Young was known as 'Mother Anna' to the members of her strict religious community in Micanopy, Florida, which she started in 1983 and ran for nearly a decade It was Young's daughter, Joy Fluker, who called the police in 2016 to report that her mother had killed missing toddler Emon Harper decades earlier while running the cult. Harper, who was called 'Baby Moses' by members of the religious community, was taken to the House of Prayer as a baby in 1986 because his mother was unable to care for him. He disappeared two years later and is presumed dead. The child, who was two or three when he died, had been locked in a closet and deprived of food and water. His body was never found. Finally justice: Young was recently convicted of murdering toddler Emon Harper in the late 1980s The religious zealot was also deemed responsible for the 1983 death of two-year-old Katonya Jackson, who was starved, beaten, and denied her epilepsy medication because the leader believed the girl's seizures were a sign she was possessed by the devil. Young started the House of Prayer in 1983, and the community's strict religious philosophies were based on her own perverse and often cruel interpretations of the Bible. Members and their children had to change their birth names to biblical ones and went by the titles of 'Brother' or 'Sister.' As the leader, Young dubbed herself 'Mother Anna.' They were also required to wear Old Testament-style 'holy clothing,' including long robes and beards for men and long dresses and head coverings for women. Young preyed on the vulnerable, and many members were single mothers. She offered free room and board to those who were struggling, but she made it nearly impossible for them to leave by requiring members who earned money to back into the community. 'The home would take people who had maybe gotten released from drug rehab and were really kind of down and out,' Karas told Oxygen, explaining that Young would assume responsibility for the children in the community. The leader would sleep in the same room as the children and cut them off from their biological mothers. She also believed in corporal punishment and would allegedly refer to Bible verses when dolling out abuse. 'People were attracted to it for various reasons,' Karas said, adding: 'But then it spiraled into this control and she kind of brainwashed people.' Abuse: John Neal, the brother of two-year-old Katonya Jackson, said Young was also responsible for the death of his sister, who died of a seizure in 1983 In the trailer for the podcast, one former member explained how Young had distorted the Pentecostal faith. 'I believed in God despite what I was going through, and now that I can read the Bible for myself, I can see that they just created their own religion,' he said. The cult dissolved in 1992 after Young bathed a 12-year-old girl in a tub full of chemicals as 'punishment.' Many of the members of the House of Prayer were children whose parents were unable to take care of them for various reasons, and the victim's parents were not members. Coming forward: It was Young's daughter, Joy Fluker, who called the police in 2016 to report that her mother had killed Harper decades earlier while running the cult Young had reportedly decided the girl 'smelled bad' and that bathing her in bleach would 'burn the evil out of her.' The parents reported the leader to the police for child abuse, but she fled Florida and was captured eight years later in the attic of a relative's home in Illinois. In 2001, she was convicted and sentenced to six months and 12 days in jail. Following her release, she moved to Marietta, Cobb County, where she kept her past hidden from her neighbors for more than 15 years. Young's arrest in December 2017 was sparked by her own daughter, Fluker, coming forward and telling law enforcement that she knew Harper had died as a result of regular beatings and starvation by her mother. 'How can I snitch on my mom?' Fluker is heard telling police in the trailer. 'I dont know if I am doing the right thing. Like is this something that a family is never supposed to tell?' Following Young's arrest, several former House of Prayer members came forward to tell local authorities that they were tortured and abused, saying the 'cult atmosphere' included exorcism and chemical baths. Several survivors, including Young's daughter, spoke to the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2018 about their experience growing up in the cult while accusing Young of being involved in more than one death on the compound. John Neal, whose mother had joined the House of Prayer, said Young was responsible for the death of his sister Katonya Jackson, who died of a seizure. Jail: In February, Young, who is now 79, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in February for Harper's murder and another 15 years for a manslaughter charge related to Jackson's death Opening up: Fluker and Neal, who were both former cult members, attended Young's trial. They both share their stories on The Followers: House of Prayer Young alleged that Young beat the toddler and refused to give the child medication. 'She tortured my little sister, treated her like an animal,' he told the AJC, adding that Mother Anna 'had more power than God.' Neal himself still bears the scars from the violent beatings he received at the hands of the group's leader. He told the AJC he would be beaten in front of his own mother for such minor delinquencies as being falsely accused of taking a piece of candy. In February, Young was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of Harper and another 15 years for a charge of manslaughter in relation to Jackson's death. Neal was given a chance to speak during the sentencing hearing, describing his sister as 'exceptional' and 'beautiful.' He later expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the case, telling reporters: 'I feel like we got justice, 100 per cent. I often wondered if I would ever get justice or any accountability. I know God holds people accountable; I knew that was coming. But to be able to see it and live it, it's just wonderful, its a blessing.' A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. New Delhi: At least 99 people were killed due to floods in Indias biggest state. As many as seven deaths were reported on Saturday itself from different areas of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this, there are three persons injured, and two missing, the flood control room located in the office of relief commissioner told PTI. However, the officials said that the number of flood-affected districts has reduced from 24 to 16 while over 11.22 lakh people have been affected. Thousands of people have taken shelter in the relief camps as rivers including Ghaghara, Rapti, Quano, Kunhara, Rohin and Burhi Rapti are in spate and have inundated vast areas in Lakhimpur Khiri, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ballia, Gorakhpur and Siddharthnagar. Talking about the transport service, road traffic has been disrupted in flood-affected areas. As much as 28 companies of the NDRF, 33 companies of PAC along with choppers of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are engaged in relief and rescue operation, officials said. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ | Bihar floods: PM Modi announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for families of deceased, says Deputy CM ALSO READ: Lalu Yadav says flood in Bihar is man-made, it was caused by Nitishs engineer 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. A female MP has told Parliament that women are tired of having to "risk-assess every ordinary everyday action every hour of every day of our lives". Rosie Duffield, who has previously opened up about her own experiences as a victim of domestic abuse, spoke during a parliamentary debate marking International Women's Day which had a shadow cast over it following the suspected murder of marketing executive Sarah Everard. Ms Everard, 33, vanished while walking home from a friends flat in south London on 3 March. Her suspected kidnap and murder have ignited anger over the safety of women on Britain's streets. The Commons debate on Thursday was scheduled as an opportunity to recognise International Women's Day which took place on Monday (8 March) but was overshadowed by calls for violence against women to be recognised and addressed. Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, went missing after walking home from a friend's house in Clapham, south London, on 3 March. (SWNS) Labour MP Jess Phillips spect a minute and a half reading the names of 117 women known to have been killed by men in the past year. Rosie Duffield, MP for Canterbury, told the house: "It is almost impossible not to be overcome as those names echo around the chamber: ordinary and extraordinary women, mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, colleagues, best friends, neighboursall loved, all the centre of someones world. "We know the statistics all too well. We know that every single day of every single weekpandemic or notwomen are murdered by men. "The outpouring of collective rage over the last 24 hours shows that women are tired. Rosie Duffield told parliament that women were "tired" of suffering daily threats to their safety (REUTERS/Simon Dawson) "We are tired of having to pre-empt possible violence. We are tired of having to risk-assess every ordinary everyday action every hour of every day of our lives. We are tired of having to explain and justify every simple choice we make, every opinion we hold, every aspect of our appearance." Duffield likened the outpouring of anger to the public reaction to George Floyd's death in America in May last year. Story continues "We are sick of our voices going unheard, our calls for action being dismissed and delayed; sick of rules being changed to exclude us even in the oldest and seemingly most noble of our long-established institutions," she said. Read more from Yahoo News UK: What you can and can't do under current lockdown rules Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's popularity hits all-time low after Oprah interview Sarah Everard vigil: When is the Reclaim the Streets march, where is it happening and will it go ahead? Police officers placed flowers brought by members of the public at the entrance to Great Chart Golf & Leisure Country Club in Ashford, Kent, on Friday (REUTERS/Paul Childs) "Sarah Everard has reignited a fire within us, much like George Floyd did. Enough is enough. We must take a long hard look at society, at social media, at misogyny, at violence, at ourselves." Duffield received a standing ovation in October 2019 and moved fellow MPs to tears when she discussed her own experiences of domestic abuse. She admitted to having suffered coercive control in a relationship and urged other victims to seek help. Sarah Everard's death has sparked debate about women's safety on UK streets. Remains found in these woodlands in Ashford, kent, were on Fridat confirmed to be those of Ms Everard (Leon Neal/Getty Images) On Wednesday night Green Party peer Baroness Jones of Moulescoomb suggested a 6pm curfew should be introduced for men, later adding that she had made the comments to make a point so "men understand the pressure that women are under". Human remains were found in an area of woodland in Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday and on Friday police confirmed the remans to be those of Ms Everard. A serving male Metropolitan Police officer is in custody after being arrested on suspicion of her kidnap and murder. On Thursday Everard's family described her as a "shining example" who was "kind and strong". Watch: MPs listen in silence as women killed in last 12 months are remembered Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 09:07:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the 1.9-trillion-U.S.-dollar COVID-19 relief bill into law, after weeks of partisan fighting in the Congress, marking the first legislative victory for Biden since he took office. The signing came one day after the House of Representatives approved the measure in a starkly partisan vote of 220-211. Last week, the evenly split Senate narrowly passed the bill by a vote of 50 to 49. - - - - LISBON -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced on Thursday the country's schedule of reopening after more than two months of lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, pledging that it will be a "prudent, cautious and gradual" reopening. Starting from March 15, educational establishments for early childhood, take-away shops, beauty studios, bookstores, car trade, and real estate mediation can open. - - - - BRUSSELS -- The European Union (EU) authorized the use of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson on Thursday afternoon, only hours after the European Medicines Agency reached a positive conclusion on its safety and efficacy. Developed by Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, it is the fourth vaccine the EU has granted the conditional marketing authorization, after those of BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. - - - - CAIRO -- Iran on Thursday received a shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine it jointly developed with Cuba for the Phase 3 clinical trials. Meanwhile, the prime ministers of Israel, Hungary and Czech Republic discussed vaccine cooperation. The shipment included 100,000 doses of the Soberana 02 COVID-19 vaccine, co-developed by Cuba's Finlay Institute and Iran's Pasteur Institute. - - - - MOSCOW -- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the Russia-China partnership is "really great" in jointly combating the COVID-19 pandemic. "Right from February, March, April last year, Russian scientists and doctors were in contact with Chinese partners," Peskov said at a ceremony to announce the winners of the news photo competition "Overcoming COVID" organized by TASS news agency. - - - - UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations on Thursday launched a new global campaign, Only Together, to support its call for fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world. The campaign stresses the need for coordinated global action to ensure vaccines are accessible in all countries, starting with health-care workers and the most vulnerable. Enditem MTN Group Ltd. has begun work toward separating its fiber and fintech units as part of plans to unlock value and raise funds to fuel expansion. The shares jumped to their highest in more than a year. Africas biggest wireless carrier is seeking strategic partners and investors for the businesses, Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said in a presentation Wednesday. The company owns 85,000 kilometers (52,817 miles) of fiber across the continent, while fintech products such as mobile-payment services are growing rapidly. We recognize that there is a significant data demand in Africa that is not going to stop, said Mupita, who was promoted from chief financial officer to replace Rob Shuter last year. Nothing is stopping us bringing other parties to help us fund the infrastructure we need. That work is already underway. The strategy represents the next phase of an ongoing plan to sell assets and pay down debt to free MTN to invest in expansion. The Johannesburg-company is looking to take advantage of the millions of Africans connecting to the internet for the first time every year, many through smartphones, as well as rapid population growth in major markets such as Nigeria. MTNs fintech business could contribute 20% of group revenue in the next three to four years, compared with 8% currently, Mupita said. Suspended Dividend The CEO laid out his new strategy after MTN opted not to pay a final dividend and stepped up a debt-repayment plan. Borrowings were reduced by 22% to 43 billion rand ($2.8 billion) over the course of 2020 and the company plans to resume payments to investors with at least 2.60 rand a share slated for this year. We believe the dividend suspension is positive, given past asset realization proceeds were effectively paid out in the absence of Nigerian cash repatriation, said JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts said in a note. The U.S. bank upgraded the price target to 110 rand a share. The shares rose 12% to 83.10 rand as of 4:03 p.m. in Johannesburg on Thursday. MTN has been selling assets, and has a target of raising 25 billion rand. The carrier exited stakes in Ghana and Uganda tower assets last year, and has also offloaded an interest in e-commerce group Jumia Technologies AG. Next up may be the sale-and-leaseback of the companys South African towers, said Mupita. However, the realization of MTNs stake in IHS Holding Ltd., a pan-African operator of telecom masts, has been delayed after the company put off plans for an initial public offering. MTN values its portion of IHS at 27 billion rand, and is confident that the IPO will happen in the next calendar year, Mupita said. The company will declare a special dividend or share repurchase if the plans deliver additional cash, he said. MTN upped medium-term revenue guidance from double digit growth to low-to-mid teens. Now read: Rob Shuter gets R74 million for 8 months at MTN People who need food and other basic necessities wont have to stand in line this summer on a steep hill to reach Crossfire Ministries. The longtime Colorado Springs distributor of free food, clothing, personal hygiene products and household goods plans to relocate by July. The 29-year-old Christian organization, now at 2120 E. La Salle St., is turning the former Academy Carpet store on North Academy Boulevard near Austin Bluffs Parkway into its new headquarters, said Executive Director Renee Beebe. We want to have a central location where all people feel welcome, Beebe said. The old and new locations are about 4 miles apart, but Beebe doesnt expect the move to have a big impact on clients. Most of the 200 families who use the food pantry three days a week have vehicles, she said. The new building also is on a city bus route, important because some clients rely on public transportation. Its located in the heart of the city, Beebe said. Crossfire Ministries is the largest food pantry in the Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado network, said Lynne Telford, CEO of Care and Share. As a low-barrier operation, Crossfire is known for collecting and giving away donated items to anyone who says they need help, with no income restrictions or other qualifications. The new building is one level. With 25,000 square feet, it provides more than twice the space of the current three-story office building. Renovations are underway to create a no-cost grocery store look and feel, along with sections where clients also can select furniture, dishes, clothing, toiletries, equipment for children and other goods. The grocery-store model for charitable food pantries is becoming popular in the Pikes Peak region, and Crossfire's will be the largest of its kind in southern Colorado, Telford said. The setup turns an act of charity into a real shopping experience, officials say, instead of recipients picking up prepackaged boxes of food. Our partnership with Crossfire Ministries is critical in the ability to get food into the hands of our neighbors who may be unsure of where their next meal is coming from, Telford said. As our largest partner, Crossfire exemplifies dignity and choice for everyone. Care and Share last month opened in Fountain its first pantry run by the food bank, with clients able to move from room to room to select non-perishable staples, refrigerated products, fresh produce and desserts. The Marian House Kitchen, a project of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, also opened a food pantry at its downtown Colorado Springs site last month, with clients selecting what they want and need off shelves. It just heightens the experience for our guests, Beebe said of the format, which also is used in a limited way at the current site. An amazing deal is driving what constitutes the organizations third expansion. The old carpet store property at 3975 N. Academy Blvd. was listed for sale at $3.2 million, but Crossfire obtained it in December for $2 million, Beebe said. The organization negotiated a low-cost repayment plan with the lender, she said, with talk of the building being donated to the organization in the future. To pay for renovations of the new site, Crossfire sold its current building for $700,000, according to the county assessors office. A supporter had donated the office to the organization, Beebe said. Work at Crossfires new location includes refurbishing the parking lot, buying a commercial refrigerator and freezer, replacing floors and lighting and adding a new furnace. Itll improve how we serve the community, Beebe said. The large building will offer training rooms for other organizations to use. Crossfire opened in 1992 in a small space near Union Boulevard and Platte Avenue and has been at the La Salle Street location for eight years. During her childhood, Beebe worked alongside her parents at the ministry, which is supported by churches, foundations and organizations such as Pikes Peak United Way. Crossfire remained open for food giveaways throughout the pandemic, Beebe said. Crossfire has been a source of connection and relation, she said. People feel loved in this place. Its somewhere they can gather hope and make friends with others who are going through the same thing they are. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... After a new, unknown coronavirus began its spread through New Mexico and the world last year, Dr. David Scrase spoke with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham about an early projected virus death toll of 500 New Mexicans. Is this possible? he recalled her asking, referring to projections from researchers at the University of Washington. I said that would be an unbelievable best-case scenario. Despite the 187,720 COVID-19 cases to date and 3,845 virus-related deaths a year later, Scrase said Thursday he had thought it would be worse. Scrase, a physician who serves as Cabinet secretary for the state Department of Human Services, became the governors top medical adviser on COVID-19. I started with the assumption that 14% of the population would be infected at a minimum because thats what we see with influenza almost every year, and heres a virus thats way more infectious and way more deadly. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Gathering on Zoom the new COVID-19-safe way to hold meetings and press conferences Scrase and other state Cabinet secretaries on Thursday marked one year into a pandemic that has taken both lives and livelihoods. So far, they agreed, the way forward looks promising. Actually, only 8.9% of New Mexicans have contracted the disease so far, Scrase said. Businesses shuttered to stop the virus spread are reopening, and, for every one new case of COVID, we are vaccinating 50 people. Everybody sees a light at the end of the tunnel. Its no longer an oncoming train, Scrase said. Among those responding to the crisis were the leaders of the state Children, Youth and Families Department, the Aging and Long Term Services Department, and the Early Childhood Education and Care Department. Dr. Tracie Collins was dean of the University of New Mexico College of Population Health until she was appointed to head the Department of Health in December. She and others discussed their darkest days during the pandemic, such as when Collins learned last March 25 that her cousin, Pastor Ronnie Hampton, had died of COVID-19 in Louisiana. Katrina Hotrum-Lopez, secretary of the Aging and Long Term Services Department, recalled the panic state officials experienced early on. There were a lot of things we didnt necessarily know and we had to build systems as we were making decisions. She recalled listening to families who, to stop the spread of the virus, could no longer visit their loved ones at nursing homes and long-term care facilities hard hit by COVID-19. Some of the stories you would hear would bring you to tears, Hotrum-Lopez said. She had to convince them that protecting their loved one was more important than that personal visit. Collins recalled watching the states response from afar at UNM and empathizing with her predecessor Kathy Kunkel, who was in the trenches fighting the virus for months before retiring last fall as DOH Cabinet secretary. I kept thinking to myself, Oh, that poor woman, I can only imagine how much stress she must be under. Brian Blalock, of CYFD, remembered having to stop in-person meetings between parents and their children in CYFD custody, but praised his staff for helping continue such visits remotely. Blalock was also involved with the emergency response to families affected by the virus, which included the New Mexico National Guard. The emergency operations infrastructure that we have built, I think has made New Mexico stronger, he said. I honestly think, right now, our shelter team could build a medical shelter on Mars if thats what the governor needed us to do. The new structures and new technology is now set up in a way where were in a much better position to respond to urgent need. Elizabeth Groginsky, secretary of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department, said New Mexicans have all experienced the toxic stress of living with the COVID-19 threat. Life may never be the same as it was prior to the pandemic and the new normal will most certainly look different. She added: Our children and our families desperately need our continued help as we navigate toward what is hopefully the end of this pandemic. Cyberattacks on government entities are increasing at a rapid rate, but hackers are targeting the smaller entities - state and local governments - specifically. Because of this, government agencies are complying with the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy to help keep their confidential data secure. However, this policy is hefty - 253 pages - and can often lead to confusion or more complexities when adhering to the rules. In this article, well walk you through the basic principles of the CJIS security policy (such as the 13 policy areas), how to best comply with these policies, and solutions for how to best address the various security requirements outlined in the policy. A Laredo man has pleaded guilty to leading authorities on a car chase that ended with a crash that killed an undocumented immigrant, Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery announced on Thursday. David Valadez, 27, pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy to transport the immigrant within the United States resulting in death. Sentencing has been set for June 17 before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo. Valadez faces up to life in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine. Valdez will remain in custody pending sentencing. Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Brown and April Ayers-Perez are prosecuting the case. The case dates back to Nov. 5. At about 11:09 a.m., a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper in the area of U.S. 83 and Prada Machin Drive observed a black Chevrolet Malibu with an expired registration plate. DPS would identify the driver as Valadez. Valadez allegedly sped off when the trooper tried to pull him over for the traffic violation. The vehicle pursuit ended when the Malibu crashed into the metal gate of Remolinos Snack & Grill No. 2 on 1017 S. Zapata Highway. Valadez abandoned the vehicle, but Webb County Precinct 2 Constables Office deputies apprehended him behind a residence of the business while a trooper rendered aid to the injured passengers, DPS said. Valadez was transporting three immigrants from Mexico: Marco Antonio Martinez Torres, Antonio Olivo Hernandez and Israel Olivo Sanchez. All were immigrants who were in the country illegally. Martinez Torres, 27, was riding in the trunk. Paramedics took him to Laredo Medical Center, where he later died. DPS initially charged Valadez with manslaughter, smuggling of persons causing serious bodily injury or death, and evading arrest causing death. Federal authorities would take over the case. In a post-arrest interview with Homeland Security Investigations, Valadez allegedly stated he was to be paid $360 to transport the immigrants to a location near the Guadalupe flea market. Scientists who outfitted surgeons with clear masks found that patients gave them higher marks for empathy and explaining things clearly compared with doctors who wore typical surgical masks. The findings, published Thursday in the journal JAMA Surgery, highlight an unfortunate side effect of universal mask-wearing in medicine and one possible way to help overcome it. Dr. Muneera Kapadia, a colorectal surgeon at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, said the study was inspired by a comment made by one of her patients at the beginning of the summer when the COVID-19 pandemic had already made masks standard attire in hospital settings. Doc, you know, you took out half my colon, and I dont even know what you look like, Kapadia recalled the patient telling her. At that point, Kapadia and her patient had spent quite a bit of time together. She had met him in the clinic, she had operated on him, and she had seen him every day since. But this comment, just as he was leaving, stuck with her. I think masks are having a bigger impact on our relationships that we as physicians and providers and surgeons specifically than we sort of realize, said Kapadia, the studys senior author. Masks have proven their worth countless times over in preventing the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. A face mask prevents the wearer from spreading virus-laden droplets if theyre infected, and it reduces the risk of breathing in virus-laden droplets from others. That said, theyve come with a noticeable drawback: We cant see peoples faces and thus, their expressions from the nose down. And we cant always hear each other quite as easily as we used to. Kapadia wondered: How much of a difference does it make to patients, whether they can see their surgeons face or not? Study lead author Dr. Ian Kratzke, a surgery resident at UNC Chapel Hill whose website lists a hidden talent for online shopping, came across some unusual face masks made with transparent plastic. This allows others to see the wearers mouth most of their face, in fact. The masks have a rating that is equivalent to traditional surgical masks and were cleared for use by the Food and Drug Administration in April. To test the masks, Kapadia, Kratzke and their colleagues set up an experiment. They recruited 15 surgeons and randomly assigned them to wear either a clear mask or a standard surgical mask when seeing patients theyd never met before. (All patients wore their own masks, and none of them were transparent.) After the clinic visit was over, a researcher interviewed the patients about their experience. In all, the study team spoke with 100 patients whod seen surgeons wearing clear masks and 100 patients whod seen surgeons wearing traditional masks. Patients deemed high risk, for whom N95 mask use by caregivers was recommended, were excluded from the study. Patients in both groups ranked their surgeons ability to listen, answer questions, show respect and spend time with them at approximately the same high level at least 95% of 100 patients ranked surgeons positively in each category. The advantages of the clear masks became apparent when patients evaluated the clarity of the surgeons explanations (95% for the clear masks vs. 78% for the traditional masks), their knowledge of the patients history (100% vs. 78%), the surgeons empathy (99% vs. 85%), their level of trust in the surgeons decisions (94% vs. 72%), and their overall impression of the masks (100% vs. 72%). Ultimately, more patients seemed to feel they understood their surgeon better and that their surgeon empathized with them when those surgeons wore clear masks instead of traditional ones that obscured their faces. We probably dont recognize as well as we should that people are sometimes hard of hearing, so they probably read our lips more than we realized, Kapadia said. Thats especially important given that masks can muffle sound. Beyond that, if you look at peoples facial cues when theyre speaking, to tell us if theyre serious, if theyre happy if theyre sad, those sorts of things and I think we miss those things when half of the face is covered. In an editorial accompanying the paper, Dr. Margaret Schwarze and Dr. Elle Kalbfell of the University of Wisconsin Madison pointed out that, while wearing masks outside the operating room has become normal for surgeons, the study shows it may not be so easy for patients to adjust. Trust is the cornerstone of surgical care, they wrote. Without it, patients would not let us operate on them or trust our judgment to forgo surgery. And how we speak may be more important than what we say. As surgeons, we do many bold things because they improve patient care, and wearing a clear mask with new patients should be one of them. While clear masks were a rousing success with patients, the surgeons who wore them had a more mixed response. Eight of 15 surgeons, or 53%, said they were unlikely to choose the clear mask over their standard covered mask. Some complained about the fit, others about the fogging. Some wondered whether the masks which are rated at ASTM Level 3, equivalent to standard surgical masks really were as effective as the ones they were used to. Four surgeons, however did mention that theyd be more likely to wear a clear mask if patients showed that they preferred it. For her part, Kapadia said the study was not so much a pitch for specific clear masks as it was a window into a problem with pandemic-era patient care. I think weve identified an issue; I dont know that weve completely identified the solution, she said. In my mind, potentially wearing a clear mask may help mitigate some of the issues we discovered, but I think really, this is about realizing that when we wear a mask, which is important from a safety standpoint, it does affect our communication with patients. This means health care providers probably need to go to greater lengths to ensure that patients understand what theyre being told, and perhaps to be a little more deliberate in verbally demonstrating empathy. Efforts like these could help strengthen the doctor-patient relationship in these unprecedented times. This is a fascinating study, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco who was not involved in the study. It was a difficult year in so many ways but one is the empathy aspect, Gandhi said. Part of being a doctor is just sitting with the patient face-to-face and talking to them, and the mask hinders that, theres just no question. Gandhi added that last week, she took off her mask in order to comfort a patient who was deeply depressed. (Both she and her patient had been vaccinated.) It was imperative for me to connect to him as a human being, she said. So I think this (study) is amazing and completely makes sense to me. Amina Khan of the Los Angeles Times wrote this story. 2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Sharp Memorial Hospital, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. The San Diego employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a complaint alleging that Sharp Memorial Hospital violated various California labor laws. The lawsuit against Sharp Memorial Hospital, Case No. 37-2021-00006007-CU-OE-CTL, is currently pending in the San Diego County Superior Court of the State of California. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here. According to the lawsuit filed, Sharp Memorial Hospital allegedly required PLAINTIFFS and other CALIFORNIA CLASS Members to work while being clocked out. This allegedly resulted in a loss of both minimum and overtime wages. The applicable California Wage Order requires employers to provide employees with off-duty rest periods, which the California Supreme Court defined as time during which an employee is relieved from all work related duties and free from employer control. Cal. Lab. Code 2808 expressly states that "an employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties..." During employment, PLAINTIFFS and other CALIFORNIA CLASS Members were allegedly required to use their personal cellular phones in order to complete their job duties. As a result, they allegedly incurred unreimbursed business expenses. For more information about the class action lawsuit against Sharp Memorial Hospital, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago that dedicates its practice to helping employees, investors and consumers fight back against unfair business practices, including violations of the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act. If you need help in collecting unpaid overtime wages, unpaid commissions, being wrongfully terminated from work, and other employment law claims, contact one of their attorneys today. ***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT*** The government of southwestern Yunnan province is tracking 15 wild Asian elephants round-the-clock as the herd moves northward. The elephants, which started their journey from the southernmost prefecture in the province on April 16, were 10 kilometers away from the provincial capital Kunming on Tuesday. The local government has been tracking and escorting the animals to keep them away from residents. The elephants have damaged 561 square meters of cropland, according to media reports Jun 02, 2021 05:22 PM Children as young as 15 are being used by organised criminal gangs to act as money mules to launder the proceeds of online fraud through their clean bank accounts, gardai have revealed. Secondary school and college students are being lured into the practice of having money moved through their accounts for a tempting commission but are destroying their futures when they are caught, gardai warned. A money mule is someone who allows others to use their bank accounts. The accounts are used to receive or disburse fraudulent or illegally obtained funds, most likely from online fraud and other cyber crime. The gangs like to use young people with no criminal records because they have no previous interaction with gardai and the gangs feel it lessens their chances of being traced. Students are contacted by messaging apps and social media, or by word of mouth. And while some are complicit and aware the money is the proceeds of criminal activity, there are naive young people recruited unwittingly in a too good to be true earning opportunities via recruitment websites with job offers of financial manager or money transfer agent. A money mule can also be coerced against their will, either bullied or threatened, or they could be paying off a drug debt or think they are helping a friend who cant access a bank account, said Detective Superintendent Mick Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB). Speaking as part of the bureaus Fraud Awareness Week, he said one ongoing investigation has identified 53 people acted as money mules where 1.5m was transferred through their accounts. Thirty-two have been arrested to date, 17 are juveniles, 20 are males average ranging from 16 to 38 years, and 12 are females, ranging 15 to 22 years, he said. Det Dupt Cryan warned the young money mules are destroying their futures when they are caught. He also warned the proceeds of the crimes these young people are acting as agents for are used for international crimes including drug distribution and people smuggling. The Advice from the GNECB, particularly for parents, guardians, and teachers is to recognise money muling this for what it is and advise on the dangers and ramifications. By working together and reducing numbers prepared to act as money mules then we seriously reduce organised crimes capacity, said Det Supt Cryan. Parents and teachers need to know how serious this is and the ramifications for the children, and to educate their children not to act as money mules. Teachers need to be alert to the people in their classes recruiting money mules, and students need to know how they will destroy their future if they act as a money mule, he added. Lagos, March 12 : Unidentified gunmen on Friday attacked a school in Nigeria's Kaduna state and abducted a number of students, a police official said. Mohammed Jalige, a police spokesperson in Kaduna, confirmed the incident to Xinhua news agency, noting that the gunmen attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization located in Mando area. "We have no details of the number of (the) students (kidnapped)," Jalige said. He said the police were working with other security forces to track down the kidnappers and rescue the students. This latest incident comes just days after 279 school girls, who were abducted from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Zamfara state on February 26, were released on March 2. The Zamfara abductions were the second in the country in recent weeks. Last month, at least 27 students were kidnapped from a boarding school in Kagara, Niger state. They were released on February 17. In 2014, 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Islamist Boko Haram terrorists in Chibok town, which drew global attention and condemnation. More than 110 of those girls are still unaccounted for, while the remaining either escaped, freed by the military or died. 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. Im Pretty Romantic: Tom Selleck Shares Secret Behind 33 Years of Happy Marriage to Wife Jillie Tom Selleck has been immortalized on the silver screen for decades, but the actors marriage to dancer Jillie Mack has proven equally longevous, still going strong after 33 years. After a secret wedding ceremony with Mack in 1987, Selleck left his then-hit TV series Magnum P.I. to raise a family the following year. The actor claims that friendship is the key to sustaining a life together. I get up before Jillie and put on the tea kettle, so when she gets up, her tea water is hot, Selleck, 76, told Closer Weekly. I think Im pretty romantic. Now, the couple grow avocados and raise horses on their 65-acre ranch in Hidden Valley, California, where they have lived and tended the land for over three decades. They still love spending time together, a family friend explained. They like the simple life. Selleck and Mack, a fairly recent item, circa 1990. (Vicki L. Miller/Shutterstock) Selleck and Mack at the Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special Arrivals at the CBS Television City on Oct. 4, 2017, in Los Angeles, CA. (Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock) Sellecks first marriage to model Jacqueline Ray came to an end in 1982. Years later, he would confide to New York Daily News that, Ive played a lot of leads, and sometimes I have to play the guy that just assumes the girl will say yes. But in reality, Im a guy who assumes shell say no. But Selleck was backstage at a performance of Cats when Mack, a dancer in the show, made the first move. She asked her future husband to join her for a cocktail. Mack, born in Wiltshire, England, left her career as a professional dancer and actress to move to Hawaii to be with Selleck. Stable and happy, the couples marriage has since endured peaks and troughs in both their public and private lives. Selleck and Mack welcomed their new daughter Hannah home in California a year after tying the knot. It took a long time to get off the train, Selleck admitted to People in 2012, but I try very hard to have balance, and this ranch has helped me do that. Selleck and Mack with daughter Hannah at the 31st Annual Peoples Choice Awards in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California, on Jan. 9, 2005 (Vince Bucci/Getty Images) Adds Mack, We both thought it was the best environment for [Hannah] to grow up. Now 32, Hannah is studying for an MBA alongside her career as an equestrian jumping champion. A family friend confided that Selleck and Mack are relishing in the prospect of becoming grandparents, saying, They like Hannahs current boyfriend. Everyone can imagine her getting married at the ranch. Both Selleck and his wife are independent personalities, the actor says. While he takes on much of the physical labor involved in running the ranch at home, she runs the show when they head to New York City to film Blue Bloods. The couple arrive at the premiere of Killers at ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on June 1, 2010. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) There is a lot of yin and yang in us, Selleck explained to Closer, claiming he is the calmer personality. Jillie has this sort of joie de vivre, this effervescent quality that just lights up a room, he said. Apart from being my wife, shes my friend. Together, the couple have weathered numerous storms, including a legal battle during the California water crisis in 2015 and the death of Toms 96-year-old mother, Martha, in 2017. Fair-weather lovers they are not. Relationships are tricky, Selleck reflected, but if you are in love with somebody, and like them, youve got a chance at success. You become true partners. 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 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) A senator on Friday urged the government to expedite the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the country, warning that the inoculation program may last for over 11 years if the current progress rate isnt changed. Citing personal computations, Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson said the Philippines may only be able to wrap up the drive by 2033 if the daily vaccination numbers dont spike. Kung hindi mag-accelerate yung pace ng vaccination, at assuming na darating lahat yung supply na ine-expect for 70 million targeted population to achieve herd immunity, then well have a problem because aabutin tayo ng 2033 and at the rate were doing, Lacson told CNN Philippines The Source. It will take us 11 years and eight months to finish, assuming na darating yung 140 plus million doses, he explained. Pero kung maga-accelerate and I hope the government will accelerate the vaccination rollout, then maybe we can advance yung timetable natin. [Translation: If we dont accelerate the pace, and assuming that all supply expected for 70 million targeted population to achieve herd immunity, then well have a problem because it will take us until 2033 at the rate were doing it now. It will take us 11 years and eight months to finish assuming that all 140 plus million doses will arrive. But if we accelerate, and I hope the government will accelerate the vaccination rollout, then maybe we can advance our timetable.] The Health Department, in response, stressed that the country's vaccination drive has just kicked off, and expressed hope that the numbers would rise by the day. Hindi pa nabibigay sa lahat ng regions at tuloy-tuloy ang distribution (We havent given all regions yet, and the distribution is underway) DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergerie said in a media forum in the same day. She added authorities have also contacted vaccination sites and concerned regional directors to help quicken the process. As of Thursday, the agency reported that 76% of the 1.125 million doses received by the Philippines have already been deployed. DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III added around 11,000 healthcare workers are being vaccinated daily. RELATED: Duque: 76% of available vaccines deployed, but vaccination journey still long 'Spike in cases alarming' Meanwhile, Lacson also sounded the alarm over the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country in recent days, stressing that all citizens should be conscious in following minimum health protocols. He likewise backed the decision of Metro Manila mayors to impose a curfew in the region, labeling it a good move. The government should really use its police power because were still under a state of public health emergency, Lacson said. The country for the past week has mostly been recording more than 3,000 new COVID cases per day. On Thursday, the DOH reported 3,749 new virus infections the highest daily case count after September 19. Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet says that, despite various fakes in social networks and the media, the authorities were still able to adequately work out an algorithm for distance learning during the quarantine period due to the spread of COVID-19. "I want to thank all teachers, education seekers and their parents for having adequately overcome and are now overcoming all the challenges that the pandemic poses to us. Thank you for your prompt adaptation to completely new, one might say, extreme conditions during the educational process. I am pleased to state the fact that, despite various fakes in social networks and the media, we were still able to adequately develop an algorithm for working with distance learning," the press service of the ministry quotes Shkarlet. The Minister said that Ukrainian authorities have successfully coped with the challenge posed by the quarantine in the field of distance education and were able to take another step towards the complete digitalization of education. "Together with the heads of Regional State Administration, directors of regional departments of education and science, with teachers, parents and education seekers, we coped with the challenge, which actually became the next step for us on the way to digitalization of education in Ukraine and we are not going to stop in this direction," Shkarlet said. He also said that face-to-face learning is certainly much "better and more effective", but the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic are driving the creation of quality distance learning platforms. According to the report, at the moment, the development of the mobile application All-Ukrainian School Online for iOS and Android and the teacher's office on the site continues. "In spring of 2021 the All-Ukrainian School Online will become a single online platform for school education, where it will be possible to create content, gather in virtual classes, set and adjust scores, track progress and report. Now the platform is used by almost 140,000 students, teachers and parents," the department reports. A masseur who raped a client during a 90-minute ordeal at her home has been jailed for five years. Cosmin Tudorache, 33, assaulted the woman after she answered to his advert on urbanmassage.com. His victim thought she would treat herself to a massage after her roommate went out with friends for the evening on October 6, 2017. However Tudorache subjected her to a string of sex attacks which left her feeling suicidal and petrified to speak. A jury at Inner London Crown Court convicted him of rape and two counts of assault by penetration in January. He was today sentenced to five years in prison for rape and two-and-a-half years for each assault, all of which will be served concurrently. Cosmin Tudorache, 33, was sentenced to five years in prison for rape and two-and-a-half years for each assault Judge Jane Sullivan told Tudorache: 'She booked a deep tissue massage at her home address through an app called Urban Massage which she had successfully used for months. 'In fact, you had given her a massage months earlier but you did not remember.' The judge went on to describe how the woman wept and froze as the masseur assaulted her. Judge Sullivan added: 'Although she did not say anything to you she was not consenting. 'This was not a case of you misreading the situation. She had done nothing to encourage you. Her indications were to stop. You claimed the sex was consensual. 'Her body was saying stop. You are a 33-year-old qualified masseur and this would have been apparent to you. You had a duty of care. 'The psychological impacts on her are apparent from her two victim impact statements. She attended court to read out those statements.' Tudorache stared at the screen behind which his victim described how she became suicidal following the attack. In her first statement, dated March 5, 2020, she read: 'I was a happy social individual but I am no longer that person. Ever since I have been suffering from stress and anxiety. 'It has caused my relationship with my then-partner to break down. 'Given the stigma associated with rape I found out I could not trust some of my closest friends. Many of my friends shared the details with others and I felt betrayed. 'This incident has destroyed my social life.' The masseur (pictured outside Inner London Crown Court) raped the client after she answered to his advert on urbanmassage.com The woman also told the court she experienced a panic attack every time she saw an advert for the massage company on the Tube 'or any other public space'. She said: 'I often blame myself for not fighting back. I do not understand why I just lay there. I started to hate myself. 'I used to go to work and cry in the toilets. Crying became quite disruptive to me daily life. 'I started to feel suicidal and I called the Samaritans helping to calm me down on more than one occasion. 'I did not feel safe living at home. I moved out and live in a place with full-time security.' Reading from her second statement, dated January 13, this year, she told the court she had been 'looking forward to the massage because I suffer from shoulder pains when I can't even turn my neck' but it ended in 'my worst nightmare'. She said: 'I trusted him based on the company's website. This trust, this professional trust which he had taken advantage of to rape me and turn me into a rape victim. 'I am now hesitant to get a massage. My friends and family who do not know about the incident have since given me massage vouchers as a gift.' Prosecution lawyer Kate Bumgart asked for a starting point of ten years custody, telling the judge 'no words can describe what she is going through every day.' She added: 'He was a healthcare professional and this damages the public trust in the profession. She held her legs together. She did not touch his legs to initiate any sexual activity.' Mark Gadsen, defending, said 26 references from women 'who knew the defendant well' had been submitted on behalf of his client and he had sent six of them to the judge. Four of those authors sat in the public gallery to watch. A jury at Inner London Crown Court convicted him of rape and two counts of assault by penetration He told the judge the rape 'arose out of a genuine misreading of the situation', adding: 'The rape was terminated abruptly by the defendant as soon as the reality became clear to him.' Tudorache, of Cricklewood, north west London, denied but was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of assault by penetration. He was sentenced to five years in prison for rape and two-and-a-half years for each assault, all of which will be served concurrently. He was also handed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order which bans him from massaging a woman without a chaperone unless the client has knowledge of his conviction. Other health officials have defended the appointment systems, and the developers behind the software said the complaints about their products were overblown. Tiffany Tate, PrepMods creator and the executive director of the Maryland Partnership for Prevention, said criticisms of her system largely stemmed from health providers lack of knowledge about how to use it, or from the constantly shifting needs of states. The pandemics evolving, and weve got to be able to keep up with it, she said. We just have to be a very flexible platform. Deloitte, whose software is used by nine states, said VAMS was originally intended for smaller groups at early stages of states vaccine rollouts, so the company was responding quickly to meet their changing needs and was updating the system to handle a greater load. Health experts say multiple factors complicated the software rollout. In some cases, developers condensed work that would normally take years into weeks, leading to glitches. In addition, the varied approaches to determining eligibility in the dozens of localities using the software have made it difficult to develop a one-size-fits-all approach. Some states use more than half a dozen appointment scheduling systems, from tools used by federal, state and local agencies to the software employed by private hospitals and pharmacies to rudimentary solutions like SignUpGenius. Some sites do not support appointment scheduling at all, but allow people to browse databases to find available vaccines or get on wait lists. Often, the systems cannot communicate with one another. 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. Tensions between China and the U.K. flared this week after Beijing summoned Britains ambassador to China to chastize her for an article she wrote defending the role of independent foreign press in the country. The latest tussle comes amid a backdrop of strain between the countries over matters such as human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the deteriorating political situation in Hong Kong, and lately, differences on the role of the foreign press. Last month, Beijing banned BBC World News from broadcasting in the country, stating that it had found the station to be undermining Chinas national interests and ethnic solidarity with biased reporting. That moved hit a week after Britains media regulator Ofcom revoked the U.K. broadcast license for Chinas state-backed CGTN network after deeming it to be insufficiently editorially independent from Beijing. More from Variety The British embassy in Beijing posted an article in Chinese from ambassador Caroline Wilson on its official WeChat social media account last week. In it, she noted that official Chinese state media has recently published an increasing number of reports attacking foreign journalists, including a number accusing them of being anti-China or even China haters because of their critical coverage. She countered such reports by arguing that such journalists did not have a particular vendetta against the country, and were instead acting in good faith in their role as watchdogs. Although her article has not as of Thursday been deleted from WeChat, it can no longer be shared or reposted. The Chinese foreign ministrys department of European affairs summoned Wilson on Tuesday to issue stern representations over the biased and inappropriate article it said was full of arrogance. Story continues The whole article is full of ideological prejudice and is seriously inconsistent with the status of diplomats, it referenced the departments head as saying. On Tuesday, Wilson responded to the situation by tweeting: I stand by my article. No doubt the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to the U.K. stands by the 170+ pieces he was free to place in mainstream British media. That diplomat, Liu Xiaoming, was based in Britain for more than a decade but left in January. The hashtag #Foreign Affairs Department Summons British Ambassador to China Caroline Wilson had been viewed 6.8 million times on Weibo as of Thursday evening. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Massachusetts will soon receive an influx of more than $8 billion as part of President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the sweeping COVID-19 pandemic relief bill the president signed into law on Thursday. According to Senate Budget Committee data, Massachusetts state government will receive more than $4.5 billion; metro cities will see more than $1.7 billion and smaller communities another $1.7 billion. The state will receive at least $174 million to work on capital projects. Boston will receive more than $400 million; Springfield just under $100 million and Worcester more than $100 million. Many communities will receive between $1 and $5 million. The federal dollars follow months of pressure from Democrats to provide expansive aid to avoid further layoffs to educators, first responders and health care workers while helping towns, cities and states maintain essential services. Here are amounts Congress estimated for Massachusetts towns and cities. Bidens plan will eventually spread at least $350 billion to state, local and tribal governments that have been clamoring for help across the country. Republicans on Capitol Hill have claimed the local funding amounts to a bailout for poorly-run Democratic cities and states. But Democratic and Republican mayors and governors nationwide have called on Congress to provide more aid during the pandemic, and the funding goes to all communities and states regardless of the political affiliation of their leaders. Related Content: Google provides "timely, accurate, science-based information" about vaccines as India continues its inoculation campaign against Covid-19, said the US technology giant on Friday, listing work on its products. Google said it is working with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create a scientific narrative about the vaccination. It works with the ministrys rapid risk response team to track misinformation, using social media listening tools across regions and languages. This is crucial because instances of misinformation and disinformation about the vaccine, its need, and its efficacy can seriously undermine this public health intervention, said the company. Google Search has "knowledge panels" in in English and eight Indian languages for queries about vaccine effectiveness, safety, distribution and side effects. The panels--sourced from MoHFW--provide answers to commonly asked questions and displays real-time statistics around vaccinations completed. Google teams have supported the MoHFW in optimising the ministrys website for mobile viewers. We also helped localize their various vaccination resource pages into the eight Indian languages listed above, said Google. Googles YouTube video-sharing platform has information panels that show up when people search for information on Covid-19. The panels have a banner redirecting to key vaccine resources on the MoHFW website. The company said it is working with the MoHFW and the Foundation to provide information on vaccination centres on Google Search, Maps and Google Assistant, and expects to roll this out in the coming weeks. To help government officials, the company delivers regular Google Trends reports on Covid vaccine queries. These reflect interest around the vaccination from month to month across regions. An electron microscopic image that shows SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 Could treatments using lab-made versions of the body's natural infection-fighting defences become a crucial tool in the pandemic fight, alongside vaccines? There have been encouraging signs in recent days that synthetic versions of antibodiesone of the building blocks of our immune systemcan help the body tackle Covid-19. What are they? Our bodies develop antibodies in response to pathogens. Monoclonal antibodieswhich recognise a specific molecule of the target virus or bacteriaare synthetic copies of those natural proteins that can be reproduced and administered as a treatment. This is different from a vaccine, which stimulates the body to produce its own immune response. Synthetic antibodies are administered to people already infected, to make up for deficiencies in the immune system. They can help those who are at high risk of severe disease because of weak immunity or underlying conditions. One synthetic antibody treatment, from US biotech firm Regeneron, was used to treat former US President Donald Trump after he contracted coronavirus last year. Is it new? Not at all. "Monoclonal antibodies are one of the most powerful tools in modern medicine," says Britain's Wellcome charity. Over the past three decades, more than a hundred of them have been licensed, it says, adding they are "transforming the way doctors treat, prevent and even cure serious non-communicable diseases". Until recently, however, monoclonal antibodies have been mainly used for illnesses like cancers and autoimmune disorders, rather than viruses. But they have "always had enormous potential to directly combat an infection," said British immunologist Alexander Edwards of the University of Reading. The pandemic may therefore herald a "breakthrough" for this type of medicine as a treatment for viral infection, he added. How effective? There are currently four main developers at advanced stages: British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and California's Vir Biotechnology; Regeneron in the US; another American firm Eli Lilly; and Celltrion from South Korea. Celltrion reported favourable results in trials of its regdanvimab antibody in January, followed by Regeneron for its REGN-COV2 treatment, a cocktail of antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab. This week, the other two released encouraging announcements from their final stage phase 3 clinical trials. On Wednesday, Eli Lilly said that the combination of two antibodies, bamlanivimab and etesemivab, reduced hospitalisations and deaths in high-risk patients recently diagnosed with Covid-19 by 87 percent in trials. On Thursday, GSK and Vir said results from their trials showed the monoclonal antibody known as VIR-7831 had an 85 percent efficacy in reducing hospitalisation or death from Covid-19 compared to a placebo. Are they authorised? So far the only treatments allowed for use are from Regeneron, Eli Lilly andonly in South KoreaCelltrion. Several countries have issued emergency use authorisations, ahead of final results from clinical trials. The US-based Food and Drug Administration in November approved emergency use of REGN-COV2, experimentally used to treat Trump. In February, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its provisional approval to the treatment for patients who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at high risk of progressing to severe Covid-19. Lilly's bamlanivimab meanwhile is authorised in the United States and France for those over 80 years of age. This week the EMA said it had started a "rolling review" of Lilly's cocktail of bamlanivimab and etesemivab, as well as bamlanivimab used alone. It has also started evaluating Celltrion's drug. GSK and Vir have said they will seek authorisation for emergency use of their treatment in the US and other countries. What's the downside? As with other aspects of the pandemic response, the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus has caused concerns. Sophie Muller, medical director of GSK France, told AFP that their treatment targets a region of the virus' spike proteinsalso called S proteinsthat is "not affected by the current variants of the coronavirus, hence its interest". But what if future variants are possibly resistant? With this in mind, some research is focusing on the development of "polyclonal" antibodies, able to identify many more molecules of the virus. There are more immediate limitations however: price and availability. Production capacity still needs to be ramped up before the treatments could be used at scale. As for cost, the price tag for a Lilly antibody injection is around 1,000 euros ($1,200). But doctors argue that this is still far cheaper than the cost of hospitalisation. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP 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. Police have arrested a 37-year-old Bergen County man who allegedly sexually assaulted a child younger than 13 years old, authorities said. On Thursday, police arrested Santiago Quiaxan-Castro, of Palisades Park, and charged him with multiple sexual crimes, including aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault by sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said in a statement. The arrest and charges were sparked by a notification from the Palisade Park Police Department that Quiaxan-Castro had allegedly sexually assaulted a child younger than 13 in the borough, according to the statement. Quiaxan-Castro was taken to the Bergen County Jail pending his first court appearance, according to the statement. 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. Restaurants are unleashing green cream-topped Irish coffees, slashed prices on shots of Jameson and loads of corned beef and cabbage for St. Patricks Day next week and in some cases, starting this weekend. While bouncing between packed bars wont be possible this St. Patricks Day because of safety restrictions, itll still be much easier to celebrate compared to last years edition, which fell on the first day of the Bay Areas first shelter-in-place order. Some restaurants are selling specials meals for takeout, while some Irish pubs plan to bring out the live music and drink discounts for outdoor and socially distanced revelry. Here are 13 Bay Area restaurants and bars ready to help you celebrate St. Patricks Day. Original Joe's Alhambra Irish House / St. Stephens Greens These sister Irish bars on the Peninsula are already both celebrating St. Patricks Day. The Redwood City and Mountain View spots are offering specials every day leading to March 17, such as thick slices of bacon with cabbage, creamy parsley sauce and shots of $5 Jameson on Saturday; and traditional Irish breakfast feasts alongside $8 Irish car bombs on Sunday. On the actual holiday, expect a big outdoor party with live Irish music. Food and drink specials are available for outdoor and indoor dining, plus takeout and delivery. Alhambra Irish House: 831 Main St., Redwood City. alhambra-irish-house.com; St. Stephens Greens: 223 Castro St., Mountain View. ststephensgreen.com Andytown Coffee Roasters Order quickly if you want to snag one of Andytowns special Irish baked goods, some of which are already sold out. There are soda farls ($11), a flatter and softer style of Irish soda bread; soda bread-style mini scones studded with currants ($15 for a dozen); and accompaniments like house-made butter ($6.50). These goodies are only available for takeout on March 16 and 17 from Andytowns Outer Sunset location. 3655 Lawton St., San Francisco. https://www.andytownsf.com/st-patricks-day-pastries Augies Montreal Deli The owner of this Berkeley deli often describes Montreal-style smoke meat as if pastrami and corned beef had a baby. For St. Patricks Day, Augies is serving up plates of this smoky meat with boiled cabbage and boiled potatoes for $12.50. There are a few outdoor tables to enjoy the meal onsite for lunch, but Augies will also stay open an hour later until 6 p.m. for those who want to bring a plate home for dinner. 700 Essex Way, Berkeley. augiesmontrealdeli.com Casements San Francisco whiskey bar Casements is partnering with Andytown Coffee (which is also on this list with other specials) for an Irish coffee kit ($110) to make at home. It includes a bottle of Teeling Irish Whiskey, Casments maple-flavored cream, simple syrup and Andytown beans. To nibble alongside, the kit also provides the ingredients and recipe for Andytowns soda farl, a style of soda bread. The kit is available now through March 17 for takeout or delivery within San Francisco on March 15. 2351 Mission St., San Francisco. casementsbar.com Charmaines This rooftop bar in San Franciscos Proper Hotel is pouring three rare Irish whiskeys ranging from $30 to $120 per ounce dating back to the 1950s. Creative bites, such as a black pudding tart ($11) and corned beef and cabbage roll ($14), are also available. Reservations for outdoor dining are recommended. 1100 Market St., San Francisco. properhotel.com/san-francisco/happenings One Market Finnegans Marin This Novato restaurant is planning St. Patricks Day specials for indoor and outdoor dining, with bagpipers streaming in all day and lots of Guinness on tap. For those who would rather celebrate at home, Finnegans is offering a family-style feast ($125 for up to six people) with entree options of corned beef and cabbage, shepherds pie and pot roast, plus salad, dessert, beer and whiskey. Call 415-899-1516 to pre-order. 877 Grant Ave., Novato. finnegansmarin.com Pyros Pastrami Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Pre-orders are open for popular pop-up Pyros Pastramis St. Patricks Day menu. The Oakland deli is serving corned beef sandwiches with horseradish cream and gruyere, as well as hot corned beef Reubens loaded with kraut. Each sandwich costs $22, and theyre only available for lunch. While everything is packaged for takeout, the pop-up location offers a few outdoor tables, plus plenty of benches around Jack London Square. 101 Broadway, Oakland. pyrospastrami.square.site Slainte Oakland Irish pub Slainte will host Irish musicians on its patio all weekend long, as well as on St. Patricks Day itself. Food specials are also available for outdoor dining and takeout starting Friday: corned beef and cabbage with mashed potatoes and parsley sauce; Irish potato-and-cabbage hash; and bread pudding laced with Baileys. 131 Broadway, Oakland. slainteoakland.com One Market Classic Embarcadero spot One Market is offering a three-course St. Patricks Day meal ($49 per person) for upscale celebrations at home. It starts with potato-leek soup, moves on to corned beef and cabbage, and ends with a chocolate-Irish cream pot de creme. Pre-order for takeout and delivery March 17-20. 1 Market St., San Francisco. exploretock.com/onemarket Original Joes / Little Original Joes Per annual tradition, Original Joes North Beach and Westlake will both serve green cream-topped Irish coffees ($11) and corned beef and cabbage ($17.95 lunch, $23.95 dinner) on St. Patricks Day for indoor dining, outdoor dining and takeout. The groups new post in West Portal, Little Original Joes, will offer corned beef ($17.95) for takeout and delivery only, though the market will be stocked with holiday-appropriate beverages like Guinness. Original Joes Westlake: 11 Glenwood Ave., Daly City. Original Joes North Beach: 601 Union St., San Francisco. originaljoes.com; Little Original Joes: 393 W Portal Ave., San Francisco. littleoriginaljoes.com Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker There was a celebrity sighting in a virtual Oregon senate committee hearing Thursday. Paris Hilton, a one-time reality TV star and now activist, attended the meeting to give her testimony in support of a new Oregon bill that would modify the current list of allowed and prohibited uses of restraint of children in child-caring agencies, proctor foster homes and developmental disabilities residential facilities. Hilton was the first guest to give testimony in support of the bill -- Oregon Senate Bill 710 -- and told her story of being awoken in the middle of the night when she was 16 to be transported to a facility. I thought I was being kidnapped and was going to be murdered, Hilton said. Hilton said she was handcuffed and taken by car to a plane and then on to a facility in Utah. During the trip, she did not know where she was going or why. In any other context, she said, you would call this kidnapping. Hilton has worked to end the practice of restraining children and teens on the way to and in treatment and care programs in multiple states. In her testimony, she questioned why it was legal to restrain and possibly retraumatize kids who are already suffering in a variety of ways. The Oregon bill would give greater clarity to types of physical and chemical restraints allowed and not allowed under state law, according to the bills sponsor, Sen. Sara Gelser, a Corvallis Democrat long active on childrens rights issues. It would also require licensure of transport companies like the one that handcuffed Hilton, Gelser said during Thursdays meeting. These transport companies currently arent licensed by anyone, anywhere, Gelser said. Some detractors of the bill were concerned about how it would impact the care of children with autism. In its original form, it talked about applied behavioral analysis centers, Gelser said. Those are out. They are gone. There is nothing in this bill about autism, period. The testimony also included video and a 911 call from a Kalamazoo, Michigan facility called Lakeside Academy where Cornelius Frederick, 16, was restrained after throwing some food on May 1, 2020. Several adults held him down and restrained him for 12 minutes, after which he appeared unresponsive. It took 12 more minutes for the nurse at the facility to call 911. Two days later, Frederick died. His death was ruled a homicide and three adults involved were charged with child abuse and manslaughter. As their defense, said Gelser, those employees said they followed all standard procedures. According to Gelser, three Oregon kids were at the Michigan facility the day Frederick died. The facility, which has since closed, was run by Sequel Youth and Family Services. Gelser said Friday that she visited that facility in January of 2020. While we were there I expressed concerns to the Sequel executives about their restraint policies, training and practices, she said, and shared that I was concerned if they did not make some serious changes that someone would be seriously hurt or die. -- Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker A German journalist who used to work for Russia's state-controlled television channel RT says he was asked by his employer to spy on Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny while he was undergoing treatment in Germany after being poisoned in Siberia. Daniel Lange has described to German media how he was instructed to use his journalistic credentials to test how close he could get to the ward where Navalny was recovering in Berlin's Charite hospital and "carefully take photos of the extensive military presence" at the medical facility. Lange told RFE/RL on March 11 that his assignment "made no [journalistic] sense" and eventually prompted him to break his contract with RT Deutsch -- the German branch of the state-controlled outlet. Lange has said that he and a colleague were tasked with testing how far they could get inside the Charite building, how many checkpoints they could cross undetected, and how close they could get to Navalny in the intensive care unit without being noticed. I stated several times that I was not a secret agent and asked what they would do with me in Russia if I secretly photographed soldiers in front of a military hospital. Then there was always no answer or reaction and a new assignment followed," Lange told RFE/RL. Lange says that he deliberately drew attention to himself while at the hospital, telling the police there that he was a journalist with "RT from Russia." He says he was then given another assignment: keeping an eye on Navalnys chief of staff Leonid Volkov and Navalny's head of investigations, Maria Pevchikh. "Finding the whereabouts of Volkov based on a photo from an apartment was not only ridiculous...it also made no journalistic sense," Lange told RFE/RL. Volkov was not hidden in Berlin and gave interviews. If you had wanted an interview with him, you would have made an official request or bought video material from an agency." Lange also told RFE/RL that he and his cameraman were instructed by the outlet's new management to "show all the filth of Germany," not in reports but in short clips. "I was now commissioned directly to show only those pictures that show a negative image of Germany," he said. "Not an extensive report on the heroin scene in Berlin, but a clip that shows junkies and misery and does not explain anything or inform the viewer. That's when I made the decision to go, and also to report on how it goes behind the scenes." RT said on March 10 that it intends to sue the German tabloid Bild, where Lange first made his allegations. Announcing its lawsuit against Bild, RT hinted that the allegations could be part of a campaign against the Russian television network in Germany. Lange this week published a book -- titled Inside RT Deutsch: Putins Media Army In Germany -- in which he recalls his two years of working for the outlet. The book includes the story about RTs alleged attempt to spy on Navalny. The Kremlin critic was arrested on January 17 upon his return to Russia from Germany, where he received life-saving treatment from a nerve-agent poisoning while traveling in Siberia in August. Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The FSB security service and the Kremlin have denied any role in the poisoning. Last month, a Moscow court ruled that, while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered to be politically motivated. Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from the case was converted to a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time already served in detention. With reporting by bild.de and Meduza.io CLARIFICATION: This story has been amended so that quotations correspond with the original interview, which was conducted in English. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 13% of Brits surveyed by YouGov said they have no confidence that the UK could handle another pandemic in the future. (PA) More than four in ten Britons aren't particularly confident that the UK could handle another pandemic well, a YouGov poll has revealed. The poll asked 2,765 British adults how much confidence they have, if any, that the UK would be able to handle another pandemic if it happened in the future. While 14% answered 'a great deal' and a further 39% said 'some', the remainder were less confident, with 42% answering negatively. Some 13% said they had 'none at all', while 29% answered 'not very much'. The survey comes as the UK medicines regulator urged people to continue having the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID jab, after a growing number of countries suspended its rollout over fears about blood clots. Denmark, Norway and Iceland said they were temporarily halting all jabs using the vaccine to investigate reports of blood clots among people who have received it. Read more: The 9 countries that gobbled up three quarters of the world's vaccines 'No one is safe until we're all safe' Italy also joined Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Lithuania in banning one particular batch of a million AstraZeneca vaccines, which was sent to 17 countries. The UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there was no evidence to suggest the vaccine caused blood clot problems, and people should still get their COVID vaccine when asked to do so. Some countries have halted the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine amid concerns of fatal blood clots. (PA) The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also backed the jabs safety and said there had been just 30 reports of blood clots among close to five million people given the vaccine across Europe. Dr Phil Bryan, MHRA vaccines safety lead in the UK, said: The Danish, Norwegian and and Icelandic authorities action to temporarily suspend use of the vaccine is precautionary whilst they investigate. Blood clots can occur naturally and are not uncommon. More than 11 million doses of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine have now been administered across the UK. Story continues Reports of blood clots received so far are not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population. Dr Bryan said the safety of the public always comes first and the issue was being kept under close review but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause. Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said: Vaccine safety is critically important. Our UK regulator, the MHRA, review all reports of adverse events for both vaccines as they are reported. The public should have confidence that both vaccines used in the UK vaccination programme are safe and highly effective at preventing severe disease, including the prevention of blood clots caused by Covid. In a statement, AstraZeneca said patient safety was its highest priority and regulators have clear and stringent efficacy and safety standards for the approval of any new medicine. The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in phase three clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been generally well tolerated, it said. Watch: How England will leave lockdown " " One of two golden-tongued mummies discovered in the temple of Taposiris Magna, currently being excavated by archaeologists outside Alexandria, Egypt. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities There are probably some really boring things about digging up ancient dead bodies, but the reward probably comes in when you find the weird thing the mysterious thing. Like mummies with golden tongues, for instance. The Ancient Egyptians were a treasure trove of unusual funerary practices for at least half of the 6,000-or-so years they buried their VIPs, it's obvious they were perfecting the process of preserving the soft tissues of their physical bodies, as well as streamlining the travel necessities for the deceased's journey to the afterlife. As their culture grew, so did the stories around the paces the dead would be put through in the Great Beyond. Advertisement The process of mummifying somebody was long it took a bunch of specially trained priests with detailed knowledge of human anatomy around 70 days to complete. It was also expensive, which is why it's the wealthy and royal ancient Egyptian people archaeologists find mummified in sarcophagi, tucked in among treasures and mummified cats and sometimes servants to take care of them in the afterlife, occasionally with their tongues covered in gold foil. In a statement made by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in January 2021, two of the 16 mummies discovered in the temple of Taposiris Magna, currently being excavated by archaeologists outside Alexandria, were found with gold foil tongues stuck in their mouths. The Ministry statement explained this would have been done by the priest who prepared the bodies "to ensure their ability to speak in the afterlife" particularly to Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead. Gold was as precious in ancient Egypt as it is today, and golden tongues have been found in Egyptian mummies before, but it is not known why some of the mummies got these precious prosthetics while others did not. However, the practice is mentioned in the Book of the Dead, the ancient Egyptian text outlining funerary practices. The text explains that placing gold foil on the tongue would ensure the deceased would be able to breathe, eat and speak in the afterlife. The mummies found at Taposiris Magna were not in particularly good shape, but they were buried with some other treasure, including coins depicting the face of Cleopatra, which means they were entombed around 2,000 years ago, during the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. The team that uncovered the 16 burials at Taposiris Magna has been working for years to find the tomb of Cleopatra, the last ruler of the last dynasty of ancient Egypt, which is believed by some to be submerged under the harbor in Alexandria. Now That's Interesting During the mummification process, ancient Egyptian embalmers removed every organ but the heart, which was left so that the gods could weigh it. Appointment 11 March 2021 CBRE announced today that Rachael Rothman, a hotel industry veteran with an extensive background as an equity analyst focused on the hospitality industry, has joined the company as Head of Hotels Research & Data Analytics. Ms. Rothman, based in Richmond, Va., leads CBRE's hotel research, analysis, data collection and forecasting of industry metrics and trends. She also advises CBRE Hotels professionals and clients at the point of sale. Prior to joining CBRE, Ms. Rothman spent nearly three years in the industry as an executive and consultant. That included her work as Chief Financial Officer of Apple Hospitality REIT and, before that, as Head of Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations at Playa Hotels & Resorts. Prior to her corporate roles, she worked for 18 years as an equity analyst following the hospitality industry for Susquehanna International Group, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. Ms. Rothman serves on the board of the Northeast Chapter of the International Luxury Hotel Association. She is a member of the Cornell Hotel Society and of the New York Society of Securities Analysts. She holds the Certified Financial Analyst designation. Ms. Rothman earned her Master of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia, her Master's of Hotel & Restaurant Management from Cornell University and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bates College. PLEASANT GROVE, Utah, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dental Intelligence (DI), a leading dentistry analytics and workflow automation platform, today announced the acquisition of Modento , a comprehensive solution for innovative patient communications and management. The transaction will expand Dental Intelligence's product suite and position the company for continued growth. Modento handles all administrative interaction with patients before, during, and after their appointments, thereby providing a completely automated and touchless patient communication and management experience. Specific features include Two-Way Communication , Reminders & Confirmations , Recall s, Digital Forms and Consents, Virtual Check-In , Voicemail Drops , Treatment & Payment Plans , and Team Chat . Modento's technology will further enhance the powerful insights available through the Dental Intelligence analytics solution. With it, Dental Intelligence will drive forward with one purpose in mind to help practices grow, ensuring that no patient or practice growth opportunity slips through the cracks. "We are thrilled with this acquisition and I couldn't be more excited about what this means, both for our customers and for this incredible industry," said Weston Lunsford, CEO of Dental Intelligence. "Our analytics and online scheduling technologies combined with Modento's patient engagement and communications will help practices provide more and better dentistry to their patients, especially to those who need it the most." The dental industry is changing rapidly, largely thanks to the consolidation of practices into groups and DSO's. According to Mr. Lunsford, Dental Intelligence's analytics and AI platform was built to identify and address the challenges and needs specific to these groups while also providing the same benefits to single practices across the country. "With this acquisition, we believe that our cloud-based tech and unparalleled user experience will ensure that each of our customers' locations are managed consistently and efficiently while maintaining the highest level of compliance," Mr. Lunsford continued. "That, in turn, will drive increased production and EBITDA. It's the final piece of the software puzzle for any practice or DSO." Karol Jasik, CEO of Modento, and the entire team will be joining DI to help execute on the commitment to help dental practices grow. "We are beyond excited to join forces with the DI team as they embody the values that Modento holds dear," said Karol. "These shared values technological innovation, stellar customer service, and the best possible user experience have helped our company get where we are today. Combining forces with DI accelerates our trajectory to deliver the intelligent, intuitive, and robust software product that the dental industry has been waiting for." This is the second acquisition for Dental Intelligence within the last 18 months, with LocalMed Online Scheduling having been acquired in August of 2019. The transaction is supported by Dental Intelligence's shareholders - PSG, a leading growth equity firm partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled service companies, Blue Star Innovation Partners, a growth equity investment firm, and K1 Investment Management, a leading investment firm focusing on high-growth enterprise software companies. Financial terms were not disclosed. About Dental Intelligence Dental Intelligence provides dental practices with cloud-based Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence software that identifies patient care opportunities, team member performance opportunities, and practice performance opportunities. Their technology simultaneously acts on the opportunities through software automations and delivers prescriptive tasks to team members when software automation is not possible. To learn more, please visit http://www.dentalintel.com/. About Modento Modento is an all-in-one, automated, and touchless patient engagement and management solution in the dental industry. It handles all of the administrative patient interaction before the appointment, during the appointment and after the appointment. To learn more, visit https://www.modento.io/ About PSG PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities, and build strong teams. Having backed more than 65 companies and facilitated over 275 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City and London*. To learn more about PSG, visit www.psgequity.com . *Currently, the London team operates via an advisory agreement with Providence Equity LLP. About Blue Star Innovation Partners Blue Star Innovation Partners (Blue Star) is a growth equity investment fund firm led by hand-selected serial entrepreneurs who co-manage and invest alongside the Jones Family. Founded in 2016, Blue Star invests in highly innovative lower-middle market businesses with $10 million to $50 million in annual revenue and the potential for global reach. By providing efficient, direct funding and a unique formula of mentorship, Blue Star helps steer highly creative entrepreneurs and operators towards success. Blue Star focuses on opportunities within the fields of sports, financial services, entertainment, and technology, and operates out of the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters at The Star in Frisco, Texas. For more information, visit www.bluestarinnovationpartners.com. About K1 Investment Management K1 builds category-leading enterprise software companies. As a global investment firm, K1 assists high-growth businesses to achieve successful outcomes, and invests alongside strong management teams that continue to guide their organizations on a day-to-day basis. With over 100 professionals, K1 changes industry landscapes by assisting with operationally-focused growth strategies designed to assist portfolio companies scale efficiently. Since inception of the firm, K1 has partnered with over 140 enterprise software companies including industry leaders such as Apttus, Buildium, Checkmarx, Clarizen, ControlUp, Emburse, FMG Suite, Granicus, Litera Microsystems, Onit, Rave Mobile Safety, RFPIO, Smarsh, WorkForce Software and Zapproved. For more information about K1, please visit k1capital.com or follow us at linkedin.com/company/k1im. SOURCE Dental Intel Related Links http://www.dentalintel.com/ "I think the biggest challenge for all of us, but maybe especially when you're young, is trying to figure out, what are the things that really matter to me." Video Transcript ALAN KRASHESKY: Former President Barack Obama joined Chicago public school students for a conversation on his book, "A Promise Land." In fact, Windy City Live's Val Warner moderated that discussion. One of the students there asked about how do you start down the path toward making a big life decision? FORMER PRES BARACK OBAMA: It starts with values, right? It starts with what's important to you. And I think the biggest challenge for all of us, but maybe especially when you're young is trying to figure out what are the things that really matter to me? ALAN KRASHESKY: And after that discussion, some students spoke with our Leah Hope about their time. EZRA PRUITT: It was definitely intimidating at first, because I was like, whoa. This is someone who has held the highest position in America. And so to sit here and talk to him about democracy was like, is this real? ALAN KRASHESKY: It sure was. What a great day for them. By the way, Chicago Public Schools has this entire discussion on its YouTube page if you want to check it out. JUDY HSU: OK. Monks from the Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist sect, and Myanmar nationals residing in the country, conduct an "ochetuji" march from the Myanmar Embassy here to the office of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Seoul, Friday, calling for the recovery of democracy and peace in the Southeast Asian nation. Ochetuji is the Buddhist act of expressing respect for the Buddha by fully prostrating on the ground. Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo The Korean government has decided to suspend exports of military supplies to Myanmar and to reconsider all development cooperation with Yangon, in protest against the Southeast Asian country's recent coup and the junta's brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, the foreign ministry said, Friday. On Feb. 1, Myanmar's military authorities seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders, and since then, at least 70 civilians have been killed, according to a United Nations human rights investigator. "Despite repeated calls from Korea and the international community, Myanmar's military and police authorities have violently responded to protesters. As a result, we have made this decision," the foreign ministry said in a statement. First of all, the government has put a halt to the exports of important industrial materials, including those that could support the military authorities' violent crackdown on protests. Although there has been no trade of military supplies between the two countries since January 2019, the Korean government is set to disallow it in the future regardless of improvements in the situation there. HARRISBURG, Pa., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency today announces the creation of the Developer Opportunity Fund to help promote the growth and financial capability of Women-owned Business Enterprises, Minority-owned Business Enterprises and community developers that are building affordable housing within Pennsylvania through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. The need for this fund became apparent after observing the various developers that applied for tax credit allocations during the past few years. Currently, small developers often do not have sufficient liquidity or net worth to meet the demands for tax credit investors and are forced to partner with larger developers or other third-party guarantors to meet the liquidity required by tax credit investors. These developers may be required to pledge or forego a substantial amount of their developer fee, which may not allow them to gain the requisite capacity to develop independently. The public will benefit if more diversity is encouraged among affordable housing developers. Women-owned, minority-owned, and community developers bring unique and important perspectives that can benefit the design and construction of multifamily housing developments and help them better serve female and minority residents and communities of color. Additionally, boosting the participation of smaller and newer developers will enhance competition among developers building tax credit multifamily developments and provide a broader diversity of perspectives on tax credit proposals. "We have an opportunity to enhance our Low Income Housing Tax Credit program by encouraging the growth of smaller and newer developers who lack the experience and resources to be able to compete effectively," said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Robin Wiessmann. "These firms are at a disadvantage because of limited experience and a lack of liquidity that hinders their growth. The Developer Opportunity Fund is aimed at helping these firms better compete to add more diversity and broader community representation in the construction of affordable rental housing." PHFA's vision is for this initiative to achieve an initial funding level of $50 million. The expectation is that this would fund approximately ten projects during the first five years of the pilot. PHFA is planning to provide additional funding and it is seeking other sources of financial support. Women and minority developers and community developers seeking to participate in the new Developer Opportunity Fund are encouraged to contact Jordan Laird at (717) 780-3843 or [email protected]. Larger and more established multifamily housing tax credit developers interested in serving as mentors for disadvantaged developers are also invited to contact Laird. Finally, investor-partners are needed to fully fund this program to make it viable and sustainable. About PHFA The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated more than $15.1 billion of funding for more than 181,660 single-family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 138,000 rental units, distributed more than $121 million to support local housing initiatives, and saved the homes of nearly 50,400 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board. Contact: Scott Elliott 717-649-6522 (cell) [email protected] SOURCE Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency Related Links www.phfa.org The allure, and controversy, surrounding princess play is a familiar story. Girls want to be princesses. Parents fret over their daughters wanting to be princesses. Few adults feel as though banning a category of play altogether is the right move. Kids' imaginations need freedom, and kids want to be accepted by their peers. Caring about romance isn't a fatal flaw. The laws of nature are such that a parental taboo ups the appeal of any particular activity by approximately 10,000%. Also, sometimes a frilly dress really is just a frilly dress -- for girls and, increasingly, boys. Still, to let children play princess and watch stories about princesses without any thought of the ways the implicit, and not so implicit, gender and racial narratives might impact them is to do us all a disservice. These are the mass-marketed messages that beauty is paramount, and marriage to a man equals living happily ever after, with which popular culture has managed to seduce generations of women. Beauty, in this case, is often synonymous with whippet-thin Whiteness. Meghan's recent revelation about what life was like for her as the Duchess of Sussex, during which she has dealt with racism, and loneliness and suicidal thoughts, is the latest, and devastating, example of the dark underbelly of princess life. In her interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on CBS March 7, she compared herself to Princess Ariel from Disney's "The Little Mermaid." "I was sitting in Nottingham Cottage and 'The Little Mermaid' came on. And who, as an adult, really watches 'The Little Mermaid' but it came on and I was like, 'Well I'm here all the time, I might as well watch this,' and I went, 'Oh my God, she falls in love with the prince and because of that she loses her voice,'" Meghan explained, realizing that she was suffering a similar fate. While not necessarily cause to pull the plug on all princess play, Meghan's story is a reminder for adults to be thoughtful about how the children in their household perceive princess life. As parents and guardians, we are their castle knights and their esteemed advisers, charged with the tasks of protecting, educating and defending them from some of the more sinister forces at play. We should also help them imagine what happily ever after really looks like for them, and everyone else in the kingdom. Old, and new, questions While questions about how children's play influences their gender identity took off during Second Wave feminism, heightened scrutiny of princess culture is largely a product of the last decade. This was following Disney's push to market all things princess as much as they can. Cultural critics and researchers have taken a closer look at princess play, focusing on the way idealization may negatively affect girls' self-image. Meghan's story injects the element of race, which hasn't been as thoroughly interrogated by mainstream culture. "With Markle, many people saw a Black woman elevated to a status that is so privileged, rarified and glamorous as breaking an ultimate glass ceiling, and that story felt really good and hopeful," said Peggy Orenstein, author of "Cinderella Ate My Daughter" and other books on kids and gender. But the difference between the message sent by her inspiring wedding day and the racism the duchess experienced from the media from the onset of her relationship with Prince Harry and in the palace afterward diminished these hopes. It was a development many are more sensitive to at this cultural moment. "Race and racism are perennially important issues, but the racial reckoning of this moment makes Markle's story particularly salient," Orenstein said. Black families are glad to see more people doing what they have long done: dissecting princess culture through the lens of race. "For many Black girls, princesses are not the typical or most important role model. It just isn't how we see ourselves," said Seanna Leath, assistant professor of psychology at University of Virginia. The very White, very European, monarch fantasy, as interpreted by popular culture, has historically held less appeal "and space for the 'magic' of Black girls." "The Markle interview may have been surprising to folks who are not Black, but a lot of the conversations that I've seen within Black communities is that the monarchy's racism was not surprising." The enduring, and evolving, princess Princess culture is fueled by the almost subconscious and completely natural desire for parents and children to believe their children are special. "'Princess' becomes a shorthand for expressing that our girls are precious, a wish to protect them from pain. We don't want them to know sorrow. We want them to live happily ever after," Orenstein said. The good news is that our ideas of "special" when it comes to princess types have evolved. Recent movies like "Moana" and "Frozen" feature protagonists for whom romantic love is not the main obstacle; their happy endings are, respectively, about heroism and sisterly love. The character Moana even has proportions that are physically possible for a human woman. This is a huge win. "Parents have been becoming increasingly critical of princess cultures for a while now. I don't think princess play is quite the indomitable force that it was," said Rebecca Hains, professor of media and communication at Salem State University in Massachusetts and author of "The Princess Problem." The lock pink tulle has had on the imagination of the American girl is on the wane. Also, there has been some backlash to the anti-princess backlash, as we've begun to reckon with some of the internalized sexism in feminism, particularly how it trickles down to kids. Princesses like clothes, are invested in relationships and value empathy. Me too. Facebook prompts for this article yielded a number of comments in which moms defended princess play -- for their sons. And why shouldn't our boys enjoy a little glamor and, perhaps, romance? Navigating princess play Few of us have the desire, let alone the will, to tell our children: "No more princesses." We don't have to. "From a parent's perspective, if kids love the fun and fantasy of princess play that is great, but it is a parent's role to diversify their interests," Hains said. "Make sure to give them other toys and other movies." Parents should also remember that "kids are never too young to talk about racism and sexism," Hains added, suggesting that parents appeal to their kids' innate sense of fairness. If you tell your kids that some people think other people are not as good because of their gender and race, they can understand that. Also, when appropriate, it can be OK to explain to kids that not all real-life princesses are happy, and talk about why, Hains said. While suicide is too heavy for young princess fans, sadness is a relatable and appropriate topic of discussion. Direct, open-minded conversations with kids can help parents suss out what kind of narratives are fueling this play for them. Is it about beauty? Being rescued by a man? Or something else? "Ask your kids why they want to be a princess. What do princesses do? Why do you like them?" Leath advised. "There is nothing inherently negative about wanting to be princess, but if it is tied to them feeling that they should be something other than who they are, then that is a problem," she said. "If I am having a conversation with my daughter, and she said she only wants to look like Elsa (from "Frozen") and she wants to be blond, it's time to talk." Diversifying role models matters; girls of all races and backgrounds should be exposed to brilliant women of other races and backgrounds. Also, when it comes to parents of color and other minorities, their girls should be exposed to role models who look like them. Adults should have active conversations with kids on the accomplishments -- and challenges -- of women like Vice President Kamala Harris, inaugural poet Amanda Gorman and activist Malala Yousafzai, to name just a few. This isn't likely to happen through osmosis, as popular culture still skews white. Why these conversations matter Seemingly small conversations about princesses can make a big difference at home and, ultimately, the world at large, said Nerissa Holder Hall, a Black mom of twins, and founder of Mirror Mirror Books, which publishes books aimed at helping kids process difficult moments. "Parents should bring awareness and intentionality to the ways they are preparing their children to enter the world," she said. For her, this will include helping her children see Meghan's courage and sense of justice, which she admires. "It starts with self-awareness. What is your place in society? What are your responsibilities given who you are and what space you occupy?" Tiaras can symbolize joy, as they do for Holder Hall's daughter. Tiaras can symbolize oppression, as they did for Meghan and many other princesses, real and imagined. Conversation is what will help our kids understand the difference in their lives, and the world around them. 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. Uber New Zealand says there has been a 1.3x increase in demand for Tauranga journeys since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tauranga residents also appear to be enjoying nightlife more in the city, or at least are using Uber more to get around. The Uber Movement Index focuses on new travel and delivery trends that highlight the impact Covid-19 has had on our behaviours since lockdown became a word were all too familiar with. International travel restrictions has seen Kiwis exploring their own backyard with Tauranga, as well as Queenstown, seeing a significant increase in demand. Residents in some cities across Aotearoa didnt even need to leave their city limits for a good time, says Dom Taylor, general manager of rides, Uber Australia and New Zealand. Local activity from Tauranga and Queenstown showed that these locals were moving around the most during the summer break, when compared to other cities around the country. The data from Uber also suggests that more residents in Tauranga appear to be working from home and then heading out into the evenings for meals or drinks with friends than before Covid-19s impact. The peak time for Uber mobility in Tauranga for December 2020 was between 10-11pm, compared to 2-3pm in April 2020. This pattern of high demand for weekend trips has continued to improve since the Alert Level 3 and 4 lockdowns last year, especially while the holiday season was in full swing from November to January, says Taylor. Some cities seemed to be taking advantage of the nightlife more than others, with Christchurch, Hamilton and Tauranga seeing the most significant shifts in PM peak times. The Index, which shows the changing patterns of demand across mobility and delivery in January 2021, compared to the activity of January and April last year, highlights how New Zealands cities have recovered since the national and regional lockdowns of 2020. From supporting local tourism to new delivery habits that have stuck beyond lockdown, the Index shows how far Aotearoa has come, with a return to normalcy across many aspects of our lives. Despite the impact of the pandemic, its impressive to see how far Kiwis have come. While COVID-19 has affected so many lives and livelihoods in less than a year, as a nation, New Zealand has banded together in support of our communities, says Taylor. The Index is the first report where Uber has released data of this kind, and shows the changing patterns of demand across mobility and delivery in January 2021, compared to January and April of last year. The mobility business has continued to recover as cities reopen and restrictions ease, with New Zealand almost 90 per cent recovered YoY to January 2021. While airport usage across the globe remains depressed, New Zealand has shown significant recovery with 50 per cent of airport trips returning. In the lead up to the anniversary of our nationwide lockdown, its important to recognise the impact these changes have had in helping the country rebuild and reconnect. Ubers Movement Index aims to complement the other industry reports available to our local councils and Government, to help policy leaders make more informed decisions that impact the future of Aotearoa and its economy. BRUSSELS : Washington has told the European Union that it should not expect to receive AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States any time soon, two EU sources said on Thursday, in a new blow to the bloc's supplies. The U.S. message could complicate vaccination plans in the 27-nation EU, which has been grappling since January with delays in deliveries from vaccine makers. "The U.S. told us there was no way it would ship AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU," said a senior official directly involved in EU-U.S. talks. Also Read | Vaccine confidence in India is ticking more boxes now AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year it would cut its supplies in the second quarter by at least half to less than 90 million doses, EU sources told Reuters, after a bigger reduction in the first three months of the year. Later, however, AstraZeneca offered to partly plug the gap with vaccines produced outside Europe, including in the United States. A senior EU diplomat said the European Commission told member states' diplomats at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday that the bloc should not expect any exports from the United States "at this point in time". AstraZeneca declined to comment. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the U.S. government had been clear publicly and privately that it would focus first on ensuring Americans were vaccinated, but direct purchases would be up to countries and companies. It is unclear whether AstraZeneca is producing much vaccine in the United States or if Washington would apply a restrictive measure on trade. AstraZeneca's vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the United States. The vaccine isnt approved in the United States, so of course we cant sell it to other countries yet," said Margaret Cekuta, a former U.S. trade official who is now a principal with the Capitol Counsel lobbying firm. She said exporting a vaccine before it is approval by the Food and Drug Administration could also raise potential liability problems. The U.S. comments came after Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Asked about vaccine talks with the United States, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said on Thursday: "Whatever the legal situation in the United States, we want to work on the ground with the United States to keep the supply chains open." The EU's executive did not reply to specific questions about a possible move on exports from the United States. The U.S. stance could jeopardize AstraZeneca's attempts to bring deliveries closer to its contractual obligation with the EU of 180 million doses in the second quarter. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the U.S. government will first give Americans COVID-19 vaccines, but any surplus would be shared with the world. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines are produced in the United States in a plant near Baltimore run by Catalent, which is listed in the EU supply contract with AstraZeneca as a "back-up supply site" and has been authorized by the EU drugs regulator as a manufacturer of vaccine ingredients. Vaccines were discussed during a call between the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Biden last week, and in a meeting between EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton and White House COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, according to EU statements. New calls were expected this week, one EU official said. INDIA AstraZeneca had also told the EU it could provide extra doses from India, where its vaccines are manufactured by the Serum Institute. The EU drugs regulators are currently reviewing Serum's manufacturing site, Reuters exclusively reported earlier in March. But another EU official said on Thursday the auditing process was "complicated" because the site and the substances used for vaccine production had to be authorised. The United States is also part of the production network for Johnson & Johnson vaccines due to be used in the EU, because under the EU-J&J contract shots made in the Netherlands would need to be bottled in the United States. Several European diplomats said they were concerned about J&J production. J&J plans to begin supplying the EU in April. Reuters exclusively reported on Tuesday that J&J told the EU it was facing supply issues that may complicate plans to deliver 55 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc in the second quarter of the year. In a separate development, health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland said they had suspended the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine shots after reports of the formation of blood clots in some recipients. AstraZeneca on Thursday told Reuters the safety of its vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials and peer-reviewed data had confirmed the vaccine was generally well tolerated. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Scott Morrison has been handed a witness and a broad legal justification for an inquiry into Attorney-General Christian Porter. But the prime minister continues to insist there is no reason under the "rule of law" for Mr Porter to face any further action. The ex-boyfriend of a woman who accused Mr Porter of raping her when they were both teenagers in 1988 said on Friday he had 'relevant discussions' with him over a number of years. James Hooke, who is now senior managing director with Macquarie Group, has offered to appear before an independent inquiry. Mr Porter, who is on mental health leave, has firmly denied the historical rape allegation and does not recall having discussed it with anyone. Mr Hooke said he was concerned for Mr Porter's wellbeing and was devastated by the untimely death of his very dear friend. 'Mine is just one set of recollections, and I am aware of the fallibility of human memory, however unintentional,' he said. Christian Porter, who is on mental health leave, has firmly denied the historical rape allegation and does not recall having discussed it with anyone 'That said, I have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with her over the years from mid-1988 until her death. 'I also have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with Christian Porter from April 1992 in Perth and through the mid-1990s.' Mr Hooke said he made himself known to NSW police last year after the woman's death and understood why they were unable to interview him. 'In relation to any criminal prosecution, Christian Porter was manifestly and appropriately entitled to the presumption of innocence - it is essential to the rule of law,' he said. James Hooke, the ex-boyfriend of the woman who accused Mr Porter of raping her when they were both teenagers in 1988 said on Friday he had 'relevant discussions' with Mr Porter over a number of years 'In relation to any investigation of the important non-criminal aspects of this matter, I support an inquiry, like either that conducted by three retired eminent judges after Justice Lionel Murphy was acquitted of charges or that conducted by Dr Vivienne Thom into allegations about Justice Heydon. 'I am willing to testify under oath at any appropriately convened inquiry.' The NSW Bar Association on Friday moved to clarify the use of the term 'rule of law', saying it applied not only to criminal and civil matters but 'executive inquiries' with 'specific terms of reference setting out the scope of the inquiry'. 'Each of these criminal and civil processes involves the ordinary and lawful use of state authority, and comprises an aspect of the rule of law.' The statement came as NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller told a state estimates hearing the woman made five primary contacts with police via email and phone before she took her own life last year. But the woman never lodged a formal statement of complaint that could be admissible in court. NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller told a state estimates hearing he had a 'high-level discussion' about the matter with deputy commissioner David Hudson Mr Fuller had a 'high-level discussion' about it with deputy commissioner David Hudson. But asked whether he kept politicians including Mr Morrison informed of the matter, Mr Fuller said: 'At no point in time in this matter have I had any communication with any member of government, federally or from a state perspective.' Mr Fuller said it was police custom and practice if a victim withdrew the matter 'then, outside the victim care aspect of it is, the matter is finalised'. 'And that is not (just) for the attorney-general, that is for every matter,' he said. 'Now whether that is right or wrong, they are certainly things that we are looking at the moment with a whole broader range of things around the journey for victims into the justice system, particularly around sexual assault and historic sexual assault matters.' Mr Fuller said the last contact between investigators and the woman involved her saying she no longer wanted to proceed in the matter. He said such a withdrawal was not unusual for victims, and it took enormous courage for people to come forward. The police chief was aware the woman had prepared another document - which he described as a 'diary entry' - and friends had passed it on to the AFP. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 Green River will be the first city in Wyoming to receive a police therapy dog following an approval by the Green River City Council last week. The Council approved a $6,000 grant to purchase Buddy, a black Labrador retriever, who will serve as the departments therapy dog. Tom Jarvie, chief of police for Green River, said the department received several donations for the therapy dog, including a $1,250 from Jason Barrera, a nine-year-old child. The community has really latched onto this program and the department is grateful for the support, Jarvie said in a press release. Buddy... Be My Gang! Get your gang together to celebrate the launch of Angsana Beachfront Residential Suites. You can enjoy a luxury two-night stay in these brand new beachfront private pool suites at special opening rates and enjoy exclusive benefits with your gang. Exclusive package THB 32,000 for 4 persons (THB 4,000 per night/person) includes; A 2-night stay in brand-new Two-Bedroom Pool Suite Daily breakfast 1x In-villa private BBQ dinner 1x Dining on donut boat or camping on the beach 1x Floating breakfast in private pool 1x Afternoon tea set with bubbly 1x In-villa manicure and head & shoulder massage 1x Private morning yoga class 4x Angsana Spa gift set 1x Bath bomb set up Book & Stay from now 31 October 2021 For reservations, http://m.me/AngsanaPhuketBooking Email: reservations-lagunaphuket@angsana.com Phone 076-358500 T&C -Subject to availability and pre-paid bookings. -Kid under 6 years old stays and eats breakfast free when sharing the same room with parents. -This rate is non-refundable and must be consumed within October 2021. The hotel reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions at any time without prior notice By Jun Ji-hye The government will cut the maximum number of migrant workers allowed to share a dormitory room to eight from the current 15 as part of efforts to improve their living conditions. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Thursday that it is planning to revise enforcement ordinances of the Labor Standards Act to amend the regulation. The move comes amid growing criticism of poor accommodation provided to migrant workers by employers, following the death of a Cambodian woman in her 30s in December. She was found dead in a "sandwich panel" structure built inside a vinyl greenhouse that was being used as accommodation to house foreign workers at a farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. Although the initial autopsy results showed the woman may have died of liver disease, the government has been facing mounting calls to take measures to improve basic living standards for foreign workers, considering that the woman died in substandard accommodation when an intense cold spell swept the region with temperatures plunging to nearly minus 20 degrees Celsius. In 2019, the ministry revised the enforcement ordinances to set the maximum number of migrant workers allowed to stay in a dormitory space at 15. The ministry will also work to revise relevant regulations to ban employers from installing accommodation for migrant workers in dangerous places such as mudslide-prone and contaminated areas, or areas with loud noises. Earlier this month, the ministry said it would seek to revise relevant laws on the Employment Permit System (EPS) to allow migrant workers to change their workplace if they are provided with substandard accommodation. Employers found to be providing inappropriate accommodation will also be banned from hiring migrant workers. 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. Digital government will be formed by 2025, representing a transition from e-government. The challenge will be management of change. On March 10, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairman of the National Committee for E-Government, chaired the committees regular meeting, which focused on reviewing the implementation of Resolution No.17 on a number of key tasks and solutions for e-government development in the 2019 - 2020 period, with a vision to 2025. The meeting took place on March 10. Photo: Duc Huy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the UN placed Vietnam at the 86th position among 193 countries in its e-government ranking in 2020, up two places from 2018. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam ranked sixth. He said that with the issuance of Resolution No. 17/NQ-CP, Vietnam for the first time has a master plan on e-government, with the focus placed on building institutions and shared platforms. He said that along with socio-economic successes, the country has seen a bright spot in e-government, especially in 2020. He also pointed out a number of shortcomings in the field, including the incomplete legal environment, and limited ratio of level-4 online public services. In the future, it is necessary to speed up the provision of online public services, and the effective implementation of the national database on population, thus reducing paperwork in administrative processing. According to the Government Office, one of the highlights in the e-government building of Vietnam in the last two years was the inauguration of the National Public Service Portal on December 9, 2019. As of March 8, 2021, more than 2,800 out of total nearly 6,800 public services had been provided through the portal at four administrative levels. The portal received over 116 million visits and more than 468,000 registered accounts. More than 940,000 administrative documents were processed online through the portal, while 67,000 e-payment transactions were made with total amount of 26.7 billion VND. T The portal also received more than 10,000 feedback responses. The portal has helped save more than 8.1 trillion VND (351.53 million USD) each year, along with over 1.2 trillion VND each year in paper and delivery costs. So far, the national reporting information system has been connected to the systems of 14 ministries and agencies as well as 37 localities, helping save about VND 9.9 trillion each year according to the calculation used by of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). According to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), as of 2020, the most important platforms for e-government development of Vietnam had formed and were operating effectively. Meanwhile, a number of databases for e-government have been built, including the insurance database with information on 24 million families joining health insurance and more than 90 million people covered by health insurance, along with database on businesses, finance, education, health care, and the population. As of December 2020, nearly 40 Make in Vietnam platforms built by domestic businesses had been introduced. Notably, after MIC submitted to the Government for approval the National Digital Transformation Strategy, over 50% of ministries, agencies and provinces developed digital transformation plans and schemes. 5 goals, 6 strategies of digital government Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung. Photo: Duc Huy At the meeting, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung announced that in the first or early second quarter of 2021, the Government will approve the strategy on transferring e-Government to a digital government. This is the first time Vietnam has had such a strategy. The targets of e-government will be basically completed in 2021, with the focus on reaching level 4 online public services. Vietnam's digital government will be formed in 2025 and among the world top 50. Government services will be provided automatically 24/7, on-demand and personalized. New public services will be developed in a timely manner based on open data and with the participation of governments, citizens, businesses and experts. The next step is continual evolution to become a smart government. According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, digital government has a mission to lead national digital transformation, so it must go ahead, take the lead and create a development space for the digital economy and digital society. The strategy on developing digital government sets out five objectives: providing high-quality public services to the people; mobilizing the participation of people and businesses; optimal functioning of state agencies based on data and digital technology; solving major issues in socio-economic development, such as health, education, transport; making a breakthrough in national rankings. The strategy also sets out key national tasks: completing the legal environment; developing national digital infrastructure, national digital platforms, national data, and national applications; and ensuring national network safety and security. Closing the meeting, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to hasten the building of the national database on land, which is expected to be launched in July. The PM requested ministries, sectors and localities to use public services provided online, while actively sharing their data to other State agencies, and ensuring system safety. The ministries, sectors and localities should complete the building and launching of strategies, programs and plans in digital transformation for the new period in line with the national digital transformation program, he said, adding that they should maintain online operations similar to what was done during the social distancing period amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Binh Minh TASHKENT -- Uzbek blogger Otabek Sattoriy has pleaded not guilty to all charges at a preliminary hearing in a high-profile extortion and slander case that sparked harsh criticism of Uzbek authorities by domestic and international human rights groups earlier this year. After Sattoriy, investigators, and witnesses gave statements on March 11, the Muzrabot district court in the southern Surxondaryo region set March 17 as the trial's start date. Before entering the courtroom, Sattoriy told journalists that his case was fabricated in a country known for its poor treatment of a free press. Subscribe To RFE/RL's Watchdog Report Watchdog is our curated digest of human rights, media freedom, and democracy developments from RFE/RL's vast broadcast region. In your in-box every Thursday. Subscribe here. "I reject all the charges. The whole case has been fabricated, based on lies. I did not take any money from anyone. Because I have always raised the problems faced by ordinary people, the case has become high-profile," Sattoriy said. The 40-year-old blogger was charged with extortion, slander, and insult, which his supporters and rights defenders have characterized as retaliation by the authorities for his critical reporting. Sattoriy is known to be a harsh critic of the regional governor, Tora Bobolov. In one of his latest posts in his Halq Fikiri (People's Opinion) video blog, Sattoriy openly accused the local government of launching fabricated criminal cases against bloggers and vowed to continue to raise the issue of corruption among officials despite the "crackdown." Since his arrest in late January, Sattoriy has been tried in a separate case and was found guilty of defamation and distributing false information. According to the Prosecutor-General's Office, the blogger was ordered to pay a fine for the offenses. The Prosecutor-General's Office also rejected criticism by human rights organizations, saying that Sattoriys arrest was lawful. Uzbekistan is ranked 156th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Please disable your ad blocker, and refresh the page to view this content. The European Union has slammed Cambodias government for human rights abuses including violence against peaceful protesters, the harassment and intimidation of rights defenders, and the jailing of political opponents on politically motivated charges, urging targeted sanctions against officials. The March 11 statement by the EUs European Parliament in particular condemned the recent trials in absentia of key members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which saw acting party chief Sam Rainsy and eight other senior party leaders sentenced on March 1 to prison terms ranging from 20 to 25 years for attempting to overthrow the government. The sentenced opposition figures had been tried by Cambodias state-controlled judiciary in absentia, as they were not allowed to return to Cambodia to defend themselves in court, the EU said. The European Parliaments statement follows a move by the EU in August 2020 to suspend tariff-free access to its market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for around one-fifth of Cambodias exports, citing rollbacks in Cambodia on democracy and human rights. The suspension is expected to result in a loss of around U.S. $1.1 billion of the countrys annual $5.8 billion in exports to the EU, some 75 percent of which is made up of clothing and textilesa crucial industry in Cambodia that employs one million people. Under Prime Minister Hun Sen, the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) since 2017 has undertaken a series of repressive actions curtailing political participation and electoral rights in the country, moving away from the path towards democracy and creating an authoritarian state, the European Parliament said. Cambodia is now a one-party state with no parliamentary opposition, the EU resolution said, adding that national elections held in Cambodia in 2018 were neither free nor fair and that the CPP should not be considered the legitimate ruling party of Cambodia. Targeted sanctionsincluding travel bans and asset freezesshould now be imposed against key Cambodian politicians and leaders of security forces believed responsible for serious human rights violations, the EU said, and an Asia-Europe Meeting Summit scheduled to be held later this year in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh should not take place in Cambodia unless democracy is restored. 'Yet more interference' Sok Ey San, spokesperson for the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, condemned the European Parliaments resolution on Friday as yet more interference in the Cambodian governments affairs. This is only the EU Parliament, Sok Ey San told RFAs Khmer Service. It does not represent the world, so we should have the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolve this issue. The EU Parliament would be better off thinking about how to help its people during the COVID-19 pandemic than trying to figure things out for Cambodia, he said. Eng Chhai Eangdeputy president of the opposition CNRPsaid however that the European Parliaments resolution has now hurt the image of Hun Sens government on the world stage, adding that he supports the resolutions call for the ruling party and its opposition to engage in talks to promote national reconciliation. Dialogue will never threaten the interests of the nation or its people. There can be no solution without it, he said. Also speaking to RFA, Cambodian political analyst Kim Soknow living in exile in Finlandsaid that this weeks statement by the European Parliament shows that the EU has not abandoned the cause of democracy in Cambodia. The EU still wants breathing space for democracy in Cambodia, Kim Sok said. In a statement Friday, Phil RobertsonDeputy Asia Director for Human Rights Watchcalled the European Parliaments March 11 resolution an absolutely stunning rebuke to Cambodia for its appalling human rights record. In passing this resolution, MEPs showed strong support for a more muscular EU foreign policy to demand Cambodia end these political trials, release imprisoned activists, restore the opposition CNRP party, and stop attacks against civil society groups, human rights defenders and independent media, Robertson said. The European Parliament resolution is a very welcome ray of sunshine that pierces the growing darkness cast over the country by Hun Sens single-party dictatorship. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney. 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 Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The office-warming cocktail party on MinterEllisons floor in a flash new Collins Street skyscraper on Wednesday last week was supposed to be a celebration for the law firms partners a chance to mingle and mark the end of Melbournes long lockdown. But considering what had happened only hours earlier between the firms chief executive Annette Kimmitt and one of its most senior and storied partners, Peter Bartlett, many arrived expecting ugly scenes over the canapes and sparkling wine. Annette Kimmitt was forced to leave her job as Minter Ellison CEO in the fall-out over an email she sent. Credit:Louie Douvis/AFR That morning Kimmitt had fired a broadside against Bartlett on the firms all-staff email channel to more than 2000 people. It was the legal equivalent of a barbecue stopper. Earlier, the media had revealed the lawyer (and long-time defamation adviser to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald) was helping Attorney-General Christian Porter respond to allegations he had raped a 16-year-old girl in 1988 allegations he strongly denies. Kimmitts email was a direct challenge to Bartlett. The acceptance of this matter did not go through the firms due consultation or approval processes. Had it done so, we would have considered the matter through the lens of our Purpose and Values, she wrote. Advertisement The nature of this matter is clearly causing hurt to some of you, and it has certainly triggered hurt for me. I know that for many it may be a tough day, and I want to apologise for the pain you may be experiencing. She followed up with a second, similar missive addressed directly to the firms more than 250 partners, saying, we have a process that we follow when accepting new work. Senior sources at the firm, who do not want to be named, say the email blast caught Bartlett by surprise. But, like a lawyer presenting his defence, he fired back fast, proclaiming his adherence to traditional legal principles the right of a client to counsel and, subtly, the importance of loyalty to the firms clients. Peter Bartlett is a veteran media lawyer and former chairman of the firms board. Credit:Jim Rice With the claims against the [Attorney-General], I would have thought that a majority of our partners would believe that everyone is entitled to a presumption of innocence and legal representation, Bartlett wrote in an email to the firms partners. Ive worked with many corporate, employment and other partners over the years to try and protect their clients from media exposure, some of whom have been accused of harassment and more. I have advised many federal and state ministers, premiers and prime ministers from both parties. These are the leaders of one of the firms largest clients, he added. MinterEllison has contracts worth $93 million with the federal government, and Bartlett is advising the Prime Minister himself. Scott Morrisons office, he wrote, had recently called to thank him for the assistance he had rendered the Attorney-General. Advertisement By the end of this week, the email exchange had cost Kimmitt her job. She is the highest profile scalp so far from the public debate over sexism and sexual assault now engulfing Australian politics. The other person seemingly under most pressure is another woman, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds. Once again, a woman pays the price for speaking up, tweeted the Greens Senate leader, Larissa Waters amid a stream of social media criticism of the firm. But the events at MinterEllison this week highlight another issue too: the tension inside many venerable legal firms between legal tradition and a new emphasis on their social licence to operate. Dozens of lawyers, junior and senior, interviewed this week off the record said this conflict was playing out across legal precincts in Sydney and Melbourne. Credit: To some extent its a generational split between Millennials and the old guard, but it also divides old-style lawyers and newer managerial experts for whom reputation is key. Big firms sell the idea that they are socially responsible to appear attractive to younger staff, while still taking on clients who can pay the bills big tobacco, big pharma and in this case, someone accused of historical rape. A showdown didnt end up happening that night at the cocktail party Bartlett arrived late and Kimmitt never showed. Advertisement Instead, cliques supporting either side continued the fight anonymously in the media as a lobbying campaign ensued among the partners. Annette Kimmitts position immediately came under fire after her all-staff email. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Purpose with a capital P Much has been made in some media reports about the fact that Kimmitt is an accountant rather than a lawyer in charge of the nations most prominent legal firm. This is actually traditional at Minter Ellison. But insiders say Kimmitts most profound impact in the firm was her drive to instil a greater sense that it needed a social licence to operate. This, at its simplest, describes the ongoing commitment a business has to its employees, stakeholders and the wider society beyond its basic legal obligations, and without which it could find itself with a damaged reputation. In high-impact industries such as mining, for example, social licence encompasses how they treat the local environment, their response to climate change or their relationship to Indigenous communities. But, maintaining social licence is a growing focus for businesses everywhere. Advertisement At MinterEllison, particularly under Kimmitts stewardship, this has meant dedicating resources towards pro bono work, outreach to disadvantaged communities, investment in social enterprises and a pledge to (act) ethically and sustainably in all of our business operations. Among lawyers, its a contentious idea. Some say its mostly virtue-signalling a public relations exercise to attract clients and potential high-talent recruits. And its questionable how much influence corporate responsibility mission statements exert when firms are deciding who to represent. Law firms dont really have too many values. Like most businesses, they think about dollar signs and their reputation, which are linked together, said a lawyer who formerly worked at MinterEllison. Media lawyer Peter Bartlett on stand-by as AFP officers raid The Age offices in 2011. Credit:Craig Abraham The decision to stop taking a particular type of client is mostly done because they are so reviled by the public or other clients or government like tobacco companies that keeping them means losing reputation, potentially other business and therefore money. MinterEllisons client list makes it difficult to discern a pattern of what is acceptable. It has included asbestos and coal companies, troubled casino giant Crown Resorts and barrister-turned-police informer Nicola Gobbo. MinterEllison, whose official communications in the past fortnight have been virtually nil, has refused to provide the Purpose and Values policy that Kimmitt cited in her email. Neither she nor Bartlett has responded to requests for an interview, nor has the chairman and partner David OBrien, who moved decisively against Kimmitt on Wednesday. Advertisement TEL AVIV - Italy has signed an agreement with the World Bank to contribute to works linked to the building of a desalination facility in Gaza. The announcement was made by the Consulate General of Italy in Gaza, which noted that "currently there are some of the lowest levels of available drinking water in the world in the Gaza Strip, utterly insufficient to meet the demands of a population of two million people that is increasing steadily". "Italy," Consul General Giuseppe Fedele said, "will contribute in particular to the building of water infrastructure through which the desalinized water from the plant being built will be distributed." "The aim," he added, "is to increase the quantity of drinking water available for families and businesses working in the Gaza Strip, in line with the priorities of the Italian G20 presidency." BEIJING A Communist Party newspaper says China will soon begin trials for two Canadians who were arrested two years ago in apparent retaliation for Canadas detention of a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies. The Global Times said Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor will soon be tried" after they were charged with crimes undermining Chinas national security in June 2020. Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Spavor, an entrepreneur, were arrested in December 2018, days after Meng Wanzhou was detained at Vancouver airport. The U.S. wants her extradited to face fraud charges. China has revealed few details of the charges against the two, and Canadian diplomats allowed occasional visits have said little other than to call for them to be released. The Global Times said Kovrig was accused of having used an ordinary passport and business visa to enter China to steal sensitive information and intelligence through contacts in China since 2017, while Spavor was accused of being a key source of intelligence for Kovrig. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said he had no additional details, but that China had fully protected all the legal rights of the people concerned," including allowing Canadian diplomats to visit the two. In Canada, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Christelle Chartrand said it was not aware of any set timeframe for the trials. The Canadian government remains deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig since December 2018 and continues to call for their immediate release," she said in a statement. To date, Global Affairs Canada has not been notified of court hearings for Mr. Kovrig or Mr. Spavor. Meng, who remains free on bail in Vancouver, is also the daughter of the founder of Huawei, which China's government has promoted around the world as one of its national champions. Her arrest enraged Beijing, which sees the U.S. case as a political move designed to prevent Chinas rise, and it sent China-Canada relations into a tailspin. Story continues China has also retaliated by placing restrictions on various Canadian exports to China, including canola oil seed, and handed death sentences to four Canadians convicted of drug smuggling. Beijing has repeatedly demanded Meng's immediate, unconditional release as her case winds its way through the Canadian legal system. The Communist Party newspaper's report late Thursday gave no details of the timing or location of the proceedings again Kovrig and Spavor and cited a source close to the matter whom it did not further identify. Hearings have been delayed because of COVID-19 prevention measures but the court will push forward the trial soon," the newspaper said. The Associated Press A former chemistry teacher at a high school in Chicago has been convicted of pouring liquid nitrogen on a student and injuring him during a science demonstration in 2018, AP reported. Garry Brodersen, was on Tuesday, found guilty by a DuPage County jury of one count of endangering the health or life of a child following a two-day trial. That charge and the reckless conduct charge are both misdemeanors. DuPage County Brodersen was performing a science demonstration in front of a class at Bartlett High School in May 2018 when he poured liquid nitrogen on a male student's chest and groin area, prosecutors said. It had resulted in the student suffering burn injuries to a finger and his groin. Mr. Brodersen displayed extremely poor judgment when he doused a student with a dangerous chemical during a science demonstration, DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlinsaid said in a written statement. Also read: Class 3 Girl In Haryana Brutally Caned By Teacher. Her Fault, She Couldn't Solve A Maths Sum Representational Image/Twitter It was reported that the student had volunteered to take part in the science demonstration, but was of the understanding that the liquid nitrogen would be poured over his chest area, not on his groin area, the states attorneys office said. The student has since fully recovered, it has been said. The student was lying on his back in a classroom when Brodersen poured the liquid nitrogen onto his chest, then a larger amount onto his groin, the Daily Herald reported. Also read: Nagpur Tuition Teacher Caught Red-Handed, Stealing Jewellery From Student's House Google Brodersen resigned from his position and voluntarily surrendered his teaching certificate in June 2018, as per the report. The district board approved a resignation agreement with Brodersen in July 2018. Brodersen is expected in court again on March 18 for post-trial motions or sentencing. Also read: Darjeeling Woman Gets Her School Teacher Arrested Who Had Molested Her 23 Years Ago Trumps PAC Raised Over $3 Million in 24 Hours Following CPAC Speech Former President Donald Trumps political action committee received more than $3 million in donations in the 24 hours following his comeback speech at CPAC in Florida, Jason Miller, a Trump adviser, told The Epoch Times on March 11. The Save America political action committee (PAC) had $80 million on hand as of March, Miller told Steve Bannons War Room on March 10. The amount suggests that the PAC has hauled in $50 million so far this year. The total suggests the PAC could be on par or outpacing the Republican National Committee (RNC), which reported having raised $16 million in January. Trumps populist appeal revived GOP fundraising since he entered the political arena, especially in terms of contributions from small donors. The former president capitalized on this point earlier this month in a spat with the RNC and its chamber affiliates. Trump called on the committees to stop using his name and likeness to raise funds. According to Miller, the dispute has now been resolved with both sides vowing to cooperate to beat the Democrats in 2022. The peace deal is contingent on the RNC, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) not attacking any of the Trump-endorsed candidates running against the Republican incumbents who backed the presidents impeachment, according to Miller. During the so-called comeback speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando on Feb. 28, Trump called on supporters to donate to his campaign website and the Save America PAC. Theres only one way to contribute to our efforts, to elect America first Republican conservatives, and in turn to make America great again, and thats through Save America PAC, and DonaldJTrump.com. So go out there and do whatever you can because were going to help a lot of great people. We know the right people to help. We need your help to win, and to fight Big Tech and the radical left and the D.C. establishment, Trump said. Miller told Bannon on March 10 that Trumps team has gotten to the granular level of analyzing 2022 races and candidates. Prospects for Trumps endorsement are being vetted to make sure they align with Trumps America First agenda. The presidents son, Donald Trump Jr., is heavily involved in the process. Trump has made a total of 11 formal endorsements since leaving office, including one for a former aide running against one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach the president. Correction: this article has been edited to reflect the correct timeframe for when the $3 million was raised. US Vice President on Thursday spoke over phone with Director General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during which they discussed the need for reforms within the to maximize its effectiveness for the future. "l spoke with Director General Dr Okonjo-Iweala. We agreed to advancing trade for recovery and equitable economic growth. We discussed human rights, investing in the environment, health, and technology to spur development and prosperity for the American people," Harris said in a tweet. During the call, Harris congratulated the director general and offered her strong support as the global community works toward recovery from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They committed to work together to address the economic and health consequences of COVID-19 and climate change, and to prioritize resilience in the global supply chain. "The Vice President and the director general agreed on the importance of using trade to promote equity and economic growth. They discussed how improved living standards, labour rights, human rights, and the well-being of working families must be at the center of our shared priorities to use trade as a lever to lift communities out of poverty," the White House said in a readout of the call. "They also discussed the need for reforms within the World Trade Organization to maximize its effectiveness for the future. The vice president highlighted the priority of the United States to invest in health and technology as engines for growth and to advance sustainable development," the White House said. Harris and Okonjo-Iweala committed to work closely together to accelerate momentum in the global economy for the benefit of all. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Keep the Jewish in Jewish Light content The St. Louis Jewish Light was ostensibly created as a platform through which readers could raise and discuss Jewish issues. In recent years some regular columnists writings loosely follow this purpose under the genus of tikkun olam. However, no matter how you stretch the guidelines, theres nothing the least bit Jewish about Mike Shannons departure and his replacements arrival (Which current Cardinals could replace Mike Shannon on the radio some day? published online Feb. 16). If this understanding is off base, please advise. Ive written an article about strategic play in backgammon Id like to submit. Andrew Rochman Clayton Readers respond to recent Marty Rochester column In his Feb. 24 column (True friendship can withstand, heal political divide), J. Martin Rochester states that the Democrats were as responsible for divisiveness as Republicans over the past four years, including questioning the legitimacy of a president-elect. Really? The Republicans filed 60 lawsuits questioning the legitimacy of Bidens election and when they all failed for lack of evidence, a mob of 800 Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn the election by insurrection. What is the Democrat equivalent of that? Trying to make an equivalency is laughable and it insults the readers intelligence. ADVERTISEMENT Alan Rudolph Creve Coeur As I first read Marty Rochesters commentary in the Feb. 24 Jewish Light, I was delighted to read that he values friendship and hopes others do as well. This was his overt message. However, as I continued reading, I realized that covertly he had a totally different message and intent. What does he mean exactly by Trump Derangement Syndrome? Liberals suffer from this? I think not. Then he admonishes the Biden administration and progressives on issues like climate control and immigration reform, both of which we need not only for our country but for the planet. He claims he wants unity, but it does not sound like he really does as I read on. Is he really being authentic or rather patronizing his Baltimore and college friends? Writing about the Democratic Partys leftist policies and the disappointment of centrists is a rather arrogant position to take, dont you think? As a liberal Democrat, I welcome the possibilities that the Biden/Harris administration offers us. Additionally, I was also surprised that he failed to mention anything about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. There is so much more to say, but honestly, I think Rochester needs to rethink what he wrote and admit what his true agenda is. Barb Citerman Central West End Thank you for running Marty Rochesters vapid opinion piece in your Feb. 24 issue on the same page with Eric Minks touching, well-crafted words. If ever there was a contrast of cogent columnists, the opinions page presented a perfect example. Rochesters headline speaks of healing a political divide. Truly, if your definition is a divide between authoritarianism/fascism and democracy. Rochesters ramblings offer an insight into the mindset of the reactionary right (which some of us regard as the reactionary wrong). I do not know Marty Rochester. I do know Eric Mink, a friend with whom I walked to school decades ago. Eric Mink is a mensch as well as a gifted writer. Marty Rochester is no Eric Mink. Too bad for Marty Rochester and your readers. Elliott Harris Portage, Mich Olivette To submit letters to the editor, email [email protected] or use our online form at stljewishlight.com/letters. Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said on Friday there is no danger his Grand Slam-chasing side will take perennial Six Nations strugglers Italy lightly in Rome this weekend. Many pundits regard Saturday's match in Rome as a foregone conclusion given Italy are on a run of 30 successive defeats in the competition dating back to 2015. Jones' men have won their past 15 games against the Azzurri and another victory would leave them just 80 minutes away from a potential Grand Slam ahead of their trip to France next weekend. Wales have already seen off Ireland, Scotland and champions England. "Historically, Italy get better throughout the competition," Jones said. "We've seen how dangerous they can be in their nine-10 axis, their forwards have troubled some teams, and it is very easy to slip when potentially everyone outside is saying what you can and could do. "So we have guarded upon that and are focusing on those things that are very clear and prominent in the improvements the Italian side have shown." Wales won just three games in 2021 as new head coach Wayne Pivac endured a rocky start to his time in charge after succeeding Warren Gatland, a fellow New Zealander. But Pivac said his focus during the Autumn Nations Cup in particular was on developing new talent ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, with Louis Rees-Zammit, Callum Sheedy and James Botham brought into the Test set-up. And veteran lock Jones, the world's most-capped international, believes the former Scarlets boss's policy is now paying dividends. "The mission statement from Wayne in the autumn was that people would get opportunities," said the 35-year-old, who has amassed a total of 155 caps representing both Wales and the British and Irish Lions. "You look at Callum Sheedy, James Botham, these guys who have had an opportunity and are fixtures in the squad. "These guys come in wanting to prove a point, and when they do that it brings everyone along. Those new faces can do that, and we are fortunate they have." jdg/jw/iwd The past year has been a challenging one for us all, particularly those of us with families to look after. So, whether you're hoping to make your home life a bit easier, plan some post-lockdown fun or help young minds grow (or win some amazing goodies!), here are 10 top tips for families. Make your family days out memorable We're all dreaming of the day when lockdown finally ends and after a year of home-schooling, parents will be biting at the bit to get outdoors and make worthwhile memories with their children once again. Make sure you all have something to look forward to with Red Letter Days. Since 1989, Red Letter Days has earnt a reputation as the go-to gift experience company, offering a range of amazing activities in the UK that give families unrivalled choice with something to suit every taste, occasion and budget. From days out at iconic English Heritage sites such as Hadrian's Wall and Whitby Abbey, once-in-a-lifetime experiences at Diggerworld and London Zoo, and fantastic staycations in treehouses and glamping camps, the list of activities is endless all you need to do is choose one! Red Letter Days Experience Vouchers are valid for 20 months and Experience Gift Boxes are valid for two years, so you can get planning your post-lockdown treat now and be safe in the knowledge that there is flexibility should circumstances change. The Info: Click here to find out more. Get your kids cycling for less One of the most exciting milestones in a child's life is learning to ride a bike. As a parent, you want to equip your children with the best and safest bicycle you can so they can have fun and keep fit. However, with little ones growing so fast, it can be expensive having to change bicycles every couple of years - particularly if you have more than one child! Enter the Bike Club. This monthly kids bike subscription service gives families access to the best lightweight premium bikes from brands such as Frog, Forme and Strider. What's more, they can all be easily exchanged as your little, or big one, grows in age, size and sense of adventure. All this for as little as 3.50 a month. Members also have the option to choose between a new bike or a pre-loved bike, giving you the option to save even more money. Don't think opting for pre-loved means compromising on safety, though. These bikes are ones returned by children who have outgrown the bicycle. The Bike Club's team of trained bike mechanics then give them a thorough safety check so they're as good - and safe - as new for the next family. All bikes are ordered via the Bike Clubs simple to use website and then conveniently delivered to your doorstep. The Info: Click here to find out more and save 50% on your first month. Make meal time a doddle with doddl! Dinner time with a toddler is always an interesting experience, particularly when it comes to teaching them to feed themselves independently. Cooking scrummy meals and making dining fun all help to get your little one to learn, but having the right tools to achieve this is essential and that's where doddl comes in. This award-winning kids' cutlery range is helping parents everywhere teach their little ones to eat. doddl's ergonomically designed cutlery has short, contoured handles, making them easier to hold and control with colourful soft touch areas that encourage pincer grip development a key motor skill. The doddl knife is also safe to use even for the most excitable of tots, thanks to its clever blade design which allows young children to chop all food without cutting skin. doddl cutlery also encourages the correct finger placement, making it easy to transition to adult cutlery as and when your child is ready. doddl offers cutlery suitable for babies six months and up as well as children aged between one and five years of age in a range of fun colours. All doddl cutlery is BPA-free and dishwasher safe The Info: Click here to find out more. Protect your little ones from short-sightedness Did you know that by 2050, half of the population will be short sighted? The culprit is technology. Smartphones and tablets have become an integral part of our lives and now, even tiny tots learn and play with the help of a device. However, children often have screens too close to their eyes, which can increase the chances of them developing myopia, AKA, short-sightedness. Luckily, there's an app that can help parents look after their childrens' eyes and it's called Oyako. Created by opticians, Oyako is designed to empower families to work together to reduce the risks children are placing on their eyes by holding their phones too close. Oyako monitors the user's distances and issues appropriate, child-friendly warnings. Parents are also able to create their own messages of encouragement to alter the way that their child is using their phone, so you can care for your childs eyes remotely and safely. The Info: Click here to register. WIN! Premium natural skincare worth 160! We're spoilt for choice when it comes to beauty and skincare, with lotions and potions available for anything we could wish for. But how much of it is naturally sourced or made with sustainable packaging? Sens8ate Skincare can tick both of those boxes. Their range of nourishing creams, scrubs and serums are all vegan-friendly as well as being 100% cruelty, paraben and sulphate-free. And that's not all. Their unique birchwood packaging not only looks great, but it's sustainable. Along with their glass bottles and bamboo lids, the Sens8ate Skincare collection is 99% plastic-free, making it the ultimate green choice for beauty. They boast a diverse range of products so you can find the combination perfect for maintaining your gorgeous skin, so being naturally beautiful has never been easier. You could try Sens8ate Skincare's natural beauty range for FREE with our exclusive competition, where you could win the complete Hydrate and Glow Vitamin A C E set worth 160. This includes Nourishing Cleanser (2-in-1 antioxidant purifying cleanser with vitamin C, calendula, squalane and spirulina); Radiance Facial Scrub (exfoliating cleansing scrub with aloe vera extract, salicylic acid, watermelon seed oil and pumice); Glow Serum (natural serum with hyaluronic acid and marine collagen); and Skin Bliss Moisturiser (daily moisturiser with vitamins ACE, hyaluronic acid, argan oil and buriti oils). The Info: Click here to find out more and use discount code TAKE10 to get 10% off. PLUS, click here for your chance to win 160 worth of Sens8ate Skincare! Penny for your thoughts? What we've all found ourselves with as of late is a significant amount of free time. But if you've exhausted the trend for making sourdough or read all of your books, there's another hobby you can do that has the added perk of making you some money. With more than 2 million panellists worldwide, Surveyeah is one of the biggest panel providers for consumer insights on the internet, helping people earn money for sharing their opinions. Surveyeah offers to its panellists the chance to complete online surveys in exchange for points, which can be converted into fantastic prizes such as Amazon gift vouchers, or credits for Paypal, Moneygram, Western Union and Skrill. Panellists can also donate their prize to charity to plant trees. As a panellist, you will complete surveys which help companies to learn what products and services are most likely to please their customers. Your input can also help business become more environmentally friendly in their practices, meaning you not only make money but contribute to worthwhile causes, too. Surveyeah is free, GDPR compliant and is available in many languages. The Info: Click here to find out more. Take the stress out of divorce No one plans to get divorced and for the families involved, formally separating can be an extremely stressful time. It can also drag; the average divorce in the UK takes over 53 weeks - and let's not get into the costs. Luckily, it can be more straightforward thanks to Easy Online Divorce. Easy Online Divorce is the UKs best affordable divorce solution, making the separation process faster, less stressful and cheaper, so you can move onto the next stage of your life sooner. They offer a fixed transparent price of only 169 to manage the entire divorce process for you, and their experienced team will proactively follow up on all legal matters for you so you don't have to, saving you stress and time. In fact, you nor your spouse need to face a judge or attend court at all, meaning that you dont have to take time off work or organise childcare. This way, the complexities are left to the experts so you and your family have more time and energy to concentrate on one another during this difficult time. The Info: Click here to find out more and book your free consultation. Confidence in your choice of CBD products For years people have claimed that CBD products have a variety of health benefits. However, media reports have shown that many CBD products do not contain the advertised level of CBD. How can you be sure of what you are purchasing? It's important that if you decide to try CBD products for you or your family, you're not only fully clued up on what it is, but that you are getting the right levels of CBD, as advertised. Anecdotal evidence suggests that CBD might be effective in helping you to fall asleep and to deal with everyday stresses and strains. A reputable CBD brand cant make medical claims about their brand unless you've been given the product on prescription. CBD oil is the non-psychotropic element of the hemp plant - unlike THC, which is the part that causes people to get high'. By using various concentrations of CBD oil users believe to have experienced all kinds of health benefits. To make sure you're getting the correct concentration of CBD, the Cambis CBD Trust Mark has been launched to enable you to make more informed and confident CBD purchases. Based on the instantly recognisable traffic light system seen on food packaging, Cambis tests CBD products so you can confirm, at a glance, whether your chosen product contains the advertised amount of CBD and has a clear and valid Best Before date. The Canni Family are the first UK company to be awarded a 'Green' Cambis CBD Trust Mark, so if you're looking to try CBD oil for the first time, they're a company you can depend on. The Info: Click here to find out more about the Cambis CBD Trust Mark and use discount code DM20 for 20% off The Canni Family CBD products. Boost your Wi-Fi signal in a flash One of the most frustrating parts of modern life is finding that so-called wireless technology can be blocked by walls and ceilings, causing us to lose Wi-Fi signal when we need it most. While many of us have been working from home, this issue has become all the more pressing - but it can be so easily resolved with devolo. The devolo Mesh WiFi 2 is a nifty Wi-Fi booster that uses your homes powerlines to transmit data and boost your signal. A Mesh WiFi hotspot can be created at any power socket, making sure that pesky walls and ceilings wont slow down the speed, allowing you to surf and stream without interruption. You can have as many devolo Mesh WiFi 2 adapters as you need, so no room in your home need go without Wi-Fi regardless of how big your property is. This clever bit of tech also supports up to 100 end devices with the max capacity of your Wi-Fi, so speed isn't compromised. If you're planning on working from home for the foreseeable future but have struggled with poor Wi-Fi signal to date, this could be a gamechanger for you. The Info: Click here to find out more or buy from Amazon today. Stay safe with a spritz No one leaves the house these days without a mask and a bottle of sanitiser to hand. But don't settle for boring run-of-the-mill hand gel when you can enjoy amazing scents and cool colours with So Handi. So Handi is transforming hand sanitiser and taking clean hands to the next level. The compact bottles are designed for easy eco-refills and there are eight different spritz scents to choose from, so you can stay safe while being sustainable and smell great too! There are also 11 gel scent-sational varieties you can picknmix as well. Each So Handi Spritz bottle comes with a choice of coloured case so you can keep your So Handi Spritz in tip top condition. Plus, it's not just good for hands. Thanks to its spritz bottle design, So Handi is ideal for use on all kinds of things you might encounter while you're out and about, including shopping basket handles and face masks, so you can protect yourself with feel-good fragrance. So Handi Spritz sanitiser is made with 75%+ alcohol which kills 99.99% of germs ensuring your hands are clean of bacteria and viruses. The Info: Click here to find out more and claim your free Spritz case worth 2.99. If you've enjoyed reading this article and are interested in more inspiration in everything from food and drink, health and wellbeing to family life, why not follow Checklist on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ChecklistSocial, or sign up to the newsletter. In the 100 years since its formation, Northern Ireland and its people have enriched our Union beyond measure. I am proud of the contribution which Northern Ireland makes to the United Kingdom. The UK Government promised in the New Decade New Approach Agreement that we would mark this key moment in our shared history with a wide programme of events. The inclusive Centenary programme announced today reflects on Northern Ireland's past and looks to its bright future, offering an exceptional opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland's many strengths to the world. The programme is designed to benefit all parts of the community. I congratulate the many community projects from across Northern Ireland who have today been successful in benefiting from the 1m Shared History Fund, delivered in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund. These groups will make a positive difference to their communities as they explore the rich tapestry which has contributed to shaping Northern Ireland as we know it today. Northern Ireland has a leading place in the global digital economy. This region has become a global cyber security hub; is home to a wealth of innovative startups in fintech, artificial intelligence and much more; and Belfast is widely recognised as one of the best cities to work in technology in the UK. This world-leading innovation will be highlighted through events including the Northern Ireland 2021 Business Showcase. This will provide a platform for companies to promote their expertise on the international stage, reflecting the UK Government's determination to build back better by boosting exports and investment. Young people are the future of Northern Ireland. I want to ensure that the voices of those who will shape this country's future are encouraged, supported and heard. 'Our Future Northern Ireland,' in partnership with Youth Action Northern Ireland, is one of a number of initiatives designed to provide a positive outlet via live performance, radio and social media to encourage the independent thinking of our young people and help them achieve their hopes and ambitions for the future. It is young people who will inherit the impact of steps we take today to protect and nurture our fragile environment. This Government is committed to environmental sustainability and to building back in a way which protects our planet and climate. As we continue to work towards the 26th Climate Change Summit in Glasgow later this year, every single school in Northern Ireland will be given a native commemorative tree to act as a lasting reminder of the importance of our environment and this historic year for Northern Ireland. In addition to their huge successes in the fields of technology and business, the talent, creativity and spirit of the people of Northern Ireland is renowned across the world, which is why I believe that the 'Born in Northern Ireland' cultural programme celebrating these achievements is so important. From artistic endeavours to protecting their communities on the Covid frontline, the story of local people's determination and heroism deserves to be told and will feature as part of our 'Our Story in the Making: NI Beyond 100' campaign. I hope that these initiatives, along with many others such as an international church service, academic events and marking the one 100th anniversary of the opening of the Parliament under George V, will provide a fitting, balanced and inclusive means of marking this centenary year. This Centenary programme will leave an enduring and positive legacy. The people of Northern Ireland deserve nothing less. Brandon Lewis MP is Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Bay of Plenty We are on the hunt for drivers with either Class 2, 4, or 5 licenses. We are working with a variety of clients with different... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Nacogdoches, TX (75965) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Position Objective: Contributes to the provision of high-quality, cost-effective healthcare as a provider of direct and indirect patient care and by effective of the health care team. Functions as a competent member of the health care team. Essentional Job Duties: Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 1. Clinical Decision Making/Judgment Demonstrates clinical nursing knowledge and skill in the specialization of the unit. Demonstrates the ability to apply the nursing process effectively in the care of culturally diverse patients and families. Demonstrates the ability to utilize all applicable laws, policies, standards, guidelines and evidence-based practice in the provision of patient/family care. Organizes and reprioritizes patient care activities based on subtle and overt and/or environmental changes. Consistently and thoroughly assesses patients to collect data and identify learning needs according to established standards and policies. Utilizes a systematic, continuous and complete analysis of assessment data to develop individualized problem lists for assigned patients. Develops and individualizes a plan of care for each patient in accordance with established standards, appropriate prioritization of problems/needs, and mutually agreed upon goals. Efficiently implements the patient's plan of care in accordance with applicable standards, policies, procedures and guidelines. Demonstrates proficiency in medication administration, pain management and other unit or initiative specific skills. Continuously evaluates the effectiveness of the plan(s) of care, making revisions and recommendations based on analysis of patient responses to interventions. 2. Nurse-Patient Family Relationships Demonstrates the ability to assess the patient's/family's learning needs, readiness to learn, learning style, and presence of barriers to learning. Demonstrates the ability to develop, implement and evaluate teaching plans for patient populations in unit specialty in accordance with applicable standards. Demonstrates the ability to apply knowledge of growth and development across the life span to the care of patients. Provides direct patient care to patients and families in a culturally, developmentally and ethically appropriate manner. Plans of care address the physical, psychosocial, spiritual and learning needs of the patient/family. 3. Clinical Scholarship Participates in QI, CPI and risk management activities at the unit, department or organizational level. Demonstrates the ability to effectively perform and improve all processes in order to achieve excellence with regard to AAMC's quality standards and benchmarks. Supports the use of evidence based guidelines and organizational policies and procedures to promote safe patient care and a safe practice environment. 4. Clinical Leadership Participates in unit shared governance according to departmental standards. Participates in the education and orientation of new staff. Delegates patient care activities as appropriate; evaluates delegated activities for expected patient care outcomes. Employs real time computer documentation when completing patient record. Educational/Experience Requirements: Graduate of an accredited school of nursing Adherence to the credentialing requirements of AAMC as stated in the nursing bylaws. Required License/Certifications: Current licensure as a registered nurse by the Maryland Board of Nursing. BLS - American Heart Association Healthcare Provider certification Working Conditions, Equipment, Physical Demands: There is a reasonable expectation that employees in this position will be exposed to blood-borne pathogens. Physical Demands - Medium work. Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 30 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects. The physical demands and work environment that have been described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The above job description is an overview of the functions and requirements for this position. This document is not intended to be an exhaustive list encompassing every duty and requirement of this position; your supervisor may assign other duties as deemed necessary. Williamstown Police Department Investigating Unauthorized Use of RMV Database WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Acting Police Chief Michael Ziemba is investigating an unauthorized use of the commonwealth's Criminal Justice Information System by members of the Williamstown Police Department. In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, Ziemba said that "a few officers of the Williamstown Police Department searched names of individuals in Registry of Motor Vehicle records accessed through the Criminal Justice Information System database without a criminal justice purpose as required by Massachusetts law and Department of Criminal Justice Information Services regulations." Ziemba said that disciplinary actions have been taken and that all of the personnel involved are undergoing retraining in the rules for accessing the CJIS. "In addition, security and logging controls to the CJIS system have been tightened, and logs of all searches are being regularly reviewed by myself," Ziemba said. Ziemba said that no evidence has been discovered of improper access to the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system, and no dissemination of the CJIS information has been discovered. In response to a request for clarification on Friday afternoon, Ziemba said that there are several internal policies that cover the use of the CJIS, which is accessible by officers and dispatchers who are certified users. The investigation into the unauthorized searches is continuing. When it is complete, Ziemba said he will notify by letter everyone whose name was searched. He called completing the investigation and notifying the public "a top priority." Ziemba said he has been in contact with about half the people whose names were subject of the searches. "I understand and share their frustration, and I have welcomed the opportunity to hear their fears and concerns," Ziemba said. "I thank them for speaking with me directly. I reiterate my commitment to transparency in sharing with the public what details can be shared while the investigation remains ongoing, and I also reiterate the commitment of the entire department to the safety and well-being of all people in Williamstown." Shares of hit a new high of Rs 5,526.25, up 3 per cent, on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday after its parent company group posted a record profit for the calendar year 2020 (CY20), primarily driven by the global e-commerce boom, which led to considerably higher shipment volumes in the parcel and express business. The companys 2020 operating profit was at 4.8 billion, up 17.4 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. The stock of South Asias premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution company was trading higher for the fifth straight day, having surged 19 per cent during the period. At 02:23 pm, the stock was up 2.3 per cent at Rs 5,582 as compared to a 1.4 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. For the financial year 2021, the Group anticipates a further significant increase in earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) to more than EUR 5.6 billion. This guidance is based on the assumption that e-commerce will continue to grow in the current year from a structurally higher starting point, while growth rates should normalise in the course of the year. "World trade is also likely to recover further during 2021, leading to increased volumes in our global logistics activities. At the same time, intercontinental transport capacities are expected to remain limited due to the slow recovery of belly space cargo capacities in passenger aircraft," said in a press release. Meanwhile, in the October-December 2020 quarter (Q3FY21), had posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 93.78 crore as against a Rs 33.08 crore net loss during the same quarter last fiscal. The revenue from operations grew 21 per cent YoY to Rs 1,035 crore. "The stellar performance for the quarter was backed by right yield management and aggressive cost efficiencies delivered through high service delivery by passionate and pandemic warriors frontline Blue Darters. The sectors such as e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics etc. saw rapid scaling owing to a shift in consumer buying behaviour & consumption patterns," it said. Residents of Ballina, Co. Mayo, Ireland, begin celebrations in the ancestral home of Joe Biden (PA) The Taoiseach has been called on to seek additional vaccines from the US when he speaks to President Joe Biden next week. Micheal Martin is to hold a virtual meeting with the president next week to mark the annual St Patricks Day celebrations. It comes as news emerged that the US is sitting on upwards of 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which cannot be used there as they are still awaiting the results of clinical trials. Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher has written to both the Taoiseach and President Biden urging them to consider the issue. Have written to An Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD requesting that he raises the issue of purchasing unused AstraZeneca vaccines from the US when he meets @JoeBiden next week. There are upwards of 50 million doses sitting in facilities in Ohio & Maryland.#Covid19 pic.twitter.com/4QlaarudYJ Billy Kelleher MEP (@BillyKelleherEU) March 12, 2021 He said: These vaccines all have a limited shelf life, and with the FDA having not authorised AstraZenecas use in the US, they need to be used somewhere and soon. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed or ignored. Its too important not to at least try. The Irish Government shouldnt be shy about asking one of our oldest allies and a US president who is incredibly proud of his Irish heritage that when a decision is made to share them with the world, that Ireland is top of the list. Just one million doses would be transformative for the vaccine programme in Ireland, and it needs to be on the agenda next week. The New York Times reported on Friday that 30 million vaccine doses are currently bottled at AstraZenecas facility in West Chester, Ohio. Tens of millions more are ready to be bottled into vials at a factory in Baltimore, Maryland. However, the paper reports that the White House has not yet decided what to do with the doses, with officials split on whether to send them abroad or keep them in the US. Writing to President Biden, Mr Kelleher said: There is a global need to vaccinate people everywhere as quickly as possible. While I respect your right to protect the wellbeing of your citizens above others, I believe the United States, with its massive industrial capacity, can afford to share a proportion of these stockpiled vaccines with other countries such as Ireland. I would urge you to consider any request from An Taoiseach, or indeed the European Union, to relax the export bans currently in operation in the United States and allow us to make use of these precious vaccines. No one can or should ever fault Ireland's Taoiseach from doing whatever he or she can to protect the lives of our citizens. Billy Kelleher, MEP Writing to the Taoiseach, Mr Kelleher said there may be upwards of 50 million doses in refrigeration throughout the US. He added: Irelands special and deep relationship with the United States and President Bidens love of our country and his own Irish-American heritage lends itself well to a successful agreement being concluded. Ireland must use its position as the natural cultural and diplomatic bridge between the United States and the EU for the benefit of all. Taoiseach, I have no doubt that this is already on your agenda, and I know that you and the Government are actively seeking new ways of increasing Irelands supply of Covid-19 vaccines. No one can or should ever fault Irelands Taoiseach from doing whatever he or she can to protect the lives of our citizens. Syringes and a vial of the vaccine against COVID-19 developed by AstraZeneca are displayed after the cancelation and postponement of the vaccination program for the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers due to reports of side effects, at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province, Thailand, March 12, 2021. EPA Thailand abruptly delayed its rollout of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, stopping Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha from getting the first jab as several European nations suspended their programmes over blood clot fears. The kingdom was scheduled to start administering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, with Prayut expected to be filmed receiving the first injection. But by 8:30 am (0130 GMT) the gruff former general was nowhere to be seen, the event was abruptly cancelled, and a press conference with health officials was called. "Vaccine injection for Thais must be safe, we do not have to be in a hurry," Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, an adviser for the country's Covid-19 vaccine committee, told a press conference. "Though the quality of AstraZeneca is good, some countries have asked for a delay. We will delay (as well)." Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab the day before. Bulgaria suspends rollout of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspend AstraZeneca COVID shots after blood clot reports 'Novavax vaccine 96% effective against original coronavirus, 86% vs British variant' Austria on Sunday stopped using doses from one batch, after a 49-year-old nurse died of "severe blood coagulation problems" days after receiving an anti-Covid shot. However, there is still no established link between the vaccine and blood clots, and Denmark stressed that its move was merely precautionary as it examined the risks more closely. Thai virologist Yong Poovarawan said the kingdom was waiting for other European countries to "make a conclusion". "We are delaying to let others prove (the side effects) of whether or not it is because of the vaccine or if it is only on that specific batch," he said, adding that the batch Thailand received was made in a factory in Asia. Prayut said Friday afternoon that he had been prepared to be vaccinated but then was told to refrain from it. "I have to listen to the doctors... I think the company itself will also have an explanation," he told reporters who asked if he was afraid. "I live until today what do I have to be afraid of?" he scoffed. Thailand already rolled out its vaccination campaign last month, with the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine, and health workers were the first to receive the injections on February 28. The Sinovac shipment arrived with huge fanfare at Bangkok's airport, with a Chinese embassy official vowing that the vaccine export showed the "strengthened relations between China and Thailand". 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. Ma Moe Sandar Myint is the leader of one of Myanmars largest garment worker unions. Until recently, the 37-year-old mother of three and former sewing machine operator would spend her days representing workers with labor complaints and helping members of the Federation of Garment Workers Myanmar unionize their factories. But her life changed Feb. 1, the day a coup brought back full military rule to the country after years of quasi-democracy. When the internet was cut off, workers flocked to the unions offices. Several days of informal meetings led to small-scale strikes on factory floors, spilling onto the streets outside and eventually feeding many of the increasingly deadly mass demonstrations that have taken place across Myanmar in recent weeks. Often seen at the very front, wearing a mask and white helmet, was Ms. Moe Sandar Myint. Responsible for more than 20 marches, she is now one of a number of garment workers turned union organizers who have been catapulted from relative anonymity to the forefront of a swelling political movement. Many are women. And most say that past experience organizing militant strikes and tight local networks while building the countrys garment factory unions has played a key part of preparing them for this new role. It also gives them an extra tool: the ability to attract the attention of international fashion brands, highly sensitized to scrutiny of the industry supply chain and, through them, the wider world. Last month, as the police issued arrest warrants for union leaders across industries and sectors, workers held placards outside factories pleading for brands like H & M and Zara to come to their aid. A TMC delegation met the Election Commission (EC) on Friday and demanded a high-level probe into an alleged attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram while claiming that it was not an "unfortunate incident", but a conspiracy. The six-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) met the full EC team, including Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora, for over an hour and submitted a memorandum to it, highlighting how BJP leaders in West Bengal had threatened the chief minister through tweets and other remarks. "Injuries to Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram were not a result of an unfortunate incident but that of a conspiracy. The events leading up to the attempt on her life leave no doubt that the attack was part of a deep-rooted conspiracy," TMC MP Saugata Roy told reporters after meeting the EC. Also read: TMC memorandum over Mamata injuries 'full of insinuations and averments', Election Commission responds In the memorandum, the TMC has made allegations against Suvendu Adhikari, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Nandigram in the upcoming state Assembly polls. "When an attempt was made on the life of Ms Banerjee, in which she was grievously hurt, to cover up the attack, eye-witnesses were planted, illustratively, eye-witnesses Chittaranjan Das and Debabrata Das, who testified that Ms Banerjee's car was hit against an iron pillar, are associates of Suvendu Adhikari, BJP candidate from Nandigram," the memorandum says. The party said the BJP's state president Dilip Ghosh had uploaded a caricature depicting that she would be hit at Nandigram. Around the same time, numerous complaints were filed by the saffron party with the EC seeking immediate removal of the then police chief and IGP of West Bengal, it said. Also read: EC has to take responsibility for attack on Mamata, they failed to provide her security: TMC to EC The TMC also gave similar instances of other leaders. "There is a clear nexus between the post by Dilip Ghosh on Facebook, multiple complaints seeking removal of DGP, the unilateral decision of the ECI to remove the erstwhile (police chief), the plan revealed by Saumitra Khan on Twitter, BJP's request to suspend/remove security personnel of Ms Banerjee, the resultant attempt on the life of Ms Banerjee and the cover-up of the same by Adhikari," the memorandum said. After a delegation of TMC leaders met EC officials in Bengal, the poll body on Thursday sent a strongly-worded letter to the party on its memorandum over injuries to Banerjee during the campaign, saying it looks "undignified to even respond" to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a "particular party". A number of Russian and Central Asian media outlets have recently reported that Russian special services have launched a crackdown on Bahram Khamrayev, a well-known Russian human rights activist and member of the Memorial Human Rights Center. One outlet, Ferghana News Agency, published an article titled, Attempting to deprive human rights activist Bahram Khamreyev of Russian citizenship, which claimed that Russia fabricated allegations against the activist, who has advocated for the rights of migrants and Muslims from Central Asia to Russia. The targeting of Khamreyev comes amid increasing reports of attacks on human rights activists who have helped to defend the rights of citizens in former Soviet countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and others. RFAs Uyghur Service recently spoke with the Moscow-based Khamrayev in a series of interviews during which he strongly condemned Chinas repressive policies in its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), where authorities are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of internment camps since early 2017. He also discussed how the governments of Russia and China, which have Muslim populations of 20-25 million each, regularly violate the rights of these groups and how authorities in his home country have tried to stop his advocacy work. RFA also spoke with Rustam Jelil, another Russian human rights activist, about how Russian authorities have employed a variety of fabricated evidence in an attempt to deprive Khamrayev of his citizenship. Yevgeny Zhovtis, a Kazakhstan-based human rights activist and director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, explained the differences in how the governments of Russia and China restrict their Muslim populations. Khamrayev: Depriving me of my citizenship and taking other actions against me will not influence my campaign to support Uyghur Muslims. Protecting Muslims in Russia, including Uyghur immigrants, will continue to be my top priority. My actions as a human rights activist are [the same as] my political views. I think that a new political force will definitely be born in the process of working with the people suffering most among human rights activists. When [that political force] appears, international relations and human rights will qualitatively change. It is my project such as these that are currently under discussion. The oppression of Muslims rights is taking place in both Russia and China. In particular, it is taking place in Muslim territories. But China is killing many Muslims. There, they are openly committing genocide. As for Russia, in addition to surveilling Muslims, they are also taking part in the bombing of Syria. If we are to compare the two, one is crudely killing Muslims, while the other is killing them more politely. Although the ideology of surveilling Muslims in both Russia and China ultimately comes from the same source, the methods they are using are different. As for the Uyghurs, its important to stress that countries such as the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands have formally recognized that a genocide is occurring at Chinas hands. As for countries that are supporting Chinas policies, [they are doing so because] they are also enacting the same kinds of policies toward Muslims. Advocacy for Uyghurs also part of the problem Jelil: Bahram Khamrayev is actively undertaking campaigns as a human rights activist. His advocacy for the rights of migrant workers as well as for political refugees from China, for example Uyghurs and Tatars, as well as his statements on Russian domestic politics, these are also part of [the problem]. Some people are even of the opinion that Bahram Khamrayevs campaigns are related to what [jailed Russian opposition activist] Alexei Navalny is doing. Bahram is not only a human rights activist, hes also a political figure. We cannot deny this. Baseless excuses are being used to attack Bahram Khamrayev. Even so, theres a difference, I think. The situation for Russian Muslims is negative. For example, the concentration camps built for Muslims in [the XUAR] dont exist in Russia. Even if China had built such camps for all of its citizens, it has different policies for minority peoples and Muslims [than for the mainstream]. As for Russia, some of the activities of social and religious Muslim organizations have been restricted. All sorts of specially prepared evidence is used to accuse [Muslims in the XUAR] of terrorism and religious extremism. In Russia, Muslims have a voice, but they have no political power. Because of the communist ideology in China, they will not allow the promotion of ethnic ideologies or the rising up of Muslims. No one can ensure their safety Zhovtis: A long time ago, Uzbek and Turkmen human rights activists would flee via Kazakhstan, and in the 90s they began seeking asylum in the country. Some of them went to Russia, while some of them even ended up settling in the West. Both Kazakhstan and Russia were places where they could hide and live. It was also possible to find help under the regimes of countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. But in the Putin era the situation has changed, and it is no longer possible to live in these countries. It is dangerous for human rights activists to continue living in these countries. No one can ensure their safety. The pressure on Russian activists is growing increasingly strong. Theres even a problem of their own advocacy for themselves. Its possible that human rights activists such as Bahram Khamrayev are under the control of special work units in Uzbekistan and in Russia, because the two countries would never allow people like Bahram to act freely. The overall situation is growing more serious. Its difficult to say that the same kind of pressure exists for them as that in China. The Chinese and Muslims, these are cultures that will never be similar to one another. China is enacting oppressive, anti-Muslim policies under the name of fighting terrorism, religious extremism, and Uyghur separatism. Although Russia is undertaking a fight against the same forces, Muslims are not under the same kind of pressure. Because Russia is a dictatorial regime, it opposes any signs of independence and freedom. Thus, pressure will be used against every form of activism by human rights activists and dissidents. Reported by Oyghan for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by the Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Prof Nolan urged the public to pull back and stick strictly to public health guidance so that "52 weeks of sacrifice is not squandered". Photo by: Stephen Collins. Public health officials are this morning pleading with the public to pull back in an effort to keep the virus suppressed as they are beginning to see early, worrying signs that they have seen before. There are signs that people are mixing more than they were a few weeks ago, according to Professor Philip Nolan, modelling expert with Nphet. He issued a plea to the public to not squander 52 weeks of sacrifice by letting their guard down too early. In 10 weeks time we will be in a different place, and 10 weeks further down the line well be in a much different place but I worry that we will squander the sacrifice of thousands of people over the last 52 weeks if we rush to do things too quickly in the next 10-20 weeks, he said while speaking on RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland. Read More Its not that nothing can happen until everyone is vaccinated, thats not true. There was the step forward yesterday in increasing the visits to long term residential care homes. So, I think the way to think about it is, as more people are vaccinated; there is more we can do within the vaccination programme. Some things we are going to have to wait to do until we have population-wide protection. Prof Nolan acknowledged that there is slippage in people adhering to public health guidance as we get tired and lonely during a prolonged period of restrictions. In one sense we have made extraordinary progress, we have gone from 6,500 cases per day in early January to 500 now. From an extraordinary situation where we had over 2,000 people in hospital with Covid to around 350 now. Because those initial figures are so big, we need to remember that our case count now is twice what we were at in early December, 50 times more than when we entered the Summer last year, and more people in hospital now than we did at the peak in October. We are at this delicate point where we are beginning to attend to and reopen some of our priorities such as non-urgent healthcare and schooling, and this is not the time to relax in any way and this is the time to stay home. This is not the time to have mixing between households and not the time to return to the workplace unless it is essential, he said. Case numbers remain high this week as there were a further 10 deaths and 592 cases notified by Nphet yesterday, but Prof Nolan was keen to point out two beacons of hope. There are two sources of hope right now and the first is over the last 10 weeks we have been successful in suppressing this extraordinary wave of the disease The second beacon of hope is 380,000 people who have received their first dose and over 150,000 people who have received their second dose, so we need to stick with it. This virus will exploit any chance we give it to come at us another time. We are not there yet when it comes to other types of reopening, our priority now should be making the reopening of schools work by the rest of us being exceptionally careful while this is going on. Prof Nolan said the reopening of schools has gone very well so far and described it as a testament to the work done around schools and said they are low-risk environments due to the work of the education sector and parents. Nphet have seen very little evidence of transmission within schools, and said there have only been six outbreaks in schools since they reopened, with the evidence indicating that in most of those cases the virus was brought into the school by more than one person. An outbreak is classified as two or more cases linked to one setting. What concerns us is that when things begin to reopen, it is not the thing reopening itself that worries us but the signal we all read into it. This is very hard on all of us, and is going to continue for further weeks until were closer to the disease being under control. The first thing we are concerned about, when talking about the reopening of schools, is the increased mobility and tendency to return to the workplace and the social mixing that occurs around this, not the opening of schools themselves. The vast majority in this country have made enormous sacrifices in the last year, 52 weeks of this. People have lost loved ones and pretty much had to manage their grief almost on their own due to restrictions on numbers attending funerals for instance. We find it difficult and we mix just a small bit more than we did previously and we see the increase and then we pull back and are back to suppressing the virus again. Mr Nolan said there are early worrying signs that Nphet have seen before and are pleading with the public to pull back and keep the disease suppressed. In the grand scheme of things, it is a matter of weeks before we can begin to start doing some things due to the progressive protection from vaccination, he said. STAMFORD For the first nine to 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Liberation Programs leaders considered themselves lucky. While other Connecticut nonprofits were struggling with COVID-19 infections inside their facilities, Liberation Programs staff and clients had remained uninfected and healthy. But that all changed on Dec. 27, when a client at Liberation House, the organizations Stamford-based inpatient addiction recovery program, reported he had lost his sense of taste and smell. That number would soon rise to two dozen infected clients and staff, in total. We had to literally change everything about our work, said John Hamilton, CEO of Liberation Programs, a substance use disorder treatment organization with services spanning Fairfield County and offices in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport. File / Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media We were able to deal with a COVID epidemic in our recovery program and seamlessly not disrupt service and provide them what they needed in their recovery environment, he said recently. The staff stepped up. The board stepped up, bringing meals in, and PPE. The story of how Liberation Programs navigated a mini-outbreak within its four walls at the Lib House facility, is one of triumph, resilience and success, Hamilton said. And it also gives hope for other nonprofits that are worried about an outbreak, he added. A mini-outbreak Soon after the first Lib House resident reported his loss of ability to taste or smell, another client reported the same symptoms to staff. Clive Johnson, medical director for Liberation Programs, recommended that the two men immediately quarantine and remain isolated from the rest of the community. The next morning, both men were admitted to Stamford Hospital. Upon their release, a few hours later, they were temporarily placed in isolation at a hotel, an arrangement led by Pacific House Shelter leaders, who had their own homeless clients already staying in those facilities. We then tested everyone else in the house, said Maggie Young, chief recovery officer for Liberation Programs. And once we tested everyone in the house, we ended up with a total of 24 individuals who were positive, and immediately we needed to, at that point, separate our house so that we had one floor for quarantine and another for the general community. Capacity at Lib House is 65 clients total, Young said. Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Following the separation, clients who tested positive began receiving all their meals and medications on that designated floor, and they were not allowed to leave the area unless there was an emergency. During the public health crisis, Liberation Programs leaders realized they had to keep COVID-positive clients engaged, and not allow them to feel completely isolated, so they still felt a part of the community, Young said. Lib House staff began wearing gowns, masks, shields and gloves, before bringing their sick clients food, medication and eventually Chromebook computers to help them stay in contact with their family, friends and service providers. The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services provided PPE to the organization, while Hamilton submitted a proposal for emergency funding to the state Office of Policy and Management, which eventually allocated them $91,000 from the governors emergency COVID-19 relief funds. The money was used for a professional cleaning service, outside laundry services, catering for individually wrapped meals, and overtime payments to Lib House staff who sometimes worked more than 12-hour days. Liberation Programs also provided hazard pay to its employees, or extra payment for working under dangerous conditions. When Liberation Programs leaders reported initial information about the outbreak to the city of Stamford for contact tracing purposes, the state Department of Public Health visited Lib House to give feedback on the safety of the facility. They were satisfied with the isolation and that we had PPE to make sure we could keep everyone safe, Young said. Greenwich-based Family Centers also provided a pop-up COVID testing clinic for Lib House clients and staff, Young said. Family Centers, which runs a drive-through testing site at 60 Palmer Hill Road in Stamford, brought its medical team over to Lib House, to test Lib Houses staff members and recoverees. We went over there with our PPE, set up a computer, had their patients complete a consent form, and one-by-one, we tested them, ran the results over to the lab and two days later, (we) provided their director with all the results, and they took the proper measures they needed, in order to make sure the outbreak was contained, said David Robledo, outreach educator for Family Centers Health Care. And then we continued that two weeks later, just to ensure those who tested positive would be retested, to see if they could be reintroduced to the general population, he said. Three weeks later, all staff and clients had tested negative. The Lib House population, are all of whom are men in recovery from substance use disorders, are eligible for a vaccine, because they live in congregate care and/or are over 55 years old, Young said. On March 5, through a separate collaboration with Family Centers, Stamford-based Community Health Center employees brought a vaccine clinic to Lib House, and all who were interested received a shot. That day, individuals were also scheduled for their second shot in April. Family Centers has a longstanding relationship with Liberation Programs, and we felt like we could be helpful in containing the virus, Torres said. For Cindy Ramdhanie, assistant director of Lib House, said watching her colleagues and clients fight COVID-19 was scary. There wasnt a lot of information out there from other programs, on what they would have done, she said. Ramdhanie and her colleagues relied on one another to come up with solutions and comfort fearful clients, she said. I think they drew from that, and it settled them a little more. I dont want to say they felt comfortable with what was going on, but the anxiety and fear died down more, because that support was there, she said. In March 2020, Liberation Programs leaders had submitted a plan to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services that should we need to have space to actually take care of people, who became positive, who were in our care, how would we do it? Young said. We used that as lessons. Liberation Programs leaders are eager to give advice to other nonprofit leaders, who may become enmeshed in a similar outbreak. Give them a sense of hope, Liberation Programs CEO Hamilton said, speaking specifically, about clients.Support each other and try to be creative in doing that, in whatever way is possible, because it is challenging and it can be unnerving and scary for people, he said of staff members. The key is to stay calm and work together. tatiana.flowers@thehour.com @TATIANADFLOWERS NSU swim coach Monanian moving on after four seasons Monanian moves on to Purdue after accepting an assistant position at their program. NOTE: On the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 in New Jersey, we will publish several opinion pieces about our experiences over the past year. Today, an expert in corporate innovation writes about how we all can go back to work. By Noa Gafni A years worth of economic and employment upheaval has left everyone employees, communities and society as a whole feeling anxious, concerned about our health, disconnected from colleagues and suffering other mental health challenges. The toll on our workforce has been monumental. Nearly 10 million people lost their jobs in 2020 as a result of the pandemics economic impact. Seventy-four million essential workers are at risk of contracting COVID-19 while on the job. Two-thirds of white-collar workers continue to work from home, with many complaining of Zoom fatigue. While these issues pale next to the human toll of more than 530,000 deaths and 29 million reported illnesses nationwide, they need to be addressed as we emerge from this crisis. My research team at the Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation examined what the future of work may look like as a result of these new pressure points, and how companies can help build a healthier, more sustainable and equitable economy. We identified five opportunities that businesses can take to build back better as we move into a post-pandemic normal. These include investing in training programs to help employees stay ahead of emerging technologies and trends; providing externship and internship opportunities that provide professional development opportunities to students; taking pragmatic steps to help the environment and to help protect against the next society-changing upheaval; focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion within their workforce; and supporting mental health. We found that this last point supporting a baseline level of mental health for employees, communities and society is a foundation for all the rest. While there are benefits to working remotely, our current reality of 100% remote work is not ideal for brainstorming or the social interactions that make for an effective team. We discovered several ways in which managers and companies can support mental health during this challenging time. The first step is to support mental health at the individual employee level. This includes pushing for more shifts in the structure of an employees day. For example, we found that adding one-on-one check-ins between employee and manager, in which the focus is on the employee as a human being rather than strictly on their output, helps boost morale and connection. The American Psychiatric Association encourages managers to call out the elephant in the room and acknowledge that everyone is navigating hard times. Pointing out COVIDs real impact shouldnt be seen as redundant. It is, instead, the necessary first step in reconfiguring expectations and the context in which they exist. At Samsung, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Communications David Steel refers to the first-order and second-order impacts of the pandemic both the immediate and obvious impacts, such as physical health, a first-order impact; but also the second-order ripple effect of extended isolation and its impact on issues such as mental health. The next step is to support mental health among employees at the community level. The pandemic has left many unable to connect with others in the informal ways that were used to. In a webcast by the Conference Board, a business research firm, earlier last year, Johnson & Johnson Chief Human Resources Officer Peter M. Fasolo noted that the pandemic has starkly illustrated the need for collaboration, social connection and the desire for people to be together and drive innovation. While one-on-one mental health support is pivotal, it is also necessary to start innovating ways to encourage teams of employees to connect with each other. Group morale boosting by way of Zoom will remain essential for the foreseeable future. Some businesses have fostered volunteer opportunities to create moments of connection between employees and to allow them to be a part of something larger than themselves and larger than their work-from-home space. Novo Nordisk, for example, chose to support its hometown by hosting a drive-by food drive and encouraging its employees to take part. It may seem like a drop in the bucket compared with the communitys pandemic needs, but for the employees and the town, it was a reminder that were all in this together. Finally, businesses can take steps to support mental health at a societal level. If 2020 taught us anything, its that change within our society as a whole is needed, particularly when it comes to racial equity. COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted people of color and the ripple effects of this reality are felt in many ways. One way the business sector can fill the gap is to acknowledge there is a gap to fill. Involving their human resources departments and making efforts to hire, retain and support the success of employees of color and employees from other underrepresented groups is an important step. Companies and business owners should also take opportunities to promote the value of grants and other resources that can help people of color keep their businesses amid the pandemic. This is also a great time to diversify supply chains and the vendors fulfilling them. PepsiCo, for example, has committed to double its spending with Black-owned suppliers and to overhaul other areas in their supply chain as a way to create a longer-term impact. COVID-19 places us in a physical and mental health crisis. Employers cannot afford to ignore it. Instead, they must address it head-on. Companies and business owners have an opportunity to do just that in their teams, in their communities and across our society overall. Noa Gafni is the executive director of the Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation, at the Rutgers Business School. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the wild world of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, with Engadget Senior Editor Dan Cooper. What do they mean for the future of art and commerce? And should you care about them at all? Also, we chat about Microsofts finalized Bethesda acquisition, as well as Facebooks push to dismiss its latest antitrust charges. Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News! Topics Video livestream Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Cherlynn Low Guest: Dan Cooper Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien The first glimmers of spring and the promise of future freedoms has sparked a renewed sense of hope for many of us and a flurry of excitement at the prospect of getting dressed up again. And now the first thrilling British high street-designer collaboration of the year is here - finally a green shoot of positivity for the fashion industry - with the launch of the Simone Rocha x H&M collection. The Irish designer, daughter of celebrated fashion designer John Rocha, is known for her feminine aesthetic with voluminous silhouettes and beautiful embellishments. Celebrating ten years since she first launched her label, Rocha is the latest in a long line of designers Lanvin, Balmain, Kenzo, Erdem, Moschino to collaborate with H&M, and this joyful collection will undoubtedly be another sell-out hit. Dress, 139.99, skirt, 59.99, headband, 39.99, hair clip, 24.99 for pack of 3, and boots, 39.99, hm.com Dress, 199.99, hair clip, 24.99 for pack of 3, and shoes, 24.99, hm.com There are so many gorgeous clothes to choose from, with over 65 pieces of womenswear (theres also a smaller range of menswear and childrenswear). Think romantic dresses, pretty spring coats, ruffled blouses, knitwear adorned with faux pearls (a trademark Simone Rocha flourish), and a sprinkling of charming accessories, from cherry-red hair bows to statement earrings with clusters of glistening paillettes. Sustainability is at the heart of Rochas own label and translating this to work for the high street at an affordable price point is no mean feat. Coat, 139.99, dress, 149.99, and hair clip, 24.99 for pack of 3, hm.com; boots, 250, jigsaw-online.com; earrings, 55, salomedesigns.co.uk Dress, 139.99, and hair slides, 24.99 for pack of 3, hm.com; shoes, 195, russellandbromley.co.uk; earrings, 35, jigsaw-online.com Shes worked with H&M to source organic cotton, recycled polyester and a compostable yarn to use in the collection. Having combed through her own archives for inspiration, the lovely dresses incorporate many of Rochas signature shapes: balloon sleeves, nipped in waists, full, swishy skirts. Prices range from 49.99 to 199.99, a snip compared to buying from her labels spring-summer collection, where dresses start at a much steeper 1,295. Floral motifs and sheer fabrics are often combined a dandelion print on floaty peach net, red roses embroidered on black lace. Blouse, 59.99, and trousers, 79.99, hm.com; shoes, 95, stories.com; earrings, 65, salomedesigns.co.uk Dress, 119.99, bag, 49.99, hair slides, 24.99 for pack of 3, earrings, 34.99, and shoes, 24.99, hm.com Rochas coats are outfits in themselves and with all the sunny walks, picnics and al fresco drinks were planning, its worth investing in some beautiful outerwear. Rocha has cleverly reinvented a classic trench with ruched shoulders and statement sleeves, cutting it with an A-line flare. A similar shape adds drama to a double-breasted dress coat in fondant pink. Despite the size of the collection, every piece feels considered and unique with playful details and unexpected twists. A white shirt has dainty faux pearls studded along the collar and some fantastically puffy sleeves. A bag strap is transformed with plump, bejewelled bows. Jumper, 69.99, skirt, 59.99, hair clip, 24.99 for pack of 3, and shoes, 24.99, hm.com; earrings, 55, salomedesigns.co.uk Coat, 149.99, headband, 39.99, and earrings, 34.99; shoes, 195, russellandbromley.co.uk The vibe is unapologetically feminine (even a pair of cropped tartan trousers are embellished with ruffles) and Rochas added a dinky compact of pink lip and cheek balm (12.99) to the collection, if you want to go for the full, whimsical look. You can undercut the romance in places, say by pairing the pleated tulle skirt with a big slouchy knit, or wearing stompy black boots with one of the delicate floral dresses, but really, this is about revelling in the joy of getting properly dressed up. Frankly, its a welcome change to all the low key loungewear weve been living in. It feels like a breath of fresh air to finally indulge in something pretty and fun, to start putting together outfits to be seen and admired out in the world. Frederick K.C. Price Memorial Service "While our hearts are heavy, we are comforted by these supportive actions," says Angela M. Evans. Last Thursday and Friday, hundreds emerged to pay homage to the memory of Pastor Frederick K.C. Price, founder of South Los Angeles Crenshaw Christian Center. The two-day public viewing was both somber and celebratory as mourners from across the county and the nation participated in a protocol-enforced observance. Amid COVID-19, safety experts and church officials executed strict codes of conduct to ensure the well-being and confidence of attendees. A 29-minute video montage of Prices decades-long teachings played on a loop, while a commemorative keepsake book of family letters, ministry moments and photos were handed out as visitors advanced to the closed casket. On Saturday, an intimate family and close family friends memorial service was held. Over 64,000 tuned in via live stream as several elected officials, faith leaders, and sons in the faith remembered Price as a highly disciplined, teacher and scholar whose practical unpacking and application of the bible resonated with in-person congregants and viewers of his own created TV vehicle, Ever Increasing Faith Ministries. To date, the service has been viewed over 309,000 times. As a Black pastor whose ministry was coming of age in the 70s, the TV broadcast enabled him to reach viewers across the globe and spawned a plethora of young Black pastors seeking spiritual growth and guidance beyond accustomed preaching. Prices demeanor was controlled, resolute and authoritative, devoid of high emotion. This decided approach was clear, precise and swiftly embraced. The 89-year-old innovator was the author of over 50 books on Christian living and served as the original example of Black Excellence with his signature put together look, including an Afro with every hair in place and bible in hand. As part of Saturdays remembrance, Los Angeles City Mayor, Eric Garcetti, sent a touching video tribute. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Los Angeles Board of Supervisor Janice Hahn, and Los Angeles City Council President Emeritus, Herb Wesson, attended to address the in-person and virtual audience. Remarks continued by eldest daughter and President and CEO of Crenshaw Christian Center, Angela M. Evans, Dr. William M. Wilson, President of Oral Roberts University where Mrs. Evans serves as a board member, and others, including martial artist, Billy Blanks, Dr. Kenneth W. Hagin, Jr., Dr. Jerry Savelle, Dr. Creflo A. Dollar, and Apostle Michael A. Freeman, who gave the eulogy to name a few. Beyond the public way Price was known, central to his life was his unique devotion to his family. He was an unapologetic doting husband and father who served as a positive role model for countless others. Prices widow, Dr. Betty R. Price and the entire Price Family are grateful for the outpouring of expressions of love, prayers and support during this very difficult time. "While our hearts are heavy, we are comforted by these supportive actions," says Angela M. Evans. News of ways to further commemorate Prices legacy for community benefit will be announced in the future. About: Crenshaw Christian Center (CCC) and its broadcast, Ever Increasing Faith Ministries, has been a hallmark of the local and global faith community and beyond for nearly 50 years. CCC has a long history of service to Southern California and South Los Angeles in particular, supporting local residents via emergency preparedness fairs, food and toy drives, and a plethora of community benefit activities. It was one of the first established COVID-19 test and vaccination sites in Los Angeles to proactively address access equity gaps. Today its impact continues under the leadership of Pastor Fred Price Jr. More at http://www.faithdome.org. The question of whether Saddam Hussein was dead or alive hung over the capital Tuesday after a U.S. warplane dropped four bunker-buster bombs and blasted a smoking crater 60 feet deep at a restaurant where he was believed to be meeting with his sons. At least three buildings were destroyed Monday afternoon in the attempt to kill Saddam. The airstrike in the well-to-do al-Mansour section of western Baghdad broke windows and doors up to 300 yards away, ripped orange trees out by the roots and left a heap of broken concrete, mangled iron rods and shredded furniture and clothes. Iraqi rescue workers looking in the rubble for victims said two bodies had been recovered and the death toll could be as high as 14. They did not release any names. A U.S. official familiar with the latest military intelligence said coalition forces were trying to confirm whether Saddam was killed. "There's lots of digging and DNA tests involved," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I don't know whether he survived," President Bush said in Northern Ireland, where he was meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "The only thing I know is he's losing power." Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, speaking to reporters Tuesday, made no mention of Saddam's fate, and rejected any suggestion that Iraq would surrender to the American forces drawing a noose around the regime. "They will be burnt. We are going to tackle them," he said. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, said it will take some time and perhaps detailed forensic work to establish who was killed in the airstrike. But he did not specifically say how U.S. forces will accomplish that when the scene of the bombing is still under Iraqi control. The attack was carried out by a single B-1B bomber, which dropped four precision-guided, 2,000-pound, bunker-penetrating bombs on a restaurant after U.S. intelligence was tipped that the Iraqi president, sons Odai and Qusai and other top leaders might be meeting there, officials said. The U.S. official said the Pentagon was confident that Saddam and his sons were in the building before it was bombed. "Our intelligence was solid," the official said. He did not elaborate on the source of the intelligence. He said Saddam was known to frequent the restaurant, apparently because he thought coalition forces would not target him so close to a civilian center. Those close to Saddam have said the Iraqi leader is so obsessed with security that very few people would know about his movements. He maintains dozens of residences and uses doubles to keep people guessing. An exiled dissident told The Associated Press that only two people are kept posted about Saddam's whereabouts _ Qusai, who commands the Republican Guard and heads the president's security, and his private secretary, Abed Hameed Hmoud, a member of Saddam's Tikriti clan. Even Odai is thought to be out of the loop because he is considered too reckless. The strike came on a day when U.S. forces also occupied two of Saddam's palaces southwest of the target zone and knocked down a statue of the Iraqi leader as they tried to wrest control of Baghdad from his regime. Seif Hatef, 21, said some of his friends were among the victims of the attack on the three buildings. "Such attacks will make Iraqis more determined to resist. Iraq will remain and this war will never finish," he said. Workers at a nearby mall swept the glass and other debris from the sidewalk. "When this war will end? It depends on that scum Bush," said Amer Hamad Abdullah al-Jabouri, who works at the complex. Coalition strikes have aimed at top Iraqi leaders from the very start of the war. On March 19, the opening night of the war, President Bush authorized a strike on a suburban Baghdad compound where Saddam and his sons were thought to be staying. But U.S. intelligence officials suspect he survived. Earlier Monday, U.S. and British officials said they believed Saddam's top commander in southern Iraq, his first cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, had been killed in a U.S. airstrike at a house in Basra. Al-Majid, considered one of the most brutal and loyal members of Saddam's inner circle, was known as "Chemical Ali" for his role a 1988 poison gas attack that killed tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds. A video clip of the U.S. attack on the Basra house was shown at the Pentagon on Monday. "We believe that the reign of terror of Chemical Ali has come to an end. To Iraqis who have suffered at his hand, particularly in the last few weeks in that southern part of the country, he will never again terrorize you or your families," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said. ___ Associated Press Writers Ron Fournier and Matt Kelley in Washington contributed to this report. A Himalayan guide who has scaled Mount Everest twice and has spent the past 18 years helping foreign climbers up the highest peaks has had no work or income in the past year. Pasang Rinzee Sherpa, 33, said he is struggling to survive as tourism to the Himalayan nation has all but stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sherpa said not being employed to assist on a climb brought him to the brink of depression, but that he kept himself "both mentally and physically fit" by going on short hikes or climbing indoors. Nepal has witnessed more than 275,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases with more than 3,000 deaths. The country shut its borders to tourists for more than 9 months during the pandemic, and though the restriction has been lifted, tourists are still a rare sight. Sherpa said he would normally earn about $8,000 (US dollars) a year guiding foreign mountaineers, but made nothing in 2020. He had to to beg his landlord to waive his rent, cut down on all expenses and eat only basic home cooked meals in his room. Now he and a few friends have rented a small area to open a coffee shop as an alternative means of income. But he is hopeful the tourism industry will "bounce back," and he will be able to put his mountaineering skills to work once again. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) CLIFTON PARK Dolce & Biscotti Fine Italian Bakery reopened Friday, a little more than two weeks after it was forced to close temporarily after a car crashed through its front window and into the cake case. Writing on Facebook, owner Mary-Beth Fron said, "We cant thank our community, family, friends, local businesses, Zacharys Pastry Shoppe, and all of the construction and equipment companies enough for the incredible support, assistance and continuous help in getting our little bakery back up and running in record 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. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Dawn Stanback was 31 and struggling with addiction in 2001. She had turned to prostitution over the years but was trying to get her life together. The U.S. Coast Guard has launched several programs this year to draw recruits, including new initiatives designed to broaden diversity and expand promotion opportunities for all. The service is offering two-year, active-duty enlistments this year for up to 500 individuals who may be interested in military service but aren't ready to commit to a longer contract. The service also is increasing tuition assistance by 66% and implementing other measures to attract and retain a diverse cadre of personnel in what has been a "challenging landscape" during the COVID-19 pandemic, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said Thursday, following his annual State of the Coast Guard address in San Diego. Read Next: National Guard Member on DC Security Mission Dies After Medical Emergency According to Schultz, the Coast Guard missed its 2019 recruiting goals by roughly 600 members, taking in just under 3,000 of its 3,600 target number. The service originally had increased its 2020 goal to 4,000. But with the pandemic shutting down Recruit Training Center Cape May, N.J., for several weeks in spring and again in December, it will count itself lucky to graduate 3,000 when all are tallied, he said. "If we're around 3,000 -- a little higher, a little lower -- I'm going to say we've done pretty darn well and in a very difficult environment for close contact training," he added. To counter the shortfalls, the service is working hard to "provide the workforce both with an inclusive environment in which all members can thrive and the tools to get the job done," Schultz said during his speech. The initiatives include the two-year enlistments, which may attract more people interested in serving their country and increase the size of the Coast Guard Reserve, since the enlistment still comes with an eight-year military commitment, including the two years of active service, four years in the drilling Reserves and two in the Individual Ready Reserve. "We're thinking maybe some folks are on the fence; they're doing community college, and the online experience isn't as satisfying. Maybe they want to step forward to serve their country, and the two-year enlistment is a little bit shorter [of a] commitment. [And then], being a reservist allows you ... to still pursue those other elements/parts of your life," Schultz said. He also announced that tuition assistance will increase for eligible service members. It currently is capped at $2,250 per year but will go up to $3,750. Schultz said he'd like to get it to "100%," or $4,500 per year. "Under a constrained top line, I'm not quite there. But I'm hoping before the end of my tenure, maybe we get that 100%," said Schultz, who will step down next year. Another initiative jump-started last year was an effort the Coast Guard calls "Flex-PAL," which allows Reserve members to train closer to where they live. The program gives the service the capability to reassign billets to high-density recruiting and population zones based on area units' managing capacity, allowing reservists to be assigned to nearby locations and rotating them through different types of units within a geographic region. The service also launched several initiatives last year to "foster a truly inclusive environment," Schultz said, which means reviewing and updating training courses and evaluation systems; training 125 "change agents" who will go out to units for training and facilitating conversations about diversity; and encouraging mentoring across the workforce, both traditional in-unit individual mentoring and via a mobile app. The service also is reviewing its required qualifying scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test for A schools "to maximize opportunities for all," and has created a new Officer Recruiting Team to reach out to under-represented populations, Schultz said. The active-duty Coast Guard is made up predominantly of White men. Roughly 15% of the force is female, 13.7% identify as Hispanic, 6% are Black and 2% Asian. "To be the world's best Coast Guard, we've got to be the most inclusive, and we've got to bring in more women. We've got to be more representative," Schultz said. The admiral cited a program he rolled out in 2019 that allows reservists to backfill active-duty billets when active-duty members take parental leave after having a baby or adopting a child. Shultz said 123 Coast Guard members have taken advantage of that benefit to date. "Where we really do win is when we get somebody to the gate, to the accession source, [and] they see [an] organization that's welcoming them. It's truly inclusive," he said. Schultz added that in a year that saw a global pandemic and a record number of destructive wildfires and Atlantic hurricanes, the entire team -- active duty, Reserve, Auxiliary members, civilian employees and family members -- has given their all. "The State of the Coast Guard is truly agile, adaptive and resilient. While we continue to face challenges, this past year has reinforced that we are indeed 'Stronger Together,'" he said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Citing 'Current Trends,' Coast Guard Lifts Almost All Travel Restrictions for Troops Guilty: Bernard McGovern will appear before the court next Friday for sentencing An amateur boxer from Northern Ireland has admitted assaulting two senior Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) executives just days after his father lost his job in the company. Fermanagh man Bernard McGovern (24) appeared in court yesterday morning where he pleaded guilty to the assaults outside a Cavan filling station in February 2019. The victims of the attack were Kevin Lunney, chief operating officer of the company formerly known as QIH, and chief financial officer Dara O'Reilly. Mr Lunney was abducted outside his home and badly assaulted in a separate and unrelated incident seven months later, in which McGovern had no involvement. The two victims are senior executives at Mannok, previously known as Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) and once owned by businessman Sean Quinn. Yesterday morning McGovern, of Springtown Road in Kinawley, was arraigned before Cavan Circuit Court in relation to two counts of assault causing harm. The incidents occurred at the Applegreen service station at Rakeelan, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, on February 1, 2019, while the two executives were having lunch. He pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Mr Lunney who suffered a broken nose as a result of being struck in the face. McGovern pleaded not guilty to carrying out the same offence to Mr O'Reilly, who had a cup of hot water thrown in his face. However, he admitted to a lesser charge of assault at the same location on the same date. Prosecution counsel Monica Lawlor BL, for the State, said that this plea was being accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The maximum jail term he now faces for assault causing harm, under Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person act, is five years' imprisonment. Assault under Section 2 of the same act carries a maximum jail term of six months. Judge John Aylmer remanded him on continuing bail to appear before court again next Friday, March 19, for sentencing. McGovern's father had lost his job as a truck driver within the company two days earlier which was the motive for the assaults. The accused was arrested in Fermanagh in September 2019 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant in relation to the case. Burma UK Asks Citizens to Leave Military-Ruled Myanmar The security forces launch a crackdown on anti-regime protesters in Yangon on March 6. / The Irrawaddy The UK advised its citizens to flee Myanmar, as a United Nations representative warned the junta appears to be committing crimes against humanity in its attempt to stay in power. Britain, the countrys former colonial ruler, urged its citizens to get out if they can, warning that, political tension and unrest are widespread since the military takeover and levels of violence are rising. It called on British nationals to leave the country by commercial means, unless there is an urgent need to stay. The move comes after Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, gave a stark assessment of the crisis. Myanmar is controlled by a murderous, illegal regime that is probably committing crimes against humanity, Andrews told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. These crimes probably include acts of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture carried out with the knowledge of senior leadership, including junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, Andrews said. While stressing that such offenses can only be determined in court, he said there was clear evidence the juntas crimes were widespread and part of a coordinated campaign. You may also like these stories: Myanmars Democracy Movement Hires International Lawyers Animal rights activists have raised concerns after a sedated lion cub was apparently used as a prop during a wedding photoshoot in Lahore, Pakistan, prompting a major public outcry. Video and stills from the shoot were shared online by the events and bridal photography studio Studio Afzl, which has a following of almost 120,000 on Instagram. The posts were accompanied by the hashtag #SherdiRani (Lioness Queen), highlighting the exotic animals presence. The posts, which have now been deleted, quickly backfired after they were shared by a number of wildlife groups, prompting an online backlash against the studio and the couple in equal measure. Pakistans Save the Wild, a non-profit that works to protect the countrys wildlife from threats of hunting and loss of habitat, tweeted that this was a case of animal cruelty. Alerting Punjab states Wildlife & Parks Department, it said: @PunjabWildlife does your permit allow for a lion cub to be rented out for ceremonies? Look at this poor cub sedated and being used as a prop. This studio is in Lahore where this cub is being kept. Rescue him please. JFK Animal Rescue and Shelter, another group which recorded and shared the footage on its own social media profiles, said it had learned that the cub was being kept at the photography studio itself. The shelter, according to local news reports, is considering legal action against the studio. Zulfishan Anushay, the founder of JFK (the name stands for Justice for Kiki, a dog belonging to its founder) told The Independent: The studios management told us that the lion cub was brought [to the studio] by a friend of theirs that owned it, and according to them it was a plain coincidence that the couple was also present, so they decided to take a few pictures with the lion cub. Reacting to the viral photos of the cub at the shoot, Twitter user Faisal Amin Khan wrote: Whats wrong with people, a sedated lion cub as prop. The couple starting a new life & the studio who did that should be ashamed, its about time @GovtofPunjabPK must rethink their captive breeding policy, from political rallies to wedding shoots, animals as props, its sick. Syed Hasnain Raza, wildlife and conservation filmmaker, wrote: I need details of this #animalcruelty. Where did it take place. Who are bride and grooms. Who was the wedding photographer. Most importantly who provided this Lion cub, We need to expose this underground Mafia breed Lions in captivity (sic). The Independent has contacted Studio Afzl, as well as Punjabs wildlife department, but had not received a response at the time of publication. WWF Pakistan said the prospect of wildlife groups rescuing the cub in question was unlikely. The lion is an exotic species and is not protected under the relevant wildlife acts, Hammad Naqi Khan, the charitys director general, told The Independent . There are numerous, unaccounted lions in private ownership and unfortunately, it is legal to buy and sell exotic species bred within the country and lion is one of them. Therefore it is not difficult to get a cub for a shoot. While this instance has provoked an outcry on social media, Pakistans illegal trade in wildlife and personal zoos is very much thriving online with almost no regulation against it. The non-profit JFK said that from peacocks and exotic birds kept amid loud music at weddings to now this cub, the use of such animals is seen as a signifier of wealth and class in Pakistani society. Anushay said that it was possible to acquire a licence to own a tiger or lion as a pet for just 100,000 Pakistani rupees (about 460). The problem starts with the wildlife trade and these government licences to own them, the NGO said. Wildlife animals belong in the wild! These photoshoots have become a new trend unfortunately. It called on the government to stop issuing such licences to private individuals. Once you get a licence in Pakistan you can treat these poor cubs as you want. WWF Pakistan has, Khan said called for a ban on wildlife in individual ownership, saying there were also concerns about such animals parts being used in the illegal wildlife trade. For now, wildlife breeding farms are allowed in Pakistan and there are no protections under their licences for individual animals, once sold. There is no legal clause to rescue the cub, which is extremely unfortunate and we need legislative changes in the Wildlife acts to do so, Khan said. BAY CITY, MI - The Bay County Health Department is looking for volunteers to help out with all aspects of delivering the COVID-19 vaccine to residents at clinics. The health department sent out a call for volunteers on Thursday, March 11 for those of varying skill levels such as medical volunteers, traffic control and general onsite support. Volunteers are also needed to call vaccine registrants to remind them of their appointment. All volunteers must be at least 18 years old, according to the health department. Volunteer applications can be found on the Bay County website and they should be returned via email to bchdvolunteers@baycounty.net. The applications asks if applicants are interested or trained to do tasks such as administering the vaccine for nurses or medical professionals, vaccine preparation draw-up for those who are sterile process trained, EMT duties, data management and input, host and reception duties and general assistance. According to the department, volunteer applications will be processed. Applicants will then receive an email regarding their volunteer status, with instructions on how to select a volunteer data and time. More from MLive COVID-19 vaccine access expands in Bay County, heres how to register United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 found in Tuscola County Got the COVID-19 vaccine somewhere else? Remove your name from the registration list, says Bay County Health Department Coronavirus vaccination scam calls reported in Bay and Saginaw counties STARS providing rides to vaccination clinics in Saginaw County churches for those 50 and older United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 identified in Saginaw County Saginaw County announces new instructions for COVID-19 vaccination registration For Subscribers Gov. Noem hires jet consultant to help South Dakota buy new aircraft An out-of-state consultant has been hired for $195,000 by Gov. Kristi Noem's administration to help the state of South Dakota buy a new aircraft. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says the force is reviewing the appropriateness of terminating a sexual assault investigation where the victim has withdrawn a complaint amid the allegations surrounding federal Attorney-General Christian Porter. Appearing before a NSW parliamentary hearing on Friday, Mr Fuller also said consent laws should be strengthened given the difficulty in obtaining successful prosecutions, while Police Minister David Elliott said the wave of women coming forward with allegations meant society has failed. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller wants to see reform around handling sexual assault allegations. Credit:Rhett Wyman Mr Fuller agreed that police and other members of society had to do better to secure justice for victims, saying police had to be ready to respond to the change being driven by those speaking out. Were reviewing I guess the entire gamut of our role in this part of the justice system to see what we can do, he said before the budget estimates hearing alongside Mr Elliott this morning. People stand in the lobby for Amazon offices in New York, N.Y., on Feb. 14, 2019. (Mark Lennihan/AP Photo) House Judiciary GOP Leaders Demand Amazon Answers to Allegations of Censorship Against Conservative Viewpoints Two Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are asking Amazon to answer to allegations of systemic viewpoint-based discrimination against conservative viewpoints. In a letter to current Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) requested that the prominent cloud services provider turn over documents and information on its alleged censorship activities. Big Tech, including Amazon, is engaged in systematic viewpoint-based discrimination. In the unfortunate phenomenon of cancel culture, Amazon plays a leading role in silencing and censoring the political speech of conservative Americans, the lawmakers wrote. They added, In just the last several months, Amazon has exhibited a pattern of curtailing, censoring, and removing from its platforms content that espouses conservative viewpoints. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 24, 2021. (Jim Watson/Pool/Getty Images) Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Washington, on Dec. 13, 2019. (Patrick Semansky/Pool/Getty Images) Jordan is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and Buck is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust. The two allege that Amazon has been exerting editorial control over content on its platforms in a way that is biased against conservatives and conservative viewpoints. They listed out several alleged editorial decisions by Amazon that give the appearance of a coordinated effort to cancel conservative speech on the big tech companys platforms. Three incidences occurred in June 2020. In one instance, Amazon refused to allow advertising for a book that was critical of transgender ideology, the two noted. In another case, Amazons Kindle e-book self-publishing platform refused to publish a booklet that challenged certain prevailing views on the efficacy of lockdowns imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In yet another instance of the same month, Amazon temporarily banned President Donald Trumps account from its video streaming service, Twitch, over comments he made at political rallies. Amazon later disabled Trumps account indefinitely from Twitch after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. Another incident cited by the two GOP Reps include Amazons de-platforming of Parler, a competitor to social platform Twitter, that is popular among conservatives. Jordan and Buck asked the company to produce documents by 5 p.m. on March 25 on seven alleged cases of censorship against conservative viewpoints. Amazon and Bezos didnt immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Epoch Times. Bezos earlier this year said he is set to step down as CEO in the fall, to be replaced by Andy Jassy, who currently runs the companys cloud computing business. Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon, in New York City, Dec. 14, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Antitrust Subcommittee chair Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), were copied on the letter. The letter to Amazon comes just over a week after Jordan called on Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, to hold a public committee hearing on cancel culture, which would be the first of its kind. Nadlers office at the time did not respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. Jordan, who focused on cancel culture in his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in late February, 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. Public sentiment against big tech censorship and cancel culture has grown louder following the censorship of former Trump and other conservatives, especially in the lead up to and aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, and following the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, amid allegations of voting irregularities and election fraud, and the New York Posts unfavorable report about then-candidate Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden. Online platforms have been accused of using their powers to stamp out or suppress speech they dont agree with. Trump and a number of other GOP lawmakers have, since last year repeatedly called to limit or remove legal liability protections under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act for companies that are believed to have censored viewpoints they dont like. Janita Kan contributed to this report. A young woman who decapitated her mother at their Sydney home after stabbing her head and face more than 100 times has been jailed for at least 16 years and two months. Jessica Camilleri was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury after two forensic psychiatrists told the trial she was suffering from substantial impairment of the mind when she lost control and 'saw red'. Rita Camilleri was alive long enough to sustain more than 90 defensive wounds during the brutal onslaught by her daughter, a report later found. Jessica Camilleri (pictured) was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury after two forensic psychiatrists told the trial she was suffering from substantial impairment of the mind when she lost control and 'saw red' Rita Camilleri (pictured) was alive long enough to sustain more than 90 defensive wounds during the brutal onslaught by her daughter, a report later found Camilleri used seven kitchen knives in the attack, four of which broke due to force, before taking her mother's head outside their St Clair home and placing it on a footpath on July 19, 2019. Justice Helen Wilson sentenced the 27-year-old in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, describing the attack among the most serious instances of manslaughter. The crime of extraordinary viciousness and brutality was made worse by the fact it was committed in Ms Camilleri's own home by her own beloved child, she said. The horror-film fan knew what she had done was criminal and wrong as she lied to police immediately after saying she acted in self-defence, Justice Wilson said. Jessica Camilleri (pictured) was last month found guilty of manslaughter for the brutal death of her mother, Rita, in July 2019 However, she accepted that she was substantially impaired by multiple mental disorders and was unable to control her deep and violent rage. Two forensic psychiatrists had told the trial the frenzied knife attack was prompted by an intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder that features a fixation on horror films, though only one attributed the loss of control to the mixture of those conditions. The other expert said an intermittent explosive disorder had a significant role to play. She had an obsession with horror films, owning eight copies of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and five of Jeepers Creepers, which she watched 'over and over again', the court heard. Camilleri has been sentenced for a maximum term of 21 years and seven months. By Kim Jae-heun Food-manufacturing conglomerate Daesang is continuing to use Vietnam as its main base for expanding its presence in Southeast Asia, achieving all-time-high sales there last year. The company has been expanding its production facilities consistently in Vietnam, where sales have soared continually. Daesang's Vietnam unit achieved 152.8 billion won in sales in 2020, up 9 percent year-on-year, with growth from subsidiaries Miwon Vietnam and Duc Viet Food contributing heavily to the total. Miwon Vietnam saw a rise in sales of sauces, seaweed and tteokbokki or stir-friend rice cakes, while Duc Viet Food increased its frozen food lineup and diversified retail channels to discount stores, traditional markets and hotels. Daesang first entered the Vietnamese market in 1994 by establishing Miwon Vietnam. In the same year, it built a factory there to make the artificial flavor enhancer known as monosodium glutamate (MSG). Since then, the company has been building more factories countrywide to produce nearly 350 million tons of MSG. Daesang entered Vietnamese refrigerated and frozen food market in 2016 by acquiring Duc Viet Food, which produced sausage meat. It aimed to increase its retail infrastructure while securing stable income through a local firm. Last year, the food maker finished construction of another production facility in Hai Duong in the northern part of Vietnam at a cost of 15 billion won. The new factory has an annual production capacity of 14,000 tons. Daesang plans to target the convenience food market with its trademark Korean-style sauces. It will also launch a global food brand, Chungjungone O' Food in the near future. The company's ultimate goal is to use the Vietnamese and Indonesian markets as stepping stones to expand its business into other Southeast Asian countries. To do this, Daesang said it will continue to invest in the Vietnamese market. "Daesang entered the Indonesian market in 1973 and expanded its business in the food and materials markets in Vietnam and the Philippines. We will continue to invest in the Vietnamese market to strengthen our competitiveness in the global food market and lead the food and material business in Southeast Asia," a Daesang official said. A brash woman uses her wits to take down corrupt corporations in the new trailer for ABC's Rebel, starring Katey Sagal. The new series from Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff is based on the life of the real Erin Brockovich, years after the movie that bore her name made her famous. Sagal plays a fictionalized version of Brockovich named Annie 'Rebel' Bello, a blue-collar legal advocate who doesn't possess a law degree. Trailer: A brash woman uses her wits to take down corrupt corporations in the new trailer for ABC's Rebel, starring Katey Sagal Based on: The new series from Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff is based on the life of the real Erin Brockovich, years after the movie that bore her name made her famous The trailer begins with Rebel's daughter Ziggie (Ariela Barer) telling her the press has arrived, as Rebel replies, 'Oh perfect timing, momma's gotta go get arrested.' When Rebel asks if Ziggie knows who to call, she replies, 'Of course I know who to call,' though Rebel adds, 'last time you said you knew who to call you didn't call anybody and I spent the whole day in jail.' Annie is telling someone that she has, 'picked up too many names, too many husbands' and that, 'most people call me Rebel,' adding, 'I bring corporations to her knees.' Daughter: The trailer begins with Rebel's daughter Ziggie (Ariela Barer) telling her the press has arrived, as Rebel replies, 'Oh perfect timing, momma's gotta go get arrested' Jail: When Rebel asks if Ziggie knows who to call, she replies, 'Of course I know who to call,' though Rebel adds, 'last time you said you knew who to call you didn't call anybody and I spent the whole day in jail' When someone asks if Rebel is, 'that famous lawyer,' another character adds, 'she's not a lawyer, she's just loud.' Rebel steals the show at a Stonemore corporate event by telling the crowed that the corporation is 'evil' while an executive tries to wrestle the mic away from her. Her associates, including Amir (Mo McRae) watch her go on 'a tear' on television, with Amir adding, 'That's always fun to watch.' Loud: When someone asks if Rebel is, 'that famous lawyer,' another character adds, 'she's not a lawyer, she's just loud' Wrestle: Rebel steals the show at a Stonemore corporate event by telling the crowed that the corporation is 'evil' while an executive tries to wrestle the mic away from her When Rebel falls from the stage onto a table, she visits the home of her boss, lawyer Julian Cruz (Andy Garcia), who says, 'they got a shot up your skirt, it's embarrassing,' though Rebel retorts, 'It's free publicity.' We then learn what case she's working on involves Stonemore, with a group of over 3,000 people who all developed auto-immune symptoms they never had before getting their Stonemore heart valve. She's seen telling off the same Stonemore executive, stating that their company is hurting people and they know it, while also bringing a group of people affected by Stonemore to her boss. Boss: When Rebel falls from the stage onto a table, she visits the home of her boss, lawyer Julian Cruz (Andy Garcia), who says, 'they got a shot up your skirt, it's embarrassing,' though Rebel retorts, 'It's free publicity' Clients: She's seen telling off the same Stonemore executive, stating that their company is hurting people and they know it, while also bringing a group of people affected by Stonemore to her boss Her boss says he needs to work on 'something more cheerful,' but Rebel reminds him, 'you're working on a sex trafficking case.' When she's asked by another character to 'let it go,' Rebel says, 'Can I just watch 3,000 people die? No I can't.' Rebel does go too far at times, and when rejected by a potential client, she takes a shotgun and shoots through the window of his car. Cheerful: Her boss says he needs to work on 'something more cheerful,' but Rebel reminds him, 'you're working on a sex trafficking case' Another daughter: When she's asked by another daughter (to 'let it go,' Rebel says, 'Can I just watch 3,000 people die? No I can't' Too far: Rebel does go too far at times, and when rejected by a potential client, she takes a shotgun and shoots through the window of his car 'Uh, I shouldn't have done that,' she says remorsefully, as another character takes the shotgun from her. One of her exes, played by James Leisure, tells her, 'You're not an easy woman, but you are an extraordinary woman. The trailer ends with Rebel and Julian walking together, as he tells her, 'I admire you, but I prefer to admire you from afar, through binoculars on an expedition once a year.' Rebel debuts on ABC April 8. Not an easy woman: One of her exes, played by James Leisure, tells her, 'You're not an easy woman, but you are an extraordinary woman Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 77F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. California Governor Gavin Newsom seal View Photo Sacramento, CA Currently, there are four tiers on the states COVID-19 blueprint for businesses, but a fifth will soon be added. The most restrictive tier is purple, followed by red, orange and yellow. Governor Gavin Newsom says state public health officials will soon announce plans for a green tier, which counties will enter once there is little to no risk of transmission of COVID-19. He was asked about this over the summer, and at the time argued it was too far off to talk about. He said state officials will release more details soon about green tier, but did not elaborate on what the requirements would be for counties to enter. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Update 11:32 p.m.: The kayaker has been found safe and is being checked on by medics, Helena police said. The Shelby County Sheriffs Office, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Shelby County Emergency Management Agency helped in the search. Original story: Authorities are searching for a kayaker that went missing Thursday night on the Cahaba River. Helena police and fire personnel responded to the incident. A helicopter has been deployed to aid in the search, police said. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates. Medvedchuk was earlier summoned for interrogation in the leaked tapes case. The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is probing into alleged complicity involving Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in Ukraine, Ukrainian Member of Parliament with the Opposition Platform For Life Party Viktor Medvedchuk and his associate Taras Kozak, who owns three TV channels, NewsOne, ZIK and 112 Ukraine, which are now under sanctions. This information was shared by journalist Valeriy Kalnysh on Facebook on March 11 in a copy of a written response to an inquiry filed by ex-secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksiy Danylyuk. Read alsoSBU confirms interrogation of Medvedchuk in Surkov tapes case The case was opened under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on violations of the laws or customs of war, which foresees imprisonment from eight to twelve years. The Prosecutor General added this case to the register of pretrial investigations on March 1, after the NSDC imposed sanctions on Kozak and Medvedchuk on February 20. "On March 1, 2021, the Prosecutor General entered data into the State Register of Pretrial Investigations on the fact that representatives of the leadership of the aggressor country, the Russian Federation, M., K. and related persons had, by complicity, committed actions under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the document says. Medvedchuk was earlier summoned by the SBU Security Service of Ukraine for interrogation in the so-called case of leaked tapes with his conversation with Putin's former aide Vladislav Surkov. Sanctions against Medvedchuk and Kozak On February 2, 2021, President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted an 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 recent Winnipeg Free Press article Seeking balance on Manitobas climate file (March 1) clearly illuminates the lack of urgency and action that the climate crisis has been given in this province. Greta Thunberg said it clearly: Our house is on fire. Not only are we not panicking, we are wilfully blind to the flames and the fire department has not been notified. Meanwhile, the flames continue to grow. Opinion THE recent Winnipeg Free Press article "Seeking balance on Manitobas climate file" (March 1) clearly illuminates the lack of urgency and action that the climate crisis has been given in this province. Greta Thunberg said it clearly: "Our house is on fire." Not only are we not panicking, we are wilfully blind to the flames and the fire department has not been notified. Meanwhile, the flames continue to grow. In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the 1.5 Report, a profoundly important document that clearly shows the scale of the problem and the required timetable for action: we need to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 if we hope to avoid the worst consequences of climate change and to leave a livable climate for the generations that follow us. Not taking action at the necessary scale and with the targets consistent with this objective is a denial of that duty. The Manitoba governments Climate and Green Plan was released in October of 2017. It contains much laudable language and it does have some good ideas. However, it is not a plan: It does not set any meaningful targets, theres no timetable, and regrettably, no intention to meet the IPCC 1.5C objectives. This is why Manitobas Climate Action Team has deemed it necessary to work with local subject-matter experts and concerned citizens to publish Manitobas Road to Resilience: A Community Climate Action Pathway to a Fossil Fuel Free Future. (http://road2resilience.ca) The objective of this document is to provide a pathway to full decarbonization in Manitoba zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As we build that pathway we will be building our local resilience. Resilience means providing for our essential needs ourselves without fossil fuel. The Road to Resilience (R2R) brings forward key ideas that all need to be considered, discussed, researched and implemented immediately: Food we need to feed ourselves locally without fossil-fuel fertilizers or using diesel for machinery. We need to look at soil health and nutrients differently. "Organic waste" needs to be treated as valuable organic input. We need to develop alternatives to anhydrous ammonia fertilizer production via natural gas. We need to be adding carbon to our soils year upon year. Livestock needs to become part of the soil carbon cycle again. Tractors can run on biodiesel made by producer co-operatives from a portion of their own production. Buildings we need to heat all of our buildings, old and new, affordably without natural gas. First of all, we need to stop making the problem worse; we need to stop expanding the natural gas distribution system. We need stronger building codes to ensure new buildings are much more energy efficient. And we need deep energy retrofits for most of our existing buildings. We need to develop energy balanced, utility-run district heating systems that incorporate geothermal energy. We need to incorporate building energy labelling to make it visible in the market. Biomass can be used as a heating fuel in some, appropriate locations (e.g. wood for remote boreal communities, agricultural waste for rural areas). Transportation we need to move all goods and people without gasoline or diesel. We can reduce the need to travel by providing high-speed internet to more of the province. We can encourage more active transportation. We need to plan and prepare for the inevitability of all vehicles becoming electric. We need airships to provide transport options for communities currently dependent upon disappearing winter roads. Energy and electricity we need to develop and use our electricity resources effectively, efficiently, and affordably to meet those previous three objectives. We cant just "switch fuels" from fossil to hydro. We need more electrical generation even with the new Keeyask dam, we dont have nearly enough to heat all of our buildings and charge all our vehicles if they were suddenly switched to electric. The critical step is to maximize building energy efficiency. We need to increase electrical production and we need to plan and develop strategies for massive amounts of industrial and domestic energy storage. Efficiency Manitoba needs to be refocused on GHG reduction and should receive carbon tax revenue to do it. We call the Road to Resilience a pathway, not a plan; the next step is to work together to develop a plan. The Climate Action Team intends to continue to engage with other concerned citizens, Indigenous leaders and organizations to further develop and enhance the R2R until it truly becomes a plan complete with budgets, timelines, and resources. We invite the Manitoba government to work with us in formulating that plan. In fact, we cant do it without its earnest and committed involvement. However, the first step toward putting out a fire is to realize and accept that somethings burning. Curt Hull is project director for the Climate Change Connection and a member of the Climate Action Team. Although Latino, Black and lower-income communities in Houston have been ravaged by COVID-19, the people living in these neighborhoods have been vaccinated at a much lower rate than their whiter, wealthier counterparts. A Houston Chronicle analysis of state COVID vaccine data found that 17 of the 20 ZIP codes in Harris County with the lowest percentage of people who have received at least one vaccine dose were majority Latino; 18 had median incomes below the county average. Meanwhile, about 55 percent of all vaccine doses administered in the county have gone to residents of white, higher-income ZIP codes, despite these areas making up only 40 percent of the county's population. The dichotomy leaves neighborhoods such as Greater Greenspoint, where 10 percent of the population has been sickened by the virus, with very low rates of vaccination, whereas communities such as Bellaire, where far fewer have fallen ill, boast significantly higher immunization rates. A mix of factors outreach, access to vaccination sites and supply are preventing a more equitable distribution of the vaccine. Percent of population that has received at least one COVID vaccine dose by ZIP code The map below shows the percentage of residents in a ZIP code who have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Darker red areas mean more residents have gotten it, while lighter areas mean fewer residents have received a dose. Source: Department of State Health Services | Created by Jordan Rubio I am not surprised, said Richard Torres, president of the CHRISTUS Foundation for Healthcare, which operates clinics catering to Hispanic and low-income communities in Houston. Areas that have been hit the hardest from the virus have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the county. Of the 10 ZIP codes with the highest number of cases per capita, only one has fully vaccinated more than 5 percent of its residents. And all but one ranked in the bottom half of ZIP codes when examining the percentage of the population that has received at least one dose. NEW TRENDS: More contagious COVID variant 'actively spreading' in Houston, health officials find While availability affects all neighborhoods, Torres said the restricted flow of vaccines coming to Texas is particularly bad for low-income communities. Many of the people living in those neighborhoods are essential workers, who may not be able to step out in the middle of the day for a vaccine appointment or spend hours waiting at a drive-thru site. If youre talking about making a dent in this problem, you need to look at where you have the biggest bang for your buck, Torres said. I would argue we need to prioritize these minority communities because that is where the need is greatest, and where you can make the greatest impact you can on the overall infection rate. Hardest-hit, but not most-vaccinated While the number of vaccine doses administered per ZIP code hasnt been spread across the county evenly, neither has the brunt of the pandemic. Latino and Black majority ZIP codes have accounted for nearly 62 percent of all confirmed COVID cases in Harris County, according to city and county data. And the lions share of the countys hardest-hit ZIP codes is either majority Latino or Black. Nationally, white people are more than three times as likely to obtain a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine compared to Latino people, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. These patterns are not new, said Samantha Artiga, KFFs director of racial equity and health policy. What we're seeing is the outcome of longstanding inequities across social and economic factors that have created increased barriers to care for people of color, Artiga said. In 77032, a majority Latino and Black ZIP code near George Bush Intercontinental Airport, there have been nearly 1,500 confirmed cases for a population of 14,334 one of the highest per capita rates in the county. However, less than 8 percent of its population has received at least one vaccine dose. On the other hand, 77401 in Bellaire has had one of the lowest COVID case per capita rates in the county, with 788 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, according to local health data. However, nearly 65 percent of its residents have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. During the initial rollout, Texas prioritized hubs that could get thousands of doses into peoples arms as quickly as possible. But the strategy didnt address access or inequity issues, said Stephen Williams, director of the Houston Health Department. The vaccine site at NRG Park is supposed to help target residents in the hardest-hit neighborhoods. Williams said the city has been very mindful and purposeful in prioritizing the most vulnerable ZIP codes. We have to go specifically into the community in terms of outreach and vaccine efforts, he said. So far, those hubs are not in those communities. Instead, most are located in the ZIP codes with the highest percentages of first doses administered in the county the Texas Medical Center (ZIP code 77030) or Memorial Villages (77024). Health policy experts say transportation poses another problem: At mega-sites like NRG Park, people must arrive by car, leaving those who travel on foot or by public transit a population that skews toward low-income, Black and Latino people out of the equation. A lot of our patients are public-transit dependent, said Torres, the CHRISTUS Health president. That seems to have been a barrier for them to access the NRG site. Where vaccine needs to go The numbers indicate that the vaccines arent reaching where they need to be, said Anne Dunkelberg, a health policy expert at Every Texan, an Austin-based think tank. Dunkelberg said the state needs a clearer plan to get vaccines into low-income, Latino and Black communities: Megasites work but we need multi-pronged approaches. TEXAS VACCINE TRACKER: This interactive tracker follows COVID-19 vaccine distribution progress in Houston, Texas and the rest of the country In 77060, which includes Greater Greenspoint, a little more than 800 people are fully vaccinated out of a population of more than 46,000. About 2,600 vaccine doses have been administered to residents in this ZIP code, which is more than three-quarters Latino with a median household income of $32,000. Compare that to 77401, in Bellaire, where white residents make up about 70 percent of the population and the median household income is nearly $200,000. There, about a quarter of all residents are fully vaccinated and more than 11,400 vaccine doses have been administered four times the number of doses administered in Greenspoint, which is significantly more populous. Vaccine providers say they want to reach out to more communities, but have been hampered by the doses available. Cynthia Arreola managed to snag a dose when she took her aunt to be vaccinated at CHRISTUS St. Marys Clinic in the East End about a month ago. When workers asked her if she wanted to receive an extra dose of vaccine that was about to expire, she said yes. But no one else in her family has been able to get vaccinated. I asked if there would be any more doses for my husband and they didnt have any, she said. CHRISTUSs clinics are struggling to get 250 doses weekly, making it difficult to determine how many patients they should schedule for vaccine appointments each day. The Houston Health Department receives thousands of doses as a hub provider, but operates more sites and inoculates more patients. You need to maintain the sites that are giving out 1,000 doses a day or more, Williams said. There needs to be a parallel effort to push vaccines into these communities where there are COVID-vulnerable populations. However, race and income levels are not the only factor when it comes to a ZIP codes vaccination rate. Age seems to play a significant factor as well. Across the county, ZIP codes with a higher share of residents aged 65 and older tend to have more people who have been vaccinated. Those ZIP codes with a lower vaccination rate, including Greater Greenspoint, have a smaller share of people 65 and older than the county average. In context Latinos make up a fifth of all Texans who have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, despite making up nearly two fifths of the states population, according to state data. Latinos also make up more than 46 percent of all deaths from the virus, according to state data, a disproportionately high amount. Renew Houston: Get the latest wellness news delivered to your inbox Experts say medical providers need to increase outreach in multiple languages and expand vaccine sites to the communities that are physically accessible to vulnerable groups. That includes creating vaccine sign-ups that are intuitive and meet people at their level of technological access and literacy. When you talk about the gap between those that are wealthy and non-wealthy, and white and non-white, I don't think it's intentional, Torres said. I think it's just a reflection of the effort that we've made so far and we have to fine tune it. jordan.rubio@chron.com gwendolyn.wu@chron.com marie.dejesus@chron.com Los Angeles, March 12 : British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Dr Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has explained he did not appear in the first season of "WandaVision" because he was busy with his production company. "I wasn't in 'WandaVision', I'd been quite busy," he said on the show "Jake's Takes" on YouTube, reports screenrant.com. For the uninitiated, ever since it was announced at the San Diego Comic Con that the events from "WandaVision" to connect to the sequel, "Dr Strange In The Multiverse of Madness", it was believed that Cumberbatch would make a brief appearance on the nine-epiosde show that concluded recently. "I'm sorry to disappoint you. I don't know, yeah. I mean, that would've been fun I guess. It would've let into (Elizabeth Olsen's) involvement with (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness") but, ah hell, you know. That's all to come," Cumberbatch said on the show. The 44-year-old actor also added that he has been shooting for the sequel to "Dr. Strange" since Christmas last year. "We're in the middle of it now, we've been filming since before Christmas, and it's very exciting," he said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The response to war is not another war; the response to weapons is not other weapons... the response is fraternity, Pope Francis said at the General Audience on Wednesday morning, 10 March, as he recalled his recent Apostolic Journey to Iraq. Addressing the faithful from the private library of the Vaticans Apostolic Palace, he stressed that the people of Iraq have the right to live in peace. The following is a translation of the Holy Fathers catechesis, which he shared in Italian. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! In the past few days, the Lord allowed me to visit Iraq, carrying out a project of Saint John Paul ii . Never before has a Pope been in the land of Abraham. Providence willed that this should happen now, as a sign of hope, after years of war and terrorism, and during a severe pandemic. After this Visit, my soul is filled with gratitude gratitude to God and to all those who made it possible: to the President of the Republic and the Government of Iraq; to the countrys Patriarchs and Bishops, together with all the ministers and the faithful of the respective Churches; to the religious Authorities, beginning with the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani, with whom I had an unforgettable meeting in his residence in Najaf. I deeply felt the penitential sense of this pilgrimage: I could not draw near to that tortured people, to that martyr-Church, without taking upon myself, in the name of the Catholic Church, the cross they have been carrying for years; an enormous cross, like the one placed at the entrance of Qaraqosh. I felt it particularly seeing the still-open wounds of the destruction, and even more so when meeting and hearing the testimony of those who survived the violence, persecution, exile. And at the same time, I saw around me the joy of welcoming Christs messenger; I saw the hope of being open to a horizon of peace and fraternity, summed up in Jesus words that were the motto of the Visit: You are all brothers (Mt 23:8). I found this hope in the discourse of the President of the Republic. I discovered it again in the many greetings and testimonies, in the songs and gestures of the people. I read it on the luminous faces of the young people and in the vivacious eyes of the elderly. People stood waiting for the Pope for 5 hours, even women with children in their arms. They waited and in their eyes there was hope. The Iraqi people have the right to live in peace; they have the right to rediscover the dignity that belongs to them. Their religious and cultural roots go back thousands of years: Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization. Historically, Baghdad is a city of primary importance, which for centuries housed the richest library in the world. And what destroyed it? War. War is always that monster that transforms itself with the change of epochs and continues to devour humanity. But the response to war is not another war; the response to weapons is not other weapons. And I asked myself: who was selling the weapons to the terrorists? Who sells weapons today to the terrorists, who are carrying out massacres in other areas, let us think of Africa, for example? It is a question that I would like someone to answer. The response is not war, but the response is fraternity. This is the challenge not only for Iraq: it is the challenge for many regions in conflict and, ultimately, it is the challenge for the entire world: fraternity. Will we be capable of creating fraternity among us, of building a culture of brothers and sisters? Or will we continue with the logic Cain began, war? Brotherhood, fraternity. For this reason, we met and we prayed, Christians and Muslims, along with representatives of other religions, in Ur, where Abraham received Gods call some four thousand years ago. Abraham is our father in faith because he listened to the voice of God who promised him descendants; he left everything and departed. God is faithful to His promises and still today guides our steps toward peace; He guides the steps of those who journey on Earth with their gaze turned toward Heaven. And in Ur, standing together under those luminous heavens the same heavens in which our father Abraham saw us, his descendants that phrase seemed to resound once again in our hearts: You are all brothers and sisters. A message of fraternity came from the ecclesial encounter in the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Baghdad, where in 2010 forty-eight people were killed, including two priests, during the celebration of Mass. The Church in Iraq is a martyr Church. And in that temple which bears, inscribed in the stone, the memory of those martyrs the joy of the encounter resounded: my amazement at being in their midst mingled with their joy at having the Pope among them. We launched a message of fraternity from Mosul and from Qaraqosh, along the Tigris River, near the ruins of ancient Nineveh. The ISIS occupation caused thousands and thousands of inhabitants to flee, including many Christians of different confessions and other persecuted minorities, especially the Yazidi. The ancient identity of these cities has been ruined. Now they are trying hard to rebuild; Muslims are inviting Christians to return, and together they are restoring churches and mosques. Fraternity is there. And, please, let us continue to pray for them, our sorely tried brothers and sisters, so they might have the strength to start over. And thinking of the many Iraqis who have emigrated, I would like to say to them: you have left everything, like Abraham; like him, safeguard faith and hope, and be weavers of friendship and of fraternity wherever you are. And, if you can, return. A message of fraternity came from the two Eucharistic Celebrations: the one in Baghdad, in the Chaldean Rite, and the one in Erbil, the city in which I was welcomed by the President of the region and its Prime Minister, by the Authorities whom I thank so much for having come to welcome me and I was also welcomed by the people. Abrahams hope, and that of his descendants, were realized in the mystery we celebrated, in Jesus, the Son that God the Father did not spare, but gave for everyones salvation: through His death and resurrection, He opened the way to the promised land, to that new life where tears are dried, wounds healed, brothers and sisters reconciled. Dear brothers and sisters, let us praise God for this historic Visit and let us continue to pray for that Land and for the Middle East. In Iraq, despite the roar of destruction and weapons, the palm trees, a symbol of the country and of its hope, have continued to grow and bear fruit. So it is for fraternity: like the fruit of the palm trees, it does not make noise, but is fruitful and grows. May God, who is peace, grant a future of fraternity to Iraq, to the Middle East and to the entire world! Special Greetings I cordially greet the English-speaking faithful. May our Lenten journey bring us to the joy of Easter with hearts purified and renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Upon you and your families I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you! Lastly, my thoughts, as always, go to the elderly, to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. I invoke divine grace upon each one, so that whether in youth, in suffering, or in mutual conjugal love, you may receive the joy of Easter, revitalized by the journey of conversion and penance that we are now experiencing. My blessing to all. The regular meeting of the leaders of the Normandy Four countries (Ukraine, France, Germany, Russia) may take place in April, but it is too early to say if it will happen, head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Leonid Kravchuk said on Friday. "Now there is a lot of work at the level of political advisers, where Yermak [Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak] is taking part, and, accordingly, Kozak, Putin's advisor, and others. They are just deciding this main issue of holding the meeting at the highest level. It is scheduled, by now, probably, for April," Kravchuk said. At the same time, the first president of Ukraine said that it is too early to speak for sure about its holding, since "it is very difficult to foresee Russia's position." "It is difficult to say how it will actually be, because it is very difficult to foresee the activities or position of Russia. It changes literally every day," the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG said. As reported, on December 9, 2019, the meeting of the leaders of the Normandy Four took place in Paris. As part of the summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, President of France Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of Russia Vladimir Putin held talks to resolve the situation in Donbas and drew up a final communique. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. At the time Columbus discovered the New World , the great difference between the main Mexica god and the European God was that the European God would kill you for not being good, and the Mexica god would kill you for not being bad. Even when we had mischievous gods, we were better than the Mexica, the most dominant tribe of the Aztecs. Going all the way back to the Romans, God might throw an army under the bus because a general broke his word, and the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians all believed that God is better than us which is why He warred with us constantly. Huitzilopochtli, the main god of the Mexica, had no such benevolence to fall back upon. You fed him, or he would wipe you out. And the way that you fed him (and other lesser deities) was by flaying people, or burning them alive, or cutting out their hearts. Sometimes two of the three. I'm told that some priests even took the human skin and wore it, like Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Things had been this way for a long time before the Spaniards arrived. By the time whites got to America, the Mexica religion had already reached its worst. Decades of bloody imperialism had brought the Mexica to the top. A few years of heavy snows and crop failures had brought the empire to the brink. They cranked up the sacrifices to a level nobody had ever seen before, perhaps in the history of the whole world ten thousand in a single festival, circa 1450. Unfortunately, right after they did, the weather got better again. This reinforced the already murderous mindset of the Aztecs, and they went ravaging the countryside for people to loot, rape, flay, and burn. T.R. Fehrenbach says in Fire and Blood, his history of Mexico, that estimates of victims after this "miracle" range from the tens to the hundreds of thousands. At one point, the capital, Tenochtitlan, became so covered in blood that diseases easily broke out, and its lake, which was already on the verge of toxicity, became filthy, putrid, and dangerous. Tallies of the dead depended on who was doing the talking. The pro-Spanish conquistadors, whose interest lay in demonizing the natives (and thus taking an obvious moral high ground), said they found as many as a hundred thousand trophy skulls, and Bernal Diaz says around twenty thousand people a year were slaughtered before the conquest. The pro-Indian Spaniards, such as Bartolome de las Casas, looking to downplay the atrocities and save an already brutalized ex-brutalizer, said the yearly "expenditure" was only a hundred. Nice guy, but definitely a lie. Some people might blame the Mexica for bulldozing and brutalizing their neighbors, but the plain fact is that their neighbors, had they had the genius and organization of the Mexica, would have done the same thing in their place. Culturally and religiously, they were too similar. The Mexica simply beat them to it, just as the Spaniards (thank God) out-produced and out-organized the Aztecs, and as we beat and out-bred the Spaniards. The great Mexica conqueror's name was Tlacaelel, who ruled somewhere between 1430 and 1481. He was great founder like Lycurgus, or Moses, though he preferred to work behind the throne rather than on it. He took a backwater, down-on-their-luck people and gave them a new history. Told them they were the chosen race, sent by Huitzilopochtli, the Sun-god, to do His will. What was God's will? Not to be just, or wise, or even just kind, but to make all the other races sacrifice the right way and to the right god. How were they to accomplish this? Through heartless and perpetual warfare*. Obedience on Earth was rewarded with wealth and power and successful crops. A good death was rewarded by an eternity in paradise. Tlacaelel gave them the myth and then organized them into an army. They were just a random tribe, at first, and relatively egalitarian. He split the people into classes, and the first of these was the warriors. Being a warrior was the only way up after that. You had to distinguish yourself in battle, or you would never get a fiefdom or a good position in the government. Once you did kill enough enemies, you took land and serfs and slaves from all the peoples around you. You made them work for you, giving them only a bare subsistence, as the Spartans did the with the Helots, and you used everything beyond this to enrich yourself and your family. You would be given a title, and the title would be passed on to your children. Beyond this military aristocracy sprawled a massive bureaucracy the lawyers, engineers, teachers, administrators, and other officials necessary to keep up the Aztec empire. Most Mexica lived on their own little plots and farmed for themselves and their families. Massive amounts of land, on the other hand, were stolen from (and worked by) the conquered. A merchant class, not existing for the sake of itself, but to do the special bidding of the state, ran special errands for the government. I'm told by Fehrenbach that nobody except the freeholder, working his own land to feed his own family, worked for anybody other than the state. So war socialism was the modus operandi. Large tracts of farmland, known as Shield or War Fields, were tilled by the conquered and reserved for the military. Thus, warfare became long-range and protracted. Nobody in the whole region, reaching from the desert up north to Panama down south, was safe from rape and plunder and sacrifice. Pretexts to warfare were easily invented. An insult, a delayed tribute, a harassed merchant were all excuses to mass-murder. And I'm told the Mexica were experts at being insulted. You would think subjugating the neighbors would be enough for any people, but the Mexica were bad at forging alliances. Why sacrifice your own people when you can capture the neighbors? So for a while, they left enemy cities virtually in charge of themselves and put them under tribute, and when rebellions perennially broke out, they decided to raid them unless there was an unconditional surrender. There was no Pax Mexicana. Wars were staged to find victims, and the need for victims was endless. Governors were placed over cities, and cities were brutalized into rebellion. Religion aside, the machinery of the state would allow nothing less. The most prominent people in the society were warriors. The only way for the lower classes to get into the upper classes was by killing or capturing. The growing bureaucracy needed more plunder. The Mexica peasantry wasn't allowed to be plundered. And the best way to get into heaven was by dying in battle. There was probably no people, in the history of the world, more inclined by their system to warfare and mass murder. I try to avoid comparing people to Hitler, but I have no problem comparing Hitler to Tlacaelel. Jeremy Egerer is the author of the troublesome essays on Letters to Hannah, and he welcomes followers on Twitter and Facebook. Image: Travis via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0. 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. EUGENE, Ore -- After Gov. Kate Brown announced all public schools must offer an in-person learning option to students in kindergarten through fifth grade by March 29, Eugene's 4J school district was forced to update their reopening plan. RELATED: GOV. BROWN: ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST OFFER IN-PERSON LEARNING SOON "We are having to make some adjustments there," 4J spokesperson Kerry Delf said. "That was an unexpected change but it is one that we are making and we are looking forward to getting students back into our school buildings soon." The district had originally planned for students in second through fifth grade to return to the classroom April 5 but announced Wednesday evening those students will return in-person March 29 for on-site hybrid transition and orientation. RELATED: 4J RELEASES NEW TIMELINE TO GET STUDENTS BACK TO THE CLASSROOM Delf said the governor's announcement was unexpected, but school officials are preparing to welcome students back to the classrooms for the first time this school year. "Our students have been out of school buildings for the most part for a year and it will be a change for them to come back," Delf said. "We want to make sure that everybody has the transition they need and they know what to do to be safe and be able to learn." When they return to the building for classes, students will be separated into two groups. Group A will learn in person on Mondays and Tuesdays while Group B will learn in person on Thursdays and Fridays. All students will learn virtually on Wednesdays. Logan Ross is a junior in the 4J school district. He said getting elementary school students, like his younger brother, back in the classroom a week earlier is a good idea. "I definitely think it's a good thing, seeing from what my brother has done in elementary school," Ross said. "They really just don't have much to do from online. They're just learning a few things and not focusing too much because they're little and it's kind of hard for them." The updated timeline will not affect the district's youngest learners in kindergarten through first grade who will return for on-site hybrid transition and orientation Monday or the district's oldest learners in sixth through twelfth grade who will return for a full hybrid learning schedule the week of April 12. Under the governor's orders, students may continue learning virtually if their parents choose. According to the 4J school district's website, this is the most updated expected timeline: A pair of alumni and a student from Virginia's University of Mary Washington are attempting to obtain a Guinness World Record for brewing the world's spiciest beer. ADVERTISEMENT Ray Parrish, who obtained his degree in physics from the university in 1991, is now co-owner of the Maltese Brewing Company in Federicksburg, which produces Signal One 2.0 beer, a pineapple IPA infused with 500 Carolina Reaper chilies. Parrish said he discovered Guinness World Records does not currently have a record for the world's spiciest beer, so he decided to originate the record by measuring Signal One 2.0's heat -- but he needed help. The brewer reached out to Sarah Smith, a 2012 graduate who is now a visiting professor in UMW's Department of Chemistry and Physics. Smith brought junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki onto the team. The trio said they are using the Scoville Heat index, a unit of measurement that calculates chili heat, and attempting to determine the brew's concentration of heat-inducing chemicals capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. The researchers said their findings will be submitted to Guinness in mid-March and they expect to hear within a few months whether Signal One 2.0 is indeed the world's spiciest beer. After vanishing for 62 years and ending up as a coffee table, a mosaic that adorned the bridge of one of Emperor Caligula's lavish pleasure barges has returned to Italy. The 2,000-year-old, 5 sq. foot red, green and white pattern was recovered from the bottom of Lake Nemi 19 miles south of Rome in 1929, at the behest of Mussolini. After avoiding the inferno that destroyed both boats during WWII, the mosaic vanished sometime after 1955 and was illegally brought into the United States. In 2017, Italian police tracked the item to the Manhattan home of an Italian couple, who said they bought the mosaic in good faith from an aristocrat in the 1960s. After experts spent years removing the tea and coffee stains from the ancient artwork which had been mounted into a small table it was repatriated. The mosaic is now on display in the Museum of Roman Ships on the shore of Lake Nemi, overlooking where it would once have been walked on by Caligula himself. Scroll down for video The 2,000-year-old, 5 sq. foot red, green and white pattern (pictured) was originally recovered from the bottom of Lake Nemi 19 miles south of Rome in 1929, at the behest of Mussolini After vanishing for 62 years and ending up as a coffee table, a mosaic that adorned the bridge of one of Emperor Caligula's lavish pleasure barges (as illustrated) has returned to Italy Experts believe that Caligula took inspiration for the ship's designs from the lavish lifestyles of the rulers of Syracuse and Ptolemaic Egypt. Pictured: a bust of the emperor, left, and Caligula as played by Malcolm McDowell in the 1979 erotic historical drama of the same name The exhibit displaying the mosaic was unveiled at the Museum of Ships yesterday. Marking the occasion, Italy's Director General of National Museums Massimo Osanna told the Telegraph that it is 'fundamental to bring archaeological artefacts like these back to their original contexts.' 'Im very happy that it has finally been restored to where it came from,' he added. According to Major Paolo Salvatori of the 'Arma dei Carabinieri' the national gendarmerie of Italy the recovery of the mosaic involved a 'complex' operation which was undertaken in tandem with US police and the Manhattan District Attorney. It is not clear exactly when or under what circumstances the artwork ended up passing from being stored in a nation depository into the hands of private collectors. The last official record of the mosaic came in 1955, when it was photographed in Rome. The artefact appears to have changed hands at least once before being bought by the antiquities dealer Helen Fioratti and her journalist husband, Nereo. 'It was an innocent purchase,' Mrs Fioratti told the Associate Press back in October 2017 when the table was seized, explaining that the sale was arranged four decades earlier by an Italian historian known for his work recovering art stolen by the Nazis. At the time of the sale, Mrs Fioratti still lived in Italy and was told the mosaic had been owned by the aristocratic Barberini family. When she moved to the US ultimately taking residence in New York's Park Avenue the table came with her. 'We were very happy with it. We loved it. We had it for years and years, and people always complimented us on it,' she said. It was the unmistakable beauty of the mosaic that led, partly by chance, for the artefact first being recognised for what it really was. After avoiding the inferno that destroyed both so-called Nemi ships during WWII, the mosaic (pictured) vanished sometime after 1955 and was illegally brought into the United States The mosaic is now held in the Museum of Roman Ships (pictured) on the shore of Lake Nemi, overlooking where it would once have been walked on by Caligula himself 'The mosaic testifies how important and luxurious these imperial ships were,' mayor of Nemi Alberto Bertucci (pictured here with the table) said at he said at the unveiling on Thursday adding that the city was proud to be welcoming the mosaic back home Pictured: Mr Del Bufalo's book that led, partly by chance, to the mosaic's identification On October 23, 2013, architect and Roman coloured marbles and stones expert Dario Del Bufalo was the guest of honour at a rarefied lecture and book signing event at the Bulgari jewellery store on Manhattan's 5th Avenue. He was promoting his then new book, titled 'Porphyry', which explored the history of the rare, reddish-purple stone favoured by many a Roman emperor but also featured a photograph of the thought long-lost mosaic. Mr Del Bufalo said that, while signing his works, he overheard two woman who had been leafing through a copy of the book exclaim 'This is Helen's mosaic!' 'I didn't understand', Mr Del Bufalo said, recounting the story this week as the mosaic was unveiled at its new home. 'There were a lot of art experts and I asked "Who is Helen?", and they told me she is a woman who has a house on Park Avenue and this same mosaic.' Eventually, the district attorney's office got involved and they asked Mr Del Bufalo to authenticate the mosaic. He said he immediately recognized the round porphyry pieces used, as well as the restoration of a vertical crack in the work. 'When they showed me the photos of the mosaic belonging to this woman who was living in New York, I told them "Yes, it is exactly that same one",' he explained. Mrs Fioratti elected not to contest the seizure of the table citing her opinion that doing so would take too long and cost too much and she was not prosecuted. The mosaic (right) was identified and authenticated by architect and Roman coloured marbles and stones expert Dario Del Bufalo (left) after a chance encounter at a book signing with two women who recognised the artefact from the home of their friend, Helen Fioratti The 'Nemi ships' were dredged up from the lake in 1929 at the direct behest of the then Italian prime minister and fascist, Benito Mussolini who saw himself as a latter-day emperor and was fascinated with reliving the glory of ancient Rome. They had long been known to reside in the depths of the lake, but previous efforts to recover them had proven unsuccessful. After being extracted from the lakebed, the two vessels were moved to a specially- constructed museum on the nearby shoreline but their wooden remains were almost completely destroyed when the museum caught fire in 1944. It is suspected that retreating Nazi forces torched the museum out of spite as the Allied forces pushed into Italy. The mosaic, which had been moved to Rome, was spared damage in the resulting inferno. The 'Nemi ships' were dredged up from the lake in 1929 at the direct behest of the then Italian prime minister and fascist, Benito Mussolini who saw himself as a latter-day emperor and was fascinated with reliving the glory of ancient Rome. Pictured, one of the vessels in 1929 After being extracted from the lakebed, the two vessels were moved to a specially- constructed museum on the nearby shoreline but their wooden remains were almost completely destroyed when the museum caught fire in 1944. Pictured, a Nemi ship anchor It is suspected that retreating Nazi forces torched the museum out of spite as the Allied forces pushed into Italy. The mosaic, which had been moved to Rome, was spared damage in the resulting inferno. Pictured: one of the two vast Nemi ships being excavated from the lake 'The mosaic testifies how important and luxurious these imperial ships were,' mayor of Nemi Alberto Bertucci said at he said at the unveiling on Thursday adding that the city was proud to be welcoming the mosaic back home. 'These ships were like buildings: They were not supposed to sail and they confirm the greatness of this emperor who wanted to show the greatness of his rule of the Roman empire through these ships,' he explained. The vessels built sometime around 3740 AD and thought looted and sunk after Caligula's assassination in 41 AD sported not only mosaic floors but also luxurious rooms for dining and sleeping, hot and cold running water and jewelled ornaments. Experts believe that the Emperor had taken inspiration in their design from the lavish lifestyles of the Hellenistic rulers of Syracuse and Ptolemaic Egypt. The larger boat was 240 feet (73m) long and 79 feet (24m) wide, and the other only slightly smaller. It is believed that the smaller of the two vessels was constructed as a temple to the Roman goddess Diana. Archaeologists found that on board the barges had been bronze casts in the shapes of lion's and wolves' heads, as well as one styled after the Gorgon Medusa. A pipe found on one ship linked it to Caligula. It had been etched with the label 'Property of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus'. The vessels (one of which is illustrated) were built sometime around 3740 AD and thought looted and sunk after Caligula's assassination in 41 AD. They sported luxurious rooms for dining and sleeping, hot and cold running water and jewelled ornaments Archaeologists found that on board the barges had been bronze casts in the shapes of lion's and wolves' heads (as pictured), as well as one styled after the mythological Gorgon Medusa The return of the mosaic to the museum in Nemi (pictured) has cultivated renewed interest in the long-running claim that a third Nemi ship may still lie on the lake bed awaiting discovery The return of the mosaic to Nemi has cultivated renewed interest in the long-running claim that a third Nemi ship may still lie on the lake bed awaiting discovery. One part of the lake was not dredged in 1929 when the first two vessels were found although a recent sonar survey admittedly found no trace of any third ship. 'Centuries ago there was a rockslide on that side of the lake, which means that the legendary third ship could be underneath it,' Nemi town council member Emiliano Belmonte told the Telegraph. 'The sonar wouldnt have been able to penetrate beneath the rock.' According to Mr Bertucci, reports of a third sunken barge date back to the 15th century and local fishermen periodically accidently pull up Roman artefacts from the lakebed with their nets. 'There are clues that there is something there. Its not over yet. These ships display the incredible engineering feats that the Romans were capable of,' he added. Mr Belmonte added: 'Were considering different methods of exploring the lake. The mystery remains.' One part of the lake (pictured) was not dredged in 1929 when the first two vessels were found although a recent sonar survey admittedly found no trace of any third ship 'Centuries ago there was a rockslide on that side of the lake, which means that the legendary third ship could be underneath it,' Nemi town council member Emiliano Belmonte told the Telegraph. 'The sonar wouldnt have been able to penetrate beneath the rock' Canberra, March 12 : Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan on Friday said the country will fight an attempt by the European Union (EU) to introduce a carbon tariff on nations with weak emissions targets. The European Parliament on Thursday voted to move ahead with the proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which would impose a levy on all goods imported from countries that do not have a carbon pricing mechanism including Australia, reports Xinhua news agency. If introduced, millions of dollars of new tariffs would be slapped on Australian exports of energy-intensive materials including aluminium, steel and chemicals. In response, Tehan said that Australia would push back against the tariffs through the World Trade Organization (WTO). "We want a trade liberalization approach, not a protectionist approach, in terms of how we deal with emissions reduction," he said. Both US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have indicated that they could follow the EU's lead on the tariff. Proponents of the CBAM say it would create a "level playing field" for goods produced under EU regimes that are subject to a carbon price and those from abroad that are not. It would ensure that imports are not cheaper than products from the EU. In February, Australia's Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor, said the government was "dead against" the CBAM. A total of 180 persons have been rescued after gunmen attacked and undertook mass abductions in a federal college in Kaduna State Thursday night, the state government has said. In a statement Friday afternoon, the states Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said many of the rescued victims were students but several students are still missing. PREMIUM TIMES reported the kidnap, the latest in a series of mass kidnapping of students from a school. Full statement. KDSG Security Update: Friday 12th March 2021 180 rescued, several students missing following attack at Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, Igabi LGA Troops of the Nigerian Army in the early hours of today, Friday, 12th March 2021 rescued 180 citizens, many of them students, at the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, Igabi local government area of Kaduna State. The armed bandits in large number had attacked the institution at around 11:30pm on Thursday and kidnapped several students and staff. The armed bandits broke into the institution by breaching a perimeter fence. They then encroached about 600 meters to attack the first facility. The Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs on receiving a distress call, alerted the 1 Division Nigerian Army and the Air Training Command of the Nigerian Air Force. Troops of the Nigerian Army immediately moved to the school and engaged the armed bandits accordingly. The troops successfully rescued 180 citizens; 42 female students, eight staff and 130 male students. However, about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for. Some of the rescued students were injured and presently receiving medical attention at a military facility. Pictures of some of the rescued persons, and the broken perimeter fence, are attached to this update. Receiving the report, Governor Nasir El-Rufai thanked the troops for their swift response and the rescue of the 180 citizens. He also wished the injured students a speedy recovery. As at the time of this update, a combined team of Army, Air Force, Police and DSS troops are conducting an operation to track the missing students. Citizens will be updated on emerging developments. Signed ADVERTISEMENT Samuel Aruwan Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State. Nigerian gunmen have kidnapped around 30 schoolgirls overnight in the fourth mass school abduction since December. The girls were taken from The Federal College of Forestry Mechanization on the outskirts of Kaduna city, near to a military academy. Military and police attempts to tackle the armed gangs - who roam the area often on motorcycles - have had little success. Many locals fear that state authorities letting the kidnappers go unpunished or paying them off could be exacerbating the situation. The latest kidnapping follows a spate of similar incidents in the country - including one which saw 279 girls taken and subsequently returned. 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 Nigerian gunmen have kidnapped around 30 schoolgirls overnight in the fourth mass school abduction since December. Pictured: A soldier sits on a truck used to bring back kidnapped schoolgirls last week following a previous abduction Kaduna state's security commissioner Samuel Aruwan confirmed the attack but did not say how many students had been taken. Sani Danjuma, a student at the college, said those abducted were all female students - but authorities were unable to confirm this. Other students said some of the young women had managed to escape during the attack. Local resident Haruna Salisu said he had heard sporadic gunshots at around 11.30 pm. He said: 'We were not panicking, thinking that it was a normal military exercise being conducted at the Nigerian Defence Academy. Nearly 300 girls were taken from the dormitory at the Government Science School in Jangebe. Pictured: The school's deserted dormitory following the attack An Associated Press reporter saw hundreds of girls dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot sitting at the state Government House office in Gusau last week following their return 'We came out for dawn prayers, at 5.20am and saw some of the students, teachers and security personnel all over the school premises. 'They told us that gunmen raided the school and abducted some of the students.' Mr Salisu said he had seen military personnel taking the remaining students into the academy. On Friday morning, relatives of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by around 20 army trucks. Some of the Government Girls Secondary School students who were abducted by gunmen the previous week in Jangebe, Nigeria, wait for a medical checkup earlier this month Following their release, the girls were taken to a government premises and kept in state custody while they received medical checks Banditry has festered for years in northwest Nigeria, rendering large swathes of the region lawless. The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which seized 270 schoolgirls from a school at Chibok in the northeast in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found. It has since been taken up by armed criminal gangs seeking ransom. Within the last few weeks, 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state. Meanwhile, 27 teenage boys were released after being kidnapped from their school in the north-central state of Niger, along with three staff and 12 family members. One student was shot dead in that attack. And in December, 344 students were abducted from the Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, while he was visiting the region. 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 They were eventually released after negotiations with Government officials. Many worry that state authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished, paying them off or, as in Zamfara, giving them amenities. In late February, the presidency said President Muhammadu Buhari had urged state governments to 'review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously'. The unrest has become a political problem for Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism over the rise in violent crime. Mumbai, March 12 : Actresses Lizze Broadway and Jaz Sinclair have been cast as the first lead stars of the ensemble cast in the untitled spin-off series of "The Boys". Set in America's only college exclusively for young adult superheroes, the yet-untitled spin-off is described as an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive 'Supes' as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. In the Amazon Original series, Broadway will play the role of Emma, a young superhero. Her past TV credits include "The Rookie", "Bones" and "Southland" among others. Sinclair will play Marie, another young superhero. Sinclair most recently starred in "Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina" and has also been a part of "The Vampire Diaries". Postal services provider TTPost yesterday shut its branches in Port of Spain and San Fernando after dozens of people rushed to collect senior citizen pension and public assistance grants and would not adhere to physical distancing rules. Eventually, police were called to disperse the crowds. Several elderly people at the St Vincent Street branch in Port of Spain complained about not being able to collect their pension cheques because other unruly ones refused to socially distance and abide by the law amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Stella Griffith, 68, of Diego Martin, said she was adhering to rules of social distancing, but there were other people who came for their public assistance and disability grants and were refusing to listen. Clemson Universitys School of Nursing received 3,378 applications for next school year, a 68 percent increase. But the number of open slots remains the same 176. That's an acceptance rate of 5.2 percent, the same as Harvard University. The interest is there, but we cant fully act on it because the infrastructure required to act on that interest isnt easy, said Kathleen Valentine, director of Clemson University's School of Nursing and chief academic nursing officer at Prisma HealthUpstate. The pandemic has put health care careers like nursing in the spotlight. In the U.S., nursing baccalaureate program enrollment increased 6 percent last year, based on a survey of 900 nursing schools by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The previous year showed a 5.1 percent jump. I feel like theres this new respect for nursing because its been one of the most influential jobs this past year, said Savannah Manning, a freshman nursing student at Clemson. A nationwide shortage of nursing faculty limits the number of students programs can accept, leading to an ongoing shortage of nurses in certain regions. The issue is particularly relevant to South Carolina, which has 7.89 nurses per 1,000 residents, the lowest of any state, according to NurseJournal.org. Nurses make more money in practice than education, and many faculty positions require a doctoral degree, which requires time and money. The national nurse faculty vacancy rate of 7.2 percent is almost entirely made up of positions that require or prefer a doctoral degree, according to the AACN. Its not a high percentage of faculty vacancies, but its mostly in doctorally prepared faculty, and its one of the primary reasons were turning away qualified applicants, said Deborah Trautman, CEO of the AACN. U.S. nursing schools turned away 80,407 qualified applications from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2019 due to insufficient resources, including the number of faculty and clinical preceptors, according to data from the AACN. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the number of nurses to increase by 221,900 to 3.3 million from 2019 to 2029. In the same decade, it predicts 175,900 openings for registered nurses each year. Exacerbating the shortage is the trend of nurses aging out of the field as the number of baby boomers needing care increases. The average age of nurses was 50 in 2018, according to a survey by The Health Resources and Services Administration. The shortage problem requires solutions from academia, Trautman said. Organizations provide funding for nursing doctoral programs and many programs now allow faculty to have a practice on the side. The AACN has also been working to share how rewarding a path in nursing education can be, she said. Trautman said the pandemic gave visibility to what's always been true: nursing is an honorable but trying career. The public got a front seat to see how nursing directly contributed to fighting the health crisis by taking care of people, helping connect families when they couldnt physically be together, educating communities, and, now, administering vaccines, she said. Why wouldnt you want to be a nurse? Trautman asked. There are so many ways to contribute. The pandemic also highlighted the exhaustion and burnout frontline nurses can feel, physically weary from lack of sleep and emotionally worn from watching patients die and families grieve. The stress isn't new in the health profession but its finally being recognized, Trautman said. Its shown us that we need to be proactive and focus on our own wellbeing early before we cant continue on in the job, she said. The perseverance of nurses is often framed as a heart-warming story, but Valentine said this selflessness isnt necessarily a positive thing. It indicates that nurses should still be able to do their job without appropriate equipment, protection, staff, breaks, hazardous pay or attention to mental health, she said. Seeing it as heroic is popular because its harder to address the deeper structural issues in the healthcare system, she said. Valentine said one positive of the increased visibility is greater recognition that nurses are highly skilled. She hopes more will be allowed to practice to the top of their license. I have a concern that we dont romanticize the nobleness of the profession over the depth and breadth of knowledge required in nursing, Valentine said. Stories of both heroism and burnout have become common during the pandemic, so much so that Valentine wasnt sure which way the application pendulum would swing. Potential students could be scared away or drawn in. Now we can see that the attraction is greater, she said. Claire Schick, the representative for the freshman nursing class at Clemson, said she wasnt dissuaded by the past year. Rather, it reinforced her decision. I just wish I already had the education under my belt so I could help, she said. It was frustrating that the only thing stopping me from helping was the timing of when I went to school. OTTAWA - A Canadian vaccine researcher says he believes that Chinese political machinations ended a vaccine partnership last summer. 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. nbsp; (NIAID-RML via AP) OTTAWA - A Canadian vaccine researcher says he believes that Chinese political machinations ended a vaccine partnership last summer. Dr. Scott Halperin, the director of the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology, made the accusation Thursday to the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations. The partnership was originally planned to be between China's CanSino Biologics and the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. CanSino had been given a licence by the National Research Council to use a Canadian biological product as part of a COVID-19 vaccine. China blocked shipments it was supposed to send to Dalhousie researchers by the end of May 2020 to start human trials. Halperin said he was initially told it was due to bureaucratic issues such as paperwork. By August, he said, it became clear that the Chinese government had no desire for the vaccine to leave the country. Halperin said he realized paperwork wasn't to blame after he discovered the vaccine had been given the green light to be shipped out of China to Russia, Pakistan, Mexico, Chile and Argentina all of which were countries researchers had planned to stage the third phase of the clinical trials in. "It was clear that this was not ... that CanSino wasn't able to ship out of the country, but that it was specific to Canada," he said Thursday. "That's when it became clear it was political and not something that was going to be solved by more paperwork." CanSino Biologics did not immediately return a request for comment. Halperin said CanSino officials repeatedly assured researchers that the issue would be sorted out, but the delays quickly led to the work researchers had done to become irrelevant. "Up until that point the dates of scheduling them kept rolling back and back and back until finally the vaccine had to be shipped back from the airport to the company," he said. Members of the special committee questioned Halperin over whether he knew that CanSino had connections to the Chinese government before the partnership started. "I was aware that the founders had previously worked in Canada at Sanofi Pasteur and then had gone back to China to start that company," he said. Halperin was also questioned over what CanSino gained from the partnership, such as access to Canadian research, without offering anything in return. "For the Phase 1 study that ended up being cancelled, they gained nothing and we gained nothing because we were not able to generate any data from the planned study," he said. "It just ended up being a waste of a lot of time on all parties." By Nick Wells in Vancouver. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021. By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. House of Representatives transportation panel urged the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday to extend a "zero-tolerance" policy for passengers not wearing masks or causing disturbances on flights. In January, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson signed an order directing the policy after supporters of then-President Donald Trump were disruptive on some flights. Dickson warned that disruptive passengers could face up to $35,000 in fines and possible jail time and said the policy would last through March 30. Democratic Representative Peter DeFazio, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, urged Dickson to continue the "policy until public health officials determine that mass vaccinations have eliminated the risk of infection" on airplanes. The FAA said in response it would respond directly to DeFazio but added it expected all airline passengers to abide by federal requirements "to wear a mask while in flight and in transportation hubs including airports. "The FAA is continuing to enforce a zero-tolerance policy toward travelers who cause disturbances on flights or fail to obey flight-crew instructions," it added. DeFazio said ending the zero-tolerance policy "would be premature and expose the flying public to unnecessary risk especially as pent-up demand for air travel drives more and more people to fly." The FAA noted it "recently proposed civil penalties against passengers for flight-crew interference and is processing a number of additional cases." DeFazio praised the FAA for bringing cases against unruly passengers but warned the United States could see "more incidents like that one if the FAA recedes from its strong enforcement posture." (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Peter Cooney) SCHENECTADY Ex-Schenectady County Human Rights Commission Executive Director Angelicia Morris testified at a hearing to clear her name Thursday that nobody on the panel told her she was insubordinate, violating bylaws or abusing her power the reasons given for her firing. No one brought anything to my attention, Morris testified in a hearing on the sixth floor of the Schenectady County Office Building, responding to a question asked by her attorney, Kevin Luibrand. Morris, who had served on the commission since 2005 and was its executive director since 2013, rejected the accounts of commissioners Omar McGill and Jesse McGuire. They have claimed she was rightly terminated for alleged insubordination, abuse of power and for flouting the organizations bylaws and compromising its integrity. In January, state Supreme Court Judge Michael Cuevas ruled Morris could not get back her $69,496-a-year job but was entitled to a hearing to try to clear her name and restore her reputation. On Thursday, in a hearing before retired County Court Judge Michael Eidens, Morris defended her work. I was a one-man band. I ran the agency by myself , she testified. Luibrand asked Morris if anyone prior to her termination in February 2020 told her she was insubordinate, or that she not did not honor commissioners requests or that she violated bylaws, or was negligent. All were outlined in a Feb. 20, 2020, letter to the county manager. No one brought anything to my knowledge , Morris answered. Asked if there was ever a time she did not perform a duty assigned to her, Morris told Luibrand: Not to my knowledge, unless they were specific about it and nobody brought any specifics to me. The commission, established in 1965, is funded by the Schenectady County Legislature. The commission is expected to foster mutual respect and enhance understanding among all racial, religious and ethnic groups in the county, and to assist people in securing their legal rights. McGill testified on March 4 that Morris refused to tell commissioners who the keynote speaker for the groups annual Martin Luther King celebration in January 2020 would be, and failed to investigate discrimination complaints. Morris, who defended her handling of the MLK event, testified that conducting investigations was not part of her job. She said the commission never had the structure, ability, permission or authority to handle any complaints and was involved in intake and education. Morris is expected to be cross-examined by Jonathan Bernstein, an outside attorney representing the county, on March 19. Earlier Thursday, McGuire testified that Morris violated the commissions bylaws, was neglectful and abused her power. Under at-times heated questioning by Luibrand, McGuire appeared to have trouble citing specifics. McGuire testified that Morris was insubordinate because she had not performed the logistics for an Hispanic-American heritage forum at a community college that, according to McGuire, was requested by the commission. Luibrand asked McGuire if it was true that the event was not even brought to the full commissions attention. McGuire defended the move with a reason that, McGuire acknowledged under questioning by Luibrand, was not in the commission bylaws. US health care giant Johnson & Johnson, beset by recent scandals over talcum powder and the opioid crisis, is poised for a reputational lift with its pathbreaking coronavirus vaccine. J&J, which has vowed to sell the vaccine at cost, won approval Thursday from the European Union for its Covid-19 jab after receiving the green light earlier from regulators in the United States, Canada and South Africa. The J&J inoculation is the first approved by health authorities to require just one shot, the latest breakthrough for an industry that had been on the outs with the general public prior to Covid-19. Read | What is the 'secret sauce' in J&J's Covid-19 vaccine? Top scientist answers "The pharmaceutical industry was once thought of in such high regard in the 1990s but a lot of that admiration has been lost due to drug prices," said Damien Conover, a health care analyst at Morningstar. Consumers detect "arrogance" in how pharma giants "push around the drug as the only solution to people's health issues," said Daniel Binns, head of Interbrand, a New York-based marketing consultancy. "They just have this terrible reputation" despite creating "incredible drugs," Binns added. J&J has come under fire in its home market in the wake of lawsuits that its talcum powder products cause cancer and over its marketing of prescription painkillers amid the country's opioid crisis. Also Read | Novavax vaccine shows 96% efficacy against original coronavirus version in UK trial But the vaccine offers a shot at "brand redemption," said Vann Graves, director of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Brandcenter. By any measure, the pharma industry's vaccine program in response to Covid-19 has met the moment in confronting a global health scourge that has claimed more than 2.6 million lives worldwide. "Any chance they have now to shine some positive light on their corporate brand makes total sense," Binns said. "Why wouldn't you if, for the first time in a long time, people are going 'Okay, I can see that you do some good things.'" If anything, J&J, which makes myriad over-the-counter and prescription medicines, as well as shampoos and face creams, is already well-known among the general public. Also Read | EU drugs regulator gives green light to J&J's single-shot Covid-19 vaccine "We thought we had a responsibility as the world's largest health care company to step up, much like we did with Ebola a number of years ago," the company's chief financial officer, Joseph Wolk, told an investor conference earlier this month. "Just stabilizing the society, if you will, has a benefit to our business," Wolk said. A reopened economy is expected to boost J&J, which has seen sales decline on items tied to non-emergency medical procedures, as well as for sunscreen and other travel items. But J&J could shift its approach once the pandemic ends, potentially if it develops booster shots to address variants of Covid-19. Read | Long-Covid-19 patients continue to battle acute symptoms "What kind of commercial opportunity is there on the horizon? Probably not in 2021," Wolk said. "But as we move to 2022, we are looking at it more as a business opportunity." However, Conover noted that J&J must "be a little careful" about seeking to profit from the vaccine after accepting public funds during its development. Wolk has also expressed hope that J&J's vaccine success could pave the way for improved terms in other negotiations with governments. "To say that we've incorporated any kind of halo effect or think this is going to help us in the next tough negotiation, I'd like to think so, but I think that would be a little bit too optimistic," he said. Also Read | Biden may lift Covid-19 vaccine beneficiary restrictions by May 1 But the success of the vaccine program will likely shift the debate on drug prices. Prior to Covid-19, both major political parties had castigated the industry over runaway prices. "With the development of Covid-19 vaccines, the policymakers understand the importance of a very vibrant drug industry," Conover said. "And the changes are going to be more moderate because of that." Pedestrian Charged after Reidland Road Incident By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - A Tennessee man was arrested Thursday after he reportedly was walking his dog down the middle of a Reidland highway.McCracken County Sheriff's deputies responded to Kentucky Dam Road where the man was reported to be jumping in front of vehicles as they drove past. Deputies said when they approached 31-year-old James Bowen from Tennessee, he refused to leave the road and allegedly pulled a large metal tent spike from his pocket and began waving it at them. Bowen also allegedly tried to have his dog bite the deputies.Bowen tried to flee on foot, then reportedly fought with officers, lunging at them with the spike. He was subdued and arrested with the help of a passerby.Medical personnel on the scene treated Bowen for injuries, and he was taken to McCracken County Jail.Bowen is charged with obstructing a highway, menacing, disorderly conduct, fleeing or evading police, wanton endangerment of a police officer, third-degree assault and resisting arrest. Afterwards, the two men celebrated in a kneipe (pub) where, after one too many beers, Bridgetower allegedly made unsavoury comments about a woman with whom Beethoven was enamoured. It may have been the composers famous immortal beloved, well never know. What we do know is that Beethoven never spoke to Bridgetower again and re-dedicated the work to the Rodolphe Kreutzer. Many a musician would buckle under such circumstances, but not these two. Bridgetower gave the performance of his life, matching Beethovens dynamism on the fortepiano with an array of kaleidoscopic effects on his violin and, to Beethovens delight, even providing improvisations of his own. The premiere of the Sonata in A major is now legendary. Its one of those concerts Id sacrifice anything to have attended. Early on the morning of May 24, 1803, Bridgetower took to the stage with Beethoven in the big pavilion of Viennas Augarten. The ink on Beethovens manuscript was still wet, and Bridgetower was forced to read the barely finished music over Beethovens shoulder. Through such a gesture, Beethoven made Kreutzers name immortal, but the kicker is that Kreutzer had nothing to do with the work. Worse still, he was completely disparaging of the sonata that bears his name, telling composer Hector Berlioz it was outrageously unintelligible. Bridgetower, on the other hand, died in poverty and obscurity, his name forgotten, his musical significance struck from history made all the harder to resurrect by the colour of his skin. Its an injustice that has lasted more than 200 years. We last performed the sonata in 2010, in collaboration with English playwright Laura Wade. The treatment, titled Kreutzer vs Kreutzer, centred not around the story of Beethoven and Bridgetower, but the triangulation of three different Kreutzer Sonatas (Beethovens, a short story by Tolstoy and a piece by Janacek) and the sexual politics contained within. Lauras dramatisation finally gave the female victim in Tolstoys tale tormented, battered, beaten to death a voice. The fact is that Bridgetowers voice is all over Beethovens great Sonata in A major. Wild string crossing, violent articulations and relentless virtuosity were not yet commonplace for Beethoven, who in 1803 was only up to his second symphony and eager to move on from the classical elegance of Mozart and Haydn. From the athleticism and drama of the sonatas first movement to the exotic tarantella of its finale, Beethoven had begun forging the roots of his best-known symphonies and chamber works. Surely, he wouldnt have placed a violin at the heart of his symphonic violin concerto of 1806 if not for the gargantuan sonata Bridgetower had inspired. Beethoven Credit:Unser Jahrhundert 1882 Beethoven Beethoven had a history of crossing out dedications. He famously withdrew his third symphonys dedication to Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonapartes name and connection to the symphony lives on despite the withdrawal. Bridgetowers name and connection to his sonata died because of it. So lets go ahead and reclaim the sonata for Bridgetower. Hereby, a declaration has been issued forth. The sonata shall be restored to its original title: the Bridgetower Sonata. In new TN assembly DMK has most MLAs with pending criminal background, crorepatis Tamil Nadu Poll: DMK releases list of candidates, Stalin's son to make debut India oi-Deepika S Chennai, Mar 12: DMK President M K Stalin will try his luck once again from Kolathur constituency in the city for the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections while his son Udhayanidhi will make his electoral debut by contesting from the Chepauk-Triplicane segment in the metropolis. Stalin released the list of all 173 candidates for the elections, retaining most sitting MLAs including seniors Durai Murugan, K N Nehru, K Ponmudi and MRK Panneerselvam-- all former ministers, besides others. Tamil Nadu elections 2021: TTV Dhinakaran to contest from Kovilpatti Addressing a press conference at the DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam here, Stalin said he will file the nomination, which started Friday in the poll-bound state, on March 15 and embark on the next leg of the campaign. The DMK, out of power since 2011, is eyeing a comeback by dethroning the ruling AIADMK and has stitched up a rainbow coalition comprising the Congress, the Left, MDMK, VCK and other smaller outfits, apportioning them a total of 61 of the 234 seats at stake. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News Since many of the parties including the MDMK will be contesting on DMK''s Rising Sun symbol, the lead partner will be effectively in fray in 187 seats, Stalin added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 13:51 [IST] A Scottish flag flies next to British Union Jack flag outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, on April 24, 2019. (Russell Cheyne/Reuters) Scotland Passes Hate Crime Law Amid Free Speech Concerns The Scottish Parliament has passed a controversial bill on so-called hate crimes despite concerns about its impact on freedom of speech. The bill was passed on Thursday by 82 votes to 32. It was supported by the Scottish National Party (SNP), Labour, and the Liberal Democrats. Only the Scottish Conservatives voted against it. We are opposed to the SNPs Hate Crime Bill because it is a serious threat to freedom of speech. We were the only major party to vote against it. Labour and the Lib Dems whipped their MSPs to support this disastrous bill. pic.twitter.com/RdC8U4u1hq Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) March 12, 2021 Scotlands regional government, led by the SNP, hailed it as a piece of powerful legislation that is for the 21st century. Through the passing of this landmark Bill, Parliament has sent a strong and clear message to victims, perpetrators, communities and to wider society that offences motivated by prejudice will be treated seriously and will not be tolerated, said Humza Yousaf, justice secretary for the Scottish government. But the Scottish Conservatives called the bill a serious threat to freedom of speech. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in April 2020 for consideration following the independent review by Lord Bracadale, which recommended consolidation of all of Scotlands hate crime laws into one bill. Controversially, the bill introduced a new set of offences called stirring up of hatred. While in past legislation only stirring up racial hatred was deemed an offence, the new offences will apply to all characteristics listed in the bill: age, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, and variations in sex characteristics. Critics say that the new provisions will have a chilling effect on the freedom of expression. Last summer, more than 20 writers, artists, comedians, and human rights activists signed an open letter expressing their concerns about the unintended consequences the bill might have on free speech. The co-signatories, who include novelist Chris Brookmyre and comedian Rowan Atkinson, said the bill could stifle freedom of expression and frustrate rational debate and discussion in society, including in the arts. Responding to criticism last month, Yousaf said the threshold for stirring up hatred offences was very, very high, and the intent must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Robust scrutiny has ensured we have met the right balance between protecting groups targeted by hate crime and respecting peoples rights to free speech, he said on Thursday. 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 Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 HONG KONG and LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced a series of flexible short-term and medium-to-long-term strategies to prepare for the return of tourists, attract high-yield visitors, and drive the sustainable growth of the tourism industry. "Despite the start of vaccinations against COVID-19 worldwide, the pandemic situation remains volatile and unpredictable," said HKTB Executive Director Mr. Dane Cheng. "We consider it unlikely Hong Kong will see a full resumption of cross-border travel in the next three to six months. However, we do expect it to be possible for Hong Kong to welcome tourists from selected markets." "In formulating our strategies for 2021/2022, we focused on two major areas. Firstly, we saw a need to offer support to the trade and boost the ambience in Hong Kong, while ensuring the city has continued exposure on the international stage ahead of the resumption of international travel. Secondly, we anticipate competition for tourists will be intense once the pandemic is over, with rival markets going to great lengths to bring visitors back. The HKTB is therefore setting aside resources for large-scale promotions so that Hong Kong will stand out against competing destinations." Mr. Cheng stressed that the HKTB would maintain a flexible approach and be prudent in its use of resources while the pandemic continued. "Most of our additional funding of more than HK$700 million for 2020/21 has not been used because of the pandemic, and the remainder will be returned in full to the Government," he said. "For 2021/22, the HKTB will receive additional funding of HK$765 million, similar to the amount allocated in last financial year." The HKTB will have a marketing budget of HK$1,138 million for the 2021/22 financial year, including recurrent funding. Details of the deployment of the marketing budget is listed below: Short-term strategies (35%) Focusing on bringing back visitors to Hong Kong as soon as possible The HKTB has been boosting local consumption and encouraging the people of Hong Kong to explore the city. When the pandemic situation has stabilized, the organization will launch a new Spend-to-Redeem program called "Staycation Delights" to offer an additional option for Hong Kong people to enjoy more experiences local tourism has to offer. Launch a large-scale promotional platform called "Open House Hong Kong" when cross-border travel gradually resumes. The campaign will leverage exclusive experiences and citywide offers to drum up visitors' desire to travel to Hong Kong . Revamp its Mainland strategies and will increase marketing resources for the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to attract visitors to travel to Hong Kong for leisure. Medium-to-long-term strategies (40%) Capturing the high-yield visitor segment The HKTB is conducting a holistic review of Hong Kong's tourism brand and positioning. The organization will formulate a long-term promotional strategy for sustainable development of the local tourism sector. When cross-border travel gradually resumes, HKTB will launch large-scale promotions on the new tourism brand on multiple channels, including digital platforms in source markets worldwide, together with partnerships with major international media outlets to present Hong Kong's reinvented tourism image. Join hands with other cities in the GBA to globally promote and build the GBA tourism brand. Create and enhance a digitally enabled travel experience for visitors through a one-stop e-solution platform. Ongoing initiatives (25%) Supporting the trade and maintaining Hong Kong's international exposure Continue to enhance the subsidy schemes and sponsor trade members' participation in trade events to help hasten their business recovery. Strengthen support for the MICE and cruise sectors and their promotions, and bid to host more international conferences in Hong Kong . We will provide support for the gradual resumption of cruise tourism when the global pandemic situation has stabilized. Organize mega events and support other events in the city to maintain Hong Kong's international exposure. The 2021/22 Work Plan is based on an estimate of the pace of tourism recovery. Actual deployment of resources will be subject to factors such as the pandemic situation and progress towards the resumption of international travel, and will be evaluated and adjusted according to prevailing conditions. SOURCE Hong Kong Tourism Board Related Links https://www.discoverhongkong.com/us/index.html Health professionals, counsellors and social workers at five city hospitals will be trained to provide psychosocial support to women falling victim to violence. Jayanagar General, KC General, Bowring and Lady Curzon and Gosha are among the city hospitals to provide the service, besides the Chikkaballapur District Hospital and a medical college. The service will be provided for a year. Healthcare providers are often the first contact for women facing any form of violence, said Dr Arundathi Chandrashekar, director, State National Health Mission. Doctors are in a unique position to probe for a history of violence. They are also perceived as non-threatening by patients in general, she added, pointing out that health professionals are vested by the law to handle medical and legal roles while responding to survivors of violence and are able to provide crucial evidence in cases of violence against women. Evidence from Dilaasa, a hospital-based crisis centre in Mumbai, revealed that health professionals can symptomatically identify abused women patients if sensitised on the issue of violence against women. They will also be able to support, treat and refer survivors of abuse to a crisis intervention centre. Early identification of abuse survivors by health professionals will encourage women to seek services immediately after the onset of violence, Dr Arundathi said. Recently, counsellors from 31 districts of Karnataka attended a two-hour orientation programme online to sensitise them on the needs of survivors of Violence Against Women (VAW). Such a workshop is vital since counsellors are expected to provide crisis counselling. Training programmes Healthcare providers also received a five-day training at Arogya Soudha from January 21 to 23, which was followed by a similar event on February 19 and 20. In all, 43 middle to senior-level healthcare providers were oriented to concepts related to gender sexuality, patriarchy and prevalence of violence in society. The health professionals were familiarised with national policies on violence and given WHO data demonstrating the role of gender in healthcare. Doctors were urged to consider the importance of informed consent while examining and treating victims, while they were also given an idea of their role in medico-legal cases. The workshop also discussed mechanisms to monitor implementation of the pilot project and healthcare providers had been equipped to become trainers through a series of participatory events. The health professionals who received the training will in turn sensitise their hospital staff and colleagues to identify and respond to VAW, which will be assessed at monthly meetings, monitoring reports and discussions. Next step ~ Staff of four departments will be trained (obstetrics-gynaecology, general medicine, casualty and psychiatry) ~ Each hospital will have a dedicated counsellor to offer psychosocial support to victims identified by doctors, nurses or counsellors themselves ~ Referral mechanisms with other departments and NGOs offering additional services for victims will be set up legal, shelter, rehabilitation and vocational training NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors Ormat Technologies, Inc. ("Ormat" or the "Company")(NYSE: ORA). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether Ormat and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On March 1, 2021, before the market opened, Hindenburg Research ("Hindenburg") published a report entitled "Ormat: Dirty Dealings in 'Clean' Energy." According to the Hindenburg report, the Company "has engaged in what we believe to be widespread and systematic acts of intentional corruption," adding that it "expect[s] the blowback to these revelations to be severe, threatening Ormat's contracts in its most lucrative markets." In the report, Hindenburg claims to have "uncovered evidence tying Ormat to corruption with senior government officials" and "direct evidence tying Ormat to corruption with senior Guatemalan government officials", further noting that "Ormat paid contractors in Kenya tied to corrupt government officials." On this news, Ormat's stock price fell $1.00 per share, or 1.1%, to close at $84.67 per share on March 1, 2021. That same day, after the market closed, Ormat responded to the report and acknowledged that "[t]he Company is aware of claims being investigated in Israel regarding Ravit Barniv, an Ormat Board member, and Hezi Kattan, the Company's General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer." Though the "claims involve Ms. Barniv's and Mr. Kattan's work at another company, prior to joining Ormat," the Company announced that it would "transfer the responsibility for the Company's compliance function to other members of the Ormat management team until these issues are resolved." Story continues On this news, Ormat's stock price fell another $1.68 per share, or nearly 2%, to close at $82.99 per share on March 2, 2021. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-on-behalf-of-investors-of-ormat-technologies-inc---ora-301246262.html SOURCE Pomerantz LLP Libyan ministers swearing in moved to Tobruk After attack on parliament in Benghazi (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MARCH 12 - The new ministers of the Libyan unified interim government will be sworn in at the Tobruk House of Representatives instead of Benghazi, as had previously been announced. The government is under Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and the announcement was made Friday by House of Representatives spokesperson Abdallah Belihaq on the legislative body's website. The Libya Observer reported on Twitter that masked "gunmen attacked the headquarters of the House of Representatives in Benghazi" the previous night.(ANSAmed). (ANSA). Liashko says five million shots may be administered per month. Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister and Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko says all those who wish will be vaccinated against COVID-19 by late 2021. "I have calculated and I am telling you officially now: we will vaccinate all those who wish in 2021. With two doses. The main thing is that there are no disruptions, global cataclysms in the supply of vaccines. Five million shots may be administered per month there is a method of cascades," he told Ukraina 24 TV channel. According to Liashko, this time the vaccination will be different from any other campaigns. "You are all talking about a higher pace, I am responsible for the absence of systematic faults. I have seen disrupted immunization campaigns in this country in 2008, 2015, 2018. The COVID campaign has been launched and it will be brought to its logical conclusion. I guarantee this as chief medical officer," he said. Read also COVID in Ukraine: Zelensky names conditions for returning to normalcy 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, 2021, the first batch of the Covishield vaccine arrived in Ukraine. On February 24, 2021, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. About 160 healthcare workers were first who got vaccinated, as well as members of the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas. On March 1, 2021, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov had had his COVID-19 vaccine shot, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was vaccinated against COVID-19 during a trip to the Donbas warzone on March 2. According to the Health Ministry, elderly people are next to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine. Reporting by UNIAN New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh has vowed to prop up Canadas Justin Trudeau-led minority Liberal government until the pandemic is over. The announcement constitutes a guarantee from Canadas social democrats to the ruling class that the Trudeau government will have a free hand to pursue it class war agenda. That agenda currently focuses on keeping the economy open and profits accumulating amid the COVID-19 pandemic; equipping the military with new fleets of warships and warplanes; and forging an unprecedentedly close partnership with the Biden administration to confront the common rivals of US and Canadian imperialism, above all China and Russia. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh addressing 2017 Ontario Federation of Labour convention Addressing a press conference on February 24, Singh stated, We do not think its the right thing to do to go to an election while we should be fighting the pandemic. We are not going to trigger an election. So that means any confidence vote, we will vote to keep the government going. The claim that the Trudeau Liberals are engaged in fighting the pandemic is an obscene lie. In truth, the NDP has spent the past year propping up Trudeaus big business government while it has prioritized corporate profits and backstopping the fortunes of the capitalist elite over workers lives and livelihoods. Singhs support for the Trudeau government was so fulsome that he didnt even bother to cover it up with bogus claims to be advancing progressive change and helping improve working peoples lives. On the contrary, Singh made his blank-cheque pledge of support to the government on the very same day that the Liberals united with the hard-right Conservatives and Quebec chauvinist Bloc Quebecois to reject an NDP-authored bill calling for the establishment of a universal pharmacare program, by a vote of 295 to 32 in the House of Commons. On every critical parliamentary vote and political issue since the October 2019 election, the NDP has sided with the Trudeau government. In February 2020, when the nationwide railway blockades in support of the Wetsuweten First Nations anti-pipeline protest provoked a political crisis for the ruling class, with right-wing forces demanding the deployment of the military to crush the protests, Singh held a closed-door meeting with the Prime Minister to strategize on ways to solve the national crisis. This offered Trudeau the opportunity to pose as a progressive seeking a peaceful solution to the protests, while behind the scenes preparing the violent police deployment that ultimately dismantled the blockades. With the onset of the pandemic and the eruption of the greatest crisis of world capitalism since the end of the Second World War, the NDP moved to strengthen its alliance with the Liberal government. NDP MPs joined with the Liberals and Tories to support the massive bailout programs that handed virtually unlimited resources to the banks and big business, while placing workers rendered jobless by pandemic lockdowns on makeshift rations of $2,000 per month. This vast transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top was also facilitated by the trade unions, which participated in a series of closed-door talks with the government and corporate elite to negotiate the bailout of the super-rich and put together a reckless back-to-work campaign that has helped push Canadas COVID-19 death toll above 22,000. John Horgans provincial NDP government in BC has proven to be one of Trudeaus closest provincial allies. It, not coincidentally, has also been among the most determined to keep major corporations operating throughout the pandemic, and to keep the public in the dark about COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. In late May, Singh declared with much fanfare that in exchange for a pledge by Trudeau to create a temporary sick pay program that would help millions, the NDP would back Trudeaus anti-democratic manoeuvre to suspend normal parliamentary business for over three months. The much-vaunted sick pay benefit proved to be little more than a charade. It is so limited and so cumbersome to obtain that it has proven of no use to most workers who have fallen sick or been exposed to COVID-19. Then in the fall, whilst Trudeau gave his blessing to the avowedly right-wing governments of Ontario, Quebec and Alberta to reopen schools and scrap virtually all pandemic restrictions, the NDP provided the minority Liberals with the crucial votes they need to pass the governments throne speech. Delivered as the beginnings of the pandemics deadly second wave were already visible, the throne speech proclaimed that in the event of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases any lockdown measures should be short-term and implemented at the local level. The pursuit of this strategy by all provincial governments led inevitably to a second wave that was far larger and more lethal than the first, killing more than 10,000 people in the five months between September and January. In addition to providing a waft of progressive rhetoric to obscure the ruling elites intention of letting the virus run rampant so as not to endanger corporate profits, the throne speech outlined a series of right-wing measures aimed at improving the global competitiveness of Canadian capitalism. In voting to support the speech, the NDP endorsed the slashing of the corporate tax rate for clean energy companies, the creation of an investment fund to attract financial support for zero-emissions products, and making Canada the most competitivei.e., profitablejurisdiction in the world for clean technology. In the preceding months, these issues had been the subject of extensive behind the scenes discussions between top business executives and the NDPs trade union allies. Building on what Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Hassan Yussuff dubbed a collaborative front with corporate Canada to get workers back on the job as quickly as possible, union leaders, employer representatives and government ministers plotted how to intensify the assault on wages and working conditions to ensure the profitability of Canadian capitalism. In early May 2020, Yussuff and Chamber of Commerce President Perrin Beatty issued a joint public call for the formation of a national economic task force to discuss how to restructure Canadian capitalism to improve its global competitiveness so as to prepare for increased corporate competition and trade conflicts in a post-COVID-19 world. During the 2020 auto contract talks, Unifor President Jerry Dias used headline promises of new jobs through a government-supported transition to manufacturing electric vehicles to ram though new agreements that further enshrine multi-tier, low-wage employment and gut work rules. The trade unions role as corporatist partners of big business was shown even more nakedly in January, when Unifor reopened the contract at GMs CAMI plant behind the backs of the workers to impose significant further concessions to secure a government-assisted investment in electric vehicle production. The drive to make Canada a world leader in clean technology is inseparable from the ruling elites push to deepen its military-strategic partnership with US imperialism. With the Democrat Joe Biden in the White House, corporate Canada sees an opportunity to consolidate supply chains for critical raw materials and hi-tech industries on the basis of a North America First strategy, and ensure the continents twin imperialist powers dominate the global clean tech sector. That this is intimately tied to a resurgence of militarism and war was underscored by the recently agreed upon Roadmap for a Renewed Canada-US Partnership. It affirmed Washington and Ottawas determination to modernize the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) to combat great power rivals, strengthen NATO, and dramatically boost defence spending. The document specifically took Canada to task for not meeting the NATO target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defence, which would require an annual spending increase of 30 percent. Not only has the NDP not criticized the Roadmap. It played an important role in facilitating its adoption. In November, it introduced a parliamentary motion praising Bidens electoral victory that received unanimous backing from all parties. The motion called for Biden to be given the honour of addressing a joint sitting of the House of Commons and Senate at the earliest opportunity, and urged the Trudeau government to deepen the decades-long Canada-US strategic partnership. Significantly, one issue where the NDP has taken issue with the Liberal government is China. Responding to a virulent anti-China campaign mounted by the corporate media and openly encouraged by Washington, Canadas social-democrats have repeatedly sided with the Conservative official opposition in demanding the Trudeau government adopt an even harder line towards China. This included Singh and his New Democrats voting last November for the creation of a committee to scrutinize Canadas anti-China policy, and supporting a Conservative-authored parliamentary motion last month that provocatively declared Chinas persecution of the Uyghur minority to be genocide. For several years, the NDP has also been denouncing the government from the right for its alleged failure to spend enough on the military. During the 2019 federal election, the NDP complained that more money was needed for warships, fighter jets and other equipment. Even though the Liberals unveiled a more than 70 percent hike in military spending in 2017, the NDP platform condemned decades of Liberal and Conservative cuts and mismanagement for leaving the military with outdated equipment, inadequate support, and an unclear strategic mandate. By rushing to extend unconditional support to the Liberal government at the very moment when it has concluded a whole-of-government agreement with the Biden administration to pursue trade war and accelerate military conflict, the NDP and Singh are sending a clear signal to their masters in Canadas corporate boardrooms that they can be relied upon to manage the affairs of Canadian imperialism. Under conditions of unprecedented social inequality, the ruling elites ruinous handling of the pandemic, and mounting working class anger, the social democrats and their trade union allies are well aware that they may be called upon to assume even more direct responsibility for administering the capitalist state and suppressing social opposition. Loading the player... Air India privatisation: Centre to invite financial bids by March-end Central government is reportedly planning to invite financial bids for privatisation of national carrier Air India by the end of this month. The plan is to wrap up the disinvestment process in the second half of the current calendar year. The shortlisted entities might be given time till June or early July this year to furnish their financial bids, reported CNBC-TV18. After the bids are locked, the sale of Air India will take another 3-4 months to finalise after evaluation of the financial bids. PwC India declares special bonus for all employees Audit firm PwC India on Thursday announced a special one-time bonus for all its 1,500 employees as an appreciation for the unrelenting commitment and efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are happy to share this success with our people through this token of appreciation," PwC India Chairman Sanjeev Krishan said in a statement. Denmark suspends AstraZeneca jab after blood clot reports Denmark has temporarily suspended AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shots after reports of cases of blood clots forming, including one in Denmark, Danish authorities said on Thursday. They did not say how many reports of blood clots there had been, but Austria has stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. They said six other European countries had halted the use of a vaccine batch from AstraZeneca. Google Pay to provide users much control over their data Google on Thursday said it will offer users of Google Pay enhanced privacy features, allowing them to take control of their own transaction data. Google Pay is rolling out an update to the app from next week that will provide users with more controls to decide how their Google Pay activity is used to personalise features within the app. LPG sales rise 7.3% despite price hike, say oil companies Cooking gas LPG consumption rose 7.3 per cent in the last three months despite a steep price rise, with usage among the PMUY beneficiaries, who are mostly poor rural households, jumping near 20 per cent, state-owned oil companies said. Reports also suggested that some PMUY beneficiaries had abandoned buying LPG following the price surge. No restrictions on export of COVID-19 jabs, says White House The Biden administration on Thursday ruled out that it has imposed any kind of restrictions on export of COVID-19 vaccines, amidst reports that European Union has been told by the US that they cannot expect any AstraZeneca shipments anytime soon. Vaccine manufacturers in the United States are free to export their products while also fulfilling the terms of contracts with the United States, the White House stated. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Postal services provider TTPost yesterday shut its branches in Port of Spain and San Fernando after dozens of people rushed to collect senior citizen pension and public assistance grants and would not adhere to physical distancing rules. Eventually, police were called to disperse the crowds. Several elderly people at the St Vincent Street branch in Port of Spain complained about not being able to collect their pension cheques because other unruly ones refused to socially distance and abide by the law amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Stella Griffith, 68, of Diego Martin, said she was adhering to rules of social distancing, but there were other people who came for their public assistance and disability grants and were refusing to listen. The Southern University student who went missing for nearly two weeks was found dead in Lake Pontchartrain on Thursday afternoon, a family member confirmed. The mother of Marquise Jones, 21, said it was her son's body that was pulled from the lake by Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies who embarked on the recovery mission from the Bonnabel Boat Launch. The body was in waters in New Orleans when it was pulled out, and the New Orleans Police Department has since taken over the investigation into the death. Report: Southern University student missing for a week; NOPD investigating possibility of foul play A Southern University student has been missing for a week after he drove to see family in Slidell, according to a report from WWL-TV. The NOPD's public information office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Jones. Jones was last seen the night of Feb. 26, when he dropped food off at his mother's home in Slidell. Friends of Jones told his family that he came to a house party that same night and left around 11:30 p.m. A week later on March 5, New Orleans police found the Southern University student's car parked in front of an abandoned apartment in New Orleans East. Police said they were investigating the possibility of foul play. Sorry! This content is not available in your region New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has insisted he will not resign and branded politicians calling for him to quit as reckless and dangerous and engaging in cancel culture. Many leading members of the Democratic Party are calling on Mr Cuomo to step aside amid allegations of sexual harassment. After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney Generalas investigation finding the Governoras admin hid nursing home data from the legislature & public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign. pic.twitter.com/jV5dwtuVPr Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 12, 2021 I did not do what has been alleged. Period, he said, again calling on the public to let ongoing investigations into his conduct to play out. Wait for the facts. Politicians who dont know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and an opinion are, in my opinion, reckless and dangerous, he added. With a sprawling coalition of congressional leaders joining dozens of state lawmakers in calling for the embattled governor to step down, the Democrat hit back. You need to know the facts before you make a decision, he said. People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth. Mr Cuomos growing list of detractors now covers virtually every region in the state and the political power centres of New York City and Washington. His allies insist he will not resign, but as allegations of sexual harassment grow, his political isolation has reached unprecedented levels. Expand Close Activists outside New York Gov Andrew Cuomos office (Mary Altaffer/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Activists outside New York Gov Andrew Cuomos office (Mary Altaffer/AP) The victims of sexual assault concern me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe Governor Cuomo must step aside, said Rep Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York Democrat who leads his partys House campaign arm. Prominent progressive Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said she believes the women who have accused the three-term Democratic governor of wrongdoing. After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney Generals investigation finding the Governors admin hid nursing home data from the legislature and public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign, Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. r Cuomo has denied he ever touched anyone inappropriately and has said he is sorry if he ever made anyone uncomfortable. He reiterated that Friday while insisting: I never harassed anyone. I never assaulted anyone. I never abused anyone. But, he said, what is being alleged simply did not happen. Watertown, NY (13601) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Premier Li Keqiang took questions from Chinese and foreign reporters via video link at a news conference Thursday after the closing of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress. Let's take a look at what overseas media covered. On employment While officials didn't set a GDP growth target last year, they did set a goal of at least 9 million new urban jobs because "employment is the foundation of people's wellbeing and development, it is also a source of wealth", Li said. "With employment, there will be a source of income, it will boost consumption and drive economic growth," he said. The government has set a target of 11 million new urban jobs for 2021 and will prioritize employment creation, Li said, adding that there will be 14 million people entering the urban job market this year, including more than 9 million college graduates. - Bloomberg On novel coronavirus source tracing China, too, wants to know where the COVID-19 virus came from, Li said. He said knowing the origins of the coronavirus would help to effectively contain it. Li, however, noted that tracing the virus' origin is a complex process, and needed continuous research and close cooperation among countries. "China has acted in an open, transparent and cooperative manner," he said. - Malaysia's news website The Star Online On macro economy Li defended the government's target for more than 6 percent GDP growth this year, saying it is "not low" and policies would not be dramatically loosened to chase higher growth. The target was well below analysts' expectations, as their consensus forecast was for growth of more than 8 percent this year. Li said the focus this year is on consolidating China's economic recovery, and setting hugely different growth targets from year to year would only "disturb" market expectations. - Reuters On science-tech innovation Li said China will continue to scale up inputs in driving scientific and technological innovations for the next five years, and more efforts will be made to encourage the private sector's participation in research and development. - Press Trust of India On China-US relations China and the United States have common interests and many areas for cooperation and should strive for a healthy development in relations, Li said. Li said Beijing hoped ties could develop in a healthy way based on respecting each other's core interests, win-win cooperation and non-interference in internal affairs. US President Joe Biden's administration has committed to reviewing elements of US policy toward China. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with top Chinese officials on March 18 in Alaska, the first high-level in-person contact between the two countries under the Biden administration. - Reuters "We hope to see dialogue between the two countries in multiple areas, and at various levels. Even if we cannot work everything out anytime soon, such exchange of views will help boost trust and dispel misgivings," Li said. "China and the US have common interests. There are many areas where the two countries can cooperate with each other... The two countries need to put more energy and focus on their common ground and expand converging interests," he said. - The Straits Times Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy this morning with showers during the afternoon. High 73F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 59F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Washington, March 12 : Officials from Guam, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean, have slammed a Congresswoman over her assertion that the island is a foreign land, according to media reports. Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greeneo has been heavily criticized for embracing conspiracy theories since her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month was posted online suggesting Guam is a foreign country that doesn't deserve aid, reports Xinhua news agency. "I wanted to take my regular, normal person, normal, everyday American values, which is: We love our country. We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America," Greene had on February 27, who excluded Guam from US territories in her speech. Michael San Nicolas, the delegate to the US House of Representatives for Guam's at-large congressional district, told local media on Thursday that his staff would pay a visit to Greene's office and deliver some local cookies to remind her that the island is part of the country. The office of Guam's Governor Lourdes Aflague Leon Guerrero also offered educational resources to Greene. "We would be more than happy to send Representative Greene's office a copy of 'Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam'," Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the director of communications for the governor, told the Guam Daily Post newspaper. Telena Nelson, a Democratic senator in the 34th Guam Legislature, said the comments made by a Greene were "appalling". 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Attempting to save face amid the bitter pay row, No10's universities minister Michelle Donelan told Good Morning Britain negotiating a deal with the health service was always part of the plan. The Government has made several embarrassing U-turns during the pandemic, most recently reversing its decision not to extend free school meals for vulnerable kids during the school holidays after a huge backlash. Ms Donelan's comments came amid growing fury over the proposed 1 per cent NHS salary bump, which unions described as a 'slap in the face' and threatened to strike over. Whitehall sources today claimed that officials were now contemplating trebling their offer to 3 per cent. Unions had been demanding a 12 per cent pay hike, but NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens said a 2.1 per cent bump - like staff were originally promised - would be a fair deal. A Whitehall source told the Times that an increase of between 2 and 3 per cent was 'realistic'. The insider added that it was a matter of 'when, not if' the current offer is increased. Boris Johnson said an independent spending review body was looking into the deal. Ms Donelan said the review was a 'process. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Matt Hancock have defended the 1 per cent offer which unions claimed works out at just 3.50 extra per week for a senior nurse was 'based on affordability'. Universities minister Michelle Donelan (left) told Good Morning Britain that negotiating a deal with the health service was always part of the plan. Boris Johnson (running this morning in London) may be forced to give nurses more money NHS workers staged protests over the proposed 1 per cent rise outside Downing Street last weekend Ms Donelan confirmed the Government had made a pay rise recommendation to the Independent Pay Commission, who will advise the Government later this year. She told Good Morning Britain: 'Our NHS are our national heroes, we owe them so much for what they have done through the pandemic. 'It's not a case of we're only offering a one per cent pay rise, far from it. We're continually investing in our NHS with additional money to support against Covid. 'We will continue to invest money into our NHS and our NHS heroes and we wait on that Commission report.' She added: 'I don't think it will be a U-turn as such because this is a process where it goes to an independent commission.' It comes after the Mail revealed last night that nurses were always going to be in line for a bigger pay rise than 1 per cent, due to previously-agreed Government deal. Thousands of NHS staff were due to get a 1.7 per cent increase to their wages this year, in the last piece of a three-year pay deal that has already boosted salaries by 12 per cent. The extra 0.7 per cent is worth another 230 to someone on the average nurse's salary of 33,000. Covid's shocking impact on the NHS: Routine care is halved and cancer surgery is at a 10-year low Treatment for non-Covid conditions halved in January as the NHS was engulfed by coronavirus patients, figures revealed yesterday. Cancer surgery plummeted to its lowest level in ten years with operations to remove tumours down 23 per cent compared to the same time in 2020. Meanwhile, heart operations and procedures fell by 39 per cent according to NHS performance data. Just 139,378 patients were admitted for routine NHS treatment such as knee or hip operations a 54 per cent decrease from 304,888 in 2020. Hospitals were forced to cancel thousands of operations due to the second wave of Covid-19 that saw 100,000 patients admitted with the virus in January alone. Waiting lists for hospital treatment have now soared to 4.59million patients, the highest since records began. Of these, an astonishing 304,044 have been waiting more than a year. Just 1,643 had been waiting more than 52 weeks at the start of 2020. The NHS's progress at clearing the backlog from the first wave went into reverse during the surge over winter which pushed hospitals to a breaking point. Macmillan Cancer Support raised alarm over another significant drop in referrals for treatment and cancer diagnosis in January on top of the enormous backlog. Advertisement There is frustration among some in Whitehall that Health Secretary Matt Hancock has failed to make it clear nurses will not get a real-terms pay cut, like Labour and unions have claimed. 'No one can understand why the Department of Health presented this as a one per cent pay rise when it's actually 1.7,' a source said. 'We are getting killed for giving nurses a real-terms pay cut, when it isn't even true.' A Department of Health source confirmed that NHS staff in the 'Agenda for Change' pay group, which includes most nurses, will get a 0.7 per cent rise this year. That is in addition to whatever emerges from the current pay round, which is under discussion by the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB). The source denied the department had underplayed the fact, however, saying it was set out in its submission to the NHSPRB, and had been mentioned by Mr Hancock at a No 10 press conference. The document published last week states: 'We expect the total investment in AfC [Agenda for Change] in 2021/22 to be 1.7 per cent.' It explains that the extra 0.7 per cent is an 'overhang' from the three-year deal agreed in 2018. The pay structure is being streamlined for staff on bands five to seven ranging from podiatrists to paramedics and therapists and will put some staff at the top of the new pay points. This will create 'significant pay increases' of up to 12 per cent for some workers. A separate group of the best-paid NHS staff in bands eight and nine, such as managers and chief nurses, are also due a final, as yet undecided, uplift from the three-year deal and 'this represents an additional commitment on top of the 0.7 per cent overhang'. Nurses have hit out at the Government for the initial 1 per cent offer, saying it was 'callous', given that health workers have battled Covid for more than a year. Linzie, a surgical nurse from Glasgow, said today: 'The most recent announcement of the interim pay rise has felt like another blow for me personally, it then affects my sleep, which in turn affects my mental health through overthinking, worrying and feeling let down. 'The pandemic has meant poor sleep is affecting me far more than it has done previously, sleepless nights are at an all-time high, digital therapy has supported me through some of the darkest days, but I am not out of the woods yet . 'I know that Im not alone in this struggle and that sadly countless healthcare workers suffer from poor sleep like me too, I cant recommend NHS approved tools such as Sleepio to them enough.' Yesterday Labour made nurses' pay the focus of its local elections campaign. Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer said nurses should get at least the 2.1 per cent pay rise that was originally budgeted for by the NHS for this year. And he refused to rule out joining NHS staff on picket lines if they strike over pay. At the party's local election launch, Sir Keir dodged questions about whether he would back such action. He said: 'Nobody in the NHS wants to go on strike. As I say, my wife works in the NHS. They don't want to go on strike. 'The only thing that is causing this dispute is the Prime Minister and it's what he does that is going to determine this. 'I support them in their entitlement to a fair wage rise after what they've been through.' Labour will attempt to put more pressure on Boris Johnson over the proposed pay offer today by launching a poster attacking his 'moral failure' on the issue. In an echo of the current Covid ad campaign, the billboard depicts a nurse and reads: 'Boris Johnson, look her in the eyes and tell her why you're cutting her pay.' The party also wants the PM to correct the record after he wrongly said Labour had voted against an NHS pay rise. Roughly 400 people who allege that they were sexually preyed upon by local priests and deacons went to bankruptcy court and sought compensation from the Archdiocese of New Orleans before last weeks deadline for victims of clerical abuse to file such claims, church officials said Thursday. The announcement provides clarity as to the number and potential value of remaining clerical abuse cases that the archdiocese will have to settle or litigate before it can reorganize its finances, a process that started when the church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May. March 1 was the final day a sexual abuse claim could be filed in the case, which is the only avenue for compensation for those claiming they were molested prior to the bankruptcy filing. Whoever had such claims but didnt pursue compensation by the deadline has forever lost the right to do so. Plaintiffs attorney Jeff Anderson, who has represented abuse claimants against virtually all of the 27 U.S. Catholic dioceses that have declared bankruptcy, said he believes 400 claims is relatively low for the church in New Orleans, given that the archdiocese serves about a half-million parishioners and currently has a list of more than 70 clergy who have been credibly accused of sexually molesting children or vulnerable adults. He said the low number of claims illustrates why bankruptcy protection is a sinister and effective tool. +3 New clergy sex abuse claims against Archdiocese of New Orleans pour in on Monday deadline Last minute petitions poured into bankruptcy court Monday, the final day that victims of clergy sexual abuse were allowed to file claims again There is no question that the archdiocese is using Chapter 11 as a shield to prevent survivors from being able to come forward, said Anderson, who represents about a dozen clients in New Orleans. They (would) face so many more claims in time. In a statement Thursday, Archbishop Gregory Aymond said he and his staff hope these steps allow survivors of sexual abuse a path of healing while offering prayerful support for all victims and survivors of sexual abuse. For the sake of comparison, the Diocese of Buffalo filed for bankruptcy last February and the court has given claimants until August of this year to file, eight months more than New Orleans claimants received. The Buffalo diocese, which serves about 700,000 Catholics, estimates it will end up receiving 400 abuse claims, but its impossible to know if that will prove anywhere near accurate. The New Orleans bankruptcy claims do not include dozens, or even hundreds, of abuse survivors who came forward before the bankruptcy case began and agreed to out-of-court settlements with the archdiocese. A significant number of those settlements were made in 2018 and 2019, in the months immediately before and after Aymond released earlier versions of the list of priests and deacons who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors in the New Orleans area over seven decades. 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 publication of the list inspired many victims to come forward who had repressed memories of their abuse or had been afraid to speak up, and the roster has been expanded a handful of times. Only an approximation of the final number of claims from church officials is available, rather than an exact number from federal bankruptcy court, because the court-appointed claims administrator is still sorting through documents arriving by mail as well as issues with duplicate or incorrectly filed forms. The archdiocese has said it filed for Chapter 11 due to significant financial distress from litigation and settlement negotiations surrounding the abuse scandal, as well as revenue decreases associated with activity restrictions spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. +3 New Orleans archdiocese announces changes to how it will respond to clerical abuse claims Weeks after pledging to collaborate with a group of clergy sex abuse survivors, the Archdiocese of New Orleans on Thursday announced changes t Clergy-abuse creditors have argued the archdiocese is not in financial distress and doesnt deserve Chapter 11 protection, but the court has not ruled on that question. Chapter 11 allows organizations to get their books in order while shielding them from the demands of creditors, who have to fill out claims forms proving the bankruptcy entity owes them money. Archdiocesan officials said Thursday that 430 additional creditors including several of the churches and agencies under archdiocesan control claim they are owed money for other reasons, from outstanding utility bills to accidental falls on church property. An archdiocesan spokesperson said abuse-related bankruptcy claims would be reviewed for referral to law enforcement authorities and church discipline such as removing a cleric from public ministry when appropriate. Those claims are currently under seal. It is unclear how much their total value might be. Church abuse settlements prior to the bankruptcy could range from tens of thousands of dollars to more than $1 million. Fastforward achieved returns of 223% and 315% respectively in just a few weeks for the pair of successful UK cannabis floats ( ) and ( ) proved to be fruitful investments for FastForward Innovations Ltd (LON: FFWD) which today confirmed the profitable exit from its shareholding in both companies. FFWD saw a 223% return on its investment in Kanabo and a 315% return on its investment in Cellular Goods, according to a stock market statement on Thursday. It realised a 194,414 gross profit as it exited the pair of cannabis investments, which both in recent weeks floated in London amidst high demand. Both investments were turned around quickly, though FFWD noted that it had originally sought a larger position in each company. Whilst we were disappointed to be heavily scaled back due to both placings being oversubscribed, we are delighted to have made such significant returns on our investments in Kanabo and Cellular Goods in a short timeframe, said Ed McDermott, FFWD chief executive. In February, FFWD bought 62,500 worth of Kanabo shares in its oversubscribed placing, which raised a total of 6mln with shares priced at 6p each, and, earlier this week it sold at 21.1p to make a 139,851 profit. It bought 17,215 of shares in the oversubscribed placing for David Beckham-backed cannabis consumer products group Cellular Goods which raised a total of 13mln priced at 5p per share, and exited this week at 20.9p to make a profit of 54,562. The Kanabo and Cellular Goods share sales mark a trio of successful divestments in the cannabis sector this week. On Wednesday, FFWD announced it was selling its entire interest in , which is being acquired by North American cannabis consumer products group Curaleaf. FFWD noted that its decision was influenced by regulatory conditions, which result from Curaleaf's involvement in the recreational cannabis market in North America. The transaction sees FFWD sell 6.7mln shares in EMMAC as well as a 750,000 convertible loan note for around 5.04mln, to record a 1.9mln profit (versus a September 2020 valuation). It will mark a 1.86x return on the companys original investment. Proceeds from the cannabis deals are earmarked for reinvestment, the company highlighted. With our already strong balance sheet, the proceeds from these sales, along with the significant funds to be received from the sale of EMMAC as announced yesterday, will put FastForward in a very strong cash position and enable us to invest in other new and exciting businesses that will bring value to shareholders. We hope to provide further updates on developments in this regard in due course, Ed McDermott added. TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will travel to the United States to meet President Joe Biden next month to discuss Indo-Pacific issues, Japan's chief government spokesman said on Friday. Suga will go to the U.S. in the first half of April and will become the first foreign leader to meet face-to-face with President Biden, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters. The leaders' meeting is intended to show their strong commitment to a free and fair Indo-Pacific region, Kato said. (Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Christopher Cushing) For Subscribers Gov. Noem hires jet consultant to help South Dakota buy new aircraft An out-of-state consultant has been hired for $195,000 by Gov. Kristi Noem's administration to help the state of South Dakota buy a new aircraft. My mother died last year and I asked for probate to find out what happened to her bank accounts and home. She had suffered from dementia and was in an old people's home. I found out that my sister had access to the bank accounts and was helping herself. Later, and after my mother was admitted into the home, my sister obtained lasting power of attorney for health and welfare. With this she managed to sell our mother's house. Is this legal? Power of attorney: I found out that my sister had access to our mother's bank accounts and was helping herself (Stock image) She opened a joint bank account with my mother (before lasting power of attorney) so the bank tells me that the account now belongs to her, and that there is no power of attorney on this account. All my mother's accounts were closed and the money transferred, but the bank will not give details. I don't get it. How come she could just help herself to everything with an lasting power of attorney health and welfare and what can I do about it, especially as the bank is being rather shy about giving information? I contacted the Financial Ombudsman but the bank is still retaining information. Just a point that might be important, I live in France and my mother was in England. Tanya Jefferies, of This is Money, replies: I am sorry to hear of your bereavement last year. It sounds, from what you say, as if your late mother gave your sister lasting power of attorney over her property and financial affairs, perhaps in addition to an LPA covering her health and welfare. You believe your sister abused her power of attorney, and she might have done. Yet it is also possible the bank withdrawals, opening and closing of accounts, and the sale of the house were carried out for the benefit of your mother. We asked a lawyer experienced in this area to explain what lasting power of attorney permits a holder to do, and what steps you can take if you suspect wrongdoing by your sister. Louise Mathias-Williams, lawyer in the Court of Protection team at Thomson Snell & Passmore, replies: Your mother would have been able to create two types of 'lasting powers of attorney', one dealing with property and financial affairs and the other with health and welfare matters. Louise Mathias-Williams: It is important that, as attorney, your sister acted in your mother's best interests It would have been your mother's choice, as the 'donor', whom she appointed as her attorney. More than one attorney can be appointed if the donor wishes. Your sister could have given instructions to enable your mother's property to be sold if she was acting under a property and financial affairs LPA. A health and welfare LPA would not have been acceptable for this purpose, nor for taking any steps on your mother's behalf in connection with her bank accounts. What safeguards are there when LPAs are set up? When creating either type of LPA, a 'certificate provider', an independent person, must also sign the document in order for it to be acceptable. This would have been necessary in your mother's case. The certificate provider's input is considered to be a safeguard against abuse when the LPA is being made. They must be satisfied that, in their opinion, the donor understands the purpose of the LPA, the scope of the powers they are granting to their attorney, and that the donor is not under any undue pressure to make the LPA. The LPA must also be registered by the Office of the Public Guardian, which is an arm of the Ministry of Justice, in order for it to be valid. Provided a financial LPA has been registered, it can be used at any time, whether or not the donor has capacity - in layman's terms, whether they are competent to act for themselves - although the donor can place restrictions on this if they want in the LPA. However, where the donor retains capacity then an attorney must only act with their consent. What is a holder of power of attorney allowed to do? An attorney can make most legal decisions for the donor under a financial LPA that a donor can make themselves. For example, dealing with bank accounts, handling income, settling bills, buying and selling property, and dealing with tax returns are all covered. Some steps are limited, such as gift-making, and some select matters cannot be handled by an attorney at all, such as making a will for the donor. Creating a will can only be done by the donor if they still have capacity to understand this process or, if they don't, with the Court of Protection's permission. It is important that, as attorney, your sister acted in your mother's best interests. The opening of a joint account where both your mother and your sister were account holders would have required consent from both of them in order for the bank to do this. You confirm that this account would have been opened before the point at which your mother created the LPA, and so presumably at the time she had capacity to make this decision. It is the case that, on the death of one account holder, the balance held in a joint account would pass automatically to the surviving account holder. An attorney should ensure that their assets are separate from the donor's, and so ideally, when your mother lost capacity to manage her affairs, her attorney should have divided the balance into separate accounts. You mention that your mother's accounts were closed and money was transferred but you do not confirm the destination accounts. The cost of residential or nursing care can be very significant and it is not unusual to need to sell a property in order to make funds available to meet it. An attorney may also consolidate accounts where fairly small sums are perhaps being held in various different places. Where reasonable expenses are incurred by an attorney in connection with their role, such as the cost of professional advice for the donor - like an accountant's fee for preparing the donor's tax return - travel costs, postage and phone calls, they are also entitled to their reimbursement. It is therefore possible that your sister may have made bank withdrawals to cover regular day-to-day expenditure on your mother's behalf following her move into care. However, as mentioned your sister should always have acted in your mother's best interests in her capacity as attorney. An attorney's duties also encompass keeping accounts and financial records, not benefiting from nor taking advantage of their position and acting in good faith. What should you do if you suspect your sister abused the LPA? If you consider that your sister was not acting in your mother's best interests and your suspicions surrounding financial abuse remain, the personal representatives of your mother's estate should make further enquiries of your sister such as asking her to produce her attorney's accounts for review. The relevant banks should also co-operate with the release of information to help with such enquiries, provided that the request is made by the personal representatives who hold the correct authority - the executor of your mother's will, or an administrator authorised to act under a Grant of Administration if she did not make one. The Office of the Public Guardian, which has the power to monitor attorneys, would be unlikely to assist now by investigating the handling of your mother's affairs during her lifetime, given that she has now passed away and their jurisdiction to act would have therefore come to an end. If it is not possible for the personal representatives to make such enquiries - if your sister is perhaps your late mother's personal representative - it would be most sensible to obtain your own legal advice about the scope for pursuing a financial claim against her for recovery of misappropriated assets. Your lawyer in such a case would probably want to employ the services of a forensic accountant to review your mother's historical bank statements, so that you may clearly substantiate any allegations of your sister's misuse of her authority under the LPA. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged loyalist groups not to withdraw their support for the Good Friday Agreement as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Speaking during a visit to the region on Friday the PM admitted that the current working of the protocol was unbalanced and said his Government was working to address unionist concerns. He also noted that the UK reserves the right to invoke Article 16 and suspend the protocol at any time if issues persist. Mr Johnson addressed claims from the Sinn Fein leadership that he had refused to hold a political meeting with them during his visit to pay tribute to those involved in the coronavirus pandemic response. Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said the PM did not facilitate a meeting with her and party leader Mary Lou McDonald to discuss the protocol and legacy issues. Ms ONeill refused to meet him in an official capacity as a result. At a media briefing Mr Johnson said he had wanted to meet the deputy First Minister during the trip, but had been told she had another engagement. I wanted to meet Michelle, but she had some other engagement, I dont know quite what it was, but I didnt get to see her unfortunately, he said. Read More The PM also addressed the recent decision by the Loyalist Communities Council to withdraw their support for the Good Friday Agreement. The umbrella group, which represents paramilitaries including the UVF and UDA, wrote to the PM to announce their decision as a result of the protocol. Mr Johnson said he had not seen the letter, but that it would have been dealt with by the relevant people. Unionists are angry at the protocol, which they feel cuts Northern Ireland off from the rest of the UK, by keeping it aligned with trade rules post-Brexit. It was designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland by keeping the whole island in the EU single market. Expand Close Prime Minister Boris Johnson elbow bumps a member of the public as they wait to be vaccinated during a visit to the Lakeland Forum vaccination centre in Enniskillen (Charles McQuillan/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Boris Johnson elbow bumps a member of the public as they wait to be vaccinated during a visit to the Lakeland Forum vaccination centre in Enniskillen (Charles McQuillan/PA) Asked about the feeling among loyalists Mr Johnson said that is exactly the issue I tend to resolve. He told the media he wanted to make sure we keep both communities in balance, to make sure that we look after everybody in Northern Ireland. The PM noted that it was Northern Irelands centenary year and said he wished to champion all of the people living in the region. At the moment the protocol is operating in a way that is imbalanced, of course we respect the importance of the EU single market, we also attach great importance to the Good Friday Agreement, to the peace process, he said. Its all one United Kingdom and thats also there in the protocol, it says so explicitly in black and white. Pressed on whether he was worried loyalist groups would withdraw their support for the peace process Mr Johnson replied: I very much hope that they wont and our intention is to uphold the Good Friday Agreement. The PM said he totally understands peoples concerns around the protocol. The way its working at the moment is not adequate, taking proper account of the feelings and the attachments of one of the communities and therefore and I think we need to take a long, hard look at it. We need to make sure that its working in such a way as to operate with consent. Its currently not operating with consent, he said. I think that what weve done, which some people in the EU object to, is good sense, because its lawful and its trying to put in some technical easements that will try to address some of these immediate problems. What we see in the UK Government as imbalance in the way the protocol is operating serves to affect the balance of the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. The UK Government has unilaterally extended until October some grace periods of light-touch regulation on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain, which had been due to end at the end of this month. The EU has threatened legal action in response. Asked whether he was willing to admit the protocol was here to stay Mr Johnson said: Ive said before that we reserve the right to invoke Article 16 if thats necessary, if we cant sort all this out. During his trip Mr Johnson discussed the protocol with senior DUP figures including First Minister Arlene Foster and Lord Dodds. Speaking after the meeting Mrs Foster described her conversation with the PM as frank. The DUP leader said she urged him to stand up for Northern Ireland and ditch the intolerable protocol. She said he had been in listening mode and alive to the issues. Not a single unionist party in Northern Ireland supports this unworkable protocol, Mrs Foster said. Rather than protect the Belfast Agreement and its successor agreements, the protocol has created societal division and economic harm. Whilst grace periods have been extended unilaterally, we need a permanent solution so business can plan and the integrity of the United Kingdom internal market can be restored. Ms ONeill addressed her decision to snub the PM after he refused a meeting. Mary Lou McDonald and myself have a long-standing request to meet with the British Prime Minister to discuss a number of commitments which he and his Government have reneged on in the New Decade New Approach over this past year, and also his reckless and partisan approach to the Irish Protocol. He did not facilitate the meeting, the deputy First Minister said. Mr Johnson visited a mass vaccination centre with Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster in her Co Fermanagh constituency during the trip. He was joined by the DUP leader and Health Minister Robin Swann at the Lakeland Forum leisure centre in Enniskillen and visited RAF Aldergrove in Co Antrim. The PM also toured a facility at Queens University, which is carrying out genomic sequencing on the coronavirus. The DUP leader said her party also raised the issue of sharing surplus vaccines with the Republic of Ireland once our citizens are vaccinated. Mr Johnson responded positively to the idea, she said. [March 12, 2021] Maven Silicon offers cloud-based online VLSI courses worldwide for the electrical engineers who aspire to grow as Chip Designers in the Semiconductor Industry BENGALURU, India, March 12, 2021 /CNW/ -- Mr. P.R.Sivakumar founded Maven Silicon with the vision of producing highly skilled VLSI engineers towards meeting the growing demand of chip designers in the semiconductor industry worldwide. Since 2010 they have successfully deployed 2500+ VLSI engineers collaborating with over 250+ industry partners, and emerged as a top class Centre of Excellence in VLSI for both academia and corporates. His perspectives shared with Semiconductor Engineering on Hard-To-Hire Engineering Jobs based on his entrepreneurial journey with a decade of excellence. Using the State-of-the-Art Technologies, Maven Silicon offers a wide range of Courses through ILT, VILT, & Self-Paced Learning to Hybrid Learning to support academia and corporates. The learners are equipped with modern EDA Tools, Techniques, and Skills that sync with the learning goals of the MNC's and Service Co's that are vital in an era of rapid change where advances in technology are disrupting the very way they work. Corporate Soluions During this pandemic situation, when the semiconductor industry was looking for innovative learning solutions to upskill and support their workforce remotely, they helped the industry with online learning solutions. In June 2020, they were awarded a two-year contract by a top US-based Wi-Fi company towards upskilling 600 VLSI engineers across various countries for their worldwide operations. In September 2020, they delivered a rapid online training program to upskill VLSI Engineers for a world's largest mobile manufacturer. Newsletter As the industry demands more and more chip designers with processor design expertise for AI, ML, Server, laptop and Smartphone chips and SoCs, our Founder and Author Mr. P R Sivakumar had initiated a collaboration with RISC-V in October' 2020 as their Global Training Partner primarily to upskill the VLSI Engineers on RISC-V Processor Design. In a short span, he authored and successfully launched the courses in January 2021. A RISC-V Training Partner About Maven Silicon: A Decade of Excellence supported by seamless operations helped them extend and transform New College Graduates [NCG] as job-ready VLSI Engineers. They were able to continue with the operations and train 500+ NCGs, irrespective of the COVID crisis and the enormous challenges faced during 2020. Through their social responsibility initiative, "Maven Silicon to Community", provided 100% Scholarships for the deserving NCGs considering their family and financial situation. Media Contact: Veeresh SG, info@maven-silicon.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/maven-silicon-offers-cloud-based-online-vlsi-courses-worldwide-for-the-electrical-engineers-who-aspire-to-grow-as-chip-designers-in-the-semiconductor-industry-301246176.html SOURCE Maven Silicon Softech Pvt. Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] WINNIPEG police officers, bus drivers and other essential city workers still dont know when theyll get vaccinated against COVID-19. WINNIPEG police officers, bus drivers and other essential city workers still dont know when theyll get vaccinated against COVID-19. Mayor Brian Bowman said Thursday hes still in the dark, despite pressing the province since early December, on where police officers, bus drivers and other essential civic workers fall on the priority list. "Our members of the Winnipeg Police Service are nowhere to be seen in the plans," said Bowman. "Either theyve not been in their vaccine rollout plans or (the province) isnt sharing them, which I think is unacceptable. Members of the Winnipeg Police Service are answering difficult and dangerous calls and are at greater exposure than many Winnipeggers." A similar request about the citys homeless population has gone unanswered, Bowman said. "Weve been pressing to get an indication from the province when they can expect to get their vaccines and that information has yet to be shared." Bowman stressed the city is not questioning the provinces current eligibility list and is asking Winnipeggers to get the vaccine when they become eligible. "This is a way to not only protect your own health, but you can help protect the health of our community and our economy," he said. "Im hoping we will get the biggest per capita buy-in of those choosing to get their vaccine in Canada. That would be something we could all celebrate because that will help us get back to the new norm much quicker." Kevin Rollason Steve Heimbecker didnt need to be sold on the Mohawk Million. Whether it was the lure of competing for a $500,000 top prize, competitive spirit, wanting to win one for the home team, being associated with a marquee event, or perhaps all of the above, one of Ontario racings most ardent supporters didnt need to be asked twice about the big race at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Sept. 25. In fact, the high-profile owner didnt even need to be asked once. Ive said this before, but in North America, we have the best track in Woodbine Mohawk Park, said Heimbecker, President & Principal Advisor with mortgage lender Nestig Inc. Mohawk is great now and there is even more potential for it in the future. We have some of the best races in our very own backyard. To me, its fitting that this race is here. Its the perfect spot for it and Im very proud to be involved with it. The Mohawk Million, for trotting two-year-olds, follows a buy-in approach with nine of 10 slots in the race available for purchase. The 10th and final slot in the race is awarded to the winner of the William Wellwood Memorial, slated for Sept. 11. The owners of the slots are not required to declare a trotting two-year-old for the race until entry time, with the slot being an entity that may be sold, traded or subject to lease. Each slot owner was required to submit $50,000 per slot by the Feb. 15 deadline. The remaining $50,000 is due by June 1. Heimbecker was actually part of the first Mohawk Million in 2020. I went in on a slot purchase with [owner] Brad [Grant]he was really pivotal in getting me involvedthat we eventually sold to Julie Miller. We were hopeful of using it, but it just didnt work out. But I was really happy to see Julie win it with Venerate. I was watching and clearly cheering on Julie, who I have some horses with. Julie, along with Daniel Plouffe, and myself are partners for this years slot. This time around, Heimbecker has options, and plenty of them. Having a handful of hopefuls to pin his Mohawk Million hopes on is admittedly an enviable position to be in. While all are wild cards at the moment, Heimbecker could have a pair of aces on his hands. There is something very appealing about trotters. My old man would always say, Trotters, you either love them or you hate them they can break your heart. And they do. Ive always said that I wont be buying trotters and I always end up doing it. Hopefully, we can fill the spot with one of them this year. Venerate, trained by Julie Miller, winning the 2020 Mohawk Million Venerate, trained by Julie Miller, winning the 2020 Mohawk Million I bought the spot with Julie and Daniel with the intention of putting one of the horses we have in there. We bought a really nice Muscle Hill [$400,000, Trunk Bay] at the sale last fall, as well as Clenched Fist [$190,000]. At the moment, there are five horses we have to consider for that one slot. Heimbecker is looking forward to seeing how the journey to Mohawk Million night ends up playing out. He doesnt need to be reminded that life with rookie trotters can be an adventure in itself. While he already has Sept. 25 circled on his calendar, theres no immediate rush to name his starter for the big race. Its one big reason why Heimbecker is eager to see whats in store for his Mohawk Million hopefuls over the new few months. Its really early. I had 31 two-year-olds last year and a good chunk of them were trotters. Theres something really special about having a young trotter that can travel at those high speeds. Well lean on the trainers who do a great job of working with them and figuring them out ahead of the Mohawk Million. Win or lose, Heimbecker has embraced the notion of "buying local"as an owner who sees plenty of potential, upside and value in the Standardbred racing and breeding program in Ontario. Two years ago, the majority of his racing stock was American-sired horses. In 2020, he altered his blueprint, upping his support for the Standardbred racing scene and breeding program in Ontario. Heimbecker, whose stars over the years include Courtly Choice, purchased three of the four highest-priced yearlings from the 2020 London Virtual Yearling Salebuying sale toppers Goldrush Seelster and Shanghai Seelster from the first session and Addison Seelster from the second session. Im a big believer in supporting Ontario racing, said Heimbecker, who bought Lightnier (renamed The Big Hen), a pacing-bred yearling filly that sell in 2020 who is a sister to millionaire Medusa and O'Brien Award winner Alicorn. We have such a great product, we should be proud of our industry, and its important to invest in it. With this Mohawk Million race, we have a fantastic opportunity to put on a great show. With everything being overshadowed by COVID, its nice to be able to look forward to an event like this in Ontario. Steve Heimbecker (second from the left) standing in the winner's circle with Ontario-bred Examiner Hanover in 2019 Steve Heimbecker (second from the left) standing in the winner's circle with Ontario-bred Examiner Hanover in 2019 Especially in Heimbecker's case, since he happens to have a quintet of young trotters to choose from. I think Ive covered all my bases, said Heimbecker, who added with a laugh, Hopefully, it ends up being a love story and not a drama. A win in this years Mohawk Million would be most fitting for the man who continues to reap the rewards of shopping local. The Mohawk Million will take place along with the $850,000 Metro Pace for two-year-old pacers on Sept. 25, showcasing the sports two richest races for freshmen on the same card. The $540,000 Shes A Great Lady for two-year-old pacing fillies will complement the Mohawk Million card, which will feature total purses of more than $2.6 million. (Ontario Racing) /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ TORONTO, March 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Digihost Technology Inc. (Digihost or the Company) (TSXV: DGHI; OTCQB: HSSHF) is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into subscription agreements with certain institutional investors, for gross proceeds of approximately CAD$25 million in a private placement of its equity securities, comprised of 9,363,296 common shares of the Company (Shares) and warrants to purchase up to 9,363,296 common shares (Warrants), at a purchase price of CAD$2.67 per Share and associated Warrant. The Warrants have an exercise price of CAD$3.14 per Share and exercise period of three years from the issuance date. The net proceeds of the private placement will be used by the Company primarily to acquire additional Bitcoin miners, infrastructure expansion, further reduce energy costs and for working capital purposes. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the private placement. The private placement is expected to close on or about March 16, 2021, subject to the receipt of all required corporate and regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. No securities were offered or sold to Canadian residents in connection with the private placement. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements. About Digihost Technology Inc. Digihost Technology Inc. is a growth-oriented blockchain company primarily focused on Bitcoin mining. The Company's mining facility is located in Buffalo, N.Y., and is equipped with an 18.7MVA 115,000-kilovolt-ampere outdoor substation with an option to increase the power output to 42MVA. The Company is currently mining approximately 1.2 Bitcoins per day, subject to difficulty. Digihosts strategy is to focus on continually increasing its hashrate with a concurrent reduction in energy costs. For further information, please contact: Digihost Technology Inc. www.digihost.ca Michel Amar, Chief Executive Officer Email: michel@digihost.ca Cautionary Statement Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking information in this news release includes information about the Private Placement including closing of the Private Placement and approval of the TSX Venture thereof and the use of net proceeds from the Private Placement, potential further improvements to profitability and efficiency across mining operations, potential for the Companys long-term growth, and the business goals and objectives of the Company. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: market and other conditions, continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may have a material adverse effect on the Companys performance as supply chains are disrupted and prevent the Company from operating its assets; a decrease in cryptocurrency pricing, volume of transaction activity or generally, the profitability of cryptocurrency mining; further improvements to profitability and efficiency may not be realized; the digital currency market; the Companys ability to successfully mine digital currency on the cloud; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory, or at all; a decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Companys operations; the volatility of digital currency prices; the availability of electricity at prevailing rates and on a continuous basis; the adequacy and security of custody for coins maintained in inventory; and, other related risks as more fully set out in the Annual Information Form of the Company and other documents disclosed under the Companys filings at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions about: the current profitability in mining cryptocurrency (including pricing and volume of current transaction activity); profitable use of the Companys assets going forward; the Companys ability to profitably liquidate its digital currency inventory as required; historical prices of digital currencies and the ability of the Company to mine digital currencies on the cloud will be consistent with historical prices; the pricing of electricity at historical rates; the adequacy and security of custody for coins maintained in inventory; and, there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Demonstrators took to the streets to protest the imprisonment of a rapper for a fourth consecutive night in Spain on Friday, as relations strained inside the countrys coalition government over its response to the unrest. Police in the northeastern region of Catalonia, which has seen most of this weeks rioting, said some protesters pelted officers with bottles, stones, fireworks and paint in Barcelona and at least three other places. Other protesters set fire to large street trash containers and used them to block streets. In central Barcelona, some people broke into two bank branches and tried to set a fire inside, while others vandalised and ransacked stores, police said. In Girona, another Catalan city, protesters smashed the windows of three banks. Thousands of people joined the marches, but the violence appeared to come from a smaller group. The pitched battles raged hours after Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said the violence is inadmissible, in comments that accentuated a rift with his coalition governments junior partner. In impromptu remarks at the start of a speech about the economy, Mr Sanchez addressed the rioting this week that has ignited a heated debate over the limits of free speech in Spain and a political storm over the use of violence by both the rappers supporters and the police. Violence is an attack on democracy and the government will take a stand against any form of violence to ensure peoples safety, said Mr Sanchez. Interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska also stepped into the row, thanking police for their efforts and saying they would continue to guarantee the rights and freedoms of all society against a minority whose misguided idea of rights makes them have recourse to violence. Around 80 people, including four on Friday night, had been arrested and more than 100 injured since rapper Pablo Hasel earlier this week was arrested and began to serve a nine-month prison sentence after his conviction for insulting the Spanish monarchy and praising terrorist violence. A demonstrator throws an object during a protest in support of Catalan rapper Pablo Hasel (REUTERS) Mr Sanchez and Mr Grande-Marlaska belong to the Socialist party, which heads the coalition government. Senior members of the coalitions junior partner, the far-left United We Can (Unidas Podemos) party, have spoken out in support of the protesters and criticised police after a protester lost an eye, allegedly due to a foam bullet fired by riot police. On Thursday, the party filed a petition for a total pardon for Mr Hasel and another rapper, Valtonyc, who fled to Belgium in 2018 to avoid trial on charges of glorifying terrorism. There has been widespread support for a change in Spains so-called Gag Law covering freedom of expression, including from artists, celebrities and politicians. In a surprise move, the Spanish government last week announced that it would change the law to remove prison terms for offences involving freedom of expression - however, it did not mention Mr Hasel or provide a timetable for the changes. 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. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 New Delhi: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Friday (March 12) set up an enquiry committee to look into the alleged irregularity of funds in 12 Delhi government funded colleges, stating that strict action to be taken against those responsible. The enquiry panel will look into how the third quarter grants and existing surplus funds have been spent. The development came after reports that some Delhi government-funded colleges have not disbursed salary to teachers and other staff. Issuing directions to the Directorate of Higher Education to set up an enquiry committee to look into alleged irregularities of funds in 12 city government-funded colleges, Sisodia said the decision was made after noticing that these Delhi University colleges had not disbursed the salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff and also that many colleges did not submit the utilisation certificates of the third quarter grants. In a statement, Sisodia said, "If the colleges have not disbursed salaries, then what has been done with the funds with the college? What is the reason that utilisation certificates have not been submitted? The non-submission of utilisation certificates seems to indicate financial irregularities. It seems like an attempt to avoid scrutiny and accountability." The Deputy CM, Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio in the Delhi government, further said, "Strongest action needs to be taken against any financial irregularities by these Delhi government colleges." Live TV Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) president Rajib Ray claimed that the Delhi government has now released the sanction letter of Rs 82,79,79,507 under salary head and an amount of Rs 9,50,90,500 under other than salaries' head. On Thursday, thousands of DU teachers went on a strike to protest the non-payment of salaries for the past six months. The call for a university "shutdown" was given by DUTA on Tuesday as many employees of 12 DU colleges, which are fully funded by the Delhi government, alleged they had not received salaries and other dues for over six months. (With Agency Inputs) Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A former bank worker caught with thousands of sexually explicit images of children has been given a fully suspended sentence. Robert Traynor (54) told gardai that he believed the images were of adults posing as children, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. Traynor, with an address in Crumlin, Dublin pleaded guilty to possession of 1,938 images and 183 videos of child pornography on February 2, 2018. He also admitted the production of 1,650 computer generated images on September 22, 2014, contrary to the 1998 child trafficking pornography act. Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Pauline Codd said the offending material involved the gross exploitation of children, which she described as abhorrent. The onus is on the courts to protect children from such vile exploitation, she said. She noted Traynor has undergone counselling since the offences came to light, has engaged well with therapy and has been deemed at a low risk of re-offending. She handed down a two-and-a-half year sentence and suspended it on a number of conditions, including that Traynor remain under the supervision of the Probation Services for three years and continue to engage in sex offender therapy. Detective Garda Thomas Burke previously told Elva Duffy BL, prosecuting, that as part of an ongoing garda operation into online child exploitation, a computer address was linked to the possession of child pornography images and videos in an online peer to peer network. Traynor's home was linked to this computer through his internet provider Eir and gardai went to the house in February 2018. Under caution, Traynor told gardai that he had downloaded erotic material but said he believed the images and videos were of adults posing as children. The court heard Traynor had searched for the images using the Tor browser, which allows users to hide their location. An external disk drive seized by gardai was found to contain 65 video files and hundreds of images, the court heard. These images showed girls aged between six and 12 posing for the camera where they were sexually exposed. Over 2,000 computer generated images found in an encrypted folder depicted young girls using sex toys or lying next to naked males. Traynor told gardai after his arrest that the images were skirting the boundaries but were not child pornography, saying he believed they were actors posing as children. Dt Gda Burke told Judge Pauline Codd that this was clearly not the case and that they are quite obviously children. He said some of the cartoon images depicted the girls much smaller in size and height than the males, saying it's clear they are young children. Micheal Hourigan BL, defending, told the court that his client had a good employment history and had previously worked in IT for a bank. He said as a result of a health condition in his youth, his client became isolated and his sexual development stifled. He has engaged with therapy since the offending came to light and has displayed progress in developing insight into the reasons behind his offending, counsel said. A group campaigning for the rights of Britons in Spain after Brexit has called for urgent action from the authorities as "hundreds" of British nationals are set to be rejected as new Spanish residents. Brexpats in Spain claim there have been misunderstandings over the start dates of applicants' private health policies. The problem is particularly evident in Malaga and Alicante provinces. The Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK gave favorable conditions to those Britons resident by 31 December last year. As well as being on the local town hall padron and showing proof of a minimum amount of money to live on, new residents were required to show insurance in Spain that gives protection against ill health at least equivalent to the level of cover of the public health services. Many needed a private policy For those either working in Spain or who have a UK State Pension, the right to public healthcare is automatic. Other British residency applicants have had to take out equivalent private insurance polices and it is the start date of those documents that is now causing problems for many. The terms of the Withdrawal Agreement say that this healthcare cover needed to be valid from when the British national started living in Spain as a resident. According to Brexpats in Spain, there could be hundreds of Britons caught out as their private policies were only dated to start from 1 January 2021, once the transition period after Brexit ended, instead of starting on a date up to 31 December 2020. Although those being rejected on this basis can appeal an immigration official's decision, it is feared that only a rule change can solve the problem, as healthcare insurance companies cannot now backdate policies to comply. Despite the problem emerging in Malaga and Alicante, Brexpats in Spain and lawyers acting for Britons caught in the date-trap claim that immigration officials in other provinces, for example Valencia and A Coruna, are accepting private health policies that started on 1 January. Anne Hernandez, spokesperson for Brexpats in Spain, said the inconsistency is "another obstacle" in a complex process made even more difficult in December due to travel restrictions linked to Covid-19, leaving some applicants trapped in the UK after returning for Christmas visits. Hernandez said she had been in touch with the British Embassy to see if they could find a solution with the Spanish authorities. "If not, many people will have to return [to Britain]," she explained. An Embassy spokesperson told SUR this week, "All UK nationals who were lawfully resident before 1 January 2021 are able to stay and will be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. The British Embassy and consular network remain in close touch with the relevant Spanish authorities on the implementation [...] and, in particular, the new residence process in Spain." The Embassy's statement continued, "We are aware that some UK Nationals have had their applications rejected on the basis of not having their policy in place by the end of the Transition Period and are in contact with the Spanish authorities on this issue." Right of appeal "Residency decisions are a matter for the Spanish authorities, but any UK National whose application is rejected has the right to appeal the decision following the process set out by the Spanish authorities," it explained. The Spanish government's office in Malaga was not optimistic about any change and sources told SUR it was unaware of contact from the UK Embassy, adding that rules on healthcare cover were "clear". "[A policy] had to be taken out at the time of joining the padron municipal census; if that wasn't done, it is not the [Spanish] government's fault, but rather the responsibility of those who didn't read the instructions properly or take good advice," the source said. Authorities are racing to identify potential Covid-19 exposure sites after a doctor tested positive to the virus, plunging a major hospital into lockdown. The junior medic at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital was infectious while out in the community on Thursday, though his exact movements are not yet clear. The doctor had treated a patient with the ultra-infectious UK variant of the virus and returned a positive result on Friday. Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young will likely provide further details about the case and places he visited on Saturday. Queensland is just hours away from enjoying a fresh easing of its remaining lockdown restrictions, but this has now been called into question. A junior doctor at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (pictured) in Brisbane's south has tested positive for Covid, plunging the facility into lockdown Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young will likely provide further details about the case and places he visited on Saturday The hospital sent an email to staff labelling the incident as a 'moderate risk' and urged anyone who showed symptoms to stay home. 'As you may have heard, a positive case with unknown origin has been detected in the Metro South Health catchment,' the email read. 'The case is a medical officer at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.' The doctor had contact with Covid-infected patients on the morning of March 10 before leaving the hospital and being in the community for the next 24 hours. The lockdown conditions include banning non-essential visitors and mandatory masks to be worn by those inside the facility. Non-urgent and elective surgeries will also be delayed until the lockdown lifts. The Queensland government's contact tracing team is working to track the man's movements and identify people who have been in close proximity with the doctor. 'The hospital is actively working to ensure the safety of staff and patients on campus while contact tracing is undertaken,' a Queensland Health statement said. 'Anyone with any Covid-19 symptoms should get tested immediately and isolate until you receive a negative result.' Non-essential visitors to the Princess Alexandra Hospital have been banned and elective surgeries have been postponed because of the lockdown (file image) Queensland is just hours away from enjoying a fresh easing of its remaining lockdown restrictions, but this has now been called into question The hospital's emergency department will remain open but the hospital is urging the public to seek assistance to other hospitals or GPs if possible. The Princess Alexandra facility is one of Australia's main teaching hospitals with 1,050 beds and nearly 6,000 staff. The doctor's case is the first local transmission of coronavirus in Queensland since January 11. Meanwhile, Queensland Health has issued an urgent coronavirus warning after fragments of the virus were found in two wastewater treatment plants. More than 60 suburbs have their water treated at the facility sparking concerns the virus might have spread undetected. The fragments were found at the Bundaberg plant and the Gibson Island plant in south Brisbane with authorities unsure if they are from historical or new cases. 'We are concerned by the new variants that are emerging overseas that are more contagious than previous variants we have seen in Queensland,'chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said on Friday. The Princess Alexandra facility is one of Australia's main teaching hospitals with 1,050 beds and nearly 6,000 staff Coronavirus fragments have also been discovered this week at two wastewater treatment plants in Queensland sparking warnings for residents of more than 60 suburbs (pictured: a trainee hydrographer takes a sample of wastewater to test for COVID-19) 'It's also possible that this detection relates to previous COVID-19 cases that can shed viral fragments for a couple of months after they are no longer infectious.' A day earlier, authorities discovered fragments of coronavirus at other treatment plants in the state. Two plants in Cairns, the Marlin Coast and Cairns North facilities, returned the positives results along with the Fairfield plant in Brisbane South and the Mackay South facility. Dr Young repeated calls for anyone experiencing even mild symptoms to self-isolate and get tested as soon as possible. 'Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting, and loss of taste or smell,' she said. 'We can't be complacent, we're still in this pandemic.' She said detecting new cases quickly and containing any potential spread of the virus was still an urgent priority. March 12 : Vicky Kaushal, who is all set to start shooting for his forthcoming film The Immortal Ashwatthama in April, wished its director, Aditya Dhar, on his birthday today. Taking to his Instagram profile, the Raazi actor shared a picture with Aditya Dhar, where both have been captured sharing a light moment, as the actor penned a beautiful note for Aditya and made his day even more special. The actor and the director share a good relationship since Adityas directorial debut in Uri: The Surgical Strike in 2019. Through his post, Vicky recalled how Aditya called him after watching Masaan and then they worked together in Uri. The actor-director duo will again work together in The Immortal Ashwatthama. Thanking Aditya for having faith in him, which actually scares him, but also brings out the best in him, Vicky wrote, Years ago you called me after watching Masaan and said well work together someday. You called me for your first film and we did Uri. Now we have commenced together again on the journey of making The Immortal Ashwatthama. Your faith in me scares me sometimes but it also brings out the best in me. Thanks for being that person in my life. Happy Birthday mere dost, mere bhai, mere director @adityadharfilms. Tum jiyo hazaaro saal yeh meri hai aarzoo! Meanwhile, Vicky will kickstart shooting for The Immortal Ashwatthama next month. The film planned as a trilogy, is a superhero action film set in modern times. Earlier, Vicky had said Ashwatthama is Adityas dream project, which required a visionary like Ronnie to bring it to the audiences. He also said the film will be a new space for him as an actor, as he will get to explore the newest form of technology alongside acting. Meanwhile, on the work front, Vicky will also be seen in Shashank Khaitans Mr Lele with Kiara Advani. The actor also has Shoojit Sircars directorial Sardar Udham Singh, and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's biopic. He is also a part of Karan Johars period drama Takht. Speakers: Guo Wei, deputy director of the State Council Research Office Sun Guojun, member of the Leading Party Members Group of the State Council Research Office Chairperson: Shou Xiaoli, deputy head of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and SCIO spokesperson Date: March 5, 2021 Shou Xiaoli: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this briefing held by the State Council Information Office. The fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) opened this morning, and Premier Li Keqiang delivered the annual Report on the Work of the Government. To help the public better understand the report, we have invited Mr. Guo Wei, deputy director of the State Council Research Office, and Sun Guojun, a member of the Leading Party Members Group of the State Council Research Office. They will elaborate on the report and take your questions. First, we will give the floor to Mr. Guo. Guo Wei: Friends from the media, good morning. Earlier today, Premier Li Keqiang delivered the Report on the Work of the Government at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress. The report upholds Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its guide. It fully implements the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC); the second, third, fourth, and fifth plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee; and the annual Central Economic Work Conference in 2020. The report reviews the main work on social and economic development last year, and summarizes the achievements made during the 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP) period and the main targets and tasks for the 14th FYP period. It also puts forward the main projected targets and macro policy directions concerning this year's social and economic development and makes arrangements for the main agenda of this year. I've read some of the responses posted on the internet on my way here. Many say that the report responds to people's concerns and reflects the expectations of all parties. Some says that after listening to the report, they feel proud of the nation's achievements, inspired by the policies of the central government, and are more confident when facing difficulties. Others say that new policies make them feel assured, and that the recent progress brings them so much hope. We participated in the drafting process of the report, and also felt very inspired when listening to Premier Li delivering the report at the Great Hall of the People today. We feel that the report is indeed practical and informed by the realities on the ground. It rallies people together and boosts our confidence. This year is rather special as it marks the beginning of the 14th FYP, the embarkment of a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country, and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The drafting work of the report was very crucial, and great importance was attached to it by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on the drafting of the report and chaired meetings of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and of its Standing Committee, studying and discussing the draft and putting forward specific requirements for revising. Premier Li presided over the drafting and revising of the report, and chaired executive and plenary meetings of the State Council to discuss the draft. Premier Li also presided over themed symposiums many times to directly listen to opinions and suggestions from all parties. Other leaders of the State Council also gave concrete instructions on the drafting and revisions of the report. The drafting work collected opinions and suggestions from all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities; central departments in the Party, the government, the military, and people's organizations, as well as some central State-owned enterprises. The report consists of three major parts. The first part briefly reviewed last year's work and achievements. The report notes that last year was an extraordinary year in the history of the People's Republic of China. We've achieved major strategic success in our response to COVID-19, and China was the world's only major economy to achieve growth. We attained a complete victory in the fight against poverty and scored decisive achievements in our efforts to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We owe our achievements to the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the sound guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and the concerted efforts of the Party, the armed forces, and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. The 13th FYP concluded last year, and the 14th FYP starts this year. Acting in accordance with the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development and Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035, the State Council has drawn up the draft Outline for the 14th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development and Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035. The second part of the report briefly introduced the content of the draft outline and summarized the achievements made during the 13th FYP period and the main targets and tasks for the 14th FYP period. Based on the analysis of the development in and outside China, the third part of the report made comprehensive plans and arrangements for the main tasks and policies of the government this year. Next, Mr. Sun and I will take questions from you regarding drafting of the report. Thank you. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. A prominent Melbourne trans woman who wrote the rules on transgender and gender diverse inclusion at live music venues has been ordered out of a womens bathroom at a popular Fitzroy nightclub. Musican and academic Simona Castricum said a guard at Yah Yahs told her Youre a man, go to the mens bathroom now as she attempted to use the bathroom at the Smith Street venue early on Monday morning. Simona Castricum performs at Golden Plains in 2020. Credit:Suzanne Phoenix Yah Yahs co-owner James Young confirmed the incident took place, describing it as a very embarrassing mistake that should never have happened. Ms Castricum said a male security guard stood in the doorway of the womens bathroom and pointed at me and yelled at me quite aggressively out of the bathroom. Jammu, March 12 : A militant was arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district on Friday and a quantity of arms and ammunition seized from him, officials said. Police said a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched by a joint team of the army, police and the CRPF in Bikheryan village of Doda, and the militant, identified as Firdous Ahmad, apprehended when searches were conducted on the house of his father Ghulam Ahmad Natnoo. A large quantity of arms and ammunition including three Chinese pistols, two magazines, 15 Chinese pistol rounds and a silencer were recovered from the house. PITTSBURGHAdult Empire announced that it has partnered with AVN Hall of Fame performer/director L.T. to launch BruthasInc.com, powered by Adult Empire Cash, the companys award-winning affiliate branch. "We have been fans of L.T. since his early days working for studios such as Elegant Angel and West Coast Productions, said Daniel Chura, director of affiliates at Adult Empire Cash. We are super excited to launch L.T.s new site. The newest Bruthas Inc. release, timed to coincide with the site launch, is Hotel Banging, featuring Alexis Love, Blu Magic and Simone Richards in intense one-on-one action with L.T. These titles are pro-am, which is something I never did at Elegantsomething that I always wanted to do. And I like it, L.T. told AVN in 2016. A native of Chicago, L.T. joined the industry in 1999 and began directing in 2006. He has been behind the camera for notable bestselling titles and series for Combat Zone, Black Magic Pictures and many other studios. An innovator in the big butt and anal genres, L.T. earned induction into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2020. Membership to the site grants access to Bruthas Inc. (including an official Roku channel), plus a 10 percent discount on store purchases. Adult Empire Cash is the affiliate arm of Adult Empire, 12-time winner of AVNs Best Retail Site award. It operates membership sites and stores for some of the industrys most popular stars and studios. Visitors can tour Bruthas Inc. at www.bruthasinc.com. Follow on Twitter @adultempirecash and @LTeexxx. Existing Adult Empire Cash affiliates can start promoting Bruthas Inc. today. New affiliates can contact [email protected] or go to www.adultempirecash.com for more information. To acquire cloud cyber security tech firm Z Services HQ DMCC AGC Networks announced that Black Box Holdings, Indirect Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of AGC Networks, has entered into a Share Sale Agreement with Z Services Holding, a BVI business company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on 11 March 2021, to acquire 76% of shares of Z Services HQ DMCC (Target Company being limited liability company incorporated under laws of Dubai Multi Commodities Center), for total consideration of approx. USD 3.94 million, payable at the time of closing. The said acquisition is anticipated to be completed within 60 days of signing the share purchase agreement. The said acquisition of Target Company will help AGC to strengthen presence in Middle East region and also add cloud cybersecurity capabilities to offer wider range of services to its customers. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Burma Myanmars Democracy Movement Hires International Lawyers Police and military personnel arrest an anti-regime protester in Yangon. / The Irrawaddy In the latest attempt to bring down Myanmars coup leaders, the committee representing elected members of the Union Parliament from the National League for Democracy (NLD) has hired a London-based legal firm. The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), formed by the lawmakers who could not take their seats in the Union Parliament because of the Feb. 1 coup, announced that it has engaged international law firm Volterra Fietta. The CRPH said the firm would also advise on international legal proceedings against those responsible for violently cracking down on pro-democracy protesters and armed aggression against democratic representatives. Myanmars legal team is due to be led by Robert Volterra and Alvaro Nistal, who have advised numerous states and victims of human rights violations. The firms website says it specializes in international law with experience at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and other global courts. The CRPH said legal proceedings will take time but it will pursue them vigorously and steadfastly to hold to account the perpetrators of widespread and systematic human rights violations, including soldiers, police and common criminals. We are gathering large volumes of evidence, the statement said. By Thursday, at least 2,045 people have been detained by the military, including politicians, activists and protesters, since the coup. More than 70 civilians have been killed by the military junta. On Thursday, Amnesty International said the military has been using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield rather than against peaceful protesters and bystanders. It said after examining more than 50 videos, its evidence lab confirmed the security forces appeared to be implementing planned, systematic strategies, including the ramped-up use of lethal force. Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions, Amnesty said. Joanne Mariner, Amnestys director of crisis response, said: These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions. These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open. The military authorities must immediately cease their deadly onslaught, de-escalate the situation nationwide, and release all those arbitrarily detained, she added. You may also like these stories: If the Army is Disbanded Will Myanmar Become Like Libya or Iraq? Medical Officials Resign as Myanmars Military Regime Pressures Medics on Strike Kachin Independence Army Attacks Myanmar Military Outpost The full pressure around the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out has probably not been felt yet. It is likely to come over the summer if pictures emerge of people in countries well ahead in vaccinations enjoying the good life with a pre-pandemic air of freedom around them. Countries that are lagging behind will really then begin to feel the heat. If we really turn on the afterburners and get a lot of people vaccinated, the overwhelming proportion of the population, I think by the time we get into the mid to late summer, early fall, were going to start seeing a big, big difference, Dr Anthony Fauci, the US infectious disease expert, yesterday told NBC. The EU approval yesterday of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has a 67pc efficacy, with the first limited supplies due here in next month is welcome for a number of reasons. It brings to four the number of vaccines licensed for use here and around 600,000 doses are due between April and June with most supplies coming nearer the summer. It means the target to have 80pc of the population given one dose by the end of June comes a step nearer although there are no guarantees on levels of supply. The benefit is that this vaccine is just one shot so a single injection will vaccinate 600,000 people if all the doses arrive. The focus is now shifting to April, May and June as breakthrough months in the roll-out. Along with the Johnson & Johnson supplies we are promised two million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 382,800 of Moderna and 818,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca. Worldwide, the latter promises to produce around a billion doses by the end of the year although it reportedly signalled to the European Commission earlier this week it may encounter difficulties with manufacturing in the coming months. The HSE said yesterday the 37 vaccination centres where the jabs will be mostly administered are lined up and could operate for 16 hours a day in some instances. There are 10,500 healthcare professionals who have completed training to be vaccinators. The efficient working of a portal for registration and appointments will be essential. The HSE said yesterday that it has worked well in the vaccination centre in the Helix in Dublin allowing for people to be validated when they arrive. It will be used more widely this month before it is opened up to the wider population. Read More However, there is likely to be problems linking up with computer systems used by pharmacies. One of the points of interest around Johnson & Johnson vaccine is that is effective in preventing asymptomatic infections. In a preliminary analysis it found 16 asymptomatic cases in a placebo group versus two in the vaccine group an 88pc efficacy rate. The reduction in asymptomatic cases implies that the vaccine can cut transmission of the disease. Three other vaccines are also under rolling review by the EUs European Medicines Agency. These are Curevax, Novovax and the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. This will allow the regulator to accelerate the review process by examining data from manufacturers as it is produced rather than waiting for the final trial results. HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said he hoped the vaccines would allow for easing of restrictions within the bounds of what people feel comfortable with. Everyone has had a tough year but it has been a struggle for those who were most in fear of the virus, he said. They are the ones I hope to see in the coming year get the greatest gains, in terms of some return to improved contact and allowing them to meet people, giving them the confidence to get out again and do things for themselves again, rather than live in fear and isolation. Apart from the welcome fall in infections and deaths another priceless benefit of vaccination should be seen the week after next when restrictions on nursing home visits are relaxed. They can receive two visits a week from the week after next. First brain cancer patient from third-dose cohort reaches 4 weeks of treatment with NOX-A12 combined with radiotherapy Regulatory News: NOXXON Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALNOX), a biotechnology company focused on improving cancer treatments by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), announced today that the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) analyzed safety data from the initial four weeks of treatment of the first patient enrolled in the third and final dose cohort of the NOX-A12 plus radiotherapy brain cancer study. The DSMB concluded that it is safe and appropriate to continue patient recruitment according to the study protocol. The DSMB's decision marks an important milestone in this trial as it enables the advancement and analysis of the final dose regimen, placing NOXXON on the path toward valuable data readouts anticipated later this year. The Phase 1/2 clinical study is testing three dose regimens of NOX-A12 (200, 400 and 600 mg/week), each combined with external-beam radiotherapy, in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients. Based on the DSMB's confirmation, participating clinical centers have now initiated final patient recruitment for the last and highest dose group. After all patients in the third cohort have received four weeks of treatment with NOX-A12 and radiotherapy, the DSMB will reconvene for a final meeting to assess safety and tolerability. The outcome of this meeting will inform the recommended dose for the next randomized, controlled brain cancer trial which will lead to the registration of NOX-A12. "We are pleased by the safety data confirmation of the DSMB, as it will allow our study to progress and the last patients to receive treatment at the highest planned dose of NOX-A12. This achievement brings us one step closer to a topline data readout for this cohort sometime around the end of Q3 2021," commented Aram Mangasarian, CEO of NOXXON. "As the study advances, we will be analyzing data which will be used to define the recommended dose and guide preparations for a potentially registrational Phase 2 study. The recent capital raise plus available financing vehicles secure NOXXON's financial runway well into 2022, thereby allowing us to address operational matters crucial for the future of the company. About NOXXON NOXXON's oncology-focused pipeline acts on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking the tumor protection barrier and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the TME, NOXXON's approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses against the immune system and enable greater therapeutic impact. NOXXON's lead program NOX-A12 has delivered final top-line data from a Keytruda combination trial in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients published at the ESMO conference in September 2020 and based on the trial results, including overall survival and safety profile, further studies are being planned in pancreatic cancer. NOXXON is also studying NOX-A12 in brain cancer in combination with radiotherapy which has been granted orphan drug status in the US and EU for the treatment of certain brain cancers. A trial of NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients who will not benefit from standard chemotherapy has delivered preliminary data from the first cohort showing consistent tumor reductions. The company's second clinical-stage asset NOX-E36 is a Phase 2 TME asset targeting the innate immune system. NOXXON plans to test NOX-E36 in patients with solid tumors both as a monotherapy and in combination. Further information can be found at: www.noxxon.com Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp Dohme Corp https://www.linkedin.com/company/noxxon-pharma-ag https://twitter.com/noxxon_pharma Disclaimer Certain statements in this communication contain formulations or terms referring to the future or future developments, as well as negations of such formulations or terms, or similar terminology. These are described as forward-looking statements. In addition, all information in this communication regarding planned or future results of business segments, financial indicators, developments of the financial situation or other financial or statistical data contains such forward-looking statements. The company cautions prospective investors not to rely on such forward-looking statements as certain prognoses of actual future events and developments. The company is neither responsible nor liable for updating such information, which only represents the state of affairs on the day of publication. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311006065/en/ Contacts: NOXXON Pharma N.V. Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer Tel. +49 (0) 30 726247 0 amangasarian@noxxon.com Trophic Communications Gretchen Schweitzer and Valeria Fisher Tel. +49 (0) 172 861 8540 and +49 (0) 175 804 1816 noxxon@trophic.eu NewCap Arthur Rouille Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 00 15 arouille@newcap.fr A multiagency response greeted a man who arrived on Guam on a sailboat from Mexico on Friday. The sailor, who identified himself as Nikolai Ostrepenjo, arrived at the Agat Marina and caught the attention of government agencies when he docked his sailboat in someone elses spot. U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam sent a team to inspect the sailboat and the inspection was ongoing through Friday afternoon. Personnel from the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services were seen at the boat ramp, along with Guam National Guard soldiers. Guardsmen were at the marina to ensure the sailor was transported to the governments quarantine facility in Tumon. Ostrepenjo did tell The Guam Daily Post he left Laz Paz, Mexico, on Dec. 1, 2020. He said he ran out of food so he decided to stop on Guam. "Food all finished ... I started this just on the 1st of December," he said. The journey started in La Paz, Mexico, Ostrepenjo said. La Paz is the seaside capital of Baja California Sur, a Mexican state on the Baja California Peninsula. The sailor couldn't speak further as he was ushered into a government vehicle that would transport him to the government quarantine facility at the Dusit Beach Resort. The Coast Guard deferred further questions to the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency. Customs was unable to comment as of press time. The sailors immigration or citizenship status was not clear. More than 70 firefighters are battling to contain a massive fire at a furniture factory which has spread to a neighbouring pub in Melbourne's north. Crews arrived at the scene on Friday morning to find Makedonia Furniture in Preston completely engulfed in flames after a fire broke out in the roof of the factory. The alarm was raised following multiple calls to Triple Zero reporting heavy black smoke billowing and visible flames coming from the premises. The ferocious blaze has spread to the Preston Hotel next door, which firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus are now battling to save. A massive fire has broken out in the roof of a furniture factory in Melbourne's north. Pictured is an aerial view of the scene in High Street, Preston Residents and nearby business owners are urged to keep their windows closed. Pictured is black smoke billowing from Makedonia Furniture now threatening Preston Hotel next door High Street is closed in both directions between Regent Street and Wood Street, where police and paramedics are also on scene. Motorists are advised to use Spring Street or Plenty Road as alternative routes and to keep vehicle closed if driving in the area. Fire Rescue Victoria has advised local residents to close all windows and doors to prevent the heavy smoke from entering their homes or businesses. Firefighters at the scene in Preston, where they are expected to remain for most of the day 'There is currently no threat to the community, but you should continue to stay informed and monitor conditions,' the alert read. Fire Rescue Victoria declared late Friday morning that the blaze was under control. Firefighters will remain on scene into the afternoon to extinguish hotspots and to make the scene safe. Three occupants self-evacuated and were treated by paramedics. [March 12, 2021] Women Tech Leaders From Europe and Silicon Valley Join and Choose to Challenge Tech & Music for IWD SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On International Women's Day over 500 attendees participated in the Choose to Challenge Tech Virtual event hosted by 1600 Avenue, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in LA and Silicon Valley. Launched at the event was the new Priv Community and participants of the event were given free memberships to Priv. Priv is a public service initiative empowering people to protect their privacy and secure their lives online. The idea of using Tech for good to further social justice and equality through digital justice and equality was discussed throughout the Choose to Challenge Tech Virtual event. Choose to Challenge Tech was hosted by Frank Satterwhite (1600 Cyber Principal Consultant / External - Military, EU, NATO, Founder 1600 Avenue). Satterwhite moderated inspiring, authentic, open conversations with colleagues from the tech sector such as AWIT Founder & CEO, GM Data Protection Services at Amazon Web Services, Nancy Wang, Sarah Armstrong-Smith (Chief Security Advisor-Europe, Microsoft), Anamarie Huerta (COO, SAP), Nicole Campbell (Executive Director, ePayment Partner GmbH), Marilise de Villiers (Cyber Resilience Center UK), and Patricia Jameson Director, Overseas Diversity and Equity UMGC Europe. pecial guest also included 7-time Grammy winning engineer/producer Gordon "The Commissioner Williams for his work with diamond artist Lauryn Hill, Santana, and Amy Winehouse. He talked about music's power to connect with people on a powerful level and inspire more Diversity and Inclusivity. Williams highlighted his current work with Apple TVs The Banker starring Samuel Jackson and Anthony Mackie, Universal UK recording artist Greentea Peng, and his current role as Ambassador for St. Lucia. As ambassador, Gordon chose to challenge tech "physically" by launching a tablet drive with 1600. "Hosting The #ChooseToChallenge Tech event was humbling and inspiring," said 1600 Avenue Founder and Cyber Security Principal Frank Satterwhite. "Brilliant leaders shared their playbooks on how to challenge the status quo of DEI in tech. This 2-hour event is available free on our website, www.1600Avenue.com, and is a must watch for DEI advocates." About 1600 1600 Cyber is a Pan-European Cyber Security consulting company. 1600 Avenue is committed to promoting diversity & inclusion in tech and STEM. Media Contact Sophia Yaa Akuffo Minkah-Premo sophia@1600avenue.com Related Images annual-iwd-event.png Annual IWD Event Annual IWD Event Related Links www.1600avenue.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/women-tech-leaders-from-europe-and-silicon-valley-join-and-choose-to-challenge-tech--music-for-iwd-301246275.html SOURCE 1600 Avenue [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman dismissed Mohamed Benten as minister for the haj and umrah, a position with a leading role in organising Islam's annual pilgrimage, a royal decree carried by state news agency (SPA) said on Friday. State minister, Issam ben Saeed, was appointed acting minister. Haj and Umrah, which generated billions of dollars each year before the pandemic, is a major source of income for the Saudi government. "Mohammed Saleh ben Taher Benten, Minister of Haj and Umrah shall be relieved form his position," SPA said in a tweet, without giving reasons behind the decision. Benten was appointed minister in 2016. The kingdom, which stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islams holiest sites in Mecca and Medina and its peaceful organisation of the haj, sharply scaled back last year's haj to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, after barring Muslims abroad from the rite for the first time in modern times. Companies operating in the sector have been hit hard by the government's preventive measures. Before the pandemic, more than 1,300 hotels and hundreds of stores buzzed around the clock to cater to pilgrims visiting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Earlier this week, Jabal Omar Development Company, one of Saudi Arabia's largest listed property developers, secured 1.6 billion riyals ($427 million) in loans from Banque Saudi Fransi backed by a Finance Ministry guarantee, after being hit hard by the Mecca lockdown. Earlier this week, SPA said King Salman approved a range of initiatives aimed at assisting firms and individuals operating in the sector to mitigate COVID-related financial and economic effects they incurred during the lockdown. Separately, the royal decrees also included relieving the head of the General Aviation Authority, Abdulhadi al-Mansouri, from his position and appointing him at a foreign ministry post. Abdulaziz al-Duaelij was appointed as new head of the aviation authority. (Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Alison Williams, William Maclean) The annual editions of The Best American Short Stories (BASS) series can be counted on for two things: First, each years installment includes a few stories that more than just engage one on a first reading, reward a second reading with the vitality of their prose or, better yet, with newly found outcroppings of their ideas. Second, BASS maps for the reader the state of mind of a certain social layer. The volumes hand-picked stories take up themes and strike poses that correspond to the tastes and preoccupations of the educated American upper middle class, tastes and preoccupations that also find expression, for example, in the pages of the New York Times and in university course catalogues. (It is worth noting that at least 11 of the 20 writers featured in BASS 2020 make their living in universities or writing programs.) There is nothing shocking or Machiavellian here. The series tends to reflect the outlook of the layer that produces, sustains and consumes it. The Best American Short Stories 2020 The stories in BASS 2020 were selected by novelist [Elizabeth] Curtis Sittenfeld (born 1975), a supporter of Hillary Clinton whose most recent work is Rodham (2020), an alternate history political novel about a Hillary who does not marry Bill Clinton and becomes Americas first female president. In a review, Slate suggested, unpromisingly, that Rodham has a strong whiff of longing about it, a resemblance to the category of fan fiction known as RPF, or real-person fiction, in which fans write fictional stories about actual celebrities. Given this inauspicious piece of literary history and the fact that BASS 2020 features stories written for the most part in 2017 and 2018, it is not surprising to find that an editor with Sittenfelds orientation chose for the anthology a number of #MeToo-themed pieces and one story that expresses disbelief at the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Some other themes explored, or at times simply presented, in BASS 2020 include adolescent sexual desire, adolescent bullying, adolescent identity, artificial intelligence, childhood friendship, adult loneliness and aging. On display in many of these stories is an unexamined self-absorption, often self-pity, on the part of the central characters that the authors seem to mistake for emotional and psychological depth. In particular, pieces like Selena Andersons Godmother Tea, Meng Jins In the Event and Elizabeth McCrackens Its Not You presume that wallowing is not only a real human activity but an interesting one. Notably absent from BASS 2020, perhaps with rare exceptions, is any serious examination of wealth inequality, class struggle, nationalism, militarism, war, dislocation, authoritarianism or unemployment, though these matters urgently demand careful thought and artistic representation in contemporary America. For the most part, the writers featured in the anthology are preoccupied with the feelings of largely passive characters. It must be acknowledged that a short story is not a novel. With its restricted scale, the short storys medium is the single consciousness, not cross sections of society. Its vision is that of the snapshot, not the feature film, and one does a disservice to the genre by asking it to plumb the social strata or depict the unfolding of a historical period in the ways a novel can. But a well-composed snapshot can capture its time, and a well-conceived short story can depict historical forces at work in the strata of a single character. The more canny writers, in fact, recognize that the individual is a product of social realities and that in portraying one they reveal the other. Consider the opening line of Ernest Hemingways story Soldiers Home: Krebs went to the war from a Methodist college in Kansas. In that one sentence crackles more social consciousness than is to be found in many of the stories in BASS 2020. Nevertheless, the writers in BASS 2020 are talented. There are arresting images, well-turned sentences and well-crafted characters throughout. The anthology also includes several entertaining and thought-provoking stories. One of the most interesting and best written stories is the science fiction piece Sibling Rivalry by Michael Byers, which explores the sinister implications of automation, artificial intelligence and raising children in a not-too-distant future where some parents are integrating their synth children into their families, neighborhoods and schools. With echoes of Mary Shelleys novel Frankenstein and Ray Bradburys story Zero Hour, Sibling Rivalry is at its best in its depiction of parental emotions over the suffering of children. Veteran fiction writer T.C. Boyle is on hand in BASS 2020 with The Apartment a pleasing, old-fashioned story in which a man strikes a bargain with an old woman to buy her apartment en viager, taking possession only when she dies. Despite the inevitability of the ending, Boyles wry and stately sentences make this story an enjoyable read. In Liberte, Scott Nadelson intriguingly imagines the relationship of American sculptor Louise Nevelson and French novelist, and outspoken anti-Semite, Louis-Ferdinand Celine. Leigh Newmans Howl Palace is a deftly woven story of an elderly woman, Dutch, in a gentrifying Alaskan community putting her unique home on the market, complete with its wolf room and clam shell grotto. In sentences that are assured and loaded with evocative detail, Newmans narrative impressively unfolds the accumulations of a life. Andrea Lees The Children is an engaging story of two offspring of a careless European aristocrat in contemporary Madagascar. Their hard lot is appropriately depicted, as the young woman trades on her mixed-race allure by consorting with wealthy European men and the young man hopes to be hired as a mechanic in a garage. The wealthy American narrator and her wealthy Italian friend take a charitable interest in these two adolescents, mostly because they are good-looking and, one is led to suspect, because they are part-European. By making the impregnating rake an aristocrat rather than a well-off businessman or some other bourgeois tourist, Lee forgoes a dissection of contemporary colonization in favor of anachronistic allegory, and the story never penetrates further than to the level of liberal guilt. The characters in Meng Jins In the Event are overwhelmed by disasters, real and potentialearthquakes, fires and the new president. In the somewhat political subplot, the narrators boyfriend Tony worked on the presidential campaign of an unnamed candidate we may take to represent Hillary Clinton. Tony was going to revolutionize the way the Internet is used for political organization, but the election goes to the other candidate, the new president. Jin offers no account of why the new president wins the election, or for that matter why the other candidate loses. In an hysterical narrative tone, the story equates politics with natural phenomena while its characters are merely passive victims of apocalyptic times. The story suggests no other attitude, offers no ironic distance to suggest the characters perspective is being held up to criticism, and the only responses that appear to have been contemplated for the reader are pessimism and pity. Of the #MeToo-themed stories, Carolyn Ferrells Something Street and Mary Gaitskills This Is Pleasure offer a telling contrast. In Something Street, Ferrell unambiguously takes up the #MeToo cudgels; the storys offending male, an African-American comedian called Craw Daddy, is clearly guilty of sexual assault, perhaps rape, and beats his wife, the storys hapless and conflicted narrator. The narrator has the potential to be a compelling character but ultimately lacks plausibility as we are asked to believe that she is at once intelligently sophisticated and dumb as a post. Meanwhile Craws career has been destroyed by the Complaints, which Ferrell presents with the force and sanction of an avenging angel. Mary Gaitskill in 2010 (Photo creditDavid Shankbone) A more nuanced consideration of personal interaction and the implications of trial-by-media, Mary Gaitskills This Is Pleasure addresses both the anti-democratic and the affluent nature of the #MeToo campaign. The story takes place in the upscale world of bestseller publishing. The man in question, Quin, one of the storys two narrators, is presented, and presents himself, as overly flirtatious but sympathetically so, Gaitskill taking an interest in the complexity of human psychology and relationships. Quin is truly out of line at times, in ways that strain credulity (out of the blue he reaches between the legs of his platonic friend, the other narrator, in a restaurant), and one wonders whether this is cheating on Gaitskills part, given the ambiguity she tries elsewhere to cultivate. A petition is circulated among well-to-do women in New York with a list of male abusers (the female narrators quotation marks) demanding that no one ever hire them again. Since the petition names multiple abusers, most of the signatories may never have met most of the men named. Nevertheless, the petition carries social weight such that, as with #MeToo, accusation amounts to guilt. Gaitskill directly challenges this equation. In an interview with the Guardian, Gaitskill describes Quin as having a need for love, [a] very strong need to have women look at him, smile at him, be dependent on him, want him for something, want him to touch them. I could be wrong, but I would interpret that as a need for love. Maybe there would be men [for whom] it would purely be a need for power, but not in the character Ive created. Im sure some people would think that is too soft. Indeed some would, but then some would also erase the distinction between propaganda and art. The European Commission formally gave the green light for the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine after the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended approval The European Union approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Thursdaythe fourth jab to get the green light for the 27-nation bloc. The decision offers a boost for the EU's sluggish vaccination programme. J&J said it aims to begin delivery to the bloc in the second half of April and to supply 200 million doses to the EU, Norway and Iceland in 2021. The European Commission formally gave the green light for the jab after the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended approval. "More safe and effective vaccines are coming to the market," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet. "We have just authorised the use of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine in the EU.... With the number of doses we ordered, we could vaccinate up to 200 million people in the EU" with the J&J jab this year, she said. The EU has signed a firm order for 200 million and an option for 200 million more. As well as being the first that requires a single injection as opposed to two, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is easier to store. The EU has so far approved three vaccinesPfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford. Three other vaccines are under "rolling review" by the Amsterdam-based EMANovavax, CureVac and Russia's Sputnik. The EMA gave the green light after saying clinical trials involving volunteers in the United States, South Africa and South American countries found the J&J jab was 67 percent effective at preventing people from getting COVID. Side effects were "usually mild or moderate", including pain at the injection site, headache, tiredness, muscle pain and nausea, and usually cleared within a couple of days, it said. "More safe and effective vaccines are coming to the market," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured March 10, 2021) said in a tweet after the European Union approved the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine 'Bumpy' strategy "With this latest positive opinion, authorities across the European Union will have another option to combat the pandemic and protect the lives and health of their citizens," European Medicines Agency (EMA) chief Emer Cooke said in a statement. "This is the first vaccine which can be used as a single dose." The J&J shot however 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. The EU has been struggling with a disappointing vaccination rollout that started in January and faltered because of a shortage of doses produced by the three suppliers so far. The head of the EU's vaccine supply task force, Thierry Breton, said on Tuesday the EU's "bumpy" vaccine strategy should be augmented by the addition of the Johnson & Johnson jab. Reported production shortfalls in the United States by Johnson & Johnson would not impact the EU because Brussels had made contingency plans for all vaccines, he said. "Do not believe that because one company has a problem that overall it will jeopardise the whole programme," said Breton, the EU's industry commissioner. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Jimmy Sengenberger is host of The Jimmy Sengenberger Show on News/Talk 710 KNUS. He also hosts Jimmy at the Crossroads, a webshow and podcast in partnership with The Washington Examiner. The hope is that the new CM will appease disgruntled elements in preparation for the state poll next year. For the BJP, however, changing CMs midstream has not paid earlier. (Photo: PTI) In recent years, the BJP has shown a marked inclination to topple state governments of other parties and induce defections and change in governments, but earlier this week it secured the resignation of its own chief minister in Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat, and had him replaced by Tirath Singh Rawat, a party MP from the state. With a view to winning elections, the saffron party has changed CMs midstream several times in Uttarakhand. Indeed, whats surprising is that Trivendra Singh was permitted to run on for four years. He became unpopular with his own MLAs, half of whom are said to have turned against him probably because he did not fill the available cabinet slots. With the help of trusted bureaucrats, he himself sought to run 40-odd departments. Fed up, his MLAs brought a corruption charge against him that was ordered to be investigated by the high court. In a state with only 70 MLAs, change of loyalty is not hard to engineer a syndrome Uttarakhand shares with several small states. As such, in the 21 years of the states existence, there have been nine CMs. In the last Assembly, the BJP had played the defection game and toppled Congress CM Harish Rawat. It may have feared the poaching of disaffected elements by other parties at election time early next year, and took pre-emptive action by effecting change of guard. The hope is that the new CM will appease disgruntled elements in preparation for the state poll next year. For the BJP, however, changing CMs midstream has not paid earlier. Like most of his party predecessors, Tirath Rawat is strongly grounded in the RSS and is said to have a strong organisational connect. Indeed, a pan-state mass leader is what the BJP lacks in Uttarakhand. This could just give its opponents a chance. The company is set to secure exposure to the Atacama copper-rich region via the Mostazal copper property, which sits along the major structural control for the majority of Chiles largest copper mines. Latin Resources is the largest shareholder of Westminster Resources holding 5,238,158 shares for 27%. ( ) (FRA:XL5) is gaining exposure to the copper-rich Atacama region in Chile with Canadian affiliate Ltd ( ) entering into an agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the 16-square kilometre Mostazal copper property. The Atacama Desert region hosts some of the worlds largest porphyry copper deposits including the Mostazal property, which is within the 500-kilometre-long, north-south trending Domeyko Fault System. This is the major structural control for the majority of Chiles largest copper mines including Escondida (BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) (NYSE:BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX:RIO) (OTCMKTS:RTNTF) (FRA:CRA1), Chuquicamata and the El Salvador mine (Codelco). The project has reported historical production of 120,000 tonnes processed with an average grade of 1.8% copper and Mostazal has a historic indicated resource of 10 million tonnes at 0.95% copper and 8 g/t silver. Clear copper porphyry target At Mostazal, known copper mineralisation occurs in a series of stacked stratified lenses measuring 2.5 kilometres long by 2 kilometres wide and 300 metres deep. High-quality geophysical targets support the companys thesis that near-surface, copper mineralisation may be a distal expression of a much larger porphyry deposit at depth. Westminster Resources president and CEO Jason Cubitt said: We set out to secure an asset that was both transformative to the company and complementary to our current portfolio and I believe weve achieved this. Its rare to find a property in this jurisdiction with a technical feature set that so clearly describes a copper porphyry target yet remains untested by drilling. And with the potential to resume and expand upon historic production this was indeed an opportunity we couldnt turn down. Mostazal claims. Largest shareholder Latin Resources became the largest shareholder of Westminster after selling its Peruvian copper assets to that company in 2018. The objective of the sale of the projects was to secure material tangible value for Latins shareholders through Westminsters expertise in South American copper. Latin currently owns 5,238,158 shares in Westminster or 27% of the issued capital. Project acquisition terms The agreement on indicative terms with a private vendor includes a four-year option to acquire a 100% interest in Mostazal and: The military is still beloved and admired, but a survey released this month by the Reagan Institute should sound alarm bells in the Pentagon. Sure, 56% of Americans say they have a great deal of trust and confidence in their nation's military. But that number has slipped from 70% in 2018. Worse, two key groups who will decide the military's future are less than enamored with those who serve in uniform. Just 38% of Americans under 30 give the military top marks along with 44% of African Americans. Analysis: Defense boss Austin missed chance to showcase troops | Tom Roeder Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dropped by Colorado Springs on Wednesday to learn more about the military's efforts to combat coronavirus, but The issue for the Pentagon is that those young people in 20 years or less will be the parents counseling their kids about military service. And when those parents sour their kids on heading off for basic training, the military will turn to its other ripe recruiting grounds in minority communities. If the minorities have soured on the military, too, service branches, especially the Army, will be in trouble. So why are those groups turning their backs on the military? One possible reason: 20 years of war. The military headed into combat shortly after 9/11 and while casualties are exceptionally low these days, there are still thousands of troops overseas. And what the public has seen in 20 years of war has involved more sacrifice than celebration. The war in Iraq was a mess from nearly its inception, and Americans are still battling Islamic State terrorists because of the military's shortcomings there. Action in Afghanistan was planned to strike a blow against international terrorism and Osama Bin Laden in particular. But U.S. troops have spent most of their time there policing a civil war between Taliban loyalists and the U.S.-back government in Kabul. +3 Analysis: Biden could face test if battle erupts for Taiwan | Tom Roeder The White House and the Pentagon have unveiled an early look at the Biden administration's national security policy and two items top the list And now, Americans are waking up to the larger threats our nation faces, the Reagan Institute survey found. More than a third of Americans view China as the greatest threat the nation faces, while 16% say Russia fits that bill. In either case, Americans are more wary of nuclear-armed rivals. And given the military's track record in the past two decades, people have reason to be skeptical about the Pentagon's ability to face those threats. The Pentagon can turn things around. The military demonstrated that ability in the 1980s when America was still reeling from the debacle of the Vietnam War. The military came up with new ways to fight and win on the battlefield with high-tech weaponry and at the same time found a way to reach through the screen and grab the attention of America's parents. Military messages like "Be all you can be," and "It's a great place to start" saw families sending their kids into uniform so they could later head off to college and successful civilian lives. The military lately has had some clunkers, like the "Army Strong" campaign, that aren't going to motivate mom and dad. The troops are also still fighting with most of the weaponry they bought in the '80s, so the military has a hard time saying it will teach young people about cutting-edge technology. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has a big mission ahead. He need to fix the military and position it to win in the future while fixing the military's image with the public. Both tasks will require him to acknowledge the military's failings. And that admission will go a long way on its own to restoring America's confidence in its troops. Kirkpatrick and Hebron officials were at odds two years ago over whether he had the proper bond to hold office after his bond expired and was declined a renewal because of a claim against it for IRS fines. Town officials demanded then that he stay away from the office, a request he wouldnt comply with, and not do any work because of potential legal and financial liability. 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. Design concepts and demonstration of 2D multistable mechanical metamaterials with X-shaped kirigami microstructures. (A) Schematic illustration of the hierarchical construction of a 2D multistable mechanical metamaterial, including the octagonal cells, X-shaped building block structure, and kirigami microstructures. (B) Optical images and FEA results of the kirigami microstructures at undeformed, stretched, and compressed states. (C) Nominal stress-strain curve of the kirigami microstructure in (B), under both the uniaxial tension and compression. (D) Optical images and FEA results of the three different stable configurations of the 3D-printed X-shaped building block structure. (E) Dependences of the normalized force and the normalized strain energy on the horizontal displacement applied to the X-shaped tristable building block structure in (D). A denotes the cross-sectional area of the microstructure; Ec and Et denote the compressive and tensile moduli, respectively; d denotes the distance marked in (D). (F) Experimental demonstration of the stable configurations of an octagonal cell in the mechanical metamaterial. The red arrows indicate the directions in which the horizontal and vertical connecting bars move. The middle state where no connecting bar moves is marked by a red dashed frame. (G) Experimental demonstration of five representative stable configurations of a 3D-printed mechanical metamaterial with the same geometric parameters as that in (A). Scale bars, 1 mm (B), 5 mm (D and F), and 25 mm (G). Photo credits: Hang Zhang, Tsinghua University. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf1966 Multistable mechanical metamaterials are artificial materials whose microarchitecture offers more than two different stable configurations. Existing mechanical metamaterials rely on origami or kirigami-based designs with snap-through instability and microstructured soft mechanisms. Scalable structures that can be built from mechanical metamaterials with an extremely large number of programmable stable configurations remain elusive. In a new report now published on Science Advances, Hang Zhang and a research team in engineering, electronics, and advanced structure technology in Beijing China, used the elastic tensile/compressive asymmetry of kirigami microstructures to design a class of X-shaped tristable structures. The team used these constructs as building block elements to build hierarchical mechanical metamaterials with one-dimensional cylindrical geometries, 2D square lattices and 3D cubic or octahedral lattices with multidirectional multistability. The number of stable states increased with the cell number of mechanical metamaterials incorporated in the work, and the versatile multistability and structural diversity demonstrated applications within mechanical ternary logic operators with unusual functionalities. Mechanical metamaterials Mechanical metamaterials are a type of artificial materials consisting of periodic microstructures with architectures designed to offer mechanical properties that surpass conventional materials. Despite advances in the field, it remains challenging to design hierarchical metamaterials with diverse stable states and precisely tailored steady-state properties. In this work, Zhang et al. introduced a class of X-shaped kirigami microstructures as tristable building block elements starting from a bottom-up scheme to achieve hierarchical mechanical metamaterials, with an increased number of stable states. The elastic tensile-compressive asymmetry of kirigami microstructures and the independently controlled tristability of the hierarchical metamaterials allowed them to realize controlled low-frequency vibrations along different in-plane directions for desired functions, including noise suppression and nonlinear communication. Multistable mechanical metamaterials with hierarchical constructions Bottom-up design strategy and demonstration of 3D multistable mechanical metamaterials. (A) Schematic illustration of a torsional multistable mechanical metamaterial consisting of four individually addressable layers. Each layer is composed of a driving ring, a constraining ring, hinges, a bearing, and an X-shaped building block structure. (B) Optical images and FEA results of five representative stable configurations of a 3D-printed torsional mechanical metamaterial with the same geometric parameters as that in (A). (C) Schematic illustration of the cubic and octahedral multistable mechanical metamaterials. The orange and red dashed lines indicate the rotation axes of the octagonal cell to form 3D mechanical metamaterials. (D) Experimental demonstration of three representative stable configurations of the 3D-printed cubic and octahedral multistable mechanical metamaterials. Scale bars, 15 mm. Photo credits: Hang Zhang, Tsinghua University. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf1966 The team conducted quantitative mechanical modeling of the X-shaped kirigami microstructures based on finite element analyses. The outcomes indicated a bending-dominated deformation mechanism under uniaxial stretching with a much lower tensile modulus and compressive modulus. The calculated strain energy indicated three minimum points to confirm the instability of the X-shaped building block structure. The scientists also presented multistable mechanical metamaterials with 1-D cylindrical geometries and 3D cubic or octahedral lattices. The design allowed two additional stable configurations based on clockwise or counterclockwise rotations as evidenced by the energy profile. The octagonal cell offered up to 320 stable configurations in theory, which was hitherto inaccessible. The extreme number of stable states provided a promising concept for information processing as shown with mechanical ternary logic gates and combined logic operators. Design and experimental demonstration of the octagonal cell. Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf1966 Relationship between mechanical properties and geometrical designs of kirigami microstructures and X-shaped building block structures The scientists next sought to understand the microstructure-property relationship to assess the hierarchical design of the proposed multistable mechanical metamaterials. To accomplish this, they focused on the X-shaped building block structure and established the connection of its key geometric parameters to the resulting energy landscape. The team divided the geometric parameters into two categories one related to the kirigami microstructure and the other to the X-shaped composite. They then developed a finite-deformation theoretical model to predict the stress-strain curve of the kirigami microstructure, where the theoretical outcomes were in good agreement with the experiments. The team further increased the compressive modulus of the kirigami microstructures by replacing the connection region with hard polymers. The simulated microstructures that deformed under tension and compression were also in good agreement with the optical images. Microstructure-property relationship of the X-shaped building block structure. (A) Schematic illustration of the kirigami microstructure and the key design parameters. (B) Experimental and FEA results of the tensile stress-strain curves of the kirigami microstructure with a range of different normalized cut lengths (l1=l1/a and l2=l2/a). (C) Contour plot of the effective elastic modulus of the kirigami microstructure with respect to the normalized cut lengths (l1 and l2). (D) Experimental and FEA results of tensile and compressive stress-strain curves of the kirigami microstructure with homogeneous and composite designs. (E) Optical images and FEA results of the composite kirigami microstructure at different loading states [marked in (D)]. (F) Schematic illustration of the X-shaped building block structure. The key design parameters include the modulus ratio ( = Ec/Et) of the kirigami microstructure under compression to that under tension, the angle of the X-shaped structure, and the length ratio (L/L0). (G) Optical images and FEA results of the two stable configurations of X-shaped building block structures with = 25 and 40 (left and right) for fixed length ratio (L/L0 = 0.64). (H) Load-displacement curves of the homogeneous X-shaped building block structure with different angles (), for fixed modulus ratio ( = 101) and length ratio (L/L0 = 0.64). (I) Similar results in the case of different length ratios (L/L0) for fixed modulus ratio ( = 101) and angle ( = 30). (J) Load-displacement curves of the composite X-shaped building block structure with different angles () for fixed modulus ratio ( = 240) and length ratio (L/L0 = 0.64). Scale bars, 1 mm (E) and 5 mm (G). Photo credits: Hang Zhang, Tsinghua University.Credit: Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf1966 Mechanical ternary gates The flexibility of the X-shaped tristable building block structure allowed applications of mechanical ternary logic function, which could not be achieved using bistable building blocks. For instance, with mechanical systems presented in earlier work, it was very challenging to combine many basic gates for complex logic operations. Comparatively, ternary logic operation could transmit a larger amount of information while using a reduced number of basic gates to complete the same operation and showed advantages in fuzzy logic and signal processing. The team further presented a mechanical ternary NOT gate composed of two modules including an analog-to-digital converter and a digital displacement processor. They realized the analog-to-digital converter using the X-shaped tristable building block structure and developed the digital displacement processor to reverse the direction of input displacement and conducted experimental demonstrations of the functionality of the fabricated NOT gate. The ternary logic operation of AND and OR gates were more complicated compared to binary operators. The flexibility of the modular design facilitated complex logic operations based on the basic gates. The large number of stable states facilitated with multistable mechanical metamaterials allowed for complex ternary operations of multiple inputs. For instance, a logic operator based on a mechanical metamaterial served as an analog-to-digital converter integrated with a specially designed digital displacement processor to realize a complex target operation for four different inputs. Logic operators of this nature can allow parallel processing of inputs across different directions to obtain two independent outputs. Applications in the amplitude modulation of the low-frequency vibration. (A) Conceptual illustration of the modular design of the amplitude modulator. Here, the amplitude modulator works along the x and y axes, and the sign of input/output displacements is consistent with the sign of the coordinate axes. The module 1 serves to weaken the force transmission, and the module 2 combines the transmitted force with the tristable units to achieve a regulated displacement output. (B) Input and output displacements along the x direction versus the time for a low level of amplitude, showing the function of filtering the triangular wave as the truncated triangular wave. The optical images on the bottom panel correspond to the two states marked in the curves. (C) Similar results in the case of an intermediate level of amplitude, showing the function of filtering the triangular wave as the step wave. (D) Similar results in the case of a high level of amplitude, showing the function of filtering the triangular wave as the square wave. Scale bars, 15 mm. Photo credits: Hang Zhang, Tsinghua University. Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf1966 The scientists presented the designs of a bidirectional amplitude modulator developed with multistable mechanical metamaterials. They filtered low-frequency vibration from the experimental setup, where the negative input displacement was tremendously suppressed, while the positive input displacement transmitted with a relatively high fidelity. Such mechanical devices will be effective for integration in robots working in harsh environments such as high radiation and strong magnetic fields, where electronic devices would not function as effectively. The ability to modulate vibration can also be used for noise suppression and nonlinear communication. Experimental demonstration of the complex logic operators. Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf1966 Outlook In this way, Hang Zhang and colleagues detailed the design, fabrication and characterization of a class of hierarchical mechanical metamaterials with an exponentially increased number of stable states. The team started with the programmable X-shaped tristable building block structure and progressed to design hierarchical mechanical metamaterials including 1-D cylindrical geometries, 2D square lattices and 3D cubic or octahedral lattices. These constructs showed capacity for torsional multistability or independently controlled multidirectional multistability. The outcomes shed light on the underlying relationship between the microstructural geometries and the resulting energy landscape. The team showed applications in mechanical ternary logic gates, including the three basic gates (AND, NOT, and OR gates) and their combined logic operations. The mechanical devices are promising for applications across soft robotics and actuators. The mechanical devices will be more advantageous than traditional electrical devices to save energy and for corrosion resistance in harsh environments. Explore further Shape-changing metamaterial developed using Kirigami technique More information: Zhang H. et al. Hierarchical mechanical metamaterials built with scalable tristable elements for ternary logic operation and amplitude modulation, Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf1966 Zhang H. et al. Hierarchical mechanical metamaterials built with scalable tristable elements for ternary logic operation and amplitude modulation, Li X. and Gao H. Smaller and stronger. Nature Materials, doi.org/10.1038/nmat4591 Zhang X. et al. Theoretical strength and rubber-like behaviour in micro-sized pyrolytic carbon, Nature Nanotechnology, doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0486-y Journal information: Science Advances , Nature Nanotechnology , Nature Materials 2021 Science X Network Carlo Allegri/Reuters I am not part of the political club. With that sentence, Andrew Cuomo graduated to Donald Trumps realmshameless arrogance married to an absolute rejection of empirical reality. Cuomo, New Yorks governor, said on Friday he would not resign. He has been steadfast as six different women accuse him of sexual harassment and the FBI investigates his states counting of nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic. Most of his own party has turned against him. A normal politician, facing down twin scandals, would decide to call it quits. But Cuomo, who has been governor for more than a decade, is not normal. He shares a few political genes with Trump, who came out of the same city and same borough and was reared, ultimately, with the same entitlement. Trumps father, Fred, was one of New Yorks most powerful real estate developers while Cuomos father, Mario, governed the state for 12 years. Accused Sex Harasser Andrew Cuomo Plays Cancel Culture Card Cuomos and Trumps fight alike: to the very end, with no regard for the facts, the truth, or the feelings of those around them. On Friday, almost all of New Yorks congressional delegation called for Cuomo to step down and allow the lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, to negotiate an enormous and critical state budget. They joined the Democrats in the New York State Senate, who have called for Cuomo to resign, and many members of the State Assembly. The Assembly, at last, has opened an impeachment inquiry. Cuomo astoundingly invoked cancel culture on Friday, as if he were addressing a rousing crowd at CPAC. It is not a culture of cancellation that is doing Cuomo in: Its a culture that recognizes his approach to governing has been a failure, and people are suffering because of it. The open secret of Albany is thankfully no longer secret to anyone. Cuomo presided over a predatory and sadistic work environment, where fealty to the cause of Cuomo was all that mattered when the sun went down. Story continues Cuomo is a liar because he is the political club. He is the most powerful governor since Nelson Rockefeller, a Democrat who fundraises from the richest and most consequential real estate developers and financiers in the state, who became a Cabinet secretary in Bill Clintons administration because his father was New Yorks longtime governor. If Cuomo is not part of the political club, one simply does not exist. It is a dark, lightless void in the galaxy somewhere. This Fertilizer King Funneled Cuomo $1 Millionand Got a New York Health-Care Empire In Cuomos world, there were only binaries: you were with him or against him. Reality could always be rewritten on his termsone day, he controls the subways in New York, another day he does notand the politicians and apparatchiks of the Democratic Party would nod along, glad only to be spared his legendary wrath. Cuomo has, remarkably, not ruled out running again, for that fourth term he has craved since his own father, Mario, failed to win one in 1994. Instead of winding down his political career, as any other politician in his position would, he is maniacally forging onand hoping, just like the old days, to break his opposition along the way. Its worth remembering the sexual harassment allegations, alone, arent what is driving the calls for Cuomos ouster. He is under federal investigation for obscuring the coronavirus death toll in nursing homes. His Department of Health invented nonsensical criteria for counting these deathsa nursing home resident who died in a hospital was excluded from the tallythat allowed Cuomo to declare, as he was writing his pandemic memoir, that the virus hadnt impacted these healthcare facilities much at all. Until now, Cuomo could get away with it. Reality was too many steps behind. The public was too enthralled with him or, more likely, wasnt paying attention much at all. Cuomos closest aide, Joe Percoco, was sent to federal prison two years ago on corruption charges. Another close ally, Alain Kaloyeros, went to prison in a bid-rigging scheme. Cuomo shut down an anti-corruption commission he created once it became clear it was going to do its job and investigate the executive branch. Cuomo is right, in one sense. He is entitled to due process. The State Attorney General will at some point release a report into the allegations, which seem credible. But in Cuomos mind, this is all a distraction from the glory of his rescue of New York during the pandemic. Soon, the clouds will clear and the largest cable TV networks in America will welcome him again, their hero returned from a brief hiatus. The show will go on. Cuomo will be the last person to realize this is not his future. His arrogance is in full bloom, the ur-Cuomo unleashed, daring the legislature to impeach and convict him. If he pushes them much further, they will. Because its not just the allegations anymore. Its the nursing home deaths, the nearly 50,000 dead from coronavirus, and the state mired in its rotten political culture. Cuomo created all of it. Like Trump, he hopes to deny reality enough to gin up his fan base of resistance liberals and make them despise the press and political leaders who dare to challenge him. He will go down a martyr. He knows of no other way. Cuomo Is Not Your Dad. Hes Your Dads Asshole Boss 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. Graham Gault, the president of the National Association of Head Teachers, says it was no surprise that schools had again been left in the dark. Primary and nursery schools fear they will face a scramble to prepare for pupils return to classes after the Executive dithered on the issue once again. Ministers decided that primary years one to three could remain in school beyond March 22, when they were originally scheduled to revert to remote learning to allow exam years 12 to 14 to return to lessons. But any decision on the remaining pupils will not be made until the next review of lockdown, due on Tuesday. Dr Graham Gault, the president of the National Association of Head Teachers, said it was no surprise that schools had again been left in the dark. Our primary school and nursery leaders are very happy to have the year one to three children back in school and are relieved that these year groups can stay, as the initial arrangement would have been detrimental to the children, he added. It remains, however, a very serious challenge to manage the learning and teaching of these year groups whilst, at the same time, also making provision for supervised learning of vulnerable children and children of key workers, the numbers of which have climbed significantly, as well as remote learning for those children who remain at home. Our schools have performed heroically throughout the pandemic. A further wait for decisions about the rest of our children, as to when they will return to on-site learning and teaching, is extremely frustrating and suggests that, yet again, principals will have to scramble to make last-minute changes for large numbers of children. It is a very unfortunate truth that this will be of little surprise to any of them. The NASUWT teaching union accused Education Minister Peter Weir of treating schools with disrespect. Bringing a paper to the Executive (next Tuesday) is disrespectful to teachers and school leaders, said northern official Justin McCamphill. They have put plans in place for remote learning for the week beginning March 22. A change of plan would mean that schools have only one or two days to prepare as most are taking one, if not two, days for St Patricks Day. Mark McTaggart, assistant northern secretary with the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), said schools would need 10 days notice ahead of a return. The full reopening of schools after Easter should be dependent on the scientific advice available at that point, he added. The Executive has made it clear that decisions will be data-driven rather than date-driven. However, it is important that schools are given proper time to address issues in relation to extending the phased return to school. Therefore, the INTO would reiterate its demand that decisions are communicated to school at least 10 working days prior to the date of implementation. Mumbai, March 12 : A city court on Friday directed Mumbai Police to file an FIR against actress Kangana Ranaut in a copyright violation case, filed by Ashish Kaul, author of the book "Didda: The Warrior Queen Of Kashmir". Kaul has claimed that Kangana took material from his book without proper permission. His plea states that he holds exclusive copyright to the life story of Didda, and Kangana has violated it by attempting to make the film, "Manikarnika Returns: The Legend Of Didda", based on her life, reports Film information. Didda was the princess of Lohar (Poonch), and the queen of Kashmir. Kaul is a descendant of the queen. In his statement, Kaul has also mentioned that besides his book, there is only one book in the world that mentions Queen Didda, and it is "Rajatarangini", written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in 12th century CE. Kaul added that "Rajatarangini" only has two pages that talk about Didda, and the same information has been carried forward by other historians. So, every other book dealing with the subject carries forward certain errors of "Rajatarangini". Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 00:58:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ACCRA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ghanaian government proposed here Friday the introduction of a COVID-19 health levy to support the efficient performance of the health sector during the COVID-19 outbreak, the Acting Minister for Finance Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said. The minister made the remarks while presenting the government's 2021 budget statement to parliament, adding that the proposal would result in a slight increase in some existing tax policies. "We propose a one percentage point increase in the national health insurance levy and a one percentage point increase in the Value Added Tax flat-rate to support expenditure related to COVID-19," the minister said. If approved, Mensah-Bonsu said, the levy would help mobilize additional revenue to employ more health workers at the country's health facilities, build new health facilities, and finance the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines across the country. He said the levy would also support the establishment of 14 medical waste treatment facilities across the country for the safe disposal of medical waste in collaboration with the private sector. At least 262,335 Ghanaians received their first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines as of Wednesday as part of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccinations in Ghana, and an additional 17.6 million vaccine doses are expected to be delivered by June, with more to come in the course of the year, Mensah-Bonsu said. Enditem Norway on Wednesday notified the domestic engine maker Rolls Royce Holdings that it was halting the sales of its Bergen Engines to Russian owned by TMH group due to security implications. Norway's National Security Authority (NSM), a supervisory and protective authority for the government of Norway to counter the threat, notified Rolls Royce that it was examining the planned sale to Russia under the Security Act. The government has been exploring this issue over the past few months, and it cannot be ruled out that the sale of Bergen Engines AS to TMH Group may pose a risk to national security interests, the National Security Authority (NSM) said in the official release. Monica Mland, Minister of Justice and Public Security, stated that the decision of halting the sale of assets to Russia was taken in order to procure sufficient facts and to enable the assessment of change of ownership. Mland cited the national security risk that prompted the administration to pause the deal. She stressed that Norways National Security Authority (NSM) that operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, had stepped in. 150 million euros ($178 million) deal Last month, Rolls Royce struck a 150 million euros ($178 million) deal to sell its Bergen Engines AS to a company named TMH Group. It was later found that the firm was co-owned by Russian billionaire Iskandar Makhmudov. The Norwegian government, which has trade embargo against Russia over the Crimea situation in force, questioned the security surrounding the deal alleging transborder corruption. Rolls Royce, meanwhile, clarified in a statement that it had alerted the Norway government ahead of sealing the agreement for the sale of Bergen Engines. A spokesperson for the firm, Richard Wray told local reporters that now that the Norwegian government wants to investigate the case, Rolls Royce will cooperate. Russian firm TMH, which is based out of Moscow says on its official website that it is the biggest seller of rolling stock in Russia and the former Soviet CIS states. In recent months, the government has thoroughly investigated this matter, and it cant be ruled out that a sale of Bergen Engines to TMH may entail a risk to national security interests, Justice and Public Security Minister Monica Maeland said in a separate statement. The security situation means that we must pay particularly close attention to foreign investment in strategic sectors, she warned. In cases like this one, there will always be some elements that cannot be discussed publicly. The government is now working to map out all aspects relating to the possible sale of Bergen Engines, Mland said in the NSM's press release. (Image Credit: Twitter/@toritonblue777) ROME - Turkey and Egypt have resumed diplomatic contact for the first time since interrupting their relations in 2013, when Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood was removed from office by current head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The announcement was made by the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu. ''We have had contact both at the level of intelligence services and foreign ministries," Cavusoglu said during a press conference. The relations will resume gradually according to a "roadmap", Cavusoglu said, adding that "there are no preconditions from the Egyptian side" nor from Turkey. However, he noted, "when relations have been interrupted for years, it is not easy to act as if nothing had happened". The announcement had been expected by observers after the Turkish government had said in recent days that it was ready for warmer relations with Cairo and brought up the possibility of talks for a demarcation agreement for sea borders in the eastern Mediterranean, on which Egypt reached an agreement with Cyprus last year. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is out on bail after being indicted on a rape charge that has sparked violent protests across the country over the past week. Sonko has dismissed the charge as politically motivated. HMD is also on track to finish the three orders received from GoI on 0.5 ml AD syringes of 177.5 million pcs by March this year Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices Ltd (HMD) has received another Govt order of 265 million AD syringes to supply till September this year (against their original bid for 220 million pcs) against the 350 million pcs tender taken out by the Govt, for which they were L1. HMD is also on track to finish the three orders received from GoI on 0.5 ml AD syringes of 177.5 million pcs by March this year. HMD initiated investment of over $15 million (approx Rs 100 crore) in May 2020 to mass produce specialty syringes even before purchase orders were even in sight, said Rajiv Nath, Managing Director of Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices Ltd. From 500 million pcs per annum capacity of 0.5 ml AD Syringes in June 2020, HMD is currently producing at 800 million per annum & hope to achieve capacity of one billion by June & 1.2 billion per annum by September this year for this one size alone. This is the size sought by public healthcare in India and most countries for COVID. For private healthcare the Dispovan disposable syringes are still popular but there is a shift by progressive hospitals who wish to assure their patients of higher injection safety. One injection one syringe. Over 440 million KOJAK syringes will be supplied to GoI for Indias massive vaccination drive by September including 177 million by April this year alongside supplies of Dispovan to the private hospitals and vaccination clinics. When in doubt, turn to Jim Halpert. On Wednesday, Austin Mayor Steve Adler responded to the lawsuit threat from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with not only a statement but a tweet that included a GIF from the iconic show "The Office." NEW LEADERSHIP?: Governor McConaughey? It could happen. In the tweet, Adler said, "From the people who brought you no water and electricity: no masks." The GIF featured showed a clip of Jim Halpert blowing air into frenemie Dwight Schrute's face. The tweet came after Paxton threatened to sue Austin health and local officials for defying Gov. Greg Abbott's mask order. Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott released a public health mandate Tuesday that ordered residents to still wear face coverings. Escott issued the order but didn't announce how they'll enforce it, as Abbott's order explicitly says that no jurisdiction can impose jail time or other penalties for not wearing a mask. In the release, it only states complaints about non-compliance should be referred to 3-1-1 (512-974-2000). According to an existing acting order by Escott, noncompliance could result in a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,000. The order has been in place since July. Not long after, Paxton tweeted that health authorities and officials have until 6 p.m. to rescind its mask mandate or he will sue them on behalf of the State of Texas. Paxton said in his statement to Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown that the officials and their health authorities have no jurisdiction to threaten fines for non-compliance. He noted if they go to court, they will lose. IT'S FASHION, BABY: What's 'disaster casual'? Gov. Abbott's winter storm fashion can't compare to my 'fits In Adler's statement, he said he and Judge Brown will fight Abbott and Paxton's assault against doctors and data for as long as they possibly can. He noted they will continue to back any existing public health orders to help slow the spread in the county. "The Governor's order and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to end mask mandates creates ambiguity about masks where none should exist," he stated. "I believe leaders need to be clear and unambiguous in their communications and messaging about masking. Masks work! The Governor and Attorney General are simply wrong." Austin City Council Member Gregorio Casar also tweeted on the matter, stating "We'll see you in court" to Paxton. So far, as of Thursday morning, Paxton hasn't responded on social media to the response from Austin leaders. Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global Urgent Care Apps Market was valued US$ 398.4 Mn in 2017 and is expected to reach US$ 4832 Mn by 2026, at a CAGR of 36.61% during a forecast period. The report is majorly segmented into types, Clinical Areas, and region. Further, Urgent Care Apps Market based on type includes Pre-hospital Emergency Care & Triaging Apps, In-hospital Communication & Collaboration Apps, Post-hospital Apps, Medication Management Apps, Rehabilitation Apps, and Care Provider Communication & Collaboration Apps. Further, Clinical Area includes Trauma, Stroke, Cardiac Conditions, and Other Clinical Areas. The report segments the Urgent Care Apps market into various sub-segments, hence it covers the market comprehensively. The market numbers are further split across different regions the report had segmented the geographies into five continents i.e. North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Detailed analysis by region with the competitive landscape & benchmarking of the key players make the report comprehensive and enable the informed decision making. Request for Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/10819 Based on the type, the post-hospital apps category held the large share in the global urgent care apps industry. Rising awareness of mobile apps to manage medications among patients is a major reason for the post-hospital category being the large share of the market. Since an increasing number of road accidents, the trauma category i.e. to physical injuries of sudden onset is estimated to be large in a market. The stroke segment is expected to grow at the high growth rate in the next few years because the increasing number of stroke patientas i.e sudden death of brain cells due to lack of oxygen, caused by blockage of blood flow and rising number of players providing stroke specific apps used in Emergency Medical Services and rehabilitation facilities. The growth of urgent care apps market is affected by a number of factors, such as the increasing the selling product of the company in a particular area. Some benefits of urgent care apps are growing penetration of 3G and 4G networks, rising concentration on patient-centric healthcare delivery by using smartphones. The major factors that are expected to restrain the growth of urgent care apps market during the forecast period. Such as the wide usage of consumer instant messaging apps, poor internet connectivity in several countries, and the high volume of miscategorized apps on Android and Apple stores. The increasing focus on patient-centric healthcare delivery and the implementation of patient data safety regulations are the major drivers of the urgent care apps market. Taking into an account of the geographical landscape, the North American region was large during the historical period and it is predicted to remain as the large region throughout the forecast period as well. The increasing focus on patient-centric healthcare delivery and the implementation of patient data safety regulations are the major drivers of the urgent care apps industry in North America. Some of the major players in the urgent care apps market are Pulsara, Allm Inc., Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Vocera Communications, PatientSafe Solutions, TigerConnect, and others. Place a Direct Purchase Order @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/10819/Single Scope of Global Urgent Care Apps Market: Global Urgent Care Apps Market, by Type Pre-hospital Emergency Care & Triaging Apps In-hospital Communication & Collaboration Apps Post-hospital Apps Medication Management Apps Rehabilitation Apps Care Provider Communication & Collaboration Apps Global Urgent Care Apps Market by Clinical Area: Trauma Stroke Cardiac Conditions Other Clinical Areas Global Urgent Care Apps Market, by Region North America Europe Middle East & Africa Asia Pacific Latin America Key players operated in Global Urgent Care Apps Market: Pulsara Allm Inc. Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. Vocera Communications PatientSafe Solutions TigerConnect Others. Request for Report Discount: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/10819 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 09:42:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Officials from Guam, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean, have reproached a congresswoman over her assertion that the island is a foreign land, local media reported Thursday. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greeneo has been heavily criticized for embracing conspiracy theories since her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month was posted online suggesting Guam is a foreign country that doesn't deserve aid. "I wanted to take my regular, normal person, normal, everyday American values, which is: We love our country. We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America," said Greene on Feb. 27, who excluded Guam from U.S. territories in her speech. Michael San Nicolas, the delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for Guam's at-large congressional district, was quoted by the Guam Daily Post as saying that his staff would pay a visit to Greene's office and deliver some local cookies to remind her that the island is part of the country. The office of Guam's Governor Lourdes Aflague Leon Guerrero also offered educational resources to Greene. "We would be more than happy to send Representative Greene's office a copy of 'Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam,'" Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the director of communications for the governor, told the Guam Daily Post. Telena Nelson, a Democratic senator in the 34th Guam Legislature, said the comments made by a member of congress were "appalling." Enditem The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. Tributes to well-loved Norfolk doctor and minister Tributes to well-loved Norfolk doctor and minister The Church Times has paid tribute to Dr Herbert Karrach, who for 25 years was a minister at Snettisham, and died recently in Nepal aged 96. Dr Karrach was ordained in 1989 and served as a non-stipendiary minister under Revs David and Judith Grundy, helping at Snettisham Church and leading services in the village of Fring, where he lived. In the Snettisham Millennium Pageant of 2000 Dr Karrach dressed as a medieval priest in a play recalling the terrible Bubonic Plague of 1345. He also helped with Messy Church for many years and gave excellent weekly Bible studies. He had been born in Vienna, but in 1938, as life became increasingly unsafe, his family escaped to southern Ireland. At the age of 18, he came to faith and immediately felt a calling to medicine. After winning a scholarship to Trinity College, Dublin, he qualified and took medical jobs in both Ireland and England before joining the British Colonial Service. He was posted to Uganda, where he served from 1951 to 1962 in various districts, often being the only doctor in the district. He met Mollie, a British missionary teacher, while he was convalescing from glandular fever at a tea farm. The address at their wedding in 1953 was given by Erica Sabiti, later to become the first Ugandan Archbishop. His whole ministry and faith was profoundly affected by the Church born out of the East African revival in the 1930s. Returning to England in 1962, he joined a general practice in Bedford, where he served in until his retirement in 1988. At the age of 80, after his wife Mollies death, and to escape from the long cold winter months, he started to visit the warmer climates of Nepal to stay with his daughter, Dr Rachel Karrach, Director of the large United Mission Hospital in Tansen. He enjoyed helping the medical team and taking occasional trips to villages in the Palpa District, treating families and sick children. He thought that it was hilarious when, arriving in Nepal at the age of 92, he had a long delay at Kathmandu airport, as the official assumed that his was a fake passport, not believing that any right-minded man of 92 would fly from the UK to Nepal. It was at United Mission Hospital at Tansen that Dr Karrach died on Sunday January 10. He had been unable to fly back to the UK during the 2020 lockdowns. He was loved by the hospital and church community and adopted as everyones father; he is buried in a simple forest grave, overlooking the Himalayas. He leaves three daughters, Joy, Jennie, and Rachel, four granddaughters, and one grandson. Article extracts from the obituary in the Church Times by Rev David Grundy. You can read the full Church Times obituary here. Pictured above is Dr Herbert Karrach. Image from Dr Rachel Karrach Eldred Willey, 12/03/2021 Heavily pregnant Tracey Jewel is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first child, a boy, with husband Nathan Constable. The former Married At First Sight star, 37, could hardly contain her excitement as she updated her followers on being 'hospital ready' for the birth on Instagram on Friday. 'Ready when you are baby boy!' the soon-to-be mother-of-two, who already has 10-year-old daughter Grace from a previous relationship, captioned the post. Exciting! Former Married At First Sight star Tracey Jewel (pictured), 37, could hardly contain her excitement as she updated her followers on being 'hospital ready' for the birth of her first child, a boy, with husband Nathan Constable on Instagram on Friday 'All packed for hospital! The waiting game is real! Check out my stories for nursery nesting lol... Mums what did you pack in your hospital bag?' In a series of two pictures to her account, Tracey beamed as she flaunted her burgeoning belly and relaxed in the nursery for the child. She appeared to be at ease in the first picture while holding her baby bump and sitting in a chair. Tracey, who is 38 weeks pregnant, glowed with sun-kissed skin, glossy hair and an ear-to-ear smile. 'Ready when you are baby boy!' Tracey captioned her post. 'All packed for hospital! The waiting game is real! Check out my stories for nursery nesting lol... Mums what did you pack in your hospital bag?' She was then spotted sitting admiring the contents of a box she was opening in the second picture. Tracey is expecting her first child with her high school sweetheart husband, Nathan, whom she married in a quaint Perth ceremony on February 20. She looked radiant in a custom-made gown by Ashley Graham x Pronovias, who went 'above and beyond' with intricate embellishments which draped down her figure perfectly. Just Married (again)! Tracey tied the knot with Nathan Constable (pictured) at a quaint ceremony in Perth on February 20 Happy: Tracey looked radiant in a custom-made gown by Ashley Graham x Pronovias, who went 'above and beyond' with intricate embellishments which draped down her figure perfectly The brunette glamazon - who rose to fame as the TV 'wife' of Dean Wells on the 2018 series of MAFS - wore her hair gently tousled, and emphasised her striking features with a subtle touch of makeup. Tracey paired her gorgeous bridal gown, from Raffaele Ciuca boutique in Melbourne, with a simple green, pink and white bouquet of blooms. 'It was Nathan's first wedding and I've done it twice before, so we wanted to do the official vows at Perth's registry office,' Tracey told Daily Mail Australia of her big day. ROME, MAR 12 - Premier Mario Draghi said Friday Italy has taken strong decisions on drug companies that are late with their deliveries and would continue to do so to defend Italians' health. Speaking at a COVID vaccination hub in Rome, Draghi said the EU had taken "clear commitments" with vaccine suppliers and "we expect them to be respected". Italy will continue to block the export of COVID-19 vaccines from the European Union, as it did with a batch of 250,000 AstraZeneca jab shots to Australia at the end of February, as long as there are delays in the supply chain, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said last week. In halting the departure of the jabs, which came from a plant near Rome, Italy became the first EU country to use a new European mechanism on export controls. The European Commission authorised the move in light of AstraZeneca's failure to supply the vaccines it had pledged to deliver in Europe and the fact that Australia is not a vulnerable country. (ANSA). The main source of financing for the business strategy of the Naftogaz Group until 2025 is its own funds, but the issue of eurobonds is also extremely important for its implementation, Head of the supervisory board of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy Clare Spottiswoode has said. "The issue of eurobonds is critical for the implementation of the strategy. Which means that conditions are also needed that will allow investors to make a decision to invest in our company," she said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. According to her, the success of the eurobond issue depends on political stability in Ukraine and on the confidence of investors that the government will allow Naftogaz to raise funds and redeem these bonds. The head of the supervisory board also expressed the hope that the government will keep part of the company's profits for the implementation of the strategy. "Of course, we have alternative plans in case we cannot keep some of the profit for investment. And if we cannot issue bonds [...], then it is obvious that it is impossible to invest money that we do not have," Spottiswoode said. She added that if the government decides to leave the gas price cap for households, it must realize that such a decision will halt the development of Naftogaz and destroy investment opportunities. The head of the supervisory board said that the supervisory board has already approved the strategy and its members have joined the work on it at various stages. "We fully support this strategy, consider it very important for Naftogaz and strongly encourage its implementation," Spottiswoode said. She noted that the strategy is a dynamic document. "For example, we have made a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. But we do not yet know what the path will be. There is part of this vision, but over the next few years, much will change, and the path to the goal will also change," the head of the supervisory board said. According to her, Naftogaz is still working hard on plans in the field of "green" energy, in particular, it is determined which areas are expedient for the group, and which are better left to other companies. "For example, it is not known if we seriously move towards solar energy. We can, but this is not a 100% task, because there are other, more suitable investors. Solar energy is not one of our strengths. But hydrogen on the contrary," Spottiswoode said. She added that Ukraine also has a powerful agro-industrial complex with a large amount of agricultural waste that can be used to produce biogas. "And this is already our main specialization," Spottiswoode said, stressing that there is no point in investing in something that is not profitable. As reported, the Naftogaz management presented the group's business strategy until 2025 in mid-February. Among other things, it involves the return of the company to the position of the largest player in the wholesale natural gas market of Ukraine, an increase in its share in the market for gas supplies to household consumers from 7% to 35%, and entry into the electricity and heat markets. In addition, Naftogaz plans to invest $7.3 billion in hydrocarbon production in 2021-2025, increasing its reserves by 1.8 times. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 22:45:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People walk across a street backdropped by the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, on March 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday expressed hope that the upcoming high-level strategic dialogue between top diplomats of China and the United States will promote the sound and steady development of bilateral relations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing in response to a query on the high-level strategic dialogue scheduled for March 18 and 19 in Alaska. It is hoped that China and the United States can build on the spirit of the phone conversation of the two heads of state, focus on cooperation, manage differences, and promote the sound and steady development of bilateral relations through the dialogue, Zhao said. Noting that the upcoming high-level strategic dialogue was proposed by the United States, Zhao said it is the first high-level contact between China and the United States after the two presidents had a phone call on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides since the new U.S. administration took office. He pointed out that the specific topics of the dialogue have yet to be decided by the two sides, adding that it is hoped the two sides can have candid talks on issues of common concern, and China will make its position clear during the dialogue. The two sides should accurately understand each other's policy intentions, enhance mutual understanding, manage differences, and bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track, Zhao said. He stressed that China's position on issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong is consistent and clear. China has said many times that the door to Xinjiang is always open. In recent years, more than 1,200 foreign diplomats, international organization officials, journalists and religious personnel from more than 100 countries have visited Xinjiang. "They agreed that what they saw and experienced in the region was entirely different from Western media reports and politicians' accusations. We welcome unbiased foreigners to visit Xinjiang and get a better understanding of Xinjiang through personal experience," he said. In the face of these facts and truths, all the lies and disinformation cooked up by anti-China forces will collapse, Zhao added. On Hong Kong-related issues, Zhao said that Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong. Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs, and no foreign country has the right to interfere. "We urge the U.S. side to stop interfering in China's Hong Kong affairs and refrain from going further down the wrong path. China will firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests," Zhao said. What Premier African Minerals owns RHA Tungsten deposit RHA is situated in an area of historic production, approximately 270km northwest of Bulawayo. Premier African has announced a resource of 22.1mln tonnes at 2.45kg per tonne in both the underground and open-pit operations. To date, Premier African Minerals has invested around US$18mln in the acquisition and development of the mine. MNH MN Holdings operates the producing Otjozundu manganese mine in Namibia. Premier has upped its stake in MNH to 19% from the 10% it bought in December. Neil Herbert, MNH's chairman, has joined the Premier board. He is also currently chairman of IronRidge Resources, and Siderian Resource Capital. The Otjozondu mine has increased exporting levels to up to 10,000 tonnes lump ore per month at better than 35%, up from 5,000 per month late last year. Zulu Lithium Situated 80km from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, Premier believes the project is potentially the largest undeveloped lithium-bearing pegmatite in Zimbabwe. A scoping study indicated a value of US$127mln for a 15-year open cast operation mining a concentrate of spodumene and petalite. Circum Premier African owns just over 5mln shares in the privately-owned natural resources group, which is developing its wholly-owned Danakil Potash project in Northern Ethiopia. The Danakil Project has the potential to be a world-class potash project says Premier. How it's doing In March, Premier African received the formal grant of an exclusive prospecting order (EPO) covering the companys Zulu Lithium and Tantalum claims. Zulu remains a significant deposit, said George Roach, chief executive. Roach added: "I am deeply appreciative of the Zimbabwe Government for the granting of this substantial EPO and Premier will reciprocate with mobilization for the commencement of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the Zulu deposit which has an estimated completion time of 14 months. Roach highlighted that the EPO area contains further known lithium-bearing pegmatites offering upside to Zulu, as well as historic small gold mines, potential molybdenite and many tungsten mineral occurrences within the area. The granting of the EPO reaffirms the Zimbabwean Government policy that Zimbabwe is open for business and further supports the Ministry of Mines policy of creating a US$12bn mining economy by 2023. The award of the EPO has sent the share price of Premier African moon-bound, opening up the possibility that the company will not necessarily have to go down the joint-venture route to develop it, which would entail giving a chunk of its ownership. Earlier, Premier said it had hired New York-based EAS Advisors to introduce institutions and funding, as the explorer works to advance mining and exploration projects in sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, the company said it intends to fund a definitive feasibility study (DFS) at Zulu Lithium. What does the chief executive say? George Roach Premier's present market value suggests that retention of 100% of Zulu is now potentially a better option. The strategy related to the divestment of our Zimbabwe assets may no longer be appropriate. Accordingly, Premier will focus on the development of Zulu and realisation of the potential true value of this asset and proper exploration of the upside potential in the EPO, Roach told investors. Inflexion points WATERFORD A local man was killed in an officer-involved shooting in Louisiana Wednesday night, Louisiana State Police officials said. Trooper First Class Brent Hardy identified the man as 42-year-old Michael Laduca, of Waterford. The state police in Louisianas Bureau of Investigation responded to an officer-involved shooting in Red River Parish. The incidents that led up to the shooting began around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Deputies with the DeSoto Parish Sheriffs Office were on patrol in DeSoto Parish when they tried to stop a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which police said was driven by Laduca. For reasons still under investigation, Laduca refused to stop, and a pursuit ensued, Hardy said. The pursuit continued on roads in DeSoto Parish before going into Red River Parish, where Laduca turned onto an oilfield road and drove through a barbed-wire fence, where his vehicle got stuck on a ditch in a pasture, Hardy said. Laduca then tried to run away, Hardy said. During the foot pursuit, a confrontation occurred that led to deputies from DPSO and the Red River Parish Sheriffs Office firing their weapons, Hardy said. He did not say what happened during the confrontation, nor did he say how many officers fired their weapons. Laduca was pronounced dead at the scene. No deputies were hurt. None of the law enforcement officers involved have been identified. Transit through Ukraine due to COVID-19 falls by 20%, but there is positive trend from Nov 2020 Ukrzaliznytsia head Transit by rail through Ukraine in connection with the quarantine imposed due to the spread of COVID-19, as well as the economic decline worldwide fell by about 20%, said head of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) Volodymyr Zhmak. "Currently, transit, which is one of the most profitable activities for us, has significantly decreased, by about 20%. But this was due to both quarantine restrictions and the economic decline that was observed throughout the world. There has been a positive trend since November 2020," he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. Zhmak noted that currently the most potentially interesting direction for UZ in this industry is container transportation along the Silk Road. "If last year we received about 20 container trains, then in just two months of this year four trains have already come to us and another 27 trains in transit through Ukraine. We want to ensure that the container train arrives almost daily," the head of the company stressed. He added that UZ is also working on the development of the Turkey - Odesa - North (Baltic, Scandinavian) direction, as well as transit to Ukrainian ports. "Ukrainian ports are very interesting for consignors of neighboring countries, and I look very positively at the further development of transit," the head of UZ summed up. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) Two magistrates gunning for the Chief Justice post believe the country has sufficient rules on the issuance of search warrants, a topic that became controversial recently following the deaths of nine activists in search operations that had the go signal of local courts. No less than Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta raised the issue during the online public interview held by the Judicial and Bar Council, which screens applicants for the judiciary. Peralta, who is retiring this month, noted that his question was purely for academic discussion and not meant to prejudge any case. Peralta asked Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo, a chief justice aspirant, if judges could rely on the existence of a probable cause" based on the affidavits of the applicant and the witnesses in issuing search warrants. Gesmundo said judges cannot totally rely" on these affidavits and that doing so violates the Constitution and the Rules of Court on criminal procedure. The rules are clear: the judge must conduct a personal searching inquiry. And therefore, if he decides to issue a search warrant, his primary basis should be his own determination based on his examination of the applicants as well as his witnesses, Gesmundo said. The next applicant to be interviewed, Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, was asked to respond to calls for the Supreme Court to review policies surrounding the issuance of search warrants. Retired Justice Jose Catral Mendoza said he was relaying a question from the media. Hernando answered that all rules have to be reviewed every now and then, but he does not see the need to do so now with the issue on search warrants. I think that with respect to the process itself, theres nothing wrong there, as long as the judge has really been convinced by the quantum of evidence needed to issue the search warrant, if he really issued it on the basis of what our rules really require then I think the judge should not be blamed for that, Hernando said. Its a different thing when it comes to the implementation of the search warrant, he added, agreeing with Mendoza that its already beyond the jurisdiction of the judiciary. In what has been known as Bloody Sunday on March 7, nine activists were killed in separate police operations in the Southern Tagalog region. Six were killed in Rizal, two in Batangas, and one in Cavite. Meanwhile, six people were arrested, three each in Laguna and Rizal. Police Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson for the Laguna Provincial Police, said these were part of 24 search operations in the Calabarzon region which were all based on warrants. The Philippine National Police claimed that the slain activists were members of the New Peoples Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and that they were being hunted down not because of their affiliation but because of crimes they supposedly committed. Activist groups, however, questioned why the orders were issued by courts in Metro Manila which they have tagged search warrant factories. Former Bayan Muna representative Neri Colmenares told CNN Philippines The Source that the high court should review the questionable rule allowing courts to issue arrest warrants in areas outside of their jurisdiction, noting that judges in the capital region would usually make the call for distant provinces. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also sounded the alarm over what it called an apparently arbitrary killing" and expressed concern it could mark an increase in attacks and red-tagging of human rights defenders. Officials assured the bloody operations are being investigated. Syracuse, N.Y. -- Onondaga County has opened up 900 Covid-19 vaccine appointments at the OnCenter for Monday. You can book an appointment here. These vaccines are Pfizer, which requires two doses three weeks apart. These shots are for anyone now eligible in New York. That includes people 60 or older, people with certain jobs and people with certain underlying health issues. The state-run New York State Fair vaccine clinic also has appointments open in April and May for the same eligible groups. Starting March 17, certain government workers and non-profit workers will also qualify for the vaccine in New York. These appointments are also for Pfizer shots. Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share with a Syracuse-area reporter? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 17:18:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A man gets a jab of Sinopharm vaccine at a hospital in Gokwe, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe, on Feb. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Wanda) The arrival of additional doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine in Africa will be a game-changer in the continent's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic while hastening a return to normalcy, a Kenyan expert has said. NAIROBI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The arrival of additional doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine in Africa will be a game-changer in the continent's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic while hastening a return to normalcy, a Kenyan expert has said. Steve Ndegwa, a lecturer at the Nairobi-based United States International University (USIU-Africa), said Chinese vaccine doses boost the mass inoculation against high-risk groups like essential workers, the elderly, and the terminally ill. "Definitely when vaccines from China come, first of all they are going to be value for money and then they are going to have economies of scale because they are going to be many, because they are a public good," Ndegwa said during a recent interview in Nairobi. Photo taken on Feb. 25, 2021 shows a consignment of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China at an airport in Freetown, Sierra Leone. (Xinhua/Abu) China's donated COVID-19 vaccines started arriving in Africa in line with the Asian nation's pledge to help the continent fight the pandemic that has devastated economies and livelihoods. "It is going to bring more trust between the two partners and we are going to vaccinate millions of poor people who cannot afford to buy the vaccines from our hospitals," said Ndegwa. Ndegwa said that confidence about the efficacy and safety of China's COVID-19 vaccine has grown in Africa. "We are waiting for the Chinese vaccines because we trust them more as Africans. We know that if there is a problem, China can follow up just like they follow up with all these projects that we are sharing," said Ndegwa. Ndegwa said that Africa is enthusiastic about Chinese vaccines despite acquiring doses elsewhere, adding that Beijing has proved to be dependable in the continent's anti-epidemic war. "China definitely has been there for Africa, we have received a lot of disposables, drugs to manage the virus, exchanged a lot of notes and gotten a lot of knowledge from China," said Ndegwa. Ndegwa said that the availability of Chinese vaccines will aid Africa's quest to flatten the curve and embark on economic revival. | By Laura Lee Low key fire is how some University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) CURE Scholars described the sports-themed mouthguard they designed with the help of University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) students during a virtual Oral Health Promotion Day on March 2. Depending on your generation, the phrase means hot or cool. Either way, its a good thing. UMB CURE Scholars designed sports-themed mouthguards as part of Oral Health Promotion Day 2021. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Oral Health Promotion Day was a full day of in-person learning at UMSOD. The annual day, also known as Sealant Saturday, gave the CURE Scholars and their siblings an opportunity to receive preventative dental care from dental hygiene students who would perform oral exams and place dental sealants on their teeth. These sealants help prevent tooth decay for up to 15 years. The scholars also got to participate in hands-on activities in the dental school labs. With the help of UMSOD students, the scholars used real dentistry tools to carve a tooth mold out of a bar of soap. They also learned how to suture oral wounds by practicing on a hot dog. (Watch a video of Oral Health Promotion Day 2020.) This year, the scholars were still able to connect with and learn from UMSOD students but did so virtually. Even though it looked a little different from the annual in-person programming, the scholars were engaged and excited to learn more about oral health. Calling the scholars an impressive group, UMSOD Dean Mark A. Reynolds, DDS, PhD, MA, kicked off the afternoon with remarks to the students. When I look at the UMB CURE Scholars, I know that Im seeing a group of students who are talented, committed, and perhaps most of all eager to learn, he said. Kathryn Pawlak, DDS 19, knows firsthand how eager CURE Scholars are to learn new skills. She has served as a CURE mentor since her days as an UMSOD student. Pawlak joined the scholars via Zoom from Buffalo, N.Y., where she is completing a residency in pediatric dentistry, to lead the afternoon of learning and fun. TaShara Bailey, PhD, MA, director of UMB CURE STEM curriculum and programs, was grateful to Pawlak and all of the UMSOD volunteers who made the program a success. It just shows their dedication and commitment to reach back to connect with the scholars to provide this bridge to the discipline of dentistry, she said. In fact, several scholars from different cohorts have expressed a desire to pursue a dental career as a result of the partnership between UMB CURE and UMSOD. Its these experiences into the profession, especially the health professions that shape our scholars and give them the knowledge they need to have going forward, Bailey said. Pawlak, who designed the days curriculum, gave a detailed presentation to help scholars identify dental trauma commonly found in sports, interpret X-rays and make a clinical diagnosis, and identify different types of commonly used mouthguards. After the half-hour lecture, the scholars were put to the test. Split into four breakout rooms with UMSOD student leaders, the Scholars were asked to solve a patient case, conduct basic research, and design a Baltimore-themed mouthguard. In addition to allowing scholars to put their new knowledge to use, the breakout rooms provided the opportunity to ask dental students about career opportunities and the realities of dental school. A highlight of the afternoon came when the groups reconvened to share their mouthguard designs. A team spokesperson presented the sports-themed designs that included logos from the Orioles, Ravens, Patriots, Jets, and Cubs no team was off limits. There was even a Bugatti-themed mouthguard. When asked why his team incorporated a Bugatti into the design, scholar Jibril Sorrell replied without hesitation, Because its one of the greatest cars in the world and our mouthguards are the greatest in the world. The presentations, which encouraged scholars to advocate for themselves and share their work, were an important part of the activity, according to Bailey. We try to provide these opportunities, she said, and when they take advantage of that and do it in a public setting online, that to me is a win. Oral Health Promotion Day is just one of many learning opportunities put on by the UMB CURE Scholars Program, a nationally recognized pilot mentoring program funded by the National Cancer Institutes Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE), which prepares sixth- to 12th-grade students in Baltimore for competitive, lucrative, and rewarding research and health care careers at UMB and other health institutions. New Delhi, March 12 : The Supreme Court on Friday said it will be helpful if there are local medical boards to look at cases requiring termination of pregnancy. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde batted for a mechanism at district level where a girl who has been impregnated due to rape, can go for termination of foetus as her legal right. The bench sought response from the Centre within two weeks on the plea of a minor rape victim for setting up medical boards at district level to examine cases in connection with termination of pregnancy. The petitioner moved the top court last month as her pregnancy was 26-week-old. Advocate V K Biju, representing the petitioner, submitted "I must show my gratitude to you. You have shown gratefulness to the victim." Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, said the Centre will file an affidavit in the matter. Biju contended he would not press for termination of pregnancy due to a report by the medical board and insisted that the other prayer in the plea in connection with medical boards at district level was for all the victims. He added that it is an extremely serious situation, as many children were being affected and added that he has seen the pain of the parents. The bench noted, "A girl who has been impregnated because of rape, she should know her legal rights, and options." Biju said this matter needs to be dealt with sensitivity and care. The bench replied there should be some mechanism for the girl to understand her legal rights. Centre's counsel said a new law has been proposed on the subject and insisted that everything will be brought on the affidavit. The bench told the Centre's counsel when rape is reported to you there can be a board to look into it and it will be helpful if there is a local board. After a detailed hearing in the matter, the top court issued notice to Centre on the prayer in the petition seeking constitution of medical board at district level all over India to protect and deal with rape victims. According to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, a foetus of above 20 weeks cannot be terminated without a nod from the court. Five Oklahoma City, Oklahoma police officers have been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a teenager last November. The affidavit filed against the officers states they jointly, willfully, unlawfully and unnecessarily killed fifteen-year-old Stavian Rodriguez. Court documents indicate Rodriguez was suspected of armed robbery before the incident but was unarmed when officers shot him. The charges were brought against officers Bethany Sears, Jared Barton, Corey Adams, John Skuta and Brad Pemberton on Tuesday. A sixth officer who was involved in the shooting has not been charged. According to a representative from the Oklahoma City Police Department, all the officers have been placed on paid administrative leave. Bodycam footage shortly before police fired shots at Stavian Rodriguez, 15, in Oklahoma City. (Oklahoma City Police) The incident occurred on November 23, 2020 when police were responding to a call about an armed robbery at a gas station. The store clerk fled from the scene and locked Rodriguez inside by himself. Numerous officers arrived and set up a perimeter around the gas station. Rodriguez exited through a drive-thru window after the police commanded him to leave the store. After he exited, officers simultaneously issued various commands to Rodriguez. He raised his right hand and lifted his shirt to show his waistline before removing a firearm from his pants and placing it on the ground, holding it with his thumb and forefinger. Rodriguez placed his right hand at his waistline and put his left hand in his rear left pocket before the officer who was not charged fired a 40 mm less-than-lethal round that hit Rodriguez. The officers subsequently unleashed a hail of bullets on Rodriguez, striking him 13 times. Security and body camera footage of the incident shows Rodriguez was shot within ten seconds of exiting the building. Officers claimed that Rodriguez made furtive movements, but he seemed to be trying to reassure officers that he was unarmed. He had no other weapons on him, and a cellphone was recovered from his back pocket. Austin officer charged in killing of Michael Ramos Christopher Taylor, the police officer who shot and killed Michael Ramos last year, was charged with first-degree murder Thursday morning. The Austin Police Department said Thursday afternoon that Taylor is on unpaid administrative leave. Ramos, 42, was unarmed when he was shot by Taylor in April at an apartment complex. On April 24, 2020, police responded to a call alleging that a person involved in a drug deal had a gun. A video of the incident shows officers surrounding Ramoss car and ordering him to exit his vehicle, hold his hands up and lift his shirt. Ramos exited his car and complied, repeatedly asking officers what was going on and telling them not to shoot because he did not have a gun. Ramos, visibly distressed, slowly backed towards his vehicle before being shot with bean bag ammunition. After being hit, Ramos got into his car and began driving. Taylor shot at Ramoss moving car, killing him. Officers later confirmed Ramos was not armed. According to the Travis county District Attorneys Office, the charge is the first known incident of an Austin officer being charged with murder in a use of force incident. The last time an Austin officer faced charges in a shooting death was when detective Charles Trey Kleinert was charged with manslaughter in the death of Larry Jackson in July 2013. His case was later dismissed. In recent years, three former police officers in Texas have been convicted of murder. Former Farmers Branch officer Ken Johnson was found guilty for the off-duty shooting of 16-year-old Jose Cruz. Johnson chased Cruz down and shot him after he broke into Johnsons vehicle. Roy Oliver was convicted of murder in 2018 after shooting at a moving vehicle, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. In 2019, former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was found guilty of fatally shooting Botham Jean in his own apartment, which she claimed she mistakenly thought was her own. However, it is still rare for police officers to face charges after killing someone. According to the Police Integrity Research Group, just 104 officers were charged with murder or manslaughter between 2005 and mid-2019. Of these, only 35 were found guilty. Police killed approximately 1,000 people every year during this time frame. Third-degree murder charge reinstated in Derek Chauvin trial Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill granted prosecutions request to reinstate a third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer that kneeled on George Floyds neck last May. Chauvin, who compressed his knee into Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes, also faces second-degree murder and manslaughter counts. In a statement, Cahill said he dismissed the charge last fall because he believed Chauvins case did not fit the requirements of Minnesota law. At the time, Cahill stated a third-degree murder charge requires proof that someones conduct was eminently dangerous to others, not just to Floyd. Cahill said he is now bound by a ruling stemming from the recent conviction of former officer Mohamed Noor, which stated that third-degree murder can be applied to acts directed toward a single person. A 35-year-old man who decapitated his mother in her Louth home has been jailed for life after he pleaded guilty to murder this morning, Thursday. Tomasz Krzysztof Piotrowski, who had previously lied to psychiatrists in an attempt to get a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a lesser sentence, was arraigned before and sentenced by the Central Criminal Court less than a week after he was deemed fit to stand trial. Piotrowski, originally from Poland but with an address at Cherrybrook, Ardee, Co Louth, pleaded guilty to murdering his mother Elzbieta Piotrowska (57) on January 8, 2019 at her home in Clonmore, Ardee. Mr Justice Michael White noted the case was the second in a matter of months where long-term drug addiction had led to a drug-induced psychosis that resulted in "the most horrific of tragedies". Ms Piotrowska's decapitated body was found in her home that morning. She had suffered a significant number of stab wounds and an axe and a number of blood-stained stanley knives were found close to her body. Piotrowski was arrested on the same day and was subsequently deemed unfit to be tried having been assessed by psychiatrists at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) in Dundrum, Dublin. However, Mr Justice White deemed Piotrowski fit to stand trial last Friday after hearing evidence from two consultant psychiatrists who had disagreed on the issue. Delivering judgment, the judge said he was satisfied that the Polish man could find his way around navigating a plea, follow the evidence and make a proper defence. Giving evidence today, Thursday March 11th, Superintendent John O'Flaherty said Ms Piotrowski's friend had found her body lying in a quantity of blood in the hallway of her house. The head had been removed from the body and it was further down the hallway, he said, adding that a broken part of the knife's blade was also found on the deceased. There were multiple stab wounds to her shoulder, neck and right arm and the cause of death was decapitation. Sentencing Piotrowski to the mandatory term of life imprisonment, Mr Justice White said this was the "most tragic of cases" and Ms Piotrowski and her husband of forty years had come to Ireland as hard-working Polish people in 2008. There was no doubt from the evidence that Piotrowski had intentionally set out to murder his mother and had planned to do so, he said. "This is the second case in a matter of months where it's obvious that long-term drug addiction induces serious problems for those who engage in it including a form of psychosis which is drug induced and this led to the most horrific of tragedies," he added. At a hearing last December, prosecution counsel Dominic McGinn SC, with Tom Neville BL, told the court that Dr Mary Davoren had decided Piotrowski was fit to stand trial following a consultation with him the previous month. During the consultation, Piotrowski accepted that he had lied to psychiatrists in order to get a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a lesser sentence. In her evidence, Dr Davoren said she was satisfied that the accused was able to describe the various plea options available to him, had a good understanding of them and met the criteria for fitness to stand trial. The doctor said Piotrowski had told her that he had considered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity but said he did not want to spend a long time in the CMH. However, consultant psychiatrist at the CMH Dr Conor O'Neill disagreed. He told counsel for Piotrowski, Roisin Lacey SC, that he believed the accused was still suffering from delusional beliefs, that his symptoms are most likely the result of paranoid schizophrenia and that he was not fit to plead at his trial. Dr O'Neill said the defendant continued to hold a range of delusional beliefs including that the deceased is not his real mother but a witch who used black magic to harm him. He said the accused was actively psychotic, did not have the capacity to instruct counsel and was not fit to be tried. More than a week after three University of South Alabama professors were suspended after appearing in photos with racist symbols, the schools president announced plans to promote diversity. The schools Office of Diversity and Inclusion will be expanding, among other things, Tony Waldrop said in a statement released on Thursday. We can do more, and we will, Waldrop said. In addition to the office expansion, the school is looking to hire for a new position in education and outreach, along with placing diversity coordinators in each college and school. The amount of diversity training required for faculty and staff will be expanding as well, according to Waldrop. The school is still seeking ideas from students on how to address the situation moving forward. By the end of March, a committee formed by the school will go over the submitted ideas and categorize them. After that, the school will come up with a list of proposals to strengthen diversity, inclusion and equity on campus, according to the release. The actions from the school follow a series of protests from USA students. Then-Dean of the Mitchell College of Business and current USA finance professor Bob Wood was dressed in a Confederate soldiers uniform, while professors Alex Sharland and Teresa Weldy held nooses. The pictures were taken after a 2014 on-campus Halloween party. Wood, Sharland and Weldy were posted on the business schools Facebook page shortly after the party, but the pictures have since been removed. Over 3,200 people have signed the petition so far. It has a goal of 5,000 signatures. The three professors involved are still on administrative leave, as of March 12. Support for the National Guard to continue its mission securing the U.S. Capitol has hit rock bottom, with the call from lawmakers to pull out growing louder. Even the top chief for the Guard has warned the Pentagon that the mission is an unwieldy burden for the force. In a memo obtained by Fox News, Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, suggested withdrawing the nearly 2,280 troops remaining in D.C., saying states are unwilling to continue the mission. He added that the unclear mission parameters hinder the Guard's ability to juggle its other domestic missions, such as vaccine distribution and deployments abroad. Hokanson was reportedly overruled by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. A spokesman for the National Guard Bureau declined to comment, saying he could not "discuss internal deliberations. Read Next: 'In a Very Difficult Environment,' Coast Guard Offers Incentives to Entice Recruits "Faced with pressing needs within their states, numerous adjutants general and governors have expressed their unwillingness to order the involuntary mobilization of [National Guard] personnel to man the mission," Hokanson wrote in the March 2 memo. "Moreover, I am concerned that the continued indefinite nature of this requirement may also impede our ability to man future missions as adjutant generals and Guardsmen alike may be skeptical about committing to similar endeavors." The National Guard is expected to remain at the Capitol at least through May. Capitol Police said threats against lawmakers have nearly doubled since a Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. But neither law enforcement nor the Pentagon have described any specific threats that warrant a constant armed military presence, drawing key lawmakers' ire. On Thursday, Reps. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the top lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee, rebuked the Pentagon's push to keep soldiers on Capitol Hill. "We are deeply troubled by the current level of security around the United States Capitol. More than two months after the January 6 attack, the seat of our nation's democracy remains heavily protected by guardsmen and surrounded by a perimeter fence," the pair said in a joint statement. The two agreed there should be some troops in the D.C. area to respond to credible threats but said, "The present security posture is not warranted at this time." Despite calls from lawmakers and the National Guard itself to drop the mission in Washington, D.C., a task force charged with making recommendations to boost congressional security after the Jan. 6 siege proposed establishing a permanent military presence ready to go at a moment's notice. The security review, led by retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who ran military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, recommended establishing a permanent National Guard quick reaction force, or QRF, for all of D.C. The task force also made an unprecedented request, suggesting that the commander of the D.C. National Guard should have broad authority to deploy troops without a greenlight from the president or the Defense Department in an emergency. Such a move could be seen as a direct challenge to the idea of civilian control and oversight of the military. -- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon. Related: Task Force Calls for Permanent National Guard Force to Protect DC ALBANY U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones has joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for a federal investigation of the structural integrity of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo bridge in response to a Times Union investigation that revealed the company that built the structure had concealed that bolts were breaking at the height of the project. The newspaper's story also raised questions about the thoroughness of the state's investigations into those allegations, and cited the findings of experts who questioned the conclusions in a report commissioned by the Thruway Authority that determined the bolt failures are not a continuing concern. Jones, in a letter he sent this week to Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, urged Buttigieg to "use your authority to open an investigation into these claims and (I) implore you to work with the New York state Department of Transportation to ensure proper inspections are conducted to assure the public of the safety of the bridge." Jones' district straddles the Hudson River and includes both sides of the bridge, which connects Westchester and Rockland counties. The congressman's letter was sent after members of the state Assembly's Republican conference have called for a federal investigation of the same issued. The members of the chamber's minority conference wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general earlier this week requesting "an immediate investigation to ensure the bridge is safe and that state officials, private contractors and others involved in the bridges completion acted appropriately." Jones and other lawmakers in that region have expressed concerns about the bridge's long-term safety. "It is key to the economic success of the region and critical to the livelihood of my constituents, many thousands of whom use the bridge to commute to and from work," he wrote. "I urge you to immediately begin a thorough and transparent investigation in coordination with the New York Department of Transportation into the structural integrity of the bridge and address any concerns about its safety." In 2017, the New York state attorney general launched an investigation into concerns raised by a whistleblower regarding the structural integrity of bolts used in the construction process of the bridge. That investigation, conducted by the Thruway Authority and the state Inspector General's office, recently resulted in a $2 million settlement with the state, although most documents in the case remain sealed. Tappan Zee Constructors has appealed the recent decision by the judge in the case to lift the seal and is seeking to have the records permanently sealed. Earlier this week Tappan Zee Constructors issued a statement affirming its position that the bridge is safe. "TZC unequivocally stands by the quality of our work and the safety of the bridge. The construction companies that make up TZC and its bridge designer have built many of the major crossings in the New York area, including the former Tappan Zee Bridge, and have a long history of excellence," the company said. "TZC performed additional testing and inspection measures of the high strength bolts on the bridge. This was in addition to the independent sampling and testing methods completed as part of the fabrication, construction, and quality assurance processes. The testing, including the testing performed by the laboratory retained by the state as part of its investigation, has confirmed that the bolts are in conformance with applicable industry standards." Jamey Barbas, the Thruway Authority's project director for the bridge work, issued a statement this week disputing the bridge has any structural issues. "Upon learning of the allegations of bolt failures in 2016, not only did the Thruway Authority immediately inform the inspector general, we spent more than ($1 million) and engaged world-renowned subject matter experts, developed a testing program, conducted extensive studies, and tested well over five hundred bolts," Barbas said. "The tests confirmed that the bolts met or exceeded the requirements set forth by the American Society for Testing and Materials. The very small number of bolts that were broken is not a cause for safety concern on such a large bridge consisting of more than one million bolts." The collaborative team successfully used their computer-guided design tool IRENE to reconstruct the gene regulatory network controlling the identity of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University There is a great need to generate various types of cells for use in new therapies to replace tissues that are lost due to disease or injuries, or for studies outside the human body to improve our understanding of how organs and tissues function in health and disease. Many of these efforts start with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that, in theory, have the capacity to differentiate into virtually any cell type in the right culture conditions. The 2012 Nobel Prize awarded to Shinya Yamanaka recognized his discovery of a strategy that can reprogram adult cells to become iPSCs by providing them with a defined set of gene-regulatory transcription factors (TFs). However, progressing from there to efficiently generating a wide range of cell types with tissue-specific differentiated functions for biomedical applications has remained a challenge. While the expression of cell type-specific TFs in iPSCs is the most often used cellular conversion technology, the efficiencies of guiding iPSC through different "lineage stages" to the fully functional differentiated state of, for example, a specific heart, brain, or immune cell currently are low, mainly because the most effective TF combinations cannot be easily pinpointed. TFs that instruct cells to pass through a specific cell differentiation process bind to regulatory regions of genes to control their expression in the genome. However, multiple TFs must function in the context of larger gene regulatory networks (GRNs) to drive the progression of cells through their lineages until the final differentiated state is reached. Now, a collaborative effort led by George Church, Ph.D. at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Antonio del Sol, Ph.D., who leads Computational Biology groups at CIC bioGUNE, a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance, in Spain, and at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB, University of Luxembourg), has developed a computer-guided design tool called IRENE, which significantly helps increase the efficiency of cell conversions by predicting highly effective combinations of cell type-specific TFs. By combining IRENE with a genomic integration system that allows robust expression of selected TFs in iPSCs, the team demonstrated their approach to generate higher numbers of natural killer cells used in immune therapies, and melanocytes used in skin grafts, than other methods. In a scientific first, generated breast mammary epithelial cells, whose availability would be highly desirable for the repopulation of surgically removed mammary tissue. The study is published in Nature Communications. "In our group, the study naturally built on the 'TFome' project, which assembled a comprehensive library containing 1,564 human TFs as a powerful resource for the identification of TF combinations with enhanced abilities to reprogram human iPSCs to different target cell types," said Wyss Core Faculty member Church. "The efficacy of this computational algorithm will boost a number of our tissue engineering efforts at the Wyss Institute and HMS, and as an open resource can do the same for many researchers in this burgeoning field." Church is the lead of the Wyss Institute's Synthetic Biology platform, and Professor of Genetics at HMS and of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT. Tooling up Several computational tools have been developed to predict combinations of TFs for specific cell conversions, but almost exclusively these are based on the analysis of gene expression patterns in many cell types. Missing in these approaches was a view of the epigenetic landscape, the organization of the genome itself around genes and on the scale of entire chromosome sections which goes far beyond the sequence of the naked genomic DNA. "The changing epigenetic landscape in differentiating cells predicts areas in the genome undergoing physical changes that are critical for key TFs to gain access to their target genes. Analyzing these changes can inform more accurately about GRNs and their participating TFs that drive specific cell conversions," said co-first author Evan Appleton, Ph.D. Appleton is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Church's group who joined forces with Sascha Jung, Ph.D., from del Sol's group in the new study. "Our collaborators in Spain had developed a computational approach that integrated those epigenetic changes with changes in gene expression to produce critical TF combinations as an output, which we were in an ideal position to test." The team used their computational "Integrative gene Regulatory Network model" (IRENE) approach to reconstruct the GRN controlling iPSCs, and then focused on three target cell types with clinical relevance to experimentally validate TF combinations prioritized by IRENE. To deliver TF combinations into iPSCs, they deployed a transposon-based genomic integration system that can integrate multiple copies of a gene encoding a TF into the genome, which allows all factors of a combination to be stably expressed. Transposons are DNA elements that can jump from one position of the genome to another, or in this case from an exogenously provided piece of DNA into the genome. "Our research team composed of scientists from the LCSB and CIC bioGUNE has a long-standing expertise in developing computational methods to facilitate cell conversion. IRENE is an additional resource in our toolbox and one for which experimental validation has demonstrated it substantially increased efficiency in most tested cases," corresponding author Del Sol, who is Professor at LCSB and CIC bioGUNE. "Our fundamental research should ultimately benefit patients, and we are thrilled that IRENE could enhance the production of cell sources readily usable in therapeutic applications, such as cell transplantation and gene therapies." Validating the computer-guided design tool in cells The researchers chose human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) as a first cell type. Thus far HMECs are obtained from one tissue environment, dissociated, and transplanted to one where breast tissue has been resected. HMECs generated from patients' cells, via an intermediate iPSC stage, could provide a means for less invasive and more effective breast tissue regeneration. One of the combinations that was generated by IRENE enabled the team to convert 14% of iPSCs into differentiated HMECs in iPSC-specific culture media, showing that the provided TFs were sufficient to drive the conversion without help from additional factors. The team then turned their attention to melanocytes, which can provide a source of cells in cellular grafts to replace damaged skin. This time they performed the cell conversion in melanocyte destination medium to show that the selected TFs work under culture conditions optimized for the desired cell type. Two out of four combinations were able to increase the efficiency of melanocyte conversion by 900% compared to iPSCs grown in destination medium without the TFs. Finally, the researchers compared combinations of TFs prioritized by IRENE to generate natural killer (NK) cells with a state-of-the-art differentiation method based on cell culture conditions alone. Immune NK cells have been found to improve the treatment of leukemia. The researchers' approach outperformed the standard with five out of eight combinations increasing the differentiation of NK cells with critical markers by up to 250%. "This novel computational approach could greatly facilitate a range of cell and tissue engineering efforts at the Wyss Institute and many other sites around the world. This advance should greatly expand our toolbox as we strive to develop new approaches in regenerative medicine to improve patients' lives," said Wyss Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at HMS and Boston Children's Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Explore further Researchers induce pluripotency in differentiated canine cells for the first time More information: Sascha Jung et al, A computer-guided design tool to increase the efficiency of cellular conversions, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Sascha Jung et al, A computer-guided design tool to increase the efficiency of cellular conversions,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21801-4 President Joe Biden's administration on Friday will roll back a Trump-era policy that allowed undocumented immigrants to be arrested when they came to pick up unaccompanied children. 'There will not be any immigration enforcement consequences for a family member or sponsor who comes forward to be united with an unaccompanied child in our care,' a senior administration official told reporters Friday on a briefing call. In the spring of 2018, the Trump administration tightened up the screening process - including getting Immigration and Customs Enforcement involved - for adults who stepped forward to sponsor children who traveled into the United States alone. President Joe Biden's administration is scrapping a Trump-era agreement between HHS and ICE that had allowed undocumented family members and sponsors of unaccompanied children who had crossed the border and were in U.S. custody to be arrested by ICE Dareli Matamoros, a girl from Honduras, holds a sign asking President Biden to let her in during a migrant demonstration in Tijuana, Mexico demanding clearer United States migration policies This led to a much smaller number of children being released from Health and Human Services custody to a family member or sponsor, CNN reported in September 2018. The following month, a senior official from ICE, Matthew Albence, testified before Congress and revealed that after HHS and ICE signed a memorandum of agreement to give background checks to sponsors of unaccompanied children, ICE arrested 41 people who came forward. This memorandum is what the Biden administration is spiking Friday. CNN found that of the potential sponsors arrested, 70 per cent were straightforward immigration violations - meaning the sponsors were found to be undocumented immigrants. 'The 2018 MOU and the policies of the Trump administration, overall, really created a chilling effect, where family members and sponsors were afraid to come forward for fear of being deported,' a senior Biden White House official said. 'And when we look at the children in our care about 90 per cent of them are placed with a family member or a sponsor and whatever we can do to encourage those family members and sponsors to come forward more quickly we need to be doing,' the official added. The Biden administration is taking heat for the influx of migrants coming across the U.S.-Mexico border, with more than 100,000 crossings taking place in February alone. Droves of these migrants are unaccompanied minors, which the new administration - in contrast to Trump - won't send back. That has led to a crush for space - as children are supposed to be removed from Customs and Border Patrol facilities and into HHS's care within 72 hours. NPR reported Thursday that some 3,000 children are in CBP custody, which are prison-like facilities as opposed to the more dorm-like set-ups available through HHS. The announcement Friday is meant to unstick the bottleneck situation that's currently occurring. 'It sends a really strong signal that the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Health and Human Services, are not involved immigration enforcement,' a senior administration official said. 'We are a child welfare agency, we are not an immigration enforcement agency. And this makes really clear that this administration prioritizes uniting a child with their family member or sponsor.' A woman whose husband was killed on a smart motorway has issued a furious response to a silly safety campaign. Claire Mercer told the PA news agency she thought it was a spoof when she saw the Highways England advert featuring two flies advising a driver to go left after a warning light activated on his dashboard. I thought it was a spoof, she said. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. They had two people dressed as squashed flies on the windscreen did they not see the analogy? What happened to our loved ones, without going into the details, they werent in their vehicles when they were hit. This is a silly, bad joke about a serious and hurtful subject. Writing on the Smart Motorways Kill Facebook page, she called it a foul, outrageous advert. Her husband, Jason Mercer, died on a section of the M1 near Sheffields Meadowhall shopping centre which has no hard shoulder, along with another motorist, Alexandru Murgeanu, when a lorry ploughed into them in June 2019. At an inquest in January, Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said: I find, as a finding of fact, it is clear a lack of hard shoulder contributed to this tragedy. The Commons Transport Select Committee is investigating smart motorway safety. South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings described Highways Englands campaign as insensitive and provocative. He added: I find it quite extraordinary that Highways England would launch this campaign. At the very least I would expect them to wait until the select committee has issued its findings. In the advert, the flies advise the driver to try to leave the motorway at the next junction or stop in an emergency refuse area and then leave the vehicle via the passenger door. Highways England acting chief executive Nick Harris said: No-one plans to break down on a motorway, but if the unexpected happens then I want all motorists to know what to do so that they can keep themselves and others safe. Everyone wants a safe journey and raising awareness is a vital part of helping to make sure that happens. This new campaign and its Go left message is designed to deliver crucial information in an accessible way and to help make motorways safer for the people who use them. This campaign is just one of the many steps we are taking to invest in our network with safety as our number one priority, doing everything we can to help drivers feel confident on our motorways. Journalists began to seek him out. Some of his responses became internet memes. A few examples: Influenza is not a cold, just like a tiger is not a cat. Youre bored to death at home, so the virus will be bored to death, too. Stay away from fire, thieves and your colleagues. His Weibo social media account, which he started in the middle of last year, has 3.6 million followers. Many of his videos have been viewed tens of millions of times. An article he co-wrote on the pandemics global prospects last March, when Europe and the United States were exploding with infections, was viewed more than 860 million times on his departments official WeChat account alone. Maintaining a high profile in China often requires discretion. Late last year, Jack Ma, the technology billionaire, publicly criticized regulators. The authorities quickly swooped down on his business empire. Dr. Zhang doesnt challenge the government, but neither does he always toe the official line. Late last year, some Chinese officials pointed to findings that the virus had been found on the packaging of imported food, suggesting that the coronavirus may have been brought to China from overseas. Dr. Zhang has told his audience not to worry about it: The chance of catching the virus from imported goods, he said, is lower than dying in a plane crash. Im not going to hide the information because Im worried that I could say something wrong and cause some controversies, he said over the summer. We always share what we know. Second Arrest Made in Trigg Homicide, Arson Case By West Kentucky Star Staff TRIGG COUNTY - Kentucky State Police detectives have made a second arrest in a September homicide and arson at a home on Will Jackson Road in Trigg County.On Thursday, detectives executed a Trigg County indictment warrant on 29-year-old Keisha D. Stewart of Cadiz. Stewart, who was lodged in the Christian County Jail, was charged with 2nd degree complicity to arson, complicity to abuse of a corpse, complicity to tampering with physical evidence and 2nd degree complicity to burglary. Back in December, detectives arrested 42-year-old Jonathan R. McCoy of Cadiz for the brutal murder of Thelma N. Barnett, commonly known as Mrs. Ilene, and the arson of her home. Stewart remains lodged in the Christian County Jail. Unionists have hit out at a 5m bill facing Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to provide additional staff at Larne Port in order for it to meet obligations in relation to checks from the end of the grace period. The council confirmed on Friday that it could be required to provide 72 full-time staff in order to ensure the checks process could operate smoothly from this autumn. The Government has unilaterally extended grace periods limiting bureaucracy linked to the Northern Ireland Protocol until October. They had been due to expire at the end of March. A council spokesperson said: "Data has been provided to Council by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), and assuming there are no changes, they have advised Council that potentially each shift at Larne Port would require a total of 17 officers. "Council is currently operating four shifts with three staff per shift, so the total staff complement could rise to 17 staff across four shifts - meaning 68 staff would be required." They added: "Given that 12 staff are already employed, this could equate to an additional 56 members of staff being required to deliver the required functions. "This does not take into consideration the additional supervisors/managers that would be required and council would assume that a minimum of four supervisors/managers would be needed. The council spokesperson revealed that it is expected that the additional staff would need to be qualified environmental health officers, but stressed this requires further clarification. "Based on the information provided by the FSA on the expected increased number of staffing, Council have written to the FSA requesting 100% funding, totalling 4.8million, to include the complement of officers and associated costs," they added. The Council statement added that it has written to the FSA requesting 100% funding, totalling 4.8 million, to include the complement of officers and associated costs. No written confirmation has been received for the continued funding beyond the end of this month of the 12 EHOs currently employed at Larne Port. Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol was agreed by the EU and UK during the withdrawal negotiations in an effort to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. It achieves that by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods, with regulatory checks and inspections now required on agri-food produce moving into the region from the rest of the UK. The new arrangements have caused some disruption to trade since the start of the year as firms have struggled with new processes and administration. Unionists are opposed to the protocol, claiming it undermines Northern Ireland's place in the UK internal market. TUV councillor Matthew Armstrong insisted that it is "absolutely clear to me that the council needs to stop playing along with implementing the Sea Border", describing the 5m bill as a "massive financial threat" to local ratepayers. The council has already made clear its opposition to the Sea Border. It is now time to get serious and protect our place within the UK market, a requirement of the Internal Market Act TUV leader and North Antrim MLA Jim Allister said the issue highlights the "scale" of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's betrayal. "It is time for Unionists to unite in opposition to the Protocol and use all tools at our disposal," he said. DUP Mayor Peter Johnston insisted the Protocol has been a "disaster" for Northern Ireland, adding: "The figures and scale of bureaucracy we are talking about now demonstrates the urgent need for it to be abolished without further delay to safeguard the union, our businesses and our vital trade links with our fellow UK citizens in Great Britain." His party colleague, Councillor Gregg McKeen said the staffing requirement raised issues if the six-month timeframe to recruit additional staff. "We have no information on where the money to pay for these staff will come from. Will the ratepayers of Mid and East Antrim be expected to pick up a 4.8m tab to keep the EU happy?" he asked. "That would equate to a ten percent rates rise. The entire Protocol saga continues to be shambolic and has to be kicked into touch immediately." Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has said the prospect of Northern Ireland having to carry out the same number of agri-food checks as the EU does as a whole was neither sensible nor rational. DUP leader and Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster has urged Boris Johnson to stand up for Northern Ireland and ditch the intolerable Protocol governing Irish Sea trade post-Brexit. She added: Not a single unionist party in Northern Ireland supports this unworkable Protocol. Rather than protect the Belfast Agreement and its successor agreements, the Protocol has created societal division and economic harm. Whilst grace periods have been extended unilaterally, we need a permanent solution so business can plan and the integrity of the United Kingdom internal market can be restored. The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the collective action taken to defeat coronavirus (Charles McQuillan/PA) The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the collective action taken to defeat coronavirus. He praised the massive social effort in Northern Ireland. Boris Johnson toured a facility at Queens University Belfast, which is carrying out genomic sequencing on the virus. Expand Close Boris Johnson toured a facility at Queens University Belfast which is carrying out genomic sequencing on the virus (Peter Morrison/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Boris Johnson toured a facility at Queens University Belfast which is carrying out genomic sequencing on the virus (Peter Morrison/PA) He said: The biggest thing I take away really so far is the amazing ability of people to come together and defeat it; collective action in the form of the lockdown and everyone observing the discipline that they did. There has been a massive social effort here in Northern Ireland and across the whole of the country. He praised the achievements of science after meeting some of the researchers at Queens and said a year ago he could not have imagined several vaccines would be available for Covid-19. He looked at how scientists are sequencing the Brazil variant during his visit on Friday. It has been awesome to see the way science has turned the search light, the spot light on the disease and enabled us really to begin to beat it Prime Minister He said: This is technology that did not exist a few years ago, and it is happening here in Belfast. It has been awesome to see the way science has turned the searchlight, the spotlight on the disease and enabled us really to begin to beat it. Mr Johnson also toured a mass vaccination centre at a leisure centre in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, as part of his one-day visit. Northern Irelands vaccination effort is outstripping expectations. Those aged 60 and over are receiving the jab, as well as people with underlying health conditions who are vulnerable. The UK government has agreed to deploy 100 members of the military to Northern Ireland to support the accelerated rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. Medically-trained members of the armed forces have been sent to support health service staff. As we continue our mass #COVID19 vaccination rollout across the UK, I'm pleased medically-trained personnel from our Armed Forces will support health and social care teams in the delivery of this unprecedented programme across Northern Ireland pic.twitter.com/KVIW1eDLph Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) March 12, 2021 The request for military support was made by Stormonts Department of Health and granted by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. He said: Today I authorised the deployment of 100 defence medics to support the vaccine rollout in Northern Ireland from the end of this month. Our armed forces are once again stepping up to support the UKs response to the pandemic, working around the clock to protect our people in all four corners of the nation. Schools have begun to accept their first pupils back after weeks of tough post-Christmas lockdown. Vaccinations are a key weapon in the effort to reopen society in time for summer. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said: As we continue our mass Covid-19 vaccination rollout across the UK, I am pleased medically-trained personnel from our Armed Forces will support health and social care teams in the delivery of this unprecedented programme across Northern Ireland. One more person has died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland. Another 208 people tested positive. PLYMOUTH, Mich., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Adient (NYSE: ADNT), a global leader in automotive seating, today announced that as part of its strategic transformation in China, it has entered into definitive agreements with joint venture partner Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems Ltd. (YF) to end its Yanfeng Adient Seating Co., Ltd. (YFAS) joint venture in China. The transactions contemplated by these agreements will, upon closing, allow Adient to drive its strategy in China independently, which is expected to result in a variety of benefits, including capturing growth in profitable and expanding segments; improving the integration of the company's China operations; and allowing for more certain value realization relative to status quo, where cash and value are generated from dividends at entities not in Adient's control. "These pending transactions offer Adient an opportunity to drive our China strategy independently and further position the company for future growth in the world's largest automotive market," said Doug Del Grosso, president and CEO of Adient. "In addition, proceeds from the transactions will provide immediate value to Adient's stakeholders." Details of the transactions Under the agreements, Adient will sell its 49.99% interest in YFAS to YF and its minority interest in certain other joint ventures and will receive ~$1.5B in cash (~ $1.4B after tax) and will acquire YFAS's 50% equity interest in Chongqing Yanfeng Adient Automotive Components Co., Ltd. (CQYFAS) and YFAS's 100% equity interest in Yanfeng Adient (Langfang) Seating Co., Ltd. (YFAS-LF). Upon acquiring YFAS's interests in CQYFAS and YFAS-LF, Adient would consolidate those businesses going forward. YF will operate the remainder of YFAS as a wholly owned enterprise. The transactions, which are subject to customary government and regulatory approvals and certain PRC state-owned asset required approvals and processes, are expected to be completed in the second half of calendar year 2021. Adient will receive ~$800 million in cash by closing of the transactions (including dividends) and ~$700 million in cash prior to calendar year end, even if closing occurs before such time. All of the foregoing amounts of YFAS transactions proceeds are based on the current USD to RMB exchange rate. In conjunction with the YFAS transaction, Adient has signed an agreement with Chongqing Boxun Industrial Co., Ltd. (Boxun), its joint venture partner in CQYFAS. The agreement provides Boxun with a put right to sell and, if exercised, requires Adient to buy Boxun's 25% interest in CQYFAS. The put right, valued at ~ $125M, is contingent upon the closing of the YFAS transaction. After closing, if Adient buys Boxun's 25% interest, Adient would own 100% of CQYFAS. Proceeds from the transactions are expected to be used by Adient to pre-pay a portion of the company's debt; fund Boxun's put right, if exercised; and for general corporate purposes. Remaining a market leader in China Upon the closing of the various transactions, Adient's China business is projected to have ~$4.5B in annual consolidated and unconsolidated sales, with far-reaching customer and geographic coverage through its nine major entities, three state-of-the-art technical centers and more than 800 engineers. Pro forma Adient Compared to the company's FY21 outlook, once the transactions close, global consolidated sales and Adj.-EBITDA are expected to increase annually by between $700M-$800M and between $90M-$100M, respectively. In addition, Adient's equity income post-closing is expected to decline annually by ~$155M. Net income and EPS improvement is forecast post-closing, driven by the expected significant reduction in debt and the corresponding benefit of lower financing costs. Further details about the transactions will be provided by Adient during an investor call, scheduled for today at 10 a.m. ET. To join, please dial 1-800-779-1454 (U.S.) or 1-312-470-7220 (international) 15 minutes prior to the start time of the call and ask to be connected to the Adient conference call. The participant passcode is ADIENT. An associated slide presentation for the call will be available on the investors section of Adient's website at https://investors.adient.com/events-and-presentations/events. Evercore and Citigroup acted as financial advisors to Adient and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Fangda Partners acted as legal counsel to Adient in the transactions. About Adient: Adient (NYSE: ADNT) is a global leader in automotive seating. With approximately 77,000 employees in 32 countries, Adient operates 202 manufacturing/assembly plants worldwide. We produce and deliver automotive seating for all major OEMs. From complete seating systems to individual components, our expertise spans every step of the automotive seat-making process. Our integrated, in-house skills allow us to take our products from research and design to engineering and manufacturing and into more than 19 million vehicles every year. For more information on Adient, please visit www.adient.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Non-GAAP metrics: Adient has made statements in this document that are forward-looking and, therefore, are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are statements that are, or could be, deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this document, statements regarding Adient's expectations for the transactions, timing, benefits and outcome of the transactions, use of proceeds from the transactions, as well as its future financial position, sales, costs, earnings, cash flows, other measures of results of operations, capital expenditures or debt levels and plans, objectives, market position, outlook, targets, guidance or goals are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "forecast," "project" or "plan" or terms of similar meaning are also generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Adient cautions that these statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond Adient's control, that could cause Adient's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks related to: Adient's ability to consummate the transactions that may yield additional value for shareholders, the timing, benefits and outcome of the transactions, the effect of the announcement of the transactions on Adient's business relationships, operating results and business generally, the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the transactions, the failure to satisfy conditions to consummation of the transactions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals (and any conditions, limitations or restrictions placed on these approvals), risks that the transactions disrupts current plans and operations, including potential disruptions with respect to our employees, vendors, clients and customers as well as management diversion or potential litigation, the effects of local and national economic, credit and capital market conditions on the economy in general, and other risks and uncertainties, the continued financial and operational impacts of and uncertainties relating to the COVID-19 pandemic on Adient and its customers, suppliers, joint venture partners and other parties, the ability of Adient to execute its turnaround plan, the ability of Adient to effectively launch new business at forecast and profitable levels, the ability of Adient to meet debt service requirements, the terms of financing, the impact of tax reform legislation through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and/ or under a new U.S. presidential administration, uncertainties in U.S. administrative policy regarding trade agreements, tariffs and other international trade relations including as may be impacted by the change in U.S. presidential administration, general economic and business conditions, the strength of the U.S. or other economies, automotive vehicle production levels, mix and schedules, changes in consumer demand, work stoppages and similar events, global climate change and related emphasis on ESG matters by various stakeholders, energy and commodity prices, the availability of raw materials and component products, currency exchange rates and cancellation of or changes to commercial arrangements, and the ability of Adient to identify, recruit and retain key leadership. A detailed discussion of risks related to Adient's business is included in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Adient's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020 filed with the SEC on November 30, 2020, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Quarterly Period ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC on February 5, 2021, and in subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC, available at www.sec.gov. Potential investors and others should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements and should not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document, unless otherwise specified, and, except as required by law, Adient assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this document. In addition, this document includes certain projections provided by Adient with respect to the anticipated future performance of Adient's businesses. Such projections reflect various assumptions of Adient's management concerning the future performance of Adient's businesses, which may or may not prove to be correct. The actual results may vary from the anticipated results and such variations may be material. Adient does not undertake any obligation to update the projections to reflect events or circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this document or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent events. No representations or warranties are made as to the accuracy or reasonableness of such assumptions or the projections based thereon. This document also contains non-GAAP financial information because Adient's management believes it may assist investors in evaluating Adient's on-going operations. Adient believes these non-GAAP disclosures provide important supplemental information to management and investors regarding financial and business trends relating to Adient's financial condition and results of operations. Investors should not consider these non-GAAP measures as alternatives to the related GAAP measures. ADNT-FN SOURCE Adient Related Links www.adient.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. Breweries and distilleries that do not serve meals may open for outdoor service starting Saturday, according to new guidance released Thursday by the California Department of Public Health, which is also allowing bars to reopen in some counties for the first time in a year. The updates to the states colored tier structure are the latest rejiggering of rules for opening businesses and allowing certain activities in Californias blueprint for economic recovery. State public health officials have been refining restrictions as they learn more about how the virus spreads and as more people are vaccinated. There are four tiers in Californias reopening blueprint: purple, red, orange and yellow, from most restrictive to least. Previously, bars, breweries and distilleries not serving meals were closed in the two most restrictive tiers. Under the new guidance, breweries and distilleries may open outdoors in the purple and red tiers even if they do not serve meals, provided guests make reservations, observe a 90-minute time limit and go home by 8 p.m. The rule also applies to wineries, though those already were able to open under the earlier guidance. Bars that dont serve food must remain closed in the purple and red tiers. But they can open for outdoor service starting Saturday, if their county is in the orange tier. They can open for modified indoor service in the yellow tier. Only three California counties currently are in the orange tier and one in the yellow tier; none are in the Bay Area. The new rules provide some unexpected relief for Bay Area beer manufacturers who have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. This whole thing has been a quandary for us because its very difficult to be shut down, said Rob Lightner, owner of East Brother Beer Co. brewery in Richmond. We not only have an onsite taproom but we distribute out to a lot of bars and restaurants so weve been impacted in many ways. Like a large portion of the states 1,050 craft breweries, East Brother relies heavily on its taproom for most of its beer sales. Many breweries dont distribute their beers to other restaurants, bars or stores at all. Shortly after shelter-in-place orders took effect earlier in the year, a survey by the California Craft Brewers Association showed that breweries sales dropped by 43% on average. Weve tried to keep the long view and take the short-term hit, and suffer in the short term so that we could all get past this and benefit in the long term, Lightner said. Its been rough for everyone mentally and emotionally. In December, a group of craft breweries sued Gov. Gavin Newsom, claiming that the state had discriminated against beer producers in its reopening plans. They pointed to the requirement that breweries had to serve food in order to reopen, which was a higher standard than was applied to the states wineries at the time. Californias tier assignments are based on a countys daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents and its positive test rate. To move to a less restrictive tier, counties must remain in their current tier for at least three weeks, plus report case and positive test rates that meet the next-tier criteria for two weeks. Seven of the Bay Areas nine counties are in the red tier. Contra Costa and Sonoma counties remain in the purple tier, though both are expected to move to red as early as Sunday. San Mateo County is poised to be the first Bay Area county to move to orange as early as next Tuesday. San Francisco could move to orange as soon as March 24, city leaders have said. The change in guidance marks the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that Bay Area bars that dont serve food will be allowed to reopen. Bars that serve food are subject to restaurant reopening rules. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic, said Ben Bleiman, owner of Soda Popinskis and Teeth bar in San Francisco. Our bars have been absolutely devastated. This is a welcome first step though. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel but its going to be years until we recover fully. The new guidance from the state also allows for overnight sleepaway camps to resume operations with restrictions as long as they are in the counties in the red, orange and yellow tiers. Chronicle staff writers Esther Mobley and Emma Talley contributed to this report. Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com A "strict lockdown" will be enforced in Nagpur from March 15 to 21 in view of a spike in COVID-19 cases, district guardian minister Nitin Raut announced. The district has been reporting a spike in daily cases since the last month. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had last year in January appointed guardian ministers for all 36 districts of the state. BCCL During the lockdown, private offices will remain closed, while government offices will work at 25 per cent capacity. Shops of essential commodities will remain open and liquor will be only sold online during the lockdown period. On Wednesday, the district reported 1,710 new coronavirus cases, which pushed its overall tally to 1,62,053. There are 12,166 active COVID-19 cases at present in Nagpur. Maharashtra reports 13,659 fresh cases On Wednesday, Maharashtra touched 13,659 fresh cases -- the highest since 13,395 cases were recorded on October 8, 2020. BCCL The state has touched a progressive total of 22,52,057 cases till date and 52,610 deaths -- both highest in India -- and the count increasing afresh since the past two weeks. The Maharashtra government has allowed all COVID-19 vaccination centres in the state to operate round-the-clock if they have adequate staff, to speed up the immunisation drive in the state. So far, 21.25 lakh people have been inoculated against the viral infection in the state. HERSMAN A Mount Sterling teenager is facing several charges, including driving under the influence, in a Wednesday night crash in Brown County. The 17-year-old boy was going west on Illinois Route 99 at 8:24 p.m. Wednesday when his car went off the road and into a ditch, according to an Illinois State Police report. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. 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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Once again, deputy of the Prosperous Armenia Party Naira Zohrabyan raised the issue of Armenian prisoners of war who are still being kept as political hostages in Azerbaijan and called on the Council of Europe to stop making rhetorical statements and go from expressing kind wishes to taking specific actions. In her speech, Zohrabyan stated the following: A long time has passed since our last discussion, but the humanitarian crisis remains in Artsakh after the bloody war and has grown deeper. Armenian prisoners of war and captured women are still in captivity, and I think you understand what each day of captivity means for them. Fortunately, yesterday, Maral Najarian, one of the captured Armenian women, was released and is now with her sons. A few days ago, the President of Azerbaijan declared that there are on more Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan and that the other captives are terrorists and saboteurs. This is an embarrassingly unscrupulous statement that violates all international conventions. Based on the most approximate calculations, even at this moment, there are over 200 Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, including women. No state had ever vulgarly interfered in the domestic affairs of another state, just like Azerbaijan and Turkey are interfering now, linking the issue of captives to the domestic political situation in Armenia. This is simply inadmissible, and I call on the Assembly to not let Azerbaijan turn the issue of prisoners of war into a subject of political speculations. I had sent to the rapporteur videos downloaded from Azerbaijani websites and the media showing how Armenian soldiers and captured elderly people are beheaded alive. What has happened and what is going on is horrible and must be stopped as soon as possible. I address the attending Azerbaijani delegates and tell them to address the female speaker of their countrys parliament who would always talk about human and womens rights during the Committees sessions. Release Armenian prisoners of war and women captives and dont turn the lives of people, soldiers and captured women into a political bonus! This is inadmissible. Thursday Branscom, Roger Dale. Service live-stream, 1 p.m. Thursday at hendrickerfuneralhome.com. Visitation, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday at Hendricker Funeral Home in Mount Sterling. Cunningham, Carl A. Jr. Graveside services, 1 p.m. Thursday at Pittsfield West Cemetery in Pittsfield. Niebur Funeral Home in Pittsfield is in charge. Snow, Herbert Conover. Visitation, noon-2 p.m. Thursday at Virginia United Methodist Church. Graveside service, 2:45 p.m. Thursday at Walnut Ridge Cemetery. Face masks and social distancing required. Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Virginia is in charge. Friday Grafton, Gene L. 10 a.m., Friday at Wood Funeral Home in Rushville. Visitation, 5-7 p.m., Thursday at Wood Funeral Home in Rushville. Mefford, Sue. Memorial service, 6 p.m. Friday at Williamson Funeral Home. Visitation, 3-6 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Face masks and social distancing required. Ross, Rodney Lee. 10 a.m. Friday at Crawford Funeral Home in Jerseyville. Visitation, 4-7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Saturday Bradshaw, Mary Lauder. Memorial service, 2 p.m. Saturday at Sager Funeral Home in Beardstown. Visitation, 5-7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Hall, Kelly Ann (Roderfield). Graveside service, 11 a.m. Saturday at Hickory Grove Cemetery near Wrights. Shields-Bishop Funeral Home in Greenfield is in charge. Johnson, Doris Mae. Graveside services, 2 p.m. Saturday at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Havana. Hendricker Funeral Home in Mount Sterling is in charge. Wright, Isaac D. Ike Jr. Memorial service, 1-3 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at Community Park Center, 1309 S. Main St., Jacksonville. Monday Votsmier, Nola Jeanette Janet. Visitation, 4-6 p.m. Monday at Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Jacksonville. Weather permitting, the family will meet friends outside under the funeral homes front portico, after which friends will be invited inside to pay their respects and sign the register book. Face masks and social distancing are required. Wednesday Hammon, Charles Jr. Graveside memorial service with military honors, 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 17, at Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Jacksonville. Airsman-Hires Funeral Home in Roodhouse is in charge. Natemeyer, Edna Pie. Memorial service, Wednesday, March 17, at Oakland Cemetery in Meredosia. Williamson Funeral Home in Jacksonville is in charge. Schulz, Jerry Edwin. Noon Wednesday, March 17, at Niebur Funeral Chapel in Barry. Visitation, 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, March 17, at the funeral chapel. Saturday, April 17 Eyler, Christie D. 2 p.m. Saturday, April 17, at Rushville First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Visitation, 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 16, at Worthington Funeral Home in Rushville. Saturday, May 8 Preston, Katheryn I. Kay. Graveside memorial service, 11 a.m. Saturday, May 8, at Diamond Grove Cemetery. Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Jacksonville is in charge. A health worker gives a shot of the Moderna vaccine at a Puerto Rico National Guard vaccination center during a priority COVID-19 vaccination program for the residents of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, on March 10, 2021. (Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images) Medical Examiner Not Jumping to Conclusions After Utah Mom Dies Following COVID-19 Vaccination A Utah medical examiner on March 12 said there is not yet any evidence to suggest a connection between a death following a COVID-19 vaccination. Kassidi Kurill, a 39-year-old mother of one from Ogden, received the vaccine due to her work as a surgical tech for several plastic surgeons. She received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine on Feb. 1. She had no underlying medical conditions. Just four days after receiving the second dose of the vaccine, Kurill passed away. Her family believe her death may be directly linked to the vaccine. However, medical experts are warning the public not to jump to conclusions and have suggested that there is no indication that receiving the vaccine may result in death. Dr. Erik Christensen, Chief Medical Examiner for the Utah Department of Health, told Fox News that Kurills second dose of the vaccine and her death are only temporally related. We dont have any evidence that there are connections between the vaccines and deaths at this point, he said. We dont have any indication of that. Christensen said side effects such as fever-like symptoms from the vaccine are to be expected but how an individual responds to the vaccine will ultimately be determined by their biology. Certainly, there are side effects of a vaccine that are directly linkable to the vaccine and whats going on in your body, Christensen said. You know, the pain in the arm the fever-like symptoms related to your immune response to what was put into you. Those kinds of things clearly happen. Christensen added that while cases involving death after the vaccine are worth investigating, until health officials know all the results, its just speculation. According to local news channel KUTV, her family said that Kurill had more energy than most people around her and was a happy person with no known underlying health problems. But in the days after receiving the vaccine, she became sick and displayed symptoms such as soreness at the shot location. She also complained that she couldnt urinate despite drinking plenty of fluids. She improved slightly the next day but then her condition worsened; she said she had headaches, felt nauseated, and still couldnt urinate. By Friday, Kurill was dead. I didnt really cry when my dad died. I cry a lot for her, her father, Alfred Hawley, a former fighter pilot in the Air Force, told the outlet. She was the one who promised to take care of me. As of March 12, more than half a million people in Utah have been partially vaccinated, while 339,743 have been fully vaccinated, according to figures from coronavirus.utah.gov. Utahs population is roughly 3.3 million people. The Food and Drug Administration requires that vaccination providers report any deaths after COVID vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Report System (VAERS), which was put in place in 1990 to capture unforeseen reactions from vaccines. On the VAERS database, there are four deaths reported involving Utah residents. One of those four deaths matches the age description of Kurill, while the other three were all in their 80s. To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on its website. In a statement to Fox News, the Utah Department of Health said that the Office of the Medical Examiner will investigate any death where the COVID-19 vaccine is mentioned on the death certificate. There is no evidence COVID-19 vaccines have caused any deaths in Utah. Reports of adverse reactions and death following vaccination do not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the reaction or death. Reports of concern are verified and undergo scientific study. The CDC also follows up on any report of death to request additional information and learn about what occurred and to determine whether the death was a result of the vaccine or unrelated. An autopsy report on Kurill is pending. TASHKENT -- Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev says he has agreed with visiting Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on how to proceed to resolve border issues between the two Central Asian countries within three months. "For the first time in relations between our two nations we have agreed who should do what and when at the border because this is a serious problem that our people are waiting to be fixed" Mirziyoev said on March 12 after holding talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart in Tashkent. "If everything goes according to the plan, [the issue will be resolved in] three months, which we agreed to be the longest possible time," he added. The border between the two Central Asian neighbors has been a major bone of contention in bilateral ties since 1991, when they gained independence from the Soviet Union. Over the past decades, there have been numerous incidents along the border that in some cases involved gunfire. The situation began to improve following the 2016 death of Uzbekistan's longtime authoritarian president, Islam Karimov. His successor, Mirziyoev, has said that improving ties with Uzbekistan's neighbors is a major priority of his foreign policy. Border sections still have an undefined status around the Uzbek exclaves of Sokh and Shahimardan in Kyrgyzstan, as well as around the Kyrgyz exclave of Barak in Uzbekistan. This is Japarov's third foreign trip since he was elected president on January 10. His first and second trips were made in February and early-March to Russia and Kazakhstan, respectively. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The World Health Organization voiced deep concern Friday about Brazil's COVID-19 situation, urging "serious measures" to rein in surging numbers of cases and deaths, and relieve its overburdened health system. "We are deeply concerned," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing, pointing out that "not just the number of cases, but the number of deaths is also increasing". "The measures that should be taken should be as serious as possible." His comments came after Brazil earlier this week registered a grim new record of more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours. "Unless serious measures are taken, the upward trend, which is now flooding the health system and which is becoming beyond its capacity, will result in more deaths," Tedros warned. The WHO has repeatedly voiced alarm about the outbreak in Brazil, which is the second hardest-hit country in the world after the United States, counting nearly 273,000 deaths out of close to 22.3 million cases. Tedros warned Friday that the dire situation in Brazil risked causing a deterioration elsewhere. "If the situation in Brazil continues to be serious like this, then the neighbouring countries will be affected... It could go even beyond." Tedros also called for "clear messages from the authorities" on the situation and the measures needed, perhaps in veiled criticism of the country's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's hands-off handling of the health crisis. The president, who flouts expert advice on fighting the coronavirus despite having contracted it himself last year, last week urged Brazilians to "stop whining" about COVID-19 and renewed his attacks on stay-at-home measures. Health experts say the surge in Brazil is being fuelled by new, more contagious variants of the virus, including one known as P1 which is believed to have emerged in Brazil, in or around the Amazon rainforest city of Manaus. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, told Friday's briefing that studies showed the variant had a number of mutations that "confer increased transmissibility." "There are some suggestions of increased severity as well," she said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Convicted ex-head of Russias Udmurtia seeks for relief from punishment TASS, Sergey Savostyanov 11:25 12/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 12 (RAPSI) - The former head of Russias Udmurt Republic Alexander Solovyov, who had been sentenced to 10 years in high-security penal colony for bribery, petitioned a court asking to release him from punishment due to his illness, the United press service of the regions community of judges reported Friday. Currently, the convict is in a penitentiary hospital. Solovyov was sentenced to prison in mid-October 2020. He was found guilty of bribe-taking on an especially large scale. In addition to the 10-year prison term he was fined 275 million rubles (about $3.6 million at the current exchange rate). In the course of the probe the former official admitted guilt and cooperated with investigators; he presented detailed information about the crimes he had been charged with; nevertheless, he changed his position at the court hearings saying he did not commit bribery, the statement reads. According to the charging documents, in 2014-2016, Solovyov received bribes amounting to 140 million rubles from representatives of organizations behind the construction of bridge crossings over the Kama and Buy rivers in the Udmurt Republic. On April 4, 2017, Solovyov was relieved of his position on decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin. ALEPPO, Syria The Syrian government, with the support of Russia, is trying to boost its military presence in the areas of northeastern Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which can be considered a violation of the agreement signed by the regime with the SDF under the auspices of Russia in October 2019. The agreement provides for a specific deployment for the regime's army and without heavy weapons along the Syrian-Turkish border to prevent a Turkish offensive. The regime allegedly violated the agreement by sending in early March a military convoy heavily armed with weapons toward Ain Issa and the outskirts of the M4 highway connecting the governorates of Hasakah and Aleppo, which heralds the return of arrests and escalation between the two sides. Khaled al-Homsi, a journalist who works for the opposition-affiliated Orient website in the Tell Abyad area near Ain Issa in the northern Raqqa governorate, told Al-Monitor, The regimes military reinforcements began to reach the area adjacent to the M4 highway in the countryside of Raqqa and Hasakah governorate in northeastern Syria since the beginning of March. These reinforcements have so far included some heavy artillery bases, missile bases and troop carriers. The regime forces have also implemented a new redeployment operation, and the largest force is stationed in the villages of al-Maalak, al-Hoshan and al-Khalidiyah, which are adjacent to the M4 highway. The regime forces are also stationed in the Electricity Company in the vicinity of Ain Issa. A military official in the SDF stationed in Ain Issa told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The SDF leadership is not pleased with the Syrian regime bringing in military reinforcements with heavy weapons to the area even though these reinforcements are so far relatively modest. The regime cannot just change the balance of power on the ground. Some leaders in the regime forces said the reinforcements are to counter any attempt by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Turkish army [to attack the area], but the SDF fears that the regime will continue its policy of strengthening its military presence in the area with Russias support. It seems that the Syrian military is trying to pressure the SDF and impose a new military reality in the Ain Issa area, as long as it has not achieved with Russia's help what it has been aiming for since the end of 2020, which is forcing the SDF to withdraw from Ain Issa and preventing the opposition factions and the Turkish army from taking control. The regime strengthening its military presence near the M4 highway prevents a military operation by the opposition and the Turkish army in order to expand and control the area. The efforts of the Syrian regime reflect its interest in the vital and strategic roads that it cannot afford to lose in light of the stifling economic crisis. Col. Mostafa Bakkour, a defected Syrian regime officer, military analyst and researcher living in Idlib, told Al-Monitor, The SDF will not respond to the pressure of the Syrian regime and will not allow it to expand and boost its military presence in its areas of control. If the regime continues to send reinforcements and heavy military equipment, tension will erupt between the two sides in the area. As a result, Russia would intervene as a mediator, despite its public support for the regime. Russia is pursuing a policy of mediation, or at least so it claims, to preserve its interests and at the same time exploit any action and disagreement between the conflicting parties. Ali Tami, spokesman for the Kurdish Future Movement in Syria, told Al-Monitor, The regimes military moves in the Ain Issa area and near the M4 international highway aim to further pressure the SDF to resume oil exports to the Syrian regime, which is trying to boost its military presence in the area in order to prevent oil exports from the SDF to the Syrian opposition areas in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib. The regime and Russia do not want the oil to flow to the opposition areas. On March 5, Russia struck the Hamran crossing linking the SDF with the opposition near al-Bab and the rudimentary oil refining stations in the countryside of Aleppo. The attack may also point to the regimes plan to pressure the SDF to stop exporting oil to the opposition and resume exporting to the regime-held areas. On March 7, the SDF resumed the supply of oil to the regime-controlled areas after a monthlong hiatus, which caused a fuel crisis in the regime-held areas. Firas Faham, an Istanbul-based researcher at the Jusoor Center for Studies, told Al-Monitor, The regimes attempt to reinforce its military presence near the M4 highway comes in the context of pressuring the SDF to withdraw from Ain Issa. There seems to be a Turkish-Russian understanding; either Russia expels the SDF from Ain Issa, or Turkey launches a military operation. Faham added, Yet it seems that Russia is trying to avoid a Turkish military operation because it does not welcome Turkeys growing influence, especially since the Turkish army and the FSA making their way into more areas would pave the way to connect the Peace Spring area with the Euphrates Shield area in the countryside of Aleppo. This is why pressure is being exerted on the SDF to withdraw or at least reduce its military presence in Ain Issa, which will lead to the return of the regime's institutions to the area. It seems that the SDF understands Russias intentions in northeastern Syria, and the Russians prefer to avoid the military option to keep channels of communication open with the Kurds and not allow the United States to use this against them and turn the Kurds into enemies. The SDF is also well aware that Russia does not welcome the expansion of Turkish influence and will thus not allow for any military operation. At this point, the SDF will show resistance to the regime's demands regarding its control of Ain Issa. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 An insurer that paid $4.5 million to Dartmouth College to restore a dormitory that was damaged by fire cant seek recovery from two students whose negligence started the blaze, the New Hampshire Supreme Court decided. The high court ruled 3-0 Wednesday that Daniel Ro and Sebastian Lim, as tenants of the dormitory, were implied co-insureds under the colleges insurance policy. The court rejected Factory Mutual Insurance Co.s argument that the students had waived that protection by violating rules clearly stated in the student handbook, including a prohibition against charcoal grills. The opinion says a document on Dartmouths website states that the college insures its property for fire damage, but that personal property owned by students is not covered. Other courts have concluded that language in a rental agreement indicating that the landlord has insured the property could support a tenants reasonable expectation that the tenant was not required to do so, the opinion says. Ro and Lim admitted they were responsible for the Oct. 1, 2016 fire that damaged much of Dartmouths Morton Hall. They had left a small charcoal grill burning outside a window on the fourth floor of the dormitory building, which spread onto the buildings roof. The fire displaced 67 students, who had to move off campus for much of the school year while the damage was repaired, according to local news reports. Dartmouth expelled Lim and Ro and denied an appeal, even after 1,100 people signed a petition urging leniency, according to a report in The Dartmouth, a student newspaper. Factory Mutual paid Dartmouth $4,544,313.55 for its damage claim and then filed a subrogation demand. Lim and Ro responded by filing an action seeking declaratory relief. The superior court granted summary judgment in favor of the former students. The insurer appealed. The Supreme Court said an Oklahoma appellate court created the principle that tenants are the implied co-insureds under a property insurance policy in a 1975 decision in a case titled Sutton v. Jondahl. New Hampshire adopted the anti-subrogation doctrine in 2004 in a case titled Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Crete. Factory Mutual argued that Lim and Ro were more akin to hotel guests than tenants who have a possessary interest in the property they lease. Students in dormitories are paying for nothing more than a license to occupy the campus, which is a transient or impermanent interest, the insurer argued. It noted that the colleges rules allowed it to relocate students to other rooms and assign other students to share their rooms. The carrier said even if the students had possessory interest, they negated the anti-subrogation provisions of the Crete decision when they violated campus policies that barred any open flames in the dormitory building and stated that students may be held liable for any damage they caused. None of the policies, however, explicitly required the plaintiffs to purchase fire insurance on their respective dormitories or informed them that they could be liable on a subrogation claim by the colleges insurer if they negligently caused a fire, the opinion says. Rather, as the plaintiffs assert, the treatment of the subject of insurance in the student handbook and other college documents reinforced a reasonable expectation that the responsibility to insure dormitory buildings was allocated to Dartmouth College. The court affirmed the decision of the trial court finding in favor of Lim and Ro. About the photo: Renovations underway after Oct. 1, 2016 fire at Darmouth Colleges Morton Hall. Photo courtesy of Dartmouth Office of Residential Life. Topics Carriers 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. 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. SPRINGFIELD Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said this week he is proud of the citys record in hiring minority- and women-owned businesses, but City Councilor Justin Hurst said he is not seeing enough to back up the boast. Of 315 city-issued contracts in fiscal 2019, Sarno said 40, or 12.7%, went to minority- and women-owned businesses. The city spent $92 million on contracts that year, including more than $12 million, or 13.1%, paid to minority- and women-owned businesses, he said. Sarno did not provide a further breakdown of the numbers. In February, Hurst called for an audit to confirm or dispel his belief that the city has done a poor job in awarding public contracts to local companies and those owned by minorities, women and veterans. Hurst said he is seeking details of public contracts awarded during the past five years for purchases, supplies and services. Sarno said his administration is committed to creating more opportunities for our Women, Veterans, and Black and Latino owned businesses. I am proud of my administrations efforts in being the most diverse and reflective of our citys population in its history, he said in a statement. While all city contracts must meet all legal procurement guidelines and requirements, we always strive for continued betterment. Hurst said he asked basic questions last month. Since the Mayors answers to my questions in his most recent press release are incomplete at best and and fabricated at worse, I have asked the same questions in the form of a Public Record Request this morning with some requests for clarifications, Hurst said. Hurst said Sarno gave combined statistics for minority and women-owned businesses, rather than showing the separate percentages. A breakdown is critical as the city sets goals to increase those numbers, he said. These numbers dont look as rosy if the lions share of the 12 million dollars is only going to a few businesses, Hurst said. Hurst also said he did not get answers regarding the median amount of the total contracts awarded by the city, or what percentage of the contracts to the women and minority companies were above the median. Sarno said that, in conjunction with state Rep. Bud L. Williams and Chief Development Officer Timothy Sheehan, he will soon announce a technical assistance program for those interested in being certified with the state to compete for contractual work. The city has provided much need relief during the coronavirus pandemic, Sarno said. It has awarded 169 grants, totaling $1.5 million, through its Prime the Pump program, he said. Of that number, 112 went to minority-, women- and veteran-owned business. Sarno also cited the Brightwood-Lincoln Elementary School construction project as one of the citys efforts to meet requirements under its Responsible Employer Ordinance. He said 29.7% of the workforce is made up of Springfield residents, compared to the goal of 35%; 7.2% are women compared to the goal of 6.9%; 29.1% are minorities compared to the goal of 20%; and 5.5% are veterans compared to the goal of 5%. Related Content: How is the Green Passport system working, for example, at restaurants? So to sit inside, you have to have the Green Passport, which you download as a government app on your phone and you have to put in your details. And then you can show this app or you can get a printout version. From what I understand, restaurants are not all checking everybody assiduously. You can kind of flash a document and it might be yours or it might not. Theyre not checking your ID and then checking your Green Passport, but they are trying to stick to the regulations at least by asking if you have a Green Passport when you phone to make a reservation. Of course, its a bit awkward for the restaurateurs because they dont want to be the police, checking peoples documents. I called a restaurant yesterday, one of my old favorites in Jerusalem, and I asked the owner, Hows it going? And he said: Well, actually, its really embarrassing. People call and I have to start getting into their personal business. Are you vaccinated? And then they start saying, well, Im not because this, that and the other, and telling me stuff I just dont want to hear. What lessons can the rest of the world learn from Israels reopening? In a way, Israel was this kind of world laboratory for the efficacy of the vaccine, because the government pressed ahead so quickly with the campaign to vaccinate. Now, I think to some degree, Israel has become the test case for all these other legal and ethical questions that arise about what to do with your vaccinated population and, of course, your unvaccinated populations. There are some people who dont want to get vaccinated and people who feel their rights are being infringed. And that has created some confusion, and a bit of chaos, and some slightly illogical situations. Are unvaccinated teachers allowed to teach a classroom? Are unvaccinated waiters or bartenders allowed to be in a restaurant full of vaccinated customers? There are still lots of open questions. So one of the lessons is to try to work out some of the pitfalls before you open. Elections have consequences. This time around Kansas voters in the 3rd District are on the winning side as a recent community news item offers a glimpse at the Sunflower State politico meeting with the new Commander-In-Chief. Check-it . . . To be fair, we would've believed the 25 million visitors "anally" meme. And so, in retrospect, this hotel was one of the worst decisions that was ever forced on Kansas City. It was always a bad idea but welcoming guests during a plague is now a HISTORIC FAIL that should be remembered FOREVER and every time a developer asks for a tax break. We can only hope the "see you at the groundbreaking" guy was wearing a mask at the tragic event. Read more . . . One high-ranking current official and two former aides said they believed they had been denied opportunities because they did not dress in the preferred manner. The workplace culture described by the employees is not uncommon in Albany, a state capital with a long history of sexual misconduct scandals and a reputation for after-hours mingling among lobbyists, elected officials and their aides at bars and fund-raisers. But the issues are notable for a governor who has cast himself as a champion for workers and women. Mr. Cuomos office denied many of the issues raised by the employees and said New Yorkers had elected Mr. Cuomo multiple times because they know he works day and night for them. There is no secret these are tough jobs, and the work is demanding, Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser, said in a statement. But we have a top-tier team with many employees who have been here for years and many others who have left and returned because they know the work we do matters, a fact that was underscored throughout Covid. Almost all the current and former employees spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation from Mr. Cuomo, who is known for threatening critics and whose office has in recent weeks released personnel information about accusers. People are frankly still recovering from their experience working there, and theyre terrified of speaking out, said State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a former aide and a fierce critic. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 13:02:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Los Angeles County is to reopen its economy as early as next Monday, as the most populous county in the United States is expected to loosen restrictions against COVID-19, authorities said on Thursday. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a release that the county is anticipated to qualify for a less restrictive red tier that allows for additional re-openings between Monday and Wednesday next week. Once the county moves into the red tier from the present purple tier, the most restrictive tier of the state's four-tier, museums, zoos and aquariums can open indoors at 25-percent capacity, while gyms, fitness centers, yoga and dance studios can open indoors at 10-percent capacity, with masking requirement for all indoor activities. Movie theatres in the county would also be allowed to open indoors at 25-percent capacity with preventive measures, a major step toward the recovery of the theater business. Restaurants would be permitted to open indoors at 25-percent max capacity. Public health officials also recommend that all employees working indoors be informed and offered opportunities to be vaccinated. Retail and personal care services can increase capacity to 50 percent with masking required. Indoor shopping malls were also allowed to increase capacity to 50 percent with common areas remaining closed. Local schools were permitted to re-open for in-person instruction for students from grades seven to 12, while institutes of higher education can re-open all permitted activities except for residential housing. Private gatherings can occur indoors with up to three separate households, with masking and distancing required at all times. People who were fully vaccinated would be allowed to gather in small numbers indoors, without any masking and distancing requirements. Enditem This Notice is sent to you as Shareholder of the Fund. It is important and requires your immediate attention. If you are in any doubt as to the action to be taken, you are advised to consult your stockbroker, solicitor or attorney, accountant or other independent financial adviser. If you have sold or otherwise transferred your holding in the Fund, please send at once this document to the stockbroker or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee. Where appropriate, please pass the contents of this communication on to the beneficial investors of the Fund. This Notice has not been reviewed by the Central Bank of Ireland (the "Central Bank"), and it is possible that changes thereto may be necessary to meet the Central Bank's requirements. The Directors are of the opinion that there is nothing contained in this Notice or in the proposals detailed herein that conflicts with the CBI UCITS Regulations, the guidance issued by, and the regulations of, the Central Bank. The Directors accept responsibility for the information contained in this Notice. Capitalised terms used in this notice shall have the same meaning ascribed to them in the latest version of the Prospectus unless the context otherwise requires. LETTER FROM THE BOARD TO THE SHAREHOLDER OF VANECK VECTORS PREFERRED US EQUITY UCITS ETF (THE "FUND") VanEck Vectors UCITS ETFs plc REGISTERED OFFICE 33 Sir John Rogerson's Quay Dublin 2 D02 XK09 Ireland (A company incorporated with limited liability as an open-ended investment company with variable capital under the laws of Ireland with registered number 548554) Directors: Jonathan R. Simon, Bruce J. Smith, Adam Phillips, Mary Canning, Jon Lukomnik, Adrian Waters, Gijsbert Koning, 12 March, 2021 Dear Shareholder, This letter is to inform you on behalf of the board of directors of the Company (the "Directors") about recent developments in respect of the Fund. Fund and issued share class details Share Class Name ISIN VanEck Vectors Preferred US Equity UCITS ETF (USD) Class A IE00BDFBTR85 Closure of the Fund The Directors have been advised by VanEck Asset Management B.V., the Management Company of the Fund, that the index provider for the Fund, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, is transitioning out of the Strategic Indexing Business and that the Fund will no longer be able to track or replicate the relevant Index. After careful consideration and with the long-term interests of investors and the assets under management of the Fund in mind, the Directors have resolved that it is in the best interest of the Fund and its investors as a whole to effect a total redemption of all remaining Shares in the Fund as at the Compulsory Redemption Date (as defined below), in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Constitution and the Prospectus. Consequently, the Directors wish to give notice to investors in the Fund that it is the intention to: i. permanently de-list the Shares of the Fund from the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Borse Xetra, SIX Swiss Exchange, Borsa Italiana and Euronext Dublin (the "Relevant Exchanges"); ii. permanently close the Fund to further subscriptions and redemptions; and iii. compulsorily redeem any residual shareholdings in the Fund in accordance with the procedure and the dates set out under the heading "Procedure" below (the "Compulsory Redemption"). Procedure It is intended to close the Fund in accordance with the procedure and relevant dates set out below. 1) The last day of trading of the Shares in the Fund on each of the Relevant Exchanges shall be 12thApril 2021, (the "Final Exchange Trading Date"). Therefore, investors on the secondary market who wish to avoid having their Shares compulsorily redeemed should consider selling their Shares on a Relevant Exchange on or before the Final Exchange Trading Date. 2) The last day on which applications from Authorised Participants for subscriptions and redemptions of Shares in the Fund may be made will be 13thApril 2021 (the "Final Dealing Date"). Therefore, final applications for subscriptions and redemptions from Authorised Participants in respect of the Final Dealing Date must be received no later than the cut-off times outlined in the Supplement for the Fund on 13thApril 2021. 3) Investors who: have not sold their Shares on or before the Final Exchange Trading Date; or have not validly applied for redemption of their Shares in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus, on or before the Final Dealing Date, and, in each case, who are investors in the Fund as at 23rdApril 2021 (the "Record Date"), shall have their Shares compulsorily redeemed on 20thApril 2021 (the "Compulsory Redemption Date") which will be the day the final net asset value (the "FinalNAV") is calculated. 4) The effective date of the cancellation of admission to and listing of the Shares in the Fund on the Relevant Exchanges shall be 13thApril 2021 (the "Delisting Date"). 5) The proceeds of the Compulsory Redemption shall be distributed on or around 27thApril 2021 (the "Settlement Date") to such person listed in the Company's register of Shareholders as the holder of the Shares of the Fund as at the Record Date. If your shareholding in the Fund is compulsorily redeemed, as set out above, it will be redeemed at the appropriate redemption price for the relevant Shares (calculated on the Compulsory Redemption Date in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus) and, subject to all anti-money laundering documentation requirements having been complied with. Please note that, investors buying and selling Shares through a broker or market maker/Authorised Participant and/or investors who hold Shares through a nominee and/or clearing agent, may not appear in the Company's register of Shareholders. Such investors should deal directly with the relevant broker, market maker/Authorised Participant, nominee or clearing agent (as relevant) in respect of their investment. If you do not wish to be automatically redeemed on the Compulsory Redemption Date, you can (if you are an Authorised Participant) redeem your Shares in the Fund at any time up to and including the Final Dealing Date in accordance with the Fund's normal redemption procedures as set out in the Prospectus. However, if a redemption request does not settle by the Record Date, such Shares will be compulsorily redeemed against the Final NAV Value as of the Compulsory Redemption Date as part of the Fund closure process as outlined above. You may also wish to acquire an alternative ETF within VanEck Vectors UCITS ETF plc range. If you would like further information, please contact VanEck using the details set out at the end of this Notice. Investors should seek their own advice as to the suitability of any alternative investment option. Please note that as part of the closure process and before the Compulsory Redemption Date, the ability to meet the investment objective of the Fund may be compromised in the event of significant redemptions and/or as the underlying portfolio of the Fund is liquidated in preparation for its closure. Particularly, a regular rebalancing of the Funds' assets may be waived in advance of the closure, if it is deemed in the best interest of the Shareholders. Therefore, there will accordingly be an increased risk of tracking error in the Fund versus its Index. Costs of closure The additional costs incurred in respect of closing the Fund will be paid by VanEck Asset Management B.V. The Fund's normal operating costs and transaction costs together with any Cash Redemption Fees will continue to be borne by the Fund and its respective Shareholders in accordance with the terms of the Supplement for the Fund. Tax consequences Investors are advised to consult their own professional advisers as to the tax implications of the Compulsory Redemption and closure of the Fund under the laws of the countries of their nationality, residence, domicile or incorporation. If you have any queries, concerning the matters outlined in this Notice, please contact your local agent, or (if none) VanEck at the registered address provided above or at international@vaneck.com. Yours faithfully, The Directors VanEck Vectors UCITS ETFs plc Youve seen stories of foreign soldiers in Japan rehashed in films like The Last Samurai, but now a far more epic (and grounded) tale of Japans first samurai of African descent is coming your way in the form of a Netflix series. The new anime Yasuke is a joint project of global talents from Tokyo, Los Angeles and New York. While Japanese animation studio MAPPA is the production company behind the new series, Yasuke was created and directed by Tokyo-based American television producer LeSean Thomas, whose credits include Nickelodeons The Legend of Korra. Netflix describes the series as a genre-bending, cross-cultural production that will redefine what anime can be. While the series includes elements of fantasy, its actually based on the real-life 16th-century samurai of African descent, Yasuke. Thought to have hailed from Mozambique, Yasuke was the first samurai warrior in Japan who was not born in the country. He came to Japan with an Italian Jesuit and later became a retainer of the Sengoku period (1467-1615) daimyo Oda Nobunaga who was involved in a number of pivotal historical events. In this upcoming Netflix series starring LaKeith Stanfield (Get Out), Yasuke is portrayed as the greatest ronin ever known, who makes it his mission to protect a mysterious young girl from evil forces in a war-torn Feudal Japan. With an original score by Grammy award-winning artist Flying Lotus, the six-episode series now three years in the making should be at the very top of your watch-list upon its release. 'Yasuke' will debut exclusively on Netflix on April 28. The Hague:--- Suspend financial support to Sint Maarten. Member of Parliament Ronald van Raak (SP) makes this appeal via written questions to State Secretary Raymond Knops (BZK). Van Raak fears that the investments that the Netherlands plans to make to help Sint Maarten through the corona crisis will only be successful if there is sufficient support in the States. A majority of the state in an indictment submitted to the UN this week that the Netherlands is reviving colonialism through the reform program - otherwise approved by the Jacobs cabinet. "Do you share the view of the majority of politicians in Sint Maarten that the large financial support for the inhabitants of the island is a form of oppression, racism, and colonialism?" asks Van Raak. He thinks that the people of Sint Maarten should be asked whether they support the independence wish of the government parties. Below the questions from Ronald van Raak: Questions from Member Van Raak (SP) to the State Secretary for Kingdom Relations about the financial support to Sint Maarten 1. Do you share the view of the majority of politicians in Sint Maarten that the large financial support for the inhabitants of the island is a form of oppression, racism, and colonialism? 2. Do you share my concern that these investments are only possible for the residents of Sint Maarten if there is sufficient support from local politicians? 3. Are you prepared to suspend the support and first enter into talks with the Parliament of Sint Maarten to see whether the plans for support are still feasible in the current situation? 4. Are you willing to ask the government of Sint Maarten to quickly organize a referendum on the proposal to become independent? 5. What possibilities do you see for organizing a form of a referendum on Sint Maarten and to gauge the opinion of the population? A waiter wearing protective face gear balances plates of food on his arms as he carries them to diners at a restaurant in Newport Beach, Calif., on Sept. 9, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Restrictions on Orange County Businesses Are Loosening Orange County residents will wake up with more freedoms March 14 when the region moves into a less-restrictive COVID-19 tier. Its graduation to the red tier was confirmed March 12 after the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced the distribution of 2 million COVID-19 does, a metric necessary for Orange Countys reopening efforts to progress. When Orange County enters the red tier, restaurants will be allowed to have indoor dining at 25 percent capacity, and gyms will be able to open at 10 percent capacity. Museums, zoos, and aquariums can operate at 25 percent capacity. Stores and malls can open at 50 percent capacity. The CDPH also announced that on March 13, the state will begin allowing breweries, wineries and distilleries that dont serve meals to open outdoors. Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett previously told The Epoch Times that moving into the red tier was a big deal for the county, which has been struggling to climb out of the purple tier for months. Its a huge relief for the county and a significant milestone, because it means that with all the vaccinations that are taking place, were actually turning the corner relative to addressing the issues of COVID-19, she said. So by going from purple to the red tier, were going to be able to open up so much more of our local economy. Shes working on her first crew neck sweater for her husband, former president Barack Obama. Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle prior to the swearing in ceremony of Joe Biden in January. Credit:AP Knitting is a forever proposition, she said. You dont master knitting, because once you make a scarf, theres the blanket. And once you do the blanket, youve got to do the hat, the socks. The former US first lady says in a new People magazine interview that she picked up knitting needles to pass the time during the coronavirus pandemic. And now shes hooked. Im figuring out how to make sleeves and a collar, she said. I could go on about knitting! The former first lady also talks about how the pandemic helped her and her husband reclaim stolen moments with Malia, 22, and Sasha, 19, who both returned home from college to quarantine with their parents at the family homes in Washington and Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts. And she discusses what she says is the low-grade depression she experienced during the pandemic lockdowns and after George Floyds killing by Minneapolis police in May, along with her shift away from high-impact exercise and what she wants out of retirement. Thinking of knitting and retirement: Michelle Obama, former US first lady, with characters from the Netflix series Waffles + Mochi Credit:Netflix The woman whose buffed biceps and exercise workouts went viral during her time as first lady said she taught herself to be a better lap swimmer during quarantine because Im finding in my old age that the high-impact stuff I used to do doesnt work. Michelle Obama is 57. Courtesy of Grand Ole Opry LLC.The Grand Ole Opry is commemorating the COVID-19 era with a new, limited-edition vinyl LP called Unbroken\Empty Room, Full Circle. The project will feature a selection of Opry performances from the period of months when shows took place without in-house audiences, which began in March 2020 and continued for 29 weeks. It includes performances from Opry members and standout moments from the hallowed stage over the course of the past year. Kicking off the track list will be Marty Stuarts rendition of No Hard Time Blues from a show that took place close to the beginning of the pandemic. Vince Gill and Brad Paisley also appear on that track, with each also contributing another song on the project. We are at our best during hard times, Vince said from the stage that night. Country music really excels in times like this...we will persevere in the face of this, added Brad. Unbroken\Empty Room, Full Circle is due for release on June 4. Heres the full track list: Marty Stuart, No Hard Times Reba McEntire, Back to God Keith Urban, Coming Home Luke Combs, Six Feet Apart Dailey & Vincent and Ricky Skaggs, Uncle Pen Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Leavin Louisiana in the Broad Daylight Trace Adkins, Tough People Do Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man Darius Rucker, It Wont Be Like This for Long Old Crow Medicine Show, Dom Flemons, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Mama Dont Allow It/Will the Circle Be Unbroken By Carena Liptak 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. Los Angeles, March 12 : Los Angeles County will reopen its economy as early as March 15, as the most populous county in the US is expected to ease restrictions against Covid-19, authorities said. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement on Thursday that the county is anticipated to qualify for a less restrictive red tier that allows for additional re-openings between March 15-17, reports Xinhua news agency. Once the county moves into the red tier from the present purple tier, the most restrictive of the state's four-tier, museums, zoos and aquariums can open indoors at 25 per cent capacity, while gyms, fitness centres, yoga and dance studios can open indoors at 10 per cent capacity, with masking requirement for all indoor activities. Movie theatres in the county would also be allowed to open indoors at 25 per cent capacity with preventive measures, a major step toward the recovery of the theatre business. Restaurants would be permitted to open indoors at 25 per cent max capacity. Public health officials also recommend that all employees working indoors be informed and offered opportunities to be vaccinated. Retail and personal care services can increase capacity to 50 percent with masking required. Indoor shopping malls were also allowed to increase capacity to 50 per cent with common areas remaining closed. Local schools were permitted to re-open for in-person instruction for students from grades seven to 12, while institutes of higher education can re-open all permitted activities except for residential housing. Private gatherings can occur indoors with up to three separate households, with masking and distancing required at all times. People who were fully vaccinated would be allowed to gather in small numbers indoors, without any masking and distancing requirements. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, has said the dominance of internet giants is a fad that does not have to endure, adding that urgent change was needed to improve a digital divide in young peoples online access. Berners-Lee, who invented the internet navigation system known as the world wide web in 1989, said he sensed a feeling out there of restlessness, a feeling that we need to tip things over to change them. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web. Credit:Brendan Esposito High-profile incidents such as the dispute between Facebook and the Australian government that led to the social network blocking news feeds in the country has led many citizens and governments to re-examine their relationships with giant internet and social media companies. Im optimistic, because weve seen some dominant fads on the internet before ... and then things change, he said in an interview with Reuters, adding that people were pushing back against the use and abuse of personal data. Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum / Yonhap Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum has offered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in over the snowballing land speculation scandal involving officials at the state housing corporation, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. Moon thinks that the minister cannot help "taking responsibility" for the case, according to Chung Man-ho, senior presidential secretary for public communication. The message indicated that Moon would accept Byeon's resignation. In a bid to tackle the rise in COVID-19 cases, the administration in Maharashtra's Parbhani on Friday decided to impose a two-day curfew in the city limits and towns of the district. The curfew will commence on Saturday midnight and will end at 6 am on Monday, an official said. The curfew will be enforced in the municipal councils, nagar panchayats of district and a 3 km area beyond these limits, the official told. Curfew will be exempted for vehicles of government offices, medical stores, hospitals and those engaged in emergency services, he said. Home deliveries will be permitted from 6 am to 9 am, he said, adding that people who are travelling for vacations and going for testing will be allowed to move around. Stringent action will be taken against violators of the curfew, the official said. Places of worship in the district will remain closed till March 31 (only five persons will be allowed to carry out religious proceedings), he added. At least 44 cases of were detected in Parbhani on Friday, taking the tally of infections in the region to 9,143. At least 341 persons have died of the infection in the district so far, while 8,455 have recovered from it. The district is now left with 347 active cases, it was stated. (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.) TORONTO - Ontario's COVID-19 immunization effort moved ahead Friday with family doctors preparing to vaccinate patients over the weekend, while a spike in cases pushed another region into lockdown. A vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is shown at a facility in Milton, Ont., on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. A pilot project offering COVID-19 vaccines in pharmacies is expanding more broadly today. Some pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor and Kingston health units have already started offering Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to residents between the ages of 60 to 64. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Carlos Osorio - POOL TORONTO - Ontario's COVID-19 immunization effort moved ahead Friday with family doctors preparing to vaccinate patients over the weekend, while a spike in cases pushed another region into lockdown. The president of the Ontario Medical Association said physicians in six regions are asking for patience as they begin administering doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged 60 to 64 on Saturday. Dr. Samantha Hill said there is concern doctors' offices will be overwhelmed with calls. "Patients don't need to contact their physicians at this point," she said. "Doing so will just delay people's access to care. Physicians who have access to the vaccine will be calling their patients." The province announced this week that some family doctors in Toronto, Peel Region, Hamilton, Guelph, Peterborough, and Simcoe-Muskoka will be administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot. The doctors are getting a limited number of doses -- some 29,500 shots -- but that could increase as more vaccine shipments arrive. Hill noted that not all family doctors in the six regions are part of the vaccine project. But primary physicians expect to eventually be a larger part of the vaccine rollout given that they administer roughly 70 per cent of Ontario's flu shots each year, Hill said. "(Doctors) have the structure, they have the resources, they have the skills," she said. "What matters is getting as many vaccines as possible into arms as fast as possible." Meanwhile, the government said Friday that it was moving the Sarnia-Lambton region into lockdown on Monday after a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. Lambton Public Health said the move to lockdown is a "declaration of emergency" after weekly case numbers rose "dramatically" among residents under age 50 and several outbreaks were reported. "The local situation is concerning as (COVID-19) has the potential to spread rapidly in our community, Dr. Sudit Ranade, the region's top doctor, said in a statement. The province also said it will move the Northwestern Health unit into the second-strictest "red" category of Ontario's colour-coded pandemic framework. The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit will move from the least restrictive "green" category into the "yellow" category. Health Minister Christine Elliott said the latest COVID-19 projections suggest Ontario is at a critical stage of the pandemic, with vaccinations increasing but more contagious virus variants spreading. "We urge everyone to continue following all public health measures and advice to help prevent further transmission and protect our health system capacity," she said in a statement. Earlier Friday, a pilot project offering Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to residents aged 60 to 64 launched fully at pharmacies in three public health units - Toronto, Windsor and Kingston. Some pharmacies had already started administering the vaccines earlier in the week and the Ontario Pharmacists Association said interest has been overwhelming. Individual pharmacies are using their own booking systems and the association said people should check online before calling. Daryl Bedard, 61, was the first to get his shot at the Junction Chemist in west Toronto on Friday morning. Bedard said he called to make an appointment earlier this week after seeing a post on the pharmacy's social media accounts about the availability of vaccines. "It's like having a flu shot...there's nothing to it," he said. Bedard's wife accompanied him but since she is 15 years his junior, she won't be able to get her own shot until later, he said. The couple is eager to be able to travel so they can see their children, he said. "As everybody else, we're sitting here waiting for the world to open up," he said. Lucilia Pato, who went to get vaccinated at the pharmacy with her husband Friday, said she was relieved to finally get it done. "I want to have whatever they're going to call normal life again so...whenever they called me I was ready," she said. "Now I can see the grandkids, my dad who's in a home." Barbara Violo, a pharmacist and the owner of Junction Chemist, said they received 500 doses and have booked 500 appointments over the next week, with people reserving their spots by phone, email and in person. She said the first day was "a little bit hectic" but manageable, noting pharmacists have lots of experience handling large vaccination campaigns. Violo said everyone who has come in for a shot so far has been "super excited." "They're all happy. They've been waiting a long time, they all feel honoured to be able to get it," she said. Ontario reported 1,371 new cases of COVID-19 and 18 more deaths linked to the virus on Friday. - with files from Holly McKenzie-Sutter. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021. President Joe Biden is holding onto doses of the unapproved AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine because he wants 'maximum flexibility' to use it, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday. 'I think his view is that his obligation, first obligation is to addressing what is still a crisis in our country,' Psaki explained during the daily press briefing. 'And he wants to have, as the leader of this country, maximum flexibility.' Psaki was pressed on whether there was a 'moral dilemma' for the U.S. to be sitting on doses of a vaccine that can't be currently used on Americans, but could save lives in Europe and around the world. President Joe Biden (left) wants to have 'maximum flexibility' on COVID-19 vaccines, which is why the U.S. is sitting on unapproved doses of AstraZeneca's product, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved in Europe and elsewhere, but not in the United States. Still the vaccine doses produced in the United States aren't leaving the country because the White House is first addressing 'what is still a crisis in our country' She relented that it was a 'tricky balance,' pointing out that, on average, 1,400 Americans are still dying daily of the virus, while Biden also aspires to be a 'key member of the global community.' Administration officials also said that the U.S. was sitting on AstraZeneca doses so they could roll it out quickly if authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. AstraZeneca has produced doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, where it has yet to be approved. The vaccine developed with Oxford University has been authorized for use in the European Union and many countries. Reuters reported this week that U.S. officials told the EU not to expect shipments of the shot from the United States anytime soon. 'We have a small inventory of AstraZeneca so, if approved, we can get that inventory out to the American people,' White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said in a Friday press call. The New York Times reported this week that tens of millions of doses have already been produced in the United States and are sitting in production facilities unused. Psaki said during the briefing that she was 'not sure' the U.S. government would have a number to provide on how many doses are currently in the stockpile. AstraZeneca said in February it expects its vaccine could receive U.S. emergency use authorization at the beginning of April and could immediately deliver 30 million doses to locations around the United States. The U.S. stance could jeopardize AstraZeneca's attempts to come closer to delivering on its contractual obligation with the EU of 180 million doses in the second quarter. AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year it would cut its supplies in the second quarter by at least half to less than 90 million doses, EU sources told Reuters, after a bigger reduction in the first three months of the year. Biden said on Wednesday the government will first give Americans COVID-19 vaccines, but any surplus would be shared with the world. The United States has been one of the world leaders in vaccine administration. It has distributed more than 130 million shots and administered nearly 100 million, according to federal data last updated on Thursday. White House officials said on Friday that 65 per cent of Americans over 65 years old have been given shots. Sixty-five million years ago dinosaurs became extinct, never to be seen again. Until this month and in West Sacramento of all places. From now until March 21, Napans who want to do something COVID-19 friendly and who appreciate all things dinosaurs might take a drive to 400 Ballpark Drive, near the state Capital. Thats the temporary home of Jurassic Quest, North Americas largest and most realistic dinosaur event, as it is described. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. At Jurassic Quest, guests drive through the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic periods and experience for themselves what it was like to be among dinosaurs of all kinds. According to the owner, Jurassic Quest Holdings of Conroe, Texas, Jurassic Quest is the only interactive dinosaur event that has about 70 true to life-size animatronic dinosaurs in each of its touring shows from the very small to the gigantic. Peoples eyes get real big when they first see the dinosaurs, said Jurassic Quest PR Specialist Dustin Baker. The usual reaction is one of awe and wonder, he said. Its like you finally get to see what these creatures were like in real life. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 VIJAYAWADA: Expectations of impressive performances are high among all political parties, particularly with regard to their winning prospects in the municipality and corporation elections. YSRC is hoping for a clean sweep in 12 municipal corporations and 71 municipalities while the main opposition Telugu Desam is equally hopeful of grabbing main municipalities and Corporations. Most parties have unofficially conducted exit poll surveys and they are busy analyzing the results. The opposition pinned hopes on Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur and Eluru Municipal Corporations due to the support of urban voters. However, the lower poll percentage is likely to throw up upsets. YSRC, which initially expected a tough fight, is now confident of pocketing all 12 corporations. Worried by a tough fight in Vijayawada and Guntur municipal corporations, ministers Vellampalli Srinivas Rao, Botsa Satyanarayana and Kurasala Kannababu campaigned heavily to attract the voters. They stated that N Chandrababu Naidu, despite being in power for five years, did not develop Vijayawada and Guntur cities in spite of portraying them as part of the new capital Amaravati. The leaders said that unofficial exit polls predicted that YSRC would make a clean sweep of the corporations and also bag 40-50 division in Vijayawada and Guntur municipal corporations. Meanwhile, TD sources said that the opposition could win in Visakhapatnam, Eluru, Vijayawada and Guntur Municipal Corporations, according to private surveys and ground reports. They also expect 25 to 35 municipalities due to the TD wave in north Andhra, the Godavari districts and Krishna and Guntur districts. Party leaders said that alliance with CPI party and cooperation of other leaders have brightened the winning chances of TD in Urban Local Body polls. Ministers Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao, Srinivas Rao, Perni Venkataramaiah, Kannababu and Satyanarayana claimed that their welfare schemes and development activities touched the masses and they were keen on voting for YSRC candidates. Meanwhile, each party is claiming supremacy in the GVMC polls that were conducted on Wednesday. The results will be announced on March 14. The corporation has 98 divisions spread over from Bheemili to Anakapalle General secretary of the district unit of TD, Pasarla Prasad, said that the party candidates fared well in the four Assembly segments that are represented by the TD. Visakhapatnam South MLA, however, switched his loyalty to YSRC recently. Surprisingly the party did extremely well in Gajuwaka, said to be YSRC bastion under the leadership of MLA Tippala Nagi Reddy, and is likely to win 12 divisions. The hunger-strike launched by former MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao against VSP privatisation boosted the party image, Prasad said. He said that the party would win 10 in Visakhapatnam West, where senior leader PVGR Naidu was on hectic campaigning. Similarly, it expects 10 divisions in Visakhapatnam East where the local MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishnababu was arrested by the police for preventing rigging by YSRC leaders. In Visakhapatnam South even after the MLA Vasupalle Ganesh Kumar moved to YSRC, the TD gained supremacy and is likely to win in eight divisions. In Visakhapatnam North, the party is likely to win in only six divisions as local MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao stayed away from the. We will win five in Pendurthi and six in Bhimili. In all we will win in 50 divisions and the mayor will be from Telugu Desam, Prasad said. Similarly the YSRC in a social media release said it will win 63 divisions and two rebels would support them taking the total to 65 divisions. It also said TD will win in 16 divisions and give tough fight in 13 divisions. Similarly, Jana Sena/BJP combine will win in four divisions and CPI in one division, the release said. GOP House Members crafted a bill that will lessen the issuance of unconstitutional orders by the White House. The recent presidential orders have resulted in energy policy problems and a worsening border crisis; an anti-overreach bill will prevent another fiasco. On his first day in office after the inauguration, Biden penned executives ordered that overturned Trump-era policies led to problems. Many of the orders were done without consultation and essentially an alleged preparation for Democrat takeover in overall policy-making to override the Republicans. Republican House members forwarded a bill that disallowed the executive branch (White House) to bypass Congress. From January 20, the White House has ignored constitutionality when issuing presidential orders. The Republicans did the same two months ago on the Senate floor, reported the Epoch Times. The bill titled by the lower House GOP is Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2021. As Congress needs to decide on new rules by federal agencies, it needs to pass the House and Senate. It is necessary as the White House has been on a roll reversing Trump-era policies intently. Biden's overreach causes problems at the US Border. GOP House Members call a major rule or federal regulation that affects the economy in the REINS Act. For example, if it costs $100 million or more, that affects anything like consumer costs raising prices. Those affected are industries, government agencies, or regions that adversely affect American industries against foreign entities. Also read: South Dakota Republicans Sponsor Bill to Null the Executive Orders of Biden It was authored by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and with more than two dozen House Republicans lawmakers promoting the bill. Others behind the bill are Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), opposed to the Democrats and pro-Trump. According to Cammack, in a Wednesday statement that described what REINS Act is, the law will maintain that Congress can only enact laws, not the White House or any agency. Only Congress, based on Article I authority, will approve any executive order or law made by the Biden White House for constitutionality. Biden has been criticized heavily by governors and other agencies. It is necessary to control the executive branch and prevent an overreach of its authority through checks and balances. Biden is accused of not seeking advice on many of his controversial orders. Last January, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made a similar bill in January to that effect. REINS Act should kick in once a major rule is drafted by the executive branch that involves the senate and lower house. If the rule passes both, it becomes official and can be enforced. Paul called it necessary to make it bipartisan, not partisan, which the DEMs prefer; constitutionalism says bipartisan votes are important. According to Paul, the federal bureaucracy has too much overreach that has bypassed the Senate and Congress too long. One example is the damage done by the White House executive orders needing to be a check valve. Ask for comment on the GOP House Members' proposed REINS Act as a challenge to Biden's White House has no comment. Related article: Gas Prices Soar Due to Biden Energy Policies, Says Oil CEO @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Problems with AstraZenecas Covid-19 vaccine have deepened, with at least 10 countries suspending use of the shot over safety concerns that the World Health Organization, Canada, Germany, and France along with many other nations say are unfounded. The company, too, clarified that there was no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis. Austria was the first to raise concerns last weekend when it stopped using some supplies of AstraZenecas vaccine as a precaution following reports of a death and illness among recipients. In rapid succession, Denmark, Italy and Norway echoed the move, pointing to instances of blood clotting potentially linked to a batch of the product that health authorities want to investigate more closely. Thailand has followed suit. Bulgaria on Friday also temporarily halted Covid-19 inoculations using the vaccine after a woman died hours after receiving a shot, and said it wanted the European Medicine Agency (EMA) to dispel all doubts about the vaccines safety. "Everything we know so far suggests that the benefits of the vaccine, even after every individual case reported, are greater than the risks, and that continues to be the case, German Health Minister Jens Spahn told a news briefing. Meanwhie, French vaccination chief Alain Fischer said on Friday the vaccine had shown great efficacy. According to AFP, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters: is an excellent vaccine, as are the other vaccines that are being used. AstraZeneca cuts EU vaccine supply AstraZeneca is again scaling back vaccine delivery to the EU. The firm expects to have delivered 30 million doses by the end of March - 10 million less than it pledged last month. Meanwhile, the US denied it has imposed any kind of restrictions on export of vaccines. J&J to make up to 3 bn vaccines in 22 Johnson & Johnsons chief scientist said the company expects to produce up to 3 billion doses of its Covid-19 vaccine next year, after the approved the one-shot immunisation on Thursday. Shortly after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill into law on Thursday, Americans got some word on when they can expect to see their $1,400 stimulus payments. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said some people could start to see direct deposits of their payments as soon as this weekend, March 13 and 14. Psaki said the IRS is building on lessons learned from previous rounds to increase the number of households that will get electronic payments, which are substantially faster than checks. While it took about two weeks for the first stimulus payments to go out via direct deposit last April, the second stimulus payments in December went out much faster. That bill was signed into law on Dec. 27 and people started to see direct deposits just two days later. On Dec. 30, the IRS started to mail paper checks to eligible people. This time could be a little more challenging because the IRS is in the middle of the busy tax season. Its not yet known if the IRS will reopen the Get My Payment tool so people can monitor their payments delivery time, or if it will reopen the Non-Filer tool so that people who dont normally file tax returns can give the agency their direct deposit information. To get the full $1,400 payment, singles need to have adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less. Those who earn up to $80,000 would get a partial payment and above that amount, you are no longer eligible. Married couples who earn up to $150,000 are eligible for $2,800, and those who earn up to $160,000 would get a partial payment. After that, you are no longer eligible. Families will also receive $1,400 for each dependent no matter their age, so it includes college students and older relatives who didnt receive the first two stimulus payments. The payments will be based on your 2020 tax return if youve already filed one, or the IRS will use your 2019 return if thats all it has available. Use our updated stimulus calculator to see how much you may receive. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Government support for banks in emerging markets (EMs) is unlikely to weaken materially despite greater adoption of bank resolution regimes, according to Fitch Ratings. The impact of resolution regimes on government support will depend on the authorities' policy stances, framework specifics, and the extent of banks' loss-absorbing debt buffers for potential bail-ins, it stated. The top ratings agency said that several factors are likely to drive the development of resolution regimes in EMs. They include efforts by international institutions, such as the Financial Stability Board and IMF, to incentivise adoption; the desire to catch up with perceived best practice in developed markets; and the need to reduce the burden on governments supporting failing banks, particularly given increased debt and deficits due to the pandemic. In many EMs, however, Fitch believes state support will be available for banks even after the introduction of bail-in legislation. The authorities' policy stances and intentions will be the key. Where legislation is driven by external commitments, the authorities may seek to continue supporting banks despite the framework adopted. "For example, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are introducing bail-in legislation but Fitch still factors a high probability of state support into bank ratings as we believe the authorities will prefer to support domestic banks given the systemic risk of allowing banks to default," said a Fitch spokesman. "Framework specifics are also important. For example, legislation that requires - rather than merely permits - mandatory bail-ins of senior creditors in a bank resolution is a much stronger indicator that senior creditors will bear losses rather than benefit from state support. South Africa plans to enact a resolution framework with a new class of bail-in eligible senior securities, which, once implemented, is likely to lead us to lower banks' Support Rating Floors (SRFs) to 'No Floor'," he stated. Bank funding structures and creditor hierarchies are also important. Authorities are less likely to bail in senior creditors if banks are predominantly deposit-funded and deposits are ranked equally with senior debt, as it is politically more acceptable to bail in institutional debt investors, especially foreign ones. Defaults by Kazakh banks in 2009 and 2012, as well as by Ukraine's Privatbank in 2016 and International Bank of Azerbaijan in 2017, were made possible by the significant volumes of institutional debt on their balance sheets, said the leading ratings agency. These cases also show that the authorities' stances on creditor bail-ins can be more important than the specifics of any resolution legislation in place. SRFs in each of these markets are low following the defaults, it added. According to Fitch, the EMs have generally been slower than developed markets to introduce resolution frameworks, partly because they were less affected by bank failures in the global financial crisis. This also reflects generally less developed creditor and regulatory frameworks, and the considerable freedom their authorities have to resolve failed banks, even without bail-in legislation. State support has also been the norm in many EMs where some of the largest banks are owned by, or closely tied to, the state, sometimes with policy roles (e.g. Brazil, China, India, Russia, Turkey). Bail-in legislation is negative for banks' SRFs under Fitch's bank rating criteria, although the extent of this impact depends on the specific situation in each jurisdiction, said the ratings agency. "We typically do not factor state support into bank ratings in developed markets with resolution legislation containing comprehensive provisions for bail-ins of senior unsecured creditors," it added.-TradeArabia News Service More women are coming forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior against Gov. Andrew Cuomo. New York Magazines Intelligencer published two articles Friday detailing Cuomos reputation as a bully in the wake of at least six women who have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. Three more women told the publication the New York governor also made them uncomfortable through a pattern of touching and intimidation. Jessica Bakeman told NY Mag that Cuomo embarrassed her at a holiday party in 2014, when she was 25 and working as a statehouse reporter for what is now Politico New York. Cuomo grabbed her hand and put his arms around her, asking for photographers to take several pictures before he realized her discomfort. Im sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable? I thought we were going steady, he said with a smile, according to Bakeman. I stood there in stunned silence, shocked and humiliated. But, of course, that was the point, Bakeman wrote. I never thought the governor wanted to have sex with me. It wasnt about sex. It was about power. He wanted me to know that I was powerless, that I was small and weak... that he could take my dignity away at any moment with an inappropriate comment or a hand on my waist. Cuomo has denied ever touching a woman inappropriately and said he never knew he was making women feel uncomfortable. It doesnt matter my intent. What matters is if anybody was offended by it. I could intend no offense, but if they were offended by it, then it was wrong. And if they were offended by it, I apologize, Cuomo said last week. If they were hurt by it, I apologize. If they felt pain from it, I apologize. Another woman, identified only as Kaitlin, told Intelligencer that Cuomo similarly made her uncomfortable when she worked at a fund-raiser that her firm was hosting for Cuomo in 2016. As he greeted staffers, he grabbed me in a kind of dance pose for a picture and said he wants to hire her. Days later, Cuomos office contacted her for a job and her current bosses encouraged her to take it, despite her reluctance. We all knew that this was only because of what I looked like, Kaitlin told the Intelligencer. Why else would you ask someone to come in two days after you had a two-minute interaction at a party? Kaitlin said Cuomo never touched her inappropriately or made explicit sexual overtures, but he repeatedly made comments about her appearance 30 women told the publication they felt pressured to dress well and expensively and remembers him asking questions about her dating life. She said she didnt know if her experiences met the legal definition of sexual harassment, but felt verbally and mentally abused by him and his staff and cried when she interviewed for a job at the state authority where she now works. Alessandra Biaggi, a lawyer and the granddaughter of the late New York congressman Mario Biaggi, worked for for Cuomos thenchief counsel, Alphonso David, in 2016. She told the Intelligencer that she remembers Cuomo grabbing her elbow once at a party at the governors mansion, complementing her dance moves and then walking away. Cuomo also allegedly kissed her on the head at a wedding in August 2018, and asked her fiance if he was jealous. I didnt feel sexually harassed. I felt like he was trying to make me feel uncomfortable, to disarm me, Biaggi said. Bakeman told Intelligencer that she believes Cuomo frequently uses touching and sexual innuendo to stoke fear in women, meeting the textbook definition of sexual harassment. Dozens of Cuomos current and former employees also told The New York Times on Friday that working in his office is chaotic, unprofessional and toxic, especially for young women. Many of their experiences share commonalities with at least six other women who have come forward, including former aides Lindsey Boylan, Charlotte Bennett, Ana Liss, Karen Hinton, and an unidentified woman who said he groped her in the governors residence. Anna Ruch, who did not work as a state government employee, said Cuomo put his hands on her face and allegedly asked if he could kiss her at her September 2019 wedding reception, where they met for the first time. Dozens of lawmakers have called on Cuomo to resign, including Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and State Sen. John Mannion, D-Geddes, have called on Cuomo to resign; some Republicans have called for his impeachment. The New York State Assembly said Thursday it will open an impeachment investigation into Cuomo. Cuomo, whos also under fire over the states undercounting of nursing home deaths from Covid-19, has repeatedly said he has no intention of resigning. He also said hell cooperate with NYS Attorney General Letitia James investigation into his alleged sexual harassment. I never thought the governor wanted to have sex with me. It wasnt about sex. It was about power. It was about public humiliation. https://t.co/z1G9WUZc5e Jessica Bakeman (@jessicabakeman) March 12, 2021 NEW: Cuomo told aides to track down attractive young women he met at parties and offer them jobs, @rtraister reports https://t.co/dwa8Ova2Mo pic.twitter.com/7CYUlhs0wP Justin Miller (@justinjm1) March 12, 2021 MORE: How does impeachment work in New York? Will Cuomo be impeached? Its only happened to one NY governor before The Health Ministry says 230,315 people had signed up for the vaccination waiting list as of March 11. Since the launch of a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ukraine, 38,237 people have received their first shot of the Covishield vaccine. "Some 8,859 people (950 in Kyiv region alone) got vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine on Thursday, March 11 (5,898 on March 10). In total, 38,237 people have been vaccinated since the launch of the campaign," the Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Facebook. The shots were administered by 162 mobile vaccination teams. Read alsoCOVID-19: Health ministry pledges those wishing will be vaccinated by late 2021Most vaccine shots so far have been administered in Donetsk region (4,114 people), while the lowest number has been reported in Chernihiv region (626). According to the Health Ministry, 230,315 people signed up for the vaccination waiting list as of March 11. 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, 2021, the first batch of the Covishield vaccine arrived in Ukraine. On February 24, 2021, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. About 160 healthcare workers were first who got vaccinated, as well as members of the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas. On March 1, 2021, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov had had his COVID-19 vaccine shot, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was vaccinated against COVID-19 during a trip to the Donbas warzone on March 2. According to the Health Ministry, elderly people are next to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine. Reporting by UNIAN Measles, a disease long thought eliminated from the Western Hemisphere, re-emerged in Washington state in early 2019 -- 72 people were infected, 61 of whom were unvaccinated. A new analysis just published in The American Academy of Pediatrics finds that the outbreak was not only harmful to the individual health of dozens, it cost society an estimated $3.4 million. "A disease like measles is so serious because it is so contagious. Some of the greatest costs come from the public health response and contact-tracing efforts," Dr. Blythe Adamson, an infectious disease epidemiologist and economist and affiliate professor at University of Washington, told ABC News. MORE: Former presidents, except Trump, urge Americans to be vaccinated in new PSA Diseases like COVID also require extensive contact-tracing efforts, generating extra societal costs beyond loss of life and financial losses incurred by the sick. Many wonder why vaccine uptake isn't 100%. Experts say it's because of a variety of factors -- myths regarding safety, myths that vaccines were rushed through scientific trials, myths that vaccines cause autism, aversion to government mandates and general distrust of the medical system. PHOTO: A vial of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is pictured at the International Community Health Services clinic in Seattle, March 20, 2019. (Lindsey Wasson/Reuters, FILE) "The anti-vaccine movement not only cost lives but also money," Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told ABC News. And experts say the recent re-emergence of diseases like measles offers a stark reminder that vaccinations can help reduce future infectious disease outbreaks -- and limit societal costs. The 2019 measles outbreak occurred in Clark County, just south of Seattle, where measles vaccine uptake was estimated to be as low as 78%, compared with an estimated national average of 94%. Scientists estimate at least 90% of a population must be vaccinated against measles to create herd immunity. Investigators estimated that this outbreak led to societal costs of approximately $47,479 per measles case, and $814 per contact -- about $3.4 million overall. Much of the cost was related to the public health response, followed by productivity losses and then direct medical care. The 72 infected individuals had 4,011 contacts, over 20% of whom were unvaccinated and therefore susceptible. Story continues "When it comes to measles," Adalja said, "several studies have come to the exact same conclusion: That not only is the vaccine life-saving, it is extremely cost effective." MORE: COVID relief package calculator: How much can you expect? Experts have many ideas about how to get vaccination efforts back on track, not just for measles but for other diseases, including COVID-19. "I think you need to drive home the point that vaccines work incredibly well," said Dr. Paul Goepfert, director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic. "You need to have a national campaign to show the importance. ... I think if Donald Trump and Melania Trump would have come out right afterwards to say, 'We got the vaccine, you should too,' that would go a long way toward getting his supporters to get the vaccine." "There's not any type of one-size-fits all [solution] for any of this," said Dr. Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University's College of Public Health. "The way to combat this is to build trust, have conversations and work with people about their individual [concerns]." PHOTO: A group of anti-vaccine protesters gather in front of Vancouver City Hall prior to the signing of HB 1638 in Vancouver, Wash., on May 10, 2019. (Nathan Howard/The Columbian via AP, FILE) "The first thing we should be doing is just listening to them, trying to understand what their specific and unique reasons are," said Adamson, who agrees that respected members of different communities understanding and endorsing vaccine efficacy can be very effective, whether it's a pastor or an Alcoholics Anonymous group leader. And it's important to acknowledge why some communities "have historical reasons why they mistrust the medical community." A better understanding of the potential economic toll associated with lower vaccine uptake could be used to improve public policy, perhaps by implementing more public health interventions, experts said. "In the long run," Adamson said, such interventions "may be cost-saving for the community." Zachary Orlins, D.O., a resident physician in psychiatry at Cleveland Clinic, is a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit. The high price of low vaccination rates: How a single measles outbreak cost $3.4 million originally appeared on abcnews.go.com New Delhi, March 12 : The Home Ministry has rejected the claim of RTI activist Saket Gokhale, in which he had said that the Ministry did not have any information about the "bomb making factory" in West Bengal. The Ministry has said it neither received any such question nor any response was given. The Ministry has said the activist has spread false information on social media with malicious intent. Following the Home Ministry's response, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Gokhale, accusing the Congress and its former chief Rahul Gandhi of being "close to him". According to sources, Gokhale may face ab action on this issue. BJP's IT Cell Head Amit Malviya said: "Saket Gokhale, a self-proclaimed activist close to Rahul Gandhi and working for the opposition parties, deliberately presented the Home Ministry's answer with another question to question the Home Minister's statement." Presenting the sting video of a TV channel, Malviya said that the Congress, and Trinamool Congress are not aware of presenting an RTI to seek information about bomb making factory in Bengal. In fact, there were some reports in the media citing Gokhale's tweet, which claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah had said that there are bomb making factories in Bengal, but the Home Ministry has told in response to an RTI that it has no such information. T Rejecting Gokhale's claim, the Ministry said that he misrepresented the facts by tweeting with a malicious intent. According to the Ministry, it received two online RTI applications on January 12 this year on behalf of Gokhale. Gokhale sought information on three specific points related to the involvement of Khalistani organisations in the farmers' protest (against the three farm laws) in both applications. The Home Ministry responded to this RTI application dated January 12 on March 3. But, in his tweet dated March 9, Gokhale presented this reply with the wrong reference. He linked the question of Khalistani organisations to the question of the bomb factory in Bengal. According to the Ministry, Gokhale linked the copy of the reply of the Central Public Information Officer of the Ministry with a separate RTI application dated October 18, 2020 on the second subject. The application to this date was neither received nor answered by the Information Officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Public Information Officer of the Ministry had clearly stated that the relevant reply is in relation to the RTI of January 12. The Home Ministry has said that Gokhale intentionally introduced wrong information in his tweet with a "wrong motive". Bank strike: Services at branches, ATMs could be hit for two days Bank strike on March 15, 16: Branches to be shut for next four days India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 12: To protest against the Centre's plan to privatise the public sector banks, employees of India's banks are set to go on strike next week. Nearly 10 lakh employees of the public sector banks and old generation private banks will go on strike on March 15 and 16. In her budget speech, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman announced the privatisation of public sector banks as part of the government's disinvestment drive to generate Rs 1.75 lakh crore. Prior to the strike on March 15 and 16, the bass are scheduled to be closed on March 13-second Saturday and Sunday. This would mean that the banking services will be impacted for four days. However ATMs are likely to function for the next four days. Cheque clearances, opening of new accounts, issue of demand drafts and loan processing are likely to be affected March 17. The State Bank of India said arrangements have been made for normal functioning in all branches and offices. However it added that work may be impacted due to the strike. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech earlier this month announced plans to privatise two public sector banks. About 10 lakh bank employees and officers under the banner of United Forum of Unions consisting of nine unions AIBEA, AIBOC, NCBE, AIBOA, BEFI, INBEF, INBOC, NOBW, NOBO are agitating against government''s proposal, AIBEA said in a statement. The bank unions, after Friday''s dharna, will stage protests across the country in the next 15 days. "On 10th March, we will hold a protest demonstration before Parliament during the Budget session," AIBEA said. Thereafter, 10 lakh employees and officers of the banks will observe two days of continuous strike on 15-16 March, 2021. "If the government proceeds further, we will intensify the agitation and go for prolonged strikes and indefinite strike. We demand of the government to reconsider their decision," AIBEA added. The union said after India got independence no private sector bank came forward to help the economic development of the country that necessitated the nationalisation of major private sector banks in 1969. Since then, banks have made great strides and have played a significant role in the country''s development and from 8,000 bank branches in 1969, today there are as many as 100,000 bank branches across India, of which many are in rural areas. AIBEA said from 2010 to 2020, public sector banks have earned a total profit of Rs 14,57,000 crore. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News "The only problem facing banks is the bad loans. Most of the bad loans are by the corporates and rich industrialists. Instead of taking action on them, the government wants to privatise and hand over the banks to them," AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said. Pennsylvania church treasurer charged with stealing $150,000 from parish to spend on porn site Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Pennsylvania church treasurer has been charged with stealing over $150,000 from his congregation to use on a pornography website, according to authorities. Glenn Yothers, who had served as treasurer at Saint Paul Lutheran Church of Latrobe for 12 years, was charged with stealing the lofty sum over four years. Yothers was released from jail on a signature bond, meaning he didn't have to pay the court to be released, provided he agrees to return to court, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 24. The Christian Post reached out to Saint Paul Lutheran Church for comment on Thursday, but the church did not respond by press time. While the 56-year-old was taking money from Saint Paul Lutheran, the church found itself nearly being closed due to its inability to pay its utility bills, reported Triblive.com. At one point, the utilities of the church were shut off and the church almost shut down due to Yothers not paying bills, stated Trooper Robert Politowski in court documents, according to Triblive.com. Yothers allegedly took $150,606 from the church from February 2015 to December 2019, with his bank records showing that he spent a good deal of money on a pornographic website known as Flirt for Free. Yothers was asked if this was a pornographic website, and Yothers confirmed it was. Yothers stated he got to know some of these people well enough where he was trying to help those people, continued Politowski. Yothers stated he started this with the best intentions because he wanted to help people, but it snowballed out of control. Trooper Steve Limani told WPIX that he took issue with Yothers' claim that he was spending money on the website for charitable reasons. Its not something where youre giving any charity. None of this was going to charity at all. It was going for his own personal enjoyment and for his own personal use, Limani said. This person used their position as a treasurer to completely take advantage of all these people and almost put the church out of business. According to its website, Saint Paul Lutheran Church is a member of the North American Lutheran Church and is one of the oldest churches in Westmoreland County. Marriott International has announced that after 35 incredible years with the company, Guido De Wilde, Chief Operating Officer for the Middle East, has decided to retire from the company at the end of June. Satya Anand, President EMEA, Marriott International said: Guido has delivered so much over the past three decades hes been instrumental in growing the Middle East region, but more importantly, has been responsible for the career development of so many associates across the globe. I cant thank him enough for his dedication, drive, and commitment to Marriott International. De Wilde has had a fantastic career in the hospitality business. He started with ITT Sheraton in 1983 and has since held various management positions in Bahrain, Morocco, Germany, Belgium and Portugal. Guido was the Area Manager for Starwood in Portugal and General Manager of the prestigious Pine Cliffs Resorts which operates under the Luxury Collection brand, before moving to the Middle East with Starwood in January 2006 where he held the position of Senior Vice President, Regional Director. De Wilde joined Marriott at the time of the Starwood acquisition in September 2016 as Chief Operating Officer for the Middle East. He played a pivotal role during the integration and has had responsibility for over 146 hotels across 10 countries. Anand concluded: There is no doubt that I will miss having Guido as part of my leadership team and the support and counsel he has provided me. However, I am excited for him as he steps into the next chapter of his life. The company aims to announce De Wildes replacement in the coming weeks, a statement said. -TradeArabia News Service Homeowners in a modern Laois housing estate regularly have to use the public toilet in a local garage, due to public sewage backing up into their homes. The Hermitage housing estate on the Borris Road in Portlaoise has a "serious sewage problem" according to a local councillor. Rainwater is flowing into the sewers, which are supposed to be sealed pipes. It means that when it rains heavily, human waste is backing up and overflowing in toilets in some of the houses. Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald has tabled a motion to the March meeting of the Portlaoise Municipal District to resolve the problem, especially in the vicinity of house number 180. A very long answer was read out to her request, from Irish Water. Essentially they say that an overall design is already well underway to resolve drainage problems in the wider area, where many hundreds of homes were built in the last 20 years. In the meantime Irish Water say they will work with Laois County Council to divert storm water away from the sewerage system. Cllr Fitzgerald was not satisfied with the answer. "They need a solution now. This is a serious issue in a modern housing estate. People have to go out of the estate to garages to use toilets for three four or five days because they couldn't use their toilets. This is not fair to people to have to put up with. We are looking at more heavy rain now, and they expect it to happen again," she said. Cllr John Joe Fennelly supported her motion. "We should go back to Irish Water and ask for a timescale for immediate work. People going out of their homes to use toilets is crazy stuff," he said. The Director of Services for Portlaoise is Simon Walton. He believes the solution long term will be a major investment in new pipework for the area which includes hundreds of homes in Rathevan. "The problem is surface water gaining entry to the foul water, and I assume the problem is that in heavy rainfall the system is backing up and gives rise to problems in houses. The short term solution is to see where the surface water is getting in and divert it. Irish Water say that if the water continues to get in, it will need a major capital upgrade," he said. A recent planning application to build 262 new homes in Rathevan was refused partly on the grounds of the lack of capacity in the waste water system. Irish Water was among the objectors and said the plan was premature, coming before a network and pump station upgrade. Irish Water in their answer said that the Hermitage estate is being examined as part of a wider Drainage Area Plan. It has already identified problems such as flooding, and solutions needed to provide capacity for the next 25 years. "In relation to the Hermitage Estate, we are at Stage 4 optioneering. When this work is completed we will have better understanding of possible solutions. IW and LCC will need to work together to assess the feasibility and remove surface water from the foul system as an immediate task to try divert the need of major capital upgrades," Irish Water said. ALBERT LEA, Minn. A man arrested for three violent incidents is going to prison for two of them. Omar Rodriguez, 27 of Albert Lea, was sentenced Thursday to a total of three years behind bars, with credit for 281 days already served. Rodriguez was accused of an assault on August 30, 2019. He was then charged with kidnapping a man on April 6, 2020, holding a knife to the mans throat and then beating him. Rodriguez was finally arrested for a drive-by shooting in Albert Lea on May 9, 2020, for shooting a man in the right arm and back. As part of a plea deal, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to 2nd degree assault in the August 2019 and May 2020 incidents. Charges related to the April 2020 kidnapping were dismissed. Rodriguez was given three years in prison for one assault charge and one year and nine months for the other. The sentences will be served at the same time. The World Health Organization said there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca's Covid-19 jab after several countries suspended rollout over blood clot fears, while the hard-hit United States exceeded 100 million doses of vaccine administered to its people. The WHO, which said its vaccines advisory committee was examining the safety data coming in, Friday stressed that no causal link has been established between the AstraZeneca vaccine and clotting. "Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said, stressing that any concerns over safety must be investigated. The Britain-based AstraZeneca insisted its jab was safe, adding there is "no evidence" of higher blood clot risks. - New lockdown in Italy - Despite hopes that vaccines will pave the way to a return to normality, hard-hit Italy announced tough new restrictions in much of the country, with Prime Minister Mario Draghi warning the country faced "a new wave" of infections. One year after it became the first European country to face a major outbreak, Italy is again struggling with the rapid spread of Covid-19, this time fuelled by new, more contagious variants. Schools, restaurants, shops and museums were ordered to close across most regions of Italy, including Rome and Milan from next week. Disneyland Paris, one of Europe's biggest tourist attractions, said it will not be able to reopen as planned on April 2 as infections remain stubbornly high in France. - Another possible side effect - The shadow cast over the AstraZeneca jab is adding to the European Union's problems distributing vaccines. Denmark, Norway and Iceland paused use of the drugmaker's shot as a precaution after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots. Italy and Austria have banned the use of jabs from separate batches of AstraZeneca, and Thailand and Bulgaria said this week they would delay rollout. India will carry out a deeper review of post-vaccination side effects from the AstraZeneca shot next week although no cases of blood clots have been reported so far, the Hindustan Times daily quoted officials as saying on Saturday. Story continues "The review is taking place as a matter of abundant precaution," NK Arora from the Indian covid task force told the paper. In Spain at least five regions said they had suspended use of AstraZeneca vaccines from the suspect batch banned by Austria as a precautionary measure. But several other countries, including Australia, said they would continue their rollouts as they had found no reason to alter course. Canada also said there was no evidence the jab causes adverse reactions. In a fresh hit, the EU's drug regulator said severe allergies should be added to the possible side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine after some likely links were found in Britain. - 'Secret contracts' - Despite setbacks elsewhere, US President Joe Biden has worked to offer hope to his country, which has battled the largest outbreak in the world. He vowed a return to some kind of normality by July 4, marking the national holiday as his target for "independence" from the virus. After a shaky start, the US has ramped up its vaccination programme, following the advice of scientists who say jabs are the only way out of a pandemic that has killed 2.6 million people around the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 100 million vaccine doses have been administered in the US, around 30 percent of the world's total of shots in arms so far. There was also encouraging news as the WHO approved Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for an additional 500 million doses to enter the Covax global vaccine-sharing scheme. "Every new, safe and effective tool against Covid-19 is another step closer to controlling the pandemic," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The news comes after the single-dose jab won approval from the European Union on Thursday. It has also received the green light from regulators in the United States, Canada, South Africa and France -- which on Friday topped 90,000 coronavirus fatalities. Meanwhile it was announced that India will manufacture at least one billion more Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of next year in a joint initiative with the United States, Japan and Australia. Following the nations' first four-way summit, Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said the so-called Quad had made a "massive joint commitment" to vaccines. "The Quad committed to delivering up to one billion doses to ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific and beyond by the end of 2022," Sullivan said. burs-pvh/jh/jm/rma/oho 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. OPINION: The fact that Osbourne could act a plum fool in her place of employment, as she weaponized her white woman tears against her Black coworkers, is a scene all too familiar to Black women Unless youve been stuck under a proverbial rock this week, youve witnessed the repeated exercises in racist gaslighting that has played out front and center in the media. This past Sunday, the bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry hit airwaves and subsequently stirred up a number of emotions on the interwebs. Upon hearing firsthand accounts from both Meghan and her husband about the subtle and overt racism she faced from the British press, as well as the Royal Family, I can confidently say especially for Black women though most of us were unsurprised by Meghans experiences, we were also empathetic to the mental toll the abuse of her time in the U.K. took upon her. For others, on the other hand, its been a sh*tshow. While those of us of melanin persuasion clearly saw the years of obvious racism Meghan was subjected to by the U.K. press, some white folks have apparently struggled with removing their color-blind rose-colored glasses. Granted, while I give respect to the white people in the U.K. and here in the U.S. that have been able to full-throatily identify her treatment as racist; it has been disappointing to see how many of the Beige Brigade would rather tell us its actually our feelings and our reality that is the problem. Somehow, some white people have been left to believe that they can define what racism is, what it looks like, and what it feels like. (Credit: Getty Images) Read More: Piers Morgan quits after storming off set due to Meghan comments Leading the charge (this week, anyway) is the British incel with a platform, Piers Morgan. After Meghan ceased communication with Morgan (or ghosted him as he called it) for her budding relationship with the prince, the broadcaster has led a near five-year crusade aimed at painting Meghan as a villain, a liar, and overall disingenuous person. Story continues This week, after Meghan alleged that the abuse she suffered in the U.K. was so pervasive it led to her having suicidal ideations and her cries for help from senior royal staff were left unanswered, Morgan opined that she was lying about her deteriorating mental health: I dont believe a word she saysI wouldnt believe her if she read me a weather report. While the catalyst of Morgans haunting attacks on Meghan is his misogynistic notion that he was somehow entitled to her and that her lack of communication is anathema to his fragile ego; if we dig through the layers to get to the root of the issue, well find the seeds of racism an intersectional reality where Black women are forced to dwell. For a white man to believe he is entitled to a woman but especially a Black womans time, energy, and body encompasses hints of slavery. To disregard her personal retelling of her own experiences and declare she is being dishonest is easier to do because the probability of taking a Black woman at her word, for many, is low. To elevate ones own platform on the back of this constantly-harassed Black woman is racist. It is ironic that the same pathetic excuse of a man who once accused Meghan of being a social climber has used the defiling of her image as a woman, wife, and mother to climb the loathsome ranks of racist misogynists with a public platform and followers. However, Im not surprised or appalled by Morgans behavior. Even his b*tch-fit moment wherein he stormed off the set like a petulant child after he was called out by his co-worker, Alex Beresford, and his subsequent resignation from Good Morning Britain, did not shock me weak, worthless men hate having a mirror turned on them. The Talk hostess Sharon Osbourne, shown visiting the SiriusXM Hollywood Studio last February, posted a lengthy apology on social media Thursday. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images) What has outraged me most has been the droves of white women who have decided to carry Morgans water and defend his vile behavior, under the guise of free speech. Make no mistake, I have long-accepted, like most Black women, that white women have always been the true purveyors of upholding white supremacy. In an op-ed I penned last year on Amy Cooper, I noted that white women, historically, act as though they are above racism, above asserting their privilege, and completely oblivious to their problematic behaviors. It is for that reason why I titled that piece White women are the worst. In a proof-positive demonstration of my assertion, 68-year-old British-American TV host of The Talk, Sharon Osbourne, decided to figuratively show her pasty ass on national television. After Morgan took his racist incel ball and went home, Osbourne tweeted out her support for her deplorable friend, stating that he was just speaking [his] truth. The backlash, rightfully, was swift. On Wednesdays airing of The Talk, I watched Osbournes fellow co-hosts Sheryl Underwood and Elaine Welteroth, both Black women, ask Sharon how she could so willingly defend a man who is engaging in racist and misogynistic behavior and braced myself for the Woe is me, white woman impact I was sure Osbourne would have. She did not disappoint. In a profanity-laced tirade, I watched as Osbourne suddenly turned herself into a hit dog hollering by shrieking, I feel like Im about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist. I witnessed the patience, poise and grace with which both Underwood and Welteroth displayed in spite of Osbournes hysterics. I gritted my teeth as they tried to explain to this weeping white woman (who, mind you, repeatedly interrupted the ladies mid-point to shout dont try and cry because if anyone should be crying it should be me) that while they never said she was a racist, its troubling and concerning that she is comfortable defending one. I even let out a deep, heavy, Negro spiritual sigh as Osbourne demanded Sheryl Underwood educate [her] on what Morgan said that was racist. And herein lies the crux of my issue with white women their audacious victimhood train is never late. But, I suppose when youve never had to answer for your misdeeds, accountability can feel like an attack. This is why so many members of the Mayonnaise Mafia boohoo faux tears about cancel culture. Osbourne, and too many white women like her, fail to understand that their comfort with racism in and of itself is entrenched in racist ideology and privilege. Dismissing a Black persons experience that we perceive as racist, IS a racist act. To take it a step further, white people dont get to define racism because they have never experienced it. Too often, many refuse to accept that because they will never fully understand the pain of racism and microaggressions, they should, perhaps, just take our word for it because we live this sh*t every single day. Read More: Sharon Osbourne tells co-host Sheryl Underwood to educate her on racism in viral clip As Osbourne caterwauled on live television as she formed her thin lips to ask how can I be racist about anybody or anything in my life? I could not help but chuckle at the complete lack of self-awareness that she, in that very moment, was engaging in an act of racism. The fact that Osbourne could act a plum fool in her place of employment as she pathologically weaponized her white woman tears against her Black coworkers is a scene all too familiar to Black women. Underwood and Welteroth, like every Black woman, knew that they could not bring the same unprofessional energy Osbourne brought to the set. No, instead, they had to be calm and temper their responses because white fragility could have led to Osbourne becoming more unhinged, or the loss of their jobs. Had both Underwood and Welteroth responded to Osbourne with the smoke she was so obviously looking for amid her temper tantrum, the perception would have been that they were bullying this feeble old white woman. The angry Black woman narrative would have surely rained down on Underwood and Welteroth had they continued to press this well-meaning white woman about why she insists on cozying up to casual racism, and it is that complicity and weaponization of white womanhood that continues to allow racism, misogyny (or for Black women, misogynoir), and white supremacy to thrive. Osbourne is now copping pleas by issuing an iOS press release apology via Twitter, and the script is almost laughable at this point. In this apology, Sharon Osbourne, yet again, centers herself as a victim, skirts accountability, and doesnt deign to include in her mendacious mea culpa any amends to Underwood and Welteroth. She does, insultingly, include a line about not condoning racism, misogyny or bullying all the while her original tweet in support of racist, misogynistic bully Morgan is still on her timeline. I find myself more offended at the snub of directly seeking forgiveness from her Black cohosts and hope to see Sharon apologize to them publicly on the show since Im a believer that an apology should be as loud as the disrespect. But, I wont hold my breath. The condescending indignation Osbourne displayed as she demanded to be educated on the complexities and nuances of racism, as she tried to turn Underwood and Welteroth into her racism Google source despite there being a wealth of information already available to her, makes it clear that not only does Osbourne choose to be willfully ignorant shes happy to do so. As the late great Black womanist Audre Lorde once said, Black and Third World people are expected to educate white people as to our humanity. Women are expected to educate men. Lesbians and gay men are expected to educate the heterosexual world. The oppressors maintain their position and evade their responsibility for their own actions. There is a constant drain of energy which might be better used in redefining ourselves and devising realistic scenarios for altering the present and constructing the future. At this point, Im done. Neither I nor any other Black person is anyones racism encyclopedia do the work, or sit down and shut the hell up. Have you subscribed to theGrios new podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today! The post Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne: A Masterclass in racism appeared first on TheGrio. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor New Delhi, March 12 : The doctors of North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NrMCD), including all senior, resident and junior resident doctors working across six hospitals and multiple periphery clinics in the civic-run health centres, on Friday have decided to go on an indefinite strike after being unpaid for over four months now. The doctors have decided to start their indefinite agitation from March 22. Before that, all of them would go on a mass casual leave next Friday. "If the administration fails to clear our dues with interest till March 22 then we will have no choice but to go on with our indefinite strike," said Dr RR Gautam, president, Municipal Corporation Doctors' Association (MCDA). The decision was taken in an emergency meet called by the MCDA. The meeting was attended by the doctors of Hindu Rao Hospital, Kasturba Hospital, Rajan Babu TB Hospital and few others. The doctors said they went on a strike last October after their salaries were pending for over 136 days. During the crisis, Covid-19 patients in the hospital had to be shifted. While doctors were assured that such a situation won't arise again, their salaries have been pending again for more than 120 days, the association said. The doctors are now not only demanding the salaries but also the arrears with interest. "We want salaries to be paid with the due interest of the time they were held for," said Dr Maruti Sinha. The non-payment of salary has come as a double whammy for the doctors since they are worried with the taxes they would obliged to pay at the month end. Dr Sunil Kumar, president of Resident Doctors Association (RDA), Kasturba Hospital, said that the doctors would not settle without the interest. "The doctors are now forced to borrow money to even pay the taxes. This is the level the corporation has reduced us to," he added. Dr Sagardeep Bawa, vice-president, RDA-Hindu Rao, said that doctors are even considering to resign. "We are being pushed to a position of stand down by denying our basic rights. The doctors are considering resigning or going for an indefinite strike," he added. A recent ruling by Supreme Court directed that government employees must be paid interest at an appropriate rate in case their salaries is been delayed. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the first meeting of the leaders of "Quad" countries would discuss security challenges across the Indo-Pacific, climate change and efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the region. U.S. President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan will hold an online meeting on Saturday early morning Australia time in what Morrison said will be "an historical moment". "It will be in the wee small hours of tomorrow morning but I can assure you I'll be bright-eyed as we engage in what will be an incredibly important gathering for Australia," Morrison told reporters in Sydney. "There have been many other meetings, but when governments come together at the highest level, this shows a whole new level of cooperation to create a new anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific." India, United States, Japan and Australia are members of the Quad, an informal group that Washington has been promoting to work as a potential bulwark against China's increasing political, commercial and military activity in the Indo-Pacific, diplomats say. The virtual engagement is expected to last for about two hours and lay the groundwork for an in-person meeting later in the year, a senior U.S. official told Reuters earlier this week. Morrison said the talks will also include plans to achieve net zero emission targets into the future as countries in the region move to a new energy economy. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the Indo-Pacific will also be discussed as the group plans to announce financing agreements to support an increase in manufacturing capacity for coronavirus vaccines in India. (Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Lincoln Feast.) Top officials from Russia, Turkey and Qatar have agreed to apply the Astana peace process through humanitarian intervention, writes Etihad Press. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov (of Russia), Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Rahman (of Qatar), and Mevlut Cavusoglu (of Turkey) announced the launch of a new joint consultative process regarding the Syrian settlement. The three ministers stressed, during a joint press conference in Doha, that the new process will focus exclusively on humanitarian issues and work in parallel to the Astana process. Lavrov said after the tripartite meeting with his Turkish and Qatari counterparts, we agreed that our special representatives will participate in direct coordination of our additional efforts to achieve common goals, and we will hold other ministerial-level meetings periodically. Lavrov added, the new approach was launched about a year ago and we welcome the role that Qatar seeks to play, noting that Syrias return to the Arab League will only become possible after achieving stability in the region. In turn, the Qatari minister said, there is an urgent need to improve the living conditions of Syrians, and coordination processes must have that in mind, adding, our new consultative approach runs in parallel to the Astana process and is concerned with humanitarian issues. Cavusoglu said that Turkey supports all initiatives to resolve the Syrian crisis that aim for a political solution in accordance with international legality, adding that the Syrian regime must be pressured to break the deadlock in the current situation. Cavusoglu stressed that we have decided to continue holding regular meetings with Qatar and Russia to discuss the Syrian crisis, and the next meeting will be held in Turkey, followed by one in Russia. According to the Tammouz website, Abdulrahman met, on Wednesday, with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Riyadh, and said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports any efforts towards ensuring Syria returns to the Arab embrace. Abdulrahman stressed the importance of continuing to support efforts aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis, in a way that guarantees the security of the Syrian people and protects them from terrorist organizations and sectarian militias that impede access to real solutions that serve the Syrians. He pointed out that the Syrian settlement requires that the solution be political from the Kingdoms point of view, which is what the political crisis needs right now, noting that this is mainly due to the parties to this issue, and requires that the Syrian regime and the opposition agree on a political solution. 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (JTA) The Israeli government approved a plan Monday to provide compensation of up to $60,000 to some of the families of children who went missing while in state care in the 1950s. But advocacy groups and several of the families have already rejected the plan, calling it a cynical move designed to silence their larger demands for accountability. They are demanding an official apology, an expansion of the eligibility criteria, and further access to state records that might shed light on the fate of their relatives. The compensation plan amounting to roughly $50 million represe... DUBLIN, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Management Consulting 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 management consulting services market as it emerges from the COVID-19 shut down. The global management consulting services market is expected to grow from $819.79 billion in 2020 to $895.46 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2%. 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 $1201.06 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 8%. Reasons to Purchase Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 50+ geographies. Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates. Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis. Identify growth segments for investment. Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market. Understand customers based on the latest market research findings. Benchmark performance against key competitors. Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing. Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis Where is the largest and fastest growing market for the management consulting services? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The Management Consulting Services market global report answers all these questions and many more. The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider management consulting services market, and compares it with other markets. The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market. The market size section gives the market size ($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 management consulting services market section of the report gives context. It compares the management consulting services market with other segments of the design, research, promotional and consulting services market by size and growth, historic and forecast. It analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, management consulting services indicators comparison. Major companies in the management consulting services market include Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited; Accenture Plc; International Business Machines Corporation; Ernst & Young Global Limited and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The management consulting (MCS) market consists of the sales of MCS and related goods by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that provide a range of services providing advice and assistance on organizational planning, financial budgeting, marketing strategies, human resource practices, administration policies and production and logistics scheduling. Such services include solutions for administrative management issues, strategic and organizational planning, business process improvement, human resource and personnel policies, developing marketing planning and strategy, productivity improvement, quality assurance and quality control. Management consulting providers undertake processes where human capital is the major input. They make available the knowledge and skills of their employees, often on an assignment basis, where an individual or team is responsible for the delivery of services to the client. The management consulting services market is segmented into operations advisory; financial advisory; technology advisory; strategy advisory and other consulting services. Western Europe was the largest region in the global management consulting services market, accounting for 45% of the market in 2020. North America was the second largest region accounting for 29% of the global management consulting services market. Africa was the smallest region in the global management consulting services market. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are revolutionizing the way management consultants explore data. AI and automation help management consultants handle such processes as processing and analyzing of massive amounts of data more efficiently and faster than an average human. It can also provide accurate insights in the areas of businesses such as sales, operations, supply chain and more. For example, JLL, an American professional services and investment management company specializing in real estate, leverages an AI analysis system to drastically streamline workloads. The real estate consultancy advises on client portfolios that can be from anything between 1 and 100,000 properties, which traditionally took professionals weeks to analyze. In the consulting area, the information gathered through AI on sales channels, customer journeys and client behavior can help consultants identify new opportunities and develop effective strategies for advertising campaigns. According to Euan Cameron, PwC's UK AI Leader, AI could add huge value to the management consulting sector which traditionally was conservative and human-driven. The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has acted as a restraint on the management consulting services market in 2020 as governments globally imposed lockdowns and restricted trade, thereby limiting the need for professional services. COVID 19 is an infectious disease with flu-like symptoms including fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. The virus was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province of the People's Republic of China and spread globally including Western Europe, North America and Asia. Steps by national governments to contain the transmission have resulted in a decline in economic activity with countries entering a state of 'lock down' and the outbreak is expected to continue to have a negative impact on businesses throughout 2020 and into 2021. However, it is expected that the management consulting services market will recover from the shock across the forecast period as it is a 'black swan' event and not related to ongoing or fundamental weaknesses in the market or the global economy. Many clients of the management consulting services market are expanding globally and thus require more sophisticated and internationally-oriented services. Globalization is expected to pave the way for more joint ventures, foreign investments, global expansion and multi-national companies setting up facilities in high growth regions. Companies are increasingly forming joint ventures with firms in other countries, to test the market. Similarly, some companies are looking to acquire an established company in new market, to minimize the risk. Furthermore, globalization in the management consulting services industry is gaining momentum due to rapid growth in internet, automation of consultancy processes and developments in data security. In response to this, many domestic management consultancies have entered into new markets, collaborating with foreign groups to offer services in a wider range of countries. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Report Structure 3. Management Consulting Services Market Characteristics 3.1. Market Definition 3.2. Key Segmentations 4. Management Consulting Services Market Product Analysis 4.1. Leading Products/ Services 4.2. Key Features and Differentiators 4.3. Development Products 5. Management Consulting Services Market Supply Chain 5.1. Supply Chain 5.2. Distribution 5.3. End Customers 6. Management Consulting Services Market Customer Information 6.1. Customer Preferences 6.2. End Use Market Size and Growth 7. Management Consulting Services Market Trends and Strategies 8. Impact of COVID-19 on Management Consulting Services 9. Management Consulting 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. Management Consulting Services Market Regional Analysis 10.1. Global Management Consulting Services Market, 2020, by Region, Value ($ Billion) 10.2. Global Management Consulting Services Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic and Forecast, by Region 10.3. Global Management Consulting Services Market, Growth and Market Share Comparison, by Region 11. Management Consulting Services Market Segmentation 11.1. Global Management Consulting Services Market, Segmentation by Type 11.2. Global Management Consulting Services Market, Segmentation by End Use Industry 12. Management Consulting Services Market Metrics 12.1. Management Consulting Services Market Size, Percentage of GDP, 2015-2025, Global 12.2. Per Capita Average Management Consulting Services Market Expenditure, 2015-2025, Global 13. Asia-Pacific Management Consulting Services Market 14. Western Europe Management Consulting Services Market 15. Eastern Europe Management Consulting Services Market 16. North America Management Consulting Services Market 17. South America Management Consulting Services Market 18. Middle East Management Consulting Services Market 19. Africa Management Consulting Services Market 20. Management Consulting Services Market Competitive Landscape 20.1. Competitive Market Overview 20.2. Market Shares 20.3. Company Profiles 20.3.1. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited 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. Accenture Plc 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. International Business Machines Corporation 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. Ernst & Young Global Limited 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. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 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 Management Consulting Services Market 22. Market Background: Design, Research, Promotional and Consulting Services Market 22.1. Design, Research, Promotional and Consulting Services Market Characteristics 22.2. Design, Research, Promotional and Consulting Services Market Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F Growth, by Segment, Value ($ Billion), Global 22.3. Global Design, Research, Promotional and Consulting Services Market, 2020, by Region, Value ($ Billion) 22.4. Global Design, Research, Promotional and Consulting Services Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic and Forecast, by Region 22.5. Global Design, Research, Promotional and Consulting Services Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Segmentation by Type, Value ($ Billion) 23. Recommendations 23.1. Global Management Consulting Services Market in 2025 - Growth Countries 23.2. Global Management Consulting Services Market in 2025 - Growth Segments 23.3. Global Management Consulting 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/4j4yzc Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com A Chinese research ship has been spotted off the coast of Australia just days before a meeting with powerful leaders opposed by the Communist country. Ryan Martinson, an assistant professor in Chinese Maritime Studies shared the movements of a vessel called Shiyan 3 off the coast of Western Australia on Twitter this week. He posted a photo of the ship as well as a graphic that monitored its route along the coast since March 6. 'Chinese research vessel ''Shiyan 3'' currently operating near Australian water,' he wrote. Ryan Martinson, an assistant professor in Chinese Maritime Studies claims a research vessel called 'Shiyan 3' (pictured) is off the coast of Western Australia A graphic he shared shows the vessels movements off the coast since March 6 Mr Martinson said the vessel is owned by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science. In a follow-up tweet, Mr Martinson noted that the Chinese space tracking ship, Yuanwang 6, was also spotted nearby. The sightings come just days before Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to meet with US President Joe Biden as well as leaders from Japan and India, known as the 'Quadrilateral Security Dialogue'. The meeting will be held virtually early on Saturday morning Australian time. China has called the so-called Quad an attempt to contain its ambitions. Mr Morrison said there was no reason for China to object to the leaders' meeting. Mr Martinson noted that the Chinese space tracking ship, Yuanwang 6, was also spotted nearby and shared its movement 'This is about four nations that have had a long-term interest in the Indo Pacific,' Mr Morrison told reporters. 'For us, this is where we live, this is where Japan lives, where India lives and of course with United States across the Pacific has had a long-term presence. 'So this is about an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and that benefits all nations of the Indo-Pacific. 'This is about ensuring that we can trade more easily and peacefully, that there is freedom of movement within the seas and the overflight of the area to ensure that there is facilitation, trade and movement across our great region and before these four nations, liberal democracies, standing up for our values, coming together and ensuring that we are an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.' China-Australian relations have plumbed new depths since Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. 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. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Sorry! This content is not available in your region FLINT, MI -- Two of former Gov. Rick Snyders top health officials are asking for a new judge to hear the involuntary manslaughter and other charges against them, alleged crimes tied to their roles in the Flint water crisis. Former Michigan Department of Health and Huan Services Director Nick Lyon and former MDHHS Chief Medical Executive Dr. Eden Wells filed the judge-swap request in a combined motion in Genesee County Circuit Court Tuesday, March 9. The two are asking Chief Circuit Court Judge Duncan Beagle to reassign their cases from Judge Elizabeth Kelly to Judge Joseph Farah, whom both Lyon and Wells appeared before previously when their original water crisis cases were bound over in 2018. Both the Lyon and Wells cases, along with six others, were later dismissed by the Michigan Department of Attorney General in 2019 following the election of Dana Nessel, but both were charged again in January after the investigation of Flint water crimes restarted under the leadership of Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. Lyon, 52, faces nine counts of involuntary manslaughter, each count punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a count of willful neglect of duty. Wells, 58, is charged with nine counts of involuntary manslaughter, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and or a $7,500 fine, as well as two counts of misconduct in office and one count of willful neglect of duty. In their motion for reassignment, the two say Farah became deeply knowledgeable about the underlying facts and novel legal theories involved in the original cases against them. He read nearly 3,000 pages of preliminary examination transcript and reviewed the 200 exhibits admitted at the preliminary exam, the motion says. There were hundreds of pages of briefings by the parties, and hundreds of additional pages of briefing filed in support of Lyon. Judge Farah presided over two days of oral arguments on Mr. Lyons motions to quash and dismiss, and he posed questions for the prosecution about the viability of its legal theories, especially as to the involuntary manslaughter counts. Kelly was assigned six felony water crisis cases because of an order of judicial assignment signed by Chief Circuit Judge Duncan M. Beagle on Jan. 14, according to the motion filed by Wells and Lyon. The order states that because Kelly was the criminal duty judge for the week that the Flint water arraignments took place she was assigned all of the cases. Flint water prosecutors selected the arraignment dates -- and thus the judge -- by directing counsel to surrender clients on a specific date without any accommodation whatsoever, the court filing says. It was hardly a coincidence that all charged parties had to appear on the same date at the same time for a media frenzy, which was followed by the attorney generals press conference. Things appear to have been orchestrated by the attorney general, not done randomly or fairly. Courtney Covington, a spokeswoman for Flint water prosecutors, said in a message to MLive-The Flint Journal that they will respond to the defendants motion in court. Lyon is charged with having been grossly negligent and failing to protect the health of the citizens of Michigan and causing the death of nine Flint residents and of having willfully neglected his mandatory legal duty to protect the health of citizens. His attorneys have called the charges against him an absolute travesty of justice. During his preliminary examination on the initial charges against Lyon, a Wayne State University researcher and professor testified that the former MDHHS director told him during a 2016 meeting about Flint water, We cant save everyone, everyone has to die of something ... or something similar to that. A deputy director at MDHHS who was in the same meeting in which the remark was allegedly made later contradicted that testimony. Wells is charged with having been grossly negligent and failing to protect the health of the citizens of Michigan and causing the death of nine Flint residents, of preventing or attempting to prevent state-appointed public health professionals from sharing information with the public and other public health officials about the Legionnaires Disease outbreaks during the water crisis, and with willfully neglecting her mandatory legal duty to protect the health of the citizens of Michigan. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and her attorneys have said she had no legal duty to provide notice to Flint residents about the outbreaks. Officials at MDHHS were aware of outbreaks of Legionnaires disease in the Flint area during the water crisis as well as suspicions they were related to river water but never warned the public for months -- until January 2016, the same month the water crisis was recognized as a federal public health emergency. Related: Former Gov. Snyder, 8 others criminally charged, accused of trampling trust of Flint people Flint water crisis: Whos being charged and what were their roles Events leading to the dismissal of criminal charges in the Flint water cases Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 17:41:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia on Friday confirmed 103 more COVID-19 cases, bringing its national caseload to 3,664, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD). "A total of 19,341 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across Mongolia in the last 24 hours and 103 of them were positive," Jantsansengee Baigalmaa, head of the surveillance department of the NCCD, said at a daily press conference. Among the latest confirmed cases, 102 were locally transmitted, and the remaining one was imported from abroad, said Baigalmaa. "COVID-19 infections of unknown source have been increasing in the country," she said, urging citizens to avoid crowded places as much as possible and strictly follow other health instructions to prevent the spread of the disease. The source of 11 cases out of the latest confirmed ones has not been identified, she added. Meanwhile, 60 more recoveries were reported, bringing the national count to 2,907. The Asian country has so far recorded eight COVID-19-related deaths. Enditem Thiruvananthapuram, March 12 : For the first time in a quarter of a century, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second biggest constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, on Friday announced a woman among the list of its candidates for the April 6 Kerala Assembly polls. In the 1996 Assembly polls, the IUML fielded Qamrunisa Anwar from the Calicut-2 Assembly constituency but she lost by less than 9,000 votes. This time around, Noorbina Rasheed, a popular party leader, has been asked to contest the Kozhikode South seat, held currently by party veteran M.K. Muneer. He has been moved to another constituency in the same district. Releasing the list in Malappuram, IUML supremo Panakad Hyderali Shihab Thangal said that this time, there was consensus in the party that all those who have had served three terms would not be re-nominated, but an exemption was made for three - P.K. Kunhaliikutty, Muneer and K.P.A. Majeed. Five sitting legislators who had three or more terms have been dropped. "This time, the IUML will be contesting in 27 seats, three more than 2016 and the candidates for two seats (Punalur or Chadayamanagalam, and Perambara) will be announced later. Representations have been given to all sections and the list is a comprehensive one," he said. In the 2016 polls, the IUML contested 24 seats and won 19. Seoul had hoped to unfreeze part of the money, which was payment for oil, after Iran took a Korean tanker and its crew hostage last month. The U.S. has made it clear that it will not release US$7 billion of Iranian money that is frozen in Korea under American sanctions until a nuclear deal with Tehran that ex-President Donald Trump unilaterally ditched is revived. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday denied a news report that the Biden administration is minded to approve the release of the money. "Unless and until Iran comes back into compliance, they won't be getting that relief and the report... is simply incorrect," Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. On Feb. 23, Tehran said Seoul had agreed to release $1 billion of the frozen funds, and the Foreign Ministry here did not deny it, saying, "There's been a narrowing of differences of views" between the two sides. Reports at the time said Iran will use the money to buy coronavirus protection equipment or vaccines. Blinken was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or Iran nuclear deal that six countries signed with Iran in 2015. It envisions the international community lifting sanctions in exchange for Iran's abandonment of nuclear weapons development. Iran had been in compliance until Trump ditched the deal in a fit of caprice in 2017. Since then Iran has refused to come back into compliance and resumed its nuclear program. France and the United States hit out at Lebanon's warring politicians on Thursday, with Paris saying they were failing to help the country as it slid towards "total collapse". "It's tempting to say it is a case of non-assistance to a country in danger by Lebanese politicians," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a news conference. "Everyone knows what needs to be done." France has taken a leading role in trying to break the political deadlock in its former protectorate, with President Emmanuel Macron visiting the country twice last year. Lebanon's deeply divided political class has failed to agree on a new cabinet since a massive explosion in Beirut port last August that killed more than 200 people and led to the government's resignation. Le Drian said "nothing has happened" since Macron's visits when he pushed a plan for the political parties to form a non-sectarian government of experts which would be tasked with carrying out economic reforms and tackling corruption. "I do believe that it is still not too late, but we're running out of time before total collapse," the French minister added. The US supported Le Drian's statement, saying that Lebanon's leaders have shown "inaction in the face of multiple ongoing crises". "The Lebanese people -- we believe they deserve a government that will urgently implement the necessary reforms to rescue the country's deteriorating economy," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington. "Lebanon's political leaders need to put aside their partisan brinksmanship, they need to change course, they need to work for the common good and common interest of the Lebanese people," he said. Lebanon is mired in protests and an economic crisis, which has brought surging unemployment and spiralling prices while the currency has plunged to lows to the dollar on the black market. French officials have repeatedly voiced their exasperation at what they see as Lebanese politicians failing to put the interests of the country before their own. adp/jh-sct/har Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens as Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks via video conference during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, Canada, on March 12, 2021. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press) Every Canadian Can Receive COVID-19 Vaccine by September: Trudeau Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that every Canadian who wants a vaccine will receive one by September. Everyone who wants to get vaccinated will be vaccinated by September, Trudeau said during a press conference on COVID-19, the disease the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus causes. He added that Canada will receive 1 million doses of Pfizer vaccines each week between March 22 to May 10 and that a total of 8 million doses of vaccines will be delivered to Canada by the end of March. According to a New York Times article published Thursday, tens of millions of vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca are sitting in U.S. manufacturing facilities awaiting the results from clinical trials, before countries that have requested the vaccines can receive them. Trudeau did not give an affirmative answer when asked if his government has reached out to the Biden administration to make a purchase request for the vaccines, but said that delays in foreign countries will not affect the vaccines delivery to Canada. Our strategy has been to diversify our supply chains to ensure that Canadians can have products, have vaccines from multiple sources of supply, multiple suppliers, and multiple countries, so that we are not negatively impacted by any control or restrictions that might be placed on us, Procurement Minister Anita Anand said. Trudeau said in an interview with CTV News on Friday morning that Canada will not reopen the U.S. border until more Canadians are vaccinated and infection rates stabilize. He said the government has not ruled out waiting until September or even later to open its borders. When asked if the federal government has considered the idea of proof-of-vaccination passports, which have been adopted by some European countries, Trudeau said there are already well-established systems of vaccination certificates for safe international travel. While some Canadian provinces have also floated the idea of a domestic vaccination certificate, the prime minister said it could raise problems. The idea of certificates of vaccination for domestic use, to decide if you could go to a concert, or who can go to a particular restaurant, or engage in certain activities, does bring in questions of equity, questions of fairness, Trudeau said. There are some people who, because of medical conditions or other reasons, will not be able to get vaccinated, there are others who are no on priority list and have to wait much longer before getting vaccinations, these are things we have to take into account. It appears drug dogs aren't as needed as they used to be According to sources, raw material for calcium and other medicines, made out of waste from prawn, are processed in the unit with nitrofurantoin, nitric acid etc. (Photo: ANI) KAKINADA: Two supervisors -- Kakarla Subrahmanyam (31) of Patavala Village in Tallarevu Mandal and Thotakura Venkata Ramana (37) of Mallavaram village of Tallarevu Mandal of East Godavari district -- died and four employees were wounded in an explosion in a pharmaceutical unit. The incident occurred at Autonagar in Sarpavaram of Kakinada Rural Mandal on Thursday Afternoon. The four injured -- operators Kudipudi Srinivas, Nammi Simhadri Rao and Regalla Rajkumar and Incharge deputy manager Kalaga Satya Saibaba -- were rushed to a private hospital. According to sources, raw material for calcium and other medicines, made out of waste from prawn, are processed in the unit with nitrofurantoin, nitric acid etc. SP Adnan Nayeem Asmi said that when the process of mixing of nitric acid with other chemicals was on, there was a rise in temperature. A supervisor was trying to adjust the valve. Suddenly, a blast occurred. Two supervisors died and four employees were injured, he said. A circle inspector was deployed for the investigation and a case will be booked and action taken against the management. Activists Kannababu and Muralidhar Reddy asked the management whether the chemical stocks at the unit posed any danger to the people of in the vicinity. The management said safety will be ensured. Kannababu said all help would be extended to the victims and the family members of the deceased. He appealed the people of Sarpavaram and Madhavapatnam villages to remain calm. Muralidhar Reddy said an inquiry was ordered into the incident and action would be taken against the management. He said official teams have inspected hazardous industries in the district and suggested several safety steps. Kannababu, Muralidhar Reddy and Asmi visited the private hospital and consoled the injured. Kakinada DSP V Bhima Rao, Sarpavaram incharge CI Ramakoteswara Rao and others visited the area. The blast incident yet again brought to the fore the unsafe environment around industrial units handling hazardous material. A few months back, there was a gas leak and the people in the vicinity suffered breathing problems. The officials could not trace out the origin of the gas leak. WASHINGTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- President Joe Biden Thursday in a letter to Tom Bigley, chairman of the World Plumbing Council and former IAPMO Board of Directors member, recognized World Plumbing Day, acknowledging the essential service plumbers and those in our industry provide to people worldwide to ensure their access to clean, healthy water and safe sanitation. In the letter extending greetings to all observing World Plumbing Day March 11, Every Year, Everywhere the president wrote: Today, we honor the hardworking plumbers and other trained professionals who work tirelessly to bring water trickling down from our highest mountains and up from our deepest aquifers into our homes and offices. These workers stitch communities together and help connect all people to this precious natural resource. Access to clean water and effective wastewater treatment systems is the right of every community, and my Administration looks forward to being a partner to ensure that right is recognized in our country and across the globe. We are committed to investing in the workers and industries that are building a world in which all people, regardless of who they are or where they live, can survive and thrive because of reliable access to clean, safe water. The presidential statement may be viewed at: https://www.worldplumbing.org/white-house-recognizes-world-plumbing-day/ "We are thrilled to have President Biden recognize World Plumbing Day," Bigley said. "We have long known the vital, life-saving role our industry plays in the world and are delighted to have our president also recognize this issue so widely. Working to ensure everyone has access to safe, reliable water and skilled professionals has always been and will continue to be our number one priority." The World Plumbing Council (WPC) in 2010 established March 11 as World Plumbing Day, an annual celebration to promote appreciation of the plumbing industry's vital work on behalf of the planet and its people. The event aims to help the general public better understand how the plumbing industry protects the public's health and safety, demonstrate the extent to which it works to limit mankind's environmental footprint and to illuminate other important and often unsung work performed by contractors, inspectors, installers, engineers, manufacturers and academicians. IAPMO has been an enthusiastic supporter of World Plumbing Day from its inception, developing educational materials and administering student contests to promote the event and facilitating its recognition among the highest levels of U.S. government. For several years the U.S. Senate and/or House of Representatives have passed a bipartisan resolution formally designating March 11 as World Plumbing Day. "On behalf of IAPMO and all our brothers and sisters in the plumbing industry I want to thank President Biden for his administration's acknowledgment and appreciation for our work," said IAPMO CEO Dave Viola. "We understand that having the health and safety of American plumbing systems taken for granted means we are doing things really well, but it's still nice to know people understand the expertise required to make it so." SOURCE International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) Related Links https://www.iapmo.org Two people were arrested and more than 80 FPNs (fixed penalty notices) were issued by Gardai yesterday after hundreds attended a funeral in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim. It has been reported that as many as 300 people gathered for the funeral of a popular local man, Davey Reilly, with pictures showing crowds walking along country roads after the service. The mass was celebrated on Thursday by Fr Frank Garvey PP in St Marys Church with a reduced number in attendance. However, hundreds then made their way on foot to attend the burial in nearby St Marys Cemetery. The Leitrim Observer reported how following the Mass, the coffin was taken by a horsedrawn hearse to St Mary's Cemetery, stopping at the Hartley junction where it was carried the remainder of the way. Expand Close The casket was drawn to cemetery in a horsedrawn hearse with hundreds of people following / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The casket was drawn to cemetery in a horsedrawn hearse with hundreds of people following Read More None of the mourners were seen to wear face masks, it noted. It has also been claimed that a number of vehicles and pedestrians were turned away at checkpoints by Gardai but that a large number of mourners gathered in a local car park near the estate before breaking though the checkpoint. Under Level 5 guidelines, attendance at funerals is limited to just ten and only close family should attend the church and graveyard. Gardai confirmed that officers in Leitrim carried out a policing plan around a funeral that took place in Carrick-on-Shannon Co Leitrim on March 10 and 11. An Garda Siochana liaised with the relevant parties in advance and is not investigating any breaches in respect of the church element of this funeral, Gardai said, adding, funerals are not a penal regulation. However, Gardai revealed that In excess of 80 FPNs have issued in respect of breaches of the public health regulations. On Wednesday March 10, two arrests were made under the public order act, Gardai added. Gardai did not refer to claims that mourners broke through a Garda checkpoint. An Garda Siochana will carry out an investigation into the organisers of any event which is in breach of the public health regulations, they added. There were also reports that dozens of British and Northern-registered cars descended on the hometown of HSE chief Paul Reid where a marquee was erected for mourners. Mr Reid, who lives in the town, told the Irish Daily Mirror: Ive seen the pictures of the funeral in Carrick-on-Shannon. I think it is St Marys Church and obviously from what I see from the pictures I extremely condemn what is seen there. The public has taken so many restrictions on board, theyve made so many sacrifices and its pretty demoralising to see such abuse of public health guidance and measures particularly for the people of Leitrim who have been doing really well on the very low cases throughout this Covid. Mr Reid said that funerals remain a cause for concern. He said: Our public health teams would regularly engage with funeral directors increasingly giving guidance about protections that need to be in place. Its a very difficult position for priests to be put in but again they have been fantastic in working with us in terms of guidance they have given families at a difficult time. Co-director of Pavee Point Martin Collins said it was not acceptable for anybody settled or Traveller to be in breach of the guidelines. We all have to put our shoulder to the wheel and nobody is exempt from the rules in the same way nobody is exempt from the virus, he said. As a travelling man I understand the importance of funerals in our community but customs and traditions have to take a back seat. We have to be careful that this doesnt become another stick to beat Travellers with and its important to remember that breaches of restrictions have happened in all sections of society and often by those in the upper echelons. FULTON, Miss (WTVA) - Coworkers and loved ones cheered on coronavirus survivor, Debbie Johnson as she drove passed the Itawamba Tax Collectors Office Thursday. Johnson's oldest child, Rusty Johnson was overwhelmed with emotions as he got to finally say "Welcome home mama." Rusty said doctors diagnosed his mom with coronavirus in December. EMTs rushed Johnson to North Mississippi Medical Center where doctors put her on a ventilator. Rusty said his mom fought for her life in the hospital for over 80 days. Its just a miracle. You know, its nothing you can do but thank the good Lord, he said. Rusty said his family wouldn't have made it through this tough time without the support and prayers of Johnsons coworkers at the tax collectors office. He said it means the world to his mom that they embraced her today with balloons and thoughtful signs. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th March, 2021) The US administration appointed Ambassador Pamela Spartlen to lead the task force charged with responding to alleged acoustic attacks against American officials in Cuba, the State Department said in a statement on Friday. "The Department has designated Ambassador Pamela Spratlen to serve as the Senior Adviser to the Health Incident Response Task Force (HIRTF), reporting directly to the Department's senior leadership," the statement said. US diplomats in Cuba suffered a set of health problems, collectively described as the Havana syndrome, in 2016 and 2017. Similar medical signs were reported among US diplomatic staffers in China in 2018. Victims of the supposed attacks were hearing strange noises, which some of them perceived as vibrations or pressure. Some of the diplomats experienced long-term health effects. The US Department of State assumed the diplomats could be exposed to some unidentified acoustic attack, however, it did not reach a definite conclusion on what exactly caused the syndrome. The task force was created in 2018 and serves as the coordinating body for the US government response to these incidents, the State Department added. "The selection of Ambassador Spratlen will help us make strides to address this issue wherever it affects Department personnel and their families. She will streamline our coordination efforts with the interagency community, and reaffirm our commitment to make certain that those affected receive the care and treatment they need," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in the rlease. Spratlen previously served as a Senior Adviser of the Office of Inspector General in the State Department. She also was the US. Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Kazakhstan. Mark Hofmann, pictured in the 1980s during his successful career as a forger of Mormon artefacts (Netflix) Mark Hofmann, the subject of Netflixs new documentary, Murder Among the Mormons, was a prolific, master forger turned bomber who was convicted of killing two people in Salt Lake City in 1985. Now aged 66, he was born in 1954 to a Mormon family in the Utah-based city known as a US hub of the religion. Despite growing up in the faith and spending two years as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) in the UK, Hofmann later said he became an atheist when aged 14. In the 1980s, when he was in his 20s and early 30s, he came known for a series of extraordinary finds, including an early translation of the Book of Mormon known as the Anthon Transcript , which was assessed to be genuine and fetched him $25,000, and a document that cast doubt on the churchs early leaders and was written up in The New York Times. One of his most famous forgeries, the Salamander letter, was discovered by Hofmann in 1984, and, like many of his forgeries, was intended to cast the religion and its early leaders in an embarrassing light by claiming that Mormon founder and early leader Joseph Smith was interested in the controversial topic of magic. Hofmann also forged the signatures of many non-Mormon people of note, including presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, Andrew Jackson, authors Mark Twain and John Milton and a previously unknown poem by Emily Dickinson. Mark Hofmann is considered one of the greatest forgers in the world before his capture in 1985. Pictured is a still from the new Netflix documentary on his life and crimes, Murder Among the MormonsNetflix By 1985 he was negotiating a $1million sale to The Library of Congress for a famous, long missing document from American colonial history, the Oath of a Freeman; the first document printed in the American colonies in 1639 and one of just 50 copies made, none of which had survived. Despite his successful forgery career, however, Hofmann was in deep debt due to an increasingly lavish life-style and when doubts were cast on his forgery of the Oath of the Freeman in 1985, he began to plan a series of bombings to buy him more time. On October 15, 1985, he killed document collector and Mormon bishop Steven Christensen in a first explosion, followed by Kathy Sheets, the wife of Christensens former employer, in a second blast the same day, leading police to shift their focus onto Sheets husband Gary and the impending collapse of his investment business. Story continues Fear spread throughout the city that the bomber was upset with the documents that repeatedly embarrassed the powerful religion. Salt Lake Tribune reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack wrote : Watching the three-part Netflix series last week, I was reminded how frightening those days were not only for the whole Salt Lake City community but especially for those immersed in Mormon history investors, supporters, traders and anyone who had done business with Hofmann. Many associates went into hiding. She added: Some, including me, speculated that the bomber probably was a devout Latter-day Saint who believed that the documents had caused members to lose their faith. But when a third bomb accidentally exploded in Hofmanns car the next day he became the lead suspect and was arrested in January 1986, confessed to second degree murder and the forgeries, and was jailed for life. One of Mark Hofmanns bombs in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1985 that killed two peopleNetflix In 1987, his wife, Dorie Olds, with whom he had four children and who makes an appearance in the Netflix series, divorced him. In 1988, he wrote in a letter to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole: The most important thing in my mind was to keep from being exposed as a fraud in front of my friends and family, according toThe Salt Lake Tribune. When I say this was the most important thing I mean it literally. I felt I would rather take human life or even my own life rather than to be exposed. He later attempted to commit suicide, surviving but losing the use of the arm he used to make forgeries. The incident was branded a public relations nightmare for the church, prompting a hunt for the dozens of forgeries that fooled some of the greatest auction houses in the world, including Sothebys in the UK. Author Robert Lindsay, who wrote A Gathering of Saints: A True Story of Money, Murder and Deceit in 1988, said that Hofmann stimulated a burst of historical inquiry.[into the church that] did not wither after his conviction. The three part Netflix series was directed by Tyler Measom and Jared Hess, who were both brought up in the Mormon faith. Mr Hess, who directed Napoleon Dynamite, told TIME that he was moved to make the film after realising that the story had mostly stayed local to Utah. I think that people who come into the series cold are shocked at how prolific Mark Hofmann was and that he was the greatest forger of all time, he said. Mr Measom said that Mr Hofmann declined multiple requests for interview. Mark has kept his secrets to himself, he told TIME. I think thats all he has, frankly. Hes sitting in jail with very little chance of ever getting out. So the one thing he has is the power to wield his story. He added: Id like to understand what caused him to use his powers for evil, as opposed to good. Was there ever a time when he thought, maybe I can work for the FBI and be a document examiner, instead of a document forger? That crux, or that fork in the road, is always interesting, especially in filmmaking: why someone becomes a superhero versus a super villain. Read More Elisa Lam: New Netflix documentary to investigate mysterious death of student The Ripper: Netflix documentary criticised for treatment of Peter Sutcliffes sex-worker victims The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Alhaji Ali Suraj has called on the leadership of the Nasara wing of the party to take up the task of sensitizing the Zongo community on the need to take the coronavirus vaccine. Speaking to the media after his vaccination, Alhaji Suraj appealed to the constituency executives of Nasara to complement the governments effort with messages to the respective communities that highlight the importance of the vaccination process. He believes that with the coordinators being part of the communities, they are more likely to appeal to the residents. Im appealing to the constituency heads of Nasara to go out there and educate the people on the virus. Most of the leaders have been vaccinated so can use themselves as examples to these communities. Go to the homes and speak to them so that they get vaccinated. Alhaji Suraj described the process as an excellent one and appealed to Ghanaians to get the vaccine. He dispelled certain misinformation about the vaccine and vouched for its safety. Its nothing strange. Its rather an excellent process. I did not expect it to be this smooth so Im really impressed. Its important that you get vaccinated because at some point youll need it. The virus has been hard on everyone and the government has worked hard to get us the vaccines so please come and receive it for free, he said. He also rubbished allegations that one must part with some amount of money before receiving the vaccine. He emphasized when it comes to issues of public health, it is imperative that all kinds of propaganda and party-politics are relegated to the background. The president and his vice have taken the vaccine. I have also received mine and its a very safe thing so please get and get vaccinated. No one will ask you for money, you just walk in and receive your vaccine. That is the only way we can protect ourselves, he added Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Geographical Information System Officer, Kyiv, Ukraine Organization: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Country: Ukraine City: Kyiv, Ukraine Office: OSCE in Kyiv, Ukraine Closing date: Thursday, 8 April 2021 Issued by: OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Vacancy number: VNSMUS01173 Vacancy type: International Seconded Field of expertise: General Staff / Monitoring Functions Functional level: Senior professional Grade: S2 Number of posts: 2 Duty station: Kyiv Date of issue: 10 March 2021 Deadline for application: 8 April 2021 - 23: 59 Central European Time (CET/CEST) General Minimum Requirements The general minimum requirements for working with the OSCE are: Excellent physical condition Possession of a valid automobile driving license and ability to drive using manual transmission Ability to cope with physical hardship and willingness to work extra hours and in an environment with limited infrastructure Field of Expertise Requirements The general minimum requirements for working in this field of expertise are: Demonstrable organizational skills Proven ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing Demonstrable interpersonal skills and documented experience in negotiations Depending on the field activitys mandate, significant prior experience in relevant fields such as international customs practices and procedures, law enforcement, and military observations and arms control may also be required Negotiating experience, preferably in the area of monitoring operations and/or related activities Level of Professional Competence Requirements Furthermore, this level of responsibility requires the following: Education: First-level university degree in relevant field(s) Experience: Minimum 6 years of relevant professional experience Mission Specific Requirements Additionally, this particular post has specific requirements: Mandatory: Advanced technical qualifications and broad knowledge of geographical information system and its related matters; Experience working in Enterprise GIS environment, including managing data access for variety of groups, assigning roles within the portal and configuration of tools and data capture solutions to a wide variety of end users; Knowledge of base mapping, geographic information system (GIS) design and implementation, geographic database design and development, web technologies and project management tools; Knowledge of different data collection methodologies, including configuration of a variety of advanced forms in an Enterprise environment, and providing analysis and end-user products of the outputs; Demonstrated excellent organizational and analytical skills; Knowledge of geospatial workflows for imagery analysis including use of FMV and Drone2Map; Excellent communication, presentation and team-building skills; Tags arcgis communication technology data collection eastern europe gender perspective geographic information hazard pay information systems information technology javascript law enforcement project management python ukrainian Professional fluency in English, with excellent oral and written communication skills; Ability to work with minimum supervision in an environment where rapid response to emergencies is essential; Demonstrated commitment to gender equality objectives as well as the ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities; Demonstrated ability and willingness to work as a member of a team, with people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity; Cultural sensitivity and political judgement; Flexibility and ability to work under pressure and with limited time frames; Ability to operate GIS software e.g. ArcGIS, Windows applications, including word-processing and email, and excellent PowerPoint presentation skills. Desirable: Experience in using ArcGIS/ESRI APIs for advanced configuration in an Enterprise Environment, including the APIs for Javascript, Python and REST services would be highly beneficial; ESRI compatible script production and querying through ArcPy (Python) Arcade and/or SQL functions; Strong familiarity ArcGIS Enterprise Administration. The ability to troubleshoot infrastructure and software configurations would be very beneficial to have; Implementing Versioned workflow / multi user editing; Archiving data; Familiarity working with PostgreSQL geodatabase, including administration would be a strong benefit; familiarity with implementing versioned workflow and multi user editing would be highly beneficial; The ability to provide formal and informal training on GIS processes to other units and teams who might be largely unfamiliar with a GIS environment; Experience in working in Eastern Europe and/or knowledge of the region; Experience with the UN common system and/or other international organizations; Working knowledge of the Ukrainian and/or Russian language(s). Tasks and Responsibilities The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), in line with the OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality, is committed to further improving gender balance among staff in all areas and levels within the SMM. We encourage qualified applicants, especially women to apply for this position. If applicable, deployment is subject to attendance to and successful completion of pre-deployment training and assessment. Applicants are hereby notified that the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) is designated by the OSCE as a nonfamily duty station. This designation is based on the fluid and dynamic working environment in the SMM. The currently prevailing working conditions in the duty station may include working in a hazardous location with extended hours of service, and possibly curtailed freedom of movement. Successful candidates who are appointed to locations deemed by the OSCE as hazardous will receive hazard pay. In addition, all successful candidates will be required to participate in the OSCE accident and life insurance scheme in accordance with the OSCE Staff Regulations and Staff Rules. Under the guidance and supervision of the Chief of the Information Management Centre, as Geographical Information System Officer, your work may be conducted in office and field locations in Kyiv and in eastern Ukraine. Specifically, you will be tasked with the following: Taking responsibility for the timely preparation, maintenance and provision of geographical information system and maps in support of the Missions operations; Co-ordinating the collection, processing, evaluation and dissemination of geographical datasets; Conducting geographic/terrain analysis studies and prediction of the effects of terrain, weather and situation on the Missions operations; Implementing quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures on all products generated and disseminated by the Unit, including geographical datasets and maps; Supporting strategic planning, implementation and management of relevant information technology (IT) related matters within the Unit, in full consultation with the Information and Communication Technology Section (ICT); Maintaining and editing the Missions geo-database system as well as other geographical information systems (GIS) and associated services, ensuring appropriate data security and access controls; Contributing to the production of IMC reports as requested by the supervisor and in line with the Missions overall strategic direction; Archiving mission geographical datasets and maintaining the GIS geo-databases; Providing input and conducting geographical information training and education programmes for Mission staff; Performing other related duties as required. For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, please see //www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine">https: //www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages the nomination of qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds. Please note that nationals or permanent residents of the country of the duty station are not eligible to apply. Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see //jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model"> https: //jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model . Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered. Please apply to your relevant authorities well in advance of the deadline expiration to ensure timely processing of your application. Delayed nominations will not be considered. The OSCE can only process Secondment applications that have been nominated by participating States. For queries relating to your application, please refer to the respective delegation as listed here: //www.osce.org/contacts/delegations"> https: //www.osce.org/contacts/delegations Link to the organizations job offer: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1615402316406 Free detainees, Thai government tells junta THAILAND: The government has asked Myanmar to release detainees against the backdrop of intensified protests in which eight more protesters have been reported killed. Myanmarpoliticsdeathviolence By Bangkok Post Friday 12 March 2021, 08:46AM Protesters stand by a large pipe set up to build a barricade as they take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon yesterday (Mar 11). Photo: AFP. The junta reacted to international condemnation of its crackdown by claiming ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted hefty illegal payments. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday (Mar 11) called for the release of detainees in Myanmar and urging all parties to seek a peaceful solution for Myanmar and its people through dialogue. As a next-door neighbour sharing a long common border, with Myanmar and Thais having close interaction in many aspects, Thailand continues to follow developments in Myanmar with much concern. As with other countries, we are saddened by the loss of lives and sufferings of the people of Myanmar due to escalating violence in the country, the ministry said. It reiterated statements by Brunei, Aseans chair, on Feb 1 and March 2, which called on all sides in Myanmar to exercise utmost restraint as well as flexibility. We call for a de-escalation of the situation and release of detainees. We also urge all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution for Myanmar and its people through dialogue via any constructive channels, the ministry said in a statement. Thailand supports Aseans readiness to assist Myanmar, an Asean family member, in a positive, peaceful and constructive manner, the ministry said. Diplomatic pressure has been building since the generals seized power on Feb 1, triggering daily protests around the country that they have struggled to quell. The United Nations on Wednesday condemned the juntas increasingly violent crackdown, which has seen more than 60 killed and 2,000 arrested, with even China - a traditional Myanmar ally - calling for de-escalation and dialogue. Yesterday saw more hardline action against demonstrators, with six killed in central Myanmars Myaing township. Six men were shot dead while eight people were wounded - with one man in a critical condition, a rescue worker said. A witness said five of them were shot in the head. There was also a fatality in Yangons North Dagon, where Chit Min Thu, 25, died after being shot in the head. I recently learnt that his wife is two months pregnant, his mother Hnin Malar Aung said. No one will be in peace until this situation ends. They were so cruel with my son. I never expected my son would be shot in the head.... Im worried about all the unarmed youth, they will be in trouble. The military, which has defended its takeover by citing voting irregularities in November elections won by Ms Suu Kyis party, held a rare news conference yesterday accusing Ms Suu Kyi of corruption. In the capital Nay Pyi Taw, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the detained chief minister of Yangon had admitted giving Ms Suu Kyi US$600,000 (B18.3 million) in cash, along with more than 11 kilogrammes of gold. Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, detained since the Feb 1 putsch, is already facing several criminal charges including owning unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions. If there has ever been a misleading headline, it has to be the one above, at least according to European carmakers. Hydrogen cars, they say, are not a viable alternative to battery electric vehicles. And that is despite billions of dollars that their own governments are pouring into hydrogen. "You won't see any hydrogen usage in cars," Volkswagen's chief executive Herbert Diess told the Financial Times recently. "Not even in 10 years because the physics behind it are so unreasonable." In this, Diess appears to share the opinion of the man he sees as a major competitor: Elon Musk, who said a few years ago hydrogen cars were "incredibly dumb". Hydrogen as a fuel and as an energy storage vehicle has been gaining increasing popularity in the past couple of years, but somehow hydrogen cars have failed to take off in any way comparable to EVs. That's because of two things. First, hydrogen fuel cell technology is expensive, and it has not been able to accomplish the major cost cuts that EV technologyspecifically battery technologyhas recorded in the most recent past, making some EVs quite affordable. Second, major investments have yet to be made in the construction of hydrogen fueling stations. For that, carmakers need to send more hydrogen cars. Fast chargingor fuelingis perhaps the main advantage of hydrogen cars over EVs, along with the absent risk of battery combustion. Range anxiety is strictly an EV phenomenon. But hydrogen cars still need fuel, and this fuel happens to be highly flammable. Sometimes this causes fires at fueling stations. Related Video: Could Synthetic Fuels Save ICE Cars? Some carmakers do have hydrogen car programs, among them Toyota, with its Mirai, which was the first mass-produced hydrogen car in the world. Hyundai also has a hydrogen model, the Nexos, and even a European carmaker, BMW, plans to launch a hydrogen car next year. Does this mean the hydrogen cars are coming, whatever Diess and Musk think? Not yet. The Financial Times report notes how major European carmakers all toyed with fuel cell technology before quietly giving up, including Diess' Volkswagen and even Mercedes, which, according to the report, spent decades trying to make hydrogen technology work for it. Yet fuel cell technology could become viable in the future, at least according to Renault's head of alternative fuels. Philippe Prevel told the FT that while regular passenger cars using fuel cell technology are unlikely to become economically viable over the next ten years, some vehicles on closed networks or fixed routes could make it before that, likely because it is easier to set up fueling stations at the two ends of a fixed route. Indeed, fueling station infrastructure seems to be the biggest obstacle, and not just in Europe. It is a problem in the United States as well, in its only hydrogen car market California. "We are an early market and these cars are not cheap for lease or sale," Keith Malone from the California Fuel Cell Partnership told ABC News last December. "Most stations are concentrated in urban areas in California. But we've seen a lot of progress. The real challenge is rolling out the fueling network. But the vehicles are here. They're good, people love them." Related: OPEC Sees Strong Oil Demand In The Second Half Of 2021 It appears to be a vicious circle: in order to buy a fuel cell car, a driver will need to know there will be enough fueling stations. But to build fueling stations, companies need to know there will be enough drivers using them. And for now, there aren't, at least in Europe and the U.S. Perhaps the sentiment that VW's Diess and Tesla's Musk share is nothing but a case of sour grapes. After all, VW has already poured billions in EV production and will hardly like to see competition from a different technology that lacks EV's main problems. Tesla has also bet entirely on EVs, so alternatives would hardly be a cause for joy. China, however, is betting on these alternatives along with EVs. Last year, Beijing said it will direct a package of policies towards improving the hydrogen car production supply chain and advancing relevant technologies in a bid to make hydrogen cars more popular in the country. Plans are to have a million hydrogen cars on Chinese roads by 2030. And if China does something, it might pay to watch it closely. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Two men remain in Garda custody this morning following the seizure of 70,000 worth of cocaine in Athlone, Co Westmeath, yesterday. The men, aged in their 20s and 30s, were both arrested at the scene of a drugs raid in the Monksland area. Gardai from the Westmeath Divisional Drugs Unit assisted by local units and the Armed Support Unit carried out the search as part of an ongoing intelligence-led operation into the sale and supply of illegal drugs in the area. Read More Approximately 1kg of cocaine (pending analysis) worth 70,000 was discovered and seized. The arrested men are currently detained at Athlone Garda Station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996. The leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD are all set to hold the historic first Quad meet on March 12. The summit will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison come together for its first online meet. Convened by Biden, the meet is expected to cover a range of topics including vaccine supply, climate change, and post-COVID recovery efforts. This will be the virtual meeting between PM Modi and Joe Biden since he assumed charge as the new United States President. Both the leaders have spoken twice over the phone since November when Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential elections. The White House Press Secretary Jen Psak said "That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we place on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific." What is QUAD? Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD was officially set up in 2007 by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The four countries first worked collectively in 2004, in response to the devastation of an earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. In 2007, QUAD was set up to show what democracies can deliver together and to counter Chinas growing influence in Asia. The group was disbanded as India's then PM Manmohan Singh and Australian PM Morrison both denied involvement in efforts against China. In 2017, QUAD was again renewed during the ASEAN Summit to counter Chinas assertiveness in the region. In November 2017, when the four nations formed the "Quad", the aim was to come up with a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. In 2019, the group was elevated to the level of foreign ministers and they held their first meeting in New York in September. First QUAD meet details Ever since the revival of the QUAD group in 2017, this is the first meet where leaders from all four nations will come together to discuss a range of issues. The meeting will be held virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12. The four leaders are expected to interact at 7 pm (IST) while it remains to be seen if there is an individual interaction. First QUAD meet: What to expect? The historic first QUAD meet will have discussions on a range of topics including free Indo-Pacific, climate crisis and COVID-19 vaccine initiative is expected to be the major topic on agenda. White House Press Secretary also informed reporters that the leaders are expected to discuss including facing the global community from the threat of COVID-19 to economic cooperation and, of course, to the climate crisis. Historic: This is the first meeting of the #Quad at the leader level. @POTUS and this administration are committed to working with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific to secure the peace, defend our shared values, and advance our prosperity. pic.twitter.com/ImlJvLeAVW National Security Council (@WHNSC) March 9, 2021 MEA in a statement confirmed that PM Modi will attend the first leaders summit of the QUAD framework. The statement further confirmed that "The leaders will discuss ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19 pandemic and explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region." Free and open access to the Indo-Pacific region The idea of a free Indo-Pacific has always remained a talking point among the leaders in the wake of China's increasing military muscle-flexing in the region. Ahead of the meet, the Australian foreign ministry said the Quad is a key pillar of Australia's international agenda and that dialogue will allow the four nations to advance their shared interest in the region. The idea of free and open access to the Indo-Pacific region has remained at the core of the summit which will also see discussions on climate crisis and vaccine initiative. Earlier on October 6, 2020, the foreign ministers of the QAUD member nations met in Tokyo and reaffirmed their collective vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. In fact, the revival of the group happened with an aim to develop a new strategy to keep sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. "The Quad's positive agenda will enable us to progress cooperation among four Indo-Pacific democracies across a range of areas, including to support the region recover from the economic and health impacts of COVID-19," MEA said in a statement. PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Suga, during a telephonic conversation on March 9, shared the view that cooperation towards realising a free and open Indo-Pacific is becoming increasingly important, the Japanese foreign ministry said. COVID-19 vaccine Initiative Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, safe and equal distribution of vaccine remains a top priority and the QUAD leaders will explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region. As the pandemic continues to pose challenges to the world, the leaders are expected to review the situation and discuss post-COVID recovery efforts. US Secretary of State Tony Blinken told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing, We have a Quad summit meeting on Friday with President Biden, and I expect well see something on vaccines coming out of that summit. There are other things that were looking at that were working on in the days and weeks and months ahead to make sure that we are a leading international actor in creating greater access to vaccines. Countering China The first meet is seen as a major move to further expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific as the world worries about China's growing assertiveness in the region. While Chinas proactive and assertive activities have worried many, these four countries have set the stage for strategies on Indo-Pacific. The Renewal of QUAD sends a message that democratic rule-based countries "can join hands-on shared political and economic values." The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China's growing assertiveness Cooperation on the Indo-Pacific region, Maritime security, emerging and critical technologies, resilient supply chains are major issues aimed at countering China. Not only the Indo-Pacific region but QUAD also aims to counter China's dominance in the rare-earth supply chain. Beijing controls 60% of global rare-earth and is crucial to manufacturing electronic goods. This comes under the rubric of resilient supply chain, according to the Indian governments agenda item. FORT NELSON, B.C. - Ottawa has committed more than $40 million to fund the development of geothermal power from a diminishing natural gas field in northern British Columbia. Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Feb. 17, 2020. Ottawa is committing $40 million to fund the development of geothermal power from a diminishing natural gas field in northern British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld FORT NELSON, B.C. - Ottawa has committed more than $40 million to fund the development of geothermal power from a diminishing natural gas field in northern British Columbia. "It will serve as a model for other geothermal facilities across the country, particularly in the North and rural communities," Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Reagan said Friday. The money will be spent on the Clarke Lake field near the community of Fort Nelson, which is nearing depletion after nearly 60 years of production. That, combined with low natural gas prices, have reduced investment and employment from the resource. The first full size geothermal well will be drilled early this year and commercial operation is expected by late 2024. The project is expected to generate up to 15 megawatts of green energy, which is enough to power up to 14,000 households and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25,000 tonnes. The project is entirely owned by the Fort Nelson First Nation, with involvement from the Saulteau First Nation. Fort Nelson Chief Sharleen Gale said the project will use the skills local workers already have, redirecting them from fossil fuels to geothermal. "We are accomplishing all of this by using existing skill sets," she said. "This is a fast-forward for us to lead the energy transition." A government press release said the Clarke Lake project will be one of Canada's first commercially viable geothermal electricity production facilities. O'Reagan said Ottawa is also involved in other geothermal projects. It has invested more than $25 million in a five-megawatt geothermal power plant near Estevan, Sask., and about the same for a similar facility near Grande Prairie, Alta. It has also spent nearly $7 million for a project in Alberta near Rocky Mountain House and about $5 million for another one near Swan Hills. "It's a great opportunity," said O'Reagan. "It provides almost a safe harbour for a lot of workers who are currently displaced by the ups and downs of the oil and natural gas industries. Their skills in drilling and exploration are almost perfectly transferable to geothermal." By Bob Weber in Edmonton. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021 US tariff move helps 99 medical product categories From:ChinaDaily | 2021-03-12 07:56 The United States is extending tariff exclusions on about 99 categories of medical products from China until Sept 30, to support the fight against COVID-19, the US Trade Representative office said on Wednesday. The exclusion covers a wide range of items from medical masks and gloves to blood pressure cuff sleeves and X-ray tables. The earlier tariff exclusion extension on these medical products was set to lapse on March 31. In the Federal Register notice announcing the extension, the US Trade Representative said,"In light of the continuing efforts to combat COVID-19, the US Trade Representative has determined that it is inappropriate to allow the exclusions for certain products to lapse." Zhang Yansheng, chief researcher at Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said China is able to produce and export medical supplies to other countries because it has been taking strict and effective prevention and control measures against the disease, and thus is able to resume production and business activities fast and effectively. "It is significant for China to step up production and supply protective masks and other materials that are needed by people in other countries," Zhang said. China, one of the world's major mask and protective gear producers, has been stepping up production to meet overseas demand for related supplies, marking its contribution to the global fight against the pandemic. The Chinese authorities issued a new policy measure last March to ensure the quality of medical supply exports. Exporters of medical products including COVID-19 testing kits, medical masks, medical protective suits, ventilators and infrared thermometers are required to provide extra documentation containing a declaration that the products have been officially registered in China and meet the quality-control standards of respective export destinations. U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn's bill to close the Charleston loophole by extending the length of time for FBI background checks on gun purchases passed the House on March 11 and heads to an uncertain future in a narrowly controlled Democratic majority Senate. The 219-210 vote in favor of the Enhanced Background Checks Act was a defining moment in the House majority whip's career. This was his fourth time introducing the bill since Dylann Roof gunned down nine Black parishioners at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church in 2015. The Democratic congressman from Columbia, whose district includes portions of Charleston, has been on a mission to pass a measure that would work to prevent similar tragedies ever since. Clyburn said in a statement afterward that the bill's passage in the House helps bring some peace to the families who lost loved ones in the Emanuel shooting. "I am emotional today for the families and friends of the Emanuel Nine, several of who were my constituents," Clyburn said. "They have been waiting for years to see the Charleston Loophole closed," he added. "Todays vote moves us one step closer to making gun ownership safer." Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., crossed party lines to vote for the expanded background checks. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., stood against Clyburn's bill. One member from each party did not vote. If passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden, Clyburn's bill would give law enforcement 10 days to complete a background check before a gun can be purchased instead of the current three days. If the review is not completed within the timeframe, it would be processed for up to an additional 20 days. The purchaser could then request a faster review to start an FBI investigation. In 2005, Roof went to buy a gun legally from a Midlands shop. The sale should not have gone through because he was legally prohibited from buying the weapon, but his background check failed to find an arrest report indicating his drug use. Since the background check went unfinished after the three-day waiting period, Roof was able to obtain a .45-caliber Glock handgun, which he used in the attack. Clyburn and supporters say if the government had extended the length of time for background checks on guns, Roof wouldnt have been able to buy a weapon, given his criminal history. Roof was convicted of 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and religious rights violations, and sentenced to death. He was sentenced in state court to nine consecutive lifetime prison terms plus 90 years for murder, attempted murder and a firearms violation. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! A similar gun effort passed the House in 2020 by a vote of 228-198, but it was stymied at the time by the Republican-controlled Senate. The Enhanced Background Checks Act is one part of a two-bill package on gun reforms. The other bill which passed 227-203, is designed to ensure background checks also cover private and online sales that often go undetected, such as at gun shows. During a press conference March 11, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said he will do whatever he can to make the bills pass and reach Biden's desk. "Maybe we'll get the votes, and if we don't, we'll come together as a caucus and figure out how we're gonna get this done," Schumer said. "We have to get it done for the love of the American people." The bill does need significant bipartisan support to reach the White House. Schumer will have to hold onto all the Democratic votes and win over at least 10 Republicans to pass the measure. The National Rifle Association, a gun-rights advocacy group, has been a staunch opponent of measures to close the Charleston loophole, as well as other reforms on background checks. They point out that it was an error in the process that led to the Roof purchase. The Charleston case would not have been prevented by lengthening the three day proceed to sale provision, a post on the gun lobbys website states. To the contrary, doing so would result in arbitrary delays affecting the rights of millions of people every year and make it more difficult for law-abiding Americans to defend themselves and their families. GOP critics of the bill say it is an infringement on Second Amendment rights. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have both backed bills as Emanuel follow ups, but they would not extend the time frame on completing background checks. Their respective bills would increase the amount of data that could be made available to the national instant criminal background check system, which they believe would have stopped Roof from obtaining the firearm. "This is an issue I care about deeply, but we should be focused on solutions that actually solve the problem," Mace said in a statement. "The 'Charleston Loophole' legislation would never have prevented the mass murderer at Mother Emanuel from obtaining a firearm." While the bill faces a difficult path in the Senate, the passage of it the House was significant for family members of those who were killed at Emanuel. The Rev. Sharon Risher, whose mother died in the shooting, said she watched the passage of the bill on TV. She said it brought her peace to know that reforms are coming from the tragedy. "It's a victory," Risher said. "Because now I believe the nine souls' deaths mean more than just that they got killed. And now, we just have to work hard to get all the senators to know how passionate we are and how this could save other people's lives." Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has asked the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership to refrain from dragging national institutions into politics for their vested interests LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2021 ) :Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has asked the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership to refrain from dragging national institutions into politics for their vested interests. "Criticism against national institutions by the opposition parties tantamounted to rendering them weak and embroiling in controversies", he said while talking to different delegations at the Governor's House here on Thursday. He said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government was on the mission to strengthen democracy in the country by empowering institutions, people and the parliament. The Governor Punjab regretted that the PDM was pursuing politics of confrontation. Sarwar further said the PDM was trying to create political instability in the country through new propaganda every day, adding that it was detrimental to the interest of the country. "It is the right of political parties to do politics, but these should not drag institutions into politics for vested interests", he stressed. He said the opposition parties should prefer national interests over political gains, adding that there were many examples in the world where the countries withered when the defence institutions were targeted for political and personal gains. The Governor Punjab said, "Pakistan has the best armed forces in the world which are capable of giving a befitting response to miscreants," adding that everyone should stand united with the armed forces for a strong Pakistan. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... YANGON, Myanmar A court in Myanmar extended on Friday the pretrial detention of an Associated Press journalist who was arrested while covering demonstrations against a coup. He is facing a charge that could send him to prison for three years. Thein Zaw, 32, was one of nine media workers taken into custody during a protest on Feb. 27 in Yangon, the countrys largest city, and has been held without bail. His next hearing at the Kamayut Township court will be on March 24. Fridays hearing, which Thein Zaw attended via videoconference, came at the end of his initial remand period. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Thein Zaw and at least six other members of the media have been charged with violating a public order law, according to his lawyer, Tin Zar Oo, and the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Separate hearings were held Friday for the other detained journalists. Tin Zar Oo and one of Thein Zaws brothers were allowed into the courtroom to take part in the 10-minute videoconference. Tin Zar Oo said she was able to submit documents giving her power of attorney for the case, but only at the next hearing might be allowed to submit a bail application. A representative of the U.S. Embassy was also present, said Aryani Manring, a spokeswoman for the mission. Thein Zaw had not been seen by his lawyer or any of his family members since his arrest. Tin Zar Oo said visits at Insein Prison, where her client is being held, are not allowed because of coronavirus concerns, so his family has been dropping off food and supplies for him at the gate. Tin Zar Oo said that her client looked healthy during Fridays hearing, but he suffers from asthma at night. She said Thein Zaws brother noted that he had lost weight. Thein Zaw was arrested as he was photographing police, some of them armed, charging down a street at anti-coup protesters. A video shows that although he stepped to the side of the street to get out of their way, several police rushed over and surrounded him. One put him in a chokehold as he was handcuffed and then taken away. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 38 journalists have been detained since the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1. Nineteen are still incarcerated. The group says it has verified the detentions of more than 2,000 people as well as 69 deaths. On Friday, local media in Shan State in eastern Myanmar reported that a freelance journalist from Poland had been beaten and arrested by security forces. The online Kanbawza Tai News said a foreign photojournalist was arrested Thursday while taking pictures of a protest in the city of Taunggyi. A photo provided to the news site shows a man trapped against a wall with one arm raised as he is surrounded by about 10 soldiers. Germanys dpa news agency said the man, Robert Bociaga, 30, has been working for the news service, and it has not been able to contact him. We are deeply shocked by the arrest and apparent mistreatment of Robert Bociaga, said the agencys editor-in-chief, Sven Goesmann. This is an intolerable and unacceptable attack on the freedom of the press and, even in this brutal form, is unfortunately not an isolated case. The Polish Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrest of a Polish journalist and said it was trying to contact the detained man and obtain information about his health and legal situation. Earlier this week, Myanmar authorities canceled the licenses of five local outlets that had extensively covered the protests. Mizzima, Democratic Voice of Burma, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News have continued operating despite being barred from broadcasting or publishing on any media platform. The Associated Press and many press freedom organizations have called for the release of Thein Zaw and the other detained journalists. The U.S. government, in addition to criticizing the coup and the violence of Myanmars security forces, has condemned the crackdown on the press in the Southeast Asian nation. We are deeply concerned about the increasing attacks on the freedom of expression, including for members of the press. We call for the release of journalists and for all others who have been unjustly detained, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters in Washington on Thursday. Even during Suu Kyis time in office, journalists were often sued for their reporting. In the highest-profile case, two journalists working for the Reuters news agency were arrested in 2017 while working on a story about military violence directed at Myanmars Rohingya minority. They were accused of illegally possessing official documents and sentenced to seven years behind bars before being freed in 2019 in a mass presidential pardon. ___ This story has been corrected to show that a representative of the U.S. Embassy attended Fridays court hearing and that Sven Goesmanns title is editor-in-chief, not deputy editor-in-chief. Dareli Matamoros, a girl from Honduras, holds a sign asking President Joe Biden to let her in during a migrant demonstration at San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico on March 2, 2021. (Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images) Mexican President Says Bidens Asylum Policies Enriching Cartels Mexicos president is worried that Bidens asylum policies are encouraging illegal immigration and the business of human trafficking along the border with the United States. They see him as the migrant president, and so many feel theyre going to reach the United States, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said of Biden the morning after a virtual meeting with his U.S. counterpart on March 1, according to Reuters. 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) We need to work together to regulate the flow, because this business cant be tackled from one day to the next, Obrador added. The number of illegal crossings at the southern border has steadily risen since October 2020. The number of encounters at the southwest border between October 2020 and January was 296,259, an 79.6 percent increase from 164,932 for the same period a year earlier, according to data from the CBP. Encounters soared to 100,441 in February alone, approaching the 15-year high of 144,116 encounters seen in mid-2019. Mexico has called on the Biden administration since it was sworn in on Jan. 20 to provide development aid to Central American countries to curb the influx of migrants. A Mexican official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Mexico saw a shift in activity by criminal groups from the day Biden took office. The official said the cartels now exhibited unprecedented levels of sophistication in their operations. Migrants have become a commodity, they added, saying that human smuggling was now as profitable as drug smuggling for local gangs. But if a packet of drugs is lost in the sea, its gone. If migrants are lost, its human beings were talking about. Mexicos assessments of testimonies and gathered intelligence view Bidens policies as ones that will incentivize migration, Reuters reported. The smugglers are also using social media to list status updates for border checkpoints in real time, as well as possible transport options along the routes to the border, helping many evade detection by U.S. Border Patrol. The intelligence also says that smugglers advise their clients to register claims with U.S. authorities that they have been victims of extortion or, for young men, that they have faced death threats from street gangs, according to government documents viewed by Reuters. Isabel van Brugen contributed to this report. ADVERTISEMENT The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the 10-year jail term passed on a former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, who was convicted of criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust. Mr Dariye was said to have looted N2billion public funds during his time as Plateau State governor, between 1999 and 2007. The former governor, elected as the senator representing Plateau Central in the Nigerian Senate in 2015, was sentenced in June 2018 but still completed his tenure as a senator from jail in June 2019. He led a partly successful appeal at the Supreme Court with a five-man panel of the court headed by Mary Odili, quashing his conviction in respect of criminal misappropriation in a unanimous decision handed down Friday. The offences he was discharged of only attracted two years imprisonment and, so had no impact on his overall number of years of imprisonment. The apex upheld the ex-govermors conviction in respect of criminal breach of trust, which attracted the 10-year jail term. Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja had on June 12, 2018 convicted Mr Dariye and originally sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment on charges of criminal breach of trust and two years jail term for criminal misappropriation. But following his appeal against the judgment, the Court of Appeal in Abuja on November 16, 2018, commuted the 14 years jail term to 10. While the Court of Appeal affirmed his conviction, it held that section section 416 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, prohibited the imposition of maximum sentence on a first offender, such as the convict. The former governor had further appealed to the Supreme Court. Ejembi Emo, a member of the apex courts panel noted that Mr Dariyes appeal succeeded in part after quashing the ex-governors come conviction in respect of charges of criminal misappropriation. A justice of the apex court, Helen Ogunwumiju, read the conclusion of the judgment on behalf of Mr Ejembi, without giving details on Friday. The Supreme Courts judgment comes about 13 months after a five-man panel of the court, also led by Mrs Odili, affirmed the conviction and sentence of a former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame. Mr Nyame was on May 30, 2018, convicted and sentenced by the same trial judge, Ms Banjoko, who had jailed him 14 years for criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation of N1.6billion. Ms Banjokos judgment came less than two weeks after she convicted and sentenced Mr Dariye on June 12, 2018. But the Court of Appeal in Abuja also reduced the 14 years imprisonment passed on Mr Nyame to 12 years and imposed a fine of N100m on him. However, following the ex-governors further appeal to the apex court, the Ms Odili-led panel unanimously set aside the N100m fine but affirmed the 12 years imprisonment. A health worker holds a bottle of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine with name Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha written on it, at Bamrasnaradura Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 12, 2021. Prayuth and members of his cabinet cancelled the plan to receive AstraZeneca shots on Friday, following the reports on blood clots and suspension in some European countries. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) Officials in several European countries pushed back Friday against decisions by others to pause use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine following sporadic reports of blood clots, despite a lack of evidence the shot was responsible. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that while the country takes reports of possible harmful effects from vaccines "very, very seriously," both the European Medicines Agency and Germany's own vaccine oversight body have said they have no evidence of an increase in dangerous blood clots in connection with the shots. "I regret that on the basis of the knowledge, as of Friday morning, some countries in the European Union have suspended vaccinations with AstraZeneca," Spahn told reporters in Berlin. Denmark was the first to temporarily halt use of the AstraZeneca vaccine Thursday after reports of blood clots in some people. The Nordic nation's health authority said the decision was "based on a precautionary principle" and that one person who developed a blood clot after vaccination had died. Norway, Iceland and Bulgaria followed suit and suspended use of the Anglo-Swedish company's vaccine, which was developed with the University of Oxford. "Until all doubts are dispelled and experts guarantee that it holds no risk for people, we are stopping immunization using that vaccine," Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told a Cabinet meeting. He said that the suspension will last until the European Medicines Agency issues a written statement that it is safe. The regulator has said it is looking into the reportsbut that vaccinations should continue in the meantime. Thailand has also delayed use of the vaccine, pending an investigation, while Italy and Romania stopped using shots from one particular batch. Austria has also halted use of doses from a single, but different, batch. That decision followed the death from blood clots of a 49-year-old 10 days after she had been vaccinated, and the hospitalization of a 35-year-old woman. Experts concluded neither complication was related to the vaccine, and Austria's chancellor said Friday that he, himself, would be willing to receive the shot "to show that I have trust in this vaccine." German Health Minister Jens Spahn attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 12, 2021. Spahn said Friday that Germany takes reports of possible side effects from coronavirus vaccines "very, very seriously" but added that both the European Medicines Agency and Germany's own vaccine oversight body have said they have no evidence of an increase in dangerous blood clots in connection with the shots. Denmark has temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots in some people, and Norway decided to follow suit, despite the lack of any evidence the shot was responsible. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool) "Experts here have a clear opinion and this vaccine is being used in many countries around the world, and it is already being used by tens of millions," Sebastian Kurz said. In fact, nearly every country that issued a suspension acknowledged that it had no evidence the vaccine had caused the blood clots. Health experts have pointed out that the people most likely to currently be receiving COVID-19 vaccinations are also more likely to have other health problems, which could put them at higher risk for blood clots. France, Poland and Nigeria, meanwhile, said they would continue using the AstraZeneca shot even as national regulators investigate. "At this stage, the benefit of vaccination is judged superior to the risk," said France's health minister, Olivier Veran. The suspensions were the latest trouble for AstraZeneca, which had a public spat with the European Union earlier this year over supply delays and which also faced concerns about its efficacy in older adults. While EU regulators approved it for use in all adults, some countries have set age restrictionsthough many are now lifting those. The trouble also comes as many EU countries have struggled to quickly ramp up vaccinations. Despite the bumpy rollout, the vaccine is still expected to be critical to the global inoculation program because it's cheaper and easier to store than many othersand because the global initiative to get vaccines to poorer countries known as COVAX relies heavily on the vaccine. Italy's precautionary ban came after what it said were "serious adverse events." It didn't elaborate, but Italian media reported at least two suspect deaths of military and law enforcement officers were being investigated. The union representing members of the Italian Air Force confirmed one of its members had died and urged further clarification from the government. Italy's ban affects a lot of 500,000 AstraZeneca doses that had been delivered across the country. A health worker administers a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 to a patient inside the convention center known as "La Nuvola", The Cloud, in Rome, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. The visually extraordinary complex designed by famed architect Massimiliano Fuksas has been transformed into a temporary vaccination center. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) The European Medicines Agency, which authorized the shot for use across the 27-nation EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in January, said "the vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered" while a closer evaluation of the blood clot cases continues. "There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions," the regulator said Thursday. It said the number of people with blood clots in vaccinated people was no higher than those who hadn't been inoculated. The World Health Organization said the same, but added that it would asses the reports though it didn't expect any changes to recommendations based on current evidence. Britain's medicines regulator also said it had not received any reports of blood clots in people that were caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine. More than 11 million doses of AstraZeneca have been administered in the U.K. "Reports of blood clots received so far are not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population," the agency said. The EU drug regulator did say, separately, that product information for the AstraZeneca vaccine should be updated to note that cases of severe allergic reactions have been reported. The suggested update is based on a review of 41 reported cases of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reactions, that were identified among 5 million people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine. In a statement on Friday, the Amsterdam-based agency said it concluded that "a link to the vaccine was likely in at least some of these cases." Such allergic reactions are a recognized rare side effect to numerous vaccines and have been reported for other COVID-19 shots, including the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech. 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. LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken a serious note of all illegally built religious structures encroaching roads across the state and ordered their immediate removal. According to reports, the Home Department has issued an order on Thursday directing the district magistrates (DMs) and Commissioners of all the districts to bulldoze all the religious structures that encroach the roads. On behalf of the state government, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avnish Awasthi has written a letter addressed to all the Commissioners and DMs in this regard. In his letter, Awasthi instructed that all encroachments, including illegally built religious structures, should be removed. The state government has also sought a compliance report from all the Commissioners and DMs by March 14 stating how many religious structures have been removed after the order was issued. The Chief Minister has recently taken several important decisions, including the move to implement a single-step delivery system to prevent frequent scams in the ration. Under this, the grain will be brought directly from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouse to the shops and every movement of the vehicles will be monitored by the government. This decision was taken during the cabinet meeting. Besides, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has also proposed Rs 250 crores for 'One district, One Product' (ODOP) for the next financial year in the budget. In ODOP last year, on 14 May, 26 June, 7 August and 3 December, more than 10 lakh beneficiaries were given loans of about Rs 30,000 crores through four online fairs. In a bid to increase employment opportunities for youth in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had last month directed banks to give Rs 80,000 crore loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the next financial year. About 20 lakh MSMEs will benefit from this amount. More than one crore youth will get employment opportunities in the next year. Live TV New Delhi [India], February 12 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party's Central Election Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting on Saturday to finalise a list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls, sources said. " Central Election Committee to hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the names of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls in 4 states and one UT," sources said. on Wednesday announced the names of three candidates for Assam. Similarly, the had earlier released the list of 60 candidates for the first two phases of the West Bengal A total of 824 Assembly constituencies shall be going for polls in four states--Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam-- and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The polling in these states will start on March 27 and end on April 29. The counting of votes for to four states and one UT will be held on May 2. As many as 18.68 crore electors will cast vote at 2.7 lakh polling stations in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. (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 (dpa-AFX) - After ending the previous session little changed, treasuries showed a significant move to the downside during trading on Friday. Bond prices moved sharply lower in morning trading and remained firmly negative throughout the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 10.8 basis points to 1.635 percent. With the substantial increase on the day, the ten-year yield ended the session at its highest closing level in over a year. The sell-off by treasuries came after President Joe Biden directed states to make all adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by May 1st. The vaccine news combined with the new $1.9 trillion stimulus package has generated optimism about the economic outlook, reducing the appeal of bonds. Treasuries saw further downside following the release of a report from the University of Michigan showing U.S. consumer sentiment improved by much more than expected in the month of March. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index jumped to 83.0 in March after dipping to 76.8 in February. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 78.5. With the much bigger than expected increase, the consumer sentiment index reached its highest level since hitting 89.1 in March of 2020. A separate report released by the Labor Department released showed U.S. producer prices increased in line with economist estimates on the month of February. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.5 percent in February after spiking by 1.3 percent in January. The price growth matched expectations. Excluding prices for food, energy, and trade services, core producer prices edged up by 0.2 percent in February following a 1.2 percent jump in January. The report also showed the annual rate of growth in producer prices surged up to 2.8 percent in February from 1.7 percent in January. Core producer prices in February were up by 2.2 percent compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting an uptick from the 2.0 percent growth in January. The Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision is likely to be in the spotlight next week, with traders looking for the central bank to address the recent spike in bond yields. Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts, and regional manufacturing activity. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Photo taken on March 9, 2021 shows an event of the 20th anniversary of the Buddha destruction in Bamyan province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Azimi/Xinhua) Image Source: IANS News Photo taken on March 9, 2021 shows an event of the 20th anniversary of the Buddha destruction in Bamyan province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Azimi/Xinhua) Image Source: IANS News Kabul, March 12 : Afghans commemorated the two decades since the Taliban destroyed the two giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan province, with a pledge to preserve the world's cultural heritages. "Although the Taliban dynamited the two statues, the monuments are still popular as many people annually get together in Bamiyan to commemorate the giant Buddhas in ceremonies where the speakers express their anger over vandalising the world's cultural heritages," provincial governor Sayed Anwar Rahmati told Xinhua news agency. Reportedly built in the sixth century, the destruction of the 55-metre-tall and 38-metre-tall statues by the Taliban militants in March 2001 has been condemned globally. Rahmati pledged that his provincial administration is committed to preserving and repairing all the historical monuments and cultural heritages in Bamiyan province with the support of national and international agencies. To pay tribute to the destroyed Buddhas and denounce the destroyers, hundreds of people including boys and girls held a lantern-lit procession, which led to the front of destroyed Buddhas cliff on Tuesday evening. The participants at the procession also arranged a 3D projector to return the destroyed Buddha to the spectators and those gathered to denounce the monuments' destruction. Expressing dismay over the demolition, the participants called upon the Taliban to preserve cultural heritages, besides urging the government and world community to help rebuild the destroyed Buddhas. In a statement on Thursday, Ernesto Ottone R., the Unesco's Assistant Director-General for Culture, said: "As we mark 20 years since the destruction in Bamiyan, we at Unesco reiterate our support to the Afghan people and reinforce our commitment to stand together with people everywhere to safeguard cultural heritage as an embodiment of our common humanity." COLUMBIA The University of South Carolina has taken the first step toward building a new $300 million health care campus for its School of Medicine. A committee of the USC Board of Trustees on March 12 unanimously recommended the school spend $4.2 million on a development plan for the proposed 16-acre site in the BullStreet District that would house a new 130,000-square-foot medical school and a separate 162,000-square-foot research and laboratory building. The proposal is believed to be the largest high-dollar project undertaken at any South Carolina public college, topping Clemson University's $212 million Douthit Hills housing project and $106.5 million spent on USC's own Darla Moore School of Business building. The action still needs full board approval, as well as go-aheads from the Commission on Higher Education, the lawmaker-led Joint Bond Review Committee and the State Fiscal Accountability Authority before to the bidding process can begin. "This is really a day of significance for the School of Medicine," USC architect Derek Gruner told trustees. If the full board gives its blessing on this first phase as expected, developers would come back with design proposals for the structures to be built on donated land in the burgeoning BullStreet District on the former site of the S.C. Department of Mental Health. The site is near Prisma Health Richland Hospital, a partner with the university. Gruner said he expects the board will be able to select the developer a year from now. In addition to the medical school and research facility, the plan would also identify space for the development of other possible health campus buildings and a future parking structure, he said. "I talk to a lot of students that want to come to medical school," said board member Dr. Eddie Floyd, a retired heart surgeon from Florence who has been a proponent of the project. "With the facilities we have now, we are last in the state of South Carolina. If we don't improve it we are in trouble." The move to BullStreet also is of particular importance because the USC School of Medicines lease with the Department of Veteran Affairs for its current Garners Ferry Road site ends in 2030. The Garners Ferry building, which dates to the 1930s, needs $75 million in improvements, university officials previously estimated. And the rent is expected to increase to between $7 million and $8 million a year under a new rental agreement, up from the $1 the school currently pays. The VA hospital also needs the space for its own expanding operations, Gruner said. In addition to medical school, USC is also making moves on another major construction project: the $210 million Campus Village housing development. The school's current on-campus residential capacity is 7,337 beds, and an additional 584 beds in the university-owned 650 Lincoln apartment building. By comparison, the school enrolled 7,750 new freshmen and transfer students in the fall. The board approved the addition of Campus Village, which includes four new residential halls with a total of 1,808 beds, about 15 months ago, with the goal of being able to house all of its growing freshman population and a larger number of sophomores on campus. Then COVID-19 arrived in the Palmetto State, forcing the university to close campus and move classes online. The pandemic-induced economic downturn threw future enrollment and the need for the new buildings into question, and last June the board put the project on hold. But applications for the coming fall have rebounded, up 21 percent for the school's flagship campus, according to USC President Bob Caslen. So the project has restarted with the demolition of Cliff Apartments. "It's come down with remarkable speed in the last couple weeks," Gruner said. When students leave in May, construction is expected to begin in earnest. "We're looking forward to seeing cranes on the Columbia skyline again," he said. The Covid-19 crisis is an opportunity to reset society, Erin Brockovich has told a Northern Ireland conference. The US environmental activist, played by Julia Roberts in an Oscar-winning biopic, spoke at the Institute of Directors (IoD) Womens Leadership summit. During her address, Mrs Brockovich reflected on the likely lasting impact of the pandemic. We are in a very unique moment, you could call it a watershed moment, she said. We are in a great reset, a great reboot. We were effectively shut down, and that was a moment for us to turn inward to seeing things, self-renewing, re-evaluating whats important, a time to ask ourselves, Did we get lost along the way? This very moment, I feel more hopeful of our future in this reset, in seeing what were missing. We are getting back to the values, the soul of who we are and what we need to protect to be a productive, happy, healthy society. The leadership conference was staged virtually for the first time in its history, drawing 1,000 delegates to each of its two days. Attendees logged in from across the UK and Ireland and from as far away as Bermuda, South Africa, Poland and the US. Day one of the conference last week featured speakers including Great British Bake-Off winner Nadiya Hussain and Belfast digital innovation commissioner Dr Jayne Brady. IoD NI national director Kirsty McManus said: After what has been a difficult year for many in our local economy, it was a great pleasure to gather with such a large audience of business leaders, albeit virtually, to celebrate International Womens Day. We were pleased to have attracted such a high calibre of speakers across both days from Ireland and across the world, each of them with their own unique story to tell. I know these will serve as an inspiration to all of us as we continue our journey of leadership within our own organisations. Lisa McLaughlin, partner of the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, which sponsored the event, added: To attract an audience of more than 1,000 from across the world is truly remarkable. It was fantastic to see many delegates joining virtually who wouldnt have been able to attend in person. We are very grateful to all of our speakers for showing true leadership by sharing their knowledge and experience so honestly and powerfully. They have taught us the importance of seeing failure and adversity through a different lens as an opportunity to grow and develop. Associate sponsors of the conference included the Open University, Translink, NIE Networks, Investec, SONI, Danske Bank, and KPMG. Mrs Brockovich worked on the largest medical lawsuit in history, involving hundreds of people unknowingly been exposed to toxic waste. The movie about her featured Albert Finney as Ed Masry, her lawyer and boss. As well as Roberts best actress Oscar, it earned a best supporting actor nomination for Finney. It was also nominated for best picture, best director and best original screenplay. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. A very famous senator looks almost unrecognisable in a black and white photo she shared that had been taken more than two decades ago. Jacqui Lambie shared the snap of her from her time in the Australian Army to her social media account on Thursday. 'The army days #ThrowbackThursday,' she wrote. The senator-to-be, clad in her army uniform, was seen with a huge smile across her and surrounded by her fellow soldiers. Jacqui Lambie shared the snap of her from her time in the Australian Army to her social media account on Thursday Ms Lambie had served in the armed forces for ten years between 1989 and 2000 in the transport management and military policing divisions. During a field exercise in 1997, Ms Lambie suffered a serious back injury which would leave her with permanent damage to her spine. She was eventually discharged from the army on medical grounds three years later. The 50-year-old's career in politics first started in 2008 but it wasn't until 2015 when she started her own independent party the Jacqui Lambie Network. Throughout her time working, she's been a big advocate for Veterans suicide, calling for a Royal Commision into the matter. The 50-year-old's career in politics first started in 2008 but it wasn't until 2015 when she started her own independent party the Jacqui Lambie Network The single mother-of-two grew up in housing commission and had her first child at the age of 18. She shocked many when she revealed her son who was 21-years-old at the time, was battling an addiction with ice, calling for parents to be able to put their children in involuntary detox. Ms Lambie has also often been described as a larrikin, regularly leaving Today Show host Karl Stefanovic in stitches when making appearances on the breakfast program. Last year she joked she can't even get to 'first base' during a discussion about the Coalition's 'bonk ban'. Stefanovic asked Ms Lambie 'if there is a power imbalance with women in Canberra' and if she had observed that during her time in politics. 'I don't see any evidence of it up here, I'll be honest, but I don't belong to those major parties. We just sort of keep to ourselves and get on with it and use our time productively,' Ms Lambie replied. 'I don't have time for bonking and I've made it quite clear in the past I can't even get to first base, Karl, let's be honest!' HOUSTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) today announced that its 2021 annual meeting of shareholders will be held on Friday, April 23, 2021 at 9 a.m. CDT in the CenterPoint Energy Tower auditorium, 1111 Louisiana Street, Houston, Texas. Holders of record of CenterPoint Energy common stock at the close of business on February 26, 2021 will receive notice of the meeting and will be entitled to vote. As the only investor-owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned approximately $33 billion in assets and also owned 53.7 percent of the common units representing limited partner interests in Enable Midstream Partners, LP, a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops strategically located natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets. With approximately 9,500 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com. For more information contact Media: Media Relations [email protected] Investors: Philip Holder Phone 713.207.6500 SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Related Links https://www.centerpointenergy.com Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday that Germany would have to wait until "mid-to-late April" for the newly approved Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, adding that the EU is querying the company over the delays. Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID vaccine on Thursday became the fourth jab to be authorised for use in the European Union. Yet Spahn warned that Germany would have to wait at least another month to receive the first doses from the US firm, as Berlin cited production issues and what amounted to a an effective US ban on exports of domestically produced vaccines. "It's a pain with Johnson & Johnson. We have a European authorisation, but the deliveries will only be there from mid-to-late April at the earliest," said the minister at a weekly news conference in Berlin. He added that the European Commission was in talks with the company over the problem. "We made an advance payment of 300 million euros for production and signed a contract in October, so we of course have to ask what has happened," he said. He said that Germany and the EU were now working on "short-term solutions" to the problem such as setting up production facilities in Germany. Export ban Speaking about the issue later Friday, Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert raised US reluctance to export doses as another problem for Europe's supply. While European-produced vaccines were benefiting countries around the world, other countries like the US and UK were exporting "almost nothing", said Seibert. "This is also something that the European Commission will discuss... with the companies and the governments of other countries," he added. While Johnson & Johnson also produces its vaccine in Europe, doses are subsequently sent to the US for the so-called "fill and finish" process of bottling and packaging. The Defence Production Act in place now in the United States requires that Americans be given priority to domestically produced vaccines, effectively severely restricting exports of vaccines made in the US. Even before the jab was approved in the EU, Brussels lawmakers had raised concerns that Johnson & Johnson doses could be subject to export bans if they are sent for fill-and-finish in the US. 'Volatile' The EU has been struggling with a disappointing vaccination rollout that started in January and faltered because of a shortage of doses produced by the three suppliers so far. On Friday, Spahn said that while Germany expected to receive nine million doses from Pfizer/BioNTech in April, other producers had been less reliable. "With AstraZeneca and Moderna, the planning periods and the question of whether there will be adjustments is a little more volatile, which has to do with production processes," he said. Swedish health authorities on Friday said they expect the country to receive nearly 3.3 million fewer doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine than planned in the first half of the year. "Information is emerging that the export bans from India and the United States mean that AstraZeneca deliveries will be drastically reduced in the spring," Health Minister Lena Hallengren told state broadcaster SVT. The country now expects to receive about 2.3 million AstraZeneca doses in the first half of 2021. Problems with supplies have contributed to a stuttering inoculation rollout that has left EU nations trailing behind the likes of the United States, Britain and Israel. Nevertheless, the head of the EU's vaccine supply task force, Thierry Breton, said on Tuesday that the EU's "bumpy" vaccine strategy should be augmented by the addition of the Johnson & Johnson jab, despite reports of production shortfalls in the US. "Do not believe that because one company has a problem that overall it will jeopardise the whole programme," he said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Jill Hunsaker Ryan is Executive Director at Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Stan Hilkey is Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) is in dialog with the government on the possibilities of introducing a systematic program of financial support for the company, Volodymyr Zhmak, head of Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ), said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. "We are working with them [government representatives] to ensure that this does not become a one-time action [the law on the state budget for 2021 provides UAH 4 billion for the development of rolling stock and infrastructure], but turned into a systematic program to support the national railway carrier, as practiced in almost all countries," he said. Zhmak, in particular, noted that since UZ is moving towards unbundling, that is, division into verticals, the situation cannot remain the same as now, when passenger transportation, production, repairs, and infrastructure are subsidized due to freight traffic. "When our four verticals become independent, it will be simply impossible to make passenger transportation profitable without government assistance," he stressed. The head of Ukrzaliznytsia also noted that the company is looking forward to the adoption of a new law on railway transport, since it will allow regulating two main things - the private traction regime, that is, the admission of private locomotives to the UZ infrastructure, and the launch of a system of public contracts for passenger transportation. Speaking about the reasons for delaying the adoption of this law, Zhmak noted that at present there are a lot of bills that are necessary and important for the country, but "in our case, the reasons are complex, including political disagreements among the deputies." Bhopal, March 12 : Various precautionary measures are being introduced in Madhya Pradesh to control the spike in Covid-19 infections, with more than 1,000 people being fined in the last two days in Indore for not wearing face masks. In order to prevent Covid-19 infection, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Pratibha Pal has issued instructions to all zonal officers, assistant revenue officers and chief sanitary inspectors to ensure people strictly follow the Covid protocols. Along with counselling, instructions have been given to impose fines on people without face masks. Till now action has been taken against 1,020 people who were found not wearing masks in the entire zone. A campaign is underway under which a total amount of Rs 51,000 has been recovered in fines till now from persons not wearing face masks. A fine ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 100 has been imposed on each Covid norm violator. Pal informed that more than one lakh pamphlets have been distributed in the city by the corporation's revenue staff for spreading awareness among the citizens for prevention of coronavirus infection. A message has been spread through these pamphlets regarding the prevention of coronavirus infection by wearing face masks, adhering to social distancing, frequent hand washing and using sanitizers etc. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Who will be the next CM of Assam? Sarbananda Sonowal or Himanta Biswa Sarma? Will make Assam govt party to case against CAA in SC if voted Congress to power: Gaurav Gogoi India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 12: Alleging that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was the BJP's ''political tool'' to divide society for votes, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Friday said if the Congress-led alliance comes to power in Assam, it will not allow its implementation and make the state government party to the ongoing case in the Supreme Court to oppose the controversial law. The Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha said both the identity and the development of Assam are at stake in the upcoming polls to the 126-member Assembly, and asserted that the ''winds of hope'' in anticipation of a 'Mahajot' (grand alliance) government were blowing in the state. In an interview with PTI, Gogoi also hit out at the BJP for criticizing the Congress' alliance with the Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), saying the alliances formed for the polls in the state were not based on religion but on whether one is for CAA or against it. Asked if he would be willing to take on the mantle of chief ministership if the Congress-led 'Mahajot' comes to power, Gogoi said he has never been after any post and hopes to serve the party in whatever role it deems fit for him. Gaurav Gogoi's father Tarun Gogoi, who passed away last November, was chief minister of Assam for three terms successively between May 2001 and May 2016. Gaurav Gogoi said his father has left a vacuum and nobody can fill his shoes. With the promise of overall development, BJP sounds poll bugle in Assam ''We miss his wisdom and experience tremendously. He was the one who proposed in a Congress core committee meeting last year in August that Congress should enter into an alliance with the AIUDF and other like-minded parties in the 2021 elections. The concept of the 'Mahajot' is not recent and it was pushed by him,'' he said. ''His (Tarun Gogoi's) ideas remain alive, his work remains alive, people remember him and we have taken a pledge to fulfill his unfinished work and fulfill his dreams he set out for Assam,'' Gaurav Gogoi said. Asked about the Congress' stance on illegal immigration, he said when it comes to the issue of illegal immigration, the Congress in Assam has a very well-defined policy spelt out through the Assam Accord which is the guiding framework. ''Therefore, we will bring back the importance and value of the Assam Accord in terms of defining who is an Indian citizen and who is not. When it comes to the concerns of doubtful voters and Indian citizens who are fighting cases in foreigners' tribunal we will ensure that their cases are looked at in a much more expedited manner,'' Gogoi said. What the Congress is proposing is a constitutional solution and one that is in the spirit of the Assam Accord, he said. Asked if Congress would allow implementation of the CAA, Gogoi said ''absolutely not'', and asserted that if voted to power, the Congress-led alliance will make the state government party to the ongoing case in the Supreme Court to oppose the CAA. Assam has a unique perspective on the CAA given its history of the Assam Accord and given how sensitive the issue of peace and harmony between different diverse communities is, the 38-year-old leader told PTI over phone. ''CAA has done nothing but upset the delicate balance and offered no concrete solution to the real issues. So, it is nothing but (the BJP's) political tool to divide society for votes,'' Gogoi said. He also said there are genuine cases of Indian citizens who are excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that are under trial under the foreigners' tribunal and, if voted to power, the Congress-led government will ensure that the ongoing cases are expedited and all genuine citizens are included in the NRC. The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, who have entered the country after 1971 and living in the state, irrespective of their religion. Under the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship. Anti-CAA protesters in the state say that the law violates the provisions of the Assam Accord. About 140 petitions challenging the CAA have been filed in the apex court, including by Kerala. Gogoi also said that all state leaders were running one of the most united Congress campaigns ever seen. Asserting that both the identity and the development of Assam are at stake in the upcoming polls, Gogoi said the CAA, prior to COVID-19, was a huge issue in Assam and people going to vote are now thinking about the future of our language and culture. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News ''At the same time, among socio-economic issues, unemployment is the most burning issue among the young people. A majority of the people in Assam are in the youth bracket and as it is Northeast suffers from a lack of industrial private sector investment compared with other parts of western India. So, the pain of unemployment is far more acute in the Northeast and in a state like Assam,'' he said. People are really looking forward to the five guarantees that the Congress is offering -- nullifying CAA, providing five lakh government jobs, raising the daily wage of tea plantation workers to Rs 365, free electricity up to 200 units per household and Rs 2,000 as monthly income support to all homemakers, he said. Asked if he would take up the chief ministership, Gogoi said right now he was focused on fulfilling the promise of the five guarantees to the people. ''I am not after any post. I have never been after any post. I am very grateful for all the opportunities the party has given to me in a short span of time. I am a very young deputy leader of the party in Lok Sabha and I am grateful. I hope to serve the party in whatever role they deem me fit for,'' he said. The Congress is contesting the forthcoming polls as a part of the ''Grand Alliance'' along with the AIUDF, Bodoland People's Front (BPF), CPI(M), CPI, CPI-ML and the Anchalik Gana Morcha. Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly will be held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 14:15 [IST] Black women are the most educated demographic in the U.S. when you look at the number of associate and bachelor degrees earned. But for a number of reasons, their education levels and the financial rewards they receive arent aligning, particularly in the business world, Inc., August 2019. Credit unions have a broad audience to be a forerunner in diversity equality. In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg researched individuals and corporations on the power of habit to either remain in or change a circumstance of any value. Duhigg writes, Habits are what allow us to do a thing with difficulty the first time, but soon do it more and more easily, and finally, with sufficient practice, do it semi-mechanically, or with hardly any consciousness at all. African American women have been and are denied. African American women are qualified, when equally provided a space to exist. If society continues to subjugate all women, by emotions and appearance, for African American women there is another view as subordinate shadows to those who helm as dominant leaders. Ritualistic portrayals have recast this role since the early films in silent movies. Caucasian women were delightful and deserved recognition for portrayals of heroism. African American women were present to care for and support the protagonist and applaud her victories. The Caucasians victory was portrayed as a collective celebratory win. Only for the Caucasian, came increase and prosperity and for the African American, the consolation that once again her insight has elevated yet another soul. Current controversy in the major film industry is a public demonstration of years of repetitive misrepresentation and inequality. One reason to consider this revolving issue is Cultivation Analysis. Cultivation Analysis is a communication theory, created by George Gerbner and Larry Gross in 1976. The research of Gerbner & Gross states that people form their opinions and consciousness is shaped, by transmittal and ritualistic portrayals in television (media) messages that attempt to mimic social beliefs. These messages, often exaggerated, are misguided from true individual and social reality. Cultivation Analysis has messaged that African American, Black, women are good because of selflessness, strength, unending nurturing (even as single mom) who sacrifice for the whole with the benefit of teaching and living by a moral code. African American women too, are not immune to media messages and fall prey to the portrayal of her place in society. In melancholy, is the state of the African American woman. She too has entrusted the ritualistic message and succumb to mediocrity. Cultivation Analysis has shown many generations that the world is limited to such a Person of Color. The message not only resonates through television and film, but takes course in household dialogue, educational infrastructures, and professional ambitions. Families, parents, teachers, influencers, bosses remind the African American woman to hold her place and be thankful for her portion. Subliminally, viewers ingest television, bulletins, banners, and advertisements, where the African American woman is in the background, standing at the edge of the picture, or sitting to scribe with a Caucasian who stands. The misgiving these messages transmit to cultures, nationalities, ethnicities, and genders are that African American women are not the best, not the lead, not to behold, not corporate, not to corner office, not to executive, and the message revolves. As credit unions advance in the financial industry as people serving people (P1), perhaps implementing Principle 8: Diversity & Inclusion (P8), suggests that African American women are leaders, executives, senior managers, board members, and board chair. Maybe its an opportunity to consider Black womens tenacious ability to endure consistent debasement with a smile, fortitude to manage a home with lesser pay, determination for African American children to achieve higher education, and to work with integrity and collaboration despite the inner turmoil that she carries because another Black male or female has been killed by a civic protector. Phenomenally, these skills can be transferred into corporate success measures, if given the chance to be seen from a different lens. Shares of India Glycols, on Friday, slipped 9 per cent to Rs 529; falling 13 per cent from days high, on the BSE in intra-day trade after its board approved the transfer of the company's BioEO (speciality chemicals) business to IGL Green Chemicals Private Limited (IGCPL), a wholly owned subsidiary. BioEO accounted for 12.85 per cent of the total revenue and 26.20 per cent of the total net-worth of India Glycols, as on March 31, 2020. The commodity chemicals company's stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 610 in intra-day trade. Despite todays fall, it has outperformed the market by surging 77 per cent in the past three months, against 11 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. On the rationale for the slump sale, India Glycols said that it has been evaluating its position and business strategy and exploring various options to remain ahead of the competition in the Bio Ethylene Oxide derivatives segment. The Company believes that rationalizing its structure will provide opportunities to enhance shareholders' value in the Company. India Glycols, a leading company in the manufacturing of green technology-based chemicals, on also announced a strategic partnership to establish a 49-51 per cent joint venture with Clariant, a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company, in renewable ethylene oxide (EO) derivatives. Both companies contribute their relevant existing business in scope and India Glycols to receive relevant equalization payment to create the 49-51 joint venture, the company said. Subscription of shares by Clariant resulting in divestment of a majority stake in IGCPL by the Company in favour of Clariant is subject to approval of the members of the Company. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, India Glycols will contribute its renewable Bio-EO Derivative business to the joint venture, which includes a multipurpose production facility including an alkoxylation plant located in Kashipur, Uttarakhand (India). Clariant will also introduce its local Industrial and Consumer Specialties business in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, held by Clariant India Ltd., as well as a net cash payment to secure a 51 per cent stake in joint venture, it said. By combining production and distribution capacity, the joint venture is expected to become a leading supplier of renewable materials to the rapidly growing consumer care market in India and neighboring countries. The partnership is subject to customary regulatory approvals, the company said in a press release. After 18 hours of surgery, there was silence in the blood-drenched theatre as two exhausted medical teams waited for the patient, a male macaque monkey, to wake up. Finally, first one eye and then the other fluttered open. Surgeon Robert White gently tapped the animals nose with some forceps and it tried to bite him. The room erupted in cheers and some even danced for joy. As the macaques vocal box nerves were severed and it was paralysed from the neck down, it couldnt do much more than chew a pencil and bare its teeth at them in terror and agony. Indeed, noted Dr White, the patient was dangerous, pugnacious and very unhappy. This was understandable: hours earlier it had been perfectly healthy and mobile but now it had only eight days to live before its new bodys immune system rejected its head. After 18 hours of surgery, there was silence in the blood-drenched theatre as two exhausted medical teams waited for the patient, a male macaque monkey, to wake up. Finally, first one eye and then the other fluttered open. Surgeon Robert White (pictured) gently tapped the animals nose with some forceps and it tried to bite him But on that day in March 1970, White, an Ohio brain surgeon, and his team had achieved their aim: to perform the worlds first successful primate head transplant, removing the head of a living macaque and attaching it to the neck of the decapitated but still living body of another. Furious animal rights activists called him Dr Butcher, claiming his experiments epitomised the crude, cruel vivisection industry. Yet White insisted his grisly laboratory work might offer hope to people whose bodies were completely failing but who retained their mental faculties. The question of whether his head-swap surgery on monkeys could and should ever be done on human beings absorbed Dr White, a devout Catholic and friend of two Popes, for much of his life. Now the story of the man dubbed the real Dr Frankenstein has been told in a new book, Mr Humble And Dr Butcher, by Brandy Schillace. It explores not only Whites gruesome experiments but the conundrum of how a man nominated for a Nobel Prize for developing lifesaving surgical procedures also appalled bioethicists and animal-lovers, who accused him of causing unnecessary suffering to countless animals, including hundreds of monkeys, in a perverse attempt to play God. White, a brilliant scientist who was talent-spotted by Harvard Medical School, liked to call himself Humble Bob. But there was nothing modest in his ambitions, or his cold insistence that his research justified the painful deaths of thousands of animals during decades of bloody experiments. Although he would be acclaimed for inventing brain-cooling procedures that are still used today to save heart-attack patients, he was far more fixated on eccentric quasi-religious theories about where peoples souls resided. The brain has become the centre of the human anatomical universe, said White, who died aged 84 in 2010. When its with us, youre alive and when its not, youre not. Consequently, he preferred to call his procedures not head transplants but full body transplants. The head that is, the brain was what mattered; the donor body was just a receptacle. A body transplant, therefore, was not merely a scientific milestone but a spiritual one because the soul, too, was being moved to a new body. After watching his mentor Joseph Murray perform the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, White questioned the point of transplanting organs such as kidneys and hearts piecemeal when you could do all internal organs at once by transplanting the head. However, the Soviets and in particular another brilliant scientist, Vladimir Demikhov, who appallingly transplanted two heads onto a dog had the same idea and another Cold War race developed as the two scientists tried to beat each other. During the 1950s and 1960s, White did brain-removal surgery on mice, rabbits and dogs before moving on to monkeys in the 1970s. Pictured: A still from The Man with Two Brains He saw nothing unethical about his research. He attended Mass every day and advised his friends Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II on bioethics. The guidance behind my hand when I operate is Gods, he modestly claimed. White who met his wife Patricia, a nurse, during surgery and fathered ten children with her believed that a head transplant could literally save a human soul. Holding a brain in his hand, he once said: It was perfume but now its an empty bottle. But the fragrance is still there. Once, when a priest visited Whites Cleveland operating room in the 1960s, he found the brain surgeon eating a sandwich over a dog whose blood he had drained and whose brain he had cooled to 10c. White asked the priest if he thought the dog was dead; the priest replied that it clearly was. White then recirculated blood through the dogs brain, warming it, whereupon the animal groggily recovered and began lurching about. Maybe like Christ, said White, winking. Dead and revived. He had a tendency to flippancy striding around at Halloween, for instance, with a doctors bag inscribed Dr Frankenstein that only further infuriated his critics. In Mary Shelleys book, Dr Frankenstein makes his monster from the bodies of the dead. White, instead, worked on the living. He performed five successful head transplants on monkeys and in each case the revived creatures showed an instant dislike for him confirming, he believed, that they remembered him. White envisaged that the operation he did on monkeys would also work with humans. The donor and recipient, lying next to each other, would be anaesthetised and incisions made around their necks. Two medical teams would carefully separate tissue and muscle to reach the carotid arteries, jugular veins and spine. Bones would be removed so the spines could be severed and both heads removed. The recipients brain would be kept functioning by pumping blood through it. The body donors head would be disposed of, as would the recipients body. On the new body, the arteries and veins would be sewn up and the skin stitched together. Pumps would lower the body temperature to slow metabolic rate, and drugs that suppress the immune response could prevent the body rejecting its new head (a problem which had ensured none of the animals he experimented on survived for long). One major drawback was that to remove a head, the spinal cord needed to be severed. Reconnecting it to the body of another animal proved impossible without paralysing the new animal. White was undaunted, arguing that, performed on humans, it would offer an alternative to death for people with multiple organ failure. If only the public could get over their disgust at the idea of removing heads, he complained. There was another question his experiments never resolved. While transplanted monkey and dog brains could still respond to stimuli, that didnt necessarily mean a humans consciousness would be preserved. White, who also considered removing brains and keeping them alive in jars, provoked shock and revulsion in equal measure, inspiring a character in the sci-fi TV series The X Files and identifying at least two quadriplegic celebrities physicist Stephen Hawking and Superman actor Christopher Reeve as possible candidates.Instead, by the late 1990s he had found only two potential patients an Ohio man in his 40s with quadriplegia and whose organs were failing, and a brain-dead man to serve as his body donor. No hospital gave its approval and Whites fantasy operation never took place. However, his work survives him. In 2019, U.S. scientists discovered how to revivify dead pig brains in the lab. Italian and Chinese scientists continue to research head transplants. Jerry Silver, a colleague of Whites, recalled Whites first successful monkey head transplant as barbaric. He said: I remember that when the head would wake up, the facial expressions looked like terrible pain and confusion and anxiety. As Victor Frankenstein discovered, some scientific breakthroughs are best left unachieved. Lucknow, March 12 : Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and RLD Vice President Jayant Chaudhary will jointly address a Kisan Mahapanchayat at Bajna in Mathura on March 19. This will be the first time when the two leaders will share the stage in support of farmers' agitation. SP and RLD have been in alliance since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and though the results did not favour either of the parties, they have continued their relationship. According to RLD national spokesperson Sunil Rohata, Jayant and Akhilesh will jointly address the gathering at Mathura which promises to be one of the biggest in recent times. The two parties have started making joint preparations for the panchayat. Ahead of the Mahapanchayat, Akhilesh will address a party training camp that begins in Mathura on March 17. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 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. Shell raised eyebrows yesterday when it picked former BHP chief executive Sir Andrew Mackenzie to steer it through the green revolution. He will take over as chairman in May from Chad Holliday, who has been in the role for six years. Mackenzie, a geologist by training who was knighted in 2020 for services to business, has been a director on Shell's board since October. New chairman: Sir Andrew Mackenzie will take over at Shell in May from Chad Holliday, who has been in the role for six years But some have questioned whether he is the right man for the job given that the biggest item on the agenda for energy companies is to make the shift to renewable power and seeing through ambitious climate targets. The 64-year-old Scot, a doctor's son from a coal town near Glasgow, is an oil and gas and mining veteran. He was the chief executive of BHP from 2013 to 2019, and also spent 22 years at Shell rival BP. His time at BHP was overshadowed by a deadly dam collapse at an iron ore mine in Brazil the country's worst ever mining disaster. An iron mine run by BHP and Brazil's Vale had been dumping its liquid waste behind a dam. When the dam eventually burst, it released more than 40m cubic metres of sludge, knocking down most of the village of Bento Rodrigues, killing 19 people, and destroying local wildlife. Mackenzie will also be taking over at a time when Shell is perceived to be behind BP in its plans for the energy transition. Green target: Shell is aiming to reach net zero - meaning it will balance out any emissions it produces - by 2050 The company is aiming to reach net zero meaning it will balance out any emissions it produces by 2050. But there has been discord within Shell over its strategy and in late 2020 a slew of executives at its clean energy division all left the group. In a statement, the company said: 'Andrew brings to Shell his experience of leadership, his global outlook, and a deep understanding of the energy business and climate action.' But others were more critical. Mark van Baal, the founder of environmental activist shareholder group Follow This, said the appointment was 'a kind of insult to responsible investors who are increasingly voting for change'. Follow This has spent years campaigning for Shell to crack down on its emissions and tabled resolutions on the issue at its annual meetings. Van Baal said: 'This is a very bad signal to responsible investors who increasingly ask for the company to embark on the energy transition away from fossil fuels to renewables. 'I think institutional investors who are serious about climate change will not like this.' Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said Mackenzie would need to prove his critics wrong. He said: 'As chairman he'll be more of a mouthpiece than rolling his sleeves up. But that being said, he's got this incredible experience, there's little doubt in his CV, and there'll be a lot of crossover in terms of experience.' Shell's other main priority is recovering from the blow dealt by the pandemic, which sent it nosediving to a 15.6billion loss last year and forced it to cut its prize dividend by two-thirds. The oil major will be aided by rising oil prices which had crashed as the use of car and jet fuels slumped during lockdown but are now back at pre-pandemic levels. Documents filed by Shell yesterday showed chief executive Ben van Beurden's pay packet fell by 42 per cent to 5million after 2020's dire performance. This was partly down to not receiving a bonus. By Kanishka Singh and Hyunjoo Jin (Reuters) - A fire at electric carmaker Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, was brought under control on Thursday evening and there were no immediate reports of injuries, the fire department told Reuters. The fire took place in a part of the factory property that was under construction, according to Aisha Knowles, a spokeswoman at the Fremont Fire Department. "The deep-seated fire was contained to a vehicle manufacturing stamping machine", she added. The fire was caused by hydraulic fluid coming in contact with molten aluminum, the spokeswoman said. Fremont firefighters coordinated with the Tesla fire response team. Two Fremont Fire engines and one truck remained at the scene to monitor the situation, according to the spokeswoman. Local media outlet KTVU Fox 2 had earlier tweeted a video of smoke rising from the factory. It was not immediately clear whether production was affected. Tesla did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco; additional reporting by Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler, Grant McCool & Simon Cameron-Moore) Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. For Subscribers Gov. Noem hires jet consultant to help South Dakota buy new aircraft An out-of-state consultant has been hired for $195,000 by Gov. Kristi Noem's administration to help the state of South Dakota buy a new aircraft. Senate Democrat Jeff Merkley: Situation at Border Approaching a Crisis Progressive Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Thursday acknowledged that the surge in migrant children coming to the U.S.Mexico border is approaching a crisis that could worsen with an ongoing flow of people from South American countries. When asked by CNNs Alisyn Camerota if it is fair to call what were seeing today at the border a crisis, Merkley blamed the Trump administrations immigration policies that he said created a back-log of children waiting in Mexico. Merkley said that the children coming to the border now were the ones stranded, some for months, some for years, by the Trump administration in Mexico under completely intolerable circumstances. Now that the border is not closed, theyre knocking on our door, and you had a set of policies that were determined to treat children very poorly so you didnt have essentially the systems in place under the Trump administration, and the Biden administration is creating those systems and theyre doing it with a completely different vision, the senator continued. According to multiple reports, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed that the number of migrant children in custody along the southern border is currently more than 3,250more than triple the number from two weeks ago. Of those children, more than 1,360 have been staying at holding cells longer than the three days allowed by law. White House press secretary Jen Psaki also acknowledged the huge influx of children being detained at the southern border and told a reporter on Thursday that the Biden administrations humane immigration policies may be causing more people to come. That some more may have come to our border and there have been, of course, a large flow of children across the border, we recognize that but we made a policy decision because we felt that was the humane approach. But the facts are the vast, vast majority of people who come to our border are turned away and the statistics bear that out, Psaki said. While admitting there is an increase in migrants, she did not concede that the situation constitutes a crisis. Contradicting Merkleys view of the border, Psaki said, The border is not open. The vast majority of individuals apprehended or encountered at the border continue to be denied entry and are returned under Title 42, as weve already mentioned. Title 42 was ordered in place by former President Donald Trump on March 20 last year to prohibit the entry of certain persons who potentially pose a health risk because they unlawfully entered the country to bypass health screening measures. Another reporter continued to press Psaki about whether the border situation is a crisis, to which she responded that it does not matter what you call it. These are the policies were taking to address what we feel is a vital human challenge at the border. But what our responsibility here to do is to project and convey what policies were taking, what the presidents commitment is. Thats exactly what were doing and we dont see the need to put new labels, Psaki added. Meanwhile, Republicans are urging the Biden administration to recognize the crisis and act accordingly. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday that there is a huge crisis at the border that will only be getting worse. Word is out that the Trump policies are being replaced by the Biden administrations, that if you get one foot in America, youre never going to leave and people are coming by the thousands. Theyll be coming by the hundreds of thousands by the summer. It is a humanitarian crisis and it is going to be an economic crisis for our cities along the border, and eventually, its going to be a national security crisis, he said. Graham said that terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS could take advantage of the open border situation. This border insecurity is a great way for terrorists to come into our country, just to blend in with this group, he said. Merkley said that Grahams comments were untrue. It is the fear-mongering that we saw so often, he told Camerota. Case over murder of notorious crime lord forwarded to court RAPSI, Natalia Vaneyeva 10:59 12/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 12 (RAPSI) Prosecutors have sent a case over the murder of crime lord Vyacheslav Yaponchik Ivankov in July 2009 to court, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office informs. Indictment has been approved against three defendants charged with murder and illegal keeping of weapon. They are in detention now. According to the investigation, Ivankov, the so-called thief-in-law, who at the time was the top boss in the criminal hierarchy, was murdered on July 28, 2009. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size As the coronavirus pandemic upended life across the world last March, almost 900,000 jobs evaporated in Australia a wipe-out the scale of which has not seen since the Great Depression. Victoria was hit hard; in 100 days from February, an estimated 188,000 jobs were lost. The countrys harshest and longest lockdowns after a series of deadly outbreaks meant recovery has been slow. The state governments initial fears of unemployment skyrocketing to 11 per cent never eventuated due to Australias success in combating the virus and stimulus measures. But the Victorian jobless rate is still forecast to remain high about 6 per cent in a years time and thousands of those who lost jobs remain without one, or with drastically fewer hours. The recovery is a complicated one, with some industries such as aviation, education and tourism still floundering. The withdrawal of the federal governments multibillion-dollar JobKeeper wage subsidy and the $150 fortnightly coronavirus supplement, both of which are set to expire at the end of next month, is likely to cause further pain for many. To capture the stories of Victorians trying to find work, The Age spent time with half-a-dozen people as they dealt with the pandemics uncertainty, navigated the welfare system some for the first time, worried how they would meet the months rent or mortgage and found new jobs. In this six-part series, The Age tells their stories. 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. Dadi Hriday Mohini, the chief administrator of the spiritual movement Brahma Kumaris, died at a private hospital in on Thursday. She was 93. She was undergoing treatment at Saifee Hospital in for the past 15 days, according to a spokesperson of the spiritual organisation. Her mortal remains will be brought to the organisation headquarters on Abu Road in Jaipur and people will be allowed to pay their respect to the 'Rajyogini' on Friday. Her last rites will be performed on March 13. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled her demise and said she would be remembered for her numerous efforts to alleviate human suffering and further societal empowerment. "Rajyogini Dadi Hriday Mohini Ji will be remembered for her numerous efforts to alleviate human suffering and further societal empowerment. She played a pivotal role in spreading the positive message of the Brahma Kumaris family globally. Anguished by her passing away. Om Shanti, Modi said on Twitter. Rajasthan Kalraj Mishra, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and many other leaders also condoled her demise. Chief Minister Gehlot tweeted, "My heartfelt condolences at the passing away of Rajyogini Dadi Hridaya Mohini Ji, the Chief of Brahma Kumaris. She devoted herself to the service of humanity and inspired people towards the spiritual path. My thoughts are with her followers...may God give them strength." Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Dadi Hriday Mohini would be remembered for her role in inspiring spiritual awakening. "My homage to Rajyogini Dadi Hridaya Mohini Ji. She will be remembered for her role in inspiring spiritual awakening and her teachings will continue to guide @Brahmakumaris across the world. Om Shanti!" Gandhi tweeted. Dadi Hriday Mohini was appointed as the chief administrator of the organisation after the death of Dadi Janki a year ago. This new tablet technology gives more than 32,000 small US public water systems, as well as systems worldwide, the option of providing fluoridated water and its oral health benefits to their communities. New technology could bring fluoridated water to about 19 million people in the United States. March 20 is World Oral Health Day. Oral health is critical to overall health, and oral diseases cause serious pain and infections that may lead to problems eating, speaking, and learning. More than 3.5 billion people suffer from oral diseases globally, according to the World Health Organization. The most common are untreated cavities, affecting an estimated 2.3 billion people, and gum diseasea major cause of total tooth lossaffecting 267 million people. Drinking fluoridated water can prevent cavities and reduce their severity. To help reach rural areas that may not be able to fluoridate, CDC supported the development of a new tablet delivery system that could fluoridate nearly 32,000 small systems in the United States, bringing fluoridated water to about 19 million people. Oral Disease Highlights Inequities Differences in access to dental care and preventive services lead to higher rates of oral diseases in some populations. In the United States, people from low-income households are 2 to 3 times more likely to have untreated cavities than those from higher-income households. Public health interventions such as community water fluoridation have greatly improved oral health outcomes for over 75 years. Drinking fluoridated water keeps teeth strong, reducing cavities by about 25% in children and adults. By preventing cavities, community water fluoridation saves money for both families and the US health care system. It is the most cost-effective way to deliver fluoride to people of all ages, education levels, and income levels in a community. About 35% of people in the United States and most people around the world do not have access to properly fluoridated water. Some homes are not served by a public water system, and some public water systems lack the resources to fluoridate their water cost-effectively. Conventional fluoridation technology rarely serves communities with fewer than 1,000 people, and fluoridation becomes more expensive as service populations fall below 5,000. Nearly 19 million people in the United States are served by these small systemsoften in rural areas with less access to high-quality health care. Assembled water fluoridation tablet feeder system ready for installation. CDC Identifies Need for New Technology to Reach Rural Areas The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long recognized the need for a method that allows these smaller systems to optimally fluoridateexternal icon water. CDC theorized that fluoridation systems could use tablets like those already widely used in other low-volume water treatment applications, such as swimming pool chlorination. To test this idea, CDC announced a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding opportunity in 2013 to develop a pill or tablet that small water systems could use to fluoridate water. Through a competitive, objective process, KC Industries (KCI) of Mulberry, Florida, received a CDC Phase I SBIR award in 2014 to study whether smaller public water systems could use compressed tablets of sodium fluorosilicate to fluoridate public water systems. They found that the concept would work, but the equipment currently used to add fluoride to water would not. A new feeder system would need to be created. After competing for Phase 2 funding, KCI created a low-cost tablet and feeder system for systems that serve 50 to 10,000 people, filling a large gap. Throughout its development, health departments across the United States and abroad expressed interest in adopting this system to bring the benefits of fluoridated water to their communities. A New Tablet System Can Help Communities Reach Fluoridation Goals Drinking fluoridated water keeps teeth strong and reduces cavities, resulting in less pain, fewer fillings or teeth pulled, and fewer missed days of work and school. However, more than 34,000 community water systems do not currently provide optimally fluoridated water. Of these, an estimated 32,000 are small systems, serving about 19 million people. This new tablet system could allow these small public utilities to contribute to the Healthy People 2030 goalexternal icon of providing 77.1% of the US population with access to fluoridated water. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! 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. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Unless youre a convict who is currently in solitary confinement, you surely know that Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which oversees the estate of the late Theodor Geisel, a/k/a, Dr. Seuss, will discontinue publication of six of his works. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement. This decision was reached after consultation with a panel of experts, including educators, who reviewed Seuss books. Random House Childrens Books, which publishes Seuss books, announced in a public statement that it respected the decision. The discontinued books include: And to Think That I saw It on Mulberry Street, originally published in 1937; McElligots Pool (1947); If I Ran the Zoo (1950); Scrambled Egg Super! (1953); On Beyond Zebra!(1955); and The Cats Quizzer (1976). Why were these books pulled from publication? Seuss illustrations include depictions of Asians and Africans that are undeniably racist caricatures. For example, And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was Seuss first childrens book, features a character identified as a Chinaman who has only lines for eyes, wears a pointed hat and holds a bowl of rice and chopsticks. If I Ran the Zoo includes a depiction of two men from the African Island of Yerka that is so racist it looks as though it belongs in a white supremacist flyer. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Twelve months after the initial lockdown, life remains different in Athens and at UGA. But an end to the pandemic may be in sight: people are sharing their vaccination passports which are a card ensuring vaccination doses have been administered. VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Vigo County Schools are celebrating two things this week. The first thing, schools are celebrating National School Breakfast Week. The second thing they are celebrating is the ability to offer free breakfasts and lunches to all students this year. The school corporation has offered free and reduced-cost meals to those in need for years. Thanks to a grant from the USDA the free meals are extended to all students. Students that take part in remote learning can pick up breakfast and lunch at their school from 11 am to noon. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 67F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. English French PRESS RELEASE Renault Retail Group redefines its business model in France As part of its plan to change the scope of consolidation announced in 2020, Renault Retail Group (RRG) is resizing its activities in France this year. The plan calls for the sale of eight dealerships to reliable and robust purchasers while preserving jobs. In a radically changing automotive market, RRG is rethinking its business model to meet the new needs of its customers and improve its profitability over the long term. Boulogne-Billancourt, March 11th, 2021 Renault Retail Group (RRG), a wholly owned subsidiary of Groupe Renault, announces the continuation of its project to change the scope of consolidation for the year 2021. This project initiated in 2020 was presented today at the Central Social and Economic Committee. It comprises the disposal of eight dealerships in France. RRG has identified, with the support of Renault's market area France, reliable and robust purchasers - already marketing the group's brands - to enable business to continue and jobs to be maintained. RRG is today operating in an automotive sector that is becoming increasingly digital and reducing the number of intermediaries. RRG must therefore rethink its business model in depth and follow the path of sustainable profitability by taking into account the profound changes in the automotive market and the evolution of customer needs. This transformation is fully in line with Groupe Renaults Renaulution strategic plan. About Renault Retail Group: A wholly owned subsidiary of Renault, RRG is Groupe Renaults leading distributor in Europe for vehicle sales and related services and after-sales activities. RRG's mission is to distribute all of the Alliance's products and services to business and individual customers (Renault, Dacia, Alpine and Nissan in certain countries). RRG is present in 13 European countries. For more information : Rie YAMANE rie.yamane@renault.com Tel : +33 6 03 16 35 20 Attachment Joe Biden and other countries of the Indo-Pacific alliance, also known as Quad, are expected to announce a deal to expand Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity in India after their virtual summit on Friday. According to two senior officials of the US administration, who spoke before the meeting, the effort by Quad is projected to allow India to increase manufacturing capacity by one billion doses by 2022, with the country already known as the pharmacy of the world. Over the past few weeks, there have increasingly been calls for wealthy nations including the US to donate vaccines to poorer countries. President Biden has also received requests from allies, including Canada and Mexico, to buy vaccines made in the US. But the Biden administration has emphasised that the USs focus is on first vaccinating all its citizens. This is significant even as countries such as China, Russia and India have indulged in vaccine diplomacy, sharing jabs with many neighbours and allies. The US officials, however, have pointed towards the USs $4bn (2.8bn) commitment to COVAX, an international effort to ensure Covid-19 vaccines get to developing nations. Mr Biden has recently said: If we have a surplus, were going to share it with the rest of the world. The virtual meeting of the four leaders is also expected to announce several other measures on common interests. Biden administration officials said that bringing together Indias prime minister Narendra Modi, Australias prime minister Scott Morrison, and Japans prime minister Yoshihide Suga so early in the new US administration was intentional. The Indo-Pacific alliance has received a serious boost from all four nations on the common agenda to counter China, both in terms of economy and security. The efforts to reinforce Quad has not gone unnoticed by Beijing hich terms it an attempt by the four nations to contain it. All the four nations have witnessed a deterioration of their relations with Beijing over the years, whether because of economic issues, border disputes or Covid-19. For instance, the India-China border stand-off in Ladakh is yet to be fully resolved while the US and China are clashing over a range of issues including the USs support for Taiwan. Prior to the meeting, Mr Modi tweeted that on Friday evening he is going to take part in the virtual summit of the Quad which will provide an opportunity to discuss a wide range of regional and global issues of shared interest. Australias Mr Morrison said there was no reason for China to object to the leaders meeting. "This is about four nations that have had a long-term interest in the Indo-Pacific. For us, this is where we live, this is where Japan lives, where India lives and of course the United States across the Pacific has had a long-term presence, so this is about an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and that benefits all nations of the Indo-Pacific," said Mr Morrison. Additional reporting by agencies Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 LAGOS, Nigeria During the biggest demonstrations in Nigerias recent history, 13 women came together to support their fellow citizens risking their lives to march against police brutality. The women were all in their 20s and 30s. All at the top of their fields. Many had never met in person. They found one another through social media months before, and named their group the Feminist Coalition. They jokingly called themselves The Avengers. We decided that if we dont step in, the people who suffer the greatest will end up being women, said Odunayo Eweniyi, a 27-year-old tech entrepreneur and a founding member of the Feminist Coalition. Syrian doctors fear conscription into the Syrian army lasting a year and a half, writes North Press. On Wednesday, doctors in Damascus expressed their fear of the decisions issued by the Medical Services Department on Monday, at the General Command of the Syrian government forces, confirming that the mandatory military service for doctors will be a year and a half long without reserve. Syria is witnessing a massive flight of human capital, especially doctors. In the meantime, the government is trying to persuade them to stay and serve their country, amid the reluctance of young people to join the military service especially since the duration of the military service has reached nearly eight years or more during the war. In December, the Doctors Syndicate, in coordination with the Ministry of Defense and the Medical Services Department, obtained a decision allowing the doctor to choose the point in which he serves, in addition to allowing him to open a private clinic while performing compulsory service. Bashar Perri (a pseudonym), a resident at al-Assad University Hospital, told North Press, these decisions are an attempt to win over doctors amid the great migration. There is no guarantee that the ministry will not keep the doctor when there is a numerical shortage of staff, he added. There is nobody that can guarantee that a doctor will be released when he joins the army, according to Perri. Issa Muzain (a pseudonym), a general surgeon at al-Mujtahid Hospital in central Damascus, told North Press that, in addition to the duration of service, the living situation is the main reason for not joining the service. The medical point to which the doctor is dispatched may be suffering from a lack of staff or pressure, so he has more shifts, and thus it is difficult to work in his clinic, he added. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. President Joe Bidens address to the nation was heavy on emotion and hope, but light on facts. Here are two moments where the president stretc Democratic Congressman Antonio Delgado, D-19, joined other lawmakers Friday in calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign. Delgado tweeted, Being the governor of the state of New York is a privilege. Withholding critical information from the public, combine with the growing allegations of threats, bullying, and sexual harassment, reflects a culture of aggression that is unfit to lead. The governor must resign. My statement calling for the resignation of Governor Cuomo: pic.twitter.com/IpWiwG2TYi Congressman Antonio Delgado (@repdelgado) March 12, 2021 Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon, D-119, also called for Cuomos resignation Thursday, releasing the following statement: Over the past weeks, weve learned of the harrowing reports exposing the undercounting and attempted cover-up surrounding the states COVID-19 nursing home deaths, ongoing sexual harassment allegations, and reports of structural deficiencies on the Mario M. Cuomo/Tappan Zee Bridge. I firmly believe in due process and all investigations must continue, but the government must also continue to function. There is a cloud that hangs over this governor which distracts us from the COVID- 19 crisis and recovery plans. Our priority is to ensure that we work to meet the needs of all the residents of New York and the governor stepping down will make sure that our work is not compromised. A majority of state lawmakers are calling on Cuomo to resign after a sixth accuser came forward, claiming he groped her at the Executive Mansion. Democratic congressional members including U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez joined those calls Friday. The last time Cuomo spoke publicly was Tuesday, March 9. He again apologized for making anyone uncomfortable, and maintained that he never touched anyone inappropriately. Local Republican leaders Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-47, and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, R-22, have called for impeachment after Cuomo said earlier this month he has no plan to resign. Premier Brian Pallister says he's "deeply distressed" Manitoba has the second-worst COVID-19 death rate in the country, and he feels nothing but sorrow for the affected families. Premier Brian Pallister says he's "deeply distressed" Manitoba has the second-worst COVID-19 death rate in the country, and he feels nothing but sorrow for the affected families. On the anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the novel coronavirus a global public health emergency, Pallister noted seniors have suffered disproportionately. "I believe that... more than 75 per cent of those who passed were over the age of 60 in our province," he said at a news conference Thursday. "Being one of those people (Pallister is 66), I feel personally very sensitive to the vulnerabilities that I know seniors feel, not just in personal care homes, but around the province." Altogether, 911 Manitobans have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. "This past year has been marked by incredible loss, but it has also shown Manitobans at their finest," Pallister said. "We have lost people we will miss, but we have saved thousands of lives by bending the COVID curve together." Asked about lessons he and his government have learned during the pandemic so far, the premier expressed regret at not acting more quickly last spring to secure adequate personal protective equipment supplies after sufficient federal supplies didn't materialize. "We should have acted a few weeks sooner," he said. In hindsight, Pallister said he would have also acted earlier to invest in the domestic production of a COVID-19 vaccine. Last month, Pallister announced the province had reached an agreement with Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics to purchase two million doses of a yet-to-be-approved vaccine. The deal included a $7.2 million non-refundable down payment. He said the government is also taking steps to improve the management of personal care homes so they are better prepared to deal with situations such as the pandemic. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-11 22:53:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, also a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China and president of the association's Tibet branch, visits Jokhang Temple, the most revered monastery in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Aug. 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Chogo) BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism are now at the best time of historical development, the 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, said during the annual "two sessions" held in Beijing. This year is the 12th year for the Panchen Lama, a leader of Tibetan Buddhism, to serve as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body. In March 2013, he was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee. "In just a few years, remarkable achievements have been made in poverty alleviation in Tibet, and farmers and herdsmen have made progress in their work, life as well as their mindset," the Panchen Lama, 31, told Xinhua in an interview before the conclusion of the two sessions. Over the years, the Panchen Lama, as a political advisor, has made extensive contacts with the people, exchanged thoughts, expounded the policies of the central authorities, and discussed and addressed people's wishes and demands at the meetings. During the COVID-19 epidemic, he made donations and, together with the Tibet regional branch of the Buddhist Association of China, issued three proposals, calling for the temporary suspension of religious gatherings and efforts to placate believers. "For me, time is pressing, and I will do my best to contribute to the well-being of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups with my limited life, to make my life worthwhile," he said. The Panchen Lama said Tibetan Buddhism has been enriched, and will enter another flourishing period. He said Tibetan Buddhism will have a bright future only if it moves forward in the direction of safeguarding national reunification, promoting ethnic unity and advancing social stability. "The prosperity of the motherland, ethnic unity, people's happiness and world peace -- these are my personal dreams and should also be the glorious pursuit of the Buddhist community," he said. A member of the Maine State Police tactical team gears up Monday on Knapp Street in Livermore Falls. A reporter in Maine received a surprise call from a hostage taker Monday, and quickly handed his phone to a cop who impersonated him. Taylor Cairns, a reporter with Portland CBS affiliate WGME, answered the call from Donald White, a 44-year-old man who took three people hostage Monday night in the central Maine town of Livermore Falls. Police killed White on Tuesday after a 17-hour standoff; all three hostages were saved. As the situation dragged on Monday night, White dialed Cairns out of the blue, WGME revealed after the incident. Cairns made a split-second decision to alert police, and a hostage negotiator pretended to be Cairns while speaking to White. WGME didnt report this Monday night because we didnt want to jeopardize the situation. But we were concerned enough about the police pretending to be us that we asked state police for some answers, the station wrote. Maine State Police trooper Bill Ross called it a unique circumstance but admitted it was not a good practice. Local journalism professors agreed it was a bad idea, the Bangor Daily News reported. ALBERT LEA, Minn. - A man accused of kidnapping has pleaded guilty to a lesser crime. Rodolfo Valdez, 23 of Albert Lea, was arrested in October 2020 and charged with kidnapping, simple robbery, and second-degree assault. The Albert Lea Police Department says a man reported in May 2020 that he had been abducted a month earlier. The man told officers he got a social media message from a woman inviting him for a sexual encounter. The victim says the woman picked him up but when he entered her vehicle, he was attacked by two men. The man said one of the attackers was Rodolfo Valdez and another was Omar Rodriguez. The victim said his arms were pinned and a knife was held to his throat and that he was later beaten before eventually escaping. Valdez pleaded guilty Friday to one count of simple robbery. His sentencing is scheduled for May 20. Omar Rodriguez, 27 of Albert Lea, pleaded Tuesday to 2nd degree assault in two other incidents and charges related to the kidnapping were dismissed. he was sentenced to three years in prison. A factor that turns malignant tumors into benign ones? - That is exactly what scientists at St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute have discovered. Together with colleagues from the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna (Faculty of Chemistry), they studied tumors of the peripheral nervous system in children, namely neuroblastomas. The scientists discovered that the uncontrolled growth of benign neuroblastomas is stopped by a signal molecule produced by Schwann cells present within these tumors. This natural "brake" also works on malignant neuroblastoma cultures. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, describes for the first time the function of this signal molecule - not only in tumors, but also in injured nerve fibers. What sounds contradictory at first glance, namely firing a tumor with a growth factor, makes sense in neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a tumor of the peripheral nervous system and the most common solid cancer in early childhood. In contrast to malignant neuroblastomas, benign neuroblastomas contain, next to tumor cells, many "Schwann cells". These cells normally protect and repair nerve cells. The results of the now published study indicate that Schwann cells in neuroblastoma stimulate tumor cells to mature, thereby halting their unchecked growth. A cell that stops tumor growth... To accomplish this, Schwann cells produce, among other factors, a signaling molecule called epidermal growth factor like 8 (EGFL8). The research team demonstrates that EGFL8 stimulates the differentiation, or maturation, of neuroblastoma cells. "Until recently, we only knew that this protein existed, but its function was not known. We now for the first time know where EGFL8 is produced and how it acts," explains study author Sabine Taschner-Mandl, PhD, head of the Tumor Biology Group at St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute. Furthermore, the study results show that high levels of EGFL8 was associated with better survival rates in neuroblastoma patients. "In cell cultures, we have demonstrated that Schwann cells as well as their secreted signaling molecules exert anti-tumor effects, even in aggressive neuroblastoma cells. Thus, we are able to exploit a process that occurs naturally in benign neuroblastomas to stop the malignant ones," Sabine Taschner-Mandl and her colleague Tamara Weiss, PhD, from the Medical University of Vienna, explain. In addition to EGFL8, other, yet uncharacterized Schwann cell molecules could also provide targets for cancer therapies in the future. However, the effects of Schwann cells are presumably much more extensive: the research team is currently investigating how Schwann cells manipulate immune cells in their environment. ...and promotes the healing of injured nerve fibers The present study provides another significant finding: Schwann cells in benign neuroblastomas have a similar cellular status to those Schwann cells that support the healing of injured peripheral nerves. Direct comparison revealed that Schwann cells in the tumor express certain repair-associated genes and show specific repair functions. "It is amazing that we have discovered a signaling molecule that plays a role in both tumor development of benign neuroblastomas and regeneration of injured nerves. Since EGFL8 stimulates the formation of nerve cell extensions, it could be of great importance for the treatment of injured nerve fibers", says Tamara Weiss. Prospective application in aggressive tumors It is conceivable that EGFL8 and other factors produced by Schwann cells could be applied in the treatment of nerve damage as well as aggressive neuroblastoma. "Using phosphoproteomics, we were able to decipher which signaling pathways are activated by EGFL8 in neuroblastoma cells. There are major differences compared to cells that have not been stimulated with EGFL8," Sabine Taschner-Mandl says. In addition to EGFL8, these downstream signaling pathways also represent potential targets for future treatments. "There is still a long way to go before these findings ultimately reach the patient. But we have now laid the foundation for taking the next steps." ### Photo: Sabine Taschner-Mandl, PhD, and Tamara Weiss, PhD Copyright: St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute Image: Immunofluorescence image of Schwann cells (magenta) and neuroblastoma cells (green) Copyright: Weiss T, Taschner-Mandl S et al., Nature Communications 2021 Publication Schwann cell plasticity regulates neuroblastic tumor cell differentiation via epidermal growth factor like protein 8 Tamara Weiss#, Sabine Taschner-Mandl#,* , Lukas Janker, Andrea Bileck, Fikret Rifatbegovic, Florian Kromp, Helena Sorger, Maximilian O. Kauer, Christian Frech, Reinhard Windhager, Christopher Gerner, Peter F. Ambros, Inge M Ambros #Contributed equally *Corresponding author Nature Communications, March 12, 2021 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21859-0 https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41467-021-21859-0 http://www. nature. com/ ncomms Funding This study was supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) grants (ID:844198, TisQuant, EraSME, to P.F. Ambros and VISIOMICS, Coin Networks, to S. Taschner-Mandl), the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under the project ENCCA, grant agreement HEALTH- F2-2011-261474 and under the project Modicell (MC-IAPP Project 285875), the Herzfeldersche Familienstiftung and St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute About Sabine Taschner-Mandl, PhD Sabine Taschner-Mandl, PhD has been head of the Tumor Biology group at St. Anna Children's Cancer Research since 2018, where she has been working as a scientist since 2008. In addition, she is a lecturer at the Medical University of Vienna and Vienna University of Technology. Dr. Taschner-Mandl completed her studies of biology at the University of Vienna with a diploma thesis in vaccine development at Intercell. This was followed by a dissertation and a post-doctoral position at the Institute of Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna. Besides her research work at St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, Dr. Taschner-Mandl was a visiting scientist at Significo and the University of Helsinki as part of the EC-FP7 Marie Curie Program. For her research, Dr. Taschner-Mandl has received numerous grants, among others from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, the Vienna Science, Research and Technology Fund, and the European Commission's ERA-NET initiative. About Tamara Weiss, PhD Tamara Weiss, PhD, is team leader of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Research Laboratory at the Medical University of Vienna. There she teaches and continues her projects in close cooperation with different departments of the Medical University of Vienna, the University of Vienna and St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute. Tamara Weiss studied Molecular Biology at the University of Vienna and performed research for her thesis as a visiting scientist in the Anne McLaren Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine at the MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute at the University of Cambridge. She dedicated her PhD project at St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute to the comprehensive characterization of human Schwann cells and has since specialized in studying the role of Schwann cells in regeneration and pathologies of peripheral nerves, as well as in different tumors. About St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, CCRI St. Anna CCRI is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary research institution with the aim to develop and optimize diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic strategies for the treatment of children and adolescents with cancer. To achieve this goal, it combines basic research with translational and clinical research and focus on the specific characteristics of childhood tumor diseases in order to provide young patients with the best possible and most innovative therapies. Dedicated research groups in the fields of tumor genomics and epigenomics, immunology, molecular biology, cell biology, bioinformatics and clinical research are working together to harmonize scientific findings with the clinical needs of physicians to ultimately improve the wellbeing of our patients. Learn more: http://www. kinderkrebsforschung. at http://www. ccri. at About Medical University of Vienna (MedUni Vienna) MedUni Vienna is one of the most traditional medical education and research facilities in Europe. With almost 8,000 students, it is currently the largest medical training center in the German-speaking countries. With its 30 university hospitals and two clinical institutes, 12 medical theory centers and numerous highly specialized laboratories, it is also one of Europe's leading research establishments in the biomedical sector. http://www. meduniwien. ac. at About University of Vienna The University of Vienna provides great and diverse impetus. In the field of research, it cooperates with industry, cultural institutions and society. Approximately 10,000 students graduate from the University of Vienna every year. The University prepares them for a professional career and encourages critical thinking and self-determined decision-making. The University of Vienna is one of the oldest and largest universities in Europe: About 9,900 employees, 6,900 of whom are academic employees, work at 20 faculties and centers. This makes the University of Vienna Austria's largest research and education institution: About 89.000 national and international students are currently enrolled at the University of Vienna. With 178 degree programs, the University offers the most diverse range of studies in Austria. The University of Vienna is also a major provider of continuing education and training in Austria. Mandatory face masks are staying put in Austin for the time being. Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the public health face mask order that requires all Travis County residents to wear them will remain in effect for the next two weeks. The order stays after a U.S. District Court judge refused to grant the State of Texas an emergency, a temporary injunction on Friday. He said they learned Friday morning they could keep it until they return to court on March 26. Judge Lora Livingston said she wanted more time for each side to make their case, according to KXAN.com. RELATED: Austin mayor responds to Texas AG's threat with 'Office' GIF and statement Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown for allowing a public health mandate that goes against Gov. Greg Abbott's new order, which doesn't force Texans to wear a face mask starting Wednesday. This isn't the first time Paxton has taken the officials to court. Around New Year's, the attorney defeated the Austin leaders in court for restricting in-person dining at restaurants, according to the Texas Tribune. However, the second threat isn't stopping the Austin officials. Adler said they will continue to support their health officials on the face mask matter. "No matter what happens then, we will continue to be guided by doctors and data," the mayor tweeted Friday. "Masking works." Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre The ministry is likely to infuse Rs 14,500 crore mainly in the that are under the RBI's framework in the next few days to improve their financial health. Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and UCO Bank are currently under this framework that puts several restrictions on them, including on lending, management compensation and directors' fees. The ministry has almost finalised its names of probable candidates for capital infusion, sources said. The infusion will be made in the next few days, the sources said, adding the biggest beneficiary of this round of capital infusion would be the that are under the (PCA). The capital infusion will help these to come out of the Reserve Bank of India's enhanced regulatory supervision or PCA framework. Most of the large state-owned lenders -- including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, and Indian Bank -- have already raised money from various market sources, including share sale on a private placement basis. For the current financial year, the government had allocated Rs 20,000 crore for capital infusion into the PSBs for meeting the regulatory requirement. Among the 12 PSBs, Punjab & Sind Bank was given Rs 5,500 crore in November last year. Parliament had in September approved the Rs 20,000 crore capital infusion in the PSBs as part of the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2020-21. Earlier this week, LIC controlled IDBI Bank was removed from the RBI's PCA framework after a gap of nearly four years on improved financial performance. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had placed IDBI Bank under the PCA framework in May 2017, after it had breached the thresholds for capital adequacy, asset quality (net NPAs was over 13 per cent in March 2017), return on assets and the leverage ratio. The performance of IDBI Bank was reviewed by the Board for Financial Supervision (BFS) in its meeting held on February 18, 2021. It was noted that as per published results for the quarter ending December 31, 2020, the bank is not in breach of the PCA parameters on regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio, the RBI had 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.) Kim Kardashian shared fun photos of a family pizza party Thursday on Instagram. The 40-year-old reality star posted a pair of pictures of herself having a slice along with her seven-year-old daughter North and five-year-old son Saint. 'Pizza Party,' Kim wrote as a caption for her roughly 209 million followers on Instagram along with a pizza slice emoji. Good times: Kim Kardashian shared photos of a family pizza party Thursday on Instagram North wore a pink top and gave a toothy smile while Kim took a selfie holding a half-eaten slice of pizza. Kim wore a black top and had her long dark hair down around her shoulders. She let her natural beauty shine with no makeup. Kim also shared a selfie reclining after biting into a slice with her son Saint at her side. Eldest children: The 40-year-old reality star posted a pair of pictures of herself having a slice along with her seven-year-old daughter North and five-year-old son Saint Simple caption: 'Pizza Party,' Kim wrote as a caption for her roughly 209 million followers on Instagram along with a pizza slice emoji Saint wore a red, white and blue tie-dyed shirt and playfully stuck his tongue out. Kim also has three-year-old daughter Chicago and 22-month-old son Psalm with estranged husband Kanye West, 43. The superstar couple's split was revealed in January before Kim filed for divorce last month. Four children: Kim is shown in December 2019 on Instagram in a family Christmas photo with estranged husband Kanye West and their children North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm The rapper and reality star reportedly have been communicating only through security since their split while still co-parenting. 'Even before Kim filed for divorce, Kanye changed his numbers and said, "You can contact me through my security". Despite this, she trusts him around the kids. He loves them and is seeing a lot of them,' insiders told Page Six in an article Wednesday. Kim and Kanye got married in May 2014 in Florence, Italy. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... The state re-jiggered its priority list for COVID-19 vaccination eligibility on Thursday, focusing on those 60 and older who have qualifying severe health conditions. And for the thousands of New Mexicans who qualify, that means getting a vaccine sooner rather than later via the states appointment system. Because of the randomized nature of the states registration appointment system, an 18-year-old who was obese conceivably has had the same chance of being selected for a vaccine appointment as a 70-year-old with numerous qualifying health conditions. Now, those 60 and older with at least one of 12 severe health conditions will be prioritized for vaccination appointments within the larger pool of people 16 and older who are at risk because of their health conditions. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Age is the single most important predictor of COVID-related vulnerability, and some health conditions place residents at much greater risk of COVID-related health complications, said New Mexico Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins in a news release. Prioritizing vaccine for New Mexicans in these groups will save lives. In its phased-in vaccination program, the state put top priority on health care workers and first responders, followed by those 75 and older, and then the largest category of those 16 and older with at least one chronic health condition. More recently, the state announced a fourth group for eligibility: educators and school staff. More than 500,000 people statewide have been identified by the state Department of Health as eligible for vaccinations in the category of 16 years and older with a least one chronic health condition. Given the size of the chronic conditions phase DOH saw it as important to focus on the most vulnerable members of the chronic conditions group, said agency spokesman Matt Bieber. Of those on the state registry, about 264,860 people ages 16 and older with such health conditions have registered on the states vaccination website. But so far 37% of those registered had been at least partially vaccinated as of earlier this week. Bieber said 87,720 of those who have registered with the state for a vaccination appointment are 60 or older with a severe health condition. Less than half, or 39,869 have received a first shot of the vaccine and 6,722 have appointments to do so. Registration on the website is voluntary but urged by state health officials. Some vaccine providers are not requiring such registration, but generally have abided by the states priority list of vaccinating only those eligible. New Mexico is now one of only two states in the country limiting vaccinations by age group to those 75 and older. Most others are vaccinating those 65 and older, even without a health condition. Older adults are at greater risk of requiring hospitalization or dying if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 than younger adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bieber said with the change announced Thursday, only those who have certain severe conditions will get priority within the 16 and older group. Those conditions are: cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Down syndrome, heart conditions, immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant, obesity with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, or severe obesity with a BMI of 40 or greater, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, smoking and Type 2 diabetes. Those who fall into the category of might be at increased risk, with conditions that include asthma and hypertension, are not eligible for prioritization within the group. A Syrian man who's lived with his family in a Lebanese refugee camp for ten years has spoken of the struggles of living in limbo, and his desire to return home. Mohammed Zakaria, who has two wives and eight children, fled to the Bekaa Valley in 2012, thinking it would be a short, temporary stay. His hometown of Homs was under siege, and subject to a ferocious Syrian military campaign. "Now we have been here for 10 years," Zakaria said. "We are lost now. We are lost in the end." The 53-year-old is among millions of Syrians unlikely to return in the foreseeable future, even as they face deteriorating living conditions abroad. On top of the pressures of being displaced, Zakaria has struggled to survive Lebanon's financial meltdown and social implosion. The country's currency has lost over 80% of its value. Zakaria makes 1,000 Lebanese pounds (about 10 cents) from each gas canister he sells. But this winter, many of his neighbors in the settlement, which houses around 200 refugee families, haven't been able to afford enough gas to heat their tents. "Life is expensive here," he said. "It is so expensive even for medicine or doctors." Zakaria described the sorrow he feels for his youngest three children, who have no memories of their home in Syria. They haven't been to school, and don't know how to read or write. "All of our memories are gone now," said Zakaria, watching his children playing hopscotch. "God willing we will die in our country," he said. "Everyone should die in their own country." (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Flash Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday that it has designated a new COVID-19 variant identified in Britain as a Variant Under Investigation (VUI). Two cases of the variant, called VUI-202103/01, have so far been found in the South East of England in individuals who had recently travelled to Antigua, according to the PHE. The variant contains the spike mutations E484K and N501Y, both of which are usually associated with some previously identified variants that have been designated as Variants of Concern (VOC), the PHE said. Contact tracing teams have completed thorough investigations to identify and follow up any close contacts and no additional cases have been found to date, according to the PHE. 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. Film Review: Land: Healing Grief Through Living Off the Land PG-13 | 1h 29min | Drama | 12 February 2021 (USA) Anticipating an encroaching Zombie Apocalypse in my 20s, I started taking classes in primitive skills at Tom Brown Jr.s Tracking, Nature, and Wilderness Survival School at the now-defunct Tracker Farm in Asbury, New Jersey. We built leaf huts, and learned how to build a fire, with bow and hand drills (in a rainstorm), how to stalk and track animals, and how to set figure-4 deadfall traps. Tom Brown, Americas master tracker, further taught various primitive fishing methods, rabbit-stick and atlatl throwing, and edible plant, bark, and mushroom identification. He also taught introduction to Native-American spirituality in the form of sweat lodges and vision quests. But when Y2K didnt happen, I relaxed my survival prepping and started focusing on the spiritual stuff instead. But thats a different story for a different movie. Land Robin Wright, best known as Jenny in Forrest Gump, Buttercup in The Princess Bride, and Sean Penns ex-wife, makes her directorial debut with Land, directing herself playing Edee Mathis, a woman getting away from it all by retreating to a log cabin in the remote wilderness. Edee Mathis (Robin Wright) tries to outrun her grief, in Land. (Focus Features) To preface, this is a well-worn genre: the getting-away-from-it-all quest for solitude movie, the grandfather of which is perhaps Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson and in the more recent All Is Lost. Theres also Reese Witherspoon in Wild and Emile Hirsch in Into the Wild. Those constitute the chosen-solitude variation. Theres also the forced-solitude-by-happenstance variation, like Tom Hanks in Castaway and James Franco in 127 Hours. Edee packs a few cans of beans, blithely drops her cellphone in the trash, and tells the craggy realtor to come back soon and please drive her car and U-Haul trailer the heck outta here, despite his vehement protestations that one should not be up high in the Wyoming Rockies (the film was shot in Alberta) without a vehicle. Shes got zero wilderness survival or primitive homesteading skills. Shes clearly thinking, How hard could it be? I started cowering inwardly, like at the beginning of a horror movie. Edee Mathis (Robin Wright) attempts hunting deer, in Land. (Focus Features) Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire Sure enough, theres scary animal sounds in the night, food supplies quickly dwindling, the immensely labor-intensive procuring of wood to heat the drafty cabin, and the incident of getting cornered in the rickety outhouse in severe cold, sans pants, by a bad-mood bear. Said bear then sees her cabin door standing wide open and commits major food-foraging mayhem. Edee soon realizes that her plan is not working. Why did she have this plan in the first place? To numb severe pain: Her Chicago life came to a screeching halt after losing her son and husband. Shes grief-stricken and suicidal, so her sister (Kim Dickens) pleads that Edee not hurt herself. Edee heads for the hills anyway. Granted, the nonstop foraging, fishing, hunting, trapping, building, prepping, planting, harvesting, repairing, and chop-wood-carry-water involved in living off the land will focus the mindbut if you dont know what youre doing, youre quickly out of the frying pan and into the fire in terms of tribulations. Suffice it to say, its beyond her. Although Robin Wright might have the strong features of an American frontierswoman of old, her characters a survivalist neophyte, and we endure quite a bit of suffering with her. Miguel (Demian Bichir), a hunter, checks up on Edee when he notices that her chimney is no longer producing smoke, in Land. (Focus Features) Starving and emotionally destroyed, Edee is found and rescued last minute by local outdoorsman and hunter Miguel (Demian Bichir) and nurse Alawa (Sarah Dawn Pledge). Alawa suspects that Edee, who consistently refuses hospital treatment and is vehemently closed-mouthed about her affairs, might be a fugitive from the law. Miguel offers to teach Edee primitive skills if shes up to it, to which Edee reluctantly agrees, but with the condition that Miguel tell her absolutely no news from the outside world. Miguel (Demian Bichir) and Edee (Robin Wright) go hunting together, in Land. (Focus Features) Out of the Fire, Like a Phoenix Theres an immediate platonic chemistry, and as much as Edee is stubbornly fixated on remaining cut off from everything and everyone, Land slowly segues into a two-character piece. She values the wilderness survival lessons, but also, eventually, the camaraderie with its smidgen of warm banter. Like the fact that Miguel hilariously has a completely random and incongruous playlist of FM-lite songs in his head, and knows all the words to Tears for Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Edee Mathis (Robin Wright) and Miguel (Demian Bichir) enjoy coffee and some FM-lite songs together, in Land. (Focus Features) When Edee is informed that a six-foot-high tree stump is the work of beavers, she asks if there are beavers around that stand that tall on their hind feet. Miguel answers that theres at least four feet of frozen snow on the ground when the beavers chew these big trees down. When Edee queries, Why did you help me? Miguel responds, You were in my path. Miguel has his reasons, and we eventually learn what they are, but all Ill say about that iswhile Edees escaping to solitude for comfort initially only brought her more pain, Miguels helping her find new life helps him find peace. Land is somewhat similar to the recent Nomadland in that both are about women who get away from it all, one on a mountaintop and the other in a van. But whereas Nomadland has a bleak, desolate tone, Landby featuring stunning Rocky Mountain landscapes, turquoise rivers, pristine woodlands, and pink-orange sunrises and sunsetsharbors a strong center of hope. This is strengthened by plentiful and soothing birdsong, whistling elk calls, and a soundtrack very similar to the muted string, guitar, and banjo-laden folk band Horse Feathers. Edee Mathis (Robin Wright) learning to live off the land, in Land. (Focus Features) Its initially a difficult, painful journey. But ultimately Edee reaches the state that Tom Brown Jr. spoke of, which is that you want to get all your hunting, tracking, and survival techniques to be second nature so you can waste little time getting to the good stuff: the spiritual stuff. Edee gets to the spiritual stuff. Which is letting go of her attachments to the internet, phone, computer; getting to the state of being hyperaware of the healing beauty and peace around her; and finally pinning photos of a painful past in a cabin-wall collage to be celebrated. Looking forward to seeing more from this newly minted director. Robin Wright in her directorial debut of Land. (Focus Features) Land Director: Robin Wright Starring: Robin Wright, Demian Bichir, Kim Dickens, Sarah Dawn Pledge Running Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes Rating: PG-13 Release Date: Feb. 12 Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Mark Jackson is the senior film critic for The Epoch Times. Mark has 20 years experience as a professional New York actor, a classical theater training, a BA in philosophy, and recently narrated the Epoch Times audiobook, How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World: https://www.thespecterofcommunism.com/en/audiobook/ Rotten Tomatoes author page: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/mark-jackson/movies LANSING, MI Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers administration has released a propane security plan for heating Upper Peninsula homes during the winter as the pending closure of Enbridge Inc.s Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac looms later this spring. The plan calls for increased spending on railroad infrastructure as well as other programs to increase propane stockpiles and storage, step-up supply monitoring, assist low-income households weatherize homes and push the market away from propane and toward renewable energy. The 6-page plan was released Friday, March 12 by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) alongside supportive remarks from heads of state agencies in charge of transportation, the environment and state technology, management and budgeting. This five-point approach will allow us to better protect consumers and ensure that Michiganders have access to the energy resources on which they rely, said public service commission chair Dan Scripps in a news release. The announcement comes exactly two months ahead of Enbridges May 12 deadline to stop the flow through its dual pipeline under the Mackinac straits. On Nov. 13, Whitmer ordered termination of the easement that allows Line 5 to cross state-owned lake bottom, saying the Canadian companys past compliance issues bar its continued operation. Scrutiny on the decision has escalated in recent months as diplomats and other high-ranking Canadian officials began pressuring Whitmer and lobbying their counterparts in Washington DC, arguing the pipeline closure threatens Canadian jobs and energy supplies. Republicans in Congress have also begun attempts to elevate the issue beyond Whitmer with a letter to President Joe Biden this week arguing the pipeline closure threatens refinery jobs in Ohio and jet fuel supplies at Midwest airports. Enbridge says the pipeline operates safely and has pledged to defy Whitmers directive, absent a court order. Opponents argue the 67-year-old pipeline poses too great of an oil spill risk where lakes Michigan and Huron connect. They have also opposed Enbridges $500 million plan to build a new utility tunnel under the straits to house a replacement pipeline, saying the risk of a spill remains too great during construction and the project furthers reliance on fossil fuels that contribute to global climate change. Those groups applauded Fridays plan announcement, characterizing concerns about jobs losses and fuel supply disruption as overblown propaganda. Enbridge and their allies have been spending millions of dollars to scare Michigan residents and create a fiction that the sky will fall and people will freeze without Line 5, said Sean McBrearty, Clean Water Action state policy director. Pipeline supporters panned the announcement. Michigan Chamber of Commerce CEO Rich Studley dubbed it a propane insecurity plan on Twitter and accused Whitmer of a reckless political scheme to shut down Line 5 with no alternatives. The impact of a closure on propane supply used for residential heating in the U.P. has been a frequent argument made by those opposed to shutting down Line 5. About 1 in 5 homes rely on propane for winter hearing in the U.P. The lower peninsula also sources some propane from the pipeline, but at a much smaller percentage. A U.P. Energy Task Force appointed by Whitmer made draft recommendations last year on alternative energy sources, including expansion of low-income assistance programs, incentivizing new storage and transitioning propane supply to rail cars. The task forces final report is due by March 31. The propane plan builds on those recommendations, calling for millions in new spending thats already being requested in Whitmers fiscal 2022 budget proposal pending before the Republican-controlled state legislature. The propane plan calls for $10 million next year to help low-income homeowners weatherize their homes and conduct other energy efficiency projects. The state is also reviewing additional opportunities, such as cost-effective alternatives to meet heating needs through electrification and a new Propane Commission created though a lame duck bill in December will promote high-efficiency appliance usage. The plan also calls for $15.1 million in railroad infrastructure spending specifically for propane delivery and storage improvements. The money is requested as part of the 2022 budget proposal for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), which has been working to expand track capacity in Escanaba and Kincheloe, according to the plan. The department and Michigan Technological University are also working with a consultant on an eight-month study of delivering propane by rail. Propane suppliers say railroad transportation presently increases propane costs about 5 to 7 cents per gallon compared to Line 5. They say transitioning supply to rail will take time and cost money. New railcars will be necessary, as evidenced by a recent cold-weather shortage. Dan Harrington, the owner of U.P. Propane in Iron Mountain, said he shifted to using railroad cars around November 2020 in anticipation of the pipelines closure. Nonetheless, hes concerned with transitional demand on the system. Theres just not the infrastructure available, terminals and railroad cars, to transport that much propane, he said. Republican legislators on Friday indicated they were unfriendly to the proposals presented in the plan. Theyre coming to the legislature and begging us to give them more money to develop more alternatives, when the legislature already acted on this, Sen. Ed McBroom told Bridge Michigan, referencing the legislatures 2018 backing of the Mackinac tunnel project. State officials have indicated they expect the market to adjust to the loss of the pipeline and the plan notes that some propane suppliers have already begun steps to wean themselves off Line 5, which offloads propane near Rapid River. The plan notes diversification in wholesale supply and new ownership at Kincheloe and Alto terminals. Whitmers plan calls Enbridges efforts to fight the pipeline closure a predictable attempt to preserve market share. Enbridge does not actually own any propane. It is neither a propane retailer nor wholesaler, nor is the company involved in propane fractionation. Instead, Enbridge merely transports product on its pipeline. Other market actors see an opportunity and are pursuing alternatives, the plan states. Other aspects of the plan involve maximizing propane in state storage reservoirs, identifying alternative sources and adding storage in the U.P., encouraging pre-buying to lock-in supply, requiring companies bidding on contracts to supply state government attest they can meet supply obligations after Line 5 is closed, and developing a strategic reserve to ensure supply during periods of high demand. The plan encourages the legislature to adopt new fuel price-gouging protections using Wisconsin law as a model. On Friday, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a statement asking customers to report any gouging. Her office helped draft legislation to enhance price-gouging investigation and enforcement that failed to gain traction in the Senate last year. Nessel urged the Legislature to re-introduce and reconsider the proposal, as it would allow for expanded enforcement of price-gouging during an emergency declaration or a market disruption, such as for energy products. Related stories: Republicans press Biden to keep Line 5 open Canadian minister: Operation of Line 5 is non-negotiable Some propane supplier switching to rail in Michigan Shutdown order creates a scenario for stopping tunnel Line 5 shutdown order heralded as enormous victory Possible Ice Age artifacts ignored by Line 5 tunnel survey Consumers Energy takes cables out of Straits of Mackinac Enbridge in Michigan: A timeline Fight to shutter Line 5 pipeline has waged for years Line 5 is bent, deformed where Enbridge wants to anchor it New Delhi, March 12 : Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday directed the Directorate of Higher Education to set up an enquiry committee to look into financial irregularities in the government-funded colleges in Delhi University. The development came after reports that some Delhi Government-funded colleges have not disbursed salary to teachers and other staff. "It was brought to my notice that several Delhi government funded colleges of Delhi University have not disbursed salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff from the grant-in-aid released for the third quarter of 2020-21," Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio in the Delhi Government, said. "I've also come to know that many of the colleges have not submitted the utilisation certificates of the grant-in-aid given in the third quarter," he added. Sisodia also said that the Delhi Government will take strict action against those found responsible in the matter. He further said the enquiry committee will look into irregularity of funds in 12 Delhi Government funded colleges. "If colleges have not disbursed salaries, then what has been done with the funds? What is the reason that utilisation certificates have not been submitted? The non-submission of utilisation certificates seems to indicate financial irregularities. It seems like an attempt to avoid scrutiny and accountability," he stated. Issuing a direction for setting up an inquiry committee, he said, "DoE is hereby directed to set up an enquiry committee, which should include senior accounts functionaries to look into how the third quarter grants and existing surplus funds have been spent with transparency. Strongest action needs to be taken against any financial irregularities by these Delhi Government colleges." Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 67F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. The wizard-y world of Harry Potter has yet again grown a little less magical this week, after Katie Leung, the actress behind Cho Chang opened up about experiencing gut-wrenching racist attacks online after earning the part as a teen. Leung, who was cast in the iconic role for 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when she was just 16 years old says she began looking herself up online, where she came across several racist remarks. "I was, like, googling myself at one point, and I was on this website, which was kind of dedicated to the kind of Harry Potter fandom," she explained on Monday's episode of the Chinese Chippy Girl podcast. "I remember reading all the comments. And yeah, it was a lot of racist shit." Continue Reading Below Advertisement Among the hatred, a particular site seemingly stands out in Leung's memory. "And then somebody had actually created a website, a hate site -- it was like, if you disagree with this casting, then click on this button and then it would just be like a count of how many people disagreed with the casting and you would just see a number," Leung said "I know, it's awful. It's so awful." Yet when Leung broached these hate-fueled racist attacks to her publicist, she says they seemingly shrugged it off, instructing her to deny the abuse. "I remember them saying to me, 'Oh, look, Katie, we haven't seen these, these websites that people are talking about. And you know? If you get asked that, just say it's not true, say it's not happening.'" Continue Reading Below Advertisement The young actress complied. "And I just nodded my head. I was like, 'Okay, okay,' even though I had seen it myself with my own eyes," she recalled. "I was like, 'Okay, yeah, I'll just say everything's great.'" Although she says she feels "really fucking grateful" to partake in the beloved franchise, the Leung says she was in an uncomfortable position, essentially silenced about the abuse she endured online. "I keep saying, like, 'Oh I wish I'd maybe said something.' But you can't do that," she explained. As BuzzFeed pointed out, Leung had previously spoken out about the racism she experienced as a result of the franchise back in 2016, telling the Scottish publication, The Herald that she was "pretty impressed" with how she handled the hatred as well as negative comments about her appearance "especially at 16.""Looking back I can't remember much about that part of it because I was so in denial of what was happening," she said when asked about the vitriol she faced from the fandom. "I put it to the back of my mind. I dont know if that is the best way to deal with it, but that is naturally what I did in order to move on and be a good actor." So reader, take it from Leung-- racism or harassing teens is never okay. For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram at @HuntressThompson_, on Twitch.tv @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone. ADVERTISEMENT The immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, has denied fiddling with funds meant to procure arms and ammunition while in office. Mr Buratai, a retired lieutenant general, stated this in a statement by his lawyer, Osuagwu Ugochukwu, on Friday. The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, had said in an interview with BBC Hausa Service, that funds running into billions of naira meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition under the immediate past service chiefs, were unaccounted for. The immediate past service chiefs are Gabriel Olonisakin, chuef of Defence staff, Abubakar Sadique, chief of Air staff, Ibok Ekwe Ibas, chief of naval staff and Mr Buratai. Mr Monguno has since denied the report, saying he was quoted out of context. Mr Buratai, who was the COAS between 2015 and 2021, said no arms fund was missing under his stewardship. He also said his name was never mentioned in the interview granted by Mr Monguno. Read the full statement. PRESS STATEMENT LT GEN T Y BURATAI AND OTHER EX SERVICE CHIEFS NEVER FIDDLED WITH ARMS FUND My attention has been drawn to an interview granted BBC by National Security Adviser (NSA) RTD Major General Babagana Monguno wherein he was alleged to have accused former service chiefs of filtering ARMS Fund away. I can confirm that LT General Buratai and other ex-service chiefs were never mentioned in the interview and neither was any arms fund missing under the stewardship of LT Gen T.Y Buratai. Interestingly, NSA Babagana Monguno has denied making such accusations. We therefore urge members of the public to discountenance any such misquoted narrative suggesting sleaze on the integrity of RTD LT Gen T.Y Buratai. Anyone interested in knowing how Arms were procured by the ex-service chiefs and particularly LT Gen T.Y Buratai should channel such request for information to the Ministry of Defence and stop the habit of speculation and false information peddling. Because any attempt to further tarnish the image of the former Chief of Army staff will be resisted legally. Thank you Osuagwu Ugochukwu ESQ ( Attorney to LT Gen T.Y Buratai RTD) Abuja By producing high-quality timepieces that have been closely linked with peoples lives, the Seiko Holdings Group has shared time with people, in sorrow and in joy, throughout its history. Commemorating 10 years since the tragedy, Seiko will organize a special concert at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo on March 11 to bring together those affected by the disasters and those who have offered support for reconstruction, including pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii. Looking back, when the disasters hit the Tohoku region in 2011, Seiko was about to mark its 130th year in business. The company canceled all scheduled events to celebrate the milestone anniversary. Instead, in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, it conducted a series of activities called the Seiko 130 Actions, which included fundraising, sending relief goods, cleaning of the tsunami-damaged photos and helping with decontamination work, to facilitate the recovery. In three years, the number of support activities climbed to 138. As part of the Seiko 130 Actions, the company supported two charity concerts led by the late jazz pianist Norio Maeda in August 2011 in Fukushima and Iwate prefectures to show solidarity with those affected by offering emotional support through music, rather than material assistance. Seiko Holdings Group CEO and Chief Culture Officer Shinji Hattori, who attended both concerts, was moved by Maedas performances on the tsunami-hit piano that lost some of its tune. Hattori realized that it is the power of music that moves and unites peoples hearts, and became more determined to have the company further extend such activities to assist reconstruction. To broaden the scope of its support, Seiko established an executive committee headed by Hattori to organize a string of events under the Sound of Wa Concert to Support Eastern Japan in September 2013, resulting in six concerts in the affected areas in Tohoku region. The Japanese word wa in the title has various meanings ranging from circles and harmony to things Japanese: a circle of support for reconstruction activities, a circle of hands joining those who suffered in the disasters with their supporters, a circle of hope for the future, a spirit of harmony that fosters the togetherness of those working for reconstruction and a spirit of vibrant Japan. The Wa concerts embrace such spirits and express a strong wish to develop bonds among people. 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. COLUMBIA, S.C., Feb. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Trulite, Inc. is pleased to announce recent additions to its board of directors. The changes are preparing the company for its new positioning in the growing hydrogen and clean power technologies market. Chairman of the board, John White, who represents the largest investor group, said the board additions are effective January 1, 2021. The new additions are Ron Seftick, Trulite CEO, and Ben Buettell. John White further stated that these changes are occurring at a time when we are now realizing that even traditional green energy technologies have their limitations. Trulite is well positioned to drive the paradigm shift to a new form of hydrogen production that can even be used indoors. Trulite CEO Ron Seftick, a veteran of the electrical and power generation industry, leads the company that is focused on developing clean, renewable power technologies that utilize fuel cells and hydrogen, as a replacement for batteries and gas generators. Prior to Trulite, Seftick was the vice president of American Power Conversion (APC's) large systems division, until APC was acquired by Group Schneider. Seftick also held positions as president of the Americas for the industrial division of Wagner GmbH, based in Markdorf, Germany. He was also the executive vice president of GE- Zenith Controls, a division of General Electric, where he led the acquisition of Zenith Controls Inc. to General Electric Inc. Seftick was president and managing director of Zenith Controls Asia, Ltd in Singapore, which was acquired by General Electric. A graduate of GE's TMP and executive leadership programs, Seftick held executive leadership roles in both GE's supply company, as well as in industrial and distribution divisions of General Electric and RTE-ASEA (ABB). Ben Buettell is a veteran mergers and acquisitions professional who brings a wealth of strategic, financial, and transactional experience to the Trulite board. Buettell spent 24 years at Houlihan Lokey, where he helped grow it from a boutique firm into a global investment bank. He led over 200 corporate engagements, including mergers, acquisitions, recapitalizations, equity reorganizations, and strategic alternative assessments to startups, public and private companies, boards of directors, and independent fiduciaries. Subsequently, Buettell co-founded Chicago-based, early-stage technology venture firm, R7 Partners, and serves as a director on the boards of several of its portfolio companies. He also serves on the board of Fusion Acquisition Corp., an NYSE-listed blank-check company with an investment focus in the Fintech, asset and wealth management sectors. Both Seftick and Buettell bring a wealth of previous experience to take Trulite to its next level of success. Trulite is a clean technology power products company engaged in the development and production of the next generation of solid state hydrogen generation and deployment. When coupled with state of the art fuel cells, the technology allows for indoor and outdoor deployment covering a multitude of applications across a broad range of power requirements. Contact: Ron Seftick [email protected] SOURCE Trulite, Inc. Related Links https://www.trulitetech.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. ALBANY, N.Y. Amid growing calls for his resignation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said again Friday he doesnt plan to step down, and said calls for him to resign are reckless and dangerous, because a decision without the facts is irresponsible. The governor said politicians take positions for all sorts of reasonsincluding political expediency and believes the people of New York know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth." Six women have come forward accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment and misconduct, but the governor continues to deny that he touched anyone inappropriately. I did not do what has been alleged. Period, he said during a media conference call Friday. Cuomo is still urging people to wait for the investigations into his conduct to play out, saying there are often many motivations for making an allegation." Earlier Friday, Congressman Antonio Delgado, D-19, joined many of his fellow lawmakers in calling for Cuomos resignation. On Thursday, at least 121 members of the state Assembly and Senate had publicly said Cuomo should step down. While COVID-19 spreads internationally, increasingly dominated by more contagious variants, the distribution of vaccines in Europe is mired in delays. The situation is particularly stark in France, where approximately 6 percent of the population have received a single dose, and only half of these the required second doses. In Germany, only 6.6 percent of the population has received a single dose. Three percent or less of the population has been vaccinated in Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. A man wearing a face mask walks past the Corona Center in Duisburg, Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File) In Britain, where vaccination has proceeded significantly further than in Europe as a whole, less than two percent of the population has received the required second dose of their vaccines, while some 23 million people have received a first dose. In comparison, the number of people vaccinated in Israel surpassed 4.9 million this week, more than 50 percent of the population. The vaccination campaign in Europe has been chaotic from the outset. Governments had no real plan for a coordinated international distribution of a vaccine, while key infrastructure has been undermined by decades of austerity cuts to health systems that financed tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. In Germany, for example, the online portal for booking vaccination appointments for months only allowed users to book a first appointment, for a single dose, providing no means for users to go on a waiting list to be notified when more doses became available. A major factor in the slow pace of vaccination, at least since the end of January, was the shortage of available doses. After cut-throat negotiations of contracts worth tens of billions of euros with European governments, the giant pharmaceutical corporations failed to supply enough vaccines. This exposes the bankruptcy of European capitalism. Since last spring, EU and UK authorities have distributed trillions of euros and pounds in bank and corporate bailouts. Stock markets have surged, and individual multi-billionaires like Frances Bernard Arnault have added tens of billions of euros to their personal wealth. Yet there has been no public works program to massively increase vaccine production capacity, produce the infrastructure and equipment needed to distribute them, or increase health budgets. Instead, billions went to the very private corporations reaping profits from the crisis. There is an urgent need for a global policy of social distancing and mass vaccination. However, it was blocked by corporate profit interests and the national interests of competing capitalist powers. As governments and trade unions herded workers back to work and youth back to school, in a herd immunity policy costing hundreds of thousands of lives, the capitalist market produced a debacle. Last October, the EU, UK and US vetoed requests by India and South Africa to allow the generic manufacturing of a vaccine, which would threaten the interests of European and US corporations and to their ability to use a vaccine monopoly as a diplomatic weapon. For the same reason, they were hostile to international distribution of vaccines manufactured by China and Russia. In December, Pfizer/BioNTech announced that it would not meet its promised quota of 12.5 million doses to the EU by the end of 2020. It pledged to increase production in Europe, but made clear this would be subject to the outcome of its negotiations with manufacturers in the continent. In January, Moderna announced supply cuts to both Italy and France of more than 20 percent. The only other vaccine approved for use by the European Medical Agency, Oxford-AstraZeneca, has announced continual delays and cuts in projected supplies. On February 23, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous EU official, that AstraZeneca will be down on its second-quarter shipments by more than 50 percent, providing 90 million of a pledged 180 million for April to June. On March 6, the Financial Times reported that the EU is seeking access to AstraZeneca vaccines made in the US. AstraZeneca had been aware of production shortfalls in early January, but only announced at the end of that month that it would deliver 40 million out of 90 million doses for the first quarter. The shortage of available vaccines compelled France to postpone all vaccination appointments in the Ile-de-France region for weeks, while Spain also had to push back its campaign. AstraZenecas announcement triggered a bitter nationalist conflict between the EU and the UK. The EU demanded that a portion of the vaccines produced in two UK-based plants be diverted to meet AstraZenecas EU commitments, which the British government rejected. For several hours on January 28, the EU announced a ban on vaccine exports to Ireland, stating that they could be used to send vaccines to the UK. It only overturned the decision after Johnson called EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen to express grave concerns over the action. The same week, several European countries announced restrictions on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, claiming this was motivated by scientific concern over its efficacy. European governments and news publications citing government sources initiated an irresponsible propaganda campaign to undermine trust in the AstraZeneca vaccine. French President Emmanuel Macron stated on January 29 that today we think the [AstraZeneca] vaccine is practically inefficient for those aged over 65, without citing any evidence for this claim. The German daily Handelsblatt cited an unnamed German government source to claim that the AstraZeneca vaccine apparently has an effectiveness of only 8 percent in the elderly. These statements were not based on any scientific fact. The eight percent figure was in fact the portion of participants in the AstraZeneca vaccine trials aged from 56-69. Most participants were aged between 18 and 55, while less than 1,500 were aged over 55, and 450 were aged over 70. The European Medical Agency had taken note of the relatively low number of elderly trial participants when it approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in January. It stated that because an immune response had been seen in this age group, and based off the experience of other vaccines, a similar effectiveness could be predicted among elderly patients, and that further data should continue to be gathered and analyzed. The initial analysis of clinical trials of AstraZeneca, based on a regimen of two doses separated by four weeks, estimated it prevented all symptomatic cases with an efficacy of 62 percent. A more recent article published by the Lancet on March 6 claims that this figure rises to approximately 81 percent if the two doses of the vaccine are delivered further apart in time. Modernas and Pfizers clinical trials both recorded estimated efficacies of 94 to 95 percent. Recent English and Scottish studies show thatif a single dose of the vaccines is given, in violation of manufacturers protocols but in line with UK government policythe AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are about as efficient at eliminating symptomatic COVID-19 cases (around 60 percent), and at lowering hospitalization rates of elderly patients (by around 80 percent). After the publication of these studies, the German government approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for individuals aged over 65. The French government announced a similar abrupt turn, declaring that the AstraZeneca vaccine is as efficient as Moderna and Pfizer, except for the oldest age groups. It is advising that it be used for all patients aged under 75, including those aged 65-74 with pre-existing co-morbidities. Older patients are still being administered Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Yesterday Denmark, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg all suspended use of AstraZeneca vaccines from a 1 million-dose batch sent to Europe. A woman in Denmark and a 49-year-old nurse in Austria died from blood clots after receiving an AstraZeneca vaccine shot. Health authorities in Denmark stressed it was only a pause in the use of the vaccine, and the Spanish government issued a statement that it was not discontinuing use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine. What is clear is that health policy including the distribution of vaccines must be conducted based on the scientific views of medical professionals, freed from the influence of the corporate profit and state strategic interests that have prevailed up to now. Above all, it is critical to ensure social distancing, including through lockdowns, to limit the spread of the virus, give time for the production of vaccines, and limit the emergence of new variants. This would save millions of lives. Yet a vaccine program that has barely begun in Europe is being used by governments as a rationale for ending even the most limited measures of social isolation that had been in place. This criminal policy would ensure that the virus can spread unchecked and threatens to lead to countless unnecessary deaths. Moreover, scientists have warned repeatedly that the continued spread and mutation of the virus only raises the possibility that future mutations may be more resistant to current vaccines and the antibodies they stimulate in the human body. Thus, the French daily Le Monde recently hailed Macrons refusal to implement a lockdown and supported the quasi-consensus that now exists to reject this radical solution. Calling to promote the AstraZeneca vaccine against a lockdown, it concluded: We must, urgently, change attitudes on vaccines, to consider them our main way to get out of the crisis. From this standpoint, unfortunately, the governments messaging is far short of what is required. In line with its entire herd immunity policy on the pandemic of allowing the virus to spread while keeping workers at work in order to boost corporate profits, the European bourgeoisie is using the vaccines as a pretext to push for further cuts to critical social distancing measures. The key question is the political mobilization of the working class across Europe and the world against the failed policies of the ruling class and for a scientifically-based policy. At the center of this struggle is a fight for social distancing and lock-downs to give time for vaccination. The past year of the pandemic has shown that such a struggle cannot be organized in the grip of the trade unions and the political establishment, which all supported the herd immunity policy. Workers need their own rank-and-file organizations to prosecute this struggle. At the same time, to fight the virus, such organizations need a socialist perspective and program. Lock-downs cannot be maintained without the provision of living wages to workers and small businesses so that non-essential workplaces can close. The transformation of the pharmaceutical giants into public utilities subject to democratic control by the workers, not the profit and strategic interests of the banks and imperialist governments, requires a revolutionary struggle against the entire EU, and for the United Socialist States of Europe. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 is facing major strains in its pension system after tapping social security funds to stimulate the economy for the past two years. On Feb. 26, China's minister of human resources and social security, Zhang Jinan, said the government had paid all of its old-age pensions "on time and in full" last year with increases for 120 million retirees despite concerns about deficits and contribution cuts, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Public concerns have been rising since a 2019 report by the ministry and the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences (CASS) warned that the pension fund for urban workers would start running deficits in 2028 and become insolvent by 2035, largely due to demographic trends. China's over-60 population is projected to rise from 254 million in 2019 to 300 million in 2025, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, while a declining number of younger workers will be paying into the social security funds. The forecasts have become a potential source of social instability because younger workers bear the financial burden of supporting the pension funds, as well as the risk that the funds will run out before they retire. On Feb. 26, President Xi Jinping cited the need to improve the social security system at a Politburo study session of the Communist Party Central Committee, Xinhua said. "Social security is the most imminent and realistic issue the people care about," said Xi, raising expectations of major changes in the 2021-2025 period of the 14th Five-Year Plan. "Although China has basically established a fully functional social security system ..., the country still needs to ... make practical improvements on the weak links of the system, as the principal contradiction in Chinese society has evolved," Xi said. In its outline of the five-year plan, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) promised to "increase social security efforts." "We will refine the national unified platform for social insurance public services, bring basic old-age insurance funds under national unified management, and develop a multi- tiered, multi-pillar old-age insurance system," the government's top planning agency said. Earlier this week, Bloomberg News reported that banking regulators are considering a plan that could form one of the pillars. The plan calls for creating a national pension company with state-owned banks and insurers as shareholders, Bloomberg said, but details have yet to be worked out. Demographic fallout The pressures on pension funding from China's discredited one-child policy are expected to play out over the next decade. "From now up till 2030, people aged above 55 will increase by 124 million ... (while) people aged below 35 will decline by 46 million as a result of population aging," said Robin Xing, Morgan Stanley chief China economist, in a report by China Global Television Network (CGTN). The retirement age for men is 60. Women in the blue-collar workforce retire at 50, or 55 for white-collar workers, Xinhua said. China's main pension fund has already been running an annual deficit of 730 billion yuan (U.S. $113 billion), according to the CGTN report. The strain on the system comes despite a government decision in 2017 to pump up reserves by ordering China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to transfer 10 percent of their shares to the national pension fund. In January, the Ministry of Finance said the transfers from the centrally-administered SOEs had been completed. The value of the shares in the 93 big companies was estimated at 1.68 trillion (U.S. 260 billion), the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said. But the transfers may be little more than a paper shuffle. Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, has described the assets as "clearly not liquid" and unlikely to generate cash to pay benefits. The government has added strains to the system by allowing enterprises to reduce their contributions to social security funds since 2019 as part of its plan to ease "corporate burdens," boost profits and stimulate the economy. The plan predated the COVID-19 crisis, which dealt a further blow to social security contributions. As part of its campaign to rescue the economy by easing corporate costs, the government raised its tax and fee cuts from 2 trillion yuan (U.S. $308 billion) in 2019 to 2.6 trillion yuan (U.S. $400 billion) last year. Based on the numbers cited by Zhang at his press conference last month, the reduction in employers' social insurance contributions accounted for nearly 60 percent of the government's tax and fee cuts last year. Reduced payments Over half of the cuts came from reduced payments to old- age pension funds. The reported balance of 4.7 trillion yuan (U.S. $723 billion) in the pension fund appears to have fallen by 6 percent in less than two years. The condition of the fund could be considerably worse if the SOE shares have been overvalued. One implication of the share transfers is that the pension fund will be a major stakeholder in SOEs, but with no influence over their activities. "The transfer does not change (the) state firms' management as the pension fund will be a long-term financial investor, only enjoying stock dividend and not interfering in operations," Du Tianjia, a SASAC research official, told CGTN. The government is working on plans to reduce underfunding, but all appear to face problems. One clear task is to unify the country's pension funds into a comprehensive national system by 2025 as announced by the Central Committee last year, the official English- language China Daily reported. Merging the funds from lower levels of government would allow financial support to flow from regions with younger populations to older ones that have relied on government bailouts, the paper said. Unification at the provincial level from funds run by cities and lower-level authorities has already been "widely achieved," said Lu Quan, secretary-general of the China Association of Social Security. But the unification plan has been resisted by younger work forces in coastal regions with concerns about greater financial burdens and higher corporate contribution rates. "They have become the biggest opposition force to a unified system," China Daily quoted Lu as saying. An even tougher solution may be to raise the retirement thresholds. The government has been laying the groundwork for the difficult decision, which has met with public outcries every time it comes up. At the social security press conference on Feb. 26, You Jun, vice-minister for human resources, said the government is working on a detailed plan to raise the retirement age limits "in a gradual manner" for the 14th Five-Year Plan period. You's comments echoed a government announcement of the gradual changes in November, citing targets for 2035, Reuters reported. Officials have argued to no avail that China's longstanding benchmarks are lower than those for other countries including South Korea and Japan, while average life expectancy in China has risen to 77.3 years as of 2019. The average lifespan is expected to increase by one year during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Premier Li Keqiang said in his government work report. You said the plan to raise the retirement ages "will both draw on international experiences and practices and fully consider China's own condition, traditions and history," Xinhua reported. The announcement of retirement changes in November drew complaints on social media, according to Reuters. "Delaying retirement means we have to postpone our pension," one user wrote on Weibo. Another user said the decision "has no rationality or necessity," Reuters reported. In an email message, Hufbauer said that solutions to the underfunding problems are bound to be difficult, noting that the social security system in the United States is also facing pressure. Last year, the Social Security Administration projected that its trust fund could be depleted by 2035, forcing it to reduce benefits unless remedial measures are taken. "I think the ultimate solution for China, as for the U.S., will be to tap general funds. But in the meantime, there could be small fixes, like increasing the retirement age a little bit, raising taxes a little bit, etc.," said Hufbauer. "Solutions will be painful, but I don't expect either China or the U.S. to cut pension benefits," he said. A meteorite which had landed in Sahara Desert in Africa in 2020, has been dated as being 4.6 billion years old, which makes the volcanic rock older than Earth itself. Named Erg Chech 002 (EC 002), after the Algerian site where it was discovered, its age and mineral content hint that the rock originated in our early solar system from the crust of a protoplanet a large, rocky body in the process of developing into a planet, according to a new study. Also read: Meteorite With 7 Billion Year Old Stardust To Be Auctioned For $180,000 Twitter The team that is responsible for these findings was lead by Jean-Alix Barrat from the Universite de Bretagne Occidentale in France. As quoted by various reports, the team speculates the meteorite is likely a rare surviving chunk of a lost baby planet that was destroyed or absorbed by bigger rocky planets during our solar system's formation. The fragments found last year, were "relatively coarse grained, tan and beige," sporadically studded with crystals that were "larger green, yellow-green and less commonly yellow-brown," according to a description by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). Also read: New Research Indicates Meteorite That Fell In 1969 Can Shed Light On Solar System's History Credit: Maine Mineral and Gem Museum/Darryl Pitt The EC002 is essentially an artefact from a protoplanet, which is a large body of matter in the orbit around the sun or any other star and is known for being present while the planet is being developed. According to the team, the magma which formed this rock was around 1220C and it took around 1,00,000 years to cool down. As this very volcanic rock is said to be before the earth came along, what makes this finding rare is the fact that any other similar body that was from that time will not exist now as they may have gone on to become a planet at some point. Also read: Stunning! Watch As A Meteor Flies Across The Sky In Texas Leaving Onlookers Amazed ADVERTISEMENT A Customary Court sitting in Mapo in Ibadan, on Friday, dissolved a 26-year-old marriage between a Lagos State-based businesswoman, Kemi Oyeniyi, and her husband, Olusola, over voodoo suspicion. Ms Oyeniyi, who rejected any peace effort at resolving the matter, pointed out that her husband would have killed her, if not for her faith. Delivering judgment, the President of the court, Ademola Odunade, held that the court will not watch until there is bloodshed before acting. Mr Odunade consequently dissolved the marriage in the interest of peace. The arbitrator granted custody of the first two children, aged 15 and 18, to Olusola and the last one who is 13, to Ms Oyeniyi. He ordered Olusola to pay N5,000 for the childs monthly upkeep. Earlier, Ms Oyeniyi said: if I had known that Olusola was randy and wife-killing husband, I will not have married him. I missed so many opportunities to work in Saudi Arabia because Olusola opposed the idea. We when we eventually reached an agreement, I caught Olusola one day planting a broomstick on a footpath he knew I will pass. A few days before I travelled, my pastor told me that my husband has planted a killer-charm in my body and that I should plead with him to free me. In Saudi, my children and relatives sent me many video recordings of how Olusola flirts about with ladies of his childrens age, even kissing them in their presence, she alleged. She said that Mr Olusola attempted to sleep with her younger sisters. In spite of these, I sent him a lot of money to pay our three childrens school fees, but he kept squandering the money, Ms Oyeniyi said. The defendant consented to the divorce but denied all the allegations levelled against him. She is a pathological liar who abandoned me immediately she returned from her trip abroad. It is true that she sent me some money, but I made judicious use of it, Mr Olusola said. (NAN) New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 84F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 67F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 84F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 67F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. A Polish man living in Cork for 12 years said that he does not recognise the Irish jurisdiction and refused to wear a mask while present at a protest last Saturday afternoon, a court has heard. After pleading guilty to a charge arising out of the events on Saturday in Cork City, and in respect of another incident in January, Mikolaj Plichcinski, 39, with an address at an apartment at Clifton Terrace, Summerhill North, Cork, was jailed for five months. Plichcinski appeared by video link from prison and repeated his assertion about jurisdiction. I do not consent to this jurisdiction, Plichcinski said from Cork Prison. There was evidence yesterday that during an incident outside an off licence in January, Plichcinski said to the arresting garda: It is against my sovereign rights as a human being. Sergeant Pat Lyons said the defendant then tried to remove the epaulettes from the uniform of the arresting garda. Eddie Burke, defence solicitor, said of the accused: He is argumentative and obstructive, but he was not threatening. Judge Olann Kelleher said that during the incident in January, the defendant was recording everything on his mobile phone. Mr Burke said of the videoing: It has gone that way with a lot of people. There are a lot of people going around recording guards and putting it up on social media. As for Saturday last, Mr Burke said Plichcinski simply got caught up in it. In respect of the protest, he pleaded guilty to failing to provide his name when requested at St Patricks Street, Cork, by Garda David ODonoghue under the Health Act as amended by the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act. The judge fined him 200 or five days in prison in default of payment. The more serious charge was of failing to comply with a garda direction to leave the scene of a disturbance outside ODonovans off-licence on Summerhill North on January 7. He was jailed for five months for that offence. News at 4Cs 4Cs Receives $30,000 to Start PowerUp Grant to Fill Student Financial Gaps For more than 30 years, Sally Chapman Cameron served as a community college administrator in the Southcoast of Massachusetts, dedicating her career to promoting the life-changing benefits of higher education. Now retired and living in Barnstable, Cameron has turned her attention to supporting a new generation of students, personally funding a $30,000 grant to connect students at Cape Cod Community College (4Cs) with money that supports unmet needs and helps keep them on a path to college completion. The PowerUp grant provides critical gap funds to students who need money to address small necessities that can otherwise derail them from staying in college. Cameron says that throughout her career she has seen students who drop out because they cant pay for a car repair, or an unexpected medical bill, or any number of life events that make continuing seem impossible. The PowerUp grant will cover gaps in funding not covered by financial aid, outstanding student balances that are prohibiting students from registering for classes, fees, books, technology, equipment and living expenses for students who demonstrate need. Community college students are the Capes future, Cameron said. They are our neighbors, our healthcare professionals and business people and entrepreneurs, said Cameron. These are people trying to improve their lives and escape poverty, but sometimes poverty can be an obstacle to staying in school. Because they are often stretched so thin, its too easy for them to be knocked off track by even the most minor of financial setbacks. Through this grant, I want to give those students a chance to hang on and finish their journey. At Cape Cod Community College, more than 60-percent of students are enrolled on a part-time basis, juggling work, family, and other personal responsibilities on top of their classwork. This grant is going to change the lives of so many of our students, and we could not be more thankful, said John Cox, President of Cape Cod Community College. Looking across the country, we see reports that show that the vast majority of community college students simply do not have the means to sustain financial setbacks. When those setbacks come, they are often forced to choose between their education and their survival. The PowerUp grant is a lifeline to our students and we know it will keep many of them on track and moving towards Commencement. The PowerUp grant does not need to be paid back and will be available to any student who has completed at least 12-college credits. Students at the College are encouraged to apply, regardless of status, including those who classify as international, undocumented, and DACA. Funds from the PowerUp grant are being distributed throughout the Spring 2021 semester and will continue on through the Fall 2021 semester. Cameron hopes that the grant will rally others in the community to build on the growing need for student emergency funds. In our community, we benefit from the students and graduates of Cape Cod Community College every day, she said. Especially after this year of pandemic and economic downturns, it is to all of our interests to help them cross the finish line. Applications for the PowerUp grant are now being accepted. The grant is administered through The Educational Foundation of Cape Cod Community College, and support for the PowerUp grant is tax-deductable. For information on how to give to 4Cs, visit ccccfoundation.org. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Following the exclusive interview with former LeT terrorist, Sahil Nazir, ex-Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister said that the confession of the terrorist while speaking to Republic shows how Pakistan is trying to destabilise J&K. Stating that Pakistan does not have a government, the former Deputy Chief Minister said, "ISI Army have an upper hand." He further said, "They want to divert attention. Kashmir is an emotional issue for them and they are trying to send youth by brainwashing them." Republic TV speaks to Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist After a 19-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist named Sahil Nazir was arrested from south Kashmir, Repulic Media Network conducted an exclusive interview with him. This interview bought forth the chilling details of how the terror handlers from Pakistan are using social media platforms to brainwash the Kashmiri youth, sometimes even to the extent that the youth get ready to become suicide bombers. While making startling revelations to Republic, Sahil Nazir, who is from Drangabal Pampore, had got in touch with a terrorist commander Khalid Bin Waleed (who intends to do terror act and then the claim shall be made on behalf of a new terrorist outfit Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind) from Pakistan on Telegram (social media channel) some 6 months back. I joined Telegram last year where I got in touch with them (terror ranks). Khalid bin Walid (Pak terrorist) had opened a channel namely Al Sakar Media on Telegram. I joined the channel and shared my details and then he (Khalid) started talking to me. I was in touch with him through audio call and chatting, however, have never seen him, Sahil told Republic TV. He disclosed that after a few months of indoctrination, he was handed over a hand grenade in one of the hospitals in South Kashmir that he had to hurl at SOG Camp, Pampore, which he did on 25th January. The grenade was arranged by Khalid through some local contact. When asked what message the 19-year-old would like to tell the youth who get trapped in similar situations and begin to follow the path of terrorism, Nazir said, "I will say this to everyone. Pakistan does not think good for anyone. Pakistan does things in self-interest. We are the youth of Kashmir. We have to stand up for ourselves. We have to study and do something for our family so that we can bring laurels to Kashmir and the nation." Kavinder Gupta on Pakistan's terrorism 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. Now that the IRS is about to start sending the third stimulus check, we'll tell you what you need to know about tracking its status. With President Joe Biden having signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill into law, the first round of the third stimulus check of $1,400 will be shipped out to qualifying Americans within days. So, if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) releases the first funds, how long will you have to wait before you can start tracking your payment? Is there a need to track it? Track your third stimulus check through the IRS tool The IRS quickly set up an online tracking portal after receiving the first check. Before enabling the tool, the U.S. Treasury had already sent out checks for the second. Although the excitement of searching your bank account for a direct deposit or chasing down the mail carrier might be appealing, the stimulus check monitoring tool is the only real communication and assurance that the IRS processed your payment, whether you're being sent a paper check or an EIP card, and when it may come. The tool also informs you if there's a problem, which might cause you to miss out on your stimulus payment. To fix it, you may need to give more details to the IRS. Since the third stimulus check arrives during tax season, the data will reveal whether the IRS used your 2019 or 2020 returns, as well as whether it accurately counted any of your dependents. If not, you will need to file for a catch-up payout in the future. Here's what you need to know about it, as per CNET. Read also: Third Stimulus Check: Are You a Recipient? IRS's Get My Payment: What to know We don't know when the IRS will upgrade its Get My Payment tracking tool, but it's expected to be only after the third round of stimulus checks are sent out. As for the first two payments, we expect the details to refresh once a day. If the third check tracking app is fully operational, enter your Social Security number, date of birth, street address, and ZIP code. The tool will then show a message containing information about your check, including whether it was received, if the payment was processed, and the date it was released. It will also alert you if the provider is unable to assess your location at this time. When will your $1,400 stimulus check arrive? On March 6, Biden reported that checks would begin to be released this month. The third stimulus check could start arriving in less than a week, based on what we saw in the second stimulus check. The IRS will send checks to taxpayers who have existing direct deposit records on file. According to The Penny Hoarder, many who file a paper tax return or do not have direct deposit would definitely have to wait at least a few weeks longer. The IRS has allowed taxpayers to monitor their checks using the Get My Payment app on its website for the past two rounds. The third-round tracker isn't available yet. Read also: Stimulus Bill Won't Cancel Student Loan Faster How the IRS will determine your third stimulus check Not all in the United States may be eligible for the entire $1,400 stimulus package, and others will not be qualified at all. Your adjusted gross income (AGI), which can be found on your most recent tax return, can be used by the IRS to assess your eligibility. It's a figure derived from subtracting deductions from the net gross revenue, such as contributions to a retirement account, HSA contributions, and student loan interest. Here are the figures you'll need to see whether you qualify for the third stimulus check, as well as where to look for them, as per Business Insider. Only those earning less than a specific AGI will be eligible for a full stimulus check. Here are the income limits you'll need to fall within to receive the full $1,400 per person in your household (including children and dependents): For single filers, an AGI of $75,000 or less is needed. For head-of-household filers, an AGI of $112,500 or less is needed. For married joint filers, an AGI of $150,000 or less is required. People with marginally higher incomes would be eligible for a partial stimulus check per household member. To earn a portion of the check, the AGI must be less than: In the case of single filers: An AGI of $80,000 or less is required. For head-of-household filers, an AGI of $120,000 or less is needed. For married joint filers, an AGI of $160,000 or less is required. Read also: Stimulus Check: The Good, Bad Side that Would Surprise You @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Gerhardus Van Wyk will be laid to rest on Wednesday morning after a service at the Dutch Reformed kerk in the little Namibian bush town of Outjo. Were it not for the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of mourners would be expected to attend the funeral. Burly, bearded Mr Van Wyk was a popular figure in the remote north of Namibia, in southern Africa. A 'gentle giant', several friends have told the Mail. He had led a life filled with great danger. As a young man during the Angolan Bush War (which raged from 1966 to 1990), he fought Soviet-backed guerrillas while serving in the apartheid-era South African Army. Later, as a park ranger and game-reserve manager, he battled poachers armed with assault rifles and faced charging elephants. He was a noted horseman. A sudden, violent death was perhaps not out of keeping with this colourful past. But no one could have predicted the manner in which Van Wyk met his end aged 54: shot dead at a domestic barbecue last month, it is alleged, by his billionaire British boss, Harvey Boulter. Gerhardus Van Wyk (pictured) will be laid to rest on Wednesday morning after a service at the Dutch Reformed kerk in the little Namibian bush town of Outjo It is said he was killed after an argument over a sex-for-accommodation 'indecent proposal' that Boulter allegedly made concerning Van Wyk's pretty daughter-in-law. 'Thirty years after surviving the war, you don't expect to die like that,' says a former army comrade. The tragedy for the Van Wyk family is only the latest twist in Harvey Boulter's enigmatic life. He is the Sussex-born investment and defence industries tycoon who gave tens of thousands of pounds to Ukip election campaigns and blew the whistle on a Westminster political scandal which led to the resignation of Tory defence secretary Dr Liam Fox a decade ago. For the past two years, Boulter, 51, has been living (almost full-time, according to locals) on the 66,000-acre Kaross estate near the hamlet of Kamanjab in northern Namibia, which he bought in 2012 to indulge his love of big-game hunting. This week, Namibian police confirmed that Boulter had been charged with Mr Van Wyk's murder and he was denied bail by a magistrate in Outjo. But last night, his whereabouts were unclear. One official source said he was in custody at Outjo police station. Another said he was still being treated for minor injuries sustained in the fatal incident at a private hospital in the Namibian capital Windhoek, an eight-hour drive away. A third source suggested he had been discharged after treatment and was holed up at a luxury lodge. A sudden, violent death was perhaps not out of keeping with this colourful past. But no one could have predicted the manner in which Van Wyk met his end aged 54: shot dead at a domestic barbecue last month, it is alleged, by his billionaire British boss, Harvey Boulter (pictured) One legal source indicated that Boulter claims he fired in self-defence, having been attacked by Van Wyk and his son. The Mail's investigation has suggested that the Briton was a problem drinker who wore a 9mm semi-automatic pistol in a shoulder holster 24 hours a day. The boundaries of his farm were protected by high-tech movement sensors, CCTV cameras and other defences. No one quite understood why he was so security-conscious. Friends of the dead man claim Boulter is now being 'treated with kid gloves' because of his close relationship with members of Namibia's government. They fear he might escape justice. The lawyer representing the Van Wyk family told the Mail yesterday that, while Boulter's British passport had been seized by the authorities, he still possessed several other passports, having lived in a number of countries since he left the UK. There is an unmanned private airstrip next to his farm 'from which he has gone in and out as he pleased,' says a source. 'If this ever gets to trial it will be a sensation. It will shine a light on the super-rich expat life here, like the White Mischief case did in Kenya,' said another southern African, referring to the murder of the Earl of Erroll in East Africa in 1941, which led to a high-profile, inconclusive court case, as well as a 1987 film starring Charles Dance. (Many people the Mail spoke to are afraid to be named, as they think Boulter is highly influential.) But it could also serve to illuminate the recent business dealings of the combative, controversial and secretive tycoon, who according to local legal sources has been providing military equipment to the Namibian police and defence force as well as rare species for the guns of wealthy foreign hunters. White mischief, indeed. So what happened on the night of February 27, when Mr Van Wyk was killed? The events unfolded during a Saturday spit braai a traditional whole-roast barbecue which Boulter regularly held at Kaross. Van Wyk and his wife Alta were there. For many years, he had worked as a game ranger at the nearby Etosha National Park. 'He was really a special kind of ranger,' says a long-time friend. 'And he was very famous for his horse skills.' The source thought Van Wyk had got the job at Kaross through Boulter's South African-born then wife and mother of his three teenage children, Leonorah. 'Harvey called him his estate manager, which made Gerhard laugh because he was a down-to-earth game ranger,' said the friend. 'But Gerhard turned [Kaross] into one of the best farms out there in the wild west of Namibia. It's an absolute game paradise.' Van Wyk's son, Gerhardus Van Wyk Jr, was present, along with his new bride Liani. The son also worked for Boulter. Boulter, who was acrimoniously divorced from Leonorah in 2019, had recently agreed that the newly married couple could build a home on his vast estate. This deal led to alleged murder. Boulter had been drinking heavily, which was not unusual. It has been reported that the catalyst for the argument was Boulter's alleged outrageous suggestion at the barbecue that, in return for her new marital home, Liani would have to have sex with him every other night. Understandably, her husband was not pleased. There was a heated argument. Boulter produced his gun. 'Harvey apparently insulted Van Wyk's daughter-in-law, became aggressive and threatened the family with a pistol,' Chief Inspector Paavo Iyambo is reported to have said. 'Van Wyk tried to keep the peace, intervened and tried to take the pistol away from Harvey.' In the scuffle that followed, a shot was fired. The bullet hit Boulter's hand and entered Van Wyk's stomach. Kaross is far from anywhere. You can't just call an ambulance. Van Wyk's son, Gerhardus Van Wyk Jr, was present, along with his new bride Liani (pictured together). The son also worked for Boulter Alta Van Wyk, Gerhardus Jr and Liani got the grievously wounded Mr Van Wyk into the family car and drove towards Outjo State Hospital, more than 100 miles away on a country road often crossed by large animals. It must have been a hellish journey and increasingly heartbreaking. They had almost made it to Outjo when Mr Van Wyk died in the car. Pastor Lukas Coetzer, who had known Mr Van Wyk for 30 years and will officiate at his funeral next week, told the Mail: 'The circumstances of his death are hard to understand because he wasn't aggressive. So I couldn't believe the news. At first, I thought it must be a hunting accident.' He added: 'I've met with Alta and will meet her again before the funeral, when the family from South Africa and other parts of Namibia arrive on Monday. The process is still very raw. 'The tragedy is that Alta and Gerhard gave their whole life to Boulter's farm. He was totally devoted to serving Harvey.' Another old friend of the dead man told the Mail last night: 'Alta's in a hell of a state. He died in her arms and now they've lost everything. They've got to leave the farm.' So who is Harvey Boulter, the man at the centre of all this? After graduating from Bristol University, he joined the Swiss banking giant UBS. While there, he advised the Ministry of Defence on restructuring and is reported to have received top-level security clearance. After leaving UBS he struck out on his own, founding the private equity company Porton Group, which is based in the tax-haven Cayman Islands. This venture would make Boulter very rich. He was based in Hong Kong for 17 years, then moved to Dubai and the U.S. before settling in southern Africa. Along the way, he attracted a lot of attention. It was in Dubai that Boulter sought out and then brought down then-Defence Secretary Liam Fox. The tycoon had fallen into a legal dispute in America with another company and wanted the UK government help. He was told to contact the Tory minister's young gatekeeper Adam Werritty, whom Boulter thought at first was Fox's official MoD adviser. In 2011, there was a Werrity-brokered meeting with Fox on the 41st floor of a hotel in Dubai. Boulter came to realise that Werrity was not employed by the MoD. Rather, he was Fox's close friend indeed, had been best man at his wedding and had his own business interests. Even so, he had accompanied the defence secretary on 18 overseas visits, his expenses paid for by private donors. So who is Harvey Boulter, the man at the centre of all this? He is pictured with the Clintons in the US When Boulter made this strange arrangement public and suggested they had even discussed the knighthood that was to be given to the boss of the firm with which he was in dispute Fox was forced to resign. The animus between the men did not end there. Boulter gave 30,000 to the Ukip candidate who stood against Fox in North Somerset, while Fox sued Boulter for libel in relation to remarks the tycoon had made about him to Sky TV and in emails, questioning his integrity. In 2014, the case was settled before it went to trial, with Boulter having to apologise and pay Fox damages and legal costs. There was further controversy in 2015, when a group of unhappy investors in Boulter's firm Porton Capital took legal action, accusing him of mishandling 400 million of their money. Boulter denied any wrongdoing and the case came to nothing. Otherwise his life seemed idyllic. His wife Leonorah gave an interview in Dubai about the 18 million home they had developed in the exclusive Emirates Hills neighbourhood: 'We lived in Hong Kong, which is very tropical and surrounded by mountains and greenery,' she said. 'When we moved to Dubai, which is a desert landscape, we wanted to create a little piece of the Tropics here.' Boulter drove a Rolls-Royce (he also had a Ferrari, which he raced), sailed an 80-metre yacht and owned a private jet. In 2016 ,they moved from the Middle East to Washington DC. But their marriage didn't last. This week, a neighbour of Leonorah's late parents in South Africa told the Mail: 'Her mother told me Leonorah couldn't handle Harvey's philandering any more, so she divorced him and left with the kids. They are living in America still.' After the break-up, Boulter spent more and more time at his Namibian farm. Uwe Hoth, who sold Kaross and the adjoining property to Boulter, told the Mail he first heard of the billionaire in mid-2012, when a helicopter flew at low level over their property. Uwe and his wife Tammy were running a lion rehabilitation programme on the farm. Boulter then contacted them and offered to buy their land. He wanted to turn Kaross into an exclusive hunting farm. Documents show the estate was bought through a Boulter-controlled company. Since then, Boulter has funded several local philanthropic enterprises but he has also won a reputation as a very tough man to do business with. 'Harvey is a bully who used his money to get anything and everything,' said Mr Hoth, 65. 'He told me once: 'I love taking people to court because I can. The bigger the opponent, the better for me.' ' Another local who had dealings with Boulter called him a 'cheap c***' for his aggressive approach to driving down costs that had already been agreed. But he has friends in high places. Locals say he is close to the former Minister of Defence Erkki Nghimtina and to Lt-Gen Sebastian Ndeitunga, commander of the Namibian police, among others. One source said Boulter had bought a number of male white rhinos for trophy-hunting on his farm such hunting of black and white rhino is legally permitted in Namibia under certain conditions. Foreign hunters can be charged up to 216,000 a head for killing a rhino, depending on the size of the horn. But he had problems. An acquaintance said he became depressed after his divorce and had taken to drinking heavily. Friends of the Van Wyk family said Boulter had attended the younger Van Wyk's wedding to Liani last year, when he got very drunk and abusive towards other guests. At the Kamanjab Oktoberfest (Namibia was once part of the German Empire) last year, he is said to have insisted that everyone drink glasses of Jagermeister, a powerful German digestif, with him. Boulter proceeded to get so drunk, he had to be carried to his car to be taken back to the farm 20 miles away. During the fatal incident last month, Boulter held a gun to the younger Van Wyk's head, several sources have told the Mail. After the shooting, Boulter was taken to Outjo and charged with murder before being transferred to the private MediClinic hospital in Windhoek for an operation on his hand. Last night, Van Wyk family lawyer Jan Wessels said Boulter's whereabouts were a mystery. 'We heard he was in the MediClinic but when we followed that up, we were told he was discharged on March 5. I am waiting to hear back from the prosecutor.' Wessels added that Mr Van Wyk's body had been sent to Windhoek this week for a second autopsy. 'So we know where the deceased is but not where the accused is. I hope he is still in custody but we will have to wait and see.' Outjo state prosecutor Penda Hamunyela said that, as far as he knew, Boulter was still undergoing medical treatment. He was shocked to hear that he had apparently been discharged. Speaking to the Mail, Boulter's lawyer, Evert Gouws, would only confirm the charge of murder against his client. He would not disclose whether Boulter was in police custody. The tycoon is scheduled to appear in a local court on April 24 for a preliminary hearing. Money talks in Namibia, though it will take a lot for Harvey Boulter to walk away from this. But as a friend of Gerhardus Van Wyk told the Mail last night: 'Up there [in Kaross], a man like Boulter is a law unto himself.' Additional reporting: John Grobler in Namibia and Mike Behr in South Africa ADVERTISEMENT The new Commander Army Headquarters Garrison, Sanusi Dahiru, a major general, has charged officers and soldiers of AHQ Garrison to key into the vision of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Ibrahim Attahiru, a lieutenant general, which is to Have a Nigerian Army that is Repositioned to Professionally Defeat all Adversaries in a joint Environment. Mr Dahiru gave this charge in his maiden address to officers and soldiers of Army Headquarters Garrison (AHQ Gar) shortly after assumption of command as the 25 Commander of AHQ Gar. He advised officers and soldiers of AHQ Gar to apply their professionalism in studying the capacity of sister services in other to improve their operational efficiency in a joint environment. The new commander, Mr Dahiru, directed officers and soldiers to bring up new ideas that will improve their individual performances and AHQ Gar in general by thinking outside the box instead of being routine in approach to issues. He called on officers to be proactive in nature and warned officers and soldiers to be time conscious because he is a time stickler. Speaking earlier in his farewell address to both officers and soldiers of AHQ Gar, the outgone commander, Ayuba Hamman, a major general, expressed satisfaction with the level of performance of AHQ Gar personnel. He charged them to sustain their tempo of performance under the new commander and expressed his confidence in the ability of the new commander to perform well if not better than him. The outgone commander has been deployed to Nigerian Army Resource Centre Abuja. OMALE ABRAHAM OCHAGWUBA Colonel Deputy Director Army Public Relations The birth of one of the world's rarest species of giraffes was caught in this heartwarming CCTV footage. The adorable 70kg Rothschild baby was welcomed into the world at Chester Zoo on Wednesday. Incredible CCTV captured the moment the unnamed male 6ft tall giraffe was born as he dropped onto a bed of soft straw from a height of two metres from mum Orla. And it later showed the gangly calf making his first tentative steps and suckling from his mother. Mother Orla (above) gently nuzzles against her newborn calf at Chester Zoo Orla and ten-year-old dad Meru's fifth baby brings fresh hope for the species, which is one of the world's most endangered mammals - with only 1,600 left in the wild. One of nine subspecies of giraffes, a third of the remaining population live in zoos with the rest in Southern Africa. Sarah Roffe, giraffe team manager at the zoo, said: 'Giraffes give birth standing up and so their young receive quite a welcome to the world, dropping around six feet to the ground. 'Although this seems like a long way, the fall actually breaks the umbilical cord and helps to stimulate the calf's first breath - it's a dramatic entry but it's just how they do it. 'The new calf has arrived at the end of a 15-month pregnancy for mum Orla and already he stands at 6ft - he could grow to be up to 18ft tall and weigh over 1,000kg. Footage showed the newborn taking its first unsteady steps shortly after his birth during the week The birth of the six-foot calf, which could grow to as high as 18ft, was caught on CCTV 'Orla, an experienced mother, has slipped back into the role like a natural. She's doing everything right, and it's lovely to see the close bond between the two of them. 'This latest arrival joins a group of eight Rothschild's giraffes at the zoo and it's always an exciting time for the herd when a new calf arrives. 'Two of the older females, Dagmar and Tula, appear to have taken on the role of protective aunties, helping Orla to watch out for the newborn. 'The other youngsters in the group love running around together and so, as soon as the calf starts to increase in confidence and venture outside, I'm sure they'll enjoy having a new playmate around.' The Rothschild's giraffe is highly threatened and its population has suffered a 50 per cent decline in recent decades, making it one of the world's most at-risk mammals. The calf suckles on his mother as he gets to grips with his new home in Chester Zoo Keeper Caroline Wright puts down clean straw for the newborn calf, born to Orla and Meru Experts estimate that as few as 1,600 remain across Africa with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) citing habitat loss and poaching as two of its biggest threats. Mike Jordan, director of animals and plants at the zoo, said: 'Once wide-ranging across Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, the Rothschild's giraffe has been almost eliminated from these areas and now only survives in a few small, isolated populations. 'Encouragingly, they are starting to recover with the support of conservation programmes such as those supported by Chester Zoo. 'But they're still threatened with habitat loss and an ongoing poaching crisis, which has seen giraffes hunted for their tails to be used as good-luck charms. 'Working with The Giraffe Conservation Foundation and Uganda Wildlife Authority to monitor, track and protect the giraffe population in Uganda's Kidepo Valley National Park, we're delighted that even with the challenges the pandemic has thrown our way, numbers are slowly increasing. 'Its positive news and we must push on and do all we can to help prevent the extinction of these gentle giants.' The Laredo Pageant Production is preparing to host its Miss Southwest Texas five category pageant on Saturday at the Valdivian Event Reception Center. The event will be hosted by Miss Texas Teen USA 2020 Anissa Mendez and Miss Texas Teen USA and Fourth Runner-up for Miss Texas USA 2020 Chelsea Morgensen. Executive Director of The Miss Laredo Pageant Productions Roel Gonzalez said that the categories will be split into two by time period one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The event will continue to follow CDC safety guidelines and will ask attendees to wear a mask at all times and adhere to social distancing guidelines. The venue capacity will be limited to 60%. The pageant categories include: 2 p.m. Miss Little Southwest Texas. Miss Jr. Southwest Texas. Miss Pre-Teen Southwest Texas. 6 p.m. Miss Southwest Texas USA. Miss Southwest Texas Teen USA. Overall, there will be 10 participants in the 2 p.m. pageant and 11 in the evening competition. Doors will open at 1 p.m. for the Little, Jr. and Pre-teen pageant, and at 5 p.m. for the Miss and Teen USA pageant. Little, Jr., and Pre-teen participants will compete in the fashion wear and evening gown competition. Miss competitors will compete in Interview, Swimwear and evening gown, while Teen competes in Interview, Activewear and Evening Gown. The winner of these categories will then move forward to compete in the Miss Texas USA and Miss Texas Teen USA representing Miss Southwest. According to Gonzalez, the production will continue to follow Miss Universe organization guidelines. Laredo Pageant Production has already hosted a pageant in December that adhered to the guidelines instructed with a 50% capacity. During the Saturday pageant, families of the participants will have their personal tables at social distancing lengths. Currently, he estimates that there is still a chance for members of the community to attend before reaching 60%, and Gonzalez encourages the community to attend. cocampo@lmtonline.com Bangladesh cement makers add two bulk carries to fleet 12 March 2021 Meghna Group of Industries have launched two of the largest dry bulk carriers, viz MV Meghna Princess & MV Meghna Adventure, on 10 March 2021, at the Chittagong port, Bangladesh. Meghna Group is one of the top three cement producers and marketers of Bangladesh, operating with its two strong brands, namely Fresh and Meghnacem Deluxe. State Minister for Shipping, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, attended the event as main guest. Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority, Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, was the special guest while Commodore Abu Jafar Md Jalal Uddin, director-general of the Department Shipping was the guest of honour, says a company announcement. Mostafa Kamal, chairman and managing director of Meghna Group of Industries, in the opening remarks, said Meghna Group is carrying goods in the river and sea. The two new shops equipped with the latest technology and ultramodern equipment now included in the vast fleet of the group, consisting of 145 vessels. He expressed hope that in comparison with the chartered vessel, the benefit of lower freight is available in these self-owned ships, which will positively affect the competitive price of goods, including cement. Published under By Pedro Fonseca RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil has scaled back coronavirus testing in recent months even as infections soar and it recorded the most COVID-19 deaths in the world over the past week, according to Health Ministry data. The result is a nation navigating in the dark, experts said, without the ability to trace and contain transmission, let alone track the spread of dangerous new virus variants in real time. Brazil's public health system and major private laboratories conducted about 44,000 daily PCR tests - the gold standard for identifying the novel coronavirus - in the last week of February, the latest public Health Ministry data show. That was down by nearly a third from Brazil's peak for testing: more than 65,000 per day in the third week of December. By comparison the United States, the only nation with more total COVID-19 deaths, has averaged over a million tests per day in the last nine months. Brazil's Health Ministry did not answer questions about the decline in testing. Recent ministry notes cited investments to increase testing capacity. "There's no justification," said Diego Xavier, a public health researcher for the Fiocruz biomedical institute. "We've processed more tests before. So the only explanation is a reduction in the testing program at a time when we should be increasing it." One in three tests in Brazil were positive in late February, ministry data show, far above the benchmark 5% positivity rate cited by the World Health Organization for countries containing their outbreaks. "The high positivity rate is another indicator of the collapse we are facing," Xavier said. "Our situation is completely out of control and the trend is for contagion to keep rising." Confirmed new cases have doubled since the start of the year in Brazil to average more than 69,000 per day in the past week, surpassing roughly 56,000 daily cases in the United States to become the world's largest active outbreak. Story continues COVID-19 fatalities in Brazil rose even more sharply to 10,000 deaths in the past week, also surging past the weekly U.S. death toll, which has been in decline in recent weeks as its vaccination rollout gathers momentum. "It's our worst moment yet, but we haven't hit the peak," said Alexandre Naime Barbosa, head of the immunology department at Sao Paulo State University, forecasting some 3,000 Brazilian deaths per day by the end of the month. With just 2% of Brazilians fully vaccinated and more contagious new variants from the Amazon region circulating throughout the country, health experts say the country's daily death toll could easily double by the end of the month. For scientists trying to track those concerning variants, the lack of data is even more daunting. Brazil has sequenced just over 4,500 virus samples since the start of the pandemic, out of 11 million confirmed cases. In contrast, the United Kingdom has sequenced more than 336,000 samples as it raced to analyze its own local variants among a confirmed caseload of 4.2 million patients. "This vigilance is expensive," said immunologist Ester Sabino of the University of Sao Paulo, who led the first coronavirus sequencing efforts in Brazil. "We need more people doing it." (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; Editing by Brad Haynes and Bill Berkrot) Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or contributing today. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday claimed India was "no longer" a democratic country, quoting media reports on Swedish Institute's democracy report that downgraded India. "India is no longer a democratic country," he said on Twitter, tagging a news report citing Sweden's V-Dem Institute's democracy report that has downgraded India from 'world's largest democracy' to 'electoral democracy'. India is no longer a democratic country. pic.twitter.com/iEwmI4ZbRp a Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 11, 2021 This comes after another global report by a US government-funded NGO, Freedom House downgraded India's status from "free" to "partly free" and claimed that "political rights and civil liberties have eroded in India since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014". The government has strongly rebutted the Freedom House report and called it "misleading, incorrect and misplaced", while asserting that the country has well established democratic practices. Gandhi has been attacking the government over the issue of freedom to speech and expression. Also read: 'Be careful, watchful': Centre tells states amid rising COVID-19 case [March 12, 2021] Blackstone Real Estate Completes Acquisition of Premier Lab Office Portfolio from Brookfield Fund Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced that Blackstone Property Partners Life Sciences ("BPP Life Sciences") has completed its previously announced acquisition of a best-in-class, 2.3 million square foot portfolio of lab office buildings from a Brookfield Asset Management real estate fund for $3.4 billion. BPP Life Sciences is Blackstone Real Estate's long-term, perpetual capital, core+ return life sciences strategy. BPP Life Sciences owns BioMed Realty, Blackstone's life science real estate portfolio company. Concurrent with close, Blackstone executed upon the sale of two life sciences assets affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine to Ventas, Inc. Pro forma for the sale, 97% of the portfolio is concentrated in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two thirds of BioMed Realty's platform, which has an enterprise value of approximately $20 billion, is concentrated in the Boston/Cambridge market, one of the fastest growing lab office submarkets in the country due to its adjacency to world-leading academic institutions and the largest cluster of pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo (News - Alert) Securities LLC served s financial advisors to Blackstone, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor. Eastdil Secured served as lead financial advisor to Brookfield, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal advisor. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. also provided financial advisory services to Brookfield in connection with the transaction. The transaction was announced on December 14, 2020. About Blackstone Real Estate Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone's real estate business was founded in 1991 and has $187 billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is one of the largest property owners in the world, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, multifamily and single-family housing, office, hospitality and retail. Our opportunistic funds seek to acquire undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone's Core+ strategy invests in substantially stabilized real estate globally through regional open-ended funds focused on high-quality assets and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT), a non-listed REIT that invests in U.S. income-generating assets. Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005478/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, citing a diplomatic disagreement with Jordan. It's an embarrassing setback for his re-election campaign just days before the vote. Netanyahu had hoped to use the audience with the UAE's crown prince their first public meeting since the countries established diplomatic ties last September to boost his prospects ahead of the March 23 election. Instead, he had to explain to the public why his trip had been canceled. Netanyahu's office said it had difficulties coordinating the flight over Jordanian airspace after Jordan's crown prince called off a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a sensitive holy site under Jordanian custodianship, due to disagreements over security arrangements. Speaking at a news conference, Netanyahu said there had been a misunderstanding and by the time it was sorted out, he said it was too late to fly. He said he had instead spoken to the UAE's crown prince, Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan by telephone, and they agreed he would visit "very soon." He also said the Emiratis informed him of plans to invest $10 billion in Israel. Netanyahu spoke alongside the leaders of Hungary and the Czech Republic after they met for talks on cooperating over their coronavirus strategies. The Czech Republic also opened a diplomatic office in Jerusalem, lending rare support to Israel's claims over the contested city. Speaking about the International Criminal Court's recent decision to investigate alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, Czech prime minister Andrej Babis reiterated that the "Czech Republic doesn't consider Palestine to be a state". The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, to be the capital of their future state. Most countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv because of the dispute. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Announcement on the First Implementation of the A-Share Repurchase through Centralized Bidding Transactions Qingdao / Shanghai / Frankfurt, 12 March 2021 - Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company") repurchased 1,665,800 A-shares for the first time on 12 March 2021 through the trading system of Shanghai Stock Exchange by means of centralized bidding transactions, accounting for 0.018% of the Company's total share capital, of which the maximum repurchase price was RMB 30.09/share and the lowest price was RMB 29.94/share. The total amount paid was RMB 49,994,507.28 (excluding transaction fees). I. The general information of the A-share repurchase Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. held the 16th meeting of the tenth session of the board of directors on 5 March 2021, at which the Proposal on the Scheme of Repurchase of a Portion of A-share Public Shares of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. was reviewed and approved. It is agreed that the Company may repurchase a portion of its A-shares through centralized bidding transactions with its own funds, providing that the repurchase price is no more than RMB 46/share and the total amount of funds used for repurchase is no more than RMB 4 billion and no less than RMB 2 billion. The implementation period for repurchase falls in the 12 months from the date when the share repurchase scheme is adopted by the board of directors. On 5 March 2021, the Company disclosed the Announcement on the Scheme of Repurchase of a Portion of A-share Public Shares of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (for details, please refer to the related announcement published on the Company's designated information disclosure platforms). II. Details of the first implementation of A-share repurchase In accordance with the relevant provisions of laws, regulations and regulatory documents including the Detailed Rules of the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Implementation of Repurchase of Shares by Listed Companies, the Company shall make an announcement on the next day following the first share repurchase. The Company's first share repurchase is hereby announced as follows: The Company implemented the share repurchase through centralized bidding with a dedicated securities account for such purpose for the first time on 12 March 2021. The number of A-shares repurchased were 1,665,800 shares, accounting for 0.018% of the Company's total share capital as of the date. The maximum transaction price was RMB 30.09/share and the lowest transaction price was RMB 29.94/share. The total amount paid was RMB 49,994,507.28 (excluding transaction fees). The repurchase complies with relevant laws and regulations and is in line with the Company's established repurchase scheme. III. Other matters The Company will strictly follow the Detailed Rules of the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Implementation of Repurchase of Shares by Listed Companies and other relevant regulations and its share repurchase scheme to make repurchase decisions based on market conditions and implement within the repurchase period. The Company shall perform information disclosure obligations in a timely manner according to the progress of the share repurchase. Investors are advised to pay attention to investment risks. Note: This Announcement has been prepared in both Chinese and English. Should there be any discrepancies or misunderstandings between the two versions, the Chinese version shall prevail. About Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.: Haier is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household appliances with a focus on smart home solutions and customized mass production. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. develops, produces and distributes a wide range of household appliances. These include refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, water heaters, kitchen appliances as well as smaller household appliances and an extensive range of intelligent household appliances. The Company distributes its products through leading household brands such as Haier, Casarte, Leader, Candy, GE Appliances, AQUA and Fisher & Paykel. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. has launched Smart Home Experiential Cloud, which connects homes, users, enterprises and ecosystem partners, and facilitates the integration of Haier's online, offline and micro-store businesses and supports user interaction to further optimize the user experience. IR contact: Yao Sun (Sophie) - Haier Smart Home Germany T: +49 89 380 334 235 M: +49 160 9469 3601 Email: y.sun@haier.de 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 Whether we like it or not, it (snow) is going to come back at some point, so ... you still want to have those boots handy and the brush for your car handy, just in case we do see some accumulation, Borchardt said. The Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) of over VND2,000 per kwh, or 9.35 cent, has encouraged many investors to pour money into solar power. However, they have fallen into a dilemma because of unforeseeable problems. According to the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the total solar capacity installed as of December 31, 2020 had reached 19,400 MWp, including 9,300 MWp rooftop solar power, or 16,500 MW, accounting for 25 percent of total installed capacity of the national electricity system. The total electricity output from the solar power system nationwide in 2020 was 10.6 billion kwh, including 1.16 billion kwh of rooftop solar power, or 4.3 percent of the total electricity output mobilized by the national electricity system. The FIT of over VND2,000 per kwh stipulated in the Prime Ministers Decision 11 triggered an investment wave in solar power. Later, under the Prime Ministers Decision 13, a high FIT continue to be applied to projects in Ninh Thuan province. Many solar power plants became operational within a short time, causing an overload to the transmission system. As a result, power plants have had to cut their capacity. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the electricity demand has decreased. A problem, which was not seen before, has arisen: electricity is in excess at some moments of the day, from 10 am to 2 pm, especially on weekends and holidays. This gives another reason for power plants to reduce their capacity. A solar power developer has asked to the National Assembly, the government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and EVN for help because his project cut capacity, up to 50 percent. However, an analyst commented that 9.35 cent per kwh is a good price for investors. In principle, investors consider the whole life cycle of projects, not just several years of capacity cuts. The 9.35 cent per kwh price is the Chinese policy in 2019, which led to a decrease in solar panel prices, thus reducing the investment rate in solar power. Previously, investors did not anticipate the scenario of having to cut capacity. But now, they have to consider this problem and decide if the projects are feasible. He said the drop in demand caused by Covid-19 is occurring all over the globe. Only when the world recovers from the pandemic will the demand for electricity increase again. In the future, the electricity demand will keep increasing as Vietnam still can attract investment. State-owned projects In addition to the concern of having to cut capacity, some solar power projects still cannot fix selling prices. The projects have the parts of capacity put into commercial operation prior to January 1, 2021, but their investment decisions were made after November 23, 2019. They are not subject to the FIT of 7.09 cent per kwh (VND1,600) in accordance with Decision 13. The total electricity output from the solar power system nationwide in 2020 was 10.6 billion kwh, including 1.16 billion kwh of rooftop solar power, or 4.3 percent of the total electricity output mobilized by the national electricity system. As a result, EVN and investors still cannot sign power purchase agreements (PPA) and investors have not been paid for the electricity they have provided to the national grid. The Decision 13 on the mechanism to encourage solar power development is no longer valid. The Ministry of Investment and Trade (MOIT) has asked the Prime Minister to allow projects to apply the 7.09 cent per kwh price to ensure investors financial plans. Even EVN, a state-owned enterprise, has one Phuoc Thai 1 solar power plant. The project became commercially operational on July 9, 2020 with the capacity of 42 MW, while the designed capacity is 50 MWp. However, the Ninh Thuan provincial Peoples Committee, argued that Phuoc Thai 1, a dependent unit belonging to EVN, doesnt have a PPA with EVN, so it cannot enjoy the 9.35 cent per kwh price. Therefore, the project must not be counted in the total accumulative capacity of 2,000 MW assigned by the government in Resolution 15. MOIT, inclining to Ninh Thuans opinion, proposed that the Prime Minister not allow the project to enjoy the price of 9.35 cent per kwh. An official told VietNamNet that EVNs project is not subject to the 9.35 cent or the 7.09 cent per kwh. Meanwhile, EVN disagrees with Ninh Thuans agreement. In its documents to agencies, EVN said that the 9.35 cent per kwh policy is applied to solar power projects belonging to the 2,000 MW accumulative capacity plan with the COD (commercial operation date) certificate in 2020, no matter whether projects are invested by EVN or non-EVN units. An investor commented that the unstable and unpredictable electricity pricing policy on solar power development is one of the reasons why power projects only attract Chinese investors, while it is difficult to lure investors from Europe and the US. Chinese investors are accustomed to doing it this way and accept risks. Luong Bang Vietnam to prepare for solar power boom The proportion of solar and wind power projects in the entire national electricity system is expected to increase, requiring thorough preparation because of the instability of these power sources, experts have said. So far this year, my restaurant reviews for the Good Food section of The Sydney Morning Herald have covered a Vegas-style big-night-out restaurant at Barangaroo with no fewer than four kitchens, a tiny inner-urban pizzeria, a Nigerian home-style kitchen, a breezy wine bar on Sydneys northern beaches and a roadhouse diner in the Blue Mountains. Next up, Mexican and Japanese. Its a similar mix for my fellow reviewer on The Age, Gemima Cody, who while in and out of lockdown has rated a taqueria in Geelong, Andrew McConnells glamorous CBD opening, a plant-forward diner in Westgarth, Three Blue Ducks at a Tullamarine surf park and Ben Shewrys Attica Summer Camp in the Yarra Valley. Illustration by Simon Letch. Credit: If this crazy mix sounds all over the shop, youre right. Hospitality itself has been deeply disrupted over the past 12 months and reviews hold a mirror up to the changes, reflecting and refracting. Now everything is on the table. That said, the choice of which restaurant to review is something I spend a great deal of time thinking about, even though it might look effortless (it does, doesnt it?). My very nice editors dont tell me what to cover next; they leave that to everybody else. My barista, next-door neighbour, my butcher, random hospo industry folk, produce suppliers and social media all serve up a constant buffet of suggestions for my forward list. Readers, too (email address below, you know what to do). Oil steadied with the market facing a mixed demand outlook after a recent rally and the dollar climbing. Futures in London were little changed below $70. The demand picture remains uneven across various regions, with Indian fuel sales falling in February amid higher pump prices, while demand is climbing in America and the U.K. The global Brent benchmark started this week with a push above $70 a barrel after attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, before retreating. While attention is centered on the recovery in demand and OPEC+ policy, there are concerns higher prices might encourage a surge in U.S. production by shale drillers in a move that would add to supply concerns amid sharply-rising flows of Iranian crude into China. Weve tested the $70-$72 resistance for Brent, and that level held pretty well, said Hans Van Cleef, senior Energy Economist at ABN Amro. Im still cautious for a serious downward correction. The availability of crude cargoes, meanwhile, remains tight due to the OPEC+ curbs. Some oil processors in Asia will get less crude than they asked for next month from Saudi Arabia as the producer extends its unilateral output cuts. Three refiners will receive almost 20% less supply than requested. The prompt timespread for Brent was 66 cents a barrel in backwardation -- a bullish market structure where near-dated prices are more expensive than later-dated ones -- compared with as little as 45 cents earlier in the week. OPEC on Thursday sounded a note of caution on the outlook, trimming its forecasts for the amount of crude it will need to pump over the next two quarters. All eyes will be on an International Energy Agency report next week, which will publish forward-looking demand forecasts, while the market will also be watching for clues on the health of the U.S.-China relationship following a high-level meeting set for March 18-19 in Alaska. PLYMOUTH, Mich., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Plastipak Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") announced today that it will file its Form 10-Q Equivalent Report for its fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2021 electronically with Wells Fargo National Bank, as Trustee for the holders of its 6.250% Senior Notes due 2025 (the "Senior Notes"), by the close of business on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The Company is not required by the Indenture for the Senior Notes to file annual, quarterly or periodic reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and therefore does not plan to file these reports with the SEC. Holders, authorized prospective holders and securities analysts may obtain a copy of the Company's Form 10-Q Equivalent Report by contacting Investor Relations at (734) 455-3600 or by emailing [email protected]. The Company will host an investor teleconference call for holders, authorized prospective holders and securities analysts on March 18, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. ET. Details for the call are available to holders, authorized prospective holders and securities analysts by contacting Investor Relations. Qualified bondholders and lenders may obtain copies of the Form 10-Q Equivalent Report and details of the investor teleconference call by logging on to the secure bondholder section of the Company's website (www.plastipak.com). SOURCE Plastipak Holdings, Inc. Related Links http://www.plastipak.com Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 77F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. SACRAMENTO Gov. Gavin Newsom embraced a directive Thursday from President Biden to make the coronavirus vaccine available to all adults by May 1, but seven weeks out from the deadline and amid continuing supply challenges, its unclear what the change could mean for Californians seeking to get their shots. One Bay Area county said it could be ready to inoculate all adults by the end of this month, while other health officials cautioned that without a greater of supply of vaccine doses from the federal government, the May 1 goal would be impossible to meet. For now, they said, the focus remains on improving vaccination rates in communities hit hardest by the pandemic, which have been left behind in the early rollout. With President Bidens announcement, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter, Newsom said in a statement, echoing a phrase that he has used repeatedly in recent weeks as California ramped up its pace of vaccinations and a wintertime surge of the virus receded. The governor said he shared Bidens commitment to ensuring all adults who want a vaccine can get one, but offered no details about when or how the state would reach that goal. In these phases of limited vaccine supply, we have been guided by equity and prioritized those most exposed and most at risk both the right thing to do and the fastest way to end the pandemic, Newsom said. We look forward to learning more about the presidents plan and working together to make this important goal a reality. In a prime-time speech Thursday, Biden said he has told states to make everyone 18 and older eligible to receive vaccine doses by May 1, with the goal of allowing Americans to safely gather by the Fourth of July holiday. After this long, hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special, he said, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus. Comparing his response to putting the nation on a war footing, Biden said his administration would take additional steps aimed at making it easier for people to get shots, including launching a website to help them find vaccine appointments. Biden said he needed every American to do their part by getting vaccinated and persuading their family and friends to get vaccinated as well. But he warned people not to let up on safety precautions yet. We cant let our guard down. This fight is far from over, he said. If we dont stay vigilant and the conditions change, we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track. And please, we dont want to do that. His directive will put pressure on nearly every state in the country. So far, only Alaska has made the coronavirus vaccine available to all adults, expanding eligibility this week to everyone 16 and older. California struggled early on with a vaccine rollout that was among the slowest in the nation, and it has shifted strategies multiple times in recent months in an effort to get shots into peoples arms faster. As of Thursday, providers had administered about 11 million doses, and more than 19% of Californians had received at least one dose. After dropping a risk-based priority system in favor of eligibility based on age, the state decided last month to set aside 10% of first vaccine doses for educators to push schools to reopen for in-person instruction. Another change announced last week would allocate 40% of supply to the lowest-income communities to address persistent racial inequities in who has been vaccinated. Californians with disabilities or underlying medical conditions become eligible starting Sunday, and Thursday, the state said transit workers and those living in congregate facilities would be, too. The state also contracted with insurance giant Blue Shield of California to take over its vaccine distribution system, though some counties, including Santa Clara, are refusing to sign on. All along, Newsom has maintained that the biggest barrier to getting Californians vaccinated is a shortage of doses. In his State of the State address Tuesday, the governor bragged that his administration had built a vaccine system where our only constraint now is manufactured supply. Even Biden acknowledged that people will still be waiting when May comes, despite his directive. Let me be clear: That doesnt mean everyones going to have that shot immediately, but it means youll be able to get in line beginning May 1, Biden said. Bay Area health officials expressed excitement and confidence about Bidens directive, while also calling on the president to send more vaccine doses. Honestly, Id be surprised if most of California cant achieve that, said Dr. Bela Matyas, the Solano County health officer, who said his county was on pace to expand eligibility to all adults as soon as the end of March. Seven weeks is a long time for us to be able to get to that point. But three months into the states vaccination campaign, some counties are still reporting regular vaccine shortages that force them to cancel or postpone appointments. Theyve also complained about unreliable supplies that make it challenging to plan ahead. Dr. Matt Willis, the health officer for Marin County, welcomed a change that would make the whole system less complex, though he was skeptical after previous promises of increased vaccine allocations did not materialize. He said his team would remain focused on outreach to marginalized communities and protecting appointment slots for people who are most vulnerable to the virus as eligibility expands and competition for doses intensifies. If it is not matched with significant increases of doses, it will make things worse because it creates expectations that everyone is equally eligible when everyone is not equally vulnerable, Willis said. It will lead to more local gatekeeping. Dr. Ori Tzvieli, deputy health officer for Contra Costa County, said he hoped Bidens announcement would lead to an increase in supply that would allow the county to open mass vaccination sites. We are set up with a lot of vaccine capacity and not vaccines. Were ready to go, Tzvieli said. In a statement, Dr. Grant Colfax, director of public health for San Francisco, said the city is ready to vaccinate more than 10,000 people a day when supply allows. Alexei Koseff and Meghan Bobrowsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com, meghan.bobrowski@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff, @MeghanBobrowsky Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have decided to end their near-seven-year marriage. After a whirlwind romance that began almost a decade ago and four children, the businesswoman and the rapper have decided to go their separate ways. Though we are set to see the end of the marriage play out in the final season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the duo had remained amicable, coming to a settlement quickly and remaining cordial for the sake of their children. However, sources are now reporting that West has changed his phone number and he is refusing to speak to his estranged wife. Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West | Theo Wargo/WireImage Why are Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West getting divorced? Though they both seemed to love the limelight, the fractures in Kardashian West and the College Dropout rappers marriage have been more visible in recent years. Though the reality star has continued to adhere to her sultry image, focusing on her business, her children, and her legal aspirations, West has become more conservative often putting them at odds with one another. Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it had been reported that West was not very helpful around the house with the children when nannies and assistants were unable to come in. This left all of the child-rearing and housework to Kardashian West. Then in the summer of 2020 amid his Presidential run and a mental health episode brought on by his bipolar disorder things got very bad between the duo. Kanye is not willing to do the hard work and compromise, a source told People about their marriage struggle. A second source added, What they want in life and for their kids doesnt always match. RELATED: How Did Kim Kardashian West Tell Her Kids About Her Divorce From Kanye West? Who will get custody of Kim Kardashian West and Kanye Wests children? The starlet and the rapper have agreed to adhere to their prenuptial agreement citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split with Kardashian West getting their Calabasas estate and the former couple sharing joint custody of their children, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm. The children split their time between their LA home and Wests Wyoming ranch. She only requires that he is not going to damage them, a source told People. Kanye has been spending time with all the kids. He knows he needs to be in contact with his kids. He needs to show them how much he loves them. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West are no longer speaking Though the pair have been working to co-parent, it seems that West has requested that Kardashian West is not present when he spends time with their children. Now, hes changed his phone number entirely. Even before Kim filed for divorce, Kanye changed his numbers and said, You can contact me through my security. Despite this, she trusts him around the kids. He loves them and is seeing a lot of them, an insider told Page Six. She leaves the house and he arrives and hangs out with the kids. They have an army of nannies so the transition is easy. The NSW Catholic school sector will lead its own review of how it delivers sex and consent education in a religious context, saying a one size fits all approach across the state is unlikely to fix the problem of teenage sexual assault. A three-person panel has been tasked with assessing how Catholic schools in NSW teach about consent and respectful relationships, as well as their mandatory reporting obligations, after an online petition last month exposed thousands of sexual assault allegations among school-aged children. Chief executive Dallas Mclnerney said parents would be central to how Catholic Schools NSW responds to the issue of teenage sexual assault. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Several Sydney private schools have since begun their own reviews of programs around sex and consent education, while Kambala this week said it was enhancing its complaints and reporting processes. Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney said the internal review would help deliver greater reassurance for our families and students about the sectors approach to issues of peer-on-peer abuse and student harassment, and that parents would be central to any response it considers. MILK CHOCOLATE, TONY DEPPEN & MORE: BEYOND WRESTLING SIGNATURE SERIES EPISODE 3 REPORT By Adam Cardoza on 2021-03-11 21:29:00 Beyond Wrestling Signature Series: Episode 3 3/11/21 - Streaming on IWTV.LIVE Last time on Beyond Wrestlings Signature Series - BEYOND WRESTLING SIGNATURE SERIES ON IWTV EPISODE 2 REPORT Elite: https://t.co/hgleA2NXQN, Free: https://t.co/XNdAxgitX4 PWInsider.com (@PWInsidercom) March 5, 2021 This week continues both the Tag Tournament For Tomorrow and the Greatest Rivals Round Robin after Ephemera and Matt Makowski notched their first wins. Beyond owner Denver Colorado (the man, not the place) is your host. Rich Palladino is your announcer. Paul Crockett and the manager of champions, Sidney Bakabella, are on commentary. The Silver-Toothed Satan Atticus Cogar vs The Wild Child Jody Threat Cogar is our first taste of 44OH! Tonight. Cogar comes in lax and Threat is all over him. After a crossbody two count, Cogar faceplants her into the second buckle. Cogar merciless with high angle stomps, strikes and suplexes. The ref keeps having to back Cogar off from attacking Threat on the ropes. Threat gets draped on the top rope, taking her wind for two. Jawbreaker stuns Cogar but he reverses her into a springboard hangmans moonsault (this was coooooool). Cogar caught running into a Michanoku driver, double knees to the back and german suplex for a cloooooose two. Cougar bites his way out of trouble on the apron and hits a hangmans ddt. Kick out! Side slam neckbreaker, kick out! Cogar grabs the skewers from under the ring. The ref takes the skewers, absolutely against the rules. Cogar eats a spear and a F5 while hes arguing with the ref. Is that it?? No! Kick out! Cogar throws a superkick but Threat catches it. Powerbomb. Threat with a spinning torture rack blue thunder bomb and Cogar is out of the fight. Winner: Jody Threat Cogar was trying to dismiss Threat here....but uh, that was a mistake. I liked how Cogar got too into getting his sh*t in (with the green MASADA skewers) that he ate some huge offense that led to the end here. Nice escalating fight here. Still thinking about that springboard draping moonsault. Threat has clearly grown as a performer since I last saw her at Uncharted Territory and last years Collective. Good energy opener. Tournament For Tomorrow Quarterfinals Match: Milk Chocolate (Randy Summers & Brandon Watts) vs Faith in Nothing (Ricky Shane Page & Vincent Nothing) RSP coming in confident and eats a smack in the back of the head from Watts. That just annoys him as he stomps Summers and gut shots Watts coming off the top. Nothing in and Milk Chocolate suffers a similar fate. MC powders and composes on the outside but they have a huge test against larger opponents here. MC working to annoy their opponents. Maybe thats a bad strategy as RSP throws Summers corner to corner. Nothing in to club Summers into the corner. Tandem double arm drag and a double knee to the back for a two count. Watts finds his way in and goes right for the eyes of Nothing. Watts raining down blows but RSP rips the tag rope off and comes out to kick Watts off....thats legal, right? RSP tags in proper and hits a delay vertical suplex and enziguri to Summers for two. Nothing in to hit a series of running face washes in the corner. Watts pops in to hit Nothing in the face with powder, blinding him. RSP dumped outside and Summers rolls up Nothing for the win! Winners: Milk Chocolate I was super impressed with Faith in Nothing, who Denver Colorado reminded us hadnt been in a Beyond ring since 2009. This was mostly a one-sided beat down of the smaller guys but Milk Chocolate have long been the quality gatekeepers of Beyonds tag division so its great to see them get the win here. Keep it up! We get another video package from Joseph Montecillio, this time highlighting the history of the previous Tournament for Tomorrow tag team tournaments. This was a great recap. Also, Im always glad to see Jaka and Max Smashmaster on my screen. Greatest Rivals Round Robin Match 3: Weapon X Matt Makowski vs Tony Deppen Makowski and Deppen have history going back to the Discovery Gauntlet, where Deppen stole Matts spot and lost it about a month later when Makowski returned under a mask. This is their first true encounter since then. They shake hands and Makowski reminds Deppen he hasnt forgot any of that. They go right to the ground but Deppen is controlling Makowski early. Makowski tries to flip out and get the ankle but Deppen escapes into a rear naked choke. Makowski escapes into a press for two and works to take the arm....Deppen knows where he is and confidently grabs the rope with a smile. They feel each other out but Makowski kicks out the knees and wraps up the neck of Deppen in his legs. Back to the feet on a rope break, Deppen avoids a pop up and locks in an octopus hold. Makowski with a judo toss to escape. Deppen with a knee to the back of Makowskis neck, drops some shots down and tries the pin for two. More forearms to the back of the head are staggering Makowski. Deppen getting resourceful with chokes and more shots to the back of the head. Makowski crumbles with a kick but still has the energy to fight out of a suplex....and eats a head butt. Deppen misses a double stomp and his knee looks like it went on him. Makowski has a moment to recovery and hits a belly to belly & a double underhook suplex for two. Makowski working the ankle with a deathlock but Deppen rolls it over to the rope again. Makowski drags him back for a sharpshooter but Deppen slaps his way out and tries a leg lock pin but the hold breaks on the pin attempt. Trading shots in the center, Deppen getting rocked. Deppen takes Makowskis legs out, double stomp to the back of the head, suplex for two. Deppen immediately transitions to a guillotine. Makowski rages to his feet and hits an inside out suplex on that dead lift. WOW. Big spinning back kick to Deppen. Makowski puts Deppen up into a crucifix powerbomb and tosses him down right into a slick knee bar. Deppen screams and taps out frantically. Winner: Matt Makowski And with that, Makowski picks up his 2nd win in the Round Robin. Only the Dirty Daddy can stop him now. I have been SUPER impressed with Matt Makowskis growth over the last year. He put on a clinic with Yuta last week and just beat a madman in Deppen tonight. Deppen is no slouch, also having an incredible year of portfolio building matches. Deppen worked the hell out of the back of Makowskis head but it was that knee he jacked up himself that spelt the end here. Back and forth action, a mix of technical graps and solid pro wrestling storytelling here. Loved it. And thats it for Episode 3 of the Signature Series! All killer, no filler for just about an hour. Thats all I want. Thats all I need. Just watch it. I suspect this 6-episode series is going to be an easy package to recommend to anyone who wants to see how good the quality of indie wrestling in 2021 can be. Next week, we get Megabyte Ronnie vs Richard Holliday, The Bird & the Bee vs Rex Lawless & Mike Verna, and Chris Dickinson vs Wheeler Yuta. Until then! If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here! Recently at a Dunkin Donuts, I waited for a bagel next to a woman who wasnt wearing a mask. At least one other maskless person came into the store while I was there. In Florida, where I was for the month, I had become used to doing these scans of the room, especially since the local mask mandate was lifted at the end of February. I would count how many people had masks below their noses, how many had no mask at all, how many had a mask made of mesh (just one total, luckily). Advertisement It made me feel something that Ive been feeling for a while, as a journalist who has been tasked with interpreting and explaining so many things about the pandemic to my readers: The wrong people are heeding the calls for more caution. Advertisement Advertisement I have spent a lot of time urging caution this year, based on the advice of public health experts who are also urging caution. You should take precautions that might feel a bit outlandish, I wrote a year ago, now, in a piece titled Dont Panic About the Coronavirus. Act. Over the course of the year, those precautions have gone from working from home to choosing the right personal protective equipment to still being careful about traveling even if youve gotten the vaccine. Over these sad, hard months, Ive watched so many people give up so much in the interest of everyones safety. Ive watched friends stay isolated from everyone except members of their own household, even when there are ways to mitigate risks in exchange for a little more sanity. I have heard horror stories about parenting with a lack of in-person school, even as evidence suggests that schools might safely be reopened. Advertisement And I have come to suspect that some percentage of the population is adhering so intensely to the public health advice that they are about 90 percent of the way toward perfectionand theyre putting themselves through a ton of stress to get that last 10 percent. On the other hand, another set of the population is doing quite a bit less, and not really worrying over the parts they arent doing. These are the people who would benefit from doing a little (or much) more, and theyre also the ones that dont seem to be listening. Instead, theyre having weddings, jet-setting, burning masks. I could not imagine, for example, what the lady at the Florida Dunkin Donuts would think about my very earnest explainer on how and why to wear two masks. I did not asktalking produces aerosols!but I am confident she is not a reader. Advertisement Advertisement At this point in the pandemicand for a long time during this pandemic, honestlyit seems like some portion of the country is going full-force against public health guidance and another portion is staying very, very cautious, even at the cost of a lot of energy and mental health. I dont mean to suggest that everyone is either gathering for spitting contests in basements or else hermetically sealed in their living rooms. Many, many people have to go to in-person jobs, for example, even though they would rather not. I know plenty of people who are fumbling their way through some kind of middle ground, taking considered risks: outdoor drinks, masked visits with family, trips for semi-essential purposes buffered by strategic quarantine periods, occasional mistakes, recommitments to doing something different next time. And yet, so many people I talk to are living at 90 percent while stressing over that last 10 percent. Advertisement Health guidance has asked us for so much this year. (Also: The fact that I have to refer to it as health guidance is part of the problem. Weve had to get information from an inconsistent tangle of government institutions and Anthony Fauci and also health journalists and doctors who have taken it upon themselves to explain all of this and public health researchers who have done the same.) Its not surprising that the response to that advice has been so uneven. And there certainly have been experts throughout the pandemic reminding people to just try their best. But I still question how much mileage the Center for Disease Control and Preventions advice to wear two masks has when across the country, politicians are lifting mask mandates altogether. It is jarring to see some people take risks with exceedingly little payoff (ordering breakfast with a bare face) while others continue to adhere to cautions with diminishingly small returns (fully vaccinated people still not hugging their grandkidsthe CDC just said this is safe). Advertisement Advertisement The thing that I come back to, again and again and again, is that getting the virus under control is not an unmeetable barother countries have done it. But it requires a public health effort that America simply has no ability to execute. We evaluate public health advice as individuals or small pods when, in order for it to really work, wed have to act on it collectively. Being evermore careful, masked-up, and isolated surely feels morally correct. It might be soothing, and it is also likely to keep you safer. But without cooperation, it will never be enough. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said that the government is going to take a calibrated position on cryptocurrency. The minister also said the government wants to ensure that there is a window for experiments in the cryptocurrency space. But the cryptocurrency platforms or exchanges in India are fearing a complete ban on trading. The new bill, moved by the government, is likely to propose a framework for digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. While a ban on private crypto currencies will kill all future innovations in the crypto space, the virtual currencies do need a regulatory framework to protect the interest of investors. So what should be regulatory framework for crypto currencies, and why is a need for regulations. Let's look at the five major areas that need attention. Also read: 'Don't want to join every party in town': Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backs Bitcoin ban Classification of cryptocurrencies as digital tokens and tradeable assets There is a need for clear classification of cryptocurrency in India. These virtual currencies are not a legal tender backed by the central government or the RBI. The Indian crypto players are also asking for treating crypto assets as financial assets like debt, equity or a commodity. Regulations for investor protection Like any other financial asset, the value of a virtual assets is also prone to market manipulation and price volatility. In the last few years, the prices of crypto assets have seen wide fluctuations. Take for instance, the price of Bitcoin fell to $47K last month, but again climbed up to $57K in March. There are also chances of mis-selling the crypto assets as investor awareness is very low. There is a need for disclosure of underlying assets, their performance, adoption, the future potential and risks associated with virtual currencies. Allowing select well-known crypto assets There are some Indian platforms that are offering more than 300 crypto assets for trading. Globally, there are thousands of crypto assets. Today most investors only know about Bitcoin, Ether or Ripple, but nobody knows about these hundred and thousands of virtual currencies. A regulatory authority clearing the crypto assets is needed. Also read: Govt alive, aware about various issues around cryptocurrencies: DFS Secy Understanding the technological risk There is a big risk of technological changes that could even make the blockchain obsolete in future. Given the pace of changes and disruption, the value of digital assets or buying digital assets for long term requires the asset class to remain relevant for a long term. There is a need for creating information infrastructure and certified financial advisors trained in crypto assets. Cyber security risk There is cyber security risk and chances of online fraud in case of cryptocurrency as entire investment or wealth is stored virtually. Globally, hacking is a major threat today for banks and institutions. Even the most secured US Federal Reserve, the US Central bank, has seen hundreds of cyber attacks in the last decade. A cyber attack could result in losses for investors who have put their savings in crypto assets. Also read: Govt response to cryptocurrency will be 'calibrated'; open to experiment: Sitharaman Money laundering concern Governments globally are worried about terror financing through cryptocurrency. An unregulated system has the potential to fund illegal activities. Today , the crypto exchanges need large investments in technology to detect any suspicious transactions. A bank like KYC or customer due diligence is needed to verify location and identity investors. There is a need for strong penalties for any violation of KYC guidelines. Also read: What's the problem with Cyrptocurrency Bill? Industry insiders explain Also read: What is Cryptocurrency Bill 2021; how it will impact bitcoin investors In the government workplace, the pandemic has dispersed employees and ushered in a new era of remote communications tools and contactless service delivery. But it has also led to a major realignment in the necessary skills and capabilities for technology teams.Were asking ourselves, What are all the things were going to have to do to create this new normal effectively? San Jose, Calif., CIO Rob Lloyd said recently. Its everything from facilities improvements to policies to the budget actions to management skills.Lloyd made his comments during a recent panel discussion, Mad Skills in the (Government) House: Reskilling and Upskilling Your Employees, part of a new series of virtual conversations hosted by Governing and Government Technology on the Future of Work.The city of San Jose has taken a very concerted approach to retraining employees for the post-pandemic environment, Lloyd said. Known as Powered by People 2.0, the initiative is being coordinated through the citys emergency operations center. It consists of four objectives: Safe Workplace; Employee Health and Wellness; Drive to Digital; and Effective Teams. Within the citys IT department, for example, Lloyd said that effort breaks down into three layers. First is operational: Do people have the tools they need to get their work done?Second is collaboration, which has clearly been impacted by remote work and the need for stronger communications platforms. Finally, Lloyd said, the focus must include culture: How are you building a culture thats going to be highly productive, thats going to support and reinforce people?Elsewhere the disruptions of the past year have led to a wholesale reimagining of the purpose of public sector IT teams.In the Maryland Department of Information Technology, for example, employees have been redeployed as Portfolio Officers focused on different parts of government organized by topic area.Were attempting to build cross-agency efficiencies, said department Secretary of Information Technology Mike Leahy, who joined the recent panel discussion. Folks in the Environmental portfolio have lots of the same problems, but they havent talked to each other before.As a result, the department is moving away from rote tech support and helping IT employees develop greater business intelligence and robotic process automation skills, so they can focus less more on higher-value questions of increased efficiency and service delivery.Thats been a huge change, Leahy said, adding that he anticipated its going to take a year or two to fully implement.Lloyd echoed the idea that the disruptions of the past year have led to new ways of thinking about the role of IT.The pandemic has collapsed a lot of traditional barriers he said. No ones saying, This is mine; this is yours. Were all saying, What does it take to take care of the community, to take care of our employees?Watch the full discussion, and find other tools for empowering the public workforces, at governing.com/futureofwork Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 20:18:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Israel hopes to become the first country to mutually understand the inoculation of COVID-19 vaccines with China, according to the website operated by Chinese daily Global Times. Israel will be glad to become the first country in the world to reciprocally understand the inoculation of COVID-19 vaccines with China, Irit Ben-Abba, Israel's new ambassador to China, was quoted as saying recently by the Chinese newspaper. This will be her priority, she told Chinese media, adding she hoped to reach cooperation with the Chinese side soon on an arrangement of reciprocal understanding of the vaccination against COVID-19 between Israel and China, according to the website. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tata Sons' power generation unit, on Friday clarified that no arrangement or agreements have been finalised with Inc for setting up Electric Vehicle (EV) infra unit in India as reported in the media. "Our EV charging business are constantly examining and exploring various growth opportunities of the business. No arrangement or agreements have been finalised as reported in the media," it said in a stock exchange filing "We confirm that the item published in the media dated March 12 2021 is factually incorrect," it said. The talks between and are in the initial stages and no arrangements have been finalised yet to set up charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the country, the report said. Shares of rose 5.5 per cent to their best closing level since June 9, 2014 after the report emerged. will set up an electric-car manufacturing unit in Karnataka, according to a government document seen by Reuters. In January, the US electric-car maker incorporated Tesla Motors India and Energy Private Ltd with its registered office in Bengaluru, a hub for global technology Tata Motors Ltd last week denied any tie-up with Tesla, after media reports suggested the two were discussing a partnership. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Portugal to reopen nursery and primary schools Monday First phase of loosening restrictive measures (ANSAmed) - LISBONA, 12 MAR - Portugal will be reopening nursery and primary schools starting Monday as part of a plan to loosen anti-COVID restrictions across the country. The reopening will be "gradual and careful", Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in speaking about the plan. (ANSAmed). The European bison, the blue whale and, the mountain gorilla are among the species that averted extinction, demonstrating what helps to protect the world's wildlife. Successful conservation stories across the world, here are 10 for now. Gymnogyps californianus (California Condor) The numbers of the biggest North American land bird decreased so rapidly in the 20th century that just 27 were left in 1987, at a certain point all were seized into captivity to strive and rescue the species. Butchart was part of a group of newly measured conservation efforts since 1993 that rescued up to 16 mammals and 32 birds. They are a vulture that feeds on carcasses and ingests scraps of lead shot, because they survived for decades they can over time accumulate. it's extremely poisonous. Other tensions involved chicks consuming filth including glass. Himantopus novaezelandiae (Black Stilt) Viewed as a living fortune by the Maori in its indigenous New Zealand, this gliding bird almost became an ex-fortune, mostly because of predator species that migrated to the country such as rats, stats, and cats. Read More: 5 Endangered Animals that Won the Battle Against Extinction Panthera tigris (Tiger) The tale of tigers is a stort of the extinction of the world's biggest predators, in the 20th century, this fierce predator migrated across its ancient range from India to East Asia, Russian far east, and Indonesia. The cause for this migration was poaching, livestock, revenge for crisis with people, and habitat loss. Gorilla beringei beringei (Mountain Gorilla) 11 January, San Diego Zoo in California reported the earliest instance of gorillas contracting coronavirus giving rise to new tension for the mountain gorilla. This subspecies of an eastern gorilla is the biggest living primate, survives in different population across rainforest in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda long-forgotten volcanoes . It is a symbol for conservation grounded in ecotourism that attracts people to their environment. Platanista gangetica minor (Indus River Dolphin) This is subspecies from the South Asian river dolphin, mostly in Pakistan, the river dolphin depends on echolocation, and is discovered only in the river basin called Indus, British colonial governments constructed the first of 19 barrages over the Indus to divert water for drenching crops in 1923. Balaenoptera musculus intermediate (Antarctic Blue Whale) At the British Antarctic Survey, Jennifer Jackson explained that the world used to run on whales. Scouted largely for their oily grease, the Antarctic subspecies of the massive whale were especially desirable. From roughly 239,000 before the inception of industrial whaling in the early 20th century, whaling sliced them down to just 360 by the early 1970s. Bison bonasus (European Bison) Weighing up to a tonne and almost 2 meters tall, Europe's biggest land mammal onetime ranged from Spain to the Caucasus. It has orchestrated an incredible recovery since the last wild one in 1927 was massacred in Poland's Biaowieza Forest, the victim of fragmentation, habitat destruction, and hunting. Rhinoceros sondaicus (Javan Rhinoceros) The last one of these forest rhinos on the Asian mainland in 2010 was discovered lifeless in Vietnam, clearly dead months after being shot. Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Giant Panda) Stretching cities, tourism, logging, and highways slicing up its forest home drove what Qiang Xu at China-WWF in the 20th century dubs a very abrupt decline in the big panda. Research between 1985 and 1988 discovered only 1114 animals, gotten from 2459 observed between 1974 and 1977. Nomascus hainanus (Hainan Gibbon) The earth's most exposed primate, native to the Chinese island Shaanxi and Gansu, decreased from 2000 to about 9 in the 1980s. Rainforest clearance and hunting restricted them to just one space of forest called Bawangling. Regulation since 2005 by local people and conservationists prevented poaching. Related Article: Conservation Success Stories Amidst Gloominess of 2020 For more news, updates about animal conservation stories and similar topics, don't forget to follow Nature World News! Communication and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (left) and Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan hold copies of the anti-fake news Emergency Ordinance during a press conference in Putrajaya, March 12, 2021. The Malaysian government on Friday defended a new ordinance outlawing fake news to do with the national emergency and COVID-19 pandemic, saying the measure would help ensure law and order and the success of a coronavirus vaccination program. The Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021 would stay in force only as a short-term remedy to curb the spread of false information and help maintain public safety during the current state of emergency, Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told a news conference in Putrajaya. It is to expedite enforcement, investigation and prosecution, but does not impair the rights of the judiciary, Abdullah said in explaining the governments reasons for imposing the new decree. We dont want our vaccination program to fail just because of fake news ... we cannot fail but there are people who want the process to fail, Abdullah said. The ordinance, published in a government gazette the day before and which went into effect on Friday, did not require parliamentary approval. In mid-January, the king declared a national emergency over the viral outbreak. Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan, who appeared alongside Abdullah at the press conference, told reporters that until the Emergency Ordinance was voided, it would be a criminal offense to publish that the Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin sought an emergency declaration from the king because his unelected government had reportedly lost a parliamentary majority. It is an offense. To me, it is an offense, he said. Hassan noted that King Al-Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah had a role in crafting the ordinance on fake news. It was included [in the ordinance] by the King himself that he is satisfied that an immediate action is necessary to safeguard of the economy and safety, Hassan said. Under the ordinance, those convicted of spreading fake news on the pandemic or the national emergency can face three years in prison, a maximum penalty of 100,000 ringgit (U.S. $24,289) or both. The decree defines fake news as any news, information, data and reports, which is or are wholly or partly false relating to COVID-19 or the proclamation of emergency, whether in the forms of features, visuals or audio recordings or in any other form capable of suggesting words or ideas. It is only valid as long as the emergency is in effect. If it is lifted on Aug. 1, then it will end, Hassan said. He added that if the parliament did not annul the ordinance at the end of the emergency, it would automatically expire in six months as stated in the Constitution. As of this month, the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had launched 287 investigation papers regarding fake news about COVID-19, according to officials. Of those cases, 113 remain under investigation, charges were filed in 51 cases and 30 were found guilty under the Multimedia Communications Act. Trials continue in 20 cases while 12 people were given warnings. In addition, the commission has issued 428 notices to counter fake news on COVID-19 related issues, according to officials. A straightforward gag rule Critics of the new ordinance say it is an attempt by Muhyiddins government to silence criticism of him and gives his administration sweeping powers to define any content as fake. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, described the ordinance as a human rights disaster. This is a straightforward gag rule that is designed to stop any discussion of the state of emergency proclamation and COVID-19-related actions by the government, Robertson told BenarNews. Quite clearly, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is scared of allowing the Malaysian people to freely express their views because he knows how critical they are of him and his faltering government. Meanwhile, Ramkarpal Singh, chairman of National Legal Bureau of Democratic Action Party, challenged Hassans statement that questioning the legitimacy of the government is an offense under the ordinance. He called the statement ill-advised and a baseless threat. Who is he to intimidate us with what we feel are valid concerns, Singh asked. Takiyuddin (Hassan) has no business telling the people what is fake and what is not that is for the courts to decide. He added that Muhyiddin had nothing to fear if he commanded a majority in parliament, and advised the king to reconvene parliament, which has been suspended during the emergency, so laws relating to the pandemic can be debated for the betterment of the country. Noah Lee in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Auburn, IN (46706) Today Cloudy skies with periods of light rain this afternoon. High around 65F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. DUBLIN, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Pet Accessories - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global market for Pet Accessories is projected to reach US$41.1 billion by 2025, driven by the emerging pet loving culture worldwide made hugely popular by media coverage of celebrities and their furry friends. Pet population comprising dogs, cats, birds and other animals is on the rise. Some factors responsible for the rising pet population include an aging population and empty nesters who adopt pets to fill the void; an increase in households with multiple pets; higher incomes; and growing number of single person households and unmarried or childless households. A growing number of households with children are also adopting pets with research studies revealing pets to have a positive impact on children such as preventing depression and loneliness; develop motor skills by feeding and grooming dogs; encourages outdoor activity such as regular walks with dogs; promotes emotional development by encouraging responsibility involved in caring for pets; and ability to treat behavioral problems in kids. Utilitarian and functional use of pets has decreased over the last couple of years. Pets today are part of the family and therefore households are beginning to spend on pets on par with children. The emergence of pet parents as part of the humanization of pets trend, is a key revenue generating trend in the pet industry. Adroit players in the industry are already differentiating between pet owners and pet parents/pet guardianship. Per capita spending by pet parents on pets is significantly higher as compared to pet owners and they therefore represent a lucrative target customer cluster for pet accessories. Human love for pets transcends geographic boundaries. In France, French Cafes offer fine dining for pups; in Japan, architects design cat-friendly spaces in homes; companies in the UK offer paid paw-ternity leave for pet parents; in Norway, Norwegians spend the highest on expensive pup food; and in Sweden, regulations are enforced to ensure pets live healthy, happy lives. All of these trends while being intriguing also provide the foundation for the growth of pet accessories such as pet toys, pet grooming products, pet bedding, collars and leashes, feeders & bowls, pet housing, strollers, car seats, electric toothbrushes and fashion ensembles, among numerous other products which were hitherto considered discretionary. With women being the primary care provider, nurturer and shopper for the human members of the family, they are also emerging into top spending on pets. Not surprisingly, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on women shoppers. The United States and Europe represent the largest markets worldwide with a combined share of 60.8%. China ranks as the fastest growing market with a 9.5% CAGR over the analysis period supported by factors such as higher standard of living and increased disposable income to spend on pets; and desire among old and young population for alternative companionship. Historically known as a rabies-endemic country, the gradual relaxation of regulations against pet ownership and dissolution of myths surrounding dogs and public health, have primed the Chinese pet industry for robust growth. Competitors identified in this market include, among others: Ancol Pet Products Limited Ferplast S. p.A. Rolf C. Hagen Inc. Rosewood Pet Products Ltd. Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. Unicharm Corporation Key Topics Covered: I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. MARKET OVERVIEW Impact of Covid-19 and a Looming Global Recession Pet Accessories Market Set for a Rapid Growth US and Europe Dominate the Regional Landscape Global Millennial Population by Select Country in Million: 2019 Asia-Pacific (including China ) Emerge as the Fastest Growing Region (including ) Emerge as the Fastest Growing Region Population of Pet Owners in China (2018): Percentage Share of People Living with Dogs, Cats, Aquatic Animals, Rodents and Reptiles (2018): Percentage Share of People Living with Dogs, Cats, Aquatic Animals, Rodents and Reptiles Increase in Pet Ownership to Spur Market Growth Global Pet Population: Number of Dogs and Cats in Million for the Years 2017 and 2018 Pet Dogs Lead the Demand for Pet Accessories Global Pet Dog Population (2018): Number of Pet Dogs by Select Countries (in Million) Global Pet Cat Population (2018): Number of Pet Cats by Select Countries (in Million) Pet Toys - A Key Growth Driver for the Pet Accessories Market Interactive Toys Find Favor among Pet Owners Popular Dog Toys in Brief Popular Cat Toys in Brief Global Competitor Market Shares Pet Accessories Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2019 & 2025 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS Pet Humanization - A Pivotal Growth Driver for Pet Accessories Market Rise in Preference for Natural and Environment Friendly Pet Accessories Premiumization Bodes Well for Market Growth Growing Trend of Customization in Pet Accessories Technological Innovations and New Product Developments Maintain Growth Momentum Innovations in Dog Toys Advent of Smart Pet Accessories: A Key Trend As the Trendsetter in Pet Industry, Steadily Expanding Demand for Pet Wearables in the US to Benefit Demand for Smart Collars: US Pet Wearable Market (In US$ Million) for the Years 2018, 2021 & 2023 Pet Dogs Used as Stress Buster in Organizations Pet Grooming Products Gain Increased Popularity Pet Collars and Beds - Significant Revenue Generators Select Flea Collars Select Cat Collars Select Smart Collar/ Tracking Devices for Cat Select Dog Bed Types E-Commerce Registers Dramatic Growth US Pet Products Market (2012-2018): Percentage Share of Pet Products Purchased Online 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE III. MARKET ANALYSIS GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS IV. COMPETITION Total Companies Profiled: 115 For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cn3z9t About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com ANDERSON COUNTY, SR 61 Bridge over Norfolk Southern Railway and Market Street in Clinton: SR 61 East is reduced to one lane through this bridge repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, lane shifts, and use extreme caution through this area. ANDERSON COUNTY, US 25/SR 9 Bridge over Clinch River between SR 61 and Carden Farm Drive: SR 9 northbound is reduced to one lane approaching the bridge as crews continue work in this area. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, lane shifts, and use extreme caution through this bridge construction project. ANDERSON COUNTY, US 25/SR 9 at SR 170: Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, possible lane closures and use extreme caution through this intersection construction project. BLOUNT COUNTY, US 129 North and South between SR 35 Hall Road and Tyson Boulevard: Motorists should be alert for workers present, possible lane closures and brief stoppages of traffic through this roadway construction project. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-115-alcoa-highway-hall-road-to-tyson-blvd.html BLOUNT COUNTY, SR 335 Hunt Road between Ambrose Street and Ramsay Street: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures at various times as crews install utilities through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present directing traffic and use extreme caution through this area. BLOUNT COUNTY, SR 33 between Foothills Mall Drive and Henry Street: Motorists should be alert for possible nightly lane closures between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this intersection improvement construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changed conditions, and use extreme caution through this area. BLOUNT COUNTY, US 321 between Jones Avenue and Lamar Street: Motorists should be alert for possible daily lane closures as crews perform roadside work through this project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution through this area. CAMPBELL COUNTY, I-75 North and South between Mile Markers 135 and 142: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this project. Motorists should be alert for slowed or stopped traffic, expect potential delays and use extreme caution through this area. CAMPBELL COUNTY, I-75 North near Mile Marker 143: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning on Sundays through Thursdays through this project. Motorists should be alert for slowed or stopped traffic, expect potential delays and use extreme caution through this area. CAMPBELL COUNTY, SR 63 between Myers Lane and Frontier Road/Woodson Lane: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures between the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and/or 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for slowed or stopped traffic, expect potential delays and use extreme caution through this area. CAMPBELL COUNTY, SR 90 near White Oak Road: Beginning at 12 Noon on Friday, March 12, 2021, construction crews will be closing State Route 90 in Campbell County at approximately Log Mile 2.0 to all through traffic in order to remove an outcropping of rock that is currently impacting the travel way. Work is expected to last through midnight on Sunday night, March 21, 2021. Detour routes will be signed with police officers staged during daytime travel to assist motorists trying to access to and from State Route 9. Detour routes are as follows: State Route 90 will be closed to through traffic at approximately log mile 2.0 (approximately 2.0 miles East from S.R. 9/U.S. 25W or 0.8 mile West from White Oak Road). Eastbound through traffic on State Route 90, from State Route 9, will be detoured along State Route 9 to Duff Road then to Davis Creek Road to White Oak Road, then to State Route 90. Westbound through traffic will be detoured at White Oak Road then to Davis Creek Road then to Duff Road, then to State Route 9. Local traffic will be permitted access to State Route 90 from either the western end of State Route 90 (S.R.9/U.S. 25W intersection) or the eastern end of State Route 90 (White Oak Road intersection), however, State Route 90 will be closed completely between Log Mile 1.9 and Log Mile 2.1. Through traffic on State Route 90 will not be permitted during construction. Motorists should be alert for this temporary closure, follow signed detours, adjust travel plans accordingly, and use extreme caution in this area. CARTER COUNTY, US 19E/SR 37 Bridge over the Doe River and Riverview Road: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures through this bridge repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. CLAIBORNE COUNTY, SR 63 between Old Town Creek and US 25E/SR 32: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect delays and use extreme caution through this area. COCKE COUNTY, I-40 West near Mile Markers 438.9 and 436.9: On Thursday, March 11, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. GREENE COUNTY, I-81 South near Mile Marker 29.6: On Thursday, March 11, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. GREENE COUNTY, US 11E/SR 34 both directions between Blue Springs Parkway and Forest Road in Mosheim : Motorists should be alert for lane closures and lane shifts as crews begin the first phase of bridge repair operations. These lane closures will remain in place 24/7 until repairs are complete. Motorists should be alert for workers present, changing conditions, and use extreme caution in this area. This bridge repair project is estimated to be complete on or before October 31, 2021. HAMBLEN COUNTY, SR 34 near Commerce Blvd. : Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. HAMBLEN COUNTY, SR 160 near Commerce Blvd. : Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. JOHNSON COUNTY, SR 167 at Log Mile 7.5 : Motorists should be alert for single lane roadway with temporary traffic signal through this slide repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slowed traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. KNOX COUNTY, I-I-40 West near Mile Marker 404.1: On Thursday, March 11, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. KNOX COUNTY, Various Interstates through Knoxville: On Thursday, March 11, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible mobile lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform roadway maintenance activities. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. KNOX COUNTY, US 11W/SR 1 Rutledge Pike Bridge over Norfolk Southern Railroad near Harris Road: Motorists should be alert for lane shifts and changing traffic patterns through this bridge repair project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect potential delays, and use caution through this area. KNOX COUNTY, US 129/SR 115 Alcoa Highway near John Sevier Highway: On Sunday, March 14, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform attenuator repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow traffic, and use extreme caution through this area. KNOX COUNTY, US 129/SR 115 Alcoa Highway between Topside Road and Maloney Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures and lane shifts as crews perform work through this project. Motorists should be alert for new traffic patterns. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduce speed and use extreme caution through this area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-115-alcoa-highway-little-river-to-maloney.html KNOX COUNTY, US 129/SR 115 Alcoa Highway between Maloney Road and Woodson Drive: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures and lane shifts as crews perform work through this project. Motorists should be alert for new traffic patterns. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduce speed and use extreme caution through this area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-115-alcoa-highway-maloney-to-woodson.html KNOX COUNTY, US 441 Broadway Viaduct between Jackson Avenue and Fifth Avenue: US 441 Broadway Viaduct over Norfolk Southern Railroad in downtown Knoxville is closed for bridge replacement. The Broadway Viaduct will be closed to all traffic for the duration of the project. During the closure, Broadway will be closed from the intersection of Oak Avenue, Worlds Fair Park, and Jackson Avenue to just north of the Depot Avenue intersection. Depot Avenue will also be closed. These closures will ensure the safety of workers and motorists as crews demolish the old bridge and reconstruct the new bridge. Primary and Local Detour Routes around the bridge closure will be in place. For detour routes and project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/broadway-viaduct.html KNOX COUNTY, US 441/SR 71 Chapman Highway between Highland View Drive and Burnett Lane: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures daily between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers and equipment present, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution through this area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/chapman-highway-evans-to-burnett.html KNOX COUNTY, SR 162 Pellissippi Parkway West between I-40 and Lovell Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, expect possible delays, and use caution through this area. KNOX COUNTY, SR 162 Pellissippi Parkway West at Hardin Valley Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, expect possible delays, and use caution through this area. KNOX COUNTY, SR 332 Concord Road between Turkey Creek Road and Northshore: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures daily between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and new traffic patterns through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution through this area. For project information, go to https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/projects-region-1/sr-332-proposed-widening.html ROANE COUNTY, I-40 East near Mile Markers 343.2 and 350.8: On Thursday, March 11, 2021, motorists should be alert for possible lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform guardrail repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, and use extreme caution in this area. ROANE COUNTY, I-40 West between Mile Markers 340 and 344: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures at various times through this slope stabilization project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, lane shifts, and use extreme caution through this area. SCOTT COUNTY, US 27/SR 29 between Industrial Lane and Second Avenue: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect possible delays, and use caution through this area. SEVIER/JEFFERSON COUNTY, I-40 East between Mile Markers 407 and 412: Motorists should be alert for possible nightly lane closures between the hours of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following morning as crews perform work through this I.T.S. expansion project. Motorist should be alert for workers present, slowed or stopped traffic, expect potential delays and use extreme caution through this area. SEVIER COUNTY, SR 71 between US 411 and Macon Lane: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures daily between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers and equipment present, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution through this area. SEVIER COUNTY, SR 73 between Nell Rose Lane and Pitman School Road: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures daily between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. as crews perform roadside geotechnical work through this area. Motorists should be alert for workers and equipment present, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution through this area. SULLIVAN COUNTY, I-81 North & South between Mile Markers 57 and 63: Interstate 81 North and South is reduced to one lane in each direction near Mile Marker 59 (Colonial Heights exit) as crews perform bridge repair activities. The lanes will remain closed 24/7 throughout the project until repairs are complete. Entrance and exit ramps will remain open to and from SR 36 (Fort Henry Drive) during repairs. Motorists should be alert for workers present, slow or stopped traffic, expect potential delays, and use extreme caution in this area. A wide load detour is in place for restricted lane widths through this area. This bridge repair project is estimated to be complete on or before May 31, 2021. WASHINGTON COUNTY, I-26 East and West at Exit 17: On Sunday, March 14, 2021 through Tuesday, March 16, 2021, motorists should be alert for temporary ramp closures between the hours of 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. as crews set new overhead sign structures through this intersection project. Beginning at 10 p.m., Friday, March 19, 2021 through 6 a.m. Monday, March 22, 2021, the exit ramps in both directions to State Route 354 from I-26 will be restricted to right turns only at the bottom of the ramps as State Route 354 will be closed underneath I-26 as crews complete final tie-ins of the new diverging diamond intersection. Detours will be in place for motorists needing to access State Route 354 by left turn movements from the ramps. During these closure times motorists should follow signed detour routes. Motorists should be alert for new conditions, slow or stopped traffic, expect delays, and use extreme caution approaching this area. WASHINGTON COUNTY, SR 93 between Davis Road and Fire Hall Road: Motorists should be alert for possible temporary lane closures through this construction project. Motorists should be alert for workers present, reduced speeds, and use caution through this area. WASHINGTON COUNTY, SR 354 Boones Creek Road at I-26: On Sunday, March 14, 2021 through Tuesday, March 16, 2021, motorists should be alert for temporary lane closures between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning as crews set new overhead sign structures. Beginning at 10 p.m., Friday, March 19, 2021 through 6 a.m. Monday, March 22, 2021, State Route 354 will be closed to traffic underneath I-26 as crews complete final tie-ins of the new diverging diamond intersection. During this closure motorists should follow signed detour routes. Upon re-opening on Monday morning, March 22, 2021, traffic will be in its new configuration and controlled by new signalization. Motorists should be alert for new traffic patterns and follow new guide signs and pavement markings. Motorists should be alert for workers present, expect delays and use extreme caution through this area. For information on statewide interstate construction motorists can access the Tennessee Department of Transportation SmartWay website at https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic TDOT is now on Twitter. For up to the minute traffic information in Knoxville and the Tri-Cities follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/knoxville511. For statewide travel information follow www.twitter.com/TN511 The Scottish Tories have said the findings of a probe into allegations that Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code should be published before Scots go to the polls. James Hamilton, the former head of public prosecutions in Ireland, was tasked with investigating if the First Minister had breached the ministerial code in relation to the botched handling of harassment complaints against her predecessor. If the Hamilton inquiry returns a result that Nicola Sturgeon did mislead parliament, opposition parties have said she should step down from her post. Tory chief whip Miles Briggs said voters should see the reports before the election (Jane Barlow/PA) As the campaign period for Mays Holyrood election nears, Scottish Tory chief whip Miles Briggs has written to the head of the civil service to urge the publication of the report before the beginning of campaigning, or at least for a time scale to be set out. Under election rules, the Scottish Government must announce, before parliament ends, the dates for material to be published during the campaign. In a letter to Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, Mr Briggs said: I am deeply concerned that a failure to publish in advance of the election purdah, or to name a date in advance for publication during the election campaign, would mean that the reports publication during the election campaign would breach the purdah guidance. While I understand the need to allow James Hamilton the space to conduct his work, it is important to the people of Scotland that they are able to read his findings ahead of the election. Another investigation into the complaints procedure at the heart of the Salmond inquiry, conducted by Laura Dunlop QC, has also concluded, the Scottish Government confirmed this week, although no date for publication of her report has been announced. In a statement, Mr Briggs said: The SNP have tried to shut down scrutiny and sweep scandals under the carpet too often throughout the Alex Salmond affair. We must see the James Hamilton QC report on Ministerial Code breaches as soon as possible. It is of prime importance that the public receives full transparency on the conduct of the First Minister before they go to the ballot in May. We are seeking guarantees that the report will be published, no matter what, at the earliest opportunity. Its also vital that the Laura Dunlop QC review of the Scottish Governments harassment complaint procedure is published immediately. It cannot be shut down until after the election. Vaccinated people are 30 per cent less likely to pass on Covid after their first dose and less than half as likely to after two doses, a study has suggested. A study of 300,000 NHS staff in Scotland found it became significantly less likely that someone living with a health worker would test positive if the medic had been immunised. Scientists are already sure that jabs will prevent severe illness and death but how well they stop the virus spreading is uncertain. Carried out by Public Health Scotland and the University of Glasgow, the study raises hopes that vaccines could soon spell the end of nationwide outbreaks of the virus. The findings applied to both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines and did not look at whether one offered more protection than the other. And they come after a study yesterday showed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is 94 per cent effective at preventing asymptomatic cases, meaning it may be even better at reducing transmission. Vaccinated people are 30 per cent less likely to pass on Covid after their first dose and less than half as likely to after two doses, a study by the University of Glasgow and Public Health Scotland has suggested. Pictured: Clinical Pharmacist Ellie Morton prepares to administer the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at Kingston University in London today The Public Health Scotland-led study assessed the records of people who live with both vaccinated and unvaccinated health care workers, finding those with who had a single dose were at least 30 per cent less likely to pass the virus on. Around 300,000 NHS workers were assessed on the first day of vaccination in Scotland December 8 and again on March 3. They reached a conservative estimate that the jab was preventing 30 per cent of transmission between the healthcare workers and their households. ISRAEL STUDY SUGGESTS PFIZER JAB STOPS 94% OF INFECTIONS An Israeli study published yesterday revealed that the country's ministry of health believe the jab is preventing 97 per cent of Covid-19 cases with symptoms. What's more, the vaccine was 94 percent effective at preventing asymptomatic cases, meaning it likely stops people getting infected at all, therefore making them unable to pass it on. Those who were unvaccinated were 44 times more likely to develop symptomatic Covid-19 and 29 times more likely to die from the disease, researchers also found. The study was conducted using data collected between January 17 and March 6, 2021, when the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the only vaccine available in Israel. 'This clearly demonstrates the power of the Covid-19 vaccine to fight this virus,' Yeheskel Levy, director of the health ministry, said in a statement. 'We aim to achieve even higher uptake in people of all ages, which gives us hope of regaining normal economic and social function in the not-so-distant future.' Advertisement But this is likely to be considerably higher because the people at home may have got the virus from elsewhere - from an unvaccinated person in public, for example - but still been included in the group who caught it from the NHS staff. People who had both doses were at least 54 per cent less likely to pass on the virus, the scientists said. Dr Dianne Stockton, the Public Health Scotland lead for the Covid-19 Vaccination Surveillance Programme, said the results were 'encouraging', but stressed this should not make the public complacent. She said: 'Despite this good news, it is important to remember that infection prevention and control practices in healthcare settings remain of paramount importance, as do the mitigations to prevent spread in our daily lives.' The risk of transmission did not go down to zero after individual healthcare workers were vaccinated, but real-world protection is likely to be even higher than in this study. An Israeli study published yesterday revealed that the country's ministry of health believe the jab is preventing 97 per cent of Covid-19 cases. What's more, the vaccine was 94 percent effective at preventing asymptomatic cases, meaning it likely stops people getting infected at all, therefore making them unable to pass it on. Those who were unvaccinated were 44 times more likely to develop symptomatic Covid-19 and 29 times more likely to die from the disease, researchers also found. The study was conducted using data collected between January 17 and March 6, 2021, when the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the only vaccine available in Israel. 'This clearly demonstrates the power of the Covid-19 vaccine to fight this virus,' Yeheskel Levy, director of the health ministry, said in a statement. 'We aim to achieve even higher uptake in people of all ages, which gives us hope of regaining normal economic and social function in the not-so-distant future.' Dr Stockton added: 'As Scotland continues to deliver its national Covid-19 vaccination programme, this study does give one more reason why everyone invited to have a vaccine should take up the offer, as not only will it help protect them from Covid-19, but it will help protect the people close to them.' Dr David McAllister, of Glasgow University, said: 'Our study has important implications for informing vaccination strategies. 'The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in the United Kingdom recently commented on the lack of real-world evidence evaluating the role of vaccination programmes on transmission. 'We provide the first direct evidence that vaccinating individuals working in high-exposure settings reduces the risk to their close contacts members of their households. 'Our work will also be of interest to modellers, as it can be used to inform their predictions about future rates of Covid-19 in the community.' More than 23million people have now had at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine in England, with the vaccine drive across the UK vital in ensuring lockdowns are eased. It comes after official figures revealed less than half of care home staff have accepted their Covid vaccine in parts of London despite working with elderly residents who are most at risk of dying from the disease. NHS England statistics showed 74.3 per cent of care home staff across the country had received their first dose of the vaccine by March 7. But the data which break up the country into 150 areas shows uptake of the life-saving vaccine among carers and residents varies widely across the nation. Lambeth in south London has the lowest proportion of care home staff vaccinated, with an uptake rate of just 42.6 per cent. In comparison, seven areas have vaccinated more than 85 per cent, with the Isles of Scilly inoculating all 30 of its care home staff. All staff in care homes should now have been offered a first dose of the vaccine, with England's Covid vaccine roll-out officially widened to over-55s this week. The Film 'We" follows Ethan, a man with big ambitions and an even bigger heart, as he searches for love in the years following the death of his parents. Mani Nasry brings authenticity and life to the leading character of Ethan, acting alongside a diverse cast. Here Mani talks about acting with well-known names such as Dean Cain, and how that inspired him to go his own way; why producing is a dream for him; and how hes giving a voice to under-represented communities. Acting beginnings Sabina Nasic: Who inspired you to become an actor and why? Mani Nasry: The three films I was most inspired by were Steven Spielbergs "Saving Private Ryan", Elem Klimovs "Come and See", and Sergio Leones "Once Upon A Time In America". These movies were like dreams that you entered, they fascinated and captivated. I started my journey by training as an actor at Equity Showcase Theatre in Toronto and headed to New York and Los Angeles to learn the art of theatre and cinema. Once I returned from the US in 2002, I landed my first major role, a $5 million film called "The Glow" with well-known actors Dean Cain and Portia de Rossi. In Canada, you only get the leftovers, the leading part is taken. There is a lot of politics and it's very Caucasian, theres not much room for diversity. I knew that in order to be a leading actor, I would have to become a film producer. I was accepted into one of the most competitive film programs in Canada at Ryerson University and studied cinema for five years before I started producing and directing my first feature film, "We". 'We' film Tell us more about "We". "We" took over five years to make. The film follows a character by the name of Ethan except his name isnt really Ethan, its Ahmad he is hiding his true identity. He has lived a lie and has lost his identity being raised in Canada, he doesn't know why his relationships are not working and hes trying to find himself. Ahmad was torn away from Afghanistan because of the war with the Soviet Union, and brought to Canada, losing touch with his culture and religion. He doesn't know if he should marry a Muslim girl or a Canadian girl. The film shows the beauty of Canada, and of individual cultures and religions, but exposes the complexities when they come together. The film "We" is fully improvised on a 200-page script. We had 32 union actors working without pay, which had never been done before in Canada. But the film allowed people of different ethnicities, backgrounds and religions to share the screen by giving them leading roles. Actors from Iran, Afghanistan, China and Venezuela, as well as indigenous Canadians, took central roles in the film. The film is about finding the treasure in everyone and not passing judgement on people. All for one and one for all, united we stand. Working as a producer You are also working as a producer, how is that working out? Producing and directing gives you the ability to dream your dreams throughout the day. As a producer, you get to create life's coming attractions, spectacles and fantasies. Sometimes you create work that will fight for justice, a kinder world and peace among us, but it takes great determination, courage, perseverance and confidence. Our film "We" gave us the opportunity to change the narrative and highlight that we are human beings too, even if we are from the Middle East. We need a chance to speak up and change the false picture the media has created. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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: Bollywood actress and Twitter-regular, Kangana Ranaut never really misses out on sharing her thoughts on whatever she finds of prime importance. This time around, the Royals have found her fancy. The 'Panga' actress tweeted on the recent explosive Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Oprah Winfrey interview. Kangana Ranaut wrote: For few past days, people gossiped, judged, online lynched a family based on one-sided story at the cost of a family, I never saw the interview as sass, bahu, sajish type stuff never excites me. All I want to say is one woman the only ruling Monarch left on this globe (cont) For few past days, people gossiped, judged, online lynched a family based on one sided story at the cost of a family, I never saw the interview as sass, bahu, sajish type stuff never excites me. All I want to say is one woman the only ruling Monarch left on this globe (cont) pic.twitter.com/1RNlz9QND1 Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 12, 2021 May not be an ideal MIL/wife/sister,but she is a great Queen,she carried forward her fathers dream, saved the crown better than any son could have. We cant play every role to perfection even if we excel at one should be enough. She saved the crown. Let her retire like a Queen. May not be an ideal MIL/wife/sister,but she is a great Queen,she carried forward her fathers dream, saved the crown better than any son could have. We cant play every role to perfection even if we excel at one should be enough. She saved the crown. Let her retire like a Queen. Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 12, 2021 For the uninitiated, a two-hour interview was shot near Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new home in California. Oprah Winfrey asked them about their decision to step back as frontline royals and whether they have any regrets about moving away. While Harry said he felt relieved that he had been able to protect his wife and children, as the couple await the birth of a baby girl in the coming months, Meghan said she regretted that she had trusted the 'institution' of the monarchy when they had assured her that they would protect her from false media attacks. The former actress' revelations about her mental health struggles, which involved thoughts about not wanting to be 'alive anymore', have attracted the maximum reaction on social media and other channels. "It's vital that when people reach out for support or share their experiences of ill mental health that they are treated with dignity, respect and empathy," mental health charity Mind said, in response to attacks on Meghan's interview. Prince Harry expressed hurt that none of his relatives spoke out in support of Meghan about the "colonial undertones" of news headlines and articles. "No one from my family ever said anything over those three years. That hurts," he said. Meghan also told Winfrey she felt betrayed by her father Thomas Markle's conduct in the run up to their wedding in 2018. Thomas Markle told ITV on Tuesday that the interview was the first time he had heard his daughter speak for several years. "I'm very disappointed about it. I've apologised about this thing, what happened, at least 100 times or so," he said. However, on Thursday, Prince William reacted to the racism controversy and denied all such allegations. He said, "We`re very much not a racist family", when asked by a reporter on the sidelines of an event. (With PTI inputs) More than nine months after floods devastated Sanford and Midland, were still banding together and bouncing back, but the signs of lingering damage and ongoing recovery are everywhere. Many families are still living in hotels, couch surfing with relatives and friends, or moving back into houses without functioning kitchens. Streets are lined with homes in mid-repair getting new siding and flooring but with front yards still caked in mud and debris. The Sanford Veterans Memorial Monument a powerful symbol of the communitys civic pride and spirit honoring our military heroes is being rebuilt after being washed away by the Tittabawassee River. The restoration is a powerful symbol of our communitys unity and perseverance as it recovers from floods that caused more than 10,000 evacuations and $200 million in damages. My duties and responsibilities as your state representative in the Michigan House gives me a unique perspective on this rebuild. From helping with the cleanup in the floods immediate aftermath to assisting rebuilding projects to delivering pizzas to hungry families, I have witnessed your resilience and it strengthens my resolve to help the state improve its system for inspecting and repairing dams. We must do all we can to make sure what happened here last May does not happen anywhere in Michigan ever again, but especially here. Speaker Jason Wentworth, who represents Gladwin County also damaged by the dam failures entrusted me this session with chairing the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for writing and overseeing the budget for the states Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). Its an extremely important department touching our lives in many ways, including dam safety. Last year, I worked hard to bring home already-budgeted state disaster relief funding to help clean up and rebuild from this catastrophe. The support included a $6 million allocation. Additionally, EGLE dam inspectors will in the future actually visit and inspect dams, an obviously important change. Before the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams, the department did not do actual physical inspections. They only read reports about them. At my insistence and others, the department is now hiring more inspectors who should be on the job in the next several weeks. Work recently began to lower water levels in and around the Edenville Dam Tobacco River spillway a project to increase safety and reduce the risk of flooding in the future. This comes with a safety warning for residents to stay off the ice in the area until further notice. Im also reviewing the governors latest budget proposal last month to add a one-time appropriation of $15 million to create a new dam safety fund. While I obviously appreciate any effort to improve dam safety, we must ensure our tax dollars are invested wisely and effectively. The governors administration says the fund would be used for emergency response in instances where dam owners are unwilling or unable to mitigate hazards caused by dam malfunction. The governor proposes this as a one-time only investment, and the language raises questions about whether its intended only for situations in which a dam has already failed. As budget negotiations begin, I will push for permanent, ongoing funding for maintenance and inspections to prevent dams from failing again in the first place. Ill also be reviewing recommendations included in the recently released Michigan Dam Safety Task Force Report, which echoed my call for greater investments in preventative maintenance and other steps to prevent a repeat of what happened to our community last year. Michigan has about 2,600 dams overall, and the state has records on 1,861 of them. More than two-thirds are at least 50 years old. We must do more to inspect and maintain them, and Ill continue to lead that effort for the sake of homeowners and businesses not just in Midland and Sanford, but in every riverside community across our great state. Please let me know your thoughts on this or any other issue involving our state government at 517-373-1791 or AnnetteGlenn@house.mi.gov. Rep. Annette Glenn represents the 98th District in the Michigan House of Representatives. Jennifer Garner has showed off her sexy side for her latest interview to promote her movie Yes Day. The 48-year-old Alias veteran appeared in black lingerie with high heels and an open coat for photographer Mary Rozzi for the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter. And in her accompanying interview the mother of three talked about her split from husband Ben Affleck. Going for it: Jennifer Garner has showed off her sexy side for her latest interview. The 48-year-old Alias veteran appeared in black lingerie with high heels and an open coat for the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter Deja vu: The image resembled her look in Alias; she has said she is up for a reboot of the show The brunette told the publication that having her 'children's eyes on [her]' was the hardest part of her divorce from Affleck. The Pearl Harbor star has Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, nine, with her former husband whom she split with in 2015 after a decade of marriage and has said having to put on a brave face amid the divorce for the sake of her brood was tough. She said: 'Going through it in public is not what's hard, going through it is what's hard, A, and B, my children's eyes are on me.' The ex files: And in her accompanying interview the mother of three talked about her split from husband Ben Affleck So much pressure: The brunette told the publication that having her 'children's eyes on [her]' was the hardest part of her divorce from Affleck And because of her and Ben's star status, Jennifer has told her children to 'talk' to either of their parents if they ever see something 'shocking' written about them online. The Peppermint actress told The Hollywood Reporter: 'When they were smaller and there were things out there that were shocking, my request to them was always, 'Let Dad and I talk you through whatever it is.' I'd tell them, 'If you see an image on the front of a magazine, I'll look at it with you and we'll process all the scary feelings that come up together.' ' Garner also said she was told to think about retiring if she didn't accept a role in Dallas Buyers Club. The actress took some time out from her career to focus on raising her children and though she was feeling 'truly overwhelmed' by her family, she understood she needed to take the part of Dr. Eve Saks when her agent at the time, Patrick Whitesell, called her in 2012 with an ultimatum because she wasn't ready to be 'done' with her career. For the kids: The Pearl Harbor star has Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, nine, with her former husband whom she split with in 2015 after a decade of marriage and has said having to put on a brave face amid the divorce for the sake of her brood was tough Talk it out: And because of her and Ben's star status, Jennifer has told her children to 'talk' to either of their parents if they ever see something 'shocking' written about them online She recalled: 'He said, This is going to be a call about one of two things: It's going to be a call about you doing this little movie, or it's going to be a call about you retiring. 'And I knew I'd asked enough of my representatives, who'd been working their tails off for me and I had said no to everything and kept getting pregnant. But I was truly overwhelmed by a third kid. 'Ben was making Argo and I was just trying to keep the plates spinning. I also knew that I didn't want to be done acting, so I said, OK, I'll do it.' The exes are now good friends: Affleck and Garner are seen in June 2019 in Los Angeles And her children have told her that her encounters with fans are very different to when they're out with Ben and he gets approached in the street. She explained to The Hollywood Reporter: 'People are in awe of him. He's done incredible things, he's six-four, he's him, and they treat him with a kind of reverence. 'They say that people treat me like we were just in the middle of a conversation and they want to get back to it. They'll see me and be like, Oh, I've been meaning to tell you ' Ben appeared on is own cover of The Hollywood Reporter last week. The safety scare is a setback for AstraZenecas vaccine, which has already struggled with a perception that it is a less desirable shot because it had a lower overall efficacy rate in clinical trials than some others. There is, however, extensive data showing that the vaccine is safe and effective, and especially good at preventing severe illness and death. And in many places across the world, it is the only shot available. As of Wednesday, 30 cases of obstructive blood clots had been reported among nearly five million people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the European Union and three other European countries a rate no higher than in the general population, the European Medicines Agency said. The agency, Europes main drug regulator, said that the vaccines benefits outweigh any risks. The agency also said that there is no indication the vaccine has caused these conditions. Gonzalo Vina, a spokesman for AstraZeneca, said the companys data have not turned up such safety issues. An analysis of our safety data of more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country, he said. Blood clots, particularly if they are large, can damage tissue or organs like the lungs, heart or brain. Severe cases can be fatal, but people with small clots can often be treated outside of a hospital with prescription drugs. Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University, said that authorities noticing the cases and investigating them is a sign of the system working as it should. I wouldnt jump to any conclusions that because you saw some blood clots after vaccination that theyre causal, he said. It warrants looking at it more carefully. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Frederic Brown/AFP via Getty President Joe Biden offered Americans across the country a glimmer of hope on Thursday night with a mandate for states to make COVID-19 vaccines available to everyone aged 18 and over by May 1. But experts say its far more likely lots of people are about to find their hopes dashed. In California, state health officials are still tinkering with the list of medical conditions that people under 65 should have in order to qualify for a COVID-19 vaccine. In Florida, newly opened federal vaccination sites in minority neighborhoods are not boosting the states abysmal vaccination rate for Black and Hispanic residents. In Texas, the state saw its weekly vaccination distribution drop by more than 200,000. And in Washington, D.C., where Biden delivered his first presidential address from the White House, a pre-registration site for residents omitted one category of essential workers who are currently eligible to get shots. From the East Coast to the West Coast, these are just some of the logistical nightmares that suggest the presidents mandate could fall way short of his expectations, according to infectious disease experts. It will be near impossible without the significant ramp up in the national vaccine supply that Biden has promised will materialize in the coming weeks. Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, preventive medicine professor at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, said the idea the U.S. will have enough vaccine supply in six weeks to make every adult in the country eligible is aspirational. The delivery systems are there, but theres just not enough supply, Klausner told The Daily Beast. In Southern California, weve had to close sites because there are not enough vaccines. We run sites that send people home everyday because we run out of supply. States like Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire are more likely to meet the May 1 deadline because of their small populations, and they have demonstrated consistent success in meeting vaccination goals. For larger states like Florida, Texas and California, thats not realistic, Klausner said. Those states will continue to prioritize by age, risk and zip codes. We also have to make sure that we are first reaching essential workers and populations that disproportionately suffered during the pandemic. Story continues Jill Roberts, University of South Florida epidemiology professor, said Biden was imposing an awfully optimistic deadline because states vaccine distribution systems arent effectively reaching disadvantaged persons, who may not have computers to make online appointments, transportation to vaccination sites and the luxury to take time off to wait in lines. Biker Week Is a Sick Joke for the Unvaccinated in Florida Our current system is not very efficient, we are seeing multiple reports of vaccines going unused at the end of the day and given to whoever stands around long enough to see if extra are available, Roberts said. There are too many pointless barriers [such as] state residency requirements, legal U.S. residency requirements and a requirement for government issued IDs. In Washington, D.C., for example, residents looking to land limited vaccine slots via a sluggish website likened the process to the movie The Hunger Games. On Wednesday, the District of Columbia rolled out a new online pre-registration system that still had a glitch: Commercial and residential property maintenance and environmental service employees who are eligible for vaccines were not listed in a drop-down menu on the site, despite being eligible for the vaccine in the current Phase 1c Tier 1. During his Thursday speech, appearing to take a page from his predecessor Donald Trumps braggart playbook, Biden boldly claimed that his administration was on track to hit milestones earlier than expected. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in peoples arms in my first 100 days in office, Biden said. Tonight, I can say were not only going to meet that goal, were going to beat that goal. Because were actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this, none. Biden said the White House has also been focused on serving people in the hardest hit communities of this pandemicBlack, Latino, Native American, and rural communitiesby delivering vaccines to 10,000 pharmacies across America and setting up nearly 600 Federal Emergency Management Agency vaccination sites. So what does all of this add up to? Biden said. When I took office 50 days ago, only 8 percent of those over the age of 65 had gotten their first vaccination. Today that number is 65 percent. He also asserted that every American who wants a vaccine will be able to get a shot by the end of May and announced the federal government would buy an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines. In some states, the reality on the ground doesnt line up with Bidens ebullient assessment of his administrations vaccine rollout. For instance, federal vaccination sites in Florida meant to help boost the number of minority and low-income people eligible for vaccines have been dogged by low turnout, forcing vaccinators to give shots to virtually any adult who wanted one, according to the Miami Herald. As a result, the sites have met their vaccination targets but are not reaching the people that are in more need. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson is not helping the presidents cause. Earlier this week, the White House announced the government would be distributing 18.5 million doses, about 3 million less than the previous week, because no new doses of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine were ready for delivery. According to Reuters, J&Js manufacturing has been slower than expected, and the company was not expected to resume shipments until later this month. I deal with vaccine delivery every day, Klausner said. The supply is just not there. Will the supply be there in six weeks? I would certainly like to hope so. 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 author says that he realized he had strong perhaps too strong opinions about shower caddies as he stood before a wall of them this week at the Bed Bath & Beyond opposite Lincoln Center in New York City. He didnt find his way there by chance. Former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, who led a landmark review of the treatment of women in the military, says workplace dynamics have permanently changed and anyone who doesnt understand that doesnt belong in one. Organisations can no longer expect if they have a problem with sexual harassment it will stay secret, and politicians cant use the excuse that parliament is a unique environment as an excuse for not acting on the issue, she said. Former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick says politicians cant use the unique nature of Parliaments workplace as an excuse for not acting on sexual harassment. Credit:Tim Bauer Ms Broderick has also backed better consent education but says young Australians need to drive their own gender equality initiatives too. In her first print interview since former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins rape allegations sparked a national conversation about the culture of Parliament, Ms Broderick said sexual harassment doesnt jump out of nowhere but rather happens in cultures which allow demeaning attitudes about women. Stephen Colbert has mocked Donald Trump's 'sad' and 'pathetic' statement claiming credit for the vaccination rollout in the US. The former president released a statement on Thursday saying he was responsible for the shots thanks to his Operation Warp Speed. Trump said: 'I hope everyone remembers when they're getting the COVID-19 (often referred to as the China virus) vaccine, that if I wasn't president, you wouldn't be getting that beautiful 'shot' for five years, at best, and probably wouldn't be getting it at all.' Stephen Colbert has mocked Donald Trump's 'sad' and 'pathetic' statement claiming credit for the vaccination rollout in the US In response, Colbert criticized Trump as he opened The Late Show on Thursday on the first anniversary of the day Covid was officially declared a pandemic. He said: 'First of all, that's unbelievably sad. Second, pathetic. 'Third, how did we even find out about this statement? He can't tweet this stuff! 'Did he just print it out and staple it to telephone poles around Palm Beach? He might as well have just released "Ex-prez will take credit, and teach you guitar!"' Trump's statement was carried on his official 45th President letterhead though it took on the tone of one of his famous tweets before getting banned from Twitter after the January 6 MAGA riot. Trump issued the statement under the letterhead of The Office of Donald J. Trump but it read like one of the tweets he has been unable to send since his social media ban Donald Trump, pictured, sought to take credit for America's vaccine success after some of the available jabs were developed under his presidency Colbert also played an altered version of a new public service announcement which was released this week featuring all surviving former presidents apart from Trump. The one-minute spot shows Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and Laura Bush, and Barack and Michelle Obama with their sleeves rolled up and and a syringe in their arm, receiving the vaccine. In Colbert's clip, he included footage of Trump predicting the virus would magically 'go away' without vaccinations. He then joked that the 45th president was missing from the PSA because he didn't receive his invitation. Colbert criticized the statement as he opened The Late Show on Thursday on the first anniversary of the day Covid was officially declared a pandemic Colbert said: 'Maybe his invite got lost in the mail because he destroyed the postal service.' On Thursday night, Joe Biden spoke to the nation where he took credit for the vaccine rollout, hours after Trump's statement. In his address to the nation, the new President proclaimed that all American adults will be eligible to receive a vaccine by May 1 because of the work he had done in partnering with manufacturers of the shot. But conservative commentators are now criticizing the Commander-in-chief for failing to acknowledge the role his predecessor played in process. On Thursday night, Joe Biden spoke to the nation where he took credit for the vaccine rollout, hours after Trump's statement Sean Hannity led the outrage stating on his Fox News show: 'Joe, you want unity? Why don't you just thank Donald Trump? You want us all to get along, you say. No Trump, no vaccine, Joe. Stop trying to take credit for something, frankly, you had nothing to do with. Nothing.' The Trump Administration established Operation Warp Speed last April to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID vaccines. The public-private partnership has been lauded by people on both sides of the aisle. In recent days, even mainstream media outlets such as ABC and The New York Times have credited Trump with contributing the success of the vaccines. Both publications have criticized Biden for failing to truthfully acknowledge that fact. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. New York Republicans are feeling high and mighty nowadays, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo battles ongoing scandals on alleged sexual harassment and his handling of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. I happen to think it doesn't end well for the governor, New York City Council Member Joe Borelli told Fox News on March 8. It's just very sad to see the hypocrisy and double standards by someone who has such a large ego. Speaking of hypocrisy and double standards, other prominent New York Republicans including Reps. Elise Stefanik, Nicole Malliotakis, Lee Zeldin and state party Chair Nick Langworthy have made similar statements blasting Cuomo over alleged sexual misconduct and his handling of COVID-19. Now, there is nothing wrong with elected leaders holding the governor accountable for alleged sexual harassment or mismanagement of a pandemic. But it is strange to see it coming from these specific GOP politicos, because they werent so concerned about former President Donald Trump a man accused of sexual assault by 26 women. Trump, with the support of these same Republicans, went on to get elected president, before deliberately hiding the dangers of the coronavirus from the American people, refusing to send needed supplies to New York during the height of its COVID-19 outbreak and failing to produce enough tests for the virus. All of these New York Republicans then supported Trumps reelection campaign in 2020. Some of them also abetted his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Of course, the GOP would like to reclaim New Yorks governorship for the first time since 2006, which may have something to do with Republicans newfound commitment to womens rights and public health best practices. City & State reached out to these five figures to ask for their explanations on the discrepancy between their attitudes on Cuomo and Trump. Even though they surely have very convincing explanations for why their apparent hypocrisy is nothing of the sort, none of them shared their reasoning with us by press time. To be sure, this list is by no means exhaustive: other Trump-supporting New York Republicans, including Rep. Tom Reed and state Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt have issued caustic criticisms of Cuomo. But heres a full rundown on some of New Yorks most outspoken and prominent Republican politicians: Rep. Elise Stefanik COVID-19 Trump: I think that, in terms of the legislative and whole of government approach, that it has been a very strong response." (Oct. 2020) Cuomo:We lost more people in the state of New York than any other state across this country because of this mismanagement of the governor of New York State. (Aug. 2020) Sexual misconduct Trump:Donald Trumps inappropriate, offensive comments are just wrong - No matter when he said them or whatever the context. I hope his apology is sincere. (Oct. 2016) Cuomo: Gov. Cuomo is a criminal sexual predator and he must immediately resign. (Feb. 2021) Rep. Nicole Malliotakis COVID-19 Trump: People didnt even know about the good things because the other side has been so busy criticizing him and trying to impeach him and investigate him over the four years, which I think was very unfair. (Feb. 2021) Cuomo:The Governor should immediately resign and the Department of Justice should hold Governor Cuomo and his administration accountable." (Feb. 2021) Sexual misconduct: Trump: City & State could not find any public statements when Malliotakis has directly commented on the litany of sexual assault allegations against the former president. Cuomo:The mounting sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo are deeply disturbing and only add to the reasons why the governor needs to resign immediately. (March 2021) Rep. Lee Zeldin COVID-19 Trump:During a once-in-a-century pandemic an unforeseeable crisis sent to us from a faraway land the presidents effort for New York was phenomenal. (Aug. 2020) Cuomo:It is the governments first and most important priority to protect its citizens .. We must learn what failures of government led to this tragedy. (Aug. 2020) Sexual misconduct Trump:City & State could not find any public statements in which Zeldin directly commented on the litany of sexual assault allegations against the former president. Cuomo: Cuomo institutionalized widespread abuse, which silenced his many victims and allowed him to continue preying on those around him not just under the cover of darkness... New York legislators, voters and the media must do everything we can to hold him accountable. (Feb. 2020) State party Chair Nick Langworthy COVID-19 Trump: The President gave the people the sight of the USS Comfort. (Aug. 2020) Cuomo: He needs to be held accountable This is one of the most serious errors ever committed. (Feb. 2021) Sexual misconduct Trump: City & State could not find any public statements in which Langworthy directly commented on the litany of sexual assault allegations against the former president. Cuomo: If Ive said it once, Ive said it a hundred times: we already have ample evidence that proves Andrew Cuomo is unfit to serve and anything short of a full impeachment is a complicit move to keep him as Governor. (March 2021) New York City Council Member Joe Borelli honorary state chair of Trumps reelection campaign COVID-19 Trump: The federal resources mustered for NY over the past 5 weeks by the Trump administration through (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) have been tremendous. (April 2020) Cuomo: Criminal. Impeach. Indict. Convict. #cuomosgottago (March 2021) Sexual misconduct Trump: City & State could not find any public statements in which Borelli directly commented on the litany of sexual assault allegations against the former president, however, in 2017 he argued that claims that Trump is anti-woman are bogus: Considering nearly every person speaking for the President & the RNC is a woman, Trump must be totally anti-women - media narrative. (Sept. 2017) Cuomo: Journalists would do well cornering democratic officials and legislators on whether they will support his re-election bid next year. (March 2021) JOHANNESBURG Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu, the king of South Africas Zulu nation, who shepherded his people from the apartheid era into a modern democratic society, died on Friday in the eastern coastal city of Durban. He was 72. Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the kings prime minister, announced the death, at Inkosi Albert Luthuli hospital. He did not state a cause. King Zwelithini was admitted there last month to be treated for diabetes. Born on July 14, 1948, he was the eighth monarch of the Zulu nation, South Africas largest ethnic group, and a direct descendant of the Zulu warrior kings who fought against colonial rule. The eldest son of King Cyprian Bhekuzulu ka Solomon and his second wife, Queen Thomozile Jezangani ka Ndwandwe, he was educated at the Bekezulu College of Chiefs and then privately tutored at the Khethomthandayo Royal Palace. He was crowned in 1971, three years after the death of his father; subsequent assassination attempts had forced him into hiding. When he was able to take the throne, his role was largely ceremonial as head of a quasi-independent homeland under the apartheid government. SPRINGFIELD Volunteers extended a helping hand to seniors on Thursday during the Foster Grandparents Drive-By for Pandemic Assistance. The Urban League of Springfield, Inc, in collaboration with America Corps Seniors and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Springfield Alumnae Chapter donated Pandemic Healthcare Bags, which included a digital temperature gauge, an oximeter, masks and sanitizer. Items were distributed at the Urban League of Springfield parking lot on Federal Street. Organizers noted that seniors are a vulnerable population that are at risk to COVID-19, hunger and other barriers. A Brooklyn rabbi who fled to Israel ten years ago after he was accused of molesting child relatives has been extradited back to New York City. Gershon Kranczer, 65, was arraigned at Brooklyn Supreme Court on Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting at least two of his minor female relatives, the New York Post reported. Israel's Justice Ministry said he was finally arrested by Israeli police on January 10, 2020 after Israeli authorities searched for him for more than five years to comply with a 2012 extradition request, according to the Jewish publication Forward. He spent more than a decade overseas using an alias and fought extradition to the United States in the year since his arrest, sources told the Post. Scroll down for video Gershon Kranczer, 65, is pictured in custody on March 11, 2021, more than a decade after he fled New York Gershon Kranczer, 65, was arraigned at Brooklyn Supreme Court on Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting at least two of his minor female relatives Gershon spent more than a decade overseas using an alias and fought extradition to the United States in the year since his arrest According to Forward, Israeli Justice Ministry officials said Kranczer never officially immigrated to Israel and did not have a residency visa. Kranczer was charged with sexual conduct against a child, criminal sexual act and sexual abuse and was ordered to be held without bail at his arraignment on Thursday. The former principal of Yeshiva Tehila L'Dovid has been accused of repeatedly molesting one of the girls from August 1996, when she was just six years old, until February 2003, prosecutors told the Post. He also allegedly sexually abused an 11-year-old girl between March 2001 and September 2002, the Post reported. Three of his sons also allegedly repeatedly attacked other girls, cops told the New York Daily News in 2010. Kranczer fled to Israel in 2010 with his son, Asher, who is legally blind, while under investigation in order to escape the law. It was not immediately clear if Asher Kranczer has already been arrested or extradited to the United States. Investigators at the time believed Kranczer's wife did not know of the allegations or abuse but had given her husband a ride to John F. Kennedy Airport, the outlet reported at the time. The NYPD alerted Interpol that Kranczer had left the United States and its Intel Bureau International Liaison Unit coordinated with Israel police in an attempt to track him down, sources told the Post. His son Yechezkel Kranczer had turned himself in to the NYPD in 2010 the day after another of his sons, whose name was withheld at the time because he was also a minor, had turned himself over to cops thee day before, the Daily News reported. Gershon Kranczer, the former principal of Yeshiva Tehila L'Dovid, has been accused of repeatedly molesting one of the girls from August 1996 until February 2003 His wife, who is also his first cousin, had allegedly driven them to the airport before he fled The then-15-year-old suspect was charged with sexually abusing an 8-year-old relative, it was reported at the time. It was not immediately known if he was convicted for the alleged sexual abuse. Yechezkel Kranczer later posted $10,000 bail and left Brooklyn Criminal Court after he was arraigned on charges of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, the Daily News reported. He was convicted and given probation, according to The Algemeiner - a Jewish newspaper in New York City. The alleged abuse was first revealed when one of the victims told a co-worker that she had been sexually assaulted, according to the outlet. The co-worker told cops of the abuse, and officers discovered that three more of the woman's female relatives, between the ages of 8 and 19, had also allegedly been abused in the rabbi's home. Investigators raided the rabbi's 'dilapidated' home he shared with his wife, who is also his first cousin, and their 14 children, cops told the Daily News in 2010. Jewish Community Watch, a watchdog organization that works to combat child sexual abuse within the Orthodox Jewish community, told Forward last year that the group was 'shocked' at how long it has taken to get justice. 'We have been shocked at the horrific, drawn-out process that the victims have been forced to endure, all the while facing denial and ambivalence from so many in their community,' Jewish Community Watch said in a statement. 'The authorities in both the U.S. and Israel have much to answer for, in allowing this case to drag on for so long.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Auburn, IN (46706) Today Cloudy skies with periods of light rain this afternoon. High around 65F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Overcast with rain showers at times. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Police said Friday they have arrested four people on charges of smuggling and distributing illegal drugs from Southeast Asia. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has recently busted a drug trafficking operation that brought in 6.3 kilograms of methamphetamine from March to November last year, according to officials. The narcotics have an estimated street value of 21 billion won (US$18.6 million) and are enough to be used by 210,000 people, the agency said. The authorities seized 4.3 kg of their methamphetamine at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. Police arrested four people involved in the scheme and booked eight others without detention. They will seek the repatriation of another suspect who has fled to Southeast Asia. Four people who purchased the drugs from them were also arrested, and another four were booked on the same charges, they said. (Yonhap) Cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan was admitted to hospital for a few hours after she had an adverse reaction to the fourth round of her immunotherapy trial in the US. Phelan, who travelled to Maryland in January to take part in a pioneering cancer treatment had had her medication adjusted this week to reduce her risk of experiencing side effects. She is now receiving half the amount of one drug that caused extreme nausea, making her violently sick, last month. However, on Wednesday she said she had a day of nausea, vomiting and headaches which saw her being admitted to hospital to receive fluids and medication through an IV drip. I landed myself in the hospital again today after having treatment only yesterday. I woke up this morning (Wednesday) and I knew I was going to be vomiting for the day, she told social media. I felt nauseous and I felt like every time I moved my head, my brain moved and it made me even more nauseous. That's the only way I have of describing what happens to me when I have days like this. So, I got up and took my anti-sickness/anti-psychotic drugs and went straight back to bed to try to make sure that the drug hit my stomach and had a chance to work before I puked. I managed to not vomit for 1 hour and 15 minutes, probably not long enough, and that was the start of a day of nausea, vomiting and headaches. Phelan said she was vomiting bile by 5pm and called her doctor for advice. He agreed that I should go back in to the Day Hospital and have some fluids administered through an IV drip along with some more anti-sickness medication, given through the IV as well. I spent almost 2.5 hours getting pumped with fluids and medication and slept for most of it until they got the results back from my blood tests and they allowed me to go home again because everything looked fine with my bloods. She said she is home again and hopes her side effects have ended. Fingers crossed I will be fine tomorrow and there will be no more vomiting until Round 5 in two weeks' time. A LaPlace man is facing a murder charge after authorities say he sold fentanyl to a 30-year-old man who later died of an overdose. Kayon Johnson, 43, was booked Wednesday with second-degree murder and violation of probation, according to the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office. Detectives allege Johnson is responsible for the Nov. 23 death of Kyle Vicknair. Vicknair was found dead of a suspected overdose at his LaPlace home, according to the Sheriff's Office. Toxicology testing confirmed in December that Vicknair died of fentanyl toxicity, authorities said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is prescribed as a pain-management medication. The drug, which is more potent than heroin and 50-100 times stronger than morphine, is often abused, illegally, according to authorities. It can be deadly to most people in doses as small as 2 mg, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Detectives determined that it was Johnson who sold Vicknair the fatal dose of fentanyl, authorities said. Prosecutors obtained a second-degree murder indictment from a St. John Parish grand jury on Monday. Johnson was being held Thursday at the Lt. Sherman Walker Correctional Center in LaPlace on an $80,000 bond. While building an overdose case is very difficult, our detectives worked hard to bring the individual responsible for Kyle Vicknairs death to justice, St. John Sheriff Mike Tregre said in a statement released Thursday. This arrest sends a message that we will diligently pursue drug dealers who come into our community to distribute these deadly drugs." 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 00:59:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Health and Treasury departments have been negotiating with drug manufacturers to ensure that the country's vaccination roll-out plan is successful, said Deputy President David Mabuza on Friday. "The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccines appointed by the President has been seized with providing leadership, and overseeing the roll-out of the vaccination program," he said at a virtual South African National AIDS Council plenary session. With over 51,000 deaths from COVID-19, South Africa has vaccinated over 138,000 medical workers as it awaited more vaccines to arrive. He ensured that all citizens will have access to the vaccine across the country. "The vaccine roll-out plan has comprehensively mapped out all storage, distribution and vaccination sites that will ensure equitable access to vaccines by everyone irrespective of where they live," he said. While only medical workers are being vaccinated until now, Mabuza said all the groups would be targeted during different stages. "The phases of the plan provide clear categorization, and prioritization of various population groups to be targeted over the period of the vaccination process until the country achieves the desired population immunity," he said. Enditem Spanish police say they have captured a homemade narco-submarine designed to stealthily carry more than two tons of illegal cargo. The 30ft long, semi-submersible craft was discovered while under construction in Malaga on Spain's Costal del Sol last month. It came as part of a wider drugs bust involving Europol and police in Britain, America, Colombia, the Netherlands and Portugal. Spanish police chief Rafael Perez said the craft would have travelled 'into the high seas' if completed and met up with a 'mothership' to take the drugs on board. Seized: This narco-submarine with two engines and three portholes was found under construction in a warehouse in Malaga as part of a wider drugs bust in Spain Going inside: A police operative climbs into the craft which Spanish police say would have travelled into the 'high seas' to collect drugs from a 'mothership' Perez said the vessel was 'like an iceberg', meaning that most of it would have been underwater and only the tip would have been visible. 'In practice, nearly all of it goes under water apart from the top, which is the only part of it that would be seen from another ship or a helicopter,' he said. The police chief said the vessel had never sailed but would likely have taken drugs on board from a larger 'mothership' before making it way back to Spain. The craft was made of fibreglass and plywood panels, was painted light blue and had three portholes on one side. It had two 200-horsepower engines operated from the inside of the vessel. Similar drug-smuggling vessels have in the past been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, especially off Central and South America. They sit low in the water to escape detection and are rarely able to fully submerge. Taken away: The submarine was lifted into a truck and confiscated by Spanish authorities, who say the vessel never actually made it out to sea Captured: The 10ft wide, semi-submersible craft was discovered while under construction in Malaga on Spain's Costal del Sol last month Haul: The discovery of the submarine came as part of a wider drugs bust involving police in six countries (pictured, a stash of cocaine seized from a factory in Barcelona) The wider police operation against the alleged international smuggling ring netted huge quantities of cocaine, hashish and marijuana in various places in Spain. These included a cocaine factory in Barcelona where supplies of the drug were seized and other raids in Malaga where the submarine was found. Spanish authorities said police in the Colombia, the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Portugal were also involved in the operation. Spain has long been seen as an entry point for illegal cocaine supplies into Europe, along with ports in the Netherlands and Belgium. In 2018, Spain accounted for 3.7 per cent of the world's cocaine seizures, the second-largest figure in Europe after Belgium. Cannabis resin is also shipped from Morocco into Spain before being smuggled to other markets in Europe. WASHINGTON All eyes were on President Joe Biden Thursday evening as he gave his first prime time address to the nation since taking office. Hours after signing a massive coronavirus relief bill into law, he commemorated the anniversary of the nation's shutdown over the pandemic. The president urged Americans to be unified in battling the coronavirus and to continue to take precautions against its spread while the administration works to make vaccines more widely available. He struck a hopeful tone for the country's return to a semblance of normality while also acknowledging the loss all Americans have faced. "It is never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people," Biden said. "America is coming back." Here are the takeaways from Biden's address: Striking opposite tone on COVID from Trump, Republican leaders In his first prime time address which took place exactly one year after former President Donald Trump spoke to the country to introduce travel restrictions to slow the spread of the virus Biden drew contrasts with his predecessor and some Republican state leaders, without mentioning any of their names. President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. Biden said he would not be dishonest in his messaging to the American public about the pandemic, slamming the "denials for days, weeks, then months" before his administration but not naming Trump. "That led to more death ..." Biden said. "More stress and more loneliness." Biden hearkened back to his campaign emphasis on being straight with Americans. "My fellow Americans, youre owed nothing less than the truth," Biden said. And the truth, he said, is that the only way to get the economy back on track is to beat the coronavirus. Live updates: Biden says 'America is coming back' as he memorializes a pandemic year Trump admitted to journalist Bob Woodward that he downplayed the severity of the virus at times so as not to cause panic, and the former president spread misinformation about the virus and its treatments. Story continues According to recent reports, Trump and former first lady received their vaccines in January without informing the public. In his speech, Biden also noted that he and current first lady Jill Biden got vaccinated in front of cameras. Every living former president, except Trump, appeared in some public service announcements released Thursday that urge people to get vaccinated. The ads feature former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. They also include former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Rosalynn Carter. Biden also urged Americans to continue taking precautions such as mask wearing and social distancing. Acknowledging the lives lost to date While encouraging the nation to work together and to "get vaccinated when it's your turn," Biden also made sure to acknowledge the grief and loss experienced by the entire nation, which has seen some 530,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Biden displayed a card he said he carries with him on the back of his daily schedule that shows the current number of lives lost. There are more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined. They are husbands, wives, sons and daughters, grandparents, friends, he said. The president said that every single person in the country has experienced loss, from those with the death or illness of a loved one to those who have had to suspend their usual activities. "It all has exacted a terrible cost on so many of us," Biden said. "For we are fundamentally a people who want to be together ... but this virus has kept us apart." Announces plan to make all adults eligible for vaccine During his speech, Biden announced he is ordering all states, territories and tribes to make all adults eligible to receive their vaccines by May 1, a date he said is much sooner than anticipated. While most states are rolling out the vaccines in phases and priority going to health care workers and seniors, Alaska became the first state to open up eligibility to all adults this week. He noted that the order does not mean all Americans will immediately receive a vaccine after May 1, but that "youll be able to get in line beginning May 1." More: Biden directs states to make all adults eligible for COVID vaccines by May 1 Biden also said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue guidance in the coming weeks on what Americans can do once theyve been fully vaccinated. The new guidelines will lessen the confusion, keep people safe and encourage more people to get vaccinated, he said. 'A July 4 with your loved ones, that's the goal' In announcing his plans regarding vaccine eligibility and guidelines, Biden said it would be the country's goal to return to enough normalcy that people will be able to celebrate Independence Day this summer with small groups and have family gatherings again. "If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon," he said. Biden said that with the cooperation of the public, this July Fourth could serve to "mark our independence from this virus." "After this long, hard year, that will make this Independence Day truly something special," Biden said. Condemns racist attacks on Asian Americans Biden used his prime time address to denounce what he called vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans. Asian Americans have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated for the novel coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China, Biden said. So many of them are fellow Americans, are on the frontlines of this pandemic trying to save lives and still are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America, he said. It's wrong. It's un-American. And it must stop. 'It's wrong, it's un-American': Biden denounces attacks against Asian Americans Asian Americans have reported increased racism directed at them amid the coronavirus, as some politicians, including the former president, continue to refer to the virus as the "China virus," the "China flu," or other names considered derogatory. Contributing: Maureen Groppe, Michael Collins, Savannah Behrmann, Rebecca Morin This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden speech takeaways: Vaccine eligibility by May 1, Trump contrasts EDWARDSVILLE An Alton man was charged Wednesday with aggravated DUI while having a suspended license. Nathaniel A. Osteen, 38, was charged March 10 with aggravated driving under the influence while license revoked/suspended, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. According to court documents, on Nov. 14 Osteen allegedly was found to be driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and had a suspended drivers license at the time. Bail was set at $20,000. Other felony charges filed March 10 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include: Harold W. Kelley, 48, of Granite City, was charged with unlawful failure to register as a sex offender, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. According to court documents, on March 8 Kelley allegedly failed to register as a child sex offender with the sheriffs department. Bail was set at $40,000. John F. Rogers, 56, of the 2700 block of Cayuga Avenue, Granite City, was charged with domestic battery (three prior convictions for domestic battery), a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On March 9 Rogers allegedly struck a household or family member on the mouth, causing a cut lip. It was noted that Rogers had prior convictions for domestic battery out of Madison, Calhoun and Macoupin counties dating back to 1999. Bail was set at $50,000. Jarell D. Dillon, 29, of Alton, was charged with unlawful violation of an order of protection (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On March 9 Dillon allegedly violated an order of protection by coming within 300 feet of a protected property. It was noted he had a prior conviction for domestic battery out of Madison County from 2020. Brandon A. Reames, 33, of Bethalto, was charged with unlawful possession of an Illinois vehicle registration sticker, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. On Feb. 25 Reames allegedly was found to be in possession of a stolen license plate. Bail was set at $15,000. Michael A. Johnson, 31, of Wood River, was charged with offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Wood River Police Department. On Nov. 28 Johnson allegedly was found to be in possession of a stolen 1998 Volkswagon Beetle. Bail was set at $60,000. Charles L. Waters, 52, of Wood River, was charged with driving while license revoked, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Wood River Police Department. On Dec. 14 Waters allegedly was found to be driving on Wesley Drive with a revoked license. It as noted his license had been revoked due to a 2005 conviction for DUI, and he also had multiple convictions for driving while revoked in 2002, 2004, 2011 and 2012. Bail was set at $15,000. Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Bay of Plenty We are on the hunt for drivers with either Class 2, 4, or 5 licenses. We are working with a variety of clients with different... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz SINGAPORE, Mar 12, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - With the successful end of Glasstech Asia Online Conference 2020, Glasstech Asia will be unveiling its next two events of the series - Glasstech Asia / Fenestration Asia Online Conference 2021 and Glasstech Asia / Fenestration Asia 2021.This year, Glasstech Asia / Fenestration Asia - powered by BAU and BAU China will be held for the first time under the direction of MMI Asia and Messe Munchen, where participants can look forward to an even higher quality trade fair with a new international supporting program and framework.With a strong desire to connect, network, and learn, Glasstech Asia aims to be the leading community that facilitates industry professionals to work together to address the latest developments in the industry. On the 27th of April this year, the second online conference will go live, serving as a critical international platform that disseminates pertinent information. Covering key trending topics in both the Glass and Fenestration sectors, the conference hopes to answer the most trending questions in the industry and cater to industry professionals from different sectors. The following topics will be further discussed during the online conference: Manufacturing & Processing Innovations; Digitalisation: The Evolution Towards A Smart Factory; Architectural Designs: Design Trends of Post Pandemic Buildings; Architectural Designs: Advanced Building Skins / Advanced Facade Technology. For interested parties, registration for the online conference is now open for all to participate: https://bit.ly/2Zj11Zj.Glasstech Asia and Fenestration Asia introduces digitalization, offering new virtual opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors.As part of the world's prominent trade network, Glasstech Asia is the leading BAU trade fair which serves as a highly connected community for the glass industry in Southeast Asia. Taking place between the 16th to 18th November 2021, Glasstech Asia brings together international experts specializing in all sectors of glass such as manufacturers, processors, and suppliers of glass machinery and accessories. Additionally, it provides an exclusive opportunity to meet with leading regional buyers from major markets in the ASEAN region, and network with top international connections from the BAU network.Further enhancing the value of the show for both exhibitors and visitors, Glasstech Asia introduces digitalisation components into the show offerings and provide new virtual opportunities like virtual booths and business matching. Additionally, to aid exhibitors in heightening brand awareness and lead generation, networking and digital packages will be available for any interested exhibitors.The physical conference - BAU Congress, will see industry professionals across the glass industry come together from all around the world, to share their views on glass facades. Attendees can look forward to a series of exciting and interesting topics on the agenda and hear from highly esteemed speakers from leading glass organisations globally.Further information on Glasstech Asia / Fenestration Asia 2021 will be released soon.Please contact us if you have any questions or require any additional information: bauasia@mmiasia.com.sgAbout Glasstech Asia 2021/ Fenestration Asia 2021Coined "The Glass Hub of Southeast Asia", Glasstech Asia is an annual rotating exhibition that focuses on all things glass. The upcoming 18th edition Glasstech Asia along with the concurrent Fenestration Asia will be held between the 16th to 18th of November this year. Returning to Bangkok, Thailand for the fourth time, the three-day event brings together the best of the Southeast Asian glass and glazing sector, from glass manufacturing, processing, and machinery to accessories, raw materials, and finished glass products. Coupled with high-powered symposiums, forums, workshops, and an exciting Glass Installation Competition, it is an event not to be missed.Additionally, Glasstech Asia and Fenestration Asia aims to meet and satisfy the increasing global demands for eco-friendly windows, doors, and facades by focusing on new industry standards in sustainability, automation, and energy-efficiency topics. With a focus on green and smart fenestration technologies to bring about a more sustainable, energy-efficient, and liveable future, the exposition is strategically geared towards helping the architecture, building, and construction sectors in countries meet their energy targets.About Messe MunchenMesse Munchen is one of the leading exhibition organizers worldwide with more than 50 of its own trade shows for capital goods, consumer goods and new technologies. Every year, a total of over 50,000 exhibitors and around three million visitors take part in more than 200 events at the exhibition center in Munich, at the ICM - Internationales Congress Center Munchen and the MOC Veranstaltungscenter Munchen as well as abroad. Together with its subsidiary companies, Messe Munchen organizes trade shows in China, India, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Iran.With a network of associated companies in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America as well as around 70 representations abroad for over 100 countries, Messe Munchen has a global presence.About BAU NetworkBAU is the World's Leading Trade Fair for Architecture, Materials and Systems. Everyone involved in the international community for planning, building and designing buildings comes together here - i.e. architects, planners, investors, representatives of the industrial and commercial sectors, the building trades, etc. It is where future-oriented manufacturers come together with an audience of interested professionals. Their primary interests include the latest techniques, materials and applications that can be used in actual practice. This is where visitors experience the future of building in person.Source: Glasstech AsiaCopyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Falun Gong practitioners re-enact an illegal of paying for human organs which happens in China in Washington, DC on April 19, 2016. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) Chinese Medical Experts Suicide Draws Attention to Questionable Organ Transplant Model The suicide of Chinese organ transplant specialist Zang Yunjin has drawn attention to a questionable Qingdao model of human organ transplantation. Zang, 57, head of the Organ Transplantation Center at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, killed himself by jumping off a high building on Feb. 26, a source told the Chinese-language Epoch Times around Feb. 27. He was one of the most well-known liver transplant specialists in China and won a long list of titles and honors over his career for his involvement in the sector, based on Chinas state media reports. China news commentator Heng He said that Zang wasnt merely an organ transplant expert who had helped spearhead the transplant industry in multiple cities in China. He noted that all the hospitals where Zang had worked were specifically identified in reports that investigated the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) crimes of illegal organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. Zang Brought Organ Supply Chain to Qingdao? According to the website of the organ transplant center founded by Zang, the institution was formed in February 2014. When he founded it in Qingdao, Zang brought with him his team members, whom he had known while he worked at the Beijing Armed Police General Hospital, according to his comments during an interview with Qingdao Daily on Feb. 3, 2018. The CCP regime declared on Dec. 3, 2014, that China would stop using the organs harvested from executed prisoners and that organs voluntarily donated from citizens would be the only source of donor organs available in China from Jan. 1, 2015. However, the data show that the number of donated organs in Qingdao city entered the fast lane since the center was founded in 2014, and has seen significant year-over-year growth, in part due to Zangs center and his Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) team, Qingdaonews.com revealed. Wang Zhiyuan, chair of the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), noted in an interview with The Epoch Times on March 11 that China is among the countries with the lowest average voluntary organ donation rates in the world, citing a figure of only 0.6 per 1 million deaths (about 840 donors per year) in China in The Lancet, an international medical publication. He explained that Chinese people are reluctant to donate organs after death due to their age-old respect for the deceasedany removal of their organs would culturally be deemed disrespectful to them or an act that promotes misfortune to those who did such a thing. Based on more than 10 years of investigations carried out by the WOIPFG and other researchers, mounting evidence shows a massive living organ donor pool has existed since the CCPs brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners began in 1999. In 2019, an independent peoples tribunal concluded, after a yearlong investigation, that the CCP has been forcibly harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience for years on a substantial scale, with detained Falun Gong practitioners being the main organ source. The grisly practice continues to this day, the tribunal said. Heng said he suspected Zang brought his organ supply chain with him to Qingdao to create his transplant center so that he could be confident in his sourcing of organ donors. Another important contributing factor, Heng said, was that the Beijing Armed Police General Hospitala military unit of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) or the army of the CCPfor which Zang had worked, can guarantee confidentiality and a large-scale supply of organs. Zangs Qingdao Model In 2018, a nationwide congress of OPO was held between Jan. 26 and 30 in Qingdao, according to the China Hospital Association. Zang served as its executive chairman. At the conference, Zang delivered a speech to more than 200 experts from China, Spain, Iran, and Brazil about his Qingdao model, calling it a platform for Chinas standardized human organ donations, according to a report in Chinas state media Qingdao Daily. Qingdao model is a summary of our work in organ transplant work, an outcome of standardization as required by our country, Zang said. The feature of the model lies in that all potential donors we find will be transferred to our hospital, which is unique across China. The report didnt elaborate on the origins of potential donors or how transferring all potential donors to his hospital was either unique or a feature. However, WOIPFGs Wang condemned Zangs Qingdao modelthe so-called OPOas a pretext to cover up the living organ donor pool initiated by the CCP regime. When a potential donor at the hospital meets the criteria of irreversible brain death, the hospital authorities will continue to maintain the functioning of relevant organs to the best level, and seek suitable recipients through an online organ allocation and sharing system, according to Chinas news portal Sina. The workflow of the Qingdao model implies that the organ transplants to be performed at Zangs center necessitate the arrival of donors organs at the hospital in advance, and that they are waiting for patients who need them. In fact, the brain death highlighted in the Qingdao model isnt uncommon in the community of Chinas organ transplantation. Wang Lijun, a former high-profile CCP official and head of the Chongqing Public Security Bureau, as well as a few others, patented an invention called a Primary Brain Stem Injury Impacting Machine in collaboration with the Third Military Medical University of the PLA. They received a patent for an innovation dedicated to causing brain death (patent number: CN201120542042), which was called A Killing Apparatus by David Kilgour, Ethan Gutmann, and David Matas in their updated 2017-edition (pdf) of Bloody Harvest / Slaughter. For an illustration see the following screenshot provided by the WOIPFG. Screenshot of Wang Lijuns invention in his patent application. Courtesy of the WOIPFG. Zangs Career Coincides with CCPs Practice of Forced Organ Harvesting Zangs career in organ transplantation rose from 2000, coinciding with the emergence of the CCPs crimes of forced organ harvesting against Falun Gong practitioners, according to Heng He. The CCP began its nationwide campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in July 1999. Shortly afterward, hundreds of thousands of them were illegally detained in detention centers, labor camps, and prisons. In September 1999, Zang began to study transplant surgery at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) with the assistance of the Chinese government. He stayed there until December 2000, according to Chinas news portal Sohu. Zang reportedly returned to China three months ahead of schedule due to Chinas urgent need for liver transplant doctors. Since 2000, the CCP expanded its mass persecution of Falun Gong followers, millions of whom were subjected to arbitrary detention and imprisonment. At the same time, data show, Chinas organ transplant surgeries saw explosive growth in number, according to the WOIPFG. In December 2000, Zang established a liver transplant program in Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital and became the first to perform such a surgery in the province. In September 2001, he contributed to the creation of the Shandong Provincial Organ Transplant Center. From 2004 to 2008, he participated in 1,600 cases of liver removals from donors in Tianjin First Central Hospital. In January 2005, Zang joined the Liver Transplantation Institute of the Beijing Armed Police General Hospital. In April, he was appointed deputy director of the institute. There, he performed more than 1,000 liver transplants. From 2014 onward, Zang moved to the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and led the transplant activities there until he committed suicide on Feb. 26 for unknown reasons. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 72F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. The Prairial frigate is anchored at the Cam Ranh Port in Khanh Hoa Province, March 9, 2021. Photo courtesy of the French Embassy in Vietnam. A French frigate has been anchored in Cam Ranh Port from Tuesday to Friday for a helicopter onboard to be repaired. Marc Razafindranaly, French defense attache in Vietnam, said the Prairial had left Tahiti of French Polynesia on Jan. 15 and reached Cam Ranh Port in south central Khanh Hoa Province on Tuesday. French engineers had then commenced repairing a Alouette III helicopter on board until Friday. Before reaching Cam Ranh, the frigate had undergone a 14-day quarantine period at Sasebo City in Japan, Razafindranaly said, adding the crew was glad to be able to go ashore to rest following nearly two months at sea. The trip to Vietnam was also an opportunity to see if the French navy could operate normally amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the attache remarked. "I believe the experiment was a success," he said. The frigates visit to Vietnam forms part of a military cooperation framework between Vietnam and France, according to the French Embassy in Hanoi. "The frigates visit at this time is meant to deliver a message in support of freedom of navigation in the air and at sea, which is shared by both Vietnam and France," said Ambassador Nicolas Warnery. The Prairial is a Floreal-class frigate, spanning 93.5 meters and has a maximum speed of 37 kph. Former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said he doesn't believe the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol would have happened if President Donald Trump had not invited a crowd of his supporters to "walk down Pennsylvania Avenue" on Jan. 6. "It seems cause and effect, yeah," Miller told VICE broadcasting company in an interview that will air Sunday on Showtime. "The question is, would anybody have marched on the Capitol and overrun the Capitol without the president's speech? I think it's pretty much definitive that wouldn't have happened." Miller, a retired Army special operations officer and counterterrorism official, was the last person to serve in the defense secretary role after Trump fired Mark Esper following the November election. He had been in the job for about eight weeks when Trump supporters pushed past barriers and federal law enforcement agents on the Capitol lawn and forced their way into the building. Read Next: Tucker Carlson Couldn't 'Be More Wrong': Troops Fire Back at Fox News Host's Claims of a Feminized Military Then-Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers inside the Capitol were voting to secure the results of the November election, which Trump falsely claimed had been stolen from him. Pence and others had to be rushed to safety as a mob broke windows to get into the Capitol. Hundreds of people -- including close to three dozen military service members and veterans -- have been arrested for their alleged involvement. Miller told VICE that he found the things Trump said in his "Save America" rally speech "concerning." Whether Trump knew he was "enraging the crowd to do that," Miller said of the deadly riot that soon followed, "I don't know." The retired Army officer is not the only member of Trump's cabinet to speak out about the riot. Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who's married to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, resigned soon after the siege, which she said deeply troubled her. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos also stepped down, telling Trump in her resignation letter that there was "no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation." Miller and other military leaders have faced questions about their response to the events that day, particularly on the amount of time it took National Guard members to arrive at the Capitol. He told VICE, "It comes back to understanding how the military works." "This isn't a video game," he said. "It's not 'Halo.' It's not, you know, 'Black Ops: Call [of] Duty.'" Military leaders have defended their response that day, though the commander of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., told lawmakers this month that he faced unusual restrictions from Pentagon leaders that delayed him dispatching troops to halt the siege. Miller said he didn't speak to Trump on Jan. 6. He also hit back against the idea that the conditions that day could have led to a military coup had Trump ordered the Pentagon to get involved. There are too many institutional safeguards in place to prevent the military from carrying out an illegal order, he said. "To have a perfect storm where an order was given to execute a military coup is not possible in the United States military right now," Miller said. "... How much stress and strain can be put on the institutions is kind of what I'm hearing [being] asked. "We fought a civil war over this once. The thing is, let's not do it again," he said. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Trump's Acting Defense Secretary Says He 'Cannot Wait' to Leave the Job US Vice President Kamala Harris will also participate in the first Quad summit with President Joe Biden and Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan on Friday, according to the White House. The virtual summit is scheduled for 8.30 a.m. in Washington and 7 p.m. in Delhi (10.30 p.m. in Canberra and 12.30 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo). Reporters will be allowed to see the opening of the meeting, according to the White House schedules for Biden and Harris. Biden's spokesperson Jen Psaki said that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will give a readout of the meeting at noon (10.30 p.m. India time). Harris has had limited personal exposure to international leaders and has started a round of talks with some of them, starting with President Emmanuel Macaron of France and Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. According to readouts, they discussed a wide range of regional and global issues during the one-on-one calls. Introducing her during their visit to the State Department, Biden said that Harris was committed to "crafting a foreign policy that puts diplomacy first and that keeps our nation safe and delivers real results to the American people". Most of Harris's political career has been in California and during her four years in the Senate, she gained direct exposure to international affairs as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. She is reported to be planning regular lunches with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to deepen her familiarity with the nitty-gritty of foreign policy. Modi and Harris will probably be face-to-face, though virtually, for the first time on Friday as there does not appear to be a record of any meetings between them. After her election, Modi tweeted: "Your success is pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for your chithis, but also for all Indian-Americans." "Chithis" as it is pronounced, is the Tamil term for aunts who are mother's younger sisters and Harris used the word to include them while acknowledging her extended family in her speech accepting the Democratic Party nomination for vice president. Harris has been frosty towards the current Indian government. While a Senator she criticised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for refusing to meet with the House Foreign Affairs Committee because it wanted to include Indian-American Pramila Jayapal, a critic of Modi's government, in the meeting although she is not a member of the committee. Harris's niece Meena recently got involved in the farmer's agitation in India tweeting support for it even though she has not opposed conditions in the US similar to what the Indian farmers are against. Nine in 10 Covid hospital patients suffer lingering symptoms for months after being discharged, a study presented to No10's top advisers has claimed. Of 325 survivors across the UK, 93 per cent reported suffering at least one 'long Covid' symptom at least three months after recovering. The most common symptoms were fatigue (77 per cent) and shortness of breath (54 per cent) but nearly a quarter suffered more serious problems with their sight, memory or brain function. The study, led by Glasgow University, was submitted to the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) on February 25. SAGE said the study showed that there were three different syndromes associated with long Covid. It said: 'The first of these clusters includes fatigue, being breathless on exertion, headache, dizziness, muscle pain, joint pain, disturbance of balance and limb weakness. 'The second is nested within the first and includes muscle pain, joint pain, disturbance of balance and limb weakness. 'The third includes loss of smell, taste, difficulty passing urine, weight loss and disturbance of appetite.' But the group warned the small sample would have been more likely to respond to the survey if they already felt they were suffering from long Covid, biasing the results. Long Covid is the term given for fatigue, 'brain fog' and other persistent side effects from the illness, which can linger for months. In some cases the effects can be so debilitating that people claim they cannot return to normal life. Up to a fifth of all survivors suffer long-term symptoms, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus, while other estimates are slightly lower. The high percentage of patients suffering long Covid in this study was partly by the fact it only reviewed patients who were in hospital and therefore had worse bouts of the virus. More than 90 per cent of people continue to suffer symptoms at least three months after being hospitalised with Covid, a paper presented to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has suggested Patients who were given oxygen in hospital were four times as likely to report an incomplete recovery. Patients given oxygen normally suffer quite severe bouts of illness. Women were slightly more likely to feel they had not recovered from the virus (57 per cent) than men (54 per cent). Younger women aged 50 or below were five times more likely than average to suffer sight and mobility problems after hospitalisation and to not have fully recovered months down the line. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of all respondents reported suffering a long-term deterioration in either sight, walking, memory, self-care or speech. Younger patients were more likely to report persistent symptoms and ongoing difficulties. The study did not explain the trend. The study looked at patients who were admitted to hospital between February 5 and October 4 last year. Women were slightly more likely to feel they had not recovered from the virus (57 per cent) than men (54 per cent) Most of the respondents were men (59 per cent), with an average age of 59 years old. Half of those who answered the survey had recovered from hospital treatment between six and nine months ago. But scientists warned those who felt they were suffering from long Covid would be more likely to respond to the survey, which 'may explain the high rates of persistent symptoms and poor outcomes in this data'. It comes after patients and MPs urged Boris Johnson to declare 'long Covid' an 'occupational disease' last month. The APPG on Coronavirus said frontline staff who say they cannot return to work because they have sore feet, weak legs and smell 'fake' odours months after being infected with coronavirus should be paid compensation. The group wants the Government to follow France, Germany, Belgium and Denmark, which have formally recognised coronavirus as an 'occupational disease'. Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who chairs the APPG, said: 'Long Covid is the hidden health crisis of the pandemic, and it is likely to have an enormous impact on society for many years to come. 'When it comes to frontline NHS, care and key workers, they were specifically asked to go to work and save lives while everyone else was asked to stay at home. 'They were exposed to an increased level of risk of catching the virus, often without adequate levels of PPE.' Kicking off the privatisation drive, NITI Aayog has submitted its first list of around 12 PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) to be privatised. The list submitted by the government's policy think tank includes PSUs in strategic sectors and will be reviewed by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), and the Core Group of Secretaries on Divestment (CGD), headed by the cabinet secretary, Business Standard reported citing sources. The list comprises public sector banks (PSBs) and insurance companies and will be its first following the government's ambitious drive to privatise PSUs, as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2021. This would clear the way for the Centre to go ahead with its Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target for the next financial year. Also Read: Air India privatisation: Centre to invite financial bids by March-end FM Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, had announced privatising two PSBs and one general insurance company in 2021-22. As per the new PSE (Public Sector Enterprise) policy for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, NITI Aayog is entrusted with the task to suggest the names of PSUs in strategic sectors to be merged, privatised, or made subsidiaries of other PSUs. The said strategic sectors, in which the Centre wants to keep a "bare minimum" presence, comprise power, petroleum, coal, and other minerals, atomic energy, space, defence, banking, insurance, and financial services, transport and telecommunications. Meanwhile, PSEs functioning as autonomous organisations, regulatory authorities, trusts, and development financing institutions such as FCI (Food Corporation of India) and the AAI (Airports Authority of India) have been kept out of the policy. PSUs in non-strategic sectors such as steel and hospitality would be either privatised or closed. Also Read: Privatisation to unleash opportunities, bolster infra investment and create jobs: India Inc Once the CGD considers NITI Aayog's recommendations, it will give its suggestions to the Alternative Mechanism (AM), which includes the finance minister, the minister for roads, transport and highways, and the minister for administrative reforms. Once endorsed by the AM, DIPAM will then move a proposal to get in-principal approval from the CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) for strategic disinvestment in a PSU case by case, basis administrative feasibility, sectoral trends, and investors' interest. UPDATE: All available slots for this vaccination event have been filled, the Department of Health says. Coronavirus vaccines will be offered at Tiger Stadium on Sunday, March 14. The community vaccine event will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and appointments are required. To register online, go to: https://laredcap.oph.dhh.la.gov/surveys/?s=EP34HFE77F Louisiana expanded vaccine eligibility on Tuesday to include anyone 16 and older with one of nearly two dozen broadly defined health conditions. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is only available to those 18 and older. +3 Who's now eligible for coronavirus vaccines in Louisiana? Here's the list of health conditions Louisiana is expanding its eligibility requirements for the coronavirus vaccine to include people 16 and up with certain health conditions. Business Insider A pharmacist prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Jessica Hill/AP Photo The EU's vaccination rollout is going so badly that China and Russia are now moving to sell their own supplies to Europe. China and Russia are using the contracts as leverage to extract concessions from Europe. The development has wide-ranging implications for relations between the powers and the West. Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories. The EU's vaccination rollout is going so badly that China and Russia are now stepping in to make up the difference, with wide-ranging consequences for relations between the two powers, Europe and the US. "In both cases, there is a geopolitical agenda," said Dalibor Rohac, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, in an interview with Insider this week. "If Chinese and Russian vaccines are effective and help [European] countries emerge out of the pandemic sooner than their neighbors, China and Russia will have bought themselves a lot of goodwill in the region - at the expense of Brussels and Washington - which they can cash in at a time of their choosing," he said. The EU's vaccine programme is failing The European Commission has come under intense criticism in recent weeks for the slow progress of its vaccination effort, which was coordinated centrally from Brussels to avoid leaving smaller states behind. China and Russia will have bought themselves a whole of goodwill in the region at the expense of Brussels and Washington A number of factors including dwindling supplies, production problems, and a dramatic row with drug firm AstraZeneca mean that the EU has received far fewer vaccines than it ordered, prompting Germany's finance minister to brand the efforts "a total shitshow." Russia and China are more than happy to try and fill the void. Hungary was the first European member state to lose patience with Brussels and go its own way on vaccines. After its avowedly Eurosceptic prime minister Viktor Orban declared "I'm not waiting," he ordered 5 million doses of China's state-backed Sinopharm vaccine and 2 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, fast-tracked their approval, and began administering both jabs in February. Story continues The rollout of the vaccine program in Europe has been shambolic Other European countries including Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have now started eyeing Russian or Chinese vaccines too, Politico reported, despite the fact neither has been approved for use by the EU's medicines agency. The move would fatally undermine the EU's approach to procuring vaccines but for those countries, the calculation is a simple one. "Politically for these smaller countries, their economies really need it. It's hard to say no," said Theresa Fallon, director of the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies (CREAS) in Brussels, in an interview with Insider. "Everyone is struggling to get a vaccine, and if there's an efficient one that they can get their hands on for not a lot of money they'll take it. I don't think they'll think twice about it. The rollout of the vaccine program in Europe has been shambolic." Russia and China are using Europe's failure to their advantage Getty Whether Russia and China will be able to deliver on their vaccine promises remains an open question, said Fallon. Data published by the health journal Lancet indicated that the Sputnik V jab was highly effective in preventing COVID-19, but Russia has not vaccinated much of its own population and there is speculation that it may be struggling with vaccine production - though an agreement reached in Italy to produce 10 million jabs this week may improve that situation from July. China's vaccines, meanwhile, are already being delivered worldwide but Beijing has refused to publish comprehensive safety data for the Sinovac and Sinopharm jabs. Fallon also said that fake vaccines containing mineral water and saline solution which were shipped abroad from China may undermine trust in their efforts to distribute vaccines to other countries. If Russia and China can deliver on their vaccine promises, it will be far more than a good public relations exercise for both regimes. It could also provide them with geopolitical leverage which makes it harder for countries to impose sanctions and easier to ignore bad faith actions. "China is using [its vaccines] not only to win hearts and minds. It's clearly very transactional," said Theresa Fallon. Beijing has already demonstrated its willingness to use its vaccine as a tool for political gain, reportedly delaying a shipment of its Sinovac jab to Turkey as it sought to extract an agreement from the Turkish government on the extradition of Uighur Muslims. Both regimes will seek to extract concessions later on "Both regimes will seek to extract concessions later on," said Dalibor Rohac. "It will be harder to make the argument for imposing further sanctions on Russia when Putin decides to stir trouble in the neighborhood if a number of member states are indebted to Moscow for turning the pandemic around. "Likewise, it will be more difficult to make the case even for a partial decoupling with China if Chinese vaccines play a role in the recovery." Read the original article on Business Insider 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. MASON CITY, Iowa - A Mason City man is facing a felony theft charge for allegedly stealing nearly $5,000 from a retailer. Jonathan Patterson, 32, was arrested after cash shortages were found at Mills Fleet Farm. According to court documents, employees observed Patterson stealing money on four different occasions. The total amount taken from Feb. 2 to March 8 was $4,780. Patterson did admit to the theft, documents state. Iran's elections in June are not a factor in the Biden administrations decision-making for how to proceed with nuclear talks, State Department Iran envoy Rob Malley told me in his first interview since taking office. Why it matters: Irans President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Mohammad Javad Zarif, who pushed for the 2015 nuclear deal and supported engagement with the U.S., are not running in June's elections and will finish their terms in August. The next Iranian president is likely to be more skeptical of nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. "We dont intend to base the pace of our discussions on the Iranian elections the pace will be determined by how far we can get consistent with defending U.S. national security interests," Malley said. "In other words, we wont rush or slow things because of the Iranian elections." Driving the news: Malley said the U.S. has made clear to Iran it is ready to engage in a serious diplomatic process to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the nuclear deal. Our view is that direct talks are more effective and less prone to misunderstanding, but for us, the substance is more important than the format," Malley said. The big picture: The Biden administration will be ready to consider some sanctions relief for Iran only after talks between the parties resume and only as part of a reciprocal process, senior State Department officials tell me. Possible U.S. steps with regard to sanctions can be on the table but we need to get into a conversation with Iran, whether direct or indirect," a senior State Department official said. "The president will not take unilateral steps when it comes to removing sanctions. Any substantial move by the U.S. will have to be part of a process in which both sides take actions." The other side: So far, U.S. efforts to re-engage with Iran have met with a cool response from Iranian leaders. The Iranians are demanding that the U.S. make the first move, but President Biden isn't prepared to meet their demands for unilateral sanctions relief before Iran returns to full compliance with the nuclear deal. Flashback: The Trump administration made several requests to meet with their Iranian counterparts, but Iran made clear it would not meet until the U.S. provided some sanctions relief. The Trump administration made several requests to meet with their Iranian counterparts, but Iran made clear it would not meet until the U.S. provided some sanctions relief. That remains their position under Biden, a senior State Department official told me. Behind the scenes: The Biden administration wasn't surprised by Iran's tough position, the senior official says. The official added that the Iranians were surprised and disappointed that Biden hadn't moved more quickly to lift sanctions and re-enter the deal. Nevertheless, Biden's position remains the same: The U.S. is prepared to resume full compliance with the deal if Iran does, and we are ready to engage in meaningful diplomacy to get there, the official said. Whats next: Once talks with Iran resume, State Department officials believe one of the sticking points will be the sides' different interpretations of what it means to get back to full compliance. Those will have to be negotiated. Thats why we expect there could be difficult talks, even as we both agree on the goal, and even as we agree on a road map to get there, the State Department official told me. Meanwhile, the State Department's Iran team is slowly taking shape. Malley recruited nuclear weapons and sanctions expert Richard Nephew a member of the U.S. negotiating team during the talks that led to the 2015 deal as his deputy. Saginaw Valley State University is expanding its longstanding dedication to making a first-class college education accessible to Michigan families by offering free tuition to qualified students throughout Michigan. A new initiative known as the SVSU Cardinal Commitment will remove barriers to higher education for many students, starting with the fall 2021 semester. We are proud of our role in welcoming students from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and providing them with a high-quality education that prepares them for meaningful careers, stated Donald Bachand, SVSU president, in a news release. We have maintained the lowest tuition in the state for many years, but the sticker price still causes many families to think an SVSU degree is out of reach. We want those hard-working students to fully understand they can complete an SVSU degree and that we are putting resources into this program to support them every step of the way. I hear from employers every day who are counting on us to grow the talent pipeline, and we are committed to doing our part by breaking down barriers. The SVSU Cardinal Commitment financial aid package provides free eligible tuition and mandatory fees to qualifying first-time undergraduate students with student and family adjusted gross income of $50,000 or less. Full criteria are available at www.svsu.edu/cardinalcommitment. SVSU has partnered with community organizations for many years to improve college access. The leaders of three regional community foundations applauded this latest initiative. The Bay Area Community Foundation applauds SVSU's efforts to make college accessible to all. Only 11% of young adults from low-income families earn a degree by age 24 compared to 58% from high-income families. One's ability to achieve an education should not be dependent on their family's income. The SVSU Cardinal Commitment is an important step to removing that barrier, said Diane Fong, president and CEO of the Bay Area Community Foundation. The Saginaw Community Foundation is extremely proud of Saginaw Valley State University for their ongoing Commitment to equity and access to higher education for all. And, with the recent announcement of the Cardinal Commitment, they have recognized the need for long-term support for many students in need of assistance to complete college degrees. The Saginaw Community Foundation is also excited to have the opportunity to leverage our scholarships with the Cardinal Commitment to further assist these students with other academic needs," said Renee Johnston, president and CEO of the Saginaw Area Community Foundation. Midland Area Community Foundation is excited to learn of the Cardinal Commitment. We recognize the critical importance of post-secondary education to help build a community and region where all can thrive. With Michigan's goal of 60% of residents with a post-secondary degree or credential by 2030, we appreciate Saginaw Valley State University's commitment to assist students with the cost of higher education, said Sharon Mortensen, president and CEO of the Midland Area Community Foundation. Questions regarding the SVSU Commitment can be made by calling the SVSU Information Line at 989-964-2110 or e-mailing the SVSU Campus Financial Services Center at cfsc@svsu.edu. (Newser) Cyrus Vance Jr.the Manhattan district attorney who prosecuted Harvey Weinstein and is now leading a criminal investigation of Donald Trump and the Trump Organization on potential bank, insurance, and tax fraudhas just set in motion the hourglass on his remaining time in office. In an interview published Friday in the New Yorker, Vance, who has been the Manhattan DA since 2010, tells Jane Mayer he won't run for a fourth term but will retire Dec. 31. Mayer writes that he made the decision before he had the Trump case handed to him. "There's nothing worse than a politician who doesn't know when to leave," he tells Mayer. In a statement to NBC News, Vance adds, "I never imagined myself as district attorney for decades like my predecessors. I never thought of this as my last job, even though it's the best job and biggest honor I'll ever have." story continues below Vance says that it's time for "new leadership" in the Manhattan DA's office. The news has generated a lot of buzz because, as Axios puts it, "It leaves one of the country's most high-profile state prosecutors with just nine months to make a charging decision in the biggest case of his careera criminal investigation of former President Trump and his business empire." It also means that Vance will most likely not be the one leading the prosecutorial team during a trial if a grand jury eventually brings charges against Trump or his company. Read Mayer's complete piece here, which includes details on the hard drive containing Trump's tax and financial info that's now in Vance's possession, believed to be held in an office building in lower Manhattan, in a chamber that Mayer calls the "modern equivalent of Tutankhamun's tomb." (Read more Cyrus Vance Jr. stories.) Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Not for Distribution to United States Newswire Services or for Dissemination in the United States VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2021 / Endurance Gold Corporation (TSXV:EDG) ("Endurance or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its non-brokered private placement financing (the "Financing") announced on February 25, 2021. The Financing was originally announced for gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000 through the sale of 6,451,613 units (each, a "Unit") at a $0.31 per Unit. After receiving expressions of interest that exceeded the originally announced financing, the Company increased the size of Financing to $2,114,200 on the same terms as previously announced. The Company has closed the Financing and issued a total of 6,820,000 Units at a price of $0.31 per Unit for gross proceeds of $2,114,200. Each Unit is comprised of one common share (each, a "Share") and one-half non-transferable common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $0.50 per Share until March 12, 2023. The proceeds from the Financing will be used to fund the Company's exploration activities and for general corporate purposes. In connection with the Financing, the Company has paid aggregate cash finders' fees of $91,251.60 and issued an aggregate of 294,360 finder warrants (the "Finder Warrants") to eligible finders, consisting of Agentis Capital Markets Canada Limited Partnership, PI Financial Corp., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Haywood Securities Inc., Sprott Capital Partners LP and Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. Each Finder Warrant will entitle the finder to purchase one Share. A total of 119,940 Finder Warrants are exercisable at a price of $0.50 per Share, and a total of 174,420 Finder Warrants are exercisable at a price of $0.41 per Share, in each case until March 12, 2023. Insiders of the Company purchased an aggregate of 215,000 Units in the Financing. The Company has relied on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of such insider participation. All securities issued in connection with the closing of the Financing (including the Finder Warrants) are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day expiring on July 13, 2021. The Financing remains subject to the final approval of the Exchange. None of the Shares or Warrants have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state of the United States, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would require registration or otherwise be unlawful. ENDURANCE GOLD CORPORATION Robert T. Boyd President & CEO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Endurance Gold Corporation (604) 682-2707, info@endurancegold.com www.endurancegold.com Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results. SOURCE: Endurance Gold Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/635257/Endurance-Gold-Announces-Closing-of-Over-Subscribed-Non-Brokered-Private-Placement India and Vietnam on Thursday used the VTC platform (video-teleconferencing) and held bilateral talks at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as their main agenda. During the VTC talks both India and Vietnam agreed to work closely on a wide range of issues on the UNSC agenda. From the Vietnamese side, the delegation was headed by Do Hung Viet, Director-General, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam along with officials from the Department of International Organisations, Department of Southeast Asia, South Pacific of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Vietnam at New Delhi and the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN. While the Indian delegation was led by Prakash Gupta, Joint Secretary (UNP & Summits), and was joined by officials from the Southern Division of MEA, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New York, and the Embassy of India in Hanoi. Giving an insight into the bilateral talks the MEA released an official statement which said, "Both sides discussed a wide range of issues on the UNSC agenda and briefed each other on their UNSC priorities." As per reports, Vietnam would be holding the Presidency of the UNSC in April 2021 and also informed the Indian side of its Presidency initiatives. MEA also stated, 'Both sides agreed to work closely together on key issues on the UNSC agenda." India's gift of 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for peacekeeper Talking about India's UNSC agenda, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations T.S Tirumurti attended the informal meet of the Security Council on peacemaking on Wednesday. Trimurti discussed a wide range of issues at the UNSC including 'Strengthen further safety and security of peacekeepers', 'Bring perpetrators of heinous crime against them to justice' and 'Enhance use of technology for safety'. Trimurti also talked about India's gift of 200,000 vaccine doses for peacekeepers. India's Permanent Rep to UN, TS Tirumurti also stated that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his gratitude to India's EAM. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in February 2021 announced a gift of 200,000 COVID-19 doses. During the open debate on the implementation of resolution 2532 (2020) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 200,000 doses for them." Richard Madeley stepped out in just his socks as he went shoe-less to unload his groceries on Friday morning. The presenter, 64, dressed in a casual ensemble after a trip to the supermarket Waitrose in London, but appeared to have forgotten to wear anything on his feet. Richard wore a blue denim jacket with a fleecy lining as he stepped out, carrying his essentials back into his home. Relaxed: Richard Madeley stepped out in just his socks as he went shoe-less to unload his groceries on Friday morning He completed his day-time look with light blue jeans and a white t-shirt, all the while walking around in his blue and red patterned socks. Richard appeared in a sombre mood as he went back and forth between his car and house to bring in the shopping. It comes after last month Richard's daughter Chloe Madeley shared a sweet throwback snap alongside her dad. Strange: The presenter, 64, dressed in a casual ensemble after a trip to the supermarket Waitrose in London, but appeared to have forgotten to wear anything on his feet The TV presenter, 33, took to Instagram to post an adorable photo of herself aged 12 and her famous father. In the family photo Chloe wrapped her arms around her dad's shoulders, while he held her close to him as they both smiled to the camera. Lamenting not being able to see her father amid the coronavirus crisis, Chloe wrote in the caption: '12 was good to me....I miss my dad.' Chloe's mother Judy Finnigan also recently discussed unknowingly being pregnant with daughter Chloe on her wedding day and her heartbreaking miscarriage in a candid interview. Casual: He completed his day-time look with light blue jeans and a white t-shirt, all the while walking around in his blue and red patterned socks Judy, 72, and husband Richard opened up about their 1986 wedding day and the surprise pregnancy with Chloe as they spoke to Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast. Presenter Judy said: 'We got married as soon as we could, you were getting divorced and so was I so we had to wait for all that legal stuff to be out of the way but we got married in 1986 and our sort of relationship had started in 1983 and become stronger and stronger. 'We would of probably of got married in 1984 if we could've done but we got married in 1986 when our first child Jack was 6 months old. Out and about: Richard appeared sombre as he stepped out carrying his groceries 'So we went ahead as I was in my mid 30s. Well by the time we got together I was beginning to be in my late 30s and I knew I wanted more children and so did you so we sort of went ahead and had Jack. Richard added: 'And we thought at our wedding day at Manchester registry office that, it was just family there, no friends, just family, we thought that there were just the three kids there, there was Tom and Dan and Jack.' Judy woke up the next morning feeling 'physically different' and it was then she realised she was pregnant with Chloe - just months after welcoming Jack. Richard said: 'So we just had our three kids there and the morning after the wedding day we were having breakfast in this hotel, married now, rings on fingers and all the rest of it. And I always remember saying to Judy, we both remember this, do you feel any different? Exciting: Richard wore a casual denim jacket and jeans as he headed home after a trip to the supermarket 'Cos we had been living together for 2 years by then, I said do you actually feel any different now that we have both put a ring on it? Does it make in here you feel any different? 'And Judy said I actually woke up this morning feeling physically different umm, I actually felt like I had gone some kind of physical change, almost like when I was pregnant with Jack. 'And we would later discover that Judy was in fact already pregnant with Chloe so actually all 4 of them were at the wedding which was great.' Judy added: 'I look at Chloe as she was a sort of accident and she was conceived only a few months, when Jack was only a few months old.' 'I miss my dad': It comes after last month Richard's daughter Chloe Madeley shared a sweet throwback snap alongside her dad Former This Morning host Judy also emotionally discussed the tragic miscarriage she suffered at four months pregnant, before becoming pregnant with son Jack. She said: 'I went for a scan and they just showed the baby heart had stopped beating and that was terrible, just really awful, and I had to go into labour anyway and it was just awful.' Richard added: 'Yes, I think, as the father as it were, as the man involved, I think it is very important to recognise that however it may affect you, it is going to affect the mother who has lost the child a lot more. 'Because she was carrying the child and she has gone through the experience of either a miscarriage or an induced miscarriage because the baby has died in the womb and it has to be worse for her, I don't think there is absolute equivalence.' GRANTS PASS, Ore. After a lengthy standoff on Thursday, police in Grants Pass arrested a man that they believe attacked a family friend while in the midst of a mental health crisis. Officers responded to a home at 1414 Parkdale Drive shortly after 11:30 a.m. for multiple 911 calls reporting a disturbance. Callers said that a man had thrown a woman to the ground and was "trying to gouge out" her eyes. The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Anthony Paris Alberts, was standing outside when police arrived, and the attack appeared to be over. When officers told Alberts that he was under arrest, he locked himself inside the home and refused to come out, according to the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety. Investigating the alleged attack, GPDPS said officers found out that Alberts had attacked his mother's friend in the driveway. The victim had serious injuries and was taken via ambulance to Three Rivers Medical Center for treatment. "Alberts picked up the 63-year-old woman and slammed her into the ground before striking her and trying to gouge her eyes out with his fingers, all while threatening to kill her," GPDPS said. Officers came to believe that Alberts was suffering from a mental health crisis, bringing in more officers and detectives. GPDPS called in its Crisis Negotiations Team, SWAT Team, and a mental health consultant from Options for Southern Oregon. "Disturbances involving a person in crisis can be volatile in nature and create added risks for the individual, law enforcement and the public. The Grants Pass Department of Public Safety takes these types of incidents seriously and treats them with an abundance of caution," the agency said. "For the past several years, Options has partnered with GPDPS to provide both a Mobile Crisis Unit and mental health consultants for CNT." Crisis negotiators tried for the next two hours to de-escalate the situation and encourage Alberts to come out, but GPDPS said that he did not respond. Around 2 p.m., Alberts tried to leave through the back door, where a police K9 team was waiting. The K9 bit Alberts, but GPDPS said that he "continued to resist" and another officer used a Taser to subdue him. Alberts was eventually taken into custody by police officers and transported to Three Rivers Medical center for evaluation. He was later lodged at the Josephine County Jail on charges of Assault in the Second Degree, Strangulation, Menacing, and Escape in the Third Degree. "Parkdale Drive was shut down for several hours during this incident and we would like to thank the public for their patience as we resolved this matter," GPDPS concluded. The logo of Rakuten is pictured at the headquarters of Rakuten in Tokyo By Takashi Umekawa and Sam Nussey TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten Inc said on Friday it would sell an 8.32% stake to postal and banking giant Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd, deepening a logistics tie-up in the face of competition from rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. Rakuten, which plunged to an operating loss in 2020, is under pressure on multiple fronts as it battles Amazon in e-commerce and takes on Japan's cash-rich telcos with its own mobile network. "Rakuten is the best partner for us, as it has advanced digital technology," Japan Post Holdings Chief Executive Hiroya Masuda told a news conference. Friday's deal makes Japan Post Holdings the biggest shareholder in Rakuten outside the founding Mikitani family, and is part of a 242-billion-yen ($2.2-billion) share sale to companies including Tencent and Walmart. A former state-owned utility that was later privatised, Japan Post Holdings has a presence on almost all Japanese high streets, with its postal unit having around 24,000 post offices nationwide. "As tech giants grow in power we're combining our strength," said Rakuten's chief executive, Hiroshi Mikitani. This month, chat app operator Line merged with SoftBank's internet business Yahoo Japan in a deal first announced in 2019. Shares of both Rakuten and Japan Post rose in afternoon trade in Tokyo after Reuters and other media reported the tie-up. Image Frame Investment, a unit of Chinese tech giant Tencent, will take 3.65% in Rakuten through third-party allotment, with Walmart also to buy shares. Last year Rakuten acquired a 20% stake in Walmart's Japanese supermarket unit. It has had a partnership with the unit, Seiyu, since 2018. ($1=109.0900 yen) (Reporting by Takashi Umekawa, Sam Nussey, Tim Kelly and Noriyuki Hirata; Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez) The Samsung Awesome Galaxy Unpacked event is just around the corner and many have been highly anticipating this event. The leaks and rumors suggest that Samsung will be providing people with new A-series smartphones. Samsung hasnt announced anything officially but the people have assumed that they will be getting the new Samsung Galaxy A52 and Samsung Galaxy A72 Smartphones in the Awesome Event. Many have been wondering, when is Samsung Galaxy A52 launching? When is Samsung Galaxy A52 launching? Nothing is official, but by compiling all the leaks and rumors, people believe that the Samsung Galaxy A52 will be releasing during the Galaxy Awesome Unpacked event. This event is scheduled to take place on March 17, at 7:30 PM IST. People will attend this event virtually; Samsung will be live streaming this event on the Samsung Newsroom Website and the Samsung Youtube channel. Find the Samsung Youtube link embedded below: Samsung Galaxy A52 price in India The Samsung Galaxy A52 price in India hasnt been announced yet. As this is a mid-range smartphone, the prices are expected to be reasonable for this smartphone. Samsung plans to release the Galaxy A52 in India with the price of somewhere around INR 20,000. Samsung Galaxy A52 Features Samsung has planned big things for these smartphones and thats why they have decided to have a promotional event for their mid-range smartphones for the first time. The Galaxy A52 rumors suggest that this phone expected to be jampacked with features at a reasonable price. Most leaks lead to the assumption that this smartphone is expected to have 5G capabilities and display with a higher refresh rate. After compiling all the leaks and rumors, these are the Samsung Galaxy A52 features that have been expected: Samsung Galaxy A52 5G Specifications The smartphone will have two variants one with 6GB Ram and 128GB Storage and the other with 8GB Ram and 256GB Storage. Rest all features are the same on both the A52 5G Variants The phone will run a Snapdragon 720 Octacore processor which will be advanced enough to undertake some heavy-duty tasks It has a beautiful display size at 6.46 inches (16.41 cm) and provides 407 PPI, Super AMOLED It also has 64 + 12 + 5 + 5 MP Quad Primary Cameras, LED Flash, and a 32 MP Front Camera for some breath-taking selfies The phone will harbor a 4,370mAh battery. It will also have fast charging and a type-c USB Port. The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G will support 5G connectivity for blazing internet speeds It also has a fingerprint sensor and has an expandable memory slot that supports up to 1 TB of Storage. Notes: Samsung hasnt mentioned anything officially though, so theres no way of knowing what actually comes true and what doesnt so that people are expected to take this information with a grain of salt. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of breaking the Ministerial Code (Jeff J Mitchell/PA) The Scottish Tories have said the findings of a probe into allegations that Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code should be published before Scots go to the polls. James Hamilton, the former head of public prosecutions in Ireland, was tasked with investigating if the First Minister had breached the ministerial code in relation to the botched handling of harassment complaints against her predecessor. If the Hamilton inquiry returns a result that Nicola Sturgeon did mislead parliament, opposition parties have said she should step down from her post. Expand Close Tory chief whip Miles Briggs said voters should see the reports before the election (Jane Barlow/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tory chief whip Miles Briggs said voters should see the reports before the election (Jane Barlow/PA) As the campaign period for Mays Holyrood election nears, Scottish Tory chief whip Miles Briggs has written to the head of the civil service to urge the publication of the report before the beginning of campaigning, or at least for a time scale to be set out. Under election rules, the Scottish Government must announce, before parliament ends, the dates for material to be published during the campaign. In a letter to Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, Mr Briggs said: I am deeply concerned that a failure to publish in advance of the election purdah, or to name a date in advance for publication during the election campaign, would mean that the reports publication during the election campaign would breach the purdah guidance. While I understand the need to allow James Hamilton the space to conduct his work, it is important to the people of Scotland that they are able to read his findings ahead of the election. It is of prime importance that the public receives full transparency on the conduct of the First Minister Miles Briggs Another investigation into the complaints procedure at the heart of the Salmond inquiry, conducted by Laura Dunlop QC, has also concluded, the Scottish Government confirmed this week, although no date for publication of her report has been announced. In a statement, Mr Briggs said: The SNP have tried to shut down scrutiny and sweep scandals under the carpet too often throughout the Alex Salmond affair. We must see the James Hamilton QC report on Ministerial Code breaches as soon as possible. It is of prime importance that the public receives full transparency on the conduct of the First Minister before they go to the ballot in May. We are seeking guarantees that the report will be published, no matter what, at the earliest opportunity. Its also vital that the Laura Dunlop QC review of the Scottish Governments harassment complaint procedure is published immediately. It cannot be shut down until after the election. A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: Mr Hamilton is independent and it is a matter from him when his report is complete. The Scottish Government has no control over that timing. Once received by the Scottish Government, however, it will be published the same day. The report by Laura Dunlop QC will be published next week, once we have completed ongoing data protection notifications that are required by law. 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. Monica Bushman contributed to this story. Whether you're a homeowner looking to monetize your outdoor space or just another millennial who's pandemic obsession has become scrolling through pictures of beautiful homes you could never afford, you'll want to pour yourself a cocktail and let your eyes feast on L.A.'s new Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) designs. The concept of ADUs is simple: We all know that Los Angeles is in the middle of a housing crisis. In 2019, Harvard reaserchers deemed the housing market in L.A. and Orange counties, the most "cost-burdened" in the entire country. And despite many attempts at reform, homelessness actually increased by 13% in 2020 (we don't have complete data yet on how the pandemic has affected this, but it's not likely to be an improvement). One way to address this? Build more housing. ADUs or "granny flats" are a partial solution. If the city can incentivize Angelenos to build more of these back houses and rent them out... we may be one step closer to getting more people housed. ADUs typically rent at below-market rates. That's exactly what local government officials have tried to do. In 2017, California relaxed the rules for creating ADUs, allowing single-family homeowners to build long-term rentals on their property. A diagram of the pre-approved ADU design by Design, Bitches.(Courtesy Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety) Dana Cuff is director of UCLA's City Lab; she helped co-author the 2017 bill. She says these backyard units are a good solution "if we're trying in Los Angeles to produce as much housing that fits within our existing communities as possible...[housing] that's affordable and accessible to a wider population." All of this caused somewhat of an backyard-home building gold rush. ADUs now comprise 22% of newly-permitted housing units, according to the city. Politicians like Mayor Eric Garcetti have said often that these units are critical to increasing the city's housing supply, but there a lot of headaches involved: the permitting process can take weeks or months in the city...and even up to 3 years in some parts of L.A. County. Perhaps L.A. Times critic Carolina Miranda says it best: "Before there is architecture, there is red tape." Now the city is aiming to simplify the process by offering homeowners and builders access to 20 pre-approved designs from 10 different design firms, with the goal of giving the lucky ones who have the means and budget to participate, access to faster and less expensive permitting. The designs are part of the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Standard Plan Program, created in partnership with the city of L.A., the Department of Building and Safety and chief design officer and former L.A. Times architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne. City officials say if homeowners choose one of these pre-approved plans, it'll reduce their permitting wait time from 4-6 weeks to as little as one day. "This program is about making ADUs more accessible, more affordable, and more beautiful," Garcetti said. Cuff says that the new models also show that backyard units aren't just sheds with beds. They're well-designed, she says, which might surprise those of us who weren't expecting the city to release such inventive, sustainable, aesthetically pleasing renderings. The units range range from a Mission Revival-style cottage and flower-shaped pavillion to more simple structures with small ecological footprints. The city is still accepting more designs, and Cuff says the more options, the better: "The way home construction used to work, before the big home builders got involved, is you'd look through a book of plans, and pick one and then find a builder," Cuff told us. "That's a tried and true method that's really worked for homeowners in the past." Exterior view of "The Breadbox," an ADU Standard Plan design byWELCOMEPROJECTS. Interior view of "The Breadbox," an ADU Standard Plan design by WELCOMEPROJECTS. Exterior view of "The Breadbox," an ADU Standard Plan design by WELCOMEPROJECTS. A pre-approved ADU design by Escher GuneWardena Architecture. The interior of a pre-approved ADU design by Escher GuneWardenaArchitecture. Side view of the pre-approved ADU design by Escher GuneWardena Architecture. Exterior view of a pre-approved ADU design by Fung + Blatt Architects. Interior view of a pre-approved ADU design by Fung + Blatt Architects. Interior view of a pre-approved ADU design by Fung + Blatt Architects. Two-story plan (IT house) 1-story plan (IT House) Exterior view of the "Lean-To ADU" by Jennifer Bonner/MALL. Exterior view of the "Lean-To ADU" by Jennifer Bonner/MALL. The roof deck of the "Lean-To ADU" by Jennifer Bonner/MALL. Exterior view of a pre-approved ADU design by First Office. Interior views of a pre-approved ADU design by First Office. Exterior view of "ADU 1s and 2s," by sekou cooke STUDIO. Exterior view of "ADU 1s and 2s," by sekou cooke STUDIO. Exterior view of an Spanish style ADU design by LA Ma?s. Interior view of an ADU design by LA Ma?s. Exterior view of "Pebblehouse," an ADU Standard Plan design by SO - IL. Exterior view of "Pebblehouse," an ADU Standard Plan design by SO - IL. Plan view of "Pebblehouse," an ADU Standard Plan design by SO - IL. Exterior view of a design by Design, Bitches. Interior view of a design by Design, Bitches. Exterior view of an ADU Standard Plan design by wHY Architecture. Exterior view of an ADU Standard Plan design by wHY Architecture. Exterior view of an ADU Standard Plan design by wHY Architecture. Exterior view of the Standard Plan design by Amuna?tegui Valde?s Architects. Exterior view of the Standard Plan design by Amuna?tegui Valde?s Architects. Exterior view of the Standard Plan design by Amuna?tegui Valde?s Architects. Exterior view of a modular design by Abodu. Exterior view of a modular design by Abodu. Exterior view of a modular design by Abodu. This is one of two pre-approved modular designs by Connect Homes in the Standard Plan Program. The interior of a modular design by Connect Homes. This is one of two pre-approved modular designs by Connect Homes in the Standard Plan Program. All images Courtesy Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. More info on the plans are available on the Department of Building and Safety's website. WE LOVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS A 19-year-old man was charged with murder in the Thursday night shooting death of his mother, according to the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. Herald Monono, a Houston resident, was booked into Fort Bend County Jail in connection with the death of his 47-year-old mother, Yolanda Royston, the sheriff's office announced on Friday morning. Monono is being held on $250,000 bond. A United Arab Emirates state-owned arms maker announced an agreement to develop anti-drone technology with an Israeli state company on Thursday. EDGE signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to develop a Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System for the Emirati market. Memorandums of understanding express will and precede a legal agreement. The Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System is a defense system against unmanned aerial vehicles, popularly known as drones. It is fully autonomous and does not require humans to operate. It has capabilities ranging from radar jamming to gunfire that can stop drones. Israel and the United Arab Emirates established formal relations in September as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords. Entities in the two countries then signed a flurry of agreements following the normalization. Israel and the UAE have a common strategic goal in countering Irans power in the Middle East, and the drone countering system will deepen their security cooperation. EDGE provides advanced weapons to the UAEs military. EDGEs CEO said the agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries will help the former become a more capable military supplier. In line with the Abraham Accords and the UAEs newly established cooperation with Israel, it is a defining moment for us to join forces with IAI, said Faisal Al Bannai. As EDGE invests extensively in autonomous capabilities, our co-development of a Counter-UAS will help strengthen our advanced technology portfolio. President Joe Biden delivers remarks as Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost (L) and Army Lieutenant General Laura Richardson listen during an announcement at the East Room of the White House in Washington, on March 8, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Biden to Meet Virtually With Quad Leaders from Japan, India, Australia WASHINGTONU.S. President Joe Biden will hold an online meeting on Friday with the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia, the White House said on Tuesday, the first leader-level meeting of a four-country group that seeks to promote a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region in response to increased military and economic aggression by Chinas ruling communist party in the region. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the meeting of the Quad countries showed the importance placed by Biden on U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. A range of issues facing the global community was expected to be discussed from the threat of COVID, to economic cooperation and, of course, to the climate crisis, she said. This sends a very strong signal of common cause and purpose. And the goal here is basically to introduce the Quad as a new feature of regular diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, a senior administration official told Reuters separately. He said the meeting planned to announce financing agreements to support an increase in manufacturing capacity for coronavirus vaccines in India, something New Delhi has urged to counter Chinas widening vaccine diplomacy. The aim was to reduce manufacturing backlogs, speed vaccination, and defeat some coronavirus mutations, the official said. Some of the additional vaccine capacity would be used in vaccination efforts in Southeast Asian countries. The United States is looking to strengthen ties with key allies and partners as the Chinese regime adopts an increasingly aggressive foreign policy in Asia and elsewhere. The U.S. official said Fridays engagement would last about two hours, and lay the groundwork for an in-person meeting later in the year. India, Australia, and Japan had all been directly challenged by China in the recent period, he said, adding that the meeting was intended to work on a different vision for the future in the region. Indias Foreign Ministry said the leaders would address regional and global issues of shared interest, and exchange views on practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. It said the summit would also cover supply chains, emerging and critical technologies, maritime security and climate change. India said Quad leaders would discuss efforts to combat the pandemic and explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region. Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the meeting would focus on regional security and climate change. It will be an historic moment in our region and it sends a strong message to the region about our support for a sovereign, independent Indo-Pacific, he told reporters in Canberra. Fridays meeting will take place days before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plan to visit Japan and South Korea later this month. The visit by Blinken and Austin will be the first to the Asian allies by the top U.S. foreign policy and defense officials since the Biden administration took office in January. Bidens administration has committed to reviewing elements of U.S. policies toward China in consultation with allies. Asked whether the Quad could expand in future, the senior U.S. official said it remained an unofficial gathering, despite the decision to hold a leaders meeting. Each country has highly attuned domestic politics and want constructive dialogues, but also want to maintain a degree of maneuver room, he said. We appreciate and understand that and seek to support it generally and we want to take it step by step. We have had discussions with other countries about other forms of informal association with the Quad and we expect those conversations will continue. He said South Korea was one of those countries. By David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. 56-year-old Peter Simonich has been arrested on child pornography charges. PHOTO:Marshall County Jail Marshall Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff entered a guilty plea to 12 counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor. His sentencing is set for May 11 at 1:00 pm. vestigation revealed that he was in possession of child pornography. MARSHALL COUNTY - A Marshall County man facing child pornography charges pleaded guilty on Thursday.Fifty-six-year-old Peter SimonichMarshall County deputies arrested Simonich in September of last year after an in A planned U.S. Senate bill to increase the amount of federal offshore oil revenue shared with Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states, and to set up a similar revenue sharing program for wind energy generated in federal waters, got a vote of support from the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. The proposed Reinvesting in America's Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act would fulfill promises that Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., made last summer to expand revenue sharing for coastal states under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act when it became clear that such an expansion would not be included in the wildly popular Great American Outdoors Act. The senators have not yet introduced the revenue sharing bill. The outdoors act diverts a greater share of outer continental shelf energy revenue mostly from Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production to guarantee $900 million a year for improvements to national and local parks and wildlife refuges. It also provides $11.9 billion over five years to chip away at an enormous backlog of deferred maintenance on public lands. While the details of the planned revenue sharing bill won't be known until it is introduced the letter that the coastal authority agreed Wednesday to send to Cassidy and Whitehouse says it would change the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act to increase revenue shared with Gulf Coast states. The states now receive 37 percent of the revenue that is paid to the federal government for some wells drilled or developed in federal Gulf waters since 2017, and a much smaller share for wells developed between 2007 and 2016. The Louisiana Constitution requires that money be used for coastal levees or restoration projects. The proposed changes, according to the coastal authority's letter, would give Louisiana and other Gulf states the same 37 percent of federal revenue from all wells developed since 2000 - a major expansion in the revenue available. Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The legislation also would end total revenue sharing caps that represented $487.5 million for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and would be $375 million for 2022 through 2055. Under present law, the caps don't end until 2056. Louisiana gets $155.7 million in offshore oil and gas money for coastal projects Louisiana is getting get a big boost this year in offshore oil revenue that is used to fund coastal restoration projects. The U.S. Department In 2020, the law split about $353 million in federal offshore revenue among Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. Florida does not share in the revenue as no oil and gas production is allowed in its federal waters. Louisiana received $155.7 million of the total, of which $124.6 million went to the state government. The remainder was split among 19 coastal parishes. In the letter, coastal chairman Chip Kline said the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act money is one of Louisiana's few recurring sources of revenue for major coastal restoration and hurricane levee projects. In fiscal 2022, Louisiana plans to spend almost $900 million on 110 restoration and levee projects, with much of the money coming from either this law or revenue streams associated with the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. The planned Shorelines Economies and Ecosystems Act "would provide a mechanism for us to do more to protect and restore coastal Louisiana, both short and long term," Kline said. Adding revenue from offshore wind energy development would help diversify the revenue streams for those projects, he said. Not mentioned in the letter is the potential use of some offshore energy revenue to help Louisiana repay its approximately $1 billion bill to the federal government for its share of rebuilding the New Orleans area hurricane levee system after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The state is likely to be required to begin paying that bill, estimated at about $100 million a year, in 2022. Oprah Winfreys interview with Meghan and Harry has clearly become a spark for international discussions about racism and the state of Britains royal family. And it has brought new attention to another issue as well. Meghans revelation of her mental anguish during and after her first pregnancy, including thoughts of suicide so significant that she feared being left alone and that the palace had been a barrier to the help she needed sounded painfully familiar for many. The experience of life-threatening pregnancy complications, mental as well as physical, is strikingly common. If it has not happened to you, it has almost certainly happened to someone you care about, though you may not know it. Twitter was soon filled with people sharing their own stories of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts during and after pregnancy. NEW BRUNSWICK (dpa-AFX) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said Thursday that the European Commission has granted a Conditional Marketing Authorization for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. The authorization comes hours after receiving a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use or CHMP for the vaccine. The CHMP earlier today recommended Conditional Marketing Authorization for the vaccine candidate, developed by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutical, to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is the fourth authorized vaccine available in the European union following two-dose vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna. The Conditional Marketing Authorization is valid in all 27 member states of the European Union, plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. According to Johnson & Johnson, phase 3 ENSEMBLE study data showed that its COVID-19 vaccine was well tolerated and demonstrated a 67 percent reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 disease in participants who received the vaccine in comparison to participants given the placebo. The onset of protection was observed from day 14 and was maintained 28 days post-vaccination. Johnson & Johnson said the data also demonstrated the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied, and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death, beginning 28 days after vaccination. The company aims to begin delivery of its single dose COVID-19 vaccine to the EU in the second half of April and to supply 200 million doses to the EU, plus Norway and Iceland in 2021. In December 2020, the company announced that Janssen initiated a rolling submission with the EMA for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidate, enabling an expedited CHMP review process. The COVID-19 vaccine candidate has also been filed for an Emergency Use Listing with the World Health Organization. Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization in the United States on February 27. The vaccine has also been granted Interim Order authorization in Canada. The company noted that the COVID-19 single-dose vaccine candidate is compatible with standard vaccine storage and distribution channels with ease of delivery to remote areas. The vaccine is estimated to remain stable for two years at minus 15 degree celsius to minus 25 degree celsius and a maximum of three months at routine refrigeration at temperatures of 2 degree celsius to 8 degree celsius. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX JOHNSON & JOHNSON-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de 2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning -- 4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS. We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover. We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come. 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. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) An Iranian cargo vessel was targeted this week in a terrorist attack in the Mediterranean Sea, the country's state TV reported on Friday. There were no casualties in the explosion, the report said. The report quoted Ali Ghiasian, spokesman for the state shipping line, as saying that Wednesday's attack damaged Shahr-e Kord, a commercial vessel traveling to Europe. Ghiasian said an explosives device" damaged the hull of the ship and set off a small fire that was quickly extinguished. Ghiasian said such acts of terrorism and instances of piracy are contrary to international regulations. He said "legal prosecution of the perpetrators of this terrorist action will be pursued through competent international organizations. The report said the ship would continue on its path following a damage assessment, without providing more details. It did not blame anyone for the attack. Earlier this week, Israel accused Irans Revolutionary Guard of attaching an explosive device to the Israeli-owned cargo vessel Helios Ray in international waters near the Gulf of Oman in February. The vessel was en route from Saudi Arabia to Singapore. Israel said the explosion caused severe damage, forcing the ship to return to the port of Dubai to ensure the safety of the crew." Iran, which does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli militant groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas, rejected the claim as an unfounded allegation. Also Friday, Iranian Gen. Esmail Ghaani, chief of the Quds Force, thye foreign wing of the Revolutionary Guard, warned that Tehran will destroy the wall, referring to Israels West Bank separation barrier. Iranian officials are known for calling for the destruction of Israel if it attacks Iran. Israel accuses Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons. Earlier this week, Israels Defense Minister Benny Gantz told the American cable network Fox News that his country is upgrading contingency plans to strike Iranian targets if Tehran shows signs of a nuclear escalation. Iran denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons, and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Unlike Iran, Israels atomic program, which is widely believed to include an undeclared nuclear bomb program, is not monitored by the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Monday, March 8 8:09 p.m. A deputy responded to a delayed report of a car-deer crash that occurred on a Edenville Township roadway. 7:43 p.m. A deputy spoke with a 39-year-old Lee Township man in reference to unknown suspects tearing up his roadway with ATVs. The man wanted the incident documented and requested extra patrol in the area. 4:47 p.m. A victim of an auto theft complaint observed one of the prior suspects in Oil City. The suspect was the sole occupant of a pick-up truck. The victim called 9-1-1 and requested deputies attempt to arrest them. While deputies were en route, the suspect fled the area on foot. Deputies checked the area and did not locate the suspect. The caller spoke with the gas station clerk, and she agreed to tow the abandoned vehicle. 2:40 p.m. A deputy was dispatched to a Homer Township residence in reference to a possible larceny and verbal argument. A 41-year-old man reported his 52-year-old neighbor trespassed on his property and possibly stole scrap metal. The 52-year-old denied stealing any scrap metal, said trash was blowing around his property from the 41-year-old's yard. The 52-year-old gathered up the trash and returned it to the other man's property. 1:46 p.m. A 53-year-old woman contacted the sheriff's office because she received IRS paperwork concerning a fraudulent unemployment claim. The deputy filed an informational report and provided the woman with the State of Michigan Unemployment Investigative Division contact information. She was also instructed on other fraud prevention techniques. 9:49 a.m. A man called the sheriff's office because their estranged nephew left a bicycle at his property a few weeks ago, and he was concerned it was stolen. A deputy checked the report writing system for recent thefts of older style Schwinn female bicycles, and did not locate any matches. The bicycle was in disrepair and a serial number was not located. The bicycle was photographed for the report. 7:59 a.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Larkin Township. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. Nearly 14% of New Jerseys adults have received both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot as of Friday morning as Gov. Phil Murphy pushes ahead with a goal of getting 70% of eligible adults in the state some 4.7 million people vaccinated within six months after the first shots were given in December. The state has administered 2,823,731 total doses as of Friday, Murphy said at a public event. Thats out of the more than 3.4 million the state has received from the federal government, according to the Centers for Disease Control. New Jerseys vaccine sites have administered 1.8 million first doses - roughly 27% of the adult population - and 947,000 second doses, according to the state Department of Health. Even the first dose of the two-shot vaccines have shown to provide some protection, though the CDC says all three available vaccines require two weeks after the final shot for the protection to reach full efficacy. The CDC issued guidelines earlier this week saying that people who have been fully vaccinated may gather without masks two weeks after the final dose. The state had administered 636,947 second doses as of two weeks ago, meaning about 9% of the adult population has hit that full-efficacy mark. The state began administering the first Johnson & Johnson doses last week. The state is on track to hit 1 million fully-vaccinated people by the end of the weekend. I do believe we will meet our goal of 70% of individuals vaccinated in six months, I believe (in) May we will have a supply of vaccines for almost everyone, state Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said earlier this month. I truly believe that. President Joe Biden said Thursday in a national address that he plans make all adults vaccine-eligible by May 1 and get the country closer to normal by the Fourth of July. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage The daily number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in N.J. Health officials administered the first vaccine in New Jersey on Dec. 15. There are three kinds that are being given out. The Pfizer-BioNTech requires people wait 21 days before getting their second shot and 28 days for the second Moderna shot. The first Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccines were given to New Jerseyans on March 5, meaning those recipients will be considered full efficacy on March 19. The state has received a total of about 95,500 of those vaccines between what has been allocated directly to the state (73,000 doses) and what has gone directly to pharmacies (22,500), health officials have said. There have been four days when at least 77,000 shots went into peoples arms, according to state data. Increased access to the vaccines is expected to grow as larger numbers of doses are sent to the state in the coming weeks and months. Millions of people are already eligible for the vaccine and hundreds of thousands more are expected to be added to the list able to get a shot beginning Monday and hundreds of thousands more again later in the month. The list of those currently eligible to be vaccinated in New Jersey includes: Health care workers People who live and work at long-term care and high-risk congregate facilities First responders K-12 educators and staff Day care workers People 65 and older People 16 to 64 who have certain medical conditions Those medical conditions include: Cancer Chronic kidney disease COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) Down Syndrome Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2) Severe Obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2) Sickle cell disease Smoking Type 2 diabetes mellitus Note: Individuals who are pregnant and those in an immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant are also eligible but should follow CDC guidance and first discuss vaccination with their medical provider before receiving the vaccine. Two additional groups are scheduled to become eligible starting on Monday and March 29. The group on Monday includes transportation workers, while the second group later this months includes a range of front-line workers including restaurants, grocery store and social services employees. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. [March 12, 2021] Syngenta Seeds and the Analytics Society of INFORMS announce finalists for the 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics Syngenta Seeds and the Analytics Society of INFORMS have announced the finalists for the 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics. The four finalist teams represent students and professionals from the United States and Australia. The Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics is a collaborative effort between Syngenta Seeds and the Analytics Society of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). Now in its sixth consecutive year, the competition brings together experts in data analytics, mathematics and statistics to create analytical solutions to agriculture challenges. The 2021 competition focused on optimizing year-round corn hybrid breeding processes. The 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge finalists, as selected by the prize committee and listed in no particular order, are: Optimal Schedules for Corn Planting and Storage - Reena Kapoor and Rodolfo Garcia-Flores affiliated with CSIRO Data61 (Australia). - Reena Kapoor and Rodolfo Garcia-Flores affiliated with CSIRO Data61 (Australia). Scheduling Planting Time Through Developing an Optimization Model and Analysis of Time Series Growing Degree Units - Javad Ansarifar, Faezeh Akhavizadegan and Lizhi Wang from Iowa State University (USA). - Javad Ansarifar, Faezeh Akhavizadegan and Lizhi Wang from Iowa State University (USA). Optimizing Crop Planting Schedule Considering Planting Window & Harvesting Capacity - Saiara Samira Sajid and Guiping Hu from Iowa State University (USA). - Saiara Samira Sajid and Guiping Hu from Iowa State University (USA). A Multiobjective, Soft Constraint Solution to the 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge - Mingshi Cui, Kunting Qi, Julia Loncala and Byran Smucker from Miami University (USA). The 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge embodied the intersection of mathematics, big data and agriculture. Using real-world crop data, participants were charged with developing analytical approaches and models aimed at optimizing seed product development systems to help increase performance and crop yield potential across diverse environments. "The finalists in this year's competition delivered creative, innovative solutions to support better science to help solve real and complex challenges that farmers face," said Durai Sundaramoorthi, senior lecturer of data analytics at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, and Crop Challenge prize committee chair. "The finalists' submissions demonstrate why collaboration across industries and data-driven solutions are crucial to solving challenges in agriculture and beyond." The finalists have been invited to present their submissions in April during the 2021 virtual INFORMS Business Analytics Conference where the winners will be announced. The first-place winner will receive $5,000; the second-place winner will receive $2,500; and third place will receive $1,000. "This competition reinforces the important role that data analytics have in the agriculture industry at a critical time as farmers face increasing pressures from climate change, soil erosion and biodiversity loss," said Gregory Doonan, head of advanced analytics, Syngenta Seeds. "Developing models and approaches that improve our decision making and identification of elite and stable genetics can help scientists at organizations like Syngenta make advances in seed product development while ultimately addressing growers needs and the growing global food demand." Established in 2015, the Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics is suppoted by Syngenta Seeds and hosted by the Analytics Society of INFORMS. It was initially funded by prize winnings donated by Syngenta in connection with the company's 2015 win of the Franz Edelman (News - Alert) Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences. The competition exemplifies Syngenta Seed's commitment to accelerating innovation to address the increasing challenges farmers face and the changing views of society. For more information about the Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics, visit www.ideaconnection.com/syngenta-crop-challenge. 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 (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/Syngenta and www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS. About INFORMS With more than 12,000 members from around the world, INFORMS is the largest international association of operations research (O.R.) and analytics professionals and students. INFORMS provides unique networking and learning opportunities for individuals and organizations to better understand and use O.R. and analytics tools and methods to save lives, save money, and solve problems. The INFORMS Analytics Society, a community of INFORMS, promotes the integration of a wide range of analytical techniques and supports activities that illuminate significant innovations and achievement in the growing field of analytics. Web Resources: Know More, Grow More Syngenta Newsroom Syngenta U.S. Syngenta Crop Challenge Thrive INFORMS Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. 2021 Syngenta, 2001 Butterfield Road, Suite 1600, Downers Grove, IL 60515. The Syngenta logo is a registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Syngenta supports but is not a sponsor of this INFORMS challenge. Entrants must read and agree to terms and conditions of the challenge, found with the registration materials. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005300/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] You'll be able to legally light up in Texas if this new bill passes. Even better: It'll help the kids. State Rep. Jessica Gonzalez (D-104) filed House Bill 3248 earlier this week, seeking to legalize recreational marijuana use in Texas. GOV. MCCONAUGHEY?: Matthew McConaughey isn't counting out a gubernatorial run Under the bill, counties and municipalities would be able to adopt an order or ordinance allowing recreational smoking. HB 3248 would also instate a 10 percent tax on cannabis products, with the majority of that tax going to the Foundation School Fund. "Sixteen states in America have legalized cannabis and 26 total states have decriminalized the use of cannabis," Gonzalez said in a statement. "In a recent study, 54 percent of Texans supported the legalization of recreational cannabis use. "While Texas has made progress with the Compassionate Use Act, we have been left behind on a potential revenue source that would increase investments in public education, stop the unnecessary arrests for cannabis possession, and create jobs in our state. We should allow our local communities to make the best decision for themselves in regards to cannabis legalization, and HB 3248 would allow that for adults 21 years or older." Sixty percent of the tax would go to the Foundation School Fund, while other portions would go toward cannabis regulation, cannabis testing and quality control, and to participating local governments for the purpose of oversight, Gonzalez said. 'DISASTER CHIC': What's 'disaster casual'? Gov. Abbott's winter storm fashion can't compare to my 'fits This isn't the only marijuana legalization bill that's been filed. Rep. Joe Moody (D-78) filed House Bill 447 on Nov. 10, 2020, which would allow anyone to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and up to 15 grams of concentrate, Chron's Jay R. Jordan reported. HB 447 would also allow anyone to grow up to 15 marijuana plants on their property in Texas as long as the plants were hidden and locked away. The bill was referred to Licensing and Administrative Procedures after being read for the first time on Feb. 25. But until full legalization, retailers across the state have found a new THC variant to sell: Delta 8. If it keeps gaining popularity, weed legalization in Texas could become a moot point. 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. An Phat Holdings has become a leading high-tech and environmentally friendly plastic group in Southeast Asia, possessing an expansive network of 15 member companies, 13 factories, and numerous other representative offices and branch offices in Vietnam, the US, South Korea, and Singapore, creating jobs for more than 5,000 employees. In Hai Duong province alone (60km from the capital) An Phat Holdings operates 10 production plants and provides employment to 3,500 labourers, often topping the charts in budgetary contribution. Besides business activities, the company keeps a consistent focus on supporting Hai Duong province in accelerating socioeconomic development, diplomatic relations, promoting investment, especially considers these activities as corporates responsibility to the development of Hai Duong. Hai Duong leaders welcome the high-level delegation from North Korea Since its establishment (2017 up to present), An Phat Holdings has been actively working with the province to promote diplomatic relations and often represented the local business community in welcoming top foreign delegations to the province like the high-level delegation from North Korea; a US delegation led by the Governor of Nebraska; the governor of Kagoshima prefecture, Japan; as well as welcoming a delegation of Vietnamese ambassadors in American states at a site visit of An Phat Holdings local plant. Last February, An Phat Holdings teamed up with other stakeholders at a conference on implementing a supporting industry business consultation programme in Hai Duong province which was hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in tandem with the province and Samsung Vietnam. At the event, An Phat Holdings was selected as the key force in propelling the development of the supporting industry in the province. An Phat Holdings' Chairman Pham Anh Duong welcomes Nebraska State Governor Pete Ricketts (left) at factory Aside from supporting diplomatic activities, An Phat Holdings has also been actively pursuing corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities like developing quality human resources or joining efforts with Hai Duong in fighting COVID-19. This February, An Phat Holdings donated the province a total of VND31.35 billion ($1.36 million) in kind and in cash, including essential daily items and equipment. Simultaneously, the company took part in promoting the sale of 1,000 tonnes of agricultural produce for Hai Duong farmers. An Phat Holdings also received public acclaim for its active contributions to the fight against COVID-19 in the province. Not only taking strong and drastic efforts in community support programmes, production and environmental protection are part and parcel of An Phat Holdings operations. Key examples include activities to promote greener lifestyles or its participation in the provinces programmes to build a green, clean, and beautiful environment in Hai Duong. Based in Hai Duong, An Phat Holdings aims to achieve harmonious development in business and production and is always an active advocate of community support as well as friendly diplomatic relations in the locality. The preliminary examination of the Commission (MPSC), which was earlier scheduled for coming Sunday, will now be held on March 21, the commission announced on Friday. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar criticized the commission, saying it did not handle the issue properly. The MPSC had on Thursday once again postponed the exam, which is required for government jobs, citing the COVID-19 situation. It led to protests by students all over the state. "The exam will now be held on March 21 across the state at the same centres. The students who have received hall ticket to appear for the exam (on March 14) will be considered eligible for the March 21 exam," the commission said on Friday. It also announced that other two examinations scheduled for March 27 and April 21 will be held as per the schedule and there was no change in dates. The preliminary examination was to take place in April last year, but was repeatedly delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Talking to reporters in Pune, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the MPSC failed "to handle the situation in my opinion". But the issue was now over as the new exam date has been announced, the NCP leader added. On Thursday, angry students protested in Pune and many other parts of the state while leaders of the ruling coalition members Congress and NCP as well as opposition BJP blasted the postponement decision. Later in the evening, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray assured that the new date will be announced on Friday. Relief and Rehabilitation Minister and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, whose department had issued the circular about the postponement, claimed that the decision was taken by officials by keeping him in the dark. (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.) 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 TAMPA, Fla., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Widget, the manufacturer and distributor of iconic CBD brands Hemp Bombs, Nature's Script and Perfect Paws Hemp, announces it is one of the first CBD companies to receive the required license to distribute its CBD products to retail and wholesale partners in the state of Iowa, emphasizing its leadership in the industry. "As a manufacturer and distributor of reputable and iconic brands, we continue to work with state legislative bodies on guidelines and regulations and are excited to see Iowa become the latest state to work with retailers and manufacturers to allow the sale of CBD products," said Margaret Richardson, Chief Compliance and Legal Officer for Global Widget. Iowa's Department of Inspections & Appels (DIA) is responsible for the regulation of consumable hemp products, including registration. Although registration has been available and sales were permitted beginning March 3, 2021, sales of products may not commence until DIA approves a manufacturer's or retailer's registration. Global Widget was one of the first in line and has already received the required license, proving its continued commitment to being a leader in the CBD industry. Global Widget's Hemp Bombs brand is the top-selling brand throughout the country in the convenience store space, according to industry data from SPINS, LLC. "As an associate member of FUELIowa, we look forward to working with their members along with other wholesalers and retailers in Iowa to help them bring CBD products into their locations," said Vince Gillen, Vice President of Sales for Global Widget. "With Iowa opening up we have an opportunity to quickly expand our national retail footprint in a key market. There are a lot of independents and chains located in Iowa that have been patiently waiting on legislation to allow the selling of consumable CBD products." In addition to registering, CBD manufacturers have to meet all state guidelines for packaging and labeling requirements, independent accredited lab testing and provide necessary certificate of analysis (COA) for products they want to sell. Retailers must also register to sell CBD products in the state and can visit https://dia.iowa.gov/consumable-hemp for all the details. About Us Global Widget, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor and marketer of CBD and health and wellness products, and a leader in gummy production and packaging. The company is the trusted powerhouse behind the iconic CBD brands Hemp Bombs, Nature's Script and Perfect Paws Hemp for pets, as well as the immunity support brand Defense Boost. With more than 110,000 square feet of facility space and about 200 employees, Global Widget is one of the nation's largest CBD companies and a leading contract manufacturer providing quality products and support services to retailers and distributors worldwide. www.globalwidget.com. Media Contact: Joe Agostinelli, PR Manager 813.497.5752 | [email protected] SOURCE Global Widget Related Links https://global-widget.com/ (CNN) -- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan will be the first foreign leader to visit the United States since President Joe Biden took office and the global coronavirus pandemic halted much international travel, according to a senior administration official. No firm date has been established yet for the trip, the official said. Biden met virtually with Suga on Friday morning along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, a group informally known as the "Quad." The meeting was Biden's first multilateral leader-level summit. At the virtual summit, Biden announced an "ambitious new joint partnership" to boost Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing "for the global benefit" and "to benefit the entire Indo-Pacific." National security adviser Jake Sullivan, who attended the meeting, said Friday that the four leaders committed to delivering up to 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Indo-Pacific "and beyond," by the end of 2022. Sullivan said at a White House briefing that the goal would be made possible with "Indian manufacturing, US technology, Japanese and American financing and Australian logistics capability." They will coordinate with the World Health Organization and the COVAX initiative for equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, the White House said in a fact sheet. The leaders also agreed that they would meet in person before the end of the year, Sullivan said, and launched a set of working groups, including one focused on emerging technologies and another on cyber. The groups will deliver results before the leaders meet in person later this year, Sullivan said. The group will also launch a senior-level Quad vaccine experts group, the White House said, which will be comprised of top scientists and government officials from each country. This group will design an implementation plan for the Quad Covid-19 vaccine effort. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden focused on combating the climate crisis in his opening remarks at Friday's virtual summit. "We're establishing a new mechanism to enhance our cooperation and raise our mutual ambitions as we address accelerating climate change," Biden said. The "Quad" partners will pledge to fully implement the Paris agreement, to work together on global climate actions and to cooperate on climate mitigation, the second senior administration official said. Working groups also will be established between the countries to focus on climate issues, the official said. Biden also touted his sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 economic relief bill, which he signed into law on Thursday. RELATED: Biden signs historic $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief law Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were seated alongside Biden at the meeting. In addition to Sullivan, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients, the National Security Council's Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell and the NSC's senior director for South Asia Sumona Guha also attended the meeting in person, according to a pool report. Biden told the leaders on Friday: "A free and open Indo-Pacific is essential to each of our futures, our countries. The United States is committed to working with you, our partners, and all our allies in the region to achieve stability." The multilateral meeting comes the week before two top Biden administration officials, Blinken and Sullivan, are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska next week. The Biden administration is planning a sweeping review of the Trump administration's posture toward China, including its crackdown on unfair trade practices and antagonistic military activities in Asia, all while pursuing what it calls a robust Indo-Pacific strategy, according to an administration official, CNN has reported. The State Department has also announced that Blinken will travel to Tokyo and Seoul for 2+2 discussions alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin next week. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Japan's Prime Minister will be first foreign leader to visit US under Biden, administration official says" Seven in 10 U.S. employees who started working at home during the pandemic say their companies should introduce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination before workers are called back to the office, according to the results of a new survey. The survey also revealed that 76 percent of the more than 2,000 adults polled from Feb. 16 to 18 plan to get vaccinated as soon as they can, CBS News reported. About 70 percent of employees said they would like their companies to provide incentivessuch as cash bonuses and extra time offto get vaccinated, according to the findings from the employment website Glassdoor. With a few exemptions, employers are allowed to require the vaccine and to ban unvaccinated people from the workplace, CBS News reported. "COVID-19 has triggered a new wave of employee expectations, from incentives to get a vaccine to more flexible work options, even after it's safe to return to the office," Carina Cortez, Glassdoor chief people officer, said in a statement. "Employers must take employee feedback into account to determine what is best for their workforce, including how to best support employees who plan to get the vaccine, and employees who do not." Nearly one quarter of U.S. adults surveyed said they would consider quitting their jobs if they were called back to the workplace before all employees are vaccinated. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: CBS News Article Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. [Read The Oregonian/OregonLive investigation Dumptown: How Portlands trash problem spiraled out of control] Multiple organizations are making it easier for Portland residents to pick up litter and trash around the city. SOLVE Organizes regular cleanup events downtown and citywide. Website: www.solveoregon.org Phone: 503.844.9571 Email: larissa@solveoregon.org Adopt One Block Helps Portlanders choose a single block to clean on a regular basis and on their own schedule. Website: www.adoptoneblock.org Email: frank@adoptoneblock.org Trash For Peace Leads volunteer litter collections, holds craft and waste sorting events with recycled materials. Website: trashforpeace.org Email: trashforpeace@gmail.com Phone: 503.250.0997 -- 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. Let me see if Ive got this straight. Dozens of terrorists who murdered American citizens are walking free in Palestinian Authority-controlled territories. The Biden administration is preparing to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the unreformed, terror-sponsoring PA regime. PA bulldozers are damaging Jewish historical and religious sites in Judea-Samaria and building homes in areas under Israeli control. And the number one issue on the agenda of prominent American Jewish and Zionist organizations is an unkind joke about Israel on Saturday Night Live. In the final weeks of the... Kiersey Clemons is set to reprise her role as Iris West in DC's upcoming The Flash movie starring Ezra Miller in the title role. ADVERTISEMENT The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news Thursday stating that Clemons has closed her deal to appear in the film. Clemons additionally confirmed her casting on Instagram Stories. The Wrap also reported the news, citing a source with knowledge of the project. Clemons was first cast as Iris, the love interest of Miller's Barry Allen/The Flash in July 2016 when the film was being helmed by director Rick Famuyiwa. The Flash has gone through multiple creative teams with It director Andy Muschietti now at the helm. Clemons was originally first set to appear as Iris in 2017's Justice League, but her scene with Miller was cut from the theatrical version of the film, which was directed by Joss Whedon Zack Snyder was the original director of Justice League and dropped out of the project due to a family tragedy. Snyder has restored the Iris scene in his new version of Justice League, which comes to HBO Max on March 18. Actress Candice Patton currently portrays Iris on The CW's Flash series. Iris is a journalist and friend of Barry who eventually falls for the Scarlet Speedster. 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! The Flash is set to hit theaters on Nov. 4, 2022. Production will begin in April in London. The Flash will feature Miller traveling through different dimensions where he will meet different versions of DC's stable of characters. Both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck will be reprising their roles as Batman in the film. Maxine Waters Brings Home the Money with American Rescue Plan! Help Is on The Way! Washington, D.C. Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the American Rescue Plan Act. The legislation was sent to President Bidens desk and has been signed into law. The historic American Rescue Plan was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and has reached President Bidens desk and received his signature. I am so pleased that help will soon be on the way for the millions of people struggling to stay afloat during this pandemic. ADVERTISEMENT The American Rescue Plan is a $1.9 trillion package that I worked on with my colleagues, President Biden, and Vice President Harris, that delivers for you, your family, and our community by providing direct cash payments, increased unemployment benefits, emergency rental assistance to help with back rent, support for small businesses, and so much more. The historic nature of this legislation cannot be overstated. To be specific, this bill provides a $1400 direct payment, expands the child tax credit from $2000 to $3000 per child and directs the Treasury Secretary to issue the credit as an advance monthly payment for some parents, and $130 billion to help safely reopen our nations schools. The bill also provides $300 of federal unemployment benefits per week until September 6. In addition to the $25 billion in emergency rental assistance I secured in the December package, as Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, I also worked extremely hard to secure $27.5 billion in additional assistance for renters and $10 billion in direct assistance to homeowners in this bill. This is going to help people remain housed until our nation emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, and provides support to all, including mom-and-pop landlords who have been suffering. For all of us, this month marks a year to the date at which life drastically changed. We lost the ability to visit with many of our loved ones, social distancing measures became widespread, and many other normal parts of our lives came to a screeching halt. With this rescue package, we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not only will your pockets directly benefit from the bill, but there is also substantial funding to help our nation rebuild. The package includes $20 billion to enable more people to get vaccinated quickly, $350 billion for state and local governments to continue important services, $7.25 billion for small businesses and nonprofits to have increased access to the paycheck protection program, and $28.66 billion for a restaurant revitalization fund. From the very beginning of this pandemic, despite Republican obstruction, Democrats have worked every single day to deliver this type of relief that assists you and helps to get our nation on a path to a speedy recovery. Along with President Biden and Vice President Harris, I made getting this type of assistance to you my number one priority, and I will continue to advocate on behalf of your needs as we move forward. As always, let us remain vigilant and let us follow all of the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and defeat this pandemic. With President Biden having signed the bill, I look forward to relief reaching our communities soon. ADVERTISEMENT ### Authorities have released the names of a husband and wife found dead Thursday in a possible murder-suicide. The Jefferson County Coroners Office on Friday identified woman as Holly Elizabeth Montana, 51. The husband has been identified as Robert Scott Montana, 53. Hoover 911 received a call at 5:10 p.m. Thursday to a report of a possible suicide in the 1500 block of Fairway View Drive. Officers arrived on the scene to find Scott Montana suffering from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Capt. Keith Czeskleba. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 5:41 p.m. Hoover police are investigating what they believe is a murder-suicide. The discovery was made March 11, 2021 at two different homes in Hoover. Information at that scene led investigators to the 4500 block of Highland Crest Circle to conduct a welfare check on the mans wife. Officers entered the home and found Holly Montana had been shot. She, too, was pronounced dead on the scene at 6:23 p.m. Czeskleba said both investigations are in their early stages, but evidence suggests they are connected. Court records show the couple married in Kentucky in 1995. Holly Montana filed for divorce in January. PHILIPSBURG:--- In September of 2015, former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs became one of the first St. Maarteners to question the Netherlands regarding the United Nations' doubts as to whether the Kingdom Charter had decolonized the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles. He went on to profess that the United Nations had serious doubts regarding the sincerity of The Netherlands to decolonize the former Netherlands Antilles. Continuing the groundwork laid down by former Prime Minister Gumbs, the Parliament of St. Maarten submitted a petition to two organs of the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) with the central premise being that there is unequal and racially biased treatment exercised between Dutch citizens in the Netherlands and Dutch citizens in the Caribbean. In March of 2020, The Dutch International Commission of Jurists (NJCM), who are affiliated with Leiden University, affirmed that the "constitutional imbalance (between the Netherlands and the Caribbean Islands) upholds racialized discourses and practices." They also reported that "The Dutch legislature and local (Dutch) governments differentiate between Dutch Citizens born in the European Netherlands, and those born in or migrating from the Dutch Caribbean." In July of 2020, Special Rapporteur, E. Tendayi Achiume, "called for swift action to address persisting structures of racism" in The Netherlands. Ms. Achiume, in her report entitled "Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on her visit to The Netherlands", contended that "different factors reinforce the view that to truly or genuinely belong (in The Netherlands) is to be white and of Western origin." Ms. Achiume stressed that "Individuals belonging to other racial and ethnic groups... are confronted with characterizations that they are neither truly nor wholly Netherlanders." Bear in mind that Dutch Member of Parliament Andre Bosman had proposed a law to regulate the migration of citizens of Aruba, Curacao, and St. Maarten to the Netherlands. While the Bosman Initiative Law was ultimately rejected in September of 2016, a disappointed MP Bosman remarked, "Sooner or later, there will be a law like this one." In June of 2020, Prime Minister Rutte intimated that "Racism is a problem in the Netherlands" and that it "affects a lot of people in this country." In January of 2021, the Dutch government resigned after the tax authority in the Netherlands admitted that more than 10,000 people were "singled out for special scrutiny because of their ethnic origin or dual nationality, fuelling longstanding allegations of systemic racism in The Netherlands." Please find attached the Special Rapporteur Netherlands Report 2020 Pro Soualiga Foundation 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. But this attempt to cater to the average voter came at a cost. The party soon found itself deprived of many of its usual supporters, who took a different course, downplaying the danger and castigating the government. On Facebook and social media, the party stuttered. The AfD, said Johannes Hillje, a political consultant who analyzed the partys social media performance during the pandemic, lost its rage machine. For a party fueled by indignation, that was a problem. As the first lockdown was tentatively lifted, through April and May, many leading AfD figures performed a 180-degree turn. No longer consensual, they fiercely railed against restrictions of any kind, which they claimed were unconstitutional as well as economically ruinous. In November, to demonstrate its defiance, the party held an in-person convention with hundreds of participants packed into a hall. That same month, an AfD legislator appeared in the parliament, where masks are mandatory, wearing one riddled with holes. And prominent party members not only attended some of the anti-lockdown protests that spread across the country last year but also adopted the protesters talking points, for example by calling Germany a Corona dictatorship. The AfD became something like the anti-lockdown party. The move made sense. By the time the pandemic arrived, the party had started to struggle, Kai Arzheimer, a professor of political science at the University of Mainz, told me. Migration had vanished from the top of voters concerns, depriving the party of its momentum. It was unclear how it might make further inroads. Whats more, the party was increasingly seen as extreme and radical. The media uncovered many ties to extremist groups such as the Identitarian Movement, which advocates ethnically homogeneous societies, while a radical internal group gained power. The AfD was considered so dangerous that the domestic intelligence service even put one wing of it under surveillance. This has harmed the partys potential to mobilize moderate voters, Mr. Arzheimer 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. Two men were taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon after an alleged attempted assault with a knife. According to the Pennsylvania State Police at Frackville, around 12:50pm, Troopers were dispatched to 18 North Williams Street in Girardville for an attempted assault with a knife. At the scene, they were met by Edward Brown, 58, of Doylestown, who told State Troopers that Edward Conapitski, 22, of Girardville attempted to attack him a knife. Brown told police that before their arrival, Conapitski fled into the nearby Unity Market. A background check of Brown indicated he had multiple warrants for his arrest. While attempting to take him into custody, he became combative and attempted to punch one of the State Troopers on scene. Brown was physically restrained and taken into custody. Conapitski was also located and taken into custody for the attempted assault. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Bulgaria on Friday suspended the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as it investigated the death of a woman with several underlying conditions who received the jab this week. The temporary suspension follows other countries in Europe, including Denmark, Iceland and Norway, which paused AstraZeneca vaccinations over safety concerns. "I order a halt in vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine until the European Medicines Agency dismisses all doubts about its safety," said a government press service statement quoting Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. The prime minister requested "a written statement with an accurate and clearly confirmed diagnosiscan we or can we not administer it", the statement added. Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said the halt was in response to the death of a woman in the central city of Plovdiv. Angelov said the 57-year-old woman passed away at 3:00 am Friday after receiving the jab around noon on Thursday. The woman, who had multiple underlying conditionsincluding coronary disease and a bypass surgerywas reportedly feeling well after the vaccination itself but suffered from "acute suffocation". Though an initial probe suggested that she died from heart failure and an autopsy found no link with the vaccination, the AstraZeneca inoculation would be suspended at least until the final results of the autopsy next week, Angelov said. The EMA said Thursday that countries can keep using AstraZeneca's vaccine while it probes cases of blood clots that prompted suspension of particular batches of the vaccine or all of the company's jabs in several countries. Bulgaria falls last among EU countries in terms of its vaccination rate with only 270,000 people, or 3.9 percent, of the population receiving at least one dose so far. The country has ordered far more AstraZeneca vaccines than Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna doses. It was mainly using the AstraZeneca vaccine in recent weeks after deciding to scrap prioritisation lists and offer jabs to anyone willing to take them. Explore further AstraZeneca use can continue pending blood clot probe: EMA 2021 AFP A woman who recovered from coronavirus almost a year ago has been left bedridden after suffering a mysterious 'relapse'. Brisbane retail worker Megan Peacock, 27, said she feels worse now than when she was diagnosed in March last year following a flight home from London. At the time Ms Peacock endured a fortnight of intense body aches, fatigue and headaches, before eventually recovering and getting back to her active lifestyle. But on January 29 this year, she fell sick again, spent time in hospital and has been bedridden ever since. Brisbane retail worker Megan Peacock (left last November and right in January this year) said she feels worse now than when she was diagnosed in March last year following a flight home from London. Megan Peacock fears she is a victim of a relapse of the coronavirus, 11 months after first returning a positive result 'I was at my retail job and I suddenly fell ill. I was sweating a lot and needed to change my clothing, I felt dizzy and I could tell I was coming down with something,' she told The Courier-Mail. 'I left work early, came home to bed and slept 18 hours over 24 hour period. I have continued to be in bed since.' Her newest symptoms include sweating, body aches, joint pain, nausea, fatigue, sore throat and chronic headaches. She is adamant her symptoms are more intense than when she was initially diagnosed with Covid. The Brisbane retail worker fell ill again in late January and has been bedridden ever since Ms Peacock wakes up feeling weak, with vitamin D, more sleep and hot baths her remedy as she looks to slowly nurse herself back to full health. She has undergone a series of tests, notably chest X-rays, an MRI brain scan and blood tests and urine samples, but doctors don't know what is wrong. After reaching out to other Covid sufferers online globally, she has discovered her condition is becoming more common by the day. 'This is a worrying trend unfortunately with other Covid patients around the world... People have said that you can totally recover like I did, be completely healthy and out of nowhere get sick again. They are calling it a Covid relapse,' she said. Moscow, March 12 : All the participants invited to attend a meeting in Moscow on the Afghan peace process next week have confirmed their attendance, a top Russian official said on Friday. The development was confirmed to the TASS News Agency by Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department. When asked whether American representatives will take part in the consultations, he said that US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad had confirmed his participation. On March 9, Kabulov told TASS that Russia had invited the US, China, Pakistan, representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban to Moscow for the meeting scheduled to be held on March 18. Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that Doha had also received an invitation from Russia. The conference was proposed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The US and the Taliban signed an agreement in February 2020, which called for a full withdrawal of American military forces from the conflict-ridden country by May 2021 if the militant group meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with other terrorist organisations. But administration of President Joe Biden had noted that the Taliban had not met its commitment under the US-Taliban deal. New Zealand has downscaled COVID-19 alert levels in Auckland, marking the end of restrictions from the Valentine's Day outbreak. However, Jacinda Ardern's government has been criticised for making the decision on Thursday and delaying the announcement - giving citizens just 30 minutes to prepare. First bloke Clarke Gayford jumped the gun on the prime minister, tweeting the government's decision four hours before Ms Ardern's scheduled press conference. 'An in-principle decision was decided but it's all pending on final test results today,' he wrote, in response to criticism from Kiwi chef Martin Bosley. 'Feeling really sorry for all Auckland Hospo having to wait until 11.30am today to find out about moving levels. It's utterly ludicrous. Stay strong, my friends,' Mr Bosley said. First bloke Clarke Gayford jumped the gun on the prime minister, tweeting the government's decision four hours before Ms Ardern's scheduled press conference (pictured together in July with daughter Neve) The tweet (pictured) received a backlash online after he appeared to announce government policy before the official press conference Aucklanders were expecting the shift as there have been no community cases for a fortnight. One Kiwi sarcastically replied: 'Thanks Clarke, always good to hear from an elected official.' Another added: 'I'm sorry, since when were you part of the cabinet Clarke?' Others, irritated by his exposure of secret government policy, asked 'who put you in charge?' and 'since when are you a spokesperson for the government?' At 11:30am, Ms Ardern announced New Zealand's biggest city would move from alert level two to alert level one as of 12 noon on Friday - just half an hour later. 'Once again the city stepped up and did what it needed to do ... for that we say thank you,' she said. Ms Ardern announced New Zealand's biggest city would move from alert level two to alert level one as of 12 noon Friday - just half an hour later (pictured, Auckland on March 7) 'Look after each other and enjoy your weekend.' The decision allows for crowds to gather to watch America's Cup sailing, the Auckland Cup racing meet on Saturday, and for postponed Auckland Pride events. Business and hospitality figures attacked the decision, saying it did not allow them enough time to change staffing and order supplies for a bumper Friday night's trade. Auckland Pride director Max Tweedie said the wait was 'frustrating'. 'The sector had anticipated a move at 11:59 tonight, which now changes everything for Friday night shows & events,' he said. 'We need time to roll out plans, release tickets, change seating/signage. We didn't get it.' Opposition leader Judith Collins called the PM's communications 'not good enough'. Ms Ardern said cabinet met on Thursday afternoon and decided to move alert levels, pending any new cases and testing of close contacts - information that was due on Friday morning. The couple (pictured together in October) welcomed their first child, Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford, in 2018 Ms Ardern rejected the notion Mr Gayford's tweet was improper. 'I have not seen my partner since yesterday and I really reject the implication,' she said. 'He has not known the decision. He's known the process which is exactly what Ministers have conveyed in the public domain.' The Valentine's Day outbreak, first identified on February 14, prompted the government into two lockdowns of New Zealand's biggest city. The first was a three-day lockdown beginning February 15. A week-long lockdown began on February 28 when a new community case was identified without links to the cluster, but was subsequently traced back to the outbreak. In total, 15 people have tested positive to COVID-19 from the latest outbreak. Health officials are yet to discover its origin. There have been ten deaths and 646 new Covid-19 cases, the Department of Health confirmed today. This brings the total number of coronavirus-related fatalities to 4,518* and the total number of confirmed cases so far to 225,820*. One previously confirmed death and five confirmed cases have since been denotified. This is reflected in the total figures. Four deaths occurred in March, one in February, one in January and four are under investigation. The ages of the deceased range from 41 to 83. As of 8am this morning, 344 people were in hospital with the illness, 87 of whom are in ICU. Of the cases notified today: 311 are men / 332 are women 74% are under 45 years of age The median age is 30 years old 243 are in Dublin, 80 in Kildare, 45 in Meath, 35 in Galway, 34 in Offaly and the remaining 209 cases are spread across 20 other counties. Read More This comes as public health officials are pleading with the public to pull back in an effort to keep the virus suppressed as they are beginning to see early, worrying signs that they have seen before. There are signs that people are mixing more than they were a few weeks ago, according to Professor Philip Nolan, modelling expert with Nphet. He issued a plea to the public to not squander 52 weeks of sacrifice by letting their guard down too early. In 10 weeks time we will be in a different place, and 10 weeks further down the line well be in a much different place but I worry that we will squander the sacrifice of thousands of people over the last 52 weeks if we rush to do things too quickly in the next 10-20 weeks, he said on RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland. Its not that nothing can happen until everyone is vaccinated, thats not true. There was the step forward yesterday in increasing the visits to long term residential care homes. "So, I think the way to think about it is, as more people are vaccinated; there is more we can do within the vaccination programme. Some things we are going to have to wait to do until we have population-wide protection. Prof Nolan acknowledged that there is slippage in people adhering to public health guidance as we get tired and lonely during a prolonged period of restrictions. At yesterday's Nphet briefing, Prof Nolan said "we are sailing very close to the winds" as up until now "we have had a steady increase at around 2pc today" however, in the last couple of days that has stabilised and there haven't been reductions. Evangelist Franklin Graham expressed his grief over the passing of a fellow evangelist, asking prayers for the surviving family. Mr. Luis Palau, an international Christian evangelist, passed away yesterday after his three-year battle with lung cancer. Mr. Graham honored Mr. Palau in his Facebook post, whom he said is his father's close friend. "Luis was a passionate evangelist who faithfully preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ-His birth, His sacrificial death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection. Millions have heard this truth, and untold men and women have trusted Christ, as a result of Luis Palau's ministry. I thank God for his life and the example he set. Luis was a close friend of my father Billy Graham's throughout the years, and he was my friend as well," Mr. Graham stated. He further said that Mr. Palau's "voice" in evangelism will be "missed." "His voice will be greatly missed, but his life should inspire each of us to focus even more intensely on warning people of the consequences of dying without repenting of their sins and turning to Christ in faith," he said. Mr. Graham concluded urging his followers to pray for Mr. Palau's family. "Please join me in lifting his family up in prayer during this time." Mr. Palau was born on Nov. 27, 1934 in Argentina. He was 10 years old when his father died, forcing him to quit his education from a British boarding school and work in a bank to support his family. He turned his life to the Lord Jesus Christ in 1947 during a summer camp. He first heard Billy Graham on a radio in 1952 and would later work for him as a Spanish interpreter in 1962. He moved to Portland, Oregon in 1960 to study at Multnomah Bible College. He married his wife, Pat, a year later and became father to twin sons Kevin and Keith in 1963. In the same year, the couple also started serving as missionaries in Mexico and Colombia before returning to Oregon in 1970. Billy Graham provided $100,000 for him to start his own ministry. The Luis Palau Association was formed in October 1978, based in Beaverton. Three of his sons -the third being Stephen- have worked for the ministry. Like the late Billy Graham, Evangelist Palau's events were also drawing in thousands of attendees, notably attracting many young people. In 2003, he started hosting three radio programs daily, an English program played by 900 stations in 23 countries and two Spanish programs carried by 880 stations in 25 countries. Mr. Palau helped Portland address the city's homelessness issue, coordinating with evangelicals and politicians to organize an event focusing on volunteerism for the homeless. In August 2008, a festival was held that drew 140,000 people for the cause. He also hosted an evangelistic event in New York's Central Park in 2015, attracting 60,000 people. Mr. Palau has written a number of books, including "Where is God When Bad things Happen?," "Calling America and the Nations to Christ," "God is Relevant," "High Definition Life" and "A Friendly Dialogue between an Atheist and a Christian." A large popular vote in the lower house could still be devastating for the Liberals and Nationals with the former a chance to fall to single digit representation. Such a result will stretch cross-bench and opposition politicians to their limits in terms of filling out the panels of the numerous committees that work behind the scenes at parliament. The latest Newspoll for The Australian on the eve of the election had Labor up 66 to 34 per cent over the Liberals on a two-party preferred basis. The 10.5 per cent swing predicted by the poll, if replicated across the state, could see the Liberals only hold three seats Cottesloe, Churchlands, and Vasse and the Nationals between four and five, making the latter the new opposition. An unprecedented year leads to a golden opportunity for Labor Mr McGowan went from unremarkable Mark to a cult figure and WA icon because of his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. An initial reluctance to lock WA off from the rest of the country in the early stages of the outbreak fell away in March last year as Tasmania broke ranks from the national cabinet to impose restrictions on interstate arrivals. Loading WA followed suit and soon brought in even tougher measures on April 6, in a bid to stop coronavirus spread, which gave few exemptions for anyone to enter the big state as Mr McGowan and state authorities took the view of using the geographical distance from other population bases and a hard lockdown to save lives. The states rebound and bringing down of restrictions swifter than many other jurisdictions, besides the Northern Territory, has vindicated Mr McGowans conservative approach to the pandemic which has been vindicated by a recent assessment by global ratings agency Standard & Poors that said WA was the best economy in the world over the past 12 months. Mr McGowans performance and his exposure to a WA public during lockdown as the most important man on the television and live social media videos has fostered a fervour for the Rockingham politician he had never experienced before. The Premier, who has reached approval ratings as high as 91 per cent, now has the opportunity to set up Labor for a potential third term and cement the party as the dominant force in WA at a state and federal level for the next decade. Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup. Credit:Peter de Kruijff The Liberal Party on the other hand are looking at a generational wipeout that will be difficult to rebuild from. Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup holds the smallest margin in his party of 0.7 points [343 votes] and it looks like his political career could be coming to an end after one term. Mr Kirkup was thrust into the leadership role in November with the backing of backroom powerbrokers ahead of former Finance Minister Dean Nalder after Liza Harvey called it quits. Loading Mrs Harvey was the second Opposition Leader since 2017 after Mike Nahan, who took on the job when no one else wanted it, also stood down. A series of pandemic border policies from Mrs Harvey which were panned by the public have remained a millstone around Mr Kirkups neck which Mr McGowan still attacks the Liberals for. The situation for the Liberal Party got so dire that Mr Kirkup conceded the election last month saying Mr McGowan was going to win, a tactic often employed by parties facing political landslides. Efforts by the opposition to make the election a hyper local campaign has done little to cut through the goodwill for Mr McGowan and Labor. Every seat saved by the Liberals will be seen as a win for the party at this point as state and federal politicians turn on Mr Kirkup both publicly and privately. The Nationals meanwhile have been running their own race and have openly clashed with the Liberals for the past four years. The regionally-focused party has geared its seat-by-seat re-election hopes on reversing changes to the Royalties for Regions program made by Labor even though their traditional government partners, the Liberals, have baulked at some of the Nationals policies. North West Central MP Vince Catania appears to be the only Nationals MP besides Geraldtons Ian Blayney in danger of losing their lower house seat, as their colleagues have much stronger buffers against a big swing, with an estimated 10.1 point margin following a redistribution to include Kalbarri in Mr Catanias electorate. What has been promised? Labor has made close to $3 billion worth of pledges which will add about $2.4 billion to WAs net debt over the forward estimates of the budget. Mr McGowans party is promising things like $19.8 million to subsidise flights for regional residents, $60.6 million to cap public transport fares at $5 from January, $355 million to upgrade and build schools, $91.5 million to freeze TAFE fees, a $1.8 billion new womens and babies hospital, an extra 800 police officers, and a $361.6 million mental health plan. Labor is still building its massive Metronet projects and is also working towards constructing a multi-billion dollar outer harbour to replace Fremantle Port. The Liberals, meanwhile, have promised more than $6 billion worth of state and federally funded projects but say their promises will only cost $2.7 billion all up over the forward estimates with a $1.4 billion impact on net debt in the budget with savings to be found elsewhere. Key promises include the $1.9 billion resurrected Roe 8 and 9 extension which requires a $700 million contribution from the state government but the Liberals say will only cost $125 million in the forward estimates period. A further $200 million has been promised to boost the number of apprentices and trainees by 20,000 in WA, a $316 million mental health package, an extra 1200 police officers, and a public-private partnership to replace publicly-owned coal-fired power stations with renewable energy generation by 2025. How many people have already voted? Early voting did not quite hit the 60 to 70 per cent levels the WA Electoral Commission had been hoping for. There had been 755,075 votes cast as of Friday night which was 45 per cent of the states 1.7 million electors. One of the largest early turnouts has been in the seat of Mr Kirkup where 62 per cent of the Dawesville electors have already voted. Where can I vote? The WAEC has a great tool where you can search for your closest polling station by typing in your suburb or find a list of places to vote depending on your electorate. If youre wondering whether your nearest voting centre has a cake stall or sausage sizzle you can also jump on the Democracy Sausage website which has an interactive map. Voting is open from 8am to 6pm and if you have a postal vote you can still mail it on Saturday and it will be counted. When will we know who wins? With Mr McGowan expected to romp home, the election could be called within an hour in the event of a Labor landslide. The 2012 Queensland election was declared by analysts just 48 minutes after the polls closed as the Liberal-National Party, which won 78 of 89 seats in the one-house parliament, went on to record 49 per cent of the primary vote and 62.8 per cent on a two-party preferred basis. Counting for the lower house starts at 6pm but for the upper house it may not get under way until late on Saturday night with a full result not likely to be known until towards the end of the week. Loading Politics watchers will have a slight idea of whether Labor can get anywhere near 18 or 19 seats to achieve majority control in the Legislative Council comparing the partys primary vote to what it received in 2017. Getting about 57 per cent first preference vote across all electorates in the upper house for Labor would give it the balance of power. The vote is likely to be higher in the city than the bush, however, as Labor is a chance to win as many as four seats in both the south and east metropolitan regions. The Greens are hopeful of maintaining or improving on their first preference vote but will be in a fight with Labor on preferences for some upper house spots. In any case, the Greens could find themselves in a balance of power situation but would also be in danger of being sidelined on some issues if Labor found more willing cross-bench allies elsewhere. The One Nation primary is expected to drop, with Labor the beneficiary, but the nature of preference flows means its representatives and other cross-bench parties could still be elected with only a handful of first preference votes. What can we expect from a pandemic election? There have been two state and territory elections during the COVID-19 pandemic with the NT going to the polls last August and Queensland in October. Both jurisdictions have sitting Labor governments which were returned. IF you have absolutely no urgent or emergency need to be outdoors today, then remain at home. Should you take a chance and decide to tempt fate, then it may most likely result in you being stopped and questioned by police officers and members of the Defence Force, or even find yourself charged and taken before a court. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 14-year-old boy has been reported missing from West Brighton, according to police. The NYPD is asking for the publics help to find Quamair Carter, who left on Monday at about 4 p.m. from his home on Barker Street, according to a statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Police described Quamair as Black, standing about 46 tall and weighing about 100 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair and was last seen wearing blue sweatpants, a red, white and blue jacket, and black and blue sneakers. A photo of the boy was supplied to the media by the NYPD. People with information are urged to contact the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS). For Spanish, dial 1-888-577-4782 (PISTA). The public also can submit tips on the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential. Hundreds of manatees for months have been perishing at an unusual rate around Florida's channels. Florida Fish and Wildlife said it's examining the case, but they require more time. That's why a local lawmaker is presently prodding a federal inquiry and funding. At the lagoon house in Palm Bay of the Marine Resources Council, Dr. Leesa Souto an executive director, and staff work to conserve water conditions in the Indian river lagoon. She has witnessed a blend of diminishing seagrass and cold stress from winter resulting in the death of manatees in Brevard County at an average of 20 a week. Mortality Rate Souto explained that: "Not a blade of seagrass to be discovered," which resulted in the starvation of many manatees, because that is their main source of food. Four hundred thirty-two manatees have lost their lives along Florida's waterways since January 1st, including 180 in Brevard County. That is already more than the numbers that died all of last year in the county and 70% of the 637 all together in 2020. For this reason, Wildlife and Florida Fish prefer the die-off of safeguarded animals to have a personal designation, understood as a unique mortality event. Doing so unlocks a federal examination and offers needed funding. Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy has carried that request to the federal Wildlife and Fish Service. Read More: Manatees Are No Longer Endangered, US Agency Says Contributions of the Marine Council The Marine Resources Council is urging the state to enhance lagoon waters, which will protect the manatees' vital food source - and wishfully, before Souto's greatest fears become a reality. "We're staring at a likelihood of extinction in the lagoon by the climax of 2021." Souto said. The Sea Turtle Healing Center, also in Brevard County, at the Brevard Zoo, is caring for several ill turtles back to health that was discovered stranded earlier this week along the shore. A serious die-off centers on the Indian northern River Lagoon on Florida's East Coast, where specialists disclosed losses of seagrass as a result of continuous algal blooms have kept the beloved animals without food. 179 death of manatee have been documented this year in Brevard County. Against the 12 deaths documented in Hillsborough mostly across Tampa Bay. Weight Loss of the Manatees Executive director Patrick Rose of Save the Manatee Club explained that manatees have lost not only fat but muscle. He explained that it is continuous, painful starvation, and it also diminishes their capacity to go about their regular physical routine. They likely created several incursions in places attempting to search for food where it normally was. A Florida Wildlife and Fish Conservation Commission veterinarian revealed that manatees are coming out harshly emaciated. An agency spokesperson explained that the veterinarian was not accessible for an interview, but the Commission has released a web page particularly dedicated to the uptick. Decrease in Availability of Food Conditions of the habitat in parts of the Indian River Lagoon are concerns the Commission disclosed. Initial information suggests that a decrease in food availability is a donating factor. The executive director of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program Duane De Freese explained that researchers are still striving to deduce the precise causes of all the deaths. Without those outcomes, they are reluctant to announce that any one factor, such as hunger, is mainly to blame. Related Article: Too Early? Manatees Removed From Endangered Status and Not Everyone Is Happy For more news, updates about manatees and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! , Cookies . cookies. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Postal services provider TTPost yesterday shut its branches in Port of Spain and San Fernando after dozens of people rushed to collect senior citizen pension and public assistance grants and would not adhere to physical distancing rules. Eventually, police were called to disperse the crowds. Several elderly people at the St Vincent Street branch in Port of Spain complained about not being able to collect their pension cheques because other unruly ones refused to socially distance and abide by the law amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Stella Griffith, 68, of Diego Martin, said she was adhering to rules of social distancing, but there were other people who came for their public assistance and disability grants and were refusing to listen. More Brits are venturing outside as coronavirus cases continue to plummet and the weather gets better, official data suggested today. Twenty-one per cent of adults surveyed said they had visited a park or outdoor green space at the start of March. In comparison, the figure was 16 per cent after England's third national lockdown was implemented in January. And Britons are now feeling happier than they were at the start of the year, Office for National Statistics experts said. Wellbeing hit a record low of 6.4 out of 10 in January and February, during the depths of the darkest spell of the second wave. But polling of thousands of adults in the first week of March found it had risen to 6.8. But half of parents quizzed admitted they were worried about their children returning to school or college. Boris Johnson has eased lockdown restrictions in England slightly, with schools open again and people from two households allowed to meet for a coffee or picnic. Stay-at-home orders are still in place, however. Scotland which is recording more cases of Covid than England today relaxed restrictions to allow four adults from two households to meet outside. Wales will make the same step from tomorrow, with First Minister Mark Drakeford set to announce later today that the 'stay at home' order will be dropped in favour of a 'stay local' message. The ONS data comes as mountains of evidence shows Britain has turned the tide on the second wave, with infections, deaths and hospitalisations falling for weeks. And a successful vaccine rollout has seen more than 23million Brits receive their first jab. More Britons visited parks or green spaces, collected takeaways and went shopping for non-essential items in the five-days to March 7 than in the darkest days of January, Office for National Statistics data revealed today Almost half of parents surveyed also said they were concerned about sending their children back to school, with being worried about them catching Covid as the top reason Levels of happiness in the UK also began to increase in March, the ONS found, but they were still below the levels in February 2020 before the pandemic Britons meet in Hyde Park. Boris Johnson has eased some lockdown restrictions to allow two people from two different households to meet outdoors ALL BUT ONE LONDON BOROUGH SAW COVID CASES FALL LAST WEEK, DATA SHOWS Only one London borough suffered a spike in coronavirus cases last week, Government data has revealed as the capital's second wave remains firmly in retreat. Department of Health's most-up-to-date data showed 31 out of 32 local authorities saw their infection rate dip over the seven-day spell to March 6. Hammersmith and Fulham recorded the sharpest drop in Covid cases, after they halved in a week. It was followed by Haringey, Brent, Bromley and Bexley, where infections plummeted by more than 40 per cent. Kingston-upon-Thames was the only London borough to see cases tick upwards, after they rose by 28 per cent last week to 50.1 positive tests per 100,000 residents. Public health officials in the capital credited the 'heroic efforts of Londoners' for the nosediving infection rates last week, but warned they must continue to stay at home and follow the rules. Advertisement The Office for National Statistics Opinions and Lifestyle Survey has asked more than 4,000 Britons about their activities every week since March last year. It was set up to monitor observance of lockdown restrictions, alongside happiness, anxiety and concern levels in the population. The poll revealed 14 per cent of Britons went out to collect a takeaway in the most recent period, compared to eight per cent in early January. And 10 per cent went to buy non-essential items in shops, almost double the six per cent at the start of the year. The survey also found happiness levels had risen to 6.8 out of 10, up 0.3 points from 6.5 reported in early January. But these were still below the levels in February 2020 before the pandemic hit - when they were around 7.2. Separate figures in the survey showed observance of lockdown rules remained high. As many as 89 per cent of Britons said they were always or regularly washing their hands with soap and water after returning home from a public place. A further 96 per cent said they were using a face covering, and 88 per cent said they were maintaining social distancing when meeting people outside their support bubble. The survey also found 46 per cent of adults were still working from home, but 48 per cent said they had travelled in to work. The Government has asked all Britons to work from home where this is possible. It also showed vaccine hesitancy rates remain very low, with more than nine in ten Britons saying they would get the jab. A separate survey by the Mental Health Foundation also found the number of people feeling anxious or worried, or feelings of hopelessness and loneliness, were at lower levels than in the darkest days of January. The head of research at the Foundation, Catherine Seymour, said: 'Most people continue to say they are coping well or fairly well with the stress of the pandemic. 'However, this is considerably lower than at the start of the pandemic when nearly three quarters of people felt they were coping well. 'There is a cumulative impact here: People may be able to cope well for short periods of time but the longer restrictions are in place the harder it is to cope.' And vaccine hesitancy rates remained low in the UK, with more than nine in ten adults saying they would get the Covid vaccine The survey also found many Britons are still obeying lockdown restrictions And more adults said they thought life could get back to normal in six months or less The survey also found more adults were travelling to work than working from home. Government rules ask everyone to work from home where possible Almost half of 780 parents polled also voiced concern about their children's return to school or college, the data also showed. Some 47 per cent of adults said they were very or somewhat worried about their child's return. Three in 10 said they were not at all worried about their child returning to educational settings. The most common reasons for concern were the risk of their child catching or spreading Covid-19, and the impact on mental health and wellbeing caused by changes in schools and colleges. Parents were also worried about sending their child back before the vaccine rollout has finished, and more than a quarter (27 per cent) were concerned about how prepared their school or college will be for keeping pupils safe. San Francisco, March 12 : Infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems has said that it entered into an approximately $1.05 billion agreement to acquire Seequent, a global leader in 3D modelling software for the geosciences. The acquisition of Seequent is expected to initially add approximately 10 per cent to each of Bentley Systems' key financial metrics and is expected to be measurably accretive to Bentley's organic growth rate, the company said on Thursday. Upon closing, Seequent will operate as a stand-alone Bentley subsidiary, with Seequent's current Chief Operating Officer Graham Grant, succeeding its retiring CEO Shaun Maloney, reporting to Bentley's Chief Product Officer Nicholas Cumins. "We can be very confident about Seequent's contribution to our shared future not only because of our product synergies, but because we recognize in Seequent's trajectory an echo of the playbook that made Bentley Systems successful - except they have grown faster," Bentley's CEO Greg Bentley said in a statement. Seequent, founded and headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand, has more than 430 employees in 16 office locations, serving geologists, hydrogeologists, geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, and civil engineers in over 100 countries, and the world's top mining companies. Its established presence in mineral-intensive geographies such as South America and southern Africa is expected to accelerate Bentley's overall opportunities in these regions with significant infrastructure requirements. In turn, Bentley's established presence in China, and its mainstay reach across civil engineering sectors, is expected to accelerate Seequent's expansion in new markets. It is not just about family history, it is German history, he added. Prinz von Preussens great-great-grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm II, was the last emperor of Germany and by far the richest man in the country before World War I. After Wilhelm abdicated in 1918, he retained substantial wealth: At least 60 railway wagons carried furniture, art, porcelain and silver from Germany to his new home in exile in the Netherlands. The kaiser and his family also held onto substantial cash reserves and dozens of palaces, villas and other properties. But after World War II, the Hohenzollerns forests, farms, factories and palaces in East Germany were expropriated in Communist land reforms, and thousands of artworks and historical objects were subsumed into the collections of state-owned museums. Prinz von Preussens claim for restitution was first lodged by his grandfather after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when thousands of Germans took advantage of new laws allowing them to seek compensation and restitution for confiscated property. Officials assessed it for more than 20 years before negotiations with the family began. If Prinz von Preussen pursues the case in court, success could hinge on how much support his great-grandfather, Crown Prince Wilhelm, gave to the Nazis in the 1930s. Under German law, if a court deems someone lent the Nazis substantial support, then their family is not eligible for compensation or restitution of lost property. The crown prince hoped that Adolf Hitler would reinstate the monarchy, and wrote him flattering letters. He defended Hitlers anti-Semitic policies and wore a swastika armband in public. If a court were to agree that Crown Prince Wilhelms support for Hitler was substantial, then Prinz von Preussens claims would be dismissed. Prinz von Preussen said his great-grandfather had recognized this criminal regime, and it very quickly became clear that he didnt have the moral fortitude, or courage, to go into opposition. But he questioned whether that amounts to substantial support, adding that this was a question that has to be cleared up by legal experts. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-11 22:38:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam speaks at a press conference in Hong Kong, south China, March 11, 2021. Carrie Lam and the governing team of the HKSAR government Thursday expressed support for and gratitude to the passage of the decision on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR by the National People's Congress (NPC). (Xinhua/Li Gang) HONG KONG, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam and the governing team of the HKSAR government Thursday expressed support for and gratitude to the passage of the decision on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR by the National People's Congress (NPC). Lam said in a statement that she and the HKSAR government will offer full cooperation in facilitating the relevant amendments to implement the new electoral system suited to the realities in Hong Kong. She said that having considered the realities in Hong Kong, the central authorities take the initiative from the national level to improve the electoral system of the HKSAR, aiming to ensure that Hong Kong can stay true to the original aspiration in implementing the principle of "one country, two systems" and get Hong Kong back on the right track. It is only by putting in place institutional safeguards to ensure "patriots administering Hong Kong" that the principle of "one country, two systems" can be fully and faithfully applied in the HKSAR which is conducive to the long-term prosperity and stability of the HKSAR, she said. Lam said the HKSAR government fully supports the fundamental principles adopted in the decision for guiding amendments to Annex I and Annex II. She and the HKSAR government will render full cooperation in facilitating the amendments, and press ahead with the necessary amendments to the relevant local electoral legislation thereafter. "We will conduct and regulate election-related activities in accordance with the law efficiently, so as to implement the new electoral system that accords with the actual situation in Hong Kong," she said. Lam noted that the expanded and broadly representative Election Committee which should reflect the overall interest of Hong Kong is the core element of the improvement to the electoral system. The reconstituted election committee will not only nominate and elect the chief executive, but also be endowed with the new function of nominating candidates for the Legislative Council (LegCo) election and electing some of the legislators. The HKSAR government will provide the Standing Committee of the NPC (NPCSC) with its views on the composition of the five sectors of the election committee, she said. Lam said the decision also stipulates the establishment of a qualification review mechanism for the different elections of the HKSAR to provide a robust systemic safeguard for implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" in Hong Kong's political system. It is only when the offices of the chief executive, election committee members and LegCo members are filled by determined patriots can the full and resolute implementation of "one country, two systems" be ensured; national security, sovereignty and development interests of the country be safeguarded; and Hong Kong's long-term stability and prosperity be maintained, she added. Lam said she will lead the governing team to dutifully ensure the full and resolute implementation of the principle of "one country, two systems", administer Hong Kong according to the rule of law, safeguard the constitutional order of the HKSAR as defined under the Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law, safeguard the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, and ensure the overall stability of Hong Kong. "I firmly believe that, after the principle of 'patriots administering Hong Kong' is fully implemented and loopholes of the existing electoral system are plugged, we will be able to resolve the problem of the LegCo making everything political in recent years and effectively deal with the reckless moves or internal rift that have torn Hong Kong apart," she said, adding that it will allow Hong Kong to leverage its unique advantages to develop the economy and improve people's livelihood with the staunch support of the central authorities. Lam said the HKSAR government will spare no effort in continuing to explain to the public about the necessity and urgency of improving the electoral system as well as the solid constitutional basis of the decision. Upon the passage of the amendments to Annex I and Annex II to the HKSAR Basic Law by the NPCSC, the HKSAR government will enact the needed local legislation as soon as practicable, and conduct the relevant elections efficiently in light of the actual circumstances in Hong Kong, she said. Enditem The three Mediterranean countries of Greece, Cyprus and Israel signed this week an agreement to develop a subsea cable that links their electricity grids. Upon completion, the so-called EuroAsia Interconnector will be the world's longest subsea power cable and could boost solar PV development in all three countries substantially.The energy ministers of Greece, Cyprus and Israel signed this week a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming to boost the implementation of an underground electricity cable that would link the counties' power grids. "The ministers agreed to boost cooperation, examining ... 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 seafarers rescued after the cargo ship 'Volgo Balt 179' sank in the Black Sea were brought, on Friday morning, in the Constanta port passenger berth, several Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD) crews and the County Ambulance Service were present at the site. The medical staff are checking the crew members' health status. The representatives of Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) announced on Thursday evening that they had stopped the search for the sailor who disappeared in the Black Sea after the sinking of the cargo ship "Volgo Balt 179", while nine of the ten rescued crew members will be transported to the port of Constanta. Two people died, one is missing and ten were rescued (including a woman), out of a total of 13 crew members (Ukrainian citizens) of the cargo ship "Volgo Balt 179", under the flag of the Comoros Islands, which sank on Thursday , in the Black Sea, more than 70 nautical miles off the Constanta port. The ten sailors received the necessary care on board the GSP Falcon, the woman was soon evacuated by a GSP helicopter, after her health condition worsened. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. ADVERTISEMENT The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Mongono, has said he was quoted out of context on the allegations he made against the immediate past service chiefs. He said this in a statement by his office on Friday. Mr Monguno had in an interview with BBC Hausa revealed that funds running into billions of naira meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition under the past service chiefs were unaccounted for. His revelation came more than one month after President Muhammadu Buhari replaced the service chiefs led by Gabriel Olonishakin, the former chief of defence staff. Others were Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, Chief of Air Staff, Abubakar Sadique and Chief of Naval Staff, Ete Ibok Ibas. Recanting his own remark, the NSA said he did not categorically state that funds were missing under the former service chiefs. Read full statement: PRESS STATEMENT The attention of the Office of the National Security Adviser has been drawn to some media reports regarding Armed Forces equipment during an interview with the BBC Hausa service. We would like to State that the NSA was quoted out of context as he did not categorically say that funds meant for arms procurement were missing under the Former Service Chiefs as reported or transcribed by some media outlets from the BBC interview. During the interview, the National Security Adviser only reiterated the Federal Governments commitment to deal decisively with insecurity and stated President Muhammadu Buharis continued commitment to provide all necessary support to the Armed Forces, including the provision of arms and equipment. 2. In the interview the National Security Adviser clearly informed the BBC reporter that Mr President has provided enormous resources for arms procurement, but the orders were either inadequate or yet to be delivered and that did not imply that the funds were misappropriated under the former Service Chiefs. The NSA also informed the reporter that, Mr President is following up on the procurement process as is usual with contracts relating to military equipments, in most cases the process involves manufacturing, due diligence and tedious negotiations that may change delivery dates. 3. As the National Security Adviser conveyed during the Aso Villa Media Briefing, questions relating to Defence procurement should be channelled to the Ministry of Defence. All Security and Intelligence agencies are working together to bring an end to insecurity with the full support of Mr. President and Stakeholders including the media and civil society as part of a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach to address our security challenges. Office of the National Security Adviser Presidency Abuja 12 March 2021 POP-UP VACCINE SITE COMING: De Blasio and other democrats want Cuomo out of office; domestic travel quarantine in NY ends, and latest coronavirus numbers. (Hot Zone) Posted by Staten Island Advance on Thursday, March 11, 2021 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday said that a new sexual groping allegation against Gov. Andrew Cuomo meant that Cuomo could no longer serve as governor. In the latest allegation, an unnamed staffer said that Cuomo reached under her blouse and groped her. Cuomo has denied that he ever touched anybody inappropriately and has said he will not resign. Fifty-five state Democratic lawmakers have called for Cuomo to resign after the governor being accused of sexual misconduct by six women, including former and current staffers. Assembly Democrats have launched an impeachment probe. During a press conference with de Blasio, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that the feds would establish 100 new vaccine sites in New York and that sites would receive their own dedicated vaccine supplies. Schumer said that the supply of vaccine would be increased for the state in a super-charged effort to defeat COVID-19. Cuomo on Thursday announced that the state would establish a number of temporary pop-up vaccination sites that would inoculate 4,000 New Yorkers in a week. One of the sites will be at New York Preparatory School at 285 Clove Rd. in Port Richmond. The coronavirus pandemic has turned our world upside-down, and we need information like we never have before. How many new cases were there on Staten Island today? How many deaths? How many people have been released from the hospital? What are Bidens plans to end the pandemic? What are Cuomo and de Blasio doing to keep New Yorkers safe? What other news is top of mind? More importantly, when are we going to get back to normal, whatever normal is? Its almost too much to keep up with. So every day around 4 p.m., Mark and I take to Facebook Live to give you all the information you need. You can then look for this written wrap-up on SILive.com at the end of the day. Well give you the numbers and all the latest news. Well answer your questions. Well follow up on your news tips. Well share the good news too, the way that the Staten Island community is coming together in this time of crisis. Or well just share this strange and unique pandemic moment with you, as fellow Staten Islanders. Were all in this together. Well all get through this together. New Delhi,March 12: Friday's first summit of the Quad grouping comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan is amplifying India's "strategic autonomy," which nails New Delhi's policy of simultaneous engagement with countries belonging to rival camps. While China will be the elephant in the room during the first Quadrilateral Security Dialogue at the highest level, India will continue with its selective, cautious and calibrated engagement with Beijing, so long as it promotes New Delhi's core national interests. However, with the disengagement with China in eastern Ladakh far from complete, India is expected to adopt a cool and pragmatic approach towards Beijing, especially till the time China takes practical steps to address Indian key concerns, including concrete moves to settle the border and dropping its resistance to India's inclusion in the UN Security Council as a permanent member. India is also looking for concrete steps that China has reversed its Middle Kingdom mentality of self-assumed superiority over fellow civilizational states and recognise New Delhi geo-cultural influence in Asia. Nevertheless, India will dialogue with China in international fora such as the Brazil- Russia- India- China- South Africa (BRICS) grouping. "BRICS as a group has a lot of relevance when it comes to economic cooperation notwithstanding the fast-changing geopolitical contours. It is important to push Quad but it is also incorrect to see it as anti-China. BRICS has a different orientation from Quad but both are extremely relevant," Narendra Taneja, energy expert and spokesperson of the BJP said. A government official said that the focus to boost QUAD should not suggest that India wants to disengage itself from other groupings, where it is a lead player. "Not just the big groups, India will also aggressively push for its Neighbours' First policy, in which countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal will play a major role. New Delhi's thrust on its neighbours shows that it is keen to take the smaller countries with which it shares its borders along while it engages with the so-called big groups," Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, senior fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) said. India and China Sources also said that New Delhi has not taken any knee jerk reaction in terms of its foreign policy despite the rising anti-China narrative. Trade between India and China have remained steady, despite the political turbulence in the relationship. An ORF report published last month noted that China's share in Indian imports for intermediate goods, capital goods, and final consumer goods is 12 per cent, 30 per cent and 26 per cent respectively. India depends on China in many key industries from electrical machinery and appliances to pharmaceutical drug active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), it added. Yet, Ashwani Mahajan, national co-convenor, Swadeshi Jagran Manch, however said that India must tread with caution when it comes to expanding economic relations with China. "While BRICS is important and we must continue to engage with the members, we must also ensure India is in a position to attain self -sufficiency. China is now in the spotlight and more and more nations are registering their concern," Mahajan said. Analysts also point out that India needs to be cognizant, and factor in its bilateral relationship with China, the growing international pressure on Beijing on account of its poor Human Rights record. China is feeling the heat for its treatment towards the Uighur Muslims. Though it signed the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) with European Union, many countries have raised voices against Beijing for gross violation of human rights. US President Joe Biden has indicated that the broad contours laid in relation to Beijing by the previous Donald Trump regime would continue to remain in place, which has rattled China. "If we don't get moving, they are going to eat our lunch," Biden even told the senators just after taking charge. (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative/ -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text (People's Daily Online) On March 8, Twitter user Carl Zha posted a combo photo and captioned it with the words "US vs China: Congress edition". The tweet prompted heated discussions over the totally different fates of two men - one a white American wearing indigenous clothing to try to look more authentic, the other a Chinese representative of his ethnic group wearing a traditional roe deer hat. The American in the left photo wearing a furry hat is Jacob Chansley, who was arrested after storming the U.S. Capitol, while the man in the right picture is Dai Xiyuan from the Oroqen ethnic group, who was seen attentively taking notes at a plenary meeting of the delegation from north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region during China's "two sessions", a key event on China's political calendar. According to Dai, the roe deer hats are no longer being made, as the animal has been put under level-two state protection and has become an intangible cultural heritage item in China. The photo also served as a vivid rejection of the groundless accusation of "genocide" against ethnic minorities in China fabricated by certain Western politicians and media outlets. Some net users claimed that what the U.S. did to native Indians constitutes actual genocide. On March 8, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying posted a tweet that said: "Every year representatives of ALL ethnic minorities in #China attend #Two Sessions (over 13% of all deputies), proudly dressed in traditional costume. Wonder anyone seen such multi-ethnicity in congress of those countries smearing China?" In fact, the Oroqen ethnic group has not only kept its traditional culture, but also embraced improving livelihoods with the help of the central government. As China's last hunting society, the Oroqen ethnic group has undergone remarkable changes in its economic and social outlook over the past years. From 1951 to 1958, the Oroqen people have become completely settled. Between 1958 and 1988, the Oroqen people began to engage in agricultural production and various types of businesses. In 1996, the Oroqen Autonomous Banner implemented a hunting ban, showing that they had completely abandoned their hunting lifestyle. Since 2018, under the guidance of the targeted poverty alleviation policy, the banner has been getting rid of poverty. The former hunting society, which has lived in the mountains for generations, is gradually boarding the fast train of modernization, and has embarked on a new journey towards a well-off society in all aspects. MINNNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The University of Minnesota says all of its campuses, including the one in Rochester, will return to fully in-person learning in the fall of 2021. The U of M system has been in hybrid mode with both online and in-person classes for the 2020-2021 school year. University officials say returning to on-campus operations will be consistent with state guidance and public health considerations related to the pandemic as autumn draws closer. Given projections on the number of Minnesotans who will be vaccinated, and relying on continued guidance from our public health colleagues, we are increasingly reassured that we can bring students, faculty and staff back to our campuses while effectively minimizing the risk to our community,'' says University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel. The University of Minnesota will continue to provide widespread access at all campses to COVID-19 testing for all students, faculty and staff and face coverings and physical distancing will still be required under further notice. School officials are also encouraging anyone who is feeling sick to stay home and for all to continue practicing good personal hygiene, such as regularly washing hands. The high level of compliance and compassion that our community has already exhibited by taking personal responsibility for reducing the spread of the pandemic has significantly lowered the positivity rate on our campuses, says Jill DeBoer, director of the Universitys Health Emergency Response Office. In fact, several of our campuses have observed zero cases of COVID-19 over the past few weeks and we continue to have no record of cases spread in the classroom. This example is a testament to the shared commitment and actions of everyone at the University. U of M leaders say they are aware that some members of the University community remain concerned about the effects COVID-19, for themselves, their loved ones and those around them. I want to reassure all members of our University community that we will continue to closely monitor the status of the pandemic, as well as vaccination rates, throughout this spring and summer, says Gabel. Unforeseen changes in the pandemic may cause us to adjust our planning, but for now we are confident that this decision is supported by the trends related to pandemic, vaccination rates and the high degree of compliance that Minnesotans overall have shown to reduce the spread of the virus. President Biden's border policy is getting mixed reviews south of the border. The biggest problem is that opening the border may be helping criminal elements in Mexico. This is from my friend Allan Wall: On the one hand, the Mexican government likes the U.S. to have a more open border. On the other hand, that also causes problems for Mexico. Yes, it causes problems because Mexico will now become the highway to the U.S., from Central Americans to others. Coincidentally, I spoke with several Mexican friends who have confirmed this. First, they don't want strangers walking across the country. I've been told that some of these strangers don't speak Spanish. In other words, they are not Central Americans. Second, criminal elements are fully invested in the business of bringing people to the border. This is "coyotes on steroids," as a Mexican friend said on the phone. He shared a report that some of these people killed in Southern California recently had paid up to $10,000 for the trip to "el Norte." Where in the world does a person in Mexico get $10,000? The rich or middle class don't need to pay anyone to go to the U.S. They get on a plane and fly north. So how are these people coming up with that kind of money? I've heard all kinds of horror stories, from mortgaging their farm tractors to paying the balance once they cross the border. It's a horrible policy that will promote criminal elements in Mexico. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk). Image: Michael Righi. She's no stranger to showing off her curvaceous figure in sizzling snaps. And Demi Rose got back to business as she put on a very busty display in a racy new photoshoot for PrettyLittleThing. The model, 25, slipped her ample cleavage into a plunging white corset bodysuit as she posed up a storm for a sultry new campaign. Flaunt: Demi Rose got back to business as she put on a very busty display in a racy new photoshoot for PrettyLittleThing Demi's heaving assets were barely contained in the unbuttoned number, with the star also showing off her waist and voluptuous curves. The beauty added a touch of bling to her look, donning a silver chain with charms spelling out her name, while she also wore a pair of sunglasses atop her head. She allowed her chestnut locks to cascade over her shoulders and down her back, completing her sultry look with a dewy palette of make-up. Work it: The model, 25, slipped her ample cleavage into a plunging white corset bodysuit as she posed up a storm for a sultry new campaign Demi has been sharing a slew of snaps from her sunny travels in recent months including trips to the Maldives and Tanzania. She is currently in Ibiza, with the Wolverhampton-born beauty sharing often sharing a number of sexy snaps to her social media. The brunette recently opened up to MailOnline about how she shot to stardom at the age of 14 after being bullied in school. Mirror mirror: She is currently in Ibiza, with the Wolverhampton-born beauty sharing often sharing a number of sexy snaps to her social media Demi recalled: 'I was bullied in school, I wanted to make friends outside of it so I ended up spending a lot of time online. 'I was even interested in virtual reality as a kid, I was always on the computer and then MySpace came around and I found my calling.' From the age of 18, the Birmingham native signed with a modelling agency and her career went from strength to strength. 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. In Mexico and around the world, women have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although only 39% of global employment is occupied by women, they accounted for 54% of the losses, reveal data from McKinsey & Company. The World Bank (WB) lists this as the worst recession since World War II. It also warns that around the world $ 172 trillion is being lost due to differences in lifetime earnings between women and men. In these circumstances, the need to reduce the gender disparity becomes even more acute as a path to recovery is sought and the forecasts are not entirely Alaguen. According to the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2020 (MIWE), the COVID crisis could set back a generation of women in business. Overrepresentation in the sectors most affected by the economic recession, the pronounced gender gap in the digital sphere in an increasingly virtual world, and the growing pressures of responsibilities that correspond to childcare are just some of the factors. that have left women in a particularly vulnerable situation. The crisis as a catalyst 87% of business owners report negative effects on the health crisis, according to the Mastercard report. However, she warns that the pandemic could be a catalyst for exponential progress for women in business. In the face of COVID-19, businesswomen have shown marked adaptability, despite the great existing obstacles. 42% have switched to a digital business model and 34% have identified new business opportunities since the pandemic, says the report that analyzed 58 world economies. But it is not the only area that has opportunities. They are also there to correct inherent gender biases if decision makers support and drive gender-specific initiatives. The COVID-19 era empowers women in leadership roles and has highlighted the ability of women to lead in extraordinary circumstances. An example is Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Sunna Marin of Finland, who have presided over some of the most successful efforts to contain Covid-19 and instill order, security, confidence and calm. MIWE 2020 also highlights the gender policies that have driven women's business success. The case of Israel stands out, which tops the list as the best country for female entrepreneurs around the world. In the case of Latin America, Colombia ranks 14th in the global ranking (RG), standing out as the best country for women entrepreneurs in the region, with a score of 66.31. This country has noticed a high movement in female entrepreneurship driven by need and a high representation of women business leaders reflected by 57%. Chile occupies position 27 in the ranking, followed by Argentina, at 29; Brazil, in 32; and Mexico, in position 34, which precedes Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Peru, in positions 35, 36 and 39, respectively. Art: Entrepreneur Woman 4.0, forming alliances and leadership with a cause In this context, seeking to inspire and foster further progress, Mastercard has been an advocate for women in business and has proven this by offering a variety of programs to support their advancement. Join us to discover how to face the challenges of this new normal in the Women 4.0 panel, forming alliances and leadership with a cause. The event will take place virtually on March 17 at 5:00 pm through the Entrepreneur en Espanol networks. They accompany us to the discussion table: Silvina Moschini , CEO of SheWorks! and TransparentBusiness. , CEO of SheWorks! and TransparentBusiness. Marcela Carrasco , president of the Andean Division of Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean. , president of the Andean Division of Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean. Claudia Corona , founder of Impronta Verde and Co-Leader of the Club 30% , founder of Impronta Verde and Co-Leader of the Club 30% Gabriela Lucke , director of the INCAE Women's Leadership and Collaborative Center. We are waiting for you next Wednesday, March 17 at 5:00 pm on the Entrepreneur in Spanish networks. Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 12 said that there was no reason as of now for nations to suspend the use of AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine as several European nations halted its roll-out over fears of blood clots. United Nations (UN) health agency spokesperson Margaret Harris told the reporters that Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine and added, There is no indication to not use it. The reassurance from WHO over AstraZeneca jabs amid the COVID-19 pandemic came as most recently, Denmark, Iceland and Norway suspended the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine even as the European Union (EU) medical regulator investigates whether the shot could be linked to the several reports of blood clots. Denmark had announced a 14-day suspension on Thursday after at least one fatal case, among others of blood clots. Similarly, Iceland and Norway followed suit without mentioning how long the suspension would last. Danish minister called it acting early As per a CNN report, Danish health minister Magnus Heunicke clearly mentioned that the suspension of AstraZeneca jabs was a precautionary measure and noted that at the time, it was not possible to make any conclusion. In a tweet he had said, We act early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated while the Danish health ministry stressed that the decision was temporary. Speaking to the media outlet, Kjartan Njalsson, assistant to the director of health in Iceland said that even though there had not been any reports of patients developing blood clots in the European country, they were waiting for the recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). EMA had later said that it did not recommend suspending the use of the vaccine. EMA clarified that there was currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine...The vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing. However, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health had said in a separate statement that it decided to pause AstraZeneca vaccinations following the report of a death in Denmark as a result of a blood clot. NASHVILLE - A union wants to hold a vote for representation of fewer than 100 workers out of thousands at the Nissan vehicle assembly plant in Tennessee, a move the company opposes because the effort doesn't stretch more broadly across the facility's workforce. NASHVILLE - A union wants to hold a vote for representation of fewer than 100 workers out of thousands at the Nissan vehicle assembly plant in Tennessee, a move the company opposes because the effort doesn't stretch more broadly across the facility's workforce. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers says an overwhelming majority of the 87 tool and die maintenance technicians at Nissan's plant in Smyrna, about 25 miles (40 kilometres) southeast of Nashville, have signalled their support for unionization. The effort marks the latest foray in the uphill fight for unions to gain traction at foreign-owned auto assembly plants in the traditionally anti-union South. FILE - In this May 15, 2012, file photo, a worker walks by a new Nissan Altima on the line after the company celebrated the start of production of the fifth generation of the model at the plant in Smyrna, Tenn. A union wants to hold a vote for representation of fewer than 100 out of thousands of workers at the Nissan vehicle assembly plant in Tennessee, a move the company opposes because the effort doesn't stretch more broadly across the facility's workforce. The National Labor Relations Board began hearing arguments Friday, March 12, 2021, in a case over whether a vote can be held for the subset of employees. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File) Whether or not a vote can be held hinges on ongoing arguments in front of the National Labor Relations Board. An attorney for Nissan argued that the employees are not sufficiently distinct from other plant workers during a virtual hearing Friday, reasoning that any unionization vote would need to extend to about 4,300 production and maintenance employees. An attorney for the union contended that the 87 employees have extremely specialized skills for a job that others at the plant cannot do, making them eligible for their own standalone union representation. Nissan does work with organized labour in the rest of the world, but votes to unionize broadly at the U.S. two plants have not been close. Workers in Smyrna rejected a plantwide union under the United Auto Workers in 2001 and 1989. The Japan-based automaker's other U.S. assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi, rejected facilitywide representation by the UAW during a 2017 vote. "Our history reflects that Nissan respects the right of employees to determine who should represent their interests in the workplace," Nissan Smyrna spokesperson Lloryn Love-Carter said. Nissan employees have a very long history of self-representation and voting no to unions. The margin was much closer in 2019 and 2014 votes at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where workers twice rejected a factorywide union under the UAW. The year after the 2014 vote failed, a group of 160 Chattanooga maintenance workers won a vote to form a smaller union, but Volkswagen refused to bargain. The German automaker had argued the bargaining unit needed to include production workers as well. The dust-up led to the 2019 factorywide vote. Unions also have run into opposition from Republican politicians when they attempt to organize at foreign automakers in the South. Before the 2019 Volkswagen vote, Republican Gov. Bill Lee told employees there in a closed-door meeting that he believes when I have a direct relationship with you, the worker, and youre working for me, that is when the environment works the best." During the 2014 Volkswagen election, then-U.S. Sen. Bob Corker waited until voting had actually started when he all but guaranteed that the company would announce within two weeks of a union rejection that it would build a new midsized sport utility vehicle at its only U.S. factory, instead of sending the work to Mexico. At the Nissan plant this time around, the machinists union says workers have cited numerous workplace concerns, from forced overtime to increased health care costs. Laura Ewan, an attorney representing the union, said the workers were excluded from a buyout offer to plant employees in general because of issues hiring people for the specialized jobs. A union contract will ensure fair wages, benefits, working conditions and the ability to retire with dignity, said lead campaign organizer Tim Wright, machinists union Grand Lodge representative. Tennessee does have a big union presence at an American automaker. The General Motors plant in Spring Hill has about 3,000 production and skilled trades workers represented by UAW. The machinists union represents about 47,000 tool and die makers and 3,000 automotive manufacturing workers at companies that includes Ford, Penske Truck, Hyundai and Chevrolet. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance speaks at a press conference in New York City on Feb. 24, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) Manhattan DA Leading Trump Investigation Announces Intention to Leave Office The district attorney leading a high-profile investigation into former President Donald Trump plans on leaving office later this year. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, a Democrat, told the New Yorker that he will not seek reelection and plans on retiring on Dec. 31. Vance said hed essentially made the decision before taking on the Trump case. The 66-year-old cited the pressure of being the Manhattan district attorney. It turned out to be tougher than I thought it would be, he said, adding: Theres nothing worse than a politician who doesnt know when to leave. Vance is conducting a secretive probe of Trump. He has repeatedly declined to shed insight on the investigation, though court filings indicate prosecutors believe the former president may have falsified records and committed fraud. Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Vances office was able to obtain Trumps tax returns last month after the Supreme Court decided not to block him from doing so. Last year, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote an opinion for a 72 ruling that rejected Trumps argument that he was immune to state-level investigations while he was in office. Trump left office on Jan. 20. Trump in a statement said the city has been looking at almost every transaction Ive ever done and asserted the nations highest court never should have let this fishing expedition happen. This is something which has never happened to a President before, it is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo, he added. Because of the citys political makeup, Vances successor is all but assured to be a Democrat. At least nine candidates are running for the office, including former Manhattan Assistant District Attorneys Liz Crotty, Diana Florence, and Lucy Lang, Assemblyman Dan Quart, and attorney Janos Marton. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. In former foreign correspondent Gina Wilkinsons first novel, When the Apricots Bloom, one of the heroines ponders was it possible the television contained a tiny camera, feeding like a parasite off the TVs electrical supply? Did agents of the mukhabarat watch her and her husband in bed? Its Baghdad, 2002. America is about to invade Iraq. The mukhabarat, Iraqis Intelligence Service aka the secret police are monitoring citizens every move. Everyone is considered a potential spy. Hidden surveillance is everywhere. War stories are usually told by men about men. They are the front-line combatants they fight with guns, spears, grenades, fists. Rarely do we hear stories of those who are most oppressed. And stories from recent wars told by women about women are even rarer. This level of paranoia can escalate to something unbearable, something to induce derangement. Here is a world made by men for men, where fathers put their family honour higher than their daughters wishes, where husbands die or go missing, where women learn to silence themselves. Prudence stilled her tongue. This is a world where lives are policed in ways most of us only encounter in dystopian novels. But When the Apricots Bloom turns this dark setting into one of hope, optimism and rich futurity as it follows the story of Huda, Rania and Ally three women pursuing their journeys towards freedom. Credit: Huda, a translator for Australias deputy ambassador to Iraq, is forced by the mukhabarat to befriend the ambassadors young wife to spy on her. The mukhabarat uses Hudas teenage son as leverage, threatening to force him into the fedayeen Saddams Men of Sacrifice paramilitary group who fill his head with talk of martyrs and how he can avenge his familys suffering. Huda ropes a childhood friend, Rania, into helping her son get a passport so he can get out of Iraq. The price would take at least a year to pay (She felt like a starving woman hovering over a warm load of bread.) Foolhardy Hill offers camping essentials for outdoors enthusiasts in Charlemont. Charlemont Campground Wins Entrepreneurial Challenge Kurt Gaertner of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, left, congratulates Patrick and Katie Banks of Foolhardy Hill campground. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. A Charlemont campground Thursday was awarded a $25,000 grant in the Lever/Mohawk Trails Woodland Partnership Entrepreneur Challenge. Foolhardy Hill , an off-the-grid base camp for outdoor enthusiasts started by Katie and Patrick Banks, was selected from among five finalists by a panel of three judges after making virtual pitches. "Charlemont is the mecca for outdoor recreation," Katie Banks said in giving the team's presentation. "People come to fish and paddle its waters, hike its mountains and simply enjoy the history and natural beauty of the area. The number of people visiting Charlemont has skyrocketed the last 10 years as a result of the rapid development of tourism activities. "During this same time period, we have witnessed over nine local restaurants and shops closing their doors. Something's not adding up. Something is missing: local accommodations." The Banks are hoping to fill that gap by catering to campers who want to stay outdoors and take advantage of the region's kayaking, mountain biking, zip lining and fishing without enduring some of the hassles associated with camping. "We provide the basic essentials: shelter, cooking supplies, bathroom facilities and potable water," Katie Banks said. "By providing these basics, we're reducing our customers' set-up time. They can roll out their sleeping bag and head over to the community fire and make some new friends." Foolhardy Hill was selected from among four other tourist-based businesses plus Remote Harvest Sensors, which is marketing a way to collect data about the environmental impact of logging practices. The other tourism businesses included Charlemont-based Berkshire Bike Tours, which offers lessons and guided mountain and road bike tours in partnership with Berkshire East ski area; the Wigwam Western Summit, which revived an abandoned gem at the eastern gateway to North Adams; and Adventure East, an outdoor and experiential travel company that aims ultimately to help make the region a destination for international tourists. Adventure East was selected as the first runner-up in a brief awards ceremony led by Kurt Gaertner, of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in Boston, which funded the grant. "All of you proposed interesting, creative entrepreneurial ideas -- welcome and needed ways to benefit the Mohawk Trail region," Gaertner said. "I understand all of them made really fantastic pitches as part of this effort. That makes me pleased that all are benefiting from work with Lever, and I wish all of the entrepreneurs well in their endeavors." As with other Lever challenges, the five finalists worked with the staff of the North Adams non-profit and outside mentors to develop their business plan and prepare for Thursday's pitch competition. Williamstown's Henry Art, who chairs the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership's Board of Directors, agreed with Gaertner that all of the five finalists could benefit the region. "I think it shows the wonderful diversity of the use of our natural resources for a combined stewardship, sustainability and economic development all rolled into one, which is really what the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership is all about," Art said. "My impression is that each of you will have enormously benefited from the process, and the region benefits from the attention you have given to the landscape." The potential synergies that might be achieved among the four tourism-based businesses came up during a couple of the presentations, and Katie Banks echoed that sentiment in accepting the top prize. "Being a part of this challenge has been incredible for us," she said. "We kept saying that we're winners all along. This is just the cherry on top for us. "To all the other participants, we can't wait to see what you guys do, too. It's been great." During her presentation, Banks said the pair plans to apply the grant money to installation of a solar array and construction of a bathhouse that will enable them to create new camping sites in the spring and generate more revenue. During a Q&A period with the judges that was part of each business's presentation, the Banks were asked about local competition in the camping space. "Currently, there are maybe, in terms of proximity, eight or nine different campgrounds, and, on top of that, have motels, hotels and things of that nature," Katie Banks said. "A lot of them don't go after the specific targeted customer that we're after. They offer a different energy and vibe, so to speak. The best way I can describe it is: You don't put a Chuck E. Cheese and biker bar under one roof and expect everything to be kosher." Patrick Banks has 17 years of experience in the outdoor recreation industry and 12 years experience working in customer and public service. Katie Banks has over 14 years of experience in hospitality and property management. The campground they created offers 10-by-12 cabins that sleep three to four people and, as of now, one tent site that accommodates six people. The winning couple met in 2007 as rafting guides on the Deerfield River and have been adventuring ever since, they said. "We are the secret sauce," Katie Banks said. "Patrick and I are both from the area. "We know how to connect with our customer because, in many ways, we are our customer." ADVERTISEMENT The Federal Government and the Ogun Government met on Thursday in Abeokuta to conclude plans for the construction of 500 housing units for victims of the 2018 flood incident in the state capital. Kayode Fagbemi, Director of Relief and Rehabilitation, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who led the Federal Government team, stated that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved funds for the project. Background The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a flood resulting from a heavy downpour wreaked havoc in parts of Abeokuta on July 13, 2018, destroying many houses and other property. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who visited the affected areas after the incident, had promised that the Federal Government would help to find permanent solutions by providing houses in safer places for the victims. NAN reports that the meeting followed a visit on Wednesday by NEMA and Ogun government officials to the proposed site at Soyoye area, in the Abeokuta-North council area donated by the Ogun government. Mr Fagbemi had told journalists at the site that the Federal Government planned to build 500 units of 2-bedroom houses to accommodate the victims. He also assured that the project would be implemented through direct labour for the benefit of the host community and would be completed within six months. Mr Fagbemi urged the Ogun government to set up a state implementation committee to work with the national implementation committee for the speedy completion of the project. He said the meeting became necessary to explore areas of collaboration, adding that the state government was expected to clear the land and also provide other amenities such as schools, markets and hospitals in the community. According to him, the same gesture is ongoing in Katsina State, where the project is moving on very fast in the state. Meanwhile, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Tokunbo Talabi, who led the state team, commended the Federal Government for the support. Mr Talabi assured the Federal Government delegation of the support of the state government. He noted that the gesture would reinforce the belief of Nigerians in President Buhari as a promise keeper. (NAN) After temporarily losing custody of her two children, Southern Charm's Kathryn Dennis proclaimed her joy at being a mom. The 29-year-old reality star is currently having supervised visits with her kids and took to Instagram to share a smiling snap alongside her daughter Kensie, six, on Thursday. Earlier this week an attorney for Kathryn's ex Thomas Ravenel confirmed to People that he had temporarily regained primary custody of their children while his ex would have supervised daytime visits on the weekends. Focusing on the positive: After temporarily losing custody of her two children, Southern Charm's Kathryn Dennis proclaimed her joy at being a mom in a new Instagram post with her daughter Kenzie shared Thursday 'Of all the names Ive been called, Mommy is my favorite,' Dennis gushed on social media. The Bravo star uploaded a selfie to her grid with her daughter Kenzie. Both mom and child smiled broadly in the image with the gradeschooler smushing her cheeks together in jest. Her post comes after it was revealed that her ex husband filed to request Kathryn have supervised visitation if the two kids they share. In a statement given to People, Ravenel's lawyer confirmed the new custody deal but declined to disclose the circumstances that led to the change. 'Of all the names Ive been called, Mommy is my favorite,' Dennis gushed on social media. 'I can confirm the information released last week that Ms. Dennis currently has weekend, daytime supervised visitation with the parties' minor children and that Mr. Ravenel plans to relocate with the children to Aiken, South Carolina this summer,' Ravenel's attorney said. 'Due to the sensitive nature of the issues involved, all documents in this case have been sealed, meaning the public cannot access them, and neither Mr. Ravenel, Ms. Dennis, nor their respective attorneys are permitted to release them to third parties,' the statement continued. 'As such, and in keeping with the spirit of the protective order, I will not go into detail regarding the circumstances that necessitated the changes to the parties' custodial arrangement.' Dennis and Ravenel previously shared joint custody of their children, and the arrangement worked well for the exes, according to the Southern Charm star. New arrangement: Earlier this week an attorney for Kathryn's ex Thomas Ravenel confirmed to People that he had temporarily regained primary custody of their children while his ex would have supervised daytime visits on the weekends 'We actually have a great coparenting relationship,' she told Us Weekly in November 2019. 'It's good for him, it's good for me. We're moving forward, which is the first time I've said that in a long time and it feels good.' The positive words strikes a contrast to their otherwise ugly custody battle, with Ravenel accusing Dennis of being addicted to prescription medications and marijuana, among other allegations. Dennis has denied the accusations. Custody battle: The reason behind the new arrangement remains a mystery due to the sealed court documents Ravenel and Dennis first began dating in 2013 before splitting up for good in 2016. Nowadays they both have moved on romantically. Ravenel has since welcomed another child, a baby boy named Jonathan Jackson, with Heather Mascoe. The couple subsequently became engaged. Meanwhile, Dennis has begun a relationship with Chleb Ravenell. Natalie Barr filled in as Sunrise co-host on Friday, just a day after Samantha Armytage completed her last ever shift on the show. The 52-year-old, who many believe will permanently replace Sam on the breakfast program in coming weeks, happily sat alongside host David 'Kochie' Koch and presented the program. Natalie was at ease in the role, which she has been doing every Friday before Sam's resignation, after the blonde switched to a four-day working week last year. She fits right in! Natalie Barr replaced Samantha Armytage on the Sunrise panel on Friday - just one day after the former host bid farewell to the breakfast program Sam, 44, marked her last day on Sunrise on Thursday, and broke down in tears during an emotional farewell. She had announced her resignation live on air on Monday, saying she wanted to step back from TV to spend more time with her family. Sam, who was supported by her husband, Richard Lavender, and her Sunrise co-hosts on Thursday, took aim at the wider Australian media as she bid farewell to viewers. Gone: Sam, 44, marked her last day on Sunrise on Thursday and broke down in tears during an emotional farewell 'I do want to say that I never fully understood some of the scrutiny and the snarkiness and the bullying from some aspects of the media,' she said. 'But today we move on from that, because there is a new chapter starting and it has been overwhelmingly a good experience in my life.' She continued: 'Most of all, I thank all of our viewers. You are just wonderful people. There are so many lovely people. So many more lovely ones than the nasty ones.' At another point, she wiped tears from her eyes when her sister Georgie Cavaliere called into the show with her daughter Lucia to surprise Sam, all away from London. Emotional: Sam, who was supported by her husband, Richard Lavender, and her Sunrise co-hosts on Thursday, took aim at the wider Australian media as she bid farewell to viewers Kochie asked Lucia 'What kind of auntie is auntie Sammy?', to which she cutely replied to the anchor: 'The greatest auntie in the world!' Welling up at the kind sentiments, Sam said: 'She is the greatest niece in the world. I miss you guys. Will see you soon, I hope.' Kochie meanwhile said during his farewell tribute to Sam on the show: 'For the past eight years she's been a much-loved part of the Sunrise family, but the time has come for her to focus on her family. 'Goodbyes are never easy. There will probably be some tears, but this morning we're going to celebrate an incredible journey with some very special guests and a lot of surprises.' New focus: She had announced her resignation live on air on Monday, saying she wanted to step back from TV to spend more time with her family Sam, who joined Sunrise in 2013, spoke about the toxic environment of the TV industry in an article for the News Corp-owned Stellar magazine last month. 'There's a lot about television that's all about you and that's an awful way to live your life. TV isn't a place that's necessarily very healthy,' she said. 'It's full of sociopaths and narcissists. It can be a dangerous environment, let me tell you.' Making headlines: Sam, who joined Sunrise in 2013, spoke about the toxic envirHer remarks greatly upset her colleagues and executives at Seven, and said to be described by some insiders as tantamount to 'career suicide'.onment of the TV industry in an article for the News Corp-owned Stellar magazine last month She also said unmarried, childless women in television were treated differently and given more work compared to their married counterparts. Her remarks greatly upset her colleagues and executives at Seven, and said to be described by some insiders as tantamount to 'career suicide'. Her announcement followed months of rumours she was preparing to leave Sunrise to spend more time with Richard at his country estate in the Southern Highlands. Sam's last day on Sunrise was Thursday, but her $800,000-a-year contract with Seven doesn't expire until October. Industry website TV Blackbox reported on Monday that newsreader Natalie Barr was expected to take over Sam's position alongside co-anchor David 'Kochie' Koch. AWD Its all thanks to the companys decision to give the QX60 the latest evolution of the proprietary Intelligent All-Wheel-Drive system when the model arrives in dealerships later this year (at a yet to be specified date). Naturally, its described as Infiniti's most advanced version to date, featuring innovations such as a direct coupling system to send power to the grippier wheels instantly.According to the premium Japanese automaker , the new I-occupies less space than before and should deliver enhanced driving capabilities in all types of conditions alongside the all-new nine-speed automatic transmission and the same 3.5-liter V6 as seen on the current version.The all-new QX60 is really designed to encounter a wide variety of situations with its all-wheel-drive system. Whether it's deep snow, sand even packed snow where it's a bit slicker, explained Chris Fischer, Vehicle Performance Development Manager for Infiniti. If you're driving in one of these situations, the system will monitor the road surface and very quickly move the power from the wheels that don't have traction to the wheels that do.That is because the I-AWD used by the QX60 discards the traditional use of electromagnetic coupling for a direct mechanism that uses sensors to predict when additional grip might be needed. It can transfer up to 50% of power to the rear wheels, then its up to the Active Brake Limited Slip system to redirect the torque between the rear wheels.Infiniti also promises its engineers gathered hundreds of thousands of miles during years of testing in North America, including cold-weather trials that brought them from Michigan to northern Quebec and even Alaska. So, the QX60 should be suitable for a snow outing if the next winter proves as challenging as this one. External Article 12 March 2021 We've had pre-travel testing, quarantine on arrival and "covid-free" flights. Now comes something new in the travel industry's battle against the pandemic: "covid-free" trains.The concept is being launched in Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by Covid-19, which, one year on, is in the grip of a feared third wave. Italy already has "covid-free" flights where passengers are tested before boarding and on arrival from Rome to Atlanta and New York JFK.But the country's main train operator has announced plans for "covid-free" trains including to Italy's main tourist destinations this summer. Ousted Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's new venture is Cloud Kitchens Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has caused uproar with his new ghost kitchen start-up on a Chicago street where residents say his drivers are causing traffic and other staff are flouting COVID-19 rules. Kalanick's latest venture is Cloud Kitchens, a Saudi-funded business that lets restaurants share kitchen space for delivery and take-out orders, like a co-working space for hospitality. Over the last year, the company has bought 50 spaces across the US and it is continuing to grow. But in Chicago, residents at one location have complained that the business is ruining their prized neighborhood. They claim that the sudden rush of drivers from UberEats and DoorDash is causing congestion, and that the cooks who work in the kitchens are stealing their parking spaces. They also allege that parking staff who have been hired by Cloud Kitchens have been shouting at the patrons of other local businesses, without wearing masks, which breaks COVID-19 rules. Now, neighbors say they are afraid about how much worse it will become and local politicians fear Kalanick - who was left Uber after a year of scandal and amid widespread criticism of his brash, bullish approach to start-ups - is doing the same thing with his new business. Cloud Kitchens has seen a sudden boom in success thanks to stay-at-home orders across the country which drove many people to order more food delivery and take-out. The kitchen in Chicago is only half-full just now. 'Knowing where this neighborhood was and where it's going is so deeply troubling. 'To see these big giants come in, and not only come in but disrupt the neighborhood in such a way, it's so disheartening. You know this is going to happen elsewhere,' Kate Francini, the practice manager at Royal Treatment Veterinary Center across the street, told Business Insider. The concept of Cloud Kitchens is WeWork for the hospitality industry - restaurants share kitchens to pump out delivery and take-out orders which are then picked up by Uber Eats or DoorDash drivers The business attracted 160 complaints in March. Now, the alderman in the district where it is, says tensions have reached a 'boiling point' and that he is receiving complaints every day. 'It's been a very challenged relationship with Cloud Kitchens themselves. 'I can't overstate how much of a problem it is. 'We, to date, have not found Cloud Kitchens to be a proactive partner when it comes to managing these problems,' Matt Martin said. Other local politicians say the model is 'disruptive' to small towns across America. 'This is a very disruptive business model. 'To barrel into a neighborhood unilaterally with some sense of entitlement because it's a free market you may have the law on your side, you may not, but you certainly won't have neighbors and elected officials on your side,' Miami Commissioner Ken Russell said. The Chicago Cloud Kitchen hired traffic 'directors' who, according to other business owners, 'harassed' customers as they entered. The location in Chicago where neighbors say Kalanick's business is causing mayhem 'We finally had one client say, "I don't know if I can come to you anymore." 'That absolutely shattered me. Our patients are like babies; they don't have a voice. 'They get scared, and they're skittish when you have drivers sitting around in their cars, smoking on the sidewalk waiting for food to get picked up. 'It's intimidating and nobody deserves to be intimidated in their neighborhood,' Heal Veterinary Clinic manager Vicki Karfias-Douvlis said. Cloud Kitchens hit back at the complaints, saying in a statement that they had created jobs around America. 'With restaurants under duress during the pandemic, Cloud Kitchens is proud to have given food entrepreneurs a badly needed opportunity to keep their businesses open and their employees working. 'Unfortunately, Alderman Martin is more interested in the gentrification of his ward than he is in saving and creating jobs for people in the restaurant industry whose livelihoods have been at stake over the past year,' Deidra Suber, who oversees operations, told DailyMail.com. She added that they met with the councilman multiple times in 2020 and 2021 to try to address his concerns. A former top American diplomat on Thursday told lawmakers that the Chinese are on a march to prove their importance and are taking up the vacuum that the United States has created. "What has happened here, we did not pay attention to what was going on. There's no question. And kind of dismissed the fact of what the Chinese were doing. And we have been absent. And the Chinese are on a march to prove their importance and are taking up the vacuum that we created," former secretary of state Madeline Albright told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We need to understand that without just going back. But we do need to know that we haven't been consistent," she said. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she said that there's no question that is America's biggest problem. "They are out there hustling in every single way. I have made very clear that with the Belt and Road policies that they are undertaking, the Chinese must be getting very fat because the belt keeps getting larger and larger," Albright said. "Some of it does have to do with the fact that we have been absent and they are filling a vacuum. So we need to make clear that we need to be back and really do need to make clear in so many ways that we are a leader in restoring and building democracy in other countries," she said. She said that they have to speak out very clearly about what the problems are with the Chinese behaviour and added that it is a complex relationship. "One has to say that. They are an adversary--there's no question--militarily--in terms of the kinds of things they are doing in the South and East Sea and threatening Taiwan. They are a competitor in so many different ways in undermining various rules of technology and not stealing international-intellectual property and they are competing with us in so many ways," Albright said. She said there were issues on which the two countries needed to cooperate but the most important thing was to tell the truth and speak out when what they did in Hong Kong was unacceptable. During her appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Albright said that there is problem with the democracies globally. "We have just shown the problems that we as the world's oldest democracy have had. We see the problems in India which is the world's largest democracy," she said. During the hearing, Senator Chris Van Hollen expressed concern over the situation in India, Hungry and Turkey about the access to Internet. "If you look at Turkey, they've also, for example, shut down access to the Internet and social media over time. Right now, in India, the Modi government permanently blocked over 500 accounts of people who were dissenting against the Modi government's handling of the farmer protests and threatened to lock up Twitter and Facebook employees that didn't enforce this decision," Hollen said. "In fact, Twitter, as a result, blocked 500 accounts. So if you could just talk about how we deal with that in the context of this overall framing, because I couldn't agree more with the comment that the Quad, for example, is a really important entity," he said. "We need to pursue that. So how do we pursue those interests and at the same time try and apply some consistency to these issues, like freedom of the Internet and dealing with governments that are using their powers to clamp down on dissent by shutting down dissent on the Internet," he asked. Albright said that she doesn't want to keep doing the kind of thing that the US is thinking about as criticising what happened in the past. "What has happened here, we did not pay attention to what was going on. There's no question. And kind of dismissed the fact of what the Chinese were doing. And we have been absent. And the Chinese are on a march to prove their importance and are taking up the vacuum that we created," 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.) A Canadian company is proposing a massive solar power project on about 200 acres in a small western Massachusetts town. Amp Energy of Ontario, is taking the initial steps to use up to 190 acres on several parcels of land in Shutesbury, owned by W.D. Cowls Inc., for the project that would generate 45 megawatts of power, enough for 5,000 households, The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported Wednesday. To my knowledge, this would be the largest in Massachusetts, Evan Turner, a representative for Amp, told the Select Board and Planning Board. The company already holds a lease option for the sites. Amp is dangling the promise of $450,000 for the town in the first year of payment in lieu of taxes through what is called a municipal partnership. Such partnerships, with the host community helping to operate the solar project, can mean fast-tracking through state approval under new regulations, developed by the state Department of Energy Resources, as part of the Solar Mass Renewable Energy program. Select Board member April Stein told the developers that she is intrigued by the ideas of reducing the towns tax rate, having money available for services and providing green energy. The Biden administration has informed some suppliers to Chinas Technologies of tighter conditions on previously approved export licenses, prohibiting items for use in or with devices, according to people familiar with the move. The ban is effective as of this week, according to the people, who asked not to be identified to discuss nonpublic communications. The rules create a more explicit prohibition on the export of components like semiconductors, antennas and batteries for devices, making the ban more uniform among licensees. blasted President Joe Bidens administration for imposing new restrictions on national tech champion Technologies, saying the US isnt a reliable country that is to be trusted. The measure would hurt both the U.S. and China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Friday. condemned for abuse of Uighurs The on Friday condemned China's abuse of ethnic and religious minorities, including what it called crimes against humanity and genocide being committed in Xinjiang region against ethnic Uighurs and severe restrictions in Tibet. Biden admin criticises Hong Kong move The US also condemned Chinese moves to change Hong Kongs electoral system and forecast difficult talks with Beijing's top diplomats next week. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain US President Joe Biden's administration on Friday announced new personnel such as dentists, veterinarians and health care students will be recruited to the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination effort. The move came as the country was poised to soon administer the 100 millionth shot since its inoculation campaign began on December 14. Biden wants every adult to be eligible for a vaccine by May 1, with the goal of beginning to return to normal by July 4, the United States' independence day. "The Department of Health and Human Services will launch a new portal to help individuals determine where they can sign up to volunteer to administer shots," Marcella Nunez-Smith, who leads the administration's health equity task force, told reporters. The administration previously authorized any physician or most classes of nurse either active or retired in the past five years to administer the shots. With the new action, more classes of vaccinators have been authorized including dentists, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), midwives, optometrists, paramedics, physician assistants, podiatrists, respiratory therapists and veterinarians. Students in those categories are also authorized. The United States is currently vaccinating around 2.2 million shots per day, while almost 65 percent of Americans 65 and older have gotten at least their first shot. The state of Michigan said Friday it wanted to drop eligibility requirements for vaccines by April 5, effectively ushering in "open season" for all adults. Alaska became the first state to eliminate priority groups on Tuesday. The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have all been authorized for emergency use, and the companies are set to deliver more than enough to cover the entire US population by mid-year. AstraZeneca and Novavax are also carrying out late stage clinical trials for their vaccines that could also be authorized if they perform comparably to those already being distributed, and are still required. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Messenger Coffee Co. announces the company is opening two cafes on the Country Club Plaza in late Aprilbringing one of the city's most beloved local coffee brands to one of Kansas City's most iconic locations. In addition to farm-direct, locally roasted coffee, Messenger Coffee Co. Cafes will feature fresh-baked breads and pastries from IBIS Bakery that are made with local ingredients, whenever possible, and freshly milled in Kansas City. The new locations on the Plaza were acquired from Kaldi's Coffee. "We're thrilled to acquire the Plaza stores from our friends at Kaldi's Coffee," said Dan Trott, CEO of FairWave Coffee Collective. The Collective brings together leading local brands to provide world-class coffee, bakery, and culinary experiences for consumers in local markets. "Messenger Coffee looks forward to continuing the local artisan coffee experience residents, businesses and visitors to Kansas City have come to embrace," Trott said. "In combination with IBIS Bakery, the cafes will bring an exceptional neighborhood experience to the Plaza. These will be the first Messenger coffee locations beyond our acclaimed Messenger flagship cafe, on Grand Avenue in the Crossroads District." There will be a short transition period as the Plaza stores are rebranded. Trott anticipates dual grand openings later that month. Both locations will undergo renovations before opening as Messenger Coffee Cafes. FairWave Coffee Collective will work closely with Kaldi's to find employment opportunities for current employees. About Messenger Coffee Co. Production of great coffee starts long before it gets to the hands of local roasters. It's about quality sourcing with farm-direct relationships, ethical practices and treatment; elevating the art and science of coffee harvesting and roasting; creating experiential cafes that offer educational opportunities; and act as good corporate citizens. Coffee is never forced to be something it isn'tit's created to embody the full journey from farm to table and the care and attention given to creating each and every cup. For more information visit messengercoffee.co. About the Fairwave Coffee Collective The FairWave Coffee Collective is a Kansas-City based collaborative of leading local coffee brands working together to support local purveyors that provide world-class coffee, bakery and culinary experiences for consumers. The collective brings years of fair trade, farm-direct sourcing, roasting and coffee expertise to the communities it serves. The hands of many are involved in making products, and every hand along the journey is respected. To learn more about the Collective visit fairwave.com. SOURCE Messenger Coffee Co. DENVER, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Legal Inclusiveness (CLI) will celebrate nominees and the as-yet-to-be-named "Judge Wiley Daniel Lifetime Achievement Award" winner with a virtual gala, The Ball for All on May 1. The annual [email protected] Awards, now in their seventh year, are designed to highlight and reward organizations in Colorado that promote diversity, equity and inclusivity in all facets of their workplaces. Nominees are now being accepted to recognize individuals, young professionals, non-profit organizations, corporations/businesses, and law firms/legal departments who have excelled in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplaces. Winners will be announced at the virtual event. "As CEO, this is my first year participating in the Ball for All and [email protected] Awards, and I couldn't be more enthusiastic," says CLI CEO Sara Scott. "I'm really looking forward to learning more about the diversity, equity, and inclusivity efforts in our community that we've all worked so hard to achieve. It has been a challenging time for so many, and it will be rewarding to celebrate this good news!" The evening will be a pivot from previous years and will include many surprises. It will feature pre-party networking rooms, a silent auction and paddle raise, with proceeds going to CLI's programs. "The work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity is never done. As times change and our workplaces do too, we have enhanced the award criteria for law firms, legal departments, and companies to ensure that their efforts are successful and dynamic and that they are recognized for continuing to lead the legal profession in this area," notes CLI Board Chair Phyllis Wan. The Center for Legal Inclusiveness is committed to expanding diversity, equity and inclusiveness in the legal profession. CLI develops and promotes programs to give individuals and organizations the tools they need to create inclusive workplaces that sustain diversity in the legal profession. Learn more about CLI by visiting our website here. SOURCE Center for Legal Inclusiveness Related Links https://centerforlegalinclusiveness.org/ Fire Does Damage to Princeton Hardee's Restaurant By West Kentucky Star Staff PRINCETON - A fire damaged a Princeton fast-food restaurant Thursday morning.Caldwell County Emergency Management Director Joey McCaslin told the WPKY News Edge that firefighters responded at around 10 a.m. to a fire at Hardee's on US-62.McCaslin said most of the damage was limited to the roof of the building, and no one was injured.On the Net: Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 84F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 67F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. (Newser) There's no approval yet for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the States, but in many countries there isand those countries are miffed that in the meantime, the US is hoarding tens of millions of doses that could be getting injected into arms overseas. On Thursday, European Union sources told Reuters that the American government informed the 27-nation bloc not to count on getting its hands on those AstraZeneca vaccines, currently stored in US manufacturing plants, in the near future. "The US told us there was no way it would ship AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU," one senior official who took part in the talks says. The New York Times notes there are about 30 million already filled vials of the company's vaccine at its facility in West Chester, Ohio, while another company in Baltimore that's been commissioned by AstraZeneca has manufactured enough still-unbottled vaccine for tens of millions more doses. story continues below It appears part of the reason for the Biden administration's reluctance to give away supply is the president's ambitious goals to get as many Americans as possible vaccinated, and soon, before sharing vaccines with others. AstraZeneca says to the Times via a spokesman that "we've asked the US government to give thoughtful consideration to [other countries'] requests." Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has other issues to contend with after its vaccine was pulled in multiple nations following the deaths of two people who developed blood clots after getting vaccinated. Denmark, where one of the deaths occurred, has temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, as have Iceland, Norway, Bulgaria, and Thailand, per US News & World Report. Austria, where the other vaccinated patient died after developing blood clots, also paused a certain batch of the vaccineABV5300during a probe, as have Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg. (Read more AstraZeneca stories.) March 12 : Ranbir Kapoor, who has tested COVID-19 positive, is currently quarantining at home. His girlfriend Alia Bhatt is missing him majorly. Alia took to her Instagram handle today and shared a cute picture as she revealed how much she misses him. The Gully Boy actress, who has tested COVID-19 negative, shared a cute photo, wherein she can be seen holding Ranbirs hands. The throwback picture happens to be a close-up shot of Alia and Ranbir holding hands. The actress captioned the post saying, major missing, along with an infinity sign and a heart emoji. As soon as the post was shared on social media, fans went aww with her cuteness, and many shared love emojis. On Thursday, Alia shared a long note on her gram stories, informing her fans that she has tested COVID-19 negative and has resumed work. After Ranbir and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bansali both contacted the coronavirus, Alia quarantined herself too as she was working with Ranbir for Ayan Mukherjis Brahmastra and with Bansali for Gangubai Kathiawadi. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Alia visited the Mukteshwar Temple in Juhu, Mumbai, to seek blessings of the almighty on MahaShivratri. The actress was spotted at the temple with her close friend Ayan Mukerji. After offering her prayers when the Kalank actress stepped out, the paparazzi asked her if she had prayed for something special, to which Alia said, Haan maanga par bata nahi sakti (I did ask for something special but I cannot tell you what it is). Alia was dressed in a red salwar suit while Ayan wore a white kurta and pyjama. Meanwhile, on the work front, Alia has several film releases lined up this year. While she co-stars Ranbir in Ayan Mukerji's fantasy trilogy film Brahmastra, she is also shooting for Sanjay Leela Bansalis forthcoming film Gangubai Kathiawadi. After Bansali tested COVID-19 positive, the shoot for the film has been halted. Alia will also be seen in SS Rajamouli's RRR with Ram Charan, Jr NTR and Ajay Devgn. The film is slated to release in theatres on October 13, 2021. Papa Dia is an unaffiliated voter and founder and president of African Leadership Group, based in Aurora. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat, represents District 29 in the Colorado Senate. Bob Gardner, a Colorado Springs Republican, represents District 12 in the Colorado Senate. The 400 people making up the Northern Ireland workforces of Hughes Insurance and parent company Liberty have been told that they will now be working from home permanently. Remote employees will receive a 660 (566) gross annual payment to cover any related remote working expenses. US-owned Liberty Insurance has become the first big employer in Northern Ireland to publicly announce that it is continuing with home working indefinitely. Hughes confirmed it will shut three branches across Portadown, Glengormley and Newtownards but a spokeswoman said no jobs will be lost. The Ards branch will be used as a hub which staff can visit up to two days a week if they wish, the company said. "The needs of both our customers and our staff were central in the decision to close our branches... We also have plans to further develop the remote customer offering to include enhanced virtual customer-services which will replicate the traditional in-branch, face-to-face experience in the digital format that customers want." Nearly all office-based businesses relocated to employees' homes a year ago at the outset of the pandemic. Hughes, which was taken over by Liberty in 2015, said a survey of staff showed 93% did not want to return to traditional working. It said that embracing remote working had allowed it to keep all staff on during the pandemic, without resorting to support from the Government's furlough scheme. It is also recruiting 10 new people - with the hope that remote working will enable more people to apply. Sarah Balmforth, head of human resources, said: "Hughes Insurance has been part of the fabric of Northern Ireland for over 40 years and although we have adapted our offering in response to our customers' needs, we are here to stay. "The remote model has served us extremely well throughout the pandemic with customers enjoying an impressive level of service. The technology we have in place still ensures that customers feel connected to our employees." Parent company Liberty Insurance said its 162 staff in Enniskillen would also be working remotely, again with the option to spend up to two days per week in the office when the pandemic is over. Liberty took over the former Quinn Insurance business - part of the empire of former Fermanagh tycoon Sean Quinn - in 2012. Juan Miguel Estallo, CEO of Liberty's European retail operations, announced the new working model to its nearly 2,000 employees across Ireland, Spain and Portugal. Mr Estallo said: "This decision supports our core values as an organisation, as well as our employees' work-life balance. It is also a further step towards the cloud business model that we launched and started to build towards before the pandemic, and which will culminate in 2024. "Equally, this is a response to what our employees are asking for." John McCarry, talent leader for Liberty's European operations, said: "At Liberty we live by our value of 'Putting People First', and we have worked together with our employees to create a new working model that is consistent with our strategy and the current needs of our employees." The company said it had no plans to cut its offices in Dublin, Cavan and Enniskillen and that they would be used for workshops, "team brainstorms" and meetings. FILE - In this March 8, 2021 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, speaks to journalists after meeting the Israeli citizen, who is the 5 millionth person to be vaccinated in Israel, at a ceremony in Tel Aviv. An Israeli official says Netanyahu will travel to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, March 10. It will be Netanyahu's first official trip to the Gulf Arab nation after the two countries established diplomatic relations. (Miriam Alster/Pool via AP) JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, citing a diplomatic disagreement with Jordan, in an embarrassing setback for his re-election campaign just days before the vote. Netanyahu had hoped to use the audience with the UAEs crown prince their first public meeting since the countries established ties last September to boost his campaign ahead of the March 23 election. Instead, he is having to explain to the public why his trip had been called off and doing damage control to protect Israel's fragile relationship with the Jordanians. Netanyahus office said it had difficulties coordinating the flight over Jordanian airspace after Jordans crown prince canceled a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a sensitive holy site under Jordanian custodianship, due to disagreements over security arrangements. Speaking at a news conference, Netanyahu said there had been a misunderstanding. By the time it was sorted out, he said it was too late to fly. I can fly through the skies of Jordan, he said. Until it was coordinated, todays visit wasnt possible. He said he had spoken by telephone to the UAEs crown prince, Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and they agreed he would visit very soon. He also said the Emiratis informed him of plans to invest $10 billion in Israel. There was no immediate comment from the UAE. With Israel now locked in its fourth election campaign in two years, Netanyahu is once again trying to portray himself as an experienced statesman uniquely qualified to lead the country through its many diplomatic and security challenges. One key pillar of that strategy, Netanyahus close ties with former President Donald Trump, is no longer relevant now that a new administration is in the White House. But Netanyahu continues to point to Israels agreements establishing ties with the UAE and three other Arab countries, all brokered by Trump, as among his proudest accomplishments. Story continues Those agreements, however, have come at the expense of the Palestinians and neighboring Jordan, which after Egypt became the second Arab country to reach peace with Israel in 1994. The immediate cause of this weeks dispute stemmed from Jordans role as custodian of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam. It is also the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, and has long been a flashpoint for Mideast tensions. Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II had planned to visit the mosque to pray on the Muslim holiday marking the Prophet Muhammads ascension to heaven from the site. But he turned back at the border due to a disagreement with Israeli authorities over the number of armed escorts that could accompany him, Israeli media reported. Jordans foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, accused Israel of changing agreed-upon arrangements at the last minute and forcing the crown prince to call off the visit. His highness decided he did not wish to disrupt this peaceful night of prayer, Safadi said at a Paris summit. We cannot accept Israeli interference in the affairs of Al-Aqsa. Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to Jordan, said the spat reflected a deeper deterioration in relations in recent years. The major problem is there is no dialogue between the No. 1s in Jordan and Israel, that is to say between the prime minister and the king of Jordan, he said. That lack of trust was highlighted by Israels plans last year to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel suspended the annexation plan as part of its agreement to establish ties with the UAE, but Eran said the Jordanians remain deeply suspicious. Jordan, which is home to a large Palestinian population, considers the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the neighboring West Bank to be a key interest, and any Israeli annexation would likely destroy any remaining hopes for Palestinian independence. Israel and the Palestinians have not held substantive peace talks in over a decade. At the least, they need a political process and movement toward a solution, said Eran, now a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank. The process itself is very important to the Jordanians and when it is not there, there are certainly concerns. Earlier in the day, Netanyahus office announced that his wife, Sara, had been hospitalized with an appendix infection. It said she would remain hospitalized for several days. The canceled trip and medical emergency appeared to create unwanted distractions for Netanyahus campaign, at least for the day. The Israeli leader has focused his campaign on his successful efforts to vaccinate the Israeli public against the coronavirus. In a little more than two months, Israel has vaccinated some 80% of its adult population, allowing authorities to begin reopening schools, stores, restaurants and museums just ahead of election day. Yet opinion polls continue to show Netanyahu locked in a tight race against a crowded field of challengers. According to the projections, Netanyahus Likud is expected to emerge as the largest party, but without enough support from allies to form a governing majority coalition. The UAE trip could have helped breathe life into the campaign. It also could help divert attention from Netanyahus ongoing corruption trial, set to resume April 5, and public anger over the economic damage caused by repeated coronavirus lockdowns over the past year. Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at Hebrew University and senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, said Netanyahu had suffered a setback on Thursday but still had time to control the agenda and set things straight. For instance, Netanyahu might still find a way to visit the UAE before the election, Rahat said. And the vaccination campaign could help him more as the economy springs back to life. Late Thursday, Netanyahu hosted the leaders of Hungary and the Czech Republic for talks on cooperating in their coronavirus strategies. The Czech Republic also opened a diplomatic office in Jerusalem, lending rare support to Israel's claims over the contested city. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, to be the capital of their future state. Most countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv because of the dispute. You can call it a bad day for Netanyahu, but not more than that, Rahat said. By Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $1.3 trillion wealth fund will probe whether companies it is invested in may be using the labour of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims linked to China's internment camps in farwestern Xinjiang, the head of the fund's ethics watchdog said. China's foreign ministry, in a statement to Reuters, said "so-called 'detention camps'" do not exist in Xinjiang. The world's largest sovereign wealth fund, which has massive market influence because it owns 1.5% of the world's listed shares across 9,100 companies, operates under ethical guidelines set by parliament. Johan H. Andresen, chair of the fund's Council on Ethics, said the fund had begun identifying companies that it said used workers that had been held in internment camps in Xinjiang. "We are concerned that some of our companies in the fund may make use of this labour. This is possibly a widespread practice," he said in an interview ahead of the publication of the council's annual report on Wednesday. "If we were to make a recommendation it would be in the first half of this year," he added. Recommendations are sent to the board of the central bank, which ultimately makes decisions. The United States has accused China of genocide and crimes against humanity in its treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. China has said the complexes it set up in the region, where U.N. experts and rights groups say more than one million people have been detained in recent years, provide vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism. Allegations of forced labour and human rights violations in these Xinjiang centres are "groundless rumour and slander", the foreign ministry said. China has previously said all the people who attended the camps have "graduated" and gone home. Access to the complexes is restricted and it is not possible to independently verify whether all the camps have closed. Story continues Norway's central bank typically follows the council's recommendations to censure companies but sometimes, rather than immediately excluding them, it puts them on a watchlist to give them a set period of time to come up with a plan to change their behaviour, or face exclusion. The bank can also ask the fund's management to engage directly with the company on the issue of concern and can also decide to divest from a company if it believes the fund's ownership stake poses too much of an ethical risk. Companies to be excluded are not named until the fund has sold the shares, to avoid the stock falling in value beforehand. The main aim is to remove the ethical risk. ETHICAL GUIDELINES The Norwegian fund is forbidden by parliament from investing in companies that produce nuclear weapons, landmines, or tobacco, or which violate human rights, among other criteria. Several textile companies have been excluded from the fund, most recently India's Page Industries, which produces swimwear for the Speedo brand. Page denies wrongdoing. The council is now turning its attention to companies that produce footwear, "a natural extension" of its work in the textile industry, Andresen said, given that the production processes are similar. "We are still at an early stage," he said. Forced labour, or modern slavery, is also becoming a growing issue that will dominate the council's work in the years ahead, he said. The council will this year commission a report from a non-governmental organisation to map out the extent of forced labour worldwide. The fund has already excluded companies, including security firm G4S, on those grounds. G4S said at the time it had engaged with the council and was making good progress on recruitment and welfare standards. Overall some 70 companies have been excluded by the fund, on various grounds, on recommendations from the Council on Ethics. Another 73 companies have been excluded directly by the central bank based on their dependence on coal. Asked if China would contact the Norwegian authorities about the work of the fund's ethics watchdog on Xinjiang, the foreign ministry said it hoped the relevant Norwegian institutions will "respect the facts" and refrain from "contributing to the wrong practice of politicising economic trade and cooperation". (Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Alison Williams and Nick Macfie) And while the recall effort began with those critical of the stop-and-go lockdowns of last year, several more counties have reached the less restrictive red tier this week, meaning that indoor dining and gyms, museums and other businesses could soon reopen in several parts of the state. I really believe hes done a very good job under very trying circumstances, former Gov. Gray Davis said last week about Mr. Newsom. I cant remember a governor since World War II whos had so many things to deal with at the same time. Heres an updated look at where the recall effort stands and what comes next. How many signatures does this recall have? According to the states most recent report, as of Feb. 5, supporters of the effort to recall Mr. Newsom had submitted roughly 1.1 million signatures, including 798,310 signatures that had been verified by county officials. But of those, only 668,202 signatures were valid, meaning they belonged to a registered California voter. Supporters of the recall claimed to have gathered 1,927,000 signatures as of March 3, but all signatures must be verified by the state. How many signatures are needed to trigger a recall? For the recall to move ahead, proponents must submit 1,495,709 valid signatures to county election officials by March 17, the court-determined deadline, which was extended because of the pandemic. The number of signatures required is 12 percent of the votes cast in the most recent election for governor, the 2018 race when Mr. Newsom defeated the Republican businessman John Cox. PHOENIX, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- THE BEST WAY TO REPEL SCORPIONS In an open forum, a reader asked others about Scorpion Repel. She wanted to know if the product claims were true. Her inquiry led to a lengthy "discussion" about how to repel scorpions: One response was, "I usually use a flame-thrower." Another responder said if she ever bought a house in Arizona, she planned to dig a trench, line it with plastic, and fill it with pesticide. Yet another reader said the trench idea was a good one but too dangerous. He said a moat should encircle the house but break off into a trail that led into the desert. The scorpions would then stroll along the moat and exit back into the desert where they belong. Safely. THE ONE-AND-ONLY WAY TO REPEL SCORPIONS Sad to say, most people don't care about scorpion safety. We want to repel scorpions but we don't want to kill our pets or make ourselves sick doing it. We live in Arizona, where the highest concentration of scorpions is found in North America. Most of us simply have our homes sprayed treated every month or so. Scorpion Repel eliminates the problem of cohabitating with Arizona scorpions once and for all. It was developed in Arizona thanks to a discouraged, innovative property owner. "I lived the frustration of scorpions first-hand," said the co-founder. He said he was stung physically and financially. "I paid thousands of dollarsonly to have the scorpions re-enter my home just months later." QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: HOW SCORPION REPEL WORKS Q: Can Scorpion Repel keep scorpions out of my yard? A: Every yard is different. It works on patios and courtyards and some types of yard walls. Q: Does Scorpion Repel kill scorpions? A: No, but we treat your house before applying Scorpion Repel. Our traditional treatment will eliminate scorpions already inside your home. Scorpion Repel keeps them out forever. Q: Does this treatment stop other bugs from entering my home? A: We don't have any proof it does, but some homeowners say they've noticed a decrease in creepy-crawlies getting inside. Q: How long before Scorpion Repel works? A: It takes 24 hours to dry completely and 72 hours to cure. Depending on property size, the application itself can take from 3-8 hours. The first two coats are hand-painted and the last application is sprayed. Q: Should we leave the house while you apply Scorpion Repel? A: No, unless you want or need to. It won't harm children, elderly, or pets. Q: What makes Scorpion Repel different from a scorpion seal? A: Budget Brothers Termite & Pest Elimination offers a scorpion seal, but we can't guarantee its effectiveness. One company sells a type of scorpion seal service with a "warranty," but it's dependent on a lot of factors, including "re-certification," which sounds a lot like "another treatment." Scorpion Repel is basically 2 different liquid compounds we apply directly on the base of a building. It's a smooth, glass-like substance scorpions simply can't get past. Once it dries, it will repel scorpions, completely and for many years. SCORPION REPEL IS 100% EFFECTIVE The only reason we offer a 5-year guarantee is that the technology is so new, the oldest treatment was only five years ago. There have been no indications it won't last a lifetime. No matter how we advertised it, we always knew we weren't controlling scorpions. They were controlling us. We're very excited about being able to offer this ultimate technology that will repel scorpions to our friends and neighbors (like you). see more at www.scorpionrepelaz.com or www.keepscorpionaway.com or Schedule your service at 602-493-7555 Scorpion Repel is available state wide. Media Contact: www.keepscorpionsaway.com 6022532495 Photo(s): https://www.prlog.org/12861742 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE Budget Brothers Scorpion Repel Related Links http://www.keepscorpionsaway.com (Natural News) The government watchdog group Judicial Watch is taking aim at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over its secret communications with Big Tech platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In a new federal lawsuit, Judicial Watch seeks access to all communications between the CDC and Big Tech that pertain to the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), including all conversations about the restrictions that were placed on the sharing of information about hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube are all highlighted as conspirators in this alleged scheme to suppress information about the Chinese virus that the medical overlords did not want to be spread. The public has the right to know about CDCs involvement in Big Techs outrageous censorship of Americans, including doctors, who raise questions about the Covid-19 response, says Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. The Biden [regime] should stop stonewalling and release the records about the CDCs role in suppressing the free speech of Americans. Judicial Watch had previously filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for access to this information, but the CDC failed to respond. Now, Judicial Watch is taking the matter to court in the hope that justice will ultimately prevail. The complaint asks for any and all records of communication between CDC officials and / or employees and employees, agents, and / or representatives of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube concerning, regarding, or relating to COVID-19 related content on company platforms. Such records include, but are not limited to, any advice or instructions issued on disinformation re: COVID-19. The court filing further notes that the CDC acknowledge receipt of the request but has not yet responded to it. The CDC has failed to: (i) determine whether to comply with the request; (ii) notify plaintiff of any such determination or the reasons therefor; (iii) advised plaintiff of the right to appeal any adverse determination; or (iv) produce the requested records or otherwise demonstrate that the requested records are exempt from production, the filing reads. The goal is to obtain a court order requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to search for and obtain any and all non-exempt records responsive to plaintiffs FOIA request. It also aims to stop the CDC from continuing to withhold records. The medical establishment wants you to get vaccinated and wear a mask forever Back in the summer when Americas Frontline Doctors held its widely viewed White Coat Summit, Big Tech platforms like Facebook and Twitter took down the footage and banned it. They, like the CDC, did not want people learning about HCQ or other Chinese virus remedies. Mainstream media outlets like NBC News did the same thing, except they went a step further by openly trashing HCQ and calling it dangerous and ineffective. This same mainstream media is now trashing vitamin D as ineffective against the Wuhan flu, even though science shows that the pro-hormone nutrient is a powerful protective agent against viruses. The only cure for the Chinese virus, apparently, is experimental gene therapy vaccines and eternal mask-wearing. Anything else is snake oil, according to the system, though Judicial Watchs lawsuit could potentially put an end to this farce of a narrative. Thank God for Judicial Watch, wrote one commenter at WND. The worthless, biased and political Biden DOJ (Department of Justice) wont do squat about this. It is long past due the time when the public finds out the truth about the covid criminal conspiracy, wrote another, adding that criminal government agencies like the CDC have perfected the art of accidentally losing incriminating documents. More up-to-the-minute news about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: WND.com NaturalNews.com BusinessInsider.com Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer on Friday rejected junta allegations of corruption against Myanmar's deposed civilian leader as "groundless", calling it "illegal mudslinging" by the generals who seized power from her. The country has been in uproar since a February 1 putsch that saw Suu Kyi ousted, detained and accused of several criminal charges including owning unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions. On Thursday, a junta spokesman made new corruption accusations against her, saying a now-detained chief minister had admitted giving her $600,000 and more than 10 kilograms of gold. "This allegation against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the state counsellor, is groundless, especially regarding the dollars and gold bars -- it is the most hilarious joke of all," her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told AFP. "I've never seen such an illegal mudslinging." The veteran human rights lawyer -- who in the past went up against Suu Kyi's administration in defending two journalists reporting on the Rohingya crisis -- said he has his differences with her. "She may have her defects but bribery and corruption aren't her traits," he said. The Nobel laureate has also been accused of violating a communications law and of intent to incite public unrest. A hearing is scheduled for March 15, but so far Khin Maung Zaw has not been able to have a private meeting with his client. "I'm frustrated because my client is not given the rights of defence and the rights of a fair trial," he said, adding that he is nonetheless preparing for Monday's hearing. "I'm not worried about these four cases (charges) but other allegations could occur and other cases could pile up, resulting in false charges and false accusations," he told AFP. Since she was detained on February 1, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public. The junta has justified its power grab citing electoral fraud in November elections that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won by a landslide. dhc/pdw/je CHICAGO, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In coordination with its participation at the 2021 SXSW EDU conference, Discov3ry Group, LLC today launched their first product, a 58-page activity book called Squixy and the Battle for All Time(s)!. The Squixy platform has reimagined traditional educational workbooks, combining a graphic novel layout and content approach with a full curriculum of educational material, all aligned with Common Core Standards. Greg Stallkamp, CEO of Discov3ry Group, said of Squixy's innovative approach to teaching, "Squixy pairs exciting, character-driven storytelling and proven pedagogy with the technological marvel of augmented reality. Expanding on the tactile experience of an illustrated, printed activity book, the Squixy augmented reality experience allows children to really live inside this new world." Squixy and the Battle for All Time(s)! is the first in a series of educational tools focused on the concept of Learn Fast, Learn Fun. Stephanie Pedersen, Chief Learning Office of Discov3ry Group, explains further, "Studies show that children can learn up to 20 times faster when they are at play. We ran with this idea and worked with a diverse Advisory Board comprised of educators, developers, and parents to create this new galaxy of educational opportunities." Ms. Pedersen continued, "We chose multiplication as our first topic as it's a particularly difficult set of skills for kids to master. Young students learn in different ways, too, so we include digital game opportunities, written story problems, picture-based questions, and tutorial videos accessed through the Squixy app." Mr. Stallkamp summarized the Squixy experience, "Inviting children into a sensory-rich experience based on engaging, fun characters with vivid colors and increasingly-challenging puzzles and games is the way Squixy brings childrens' imaginations to life and allows children to live in a world in which they're learning, creating, and gaming all at the same time with technology that will supplement learning and prolong engagement for any child." The Squixy line of products are available at www.squixy.com. ABOUT SQUIXY: Squixy is an educational technology platform with the mission to incorporate the three phases of play (physical, digital, and augmented reality) into a fun, whimsical, and impactful learning experience supplementing the common core educational instruction kids receive in school. We know learning can be difficult, and kids learn best when they are having fun so at Squixy our goal is to EDUTAIN! www.squixy.com Media Contact: Ryan Balock Chief Creative Officer 407 S. Cottage Hill Ave Elmhurst, IL 60126 USA Phone: +1 630.202.6095 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Squixy Related Links https://www.squixy.com Its the only thing my dad and I ever argued about, Marvel said. He grew up with no money. And he used to say, I got out of the service and I had nothing and I made it. Why cant everyone do that? Well, you were white, it was the 50s, you had family to live with. That bugged me for years. And I think a lot of people have that perception that people who are homeless just arent willing to work or they dont know things. And thats just not true. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. [March 12, 2021] Canada Invests in Cutting-Edge Indigenous Geothermal Electricity Production Facility CLARKE LAKE, BC, March 12, 2021 /CNW/ - Canada has world-leading clean power resources, and the Government of Canada understands that one of the most important ways to fight climate change is to harness these resources to power our homes, businesses and lives. Investing in clean energy projects, including geothermal energy, will invigorate local economies, drive job creation and curb pollution. Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., today announced nearly $40.5 million in federal investments for the Clarke Lake Geothermal Development Project, a wholly owned and Indigenous-led project that will develop one of the first commercially viable geothermal electricity production facilities in Canada. Being developed in the existing Clarke Lake gas field in British Columbia, the Clarke Lake Geothermal Development Project will use the mid-grade geothermal heat resources in its reservoir to reduce emissions by displacing fossil fuels, while also demonstrating the value of geothermal energy as a viable clean energy technology for rural, Indigenous and northern communities. Along with creating jobs and other economic opportunities for local community members, this project will provide capacity building and training to workers from other industries to help them transition into the renewable energy sector. Although electricity generation will be the primary source of revenue, additional revenue opportunities could include the sale of waste heat generated by the plant. Excess heat from the facility could also power other activities in the local industries such as timber drying in the forestry sector and greenhouse food production in the agriculture sector. As outlined in Canada's strengthened climate plan, A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy, making Canada a world leader in clean power is a top priority. The government will continue to advance renewable energy projects, like the Clarke Lake Development Project, that increase the supply of lower-emitting power generation from coast to coast to coast. Quick facts The Clarke Lake geothermal facility is expected to produce between seven and 15 megawatts of clean electricity from a consistently available resource, which is equivalent to powering up to 14,000 households. By displacing fossil-fuel generation in northeast B.C., it is also expected to reduce 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to taking more than 5,000 cars off the road. Geothermal energy harnesses heat from the Earth's crust and transforms it into electricity to power homes and businesses year-round. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) previously contributed $1 million for the resource assessment of this project and contributed an additional $38.5 million from the Emerging Renewables Power Program a Canada's more than $180-billion Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program for public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes and Canada's rural and northern communities. $200-million/span> program to expand the portfolio of commercially viable renewable energy sources available to provinces and territories as they work to reduce emissions from their electricity sectors. It is also part ofmore thanfor public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes andrural and northern communities. for the resource assessment of this project and contributed an additional from the Emerging Renewables Power Program a Western Economic Diversification Canada contributed $2 million to fully assess the geothermal resource's ability to produce power, as well as develop an Indigenous Employment and Training Strategy. Future electricity revenues from the project will support new economic programs for the region and increase employment opportunities for Indigenous communities, including both short- and long-term jobs for workers with transferrable skills from the oil and gas sector. to fully assess the geothermal resource's ability to produce power, as well as develop an Indigenous Employment and Training Strategy. Future electricity revenues from the project will support new economic programs for the region and increase employment opportunities for Indigenous communities, including both short- and long-term jobs for workers with transferrable skills from the oil and gas sector. Indigenous Services Canada contributed $250,000 toward the project through their Community Opportunity Readiness Program a program that provides project-based funding for First Nation and Inuit Communities for a range of activities to support communities' pursuit of economic opportunities. toward the project through their Community Opportunity Readiness Program a program that provides project-based funding for First Nation and Inuit Communities for a range of activities to support communities' pursuit of economic opportunities. The Government of British Columbia has contributed almost $1 million to the project, including $430,000 through the First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund, which supports Indigenous-led participation in the clean energy sector by providing capacity funding for energy planning and feasibility studies, along with equity investment in projects. There was also $500,000 invested through the B.C. Indigenous Clean Energy Initiative, a partnership with Western Economic Diversification Canada and the New Relationship Trust, which provides early support to develop Indigenous communities' capacity and readiness to advance local or regional clean energy projects. Quotes "The Clarke Lake Geothermal Project is Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led, showcasing Indigenous communities' leadership in building a low-emissions future. Geothermal will help northern and remote communities use less diesel and more of this new clean energy technology. This is how we get to net-zero." Seamus O'Regan Jr. Canada's Minister of Natural Resources "The Clarke Lake Geothermal Project represents Fort Nelson First Nation's drive toward creating a sustainable economy for our People; one that strikes a balance between the environment and the economy. Our work to get this historic project off the ground demonstrates what Indigenous leadership toward net-zero project development looks like." Chief Sharleen Gale Fort Nelson First Nation "FNMPC is pleased to be providing capacity support and assistance to Fort Nelson First Nation for the Clarke Lake Geothermal Project. Today's announcement highlights what can happen when First Nations have access to the capacity and resources they need to implement their vision and be the proponents of major projects." Chief Corrina Leween Vice Chair of FNMPC "Our government is proud to invest in the Clarke Lake Geothermal Limited Partnership. Clean energy sources and connecting Indigenous communities with valuable development opportunities will help strengthen and diversify the B.C. economy, ensuring we are well positioned to bounce back post-pandemic, while also addressing climate change." Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada "This project by the Fort Nelson First Nation and the Saulteau First Nation is an impressive clean energy initiative that supports future community growth and economic development opportunities. Our government is happy to support this First Nation-owned and -led innovative project that will create good jobs and support a greener future." Marc Miller Minister of Indigenous Services "This is an exciting new development in clean energy for B.C.'s northern communities. Our government supports and encourages First Nations' participation in the clean energy economy through early investment in projects such as Clarke Lake, where they can build vibrant, clean economies and promote energy efficiency in their communities, which is an important part of our CleanBC plan and will help support post-pandemic economic recovery." Murray Rankin B.C.'s Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Related Information Canada Supports Clean, Renewable Energy Technologies in British Columbia Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Aizawl, March 12 : The Union Home Ministry has asked four northeastern states -- Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur -- which share borders with Myanmar to take appropriate action to check influx of refugees from the coup-hit country, officials said on Friday. The official said that Deputy Secretary, Home, Krishna Mohan Uppu, in a letter to the Chief Secretaries of these four states and the Director General of Assam Rifles, asked them to sensitise all law enforcement and intelligence agencies for taking prompt steps in identifying illegal migrants and initiate their deportation process without delay. Uppu, in his March 10 letter, said that the Ministry's Foreigners Division had also issued instructions to Chief Secretaries on February 28 for asking law enforcement and intelligence agencies to take prompt steps for identifying illegal migrants, their restrictions to specific locations as per provisions of law, capturing their biographic and biometrics particulars, cancellation of fake Indian documents and legal proceedings, including initiation of deportation. The letter, available with IANS, reiterated that state governments and UT administrations have no powers to grant "refugee" status to any foreigner and India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. The four northeastern states share a 1,643 km unfenced border with Myanmar. Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana, in a statement in the Assembly this week, had said that the state government has been providing relief and shelter to the people who have entered Indian territory from Myanmar. He said that the state government has sent the detailed report about these people to the Union Home Ministry and is waiting for the Centre's advice on dealing with them. "The matter is highly sensitive... we are officially not disclosing the details and the number of people who have come from Myanmar. However, all the details have been communicated to the MHA," he had said. Myanmar's Falam district authorities last week requested Deputy Commissioner of Champai district in Mizoram to send back their eight police officers, who had crossed into Mizoram since March 3. Assam Rifles officials and the villagers of the border areas of Champhai, Serchhip and Hnahthial districts told the media that around 100 people comprising unarmed police personnel and civilians, including children, had crossed over from Myanmar since March 3. Meanwhile, the National Campaign Against Torture has asked the National Human Rights Commission to process the asylum/refugee claims of the Myanmar refugees who have fled following the coup. NCAT coordinator Suhas Chakma urged the NHRC to send an investigation team to Mizoram to interview each refugee and determine their status in conformity with the national law and India's obligations under the international law. It also requested the MHRC to direct the government not to forcibly repatriate any refugees until their claims have been assessed by the NHRC and further to extend humanitarian assistance to them. A one-year state of emergency has been declared in Myanmar and power transferred to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing after President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained by the military on February 1. Ghazipur, March 12 : The change in the weather conditions on Friday morning in the national capital added to the problems of the farmers sitting at the Ghazipur border in protest against the three contentious farm laws. As rain lashed the area, the farmers rushed to secure the food items kept in tents from getting damaged. All the beddings kept in the tents also got drenched, which were later replaced with fresh ones to make sure that the agitating farmers are not inconvenienced. The farmers said, "We are encountering some problems here with the change in the weather. The same thing happens with us while we work in the fields. We encounter such situations everyday in our lives." Meanwhile, the commuters had a difficult time while walking on the national highway and many vehicles were stranded. Adding to the problem is the 'Langar Seva' which was started on the highway. All the waste, including the oily material, gets spilled on to the road, making it slippery. Farmers have been sitting at various borders of New Delhi since November 26 in protest against the farm laws. Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity. The planet, GJ 1132 b, is hypothesized to have begun as a gaseous world with a thick hydrogen blanket of atmosphere. Starting out at several times the diameter of Earth, this so-called "sub-Neptune" is believed to have quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere due to the intense radiation of the hot, young star it orbits. In a short period of time, such a planet would be stripped down to a bare core about the size of Earth. That's when things got interesting. To the surprise of astronomers, Hubble observed an atmosphere which, according to their theory, is a "secondary atmosphere" that is present now. Based on a combination of direct observational evidence and inference through computer modeling, the team reports that the atmosphere consists of molecular hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, methane and also contains an aerosol haze. Modeling suggests the aerosol haze is based on photochemically produced hydrocarbons, similar to smog on Earth. Scientists interpret the current atmospheric hydrogen in GJ 1132 b as hydrogen from the original atmosphere which was absorbed into the planet's molten magma mantle and is now being slowly released through volcanic processes to form a new atmosphere. The atmosphere we see today is believed to be continually replenished to balance the hydrogen escaping into space. "It's super exciting because we believe the atmosphere that we see now was regenerated, so it could be a secondary atmosphere," said study co-author Raissa Estrela of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "We first thought that these highly irradiated planets could be pretty boring because we believed that they lost their atmospheres. But we looked at existing observations of this planet with Hubble and said, 'Oh no, there is an atmosphere there.'" The rocky exoplanet GJ 1132 b, similar in size and density to Earth, possesses a hazy atmosphere made up of volcanic gases. Scientists say GJ 1132 b, orbiting a red-dwarf star about 41 light-years away, has some features in common with worlds in our own solar system as well as vast differences. Its hazy appearance might compare to Titan, Saturn's largest moon, the only solar system moon with a substantial atmosphere - though Titan is much colder. Our own Earth might have had such a hazy appearance early in its history, although unlike Earth, the new planet is far too hot to be habitable. And GJ 1132 b likely has a "secondary atmosphere," created by volcanic activity after its first hydrogen-helium atmosphere was stripped away by radiation from its star. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lizbeth B. De La Torre The findings could have implications for other exoplanets, planets beyond our solar system. "How many terrestrial planets don't begin as terrestrials? Some may start as sub-Neptunes, and they become terrestrials through a mechanism that photo-evaporates the primordial atmosphere. This process works early in a planet's life, when the star is hotter," said lead author Mark Swain of JPL. "Then the star cools down and the planet's just sitting there. So you've got this mechanism where you can cook off the atmosphere in the first 100 million years, and then things settle down. And if you can regenerate the atmosphere, maybe you can keep it." In some ways GJ 1132 b, located about 41 light-years from Earth, has tantalizing parallels to Earth, but in some ways it is very different. Both have similar densities, similar sizes, and similar ages, being about 4.5 billion years old. Both started with a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere, and both were hot before they cooled down. The team's work even suggests that GJ 1132 b and Earth have similar atmospheric pressure at the surface. But the planets have profoundly different formation histories. Earth is not believed to be the surviving core of a sub-Neptune. And Earth orbits at a comfortable distance from our Sun. GJ 1132 b is so close to its red dwarf star that it completes an orbit around its host star once every day and a half. This extremely close proximity keeps GJ 1132 b tidally locked, showing the same face to its star at all times--just as our Moon keeps one hemisphere permanently facing Earth. "The question is, what is keeping the mantle hot enough to remain liquid and power volcanism?" asked Swain. "This system is special because it has the opportunity for quite a lot of tidal heating." Tidal heating is a phenomenon that occurs through friction, when energy from a planet's orbit and rotation is dispersed as heat inside the planet. GJ 1132 b is in an elliptical orbit, and the tidal forces acting on it are strongest when it is closest to or farthest from its host star. At least one other planet in the host star's system also gravitationally pulls on the planet. Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that a planet orbiting a distant star may have lost its atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity. The planet, GJ 1132 b, is hypothesized to have begun as a gaseous world with a thick hydrogen blanket of atmosphere. Starting out at several times the diameter of Earth, this so-called "sub-Neptune" is believed to have quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere due to the intense radiation of the hot, young star it orbits. In a short period of time, such a planet would be stripped down to a bare core about the size of Earth. That's when things got interesting. Credits: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center The consequences are that the planet is squeezed or stretched through this gravitational "pumping." That tidal heating keeps the mantle liquid for a long time. A nearby example in our own solar system is Jupiter's moon Io, which has continuous volcanic activity due to a tidal tug-of-war from Jupiter and the neighboring Jovian moons. Given GJ 1132 b's hot interior, the team believes the planet's cooler, overlying crust is extremely thin, perhaps only hundreds of feet thick. That's much too feeble to support anything resembling volcanic mountains. Its flat terrain may also be cracked like an eggshell due to tidal flexing. Hydrogen and other gases could be released through such cracks. NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope has the ability to observe this exoplanet. Webb's infrared vision may allow scientists to see down to the planet's surface. "If there are magma pools or volcanism going on, those areas will be hotter," explained Swain. "That will generate more emission, and so they'll be looking potentially at the actual geologic activity--which is exciting!" The team's findings will be published an upcoming issue of The Astronomical Journal. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. 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 Cincinnati-Based Crossroads Music Releases New Single "Conquered Grave" March 12, 2021 Help India! In an interview with TwoCircles.net, writer, poet and activist Meena Kandasamy discusses Eelam struggle, Tigresses, Tamil nationalism, Dalit consciousness, poetry as resistance, her unconcealed writing style and more. Shalini S, TwoCircles.net Support TwoCircles Meena Kandasamy is an anti-caste activist, poet, fiction writer and translator. She has published two collections of poetry, Touch and Ms Militancy and three acclaimed novels, The Gypsy Goddess, When I Hit You and Exquisite Cadavers. She has also translated the works of Dr Thirumavalavan, Periyars Pen Yen Adimaiyanal (Why Were Women Enslaved), novelist Salma, and the Eelam Tamil poets V.I.S Jayapalan and Cheran Rudramoorthy. Her recent work The Orders Were to Rape You: Tigresses in the Tamil Eelam Struggle was first published as an essay in The White Review in July 2020, and earlier in February this year, the work took the shape of a book published by Navayana. The book is her impression of the genocidal war of the Sri Lankan state against the Tamils. Growing up in the period where Tamil nationalism was brimming, Meena Kandasamy has captured the violence and wartime rape faced by female fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through testimonies of Tigresses now living in distant lands as refugees. She also translates and presents the poems of three Tamil women combatants Captain Vaanathi, Captain Kasturi and Aatilatchumi. One of the translated poems of Captain Vaanathi titled She, the woman of Tamil Eelam proclaims: On her neck, she wears not the thaali, that marker of marriage, but a cyanide capsule. She embraces not men but her weapons Excerpts from the interview: The testimonies were gathered in 2013 to make a documentary. Why did you decide to publish it as a book and why the delay? When this essay got published in The White Review, Navayanas S Anand felt that a book will be accessible to more people and I was open to the idea because as a book it will also have longevity. The reason for the delay in writing this essay is that it took time for me to know if I have come to that place where I can write about it. When you are young, a woman and a writer, and start talking about self-determination, people will immediately label you a terrorist or a separatist. They are not interested in the legitimacy of the struggle. They are only looking to delegitimize it even before one starts writing. I also write in English. In Tamil, you can get on a stage and be supported. In English, there is so much gatekeeping against such a political idea. Once the documentary was made, there was a lot of going back and forth between countries. This story was always at the back of my head and I knew I had to tell it one day. In the book, you talk about growing up with the posters of Tamil Tigers and Tigresses. Is there any particular incident that drew you towards their struggle? I think it has more to do with the environment I was raised in. I was born a year after the July riots in 1983 and refugees had started coming into Tamil Nadu. There was a change in the political climate and its dynamics. I was raised in such a set-up and this is what people talked about day in and out. In that way, I was not just drawn towards it, but I could understand what was going on. Also, the mainstream Brahmanical media back then treated the Eelam struggle as a fringe element even though it was part of mainstream discourse. Irrespective of the narrative, the mainstream English media were spinning yarns about it. I felt that as Indians we had culpability in what happened in 2009 and I wanted to write about it alongside the backdrop of how we lived a second-hand war. As an anti-caste writer, what do you think about the notion of Tamil nationalism affecting Dalit consciousness? Firstly, if we look at the Vaddukoddai resolution dating back to 1976, the Tamil United Liberation front under the leadership of Thanthai Selva (S.J.V Chelvanayakam) not only talks about the self-determination of the Tamils but also calls for putting an end to the caste system. It was one of the earliest resolutions to discuss the caste system. Of course one cannot deny that there existed caste hegemony in Tamil Eelam but the Tigers were trying to structurally address it. LTTE Chief Prabhakaran was from the karaiyar (fishermen) community and Thamil Selvan, the head of the Political Wing, who attained the title of Brigadier posthumously, was a Dalit. There was leadership from below and it was the leadership of the oppressed. You could be among the tigers and rise to be the head of the political divide. These representations were not tokenism. It was a pluralistic movement and that is the reason why there could be leaderships from the most marginalised sections. Secondly, the dichotomy between the Dalit movement and the Tamil selfdetermination movement is a very false binary. The Liberation Panthers or Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi modelled on LTTE and they do maintain a pan-Indian Dalit identity but it doesnt prevent them from articulating about the rights of people of Tamil Nadu in India, and also the rights of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka. It is not a disjointed struggle. In both cases, you realize it is a Brahmanical state that has a foreign policy against the Tamils on the one hand and on the other hand has a domestic policy against Dalits. I cannot separate them and see them as antagonistic to each other. I do agree that natural questions of representation, of treatment of Dalits by everyone, including even the militant movements must be probed into, answered and documented. Can you comment on the readiness of the female fighters to participate in the armed struggle? The participation of women in the armed struggle was a choice they made for themselves. It was out of various complex reasons. It happened because rape was made a state policy by the Sinhala army and as a result of systematic discrimination against Tamil people, and as a question of what space did the Tamil society has for them and to even fight the patriarchy within the Tamil society. They wanted to come out of the oppressive position in which the general society sought to hold them. One-third of the fighting forces were women in LTTE. It wasnt because of cohesion or brainwashing; it came from within. Joining a guerrilla struggle was how Tamil women were exercising their self-determination. You write about the domesticated state in which the Tigresses are living in. Can you elaborate on that? Domestication is something that happens to you when you are a refugee or an immigrant; there is no easy way in which you can go about representing your politics. You become a citizen living on the margins and it takes at least one more generation to enter into the national discourse of those countries. This is terrible because Tigresses, who were once making histories, were then starting a new life, getting an identity card, learning a new language, working night shifts at grocery stores arranging cartons or doing shifts at petrol pumps. I wanted to capture this tragic state of them in the book as well. This is the choice they have made because the other option would have been to stay home and get killed. Can you comment on the razing of the memorial in the University of Jaffna and the UNHRC resolution? There are extreme numbers of killings that have happened, the deaths that are not accounted for, disappearances, the whereabouts of people who surrendered with white flags. It is a burning question of justice. The figure is upwards of a hundred and forty thousand Tamils. It is not the genocidal killing and the extrajudicial murders alone, it is also about the question of what happened later in the camps and how women were treated. The Sinhala state must be held accountable for the genocide and war crimes, including rape and torture. I dont think India has played a proper role in terms of its foreign policy where Sri Lanka is concerned. The ruling Union government has expressed much visible interest in Adanis business and corporate profits on the island rather than the welfare of the Tamils. There has to be a justice delivery mechanism even outside of institutions like the UNHRC. What we need in India is a national conversation about Tamil Eelam. Indias foreign policy and intervention are acts that have cast long shadows and for which Tamilspeaking people on the island continue to pay a price. As Indians, we have to hold India accountable, make India support and protect the Tamil people on a global stage. On the razing of the memorials by the state, they want to eliminate any trace of resistance but I dont think people will take it just lying down. People will keep protesting peacefully, demonstrations on womens day by Tamil Eelam mothers and P2P (Pothuvil to Polikandy) march are instances of their fearless stance. Why is poetry majorly used as a tool for political dissent and resistance? I think poetry is very effective and powerful. It can make a statement. It can be easily consumed in the space of a classroom and in a short period. It can be performed on a stage or in a protest and it will make a statement. It can become political graffiti. But as a writer, I cannot reduce the multifaceted nature of a subject that I want to produce in other genres into a poem. One has to compartmentalize it accordingly. Your works are unconcealed and are expressive of a womans body. How did you develop such a writing style? I think it comes from political positioning. One of the problems with a lot of writing is that it tends to be neutral on everything. The general idea of a public intellectual is to be on the fence; the minute you have an opinion and identify with a particular movement, you are treated differently. A lot of my writing is expressive in a physical and a political way because it is informed by the resistance that is both individual and collective. On deeper reflection, the issues concerning women within caste patriarchy are subsumed under a sophisticated silence. It doesnt get problematized or narrated. To initiate a conversation, one has to grab attention and you cannot do it with abstract intellectual jargon. You have to use peoples everyday language. The shock value comes when it is used in academic writings. Little do people realize that those are just words spoken on the streets and at home. Pakistan's media has recently reported on government plans for significant tax cuts for telecommunications companies and services. With a budget on the way in which these measures will be formalised, this will be welcome news to the IT industry, which these tax breaks are meant to boost. The federal cabinet has apparently approved the grant of industry status to the telecom sector and a gradual reduction in heavy taxes on both the industry and on mobile phone users. Tax on mobile phone users is to be slashed, as is federal excise duty on telecom services. The fee of Rs250 (about $1.59) on the issuance of a new SIM is to be abolished altogether. There will be a reduction in tax on telecom services for all telecom companies with a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) licence. In addition, customs duty and regulatory duty on the import of telecom equipment, as well as on raw material for the optic fibre cable manufacturing industry, will all fall. Highlighting these plans, federal minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haq also mentioned the ministrys other achievements like its Right of Way policy and the Universal Service Fund (USF) that he noted had played a major role in ensuring the launch of 32 different projects worth about Rs22 billion (about $140.1 million) during the first 31 months of the current government. These and other achievements were emphasised by the minister at a recent press conference, but its likely that the less onerous tax structure will be the initiative most enthusiastically welcomed by the communications sector and many end users. After all, as the GSMA points out, sector-specific taxes, fees and other levies have a significant impact on affordability. Kolkata, March 12 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said chit fund money would be returned to the duped investors in West Bengal if the saffron brigade comes to power in the 2021 Assembly polls. "Only the BJP can return the chit fund money. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating the case. The properties they have confiscated will be sold off and the money will be returned to the people who had invested in those ponzi firms," Adhikari said at a public meeting in Haldia. Besides holding the public rally, he also took out a mega roadshow from Khudiram crossing at Haldia before filing his nomination from East Midnapore's Nandigram Assembly constituency on Friday. Union Minister Smriti Irani and Dharmendra Pradhan were there with the BJP's Nandigram candidate. Adhikari also visited the Singhabahini Temple in Nandigram's Sonachura this morning. From there he also went to Janakinath Temple and offered puja. He also performed Yagna there before going to the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) office at Haldia. Armed with saffron flags, thousands of people marched in the roadshow with the BJP leaders while shouting 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans. Union Minister Smriti Irani further attacked Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government for not allowing Central's welfare schemes in Bengal. "PM Modi is introducing various development schemes and Mamata Didi is reaping all the benefits by renaming them in Bengal," Irani said. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the ED investigations in the multi-crore chit fund scam has nothing to do with the Bengal elections. "Suvendu Adhikari is just trying to capitalise on the public sentiments to win votes in the forthcoming polls. This is nothing but vote politics," Ghosh said. Hyderabad, March 12 : The Telangana government on Friday decided to ramp up Covid-19 testing in the state in view of the surge in new infections in neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka. Health Minister E. Rajender, who reviewed the Covid situation at a meeting on Friday, directed the health officials to increase the number of daily tests to 50,000. The minister gave instructions to the officials in view of the mounting cases in neighbouring states and their likely impact on Telangana. Health Secretary S.A.M. Rizvi, Director, Medical Education Ramesh Reddy and other senior officials attended the meeting. Director, Public Health, Srinivas Rao joined the meeting via video conferencing. Rajender asked the Health Department to ensure effective implementation of test, trace and treat policy. He directed the officials to ensure that there are no loopholes in the implementation. The minister issued special instructions to district medical and health officers of Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Adilabad, Asifabad, Mancherial, Jayashankar Bhupalapally and Jagtial districts bordering Maharashtra. Rajender said Covid vaccination drive will continue in the state. He hoped that remaining groups will also be covered soon by the vaccination. The minister appealed to people to help the government in checking the spread of Covid. No matter how many steps the government takes, they can yield the desired result only when there is cooperation from people, he said. The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said that it is very worried over the situation in Maharashtra, where there is spike in cases in several districts. Authorities have announced strict lockdown in Nagpur from March 15 to 21. Mutant strain of SARS-CoV-2 not found incriminating in surge of cases in Maharashtra India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 12: Eight out of top 10 districts with active COVID-19 cases are in Maharashtra, stated Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in course of a press briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19, held at National Media Centre in New Delhi. Pune with 18,474 cases tops the list, followed by Nagpur with 12,724 cases, then Thane with 10,460 cases and Mumbai with 9,973 cases. The other districts of Maharashtra in the list are Amravati, Jalgaon, Nashik and Aurangabad. The Health Secretary further stated that active cases are rising in the country, after touching the lowest mark in mid-February. In the last one month, the states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana have shown a rise in the number of active cases, while the cases have shown a decline in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, he further added. However, the seven days moving average of the daily death count remains low despite rise in active cases in the country, further informed Shri Bhushan. No shortage of COVID-19 vaccine doses in any state in India: Health ministry Speaking in the media briefing, Dr. V.K. Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog stated, "Covaxin is now allowed for restricted use in emergency situation in public interest". He explained saying "This has taken the authorisation for Covaxin to the next level, that is, the same level at which Covishield has been operating". The same licensure now applies to both the vaccines, he added. Informing about the COVID-19 vaccination scenario in the country, Shri Bhushan stated, more than 2.56 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered till date. This includes more than 67 lakh people above 60 years and people aged 45-60 years with comorbidities. This apart, 71 lakh first doses and 40 lakh second doses have been given to healthcare workers and 70 lakh first doses and 6 lakh second doses have been given to frontline workers till date. The Union Health Secretary also informed, "Within a period from 4th March when 10 lakh vaccines per day were being given, capacity has been ramped up to 20 lakh vaccines per day on 8th March". In this context, Dr. V.K. Paul stated, "There has been an impressive speeding up of the COVID vaccination programme over the last ten days. Through the participation of the public and private sectors both, working as one system, the nation has enhanced vaccine coverage phenomenally". Bhushan also informed that, 71.23 percent vaccinations have been done in public healthcare facilities, while 28.77% vaccinations have been done by private facilities which are empanelled in Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Central Government Health Scheme or a State Government's Health Insurance Scheme. However, in Odisha, Delhi, Telangana and Maharashtra, certain private healthcare facilities outside the ambit of the above-mentioned schemes have also been roped in for the vaccination programme on being recommended by the respective State Governments, on the basis of having adequate space, cold chain, vaccinators and arrangement to address AEFI. "Therefore, our doors are open to all private facilities", stated the Union Health Secretary. The system has been flexible such that private healthcare facilities can do COVID vaccination for 24 hours throughout the week. The State Government hospitals have been advised to do COVID vaccination for a minimum of 4 days per week, so as to enable them to carry out Non-COVID essential healthcare services, he added. PM's picture excluded from COVID-19 vaccine certificates in poll-bound states Speaking about Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI), Shri Bhushan stated, it has occurred in a minuscule percentage. AEFI reported so far are 0.020% of the total immunisations that have been done and only 0.00025% hospitalisation cases have occurred out of it, stated the Union Health Secretary. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News In reply to a media query, DG, ICMR stated, "Mutant strain of SARS-CoV-2 has not been found incriminating in the surge of cases in Maharashtra". Stating that "Maharashtra has shown worrisome trend", he added, the surge in the state is just related to the reduced number of testing, tracking and tracing as well as COVID-Inappropriate behaviours and also large gatherings. A soldier sits on one of the trucks used to bring back the girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school in the northwest Nigerian state of Zamfara, following their release in Zamfara, Nigeria, March 2, 2021. (Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters) Gunmen Abduct 30 Students in Northwest Nigeria as Payoffs Boomerang KADUNA, NigeriaGunmen kidnapped around 30 students in an overnight raid on a forestry college in northwest Nigeria, an official said on Friday, the fourth mass school abduction since December in a country where violence is on the increase. An armed gang broke into the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, located on the outskirts of Kaduna city near a military academy, at around 11:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Thursday, Kaduna states security commissioner, Samuel Aruwan said. After a distress call, the army rescued 180 people in the early hours of Friday but about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for, he said. A combined team of army, air force, police and DSS (Department of State Services) troops are conducting an operation to track the missing students. The city is the capital of Kaduna state, part of a region where banditry has festered for years. Hours before the kidnapping, Nigerias federal government said it would take out abductors after earlier criticizing local deals to free victims. Kaduna resident Haruna Salisu said he had heard sporadic gunshots at around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday from the area of the compound, where the concrete perimeter wall had a large hole in it on Friday. We were not panicking, thinking that it was a normal military exercise being conducted at the (nearby) Nigerian Defense Academy, he said by phone. We came out for dawn prayers, at 5:20 a.m., and saw some of the students, teachers and security personnel all over the school premises. They told us that gunmen raided the school and abducted some of the students. On Friday morning, relatives of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by around 20 army trucks. A view shows one of the hostels where gunmen abducted students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, in Kaduna, Nigeria March 12, 2021. (Stringer/Reuters) Ransom The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram, which seized 270 schoolgirls from a school at Chibok in the northeast in 2014. Around 100 of them have never been found. Armed criminal gangs seeking ransom have since carried out copycat attacks. Within the last few weeks, 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigerias Zamfara state. In the north-central state of Niger, 27 teenage boys were released after being kidnapped from their school, along with three staff and 12 family members. One student was shot dead in that attack. Military and police attempts to tackle the gangs have had little success, while many worry that state authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished, paying them off, or providing incentives. In Zamfara, state government officials said they had given reformed bandits access to land for cattle grazing, while also building schools and medical facilities. They do not specifically identify the recipients as kidnappers. In late February, the presidency said President Muhammadu Buhari had urged state governments to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously. Buhari held talks with security officials and traditional leaders on Thursday to discuss the countrys multiple security challenges. The national security adviser, Babagana Monguno, after the talks said the government would take a tough stance on criminal gangs. The new direction of government is to come out with full force. We have decided to apply the full weight of the law. We will come down on them wherever we locate them and take them out, he told reporters in the capital, Abuja, without providing further details. The unrest has become a political problem for Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism over the rise in violent crime, and replaced his long-standing military chiefs earlier this year. By Tife Owolabi Amazon said it pulled the book When Harry Became Sally because it 'frames LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness' Amazon has said that it pulled a book that 'challenges the transgender movement' because it does not allow books that 'frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness.' The online retailer explained its stance in a letter to Congress on Thursday, after several GOP senators demanded CEO Jeff Bezos explain why it had pulled the bestselling book When Harry Became Sally. 'We have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness,' Amazon said in response to the Congressional inquiry about the 2018 book. The letter last month from Republican Senators including Marco Rubio of Florida , Mike Lee of Utah, Mike Braun of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri had accused Amazon of 'openly signaling to conservative Americans that their views are not welcome on its platforms.' The online retailer explained its stance in a letter to Congress on Thursday, after several GOP senators demanded CEO Jeff Bezos (above) explain why it had pulled the bestselling book What does Anderson's book say? In his book, Anderson argues that most gender-questioning children will eventually identify with their biological sex with time and therapy, and argues that medical procedures for children to transition can do irreparable harm. Promotional text for the book says it 'gives a voice to people who tried to transition by changing their bodies, and found themselves no better off.' 'Especially troubling are the stories told by adults who were encouraged to transition as children but later regretted subjecting themselves to those drastic procedures,' the description adds. In the book, Anderson writes: 'We need to respect the dignity of people who identify as transgender.' However, the book drew fury from transgender activists for repeatedly dismissing the transgender identities of famous trans people, such as referring to Caitlyn Jenner as 'him'. Advertisement When Harry Became Sally, by Ryan T. Anderson, had made Amazon's bestseller list and was on sale on the site for three years before it was pulled without explanation several weeks ago. The book describes itself as offering 'thoughtful answers to questions arising from our transgender moment' while offering 'a balanced approach to public policy on gender identity, and a sober assessment of the human costs of getting human nature wrong.' The author responded with fury to Amazon's explanation of the ban, saying the company had relied upon mischaracterizations from his critics. 'Amazon appears to have never read my book, but relied on hit pieces. As I pointed out before: Please quote the passage where I call them mentally ill. You cant quote that passage because it doesnt exist,"' tweeted Anderson. 'Gender dysphoria is listed in the APAs Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which Amazon sells. So the real deciding factor seems to be whether you endorse hormones and surgery as the proper treatment or counseling,' wrote the author. 'Everyone agrees that gender dysphoria is a serious condition that causes great suffering,' Anderson tweeted. 'There is a debate, however, which amazon is seeking to shut down, about how best to treat patients who experience gender dysphoria.' In a joint statement with his publisher, Encounter Books, Anderson said: 'No good comes from shutting down a debate about important matters on which reasonable people of good will disagree.' 'Amazon is using its massive power to distort the marketplace of ideas and is deceiving its own customers in the process,' the author added. Amazon said in its letter that it strives to 'provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable.' 'That said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content. All retailers make decisions about what selection they choose to offer, as do we,' the letter added. 'We carefully consider the content we make available in our stores, and we review our approach regularly. As described above, we have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness,' the company said. Amazon dominates the country's retail market for books, accounting for 53 percent of all books sold in the U.S. and 80 percent of all ebooks. Amazon strongly denied that it discriminates against certain viewpoints, after the GOP senators accused the company of censoring conservatives. 'We offer customers across the political spectrum a wide variety of content that includes disparate opinions,' the company said. Amazon strongly denied that it discriminates against certain viewpoints, after the GOP senators accused the company of censoring conservatives The Republican senators had accused Amazon of 'openly signaling to conservative Americans that their views are not welcome on its platforms.' 'When Harry Became Sally prompted important discussions in the national media and among policymakers in 2018, and remains one of the most rigorously researched and compassionately argued books on this subject,' the senators wrote in a statement. 'By removing this book from its marketplaces and services, Amazon has unabashedly wielded its outsized market share to silence an important voice merely for the crime of violating woke groupthink,' they added. 'Amazon has been unable to provide a sufficient explanation as to how the book supposedly violated a vague, undefined offensive content standard,' they wrote. After Amazon pulled the book last month, American political commentator David French, who is a Republican, said the move was both 'absurd and unacceptable'. Ross Douthat, a columnist with the New York Times suggested Amazon was 'conducting an experiment in what they can get away with.' In the wake of last month's publicity, the print edition of the book sold out on Barnes and Noble's website and reached number 3 on their list of the top 100 digital books. Chandigarh, March 12 : While reiterating the state's commitment to uplift the poorest of the poor, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday announced a new scheme 'Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Utthan Abhiyan'. The scheme aims to identify the poorest one lakh families and to work for economic upliftment of two lakh families in 2021-22. The Chief Minister made these announcements while presenting the state Budget for 2021-22 in Vidhan Sabha here. He said a package of measures from education, skill development, wage employment, self-employment and job creation will be adopted and tailored to each family to ensure their economic upliftment so as to reach a minimum economic threshold of Rs 1.80 lakh per annum. Khattar said once one lakh families are successfully uplifted, then the government will identify the next lot of poorest one lakh families and work for their economic upliftment. Through this scheme the aim is that no family in the state lives below the poverty line by 2025, he said. He said the Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Utthan Abhiyan will be an umbrella mission encompassing all schemes of government to identify the scheme or set of schemes to supplement the upliftment of each identified family. Each department will prioritize schemes implemented by them for the upliftment of the identified poorest families. The government's strategy is to comprehensively cover these families at the lowest end of the socio economic ladder, and extend the coverage to the next set of one lakh families, and gradually expand coverage to all the vulnerable sections of society, added Khattar. A senior official from the Northern Ireland Office is to travel to the US with the aim of improving relations with President Joe Biden's administration. The move, reported in The Daily Telegraph yesterday, is designed to "counter the EU's efforts to turn President Biden's administration against the UK". It comes amid UK-EU tensions over London's decision to extend an exemption on Brexit checks on goods from Britain to supermarkets here. The official will be tasked with providing factual briefings to US politicians, as well as rebutting EU claims made about the UK post-Brexit, the newspaper reported. Secretary of State Brandon Lewis is understood to be driving the plan, having stepped up engagement with US Democrats in recent months in a bid to keep the new regime onside. The NIO declined to comment on the matter. Northern Ireland follows the EU's rules on trade to prevent a hard border in Ireland. However, the protocol governing that has caused problems for some suppliers in Britain, prompting anger from unionists, who claim it undermines the Union. Last week the UK Government unilaterally extended grace periods limiting bureaucracy linked to the protocol until October. They had been due to expire at the end of this month. The UK also temporarily lifted the protocol's ban on plants potted in soil in Britain from being imported here. The European Commission is now preparing to take legal action against the Government, accusing it of breaching the terms of the protocol. First Minister Arlene Foster described the reaction from the EU to the extension of the grace period as "hysterical". The President, who is of Irish descent, previously expressed concerns about the situation in Ireland following Brexit. He told reporters in November last year the US did not want a "guarded border" in Ireland and that it had taken a lot of hard work to reach a settlement and end decades of conflict. Before his ascent to the White House after victory against Donald Trump, Mr Biden said any UK-US post-Brexit trade deal had to be "contingent" on respect for the Good Friday Agreement and must not endanger the peace process. Brexit Minister Lord Frost said London would defend "vigorously" any legal action brought by Brussels. He insisted the measures were "operational, technical and temporary". On Wednesday Mr Lewis also insisted the move had been "lawful". Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin at the beginning of the debate on the 2021 message on the State of the Nation on Wednesday, cautioned members not to turn the House into a playground. The debate followed the presentation of the State of the Nation Address by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, in which he briefed Ghanaians on the performance of the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the first term under his watch and made projections into the future. However, there were incessant heckling from some colleague legislators as those who caught the Speakers eye made their submissions, compelling Speaker to caution that he would not tolerate any act to turn the House into playground. The angry Speaker noted the noisy interruptions and heckling by some of the legislators during the Presidents presentation of the SONA. When they began to sing loudly at the beginning of the debate, Speaker Bagbin cautioned that the chamber was not a musical theater, and he would not allow the MPs to turn the chamber into a playground. Speaker Bagbin said: Honourable members, this is not a musical theater. What happened in parliament yesterday, I dont want to talk about it. Dont turn parliament into a playground, I am not going to tolerate that at all. Mr Eric Opoku, MP for Asunafo South, who was on his feet, continued with his submission after the Speakers caution, and said President Akufo-Addos address did not include how the Government had handled the economy. Mr Opoku queried why Ghanas national debt was rising, noting that In December 2020, the debt of our nation has been ballooned to GHS286.9 billion, according to the Bank of Ghana, indicating that within the last four years, the NPP government has increased our total debt stock by a whopping GHS165 billion. According to the Asunafo South MP, no government in the history of Ghana has ever borrowed this quantum of money within the space of four years. He noted that Ghanas debt, as he said the Bank of Ghana puts it, constitutes 74.4 percent of the nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Even if we are to add all the borrowings of all the governments weve had in this country, they never borrowed up to GHS165 billion. To whom much is given much is expected. The debt of our nation as the Bank of Ghana puts it constitutes 74.4 percent of our GDP. This is far above the IMF debt sustainability threshold of 70 percent, he said. The legislator wondered why the government had securitized a number of the countrys resources. He suggested that the announcement by the President that three helicopters had been procured for the Ghana Police Service was false. Mr Opoku also challenged the part of the presentation that the country was having food security if it imports tomatoes from other parts of the world, ending that the Government had brought hardship to the people. 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 On March 12, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Shamoon Omer Rafiq, a Dutch citizen residing in Singapore, with defrauding investors by offering to sell them approximately $9 million in fictitious securities. According to the SEC's complaint, since July 2020, Rafiq sought to bilk several investors out of millions of dollars by offering to sell them securities purporting to represent Rafiq's ownership in a special purpose vehicle investment fund (the SPV Fund) that, Rafiq claimed, held pre-IPO shares of a well-known company. The complaint alleges that, as part of his fraudulent sales pitch, Rafiq falsely claimed that the SPV Fund was controlled by a well-known European investment firm run by a prominent family, and that Rafiq was a close associate of the firm and its members. As the complaint further alleges, however, the SPV Fund did not exist, and Rafiq had no connection to, or association with the investment firm or its family owners. The complaint further alleges that, using these false representations and other deceptive devices, Rafiq convinced one investor to deposit into escrow approximately $9 million toward the purchase of Rafiq's purported interests in the SPV Fund. As alleged, however, before that transaction was completed, the investor discovered Rafiq's fraud and retrieved the escrowed funds. The SEC's complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, charges Rafiq with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. On March 12, 2021, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced criminal charges against Rafiq based on the same conduct. The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued investor alerts on the red flags of investment fraud. There are various ways to report a potential fraud set out on the Office's website. The SEC's investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by Liora Sukhatme, Jack Kaufman, and Gerald Gross of the New York Regional Office and the litigation will be handled by Ms. Sukhatme and Mr. Kaufman. The case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Department of Homeland Security. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrains Ministry of Interior lashed out at the Qatari Al Jazeera channel for its attempts to tarnish the reputation of Bahrain, Interior Ministry said the channel is targeting Bahrain and its people with fabricated stories of incitement, violence, hatred and sedition. These works also violated the principles of good-neighbourliness, the Interior Ministry statement said. Al Jazeera violates the fundamental law of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and their works are also inconsistent with the principles of Al-Ula Summit declaration. The programme titled Out of Context aired by Al Jazeera on March 7 is part of its systematic policy to defame the Kingdoms reputation, Interior Ministry stressed. The programme, the ministry said, contains fabricated and unrealistic allegations made through statements of individuals who committed terrorist crimes that caused innocent lives. Telecasting statements without physical evidence also makes the channel the voice of terrorists and inciters, the statement added. The ministry further stressed that the reformation and rehabilitation centres here are law enforcement authorities and correction centres, and they have never been places for investigation. Inmates serving their sentences at the centres have received fair and public trials. They have gone through a judicial process and convicted by the independent judicial authority based on physical evidence. Bahrains human rights record, the Interior Ministry statement said, is full of reformation and rehabilitation accomplishments and initiatives, including the alternative penalty law and the open prisons proposal. These initiatives reflect the commitment to human rights in approach and practice and promote Bahrains position as a developed country by establishing regulatory and human rights institutions such as the National Institute for Human Rights, the Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman. The ministry also pointed out that the channel, sponsored by Qatar, is not in a position to criticise human rights policy in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Al Jazeeras continuation of violence and sedition incitement is a crime against the media and communities for lacking credibility. The Interior Ministry also pointed out the defamatory shows and news primarily aim at hindering the implementation of the Al-Ula Summit declaration. The programme contains alleged incidents dating back to 2015, and those in charge of the channel are still backing terrorist groups. Those who run the channel are unknown and are inconsiderate to the GCC traditions and stability, for they do not belong to the GCC community. The Ministry of Interior also warned against listening to the fabricated news, for they are against the GCC and national interests. Boris Johnson has told Irans president that his countrys continued confinement of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is completely unacceptable, according to Number 10. Downing Street said the PM held a phone conversation with Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday. Mr Johnson demanded Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffes immediate release, along with that of other British-Iranian dual nationals, Downing Street said. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was recently released from house arrest and had her ankle tag removed following a five-year prison term. The Thomson Reuters Foundation worker was detained in 2016 on spying charges which she denied and the UK has also rejected. A No 10 spokesperson said: [Mr Johnson] said that while the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffes ankle monitor was welcome, her continued confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK. It is feared that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe may face further charges, with a fresh court hearing expected on Sunday. Her husband Richard Ratcliffe, accompanied by their six-year-old daughter Gabriella, attended a vigil outside the Iranian embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, on Monday. Kate Allen, Amnesty International UKs director, said: Nazanin has already been convicted once after a deeply unfair trial before a revolutionary court, so of course we're extremely concerned about this hearing. She said that Iran systematically [violates] fair trial rights and that it was vital British officials be granted permission to attend any court hearings. Downing Street has previously said that officials have been denied access to legal proceedings because Iran does not recognise dual nationality. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office reiterated its displeasure at Irans imprisonment of dual nationals as diplomatic leverage in a statement earlier this month, saying those individuals had been arbitrarily detained. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 27 May 2021 A man waits to receive a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, in the rooms of the Claudia Comte exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Castello di Rivoli near Turin AFP/Getty World news in pictures 26 May 2021 A girl, with her face painted with the colours of the opposition flag, looks on during a demonstration against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and presidential elections, in the opposition-held Idlib, Syria Reuters World news in pictures 25 May 2021 A Buddhist monk climbs atop a giant statue of Buddha, to wash and decorate on the eve of Buddha Purnima, a holiday traditionally celebrated for Buddha's birthday also known as Vesak celebrations, in Bhopal AFP/Getty World news in pictures 24 May 2021 Lava from the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo cuts through Buhene north of Goma, Congo AP World news in pictures 23 May 2021 Cyclists at the start of the 15th stage of the Giro dItalia, a 147km race between Grado and Gorizia AFP/Getty World news in pictures 22 May 2021 Swiss Guards take their position prior to the arrival of the European Commission President at San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican for a private audience with the Pope AFP/Getty World news in pictures 21 May 2021 A dog that has been trained to sniff out the coronavirus disease, screens a sweat sample at Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters World news in pictures 20 May 2021 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr in action during a F1 practice session at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo Reuters World news in pictures 18 May 2021 Horse-drawn carriages drive through the mudflats near Cuxhaven, northern Germany dpa via AP World news in pictures 17 May 2021 Kanoya Onishi in action during the Cycling BMX Free Style of Tokyo 2020 Olympics test event at Ariake Urban Sports Park in Japan EPA World news in pictures 16 May 2021 Rescuers carry Suzy Eshkuntana, 6, as they pull her from the rubble of a building at the site of Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City Reuters World news in pictures 15 May 2021 A ball of fire erupts from the Jala Tower as it is destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza city AFP/Getty World news in pictures 14 May 2021 Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers inside the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh AP World news in pictures 13 May 2021 Muslim girls ride on a mini train after attending the Eid Al-Fitr prayer that marks the end of the Holy month of Ramadan at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya AFP/Getty World news in pictures 12 May 2021 Israeli artillery fire as the escalation continues between Israeli army and Hamas at the Gaza Border EPA World news in pictures 11 May 2021 Maya Nakanishi competes in the womens long jump - T64 category during a para-athletics test event for the 2020 Olympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo AFP/Getty World news in pictures 10 May 2021 A Palestinian man helps a wounded fellow protester amid clashes with Israeli security forces at Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque compound, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israels takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War AFP/Getty World news in pictures 9 May 2021 Falconer Giovanna Piccolo performs with her Eurasian eagle-owl at 'Roma World' theme park, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Rome Reuters World news in pictures 8 May 2021 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) is introduced as a starter against the St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena. USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 6 May 2021 Buddhist monks and believers attend a lantern parade in celebration of the upcoming birthday of Buddha at a temple in Seoul, South Korea Reuters World news in pictures 5 May 2021 Russian MiG-29 jet fighters of the Strizhi (Swifts) and Su-30SM jet fighters of the Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) aerobatic teams fly in formation over the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin in Moscow during a flypast rehearsal for the WWII Victory Parade AFP/Getty World news in pictures 4 May 2021 An elevated metro line collapsed in the Mexican capital on Monday, leaving at least 23 people dead and dozens injured as a train came plunging down, authorities said AFP/Getty World news in pictures 3 May 2021 Lightning bolts strike buildings during a thunderstorm in Bangkok AFP/Getty World news in pictures 2 May 2021 Samaritan worshippers arrive to take part in a Passover ceremony on top of Mount Gerizim, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus AFP/Getty World news in pictures 1 May 2021 A Gilet Jaune, or yellow vest, protestor stands in front of a burning barricade holding his hand up with an inscription calling for President Macron to resign as May Day Protest turn violent near Place de la Republique in Paris, France Getty World news in pictures 30 April 2021 A demonstrator from the Rio de Paz human rights activist group digs a symbolic grave in front of rows of bags symbolising bodybags on Copacabana beach, during a protest against the Brazilian governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in Rio de Janeiro AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 April 2021 An aerial picture shows dead carp fish flushed to the shores of al-Qaraoun reservoir in Lebanons Western Beqaa District in the countrys east. Tonnes of fish have washed up dead on the shoreline of the highly polluted artificial reservoir in eastern Lebanon in recent days AFP/Getty World news in pictures 28 April 2021 Health workers wearing PPE attends to coronavirus patients inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a covid care centre in New Delhi AFP/Getty World news in pictures 27 April 2021 The full moon, known as the Super Pink Moon rises behind the Statue of Liberty in New York City, Reuters World news in pictures 26 April 2021 Balinese people lay wreaths with names of the crew on board the sunk Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala during a prayer at the sea near Labuhan Lalang, Bali, Indonesia EPA World news in pictures 25 April 2021 An Ethiopian Orthodox Christian worshipper walks around the Edicule, the place believed to be where Jesus Christ was buried, during Palm Sunday celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem AFP/Getty World news in pictures 24 April 2021 Fans of Wuhan Three Towns FC cheer for their team during the 1st round match Wuhan Three Towns FC and Beijing Institute of Technology FC during Chinese Football League One in Wuhan, China Getty World news in pictures 23 April 2021 A girl prays in front of the Dome of the Rock, in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalems Old City, on the second Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, as coronavirus restrictions ease around the country, in Jerusalem Reuters World news in pictures 22 April 2021 People walk through the art work 'THE SPIRITS OF THE PUMPKINS DESCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS' by Yayoi Kusama, during the press preview of a retrospective exhibition of the Japanese artist at the Martin Gropius Bau museum in Berlin, Germany AP World news in pictures 21 April 2021 Hungary's Sara Peter competes in the Women's floor qualifications during European Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the St Jakobshalle, in Basel AFP/Getty World news in pictures 20 April 2021 South Korea university students gets their heads shaved during a protest against Japan's decision to release contaminated water from its Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, in front of the Japanese embassy, in Seoul Reuters World news in pictures 19 April 2021 A spectator wearing a football jersey of Argentina's forward Lionel Messi attends the ATP Barcelona Open tennis tournament singles match between Japan's Kei Nishikori and Argentina's Guido Pella at the Real Club de Tenis in Barcelona AFP/Getty World news in pictures 18 April 2021 People raise their fist during a demonstration near the George Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis, Minnesota AFP/Getty World news in pictures 17 April 2021 Security personnel stand guard outside a polling station during the 5th phase of West Bengal's state legislative assembly elections in Kolkata AFP/Getty World news in pictures 16 April 2021 Palestinians take part in the first Friday prayers of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in Jerusalem's Old City AFP/Getty World news in pictures 15 April 2021 A firefighter inspects the site of a car bomb attack in Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 14 April 2021 This picture shows the 100 days countdown till the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games displayed on the illuminated Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo on April 14, 2021 AFP/Getty World news in pictures 13 April 2021 This photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source shows Buddhist monks gesturing while taking part in a demonstration with protesters against the military coup in Mandalay during the Myanmar New Year festival of Thingyan AFP/Getty World news in pictures 12 April 2021 An Indian holi man during the Kumbh Mela royal bath (Sacred Hindu Pilgrimage) in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. Thousands of pilgrims are gathering and taking holy dip in Kumbh Mela that is a mass Hindu pilgrimage which occurs after every twelve years and rotates among four locations EPA World news in pictures 11 April 2021 Nasa released images of of sand dunes on Mars captured using infrared reflections NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU World news in pictures 10 April 2021 People watch devotees pulling a chariot in Biska Jatra Festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal AP World news in pictures 9 April 2021 Maintenance workers clean the monument of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Moscow on April 9, 2021. - Sixty years ago Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, marking it a new chapter in the history of space exploration. AFP/Getty World news in pictures 8 April 2021 Protesters hold a banner and burning red flares during a demonstration of called by unions of healthcare and social workers in support of their sector and to demand a bonus in their pay in Paris AFP/Getty World news in pictures 7 April 2021 Protesters laying on the street near the Election Commission office in Kolkata during a demonstration demanding the halt of the ongoing state legislative election and campaign rallies amidst the rising number of Covid-19 cases AFP/Getty World news in pictures 6 April 2021 Voters stand in queue to cast their votes at a polling booth during third phase of West Bengal state elections in Baruipur, South 24 Pargana district, India AP During his call with Mr Rouhani, Mr Johnson also raised Irans breaches of its nuclear deal with world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The Downing Street spokesperson said the PM stressed that while the UK remains committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, Iran must stop all its nuclear activity that breaches the terms of the JCPOA and come back into compliance. He stressed the importance of Iran seizing the opportunity presented by the United States willingness to return to the deal if Iran comes back into compliance, they added. The prime minister underlined the need for Iran to cease wider destabilising activity and be a positive force in the Gulf region. Additional reporting by Press Association 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 Vanessa Bryant is a proud mom. Bryant, 38, took to Instagram Stories on Thursday with a happy message touting the news of eldest daughter Natalia's acceptance into Loyola Marmount University, which is located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Playa Vista. 'So glad you got accepted but ... Too far j/k,' she wrote of the 18-year-old with a shot of the front of the educational institution. The latest: Vanessa Bryant, 38, took to Instagram Stories on Thursday with a happy message touting the news of daughter Natalia's acceptance into Loyola Marmount University, which is located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Playa Vista Last month, Vanessa took to the site with a shot of an acceptance letter to the University of Oregon Natalia received. The acceptance letter read, 'Congratulations! It is a pleasure to offer you admission to the University of Oregon class of 2025. Your hard work and achievements have paid off, and I know you will make invaluable contributions to our campus community.' In January, she shared a shot of Natalia donning a New York University top, noting that she was pulling for her to stay on the West Coast. Vanessa wrote: '@nataliabryant chose not to apply ED to her top 5 schools. I will do my best to keep her in Cali just like I kept her daddy here,' she wrote, adding the hashtag, #CaliGirlForever. She wrote of the 18-year-old with a shot of the front of the educational institution, 'So glad you got accepted but ... Too far j/k' Close couple: Kobe and Vanessa were seen in November of 2019 in LA, less than three months before his death in a helicopter crash In addition to her collegiate endeavors, Natalia was signed to IMG Models last month. She said in a statement: 'I have always been interested in fashion since a very young age. I have a love for the industry and ever since I can remember I wanted to model. There is a lot to learn but I feel this is a great opportunity for me to learn and express myself creatively.' Natalia said in an Instagram Stories post that she was 'beyond thrilled and so honored to be a part of the IMG family.' Good news: Last month, Vanessa took to the site with a shot of an acceptance letter to the University of Oregon Natalia received After Natalia turned 18 this past January, Vanessa paid a special birthday tribute to her oldest daughter, nearly a year after her father Kobe Bryant, 41, and sister Gigi Bryant, 13, perished in a helicopter crash. 'You have displayed so much strength and grace throughout the most difficult year of our lives,' said Vanessa, who is also mother to daughters Bianka, four, and Capri, 20 months. 'Thank you for stepping in to help me with your little sisters.' Kobe and Gigi died with seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on January 26, 2020. Also killed in the crash were pilot Ara Zobayan, 50, Payton Chester, 13, Sarah Chester, 46, Alyssa Altobelli, 14, Keri Altobelli, 46, John Altobelli, 56, and Christina Mauser, 38. 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. I got accepted to my first graduate school program, and I am feeling so blessed. Dreams really do come true, tweeted Brianna Gavin. My heart soared. When the University of Dayton started the Flyer Promise Scholars program four years ago, we made a commitment to high-achieving, underserved/underrepresented students. With the help of institutional aid and generous private support, we promised that we would eliminate the financial barriers they faced in attending UD and help them fulfill their dream of a college degree. We promised to help prepare them with real-world experiences. We promised to create a sense of belonging so that this campus would feel like their home and always will. And we promised to see their graduation as a success, not just their matriculation. Today, of the 42 students in the first class, 40 are on the cusp of graduation. Thats simply a remarkable success rate that speaks to their talent, their determination, and the commitment of those Brianna calls a second family the programs caring staff who embrace their dreams and help guide them on the academic journey. She describes her fellow students as brothers and sisters. Today, of the 42 students in the first class, 40 are on the cusp of graduation. Its not always an easy transition if youre a first-generation college student, like Brianna, or are adapting to life on the mainland, like Sergio Gines of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, who struggled to juggle classes his first semester while worrying about his family and friends after Hurricane Maria battered the island. Thanks to wonderful advisers and a great peer support group, I got back on my feet and continued my journey, says Sergio, who will serve as an operations management intern for Cargill in Timberville, Virginia, this summer before graduating in December with a degree in industrial engineering technology and a minor in quality assurance. With 168 students from a dozen partner schools, Flyer Promise boasts a near-perfect retention rate. It demonstrates how we can expand access and opportunity while becoming a more inclusive and diverse campus. And its imprint is distinctly Marianist. From a group of students from various races and backgrounds, these students have blurred the lines of difference and formed a tight-knit family. I dream of the day when a familys income level or ZIP code cease to stand in the way of any talented student achieving a University of Dayton degree. This is a special program that offers hope for closing the opportunity gap that too many young people face. I dream of the day when a familys income level or ZIP code cease to stand in the way of any talented student achieving a University of Dayton degree. Brianna dreams of the finish line graduation. We have dreamed of this moment since we were all little kids, says Brianna, a first-generation college student from Brookville, Ohio, who will receive a degree in psychology with minors in biology and criminal justice studies in May. Before Flyer Promise, college was nothing but a far-fetched dream that only certain people could attain. Flyer Promise made it possible for us. A MAGA rioter who stormed the Capitol Building on January 6 says she should not be tried in Washington D.C. because its residents are 'prejudiced' against political conservatives. Jenny Cudd, 36, who hails from Midland, Texas, is requesting that her trial instead be held in her home state. Lawyers for Cudd made the demand in a new filing submitted on Thursday. She has previously boasted about breaking down the door of Nancy Pelosi's office during the riot. The flower shop owner is charged with multiple criminal offenses including corruptly obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, entering and remaining in a restricted building, and committing disorderly conduct. She faces more than 20 years behind bars if convicted. In the new filing, obtained by Reuters reporter Jan Wolfe, Cudd claims that 'detrimental pretrial publicity and community prejudice' will affect the jury pool in D.C., making her unable to receive a fair trial. 'In Washington, D.C., people have been readily 'canceled' for being politically conservative and for their public support of Donald Trump,' Cudd's lawyers wrote. 'The jury who would hear the facts in Washington D.C. is the most politically prejudiced jury in the entire country . 'The D.C. venire is polluted by the city's political culture of 'canceling' those associated with allegations of 'white supremacy. 'A guilty verdict by a D.C. jury could be readily based on pretrial media affiliation of Ms. Cudd with 'white supremacy.' A MAGA rioter who stormed the Capitol Building on January 6 says she should not be tried in Washington D.C. because its residents are 'prejudiced' against political conservatives Cudd was arrested on January 13, but denies doing anything violent or damaging property and has pleaded not guilty Cudd went viral following the January 6 riot when she made a video from inside the Capitol, saying: 'We didn't knock down any statues, we didn't vandalize anything - but we did break down Nancy Pelosi's office door.' She was arrested on January 13, but denies doing anything violent or damaging property and has pleaded not guilty. 'I went inside the Capitol completely legally and I did not do anything to hurt anybody or destroy any property,' she told KWES-TV. She said that she didn't personally go into Pelosi's office or see the breaking down of the door, but was speaking in a collective sense about people at the Capitol. was arrested on January 13, but denies doing anything violent or damaging property and has pleaded not guilty Cudd went viral following the January 6 riot when she made a video from inside the Capitol, saying: 'We didn't knock down any statues, we didn't vandalize anything - but we did break down Nancy Pelosi's office door.' Cudd is the owner of Becky's Flowers - a florist in Midland with about nine employees. She says her business has been bombarded with online reviews calling her a terrorist and a traitor, and that she has even received death threats. Cudd is also a cannabis entrepreneur, with interests in two Oklahoma-based farms. The outspoken Texan also ran for mayor of Midland in November 2019. She came in last place. Current mayor Patrick Payton says he is 'saddened' by her involvement in the siege on January 6. 'It saddens me. And that's just as far as I'm willing to comment on that. It saddens me,' he told reporters following her arrest. Spruce Forest opens for season through a new door With the crashing of the trees, three of the cabins were destroyed, along with damaging the village church and other buildings as well. Tucker Carlson has claimed he is the victim of a PR offensive by the Pentagon after he mocked women soldiers. Senior military officials and the Department of Defense rebuked the Fox News host for a segment on his show in which he poked fun at women serving their country. Carlson addressed the controversy on his Thursday night show and complained at the hostile treatment he had received. Today the Department of Defense launched a large and coordinated public relations offensive against this show, he claimed. Pentagon brass issued hostile statements, people in uniform sent out videos on social media. The DOD even issued a news release attacking us. The right-wing TV host had ridiculed Joe Biden for saying that the US military had created uniforms to fit women properly and flight suits for pregnant women. So weve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. Its a mockery of the US military, Carlson said earlier this week. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shared the same revulsion expressed by many military leaders towards the comments. The senior enlisted leader at the US Space Command, Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt Scott Stalker, posted a video to social media branding Carlsons show drama TV and said that the journalists opinion was based off of actually zero days of service in the armed forces. Carlson insisted on Thursdays show that he did not have some hateful bias against pregnant women flying military jets. And he added: We are pro-pregnancy as we often say, we are also open minded. Maybe pregnant women make the best pilots? The Department of Defense measures everything so theres got to be extensive research on this question. If the Pentagon can show that pregnant pilots are the best we will be the first to demand an entire air force of pregnant pilots. In-the-know Bay Area locals were already aware that the region has a booming new bagel scene, but when the New York Times recently declared California bagels better than New Yorks, interest has grown in what these local bagels taste like. Though the piece highlighted just two local spots Boichik in Berkeley and Ferry Building pop-up Midnite Bagel other local bagel shops are also getting more attention. More than 400 bagels from Pacific Heights pop-up Schloks, which specializes in a big and malty bagel, sold out preorders within three minutes this week. Below are 13 pop-ups and bagel shops to try in the Bay Area, often inspired by New York but distinctively their own style. Be aware that production is limited at many of these places, meaning it may take some finagling to get ahold of one. But more importantly: Dont try to compare it too much to memories of your perfect New York bagel. Instead, experience them as their own California creations. 20th Century Cafe The bagels at Michelle Polzines throwback bakery are petite and aesthetically appealing, looking more like dramatically oversize buttons than bread. Polzine sprinkles her bagels with nigella seeds or flake salt and bakes them to very dark. They are just large enough to satisfy and have the chew thats missing from the bloated rounds that are still the norm at many popular bagel shops. 20th Century Cafe. $3. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. 198 Gough St. (at Oak Street), San Francisco. 415-621-2380 or www.20thcenturycafe.com Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Boichik Bagels The bagels at the forefront of this bicoastal debate come from former engineer Emily Winston, whose Berkeley brick-and-mortar debuted in 2019 to long lines that have never ceased. These little orbs deliver on the New York nostalgia with excellent chew and malty flavor and unlike most on this list, theyre also kosher. Lines are even longer than usual, and preorders for delivery are currently sold out thanks to that New York Times article, but try snagging a bagel at a less obvious wholesale location like Berkeley Bowl or One Markets deli pop-up in San Francisco. Boichik Bagels. $3. 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. 3170 College Ave, Berkeley. https://boichikbagels.com/ Chicken Dog Bagels This Bernal Heights pop-up at Pizzahacker comes from Alex Rogers, who frequented legendary New York bagel shop H&H Bagels while growing up. His version, though, is one of the newer S.F. bagels that doesnt try to mimic NYC. Theres a sourdough base that results in a bagel that has slightly more tang. But the crust is still crispy and the interior is still hefty yet soft an attempt to maintain some of the sturdiness of a classic New York bagel. Theyre also available as sandwiches, including with lox and cream cheese. Chicken Dog Bagels. $2.50. Takeout. Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m.-noon, and Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon at Pizzahacker, 3299 Mission St., San Francisco. chickendogbagels.square.site Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Daily Driver The toasty, wood-fired bagels ($3.50) arent the only highlight at this minimalist Dogpatch bakery. Founded by cheesemakers and farmers, Daily Driver also produces tangy, European-style cultured butter and cream cheese, turning your usual bagel-and-shmear order into a totally from-scratch experience. In addition to straight-up bagels, Daily Driver sells bagel dogs, pizza bagels, sandwiches and bagel chips from its Dogpatch mothership and Ferry Terminal satellite. Daily Driver. $3.50. 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Sunday; 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. 2535 Third St., San Francisco. 415-852-3535 or www.dailydriver.com Ethels Bagels Based in Petaluma, Ethels is a new, pandemic-borne business that proffers organic sourdough bagels ($3) via farmers markets and delivery. Named after founder Nicolas Abrams grandmother Ethel, the bakery produces a remarkably chewy and flavorful bagel. Before baking, each bagel is boiled in a mixture of water, Lagunitas beer and organic malt syrup, lending them an exaggerated maltiness. Flavors include the usual seed-coated varieties as well as a unique black pepper and Parmesan bagel. Ethels Bagels. $3. Check online for full delivery and market schedule. 707-364-9926 or www.ethelsbagels.com Grand Bakery Fans of Oaklands short-lived Authentic Bagel Co. should know by now that one of its founders teamed up with this longtime kosher bakery to start a new bagel tradition. Slightly bigger and less crusty than a typical New York bagel, Grands versions still pack in flavor with thorough seed coverage. Plus, theyre certified kosher. Find packs of bagels at Oakland grocery store the Food Mill or order for home delivery, including box sets with schmears or lox. Grand Bakery. $5 for a three-pack. 3033 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland. grandbakeryoakland.com Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle Hella Bagels Blake Hunter launched Hella Bagels out of his Oakland home last March, and sell-outs were swift for the New York-style pop-up. Expect a familiar size and chew to these bagels, though Hunter gets creative with schmears, such as spicy mango peach. Hella Bagels delivers to most of the East Bay and San Francisco, but its also easy to walk up to the Hidden Cafe in Berkeley on Sundays for bagel sandwiches. Hella Bagels. $3. Check online for delivery options; pop-ups 9 a.m.-noon Sundays at 1250 Addison St., Suite 11, Berkeley. hella-bagels.com Midnite Bagel It may be hard to get ahold of Midnite Bagel for a while: The vendor sells once a week at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and is starting to bring bagels to a few San Francisco cafes, but then it was featured in the aforementioned New York Times article. Preorders are capped until mid-May, according to founder Nick Beitcher. But once production ramps up, expect to find a bagel thats inspired by Beitchers time as a bread baker at Tartine. That means he experiments with flour: Theres rye in the dough to imbue a nuttier flavor and variations like a buckwheat-black sesame bagel. Midnite Bagel. $3. Check online for delivery and other options. 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco. midnitebagel.com Midnite Bagel Paulies Bagels Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. These are decidedly not New York-style bagels, because Napa chef Paulie Brown just isnt that impressed by New York bagels. Instead, these promise extra toasty, malty flavors with a crisp, pretzel-esque crust and theyve earned a strong reputation. Order bagels online with free delivery from Napa to Calistoga, or find four-packs at Browns Valley Market in Napa. Paulies Bagels. $10 for 6. Check online for delivery. pauliesbagels.com Poppy Bagels Reesa Kashuks pandemic-fueled bagel pop-up specializes in crusty, chewy, New York-style bagels with excellent seed coverage on both sides. That means more flavor, whether its well-toasted sesame seeds or a salt-and-pepper bagel where the pepper is actually in the dough. Poppy usually sells out days in advance online, so set alarm clocks for 9 a.m. Mondays for pick up in Oakland or delivery in San Francisco. Starting March 20, Poppy will also have a stand at the Grand Lake Farmers Market. Poppy Bagels. $36 per dozen. 9-9:30 a.m. Friday, 101 Broadway, Oakland. poppybagelssf.com Schloks Pacific Heights bar the Snug has been hosting Schloks and its heftier version of the bagel on weekends. Theyre twice as big as some other San Francisco bagels, and with a significant dose of barley malt syrup, they have a stronger flavor, too. Founders Zack Schwab and chef James Lok, who used to work at Michelin-starred restaurants Benu and the Restaurant at Meadowood, pull inspiration from New York, but they consider their bagel to distinctively San Francisco. Schlok's. $3.25-$3.50. Takeout, preorders required. 9-11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the Snug, 2301 Fillmore St., San Francisco. schloks.com Jonathan Racusin The Bagel Mill The Bagel Mill is an artisanal, farm-to-table bagel shop that feels right at home in Petaluma. Owner Glenda Dougherty employs a stone mill to process whole wheat flour daily and mixes that super-fresh flour with sourdough starter for a naturally leavened bagel that takes more than 36 hours to produce. In keeping with the theme, the dairy and produce that top those bagels are local and organic. The Bagel Mill. $2. 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. 212 Western Ave., Petaluma. thebagelmill.com Wise Sons A pioneer in the Bay Areas bagel scene, Evan Bloom and Leo Beckermans chain of shops have been reliable go-to spots for bagels and other Jewish deli specialties since their first brick-and-mortar opened in the Mission District. Their bagel is less chewy than its cousins on the East Coast, with a malleability and lack of bulk that makes it suitable for loading with fatty cured salmon, double whipped cream cheese, pastrami and other classic deli ingredients. Wise Sons. $2. Multiple locations throughout the Bay Area. https://wisesonsdeli.com Janelle Bitker, Soleil Ho and Serena Dai are staff writers and editors at the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com, soleil@sfchronicle.com, serena.dai@sfchronicle.com Pine siskins face a deadly dilemma in the San Antonio area this spring. The small songbirds with muted brown and yellow plumage are taking the brunt of a spike in salmonellosis, an infection caused by the salmonella bacteria. Local residents have found dead pine siskins and other finches near their bird feeders. Wildlife experts recommend cleaning feeders regularly or pulling them down entirely to prevent the spread of the disease. But those same feeders are seeing more hungry migratory birds than ever after a winter freeze that decimated Texas plants. READ ALSO: Matthew McConaughey on running for Texas governor: 'It's a true consideration' Lynn Cuny, president of the San Antonio-based Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, acknowledged that removing feeders is a tough call, especially for enthusiasts for whom birds have been a welcome winged relief from isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Cuny has seen the consequences of letting birds congregate on feeders right now. Her facility has not been able to save any of the infected birds they've received because they were "so far gone." "You don't want to kill the birds just because you love looking at them," Cuny said. On Monday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department asked residents to clean their bird feeders once every two weeks. Bird droppings and other contaminants around feeders can spread infectious diseases among the avian species, biologists wrote. "The key is to keep the feeders clean, keep the area around the feeders clean, and fully shut down feeding if dead or sick birds are found at the feeder," said ornithologist Cliff Shackelford in a statement. "If folks do not, diseases could continue to spread." To properly clean a bird feeder, take the feeder apart and wash it with soap and boiling water, then soak the parts for 10 minutes in a diluted bleach solution. The feeder should be rinsed thoroughly and allowed to dry completely before refilling it with seeds. READ ALSO: Winter storm devastated a San Antonio icon Mexican free-tailed bats Craig Hensley, a TPWD biologist based in Boerne, said residents should rake and remove seed hulls on the ground near feeders. Otherwise, birds will forage on the ground and defecate. The typical signs of salmonella are lethargic, fluffed-out birds slow to fly away when approached, he added. The disease appeared to start spreading in California, Cuny said, where bird rescue centers have been "inundated with calls" from residents finding sick or dead birds at their feeders. Pine siskins small, high-strung songbirds with forked tails struggle to fight off the infection. The guidelines for slowing the spread of a contagious virus should sound familiar by this point in the COVID-19 pandemic. (No word on a mask that fits beaks thus far.) Cuny said people should pull feeders down entirely for a couple weeks to eliminate a place where the birds can gather. Some residents have turned to scattering food over the ground in hopes of spreading out the birds. But that still leaves the pine siskins vulnerable to droppings and the claws of cats, Cuny noted. Thomas Liddle, a park interpreter at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, offered a glimmer of hope to those worried about migrating birds. The winter freeze "definitely" impacted the food supply and made life harder for the birds, Liddle said. But vegetation appears to be bouncing back in South Texas, at least. He was hopeful the birds would stop further south where they have more food before moving north. The Rio Grande Valley is one of the nation's top birding destinations. Even if the overall bird population numbers are down, the diversity likely won't be affected, Liddle said. He expected that diversity to continue to draw bird-watching enthusiasts. Birds head north from March through May, Liddle said, noting that there's still time for more of the hard-hit vegetation to recover in time for the migration peak in April. [March 12, 2021] Task Force on American Innovation Hosts Webinar Briefing on Need for Increased Science and Technology Funding WASHINGTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Task Force on American Innovation, a nonpartisan alliance of leading American companies, business associations, research universities, and scientific associations, hosted a webinar titled, "Innovation in Crisis: Emerging from a Pandemic to Restore American Competitiveness." The briefing featured prominent leaders from industry and academia who called on Congress to prioritize research funding by dramatically increasing investments in science and technology, so the United States is well positioned to drive future economic growth through innovation. "Now is the time to dramatically increase our national commitment to innovation research," said TFAI Executive Director, Scott Corley. "To continue to be an innovation leader, we need to increase our science and technology funding significantly in the next five years." The webinar panel included senior leadership from industry and the broader academic community,including: Dr. Sudip Parikh , CEO, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) CEO, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) John Neuffer , President and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) , President and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Dr. Dario Gil , Senior Vice President and Director of Research, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, IBM Dr. Sylvester James Gates, Jr. , President, American Physical Society (APS) , President, American Physical Society (APS) Barbara R. Snyder , President, Association of American Universities (AAU) President, Association of American Universities (AAU) Kathleen N. Kingscott , Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, IBM Research Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, IBM Research Maryam Cope , Director of Government Affairs, Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Director of Government Affairs, Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Matt Hourihan , Director of R&D Budget and Policy Programs, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). For more information about the webinar or about the Task Force on American Innovation, please visit: www.innovationtaskforce.org View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/task-force-on-american-innovation-hosts-webinar-briefing-on-need-for-increased-science-and-technology-funding-301246533.html SOURCE The Task Force on American Innovation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ROME - Greek healthcare authorities have expressed concerns after about 2,000 people took part in a funeral for the priest Aristides Papadopoulos in Prosotsani, in the region of Drama in the northeastern part of the country. Papadopoulos had for many years been the parish priest in a church in the nearby village of Mikropoli. Mayor Theodoros Athanasiadis was quoted by GRTimes as saying that "Father Aristides" had been dear to the community and that this was why about 2,000 people had gathered for his funeral. He added that many had come from nearby villages and not only Mikropoli and that all possible efforts would be exerted to assist public health authorities. Meanwhile a 'corona party' held on the island of Leros in the Dodecanes in eastern Greece has reportedly led to an outbreak of COVID-19. Local media said that a woman from Athens who had been infected with the virus took part in the party held by youths in a private home and that this had led to at least ten COVID-19 cases. Leros mayor Michalis Kolias told skyrodos.gr that due to concerns over an expected sharp rise in cases in the following days, schools were closed on Friday for sterilization. On Saturday rapid COVID tests will be available in front of the cinema of the largest town on the island, Lakki. 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 their first summit, the leaders of countries on Friday decided to launch a mega vaccine initiative under which vaccines will be produced in India for the with financial assistance from the US and Japan while Australia will contribute in logistical aspects. The leaders also delved into the evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific and vowed to work unitedly for ensuring peace and stability in the region. "A free and open Indo-Pacific is essential to each of our futures," US President Joe Biden said in the meeting. In his remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the has come of age and its agenda covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes it a force for global good. Briefing reporters on the summit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said it was decided that India's manufacturing capacity is something that is going to be leveraged to make US vaccines. He said the financing for creation of additional capacities will come from the US and Japan while Australia will contribute to the last mile logistics and delivery issues. Australia will finance countries which are going to receive the vaccines. "In today's context, it is one of the most important initiatives. We are talking about huge investments in creating additional vaccine capacities in India for exports to countries in the for their betterment. We are talking about producing a billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2022," he said. He said the summit saw Quad leaders adopting a positive agenda focusing on contemporary issues such as vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies. Shringla said the vaccine initiative is a special one which is designed pro-actively to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 among countries in the Indo-Pacific. "India welcomes Quad vaccine initiatives as it recognises our own manufacturing capacities and capabilities," he said. Shringla said Friday's virtual summit has set a benchmark for Quad's future efforts in the interests of (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi: The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Panchkula was suspended by Haryana government on Saturday,a day after 29 people died in the district in violence triggered by the rape conviction of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. IPS officer Ashok Kumar, DCP Panchkula, has been put under suspension with immediate effect, an official order said. During the period of suspension, he will report to the office of DGP, Haryana, Panchkula, it said. Officials sources claimed that the senior police officerhas been blamed for failing to get prohibitory orders under Section 144 effectively implemented in Panchkula. Dera Sacha Sauda followers went on a rampage on Friday following conviction of Ram Rahim Singh by a CBI court in Panchkula in rape case. Also Read: Ram Rahim verdict live: Army enters Dera Sacha Sauda HQ in Sirsa; IB chief, NSA, Home Secy meet Rajnath Singh For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Imbolo Mbue first began writing her new novel, How Beautiful We Were, in 2002. The book concerns the impact of an American oil companys presence on a fictional African village. She eventually put the idea aside to work on what turned into her acclaimed debut novel, Behold the Dreamers. When she began working again on the earlier idea, it was 2016. On this weeks podcast, she says that returning to the novel at that moment changed the way she approached writing it. Flint, Michigan, had happened, and Sandy Hook had happened a few years before, she says. So I was thinking a lot about children. I was thinking a lot about what it means to be a child growing up in a world in which you dont understand why things are happening and nobody is doing something about it. And that was what gave me the inspiration to tell the story mostly from the point of the view of the children. That definitely changed a huge part of the story. Image Annalee Newitz visits the podcast to discuss Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age. In the book, Newitz gleans lessons about urban living from four cities that no longer exist: Pompeii; Angkor, a metropolis of medieval Cambodia; Cahokia, an urban sanctuary that sprawled across both sides of the Mississippi River a thousand years ago; and Catalhoyuk, a city that existed 9,000 years ago above the plains of south-central Turkey. Juan Fernandez Ceballos The National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals (NLCUP) congratulates the Board of Directors of the Credit Union Association of New Mexico for the naming of Juan Fernandez Ceballos as its new president/CEO. This is represents the first time a Latino professional has been chosen to lead a state credit union association. Given the growing recognition within the industry of the movements mandate to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and taking into account the increasing diversity of the nation, this welcoming development sends a powerful message that our industry is seriously embracing the DEI principles and moving towards to better reflecting the communities we serve, NLCUP said in a statement. ASEAN Culture House (ACH) is hosting its second "ASEAN Cinema Week" from March 12 to 25, following the first one in 2019 to celebrate the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit in Busan. Courtesy of ACH By Yi Whan-woo The ASEAN Culture House (ACH) is hosting screenings of 15 ASEAN films from March 12 to 25. Titled "2021 ASEAN Cinema Week On: Tact," the two-week event is the second of its kind. The previous one was held in 2019 to mark the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit. Back then, the screenings were held as part of efforts to bolster cultural exchanges between the two sides a goal of the Korea Foundation, a government-affiliated public diplomacy organization that manages the ACH. The 15 films were made between 2019 and 2020 in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, in genres ranging from romance to comedy, action and horror. The screenings are available for free on Naver TV's "ASEAN Cinema Week." They are also available offline at the CGV Apgujeong branch in southern Seoul from March 13 to 14, and the Busan Cinema Center from March 20 to 21. Admission is free. But in accordance with social distancing, only up to 50 people will be admitted to each session after reservations are made in advance at the ACH website. There also will be panel discussions both online and offline, featuring directors and cast as well as writers, journalists and people from other professions related to the films. "Due to popular demand, the ACH will be hosting the 2021 ASEAN Cinema Week On: Tact to show how ASEAN films have consistently developed over the years and offer new perspectives on the ASEAN countries' cultures through the medium of film," the ACH said in a statement. "You will be able to enjoy the screenings and events at a movie theater or your own home." Brunei showcases "Worm and the Widow," a fairytale set in a Bruneian district of Tutong where a handicapped boy encounters a widow nicknamed The Witch. It was directed by Abdul Zainidi. A poster for the Indonesian film "Generasi 90-an: Melankolia" (In Gloom) / Courtesy of ACH From Indonesia are "Mudik," (Homecoming) "Generasi 90-an: Melankolia" (In Gloom) and "A Mother's Love." Directed by Adriyanto Dewo, "Mudik" (Homecoming) is about two women who are involved in an accident as they try to mend a growing rift between them on their way to their hometown. "Generasi 90-an: Melankolia (In Gloom)" is a story of a man named Abby who becomes close with a friend of his sister killed in an airplane crash. "A Mother's Love" is one of HBO's Folkore series produced by the American TV channel. Directed by Joko Anwar, it is about single mother who discovers and saves a group of dirty and underfed children but snatches them later from their adopted mother unknowingly. The Malaysian horror film "Roh" deals with a family who gets an unwelcome visit from a strange little girl in a forest. Directed by Maung Sun, "Money Has Four Legs" is a comedy that pays homage to Myanmar's rich history of cinema and its struggle with censorship. Of the two Filipino films, "Untrue" is a drama about a bruised and beaten wife named Mara who seeks the help of police against her husband Joachim. The second, "Isa Pa with Feelings," is a comedy about a frustrated architect whose relationship with a deaf-mute neighbor faces challenges due to miscommunication. From Singapore are "Tiong Bahru Social Club" and "Wet Season." The former is about a man in his 30s who, who after living with his mother, seeks a future of his own and finds himself in a strange cult of happiness and technology after befriending an artificial intelligence algorithm. The latter is a drama centering on a teacher and a student who form a special, self-affirming relationship. From Thailand are "Riam Fighting Angel," "Mother Gamer," and "Pob." Directed by Prueksa Amaruji, "Riam Fighting Angel" is an adventure about a girl named Riam who has to find a way to rescue her family members who have been kidnapped by brutal gangsters to force her to marry their boss. "Mother Gamer" is an action film about a mother who, in order to stop her beloved son from participating in an e-sports tournament, decides to set up her own team to beat him and wipe out his dream of becoming a professional gamer. Also part of the HBO Folkore series, "Pob," directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, tells the story of a cannibalistic female spirit in Thai folklore. A still image from the Vietnamese film "The Royal Bride" / Courtesy of ACH KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Kansas was never rattled when it learned that big man David McCormack and backup forward Tristan Enaruna had been caught up in COVID-19 protocols, knocking both of them out for the entirety of the Big 12 Tournament. The Jayhawks weren't rattled after blowing most of a 20-point halftime lead against Oklahoma, either. Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high 26 points, Marcus Garrett added 17, and the 11th-ranked Jayhawks leaned on their smaller lineup and fill-in big man Mitch Lightfoot to make enough plays down the stretch and escape with a 69-62 victory over the 25th-ranked Sooners in the quarterfinal round Thursday night. I really didn't say anything, Jayhawks coach Bill Self said upon learning McCormack and Enaruna were out. I don't think the guys thought, Oh, no. They probably thought, Well, this is going to be a little harder now. It wasn't in the first half, when the second-seeded Jayhawks (20-8) raced to a 35-15 lead. But that was probably the case when the seventh-seeded Sooners (15-10) closed within 62-59 with 3 1/2 minutes to go, when Elijah Harkless followed a miss by Austin Reaves with a bucket of his own to raise the intensity a notch inside T-Mobile Center, which had roughly 3,000 fans inside. Kansas buckled down defensively, though, and the Sooners didn't get another field goal until the final minute. By that point, the Jayhawks were on their way to playing No. 13 Texas in the semifinals Friday night. The first half we were great. We got everything we wanted, Self said. The second half we didn't play nearly as well, but they were as good as we were the first half in the second half. They made shots and we made some bonehead plays. Reaves and Brady Manek scored 19 points apiece to lead Oklahoma, which ended a four-game skid with its first-round win over Iowa State but couldn't capitalize on the momentum. Harkless added 15 points before fouling out. You can't have a half like that against a really good ballclub, Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. I'm proud of our guys' response. they came out the second half much more like themselves moved the basketball, made plays for each other, played better on each end of the floor. But we dug a big hole for ourselves and couldn't get out of it it. Story continues Without McCormack at his disposal, Self opted for a four-guard starting lineup with nobody taller than 6-foot-8 forward Jalen Wilson, and the smaller Jayhawks spent the first half buzzing around Oklahoma's backcourt like a bunch of gnats. After Manek gave the Sooners a 6-4 lead in the opening minutes, they only managed one more field goal a 3 from Manek over the next 10 minutes. And after Reaves curled in another 3-pointer to get them within 18-12, the Sooners went six more minutes without another field goal. Oklahoma was 6 of 20 from the field with 13 turnovers, and its 15 points set a season low for scoring in a half. It may have taken the Sooners 20 minutes to dig a 20-point deficit, but they needed just 10 to erase most of it. The Jayhawks grew stagnant on offense with Agbaji and Garrett the only ones able to get anything to go, and their once-stingy defense became downright generous. Manek and Reaves took advantage of the newfound open looks with a barrage of 3-pointers, which opened up the lane for Harkless and De'Vion Harmon to slice to the basket. By the time Reaves drilled a 3-pointer with 5 minutes to go, and Harkless followed Reaves' miss with a layup a few minutes later, the Sooners were within 62-57. Mitch Lightfoot's basket with 2:22 left was the first in the second half by anybody but Agbaji and Garrett for Kansas, and Garrett answered Reaves' free throw moments later with one of his own to make it 65-60 with 1:36 to go. Reaves misfired from the top of the arc on the Sooners' next possession, allowing Kansas to hang on during the final minute. Coach did a good job of keeping us confident, playing with a free mind, Agbaji said. We all know we don't have our David, throwing the ball in the post, but we just kept aggressive on the outside, kept shooting and kept being confident about it. BIG PICTURE Oklahoma finished with a season-high 18 turnovers. The Sooners also got just four points off the bench, and their inability to take advantage of McCormack's absence in the paint was noticeable all game. Kansas has struggled at the foul line much of the season, but Self's team was 9 of 11 from the stripe Thursday night. Wilson made a couple free throws in the final seconds that ultimately sealed the victory. UP NEXT The Jayhawks will face Texas for a spot in the championship game. ___ More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 Councillor Pearse McGeough and Imelda Munster TD will be holding an online public meeting to discuss the closure of the Bank of Ireland branch in Dunleer. Cllr McGeough said: This will be an opportunity for the public to have their say about the loss of the bank from Dunleer and how it will affect them, their neighbours and their families and also to discuss a way forward. This announcement has shocked many people and left others feeling abandoned and the decision was taken without consultation in the midst of a pandemic. "I would encourage people to attend the online Zoom meeting (Meeting ID 840 4875 7638 Passcode: 851690) on Tuesday evening 16th March at 7.30pm and have your say. "Once the bank has gone it will be too late and it will be almost impossible to get it back. This decision will affect businesses in the area, people who want to bank locally, community groups, investment for the area and many more. (BOSTON) -- There is a great need to generate various types of cells for use in new therapies to replace tissues that are lost due to disease or injuries, or for studies outside the human body to improve our understanding of how organs and tissues function in health and disease. Many of these efforts start with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that, in theory, have the capacity to differentiate into virtually any cell type in the right culture conditions. The 2012 Nobel Prize awarded to Shinya Yamanaka recognized his discovery of a strategy that can reprogram adult cells to become iPSCs by providing them with a defined set of gene-regulatory transcription factors (TFs). However, progressing from there to efficiently generating a wide range of cell types with tissue-specific differentiated functions for biomedical applications has remained a challenge. While the expression of cell type-specific TFs in iPSCs is the most often used cellular conversion technology, the efficiencies of guiding iPSC through different "lineage stages" to the fully functional differentiated state of, for example, a specific heart, brain, or immune cell currently are low, mainly because the most effective TF combinations cannot be easily pinpointed. TFs that instruct cells to pass through a specific cell differentiation process bind to regulatory regions of genes to control their expression in the genome. However, multiple TFs must function in the context of larger gene regulatory networks (GRNs) to drive the progression of cells through their lineages until the final differentiated state is reached. Now, a collaborative effort led by George Church, Ph.D. at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Antonio del Sol, Ph.D., who leads Computational Biology groups at CIC bioGUNE, a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance, in Spain, and at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB, University of Luxembourg), has developed a computer-guided design tool called IRENE, which significantly helps increase the efficiency of cell conversions by predicting highly effective combinations of cell type-specific TFs. By combining IRENE with a genomic integration system that allows robust expression of selected TFs in iPSCs, the team demonstrated their approach to generate higher numbers of natural killer cells used in immune therapies, and melanocytes used in skin grafts, than other methods. In a scientific first, generated breast mammary epithelial cells, whose availability would be highly desirable for the repopulation of surgically removed mammary tissue. The study is published in Nature Communications. "In our group, the study naturally built on the 'TFome' project, which assembled a comprehensive library containing 1,564 human TFs as a powerful resource for the identification of TF combinations with enhanced abilities to reprogram human iPSCs to different target cell types," said Wyss Core Faculty member Church. "The efficacy of this computational algorithm will boost a number of our tissue engineering efforts at the Wyss Institute and HMS, and as an open resource can do the same for many researchers in this burgeoning field." Church is the lead of the Wyss Institute's Synthetic Biology platform, and Professor of Genetics at HMS and of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT. Tooling up Several computational tools have been developed to predict combinations of TFs for specific cell conversions, but almost exclusively these are based on the analysis of gene expression patterns in many cell types. Missing in these approaches was a view of the epigenetic landscape, the organization of the genome itself around genes and on the scale of entire chromosome sections which goes far beyond the sequence of the naked genomic DNA. "The changing epigenetic landscape in differentiating cells predicts areas in the genome undergoing physical changes that are critical for key TFs to gain access to their target genes. Analyzing these changes can inform more accurately about GRNs and their participating TFs that drive specific cell conversions," said co-first author Evan Appleton, Ph.D. Appleton is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Church's group who joined forces with Sascha Jung, Ph.D., from del Sol's group in the new study. "Our collaborators in Spain had developed a computational approach that integrated those epigenetic changes with changes in gene expression to produce critical TF combinations as an output, which we were in an ideal position to test." The team used their computational "Integrative gene Regulatory Network model" (IRENE) approach to reconstruct the GRN controlling iPSCs, and then focused on three target cell types with clinical relevance to experimentally validate TF combinations prioritized by IRENE. To deliver TF combinations into iPSCs, they deployed a transposon-based genomic integration system that can integrate multiple copies of a gene encoding a TF into the genome, which allows all factors of a combination to be stably expressed. Transposons are DNA elements that can jump from one position of the genome to another, or in this case from an exogenously provided piece of DNA into the genome. "Our research team composed of scientists from the LCSB and CIC bioGUNE has a long-standing expertise in developing computational methods to facilitate cell conversion. IRENE is an additional resource in our toolbox and one for which experimental validation has demonstrated it substantially increased efficiency in most tested cases," corresponding author Del Sol, who is Professor at LCSB and CIC bioGUNE. "Our fundamental research should ultimately benefit patients, and we are thrilled that IRENE could enhance the production of cell sources readily usable in therapeutic applications, such as cell transplantation and gene therapies." Validating the computer-guided design tool in cells The researchers chose human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) as a first cell type. Thus far HMECs are obtained from one tissue environment, dissociated, and transplanted to one where breast tissue has been resected. HMECs generated from patients' cells, via an intermediate iPSC stage, could provide a means for less invasive and more effective breast tissue regeneration. One of the combinations that was generated by IRENE enabled the team to convert 14% of iPSCs into differentiated HMECs in iPSC-specific culture media, showing that the provided TFs were sufficient to drive the conversion without help from additional factors. The team then turned their attention to melanocytes, which can provide a source of cells in cellular grafts to replace damaged skin. This time they performed the cell conversion in melanocyte destination medium to show that the selected TFs work under culture conditions optimized for the desired cell type. Two out of four combinations were able to increase the efficiency of melanocyte conversion by 900% compared to iPSCs grown in destination medium without the TFs. Finally, the researchers compared combinations of TFs prioritized by IRENE to generate natural killer (NK) cells with a state-of-the-art differentiation method based on cell culture conditions alone. Immune NK cells have been found to improve the treatment of leukemia. The researchers' approach outperformed the standard with five out of eight combinations increasing the differentiation of NK cells with critical markers by up to 250%. "This novel computational approach could greatly facilitate a range of cell and tissue engineering efforts at the Wyss Institute and many other sites around the world. This advance should greatly expand our toolbox as we strive to develop new approaches in regenerative medicine to improve patients' lives," said Wyss Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at HMS and Boston Children's Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. ### By Benjamin Boettner The study was also authored by bioinformatician Muhammad Ali, Ph.D., from the University of Luxembourg, and funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant# 643417, the FunGCAT program from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, via the Army Research Office, under award# W911NF-17-2-0089 and the EGL Charitable Foundation. Church is a co-founder of and has equity in GC Therapeutics, which commercializes the TFome project. PRESS CONTACTS Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University Benjamin Boettner, benjamin.boettner@wyss.harvard.edu, +1 617-432-8232 Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine Lucie Debroux, lucie.debroux@uni.lu, +352 46 66 44 68 66 The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University (http://wyss. harvard. edu ) uses Nature's design principles to develop bioinspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world. Wyss researchers are developing innovative new engineering solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing that are translated into commercial products and therapies through collaborations with clinical investigators, corporate alliances, and formation of new startups. The Wyss Institute creates transformative technological breakthroughs by engaging in high risk research, and crosses disciplinary and institutional barriers, working as an alliance that includes Harvard's Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Arts & Sciences and Design, and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston University, Tufts University, Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, University of Zurich and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Centre for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) https:/ / www. cicbiogune. es ), located in the Bizkaia Technology Park, is a biomedical research organisation conducting cutting-edge research at the interface between structural, molecular and cell biology, with a particular focus on generating knowledge on the molecular bases of disease, for use in the development of new diagnostic methods and advanced therapies. CIC bioGUNE has been accredited as a "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence", the highest level of recognition for centres of excellence in Spain. Chennai, March 12 : The former chief of the Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress (TNMC), A.S.P. Jansi Rani has alleged that 'money power' is the only criteria in the state Congress to secure a berth in the party. In a series of tweets, the senior TNMC leader alleged that due to financial constraints, she was denied the Nilakottai seat which was represented by her grandmother A.S. Ponnammal seven times. Rani added she was asked by TNCC president K.S. Alagiri if she had money to contest the polls. Speaking to IANS, Jansi Rani said: "Is money the only criteria. I have been working in the constituency for the last seven years and my grandmother Ponnammal represented the constituency seven times. Rahul Gandhi's efforts will go in vain if the state leaders maintain such an attitude." Meanwhile, several AIADMK workers and local leaders took to the streets after being denied party tickets. At Coimbatore South constituency, sitting MLA Amman Arjunan and his supporters voiced their strong opposition against the BJP's women wing after Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan was given a ticket for the seat. Elections will be held in Tamil Nadu on April 6 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2. Rajant Named One Of The 2021 ?Best Places to Work in Kentucky? Posted by Publisher Telecommunication Morehead, KY ? March 11, 2021: Rajant Corporation, the Kinetic Mesh? wireless network provider, headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with manufacturing operations in Morehead, Kentucky, is among the 2021 ?Best Places to Work in Kentucky?. The honor was announced March 4th by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management (KYSHRM), and ClearPath Mutual Insurance Company. The selection process is based on assessing the company?s employee policies and procedures and anonymous employee survey results. A total of 100 companies earned this distinction in this 17th annual program and are categorized by the size of Kentucky-based staff. Rajant is one of 40 companies in the small employer category that have 15-149 employees. Winner rankings will be made at an awards dinner on June 17th in Lexington, Kentucky, and Rajant will be in attendance to celebrate with fellow winners. ?I could not be prouder of Rajant?s team in Kentucky and all they continue to achieve on behalf of our company,? says Rajant?s CEO and Co-founder Robert Schena. ?Kentucky is a great place to do business, and I encourage other organizations to do, as Rajant has done, expand operations to this state. In 2015, we brought manufacturing down from our Pennsylvania-based headquarters to Main Street, Morehead, Kentucky. Now in 2021, we will be moving to a facility 5x larger on nearly 15 acres in the MMRC Industrial Park in large part due to the dedication and work ethic of our staff. We are pleased to be recognized with other vibrant companies and look forward to celebrating with them in June.? Micheal Martin should ask Joe Biden for help in getting more Irish people vaccinated according to the Member of the European Parliament who represents Laois voters. Fianna Fail MEP for Ireland South, Billy Kelleher, claims tens of millions of AstraZeneca vaccines stockpiled in Ohio and Maryland facilities in the USA. He wants the Taoiseach should request support from President Biden to access some of these stocks at at next weeks St. Patricks Day meeting. An Taoiseach, Micheal Martin must raise the issue of the United States sharing their stockpiled AstraZeneca vaccines at next weeks St. Patricks Day meeting between him and US President, Joe Biden, said Fianna Fail MEP, Billy Kelleher. Mr Kelleher was commenting after reports in the media suggested that at least 30 million doses of the vaccine is sitting in freezers in AstraZenecas facility in West Chester, Ohio. Additionally, enough vaccine has been produced at Emergent BioSolutions, a company contracted by AstraZeneca, in Maryland to deliver tens of millions more doses if given the go-ahead. Ive written to An Taoiseach requesting that this issue be raised with President Biden next week. These vaccines all have a limited shelf life, and with the FDA having not authorised AstraZenecas use in the US, they need to be used somewhere and soon. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed or ignored. Its too important not to at least try. The Irish Government shouldnt be shy about asking one of our oldest allies and a US President who is incredibly proud of his Irish heritage that when a decision is made to share them with the world, that Ireland is top of the list. Just one million doses would be transformative for the vaccine programme in Ireland, and it needs to be on the agenda next week. Separately, I have written to President Biden requesting that he review and relax the export bans currently in place in the United States. This is incredibly important as the EU seeks to secure the vaccines it is owed by the pharmaceutical companies. The Taoiseach advocating on behalf of the Irish people, especially when it comes to saving lives is always the right thing to do, concluded Kelleher. President Biden hopes that America can "mark independence" from Covid-19 on 4 July if people get vaccinated. The country is not yet considering the introduction of international certificates of vaccination. Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister and Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko has said a tough quarantine could be re-imposed in the country if the healthcare system is on the verge of collapse. The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 has been exceeded in nine regions, he told Ukraina 24 TV channel. Read alsoThree more Ukrainian regions may be included in COVID-19 red zoneIvano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, Zhytomyr regions, and Bukovyna area are part of the red quarantine zone. They have already experienced the lack of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. Also, Liashko said the country was not yet considering the introduction of international certificates of vaccination. "Only 0.8% of the total population has been vaccinated worldwide, so it is premature to grant privileges to those vaccinated when crossing borders or visiting any institution. Today there is no equal access for everyone who wants to get vaccinated. Therefore, we must understand today vaccination is, first of all, the protection of risk groups and prevention of negative consequences," the official said. More news reports Reporting by UNIAN Vessels with Chinese national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region sail in a procession to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, south China, Oct. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Lo Ping Fai) BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Amending and rationalizing the electoral system and rules of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will ensure the HKSAR's smooth development under the "one country, two systems" policy, a Chinese official said Friday. The decision on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR, passed by the top legislature Thursday, marks a milestone in implementing "one country, two systems," said Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference. The decision is another major step taken by the central authorities to better govern the region since the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR was adopted in June 2020. The National People's Congress (NPC) has adopted a major decision on Hong Kong for the second year in a row, fully demonstrating the great importance the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core attaches to Hong Kong affairs and fully embodying Xi's strategy for the governance of Hong Kong, Zhang said. Zhang said the CPC is the founder of the cause of "one country, two systems," and has been leading, implementing and championing the cause. No one understands the preciousness of "one country, two systems" better than the CPC and the Chinese government who stick to the original aspiration of the policy more persistently than anyone else, he added. Be it the implementation of the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, the improvement of the electoral system of the HKSAR, or future efforts, all these steps are intended to improve the institutional framework of "one country, two systems" and allow for its effective execution and implementation, said Zhang. "There is absolutely no such thing as changing the 'one country, two systems' policy," he said. Zhang expressed firm confidence that the improvement of the electoral system of the HKSAR will help restore the region's democratic system to good health, fully unleash the vitality of Hong Kong society, and allow Hong Kong residents to live and work in contentment. The HKSAR government and people from all walks of life have recently voiced their firm support for the NPC decision by various means including making statements, giving interviews, contributing signatures and setting up supportive booths on the street, said Zhang. A survey conducted by the Hong Kong Research Association shows that around 70 percent of the respondents support the NPC decision. This forms the best and most forceful response to the unfounded slander abroad, he said. The EU-UK vicious spat over Covid-19 vaccine supplies is definitely a proxy re-run of Brexit battles and reflects poorly upon both sides. For many in Brussels, and indeed in Dublin, Boris Johnson is yet again using vaccine roll-out success to talk-up Brexit. His government is also maintaining the image for home consumption of playing hardball with the EU. Many others think it is time London dialled it down and availed of opportunities which would be afforded by Brussels to avail of a more worthwhile and measured dialogue. January 2021 trade figures published yesterday morning may sound alarm bells, showing UK exports to Germany were down by 56pc and while the virus is partly to blame, observers see a big Brexit dynamic at play. The vaccine wars, and associated allegations of vaccine nationalism slung at both the EU and UK have dominated the last three days. The headline statistic is hard to argue with: by yesterday the UK had given one shot to more than one in three citizens; the equivalent figure for the EUs 27 member states is fewer than one in 10. The UK, which managed virus controls poorly and had record deaths, is now soaring ahead with its vaccination programme. Another straw in the wind came yesterday when British Labour leader Keir Starmer publicly conceded his party faced a tough time in an election test due in just eight weeks, on May 5, for 118 local councils and eight directly-elected mayors. Since the start of the year these council votes, along with Scottish and Welsh home-rule parliament elections, also in early May, were being flagged up as a plebiscite on blundering Boris. But if this vaccine roll-out continues apace it could well be seen as the day Johnson really found his footing in the job he had floundered in since landing in Downing Street in July 2019. Read More Which brings us back to the vaccination issue, and battles over vaccine supplies. Earlier in the week, EU Council president Charles Michel pointed to the lack of British-made vaccine exports to the EU. This is exactly the type of accusation being constantly levelled against the EU which has been billed as using its 450 million-people bloc powers to militate against other nations, especially the poorer ones. The issue dovetails with the savage error made by Brussels on January 29 last when a very brief effort, reversed within hours, was made to seal the Border to ensure no-EU made vaccines made a backdoor entry to the UK. But figures released to the New York Times by the EU yesterday afternoon made for interesting reading. In essence that supplies of EU-made vaccines are in fact helping the UKs star vaccination performance. Since February, the UK has headed the list of export destinations for EU-made Covid-19 vaccines, getting more than nine million doses out of a total of 34 million exported by the 27 member states. There is much internal EU tension about exporting vaccines from the bloc when there are also complaints about scarcity. But Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said yesterday that even in this critical health situation the EU must remain a reliable trading partner. The reality is the EU is a pharmaceutical making hub which supplies much of the world. The unseemly vaccine row was escalated by some poor wording on a social media post by Michel which spoke of a UK vaccine ban. Johnson flatly denied this. But against that it is not being denied that supplies of UK-made Covid-19 vaccines are not making their way to the EU. Interestingly, the EU yesterday extended its right to ban exports for another three months to the end of June. EU officials, however, point out that so far this measure has been very little used with only one small consignment blocked. Now given ongoing tensions on the issue of supplies, we may see it being deployed far more. A joint task force, involving Gardai and Limerick City and County Council, has been established to tackle drug dealing and anti social behaviour in St Marys Park where a drugs supermarket has been operating. The taskforce, involving the Limerick Garda Division and Limerick City and County Council, will support and assist the community in the St Mary's Park area of Limerick city where derelict houses are used to store drugs. During a planned operation in the estate on March 4th last, gardai recovered 50,000 worth of cash and drugs including cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and prescription tablets, and two men and a boy were arrested and questioned before being released without charge. Four new community gardai have been deployed to patrol the estate as part of the Garda Operation Copog, which is solely focused on drugs and anti-social behaviour in the area. The four Gardai will be deployed on high visibility patrols to increase community engagement with officers, deter drug activity, and assist residents. Gardai from the Henry Street District and the Divisional Drug Unit will also continue to carry out regular patrols of the area, a Garda spokesman said. As part of the joint operation with the Council, the local authority is to fast rack the demolition of 12 derelict houses on St Munchins Street - and area in the estate plagued by drug dealing. A derelict premises, which formerly operated as a fast food takeaway business is also to be demolished. Read More A road constructed in the area without Council approval is expected to be removed, along with any other unauthorised structures on Council-owned land and open spaces in St Munchins Street. The Council will also remove palisade fencing on St Munchins Street to improve the aesthetics of the street. Throughout the operation, Limerick City and County Council will liaise with residents through the local Regeneration Committee regarding the works programme, and Council staff will also be liaising with Gardai on daily basis regarding the operation. Launching the operation today, Limerick Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche, said: "We are 100% focused on stopping drug dealing and anti-social behaviour in all parts of Limerick. Unfortunately some of the derelict buildings in the St Mary's Park area have attracted drug use and we intend on stamping this out with the help of the Council and the local community. Drugs have such a negative impact on so many lives and have no place in our community. We would ask that if you notice any drug activity, that you report it to Gardai immediately, Chief Roche added. Dr Pat Daly, chief executive of Limerick City and County Council revealed the Council is accelerating plans in St Marys Park which will see the demolition of 12 houses in St Munchins Street as part of the taskforce, and by working together we can support the residents of St Marys Park, who deserve to be free from the twin scourges of drugs and anti-social behaviour. "The Council will play its part in helping to improve the environment in St Marys Park and Im also calling on the private owners of derelict properties to engage with the Council to develop a plan for their development. Mr Daly said the operation needed community support for it to work to tackle drug dealing and general crime in the estate: We also need the support of the local residents and we are asking them to report any incidents of criminal activity or anti-social behaviour, so they can be dealt with. Local Sinn Fein TD, Maurice Quinlivan who is a director of the Mid West Drug and Alcohol Taskforce welcomed the joint Garda Council operation and called for increased funding for drugs services who he said will be facing a tsunami of addiction when the current pandemic restrictions end. I have raised this issue with the Minister for Justice, the relevant Minister of State and others or a number of months now. Families in this estate have been living with the presence of open 24-hour drug dealing for a long time. One house has been acting like a drug supermarket for months. Wilhelm Voigt wasn't the kind of guy who becomes a folk hero. For the first 57 years of life, he was an aimless drifter, supporting himself with burglary, forgery, and occasionally making shoes. In 1906, however, something clicked. Voigt was no criminal mastermind -- if anything, his commitment to stealing shit despite always getting caught in itself an inspiration. But that year, he had a brilliant idea that turned an entire country's culture of militarization against itself and also got him 4,000 marks (that's what they called money). Continue Reading Below Advertisement That is to say, he got hold of a German military captain's uniform and realized people would do whatever he told them while he was wearing it. That was it. Having gained Jedi mind powers courtesy of German patriotism, he traveled to a random military base, pointed at some soldiers, and told them, "You, you, you, and you, come with me." They did so without question, so he took them to the city hall of Kopenick, assured the local police that everything was on the up and up, but if they could block calls to Berlin from the local post office for an hour or so, that would be great, ordered "his" troops to arrest the mayor for cooking the books, and "confiscated" the marks. Why? Unclear. He doesn't seem to have any previous connection to Kopenick or its mayor. He just woke up that day and chose chaos. Continue Reading Below Advertisement While the arresting soldiers ferried the mayor to Berlin and the rest stood guard at city hall, Voigt commandeered two carriages, told them he was totally right behind them, and dipped. It slowly dawned on all involved what had just happened, and when the story got out, the public went nuts -- for Voigt. Unlike most outlaw heroes, he didn't even need a good reason for his crime; Germans are impressed by audacity and nothing else. Continue Reading Below Advertisement He probably would have never been caught if he could have resisted bragging to a former cellmate, but he was pardoned by the Kaiser himself, who thought the whole thing was both hilarious and evidence that his authoritarian hold over the people was working. Voigt became a celebrated figure in Germany, with figures in wax museums and plays about him, and he showed up to every event to pose (that is, charge) for photos. Even today, there are statues, plaques, and even postage stamps to commemorate the guy who ripped off multiple branches of government by that very government. Lienhard Schulz/Wikipedia Wie sagt man? "Got to give it up." Top image: Wiki Commons, Membeth/Wikimedia Commons She has raised three adult children while becoming a household name. And Kelly Ripa reflected on her days as a young mother. The 50-year-old Live! With Kelly And Ryan host took to her Instagram to share a Throwback Thursday gallery of images from her maternity leave vacation in 2003. Scroll down for video Back in the day: Kelly Ripa took to her Instagram to share a Throwback Thursday gallery of images from her maternity leave vacation in 2003 Fast forward: The 50-year-old television personality and husband Mark Consuelos have three children: eldest son Michael Joseph, now 23, daughter Lola, now 19, and 18-year-old Joaquin As she just had welcomed son Joaquin - now 18 - into the world, it was she and husband Mark Consuelos' first trip as a family since becoming parents of three. The first image featured Kelly cradling her newborn son while joined by eldest son Michael Joseph, now 23, and daughter Lola, now 19, in the suite family snap on the beach. She captioned the gallery to her 2.9million followers: '#tbt 2003. Maternity leave. It was a trip.' 'Lola wanted to help feed the baby from the source': In the second snap a two-year-old Lola could be seen cuddled up with her mom and younger brother ' i thought i could handle swimming lessons': There was another snap of Kelly in the pool as one of the kids is completely submerged in front of her In the second snap a two-year-old Lola could be seen cuddled up with her mom and younger brother as Kelly explained, 'In the second slide Lola wanted to help feed the baby from the source.' There was another snap of Kelly in the pool as one of the kids is completely submerged in front of her as she wrote: ' i thought i could handle swimming lessons.' However, hunky husband Mark, now 49, seemed to enjoy a serene time on the vacation as there were two photos of himself laying out comfortably atop a flotation device in a pool. The good life: However, hunky husband Mark, now 49, seemed to enjoy a serene time on the vacation as there were two photos of himself laying out comfortably atop a flotation device in a pool She captioned the image: 'Naturally @instasuelos was exhausted.' She captioned the image: 'Naturally @instasuelos was exhausted.' No doubt being a mother is of the upmost importance to Kelly as last month she opened up about the challenges her youngest son faces as he prepares for college this fall. Speaking about her son Joaquin, on Live with Kelly and Ryan on February 3, explained that he suffers from dyslexia and dysgraphia, the latter affecting a person's writing abilities. 'Joaquin is trying to decide on a college right now, and he's got lots of options,' Kelly said. Tender moments: He cradled her youngest child in this cute photo Adorable: Lola kissed her youngest sibling on the nose Lots of love: There was also a snap of Kelly bathing her youngest Household name: Kelly seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live back in 2019 She went on to detail a tough conversation that she had with her actor husband Mark. 'Mark and I were FaceTiming the other night ... Mark got very emotional, and very choked up, because he said, "You know, I never thought he would be able to go to college." Because he was profoundly dyslexic and dysgraphic,'Kelly said. Kelly said that Joaquin has been able to overcome his difficulties through 'hard work, determination, [and] remediation,' and that the 'misunderstood learning difference,' has actually been a 'blessing' for their family. 'But, kids with dyslexia learn how to read the room, they pick up on social cues ... their other skills become [stronger],' she said. Revealing: No doubt being a mother is of the upmost importance to Kelly as last month she opened up about the challenges her youngest son faces as he prepares for college this fall 'Joaquin is trying to decide on a college right now, and he's got lots of options,' Kelly said. She is seen here with her three children Kelly and Michael's eldest son Michael, 23, graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts last year and their daughter Lola, 19, is in her sophomore year at NYU. Kelly added that she never doubted Joaquin would get into college but she has no plans to have an empty nest when he moves out. 'They keep coming back,' she joked about her children. Last summer, Mark revealed to PEOPLE that Joaquin had been studying for the ACT and SAT exams and working on college applications, with Kelly adding that their youngest son 'sparks all the debates in the house about anything - political, social, environmental, poetry.' 'Mark and I were FaceTiming the other night ... Mark got very emotional, and very choked up, because he said, "You know, I never thought he would be able to go to college." Because he was profoundly dyslexic and dysgraphic,'Kelly said. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. GT is an award-winning, Nevada-based cannabis company with a strong brand portfolio of high-end dried flower and luxury derivative products ( ) ( ) (FRA:AC4) said Friday it had executed a definitive agreement to acquire Nevada-based cannabis company Green Therapeutics LLC. GT is an award-winning, Nevada-based cannabis company with a strong brand portfolio of high-end dried flower and luxury derivative products. GT was co-founded by former MedMen president and current Australis COO - Duke Fu and is led by a strong team of medical professionals and pharmaceutical manufacturing experts. The company operates an 8,000 square foot facility in Nevada and its brands are carried by 52% of Nevada-based dispensaries, with further market penetration expected as production capacity is expanded. GT also has a manufacturing license in Oklahoma and a 25% interest in an extraction and processing license in Missouri. Australis said the transaction, once completed, will be immediately accretive to its results as the current Nevada assets - which are the subject of the settled legal dispute - are non-operational. It is anticipated that GT's brands will be scaled up across multiple US jurisdictions. According to a statement Friday, the transaction will be completed in two parts: the first being the acquisition of a subsidiary of GT containing a number of unregulated assets including the GT brands and certain ancillary agreements, including brand licensing and management agreements. Following that, Australis will complete the acquisition of GT itself. The parties have also agreed to settle a previously announced legal dispute which will be formally discharged contemporaneously with the initial closing, expected later this month. In total, Australis will pay to the holders of the GT membership interests between C$8 million and C$10 million for 100% of the outstanding membership interests of both GT and the subsidiary. "Entering this definitive agreement to acquire GT marks another kept promise to our shareholders," said Australis CEO Terry Booth in a statement. "With its award-winning brands, excellent operational team and assets across three states currently, combined with the leverage ALPS brings to secure novel streaming agreements, we are positioned exceptionally well to execute on our expansion strategy and develop AUSA into a top-tier MSO. The structure of the transaction aligns the GT principals with the AUSA shareholders' interests, and we look forward to communicating with our shareholders frequently on our progress as we execute." Duke Fu, co-founder of GT and AUSA COO, added: "Executing on the transaction with AUSA brings us the network, capacity and capital markets access to fuel our growth across the nation. We are working on a number of exciting growth initiatives that we expect to execute on following closing of the transaction. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas By Ritah Kemigisa Security minister Gen Elly Tumwine has warned the National Unity Platform (NUP) party against leading the planned peaceful protests which he says is a cover up for violence. NUPs Robert Kyagulanyi has since called for nationwide protests as he demands for four things including; NUPs victory of the January general election which he claims they won by 54.19%, abducted and missing Ugandans whether dead or alive among others. Gen Tuwmine has warned that they will not allow anyone to destabilize the peace and security of Ugandans vowing to deal with any one who attempts to do so. He says much as peaceful protests are allowed, procedures must be followed further calling upon Ugandans to remain calm. Gen Tumwine adds that all that Uganda needs now after a successful election is a discussion to secure its future. California-based Lawleys, Inc. is ready to take on additional employees in Plainview. The Plainview City Council unanimously approved an economic development agreement with the company which officially came to Plainview in 2019 as Plains Star, LLC. on Tuesday. The company purchased the old ADM Milling facility back in 2019. Mike Fox, executive director of the Plainview/Hale County Economic Development Corporation, and Keith Billington, with Billington Real Estate, played key roles in encouraging the company to choose Plainview as its relocation site and in brokering the deal to get them to invest in the milling facility, which had been idle in 2012. Fox said the company showed particular interest at the time in utilizing the mill. In 2019, Casey Lawley told The Herald the company was established in 1985 with the intent to create animal nutrition products, like milk replacers and products especially created for calves. The business originally hired five people and laid out plans to hire at least 20 more after renovations were completed and the business was able to get off the ground. They had to come in and repurpose the facility, Fox told The Herald this week. It was used for something totally different. Thats why the economic development agreement with the company had not been presented to the council until this point, said City Manager Jeffrey Snyder. Following an executive session, the council voted 7-0 to approve the companys incentive package. Councilwoman Norma Juarez was absent. Over the next five years, the company is anticipated to make an investment of about $5.3 million in and bring 35 jobs to Plainview. The agreement includes an incentive that will provide the company with a property tax step-down reimbursement structure, which Snyder said is not officially a tax abatement but works like one. The company is now manufacturing its product here in Plainview. Youll start to see more activity at that facility, Snyder said. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 11, 2021 / Victory Resources Corporation (CSE:VR)(FSE:VR61)(OTC PINK:VRCFF) ("Victory" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has issued a total of 1,645,000 options pursuant to its incentive stock option plan ("Plan") to management, employees and consultants. Each option entitles the holder to subscribe for one common share of the Company for $0.075 for a period of 5 years, subject to the terms of the Plan. Over the past quarter, 492,000 options have been cancelled. For further information, please contact: David Lane, President Telephone: +1 (236) 317 2822 E-mail: IR@victoryresourcescorp.com About Victory Resources Corporation VICTORY RESOURCES CORPORATION (CSE:VR) is a publicly traded diversified investment corporation with mineral interests in North America. The company is also currently seeking other exploration opportunities, preferably in Canada. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. SOURCE: Victory Resources Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/635104/Victory-Resources-Announces-Stock-Option-Grant Frankfort, KY (40601) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with thundershowers developing for the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 63F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- InsurTech NY, announced the winners of its 2021 Early-Stage InsurTech Competition at the InsurTech Spring Conference. Winners were selected by judging panels grouped by their background - angel investors, venture capitalists, carrier and brokers, and the Bermuda BDA. The winners received prizes worth $200K in total. Carrier/Broker Prize: Tide Foundation VC Investor Prize: Loadsure Angel Investor Prize: Delos Insurance Bermuda BDA Prize: RemitRix Global InsurTech Early-Stage Competition Winner InsurTech Competition Finalists Over 120 eligible startups applied to the competition. Startups were eligible if they had less than $250,000 in annual revenue. The judges selected winners who showed the most commercial potential. The selection process employed 26 judges including Avanta Ventures, Greenlight Re, Nationwide Ventures, Transverse Insurance, Gallagher, MGV, SixThirty, Park City Angels, and Anthemis. "We are proud to highlight the 2021 global winners," said David Gritz, Managing Director of InsurTech NY. "Helping high-potential early-stage startups 'get discovered' is necessary to foster a dynamic and sustainable InsurTech ecosystem." "Programs like this provide a crucial platform for emerging technologies," said Michael Loewy, co-founder of Tide Foundation. "We plan to use this exposure to strengthen our position in the insurance vertical and expand our technology to reduce global cyber liability." "We are excited and honored to be selected as the angel investor prize winner," said Kevin Stein, CEO of Delos Insurance. "New MGAs in markets like ours benefit from broad exposure because we can help provide new products for reinsurers, insurers, and brokers, and change the lives of policyholders that were non-renewed because of misclassification in wildfire zones." The four winners were selected from the top 13 finalists that presented at the InsurTech Spring Conference on March 10, 2021. The other nine original finalists included: Claimspace, Coastal Risk, Coverhero, Digisure, Dockflow, Finaeo, HealthyHealth, Safekeep, Startsure. About InsurTech NY InsurTech NY supports the insurance innovation community in the New York metro area. InsurTech NY brings together carriers, brokers, investors, and InsurTech startups via regular programs. InsurTech NY's mission is to drive talent to insurance, make regulation innovation-friendly, attract InsurTechs to the New York metro area, and improve access to investment. Learn more at www.insurtechny.com or follow us on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/insurtechny). Media Contact: David Gritz 212-634-9516 [email protected] SOURCE InsurTech NY Related Links http://www.insurtechny.com Dublin, March 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines Market 2021-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The publisher has been monitoring the Japanese encephalitis vaccines market and it is poised to grow by $54.39 million during 2021-2025 progressing at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period. The report on Japanese encephalitis vaccines market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by the inclusion in national immunization plan and strategic alliances. The Japanese encephalitis vaccines market analysis includes type segment and geographical landscapes. This study identifies the growing number of awareness campaigns as one of the prime reasons driving the Japanese encephalitis vaccines market growth during the next few years. The report on Japanese encephalitis vaccines market covers the following areas: Japanese encephalitis vaccines market sizing Japanese encephalitis vaccines market forecast Japanese encephalitis vaccines market industry analysis The robust vendor analysis is designed to help clients improve their market position, and in line with this, this report provides a detailed analysis of several leading Japanese encephalitis vaccines market vendors that include Adimmune Corp., Bharat Biotech Ltd., Biological E. Ltd., KM Biologics Co. Ltd., Medigen Inc. , Panacea Biotec Ltd, Sanofi, Shandong Hengye Biotechnology Co. Ltd., VA Bio+Tech Park, and Valneva SE. Also, the Japanese encephalitis vaccines market analysis report includes information on upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth. This is to help companies strategize and leverage on all forthcoming growth opportunities. The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors. The publisher 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 such as profit, pricing, competition, and promotions. It presents various market facets by identifying the key industry influencers. The data presented is comprehensive, reliable, and a result of extensive research - both primary and secondary. The market research reports provide a complete competitive landscape and an in-depth vendor selection methodology and analysis using qualitative and quantitative research to forecast an accurate market growth. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary Market Overview 2. Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis 3. Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2020 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025 4. Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition 5. Market Segmentation by Type Market segments Comparison by Type Inactivated vaccines - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Recombinant vaccines - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Live attenuated vaccines - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Market opportunity by Type 6. Customer landscape 7. Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison Asia - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ROW - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Market drivers Market challenges Market trends 8. Vendor Landscape Overview Landscape disruption 9. Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Adimmune Corp. Bharat Biotech Ltd. Biological E. Ltd. KM Biologics Co. Ltd. Medigen Inc. Panacea Biotec Ltd Sanofi Shandong Hengye Biotechnology Co. Ltd. VA Bio+Tech Park Valneva SE 10. Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1itz5e For Fr Ibrahim Faltas, the pontiff found a new Holy Land amid the rubble, the severed heads of the statues of Our Lady and in the devastation by the Islamic State. He also found a people who clung to their land through their faith. The pontiff also sent greetings to President Abbas, which amazed everyone. Jerusalem (AsiaNews) Pope Francis found Gods new shrine amid the rubble, the blown off chapters, the severed heads of statues of Our Lady, in historic places erased by the devastation of the Islamic State group (Daesh in Arabic), touching first-hand people who clung to their land through their faith, writes Fr Ibrahim Faltas in a letter to AsiaNews. Speaking about Pope Francis's recent visit to Iraq, the discreet of the Franciscan Custody and director of the Christian schools of the Holy Land, noted that the pontiffs greatness also lies in the thoughts that he constantly devotes to the Middle East, making himself a pilgrim in our Holy Land. Commenting on the first, historic visit by a pope to the ancient land of Abraham, common father recognised by Jews, Christians and Muslims, underlines his being a pilgrim of peace among people of different faiths. Francis is also the first pope to visit a Shia-majority country, in a land where Christians have suffered unprecedented violence under the Islamic State group. His trip incarnates . . . the words and the document signed by the Pope and Grand Imam of Alzhar during the meeting in Abu Dhabi as the first real step towards universal fraternity as outlined in the encyclical. For the Franciscan priest, the deepest value of this apostolic journey was the message he brought with him. The Middle East without Christians would not exist and will continue to exist only with the presence of Christians. Many people thought the trip had to be postponed because of the many problems it presented: insecurity and instability of the country, the ongoing world pandemic, the very health of the pope. However, the pontiff showed a lot of courage and determination and went against the current, because he felt a strong duty to visit the people of Iraq, Christians and Muslims, who live on the same land, to bring a word of hope and fraternity, a caress from God. Thanks to his testimony, Iraqis can now help each other to rebuild together from the rubble and create a land of peace. We should also see from this perspective the meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the great sage of Shia Islam in the sacred city of Najaf. Pope Francis is following a path undertaken 800 years ago by Saint Francis, Fr Ibrahim explained, embracing the two souls of Islam: meeting the Sunni [with Grand Imam al Tayeb] of Al-Azhar and the Shia with al-Sistani. The aim was to find a concrete synthesis in interreligious prayer in the plain of Ur of the Chaldeans, the homeland of Abraham, meeting and praying to be instruments of reconciliation and peace. In closing, the Franciscan cleric also expressed appreciation the message of peace and prayer and the fraternal greeting sent to Palestinian President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas and his people, during the flight that took him from Rome to Baghdad. The news made the rounds in Palestine quickly, because receiving a message of peace, a thought addressed to the Palestinians, as he prepared himself to make such a difficult and complex journey, left everyone amazed! Great Pope Francis!. In addition to being a message to the world about the situation in Iraq, Pope Francis's apostolic journey to Iraq is an appeal to the international community to put an end to wars, occupations and divisions throughout the Middle East. The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday clarified that there was no reason to stop giving people AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. WHO's reaction came after several European countries suspended the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine over fear of blood clots after receiving the shot. "Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine," news agency AFP quoted WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris as saying "There is no indication to not use it." Several European countries such as Denmark, Norway and Iceland have temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after reports of blood clot formation in some people who had received the vaccine surfaced. Bulgaria suspended the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine on March 12, becoming the latest country to do so. "I order a halt in vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine until the European Medicines Agency dismisses all doubts about its safety," a state press service statement quoted Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov as saying. Earlier, Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine doses while authorities investigate a death caused by coagulation disorders and an illness caused by pulmonary embolism. Concerns regarding AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine have also reached Asia as Thailand on Friday announced that it has delayed use of the jab. Aside from the WHO, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) also backed the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. On Thursday, the agency said that the benefits of taking the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks. AstraZeneca in a statement had said that it had not discovered any evidence of increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in its safety data which comprises of more than 10 million records. The suspension of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine threatens to derail Europe's vaccine rollout campaign which is already trailing behind the US and the UK. This could potentially prolong the social and economic pain being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspensions follow complaints from European countries that AstraZeneca was not delivering enough doses. There were also age restriction put on the vaccine in January that was later removed, allowing all adults to receive the vaccine. Currently, France and Germany, who had helped spearhead the age restrictions on the vaccine, are among the biggest supporters of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. Also read: 'Thank you India, PM Modi': Canadians put up billboards after receiving COVID-19 vaccines Also read: COVID-19 vaccination centres to operate 24x7 in Maharashtra Also read: COVID-19 in India: 22,854 new cases in 24 hours; Maha continues to be worst-hit state VANCOUVER, BC, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Champignon Brands Inc. (the "Company"), (CSE: SHRM) (FWB: 496) (OTCQB: SHRMF), announced that as a result of a review by the British Columbia Securities Commission (the "Commission"), the Company has refiled its condensed interim consolidated financial statements and management's discussion & analysis ("MD&A") for the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2020 (the "Restated Financial Statements and MD&A"). Restated Financial Statements For the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2020, the Company previously recognized intangible assets in connection with the acquisitions of Artisan Growers Ltd., Novo Formulations Ltd. and Tassili Life Sciences Corp. (the "Acquisitions"). Subsequent to the issuance of the Company's condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2020 and for the period from incorporation on March 26, 2019 to March 31, 2019, management determined that the financial statements needed to be restated to correct for the accounting for the Acquisitions. The Company determined that the intangible assets did not meet the definition of intangible assets for the purposes of international financial reporting standards and as result will be recorded as transaction costs in the Company's statement of loss and comprehensive loss. The effect of the restatement did not affect the Company's cash position. As a result, the net loss and comprehensive loss for the restated three month period ended March 31, 2020 increased from $2,774,986 to $16,329,497 and for the six month period ended increased from $2,916,302 to $16,470,813, in each case increasing by $13,554,511. Consideration paid in excess of identifiable assets on the Acquisitions was restated to $13,517,014 from $nil for the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2020. The balance of Intangible Assets as at March 31, 2020 was restated to $111,929 from $11,860,462. Share Capital as at March 31, 2020 was restated to $17,373,727 from $15,603,227. In addition, it was determined that a shareholder and contracted consultant (the "Consultant") of the Company was a related party with respect to the Acquisitions. As a result, the Company has disclosed the proceeds paid to the Consultant and the stock options issued to the Consultant as related party transactions in the Restated Financial Statements and MD&A. The Consultant was also a shareholder of each of the entities which were the subject of the Acquisitions and received shares of the Company as part of the consideration issued by the Company in respect of the Acquisitions. There are no ongoing contractual or other commitments with the Consultant resulting from the Acquisitions. On November 17, 2020 the Company terminated the consulting agreement with the Consultant. For details, see the Related Party Transactions section of the Restated March 31, 2020 MD&A filed under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com or on the Company's website at www.champignonbrands.com. Complete details on the effect of the restatements are included in the notes to the Restated Financial Statements and in the MD&A. The Restated Financial Statements and MD&A supersede the previously filed financial statements and MD&A. Such previously filed financial statements and MD&A should be disregarded. The Restated Financial Statements and MD&A are available for review under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com or on the Company's website at www.champignonbrands.com. Interim Financial Statements The Company concurrently filed the condensed interim consolidated financial statements and related MD&A's for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and for the six months ended September 30, 2020 (the "Interim Financial Statements and MD&A"). The Interim Financial Statements and MD&A reflect the acquisition of AltMed Capital Corp. ("AltMed") on April 30, 2020 (the "Transaction"). The Transaction constituted a Reverse Takeover Transaction ("RTO") of Champignon by AltMed. As a result, the fiscal year end of the Company for accounting and reporting purposes subsequent to April 30, 2020 will be AltMed's fiscal year end of March 31. CSE Listing Status/Cease Trade Orders The Company intends to complete a new Listing Statement with the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") to reflect the acquisition of AltMed and the RTO. In addition to the lifting of the existing cease trade orders issued by the Commission, the filing of the new Listing Statement will be required by the CSE prior to the Company's Common Shares being reinstated for trading on the CSE. The existing cease trade orders, issued on August 26, 2020 and October 27, 2020, effectively provide that the Company must file: a revised material change report reflecting the accounting treatment for the Altmed transaction interim financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2020 interim MD&A to June 30, 2020 , and , and certification of interim filings for the period ended June 30,2020 . All of these filings have now been completed by the Company. The Company's new management team is cooperating fully and working diligently with the Commission and the CSE to ensure that the revocation of the existing cease trade orders against the Company and the filing of the new Listing Statement occur as soon as possible. However, there can be no assurance as to when (if ever) the existing cease trade orders will be lifted, the new Listing Statement completed, and trading reinstated on the CSE. Champignon Brands Inc. (https://champignonbrands.com) is a research-driven company specializing in breakthrough ketamine treatment for depression and other mental health conditions. The Company works closely with subsidiaries including AltMed Capital Corp. ("AltMed"). The Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence is wholly owned by AltMed. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Dr. Roger McIntyre" Dr. Roger McIntyre Chairman & CEO Call emergency medical services immediately if you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency. Do not rely on communication through the Champignon Brands website of the emails/telephone numbers above for urgent medical needs. Champignon Brands Inc. does not provide medical advice. If you have any specific medical questions or are seeking advice, please consult with your health care provider. The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations, or beliefs of future performance are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the completion of a new Listing Statement with the CSE, the lifting of the existing cease trade orders by the Commission and the reinstatement of trading in the Company's Common Shares on the CSE. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "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. Such forward- looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events, or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the Company's requirements for additional financing, and the effect of capital market conditions and other factors on capital availability, the Company's limited operating history and lack of historical profits; competition; failure of treatments to provide the expected health benefits; unanticipated side effects; dependence on obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals, including acquiring and renewing federal, provincial, state, municipal, local or other licenses; developments and changes in laws and regulations, including increased regulation of the Company's industries and the capital markets; economic and financial conditions; volatility in the capital markets; engaging in activities that could be later determined to be illegal under domestic or international laws; failure to obtain the necessary shareholder, government or regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE; and failure to retain, secure and maintain key personnel and strategic partnerships including but not limited to executives, researchers, clinicians, customers and suppliers. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are available at www.sedar.com. 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 forward-looking statements. The Company has no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available. SOURCE Champignon Brands Inc. Related Links https://champignonbrands.com/ And of course Defence Minister Linda Reynolds is out of action and on leave over her handling of the alleged rape of former staff member Brittany Higgins in Reynolds own office. The other women in the Morrison cabinet Employment Minister Michaelia Cash, Industry Minister Karen Andrews, Environment Minister Sussan Ley and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston are so inert they may as well be on leave too. Mindlessly repeating talking points sent out by the Prime Ministers office to defend his neglect of women does not count as taking action. Loading There is a private communication channel set up exclusively for female MPs and senators in the Coalition. There are 30 members of the group Coalition women on WhatsApp. Their record of conversation over recent months is not conclusive but it is telling. The first shockwave of sexism and scandal came on the ABCs Four Corners on the evening of November 9. This was the program that aired complaints about the conduct of Attorney-General Christian Porter and then Minister for Cities Alan Tudge. It included Malcolm Turnbull accusing Porter of unacceptable behaviour. Can you imagine the concern the Coalition women would express, the calls to arms? Youll have to imagine because, in fact, there was a resounding silence on the WhatsApp group. The group burst into activity, however, two days later to congratulate Marise Payne on receiving an award for leadership excellence from the US embassy. Then, on December 2, Payne posted Helen Reddys feminist anthem I am Woman. She commended it to her sisters for any time you need a dose of inner strength. The next day the group was quite fired up in support of one of its members, MP Katie Allen, whod been called an absolute disgrace and an arch-Tory by Labor MP Julian Hill in a table-thumping rant in the little-publicised Federation Chamber of Parliament. Allen calmly stood her ground and Hill flounced out of the chamber. One of the WhatsApp women, former Notre Dame university vice-chancellor Celia Hammond, wrote that women dont stand for Parliament because of d---head behaviour like that. There were some prosaic chats about Christmas drinks and other ordinary comings and goings. Loading The next big news event to rock politics was Brittany Higgins revelation on February 15. The next day Morrison and Reynolds offered public apologies to Higgins. The Coalition Women first reacted on February 17, when some congratulated Reynolds on her skilful handling of a sensitive issue and urged her to stay strong. Later that day, Marise Payne posted to announce that the Coalition Women would be having their next group dinner at the Wild Duck the following week. A few days later Linda Reynolds posted a self-congratulatory link to an opinion piece in this masthead by former Liberal minister Amanda Vanstone. The February 22 article was headlined: Linda Reynolds doesnt deserve criticism: her response to Higgins rape claim was textbook. On February 24 Reynolds announced she was taking a few days leave and as a precautionary measure had checked into hospital for monitoring of an underlying heart condition. The group urged her to take care. Reynolds responded to the Coalition Women the next day: Together we are an incredibly formidable force that can drive real change. Soon afterwards there was chocolate cake on offer for afternoon tea in Parliament, including a slice thoughtfully delivered to Reynolds. On February 25 Marise Payne took the initiative of offering the WhatsApp group a joint Zoom call with Finance Minister Simon Birmingham to help inform his thinking as he set up an independent review into Parliament as a workplace. Her initiative was well received. Loading The next day a Liberal MP, Nicolle Flint, one of only 11 Liberal women in the House of Representatives, announced she would be retiring at the next election. Flint had suffered terrible harassment and bullying during campaigning for the 2019 election. Shed had enough, it seemed. There were expressions of regret and good wishes on the WhatsApp group and Linda Reynolds wrote an open note to Flint that included her remark that I keep seeing and hearing terrible things and its time for real change. Reynolds directed a remark to Payne that I am up for whatever we decide needed to be done. Silence. In the following days there was social chat about clayshooting with the Nationals Bridget McKenzie and a dinner. And then, on March 3, the Liberals Celia Hammond drew attention to Australian of the Year Grace Tames address to the National Press Club. Tame, a survivor of sexual abuse and an outspoken activist for change, called for structural reform including a national system that supports and protects survivors and deals with crimes in proportion to their severity rather than the current, fragmented state-based system. Tame concluded her address: We are on the precipice of a revolution whose call to action needs to be heard loud and clear. Thats right. You got it. Lets keep making noise, Australia. Loading In pointing to the speech, Celia Hammond added a note on WhatsApp: I implore everyone to listen and read. Careful observers of the timeline will note a missing event. A major event. On February 26, the same day as Nicolle Flints announcement of her retirement, the ABC broke the shocking news that an unnamed minister currently serving in the Morrison cabinet had been accused of rape. And, on the same day as Grace Tames speech, Morrisons Attorney-General, Christian Porter, outed himself as the accused and vehemently denied the allegations. But the Coalition Women had nothing to say about it. Again, this is not conclusive there were many private calls and conversations going on among members of the government throughout but it is telling. It lays bare an astonishing absence of outrage, anger, leadership, collective will to act. It exposes an abject surrender to the partisan imperative shut up, do what youre told, follow the Prime Ministers lead, protect the party at all costs. And what costs they are. I am Woman: Helen Reddy in 1986. Credit:Getty Payne was happy to promote Helen Reddys rousing call I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore, and I know too much to go back an pretend, Cause Ive heard it all before, and Ive been down there on the floor, no ones ever gonna keep me down again. but in a crisis the Minister for Women was back down on the floor. Loading In the process, theyve acquiesced in Morrisons craven effort to try to make it all just go away. The Coalition Women arent solely to blame, of course. The entire Coalition is guilty of overlooking women for decades. Labors Tanya Plibersek says the biggest change in my time in Parliament is that when I started [in 1998] Labor and the Liberals both had the same representation of women at around one quarter, and while we are now nearly half 47 per cent the Libs are still stuck at a quarter. We arent perfect, but it makes a difference. Theres still sexism but theres more women to call it out. And demand change. Chest pain is misdiagnosed in women more frequently than in men, according to research presented today at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2021, an online scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 The study also found that women with chest pain were more likely than men to wait over 12 hours before seeking medical help. "Our findings suggest a gender gap in the first evaluation of chest pain, with the likelihood of heart attack being underestimated in women," said study author Dr. Gemma Martinez-Nadal of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain. "The low suspicion of heart attack occurs in both women themselves and in physicians, leading to higher risks of late diagnosis and misdiagnosis." This study examined gender differences in the presentation, diagnosis, and management of patients admitted with chest pain to the chest pain unit of an emergency department between 2008 and 2019. Information was collected on risk factors for a heart attack including high blood pressure and obesity. The researchers recorded the physician's initial diagnosis after the first evaluation of each patient, which is based on clinical history, physical examination, and an electrocardiogram (ECG) and occurs before other examinations like blood tests. "We had the first impression of the doctor as to whether the chest pain had a coronary cause or another origin such as anxiety or a musculoskeletal complaint," explained Dr. Martinez-Nadal. A total of 41,828 patients with chest pain were included, of which 42% were women. The median age was 65 years in women and 59 years in men. Women were significantly more likely to present late to the hospital (defined as waiting 12 hours or longer after symptom onset): this occurred in 41% of women compared to 37% of men. "This is worrying since chest pain is the main symptom of reduced blood flow to the heart (ischaemia) because an artery has narrowed," said Dr. Martinez-Nadal. "It can lead to a myocardial infarction which needs rapid treatment." In the physician's initial diagnosis, acute coronary syndrome was more likely to be considered the cause of chest pain in men compared to women. Specifically, in 93% of patients, the ECG did not provide a definitive diagnosis. In those patients, the doctor noted a probable acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in 42% of cases - when analysed according to gender, probable ACS was noted in 39% of women and 44.5% of men (p<0.001). The significantly lower suspicion of ACS in females was maintained regardless of the number of risk factors or the presence of typical chest pain. Dr. Martinez-Nadal said: "In the doctor's first impression, women were more likely than men to be suspected of a non-ischaemic problem. Risk factors like hypertension and smoking should instil a higher suspicion of possible ischaemia in patients with chest pain. But we observed that women with risk factors were still less likely than men to be classified as 'probable ischaemia'." In women, 5% of ACS were initially misdiagnosed, whereas in men, 3% of ACS were initially misdiagnosed (p<0.001). After multivariate analysis, female gender was an independent risk factor for an initial impression of non-ACS. Dr. Martinez-Nadal said: "Heart attack has traditionally been considered a male disease, and has been understudied, underdiagnosed, and undertreated in women, who may attribute symptoms to stress or anxiety. Both women and men with chest pain should seek medical help urgently." ### Authors: ESC Press Office Tel: +33 (0)4 89 87 20 85 Mobile: +33 (0)7 8531 2036 Email: press@escardio.org Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews Notes to editor Funding: Josep Font 2019 Grant. Disclosures: None. References and notes 1Abstract title: An analysis based on sex & gender in the chest pain unit of an emergency department during the last 12 years. About the Association for Acute CardioVascular Care The Association for Acute CardioVascular Care (ACVC) is a branch of the ESC. Its mission is to improve the quality of care and outcomes of patients with acute cardiovascular disease. About ESC Acute CardioVascular Care Congress 2021 #ACVC2021 ESC Acute CardioVascular Care Congress 2021 is the online annual congress of the Association for Acute CardioVascular Care of the ESC. About the European Society of Cardiology The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives. Information for journalists about registration for ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2021 ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2021 takes place 13 and 14 March online. The United States joined 30 other countries on Friday to express concern over the trajectory of human rights in Egypt and the Egyptian governments use of counterterrorism laws to crush peaceful dissent. We draw particular attention to restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly, the constrained space for civil society and political opposition, and the application of terrorism legislation against peaceful critics, read the letter, which was delivered on Friday by Finland at the UN Human Rights Council's 46th session. The signatories, which included Australia, Canada and mostly European countries, also called on Egypt to lift its travel bans and asset freezes against human rights defenders. The letter specifically mentioned restrictions on the staff at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, whose members were released from prison following an international outcry in December. The joint declaration Friday was praised by human rights groups who have documented torture, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings at the hands of Egyptian security forces, as well as the jailing of tens of thousands of government critics since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2013. Today's declaration sends a clear message to the Egyptian authorities that the world will no longer turn a blind eye to their relentless campaign to crush peaceful dissent, said Kevin Whelan, Amnesty International's representative to the UN in Geneva. The March 12 declaration ends years of a lack of collective action at the UN Human Rights Council on Egypt, said Bahey Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. Since the last such joint declaration was delivered at the council in 2014, the situation for human rights has worsened considerably. Last month, Human Rights Watch and 21 other organizations accused Egypts security forces of targeting the relatives of exiled dissidents with unlawful home raids, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and prolonged detention of family members without trial or charges. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told his Egyptian counterpart last month that human rights will be central to the US relationship with Egypt, a country that receives roughly $1.3 billion in US military assistance per year. The Biden administration has faced criticism for approving the sale of nearly $200 million worth of naval surface-to-air missiles to Cairo despite promising no more blank checks for Sisis government. Walkers have been told to avoid poisonous 'parsnips' after plant roots that are deadly to eat washed up on a beach in the UK today. Hemlock water dropwort roots, also known as 'dead man's fingers', came ashore on St Bees beach near Egremont, Cumbria. Coastguards fear that recent storms battering Britain uprooted the plants, saying that they are 'extremely toxic to both animals and humans'. The green part of the plant is a perennial, growing to over a metre high in shallow water like streams, ditches, rivers and lakes. It is widely recorded as the most toxic plant to both humans and animals growing in the Northern hemisphere, containing a powerful neurotoxin called oenanthetoxin, which triggers spasmodic convulsions, usually followed by sudden death. Hemlock water dropwort roots, also known as 'dead man's fingers', are widely recorded as the most toxic plant to both humans and animals growing in the Northern hemisphere (pictured: file photo of the plant on Porthkidney beach in Lelant, Cornwall, in 2018) While the most toxic part is the tuberous root, hence the nickname 'dead man's fingers', all parts of the plant are poisonous and a small piece can be fatal if eaten. Anyone who finds the plant on the beach is asked to report the sighting to Copeland Borough Council. A spokesman for Whitehaven Coastguard Rescue Team said: 'We would urge dog owners to be extra vigilant and not to touch these items. 'We have consulted the Environment Agency who have advised that any findings of this nature would need to be reported to Copeland Borough Council. 'The plant, Hemlock Water Dropwort, more widely referred to as 'Poisonous Parsnips' or 'Dead Man's Fingers', is relatively common along parts of the UK coastline, however, the roots which look similar to a parsnip are extremely toxic to both animals and humans. 'It is possible that recent stormy weather and tidal surges may have unearthed and uprooted these plants, then they have been washed ashore. 'If you think your dog may have come into contact or ingested any 'poisonous parsnips' it is advised to seek veterinary assistance as soon as possible. 'These plants also pose health risks to humans if physical contact is made so caution is advised at this time.' The toxic plant came ashore on St Bees beach (pictured above) near Egremont, Cumbria. Coastguards fear that recent storms battering Britain uprooted the plants In 2018 the plant was discovered on Porthkidney beach in Lelant, Cornwall, after Storm Emma. At the time, foraging expert Joshua Quick, who was taking the plants away from the area, told Cornwall Live: 'These will kill you or your dog if eaten. 'A small portion of the leaves can kill a person and this is a plant every forager needs to be familiar with. The roots are the most toxic part and one of these roots is enough to kill a cow. Its the first time Ive seen the roots exposed like this and there are lots of them.' In 2002 the Emergency Medicine Journal reported how eight students in Argyll, Scotland, ate a Dead Man's Fingers curry, mistaking the roots for parsnips. Despite them only eating the sauce, as they felt the 'parsnips' tasted too bitter to eat, four fell gravely-ill and needed hospital treatment to survive. An Oklahoma police chief spoke at the funeral of a 17-year-old Nebraska girl who died in a shootout with four of his officers - after he was invited to the memorial by the girl's parents. Chief Johnny Teehee of Muskogee, Oklahoma, spoke about forgiveness at the funeral of 17-year-old Farrah Rauch in Blair, Nebraska, on Wednesday. Rauch was shot to death in Muskogee on February 28 after she fired at officers while running from an attempted carjacking, police said. Her 17-year-old boyfriend Joseph Dugan shot himself at the scene. Four officers were placed on administrative leave during the investigation into the shooting. Teehee hugged Rauch's father as he walked to the lectern of a church in Blair where he said he had never been invited to speak at a victim's funeral in his 35-year law enforcement career. Rauch's father also invited the four officers to the funeral, but Teehee said they 'didn't think they were ready to do this.' Scroll down for video Rauch was shot to death in Muskogee on February 28 after she fired at officers while running from an attempted carjacking Police Chief Johnny Teehee, of Muskogee, Okla., speaks at the funeral of 17-year-old Farrah Rauch on Wednesday Teehee was pictured hugging the girl's father, Steve Rauch, at the funeral for his daughter 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 'They said, 'Chief, I'm not going to be able to do this, but will you let this family know that I love them, and we hold no ill will?',' Teehee said, according to the Omaha World-Herald. 'What is the message that we can take from this young life, that we can carry on from this point on and revert back to that?' Teehee asked. 'To me that message is forgiveness.' Steven Rauch said he spoke with Teehee after the death of his daughter. 'And if I was on the opposite side of this situation, I would hope that somebody would take the time to walk me through the process and help me understand what took place and what happened,' Teehee said, according to KETV. Rauch told those attending the funeral that his daughter 'touched many hearts' but was in a 'dark cycle' when she was shot, the Omaha World-Herald reported. 'She always did everything to the fullest, and unfortunately she took to the dark side and she got caught up in that,' he said, according to the outlet. He continued: 'I think she couldn't break that insanity cycle of doing the same thing over and over again.' The grieving father said officers 'were doing their jobs, they're in pain and they had no idea that they (the suspects in the shootout) were even teens,' according to the outlet. The 17-year-old high school junior was shot and killed by police after the couple led authorities on a chase during a failed carjacking. 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. Rauch, pictured with family, reportedly opened fire on police first Joseph is pictured with his mother Honour Dugan (right). The teen shot himself when confronted by police Muskogee Police said in a press release that officers were initially called in the afternoon of March 1 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. Footage released by the Muskogee Police Department shows cops traveling at speeds above 90 mph to catch up with the truck as it barrels down the road with a flat tire. Cops were briefly able to block the truck in front of a gas station before it maneuvered around them and continued the chase at lower speeds. Eventually, video shows the truck stop and the two suspects, both armed, jump out and begin running. 'Stop! I'm going to tase you!' a cop screams as he chases after Rauch and pulls out his yellow taser. Rauch starts firing at an officer, who drops to the ground and yells: 'Shots fired.' Body camera footage released by the police department shows cops pursuing the suspects after a car chase that exceeded 90 mph Body camera footage released by the police department shows cops pointing their weapons on the teen girl Cops shot the girl after she had fired her weapon at them after a car chase, video footage shows Body camera footage released by the police department shows cops pursuing the suspects after a car chase The cop then pulls out his gun and shoots 12 shots before he gets up and continues pursuit, video shows. 'Drop the gun,' the officer tells the suspect, who is not seen on camera, before blood is seen on his own hands and other officers continue the pursuit. 'She has fired twice at me,' the cop says as he catches up with his colleagues. Another officers yell 'show us your hands, drop the gun' before a volley of gunfire is heard in the video. Footage from another officer's body camera shows Rauch lying on the ground near a wooded area off the road as she points the gun at officers. Rauch then started firing at officers who returned fire, killing her, police spokeswoman Lynn Hamlin told KRJH-TV. Police believe the teens were in a romantic relationship, Teehee said, and were reported missing on Thursday, February 25. They got to Oklahoma on March 1. Police say the girl was shot and killed a few blocks from where the vehicle crashed. Drone footage released by cops shows officers locating the boy 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. Maps of the paths the suspects took as noted in a slideshow released by the police department Map of 911 calls cops received noted in a slideshow released by the police department Maps of the paths the suspects took as noted in a slideshow released by the police department 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.' There is no denying that K-Pop music has seen a growing reputation in the recent months since more and more people discover it. On Thursday, March 11, Gaon revealed the names of the South Korean artists that received certifications for having the most numbers of sales and streams for this month. Keep on reading to know if your favorite musicians made it to the list. BTS, NCT & TREASURE Receive New Certifications This Month Reports have it that the "BE: Deluxe Edition" album of BTS has been officially certified triple million. Gaon conferred the certification to Jimin, Jin, J-Hope, Jungkook, V, RM, and Suga surpassed 3 million sold copies of the said EP. Most, if not all, ARMYs are aware that BTS dropped three albums in 2020, namely: "Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey," "Map of the Soul: 7" and "BE." Among the tracks included in "BE: Deluxe Edition" are "Fly to My Room," "Blue & Grey," "Telepathy," "Stay," "Life Goes On" and "Dynamite." Aside from BTS, other K-Pop acts that were given new certifications recently are NCT, NCT Dream, and TREASURE. The "NCT 2018 Empathy" album by NCT received double-platinum certification for selling more than 500,000 copies in sales. "We Go Up" by NCT Dream, "The First Step: Chapter One" and "The First Step: Treasure Effect" by TREASURE also received platinum certifications. Three singles were certified platinum after garnering more than 100 million streams. "To Be Honest" by Kim Na Young, "Senorita" by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, and "Nonstop" by Oh My Girl dominated the streaming category. BTS' 'Map of the Soul: 7' Wins IFPI's Global Album Chart Award Meanwhile, "Map of the Soul: 7" by BTS was pronounced as the first-ever winner of IFPI's Global Album All Format Chart. For starters, the said tally celebrates the best-selling Eps of the year across all formats, which include streaming platforms, digital download, and physical sales. The fourth studio album of BTS has been dominating primary music charts in South Korea since its release in February 2020. If that is not enough, "Map of the Soul: 7" has also performed well in the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, and France, which are the five largest music markets in the world. IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore shared that they introduced the Global Album All Format Chart not only to reflect the evolving landscape of the album format but to also recognize how musicians share their music with their devoted followers across multiple formats. He added that the organization is honored to hand BTS their second award after bringing home the Global Recording Artists of the Year title. Aside from "Map of the Soul: 7" by BTS, other albums that made it to the list include "After Hours" by The Weeknd, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" by Billie Eilish, "BE: Deluxe Edition" by BTS, "Fine Line" by Harry Styles, "Hollywood's Bleeding" by Post Malone, "STRAY SHEEP" by Kenshi Yonezu, "Changes" by Justin Bieber, "folklore" by Taylor Swift and "Future Nostalgia" by Dua Lipa. For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Nica Vaughn Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ROCHESTER, Minn. - One Rochester man is a victim of unemployment fraud. He received letters saying he had applied for unemployment benefits in Minnesota and Kentucky, but he was working full-time. Brian Hale contacted human resources at his workplace and the company contested the claims. He also submitted an online fraud report with the state, the local police, and mailed in an affadavit of identify theft to the IRS. Hale says it's important to make sure you take all these steps or you may owe taxes on that money. "In the state of Kentucky ... I researched them more because that one happened to me ... that state is so overwhelmed with fake applications from out-of-state that they started, just in the last couple of weeks, putting a permanent freeze on all out-of-state applications, pending a further review," says Hale. He also suggests freezing your credit if this happens to you. Someone committing this type of fraud needs your address, employer information, and social security number. Rupert Murdochs News Corp in Australia instructed its photographers to click pictures of only conventionally attractive young women and asked to avoid clicking pigs in lipstick, a former company employee claimed in a parliamentary enquiry. Anna Rogers, who worked as a photographer with several of companys newspapers in Australia for two decades and was made redundant last year, talked about the toxic and sexist culture of the company, in an appearance in the Senate on Friday, as part of the media diversity enquiry in the country. While working on the Courier-Mail, I was encouraged to seek out attractive women to photograph to get a better run in the Courier-Mail, she said. This meant the photo would run in the earlier pages of the paper if the subject was attractive. Ms Rogers said during her tenure with Sunday Mail, an acting pictures editor told her to avoid her they did not want any photos of pigs in lipstick, as a reference to middle-aged women or overweight women, which she said she found extremely derogatory. To keep my job, I had to apply this test, she said. Which meant that women who were over 35, were overweight were not photographed for the paper. While employed at the Cairns Post, I was encouraged to take photos of attractive young women, with instructions such as, Get a photo of a yummy mummy, or, Get a photo of a pretty bagpacker, I was never ever told to get photo of an attrative man, she said. Ms Rogers also said the editors believed by printing photos of women they considered attractive on the front page, they could boost their sales among women because women like to look at attractive women. The editors, she said, were also discouraging printing photos of Australians from minority communities unless it was an ethnic specific story. She also alleged the company denied women pay hikes, flexible work hours and ignored them during promotions, labelling the culture extremely derogatory to women. She added that News Corp made employees sign contracts which allowed them to listen in to their conversations. The sexist culture reflected on the coverage as well, where according to Ms Rogers, women in news, likefemale politicians and wives of sportsmen, were ridiculed for what they wore while men were treated on merit. She said she was aware the companys culture fostered sexism in the society, and as a woman theemphasis on the appearance of women made her feel compromised and uncomfortable. However, according to Ms Rogers, she had to comply with the companys policies since there was no avenue for dissent or complaints. Emphasis on clickbait has created a toxic culture where staff feel intimidated and bullied, and many are just waiting for the next axe to fall and wondering if they will still have a job, she said. The Australian Senate established an inquiry into media diversity and is looking into whether the concentration of media ownership in Australia undermines democracy and warps public perceptions. Laredos representatives and medical leaders have noted often over the last several weeks that in the states rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, Webb County has received an inequitable number of doses compared to counties of equal or sometimes smaller size. After 13 weeks of vaccine distributions, this remains the case. READ MORE: Laredo, Webb County to receive a combined $150M from stimulus package But this inequity exists even within Laredo too, with Saunders Street acting as the divide. Residents north of this line have been vaccinated nearly twice as much as residents to the south, per capita, based on a comparison of Department of State Health Services and census data. In order to correct this balance, experts say, providers will need to perform on-the-ground outreach in underserved zip codes and take the vaccine directly to these residents. Going out to these neighborhoods and doing outreach vaccinations is very important, because otherwise its going to take a long time to fix the disparities, said Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino. We cant fix these problems overnight, so we have to go to them. In north Laredo and north Webb County the 78045 zip code 28% of residents have either been fully vaccinated or received their first dose, according to DSHS. This area has the highest median household income of the countys nine zip codes, $75,000, and the lowest percentage of people living without an internet subscription, per census data. Between Del Mar Boulevard and Saunders, 78041, 26% of residents have been vaccinated. In 78046, which encompasses south Laredo, Rio Bravo, El Cenizo and south Webb County, only 13% of the population has been fully or partially vaccinated. Around downtown, in 78040, 15% of residents have received their vaccine. This is also the case in 78043, which makes up east Laredo and much of the colonias between Highway 59 and Highway 359. These three zip codes have the lowest median household incomes in the city and the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line. More than 30% of the residents of south Laredo and downtown are medically uninsured, and nearly 22% of residents of 78040 are non-citizens. All of these factors play into their access to the vaccine. As a physician I have always known that race and wealth, unfortunately, are factors that impact ones access to health care, said Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino. ... Wealth and health go hand in hand. As an example, the online vaccine appointment systems utilized by the City of Laredo and large pharmacies such as CVS and H-E-B require internet access and the time to navigate the system. More than a quarter of residents of the downtown area do not have an internet subscription. People who have more money can take the day off or tell their employees to book their appointments, and are naturally going to be at an advantage, Trevino said. City Manager Robert Eads also said this disparity has to do with the digital divide in the community, which is something they hope to address through broadband legislation. For now the city is just focusing on getting as many people vaccinated as possible through vaccination clinics at schools in all corners of the city, he said. We need everyone vaccinated. Here, we dont care, to be honest, what zip code you live in. We need you all vaccinated, 100%, Eads said. In an effort to help bridge this digital divide, the city began to set aside 20% of their weekly vaccine allotments to people who called in to book an appointment via 3-1-1. Councilmember Vidal Rodriguez, who represents parts of south and east Laredo, said this was important to his elderly constituents for whom it is more natural to do things like make payments over the phone or in person rather than online. But he believes one of the major complicating factors in south Laredo is the areas workforce. Rodriguez noted that many south Laredo residents are truck drivers, oil field workers, work in warehousing on the opposite side of the city or are generally living paycheck to paycheck. Even if they can get the day off to get the first dose of the vaccine, for many of these workers its hard to know that they can make it to the second dose, Rodriguez said; especially so when they need to plan for taking time off if they experience side effects. These details may seem small to others, but for his constituents these things really do matter, Rodriguez said. Because every day that they miss work is less food on their table, Rodriguez said. Both he and Trevino believe that outreach within these underserved neighborhoods will be vital, and both hope that the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will help in this effort. Luz Garcini, assistant professor at the Center for Research to Advance Community Health at UT Health San Antonio, has spoken with and surveyed community members and health workers in Laredo and throughout South Texas to identify why underserved Latino communities are less likely to get tested for COVID-19, take preventative measures or get vaccinated. In order to get the vaccine, patients need to show proof of residency with a drivers license, or in the case of the pharmacies, a social security number if they dont have insurance. But a large sector of Laredos population is undocumented migrants who do not have these items, Garcini notes. With these hurdles in place, its extremely hard for them to register to get the vaccine. Garcini also highlighted the importance of providers working with trusted networks such as churches and community health clinics. We have excellent community based agencies, we have faith based leaders. A lot of these populations go to church at least once a week. They can get the information from them, she said. Last week the Department of State Health Services and Webb County Indigent Health Services coordinated to vaccinate nearly 600 residents of rural Webb County. The countys community center directors and promotoras, or health educators, compiled a list of people who had expressed interest in getting vaccinated, and Indigent Health employees were able to pre-register them for the vaccine drive, Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Landin said. DSHS provided the 600 vaccines, which were dispersed at the Ernesto J. Salinas Community Center in Mirando City. Residents of Bruni, Mirando City, Oilton, Rio Bravo, El Cenizo and many of the colonias throughout the county were vaccinated through this effort. And because these communities are very small, now a large percentage of residents in these rural Webb County zip codes have now been vaccinated. READ MORE: Laredo announces details of COVID-19 vaccine partnership with Curative However these are also some of the most historically undercounted areas in the country. Landin worries that the census population data for these zip codes is much lower than the reality. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were 'disingenuous and misleading' to suggest their son Archie was denied the title of prince due to the colour of his skin, a royal expert has claimed. During their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired on Sunday in the US and the following day in the UK, the Duchess of Sussex accused the Royal Family of having 'concerns' about 'how dark' Archie's skin would be before he was born because she is mixed-race and Harry is white. She described her 'pain' that officials had denied Archie the title of prince and accused Buckingham Palace of failing to protect him by denying him 24/7 security. Speaking on True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat, royal biographer Katie Nicholl said the remarks were 'misleading' and argued Meghan and Harry would have known about the constitutional position regarding Archie not being a prince. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were 'disingenuous and misleading' to suggest their son Archie was denied the title of prince due to the colour of his skin, a royal expert has claimed She added that the Queen and the rest of the Firm need to 'listen' to the Sussexes' concerns and 'show a little more' that they're 'very much not a racist family', as William stated yesterday, and aren't 'out of touch'. Discussing Meghan's disappointment that Archie was not awarded the title of prince, Ms Nicholl said: 'Meghan would have known [that this was for an established constitutional reason] and Harry would definitely have known. 'I think it was disingenuous to throw all this together and suggest that Archie wasnt a prince because of the colour of his skin. I think it was misleading.' Archie was not born a prince due to an order by King George V in 1917 ruling only royal offspring in the direct line of succession could be made a prince or princess. Speaking on True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat, royal biographer Katie Nicholl (pictured beside fellow expert Hugo Vickers) said the remarks were 'misleading' and argued Meghan and Harry would have known about the constitutional position regarding Archie not being a prince Katie Nicholls said the Queen and the rest of the Firm need to 'listen' to the Sussexes' concerns and 'show a little more' that they're 'very much not a racist family', as William stated yesterday, and aren't 'out of touch' (pictured: Charles and the Queen in Scotland in 2019) Under the Letters Patent the child would still be entitled to be an HRH or a prince when Charles accedes to the throne. But the Sussexes reportedly fear Harry's father will scrap this under plans for a slimmed-down monarchy. What is the George V convention? In 1917, the Queen's grandfather issued new letters patent that limited the number of royal family members with an HRH title. These stated that 'the children of any Sovereign of these Realms and the children of the sons of any such Sovereign and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales shall have and at all times hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of Royal Highness with their titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their respective Christian names or with their other titles of honour'. In 1917, the Queen's grandfather issued new letters patent that limited the number of royal family members with an HRH title This means that when Prince Charles become King, his grandchildren - including Archie - will all automatically become princes or princesses. It was also decreed that 'grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line ... shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes of these Our Realms' (i.e., Lord or Lady before their Christian name).' In addition the letters stated 'save as aforesaid the style title or attribute of Royal Highness, Highness or Serene Highness and the titular dignity of Prince or Princess shall not henceforth be assumed or borne by any descendant of any Sovereign of these Realms. Advertisement Meanwhile royal biographer and broadcaster Hugo Vickers said Meghan using Archie's skin to 'lead into' to debate about his title was 'unfair', and added that he didn't understand the Duchess' comments on the need to provide security for baby Archie. He told the programme: 'I don't know how many one-year-olds need security because they are normally covered by their parents and Prince Harry had plenty of security at that time.' Buckingham Palace issued a statement on Tuesday on behalf of the Queen expressing the family's sadness at learning the 'full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan'. The statement said the issues they raised, particularly that of race, were very 'concerning', but it made clear that the Queen and other senior royals were keen to stand their ground, adding: 'While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.' Speculating on what the Queen and the Royal Family need to do now to move forward from the interview, Ms Nicholl told the Royal Beat: '[Her Majesty] needs to listen and the family needs to listen. 'We have heard Prince William say that "we are not a racist family". Maybe they are going to need to show that a little bit more, maybe they are going to need to learn from this. 'I do think there is the feeling that this bore so much resemblance to the Diana interview in many ways, and has made people think, has it really changed? It has in many ways, but as an institution does it need to change any more?' She added that the damage done to the monarchy as a result of the Oprah interview is twofold. 'It is like nothing has been learnt from Diana,' she explained. 'It makes the institution look like it's stuck in another era when what is crucial to the monarchy's survival is its progression. 'If it doesnt progress and modernise it has no place in society, it has to keep up with the times. But what is also damaging is that the younger royals have been such advocates for mental health - and the idea that William's sister-in-law is feeling suicidal and the family somehow havent been able to help is extraordinary.' Discussing whether Harry is likely to come back to the UK this summer for the unveiling of a statue of his mother, Ms Nicholl said she believes it's very much the Duke's intention, but it depends on the pandemic and travel restrictions being lifted. 'They also have a baby on the way [so] I think that might mean Meghan doesnt come over,' she added. 'But I think it is incredibly important that Harry does, because the future of the monarchy is not just being modern and being progressive, but being unified. 'If they are not unified and symbolising unity, then some people will say, "What is the point?" More important than ever is that William and Harry are shoulder to shoulder.' Mr Vickers disputed Prince Harry's claim in the Oprah interview that his family members are 'trapped' in the institution of the monarchy. 'I don't think they are trapped at all,' he said. 'They are working within the system, and what I think is terribly disappointing is that Harry and Meghan could have gone on working within the system because the Queen actually gave them the whole of the Commonwealth to deal with. 'They had so many opportunities. But it didnt seem to be quite good enough for them.' Mr Vickers disputed Prince Harry's claim in the Oprah interview that his family members are 'trapped' in the institution of the monarchy The move to strip Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their son of their security reportedly had nothing to do with the Palace's stance on Archie becoming a prince Discussing how the US has reacted to the Queen's statement on the issues raised by Harry and Meghan, journalist Jennifer Peros said: 'We know that the Queen rarely makes public statements regarding private family matters. 'So when we first saw the statement released on Tuesday, we were thinking, "Thats all you said?" There were so many unanswered questions that we have, that we really have been sitting and waiting for The Queen and the royal family to answer.' Ms Nicholl retorted: 'I think she [The Queen] wanted to give it a moment and come back with something that was going to pacify a situation. 'She is not brushing it under the carpet, she is extending an olive branch, which I think is very clear in that statement. "Recollections may vary" is frankly something I want on a T-shirt because I think it's brilliant, it's like "annus horribilis". It is pure genius!' The latest episode of The Royal Beat is available to watch on True Royalty TV. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE A proposal to amend the state Constitution to tap more heavily into New Mexicos largest permanent fund ran into bipartisan opposition Thursday in a critical Senate committee. The legislation is still alive, but two Democratic senators suggested it will require revisions to have a chance at passage. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The proposal, House Joint Resolution 1, has passed the House five years in a row, including last month. It would deliver an extra $170 million a year for early childhood education by boosting the annual distribution from the Land Grant Permanent Fund by 1 percentage point, from 5% to 6%. But the proposal has died in the Senate repeatedly after passing the House, sometimes without a Senate Finance Committee hearing. Sen. George Munoz, a Gallup Democrat and the new chairman of the committee, said the measure will get a hearing this weekend. His committee discussed the proposal Thursday, but didnt vote. Munoz and Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, said they wont support the resolution as drafted. They said the K-12 education system not just programs targeted at kids before kindergarten needs an infusion of money to turn around New Mexicos academic outcomes. The state faces a 2018 court ruling that found New Mexico is violating the rights of at-risk students by failing to provide a sufficient education. I just dont feel comfortable sending a proposal to the voters that leaves out a very important part of this equation, Candelaria said. Some senators have broached the idea of boosting the extra distribution to 1.25% and dedicating some of the money to K-12 education. As it stands now, funding would go toward expanding pre-K and other services for children through age 5. Legislative analysts said the states pre-K programs have produced lasting academic gains for children who participate. Munoz made it clear that he was unhappy with the tactics some supporters of the legislation had employed against his predecessor as finance chairman, John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat who lost his reelection bid last year. In 2013, for example, protesters handed Smith a thank you card for making New Mexico last in the nation for kids. Munoz told supporters Thursday they would get more done working with people, not trying to embarrass them and pull stunts. The co-sponsors, Reps. Javier Martinez and Antonio Moe Maestas, both Albuquerque Democrats, were polite in their presentation Thursday and said they are eager to answer senators questions. For much too long, Martinez said, weve underfunded education in general. It appears drug dogs aren't as needed as they used to be 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 Family members of Chit Min Thu weep and flash three-fingered salute outside his home in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, March 11, 2021. Chit Min Thu was fatally shot in the head by Myanmar security forces during an anti-coup protest on Thursday. AP An independent U.N. rights expert on Thursday cited ''credible reports'' that Myanmar security forces have killed at least 70 people. He also pointed to growing evidence of crimes against humanity since last month's coup, and upbraided the U.N. Security Council for a ''wholly insufficient'' response. Thomas Andrews, an expert focusing on Myanmar, lamented the ''horrible truth'' that every time he issues a report on the situation, ''the number of murders and arbitrary detentions in Myanmar becomes outdated.'' He said the count of arbitrary detentions since the Feb. 1 coup had topped 2,000 as of Wednesday night. ''As of this moment, credible reports indicate that Myanmar security forces had murdered at least 70 people,'' he said. Speaking to the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, Andrews said violence against protesters and even ''people sitting peacefully in their homes'' was rising. He said the junta was detaining dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people every day. ''It should come as little surprise that there is growing evidence that this same Myanmar military, led by the same senior leadership, is now engaging in crimes against humanity,'' he said, citing murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture and imprisonment against basic rules of international law. Police fire tear gas on protesters during an anti-coup demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, March 6, 2021. AP The Sunscreen (Product Safety Standard) Bill, pulled from yesterdays ballot, highlights the need for better regulation and could provide an opportunity to make sunscreen testing mandatory, Consumer NZ says. The private members bill was put forward by National MP Todd Muller, as skin cancer hits close to home for the Bay of Plenty man. Skin cancer hits close to home for me. Ive had a number of minor skin cancers removed from my face and body and others in my wider family have had melanoma, says Muller. Sunscreen is currently classified as a cosmetic. Manufacturers arent required to regularly test these products and the sunscreen standard is voluntary. In Consumer NZ's 2020 sunscreen test, five of 10 products didnt meet their SPF label claim. Two of those also failed to meet the requirements for broad-spectrum protection. In Australia, sunscreen is subject to a mandatory standard and regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. "New Zealand has one of the highest rates of skin cancer and melanoma. Kiwi consumers should be able to buy sunscreens knowing the products have been tested and meet their SPF label claims," says Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy. In 2019, Consumer NZ wrote to the then Minister of Health urging for priority to be given to a mandatory sunscreen standard. "Whether progress is made through a private members bill or through other regulation, its time for action. Regulation will need to include requirements for regular testing, so manufacturers cant rely on historical tests. Read the Consumer NZ sunscreen report. Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller. Todd Muller has introduced the bill in an effort to make sure all sunscreens on the shelf meet NZ standards. Muller says the Sunscreen Product Safety Standard Bill would require the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to recommend the setting of mandatory regulations under Section 29 of the Fair Trading Act 1986, prescribing a product safety standard for sunscreen products. Our sun is pretty brutal and New Zealand has one of the highest rates of skin cancer and melanoma in the world, says Muller. We have a joint sunscreen standard with Australia, which prescribes product tests and labelling requirements, but both countries take different approaches to apply this. The standard is mandatory in Australia but voluntary in New Zealand, meaning anyone can make a sunscreen and sell it here without having to test that it actually provides the protection claimed. New Zealanders need to have confidence in the SPF claims made by sunscreen manufacturers. Voluntary compliance with the standard is simply not good enough. Muller says the governments consultation process ended in April 2019 and is only about a new regulatory regime. He says passing this legislation would mean we could have standards in place in time for next summer. It is absolutely critical that my young family and our wider community have complete confidence in the sunscreens they are using. I urge all MPs to take sunscreen and the health of our skin seriously and vote for my law change. Read there Sunscreen (Product Safety Standard) Bill here. Over the course of the last year, pandemic life has changed quite a bit. In the beginning, few people owned masks; now we have guidance about how to wear two of them at a time. Restaurants have adapted to pandemic dining, and some people have baked their way through entire books of recipes. More than 10% of Illinois has been fully vaccinated, and many are still anxiously awaiting when it will be their turn to get the shot. Washington: US President Joe Bidens top foreign affairs officials will raise a long litany of complaints about Chinas behaviour including economic pressure on US allies such as Australia when they meet their Chinese counterparts for the first time next week in Alaska. The meeting comes as top Democrats consider making a package of reforms aimed at helping the US out-compete China their top legislative priority after the passage of a massive COVID-19 economic relief bill this week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet next week for the first time with top Chinese officials in Alaska. Credit:Bloomberg Following a trip to Japan and India next week, US Secretary-of-State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet in Anchorage, Alaska, with Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi and top diplomat Yang Jiechi. We will certainly not pull any punches in discussing our areas of disagreement, State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing on Friday (AEDT). After the introduction of e-Invoicing, many businesses aligned themselves with the e-Invoicing system. Majority of the businesses use custom ERP software solution to manage their sales and purchase data. In order to enable the e-Invoice generation process right from their ERP and to connect to the Government Portal, they need some connectors or an intermediary which is called as API gateway. Businesses get these APIs from the government appointed GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) or use e-Invoicing software. GSPs provide these connectors to the businesses for facilitating easy access to the government portal from their ERPs to make their GST return filing process much easier. In this brief article, we will learn about the details of the APIs used to connect your ERPs directly to the e-Invoicing portal for easy e-Invoice generation as well as GST return filing process. What is this API? API stands for Application Programming Interface. From the name, it is evident that it has nothing to do with the GST system directly. API is a tech-end term and can be a challenge in understanding for all the non-technical audience. Well, its not that difficult either. Let me give you a simple example to understand this better. The waiter here acts as an intermediate agent (postman) between the customer and the Kitchen. The customer gives his order to the waiter, the waiter then gives the requirement to the kitchen. Further, the kitchen hands over the food to the waiter, and finally the waiter serves it to the customer. This is exactly how our API works. GST e-Invoicing APIs As discussed in the example above, we can apply a similar concept here for understanding the function of Application Programming Interface (APIs) in the context of the GST e-Invoicing system. These e-invoicing APIs facilitate as a communication channel between: Taxpayers and the e-Invoicing System GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) and the e-Invoicing System These APIs will work as a connecting block for the exchange of data between the taxpayers and the e-Invoicing system. Who can use GST e-Invoicing APIs? Taxpayers and GST Suvidha Providers are the users of these APIs. These APIs help the taxpayers to be compliant with the GST rules. Following is the list of the taxpayers who are eligible to use the APIs for e-invoice generation. This classification is based on the annual aggregate turnover. Aggregate Turnover Applicable from Exceeding INR 500 Crore 1st October 2020 Between the slab of INR 100-500 Crore 1st January 2021 Up to INR 50 Crore 1st April 2021 In short, any business eligible for the e-Invoicing can use these APIs. But the important point to note is that, he has to get these APIs form a government appointed GST Suvidha Provider. How does API help in e-invoice Generation? APIs are very helpful in the e-Invoice generation process. A taxpayer either directlyuploads the data to the Invoice registration Portal (IRP) or hires a GST SuvidhaProvider(GSPs) to upload the data for him. Irrespective of who uploads the data on the IRP, these APIs are used to send the data to the IRP platform. The invoice data uploaded on the IRP then get registered under the IRP and a unique Invoice Reference Number (IRN) gets generated. This e-Invoice is then sent back to the taxpayer with the digital signature and QR code appended on it. The taxpayers ERP system or the GSPs system can further print the e-Invoice which will have a unique IRN and a QR code. GST APIs- Significance & Purpose GST council has made consistent efforts to make the GST structure more lucid and user-friendly.Making the taxpayers process simple and user-friendly is the ultimate aim of the GST system. The government has even appointed 'GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) for the convenience of the taxpayers and to ease the complete GST return filing process. TheseAPIs connect to the GST Filing platforms like GSTN or IRP. This makes the task of the taxpayers more easy and user-friendly. As far as e-Invoicing is concerned, the taxpayers can generate their invoices on their respective ERP software like Tally, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or another custom ERPs. These invoices are to be reported on the IRP platform for the e-Invoice generation under GST with a unique IRN and a QR code. These APIs can also be integrated with the respective ERPs of the taxpayers. To sum it up, there is a three-level interaction between the taxpayers, the GSPs, and the e-Invoicing System. e-Invoicing GST APIs- Advantages APIs enable a smooth and secured data flow between the taxpayer or GSP and the IRP platform. Seamless integration between the ERP or accounting software of the taxpayer and the e-Invoicing system. These APIs will help the taxpayer to eliminate the data entry errors by validating the data before uploading it to the IRP. Duplication of entries will be eliminated as the details of the outward supplies will be first entered into the ERP system of the taxpayer and then passed on to the IRP. Taxpayers have to input the data into their ERP system only once. This same data will be replicated for the e-Way Bill generation and the GST portal for the auto-population of the GSTR-1. Where can I get GST e-Invoicing APIs? Now, after understanding the details of the e-Invoicing APIs, it is very important to know where to find these APIs. The answer is simple, you can get these APIs from any government-appointed and authorized GST Suvidha Provider. The GSPs get the raw APIs from the Government. The APIs are then enhanced with improved features like advanced reconciliations, validation checks for the data, etc. You can find the APIs for all your e-Invoicing needs, here. Are there any pre-requisites to access the APIs? Yes, to access and use these APIs certain conditions should be fulfilled. Let me jot down some of them below: GSPs and taxpayers should strictly adhere to the IT standards specified by the Government of India. GSPs and taxpayers must comply with the IT Act 2000 and the amendments thereof. As the data being handled by the GSPs is very sensitive and there is a huge risk involved for the misuse of this information. Hence it is compulsory for the GSPs/ taxpayers that they meet the prescribed security requirements. You can find the details at www.cert-in.org.in/. GSPs and taxpayers will have to test their modified systems on the e-Invoice pre-production site. This is an important step to get your modification tested from the government portal. For more details and insights you can click, here. In Conclusion In this brief article, we have discussed the features and working of the APIs used for e-Invoice generation. We can easily integrate these e-Invoicing APIs with any of the ERPs to facilitate an easy and error-free process. GSPs can make a difference in saving the time and costs of the taxpayers by validating the data, reconciliation the invoices, and fully automated the process. It is advisable to the taxpayers to opt for a government appointed GSP. Until the next time About the Author GSTHero Making GST Simple! GSTHero is the best GST filing, e-Way Bill Generation & E Invoicing Software in India. GSTHero is a government authorized GST Suvidha Provider. Both Businesses and Tax Practitioners can file GSTR 1, GSTR 3B, GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C with all supporting reports. 1 Click Auto Reconciliation& report-matching feature helps you in claiming up to 100% ITC and finds your GST Defaulting Suppliers. GSTR2A vs GSTR-3B, GSTR-1 vs GSTR-3B, GSTR-1, GSTR-2A & GSTR-3B annual report matching is also provided by GSTHero. GSTHero ERP Plugins provide 1 Click e-Way Bill & E-Invoice, Generation, Operation & Printing from your own ERP like Tally, SAP, Marg, Busy, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle & others itself with high data security FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) There's a new sheriff in town. Jefferson County officials appointed Nick Georgi as the county's new sheriff after the former sheriff, Matthew Schultz, announced he was resigning just five months into the job. The change wont be effective until 2023, a delay that Carrie Wofford, the president of Veterans Education Success, an advocacy group, called a bitter pill to swallow. But the delay was necessary to reach a bipartisan deal. It was the right decision, she said. Career Education Colleges and Universities, the trade group of for-profit schools, said it supported the change. We are thrilled to finally see a bipartisan consensus develop around the controversial 90/10 rule, said Jason Altmire, the groups chief executive. The delay, he said, will allow time for a fair, rational and permanent solution for an issue that has been driven by partisan politics for far too long. For-profit schools are already preparing. This week, American Public Education, which operates a collection of schools and training programs explicitly marketed to former service members, told investors on an earnings call that it would have enough time to adjust its business model in various ways, including through acquisitions, to stay compliant. Although for-profit schools have long been criticized for skirting federal rules, the revision takes a target off service members backs. Schools might find ways to get around the rule, but at least they wont be financially incentivized to pursue veterans, Ms. Wofford said. Thats a big win. Ms. Berkhalter said she was delighted that future veterans would be protected from the kind of financial harm she suffered. After leaving the Army in 2005, she enrolled at ITT and earned a bachelors degree in criminal justice. She came close to landing her dream position a case management role at a mental health treatment center but when the employer discovered that her degree was from ITT, the offer vanished. ITT consumed her $75,000 in G.I. Bill funds and still left her with nearly $100,000 in student loan debt. Ms. Berkhalter hopes to have her federal loans eliminated through an Education Department program that is intended to wipe out the debt of students who were victims of fraud. Her application languished during the Trump administration, as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos strongly opposed the program and resisted approving applicants claims. Ms. Berkhalter hopes the Biden administration will be more forgiving. Im excited for all those service members ahead who will be helped by this, she said. But they still need to do something about those of us who have been going through this for so long. South Africa: Water and Sanitation to implement measures against City of Tshwane The Department of Water and Sanitation says it will tighten compliance and enforcement measures against the City of Tshwane to ensure it complies with its obligation to deal with low effluent standards and provide safe drinking water to affected communities. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) appeared before Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements. The department painted a bleak picture about the present state of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works (RWWTW) and Temba Water Treatment Works (TWTW). Following its oversight visit to the City of Tshwane in 2019 and in February 2020, the Portfolio Committee instructed the city to urgently resolve the water and wastewater challenges which pose a health risk for the community. The DWS Acting Director-General, Deborah Mochotlhi has attributed the notable lack of progress to resolving the water and wastewater challenges mainly to instability of leadership in the city. This said Mochotlhi, has had a negative impact on progress since the department has had to engage anew on several occasions. The Action Plan to turn around the situation at the Rooiwal WWTW and the Temba Water Treatment Works have not yielded any positive results as the plans were not implemented in line with the directives issued by the department, nor the action plan presented to the committee by the city. The city has cited lack of funds for not implementing the Action Plan and the city is said to have approached the Development Bank of Southern Africa for funding. Amongst problem areas at the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works, the departments inspectors found that the works was overloaded, there was poor sludge management, and no schedule for operations and maintenance, Mochotlhi said in a statement on Thursday. Meanwhile, the audit and inspection of the Temba WTW, has found that communities are still supplied with poor water quality and that the water tankers used to supply water to affected communities do not meet the demand. Other challenges related to water quality failures are the availability of ammonia, phosphates, nitrate-nitrites, colour, taste and odour parameters which remained the same. In view of the numerous non-compliances, the department will proceed with the court case opened against the City of Tshwane, as per Section 53 of the National Water Act (Act 36, 1998), Mochotlhi told the Committee. On 26 February 2021 the South African Human Rights Commission held an inquiry on the state of rivers under the jurisdiction of the city, which included the Apies, the Pienaars and Hennops. Mochotlhi reiterated that going forward, the city must prioritise the review of its maintenance and operations manual, the appointment of qualified process controllers to address staff shortages at their works, and the appointment of the security personnel at the works to address the theft and vandalism issues. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. ROME, MAR 12 - Most of Italy is expected to be a COVID-19 red zone next week, due to a sharp rise in contagion and new rules the government is expected to apply on how to classify regions in the nation's tiered system of coronavirus-linked restrictions. The government is set to make it automatic for a region with an incidence of 250 COVID-19 cases or more in a week per 100,000 inhabitants to become a red zone. This could see all of Italy's regions except for Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria and Umbria be red next week. Lazio, the region around Rome, and Valle d'Aosta are reportedly in doubt between being red or orange next week. Lazio Health Chief Alessio D'Amato said the region's COVID Rt reproduction rate was 1.3, over the 1.25 threshold, but added that other factors, such the incidence of cases and the proportion of intensive-care places taken up by coronavirus patients, were not at alarm levels. Sources said that Health Minister Roberto Speranza told a meeting with governors on Friday that any of Italy's regions that qualify as moderate-risk yellow zones will be bumped up to orange zones, which have more stringent restrictions, during the period of a new decree, March 15 to April 6. In red zones all restaurants and bars are closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries, and all non-essential shops are closed too. Pupils must have lessons via distance learning. In orange zones, shops can do business but restaurants and bars must stay closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries.. In yellow zones, shops are open and so are bars and restaurants until 6pm. In low-risk 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. (ANSA). The mother of a Norwalk man facing gun-related charges after police say he showed an interest in mass shootings voiced her support of lawmakers efforts to expand the states red flag firearms law that keeps guns away from those deemed a danger. Joanne Kirson, the mother of Brandon Wagshol, said in testimony last week that her son was among the rare examples in 2019 that a risk warrant under the current law was used on someone who posed a credible threat of a mass shooting. Kirsons testimony was given as the legislatures judiciary committee attempts to expand those who can request such an order to include family or household members, as well as medical professionals. The law now only allows prosecutors and police officers to make the request. Wagshol, 23, was charged in 2019 after a police investigation revealed he had tried to buy several high-capacity ammunition magazines for a rifle he was building, authorities said. Wagshol has pleaded not guilty to four counts of illegal possession of large capacity magazines. He remains held on $500,000 bond for a separate case in which police say he assaulted his father with a pipe. He is scheduled to face a Stamford judge next week. Kirson said following an incident in her home in 2018, she sought to ensure her son could not get his hands on any guns, but was unsuccessful. I called the police and he was arrested. I made a victim statement in which I said I wanted to ensure that hed never have access to firearms. The case was dismissed, and by this time, my ex-husband had guns, Kirson testified. In 2019, the FBI received a tip from a family member that Wagshol was trying to buy high-capacity magazines to hold ammunition. Authorities raided Wagshols home, where investigators found a .40 caliber handgun, a .22 caliber rifle, a rifle scope with a laser, four firearm optic sites, a firearm flashlight, body armor with a titanium plate, a full camouflage outfit, a ballistic helmet, tactical gloves, a camouflage bag, and numerous .40 caliber, .22 caliber and .300 blackout rounds of ammunition, according to court records. Wagshol was living in his fathers Norwalk apartment, police said. In a search warrant application, investigators wrote that Wagshol had shown an interest in mass shootings dating back to 2008, when he was in the sixth grade. In November of that year, investigators said Wagshol threatened to shoot a fellow classmate with his fathers gun, the warrant showed. Ill make Virginia Tech look like nothing, he muttered under his breath, the warrant said, in a reference to the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech in which 33 people died. Investigators subsequently found a social media post written by Wagshol that showed his interest in committing a mass shooting, according to authorities. Wagshol told police he went to New Hampshire to acquire 30-round magazines and ammunition to circumvent what I viewed as an unconstitutional restriction on the Second Amendment, but said he had no intentions whatsoever to commit a mass shooting. The bill to expand the red flag law was met with some resistance from gun-rights supporters who feared it could lead to false claims and abuses, the Associated Press reported. The bill remains before the legislatures judiciary committee. Kirson, in supporting the legislation, testified: The case of Brandon Wagshol shows that the law works. In Bessemer, Alabama, on a morning in 1983, I saw Americas future even if I was utterly clueless about it at the time. I was a cub reporter for the Birmingham News, ambushed by a breathless editor when I walked into the newsroom. He said the second-richest man in the world as hed just read in The Wall Street Journal was in our area and I needed to race over there and interview him. So I sped 15 minutes west down I-20, to a discount store Id barely heard of, called Walmart, to meet a man Id absolutely never heard of named Sam Walton. I talked briefly with the folksy and super-amiable multibillionaire and then watched him enthusiastically cheerlead his crew of retail workers, who likely were paid at or near the then-minimum wage of $3.35 an hour. At the time, Bessemer (population then, 32,000; now, 27,000 or so) still had plenty of unionized U.S. Steel workers at a nearby mill to keep Walmarts aisles humming, but the belching plant (which I blamed for two years of asthma-type problems that disappeared the instant I moved back to the Northeast) was already shrinking and finally closed in 2015. Today, service-sector workers like the ones cheered on by Sam Walton arent a slice of the citys economy, but they ARE the economy, especially since Amazon founded by the worlds current richest man broke ground on a massive fulfillment center there in 2018. Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort Three years since the 800,000-square-foot center launched, could Bessemer be leading America back to the future when strong labor unions propel workers into the middle class, as happened in the decades following World War II? Well know better near the end of the month when the votes are tallied from warehouse workers seeking to form a union at the Amazon site, which employs 5,800. While the online retail giant pays $15 an hour or more than double the minimum wage pro-union advocates want to bargain for better working conditions and more flexible hours. The labor showdown in Bessemer is the latest in a series of such battles across the Deep South, where large companies with their consultant-driven strategies and appeals to modern Americas ambivalence over unions have won repeatedly, as happened twice recently at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. But then the workers in Bessemer seeking to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union got a powerful boost from an unlikely source: newly elected President Joe Biden. Late last month, Biden surprised and delighted union advocates when he released a short video encouraging workers in Alabama and any other union elections taking place to participate while calling for a fair election, urging that there should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda. The 46th president was careful with his words not officially taking a side in the Amazon vote which arguably was a carryover of decades in which even Democratic presidents have been tepid, at best, in supporting the labor movement. That Biden addressed the issue at all, those on the ground in Bessemer seem to agree, has been a huge emotional boost to workers seeking the union. Mike Elk, the journalist behind the essential labor news site The Payday Report, who covered those losing battles in Chattanooga and elsewhere, told me that in those other places union activists lost momentum in the closing days as workers gave into fear and intimidation tactics. What Biden did was shift momentum to the union activists while acting as a inoculation tool against anti-union tactics similar to the way a vaccine would act. Bidens focus on union organizing wasnt an isolated incident, either. On Capitol Hill, the new presidents Democratic allies in the House (joined by five Northeastern Republicans) this week passed the PRO (Protecting the Right to Organize) Act. It would address some of the labor-organizing issues that have been raised in the Alabama Amazon fight, such as ending captive audience meetings where management bombards workers with anti-union propaganda. It would also weaken so-called right to work laws and allow contractors like Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize. Biden has promised to sign it if it passes the Senate but thats unlikely unless Democrats get rid of the filibuster. But Congress and Biden were able this week to enact one perk that will benefit union members a $68 billion pension bailout tucked into the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that will rescue rank-and-file Teamsters and other workers (including my own union, the News Guild.) That COVID-19 aid package understandably got the bulk of attention in the media, including the growing realization that Biden and the Democrats are helping the underprivileged on a scale of LBJs mid-1960s War on Poverty. But the pro-union moves could bolster the next rung up the ladder, the also-struggling working class. The Democrats moves on the Amazon battle, and on backing labor unions more broadly, are smart politics that along with the GOPs united opposition to the $1.9 trillion relief package demolishes the GOPs claim that after Donald Trump it has become the party of the working class. An animated U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, a possible 2022 Senate candidate, shouted toward his Republican colleagues during the debate on the PRO Act: Heaven forbid we tilt the balance that has been going in the wrong direction for 50 years! Now, stop talking about Dr. Seuss, and start working with us on behalf of the American workers. The economic argument for bolstering labor unions is arguably more powerful than the political one. Experts whove researched why U.S. paychecks started stagnating around the 1980s, and why income inequality exploded, have found the decline in bargaining power from a weakened labor movement punctuated by Ronald Reagan crushing the air traffic controllers union in 1981 was a huge factor, and maybe the biggest one. Last year, the Economic Policy Institute reported that for male workers, the decline in union membership accounted for more than one-third of income inequality, and the lost wages from labors decline are about $200 billion a year, with that money being redistributed upward, to the rich. President Biden gets it. But even with his supportive words, Bessemers Amazon fulfillment center will be a tough place to take that first step forward. In raising its minimum wage to $15 in 2018, the Jeff Bezos-founded behemoth which scored a public relations coup while putting pressure on less-profitable rivals can rightly argue that it pays more than other employers in the down-on-its-heels steel town. And Bidens video may prove little incentive for some employees at the racially diverse facility, in a state where white voters often back the GOP and its anti-union ideology. For advocates, though, unionizing isnt only about securing the highest possible paycheck but also about restoring the dignity of warehouse work, at a company where in recent years employees have complained about oppressive and sometimes sweltering working conditions or fears of taking sick days or even long bathroom breaks. The workers answer to a lot of robotic information systems that deliver their discipline [for instance, if they fall behind their hourly production quota], and they have no say in it, Josh Brewer, the lead local organizer for the retail workers union, told the veteran labor writer Steven Greenhouse in the American Prospect recently. Its not just that I have a bad supervisor or one who doesnt like me. It can be, I looked at him wrong one time, and I will lose my job and my familys food. In Alabama, a driving force [for the workers] is to just have someone on their side. Thats why the notion that the president of the United States is tilting toward their side is so energizing. In the interview, Brewer said support from the Biden administration as well as from their neighbors in Bessemer make us feel confident. Raised in post-war America, Biden has a better sense than most of what the pro-labor policies of Franklin Roosevelt did for prosperity in the mid-20th century. This Democrat seems to be offering U.S. workers another new deal, if they can keep it. ___ (Will Bunch is the national opinion columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer.) (c)2021 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. So far in 2021, Saskatchewan has invited 1,975 immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination. Saskatchewan invites 248 PNP candidates So far in 2021, Saskatchewan has invited 1,975 immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination. Saskatchewan invites 248 PNP candidates So far in 2021, Saskatchewan has invited 1,975 immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination. Saskatchewan invites 248 PNP candidates So far in 2021, Saskatchewan has invited 1,975 immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Saskatchewan invited 248 principal applicants to apply for a provincial nomination on March 11. The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) invited candidates from the International Skilled Worker category. Of those invited, 72 may be eligible for the SINPs Express Entry subcategory, and 176 may get the nomination through the Occupations In-Demand sub-category. Regardless of the stream invited candidates needed an Expression of Interest (EOI) score of at least 71 in order to be invited. They also needed Educational Credential Assessments to demonstrate their foreign education was equivalent to the Canadian standard. They also needed work experience in one of the 70 in-demand occupations listed on the government webpage. Some of the eligible occupations include purchasing agents and officers, social and community service workers, as well as educational counsellors. Find out if youre eligible for Canadian immigration About the Occupations In-Demand sub-category The Occupations In-Demand sub-category is a base Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), meaning it is open to immigration candidates who do not have a federal Express Entry profile. This sub-category is for highly skilled workers with experience in an in-demand occupation in Saskatchewan, who do not yet have a job offer in the province. In order to apply for Canadian immigration through this sub-category, foreign nationals need to create an EOI profile through the SINPs online application system. Saskatchewans EOI system allows the province to select immigration candidates that have the potential to thrive in the prairie province. Candidates will be assessed on how their work experience, education, language ability, age, and connections to the province demonstrate their capacity to settle into a life in Saskatchewan. They are then given a score out of 100 based on the SINPs International Skilled Worker Points Assessment Grid. The highest-scoring candidates are then issued an invitation to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence. About the Express Entry sub-category The Express Entry sub-category is an enhanced PNP, meaning it is linked to the federal Express Entry system. Express Entry manages the pool of candidates for three of Canadas main economic-class immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and Canadian Experience Class. Candidates with Express Entry profiles must also create EOI profiles for Saskatchewan in order to be considered for an invitation to apply for a provincial nomination. Express Entry candidates who apply for and receive a provincial nomination from the province of Saskatchewan are awarded an additional 600 points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System score at the federal level and are effectively guaranteed an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence. Find out if youre eligible for Canadian immigration CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options. PACEMAKER BELFAST 12/03/2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen, and is welciomed by Dr Garrett Martin. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 12: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) is greeted by Brigadier Chris Davies, Commander 38 Brigade (Irish) (L) during a visit to Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove on March 12, 2021 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The UK Prime Minister continues to tour the UK witnessing the Coronavirus vaccine roll-out programme and pupils returning to schools after lockdown. (Photo by Peter Morrison - WPA Pool/Getty Images) PACEMAKER BELFAST 12/03/2021 Health Minister Robin Swann arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press PACEMAKER BELFAST 12/03/2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen, and is welciomed by Dr Garrett Martin. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press PACEMAKER BELFAST 12/03/2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen, and is welciomed by Dr Garrett Martin. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press PACEMAKER BELFAST 12/03/2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen, and is welciomed by Dr Garrett Martin. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 12: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks with Military medics during a visit to Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove on March 12, 2021 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The UK Prime Minister continues to tour the UK witnessing the Coronavirus vaccine roll-out programme and pupils returning to schools after lockdown. (Photo by Peter Morrison - WPA Pool/Getty Images) EMBARGOED TO 1400 FRIDAY MARCH 12 Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets with members of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and military medics during a visit to Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove in Northern Ireland. Picture date: Friday March 12, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS Johnson. Photo credit should read: Peter Morrison/PA Wire PACEMAKER BELFAST 12/03/2021 Health Minister Robin Swann arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press Health Minister Robin Swann arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press First Minister Arlene Foster arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press Prime Minister Boris Johnson (C) greets troops with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis (R) and Brigadier Chris Davies, Commander 38 Brigade (Irish) (L) during a visit to Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove on March 12, 2021 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The UK Prime Minister continues to tour the UK witnessing the Coronavirus vaccine roll-out programme and pupils returning to schools after lockdown. (Photo by Peter Morrison - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at the Lakeland Forum, the main vaccination centre in Enniskillen, and is welciomed by Dr Garrett Martin. Picture: Ronan McGrade/Pacemaker Press Boris Johnson has arrived in Northern Ireland for a one-day visit as part of a tour of the UK to see the coronavirus vaccine roll out and the schools' partial return. It comes as the Department of Health reports another death and 208 new cases of coronavirus in Northern Ireland. The total death toll in Northern Ireland now stands at 2,097. Some 1,311 positive cases have been confirmed in the last week, down from 1,238 in the previous seven days. There are currently 183 Covid patients in hospitals across Northern Ireland, with 23 in intensive care and 57 requiring ventilation. Hospital occupancy is at 95%. There are 14 care homes dealing with Covid outbreaks. Read More The latest figures come as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in Northern Ireland on Friday where he toured a mass vaccination centre in First Minister Arlene Foster's Co Fermanagh constituency. He was joined by the DUP leader and Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann at the converted Lakeland Forum leisure centre in Enniskillen. Mr Johnson also visited a military base in Belfast on Friday and he is due to hold further engagements later. As part of his visit, he has been engaging with Stormont leaders over issues and concerns over the contentious Protocol. Alcalira Jimenez De Rodriguez, 56, allegedly posed as a plastic surgeon and botched at least two surgeries for one of her patient's A woman pretending to be a plastic surgeon was arrested on Thursday after botching a man's nose job twice leaving him in pain. Alcalira Jimenez De Rodriguez, 56, worked at the Millennium Anti-Aging and Surgery Center in Doral, Florida before her arrest. When the police department arrived at her clinic on Thursday, she was actually in the middle of performing a surgery on another patient. The authorities were alerted to the suspected medical fraud by her former patient Vincenzo Zurlo who underwent two botched operations, costing a total of $2,800, before he became suspicious of Jimenez De Rodriguez's credentials. Police then sent in an undercover agent posing as a potential patient to catch Jimenez De Rodriguez posing as a doctor. According to the Miami Herald, Jimenez De Rodriguez has since been charged with practicing medicine without a license, as well as resisting arrest without violence. The first charge is being considered a second-degree felony because of the alleged disfigurement of the patient. Jimenez De Rodriguez is being held on a $5,000 bond at the Miami-Dade County Jail. Meanwhile, Zurlo says he has been left disfigured and will be forced to seek another surgery with another doctor to repair Jimenez De Rodriguez's work. The authorities were alerted to the suspected medical fraud by her former patient Vincenzo Zurlo who underwent two botched operations, costing a total of $2,800, before he became suspicious of Jimenez De Rodriguez's credentials. Zurlo is pictured left, immediately after surgery and right, after his nose healed 'I feel abused. I feel that somebody used me as a piece of meat, just because she decided that one day she would like to play a plastic surgeon,' he said to 7News. 'She pretended to be a doctor, but she was not'. Zurlo described how he first met the allegedly fake surgeon through a friend and began having botox treatments with her. Then on February 15, 2020, he decided to undergo rhinoplasty surgery. He complains that he woke up during the surgery and his nose failed to heal properly, leaving him disappointed and in pain. 'I was fully awake. I saw her face; I was talking to her during the surgery. I was asking if I was bleeding, how the surgery was going, so I saw her face ruining my life.' On May 30, 2020, Zurlo underwent a second surgery with Jimenez De Rodriguez, which was also unsuccessful. Millenium Anti-Aging and Surgery Center, where the alleged fake doc was performing when she was arrested, as since been shut down by the local authorities 'My nose wasnt right,' Zurlo said. 'I had this lump close to the tip of my nose, and she was finding excuses.' A cease and desist was posted on the door of the office, demanding business cease right away Zurlo also claims he was prescribed painkillers and antibiotics under a different doctor's name, which raised suspicion. 'She cannot do my nose right, she prescribed me the medication from another doctor, she cannot find a solution to my pain so something is wrong, something has to be wrong,' Zurlo told NBC Miami. 'She was the one that with that surgery that day, she ruined my life.' That led him to ask for a medical license number and medical malpractice insurance information from Jimenez De Rodriguez, neither of which she provided. At that point, he called law enforcement to investigate the woman, as well as the Florida Health Department. An agent reportedly went undercover for a medical consultation with Jimenez De Rodriguez, which helped lead to the arrest. 'We went in, and we interrupted the procedure, and we basically identified ourselves as police officers and took her into custody,' Doral Police spokesperson Rey Valdes told 7News. On Facebook, she describes herself as the owner and founder of the Millennium Anti-Aging and Surgery Center. The office has since closed. People are waiting to receive COVID-19 vaccines at a temporary vaccination center in Beijing, China on Jan. 3, 2021. (STR/CNS/AFP via Getty Images) Beijing Pushes for Door-to-Door COVID-19 Vaccinations, Citizens Worry Chinese authorities recently launched a door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination program in Chaoyang District, in the capital city of Beijing. Some residents shared their concerns with The Epoch Times over their distrust of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its propaganda about COVID-19 vaccines and the pandemic. Mainland Chinese media reported on March 10 that Beijings Chaoyang District began a new door-to-door vaccination program in residential communities and villages. The program is also carried out in five types of places such as government offices, the Central Business District (CBD), industrial parks, business offices, and school campuses. Chaoyang is where international companies, foreign embassies, many central Chinese government agencies, and high-end residential communities are located. CCP leader Xi Jinping visited the district to inspect the COVID-19 epidemic situation last year. A resident surnamed Zhao told The Epoch Times that her community just posted the door-to-door vaccination notice, saying it was voluntary. We will not take the vaccine regardless of whether it is free or not. Because if we get vaccinated, we are worried that our bodies will have abnormal reactions, so we refuse to get inoculated, she said. Zhao added, The notice says that you cant drink alcohol or take a shower after the vaccination. I think if you cant take a shower, then you can easily get infected [from COVID-19]. There are many restrictions after getting this vaccine so I think we really shouldnt get vaccinated. She said that her friends and neighbors did not get vaccinated after the notice was released. She emphasized, I believe no one wants to get this vaccine. If their brains are working properly, then they wouldnt get this vaccine. A student from Peking University surnamed Wang told the publication that he doesnt trust the Chinese regime. I think the CCP has ulterior motives behind it. In fact, it shows that this vaccine has so many restrictions and has low efficacy. Moreover, the Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines have opaque reports about adverse reactions and they have been launched hastily. Many Chinese people are resisting being vaccinated, which is why they [CCP] are pushing something like the door-to-door vaccination that the authorities have not done before, Wang said. He emphasized, In fact, even if it is free, I still wont get vaccinated. After all, there are so many restrictions and adverse reactions with this vaccine and even the officials have acknowledged the problems. Given the previous safety issues of the Chinese vaccines, I dont dare to get inoculated. In recent years, a series of vaccine scandals in China have been widely reported by the media worldwide. In 2019, a Chinese hospital was found to have vaccinated people against the human papillomavirus (HPV) without obtaining a proper license. In 2018, Chinese pharmaceutical company Changsheng Bio-technology was found to have shipped more than 250,000 doses of a faulty DTaP vaccine (a combination vaccine for diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus), affecting more than 200,000 children. A Beijing-based lawyer surnamed Wu shared his views with the publication. People I know are definitely not willing to get vaccinated. People I know and those who have communicated with me about vaccines are unwilling to get inoculated in the near future, even if they are free, Wu said. Moreover, no one knows what side effects the vaccine has. Especially for ordinary people, for people who dont have medical insurance like me, I definitely wont get it. What if there is a problem? What should I do? None of the people I know are willing to get vaccinated, he said. Mr. Wu added that the quality of medical care in mainland China is not as good as the healthcare of the United States and developed countries in Europe. Another important aspect is that the government has covered up the COVID-19 epidemic when it first broke out in Wuhan in late 2019, which makes it difficult to trust the authorities, he said. The authorities have always treated the lives of Chinese people as a trifling matter, and it has always been the case. You cant count on the government. The CCP officials top concern is to protect their official positions. Everything they do is to protect themselves, Wu said. Luo Ya and Zhang Yujie contributed to the report. Join Recruiter.com, Bright Mountain Media, DGTL Holdings, and Earthasia International at the virtual showcase Hosted by Proactive's Christine Corrado, the event kicks off at 1pm ET on March 16 Proactive, a digital financial news organization, is hosting four companies on the fast track to growth at its latest North American virtual investor conference. Recruiter.com Group Inc ( ), Inc (OTCQB: BMTM), DGTL Holdings Inc ( ) ( ), and Earthasia International Holdings Ltd ( ) (HKEx:6128) will present at the Proactive One2One Investor Forum on Tuesday, March 16. Hosted by Proactive's Christine Corrado, the event kicks off at 1pm ET. This is an online variant of the popular conference format Proactive has run for more than a decade and enables communication between investors and management from some of the world's cutting-edge businesses. Recruiter.com helps streamline the hiring process for employers and job seekers alike. The Houston-based companys diverse network of more than 27,000 recruiters helps organizations reduce recruiting costs and shorten recruiting cycles with access to on-demand recruiting and AI and video technology. Recruiter.com aggregates smaller hiring firms and independent recruiters under a common platform and provides them with access to more clients and technology. Clients include big names like , Disney, Schlumberger, and other major enterprises. The company was voted Top Tech Company to Watch by the CT Tech Council, cited as one of the Top 35 Most Influential Career Sites by Forbes, and listed by Inc as one of the 9 Best Websites for Finding Top Talent. Led by CEO Evan Sohn, who will present at the One2One forum, the $14 million company has a tight share structure with only 5.5 million shares outstanding. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER is an end-to-end digital media and advertising services platform, connecting brands with targeted consumer demographics. Through the removal of middlemen in the advertising services process, the Florida-based company not only links brands and consumers but maximizes revenue for publishers as well. s assets include Bright Mountain LLC, MediaHouse (f/k/a NDN), Oceanside (f/k/a S&W Media), and Wild Sky Media, including 24 owned and/or managed websites as well as 15 CTV apps. The company generates advertising services revenue from advertisements (ad impressions) placed on its owned and managed sites, as well as from advertisements placed on partner websites, for which the company earns a share of the revenue. also generates advertising services revenue from facilitating the real-time buying and selling of advertisements at scale between networks of buyers, often called DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) and sellers, often called SSPs (Supply Side Platforms). CLICK HERE TO REGISTER DGTL (ie Digital Growth Technologies and Licensing) specializes in accelerating fully commercialized enterprise-level SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies in the sectors of content, analytics, and distribution, via a blend of unique capitalization structures. The company acquires and accelerates growth stage transformative digital media, marketing, and advertising software technologies powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Its core focus is on building a full-service digital media martech portfolio, with software solutions in the fastest-growing verticals, beginning with AI-powered social media marketing and analytics-based software. DGTLs wholly-owned subsidiary Hashoff LLC is an enterprise-level self-service CaaS (content-as-a-service) built on proprietary Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI-ML) technology. Hashoffs AI-ML platform functions as a full-service content management system, designed to empower global brands by identifying, optimizing, engaging, managing, and tracking top-ranked digital content publishers for localized brand marketing campaigns. Hashoff currently serves numerous global brands by providing direct access to the global gig-economy of over 150 million freelance content creators. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Earthasia International is a leading supplier of graphene products. The company is based in the People's Republic of China (PRC), strategically located near the largest supply source of high-quality natural graphite anywhere in the world. 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. Chief Strategy Officer Dan Nye, who will present at the forum, recently told Proactive that the company is investing in and developing a new production facility for spherical graphite, along with changing its name to Graphex Group. Nye said the planned expansion will give the group an additional production capacity of up to 30,000 tonnes that will come into operation in phases. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER About the event: Ours is an audience of astute high net worth investors, fund managers, private client brokers, and analysts We look beyond the numbers and meet the people creating value for shareholders The format: Separation agreements with state employees could not include clauses barring parties from disclosing their existence and could only include severance pay under certain circumstances under a new order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The directive comes after criticism over her separation agreement with former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon. The agreement included a confidentiality clause and came with a $155,506 severance agreement -- something Republican lawmakers criticized as hush money. Under the directive, a separation agreement can only include a payment if it releases the state from legal claims and mitigates the risk of litigation. Agreements can still include confidentiality clauses, including ones that bar disclosure of the circumstances around an employees departure. But those confidentiality clauses cannot bar the parties from disclosing the existence of the separation agreement or preclude its disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Separation agreements also cannot bar employees from disclosing accusations of unlawful acts in the workplace, like discrimination, sexual harassment or fraud. The state must also send agreements to the attorney generals office for approval as to form. The measures laid out in my Executive Directive ensure greater accountability and promote transparency, Whitmer said in a statement. Michiganders should have confidence in the activities of state government, including the expenditure of public funds on separation agreements. I am proud of these measures because they will benefit both state employees and the people of Michigan. The executive directive, Whitmers first of the year, is effective immediately. More on MLive: Whitmer said separation agreements like Robert Gordons are used often. In state government, theyre not. Michigan Legislature had its own series of confidential staff separation agreements Michigans unemployment agency director got $86,000 to leave job, on condition of confidentiality Former Michigan health director given $155K severance pay after abrupt resignation Second Michigan health department employee given separation agreement Sorry! This content is not available in your region Karnataka is set to bring in state-of-the-art automatic generation control (AGC) regime at two hydroelectric generation plants at Sharavathi (1035 MW capacity) and Varahi (460 MW), which will go a long way in encouraging solar and wind energy generation. The technology will also improve the quality of the power supply while saving large amounts of water. The pilot project is an initiative by USAID which began working with Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPCL) in March 2019 for bringing AGC system with automatic control of electricity generation based on the demand. Officials from KPTCL said the AGC also increase the reliability of the power supply. At present, though Karnataka has surplus power, a sudden shortage in supply will lead to a power cut in some areas. The pilot at Sharavathi has been tested and is expected to go live within a month. The implementation at Varahi may take some time, a senior official in KPTCL said. A superintending engineer in KPTCL explained, For instance, a load of 10,000 MW is required in Karnataka at a given time. However, if one of the stations experiences a glitch and power production goes down by 50 or 100 MW, the shortage will have to be filled by generating additional power in another station. In the current manual system, an engineer at the load dispatch centre has to notice the shortage and call us on phone about the additional demand, he said. The AGC detects the shortage and sends out a command for an additional generation which is done automatically within microseconds. This helps in stable distribution of power and avoiding power cuts to residential or industrial areas, he said. Several cusecs of water is saved when the AGC automatically reduces the generation due to the drop in demand or integrates renewable energy with the mainframe. The generation of power at solar and wind energy units fluctuates due to the changes in weather condition. The generation of solar energy, more reliable than wind, goes up suddenly at certain times but is not predictable. The AGC can detect such surges and lower the generation at hydro electric plants, thereby saving water, another official said. BRIDGEPORT A local man accused of shooting his cousin in the groin after finding him sitting on a couch in the dark with the shooters two young children is facing up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to reduced charges Friday. Joel Martinez, 27, of Merchant Street, had been charged with first-degree assault, two counts of risk of injury to children and one count of criminal possession of a pistol. However, he agreed Friday to plead guilty to possession of a pistol without a permit and criminal possession of a firearm. Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo told Martinez he could get up to five years in prison when he is sentenced April 26. Neither Martinezs lawyer, Michael Riley, nor the prosecutor would comment on the case. Police said officers were called to the Merchant Street apartment in the early morning of Sept. 18, 2019, for a gunshot wound. When they arrived, police said they found the 31-year-old victim bleeding heavily from the groin area. The man was taken to St. Vincents Medical Center where he was in serious condition, police said. Police said the victim told them he had knocked on Martinezs door in the early morning seeking to buy marijuana. Martinez let him in to the apartment and the victim sat down on the living room couch while Martinez went into another room, police said. When Martinez returned, he turned on the light and saw the victim sitting with Martinezs two sleeping children. Why are you next to my (expletive) kids, police said Joel Martinez yelled before getting a gun. Martinez allegedly got a gun and shot the victim with it from three feet away, police said. Martinez then yelled at the victim to get out of the apartment because he was shot and was going to get blood on the couch, police said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. By David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and three of its closest Indo-Pacific partners committed to supplying up to a billion coronavirus vaccine doses across Asia by the end of 2022 at a summit on Friday carefully choreographed to counter China's growing influence. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia, India and Japan - countries together known as the Quad - pledged at their first summit to work to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific and to cooperate on maritime, cyber and economic security, issues vital to the four democracies in the face of challenges from Beijing. "We're renewing our commitment to ensure that our region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values, and free from coercion," Biden told his counterparts, without naming China. His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, called the virtual summit a big day for U.S. diplomacy, as Washington sought to revitalize its alliances and approach Beijing from a position of strength ahead of a high-level U.S.-China meeting next week. "The four leaders did discuss the challenge posed by China, and they made clear that none of them have any illusions about China," Sullivan told reporters, adding that they all believed democracy could outcompete "autocracy." Freedom of navigation in the South and East China Seas, recent cyberattacks and semi-conductor supply-chain security, were also discussed, along with the North Korean nuclear issue and the coup and "violent repression" in Myanmar, he said. In a joint statement, Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, pledged to work closely on COVID-19 vaccine distribution, climate and security. "We strive for a region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion," they added. Story continues The leaders agreed to set up an experts' group to help distribute vaccines, as well as working groups on climate change, technology standards, and joint development of emerging technologies. An in-person summit would be held later this year, they said. 'NEW LEVEL OF COOPERATION' Suga told reporters he had expressed strong opposition to China's attempts to change the status quo in the region, and Modi told the session the Quad had "come of age" and would "now remain an important pillar of stability in the region." Morrison called the meeting "a new dawn in the Indo-Pacific" and added: "let our partnership be the enabler of peace, stability, and prosperity." Confronting China has been a rare area of agreement for Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress. In a statement, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, said he was pleased by the Quad meeting. India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the summit had agreed U.S. vaccines would be manufactured in India, something New Delhi has called for to counter Beijing's widening vaccine diplomacy. A Quad fact sheet said the United States, through its International Development Finance Corp, would work to finance Indian drugmaker Biological E Ltd to produce at least 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of 2022. It also said Japan was in discussions to provide concessional yen loans for India to expand manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines for export. Sullivan said the vaccines would go to Southeast Asian countries, elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, and beyond. The Biden administration told Reuters on Tuesday the United States and Japan would help fund Indian firms manufacturing vaccines for U.S. drugmakers Novavax Inc and J&J. An Asian diplomat said countries in Southeast Asia, where China is competing strongly for influence, were "desperate" for vaccines and the end of 2022 was still far off. "The question is how quickly can they get them out," he said. "It's important to get them out sooner rather than later." 'INIMICAL TO OUR VALUES' India, Australia and Japan have all faced security challenges from China, strengthening their interest in the Quad, whose cooperation dates back to joint responses to the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004. The group was revived under the Trump administration, which saw it as a vehicle to push back against China. The United States hosted a foreign ministers' meeting in 2019, which was followed by another in Japan last year and a virtual session in February. Friday's meeting coincided with a major U.S. diplomatic drive to solidify alliances in Asia and Europe to counter China, including visits next week by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Japan and South Korea. Blinken will stop in Alaska on his return to meet China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor Wang Yi - the first high-level in-person contact between the world's two largest economies under the Biden administration. Washington has said it will not hold back in its criticism of Beijing over issues ranging from Taiwan to Hong Kong and the genocide it says China is committing against minority Muslims. Sullivan, who will attend the meeting with the Chinese officials, said he did not expect details on U.S. tariffs or export controls to be major topics, but added: "We will communicate that the United States is going to take steps in terms of what we do on technology to ensure that our technology is not used in ways that are inimical to our values or adverse to our security." (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina, Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu; additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo, Alasdair Pal in New Delhi and Euan Rocha in Mumbai; Editing by Mary Milliken and Alistair Bell) Judge warns defendant will likely receive custodial sentence A CONVICTED stalker will likely be jailed for his crime, a judge has warned. Meanwhile the 30-year-old from Newbury has reportedly got himself into fresh trouble by assaulting a prison officer. Andrew William Dobson, of Elizabeth Avenue, had been awaiting sentencing in custody, having been refused bail by Reading magistrates last month. He was due to have been brought from prison to the dock at Reading Crown Court to learn his fate on Thursday, March 11. Amy King, prosecuting, and Rhian Wood, defending, had assembled for the hearing but Dobson did not appear. After making inquiries, Judge Edward Burgess QC told Ms Wood: It appears your client has, to use the vernacular, been acting up in prison. Whether or not that proves to be accurate, he has allegedly assaulted a member of prison staff. Dobson has admitted stalking Eleanor Hughes in Newbury between November 27 last year and Monday, February 1 this year. He had bombarded Ms Hughes with messages via email and social media applications such as Instagram and Facebook. He also sent unwanted gifts to her place of work, the prosecution have said. At a preliminary hearing before magistrates last month, Dobson was told that the matter was so serious that the magistrates considered their own powers of punishment were insufficient. They therefore declined further jurisdiction and sent the case to Reading Crown Court for sentencing. At Thursdays hearing Ms Wood replied to Judge Burgess: Im told he had to be restrained and was particularly volatile today and perhaps not in the best frame of mind to have a conference with me. Judge Burgess warned that Dobson would likely receive a custodial sentence and Ms Wood responded: I agree it is likely to be a custodial sentence. He is obviously dealing with other issues and perhaps sentencing today would not be the best option. Ms King said she had nothing to say on the matter. Judge Burgess said Dobson must remain in custody until a new sentencing date can be fixed. Bottom line: Apple has filed a lawsuit against Simon Lancaster, a former Apple materials engineer and product design architect, accusing him of selling trade secrets to an unnamed media outlet. Lancaster spent 11 years at Apple, where he was involved in the prototyping and design process of hardware including the Macbook, iPad, and the iMac, among other "unreleased Apple products." Cupertino alleges he abused his seniority to access internal meetings and sensitive info outside of his job role and then shared it with a media correspondent for favorable coverage of Arris Composites, a material design company that he joined in November 2019 as its head of consumer products. The lawsuit, first reported by Apple Insider, claims that Sam Lancaster began talks with his media correspondent in November 2018, and over the next year the two continued communication over calls, text messages, and email. He exchanged information relating to "unreleased Apple hardware products, unannounced feature changes to existing hardware products, and future product announcements" to gain positive coverage for a startup he joined after leaving Apple in November 2019. Apple Versus Lancaster by Mike Wuerthele Apple says its internal investigation revealed that Lancaster used company-issued devices on multiple occasions to send confidential information that his correspondent had requested, choosing sometimes to meet in person. He also attended a meeting on 'Project X' despite being instructed otherwise and spent his last day at the company downloading a "substantial number" of secret Apple documents to help him at his new place of work, Arris Composites. Lancaster's communication with his unnamed media contact deepened following his resignation, according to Apple, while the correspondent published the stolen trade secrets in articles, citing a "source" at Apple. The lawsuit notes it's "likely" that the stolen information is being misused by the former employee to this day. Apple has demanded a jury trial and accused Lancaster of multiple violations, including the Defense of Trade Secret Act and breach of a written contract. Almost every second entrepreneur expects business climate to worsen in Ukraine poll At the same time, 25% of respondents hope for a revival of business activity this year. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Lenovo has released its first Legion smartphones back in May 2020, and they had dual USB charging. A new Lenovo device has been certified at 3C, and it looks like the Legion 2 with a similar technology that will allow up to 110W charging rates. In order to reach such high speeds, Lenovo has split the battery into two equal power cells, each charged from a different USB-C port. Both of them supported 45W in the first Legion, while the second iteration has 65W through one of the ports, while the other will remain at 45W, totaling up to 110W. The Lenovo L70081, as is the model number of the new gaming device, will have a Snapdragon 888 chipset. We also expect lots of RAM, custom-made UI with plenty of boosters, but the biggest unknown will remain the phones price and availability outside China. Source (in Chinese) | Via Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Adam Driver is on many peoples radar thanks to his leading role in House of Gucci. The Ridley Scott drama starring Driver and Lady Gaga recounts the story of the assassination of Maurizio Gucci. Since Driver keeps most of his personal life out of the spotlight, many fans have questions. The Star Wars actor shares the same last name as the talented Minnie Driver, whose father had multiple families. Adam Driver, Rachel Luna/WireImage | Minnie Driver, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Adam Driver plays Italian businessman Maurizio Gucci in Ridley Scotts new movie Drivers days as a Star Wars actor are over. Now, hes taking on roles in drama films like The Last Duel and Scotts House of Gucci. Driver plays the famous fashion house head aside Gaga, who plays Patrizia Reggiani. House of Gucci will dive into Gucci and Reggianis relationship, marriage, divorce, and ultimately, his 1995 assassination. RELATED: Adam Driver Put a Stop to This in 2020 Scott worked with writer Roberto Bentivegna on the screenplay based on the book House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Forden. Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Al Pacino, Jack Huston, and Reeve Carney will also star in the movie slated for release on Nov. 24, 2021. Minnie Drivers father led a double life Minnie was born in London to Gaynor Millington and Ronald Driver. She grew up without much knowledge of her fathers personal life. It wanst until her son Henry was born in 2008 that she felt compelled to learn more about her dad. Henry made me want to connect with who I really am, she told the Daily Express in August 2013. My dad died a year and three months after Henry was born and Im grateful that they had a little time together. Minnie shared how when she was 12-years-old, she learned her father had a wife and family entirely separate from Minnie, her sister, and her mother. My parents met in 1962 and were together for 13 years, she explained. They broke up when I was [6-years-old] and during that entire time he was married to someone else and had another family. Minnie Drivers dad chose to keep everything so secret Minnies mother was her fathers mistress. When Minnie was born, she and her mother were kept a secret from her fathers legal wife, Annie, and their daughter, Susan. Whats more, Driver was married before Annie to a woman named Ada Wood Stancliffe. They shared a son, Leslie, who died in 1947. It makes me wonder for my father why he chose to keep everything so secret, Minnie concluded. It would have been nice to talk to him about it all. Despite her fathers past, his multiple children, and a shared last name, Adam and Minnie dont share any familial ties. Like Minnie Driver, Adam Driver has a strained relationship with his dad Driver grew up in Mishawaka, Indiana. After his father, Joe Driver, and his mother Nancy Needham), divorced, she reconnected with her high school boyfriend, Rodney G. Wright, a Baptist minister at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Mishawaka. Wright helped raise Driver as his own. Though Driver holds no disdain for his biological father, their strained relationship during his childhood helped influence his roles in Star Wars and Noah Baumbachs movie Marriage Story. Something I thought about all the time [while shooting Marriage Story] was the things that my dad didnt do that this guy does in Noahs movie, Driver told The New Yorker. The fighting to get custody was moving to me. My dad didnt do any of this. He didnt put up a fight. Despite what Driver considers his fathers shortcomings, he has a strong relationship with his stepfather. Plus, Driver and his wife Joanne Tucker have a son of their own that they raise out of the public eye. Stargate SG-1 actor Cliff Simon is dead at 58 after a kiteboarding accident, according to multiple reports. Simons wife, Colette Simon, said on Facebook that he died March 9 at Topanga Beach in California. It is with unimaginable heartbreak that I am sharing with you, that my beloved husband, Cliff Simon, passed away, she wrote. He was known to most of you on this page as the villain you loved to hate, Baal, from Stargate SG-1. But as he said, acting is what I do, its only a part of who I am. And he was SO much more - a true original, an adventurer, a sailor, swimmer, dancer, actor, author. There is a gaping hole where he once stood on this earth. He was loved by too many to mention and had a great impact on so many lives. He was an amazing and much loved brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and friend. Colette did not disclose more details about his fatal accident, but said A small saving grace to this tragedy is that he was doing one of the things he loved most and passed away on the beach near the water, which was his temple. She also asked for privacy for his family. Cliff Simon was born in South Africa and immigrated to England as a young age, according to People magazine. He trained as a swimmer and qualified for the British International Olympic team in 1984, but quit and moved back to his home country, joining the South African Air Force. Deadline reports he later performed in a troupe at Moulin Rouge, worked as a model, and landed a role on the South African TV series Egoli - Place of Gold for six years. He then moved to Los Angeles, getting a guest star role on Nash Bridges with Don Johnson. But Simon was best known for playing the villain Baal on Stargate SG1 for five years, reprising the role in the Stargate movie Continuum in 2008. Simons credits also included NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Castle, Days of Our Lives, 24, The Brothers Grimsby and recently hosting the Travel Channel series Into the Unknown. Farm workers plant rice transplants at the Borlaug Institute for South Asia's research farm in Bihar, India. Credit: University of Illinois. As the global population grows, the demand for food increases while arable land shrinks. A new University of Illinois study investigates how rice production in India can meet future needs by adapting to changing climate conditions and water availability. "Rice is the primary crop in India, China, and other countries in Southeast Asia. Rice consumption is also growing in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world," says Prasanta Kalita, professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at U of I and lead author on the study. "If you look at where they traditionally grow rice, it is countries that have plenty of water, or at least they used to. They have tropical weather with heavy rainfall they depend on for rice production. Overall, about 4,000 liters of water go into production and processing per kilogram of rice," he states. Climate change is likely to affect future water availability, and rice farmers must implement new management practices to sustain production and increase yield, Kalita says. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates the world population will grow by two billion people by 2050, and food demand will increase by 60%. "We will need multiple efforts to meet that demand," Kalita states. "And with two billion more people, we will also need more water for crop production, drinking water, and industrial use." Kalita and his colleagues conducted the study at the Borlaug Institute for South Asia's research farm in Bihar, India. Farmers in the region grow rice during the monsoon season, when heavy rainfall sustains the crop. The researchers collected data on rice yield and climate conditions, then used computer simulations to model future scenarios based on four global climate models. The purpose of the study was to estimate rice yield and water demand by 2050, and evaluate how farmers can adapt to the effects of climate change. "As the weather changes, it affects temperature, rainfall, and carbon dioxide concentration. These are essential ingredients for crop growth, especially for rice. It's a complicated system, and effects are difficult to evaluate and manage," Kalita states. "Our modeling results show the crop growth stage is shrinking. The time for total maturity from the day you plant to the day you harvest is getting shorter. The crops are maturing faster, and as a result, you don't get the full potential of the yield." If farmers maintain current practices, rice yield will decrease substantially by 2050, the study shows. But various management strategies can mitigate the effects of climate change, and the researchers provide a series of recommendations. Traditional rice farming involves flooding the fields with water. Rice transplants need about six inches of standing water. If fields aren't level, it requires even more water to cover the crops, Kalita says. However, if farmers use direct-seeded rice instead of transplants, they can increase production while using significantly less water. Another practice involves soil conservation technology. "The soil surface continuously loses water because of temperature, humidity, and wind. If you keep crop residue on the ground, it reduces the evaporation and preserves water. Furthermore, when the crop residue decomposes, it will help increase soil quality," Kalita explains. The researchers also suggest implementing strategies to prevent post-harvest crop losses. FAO estimates about 30% of crops are lost or wasted after harvest, so efforts to reduce those losses can further increase crop availability and food security. Overall, the best approach to achieve a 60% increase in rice production while minimizing additional irrigation needs is a combination of conservation strategies and a 30% reduction in post-harvest loss, the researchers conclude. Explore further Climate change could increase rice yields More information: Ranjeet K. Jha et al, Predicting the Water Requirement for Rice Production as Affected by Projected Climate Change in Bihar, India, Water (2020). Ranjeet K. Jha et al, Predicting the Water Requirement for Rice Production as Affected by Projected Climate Change in Bihar, India,(2020). DOI: 10.3390/w12123312 Chandigarh: In view of the increasing Covid-19 cases, the Punjab government has decided to impose night curfew in Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib from March 12. The curfew will be effective from the night of March 12 from 11 pm to 5 am till further orders. Curfew Punjab has been witnessing a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases for nearly four weeks. The govt has also imposed night curfew in districts, including Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala, Ludhiana and Patiala. As the driver of global atmospheric and ocean circulation, the tropics play a central role in understanding past and future climate change. Both global climate simulations and worldwide ocean temperature reconstructions indicate that the cooling in the tropics during the last cold period, which began about 115,000 years ago, was much weaker than in the temperate zone and the polar regions. The extent to which this general statement also applies to the tropical high mountains of Eastern Africa and elsewhere is, however, doubted on the basis of palaeoclimatic, geological and ecological studies at high elevations. A research team led by Alexander Groos, Heinz Veit (both from the Institute of Geography) and Naki Akcar (Institute of Geological Sciences) at the University of Bern, in collaboration with colleagues from ETH Zurich, the University of Marburg and the University of Ankara, used the Ethiopian Highlands as a test site to investigate the extent and impact of regional cooling on tropical mountains during the last glacial period. The results have been published in the scientific journals Science Advances and Earth Surface Dynamics. Formation of plateau and valley glaciers "The Ethiopian Highlands are currently not covered by ice, despite its elevation of over 4,000 m," explains Groos, who studied the glacial, climatic and landscape history of the Bale and Arsi Mountains in the southern highlands as part of his dissertation. "Moraines and other land forms, however, attest to the fact that these mountains were glaciated during the last cold period," he continues. Moraine boulders in the Bale and Arsi Mountains were mapped and sampled in the field and later dated using the chlorine isotope "36Cl" to accurately determine the extent and timing of past glaciations. The researchers were in for a surprise: "Our results show that glaciers in the southern Ethiopian Highlands reached their maximum extent between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago," says Groos, "several thousand years earlier than in other mountainous regions in Eastern Africa and worldwide." In total, the glaciers in the southern highlands covered an area of more than 350 km during their maximum. In addition to the cooling of at least 4 to 6 C, the extensive volcanic plateaus above 4,000 m favored the development of glaciation in this magnitude. The researchers gained important insights by comparing the specially reconstructed glacier fluctuations in the Ethiopian Highlands with those of the highest East African mountains and climate archives from the Great African Rift Valley. "The cross-comparisons show that the tropical mountains in Eastern Africa have experienced a more pronounced cooling than the surrounding lowlands," Groos concludes. "Furthermore, the results suggest a nonuniform response by East African glaciers and ice caps to climate changes during the last cold period, which can be attributed to regional differences in precipitation distribution and mountain relief, among other factors," he continues. The enigma of the stone stripes During their fieldwork on the central Sanetti Plateau in the Bale Mountains, the researchers also came across gigantic stone stripes (up to 1,000 m long, 15 m wide and 2 m deep) outside the area of the former ice cap. "The existence of these stone stripes on a tropical plateau surprised us, as so-called periglacial landforms of this magnitude were previously only known from the temperate zone and polar regions and are associated with ground temperatures around freezing point," Groos said. However, the average ground temperature on the Sanetti Plateau is currently about 11 C. The large boulders and basalt columns that make up the stone stripes originally came from heavily eroded rock formations and volcanic plugs. As things stand, the researchers assume that the stone stripes were formed during the last glacial period through natural sorting of the previously chaotically distributed rocks in the course of the periodic freezing and thawing of the ground near the former ice cap. However, locally this would have required a drop in the mean ground temperature of at least 11 C and in the mean air temperature of at least 7 C. Whether this unprecedented cooling is a regional phenomenon or exemplary for the cooling of tropical high mountains during the last glacial period must be shown by future studies from other tropical mountain regions. ### Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. New York, March 13 : The leaders at the Quad summit made a commitment on Friday to harness India's manufacturing prowess for a massive vaccine diplomacy project to deliver 1 billion doses to the Indo-Pacific region and beyond as the four-nation group eyes broader agenda, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said. Calling the Quad and "emergent institution", he said on Friday: "These four leaders made a massive joint commitment with India, manufacturing US technology, Japanese and American financing and Australian logistics capability. The Quad committed to delivering up to 1 billion doses to ASEAN. The Indo-Pacific and beyond by the end of 2022." India's vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities put it in the driver's seat in the project that is of imminent importance to the Quad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "United in our fight against COVID-19, we launched a landmark Quad partnership to ensure accessibility of safe COVID-19 vaccines. India's formidable vaccine production capacity will be expanded with support from Japan, US & Australia to assist countries in the Indo-Pacific region." "Today's summit shows that Quad has come of age -- Modi said at the beginning of the summit with Prime Ministers Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, and US President Joe Biden as the group reaches for a new role embracing development and cooperation beyond the four nations as a force for the global good." "It will now remain an important pillar of stability in the region," Modi said. Vice President Kamala Harris also participated in the summit that was held virtually with Biden presiding from the White House. Sullivan said that the leaders agreed to meet in person before the end of the year. Biden is trying to give the Quad that is formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue an impetus to expand in other areas with a new model of cooperation. Sullivan said at his briefing in Washington that the challenge posed by China figured in the talks and "they made clear that none of them has any illusions about China, but today was not fundamentally about China." However, Sullivan said: "The Quad is not a military alliance; it's not a new NATO despite some of the propaganda that's out there. What it is is an opportunity for these four democracies to work, and also with other countries on fundamental issues of economics, technology, climate and security." "Each of the leaders independently in the course of the meeting referred to this event as historic because it's cemented, a group of strong democracies that will work together going forward to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific," Sullivan said. The leaders discussed key regional issues including freedom of navigation and "freedom from coercion" in the South and East China Seas, the North Korea nuclear issue, and the Myanmar coup, he said. A joint statement issued at the end of the summit said that the four countries will establish a vaccine working groups on vaccine and technology. The critical- and emerging-technology working group will work to facilitate cooperation on international standards and innovative technologies of the future, while the climate working group will seek to strengthen climate actions globally on mitigation, adaptation, resilience, technology, capacity-building, and climate finance, the statement said. The statement also said, they will try "to meet challenges to the rules-based maritime order in the East and South China Seas". It said, "We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions, and also confirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the issue of Japanese abductees. As long-standing supporters of Myanmar and its people, we emphasise the urgent need to restore democracy and the priority of strengthening democratic resilience." Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Sumona Guha, the National Security Council's senior director for South Asia, also participated in the summit. As the summit began, Biden said, "The United States is committed to working with you, our partners, and all of our allies in the region to achieve stability. This is a group particularly important because it is dedicated to the practical solutions and concrete results." "The Quad is going to be a vital arena for cooperation," he said. Sullivan did not give further details of the vaccine plan. But some media reports said that the US would help India manufacture the one-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson that does not require ultra-cold refrigeration like other US vaccinations. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A view of the Port of Felixstowe, as containers are seen aboard the container ship Evergreen, in Felixstowe, Britain, on Jan. 28, 2021. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters) UK-EU Trade Slumps in First Month of New Brexit Rules LONDONTrade between the United Kingdom and the European Union was hammered in the first month of their new post-Brexit relationship, with record falls in British exports and imports of goods as COVID-19 restrictions continued on both sides. Containers are stacked at the Port of Felixstowe, Britain, on Jan. 28, 2021. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters) British goods exports to the EU, excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals, slumped by 40.7 percent in January compared to December, the Office for National Statistics said on March 13. Imports fell by 28.8 percentanother record. The ONS said the COVID-19 pandemic, which left Britain under lockdown measures in January, made it hard to quantify the Brexit impact from new customs arrangements, and there were changes in the way data was collected too. Sardines are landed at Newlyn Harbour, which will see a significant impact to the fishing industry as a result of the Brexit deal due to be implemented in the New Year, in Newlyn, Britain, on Dec. 29, 2020. (Tom Nicholson/Reuters) But there were still signs of a Brexit hit. Trade in chemicals was especially weak, reflecting the winding-down of a rush to stockpile pharmaceuticals ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period, the ONS said. The ONS highlighted a 64 percent fall in exports of food and live animals to the EUincluding shellfish and fish. It pointed to delays caused by red tape reported by the Scottish Seafood Association, with consignment sign-offs reportedly taking six times longer. External evidence suggests some of the slower trade for goods in early January 2021 could be attributable to disruption caused by the end of the transition period, the ONS said. Many companies stockpiled goods in late 2020 to avoid any disruption, deepening the fall in trade in January. The ONS said its separate business survey suggested that trade picked up towards the end of the month. Britain on Thursday delayed the introduction of a range of post-Brexit import checks on goods from the EU by around six months, saying businesses needed more time to prepare because of the impact of the pandemic. FTA Chance Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britains new independent trade policy means it can focus on deals with faster-growing economies around the world, although many trade analysts are skeptical that this boost will outweigh lost EU trade. Britains official budget forecaster says the countrys new trade arrangements with the EU, the worlds biggest single market, will erode its long-run productivity by 4 percent compared with staying in the bloc. This months unique combination of factors made it inevitable that we would see some unusual figures this January, said David Frost, a senior minister who was Johnsons chief Brexit negotiator. Economists say the hit to EU tradeand any benefits from Brexitwill become clearer. While some of the non-tariff barriers to trade, such as the increase in red tape and form-filling, will be ironed out in the short term, the combination of COVID-19 and Brexit will ultimately prove to be a long-term drag on growth, said Ana Boata, head of macroeconomic research at trade credit insurer Euler Hermes. Britains overall goods trade deficit, including non-EU countries, narrowed to 9.826 billion ($13.70 billion) in January from 14.315 billion in December. By Andy Bruce The international community has condemned recent changes by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to Hong Kong's political system, saying the insistence that political candidates be pre-approved by Beijing is an "assault" on the limited democracy the city once enjoyed. China's National People's Congress (NPC) on approved new rules preventing anyone from standing for election in Hong Kong without the approval of a newly-expanded committee of Beijing loyalists. The move came after ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials said only those deemed "patriots" by Beijing should be allowed to hold public office in the city. "The United States condemns[China's] continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. "The National Peoples Congress decision ... to unilaterally change Hong Kongs electoral system is a direct attack on autonomy promised to people in Hong Kong under the Sino-British Joint Declaration," he said, in a reference to the 1984 bilateral treaty governing the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. "These actions deny Hong Kongers a voice in their own governance by limiting political participation, reducing democratic representation, and stifling political debate," Blinken said. He called on the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to release all arrestees under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing from , 2020, and to allow delayed elections to the city's Legislative Council (LegCo) to proceed. Trust in China undermined In the U.K., foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the move would further undermine international trust in the CCP under general secretary Xi Jinping. "This is the latest step by Beijing to hollow out the space for democratic debate in Hong Kong, contrary to the promises made by China itself," Raab said in a statement. "This can only further undermine confidence and trust in China living up to its international responsibilities and legal obligations, as a leading member of the international community," he said. Under the new rules, the Election Committee that previously voted for the city's chief executive will be expanded, and now also pick some members of the Legislative Council (LegCo). Nobody will be able to stand as a candidate for LegCo or chief executive in the city without its say-so, reducing what were already only partial exercises in democracy to cosmetic displays that can only result in a slate of candidates all loyal to the CCP. The reactions from London and Washington were echoed in Canberra, with Australian foreign minister Marise Payne calling on the Chinese authorities to respect people's rights. We call on the Hong Kong and Chinese central authorities to respect the legally guaranteed rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong without fear of arrest and detention, Payne said in a statement. Bail hearings Back in Hong Kong, long lines formed outside West Kowloon Magistrate's Court on , as bail hearings continued for 47 pro-democracy politicians and activists charged with "conspiracy to subvert state power" under the national security law, after they ran a democratic primary election in . The defendants waved and made victory Vs and heart gestures to supporters and loved ones sitting in the public gallery, with some shouting quips about prison food. The 47 defendants are accused of trying to bring down the government by holding the primary, with a view to winning enough seats in LegCo to block government budgets. Only five have been granted bail so far. Meanwhile, veteran rights activist Frank Lu, who has provided information on China's human rights and pro-democracy movement to the media for decades, said he would be deleting any information he holds on Hong Kong-based political cases for fear of having it seized by the newly formed national security police. Chan Chi-cheung, a supporter of Lu's Human Rights and Democracy Information Center, said Hong Kong was once seen as China's window on the the rest of the world, that would boost its political and economic openness. "We once thought that Hong Kong's economic strength and rule of law could influence mainland China eventually, but now it seems as if mainland China has taken over Hong Kong," Chan told RFA. "This is a tragedy; a bitter fruit that will be tasted to the full by everyone in Hong Kong and mainland China over the next decade," he said. Reported by Gigi Lee and Lau Siu Fung for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Despite a withering report by an inspector general about colossal waste in an Air Force procurement project for Afghanistan, the service, the supervising general and the contractor at issue have faced no consequences. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, SIGAR, reported late last year that the Air Force spent $549 million in 2008 to buy 20 G222 cargo aircraft for the Afghanistan Air Force. According to SIGAR, the contractor failed to provide spare parts on time, the planes were highly unreliable and Afghan pilots repeatedly reported that they were unsafe. In 2014, all 20 were destroyed and sold as scrap for about $40,000. The planes were produced by an Italian company, Alenia North America. According to SIGAR, the Air Force general in charge of the program retired and then went to work for the company as its liaison with the Air Force a blatant conflict of interest. SIGAR also found that the Air Force accepted the planes without confirming the contractors ability to sustain them in operations, and without determining that they were suitable for the high-altitude operations rendered necessary by Afghanistans towering mountains. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI all investigated but concluded that the case would be too difficult to prosecute. That should not stop Congress from seeking accountability from the Pentagon, however. Even within a $780 billion defense budget, $549 million is a serious amount of money to lose to incompetence or worse. Batavia, NY (14020) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 75F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low near 60F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Black workers are especially overrepresented in indoor jobs that require close proximity to others, while Hispanic workers are especially overrepresented in high proximity outdoor jobs, researchers report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Ann Arbor, March 11, 2021 - Black and Hispanic people experience a higher risk for COVID-19 and severe illness, influenced by factors such as discrimination, housing, and healthcare access and utilization. Now, a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, identifies specific job categories that put workers at risk because they require working in close contact with others. Some of these jobs have a disproportionately high number of Black or Hispanic workers. The findings should be used to inform workplace interventions to reduce the risk for these particularly vulnerable communities. "About three-quarters of US workers have jobs either indoors or outdoors that involve contact with other people that is sufficiently close to put them at higher risk for COVID-19," explained co-investigators Jean M. Cox-Ganser, PhD, and Paul K. Henneberger, ScD, both of the Respiratory Health Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV, USA. "Our findings provide insight on where to reach the greatest number of workers who are potentially at risk for COVID-19 based on working close to others, including which occupations have larger numbers of minority workers." Researchers used data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to classify the occupations of all US workers into six categories for risk of COVID-19 exposure at work: low, medium, or high proximity work indoors; and low, medium, or high proximity work outdoors. They studied the distribution of workers by occupation in the higher risk categories (medium or high proximity indoors and high proximity outdoors) and determined where Black and Hispanic workers were overrepresented. Information on 772 detailed occupations and 144,525,054 workers was examined. Researchers found that a high proportion of US workers may be at greater risk for exposure to COVID-19 because their occupations involve either high proximity to others indoors or outdoors (25.2 percent, 36.5 million people) or medium proximity work indoors (48.0 percent, 69.6 million workers). A higher proportion of Black workers perform high proximity indoor work compared to all workers (27.5 percent vs 22.1 percent). In contrast, Hispanic workers had higher representation in outdoor work categories: 5.0 percent Hispanic vs 3.1 percent all workers in high proximity outdoor work and 7.0 percent vs 5.3 percent in medium proximity outdoor work. Black workers were overrepresented in 103 of the 772 occupations. Eighty of those occupations were in the proximity and indoor/outdoor categories at higher risk for exposure and included 34.7 percent of all Black workers. Hispanic workers were overrepresented in 124 of the 772 occupations. Seventy-six of these occupations were in higher risk categories and included 21.5 percent of all Hispanic workers. The authors highlighted the most populous occupations in each of the three higher risk exposure categories where Black or Hispanic workers were overrepresented. The indoor high proximity occupations for Black workers were Home Health Aides, Nursing Assistants, and Personal Care Aides, while for Hispanic workers they were Restaurant Cooks, Medical Assistants, and Dining Room/Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers. The outdoor high proximity occupations had many fewer Black than Hispanic workers. In this category large numbers of Hispanic workers were Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers, Carpenters, and Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers. Looking at indoor medium proximity work, Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers included large numbers of both Black and Hispanic workers. Additionally, large numbers of Black workers were Cashiers and Stock Clerks/Order Fillers, while large numbers of Hispanic workers were Hand Packers/Packagers and Food Preparation workers. Prevention strategies should consider worksite conditions, and communication messages should be tailored to the languages and preferred media of the workforce. Although there are recommendations for keeping a distance of at least six feet between people to minimize the spread of SARS-CoV-2, such social distancing may not be possible in indoor and outdoor occupations that require high physical proximity to perform work tasks. "Efforts to control the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 are still needed in all aspects of our lives, including at work. Becoming complacent in wearing a mask, physical distancing, and other prevention efforts during the rollout of the vaccine could have unfortunate consequences not only for ourselves, but also for our family members, co-workers, and friends," cautioned Dr. Cox-Ganser and Dr. Henneberger. "We all have a role to play, including getting the COVID-19 vaccine when it is offered." ### Asias emergence as global natural gas trading superpower will increasingly dictate market rates in for a once-localised commodity that was simply linked to the price of oil. The change was highlighted this winter, when freezing temperatures in the northern hemisphere meant (LNG) tankers went to Asia, the biggest consumer of the fuel and where sellers could get record-high rates. That pushed up market levels in and, conversely, is now acting as a price brake as winter ends and LNG supplies return to the region. Over the next couple of years, European gas prices will become less and less Europe-centric, and more and more globally influenced, said Andy Sommer, team leader for fundamental analysis and modeling at Swiss trader Axpo Solutions AG. Even with its numerous pipeline-supply options, Europes import dependency is rising amid falling domestic production due to aging fields in the North Sea. At the same time, trade in LNG transportable across oceans is expanding faster, driven mainly by demand in In coming years, will have to compete for LNG with consumers in China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In addition, new markets are yet to open as some Asian nations are just starting to use gas in power generation instead of more polluting coal and fuel oil. By contrast, Europes tightening climate targets will lead to more renewables squeezing out gas. You can compare it to the coal market, Sommer said. was always an anchor for European coal prices. The situation is moving into the very same phenomenon in the gas market as well. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 17:28:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WINDHOEK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Namibia has spent 441 million Namibian dollars (29 million U.S. dollars) in procuring COVID-19 vaccines, a government official has said. The sum is part of 583 million Namibia dollars budgeted under the national COVID-19 Deployment and Vaccination Plan, Ben Nangombe, executive director in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, said on Thursday. "These include the acquisition of the vaccines, which will be dispatched to the health facilities across the country through existing structures, facilities and personnel," he said. The country's first batch of COVID-19 vaccines is expected to arrive in mid-March. The government has set a target of vaccinating 60 percent to 80 percent of Namibia's total population of 2.5 million. Namibia is to receive Johnson and Johnson, AstraZeneca and other vaccines through the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX; it will also get vaccines donated by China. The government is engaging the private sector to support vaccination efforts in offsetting costs related to dispatching vaccines to health facilities across the country, Nangombe said. So far, Namibia has reported 40,631 confirmed cases, with 38,104 recoveries and 450 deaths related to the pandemic. Enditem Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. The Dog House Rating: Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby Rating: There ought to be a phrase for it, a springtime when the parks are suddenly full of puppies. A 'dogsplosion', perhaps, or 'wooffull to the brim'. Bandy legged Labrador pups, curly poodle crosses demanding to be carried, Jack Russells that think they are lions though they're no bigger than kittens, shaggy little Schnauzers pleading to be chased and over-excited Staffies barking themselves hoarse wherever you look, it's a canine kindergarten this year. But with families desperate for an excuse to get outside in lockdown, the price of pups has increased fourfold within a year. Many breeders are asking 3,000 and more for a pet. Websites offering pets for sale are unregulated. That encourages people who are amateur and unqualified at best, or even callous and cruel, to breed puppies for a quick profit. The consequences, as The Dog House (C4) showed, can be distressing. Gemma and her pet pooch Bear were featured in The Dog House Kevin the French bulldog was just six weeks old, too young to be parted from his mother. But he was the runt of the litter, struggling to feed, and the breeder had simply taken him to a vet's surgery then dumped the pup rather than pay the bill. How anyone can treat a little animal so heartlessly is bewildering. However, as long as no licence is required to breed dogs, let alone keep them, this wretched crime will continue. Thankfully, Kevin landed on all four paws. Once the staff at the Wood Green shelter had persuaded him to start eating, he was paired with newlyweds Ryan and Katie. They were so desperate for a puppy to love that they'd sit on their sofa with a cushion between them, patting and scratching it. Ryan's recent chemotherapy for a brain tumour meant the couple might not be able to conceive a baby. Kevin was the perfect size and temperament to soothe that pain: he just wanted to be adored. When our puppies can give us so much, it's a betrayal that we do not do more to protect them from greedy and unscrupulous people. Big spectacles of the week: Gangs Of London star Joe Cole is to play spy Harry Palmer in an ITV remake of The Ipcress File the role made famous by Michael Caine. We know Joe can play action heroes . . . but can he break eggs one-handed like Sir Mike in the classic movie? Advertisement The Dog House lacks the campaigning edge to drive that point home. It needs the sort of voice that Paul O'Grady supplies on ITV's For The Love Of Dogs, to speak out and criticise the law. But an hour spent watching families meet their new pets cannot fail to lift the mood. Maggie, a widow who wanted 'another beating heart' to ease the loneliness in her home, chose an affectionate greyhound. Adolescent brothers Danny and Alfie were hoping for something big to cuddle: they got a Newfoundland cross called Rocky. The only thing bigger and cuddlier than that is a giant panda. Chef Monica Galetti also had her arms full of something big and cuddly, as she wrestled a stuffed giraffe into a lift at the Shangri-La hotel in London's Shard, on Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby (BBC2). Monica was helping to stage a 'safari experience' for guests who wanted to visit Africa but couldn't because of travel restrictions. This was barely a substitute for a trip to Hamleys toy store, never mind a fortnight in the Serengeti. Manager Kurt warned Monica to watch out for high-altitude cleaners. Since every room in the hotel has one glass wall, even the sauna, the blokes who wash the windows must see some startling sights, 35 floors up. Kurt carried his own dog, a tiny Yorkshire terrier in a tweed jacket, everywhere he went. Like the Newfoundland, this spoiled pup was also called Rocky . . . 20 times smaller but just as cuddly. The global pandemic hit home on March 12, 2020. It was only a matter of time. The coronavirus appeared in Pennsylvania less than a week earlier. Each day, the cases seemed to get closer and closer: the Philadelphia suburbs, then the Poconos. But that day, a Lehigh Valley patient tested positive the 21st case in the state. Less than a week later, Pennsylvania reported its first COVID-19 death: also a Lehigh Valley man. Now, a year after that first local case, Lehigh and Northampton counties together total nearly 60,000 infections and more than 1,400 dead. The personal trials of the last 12 months have been arduous for all, especially for those who have faced the coronavirus head on. The doctor who felt like she was going to war. The nursing home hospitalist who scoured patient charts hoping to catch the disease early, and asking families for plans if it wasnt. The family of survivors, who came so perilously close to mourning. These are their stories, told in reminder of all of our struggles and our collective hope for what comes next. The survivor You try explaining a brush with death to a 10-year-old. Instinctually, you want to soften it, somehow balance the severity of the situation with reassurances that everything will be OK, even when its not at all clear that it will be. Sometimes that can make a good outcome seem like it was inevitable. Eventually, they may learn how bad things really were. For Jen Sanita and daughter Veronica, that lesson came while driving to school sometime after their familys personal brush with COVID-19 had passed. I said something to her about being careful and everything, and she was a little bit like whatever, recalled Jen, a personal friend of reporter Steve Novak, one of this storys authors. Jen dropped all pretense with her daughter. I said, well, dont you realize Chris almost died? She kind of was taken aback by that. What do you mean? I said, Yeah when he was in the hospital, I didnt think he was coming home. Fortunately, Chris McMillan did come home. An early, severe case of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, he also was an early success story: the first pandemic patient at Lehigh Valley Health Networks Muhlenberg campus hospital to come off a ventilator and recover. He is a COVID-19 survivor in a house full of COVID-19 survivors: Jen, Chriss fiancee, had a coronavirus infection that was later confirmed with an antibody test. They assume the three children, ages 9 to 12, had it as well. For most of the house, it resulted in sniffles. Not so for Chris. He fell ill on Friday, March 13, one week after the first coronavirus cases appeared in Pennsylvania. He spent the next nine days living in the basement of their West Bethlehem home. Then he felt a crackling sensation in his chest and drove himself to the hospital. They thought the sight of an ambulance would be too frightening for the kids. While the household quarantined, Chris was put in a coma and on a ventilator as fluid filled his lungs. Weeks later, he was discharged to the applause of hospital staff as he stood from a wheelchair and embraced his family, still woozy from treatment. Almost a year later, recovered isnt quite the correct word. Chris had throat surgery in September to treat lingering issues from the ventilator. He still cant run more than a minute without getting completely winded. He swears his thinking isnt as sharp as before the coma. (He thinks he hallucinated proposing to Jen during his hospital stay but quickly fixed that: Theyll be married in May, with a backyard reception to follow at a safer date.) The rest of the household, now more aware of how dire things were a year ago, is cautious. The kids watch for peers who flaunt masks rules. When at home, the youngest will occasionally find Chris just to check on him. Crisis anniversaries can have strange, subconscious effects. Jen knows from a prior bout with cancer, when she would get anxious for seemingly no reason around her diagnosis date. Support groups can help but they havent found anything suitable for COVID-19 survivors. Jen scouted a Facebook group once but warned Chris away from it: Most of the members seemed more keen on arguments than support, she said. So they have focused on what they see as the lessons of the last year. Keep in touch with family. Be nice. Respect other peoples space. Remember, no one knows what anyone else has been through. Their message from a year ago, when the pandemic was new, still applies: Take it seriously. They appreciate the people and businesses who continue to do so as we collectively work toward normal, whatever that may look like. Chris has been interviewed numerous times since he was taken off the ventilator. He takes those requests in part to thank the doctors and nurses who kept him alive, and to boost the chances, in whatever way he can, that they and their patients also will make it through. I am so thankful to them and Im so overwhelmed by just, people die and kids die and these people are putting their lives on the line and theyre dying too, Chris said. For someone to kind of blow this off and think, well, Im not gonna get sick or whatever its not about you getting sick. Its about this person getting sick who gets this person sick who gets this person sick who kills a doctor or nurse, kills a kid who happened to touch the wrong door handle. Thats where we are. And thats the reason I do this stuff (interviews). Even if a couple of people go: Oh well, maybe I should take this more seriously well, hell yeah! I cant wait I cant wait until I dont have to wear a mask and so I can hug my friends and my family. I cant wait to shake hands with people, if I can do that again. The nursing home hospitalist The first nine weeks of the coronavirus pandemic Dr. Paige Van Wirt subsisted on meals her husband left outside the door. She stripped her clothes off in the garage, doused her belongings with bleach and sequestered on her homes third floor. I was just so very, very fearful of bringing it into my house, said Van Wirt, whos been working on the frontline as a doctor caring for nursing home patients across about 30 Lehigh Valley nursing homes. At that time, we didnt know who could get it or who would be sick. The Bethlehem councilwoman ran to help process her grief when she was not working, traversing the same loop through the city. It was meditative. Just the sound of her feet hitting the pavement and the same playlist of songs. I still get a little shuddery when (one of the songs) comes on the radio, Van Wirt said. It was so intense. Her running route ended in Gods Acre the Moravian Churchs peaceful cemetery in Bethlehems Historic Downtown. All of the headstones in Gods Acre are flat, a nod to the Moravians belief that everyone was equal in the eyes of God. The Moravians turned away no one seeking burial. A year into this pandemic, Van Wirts witnessed on a daily basis how its ill effects are not felt equally. The coronavirus has revealed inequities in Americas social fabric, forcing a nation to confront its systemic racism and how it treats the elderly and most vulnerable. Nursing homes are a tough place for society, Van Wirt said. They are not places where there often is an enormous amount of joy and they are places that sometimes there is an awful lot of suffering. Nursing homes became the perfect environment for rampant spread of the new coronavirus with devastating consequences, thanks to their close quarters and many residents with underlying medical conditions. More than half of the almost 25,000 Pennsylvanians lost to the pandemic lived in long-term care facilities. At least 4,000 residents and staff in Lehigh Valley facilities have been sickened and 534 have died, accounting for at least 37% of the regions deaths. (These figures are grossly undercounted due to redacted and incomplete data reporting from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.) I dont think the nursing home workers have been given their due accord in terms of how much they went through and how vigilant they have been for their residents, Van Wirt said. It is an unrecognized process that theyve been through. Van Wirt is co-owner of a mobile medical practice that offers medical care in nursing homes, rather than just sending sick residents into hospitals. It has grown from Van Wirt and her partner to 32 employees, a team of doctors, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants. She worried when data in the pandemics early days showed it most affecting the elderly. Her concern grew as it ravaged West Coast nursing homes. But she was not prepared for what would come. Looking back, I think I was naive in my understanding of what the federal government would do to help and that our capacity as a first-world nation could handle this, Van Wirt said. Her first positive patient came March 28. And then they kept coming for months and months. It was like a firestorm, Van Wirt recalled. It was like fire moving across the prairie. Initially, it was incredibly difficult to even get anyone tested. They relied upon Pennsylvania Department of Health epidemiologists for guidance on treating patients and test approval. Everyone with a fever was presumed positive and isolated. Patients who got sick went downhill fast. It was frustrating to have no real treatments to offer, Van Wirt said. Van Wirt obsessively checked her residents electronic charts searching for signs of fever, hoping to catch the virus percolating before it ignited an outbreak. She called all of her sick patients families asking how much care they wanted for their loved ones. Should they go to the hospital? Did they want to be ventilated? So many families said, someone else needs that bed more and made this selfless decision, Van Wirt said, her voice breaking. If their loved ones were going to die, they wanted them to be around the voices and the smells and the people they know so they werent scared. But there were small victories too. At Northampton Countys Gracedale nursing home, where Van Wirt works, the maintenance and engineering staff built negative pressure isolation units on the facilitys tenth floor. It was a remarkable feat that took about a month and was completed just two days after the first positive case, Van Wirt said. She spent her free moments reading everything she could on treating COVID-19. She created a diagnosis algorithm for her practice to follow. Van Wirt quickly learned a hallmark of older COVID patients: they often totally stop eating and drinking. So, she took around cups of apricot nectar, coaxing them to take a sip of the thick, sweet syrup through a straw. If they didnt, I knew I had to start the (IV) fluids, she said. Nursing homes in good times can be bleak places. They operate on razor thin margins thanks to years of relentless Medicaid cuts, Van Wirt said. The pandemic stripped away much of their humanity. Gone are the communal meals, bingo games, movie nights and family visits. Those who stayed healthy have spent much of the last year alone, only seeing loved ones with a plate of glass between them. COVID isolation units in nursing homes may help contain the virus, but they are tough places to be and hard to staff, Van Wirt said. Theres been much focus nationally, most recently in New York state, over whether COVID-positive patients sent back to nursing homes fueled unchecked virus spread. I dont think we took people into these nursing homes with COVID ever, Van Wirt said of Pennsylvanias handling of nursing-home residents. The process of how it got into here: it was because of asymptomatic carriers. No one knew that staff with no fever or symptoms could come into work and seed the virus throughout a facility. When this pandemic hit nursing homes and so many bad outcomes were happening, it was so easy to judge that somehow, something wrong was happening, Van Wirt said. These people have so many comorbidities, places with four-people-to-a room. It is almost impossible to stop a disease like COVID from spreading when you dont know what you are dealing with. The death and suffering through the spring peak was unrelenting. Van Wirt finally began to breathe a bit when regular surveillance testing began; they now test twice a week. Finally, she could pinpoint this insidious enemy shed been chasing for months. She was floored by the crushing post-holiday surge of cases, but relieved that the pace of deaths did not match the skyrocketing infections. Finally in December, she felt like cinder blocks were removed from her neck as the shot for her first vaccine went into her arm. She shocked herself as she began to cry. She could finally fully breathe. She felt hope after the first vaccination clinic at Gracedale, but then 20 residents tested positive. The elderly do not have as vigorous of an immune response to the vaccine, so it takes longer for them to build immunity, Van Wirt explained. That was so heartbreaking, she said. It prompted Van Wirt and her colleagues to get emergency use authorization to give monoclonal antibodies to infected Gracedale residents. The antibody cocktail therapy targets patients who are not yet very sick, but at high-risk of getting seriously ill. It is a really complex process to give an emergency use authorization medication in a nursing home, Van Wirt said. When the next five residents tested positive, Van Wirt had obtained approval to infuse them with monoclonal antibodies. They all recovered. It feels good to finally have medical tools to fight the pandemic, Van Wirt said. The prioritization of vaccines for long-term care facility residents is having a dramatic effect, cratering the rate of new cases by 89% from their December peak, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She is still losing patients to COVID-19, but theres not the same crushing mortality rate as the early days. I am at Gracedale and there are no active cases at the moment, Van Wirt said on a recent afternoon. It is astounding. That doesnt mean all of us in the clinical world are not on guard for a mutation or a different variety. We are still as cautious as ever. Living a year of the pandemic on the frontlines has left Van Wirt with enormous gratitude for all that she has. A job she loves that made her useful during a worldwide crisis. A healthy family. A roof over their heads. A thriving small business. We were able to be in a place where our services helped people, Van Wirt said. I think that goes a long way to be able to sustain you through a really difficult process. Shes already got eyes toward the future for the next possible pandemic, looking for ways society can prevent it. What if the next one happens? How do we do better? I think about that all of the time, Van Wirt confessed. It is a little bit of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). She doesnt think shes fully processed the trauma of the last year. But a lens of gratitude sure helps. The critical care doctor Dr. Jennifer Rovella initially lived in the camper outside of her familys home, physically cut off from her husband and three children. She needed to feel confident and comfortable before she was able to come into her home and be with her family. But serving in a Lehigh Valley Health Network ICU during the first hellish week of the COVID-19 pandemic offered neither confidence nor comfort. Rovella is chief of the division of critical care medicine at LVHN, but her title that evokes an administrative role with a fancy office hardly encompasses all she does. Her role as an ICU physician put her directly on the frontlines throughout the pandemic. As a leader, I felt it was very important for me to be on the frontlines and taking care of patients, she said. And I still had to fulfill my role as chief, so I worked for six consecutive weeks at the beginning of the pandemic to make sure I had everything ready as the census continued to escalate. Rovella partnered with her associate chief as well as the chief of the division of pulmonary medicine (Rovella also works with pulmonary patients at a small office practice). They prepared and led hospital staff through the onslaught of the pandemic. Those six weeks were very physically and emotionally tolling, she said. Long before the first cases hit the Lehigh Valley, Rovella and her colleagues had their eyes on the news, and by January, were acutely aware they werent going to be able to avoid what was coming. Hospital leaders across departments infectious diseases, infection control, hospital medicine, critical care medicine began meeting in February to develop a response. That response included stockpiling PPE, how to accommodate the influx of patients and more. Everybody put this as a priority, Rovella said, thinking back to those meetings in mid-to-late-February, because it became more and more real every single day as to what was going to happen. For the professionals like Rovella in charge of working to bring an end to the pandemic, it not only wore on them physically and emotionally, but it became a massive intellectual reckoning as well. We didnt train for this new disease to happen, she said. Rovella and her staff were treating the immediate issues of COVID-19 while having no idea what the long-term effects could be. She joined Facebook groups of other physicians swapping advice on how to treat the coronavirus, something she hadnt done in her career before, but she was heartened by the bonds created between medical professionals around the world working to beat back the relentless virus. We werent alone, she said, but we were still lost. She and her staff reviewed whatever literature they could find to determine what seemed like the best way to treat patients afflicted by coronavirus, but even then, best practices were constantly evolving and changing. This often required the staff to change course on a moments notice, often multiple times a week. Because of these constant changes in treatment plans, the health network set up a COVID-19 steering committee of representatives across disciplines in order to divide and conquer absorbing so much new information on a daily basis. The structure also allowed the staff to maximize its time helping patients, as the number of cases and hospitalizations rose. I almost felt like maybe I should have some military training since it felt like going to war with an invisible enemy, Rovella said. And staffers had the wounds to suggest they had been to battle, with hours of wearing PPE resulting in pressure marks on the bridge of their nose or behind their ears. They swapped advice on how to alleviate some of the physical pressure or what skin creams might help take care of the bruising. As frontline workers in a high-risk environment, they had to precariously make efforts to, quite literally, not take their work home with them. For Rovella, this resulted in living in her familys camper for the first week as she, her husband, and their three children adjusted to this new reality. Being a mom is her other job, and its certainly the most important one. Shortly after the cases started cropping up locally, she managed to nail down a safe routine to be with her family. I come home, wipe my car down, leave my work shoes in the garage, change into my robe and then shower, she said. Then I can be with my family. Thats what makes me feel comfortable. But her life at home wasnt without stress. She noted that her kids are all in elementary and middle school, presenting a challenge when it came to helping them understand a world rapidly changed by a global pandemic. How do I explain whats happening to them so that they know the importance of wearing a mask, the importance of social distancing... why they cant see their friends? she said. Because for kids, its not the same viewpoint of perspective that we have an adult. Still, Rovella has been able to take a step back to embrace the widespread gratitude shown for those in the healthcare industry and other frontline workers. Seeing signs in front yards, having restaurants donating food to us, she said, you feel that youre appreciated. I felt supported. The response from the community, however, hasnt all been positive from Rovellas perspective. Shell see or hear about people who dont wear masks or dont believe COVID-19 is real, and feel disheartened. She knows itll lead to more patients. But if anything, thats even more motivating. At this point, Rovella is vaccinated I was one of the first 10 employees in the network to get the vaccine, and it felt like Id won the lottery but shes kept her routine the same: car, shoes, robe, shower, family. Shes now working to help her husband and her parents get a vaccination appointment, but her kids wont be vaccinated, so therell always be a what if? in the back of her mind. (There is no COVID-19 vaccine currently authorized for children under 16, although medical trials are underway.) For that reason, shes keeping with her practice of being safe coming home, because its what makes her and her family feel comfortable. For Rovella, her vaccination gives her a sense of hope and responsibility to help end this thing. She understands its a long game. While many vaccination predictions have targeted the summer as a point in which we might return to normal, Rovella urges patience. Were going to see an even better winter, but we have to get there first, she said. We have to get vaccine allocation, and we have to get it out there. I feel like we still have a little ways to go, but the vaccines are the light at the end of the tunnel, she said. Things can get better. But we cant let our guard down. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to 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. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form | Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Rupee falls 19 paise to close at 73.09 (provisional) against US dollar. Sensex drops 85.40 pts to settle at 51,849.48; Nifty inches up 1.35 pts to 15,576.20. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik writes to all chief ministers for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute among states. What makes a good talk show host? Slick monologues, political insights and a backing band dont hurt, but at its core, the job relies on the curiosity and enthusiasm needed to bring out the best in a guest. Also, looking good in a powder blue bow tie doesnt hurt, nor does a desire to be famous. Being honest, it all started because I wanted to become world famous, says 17-year-old Dashiell Meier, host of the YouTube show Playing Favorites, via Zoom. But thats a pretty big goal to accomplish, so I thought, Hey, why not start a talk show? So I got my parents involved, and they loved the idea. And now, look at me now. Thirty fans! he jokes. Meier isnt yet on the short list to replace Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert, but the sharply dressed Palo Alto 10th-grader already has some legit experience, even if he's only earned a couple hundred subscribers to his YouTube channel. Hes been recording his show since 2018, and has hosted guests ranging from big-wave surfer Kyle Thiermann and 30 Rock alum Judah Friedlander to "Queer Eye" host Karamo Brown. His tone as an interviewer strikes a balance between straight-shooting questions, playful self-awareness and relentless positivity. If I had to describe my show in one word, I would say 'positive.' He also has a Conan OBrien-esque self-deprecating streak. When interviewing Friedlander about what the comedian does when people dont laugh at his jokes, Friedlander quipped that it doesnt happen very often. Well, it happens to me like every single day of my life, says Meier. And what do you do when that happens? asks Friedlander. I get grumpy at my dad, Meier says with a smile. Not a bad plan. I know, its perfect! Then Meier drops one of his own jokes. What do you get when you cross Dashiell and a joke? I dont know. A bad joke! Courtesy of Dashiell Meier Meier is basically an open book when questioning guests, but like anyone trying to achieve fame, he tries to keep a certain dash of mystique. Courtesy of Dashiell Meier Theres a lot about me that no one knows, he says, pausing dramatically. Im pretty mysterious. Some things Meier is willing to reveal: He has made a handful of short films, ate a quesadilla for lunch and named his show Playing Favorites because hes interested in the everyday lives of famous people. Every interview ends with a speed round asking about favorites such as childrens books, Star Wars characters or Beatles songs. I look for similarities and differences. Basically, I love interviewing anyone, anytime, says Meier. He also has Down syndrome, which affects his speech, but he still has a knack for getting surprisingly natural and candid interviews. His condition isnt a subject he shies away from, but rather, its a source of pride. I love having Down syndrome. I dont want to change in any way. I can do a lot of things that people can do without a disability. I can go to Disneyland. I get to travel to Tahoe. I love to travel. That love of travel has taken him to Washington, D.C., twice to advocate for people with special needs, lobbying politicians, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. Hes relentlessly positive, but doesnt necessarily sugarcoat his condition. And having Down syndrome can also have its flaws, too. I cant run as fast. I cant really speak very well. Sometimes, I have trouble hearing as well, and my writing is pretty dyslexic. It happens to run in the family. Courtesy of Dashiell Meier The show itself is a family affair, with his parents helping behind the camera. His dad composed the theme music, and also helps with logistics and promotion. When at the end of our interview I asked Meier for photos of him to use for the story, he started joking around as if he were a hotshot celebrity and his dad was his agent. My parents will [send them]. Let them do it for me! he laughs. Ill just sit back on my throne. Do this for me! Do that! Hey, how about you get me a mango smoothie by 2 oclock! And make me all of my favorite foods by 4 oclock a.m.! As for his future, Meier still has a few years of high school left at Stanbridge Academy in San Mateo, where hes honing his skills on the school broadcasting team. He hasnt yet confirmed his next guest for Playing Favorites, but at the top of the list is Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, whom Meier was a big fan of in Mary Poppins Returns. Eventually, Meier hopes to land a job at Disney or Pixar to help tell more stories about people with Down syndrome and other disabilities on-screen, meanwhile continuing to lobby at the government level to improve the lives of people with special needs. We have to try to find a way to help advocate for ourselves, he says. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is being discharged from SSKM Hospital after her repeated requests. The doctors' board, however, advised her to revisit the hospital after 7 days, according to a health bulletin released here on Friday (March 12). The SSKM Hospital release said, "CM Mamata Banerjee has responded well to the treatment. She has been discharged with appropriate instructions, due to her repeated requests. She has been advised to review after 7 days." It further said, "The board has re-examined the health condition of the Chief Minister. We opened the plaster cast. Fresh plaster has been applied. Wound looks better. We wanted to keep her observation for 48 hrs. But with the repeated request, we are discharging her." After her release, Mamata was seen coming out of the hospital in a wheelchair. The West Bengal CM suffered injuries when she was on a two-day visit to Nandigram from where she filed her nomination on Wednesday. Mamata alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaign. Live TV Earlier in the day, a TMC delegation today met the Election Commission Delhi. The complaint was in Kolkata over the attack on Thursday. The Trinamool Congress on Friday told the Election Commission that the attack on the West Bengal Chief Minister was premeditated and a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy. In a letter to the EC, the TMC said, "An attempt was made on the life of our chairperson Mamata Banerjee, on March 10 at Nandigram, though the perpetrators failed in their vicious attempt," "The events/actions leading up to the attempt on her life, leave no doubt that the attack was premeditated and part of a deep-rooted conspiracy." After meeting the EC, TMC leader Saugata Roy told reporters, "We have demanded a high-level probe into attack on Mamata Banerjee at Nandigram. When the incident happened, there was no police presence there. The events leading up to the attempt on her life, leave no doubt, that the attack was part of the deep-rooted conspiracy." -- Chinese lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to adopt a decision on improving Hong Kong's electoral system. -- The Election Committee of the HKSAR will be reformed in its size, composition and formation method, and will be given more power. -- A new committee will be set up to vet the qualifications of election candidates. -- The decision will help form a new democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's realities and with Hong Kong characteristics. BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature Thursday adopted a decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), unveiling a series of measures that will reform how the region's chief executive and local lawmakers are elected to ensure the financial hub is run by patriots. The decision was endorsed by an overwhelming majority vote at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC). Lawmakers attending the session at the Great Hall of the People burst into thunderous applause after it was passed. It came months after the NPC Standing Committee enacted the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, which has helped Hong Kong make the transition from chaos to stability. "The decision will help form a new democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's realities and with Hong Kong characteristics," said Qi Pengfei, a researcher on Hong Kong at the Renmin University of China. The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th NPC is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) According to the decision, the NPC Standing Committee will amend two annexes to the HKSAR Basic Law, which govern the selection method of the HKSAR chief executive and the formation method of the Legislative Council (LegCo), respectively. To become more "broadly representative, suited to the HKSAR's realities, and representative of the overall interests of its society," the Election Committee of the HKSAR will be reformed in its size, composition and formation method, and will be given more power. The Election Committee, expanded to 1,500 members from 1,200, shall be responsible for electing the Chief Executive designate and part of the members of the LegCo, as well as for nominating candidates for the Chief Executive and LegCo members, said the decision. The LegCo shall be composed of 90 members in each term. Members of the LegCo shall include members returned by the Election Committee, those returned by functional constituencies, and those by geographical constituencies through direct elections, according to the decision. A candidate qualification review committee of the HKSAR will be set up to vet and confirm the qualifications of candidates for the Election Committee members, the Chief Executive, and the LegCo members. The HKSAR is required to improve the system and mechanisms related to qualification review, amend local laws in accordance with the decision and the amended Basic Law annexes, and organize and regulate election activities accordingly. In a statement, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she would like to pledge "staunch support" for and "sincere gratitude" to the passage of the NPC decision. "I, together with the HKSAR government, will render our full cooperation in facilitating the amendments, and press ahead with the necessary amendments to the relevant local electoral legislation thereafter," Lam said. Explaining a draft of the decision to lawmakers at the start of the week-long session, senior legislator Wang Chen said the rioting and turbulence that occurred in the Hong Kong society in recent years reveals that the existing electoral system in the HKSAR has clear loopholes and deficiencies, which the anti-China, destabilizing elements jumped on to take into their hands the power to administer the HKSAR. Necessary measures must be taken to improve the electoral system and remove existing institutional risks to ensure the administration of Hong Kong by Hong Kong people with patriots as the main body, said Wang, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. In a statement issued Thursday, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said it firmly supports the decision and will resolutely implement it in the work, adding that implementing "patriots administering Hong Kong" is the key to improving the electoral system. Hong Kong residents display China's national flag and the flag of the HKSAR in support of implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" at Tamar Park in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Li Gang) The decision fits the common expectations of Hong Kong residents and will help Hong Kong end chaos and usher in good governance, said Lo Sui-on, an NPC deputy from Hong Kong. According to a survey by think-tank Bauhinia Institute, more than 70 percent of Hong Kong residents support the NPC decision and believe that the move will create better conditions for the HKSAR government to focus on developing the economy and improving people's livelihood. "I strongly support the NPC decision," Jacky Ko, a young social network influencer of Hong Kong, said. "We are really angry at troublemakers entering Hong Kong's executive, legislative and judiciary organs as they caused the legislative chaos and obstructed projects that concern people's livelihoods, which made ordinary people suffer," he said. RAANANA, Israel (JTA) Rio de Janeiro and Raanana are now sister cities, a longtime aspiration of Brazilian immigrants who have turned the upscale Tel Aviv suburb into their new home. Its the result of the great relationship between Israel and Brazil and the fact that Raanana is home to the largest population of Brazilian immigrants in our country, the mayor of Raanana, Chaim Broyde, wrote on social media on Monday. I intend to exploit the connections, promote economic, commercial and cultural issues between our cities. The sister cities designation implies a form of leg... GARNER, Iowa - A man accused of stealing two trucks and two trailers full of scrap metal is pleading not guilty. Dustin Daniel Harris, 33 of Fort Dodge, is charged with second degree criminal mischief, two counts of second-degree theft, third-degree theft, driving while barred, and driving while license was revoked for two separate incidents in Hancock County. Law enforcement says Harris stole a pickup truck in rural Kanawha on January 24 and spray painted the truck a different color. Harris is also accused of stealing a truck and two trailers full of scrap iron in Corwith on February 4. A trial on for both crimes is set to begin on May 12. CEO and director Anthony Moreau said big gold systems hang out with big gold systems, and the Cortez is as big as it gets, adding we are right on-trend Moreau is excited that the well-funded Nevada-focused explorer is now trading on the TSX Venture Exchange There is a chunk of terrain that is among the most valuable in America: the gold fields of Nevada. (CVE:AE), part of the Ore Group led by Stephen Stewart, is focused on exploring for a world-class gold deposit on its flagship property, Golden Trend, an asset strategically located in Cortez, Nevada. The companys 2,286-acre (925 hectares) Golden Trend property is located on the Cortez Trend, next door to Barrick Gold and Newmont Minings Gold Rush and Cortez Mine, which host over 27 million ounces of gold. Nevada is probably the best area in the world to look for gold. If you are investing in junior mining, you know it is highly prospective. People say it is like looking for a needle in a haystack, CEO Anthony Moreau told Proactive. I agree with that but what I try to do what the group is doing is reducing that haystack to as small as possible. entered into an agreement to acquire the Golden Trend Project in Nevada from Rubicon Resources in July last year. It is sought after real estate, given the location within the prolific Battle MountainEureka trend. There is considerable investor excitemnet as debuts on the TSX Venture Exchange on May 3, 2021. Proactive sat down with CEO Moreau to learn more about the companys exciting project in the Silver State and his ambitions to take the company public in April this year. A mining industry veteran, Moreau is a director of QC Copper & Gold and Orefinders Resources and has previously worked with IAMGOLD. A chartered financial analyst, Moreau leads the Young Mining Professionals Toronto Chapter and is the Co-Chair of the YMP Scholarship Fund. Proactive: Nevada has eclipsed iron ore-rich Western Australia as the new most attractive region for mining, according to a survey by the Fraser Institute. Is it part of 's strategic philosophy to have a strong footprint in the Silver State? Anthony Moreau: Nevada is consistently ranked as the world's top mining jurisdiction for a good reason. It is also home to some of the world's largest gold deposits, which gave rise to companies like Barrick, Newmont and Franco Nevada. Our asset, Golden Trend, is immediately adjacent to one of these deposits called Gold Rush, the next mega-mine for the Barrick/Newmont Joint Venture (Nevada Gold Mines). Why do you think your Golden Trend project, located on the Cortez Trend, adjacent to Nevada Gold Mines' Goldrush and Cortez Mine in Nevada, represents a large, prospective opportunity? Big gold systems hang out with big gold systems, and the Cortez is as big as it gets, and we are right on-trend. Being attached to Nevada Gold Mines's property makes it a logical takeover candidate if a deposit is found. The further you are away from Barrick and Newmont's property, the less economic it becomes to leverage nearby infrastructure. Our real estate position is quite enviable. How much cash do you have on hand, and how long will it last? We have approximately $3.6 million in cash and over $4 million in working capital. One of the important lessons that I have learned is always to leave yourself with a margin of safety and a healthy balance sheet. At any point in time, I plan to have at least one year of cash available. What are some of your key priority targets at Golden Trend? What would your work program for 2021 be in a perfect world? The geology, geochemistry and alteration at Golden Trend are similar to that at the nearby, on-trend, Cortez Hills and Gold Rush deposits, so our priority target is a clone of these deposits. The mineralization is controlled by structure and rock type, so our 2021 work program will consist of some additional detailed geochemical and possibly geophysical studies to refine our understanding of the structural architecture, followed by drilling of several drill holes focused on projected structural-lithologic intersections that appear to have the highest probability of hosting gold deposits. Because there appears to be a strong gold-bearing hydrothermal system present at Golden Trend, we also have a secondary target possibility of deposits emplaced in non-reactive rocks that have been structurally prepared by faulting and fracturing. Again, the geochemical and geophysical studies will refine this possibility, and drilling will follow shortly after that. We like to emphasize that high-quality work needs to go into understanding the geology before we test our analysis with drills. Can you shed some light on how easy it will be to get production permits and environmental permits? The project is within the study area of the environmental impact studies required for the nearby, currently permitted, Cortez Hill and Gold Rush deposits, so there should be little difficulty with permitting. Nevada is one of the few places in the world where permitting is straightforward and well understood. How is project infrastructure at Golden Trend? Is there sealed road access to the Golden Trend property? The project is only a few miles from two major operating mines (Pipeline and Cortez Hills) and two major developing projects (Gold Rush and Fourmile) with full infrastructure developed. Adequate power is available, as well as all necessary services. The project is fully accessible by three maintained county roads that either pass through it or nearby on all sides. You have a strong track record in mining as well as a background in finance as a chartered financial analyst. What attracted you to the mining industry and ? To me, mining is the most interesting industry in the world. You work with great people, visit amazing places, and the action is fast-paced. I joined because I liked the team, which has strong technical and financial expertise and a track record of success. The fact that Golden Trend is an unexplored land package located in the middle of the most prospective area in the world to look for gold presented an opportunity that I could not turn down. I plan to leverage my financial background to make smart accretive deals and create shareholder value. I also plan to utilize my leadership skills to attract the best and brightest individuals to join our company and help make a world-class discovery. Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive Here is the Canadian sponsorship process if your spouse or common-law partner is living in Lebanon. How to sponsor your spouse from Lebanon for Canadian immigration Here is the Canadian sponsorship process if your spouse or common-law partner is living in Lebanon. How to sponsor your spouse from Lebanon for Canadian immigration Here is the Canadian sponsorship process if your spouse or common-law partner is living in Lebanon. How to sponsor your spouse from Lebanon for Canadian immigration Here is the Canadian sponsorship process if your spouse or common-law partner is living in Lebanon. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A If you are in Canada and your spouse or common-law partner is in Lebanon, the first step to sponsoring them for Canadian immigration is to see if you are eligible. As the sponsor, you have to be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or First Nation over the age of 18. You also need to sign an undertaking, confirming that you will be able to financially provide for yourself as well as your partner and any dependent children you have. If your dependents do end up receiving social assistance, you may have to pay back what they received during the years that you agreed to be responsible for them. Certain circumstances could make you ineligible to sponsor. Beyond violent criminal offences, you could also be inadmissible if you failed to pay an immigration loan, are going through bankruptcy and not discharged, or if you sponsored a previous spouse within three years of your application. These are just some of the factors that could affect your eligibility to sponsor. Your partner also has to be eligible to be sponsored. They must be over the age of 18, and pass background, security, as well as medical checks. You will be asked to demonstrate to IRCC that your relationship is genuine, and that you did not just get married to acquire permanent residency status in Canada. Check if Youre Eligible to Sponsor your Spouse Outland vs Inland sponsorship If your spouse or common-law partner is living in Lebanon while you complete the application, you will be processed as outland applicants. It is possible to live with your partner throughout the process, but you have to demonstrate that you will both move to Canada when the permanent residency application is approved. If your partner is already living with you in Canada, you will likely be processed as inland applicants. Under this process, your partner may be eligible for an Open Work Permit. What documents do you need? IRCC changes guidelines regularly, and they will be different depending on your spouses residency status in Lebanon and where they are applying from. If you and your partner spent any time working or living outside of Lebanon, there may be different country-specific requirements on what documents you need. The government provides an application guide with more information for people going through the process. If your spouse is a Lebanese citizen living in Lebanon, there are currently special instructions on IRCCs document checklist. At the time this article was written, IRCC asked for a list of all the trips that you and your family members have taken outside your country of residence in the last ten years, or since your 18th birthday if it was less than 10 years before your application. They also asked you to fill out details of military service if anyone on the sponsorship application has ever held a high ranking or senior official government position. What happens after you submit the application? The processing begins once IRCC receives your complete application. If the department determines that your application is incomplete they will return it. Once they receive the completed application, IRCC has a 12-month processing standard on spousal sponsorship applications. This includes a two or three-month wait period while they ensure the application is complete. Canada expanded its family-sponsorship processing capacity in March 2021 to help meet the 12-month standard. During the processing period, IRCC may ask your spouse to submit their biometrics. They will have 30 days to send them in. IRCC may also ask for more information, or an in-person interview at any time. Your spouse will also have 30 days to take a medical exam. You can track and update your application status online until IRCC makes a decision on your application. They will send you instructions about the final steps your spouse or common-law partner needs to take to become a permanent resident. They will have to go to a port of entry to meet an immigration officer for a landing interview. IRCC will send them instructions on what documents they need to bring, as well as the time and place of their interview. Once the landing process is done, your spouse or common-law partner is officially a permanent resident. Check if Youre Eligible to Sponsor your Spouse CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options. (@FahadShabbir) Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2021 ) :A person who has had Covid and receives a single dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines is equally or better protected than someone who never had Covid and got two doses, according to a study. "We hope this data... will help shape more nuanced vaccine policy," co-author Viviana Simon, a professor of microbiology at the Icahn school of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York told AFP Thursday. For people who have had Covid before, "the first vaccine dose actually acts as a booster, making the second dose unnecessary," she added. The paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Simon and colleagues looked at blood samples from 110 people, 67 of whom had not previously been infected and 43 who had. All participants received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, which are based on new RNA (ribonucleic acid) technology. They found that participants who had been infected with the coronavirus before they received their first shot "rapidly developed uniform, high antibody titers within days after vaccination." "Titer" refers to blood concentration. The scientists repeatedly sampled the participants and found that in the days following the first shot, antibody levels in those with previous infection were 10 to 45 times higher than those who weren't previously infected. By the time both groups received their second shots, antibody levels among those previously infected still registered six times higher than those who weren't previously infected. But "no increase in antibody titers was observed in the Covid-19 survivors who received the second vaccine dose," the scientists wrote, indicating the booster was of limited benefit for people previously infected. No substantial difference in antibody production was noticed between the two vaccines. The more severe a person's case of Covid, the more antibodies their body produces to clear the infection -- but for the purpose of this study, the Covid survivors were mostly mild-to-moderate cases who were infected in March or April 2020, added Simon. The team also looked at whether side effects differed in people with previous infection versus those without, studying 230 participants. Overall, there were no serious side effects that led to hospitalization. Though there were limitations in the amount of data collected, vaccine recipients with preexisting immunity were found to have a higher frequency of mild to moderate side effects like fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever, and joint pain. Simon explained this was consistent with the idea that the first dose was like a booster shot for people who previously had Covid. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has held frank conversations with the DUP on the Northern Ireland Protocol as he visited the region (Peter Morrison/PA) Prime Minister Boris Johnson has held frank conversations with the DUP on the Northern Ireland Protocol as he visited the region. Extra checks on goods passing through its ports from the rest of the UK following Brexit have angered unionists. Mr Johnson toured a mass vaccination centre in Arlene Fosters Co Fermanagh constituency. Not a single unionist party in Northern Ireland supports this unworkable Protocol Arlene Foster He was joined by the DUP leader and Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann at the converted Lakeland Forum leisure centre in Enniskillen. Mrs Foster urged him to stand up for Northern Ireland and ditch the intolerable Protocol governing Irish Sea trade post-Brexit. She said he had been in listening mode and alive to the issues. The UK is united by so many ties of people, history, culture, business and much more. We are at our best when all four parts fire on all cylinders. With @SirPeterHendyas transport connectivity review, we can make our economy and Union stronger than ever before pic.twitter.com/yZTJOmBXlo Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 10, 2021 The First Minister said: Not a single unionist party in Northern Ireland supports this unworkable Protocol. Rather than protect the Belfast Agreement and its successor agreements, the Protocol has created societal division and economic harm. Whilst grace periods have been extended unilaterally, we need a permanent solution so business can plan and the integrity of the United Kingdom internal market can be restored. She told the Prime Minister a local school in Fermanagh was unable to order trees from England due to red tape surrounding the transport of soil. Expand Close Mr Johnson is greeted by Brigadier Chris Davies, Commander 38 (Irish) Brigade (Peter Morrison/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Johnson is greeted by Brigadier Chris Davies, Commander 38 (Irish) Brigade (Peter Morrison/PA) Mrs Fosters powersharing partner, Sinn Feins deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, refused to welcome the premier to Belfast on Friday in her Stormont role after a request for a political meeting with her and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was not accepted. Stormonts leaders are deeply divided over the wisdom of Brexit and the Protocol. The Protocol was agreed by the EU and UK during the withdrawal negotiations to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. It achieves that by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods, with regulatory checks and inspections now required on agri-food produce moving into the region from the rest of the UK. The new arrangements have caused some disruption to trade since the start of the year as firms have struggled with new processes and administration. Unionists are opposed to the protocol, claiming it undermines Northern Irelands place in the UK internal market. Nationalists acknowledge teething problems with the new arrangements but argue that they can be finessed. Expand Close Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill refused to meet Mr Johnson (Peter Morrison/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill refused to meet Mr Johnson (Peter Morrison/PA) Mr Johnson also visited RAF Aldergrove in Co Antrim on Friday. He is due to hold further engagements later. Northern Irelands centenary programme marking the anniversary of the states foundation will champion young people of the future, Mr Johnson said. It will also pay tribute to those who worked tirelessly to support the region during the pandemic, he added. Plans for 2021 include a major business showcase in London, a 1 million Shared History Fund, an ambitious programme for young people, tree-planting projects, academic and historic events and an international church service for all denominations. Mr Johnson said 2021 marks 100 years since the creation of Northern Ireland, which has paved the way for the formation of the UK as we know it. Our centenary programme will reflect on the past and on the people and developments that make Northern Ireland the great place it is today. Nationalists and unionists hold sharply differing views of the history of Northern Ireland: on its past governance and public representation; the security situation including decades of conflict; seismic events like the Second World War or the civil rights movement; and over issues like public housing, freedom to demonstrate and equal voter representation. 'What data will be shared with the Chinese government?' Hontiveros urges Dito to be fully transparent Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday said that Dito Telecommunity Corporation should be more transparent with respect to its relationship with the authoritarian Chinese regime, amid the Senate's granting of the third telco's franchise. "Ngayong may prankisa na ang Dito, dapat maging pranka narin sila sa ugnayan nila sa gobyerno ng Tsina. Hindi na kaila na ang ChinaTel, which is fully owned by the Chinese state, ay nagmamay-ari din ng Dito. This is an undisputed fact. Dito should just be real with the public and stop understating China's stake in it," Hontiveros said. The senator stressed that the 60% Filipino ownership of the company appears to be a thin shell covering the bulk of the Chinese capital actually powering the project. "How can Dito ensure us that it is not the Chinese government that's calling the shots? May trauma na tayo mula sa pagkakaalam natin na mukhang ang pangunahing nagpapatakbo ng National Power Grid Corporation, our main power system, ay mga Chinese pala. Iniiwasan lang natin mangyari na ang isa sa mga major telco natin, hawak din ng China," she said. In 2019, Hontiveros filed a resolution urging the Senate to look into reports that China may be in control of the NGCP, and that it can remotely shut down our country's power transmission system. "Ipagpapalit ba natin ang West Philippine Sea para sa unli data? Pinasok na ng Tsina ang ating mga karagatan. Pinasok na nila ang ating power system. At ngayon, pati ba naman text at internet natin, papasukin na rin? We're surrounded," Hontiveros said. The senator also flagged the potential implications of the Public Services Act (PSA), which is currently for interpellation in the Senate. The PSA may allow 100% foreign ownership in multiple sectors, including the telecommunications sector. "Ang hinihingi natin ngayon sa Dito ay maging tapat sa publikong Pilipino. If you truly are Filipino run as you claim to be, can you promise the public that in the event the PSA is amended, a majority of Dito's shares will remain with Filipinos? We need Dito's public assurance and transparency; otherwise, we will remain suspicious of its true identity in our country," Hontiveros concluded. 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. At a conference of performing arts presenters, in January 2020, Jedediah Wheeler, the executive director of Peak Performances at Montclair State University in New Jersey, introduced the choreographer Emily Johnson. Wheeler called himself the luckiest person in the room to be commissioning her to make work. Johnson, 44, an Indigenous artist of Yupik ancestry, is known for performances that draw on her heritage, ceremonies that might last all night out under the stars, gatherings in search of healing and social change. Wheeler, 71, founded Peak Performances in 2004, making Montclair State an unlikely home for the avant-garde. The series has gained attention producing and presenting work by artists like Robert Wilson and the Italian provocateur Romeo Castellucci before it reached New York City. But Johnson did not join that roster. Not long after the conference, Johnson asked Wheeler in a phone conversation for his personal commitment to a decolonization process, she later wrote. She suggested that Peak Performances begin a land acknowledgment by taking a series of steps to recognize the original inhabitants of the area, forge relationships with other Indigenous artists and engage First Nations students on campus, among other things. Wheeler, saying that Peak Performances could not set policy since it was only a small part of a larger university, reacted dismissively and then, when pressed, angrily. 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. Ukrainian sailors rescued from the sunken ship Volgo Balt 179 arrived at the port of Constanta, said Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. "Volgo Balt 179: the rescued Ukrainian sailors have arrived at the port of Constanta. Now they are undergoing medical examination. The condition of the citizen evacuated to the hospital yesterday is stable, there are no threats to her life," Nikolenko wrote on Twitter on Friday. According to him, the head of the Ukrainian Embassy in Romania and the consuls, together with the sailors are providing them with the necessary consular assistance. As reported, the Volgo Balt 179 with 13 Ukrainians onboard sank in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania. Ten sailors were rescued, two sailors died. At first glance the rocks that make up Greenland's Isua supracrustal belt look just like any modern basalt you'd find on the sea floor. But this outcrop, which was first described in the 1960s, is the oldest exposure of rocks on Earth. It is known to contain the earliest evidence of microbial life and plate tectonics. Credit: Hanika Rizo New research led by the University of Cambridge has found rare evidencepreserved in the chemistry of ancient rocks from Greenlandwhich tells of a time when Earth was almost entirely molten. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, yields information on a important period in our planet's formation, when a deep sea of incandescent magma stretched across Earth's surface and extended hundreds of kilometers into its interior. It is the gradual cooling and crystallization of this 'magma ocean' that set the chemistry of Earth's interiora defining stage in the assembly of our planet's structure and the formation of our early atmosphere. Scientists know that catastrophic impacts during the formation of the Earth and Moon would have generated enough energy to melt our planet's interior. But we don't know much about this distant and fiery phase of Earth's history because tectonic processes have recycled almost all rocks older than 4 billion years. Now researchers have found the chemical remnants of the magma ocean in 3.6-billion-year-old rocks from southwestern Greenland. The findings support the long-held theory that Earth was once almost entirely molten and provide a window into a time when the planet started to solidify and develop the chemistry that now governs its internal structure. The research suggests that other rocks on Earth's surface may also preserve evidence of ancient magma oceans. "There are few opportunities to get geological constraints on the events in the first billion years of Earth's history. It's astonishing that we can even hold these rocks in our handslet alone get so much detail about the early history of our planet," said lead author Dr. Helen Williams, from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences. The study brings forensic chemical analysis together with thermodynamic modelling in search of the primeval origins of the Greenland rocks, and how they got to the surface. At first glance, the rocks that make up Greenland's Isua supracrustal belt look just like any modern basalt you'd find on the sea floor. But this outcrop, which was first described in the 1960s, is the oldest exposure of rocks on Earth. It is known to contain the earliest evidence of microbial life and plate tectonics. The new research shows that the Isua rocks also preserve rare evidence which even predates plate tectonicsthe residues of some of the crystals left behind as that magma ocean cooled. "It was a combination of some new chemical analyses we did and the previously published data that flagged to us that the Isua rocks might contain traces of ancient material. The hafnium and neodymium isotopes were really tantalizing, because those isotope systems are very hard to modifyso we had to look at their chemistry in more detail," said co-author Dr. Hanika Rizo, from Carleton University. Iron isotopic systematics confirmed to Williams and the team that the Isua rocks were derived from parts of the Earth's interior that formed as a consequence of magma ocean crystallization. Most of this primeval rock has been mixed up by convection in the mantle, but scientists think that some isolated zones deep at the mantle-core boundaryancient crystal graveyardsmay have remained undisturbed for billions of years. It's the relics of these crystal graveyards that Williams and her colleagues observed in the Isua rock chemistry. "Those samples with the iron fingerprint also have a tungsten anomalya signature of Earth's formationwhich makes us think that their origin can be traced back to these primeval crystals," said Williams. But how did these signals from the deep mantle find their way up to the surface? Their isotopic makeup shows they were not just funnelled up from melting at the core-mantle boundary. Their journey was more circuitous, involving several stages of crystallization and remeltinga kind of distillation process. The mix of ancient crystals and magma would have first migrated to the upper mantle, where it was churned up to create a 'marble cake' of rocks from different depths. Later melting of that hybrid of rocks is what produced the magma which fed this part of Greenland. The team's findings suggest that modern hotspot volcanoes, which are thought to have formed relatively recently, may actually be influenced by ancient processes. "The geochemical signals we report in the Greenland rocks bear similarities to rocks erupted from hotspot volcanoes like Hawaiisomething we are interested in is whether they might also be tapping into the depths and accessing regions of the interior usually beyond our reach," said Dr. Oliver Shorttle, who is jointly based at Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences and Institute of Astronomy. The team's findings came out of a project funded by Deep Volatiles, a NERC-funded 5-year research program. They now plan to continue their quest to understand the magma ocean by widening their search for clues in ancient rocks and experimentally modelling isotopic fractionation in the lower mantle. "We've been able to unpick what one part of our planet's interior was doing billions of years ago, but to fill in the picture further we must keep searching for more chemical clues in ancient rocks," said co-author Dr. Simon Matthews from the University of Iceland. Scientists have often been reluctant to look for chemical evidence of these ancient events. "The evidence is often altered by the course of time. But the fact we found what we did suggests that the chemistry of other ancient rocks may yield further insights into the Earth's formation and evolutionand that's immensely exciting," said Williams. More information: "Iron isotopes trace primordial magma ocean cumulates melting in Earth's upper mantle" Science Advances (2021). Journal information: Science Advances "Iron isotopes trace primordial magma ocean cumulates melting in Earth's upper mantle"(2021). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup .1126/sciadv.abc7394 China's Five Year Plan focusses on scientific and technology self-reliance which can be perceived as the result of emanating global tensions with the United States. The 14th Five Year Plan that highlights China's socio-economic development over the next decade was approved on 11th March. On Thursday, China had formally approved the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the draft outline of which was passed by the National Peoples Congress as it closed its six-day annual session. Among its key projects is the building of a hydropower base on the lower reaches of Yarlung-Zangbo which refers to the section of the river in Tibet just before it enters India in Arunachal Pradesh, a Sichuan-Tibet railway near the Indian border and a push for self-sufficiency in emerging industries such as Artificial Intelligence. A railway line would also be built from Xigaze in Tibet to Gyirong on the Tibet-Nepal border. Not only that, the FYP put emphasis on access to key border highways including the G219 national highway which runs along the entire length of India-China border in Xinjiang and Tibet. India had announced its concern over the building over four dams on the upper and middle reaches, the first of which was Zangmu that had been operationalized in 2015. Indian officials are monitoring flows of the river closely through individual assessments and hydrological data provided by China under a bilateral agreement. Chinas Five Year Plan focusses on scientific and technology self-reliance which can be perceived as the result of emanating global tensions with the United States. The 14th Five Year Plan that highlights Chinas socio-economic development over the next decade was approved on 11th March. Also Read: US defence secy India visit: India to procure 30 armed drones to counter China, Pakistan Also Read: First Quad Summit: PM Modi, Biden, Suga to meet virtually; Heres what to expect The 14th Five Year Plan that highlights Chinas socio-economic development over the next half decade was approved on 11th March. It aims to create stronger ties between academia and industry and to improve evaluations of the results of such collaborations. Some researchers fear that this could make Chinese science less transparent and therefore distort academia too. The world is entering a very interesting stage with Chinese science, says Joy Zhang, a sociologist at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK who has extensively studied Chinese science. In addition to that, the Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang made statements at the Annual Meeting of National Peoples Congress, the highest decision making body. The plan unearthed a lower annual increase in science spending, but rather a rise in the proportion of science spending devoted to basic research. The strained US-China relationship has led to this shift on self sufficiency, added Yang Wei, a current adviser to and former head of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the nations major research-funding body. Mu- Ming Poo, a neuroscientist and scientific Director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai said, The US-China conflict was a wake up call for China. Areas of focus now include brain science, artificial intelligence, quantum information, genomics, clinical medicine and both deep-space and deep-sea exploration. The plan is seeking to create a strategic research force for the nation, adds Yang Wei. Also Read: Oxford racism row: Twitter suspends Oxford student Rashmi Samants account INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana officials have yet to describe any big plans for the influx of federal money expected from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that Congress approved this week. Preliminary estimates show roughly $5.8 billion will be directed toward Indiana. About $3 billion would go directly to state government, and $2.6 billion to cities and counties and $200 million for a state capital projects fund, said Rachel Hoffmeyer, a spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb. Greater details should come in future guidance and communication, Hoffmeyer told The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette. State lawmakers are looking to have a say in how that money will be spent. The state was also allocated $2.4 billion in pandemic relief funding last year. That aid arrived after the 2020 legislative session ended and was distributed by Holcombs administration with little formal involvement by legislators for uses such as public health agency expenses and business support and rental assistance programs. Republican Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray told reporters Thursday that he didnt think the federal money was needed to cover ongoing state spending but should go toward targeted programs. If it goes to schools, to help schools in particular with things like remediation for these kids that just kind of lost a step in this education year, Bray said. We want it to help the industries, like the hotel and the hospitality industries, that have been so hard hit over the last 12 months or so. Indianas state tax collections didnt take the major hit that was feared last spring and are running about 4% higher than expected when the current two-year $78 billion state budget was adopted in 2019. Holcomb hasnt yet offered his ideas for using the new federal funds. Leaders in other states have proposed big projects that have long been on their to-do lists, including high-speed internet for rural areas and drinking water improvements. Indiana lawmakers are already working on a new two-year state budget to start in July. Some programs in that budget plan could now be covered by federal relief money. For instance, the House proposed a $150 million learning remediation program, $50 million in health grants and $30 million for small business assistance. The Holcomb administration also dedicated $400 million to the states unemployment insurance trust fund to avoid borrowing money from the federal government to make jobless benefit payments after the fund was drained by a steep jump in unemployment in the spring. Ben Affleck is having a great time working on his latest film. The 48-year-old actor was all smiles as he waved to a crowd of onlookers on the set of his new drama The Tender Bar in Beverly, Massachusetts, on Friday. The Oscar-winner rocked a retro costume while being directed by George Clooney for the period drama. Scroll down for video All smiles: Ben Affleck was all smiles as he waved to a crowd of onlookers on the set of his new drama The Tender Bar in Beverly, Massachusetts, on Friday All-star collaboration: The 48-year-old actor rocked a retro costume while being directed by George Clooney for the period drama Ben sported fluffy tousled 1970s hair as part of his costume, as well as brown corduroy pants and a vintage brown and white striped polo sweater. The star smoked a cigarette as he stood in the doorway of a neighborhood bar for the shot. He also had a thick salt-and-pepper colored beard to complete the throwback look. Clooney, who turns 60 in May, sported a navy jacket and light blue jeans for his day on the outdoor set. Vintage look: Ben sported fluffy tousled 1970s hair as part of his costume, as well as brown corduroy pants and a vintage brown and white striped polo sweater Clooney, who turns 60 in May, sported a navy jacket and light blue jeans for his day on the outdoor set Winning cast: The Tender Bar is Clooney's latest project as a director and stars Affleck, Tye Sheridan and Lily Rabe His grey hair was on full display as he worked behind the camera in a pair of sneakers. The Tender Bar is Clooney's latest project as a director and also stars Tye Sheridan and Lily Rabe. The X-Men: Apocalypse actor was also spotted on set in a similarly vintage ensemble. Co-stars: Tye Sheridan, 24, was also spotted on set in a similarly vintage ensemble that included a plaid button-up shirt and white thermal top, as well as dark pants and a pair of brown leather boots Taking the wheel: Sheridan was also seen in large period appropriate coiffed hair as he shot his scenes with Affleck and a stunning blue vintage Cadillac He donned a plaid button-up shirt and white thermal top, as well as dark pants and a pair of brown leather boots. Sheridan, 24, was also seen in period appropriate coiffed hair as he shot his scenes with Affleck and a stunning blue vintage Cadillac. Clooney talked the young actor through a scene requiring him to get behind the wheel of the car. Calling the shots: Clooney talked the young actor through a scene requiring him to get behind the wheel of the car Winning adaptation: The Tender Bar is a coming-of-age film based on the acclaimed 2005 memoir of the same name by author J. R. Moehringer Funny pals: The two Academy Award-winning stars shared a few laughs between takes of their upcoming movie about a young boy in Long Island who seeks out a replacement for his father The two Academy Award-winning stars shared a few laughs between takes of their upcoming movie. The Tender Bar is a coming-of-age film based on the acclaimed 2005 memoir of the same name by author J. R. Moehringer. The story follows a young boy in Long Island who seeks out a replacement for his father, who disappeared shortly after his birth, and bonds with his uncle and the patrons at a bar. Acclaimed director: The Tender Bar marks Clooney's eight film as a director, most recently helming the 2020 Netflix space epic The Midnight Sky Bundled up: The two actors threw on puffy black jackets to stay warm as the crew set up the next shot, sharing laughs with their director Sheridan is playing the film's lead, while Affleck is portraying his uncle Charlie. The two actors threw on puffy black jackets to stay warm as the crew set up the next shot, sharing laughs with their director. The Good Will Hunting writer drank his pandemic beverage of choice while the cameras were down, a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee. Shot of caffeine: The Good Will Hunting writer drank his pandemic beverage of choice while the cameras were down, a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee Unexpected crew member: Also spotted on set was the stepdaughter of Ben's BFF Matt Damon, Alexia Barroso, who appeared to be working on the film as a member of the crew Production on the picture has been taking place near where Affleck grew up in Boston alongside brother Casey Affleck and best friend Matt Damon. Also spotted on set was Damon's stepdaughter Alexia Barroso, who appeared to be working on the film as a member of the crew. The 21-year-old is the daughter of his wife Luciana Barroso and her first husband, and attends college in New York. She sported a crew badge, walkie-talkie and headset while being hard at work on the picture. Not Ana de Armas: Also filming on Friday was an actress who looked suspiciously like an Ana de Armas doppelganger Also filming on Friday was an actress who looked suspiciously like an Ana de Armas doppelganger. The mystery co-star had jet black hair and striking features similar to Ben's recent ex. Affleck began dating the Knives Out star in Match 2020 after meeting on the set of Deep Water. The former pair were practically inseparable during lockdown. Back home: Production on the picture has been taking place near where Affleck grew up in Boston alongside brother Casey Affleck and best friend Matt Damon Reunited: Affleck and Clooney previously collaborated as producers on the 2012 Argo, both winning Oscars for their work on the drama Affleck and Clooney previously collaborated as producers on the 2012 Argo, both winning Oscars for their work on the drama. 'Ben is excited to be in Boston,' a source recently told People. 'He and George are happy to be reunited and working together again.' A production source also said that 'Affleck comes prepared and ready to film. He and George are great to work with.' Kathy Parker, the longtime editor of The Horseman And Fair World, was named as the new editor of Hoof Beats magazine by the U.S. Trotting Association on Friday (March 12) succeeding Kim French, who has accepted another position in the horse racing industry. It was a loss for the harness racing industry when The Horseman And Fair World announced they were ceasing publication in January, said USTA Executive Vice President and CEO Mike Tanner. But when Kim told us about her new job, Kathy was the first person we thought of. She brings to Hoof Beats a unique combination of editor skills, industry knowledge and personal relationships that can make the magazine even better. Parker also noted the fortunate timing of events. The timing of this is incredible, like I got a perfect trip to win a big race, said Parker about joining Hoof Beats. When The Horseman announced it was wrapping up its business, I had hoped to be able to freelance some stories for Hoof Beats. Kims opportunity became an opportunity for me. Im excited to continue my career working as a harness racing journalist, added Parker. I know that the digital world has become dominant in media, but I believe there are stories and information that are best presented in a printed format. Together with the Hoof Beats staff, I know we will carry on its strong tradition of excellence. French, who had been editor since May 2018, will remain working on the magazine and assist with Parkers transition through the end of April when she departs for her new position. In addition, she will continue to write stories for the magazine. We want to thank Kim for all of the improvements that she made to Hoof Beats/ during the past three years with all of the new writers she brought on board and the excellent stories that she was able to bring to the magazine, said Dan Leary, the USTAs director of marketing and communications. Kim and I worked together for years prior to our collaboration with Hoof Beats and the USTA, so I know that she is moving on to a great career opportunity and we wish her the best with it. Parker, who was inducted into the Communicators Hall of Fame in 2015, began working for The Horseman And Fair World in 1980 and became editor in October 1995. In 1998, she introduced the harnessracing.com website and added the Harness Racing Weekend Preview in 2009. She is also a trustee and secretary of the Harness Racing Museum. A current member of the U.S. Harness Writers Association, she won a John Hervey Award for excellence in harness racing journalism in 1992. Parker graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in journalism. (USTA) Hickory Man Jailed after Motorcycle Pursuit By West Kentucky Star Staff BARDWELL - A motorcyclist from Graves County was arrested Thursday after a high-speed pursuit in Carlisle County.A Carlisle deputy and a Bardwell police officer saw a motorcycle traveling a high speeds behind the county courthouse. The rider didn't stop, but led officers on a pursuit onto US 62 and KY 1372, reaching speeds near 98 mph and running a stop sign at KY 1181.The motorcycle was eventually stopped about five miles away, near the intersection of Highway 1935 and County Road 1001.Police arrested 42-year-old Alen Reeves of Hickory, and took him to McCracken County Jail. He faces charges of fleeing or evading police, DUI - 2nd offense, speeding 26 mph or more over the limit, reckless driving, wanton endangerment, disregarding a stop sign, and failure to have an operator's license, insurance or registration. President Joe Biden made small-business owners the center of his first prime-time address in office, which marked the anniversary of the pandemic. He recounted an anecdote from the summer when he asked a small-business owner from Philadelphia what she needed the most. She responded, "I just want the truth. The truth. Just tell me the truth," he said. "My fellow Americans, you're owed nothing less than the truth," he followed. The story prefaced the cornerstone of his speech: a sharp ramp-up of vaccination efforts and a call for national unity to get the economy back on track. In addition to acknowledging the more than 500,000 American deaths from the virus, Biden noted the many job and business losses suffered in the pandemic. The president promised to direct all states to open up vaccines to all adults by May 1, and said there would be enough vaccine supply for every American adult by the end of that month. The address came shortly after he'd signed into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which includes $50 billion for small businesses. In his speech, Biden laid out a timeline for the months ahead that included reopening of K-12 schools, new CDC guidelines for the vaccine, and a return to small gatherings. Biden, like Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as the larger scientific community, tied the economy's recovery to the end of the pandemic. "The only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track, is to beat the virus," Biden said. The $50 billion in new small-business aid in the stimulus package included $28.6 billion for restaurants, $1.25 billion for shuttered venues, and an expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program. The amount doled out to small businesses was much smaller than the $325 billion in aid passed last year under Trump. An increase in vaccine supply and a focus on school reopenings will likely have positive trickle-down effects for small businesses as public life returns to normal and offices and businesses can re-open. In the coming weeks ahead, Biden said the CDC would continue to issue new guidelines for how the vaccinated can conduct themselves in public and travel. "We will issue guidelines on what you can and cannot do," said Biden. The president set July 4 as a potential benchmark for a return to some normality and small gatherings. He said that if all recovery efforts go to plan, there would be a strong chance that families and friends could gather for a barbecue on Independence Day. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 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Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Teen in Lyon County Charged with Auto Theft By West Kentucky Star Staff LYON COUNTY - A teen is facing auto theft and other charges following his arrest Thursday night in Lyon County.A Kentucky state trooper arrived to assist a stranded motorist on I-69 near the 71-mile marker. Police said the vehicle was found unoccupied with a large amount of trash on the ground. The trooper determined that the vehicle was stolen out of Oak Grove. A male subject had been observed walking away from the vehicle. Lyon County deputies detained him at KY 3305 near Pebble Creek subdivision. Deputies said he was armed with a handgun that was also reported stolen. Police identified the teen as 18-year-old Isaiah Campbell of Oak Grove. Campbell was arrested and charged with abandonment of a vehicle on a public roadway, receiving stolen property (auto), receiving stolen property (firearm), hitchhiking on a limited access facility, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was lodged in the Crittenden County Detention Center. On Friday, Campbell was also charged with theft of an automobile valued under $10,000 in Christian County. 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. Human Rights Activists to Protest at NBC Headquarters in New York City, Calling for Them NOT to Broadcast the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games Because of China's Human Rights Abuses Reverend Mahoney Being Arrested in Tiananmen Square During the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics NEWS PROVIDED BY Christian Defense Coalition March 12, 2021 NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- The protest will be on Friday, March 12, at 1:00 PM at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The name of the project is, "NBC Say No To The 'Beijing Genocide Games.'" Here is a link to the Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/132489442013592 It would be unconscionable for NBC to broadcast the Beijing Games while China is committing genocide against the Uyghrus, oppressing Hong Kong, bulldozing churches, persecuting all religious minorities and trampling free speech and human rights against their own citizens. "NBC Say No To The 'Genocide Games'" is part of a march larger global campaign of human rights organizations, politicians, activists and international leaders calling for the boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Here is a link to a news article of 180 worldwide human rights groups urging a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics: https://thehill.com/policy/international/537363-180-human-rights-groups-urging-boycott-of-beijing-olympic-games. Lead Organizer Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C., has been an outspoken critic of the human rights abuses in China for over 40 years. In 2008, he was involved in an effort to boycott the Beijing Summer Olympics and was arrested in Tiananmen Square (pictured above) during the Olympics speaking out for human rights. He was threatened with six months in prison and is currently banned from China. Rev. Mahoney states; "It would be unconscionable for NBC to broadcast the Beijing Olympic Games while China is committing genocide against the Uyghrus, oppressing Hong Kong, bulldozing churches, persecuting religious minorities and crushing free speech and human rights against their own citizens. "We call upon NBC not to give the Chinese Communist Party an international propaganda platform before billions of people worldwide for a China that does not exist. The 'real China' is one that the government would never allow NBC to broadcast. That is, a country where Uyghurs are living in concentration and forced labor camps, Hong Kong democracy leaders are sitting in prison with no bail, Christian Churches are bulldozed, political and religious dissidents are daily being brutalized and persecuted and so many more atrocities. "Simply stated, 'NBC Say No To The Beijing Genocide Games.'" Kris Keating, President of Bright Mercy, adds; "Hosting the Olympics is an honor that is endorsed by those countries that participate. In 1980, the United States stood on principle and boycotted the Olympic Games hosted in the Soviet Union. As China refuses to cease the oppression and genocide of minorities, I ask that the United States again stand against tyranny and oppression by boycotting the Olympic Games in China. "This is an unprecedented opportunity to hold China to a higher and better standard for safeguarding human rights for people in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The United States government must also be an advocate for a return to democracy in Hong Kong. We must loudly urge against any compromises with respect to the human rights abuses occurring under Chinese authority." For more information or interviews call: Rev. Patrick Mahoney at 540.538.4741 SOURCE Christian Defense Coalition CONTACT: Rev. Patrick Mahoney, 540-538-4741 Share Tweet .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE Thursdays Santa Fe School Board meeting turned emotional as board members thanked Superintendent Veronica Garcia, who earlier this week announced her intention to retire in June. I dont know how Im going to do this job without you, because Ive never done this job without you, board President Kate Noble said. We will all have to work a lot harder. Attention soon shifted to the process for selecting Garcias replacement, something board members said they want to move on quickly. Noble noted that around 20 districts across the state will be searching for a new superintendent for the next school year and that moving fast means the district will have greater access to quality candidates. She also said she would prefer somebody already in the area. We have a lot of local talent, and I think that we need to look rather close to home, first and foremost, she said. Board member Sarah Boses said she would prefer not to hire an interim superintendent, and others agreed. Tony Ortiz, attorney for the school district, said they could hire a superintendent before Garcia leaves on June 30 so that theres a transition period while Garcia is still around. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The board held an executive session to discuss possible candidates for the position. When asked Monday if there was somebody she had in mind as a replacement, Garcia said its the boards choice, but that the district has several qualified people who can do the job. Garcia had two years left on her five-year contract, but said running the district the past year upended in many ways by the COVID-19 pandemic had taken its toll on her. This year, with the pandemic and everything that were dealing with, I got out of balance, she said. Its been a week of tears. This has been a labor of love. Garcias 48-year career in education included two stints as superintendent in Santa Fe, totalling eight years. She left the job the first time in 2002 to become the states first secretary of education, a new Cabinet position established under then-Gov. Bill Richardson. WB elections 2021: TMC delegation meets EC, demands high-level probe into 'attack' on Mamata Banerjee India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 12: A TMC delegation met the Election Commission (EC) on Friday and demanded a high-level probe into an alleged attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram while claiming that it was not an "unfortunate incident", but a conspiracy. The six-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) met the full EC team, including Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora, for over an hour and submitted a memorandum to it, highlighting how BJP leaders in West Bengal had threatened the chief minister through tweets and other remarks. "Injuries to Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram were not a result of an unfortunate incident but that of a conspiracy. The events leading up to the attempt on her life leave no doubt that the attack was part of a deep-rooted conspiracy," TMC MP Saugata Roy told reporters after meeting the EC. No question of competition says Suvendu Adhikari in open challenge to Mamata In the memorandum, the TMC has made allegations against Suvendu Adhikari, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Nandigram in the upcoming state Assembly polls. "When an attempt was made on the life of Ms Banerjee, in which she was grievously hurt, to cover up the attack, eye-witnesses were planted, illustratively, eye-witnesses Chittaranjan Das and Debabrata Das, who testified that Ms Banerjee's car was hit against an iron pillar, are associates of Suvendu Adhikari, BJP candidate from Nandigram," the memorandum says. The party said the BJP's state president Dilip Ghosh had uploaded a caricature depicting that she would be hit at Nandigram. Around the same time, numerous complaints were filed by the saffron party with the EC seeking immediate removal of the then police chief and IGP of West Bengal, it said. 'Attack' on Mamata: Bengal CM stable, responding well to treatment, says hospital The TMC also gave similar instances of other leaders. "There is a clear nexus between the post by Dilip Ghosh on Facebook, multiple complaints seeking removal of DGP, the unilateral decision of the ECI to remove the erstwhile (police chief), the plan revealed by Saumitra Khan on Twitter, BJP's request to suspend/remove security personnel of Ms Banerjee, the resultant attempt on the life of Ms Banerjee and the cover-up of the same by Adhikari," the memorandum said. After a delegation of TMC leaders met EC officials in Bengal, the poll body on Thursday sent a strongly-worded letter to the party on its memorandum over injuries to Banerjee during the campaign, saying it looks "undignified to even respond" to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a "particular party". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 17:12 [IST] In a joint statement, New York representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman have called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign. The lawmakers said that the allegations of sexual assault and harassment against the New York governor were consistent and highly detailed, and that the latest report being so recent is alarming raising concerns for the well-being of administration staff. In addition, the pair cited the allegations that the Cuomo administration hid data relating to Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes from the public and state legislature. Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney Generals investigation finding the Governors admin hid nursing home data from the legislature & public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign. Both Ms Ocasio-Cortex and Mr Bowman represent parts of the Bronx in New York City in Congress. Mr Bowman is in his first term, Ms Ocasio-Cortez her second, and both are considered part of a new generation of progressive Democrats in Congress. The statement says: As members of the New York delegation to the US House of Representatives, we believe these women, we believe the reporting, we believe the Attorney General, and we believe the fifty-five members of the New York state legislature, including the State Senate Majority Leader, who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges. New York congressman Jerrold Nadler released a separate statement on Friday morning also calling for the governor to resign, saying he stands with the individuals who came forward. Not all Democrats agree with the calls to resign, with many stressing the need for due process, arguing it is necessary not just for the governor, but also his accusers, who deserve to be heard. In Washington, DC, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, also of New York, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi released statements withholding judgment and calling for an organised investigation. In his statement, Mr Nadler says that Mr Cuomo is guaranteed due process under law, and the criminal investigations underway must run their course before any liability is assigned. However, he says: There is a difference between formal investigations that may end in criminal charges and a question of confidence in our political leadership. Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York. Governor Cuomo must resign. New York lawmakers in the state capital Albany have taken the first step in impeaching Mr Cuomo. The New York Assembly speaker authorised the opening of an impeachment investigation into the embattled governor, who has been accused by at least six women. Speaker Carl Heastie said that the Assemblys Judiciary Committee will look into the allegations made against Mr Cuomo, as well as claims of a cover-up of nursing home deaths during the pandemic. Mr Heastie said the investigation will be led by chairman Charles Lavine. 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. Often, actors have been limited by their names. Actor James Roday Rodriguez, of Psych fame, recently re-adopted his surname, Rodriguez, thanks to Hollywoods changing standards. Rodriguez claims that when he began his career, he wasnt getting the parts he wanted because of his Hispanic surname. That was once a common theme in Hollywood. Martin and Charlie Sheen both changed their names to fit in to Hollywood. But some actors eschew the traditional Hollywood naming conventions. Actors like Chiwetel Ejiofor arent about to change their names, and alter their histories, just to suit producers. Chiwetel Ejiofor has had a very successful career Chiwetel Ejiofor | Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Global Citizen RELATED: Love Actually: 1 Pairing From the Holiday Movie Resembles a Very Famous Royal Couple From Love Actually to the Marvel Universe, Ejiofor is no stranger to hit movies. Hes been in the acting biz since the 1990s. Even before he made a name for himself, he knew he would be acting forever. According to an interview with The Guardian, Ejiofor has found life in theatre. Without it, I simply would not be. My life would be so radically different from everything Ive experienced and everything thats brought me an amazing amount of joy. Ejiofor played Peter in Love Actually, the husband of Keira Knightleys character. He rocked the role, as he always does. Although Love Actually is a fan favorite, his most notable work is probably 12 Years a Slave. He starred in the movie and won a well-deserved Academy Award nomination for his work. Now, hes part of the ever growing Marvel Universe, which is basically guaranteed work for any actor. He played Mordo in Doctor Strange, and hes currently filming the sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The English actor has amassed an impressive net worth for all his hard work. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he has a fortune of around $12 million. Still, he wont take on just any role just for the cash. He told the Guardian that You cant really play a part thats not in you. Chiwetel Ejiofors name is easy to pronounce RELATED: Love Actually: Keira Knightley Admits Juliets Hat Was Hiding Something From Fans Although Ejiofors name may not be common in Western vernacular, it isnt that difficult to pronounce. In fact, his first name is pretty phonetic. He pronounces it chew-it-tell, which is pretty much how it is written. As for the last name, Ejiofor is pronounced edge-e-oh-four. Not that far from the phonetic English pronunciation. Although fans may be intimidated by a name theyve never seen before, Ejiofors Nigerian name is actually written in a way that should be easy for English speakers to pronounce. Chiwetel Ejiofor is an Igbo name. The Ibo language of Nigeria had no written component until after colonialism. That means that the written component of the language used a Western alphabet to re-create Igbo sounds, making the written language easy to pronounce for those who read and speak English. Despite having an unconventional name, Chiwetel Ejiofor doesnt think about it that often RELATED: Heres What The Lion King Cast Says About Working With Beyonce Ejiofors name has a beautiful meaning. According to his interview with the Guardian, it means God Brings in Igbo. The Igbo people have a history of meaningful names. Ejiofor says that The names are always deeply connected to something. Theres a name I mentioned in a film once, Obianuju. It means to come into a place where there is plenty. Theres something so beautiful, poetic and hopeful about parents naming their child that. As for himself, Ejiofor doesnt think about his name often, but when he does, he likes the meaning. According to Ejiofor, I dont think about it much, but I enjoy that tradition. When we made Half of a Yellow Sun, the entire cast and crew, who were mostly Nigerian, stood together in the hotel lobby in Lagos on the first day. Everybody said their names and what they meant. It was powerful. When in doubt, turn to Jim Halpert. On Wednesday, Austin Mayor Steve Adler responded to the lawsuit threat from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with not only a statement but a tweet that included a GIF from the iconic show "The Office." In the tweet, Adler said, "From the people who brought you no water and electricity: no masks." The GIF featured showed a clip of Jim Halpert blowing air into frenemie Dwight Schrute's face. The tweet came after Paxton threatened to sue Austin health and local officials for defying Gov. Greg Abbott's mask order. Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott released a public health mandate Tuesday that ordered residents to still wear face-coverings. RELATED: Texas AG is threatening to sue Austin heath officials for enforcing face masks Escott issued the order but didn't announce how they'll enforce it, as Abbott's order explicitly says that no jurisdiction can impose jail time or other penalties for not wearing a mask. In the release, it only states complaints about non-compliance should be referred to 3-1-1 (512-974-2000). According to an existing acting order by Escott, noncompliance could result in a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,000. The order has been in place since July. Not long after, Paxton tweeted that health authorities and officials have until 6 p.m. to rescind its mask mandate or he will sue them on behalf of the State of Texas. Paxton said in his statement to Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown that the officials and their health authorities have no jurisdiction to threaten fines for non-compliance. He noted if they go to court, they will lose. READ ALSO: Mask on: Restaurants and shops in San Antonio that are keeping mask requirements In Adler's statement, he said he and Judge Brown will fight Abbott and Paxton's assault against doctors and data for as long as they possibly can. He noted they will continue to back any existing public health orders to help slow the spread in the county. "The Governor's order and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to end mask mandates creates ambiguity about masks where none should exist," he stated. "I believe leaders need to be clear and unambiguous in their communications and messaging about masking. Masks work! The Governor and Attorney General are simply wrong." Austin City Council Member Gregorio Casar also tweeted on the matter, stating "We'll see you in court" to Paxton. So far, as of Thursday morning, Paxton hasn't responded on social media to the response from Austin leaders. Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre Cherry is now streaming on Apple TV+. It stars Tom Holland as an Iraq war veteran committing a string of bank robberies to help fund a drug habit. The original novel that the film is based on was a semi-autobiographical work for author Nico Walker, so despite a few artistic liberties, the motions of the story mirror those of his own life. Both the novel and the film adaptation of Cherry end on something of an ambiguous note. Nevertheless, many viewers who check the film out this weekend might be curious: did Walker end up in jail and is he still there? [Spoilers for the ending of Cherry ahead.] Tom Holland as the title character in Apples Cherry. | Apple Cherry is available exclusively on Apple TV+ RELATED: Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo in Cherry Movie Review: Bank Withdrawal Cherry ends in much the same way that the novel does: with the unnamed protagonist known only as Cherry (Holland) taking one last hit of opioids in the middle of an intersection. Just before this, having decided to turn himself for his string of bank robberies, Cherry confesses his crimes and urges a bank teller to call the police on him. The way the film ends, its left a mystery as to whether the protagonist makes it to jail or if the last big hit kills him as cops put the cuffs on. In real life, however, Walker did go to prison. He was arrested in April of 2011 and later plead guilty to charges related to his string of 10 bank robberies. In 2012, he was sentenced to serve 11 years in prison, which would have seen him released in 2023. However, in 2019, one year after Cherry was published to widespread literary acclaim, Walker was released from prison early. According to The Observer, this was so that he could help take care of his terminally ill mother. Walker wrote Cherry while still behind bars. After his story was featured in a Buzzfeed profile from 2013, he was contacted by a publisher who encouraged him to tell his story. The process of finishing the book took Walker around four years. Where is Walker today? RELATED: Cherry: Tom Holland on What He Couldnt Prepare for Going in Walker now lives in Oxford, Mississippi, and is in a long-term relationship with fellow writer and poet, Rachel Rabbit White. According to an interview with Distractify, the couple is planning to have a wedding once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. Walker is also working on his second novel, still using the same typewriter he wrote Cherry on in prison. Appropriately enough, White said that the book is set in prison and has a surprising sense of humor. I know it sounds strange to describe a book about prison as funny but its hilarious, she told Distractify. Cherry has remained a successful novel in the years since its release and will likely remain so for a little while longer off the buzz of the film adaptation. According to NPR, Walker has put aside a portion of the books sales to start paying back the banks he robbed in his past life. For over twenty years, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have been at odds over the mid-Caspian oil and gas field that the former called Kepez (often rendered Kyapaz from the Russian) and that the latter called Sardar. In late 2020, they agreed to rename it Dostlug/Dostluk, meaning Friendship in their Turkic languages. On January 21, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreeing on the terms for their joint exploration and development of the field. This agreement removes the last obstacle to the construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCGP). BACKGROUND: The first TCGP proposal arose in the late 1990s, as Azerbaijan was exploring its now-developed offshore Shah Deniz deposit. In the very beginning, BP actually expected to find mainly oil in Shah Deniz with gas condensate as a more minor product. It was therefore considered necessary to incorporate gas from Turkmenistan into the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline (now usually called the South Caucasus Pipeline, SCP). It was originally planned that 30 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/y) of gas would flow through two 15 bcm/y strings from Turkmenistan into Turkey. Turkey would have acquired 16 bcm/y for domestic consumption and the other 14 bcm/y would have been re-exported to Europe for hard currency to be remitted to Turkmenistan. In the event, it turned out that Shah Deniz was the second largest gas-and-condensate deposit that BP had ever developed up until then. The first estimate put the total volume of surveyed reserves at between 700 billion cubic meters and 1 trillion cubic meters. In mid-February 2000, Turkmenistans President Saparmurat Niyazov rejected a proposal for his country and Azerbaijan to split the 30 bcm/y volume more or less equally. As talks over the TCGP were failing, in part due to Russias success in persuading Turkey to buy gas through the Blue Stream pipeline project under the Black Sea, BP announced plans to develop the Shah Deniz strike and pipe the gas from it to Turkey according to a timetable not very different from that for the TCGP. The TCGP project was revived in the mid- and late 2000s, in connection with the Nabucco pipeline project. The EU had adopted the principle of complementarity at its May 2009 Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) summit, meaning that the Nabucco project company should work together and avoid competition with the simultaneously projected White Stream project. (This was at a time when the SGC was defined as Nabucco plus White Stream plus the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy, ITGI.) However, the head of the Nabucco consortium soon made it clear that he would prefer to build a second Nabucco pipeline along the same route, rather than work with White Stream. In retrospect, it is clear that the Nabucco project sponsors intended for it to complement Nord Stream and South Stream, rather than to complement White Stream. In the end, the consortium developing Azerbaijans offshore Shah Deniz deposit, led by BP, indicated a preference against Nabucco and for the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP). The Nabucco consortium then submitted a proposal for a Nabucco-West variant that would have taken the gas from Turkeys western border through into Europe. In June 2013, however, the Shah Deniz consortium announced its choice for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline over both Nabucco-West and the ITGI, effectively ending both of these projects. IMPLICATIONS: The second TCGP project innovated the two entry-points to Europe plan, according to which the first 15 bcm/y string takes Turkmenistans gas under the Caspian Sea into the SGC, landing in Italy. In the present (third) incarnation, the second string takes another 15 bcm/y of Turkmenistans gas across Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Black Sea coast, landing in Romania via the White Stream pipeline. A dozen years ago, the project foresaw a possible first landfall in Ukraine; but the technology has since then developed to the point where a single gas-compressor station on the Georgian coast can do the job. The results of the Second Karabakh War have eliminated any possible threat by Armenia to the Ganja Gap corridor from Azerbaijan to Georgia, through which pipelines and other communications already pass. Moreover, the TCGPs first string could improve Armenias energy security by giving it the opportunity to buy gas from Turkmenistan. A major Turkish energy company is already looking into the possibility of constructing a pipeline through southern Armenia, from Azerbaijan proper to its Nakhchivan exclave and through to Turkey itself, in order to carry gas from the TCGPs first string on to Europe. Otherwise, the TCGP can traverse the secure and already proven Azerbaijan-Georgia corridor. This configuration of the project has been under active development for several years. The European Commission has indicated its interest by putting it on the List of Projects of Common Interest of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA). Thus, the new MoU between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in January over the mid-Caspian oil field is far from a sudden development. On August 17, 2017, the two sides signed an MoU formally agreeing, at the head-of-state level, that they would cooperate on the transit of Turkmen gas in the European direction. Talks leading to the new agreement on the Dostlug/Dostluk field have been under way since then. The new agreement also follows the August 2018 signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian (Aktau Treaty), which guarantees that no Caspian littoral state can veto any pipeline that two other states wish to construct between themselves, such as the TCGP between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. In addition, the US Government has at its fingertips a new instrumentality for direct and tangible support. This instrumentality is the European Energy Security and Diversification Act of 2019, which became law in December 2019, as Title XX of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. The TCGP satisfies all project eligibility and project preference criteria for U.S. Government support as identified in this Act. This provides for funding from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC, the modernized Overseas Private Investment Corporation). Moreover, the Trade and Development Agency (TDA) can promote U.S. private sector participation by providing opportunities for the use of U.S. exports. The Countering Russian Influence Fund (CRIF) is authorized to support other U.S. agencies that may provide assistance under the Act itself. This Act thus gives the U.S. Government the authority and the means to offer technical development, debt and equity financing, and other instruments to realize the TCGP project. The TCGP can satisfy the EUs energy requirements without contravening the principles of the European Green Deal, because it can be designed to be hydrogen-ready. Along with TCGPs complementary second string, the White Stream pipeline under the Black Sea from Georgia to Romania, it would go beyond merely enhancing the EUs security of supply. White Stream would bring competitively priced gas from new sources to the Austrian hub at Baumgarten via the lowest-cost transportation routes, by feeding the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (BRUA) pipeline as well as other connectors. It would thereby enhance sustainability, increase competition, augment market integration, and facilitate the deployment of renewable energy sources at larger scales. The new realities in the South Caucasus and Caspian Sea regions provide significant potential to supply blue hydrogen to the EU. CONCLUSIONS: All four conditions are now in place for the TCGPs construction. First, there is a dedicated source of gas. Turkmenistan has huge gas reserves that are already developed but are shut in, awaiting a buyer. Its internal East-West Pipeline, running from those gas fields in the east of the country to the Caspian Sea border, was finished several years ago and is capped, awaiting connection to the TCGP. Second, the TCGP project promoter company has a viable business plan supported by the European Commissions INEA. Third, the pipeline is economically viable and superior over the alternatives. In particular, Turkmenistan is the only available non-Russian source of natural gas (and of blue hydrogen) that has the potential to make the EUs energy transition more efficient and less expensive, while at the same time enhancing the security of supply. Moreover, Turkmenistan is Europes only source for gas that is not linked to world prices while being deliverable in quantities sufficient to affect Russias market dominance, with production and delivery costs comparable to Russian gas (or lower), and in addition able to compete with hydrogen that Russia says it wishes to supply to the EU. The fourth condition now in place is that the TCGP project has the necessary political support as described above. AUTHOR'S BIO: Robert M. Cutler is a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Image Source: Public Domain. Accessed 3.12.2021 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. UTICA, N.Y. New York State has awarded $13 million in grants to environmentally conscious housing projects, and $1 million of that will go toward the Johnson Park Green Community Apartments in Utica. The grants are part of the states efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The new complex will consist of three buildings containing townhomes for vulnerable populations making below the area median income. The apartments will be all electric, use air source heat pump heating, CO2 heat pumps, electric dryers and induction cooktops. The grant funding was awarded through the second round of the states Buildings of Excellence competition, which provides funding for the design, construction and operation of low-carbon or carbon neutral multi-family buildings. SAN ANTONIO, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, CPS Energy filed suit against the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in Bexar County District Court to protect its customers from excessive, illegitimate and illegal prices. "CPS Energy is taking this action to defend its customers. Those who suffered the consequences of ERCOT's failure must not be victimized by one of the largest illegal transfers of wealth in the history of Texas, too," said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. "Ensuring the fair treatment of customers and preventing them from additional harm by outrageous, excessive charges is essential, and we are fighting to achieve that goal." "We are fighting to protect our customers from the financial impacts of the systemic failure of the ERCOT market and the outrageous and unlawful costs associated with that failure," said Paula Gold-Williams, President & CEO of CPS Energy. "During a state declared disaster, ERCOT ran up $20 billion in charges for 5 days of energy supply due to its lack of oversight, preparedness, and failure to follow its own protocols. That is a huge amount of money and it's incredibly important we continue to fight for our customers to bring those bills down." As part of its investigation into the February Storm, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas' Independent Market Monitor concluded that ERCOT made critical mistakes that resulted in erroneous electricity overcharges, and recommended the charges be reversed. The Independent Market Monitor also said ERCOT exceeded the mandate of the PUC by continuing to set high prices long after the load shed. As always, CPS Energy has and will continue to pay all lawful, legitimate charges for electricity. However, CPS Energy is also an energy supplier to ERCOT, which has failed to pay the community utility what it is owed under its market agreement. In today's petition, the utility is asking the Court to take action to prevent harm to CPS Energy and its customers. CPS Energy has brought action against ERCOT, for among other things, breach of contract, negligence, and violation of the Texas Constitution, and has petitioned the Court to prevent ERCOT from: Charging excessive prices to CPS Energy and its customers in violation of the Texas Constitution; Overcharging market participants like CPS Energy and its customers for the failures of others; and Any effort to wrongfully declare CPS Energy in default. When available, a copy of the filing can be found on the company's website. CPS Energy will also provide relevant updates, as major developments occur. Previous updates about how CPS Energy is working to protect customers can be found here: March 2, 2021 Update March 5, 2021 Update CPS Energy and the Texas Electric Market About CPS Energy Established in 1860, CPS Energy is the nation's largest public power, natural gas, and electric company, providing safe, reliable, and competitively-priced service to 860,934 electric and 358,495 natural gas customers in San Antonio and portions of seven adjoining counties. Our customers' combined energy bills rank among the lowest of the nation's 20 largest cities while generating $8 billion in revenue for the City of San Antonio for more than seven decades. As a trusted and strong community partner, we continuously focus on job creation, economic development, and educational investment. True to our People First philosophy, we are powered by our skilled workforce, whose commitment to the community is demonstrated through our employees' volunteerism in giving back to our city and programs aimed at bringing value to our customers. CPS Energy is among the top public power wind energy buyers in the nation and number one in Texas for solar generation. SOURCE CPS Energy Related Links www.cpsenergy.com Facebook Inc., on March 11, said that it would now allow content creators to earn money from short-form videos via advertisements. Previously, Facebook allowed creators to earn advertising revenues from videos that were a minimum of three minutes. The latest announcement comes as the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm faces tough competition from Snapchat and Twitter, both of which recently announced lucrative rewards for online content creators. "We want them to have the tools and support they need to earn money and thrive, whether creating and sharing content is a primary business, one of many revenue streams, or a lifeline thats kept their business afloat during the pandemic," the company said in an online statement. Detailing its plan in a blog post, the social media giant said that creators could now earn ad revenue from the video as short as one minute. Additionally, it also revealed that Facebook was, presently, testing ads that look like stickers which could be used by creators in their Facebook stories to earn money. As per the update, more creators can now qualify to earn ad revenue from live-streaming videos on Facebook, previously an invite-only program. "Video creators can now earn money from videos as short as one minute long, with a minimally interruptive ad running at 30 seconds. For videos three minutes or longer, an ad can be shown 45 seconds in. Previously only three-minute or longer videos could monetize with in-stream ads, with an ad shown no earlier than 1 minute." 'Facebook stars' Additionally, the California-based firm said that this would give away $7 million in what is termed as Facebook stars to users. These special stars could then be used by Facebookers to tip their favorite creators during Facebook Lives. Earlier, Snapchat announced that it was paying a whopping amount of $1 million per day to creators making viral videos. In a similar move, Twitter also announced the launch of the Super Follower feature allowing creators to charge users for exclusive content. Facebook stars, image: Facebook Meanwhile, in another attempt to promote creativity, Facebook recently launched a new app for people to aspire to become rappers. The App is called BARS and is under a closed beta right now. Read on know what is Facebook BARS. Facebook has come up with an app that lets amateur rappers and aspiring rap artists flex their creative muscles. The new app is called BARS. The app is available on iOS devices under a closed beta and the core function of this app is to allow aspiring rappers to come up with their own beats and sounds with a little bit of help from the app. The app will also serve as a platform to browse different rap videos from creators. Kaley Cuoco is shedding her Big Bang Theory persona and stepping into her own as a critically acclaimed star of the small screen. The 35-year-old award-winner will play screen icon Doris Day in an upcoming limited series in development at Warner Bros. television, according to a new Deadline report on Friday. Cuoco received critical acclaim for her most recent starring role in HBOMax's The Flight Attendant, which she also developed and produced, and will work with the same production team on the Doris Day project. Legendary: Kaley Cuoco, 35, will play screen icon Doris Day in an upcoming limited series in development at Warner Bros. television, according to a new Deadline report on Friday The actress' company Yes, Norman Productions is re-teaming with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television on an adaptation of the Doris Day biography penned by A.E. Hotchner titled Doris Day: Her Own Story. At the moment no network is attached to the series, Deadline reported. It stands to reason, however, that the limited series could find a home on HBOMax since the streaming platform staked claim to Cuoco's The Flight Attendant as well as her upcoming adult animated series Harley Quinn. Hotchner's book, which was written back in the 70's about the actresses life, serves as the source material for the Doris Day project. Officially sanctioned by Day herself, the star sat with the author for a series of interviews that we used to pen the finished product. On screen: The limited series is based on the official Doris Day biography penned by A.E. Hotchner titled Doris Day: Her Own Story and currently has no network attached Proven success: The actress' company, Yes, Norman Productions, will team up again with the producers behind The Flight Attendant for the upcoming project Doris Day, born Doris Marianne von Kappelhoff, rose to fame as movie star back in the 1950s and 60s becoming one of Hollywood's most in demand actresses. Her career spanned two decades and during that time she completed an astonishing 39 films. Her classic films include Pillow Talk, Love Me or Leave Me, Romance on the High Seas and Calamity Jane. Her songs Sentimental Journey, Secret Love and Que Sera Sera have all been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Her public and on-screen persona was as wholesome as it comes however her personal life was marred with drama, particularly when it came to romance. Leading lady: Doris Day, born Doris Marianne von Kappelhoff, rose to fame as movie star back in the 1950s and 60s becoming one of Hollywood's most in demand actresses with a career spanning two decades and 39 films Well known: Her classic films include Pillow Talk, Love Me or Leave Me, Romance on the High Seas and Calamity Jane and her songs Sentimental Journey, Secret Love and Que Sera Sera have all been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame The actress was married four times but had only one son, Terry Melcher, who died in 2004 after losing a battle with melanoma. All of her marriages collapsed; her first husband beat her, the second left her, the third squandered her fortune and her fourth felt overlooked by her for her dogs. She also struggled with mental health issues. At the height of her career in the 1950s, the blonde beauty suffered a bout of mental illness. It is likely that Cuoco's role as the actress will cover some of her darker times. In the biography that is being used as the source material for the series, Day went into to detail about her failed marriages. Candid: The source material from the limited series is Hotchner's biography from 1976 which was written based on a series of interviews given by the actress who had left Hollywood by then to focus on her animal activism She penned that her first husband beat her when she was pregnant, her second left her because he knew she would become a star and 'didn't want to become Mr. Doris Day', and her third controlled her social life and career then died, leaving her in debt and forced to return to work. 'I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-Shoes, Americas Virgin, and all that, so Im afraid its going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together,' she said in the book. Elsewhere, she wrote: 'My public image is unshakably that of America's wholesome virgin, the girl next door, carefree and brimming with happiness, an image, I can assure you, more make-believe than any film part I ever played. Dark times: Day's public and on-screen persona was as wholesome as it comes however her personal life was marred with drama, particularly when it came to romance, which she discussed in her biography 'But I am Miss Chastity Belt and that's all there is to it.' Doris died at her home in Carmel Valley, California in 2019 at the age of 97 from pneumonia. Her passing was announced through her charity The Doris Day Animal Foundation. The foundation said in a statement that she was surrounded by close friends and 'had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia.' The charity also revealed that 'her wishes were that she have no funeral or memorial service and no grave marker.' Instead, she wanted fans to donate to the charity she founded to save animals. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Pictured: Feminist writer Clementine Ford Feminist writer Clementine Ford has sparked fierce debate online with an impassioned post about male violence in the wake of Sarah Everard's murder. Ms Everard vanished while walking home from a friend's flat in south London on March 3, with her suspected kidnap and murder prompting anger across the world over women's safety on the streets. Ms Ford, who said her thoughts were with her UK followers, declared there is 'no where' safe for women and that 'misogyny is real' in an expletive-laden post on Thursday night. 'Men are the single biggest threat to women's lives. Not alcohol. Not short skirts. Not being out alone,' she wrote. 'F*** to f***ing f*** anyone who ever wants to #notallmen this s***. 'I don't give a F*** that it's not all of them - it's enough that women can literally never feel safe.' Sarah Everard vanished in south London on the night of March 3. A police officer in London's diplomatic protection force was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder following her disappearance Ms Ford's urgent address was commended by hundreds of followers, who agreed with her frustrations - but some commenters appeared to completely miss the 40-year-old's point. Vile trolls slammed Ms Ford over her 'not all men' argument, writing that her heartfelt activism was not helping the cause. 'This narrative completely falls apart when someone points out the inconvenient fact that men are actually twice as likely as women to be victims of violent crime,' one troll wrote. 'And if you want to blame an entire gender for perpetrating it, you may be opening up a demographic can of worms.' Another person commented: 'I'm one man. This does not represent me. All men I know, this does not represent them. I'm not an evil, harassing predator person. I am a human being.' 'I feel attacked by these words. I am a good man. A friend. A father. Please can we not all be kind.' Ms Ford declared there is 'no where' safe for women and that 'misogyny is real' in an expletive-laden post on Thursday night A woman also took offence at Ms Ford's words. 'NO TRUE! You are causing UNTRUTHS AND CAUSING MUCH MORE HARM THAN GOOD,' she wrote. 'Stop and re-think! The MAJORITY of men are decent human beings! 'CLEMENTINE YOU ARE CAUSING MUCH DAMAGE PLEASE STOP AND RECONSIDER!' Ms Ford's Facebook post has more than 9,000 likes and has been shared over 1,000 times. 'I'm devastated and enraged for you all,' Ms Ford concluded the post. 'If men aren't with us, they're against us. There is no room for passive bystanders. They can fall in line or get the f*** out of the way.' Vile trolls slammed Ms Ford over her 'not all men' argument, writing that her heartfelt activism was not helping the cause Ms Ford's post comes as thousands of women prepare to march around the country on Monday, following allegations of sexual assault by members of Parliament. The March 4 Justice rallies will be held in each major city, with attendees encouraged to dress in black and display posters. Activists are calling for a full police investigation into the recent sexual assault allegations and alleged misconduct by Parliament members and staff, as well as an independent review of gendered violence in Australia's Parliaments. The protesters are also asking for the implementation of strategies across the country that would enact cultural change in the workplace. The March 4 Justice Facebook page description reads: 'Women have been struggling for our rights alone for too long, and enough is enough. 'We believe by being inclusive and all genders working together, we can achieve more.' A serving police officer remains in custody after being detained on suspicion of Ms Everard's murder and kidnap, and a separate allegation of indecent exposure. Ms Ford's urgent address was commended by hundreds of followers, who agreed with her frustrations - but some commenters appeared to completely miss the 40-year-old's point Human remains which have not yet been identified were found in an area of woodland in Ashford, in Kent, on Wednesday. On Thursday night, Ms Everard's family released a statement describing her as a 'shining example to us all', and said she had 'brought so much joy to our lives'. They said: 'Our beautiful daughter Sarah was taken from us and we are appealing for any information that will help to solve this terrible crime. 'Sarah was bright and beautiful a wonderful daughter and sister. She was kind and thoughtful, caring and dependable. She always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humour. 'She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all. We are very proud of her and she brought so much joy to our lives. 'We would like to thank our friends and family for all their support during this awful time and we would especially like to thank Sarah's friends who are working tirelessly to help.' OTTAWA COUNTY, MI Police have recovered three of the firearms stolen when thieves smashed a stolen vehicle into the front of Bullet Hole Firearms and Training, Holland police said Friday. Police also have recovered the stolen vehicle was used to flee the area after the break-in early Thursday at the gun shop on South Waverly Road, just south of Chicago Drive. The getaway vehicle was found in Kentwood. The Ford Escape that was used to crash into the building had been stolen from Grand Rapids, police said. Holland police are working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, and area police agencies, on the investigation. Police have multiple leads on this case, Holland police said in a statement. Police Capt. Robert Buursma said 20 guns were stolen. The break-in happened just before 4 a.m. Thursday. Holland police and Ottawa County sheriffs deputies responded to an alarm but the burglars were gone. Surveillance video showed four people wearing masks enter the business. They are believed to be males. Police asked anyone with information to call Holland police at 355-1150 or email policetips@cityofholland.com or call Silent Observer 877-887-4536. Read more: Robbers crash vehicle into gun shop, steal firearms U.K. variant of COVID-19 found in Ottawa County young person Michigan vaccine expansion an exciting surprise to health departments Veteran advertising and marketing professional Anne Miles says she'd rather deal with physical abuse in the workplace than being made to feel she has 'no place in the world' by male managers. Miles spoke with Daily Mail Australia following the release of a new survey of more than 2,000 Australian women by LinkedIn that found seven out of 10 feel less entitled than men in the workplace. Pay, maternity leave and flexible working conditions were the key areas in which women have been conditioned to feel they have less opportunity and entitlement than men. Anne Miles career in advertising and marketing was marred by incidences of abuse Miles formed her company Suits&Sneakers to disrupt how the advertising, marketing and media industries employ talent, after a career in which she says she was subjected to 'every kind of abuse'. 'I was once presenting a campaign with a $1million budget and I heard them say, "bring the girlie in",' she said. 'During the presentation I said, "I can show you other options if youd like," and this guy says: "Show me your t**s instead." 'I tried to be funny about it and said, "thatll cost you extra".' Another time a colleague on a location photo-shoot entered her room and groped her. Miles also recounts the time a creative director rested his penis on her shoulder while she was on a phone call. 'Funnily enough, I would rather that than be treated like I dont exist,' said Miles. 'At least then I can say, 'f*** you, get it off".' Miles started a company which uses gender-neutral training to supply talent to her industry Miles believes there has been too much 'feminist activism' in workplaces, and not enough real change to improve how women work and are employed. 'We seem to have gotten nowhere,' she said. 'Whatever were doing is backfiring.' Miles said the results of the LinkedIn survey were 'disappointing'. 'Half of all women have never negotiated their pay when they started with a new employer,' she said. 'The pay gap is still horrendous.' Miles acknowledges not all women agree with her view that emotional abuse is more damaging to women than incidences of physical abuse. More than half the women in the survey had never negotiated pay when taking a new role 'I have this argument online a lot,' she said. 'Women still feel they have to act masculine to make their mark in the workplace, and that theres no place for femininity. 'Ive even fallen for it. In the 1990s I had the short buzzcut and I worked out a lot. I could do more push-ups than GI Jane, and I even wore a tie to work. I became very masculine. 'A woman shouldn't feel she has to be more masculine to be heard. 'Ive left every single job Ive had because of gender bias, no question. 'I left and it forced me to go sideways in my industry.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Gunmen on Friday attacked a school in Kaduna State, kidnapping some students. The attack on the Federal College of Forestry occurred in the early hours of Friday. The exact number of students kidnapped could not be ascertained at the time of this report. However, the spokesperson of the Kaduna police command, Mohammed Jalige, confirmed the attack and abduction to Channels Television. Mr Jalige said the number of students kidnapped could not be confirmed yet but the police have now secured the area. Mass kidnapping of students from schools is becoming a norm in Northern Nigeria. Similar kidnappings have occurred in states such as Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Borno, Yobe and Niger State. Details later Julio Cortez, Staff / HOUSTON CHRONICLE Chris Pappas, former CEO of Lubys Inc., has acquired a company-owned Fuddruckers that occupies a property near Memorial City Mall owned by an affiliate of his. The Fuddruckers on Town and Country Way has been an established part of the Memorial area for over 20 years, he said in a statement. As the property owner for this unit, we are excited to operate this location as a franchisee and have it join our family of restaurants. Disgraced former DUP mayor Thomas Hogg has avoided jail for a sexual offence involving a young boy. The 32-year-old ex-Antrim and Newtownabbey councillor was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years, after being convicted of inciting a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity. The north Belfast man was also ordered to pay 1,000 in compensation to his victim. Hogg denied the offence but was found guilty following a hearing at Belfast Magistrates Court in February. The former politician, who appeared at the same court via videolink from London, where he is now living and working, committed the offence at a dance on September 28, 2019. Sentencing Hogg at Belfast Magistrates Court, District Judge Peter Magill told him alcohol was no excuse for his behaviour. You said you were tipsy, though theres other evidence that would show you were perhaps more than that, he said. Be that as it may, drink is no excuse for what you did. What you did was to offer to perform a sexual act upon this boy and ask him to perform a similar act on you. That came completely as a shock to the boy. There had been no real contact between you before. Describing the matter as an incitement case, Mr Magill said: It is true to say that you did not go further when the boy vehemently rejected your suggestions. But he added that Hoggs decision to contest the matter meant he was not entitled to the credit that would otherwise accrue to those who plead guilty. Pointing out that the defendant was approximately twice the age of the young boy, who at the time was three months shy of his 16th birthday, Mr Magill said the offence had a deleterious effect on the victim. It has played upon his mind and has had a serious effect upon him, he told the court. He added that he wished to make absolutely clear the boy was utterly and absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing. Once a rising star in the DUP, Hogg had also been accused of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and of sexual communication with a child. These charges were withdrawn at a hearing last December. After he was convicted of drink-driving in May 2018, he was banned from the roads for 12 months and fined. He was suspended as a councillor for five months, and suspended by the DUP for eight months, as a result. Hogg was elected as a DUP councillor in 2011. Having served as Newtownabbey mayor on two occasions, including as the first mayor of the amalgamated super council, he was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2016 for services to local government. An Iranian state-owned company says one of its cargo vessels was targeted this week by what it called a "terrorist" attack in the Mediterranean Sea, state television reported on March 12. The report quoted Ali Ghiasian, spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines group (IRISL), as saying that the ship was en route from Iran to Europe when its hull was hit with an "explosive device" on March 10. Ghiasian said the blast set off a small fire that was quickly extinguished and that the ship, named Shahr-e Kord, would continue on its journey after assessing and repairing the damage. The report said there were no casualties in the blast. It did not blame anyone for the incident, which Ghiasian called a "terrorist action and an example of maritime piracy. Reuters quoted two maritime security sources as saying that initial indications were that the container ship had been intentionally targeted by an unknown source. The incident comes less than two weeks after Israel accused arch enemy Iran of being behind an attack on an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on February 25 -- a charge denied by Tehran. In a March 12 report quoting U.S. and regional officials, The Wall Street Journal said Israel had targeted at least a dozen vessels bound for Syria that were mostly carrying Iranian oil since late 2019. It said Israel had used weapons including "water mines" to target the ships. Israeli officials have not commented on the report, but Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the country will continue to fight against terrorism and everything that helps terrorism, including its sources of revenue. IRISL was blacklisted by the United States last year over what the State Department described as the transportation of items related to Iran's missile and nuclear programs. With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters 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 medic holds a vial of Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca that is used to be injected for medical staff at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Hanoi, March 8, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy. Vietnam will continue its AstraZeneca vaccine rollout because it has not yet recorded any case of blood clots as reported in some countries, a health official says. Over the last five days, a total of 1,600 medical staff and frontline workers in nine localities have received the first dose of the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish company in collaboration with Oxford University. There has not been a single case of blood clot reported so far following the administration, said Professor Dang Duc Anh, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and head of the national Expanded Program on Immunization. "Vietnam is still implementing the AstraZeneca vaccination campaign as planned and continues to monitor post-administration reactions," Anh told VnExpress. Nine European nations including Denmark, Iceland and Norway have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of severe cases of blood clots in people who have been injected with it, the AFP has reported. Thailand also followed the move, delaying its rollout program. However, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.K.s regulatory body have said that there is no indication that vaccination is linked to thromboembolic events. The vaccines benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing, the EMA said. As of March 10, 30 cases of thromboembolic events had been reported among the five million people given the AstraZeneca vaccine in the European Economic Area. In Vietnam, six of nearly 1,600 people who got the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine suffered from anaphylaxis and all are in stable conditions. Some others displayed expected symptoms like muscle pain, fatigue, fever, headache, chill, pain at the injection spot, and nausea. According to AstraZeneca, the vaccine is 76 percent effective, increasing to 81 percent after the second shot. Vietnam has ordered 30 million doses, and 117,600 arrived late last month. The country will receive another 4.1 million AstraZeneca doses through Covax by April. It is also negotiating with the U.S.s Pfizer and Moderna and other vaccine manufacturers in Russia and China. In the latest outbreak of community transmission that broke out on January 28, Vietnam has recorded 897 cases. Its easy to spend hours down the rabbit holes of the internet, particularly social media apps where algorithm-curated content is filtered just for you. And, some nights after work, Ill scroll for upwards of an hour on TikTok, a platform I joined in search of foolishness, high-quality sarcasm, and dark humor. As the app got to know me, I was soon being fed astrology skits, cleaning hacksand detailed historical information about racism in America. The last one was a bit shocking since TikTok broadly offers up viral dances or put a finger down challenges, and is generally perceived to be, as one colleague put it, an app for teenage nonsense. But the historical video segments were substantive and fascinating. Advertisement As with most things online, you have to take it with a grain of salt. Not everything checks out. But when I started following up on the video claims with my own research, things kept being substantiated, giving me new knowledgeor confirming my long-held hypothesesabout how racism functions in America. Advertisement Advertisement One nights scroll reminded me that Black babies were once used as alligator baityes, this was in accounts written at the timewhile others confirmed how racism dots the infrastructure we see daily. I learned about SeMarion Humphrey, a Black middle-schooler who was reportedly shot with a BB gun, made to drink what appeared to be urine, and called racist slurs by his classmates during a sleepover, days before I saw the story covered on national news. Advertisement A different video introduced me to Ibo Landing, a legend that 75 Igbo warriors died by mass suicide instead of being enslaved, and another to Yasuke, the first Black samurai. Another taught me about Mum Bett, the first Black woman to earn her legal freedom under the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. A fourth raised awareness about Mary Turner, a pregnant Black woman who was lynched in South Georgia, after a historical marker memorializing her was shot up and damaged by off-road vehicles. And the most fascinating was one about Sugar Hill, Los Angeles, the historically-rich epicenter of Black Hollywood in the 1940s, and the interstate that cut through it causing the loss of prominent real estate. One of my favorite accounts is @joelbervell, a medical student at Yale, who dedicates his account to investigating the role racism plays in how medicine is taught and practiced. Through his series Black Pioneers In Medicine, I learned: The inventor Mary Kenner designed the toilet paper roll and the sanitary belt, which revolutionized period care, while also securing more patents than any other Black woman in history; Dr. James McCune Smith was the first Black American to receive a medical degree, and he dedicated much of his work to fighting racist pseudoscience; an enslaved man named Onesimus shared knowledge that rubbing pus from a smallpox lesion onto an open wound in an uninfected person would prevent them from catching the disease (this set the stage for modern-day vaccination). Advertisement One video introduced me to the granny midwives who delivered babies across rural and poor communities in the South, providing necessary healthcare during segregation. In another, the Mothers of Gynecology were discussed, crediting the women on whom Dr. James Marion Sims experimented with the creation of modern gynecology. Freedom House Ambulance Service offered emergency medical care to Black communities in Pittsburgh and, eventually, became the blueprint for the public EMS care provided today. The apps algorithm has certainly pinpointed my penchant for learning. Beneath the hacks and fun, TikTok has proven itself to be a way to broadcast lesser-known information to more people. Americas history in regard to race and racism is vast, and its impossible to know everything. But I appreciate that the moments I use to breathe after work have become useful in another way. The Machinists Union is providing more than $61,000 to help a shipbuilder recover from a gruesome injury at Bath Iron Works. Garrett Bailey was injured on Jan. 23, and the contributions came from a collection from Machinists Local S6 and a GoFundME page set up by the union. The unwavering commitment to come to the aid of a union brother was shown by the immeasurable generosity of all who donated, Local S6 President Chris Wiers said in a statement. Bailey, a rigger, was critically injured when a hook attached to a crane hit him in the face. His injuries were extensive, said Tim Suitter, union spokesperson. Co-workers, safety personnel and shipyard and city emergency personnel responded to the injury. Shipyard spokesperson David Hench said it was inspiring to see Bailey progressing in his recovery. It has also been impressive to see how the BIW family has come together in support of a fellow shipbuilder, he said. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Funding Maine NEW BRUNSWICK (dpa-AFX) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Friday announced that World Health Organization has issued Emergency Use Listing for the company's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. Late stage study of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine was well tolerated and demonstrated a 67 percent reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 disease in participants who received the vaccine in comparison to participants given the placebo. The data also demonstrated the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied, and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death across countries with different variants, beginning 28 days after vaccination. 'From the beginning of the pandemic, we have worked to develop and deliver a vaccine that could protect the health of people everywhere, and today's milestone represents significant progress toward ensuring global access to our single-shot vaccine,' said Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Johnson & Johnson. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX JOHNSON & JOHNSON-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Tourists and local residents dance in the old town of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 11, 2018. (Photo/Xinhua) A think tank has claimed that China is running a campaign to discredit BBC. But wait, which think tank? The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) an institute infamous for churning out anti-China propaganda in Australia. On March 2, John Sudworth, a BBC producer, revealed the evidence of the Chinese government's "forced labor" and "forced migration" against people in Xinjiang. The so-called evidence turned out to be deliberately edited footage that Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television had published a few years ago. The BBC report had pulled up a video broadcast by CCTV in 2017 on how local officials in Pishan county of Hotan Prefecture in southern Xinjiang persuaded villagers to work in East China's Anhui Province. And by citing a professor, the BBC report interpreted the video as evidence of China's "system of coercion" to transfer ethnic minorities into factories far from their homes. After the BBC was caught in the lie, the Guardian, one of the BBC's cronies, tried to save the BBC's face by publishing a nonsensical article that claimed the Chinese government was running a campaign to discredit the broadcaster. Interestingly, all the loud accusations came from the self-proclaimed independent think tank - the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). ASPI is an infamous institution that has consistently fabricated reports on China, and is inundated with a strong ideological bias. ASPI's hostility toward China can be explained by its sources of funding, much of which reportedly comes from defence contractors and foreign governments. It was revealed that when the think tank was founded in 2001, it was funded by the Australian government through the Department of Defence. It "was taking nearly 440,000 Australian dollars (about 311,000 U.S. dollars) from the U.S. State Department to track Chinese research collaborations with Australian universities," according to an article by Myriam Robin carried by the Australian Financial Review (AFR), citing Kim Carr of the Labor Party of Australia. These tremendous benefits drove ASPI to forge a barrage of rumors against China. On numerous occasions, it has zealously served as a raucous mouthpiece for anti-China cliques in Australia and elsewhere in the West, constantly providing ammunition for the scare and smear campaign launched from Washington. An article on iTWire, an Australian IT and telecommunications news website, wrote, "ASPI runs a hawkish line on China in a bid to hype up the fear index and make it possible for its donors to sell more weapons to countries in the Asia-Pacific region." With studies full of ideology-driven and groundless lies, the academic credibility of ASPI has been severely damaged. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that with such strong ideological bias, the institute is spearheading anti-China forces, and its academic credibility has been seriously questioned. Bob Carr, former premier of New South Wales, said that ASPI pumps out a "one-sided, pro-American view of the world." It is ironic that the Guardian, a news agency that prides itself on independent journalism, would put so much value on such a spurious study as ironclad evidence to shake off the bad reputation of its mendacious peer, the BBC. The truth is that resorting to such a one-sided study only reduces the Guardians credibility. An ex-public schoolboy YouTuber has announced he is running for Mayor just months after he printed his CV on top of a car to try to get a job at the BBC. Max Fosh, 25, who boasts 375,000 subscribers on YouTube, has revealed he is running in the Mayor of London elections 'just to get more votes than Laurence Fox'. In a YouTube clip posted today, Mr Fosh held a bundle of documents and a cheque as he explained his name would be on the ballot alongside current mayor Sadiq Khan, Shaun Bailey, Mr Fox and 18 others. In December, Mr Fosh parked outside the BBC building with his car emblazoned with his CV and a QR code linking to a video pitch. After sharing the stunt on Twitter, many praised his 'initiative', but some users slammed the former Harrow student for the stunt for using his 'privilege' to try and get his dream job quickly. Max Fosh (pictured), 25, who boasts 375,000 subscribers on YouTube, has revealed he is running in the Mayor of London elections 'just to get more votes than Laurence Fox' Mr Fosh divided opinion after grabbing attention of BBC bosses by printing his CV on top of his car, in a bid to get his dream job as a Radio One presenter Elsewhere on Mr Fosh's channel, he became the first YouTuber to buy a roundabout when he paid 500 for a patch of grass, known as a 'verge for habitat', opposite Changing Rooms star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Gloucestershire manor house. In today's video Mr Fosh said: 'I would like to officially add my name to the ballot list for the next London Mayor just to get more votes than Lawrence Fox. 'Who do you think would win? A political party with 5million of backing or one YouTubey boy with a few hundred thousand subscribers.' Mr Fox, a 42-year-old actor who launched the Reclaim Party last year to fight the 'culture wars', last week vowed to 'offer a voice to those being dominated into silence' when he announced he was standing in the election. In a YouTube clip posted today Mr Fosh explained his name would be on the ballot alongside current mayor Sadiq Khan, Shaun Bailey, Mr Fox and 18 others On March 6, Laurence Fox (pictured) revealed he would stand against Sadiq Khan in the 2021 London mayoral elections, which will be held on May 6, and campaign to end lockdown for that same month Announcing his own plan to stand in the May 6 election, Mr Fosh said: 'London is my home. Its a great city. Its full of wonders. David Beckhams right foot. David Beckhams left foot for that matter. 'But why? Why do I want to run for Mayor of London. Well, historically theres always a posh bloke on the ballot so I thought Id fulfil that quota. 'But on this occasion Im not alone. A chum who went to the same school as me, albeit not at the same time, Laurence Fox, is also running to be London Mayor as part of his new political party, the Reclaim Party. 'Hes also got about 5million in backing. Both Laurence and I are as qualified as each other to be London Mayor. I think we both competed in the sixth form debating society.' Mr Fox (right), 42, will stand against Sadiq Khan (left) in the 2021 London mayoral elections, which will be held on May 6, and campaign to end lockdown for that same month People walk with banners during a demonstration in Oxford, England, to protest against coronavirus lockdown restrictions in December last year Mr Fosh walked slowly towards the camera along the embankment in central London as he added: 'But Laurence is running on a ticket thats all about your freedom to speak. Its a good policy. Speaking is important. 'So Im going to do a little bit of speaking now to say this. I would like to officially add my name to the ballot list for the next London Mayor just to get more votes than Laurence Fox. 'Who do you think would win? A political party with 5million of backing or one YouTubey boy with a few hundred thousand subscribers. Well, I guess well find out. See you on May 6 Lawrence.' On March 6, Mr Fox revealed he would stand against Sadiq Khan in the 2021 London mayoral elections, which will be held on May 6, and campaign to end lockdown for that same month. Mr Fox referred to the tearing down of statues as part of the Black Lives Matter movement and accused the London Mayor of attempting to 'strip us our our history' (pictured: the statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston falling into the water in Bristol) Currently, the last remaining lockdown rules in England are set to be lifted by June 21 under Boris Johnson's roadmap to the end of restrictions, but this is subject to change. Mr Fox's views on lifting lockdown come in stark contrast to that of Mr Khan, who previously urged the Prime Minister to ignore 'shouting and hectoring' from Conservative backbenchers and reject calls for a swift easing of national curbs. Mr Fox told The Telegraph: 'I am standing for London Mayor. With almost all older and vulnerable people having got their jab, I want the lockdown lifted straight away.' He added that, despite the Government saying vaccines are working with hospitalisations and deaths falling, people are still being told they cannot get back to normal until mid-summer at the earliest. His campaign will be completely funded by one donation from ex-political donor Jeremy Hosking, who ranked number 351 in the Sunday Times' 2019 Rich List. Writing for the paper, Mr Fox referred to the tearing down of statues as part of the Black Lives Matter movement and accused the London Mayor of attempting to 'strip us of our history', saying 'this extreme political correctness must be resisted'. The video Mr Fosh linked to via a QR code on his car saw him (pictured) and his actor flatmate Dan in a hired studio pitching a segment for the radio show called 'task life' The YouTuber parked outside the BBC building with his car emblazoned with both his CV, and a QR code linking to a video pitch The actor then announced he was a candidate to be the next Mayor of the capital city, adding: 'I look forward to speaking up for those who are being dominated into silence.' It follows Mr Fox being dropped by his acting agent after he was embroiled in Twitter spats with a number of people who called him a 'racist' last October. He accused Sainsbury's of 'promoting racial segregation and discrimination' and promised to boycott the supermarket chain after it promoted Black History Month. As he faced a backlash, he clapped back at people 'falsely accusing him of racism' by retaliating with unsubstantiated claims calling them 'paedophiles'. He later removed the post, writing at the time: 'I have deleted the tweets posted yesterday, in response to being repeatedly, continuously and falsely smeared as a racist.' Two people who Fox accused - deputy chair of LGBT charity Stonewall Simon Blake and Drag Race UK star Crystal - then announced they would sue him for defamation. One month earlier, Fox launched The Reclaim Party to fight for freedom of speech, 'reclaim British values' and challenge what he regards as a 'culture war' taking place in Britain. The party commissioned a poll which found that half of Britons fear freedom of speech is 'under threat' in the UK. Mr Fox previously told The Sunday Telegraph that the results of the survey - which saw Savanta ComRes interview 2,119 British adults between February 5 and 7 - were 'alarming'. He said 'woke' beliefs sought to 'tear down our statues, rewrite our proud history [and] stand in opposition to the tolerant, fair and free society our ancestors gave their lives for'. Meanwhile, Mr Fosh's announcement comes three months after he printed his CV onto his car and parked it outside the BBC in London. Also on the car was a QR code linking to a video pitch. After sharing the stunt on Twitter , many users praised his 'initiative' and creativity and asked the BBC to 'give the lad a chance' The video sees Mr Fosh and his actor flatmate Dan in a hired studio pitching a segment for the show called 'Tasklife', where Mr Fosh interviews people while completing mundane tasks such as counting change. At the end, he says that he won't be offended if the BBC doesn't pick up the idea, but adds: 'All I'm after Radio 1, is to present some of your online content. Send me to Big Weekend, send me to Glastonbury, send me out on the street, and I promise you some good content.' After sharing the stunt on Twitter, many praised his 'initiative', but some users slammed the former Harrow student for the stunt for using his 'privilege' to try and get his dream job quickly. However others weren't as keen on the idea, with one calling the stunt a way of 'excluding working class talent' Sharing pictures of the car, he wrote: 'Hi @BBCR1 , Ive printed my CV onto my car and parked it outside the studio. Theres a QR code which I reckon you should watch. Ta x' The CV on top of his car lists skills such as completing the Great North Run, climbing Kilimanjaro and some other presenting gigs. One user wrote in reply to the Tweet: 'C'mon @BBCR1 give the lad a chance. Loved this, he's clearly using his initiative and being creative, two great qualities he has, as well as many others I'm sure. In a crowded market of job hunting this is genius. Good luck Max.' 'Give it up for @max_fosh for his creativity and hustle. Hope you snag the job mate!', said one. However others weren't as keen on the idea, with one calling the stunt a way of 'excluding working class talent' as it will become 'the norm' for company's to expect CVs in the form of 'extravagant gifts'. Sharing pictures of the car, he wrote: 'Hi @BBCR1 , Ive printed my CV onto my car and parked it outside the studio' But despite mixed reviews on the stunt, it seems to have worked with head of the station Aled Haydn Jones, 44, filming his own video to reply to Max Sharing the tweet, one user wrote: 'I see the rich kids are at it again.' Another said: 'This!!! I feel like it's also quickly become the norm for company's to expect CVs in the form of extravagant gifts to the point where they'll openly admit dismissing your average document because it's 'boring'. Just another exclusion of working class talent.' But despite mixed reviews on the stunt, it seems to have worked with head of the station Aled Haydn Jones, 44, filming his own video to reply to Max. In the video posted to Twitter Aled tells Max to send him a private message to discuss their online content - but reminds him it would have been a good idea to follow Radio1 on social media before applying for a job there. 'Hi Max Fosh, i'm Aled Haydn Jone, head of Radio One', says Aled, 'You see I got your QR code and video, thank you for your offer it was great to see what you can do and meet your out of work actor flatmate. 'On the radio front, I'm afraid i've only just offered 46 new presenters a slot on Radio One between Christmas and January, but I find your suggestion of presenting our online content interesting so DM me, and let's chat. 'P.S you really should follow the socials of the station you want to work for.' MEMPHIS, Tenn. - As research into genetic causes of disease began to grow, Le Bonheur Pediatrician-in- Chief Jon McCullers, MD, knew it was time to start building a pediatric DNA biorepository. So in 2015, Le Bonheur's Children's Foundation Research Institute (CFRI) created the Biorepository and Integrative Genomics (BIG) Initiative and began collecting DNA samples from hospitalized children at Le Bonheur with the consent of their parents. "We knew then that changes in genes impact health and cause disease. We began collecting DNA samples in the hope that at some point we would be able to sequence the DNA and use it for research," said McCullers. Five years and more than 10,000 DNA samples later, this dream is becoming a reality. Le Bonheur and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) recently signed an agreement with a leading biotechnology company to obtain genetic information from 25,000 DNA samples in the next five years with the option to increase that number to 100,000. This partnership is a step forward to support research to better understand the genetic contributions to disease and the ultimate goal of precision medicine. Precision medicine uses genetic and other important health information to either correct or reduce the effects of genetic abnormalities or to understand which therapies will be most effective. Research into this field requires a diverse team -- physicians who understand the most important medical questions, researchers who know how to analyze the DNA to answer those questions and laboratories with the capability to generate the data on a large scale and help develop new medical therapies. "Genetic data from the biorepository will provide the foundation for research that can change the way we practice medicine to provide more precise therapies," said Chester Brown, MD, Genetics Chief. Le Bonheur's biorepository is one of only a handful in the country devoted to pediatrics. In addition, Memphis' pediatric population provides a unique opportunity to focus on minority health issues and disparities. Forty-five percent of the biorepository samples are from African-American children -- a unique feature compared to other pediatric biorepositories in the country. BIG collects leftover samples that would otherwise be thrown out from Le Bonheur patients in the inpatient, outpatient and Emergency Department settings. Appropriate consent is obtained and education provided for parents and caregivers to understand how their child's sample will be used to contribute to the future of medicine. While all samples are de-identified for research purposes, each sample connects to the patient's electronic medical record (EMR) through a secured process. This includes a longitudinal health record of every patient, so researchers know a child's health conditions, but not who they are. This sample can be traced back to a patient in the event that any beneficial therapies are discovered that pertain to that individual. But the pediatric biorepository is just the beginning for DNA sequencing and research at Le Bonheur. "The second phase of our biorepository is to go statewide and get to 100,000 individual samples as a part of the University of Tennessee 100,000 genomes project," said McCullers. In addition, Le Bonheur is partnering with a local adult hospital, Regional One Health, to start an adult biorepository that will be housed at Le Bonheur. "DNA sequencing will give us insight into diseases that are not just a one gene model but have effects from multiple genes," said Brown. "Our ultimate goal is to provide higher quality care for our patients tailored to the individual." ### About Le Bonheur Children's: Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., treats children through community programs, regional clinics and a 255-bed state-of-the-art hospital. Le Bonheur serves as a primary teaching affiliate for the University Tennessee Health Science Center and trains more than 350 pediatricians and specialists each year. Nationally recognized, Le Bonheur is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a Best Children's Hospital. For more information, please call (901) 287-6030 or visit lebonheur.org. Connect with us at facebook.com/lebonheurchildrens, twitter.com/lebonheurchild or on Instagram at lebonheurchildrens. About University of Tennessee Health Science Center: Tip Leads to Drug Trafficking Arrest By West Kentucky Star Staff MCCRACKEN COUNTY - An investigation into drug trafficking led to the arrest of a McCracken County man Tuesday.Detectives with the McCracken County Sheriff's Office received a tip alleging that illegal drug trafficking was taking place at a home on South Gum Springs Road in Lone Oak.At the home, authorities located 28-year-old Decole Ingram and a two-year-old child.During the search, detectives reportedly found three pounds of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and money.Ingram was arrested and charged with trafficking in marijuana over eight ounces, second-degree wanton endangerment, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The child was released to a family member.He was lodged in the McCracken County Jail. 66.4% of consumers globally want to have a positive impact on the environment through their daily actions in 2021, according to a new report 'Top Countries for Sustainable Tourism', released by global market research company Euromonitor International at ITB Berlin today. According to the report, Scandinavia is leading by example in its engagement and progress towards sustainable travel, with Sweden ranked first, followed by Finland, Austria, Estonia, and Norway. These findings extracted from the new Sustainable Travel Index, developed by Euromonitor International, assess 99 country destinations through the lens of environmental, social and economic sustainability, country risk as well as sustainable tourism demand, transport and lodging. "Sweden is a pioneer in lifecycle assessment research which is critical to understand the full impact of consumer behaviour and consumption patterns," analyses Caroline Bremner, head of travel at Euromonitor International. The country is highly engaged with the Sustainable Development Goals and preserves the Arctic ice and permafrost to help stop climate change, aiming to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. Other countries also show good progress in sustainable transport and lodging. Just outside the top 20 featuring other European countries for the most part, such as Germany and France we find New Zealand, Bolivia and Canada. "There is globally a clear change in mindset and resistance in returning to a volume-driven travel and tourism model. Instead, stakeholders are rallying together to 'build back better' through value creation from sustainable tourism. As momentum grows in the run up to COP26, consumers, travel brands, destination marketing organisations and governments continue to align to avert the climate emergency," concludes Bremner. To download the report 'Top Countries for Sustainable Tourism' and access the full ranking, visit: https://bit.ly/38369oW. About Euromonitor International Euromonitor International is the world's leading provider for global business intelligence, market analysis and consumer insights. From local to global and tactical to strategic, our research solutions support decisions on how, where and when to grow your business. Find the right report, database or custom solution to validate priorities, redirect assumptions and uncover new opportunities. With offices around the world, analysts in over 100 countries, the latest data science techniques and market research on every key trend and driver, we help you make sense of global markets. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005006/en/ Contacts: Soren Buchheister Communications Executive Euromonitor International Tel: +49 (0) 211 890944 23 soren.buchheister@euromonitor.com A HIGH-PROFILE Limerick doctor has said she is completely deflated after her latest vaccination delivery was cancelled. Dr Nicola Stapleton, who is based at Johns Square in Limerick city centre, confirmed her vaccine delivery had been shelved for this Friday, with a further shipment not due for another three weeks. Utterly disappointing for our over 70-year-old patients and for our staff. Completely deflated, she wrote in a tweet. Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Dr Stapleton confirmed she had put in an order from the HSE 10 days ago, with the health service yesterday calling her to confirm it would not be able to fulfil its delivery. My vaccine deliver has been cancelled for tomorrow. Next delivery due in 3 Friday's time Utterly disappointing for our >70 year old patients and for our staff Completely deflated@willieodeaLIVE @newschambers @FintanYTWalsh Nicola Stapleton (@dr_stapleton) March 11, 2021 She said: We were hopeful we were going to get quite a few of our patients vaccinated next Monday and Tuesday. Obviously, our patients were looking forward to it, were very excited by it. Unfortunately now we have had to disappoint a large number of our elderly patients, which is particularly difficult as this is a very vulnerable age group of patients, many of whom have been confined to home for the last year. Its become like a way of life for them, and unfortunately we wont get another potential vaccine delivery date for three weeks." The GP said she had already vaccinated her patients over 80, with those in the 75 to 79 age bracket next for the Pfizer jab. The reason the HSE gave us is our delivery was cancelled was because we had already vaccinated our patients over the age of 80. However, there are many practices all over the country which are vaccinating their patients from 75 to 79. Whats very disappointing is Ive had patients speak to me about this and say their neighbours who are younger than them are getting their vaccines, and unfortunately, Ive no vaccines to give to my patients. In response, a spokesperson for the HSE confirmed there have been operational issues regarding the ordering and delivery schedules of vaccines. We are working through these issues with the GP representatives and the Irish Medical Organisation to address them. Due to the complex nature of delivering vaccines in smaller quantities to smaller practices, we are in contact with individual GP practices to double check orders and support them through the process, and are facilitating vaccine deliveries to those practices. A central GP order support team is assisting the GP community in placing their orders and understanding the delivery arrangements, in order to ensure the smooth rollout of the vaccine. The HSE has a proven record in responding to all changes that have arisen throughout this process and this is no different, they added. Approximately 1,300 GP practices will have participated in the vaccine programme by the end of this week. The vast number of GPs have been vaccinating their patients in the 85 and over age group without any issues. Practices scheduled for delivery this week have been contacted by the HSE and sent a confirmation email which the GP should confirm in terms of the number of vaccines required for patients aged over 85. The supply chain continues to operate deliveries to vaccination points through our National Cold Chain Service, the health service concluded. A man has been charged in the death of a 64-year-old whom he dragged with his car for a quarter mile, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Thursday. Jesus Barron, 30, is accused of intentionally striking Richard Clark on Feb. 25 with a car in a parking lot of a gas station at 575 Aldine Mail Rt. Clark was trapped under the car and dragged for over a quarter of a mile, Gonzalez said. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The Ukrainian Embassy in Romania and the consuls are providing consular assistance to the victims. Spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Oleh Nikolenko says all sailors rescued from the Volgo Balt 179 vessel that sank off the coast of Romania have arrived at the Romanian port of Constanta. "Volgo Balt 179: The rescued Ukrainian sailors have arrived at the port of Constanta. They are undergoing a medical examination. The condition of a female citizen who was evacuated to the hospital yesterday is stable, there are no threats to her life," he wrote on Twitter on March 12, 2021. Nikolenko added the head of the Ukrainian Embassy in Romania and the consuls were providing consular assistance to the victims. Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, in turn, thanked the Romanian side for the help. "Grateful to Romanian Naval Authority & MinDef for their professionalism and saving Ukrainian sailors from Volgo-Balt 179. 10 lives are saved in extremely difficult weather conditions, and Romanian medics are helping them now," he tweeted on March 12. A search operation is still under way, Kuleba said. Shipwreck in Black Sea: What is known There were 13 Ukrainian citizens on board the Volgo Balt 179 vessel when she sank near the Romanian coast of the Black Sea on March 11. Two people Captain Oleksandr Borysenko and electrician Hryhoriy Lysachenko were killed, 10 were rescued. A search operation for missing senior assistant captain Ramzan Bolatkhanov is under way. The vessel sailing under the flag of the Comoros left the Russian port of Rostov-on-Don and was heading for the Romanian port of Constanta. The crew consisted of 12 men and a woman. Reporting by UNIAN Lou Ottens, the Dutch inventor of audio cassette tapes, has died at the age of 94, Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad reported. Ottens, who engineered the concept of magnetic tape players and compact discs (CDs), passed away at his home on Sunday in Duizel, the Netherlands. The cause of his death has not been given yet. Born on June 21, 1926, Ottens showed keen interest in engineering and even built a radio as a teenager which his family used to receive Radio Oranje during Germanys wartime occupation of the Netherlands. The device that he made was equipped with a directional antenna which he termed as Germanenfilter because it was resistant to the jammers used by the Nazi regime. After the war, Ottens obtained an engineering degree and joined Philips in 1952. Five years after joining Philips, Ottens became the head of the companys product development department at its audio plant in Hasselt, Belgium. In 1960, Ottens with his team developed the first portable tape recorder and two years later, he invented CDs. Nothing can match the sound of the CD, Ottens had then told the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. It is absolutely noise and rumble-free. That never worked with tape ... I have made a lot of record players and I know that the distortion with vinyl is much higher. I think people mainly hear what they want to hear. Here are more stories of those we have lost in 2021 In 1963, the devices invented by Ottens and his team were presented at the Internationale Funkausstellung which is a trade exhibition for audio products in Berlin and were widely praised. Ottens struck a deal between Sony and Phillips with the aim to manufacture cassettes at feasible rates for the portable tape recorders after which Japanese manufacturers quickly copied Ottens ideas and sold the copies of the model in the Japanese market in a different format, according to Philips. Ottens himself managed to sell approximately 100 billion cassette tapes worldwide, according to Philips, before retiring in 1986. On the 50th anniversary of the invention of the cassette tape in 2013, a special exhibition was created at the Philips museum to honour Ottens work. When your time has gone, its time to disappear, Ottens was quoted saying during the exhibition. ___ (c)2021 the Hindustan Times (New Delhi) Visit the Hindustan Times (New Delhi) at www.hindustantimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. New transactions concluded for containerized steel scrap cargoes sold to Bangladesh fetched lower prices over the past week, sources told Fastmarkets. Buyers in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India have been successful in the past week in their attempts to reduce import prices for containerized scrap. Asian mills appear to be winning in this round of buying, a trading source in the United States said. At least two Bangladeshi steelmakers booked imported shredded scrap in containers at $480 per tonne cfr for United Kingdom material at the beginning of this week. A deal in the middle of the week involving 3,000-4,000 tonnes of shredded scrap was heard at $476 per tonne cfr. By Thursday, prices had fallen to $470 per tonne cfr, sources said. That put Fastmarkets price assessment for steel scrap, shredded, containerized, import, cfr Bangladesh at $470-480 per tonne on Thursday March 11, down by $10-15 per tonne from $485-490 per tonne a week earlier. The sharp drop in prices led to some consumers sitting out the market and waiting for further activity. Only a few buyers are in the market right now, a major exporter source said. A South Asian trader said that demand was also being constrained by a recent drop in domestic steel prices in Bangladesh. We expect prices to come down more, and maybe they will fall to $400 per tonne, a Bangladeshi steelmaker source said. He added that he thought Turkish and Bangladeshi scrap buying would slow down on the run-up to Ramadan, which begins on April 13. The market has to soften more now - weather conditions have improved in supplier countries and scrap inflows are increasing, a second major exporter source said. A South Asian trader said buyers were waiting for prices to come down further. I predict there will be 10 days of radio silence before the market goes up again, the trader said. Heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) was sold in containers at $450-455 per tonne cfr Bangladesh over the last week from sources such as Australia. Fastmarkets price assessment for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), containerized, import, cfr Bangladesh was $450-460 per tonne cfr on Thursday, down by $5-10 per tonne from $460-465 per tonne cfr a week earlier. High freight Despite arguing that supply was increasing, the second exporter source admitted that demand remained healthy. Global steel production is a good indicator demand and volumes produced increased by 5% in January, he said. Higher freight is still keeping prices strong because shipping lines are not releasing idle vessels back into the market, he added. High bulk freight costs are causing severe challenges in shipping ferrous materials this past week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday. Container freight has continued to rise in the last week, with quotations for 20ft containers on the route between Australia and Bangladesh recently heard at $1,500-2,000 per container. These compare with $1,250-1,500 per box in late February and from around $800 per container in December. Bulk freight is also a concern, with routes such as the US East Coast to Turkey voyage ballooning to above $40 per tonne in recent weeks. The high freight contributed to prices for bulk, deep-sea cargoes being uncompetitive for Bangladeshi buyers this week. A mixed cargo of HMS 1&2 (80:20), shredded and bonus-grade scrap from the US was heard to have been offered at $485 per tonne cfr Chattogram on Thursday, but indications from the buy-side were only $460-475 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 in bulk. If I can get HMS 1&2 in containers at $450 per tonne cfr Bangladesh, then Im not paying any more than $460 per tonne cfr for HMS in a deep-sea bulk, the mill source said. The first exporter source said: Some Bangladeshi mills are not too comfortable in buying on a dip because they are more inflexible nowadays and buying in a falling market must be justified to management. Fastmarkets price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), deep-sea origin, import, cfr Bangladesh was $475-480 per tonne on Thursday, down by $15-20 per tonne from $490-500 per tonne a week earlier. The price assessment for steel scrap, shredded, deep-sea origin, import, cfr Bangladesh was $485-490 per tonne on Thursday, also down by $15-20 per tonne from $500-510 per tonne a week earlier. ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The Canadian Medical Association says a Newfoundland and Labrador doctor sanctioned by his professional orderfor encouraging people to disobey health orders is among a larger cohort of Canadian doctors spreading COVID-19 misinformation. A doctor wears a stethoscope around his neck as he tends to patients in his office in Illinois, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Officials have cautioned a Newfoundland and Labrador doctor to stop encouraging the public to disobey public health advice from the province's top doctor. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jeff Roberson ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The Canadian Medical Association says a Newfoundland and Labrador doctor sanctioned by his professional orderfor encouraging people to disobey health orders is among a larger cohort of Canadian doctors spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Instances of doctors spreading falsehoods about COVID-19 are limited but social media platforms provide them a wide audience when it does happen, Anick Losier, spokeswoman for the Canadian Medical Association, said Thursday. Dr. Ann Collins, president of the association, says the spread of misinformation during times of crisis is not new. She said in a statement Thursday that the rise of social media, combined with pandemic-induced isolation, "has created something of a perfect storm for false facts and could lead to negative health outcomes." Dr. Peter J. Morry, a family doctor in the eastern Newfoundland town of Bay Bulls, was cautioned against encouraging people to contravene orders issued by the province's chief medical officer of health, according to the website of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador. The site says he was also counselled to comply with a section of the Canadian Medical Association's code of ethics on physicians' responsibilities in matters of public health. The site does not indicate when either action was taken. A Facebook page belonging to someone identified as Peter J. Morry contains posts about debunked COVID-19 conspiracy theories and alternative treatments for the disease. There is also a post inviting his Facebook friends to join a group for followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory on the social networking site Telegram. The page for the Dr. Morry family practice clinic in Bay Bulls directs all inquiries to Peter J. Morry's Facebook inbox. A receptionist at Morry's office in Bay Bulls said Thursday Morry was unavailable for comment because he was seeing patients all day. Morry is not the only doctor accused of spreading COVID-19 falsehoods. On Monday, a group calling itself the Liberty Coalition of Canada published a news release and a video calling for an end to lockdown measures and mask-wearing protocols. The video features six doctors from British Columbia and Ontario, including Dr. Stephen Malthouse of B.C., who was a speaker at so-called "freedom rallies" in Vancouver and Victoria. Malthouse is the author of a widely shared October letter to B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, which was published on a Canadian website widely criticized by health authorities for spreading misinformation. The coalition did not respond to a request for an interview with its representatives or with Malthouse. On Feb. 3, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario cautioned pediatrics specialist Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill of Brampton, Ont., for a "lack of professionalism" for her tweets claiming COVID-19 vaccines aren't necessary and the disease is not a serious health issue. In its ruling, the college said tweeting such things is "irresponsible behaviour for a member of the profession and presents a possible risk to public health." Messages left at Gill's two clinics were not returned Thursday. Aengus Bridgman, a PhD candidate in political science at McGill University, said it's OK to be "surprised and a bit horrified" that well-educated medical professionals buy into lies and conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Doctors are people, he said, adding that they spend just as much time digesting social media content as everyone else. "Everyone knows the enormous power that social media has to convince," Bridgman said. He said many people sharing COVID-19 conspiracy theories or misinformation doctors included rely on outdated scientific theories. "You see this a lot like, 'Oh, public health officials have changed their minds, they waffled,'" Bridgman said. "Well yes, but also the science changed." Dr. Lynette Powell, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, said Thursday in a statement that she advises anyone looking for information about COVID-19 or vaccinations to seek reliable sources "and not social media platforms." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021. GLADWIN TWP, MI - After 10 months of closure and detours because of the devastating floods in May, a temporary bridge over the Tobacco River on M-30 has opened for traffic. A group of people gathered to walk across it to celebrate on Thursday, March 11. According to a press release, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) was forced to close approximately 30 roads and bridges due to severe water damage. MDOT estimates all the infrastructure repairs across the region with exceed $100 million the release states. MDOT Region Engineer Robert Ranck, Jr., P.E., said this was the final bridge to get back up and running. Since this bridge was completely gone, we decided we had to do something quicker. The design on this was to build a temporary bridge. This temporary structure is a more bolt in place and then slide it out in order to get traffic all through as quickly as possible, and now were starting the design for the permanent bridge that will start in two or three years, Ranck said. 18 Temporary bridge in place over Tobacco River on M-30 Now that this bridge is in place, it will save residents time as the communities wont be so divided to get from one to the other. Jeanine Popour and her family moved to the Wixom Lake area about four years ago. She said so many people lost things in the flood, but they were blessed to face little damage to their home. Nonetheless, the whole experience has been emotional for her she said. When the dams broke, the fire department come around and it was so emotional when the water left, Popour said. Then now see it rebuilt with the bridge and stuff it saves us so much time. This is just overwhelming and about time. We just need help getting our legs back and getting back to normalthis is really a first step. Were just so excited. The temporary bridge is a 230-foot prefabricated steel structure and is intended to be in place for five to seven years, according to the press release. Read more on MLive: Man Up Peacekeepers organization encourage conflict resolution, communication in Saginaw All Cakd Up pop-up event celebrates Saginaws small businesses The 60-year history of Bay Citys St. Patricks Day includes virtual parade this year SVSUs Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum seeks art submissions from across Michigan STARS providing rides to vaccination clinics in Saginaw County churches for those 50 and older Flood and mud destroyed their home, but now a Michigan family has reason to celebrate NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- At its 2021 Annual Meeting this month, the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) will present the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) with the Harrison C. Spencer Award for Outstanding Community Service. The prestigious award was created to honor Dr. Spencer, a pioneer in public health with a long-standing commitment to principles of social justice with a focus on community engagement to address the social determinants of health. Community engagement is integral to CUNY SPH's vision of promoting health and social justice in New York City and across the globe through innovation and excellence in education, research, and service in public health. We embrace a multifaceted concept of "community" that includes half a million CUNY students at its center, exceeding a million when including the students families and close social circle. The school is also engaged with its immediate neighborhood in Harlem, with its rich cultural heritage anchored in social justice an civil liberty, and with the broader New York City public health community of government agencies, health care institutions, community-based and private sector organizations, and academia whose mission is to improve population health. CUNY SPH is being recognized for its recent work to promote population health, especially amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, including the CONVINCE USA Initiative, which seeks to promote vaccine literacy and confidence in Covid-19 vaccines in particular; the Healthy CUNY Initiative, which strives to promote the health of CUNY students in order to support their academic success; the Harlem Strong Program, a community-based mental health and economic empowerment initiative to support greater mental health awareness, community advocacy and collaboration through community networks; the Covid-19 Resource Navigator Program (RNAV), which has trained CUNY students and alumni and CBOs to assist nearly 7,000 individuals in obtaining the resources and services necessary to quarantine at home due to exposure to Covid-19; the CUNY SPH Covid-19 Tracking Survey, which documented the impact of the pandemic on New York City and State residents over several months; and the Harlem Health Initiative, which supports and strengthens local organizations in Harlem where the school is located. "We are delighted and humbled by the news of this award," said CUNY SPH Dean Ayman El-Mohandes. "We look forward to continuing our work to partner with our community in New York City and beyond, to advance social justice, and to improve health outcomes for all." The Spencer Award is given annually to an ASPPH-member, CEPH- accredited school or program of public health demonstrating a major institutional commitment to addressing community needs through education, practice, and/or research. The award will be presented on day three of the Annual Meeting, March 25 at 2:30pm. See the full agenda and RSVP here. Media contact: Ariana Costakes [email protected] 646-364-9649 SOURCE CUNY SPH Related Links https://sph.cuny.edu A French frigate docked at Cam Ranh Port in Vietnam this week, the latest sign that foreign powers are pushing back against Chinas assertive behavior and expansive claims in the South China Sea. In February, Frances defense minister announced that a French nuclear attack submarine and an accompanying support ship had completed a patrol in the South China Sea, and U.S. forces have repeatedly conducted freedom of navigation operations and other maneuvers in the contested waters since the start of the year. The French frigate came to Cam Ranh Port on Tuesday for helicopter repairs, VnExpress reported. The French ambassador to Vietnam said that the frigates visit at this time is meant to deliver a message in support of freedom of navigation in the air and at sea, which is shared by both Vietnam and France, according to VnExpress. Naval assets from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are scheduled to transit the area later in 2021. It is home to a series of overlapping maritime and territorial claims among China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. While Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesia's exclusive economic zone. Such foreign military operations are often met with criticism from Beijing. After the U.S. sailed a carrier group into the South China Sea for exercises in January, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that it does no good to regional peace and stability for the United States to frequently send military vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea to show off muscles. In response to assertive moves from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), non-claimant states are increasing their own involvement in the South China Sea disputes through a range of diplomatic and military means. Japan, for example, raised the issue with India earlier this week. During a call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide expressed serious concerns regarding unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Sea as well Chinas Coast Guard Law, Japans foreign ministry said. Similarly, during bilateral security discussions last week, Japan and the United States reiterated their strong opposition to unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East and South China Seas, exchanging views and sharing their deep concerns over the PRCs Coast Guard Law, according to the U.S. State Department. Chinas new coastguard law, which authorized the China Coast Guard to use force to defend the PRCs expansive maritime claims, has generated backlash both regionally and internationally, RFA has reported. In January, Japan joined Malaysia, France, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, the United States, Vietnam, and other countries in formally rejecting Chinas maritime claims via a diplomatic note to the United Nations. The U.S. government, which began deepening its involvement in the South China Sea around 2010, is welcoming increased attention from France, Japan, and other states. Last week, Adm. Philip Davidson of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stated that one of the efforts that we have deliberately undertaken is to make sure that the international community understands that its not a U.S.-China issue in the South China Sea, it is the freedom of communication issue for the international community through that water. Davidson commended countries like Australia, India, Japan, the Philippines, France, and Vietnam for their efforts, including participating in exercises and raising the South China Sea in multi-nation forums. Ive been very encouraged by the international communitys commitment to freedom of communication and their presence in the South China Sea, Davidson said. Likewise, after German officials confirmed earlier in March that a German frigate would pass through the South China Sea for the first time since 2002, an unnamed U.S. State Department spokesperson welcomed Germanys support for a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific, Reuters reported. When Kenya started the vaccination drive against Covid-19 last Friday, many would have expected President Uhuru Kenyatta to be among the first to receive the jab. While the govt has insisted that the first phase of the vaccination will prioritize frontline health workers, teachers, security personnel, and those over 58 years, one would expect that one of the 1.02 million doses would be reserved for the Commander-in-chief of the Kenya Defence Forces. Kagames have taken the shot. Kenyattas should give us a photo. pic.twitter.com/fIeuluEqtB Kenya West (@KinyanBoy) March 11, 2021 This, however, has not been the case as revealed by Government Spokesperson Col. (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna. Oguna said Uhuru Kenyatta expressed his wish to have all healthcare workers vaccinated before him. He will decide, remember this is a voluntary engagement. As the Head of State, he is not a health care worker and in his own love for our people, he would not want to step in and take someone elses position, Oguna said. The govt spokesman further outlined how the three different phases of vaccination will take place. In this first phase of vaccination, the priority is healthcare workers, including the frontline workers and the community health volunteers who are managing Covid-19 patients under the home-based care and isolation programme. We are also vaccinating those in the security forces such as the military, he stated. He added that the second phase would involve the high-risk groups of people, those with co-morbidities and the third phase finally the vaccine will be availed to all Kenyans who would like to take it. These days, U.S. presidents are given "approval ratings" in order to gauge public support during their tenure. Prior to the 20th century, though, it was far more difficult to discern just how popular a particular leader really was. In one striking incident back in 1802, the townspeople of Cheshire, Massachusetts, wanted newly-elected President Thomas Jefferson to have no doubt that he had their support. On the first day of the year, John Leland, a Baptist preacher, arrived on Jefferson's doorstep with a token of the dairy farmers' esteem: a 1,235-pound (560-kg) block of cheese. In the statement presented to Jefferson, the group said: "We wish to prove the love we bear to our President not by words alone, but in deed and in truth. It is not the last stone of the Bastile (sic); nor is it an article of great pecuniary worth; but as a freewill-offering, we hope it will be favorably received." The group was grateful to Jefferson for his writing of the Virginia statute that allowed freedom of religion. According to reports, the big cheese in Washington loved his gift, inviting some lawmakers to partake of the block that afternoon. The so-called "mammoth cheese" was so huge, however, that it was served at state dinners for several more years, before ultimately being unfit for anything except a drop into the Potomac River. Jefferson's passions: The move would be done through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company Grab Holdings Inc. is mulling over a US listing that would value the tech unicorn at US$35-40bn, which would be the largest deal on record. It is currently discussing a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) affiliated with Altimeter Capital Management LP to speed up the process. It would involve raising between US$3-4bn as part of a PIPE, a funding round that often comes with blank-check companies mergers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Much like Uber, the Singaporean giant backed by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank offers ride-hailing transport services as well as food delivery. SPACs, which are listed cash shells with the purpose of acquiring a private company, have become a huge market in the US and the idea is starting to migrate to Europe with Amsterdam currently the hub of activity. Several tech unicorns in Southeast Asia are considering going public through this method, such as airline ticketing and hotel booking services provider Traveloka. Maharashtra: Fisheries department to offer a compensation to the fishermen community March 12,2021 | Source: Mumbai Live As per the Central Government rules, fishing in Mumbai is prohibited in the months of June and July, due to the monsoon, and this leads to a heavy loss for the fishermen. Understanding these concerns, the government has decided to support the community with a positive decision, and will soon be compensating the members of the Koli community during this period. As per reports, the government is also ready to work on changing the criteria for assistance, if necessary, informed Fisheries Development Minister Aslam Sheikh. The same was presented in the Legislative Council. The response was given while sharing the same and answering a question posed by member Ramesh Patil during Question Hour. During the ban on fishing in the state of Tamil Nadu since 2017, the fishermen were being compensated with INR 5,000. The state has planned a scheme to help the members under the National Welfare Savings based on the guidelines of the Central Government. Under this scheme, INR 53.07 lakh has been given to the fishermen below the poverty line in 2017-18 and INR 40 lakh in 2018-19. The government had announced a package for fishermen for the last two years, whereby the ones affected by the cyclone in Konkan have also been provided assistance. A study group has been set up to study the progress made by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the field of fisheries, said Fisheries Development Minister Aslam Sheikh. Present at the discussion were Leader of Opposition Praveen Darekar, Member Bhai Girkar, Kapil Patil, Shashikant Shinde, Mahadev Jankar, Dr. Parinay Phuke, Gopichand Padalkar and others participated in the discussion. Aslam Sheikh also informed that a proposal has been submitted under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana in this regard. Manisha Kayande had also asked a question about the matter. It is said that the Maharashtra Fisheries Development Corporation (MFDC) Mumbai office has completed the survey work by appointing a consultant for the survey work at Harne. Under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, the MFDC has submitted a proposal whereby INR 155.46 crore has been proposed for the development of a fish port at Harnai. The proposal has been approved by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad, said Sheikh. Legislative Council member Ramdas Kadam also participated in the discussion. COLUMNISTS Travel to Poland Then and Now While tourists flock to Germany's Oberammergau every ten years for their famous passion play, Poland has a site that is visited all year round. About 18 miles west of Krakow and 9 miles east of Wadowice is Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. It is easy to say "kahl VAR yah" or Calvary, the site of Christ's death. It became quite popular to construct places in Europe in an attempt to revitalize Catholicism and as a result of the Counter-Reformation. Oberammergau began its plays every 10 years as a votive offering for escaping the horrors of plague. In 1600, Mikolaj (Nicholas) Zebrzydowski commissioned the building of a Calvary on his property modeled on a 1584 map of Jerusalem and its hilly terrain. The first to be built was a basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary and a monastery given to the the brown robed order of Franciscan Friars Minor. The 940 acres would eventually be covered with imaginative in design chapels to remind one of places in Jerusalem associated with Christ's walk to Calvary. The first to be built was the Chapel of the Crucifixion in 1600-1601. The "Ecce Homo" Chapel was built in a Greek cross in 1605-09. The "Heart of Mary" Chapel was planned in the shape of a heart to remind one of Mary meeting Jesus on the walk to Calvary. Eventually 42 separate chapels were constructed that in no way resembled sites in Jerusalem but in a variety of architectural styles influenced by European styles of the era when created. The entrance to the complex is through a gate opening off to the left side of the basilica front where a large statue of St. John Paul II greets all with arms outstretched. In addition to all the chapels along the route, places have biblical names like Cedron Valley, Mount of Olives, Golgotha, Mount Zion, and Mount Moriah. In 1999, the site was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Admission to the site is free but there are many opportunities for free will donations. Pilgrims and tourists are welcome and groups of 15 or more can have a guide. The shortest tour is 45 minutes but covers only highlights in the complex of acreage. Tours are from 9 - 5 and start on the hour. Guides can conduct tours in English, Italian, German, French, and Polish. There is also a bookstore and souvenir kiosk for visitors. Although Kalwaria is visited all year, it is most visited during Holy Week for that is when the passion play is enacted. The Kalwaria passion play begins on Palm Sunday and also takes place on Wednesday of Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, and ends on Good Friday. It is not a re-enactment where you sit and watch. It is actually a procession. Tourists and local actors walk the terrain of Kalwaria, visiting all the chapels connected with Christ's way of the cross, singing and praying fervently along the way. Locals wear historical costumes and the portrayer of Christ truly shows emotional and physical signs of suffering to help the crowd share in his misery. Karol Wojtyla, the father of St. John Paul II, often acted as a guide at the site and his son visited many times as a youth, as a young priest, as bishop and cardinal, and several times as pope. While Czestochowa attracts great pilgrimage crowds for Aug. 15 every year, Kalwaria is also popular in August when the dormition (falling asleep) and assumption of Mary, mother of God is celebrated with procession and enactment. NEXT TIME: A Polish Eggstravaganza. The Indian Air Force is going to get Rafale's second squadron in mid-April. It is scheduled to be deployed at the airbase at Hashimara in West Bengal. Hashimara Air Base is close to China and Bhutan Trijunction. It is also being said that making a squadron is going to give a befitting reply to any snowball in China. Rafale's first squadron is at Ambala Air Force Station. Rafale Fighter Jet has 5 fighter jets in its first squadron. It has been inducted into the Air Force in the month of September last year. Air Force can fly this fighter aircraft at Hashimara Air Base from May. At the same time, training of fighter pilots in France can also be completed. With which the Airforce can include more than 20 Rafale fighters. Earlier, the government had said that so far 11 Rafale aircraft have arrived in India and by March 17 more such aircraft can be delivered to India. In the Rajya Sabha, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said in response to a question, "So far 11 Rafale aircraft have arrived in India and by March 17 more such aircraft will be delivered to India. By April 2022, India will get the entire Rafale.'' According to the information received, Hindustan has signed a deal with France for 36 Rafale fighter jets. With the delivery of 21 Rafale aircraft, the Indian Air Force is going to have unprecedented gains in firepower. Hashimara Airbase is located on the eastern border of India in West Bengal. By deploying here, India will be able to deal well with any possible threat presented by China. Not only this, all these Rafale fighter aircraft are equipped with MICA and Meteor air to air missiles, in addition to which they have the capability to attack with a scalp air to ground cruise missile. The deployment of these aircraft will increase the air and ground firepower in India in the north and east strongly. Also Read: Farmers take out dharna on rail tracks near Amritsar after 169 days India, Japanese space agencies review joint lunar polar exploration satellite mission BJP hit back at Rahul Gandhi, says 'agent of western countries' Local Residents Voice Mixed Feelings About Recalling Governor As an effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom reaches its final stretch, Orange County residents share their thoughts on the prospective ousting of Californias political leader. Ive signed a petition myself; the guys got to go, Huntington Beach resident Ralph Bostic told The Epoch Times. Hes doing nothing for the people in California. Somebody can do better than he does. This guy is terrible. Bostic said hes concerned about the states illegal immigration policies and the lack of public maintenance. I hate the fact that hes letting all these immigrants in, and weve got to pay to support these people in the future, he said. Thats probably my biggest concern. An ongoing campaign to recall the governor has reached more than 2 million signatures, a Rescue California official told The Epoch Times on March 12. About 1.5 million verified signatures are needed to trigger an election, but organizers are working to vastly exceed that number to account for votes that are discarded during the validation process. Varied Opinions Not everyone is in favor of the initiative. Orange County resident Bob McCann said he was against the recall because he believed Newsom handled the challenges of the past year well. Its really been a lot of pressure because of the fact that the coronavirus has not gone down in California, McCann said. I dont blame Gavin Newsom for it. I blame the people who dont wear a mask in California, who dont protect the other people from them. They just dont think that they can get this disease, this viral disease. He said its up to the public to make a change. We have people going into the hospitals all the time, and theyre dying. Its just completely out of hand because of the people, McCann said. People are not taking care of themselves or their neighbors. Marilyn Palomino of Huntington Beach said she doesnt agree with the recall, either, considering the weight of the governors role. I dont agree with everything that hes done, Palomino told The Epoch Times. California is like another country, and its a really tough state to run. I think hes done an OK job. I dont want to change. Call for Change Orange County resident Jim Puro said he was frustrated with Newsoms COVID-19 response, and accused him of unnecessarily overregulating the state. Hes creating laws that dont exist, Puro said. People should be able to do as they please. If they dont feel safe, they should not go to a restaurant. If they feel like they could eat out, they should be allowed to eat out. Theyre taking away our personal liberties. Orange County resident Katie Herbert said she was indifferent to the campaign to recall Newsom. Thats all silliness, she said. It needs to just be put to rest and move on. He was devastated by the untimely death of my very dear friend and concerned for the privacy and dignity of her family and the wellbeing of Mr Porter, whom he had known for about 30 years. Mine is just one set of recollections and I am aware of the fallibility of human memory, however unintentional. That said, I have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with [the woman] over the years from mid-1988 until her death, Mr Hooke said. I also have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with Christian Porter from April 1992 in Perth and through the mid-1990s. Records show Mr Hooke was also involved in debating championships at the same time and The Herald and Age understand he was the womans boyfriend in the years after the alleged assault. How can I tell this tale? she wrote in her diary in 1991. Who to? James maybe if we ever get back together. He is also the brother-in-law of former NSW Liberal leader John Brogden and the son of former Liberal Party state treasurer Frank Hooke. Mr Porter told the media on March 3, when he identified himself as the cabinet minister named in the allegation, that no one in law enforcement or the law or politics or the media ever put any substance or any specific allegations to me at all, before the story was broken by the ABC. He is now on medical leave. When asked about Mr Hookes statement, a spokesman said on Friday Mr Porter does not propose to comment further. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The woman approached NSW Police in early 2020 with the allegations but did not make a sworn statement. She told police in June she did not wish to proceed with the matter, a day before taking her life. Mr Fuller told the parliamentary committee detectives had arranged to travel to South Australia, where the woman lived, to take a signed statement in March, however the coronavirus pandemic prevented them from doing so. In written answers to questions, police said it was deemed inappropriate to take a statement via video or phone in the interests of her wellbeing and because of the complexity of the matter, and the woman had concerns about another arrangement discussed for a South Australian police officer to take it. The woman provided a two-page document to NSW Police on March 6 last year, and on July 2, just over a week after her death, police also received an 88-page dossier from a friend of the woman. Police had asked the woman earlier to give them this longer document but she declined. Mr Fuller said it wasnt impossible to prosecute a sexual assault matter without the input of an alleged victim, but in reality, it just wouldnt happen, you just wouldnt be able to run a historic sexual assault [case] without a victim and a signed statement. Mr Hooke, a trained lawyer, said he had made himself known to NSW Police after the womans death and understood why they were unable to interview him. Asked about this statement, Mr Fuller said he wont be saying today that were reopening the investigation but he was more than happy to look into whether Mr Hooke had previously provided all relevant material. Mr Hooke said Mr Porter was manifestly and appropriately entitled to the presumption of innocence in relation to any criminal investigation. But he backed an investigation of the non-criminal aspects of the matter and said he was willing to provide information to an appropriately convened inquiry. Loading Former solicitors-general Justin Gleeson SC and Gavan Griffith QC said Mr Morrison should ask the incumbent in the role, Stephen Donaghue QC, to advise on options for an inquiry into whether Mr Porter is a fit and proper person to hold office. Dr Griffith told The Herald and The Age seeking advice on further steps was the most appropriate course of action. You cant then assume what that advice will be, he said. Assuming the advice is that an inquiry is possible, then no doubt such an opinion will list the possibilities. It would become a matter of political decision as to how the Prime Minister proceeded. March 11 was supposed to mark a major diplomatic victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu less than two weeks before crucial March 23 elections. The morning hours were set aside for a two-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from which he was to return with a historic photo alongside Emirati Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Back in Israel, a meeting awaited him in the afternoon with Prime Ministers Viktor Orban of Hungary and Andrej Babis of the Czech Republic, exactly a week after he hosted a brief visit by the prime ministers of Denmark and Austria. Netanyahus high stakes diplomacy was meant to reflect his election slogan politicians are a dime a dozen, but there is only one Netanyahu. He is in a class of his own. His plans, however, went awry. Worse yet, the hitch shone a harsh spotlight on the ongoing deep tensions between Israel and Jordan, embarrassing Netanyahu at particularly bad timing. On the morning of March 11, a sleek executive jet sent by the UAE was parked at Ben Gurion Airport waiting to pick up Netanyahu and his entourage and fly them to Abu Dhabi but Jordan refused to approve the flight path over its territory. The Saudis rejected requests to allow the plane to overfly their territory, and Netanyahu eventually decided to postpone his trip, calling the crown prince to apologize. The trigger for this embarrassing incident occurred the day before over a planned visit by Jordans Crown Prince Hussein to attend a special prayer at Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, Islams third-holiest site also venerated by the Jews at the site of their ancient Temple. Jordan notified Israel of the visit just two days earlier, citing the spontaneous nature of the princes decision. Either way, when the delegation of dozens of Jordanians many of them bodyguards arrived by bus from Jordan, deep disagreement arose between his security detail and Israels Shin Bet agency tasked with protecting the event. The Jordanians waited around, hoping for a quick resolution of the problem. When that did not happen, they turned around and drove back to Amman, where the Royal Palace issued a furious statement. This, in turn, set the stage for a series of Jordanian officials to explain the extent to which bilateral relations had deteriorated in recent years and the finality of the boycott the palace has imposed on any contact with Netanyahu. Neither the king nor any other senior figure have returned Netanyahus phone calls for ages, a source associated with the palace in Amman told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. While relations between King Abdullah and Netanyahu are chilly at best, Jordanian relations with Netanyahus political rivals Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi apparently remain cordial. Gantz is the only one who speaks with the king from time to time, the source in Amman conceded. What is more, the defense agencies on both sides maintain close coordination and cooperation, irrespective of the diplomatic and political tensions. When Jordan eventually gave in to Israeli pressure and approved the Netanyahu overflight to the UAE, it was already too late. Meanwhile, Israeli officials criticized the Shin Bet for its inflexible handling of the crown princes visit to Jerusalem, and failure to smooth over the spat and avoid embarrassing Hussein. The security agency rejected the claims. A security source familiar with the incident told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that preparation time was short. News of his plans only came a day or two before. Everything was coordinated between his delegation and Israeli security officials; everything was agreed beforehand. Unfortunately, when they arrived, it turned out they were not adhering to the understandings we had reached. Israel tried to accommodate them to the extent possible and tailor the best protective response, but let us not forget that we are talking about the most explosive spot in the world that could go up in flames at any moment and set the Middle East on fire. The Jordanians apparently wanted to surround the prince with many heavily armed guards, while the Israelis feared such a display would spark tensions. The Jordanians also refused a beefed-up Shin Bet security presence, claiming it would violate the monarchys sovereignty and that Israel has no sovereignty over the mosques at the contested site. A former Shin Bet official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, This was a particularly complex situation, with a royal personage entering a place full of people who have not undergone a security check and when anyone wishing to throw something at him could set off another intifada, as was the case after [late Prime Minister] Ariel Sharons visit to the Temple Mount in 2000. That visit to the site triggered violent protests that culminated in the second Palestinian uprising against Israel that lasted five years. A senior Israeli diplomatic source, also speaking on condition of anonymity, offered an additional explanation for the Jordanian actions. They [the Jordanians] have long been frustrated by Netanyahus policy, by the relatively cold shoulder he has turned to the king compared with efforts he has invested in the Gulf states, the source said. The senior diplomatic source pointed to other incidents that had soured bilateral relations, such as Netanyahus warm welcome of a security guard who had shot to death a Jordanian man at the Israeli Embassy in Amman in 2017, and Israels decision the same year to place metal detectors through which worshippers would have to pass at the entrance to the Haram al-Sharif mosques. I do not rule out that the entire [March 10] incident was a trap designed to provoke an explosion, the source said. A former senior security source suggested viewing the incident in a broader context of the 26-year-old princes growing popularity as he reaches his prime and increasingly assumes leadership roles. The fact that the request for the visit arrived only two days before and just one day after he gave interviews in the Jordanian media and declared that 'Jerusalem is a red line as far as the Hashemite Kingdom is concerned' proves that the entire affair was planned and the prince wanted an incident. He even waited in Jordan to get the green light from his security people and did not himself cross over into Israel. They may have been looking for an explosion in order to boost popularity at home, said the security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A diplomatic explosion is the last thing Netanyahu needs as he fights for his political future ahead of the March 23 elections. He had invested tremendous efforts in arranging the Abu Dhabi photo-op. After national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat failed to convince the Emiratis to host Netanyahu shortly before the Israeli elections, Netanyahu turned to Mossad Director Yossi Cohen and asked him to use all his charm to persuade the crown prince. The compromise was embarrassing but Netanyahu decided to bite the bullet: Rather than being hosted with full honors at the Royal Palace, he would meet the crown prince at the airport and head back to Israel right afterward. Now all he can do is rue the meeting that never was. THE public has been urged to be on the alert for unusual sea creatures on our shores, after the first sighting of an invasive blue crab which could threaten native species. The blue crab is considered an invasive species in Europe and is native to the Atlantic coast of America. But a member of the public spotted one of the creatures on Dublins Dollymount Strand and reported it to the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Read More There have been a few sightings of the blue crab in other European countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, but none before this in Ireland or the UK. It is unknown how the blue crab came to Irish shores but investigations by experts from bodies including the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority are currently ongoing. Biodiversity experts believe the creature, which is about 20cm across, may have been purchased by a food business or unintentionally transported to these shores in ship ballast water or on a ship's hull. There is also speculation it may have naturally spread from other areas as it has been spotted in the Mediterranean Sea. Blue crab might negatively impact on other crab species by competing with them for space and resources such as food and as a result increase mortality and affect the distribution and dynamics of native crabs, Irelands National Biodiversity Data Centre warned. In its invaded range, commercial fishing is one of the most affected sectors, as the crab accidentally destroys the nets when they are caught. The crab has shown to have high fertility, highly aggressive behaviour and high survival rates outside its native range which might be why it has established and spread so quickly. The National Biodiversity Data Centre has issued an appeal to the public to report any suspected sightings of the distinctive blue species with a photo to their website. It also warned that it is illegal to release non-native species to the wild in Ireland as it could result in the species becoming invasive here, while the released species may also struggle to survive. The Triple Victory of the Six Triple Eight exhibit is now open at the 6th Calvary Museum The Triple Victory of the Six Triple Eight exhibit is now open at the 6th Calvary Museum The Triple Victory of the Six Triple Eight exhibit is now open at the 6th Calvary Museum The Triple Victory of the Six Triple Eight exhibit is now open at the 6th Calvary Museum The Triple Victory of the Six Triple Eight exhibit is now open at the 6th Calvary Museum In February 1945, the first group of what would become one of the most successful Army units arrived in Glasgow, Scotland. These women came from all over the United States and were chosen for a special mission. The United States Armys 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only all Black Womens Army Corps unit to serve overseas during World War II. Their story began right outside of Chattanooga, at the Third Womens Army Corps Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe. In January 1945, the unit completed their two-week extended field service training at Fort Oglethorpe. Following this training, they deployed to Birmingham, England in February 1945. Their assignment was to clear a two-year backlog of mail in the European Theater of war. The 855 members of the battalion were given six months to clear the backlog. Working 24 hours a day in three shifts, the women accomplished their task in three months, then were sent to Rouen, France and later Paris to continue processing mail. The units motto of No Mail, Low Morale, inspired the women to complete the overwhelming task of getting an estimated 17 million letters and packages delivered to the troops. They were able to fulfill their mission while also facing an intersectionality of racism and sexism. Dealing with segregation in the Army as well as the struggles faced by the WAC to gain respect as a military branch, the 6888ths military service can be considered a Triple Victory. The National Park Service awarded the 6th Cavalry Museum a $28,000 African American Civil Rights Historic Preservation Fund grant in April 2020 to commemorate and educate the public about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The exhibit features four display cases that take visitors through the story of the 6888th, from the creation of the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942 to their return to the US in 1946. An interactive kiosk, exhibit guidebook, and hands-on mail sorting station complete the exhibit. Artifact highlights include an original WAC guidon from the museums collection; commendation certificates, service ribbons and a photo of 6888th member Willie Belle Irvin from Moultrie, Ga.; field gear showing what would have been used during overseas training; and a uniform jacket that belonged to a member of the 6888th (on loan from collector Sophie Green). The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is $5 adults, $3 for students and children five and younger free. Groups of 10 or more will receive special admission of $3 per person with Sunday tours offered by appointment only between 1-4 p.m. For more information about the exhibit or to schedule a group tour, contact the 6th Cavalry Museum at (706) 861-2860, visit the website at www.6thcavalrymuseum.org or e-mail chris@6thcavalrymuseum.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. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Rain showers early with scattered thunderstorms arriving for the afternoon. High 81F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early with scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The latest in a controversial shipment of phosphate rock from Western Sahara is set to arrive in Tauranga this weekend. The IVS Phoenix is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Tauranga on February 27. The vessel is carrying approximately 56,000 metric tonnes of phosphate rock mined in the disputed territory of Western Sahara in North Africa. Mount Maunganui-based Ballance Agri-Nutrients, who have sourced the material from the region since 1989, chartered the impending cargo. It is their first arrival of 2021 with an expected annual amount between 150,000 and 200,000 metric tonnes. Previous shipments of phosphate rock from the area have been met with protests in Tauranga due its origin. Western Sahara is a disputed territory in Northern Africa. Morocco has governed the territory since 1975 when Spain gave up colonial rule. The Polisario Front, a national liberation movement representing the indigenous Saharawi people, are seeking independence and consider Moroccan rule an invasion of their territory. The United Nations established a mission toward a referendum regarding independence in 1991, but that is yet to materialise. A ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front that had existed since 1991 ended in November. This conflict and the disputed sovereignty of the area in which the phosphate rock has been mined has led to the popularisation of the term blood phosphate. Ballance strongly oppose this phraseology, labelling it highly emotive and disrespectful. They insist the terminology oversimplifies a complex topic. However, Mike Barton, of Western Sahara Campaign New Zealand (WSC-NZ), stands by the term. We said plunder and war booty - that is the reality, says Barton. I think the companies involved have always had a bit of a corporate guilt about things. I think they know they are on shaky ground. Phosphate rock is used in superphosphate fertiliser and is considered crucial to New Zealands agricultural needs. Ballance suggest agricultural production would be halved without it. Due to its physical and chemical properties, no other alternative is said to offer the same performance as Western Sahara rock. Its got a high phosphorous content, which is what is desired, explains Mount Maunganui site operations manager Charlie Bourne. The super phosphate, what we produce, is best for New Zealand. Its also really low in cadmium. There are other sources of phosphate but they have a high cadmium count. We could source from other sources but what would end up happening is we would poison the soil. We would not see an immediate impact now, but 300 years from now you have pretty much killed all your kids and grandkids. Kamal Fadel is the Polisario Front representative to Australia and New Zealand. He suggests the claim New Zealand cannot source from elsewhere is baseless, citing an example of three Australian companies who stepped away from phosphate rock originating from the Western Sahara region. They have been really intransigent and strong-headed, claims Fadel. These companies are just looking at it from a profit point of view and have not taken into consideration the legal aspects or the moral, ethical aspects of this trade. It is a claim disputed by Bourne. We pay a premium for the Boucra rock because of the low cadmium. So we could bring in something with a high phosphate content, but it would have that hike in cadmium. Megan Clarkin, communications advisor for Balance, reaffirms that the cadmium issues remain a key reason behind their continued use of rock sourced in Western Sahara. Thats the difference, says Clarkin. Cadmium builds up over time. It doesnt go away. Thats what is unique about New Zealand. It is a tricky thing to get across because other places dont have the cadmium issue New Zealand has, so for them they can change their source. Were always looking at other sources and other ways from around the world but that cadmium content is an issue. Ballance ensure they are working in conjunction with a United Nations framework for operating economic natural resources activities in a non-self-governing territory, such as Western Sahara. The framework insists that operations should provide direct and indirect benefits to inhabitants of said territory, including economic advancement. Ballance are keen to point out that there are thousands of Saharawi who live and work in Moroccan-administered Western Sahara. While all parties seek a solution, the protestors don't appear to consider the risk of ceasing trade to the livelihoods of the Saharawi who are employed by OCP, says Ballance head of communications Aimee Driscoll. It is not clear how the loss of jobs in a volatile part of the world would progress the issue of Western Sahara's political status. Ballance currently source their phosphate rock from mining company Phosboucraa, a subsidiary of Moroccan fertiliser company OCP. OCP claim all profits from the operation supplying New Zealands phosphate are reinvested in the region. But Fadel disputes that claim, suggesting money will go toward the Moroccan treasury and does not benefit locals. If you talk to people inside Western Sahara itself, they will tell you they have no benefit - they live in poverty, Fadel continues. It is white-washing, window dressing, and not based on reality. It is propaganda. The Saharawi do not benefit. It is a claim Ballance CEO Mark Wynne strongly denies. Ballance absolutely refutes the suggestion that any money received from the sale and purchase of phosphate rock from Phosboucraa is returned to Moroccan authorities, the parent company, OCP, or any other entity. Fadel is now imploring the government in New Zealand to intervene and take a stronger stance. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade say they are supportive of the United Nations process in Western Sahara, including the exercise of the principle of self-determination by the Saharawi people. They continue to monitor the situation in Western Sahara and call on both parties to return to the ceasefire. Companies importing from Western Sahara must comply with relevant legal obligations and import at their own risk, says the MFAT spokesperson. Companies have been encouraged to look for alternative sources, as well as to continue to develop and invest in technology that would make importation from a range of sources more viable. WSC-NZ head Mike Barton has confirmed protest action is being planned for the latest shipments arrival. Ballance are keen to point out that the right to peaceful protest was an innately Kiwi right. Any protests at the plant would be accommodated as long as they remained peaceful. Bourne says that people with questions should contact the company, whilst remaining understanding of peoples concerns. It is just trying to get the understanding out there, says Bourne, to educate people on what we do, why we do it and the steps we take to do it properly in with the best interests of everyone, not just us and our shareholders. Fadel, however, suggests the nations reputation is being harmed by the continued use of resources mined in Western Sahara. He has a message for ordinary Kiwi citizens. Our people have suffered a great deal from oppression, occupation and they live in refugee camps in dire conditions while you benefit from our resources. These companies are not listening and they are putting no effort into stopping this illegal importation of stolen goods. Its why we call it blood phosphate. 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 Delhi: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi on Saturday informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Rs 2 lakh each for families of deceased in floods in the state. Modi said that the state government decided that flood victims will be given Rs 6,000 each through RTGS and food packets of 10 Kg each. Earlier in the day, PM Narendra Modi undertook aerial survey of flood affected areas in Bihar, along with CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Sushil Modi. PM Modi chaired review meeting in Purnia with senior officials, CM Nitish Kumar and Dy CM Sushil Modi. He announced an immediate relief of Rs 500 crore for flood-hit Bihar. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Turkey says it plans to host an Afghan peace conference in Istanbul next month ahead of a deadline for a U.S. troop withdrawal. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on March 12 that Ankara considers itself "one of the most-important actors in Afghanistan." "We will do this (meeting) in coordination with our brothers in Qatar," the Anadolu state news agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying in reference to a separate round of talks between the Afghan government and Taliban staged in Doha. He gave no specific date for the meeting. He added that Turkey intended to appoint a special envoy to the peace process. "Both the Taliban and the negotiation delegation, meaning the government side, has asked us to host such a meeting before," Cavusoglu said. The diplomatic push comes as U.S. President Joe Biden is completing a review of an agreement with the Taliban negotiated by former president Donald Trump's administration to remove the final U.S. troops in the war-torn country by May. On March 9, Russia also announced plans to hold a conference in Moscow next week to discuss Afghanistan, although it was unclear if the United States would attend. Based on reporting by AFP and AP A video circulating on social media shows a man in Hong Kong being beaten by five officers. The man is first hit from behind before each officer begins repeatedly striking the man with batons. He is cornered and pushed to the floor before four more officers arrive at the scene. One onlooker is heard saying he didnt even do anything. According to the Hong Kong Police Force, the man was arrested for possessing an offensive weapon, wielding a metal rod and threatening bank staff. He allegedly fled the scene at around 5pm on 5 March before being found nearby. Police said the man refused to surrender the weapon despite a warning and he was arrested using necessary force. This article was amended on 11.03.2021 to remove references to the man being a protestor, as claims to that effect were from social media and not corroborated. Washington, March 12 : A third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who killed African-American man George Floyd under custody last year, has been reinstated, as the trial's start date neared. Chauvin, who was filmed pressing his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes leading to the latter's death on May 25, 2020, is alreadt charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, reports Xinhua news agency. He was initially charged with third-degree murder days after Floyd's death, but Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the count in October 2020, saying it did not apply to the circumstances of the case. The state of Minnesota appealed Cahill's ruling on March 5 and asked him to reconsider the motion to reinstate the third-degree murder charge. Cahill did so Thursday after the Minnesota Supreme Court decided the previous day not to take up an appeal from Chauvin against the charge. According to Minnesota law, the maximum sentence for second-degree murder is 40 years, and 25 years for third-degree murder. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is now scheduled for March 29, after the selection of the jury was delayed and ultimately began on Tuesday. The three other former officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, who were on the scene also face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. Their trial is expected to begin in August. Floyd's death was ruled a homicide, with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's autopsy report revealing he died from "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression". Floyd's death triggered last year's massive protests against racial inequality and police brutality, across many US cities and also internationally. The incident followed the high-profile cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Eric Garner in New York; and others that have driven the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text By Ian Ransom (Reuters) - Team New Zealand rallied superbly to level the America's Cup match at 2-2 on Friday after challenger Luna Rossa took the honours in the early race in light winds off the coast of Auckland. Fast starts again proved decisive on Friday, with Luna Rossa winning the opener by 37 seconds before defender TNZ hit back with a 63-second victory, the most dominant margin of the best-of-13 series so far. All four races have now produced wins by the yacht starting from the port side, with three of them blowout victories, but both teams were adamant the pattern could be broken if more variable winds blow over the weekend. "Personally I feel like its a bit more of coincidence than an extra strength," TNZ skipper Peter Burling told reporters. "Obviously your life is a little bit easier if youre the port boat ... You still have to choose a good time and make life hard for the other team. "A lot of the starts could have been anyones start coming into the final 30 seconds." The series is set up nicely for a big weekend, with crowds able to pack the foreshore in the centre of Auckland following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Luna Rossa were seen as the faster boat in lighter winds in the leadup to the event, and it looked that way as they dominated the upwind legs to claim the first race in 27 minutes and 18 seconds. But TNZ dented that perception with a sparkling comeback in the second race, though they were helped by a poor Luna Rossa jibe that allowed the New Zealanders to coast to victory in 29:53. "Quite a few little things didnt go our way but then to bounce back in the second one and get a nice, good start and be strong throughout was really pleasing for us as a group," said Burling. A flotilla of spectator boats bobbed by Course E in the Hauraki Gulf and one breached the boundary moments before the start of the first race, forcing an eight-minute delay. After resetting, Luna Rossa edged the start in 9-knot winds and quickly blew out the lead on the way to a comfortable win. Story continues Shaded at the start of race two, the Italians were in the hunt for most of the first two legs before it all went awry on a jibe bearing down on the second gate. The hull dipped into the water as their foils dragged, allowing TNZ to roar ahead and shift the pressure back onto the Italians ahead of day three on Saturday. Luna Rossa co-helmsman Francesco Bruni admitted he had "missed the button" in lowering a board on the AC75 yacht. "It was just a very bad manoeuvre," he said. "Lucky we were behind at that moment ... Its not going to happen again." The Italians were swept 5-0 the last time they took on the New Zealanders for the America's Cup in Auckland 21 years ago, so they should be well pleased with their position ahead of day three. "I truly believe were the underdogs but as weve shown we can win races," said Australian co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill. "Looking at the scoreline its great news for the event, for fans of both teams. But youre taking on Team New Zealand at home and theyre the favourites." (Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Additional reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford) 03/11/2021 Amanda, Jonathan, Tanner and Taylor Kughn are jointly pursuing their bachelor's degrees on campus. In the Kughn family, theres no whining about the stress and strain of being a college student. Or, if they do complain about deadlines, late night study sessions, or homework overload, its likely met with head nods and shoulder shrugs that say, Yeah. I get it. Because they do all of them. Each member of the Kughn family mother, Amanda; father, Jonathan; son, Tanner; and daughter, Taylor are currently enrolled at JSU. We all have something we can relate on and experience together, but separately, said 20-year-old Tanner, a sophomore majoring in communications. It is nice, though, because our parents kind of understand and get a taste of how stressful college is these days. With having to balance school, work, family and free time, it can be a lot. Taylor also sees the benefit of having her parents at JSU. We are all in different seasons of life, she said, but we all have this one shared experience that most families do not have. I do not personally feel like there is a downside to our situation. Taylor, 22, will graduate from JSU in May with a degree in criminal justice. While I had always planned on attending Auburn University, I realized that I wanted to major in criminal justice, which is not offered at Auburn. After researching, I felt that the best criminal justice department was, in fact, at JSU. Tanner, who his mother calls an artsy music lover, dreams of playing drums in a rock band. Yet even rock stars need a strong education. I was actually not sure if I was going to attend college or not, only because I didnt have anything specific I wanted to go for, he said. He then discovered JSU has several degree options that can be useful to students who want to do something out of the ordinary. I took a film class, out of curiosity, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, Tanner said. It was so cool having a teacher who had been to Hollywood and acted. It gives people like me hope and inspires us to push ourselves there, because we now know it is very possible. Amanda, JSUs lead admissions processor, always thought shed go back to school once the kids were out of the house. Being hired at JSU simply sped up the process. She enrolled in the integrated studies program, she said, because it gives you the ability to take courses that you feel would be the most beneficial to you. I was nervous going back into the classroom because so many things have changed in higher education over the last 20 years, Amanda said. I was really concerned about the added stress and how I could balance life with my family and my job. My advisor really helped me with my concerns, from helping me choose my classes to the occasional you got this email. I have found that all of my classes have adult students in them, so I am not the only older person. I was worried I would look like Billy Madison. Taking a cue from his wife, Jonathan enrolled at JSU last fall, where he is working towards a degree in applied engineering/manufacturing management. He hopes it will help advance his career at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, where he is the delivery coordinator in the supply chain department. After the kids graduated high school, I decided to utilize my companys tuition reimbursement program to pursue my bachelors degree," said Jonathan, who received an associate's degree in applied sciences from Jefferson State Community College in 2000. "I know this dynamic of everyone attending the same college at the same time is not the norm, but I did not realize how unusual it was. In my first semester at JSU, in one of my classes, we had to list two truths and a lie and I decided to list as one of my truths that me, my wife and both my children are all currently attending JSU. Even though the other two responses were pretty hard to believe, my professor picked this as my lie. Its been an adjustment for Jonathan, whos taking his classes online. Currently, my position is very demanding, but with the online options, this gives me the flexibility to work at my own pace and plan around my work schedule. So far, this has been a great option for pursuing my education while meeting my responsibilities at work Amanda feels like it has been beneficial for her and her husband to be in school at the same time. After Tanner graduated, we took one year to enjoy the empty nest, and then I decided we would go back to school, she said. Since we are going through this process together, I feel that we are more understanding of the time the other person needs to spend on schoolwork. We usually spend Saturday and Sunday afternoon at our separate workstations focusing on our assignments. We are even taking a class together this semester, so we watch the lectures together. While Taylor has yet to bump into her parents on campus unless she happens to swing by her moms office shes happy to share the college experience with them. When I found out we would all be going to school together, I had an overwhelming sense of pride in my parents, she said. They had me at a young age, and put a lot on hold including graduating college to take care of my brother and me. I had heard them talk about hopes of going back to school most of my life, so when that idea started to a become reality, I felt nothing but excitement for them. That sense of pride goes both ways. My wife and I are extremely blessed to have the opportunity for our children to be close in age, to be in school at the same time, and to share college experiences that they will surely remember for the rest of their lives, Jonathan said. Our family loves to have fun and not take life too seriously, so we hope this experience will just provide additional stories and memories we can have for the rest of our lives. NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against MultiPlan Corporation f/k/a Churchill Capital Corp. III ("Churchill III" or the "Company") (NYSE: MPLN; MPLN.WS; CCXX; CCXX.WS; CCXX.U) and certain of its officers, directors, and sponsors. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and docketed under 21-cv-01965, is on behalf of a class consisting of: (i) all purchasers of Churchill III securities between July 12, 2020 and November 10, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period"); and (ii) all holders of Churchill III Class A common stock entitled to vote on Churchill III's merger with and acquisition of Polaris Parent Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, "MultiPlan") consummated in October 2020 (the "Merger"). If you are a shareholder who purchased Churchill III securities during the Class Period and/or a holder of Churchill III Class A common stock entitled to vote on the Merger, you have until April 26, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] Churchill III was formed in October 2019 as a blank check company. A blank check company is sometimes referred to as a special purpose acquisition vehicle, or "SPAC," and does not initially have any operations or business of its own. Rather, it raises money from investors in an initial public offering and then uses the proceeds from the offering to acquire a business or operational assets, usually from a private company that does not publicly report financial or operating results. As a result, investors in blank check companies rely on the skill, transparency, and honesty of the blank check company's sponsor to spend the offering proceeds to acquire a fundamentally sound target company that offers attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors. On or about February 14, 2020, Churchill III completed its initial public offering, selling 110 million ownership units to investors for gross proceeds of $1.1 billion. Each unit was priced at $10 and consisted of one share of Class A common stock and one-fourth of one warrant to purchase Class A shares. Each whole warrant entitled the holder to purchase one share of Churchill III Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. In July 2020, Churchill III announced that it had entered into a preliminary agreement, subject to shareholder approval, to merge with MultiPlan, a New York-based data analytics end-to-end cost management solutions provider to the U.S. healthcare industry. MultiPlan's customers include large national insurance companies, provider-sponsored health plans, bill review companies, Taft-Hartley plans, and other entities that pay medical bills in the commercial healthcare, government, workers' compensation, auto, medical, and dental markets. On October 7, 2020, shareholders voted to approve the Merger at a special shareholders meeting. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading because Defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) MultiPlan was losing tens of millions of dollars in sales and revenues to Naviguard, a competitor created by one of MultiPlan's largest customers, UnitedHealthcare, which threatened up to 35% of the Company's sales and 80% of its levered cash flows by 2022; (ii) sales and revenue declines in the quarters leading up to the Merger were not due to "idiosyncratic" customer behaviors as represented, but rather due to a fundamental deterioration in demand for MultiPlan's services and increased competition, as payors developed competing services and sought alternatives to eliminating excessive healthcare costs; (iii) MultiPlan was facing significant pricing pressures for its services and had been forced to materially reduce its take rate in the lead up to the Merger by insurers, who had expressed dissatisfaction with the price and quality of MultiPlan's services and balanced billing practices, causing the Company to cut its take rate by up to half in some cases; (iv) as a result of all the foregoing, MultiPlan was set to continue to suffer from revenues and earnings declines, increased competition, and deteriorating pricing dynamics following the Merger; (v) as a result of all the foregoing, MultiPlan was forced to seek continued revenue growth and to improve its competitive positioning through pricey acquisitions, including through the purchase of HST for $140 million at a premium price from a former MultiPlan executive only one month after the Merger; (vi) as a result of all the foregoing, Churchill III investors had grossly overpaid for the acquisition of MultiPlan in the Merger, and MultiPlan's business was worth far less than represented to investors; and (vii) as a result of all the foregoing, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On November 11, 2020, just one month after the close of the Merger, short research investment firm Muddy Waters published a report on Churchill III titled "MultiPlan: Private Equity Necrophilia Meets The Great 2020 Money Grab" (the "Muddy Waters Report"). The Muddy Waters Report was based on extensive non-public sources such as interviews with former MultiPlan executives and other industry experts, as well as proprietary analysis. The Muddy Waters Report revealed that MultiPlan was in the process of losing its largest client, UnitedHealthcare, which was estimated to cost the Company up to 35% of its revenues and 80% of its levered free cash flow within two years. According to the Muddy Waters Report, MultiPlan was in significant financial decline because of its fundamentally flawed business model, which profited from excessively high healthcare costs. UnitedHealth had purportedly launched a competitor, Naviguard, to reduce its business with MultiPlan and bring the over-priced and conflicted services offered by MultiPlan in-house. The Muddy Waters Report also accused MultiPlan of obscuring its deteriorating financial position in presentations to investors by, among other things, manipulating cash reserves to show inflated earnings figures in the years leading up to the Merger. The Muddy Waters Report also stated that MultiPlan had suffered from material, undisclosed pricing pressures that had caused it to slash the "take rate" it charged customers in half in some instances and falsely characterized revenue declines as "idiosyncratic" when in fact they were due to sustained, negative pricing trends afflicting MultiPlan's business. The Muddy Waters Report further stated that MultiPlan's four previous private equity firm owners had "loot[ed] the business" for cash in the lead up to the Merger. According to the Muddy Waters Report, the sale to Churchill III was necessitated because MultiPlan's private equity owners could not find anyone else willing to buy the failing business after these deep cuts, which had resulted in deteriorating service quality and increased customer complaints. The Muddy Waters Report quoted two former MultiPlan executives who spoke about the private equity stewardship of the Company right before the Merger, which had purportedly left Churchill III's unwitting shareholders "hold[ing] the bag." The Muddy Waters Report stated that the decline in MultiPlan's sales left the Company "no choice but to try to buy some form of revenue growth to mask eroding fundamentals." Indeed, MultiPlan had just recently announced the acquisition of healthcare technology company HST for $140 million, which performed similar functions to those offered by Naviguard. The Muddy Waters Report described HST as "an attempt to buy an inferior, significantly smaller Naviguard stand-in, and at a premium price" from a former MultiPlan executive. As a result of this news, the price of Churchill III securities plummeted. By November 12, 2020, the price of Churchill III Class A common stock fell to a low of just $6.12 per share, nearly 40% below the price at which shareholders could have redeemed their shares at the time of the shareholder vote on the Merger. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 [March 12, 2021] FashWire Announces GlossPitch, a $10,000 Competition for Female Founders on its Newly Launched Beauty Platform, GlossWire GlossWire, a two-sided global beauty marketplace, proudly announces the inaugural pitch competition taking place live on March 18th, 2021, at 4:00 PM EDT. The GlossWire beauty brands were invited to submit an application to pitch in front of some of the most influential leaders in the beauty and media industries, while competing for the chance to claim a grand prize of $10,000 to assist in supporting their businesses. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005448/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) "We are excited to make this first-of-its-kind competition possible to support our beauty brands and bring together the skills, connections and platforms of industry experts who have a deep understanding of their businesses," said Fashwire founder and CEO Kimberly Carney. "It is essential that we fulfill GlossWire's philanthropic mission by helping our brand partners while continuing to embrace our entrepreneurial spirit." The 10 finalists will have the opportunity to pitch in front of esteemed judges including Chloe Hall, Digital Beauty Director for ELLE; Adam Glassman, Creative Director for Oprah; Susanah Zeffiro, Client Partner, Beauty for Spotify (News - Alert) ; Melissa Chataigne, TV Host and Beauty & Fashion expert; Karen Ballou, Immunocologie founder & CEO and Lucas Brand Equity Senior Partner; and Kimberly Carney, Fashwire founder & CEO. "It is vital for the beauty industry to foster and support the next generation of beauty brands and give them both the financial and mentoring support that they need. The GlossPitch competition allows us to do both and puts brands on a global stage, rewarding them for their innovative and creative skills," stated Chloe Hall, ELLE Digital Beauty Director. "I am so excited to review the works of these talented brands. I am particularly delighted at the diversity of these Female-Founded entrants and looking forward to meeting the top 10 finalists at the pitch event on March 18th." "It is an honor to participate as a judge for GlossWire's inaugural beauty pitch competition focusing on female founders during Women's History Month," said Adam Glassman, Oprah Creative Director. "The stories behind the brands that we're looking at display passion, conviction and seek to change the beauty industry. GlossWire received applicants worldwide, including Canada, France, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. At a time when people are feeling disconnected, this event is a great opportunity for GlossWire's brand community to connect and share their brand stories around a worthy cause for the chance to win funding for their businesses. "The GlossPitch competition focuses on what I feel passionately about, elevating new brands in the beauty space who have a distinct point of view and passion for storytelling," said Susanah Zeffiro, Client Partner, Beauty for Spotify. "Having worked with some incredible beauty brands, I see the passion and creativity here amongst these Female-Founded companies. It's an honor to sit amongst my fellow peers and support the next generation of talent." The finalists will have the chance to share their stories, the inspiration behind their brands, how these unprecedented times have impacted their businesses and how they would use the prize money. In the interactive competition, viewers will be given the opportunity to vote on the outcome along with the panel of esteemed judges who will be making the final decision. The three winner grants include a 3rd place prize of $1,500USD, a 2nd place prize of $2,500USD and a grand 1st place prize of $10,000USD. Special congratulations to our 10 finalists that will be pitchng their brand stories at the virtual event on Thursday, March 18th, 2021 at 4:00PM EDT. The Ten Finalists (in alphabetical order) are: BASE BUTTER CYGALLE BEAUTY FANLOVEBEAUTY JUMBY LABRUNA SKINCARE LAMIK SHESPOKE THE SEXIEST BEAUTY VERTLY WONDER CURL "I am really excited to be an industry judge for the global launch of GlossPitch. Through this initiative, GlossWire is true to its unique value proposition of connecting brands with people and technology to be more successful," explained Melissa Chataigne, TV Host and Fashion and Beauty Expert. "The opportunity for the contestants to receive feedback from industry leaders as well as the overall exposure they gain is invaluable. The prize money is an extra bonus for the winners, allowing them to invest in the growth of their brands." GlossWire gives its portfolio of 100+ brands the ability to engage in new and innovative ways by fusing together the discoverability of brands on a global scale. For the consumer, GlossWire improves product discovery and awareness by leveraging technology to personalize the customer experience through social tools, such as swiping, likes and sharing, to engage the consumer and build community. As a testament to the positive user experience, GlossWire ranked in the Top 10 on the App and Google (News - Alert) Play stores for paid shopping category at launch. "I am looking forward to seeing these beauty founders share their brand stories," said Karen Ballou, Immunocologie founder & CEO and Lucas Brand Equity Senior Partner. "This pitch competition can help these businesses in so many ways - not just with the winning funds, but by giving them exposure, connecting them with key services, other entrepreneurs, and other sources of funding to help them work towards sustainable growth and profitability." To register in advance for this live event on March 18th, 2021 at 4:00 PM EDT, please click on the link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tbyx2GhRT_q77PyCBtrJSQ. To learn more about GlossWire, download the mobile app by visiting the App Store or Google Play. About GlossWire GlossWire is a two-sided global marketplace offering a one-stop solution for personalization, innovation and real-time insights. For the consumer, GlossWire offers organic discovery of worldwide beauty dedicated to curation, education and community with using its proprietary and feedback for the brands. Beauty brands can leverage that feedback to further expand their offering to consumers to improve and streamline their strategies. For more information, visit: www.glosswire.com. About Fashwire Fashwire's high-growth app and web-based shopping platform provides its portfolio of 350+ designers from 40+ countries real-time data and actionable insights into consumer shopping behavior patterns. A two-sided global marketplace, Fashwire is a B2B data hub to navigate consumer demand and increase profitability. For consumers, Fashwire's B2C shopping platform creates a compelling interactive experience by combining fun, immersive swipe voting with the ability to influence the designer instantly. Fashwire recently expanded into the multi-billion dollar beauty industry with its launch of GlossWire Beauty. For more information, visit: www.fashwire.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005448/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Around 540 roosters, cockerels and chickens have been seized as investigations into an illegal cockfighting syndicate in Sydney's south-west continue. Detectives searched a Horsley Park property on Thursday morning following ongoing investigations into the alleged syndicate. More than 30 men are currently facing charges over their alleged involvement in the 'barbaric' cockfighting ring. Officers seized more than 540 fighting cockerels, roosters and chickens at the Horsley Park on Thursday, as well as cockfighting paraphernalia. A man was detained by police and spoken to at the property, before being released without being charge. Police seized 540 roosters, cockerels and chickens (pictured) in Horsley Park on Thursday on top of an additional 71 birds seized at another property in December Police seized this Horsley Park property in south-west Sydney on Thursday as investigations into an alleged cockfighting syndicate continue A crime scene was established at the Horsley Park property and remains in place on Friday as RSPCA inspectors facilitate the safe removal of the animals. Thursday's search was part of an extensive investigation following a property search at Camden Valley Way at Catherine Field in December. A designated cockfighting area and several large sheds used to house 71 fighting cockerels, as well as metal spikes, spurs and other cockfighting equipment were found during December's search. More than $107,000 in cash and electronic devices were also seized. Cockfighting paraphernalia (pictured) was also seized at the property on Thursday, where a man was arrested by police and later released Several of the birds seized required veterinary care for serious injuries. A 56-year-old man was taken into the custody of the Department of Home Affairs regarding his visa status, while another 33 men were detained and issued with court attendance notices. All 34 men are due to appear in Moss Vale Local Court on April 1. Investigations by the Organised Crime Squad are continuing. NSW Police believe it's the first cockfighting ring to be shut down in about 20 years. Some serious money has been sent the way of various insurance startups over the past week. Investors backed cutting-edge commercial lines and cyber insurance products as well as advances in texting communications, producer management and licensing compliance, and digital risk management for financial institutions. Heres a wrap-up of some recent major funding commitments as reported by Carrier Management. Major Haul Corvus Insurance is prepping a major expansion and surge in its commercial lines and cyber product development now that it has secured $100 million in new venture capital financing. Insight Partners led the Boston startups Series C funding round, with participation from Telstra Ventures, Obvious Ventures, .406 Ventures, Bain Capital, Hudson Structured Capital Management and MTech Capital. With the biggest fundraising round of a cyber insurance company to date, we will continue to realize our vision in making our world a safer place, Corvus CEO and founder Phil Edmundson said in prepared remarks. Corvus, launched in 2017, is a managing general agency providing commercial insurance products through artificial-intelligence-driven risk data. The company plans to use its new funding to double down on its underwriting, product development and go-to-market strategies. It will also focus on expanding its Crowbar digital platform, which is designed to provide cyber risk data through an exceptional digital experience to brokers and policyholders. With those AI capabilities, Corvus hopes to better predict and prevent loss, and reimagine how policyholders, brokers, underwriters, and reinsurers can incorporate data science into the commercial insurance marketplace. Corvus previously raised its $33 million Series B round in 2020. To date, the company has pulled in $147 million in venture capital investment. With the new round, Corvus claimed its valuation is now at $750 million. In addition to new product development, Corvus has an eye on expanding its product footprint to all major U.S. regions and to expand its hiring. A spokesperson noted the company currently employs 140 people, a number that grew 172 percent in 2020 along with some senior hires. With the new funding, Corvus hopes to more than double its headcount in 2021. Source: Carrier Management/Corvus Insurance More on AI, Cyber Cowbell Cyber nailed down $20 million in new venture capital financing from multiple investors. The managing general agency provides multi-faceted cyber insurance and related services to small and medium-sized businesses using a digital platform that relies on artificial intelligence. The new capital will be used to fund product development, expand risk engineering, sales, marketing, and increase Cowbells footprint nationwide. Jack Kudale, Cowbell Cybers founder and CEO, said that his companys emergence is at a crucial time for cybersecurity awareness. Cybersecurity is now a risk management issue that is critical to the future of the insurance industry and is evolving at a pace that insurers have rarely seen, Kudale said in prepared remarks. Cowbell Cyber has capitalized on businesses accelerated digitization and an ever-changing threat landscape. Brewer Lane Ventures led the investment round and Brewer Lane managing partner Martha Notaras will join the Cowbell board of directors. Notaras previously was a partner at XL Innovate, a P/C insurtech VC fund that invested in Lemonade, as well as Cape Analytics and Slice, among other companies. Pivot Investment Partners also participated in the financing, along with Avanta Ventures, Markel Corp., and existing investors ManchesterStory, Tri-Valley Ventures, and Holmes Murphy. Akbar Poonawala, co-founder at Pivot Investment Partners, will join Cowbell Cyber as a board observer, the company said. The investment follows Cowbell Cybers September 2020 launch of its Prime 250 program, which allows insurance agents to issue personalized cyber policies a program that has since expanded to 38 states. Cowbell uses AI as the basis for its standalone and tailored programs designed to protect businesses from crippling cyber threats. The company touts its closed-loop approach to cyber risk as being especially helpful, as it bundles cybersecurity awareness training, continuous risk assessment, and pre and post-breach risk improvement services. Its cyber policies help policyholders to be proactive about managing cyber risks. Cowbells continuous risk assessment services, Cowbell Factors, are available free, on-demand to all businesses. Source: Carrier Management/Cowbell Cyber Greetings Hi Marley raised $25 million in new funding it will use to fuel further expansion of its AI-enabled texting platform for the insurance industry. Emergence Capital led the Boston-based insurtechs Series B financing round, after which founder and general partner Gordon Ritter is taking a seat on Hi Marleys board. Returning firms Underscore, True Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures and Greenspring also participated along with additional investors including Brewer Lane. Our goals, which [Ritter] and the Emergence team are poised to help us achieve, are to continue to expand across the enterprise, with new ways to communicate while surfacing valuable insights that ultimately help insurers create more lovable experiences, Mike Greene, CEO and co-founder of Hi Marley, said in prepared remarks. Hi Marley is deigned to make it simple for insurance carriers to communicate with policyholders via text. Its platform centers around a smart SMS platform built for the insurance industry, inside of which carriers, agents, brokers, service providers and customers can all communicate. Hi Marleys plans for its new financing round include creating new features for its platform, ensuring the platform scales across the enterprise, and adding to Hi Marleys engineering, sales and customer success organizations, among others. Source: Carrier Management/Hi Marley Synced Up AgentSync pulled in a $25 million round of financing, money it plans to use for expansion of its producer distribution management and licensing compliance software. Were solving for some of the most inefficient processes bogging down the trillion-dollar insurance market, AgentSync co-founder and chief executive Niji Sabharwal said in prepared remarks. Our core product is already creating positive change for our customers, and were excited to keep building for an industry thats eager to adopt innovative, automated technology to work smarter, not harder. Elad Gil, a former Twitter executive, led the Series A round along with David Sacks Craft Ventures. Marc Benioff, Caffeinated Capital, Operator Collective, and Nine Four Ventures also participated. With the new financing, AgentSync claims its valuation has reached $220 million 10 times higher than after its seed funding round in the middle of 2020. The Colorado-based startup launched in 2018. AgentSync Manage is the companys first product. It uses automation and technology to facilitate producer management and licensing compliance. Built on the Salesforce platform and direct integration with NIPR (National Insurance Producer Registry), it is designed to create efficiencies and enable carriers, agencies, and MGAs to grow and scale. AgentSync claims some well-known early customers including Hippo Insurance, Lemonade, Hub International, Embroker, iptiQ (a subsidiary of Swiss Re), Beam Dental, Centene and Rippling. AgentSync is developing a comprehensive platform with tools both upstream and downstream of its core licensing compliance product to position the company to meet a full range of needs, it said. Source: Carrier Management/AgentSync We Partner Allianzs technology investment arm is committing $75 million to WeLab, a Hong Kong-based fintech focused on virtual banking, consumer financing and other related digital services. The deal also includes a strategic partnership. The insurers Allianz X digital investment unit committed the money as part of WeLabs Series C financing round. Allianz said the company is now one of a number of Asian startups in its investment portfolio. Plans call for using the funds to fuel WeLabs further expansion and development of its technology platform. Also, Allianz and WeLab are now deepening their strategic cooperation. The companies expect to jointly develop digital products and services in areas including wealth management, starting in Hong Hong. Eventually, they are eying an expansion of their cooperation into Indonesia and Southeast Asia. WeLab first launched in 2013. Its services include digital banking services and loans for private customers, a digital lending platform to connect lenders and borrowers, and a number of technology-driven services to support financial institutions in their lending processes. WeLab currently operates in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Indonesia. The company touts nearly 50 million retail customers and 600 corporate customers. Its WeLab Bank in Hong Kong launched in 2019 and is one of the first fully-licensed digital banks in Asia, the company claims. WeLabs technology includes a proprietary risk management system based on artificial intelligence and a patented privacy computing product that ensures the secure transfer of sensitive data. Allianz Xs other recent Asian investments have focused on telemedicine company Halodoc; digital real estate brokerage 99.co, and GoJek, a digital company that offers a wide range of services on its platform, from taxi rides to food delivery and mobile payments. BIMA, a digital insurance provider in emerging and developing markets, is another Allianz X portfolio company with extensive business in Asia, Allianz noted. Source: Carrier Management/Allianz Topics Mergers Agencies Cyber InsurTech Tech New Delhi, March 12 : As the virtual private network (VPN) usage grows in countries like India to have a more secure and private Internet browsing experience, a new report has warned that Chinese government have access to massive sets of data like private emails, messenger conversations and personal records, as most of the VPNs being used are Chinese-owned, a new report has warned. According to Strike Source, approximately 20 per cent of the world's global population are "being either directly or potentially set up for the Chinese government to collect all of their private data". There are 4.57 billion Internet users in the world and 31 per cent of those use a VPN network. "Upon reviewing a sample size of 30 popular VPNs, we can estimate that approximately 62 per cent of those are secretly Chinese-owned VPNs currently installed on 878,354,000 consumer user devices," the nonpartisan news and analysis website said in its report, quoting information from Tom Jackson, a cybersecurity expert. "VPN data is rich with information, and when paired with quantum computers decrypting the data traveling within those channels, we are vulnerable to attack from many different angles," Jackson said. "If the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has access to 20 per cent of the data going through the world's VPNs generally, they should be expected to be using that data for a massive global spying operation that could translate into winning wars, shifting global power, and aiding the rise of an empire," the expert warned. In India, approximately 129 million people use VPN to access the internet and we do not know how many of those now have data that has been compromised. In 2020, 29 per cent of Americans reported using a VPN for personal use (up from 11 per cent in 2019). "It means that 39 million Americans may be sharing personal or otherwise secret data with China". Earlier this year, a number of VPN company databases were breached and leaked. The total amount of log data leaked exceeds one terabyte. Propane suppliers reliant on Enbridges Line 5 are transitioning to railroad cars to get their products in anticipation of the oil pipeline shutting down in May. Several suppliers in Michigan began exploring alternatives when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the end of an easement that allows the controversial 67-year-old pipeline to run beneath the Straits of Mackinac. From Superior, Wisconsin, Line 5 runs east to the Upper Peninsula then southeast to a Rapid River township refinery, near Escanaba, where natural gas liquids from Line 5 are stripped for propane. On Nov. 13, Whitmer gave Enbridge until May to decommission Line 5 after announcing the easement revocation following a yearlong DNR compliance review. Enbridge says the aging pipeline is safe, but opponents have been arguing for years that the risk posed by an oil spill where Lakes Michigan and Huron connect is too great. Enbridge pushed back on Whitmers order, filing a lawsuit and saying it wont comply with the shutdown absent a court order. Canadian officials have also been vocal against the shutdown, with Seamus ORegan, Canadas natural resource minister, telling a special House of Commons committee on Canadian-U.S. relations the country is fighting for Line 5 on every front and we are confident in that fight. Related: Canadian minister: The operation of Line 5 is non-negotiable Some suppliers have already transitioned to railroad cars while others await the result of a legal battle between state attorneys and Enbridge. Still, if the pipeline is shut down, Michigan propane suppliers in the Upper Peninsula will have a few months to figure out an alternate solution to meet their high demands during the fall and winter seasons. Dan Harrington, the owner of U.P. Propane based in Iron Mountain, once relied on propane transported through Line 5 but shifted to using railroad cars from other suppliers around November 2020 in anticipation of the pipelines closure. The company serves 14 of the 15 U.P. counties, which equates to about 14,000 customers. Harrington said it is 5 to 7 cents per gallon more to ship the product by rail. Experts and state officials are still identifying alternative energy options if the pipeline is shut down, and Whitmers U.P. Energy Task Force is expected to present a report on options at the end of March. Reports from the task force identify trucking and using railroad cars as alternatives to deliver propane, both would require significant infrastructure investment to support demands. Enbridge has plans to build a tunnel to house the pipeline and has received initial approval for permits from the state for the project. As the legal battle continues, the state task force continues to identify areas where consumer protections can be strengthened and energy efficiency enhanced, including using brownfield sites for propane storage, increasing storage capacity, and offering rail development funding available to propane providers. Related: The fight isnt over, opponents to Line 5 say after state approves permits for controversial tunnel Whitmers administration expects the market to dictate what combination of those options would be most effective and reliable, according to Nick Assendelft, a public information officer for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. The department does not have a role in supplying resources to residents in Michigan. Energy markets respond quickly to the laws of supply and demand and EGLE is confident these market forces will drive propane marketers to adjust their operations and keep Upper Peninsula customers supplied in the future, Assendelft said. Mike Shriberg, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federations Great Lakes Regional Center, served on Michigans Pipeline Safety Advisory Board. He said there are three ways to get propane from Superior to Rapid River for distribution to Michigan communities. One is to build a pipeline between the two cities. Another option is to use trucks to deliver the product. And the third option is using railroad cars. People have this misconception that Line 5 is tied to their propane tanks. Thats not true. Line 5 simply has an off-ramp in Rapid River. So, as long as you can get that raw material to Rapid River, you have exactly the same options, Shriberg said. Using rails to transport the propane is one of the most feasible options to deliver energy to the Upper Peninsula, according to energy experts enlisted by the state. The Upper Peninsula represents a fraction of a percent of Line 5s capacity, but a report by Public Sector Consultants estimates it satisfies about 88% percent of the areas propane demand. The Michigan Department of Transportation also is working with consulting firm WSP in Novi and Michigan Technological University on an eight-month study on delivering propane by rail. The study will identify rail infrastructure upgrades, including rail-served storage capacity, necessary for improved distribution of propane by rail in the Upper Peninsula. There is a rail line that also goes through Superior, Wisconsin to within one mile of the propane facility, Shriberg said. So, if you build a one-mile rail spur the problem is taken care of. Related: Michigan regulators approve Enbridge Line 5 tunnel permits But Harrington said it requires a substantial amount of money to transition to rail. A supplier must first find an area to transport the product. Harrington leased a property with an old rail spur which he updated, but building a new spur from scratch would be more costly. Harrington said each railroad car can hold up to 30,000 gallons of propane. Its not just something you can do overnight, Harrington said. If you ordered one today, it would take you a year at least to get a railroad car built. Theres just not the infrastructure available, terminals and railroad cars, to transport that much propane. Harrington said cold weather also impacts railroad cars availability. During a recent cold snap, Harrington said there was a shortage of railroad cars. Like Harrington, industry experts and suppliers currently using the railroad cars to deliver propane are concerned the transition will place too much demand on the rail system. Todd Fuller, the owner of Webster Garner, supplies propane to customers in both of Michigans peninsulas. Fuller uses the same rail system as Harrington and is concerned about putting all the demand on the rail system. Fuller uses several railroad systems to transport propane to his facilities. The largest facility is in Marysville in St. Clair County. There are also routes from St. Clair, Bay City, Kalkaska, Grand Rapids, and Toledo, Ohio. Fuller uses the rail systems for logistical reasons. When all those trucks (carrying propane) came from southern states, it put stress on a line that it took to get a truck loaded over in Marysville. So, you would have people waiting up to eight or nine hours to get propane, Fuller said. It just pushes everything behind. Fuller has several supply points so that if one area gets too busy or goes down temporarily, he can rely on another site to get products. Thats the advantage of having multiple supply points, Fuller said. My concern isnt so much with costs rising if Line 5 is shut down, Im more concerned about the volume not being there to take care of our customers. Still, Douglas Jester, a partner at 5LakesEnergy and an expert in Upper Peninsula utility regulation, said the most efficient method to substitute for Line 5 in the short term is a combination of railroad cars and trucks. Jester also sits on the U.P. Task Force. In much of the country, rail from sources of propane to major depot points like Rapid River is the way that propane is delivered and can absolutely be a permanent solution, Jester said. In the very short term, a significant increase in rail delivery would perhaps be a stretch but railcars are manufactured constantly. Its absolutely possible to increase the fleet. Jester explained there are several other pipelines that can satisfy the lower peninsulas propane demands. According to Jester, there is a pipeline running from Sarnia, Canada to Montreal that can be adjusted. Another pipeline travels from Ohio to the Detroit area. Enbridge also has a pipeline that runs from Chicago across the southern edge of the Lower Peninsula and into Sarnia. And what I would expect to happen is if Line 5 is shut down, there will be changes in the operations of those other pipelines in order to serve Sarnia, Jester said. I dont know what the pipeline companies will choose to do but my point is there are options. Jester said it is also the case that a good part of the Lower Peninsula is already being served not by Line 5 but other sources supported by the other available pipelines. Suppliers are already using rails to transport products from other existing pipelines. There is already infrastructure there that could be expanded, Jester said. Line 78 (Enbridges pipeline) from Chicago delivers a mixture of oil and propane. That ratio can be changed. If propane is more important to deliver through that pipeline, thats what people will do. Jester said it would take about a year or two for the market to reach equilibrium but that any such problem is a short term problem. According to Jester, very little propane is used during the summer because it is mainly a heating fuel, however, some people use it for their water heaters. In reality, I think the deadline for adjustment would be something like August with the preseason sales where they want to fill everybodys tank before winter comes, Jester said. So, I do think propane distributors need to make those arrangements, but now its not an emergency. Related Stories: Battle is not over. Fight to stop oil line has waged for years Line 5 tunnel law upheld by Michigan Court of Appeals Line 5 opponents urge shut down ahead of tunnel hearing State calls for Enbridge to prove it can cover spill costs Enbridge Line 5 ordered shut down by Michigan Gov. Whitmer When the author and Bible teacher Beth Moore announced she was leaving the Southern Baptist Convention this week, she cited the staggering disorientation of seeing its leaders support Donald J. Trump, and the racism and sexism revealed in her community by his presidency. Ms. Moores departure from the countrys largest Protestant denomination attracted widespread interest condemnation from her conservative critics, regret from some denominational leaders, and cheers from some of her admirers. She is arguably the most prominent white evangelical woman in America. She speaks to arenas of fans; her many books have sold millions of copies. Until now, however, she has remained relatively obscure outside of evangelical circles. That is in part because unlike many high-profile evangelical men, Ms. Moore, 63, did not build her career as a firebrand doing public battle in the culture wars. Rather, she has spent decades teaching on spiritual and psychological topics for an overwhelmingly female audience. Here is a look at some highlights from that career: Lessons With Panache Ms. Moore is not the leader of a church, a role inaccessible to Southern Baptist women. But as an itinerant speaker, she attracts significantly larger and more engaged audiences than most church leaders. Hyderabad: The nation is celebrating "Azaadi Ka Mahotsav'' on August 14, the eve of 75th year of Independence, remembering the supreme sacrifices made by many to get our nation liberated from the British rule. However, there are many unsung heroes who contributed their bit in the freedom struggle but never got their due deserved to them. Pingali Venkayya is one of them. Not many would immediately recollect that it was Pingali Venkayya from Andhra Pradesh who had designed our Tricolour (National Flag). A contemporary of stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Pingali Venkayya hailing from Krishna District in Andhra Pradesh and participated in freedom movement. Though he gave the country the Tricolour he is neither remembered nor celebrated for his achievement. However, today, in a welcome gesture, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy did what no other leader did in the past. The Chief Minister visited Pingali Venkayya's 99-year-old daughter Ghantasala Seetamahalakshmi at her residence in Macherla town in Guntur district. Even at this age, Seetamahalakshmi remembers and recollects the moments spent with her father. The 99-year-old was overwhelmed when YS Jagan felicitated her. "I am very touched,'' she said in a frail voice when the Chief Minister told her how the entire nation is proud of Pingali Venkayya. Reddy presented a cheque of Rs 75 lakhs to her on the eve of commemoration of 75th year of our Independence. "We never expected any Chief Minister would ever visit us but YS Jagan Reddy was so kind to listen to not only our mother but evinced keen interest when we told him on every aspect of our grandfather,'' said Ghantasala Gopikrishna, Pingali Venkayya's grandson. Originally scheduled to spend 20 minutes in Pingali Venkayya's daughter house, YS Jagan Reddy spent more than one hour obliging all the family members with selfies. Later, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting to confer Bharat Ratna to Pingali Venkayya. "The country for several decades did not recognise the untiring efforts of her son Pingali Venkayya who gifted it the first designs and specimen of the National Flag; the flag that would fill the hearts of millions of Indians with spirit of freedom, independence and duty to carry on with the struggle until the motherland was unshackled from the chains of slavery. It is in this light; I request your kind self to confer Bharat Ratna ( posthumously ) upon Pingali Venkayya that would not only bequeath peace on to his parted soul but also fulfil the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh.'' It was on March 31, 1921, in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, when Pingali Venkayya first gifted his designs of flag to Mahatma Gandhi, who, in turn recognising his passionate efforts noted in his journal `Young India'. "We should be prepared to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our national flag. Pingali Venkayya, who is working in Andhra National College, Machilipatnam, has published a book describing the flags of countries and designed many models of our own National Flag. I appreciate his hard struggle for the approval of the Indian National Flag,'' it read. On July 22, 1947, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Flag as "Free India National Flag'' and thus Pingali Venkayya was credited as architect or designer of the Indian National Flag. The flag designed by him came to be synonymous with the spirit of free and independent India. However, his life and works largely remain unrecognised. Pingali Venkayya passed away on July 4, 1963. Photo: Smith Collection/Gado / Getty Images Millions of people are currently earning by making and posting videos, on the American social media giant, the largest video sharing platform on the internet, YouTube.But this year onwards YouTube will be taking tougher stance on tax fees that are applied to the US-based content creators (no problem yet right) but also from the people who do not reside inside the United States of America.According to an email by YouTube which was sent to all the YouTube creators said that, "Were getting in touch because Google is said to deduct U.S. taxes from earnings to creators living outside of the U.S. this year (as early as June 2021). Over the course of the next few weeks, well be requesting the content makers to submit your tax info in AdSense to decide the correct amount of taxes to deduct if any apply. If your tax details are not submitted by May 31st, 2021, Google may be required to deduct up to 24% of your entire earnings worldwide."The US Internal Revenue Code under chapter 3, according to the US Government, Google is responsible to cumulate tax information from content creators who do not live in the United States. Google also outlines an example of this impact to clarify the taxation process.For Example, A Creator in Pakistan earns $1,000 in revenue from YouTube in the month of February. Of the $1000 in total revenue, their channel generated $100 from viewers living in the United States.Here are some possible scenarios:If the content Creator does not submit tax details then the final subtraction is $240 because the withholding tax rate, if you dont submit a form, is up to 24% of total earnings. This means that until YouTube/Google have your detailed tax information, they will need to cut up to 24% of your total income worldwide not just your U.S. earnings.If the content Creator submits tax details and declares a treaty benefit then the Final tax deduction can be $5. This is probably because Pakistan and the U.S. have a tax treaty relationship that reduces the tax rate to 5% of earnings from the audience in the U.S.If the content Creator submits tax details but is not qualified for a tax treaty then the Final tax deduction is $30. This is because the tax rate without a tax treaty is 30% of earnings from the people watching in the U.S. The third stimulus check was officially confirmed earlier today as President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law. The latest direct payments from the federal government were promised by the Democrats in the build up to the Georgia Senate runoff races in early January but congressional wrangling in Washington has prevented the bill being passed until now. In the course of those negotiations some elements of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package were altered to ensure the bill had enough votes to be passed. There were changes made to the unemployment benefits provisions, multi-billion dollar projects were scrapped and the income threshold for the long-awaited stimulus checks was altered. Senate opposition forces Democrats to change stimulus check eligibility Back in January Biden unveiled the American Rescue Plan, complete with $1,400 stimulus checks to top up the $600 distributed earlier that month. The Democrats wield unified power in Washington, holding both Houses of Congress as well as the White House. However not all in the Party were willing to support such a costly stimulus bill and when the legislation reached the Senate some compromise was needed to keep the moderate Democrats on side. Their slender advantage and the Republicans refusal to support the bill meant that Biden could not afford even a single dissention from his senators. During the Senate discussion Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine outlined their opposition to "upper income citizens" receiving the third round of stimulus checks. New income thresholds for third stimulus check The main qualifying factor for the direct payments is your adjusted gross income (AGI), which is essentially your annual income before tax. Lawmakers wanted to ensure that this round of payment is more targeted than previous rounds so have lowered the top threshold for eligibility. As was the case with previous rounds, individuals with an AGI of less than $75,000, couples making less than $150,000, or heads of households earning less than $112,500 will receive the full amount. Their children and adult dependents will also be eligible for the full $1,400 per person. However the new restrictions kick in for those earning above those levels. The entitlement still phases out above those thresholds but does so much more abruptly under the new regulations. Individuals earning more than $80,000, couples making more than $160,000 and heads of households earning above $120,000 will no longer receive any stimulus check money. For all of the latest updates on the stimulus check payments as they go out, follow our dedicated live feed. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. As the latest forecasts continue to intensify and project that parts of the Denver metro will receive up to 2 feet of snow over the weekend, Gov. Jared Polis and other state officials are encouraging Coloradans to stay home and stay safe this weekend. Throughout Colorado's urban corridor that extends from the Wyoming state line to the Palmer Divide, there are estimates of 18 to 24 inches of snow that will begin late Friday afternoon and continue into the early hours Monday, said Lisa Kriederman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Boulder. Western and southwestern Denver are expected to be the most impacted areas as two to four feet of snow are possible in some areas, Kriederman said. A Winter Storm Warning was issued for much of the urban corridor on Thursday and goes into effect midnight Friday until 6 a.m. Monday. "If you can stay safe in your home or another location, especially during the peak of the storm, please do so," said Shoshana Lew, the executive director of The Colorado Department of Transportation, during a press conference with fellow state leaders Thursday afternoon. "It gives our crews greater ability to do their jobs, keep essential travel possible for as long as possible, and return our state roadways to normal as safely, and as quickly as possible." CDOT officials are deploying plows traditionally used throughout the western, mountainous portions of the state and along the I-70 corridor into the city to assist with plowing efforts. These crews will continuously work around the clock until the lasting impact of the storm is gone. Big and residential plows in Denver will start being deployed at 3 p.m. Friday, said Heather Burke, a public information officer for Denver's Department of Transportation & Infrastructure. Plowing efforts will focus on major highways such as I-70, Interstate 25 and Interstate 76, said John Lorme, Maintenance and Operations Director for CDOT. "By prioritizing roads, we're better able to maintain lifes and safety issues along our interstates," Lorme said. As a result of this weekend's impending storm, many vaccination clinics and community testing sites have already canceled and organizers are in the process of rescheduling appointments. "We are contacting everyone who has an appointment this weekend to rescheduled their vaccinations to clinics next week," said Cary Vogrin, a spokesperson for UCHealth. Polis said unlike last month's storm that brought over a foot of snow with unseasonably cold temperatures, the state isn't expecting any delays for next week's COVID-19 vaccine shipments. Despite the closures and many state leaders urging residents to limit only essential travel during the storm, Colorado State Patrol Chief Matthew Packard issued some safety tips for those who need to travel. "Please take time before the storm to make sure your vehicle is properly equipped, make sure your tires are up to the task and have minimum tread depth of 3/16th of an inch, make sure your wipers are in good working order, washing fluid is full, your battery is charged and ready to go," Packard said. "Of course a 4-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicle would be best, but I would ask you to consider including tire chains or other alternative traction devices." Packard also echoed AAA's statement earlier in the week to be prepared, have an emergency kit, water, shovel, sand or kitty litter to use in case of an emergency event. For those who end up being stranded in a ditch, or somewhere in their vehicle, Polis announced he activated around 50 Colorado National Guard members to assist in search and rescue efforts this weekend. Although these resources will be available to anyone in need, Polis is encouraging people to stay home. "You don't want to be one of those people who might have to be searched, found and rescued," Polis said. But rain and snow won't be the only problem this weekend as wind gusts are expected to continuously increase throughout the weekend with gusts reaching 45 mph on Sunday, Kriederman said "It's not going to be an issue in-terms of blowing snow on Saturday, but on Sunday, we'll experience northerly winds that are going to help bring down colder air across the plains and those winds are going to be possible gusts in the 40 to 45 mph range," said Kriederman. "When you get that colder air that's going to allow that snow to be lofted easier, which could lead to drifting snow and low visibility issues." In addition to possible visibility issues, the high winds could potentially down some trees and create power outage issues across the state. But utility companies such as Xcel Energy have already been making preparations to limit those outages, Polis said. But regardless of the outcome of this weekend's storms, state leaders said they are just trying to keep everyone safe. "Stay safe Colorado," Polis said. "If it starts to snow, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, so don't be caught out ... better to be safe at home or in a place where you could remain for a day or two until the weather passes over." The amps and microphones, the iPad, the pedal, the bag of cables all that stuff stolen five years ago from Greg Smith, can be replaced. But the Fender bass, customized with a blowtorch by legendary bass-amp maker Larry Hartke, that, Smith wanted back. Through a friends keen eye for Facebook Marketplace deals and a young man with a strong moral compass, Smith was reunited this week with the bass that was stolen along with his other gear in May 2016 outside an Allentown bar. I never thought in a million years Id ever see any of this stuff ever again, Smith, who lives outside Bangor, told lehighvalleylive.com Thursday night. Smith plays bass for rocker Ted Nugent, among others, including The Wizards of Winter. On the Friday night into early Saturday in 2016 when he was victimized, he was playing with a classic rock power trio called Off the Road at Strange Brew Tavern off Route 145. The gear was packed into a blue 1997 GMC Yukon that someone made off with. Police would recover the SUV that same weekend, with minor damage and its contents and battery gone. This was a one-of-a-kind instrument, Smith said of the pilfered Fender. Its the only thing I really cared about. Wednesday morning, he woke up about 7 a.m. at home in Washington Township, Northampton County, and saw a message from fellow bass player Billy Voight with a link to Facebook Marketplace. He said, I think this is your bass, Smith said. Of course, I knew right away it was mine because its a unique instrument. The bass is known as the Larry Hartke No. 3, since it was the third one in a series customized by Hartke, whos been supplying Smiths bass amplifiers since 1992. He made this bass for me and he personally torched it with a blowtorch, Smith said. Hes kind of been doing it as art, and this was No. 3 that he ever did. Before the coronavirus pandemic, plans were in the works to display the Hartke bass guitars in a gallery all except No. 3. Smith didnt want to scare off the seller, so he contacted his friend Lyle Sharman, a private investigator, who tracked down the personal details of the seller 19-year-old Bruce Macchione, of Hillsdale in Bergen County, New Jersey. Macchione had gone to Brooklyn to purchase a Warwick bass, and the seller had another bass on him to unload. He said it was a cool blue Fender, Macchione said Thursday night. It was cool. I got it for $300. I thought it was a good deal. Macchione plays guitar and likes to work on instruments and resell them. The Fender he listed online for a couple hundred more than he paid. When he got the call with the back story on the bass, he didnt hesitate offering it back to Smith. They met up Wednesday night at Macchiones home. Thats just the right thing to do, just return the bass back to where it belongs, Macchione said. Rocker Ted Nugent performs alongside bassist Greg Smith June 29, 2012, at the then-Sands Bethlehem Event Center.Matt Smith file photo | For lehighvalleylive.com Smith hooked up Macchione with a concert poster signed by Nugent, a whole bunch of guitar picks and $100 in cash. He also put the teenager on the phone with Nugent, who said next time hes in the area, he wants to shake his hand. So the Ted Nugent meet-and-greet is part of the deal, too. Thatd be a very interesting ending to the story, Macchione said. Smith said he has yet to fully grasp that the bass is back in his possession. It looks and sounds exactly the same, the neck is in perfect shape, he said. This nice young man, Bruce, he actually put a fresh set of strings on it. Since COVID-19 hit, Smith has been playing locally with friends and streaming on Facebook to viewers as far away as Europe and Russia, Pakistan and Turkey. Hes also been collaborating with other musicians around the United States, recording individual parts on video that a buddy in Arizona has been editing and mixing. Theyve been doing old Aerosmith songs, with the vocals handled by John Corabi, who sang for Motley Crue in the 1990s during a Vince Neil hiatus. Smith has tour dates lined up this summer with Nugent, for about six weeks starting in mid-July. The Larry Hartke No. 3 is going along, for sure. I never thought Id miss being on a tour bus, Smith said. I cant wait to get on a tour bus and sleep in that little bunk. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. AstraZeneca has refused to give Health Minister Stephen Donnelly any commitment on when vaccines will arrive into the country. Mr Donnelly spoke to AstraZeneca's Irish country representative on Thursday night to voice his "frustration" about delays in supply, however, the drug manufacturer still cannot provide timelines on delivery. Taoiseach Micheal Martin is now seeking a meeting with the head of AstraZeneca as issues with supply persist. Mr Donnelly said the pharmaceutical giant did "recommit to the total volumes being delivered" to Ireland, however, he said the rollout dates for batches is "an ongoing conversation". "One of the things I said was: 'Look, if you're going to give us dates and you're going to give us volumes, they need to be the right volumes,' because this repeated revising down of the volumes is just causing an awful lot of anxiety for people and it's not fair and it's not right," said Mr Donnelly. "What I emphasised last night was two issues. The first was that we are very, very frustrated with the fact that the volumes that we have agreed and contracted for are not being met. And secondly, that the volumes are constantly being revised down and it's causing a lot of problems in terms of the logistics and it's causing a lot of anxiety amongst the public." Appeal to the US He did not rule out the possibility that Mr Martin will directly ask for vaccines from the US when he speaks with President Joe Biden as part of St Patrick's Day celebrations next week. The New York Times has reported that tens of millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are sitting in American manufacturing facilities, awaiting results from its US clinical trials while countries that have authorised its use beg for access. We understand other governments may have reached out to the US government about donation of AstraZeneca doses, and weve asked the US government to give thoughtful consideration to these requests, said Gonzalo Vina, a spokesman for AstraZeneca told the newspaper. Asked about the 30m doses now being held in America storage, Mr Donnelly said: "I have no doubt that if that he [Mr Martin] believes that if it would be of use to raise that with the president, he most certainly would." TROY Five days after a 26-year-old North Central woman disappeared in Queens last year, Troy police received a call from New York City to report her missing and would later work with New York Police Department detectives in an investigation. The body of the missing woman, Destini Smothers, was discovered Wednesday morning in the trunk of a car that was about to be towed from Lefferts Boulevard in South Ozone Park in Queens more than four months after she went missing, the New York Police Department said Wednesday. Troy police first became involved in the case when the missing person call came in Nov. 8. Smothers was last seen on Nov. 3, 2020 outside a bowling alley in Queens, Deputy Chief Dan DeWolf said Thursday. A friend of a cousin of Smothers made the call, according to the police report. The report says that Smothers was in Queens for a family funeral. However, media reports since her body was found said she was there for a birthday party. Smothers lived at 3016 Seventh Ave. in the North Central neighborhood with her boyfriend, Kareem Flake, according to the missing person report. Several New York City media reports said Smothers was the mother of two children. In November, patrol officers went to the Seventh Avenue apartment to perform a welfare check but no one was home. Smothers disappearance took on a different aspect when NYPD detectives came to Troy in December 2020 with search warrants for the Seventh Avenue residence. Troy police said they assisted the out-of-town detectives and were at the scene to provide any necessary backup but were not involved in the search. During the course of the investigation, New York City prosecutors also reached out to the Rensselaer County district attorneys office to inform them the case was being handled as a homicide. Media reports said Smothers was at the bowling alley for her birthday. NBC News in New York City reported Nov. 30 that her boyfriend, who was not named, said they had an argument in Smothers black 2011 Toyota Camry. The NBC report went on to say that the couple was stopped along the Grand Central Parkway when she exited the vehicle leaving her purse, wallet and ID behind inside the vehicle. The car towed Wednesday in Queens was described as a black Toyota, according to reports. Police held a press conference on the scene where Smothers body was discovered. A flatbed truck operator who was towing the car had opened the trunk to search for a spare tire and found the body, according to police. The cause of death is being investigated as is the ownership of the car. The wind and upcoming sandstorm have a big influence on the first day of the winter test in Bahrein. According to Ted Kravitz the drivers who have a full day today have a big disadvantage, including Max Verstappen. With only three days of testing in Bahrain, every moment on track is precious. Bad luck with the car or circumstances is something you want to avoid as a team, but also as a driver. Max Verstappen has some bad luck at the moment because the wind plays a big role on Friday in Bahrein. A disadvantage for Verstappen? ''If we are talking about the wind, then this is really a disadvantage for the drivers who have the whole day today. I don't want to be too dramatic about it, but Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen really have a disadvantage having this whole day in these tricky conditions. That's a big disadvantage compared to the drivers who share their day,'' Kravitz told F1TV. Read more Impressive floor of Mercedes' W12 is only now becoming apparent Where most teams have chosen to deploy both drivers today, Ocon and Verstappen are in the car all day today. If it's less valuable because of the wind, that's certainly a disadvantage, but David Croft does provide a nuance. ''It could still be blowing tomorrow as well,'' the presenter said. The menu at Boonie Foods is mostly what you would find people eating daily in the Philippines. Your first visit should definitely include bagnet ($16), which includes -inch-thick slabs of pork belly so gloriously crispy on the outside it shatters audibly when you bite in, before giving way to meat and fat so supple you could spread it like butter. Its served with a mound of garlic fried rice, a fried egg and the choice of one side. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (Reuters) - Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings Ltd is being probed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over concerns that it allowed Americans to make bets that violated U.S. rules, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The CFTC is investigating if the company, which isn't registered with the agency, permitted U.S. residents to trade derivatives that the regulator polices, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Binance has not been accused of misconduct and the probe may not lead to any enforcement action, the report added. The company and the CFTC did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Last year, CFTC filed a civil lawsuit to halt U.S. commodity derivatives business of BitMEX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges. (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) A year in, weve been conditioned to say the safe thing to do is to put your mask on and not be close to other people, and now were having to readjust and adapt to what will end up being a new normal in the coming months, she said. Theres a level of conditioning that happens when we are changing our behavior, when you continue to engage in that particular behavior for a specific time, your body adjusts to that behavior. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. By Brian Bull, Underscore.news While the U.S. as a whole is just finding its stride administering the COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens, many Native American tribes including the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians are on a mean streak. According to Cherity Bloom-Miller, the tribes clinical services director, the tribes have vaccinated roughly one-quarter of the 5,547 enrolled members, and about one-third of those who live in Oregon. As of March 5, the tribal government had given the Moderna vaccine to 3,000 people 18 and over, members and otherwise. Dee Pigsley, chairwoman of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, says she was concerned the initial vaccine rollout was moving too slowly. But by late January, they had enough Moderna vaccine allocated from the state for 300 people. So weve been setting up appointments for tribal members, Pigsley continues, noting that the tribe was due to get another 100 doses the following week. Weve vaccinated the clinic staff, our essential staff, elders. So were working down that priority list. The tribes are now looking to inoculate casino workers over the next three weeks. The Chinook Winds Casino Resort has just reopened, boding well for one of the tribes biggest sources of revenue. The Oregon Health Authority says that as of March 9, 14,077 people identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native have been vaccinated against COVID-19, 2% of the 750,486 people vaccinated so far. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 1.8% of Oregons 4 million residents identify as American Indian or Alaska Native. A long history of mistreatment by the U.S. government, from chronic underfunding of the Indian Health Service to Native women being sterilized without their knowledge or consent, have understandably made tribal communities wary. Yet an Urban Indian Health Institute survey shows 75% of American Indians and Alaska Natives expressed a desire to get the COVID-19 vaccine (but with nearly 40% reporting having trouble getting to their clinics for the shot). Tribal governments in Oregon have had success getting vaccines into arms through social media apps including Facebook and Nextdoor and through community word-of-mouth (which elders half-jokingly call the moccasin telegraph, more used to inform friends about powwows than about vaccine clinics, until recently.) In Oregon and the broader Northwest, its been very good for tribes, says Bryan Mercier, Northwest regional director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He says tribes have strong social networks and have also leveraged existing resources such as Indian Health Service clinics to promote positive messaging about the COVID-19 vaccines. So what Ive seen regionally, not just in Oregon, are tribes surpassing their state colleagues because of those infrastructures and networks, Mercier says. He recounted an example he shared at a recent Portland Indian Leaders Roundtable meeting in early February. The Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Reservation in Mission had done something like 700 shots in arms. And the neighboring county had only done less than ten at that time. The vaccines are provided to tribes through either the State of Oregon or the federal Indian Health Service. Once the vaccines are allocated, tribal officials can determine for themselves which groups will be prioritized outside what the state government decides. Mercier says that after tribes have vaccinated the majority of their immediate members, theyve opened up clinics to other Native Americans willing to travel. The Coquille Indian Tribe, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and Cowlitz Indian Tribe have done just that in recent weeks. The Coquille are also vaccinating relatives who share a home with an inoculated Indigenous person, such as spouses. In cities, a different story This might help in an area where Oregon has been less successful: getting vaccines to Native people who live in urban areas. This includes urban tribal members like 54-year-old Vikki Mata. Even before the heavy winter storms canceled many vaccine clinics and testing stations around Portland, Mata, a member of the Tlingit people, was struggling to find information about the shots. Ive been doing a lot of research on what options are available to American Indians and Alaska Natives living in the greater metropolitan area, Mata said. But she was unable to find clinics in Portland. In contrast, she was hearing about vaccines available at tribal health centers in other parts of the state. Eventually, through social media apps including Facebook and Nextdoor, and by asking around, she learned that the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde were holding vaccination clinics across the state, including in Eugene and in Salem at the Chemawa Indian Health Center. I learned about other clinics because a friend saw my post on Facebook and messaged me, adds Mata. He is also American Indian. Hed driven out to Pendleton to get his. One of his motivations was that hed lost his mother to COVID-19. Mata says shes still not yet vaccinated, but after recuperating from shoulder surgery, shes hoping to get a shot this month. One of the star players in Oregons vaccine drive is the Coquille Indian Tribe. Based in Coos Bay, the tribe has invested its casino revenues and grant money in a number of ventures well beyond its traditional territory. In January, the Coquille began operating an outpatient health clinic in Eugene, more than a hundred miles to the north. With a $900,000 Indian Community Development Block grant from HUD, a basement space has been transformed into a facility that serves an area where an estimated 6,000 Native Americans live. Kelle Little, health and human services administrator for the Coquille, says the tribe has expanded its reach to clinics in Roseburg, Medford, and the Portland area. As of March 5, she estimates theyve vaccinated more than 1,500 people, which exceeds tribal enrollment. This includes Coquille tribal members and employees, other Native Americans whove traveled to the Coquilles clinics, and relatives who live with inoculated members such as spouses. Little says the Coquille had vaccinated approximately 80% of its tribal elders and spouses 55 years of age or older who live in their primary service area and 50% of those living in Oregon. Yet another tribe getting recognition is the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Matt Johnson, interim deputy executive director for the tribe, says that as of early March, he believes 694 out of 3,100 tribal members have been needled in the arm. We have also vaccinated 443 non-CTUIR member Indians through Yellowhawk (Tribal Health Center), he adds. In addition, the tribe offered a mass vaccination clinic for non-Indians living on the reservation, which resulted in 840 people getting their first of two shots. When all is said and done, after this last group from the mass vaccination receives their booster shot in a couple of weeks, the tribe will have fully vaccinated over 2,100 individuals who are either tribal members, CTUIR non-Indian staff, non-CTUIR member Indians, or non-Indian residents of the reservation and surrounding community, Johnson says. Fueling a lot of this is a need to restore community and a sense of normalcy. When Dee Pigsleys sister, Donna Woods, died before Thanksgiving last year, it wasnt from COVID-19; a brain aneurysm claimed Pigsleys elder sister. But the novel coronavirus still cast its omnipresent shadow over Woods funeral, as mourners paid respects. We belong to the Catholic Church in Keizer, explains Pigsley. At the time it was 50 people inside the church, 50 in a different part of the church. And our family, when we have a service, its usually a couple hundred people. And you have to tell people they cant come, because thats the way it is, sighs Pigsley. Its been difficult. Responsibility to vaccinate Dr. Thomas Weiser, medical epidemiologist for the Portland Area Indian Health Service, said the federal government has a duty, based on treaties signed with Native American tribes, to ensure rapid vaccinations. IHS has been working on COVID-19 response with 23 of 43 Pacific Northwest tribes across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho since the pandemic hit a year ago. Its really that federal trust responsibility that we have to make sure that tribes are provided with the resources that they need to care for their people, and thats what we do, Weiser says. Another urgency has been protecting elders. Weve been really worried, especially with really small tribes that maybe have fewer than a thousand members, if the critical culture bearers are not there to carry that culture forward, that so much could be lost, he says. So I think that is driving a lot of the tribes to make sure theyre protecting each other, not just through vaccinations but through all the things we do to minimize the spread of COVID in communities. The concern about protecting elders has prompted criticism of the State of Oregons prioritization. Earlier this year, Governor Kate Browns prioritization put teachers ahead of elders, which for traditionally multigenerational households, posed a risk. From everything I understand about how COVID works and spreads, theres no way Id send my kids back to school without my parents being (vaccinated) first, says Se-ah-dom Edmo, executive director of MRG Foundation. She says without a vaccine for youngsters currently, sending her children to interact with their classmates could mean bringing the coronavirus back home with disastrous consequences. Its putting our elders at risk if were sending our children out willfully to be engaged with people outside of their bubble. For Native and tribal communities, it just didnt make sense. Browns office did not respond to a request for comment. The prioritization was announced in January, once state officials learned there was no federal reserve of doses. Starting March 7, seniors aged 65 and older were eligible for vaccination. Edmo does appreciate some of the partnerships she says have helped connect Native communities to vaccines. She says the Native Wellness Institute, Native American Youth and Family Center, and others have internally prioritized urban Natives, which included a direct phone call she received informing her of openings at a Portland-area vaccine clinic (a number of Portland-area organizations were asked to comment for this article, but either declined or did not respond). Far from services Perhaps those having the hardest time accessing the vaccines are those living beyond the reservation and the city. In the Columbia River Basin are traditional village sites that members of the Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs, Nez Perce, and other tribes have shared for generations, largely for fishing. The lack of modern infrastructure limits communication and pandemic protocols considerably, as the federal government has yet to rebuild fully the original sites flooded by dam development back in the 1950s. The only running water are in the bathroom facilities, those with bathroom facilities, says Jeremy FiveCrows, of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. Others are just pit toilets. People just pull in trailers, tents, tipis, vans, RVs. Its such an easy situation for COVID to spread, because its not like people can be like, Oh, Ill just quarantine here. You still need to use the bathroom or take a shower, where everybody uses the same place. CRITFC applied for grants through the Oregon Community Foundation, and with One Community Health based in The Dalles and Hood River area, received a specialized medical van for testing and vaccination for the Native people living in the basin area. Its a lot of effort to get if youre 200-300 miles from your reservation, says FiveCrows. He says their first venture was in January at the Celilo Village site. In less than a day, all 100 doses were accounted for, something he attributes to a brute force outreach campaign with partner The Next Door. They went from site to site, just knocked on doors or campers and told them, If youre in these age groups, youre eligible. Can we sign you up? FiveCrows said. It took a lot of effort to get the success that they did. He says there are already two other mobile clinics planned for the village sites, and he credits the higher interest among Native Americans in getting the needle in the arm for that success. You also wonder how much of that is from the cultural memory of how different pandemics swept through the tribal populations and decimated us, FiveCrows said. So how much of that played into trying to fight that, knowing we probably have grandparents or parents that may have died from other pandemics? Underscore.news is a nonprofit collaborative reporting team in Portland focused on investigative and Indian Country coverage. We are supported by foundations, corporate sponsors, and donor contributions. Follow Underscore on Facebook and Twitter. Kolkata, March 12 : Exactly a month after they sailed out of Bangladesh's coastal region of Cox's Bazar, more than 80 Muslim Rohingya refugees remain stranded in a boat in the Andaman Sea. Human rights activists have said that Indian Coast Guards have provided the refugees with food, drinking water and medical attention but not allowed the boat ashore. "That is perhaps because India is negotiating with Bangladesh to take back these refugees. But since Bangladesh has refused to take them back as their boat was tracked far away from the Andamans, the fate of the Rohingyas is uncertain," a Thailand-based human rights activist, who heads a project on the minorities, said on the condition of anonymity. The activists said that one month at sea in a ramshackle boat may be "a real tough proposition" for anybody. Eight of the 90 Rohingyas who set sail (65 women, 20 men and five minors) have already died of diarrhoea and dehydration after the boat's engine developed trouble on Feb 18, a week into their journey towards South-east Asia. Eighty-one Rohingyas, mostly women, were reported to be on the boat with three Bangladesh crew members when the rights activists lost contact. The survivors confirmed eight deaths on the boat before they lost contact. The satellite phone on the boat has either been seized by the Indian Coast Guards or developed technical trouble, the rights activist said. "We thank the Indian Coast Guards for providing immediate relief, but New Delhi should either negotiate the boat's return to Bangladesh with the Rohingyas or take them ashore to a camp for better medical care. This is a humanitarian situation," the activist said. The UN has also called for appropriate measures and relief . Indian authorities confirmed 47 Rohingyas on the boat had UNHCR-issued refugee cards given out in Bangladesh. "Our real worry is over possibilities of handing over the Rohingyas to Myanmar where they originally hail from if Bangladesh refuses to take them back and India does not take them ashore. Myanmar, which recently took back more than 1,000 Rohingyas from Malaysia, may agree to take them against their will," the rights activist said. But there has been no update on the condition of survivors on the boat and it was also not clear if it had been repaired. Boats carrying Rohingya refugees have regularly drifted towards India's Andaman Islands and received immediate shelter until now. A convicted felon with a history of attacking older Asian people has been charged with murder after a 75-year-old man he allegedly attacked died of a traumatic brain injury. Prosecutors in Alameda County filed special circumstance murder charges against 26-year-old Teaunte Bailey on Thursday after Pak Ho died from injuries sustained in an attack two days earlier. Police said Ho, an Oakland resident of Asian descent, was walking on the street just before 7am Tuesday when Bailey robbed and shoved him, causing him to hit his head on the pavement. Bailey, whose extensive rap sheet dates back to 2012, was also charged with robbery and assault on Thursday in connection with a similar incident last month. Prosecutors said on February 19 Bailey broke into an apartment at a senior living facility, where he shoved and robbed a 72-year-old Asian man of his cellphone and other items. The attacks came as the Bay Area and cities around the US are experiencing a surge in violence against Asian people. Prosecutors in Alameda County filed special circumstance murder charges against 26-year-old Teaunte Bailey (left) on Thursday after Pak Ho (right) died from injuries sustained in an attack two days earlier Bailey was booked into the Alameda County jail on Wednesday after fleeing from police following his attack on Ho. He is scheduled to appear at an arraignment on Friday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong disclosed the suspect's alleged history of victimizing elderly Asian people in a statement about the murder charges. 'I'm at a loss for words,' Armstrong said. 'Our elders should be protected not the victim of a deadly assault. I am thankful that our officers were able to quickly respond and arrest Mr Bailey.' Bailey, whose extensive rap sheet dates back to 2012, was also charged with robbery and assault on Thursday in connection with a similar incident last month At the time of his most recent arrest, Bailey was on probation after a June 2020 robbery outside the same senior living center that he allegedly robbed last month. Police said Bailey was driving a stolen car when he stopped and ambushed two victims, Peiling Mai and Jianfeng Li, on June 26. He allegedly knocked both of the victims to the ground, punched one in the face and ripped the other's purse away. Bailey convicted of felony assault in that incident and sentenced to 64 days in jail. Before that, Bailey was convicted of possession of stolen property after he and another female suspect robbed a person in San Francisco in April. Alameda County records showed Bailey had at least two other burglary convictions, one from January 2013 and another from September 2012. He also had multiple arrests for parole violations, including in December 2019 and February 2020. Bailey's latest arrest came 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. President Joe Biden forcefully denounced the trend in his first prime-time address on Thursday night, which focused heavily on the coronavirus pandemic. 'Too often we have turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save live, sometimes it divides us. States pitted against one another instead of working with one another. Vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated,' Biden said. 'At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans are on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives and still, still they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. 'It's wrong, it's un-American and it must stop.' [March 11, 2021] Kinder launches Applaydu - a new mobile app which brings toys to life through augmented reality SINGAPORE, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinder, a Ferrero brand, announces the launch of Applaydu, a new mobile app which brings Kinder toys to life through augmented reality in a fun world of discovering and imagination. Applaydu is a free edutainment playing experience, developed with Gameloft for brands, which aims to encourage bonding time where parents and their children can play and discover together. The University of Oxford's Department of Education provided academic feedback during the development of the App. Applaydu offers an immersive new experience dedicated to children from four to nine years old: the environments, characters and stories are thought and built to spark their imagination and stimulate their ability to learn new things. Users of Applaydu can enjoy games, interactive stories, activities and a lot more! The new Applaydu mobile app also provides a family friendly, safe and controlled environment, freeof ads nor in-app purchase, as well as Parental Control features such as activities report and adaptive difficulty to ensure a complete peace of mind for parents. It is designed to be used with the whole family, however parents can rest assured that appropriate safeguards are in place to guarantee that children can enjoy themselves securely. To develop the app, Kinder has partnered with Gameloft for brands - leader in the creation of gaming experiences for brands - who provided their expertise in terms of gameplay, technology, art direction and 3D animation. Meanwhile, Oxford University's Department of Education provided Kinder with a set of guidelines to help Kinder's development of the App, aimed at helping children's progression by creating and developing a game that utilizes and develops cognitive skills including mathematics, motor skills, reading & writing, and memory. Applaydu can be downloaded now for free from the App Store or from Google Play and is compatible with all Android and iOS devices starting from Android 4.4 and iOS 12. Emiliano Laricchiuta, Global Head of Kinder Products with Surprise said, "By sparking the imagination of children, and uniting adults and children in play and enjoyment, we believe that Applaydu can play an important role in helping ensure that a happy child today will be a better adult tomorrow." "We are really proud to partner with Kinder to make this project a reality," said Alexandre Tan, VP Brand Partnerships & Advertising at Gameloft. "It is incredible to bring our 20 years of gaming expertise to the Kinder brand and their beloved toys in order to craft an app that brings a whole new layer of fun to families, by merging physical and digital worlds in order to expand the traditional play experience." SOURCE Ferrero [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the opening of the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Florida Gov. DeSantis Cancels All CCP Virus Fines Issued by Local Officials Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order that will eliminate all fines issued by local government officials over the past year to people and businesses in the state who violated restrictions related to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The order (pdf) was signed after the Board of Executive Clemency approved DeSantiss proposal on March 10 to categorically remit all fines related to local government CCP virus restrictions. I hereby remit any fines imposed between March 1, 2020, and March 10, 2021, by any political subdivision of Florida related to local government COVID-19 restrictions, DeSantis confirmed in the order, referring to the disease caused by the virus. Fines excluded are those related to hospitals, assisted living facilities, and other health care providers. The order also does not apply to any CCP virus-related orders or enforcement taken by the state. The governor mentioned during a press briefing on Thursday he thinks the fines issued are out of control, adding that he wants to make sure citizens are protected. Most of those restrictions have not been effective, DeSantis told reporters at the briefing, WPTV reported. The evidence is in on that, so we just want to really go forward fresh, he stated. We want people to make decisions, but we dont want it under the heavy-handed government. In September, the Republican governor announced in a similar executive order (pdf) suspending the collection of fines and penalties related to COVID-19 restrictions by local governments. DeSantis, like the overwhelming majority of governors in the country, forced many businesses to close down in March 2020 and enacted restrictions on individuals. But he was among the first governors to ease rules, as state officials chose to focus on protecting the elderly and others with serious underlying illnesses while keeping statewide restrictions light for the less vulnerable population. Every Floridian has a right to earn a living and all businesses have a right to operate, the governor told a crowd at CPAC. Florida got it right and the lockdown states got it wrong. According to federal data, Florida has had 144 deaths involving COVID-19 per 100,000 residents since the beginning of the pandemic. That compares favorably with large states that enacted stricter measures. New York, for instance, has had over 500 deaths per 100,000 residents. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. From NTD News Credit: CC0 Public Domain Exposure to the air pollutant fine particulate matter (PM2.5) before and after birth is linked to a heightened risk of childhood allergic rhinitis, finds research published online in the journal Thorax. The period of vulnerability may be during late pregnancy (30 weeks) right through to the first year of life, the findings suggest. Allergic rhinitis is defined as inflammation of the membranes lining the nose and typically involves one or more of: sneezing; itching; runny and/or a blocked nose. Allergic rhinitis doesn't cause serious health problems, but its various symptoms, particularly if severe, affect social life, school performance, and work productivity, say the researchers. Several studies have linked PM2.5 and allergic respiratory diseases, but some have discounted any such link, and if there is an association, it's not clear when the critical period of exposure might be. To explore these issues further, the researchers drew on data in the Taiwan Maternal and Child Health Database, which includes 147,637 babies all of whom were born in Taichung, Taiwan, between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2011, and who were then monitored until the end of 2014. The final analysis included 140,911 singleton children, a third of whom (47,276) developed allergic rhinitis, which was diagnosed when they were around 3 years old, on average. To measure exposure to PM2.5 the researchers used a combination of satellite time trend readings, meteorological variables, and land use data in Taichung from conception through to early childhood. PM2.5 estimates were matched to infants' residential addresses and calculated weekly, based on the daily average for each infant. The average weekly PM2.5 levels during pregnancy and the first 12 months after birth were 34.26 g/m3 (range 4.46-91.13g/m3) and 33.56 g/m3 (range 4.46-91.13 g/m3), respectively. Allergic rhinitis was more likely to be diagnosed in boys and in those whose mothers had allergies themselves. Other influential factors included being born prematurely; living in a relatively affluent well educated household; and having a mother who had heart disease, high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia; or having a mother who smoked while pregnant. Significant positive associations emerged between allergic rhinitis and PM2.5 exposures above 25 g/m3. A 17.98 g/m3 increase in PM2.5 from 30 weeks of pregnancy to 12 months after birth was significantly associated with allergic rhinitis. The association between postnatal exposure and allergic rhinitis was stronger than the association with prenatal exposure. The highest risk occurred 46 weeks after birth: the associations between allergic rhinitis and PM2.5 exposure were positive and significant at levels between 26 and 76 g/m3. Each 10 g/m3 increase in PM2.5 was associated with 30% higher odds of an allergic rhinitis diagnosis, and this was significantly higher during the first year of life. When stratified by gender, boys seemed more susceptible to PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy than girls. But girls were more susceptible to the effect of PM2.5 exposure during infancy. This is an observational study, and as such, can't establish cause. But there are several possible explanations for the findings, say the researchers. These include that the development of the nasal lining starts at 8 weeks of pregnancy. By the last three months of pregnancy, the fetal nose has all the elements of a working nose but only becomes fully functional after birth. Therefore, PM2.5 exposure in late pregnancy and early childhood could increase the risk of allergic rhinitis since this is the critical stage of development of the nose and sinuses, they suggest. Further research is required, emphasise the researchers. But they conclude: "Our findings provide further evidence that both prenatal and postnatal exposures to PM2.5 are associated with the later development of [allergic rhinitis]. The vulnerable time window may be late gestation and the first year of life." Explore further Study finds allergic rhinitis, rheumatoid arthritis not linked More information: Effect of exposure to fine particulate matter during pregnancy and infancy on paediatric allergic rhinitis, Thorax (2021). Journal information: Thorax Effect of exposure to fine particulate matter during pregnancy and infancy on paediatric allergic rhinitis,(2021). DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-215025 For the first time in its history, all five BISG committees are chaired by women, and this week, PW, in cooperation with BISG, is shining a spotlight on these exceptional volunteer chairs. The interviews have been conducted by industry consultant Julie Blattberg and edited by PW. Today's interview is with Kris Kliemann, president of Kliemann & Company, a consulting practice that advises clients on rights, royalties, publishing and distribution agreements, workflows, and systems. Prior to starting her own firm, Kliemann worked in the rights departments of FSG, Random House, most recently, Wiley. She is chair of BISG's rights committee. How did you get into the industry? When I was 14, I wanted to be a professional magazine reader. Turns out working in book publishing was the closest I could get to being paid for reading obsessively. After college, and an amazing summer publishing course, I deferred graduate school and moved to New York from Texas. I landed a job in a publishers rights department and never looked back. What compelled you to volunteer for a BISG committee? Rights and licensing is my thing. I grew up in rights departments in publishing, I teach rights in various publishing courses, and many of my best friends are rights people and agents. Ive watched other areas of publishing grow and flourish with the infusion of technology and digital toolsand Ive been delighted to see the growth in importance of rights, and to see that investment in tech for rights in finally recognized as a must-do for success. The BISG rights committee has been focused on articulating how technology can enhance rights processes and lead to increases in income. We believe that having a next-level understanding that intellectual property, copyright, and licensing is at the heart of publishing. The committee members come at the problems and issues of rights from all anglesauthors, agents, publishers, system vendors, and so on. Whats your committee working on now? In 2020, the rights committee collaborated on the publication of a white paper, "Positioned for Growth: The ROI of Rights and Royalty Management Systems." The research and conclusions (the paper is authored by Bill Rosenblatt and Steve Sieck) show in detail the value of implementing rights management systems. The paper includes measures and use cases showing increased revenue, increases in volume of contracts per year, and perhaps most interesting of all, increased productivity and the ability for a more strategic approach to licensing by using the analytics that become available when a system is in place. Less time and energy spent on administration, real opportunities for more reach and revenue from the content were creating and publishingthese are big benefits. Whats next in 2021 for your committee? Theres a working group that will continue to work on the Rights Taxonomy project - were developing some pilot projectsmainly publisher-to-publisherthatll help us refine the terminology; in addition, the group is tackling the outline for a set of standards for royalty statements. And were launching an education initiative aimed at folks from different areas in publishing: editors, CFOs, rights sellers, rights buyers. It goes back to my feeling that understanding rights can be fun for everybodyand its useful for everyone to know how they fit in to a book publishing business. Personally and / or professionally, what have you gotten out of volunteering with BISG? Working side by side with folks who care, as I do, about the nuts and bolts of rights, and how those fine details affect the bigger picture and future of publishing. Plus, were all a bit nerdy, and I mean that in the most positive warm way possible: publishing is our work and our passion. We love the vocab, the quirky history, the way that a decision here, and tweak in copy there, combined with a little luck can have an impact on the success of a book, an author, a company. And were all happiest when recounting publishing stories and scrutinizing processes for the micro-improvements that could make a difference! Croatia:von der Leyen, support for the euro adoption process We will back the country in the implementation of the vaccine (ANSA) - BRUSSELS, 12 MAR - The EC President Ursula von der Leyen met the Croatian PM Minister Andrej Plenkovic today in Brussels. The talks focused on the Covid-19 pandemic, the Next Generation Eu, and the euro. "I reiterated the European Commission's strong support for Croatia on the path toward the euro adoption and accession to the Schengen zone," wrote the president on Twitter, speaking of a "good meeting with Plenkovic." Von der Leyen then added that the EC is ready to "support Croatia in implementing vaccines." "Croatia will be one of the main beneficiaries of Next Generation EU, and we need a solid investment and reform plan. We will stay in touch so that the plan is ready on time," the EC president added. (ANSA). Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved Drivers and other passers-by had to take cover today, in Port of Spain. As, gunmen began offloading bullets on a convoy of cars. Also, over 50 more people have been arrested for breach of curfew. The City Council unanimously approved the damages on Friday to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed last July. - EPA The family of George Floyd, the black man whose death at the hands of police officers sparked historic racial justice protests across America, has reached a $27 million (19m) settlement with the City of Minneapolis . The settlement is the largest pre-trial settlement in a civil rights wrongful death case in US history, the Floyd familys lawyers said in a statement. Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes until he passed out, is currently on trial facing murder and manslaughter charges in connection with his May 25 death. Three other officers also face charges. The City Council unanimously approved the damages on Friday to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed last July. The family alleged that police used excessive force against Floyd in violation of his constitutional rights. Bridgett Floyd (R), sister of George Floyd, speaks to the media outside the Hennepin County Government Center where jury selection is taking place in the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin - Shutterstock As part of the settlement agreement, $500,000 is to be used "for the benefit of the community" on the street where Floyd died, which has now become widely known as George Floyd Square. "No amount of money can ever address the intense pain or trauma caused by his death to George Floyd's family or to the people of our city," Lisa Bender, City Council president, said after the vote. "Minneapolis has been fundamentally changed by this time of racial reckoning." Lawyer Ben Crump said it "sends a powerful message that black lives do matter and police brutality against people of colour must end." "The city needs to exhibit responsible leadership in the face of the horrific tragedy that really was a watershed moment for America," Mr Crump said. Demonstrators remember George Floyd as the jury selection for the trial of former officer Chauvin begins - AP The death of 46-year-old Floyd, along with a spring of other police killings of black people that followed, ignited demonstrations against police brutality in states across the country. Answering protesters demands, a number of cities have partially defunded their police forces and passed reforms to address inequality. Story continues Floyd's brother, Rodney Floyd, said the agreement was a "necessary step" for the family to get some closure. "Georges legacy for those who loved him will always be his spirit of optimism that things can get better, and we hope this agreement does just that that it makes things a little better in Minneapolis and holds up a light for communities around the country, Mr Floyd said in a statement. It is unusual for city officials to settle civil cases before criminal ones have been heard, and some legal experts said the agreement could be damaging to Chavins defence. Campus News Speakers make case for giving financial reparations to descendants of slavery A. Kirsten Mullen and William A. Darity Jr. discuss From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century in a presentation sponsored by the UB Center for Diversity Innovation. By BARBARA BRANNING The best if not the only way to establish racial equality in the United States is to provide financial reparations to all descendants of slavery, according to two experts on racism. William A. Darity Jr., and A. Kirsten Mullen spoke about the 150-plus-year history of financial inequity in America during a virtual presentation on March 11. The presentation, From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century, was sponsored by the UB Center for Diversity Innovation in the College of Arts and Sciences. It was co-sponsored by the Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy in the School of Law and the Office of Inclusive Excellence. Darity is the Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics and director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University. His research focuses on inequality by race, class and ethnicity; stratification economics; schooling and the racial achievement gap; North-South theories of trade and development; skin shade and labor market outcomes; the economics of reparations; the Atlantic slave trade and the Industrial Revolution; the history of economics; and the social psychological effects of exposure to unemployment. He has published or edited 13 books and published more than 300 articles in professional outlets. Mullen is a folklorist and founder of Artefactual, an arts-consulting practice, and Carolina Circuit Writers, a literary consortium that brings expressive writers of color to the Carolinas. She was a member of the Freelon Adjaye Bond concept- development team that was awarded the Smithsonian Institutions commission to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture. As a faculty member with the Community Folklife Documentation Institute, she trained students to research and document the states African American music heritage. Her writing in museum catalogs, journals and in commercial media includes Black Culture and History Matter, which examines the politics of funding black cultural institutions. The presentation, which took its name from Darity and Mullens highly praised 2020 book, outlined opportunities the country missed to get African Americans on equal footing with whites at various points since the 1800s. In the course of their research, they found links between financial losses and various historical wrongs due to racial inequality. They assessed the literal and figurative costs of justice denied to Black people in the 155 years since the end of the Civil War. Specifically, the authors identified three points in history when Black people were held back financially: during slavery and Reconstruction, during the Jim Crow period and during and since the civil rights movement. Mullen noted that the perception that all freed slaves were provided with 40 acres and a mule is a misconception that has persisted for more than a century. The homesteading acts ensured that whites received a disproportionate amount of money, and doomed Black people to decades of reduced access to wealth. She contended that forms of slavery endured long after the U.S. economy could have existed without slave labor. The Jim Crow era, she said, led to 100-plus years of socially accepted racial segregation that was akin to South Africas apartheid. And in the years since the civil rights movement, Black people have been subjected to a vastly disproportionate incidence of mass incarceration, housing discrimination, unequal education, police brutality, employment discrimination, and huge gaps in wealth and opportunity. Darity pointed out that wealth is equated with a familys well-being, and that a persons financial agency leads to greater opportunity for homeownership and building savings, for example. Currently, he said, Black people represent 13% of the population but hold only 2% of the nations wealth. Darity and Mullen ended their presentation with a synopsis of their detailed plan for providing substantial financial compensation to all eligible descendants of documented slaves. Vanessa M. Holden, Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Center for Diversity Innovation, oversaw a brief question-and-answer session following the presentation. People were last night promised a good summer but warned they have to pull back from the brink and stick with Covid-19 restrictions for the next two to three months. Cases of the virus have risen in recent days, sparking fresh alarm among public health officials. Professor Philip Nolan told last nights Covid-19 briefing that the increase could be the beginning of something. He said: We are sailing very close to the wind. A gust of wind in the wrong direction and we are in real trouble. He was speaking as 10 more Covid-19 deaths were reported, as well as 592 new cases. There is evidence that people are moving about more and the numbers at work have risen from 50pc to 60pc. Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said vaccines needed to cover more at-risk groups. He added that, if people stick with it over the next two to three months, there is the promise of a good summer and brighter days ahead, barring the unexpected. The over-70s will not be fully vaccinated until mid-May and the vaccine also has to be administered to around 150,000 people with underlying conditions at high risk from Covid-19. The daily case numbers, although far lower than at the January peak, are still high. In fact, they are two times higher than when the country came out of lockdown in early December and 50 times higher than last June. The first vaccine bonus was announced last night as the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) gave the green light to easing restrictions on nursing home visits. Read More Prof Martin Cormican, the HSEs infectious diseases lead, said nursing home residents could have two visits a week on compassionate grounds, from March 22. The visits will be permitted two weeks after full vaccination, where 80pc of the residents and staff in the home have been vaccinated. There is no requirement to limit visits to less than one hour. Nursing home residents have been particularly impacted by the severity of Covid-19 restrictions, he said. He said there would be a review next month, with the aim to relax the restrictions further. He said nursing homes that do not feel ready to implement the new guidelines need to give good reasons for the decision and communicate it clearly to residents and their relatives. Meanwhile, there has been a rise in the number of variants of the virus detected. The South African variant has now been detected in 19 people found to be positive for the virus, a rise of four. The Brazilian P1 variant has been identified in six cases. There have been 11 cases of the P2 Brazilian variant, which is of less concern. Other variants are under investigation, including seven cases of the B1525 variant which was found in Nigeria, as well as five cases of the New York variant B1526. The briefing also heard that there have been six outbreaks of the virus in schools over the past week, involving 10 cases. There is concern that, as more schoolchildren return to the classroom next week, the movement of people it generates could lead to another rise in infection. To date, most cases of the virus detected in schools have been picked up outside. Dr Glynn asked people who could work from home to do so and he appealed to employers to facilitate this. The R number, which indicates the average number an infected person can pass on the virus to, is now at 0.6-1.0. Asked about the freedoms vaccination would bring, Prof Karina Butler, chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, said they were also dependent on a fall in the levels of virus in the community. Asked about grandparents meeting grandchildren, she said once grandparents were protected with two doses and cases of the virus were brought down, they could get together. The easing of restrictions on nursing home visits was welcomed last night by Tadhg Daly of Nursing Homes Ireland. Nursing home residents, families and staff have had the toughest of years and this makes a psychological difference to many, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:16:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close THE HAGUE, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Pirates attacked tanker Davide B in the Gulf of Guinea and kidnapped 15 crew members, the Netherlands-based shipowner De Poli Shipmanagement said on Friday. According to a statement, six other seafarers of the ship are safe and remain on board. The ship is currently attended by security personnel that have arrived on the scene. The chemical tanker, flying under the Maltese flag, came under attack on Thursday while sailing south of the city of Cotonou, Benin. "De Poli Shipmanagement is greatly concerned about the attack on its vessel and seafarers," said the statement. "The company's main priority now is to establish contact with the missing crew in order to secure their earliest and safe release." De Poli Shipmanagement is a ship-owning company in the chemical and gas tanker industry. The Davide B, built in 2016, was on its way from Riga, Latvia to Lagos, Nigeria. Enditem By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers heard testimony on Friday over whether a bill aimed at helping news outlets negotiate with tech platforms was an appropriate way to help the struggling industry, including discussion of whether it should be restricted to smaller news organizations. Representative David Cicilline, chair of the House Judiciary Committee antitrust panel, said his bill to allow a broad array of news organizations to collectively negotiate with Alphabet's Google and Facebook in hopes of recouping ad revenues would be a "temporary solution to an urgent problem." His bill and a Senate companion were introduced on Wednesday. Republican Representative Jim Jordan has been critical of the big tech platforms, but also seemed skeptical of the bill. "Maybe that's the right course, but I got real questions about that," he said. Representative Val Demings asked for reassurance that smaller publications would genuinely benefit from the legislation. Critics have expressed concern that joint negotiations with the platforms would strengthen the richest, most powerful media outlets and leave struggling smaller publications behind. But David Chavern, president of the News Media Alliance, argued that removing the bigger organizations, like the Wall Street Journal or Washington Post from the legislation, would make it less likely that joint negotiations would succeed. "The collective action primarily benefits those who don't have a way to assert their value," said Chavern. "Without the big publishers, the small ones have no hope." If it becomes law, the legislation creates a four-year antitrust exemption that would benefit any print, broadcast, or digital news organization with a dedicated editorial staff that publishes at least weekly. At least 25% of their output should be original. In addition to this measure, Cicilline has said he plans to introduce a series of bills aimed at toughening antitrust laws. (Reporting by Diane Bartz. Editing by Mark Potter) The restrictions have been prolonged for another six months. The EU Council on Friday, March 12, decided to extend the sanctions targeting those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. The restrictions have been prolonged for a further six months, until September 15, 2021, the Council's press service reports. The existing measures provide for travel restrictions, the freezing of assets, and a ban on making funds or other economic resources available to the listed persons and entities. Read alsoEU urges UN to consider sanctions against Russia for Crimea occupationSanctions will continue to apply to 177 individuals and 48 entities, the statement reads. Background Restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine were first introduced on March 17, 2014. Other EU measures implemented in response to the Ukraine crisis include economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy, currently in place until July 31, 2021, and restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, limited to the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol and currently in place until June 23, 2021. The list of sanctioned persons and entities is regularly reviewed and subject to periodic renewals by the Council. Reporting by UNIAN Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has pledged his readiness to facilitate speeding up Ukraines receipt of COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX Facility. He said this during a phone conversation with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on March 12, Ukrinform reports with reference to the press service of the head of state. During the conversation, the parties focused on the measures taken in Ukraine and Austria to counter the spread of COVID-19 and enhance the protection of citizens. The interlocutors agreed that the most effective solution is vaccination, which has already begun in both countries. Zelensky drew attention to the importance of solidarity distribution of certified vaccines. In turn, Van der Bellen reaffirmed his willingness to help accelerate Ukraines receipt of vaccines under the COVAX Facility. "In my opinion, the most important thing is that this vaccine is effective and of high quality. The sooner Ukraine receives new batches of vaccines, the sooner vaccination will be carried out in our country," the Ukrainian president stressed. Vaccination against coronavirus in Ukraine started on February 24. According to Ukraines national vaccination plan, vaccination is voluntary and includes five stages. Medical personnel working in hospitals designated for treatment of COVID-19 patients are among those offered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as workers of mobile teams that carry out coronavirus vaccination. As of March 12, 38,237 people received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ukraine. On February 23, 500,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine, purchased at the expense of the state budget, were delivered to Ukraine. The Health Ministry expects to receive another 1.5 million doses of the Covishield vaccine by March 31. In early March, 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to be delivered to Ukraine as part of the global COVAX Facility. At the end of 2020, Ukraine signed an agreement on the supply of 1.9 million doses of the vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech. On March 10, the Health Ministry approved a decision on the state registration of emergency medical use of CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac. The first batch of the vaccine is expected in the amount of 700,000 doses. ish The leader of the Free Navigators' Trade Union (SLN), Adrian Mihalcioiu, on Friday evening said that the "Davide B" ship was attacked by nine armed pirates in the Guinea Gulf area, capturing 15 of the 21 crew members on board, and that it is not yet confirmed whether the crew consists of Ukrainian, Romanian and Filipino sailors. According to Mihalcioiu, the information provided by De Poli Shipmanagement shows that the "Davide B" ship, sailing under the Malta flag, with 21 sailors on board, was attacked on March 11 by nine armed pirates, 210 nautical miles from Cotounu - Benin, in the Guinea Gulf area. The pirates were able to capture 15 navigators, and six managed to lock themselves in the ship's citadel."So far there are no clear indications on the composition of the crew. It was assumed that the crew consisted of Ukrainians, Romanians and Filipinos, but this information is not yet confirmed. When we have a confirmation of the composition of the crew we will return," it is shown in a press release sent by the SLN management. When Entergy New Orleans executives admitted to the City Council two weeks ago that it had shut off three times as much power as needed during rolling blackouts on Mardi Gras, councilmembers and ratepayers were irate. That initial estimate was incorrect. Entergy actually cut nearly four times as much power as it should have to the city, meaning that around 20,000 New Orleans customers had their power shut off unnecessarily during one of the coldest nights of the year. The size and scope of the blunder, detailed in a letter sent to councilmembers by Entergy New Orleans Chief Executive David Ellis this week, was due to faulty decisions made by Entergy computer systems, the utility's leader said. "We have already taken corrective action to avoid similar problems in the event of another emergency situation," Ellis told council members in the letter. On the bitter cold night of Feb. 16, Entergy Corp., the corporate entity that includes Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans, was told by the director of the regional power grid, known as the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator, or MISO, to shed its power consumption to counteract surging demand and avoid a total grid failure. According to the letter, Entergy Corp. intended to cut 60 megawatts of power to a group of customers outside of New Orleans in the territory covered by Entergy Louisiana, but its computer glitched. As a result, it shed that power from its New Orleans lines. As blackouts started to dot sections of the city, Entergy's systems also failed to accurately record the amount of power cut. That was due in part to a "communications port issue" that prevented data from being sent from three feeders at the utilitys Avenue C substation, Ellis said, as well as a password mix-up that stopped data transmission from two feeders at Entergys Market Street substation. The lack of data meant the computer continued to search for new portions of the New Orleans grid to shut off even after Entergy reached the 26 megawatts MISO demanded, resulting in the shut off of 19 megawatts of power unnecessarily. In total, New Orleans was sapped of 105 megawatts of power during the roughly one hour and forty minute blackouts across several city neighborhoods. Together, the two mistakes accounted for 79 megawatts of power improperly cut in New Orleans, meaning that city ratepayers were burdened with almost half of the cuts Entergy was required to make across the entire state. City Council President Helena Moreno, who leads the committee that regulates Entergy, slammed the utility this week for leaving its customers without lights and heat. She said the council's Utility Committee will meet Tuesday to ensure Entergy answers for the mishap. 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 This new information is truly alarming. It means that New Orleans shouldered almost half the entire blackout requested of the entire state, almost four times what we were allotted, Moreno said. While the company is taking steps to ensure this never happens again, this incident raises even more questions." The council has begun its own investigation into Entergy's actions related to the outages, which is expected to be wrapped by April. Issues around the rolling outages represent the latest black eye for Energy, coming on the heels of public ire for electricity bills that had doubled and in some cases tripled in January. Entergy has attributed the increases to higher consumption, higher fuel prices and power purchases it made when its own power plant was offline. While the outages were a nuisance, Louisiana residents were kept in the dark for a far shorter time than their Texas neighbors, who lost power for days as winter storms swept through the state. +4 Entergy should pay $1B in refunds, damages to customers over faulty power plant, regulators say Entergy Corp. wrongfully charged customers over eight years for a nuclear power station that often malfunctioned and was repeatedly deemed uns Still, it was the first time in more than two decades that such planned outages were implemented. In New Orleans, about 12% of Entergy's 206,000 customers lost power for some period of time. Among them was the city's Sewerage and Water Board, which had to flip on its emergency generators after Entergy flubbed and cut power to the system that draws the city's drinking water from the Mississippi River. Ellis said Wednesday that Entergy won't switch off that particular power line again, and that it will work to avoid cutting critical power lines to the S&WB in the future. After power bills spike in New Orleans, City Council directs Entergy to suspend shutoffs New Orleans City Council members on Tuesday directed Entergy to extend its pause on service shutoffs for customers with past-due payments, a m Ellis also sought Wednesday to dispel any notion that Entergy intentionally cut power to low-income and Black neighborhoods, after some council members noted that the maps of neighborhoods affected by the power losses seemed to include more of those areas. "The socio-economic make-up of neighborhoods is not a consideration" when Entergy decides which lines to cut, Ellis said. Generally when power needs to be shut off, Entergy's automated programs turn to homes first, in order to preserve power for hospitals, police stations and businesses that provide supplies. Ellis could not say why the computer systems cut power lines to residents in the sequence that they did. Defendant in Murder Trial Appears in Court By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - A man charged with the 2018 murder of his girlfriend and the death of her unborn child was in court Friday.The McCracken Circuit Court Clerk says Epionn J. Lee-McCampbell came before the judge for a motion hour, and the defendant's motion to appeal a refusal to reduce his bond was denied. It remains at 100,000.During a January court appearance, a pre-trial conference was set for April 19. At that time, a new trial date should be set.Lee-McCampbell's trial was originally set for September 2019, but was delayed due to an attorney change. It was rescheduled for April 2020, then moved to February, but COVID-19 restrictions caused it to be delayed again.The charges against him are from an investigation that began in March 2018, when police were called to Lee-McCampbell's home on North 24th Street. Officers say they found 19-year-old Ja'Lynn N. Ragsdale in the home and she was unresponsive. She was taken to Baptist Health Paducah, where she later died.In late August 2018, detectives received a final report from the state medical examiner's office saying Ragsdale died of asphyxiation consistent with suffocation, and that she was pregnant at the time of her death.Lee-McCampbell faces charges of murder and fetal homicide.On the Net: This is yet another report on environmental threats the project is posing. The Russian support vessels involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipelaying have once again ignored environmental restrictions during works on completion of the B branch, Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, SZRU, reports. The Yuriy Topchev support vessel on March 2 and March 10 during transportation of pipe batches from the port of Mukran failed to navigate within the previously established route beyond the protected areas in Germany's free economic zone and thus violated the boundaries of the birds' wintering zone, the SZRU wrote in a report. Such breaches of environmental rules by vessels involved in Russia's project (Finval, Umka, Vladislav Strizhov, Yuriy Topchev) appear to be systematic. It should also be recalled that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is being laid in the area where World War 2-era chemical warfare agents were repeatedly spotted on the seabed. While the containers carrying such highly hazardous agents have been dumped in a designated area off the coast of Bornholm, over the past half-century, sea currents have scattered them over a wider area, mostly south of the island. Read alsoU.S. looking into more sanctions against Nord Stream 2Today, the Fortuna pipelayer risks damaging such containers with its stabilizing anchors, thus inflicting major damage to the environment and jeopardizing the lives and health of the pipelayer's crew. Nord Stream 2: Background The Nord Stream 2 project envisages construction and operation of two gas pipeline branches with a total throughput capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. It should connect Russia's Ust-Lug and Germany's Greifswald. This new pipeline bypassing Ukraine is to be built next to the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was expected to be completed before the end of 2019. The pipeline will be 1,220 km long. The project is being implemented by Russia's Gazprom in alliance with a number of European companies. Ukraine stands against the construction of Nord Stream 2 as it will most likely lose its status of a gas transit country, while its potential revenue losses are estimated at US$3 billion annually. The project is also highly criticized by the U.S., Poland, and the Baltic States. On December 9, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with expanded restrictions against the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. On December 11, 2020, the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline resumed. The U.S. Senate approved the NDAA, which provides for new sanctions against Russia's Nord Stream 2. On January 7, 2021, a fund was established in Germany to support the completion of the Nord Stream 2 project. On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of State notified European companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2 of the risk of having new sanctions imposed on them. On February 22, 2021, the United States imposed new sanctions on the Russian FORTUNA vessel building Nord Stream 2. As of February 23, 2021, eighteen European companies at once refused to complete the construction of Nord Stream 2 over the U.S. sanctions. On March 4, 2021, the construction of Nord Stream 2 in Danish waters was extended by late September. Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev suggested Nord Stream 2 most likely would never be completed due to the sanctions the companies involved are facing in case they remain part of the project. Reporting by UNIAN Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. Housebuilder Berkeley said profits during its current financial year are expected to remain flat (Joe Giddens/PA) Housebuilder Berkeley has said it is on track to deliver flat profits during its current financial year. The company forecasts profits will be around 504 million, the same level as the financial year ending 2020. In an update to shareholders, it said that forward sales are set to rise above 1.7 billion at the end of the financial year. However, the short update also said the value of the homes that customers have already reserved with the group is expected to be down by a fifth. It said: Sales reservations have been robust where we have had availability of stock. While inquiry levels have been consistently strong, Berkeley has re-profiled the launch of new developments and phases into the market until the economy opens up post-lockdown and, as a consequence, we anticipate the value of reservations for the current financial year to be around 20% lower than last year. Berkeley has been sitting tight on some of its homes, which are generally more expensive than those of some other listed housebuilders. The company has therefore been less focused on making large numbers of sales before the end of the stamp duty holiday later this year. Shares fell more than 6% after the news. The concern for Berkeley and its exposure to London is whether or not the so-called race for space will be a trend that endures Laura Hoy, Hargreaves Lansdown Laura Hoy, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Berkeleys position at the higher end of the property market has insulated it from some of the hits of Covid. Many higher earners have been able to continue working from home, often saving more than before the pandemic as they have not been spending money on travel and eating out. The concern for Berkeley and its exposure to London is whether or not the so-called race for space will be a trend that endures, Ms Hoy added. With property prices in Greater London down more than 10% in 2020, that could eventually ding the groups rock-solid balance sheet. Its unclear whether the forecast 20% reduction in reservation values is an indication that cracks are starting to form. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said Berkeleys plans to phase its developments as the economy opens could seem shrewd, rather than operating at 100 miles an hour like some of its rivals. Given Berkeley has previously earned a reputation for calling the housing market successfully, albeit under its late chairman Tony Pidgley, this might provoke some concern among its rivals. On the flipside, Berkeley could miss out on some of the demand created by the current stamp duty holiday which is due to end in September even if the elevated average selling price on its high-end homes makes this a less relevant consideration than for some other housebuilders. LAPEER, MI -- A federal lawsuit has been filed by a Lapeer County man who alleges he was sexually assaulted by a priest when he was eight years old while attending Bishop Kelley Catholic School in Lapeer. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by the victim, who is now 18 years old. The plaintiff is a former student at Bishop Kelley Catholic School and former member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish. He seeks to use a pseudonym in the case due to his status as a survivor of criminal sexual assault as a minor. The lawsuit alleges Bishop Kelley Catholic School, Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Parish, the Archdiocese of Detroit and Archbishop Allen Vigneron, allowed the rape to occur by allowing a priest be in a position with access to young children, including the plaintiff. Bishop Kelley Catholic School declined to comment on the lawsuit, referring MLive-The Flint Journal to the Archdiocese of Detroit. Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Parish did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the complaint, while a student at Bishop Kelley school in or around October of 2010, the plaintiff attended a one-on-one counseling session with a priest named Aloysius Volskis, also known to the children as Father Al. The principal of the school escorted the plaintiff to meet with Volskis for a spiritual formation session, leaving the student alone in the teachers lounge with Volskis, who then raped him, the lawsuit alleges. The child did not immediately report the assault because Volskis told him he had power with the devil and would have the plaintiffs mother killed if he told anyone about the rape, the lawsuit states. Following the assault, the plaintiff became withdrawn, stopped doing his homework and resisted attending school, the lawsuit states. In the years following the assault, the plaintiffs mental health worsened, and he experienced anxiety, depression and psychosis. He did not tell anyone about the sexual assault until 2018. However, the suit states, that in 2010 an employee of the Immaculate Conception Church, which is located next door to the Bishop Kelley school, asked the plaintiffs parents if they had any problems with Volskis, allegedly disclosing that Volskis had also sexually abused other children at the school. In early 2011, a female parishioner also reported to the defendants and Lapeer County Police that Volskis had groomed and sexually assaulted her, according to the lawsuit. Volskis disappeared and was no longer seen at Bishop Kelly after January 2011, according to the plaintiff and his parents. Father Douglas Terrian, principal of Bishop Kelly at the time, allegedly informed parents and parishioners that Volksis had a family emergency in Russia and had to go. However, a church employee allegedly informed the plaintiffs mother that the defendants explanation of Volskis whereabouts was false and that Volskis had been hiding out in the church rectory while continuing to perform various religious services until July 2011, according to the lawsuit, which notes Volskis probably left the country sometime after July 2011 and now resides somewhere in Eastern Europe. The complaint also alleges negligence by the Archdiocese of Detroit and Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron in his hiring, training and oversight of faculty at Bishop Kelley and the other 100 or so Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The 18-year-old plaintiffs attorney is Megan Bonanni, of the Royal Oak, Mich.-based civil rights law firm Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers. Even though Archbishop Vigneron had pledged transparency in reporting and acting on every accusation of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in both California and Michigan, he continued to exhibit deliberate indifference to reports of sexually abusive clergy. His negligence enabled a hostile sexual environment to flourish at the Lapeer parish, Bonanni said in a statement. Bonanni stated that Archbishop Vigneron and other defendants are responsible for the sexual assault of the plaintiff, due to their failure to properly supervise Volskis, when they allegedly knew had been accused of sexual abuse and assault on multiple occasions. The complaint requests damages in an unspecified amount, plus interest, costs and attorneys fees. The two complaints made against Volskis -- one in 2011, involving an adult female parishioner, another from a parent in 2018 alleging their son was abused in 2010 were turned over to local law enforcement, the Detroit Archdiocese Director of Public Affairs Ned McGrath said in a statement. The first complaint was turned over to the Lapeer County Sheriffs Department, the statement reads. Volskis was removed from the parish and its campus, according to the Archdiocese. He returned to his home diocese in Lithuania. All public, priestly ministry is restricted, the statement reads. He cannot dress or represent himself as priest. The second complaint was also turned over to the sheriffs department, according to the Detroit Archdiocese The Detroit Archdiocese takes every complaint of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable person seriously, the statement reads. Individuals with knowledge of sexual abuse by clergy or other Church representatives are urged to contact local law enforcement and/or the Michigan Attorney Generals Office at (844) 324-3374 or aginvestigations@michigan.gov, the Archdiocese states. Individuals also can contact the Archdiocese of Detroit by visiting protect.aod.org or by calling the 24/7 victim assistance line at 866-343-8055 or by emailing vac@aod.org. There are no time limits or restrictions on individuals wishing to report abuse. Read more on MLive: Michigans clergy abuse probe identifies 454 accused priests, 811 victims Former Flint-area priest bound over on rape charges Former Southwest Michigan priest charged with rape, awaits extradition in India Saginaw Diocese bans music by noted Michigan composer after sex abuse accusations The media posted fake news stories with "kids in cages" pictures dating from the Obama/Biden years in their four-year collusion with Democrats to destroy President Trump. So where are the nightly televised pictures today of kids sleeping on cement floors in crowded facilities? Somehow, we do not see them. But something is going on. Here is what the conservative Blaze reported, citing the New York Times: Border crisis: Migrant children being separated from families, housed in facilities 'akin to jails' According to the New York Times, thousands of migrant children have been placed in detention facilities that are comparable to jails, and many are being held there for more time that permitted by law. From the Times: The number of unaccompanied migrant children detained along the southern border has tripled in the last two weeks to more than 3,250, filling facilities akin to jails as the Biden administration struggles to find room for them in shelters, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. More than 1,360 of the children have been detained beyond the 72 hours permitted by law before a child must be transferred to a shelter, according to one of the documents, dated March 8. ... Under the law, the federal government is required to move unaccompanied children within three days from the border facilities to shelters managed by the Department of Health and Human Services, where they are held until they are placed with a sponsor. Homeland Security officials have often pointed to delays by Health and Human Services in picking up the children as a reason for the prolonged detention. Where are our supposedly humanitarian politicians? Where's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who went down for a photo-op wearing white, in order to weep in front of an empty parking lot, and compare illegal alien detentions during the Trump administration to Nazi concentration camps? Where are the Hollywood crowd who have always protested Trump's actions? I must assume none of them really cared, and it was always a political attack, or else they would be actively protesting. The Biden administration also clearly doesn't care about how contagious the coronavirus, which migrants are bringing in with them, is. They are not quarantining the migrant kids who are sick or the kids who have had contact with other sick people. Nope, they are crowding them into jail-like facilities and then sending them around the U.S. to expose others. It is not very different from New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo and four other blue-state governors forcing nursing homes to take in sick people to infect and kill the vulnerable. There is nothing humane, empathic, or compassionate about enticing children to come alone or escorted in by human-smugglers, drug-smugglers, or cartels for a price because they have been enticed by the Biden administration and other Democrats. This border invasion is intentional. When you send the message that there will be no deportations, no border wall, laws that will not be enforced, and dangle promises of mass amnesty, along with free health care and other benefits as soon as you get here, the crowds will come. Biden clearly has no respect for his oath to enforce the nation's laws. He believes he can pick and choose whatever laws to enforce, and the sheep in the media and other Democrats will support his lawless acts. I do not see how anyone can look at Biden's short public appearances in his first fifty days and believe that his mental facilities are intact and that he is in charge. It does not appear that he cares or understands what he is signing. Our foreign adversaries are very aware of his limitations. We are told that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bases all of its decisions on science, and its decision-makers are not political. That is pure BS. Last week, when Texas and Mississippi announced they were reopening and lifting the mask requirement, the CDC, as well as the vaunted Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH, ripped them despite knowing that the scientific data show that states without the statewide mask mandate and with looser restrictions are doing as well as or better than states with strict mandates. When cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were increasing, we got the nightly stories. Now that they have declined rapidly, most stories have disappeared because the public must remain scared and submissive to the tyrannical rules. Here's a good piece from The Spectator USA showing how fraudulent it all is: 'Follow the Science' With Dr. Fauci His guidance seems more driven by politics than public health. According to Fauci, it is now safe for schools to reopen. All it took was the passing of President Biden's "COVID relief bill," which will likely be signed into law this week. "As we now have the relief bill signed at $1.9 trillion a lot of that is going into addressing COVID-19 including help to the schools to allow them to more safely bring the kids back," Fauci said on Monday. Considering that the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 95 percent of the money appropriated from the bill to fund schools will not be spent this year, there was no reason for Fauci to present its passing as a prerequisite for reopening schools unless of course we fool ourselves into believing that he is motivated by science, and not by whatever the Biden administration tells him to say. It appears that CDC is willing to support whatever the Biden administration wants until it gets the $1.9-trillion slush fund distributed. The $350 billion kickbacks to states which have intentionally destroyed their economies is very important. The kickbacks to schools, which will not be spent for years, is also very important but it is sure not science- or fact-based and sure has nothing to do with the virus. There is nothing fact- or science-based when the CDC allows child detention facilities with sick people at the border to operate at 100% capacity while telling schools, businesses, and families that they must operate at limited capacity and social distance. There is nothing scientific or fact-based when they tell Americans, including those fully vaccinated, not to travel while they never say a word about the Biden administration sending sick kids around the country. Fauci and the CDC know that schools around the world have been open safely for a long time, yet they go along with the talking points that keep so many schools closed and keep the intentional destruction of the children, especially poor and minority children, continuing. Fauci and others at the CDC never ripped politicians like New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other governors for their policies to kill vulnerable people at nursing homes. Cuomo had some of the worst results in the country, and Joe Biden called that the gold standard. There is nothing fact- or science-based about the way the media, other Democrats, and Fauci talked about Cuomo. Yet they were always willing to criticize Trump. Isn't it appalling that anyone would cheer on the virus that killed and infected so many, that destroyed businesses and families, and harmed children immeasurably because it allowed their corrupt, incompetent candidate to hide in the basement? The Democrats had colluded with the media to destroy Trump for four years with fake stories and endless investigations on Russian collusion, with lies about what Trump said in Charlottesville and with sham impeachment efforts, and nothing had taken Trump out. They also knew that their radical leftist policies were unpopular, so they couldn't run on those. But they hit the lotto when China sent a virus that they could use as an excuse to destroy the economy and to scare people into voting by mail. They also didn't care that Cuomo and others sent people to their deaths, which they blamed on Trump. Another big hit for the Democrats was when radical leftists destroyed cities and businesses while killing and injuring several people. The damage was helpful in an election year. The media were a major participant throughout the four years, and after the Russian collusion lies had played out, they needed something else to destroy Trump on while they hid the candidate they were campaigning for from public scrutiny. Biden Aide: Coronavirus Pandemic 'Best Thing That Ever Happened' for Democrats A top aide to President Joe Biden described the coronavirus as "the best thing that ever happened to him," according to a recently released book. We need to pray for our great country, as the Democrats are intentionally trying to destroy our capitalist economy as fast as they can while desecrating the Constitution, especially the First Amendment. They are also trying to demolish the 2nd and 10th Amendments. Laws and the Constitution are not important only power for leftists. Why are so many immigrants seeking to get into our systemically racist country? Wouldn't it be oppressive and racist to require proof of a vaccination to travel since so many minorities are scared of vaccinations? So many questions unanswered in the press... Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of images from Pixabay, Pixabay license, and hand-drawn item. The relieved owner of the Golden Eagle who went missing in Wicklow for eight days, prompting a massive social media search, has expressed his joy at being reunited with his pet. John Nugent had appealed to the public to look out for his 12-year-old bird of prey, named Kalin, as he begged farmers, who may have seen him as a potential threat, not to shoot him. "Please, please do not shoot the bird. Just give him a chance. He's not a threat. He's never killed, he's not a danger to anybody, John said RTE Radio 1s Morning Ireland during the week. This bird has never hunted, he's 12 years old, he has never been out in the wild at all. Now, eight days after Kalin fled, there was a happy ending as John finally spotted him up on a tree he had passed by that very morning. The professional people kept saying to me, walk the same path every day, morning and night, hell come back. He knows wheres he's being fed, he's a clever bird. Read More And yesterday afternoon, on the eighth day, there's the bird sitting on the tree where I walked the path the same morning. I cant say there was a grown man crying but I was so excited it was unreal. He was slightly caught on the tree but when I whistled up to him he whistled back. And the minute I got up and got him down out of the tree, I put him on the hand and he wouldn't release. He just held on to my hand all the way back. Everybody said he hadnt eaten for eight days. I was glad to get him and brought him back to his aviary. John expressed his gratitude for the media and everyone that helped me find him. The amount of support I got, he said. I got sightings from Aughrim, Avoca, Arklow, Brittas Bay...thanks to everybody for helping because I would've (been) lost. But you kept me focused and kept me going. All the support and the amount of people who took time out of the day and walked fields and (checked) trees.. I was blown away. Kalin belongs to the people now because they help me find it him, he added. Expand Close Kalin who returned after being missing for eight days. Picture by Owen Breslin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kalin who returned after being missing for eight days. Picture by Owen Breslin Meanwhile, Kalin has been settling back in after his adventure although John believes he's still a bit rattled by his ordeal. I put him in his aviary last night and he jumped straight to the front door to see where I was going, he revealed. I went back in and sat on the ground with him for a couple of minutes while he sat on his perch. He didnt want to see me going. It was like where are you going, you left me already. I want to train him to fly, he's already had the first flight, and its like worrying about a teenager going out drinking. But hes home now and hes safe. By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - AstraZeneca has again angered the EU by scaling back deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines, but got a boost on Friday when the World Health Organisation dismissed fears that have prompted countries in Europe and Asia to suspend use of the shot. The European Union has been much slower to start mass vaccination than neighbouring Britain because of a slower approval and purchasing process and repeated supply hold-ups. EU regulators have dismissed scattered reports of blood clots in people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine, but on Friday Thailand joined a handful of European countries in suspending use of the shot - the first and cheapest to be developed and launched at volume around the world. An AstraZeneca document dated March 10, seen by Reuters and shared with EU officials, shows that the Anglo-Swedish drug maker expects to have delivered 30 million doses to the EU by the end of March - 10 million less than it pledged only last month, and only a third of its contractual obligation. A company spokesman declined to comment, but a person familiar with the situation said there had been difficulties with international supply chains. Industry executives have warned of manufacturing problems as countries try to protect their own supplies of vaccines, ingredients and the equipment to make, bottle and transport them. Washington has told Brussels that it will not allow AstraZeneca shots made in the United States to be exported in the near future, Reuters reported on Thursday. And last week Italy and Brussels blocked a shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines from Italy to Australia, in the first application of a mechanism that allows the EU to refuse export requests from vaccine makers that break EU supply contracts. The company has acknowledged production problems in the EU, but also said it expected to ship some output to the EU from the United States. Its contract pledges "best reasonable efforts" to meet a target of 300 million doses for the EU by the end of June. Story continues "NOT GOOD ENOUGH" Brussels is increasingly frustrated. "I see efforts, but not 'best efforts'. That's not good enough yet," EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted on Thursday. Germany said it was talking to Washington about missing shipments of COVID-19 vaccines from the United States, noting that more than 30 countries including the United States were receiving vaccines made in the EU. The EU programme has also been upset in the last two weeks by the reports of blood clots. On Thursday, Denmark and non-EU members Norway and Iceland suspended their use of the vaccine. Austria and Italy have stopped using specific batches. But on Friday the WHO said the vaccine was "excellent" and that no causal link had been established to the blood clots. "It's very important to understand that, yes, we should continue to be using the AstraZeneca vaccine," spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a briefing. "All that we look at is what we always look at: Any safety signal must be investigated." AstraZeneca said on Thursday it had found no evidence of increased risk of deep vein thrombosis in more than 10 million recipient records. And the EU regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said on Wednesday that the number of clots reported in people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine was no higher than in the general population. Bulgaria said it would suspend use of the vaccine until it saw written guidance from the EMA, but German Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters on Friday that his country was following the EMA guidance. "Everything we know so far suggests that the benefits of the vaccine, even after every individual case reported, are greater than the risks, and that continues to be the case," he said. Germany, the most populous country in the EU, is due to receive about 6 million doses from AstraZeneca by the end of April, the document seen by Reuters shows, with France getting 4.7 million and Italy 4.4 million. "We are still in a phase of absolute scarcity," Spahn said. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio in Brussels, Thomas Escritt in Berlin and Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Gareth Jones) OTTAWA COUNTY, MI A COVID-19 virus mutation first identified in the United Kingdom has infected a young person in Ottawa County, according to the health department. The B.1.1.7 variant is of particular concern because it is estimated to be 50 percent more contagious and could lead to faster spread of the virus. The variant was identified in a person under age 20 who has no travel history, according to a press release issued Friday, March 12, by the Ottawa County Department of Public Health. The individual is in isolation and close contacts have been identified, the release states. Additional measures take place when a variant is identified or even suspected, such as a strict 14-day quarantine and an extended contact tracing timeframe, Dr. Paul A. Heidel, the health departments medical director, said in a statement. With the case not having any travel history and the variant being highly transmissible, we are urging all people take extra precautions to avoid infection and furthering the spread of the virus. Michigan had reported 562 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant as of March 11, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. Only Florida, with 690 cases, has reported more among the United States. Nationwide, there have been 3,701 identified cases, according to the CDC. The spread of the variant makes it especially important for individuals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the health department stated. As of April 5, all people age 16 and older will be eligible for the vaccine in Michigan. Also on MLive: All Michigan adults will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by April 5 Veterans COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Muskegon among several planned as eligibility soon expands to all Friday, March 12, coronavirus data by Michigan county: Missaukee now over 20% positivity rate Turkeys foreign minister and Syrias former prime minister have discussed the latest developments in Syria, according to Alsouria Net. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a surprise meeting with the former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected from the Bashar al-Assad regime. The meeting took place in the Qatari capital, Doha. We discussed the latest developments in Syria with Hijab in Qatar, where we came to hold a tripartite meeting with Russia and Qatar, Cavusoglu said in a tweet. The meeting came hours before a tripartite meeting on Syria, which brought together the foreign ministers of Qatar, Russia, and Turkey, in Doha, on Thursday, where a new political process regarding the Syrian file was announced. The announcement was made by Cavusoglu during a press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and Qatari Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, in which Cavusoglu said that a new consultative process on Syria will begin. He added, we decided to continue the joint meetings with Qatar and Russia to discuss the Syrian file, and the next meeting will be held in Turkey, noting that the aim of the meetings is to discuss efforts to reach a permanent political solution in Syria. The Syrian file is witnessing remarkable political developments in the past few days, represented by a Gulf tour by Lavrov, during which he discussed the Syrian file with senior officials in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, in addition to a tripartite meeting that brought together the foreign ministers of Qatar, Russia, and Turkey, in Doha. 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. South Africa: Newly constructed Ekhamanzi bridges to make life safer Local communities in Ekhamanzi, just outside Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal, will now be able to reach neighbouring places with ease during rainy seasons. A partnership between the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, Department of Defence and KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport saw three bridges being constructed in Ekhamanzi. Prior to the construction of the bridges, the local community, including school children, were unable to cross the flooded old bridges to reach neighbouring areas. Speaking at the official unveiling of the bridges, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Patricia de Lille, said for many years, children, mothers and fathers had to cross dangerous river streams to access basic and important social amenities such as schools, clinics, government offices, and even to get to work. It has always been the most heart breaking thing to me when we hear on the news of young children who drown while crossing a river to get to school. Early last year, I saw such a sad photo of a young boy crossing a river stream here in this area and it touched me so deeply when I saw the scared look on the boys face as he crossed the river without any shoes or trousers, De Lille said. De Lille said pupils from Ekhamanzi Primary School have to partially undress in order to cross the river to get to school without wetting their clothes. There can be no excuse that 27 years into our democracy that we cannot build bridges for our children and our communities. The excuse that there is no money must never be used again when it comes to an intervention that will not only make access to government services easier, but will also give our children and people dignity and save lives. As the Minister responsible for infrastructure, I have always said that infrastructure is a basic need and a service which all our communities are entitled to, De Lille said. De Lille said infrastructure is about people having water to drink, decent roads and a bridge to cross to get to school, work and access government services like clinics. Infrastructure is about changing peoples lives for the better. Infrastructure is about giving people dignity. It is about giving people access to opportunities for education and work. It is about improving the socio-economic conditions in our communities and eliminating barriers for our people to get where they need to get safely, so that they can succeed and make a meaningful contribution to our country, De Lille said. The construction of the bridges in Ekhamanzi is part of the Welisizwe Rural Bridges programme, which was gazetted as a Strategic Integrated Project in July 2020, as part of governments Infrastructure Investment Plan approved by Cabinet in May 2020. Welisizwe Rural Bridges Programme The Welisizwe Rural Bridges Programme is aimed at providing safe access to social amenities and further respond to potential disaster areas and emergency disaster situations. The intervention is done through the construction of modular steel bridges. The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) and the Department of Defence and Military Veterans (DOD) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the implementation of the programme. Subsequently, the DPWI and the KZN Department of Transport (KZN DOT) entered into a MOA on the implementation of the Welisizwe Programme in KwaZulu-Natal. KwaZulu-Natal was identified as a key area for this intervention following inclement weather conditions caused by severe thunderstorms, which resulted in adverse effects on both human life and property. DPWI and SANDF undertook technical assessments in the identified potential disaster sites in KwaZulu-Natal, and the KZN DOT committed funds for the installation of 14 bridges in the province. Two teams from SANDF were deployed in 2020, with DPWI assisting in a coordinating role to install the bridges in Ekhamanzi and other areas within the province. Since April last year, eight of the 14 bridges have been completed in KwaZulu-Natal. A community member, Sizakele Mthuzi, told SAnews that with the construction of the bridges, life will be much easier. In the past, we used to struggle to cross the river when it is raining. Many drowned while trying to cross the river to get to the other side, Mthunzi said. Mthunzi said she is happy that children will now be able to get to school with ease. According to Mthunzi, many children dropped out from school because they were unable to cross the river to get to school. A learner from Ekhamanzi Primary School, Jabulani Skhakhane, said he is happy that they will no longer have to wade through water to get to school. Unveiling the new bridges, De Lille was accompanied by her deputy Noxolo Kiviet, the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and dignitaries from other government departments. Local communities were also present to witness the official opening of the bridges. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. WASHINGTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from across California will have an opportunity Thursday, March 18, to hear from NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The Earth-to-space call will air live at 12:35 p.m. EDT on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website. NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker will answer prerecorded questions from K-12 students from seven local school districts: Pomona Unified, Ontario-Montclair, Chaffey Joint Unified, Claremont Unified, Mountain View Unified, Fontana Unified, and Rialto Unified. Glover, a native of Pomona, California, attended classes in the Chaffey Joint School District and graduated from Ontario High School. Rep. Norma Torres will give prerecorded opening and closing remarks for the event. "What NASA does is important for inspiring the next generation today's students are tomorrow's scientists, mathematicians, and engineers," said acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. "I'm excited they will get a front-seat look at the incredible research underway on the ISS and I am confident this experience will inspire these students to dream big and one day pursue careers in STEM fields." The event will take place virtually. Media interested in covering the event should contact Dan Lindner with Torres' office at [email protected] or 202-839-0759. "Astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker are proof to kids across the Inland Empire that they too can make big dreams a reality if they strive for them," Torres said. "After a year of remote learning that has created new challenges for students and teachers alike, nothing could be more important than to encourage our youth to set their sights high. I look forward to this once-in-a-lifetime conversation direct from space and thank Victor, Shannon, and NASA for their willingness to make it happen." Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance, and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). For more than 20 years, astronauts have continuously lived and work on the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Through NASA's Artemis program, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon, with eventual human exploration of Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers the Artemis Generation ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery. Follow America's Moon to Mars exploration at: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars Follow NASA astronauts on social media at: https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov 'Chicken lady' Penny Bianchi, 74, lives next door to Oprah's $52million 'Promised Land' estate in idyllic Montecito, California Oprah Winfrey's 'chicken lady' neighbor has revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to keep a coop at their home is part of a popular trend in their new Californian hometown. During the TV host's interview the royal couple revealed that they have installed a chicken coop for not quite two-year-old son Archie on the grounds of their $14.7million mansion in posh Montecito. Featuring a cute sign that reads 'Archie's Chick Inn', it was the scene for Harry and Meghan's bombshell claim that they had privately tied the knot three days before their wedding in Windsor in May 2018. Penny Bianchi, 74, lives next door to Oprah's $52million 'Promised Land' Montecito estate and inspired Oprah to get a chicken coop of her own. The grandmother-of-seven says that Oprah, 67, is playing a hugely influential role in the lives of Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, and believes she may have in turn given the couple the idea to keep chickens after they moved to the 'semi-rural' Southern California community after taking up residence at Tyler Perry's LA mansion. During Sunday's bombshell interview with Oprah on CBS, Meghan and Harry showed off the hens they rescued from a factory farm while giving a rare glimpse of their $14.5 million mansion in Montecito They also offered viewers a glimpse inside 'Archie's Chick Inn' coop, installed for their son who turns two in May Bianchi, who has kept chickens for 39 years, says she believes she may have helped inspire the trend in the neighborhood The interior designer revealed she used to give eggs from her coop to her famous neighbor before the TV star decided to get her own Penny, an interior designer, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview: 'I believe I helped inspire this trend for people to have chicken coops in Montecito. 'I used to give Oprah eggs over the fence and she liked them so much that she decided to get her own chickens. 'I gave her advice for her chicken coop and she probably passed that advice on to Harry and Meghan. 'A lot of people in Montecito have gotten chickens and when we had mudslides in 2018 the Humane Society looked after 500 people's chickens until they could get back into their homes. 'I think that Harry and Meghan got theirs from a factory farm, so they were rescued. 'Mine are not rescued, I've had the same flock for 39 years.' Penny said she began keeping chickens while living in Pasadena, in Los Angeles, where her friend had a coop. 'I loved how they looked and I love having them run around and the cock-a-doodle-doo from the roosters, they're just really fun. During the sit-down, Meghan claimed she and Harry want to 'live authentically' and get back 'down to basics' as they build their new lives away from the royals Meghan finally addressed the couple's rift with the royal family that ultimately led to their departure last January, almost two years after they tied the knot (left). The Sussexes welcomed their first child , son Archie, in 2019 and are expecting their second later this year 'Our children and grandchildren loved them, the same way I imagine Archie does now. 'It's wonderful to bring children up with chickens. 'We have 16 right now and we have some hens sitting on eggs, so we'll have some more. Penny and her husband moved into a self-designed French farmhouse built from scratch two years before Oprah started living at her 42-acre estate in 2001. The neighbors bonded over the chickens and Penny was eventually invited to a 'gospel brunch' at the talk show host's mansion which featured a live performance by soul artist Roberta Flack. Asked what advice she could give Harry and Meghan on their new hobby, she said: 'The chickens don't create much mess at all, they're very easy. 'We let ours free range during the day and eat all the snails and all the bugs and ticks, then they put themselves in their coop at night. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shared rare, candid footage of Archie playing on a beach during their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK for California and relocated in July, 2020 to Montecito, a small and affluent seaside city 100 miles (160 kilometers) up the coast The Sussexes appear to be surrounded by some of Hollywood's elite in their new, idyllic neighborhood 'It's actually delightful to look outside and see them running around. They're very decorative and their eggs are delicious. 'They're very easy to take care of, you just need to protect them. 'They need to have a predator-proof coop so that the wildlife can't get to them. 'This year we had a bear in our neighborhood, it got in front of Oprah's gates and was walking right down my lane. 'We've also had mountain lions but mostly it's bobcats, coyotes and raccoons 'There's no keeping a bear out. The bear raided about ten chicken coops in Montecito and there's no chicken coop which can withstand a bear. 'The other predators can't get in them if they're safe and the wire fencing goes down into the ground so they can't dig underneath.' In addition to the bombshell interview, which aired on CBS on Sunday evening, it has been claimed that Oprah has been highly influential in setting Harry and Meghan up in California. She has been working on a mental health documentary series with Harry and is widely believed to have hooked them up with her close friend Tyler Perry. It has been claimed that Oprah has been highly influential in setting Harry and Meghan up in California Oprah lives just 10 minutes away from the royal couple, in a 42-acre estate (pictured) she moved into in 2001 The movie mogul allowed the royal couple to stay at his Beverly Hills mansion and provided security when they first arrived in California from Canada, despite there being no evidence to suggest they had met previously. Harry and Meghan left that temporary arrangement behind to move just ten minutes away from Oprah in Montecito in July last year. Penny said: 'I think that Oprah's been very supportive and very helpful to Harry and Meghan. 'She is definitely very influential in their lives right now and helping them to adapt to their new life in California. 'Oprah has been in Montecito a lot during the pandemic, she practically didn't leave for eight months. Penny and her husband moved into a self-designed French farmhouse built from scratch two years before Oprah moved into the area. Pictured: The gates to Oprah's Montecito property View of the gate of Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle house in Montecito, California on March 6, 2021. Meghan said it feels 'liberating' to be able to speak out about her life in the British royal family 'She has been doing all her filming over there and her friend Gayle King was staying at the guest house for a while. 'Oprah's spent a lot of time here and then a month or so ago she went to her house in Hawaii.' Asked whether she thought that Oprah had put Harry and Meghan in touch with Tyler Perry, she said: 'Oprah is very close to Tyler Perry. They're extremely close friends. 'I think it's right that she helped arrange that connection between Harry and Meghan and Tyler Perry. 'Montecito is very low-key, people here don't bother celebrities. There's a whole bunch of them here so nobody bothers them. 'It's an idyllic and very small town and it's got the most beautiful semi-rural atmosphere. The weather is divine. 'There are lots of people here who could live anywhere in the world, and they choose this.' Natasha Lyonne and Chloe Sevigny were spotted during a night shoot on the New York City set of Russian Doll on Thursday night. The 41-year-old series co-creator looked chipper while enjoying a cigarette and working on an upcoming episode of the Netflix show. Her 46-year-old costar appeared to be glummer as she puffed on a cigarette of her own and prepared to begin a scene. Putting in work: Natasha Lyonne was spotted smoking a cigarette on the New York City set of Russian Doll on Thursday night Lyonne was dressed in an all-black outfit consisting of a long overcoat and a black v-neck blouse, along with a set of form-fitting pants and leather boots. Her dark red hair cascaded down onto her shoulders and backside; it served to complement the sole color of her outfit. Sevigny wore a long brown overcoat that featured fur lining and large cuffs on top of a multicolored dress. Underneath her top choices, the actress was dressed in a pair of shiny leggings and a set of boots that matched her outer layer; her blonde hair fell onto her shoulders during the night's shoot. Doing the same: Chloe Sevigny was spotted having her own cigarette while working on the set of the Netflix comedy-drama series Layering up: The Kids actress was seen wearing a large brown coat that featured fur lining and large fuzzy cuffs Russian Doll first premiered in February of 2019 and received positive reviews upon its initial release, with much praise going towards Lyonne's performance and direction. In addition to co-creating and starring in the show, the Orange Is the New Black actress also serves one of its writers and directors. Also starring in the series are Greta Lee, Elizabeth Ashley and Yul Vasquez, among various other cast members and guest stars. The show is centered on a woman named Nadia who is caught in a time loop on the night of her death; she subsequently meets another individual who is trapped in the same situation. The show was nominated for numerous Primetime Emmy Awards in the year of its debut, although it did not win any. All over the place: In addition to co-creating and starring in the show, Lyonne acts as one of its writers and directors; she is pictured working on the series earlier this month Lyonne herself was put up for the awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series; she shared the latter nomination with series co-creators Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland. Russian Doll was also nominated for various distinctions during the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and won the award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour), in addition to two others. Filming on the second season of the hit Netflix comedy-drama series resumed earlier this month, with shooting taking place in the Big Apple. Principal photography was initially set to begin in March of last year, but the onset of the global pandemic forced production to be pushed to this month. The second season of Russian Doll currently does not have a set release date. Four people are facing charges after an apparent shoot-out in Decatur. The Decatur Pollice Department said officers responded to a call about numerous gunshots in the 1,400 block of Brookline Avenue and Smith Avenue SW on Monday. Police said officers discovered multiple shots were fired, striking occupied dwellings, an unoccupied building, and unoccupied vehicles. Officers determined the gunfire was the result of an apparent confrontation between suspects, according to a news release. Police now have arrested Jimmy Anderson, 19; Shundarrion Clopton, 19; Marcus Hampton, 18; and Shamari Pride-Robinson, 17. Each is charged with five counts of discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle, three counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, and one count of discharging a firearm into an unoccupied building. All four received $30,000 bonds. New York: New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says he has authorised the chambers judiciary committee to start an impeachment investigation into sexual misconduct allegations by Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last week. Credit:AP The reports of accusations concerning the governor are serious, Heastie said in a statement. The committee will have the authority to interview witnesses, subpoena documents and evaluate evidence, as is allowed by the New York State Constitution. The probe would run parallel to one being led by state Attorney General Letitia James. Ethiopia's cement sector is on the brink of transition 12 March 2021 This week the construction of the Lemi National Cement industrial Complex by East Africa Holdings (National Cement) and West China Cement Ltd in the Amhara region of Ethiopia was announced. This privately-owned industrial park will invest US$2.2bn into the production of building materials, including a 10,000tpd cement plant, adding 3.3Mta to domestic cement capacity and is scheduled to take 18 months to complete. It will take 5-7 years to before the complex is fully complete. Cement demand in Ethiopia reached approximately 12Mt in 2019, but domestic cement producers are only providing about 8.9Mt of this total, according to the Chemical and Construction Inputs Development Institute (CCIDI), in spite of nominal installed capacity in the region of 20Mta. The shortage in cement supply was highlighted last autumn when the Ministry of Trade prepared new guidelines to sustain the supply chain and opened up new opportunities for the private sector to take part in the process. Previously, government organisations were required to procure cement directly from the factories. At the time, Melaka Alebel, Minister of Trade and Industry, attributed the root cause of the supply shortage to shortcomings in the cement industry, such as a lack of spare parts, power outages, lack of inputs including raw materials, security issues and a lack of leadership and professional skills. In the past, foreign currency availability has also been an issue for companies seeking to source space parts from overseas. Truck shortages have also hindered the delivery of cement. Infrastructure boost The government budget for FY20-21 has stimulated cement demand with ETB58.8bn (US$1.45bn) spent on road programmes and five new bridges. Chinese investment is transforming the country's railway infrastructure with a US$3.4bn project connecting Ethiopia to Djibouti. In the last decade, Chinese funds also built the US$800m metro system around Addis Ababa. Meanwhile, work continues on the construction of the US$4bn Great Renaissance Dam, on the Blue Nile tributary of the river Nile. This is Africa's largest hydroelectric dam project and aims to end the acute electricity shortage in the country that has seen 65 per cent of the population unable to connect to the national grid. Capacity increases are coming Ethiopia's cement shortages have encouraged new investment in the cement sector. This was further stimulated when the government lifted the ban on foreign investment in the sector in February 2020. At this time, the country was stated to have a cement capacity of 17.1Mta, according to the CCIDI. The need for higher cement production has encouraged domestic producers to make plans for capex projects. East African Holdings (National Cement) is not only building the new plant in Amhara but conducted a study last autumn to increase its cement capacity at the Dire Dawa plant by 30 per cent. Mugher Cement is also boosting its cement production and is aiming to take its share of the market to above 25 per cent, according to Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Takele Uma. In addition, Midroc Ethiopia Plc plans a 2.5Mta expansion of its Derba plant. The newest plants under construction are Abay Cement Factory, which is an FLSmidth project, and Ethio Cement (ETEM), Wacem group, and its plant in Chanco. The Abay Cement integrated plant will have a 2.5Mta cement capacity and will be located in Dejen. The Chanco integrated facility will have a similar capacity of 0.77Mta. Fuel shortages Fuel shortages also have had an impact on Ethiopian cement prices, but the Ministry of Trade and Industry took regulatory measures to help stabilise cement prices in the summer of 2020 after prices for a 50kg bag had doubled to around ETB450 (US$13/bag) before falling back to ETB220-250. Shortages of imported materials had seen cement producers source local supplies of coal for manufacturing, but this led to sharp increases in local usage from 20 per cent up to 60-100 per cent. There has been a government drive to encourage the industry to replace coal imports with locally produced biomass which would lower production costs as well as lower CO 2 emissions. Political instability The location of the Lemi National Cement industrial Complex is in close proximity to the Great Renaissance Dam project which has caused political tension with Egypt. It is also situated just south of the Tigray region, where local leaders oppose Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's election and armed conflict flared up towards the end of last year, while Amnesty International reports of crimes against humanity were committed here in 2020. Ethiopia remains a high-risk country in which to do business. The cement sector is well-established but is undergoing huge changes and the pressure is on to improve cement supply, secure cheaper fuel and reduce the cost of cement production while reducing imports. Published under We know or think we know why so many home-grown radicals stormed the U.S. Capitol. Most notably, a defeated cult leader pumped his Kool-Aid down their throats. But thats not the whole story. Trump was able to gin them up because they were so dumbed down. They had no idea they were doing anything wrong. They felt justified to breach the legislative branch simply because the president had decreed it. They had no clue about separation of powers, or co-equal branches of government, because theyd never learned about either. They truly believed that the vice president could magically overturn the election because theyd never learned how our democracy actually works. For this, we can blame the demise of civics education in America. In 1838, a young Abraham Lincoln warned in a speech that unless children are taught reverence for the Constitution and its laws, we might fall prey to mobocratic rule. What we suffered on Jan. 6 was a mobocrat invasion perhaps a harbinger of the future. In a new report released last week, a group called Educating for American Democracy tells the tale: Civics and history education has eroded in the U.S. over the past 50 years, and opportunities to learn these subjects are inequitably distributed. Dangerously low proportions of the public understand and trust our democratic institutions. Majorities are functionally illiterate on our constitutional principles and forms. The relative neglect of civic education in the past half-century a period of wrenching change is one important cause of our civic and political dysfunction. Granted, its tough to prove that the Capitol mobocrats brutalized cops and smeared their feces simply because they lacked civics instruction. Suffice it to say that a demagogues odds of success are heightened when the people he seeks to exploit have little understanding of how the system works and likely dont know what they dont know. I wish we could poll all the insurrectionists, because I bet wed discover that a disproportionate share would flunk a civic literacy exam. Last year, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation reported that only one-third of native-born Americans (and only 19% of those under age 45) would be able to pass the basic test thats given to immigrants who aspire to become citizens. Some stats for our Hall of Shame: 57 percent of native-born Americans dont know how many justices serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; 60 percent dont know what countries the U.,S. fought in World War II; only 13 percent know when the U.S. Constitution was ratified; only 24 percent could name one thing that Ben Franklin was famous for (37 percent said he invented the light bulb). When I was a public school kid at the risk of sounding old we had civics classes all year long (commonly called social studies), and I distinctly remember that we couldnt advance to fifth grade unless we correctly named all nine members of the high court. But today, 31 states reportedly require only a half-year of civics education, and another 10 states require nothing. In public education during the last half century, civics has taken a back seat to science, technology, engineering, and math. Obviously, theres nothing wrong with the STEM curricula we need people on the cutting edge of those disciplines. But two educators, making the pitch for civics, recently warned: Without a basic understanding of our constitutional system, the foundations of democracy and the separation of powers enshrined in it, how can Americans discern fact from fiction? Without understanding what generations have fought and died for those core principles of putting country before leader or party, the checks on power our founders insisted on how can they be informed and empowered citizens that our system requires to survive? Chief Justice John Roberts agrees: (Our constitutional) principles leave no place for mob violence. We have come to take democracy for granted, and civic education has fallen by the wayside. In our age, when social media can instantly spread rumor and false information on a grand scale, the publics need to understand our government, and the protections it provides, is ever more vital. He wrote that 13 months before the Capitol was stormed. If we continue to ignore these warnings about our education system, too many Americans will remain putty in the paws of demagogues. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist, writes at DickPolman.net. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com. DUBLIN, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Surveillance Camera Market: Analysis By Product Type, End User, By Region, By Country (2021 Edition): Market Insights, Covid-19 Impact, Competition and Forecast (2021-2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Surveillance Camera Market was valued at USD 26.41 Billion in the year 2020. The report presents the analysis of Surveillance Camera market for the historical period of 2016-2020 and the forecast period of 2021-2026. The global Surveillance Camera market is observing lucrative growth owing to stringent regulatory standards regarding environment conservation, supportive government policies, as well as growing consumer awareness security. The continuous rise in demand of cameras in Asia Pacific region is driving the demand of industrial products from last few years. The recent technology promises substantial reduction in maintenance costs, which is why it is received by a significantly large number of buyers hailing from diverse industrial backgrounds. Owing to low production cost in Asian countries backed with rising industrialization, manufacturers are investing in economies such as India and China which is propelling the market growth. Positive outlook towards automobile and electronic sector coupled with rapid industrialization across developed and emerging economies will drive the Surveillance Camera market size. Additionally, due to expectation of rise in consumer demand and investment by public and private sector in small and medium scale industries will anticipated to drive the market of global Surveillance Camera in future. The market is also expected to register a boom in demand post COVID-19 pandemic situation attributable to the demand for the Surveillance Camera slightly increased, as several leading manufacturers started production of the camera for various sector like construction & manufacturing, BFSI, etc. Governments, enterprises, financial institutions, and healthcare organizations are expected and required to have a certain level of security and monitoring measures. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in the demand for security applications such as video surveillance to monitor and record borders, ports, corporate houses, educational institutes, public places, buildings, and others. Dome security cameras get their name by their circular, dome shape. The security camera is encased in a transparent protective dome. Although dome security cameras can be used both indoors and outdoors, many businesses including hotels, restaurants, and retail stores use dome cameras inside due to their discrete design. BFSI stands for Banking, financial services and insurance. A modern bank video surveillance system allows footage from multiple branches to be transmitted to a central monitoring room, or viewed over the internet. This makes audit and control very easy, swift and cost effective. Bank security cameras allow for continuous surveillance of banking facilities, providing protection outside of typical workday hours. Bullet cameras are also named by their distinct cylindrical shape, which looks like a bullet shell or lipstick tube. As one of the most common types of security cameras, bullet cameras are a visible deterrent. In fact, studies have found the presence of security cameras will make your property a less desirable target. Like dome cameras, bullet cameras can be installed indoors and outdoors. Government agencies worldwide use surveillance systems to secure borders and ports of entry, such as airports and seaports and camera systems are also used by defense professionals to monitor military assets and military installations. Surveillance is used by governments for intelligence gathering, prevention of crime, the protection of a process, person, group or object, or the investigation of crime. Key Topics Covered: 1. Report scope & Methodology 2. Strategic Recommendations 2.1 Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Strategy 2.2 Focus Towards advancement in Technology 2.3 Focus on Artificial Intelligence 3. Surveillance Camera Market: Product Overview 4. Surveillance Camera Market: Sizing and Forecast 5. Surveillance Camera Market Segmentation, By Product Type (Value) 5.1 Global Surveillance Camera Market: Segment Analysis 5.2 Competitive Scenario of Global Surveillance Camera Market: By Product Type (2020 & 2026) 5.3 By Dome Cameras - Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 5.4 By Bullet Cameras- Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 5.5 By Box Style Cameras- Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 5.6 By Others- Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 6. Surveillance Camera Market Segmentation, By End User (Value) 6.1 Global Surveillance Camera Market: Segment Analysis 6.2 Competitive Scenario of Global Surveillance Camera Market: By End User (2020 & 2026) 6.3 By BFSI Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 6.4 By Government & Defense - Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 6.5 By Commercial - Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 6.6 By Manufacturing & Construction - Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 6.7 By Healthcare - Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 6.8 By Residential - Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 6.9 By Others - Market Size and Forecast (2016-2026) 7. Global Surveillance Camera Market: Regional Analysis 7.1 Competitive Scenario of Global Surveillance Camera Market: By Region (2020 & 2026) 8. Americas Surveillance Camera Market: An Analysis 9. Europe Surveillance Camera Market: An Analysis 10. APAC Surveillance Camera Market: An Analysis 11. Global Surveillance Camera Market Dynamics 12. Market Attractiveness and Strategic Analysis 12.1 Market Attractiveness 12.1.1 Market Attractiveness Chart of Global Surveillance Camera Market - By Product Type (Year 2026) 12.1.2 Market Attractiveness Chart of Global Surveillance Camera Market - By End User (Year 2026) 12.1.3 Market Attractiveness Chart of Global Surveillance Camera Market - By Region (Year 2026) 13. Competitive Landscape 13.1 Global Leading Surveillance Camera company market share, 2019 14. Company Profiles (Business Description, Financial Analysis, Business Strategy) Hikvision Dahua Technology Ambarella Canon FLIR System Panasonic Axis Communication Robert Bosch Pelco CP Plus For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/49kb1o 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 OTTAWA Health Canada's chief medical adviser says there is no scientific explanation to suggest a link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and blood clots. Dr. Supriya Sharma says Health Canada has a "really low threshold" for adverse events that could trigger a pause in the use of a vaccine and wouldn't hesitate to do so if something warranted it. But she says the science is not there to suggest the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine could be the reason some patients in Europe developed blood clots after they received it. "There's not a good biological explanation about why a vaccine of this type, injected into a muscle, would cause that kind of adverse event," said Sharma, in an interview with The Canadian Press. Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Bulgaria are among almost a dozen European nations that paused the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca's vaccine this week either entirely or specific batches of it after reports of some patients developing blood clots afterward. None of them said there was evidence of a link, but that the pause was out of an abundance of caution pending a review. Austria stopped using a doses from a batch of the vaccine earlier this week after two reports of blood clots, but experts there concluded neither was related to the vaccine. Austria's chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said Friday he would be willing to get the shot himself to show how much trust he has in it. Many other countries, including Germany, France, Poland, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and Canada, are sticking with AstraZeneca injections, citing a lack of any evidence showing a link. The vaccine has been authorized in 74 countries, and by the World Health Organization, and 16 million doses have been injected in the U.K. and Europe alone. Canada approved it Feb. 26, and the first 500,000 doses were distributed to provinces this week, just as the blood-clot concerns began to go public. Lucilia Pato, who got her first dose Friday morning at the Junction Chemist in west Toronto, said news that some European countries had stopped using AstraZeneca's vaccine for now initially gave her pause. Story continues "I was (worried) when I heard about it yesterday but this morning I heard positive things about it, so you know what, I was willing to take my chance," she said. The European Medicines Agency, which regulates new drugs for the European Union, said in a statement Thursday it was not suspending its authorization for AstraZeneca's vaccine. "There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side-effects with this vaccine," the EMA said. Sharma said reviews of adverse events are normal following the release of a new drug or vaccine. "Once the vaccines are used in the wild, and by millions of people, these things will come up," she said. "So we're already in a system where we're expecting things to pop up and that's why we have these vigilance systems to be able to detect it." Sharma said the first question always to be asked is if there is something scientific to explain a link between an adverse event and a vaccine. "And when we're looking at the AstraZeneca vaccine, as an example, there's not in this case," she said. She said regulators also ask whether the number of patients experiencing the effect is higher than what might normally be seen in the population and whether there is some other factor common to all the patients with the issue. The answer to each question here is also no. Finally, Sharma said regulators will consider the possibility of a manufacturing mistake with a particular batch. While there is no evidence of that in Europe either, Canada's doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are also not coming from the same source as Europe's. The doses of the vaccine currently being used in Canada were produced at the Serum Institute of India. Canada has authorized four distinct vaccines for COVID-19, and almost 2.8 million doses have been injected. Sharma said thus far, none has produced "adverse events" in Canada that were either unexpected or more frequent than expected. She said Health Canada won't be slow to act on safety concerns. The people making these decisions are aware it's not just Canadians as a whole, but themselves and their loved ones who will be getting the same vaccines. "These are our fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers," she said. "We want to make sure that we're doing the best for all of them as well." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021. With files from Paola Loriggio in Toronto Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press As the initial step to the partnership, BEST has sold RMB517 million worth of assets related to its BEST Capital unit to Sinolink worth of assets related to its BEST Capital unit to Sinolink Transaction will allow BEST to reinforce its balance sheet, enhance liquidity and allow a greater focus on its core businesses HANGZHOU, China, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BEST Inc. (NYSE: BEST) ("BEST" or the "Company"), a leading integrated smart supply chain solutions and logistics services provider in China, today announced that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Sinolink Yongfu Asset Management ("Sinolink"), a subsidiary of Sinolink Securities. According to the agreement, the Company has initially sold RMB517 million worth of its assets pertaining to its external B2C truck leasing business to Sinolink. BEST is also expected to partner with Sinolink to explore further strategic initiatives in the future. Gloria Fan, Chief Financial Officer of BEST Inc., said, "This transaction demonstrates our commitment to improve the Company's balance sheet and enhance liquidity. Our partnership with Sinolink will optimize our cash flow and allow us to focus more resources on the growth of our core logistics businesses." ABOUT BEST INC. BEST Inc. (NYSE: BEST) is a leading integrated smart supply chain solutions and logistics services provider in China. Through its proprietary technology platform and extensive networks, BEST offers a comprehensive set of logistics and value-add services, including express and freight delivery, supply chain management and last-mile services, truckload service brokerage, international logistics and financial services. BEST's mission is to empower business and enrich life by leveraging technology and business model innovation to create a smarter, more efficient supply chain. For more information, please visit: http://www.best-inc.com/en/. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: BEST Inc. Investor relations team [email protected] The Piacente Group, Inc. Yang Song Tel: +86-10-6508-0677 E-mail: [email protected] The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi Piacente Tel: +1-212-481-2050 E-mail: [email protected] 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. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as BEST's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. BEST may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about BEST'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: BEST's goals and strategies; BEST's future business development, results of operations and financial condition; BEST 's ability to maintain and enhance its ecosystem; BEST 's ability to continue to innovate, meet evolving market trends, adapt to changing customer demands and maintain its culture of innovation; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in China and other countries in which BEST operates, and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in BEST's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and BEST does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. SOURCE BEST Inc. Related Links https://www.best-inc.com/ De Blasio Supports Calls for Cuomo to Resign, Describes Allegations as Deeply Troubling New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday supported a growing chorus of calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign amid a slew of sexual misconduct accusations made against him. The fact that we can talk about how many people are bringing through, bringing forward accusationsthat its not one, its not two, its not three, its not four, its not five, its six women who have come forward is deeply troubling, the mayor said during his daily press briefing on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, which causes the disease COVID-19. The specific allegation that the governor called an employee of his, someone who he had power over, called them to a private place, and then sexually assaulted her, its absolutely unacceptable, he continued. It is disgusting to me, and he can no longer serve as governor. Its as simple as that. Cuomo, 63, has repeatedly denied the allegations the different women made against him, which are mostly former aides of the Democratic governor. In relation to the sixth and most recent accusations made against him, Cuomo on Wednesday denied a report that he allegedly reached under the shirt of a female staff member and sexually assaulted her after inviting her for a work-related purpose. I have never done anything like this, Cuomo said through a spokesperson on Wednesday, calling the details of the claims gut-wrenching. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (L) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speak during a press conference to discuss the first positive COVID-19 case in New York State in New York City, N.Y., on March 2, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) Cuomo has again said he wont resign after Karen Hinton, the fifth woman who came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, alleged that Cuomo called her to his hotel room and made inappropriate advances. The governor at the time said the claims are not true and described Hinton as a long-time political adversary. Hinton is one of the governors former press aides. The governor has also recently been under fire for withholding COVID-19 death data from state lawmakers and the public. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, published a report in January that found that the state under-counted nursing home deaths by as much as 50 percent, while the New York Post later reported that one of Cuomos aides, Melissa DeRosa, admitted to lawmakers in a private setting that the administration hid nursing home data last summer due to a federal probe. Emergency medical workers are seen unloading a patient outside a nursing home in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 18, 2020. (Justin Heiman/Getty Images) Cuomos office hasnt responded to multiple requests for comment by The Epoch Times. His office previously issued a statement saying he never intended to offend anyone or cause any harm. Last weekend, the two top Democrats in New Yorks state legislature called on the governor to resign, saying the allegations have undermined his ability to lead. As socialists and as elected representatives, we must demonstrate solidarity in this moment and ensure Governor Cuomo cannot simply walk away from these accusations, they wrote. The lawmakers in their letter said that the Cuomo administrations admission of withholding critical information, including the thousands of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, from the public and from the federal government was sufficient to proceed with the governors impeachment, before the emergence of sexual harassment allegations. On Thursday, more than 55 Democratic New York legislators followed suit in a letter calling for Cuomos resignation. New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said on Thursday he authorized its Judiciary Committee to start an impeachment investigation into sexual misconduct allegations six women have made against Cuomo. Reuters and Isabel van Brugen contributed to this report. New water exhibits at science discovery centre thanks to sponsorship This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 12th, 2021 A shared passion to protect and enrich the lives of future generations in Wales has led to a key sponsorship at a North Wales science discovery centre. Xplore! has entered into a five-year charitable partnership with Hafren Dyfrdwy, which provides water and wastewater services in north east and mid wales. As part of the agreement, Hafren Dyfrdwy has sponsored two bespoke interactive exhibits that highlight the importance of water in our lives. Visitors to Xplore!, formerly Techniquest Glyndwr, will be able to stamp on images projected onto the floor of items that should not be flushed down the toilet or put down the kitchen sink, helping to reinforce what should not end up in sewers. The projection game also has a Q&A based on how much water various household items use. The second exhibit Looking after your wonderful water sees users create pathways with magnetic pipes for blue water balls to travel around a house. When the ball enters an item, for example the bath, a symbol flashes up with the amount of litres it takes on average to complete this task. Claire Dare, Community Education Officer at Hafren Dyfrdwy said: Were really excited about this partnership with Xplore!, as were big believers in education, and really believe in teaching the younger generation all about saving water and preventing sewer blockages. Teaming up with Xplore! gives us the fantastic opportunity to teach children all about our wonderful water in a fun, unique and educational way. One exhibit will show the journey of a raindrop and teach children all about the importance of saving water and keeping hydrated, and the other exhibit is all about our sewers and Poo Power, where we show families how we use waste to create energy and what not to flush. Were really excited for people to come visit when they can, as we hope these new exhibitions will give everyone a fun and educational day out. Xplore, which reopened at the start of October following its relocation from Wrexham Glyndwr University to Henblas Street, says they delivered close to 203,000 hours of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) activities in 2019. Katie Williams, business development and stakeholder engagement officer at Xplore!, said: Were thrilled to strike up this partnership with Hafren Dyfrdwy, and I know that the new exhibits will be well received by our visitors when we open as they went down a storm with my own kids when they tried them out. Water plays a key role in our lives and the educational messages being delivered in a fun and engaging way will help families make better choices around the home. Sponsorship is a vital source of income for us as a charity and we have a number of packages available for any business interested in finding out more. Claire added: The new facility at Xplore! has dedicated rooms which will also allow us to hold workshops when COVID-19 restrictions allow. We have delivered many water interaction assemblies and workshops in schools and were excited about the possibility of arranging events for Xplore!s visitors. 404 Mumbai: Even as Maharashtra announces lockdowns and night curfews to curb the rising in number of coronavirus cases, it has been announced that there will be no lockdown in Mumbai. The Additional Commissioner of BMC Suresh Kankani said that the decision to impose a lockdown in the maximum city is not being considered, currently. Further, he said that people should follow the COVID-19 protocols like wearing masks, frequent sanitising and maintaining social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus then there will be no chance of applying lockdown. Kankani said that the infection is spreading due to the crowd at the wedding ceremonies and pubs and crowd in local trains. According to Kankani, around 90 per cent of the coronavirus patients in Mumbai are living in buildings. As many as eight of the 10 districts in Maharashtra have witnessed a spike in coronavirus cases forcing the state government to enforce lockdown or night curfews. A night curfew has been imposed in Pune, a strict lockdown has been declared in Akola, while a night curfew has been imposed in Panvel, Navi Mumbai and lockdown has been imposed in Parbhani district. Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours Maharashtra has reported 15,817 new coronavirus cases. With this the number of COVID-19 patients has now increased to 22,82,191. There have been 56 deaths during the last 24 hours, the death toll now stands at 52723. In the last 24 hours, Mumbai recorded 1,647 new cases of coronavirus takign the total number to 3,40,290. There have been four deaths in Mumbai during the last 24 hours. There have been a total of 11,523 deaths so far. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 67F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. The aunt of 13-month-old Casen Case, who died in a hot car back in October of 2019, is suing Alabama's Department of Human Resources, Limestone County Department of Human Resources employees, including the director, and Casen's mother. We spoke with the familys attorney about the lawsuit. Casen Case Casen Case The family's attorney, Tommy James, said on Thursday that this lawsuit was filed because Casen's family doesn't want what happened to him to happen to any other children in Alabama. "They're bringing this lawsuit to hold the employees of DHR accountable to hopefully cause change so this doesn't happen to another child again. They want to prevent child deaths in Alabama and to hold DHR responsible," said James. The lawsuit alleges that DHR failed to take appropriate action by leaving Casen with his mother, Elizabeth Anne Case, who at the time of his death was out on bail for a first-degree robbery charge. The lawsuit also alleges that DHR had received multiple reports that Case was abusing and neglecting Casen. "There's no doubt that if DHR had done their jobs in this case that Casen would be with us now," said James. The lawsuit states that Casen was left in the car from around 5:40 in the morning until around 1:30 in the afternoon. The temperature outside was approximately 97 degrees when he was found. Casen was transported to the Athens-Limestone Hospital where he was pronounced dead. "Every picture I've seen, he's got a big 'ole smile on his face, and it's a tragedy that shouldn't have happened," said James. We reached out to the Department of Human Resources for a comment on the lawsuit, and they said they cannot comment on pending litigation. Casen's mother, Elizabeth Anne Case, is set for trial on the capitol murder charge on May 17. With spring being just around the corner, Americans suffering from cabin fever are venturing away from home more often that before the coronavirus pandemic, new cellphone data shows. Transportation researchers at the University of Maryland have found that between the summer and mid-winter, the number of daily trips per person, indicated by cellphones pinging more than a mile from home, had been at around 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. By mid-February, with the number of new coronavirus cases declining and vaccination eligibility slowly expanding, the number of daily trips started to surpass pre-pandemic levels. Wanderlust: Cellphone data shows that Americans tired of being cooped up are venturing away from home more often that before the coroanvirus pandemic Experts are concerned about large numbers of Americans traveling greater distances for Easter, Passover and spring break By the first week of March, the number of trips away from home was, in some instances, more than 13 per cent higher compared to the same time last year, when many states went into lockdown, reported The Washington Post. According to cellphone data, residents of Washington DC were the most reluctant to travel away from home, with 47 per cent staying put on March 8. In New York and Maryland, 33 per cent and 28 per cent of cell phone users, respectively, stayed home on the same day. In Mississippi, which was one of the first states to roll back all COVID restrictions and lift mask mandates last week, only 16 per cent of residents stayed home. Researchers at the Maryland Transportation Institute are attributing Americans' newfound wanderlust to fewer new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as to early spring fever ignited by the one-year anniversary of World Health Organization's official declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic. Transportation researchers at the University of Maryland are analyzing data from cellphone to determine how far and how often Americans travel residents of Washington DC were the most reluctant to travel away from home, with 47 per cent staying put on March 8 In New York, 33 per cent of cellphone users stayed home on March 8 In Mississippi, which was one of the first states to roll back all COVID restrictions and lift mask mandates last week, only 16 per cent of residents stayed home 'Weve been through a long winter and a lot of [covid] cases,' Mofeng Yang, the lead researcher on the Maryland Transportation Institute project, told The Post. 'People might want to escape from their homes.' With some 22 per cent of Americans still working from home, the number of non-work trips has increased by as much as 20 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels. Yang speculated that people working remotely allow themselves to leave home to run errands, or drive to a park. Washington-area residents are staying home more than the national average, taking an average of 3.15 trips per person on March 8 compared with 3.57 trips that day nationwide, according to the University of Maryland data. Washington-area residents are staying home more than the national average, taking an average of 3.15 trips per person on March 8 compared with 3.57 trips that day nationwide In Wyoming, residents took an average of 4.19 trips per person on March 8 Residents of Wyoming were the most well-traveled, taking an average of 4.19 trips per person on the same day, followed by Utah residents with 4.14 trips. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that travel increases people's chance of spreading and getting COVID-19 through social interactions, and urges them to delay trips and stay home, even if they are vaccinated. Experts are concerned about large numbers of Americans traveling greater distances for Easter, Passover and spring break in the coming months, as mask mandates and restrictions are being lifted in states like Mississippi and Texas. So far, about 10 per cent of the entire US population has been fully vaccinated, according to the latest CDC data. Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey issued a draconian executive order on March 3 which requires schools to reopen by March 15 or following spring break, followed by another order on March 5 to reopen all businesses to 100 percent capacity, only leaving the mask mandate in place. On the governors official website, Ducey said, Arizonas students need to be back in the classroom. More than half of Arizonas schools are open and offering in-person options. More schools need to follow their lead, and pave the way for equitable education options for every Arizona student. A school classroom (BarbaraLN/Duke University) The reopening of Arizona schools is being perpetrated with the full support of the Arizona Eduction Association (AEA), which is affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA), and the Arizona Educators United (AEU)/#RedForEd grouping affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The AEU was founded and headed by Rebecca Garelli, who also founded the National Educators United (NEU), which fulfills a similar function as the AEU on a national level. The news release states in unequivocal terms, According to metrics developed by the CDC, 12 of Arizonas 15 counties are in phases where all schools are safe to open, including in the states two largest counties, Maricopa and Pima. The metrics are mere suggestions by the CDC, which stated in its Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools document, At any level of community transmission, all schools have options to provide in-person instruction (either full or hybrid), through strict adherence to mitigation strategies. No school has been shut down for violating said mitigation strategies. By any objective scientific measure, Arizona schools and non-essential businesses are not safe to open. According to the CDCs own map, as of March 11 all but two of the 15 counties in the state are in either a high or substantial risk of community transmission, with the remaining counties in the moderate category. Among the worst effected were Maricopa and Pima counties, which have experienced the most deaths in the whole state with 9,300 and 2,285 respectively. Maricopa County added 28 deaths on Thursday, according to the countys website. According to the latest figures from the American Association of Pediatrics, Arizona has had over 1,600 hospitalizations and a 1.2 percent hospitalization rate among children ages 0-19 and at least 24 child deaths. According to the John Hopkins University of Medicine, Arizona as a whole has a test positivity rate of 10.39 percent, with only 12.02 percent of the population fully vaccinated. Echoing the fraudulent pseudo-scientific statements made by the Biden administrations CDC, Ducey continued, The CDC and numerous health officials have said time and time again that schools are safe and kids can go back to the classroom. We prioritized teachers in our vaccine distribution, and many have already received their second dose. The science is clear: its time all kids have the option to return to school so they can get back on track and we can close the achievement gap. If Ducey were honest about his motives, a more appropriate statement would be, The science is clear: schools are a major vector of coronavirus, but the large corporations and Wall Street that bankroll us need profits. So we are reopening. Schools have been established by numerous studies to be one of the main vectors for coronavirus, and closing in-person schools has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to curb its spread. The new UK variant, which has been confirmed to exist in Arizona, is expected to become dominant in mere weeks. It spread quickly among the younger population in the UK and Italy, leading to a surge of hospitalizations among school-age youth. The head of the Arizona Education Association, Joe Thomas, was interviewed on a local PBS affiliate on the reopening of schools, in what has been his only public statement on the reopening which will affect thousands of his own union members. When a reporter asked what his immediate reaction to the executive order to have all students back in person by March 15 was, Thomas stated that: Its really curious, most districts are either already in-person or were heading there just after spring break. Lets remember that the governor, about a year ago, had passed this decision and planning down to the local school districts on how to meet the educational and safety and health needs of our students, and districts by and large have worked with parents and educators to do just that for a year. And so that is why its really curious to see the governor suddenly come out and really show how far away he is from understanding the good planning and all of those good conversations that have happened, to indicate everybody is going to be on the same page on the same arbitrary date. In other words, Thomas has no disagreement with Ducey on reopening schools, criticizing the governor only for failing to recognize the good planning that school districts and the union have already made to reopen schools! His statement shows that the AEA is hostile to the interests of teachers and parents and works as an arm of the ruling class to enforce its dictates, not even stopping for something as fundamental as the very safety and lives of its membership. Thomas went on to complain that the mandated opening date, March 15, interfered with date set by some schools to prepare for reopening, and that the order would cause disruptions to schools which already planned a cool off week after the break. The AEU and its head Garelli not only remained silent on this betrayal but have said nothing at all in opposition to Duceys order. She is a known quantity, having played an instrumental role in suppressing the revolt by Arizona teachers in 2018, helping the AEA and national unions isolate and betray the powerful strike. Garelli, who is a Phoenix DSA member, is on the DSAs 12-member Democratic Socialists Labor Commissions Steering Committee. At the Young DSA winter conference in late February, she made a telling statement that Our [AEUs] first program was to close schools, and now that has evolved. If that statement is to mean anything, it is that the AEUs program is to support school reopenings. A Tucson Unified teacher told the World Socialist Web Site, Our district had decided to send us back on the 22nd and 23rd to start setting up our classrooms, with an in-person start date for the 24th. Now with the governors order, we will be in-person on the start date of the 22nd. This is right after spring break. Angela Skillings, another Arizona teacher, said, Ducey undermines education. Not only has Ducey ordered schools back this month, he has lifted the ban for restrictions on businesses so that they can reopen 100 percent. Why dont we just stay virtual? Its working! We do have a few kids on campus who need support, and I feel like we should keep that in place for those high need students, but not open for the rest of the school population. Last summer, Skillings and two of her co-workers were forced to work together in-person in a classroom, despite the fact that they were teaching their students online in virtual summer school. One of Skillings' co-workers, Kim Byrd, died from COVID-19, and Skillings and her other co-worker contracted COVID. Skillings has still not been able to be vaccinated, although she says that around 70 percent of the schools 62 faculty members have been vaccinated. I go by my experience, said Angela Skillings. If the three of us who were educated and we were on campus because you said we would be safe if we followed protocols, and we werent safenow, you are going to put me in a classroom with 12 children? I dont feel safe. The executive orders come after the provocative actions on the floor of the US Senate by Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, who ostentatiously thumbed down the $15 minimum wage provision, which had been proposed as part of the federal relief package. She had also reportedly brought cake on the day of the vote for Senate staffers, drawing comparisons on social media to Marie Antoinette. A former member of the Green Party, Sinema was elected with the support of the AEA and #RedForEd, although the latter has since attempted to distance itself from her. Garelli has retweeted posts critical of Sinema while failing to acknowledge the critical role #RedForEd played in her election. This reopening takes place exactly one year after schools were shut down, and teachers need to draw the necessary conclusions. They need to form rank-and-file safety committees independent of the unions, the Democrats and the pseudo-left groups like the DSA and AEU who work to redirect opposition back into the unions. These rank-and-file safety committees must fight for a political general strike to shut down in-person learning and non-essential businesses. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Mar. 12A computer system for Hazleton Area schools has been breached. "We saw tracks or a log of somebody who actually got into our mail server. That's as much as we know," Kenneth Briggs, director of technology, told the school board during a committee meeting on Thursday. After the discovery, Briggs said he erred on the side of caution to restore the mail server, which he said is solid now. But he doesn't know if the invader went elsewhere in the system. "My fear, and I'm being paranoid, is ... encryption or (a) ransomware time bomb set to go off in three weeks or three months or whatever," Briggs said. He and his staff started to look at other servers that the district owns to "see if there's anything that doesn't look quite right." Briggs also contacted a vendor to help in the search. The breach happened after workers installed a patch for software from Microsoft. Microsoft realized the patch contained a vulnerability, which it fixed with a second patch. Briggs said teachers soon will be trying to do two things at once: Stream lessons to students watching online and talk with students in the classroom. To help them, he suggested buying a second monitor for their computers and a device that will allow a camera to follow teachers as they move through rooms and write on boards. Teachers are scheduled to start streaming lessons from classrooms on Monday. Most students will continue taking classes from home until April 12, when they will have the option to begin sitting in classrooms a few days a week. Next year when students report to grades one, five and nine, they will have new computers. Briggs notified the board of plans to order 3,000 computers for them at the March 25 meeting so the machines will arrive by September. Also, the board tentatively decided to enlarge a parking lot at Hazle Twp. Elementary/Middle School to 97 spaces. Workers will remove planters and move a storage building as part of the project. The cost will range from $240,000 to $290,000, Michael Cera of Benesch engineering estimated. Other options he presented were for lots with 80 to 93 spaces and prices of $180,000 to $300,000. Story continues Athletic Director Fred Barletta recommended that the board start funding the girls' lacrosse team fully in a year. When the team started four seasons ago, players and parents paid all expenses for two years, and then the school began sharing expenses for the past two seasons. This year, 43 girls are on the team "so this program is showing it's more than viable," Barletta said. He said salary and benefits for a coach and an assistant will total about $8,000, plus the district will buy uniforms and pay officials and some equipment. The Wyoming Valley Conference now has a league for lacrosse, and Barletta said the sport is growing nationally. Contact the writer: kjackson@standardspeaker .com; 570-501-3587 Price of cassava flakes popularly called garri and regularly consumed by Nigerians have continued to increase in Enugu State, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). NAN correspondent, who conducted a market survey in Enugu on Friday, reported that the price of the staple food has increased by 20 per cent between January and March, 2021. NAN reports that a 4.5 liter bucket of the food item now sells for between N1,100 and N1,400 as against between N900 and N1,000 sold in January, depending on the type. A visit to some markets in the state capital showed that a 4.5 liter paint bucket of white garri sold for N900 in January now went for between N1,100 and N1200. At the Ogbete, Garki and New Markets, a paint bucket of white garri is sold for N1,100 while the yellow garri of the same bucket goes for N1,200. But at the Artisan and New Haven markets, the white garri paint bucket goes for N1,200 while the yellow one is sold at N1,400. Voices Boniface Ugwu, a garri trader at New Market said garri price had remained high for some weeks now, blaming it on cassava off-season and also to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Ugwu said he was not able to buy enough quantity of the commodity to sell due to its price increase. Azuka Madu, another garri seller at Garki Market said a bag of white garri was sold for N24,500 as against 17,000 while the yellow garri was sold for N27,000 as against N22,500 sold in January. Mrs Madu further said that a 4.5 litre bucket of the white garri which sold for N900 now goes for N1,100. Another trader at Garki Market, Kaodili Ozor, said the increment was high compared to previous years. The price of garri increases at the beginning of January due to its gradual off-season but because of lockdown, many farmers did not plant and some planted few, she said. A cassava farmer, Joseph Okeagu, blamed the dry season for the scarcity and increased price of the product. According to him, the dry season had made it difficult for farmers to harvest the crop because of the hardness of the ground. The soil is too hard to dig and even if you succeed, the quantity harvested is small, so we have no choice than to increase the price to cover our expenses. Theres nothing we can do now than to wait for the rains, he said. No options Some consumers said they had no choice than to buy it at that cost because other alternatives like fufu were all products of cassava. Ngozi Agu, a civil servant, said that other swallows like pounded yam, oatmeal, farina and Semovita were expensive and difficult to prepare. ADVERTISEMENT According to her, it is easy to prepare garri as it takes little time and effort but to make pounded yam and Semovita consumes more time. (NAN) It is unlikely that the bullish sentiment currently driving oil markets can be sustained over a prolonged period, but Middle Eastern producers are determined to make the most over higher prices while they last. On the back of ballistic missile attacks on Saudi infrastructure and OPEC+ quota roll-overs, the global benchmark Brent surpassed the key threshold of $70 per barrel for the first time in more than a year. Concurrently, backwardation steepened even further, with a solid $7 USD difference between April 2021-April 2022 contracts. Against such a background, Saudi Aramco and other Middle Eastern NOCs have opted for a conservative approach, increasing prices of lighter grades as gasoline cracks have been improving throughout February, all the while rolling over heavier streams into the next month. Graph 1. Chinas Crude Imports in 2010-2021 (million barrels per day). Source: authors data. One of the key factors in oil markets over the past few months has been Chinas robust demand. For the 3rd month in a row, Chinas monthly seaborne crude purchases have averaged above 10mbpd. With pipeline imports from Russia (approximately 3.5 million tons per month) that would swing above 11mbpd. Such healthy demand has several underlying reasons new refineries such as Hengli and Zhejiang are readying for maximum capacity production, the teapot refineries have availed themselves of the allocated quotas for 2021, and overall refining margins improved in January-February 2021. The independents allocation is of special significance as the first batch of quotas for 2021 was hiked by a whopping 18% from 2020, to 98.75 million tons. Despite the robust Q1 2021, the forthcoming quarter is headed towards a weaker start. March 2021 might be the healthiest month of H1 2021 in terms of Chinese crude demand, yet it needs to be noted that roughly 7 million tons (more than 52 MMbbls) of crude was moved into March from February as port congestion caused by bad weather once again became a pertinent issue. A weakening of Chinese crude demand looking into April 2021 remains very likely amongst others, almost 1mbpd of refining capacity across 6 large-scale refineries will be taken offline on the back of refinery maintenance season. Concurrently, the surge of Brent above $65 USD per barrel coupled with steep backwardation that heavily penalizes prolonged storage has cooled the erstwhile enthusiasm of Chinese refiners. Start Trading CFDs In Over 2000 Markets Today Graph 2. Saudi Aramco Official Selling Prices for Asia in 2018-2021 (vs Oman/Dubai Average, USD per barrel). Source: Saudi Aramco. It should be noted that Saudi Arabian exports to China are set to decrease significantly in March, down 25% from February 2021, at 1.45mbpd. The same declining trend also applies to Iraqi barrels moving to China, following a run of robust demand in January and February, March arrivals are expected to plunge below the 1mbpd mark, at 0.91mbpd. Falling demand for Middle Eastern barrels will be compensated by a spectacular surge in Brazilian grades (assumed to amount to 0.9mbpd in March 2021, having averaged 0.5mbpd in the previous six months). Here one should add that March-arriving Brazilian cargoes were loaded in January as the average sailing time is 50-60 days in fact, every single VLCC that loaded Lula in January 2021 ended up in China. Related: Can Carbon Capture Make Clean Oil Production A Reality? Cognizant of the abovementioned trends, Saudi Aramco decided to follow a fairly logical strategy with its Asian OSPs the lighter its grade, the bigger its month-on-month increase. Thus, Arab Heavy was simply rolled over from February (when it was also left unchanged, see Graph 2), whilst Arab Extra Light rose by 60 cents m-o-m to a 1.20 USD per barrel premium to the Oman/Dubai average. On the one hand, such an ambitious hike might seem counterintuitive for a month when many refiners will either go into maintenance or will decrease refinery runs amid still-depressed regional demand. On the other hand, the Saudi NOC is seemingly betting on arbitrage opportunities shrinking (a wider Brent/Dubai EFS certainly does indicate this) and East Asian buyers will have to make do with Middle Eastern grades. Graph 3. Saudi Aramco Official Selling Prices for Northwestern Europe in 2018-2021 (vs ICE Bwave; USD per barrel). Source: Saudi Aramco. The Brent/Dubai EFS, essentially the spread between light sweet and heavy sour grades, surged to its highest in 15 months on February (3.18 USD per barrel), so now the only thing that might alleviate market developments in Asia would be Saudi Aramco partially curtailing its term allocations. Interestingly, Saudi Aramcos official selling prices for Europe-bound cargoes reflect a much more conservative approach, largely stemming from the Saudi NOC overshooting its March 2021 prices. For April 2021, Aramco dropped all grades by $1.50-$1.80 USD per barrel, committing to the steepest cuts with its heaviest stream, Arab Heavy (see Graph 3). Only 5 MMbbls of Saudi crude loaded in February to Europe, hence the NOCs April prices are a clear indication of its willingness to get back to action, battling for its place in the European refining market against the invariably weak Urals. Graph 4. Iraqi Official Selling Prices for Europe in 2018-2021 (USD per barrel; vs Dated Brent). Source: SOMO. Although the Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO went much softer with its Europe-bound prices than its Saudi Arabian peer, Iraq nevertheless mirrored Aramcos steep European price cuts for April 2021. With Basrah Light, SOMO surpassed Aramcos aggressive pricing, dropping the lightest of Iraqi grades by $1.90 per barrel from March 2021, to a -$2.5 USD per barrel discount to Dated Brent, its lowest level since June 2020. The European OSPs of other marketed grades were dropped by 1.4-1.8 USD per barrel (see Graph 4). As opposed to Saudi Aramco which has seen a rather weak start to 2021 in terms of its European exports, Iraq has been on the upswing ever since it bottomed out in December 2020 (0.42mbpd), loading 0.64mbpd of crude (incl. Kirkuk) this February. Thus, Iraq is expressing its interest to maintain an alternative market outlet for its crude so as not to depend on Asia too much. Graph 5. Basrah Light-Arab Medium Spread in 2018-2021 (USD per barrel). Source: Saudi Aramco/SOMO. The Iraqi state oil marketer followed Saudi Aramcos lead with its Asian prices, hiking Basrah Light by 15 cents and Basrah Medium by 25 cents per barrel, to respective premia of $1.3 and $0.1 USD per barrel against the Oman/Dubai average. Basrah Heavy, the exports of which to Asia have heretofore been remarkably stable at 0.6-0.65mbpd, has seen its April price rolled over from the previous month. Traditionally, SOMO has sought to maintain a pricing balance between its Basrah Light and the Saudi Arab Medium. The COVID pandemic and then quality reshuffling or Iraqi grades have totally upended the previous balancing point, leading to wild swings throughout 2020. The developments of January-April 2021, however, seem to indicate that SOMO has found a new balance around 35-40 cents of the Basrah Light-Arab Medium spread (see Graph 5). Graph 6. ADNOC OSPs in 2017-2021 (vs Dubai/Oman Average; USD per barrel). Source: ADNOC. The Asian markets preference for lighter grades has been an indisputable boon for the United Arab Emirates, whose ADNOC has increased its April prices by 15-30 cents per barrel month-on-month. Perhaps wary of Aramcos excessive optimism, perhaps more enlightened thanks to the 2-day difference between the respective dates of issuance, ADNOCs Asian price-setting policy turned out to be tangibly more modest than that of its Saudi counterpart just to provide a couple of examples, Upper Zakum was hiked by 15 cents to a $0.9 USD per barrel premium over Oman/Dubai (peer grade Arab Light rose by 40 cents), whilst Murban rose by 30 cents to a $1.05 USD per barrel premium against Oman/Dubai (Arab Extra Light rose by 60 cents). By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The La Stool/Traditional Council have resolved to embark on series of demonstrations and other lawful acts to recover their lands, should President Akuffo Addo, the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces fail to call the military to order. The La Stool/Traditional Council are raising concerns over what they say are wanton annexation and continuous encroachment of their lands by the military, contrary to arrangements in place to release their lands to them. The La Stool/Traditional Council have held negotiations with the government, represented by the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, over La lands being annexed and encroached by the military. It was pronounced at the end of the negotiations in November last year in the presence of the military and senior officials of the Lands Commission, who were parties to the negotiations from the onset that parts of the lands should be released to the La Stool and that the parts required by the military should be acquired through due process. The parties were asked to exercise restraint by halting all activities on the land until the agreement is firmed up and boundaries of the La Stool and the military is delineated. Speaking to the media on a tour by members of the La Traditional Council, the Trustees of the East Dadekotopon Development Trust, and the Coalition of Associations in La (COLA) to see for themselves activities of the military on the lands, Nii Adjei Koofeh IV (La Shikitele) speaking on behalf of the La Stool / Traditional Council, said the current happenings are very injurious to their position. 'Their (the military's) actions are quite disturbing to the La Stool. We have been very magnanimous to the State, most prime lands of La have been used for purposes of national interest. The military has taken most of our land without due process and proper documentation. All that came up during our deliberations at the ministry, so if they intend to do something, they should follow due process. We expect the military to be law abiding and comply with the tenets of the constitution in order not to bring the name of their Commander in Chief into disrepute'. Source: Victor Morrison/0244308109 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 global, multicenter study, led by UC, finds correlation between the severity of COVID-19 in the lungs and brain using CT/MRI scans Since the pandemic hit, researchers have been uncovering ways COVID-19 impacts other parts of the body, besides the lungs. Now, for the first time, a visual correlation has been found between the severity of the disease in the lungs using CT scans and the severity of effects on patient's brains, using MRI scans. This research is published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. It will be presented at the 59th annual meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) and has also been selected as a semifinalist for that organization's Cornelius Dyke Award. The results show that by looking at lung CT scans of patients diagnosed with COVID-19, physicians may be able to predict just how badly they'll experience other neurological problems that could show up on brain MRIs, helping improve patient outcomes and identify symptoms for earlier treatment. CT imaging can detect illness in the lungs better than an MRI, another medical imaging technique. However, MRI can detect many problems in the brain, particularly in COVID-19 patients, that cannot be detected on CT images. The study was led by Achala Vagal, MD, professor in the department of radiology, and Abdelkader Mahammedi, MD, assistant professor of radiology. Both are UC Health radiologists and members of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. "We've seen patients with COVID-19 experience stroke, brain bleeds and other disorders affecting the brain," says Mahammedi. "So, we're finding, through patient experiences, that neurological symptoms are correlating to those with more severe respiratory disease; however, little information has been available on identifying potential associations between imaging abnormalities in the brain and lungs in COVID-19 patients. "Imaging serves as proof for physicians, confirming how an illness is forming and with what severity and helps in making final decisions about a patient's care." In this study, which was conducted not only at UC, but also at large institutions in Spain, Italy and Brazil, researchers reviewed electronic medical records and images of hospitalized COVID-19 patients from March 3 to June 25, 2020. Patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19, experienced neurological issues and who had both lung and brain images available were included. Of 135 COVID-19 patients with abnormal CT lung scans and neurological symptoms, 49, or 36%, were also found to develop abnormal brain scans and were more likely to experience stroke symptoms. Mahammedi says this study will help physicians classify patients, based on the severity of disease found on their CT scans, into groups more likely to develop brain imaging abnormalities. He adds that this correlation could be important for implementing therapies, particularly in stroke prevention, to improve outcomes in patients with COVID-19. "These results are important because they further show that severe lung disease from COVID-19 could mean serious brain complications, and we have the imaging to help prove it," says Mahammedi. "Future larger studies are needed to help us understand the tie better, but for now, we hope these results can be used to help predict care and ensure that patients have the best outcomes." ### This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and National Institute on Aging) (NS103824, NS117643, NS100417, 1U01NS100699, U01NS110772). Researchers cite no conflict of interest. SAGINAW, MI The Saginaw County Health Department has had a busy week, with the recent expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to adults age 50 and older. The vaccination of adults age 65 and older is progressing rapidly and winding down, according to health department officials, with last-call communications going out instructing those not already scheduled or vaccinated to call 989-771-1010 to make an appointment this week. Meanwhile, registration for adults age 50 and older with underlying health conditions and caregivers/guardians of children with special health care needs began on Monday, March 8. A new registration process is now available on the health departments website at www.saginawpublichealth.org or directly on www.mySaginawHealth.org. More than 2,500 residents have registered thus far. Starting next week, the Saginaw County Health Department will be vaccinating four categories in parallel: remaining adults age 65 and older, adults age 50 and older with underlying health conditions, caregivers/guardians of children with special needs, and additional critical infrastructure workers. The department received 2,500 additional doses of the Moderna vaccine from the state to vaccinate residents in the top 10 most socially vulnerable census tracts in Saginaw County. As a result, clinics have been set up in four East Side churches for first dose administration Saturday, March 13, and Saturday, March 20, with second doses scheduled for Saturday, April 10, and Saturday, April 17. The effort is a collaboration among the Saginaw County Health Department and 10 other community partners. The following churches are partnering with community health organizations to host these clinics: St. Joseph Catholic Church with Covenant, Mt. Olive Institutional Missionary Baptist Church with Saginaw County Health Department, Victorious Believers Ministries Church of God in Christ with Ascension St. Marys, and New Birth Missionary Baptist Cathedral with Great Lakes Bay Health Centers. In total, Saginaw County providers have received 84,615 doses of vaccine. Among those are 2,100 Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccines that are designated for homebound residents and other vulnerable populations that teams of health department nurses will vaccinate. Read more on MLive: STARS providing rides to vaccination clinics in Saginaw County churches for those 50 and older Bay County seeks volunteers to help distribute the COVID-19 vaccine United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 identified in Saginaw County Saginaw County announces new instructions for COVID-19 vaccination registration Coronavirus vaccination scam calls reported in Bay and Saginaw counties Over 50,000 COVID-19 vaccines distributed in Saginaw County so far (JTA) Purim is perhaps the happiest Jewish holiday of the year. It can also be distressing, as adults and young people use the spirit of relative abandon to indulge in binge drinking and other irresponsible behaviors. Make no mistake: Substance use and binge drinking are of great concern to yeshiva high school administrators. We have acknowledged that substance use exists in our community and must be addressed. But without solid data, weve been left to guess about our students behavior and the challenges they face. Some of that data is now available and there is good news and... Novavaxs Covid-19 vaccine was 96 per cent effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage trial conducted in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday. There were no cases of severe illness or deaths among those who got the vaccine, the company said, in a sign that it could stop the worse effects of new variants that have cropped up. The vaccine was 86 per cent effective in protecting against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the United Kingdom, for a combined 90 per cent effectiveness rate overall based on data from infections of both versions of the coronavirus. In a smaller trial conducted in South Africa where volunteers were primarily exposed to another newer, more contagious variant the vaccine was 55 per cent effective, based on people without HIV, but still fully prevented severe illness. Novavax is also developing new formulations of its vaccine to protect against emerging variants and plans to initiate clinical testing of these shots in the second quarter of this year. Results from the final analysis of the trial were largely in line with interim data released in January. The company expects to use the data to submit for regulatory authorisation in various countries. Novavax expects data from a 30,000-person trial in the United States and Mexico by early April. The trial, which enrolled more than 15,000 people aged 18 to 84, assessed efficacy of the vaccine during a period with high transmission of the virus variant now circulating widely. Novavax plans to produce its two-shot vaccine at eight manufacturing locations, including the South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noems push to scale back a voter-approved measure to legalize medical marijuana was left clinging to life on March 10 after Republican senators defied her. The issue of implementing a medical marijuana program, which voters approved with 70% of the vote in November, has hung over lawmakers the entire legislative session. But with just two days left to make key decisions on the pot program, the House, Senate and governor were in a standoff. However, it appeared the senates decision to defy the governors plan will ensure that the states prohibitions on marijuana will end in some form on July 1, though what the final law looks like is still in doubt. The Senate passed a proposal with key deviations from Noems plan, which aimed to delay legalization until next year. Notably, it decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot for all adults starting July 1 and protected medical users ability to possess up to three ounces (85 grams). That forced a choice upon the governor and her allies in the House: Accept the senates proposal or reject the bill, allowing the medical marijuana program to go into effect July 1. The Senates plan, besides allowing people over 21 to possess up to 1 ounce (28 grams) and consume it in private residences, would have ended the states ability to charge people with felonies if marijuana was detected in their system and delayed the roll-out of the medical marijuana system by six months. Sen. Blake Curd, a Republican proponent of the Senate proposal, called it a reasonable attempt to bridge the gap between the governors desire to take extra months to develop a program and honoring the will of voters. In an attempt to scuttle the Senate proposal, the governor and House lawmakers made major concessions from her original plan. She had argued that it would take months to properly implement a medical marijuana program, but a six-month delay was scrapped. House lawmakers proposed a compromise to legalize medical marijuana on July 1, but kept caveats that people under 21 could not use it, medical users could only possess one ounce (28 grams) at a time, and people could not cultivate cannabis plants in their homes. I was hoping for some time to do it right, said House Speaker Spencer Gosch, a Republican who had been the main proponent of the governors plan to delay the medical marijuana program and set up a committee to study the issue. But many lawmakers, even those who have said they were personally opposed to marijuana legalization, have recognized they risked running afoul of voters in denying some form of marijuana legalization. The people, the public wanted adult-use marijuana, and they wanted medical-use marijuana, said Republican Rep. Greg Jamison during a House debate on accepting the Senates proposal. Noem, however, has remained adamant in her opposition to recreational pot. Her office spent much of the day putting pressure on lawmakers to turn to her plan. At one point, a hallway of the Capitol echoed with a terse exchange between a senator and the governors staff. But a committee of lawmakers tasked with working out a compromise dissolved after less than 20 minutes of debate. Gosch told the committee, I think were pretty stuck in gridlock and at this particular time I dont see a path forward. Noems spokesman Ian Fury declined to discuss the governors position on the legislation, saying, Were not going to negotiate that through the press. Lawmakers have one more day to pass a bill to Noems desk. However, she also has the ability to call a special legislative session to have them take up the issue. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Politics South Dakota Antifa protesters have burned American flags and clashed with cops outside the Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland. The ugly scenes occurred Thursday evening, as dozens of the far-left protesters assembled in the area for a demonstration against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Courthouse has already been boarded up with plywood after sustaining damage during destructive protests last summer, but shocking video shared to Twitter shows all remaining uncovered windows were smashed during the latest demonstration. 'Anti ICE protesters gather. A few of the remaining uncovered windows have been broken. An American flag burns in front of the door,' local journalist Garrison Davis wrote beneath a video shared on Twitter. Several other demonstrators set fire to the plywood outside the building, prompting federal agents to deploy teargas and smoke bombs in a bid to push the protesters back towards a park. Earlier in the day, Antifa activists attempted to break in to a Chase bank where a security guard pulled a gun on the protesters. The demonstrators were targeting those funding a controversial oil pipeline between the Canadian province of Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin. Downtown Portland at the federal courthouse, anti DHS/ICE and #StopLine3 protesters gather. A few of the remaining uncovered windows have been broken. An American flag burns in front of the door. pic.twitter.com/esFpeP7Tpe Garrison Davis (keyboard cowboy) (@hungrybowtie) March 12, 2021 Federal agents marching through downtown Portland in March 2021. pic.twitter.com/kxiMlswVq0 Garrison Davis (keyboard cowboy) (@hungrybowtie) March 12, 2021 Antifa protesters have burned American flags and clashed with cops outside the Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland Local journalist Garrison Davis shared video of federal police clashing with protesters in Portland on Thursday night According to Davis, 'the feds marched further into the streets of downtown Portland while firing off chemical weapons and projectiles. A few of their pepperball and 40 mm launchers appeared to malfunction'. He claimed the agents were 'aggressive' and that the air was thick with smoke. At least one person has been arrested. In a tweet last night Portland police said it was bracing for yet more unrest over the weekend. 'We are aware of events planned tomorrow and this weekend in which people plan to gather and demonstrate. Demonstration Liaison Officers (DLOs) are available to work with community members organizing these events,' the tweet said. Last summer in Portland, Black Lives Matter marches began in the wake of George Floyd's death, but the demonstrations soon became co-opted by far-left agitators. Night after night, they clashed with law enforcement officials, who often declared riots. Salmon Street in downtown Portland is filled up with teargas and smoke so thick that it becomes impossible to see. pic.twitter.com/iZnh9xdmL3 Garrison Davis (keyboard cowboy) (@hungrybowtie) March 12, 2021 Last summer in Portland, Black Lives Matter marches began in the wake of George Floyd's death, but the demonstrations soon became co-opted by far-left agitators. Night after night, they frequently clashed with law enforcement officials, who often declared riots. Pictured: a protest in July 2020 Federal police clean in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in downtown Portland after a night of unrest in July 2020 There were was at least 100 consecutive nights of unrest in the city. The violence has continued into this year. In January, Antifa protesters went on a destructive rampage following President Biden's Inauguration. Biden has previously appeared to downplay Antifa, describing the group as 'an idea'. 'President Biden condemned protests and violence on the far right and far left before he was president,' a Fox News journalist stated to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki after the January clash 'Why haven't we heard anything directly from him about about the riots in Portland and the Pacific Northwest since he was inaugurated?' 'President Biden condemns violence and any violence in the strongest possible terms,' Psaki responded. 'Peaceful protests are a cornerstone of our democracy but smashing windows is not protesting and neither is looting, and actions like these are totally unacceptable,' she continued. 'Actions like these are totally unacceptable and anyone who committed a crime should be prosecuted to the fullest extent.' The court house sustained thousands of dollars worth of damage and has now been boarded up On Wednesday, March 10, the United States designated the ADF, the Allied Democratic Forces, active in the DRC, and Daech Mozambique as foreign terrorist organizations and specifically designated global terrorist groups. These classifications, which include their respective leaders, Seka Musa Baluku and Abu Yasir Hassan, have resulted in a series of sanctions. Daech-Mozambique, also known as Ansar al-Sunna, reportedly pledged allegiance to Daech as early as April 2018 and was recognized by Daechs core group as an affiliate in August 2019, the U.S. State Department explains in its Wednesday statement. Since October 2017, the group, known locally as al-Shabab has reportedly killed nearly 1,200 civilians, it recalls. You have something like 2,000 civilian casualties and up to 670,000 internally displaced persons in the Cabo Delgado region bordering Tanzania, said John Godfrey, U.S. counterterrorism coordinator in Africa, who is alarmed by the presence in the northeastern region of private Russian and South African companies in particular. The presence of these entities has not helped the government in any obvious way in dealing with the terrorist threat. Because these companies operate outside of any international partnership, they have historically tended to be less responsible in the area of human rights and armed conflict. Frankly their presence complicates the situation rather than helping. While the U.S. counterterrorism coordinator believes that Mozambique is at the heart of the crisis, he does not deny that there is a cross-border problem with Tanzania. We saw examples of this with the attacks in Tanzania from Mozambique last October. The crisis in Mozambique has ramifications in southern Tanzania. The possible terrorist cooperation between the two sides of the border is not yet clear. We are still working on it. But the cross-border aspect of the crisis is undeniable, it is worrisome and that is why we are focusing our efforts on it as well. John Godfrey recalled that the late leader of the EI, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had encouraged his affiliated groups to conduct attacks: Nowhere has this trend been more alarming than in Africa, he said. The U.S.-designated terrorist groups and their leaders are subject to U.S. sanctions. All assets of these groups in the U.S. are now frozen and no American is allowed to do business with them. Any financial institution cooperating in transactions with them risks sanctions. 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. Iran has called for the end of American interference in Syria and Iraq, reports The Syria Times. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ali Khamenei, called for the departure of the American occupation forces from Syria and Iraq, indicating that the Iranian presence in them is advisory and came at the request of the two countries. In todays speech, Khamenei said that Irans presence in Syria and Iraq is advisory, not military, and came at the request of the two countries, stressing that the Americans should leave Syria and Iraq quickly. He pointed out that the United States was the one who created the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization, and it has acknowledged that. It also opposes other countries possession of nuclear programs, while it possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world and has previously used it. 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. Good evening, my fellow Americans. Tonight I would like to talk to you about where we are as we mark one year since everything stopped because of this pandemic. A year ago, we were hit with the virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked - denials for days, weeks, then months that led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness. Photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another era - the last vacation, the last birthday with friends, the last holiday with extended family. While it was different for everyone, we all lost something a collective suffering, collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life and the loss of living for all of us, but in the loss, we saw how much there was to gain in appreciation, respect and gratitude. Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do. In fact, it may be the most American thing we do, and that is what we have done. We have seen front-line and essential workers risking their lives, sometimes losing them to save and help others; researchers and scientists bracing for a vaccine; and so many of you, as Hemingway wrote, being strong in all of the broken places. I know its been hard; I truly know. As I've told you before, I carry a card in my pocket with a number of Americans who have died from COVID to date; its on the back of my schedule. As of now, total deaths in America 527,726. Thats more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined. They were husbands, wives, sons and daughters, grandparents, friends, neighbors, young and old. They leave behind loved ones unable to truly grieve or to heal, even have a funeral, but Im also thinking about everyone else who lost this past year to natural causes by cruel fate of accident or other disease. They, too, died alone. They, too, leave behind loved ones who are hurting badly. President Joe Biden takes off his mask to speak about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House You know you've often heard me say before I talk about the longest walk any parent can make is up a short flight of stairs to his childs bedroom to say I'm sorry I lost my job, can't be here anymore, like my dad told me when he lost his job in Scranton. So many of you had to make that same walk this past year; you lost your job, you closed your business, facing eviction, homelessness, hunger, the loss of control, maybe worst of all the loss of hope. Watching a generation of children who may be set back up to a year or more because they have not been in school because of their loss of learning. Its the details of life that matter the most, and we miss those details, the big details and the small moments, weddings, birthdays, graduations; all of the things that needed to happen but didn't - a first date, the family reunions, the Sunday night rituals, its all exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us. For we are fundamentally a people who want to be with others to talk, to laugh, to hug, to hold one another, but this virus has kept us apart. Grandparents havent seen their children or grandchildren; parents havent seen their kids; kids havent seen their friends. The things we used to do that always filled us with joy have become things we couldn't do and broke our hearts. Too often, we've turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives sometimes, it divides us. States pitted against one another instead of working with each other; vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated. At this very moment, so many of them - our fellow Americans on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives - and still, still they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. Its wrong, its un-American, and it must stop. Look, we know what we need to do to beat this virus; tell the truth, follow the scientists, the science, work together, put trust and faith in our government to fulfill its most important function, which is protecting the American people - no function more important. We need to remember the government isnt some foreign force in a distant capital; no, its us, all of us. We, the people. For you and I, that America thrives when we give our hearts, when we turn our hands to common purpose, and right now, my friends, we are doing just that, and I have to say, as your President, Im grateful to you. Last summer, I was in Philadelphia, and I met a small-business owner, a woman, and I asked her, I said, 'What do you need most?' Never forget what she said to me. She said, she looked me in the eye, and she said, 'I just want the truth, the truth, just tell me the truth.' Think of that. My fellow Americans, you are owed nothing less than the truth. And for all of you asking when things will get back to normal, here is the truth: The only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track is to beat the virus. You have been hearing me say that for - while I was running and the last 50 days I have been President, but this is one of the most complex operations we have ever undertaken as a nation in a long time. Thats why Im using every power I have as President of the United States to put us on a war footing to get the job done. It sounds like hyperbole, but I mean the war footing, and thank God we are making some real progress now. In my first full day in office, I outlined for you a comprehensive strategy to beat this pandemic. We have spent every day since attempting to carry it out. Two months ago, a country - this country didn't have nearly enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all or near all of the American public, but soon we will. We have been working with vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson to manufacture and purchase hundreds of millions of doses of these three safe, effective vaccines, and now at the direction and with the assistance of my administration, Johnson & Johnson is working together with a competitor, Merck, to speed up and increase the capacity to manufacture new Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which is one shot. In fact, just yesterday I announced, and I met with the CEOs of both companies, I announced our plan to buy an additional 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines. These two companies, competitors, have come together for the good of the nation, and they should be applauded for it. Its truly a national effort, just like we saw during World War II. Now because all of the work we've done, we will have enough vaccines for all adults in America by the end of May. Biden said the US would be heading towards normality by July 4 when families and friends will be able to celebrate Independence Day in 'small groups'. Thats months ahead of schedule, and we are mobilizing thousands of vaccinators to put the vaccines in ones arm, calling active-duty military, FEMA, retired doctors and nurses, administrators - and to those who administer the shots. And weve been creating more places to get the shots. Weve made it possible for you to get a vaccine at nearly one - any 1 of 10,000 pharmacies across the country, just like you get your flu shot. Were also working with governors and mayors in red states and blue states to set up and support nearly 600 federally supported vaccination centers that administer hundreds of thousands of shots per day. You can drive up to a stadium or a large parking lot, get your shot, never leave your car and drive home in less than an hour. We've been sending vaccines to hundreds of community health centers all across America located in underserved areas, and weve been deploying and we will deploy more mobile vehicles from pop-up clinics to meet you where you live so those who are least able to get the vaccine are able to get it. We continue to work on making at-home testing available. And weve been focused on serving people in the hardest hit communities of this pandemic: Black, Latino, Native American and rural communities. So what does all this add up to? When I took office 50 days ago, only 8% of Americans - after months, only 8% of those over the age of 65 had gotten their first vaccination. Today, that number is 65%. Just 14% of Americans over the age of 75 50 days ago had gotten their first shot. Today, that number is well over 70%. With new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, that came out on Monday, it means simply this: Millions and millions of grandparents, who went months without being able to hug their grandkids can now do so. And the more people are fully vaccinated, the CDC will continue to provide additional guidance on what you can do in the workplace, places of worship, with your friends, as well as travel. When I came into office, you may recall, I set a goal that many of you said was that kind of way over the top. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in peoples arms in my first 100 days in office. Tonight, I can say were not only going to meet that goal. Were going to beat that goal because weve actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this. None. And I want to talk about the next steps for thinking about. First, tonight, Im announcing that I will direct all states, tribes and territories to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1. Let me say that again. All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. Thats much earlier than expected. Let me be clear, that doesnt mean everyones going to have that shot immediately, but it means youll be able to get in line beginning May 1. Every adult will be eligible to get their shot. And to do this, were going to go from a million shots a day that I promised in December before I was sworn in, to maintaining, beating our current pace of 2 million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world. Secondly, at the time when every adult is eligible in May, we will launch with our partners new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot, including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones. Thirdly, with the passage of the American Rescue Plan - and I thank, again, the House and Senate for passing it - and my announcement last month, I have a plan to vaccinate teachers and school staff, including bus drivers. We can accelerate massive nationwide effort to reopen our schools safely and meet my goal that I stated at the same time of about 100 million shots - of opening the majority of K through 8 schools in my first 100 days in office. This is going to be the number one priority of my new Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Biden was also criticized for taking credit for the vaccine rollout that began under Trump Fourth, in the coming weeks, we will issue further guidance on what you can and cannot do once fully vaccinated to lessen the confusion, to keep people safe, and encourage more people to get vaccinated. And finally, fifth, and maybe most importantly, I promise I will do everything in my power. I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people, I need you. I need every American to do their part. Thats not hyperbole, I need you. I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well. Because heres the point. If we do all this, if we do our part, we do this together, by July the 4th, theres a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn't mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together. After this long, hard year that will make this Independence Day something truly special where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we began to mark our independence from this virus. But to get there, we cant let our guard down. This fight is far from over. As I told the woman in Pennsylvania, Ill tell you the truth. On July 4th with your loved ones is the goal. But a goal - a lot can happen. Conditions can change. The scientists have made clear that things may get worse again as new variants of the virus spread. Weve got work to do to ensure that everyone has confidence and the safety and effectiveness of all three vaccines. So my message to you is this. Listen to Dr. Fauci, one of the most distinguished and trusted voices in the world. Hes assured us the vaccines are safe. They underwent rigorous scientific review. I know theyre safe. Vice President Harris and I know theyre safe. Thats why we got the vaccine publicly in front of cameras so, for the world to see so you get to see us do it. The first lady and the second gentleman also got vaccinated. Talk to your family, friends, your neighbors, the people you know best who have gotten the vaccine. We need everyone to get vaccinated. We need everyone to keep washing their hands, stay socially distanced, and keep wearing the mask as recommended by the CDC, because even if we devote every resource we have, beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity. And national unity isn't just how politics and politicians vote in Washington and what the loudest voices are saying on cable or online. Unity is what we do together as fellow Americans, because if we dont stay vigilant and the conditions change, then we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track. And please, we dont want to do that again. We've made so much progress. This is not the time to let up. Just as we were emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and summer is not the time to not stick with the rules. Ill close with this. We've lost so much over the last year. We've lost family and friends. We've lost businesses and dreams we spent years building. We've lost time, time with each other. And our children have lost so much time with their friends, time with their schools, no graduation ceremonies this spring. No graduations from college, high school, moving-up ceremonies. You know, and there's something else we lost. We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people. But as I stand here tonight, were proving once again something Ive said time and time again to the - probably tired of hearing me say it. I say it to foreign leaders and domestic alike. Its never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people. America is coming back. The development, manufacture, distribution of vaccines in record time is a true miracle of science. It's one of the most extraordinary achievements any country has ever accomplished. We also just saw the Perseverance rover land on Mars, stunning images of our dreams that are now reality, another example of the extraordinary American ingenuity, commitment and belief in science and one another. And today I signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people, includes $1,400 in direct rescue checks, payments. That means a typical family of four earning about $110,000 will get checks for $5,600 deposited if they have direct deposit, or in a check, a Treasury check. It extends unemployment benefits. It helps small businesses. It lowers health care premiums for many. It provides food and nutrition, keeps families in their homes. And it will cut child poverty in this country in half, according to the experts. And it funds all the steps Ive just described to beat the virus and create millions of jobs. In the coming weeks and months, Ill be traveling, along with the first lady, the vice president, the second gentleman and members of my Cabinet to speak directly to you, to tell you the truth about how the American Rescue Plan meets the moment. And if it fails in any place, I will acknowledge that it failed, but it will not; about how after long, dark years, one whole year, there is hope and light of better days ahead. If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon, our economy will be on the mend, our kids will be back in school, and we'll have proven once again that this country can do anything, hard things, big things, important things. Over a year ago, no one could have imagined what we were about to go through, but now we're coming through it. And it's a shared experience that binds us together as a nation. We are bound together by the loss and the pain of the days that have gone by. We are also bound together by the hope and the possibilities in the days in front of us. My fervent prayer for our country is that, after all we've been through, we'll come together as one people, one nation, one America. I believe we can and we will. Were seizing this moment in history, I believe, will record we faced and overcame one of the toughest and darkest periods in this nations history, the darkest we've ever known. I promise you we'll come out stronger with a renewed faith in ourselves, a renewed commitment to one another, to our communities and to our country. This is the United States of America, and there's nothing, nothing, from the bottom of my heart I believe this, theres nothing we can't do when we do it together. So, God bless you all. And please, God, give solace to all those people who lost someone. May God protect our troops. Thank you for taking the time to listen. I look forward to seeing you. File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the 'Maitri Setu' between India and Bangladesh, through video conferencing, in New Delhi Mar. 9. The Indian prime minister will be attending the first ever Indo-Pacific Quad summit on Mar. 12 as well as U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian American Vice President Kamala Harris. (ANI photo) OnePlus has always been known for its quality, speed, performance and for its cameras. The cameras are changing now for better! OnePlus is all set to launch its OnePlus 9 series 5G smartphones globally on March 23rd. OnePlus partners with Hasselblad However, the best part is OnePlus has announced a three-year partnership with camera manufacturer Hasselblad to co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems for future OnePlus flagship devices. A bit about Hasselblad Founded by Victor Hasselblad in 1941, Swedish camera maker Hasselblad has a colorful and long contribution to the history of photography. Known for its medium format cameras and lenses, the company is behind some of the worlds most iconic images starting from the Apollo program missions when the first humans landed on the Moon, to the latest DELIRIUM, which captures the constant struggle of healthcare workers fighting through this historical tragedy. Made in Sweden, Hasselblad cameras are renowned for their iconic ergonomic design, uncompromising image quality, Swedish craftsmanship, and high performance. Its core strengths lie in design, optics, software, and intuitive handling. Notably, the Hasselblad H Camera System with its professional lens family and unique advancements is widely acknowledged as the most comprehensive digital camera system of its kind available today. How will the partnership benefit OnePlus? Moving forward, OnePlus will be working with Hasselblad on software improvements including, color tuning and sensor calibration, and extending to more dimensions in the future. According to OnePlus, the first and most technically challenging, outcome of this collaboration is advanced color calibration. With this partnership, the company aims to bring more perceptually accurate and natural-looking colors to photos taken with OnePlus flagship cameras. This will serve as OnePlus new standard for color calibration for its future smartphone cameras. The new Hasselblad Pro Mode brings its sensor calibration to a smartphone for the first time, resulting in accurate and natural color for a solid foundation for post-editing. Its worth noting that the Hasselblad Pro Mode has been revamped with a new user interface based on Hasselblads image processing software to give users an authentic Hasselblad look and feel. The Pro Mode also allows user to fine-tune their photos, with the ability to adjust ISO, focus, exposure times, white balance, and more. Users can also use a 12-bit RAW format for even richer color and higher dynamic range. $150 million investment OnePlus has also announced its plans to invest more than $150 million over the next three years to build its mobile imaging capabilities. The company will be developing four major R&D labs including, two innovative imaging labs based in the United States and Japan. OnePlus also plans to pioneer new areas of smartphone imaging technology panoramic camera with a 140-degree field of view, T-lens technology for lightning-fast focus in the front-facing camera, and a freeform lens. OnePlus 9 series to sport custom Sony sensor OnePlus 9 series will feature a custom Sony IMX789 sensor, the largest and most advanced main camera sensor ever on a OnePlus device. It will support 12-bit RAW images, delivering more dynamic and vibrant colors in pictures and more room for additional post-editing. The Hasselblad Camera for Mobile will also offer improved HDR video recording, as well as support for capturing 4K 120FPS and 8K 30FPS video. The OnePlus 9 Series global launch event will be streamed online on March 23 at 10:00 AM ET / 2 PM GMT / 7:30 PM IST. As usual, the phone will be sold on Amazon.in in India. As a senior manager of member services at Exclusive Resorts, Lambie Swenson assists vacation club members with choosing a destination and accommodations based on their interests and travel style. Since the coronavirus outbreak, her field of expertise has expanded, earning her a new title: covid navigator. "It's an extra hat I wear," Swenson said from her Oregon home, "but wouldn't it be fantastic if I didn't have to wear this hat later in the year?" Since the onset of the global health crisis, Swenson has been spending about 20 hours a week handling members' queries and concerns about the pandemic and their travel plans. She addresses many issues in "Know Before You Go," a dossier shared on the members-only site. The overview for Peninsula Papagayo in Costa Rica, for instance, includes guidance on coronavirus test sites, mandatory health insurance and capacity limits at national parks. She pulls the information from official government sources and laces it with anecdotes from staff on the ground plus feedback from members who have firsthand knowledge of the destination. "Members want to know what's open and what's closed, are people wearing masks, and how many days will they need to quarantine," she said. "People want to feel safe, but they also want everything to be open and feel like they're on vacation." The idea of a covid specialist is still a novelty in the hospitality industry, but over the year, hotels have been introducing new amenities that speak to these anxiety-riddled times. In the early months of the pandemic, hotels were loading up guests with complimentary masks and hand sanitizer. A second wave of perks is now upon us, triggered by a January announcement that all air travelers entering the United States must provide proof of a negative "viral test." (Acceptable tests include antigen tests and nucleic acid amplification tests, or NAAT, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) "You have to make people feel absolutely comfortable when they stay with you," said Robert Cole, a senior research analyst at Phocuswright who specializes in lodging and leisure travel. "The hotels need to communicate that they have a way to protect you. That they have your back." The most popular perk of 2021 is the coronavirus test. A news release from January declared, "On-site CORONAVIRUS TESTS Are Hotels' New Luxury Amenity." A public relations firm was pitching the feature at hotels in Miami Beach and Los Angeles, even though a negative test result is not required for domestic travel. However, some guests might find a test reassuring after sitting on a crowded plane or packed beach for several hours. The particulars - cost, type of test, location - vary. Some properties have arranged free antigen tests administered on the hotel's premises; others offer polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted for a fee at a local clinic or hospital, with logistical assistance from the front desk. A few provide both. Melia Hotels International, for instance, set up complimentary antigen testing at 10 of its hotels in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. A current promotion featuring a barefaced couple frolicking on the beach includes a free fourth night and an antigen test. Melia's staff can also help guests schedule a PCR test for an additional cost. Sandals and Beaches resorts in the Caribbean have two tests available to guests, both free: the antigen for American visitors and PCR for Canadians. Montage International, which runs Montage and Pendry hotels and resorts, has pushed the health care amenity even further by partnering with One Medical. Guests at its U.S. properties can sign up for a free 30-day membership. Now, you can get a coronavirus test and ask about that rash on your arm. At Baha Mar in the Bahamas, Americans must undergo a trifecta of tests during their stay: one at arrival, a second on the fifth day (as mandated by the government) and a third before flying home (per U.S. law). Since December, when the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar reopened, the company has administered more than 42,000 free tests. The number will probably skyrocket: On March 4, SLS Baha Mar and Rosewood Baha Mar welcomed back visitors. To safeguard tourists and residents, Jamaica established Resilient Corridors, zones that contain about 80% of the island's tourism businesses. More than 40 hotels residing in these areas - from Negril to Port Antonio in the north and the Milk River in Clarendon to Negril in the south - have on-site testing. The government also installed 15 testing operations in the corridors, for guests whose hotels do not offer the service. "We had to step up our testing infrastructure," said Edmund Bartlett, the country's minister of tourism. "We have not had any situation yet where Americans were stranded because they couldn't get a test." Scheduling a test can be as easy as booking a spa treatment or in-room massage. At the W South Beach Hotel in Miami, guests reserve an appointment through the concierge desk or by scanning a QR code in their room. The test site, which is run by Sollis Health, resides in a former beauty salon adjoining the hotel. At Dorado Beach, a Ritz Carlton Reserve, in Puerto Rico, a doctor will make a house call - or, rather, a guest-room call - for $400. Blue Desert Cabo in Mexico has a similar arrangement: A test-kit-carrying medical professional will drop by your villa for a nominal fee. "It's that simple," said Sean McClenahan, president of Blue Desert Cabo. In addition, the property's staff will schedule the appointment so that it falls within the 72-hour window required by the U.S. government. Rest assured, the bellman is not sticking a cotton tip up your nose. The hotels are collaborating with medical facilities, such as hospitals and labs. But Robert Bollinger, a professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University's School of Medicine, said guests should make sure the health care workers are following safety standards and practices. (Bollinger does not advocate nonessential travel.) The test, for one, should come from an approved kit, and the professionals should be wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). He warned that if the steps are not conducted correctly, the patient could receive an incorrect result and inadvertently expose other travelers to the virus. "The biggest challenge is when the person performing the test does not collect the specimen properly and you get a false negative," he said. Bollinger suggests taking a second test if you are concerned. He added that a negative result does not mean you have a pass to roam. "If you have symptoms or have had a recent covid-19 exposure," he said, "don't get on the plane, even if you test negative." Several hospitality players have introduced free insurance policies - or promises - that handle the worst-case scenario: a guest testing positive. Travel Safe with Melia and Sandals' Travel Protection Insurance, for example, cover the patient's medical costs and up to two weeks of lodging. Karisma Hotels & Resorts properties in Mexico's Riviera Maya, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica will also accommodate a quarantining guest free for up to two weeks. Baha Mar's Travel with Confidence initiative includes a $150 daily food and beverage credit with its courtesy convalescence suite. If the traveler would rather return to the States than recover in the Bahamas, the company will fly the guest and up to four family members sharing the same room to South Florida at no cost. A sign of the times: The aircraft is not a swanky charter plane but an air ambulance. Ballymahon Town Team this week welcomed the announcement of funding allocations of 200,000 for two separate local community projects which have featured heavily on their Agenda over the past two years. The first announcement was made by Waterways Ireland as part of the Shannon Masterplan for the proposed development of the Red Bridge area to provide a jetty, slipway and car parking facility. This is a significant project, which will create a more serviced site and has featured on the town team agenda over the past two years, said PRO Niall Dowler. The Town Team would like to thank all the various stakeholders in particular Longford County Council for their cooperation and engagement throughout the design process. The second project to receive funding is the proposed River Walkway between Ballymahon Bridge and Newcastle Bridge which proposes to develop a walkway/cycle track between the two bridges. This funding is a huge boost to the proposed plans which are currently still in their infancy. It is hoped that discussions will conclude shortly with the finalised design agreed before proceeding to construction, said Mr Dowler. Ballymahon Town Team would like to extend our gratitude to the landowners involved, Longford County Council and our local representatives for their engagement to date. This particular project has also featured heavily on the Town Team agenda and will create an excellent amenity for our community to enjoy and create a safe link between the two bridges. GENESEE TWP, MI -- Former Genesee Township Police Chief John Mullaly was given an ultimatum -- to either resign or get fired -- after he was accused by township officials of sexual harassment in January, according to a recent lawsuit filed by Mullaly against the township in circuit court. Mullaly denies committing any sexual harassment in the lawsuit and claims age discrimination and a violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act were the actual reason for his forced resignation. Mullaly, 71, who served as Genesee Township Police chief since 2013, submitted his resignation letter to the Genesee Township Board of Trustees Jan. 12, with the board accepting it by a 4-3 vote. Township Clerk Wayne Bates along with trustees Kathy Sutton and Ashley Witte cast the dissenting votes. The one-line resignation letter read: As of this date (1/6/21) I resign from Genesee Township Police Department. Respectfully John C. Mullaly. Related: Genesee Township police chief resigns under unknown circumstances In a complaint, filed in Genesee County Circuit Court Feb. 18, Mullaly claims he is owed more than $25,000 in damages and demands a jury trial. Supervisor Dan Eashoo and Treasurer Tod Sorensen accused Mullaly of sexual harassment during a January 6 meeting, according to the lawsuit. They gave Mullaly the choice to either resign or get fired, the lawsuit states. Eashoo declined to comment, referring MLive-The Flint Journal to the townships attorney, Amanda Doyle, for any comment from the township. Doyle did not respond to a request for comment. Mullaly denies committing any sexual harassment, the lawsuit states. He resigned out of concern for preservation of his person, which the lawsuit claims was a forced resignation equivalent to a discharge from office. The lawsuit claims Sorensen, frequently made derogatory and highly offensive comments concerning (Mullalys) age -- including numerous comments that because of his age (he) should leave his post as police chief and retire. The last statement about his age was made two weeks before Mullaly was asked to resign, the lawsuit reads. Mullalys law enforcement career spans four decades, all spent in Genesee Township. After Mullalys resignation, the board voted unanimously to appoint Lt. Robert Watters as the interim police chief. The lawsuit states Watters is a much younger man. In the spring of 2020, there was also a dispute over employee pay in Mullalys office, the lawsuit states. Police officers under Chief Mullalys leadership continued to work full-time, while in-office personnel -- including secretaries -- were only required to work until 3 p.m. during March through June 2020 shutdown period, but were paid as if they worked full-time, the lawsuit reads. Mullaly raised concern with the township officials, including Sorensen and Eashoo, stating he believed it was illegal to continue paying employees for full-time work when they were only working part-time, according to the lawsuit. Under Michigans Whistleblowers Protection Act it is illegal to retaliate against an employee for reporting a suspected violation of the law to a public body, the lawsuit states, claiming Mullaly speaking out about paying secretaries for hours they didnt work was a substantial motivating factor in his dismissal. The lawsuit further states Eashoo came to Mullalys office December 31, to inform him he would not have secretaries after 1 p.m. Mullaly again stated he believed it was illegal to pay township employees for time they did not work. He also said it was unfair to the police officers he supervised, who were required to work full-time. The lawsuit alleges Eashoo and Sorensen met with the Genesee Township police union, operated through the Police Officers Labor Council, Jan. 5, the day before Mullaly was allegedly asked to resign. During the meeting, union members allegedly demanded officers who worked New Years Eve during hours secretaries were sent home be eligible for additional compensation. Eashoo and Sorensen allegedly blamed the unions demands on Mullaly. Multiple attempts to reach the Police Officers Labor Council for comment were unsuccessful. Read more on MLive: New police chief appointed in Genesee Township; faces challenges in budget, retaining staff Flints deputy police chief to retire at end of month Criminal jury trials in Genesee County Circuit Court on hold until April 28 No foul play involved in teens death on St. Clair County trail, police say 19 cats, 3 dogs rescued from deplorable conditions in Michigan home, police say Lawsuit claims fired Grand Blanc Township superintendent is owed $750,000 in damages Prodigal Son season 2 finds the Whitly family involved in yet another killer mystery. But just as fans started getting into the drama, the FOX series went on hiatus. Heres when Prodigal Son will return with new episodes. Michael Sheen, Esau Pritchett and Catherine Zeta Jones in the Face Value episode of Prodigal Son | Phil Caruso/FOX Prodigal Son season 2 returns in April The second season of Prodigal Son premiered on Jan. 12 and continued to air with weekly episodes until Feb. 16. Then after a two-week break, the show returned with its seventh episode on March 2. And since then, the show has been on a temporary hiatus. The delay is likely due to the strict pandemic protocols that must be maintained during production. But luckily, FOX has provided the exact date for the mid-season premiere. Prodigal Son will return with new episodes on Tuesday, April 13. Things are changing around here. See what all the hype's about anytime: https://t.co/0wkKRKaLoq pic.twitter.com/5K42mOZbFj Prodigal Son (@prodigalsonfox) March 5, 2021 RELATED: Prodigal Son Star Tom Payne Addresses Potential Season 2 Romances Where episode 7 of Prodigal Son left off In episode 7 of Prodigal Son, Malcolm (Tom Payne) discovers that his sister Ainsley (Halston Sage) remembers murdering Nicholas Endicott. Ainsley tells Malcolm that she doesnt need his protection. And she suggests he get used to the fact that she is a killer. Meanwhile, in Estonia, Europol agent Simon Hoxley (Alan Cumming) finds Endicotts remains. And he vows to go to New York and find out what happened. Sibling dynamics can be a bit uncomfortable. pic.twitter.com/FGwOEOFxeu Prodigal Son (@prodigalsonfox) March 3, 2021 Of course, Malcolm who disposed of the body by dismembering it per his serial killer fathers instructions has no idea Hoxley is on his way. And with Ainsley being so glib about the killing, its unclear how shell react to Hoxleys investigation. What to expect when Prodigal Son returns with episode 8 With episode 8, Prodigal Son fans can expect more chilling drama. Dr. Whitly (Michael Sheen) already impressed his new boss Dr. Vivian Capshaw (Catherine Zeta-Jones), which means there may be a budding friendship on the horizon. Malcolm will have to deal with Ainsleys seeming lack of empathy for the murder she just committed. And with Hoxley around, hell have to figure out how to talk to his sister. Were still seeing if theyre gonna get away with it and how it might be resolved, Tom Payne teased in an interview with Collider. Its been fun. Weve taken a bit of a step forward in time and we have somehow magic-ed the body away to Estonia, and we will discover some details of how that happened and threads might start to be pulled on that. The situation might start to be a bit more dangerous for Ainsley and Malcolm. and she officially jinxed it. See you after winter break, Prodigies. pic.twitter.com/qnW1wxbGDJ Prodigal Son (@prodigalsonfox) March 3, 2021 Plus, with Hoxley coming to town, the entire Whitly family will have to get their stories straight. Because, according to showrunner Chris Fedak, the Europol agent is just as good a profiler as Malcolm. Sparks are going to fly, Fedak told TV Insider. Weve always wanted to have a profiler versus profiler story. Now that Bright has taken part in a murder coverup, along with solving murders every week, hes the perfect target for someone like Simon Hoxley, Europols greatest profiler. Alan is delicious. He just eats up the screen. Simon is a lot of fun and very funny. Protesters congregated outside the headquarters of the San Diego Police Department after a video was published that appeared to show an officer aiming his gun at an 8-year-old boy as his father was being arrested during a traffic stop. The department released bodycam footage to reject the narrative that brought demonstrators to the police station Wednesday night. The incident took place during a traffic stop after a suspect didn't yield for a speeding violation which led police to briefly chase the man. The cellphone video shot by a witness at the scene appeared to show an officer aiming his gun at the suspect's car after the man was taken into custody, KBPS reported. The witness video prompted anger online which led the police department to release bodycam footage to show their side of the story. SDPD public-affairs Lt Shawn Takeuchi said: "The body-worn camera footage is being released due to misinformation which is circulating on social media regarding this incident. We hope the release of this video will provide clarity as to what occurred." The police officer's body camera footage shows the officer aiming his gun towards the driver as he exits the car and follows the officers' directions to slowly move towards them after which he's taken into custody. The officer keeps his gun in the direction of the car as the suspect's son exits the vehicle and moves towards the officers with his hands up. Read more: Trump supporters, counter-protesters clash in San Diego The officer appears to be holding his gun more towards the ground and the back of the car instead of directly at the young boy, as the witness video made it appear. The officer holding the gun can be heard speaking to the boy with a calm voice in the video, telling him: "Just come over to us, all right? You're good, bud." The voice of the father can also be heard in the video telling the officer to "take that gun off" the child, as he appears to believe the officer is aiming at his son. "He's 8 years old, bro!" he can be heard saying. A witness video of the traffic stop sparked outrage as it looked like the officer was aiming at the child. The video was posted on the SanDiegoville blog Tuesday. Later in the almost eight-minute video released by the SDPD, another officer is speaking to the young boy, explaining why the arrest was made. The officer says: See, now, your dad was driving really, really fast. Did you hear the siren behind us for a while? Yeah, see, your dad was supposed to pull over when the siren was going, and he didnt for whatever reason, and we didnt know what was going on, so we had to pull out the gun and stuff like that. "Youre not in trouble. OK? The officer adds. The San Diego Tribune reported that a motorcycle officer saw the father of the 8-year-old boy drive 70 miles an hour in an area where the speed limit was 40 miles an hour. The officer called for back up after he turned on the lights and siren and the driver still didn't pull over and stop. Mr Takeuchi said: The officer never pointed his firearm at the child and maintained his aim at the vehicle. Police said that the father was cited on a misdemeanor of suspicion of reckless driving and then released. The father and son left together after the citation was issued, the department said in a statement. Watch the entire body camera video below: Senior Colonel Dinh Van Noi, director of the Department of Public Security in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, seemed unperturbed about an attempted ouster against him during an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper this week. Police in An Giang uncovered a conspiracy initiated by Tran Tri Manh, a local businessman, to remove Noi from his post earlier this month. Manh is the 42-year-old director of Gia Thinh Production and Trading Co. Ltd. in Chau Phu B Ward in the provinces Chau Doc City. According to police findings, a group of local businessmen who had been producing and trading counterfeit goods were worried that Nois aggressive campaign against social evils, drugs, crime, and other illegal rackets, such as smuggling and counterfeiting, would affect their businesses. The group suggested Manh bribe Nois superiors into transferring him to another locality in order to protect their businesses. Manh then found four people who claimed to be capable of carrying out the bribery, including Dao Ngoc Canh, 73, a resident in Da Nang, who helped him connect with Ngo Van Trong, 48, also from Da Nang, Vu Van Quy, 30, from Ho Chi Minh City, and Hoang Thi Tam, 54, from Hanoi. The group of four agreed to oust Noi from his position for VND20 billion (US$872,500). The plan failed and was eventually exposed. Senior Colonel Dinh Van Noi sat down for an interview with Tuoi Tre on Thursday to discuss the case. Tran Tri Manhs warehouse of counterfeit products in Chau Doc City, An Giang Province, Vietnam. Photo: Buu Dau / Tuoi Tre Who did this criminal group intend to bribe with VND20 billion in order to process your transfer to another locality? I affirm that this group had no connections with any officials. Tran Tri Manh had been trading counterfeit goods for a long time, earned quite a bit of money, and had a large network. He tried to leverage these resources to send me away once we began beefing up our campaign against him. Investigators have confirmed that Manh transferred VND10 billion ($436,250) to a bank account belonging to the group of four, VND7.4 billion ($323,000) of which was returned. They also confirmed that no money was given to any authoritative agencies or organizations. The group of four split the remaining VND2.6-billion ($113,400) between themselves. In truth, all that really happened was that Manh was tricked out of his money. Though the group of four had no connections with any government officials, why did Manh trust them with VND10 billion? Manh really wanted to believe the group were capable of doing what they claimed. The group include people in large cities who claimed to have connections with officials. In reality, they did not. We launched a special investigation shortly after uncovering the conspiracy. Everything the group did was done under our knowledge and was quite predictable. Well continue our fight against large criminal groups of all sorts in the future. We have no plans to back down. How do you feel about the VN20 billion price tag for your ouster? This incident neither surprised nor shocked me because I have absolute confidence in the Party, the government, and the public security sector. On the contrary, it makes me feel that my work is truly making a difference. If we werent doing such a good job at stopping crime, they wouldnt have felt a need to fight back. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form It appears drug dogs aren't as needed as they used to be Covid-19: Non-essential shops in Mumbai can now operate 7 am to 2 pm on alternate days, says BMC Bring back 1993 Mumbai blast accused Dawood Ibrahim to India, hang him, says Hindu Sena India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 12: A group of people claiming to be members of the Hindu Sena held a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Friday demanding that 1993 Mumbai blast accused Dawood Ibrahim be brought back to India and hanged. The protest started around 12.30 pm and around 10-15 members participated in it, the Hindu Sena said. Carrying placards, the protesters also burnt a poster of Dawood Ibrahim and raised slogans against him. Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta said, 'Justice has not been delivered even after 28 years. We demand that the government should bring back Mumbai blast accused Dawood Ibrahim to India and hang him.' Over 250 people were killed when 12 coordinated bomb blasts ripped through Mumbai on March 12, 1993. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 16:20 [IST] This article has been suspended as charges of factual inacuracy have been made. NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against GTT Communications, Inc. ("GTT" or the "Company") (NYSE: GTT) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California, and docketed under 21-cv-00839, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired GTT publicly traded securities from May 5, 2016 through November 9, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated the Exchange Act by publishing false and misleading statements to artificially inflate the Company's stock price. If you are a shareholder who purchased GTT securities during the Class Period, you have until March 15, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] GTT operates a global communications network, providing telecommunications services to large, multinational enterprises, carriers, and governments across five continents. Throughout the Class Period, GTT stated that its internal controls over financial reporting were "effective" and provided "reasonable assurance" that all required information was being disclosed. In truth, GTT's internal controls over financial reporting were inadequate, which led to years of inaccurate financial reporting, including failing to make adequate adjustments to the Company's Cost of Telecommunication Services and failing to recognize certain expenses. As a result of GTT's inadequate internal controls, the Company announced after market hours on August 10, 2020 that it would delay the filing of its quarterly report for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. The Company stated it had identified "certain issues related to the recording and reporting of Cost of Telecommunications Services and related internal controls." On this news, GTT shares fell by $0.65, or over 11%, from closing at $5.61 on August 10, 2020 to close at $4.96 on August 11, 2020. On November 9, 2020, the Company announced its quarterly report for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 would be delayed as well. The Company stated the delay was caused by the ongoing review and "examining the accounting for Cost of Telecommunications Services and [. . .] a number of issues in connection with the Company's previously issued financial statements[.]" On this news, GTT shares fell by $0.04, or 1%, to close at $3.96 on November 9, 2020. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP [email protected] 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 SOURCE Pomerantz LLP Related Links www.pomerantzlaw.com Elif Shafak has tackled everything from Turkish history to Sufi poets and honour killings in her work, which has encompassed 18 books. The author holds a PhD in political science and has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK, including St Anne's College, Oxford University, where she is an honorary fellow. Shes has given global TED talks on the politics of fiction and the revolutionary power of diverse thought. Shafak writes in both Turkish and English, and has authored novels and non-fiction, so it might be confusing to know where to start with her books, especially ahead of her forthcoming novel The Island of Missing Trees. Luckily, we have you covered with our guide... In the last few years, we have witnessed substantial growth in sales in the premium hatchback segment. This segment has ranked third in terms of volumes with a cumulative sales of 42,724 unit sales in February 2021 as compared to 32,105 unit sales in the same period last year, thereby registering a 33 per cent growth in sales. The top-three strong selling products in this segment are Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Hyundai i20 , and the Tata Altroz . Maruti Suzuki Baleno Maruti Suzukis premium product offering via the Nexa outlets, the Baleno takes the lead in the premium hatchback segment with 20,070 unit sales last month. Moreover, the company witnessed 21 per cent growth in sales for the Baleno as compared to 16,585 unit sales in February 2020. The Baleno is powered by a 1.2-litre, four-cylinder engine that produces 82bhp at 6,000rpm and 113Nm of torque at 4,200rpm. The engine gets a five-speed manual transmission as standard and a CVT option. Maruti Suzuki also offers a Smart Hybrid option in the Baleno with a five-speed manual transmission. It has an integrated starter generator with lithium-ion and a lead-acid battery to offer a better driving experience. The Torque Assist function reduces the load on the engine and thereby offers better fuel efficiency. Hyundai i20 Last year, Hyundai introduced the new-generation i20 in India. The premium product offering from Hyundai takes the second place with 9,001 unit sales in the country last year as compared to 8,766 unit sales in the same period in 2020, thereby registering a three per cent growth in sales. The Hyundai i20 is offered with two BS6-compliant petrol and one diesel engine option. The 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine produces 115Nm of torque at 4,200rpm. This engine is available in a five-speed manual and an IVT (Intelligent Variable Transmission) option. The manual variant generates 82bhp at 6,000rpm, while the IVT option produces 86bhp at 6,000rpm. The 1.0-litre Kappa Turbo GDi petrol engine produces 118bhp at 6,000 rpm and 172Nm of torque between 1,500 rpm to 4,000rpm. This engine is available in 7DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) and iMT (Intelligent Manual Transmission) options. The 1.5-litre U2 CRDi diesel engine produces 99bhp at 4,000rpm and 240Nm of torque between 1,500 to 2,750rpm. The diesel engine comes mated to a six-speed manual transmission. Tata Altroz Tata Altroz emerges as the third bestseller in the premium hatchback segment with 6,832 unit sales in India last month. Interestingly, the sales for the Altroz have increased by 143 per cent last month as the company sold only 2,806 units of the Altroz in the same period last year. The Tata Altroz is offered with two petrol engine options - 1.2-litre Revotron and 1.2-litre i-Turbo. The diesel guise gets a 1.5-litre unit. The regular 1.2-litre Revotron engine is capable of producing 85bhp at 6,000rpm and 113Nm of torque at 3,300rpm, while the 1.2-litre i-Turbo, three-cylinder petrol engine produces 107bhp at 5,500rpm and 140Nm of torque between 1,500 to 5,500rpm. The 1.5-litre diesel engine generates 89bhp at 4,000rpm and 200Nm of torque at 1,250rpm. All engine options offer a five-speed manual transmission as standard. Maruti Suzuki Baleno 5.97 Lakh Onwards Maruti Suzuki | Maruti Suzuki Baleno | baleno Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 11, 2021) - Deveron Corp. (TSXV: FARM) ("Deveron" or the "Company"), a leading agriculture digital services and insights provider in North America, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Craig Hogan CPA, CA as VP - Finance. Craig Hogan is a finance professional with extensive experience working with rapidly-growing, TSX-V-listed public companies in the technology and manufacturing industries. As a strategic business partner with the CEO and management team he has shown leadership in key areas, including financial reporting and accounting, financial planning and analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and systems implementations, among others. Mr. Hogan is a Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto. David MacMillan, Deveron's President and CEO, commented, "We are very excited to have Craig join the team at Deveron. As we execute on our growth strategies for 2021, senior financial expertise is critical to the implementation of our M&A initiatives and the achievement of synergies across our current and potential partners. Craig's strong financial background, along with his entrepreneurial drive, will add great value to Deveron. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve with Craig on the team." The Company has granted Mr. Hogan 175,000 options to purchase common shares exercisable at a price of $0.75 per common share. The options expire on March 12, 2026, vest over 3 years. The shares issuable upon exercise of the options are subject to a four month hold period from the original date of grant. About Deveron: Deveron is an agriculture technology company that uses data and insights to help farmers and large agriculture enterprises increase yields, reduce costs and improve farm outcomes. The company employs a digital process that leverages data collected on farms across North America to drive unbiased interpretation of production decisions, ultimately recommending how to optimize input use. Our team of agronomists and data scientists build products that recommend ways to better manage fertilizer, seed, fungicide, and other farm inputs. Additionally, we have a national network of data technicians that are deployed to collect various types of farm data, from soil to drone, that build a basis of our best in class data layers. Our focus is the US and Canada where 1 billion acres of farmland are actively farmed annually. For more information, please visit www.deveronuas.com David MacMillan President & CEO Deveron Corp. 416-367-4571 ext. 221 dmacmillan@deveronuas.com "Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under Canadian securities laws. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to possible future events and conditions and, by their nature, are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of agricultural commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in agriculture, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Additional information regarding the material factors and assumptions that were applied in making these forward looking statements as well as the various risks and uncertainties we face are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis of our financial results and other continuous disclosure documents and financial statements we file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. The Company relies on litigation protection for forward looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76948 MOSCOW, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recognised PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev as a 2021 Young Global Leader. Every year, WEF considers thousands of candidates to compile a list of the most inspiring and responsible leaders under the age of 40. To become a member of the World Global Leaders Forum, a candidate must demonstrate a deep personal commitment to serving the community at a local and global level and have an impeccable reputation. To date, this platform includes 1,400 outstanding young leaders from different spheres of society and from 120 countries. As the organisers noted, in the 15 years since the Forum was founded, humanity has never so clearly needed young leaders with vision, courage and influence to promote positive changes on the planet. "Over the past year, the world has dealt first-hand with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic inequalities, discrepancies in our healthcare systems, economic downturns and education shifting to digital formats. While many leaders call on the need to 'fix' what is broken, the more urgent need is to take immediate action. Young leaders around the world are leading by example and paving the way for action on these issues," the WEF official statement said, which announced the names of Young Global Leaders in 2021. WEF President Brge Brende congratulated Andrey Guryev on his appointment as a Young Global Leader, noting that the 2021 list includes outstanding leaders from different industries and countries. "I am pleased to congratulate Andrey Guryev on being selected as a Young Global Leader. The Class of 2021 features many outstanding leaders under 40 across borders and sectors, who are working to shape a more inclusive and sustainable future. We are thankful for the difference these individuals are committed to making globally. Andrey's leadership in coordinating Russian business sector fighting the pandemic has been remarkable and serves as a role model," Brge Brende said. Since the establishment of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' Coordination Council to Combat Coronavirus, Andrey Guryev has served as its co-chairman, and in October he headed the Council. Large businesses have carried out major work both to protect the health of their employees and to support local health systems, medical workers, and vulnerable categories of citizens. Since the beginning of the pandemic, PhosAgro has allocated about RUB 3 billion towards preventing COVID-19 and supporting medical institutions in the regions where it operates. Amidst the pandemic, PhosAgro, under the leadership of Andrey Guryev, produced a record 10.2 million tonnes of eco-efficient fertilizer products in 2020, a 5% increase year-on-year, ensuring the supply of mineral fertilizers to Russia, the Company's priority market, and a further 102 countries. The Company continued to implement its large-scale investment programme, creating new jobs and increasing the volume of support for its traditional social and charitable programmes in the regions where it operates to RUB 4 billion. PhosAgro set a sales record in Russia, the Company's priority market. The total volume of PhosAgro-Region sales to Russian farmers increased by more than 12% year-on-year and exceeded 3.5 million tonnes. Of these, more than 80%, or 2.9 million tonnes, were produced by PhosAgro. This is 8% higher than last year. These results enabled PhosAgro to strengthen its position as the undisputed leader in the Russian market in terms of total sales volumes. "I would like to thank the World Economic Forum for this high recognition, it is a victory for the entire PhosAgro workforce, which in the difficult conditions of the pandemic showed an exceptional sense of responsibility, clearly observing comprehensive prevention measures at all the Company's enterprises. This enabled PhosAgro to ensure the continuity of production, guarantee food security for the country and preserve the health of employees and their families," Andrey Guryev, PhosAgro CEO and President of the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers, commented on his inclusion in the 2021 list of Young Global Leaders. About PhosAgro PhosAgro (www.phosagro.ru) is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P 2 O 5 content of 39% and higher. PhosAgro's environmentally friendly fertilizers stand out for their high efficiency, and they do not lead to the contamination of soils with heavy metals. The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock with a P 2 O 5 content of 39%, a top-three producer of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP). PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, more than 50 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in over 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia. PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and global depositary receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes. More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website: www.phosagro.ru SOURCE PhosAgro Hamish Hawley looks like any other young university student who lives in share accommodation and works a part-time job to make ends meet. He is also the son of acting great Nicole Kidman's onetime television presenter sister Antonia Marran and the late multi-millionaire financier Angus Hawley. But Hawley junior shows no signs of being the spoilt son of a Sydney society prince and princess, or the indulged nephew of Hollywood royalty. The 20-year-old faced Downing Centre Local Court on Friday to plead guilty to speeding in a school zone in the city's eastern suburbs last year. Tall and lean, and with his father's handsome features, he appeared on the court list under his full name of Hamish Stewart Kidman Hawley. Hamish Hawley is the son of acting great Nicole Kidman's onetime television presenter sister Antonia Kidman and the late multi-millionaire financier Angus Hawley. His aunt is Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman. Hawley is pictured at Downing Centre Local Court on Friday Hamish Hawley's mother Antonia Kidman married Angus Hawley, the gregarious great-grandson of Grace Bros department store founder Albert Grace, in February 1996. The couple, pictured in 2006, split the following year. He died of a suspected heart attack in 2014 Hawley's aunt Nicole Kidman is married to music star Keith Urban and is considered one of the greatest actors of this century. Kidman and Urban have a combined net worth of more than $400million. Hawley arrived alone and waited nervously before representing himself before the state's chief magistrate, Graeme Henson, despite his mother being a high-profile solicitor. He was meek. A short hearing removed any misconception he was a mollycoddled moneybags and revealed a normal undergraduate who got around town in a grey Mazda 3. He had completed a traffic offenders program - normally expected of those who had committed more serious offences - and frankly admitted his wrongdoing. Outside court, Hawley quickly dispensed with one of the few supposed facts about his life that had been repeated in the media: that he was studying finance at Harvard. Instead, he was in the last year of a Bachelor of Construction, Management and Property at the University of New South Wales at Kensington. 'It's pretty funny,' he told Daily Mail Australia about reading he was attending an Ivy League institution. 'I've never even thought about going to Harvard. It was just a joke as a kid that I put on Facebook when I was about 13. 'I don't know why, I just said "Harvard". I'll have to go on Facebook sometime and change it.' Hawley is wrongly assumed to be studying at Harvard because of a joke he made on Facebook. He is completing a Bachelor of Construction, Property and Management at the University of NSW. Hawley is pictured with mother Antonia and former prime minister Julia Gillard in 2018 Hawley earns about $600 a week for working three or four days in the cellar at Bondi Pavilion, unloading fruit and vegetables at the dock from 6am. He has no interest in following in any of his famous relatives' footsteps and is looking forward to working in construction management Antonia's older sister Nicole, who is married to music star Keith Urban, has an Academy Award and five Golden Globes and is considered one of the greatest actors of this century. Nicole and Antonia are pictured Hawley featured in a Daily Mail Australia story about the nations's 'secret rich kids' when he was 18 in 2019. 'Meet the millionaire millennials who have been born into great wealth and privilege but manage to fly largely under the public radar,' the headline said. Today, Hawley earns about $600 a week for working three or four shifts in the cellar at Bondi Pavilion, unloading fruit and vegetables at the dock from 6am. He has no interest in following in any of his famous relatives' footsteps and is looking forward to working in construction management. 'I'm just going to try to find a job in the industry in the next year before I finish my degree,' he said. 'I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the moment. I'm open for any opportunity I can get.' Antonia Kidman married Angus Hawley in the Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College chapel at North Sydney with sister Nicole and her then-husband Tom Cruise present. The couple had four children: Lucia, Hamish, James and Sybella. Antonia is pictured with Hamish in 2008 Hawley, who went to Saint Ignatius' College Riverview, is a part of one of the most well-connected clans in Sydney. His mother Antonia (left) is pictured with her sister Nicole Kidman and their mother Janelle Hawley, who went to Saint Ignatius' College Riverview, is a part of one of the most well-connected and tightest clans in Sydney. His grandfather Antony Kidman was an esteemed psychologist and academic who died in 2014. His mother Antonia married Angus Hawley, the gregarious great-grandson of Grace Bros department store founder Albert Grace, in February 1996. Their wedding was celebrated in the Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College chapel at North Sydney with sister Nicole and her then-husband Tom Cruise present. The couple had four children: daughter Lucia, then Hamish, James and Sybella, before splitting in May 2007. Antonia married Singapore-based businessman Craig Marran in April 2010 and had two more children, Nicholas and Alexander. The family moved to the city state for about ten years. 'I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the moment,' Hawley told Daily Mail Australia. 'I'm open for any opportunity I can get.' He is pictured left with a friend She has co-written two books on parenting, Feeding Fussy Kids, and The Simple Things: Creating an Organised Home, a Happy Family and A Life Worth Living. Angus Hawley, business development manager at Valor Private Wealth and a fitness fantatic, died of a suspected heart attack on a business trip to New York in April 2015 aged 46. Antonia now practises with De Saxe O'Neill family lawyers and is the patron of The Kidman Centre which conducts mental health treatment and research for young people at the University of Technology, Sydney. The 50-year-old has been involved in the Royal Hospital for Women Foundation's Mother's Day Appeal, Randwick Mothers' Hospital, the National Breast Cancer Foundation and Taronga Zoo Foundation. Older sister Nicole, who is married to music star Keith Urban, has an Academy Award and five Golden Globes and is considered one of the greatest actors of this century. Antonia married Singapore-based businessman Craig Marran in April 2010 and had two more children, Nicholas and Alexander, and the family moved to the city state for about ten years. The couple is pictured Kidman and Urban, who are both 53, have a combined net worth of more than $400million and maintain homes in the NSW Southern Highlands, Nashville and Los Angeles. Hamish Hawley pays rent on a five-bedroom house at Kingsford, next to Prince of Wales Hospital and a short walk from his university. He was caught by a speed camera driving 48km/h in a 40km/h school zone in Avoca Street, Randwick at 3.04pm on October 12. 'Sometimes I get caught off-guard when I'm driving,' he told Judge Henson. 'I understand my actions. What I did was wrong. I take full responsibility for what I did. 'However, my licence plays a big part in my life, work and family. I was just wanting to keep my demerit points. 'I'm happy to pay the fine, I'm happy to take the consequences. I'd just like to keep my licence.' Hamish Hawley pays rent on a five-bedroom house at Kingsford, next to Prince of Wales Hospital and a short walk to his university. He was caught by a speed camera driving 48km/h in a 40km/h school zone in Avoca Street, Randwick at 3.04pm on October 12 Judge Henson, who said demerit points were a matter to be considered by the Roads and Maritime Service, asked Hawley if he understood the purpose of a speedometer. Hawley said that he did. He then asked Hawley if he knew why there were lower speed limits around places where children could run across the road. Hawley said he understood that too. 'You should know, because you were one once,' the chief magistrate said. Having asked Hawley what he did for a living, how much he earnt and whether he paid rent, Judge Henson recorded a conviction and hit him with a $250 penalty. 'That's an expensive fine,' Hawley said outside court, without complaining. Hawley was still unsure who he should contact about retaining his licence if he had accrued too many demerit points. 'I'll ask mum,' he said. It appears drug dogs aren't as needed as they used to be New Delhi: The CBI has taken over the probe into the Srijan scam in Bihar, in which government funds worth about Rs 1,000 crore were allegedly diverted to the accounts of a non-government organisation. The central probe agency has registered 10 FIRs in the case, which was being investigated by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police. The CBI took over the investigation after the Bihar government referred the case to it. According to the norms, the agency re-registers the FIRs of the state police but is free to come out with its conclusion which is summed up in its final report--a charge sheet or a closure report. The FIRs have been registered against Manorama Devi, Director of Srijan Mahila Vikash Samilti (the NGO), other officials of the organisation and bank officials, sources said. They said the agency has received the reference from the Centre to take over the investigation and necessary documents have been received from the Bihar government on Saturday. The Bihar Police had issued a lookout notice against the secretary of 'Srijan', Priya Kumar and her husband for allegedly swindling over Rs 950 crore of government money in Bhagalpur. Priya Kumar is the daughter-in-law of Manorama Devi, the founder of the NGO. Manorama Devi died early this year after which the NGO was being run by Priya Kumar and Amit Kumar, son of Manorama Devi, state government officials had said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The mystery over the lavish makeover of the Prime Minister's Downing Street flat deepened last night after claims emerged of a secret Tory money trail used to pay for it The mystery over the lavish makeover of the Prime Minister's Downing Street flat deepened last night after claims emerged of a secret Tory money trail used to pay for it. Conservative tycoon Lord Brownlow is said to have paid an estimated 60,000 to Tory HQ after the party had paid a similar sum via the Cabinet Office to help Mr Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds refit their apartment. In another twist, it is alleged the Tories plan to state publicly that the money came from a new 'Downing Street Trust' even though the bill was settled months ago by Lord Brownlow. The developments follow a series of disclosures by the Daily Mail regarding a six-figure sum spent on new decor for the couple's 11 Downing Street apartment. This newspaper can now reveal details of a labyrinthine money trail reportedly used to cover up the payments for re-decorations and furnishings in a controversy dubbed 'Wallpaper-gate' by aides. According to Downing Street sources, the complex scheme was devised 'in a panic' when Mr Johnson said he could not afford the expensive decor chosen by Miss Symonds. The allegations are expected to lead to new pressure on the Prime Minister and Conservative chiefs to say who paid for the refurbishment; how and when it was funded and why full details have still not been made public. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the respected Lord Brownlow, 57, below, who has close links to the Royal Family. In another twist, it is alleged the Tories plan to state publicly that the money came from a new 'Downing Street Trust' even though the bill was settled months ago by Lord Brownlow. Pictured: File photo of the flat There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the respected Lord Brownlow (pictured), 57, below, who has close links to the Royal Family In another twist, it is alleged the Tories plan to state publicly that the money came from a new 'Downing Street Trust' even though the bill was settled months ago by Lord Brownlow According to Downing Street insiders, cash for the makeover was channelled via a tangled web which involved: A payment of around 60,000 from Tory party coffers to the Cabinet Office, which is responsible for maintaining Downing Street, to pay for expensive items; A payment of the same amount from Lord Brownlow to Conservative HQ to reimburse the party; A plan by Tory chiefs to state publicly that the 60,000 came not from party HQ or Lord Brownlow, but from a newly established 'Downing Street Trust'. A No 10 spokesman said last night: 'Conservative Party funds are not being used to pay for any refurbishment to the Downing Street estate. All reportable donations to the Conservative Party are correctly declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them and comply fully with the law. 'At all times, the Government and ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct. Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed. According to one aide, Mr Johnson brushed aside warnings that getting the Conservative Party to pay for the lavish flat refit could be unethical and inappropriate especially during the pandemic Gifts and benefits received in a ministerial capacity are, and will continue to be, declared in Government transparency returns.' The payments by Tory HQ and Lord Brownlow are said to have been made about six months ago. All MPs, including the Prime Minister, must declare in the Commons Register of Interests any cash or other benefit from outside sources which could influence their actions. They must do so within 28 days. Mr Johnson's entry in the register contains no mention of any payment or other help towards meeting the cost of the refit of his Downing Street flat. Confusion over who is paying for the refurbishment is compounded because of the Prime Minister's plans for a new trust to 'save Downing Street for the nation'. Publicly, No 10 aides say the trust is to maintain fading state rooms in Downing Street and will be funded by Conservative donors. Privately, they concede it was designed in haste principally to pay for the current makeover. Even though Mr Johnson appointed Lord Brownlow last summer to run the trust, no official announcement about it has been made. According to one aide, Mr Johnson brushed aside warnings that getting the Conservative Party to pay for the lavish flat refit could be unethical and inappropriate especially during the pandemic. And he is said to have ignored advice that he should borrow the money from a bank. 'He said Carrie had gone full speed ahead with the makeover, he needed the money quickly and the way to do it discreetly was to get donors to pay,' the aide said. According to one senior Conservative, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case is said to have been unaware of the way Mr Johnson paid for the refurbishment. Lord Brownlow and the Cabinet Office did not respond to requests for a comment. Questions for the PM How much has been spent on the Downing Street flat makeover? How much did the Prime Minister and Miss Symonds pay from their own funds? Did Conservative HQ contribute in the form of a payment or loan? Did Lord Brownlow donate around 60,000 to Tory HQ to reimburse it for the makeover? Why has the PM not declared financial aid from the party for the make-over in the register? Is the Downing Street Trust up and running? Will money from the trust be used to pay for the makeover? Has the PM or Miss Symonds received financial aid from an outside source, directly or indirectly, since he became PM? Was Cabinet Secretary Simon Case aware of the arrangements for paying for the makeover before it was leaked? Does he approve? Advertisement SIMON WALTERS: Row that's really got Boris Johnson rattled - who helped him pay to refurbish his Downing Street flat? Analysis by Simon Walters for the Daily Mail Questions over who helped Boris Johnson pay for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat are the latest in a series of controversies over how open he is about where his money comes from. He was warned two years ago he would be punished if he continued to flout Commons rules on disclosing his outside interests. Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, said Mr Johnson had failed to 'demonstrate leadership' by omitting to register a 20 per cent share of a property in Somerset. Questions over who helped Boris Johnson pay for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat are the latest in a series of controversies over how open he is about where his money comes from MPs on the Commons standards committee said his 'over-casual attitude' to parliamentary rules was a 'pattern of behaviour'. They warned he would face a 'more serious sanction' a thinly veiled threat to suspend him as an MP for any further breaches. Only months earlier, Mr Johnson had to apologise in the Commons for the late declaration of nine payments totalling 52,000 of outside earnings. Which, in my view, is why the Prime Minister cannot dismiss similar concerns raised by the flat makeover. The central allegation is familiar: his alleged failure to disclose openly and promptly what other sources of income or benefits he has received. According to insiders, Mr Johnson secretly got a Tory donor to help pay for the refurbishment via the Conservative Party, failed to declare it, subsequently set up a 'Downing Street Trust' to hide the money trail and tried to cover up the whole affair. The Commons Register of Interests is clear: MPs must declare 'any pecuniary or other material benefit which might influence his or her action'. And do it within four weeks. The code says politicians must not act 'to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, family or friends'. If 60,000 of Tory party money was secretly used to pay for new decor in the Downing Street flat, it is not difficult to see how some could argue it is against the rules. Privately, Mr Johnson is worried. In one discussion with aides, he referred to the way David Cameron and wife Samantha paid 25,000 from their own money towards the cost of a new No 11 kitchen Mr Johnson appears to be pinning his hopes on avoiding a scandal by setting up the trust. The aim is to use it to maintain the state rooms in Downing Street, and in the words of one aide 'hope that no one notices it also pays for Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds' expensive taste in wallpaper'. It is based on the Chequers Trust which maintains the Prime Minister's official country home. That trust is funded by an endowment from Lord Lee who gave it to the nation a century ago. Key trustees are appointed by the Prime Minister, it meets behind closed doors and does not say how it spends its money. You can see the attraction of having a similar arrangement for the Prime Minister's official London home. However, unlike the Chequers Trust, the Downing Street Trust will reportedly be bankrolled by Tory donors, making it overtly political. The risk of a conflict of interest would appear obvious. Publicly, Downing Street claims the row over the refurbishment is a storm in a teacup. Privately, Mr Johnson is worried. In one discussion with aides, he referred to the way David Cameron and wife Samantha paid 25,000 from their own money towards the cost of a new No 11 kitchen. 'Cameron got screwed in public even though he paid for it himself,' he said. 'If it gets out that I want donors to pay, it'll be a disaster. As adults across the U.S. are vaccinated against COVID-19, many parents have vaccine questions related to kids. To answer them, we turned to Jim Versalovic, the interim pediatrician-in-chief of Texas Childrens Hospital. Could you start with the big picture? Whats the most important things to know about kids and the COVID vaccines? First of all, you should know that children certainly can be infected with COVID-19. They definitely are vulnerable. We need to be safe with our children in our households, in schools and throughout our communities. We need to be vigilant and continue to promote safe behavior with our children. Yes, its true that COVID-19 has a much greater impact on older adults. Theres no question about that in terms of hospitalization and mortality. But children can be infected. They can get sick with COVID. And yes, there are children that have to be hospitalized. Were taking care of many of these children at Texas Childrens. Spring break is coming. What recommendations do you have for parents and students? Lets start first with college students. We certainly know that older adolescents and young adults can have severe COVID infections. Any young adult who has a chronic underlying medical condition that would put them at greater risk for severe COVID needs to be especially careful in any large gathering. Even if theyre vaccinated, they need to be masking and distancing and doing appropriate hand hygiene. Those who are healthy need to continue to be very careful in large gatherings. It would be wise to continue to mask and distance and use proper hand hygiene. We dont know who can have severe COVID. We know that previously healthy adolescents and young adults may require hospitalization due to COVID. It is hard to predict. With children and older adolescents, parents are going to have to be very emphatic. Older adolescents and young adults are prone to taking risks, and getting out. They want to socialize its been a year now in this pandemic. But the advice for high school and below is the same as for college students: We have to continue safe behavior. The reality is that there is plenty of COVID still in the community, we still have a hard time predicting which healthy people may get severe COVID, and its better to be safe than sorry. So just because its legal now to go into McDonalds and eat a Happy Meal indoors doesnt mean its a great idea? Yes. We need to be really careful now. The statewide masking mandate is ending, and children, adolescents and particularly young adults may be ready to take liberties with masking and distancing like going into a fast food restaurant and eating, which requires taking masks off. It will be very important for everyone to continue to think about risks and how to reduce them. Ask yourself: Is this eating establishment too crowded? Can I be in a less crowded environment? Can I eat outdoors versus indoors? Can I sit at a table thats at a distance from the next one? What do we know so far about how COVID-19 affects kids of different ages babies, toddlers, and so on up the line? Its been more than a year since COVID-19 arrived in the Greater Houston area. So over the past year, weve taken care of many children. Weve tested and diagnosed more than 10,000 cases of COVID-19 in children at Texas Childrens, then following thousands of children who had been infected with COVID-19. Adolescents are at greater risk of disease from COVID than younger children. Elementary-school-age children and younger are at lower risk of severe disease. But we do have to keep an eye on again those children with chronic underlying medical conditions. MORE COVID NEWS: Vaccine rate rising, but still not seeing 'rapid decline' in COVID cases yet Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Fortunately, very few children are at risk of succumbing or dying of COVID. Children and adolescents who have underlying medical conditions chronic heart conditions, kidney disease, cancer, obesity, Type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of moderate to severe COVID and hospitalization. And we know that children can get pneumonia and respiratory distress. Children who had a very mild infections may, several weeks after other symptoms clear, develop other symptoms that require hospitalization. That is the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, MIS-C. Due to this disease, children may need to be hospitalized weeks after a mild infection. So there are possible complications of COVID affecting the heart and lungs. Theres also another aspect of COVID: long-haul COVID or long COVID. Were learning more about this in children. Generally speaking, adolescents are at greater risk than younger children, and children who are otherwise healthy rate at much lower risk than adults. But we do have to keep an eye on their symptoms and keep an eye on underlying medical conditions. Early on, there were concerns that long-haul COVID was affecting the hearts of some college athletes, and maybe younger ones as well. Are researchers and doctors still worried about that? Yes. Young athletes of middle-school and high-school age may have a cardiac complications due to COVID. Again, this may follow weeks after the first phase of the infection. It may be part of MIS-C, or it may be separate from that. They may have heart palpitations; they may have other cardiac findings. In our heart center, our cardiologists see these young athletes who were previously very healthy, but have ongoing symptoms for instance, weeks after having a mild COVID infection, they may get tired from physical activity. Its a real problem one that parents need to follow closely with their young athletes at home, and if necessary, bring them to a pediatrician or a pediatric cardiologist. Adults are advised to wear double masks now. Should children wear double masks? Generally, I would say its not necessary for healthy young children to have double masking. Its very difficult for most children to keep a single mask on, let alone worrying about double masking. So I worry that double-masking would be so difficult and cumbersome that children will just not mask, or the second theyre away from parents, theyll take it off. Theres good reason for adults or children with underlying medical conditions to consider double masking particularly now with variants such as the UK variant spreading in Texas. These new variants of COVID may be very highly contagious. But generally, for children, we would recommend that single masks are sufficient. On HoustonChronicle.com: Answering your questions about double masking and more Tons of parents want to know whats going on with vaccines for children. When can we expect them? Were trying to keep this vaccine train moving rapidly. As you know, we started vaccinating in December with health care workers in Category 1a at Texas Childrens and other childrens hospitals across the country. In January we began vaccinating older adolescents and younger adults, ages 16 and above, in Category 1b people with chronic underlying medical medical conditions that put them at high risk for severe COVID and possible hospitalization. The vaccine safety trials are occurring in a stepwise fashion, working backward in age from older adolescents to the younger adolescents to school-aged children and then to preschool children. We are now keeping a close eye on adolescent trials with both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and more to follow with J&J and others. For the younger adolescents, those ages 12 and above, we expect the trials to be completed by summertime, then go to the FDA for authorization hopefully by early to mid-summer. That will be very important: Once vaccines are authorized, that means that children ages 12 and above could get vaccines just prior to the beginning of the next school year. And that would include students going off to college. For younger children, Texas Childrens and other hospitals are planning trials with Pfizer, Moderna and J&J. We expect to begin trials by early summer for children 5 and above, so we will hope to have vaccines available for children 5 and above before the end of the calendar year 2021. Beyond that will be the children younger than 5. And so the the tough part is that parents will need to wait several months for these vaccines to become available for children. But we are working very actively now with vaccine manufacturers and with the governments to make sure these vaccines are available later this year. The CDC recently released guidelines saying that people whove been vaccinated can begin feeling a little freer that they can gather in small numbers with other people whove been vaccinated, and that theyre safe to visit family members who havent been vaccinated. Are there any health concerns for children being visited by a vaccinated person? This is going to be a tender topic in the weeks and months ahead. We certainly understand the rationale behind the CDCs latest guidance that vaccinated adults may gather in small numbers with other vaccinated adults. Thats certainly fine. We believe in these vaccines. They are highly safe, highly effective, particularly at preventing a severe disease and a hospitalization. But people under 16, unless theyre participating in a trial, are not vaccinated. And we know that vaccinated individuals may pass the virus to an unvaccinated individual. Its safe to say that the risk of transmission from a vaccinated individual to an unvaccinated person is substantially less than from a non-vaccinated person to another unvaccinated person. That said, its difficult now to quantify how much the transmission risk is lower. A vaccinated person still needs to be cautious with the children in their home, and with unvaccinated children. The vaccinated person could still possibly pass that virus along to children. One needs to be vigilant about whether that child develops symptoms. We can treat most children as outpatients. They do not need to be hospitalized; parents just need to keep a watchful eye. We understand that families are congregating and are gathering in small groups, and we understand the importance of that to the family unit. But we have to continue to be careful about mixing vaccinated with unvaccinated individuals, including inside the household. For families, the key word here is yes. We understand the need to get together, and the CDC is accepting that. But we certainly need to watch carefully for any symptoms consistent with COVID, and to test those individuals right away. One of our readers asks, are safety protocols different for a baby than for older children? Say, if a family wants to visit vaccinated grandparents, is the advice any different for their baby than for their 5-year-old? One point Ill make at the beginning: If Mom was vaccinated during pregnancy pregnancy is a high-risk category, so vaccination is recommended if Mom was vaccinated, she passed antibodies to the baby. Babies of vaccinated mothers will likely have sufficient antibodies to protect them, at least during most of that first year of life. Other infants could possibly be infected, either by someone who is vaccinated or unvaccinated. Generally speaking, infants seem to be less susceptible, but we do have to be careful. We have seen infants infected with COVID-19. So if there is a gathering, it would be best with infants to continue to practice safe behaviors. Mask and promote distancing and hand washing as much as possible. Families need to get together. Were just going to have to tread carefully in the weeks ahead. There arent easy answers. Young children also generally handle COVID-19 well, but we do need to keep a watchful eye on them too including potential transmission even from vaccinated parents to their children. A reader has a question about masks. People are re-breathing more of their air than they would would without a mask. Is there any harm in that either for children or for adults? It can be an issue if one is undergoing strenuous physical activity. If youre exercising outdoors and you have plenty of distance, remove the mask. MORE FROM LISA GRAY: Have recent events dented your Texas pride? If so, you're not alone. That said, in an indoor environment, clearly masks are very important in protecting us. So when youre exercising there, its important to take breaks. Walk outside or into an area where no ones around, and take the mask off. What else should we be thinking about? What do you want parents to know? First of all, we talk a lot now about herd immunity. When will we get beyond this pandemic? When can we get back to a more normal lifestyle? Its been a long year since March 2020. But for the next several months, especially with our children, it will be important to continue the safe behaviors: the masking and the distancing and the hand hygiene. Adults need to be good role models in promoting those safe behaviors and in thinking about others. Its particularly important when were out in public. Were not sure whether the people around us may have an underlying condition or may be unvaccinated. We need to teach our children to be considerate of other human beings. Second: We are making rapid progress with vaccines and vaccinations. Every week we see progress across the United States, including Texas, with the Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, and now the single-shot J&J vaccine. We need to continue to promote vaccination among all adults, and then later with adolescents and children, once we get through these pediatric vaccine trials. Finally, while were on the topic of vaccines, its important to note that many children, particularly young children, are behind on their vaccination schedules now because during this pandemic, its been more difficult to see a physician. My other message to parents would be: Work with your pediatrician to make sure your children are getting proper preventive health care, including the various vaccines that are not for COVID. In the weeks and months to come, were going to continue to make great progress with this pandemic. We will get to the other side. This interview has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. lisa.gray@chron.com, twitter.com/LisaGray_HouTX Noida: In a shocking incident reported from Noida, a man was captured on camera stealing cars parked from inside a society. Notably, this incident took place just 40 meters away from District Magistrate's office. The incident took place on Thursday morning at around 6.00 am, the whole thing was recorded on a CCTV camera. The video shows the man breaking the central locks of the car, the robber had even driven to crime scene along with two of his accomplices who were waiting for him in a car while he broke the locks of the cars. The car owner has filed a police complaint and the local police are investigating the case. The incident has shocked everyone and a sense of insecurity is spreading among the residents. "The vehicle was parked outside my house on the doorstep of the DM office on the night of March 10 and was found missing the next morning. How unfair that you should be victimized by the unkindness of another! No one can think of this level of vandalism, such type of crimes makes victims feel terribly violated helpless and it is very disheartening," said the car owner Ashutosh. However, this is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this locality. Earlier, four cars were jacked off from the same society. Thieves have become fearless and don't fear being caught. India is among the countries with the highest number of car thefts that takes place every year. Not only the car owners, but car thieves also give nightmares to the car insurance companies as they have to pay a hefty amount to the owners to offset the loss. Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda is known to raise her opinions on several issues which concern society at large. From women empowerment to women's hygiene and mental health, she had addressed several such topics on her social media handle. Recently, Navya announced that she has associated herself with foundations to raise awareness against teenage pregnancy. Navya Naveli Nanda took to her social media handle to share that she has teamed up with initiatives namely Yuvaa and Ab Meri Baari, to raise awareness about adolescent sexual health and rights, and ending teenage pregnancy. Navya further mentioned that this issue is severely undercovered amongst teenagers but is also a grassroot level problem that inhibits many young women in India today. On a concluding note, she stated that it is time we listen, speak, and implement actionable solutions to give young India a better future. Also Read: Amitabh Bachchan's Granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda Is All Set To Join Her Dad's Business Navya Naveli Nanda's caption for the same read as, "Excited to share that I'm teaming up with @ab.meri.baari and @weareyuvaa on their initiative to raise awareness about adolescent sexual health & rights and ending teenage pregnancy. This is an issue that is severely undercovered amongst teens but is a grassroots problem that inhibits many young women in India today. It's time we listen, speak, and implement actionable solutions to give young India a better future." Also Read: Ananya Panday Shares 'Then & Now' Picture With Suhana Khan, Navya Naveli Nanda And Shanaya Kapoor Navya Naveli Nanda also shared the picture of Ab Meri Baari welcoming her on board and introducing her as a 'Ab Meri Baari Advocate'. They had also given a brief introduction about Navya in the post. The post said that Navya is the co-founder and CMO at Aara Health and the founder of Project Naveli. It further said that she works towards spreading awareness on stigmatized feminine health topics and bridging the gender gap in India. The post also added that Navya's work aims at providing women with access to opportunities and resources for their social and economic empowerment. Take a look at the post. Meanwhile, Navya Naveli Nanda had been in the news lately for her rumoured relationship with Javed Jaaferi's son and actor, Meezaan Jaffrey. She had recently shared a lovely birthday wish for him on her social media handle. She has also revealed in a recent media interaction that she looks forward to joining her father, Nikhil Nanda's 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. Opinion Article 12 March 2021 Hotel transactions value in India contracted by approximately 50% to reach INR24,611 million (approx. US$332 million) in 2020 compared to INR49,372 million (approx. US$690 million) in 2019, but was still higher than the previous peak of INR19,929 million achieved in 2015. Going into 2020, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity in the sector was expected to be stronger than that witnessed in 2019. The year began on the right note with Chalet Hotels signing an agreement to acquire the Novotel in Pune and private equity firm Blackstone receiving approval to acquire the Trident hotel in Hyderabad under the bankruptcy law. However, due to the uncertain market conditions, and challenges related to conducting due diligence and closing deals on virtual platforms because of the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions, companies adopted a wait-and-watch policy, deferring their M&A plans, especially during the second and third quarter of the year. As per media reports, the Indian Hotels Company (Taj Hotels), for instance, deferred plans to acquire its first property under the company's investment tie-up with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, due to the uncertain business conditions. Market sentiment started improving towards the latter part of the year with deal activity resuming in December 2020. A single megadeal in the last quarter of the year - Oberoi Realty's acquisition of 50% stake in the upcoming Ritz Carlton hotel in Worli, Mumbai - accounted for over 40% of the total M&A spend in the Indian hotels sector in 2020. We expect M&A activity in the sector to accelerate in the second half of 2021 as several assets and asset owners come under financial stress and look for exit or ways of reducing debt. Hotel REITs are also closer to becoming a reality in the country, especially as the recent Union Budget 2021 made access of funds easier for REITs and InvITs by enabling debt financing for these instruments, though, the lack of scale can act as a deterrent in the near term. Good evening, my fellow Americans. Tonight I would like to talk to you about where we are as we mark one year since everything stopped because of this pandemic. A year ago, we were hit with the virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked - denials for days, weeks, then months that led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness. Photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another era - the last vacation, the last birthday with friends, the last holiday with extended family. While it was different for everyone, we all lost something a collective suffering, collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life and the loss of living for all of us, but in the loss, we saw how much there was to gain in appreciation, respect and gratitude. Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do. In fact, it may be the most American thing we do, and that is what we have done. We have seen front-line and essential workers risking their lives, sometimes losing them to save and help others; researchers and scientists bracing for a vaccine; and so many of you, as Hemingway wrote, being strong in all of the broken places. I know its been hard; I truly know. As I've told you before, I carry a card in my pocket with a number of Americans who have died from COVID to date; its on the back of my schedule. As of now, total deaths in America 527,726. Thats more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined. They were husbands, wives, sons and daughters, grandparents, friends, neighbors, young and old. They leave behind loved ones unable to truly grieve or to heal, even have a funeral, but Im also thinking about everyone else who lost this past year to natural causes by cruel fate of accident or other disease. They, too, died alone. They, too, leave behind loved ones who are hurting badly. President Joe Biden takes off his mask to speak about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House You know you've often heard me say before I talk about the longest walk any parent can make is up a short flight of stairs to his childs bedroom to say I'm sorry I lost my job, can't be here anymore, like my dad told me when he lost his job in Scranton. So many of you had to make that same walk this past year; you lost your job, you closed your business, facing eviction, homelessness, hunger, the loss of control, maybe worst of all the loss of hope. Watching a generation of children who may be set back up to a year or more because they have not been in school because of their loss of learning. Its the details of life that matter the most, and we miss those details, the big details and the small moments, weddings, birthdays, graduations; all of the things that needed to happen but didn't - a first date, the family reunions, the Sunday night rituals, its all exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us. For we are fundamentally a people who want to be with others to talk, to laugh, to hug, to hold one another, but this virus has kept us apart. Grandparents havent seen their children or grandchildren; parents havent seen their kids; kids havent seen their friends. The things we used to do that always filled us with joy have become things we couldn't do and broke our hearts. Too often, we've turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives sometimes, it divides us. States pitted against one another instead of working with each other; vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated. At this very moment, so many of them - our fellow Americans on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives - and still, still they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. Its wrong, its un-American, and it must stop. Look, we know what we need to do to beat this virus; tell the truth, follow the scientists, the science, work together, put trust and faith in our government to fulfill its most important function, which is protecting the American people - no function more important. We need to remember the government isnt some foreign force in a distant capital; no, its us, all of us. We, the people. For you and I, that America thrives when we give our hearts, when we turn our hands to common purpose, and right now, my friends, we are doing just that, and I have to say, as your President, Im grateful to you. Last summer, I was in Philadelphia, and I met a small-business owner, a woman, and I asked her, I said, "What do you need most?" Never forget what she said to me. She said, she looked me in the eye, and she said, "I just want the truth, the truth, just tell me the truth." Think of that. My fellow Americans, you are owed nothing less than the truth. And for all of you asking when things will get back to normal, here is the truth: The only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track is to beat the virus. You have been hearing me say that for - while I was running and the last 50 days I have been President, but this is one of the most complex operations we have ever undertaken as a nation in a long time. Thats why Im using every power I have as President of the United States to put us on a war footing to get the job done. It sounds like hyperbole, but I mean the war footing, and thank God we are making some real progress now. In my first full day in office, I outlined for you a comprehensive strategy to beat this pandemic. We have spent every day since attempting to carry it out. Two months ago, a country - this country didn't have nearly enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all or near all of the American public, but soon we will. We have been working with vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson to manufacture and purchase hundreds of millions of doses of these three safe, effective vaccines, and now at the direction and with the assistance of my administration, Johnson & Johnson is working together with a competitor, Merck, to speed up and increase the capacity to manufacture new Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which is one shot. In fact, just yesterday I announced, and I met with the CEOs of both companies, I announced our plan to buy an additional 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines. These two companies, competitors, have come together for the good of the nation, and they should be applauded for it. Its truly a national effort, just like we saw during World War II. Now because all of the work we've done, we will have enough vaccines for all adults in America by the end of May. Biden said the US would be heading towards normality by July 4 when families and friends will be able to celebrate Independence Day in 'small groups'. Thats months ahead of schedule, and we are mobilizing thousands of vaccinators to put the vaccines in ones arm, calling active-duty military, FEMA, retired doctors and nurses, administrators - and to those who administer the shots. And weve been creating more places to get the shots. Weve made it possible for you to get a vaccine at nearly one - any 1 of 10,000 pharmacies across the country, just like you get your flu shot. Were also working with governors and mayors in red states and blue states to set up and support nearly 600 federally supported vaccination centers that administer hundreds of thousands of shots per day. You can drive up to a stadium or a large parking lot, get your shot, never leave your car and drive home in less than an hour. We've been sending vaccines to hundreds of community health centers all across America located in underserved areas, and weve been deploying and we will deploy more mobile vehicles from pop-up clinics to meet you where you live so those who are least able to get the vaccine are able to get it. We continue to work on making at-home testing available. And weve been focused on serving people in the hardest hit communities of this pandemic: Black, Latino, Native American and rural communities. So what does all this add up to? When I took office 50 days ago, only 8% of Americans - after months, only 8% of those over the age of 65 had gotten their first vaccination. Today, that number is 65%. Just 14% of Americans over the age of 75 50 days ago had gotten their first shot. Today, that number is well over 70%. With new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, that came out on Monday, it means simply this: Millions and millions of grandparents, who went months without being able to hug their grandkids can now do so. And the more people are fully vaccinated, the CDC will continue to provide additional guidance on what you can do in the workplace, places of worship, with your friends, as well as travel. When I came into office, you may recall, I set a goal that many of you said was that kind of way over the top. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in peoples arms in my first 100 days in office. Tonight, I can say were not only going to meet that goal. Were going to beat that goal because weve actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this. None. And I want to talk about the next steps for thinking about. First, tonight, Im announcing that I will direct all states, tribes and territories to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1. Let me say that again. All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. Thats much earlier than expected. Let me be clear, that doesnt mean everyones going to have that shot immediately, but it means youll be able to get in line beginning May 1. Every adult will be eligible to get their shot. And to do this, were going to go from a million shots a day that I promised in December before I was sworn in, to maintaining, beating our current pace of 2 million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world. Secondly, at the time when every adult is eligible in May, we will launch with our partners new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot, including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones. Thirdly, with the passage of the American Rescue Plan - and I thank, again, the House and Senate for passing it - and my announcement last month, I have a plan to vaccinate teachers and school staff, including bus drivers. We can accelerate massive nationwide effort to reopen our schools safely and meet my goal that I stated at the same time of about 100 million shots - of opening the majority of K through 8 schools in my first 100 days in office. This is going to be the number one priority of my new Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Biden was also criticized for taking credit for the vaccine rollout that began under Trump Fourth, in the coming weeks, we will issue further guidance on what you can and cannot do once fully vaccinated to lessen the confusion, to keep people safe, and encourage more people to get vaccinated. And finally, fifth, and maybe most importantly, I promise I will do everything in my power. I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people, I need you. I need every American to do their part. Thats not hyperbole, I need you. I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well. Because heres the point. If we do all this, if we do our part, we do this together, by July the 4th, theres a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn't mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together. After this long, hard year that will make this Independence Day something truly special where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we began to mark our independence from this virus. But to get there, we cant let our guard down. This fight is far from over. As I told the woman in Pennsylvania, Ill tell you the truth. On July 4th with your loved ones is the goal. But a goal - a lot can happen. Conditions can change. The scientists have made clear that things may get worse again as new variants of the virus spread. Weve got work to do to ensure that everyone has confidence and the safety and effectiveness of all three vaccines. So my message to you is this. Listen to Dr. Fauci, one of the most distinguished and trusted voices in the world. Hes assured us the vaccines are safe. They underwent rigorous scientific review. I know theyre safe. Vice President Harris and I know theyre safe. Thats why we got the vaccine publicly in front of cameras so, for the world to see so you get to see us do it. The first lady and the second gentleman also got vaccinated. Talk to your family, friends, your neighbors, the people you know best who have gotten the vaccine. We need everyone to get vaccinated. We need everyone to keep washing their hands, stay socially distanced, and keep wearing the mask as recommended by the CDC, because even if we devote every resource we have, beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity. And national unity isn't just how politics and politicians vote in Washington and what the loudest voices are saying on cable or online. Unity is what we do together as fellow Americans, because if we dont stay vigilant and the conditions change, then we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track. And please, we dont want to do that again. We've made so much progress. This is not the time to let up. Just as we were emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and summer is not the time to not stick with the rules. Ill close with this. We've lost so much over the last year. We've lost family and friends. We've lost businesses and dreams we spent years building. We've lost time, time with each other. And our children have lost so much time with their friends, time with their schools, no graduation ceremonies this spring. No graduations from college, high school, moving-up ceremonies. You know, and there's something else we lost. We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people. But as I stand here tonight, were proving once again something Ive said time and time again to the - probably tired of hearing me say it. I say it to foreign leaders and domestic alike. Its never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people. America is coming back. The development, manufacture, distribution of vaccines in record time is a true miracle of science. It's one of the most extraordinary achievements any country has ever accomplished. We also just saw the Perseverance rover land on Mars, stunning images of our dreams that are now reality, another example of the extraordinary American ingenuity, commitment and belief in science and one another. And today I signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people, includes $1,400 in direct rescue checks, payments. That means a typical family of four earning about $110,000 will get checks for $5,600 deposited if they have direct deposit, or in a check, a Treasury check. It extends unemployment benefits. It helps small businesses. It lowers health care premiums for many. It provides food and nutrition, keeps families in their homes. And it will cut child poverty in this country in half, according to the experts. And it funds all the steps Ive just described to beat the virus and create millions of jobs. In the coming weeks and months, Ill be traveling, along with the first lady, the vice president, the second gentleman and members of my Cabinet to speak directly to you, to tell you the truth about how the American Rescue Plan meets the moment. And if it fails in any place, I will acknowledge that it failed, but it will not; about how after long, dark years, one whole year, there is hope and light of better days ahead. If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon, our economy will be on the mend, our kids will be back in school, and we'll have proven once again that this country can do anything, hard things, big things, important things. Over a year ago, no one could have imagined what we were about to go through, but now we're coming through it. And it's a shared experience that binds us together as a nation. We are bound together by the loss and the pain of the days that have gone by. We are also bound together by the hope and the possibilities in the days in front of us. My fervent prayer for our country is that, after all we've been through, we'll come together as one people, one nation, one America. I believe we can and we will. Were seizing this moment in history, I believe, will record we faced and overcame one of the toughest and darkest periods in this nations history, the darkest we've ever known. I promise you we'll come out stronger with a renewed faith in ourselves, a renewed commitment to one another, to our communities and to our country. This is the United States of America, and there's nothing, nothing, from the bottom of my heart I believe this, theres nothing we can't do when we do it together. So, God bless you all. And please, God, give solace to all those people who lost someone. May God protect our troops. Thank you for taking the time to listen. I look forward to seeing you. New Jersey, however, has said it will give its newly telecommuting residents a credit for those New York taxes for 2020, even though it is entitled to the revenue because the taxpayers are now working within its borders, Mr. Walczak said. So residents wont, for now, have to worry about double taxation. But New Jersey estimates that it is forgoing more than $1 billion in revenue as a result suggesting that the practice is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term, Mr. Walczak said. The practice of states reaching outside their borders to tax telecommuters was an issue even before the coronavirus showed up, and it is getting more attention because of a spat between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Massachusetts said last year that it would tax the income of out-of-state residents who had worked in the state but were telecommuting during the pandemic. This miffed neighboring New Hampshire, which has thousands of residents who commute to work in Boston and other cities in Massachusetts. In October, it filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its complaint. (More than a dozen other states including New Jersey have filed briefs urging the court to consider the case.) The workers in New Hampshire arent being double taxed because New Hampshire is one of nine states that have no state income tax. But New Hampshire officials object to residents being taxed by another state for work done inside its borders. (Massachusetts said in a filing in response to the suit that the policy maintains the prepandemic status quo.) As remote work could remain popular even after the pandemic, federal action may be needed to make state income tax rules for telecommuting more uniform, tax experts say. A group called the Mobile Workforce Coalition says it is building bipartisan support for reform. Telecommuting, Mr. Sobel said, is going to become the norm. So if you worked in a state other than your usual one in 2020, how should you approach tax season? First, make a list of any states where you worked remotely, even if it was for a brief period of time, accountants suggest. If you didnt keep close track, try to approximate the number of days worked in each state. State laws vary, but typically income is taxed once you reach a threshold, like the amount of money earned, the number of days you worked in the state or a combination of the two. About half the states start the clock at just one day, while others use 30 or 60 days. These sorts of rules generally apply not just to employees but also to freelancers, said Dina Pyron, global leader of the mobile tax preparation app EY TaxChat. It doesnt matter if you are an employee or a contractor. China is taking concrete action at home and overseas to advance free trade, with the country signing and implementing a number of such agreements. The General Administration of Customs has stepped up efforts to implement agreements regarding declaration of origins and preferential tariff treatment, according to its website. Last month, the Ministry of Commerce made progress in negotiations with the Republic of Korea on trade, investment and markets, after signing a free-trade agreement upgrade protocol with New Zealand in January. These developments follow the landmark Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade pact China signed with Japan, the ROK, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Nov. 15. The 15 RCEP countries account for nearly 30 percent of the world's population and about 28 percent of global GDP and form the world's largest trade bloc. China is seeking more platforms to promote free trade with other countries. During the 27th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting on Nov. 20, President Xi Jinping said China is eyeing the opportunity to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. China has signed 19 free trade agreements with 26 countries and regions, the Ministry of Commerce said on its website. In the infographics that follow, China Daily explains trade agreements, including the RCEP and CPTPP. Congressman John Moolenaar has signed on as a co-sponsor of the bipartisan GRUB Act, which would reimburse National Guard members deployed to Washington D.C. who had to pay for their own meals because of food quality concerns. This legislation was introduced Thursday in response to reports from Michigan National Guard members who documented undercooked and unsafe food served to them during their time serving at the U.S. Capitol. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers this afternoon. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. San Francisco public schools are expected to begin in-person learning for preschool through fifth graders, special education students and vulnerable older groups starting April 12, after the school board unanimously approved a reopening plan Thursday. But even as the plans move forward, frustration and bickering continue to plague the process. Under the plan, some students would re-enter classrooms for four full days and one partial day each week, while others would go back two full days and spend the remaining three days distance learning, depending on the demand for in-person learning at each school. The deal also needs sign-off by teachers, who have until Saturday to vote on the deal. We absolutely want to do everything we can to get children back into classrooms because its the right thing to do, Superintendent Vince Matthews said at the meeting. Despite calls to bring middle and high schoolers back as well, officials have said that most older students except those at risk or with disabilities likely will not return before the end of the school year on June 2. The agreement is a major step in reopening S.F. public schools after they closed over a year ago. It comes after months of deadlock when city officials and parents continued to pressure the board to reopen schools through a lawsuit, protests and a possible recall of board members. Families and experts pointed to the devastating effects of school closures on Bay Area children, from failing grades to mounting depression. Teachers said they shared those concerns but were hesitant to go back because of safety issues. How live school will come back Here's the full timeline presented by San Francisco school officials Monday, with schools broken into three "waves." Details are at www.sfusd.edu. April 12: Preschool through second grade, elementary moderate and severe special day students, and county programs will return at all 12 Wave 1 schools, 27 out of 28 Wave 2 and 27 of 52 Wave 3 schools. The district did not specify which schools in Waves 2 and 3 would be included. April 19: Preschool through second grade, elementary moderate and severe special day students, and county programs will go back at the last Wave 2 school, along with 13 of the remaining Wave 3 schools. April 26: Preschool through second grade and secondary moderate and severe special day students at the remaining Wave 3 schools will open. Third- through fifth-grade students will start to return, as will middle and high school students who are homeless or in foster programs, newcomer students, students living in public housing and students demonstrating "limited online engagement." Source: SFUSD See More Collapse While both sides agreed to a deal at the bargaining table, many teachers have lambasted what the agreement will mean in terms of an average workday. Teachers will be crunched for time, juggling both online and in-person students separately, with little time for a bathroom break or planning lessons. The union is organizing a car caravan for Sunday to demand changes to the daily schedule, which is separate from the formal agreement, and would require teachers in reopened schools to do both online and in-person instruction each day. Under the proposed schedule, teachers would be instructing online or in person 5.75 hours per day, not including lunch, recess and planning time, with teachers on the clock for 7.5 hours. The instructional schedule leaves no time to grade or call parents, said Shona Mitchell, an elementary dance teacher. A lot of teachers felt a little bit blindsided, she said. There are no perfect solutions, but Im just worried this is an incredibly imperfect solution. She suggested reducing the amount of in-person instruction to help balance out the day. Its creating a lot of conflict within our little school, one teacher said at Thursdays board meeting meeting. West Portal kindergarten teacher David Moisl, however, cant wait to get back to class no matter what the schedule is. This is a maximum of seven weeks that you will be working under this schedule, he said. I think this is a small sacrifice to make by teachers. According to district officials, the schedule is a compromise based on teachers wanting to remain with their students. That resulted in each teacher doing both online and in-person classes each day, district officials said. Were trying to bring students back to in-person learning coming out of a pandemic, said Matthews. The important aspect is that I hope people keep in mind were all doing this together. Teachers are concerned about insufficient planning time and shortchanging those who remain in distance learning, Susan Solomon, president of the United Educators of San Francisco, told The Chronicle on Thursday. Teachers and support staff UESF members are the experts in what is needed to plan for and deliver quality instruction, she said. Even with Thursdays vote to reopen, its uncertain what the fall will look for schools, and the district faces additional challenges in light of the news Wednesday that Matthews will retire at the end of the school year. Emma Talley and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, emma.talley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emmat332, @jilltucker Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a former member of a criminal syndicate over the alleged sale of marijuana to a male youth last year, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System Last October, Ryuichi Takamoto, 40, allegedly sold the marijuana to the boy at a residence in Fujiidera City. I did not hand over marijuana, the suspect told police in denying the allegations. According to police, Takamoto surfaced as a person of interest after an acquaintance of the youth was arrested for possession of marijuana. Police later learned that Takamoto had supplied marijuana to more than 10 youths, including a college student. Record high Last year, Osaka police arrested 114 youths over marijuana-related crimes, a record high since statistics began being kept in 1990. Police believe youths in the prefecture are using social media to broker trades. A youth mentor who was shot dead in 'George Floyd Square' last week had to be carried outside of barricades blocking it off from the police, according to his aunt. Imez Wright, 30, was gunned down on Saturday inside the 'autonomous zone' where protests for police reform have been renewed ahead of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer accused of murdering Floyd in the Minneapolis neighborhood last year. A woman identifying herself as Wright's aunt, Kim Griffin, claimed police were barred from attending the scene when her nephew was shot dead, saying that demonstrations have turned 'militant and volatile.' 'Police were not allowed to get into that area; [Wright] was carried out, outside of the zone of George Floyd Square,' Griffin told News Nation Now. 'It was made clear law enforcement was not welcome to penetrate that zone, which is an atrocity because his life was taken, and I mean who knows whether or not he would have survived had things been different.' Scroll down for video. Imez Wright, 30, was gunned down on Saturday inside an 'autonomous zone' where protests for police reform have been renewed ahead of the trial of Derek Chauvin, accused of murdering Floyd in the area last year. The aftermath of the shooting on Saturday was recorded, purportedly showing Imez Wright lying on the ground after the attack. The area has become an 'autonomous zone' after initially becoming known as George Floyd Square where it is a memorial to the man who died while being arrested in the area on May 25 last year Kim Griffin, pictured, identified herself as Wright's aunt. She said: 'Police were not allowed to get into that area; [Wright] was carried out outside of the zone of George Floyd Square ... It was made clear law enforcement was not welcome to penetrate that zone, which is an atrocity because his life was taken, and I mean who knows whether or not he would have survived had things been different.' A barricade is seen at George Floyd Square, which has been closed to allow members of the community to mourn the killing of a man last Saturday Police said that they responded to reports of a shooting at 5.45pm and that while en route, 911 callers informed the dispatcher that the victim was being taken to the perimeter of the zone. When police arrived, witnesses said that the victim had already been taken to hospital and officers 'were met with interference at the scene.' Police were later informed that Wright had arrived at Hennepin County Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Police said initial investigations indicated that Wright and the suspect had been arguing. After the shooting, the suspect fled in a light-coloured Chevrolet Suburban which was struck by a bullet. Wright worked for Change Inc, a Twin Cities organisation which mentors black youth in St Paul, and had been training to become a mental health practitioner, according to The Star Tribune. 'It is a huge loss for our organization, our team,' Quinton Bonds, one of his supervisors, told the paper. 'Our team is like family. We lost a family member.' Wright had a tough childhood and had been convicted of drug dealing in 2012. But his co-workers said he had worked hard to turn his life around and wanted to be a role model for the youth. 'He always said he wishes he would have known better,' Bonds said. 'He was very authentic.' Video footage purportedly taken in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting shows people cowering behind a car as placards and bouquets in memory of Floyd are seen nearby. People are heard screaming as a man, believed to be Wright, is seen lying on the ground in front of a corner store with people crowded around him. On the fringes of the frenetic scene, a photographer can be seen being harassed as he tries to record the event, with one many appearing to take his camera from him. People are seen ducking behind a car in the aftermath of the shooting on Saturday On the fringes of the aftermath of the shooting, a photographer is seen by harassed by bystanders, one of whom appears to take his camera from him Bystanders in the aftermath of Saturday's fatal shooting in the George Floyd 'autonomous zone' The memorial square for Floyd, at the intersection of 38th and Chicago, is where officer Chauvin knelt on the black man's neck for more than eight minutes as he was heard crying out that he couldn't breathe. In the days following Floyd's death, the scene of the arrest became known unofficially as 'George Floyd Square.' Mourners left offerings and community members set up barricades of refrigerators, trash cans and wooden pallets to block traffic. The city eventually replaced those with concrete barriers. But it has become the centre of violent crime in Minneapolis. Last year, there were 19 shootings in the area, including 14 between May 1 and August 31. That compares to just three shootings in 2019 and none during the summer months. Wright's aunt believes that it no longer represents the sort of peaceful protest for police reform which she said she has participated in, including at the courthouse for the trial of Chauvin earlier this week. 'The situation at the memorial, from what I understand, is its kind of volatile,' Griffin told News Nation. 'People that want to go and support doesn't feel a sense of inclusion. There is more of a like militant type atmosphere over and a sense of fear.' The News Nation reporter, Brian Entin, who spoke Wright's aunt was even chased out of the autonomous zone during his broadcast. Two unidentified individuals - a man and a woman, both of whom were wearing face coverings and clad in black pants and jackets - approached from behind the barricade just feet away from Entin and his cameraperson. 'You're going to be in a bad situation in a second,' the man is heard telling Entin. 'You need to get out of here,' the man says. The woman also tells him: 'Please go.' 'We know what you are,' the man says. 'You need to get in your car and go.' When Entin replies that he is with the news media, the man says: 'I don't give a f*** who you are. You need to get in your car and go.' Entin walks away and continues to film his news segment, which includes footage of the perimeter of the several blocks that have been sealed off by those in the 'autonomous zone.' Brian Entin, a Miami-based journalist with NewsNationNow, was reporting on Tuesday from George Floyd Square in Minneapolis near the scene where George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was arrested by Derek Chauvin and three other police officers on May 25. Floyd died at hospital after he was filmed on the ground while Chauvin had his knee pressed against his neck for nearly nine minutes Two unidentified individuals - a man and a woman, both of whom were wearing face coverings and clad in black pants and jackets - approached from behind the barricade just feet away from Entin and his cameraperson George Floyd Square has come under renewed focus this week as Chauvin's murder trial got underway in downtown Minneapolis. The other three officers charged will stand trial separate this summer. Jury selection started on Monday, and the trial is expected to stretch into April. Similar to claims made about other 'autonomous zones' that sprang up in the weeks after Floyd's death in cities like Seattle, Portland, Washington, DC, and New York, it has been claimed that police are not permitted to enter the area in Minneapolis. John Elder, a public information officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, denied the claim that the 'autonomous zone' has become a 'no go' zone off limits to cops. Elder told DailyMail.com that residents in the area can access police services if needed, though response times are likely longer since MPD is short-staffed and the thinner police force is now required to respond to more incidents due to a rise in violent crime throughout the city. Last month, Minneapolis announced a plan to spend $6.4million to hire dozens of police officers, at a time when some City Council members and activist groups have been advocating to replace the police department following Floyd's death. The City Council voted unanimously to approve the additional funding that police requested. The city has said it would allow the barricades to remain in place until the end of the Chauvin trial, though plans are afoot to remove them Mounters visit George Floyd Square in Minneapolis on Saturday An activist addresses the media in front of a mural of Floyd at George Floyd Square on Saturday The mural is seen above from another camera angle. Flowers can be seen at the foot of the mural According to the Minneapolis Police Department, there are only 638 officers available to work, which is roughly 200 fewer than usual. An unprecedented number of officers quit or went on extended medical leave after Floyd's death and the unrest that followed, which included the burning of a police precinct. 'Our officers are in there and they do go in and patrol,' Elder said on Thursday, though he did acknowledge that there have been instances in which cops have run into 'interference in the area' of George Floyd Square. Elder also conceded that violent crime near George Floyd Square is on the rise, though he added: 'All major cities over this past year has seen a spike in [violent] crimes so this area that you are referencing has seen a higher spike through the city than a number of other areas.' When asked if police plan to remove the barricades, Elder referred the question to Minneapolis City Hall. DailyMail.com has reached out to municipal officials in Minneapolis for comment. Chauvin's murder trial got underway this week as the first half-dozen jurors were impaneled The three other ex-officers involved in Floyd's arrest - from left to right: Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Kiernan Lane - are scheduled to stand trial in the summer. Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo last month disputed frequent characterizations of the square as an 'autonomous zone' but cited those perceptions as a major reason it must be reopened. The residents and activists who serve as unofficial leaders and organizers of George Floyd Square say they won't step aside unless the city meets their list of 24 demands. Among them: recall the county prosecutor, fire the head of the state's criminal investigative agency, and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on programs to create jobs, combat racism and support affordable housing. They also are demanding that the square remain closed until the trials scheduled for August of the other three officers charged in Floyd's death. Since the city asserted it would reopen the square after Chauvin's trial, the caretakers of the space have declined to talk in detail about negotiations to reopen it. Texas authorities are searching for a woman who was seen on a home's Ring doorbell camera brazenly stealing a package off the front porch, even with her top coming off. The thief suffered a wardrobe malfunction as she jumped out of her vehicle and ran towards the Houston home. In the brief clip, obtained by KOHO, the woman can be seen darting towards the porch as her top slips off. Scroll down for video The thief suffered a wardrobe malfunction as she jumped out of her vehicle and ran towards the Houston home CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Package thieves will usually stop at nothing to claim their prize. For this woman, even losing her top did NOT slow her down.... andddd it was ALL caught on camera. Precinct 1 and @ConstableRosen are investigating. @KHOU pic.twitter.com/RsqLbGdQBg Janelle Bludau (@JanelleKHOU) March 11, 2021 She quickly grabs the package - a Nordstrom dress - and takes back off in her vehicle. The woman was not wearing shoes as she stole the package off the front porch. A homeowner inside the home tried to stop the thief by making noise inside the home. The Harris County Precinct 1 is now investigating the incident. She quickly grabs the package - a Nordstrom dress - and takes back off in her vehicle. The woman was not wearing shoes as she stole the package off the front porch 'We've got some suspects in mind. We got a pretty clear look at the vehicle and of the person,' Constable Alan Rosen said. While package thieves normally increase their hauls during the holiday season, some still work all year long. 'A lot of people are getting packages delivered and ordering online as opposed to going out, so yeah, there were more package thieves that have been out there,' Rosen said. 12 March 2021 Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc ("Conroy" or "the Company") Update on migration of uncertificated shares from CREST to the Euroclear Bank system As previously announced, at the extraordinary general meeting of the Company held on 17 February 2021 ("EGM") the shareholders of the Company approved resolutions in relation to the replacement of CREST with a system operated by Euroclear Bank for the electronic settlement of trading in its Shares. In accordance with Resolution 1 approved at the EGM, on 17 February 2021 the board of directors of the Company approved the Company giving its consent to the Migration of the Migrating Shares to Euroclear Bank's central securities depository in accordance with the Migration of Participating Securities Act 2019. The requisite notifications in connection with the Migration have also been made by the Company to the Irish Companies Registration Office and Euronext Dublin. Timetable for the Migration Euronext Dublin announced on 8 March 2021 that Market Migration remains scheduled to occur over the weekend of 12-15 March 2021, in line with the indicative timetable that was included in the Company's circular to Shareholders in relation to the EGM dated 22 January 2021 (the "EGM Circular"). Euronext Dublin has advised that the 'live date' on which Migration is to take effect is 15 March 2021 and further that this date will be formally appointed by Euronext Dublin as the Live Date for Migration on 12 March 2021. Accordingly, no change is anticipated in relation to the timetable set out in the Company's EGM Circular in respect of Migration. Euronext Dublin maintains a dedicated web page relating to Market Migration (on which details of the timetable and other relevant details can be found) at the following link: https://www.euronext.com/en/migration-csd-services-for-irish-securities-crest-euroclear-bank The Company does not intend to issue any further updates on Migration as it affects the Company before Migration, save to the extent that there is a material change to the information previously provided. For further information please contact : Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc Tel: +353-1-479-6180 Professor Richard Conroy, Chairman Allenby Capital Limited(Nomad) Tel: +44-20-3328-5656 Nick Athanas/Nick Harriss Brandon Hill Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: +44-20-3463-5000 Jonathan Evans First Equity Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: +44-20-7330-1883 Jason Robertson Lothbury Financial Services Tel: +44-20-3290-0707 Michael Padley Hall Communications Tel: +353-1-660-9377 Don Hall Visit the website at:www.conroygold.com Note Capitalised terms used, but not otherwise defined, in this announcement have the meanings given to those terms in Part 10 of the Circular dated 22 January 2021 and sent to shareholders on 25 January 2021 and also available at www.conroygold.com/news/news_releases. END She still has nightmares that are sometimes so terrifying that she falls out of bed. Some are about her son or patients she cant help. In one, a patients bed linens transform into a towering monster that chases her out of the room. A nurses purpose When Ms. Luna first returned to her emergency room at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J., after her father died, she felt as though something was missing. She had gotten used to having him there. It had been nerve-racking as every urgent intercom call for a resuscitation made her wonder, Is that my dad? But she could at least stop by every now and again to see how he was doing. More than that though, she had never known what it was like to be a nurse without him. She remembered him studying to enter the field when she was in elementary school, coloring over nearly every line in his big textbooks with yellow highlighter. Over breakfast last March, Ms. Luna told her father how shaken she was after holding an iPad for a dying patient to say goodbye to a family who couldnt get into the hospital. This is our profession, she recalled Mr. Luna saying. We are here to act as family when family cant be there. Its a hard role. Its going to be hard, and there will be more times where youll have to do it. The global battle against antibiotic resistance can only succeed if local contexts are taken into account. "A tailored approach is needed in each country," says Heiman Wertheim of Radboud university medical center. "There is no "one-size-fits-all' solution." This was the main finding of a study on antibiotic resistance in African and Asian countries funded by the British Wellcome Trust. Wertheim is the lead investigator of a large group of international researchers who recently published an article on this study in The Lancet Global Health. Antibiotics are powerful treatments for bacterial infections. They are indispensable for controlling infections such as pneumonia, meningitis, or blood poisoning (sepsis) caused by bacteria. But they are ineffective for treating viral infections, such as colds or flu, and do not work against infections with parasites, fungi or yeasts either. Increasing resistance Incorrect use of antibiotics increases the risk of antibiotic resistance. This means that bacteria adapt in such a way that the antibiotic is no longer effective and the disease can no longer be controlled. Antibiotic resistance is now a major problem worldwide. The problem is growing especially in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMIC), where antibiotic use increased by 35 percent between 2000 and 2010. Research in various countries show that for example 80 percent of children under the age of five with respiratory infections are treated with antibiotics. In many cases, this was unjustified. To gain more insight into this problem, a large group of international researchers led by Heiman Wertheim from Radboud university medical center carried out the ABACUS project. ABACUS stands for AntiBiotic ACces and USe. Large differences between countries The results of the study, which was conducted in LMIC countries in Africa (Mozambique, Ghana, South Africa) and Asia (Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand), have now been published in The Lancet Global Health. We looked primarily at how easy or difficult it is to obtain antibiotics in those countries and in which situations they are used. On those aspects alone, we found enormous differences between the six countries. For example, in some countries you can purchase antibiotics in the pharmacy only with a doctor's prescription, while in others there are no restrictions and antibiotics are available at any time from the drug store around the corner." Heiman Wertheim Radboud University Medical Center "We also saw that antibiotics are much more readily available in Asia than in Africa. And that the situation is relatively better in wealthier countries such as Thailand and South Africa," Wertheim adds. Self-medication Nga Thi Thuy Do, a researcher at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam and lead author of the paper, summarizes the findings as follows: "Bangladesh and Vietnam have the most places where antibiotics can be purchased without a prescription. In some settings you have one drugseller per 500 inhabitants, which is an awful lot. This is reflected in the extent to which antibiotics are used as self-medication. In Vietnam, Bangladesh and Ghana, 57 percent, 45 percent and 36 percent of the population, respectively, regularly take antibiotics for self-medication. But self-medication is much less frequent in Mozambique, Thailand and South Africa, with rates of 8 percent, 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively. The difference is enormous." The researchers also observed quite some uncertainty in the local population - even among the sellers of antibiotics - about what an antibiotic actually is and how you can recognize it. For example, painkillers were sometimes confused with antibiotics. In a follow-up study, also funded by the Wellcome Trust, the consortium will investigate whether improved recognition of antibiotics can lead to better use. Context, context, context The reasons for opting for self-medication are obvious: getting antibiotics from the drugstore without a prescription is faster, cheaper and easier. But purchasing antibiotics without a prescription is not always possible. And that in turn depends on all kinds of factors such as how the healthcare is organized, whether consumers trust the supplier and the severity of the disease. Wertheim: "Our research makes it clear that a generic approach towards combating antibiotic resistance is ineffective. To have any chance of success, you must consider the context that affects the availability and use of antibiotics in each country. The conclusions of our study provide an excellent starting point for giving shape to global initiatives to improve antibiotic use, so that those who really need it can get the right antibiotic and those with a runny nose can get a 'warm cup of tea'." On Wednesday, a magistrates court in Hatton, in central Sri Lanka, bailed 22 arrested Alton workers but with severe conditions. The arrested workers, many of whom had been on remand, are alleged to have assaulted the estates superintendent, Subash Narayanan. The repressive bail conditions imposed on each worker include: a cash deposit of 15,000 rupees ($US76.34)i.e., more than a plantation workers average monthly wage two personal sureties from relatives, with each of them certified by an area village officer reporting in person to the Maskeliya police station near Alton every last Sunday of the month and signing a suspects register The bailed workers were also ordered to hand over their passports to the court. If they do not have a passport, they must submit an affidavit confirming this. Line room accommodation at Alton Estate (WSWS Media) Ten of the accused workers were arrested with the assistance of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC)eight on February 18 and two on March 1and remanded until last Wednesday. The remaining 12 workers were presented to the police on Tuesday by the CWC and then produced in court the following day. The entire list of arrested workers was drawn up by the police and Alton estate management with the help of the CWC. The next hearing is due to be held on April 28. The estate companies and the police have branded the workers, who were simply fighting for their legitimate rights, as criminals. The planters lawyer objected to any granting of bail and denounced the workers, claiming that they had engaged in violence, acted as thieves and vandalised property. Defence lawyer Nehru Karunakaran countered these claims, explaining that the workers had not absconded but presented themselves to the court. The Alton plantation workers are accused of unlawful assembly and inflicting grievous hurt on the estate manager. They have denied all charges and any involvement in assaulting the manager. If convicted, they could be imprisoned for up to seven years for grievous hurt and six months for unlawful assembly. A day before Wednesdays court hearing, Sri Lankas National Security Council (NSC), headed by President Gotabhaya Rajapakse, was scheduled to discuss security in the plantations. Minister for Public Security Sarath Weerasekera, an ex-rear admiral, told the media that the issue would be discussed because the planters were demanding arms and weapons-training to protect them from so-called estate violence. On March 3, about 500 planters held a protest in Hatton demanding more security in the plantations, including police patrols. It is not clear whether the NSC discussed the issue and what measures were planned. While proceedings in the high-level body are generally secret, the discussions are likely to have had a bearing on the repressive bail conditions imposed on the arrested Alton workers. The brutal state repression of the Alton workers, including preparations to impose harsh prison terms, is a deliberate attempt to intimidate plantation workers and other sections of the working class now coming into struggle against employers and the government. Contrary to government and planters claims, it was Alton management that unleashed a series of provocations against the workers who walked out on strike on February 2 for higher pay. When workers blocked the transport of processed tea from the estate, they were assaulted by a manager who badly injured a female employee. Alton workers remained on strike the following day, in protest against management violence, and on February 5 joined hundreds of thousands of plantation workers in a national stoppage to demand that the daily wage be increased to 1,000 rupees ($US5.00). The February 5 strike was called by the CWC in an attempt to dissipate the rising anger of plantation workers against the refusal of the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and the government to increase their poverty-level wages. The CWC is part of the Rajapakse government with its leader, Jeevan Thondaman, Sri Lankas estate infrastructure minister. The Alton manager continued his strike-breaking activities after February 5, including an attempt to transport tea to other factories. When workers opposed this provocation with a protest outside his bungalow on February 17, the event was seized on to falsely accuse them of violence. Estate workers, who are one of the lowest paid sections of the Sri Lankan working class, have been demanding a 1,000-rupee daily wage in a series of strikes and protests since 2015. The struggles have consistently been betrayed by the CWC and the other plantation unions working hand-in-hand with consecutive Sri Lankan governments and the employers. The RPCs continue to demand increased productivity and the reduction of production costs. In recent years, plantation owners have begun implementing a so-called income sharing scheme. Under this share-cropping system, workers are assigned a certain number of tea bushes, which must be maintained and harvested by their whole family. Workers are then given a share of income from the harvest, after the company deducts the cost of supplies, such as fertilizer and equipment, and takes its profit. When planters attempted to impose this system at some estates, workers went on strike after learning that it was impossible to live on the income generated under the scheme and that they would lose existing pensions. Early this month, the Rajapakse government gazetted a 1,000-rupee daily wage, consisting of 900-rupee in basic pay and a 100-rupee allowance. The RPCs immediately rejected this and have threatened to cut the annual number of guaranteed working days if Colombo imposes the new 1,000-rupee payment. In recent months, some estates, with the blessing of the government, have also started appointing retired military men as plantation supervisors. The Tamil Mirror has reported that the Makudugala and Kilandawane estate in the remote Ragala area in the central plantation district has employed military supervisors. On March 8, workers went on strike at the estate after management proposed reducing tea cultivation in some parts of the plantation. The real reason for the walkout, however, seems to be workers opposition to the appointment of military personnel. The Rajapakse regime and the plantation bosses, however, are not just concerned about the rising anger and industrial action of plantation workers but developing strikes and protests by health, railway and port workers. Terrified by the growing unrest and social impact of COVID-19, the Rajapakse regime and the ruling elite are preparing for dictatorial forms of rule. The increasing state repression in the plantations has not just exposed the treachery of the CWC but all the other plantation unions that function as political police. None of the estate unionsthe Upcountry Peoples Front, the National Union of Workers, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-controlled All Ceylon Workers Union, the Democratic Workers Congress or the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Unionhave opposed the state frame-up and persecution of the Alton estate workers. We urge all those who defend democratic rights to support the campaign being conducted by the Socialist Equality Party for the immediate withdrawal of all charges and the unconditional release of all Alton workers. Statements of support should be sent here. As the stop-start nature of roll outs continue to dominate COVID-19 vaccination programmes around the world Chile's success is a clear outlier in Latin America and, at present speed, one of the fastest in the world. The South American nation has become one of the top countries at vaccinating its population against the coronavirus, coming in behind Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The country of 19 million people is the champion of Latin America, with more than 23 per cent of its people having received at least one shot. According to Our World in Data, on March 10 Chile was administering 1.3 doses per 100 inhabitants in a single day, becoming the best country in doing so, followed by Israel with 1.04 doses. Health Minister Enrique Paris said that according to the same list, last week Chile was vaccinating its citizens at a higher rate than any other country. At the beginning of the pandemic Chile was targeted for criticism because of its inability to trace and isolate infected people. Government officials and experts suggest its success comes from early negotiations with vaccine producers, including the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd, that produces the Sinovac vaccine. Previous contacts and similarities with a robust vaccination program it carried out was praised by the World Health Organization. Chile participated in clinical trials by Sinovac that started last December and involved 2,300 medical workers. By June, long before any other country in Latin America, Chile had secured a contract with Sinovac, which agreed to deliver an early and preferential batch after the vaccine was authorized, explained Alexis Kalergis at the Milenio Institute in Immunology and Immunotherapy at Catholic University of Chile who initiated the contact with the Chinese firm. Janssen, AstraZeneca and CanSino have conducted vaccine trials in the country as well. Chile began its vaccination campaign in December, when around 21,000 Pfizer vaccine doses arrived in the country, but it was the first four million doses from Sinovac received by the end of January that help speed up the program. Currently it is administering 360,000 shots a day. Chile is using its position now to help other countries. Recently Chilean authorities donated 20,000 Sinovac doses to Paraguay and Ecuador. Since the beginning of the worldwide pandemic Chile has reported more than 867,000 confirmed cases and more than 21,200 deaths. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (Newser) A debate over online harassment started with a tweet from New York Times tech reporter Taylor Lorenz. For International Women's Day, "please consider supporting women enduring online harassment," she said. "Its not an exaggeration to say that the harassment and smear campaign Ive had to endure over the past year has destroyed my life." This seemed to enrage Tucker Carlson, who attacked in her in a segment about "powerful people claiming to be powerless" on his Fox show Tuesday, Variety reports. The Times defended Lorenz Wednesday, accusing Carlson of a "calculated and cruel" campaign to encourage viewers to step up the harassment. More: Carlson's attack. Carlson scoffed at Lorenz's tweet Tuesday. "Destroyed her life, really? By most peoples standards, Taylor Lorenz would seem to have a pretty good life, one of the best lives in the country, in fact," he said. He also described Lorenz, who reports on social media and Internet culture, as "far younger" and "much less talented" than other leading Times reporters, the Washington Post reports. story continues below "Calculated and cruel." "In a now familiar move, Tucker Carlson opened his show last night by attacking a journalist. It was a calculated and cruel tactic, which he regularly deploys to unleash a wave of harassment and vitriol at his intended target," the Times tweeted Wednesday. "Taylor Lorenz is a talented New York Times journalist doing timely and essential reporting. Journalists should be able to do their jobs without facing harassment." "In a now familiar move, Tucker Carlson opened his show last night by attacking a journalist. It was a calculated and cruel tactic, which he regularly deploys to unleash a wave of harassment and vitriol at his intended target," the Times tweeted Wednesday. "Taylor Lorenz is a talented New York Times journalist doing timely and essential reporting. Journalists should be able to do their jobs without facing harassment." Fox defends Carlson . Fox issued a statement defending Carlson, who named Times journalists last year that he claimed were working on a story about his house in Maine. "No public figure or journalist is immune from legitimate criticism of their reporting, claims or journalistic tactics," the network said. "Carlson, on his show, revisited his own anger about the idea that where his family lived in Maine would become more widely known." The AP notes that no such Times story appeared and the journalists Carlson named reported harassment. . Fox issued a statement defending Carlson, who named Times journalists last year that he claimed were working on a story about his house in Maine. "No public figure or journalist is immune from legitimate criticism of their reporting, claims or journalistic tactics," the network said. "Carlson, on his show, revisited his own anger about the idea that where his family lived in Maine would become more widely known." The AP notes that no such Times story appeared and the journalists Carlson named reported harassment. More harassment . Lorenz continued to speak out this week about the "vicious harassment campaign" she has experienced and accused Carlson and other conservative commentators of mobilizing "armies of followers" against her. She shared one message she had received that said, "I hope you cry yourself to sleep every night. I hope you take your own life. I hope you live all your days in fear. You are the scum of the Earth. Why are you still breathing." It went on to repeat "Kill yourself" 11 times. . Lorenz continued to speak out this week about the "vicious harassment campaign" she has experienced and accused Carlson and other conservative commentators of mobilizing "armies of followers" against her. She shared one message she had received that said, "I hope you cry yourself to sleep every night. I hope you take your own life. I hope you live all your days in fear. You are the scum of the Earth. Why are you still breathing." It went on to repeat "Kill yourself" 11 times. Carlson keeps it up . Deadline reports that Carlson attacked Lorenz again on his Wednesday night show, calling her a "deeply unhappy narcissist." He also fired back against the Times' statement, saying the paper "believes that anyone who disagrees with them is committing assault." His guest, Sean Davis from the Federalist, said Lorenz "harasses kids and teenagers" like Claudia Conway for stories. . Deadline reports that Carlson attacked Lorenz again on his Wednesday night show, calling her a "deeply unhappy narcissist." He also fired back against the Times' statement, saying the paper "believes that anyone who disagrees with them is committing assault." His guest, Sean Davis from the Federalist, said Lorenz "harasses kids and teenagers" like Claudia Conway for stories. She says he did something "very weird." Lorenz said it was "very weird" that in a screenshot of her tweets, Carlson and his team had edited out the picture of a blobfish she uses as an avatar and replaced it with her photo, which they had apparently pulled from elsewhere on the Internet, the Guardian reports. "I'm not saying my face doesnt exist on the Internet, she tweeted. "Im saying I dont have it on Twitter intentionally for when ppl take screengrabs." Lorenz said it was "very weird" that in a screenshot of her tweets, Carlson and his team had edited out the picture of a blobfish she uses as an avatar and replaced it with her photo, which they had apparently pulled from elsewhere on the Internet, the Guardian reports. "I'm not saying my face doesnt exist on the Internet, she tweeted. "Im saying I dont have it on Twitter intentionally for when ppl take screengrabs." International Women's Media Foundation speaks out. The IWMF, which launched a new resource center this week for journalists experiencing harassment, denounced Carlson's remarks and noted that online harassment often leads to physical violence. "Coordinated attacks against women journalists by major news networks not only threaten a journalists livelihood, but her life itself," the group said. "Lorenz is a legitimate journalist whose work should be applauded, not attacked." (Read more Tucker Carlson stories.) Subscriber content preview By RACHEL LA CORTE Associated Press OLYMPIA The Seattle Mariners, Seattle Sounders and OL Reign will soon be able to welcome a limited number of fans to the stadium when they open their seasons, as the state prepares to move into a third phase of a COVID-19 economic reopening plan announced Thursday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. The allowed 25% seating capacity for spectators who must be physically distanced and wearing masks comes a year after Inslee announced a ban on at sporting events as the pandemic took hold. The same capacity of spectators will be allowed at high school sports, motorsports, rodeos and other similar outdoor events that have permanent seating. . . . 2ND UPDATE: Coroner identifies ice fisherman recovered from Beltzville Lake UPDATE: The body of a 71-year-old Bethlehem man was recovered by divers about 11 a.m. Friday near where his ice fishing gear was found on Thursday on Beltzville Lake in Carbon County, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said early in the afternoon. The Carbon County coroner was on scene with the mans wife and other family members, the spokesman said. Rescue crews were wrapping up and expected to leave soon, the spokesman said. INITIAL POST: A 71-year-old ice fisherman from Bethlehem went missing on Thursday at Beltzville State Park in Carbon County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and police. The man arrived about 8 a.m. at the park to ice fish and his wife reported him missing just after 8 p.m. when he didnt return home, Pennsylvania State Police at Lehighton said Friday morning in a news release. The high temperature edged above 70 degrees in nearby Lehighton, the third straight straight day of warmer than normal temperatures in the region. The mans vehicle was parked near the Preachers Camp Boat Launch and a search was undertaken about 8:30 p.m. by park staff, Pennsylvania State Police, firefighters and ice rescue personnel, the state said. A state police helicopter was called in, but authorities couldnt find the man, the department said. The mans ice-fishing gear was located on the lake ice and the search was eventually suspended about 11 p.m., police said. Last night the LFD was dispatched to Beltzville State Park to assist on a Water Incident. Utility575, Boat571, Rescue555, Brush546, and Boat572 handled the request for service. Posted by Lehighton Fire Department on Friday, March 12, 2021 Divers on Friday morning were to search that area of the lake when the search resumed at 9 a.m., the state said. It is presumed that he went under in the area where his fishing equipment was located, according to an update from the scene provided to lehighvalleylive.com by a DCNR spokesman. The Towamensing Township Volunteer Fire Company, the Lehighton Fire Departments search and rescue team and the DCNR assisted at the scene, police said. If anyone has information, they are asked to call the state police barracks at Lehighton at 610-681-1850. 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. Los Angeles, March 12 : A recent study has revealed that Hollywood loses $10 billion in profit annually by choosing to undervalue Black-led projects. The survey by American management consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, takes a look at the film and TV industry in the US, and reaches the conclusion the film industry could earn roughly $10 billion if they valued Black-led projects the same way as they do with their White counterparts. Those conducting the study analysed more than 2,000 films, as well as interviewed professional writers, actors, directors, and producers and also partnered with a coalition of Black artistses and executives in the media business, the BlackLight Collective. The research demonstrated that Black-led projects receive much less funding than their non-coloured counterparts, despite the evidence that proves that Black-led projects tend to outperform other ventures in terms of recouping original investments. The study also revealed that less than six per cent of writers, directors, and producers of Hollywood films are Black, while 87 per cent of television executives and 92 per cent of film executives are White in the industry. It also noted that upcoming Black actors land an average of six starring roles while their White colleagues obtain nine roles. Rights groups criticized the Stung Treng police departments decision this week to chastise a local police officer for breastfeeding her child while on the job. Sithong Sokha, a deputy police chief in Stung Trengs Siem Pang district, posted a photo of herself breastfeeding her child on March 2, with a caption talking about how a mothers love for their child is unaffected by shyness. However, a week later, Stung Treng police officials reprimanded her on March 9 for posting the photo while on the job and made her sign a contract to not do any such activities again. Thirty-nine rights groups said the polices actions came 24 hours after International Womens Day, and highlight the steep challenges faced by women at the workplace. Women should not be forced to choose between doing their job and providing vital care for their children, the statement reads. That a working mother would be scolded for attempting to do both as is the case here illustrates that the government has failed to protect womens rights at work. After social media uproar at the admonishment, senior police staff attempted to fix the situation by saying Sithong Sokha was reprimanded for not getting permission before posting the breastfeeding photo, which was again criticized by the rights groups for impinging on her right to free expression. We call for the police officers supervisors to issue a public apology for their disappointing handling of the case and for the harm it may have caused their subordinate and other women across the country, the statement reads. Sithong Sokha said she did not want to speak about the case and wanted the issue to end. For my post, let me make it clear. I didnt mean for the post to harm my workplace and that the post is a post to express a mothers feelings, to reflect a mothers feeling for their children, she said. The Ministry of Womens Affairs released a statement on March 10 commending the police officer for breastfeeding her child, but, at the same time, also said that women should carry something to cover themselves while breastfeeding. In case the institution does not have a suitable place, women should have equipment such as scarves or towels to allow breastfeeding to be carried out appropriately and smoothly, avoiding criticism from some people who said the image is an inappropriate image that affects the values and dignity of Cambodian women, the Womens Affairs statement reads. Chak Sopheap, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said breastfeeding, in public or private, was in no way damaging to a womans dignity nor does it affect the dignity of the workplace. For the fact that we all put the burden [on her], criticizing; for example, her superiors called her to give apologies and sign the agreement; it means her superiors are the ones who should offer apologies to her, and introduce a specific measure for gender equality and make the environment comfortable for their institutions providing support to women who are all mothers and on duties, Sopheap said. Marn Chenda, secretary of state at the Ministry of Womens Affairs, declined to comment on Thursday. Stung Treng police chief Out Sivutha could not be reached for comment on Thursday Chou Bun Eng, secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior and the permanent vice-chair of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking, sent a letter to the Stung Treng governor expressing her disappointment over the handling of the Sithong Sokha case. Having read this article, I am very sorry that the police used such behavior and did not clearly distinguish between what is right and wrong, she wrote in the letter. Nigerian gunmen raided a college in a northwestern state and at least 30 students are feared kidnapped, a senior government official said Friday, in the latest abduction targeting a school. The suspected kidnap gang stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Kaduna state, around 9:30pm (2030 GMT) on Thursday, shooting indiscriminately and taking students hostage. The college was said to have some 300 male and female students -- mostly aged 17 and older -- at the time of the attack. Kaduna state commissioner for internal security Samuel Aruwan said 30 of the students were missing while the army was able to rescue 180 people after a fierce battle with the gunmen. "The troops successfully rescued 180 citizens; 42 female students, eight staff and 130 male students," Aruwan said in a statement. "However, about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for." The commissioner said some of the rescued students were injured during the operation and had been hospitalised in a military facility. Heavily-armed gangs in northwest and central Nigeria have stepped up attacks in recent years, kidnapping for ransom, raping and pillaging. The bandits are recently turning their attention on schools where they kidnap students or schoolchildren for ransom -- Thursday's was at least the fourth such attack since December. The police and local residents had earlier confirmed Thursday's incident but could not disclose how many students were seized. - Late night gunfire - Residents also heard repeated gunshots in the area late on Thursday. "We kept hearing gunshots which we ignored as shooting drills from the Nigeria Defence Academy which is a stone-throw from the forestry college," said Mustapha Aliyu, who lives in the area. "It was only when we came out for the morning prayers in the mosque that we learnt it was gunmen who took away students from the college," he said. Story continues The area is notorious for banditry and armed robbery, especially along the highway linking the city with the airport. The gangs are largely driven by financial motives and have no known ideological leanings. Victims are often released shortly after negotiations though officials always deny any ransom payments. On Saturday, criminal gangs known locally as bandits broke into the staff quarters of the nearby Kaduna airport, abducting 12 people, according to airport officials. On February 27, gunmen abducted 279 schoolgirls in nearby Zamfara state. A week earlier, gunmen seized 42 people, including 27 students from an all-boys boarding school in central Niger state. In December, hundreds of schoolboys were seized in Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari's home state while he was on a visit. The US has condemned the recent attacks on schools. "Frankly, we're disgusted by this pattern of mass abductions of school kids. I can think of nothing more abhorrent," Michael Gonzales, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US State Departments Bureau of African Affairs told a press briefing. He said the US "is ready to provide appropriate support to the Nigerian government if requested to do so." abu/joa/pma The Irish Government, including the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste, all Ministers and all TDs should not take part in any events celebrating the centenary of the partition of the island of Ireland, said Cllr Padraig Fallon. In a motion brought before the March Council meeting, the Sinn Fein councillor said partition has brought pain and anguish to the people of this country and it would be inappropriate to celebrate this. His motion was seconded by Cllr Brendan Barry who said people hadn't wanted to see partition and certainly did not want to see it continue for as long as it has. Fianna Fail councillor, Justin Warnock said that he felt his party with its strong republication tradition, wouldn't take part in any celebrations marking partition. Cllr Des Guckian also backed the motion noting we cannot celebrate a partition caused by British duplicity. Offer a personal message of sympathy... By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account. BEIJING, Mar. 12 -- According to a notice released by Chinas Hainan Maritime Safety Administration on March 11, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) will hold a military exercise in waters of the South China Sea from 01:00 on March 12 to 03:00 on March 14, 2021. HN0014 SOUTH CHINA SEA. MILITARY TRAINING IN AREA WITHIN5.5 MILES RADIUS OF 19-37.12N/110-57.32E FROM 111700 UTC TO 131900 UTC MAR. ENTERING PROHIBITED. HAINAN M.S.A.CHINA. Gandhinagar, March 12 : Even before Congress leaders could commence their version of the Dandi Yatra from the Sabarmati Ashram on Friday, the Gujarat police detained a majority of the top leadership of Gujarat Congress unit and foiled their plans. The Gujarat police allegedly deflated the tyres of the tractors that were to be a part of the protest. The Gujarat Congress had announced they were planning to travel to Dandi with 80 tractors as part of "Farmers Satyagrah", calling it the initiation of second independence struggle. But even before they could carry out their plans, the Gandhinagar police detained many of them. Many of the leaders were reportedly put under house arrest at midnight itself. Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Chavada, Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, legislators Punjabhai Vansh and Imran Khedavala, along with senior leaders such as Arjunbhai Modhvadia, Siddharth Patel, Manish Doshi, Rutvik Makvana, Rajesh Gohel, Jasubhai Patel and many other MLAs and leaders were among those detained. "Our leaders were under house arrest at midnight and our vehicles vandalised. Like every year, we wanted to carry out the yatra. We had even sought permission. But we were denied that," Chavda told IANS. "I asked the police on what basis were they arresting us, detaining or keeping us under house arrest? But they had no answers," alleged Chavda. Chavda said that the party will raise the issue in the Assembly on Monday. "We are not going to tolerate this and will raise this issue on Monday in the ongoing budget session of the state assembly. The Congress party won't stop and will continue to speak for the public and fight for democratic rights," Chavda added. Ukraine plans to boost seed exports to EU trade envoy The EU member states are a promising market for Ukrainian seeds, the official believes. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter 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. Chinas Arctic Ambitions Pose Growing Threat to Canadian Interests, Top Defence Official Warns Chinas geo-political ambition in the Arctic is posing a growing threat to Canadian interests, a top Defence official warned. Defence Deputy Minister Jody Thomas told the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence on Wednesday that as melting ice opens up the Arctic Ocean, Beijing has set eyes on the Northwest Passage for new shipping routes and resource extraction, including fish, fossil fuel, and minerals. We should not underestimate at all that threat of resource exploitation in the Arctic by China in particular, Thomas said, according to a Globe and Mail report. China has a voracious appetite and will stop at nothing to feed itself, and the Arctic is one of the last domains and regions left and we have to understand it and exploit it and more quickly than they can exploit it, she said. Last December, Ottawa blocked a Chinese state-owned company from taking over a Nunavut gold mine, which would give Beijing a stronger foothold in the Arctic. David Harris, a former contractor with the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, previously told The Epoch Times that a deal with China would have posed serious security and economic threats to Canada. Beijings aggressive moves to control rare-earth mineralsmaterial that is crucial for the high-tech and military industriesand its plans to seize minerals in Canadas northern region prompted the United States and Canada to develop a joint strategy last year to reform the global critical mineral supply chains and reduce reliance on Chinese exports. Thomas also said Canada has sent a message to China by deploying warships to the South China Sea, where Beijing has in recent years been actively seeking military and geo-political dominance. The South China Sea is also vital for global shipping and commerce. The deployment of the Navy in particular to the South China Sea is one of the messages that can be sent, Thomas said, Globe and Mail reported. [The deployments] are about the rules-based order and freedom of navigation, the freedom of the seas and the fact we will not be bullied into changing the geography of the world. A lot of people wonder why we care about the South China Sea. Its because the geography of this planet has been changed and we have allowed it to happen, she said. Thomas said Russias activities in the Arctic are also troubling. Last month, Russia launched a space satellite to monitor the Arctic climate, as the country seeks to develop the energy-rich region. Russia has also built military bases in their Arctic region. Nobody would invest the kind of money in building up the military capacity in the Arctic without reason, intent, or purpose. We should not be naive about that. It doesnt mean it is immediatebut it is there, Thomas said. New Delhi: If you have any important banking work, you must get them done today (Friday), as the upcoming closures might interfere with your activities. Though banking activities on mobile and internet will remain uninterrupted, several bank branches will remain closed on account of holidays and the upcoming proposed strike by banking associations in March. Bank unions have called for a two-day strike starting March 15, to protest against the proposed privatisation of banks. Banks will be closed for two-day strike on March 15 (Monday) and March 16 (Tuesday), while the previous two days March 13 is a second saturday while March 14 is a Sunday. Thus, to sum it up, banks will remain closed for four days in a row. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mentioned some days when the banking operations will remain closed in the month of March 2021. However, it must be noted that the bank holidays vary in various states as well not observed by all the banking companies. Banking holidays also depend on the festivals being observed in specific states or notification of specific occasions in those states. In total, banks would be closed for 5 days. Reserve Bank of India places its Holidays under three brackets --Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act; Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday; and Banks Closing of Accounts. Meanwhile, considering two second saturdays and 4 sunday weekly offs, the total number of days when bank will be closed amounts to 11. Here is an elaborate list of bank holidays falling in the month of March 2021. Check out the list. Chapchar Kut: March 5 Mahashivratri (Maha Vad-13): March 11 Bihar Divas: March 22 Holi (Second Day) - Dhuleti/Yaosang 2nd Day: March 29 Holi: March 30 Holidays of the mentioned days will be observed in various regions according to the state declared holidays, however for the gazetted holidays, banks will be closed all over the country. Live TV #mute If you keep a track of these holidays, you would be able to plan bank transaction activities in a better way. For long weekends, you can even plan your holidays well. A New Jersey family that lost five loved ones in the early days of the pandemic after gathering for a dinner declared that they were only guilty of 'being a close-knit family' that was 'always together. Grace Fusco and her 11 children would normally eat large classic Italian family meals in Freehold Township, New Jersey. 'The only thing we are guilty of is being a close-knit family, where we always together,' her son, Joe, explained to CBS News. Coronavirus hadn't even crossed their minds as they ate their last meal together. Grace Fusco (middle) and her 11 children would normally eat large classic Italian family meals in Freehold Township, New Jersey. Four of the five family members who died (left to right circled): Vinny, Carmine, Rita and Grace Fusco 'Unbeknownst to us, we were spreading this horrible disease to people to us in our family,' Joe added. 'Not a thought in any of our minds,' his sister, Toni, shared. By the next week, Grace and six of her children were in the hospital. 'And before you knew it, Mom, Carmine, Vinny they were all on a ventilator,' her daughter, Adrienne, said. Grace and her children pictured during in a holiday photo. From left to right circled: Carmine, Grace, Vinny and Rita Fusco Grace's sister Maria died a month after the other members of her family Their sister, Rita, was the first to die at age 56. Five days later, their 55-year-old brother Carmine and their 73-year-old mother Grace died. The next day, their 53-year-old brother Vinny died. Their aunt Maria died a month later and at the same time, Joe and Toni were in the hospital also battling COVID. 'I was petrified of everything. Cause in my mind, I'm thinking, "I'm gonna die. We're all just gonna die. and they're just gonna take our whole family,"' Toni said. Joe sent Toni a text telling her that he was going on a ventilator and that he couldn't breathe. 'I just remember pounding into my head over and over to myself, 'You've got to wake up. You have to wake up,'' Joe said. Joe finally woke up 30 days later. 'I'm lucky. I'm lucky to be alive,' Joe added. In the single damp room where her family of six all sleep together the air heavy with the smell of mould that stains the walls and furniture 35-year-old Syrian refugee Hala describes the downward spiral their lives have taken since fleeing the conflict in their home country and coming to Lebanon 10 years ago. Our main objective was to get out of the war with our lives, Hala said of their escape from their hometown of Hama in 2011. [In Lebanon] there was a little bit of serenity []. Our kids were still going to school, they were learning, they would become something in the future and make their mother and father proud. But as the crisis next door in Syria ground on year after year, their resources became increasingly stretched and the debts began to pile up. Halas three older children had to drop out of school, and her eldest son Amer, 16, started working to supplement her husbands low-income daily labour. Halas situation has sadly become the norm for families caught up in the worlds largest refugee crisis. As the Syrian conflict enters its second decade, instead of getting easier, daily life for the 5.6 million refugees living in neighbouring countries in the region is tougher than ever. Poverty and food insecurity are on the rise, school enrollment and access to health care are shrinking, and the COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out much of the informal work that refugees rely on. One thing after another, everything that I have done [] in the last six to seven years is gone, nothing left, Halas husband Yasser said. The situation is very hard []; it got inside of us, the children were affected and depressed. Im 16 years old at this age I should be living the best days of my childhood, their son Amer added. Dropping out of school made me feel like Im unwanted in this life. I used to work 12 hours a day, standing on my feet while I should be at school studying. Lebanons financial crisis has sent the currency plummeting and prices of everyday basics shooting up. Combined with the devastating economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, this increased the share of Syrian refugees in the country living under the extreme poverty line to almost 90 per cent by the end of 2020. "It's like we're living in a daily war." Both Amer and his father Yasser lost their jobs during the pandemic, leaving the family struggling to put food on the table and fearing eviction from the damp apartment that has left two of the children suffering from severe asthma. The familys mental health has also suffered as a result of the situation, with Hala often spending days unable to get out of bed, and both her and her son Amer experiencing suicidal thoughts. It is part of a wider pattern of increasing mental health issues among Syrian refugees triggered by prolonged displacement, the pandemic and declining economic conditions. In late 2020, a call centre in Lebanon run by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, reported an increase in calls from refugees thinking about suicide and self-harm. Yasser summed up their situation, saying that despite escaping the conflict in Syria: Its like were living a daily war; a silent, domestic war. Across the region, it is a similar picture for other Syrians that have fled the conflict over the past decade. Originally from Homs, 45-year-old Ahmad left the country in late 2011 and went to Libya, where he hoped the relatively lower number of Syrian refugees would offer him more chance of finding work as an experienced tiler. At first when we came here, things were okay. But then the situation changed. We witnessed war in Syria, then we saw war again here in Libya, said Ahmad, referring to the renewed violence and instability that erupted in 2014, following the countrys first civil war in 2011. 2020 was the hardest year for me. Not only was the fighting still going on, but the coronavirus pandemic started, said Ahmad, who lives with his wife and five children in Tripoli. My biggest worry is how I can make a living nowadays. Just a few years ago it was very easy to find work, there were many jobs, and I could find work every day. Thats not the case now. Their precarious situation in Libya has led Ahmad to consider uprooting the family once more, but he and his wife Ghadir said they could not contemplate returning to Syria at present. Hala's husband Yasser explains how the family's situation has deteriorated over the course of the 10-year criris. UNHCR/Haidar Darwish Hala's son Amer, 16, has experienced suicidal thoughts since dropping out of school and starting work to support the family. UNHCR/Haidar Darwish Ahmad, 45, and his family wait for an appointment at a UNHCR registration centre in the Libyan capital Tripoli. UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem Syrian refugee Khalil, 18, repairs a vehicle at the garage in Amman where he works for US$10 each day. UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle The protracted crisis has taken a disproportionate toll on vulnerable groups such as children who make up almost half of all Syrian refugees older people, those living with disabilities and single women and mothers. Asma*, 40, is originally from Raqqa in Syria, but in 2015 fled with her three children to Izmir in western Turkey, which hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees globally at more than 3.6 million. I left Syria because I lost my husband during the war he was killed during the bombing, Asma explained. When I came to Turkey, I borrowed money from people and started working. Also, some people helped me when I first came here. I started receiving financial assistance. My children started going to school. We felt safer here. But after several years of being able to support herself and despite finding safety, Asmas declining health and difficulty accessing medical care due to the language barrier means she is unable to continue her work in a garment factory and is struggling to cover her costs. Only her middle son Ahmed, 13, is still going to school. The biggest problem for me now is how to pay the rent and the bills, she said. For food, thank God we have people around who help us. But for the rent and the bills, its expensive and we need to pay for the electricity, water and internet. Especially for my son Ahmed, who has online schooling, we need internet. See also: Refugees across Arab world feel economic pain of coronavirus Renewed and long-term financial support from the international community is required to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 and halt the decline in living standards, Last year, only around half of the total funding requested by aid organizations to meet the growing needs of Syrian refugees and their hosts was delivered, the lowest level since 2015. With no end to the crisis in sight, there is a risk that dwindling international support and deteriorating economic conditions for millions of refugees and vulnerable members of the local communities that host them could unravel previous progress and reduce access to education and livelihoods, threatening the futures of an entire generation. Many already feel it is too late. Khalil, 18, came to Jordan with his family from rural Aleppo in 2013 and settled in the capital Amman. At first, the bright and talkative youngster was able to continue his education at a local school. But aged just 13, he had to drop out and start working to help support his large family. "There are some kids who had to give up their dreams." I used to want to be a doctor back in Syria, but becoming a refugee changed that, Khalil said. There are some kids who had to give up their dreams. He now works six days a week as a mechanic, earning 7 Jordanian Dinars (US$10) a day regardless of the hours, which are often long. Its exhausting, Khalil said. Like millions of other Syrian refugees still scattered across the region, despite escaping the countrys conflict Khalil has seen his prospects evaporate. As the crisis grinds on after 10 years, he now contemplates the future with a sense of resignation. Life goes on, anyway, he said. That is my fate; I have to accept it and live with it. *Name changed for protection reasons. Reporting by Dalal Harb in Beirut, Caroline Gluck in Tripoli, Cansin Argun in Ankara, and Nida Yassin in Amman. Writing by Charlie Dunmore. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach opens the 137th IOC Session and virtual meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, (Photo : Greg Martin/IOC/Handout via REUTERS) The International Olympic Committee said on Friday it is not a "super world government" that can resolve political issues in China ahead of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games even though activists say the IOC has ignored Tibetan and Uighur claims of human rights violations. Beijing will become the first city to host summer and winter Games next year after also staging the 2008 summer Games. But the IOC has been criticised for awarding the 2022 winter Olympics to China given the country's human rights record. Advertisement Representatives of Tibetan and Hong Kong groups as well as the world's largest group of exiled ethnic Uighurs said earlier on Friday the IOC had not acted on their concerns after meeting them in October. They also said any assurances from China to the IOC were of no value. "We are taking this very seriously," IOC President Thomas Bach told a news conference when asked specifically about claims of rights violations in China. "Human rights and labour rights and others are and will be part of the host city contract." "We are working very closely with the organising committee. We are monitoring supply chains, labour rights, freedom of press and many other issues. This is our responsibility," he said at the end of a virtual IOC session. The United States earlier on Friday condemned China's abuse of ethnic and religious minorities, including what it called "crimes against humanity and genocide" in Xinjiang against Muslim Uighurs and severe restrictions in Tibet. "We are not a super world government where the IOC could solve or even address issues for which not a United Nations security council, no G7, no G20 has a solution," Bach said. "This is in the remit of politics. We have to live up to our responsibilities in our areas of responsibility." China rejects U.S. charges that it has committed genocide against Uighur and other Muslims in the remote western region, where activists say more than 1 million are held in internment camps. Beijing says the complexes it set up in Xinjiang provide vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism. Allegations of forced labour and human rights violations are "groundless rumour and slander", the Chinese foreign ministry says. Airparks, or fly-in communities, are residential neighborhoods designed specifically for people who own their own light airplanes and want to keep them parked in their driveways. Apparently, there are around 650 airparks around the world, not exactly a small number, so why do so few people know they exist? Well, it may have something to do that most of us cant afford out own personal airplane, let alone a house design to accommodate it. Living in one of these fly-in communities isnt cheap. For example, the only available home in Californias Cameron Airpark Estates, one of the worlds nicest airparks, is currently listed on Zillow for $1.5 million. But thats the price you pay for living in a place where light airplanes are as common, if not more so, than cars. Photo: Trashbag/Wikimedia Commons So how do airparks differ from regular suburbs. Well, driving through one, youre bound to notice that most houses have airplanes parked in their driveways, instead of cars. Garages are the size of small hangars, and the streets are wide enough to fit the wingspan of a light aircraft, about 100 feet wide. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nona Air Park (@nonaairpark) Interestingly, the streets of most airpark neighborhoods are wider than its shared runway, because they are designed to pass by each other safely. Road signs and mailboxes are also positioned unusually low to the ground, to avoid getting clipped by the wings of the airplanes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nona Air Park (@nonaairpark) So what are the advantages of living in an airpark, as opposed to a regular suburb? Well, if you just love piloting your own airplane, the advantages are obvious, but for many fly-in community residents, the fact that they can commute in their aircrafts is a godsend. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nona Air Park (@nonaairpark) All you have to do is get into your plane, start the engine, drive it to the shared runway and take off. If you work near an airport, this is a great way to beat road traffic. Plus, living in an airpark means you dont have to go to the hassle of using an airport to fly your aircraft. You just go to the shared runway and take to the skies when you feel like it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Marlene (@roomrescuerdecorating) But airparks are not just pilots and airplane enthusiasts. One Cameron Airpark Estates resident recently told Insider Magazine that about 50% of their community is made up of car enthusiasts who love the extra large garages, because they can fit their entire car collection in them. They sometimes complain about airplane noise, which can rub aircraft owners the wrong way, but they remain a tightly-knit community nonetheless. Finding an available house in a place like Cameron Airpark Estates is extremely difficult, with one resident saying that you basically have to wait for someone to die. That may have something to do with the fact that the California airpark is one of the worlds nicest. It looks like a regular suburb with nice houses and picket fences, only with extra perks for airplane owners. Kylie Jenner set pulses racing in a plunging semi-sheer baby blue minidress for a smoldering new shoot at Kylie Cosmetics headquarters on Thursday. After getting her makeup done by Ariel Tejada, the 23-year-old reality star shared a Boomerang video showcasing her pert derriere and jaw-dropping curves on her Instagram Story. The lip kit mogul oozed confidence as she tossed head head back, with her dark brown tresses slicked up into a romantic updo. Bombshell: Kylie Jenner set pulses racing in a plunging semi-sheer baby blue minidress for a smoldering new shoot at Kylie Cosmetics headquarters on Thursday In the clip, she can be seen with one foot perched on a beige sofa as she rocked a glamorous red lipstick and pair of open-toed strappy high heels. Later, Jenner shared more footage of her skintight ensemble with a black leather jacket over her shoulders in her meticulously-organized glam room. On the counter in front of her was the August issue of Vogue Hong Kong, which showed her on the cover wearing a low-cut Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello latex dress. Stunning: After getting her makeup done by Ariel Tejada, the 23-year-old reality star shared a Boomerang video showcasing her pert derriere and jaw-dropping curves Glam: Later, Jenner shared more footage of her skintight ensemble with a black leather jacket over her shoulders in her meticulously-organized glam room Additionally, Jenner kept a copy of her debut in Vogue Czechoslovakia, which was released in July and also features her three-year-old daughter Stormi Webster, who she shares with ex Travis Scott. Earlier in the day, the social media powerhouse shared a number of snaps from a recent photo shoot for her skincare brand, Kylie Skin. Jenner was dressed in a pink lingerie top during the promotional shoot; her article of clothing stopped a few inches below her breasts and placed her toned tummy on full display. Beauty: The lip kit mogul oozed confidence as she rocked her brown tresses in loose curls hanging from a romantic updo In the message, the influencer noted that 'summer will be here before you know it,' and added that using her sunscreen was her 'favorite way to feel sexy while staying protected.' Jenner first launched Kylie Skin in 2019; the brand initially offered six facial care products before the company began offering skincare items. During an interview with Glamour, the social media icon expressed that she wanted her brand's customers to believe in what they were doing and to integrate her products into their self-care routines. Cover girl: On the counter in front of her, she had the August issue of Vogue Hong Kong, which showed her gracing the cover of the magazine's Action Issue Model: Jenner also kept a copy of her debut in Vogue Czechoslovakia, which was released in July and also features her three-year-old daughter Stormi Webster, who she shares with ex Travis Scott 'I think it all starts with feeling good in your own skin. I think it's so important to take care of yourself from the inside out and that starts with skin care and taking time to do things that you love,' she said. The model also admitted that her skin is not always perfect and emphasized that she occasionally has times where she needs more intense treatment. Jenner remarked that 'nobody has perfect skin and it's completely normal and natural to get a flare up every now and then - especially after heavy glam days and when I'm traveling.' A prominent Christian businessman and outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump has announced plans to create an alternative social media site in the wake of censorship that he and other conservatives have faced. Appearing on "The Charlie Kirk Show"on March 5, Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, discussed the censorship and boycotts that he and his company have faced after he made claims about targeted voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election before touting a forthcoming "big platform where they can't touch us, nobody's going to be able to come in, (and) we're going to have everybody's voices out there." After spending much of the podcast running through the list of his claims of election fraud, Lindell elaborated on his proposed social media platform. "I have a platform coming out, where all the influencers in this country will be able to go to and not worry about YouTube and actually be able to talk without losing YouTube," Lindell said. "That's how they're canceling us all out." Source:The Christian Post The ad hominem argument has been too prevalent and she hopes the series might encourage civilised debate the essence of a university on why we do things, what we should do and what we are doing, without it being driven by personality and partisan positions. Spaghetti cozze (with mussels) at Donninis. Credit:Eddie Jim One of the many consequences of the pandemic she sees a surprising one, perhaps is that in the debate over public health there has been a greater reference to evidence and science. Yes, theres been a lot of unedifying heat, finger pointing and quite silly ridiculous divisions, but she believes the general behavioural response has come due to people grappling with the science and responding in an evidence-based way. Gardner spent most of last year protecting Monash from the impact of COVID-19. The major financial hit was on income from student fees, particularly those from overseas, and it was reported that Monashs revenue was slashed to the tune of $350 million. When Australia closed its borders, many of the international students were still overseas and so unable to take up their places, and many didnt come back. The staff created 7000 personalised study plans and talked endlessly to students outside the country. That way the university lost less than we anticipated and then heres a very off little statement over time we made more savings than we lost as a consequence of campuses being virtually closed for the entire year. We made savings that hopefully well never make again. It was a tough year because it was constant reaction, change, huge amounts of hardship for international students. Gardner says Monash cut its capital, its non-salary expenditures, used up all its reserves, borrowed more, put $30 million into a hardship fund for international and domestic students and the executives took voluntary paycuts. Credit: She is full of praise for the way negotiations were held with the National Tertiary Education Union. It was agreed there would be 277 voluntary redundancies and pay increases would be deferred. (At RMIT she had had to make involuntary redundancies to get the university out of the red and told staff she would never do that again.) I found them great to deal with, she says. The commitment we gave to the union was, to the best of our ability, those voluntary redundancies would go in areas we have restructured so the workload is no longer there and someone else is not having to take it up. She does not expect more barring acts of God, we should be able to manage 20-2021. She has mixed views about the federal governments support for universities in the face of COVID-19. They went to a very significant extent not to give JobKeeper there were four changes of legislation and made it available to private universities but not public. That disappointed her and she saw no logic in it. But she was grateful for the new Job-Ready graduates program a very complex package that included a one-off payment through the research-support program: In our case that was a lifesaver because I have a very big research workforce. As an 18-year-old, she went to Sydney University from her high school in the western suburbs of Sydney. Both my parents finished school at 15. They were people who cared about ideas, education and were very smart. They had all the disadvantages of their lives when none of those things were possible. In the early days she realised she was going to have to work very hard, but she says she was lucky she chose to read economics because some degrees were very heavily dominated by particular private schools. Her father said she would struggle if she chose arts/ law because from where we are we dont have the contacts and youll never make it in law. Which isnt true. She laughs when I say shes still at university, so I wondered whether she still knew people from those early days. Recently she went to a Festschrift for a professor whom she met when they were only first-year students and eventually did their PhDs together. Given that her period at RMIT and Monash coincided with Davis at Melbourne, I suggested that their home must have strong Chinese walls. We learnt that over a long time. I was deputy VC at the University of Queensland when he was VC at Griffiths, she says. So you share the interest in the policy debate and were in adjacent fields he was in public policy and I was in industrial relations but you just learn theres stuff you cant talk about. The university drives her professional life and, at the moment, her reading for pleasure. She has been going through a spate of reading campus novels. I didnt read Stoner by John Williams until quite recently. It is so searingly honest, so pared back, so beautiful. And after reading Dorothy L. Sayers Gaudy Nights set in Oxford she is working her way through the English crime writers novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. In those days the university sector was a very different beast. Today she is particularly proud that Monash will open a campus in Indonesia at the end of this year, the first by a foreign university. I think for Australias interests its important that we build the links its in the national interest. Credit: 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-11 22:47:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close An important lesson of Fukushima is that regulators must be strong, independent and adequately resourced, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said. Nuclear safety is the key to the expansion of nuclear power, which promises to "stabilize the climate while allowing economies and societies to thrive," said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in a statement released late Tuesday to mark the tenth anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Back in 2011, a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan's northeastern area, killing more than 15,000 people and sparking the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. The director general also pointed out that scientists have found no evidence that nuclides released into the environment after the accident caused radiation-induced health effects. Produced by Xinhua Global 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. The Wreath Laying Ceremony will be held but with an adjusted programme. The Department of Culture is moving ahead with the March 14th Heros Day Celebrations despite the Covid-19 Pandemic. Speaking with THE VINCENTIAN, Cultural Officer Maxine Browne admitted that COVID-19 have affected the usual programme for the Days primary activity the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Obelisk located at Dorsetshire Hill but she assured that the programme will unfold with adjustments. Browne disclosed that only 20 persons, including the media, will be allowed in attendance. While she realized that many would want to attend the event, Browne appealed for understanding given the situation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to adhere to the protocols. Browne also mentioned that the much anticipated Heroes Day event at Fancy has been cancelled. The one at Rose hall will assume a virtual setting and while the Greiggs activity has also been effectively cancelled, there will be a sale of local cuisine in the community on the day. March 14th commemorates the death of Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer. He died in battle in 1795 having led a protracted defence of Yurumei - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - from the marauding forces of colonial Britain. (SG) DALLAS, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alternet Systems, Inc. (USOTC: ALYI) today released an update from its finance partner, RevoltTOKEN. Last week, RevoltTOKEN initiated the sale of Revolt Tokens (RVLT) through the Revolt Token web site (www.revolttoken.com) The funds raised through the sale of Revolt Tokens will be dedicated to the funding of the overall Alternet Systems Electric Vehicle Ecosystem Platform. Learn more about how ALYI and RVLT are working together in a video on the RevoltTOKEN website (www.revolttoken.com). The purchase price is U.S. $1.00 per RVLT, which will be delivered to an ERC20 Compatible Wallet of your choice (e.g. Trust Wallet). "The purchase process begins with a registration and an identity verification," explained Henryk Dabrowski, CEO of RevoltTOKEN. "Then we conduct a know-your-customer process or KYC. This is vital to insure we comply with global regulations implemented to avoid money laundering and funding of nefarious activities. It's a labor-intensive process and the pacing item in the initial purchase of any cryptocurrency. For us, it's also a new process and new processes frequently come with a few kinks to work out. I'm pleased to report, after having Revolt Tokens for sale for over a week now, our KYC process has streamlined nicely and our registration, identity verification and KYC process is picking up speed." The Revolt Token purchase process requires 3 simple steps. The first one is to create a User ID and password follow the link below to get started: http://www.revolttoken.com/RVLTICO Next, a link to register and collect Know-Your-Customer (KYC) will be sent. Once verified, an email confirmation will be sent, and you can then proceed to complete your purchase of the Revolt Token. You can buy multiple times with the same ID. Registration and purchase requests will be processed on a first come, first serve basis. Any questions or issues during any step of the process can be addressed by emailing customer support at [email protected]. Anyone interested in Revolt Token (RVLT) should review the information available on the Revolt Token (RVLT) website and continue to monitor the Revolt Token (RVLT) website for updates regarding the availability of new Revolt Token (RVLT) purchasing functionality, and the listing of Revolt Token (RVLT) on the cryptocurrency exchanges. The Revolt Token (www.revolttoken.com) website will also include the evolving information regarding the exchangeability of Revolt Token (RVLT) for other Alternet System Electric Vehicle Ecosystem components intended to include Alternet's Revolt Electric Motorcycles, and/or entry into participation in Alternet's annual Electric Vehicle Race (EV Grand Prix) and Electric Vehicle Technology Symposium. Visit Revolt Token (RVLT)'s website at www.RevoltToken.com. Please do not hesitate to email any questions to [email protected]. For more information and to stay up to date on ALYI's overall latest developments, please visit www.alternetsystemsinc.com. Disclaimer/Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include the expectation that any of the companies mentioned herein will achieve significant sales, the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the companies' contracts, the companies' liquidity position, the companies' ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur. Alternet Systems, Inc. Contact: Randell Torno [email protected] +1-800-713-0297 SOURCE Alternet Systems, Inc. Related Links https://www.alternetsystemsinc.com/ Magnetic reconnection refers to the reconfiguration of magnetic field geometry. It plays an elemental role in the rapid release of magnetic energy and its conversion to other forms of energy in magnetized plasma systems throughout the universe. Researchers led by Dr. LI Leping from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) analyzed the evolution of magnetic reconnection and its nearby filament. The result suggested that reconnection is significantly accelerated by the propagating disturbance caused by the adjacent filament eruption. The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal on Feb. 25. The New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) is a 1-m ground-based solar telescope, located in the Fuxian Solar Observatory of the Yunnan Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (YNAO). It provides observations of the solar fine structures and their evolution in the solar lower atmosphere. The NVST observed the active region 11696 on March 15, 2013, in the H channel, centered at 6562.8 A with a bandwidth of 0.25 A. Employing the NVST H images with higher spatial resolution, the researchers studied the evolution of magnetic loops and their nearby filament in the active region, combining the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) line-of-sight magnetograms on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO). In NVST H images, two groups of fibrils converged and interacted with each other. Two sets of newly formed fibrils then appeared and retracted from the interaction region. "The result provides clear evidence of magnetic reconnection," said Prof. Hardi Peter from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), a co-author of the study. In AIA EUV images, the current sheet formed repeatedly in the reconnection region in the lower-temperature channels, and plasmoids appeared in the current sheet and propagated along it bidirectionally. A filament was located to the southeast of the reconnection region. It erupted and pushed away the loops covering the reconnection region. "The filament eruption led to a disturbance propagating outward across the reconnection region," said Dr. LI Leping, the first author of this study. The current sheet subsequently became shorter and brighter, with a larger reconnection rate. It appeared in the AIA higher-temperature channels. In the current sheet, more and hotter plasmoids formed. "Compared with the observations before the filament eruption during the same time intervals, more thermal and kinetic energy was converted through reconnection after the filament eruption," said Dr. LI. "The reconnection was thus significantly accelerated by the propagating disturbance caused by the nearby filament eruption." ### Police raids on an illegal poker night and a birthday party complete with a four-piece band have been caught on bodycam footage. West Midlands Police officers were called to the two flagrant breaches of coronavirus regulations over two days last week. Cops found an empty shop on Lodge Road, in Hockley, Birmingham, had been turned into a makeshift venue for a birthday party last Friday. West Midlands Police found a buffet table laid out for the broken up birthday party As many as 24 people packed into the tiny venue and officers expected more to have turned up if it had not been broken up. They found buffet tables laid out with food and booze as well as a four piece band who set their keyboards and guitars in the corner of the room. Police issued 12 200 fines to the adults there and six 1,000 fines to the band members and two organisers. A four-piece band was set up to perform at the party, broken up by West Midlands Police Officers found 24 people packed into the tiny venue, which was captured on bodycam footage Officers broke up a birthday party and an illegal poker game over two nights last week The next night officers attended The Station pub, in Kings Heath, Birmingham and found a poker party going on inside. Around 20 people were issued with 800 fines and the pub is now facing action for licensing offences after the gathering was broken up at 11.20pm on Saturday. Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said: 'Our officers take absolutely no pleasure from breaking up these gatherings and handing out fines - but they know it's the right thing to do. 'It's fantastic that we've got a roadmap out of lockdown, and that the vaccination programme appears to be progressing so well, but it's vital we don't blow it by relaxing too early. 'Our approach to policing the pandemic will move in line with the restrictions. 'We're still several weeks away from 21 June, which is the earliest possible date that all legal limits on social contact could end. 'Between now and then, it's vital that we stay focused on reducing contact and stopping the spread of the virus. Police broke up a poker party in Kings Heath, Birmingham, where about 20 people were found More than 20 people were caught at the poked evening by West Midlands Police last week Bodycam footage showed the officers breaking up the poker evening in Kings Heath, Birmingham ACC Chris Todd said the officers 'take no pleasure' from breaking up the events' 'We'll continue to do our bit - and all we ask is that you help us.' Last month revellers at an illegal party held in a Croydon barber shop were fined for breaching Covid-19 rules. Police busted the rave at the Kiss Kuts barber shop on London Road in South London at about midnight on 19th February. In Sheffield, a student party attended by up to 150 revellers was shut down by police for breaching coronavirus rules. And in Basingstoke, Hampshire Police were called to a home where a total of six people were gathered. The Lockdown-flouting revellers told police they had no idea there was a pandemic because 'we don't watch the news' when their party was busted. Syringes with doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine await recipients at a vaccination site at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza on March 11, 2021 in Los Angeles, California US health care giant Johnson & Johnson, beset by recent scandals over talcum powder and the opioid crisis, is poised for a reputational lift with its pathbreaking coronavirus vaccine. J&J, which has vowed to sell the vaccine at cost, won approval Thursday from the European Union for its COVID-19 jab after receiving the green light earlier from regulators in the United States, Canada and South Africa. The J&J inoculation is the first approved by health authorities to require just one shot, the latest breakthrough for an industry that had been on the outs with the general public prior to COVID-19. "The pharmaceutical industry was once thought of in such high regard in the 1990s but a lot of that admiration has been lost due to drug prices," said Damien Conover, a health care analyst at Morningstar. Consumers detect "arrogance" in how pharma giants "push around the drug as the only solution to people's health issues," said Daniel Binns, head of Interbrand, a New York-based marketing consultancy. "They just have this terrible reputation" despite creating "incredible drugs," Binns added. J&J has come under fire in its home market in the wake of lawsuits that its talcum powder products cause cancer and over its marketing of prescription painkillers amid the country's opioid crisis. But the vaccine offers a shot at "brand redemption," said Vann Graves, director of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Brandcenter. 'Halo effect'? By any measure, the pharma industry's vaccine program in response to COVID-19 has met the moment in confronting a global health scourge that has claimed more than 2.6 million lives worldwide. "Any chance they have now to shine some positive light on their corporate brand makes total sense," Binns said. "Why wouldn't you if, for the first time in a long time, people are going 'Okay, I can see that you do some good things.'" Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine could give a boost to the company's brand, which has suffered amid litigation over talcum powder products and the marketing of opioids If anything, J&J, which makes myriad over-the-counter and prescription medicines, as well as shampoos and face creams, is already well-known among the general public. "We thought we had a responsibility as the world's largest health care company to step up, much like we did with Ebola a number of years ago," the company's chief financial officer, Joseph Wolk, told an investor conference earlier this month. "Just stabilizing the society, if you will, has a benefit to our business," Wolk said. A reopened economy is expected to boost J&J, which has seen sales decline on items tied to non-emergency medical procedures, as well as for sunscreen and other travel items. But J&J could shift its approach once the pandemic ends, potentially if it develops booster shots to address variants of COVID-19. "What kind of commercial opportunity is there on the horizon? Probably not in 2021," Wolk said. "But as we move to 2022, we are looking at it more as a business opportunity." However, Conover noted that J&J must "be a little careful" about seeking to profit from the vaccine after accepting public funds during its development. Wolk has also expressed hope that J&J's vaccine success could pave the way for improved terms in other negotiations with governments. "To say that we've incorporated any kind of halo effect or think this is going to help us in the next tough negotiation, I'd like to think so, but I think that would be a little bit too optimistic," he said. But the success of the vaccine program will likely shift the debate on drug prices. Prior to COVID-19, both major political parties had castigated the industry over runaway prices. "With the development of COVID-19 vaccines, the policymakers understand the importance of a very vibrant drug industry," Conover said. "And the changes are going to be more moderate because of that." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Days after Portland recorded its 20th homicide, Mayor Ted Wheeler said Thursday hell seek $2 million in one-time funding to allow more proactive policing on city streets with greater civilian oversight to try to stem a growing wave of gun violence. The mayor made the announcement alongside religious and community leaders, who urged city officials to take immediate action to prevent more people from dying in shootings, particularly young Black and brown people who have been disproportionately affected by the violence. The interfaith group called for bringing back a dedicated uniformed police patrol team that would act on criminal intelligence to try to intercept and seize guns, work to prevent shootings and retaliatory violence in the city. The group also would respond to shootings, do follow-up investigations and engage with people who are at risk of gun violence, according to the groups letter submitted to the mayor and city commissioners. The interfaith group also seeks five more detectives to investigate gun violence, more money for the recently formed six-officer on-call team that responds to shootings around the clock and a new independent community committee to gather data on the officers stops and arrests and the effectiveness of their work. The proposal, backed by the mayor after months of discussions with the citys Inter-faith Peace and Action Collaborative, mirrors a plan that Police Chief Chuck Lovell presented to Wheeler in writing on Dec. 23. The mayor made the announcement while on a Zoom video news conference with members of the community collaborative. Lovell was out of town for training Thursday. The police chief has asked that the new uniformed team consist of two sergeants and 12 officers, partly drawn from existing patrol staff. Lovell also has asked the city to consider allowing the Police Bureau to rehire retired officers on a temporary two-year basis to help staff the team. Wheeler addressed the overarching question: How the new police approach would differ from the former police Gun Violence Reduction Team, disbanded in June by the City Council amid $15 million in budget cuts. The key difference, he said, would be a new community oversight committee that would collect and publish statistics on the teams arrests, stops and outcomes and help establish parameters for the police enforcement. The city would hire a data analyst to work directly with the committee outside of the Police Bureau. Committee members would have no ties to city government or the Police Bureau. Wheeler said he intends to bring the proposal before City Council members in the next couple of weeks. The money would come from a city reserve contingency account created last fall that now has a $6.3 million balance, he said. Antoinette Edwards, a longtime city activist who retired in 2019 after 10 years of leading what was then called Portlands Office of Youth Violence Prevention, was among more than two dozen community members on the video conference. She demanded that people wake up from this apathetic slumber, bolster funding for police and put aside differences to work together to stop the bloodshed. This requires a deepening of our relationships, multiplying and adding, not subtracting or divisions of our collective and unified efforts. Yes, its going to cost, but we all know, we pay for what we care about it, she said. Of the 20 homicides in Portland this year, 15 resulted from shootings. There have been a total of 208 shootings so far this year, with 53 of those resulting in injuries, according to Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis. The city recorded 55 homicides in 2020, the highest number in 26 years. Forty-one were fatal shootings. In its letter to the City Council, the Inter-Faith Peace & Action Collaborative, which is made up of clergy, social workers, police and other community members, blasted last summers cuts to the Police Bureau. The cutbacks created a vacuum that undermined public safety and the very communities whose voices the Council -- and our community -- seek to amplify, wrote J. W. Matt Hennessee, chair of the collaborative. Executive Pastor Ed Williams of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church said his heart breaks for the community that has to live under this heavy blanket of fear and trauma and distress. Theres just too much blood on the streets, and weve got to be focused and weve got to be determined and fed up enough to want to do something about it, he said. Among the speakers at a video conference Thursday about gun violence in Portland (left to right): Pastor Ed Williams, Antoinette Edwards, Keith Edwards, Mayor Ted Wheeler, Pastor Matt Hennessee, Marta Guembes, Portland Police Deputy Chief Chris Davis. Marta Guembes of the Latino Police Advisory Council offered deep condolences to those who have lost loved ones from gun violence, noting that Latinos have been the second largest community affected by shootings in the city from 2015 through 2019. Davis, Portlands deputy police chief, said police recognize they cant combat the violence alone but need the community to be partners. We look forward now to being part of a sustainable and lasting solution that does not repeat some of the mistakes from the past, he said. The added funding for police must be coupled with greater support for street-level outreach workers and other support services for people hurt by the violence, the collaborative members said. We passionately support actions to address serious issues about racial justice and local policing, the group wrote. We want to push forward police reform while helping stop gun violence. Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who has been the most vocal critic on the council of the former Gun Violence Reduction Team and successfully pushed for its elimination, and her spokesman Matt McNally didnt immediately return messages seeking comment on the new proposal. Last month, Hardesty said she was against providing any additional money to the bureau until the community decides how public safety should be reimagined in the city. Portland police continue to hold weekly shooting reviews with area law enforcement agencies, such as Gresham police and the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office and federal and state prosecutors. Oregons FBI Special Agent in Charge Keiran Ramsey earlier this week said the FBI has offered more money, vehicles, forensic technology and federal agents to help Portland police confront and investigate gun violence. Details, he said, were being worked out. Last month, the Police Bureau launched a separate specialized team of officers and detectives to focus full time on investigating shootings after they occur. The Enhanced Community Safety Team is made up of three sergeants, 12 officers and six detectives. The team staffs a seven member on-call unit of officers to respond to shooting scenes, examine evidence, interview witnesses and do immediate follow-up investigations. The estimated cost is $153,348 for the rest of this fiscal year through June and $306,695 next fiscal year for a total of $460,043. The money for this year likely would come out of the Police Bureaus existing budget, but additional funding for next year would have to be approved by City Council, police officials said -- Maxine Bernstein Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian An insurance manager's assistant who used her boss's corporate credit card to steal $165,000 which she splurged on business class trips and group dinners will not spend a day behind bars. Jenna Ross, 35, pleaded guilty in December to obtaining financial advantage by deception after stealing money from Suncorp. She was sentenced on Friday by County Court of Victoria Judge Chris Ryan to a three-year community corrections order with a requirement she perform 300 hours of community work. 'A word to the wise. Don't ever come back here,' Judge Ryan warned her. Jenna Ross (pictured) stole $165,000 from Suncorp using her boss' corporate credit card Judge Chris Ryan released Ross on a community corrections order The court heard Ross began skimming money just six weeks after she was hired by Suncorp on April 4, 2014. By the time she was busted in March 2018, Ross had blown $86,250 on gift cards and $78,883 on business class flights and accommodation for her and her mates. The court heard Ross took trips to the Gold Coast and Perth and blew company cash on flights to Los Angeles and hotel rooms in the United States for a male Suncorp employee she had a 'quasi-romantic attachment' to. Some of the recipients of her fraud had cheek enough to provide character references to the court in her defence. In sentencing, Judge Ryan outlined a web of deception carried out by Ross, which saw her lie about how she could afford the expensive jaunts. Between May 2014 and January 2018 Ross used the credit card to purchase 131 gifts cards, spending $86,250 on herself despite claiming the cards were for Suncorp and filing them as 'staff amenities', 'stationary' and 'seminars/workshops'. The County Court of Victoria (pictured) on Tuesday heard Ross had committed the fraud as she had an 'overwhelming desire to be appreciated' Ross, who boasted about her long-term association with the St Bedes/Mentone Tigers - a flash footy club in Melbourne's Bayside area - claimed she suffered from depression stemming back to breaking her leg when she was just 10. Forensic psychologist Patrick Newton, who has given evidence on behalf of countless criminals, backed her story, declaring the injury had contributed to a 'persistent depressive disorder'. Judge Ryan was bombarded with tales of the fraudster's previous good character, which had seen her raise thousands of dollars for people in need in years gone by. Her barrister, Sam Tovey, had assured the court Ross had already paid back $65,000 and intended to repay the outstanding amount. He said Ross had been deeply embarrassed by her behaviour and had since lost a new job working at a Melbourne hospital after news reports exposed her as a dirty crook. In sentencing, Judge Ryan said he accepted Ross was sorry for her behaviour, had pleaded guilty early and had suffered from a considerable delay in being sentenced. Judge Ryan said a felon such as Ross would normally be jailed. Instead, he told her he would be 'merciful'. Ross departed the court alongside friends and family. Legendary Ferrari figure Mauro Forghieri has questioned Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto's ability to pull the Maranello marque out of its performance slump. Despite the covid-related development limitations, Ferrari has unveiled a noticeably tweaked car for the 2021 season. But 86-year-old Forghieri, who was a major player at Ferrari from the 60s to the 80s, wonders if Ferrari is being ideally led from the top at present. "Usually you try to react after a mistake," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "In the past, the best teams have always managed that after a bad season. "Ferrari has the means and the right people to succeed again, but I don't know if they have a person who can become a team leader. Today, what is most important is a leader who knows how to choose the right specialists and place them in the right places." Forghieri says a lot of responsibility will also fall on Ferrari's notably young drivers Charles Leclerc and team newcomer Carlos Sainz. "Today's drivers have more responsibility than they did in my day," he said. "Then, speed was good enough but now a whole automotive culture is required. "The drivers must now influence the design and guide the development of the car." (GMM) Sorry! This content is not available in your region WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With an additional 62689 coronavirus cases reported in the United States on Thursday, the national total increased to 29286142, according to latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. With 1618 new deaths in the same period, the U.S. COVID death toll rose to 530821. President Joe Biden promised in his primetime address Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic that all adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. Starting next week, the President, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, and the Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will be traveling across the country to kick off the 'Help is Here' tour explaining to people about what is in the $1.9 trillion massive Rescue Plan that the President signed into law. On Monday, the First Lady will travel to Burlington, New Jersey. The Vice President and Second Gentleman will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada. On Tuesday, the President will travel to Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The Vice President and Second Gentleman will travel to Denver, Colorado. On Wednesday, the Second Gentleman will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico. And on Friday, the President and the Vice President will travel to Atlanta, Georgia. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a routine Press Briefing that people can expect to start seeing direct payments deposited into their bank accounts by this weekend. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, set a benchmark of less than 10,000 cases per day to relax public health measures. An average of 60,000 new daily infections being recorded in the country currently is 'unacceptably high,' according to Dr. Fauci. The Department of Defense vaccination teams have reached the milestone of getting 500,000 vaccine shots in arms in under a month, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said Thursday. In a major COVID-related development outside the U.S., Thailand government delayed its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports that people who received vaccine shots in in Denmark and Austria had experienced blood clot side effects. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The military is to support the rollout of the local Covid-19 vaccination programme. Northern Ireland received its largest delivery of jabs this week ahead of the planned opening of a mass vaccination centre at Belfasts SSE Arena within weeks. Officials hope to be able to administer 40,000 shots a week. It is unclear what role the military will play and whether personnel will be involved in logistics, providing a supporting role at vaccination centres, or if they will administer the vaccine. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: I authorised the deployment of 100 defence medics to support the vaccine rollout in Northern Ireland from the end of this month. Our Armed Forces are once again stepping up to support the UKs response to the pandemic, working around the clock to protect our people in all four corners of the nation. The Department of Health has been contacted for comment. Official figures released on Friday suggested the Kent variant of the virus now the dominant strain in Northern Ireland was hindering attempts to bring the pandemic under control. The number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 over the past seven days rose by 6% compared to the previous week. According to the Department of Healths daily dashboard, 1,311 new cases were diagnosed over the past seven days, compared to 1,238 over the previous seven-day period. A department spokesman said: Data suggests that the B-117 (Kent) variant now accounts for 80% of infections That means in circumstances where people are having more contacts, the epidemic will grow even more quickly than it has done previously. This is something that we all need to be cognitive of as we gradually begin to ease out of restrictions in the weeks and months ahead. The Office for National Statistics weekly Covid bulletin, also released on Friday, showed more people in Northern Ireland were infected with the virus than in Scotland and Wales at the end of last week. But there were fewer people here infected than in England, where one in 270 was infected. The report said: In Northern Ireland, the percentage of people testing positive appears to have levelled off in the week ending March 6. We estimate that 5,900 people in Northern Ireland had Covid-19, equating to around one in 310 people. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) also released its weekly bulletin on Friday morning. It showed another decline in the number of people losing their lives as a result of Covid-19. There were 22 local Covid deaths recorded between February 23 and March 5, down from 44 the previous week. It was the sixth week in a row in which there was a drop in the number of death certificates citing coronavirus. According to Nisra, there have been 2,845 Covid-related deaths in Northern Ireland since the start of the pandemic. A further 208 new cases and one death were recorded in the past 24 hours. However, the number of Covid-19 inpatients is falling down to 156 from two months ago, when there were 751. The seven-day case rate has also dropped considerably since then, falling to 1,311 from 8,802 on January 12. SALEM, Ore. Today Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 21-06, requiring all Oregon public schools to offer universal access to hybrid or full in-person instruction by the weeks of March 29th for grades K-5, and April 19 for grades 6-12. This executive order was anticipated, Gov. Brown announced she would be issuing the executive order in a letter to the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority last week. On March 12, 2020, I issued my executive order closing Oregon schools for what was then an extended spring break, said Governor Brown. One year later, thanks to the hard work and smart choices of Oregonians to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, I am so pleased to see over 174,000 students back in the learning environment that serves them best: in-person instruction. While parents can keep their children in distance learning if they choose, this order will give every Oregon student the option to return to school this year. Oregon Department of Education is expected to release updated Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance for school districts early next week, before the March 19 deadline set by the Governor. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the state's capital city and the county where it is located for not lifting coronavirus mask mandates. Paxton's lawsuit filed Thursday accused the City of Austin and Travis County of maintaining requirements for mask use in public after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott rolled back the mask regulation and all other pandemic-related controls over business operations statewide, Fox News reported. The lawsuit came a day after Paxton threatened to file the action in a letter Wednesday over the refusal of city and county leaders to drop local mask mandates. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a panel discussion during the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 27 in Orlando, Florida Paxton's letter said state law 'supercedes' local ordinances and has the full force of the state's authority. The top law enforcement officer in Texas gave the city and county a deadline of 6pm Wednesday to 'rescind any local mask mandates or business-operating restrictions.' The right to impose COVID-19 business restrictions in Texas is 'expressly reserved to private businesses on their own premises,' Paxton said. Under the governor's order lifting mask restrictions, which took effect Wednesday, local officials cannot impose restrictions related to the coronavirus, Paxton said. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced his lawsuit against Austin and Travis County in a Twitter post Paxton sent a letter to the mayor of Austin and a Travis County judge to warn them of the impending lawsuit if they did not rescind local mask mandates by 6 p.m. on March 10 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces the reopening of more Texas businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic at a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, in May 2020 Paxton's letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown reminded them the state previously brought a similar lawsuit against the city and county and prevailed against them. Austin is known as a Democratic stronghold in the majority Republican state. Adler said in an interview Thursday he expected Paxton to file the lawsuit, but he did not plan to back down. Austin businesses asked Adler to keep the mask mandate in place to shield them from blame for requiring customers to wear masks, he said. Gail Diberardinis walks past an Austin Motel sign encouraging people to 'March On and Mask Up' on March 10 in Austin, Texas Austin Mayor Steve Adler speaks during a press conference in Austin, Texas, on March 6 Adler, a Democrat, previously criticized Abbott's plans to reopen the state. 'Wearing a mask doesn't slow down opening up businesses. It doesn't slow down getting more and more children in school in person,' Adler said in an interview Saturday. 'The health folks here in Texas seem to be pretty unanimous that wearing masks helps minimize the risk that we're not going to be able to open up schools or open up businesses,' Adler said. Hemline Austin employee Farrah Graham, left, helps Katherine Kemin of Kansas City with her merchandise on March 10 in Austin, Texas Jon Murphy works out at Hyde Park Gym on March 10 in Austin, Texas. The Austin City Council announced its order Tuesday to maintain the city's mask mandate in public places The Austin City Council announced its order Tuesday to maintain the city's mask mandate despite the governor's order to lift the statewide rule. City officials said the decision stemmed from recommendations by Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott. 'In Austin, we're committed to saving lives. Period,' Austin City Councilmember Greg Casar said. 'If state officials don't want to do their jobs protecting people from the virus, then we will.' 'This action is both legal and the right thing to do,' Casar said. 'If state officials choose to sue, they'll be going out of their way to harm the health of Texans.' GRAND RAPIDS, MI More protests against racism and police brutality are being planned, according to activists arrested Monday by Grand Rapids police during a demonstration calling for the conviction of a former Minneapolis officer charged in George Floyds death. Justice for Black Lives leaders and other activists held a press conference Tuesday, March 9, saying they were targeted by police to try to silence them. But the police say they werent targeted but arrested for illegally blocking the roadway and peaceful protests are supported and encouraged. Related: Protestors say targeted arrests made at George Floyd rally, Grand Rapids police deny claim We are not thugs or the looters and rioters they would like to deem us as, we are simply community members wanting to see justice for George Floyd and accountability within our policing system worldwide, said Alyssa Bates, founder and president of Justice for Black Lives, who was among those arrested on misdemeanor charges. Floyd, a Black man, died May 26, 2020 after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, after taking him into custody for allegedly using a fake $20. His death, caught on tape, sparked protests, and riots worldwide. Jury selection began this week in Chauvins trial. Bates said every police department has a Chauvin, including the Grand Rapids Police Department. Until we see transparency and accountability, and until GRPD is defunded, we will continue to be out here applying pressure because once again, we will not be silenced, said Bates, during the press conference on Calder Plaza outside the city hall. Cristian Bartolo, who was also arrested, said the arrests were meant to scare Black and Brown communities from using their all important voice.' They know summer is coming up, they know the anniversaries of all these people who were mercilessly murdered by police are coming up, and theyre trying to scare us away from coming out and showing solidarity with other cities, said Bartolo, who referenced the deaths Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a Grand Rapids native. Grand Rapids Police Sgt. Dan Adams said Tuesday, I think our office and the police chief has demonstrated that we support the right of people to assemble peacefully.' Saturday, March 13 is the anniversary of Breonna Taylors fatal shooting by the Louisville, KY police. An event hosted by Family Over Everything, that includes a 1-mile march, is planned for 3 p.m. downtown at 135 Monroe Center. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was shot and killed when Louisville police used a search warrant at her home to look for a suspect who did not live there. 16 Justice for Black Lives hosts press conference about March 8 arrests More on MLive: Walk-in clinic aims to vaccinate more than 1K veterans in single day in West Michigan Michigan crosses 600,000 mark for new coronavirus cases, reports 7 new deaths High-poverty Michigan school districts awarded $3M to help improve reading, writing skills In a communication to telecom operators, DoT said as the licensor, it has amended the Unified Access Services Licence Agreement and added a clause under security conditions. New Delhi: Spelling the end of Chinese equipment in Indian telecom networks, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated that from June 15 this year telecom operators will only use "trusted products" in their networks. "With effect from June 15, 2021, the licensee shall only connect Trusted Products in its network and also seek permission from designated authority for upgradation of existing network utilizing the telecommunication equipment not designated as Trusted Products. "However, these directions will not affect ongoing annual maintenance contracts (AMC) or updates to existing equipment already inducted in the network as on date of effect," the DoT said. As per the amended clause, "The government through the designated authority will have the right to impose conditions for procurement of telecommunication equipment on grounds of defence of India,or matters directly or indirectly related thereto, for national security. "Designated Authority for this purpose shall be National Cyber Security Coordinator. In this regard, the licensee shall provide information as and when asked by the Designated Authority". "Designated Authority shall notify the categories of equipment for which the security requirement related to trusted sources are applicable. For the said categories of equipment, Designated Authority shall notify the trusted sources along with the associated Telecommunication Equipment (Trusted Products). "The designated authority may also notify a list of designated sources from whom procurement may not be done. Procurement for inclusion of telecommunication equipment in the list of trusted sources will be issued by the Designated Authority," DoT said to operators. Once implemented, the move would make it difficult for Chinese telecom equipment suppliers like Huawei or ZTE to procure supply orders from the Indian telecom players such as Jio, Airtel or Vodafone Idea. Huawei and ZTE have been under global scrutiny for allegedly installing "backdoor" vulnerabilities in a desperate bid to do spying for the Chinese government. In the wake of the India-China border tensions, the government's action plan on telecom front seems much appreciated and awaited by the Central security and intelligence agencies. But legal experts said the agreement might make it even harder to seat an impartial jury in the case against Mr. Chauvin, which was already a challenge because of the attention given to Mr. Floyds death and the intense demonstrations that followed. In the first four days of jury selection this week, nearly all of the potential jurors said they had seen the video of his arrest, including all but one of the seven selected for the trial so far. Mary Moriarty, the former chief public defender in Minneapolis, said that the timing could hardly be worse for the court case and that Mr. Chauvins lawyers might even ask for a mistrial. She added that the defense team might have reason to worry that jurors views could be affected by the deal, if they saw it as an indication that Mr. Chauvins actions were inappropriate. Mr. Chauvins lawyer and a spokesman for the state attorney generals office, which is prosecuting the case, did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Minneapolis said the settlement was independent and separate from the criminal trial underway. The large payment was a sign of the magnitude of the response to Mr. Floyds death, which led to protests in hundreds of cities, changes in local and state laws and a reckoning over racism and police abuse. In Minneapolis, a police station and many businesses were burned over several nights of unrest. More and more of the United States has relaxed restrictions on indoor dining, but the number of states allowing workers in the restaurant industry to get a Covid-19 vaccine has been slow to rise. Almost every state is vaccinating some subset of essential workers, following a recommendation by a committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the rollout of the vaccine to workers in the restaurant industry has been inconsistent. Only about a third of states at least 17 have allowed some restaurant workers to get shots, according to a New York Times survey, though some workers are only eligible in certain counties. In comparison, at least 26 states and Washington, D.C., have begun allowing grocery store workers to be vaccinated. Tamara Ecclestone uploaded a delightful photo with her family in the Maldives on Friday as she celebrated her husband Jay Rutland's 40th birthday and thanked him for being her 'anchor'. The mother-of-two, 36, looked content and at ease, as she posed in front of the setting sun on the picturesque beach. She rested her six-month-old daughter Serena in a baby carrier while her eldest child Sophia, six, cheerfully grinned next to her. Family: Tamara Ecclestone uploaded a delightful photo with her family in the Maldives on Friday as she celebrated her husband Jay Rutland's 40th birthday and thanked him for being her 'anchor' Tamara nailed holiday glamour in an off-the-shoulder broderie anglaise dress while Jay stood proudly in a teal polo shirt and white shorts. The daughter of Bernie Ecclestone captured the sweet Instagram photo: 'Yesterday we celebrated the best husband and daddy turning 40. 'The past year has been a very special one we completed our family. Thank you for always looking out for me @jayrutland and being our anchor.' Just one day earlier, Tamara and her husband Jay went swimming with dolphins. Couple: The mother-of-two, 36, looked content and at ease, as she enjoyed the trip abroad with her husband and their two children, Serena, six months, and Sophia, six Love: Just one day earlier, Tamara and her husband Jay went swimming with dolphins The mother-of-two looked incredible in a sexy low-cut swimsuit as she and Jay held hands while snorkelling underwater for a sweet Instagram photo. Jay posted the picture and wrote: 'Celebrating my 40th Birthday yesterday swimming with Dolphins and @tamaraecclestoneofficial.' The couple, who have been permitted to travel because they are currently living in G'Staad and not the UK, have been sharing lots of content from their trip. Jay also shared a video on his Stories of how beautiful the beach was looking as his family swam in the clear blue waters. Tamara was holding little Serena who was lovingly placed in a sunhat, while little Sophia, also known as Fifi, swam nearby wearing pink love-heart sunglasses. Lovely: The mother-of-two looked incredible in a sexy low-cut swimsuit Home is where the heart is: Jay also shared a picture of this hut which could be where the family are staying It appears the couple flew to the Maldives after an extended break in Dubai. Tamara has barely been back to their UK home since June and her husband admitted concerns over his family's safety was one reason they had not been back more. Jay revealed to MailOnline that the family have no plans to return to London following the dramatic security lapse that led to a multi-million pound jewel heist at her West London home in December 2019. Previously speaking from Dubai about their plans, Jay told MailOnline: 'We do not intend to return to the UK from Dubai. Not breaking any rules: The family have been permitted to travel because they are currently living in G'Staad and not the UK and have no plans to return for now Happy days: Tamara looked the picture of happiness as she covered her baby while Sophia splashed around by her side 'There are a host of reasons why we are not going back to London any time soon and security is one of them. The truth is we are playing it month by month and watching how the situation develops.' Jay denied he and Tamara had broken travel restrictions as he explained: 'We have not broken the lockdown rules to come to Dubai, that is not what we have done. 'At the beginning of the outbreak last year we really stuck to the rules. 'From March to May we locked down and did not leave the house [in London]. We went to Croatia in [June] the summer, but that was only after the rules changed and everyone was allowed to travel. 'From there we went to Switzerland and we stayed there until Christmas when we came here to Dubai.' Making memories: The family were in Dubai before heading to the Maldives Special time: Tamara looked enamoured with the latest addition to the family A man, teenager and woman are accused of intentionally setting a fire at a building in Lowell that killed a person, injured six others and displaced dozens of people last month, according to authorities. Twenty-year-old Julian Boykins, 16-year-old Alexander Gaye and 19-year-old Tanya Karadanis have all been charged in connection with the fatal blaze that started at a home at 98 Westford St. and spread to two other neighboring structures Feb. 10, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryans office said in a statement. The fire claimed the life of third-floor resident Em Chak and injured three other tenants, two Lowell firefighters and one police officer. The blaze also left more than 50 people displaced, according to the statement. Boykins and Gaye, who are both from Lowell, have been charged with murder, arson of a dwelling, three counts of armed assault to murder, injury to a firefighter, intimidation of a witness and conspiracy. Karadanis, a Dracut resident, has been charged with evidence tampering and conspiracy, the district attorneys office said. While Boykins and Karadanis have already been arrested, authorities said they are still actively searching for Gaye. Anyone with information about his whereabouts has been urged to contact Lowell police. In the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 10, first responders were sent to Westford Street for a three-alarm fire at an apartment building that had spread to two adjacent buildings by around 3:15 a.m., according to Ryans office. The roof of the home where the blaze broke out eventually collapsed, WHDH reported. Based on the initial investigation into the fire, the State Fire Marshals office determined the fire was likely set intentionally by someone who placed an open flame near available combustibles, the prosecutors office said. Authorities claimed surveillance video from the area of the blaze on Feb. 10 showed Boykins and Gaye going to the Westford Street apartment building together and entering the back entrance before the building became engulfed in flames. According to the district attorneys office, the footage also showed the man and teenager leaving the scene in a small, four-door sedan. The two individuals are accused of traveling to the building intending to set a trash bag on fire before speeding away from the scene, Ryans office said. Police found additional surveillance video on Feb. 17 of the sedan at a gas station on Merrimack Street in Lowell. Later that day, officers located the car with Boykins in the passenger seat. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant unrelated to the fatal blaze, according to the prosecutors office. While Boykins was in police custody, he was talking with his girlfriend, Karadanis. During that time, he is accused of telling her to remove the SIM card from his phone and destroy it to get rid of evidence in the case, the district attorneys office said. Ryans office noted Karadanis tried to destroy the evidence as instructed and has subsequently been charged in connection with those actions. Boykins and Karadanis were arrested Thursday at a home on Pawtucket Street in Lowell without incident. Boykins is expected to be arraigned Friday in Lowell District Court, the prosecutors office said. Karadanis was already arraigned Thursday. Her bail was set at $5,000 cash, and she was ordered to stay away from and have no contact with any victims or codefendants and submit to GPS monitoring. Her next court date is March 15, according to the district attorneys office. Gaye has yet to be found and arrested. He is described as thin and 5 feet, 8 inches tall. The suspect is believed to be in the greater Lowell area, authorities said. Related Content: One person killed in Lowell fire, 2 others seriously injured San Francisco, March 12 : A new study has found that there was nearly a 150 per cent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes across major cities in the US in 2020, while overall hate crimes fell by 7 per cent. The study, titled "Report to the Nation: Anti-Asian Prejudice & Hate Crime", has been conducted by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism (CSHE) at the California State University, San Bernardino, Xinhua news agency reported. Based on police department statistics in 16 cities, it will be released later this month, according to the CSHE, which posted fact sheets about the research on the university's official website on Thursday. New York City saw the highest jump, rising from 3 to 28, Boston and Los Angeles followed, with increases from 6 to 14, and 7 to 15 respectively, the report said, noting that the first spike occurred in March-April 2020 amid a rise in Covid-19 cases and negative stereotyping of Asians relating them to the pandemic. CBS News on Thursday said that the report could not show the overall picture of hate acts happening across the country, since the data cited by the research was limited to crimes reported to local police departments. More racist attacks aiming at Asians were called as "hate incidents", which was defined by the Department of Justice as acts of prejudice that are not crimes. The number of such attacks was also on the rise last year. More than 2,800 of these hate incidents targeting Asian-Americans had been reported in 47 states and the District of Columbia since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Stop AAPI Hate, a non-profit group formed in 2020. AAPI refers to Asia- Americans and Pacific Islanders. The AAPI population in the country was estimated at 24.2 million. "These recent incidents are stark reminders that urgent action must be taken to protect our AAPI community from hate, discrimination and violence." the group noted on its website, which allows its users to report such incidents. To fight the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes, the California legislature on February 23 enacted the AB 85 law which includes funding of $1.4 million specifically to support Stop AAPI Hate's website, analysis and research. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board voted unanimously to approve a motion to immediately identify funding to expand the county's anti-hate program, "LA vs. Hate", in an effort to combat hate against the AAPIs. The Los Angeles metro area contains one of the densest Asian populations in the US, with 11.3 per cent identifying as Asian. Turkey is trying to pull Egypt to Ankara's side in the energy rivalry over the eastern Mediterranean by sending constructive signals to Cairo after Turkish hard power tactics in the region failed to bear fruit. Yet Turkeys courtship seems remains unrequited as Egypt has yet to directly respond to Ankaras advances. Ankaras foreign policy, which is based on the Blue Homeland doctrine calling for a more aggressive posture on maritime rights, envisages that Turkey should mend ties with Egypt and Israel to counter the Cyprus-Greece blocs territorial claims in the eastern Mediterranean. From Ankaras vantage point, Egypt could secure a greater maritime jurisdiction area in the contested waters by reaching a maritime deal with Turkey and withdrawing from the deal it reached with Greece and Cyprus. The rapprochement between Egypt and Turkey during the election of Libyas new interim leaders has raised expectations for a possible partnership between the two countries over the eastern Mediterranean, and a fresh sign from Cairo has further encouraged Ankara to push for its goal. On Feb. 18, Cairo announced a new bid round for hydrocarbon exploration in some blocks in the eastern Mediterranean, including in Block 18, a disputed area between Turkey and Greece. A map published along with the announcement was in line with Turkeys self-proclaimed continental shelf boundaries in the disputed waters. This is a very important development, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, hailing the map during Turkeys Blue Homeland naval exercise. We have many shared historical and cultural values with Egypt, he added, hinting that the coming days could see further progress on the matter. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also weighed in, saying Turkey could negotiate a maritime demarcation deal with Egypt. Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also confirmed Ankara's willingness to advance its ties with Cairo. A new chapter can be opened, a new page can be turned in our relationship with Egypt as well as other Gulf countries to help regional peace and stability, Kalin told Bloomberg. Egypt is an important country in the Arab world, I mean it still remains the brain of the Arab world, the heart of the Arab world. Turkeys official Anadolu New Agency argued that the Egyptian map released for the tender announcement was a manifestation of Cairos acknowledgment of Turkey's territorial claims in the disputed waters and its willingness to negotiate a maritime deal with Ankara. Greece, in turn, promptly moved to reinforce its relationship with Egypt. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on March 4 to discuss bilateral issues, especially in energy and east Mediterranean cooperation. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias traveled to Cairo and met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on March 8. The top diplomats stressed strong bilateral relations and friendship during the meeting, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. Judging by the reports of Turkeys pro-government media, Greece was alarmed by the warm breezes between Egypt and Turkey. While the Turkish officials' remarks might have been aiming to prepare the Turkish public to a potential normalization with the Sisi administration, Ankaras optimism seems to be misleading for a number of reasons. First, Block 8 one of nine blocks that Egypt launched a tender for in the eastern Mediterranean in February is to the east of the 28th meridian and hence out of the scope of the maritime demarcation deal Egypt and Greece agreed on in August 2020. The agreement, which aimed at countering a controversial maritime deal reached between Ankara and Libyas Tripoli government, covers an area between the 26th and 28th meridians. Egypt limited the scope of this deal to the 28th meridian as it claims no right to the east of this meridian where Athens and Ankara have overlapping territorial claims, including the maritime boundaries of the Greek island of Kastellorizo just off the coast of Turkey. Thus, the map of the tender Cairo published wasnt an indication of a dramatic shift in the Egyptian stance over the disputed waters. Furthermore, following Dendias talks in Cairo, the Egyptian government updated the map accompanying the tender announcement, redrafting the boundaries of Block 8 and removing the parts of it that extended to the west of the 28th meridian. Turkish foreign policy analyst Aydin Sezer said Egypt was tacitly supporting Greeces territorial claims over the east of the 28th meridian by updating the map. The maritime deal between Egypt and Greece is not an obstacle to a separate maritime one between Turkey and Egypt. Yet Cairos intention to keep the maritime deal it reached with Greece and Cyprus limits the area it can negotiate with Turkey to between the 28th and 30th meridians. This in turn means Turkeys goal to team up with Egypt to counter Cyprus' and Greeces territorial claims would go down the drain as the maritime deal Ankara reached with the Tripoli government overlaps with the deals Egypt reached with Cyprus and Greece. Retired Adm. Cihat Yayci, who is also known as the architect of the Blue Homeland doctrine, warned that a limited maritime deal with Egypt for the east of the 28th meridian would spell the collapse of the Libyan deal and a loss of some 40,000 square kilometers of territory in the disputed waters. Yaycis warning might be seen as an admission of the backlash over Ankaras controversial Libyan move. Sezer also concurred that such a deal would be a trap as it would legitimize Greece's and Cyprus territorial claims in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey is facing a situation in which high prices would be paid because of the missteps, he told Al-Monitor. The current impasse shows that Erdogans government has failed to foil the plans of Turkeys regional rival as he once claimed. While some Turkish officials have voiced cautious optimism, saying the technical talks between Ankara and Cairo were still ongoing, the Egyptian media reports indicate nothing much has changed on Egypt's part. Diplomatic sources told Egypts Al-Sharq that Cairo has no intention to negotiate a maritime deal with Turkey in the short run, adding that Cairo maintains its rejection of the maritime deal reached between Ankara and Libyas Government of National Accord. Moreover, Turkeys military presence in Libya, Ankaras support of the Muslim Brotherhood (which Cairo designated a terrorist organization) and Erdogans anti-Sisi posture still remain as major barriers to the improvement of ties. Although Erdogan has scaled down his angry outbursts against the Egyptian leader, the Turkish president still salutes his supporters with a Rabia sign marking the resistance of Muslim Brotherhood members. Unal Cevikoz, a former Turkish ambassador and now a senior member of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, said Ankaras failure to normalize diplomatic relations with Egypt a regional powerhouse in the Middle East and North Africa during the past eight has been a grave mistake on the Turkish governments part. Still, Cevikoz said it is never too late to mend relations and called for a complete overhaul in Ankaras Egypt policy. The gap [between the two countries] has widened because of a general blindness in Turkeys foreign policy and a tension-oriented approach over a dialogue-oriented one, Cevikoz told Al-Monitor. Closing this gap and establishing fair, equal and well-balanced ties with Egypt require highly serious efforts. A comprehensive approach is needed that extends well beyond the [goal of a] maritime demarcation deal. The Joint Forces had to fire back. The Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces has reported one wounded in action (WIA) amid four violations of the latest ceasefire agreement committed by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Thursday, March 11. "In the past day, March 11, four 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 12, 2021. In particular, the Russian occupation troops fired grenade launchers of various systems and automatic rifles toward Ukrainian positions near the village of Novozvanivka. "A serviceman with the Joint Forces was wounded amid shelling. He was rushed to the hospital where he received medical assistance," the report says. Read alsoDonbas merely "bargaining chip" for Russia in geopolitics Ukraine ministerAlso, the enemy used automatic grenade launchers near the village of Pyshchevyk, as well as rifles near the village of Talakivka. The Joint Forces had to fire back, the report said. The violations were reported to OSCE representatives through the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire in Donbas. Since Friday midnight, March 12, one ceasefire violation was recorded in the JFO zone. In particular, the enemy fired rifles near the village of Pisky. The Ukrainian military say the situation is under their 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 It wasnt just what he said at the rally, although I think that spoke for itself, she said. But it was what he did in the aftermath. Over the three or four hours of actual violent assaults, he doubled down. In her statement explaining her decision to impeach, she cited a call that Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader, made to Mr. Trump during the assault on Jan. 6, in which the top House Republican begged the president to go on television and call for an end to the mayhem. Mr. Trump declined to speak out. But in the weeks that followed, Ms. Herrera Beutler fleshed out that account in comments to constituents defending her vote, adding details that were more damaging to Mr. Trump. Those included accusations that the president had sided with the rioters during that phone call, telling Mr. McCarthy that the violent mob appeared to care more about the election than he did. The story generated headlines just as Mr. Trumps impeachment trial was drawing to a close, leading Ms. Herrera Beutler to make a statement on Feb. 12 reconfirming it and prompting the House impeachment managers to consider calling her as a witness. Though they quickly abandoned the idea, the episode opened her to attacks by Republicans closely allied with Mr. Trump. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a misinformation-spreading freshman from Georgia who was recently exiled from congressional committees, described her as The gift that keeps on giving to the Democrats and added, The Trump loyal 75 million are watching. Ms. Herrera Beutler, who was elected to her sixth term in November, was unbothered by the criticism, and more willing than most in her party to publicly single out its origins. She said she did not mind the judgment of fringe-y people whose whole political identity was tied to Mr. Trump, because Ive never been in that camp, and Im not going to win them back, she said. Im not exactly courting the white supremacy vote. Rampur : , March 12 (IANS) Samajwadi Party MP Mohd. Azam Khan has been granted permission to sell his double-barreled gun. Khan has sought permission to sell the firearm after the district administration issued a notice to him, saying he could not own more than two licensed firearms. Azam Khan, currently lodged at Sitapur jail along with son Abdullah Azam, owns a licensed revolver, a rifle and a double-barreled gun. He had written a letter to the district administration, seeking permission to sell his double-barreled gun. City Magistrate Ramji Mishra said, "The MP has been granted permission to sell his double-barreled gun. We have also informed Sitapur jail authorities of the permission granted to him. Earlier, the government had fixed the January deadline for surrendering extra firearms, but the date was later extended till June." The Union government had made amendments in the 1959 Arms Act last year, that restricted the number of firearms possessed by a person from three to two. Azam Khan's son Abdullah Azam owns a revolver, while his wife Tanzeen Fatma, also a MLA, owns a rifle. Official sources said after the amendment, notices were served to all those who had three firearms, following which several politicians have surrendered their weapons. A recent survey conducted in the United Kingdom showed that nearly all of the British women had been the victim of sexual harassment at some point in their lifetimes. U.Ks The Guardian said in a report that 80% of all women in Britain, and 97% of those aged between 18 and 24, said that they were sexually harassed in public spaces, in the survey released by the U.K. branch of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as the U.N. Women UK. The survey, which was conducted through British research and analytics firm YouGov, found that 97% of women did not report the incidents and 45% stated that nothing would change even if they did, showing that women U.K. had lost faith in the system and its ability to deal with sexual harassment cases. Executive director of the United Nations Women U.K, Claire Barnett said, in an interview with The Guardian, that the situation was a human rights crisis. She stated that young women changed their behavior frequently in an effort to stop people seeing them as objects and protect themselves from harassment while older women feared for their safety when leaving their homes at dark or in winter. Barnett said that while the survey in the U.K. was more encouraging compared to other countries it needed addressing nevertheless. Our problem now is that sometimes in the UK, we think we are a leading light in terms of progress, and we forget to work on the gender-based violence that still happens every day at home, especially to women and marginalized groups, said Barnett. This is a human rights crisis, Barnett said and added, It needs addressing now. Laura Bates, the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, a website aiming to document examples of sexism from around the world, stressed that it was no surprise that women did not have faith in a broken system. Bates said that women who reported incidents of sexual harassment were likely to find themselves on the front page of tabloids and that they would be suggested to have overreacted. She stated that considering these factors it was normal for young women to think that they wouldn't be taken seriously if they came forward. New Delhi: At least three Pakistani Rangers were killed in a retaliatory firing by Border Security Force (BSF) after the former violated ceasefire along LoC in Sunderbani area of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. The Pakistani ranger started firing heavy mortar shells and bullets on the forward Indian posts after which the BSF gave a efitting reply to the unprovoked cross border attack. No Jawan was reported injured in the attack. "Today Pakistan resorted to unprovoked to ceasefire violation and fired four 51mm mortar and two 81mm mortar shells towards the forward Indian posts in Dewra village of Rajouri's Sunderbani district," a BSF spokesperson said. Also Read | Pulwama encounter: 1 terrorist gunned down, 2 others holed up; 8 security personnel lose life At around 2:50 PM on Saturday, the Pakistani Rangers also resorted to unprovoked firing in Pargwal area of Jammu region. The BSF adequately replied to indescrimite firing by Pak Rangers. More details were awaited. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Is Newport Beachs Quality of Life Sinking? Leaders Discuss During Forum Leaders in Newport Beach gathered at a webinar on March 10 to discuss whether the coastal citys living standards have been declining. In the last year, weve seen a worldwide pandemic leading to an unprecedented societal shutdown, affecting our workplaces, schools, and places of worship, said Newport Beach Police Department Deputy Chief Steve Rasmussen, who moderated the forum. Weve experienced riots, social unrest, and calls to defund the police despite the chaos. And finally, weve seen heightened political polarization leading to escalating conflicts between both neighbors and even old friends. The conventional wisdom is that all of these challenges have led to a reduction in quality of life for many Americans. However, the troubles the city faced have not translated into a higher crime rate. Last years crime report was almost dead even with 2019, Rasmussen said. As well, 2019 and 2020 saw more than a 10 percent reduction below the citys five-year average for crime. Hope for the Homeless Natalie Basmacyian, homeless coordinator for the city managers office, discussed how the homeless population has been faring during the pandemic. The new bridge center in Costa Mesa off Airway Avenue will open in April, and Newport Beachs homeless residents will begin moving into it in May. The bridge shelter and other newly opened shelters in Orange County provide a safe and stable environment for people experiencing homelessness to leave the streets and the public spaces in Newport Beach, she said. This opportunity allows people to have formal case management, job resources, hot meals, a place to store belongings, and really stabilize and focus on the ultimate goal, which is to find appropriate housing. Rental Challenges The forum also discussed the difficulties residents are having dealing with troublesome short-term rentals, and how the city has added further restrictions and services in an attempt to address those concerns. The city received an increased number of complaints in 2020, according to Code Enforcement Supervisor John Murray. As a result, the city council then increased fines for violations from $250 to $1,000 on short-term rental owners. Additionally, a second violation in a 12-month period will result in a suspension hearing, with a third violation resulting in a revocation hearing for the permit. A lot of the complaints we heard prior to this was that code enforcement staff only worked business hours during the week, Murray said. So, weve brought on a contract staff officer, she works 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Monday morning, and she has a phone on her, so if you call our code enforcement main line on a Sunday night at 2 a.m., you will have a live person answer and she will respond. The forum was hosted by Speak Up Newport. A 12-year-old boy has been arrested after a man was stabbed on an East London street. Police were called out to Marlands Road in Ilford just before 4pm on Thursday following reports of assault. A 20-year-old man was rushed to hospital with a stab wound. He remains in a serious but stable condition. A 20-year-old man is in hospital after he was allegedly stabbed with a knife in Marlands Road, Ilford, on Thursday afternoon. A 12-year-old boy remains in police custody The alleged stabbing happened on a leafy residential street just a short walk from a secondary school, nursery and a junior school. Officers recovered a knife from the scene. A Met Police spokesman said: 'Police were called at 15:54hrs on Thursday, 11 March to reports of an assault on Marlands Road in Ilford. 'Officers attended and found a 20-year-old man suffering from a stab wound. He was taken by the London Ambulance Service to an east London hospital. He remains in a serious but stable condition. 'A 12-year-old boy was arrested nearby in connection with the assault. He remains in custody at an east London police station. 'Enquiries continue.' It disrupts our sleep and our lives and it takes days, if not weeks, to set things straight. The dreaded spring forward. Daylight saving time. It may extend daylight, but it does nothing to ease the upheaval it creates every year. The time change comes at 2 a.m. Sunday, so be prepared, again, to lose an hour of sleep, and be prepared, furthermore, to lose it forever, unless you count the fall back next autumn as restitution. Why do we do this to ourselves? Arizona gets this one right these are words almost no one ever says. But when it comes to changing our clocks, Texas should be like Arizona and not do it. The very thought of Daylight Saving Time seemed to give a lot of people a terrible headache, Michael Downing wrote about his research for his book, Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time. Historians believe that New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, annoyed that the scant daylight disrupted his study of bugs during the summer, proposed the time switch in 1895. Politicians ridiculed the idea, but the reception was less fortunate in America, where the time change was believed to help farmers work their fields. Long before it became a reality, Benjamin Franklin was an early proponent, saying it would encourage the economy of using sunshine instead of candles, according to Downing. While saving energy is touted as the primary reason behind daylight saving time, some scientists believe the benefits are minimal. In the vast scheme of things, the energy saving is not the big driver, Stanton Hadley, a senior researcher who helped prepare a report to Congress on daylight saving time in 2007, told the website Live Science. Its people wanting to take advantage of that light time in the evening. But does Texas need that? Rendered permanent by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, daylight saving time has been around for 100 years and may be around for 100 more unless politicians act. Senators have introduced a bill to address the problem, the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end daylight saving time by making it the year-round standard. Were in the standard time camp we like light in the mornings. But whatever it takes to avoid the biannual changes and fatigue. In Texas, lawmakers have filed bills in the House and Senate to abolish daylight saving time. It is antiquated, they say, and it seems to aggravate many of their constituents. The problem is that legislators have considered similar bills for years, and nothing has changed. One argument in favor of retaining daylight saving time involves health benefits. But there is no solid evidence to suggest a positive effect. Some researchers argue the extra daylight enhances mental health, while other researchers argue the opposite, maintaining that the disruption creates an imbalance that harms our emotional equilibrium. About 150,000 Americans experience health problems caused by the time changes, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health. They include mood swings, emotional shifts with which most of us are acquainted. The more serious effects are alarming, including strokes and heart attacks. Its really all about that crossover between biology and social life and how it affects our circadian rhythms, Dr. Jennifer Ashton, chief medical correspondent for ABC News, said. In other words, make the most of that second cup of coffee after you straggle out of bed Sunday. Lets either fall back one more time or never spring forward again. Lanesborough Town Employees Seek Formal Process for Resident Complaints LANESBOROUGH, Mass. -- Town Hall employees are seeking protections similar to those of other municipal departments when it comes to resident complaints. At a meeting of the Selectmen on Monday, Town Clerk Diane Stevens presented their concerns along with a proposal for a more formal, professional process for such complaints, based on best practices observed in many other municipalities. "When someone makes a complaint against a police officer or a DPW employee, they're afforded the opportunity to meet in executive session, names are not aired in a public meeting," Stevens pointed out, saying workers at Town Hall are seeking a formal process where complaints are filed in writing, and investigated by Human Resources. If further action is needed, it can the be discussed by the Select Board in executive session, instead of "being bashed on television." All too often, she said, Selectmen and members of other boards and commissions will simply address rumors they've heard with sweeping statements about town employees. "When you say, 'town hall employees,' there's like five of us here," stated Stevens, who told the board that it is damaging to the reputations of those employees when they make blanket statements, especially when based on anonymous comments that can't be responded to. "I feel like some of that is directed pointedly at me," said Selectman Michael Murphy, who acknowledged he has made general statements about town employees, but welcomes the idea of a formal policy. "I don't have any objection to a complaint form." Stevens has provided Selectmen members with examples of complaint forms and policy language from other towns and cities in Massachusetts, and with the board's blessing, will now begin drafting a local variation for them to review at their next meeting. In other town business: The Selectmen agreed Monday to hold off a little longer before reopening Town Hall to the public. Town Manager Kelli Robbins said currently, residents currently can call about anything they are unable to do online, and a staff member will meet them outside to assist them. "I do think it's better to be safe than sorry," said Selectman Gordon Hubbard. "As more people get vaccinated, over the next month or so, we may want to reconsider." Library Director Sheila Parks agreed with this, adding that Lanesborough residents have been asking a lot of questions of library staff and could probably use more information about how and when town buildings can be accessed. A date of March 16 has been set for a virtual public forum with Spectrum for Lanesborough residents to ask questions of the cable and internet provider. Selectman Michael Murphy will host and moderate the forum, held via Zoom at 6 p.m. Due to limited time, Murphy encourages residents to submit comments in advance, via a page on the town website. US President Joe Biden and Democrats hailed passage of historic pandemic relief this week, but other priorities which cleared the House including bolstering voting rights are likely destined for the "graveyard" of a 50-50 Senate. The latest big Democratic wins landed Thursday, when the House of Representatives passed two measures aimed at enhancing background checks for gun purchases and closing a loophole related to a deadly 2015 church shooting in Charleston. The bills address an overwhelmingly popular premise among American voters: that background checks be required for all US firearm sales, including those at gun shows. "A vote is what we need... not thoughts and prayers," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday. With Democrats in control, "the legislative graveyard is over." Easier said than done. The Senate is evenly divided, and Democrats control the chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris would cast the deciding vote in the event of a 50-50 tie. Even so, they are bumping up against an increasingly controversial Senate blocking tactic known as a filibuster, which allows the minority party to prevent a bill from advancing unless it wins support from 60 senators. That means much of Biden's early political to-do list faces a near impossible threshold for getting to his desk, even with both chambers of Congress controlled by Democrats. The House, under the guidance of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has passed initiatives to change policing policies, ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and expand union rights. Other bills in the pipeline like immigration reform, including a potential pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people, would also be subject to a 60-vote threshold. If Democrats are unable to convince a least 10 Republicans to get on board -- a heavy lift in heavily partisan Washington -- such legislation will languish in the Senate. Story continues - Fight over filibuster - The $1.9 trillion Covid relief package was able to pass by simple majority because Democrats used Senate budget reconciliation rules that allow legislation to bypass the filibuster if it is deemed relevant to federal spending. But with much of the rest of Biden's agenda under threat, several congressional Democrats have spoken up in favor of abolishing the filibuster altogether. Biden -- who served in the Senate for 36 years and cherishes its norms -- is hesitant to pull the pin on such a potent political grenade, preferring instead to seek common ground with rivals. "The president's preference is not to get rid of the filibuster," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters this week. Filibuster use has already been narrowed. In 2013, when president Barack Obama's judicial nominees were being stalled by then-majority leader Mitch McConnell, Democrats took action. They invoked the so-called "nuclear option" which lowered the threshold to a simple majority for all judicial nominees and executive-office appointments -- but kept the 60-vote supermajority for Supreme Court picks. Republicans were irate at what they deemed a Democratic power grab. But in 2017, with the positions reversed and Donald Trump as president, McConnell engineered the removal of the filibuster for Supreme Court picks, too. Now debate swirls about ending the legislative filibuster, a move some critics warn would irrevocably change the deliberative nature of the Senate. Amid the stalemate, Schumer has already been branded the Senate's "cemetery caretaker." "Maybe we'll get the votes," he said of the background check bills. "And if we don't, we'll come together as a caucus and figure out how we're going to get this done." Meanwhile the Democrat in the spotlight is Senator Joe Manchin, who opposes killing the filibuster. Asked last week whether he could be swayed, the West Virginian lost his cool. "Never!" he shouted to a journalist. "Jesus Christ, what don't you understand about 'never'?" Manchin is the most conservative Democrat in the caucus, and has repeatedly warned his party about opening a Pandora's box on the filibuster. "What goes around comes around," he said according to The Hill. "Whatever you do here -- and you think you have the ability to do it by using the procedures and the rules -- it will come back around to you and it will hurt you." mlm/acb Pakistan-born actor Somy Ali's personal life was more in the news than her career in the film industry. The actress was dating superstar Salman Khan in the 90s, but the couple soon parted ways. Post her breakup, Somy bid goodbye to the film industry and returned back to her studies in the US. Recently, in a tete-a-tete with Peepmoon.com, Somy opened up about her short-lived acting career and called herself a 'pathetic actor.' She apologized to her former co-stars including Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Govinda, Mithun Chakraborty and others, and added that she is shocked how she worked in 10 films before quitting Bollywood. The Andolan actress was quoted as saying, "I myself am shocked on how I did 10 films. From Salman to Sanjay, to Saif to Chunky, to Govinda, to Mithun da, late Om Puri Ji, I send them my heartiest apologies for dealing with me as an actor and especially Mithun da with whom I did four films; he was so patient with me. Sunil, I am so sorry, I was the worst dancer." She further added, "I request all my directors and producers please forgive me. I had no interest in acting, I never went for dance rehearsals. Saroj ji used to be so mad at me all the time. I was so happy to work with her, she was amazing but I had no interest in acting. I never rehearsed my dialogues." Previously, in an interview with ETimes, Sony had admitted that she had made a lot of mistakes. The actress was quoted as saying, "I was exposed to things that as a teenager, no child should be exposed to. But I learnt a lot from those experiences. I also feel that I ruined some relationships because I was misguided by someone else. Other than that, I formed some amazing relationships." After quitting Bollywood, Somy found her true calling with her organisation, No More Tears, that helps people who are mentally or physically abused. ALSO READ: Somy Ali Says She Hasn't Spoken To Salman Khan In Many Years; 'There's A Time When You Should Move On' ALSO READ: Salman Khan's Ex Somy Ali Had Called Vivek Oberoi Insecure When He Was Dating Aishwarya Rai Bachchan HBO Max Plans Global Expansion This briefing has ended. Follow our latest coverage of markets, business and the economy. HBO Max plans to expand globally and add an ad-supported version. A recut of Justice League by Zack Snyder is among the films available on HBO Max as AT&T looks to build out its streaming service. Credit... Warner Bros. Pictures HBO Max is going global. The new streaming platform, currently only available to U.S. subscribers, will launch in 61 other markets starting in June. The company also plans to launch an advertising-driven streaming service in the United States at the same time. The announcements came Friday as part of a broader presentation outlining a set of goals for AT&T, which owns HBO. The company hopes to reach between 120 million and 150 million total customers for HBO Max and its traditional HBO TV channel by the end of 2025, a more ambitious target compared with its previous goal of 75 million to 90 million. The company also expects between 67 million and 70 million customers by the end of 2021. It had 61 million as of the end of December, but the number of people actually watching HBO Max is much smaller. About 41.5 million customers are in the United States, and of that group about 17.2 million have HBO Max accounts. That suggests that of the companys new subscriber target, not all of them will necessarily be streaming HBO Max. The company has a complicated setup around HBO Max. People can sign up for the service directly, and those who already pay for the premium cable channel through their cable or satellite provider also have access, but not everyone has set up their streaming account. The service is also offered for free or at a reduced price to AT&Ts wireless customers. The jump into international markets shows how aggressively AT&T needs to expand its streaming enterprise. The addition of an advertising-based service means the company sees an opportunity to capture the ad dollars that have started to move away from traditional television. Its unclear if the ad-supported version will be free or whether it will only be available at a reduced price from HBO Maxs current $15 per month cost. Jason Kilar, the chief executive of WarnerMedia, the unit that manages HBO, said the service is expected to start making money after 2025. It should generate about $15 billion in sales by that year, he added. HBO Max has become a key part of AT&Ts overall strategy to keep and grow mobile customers, so losing money is less of an immediate concern if it helps AT&T retain its core wireless subscribers. Mr. Kilar emphasized HBO Maxs value to the phone business, citing that 25 percent of HBO Max customers have come via AT&T. He ended his presentation with a cliche from the Warner Bros. film archives: Its the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Microsoft takes aim at Google as it supports bill to give news publishers more leverage over Big Tech. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:25 - 0:00 transcript Microsoft Executive Says Tech Consolidation Threatens Journalism Brad Smith, Microsofts president, told Congress he supports the Journalism Competition and Protection Act, which empowers news publishers to collectively bargain with online platforms like Facebook and Google. I think that you all are on the right path. Thats why Microsoft is endorsing the Journalism Competition and Protection Act, the J.C.P.A., to give news organizations the ability to negotiate collectively, including with Microsoft, because as presently drafted, we will be subject to its terms. I hope that the subcommittee will continue its work to think more broadly about the fundamental lack of competition, especially in search and digital advertising, that are at the heart of not just the decline in journalism, but the decline and challenge in many sectors of the economy. What were finding is that the big publishers are not interested in negotiating collectively. The three largest news organizations in Australia are all negotiating separately. It is the small publishers that are negotiating collectively. If this bill is passed, that means that these news organizations would be able to negotiate collectively with us. I assume that they will negotiate effectively with us. It is far bigger than us. It is far bigger than technology. It is more important than any of the products that any of us produce today. And lets hope that if a century from now people are not using iPhones or laptops or anything that we have today, journalism itself is still alive and well because our democracy depends on it. Brad Smith, Microsofts president, told Congress he supports the Journalism Competition and Protection Act, which empowers news publishers to collectively bargain with online platforms like Facebook and Google. Credit Credit... Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Lawmakers on Friday debated an antitrust bill that would give news publishers collective bargaining power with online platforms like Facebook and Google, putting the spotlight on a proposal aimed at chipping away at the power of Big Tech. At a hearing held by the House antitrust subcommittee, Microsofts president, Brad Smith, emerged as a leading industry voice in favor of the law. He took a divergent path from his tech counterparts, pointing to an imbalance in power between publishers and tech platforms. Newspaper ad revenue plummeted to $14.3 billion in 2018 from $49.4 billion in 2005, he said, while ad revenue at Google jumped to $116 billion from $6.1 billion. Even though news helps fuel search engines, news organizations frequently are uncompensated or, at best, undercompensated for its use, Mr. Smith said. The problems that beset journalism today are caused in part by a fundamental lack of competition in the search and ad tech markets that are controlled by Google. The hearing was the second in a series planned by the subcommittee to set the stage for the creation of stronger antitrust laws. In October, the subcommittee, led by Representative David Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island, released the results of a 16-month investigation into the power of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. The report accused the companies of monopoly behavior. This week, the committees two top leaders, Mr. Cicilline and Representative Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado, introduced the Journalism and Competition Preservation Act. The bill aims to give smaller news publishers the ability to band together to bargain with online platforms for higher fees for distributing their content. The bill was also introduced in the Senate by Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat of Minnesota and the chairwoman of that chambers antitrust subcommittee. Global concern is growing over the decline of local news organizations, which have become dependent on online platforms for distribution of their content. Australia recently proposed a law allowing news publishers to bargain with Google and Facebook, and lawmakers in Canada and Britain are considering similar steps. Mr. Cicilline said, While I do not view this legislation as a substitute for more meaningful competition online including structural remedies to address the underlying problems in the market it is clear that we must do something in the short term to save trustworthy journalism before it is lost forever. Google, though not a witness at the hearing, issued a statement in response to Mr. Smiths planned testimony, defending its business practices and disparaging the motives of Microsoft, whose Bing search engine runs a very distant second place behind Google. Unfortunately, as competition in these areas intensifies, they are reverting to their familiar playbook of attacking rivals and lobbying for regulations that benefit their own interests, wrote Kent Walker, the senior vice president of policy for Google. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Decrying Amazons woke values, Marco Rubio comes out in support of a union drive. Union members canvassing at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Ala. Credit... Lynsey Weatherspoon for The New York Times Senator Marco Rubio of Florida became the most prominent Republican leader to weigh in on the unionization drive at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., with a surprising endorsement of the organizing effort on Friday. The days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over, Mr. Rubio wrote in an opinion piece published in USA Today. Heres my standard: When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy I support the workers, he continues. And thats why I stand with those at Amazons Bessemer warehouse today. More than 5,800 workers at the Amazon warehouse, outside Birmingham, are voting by mail this month to decide whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Last week, President Biden posted a video message on Twitter referring to the vote in Alabama and espousing on the importance of unions in helping build the middle class, while excoriating employers who interfere in unionization efforts. He did not mention Amazon by name, but his remarks followed reports that the online retailer was engaged in aggressive anti-union tactics. We welcome support from all quarters, the unions president, Stuart Appelbaum, said in a statement. Senator Rubios support demonstrates that the best way for working people to achieve dignity and respect in the workplace is through unionization. This should not be a partisan issue. The unionization drive has also continued to attract backing from Democrats. A spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an email on Friday that she supported the workers in their effort. Mr. Rubio, who recalls marching in a union picket line with his father, a hotel bartender, accused Amazon of expressing woke values, while bowing to Chinese censorship. And he warned the company not to expect Republicans to come to its rescue and condone its anti-union efforts. Its workers are right to suspect that its management doesnt have their best interests in mind, Mr. Rubio wrote. Wealthy woke C.E.O.s instead view them as a cog in a machine that consistently prioritizes global profit margins and stoking cheap culture wars. The companys workers deserve better. Michael Corkery and Ant Groups C.E.O. resigns, months after China halted the fintech giants I.P.O. Simon Hu, the chief executive of Ant Group, at a conference in Shanghai in September. Mr. Hu asked to resign for personal reasons, the company said. Credit... Cheng Leng/Reuters The chief executive of Ant Group, the Chinese internet finance giant, has stepped down, the company said on Friday, a move that came in the middle of a business overhaul meant to address regulators concerns about its rapid growth. Ant said its chief executive, Simon Hu, had asked to resign for personal reasons. The companys chairman, Eric Jing, was named as Mr. Hus replacement, effective immediately. Mr. Jing, who will remain Ants chairman, previously served as chief executive until December 2019, when Mr. Hu took over the post. Hundreds of millions of people in China use Ants Alipay app to make everyday payments, sock away savings and shop on credit. Ant, which was spun out of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, has faced rising scrutiny from Chinas government, and officials scuttled the companys plans last year to go public in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company had been preparing to raise more than $34 billion by listing its shares in November, in what would have been the largest initial public offering on record. Instead, days before Ants shares were scheduled to begin trading, Chinese officials summoned company executives namely, Mr. Hu, Mr. Jing and Jack Ma, Alibabas co-founder to discuss regulation. The I.P.O. was halted soon after, and financial watchdogs said Ant had taken advantage of gaps in Chinas regulatory system and ordered it to revamp its business. Mr. Hu joined Alibaba in 2005 and was president of its cloud division from 2014 to 2018. He joined Ant as president that year before becoming chief executive in 2019. Mr. Jing, also an Alibaba veteran, has been Ants executive chairman since April 2018. They are both members of the Alibaba Partnership, the companys club of elite management partners. Two Ford family members join the automakers board. Ford Motor said two members of the Ford family have been nominated to join the automakers board of directors, replacing one family member who is retiring and an independent director who has chosen not to seek re-election. Alexandra Ford English, 33, daughter of Fords chairman, Bill Ford, and Henry Ford III, 40, son of Edsel B. Ford II, a current board member, are expected to be elected to the board by shareholders at the companys annual meeting on May 13. Both are great-great-grandchildren of Henry Ford, who founded the company in 1903. Ms. English is a director in corporate strategy at the company. Henry Ford III is a director in investor relations. They will replace Edsel Ford II, 72, who is retiring after being on the board since 1988, and John C. Lechleiter, 67, who joined Fords board in 2013 and is a former president of Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company. Although the Ford family only owns a small portion of the companys common stock, it retains effective control of the automaker though Class B shares with super-voting rights. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Shares of Coupang, the Amazon of South Korea, drift after its I.P.O. A banner for the South Korean retailer Coupang hung in front of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the day the companys shares began trading. Credit... Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange, via Associated Press The stock of Coupang, a start-up in South Korea that is sometimes called the Amazon of South Korea, drifted after trading publicly for the first time in New York on Thursday. Coupang the companys name is a mix of the English word coupon and pang, the Korean sound for hitting the jackpot was founded by a Harvard Business School dropout and has shaken up shopping in South Korea, an industry long dominated by huge, button-down conglomerates. The initial public offering raised $4.6 billion and valued Coupang at about $85 billion, the second-largest American tally for an Asian company after Alibaba Group of China in 2014. Coupangs shares rose 6.6 percent on Friday as trading began but ended the day down 2 percent. Coupang is South Koreas biggest e-commerce retailer, its status further cemented by people stuck at home during the pandemic and those in the country who crave faster delivery. In a country where people are obsessed with ppalli ppalli, or getting things done quickly, Coupang has become a household name by offering next-day and even same-day and dawn delivery of groceries and millions of other items at no extra charge. Lordstown Motors exaggerated interest in its electric vehicles, a short seller claims. The electric Endurance pickup truck made by Lordstown Motors. An investment firm claimed the company had inflated the number of orders for its pickup trucks. Credit... Tony Dejak/Associated Press Shares of Lordstown Motors, an electric-vehicle start-up, fell more than 19 percent on Friday after an investment firm claimed the company had inflated the number of orders for its pickup trucks and overstated its technological and production capabilities. The revelations are the latest to call into question the promises made by an electric vehicle company that has gone public by merging with a shell company that has a stock market listing, cash and no operating business. Lordstown, which gained prominence by buying a former General Motors factory in Ohio to make electric trucks for commercial users, completed its merger with a shell company and started trading on the stock market in October 2020. In a lengthy post on its website, the investment firm, Hindenburg Research, said that Lordstowns claim of having 100,000 pre-orders for its electric pickup truck included tens of thousands from small companies that do not operate fleets, and others who merely agreed to consider buying trucks but made no commitment to do so. Hindenburg said it had bet against Lordstowns stock by selling its shares short, a maneuver used by some professional investors when they believe a stock is overvalued and poised to fall. Our conversations with former employees, business partners and an extensive document review show that the companys orders are largely fictitious and used as a prop to raise capital and confer legitimacy, Hindenburg said. A Lordstown spokesman said, We will be sharing a full and thorough statement in the coming days, and when we do we will absolutely be refuting the Hindenburg Research report. One company that Lordstown said was prepared to buy 14,000 trucks, E Squared Energy, appears to be based in an apartment in Texas, have two employees and owns no vehicles. Hindenburg also unearthed a police report that showed a Lordstown prototype caught fire and burned to a shell during a test drive in January in Michigan. On Friday morning, Lordstown shares were trading at just over $14 a share, down from their close the previous day of $17.71. Former President Donald J. Trump hailed Lordstown in 2018 when it agreed to buy a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that General Motors had closed, and former Vice President Mike Pence participated in an unveiling of the companys truck in June. In September, Mr. Trump hosted Lordstowns chief executive, Steve Burns, at the White House and praised the companys technology. Hindenburg Research gained prominence last year when it released a report saying Nikola, an electric truck start-up, and its executive chairman, Trevor Milton, had mislead investors and exaggerated the capabilities of that companys technology. The revelations resulted in Mr. Miltons departure from Nikola, and prompted General Motors to scale back a partnership with the company. Nikola denied some of Hindenburgs claims but recently acknowledged to the Securities and Exchange Commission that Mr. Milton had made statements that were inaccurate in whole or in part. Target gives up some Minneapolis office space, moving to partial work-from-home model. Target will cease operations in the City Center building in downtown Minneapolis, relocating 3,500 employees. Credit... Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Target, a fixture in downtown Minneapolis, is giving up space in a large office building there, becoming the latest company to permanently allow its staff to spend more time working from home. The retailer told employees it would cease operations in the City Center building in downtown Minneapolis and that the 3,500 employees working there would relocate to other nearby offices, while also working from home part of the time. More than a quarter of Targets corporate employees in the Minneapolis area work in the City Center building. This change is driven by Targets longer-term headquarters environment that will include a hybrid model of remote and on-site work, allowing for flexibility and collaboration and ultimately, requiring less space, the company said Thursday. Office landlords across the country have been struggling to retain tenants as the pandemic drags on and companies realize their staff has been able to work effectively in a remote setting. Empty office buildings are putting a squeeze on city budgets, which are heavily reliant on property taxes. Salesforce, the software company based in San Francisco, adopted a flex model in which most of its employees would be able to come into the office one to three days a week. In a bet that more people would work from home after the pandemic ends, Salesforce acquired the workplace software company Slack in December. After the move, Target said it would still occupy about three million square feet of office space in the Minneapolis area. Its not easy to say goodbye to City Center, but the Twin Cities is still our home after all these years, Targets chief human resources officer, Melissa Kremer, said in an email to employees. Advertisement Continue reading the main story LinkedIn is pausing registrations for new members in China while it addresses legal concerns. Microsoft offices in Beijing. Microsoft owns LinkedIn, which has operated in China by conforming to the authoritarian governments tight restrictions on the internet. Credit... Wu Hong/EPA, via Shutterstock LinkedIn has stopped allowing people in China to sign up for new member accounts while it works to ensure its service in the country remains in compliance with local law, the company said this week, without specifying what prompted the move. A company representative declined to comment further. Unlike other global internet mainstays such as Facebook and Google, LinkedIn offers a version of its service in China, which it is able to do by hewing closely to the authoritarian governments tight controls on cyberspace. It censors its Chinese users in line with official mandates. It limits certain tools, such as the ability to create or join groups. It has given partial ownership of its Chinese operation to local investors. In 2017, the company blocked individuals, but not companies, from advertising job openings on its site in China after it fell afoul of government rules requiring it to verify the identities of the people who post job listings. The backdrop to the suspension of new user registrations is not clear. The government has previously blocked internet services that it believes to be breaking the law. In 2019, Microsofts Bing search engine was briefly inaccessible in China for unclear reasons. Microsoft also owns LinkedIn. Heres what happened in the markets today. United States The S&P 500 inched further into record territory on Thursday, rising 0.1 percent. The index gained 2.6 percent this week, its best weekly performance since early February. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.9 percent. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes jumped as much as 10 basis points, or 0.1 percentage points, to 1.64 percent, its highest level in more than a year. Higher interest rates and tighter central bank policies are now considered to be the single biggest threat to so-called risk assets, mainly stocks, according to a Bank of America survey of fund managers. Investors have grown concerned that the stimulus bill and economic rebound will trigger inflation, prompting central banks to pull back on stimulus measures. Europe The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.3 percent, while the FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 0.4 percent. Data published on Friday showed that the British economy declined 2.9 percent in January as the country entered its third lockdown, shut schools and left the European Union single market and customs union. Separate data for the same month showed the largest monthly drop in trade since records began in 1997. Exports to the European Union dropped 40 percent and imports fell nearly 30 percent. Some of the fall is because of stockpiling at the end of last year, but many businesses struggled to keep trading as they dealt with new customs requirements. Heres how the stimulus bill will help the middle class. Shoppers wait in line at an outlet mall in Southaven, Miss. on Saturday. Many Americans are set to benefit from the new economic relief plan. Credit... Rory Doyle for The New York Times The economic relief plan that is headed to President Bidens desk has been billed as the United States most ambitious antipoverty initiative in a generation. But inside the $1.9 trillion package, there are plenty of perks for the middle class, too. An analysis by the Tax Policy Center published this week estimated that middle-income families those making $51,000 to $91,000 per year would see their after-tax income rise by 5.5 percent as a result of the tax changes and stimulus payments in the legislation. This is about twice what that income group received as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Here are some of the ways the bill will help the middle class. Direct checks Americans will receive stimulus checks of up to $1,400 per person, including dependents. The size of the payments are scaled down for individuals making more than $75,000 and married couples earning more than $150,000. And they are cut off for individuals making $80,000 or more and couples earning more than $160,000. Those thresholds are lower than in the previous relief bills, but they will still be one of the biggest benefits enjoyed by those who are solidly in the middle class. Tax credits for parents The most significant change is to the child tax credit, which will be increased to up to $3,600 for each child under 6, from $2,000 per child. The credit, which is refundable for people with low tax bills, is $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17. The legislation also bolsters the tax credits that parents receive to subsidize the cost of child care this year. The current credit is worth 20 to 35 percent of eligible expenses, with a maximum value of $2,100 for two or more qualifying individuals. The stimulus bill increases that amount to $4,000 for one qualifying individual or $8,000 for two or more. Cheaper health insurance After four years of being on life support, the Affordable Care Act is expanding, a development that will largely reward middle-income individuals and families, since those on the lower end of the income spectrum generally qualify for Medicaid. Because the relief legislation expands the subsidies for buying health insurance, a 64-year-old earning $58,000 would see monthly payments decline to $412 from $1,075 under current law, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A rescue for pensioners One of the more contentious provisions in the legislation is the $86 billion allotted to fixing failing multiemployer pensions. The money is a taxpayer bailout for about 185 union pension plans that are so close to collapse that without the rescue, more than a million retired truck drivers, retail clerks, builders and others could be forced to forgo retirement income. The legislation gives the weakest plans enough money to pay hundreds of thousands of retirees their full pensions for the next 30 years. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The oil industry is avoiding the drill-and-pump cycle when oil prices rise. A drill ship contracted by ExxonMobil off the coast of Guayana in 2018. The temptation to produce more when prices rise has not disappeared completely, especially for countries like Guyana that want to pump as much oil as they can while oil is still valuable. Credit... Christopher Gregory for The New York Times Even as they are making more money thanks to the higher oil and gasoline prices, industry executives pledged at a recent energy conference that they would not expand production significantly. They also promised to pay down debt and hand out more of their profits to shareholders in the form of dividends. I think the worst thing that could happen right now is U.S. producers start growing rapidly again, Ryan Lance, chairman and chief executive of ConocoPhillips, said at the IHS CERAweek conference. Scott Sheffield, chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, a major Texas producer, predicted that American production would remain flat at 11 million barrels a day this year, compared with 12.8 million barrels immediately before the pandemic took hold. Even the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers like Russia surprised many analysts this month by keeping several million barrels of oil off the market, The New York Timess Clifford Krauss reports. OPECs 13 members and nine partners are pumping roughly 780,000 barrels of oil a day less than at the beginning of the year even though prices have risen by 30 percent in recent months. Chevron said this week that it would spend $14 billion to $16 billion a year on capital projects and exploration through 2025. That is several billion dollars less than the company spent in the years before the pandemic, as the company focuses on producing the lowest-cost barrels. So far, these guys are refusing to take the bait, said Raoul LeBlanc, a vice president at IHS Markit, a research and consulting firm. But he added that the investment decisions of American executives could change if oil prices climb much higher. Its far, far too early to say that this discipline will last. Photo: The Canadian Press A staff member wearing a face mask stands at a booth for the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. A survey of more than 5,000 chief executives globally has revealed record optimism about economic growth a year after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. More than 5,000 chief executives globally expressed record optimism about economic growth a year after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, suggests a PwC survey. The survey of 5,050 CEOs in 100 countries conducted earlier this year found 76 per cent forecasted improved economic growth in 2021. The result is up from 22 per cent last year and 42 per cent in 2019. "After a year of human tragedy and extensive economic hardship, it is encouraging to see that the people responsible for making investment decisions and hiring staff are feeling cautiously optimistic about the year ahead," stated Bob Moritz, chairman of the PwC Network. "CEOs have faith that growth will return, boosted by the rapid development of vaccines and their rollout in many parts of the world." It represents the highest level of optimism since the survey started asking this question in 2012. Optimism was particularly strong in North America and Western Europe, at 86 per cent and 76 per cent, respectively. The chief executives were also more optimistic about the outlook for their businesses with about 36 per cent expressing that they are "very confident" about their organization's prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months, up from 27 per cent in 2020. CEOs in the technology and telecommunications sectors expressed the highest levels of confidence at 45 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, chief executives in hospitality and leisure were least confident at 27 per cent, followed by transportation and logistics at 29 per cent. The United States is the leading market CEOs are looking to for growth at 35 per cent, seven percentage points ahead of China. The U.S. was only one point ahead of China last year. New political developments and existing tensions is increasing the focus of U.S. CEOs on Canada and Mexico and reducing the emphasis on China. The percentage of CEOs expressing concerns about climate change has risen to 30 per cent from 24 per cent in 2020. Yet, climate change still only ranks ninth among CEOs' perceived threats to growth. Another 27 per cent of CEOs said they were "not concerned at all" or "not very concerned" about climate change. This may be because climate change is not seen as an immediate threat to growth compared to other issues such as the pandemic, over-regulation and cyber threats, said PwC. About 39 per cent of the CEOs polled said their organization needs to do more to "measure" their environmental impact and 43 per cent said they need to do more to "report" on it. But six in 10 CEOs have not yet factored climate risks into their strategic risk management activities. Pandemics and health crises topped the list of threats to growth prospects, overtaking the fear of over-regulation, which has been the perennial leading concern for CEOs globally since 2014. Rising digitization is increasing the risks posed by cyber threats. A significant increase in cybersecurity incidents in 2020, including ransomware attacks, has resulted in cyber threats leaping up the list to become the second-biggest concern, cited by 47 per cent of CEOs, up from 33 per cent in 2020. Also rising rapidly up the list of CEO concerns is the spread of misinformation (28 per cent, up from 16 per cent). Tax policy uncertainty moved up and is a concern by 31 per cent, up from 19 per cent a year ago as growing government deficits are expected to result in higher taxes. About 36 per cent of CEOs plan to use automation and technology to make their workforce more competitive, more than double the share of CEOs who said the same in 2016. Moritz said the world is at an inflection point as vaccinations ramp up around the world. "To achieve the kind of change that's needed, CEOs will need to think differently and constantly evaluate their decisions and actions against broader societal impacts. In doing so, they'll set a course that builds trust and delivers sustained outcomes for shareholders, society and our planet." The NDC Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has condemned recent reports of violence against women. Two women have recently been killed after they were reportedly brutalised by their partners. Lilian Dedjoe, was allegedly assaulted by her husband, Prince Charles Dedjoe resulting in her death following an argument between them. Yesutor Elizabeth Akpalu, a Level 300 student of the Evangelical Presbyterian University College was allegedly assaulted by her boyfriend, Kumah Philip Ceasar, resulting in her death. Reacting to this on his social media platform, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa prayed that, "May the perpetrators never find peace and when they are finally found out, may their earthly punishment serve as sufficient deterrence". Read the full post below Horrifying and heart-wrenching times not just for our daughters, sisters and wives; we must all be outraged that physical and emotional violence against women continues to this day. There can be absolutely no justification to lift a hand against a spouse. Real men use their strength to protect their partners not harm them. We must strongly encourage ladies to boldly resist and report domestic violence without the slightest delay. Better to leave and live than to stay and succumb. Our deep sympathies and prayers are with all bereaved families including the many victims who escape the lenses of the media. May the perpetrators never find peace and when they are finally found out, may their earthly punishment serve as sufficient deterrence. 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 Menlo Security, a globally renowned company in cloud security solutions, has announced an industry-first by extending its cloud-based Secure Web Gateway (SWG) to include web isolation for mobile devices. Secure Web Gateway (SWG) This new offering is designed to eliminate the threat of malware and phishing attacks, when users are accessing the internet and email from their smartphones and tablets. Mobile device usage continues to grow in the enterprise and the security risk has increased accordingly: Browser vulnerabilities: Web browsers are increasingly being used to access new applications and cloud resources. This makes web browsers a significant target for attackers to exploit and gain a foothold in the enterprise. Recent research published by Menlo Labs (Menlo Ventures) showed how 83 per cent of browsers were not patched within 30 days by enterprises after a Chrome update. Because mobile browsers are updated less frequently than desktop browsers, Menlo Labs anticipates the same problem with mobile devices. Two recent bugs fixed by Apple and Google on their web browsers that were actively exploited in the wild are leading indicators of the increasing focus on mobile browsers. Phishing: According to industry research, the surge in remote work has increased mobile phishing attacks by 37 per cent globally and 66 percent in North America alone. The report found that unmitigated mobile phishing threats could cost organisations with 10,000 mobile devices as much as US$ 35 million per incident and up to US$ 150 million for organisations with 50,000 mobile devices. Malicious document download: Malicious file downloads on mobile devices is another area of risk. File-based threats are occurring with greater frequency and higher success rates as threat actors have continued to hone and adapt their social engineering and spear phishing skills to fit todays trends, including the use of mobile browsers. Consider that hundreds of millions of users are now working remotely and relying on Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms and rich web apps to improve mobility and productivity. As a result, mission-critical files and documents increasingly live outside the corporate firewall, unprotected by the organisations security policies and controls. Mobile security solution Menlo Security developed a mobile security solution that can protect work, wherever it happens Because mobile devices make it difficult to identify the tell-tale signs of a malicious email or link, Menlo Security developed a mobile security solution that can protect work, wherever it happens, regardless of device or location, while securing remote employees accessing the web using home networks. The new mobile isolation offering provides the same benefits as Menlo Securitys traditional isolation solution for desktop computers, including Data Loss Prevention (DLP), read-only phishing protection, and download controls. Additionally, all links sent in mobile applications will be opened in the default browser where there are read-only protections. Global Cloud Proxy Platform The Menlo Security Global Cloud Proxy Platform is built on an Isolation Core, which separates the enterprise network from the public web while providing users with secure, low-latency connections to the Internet and SaaS applications. Updates that incorporate threat intelligence from sources such as MAPP are available to customers automatically, with no download or installation of software required. The platform is built in the Cloud for the Cloud and is architected to help companies embrace cloud-first architecture. Menlo Security Isolation Core Mobile devices and browsers are an enticing target for cyber attackers looking to exploit zero days" Unlike security products that deliver almost safe security, the Menlo Security Isolation Core stops malware 100 per cent of the time, a feat that was previously thought to be unachievable. Mobile devices and browsers are an enticing target for cyber attackers looking to exploit zero days and conduct socially-engineered phishing attacks, yet in many organisations, mobile security is treated like a second-class citizen, said Nick Edwards, Menlo Securitys Vice President of Product Management. Mobile isolation capability to secure smartphones Nick adds, At Menlo Security, were committed to securing work where it happens, and our mobile isolation capability extends the same protection for the PC to smartphones and tablets, securing todays modern workforce. The Menlo Security Secure Web Gateway with Isolation Core solution supports Apple iOS, Apple iPadOS, and Google Android operating systems and will integrate directly with the default Safari, Chrome, and Samsung browsers. Biden vows all US adults will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine by May 1 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In his first prime-time speech Thursday night, President Joe Biden vowed to make all adults in the United States eligible for the three approved coronavirus vaccines by May 1. On the first anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdowns, Biden spoke of the progress made in the effort to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank God were making some real progress now, said the 78-year-old in the East Room of the White House. Two months ago, this country didnt have nearly enough vaccines supplied to vaccinate all or near all of the American public, but soon we will. Weve been working with vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson to manufacture and purchase hundreds of millions of doses of these three safe, effective vaccines. He noted how thousands of people are being called up to distribute the vaccine, and a growing number of locations are being set up to distribute the vaccines to the general public. Biden announced that he was directing all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults, people 18 and over eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1, claiming, thats much earlier than expected. That doesnt mean everyones going to have that shot immediately, the president clarified, but it means youll be able to get in line by May 1. To do this, were going to go from a million shots a day that I promised in December, before I was sworn in, to beating our current pace of 2 million shots a day. Biden also highlighted the need for national unity to defeat the pandemic. As an example, he stated that Johnson & Johnson is working alongside rival Merck to distribute the vaccine better. These two companies, competitors, have come together for the good of the nation, and they should be applauded for it, said Biden. Its truly a national effort, just like we saw in World War II. Were also working with governors and mayors in red states and blue states to set up and support nearly 600 federally supported vaccination centers that administer hundreds of thousands of shots per day. Biden said that if the general public keeps abiding by public health guidelines and gets vaccinated, small gatherings should be possible across the U.S. by Independence Day, July 4. He also championed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which he signed into law earlier on Thursday, labeling it a historic piece of legislation" to help families in need. The president noted that he announced his intention yesterday for the U.S. government to buy an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as part of the efforts to fight COVID-19. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not without controversy, as some religious groups have expressed concern over the extent to which aborted cells were used to develop the vaccine. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans released a statement last month saying that the vaccine was morally compromised compared to the other two available vaccines. 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, stated the Archdiocese. 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. However, Archbishop Michael Jackels of Dubuque, Iowa said last week that Catholics can get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if other vaccines are unavailable. Soon after Biden finished his speech, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released a statement denouncing the COVID-19 relief package that Biden championed in his speech. Biden and Democrats in Congress chose to pass a partisan bill where only 9 percent of the money is targeted to fighting the pandemic, all while continuing to ignore the suffering of American families that are struggling while out of work and out of school, stated McDaniel in an email to supporters. Its also an important reminder that one year ago today, President Trump announced an aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront the virus that ultimately resulted in the fastest creation of a vaccine in modern history through Operation Warp Speed. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted following Bidens speech that the pandemic recovery will ride an already turning tide. Not because of a Democrats latest partisan bill, but because of the resilience of our people, he wrote. Pro-life advocates have criticized the COVID-19 relief package for its failure to include the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding federal policy that bars taxpayer funding of abortion on demand. Shocking video shows a massive line of migrants being smuggled across the Rio Grande into Texas, despite President Joe Biden continuing to insist there is no crisis along the southern border. The clip, which was captured on Thursday morning by former Border Security Operations Center manager Jaeson Jones, shows dozens of migrants standing on an embankment as they wait for boats to bring them across into the United States. The small boats appear to be operated by people smugglers concealing their identities in ski masks. The footage has been shared by several politicians, including Texas Rep. Chip Roy, who has blasted President Biden for following a surge in border crossings. He claims migrants are being used as 'political pawns' by the Biden Administration, and that they are being harmed and killed trying to reach the US, lured by Biden's 'false promise of Amnesty'. Last week, Biden claimed there was no crisis at the southern border, despite Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detaining or processing a staggering 100,441 migrants in February. Nearly 10,000 of those were unaccompanied children. Biden's special advisor, Roberta Jacobsen, admitted in a White House briefing on Wednesday that the timing of the surge was 'no coincidence' because Biden's 'more humane' policies had given migrants 'hope'. DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has similarly refused to call the surge a crisis, instead describing it as a 'challenge' #BidensBorderCrisis update: Footage of massive line of people being smuggled in across the Rio Grande in southeast Texas THIS MORNING: Shared with permission from @jaeson_jones: pic.twitter.com/JqlSUMz6F3 Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) March 11, 2021 Shocking video shows a massive line of migrants being smuggled across the Rio Grande into Texas, despite President Joe Biden continuing to insist there is no crisis along the southern border Migrant families and children climb the banks of the Rio Grande River into the United States as smugglers on rafts prepare to return to Mexico in an image taken last Thursday Republicans have slammed the Biden Administration for attempting to downplay the situation. 'We have to recognize that words have consequences and actions have consequences,' Rep. Liz Cheney stated on Wednesday. 'When the Biden administration refuses to enforce our immigration laws, when they refuse to build the wall, when they pass legislation like the bill that we passed yesterday that includes money for illegal immigrants, this is what happens.' Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is not shying away from describing the situation as a 'crisis', using the word on Twitter Thursday. On the same day, the CBP revealed that agents had apprehended 111 migrants smuggled inside of three separate trucks in the space of just 24 hours. 44 of those people were stuffed into the back of a commercial truck which was stopped near Laredo North Station in Texas. The agents noted that none of the migrants were wearing masks, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The CBP revealed that agents had apprehended 111 migrants smuggled inside of three separate trucks in the space of just 24 hours unaccompanied minors are transported in a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle after they crossed the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on a raft on Tuesday A mother from Honduras holds her four month son Alexandro as she prepares to get in the back of a pick up truck for transport after crossing the Rio Grande River into the US Migrant families and children sit in the back of a police truck for transport after they crossed the Rio Grande River into the United States from Mexico They hailed from a number of different countries, including 'Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.' Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that unaccompanied children are crossing the border in 'soaring numbers' and 'the Biden administration is struggling to shelter and care for them.' According to the publication, the DHS has more than 8,500 minors in its shelters this week, and a further 3,500 'stuck in Border Patrol stations waiting for beds to open up'. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is coming under increasing pressure to discuss the situation with the media. She acknowledged Thursday that there has been 'a large flow of children across the border' but denied the border was 'open'. 'The border is not open, the vast majority of individuals apprehended or encountered at the border continue to be denied entry and are returned,' she stated. Still, thousands of migrants who crossed into the US last month were not turned away. New data published on Wednesday showed that the number of migrants detained along the southern border rose in February to levels not seen since 2019, when a dramatic surge in migrant family arrivals overwhelmed border facilities. Last week, Biden claimed there was no crisis at the southern border, despite Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detaining or processing a staggering 100,441 migrants in February. Nearly 10,000 of those were unaccompanied children Roberta Jacobsen, a special advisor to Joe Biden on migration, addressed the issue on Wednesday The CBP said 25,000 of 100,000 the migrants they encountered in February had already attempted to cross the border previously. Roberta Jacobsen, ambassador to Mexico from 2016-18 who now serves as a special advisor to Biden, admitted in a White House briefing on Wednesday that the timing of the surge was 'no coincidence'. She said: 'We've seen surges before. Surges tend to respond to hope, and there was significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of pent-up demand. 'So I don't know if I would call that a coincidence.' Under Biden, the Remain in Mexico policy, which kept migrants south of the border while waiting for their hearings, as well as asylum agreements with Northern Triangle countries have ended. Biden has also narrowed ICE's criteria for arrests and deportations. Migrants who had been in Mexico under the 'Remain in Mexico' program pass a group that were just deported on Wednesday Ingrid Ramos, a Guatemalan who spent a year waiting in Mexico, hugs a friend as she readies to leave a shelter Migrants on Wednesday leave a hostel, the Albergue Para Migrantes El Buen Samaritano, in Ciudad Juarez Jacobsen said that the 'more humane policy' likely gave rise to rumors among people traffickers of leniency. The 'coyotes', as the smugglers are known, then encouraged more migrants to pay to make the journey. 'The idea that a more humane policy would be in place may have driven people to make that decision, but perhaps, more importantly, it definitely drove smugglers to express disinformation, spread disinformation about what was now possible,' she said. Jacobsen said that with a $4 billion plan, Biden hoped to tackle immigration at its root causes, working to make Latin American countries safer and more prosperous, and reduce the incentive to leave. The sharpest uptick in migrant numbers was at Texas' Rio Grande Valley, which went from 17,000 migrant apprehensions in January to nearly 28,000 in February. The area has long been the busiest crossing route on the border. Arizona also saw large increases. Women in the sprawling Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso in Texas, say goodbye on Wednesday Migrants who have applied for asylum prepare to cross the border on a bus into the United States Well-wishers and staff at the migrant center wave off migrants in Ciudad Juarez as they head for processing Senator Tom Cotton leads backlash against confirmation of Merrick Garland after the new Attorney General REFUSED to say whether he believed entering the United States illegally should be a crime Arkansas senator Tom Cotton has led condemnation of the confirmation of Joe Biden's attorney general, insisting that Merrick Garland is soft on migration and backs an 'extreme open-border amnesty agenda'. Garland, 68, was confirmed on Wednesday by the Senate 70 to 30, with 20 Republicans joining all 50 Democrats in supporting him. He is expected to be sworn in at the Justice Department on Thursday. Tom Cotton, the senator for Arkansas, spoke on Wednesday (pictured) about his concerns Garland was confirmed on Wednesday and is expected to be sworn in on Thursday Mitch McConnell, the most senior Republican in the Senate, who in 2016 audaciously blocked Garland's appointment by Barack Obama to the Supreme Court, was among the Republicans who voted in Garland's favor. 'I'm voting to confirm Judge Garland because of his long reputation as a straight shooter and legal expert,' he said on the Senate floor before he cast his vote. Several Republicans objected, however, including Ted Cruz, senator for Texas, and Josh Hawley of Missouri. Cruz said that despite Garland's reputation for integrity, he had 'refused to make clear that he would stand against the politicization of the department, which we saw during the Obama-Biden years.' Hawley spoke out at Garland's confirmation hearing to express concern that the veteran prosecutor, whose career-defining moment was perhaps investigating the Oklahoma City domestic terror attack, would not take what he thought was a hard enough line on violent demonstrators. Ted Cruz, senator for Texas, was concerned Garland would 'politicize' the Justice Department Cotton said that he was deeply troubled by Garland's immigration stance Cotton, known for his hardline views on immigration, spoke out against Garland on the Senate floor, ridiculing his response that he 'hadn't thought about' whether entering the country illegally should be a crime. 'It stretches the bounds of belief that a federal judge who had been on the bench for almost a quarter century hadn't thought about that question,' said Cotton. 'Judge Garland also refused to say whether illegal alien gang members or illegal aliens who have assaulted U.S. citizens should be deported, if a judge orders it. 'Judge Garland's silence shows he will, at best, meekly abide by the administration's irrational immigration agenda.' Cotton warned that Garland would 'help transform zero tolerance into total tolerance of crime'. The number of child migrants is proving particularly problematic at the moment, and the Biden administration continues to urge people not to send unaccompanied children across the border. More than 3,250 unaccompanied minors are currently being held at the border. Lacking sufficient facilities and amid coronavirus burdens, more than 1,360 have been detained beyond the three days allowed by law, according to New York Times data. Nearly 170 of those being detained are younger than 13, NBC News reported. A total of 9,000 unaccompanied children crossed the border in February, according to data reviewed by the network. A wave of immigrants appears to be drawn by Biden's pledge to relax restrictions and provide a path to citizenship for people who are already living here. Cotton tweeted on Wednesday: 'The Biden administration claims they will stop illegal immigration by sending money to corrupt officials in Central America. Here's an idea: Stop illegal immigration by enforcing our immigration laws.' Child arrivals have tripled in the last two weeks, but on Tuesday the White House said they would not term the situation a 'crisis'. Republicans are demanding that Biden take action, and on Monday Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, will lead a contingent of Republicans to visit the border. Cotton concluded on Wednesday: 'As our border facilities and personnel are overwhelmed by the Biden border surge, our security will falter and even more drugs will pour into our country. 'Hardened criminals will accompany the flood of drugs. 'Thousands of confirmed and suspected gang members cross the southern border into our country, and even more will exploit the open border policies that Judge Garland will have a hand in creating. 'This will fuel skyrocketing violence in our nation.' Mar. 12STODDARD Town residents on Thursday easily passed the school district's $3.3 million budget proposal and a warrant article authorizing the district to retain a capped amount of unused funds at the end of the fiscal year, though the latter generated some discussion. The budget, which is $24,645, or 0.8 percent, higher than the $3,255,453 voters approved last year, passed without any public comment from the 29 residents who attended the meeting at James Faulkner Elementary School. School board Vice Chairwoman Lisa Davenport said the district won't actually be spending more in the coming year but that the budget increase stems from a change in how the district receives federal grant funding. Before this year, she said, any federal grants the district received were handled by N.H. School Administrative Unit 24 and not included in the district's operating budget. That is changing for the 2021-22 fiscal year, with the grants now reflected in the budget. "So it's just an accounting change, and it's a revenue-neutral change," Davenport said. "So, overall, the district budget reflects a spending increase of $49,000 from this accounting change. This is offset by the same amount in the grant funding awarded to us. So, this is, again, revenue-neutral and has no impact on the tax rate." After voters unanimously approved the budget, discussion turned to the warrant article allowing the district to keep unused money at the end of the fiscal year, up to 5 percent of the net property assessment value, in a contingency fund. For the current year, the town's net assessment is $2,782,324, 5 percent of which is $139,116.20. "It gives us the authority to retain up to five percent," Davenport said of the article. "We may decide to retain nothing. We have discretion to say we'll not retain anything. And we could say we'll do two percent. We cannot exceed five percent." Story continues This year, she added, the article would not affect Stoddard's school-related property tax rate, since the district currently has $483,000 in unused funds, and will finish the fiscal year with more than the maximum allowed to go into the contingency fund. "So if we're going to do this, this is the year to do it, because it's not going to impact your taxes at all," Davenport said. "Because if we fund the $139 [thousand], we're still going to be giving back probably at least $300,000 to offset taxes. So, this would be the time to do it, and that's why we chose to move forward with this at this time." Her husband, George Davenport, was the article's most vocal opponent, arguing that the contingency fund would eliminate the voters' rights to determine how any money in the fund is spent. "If we give up our right by voting yes on Article 4, what this will do is establish a fund that effectively, the legislative body the taxpayers will have no control and no say," he said. Lisa Davenport noted that the school board would have to hold a public hearing before spending any of the money in the contingency fund. She added that the fund would give the district a greater ability to address unexpected expenses that would not be covered by one of the district's three trust funds for extraordinary tuition costs; school building design, expansion, renovation and construction projects; and school buildings and grounds expenses. "A contingency fund allows us the flexibility to fund other things, whether it's some sort of emergency thing that we hadn't predicted would happen and it wouldn't be covered by those other things," she said. "... We're not looking at this as some slush fund so that we can, I don't know, ... get a flat-screen TV in every classroom. That's not our intention." The article establishing the contingency fund ultimately passed by a voice vote, with just a smattering of "nays." Three other articles on the warrant which would have added a total of $100,000 to the district's three trust funds from unused funds at the end of the fiscal year were tabled indefinitely because the earlier article passed. "We're not asking you to fund this and another $100,000 into those trust funds this year," Lisa Davenport said before voters passed the contingency-fund article. "Out of the different warrant articles, this would be our priority, and that's why it's presented first." Before moving on to the warrant, voters also re-elected four school district officers to three-year terms. Lisa Davenport, Moderator Daniel Eaton, Clerk Christine Haase and Treasurer Pamela Dionne were elected without contest. Jack Rooney can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1404, or jrooney@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @RooneyReports. 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 Houston nurse is suing a Galveston boat club in federal court, alleging the club manager repeatedly harrased her and her friends and used racist slurs. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Texas last fall, also claims that several employees of the boat club confirmed that the manager uses racial terms frequently and that he defiantly defended using the N-word. Monica Winn, a registered nurse who works in home healthcare and lives in Brazoria County, purchased a boat club membership in July 2020 from Goin Coastal LLC, which does business as the Freedom Boat Club based in Galveston. The membership allowed Winn to use any boat at the Galveston location four times a year. Winn, who is black, claims that manager David Hearne treated her differently than white members, scolding her and her guests for having liquor on her boat and aggressively questioning her boyfriend. After learning that Winn contacted the corporate office to complain, Hearne plotted to make up a story that Winn disobeyed club rules, referring to her as a Negro, and the N-word, the suit alleges. On multiple occasions, Mr. Hearne made us (feel) very different than the other guests, Winn said at a Friday press conference in Houston. He belittled the guests, belittled myself. And when I tried to speak with him, he cursed and he yelled at me. (Boat club) staff members told me that he was calling me the N-word. The Brunswick Corporation, an Illinois-based company that owned the Freedom Boat Club, is named as a defendant along with the boat club. Carolyn Russell, the companys Houston-based attorney, declined to comment on Winns allegations. Federal court records show that the defendants have filed a motion to dismiss, which is currently pending. In February, the boat club announced a restructuring, saying it is now owned and operated by the Freedom Boat Club franchise. The new management terminated Hearne, according to Randall Kallinen, Winns attorney. Scott Ward, the new vice president and general manager of Freedom Boat Club Corporate, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. They're under new management, the corporate offices have taken over, and we are glad about, but we're not glad that it took so much effort, Kallinen said. We want African-Americans and minorities to be treated right, right away. Hearnes hectoring of Winn started on Sept. 7, according to the lawsuit. Winn reserved a pontoon boat that afternoon with seven guests, with two more guests schedules to arrive later. When she showed up to the dock in Galveston, Hearne wasnt there, but when they returned from their boat outing to pick up the two late-arriving guests, he was waiting. Winn alleges that Hearne approached the vessel and stood at the exit of the pontoon boat so no one could depart or board. He became very aggressive with one of Winns guests, scolding him and condescending him for having liquor on the boat, which is not against club rules, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit states that Hearne took issue with Winns guest, who is Black, holding a beer in his hand at the marina, with Winn noting that many white patrons at the marina were also holding alcoholic drinks. Hearne insisted that Winns boat get boarded by the Coast Guard and demanded that her boyfriend, who is also Black, and was driving the boat, review safety features of the vessel. He talked down to (us), and he called my (boyfriend) Boy, Winn said. Winn contacted the corporate office of Freedom Boat Club, based in Florida to complain. The lawsuit alleges that the boat club does not have the appropriate training and policies to prevent racial discrimination against Freedom Boat Club members. The club instructed Winn to use the Freedom Boat Club in Houston rather than the one in Galveston, where Hearne worked. After Hearne learned of Winns complaints, he plotted to make up a story that she disobeyed club rules and referred to her as a Negro, the lawsuit alleges. Hearne stated to one of his staff that he didnt want those gangbangers and riff raff on his boats. Several Freedom Boat Club employees later told Winn that Hearne is a racist and uses the N-word frequently, the lawsuit alleges, and that he likely harrassed her because she is Black. The employees told Winn that prior to her run-in with Hearne, a Black boating group had left a bag of clothes on a boat, which he referred to as smelly (N-word) shit. Another time, when confronted for using the N-word, Hearne, who formally worked as an EMT, stated I pumped on Negros chests for 32 years. If anyone can say that word, its me, according to the suit. (The boat club employees) were just appalled by what was going on, because they were just amazed that this man was being so openly racist, Winn said. Winn is seeking damages in the lawsuit, as well as a jury trial. nick.powell@chron.com A Laois agency that provides vital help to community groups and businesses extra Leader funds announced by the Government will be needed to help rural areas after the Covid-19 pandemic. Laois Partnership Company, a member of the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) who represent the 35 Local Development Companies (LDCs) that delivers the LEADER Programme nationally. They have welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Rural & Community Development Heather Humphreys TD, and Minister for Agriculture Food & Marine Charlie McConalogue TD, of an increased allocation of 70 million in 2021 & 2022 for the LEADER Programme. Peter ONeill, Laois Partnership Company Chairman, welcomed the announcement. "Laois Partnership Company and ILDN have been calling recently for the Government to utilise funding available from the EU for Rural Development, for the purposes of LEADER. As the deliverers of LEADER in Co Laois we are greatly encouraged by todays announcement of an increased allocation of 70 million to the end of 2022, he said. Catherine Cowap, is the acting CEO of Laois Partnership Company. She said the LEADER Programme offers the ideal vehicle for the delivery of development funding to Rural Areas in the most effective manner. "The allocation of this increased funding will deliver critical stimulus to rural areas to help drive the post-Covid recovery. Furthermore, the funding announced today will ensure that more vital projects in County Laois focused on climate change, digital transformation, remote working and enterprise development can be progressed in our rural communities throughout the country to meet the expectations of the EU in terms of the requirements of its Recovery funding criteria," said Ms Cowap. Ms Cowap added that the minister has said her department will communicating the breakdown for Laois and other agencies in the coming weeks. It was announced in December 2020 that 647,690 had been allocated to Laois Partnership in transitional to bridge a gap in the leader funding process out of a national total of 20 million. An extra 50 million to the initial funding of 20 million was announced by Minister Humphreys on March 12. Minister Humphreys and Minister McConalogue said that the funding will support rural communities and private enterprises in the recovery of Covid-19. Welcoming the funding, Minister Humphreys said: "This will give local communities and enterprises an opportunity to respond to the emerging challenges for their areas and will support measures that provide employment and job creation throughout rural Ireland. The funding we are announcing today will ensure that more vital locally-led projects in areas like climate change, digital transformation, remote working and enterprise development can be progressed in rural communities throughout the country. Minister McConalogue said: LEADER is an important element of Irelands EU co-funded Rural Development Programme, which forms part of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Through the LEADER programme, over the next two years a total of 70 million, of which more than 50 million is expected to come from the EU, will be directly invested into rural areas to help address specific needs and help to realise opportunities for rural Ireland as we recover from the impact of COVID-19, he said. LEADER is a rural development programme co-funded by the EU which operates a locally-led, bottom-up, approach to meeting the needs of local communities and businesses. The programme supports private enterprises and community groups in rural areas. LEADER forms part of Irelands multi-annual Rural Development Programme which is co-financed by the EU and is part of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 02:20:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIGA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Latvia has been ramping up coronavirus testing this week as the country's COVID-19 incidence rate continued to gradually decline, the health authorities said. The Latvian Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC) reported on Friday that a record-high number of COVID-19 tests had been performed in the past three days. The number of tests increased from 16,705 on March 10 to 17,483 on March 11 and 18,028 on March 12. The share of positive tests was 3.5 percent on Friday, according to the CDPC. Latvia's cumulative 14-day incidence rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants declined over the past week from 457.7 to 415.3, with a total of 7,823 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last couple of weeks. Latvia's total COVID-19 caseload has reached 92,906, with 632 new cases reported on Friday. The country's COVID-19-related death toll grew to 1,746 as nine more people have succumbed to the virus. Enditem (Newser) With his 8- and 13-year-old sons, both severely autistic, in the back seat and their mother in the front, Ali F. Elmezayen sped off the San Pedro wharf on April 9, 2015, and into the harbor. The boys both died, and on Thursday, Elmezayen was sentenced to 212 years in prison for what the judge called an "evil and diabolical" plot. The 45-year-old was accused of murdering the boys and attempting to murder their mother, all to collect $3.4 million in insurance payouts. The judge noted that Elmezayen gradually accumulated the eight life and accidental-death policies and waited until the contestability periods on all of them had ended in an attempt to avoid suspicion, KTLA reports. The entire scheme took at least two years to carry out. He escaped through the window and left his family to die, though the boys' mother, who had filed for divorce in 2009 but remained living with Elmezayen, was able to get out. story continues below Elmezayen had taken the family, minus the oldest son who was away at camp, to lunch and then to the wharf to buy fish. He told them he wanted to get a close look at a ship that was passing by, then went into the water at an estimated 30mph. He tried to claim the car malfunctioned and wouldn't stop, and he did end up collecting more than $260,000 in insurance money. It appeared for a time he might get away with itthe Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined to prosecute him in 2017, but federal authorities then took up the case. Prosecutors said they didn't have the jurisdiction to charge him with murder, but he was convicted of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. The LA County DA's office ultimately did a 180 and charged him with capital murder and attempted murder; it is currently "evaluating the next step," a spokesperson tells the Los Angeles Times. (Read more California stories.) A Cherokee Nation Health Services worker on Feb. 24 helps a patient get ready to be tested for COVID-19 at the CN Hoffice located at 402 W. Locust St. in Stilwell. A year after the virus hit Oklahoma and the CN, the tribe is still fighting it. A senior university lecturer was sacked after he sent his student a recording of himself reading her an intimate love letter in which he professed 'I want you to be part of my soul'. Dr Andrew Merrison, then 51, developed 'intense feelings' for the 20-year-old, declaring that he wanted their souls to be 'fused' together, a tribunal heard. The married academic turned up uninvited at the 20 year old's house late at night, exchanged 9,000 text messages with her, kissed her on the forehead and held her hand, it was heard. Dr Andrew Merrison, pictured, has lost his employment appeals tribunal against his sacking by York St John University after a female student, 20, complained the 51-year-old lecturer tried to groom her Penning a love letter when he discovered she had a boyfriend, Dr Merrison said he woke up thinking about her, that he'd like to marry her, and 'I'm in love with you'. Dr Merrison, a senior linguistics lecturer at York St John University, even told her she was getting the 'Merrisonian attention'. However, Dr Merrison was sacked for gross misconduct around three years later when 'Student X', then an alumni, complained that she had been 'groomed'. 'Calculated and coercive' Dr Merrison, a father of two, tried to sue York St John for unfair dismissal arguing that he had unwittingly broken the rules barring relationships between staff and students. A judge has now dismissed his claims, branding his behaviour 'unprofessional and inappropriate'. The employment tribunal in Manchester heard the student raised concerns in 2019 - after the MeToo movement gained significant traction - about Dr Merrison's behaviour towards her in academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17. Student X said Dr Merrison 'talent spotted' her when she joined his course and but she failed to spot that it was 'weird' because she was flattered. They became 'best friends', with the pair exchanging 9,000 texts. He openly discussed her grades before she was meant to know them and spoke about her peers. Dr Merrison turned up at her house at 11pm to ask 'if she wanted a Chinese meal', often gave her a hug, created a WhatsApp group with her and two other students and spoke about how they were 'three 20 year old girls, under his power'. Merrison, pictured, read out a love letter to his student where he claimed she was an 'endorphin' to him In the love letter, which Dr Merrison also recorded him reading, he said: 'What does it mean for me to wake up and immediately think of you? 'Does it mean that I don't love my wife? NO. Does it mean that I'm unfaithful to her? NO. 'But does it mean that I must be in love with you? I think it probably does..... I'm in love with you, [Student X]. Of that I have no doubt. 'First off, it's scary because I'm nearly 51; you are 21 and people (society) will assume that my attraction to you is a physical one. 'Well it is. I have no doubt that when I know I'm going to see you my mood lifts, my pulse probably quickens and I get nervously excited. 'You affect me physically. You are endorphin to me. But it's the next step that is really frightening. 'People (society) will assume that my attraction to you is a sexual one. But is isn't, it really is not. I do not want to have sex with you. 'And what is scary is the idea that others will not believe that. And what is scarier still is that the level of connection that sex represents between sexual partners doesn't even begin to come close to the level of intimacy that I want to share with you, [Student X]. 'I want you to be part of my soul. And I want you to want me to be part of yours. 'You are me and I am you'. No boundary. FUSED.' Dr Merrison also moaned that 'social constraints' meant they couldn't have a relationship and he 'hated' not being able to express his intimacy legitimately. Complaining at why he couldn't 'date' her, he said: 'This is denied me: partly for institutional reasons again, and partly for the reason that I'm married and that hanging out with you would be difficult to socially warrant. 'WRONG SOCIETY again. POLYAMORY isn't a cultural norm - and even if it were, I'd still have to contend with the ageist stigma.' It emerged he was previously warned about relationships with students and when investigated, Dr Merrison admitted he sent the letter when he learned Student X had a boyfriend and was 'jealous'. He objected to 'grooming' the student and told the university: 'While I recognise that some of the things I said/did may have been foolish, I genuinely believed that there was nothing harmful or wrong with them. 'I considered the relationship I had with Student X to be complex, multifaceted, and it was one of friendship, similarity, appreciation, deep connection and love in its purest form. 'My 'personal' feelings for Student X were always kept out of the classroom to maintain a clear distinction..' Dr Merrison argued he unwittingly breached relationship rules as a result of not understanding them due to a potential diagnosis of autism which he was screened for following the allegations. Employment Judge Mark Leach threw Dr Merrison's claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination out. Judge Leach said: 'He knew that his conduct and behaviour towards Student X was unprofessional and inappropriate. He knew that he should not have taught Student X, whilst engaged in such an intense relationship with her. 'He was aware of the professional boundaries applicable to him and he chose to disregard them. 'He hid the true nature of the relationship... on purpose so that he may continue teaching Student X whilst continuing the relationship. 'Whilst he did not know that the relationship was unwanted, his decision not to disclose it and the power imbalance of the relationship - which he recognised - meant that the relationship did continue even though Student X did not want it to.' Indian banks' loans rose 6.6% in the two weeks to Feb. 26 from a year earlier, while deposits rose 12.1%, the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement showed on Friday. Outstanding loans rose 712.73 billion Indian rupees ($9.79 billion) to 107.75 trillion rupees in the period. Non-food credit rose 713.55 billion rupees to 107 trillion rupees, while food credit fell 810 million rupees to 752.06 billion rupees. Bank deposits rose 1.52 trillion rupees to 149.34 trillion rupees. Also Read: Ant Group publishes financial self-discipline rules amid Chinese scrutiny Flash Another 6,753 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,241,677, according to official figures released Thursday. The country also reported another 181 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 125,168. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test. More than 23 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures. The data also showed that nearly 90 percent of over-60s in England have had first COVID vaccine dose. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that the government is "on course" to offering a first vaccine dose to all adults by the end of July. Meanwhile, four more cases of the coronavirus variant of concern first emerged in Brazil have been identified in England, bringing the total in Britain to 10, according to the BBC. Scientists have previously said the variant, known as P1, appears to be more contagious and there were concerns vaccines may not be as effective against it. On Feb. 22, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his long-anticipated "roadmap" exiting the lockdown. The Monday reopening of schools in England was the first part of the four-step plan, which Johnson said was designed to be "cautious but irreversible". Experts have warned Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants and the risks of the public breaching restriction rules. 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. JACKSON, MI The Jackson Police Department and Jackson County Prosecutors Office knowingly violated attorney-client privilege in the arson case against LGBTQ rights activist Nikki Joly, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled. Joly, 56, is accused of intentionally starting the Aug. 10, 2017 fire that destroyed his home in the 1800 block of Pringle Avenue and killed his two German shepherd dogs and three cats. Joly sent set an email to an employee at Abood Law Firm, which is representing him, that said who he gave his lawn mower and gas can to, the court said in an unanimous March 11 opinion. Jackson Police Det. Aaron Grove believed those two items were connected to the fire and used the email to get a search warrant and get the items. Grove has testified he knew Joly and the Abood Law Firm were involved in the email. Rather than try to mitigate the breach, the government deliberately used information obtained from the privileged communication to obtain incriminating physical evidence, the appeals court opinion reads. The government then charged defendant with several crimes, and it made clear that it intended to use the physical evidence at trial. However, the evidence found through using that email is suppressed, which means it cannot be admitted into the trial, appeals judges Brock Swartzle, Amy Ronayne Krause and Michelle Rick said. The court previously ruled the email is not admissible. Emails not allowed as evidence in Nikki Joly arson case, appeals court says The ruling can be appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court. We are reviewing the decision and well decide whether to appeal it or not in the next couple weeks, Jackson County Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka said. Jackson Police and Fire Services Director Elmer Hitt said the next step will be decided by Jarzynka. I respect the opinion of the Michigan Court of Appeals, Hitt said. The appeals court ruling is a relief, defense attorney Andrew Abood said. The case and the opinion speak for itself, he said. Were thankful it didnt leave a lot of room for interpretation. The police detective could not realistically unlearn the privileged information in the email, the opinion states. Instead of turning the case over to another detective or agency, the detective doubled-down on the breach and used the privileged information to further his investigation of defendant, according to the opinion. There is no evidence the lawn mower and gas can would have been found without the information in the privileged email, Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain wrote in an opinion suppressing the evidence before the appeal. There was, in other words, a direct link between the detectives reading of the email and his retrieval of both pieces of evidence, the appeals opinion states. This can only be characterized as a deliberate intrusion into the substance of the attorney-client relationship. The appeals court also denied the prosecutors request for an evidentiary hearing. At each step, the government could have paused and made a different decision, one that respected the privilege or at least sought to mitigate the damage from the breach, but this it did not do, the opinion states. Joly is out on a $25,000 bond. He is facing one charge of first-degree arson, which is punishable by up to life in prison and a fine of $20,000, or three times the value of the property destroyed. Hes also facing two charges of killing or torturing an animal, which is punishable by up to four years in prison. Read more from MLive: 3 barns, 30 acres, 150 firefighters involved in Ingham County brush fire She slipped through the cracks as a teen. Now, this Jackson woman keeps that from happening to others Newly eligible Jackson County residents being scheduled for COVID vaccination as supply allows Four-metre python removed from Karon resort PHUKET: Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation branch in Patong removed a reticulated python some four metres long and weighing an estimated 20kg from the grounds of a resort in Karon last night (Mar 11). animalsnatural-resources By The Phuket News Friday 12 March 2021, 03:03PM Vinnie pictured with a large king cobra, which he maintains should not be removed from the wild to ensure populations of more dangerous snakes do not grow. Photo: Vinnie Modell The rescue team were call to the Novotel Phuket Karon Beach Resort & Spa, near Karon Circle, at about 11pm, reported rescue worker Vinnie Modell. It was a big old boy. It took all my strength to lift it, Vinnie told The Phuket News. On arrival, the rescue team were directed to the back of the resort near the service area, where the snake was still waiting. They were not wrong. A beautiful four-metre python weighing more than 20kg (approximately) was having a nap behind the building, Vinnie said. With some help from fellow rescue workers, Vinnie soon had the python safely in hand, and the team removed it from the resort to release it back in a national park as soon as possible. These are beautiful snakes, the orange colour of their eyes are stunning. Although they are non-venomous, I would not attempt to remove a snake of this size alone. One wrong move and I would be in life-threatening trouble, he said. The snake bites its prey with its rows of inverted teeth up-to and including 52! Then it wraps its body around slowly suffocating its prey! Yes it could easily kill me. Thats why we ideally have a minimum of two more people to help deal with it, he said. Vinnie gave a special thanks to Joy Hue, Paveena Hue, Joe Hue & Similan Diving Safaris for the head torch he wore in catching the snake. It was a real lifesaver. I would have been in trouble for sure without it! Vinnie said. Vinnie also related to The Phuket News his clear opinion on the announcement by the Director of the Khao Phra Thaew Natural and Wildlife Education Centre in Thalang last month that all snakes caught in homes in Phuket are to be taken off-island. King cobras should not be removed from their natural habitat, he said. The king cobra is the predator snake of the snake world. They eat all the other snakes; monocled cobras and other snakes that do all the biting, Vinnie explained. They do not attack people because they are just not interested in you. They know they cant eat you, so they do not even want to waste the venom, he added. Removing king cobras from the wild allows the smaller problem snakes to get bigger, to grow until they become a problem, he concluded. MEDFORD, Ore. Thursday, March 11 marks one year since the World Health Organization declared that the novel coronavirus constituted a pandemic, reflecting the disease's global spread. Much of the nation first became aware of the virus as Americans on Pacific cruise ships were quarantined to stop the disease from reaching US shores ultimately to no avail. Last March, NewsWatch 12 spoke with with Bud and Carla LeFever of Medford, whose 15-day cruise became a purgatorial stay back at port in San Francisco, followed by quarantine at a Marine Corps base in San Diego. A few days prior to the pandemic declaration, southern Oregon saw its first cases of the new virus. Oregon's first known case appeared even earlier, on February 28. Before long, untraceable cases of community spread became the norm instead of the exception. On March 23, Governor Kate Brown issued a stay-at-home order the culmination of a series of countermeasures that shut down many businesses and shuttered schools, both before and after the order was lifted in favor of more targeted restrictions. None of us have ever been through this before, and that means there is no way to know exactly what lies ahead," Brown said at the time. "We dont know yet when this outbreak will end, or what changes this will bring for our state and for our country. But I want to make sure that weve done all we can to end it as quickly as possible. Now, one year into the pandemic, distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is well underway, though the national supply chain continues to struggle in meeting demand. Oregon and California are still very much feeling the far-reaching impacts of living with coronavirus. As of Thursday, more than 29 million cases of the virus have been reported in the US, and more than 529,000 deaths are attributed to the virus. A winding route back to the classroom "Every single day I hear from parents, and sometimes the students themselves, about their frustration levels, and how they've become disengaged from everything," says Dr. Bret Champion, Superintendent for the Medford School District. "And those mental health, those social and emotional health struggles are real." According to Dr. Champion, students aren't the only ones who have had to deal with the pandemic's challenges teachers have had their fair share of struggles as well. Champion says that his district's teachers had to quickly adapt to the challenges of teaching in a completely different method, and says that it was probably one of the hardest things that his educators have ever had to deal with. "Our teachers have worked harder and in more challenging circumstances in the past 12 months than they ever have before in their careers, I guarantee it," Champion said. As students across the Medford area make their way back into the classroom, Champion wants to let everyone know that the school district will be there for their children. "No matter what the next 364 days hold in store during this pandemic, we want our students to know that the Medford School District stands fully prepared to ensure that we're restoring that hope that we are able to give you, that pathway to work with your parent, to find what's next for you by knowing you, by seeing you, by hearing you . . . because that's what we're ultimately all about as adults." The battering of small businesses On Friday, Josephine County will at last exit the state's "Extreme Risk" coronavirus restrictions in favor of High Risk status. For many businesses, particularly restaurants, it's still a far cry from business as usual. "It's been very difficult," says Jill Dimi, co-owner of The Bohemian. "We've worked hard on keeping the morale up of the employees as well as ourselves as owners . . . because one week you're told, okay, you can open and then you order product and you staff everything and you get ready. And then two weeks later you're told you have to close now." Now that customers can dine inside her bar and grill starting tomorrow, Dimi is feeling hopeful again. But it comes with some limitations the 25 percent capacity rule means that she can only have 12.25 people inside at a time. "I don't know how I'm going to do the 12.25," Dimi said. "Um, we're, we're excited. We know it's still going to be a bit of a rollercoaster." Over at the Horny Goat, co-owner Shelly Solomon is on the same ride. "We are an over 200-seat restaurant," Solomon said. "So when we went down to only the 50 seats, it really was economically hurtful because it takes a lot of revenue to keep this big of a building and staff on-board, afloat." Solomon came up with some creative ways to beat the business blues. "We've got this little greenhouse huts and people seem to think it's kind of like a cool cabana, so very intimate and we're just trying to make it work." For both Solomon and Dimi, the popular Grants Pass "parklets" have been life-savers. The restaurants petitioned for the City to put them back sooner than later, and it worked out in their favor. Both owners say they wouldn't be able to survive without their customers' support, and they look forward to serving them indoors again. "Very excited, excited to see our regular customers come back," said Solomon. "Um, you know, we're like family here. This is where the locals eat. So it's, it's we're excited, very excited." What comes next? While Oregon's coronavirus guidelines continue to be based on the prevalence of new COVID-19 cases that have been largely in decline since mid-January, the biggest hope for emerging from restrictions still rests on the availability of vaccines and that availability hinges on the federal supply. President Joe Biden on Thursday outlined a plan that he says will make all adult Americans eligible to receive the vaccine by May 1. Biden said that he is deploying 4,000 more active-duty troops to support vaccination efforts and will allow more people such as medical students, veterinarians and dentists to deliver shots. There are currently 2,000 active-duty troops supporting vaccination efforts around the country. Speaking from a lectern in a flag-draped backdrop in the East Room of the White House during his first primetime address on Thursday night, Biden reflected on the worst public health crisis in more than a century one that has killed nearly 530,000 Americans, sickened millions more and ravaged the global economy. We all lost something, a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, Biden said. Governor Kate Brown says that she will hold a press briefing on Friday to address updates on the state's coronavirus efforts, which may include greater insight into the Biden administration's plans to increase delivery of the vaccine. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A vial of some of the first 500,000 of the two million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that Canada has secured through a deal with the Serum Institute of India in partnership with Verity Pharma at a facility in Milton, Ont., on March 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Carlos Osorio POOL Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left) and Chuck Schumer (right). Samuel Corum/Getty images, Tasos Katopodus/Getty Images Thirteen prominent New York congressional Democrats called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to step down. Progressives like AOC joined establishment figures like Chuck Schumer to demand Cuomo's resignation. The Democratic governor has been engulfed in a firestorm of sexual misconduct allegations. See more stories on Insider's business page. Thirteen powerful Democratic congressional representatives from New York released statements on Friday calling for the state's Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, to resign amid a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations. Here are the lawmakers who demanded Cuomo's resignation on Friday: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Rep. Jamaal Bowman Rep. Jerry Nadler Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Rep. Carolyn Maloney Rep. Sean Maloney Rep. Mondaire Jones Rep. Yvette Clarke Rep. Nydia Velazquez Rep. Adriano Espaillat Rep. Grace Meng Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice previously called for Cuomo's resignation, saying in a March 1 tweet that "the time has come" for him to step down. "This week, the second sexual assault allegation and the sixth harassment allegation was leveled against Governor Cuomo," Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman said in a joint statement Friday. "The fact that this latest report was so recent is alarming, and it raises concerns about the present safety and well-being of the administration's staff. These allegations have all been consistent and highly-detailed and there are also credible media reports substantiating their accounts." "Unfortunately, the Governor is not only facing the accusation that he engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment and assault," the statement continued. "There is also the extensive report from the Attorney General that found the Cuomo administration hid data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from both the public and the state legislature." On Thursday, 59 New York state lawmakers released a joint letter demanding Cuomo's resignation. The letter came on the heels of a sexual misconduct allegation from a sixth accuser, who reportedly told her supervisor that the governor "aggressively groped her in a sexually charged manner." The accuser is currently a staffer in Cuomo's office, according to the Albany Times Union, who first reported on her account. Story continues The woman's allegation was referred to the Albany police, which is now investigating the matter, The New York Times reported. A spokesman for the police told The Times that the incident may rise "to the level of a crime." Impeachment is emerging as a possibility for the governor, with New York's process closely mirroring that of the US Congress. If half of the Assembly and two-thirds of the Senate vote against him, Cuomo would be removed from office. However, one key difference between New York's impeachment proceedings and Congress's is that Cuomo would have to step aside during the trial as an acting governor takes his place. That would be Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who would also become governor if Cuomo resigns. Senate Democrats from Long Island came out with a statement on Friday asking Cuomo to allow Hochul to serve as acting governor until New York Attorney General Tish James' investigation into the allegations is complete. Cuomo has refused to resign, and insists he "never touched anyone inappropriately." Read the original article on Business Insider In 2021, the OECD Working Group on Bribery launched its fourth phase of monitoring the implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in France. Call for written submissions To assist this evaluation process, the OECD calls for interested parties to provide written submissions on Italy's efforts to implement the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and to fight the bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions. All submissions received will be shared with the OECD Working Group on Bribery (OECD WGB) and used to inform the evaluation process, including the on-site visit. If the evaluated country consents, the OECD may publish these submissions on its website. Email your submission by 9 April 2021 with your complete contact information to Thea.CHUBINIDZE@oecd.org. Participation in on-site visit From 3-12 May 2021, an evaluation team representing the OECD WGB will schedule meetings with experts in Paris. The on-site visit will take the form of a series of virtual meetings, physical meetings in Paris, or a combination of both depending on the sanitary conditions at the time. The evaluation team is made up of experts from Canada and Switzerland, both WGB member countries, plus staff from the OECD Secretariat. The OECD WGB invites all interested parties from the private sector, civil society, academia, media, and others to express interest in participating in the on-site visit. On-site visits by the evaluation team are an effective way to obtain information on a countrys implementation of the Anti-Bribery Convention, including the level of enforcement of the foreign bribery offence. Each on-site visit includes panels with non-government representatives to obtain their views on awareness, implementation, and enforcement. Email your request to participate by 16 April 2021 with your complete contact information to Thea.CHUBINIDZE@oecd.org. The OECD Secretariat will share these requests with the French authorities. The evaluation team, in consultation with the French authorities, will decide which parties are invited to participate in the on-site visit. Under WGB procedures, the evaluated country can decide to have government representatives observe on-site visit discussions with non-governmental participants. Possible profile of private sector and civil society participants: - Companies (including SMEs) - NGOs - Trade Unions - Media - Academia NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2021 / WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of 9F Inc. (NASDAQ:JFU): (i) pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and related prospectus issued in connection with 9F's August 14, 2019 initial public offering (the "IPO" or "Offering"); and/or (ii) between August 14, 2019 and September 29, 2020, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important March 22, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline in the securities class action first filed by the firm. SO WHAT: If you purchased 9F securities pursuant and/or traceable to the IPO or 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 9F class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2007.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 22, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 3 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020 founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Story continues DETAILS OF THE CASE: The complaint alleges that the materials supporting the Offering, and defendants throughout the Class Period, made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the purported value and benefits of the Company's financial institution partners and its tri-party cooperation business model did not in fact exist and/or were materially overstated, given that 9F and Property and Casualty Company Limited ("PICC") had been engaged in an ongoing contractual dispute regarding payment of service fees under the Cooperation Agreement; (2) the collectability of service fees owed to 9F by PICC under the Cooperation Agreement was in doubt and at serious risk of non-payment; (3) there was a significant risk that PICC would no longer provide credit insurance and guarantee protection to investors and institutional funding partners; (4) as a result of the foregoing, 9F's platform, business model, reputation and financial results had been materially impaired; and (5) as a result, defendants' statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the 9F class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2007.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 lrosen@rosenlegal.com pkim@rosenlegal.com cases@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com SOURCE: The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/635235/LOSS-ALERT-SAYS-ROSEN-A-LEADING-INVESTOR-RIGHTS-LAW-FIRM-Encourages-9F-Inc-Investors-to-Secure-Counsel-Before-Important-Deadline-in-Securities-Class-Action-JFU An Ohio man who competed in a medieval combat role-playing game has been federally indicted for allegedly trying to kill his love rival with a pipe bomb. Clayton Alexander McCoy, 30, was investigated by special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after allegedly trying to blow up his foe in Manchester, Maryland on October 30, according to a warrant for his arrest obtained by DailyMail.com. McCoy was arrested on Wednesday and will have his initial court appearance in Ohio on Friday before he is expected to be transferred to Maryland to stand trial, WJT-TV reported. Authorities said McCoy had unrequited feelings for the victim's girlfriend, but had agreed to remain friends with her when she said she did not feel the same way about him. The victim, identified as N.K. in court filings, suffered severe injuries and burns when he opened a package that shot shrapnel and BB pellets into his body. Clayton Alexander McCoy, 30, is pictured in medieval chainmail and armor to participate in Dagorhir role-playing McCoy is pictured carrying a foam weapon participate in medieval combat as part of Dagorhir role-playing Officials have requested a DNA sample from McCoy to match against DNA found on evidence collected after the bomb detonated. McCoy was tracked down after investigators with the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office filed multiple search warrants that requested data from Google about nearby devices and associated registered accounts on the day the bomb went off. It was determined that McCoy's phone entered the man's neighborhood that morning and the package was delivered to the man's home around 8.25am after he left for work. McCoy, pictured, participates in Dagorhir role-playing which uses foam weapons to participate in medieval combat A truck belonging to McCoy's mother was caught on a neighbor's Nest camera near the home that morning. The victim's grandfather brought the package into the home N.K. shared with his grandparents and left it on the kitchen table were it went untouched until he returned home. 'It was just sitting on my porch and my husband carried it in the house,' the victim's grandmother said at the time, according to KCTV. 'We took it out of the plastic bag it was in and set it (in) my dining room.' The grandmother, who was not identified by the outlet, said her grandson underwent surgery and said he was 'mutilated' by the bomb. She revealed she felt the blast from several rooms away. 'I'm in the kitchen, I hear an explosion and I hear my grandson scream,' she recalled. She added: 'Have you ever been hit in the back of the head and shoved so fast forward that your glasses fly off? That's what it felt like in the kitchen and that's three walls away from his room.' McCoy was accused of transporting an explosive device with intent to injure and using a destructive device for a bombing at a Maryland home, pictured A truck belonging to McCoy's mother was caught on a Nest camera near the home he allegedly bombed Carroll County Sheriff's deputies responded to a home around 5:30pm when the package detonated. N.K.'s recent girlfriend, identified as S.B., was interviewed at the home on October 30 and asked if she knew who might have been responsible for the bomb. She told investigators that she had known McCoy for seven years after she became a member of the Dagorhir community - a live action role-playing battle game 'with full contact melee fighting and ranged combat as its primary focus,' according to the complaint. Dagorhir members communicate in person and on social media, including Discord an online platform favored by gamers. Photos posted to McCoy's Facebook page show him dressed in costumes to participate in Dagorhir role-playing. Through Discord, McCoy would often communicate with S.B. and N.K. who he is also friends with under the username Funk Man #2439. Cops respond to the scene where a man was hurt by a pipe bomb left at a home he shared with his grandparents A sign shows that the building is unsafe after the pipe bomb went off at a Maryland home A truck belonging to McCoy's mother was pinged along the way from Ohio to the Maryland home and authorities alleged he planned the route to avoid toll booths S.B. recounted to authorities that she was planning a camping trip with McCoy but sometime around October 12 he told her that he had feelings for her. She told him that she was dating N.K. and did not feel the same way about him. McCoy and S.B. agreed to stay friends but she cancelled the trip and told McCoy she was busy with work even though she no longer felt comfortable going on the trip with him, authorities say. On November 2, cops interviewed N.K., who was still hospitalized, and he told them he has known McCoy for three years and did not think he was behind the attack. However, N.K. told cops that McCoy, 'like most members of Dagorhir, is proficient at wood and metal and may have the ability to have created the device that exploded,' according to the complaint. McCoy's phone was tracked from where he lives with his mother in Ohio to the victim's address and the route appeared specifically designed to avoid tolls, the complaint alleges. According to investigators, McCoy had searched '1994 toyota pickup gas tank capacity' in the days before the attack. McCoy was previously convicted of trying to obtain obscene materials involving a minor in March 2013 and was sentenced to four years imprisonment and is currently on the Ohio sex offender registry. In a press conference on Thursday, Carroll County Sheriff James T. DeWees said the bombing caused panic throughout the community ahead of the Christmas season as residents expected deliveries. 'Many in this region may recall how frightening this incident was and in the days following,' DeWees said. 'Cases involving explosions often take months or even years to solve. And we're all very grateful for the speed and deliberation by which this law enforcement team put this case together through methodical investigative work and through teamwork.' He continued: 'Everyone here on this law enforcement team succeeded in not only holding and apprehending a dangerous criminal, but also hopefully provided reassurance to a community that was justifiably alarmed after the bombing.' If convicted, McCoy faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for transporting explosives with intent to injure and a mandatory minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life in federal prison for using, carrying, or possession of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) enjoyed a rare moment of celebration on Thursday during the inauguration of its permanent office building in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. This, however, did not hold back the governors of the Niger Delta region from expressing their misgivings about the commission, which has been tainted by corruption. The 13-floor building was inaugurated by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari. The governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, who spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the governors of the region, said the NDDC may not have justified its creation. Unfortunately, after two decades of its existence with an estimated allocation of N946.91 Billion in 18 years, NDDC may find it difficult to convince many Nigerians especially those from the South-East and South-South states that it has justified its creation. Mr Uzodinma said majority of the people feel that the agency has fallen short of expectations. The financial scandal that rocked NDDC not too long ago blighted whatever impact it had made in the past, he added. The governor thanked Mr Buhari for seeing to the completion of the commissions office after almost two decades since the commencement of the building project. He said he expected the commission to turn a new leaf, henceforth. The governor proposed an amendment to the law establishing the NDDC to enable communities to make inputs and also monitor the commissions budgets and projects. It is my well-informed view that to address the kind of contract scandal that rocked NDDC in the past, and the concomitant allegations of corruption that followed, there is need for more involvement of the people in the affairs of the commission. In this regard, the people should make inputs into the NDCC budget in accord with their expectations and needs, through town hall meetings. Thereafter, the NDDC should be mandated to adopt such inputs in its budget. The Amended Act should make it mandatory for the commission to execute all the projects coming from the people of the oil-bearing communities. The communities shall also be empowered by law to monitor contracts awarded for projects in their communities and to certify their satisfactory execution before final payments are made. I believe that this will greatly reduce sharp practices in the execution of NDDC contracts and will reduce corruption as well, Mr Uzodinma said. Put NDDC funds into escrow account The South-south governors, during their meeting in Port Harcourt on Monday, said We feel already short-changed as a people in the Niger Delta over the way the NDDC was being run. The Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum and Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, said since the NDDC was being run, for now, by a sole administrator, the money accruing to the commission should be put in an escrow account, apart from funds required for the payment of staff salary. Apart from Mr Okowa, the meeting was attended by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, and the Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Moses Ekpo, who represented Governor Udom Emmanuel. ADVERTISEMENT So, it means the NDDC is actually run in such a matter that it is actually not truly beneficial to our people, because there is no stakeholders input in the running of the affairs of the NDDC. We do know that there is a forensic audit taking place and if that is the reason the board has not been constituted, our advice is that monies being sent to the NDDC should be put in an escrow account until a board is constituted and then proper processes are followed in the expenditure of the money, in a such a way it will be visibly accountable in the best interest of the peoples of the Niger Delta, Mr Okowa said. Continuing, Mr Okowa said, A situation where we begin to have emergency projects that possibly will not last three to six months is not right. We dont feel happy about it and we are urging Mr President to ensure that if the board is not going to be immediately constituted, then funds for the NDDC beyond the payment of salaries should be put on hold until he constitutes the board and the board can now run the finances of the NDDC as per the law creating the NDDC. We feel already short changed as a people in the Niger Delta and we believe that we do not wish to see this kind of situation continue going forward into the future because our people feel the pains. We do not want a situation where there is an abuse of processes, neither should we have a situation where we have abuse of funds. Corrupt agency The NDDC has failed to lift the Niger Delta people out of poverty, more than 20 years after it was established in 2000 by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, to fast-track development in the oil-rich region. Billions of naira that have accrued to the commission have been mismanaged and stolen over the years by corrupt officials and politicians, while several abandoned projects litter the region. Mr Akpabio, in July, indicted federal lawmakers over the corruption and poor job delivery in the NDDC, saying that most of the commissions contracts were executed by the lawmakers. The NDDC, in June, accused a senator, Peter Nwaoboshi, of using 11 companies as fronts to secure for himself a N3.6 billion contract in the commission. The contract was not executed and the money not refunded, the commission said. Mr Nwaoboshi is a Peoples Democratic Party senator representing Delta North District, Delta State. He is the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta and the NDDC. The NDDC spokesperson, Charles Odili, said the contract was the biggest single case of looting of the Commissions resources. Mr Akpabio, who once said the NDDC abandoned$70 million in a bank for 13 years, said the commission was so corrupt that it was treated like a teller machine where money could be withdrawn freely at any time. Interestingly, Mr Akpabios tenure as the Niger Delta affairs minister so far has been blighted by the corruption scandals in the NDDC. I said it on radio the other day, why did it take us 20 years to know that NDDC was not living up to its mandate? said Ken Henshaw, the Executive Director of We The People, a non-governmental organisation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It was created in 2000 and it took us up to 2020 to realise that the NDDC wasnt working. The same thing with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. Have we carried out any evaluation to know whether the ministry is living up to its mandate? I think we should put robust monitoring and evaluation framework in place to ensure there is a match between projects and objectives and to ensure that those projects actually speak to the issues in the Niger Delta region, Mr Henshaw said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-11 21:02:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera (C) speaks during the launching ceremony of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Zomba, Malawi on March 11, 2021. Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera and his deputy, Saulos Chilima, on Thursday led the country in getting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to mark the official rollout of the vaccination campaign. (Photo by Joseph Mizere/Xinhua) ZOMBA, Malawi, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera and his deputy, Saulos Chilima, on Thursday led the country in getting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to mark the official rollout of the vaccination campaign. The Malawi leader got his jab at a televised ceremony at a COVID-19 field hospital in the country's former capital city, Zomba, while Chilima got his jab at a field hospital in Mzuzu city in northern Malawi. UN Resident Coordinator in Malawi, Maria Jose Torres Macho, also got the AstraZeneca jab at the facility followed by Speaker of Parliament, Catherine Gotani Hara, Malawi Defense Force and Malawi Police Service chiefs, representatives of religious leaders, traditional leaders, and some senior government officials. "As a show of good faith, I have volunteered to be the first to be vaccinated while the Vice President will also get vaccinated in Mzuzu so that you see that the vaccine is safe," Chakwera said. Chakwera said 60,000 health workers across the country will get the vaccine as one of the priority groups, which also include frontline soldiers in the fight against the pandemic. The president thanked the WHO for its technical assistance to Malawi to identify the AstraZeneca vaccine and development partners for helping the country with the vaccine's deployment plan. He also thanked the Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and its partners for giving Malawi equitable access to 1.4 million doses of the vaccine up to May through the COVAX Facility. The first batch of 360,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in the country on March 5 through the COVAX Facility. Other than frontline health workers, the elderly and Malawians at risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the nature of their jobs will also be prioritized in getting the vaccine. Since April 2020, Malawi has recorded over 32,000 COVID-19 cases with over 24,000 recoveries and over 1,000 deaths. Enditem WASHINGTON, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As President Biden today signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319), Family Research Council criticized the $1.9 trillion spending package. Without a single Republican vote, Democrats pushed through a bill that used the Covid-19 health crisis as a cover to promote policies harmful to human life and the family. Family Research Council also released a new resource enumerating the abortion-related problems with the bill. Among other things, the bill would: Allocate over $450 billion with no Hyde amendment protections. All four previous Covid-19 relief bills passed during the Trump administration were bi-partisan and contained Hyde amendment protections, which prevented the funds from subsidizing elective abortions. with no Hyde amendment protections. All four previous Covid-19 relief bills passed during the Trump administration were bi-partisan and contained Hyde amendment protections, which prevented the funds from subsidizing elective abortions. Allocate over $700 million in global health funding with no Helms amendment protections, which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortions abroad. It also allocates $10 billion in foreign affairs funding that can be used to lobby for abortion overseas. in global health funding with no Helms amendment protections, which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortions abroad. It also allocates in foreign affairs funding that can be used to lobby for abortion overseas. Provide $350 billion to bail out state and local governments, without any pro-life protections. The vast majority of this funding would go to states with large deficits and liberal abortion laws like California , Illinois , and New York , which have chosen to directly fund abortions and subsidize Planned Parenthood instead of meeting their state's pandemic-related expenses. to bail out state and local governments, without any pro-life protections. The vast majority of this funding would go to states with large deficits and liberal abortion laws like , , and , which have chosen to directly fund abortions and subsidize Planned Parenthood instead of meeting their state's pandemic-related expenses. Expand subsidies for health plans on the Obamacare exchange that cover elective abortions. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this will amount to $45 billion in tax subsidies. FRC President Tony Perkins said: "This is government irresponsibility at its worst. Calling this a rescue act is a convenient cover for a Democrat bail out of mismanaged Blue states and a payoff of their political base. It massively funds abortion, liberal teachers' unions, blue states, the arts, and transportation kickbacks for districts like Nancy Pelosi's and Chuck Schumer's. "President Biden ignored his promise to meet Republican lawmakers halfway by ramming through the first coronavirus bill without bipartisan support. President Biden is so little concerned with Covid that he appointed an abortion activist with no public health experience to head the Department of Health and Human Services, but he's not above using virus scare tactics to ram through unrelated spending that will saddle the nation with another $1.9 trillion (with a T) in debt," concluded Perkins. Connor Semelsberger, Director of Federal Affairs for Life and Human Dignity at Family Research Council, and who produced our resource, added: "At a time when the country is working to recover from the negative health and economic impacts of Covid-19, the pro-abortion majority in Congress has decided to cut out pro-life members from the legislative process. Instead of working to gain large bipartisan support for Covid relief legislation, which was possible just a few short months ago, Democrats are seeking to pass the largest expansion of taxpayer funding of abortion since Obamacare in 2010," concluded Semelsberger. SOURCE Family Research Council Related Links http://www.frc.org A Montana angler broke a nearly 4-year-old state record when he reeled in a smallmouth bass that weighed 7.8 pounds. ADVERTISEMENT Theron Thompson said he was fishing in the Fort Peck Reservoir with his father, Jim Thompson, and a friend, Nate Peressini, when he reeled in a smallmouth bass that seemed impressive when he weighed it on Peressini's scale, but none of the men had good enough cellphone service on the water to look up the state record. Thompson said it wasn't until hours later, when they were back on dry land, that he discovered the state record was 7.51 pounds. "It was instantly, 'What should we do to get this confirmed and verified,'" Peressini told the Billings Gazette. The men said it took multiple phone calls to reach a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks warden, who agreed to meet them at Miles City Reynolds Market, where there was an official scale. The smallmouth bass weighed 7.8 pounds and was declared a new state record. HTMA continues to grow, and our products are in demand because there are real results. Our financial institution clients are seeing spikes in engagement, along with strong deposit growth. As more banks and credit unions turn to HTMA, we are excited to continue to grow our team. HT Mobile Apps (HTMA), an innovative FinTech company serving banks and credit unions across the country, announced Dave Daniel as vice president of sales to support the growing consumer demand for its solutions, including its popular Plinqit savings platform. Daniel brings more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience specifically working with community and regional financial institutions. Previously, he served as vice president of sales and marketing for Banc Intranets, an industry leading intranet and board portal provider. He was responsible for all sales, marketing and strategic alliances. Banc Intranets successfully grew under Daniels sales leadership and ultimately was acquired by Ncontracts. Prior to Banc Intranets, Daniel held sales and marketing positions at Benchmark Technology Group, Open Solutions (Fiserv), Bisys (Fiserv), FIS and TREEV. In joining HTMA, I am excited to join a high energy company that is eager to meet and exceed client expectations. HTMA is a fantastic company that has strong values and promotes doing your best work to reach a common goal, said Daniel. I was a bank customer of Daves when he was with Banc Intranets, said Kathleen Craig, founder and CEO of HTMA. I couldnt be more thrilled to now be working with him. HTMA continues to grow, and our products are in demand because there are real results. Our financial institution clients are seeing spikes in engagement, along with strong deposit growth. As more banks and credit unions turn to HTMA, we are excited to continue to grow our team. About HTMA Michigan-based HTMA is an innovative FinTech company that helps banks and credit unions across the country easily and cost-effectively introduce new services for attracting and retaining customers. HTMA offerings include Banker Jr., Member Jr., Hip Pocket and Plinqit, the first savings app of its kind that pays users for engaging with content through its patented Build Skills. For more information, visit http://www.htmobileapps.com. As a standard course of business every spring, teams reach agreement on contracts with their pre-arbitration players. Since pre-arb players have virtually no negotiating leverage, their salaries arent far beyond the MLB minimum ($570.5K), and most teams now adopt a particular formula for assigning modest raises to pre-arbitration players who have performed above and beyond expectations. When a player doesnt accept this agreement, it has no change on his contractual status with the team. It just means that his contract is renewed, and the team will impose the players salary for the coming season. For a further explanation of the renewal process, MLBTRs Jeff Todd provided an outline in a YouTube video last year. Why would a player not accept the terms of his teams raise? Often, it is just a matter of principle, as Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty (who had his last two pre-arbitration salaries renewed) said last year, as a player who excels during a season simply feels he is worth more than the minor raise a team is offering. Occasionally, youll see a player look for a more substantive raise, as Mike Trouts camp asked for a $1MM salary for the 2013 season, following a 2012 campaign that saw Trout finish second in AL MVP voting in his first full year in the big leagues. While Trout didnt get his $1MM ask, some clubs have indeed rewarded players with pre-arb salaries worth well above (by a few hundred thousand dollars, in some cases) the minimum, both as a nod to performance and perhaps as a way to continue good relations with a player and his agent in advance of extension talks. Here is a list of players whose contracts have been renewed for the 2021 season. As youll note, the members of this group have already enjoyed significant early-career success. Hyderabad, March 12 : Our Food, a Hyderabad-based agri tech startup, announced on Friday that it has signed an MoU with the Telangana government to set up over 20,000 micro food processing units across the state. These units will cover all the major crops grown in Telangana, especially focusing on rice, pulses, groundnut, millets, turmeric and chilli. The food processing equipment would be manufactured at Our Food's manufacturing facility in Zaheerabad. This engagement will augment the process of setting up food processing units in the vicinity of the farms. Our Food has partnered with financial institutions to facilitate the setting up of the food processing units by potential rural entrepreneurs. An investment of Rs 1,535 crore in these units is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 24,409 crore, a net profit of Rs 2,440 crore to the farmer franchises and up to Rs 4,881 crore the to farmers over a period of five years. "This MoU will enable farm level processing, thereby benefiting farmers and unemployed youth," said Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT and Industries. The Main Investigation Department of the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has initiated a pretrial investigation against officials of public authorities on the fact of committing high treason in 2008-2010. The SBU press center told Interfax-Ukraine that the law enforcers are investigating, in particular, the circumstances of the preparation and signing of the "Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the Stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine until 2042" dated April 21, 2010, regulations and procedures during its approval by the MPs of the Verkhovna Rada. According to preliminary data from the investigation, the signing of this document led to an increase in the number of personnel of military formations and special services of Russia involved in the annexation of the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2014. The SBU said that with the aim of a comprehensive, complete and impartial investigation of the circumstances of the criminal proceedings, appropriate investigative and procedural actions are currently being carried out. As reported, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said the SBU will check the circumstances of the vote in 2010 on the ratification of Kharkiv agreements on the extension of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's stay in Crimea until 2042, if there are grounds, criminal proceedings will be initiated under the article on treason in relation to the MPs of the sixth convocation. Americans have begun leaving home more often than before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, reflecting a pent-up desire to venture out as new cases have declined, according to University of Maryland researchers tracking the movement of cellphones. The number of daily trips per person - when a cellphone moved more than a mile from home - had hovered around 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels since rebounding over the summer. But by mid-February, after a slight slump amid a surge in new cases, the number regularly started to exceed pre-pandemic travel. By the first week of March, the number of trips surpassed those taken each day in the same week last year, before stay-at-home orders kicked in, by as much as 13.6 percent. With such orders having long expired and barely 10 percent of the country fully vaccinated, Americans are demonstrating a growing comfort with heading out, likely the result of declines in new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths, researchers said. Reaching the first anniversary of pandemic-related restrictions might also have created more severe cases of early spring fever, experts say. The number of daily trips per capita has climbed even as an estimated 22 percent of the country continues to work from home. That's because the number of nonwork trips, such as running errands, has jumped, on some days by as much as 20 percent compared with before the pandemic. It's quarantine fatigue - and then some. "We've been through a long winter and a lot of [covid] cases," said Mofeng Yang, the lead researcher on the Maryland Transportation Institute project. "People might want to escape from their homes." Yang said the aggregated cellphone data doesn't show where people are going, but he suspects many are more eager for a change of scenery than a year ago. Those working from home also probably have more flexibility than before to make personal trips, such as running errands or driving to a park for a walk, he said. Traffic analysts at Inrix, a Seattle-area firm that collects data on passenger vehicles, have found the number of miles driven daily nationwide remains at about 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Unlike the University of Maryland research, the Inrix data doesn't include truck drivers and people who travel by transit, bicycle, plane or on foot. The national average also might be depressed by traffic remaining down significantly in many major metropolitan areas, such as New York and San Francisco, Inrix said. Inrix analyst Bob Pishue said he's curious how much the growth in driving distances reflects people who have left large cities for smaller cities, suburbs and more rural areas where people tend to drive farther. Fifteen of the 100 metropolitan areas that Inrix monitors in the United States are seeing people drive farther than this time last year, most of them in less populous areas, such as Knoxville, Tenn., Greenville, S.C. and Boise, Idaho. Washington-area residents are staying home more than the national average, taking an average of 3.4 trips per person on March 3 compared with 4.02 trips that day nationwide, according to the University of Maryland data. They also are continuing to take fewer trips than before the pandemic, remaining down between 1.5 percent and nearly 10 percent per capita, depending on the jurisdiction. District residents are staying home the most, with daily trips down 9.6 percent. Even with the number of coronavirus cases declining, public health experts continue to recommend limiting travel. Venturing out leads to more interactions among people of different households, increasing the chances of catching or spreading the virus. But some also say they are not surprised that people are leaving home more often. Lorien Abroms, a public health professor at George Washington University, said she suspects people are adding back trips they put off for the past year, now that they feel safer to do so. "I think people have pent-up energy to get out of the four walls of their house that they've looked at day after day for a year now," Abroms said. States that are starting to fully reopen, including those like Texas that have lifted all restrictions, also are signaling "that it's okay to travel and go out and do things you've been wanting to do," she said. How carefully people behave - whether they continue to wear masks, socially distance and stay outdoors as much as possible - is more important than how often they leave home, some experts said. "If it's people running errands or driving to parks to walk outside or visiting people in their homes - those are all different risks," said Amanda Castel, a George Washington University epidemiology professor. Castel said she's worried about another surge this spring, when people travel longer distances to be with family and friends for Passover, Easter and spring break amid emerging variants and a mostly unvaccinated public. "It's a critical time period for us," she said. Postal services provider TTPost yesterday shut its branches in Port of Spain and San Fernando after dozens of people rushed to collect senior citizen pension and public assistance grants and would not adhere to physical distancing rules. Eventually, police were called to disperse the crowds. Several elderly people at the St Vincent Street branch in Port of Spain complained about not being able to collect their pension cheques because other unruly ones refused to socially distance and abide by the law amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Stella Griffith, 68, of Diego Martin, said she was adhering to rules of social distancing, but there were other people who came for their public assistance and disability grants and were refusing to listen. Albany, N.Y. Democrats in the New York State Assembly decided Thursday to open an impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Assemblys judiciary committee will lead a probe into sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo and his administrations response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the states nursing homes. The investigation could eventually lead to Cuomos removal from office. For now, the committee is just investigating. There has been no decision about whether the Assembly will ultimately vote to impeach Cuomo and send him to a trial. READ MORE: Who is Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul? SU alum would be NYs 1st female governor if Cuomo goes Impeachment in New York is broadly similar to the process on the federal level, but there are some differences. Heres a look at how it would work for Cuomo: Impeachments in New York start in the Assembly. A majority of the chambers 150 members would have to vote in favor of impeaching Cuomo for the process to continue, according to the state constitution. An impeachment vote in the Assembly is just a charge. It doesnt mean Cuomo is permanently removed from office at that point. But this is one place impeachments in New York differ from those on the federal level: As soon as Cuomo is impeached, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul , a Buffalo native and Syracuse University alumna, would become acting governor. Thats mandated by the constitution. Cuomo would be sidelined from state government at least until his trial ended. After the Assembly vote, the matter would move to a special impeachment court established by the constitution for a trial. For Cuomo, that court would include 62 of the 63 members of the state Senate plus the seven judges from the Court of Appeals, New Yorks highest court. The remaining member of the Senate, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, would be excluded from the trial. Thats because shed be serving as lieutenant governor while Hochul takes over for Cuomo, according to the constitution. The impeachment court would have a total of 69 members. A two-thirds majority vote would be required to convict Cuomo and remove him from office. Thats a total of 46 votes in favor of conviction. If Cuomo were convicted, Hochul would take over as governor and serve the remainder of Cuomos current term. Shed have to run for governor in the 2022 election if she wanted a four-year term of her own. Hochul would also take over and serve the rest of Cuomos term if he resigns. Lawmakers would also have the option to bar Cuomo from holding public office in the future if he were convicted. If Cuomo were acquitted, Hochul would cease serving as acting governor and Cuomo would resume his duties. Hochul would return to serving as lieutenant governor. Only one other governor in New York history has been impeached. William Sulzer was removed from office in October 1913 in a case involving campaign finance fraud and perjury. Although his term as governor ended, he was elected to the state Assembly a month later. He had previously served in the chamber for eight terms. Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Srinagar, March 12 : The J&K police said on Friday that the Grameen Bank (regional rural bank) manager's complaint about robbery at gunpoint at his branch in Baramulla district appeared to be "suspicious", hours after an unidentified miscreant allegedly decamped with Rs 2.25 lakh from the bank. The police said that as per the complaint filed by the manager of the Grameen Bank branch at Kunzer in Tangmarg, an unidentified man carrying a pistol looted Rs 2.25 lakh from the branch. Talking to the media about the reported robbery, SSP Abdul Qayoom Manhas said the claim seems to be "suspicious and fishy although we are ascertaining the veracity of the complaint". The SSP said the branch manager claimed that he was away for Friday prayers when the robbery took place. He added that there was no security guard deployed at the branch nor any CCTV camera was installed, which could have supported the manager's claim. The SSP further said that the manager also claimed that the pistol carrying robber had fired in the air. "There is no evidence of gunshots as nobody sustained any bullet injury, nor there was any bullet mark on the surface around," the officer added. After a difficult year, we all want to show our loved ones how much we care. And with Mother's Day looming, it's time to think about what to give the most special lady in your life, be it jewellery, flowers, a pampering session or swanky treats. Whether you're on a shoestring budget or gearing up to splash the cash, we take a look at 11 gifts to make all mums feel as special as possible. With everything from Ernest Jones' stunning Mother's Day edit to a boozy chocolate selection or a homemade gift from the heart... we have something for every mum to open and love on Sunday 14th March... - Say It With Silver Sterling Silver Oval Locket Pendant - 55 For the elegant lady in your life, Ernest Jones has the perfect present to tick all boxes. This stunning locket features exquisite engraving for a special touch. Encase fond memories forever by inserting special pictures into the slots of this delicate pendant which sits on a fine 20" silver chain. Making the piece even more desirable is the impressive price tag, after the stunning locket was slashed from 110 to 55 for the special day. Sterling Silver Oval Locket Pendant - 55 - Preen To Perfection! A treatment from Woodford Medical Practice - Prices vary If you are looking to splash out, a visit to one of Dr Mervyn Patterson's clinics across the country can help give your mum the boost she may need. With clinics in Belfast, Essex, London, Cambridge and Leamington Spa, the treatments involve everything from cosmetic enhancements to facials. If your mum is looking to hydrate dull, lacklustre and dehydrated skin, the revolutionary Profhilo treatment is ideal or a rejuvenating skin peel can help reverse the signs of skin ageing, sun damage and in particular acne. If she is looking to freshen up her skin, DermaFrac is an effective way of treating and erasing fine lines, wrinkles, enlarged pores and congested skin complaints. Check out what Dr Mervyn has to offer and help your mum feel like a million dollars. If your mum is looking to hydrate dull, lacklustre and dehydrated skin, the revolutionary Profhilo treatment is ideal - Diamonds Are A Mum's Best Friend 9ct White Gold Diamond Stud Earrings - 125 They say diamonds are forever, so what better way to show mum that you love her than an exquisite pair of diamond earrings (at a VERY affordable price!) Ernest Jones has marked the price down by half from 250, and there is no way you won't impress with these sleek and sparkling diamonds. Whether acting to add a gleam to everyday ensembles or a high-end finish to an evening on the town, these will be the perfect addition to any jewellery box. 9ct White Gold Diamond Stud Earrings - 125 - Dinner Fit For A Queen! A Meal Box - Prices vary In these uncertain times, many restaurants have worked on helping bring the restaurant experience home for diners. So why not treat your mum to a swanky meal, delivered straight to her door? Top eateries including Sketch, Petersham Nurseries Cafe, A Wong and many more, are offering at home meal boxes for the perfect dinner - making it feel like life is back to normal and you are eating in a swanky restaurant. Petersham Nurseries' option is 135 for two and is delivered all over the country. More affordable options include Dishoom's bacon naan kit at 16 for two, Dirty Bones' hero kit, for 40 and Provisions' fondue and raclette kits for 29. Restaurants nationwide have sprung on the trend, so Google the nearest to your mum and let her hang up her apron on Sunday 14th. Delicious! Petersham Nurseries' option is 135 for two and is delivered all over the country - A Forever Gift Sterling Silver Diamond Infinity Adjustable Bracelet - 130 The infinity symbol represents the power of everlasting love, so this is the ideal emblem to gift your mother to show how much you care. Ernest Jones' elegant and pared-back piece, oozes elegance. The classic figure of eight infinity symbol is surrounded by diamonds and features a bolo fastening to adjust the fit and size of the dainty piece. Sterling Silver Diamond Infinity Adjustable Bracelet - 130 - A Page Turning Time Michelle Obama, Becoming - 10.99 // Carol Ann Duffy, Empty Nest - 12.99 at Waterstones So many empowering women are topping the Bestsellers' Lists, so the gift of words will be a welcome treat for any bookworm mothers out there. Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming offers the deep insights and profound wisdom of the former First Lady, while Carol Ann Duffy's latest anthology Empty Nest explores the relationships between parents. Head to your nearest book store to pick up the latest hot titles, old classics or the perfect tome to keep your mum turning the page. So many empowering women are topping the Bestsellers' Lists, so the gift of words will be a welcome treat for any bookworm mothers out there (Michelle Obama, Becoming - 10.99) - Time To Show Your Love Olivia Burton Ladies' Two Colour White Dial Bracelet Watch - 99 If your mum is stylish and sophisticated, you should look no further than an elegant number from Olivia Burton. The British brand, founded by best friends and ex-fashion buyers Jemma and Lesa, boasts a line of stunning timepieces. The Two Colour White Dial Bracelet Watch works for any style, with its stainless steel case and yellow gold metal plated bracelet. Olivia Burton Ladies' Two Colour White Dial Bracelet Watch - 99 Happy Hour... With A Sweet Twist! - Hotel Chocolat's The Chocolate & Gin Gift Collection - 20 If there was ever a day for mums to treat themselves, its Mother's Day, so why not treat your's to a little indulgence! Hotel Chocolat's Chocolate & Gin Gift Collection rings in at an impressive 20 but looks like it carries a MUCH higher price tag. The delicious gift set included Gin Truffles, two 50ml bottles of Cocoa Gin, Dark Almonds and Supermilk Batons. - Designer Delights Vera Wang Silver Kindred Heart Sapphire Heart Pendant - 149 Any designer diva worth her salt knows who fashion icon Vera Wang is. So take a slice out the fashion heavyweight's catalogue of work to gift your mum with this exquisite heart necklace. A signature sapphire is placed in the pendant, adding a special touch to keep close to your mum's heart. Vera Wang Silver Kindred Heart Sapphire Heart Pendant - 149 - Crafting Is Caring A positivity jar - Make your own! Splashing the cash is not essential to make mum feel fabulous on the big day, so why not turn to crafting to make the day special. With just an empty jar, pen and paper, you can make a positivity jar - a container filled with quotes, affirmations, mementos and special memories. You can also paint the jar, add ribbons and customise to personalise the one-of-a-kind gift just for the special lady in your life. - A Smell Sensation Neom Essential Oil Diffuser: Wellbeing Pod - Was 170, now 150 To give the gift of relaxation this Mother's Day, why not opt for this incredible Neom diffuser that will leave mum's stresses at the door. While at a higher end of the price scale, this present is the gift that keeps giving. Using the diffuser and essential oils together will instantly release a heatless, mist of scented vapour into the atmosphere to stimulate the senses. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-03-12 20:32:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has received humanitarian aid and medical supplies from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local media reported on Friday, citing the Mongolian Red Cross Society. "The situation of the pandemic in Mongolia is still grim. The Chinese government and people have expressed their sympathies and support to Mongolia," Zhang Muxing, minister counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia, said in an online handover ceremony. "I am glad that the humanitarian organizations of the two sides have continued to cooperate. We will spend the humanitarian aid to provide food packages to single-parents or low-income families with many children," Nordov Bolormaa, general director of the Mongolian Red Cross Society, said when attending the ceremony. As of Friday, Mongolia has registered a total of 3,664 COVID-19 cases, with 2,907 having recovered. Enditem Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Oregon families stand to receive several billion dollars under the coronavirus relief bill President Joe Biden signed Thursday, money aimed at helping households recover from one of the deepest economic downturns in American history. But in Oregon, unlike most other states, the relief programs will also generate higher state tax bills unless the Legislature acts to exempt them. Lawmakers are working on a plan that would offset the higher taxes with direct payments to low-income Oregonians. Heres the issue: Oregon is one of six states that allow residents to deduct part of their federal taxes from their state income taxes. That usually means a lower Oregon tax bill for most people. Congress, though, structured the two stimulus programs it approved last year -- and these latest payments -- as tax rebates. So a $1,400 stimulus payment and a $3,600 child tax credit reduce federal tax liability. Lower federal taxes mean theres less to deduct from your Oregon income taxes, which in turn means you owe more state taxes. The states latest estimates are that Oregonians received $5 billion in stimulus payments last year, generating $160 million in additional state taxes for roughly 900,000 people. There are no estimates yet on how much Oregonians would owe from this latest stimulus bill. To be clear, Oregonians will come out ahead -- way ahead -- in the latest coronavirus relief package. The $1.9 trillion stimulus program provides payments of $1,400 for most people, tax credits of up to $3,600 per child, and an exemption from income taxes on jobless benefits received during 2020. Still, many Oregonians could be in for a nasty surprise when they file next years taxes and discover this years windfall came with strings attached. A family of five could receive nearly $20,000 in stimulus checks and child credits, which could generate a significant state tax hit that many might not plan for. Its difficult to precisely calculate what individual families may owe in additional taxes. The state estimated that Oregonians who received the first stimulus checks last spring would owe an average of $130 apiece in additional taxes. Oregonians can adjust their withholding to allocate more money from each paycheck in anticipation of the eventual higher tax bill. Roughly speaking, allocating 9% of whatever they expect in stimulus payments would cover the additional taxes. But it may be that some Oregonians dont end up owing the additional tax. Lawmakers from both parties have called on the Legislature to erase the tax penalty associated with the stimulus payments. Senate Bill 842, introduced last week by Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, would do just that but doesnt yet have a legislative hearing scheduled. Danny Moran, spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek, said the House Committee on Revenue is crafting a plan to nullify the tax penalty in the quickest and simplest way possible. He said committee Chairwoman Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, is proposing direct payments to low-income Oregonians subject to the additional taxes. Speaker Kotek supports this ongoing work to send targeted relief to Oregonians who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic recession, Moran said Thursday. Gov. Kate Browns office said last month, and again Thursday, that she wants any state financial assistance to be targeted to families that need the most help. The Legislative Revenue Office and the Department of Revenue will need to thoroughly analyze the legislation, said Liz Merah, spokeswoman for the governor. Well need to review any recommendations they may have as a result of that process. -- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway Authorities were searching for a Carbon County man accused of demanding $300 following a minor car crash in Easton, and assaulting and threatening two people in the other car involved. Easton police got a warrant Wednesday from District Judge Richard Yetter III for the arrest of Rodney Keith Rivers, 43, of the 300 block of East Bertsch Street in Lansford. According to court records, police responded about 6 p.m. March 7 to Wilson Borough police headquarters for an assault report. Two people, male and female, said they were in a minor car crash with a black Audi about 4 p.m. in a parking lot at 1441 Butler St. in the city, court records say. The female occupant said that as she attempted to give the occupants of the Audi her insurance information, a passenger later identified as Rivers said he wanted $300 cash, according to police. The male occupant said he could hear Rivers yelling and exited the vehicle, according to police. He said he told Rivers they had no money, and Rivers began striking him in the face -- breaking his teeth -- and struck the female victim once in the shoulder, court records say. Rivers allegedly then retrieved a black handgun from the Audi and placed it in his waistband. He made the male victim give him his identification card while saying if the victim did not produce $300 in 15 minutes something bad would happen to him, while patting the firearm in his waistband, police report. Rivers provided his phone number to the victims, then left, according to police. Investigators verified the number is associated with Rivers, as well as verified that the drivers license photo of Rivers matched the description provided by both victims, court records say. With approval from the Northampton County District Attorneys Office, police filed charges against Rivers including two felony counts of robbery and one count of felony aggravated assault, in addition to misdemeanor simple assault, terroristic threats and possession of a weapon. Rivers is described as Black with a distinctive facial pigmentation, black hair and brown eyes, standing 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds, and he was wearing glasses and a white jacket, according to police. The Easton Police Departments tip line is 610-250-6635, and callers may remain anonymous. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Charlestown, RI (02880) Today Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High 66F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 53F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. It appears drug dogs aren't as needed as they used to be Reports suggest that at least 25% of ovarian disorders are due to dysfunction of the brain mechanism in the hypothalamus that controls the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is a molecule that governs the reproductive function in men and women by regulating the release of a range of reproductive hormones into the body, particularly gonadotropins, from the pituitary gland, which is located underneath the brain. In a healthy individual, GnRH and gonadotropins are released in pulses, while typically in individuals whose infertility is caused by hypothalmic dysfunction, the GnRH and gonadotropin pulses are supressed. Although the nature of the GnRH pulse generator has been suspected from circumstantial evidence for many years, direct evidence for it had not been found until now. The findings may provide a possible new approach for assisted reproductive technology that would be important for measures against the declining birthrate seen particularly in developed countries. Using genetically modified female rats, researchers from Nagoya University, Japan, and the National Institute of Physiological Sciences in Okazaki City, Japan, demonstrated that a lack of properly functioning KNDy neurons specifically in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus causes infertility because without a sufficient number of these neurons, not enough kisspeptin is produced to signal to the GnRH neurons to release GnRH pulses, so the pituitary gland doesn't receive a signal to release gonadotropins. The researchers showed that kisspeptin secreted by the KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus is the essential factor in the healthy release of GnRH (that is, in pulses) and consequent release of gonadotropin pulses. In other words, female - and, moreover, male - mammals with a deficiency of KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus can never be fertile. The researchers also demonstrated that ovarian function can be switched on by boosting the number of KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus: just 20% of the normal number of these is sufficient to start the GnRH and gonadotropin pulses and, moreover, maintain folliculogenesis in the ovaries, thereby enabling fertility. The number of properly functioning KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus was boosted from zero - the rats had been bred to have no KNDy neurons producing kisspeptin - to an adequate number by replacing a gene in the neurokinin-B neurons (the "N" in KNDy) with the Kiss1 gene, which produces kisspeptin. In this sense, the KNDy neurons were "rescued". The research team's gene therapy was so precise that only the KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus were modified, leaving those in the rest of the hypothalamus untouched. This research work suggests at least two therapies: first, a sustained-release drug to enhance GnRH pulses in patients, based on the additional finding that neurokinin-B increases the frequency of GnRH pulses while dynorphin-A (the "Dy" in KNDy) reduces their frequency; second, gene therapy to boost the number of properly functioning KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus. The researchers believe that the "rescue" of KNDy neurons by gene therapy using the adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) technique to restore fertility is quite useful and applicable to animals in the near future. Indications from other published studies are that this technique is also safe for humans. The research team hopes to confirm their findings in further animal research and also hopes to eventually bring this technique to the clinic as a treatment for infertility in humans caused by abnormal GnRH secretion. Main text Gonadotropins are any hormones that are released from the anterior pituitary when a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) signal arrives from the hypothalamus. They stimulate the gonads, or sex glands, to carry out their reproductive functions. The GnRH is therefore of central importance for mammalian reproduction. In fertile individuals, GnRH is secreted in a pulsatile manner, while continuous secretion of GnRH actually inhibits gonadotropin release and therefore inhibits the function of the sex glands. Reports suggest that at least 25% of ovarian disorders are due to a dysfunction of the brain mechanism in the hypothalamus controlling the release of gonadotropic hormones from the anterior pituitary gland. However, although suspected from circumstantial evidence, the exact nature of the "GnRH pulse generator" has been a mystery ever since GnRH was discovered in 1971. In a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a research collaboration between the Graduate School of Bioagricultural Science, Nagoya University, Japan, and the National Institute of Physiological Sciences in Okazaki City, Japan, has provided the first direct evidence that KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus generate the GnRH pulses, and that lack of these inhibits fertility. In other words, female - and, moreover, male - mammals with a deficiency of KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus can never be fertile. Using a genetically-modified female rat, the study showed that the presence of just 20% of the normal number of properly functioning KNDy neurons is sufficient to start the GnRH and gonadotropin pulses and maintain folliculogenesis in the ovaries, thereby enabling fertility. The acronym KNDy comes from the peptides (signaling molecules) that this group of neurons produces: kisspeptin, neurokinin-B and dynorphin-A. It has long been known that kisspeptin signaling is essential to the progress of puberty and normal development of sex organs, in both males and females. Adding to this, the Japanese study showed that neurokinin-B increases the frequency of GnRH pulses, while dynorphin-A reduces their frequency. The researchers bred a female rat in which the kisspeptin gene (Kiss1) had been genetically deleted, so its kisspeptin levels were undetectable. It was infertile because hypothalamic GnRH pulses were missing and consequently pituitary gonadotropin pulses were nonexistent. The team boosted the number of properly functioning KNDy neurons precisely in the arcuate nucleus by inserting the Kiss1 gene into the neurokinin-B neurons using a viral vector technique. The researchers found that just 20% of the normal number of properly functioning KNDy neurons was enough not only to start gonadotropin pulses from the anterior pituitary, but also to maintain follicular development in the ovary in the female rats. KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus therefore serve as a master regulator of GnRH pulses and are indispensable for fertility in female -- and male -- mammals. The research finding provides potential therapeutic approaches for patients with hypothalamic reproductive disorders. In particular, since the neurokinin-B activates the KNDy neurons, resulting in an increase in GnRH pulse frequency, while the dynorphin-A suppresses the KNDy neuron activity, long-term (chronic) administration of neurokinin-B or its analogues, or dynorphin-A antagonists, using a sustained-release drug could be useful in enhancing GnRH pulses in patients. This would replace pulsatile infusion of GnRH by an attached pump. This methodology could also be applied to domestic animals, because mammalian species such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, primates and rodents all share the same brain mechanism for regulating reproductive function; namely, the one which we now know is driven by KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Project leader Professor Hiroko Tsukamura and her research team, together with Dr. Kei-ichiro Maeda of the University of Tokyo, who passed away during this collaboration, have been trying to solve this problem "since long before the discovery of KNDy neurons". At last we found direct evidence that KNDy neurons are the GnRH pulse generator. We dedicate this study to Dr. Maeda with gratitude for his leadership, supervision, and original ideas." Hiroko Tsukamura, Professor and Project Leader, Nagoya University Professor Tsukamura and joint first author Professor Uenoyama believe there is a lot more work to be done to find the molecular mechanism controlling KNDy neuronal activity as the GnRH pulse generator. Nevertheless, they say, the present findings help illuminate the central mechanism underlying mammalian reproduction, and can be applied to the treatment of ovarian disorders in livestock as well as infertility in humans. The researchers believe that the "rescue" of KNDy neurons by gene therapy using the adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) technique to restore fertility is quite useful and applicable to animals in the near future. Indications from other published studies are that this technique is also safe for humans, although more research needs to be done on this. An international union federation of journalists says 65 reporters and media workers were killed worldwide last year while doing their jobs, with Afghanistan the second-deadliest place for journalists. The killings of journalists occurred in six different countries during targeted attacks, bomb attacks, and crossfire incidents, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said in its annual report published on March 12. The ruthless reign of crime barons in Mexico, the violence of extremists in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, as well as the intolerance of hardliners in India and the Philippines have contributed to the continued bloodshed in media, said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger. With 10 deaths, Afghanistan ranked the second-most dangerous place in the world for reporters, second only to drug-war-ridden Mexico, with 14 killings. Nine journalists were killed in Pakistan, eight in India, four each in the Philippines and Syria, and three each in Nigeria and Yemen. There were also two killings in both Iraq and Somalia while Bangladesh, Cameroon, Honduras, Paraguay, Russia, and Sweden all reported one journalist killed. A total of 2,680 journalists and media workers have been killed since the IFJ started keeping tally in 1990. The IFJ said at least 229 journalists were in prison across the world as of March 2021 because of their work, with Turkey the biggest jailer of journalists in the world" -- with at least 67 media workers in its jails. China came second with 23 journalists detained, followed by 20 in Egypt, 16 in Eritrea, and 14 in Saudi Arabia. No democracy worthy of that name can jail messengers of freedom of expression," Bellanger said. With reporting by AP QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has said 'nobody cares about the stupid royals' after Meghan and Harry's bombshell Oprah interview. The Republican tore into conservative media for becoming distracted by the Palace drama and not holding Democrats to account in the 's***hole' of D.C. Greene, 46, said journalists are too busy painting her as a 'horned scary lady' to bother scrutinising Joe Biden's policies, including the Covid relief bill worth $1.9 trillion and a proposed 'Green New Deal' estimated at between $2 and $4 trillion. She told Stephen Bannon's War Room podcast: 'The news, our conservative media, has got to do better. They're sitting here talking about the royals - nobody cares about the stupid royals. What we need to look at is the consequences of these deals.' Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks at a House Freedom Caucus press conference in Washington D.C. last month Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview has been dominating media coverage on both sides of the Atlantic The mother-of-three, from Georgia, said she had left behind an 'American dream' to come to the Swamp in D.C., referring to the successful construction business inherited from her father that she and her husband run across 11 states. Greene said that in addition to her business acumen, she was a 'momma bear' and that her children motivated her to protect their futures from radical left-wing ideologues. 'I don't want to be here at all,' she told Bannon. 'I gave up an awesome life to be here, I gave up an American dream to come into this, what I consider to be a s***hole because I'm p***ed off, because I'm watching the greatest country in the world burn down ... 'Our country is on fire and we're just - it's like that meme, you're sitting in there, and you're like the little dog and everything is on fire.' Greene added: 'I never wanted to be in politics, I've actually always been disgusted by politics.' She described D.C. as an industry which is profitable for lawmakers in both parties. 'Politics is a business, it's an industry, it generates so much money, it's an economy in itself. So whether it's Republicans or Democrats these people are all invested in keeping this industry going, this big nasty pool that we call the Swamp, but it's really its own economy,' Greene told Bannon. She added: 'Business as usual is the whole reason why we're losing our country and business as usual doesn't work and it's a failure. 'If business as usual was the way regular people ran a private company, people's companies would fail and then they would be left homeless.' Biden yesterday signed his $1.9 trillion Covid relief package which the Republicans say is a 'multitrillion-dollar Trojan Horse.' The president said: 'This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people in this nation, working people, middle class folks, people who built the country a fighting chance. That's what the essence of this is.' But Mitch McConnell took to the floor of the house to say that the bill was a means of sneaking left-wing policies through Congress. 'This wasn't a bill to finish off the pandemic, it was a multitrillion-dollar Trojan horse full of bad old liberal ideas,' the Minority Leader said. 'President Biden's own staff keep calling this legislation quote "the most progressive bill in American history." Hardly the commonsense bipartisanship that the president promised.' The bill passed the Senate on Saturday, without a single Republican approving it, before going back to the House for final approval. Joe Biden on Thursday night delivered his first prime-time address, discussing COVID relief Biden held up a card with his daily schedule, on which he writes every day the COVID death toll People stand in line outside a New York City food bank on November 20 McConnell argued that the economy was poised to come 'roaring back', without the bill Biden signed the bill into law on Thursday, and later that evening delivered his first primetime address, reassuring Americans that there was light at the end of the tunnel. The legislation is more than twice the size of the $787-billion 2009 American Recovery Act. It is the latest in a series of such aid packages since last spring that together have provided roughly $4 trillion in assistance for individuals, businesses, states and local governments. It continues a pattern of spending which has been consistent throughout the world during the pandemic - for politicians to try and borrow their way out of the crisis. Many economists argue that the fact it has worked up until now is astonishing and that the level of debt has spiralled perilously high. The president will hold a signing celebration at the White House on Friday with congressional leaders. Only Democrats are expected to attend with members from the House and Senate to be in attendance. Motor Sich PJSC will soon be legally returned to the ownership of Ukraine, said Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine. "... We are talking about the Motor Sich enterprise in Zaporozhia. To date, a decision has been made according to which the Motor Sich enterprise will be returned to the Ukrainian people. It will be returned to the ownership of the Ukrainian state in a legal, constitutional way in the near future," Danilov said at a briefing on Thursday following the results of the NSDC meeting. Every case of Ukrainian defense industry enterprises "miraculously ending up in private hands" will be considered separately, he said. "People who have invested in these enterprises will certainly receive proper compensation. This is being done for our country's national security," Danilov said. Motor Sich is one of the world's largest manufacturers of aircraft engines and industrial gas turbine units. It exports its products to more than 100 countries. Motor Sich reported UAH 930.2 million in net profits in January-September 2020, while it saw net losses of UAH 532.7 million in the same period in 2019. The company's net revenue has grown by 20.2% to UAH 7.6795 billion. As reported earlier, Chinese shareholders of Motor Sich initiated arbitration proceedings worth $3.6 billion against the state of Ukraine in December 2020. They argued that the Ukrainian government expropriated their investments and violated their other rights guaranteed by the October 1992 intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and China on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments. The international law firms WilmerHale, DLA Piper, and Bird&Bird are representing Chinese investors' interests in the claim. According to a government source, about 75% of Motor Sich's stock already belongs to Chinese investors, while a portion of the disputed stake is being used as security for financing provided, among other investors, by China Development Bank. Wang Jing's Beijing Xinwei said in early August 2020 that it had abandoned attempts to obtain permission to buy Motor Sich jointly with Ukroboronprom and that Oleksandr Yaroslavsky's company DCH was its new partner in the deal. The companies have filed four applications with Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee to approve the deal, the last time in December 2020, but none of them have been granted yet. Another attempt to hold a shareholders meeting on January 31 also failed in view of the fact that a 41% stake in the company was frozen at the Ukrainian Security Service's initiative in 2017, and the freeze was later expanded to the entire stock. On January 29, 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enforced a National Security and Defense Council decision to impose sanctions on Chinese citizen Wang and companies Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co., Ltd; Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co., Ltd (both Beijing-based); Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited (the British Virgin Islands); and Hong Kong Skyrizon Holdings Limited (Hong Kong), which are associated with Wang and which have been trying over the past several years to exercise the Motor Sich shareholders' rights in Ukraine. In the wake of this decision, China forwarded a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said at the end of August 2019 that the U.S. was concerned about Motor Sich's possible sale to Chinese investors. U.S. Charge d'Affaires ad interim to Ukraine William Taylor said at the end of 2019 that the U.S. expected a new deal to be concluded to invite a U.S. or some other investor to Motor Sich to prevent its sale to Chinese buyers. The Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce put the Chinese company Skyrizon on its Military End User list in early January 2021, meaning that cooperation with it requires special authorization. "Skyrizon - a Chinese state-owned company - and its push to acquire and indigenize foreign military technologies pose a significant threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests," U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was quoted as saying. A worker at Amazons Bessemer fulfillment center is scheduled to testify next week before the Senate Budget Committee. But Amazons CEO declined an invitation to do the same. The hearing, titled The Income and Wealth Inequality Crisis in America, will happen March 17. It is scheduled to include testimony from Jennifer Bates, a worker at the center who has been involved in the drive to form a union under the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU). More than 5,000 employees received ballots for the union vote last month. Votes will be counted March 30. The committees chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, also invited Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to testify, but he declined, according to CNBC. I have invited Jeff Bezos to testify in the Budget Committee next week to explain to the American people why he thinks it's appropriate for him to spend a whole lot of money denying economic dignity to workers at Amazon, while he has become $78 billion richer during the pandemic. https://t.co/EFOadKKJxH Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 12, 2021 An Amazon spokesperson said that the company supports Sanders efforts to raise the federal minimum wage. We fully endorse Senator Sanders efforts to reduce income inequality with legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour for all workers, like we did for ours in 2018, the spokesperson said. Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort This echoes a message the company sent to visiting Democratic members of Congress last Friday, who saw a digital board reading, Welcome to Bessemer Members of Congress - Please match Amazons $15/hour minimum wage. Sanders has shown support for the Bessemer union vote several times, including ordering pizzas to be delivered to participants at a February solidarity rally. Bates, 48, lives in Birmingham and began working at Amazon in May, after previous jobs in everything from the steel industry to automotive to being an administrative assistant. She told AL.com last month she had previously been a member of unions at those workplaces. She said her involvement was based on getting the company to be more receptive to employee needs. Amazon could be an awesome place to work, she said in February. We do this because we love it. But we dont get the same commitment. The Vatican warned that it has nearly depleted its financial reserves from past donations to cover budget deficits over recent years, as it urged continued giving from the faithful to keep the Holy See afloat and Pope Francis' ministry going. The Vatican published its 2021 budget in its latest effort at greater financial transparency amid a predicted 50 million euro budget deficit this year. The aim is to reassure donors that their money is being well spent, following years of mismanagement that is currently the focus of a Vatican corruption investigation. The Vatican warned that it has nearly depleted its financial reserves from past donations to cover budget deficits over recent years, as it urged continued giving from the faithful to keep the Holy See afloat and Pope Francis' ministry going. Pictured: Pope Francis presides over St. Peter's Square empty of the faithful following Italy's ban on gatherings last year Francis' economy minister, the Reverend Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, said the coronavirus pandemic reduced donations as well as revenue from the shuttered Vatican Museums. He said this would contribute to a projected 30 percent reduction in revenue to 213 million euros in 2021, from 307 million euros in 2019, the last year available. He noted the Vatican had achieved significant cost-cutting during the lockdown last year, with drastically reduced travel, consultation fees, conference and assembly costs and putting off unnecessary property repairs and maintenance. In an interview with Vatican Media, Father Guerrero said he expected to further cut expenditures by 8 percent in 2021, without resorting to layoffs, which Francis opposes. But even then, the 50 million euro deficit expected for 2021 will require once again dipping into reserves of past donations to cover expenses. Fr Guerrero confirmed that in 2019, the Vatican used 27.2 million euros in Peter's Pence reserves to cover its operating costs, on top of the 53.8 million euros in revenue to the Peter's Pence fund that year. The Vatican published its 2021 budget in its latest effort at greater financial transparency amid a predicted 50 million euro budget deficit this year. The 50 million euro deficit expected for 2021 will require once again dipping into reserves of past donations to cover expenses In 2020, he estimated the Vatican took 40 million euros in Peter's Pence reserves and that a similar amount was expected in 2021. Peter's Pence funds, usually offered during an annual collection at Mass, are billed as a concrete way to help the pope in his ministry and works of charity but are also used to run the Holy See bureaucracy. 'This recourse to Peter's Pence reserves in recent years means that the liquidity of the fund is being depleted and with the current crisis it is very likely that in 2022 we will have to resort to some extent to the assets of Apsa,' he said, referring to the Vatican's central bank, which manages the Holy See's real estate and other financial investments. The Peter's Pence funds have come under scrutiny amid an investigation by Vatican prosecutors into the Secretariat of State's 350 million euro investment in a London real estate venture, some of which was apparently funded by the Peter's Pence. Several Italian brokers and dealers, as well as some Vatican officials, are under investigation on suspicion they fleeced the Holy See of millions in fees. Pictured: Pope Francis (left) at the beginning of his address in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican City, March 12. Francis' economy minister, the Reverend Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, said the coronavirus pandemic reduced donations and revenue from the shuttered Vatican Museums Pope Francis returned from Iraq earlier this week at the end of a historic four-day visit which went off without a hitch despite security fears and a second wave of coronavirus cases in the country. The pope and his entourage boarded a plane at Baghdad Airport on Monday where Iraqi president Barham Salih waved him off following the first-ever papal visit to Iraq. Francis flew back to Rome after covering more than 900 miles on his whirlwind tour of Iraq, bringing comfort to its diminished Christian population and reaching out to the Shiite majority in a meeting with top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. In a series of speeches the 84-year-old pontiff urged Iraqis to embrace diversity and made a rousing call for an end to violence and extremism after years of strife following the US-led invasion and ISIS's self-declared 'caliphate'. Pope Francis boards the papal plane before departing Baghdad International Airport to return to the Vatican on Monday Iraqi president Barham Salih and his wife Sarbagh Salih accompany Pope Francis in a farewell ceremony at Baghdad's airport today before the pontiff returned to Rome Francis looks down at the red carpet and the Iraqi president waving him off as he leaves the Middle East to return to Rome The Christian community of Iraq has shrunk from 1.5million before the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein to only 400,000 now. Francis's last full day in Iraq saw the heaviest security deployment of the entire trip as he landed in northern Iraq to visit Christians who endured the brutality of ISIS. In the city of Mosul, which was overrun by ISIS terrorists, Francis prayed in a square containing the remnants of four churches that were nearly destroyed in the fighting. Francis said the 'tragic' exodus of Christians 'does incalculable harm not just to the individuals and communities concerned, but also to the society they leave behind'. Concluding his final public event on Sunday, Francis said: 'In my time among you, I have heard voices of sorrow and loss, but also voices of hope and consolation'. 'Now the time draws near for my return to Rome. Yet Iraq will always remain with me, in my heart.' Also on Sunday, Francis met the father of drowned toddler Alan Kurdi, whose lifeless body on a Turkish beach became a symbol of Europe's refugee crisis in 2015. 'The Pope spoke for a long time with Abdullah Kurdi, and was able to hear the pain of a father who has lost his family,' said a statement by the Vatican. A red carpet was laid out for the pope and the Iraqi head of state before Francis boarded the Alitalia plane from Baghdad back to Italy on Monday The papal plane takes off from Baghdad on Monday following the successful four-day trip which went off without a hitch despite security fears The pope is flanked by the Iraqi president and his wife during his farewell ceremony in Baghdad on Monday morning The pope bows to his hosts as he sets off from Iraq after a four-day trip which was seen as risky in advance but went off without any security problems President Barham Saleh says farewell to Francis, touching hands despite the second wave of the pandemic in Iraq In his packed three full days in Iraq, the Pope made more than a half-dozen speeches in nearly as many cities, repeatedly evoking hope and fraternity. People gathered in crowds to catch a glimpse of the pope wherever he went, fueling coronavirus concerns. In Baghdad last Friday, Francis called for an end to violence and extremism and urged officials to do more to fight corruption. Francis called the minority Yazidis 'innocent victims of senseless and brutal atrocities,' following the Islamic State group's rampage against their esoteric community in 2014. He also met members of Iraq's other minorities in a moving interfaith ceremony at Ur, where the Prophet Abraham is thought to have been born. On Saturday, he held an extraordinary meeting with the reclusive but highly respected Sistani, who afterwards said Iraq's Christians should have the right to live in 'peace.' Sistani's rare but powerful political interventions have helped shape present-day Iraq, and his meeting with the pontiff had been negotiated for months. On Sunday, Pope Francis spoke at the ruins of the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in the old city of Iraq's northern Mosul Salesforce announced that Sanket Atal will join the company as Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Sites (India) based in Bengaluru. Atal will be instrumental in driving the next phase of growth for Salesforce in India combining the best of design thinking and digital strategies to build breakthrough customer experiences and ways of working with specific focus on operational execution. Salesforce has invested significantly in India over many years, adding more jobs, expanding its office space and partner ecosystem to support its growing customer base. India is home to the second highest Salesforce workforce outside of the US with over 4000 employees across Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Launched in 2016, the Salesforce Centre of Excellence (CoE) located in Hyderabad has been instrumental in fueling innovation globally, building end-to-end solutions for customers including some of the latest industry clouds Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Financial Services for Insurance and Hyperforce built at the CoE. Atal brings in a wealth of experience leading and growing global development centers delivering future-ready solutions. His passion for innovation and wealth of experience in leading and growing global development centres will play an instrumental role in accelerating growth for Salesforce in India making it a global hub for talent and innovation. Atal will report into Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO and Chairperson, Salesforce India. Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO and Chairperson, Salesforce India, said, These are exciting and challenging times for all of us. India is a strategic growth market for Salesforce and a world-class innovation and talent hub. As we continue to grow and guide our customers through their digital transformation journey, Sankets appointment is a reflection of our commitment and continued investment in India. We welcome Sanket to Salesforce and look forward to driving even greater innovation and success in this market. Salesforce has built a phenomenal cloud ecosystem of partners and customers in India. I look forward to helping drive growth, innovation and customer success as well as delivering product innovation at a global scale, from right here in India. Given my passion and deep experience with the startup ecosystem, I am also excited to empower businesses of all sizes, particularly startups, to create future-ready solutions leveraging the Salesforce platform. Its an awesome time to be joining the company. said Sanket Atal. Sanket will officially join Salesforce on March 15, 2021. A Queensland man will face the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court accused of having sexualised conversations with two children overseas. The 59-year-old man from Moreton Bay was charged after the AFP's Brisbane Child Protection Operations investigated a report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States. The report alleged a person suspected to be in Queensland was engaging in sexualised online chats with children located in the Philippines via Facebook. Police inquiries allegedly connected the 59-year-old to the account. Investigators from the AFP Brisbane Child Protection Operations executed a search warrant at a home in Caboolture on 14 January 2021. The report alleged a person suspected to be in Queensland was engaging in sexualised online chats with children located in the Philippines via Facebook (stock image) The man was charged with one count of using a carriage service to transmit indecent communications to persons under the age of 16. He faces a potential maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. Detective Superintendent Paula Hudson said the AFP works with international partners to stop child abuse material offenders before they can cause harm. 'Our officers work tirelessly to hunt down offenders to ensure those seeking to access children for sexual offences online are prosecuted,' she said. 'Offenders can target parents or carers for access to their children through social media and online child sex offenders may even offer money in order to abuse children online.' OTTAWA - Canada's national unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent in February. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets): OTTAWA - Canada's national unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent in February. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets): _ Newfoundland and Labrador 15.3 per cent (12.8) _ Prince Edward Island 9.2 per cent (7.9) _ Nova Scotia 8.1 per cent (8.3) _ New Brunswick 8.9 per cent (8.8) _ Quebec 6.4 per cent (8.8) _ Ontario 9.2 per cent (10.2) _ Manitoba 6.8 per cent (8.0) _ Saskatchewan 7.3 per cent (7.2) _ Alberta 9.9 per cent (10.7) _ British Columbia 6.9 per cent (8.0) This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021 and was generated automatically. Upping the ante against the alleged attack on West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, TMC leaders and workers staged silent protests on Friday. As the party delegation met with the Election Commission (EC) delegation in the national capital, TMC workers and leaders in West Bengal raised black flags and wore black masks as a mark of protest against the alleged conspiracy. Visuals from Kolkata show several workers of the party protesting with black masks and face coverings with the party flag in hand. Earlier on Thursday morning, TMC supporters blocked trains near Kadambagchi station on the SealdahHasnabad line in south Bengal to protest against the alleged attack. Meanwhile, CM Mamata Banerjee is currently in SSKM hospital receiving treatment after she was allegedly attacked on Wednesday during her campaign in Nandigram. TMC delegation meets EC On Friday morning, TMC delegation led by Derek O'Brien and Saugata Roy met with EC officials in the national capital. The TMC delegation included party leaders Derek O'Brien, Saugata Roy, Satabdi Roy, Kakoli Dastidar, Pratima Mondal and Santunu Sen. Interacting with the media after their meeting with the EC, the TMC delegation has claimed that the attack on Mamata Banerjee was a 'deep-rooted conspiracy' hatched by the BJP. During their meeting with all officials of the EC, which lasted for nearly an hour, the six-member TMC delegation presented the documents which included the details of events leading up to the alleged attack. The TMC also claims that the BJP specifically planted the eye-witnesses who are 'associates' of BJP leader and Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari. Apart from this, the TMC leaders have also alleged that the DGP and IGP of West Bengal were abruptly removed. After TMC's meeting, BJP has also called on EC in the national capital. Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Anirban Ganguly and BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra were seen arriving at the EC office for their meeting at nearly 5:30. Mamata Banerjee allegedly attacked On Wednesday, hours after filing her nomination from Nandigram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee abruptly left her on-ground campaign claiming that she was attacked and sustained a leg injury. Banerjee has alleged that she was attacked by 4-5 people while she was returning after performing prayers in a temple at Barulia Bazar in Nandigram, adding that no security official was present when she was attacked. She alleged that 4-5 people pushed her into her car and closed the door on her foot, leading to her injury. Doctors stated that the CM has suffered severe bone injuries in her left ankle and foot, and injuries in the right shoulder, forearm, and neck and is currently being monitored at Kolkata's SSKM institute. A memorial altar for Byun Hee-soo, a 23-year-old transgender former soldier who was found dead at her home, March 3, is set up the following day by the progressive minor Justice Party at the National Assembly in Seoul. Byun had been discharged from the Army last year after her gender reassignment surgery. Courtesy of Justice Party By Jung Da-min The death of Byun Hee-soo, a 23-year-old transgender former soldier forced to discharge from the Army last year following her sex reassignment surgery, has reignited debates on the rights of sexual minorities here. Byun was found dead in her home in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, March 3, after her mental health counselor called emergency services to report that she had not been in contact since Feb. 28. Byun had been forcibly discharged from her military duty as a noncommissioned Army officer in late January last year, three months after undergoing male-to-female gender-reassignment surgery. The Army judged that Byun's loss of male genitals belongs to the Level 3 mental and physical disability under military law, the third-highest level in the 10-tier assessment system. She filed a petition against the Army's decision, and the Army held a personnel affairs committee session for her case in late June. The committee, however, decided the Army's earlier decision to discharge her was made legitimately according to the medical examination standards. Byun then brought her case to court, saying she will challenge the Army's decision "to the end," for her reinstatement. As the first court argument for the case was supposed to be held next month, her sudden death was a shock to society. A participant holds a rainbow flag symbolizing the LGBTQ community during a memorial event for the late Byun Hee-soo, at Seoul Plaza in central Seoul, March 6, three days after she was found dead in her home. Yonhap Members of civic groups and political parties of the country's progressive bloc mourned Byun's death, holding ceremonies commemorating her courage to publicly reveal her gender identity and fight for the rights of sexual minorities. They said it is like Byun has been "murdered by society," with its intolerance, abhorrence and discrimination against sexual minorities. The progressive minor opposition Justice Party, which has been working to establish a law that comprehensively bans all kinds of discrimination based on any reasons including gender and sexual orientation, strongly criticized the military for not accepting a recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) to withdraw its earlier decision to discharge Byun. It said her gender has nothing to do with her capabilities as an Army noncommissioned officer who drives a tank. "The fact that she was transgender had never been a problem in fulfilling her dream of living as a human and a soldier. The problem was the unjust discrimination poured out against her. Her gender had nothing to do with her job of driving a tank in an armored unit," Rep. Jang Hye-young, who is leading the party's drive to set up an anti-discrimination law, said in a party statement issued two days after Byun was found dead. "However, the military's discriminatory views of transgender people unfairly deprived a soldier of a legitimate opportunity to show her ability." Jang also criticized other political parties and politicians for turning away from Byun and neglecting their duties to take the lead in protecting the lives and dignity of all citizens. The lawmaker said some politicians even used the prejudice and hatred of LGBTQ people, promoted by some far-right forces, as a tool to strengthen their vested interests. Members of the progressive minor Justice Party hold placards calling for the establishment of an anti-discrimination law that comprehensively bans all kinds of discrimination, during a meeting of the party's committee promoting rights of sexual minorities at the National Assembly in Seoul, March 5. Courtesy of Justice Party Political heavyweights avoiding sexual minority issue Contrary to some minor progressive political groups including the Justice Party which have worked to promote rights of sexual minorities here together with civic organizations, other major political parties and political heavyweights have kept quiet on the issue. In the case of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), some of the party's young members, including its Supreme Council member Park Seong-min, expressed solidarity with sexual minorities, saying they felt sorry that they could not protect Byun's dignity. But other senior members of the ruling party leadership have remained silent. In fact, the issue of rights of sexual minorities has been a subject of debate and controversy in politics here, as even politicians of the liberal bloc have been unwilling to show their support for fear of losing votes from some Christians and those who oppose homosexuality and other sexual minorities. LGBTQ rights have recently raised debate again, after minor opposition People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, who is running in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, made controversial remarks last month at a televised debate with his then-rival contender and former ruling party lawmaker Keum Tae-sup, a week before Ahn won a third-party primary against Keum. During the debate, Keum mentioned the LGBTQ issue, saying it would be a small but significant change if a third-party candidate gets elected as Seoul mayor and takes part in the Seoul Queer Culture Festival. Keum then asked Ahn if he would be willing to participate in the queer parade in Seoul if elected mayor. Ahn said although he opposes discrimination and violation of individual human rights, he thought the rights of those who are against the LGBTQ festival should also be respected. Keum and the Justice Party slammed Ahn for prompting hatred of the LGBTQ community. Ahn later said he supports the freedom of gathering and demonstration for all people but he was just expressing concerns over "excessively obscene" performances by some participants during the queer festival. Participants at the 20th Seoul Queer Culture Festival hold placards and chant slogans to call for the establishment of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, in this June 1, 2019, photo. Korea Times file Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Hubble Space Telescope is conducting science again. A software error had caused the telescope to enter safe mode on Sunday. Safe mode puts the telescope into a stable configuration until its team on the ground can fix the problem and return the mission to normal operations. Related: Hubble Space Telescope enters 'safe mode' after software glitch According to the mission operations team at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, Hubble entered safe mode because there was an error in software recently uploaded to the spacecraft to help compensate for fluctuations from one of its gyroscopes. The gyroscopes are used to point the telescope. The uploaded software did not have permission to write to a specific location in computer memory, which caused an issue with the main flight computer and prompted the spacecraft to enter safe mode, according to a news release. The telescope resumed normal operations on Thursday at 7 p.m. CST. However, another issue was uncovered from this week's ordeal. When Hubble entered safe mode, the aperture door at the top of the telescope did not close as it was supposed to. If Hubble accidentally points toward the sun, the door is supposed to snap shut to protect the telescope's delicate interior. This door has not previously been closed due to the detection of bright objects, but it is supposed to close when Hubble enters safe mode. The primary motor for this door is not working, but the backup motor is working and is now set as the door's primary motor. As the team prepared to return Hubble to science operations, it discovered an error with the Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. It was not expected to immediately return to operations. The team is reviewing that issue and possible solutions, and it's also looking at ways to reduce risk with the aperture door. Hubble's other instruments were working as expected. The Hubble Space Telescope, launched on April 24, 1990, is almost 31 years old. Orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 340 miles, Hubble is uninhibited by Earths atmosphere and the nasty way it distorts light. It has helped provide clarity on the formation of galaxies, existence of black holes and characteristics of planets orbiting stars hundreds of light-years away. Local car owners can save big on a new set of tires this month at San Tan Hyundai near Gilbert and Chandler Spring is here and many car owners are hoping to get their vehicles ready to take on the new season. Chandler and Gilbert drivers looking for the best deals on a new set of tires for their Hyundai vehicle will find the Hyundai Tire Event going on now at San Tan Hyundai offers exactly what theyre looking for. San Tan Hyundai is hosting a Hyundai Tire Event now through April 30. During the event, Chandler and Gilbert owners can purchase three qualifying tires at normal price and get the fourth for just $1. This offer is limited to the following qualifying brands available at the San Tan Hyundai Service Center: OEM, OEA and WIN Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Hankook, Kumho, Nexen and Yokohama. To receive the discounted price on a qualifying tire purchase, customers must have the dealer install the new tires and the discount cannot be combined with any other offer. The San Tan Hyundai Service Center is an authorized Hyundai tire center and provides Chandler and Gilbert-area drivers with the best selection available of Hyundai brand-approved tire options. Customers who shop for tires at San Tan Hyundai can expect expert service, timely installation and competitive pricing. Local car owners looking to take advantage of this tire offer are encouraged to visit the San Tan Hyundai dealership online, santanhyundai.com. The San Tan Hyundai Service Center is located at 3252 S Auto Way in Gilbert, AZ, and is open six days a week. The dealerships service center is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Members of the San Tan Hyundai Service Center can be reached by phone, 888-558-3408, to assist with any questions. Boston Dynamics robot dog, Spot, has been seen in hospitals, at crime scenes and space rocket testing facilities, but the latest sighting occurred as it strolled down a Florida beach while attached to a leash. A video surfaced of a woman walking a mechanical canine she named Scrappy down the street and along the pier in Fort Pierce while hundreds of onlookers watched with excitement and some with fear. During the stroll, Scrappy showed off its skills by sitting and stopping when commanded, along with maneuvering around crowds and objects in its path. The robot recently went on sale to the public for $75,000 and is typically used by companies, but it seems the mechanical canine may soon become a household pet. Scroll down for videos Boston Dynamics robot dog, Spot, has been seen in hospitals, at crime scenes and space rocket testing facilities, but the latest sighting occurred as it strolled down a Florida beach while attached to a leash Scrappy has its own YouTube channel, which started just last month, where its owner shares videos of their adventures. I'm just a robot dog learning the world I was booted up in, reads the About description. The stroll through Fort Pierce is played in two clips, with the first showing Scrappy trotting toward the beach. The robot and his owner pass by a restaurant and the sounds of its mechanical legs can be heard clicking against the sidewalk. A woman was seen walking her robotic dog, named Scrappy, while strolling along a beach in Florida During the stroll, Scrappy showed off its skills by sitting and stopping when commanded, along with maneuvering around crowds and objects in its path A group of police officers stop the pair to get a good look at the robotic dog trotting down the street. Can you sit Scrappy? Sit, the woman says, in which the robot dog does. The other video shows Scrappy strutting down the pier as it maneuvers around people and obstacles in its path. Boston Dynamics created Spot in 2015, touting it as a robotic canine with human-like movements. Through the years, the firm conducted intense testing with the machine to improve its capabilities that would prove beneficial for real-world use. And in June 2020, it was released to the public. Spot, which is suited for indoor or outdoor use, can map its environment, sense and avoid obstacles, climb stairs and open doors. It can undertake hazardous tasks in a variety of inhospitable environments such as nuclear plants, offshore oil fields and construction sites. The robot recently went on sale to the public for $75,000 and is typically used by companies, but it seems the mechanical canine may soon become a household pet Shortly after its launch last year, footage emerged of Spot patrolling a SpaceX test site in Boca Chica, Texas suggesting multi-billionaire Elon Musk was one of the first customers. In footage captured by Texas-based YouTuber LabPadre, the Boston Dynamics dog can be seen trotting through thick clouds of nitrogen next to the wreckage. And Zeus was again unleashed following the Starship Serial Number 10 explosion on March 3. The robot dog has also been deployed at crime scenes in New York City and used to help doctors battling the coronavirus in Massachusetts. The company said it has decided to maintain its joint venture with Franchise Cannabis Corp following what it said were positive changes in the market for cannabis and CBD in the first quarter of 2021 The company also said new CBD products have been formulated and are planned to be introduced to the market in the second quarter Thoughtful Brands Inc ( ) (FRA:1WZ1) ( ) said it has canceled the acquisition of Franchise Cannabis Corp (FCC), previously announced in January, a move it says, which will provide stronger sales and operations networks in North America and Europe by allowing its existing joint venture with FCC to remain in place. The company, which researches, develops, markets, and distributes natural health products through various brands, said positive changes to the market during the first quarter of 2020 within the cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) sectors were key factors in the decision not to move ahead with the FCC acquisition. Thoughtful Brands added that over the past two quarters, it has focused on increasing profitability through improved customer retention rates, which had contributed to higher net margins as customer acquisition costs were front end loaded and initial margins were typically lowered. The company also said it has commenced integration of the production of distillate and isolate produced by its subsidiary, American CBD Extraction, and that new superior quality CBD products have been formulated and are planned to be introduced to the market in the second quarter of 2021. In addition to the new product lines, the company said it plans to establish a supply chain for its wholesale hemp biomass throughout the US and Europe, which it said will increase topline revenues and contribute to overall net margins. Additionally, Thoughtful Brands said it has initiated sales in Europe and that its proprietary test-marketing program is currently identifying demand for specific natural health products with the highest net margins. It said the joint venture with FCC will continue to allow it to tailor products to European consumer demands and that FCC will assist with local licensing, regulatory and supply chain matters with a focus on the UK and Germany. "Franchise has a well-established European medical cannabis, genetics and distribution business. Though we are not proceeding with an acquisition, our ongoing, strong relationship with the management team at Franchise will enable us to fulfill our expansion goals in Europe, allowing both of our businesses to flourish. We look forward to a successful joint venture in Germany and the UK with our CBD eCommerce business," Thoughtful Brands chief executive Ryan Hoggan said in a statement. "This decision also allows us to spend time pursuing our initiatives with American CBD Extraction and other product extensions in the natural health and beauty sectors for the North American market," he added. The company also announced that it has issued around 3.5mln shares as repayment to settle a US$150,000 debt to Juan Patricio Villalba Gomez at a deemed price of C$0.055 per share. Contact the author at calum@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @Cal_Proac 2021-03-11 Maeci We, the governments of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, condemn the sustained Houthi offensive on the Yemeni city of Marib and the major escalation of attacks the Houthis have conducted and claimed against Saudi Arabia. Their determined attack on Marib is worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis. Our renewed diplomatic efforts to end the Yemen conflict, in support of the UN Special Envoy, with the support of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the international community, offer the best hope for ending this war. We urge the Houthis to seize this opportunity for peace and end the ongoing escalation. We reiterate our firm commitment to the security and integrity of Saudi territory, and to restoring stability and calm along the Saudi/Yemeni border. We reaffirm our strong support for a swift resolution of the Yemeni conflict, which will bring much-needed stability to the region and immediate benefit to the people of Yemen. STAMFORD At Purdue Pharmas downtown headquarters, a massive, white curtain appeared Friday. The Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the Devil blasted from nearby speakers. Along with it, came a bold message for onlookers. FDAs Dr. Janet Woodcock must go, reads the curtain in blocky, black letters, surrounding a black-and-white picture of interim FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock. Connecticut-based artist and activist Fernando Alvarez dropped the latest installment of his Curtains Project a series of demonstrations that seek to highlight enablers of the opioid epidemic in front of Purdues offices. In part, Curtains hopes to dissuade the Biden administration from nominating Dr. Janet Woodcock for FDA commissioner. Woodcocks failure to properly regulate drug companies, like Sackler-owned Purdue Pharma, is a root cause of the opioid crisis, Alvarez said in a media release. He gained national attention in 2018 when he dropped an 800-pound spoon, tinged brown to represent burnt heroin, in front of Purdue Pharmas Tresser Boulevard headquarters. Stamford Police later arrested Alvarez and charged him with obstructing free passage. Alvarez collaborated on the movement with Domenic Esposito, who created the heroin spoon. Alvarez is now targeting Woodcock, who is considered a front-runner for the FDAs top spot in the Biden administration. But despite Woodcocks longtime seniority within the FDA, her candidacy has sparked some high-profile public criticism. For more than a decade, Woodcock oversaw the FDAs Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), the division that regulates over-the-counter and prescription drugs. A letter signed by close to 30 organizations including Alvarezs other project, the Spoon movement claims that, under Woodcocks purview, opioids were able to flood the market. The letter listed CDERs move to approve Purdue Pharma drug OxyContin for some pediatric patients 11 and older as a prime example of Woodcocks failures. The Curtain Project began in December 2020, when Alvarez dropped a plastic shower curtain at the Department of Justice in Washington. An 8-foot tall picture of former Attorney General William Barr was printed on the clear liner. Behind it, onlookers could see a Sackler family tree, complete with each of their faces at the end of the branches. Alvarez targeted Barr because of a settlement announced by his department in October. Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to three criminal charges before a federal judge in New Jersey as part of that settlement. Prosecutors have not levied any criminal charges against Purdues wealth owners: the Sackler family. The Curtains Project argues that the Trump-era Department of Justices put Barr at the helm of a system that protects Purdue and the Sackler family. These Curtains are a symbol, spotlighting the enablers obscuring wrongdoers who harm others for financial or political gain. Currently, we are targeting the many people who shield the criminals responsible for the opioid crisis from facing legal, civil, political, and social ramifications for their actions, according to a message on the Curtain Project website. Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect artist Domenic Esposito created the heroin spoon.\ Prosecutor seeks 8 years in prison for ex-deputy Mayor of Vologda in embezzlement case RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 17:34 12/03/2021 ST. PETERSBURG, March 12 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) A prosecutor on Friday demanded an 8-year prison term for ex-Mayor of Russias Vologda Alexey Osokin charged with his alleged accomplices with embezzling 70 million rubles (about $1 million) from the construction of a traffic interchange, the United press service of Vologda Regions courts informed RAPSI. Additionally, the prosecutor asked to fine him 800,000 rubles ($11,000). Other defendants in the case are ex-deputy of Osokin, Anton Musikhin, adviser of the citys Construction Department Igor Ivonin, director of Sever construction company Anatoly Butusov and CEO of Vologda city water utility Alexader Prisyazhny. The prosecutor also asked prison sentences ranging from 5 to 7 years behind bars and fines from 600,000 to 800,000 rubles for them. All of them are charged with embezzlement. Osokin, Musikhin and Prisyazhny are also accused of abuse of office. According to investigators, as part of the realization of a municipal long-term purpose-oriented traffic interchange construction programme in Vologda, Sever company received 110 million rubles ($1.5 million). However, the works were executed prior to the contract conclusion by Vologda city water utility with a lower contractor estimate. As a result, the defendants actions caused damage worth over 70 million rubles to the regional and municipal budgets. Government featured Governor waives COVID fines Gov. Ron DeSantis has waived all fines for people and businesses that violated local COVID-19 restrictions going back to the start of the pandemic in March 2020. On Wednesday night, DeSantis issued Executive Order 21-65, a clemency order regarding the remission of fines for COVID restriction violations. The Board of Executive Clemency approved the governors proposal to categorically remit all fines related to local government COVID-19 restrictions. A categorical, statewide remission of fines related to COVID-19 restrictions is warranted in light of the unprecedented local government restrictions imposed on individuals and businesses over the course of the past year, the order stated. This Executive Order remits the fines described in Section 1 for individuals and businesses alike. The order remits any fines imposed between March 1, 2020, and March 10, 2021, by any political subdivision of Florida related to local government COVID-19 restrictions, the order stated. However, fellow Republican and Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward said he will now request jail time in some pending cases, which would include the case of Key West restaurateur Joe Walsh, who was arrested on New Years Eve and charged with violating a city emergency directive that set a 10 p.m. curfew for non-essential businesses. He (the governor) didnt say anything about jail time, Ward said. I will just ask for jail time, court costs and costs of prosecution. City of Key West attorneys were still analyzing the order on Thursday, Mayor Teri Johnston said. The city has issued about 64 warnings and citations involving city COVID emergency regulations, she said. Johnston did not know how many of those resulted in fines and if the city would have to refund the fines, she said. The city plans to keep its regulations in place and not make them recommendations at this time, citing that about 10% of the population in the city has completed the two-dose vaccination cycle, Johnston said. Its not the time to let down our guard, Johnston said. We will proceed, despite the obstacles. As of Thursday, the county had issued $3,000 in fines involving six individuals. The county does not intend to refund those fines. On Wednesday, March 17, the Monroe County Commission will decide whether to amend or halt its mask ordinance. Each month, the commission has voted to keep it in place since it enacted the regulation last spring. As of Thursday, the City of Key West and the county were still researching whether DeSantis order requires them to refund a fine to any person who was fined. DeSantis has been critical of local mask ordinances and other COVID-19 regulations. In September, DeSantis ordered cities and counties to not collect fines imposed on people for local COVID-19 regulation infractions. Meanwhile, The College of the Florida Keys and the Florida Department of Health are hosting a COVID-19 vaccination event at Bernstein Park in Stock Island on Saturday, March 13. This event is strictly by appointment only. Those who have an appointment are individuals who registered on http://myvaccine.fl.gov or those who registered by calling the registration hotline. Individuals are scheduled in the order in which they registered, according to the Florida Department of Health. No walk-ins will be allowed. Anyone who arrives without an appointment will not be eligible for vaccination at this event. In the rare case there are extra doses, additional individuals who registered will be called in the order in which they registered, according to the Health Department. As of Thursday, 14,703 people had received vaccinations in Monroe County, according to the local health department. Of those, 8,265 people had completed the two-dose series second dose and 91 completed the one-dose series, according to the health department. Also as of Thursday, 6,038 people in Monroe County had contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic reached the Florida Keys, with 47 deaths, according to the Florida Department of Health. Statewide, 1.9 million people have contracted the virus. tohara@keysnews.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. Mumbai: A Kochi-bound Air India plane, carrying over 150 passengers from here, had to abort takeoff at the last minute following a technical problem and was grounded. The flight AI 054, that was scheduled to take off for Kochi from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 5.30 am, departed for its destination at around 9 am after the airline changed the aircraft, a source said. An Air India spokesperson confirmed the delay of its Kochi flight from Mumbai due to technical issues. The aircraft had to be grounded due to technical issues and the replacement (of the aircraft) took some time, which resulted in the flight getting delayed, the spokesperson said, without elaborating on the technical problem. The Airbus 319 plane had started taxiing for the takeoff when the pilot reported some technical problem in the plane and decided abort the take off and return to the bay, the source said. Air India engineers inspected the aircraft for nearly two hours, during which all passengers remained seated in the plane, the source claimed, adding that they later declared it unfit for flying. The stranded passengers were then taken back to the terminal building and went through the security check-in process all over again to board the replaced aircraft, the source claimed. The average flying time between Mumbai and Kochi is 1 hour and 42 minutes. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Asda will introduce hairdressers and nail bars to stores after two billionaire brothers' 6.8bn takeover of the supermarket giant is completed. Mohsin and Zuber Issa, owners of Euro Garages, are looking to cut the amount of floorspace dedicated to food by a quarter once its purchase from US company Walmart goes through. The brothers intend to replace food aisles with cafes, hair salons and nail bars, as part of a larger plan to keep people shopping for longer, according to The Sunday Times. The Blackburn-born brothers, who have made a fortune by revamping petrol station forecourts, completed their purchase of Asda in February. However, it now requires clearance from the Competition and Markets Authority. Mohsin and Zuber Issa completed the purchase of Asda from Walmart in February, but the takeover has to be investigated by the competitions watchdog before it can be formally put through The competitions watchdog started investigating the deal last December, with an outcome expected by April 20. The investigation does not include potential hairdresser businesses within the supermarket's sites. The children of immigrants who moved to Blackburn from Gujurat, India, in the 1970s, Mohsin and Zuber now have franchise agreements with brands including Starbucks, Subway and KFC. The Blackburn-born siblings were recently locked in secret talks to buy Topshop before it became part of the Asos portfolio. The Issa brothers' estate includes a 25m Kensington townhouse and a private jet that is kept in a hangar at Blackpool Airport alongside Donald Trump's personal helicopter. They are also building five identical mansions just three miles from the 115,000 Blackburn two-up two-down where they were raised. Mohsin is expected to live there with his wife, Shamim with whom he shares two grown-up children. The brothers have pledged to invest 1bn into revamping the supermarket giant, with food space set to be replaced with room for cafes, nail salons and hairdressers Since the inquiry was launched, the Issa brothers and TDR have confirmed plans to sell Asda's petrol forecourt business to its own EG Group for 750million. The CMA will also consider the forecourt deal as part of its inquiries. The Issa brothers say Asda will undergo a 1billion transformation, stating earlier this year: 'Looking ahead, and subject to the required regulatory approvals, we look forward to working with our Asda colleagues to build an even stronger, more differentiated retailer including through the investment of more than 1 billion in the next three years to further strengthen the business and its supply chain. 'We are also excited about the proposed integration of the Asda forecourts into EG's established UK operations, which we believe would underpin the future growth of the combined network.' Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Edenville resident Rachel Miner and her family have been involuntarily isolated for almost 10 months since the mid-Michigan dam failures last May. But on Thursday morning, Miner and many other residents and travelers of the M-30 corridor in Midland and Gladwin counties could finally breathe a sigh of relief. At about 10 a.m., Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) officially opened a 230-foot temporary prefabricated steel bridge over the Tobacco River, right after dozens of area residents and elected officials walked over the span to celebrate the milestone, accompanied by fire trucks and other first responders. Miner's family lives in one of the five houses that are located on an island of sorts, between the M-30 bridge over the Tittabawassee River in Midland County, which reopened last Sept. 17, and the bridge about a mile to the north in Gladwin County that opened on Thursday. "We only get mail once a week, and a lot of our mail was lost," Miner said. "We're really excited (about the bridge being open). The grocery store will be close again. "We won't ever take (bridges) for granted again," she added. Miner and her husband, Matt, only moved into their house two weeks before the dam failures. They had recently married and had four children between them. "We needed a bigger house," Miner said. When the Tittabawassee River and Tobacco River bridges both washed out after the dam failures, the Miners and their neighbors teamed up to support each other. "We started a chat group and called ourselves 'The Islanders,'" Miner said with a smile. Two other Edenville residents, Beth and Bob Kelley, were thrilled about being able to much more easily visit Beth's parents, who live on Dundas Road, just north of the new bridge. The Kelleys live south of the Tittabawassee bridge. "It was normally a three-minute drive (to visit my parents), and it became over an hour (when both bridges were out)," Beth Kelley explained. "After the Curtis Road bridge reopened, then it was a 20- to 25-minute drive." MDOT began construction of the $4.3 million bridge over the Tobacco River in early December. The causeway bridge that had previously crossed the span was destroyed by the flooding caused by the failure of the Edenville Dam. MDOT spokesperson Jocelyn Hall said the new temporary bridge is designed to last at least 15 years. If a more long-term bridge had been built right now, it might have taken a few years to be completed, she explained. "This is the last piece of the puzzle," Hall said. "We're excited for the community." Hall said the timeline for when a more long-term bridge will be built over the Tobacco River depends partly on if and when the Edenville and Sanford dams are repaired and their corresponding lakes restored. At Stryker's Lakeside Marina, just north of the bridge, general manager Stephanie Aldrich was emphatic about what the bridge opening means. "It's a huge impact," Aldrich said. "(Not having the bridge there) made it very difficult for people to get to us. It was a 45-minute drive just to get (from here) to Midland." Before Thursday, motorists coming from the south and needing to get to Stryker's and points north of it had to detour via M-18 and Dale Road, or via Estey Road and Jones Road, Aldrich said. She said Sanford Lake and Wixom Lake are the two main areas that Stryker's serves, but it also draws customers from lakes further north in Gladwin County. "It will be huge to get (M-30) drive-by traffic back. It'll help out a lot," Aldrich said. "It will help all the businesses in this area." "Now we just need water," she added with a smile in reference to hoping for the eventual repair of the Edenville Dam and with it the return of Wixom Lake. Before the dam failures, Stryker's was right on the shores of Wixom Lake. But for now, that lake has receded to its original state as the Tobacco River. The Edenville Dam impounded the Tobacco and Tittabawassee Rivers to form Wixom Lake. Meanwhile, Midland County District 1 Commissioner Jeanette Snyder and Village of Sanford President Dolores Porte were among those who walked over the new bridge when it opened on a warm and very windy morning. "This is another step in the right direction of reopening and healing," Snyder enthused. "This is symbolic of connecting again between Midland and Gladwin counties." "This is hopefully a shot in the arm for businesses on both sides of the bridge," Porte said. "This is about resilience. We keep on trucking and we're not giving up. People are working seven days a week (to rebuild from the flooding)." Miss Beverly and I would later commit to doing something and promised to dedicate a good chunk of our time in bridging this unnecessary divide and distrust. A divide that could only spell doom for the black race. We came to the resolution that it was time to recognise that our differences are far less than the ties we share living the black experience in America. Aside Ikemba Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the fabled warlord and leader of the defunct breakaway Republic of Biafra, almost all my childhood superheroes were African-Americans. This is the group we sometimes refer to as Africans in the diaspora. Still stuck in my memory is the iconic image of Marcus Garvey, the black nationalist and Pan-Africanist who even has a street in the posh side of town named after him, in my home state of Enugu. That was long before I got to learn all about civil right icons, the likes of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Our history lessons spoke eloquently about the exploits of these brave souls. On the social side of things, we binged on the Cosby show and danced to as well as marveled at Michael Jacksons ubiquity. In order words, we felt a deep sense of kinship with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the Atlantic. You can then imagine how befuddled and flabbergasted I was to come over to the United States and meet different sets of realities. It was a cold New York winter morning when I walked in, after about an hour commute on the Q-Train. The place looked nothing like an office and the ambience was anything but grand. Not with the haphazard array of furniture or the picture frames lying all over the floor with no consideration of order. As I eased my shoulder out of the layers of coat and scarf, I couldnt help but notice an attractive young girl, probably in her early twenties. I was pleasantly surprised to find that in a sea of white faces, she was black. And so even as she buried her head under the desk, as if she could care less about whoever was standing in front, I made a conscious effort to draw her attention. The whole excitement though was more about meeting someone who looked a lot like me and much less in terms of her undeniable natural endowment. Good morning beautiful lady, I greeted, with my best act of decency and civility, while beaming a smile. It seemed like she ignored me for a few seconds but then quickly sprang to her feet, swinging menacingly. Hey! Excuse me mister! I dont know which part of African jungle you came from, but you got to know this is America and not Africa. My name is Miss Tasha, not beautiful lady; ok?! You got to learn how to address a lady. Simple manners. She then retreated just as fast as she emerged. My friendly face quickly dissolved into a frown. I was caught totally unaware and buckled in half. One was unsure how to respond but I sure felt terrible, betrayed, apoplectic and completely humiliated. It was like being hit with a ton of bricks out of nowhere. At first, I tried to blame the unfortunate encounter on my very self. Maybe she was not used to the Nigerian way of sounding out words. Or perhaps, I came across as that creepy older dude. At the time, I had already spent a little shy of two years in the U.S. Though my heavily accented English and atrocious fashion sense still stood in my way of blending, I knew I had come a long way. At least it was unlike those first few days in the tele-marketing job where I was asked to repeat myself a couple of times. The more I thought about the encounter, the more confused and angrier I got. My new friend also helped me out in many other ways. She tried to explain the anger and distrust of some African Americans toward Africans. I came to understand the unfortunate impression in some quarters that African migrants have the tendency to team up with White America to oppress Black Americans. The intern years in the U.S., prior to limiting residency hours for young physicians, were brutal. The work load was intimidating and you hardly earn anyones respect. We carried on feeling overworked and under-appreciated. The good part of being busy is that time passed by so quickly. But aside the baptism of fire from Miss Tasha and a few brushes with some Caribbean nurses, one could say it all went well. I even netted a few awards and graduated top of my class. The icing on the cake, though, was meeting our program coordinator, another young African-American lady. If not for her age (she was way younger than I was) and unmatched predilection for mischief, Miss Beverly could pass for a doting grandmother. Needless to say, she erased all the stereotypes that had started to build up in my head. Before I met Beverly, I was so ready to not just believe but propagate the narrative that black America was the African migrants nemesis. What a shame! I also observed that apart from being extremely nice to me, Miss Beverly had a soft spot for Africans, in general, but Nigerian men, in particular. Though an extrovert, she was extremely private about her personal life and would always move conversation away from it. I did notice, however, that she was particularly very fond of a certain guy in her past named Shawn (I believe its more like Seun, a Nigerian name), whom she credited with saving her life but was hesitant to elaborate on the subject. You get the sense of a people who were romantically involved at some point. One could tell the outcome wasnt what she hoped for but nonetheless she was still madly in love with and greatly admired Seun. I concluded that in appreciation of how he impacted her life, she decided to pay it forward by helping Africans. My new friend also helped me out in many other ways. She tried to explain the anger and distrust of some African Americans toward Africans. I came to understand the unfortunate impression in some quarters that African migrants have the tendency to team up with White America to oppress Black Americans. That we thought of them as lazy and describe them in derogatory terms. And then she narrated the whole ordeal about Nigerian men using black American girls to regularise their stay in the States and then showing them the door when it became time for marriage. I noticed that she was starting to well up on the last issue. On the other hand, I also explained to her how African migrants tend to feel more welcomed in the presence of white folks. I narrated my encounter with Miss Tasha and related how my friends kid came home from school one day, distraught that another black kid told him that all Africans stink. Chancing upon the autobiography of Colin Powell years later, one became painfully aware, also, of the strains of animosity between Black Americans and Blacks who come from the Caribbean. The General described how shocked he was to find out that his future African-American father in-law, upon learning that his daughter planned to marry the son of a Jamaican immigrant, was not pleased with the idea at all. From all sides, you could hear some painful truths, half-truths and patent myths bandied around. No question, there exists a chasm of attitudes, history, culture and opportunities within the mosaic of black identities. In many cases, however, we lack an appreciation of such differences and life experiences. There is the belief that West Indians are taking up jobs meant for black Americans and that the former is too eager to work with white people at the expense of the latter. On the other hand, many Black Caribbean immigrants sometimes use such unflattering terms as lazy to describe American blacks, accusing them of using racism as an excuse for their failure to make progress. From all sides, you could hear some painful truths, half-truths and patent myths bandied around. No question, there exists a chasm of attitudes, history, culture and opportunities within the mosaic of black identities. In many cases, however, we lack an appreciation of such differences and life experiences. An African-American may not understand why an African migrant would settle for less pay and work insane hours in the name of hustle. An African migrant, on the other hand, may never fully appreciate the impact of slavery on the life of its victims. Its such a different world that calls for lots of empathy on both sides. Miss Beverly and I would later commit to doing something and promised to dedicate a good chunk of our time in bridging this unnecessary divide and distrust. A divide that could only spell doom for the black race. We came to the resolution that it was time to recognise that our differences are far less than the ties we share living the black experience in America. A racist police officer aiming a lethal weapon, makes no distinction between an African or an African American. What he sees is either a black or brown skin. I have come to believe that Ignorance is the worlds greatest enemy. For Ignorance begets fear and fear breeds distrust and resentment. You simply are not comfortable with what you dont understand and are scared of. My interaction with Miss Beverly changed my whole perspective about our African-American brothers and sisters the same way Seuns kindness impacted Miss Beverly. Its instructive how the little things we do every day as individuals can become so consequential to the totality of human experience. Mother Theresa once said: I cannot change the world but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. For if we are not part of the solution, chances are we are part of the problem. ADVERTISEMENT Osmund Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project. Email: eagleosmund@yahoo.com Oriental Holdings is hoping for between $60-$70 million for the Queens Road hotel, which is on a huge 7000 square metre landholding. JLL is marketing the now empty, graffitied building. And Kuwati Sheik Mubarak A.M. Al-Sabahs Action Hotels Group is selling a $200 million portfolio, which includes the Novotel South Wharf, the Ibis Glen Waverley and the Ibis Budget at Melbourne Airport. Hotels data group STR shows occupancy rates in Melbourne fell by nearly half last year to 41.6 and revenue per room fell by 57.9 per cent. But hotel sales have held up. The five-star Primus in Sydney recently fetched $132 million and the Travelodge portfolio has reportedly sold for around $600 million. Benz dealer A freehold property, home to the Pro-Star Motors Mercedes Benz dealership in Hawthorn, is for sale for the first time in more than 37 years. Records show luxury car dealer Lasath Algama is selling the 2645 sq m landholding at 135-149 Burwood Road that he amassed since the 1980s. The site covers five properties, which CBRE agents David Minty, Nathan Mufale, Scott Hawthorne and JJ Heng are selling in one-line or individually. Its near the corner of Power Street and next door to the Growthpoint-owned office of paper packaging giant Orora, which is valued at $113 million. Hawthorn railway station is a short walk away. Its expected to fetch north of $17 million. Mr Minty is expecting interest from major developers and landbankers. Fresh leases The Hawthorn office market is expected to be one of the winners in the restructuring of the workplace. Fitzroys agent Stephen Land has negotiated three fresh leases in Hawthorn, including two deals on level one of 104 Burwood Road, and another at 313 Burwood Road. Phoria has doubled its office space in Fitzroy. Credit: A desire to be more centrally located has prompted commercial office cleaners, the Keen to Clean Group to sign up for the 130 sq m suite 1 at 104 Burwood Road on a three-year term with a three-year option. Meanwhile, Stamford Lawyers has taken suite 2 and is moving out of the CBD. They have signed a two-year lease with options on 140 sq m at $30,000 a year. Mr Land said: There were very high levels of enquiry for these offices considering the limited size offering in the area and the affordable rental level. The fluid COVID situation means smaller tenants are committing to shorter-term deals than they previously would have, he said. There are plenty of business-owners seeking a move to city fringe and inner suburban locations to be closer to their homes, making it easier to access the workplace and collaborate with colleagues in-person during a period of more flexible working hours and arrangements, he said. Elsewhere, fuel systems engineers Leighton OBrien has upsized to a 380 sq m office at 313 Burwood Road on a five-year lease with five-year option, paying $218,983 a year in rent. The engineers will move into space previously occupied by Generic Partners, who moved to Cremorne after they were bought out by Arrotex Pharmaceuticals. In Fitzroy, media studio Phoria has doubled its footprint at the old heritage-listed Salvos building at 297 Napier Street and is now its sole tenant. Phoria has taken a six-year lease on level one, paying $66,000 a year. It took the ground floor three years ago. Chunky dips The Heidelberg headquarters of Chunky Dips maker Simply Delish is up for grabs. Simply Delish has been at the Darebin Creek-facing facility at 28-40 Sheehan Road since 2009 and has recently signed a new 12-year lease. Simply Delish has been at 28-40 Sheehan Road since 2009. Credit: The 3800 sq m building has been fitted out for their dip-making operations and includes cool rooms, sealed flooring, in-ground waste disposal, a temperature-controlled production area and freezer rooms. Its on a sprawling 4850 sq m landholding. Records show SDI Groups Emanuel Varagiannis, who also part-owns Simply Delish, sold the building to Matthew Baileys Heidelberg Capital at the end of 2019 for $7.1 million. Stonebridge Property Group agents Rorey James, Dylan Kilner, Kevin Tong and NSL Property Groups Guy Naselli are handling the listing for which they are expecting more than $8 million. Expressions of interest close on April 15. Mr James said: This is a very tightly held pocket of Melbourne, with very little turnover in assets and tenants and this is one of the largest landholdings in Heidelberg West. Barkly square Barkly Square in Mornington, not Brunswick is back on the market. The nine-shop complex at 53-55 Barkly Street has been put up for auction by the propertys mortgagee. The retail centre was last put to the market in 2019 by receivers Cor Cordis but the property was refinanced at the last minute and withdrawn from sale. The sky over Southwest Maine becomes more interesting every day after 1p.m. Thats when long haul flightsmaking their way from Paris, Cairo, and Dohabegin to arrive over North America after their hours-long crossings of the Atlantic Ocean. The next legs of their journeys will scatter them across the United States to Chicago OHare, John F. Kennedy, Logan, and Hartsfield-Jackson. But for now, their fuselages, tiny like toys hanging from fishing wire at 35,000 feet, are over my house where, from my patchy lawn, Ive become a one-woman air traffic control center. My tools: a green fold-up camping chair, a palm-sized pair of binoculars, a straw sunhat, and my favorite app, Plane Finder. Advertisement Much like birdwatching, tail spotting (or plane spotting) is a hobby for enthusiasts wanting to learn more about who or what is flying around above them in the sky. And as with any hobby in the 21st century, technology has improved a tail spotters relationship to her subject. Youve seen versions of these apps interfaces before on electronic elevator displays or on news broadcasts: a digitized map of the United States crawling with little animated airplanes, each one representing a commercial flight from Wichita to Dallas, Seattle to Spokane. Today, apps like Plane Finder or FlightAware provide us the minute-to-minute details of aviation with impeccable accuracy. These apps can tell you the airline, airplane model, altitude, ground speed, and flight path of just about any plane at any given time. Which is how midday became my favorite time to allow my normally indoor cat to nose about our yard while I greeted flights from my newly acquired lawn chair: She explored the ground as I explored the sky. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It used to be that all you needed for plane spotting was access to the outskirts of an airfield to marvel at planes taking off and landing. For years, my most sacred place in New York was a trash-strewn parking lot in Jamaica Bay at the end of one of John F. Kennedy Airports four runways. Thats where I would spend Sundaysthe most anxious daywatching planes take off and land at a steady pace, like a heartbeat, the rhythm of travel soothing my jumpy mind. But as COVID-19 began to spread in the United States, the skies emptied out and planes were grounded, giving the atmosphere over New York an apocalyptic feel and dashing one of my favoriteand most therapeutichobbies. Suddenly, just like everything else in 2020, my tail spotting proclivities changed in accommodation of the pandemic. Advertisement My life changed, too. Soon we had relocated to be closer to family in Maine, which is anything but a commercial airline hub. Though the Portland Jetport is technically international, it hosts just a few dozen flights in a day, compared to JFKs 800. The skies are generally sparse in rural Mainethat is, until about midday, when you can often hear the echo roar of a jet overhead. And so, I downloaded Plane Finder. Between 2014 and 2015, many flight apps saw a boost in users. Over the course of that year, there were a number of high-profile aviation tragedies that aroused peoples inner investigators. Most alluring to the general public was the mystery of Malaysian Air flight 370, which departed Kuala Lumpur the night of March 8, 2014, and flew seemingly into an abyss. Search crews spent months combing the Indian Ocean for wreckage, while lay people like me combed the internet for theories and clues. Courtney Love even got in on the action, posting her MH 370 hypotheses to Twitter. The world was waking up to the idea that aviation provides an eternal flame of mystery, an idea that was already a central tenet to the tail spotting community. Tail spotting can be a soothing sky-watching habit, but its community also regards itself as a coterie of amateur detectives. Advertisement Using flight trackers like the one I access from my iPhone, tail spotters have turned their attentions to mysteries large and small. The community was quick to recognize that another Malaysian Air flight had been shot down on its journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, and that there was suspicious activity with the flights taken by Saudi officials surrounding the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Last fall, tail spotters, along with mainstream news outlets, speculated about the absence of planes that seemed to suggest the airspace above Joe Bidens Delaware home had become newly restricteda sign that he had won the 2020 presidential election prior to it officially being called? This theory was later debunked, and we learned the restricted airspace was normal, but the desire for concrete answers about the election had us looking for clues in the sky. In between the blockbuster cases are smaller ones. Recently, from Twitter, I watched as #AvGeeks tried to figure out why an Air Canada flight headed to Seoul turned back to Toronto only an hour into its trip, speculating an onboard medical emergency. Its the lower-profile aviation riddles that affirm what Ive always believed: The details we gather from flight trackerstheir depictions of tiny planes traversing the globe, each with its own storyhave much to tell us about human behavior. Where are we going? How can we use that information to better understand the world? Its a surprising place to look, but a flight tracker like Plane Finder, more than anything else, gives us data about ourselves. Advertisement Advertisement What is gleaned from flight data is sometimes more complex than how late a plane pulled back from a gate: We learn authoritarian governments will go vastly out of their way to silence a single journalist, that we are eagerperhaps overly eagerfor the resolution of a contentious election with too-close-to call margins, and that a pilot suffering from mental illness can build his own flight simulator and rehearse a clandestine mission before plunging a 777 with 239 passengers onboard into the Indian Ocean. Its a lot of steps just to triangulate a single airplanes journey or its meaning to us, which is why the participation of #AvGeeks is not just the about supporting the app. Sharing this information is central to the spirit of the plane spotters relationship to the sky. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the French aviator and aviation philosopher, once wrote, Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. The airplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth. Advertisement The days of the pandemic wore on. My indoor cat, with enough visits to the yard, was becoming an outdoor cat. I knew without having to look at my phone that the first plane overhead at midday was the Qatar Airways flight to Boston. Still, there was one question that would go unanswered. Overwrought with information about transmission rates and handwashing routines, my mind was hungry for moments of the harmless indulgence of a day dream: Who was flying in a pandemic? Toward the end of summer, I realized I wasnt using Plane Finder to solve mysteries so much as to create them. A survival technique, you could say. Advertisement Too meek to actually integrate with the tail spotters of social media, I watched the watchers and as they swapped theories and facts freely across platforms. I felt part of their community based on my silent participation. I was gathering my own data while reading the news: Some people were flying because they had to, but others did because they had the privilege to not have to worry about the risks of contracting COVID-19 or because they didnt believe the science. My incredulity metamorphosed into rage as I saw in my tail spotting observations proof that some humans will use any logic available to make exceptions for themselves. Even in a pandemic. Advertisement More cathartically, though, the planes also provided me with a sense of escape. To fathom being above land, hurtling toward a new destination when my only one for months had been the grocery store, was restorative. Planes have always filled me with an awe of human innovation when I am otherwise depleted by humans in general. The technology dazzles memillions of people in the atmosphere above us at any given time is in itself remarkable, but last summer, gazing skyward to the distant sound of jet engines was one of the only ways I was able to find any tranquility. It stoned me in a weird, satisfying way. The coming and going of airplanes is the amalgam of computing, engineering, navigation, commerce, exploration, and, above all, humanity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For centuries, humans have gazed skyward in navigation, exploration, and benediction. Weve used the sky to cross oceans in canoes, to tilt our chins heavenward and pray for loved ones or desired outcomes, and to simply pass idle time identifying shapes and animals in the plump curves of a cumulus cloud. My grandfather had a ritual of going outside every night to look at the moon. A colonel in the Air Force, he had fought in several major wars. I always suspected his nightly routine of checking on the moon came from his so many hours logged in the sky. The moon had kept him company when he was in the air. Why shouldnt he return its companionship from the ground? From my own small spot on earth, I used my awe of the technology required for humans to take flight to forgive them. As we were failing so profoundly as a society, knowing a plane overhead potentially carried life-saving vaccines nestled in their chilly boxes helped me remember there were bright data points too, one little yellow plane dutifully crossing the screen of an app like a shooting star. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Basquiats Warrior the most valuable Western artwork ever offered in Asia This powerful work is one of the finest created by the artist in 1982 the year in which, Basquiat declared, he made the best paintings ever. On 23 March 2021 it sold for HK$323,600,000 The year 1982 was a special one for Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-88). In March he had his first solo show in the US, at the Annina Nosei Gallery in New York. In June he became at the age of 21 the youngest artist ever to take part in Documenta, the esteemed exhibition of contemporary art in Kassel, Germany. In the autumn, he began a relationship with an up-and-coming singer called Madonna. Basquiat said that 1982 was also the year he made the best paintings ever. One of these was Warrior, which is being offered in a single-lot sale on 23 March at Christies in Hong Kong. The painting depicts a full-length male figure dominating the picture plane. He is the eponymous warrior and he holds in his right hand a sword thats unsheathed, raised and ready to strike. The work recalls Renaissance depictions of court knights such as Carpaccios Young Knight in a Landscape (see below) from the early-16th century. Basquiats Helmet, New York, 1981. Photo: Edo Bertoglio. Artwork: Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York Though he had no formal art education, Basquiat was well acquainted with Old Master paintings, thanks to frequent boyhood visits with his mother to the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Matilde Basquiat was from Puerto Rico, while the artists father Gerard was from Haiti. Jean-Michel was born in Brooklyn in 1960, the eldest of their three children. His heritage would prove crucial throughout his career. The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings, he said in the mid-1980s, looking back on his formative years. I realised that I didnt see many paintings with black people in them. Vittore Carpaccio, Young Knight in a Landscape, 1510 Basquiats Warrior seems to echo paintings of court knights such as this. Oil on canvas, 218 x 151 cm. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. Photo: Bridgeman Images Part of the inspiration for Warrior seems to have been Ogun, the sword-wielding warrior deity of the Yoruba people of West Africa. Their beliefs had been transported to the Caribbean as a result of the transatlantic slave trade. The subjects scarified eyes and clenched jaw add to a sense of talismanic power. In his long thin toes, some also see a resemblance to nkisi nkondi idols from the Congo (see below), into which long thin nails were hammered. Basquiats mother and father separated when he was seven and he ended up living with the latter. Geralds strict parenting, however, saw the teenage Jean-Michel rebel to the extent of quitting school and running away from home. In 1977, he started spray-painting graffiti on derelict buildings in New Yorks Lower East Side and SoHo, a practice he would continue until around 1980, when his career really took off. Though executed on a wooden panel rather than a public wall, Warrior shares a number of characteristics with Basquiats old street works, rawness and spontaneity being chief among them. The wildly fashioned background was achieved with gestural brushwork in patches of yellow and blue. As for the subject, Basquiat marked out his silhouette in spray paint and oil stick before filling in the body with harried layers of acrylic. Theres no perspectival logic to speak of, or spatial recession. Figure and ground seem meshed together bursting with the energy of a warrior. David Bowie hailed the pure joyful chaotic miasma of Basquiats imagery Basquiat painted this huge work, measuring 183 by 122 cm, while installed in a studio in the basement of Annina Noseis gallery in SoHo (she had become his primary dealer in 1981). He worked there as an artist in residence, and there are numerous stories of Nosei taking collectors downstairs to snap up paintings before they were even dry. Warrior wasnt painted before Basquiats aforementioned show at her gallery in March 1982; it would first appear in an exhibition of his work at the Akira Ikeda Gallery in Tokyo the following year. A Kongo-Yombe nkisi nkondi statue, Democratic Republic of Congo a work in which some see a resemblance to Basquiats Warrior. Height: 95 cm (37 in). Sold for 727,500 on 27 June 2018 at Christies in Paris Its possible to interpret Warrior as a form of self-portrait: the central figure representing the artist in his battles within an art world that was overwhelmingly white. Might the crown of thorns atop his head suggest the artist saw himself becoming a martyr in the process? In the case of Warrior, another source of inspiration can probably be cited: the landmark anatomical textbook, Grays Anatomy. The warriors visible, internal organs look like a distorted diagram from it. (Basquiat was given a copy by his mother while in hospital recovering from a car accident as a boy and was captivated by the book for ever after.) Warrior exemplifies Basquiats skill as an artistic magpie, scavenging source material from all sides and bringing together seemingly unconnected elements in marvellous fusion. Sign up today Christies Online Magazine delivers our best features, videos, and auction news to your inbox every week Subscribe Mike Sutter /Staff After months of running on a takeout or delivery model, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q is reopening some San Antonio dining rooms. The barbecue restaurant chain shared a list of 30 area locations where the cafeteria-style dine-in service is now offered. Restaurants in Austin and Corpus Christi are also part of the phased rollout of dining room openings. The dining rooms are open at 100 percent capacity. When the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for COVID-19 was unveiled, many called it a game changer. Opinion When the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for COVID-19 was unveiled, many called it a "game changer." It could be. Its a single-dose vaccine, as opposed to Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and AstraZeneca-Oxford, which all require two shots. It can be stored in a regular refrigerator for three months making its transportability, availability, and usability in rural and impoverished communities much more attractive. Its also cheaper, easier to produce, and has fewer reported side effects than other such vaccines. The problem is its "efficacy." According to health officials, while the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have efficacies of more than 95 per cent, Johnson & Johnson has a rate of 66.9 per cent. (AstraZeneca comes in at 62 per cent). Its worth noting Johnson & Johnson disputes this, stating since its vaccine was developed later and tested in places where coronavirus variants exist, this number could be higher. Still, the drug is incredibly effective. In a study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, scientists found it was 85 per cent effective in preventing severe COVID-19 symptoms and 100 per cent effective "in preventing death." That may be a low bar, but a disease that doesnt kill suddenly looks like the flu. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is perhaps the final push needed to change the momentum of this pandemic. When it was approved March 5, the Canadian government ordered 10 million doses and reserved 28 million more for the future. While government officials have no firm date for arrival, and were informed this week there are "manufacturing problems," its a no-brainer that, when it arrives, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will likely be offered to most-impacted communities first. The fact it is single-dose, doesnt require much infrastructure, and can be transported easily, makes its pairing with remote Indigenous communities a seemingly perfect fit at least until other vaccines become available. But, hold on. An article Wednesday in Indian Country Today, written by doctor and health researcher Bruce Davidson, warns Native Americans and Alaskan Native peoples are showing a much lower efficacy rate than Americans after being administered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Citing the aforementioned FDA study, Davidson says that report also shows "28 days after that single dose, the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the American Indian/Alaska Native population was only 32 per cent." Davidson points out Indigenous peoples who get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are twice as likely to still contract COVID-19 and experience severe symptoms than other Americans. However, this "vaccine failure" may simply be a failure by health officials to accurately test Indigenous communities, he wrote. The study, for instance, doesnt identify where the tested Indigenous peoples live, their ages, or anything else (environmental, societal, economical, etc.) that might help understand who and why it is reportedly not as effective. All that exists in the study is one category: "American Indian/Alaskan" as if thousands of Indigenous communities across tens of thousands of kilometres fit into one giant group. In the end, Davidson warns Indigenous peoples to stay away from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine until more data is available. "(Pfizer and Moderna) are two quite safe vaccines with no failures in American Indians/Alaska Natives. Make sure to tell your doctor and health administrators that you want one of those two." Meanwhile, in Canada, the majority of vaccine sent to Indigenous communities has been the Moderna version. As of Tuesday, 536 First Nations and Inuit communities have vaccination programs underway; 162,155 doses had been administered. The official Canadian government website explaining how important it is Indigenous people get a COVID-19 vaccine says "vaccines are safe" and "protect you and those around you from preventable diseases." For the record, I completely agree, and will be getting one alongside my family. The government website also says, though, vaccines are a "personal choice." Well, not really. It may be a choice to take one, but its not a choice on which one. Last week, Health Canada warned Canadians not to "shop around" for vaccines with higher efficacy rates. In an interview, chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma said its better to have some protection than none at all, and Canadians should "roll up your sleeve" and "take the vaccine thats offered to you." Nope. A vaccine proven "safe" by unsafe data just isnt safe. So, Ill choose. niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Amritsar: The farmers protesting against the farm laws on the Amritsar-Delhi railway tracks have withdrawn their agitation in sight of the upcoming hectic wheat harvesting season. Train services resumed after the farm union yesterday suspended 169-day long 'dharna' on tracks. The farmers were staging a sit-in agitation at Jandiala Guru village on the Amritsar-Delhi rail link. They announced the withdrawal of their agitation on March 11. Savinder Singh, a leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee which had been spearheading the stir, said they decided to withdraw the rail blockade at Devidaspura on the Amritsar-Delhi route after a meeting of all protesting farmer unions. "Farmers were blocking only passenger trains but the Centre decided to stop goods trains as well which caused huge losses to farmers, traders and industrialists. In the light of current circumstances, farmers have unanimously resolved to end the stir here," he said, news agency PTI reported. Officials said that with the farmers ending their stir here, normal movement of trains will resume within a couple of days. "Dharna at Jandiala Guru Railway Station suspended for the time being, passenger trains operational now", says Gurpreet Khera, Dy Commissioner. The farmers called off the protest after 169 days, as suspension of trains caused losses to them and traders. Angry over the three farm laws, hundreds of farmers have been sitting on the borders of the national capital for more than 100 days now, demanding that the proposed laws should be repealed. (With inputs from news agencies) Live TV 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. Bernie Sanders is bringing Amazon's union battle to Washington D.C. with an invitation for founder Jeff Bezos to testify before the Senate next week. Sanders, as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, also invited Jennifer Bates, who trains employees at Amazon's warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., where nearly 6,000 employees are in the midst of an election on whether or not unionize. The Vermont senator accused Bezos, who, with an estimated net worth of $197 billion, is the richest man in the world, of an 'aggressive union-busting campaign' at his Alabama facility. Sanders, a frequent Amazon critic, previously announced his support for the workers' right to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Bezos 'is currently engaged in an aggressive union-busting campaign against Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama to stop them from collectively bargaining for better wages, benefits, and working conditions,' Sanders said in a statement announcing the March 17 hearing. Senator Bernie Sanders is bringing Amazon's union battle to Washington D.C. Sanders invited Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to testify before Senate on March 17 Workers at Amazon's Alabama warehouse began voting in February on whether or not to form the first American union at the e-commerce giant that could pave the way for further unionization in the US at one of the world's most powerful companies. The voting on whether to unionize runs through March 29. 'What you are seeing right now in Bessemer is an example of the richest person in this country spending a whole lot of money to make it harder for ordinary working people to live with dignity and safety,' Sanders told The Washington Post. He said Bezos had not replied to the request to testify. Amazon did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. The hearing will focus on 'The Income and Wealth Inequality Crisis in America.' Other witnesses include former labor secretary Robert Reich. Bezos' wealth skyrocketed from $58 billion during the pandemic, which saw online sales explode as people stayed home under lockdown conditions. The massive e-commerce country has discouraged union efforts in the United States although many of its European locations work under unions. Amazon, according to reports, has run a counter-campaign to union efforts in Bessemer, setting up a website urging workers to 'do it without dues' and distributing pamphlets instructing workers to 'Vote NO' on the matter. The company also has pointed out it it offers Bessemer workers generous benefits, including starting pay of $15.30 an hour, well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25. President Joe Biden jumped into battle earlier this month, defending the workers right to unionize but stopping short of endorsing the formation of a union. 'Let me be really clear, it's not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union. But let me be even more clear. It's not up to an employer to decide that either the choice to join a union is up to the workers, full stop,' he said in a video posted to the White House's social media accounts. Amazon's facility in Bessemer, Alabama, where nearly 6,000 employees are voting on whether or not to unionize Union organizers support Amazon workers Workers at the Bessemer facility claim Amazon has launched a 'disinformation' campaign aimed at getting them to vote down a proposal to form a union Biden, the chief executive of the country, did not call out Amazon by name in his remarks but he did talk about workers in Alabama and warn there should be no intimidation of workers during the process. 'There should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti union propaganda,' Biden said, pointing his finger to the camera to emphasize his point. 'No supervisor, no supervisors confront employees about their union preferences. You know, every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union. The law guarantees that choice. And it's your right, not that of an employer, it's your right, no employer can take that right away,' he added. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Stacey Abrams also released videos of their support of the workers. There have been a series of protests around the United States on safety and working conditions at Amazon, with the pandemic increasing pressure on its distribution network even as profits soar. The pro-union workers face an uphill battle against the second-largest employer in the country with a history of crushing unionizing efforts at its warehouses and its Whole Foods grocery stores. Amazon employs nearly 1.3 million people worldwide. The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) market arrangement is oligopolistic and still dominated by foreigners who rake in millions every year through imports, Lefhoko Moagi, Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security minister, has told Parliament. Moagi said in response to a question posed by Shoshong Member of Parliament Aubrey Lesaso, that the local market currently has six (6) importers and ten (10) known distributors. Lesaso had asked the number of gas importers in Botswana; how many are indigenous Batswana Companies and how many are gas distributors or retail. Moagi said the retail space comprises of numerous small businesses that sell gas to consumers. Retailers range from those with cages of varying sizes to a small man in the street known as bakkie boys. The retail space is reserved for Batswana. Moagi named the importers as Afrox, Easigas, Tswana Gas, Air Liquide, Quick Gases and Simsa Gas. He said according to information sourced from the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) website, only one company (Tswana Gas) has majority citizen shareholding at 57.4 percent and the other companies are foreign owned. Lesaso also wanted to know how much in volumes are these importers distributing, and how many of these distributors are indigenous Batswana and if the Minister does not see that as a monopoly. Despite the temporary closure of Quick Gases, the local gas market continues to operate efficiently, serviced by the other five importers. Moagi said they did experience some disruptions last year due to challenges in South Africa at the refineries but it was for a short time. Therefore, there are generally no significant challenges experienced regarding the supply of LPG into the country. Moagi said all volumes imported into the country are filled into cylinders of varying sizes (9kg, 14kg, 19kg and 48kg) and distributed accordingly. The minister said information on shareholding of distributing companies sourced from the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) shows that Lobatse Gas Works is 70 percent citizens, Calvin Technology 100 percent, Salubrious 80 percent citizens. He said City Gas is 80 percent citizens, Seahorse Investments 100 percent foreign, BC&LM 100 percent foreign, Shanaz Gas 100 percent foreign, Viking Voyagers 100 percent foreign and Sefalana Tsabong Sefalana Holding Company Limited (100 percent), while Nari Gas information is not available on CIPA website. Lesaso asked the minister to say what he is doing if the LPG market is found to be a monopoly; and how will he create an environment that will incorporate indigenous Batswana into the industry and further state the potential jobs the gas industry could create for Batswana in the value chain. Moagi said as the licensing Authority in the energy sector, Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) continues to ensure that Batswana are facilitated by way of granting licenses to operate businesses in the energy sector, including LPG. He said that the licensing committee of BERA sits every Friday to consider license applications brought before the Authority. Furthermore, the minister said that Botswana Oil Limited (BOL) has been established as a government strategic entity to among other objectives ensure meaningful citizen participation in the petroleum sector, including LPG. Moagi assured parliament that his ministry through its strategic entities will ensure that Batswana companies are capacitated through awareness sessions on issues pertaining to running sustainable operations in the energy sector, including LPG. Lesaso had also asked the Minister to state the total volume of Low Pressure Gas (LPG) imported into the country every year and to categorise the volumes into domestic, commercial and industrial uses. Quoting preliminary information collected by BERA for a market study that was commissioned by government, Moagi gave volumes of LPG imported into the country from 2010 to 2019 thus: He said in 2010 the volumes were 7, 929,400; 15, 893, 390 (2011), 16, 968, 147 (2012), 18,360, 119 (2013), 18,110, 695 (2014), 19,788, 244 (2015), 19, 749, 516 (2016), 20, 426, 337 (2017), 21, 805, 702 (2018) and 21, 712, 945 in 2019. Moagi said that information on disaggregated volumes according to domestic, commercial and industrial uses is currently not available. This information will be sourced in future as more work is undertaken to assess performance of the sector, Moagi said. The minister said the LPG market study will be ready by April 2021. Among other things the study is looking into the market structure in terms of the value chain, market participants including company shareholding, pricing of LPG, investments into the sector, including ownership of assets, citizen participation, and safety and health issues pertinent to the sector. The LPG industry in Botswana has been unregulated over the years. However, Parliament passed the BERA Act in 2016 to regulate the provision of energy services including LPG in order to fully establish how the LPG industry has been functioning. President Joe Biden emphasized a 'free and open Indo-Pacific is essential' in his opening remarks to leaders of Australia, India and Japan, a group critical to his plans to counter China's growing economic power. 'We all are concerned about a free and open Indo-Pacific is essential to each of our futures our countries. The United States is committed to working with you our partners, and all our allies in the region to achieve stability,' he said. The four leaders of the 'quad' - as the group is known - will hold a virtual conversation with the main focus on the global pandemic. But Biden also is seeking ways to coordinate against China, who is becoming a growing trade threat to the U.S. and the Indo-Pacific region. A senior administration official told reporters ahead of the meeting it would involve 'an honest, open discussion about China's role on the global stage,' referencing 'challenges in the region' to free and open trade and commerce. Biden noted in his opening remarks it's the first summit he's hosting as president and the first time the 'Quad' has met on the leader level. 'The Quad is going to be a vital arena for cooperation, Pacific, and I look forward to working closely with all of you in the coming years,' he said. Ahead of the formal sit down, the four nations agreed to finance increased vaccine production in India to address shortages in Southeast Asia - producing roughly 1 billion vaccines by 2022. 'We're launching an ambitious new joint partnership that is going to boost vaccine manufacturing and global benefits, strengthen vaccinations to benefit the entire Indo-Pacific,' Biden said of Friday's meeting. 'And we're renewing our commitment to ensure that our region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values and free from coercion. We've got a big agenda ahead of us,' he added. The vaccine agreement comes as the United States is facing criticism for not sharing some of its COVID vaccine supply with developing nations around the world. 'The United States, working closely with India and Japan, have put together complex financing vehicles that will allow for a very substantial, frankly dramatic, increase in the capacity to create vaccines, up to a billion by 2022,' a senior administration official said on a briefing call with reporters ahead of the summit. President Joe Biden emphasized a 'free and open Indo-Pacific is essential' in his opening remarks to leaders pf Australia, India and Japan President Joe Biden holds a virtual meeting on the 'Quad': On screens are Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison Biden has also fielded requests from allies, including Canada and Mexico, to buy vaccines made in the United States. But the Biden administration has remained steadfast that, at least for now, it is focused on making sure that all Americans are first vaccinated even as China and Russia have engaged in vaccine diplomacy, sending badly needed vaccines to other countries. Administration officials have noted the United States' $4 billion commitment to COVAX, an international effort to bolster the purchase and distribution of coronavirus vaccines to poor nations. 'If we have a surplus, were going to share it with the rest of the world,' Biden said earlier this week at an event where he announced that the U.S. had acquired an additional 100 million doses. 'Quad' is short for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, and it grew out of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. But the group previously has collaborated at the minister level. This is the first meeting of the nation's leaders. It comes as Biden is placing more emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region in the face of growing economic competition from China. Climate change was also on the agenda, with the leaders stressing their commitment to the Paris Climate Accord. Biden spoke with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga during the 90-minute virtual summit. Secretary of State Tony Blinken will moderate. The 'Quad' meeting was the first time Joe Biden hosted a summit as president Japan's prime minister Yoshihide Suga addresses the 'Quad' Chinese President Xi Jinping is not a part of the meeting nor a member of the 'Quad' but China's increased economic might will be a topic of conversation Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will be the first world leader to visit Biden in person at the White House in April That Biden 'made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we place on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week. The administration is focusing heavily on Indo-Pacific region as part of its foreign policy strategy. Japanese Prime Minister Suga will be the first world leader to visit Biden in person at the White House, which Japan said would take place in April after Suga completes his COVID vaccination. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel Japan and South Korea next week to meet with their counter parts there. Austin will also travel to India. Blinken and Austin will end their journey in Anchorage, Alaska, where they will meet with Chinese foreign policy officials next Sunday. The White House said it was important to have that meeting on American soil. Each of the four nations in the 'Quad' has a complex, if not strained, relationship with China. Biden, in his calls with each of the leaders during the first weeks of his administration, has stressed the need for cooperation on China. Australia's relationship with China has soured over a series of trade disputes. India is in the midst of a 10-months-long military standoff with China along their disputed border in eastern Ladakh. Tens of thousands of soldiers are facing each other at friction points in the region. Biden, in his first call with Suga days into his administration, underscored his commitment to protecting the Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islets administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, according to the White House. China has called the Quad an attempt to contain its ambitions. Morrison said there was no reason for China to object to the leaders' meeting. 'This is about four nations that have had a long-term interest in the Indo-Pacific. For us, this is where we live, this is where Japan lives, where India lives and of course with United States across the Pacific has had a long-term presence, so this is about an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and that benefits all nations of the Indo-Pacific,' he told reporters. Blinken has made clear that the Democratic administration believes the best counterweight to China is for U.S. allies to stand together 'The more China hears not just our opprobrium but a chorus of opprobrium from around the world, the better the chance that we'll get some changes,' Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The BBC has unveiled shows that will be part of its "Lights Up" plans in March and April. Featuring a total of 18 broadcasts on television, radio and iPlayer, the series of productions will support companies and artists affected by the pandemic. The RSC's production of The Winter's Tale, which was weeks away from its run before halted in March, will be filmed and broadcast by the company under the direction of deputy artistic director Erica Whyman to coincide with Shakespeare's birthday. Whyman's production moves Shakespeare's classic to the 1950s against a backdrop of the Cold War. The venue has also revealed plans for an outdoor season opening this summer. The cast includes Ben Caplan as Camillo, Andrew French as Polixenes, Amanda Hadingue as Paulina, Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Hermione and Joseph Kloska as Leontes, with set design by Tom Piper, costumes by Madeleine Girling, and music by Isobel Waller-Bridge. Yasmin Joseph's J'Ouvert, which won the James Tait Black Drama Prize, will be captured during its West End run at the Harold Pinter Theatre as part of Sonia Friedman Production's "RE:EMERGE" season (more on that will be revealed later today). The piece is directed by Rebekah Murrell (Nine Night) as part of a season of new work curated by Ian Rickson. J'Ouvert was originally produced by Theatre503, in a co-production with Bad Breed and Tobi Kyeremateng. Orpheus in the Record Shop, a collaboration between Opera North and Leeds Playhouse, will be adapted for the screen, having been created by acclaimed rapper and playwright Testament. Other productions being broadcast on radio include the previously announced The Meaning Of Zong, the debut play written by Giles Terera, as well as Stripe By Stripe And Other Stories from National Theatre Wales (starring Rakie Ayola), Braids from Live Theatre, Newcastle, Dedication from Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, Nadia Fall's hit Welcome To Iran from Theatre Royal Stratford East and Folk from Hampstead Theatre. Nell Leyshon's Folk will star award-winning performer Simon Russell Beale as musician Cecil Sharp. Jonty Claypole, Director of BBC Arts said: "A few months ago, we asked theatres and producers across the UK to come up with ideas for a virtual theatre festival to be staged in lockdown. The result is BBC Lights Up: eighteen new productions for television, radio and online. They bring together household names with groundbreaking new talent. They are joyful, moving, funny, poetic and, in many cases, probing and provocative plays. Most of all, they are astonishingly innovative. Each theatre and producer responded to the challenge in their own way, pushing the boundaries of what theatre can be when there is no audience in the room. Audiences will, hopefully, be able to return to theatres again in a few months, but in the meantime BBC Lights Up celebrates the creativity and resilience of UK theatre in a time of adversity." The newly revealed shows will join the TV adaptation of Katharine Parkinson's Sitting, as well as David Ireland's Sadie. Other works include Colm Toibin's Pale Sister, directed by Trevor Nunn starring Lisa Dwan, Natasha Marshall's Half Breed, Dorcas Sebuyange's Buttercup and Phoebe Eclair-Powell's Harm. Finally, National Theatre Scotland's award-winning Adam is being broadcast online. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Beijing, March 12 : A ceremony was held in Beijing on Friday to commemorate the 96th death of Sun Yat-sen, a renowned statesman who led a revolution that ended imperial rule in China. The ceremony in the capital city's Zhongshan Park, named after Sun, was attended by representatives from all walks of life, reports Xinhua news agency. A moment of silence was observed before attendees showed their respect to Sun by bowing three times in front of a statue of him at 10,30 a.m. Floral baskets from the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) Central Committee, the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Beijing municipal government, and the Beijing municipal committee of the RCCK were presented to the statue. Sun was born in 1866 and died in 1925. He is known to the Chinese as a great revolutionary and statesman for his leading role during the 1911 Revolution, which ended more than 2,000 years of feudal rule in China. 404 China's market regulator said on Friday it has fined 12 companies related to 10 deals that demonstrated illegal monopolistic behaviours. The State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement on Friday that the companies include Baidu Inc, Tencent Holdings, Didi Chuxing, and a ByteDance-backed firm. Baidu, Tencent, ByteDance and Didi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Also read: Tencent focusses on core businesses as ByteDance makes sizeable inroads Also read: Tencent sacks 100 employees, blacklists 37 firms over embezzelement, bribery incidents New Delhi: The Delhi government said on Thursday (March 11) that various special measures have been taken in the Budget for the next financial year to empower women. A statement from the Deputy Chief Minister's Office said that the Budget 2021-22, much like the previous budgets, has put a special emphasis on empowering women, while Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has also brought several schemes for the same. "It is because of such initiatives and schemes that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has such a large share of female voters," it said. The statement said that the Budget emphasised on establishing 100 'Mahila Mohalla Clinics' so that every woman in the national capital can access special services of gynaecologists and related diagnostic tests. It said that the Delhi government has planned that in the first phase, 100 Mahila Mohalla Clinics will be established in different parts of the city, which will be progressively increased to at least one clinic in each ward. The statement further stated that to economically empower women, some new schemes have been planned and one important initiative among them is the 'Saheli Samanvay Kendra', under which 500 Anganwadi hubs shall be set up in various parts of the city, to be used by women from the nearby areas for four hours every morning. "These hubs can be used for incubating individual startups and to promote the self-help group 'Samriddhi'. Special arrangements in the hubs will be made for the women and required training will be imparted to open micro-economic units and for holding meetings of self-help groups," it said. The statement mentioned that since 2019, Delhi government has been able to provide 19.2 crore free bus rides to women of the city. "Continuing this initiative, the Delhi government will ensure that women travel safely, using free bus rides in DTC and Cluster buses. Further, to ensure safety, all DTC and Cluster buses of Delhi have CCTV cameras installed along with bus marshalls to prevent any untoward incident," said the statement. The Delhi government is further working on installing CCTV cameras at tourist spots and LED lights will be placed in areas that are not well lit, it said. "Delhi government is also planning to establish 33 Mahila Support Centres for women and girls who are unable to access information on the various schemes. A counsellor will be present in these support centres to help the women with issues concerning government initiatives," it said. Live TV Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan today gave a press conference to a few media outlets, including Hraparak, Zhoghovurd, 168a.m, Tert.am and Kentron TV. The press conference was video recorded and will be broadcast by the mentioned media outlets in the evening. Tsarukyan touched upon the tense domestic political situation and the recent events and talked about the Presidents invitation and his possible meeting with Nikol Pashinyan. Tsarukyan reiterated the fact that the solution to the crisis is the Prime Ministers resignation and snap parliamentary elections and that he still insists this. In response to Hraparak.ams question how he treats President Armen Sarkissians proposal for the opposition forces and Nikol Pashinyan to meet at the presidential residence and find solutions to get out of the current situation, Tsarukyan said he shares the view of member of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement Ishkhan Saghatelyan according to which the opposition will agree to a meeting, if it is held with its agenda, in the sessions hall of the National Assembly and is broadcast live since the opposition doesnt have anything to hide from the public. Asked if he will eventually meet with Nikol Pashinyan, Tsarukyan said the following: Of course, I will meet with Nikol Pashinyan. I met with my partners from the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement and told them that I will meet with Pashinyan. I think there will be a meeting soon, and the presses will know about it. It is necessary to take action to get out of this situation and solve the crisis as soon as possible. I havent changed my opinion. The Prime Minister needs to resign, and snap parliamentary elections need to be held quickly. Ill meet with Pashinyan, and he will express his views, Tsarukyan said. Manitoba announced its first cases of COVID-19 one year ago today. Daylight time starts early Sunday. Dont forget to change your clocks, or you will spend months reminding yourself to adjust the time displayed on your car dashboard and microwave. Canada and the U.S. signed a landmark treaty to reduce acid rain 30 years ago today. Adam Treusch, assignment editor The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of US President Joe Bidens nominee for deputy secretary of state Thursday. Wendy Shermans nomination will next move to a full Senate vote, though that could be delayed amid criticism of her work on the Iran nuclear deal. Sherman was the United States lead negotiator for the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement while serving as undersecretary of State for political affairs under President Barack Obama. The agreement removed international sanctions on Iran in exchange for the Islamic Republic scaling back its nuclear program. In 2018, US President Donald Trump removed the United States from the deal, alleging that Iran was still seeking to build a nuclear weapon, and reimposed harsh sanctions. Iran is no longer in compliance with the deal. Shermans work on the agreement was a topic of discussion by her supporters and critics during Thursdays Senate hearing. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the committee, said Sherman did not fulfill her constitutionally duty to inform and consult the Senate on the Iran deal. Ive seen really a lack of appreciation for the role of Congress in foreign policy making, said Risch, who voted against her. Risch said Sherman held certain aspects of the deal from Congress during the negotiations. I remember asking her about provisions in the agreement that we could not see. They were secret, he said. I have the same security clearance that she does, being No. 2 on the intelligence committee. Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland disputed Rischs assertion, saying we had full access during the sessions on the nuclear agreement. Ambassador Sherman was part of that process that made sure we had the information to make our decision, said Cardin, who notably voted against the deal. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also voted against Sherman, largely due to her work on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the Iran nuclear deal is officially known. The result of the JCPOA would have inevitably led, I believe, to a nuclear Iran, said Cruz. Cardin was not the only Democrat who voted against the Iran deal to now vote for Sherman to be confirmed. Chairman Bob Menendez of New Jersey also voted against the Iran deal in 2015 but said he supports Sherman's confirmation. I dont consider a vote for Sherman as a vote for the Iran deal, said Menendez. Shermans nomination has a solid chance of being approved by the Senate because some Republicans will vote for her in addition to Democrats. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah voted for Sherman on Thursday, despite his opposition to the Iran deal. Romney praised her for being in the mainstream of the Democratic Party during his remarks. Sherman would work under Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was confirmed by the Senate in January. Shermans nomination passed through the committee 14-8. The committee also voted unanimously Thursday to advance Brian McKeons nomination to be undersecretary of state for management and resources. Biden has said that he wants to return to the Iran deal, but that Iran must return to compliance. Iran has so far rejected this, saying the United States is the party that first left the agreement and should first remove sanctions. Sherman answered questions about Iran policy during her appearance before the committee last week. She said the situation is different from 2015 and that she is aware of the threat Iran poses to the United States. Sherman told the committee that Bidens Iran policy has yet to be fully formulated, but that he does not want to see Iran get a nuclear weapon. It is unclear when the full Senate will vote on Sherman. Cruz vowed to put a hold on her nomination until Biden takes action against Nord Stream 2, a second Russian pipeline to Germany that is being built. The Senate majority leader decides whether to keep the hold or dismiss it. According to a new rumour from China, OPPO is preparing to release their first folding smartphone sometime during the second quarter of 2021. Interestingly, the device will not be a rollable smartphone like the OPPO X 2021 concept phone that they showcased last year, instead it will likely have a regular folding design. OPPO is expected to be one among the many Chinese smartphone manufacturers that will release their first foldable smartphone this year. They have already showcased smartphones with bendable displays such as the OPPO X 2021 rollable concept phone, which has a 6.7 inch display that can be extended to 7.4 inches. Google is also rumoured to be developing a foldable smartphone for launch later this year. Samsung will reportedly be supply the foldable displays to these companies. Earlier rumours suggest that OPPOs foldable smartphone will have a clamshell design, folding from top to bottom. The display size will be a 7.7-inch unfolded, while the outer screen is sized between 1.5 to 2-inches. When the phone launches, OPPO will be entering a highly competitive market. HUAWEI recently launched their Mate X2 foldable smartphone, and Samsung is expected to update their foldable smartphone series during the third quarter of 2021. Source A total of 65 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2020 while doing their jobs, according to the International Federation of Journalists. That is 17 more than in 2019, and the death toll is around the same level as in the 1990s, the federation said Friday as it published details of its annual report on killings. The IFJ also reported that more than 200 journalists are currently jailed because of their work. The killings of journalists took place in 16 different countries during targeted attacks, bomb attacks and crossfire incidents. A total of 2,680 journalists have been killed since the IFJ started keeping count in 1990. The ruthless reign of crime barons in Mexico the violence of extremists in Pakistan Afghanistan and Somalia as well as the intolerance of hardliners in India and the Philippines have contributed to the continued bloodshed in media, said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger. For the fourth time in five years, Mexico topped the list of countries where the most journalists were killed, with 14 killings. It was followed by 10 deaths in Afghanistan; nine in Pakistan, eight in India, four each in the Philippines and Syria, and three each in Nigeria and Yemen. There were also two killings in both Iraq, Somalia while Bangladesh, Cameroon, Honduras, Paraguay, Russia and Sweden all reported one journalist killed. In addition to the deaths, the IFJ said at least 229 journalists were in prison across the world as of March 2021 because of their work. The federation said Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world" with at least 67 media workers in its cells. That was followed by 23 journalists detained in China, 20 in Egypt, 16 in Eritrea and 14 in Saudi Arabia. No democracy worthy of that name can jail messengers of freedom of expression," Bellanger said. Among those currently jailed is Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw, arrested in Myanmar while covering demonstrations against the military's seizure of power. A court in Myanmar on Friday extended his pre-trial detention period. Thein Zaw, 32, and at least six other members of the media have been charged with violating a public order law, according to his lawyer and the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The association says 38 journalists have been detained since Myanmar's military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, and 19 are still incarcerated. An Oregon man has been charged with two cold-case murders that were committed more than two decades apart, the authorities said this week, noting that there may be more victims. Investigators in Portland said they still had not found the remains of the first victim, Mark Dribin, who vanished in 1999. But they discovered the dismembered body of Kenneth Griffin, who disappeared in 2020, in a shed at the home of Christopher Lovrien in Southeast Portland when they went there to investigate the first case. Mr. Lovrien, 53, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree abuse of a corpse and six counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, the authorities said. On Thursday, he pleaded not guilty in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Time will never stand in the way of justice, Mike Schmidt, the Multnomah County district attorney, said in a statement on Wednesday announcing the charges against Mr. Lovrien. Mississippi Governor Says Government Overreach Should Be Limited at Virtually All Costs But with the exception of protecting the integrity of the healthcare system, he said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said government intervention should always be limited unless it is needed to protect the integrity of the healthcare system. We should do everything possible to limit government intervention at virtually all costs, Reeves told Just The News AM when asked about his philosophy on when government intervention is appropriate. The only exception to that is when we are trying to protect the integrity of our health care system. This comes as states are considering rolling back restrictive CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic measures that have placed an economic burden on businesses and Americans across the country. The governors of Texas and Mississippi have both announced that they would be lifting mask mandates and other pandemic restrictions as the number of hospitalizations and pandemic cases drop and vaccination distribution is underway. Reeves said his decision to roll back his administrations intervention is based on data, which shows that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state fell from 1,444 cases in January to about 318 cases in March. We look at the total number of cases that we have on a daily basis on a weekly basis and, and its part of the decision-making process, he said, adding that his administrations goal is not to eliminate transmission of the CCP virus, but rather protect the integrity of the states health care system to ensure that if anyone gets the virus, they can receive quality care and recover. The reason [elimination the transmission of the virus] hasnt been our goal is because thats not a realistic goal we would never be able to accomplish it, he said. So the government intervention that we have enacted weve only done so when we were concerned that our hospitals were going to be full. And that not only would someone who gets the virus be unable to get a hospital bed, but someone who was in an automobile accident might be able to get a hospital bed. So were continuing to make decisions based upon data with a strong leading towards freedom and opportunity for our people, he added. The Biden administration has cautioned against lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said the United States has declined to about 70,000 new CCP virus cases per day but said she was concerned about the emerging COVID-19 variants. COVID-19 is the disease the CCP virus causes. 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, Walensky said at a White House news conference. Please hear me clearly, she said. At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office is suing officials in the City of Austin and Travis County for failing to comply with the governors order that lifts a mask mandate across the state. Paxton told Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown that Gov. Greg Abbotts order has the force and effect of state law and supersedes local rules and regulations, and that the decision to require masks or impose other CCP virus pandemic restrictions is reserved to private businesses on their own premises, in a letter sent to the officials on Wednesday. It does not rest with jurisdictions like the City of Austin or Travis County or their local health authorities. Nor do they have the authority to threaten fines for non-compliance, Paxton wrote. Kids chased each other across the lawn of Marshall Elementary School in South Orange, as others sat in picnic chairs and blankets, completing schoolwork on a balmy March morning. This is as close to school as our kids can get right now, Kate Walker, a parent and co-leader of the community group SOMA for Safe Return to School, told NJ Advance Media. Kept out of school since the pandemic began last March, students in the South Orange-Maplewood community have found themselves caught in the middle of a bitter and entrenched battle between the local school district and teachers union. Parents and students gather in front of Marshall Elementary School in South Orange to protest a year spent out of classrooms.Courtesy of Kate Walker In protest, about 50 parents and students assembled for a school-in sit-in Friday morning, gathering on the lawn with laptops and logging onto hotspots to participate in virtual instruction. Earlier this week, the district pulled out of the meditation process, citing bad faith negotiations with the union. But last night, the union announced a compromise to bring kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students back into classrooms on Monday. South Orange and Maplewood Education Association President Rocio Lopez declined an interview, but in a statement last week, the union slammed the district for its unilateral withdrawal from negotiations. It is clear the focus of the district is to be right, not ready, read the statement. Instead of using the opportunity of mediation to work for authentic collaboration with the union for a safe return, they use the union as a scapegoat and a distraction from what is really wrongthe buildings are not safe and nothing substantive has been done to remediate these concerns. The district said its proposed plan was conservative and followed health and safety guidelines, in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media. At the same time, school officials voiced their support for the sit-in and the resumption of in-person instruction. The District hears the communitys calls for in-person instruction and respects the right of our community to peaceably assemble to voice their concerns and POV, the statement reads. We want to bring students back to school and most importantly continue to serve them and our families. Parents and students gather in front of Marshall Elementary School in South Orange to protest a year spent out of classrooms.Courtesy of Kate Walker Parents and students have become vocal about their desire to see issues over classroom safety and teacher accommodations resolved. In February, SOMA for Safe Return to School held a protest of about 100 people, demanding the end of virtual instruction. Its pretty clear at this point that we are able to manage this safely you gotta look around, its common sense, Pete Pachal, a parent of an 8- and 11-year-old, told NJ Advance Media. You see everythings open. I can go to Home Depot, I can go to a restaurant, restaurant capacities are increasing, grocery stores, post offices you can go anywhere, with the right precautions we can do this safely. Why are we still all looking at Chromebooks? Pachal said hes placed his kids on a waiting list for private school at Our Lady of Sorrows School, as hes fed up with watching the parties disagree, while our kids pay the price. You start to question, why are we living here and paying an inordinate amount of property taxes if were going to send our kids to private school anyway? Its really pushed our community here to the breaking point, he said. Parents and students gather in front of Marshall Elementary School in South Orange to protest a year spent out of classrooms.Courtesy of Kate Walker Like several other communities, including Montclair and Bridgewater-Raritan, which will hold their own protests this weekend, the 7,200-student-large district has been embroiled in a drawn-out dispute over reopening all year. When the district attempted to switch to a hybrid model after an all-remote fall semester, teachers said theyd be teaching from home in protest over classroom safety and health concerns. The following day, the district and union came to an agreement and hybrid learning began Feb. 1. Two weeks later, teachers refused to report to school for a second time, charging the district with failing to honor the safety agreement. We think its been mishandled several times throughout the last year, Walker said. Right now, we feel frustration towards the union. Theyre not really giving clear parameters as to what it takes for them to return to the building. It feels like moving goalposts. For now, most students will remain at home, while younger students as well as Special Services students in self-contained classrooms, English Language Learners and Pre-K students return to the classroom. Parents and students gather in front of Marshall Elementary School in South Orange to protest a year spent out of classrooms.Courtesy of April Mason While bringing those groups back demonstrate an ability to compromise, parents are still skeptical the parties will be able to agree on much else, with worries about September already mounting. My daughters eight, Pachal said. An eighth of her life has been spent enduring this pandemic shes still learning what the world is. The fact that this is normalized, this pseudo-educational thing shes going through, I think its terrible. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Whether you're looking for a satin bathrobe for bridesmaids or want to switch up your cosy fleece number for something luxuriously stylish, the SIORO Women's Satin Robe from Amazon is the perfect solution. Hundreds of Amazon shoppers are glamming up their nightwear with the satin dressing gown, with reviewers calling it 'great quality, 'soft', and one of their 'best clothing buys from Amazon so far'. It's just the thing to throw over your PJs for a touch of luxury during lockdown. And it makes a great gift to spoil Mum this Mother's Day (Sunday March 14). Thousands of Amazon shoppers are glamming up their nightwear with the satin dressing gown, which costs as little as 7.64 depending on the size and colour you select Racking up over 2,000 five-star reviews, the the SIORO Women's Satin Robe, which now costs as little as 7.64 depending on the size and colour you select, is made from quality satin that's delicate and gentle on the skin. 'Champagne taste on a prosecco budget,' one shopper wrote in their praised-filled review. 'Beautiful material. Feels and looks like silk. Colour is a gorgeous aubergine. Soft and drapey luxury on a budget. Highly recommended.' Featuring a shawl collar and Japanese-inspired kimono sleeves, the short length robe also includes a satin belt for the perfect fit. And the belt loopholes mean you don't have to worry about it getting lost or falling off. Plus, the lightweight robe has an inner tie to keep it from opening. It also has functional pockets and, unlike silk, can be machine washed. The robe is available in sizes small through XXL and comes in several colours, including a gorgeous sage green (pictured), classic black and shell pink Amazon shoppers are glamming up their nightwear with the satin dressing gown, with reviewers calling it 'great quality, and one of their 'best clothing buys from Amazon so far' The robe is available in sizes small through XXL and comes in several colours, including a gorgeous olive green, classic black and shell pink. It's perfect if you want matching bridesmaids robes. 'These are perfect!' one shopper wrote in their review. 'Material is so soft and looks really elegant. Perfect length and sizes! I purchased 6 for my bridesmaids and got them personalised with names under heat press.' Another commented: 'Bought these as robes for myself and my fellow bridesmaids. Beautiful quality fabric and colour. And they have pockets!' MailOnline may earn commission on sales from the links on this page. Burma If the Army is Disbanded Will Myanmar Become Like Libya or Iraq? A protester holds an anti-regime placard in Yangon as soldiers deploy in February. / The Irrawaddy Disbanding Myanmars hated military risks destabilizing the country, in the same way that the Western invasions of Iraq and Libya and the subsequent disbandment of local military forces left security vacuums that were filled by Islamic State, said former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo. Yeo acknowledged that the Tatmadaw (Myanmars military) are hated by many Myanmar people. The reaction to removing the army from the equation would be euphoria, he said. [But] what happens five years, 10 years from now? I think theres a fair chance that Myanmar will become Libya and Iraq, the South China Morning Post reported him saying. Myanmar has seen daily anti-regime protests across the country following the militarys Feb. 1 coup. In an attempt to stop the protests and the growing civil disobedience movement, the security forces have resorted to lethal force with at least 70 civilians killed. Instability in Myanmar could also drag down its neighbors, including China, India and Bangladesh, as well as affecting Asean (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) warned Yeo, who was Singapores foreign minister between 2004 and 2011. He added that we will have years, even decades of trouble. In the first week of March, Asean called for all parties in Myanmar to exercise utmost restraint as well as flexibility as the crisis in the country worsens. Singapores current Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan proposed that the U.N. secretary generals special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, be allowed to visit the country as soon as possible to meet all key stakeholders, including ousted leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who he said should be released from detention. The only way youre going to get a long-term, sustainable, viable solution is for national reconciliation to occur, and in particular we call for the release of the President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the other political detainees. Balakrishnan also stressed that Singapore has not recognized the regime as Myanmars government. We have not recognized the military leaders as the government of Myanmar, he said. We do recognize, however, that under the 2008 Constitution, it provides for a special role for the military as an institution in the body politic of Myanmar. Yeo described the situation in Myanmar as heartbreaking and an enormous setback, given Myanmars transition to democratic rule in recent years. The immediate priority must be to step back from a rapidly deteriorating situation. It is not too late, Balakrishnan said, while admonishing Myanmars security forces for using lethal force against unarmed protesters. Instability in any corner of Southeast Asia threatens and affects the rest of us. Its such a pity because, in fact, the prospects on Myanmar were bright, the prospects for Southeast Asia are robust in the next 20, 30 years, he said. In 2007, a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable quoted Singapores founding father and late statesman Lee Kuan Yew describing Myanmars ruling generals as stupid and dense. The cable quotes Lee telling U.S. diplomats in 2007 that dealing with the junta leaders was like talking to dead people. He is quoted saying that they had mismanaged the countrys natural resources and that he had given up on them a decade ago. The cable, released by the website WikiLeaks, recorded a conversation between Lee and two senior U.S. diplomats. It says Lee held out little hope for improvements in Myanmar until a younger generation of less obtuse generals takes power. You may also like these stories: Medical Officials Resign as Myanmars Military Regime Pressures Medics on Strike Kachin Independence Army Attacks Myanmar Military Outpost Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? What if two of the strongest musical voices to come out of Alabama in recent years came together, with Brittany Howard producing beats for Chika? That idea got tossed out during a Thursday Grammy prelude event that featured Howard, Chika and the California sister trio Haim. And it wasnt the only eyebrow-raising tidbit from the Zoom-style online discussion. Howard and Chika both spoke about the challenges of staying creative while the pandemic shut down artists ability to draw energy from live crowds. The hourlong Pandora LIVE Countdown to the Grammy Awards was presented in partnership with streaming service Pandora. It featured performances by all three acts, which will be played starting today on SiriusXM satellite radio. In between performance segments, Recording Academy Chair and Interim President/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. deferentially plied the artists with questions. Some highlights of the discussion: The energy exchange: Its funny because I wanted to put out my project in 2019, said Chika, referring to the release of her debut major-label EP Industry Games. We ended up choosing March of 2020. I put out my EP and the week after, maybe three days after, is when the pandemic shutdown started. So I havent gotten the normal experience that artists have when they put out their first project and see the reaction. I light of that, she said, getting a Grammy nomination for best new artists is some welcome validation: To get this acknowledgement, such a high regard, off my first year out is incredible to me but also something Im still processing. That entire process of making the project and everything was a labor of love and Im really excited that this is now whats come from it. Chika went on to describe the creative process as an energy exchange, with artists pouring themselves into their work. The way that humans typically recharge is by, like, being able to be in an electrifying room with people who genuinely support you For all of us who have sat by during the pandemic, not being able to go out there and get the opposite end of what weve been putting out, its not like an artist can just stop moving. We have to keep creating but there is no recharge unless youve begun to pivot and adapt to the circumstances were all under right now. (Note: Though she didnt discuss it on the program, Chika released her second EP, the six-song collection Once Upon a Time, on Friday.) Alabama Roots: My parents are Nigerian, so I had a lot of different sounds in my ear growing up, said Chika, whos from Montgomery. I listened to a lot of reggae, I listened to Nigerian Afrobeats and stuff like that, but I also grew up in Alabama where everything is very soulful and theres almost a gospel element to a lot of the music. But also being an implant, because my parents are not from Alabama, I dont have any roots in Alabama, it was very much trying to find a sound. Which is reflected in the way I speak, too, because I heard Nigerian accents and I also heard Southern accents, and I sound like neither one of those things. I spent 21 years in Alabama. I had to find a sound that sounds like what my soul sounds like. Everything around me is just around me, said Howard, but whats really going on is inside. Its just how I am. Being from Alabama, yeah, it informed everything that I am, all my memories are there. Its a strange place compared to the rest of the world. Its different. It just has a certain texture to it. A lot like Chika was talking about, Im informed by all the different types of music I heard. Silver Lining: I was just ramping up to do my tour for my record, Howard said of the pandemics onset. That got canceled. Im the type of person, I like to stay busy Like the lady said, its not the same. Its not the same, not getting that transfer of energy, not getting to perform in front of people, not getting to meet new people. Its got its silver linings, at the same time, Howard continued. I havent really been home for 10 years. Im picking up on little things I totally forgot about. Like, when Its about to be spring, you start hearing the birds singing again. Little stuff like that. And Im like, Wow, thats amazing! Or, like, cooking dinner. Going to bed in the same bed at nighttime. Ive been fortunate enough to not have lost anyone to COVID, and I mean God bless anyone who has, for real for real, said Howard. Thats the serious portion of it. People are out there sick, and its hard to handle. Its scary. Bjork and Other Possibilities: When Mason asked Howard who shed most like to work with, some possibilities opened up. Top of my list would be Bjork, she said. I think that would be really wild. And Tyler the Creator, I just think the dudes a genius, to be honest with you. And then Id probably like to produce beats or something. Ill produce beats for you, Chika. The group as a whole liked the idea. Sounds like a collab, said Mason. Ill play bass on it, offered Este Haim. We need to trade contact info, Chika said a little later as the show came to an end. Ill be hitting you up directly, dont worry. Thursday evenings performances will be aired on SiriusXM satellite radio. Performances by all three artists will be played on The Grammy Channel (ch. 104) beginning at 11 a.m. central on Friday, March 12. On March 13, The Spectrum (ch. 28) will air Howards and Haims performances beginning at 6 p.m. Central; while Hip-Hop Nation (ch. 44) will feature Chikas performance at 10 a.m. Central, followed by encore broadcasts. Howard is nominated for five Grammys and will perform during the main telecast on Sunday. Chika is nominated for best new artist and will be a presenter at a preliminary event on Sunday. She also has been featured in a Spotify series showcasing best new artist nominees. Two other acts with Alabama ties, Little Big Town and the Secret Sisters, also are in the running for awards this year. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. (TSX: XTG) (OTCQB: XTGRF) ("Xtra- Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce today that the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has accepted a noticed filed by the Company of its intention to renew its prior normal course issuer bid for a further one year period. The Company intends to proceed with a normal course issuer bid to purchase up to 4,000,000 common shares of the Company (the "2021 Bid"). The Company is commencing the 2021 Bid because it believes that the current market price of its common shares may not fully reflect the underlying value of the Company's business and its future business prospects. The Company believes that the purchase of common shares for cancellation is in the best interests of the Company's shareholders by increasing the respective proportionate shareholdings and therefore increasing the respective equity interest in the Company for all remaining shareholders. As of March 9, 2021, the Company has 46,869,917 common shares issued and outstanding. The 4,000,000 common shares that may be purchased by the Company under the 2021 Bid represent approximately 10% of the public float (41,980,312 as of March 9, 2021) of the Company. The 2021 Bid will commence on March 16, 2021 and will terminate on March 15, 2022 or at such earlier date in the event that the number of shares sought in the 2021 Bid has been repurchased. The Company reserves the right to terminate the 2021 Bid earlier if it feels that it is appropriate to do so. All shares will be purchased on the open market through the facilities of the TSX, and payment for the common shares will be in accordance with TSX policies. The price paid for the common shares will be the market price at the time of purchase. Purchasing may be suspended at any time, and no purchases will be made other than by means of open market transactions during the term of the 2021 Bid. The maximum number of common shares that may be purchased on a daily basis is 8,207 common shares representing 25% of the average daily trading volume 32,828 for the last six calendar months, except where purchases are made in accordance with "block purchases" exemptions under applicable TSX policies. The common shares purchased by the Company will be cancelled. The Company has engaged Haywood Securities Inc. to act as broker through which the 2021 Bid will be conducted. Previous purchases were made by the Company under a prior normal course issuer bid (the "2020 Bid"), the results of which are noted hereunder. Results of 2020 Bid Pursuant to a previous notice of intention to conduct a normal course issuer bid, under which Company sought and received approval from the TSX to purchase up to 4,000,000 Common Shares for the period of March 16, 2020 to March 15, 2020, the Company has purchased, as of February 2, 2021, 280,700 Common Shares on the open market at an average purchase price of $0.97 per share. As of February 28, 2021, the issued and outstanding number of Common Shares is 46,869,917 shares and the public float of the Common share is 41,980,312 shares. About Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. Xtra-Gold is a gold exploration company with a substantial land position in the Kibi Gold Belt, in Ghana West Africa. Contact Information For further information please contact: James Longshore, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 416-628-2881 E-mail: info@xtragold.com Website: www.xtragold.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76981 She is known for her quirky style and edgy looks. And Gwen Stefani was pulling her edgy style out of the bag once again as she transformed into a rhinestone cowgirl to plug her new single Slow Clap. The No Doubt frontwoman, 51, flaunted her jaw-dropping figure in a barely-there ensemble comprising a pink shirt and silver bralet and high-waisted bottoms. Wow! Gwen Stefani was pulling her edgy style out of the bag once again as she transformed into a rhinestone cowgirl to plug her new single Slow Clap Gwen has delightedly been communicating with fans over the new track, which she recorded in lockdown, and urging them to listen. The blonde beauty will no doubt steer her followers towards the single with her stunning artwork for the single, in which she look phenomenal. She took to social media Thursday to thank her fans for listening to her new single and shared a selfie of herself showing her sitting on a dock under grey clouds. She wrote in the caption for her 11.1m followers: 'Just sitting back with a smile on my face reading all of your comments on #slowclap Thank you for listening!! love u gx.' Oh my! The No Doubt frontwoman, 51, flaunted her jaw-dropping figure in a barely-there ensemble comprising a pink shirt and silver bralet and high-waisted bottoms It comes after Gwen - like many brides around the world - had to put the brakes on her wedding plans due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Gwen revealed she has spent lockdown in Oklahoma with Blake, her brother and sister-in-law's family and her three kids. She spoke of homeschooling in the pandemic with her sons Kingston, 14, Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale, 12, and Apollo Bowie Flynn, six, who she shares with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale, who she split from in 2016 after 14 years of marriage. In October, Gwen and Blake became engaged after five years of dating during their Oklahoma lockdown among their beloved family. Thank you! She took to social media Thursday to thank her fans for listening to her new single and shared a selfie of herself showing her sitting on a dock under grey clouds She announced the news with a photo on social media where she was kissing the country crooner as she held up her left hand to show off her ring. In her chat Gwen, who has recorded her fifth studio album Let Me Reintroduce Myself in lockdown, lamented her thwarted wedding plans. She said: 'I would love to get married, but I want my parents there, so that's hard to plan. We have three kids in school and at home on Zoom, so hopefully that will end for them. But there's not a lot of plans, I just want to put this record out!' Western look: On working on her music in lockdown, she went on: 'I wasn't planning on it, but someone said they were writing on Zoom, and I said 'Shoot, I'll try it' Speaking about what the pandemic had made her evaluate, she said: 'There was an amazing need to have a pause, I think, that we didn't even know could be possible'. She also gushed over Blake and his success, saying: '[Hes] kind of a phenomenon over here. Hes had 28 number one radio hits and has been on The Voice for 20 seasons. Not to brag, but' On working on her music in lockdown, she went on: 'I wasn't planning on it, but someone said they were writing on Zoom, and I said 'Shoot, I'll try it.' In November, Gwen and her fans marked 15 years since the release of Love. Angel. Music. Baby. her debut solo studio album, which was also the name of her clothing line alongside another clothing line she created at the time. New Delhi, March 12 : The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) on Friday said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japan Railway Track Consultant Company Limited (JRTC) for the designs of high speed rail track works for the T2 package of 237 km between Vadodara to Vapi in Gujarat for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project. In a statement, NHSRCL Spokesperson Sushma Gaur said, "NHSRCL today signed a MoU with JRTC for the Designs of High Speed Rail (HSR) Track works for T2 package of 237 km between Vadodara to Vapi in Gujarat for the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor Project." She said that the JRTC will provide the detailed design and drawing of major high speed rail track components like RC track bed, track slab arrangement and continuous welded rail (CWR) forces etc. Gaur said that the virtual event was attended by NHSRCL MD Achal Khare, Rajendra Prasad, Director Project, Vijay Kumar, Director Rolling Stock and other senior officers from NHSRCL, Shinzo Miyamoto Minister from Embassy of Japan to India, Katsuo Matsumoto, Chief Representative, JICA and Horiyama, President, JRTC. After signing the MoU with JRTC, Khare said, "This signing of MoU marks a very important milestone for MAHSR project. This also symbolises a strong team work and association which I am sure will not be limited to MAHSR project but may also continue for other future projects in other countries." He further said that "NHSRCL will extend its full support to make this MoU a success". Miyamoto, said, "This MoU will strengthen the ties between India and Japan, and will also give a boost to 'Make in India' initiative. This will also ensure the Transfer of Technology from Japanese high-speed rail system to India". Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then Japan Premier Shinzo Abe on September 14, 2017 laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) project. The initial deadline to complete the project is December 2023. The bullet trains are expected to run at 320 km per hour covering the 508 km stretch in about two hours. In comparison, trains currently plying on the route take over seven hours to travel the distance, whereas flights take about an hour. The NHSRCL has awarded several tenders for the construction of railway tracks, railway bridges, tunnels, railway stations and depots for the project till date. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio lawmaker is itching to rename a state park in his district in honor of former President Donald Trump. State Rep. Mike Loychik, a Republican from Trumbull County who was elected in November, told colleagues on Friday that he plans to introduce legislation renaming Mosquito Lake State Park in Cortland as Donald J. Trump State Park. This bill will help to honor the hard work that President Trump did for Ohio and the Nation while he was in the White House as the 45th of the United States, Loychik wrote in a memo seeking co-sponsors for his planned legislation. He gave a deadline of next Friday, March 19. An aide said Loychik was not immediately available for an interview. Mosquito Lake State Park is more than 7,000 acres and features camping sites and boating and an adjacent wildlife area, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Mosquito Lake was formed after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed Mosquito Creek in 1944. The state took over the site in 1946. Mosquito Lake is one of the largest lakes in Ohio, according to the City of Cortland. In an email, Stephanie OGrady, an ODNR spokeswoman, said Mosquito Lakes name has withstood the test of time. She said the park has become one of Ohios best state parks, best fishing lakes, and has one of Ohios most important wildlife refuges. Democratic House members were quick to try to swat down the renaming proposal. Ohioans are struggling with an addiction crisis, economic disruption, and a pandemic that the other guy said would disappear just like magic, state Rep. Richard Brown of Canal Winchester wrote on Twitter. Instead of addressing these pressing issues, Ohio House Republicans are spending their time flattering the Insurrectionist in Chief. Loychik is not the first Republican state lawmaker to propose a renaming bill honoring Trump. State Reps. Reggie Stoltzfus and Jon Cross introduced a bill last month that would declare June 14 as President Donald J. Trump Day in Ohio. June 14 is Flag Day, as well as Trumps birthday. The bill, which has 11 Republican co-sponsors, including Loychik, has been referred to committee but has yet to receive a hearing. It is not a secret that the COVID-19 vaccine distribution around the world was not fair or equitable and was heavily in the favour of some rich nations. But that is by design, as the rich nations paid huge amounts to these vaccine makers in advance, which helped them expedite the research and bring out vaccines in less than a year. AFP Countries, where these vaccine makers are based, have also placed restrictions on exports, making the difficult life-saving shots to reach more people. The United States, which is the worst affected country is facing an altogether different problem. Millions of vaccines lying idle According to a report by The New York Times, tens of millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca are sitting idly in the US manufacturing facility. This is because the vaccine co-developed by Oxford University is yet to be authorized to use in the country. AFP Currently, the US has cleared, the COVID-19 vaccines made by Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson and Johnson, while the Oxford vaccine is still under clinical trial. Last May, the Trump administration pledged up to $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca to finance the development and manufacturing of its vaccine, and to supply the United States with 300 million doses if it proved effective. As of now, about 30 million doses are currently bottled at AstraZenecas facility in West Chester, Ohio, which handles fill-finish, the final phase of the manufacturing process, during which the vaccine is placed in vials, one official with knowledge of the stockpile told NYT. AFP Emergent BioSolutions, a company in Maryland that AstraZeneca has contracted to manufacture its vaccine in the United States, has also produced enough vaccine in Baltimore for tens of millions more doses once it is filled into vials and packaged, the official said. It also reported that AstraZenecas vaccine is the subject of an intense debate among White House and federal health officials, with some arguing the administration should let the stockpile be exported abroad where they are desperately needed, while others are not ready to relinquish them, according to senior administration officials. GRAND BAIE, Mauritius, March 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alphamin Resources Corp. (AFM:TSXV, APH:JSE AltX, Alphamin or the Company), a producer of 4% of the worlds mined tin from its high grade operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is pleased to provide an exploration update, specifically, progress on the Mpama South drilling programme. HIGHLIGHTS Main Zone mineralisation intercepted at Mpama South, based on a visual inspection and interpretation, is comparable to the mineralisation being mined at the high grade Mpama North Mine; at Mpama South, based on a visual inspection and interpretation, is comparable to the mineralisation being mined at the high grade Mpama North Mine; New parallel mineralisation zone discovered in the footwall of the Main Zone at Mpama South (Footwall Zone); in the footwall of the Main Zone at Mpama South (Footwall Zone); Additional drilling metres planned at Mpama South to increase size of the Main Zone and incorporate the Footwall Zone into a planned Maiden Mineral Resource estimate. Exploration activities for 2021 Alphamins exploration initiative aims to extend the life-of-mine at its currently producing Mpama North operation, to declare a Maiden Mineral Resource for Mpama South (located 750 metres south of Mpama North) and to discover at least one additional orebody on the highly prospective Bisie Ridge (13km strike length). In that regard, Alphamin plans to allocate significant drilling metres to each of these target areas during 2021 as follows: Mpama South between 8,000 and 14,000 metres drilling with the intention of being able to declare a Maiden Mineral Resource estimate towards the end of 2021 to be followed by a conceptual mining study, infill drilling and further step-out drilling to determine the extent of mineralisation; Mpama North an initial 7,500 metre drilling campaign is planned to test the strike and dip extension of the current producing orebody, below 400m in depth from the mine portal. Drilling should commence in August 2021 on the establishment of an underground drill drive on Level 6; Two drill targets 6-8km south of Mpama North have been identified along the Bisie Ridge. A high-density geochemical soil sampling program is underway and more accurate drilling targets will be identified by the outcomes of this program in Q3 2021. Mpama South Drilling update Mpama South is located 750m south of Alphamins operating mine. A drilling program completed in 2016 recorded notable cassiterite intercepts in similar alteration styles and of similar high grades to Mpama North, including apparent widths of: BGH011: 32.8 metres @ 2.46% Sn (incl. 18.75 metres @ 3.91% Sn) 1 , , BGH003: 2.50 metres @ 5.76% Sn 2. Alphamin commenced its Mpama South exploration program with a 5,800 metre (25 drillholes) drilling campaign in December 2020. To date, 5,056 metres and 23 holes have been completed. All holes completed have shown visual mineralisation, suggesting continuity of the Main Zone system, while several exceptional intercepts visually comparable to the thick veins and brecciated zones of cassiterite existing at Mpama North were also observed (see Figure 1). In addition, a new zone of mineralisation was discovered in the footwall which appears continuous and highly mineralised (Footwall Zone). A media snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking the image or link below: The first seven drillholes from the current drilling campaign were sampled and assayed by the Companys on-site laboratory. Results confirmed the visual interpretation of high-grade tin intercepts over wide zones. The onsite laboratory has insufficient capacity to cope with the quantity of high grade samples being generated by the drilling whilst also having to ensure full QA/QC success. Consequently, a decision has been made that all Mpama South samples will be analysed by an accredited 3rd party off-site laboratory before results will be released to the market. There will thus be a delay in the reporting of the official tin assays at Mpama South while the export process is carried out. The first batch of export samples is in the export pipeline. Readers are cautioned that the mineralisation observed to date is of a preliminary nature and that assays obtained from 3rd party off-site laboratories may not be consistent with the Companys visual interpretations and on-site results. Chief Executive Officer, Maritz Smith comments: These drill intercepts are very encouraging for the Mpama South Prospect. Mineralisation within the Main and Footwall Zones point to a possible Mpama North lookalike and we are encouraged by the resource expansion potential within the existing mining permit. Our view that the 13km long Bisie Ridge hosts multiple high-grade mineralised systems continues to be reinforced, which brings us closer to realising our vision of becoming one of the worlds largest long-life tin producers. Qualified Person Mr Vaughn Duke Pr.Eng. PMP, MBA, B.Sc. Mining Engineering (Hons.), is a qualified person (QP) as defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. He is a Principal Consultant, Partner and Director of Sound Mining Solutions, an independent technical consultant to the Company. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Maritz Smith CEO Alphamin Resources Corp. Tel: +230 269 4166 E-mail: msmith@alphaminresources.com CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation, statements relating to anticipated exploration activities and outcomes. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. 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. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Alphamin disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by 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 news release. 1 See announcement dated 26th March 2015 2 See announcement dated 20th November 2012 Now back in his powder blue void set after a long absence, John Olivers political half-hour Sunday night show on HBO is still laboring under a reduced energy outside the TV studio, just as Bill Mahers Real Time did when he taped his show from his home. Still, Olivers staff aggregates serious reporting and presents important issues in a way that drives home his messages in an engaging way. In his Feb. 28 show, he managed to weave clips from the goofy 1990 Cop Rock police procedural musical series with a very serious segment on police raids, how out of control they are and how to prevent raids gone wrong. Among the raids he focused on was the errant Chicago police raid on Anjanette Youngs home, which this month resulted in new proposals for search warrants. The week before it was dangerous practices in meat-packing plants, and the week before that it was laying out the likelihood of another pandemic. Im looking forward to him returning to the studio and reinvigorating the show, but Last Week Tonight nevertheless remains essential and topical. (HBO, HBO Max) Scott L. Powers Government of India has announced the sale (re-issue) of Government Stock through auctions to be held on March 12, 2021. The securities include 4.48% GS 2023 for Rs 4000 crore, GoI FRB 2033 for Rs 4000 crore and 6.22% GS 2035 for Rs 11000 crore. The underwriting auction will be conducted through multiple price-based method on March 12, 2021 (Friday). PDs may submit their bids for ACU auction electronically through Core Banking Solution (E- Kuber) System between 9.00 A. M. and 9.30 A. M. on the date of underwriting auction. 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 judge has ordered that cash which was posted from the US to an allegedly fictitious person at a house in Sligo is to be forfeited as the proceeds of crime. Kieran Kelly BL, for the Revenue Commissioners, outlined to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday that on June 17 last (2020) a sniffer dog at an An Post parcel hub in south Dublin indicated the presence of cash in a package. He said the dog was trained to detect drugs and cash. After the positive indication by the dog a customs official at the hub opened the package and found a greeting card and $US6,700 in cash. The card had nothing written in it and this caused the official to form a suspicion, Mr Kelly told the court. The package was addressed to Michael Wilbald and to a house at an address in Sligo town. During the Revenue based investigation that followed investigators attempted to identify this person using a number of methods. Investigations of the records of the Department of Social Welfare or the Revenue Commissioners turned up nobody of that name resident here. Investigating officers called to the address in Sligo and were told by a woman living there that nobody by the addressees name lived there. Letters addressed to Michael Wilbald at the address were not answered. Attempts to identify the sender of the package, via the consignee or courier, were unsuccessful. Mr Kelly told the court that a number of weeks after the detection of the cash another package containing cash was found addressed to a different addressee but at the same house in Sligo. This is currently the subject of investigation. Mr Kelly submitted to the court that it was very unorthodox to send cash in such a way without any note to accompany it. The court heard that the State alleged that the cash directly or indirectly represented the proceeds of criminal conduct. Judge Elma Sheahan said that based on the evidence she was satisfied this was the case and ordered the forfeiture of the cash. Yolanda Hadid has been enjoying her duties as grandma. The 57-year-old model was spotted grinning from ear-to-ear as she pushed her granddaughter Khai, five months, in a stroller through New York City on Thursday. She was clad in all blue as she made her way through Downtown Manhattan with the baby daughter of Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik. Grandma duties: Yolanda Hadid, 57, was spotted grinning from ear-to-ear as she pushed her granddaughter Khai, five months, in a stroller through New York City on Thursday The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star sported a long baby blue coat and light blue jeans for the outing. Never one to leave home without the perfect outfit, the fashionista paired her look with matching blue sneakers and a blue turtleneck sweater. Yolanda's toned tummy could be seen peeking out from the bottom of her top as she kept her hand warm in her pocket during the stroll. Something blue: She was clad in all blue as she made her way through Downtown Manhattan with the baby daughter of Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik, sporting a long baby blue coat and light blue jeans for the outing She also found the perfect accessories with matching blue aviator sunglasses and face mask to remain safe from the coronavirus while outside. Hadid kept her blonde tresses slicked back away from her face. Meanwhile, baby Khai remained bundled up in the black and white stroller as her grandmother checked in on her while heading down the Big Apple sidewalk. Hidden baby: Meanwhile, baby Khai remained bundled up in the black and white stroller as her grandmother checked in on her while heading down the Big Apple sidewalk First time grandma: The Dutch beauty became a grandmother for the first time when her eldest daughter Gigi, 25, welcomed a baby girl in September of last year; also seen here are her children Bella, 24, and Anwar, 21 Yolanda shot her striking features in both directions before crossing the road with the latest addition to her family. The Dutch beauty became a grandmother for the first time when her eldest daughter Gigi, 25, and boyfriend Zayn, 28, welcomed their baby girl in September of last year. The model told Vogue that she welcomed her first child at her family ranch in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on September 20 with Zayn, Yolanda; her sister, Bella; and a local midwife and her assistant by her side. Family support: The model told Vogue that she welcomed her first child at her family ranch in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on September 20 with Zayn, Yolanda; her sister, Bella; and a local midwife and her assistant by her side Latest love: The media personality is currently in a happy relationship with Joseph Jingoli, her boyfriend of two years Yolanda is currently in a happy relationship with Joseph Jingoli, her boyfriend of two years. She was married to the father of her three children, real estate developer, Mohamed Hadid, from 1994 until their divorce in 2000. Yolanda was then wed to composer and producer David Foster from 2011 to 2017, as the pair were stars on the hit Bravo series the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills. Bonding time: Last month, Yolanda partook in some 'extreme sledding' with her youngest daughter on Instagram dressed in a fabulous black outfit that included black leather pants with fringe along the sides Yolanda has been seen enjoying the chilly east coast winter with her family in recent months. In February, Yolanda partook in some 'extreme sledding' with her youngest daughter on Instagram dressed in a fabulous black outfit that included black leather pants with fringe along the sides. In the clip, the pair clutched to their sled that was attached by a rope to the vehicle, which sped along while they bounced on the tire tracks made in the snow. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Schools, restaurants, shops and museums were ordered Friday to close across most of Italy from next week, after Prime Minister Mario Draghi warned of a "new wave" of coronavirus infections. One year after it became the first European country to face a major outbreak, Italy is once again struggling with the rapid spread of COVID-19, this time fuelled by new, more contagious variants. A majority of regionsincluding those containing Rome and Milanwere classified by Health Minister Roberto Speranza as high-risk red zones from Monday, with all residents told to stay home except for work, health or other essential reasons. The extra restrictions will last until Easter, according to Draghi's office. During the Easter weekend of April 3-5, the whole of Italy will become a red zone. "More than a year after the start of the health emergency, we are unfortunately facing a new wave of infections," Draghi said during a visit to a new vaccination centre at Rome's Fiumicino airport. He added: "The memory of what happened last spring is vivid, and we will do everything to prevent it from happening again." Infinite patience More than 100,000 people with coronavirus have died in Italy since the pandemic swept over the eurozone's third largest economy one year ago, sparking a months-long lockdown and triggering its worst recession since World War II. Draghi said more than 150,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the last week, up from just under 131,000 recorded the week before. The GIMBE health tank on Thursday said the increase in the number of new cases for three consecutive weeks "confirms the start of the third wave". It warned that in more than half of Italy's regions, "hospitals and above all intensive care units are already overloaded". A health ministry source said that eight regions, mostly in Italy's north and central areas, would become red zones, along with the autonomous region of Trento. That brings to 11 the number of regions considered red as of Monday. All other regions will be in medium-risk orange, meaning museums, restaurants and bars are closed but schools remain open. Only Sardinia escapes restrictions, designated a low-risk "white" area. Earlier Friday, Draghi thanked Italians for their "infinite patience" and said the new measures would be accompanied by fresh support for families and businesses. But he acknowledged there would be "consequences for the education of children, for the economy and also for the psychological state of us all". Vaccine campaign Italy began its coronavirus vaccination campaign in late December but, as elsewhere in Europe, it has been dogged by delays in deliveries of the jabs. Draghi has made stepping up the pace of vaccines one of the priorities of his new national unity government, and on Friday said this "alone gives hope of a way out of the pandemic". Concerns over reported side effects of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine prompted Italy's health regulator on Thursday to suspend a batch of the jabs, even while saying there was no evidence of a suggested link with blood clots. Draghi noted the review underway by the EU's medicines regulator, saying that whatever the outcome, "I can assure you that the vaccination campaign will continue with renewed intensity". He has put a senior military officer, General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, in charge of the coronavirus crisis and has vowed to open vaccine centres wherever possible, including gyms and car parks. About 170,000 vaccines are currently being administered each day, Draghi said, but "the target is to triple that soon". Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP (Natural News) At least eight countries in Europe have suspended all administration of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford after dozens of recipients developed serious blood clots post-injection. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), Europes equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), confirmed that no fewer than 30 patients who received AstraZenecas China virus jab suffered this adverse outcome. At least one of the cases, in Denmark, resulted in death. This AstraZeneca story isnt getting enough attention, tweeted ForexLive. Its going to undermine vaccine takeup. If people are dying its a disaster for the company too. It is apparent from this tweet that ForexLive is more concerned about the profits of AstraZeneca than it is about peoples lives. ForexLive is also more worried about other people refusing vaccination based on the news than it is about the people who already did get vaccinated and are now suffering. Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Italy and Iceland have halted administration of the vaccine due to this deadly side effect. At least two cases of blood clots were reported in Austria as well, however that country is still administering the vaccine, at least for now. Magnus Heunicke, Denmarks health minister, is bending over backwards trying to separate the vaccine from the blood clots. He claims that there is no way to know for certain whether the vaccine is the culprit, and thinks his country acted early in suspending the operation while the situation is thoroughly investigated. A few days prior, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi stopped a shipment of AstraZeneca injections from being shipped off to Australia in order to keep more of them available for Italians. Now, the jabs will go into nobodys arms due to the suspension. More stories like this one can be found at Pandemic.news. North Americas mRNA vaccines are even worse, says Alex Berenson In the meantime, health authorities in Brussels and London have dismissed all concerns about the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab, and are now pushing to approve Johnson & Johnsons (J&J) China virus jab as well. After a thorough evaluation, the European Unions (EU) medicines regulator announced that the J&J shot will be authorized for all adults over the age of 18, having met the agencys criteria for safety, efficacy and quality. Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, meanwhile, warned on Twitter that the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab is hardly worse than the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both of which are causing a litany of deadly side effects in North American recipients. Both jabs were rushed through production under Donald Trumps Operation Warp Speed mass vaccination campaign, skipping the normal scientific process in favor of an act now, ask questions later model of science. Just wait until they hear what the mRNA vaccines can do, Berenson wrote. Really, though, the side effect profile of the [AstraZeneca] vaccine is hardly worse than the mRNA shots, but somehow it has faced much more scrutiny. Follow the politics, I mean science. It is a wonder that Berensons tweet is still on Twitter, and without a fact check overlay no less, seeing as how Jack Dorsey and his communist employees recently implemented a new five strikes and youre out policy for users who say anything negative about vaccines on the platform. The real fun begins next winter when the fools who have had their second jab and maybe even a third one, start to keel over because they have caught a common cold or mild flu, wrote one Zero Hedge commenter about the cytokine storm that Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine recipients will eventually suffer now that their bodies have been pathogenically primed to overreact to infection. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com Saturdays have have been something special for Gov. Andrew Cuomo for quite some time. If the last four weekends are any indication, the increasingly embattled governor better watch out for another bombshell especially now that the likes of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jerrold Nadler and Long Island Democratic state senators are joining calls for his resignation following accusations of sexual harassment and assault. Oh yeah, and this story about workplace abuse just came out in New York Magazine. There is still a question of the truth. I did not do what has been alleged period. I wont speculate on peoples motives, Cuomo told reporters during a March 12 conference call. I have not had a sexual relationship that was inappropriate. It is bad enough that the Assembly has started an impeachment investigation alongside the ongoing probe overseen by Attorney General Letitia James, but now the governor is increasingly finding that his tired-and-true political survival strategies are not working like they used to. Past staff are speaking up. Legislators are pushing back and his decade-long grip on power appears to be loosening like never before. Cuomo will likely remain the focus of state politics through the weekend, especially if new allegations of misconduct, or anything having to do with nursing homes or safety concerns at the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, surface anytime soon. Yet, there are a few reasons to believe that state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie are going to be the people driving the political conversation moving forward. The governor has not made any public statements since the Times Union reported this week that he allegedly aggressively groped an aide at the Executive Mansion a few blocks away from the Capitol, but he has said that he never touched anyone inappropriately and is not going to resign. Stewart-Cousins and Heastie are the only two people who can truly make him leave, which has stirred up lots of talk about what it means for budget negotiations and Cuomos eventual political fate. The reports of accusations concerning the governor are serious, Heastie said in a March 11 statement. The committee will have the authority to interview witnesses, subpoena documents and evaluate evidence, as is allowed by the New York State Constitution. Stewart-Cousins called for Cuomo to resign last weekend, which presumably would mean that she would push for his removal from office, even though she will not get to actually vote in a future impeachment trial because she would have to temporarily assume the duties of lieutenant governor per the state Constitution. Members of the Assembly could end up impeaching the governor, which would make Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul the acting chief executive, by a majority vote. An impeachment trial of state senators and members of the judiciary could then remove him permanently from office if two-thirds of them vote for conviction. While there appear to be enough votes to do both in theory, based on the number of lawmakers who have said Cuomo should go because of one type of alleged transgression or another, calling for his resignation or impeachment is still different than actually voting on an actual legislative resolution. Political uncertainty appears likely for weeks if not months at the very least. It depends on how fast Heastie and James want to go on their respective probes. The governor meanwhile is stuck in a tough spot and state lawmakers appear to be using this to their full advantage. Proponents of legalizing recreational marijuana suggest they could pass their hot-button proposal even before the April 1 deadline. They may or may not have the votes to do that, but the suggestion of acting alone could make the governor offer additional concessions on the issue moving forward. A similar dynamic could play out with a proposed package of criminal justice reform that would make more people eligible for parole and place new limits on solitary confinement. Democrats also appear eager to push the governor hard on raising taxes on the wealthy though not nearly as hard as activists on the political left want them to. Protests outside the New York City offices of Heastie and Stewart-Cousins is another sign of how increased leverage against Cuomo puts more political pressure on the legislative leaders from the political left. Every year the Assembly and Senate have cited the governor as the primary obstacle to reversing the tragedies of historic homelessness and overdose in New York State, Paulette Soldani, political director at advocacy group VOCAL-NY, said in a March 12 statement. Cuomo is going to remain governor for at least for a while longer given his past statements,remaining political strength and the likely speed of the ongoing investigations. Yet, four weekends worth of bad stories have undoubtedly undermined the position of the longtime master of Albany. The upcoming days could determine whether he really is as politically wounded as a growing number of people think he is and what Stewart-Cousins and Heastie the other two of the three people in a room who call the shots in state politics do next as pressure grows on Cuomo to just give it all up and go. The secondary teachers union, ASTI , is not inviting Education Minister Norma Foley to address its annual Easter conference. There was a strain in relations recently when the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) withdrew from talks on the Leaving Cert 2021, to which it returned a few days later. At the time the Department of Education said it was both taken aback and disappointed at the ASTI's move, which had not been indicated in discussions that had taken place earlier the same day. An ASTI spokesperson said the reason for not extending the invitation to Ms Foley was because of a packed agenda for the event, adding that there were no guest speakers this year. The spokesperson said the matter had been discussed at a meeting of the unions Standing Committee. Read More Ms Foley is a former teacher, and prior to her election last year worked at Presentation Secondary School Tralee, Co Kerry where the ASTI would represent teaching staff. It is customary for the incumbent minister to attend the annual conferences of all three teacher unions, which take place in the week after Easter. All the conferences are being held online over two days and will be truncated versions of the traditional in-person gatherings, which extend over three days. Both the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), which is anticipating having up to 800 delegates and guests engaged in the event, and the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) have invited Ms Foley to address their conventions. The TUI, which represents third-level lecturers, has also invited Higher and Further Education Minister Simon Harris to address delegates. Ms Foley has also accepted an invitation to speak to delegates at the annual conference of Forsa, which represents special needs assistants (SNAs), in the same week. While the conferences are virtual, other unions are seeking to keep them as close to normal as possible, and motions will be discussed, although debates will lack the atmosphere of a hall. Statements from guest speakers, such as the minister, may be pre-recorded. It is not the first time that the ASTI has declined to issue an invitation to the incumbent education minister to address its conference. In 2015, when it was in dispute with the government over Junior Cycle reform, it did not invite then minister Jan O'Sullivan. The year before that, ASTI delegates heckled then minister Ruairi Quinn, and the noisy encounter included the use of a loudhailer by one delegate, Andrew Phelan, now a member of the ASTI Standing Committee. Aqua Security, the pure-play cloud native security solutions provider, has announced the completion of US$ 135 million in Series E funding, led by ION Crossover Partners, putting the companys valuation in excess of US$ 1 billion. Investment funding The funding round included broad participation from Aqua Securitys existing investors, including M12 Microsofts venture fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Insight Partners, TLV Partners, Greenspring Associates, and Acrew Capital. This new round of investment follows a period of tremendous growth and will enable the company to broaden and deepen its solution portfolio, as well as expand its presence geographically. Focus on cloud native security Focus on cloud native security has enabled enterprises adopting technologies to accelerate their business Aqua Securitys total funding since its founding in 2015 now totals US$ 265 million. The companys focus on cloud native security has enabled enterprises adopting technologies, such as Kubernetes and containers, serverless and other cloud-based workloads to accelerate their business, while meeting strict compliance and security requirements. Aqua Securitys customer list includes some of the world's major organisations, including 5 of the top 10 banks in the world. The funding comes on the heels of a stellar year for the company in 2020, in which the company achieved multiple milestones. These include: Aqua Security has doubled the number of paying customers with notable new customers in the federal, financial, energy, telecom, and automotive sectors. The company now has half a dozen customers with an ARR of over one million USD each. Aqua Security protects several of the worlds largest Kubernetes and container production environments, some with more than 10,000 nodes in a single environment. The companys Team Nautilus published groundbreaking cyber research on the rise in sophisticated, organised attacks that target the container supply chain, which served to further develop the companys unique Dynamic Threat Analysis solution, a container sandbox that identifies malware undetectable by static analysis tools. The adoption of Aqua Securitys open source tools more than doubled, with Trivy, Aquas open source vulnerability scanner, selected as the default scanner for the Harbor Registry, by GitLab and for the CNCFs Artifact Hub. Software platform for Kubernetes Aqua Security has demonstrated that they have the strongest products" Aqua Security has demonstrated that they have the strongest products and a compelling vision for how to best secure the modern technology stacks being deployed across the worlds largest enterprises, said Gili Iohan, General Partner at ION Crossover Partners. Gili Iohan adds, In speaking with Aqua Securitys customers, it was clear that Aqua has the best platform for Kubernetes and cloud native security. Its ongoing innovative support for the wide range of multi-cloud environments and superb customer success, have helped customers accelerate their move to cloud native platforms. We look forward to working with Aqua to further grow the business to drive global adoption and category dominance. Supporting multi-cloud environments I am proud of what the Aqua Security team has accomplished in five short years, said Dror Davidoff, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Founder of Aqua Security, adding We delivered on our vision and have a clear direction forward to provide the best platform for cloud native security. Aquas CEO, Dror Davidoff adds, Weve shown that our research and development teams are ahead of the market with the launch of innovative products such as Aqua DTA, our new Kubernetes Security Posture Management, and the Aqua CSPM solution. As attacks targeting cloud native applications are now a fast-growing threat, we are here to empower our customers to protect their investment and secure their future in the Cloud. Half Year Financial Report Melbourne, Mar 11, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - During the half-year period Cohiba Minerals Limited ( ASX:CHK ) carried out a drilling campaign at the Olympic Domain Farm-in and despite three unseasonal weather events that resulted in widespread flooding and substantial delays due to loss of access to the drill sites, Cohiba completed its initial drilling program at Horse Well which comprised four deep drill holes being HWDD01, HWDD02, HWDD03 and HWDD04. As at 31 December 2020, the assay results relating to the drilling campaign were pending.Analytical results are pending for HWDD03 and HWDD04 . No samples were submitted for HWDD01 which did not show any visual evidence of appreciable mineralisation.Planning is currently underway for up to an additional 5 drill holes in the Horse Well area which are targeting additional discrete IOCG targets as well as potential extensions to the mineralised zone associated with HWDD04 and possibly HWDD03.Cohiba has engaged the services of some subject matter experts (SME) in the area of IOCG deposits and they have reviewed the drill core and the logging data and have provided significant feedback in relation to Cohiba's program of work moving forward.No on-ground work was carried out at Pernatty C during the period. The drilling program at Pernatty C which was to be undertaken following the Horse Well drilling program was delayed and then temporarily postponed due to access issues, as a major powerline upgrade was being undertaken directly adjacent to the approved drill hole sites in the northern area. This program of work will still go ahead, and efforts are also being made to expand the size of the current program (requires approval by the Kokatha Aboriginal Corporation).Pyramid Lake Update (E74/594)During the half-year period, the company's consultants continued to work on the Mining Proposal and the Mine Closure Plan, concurrent with the Mining Lease application. Groundwork Plus are coordinating the delivery of the Mining Plan and Mine Closure Plan and have completed a 14-year mine schedule and associated backfill plan as part of this process. The Final Flora and Fauna Study has been submitted. The Surface and Groundwater Studies were completed during the period and the final reports have been submitted as part of the overall Mine Plan. There is still some additional work to be completed on the Invertebrate Study which should be finished during the remainder of the financial year.Wee Macgregor Project Update (ML's 2504, 2773, 90098)No significant work was conducted by the company during the half-year period other than discussions with parties regarding potential involvement in the Wee Macgregor.Cobalt X Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Cohiba) has maintained all of these tenements in good standing and in accordance with the Farm-in Agreement in early March 2021 will be able to fully exert its right in relation to an 80% ownership in the tenements. Under the Farm-In agreement Cobalt X Pty Ltd was only responsible for ensuring the tenements were in good standing to exert its rights, which will be carried out in March 2021.To view the full report, please visit:About Cohiba Minerals Limited Cohiba Minerals Limited (ASX:CHK) is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with the primary focus of investing in the resource sector through direct tenement acquisition, joint ventures, farm in arrangements and new project generation. The shares of the company trade under the ticker symbol CHK. The Company recently acquired 100% of the shares in Charge Lithium Pty Ltd, which holds exploration licences in Western Australia. Outspoken Ghanaian media personality Afia Pokua who is widely known as Vim Lady has challenged the vice president of Ghana to introduce the Ramatu who the minority claims she is associated with as a second wife. View this post on Instagram A post shared by OKAY 101.7 FM (@okay101.7fm) According to the Vim Lady IF there is any Ramatu in the life of vice president, there is nothing wrong with that as he the vice president is a practical muslim who is eligible to marry at most four wives.Afia Pokua stressed that if there is any Ramatu, Dr Bawumia should do the needful by introducing her to Ghanaians.The former Multimedia journalist added that the vice president should not be afraid about his chances concerning the flagbearership position of the new patriotic party in 2024 and the propaganda around the said Ramatu.You are a Muslim so I dont understand you. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has not got swag at all because you are a Muslim and you are entitled to three wives. Even Christians in Ghana now get married to three, four or five women and also keep concubines.So Bawumia if there is a Ramatu show your face and show us that Ramatu. If there is any Ramatu that you are enjoying, enjoy her as long as there is no breach of contract enjoy it. If there is a breach of contract like what happened to the other guy and the documents come out, we will read the divorce petition, she on the egyaso gyaso show on Okay FM.The name of Ramatu popped up for the second time at the recent state of the nations address when the speaker of parliament introduced the wife of Dr Bawumia, Samira Bawumia. The minority then begun chanting that they want to see Ramatu Bawumia as well.VIDEOS BELOW- Source: Okay FM/ghpage.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 WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and the co-chairs of the House Biofuels Caucus introduced two new pieces of legislation to increase access to biofuels and recognize the environmental benefits. Davis and Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa led introduction of the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act, which would expand access to higher blends of biofuels. Rep. Dusty Johnson of Alabama was the lead sponsor of the Adopt GREET Act, which will direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its greenhouse gas modeling for ethanol and biodiesel. Davis said the bills build off the successful USDA Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, and the Adopt GREET Act will ensure federal regulators at the EPA take into account how biofuels lower greenhouse gas emissions. Our bipartisan legislation will provide much-needed support to the biofuels industry, Davis said. The Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act would authorize $500 million over 5 years for infrastructure grants for fuel retailers and direct the EPA Administrator to finalize a proposed rule to repeal E15 labeling requirements warning drivers about E15s potential impact on cars, which may confuse and deter drivers from using E15, a blend of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol. The bill would also direct the EPA Administrator to finalize provisions from the same proposed rule to allow certain existing Underground Storage Tanks (UST) to store higher blends of ethanol. The Adopt GREET Act would require the EPA to update its greenhouse gas modeling for ethanol and biodiesel by requiring the EPA to adopt the Argonne National Labs Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) Model for both fuels. EPA would then be required to update its modeling every five years or report to Congress to affirm its modeling is current or otherwise explain why no updates were made. Both pieces of legislation are supported by the National Corn Growers Association, the Renewable Fuels Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, and POET. While electric vehicles (EVs) continue to dominate the headlines, experts conclude EVs alone will fail to reach President Bidens goal of net-zero emissions in the U.S. by 2050, and that increased use of biofuels will be required to help address the emissions gap, said said Brian Jennings, CEO of American Coalition for Ethanol. A recent study by Harvard validates what ACE has been saying for years; todays corn ethanol is nearly 50 percent cleaner than gasoline. This vital legislation with both bicameral and bipartisan backing would ensure infrastructure parity for biofuels and EVs and help ethanol continue to be part of the solution to climate change. A body found in a woodland in Kent is that of missing woman Sarah Everard, Scotland Yard have confirmed. The 33-year-olds remains were found in an area of woodland in Ashford, in Kent, on Wednesday. On Thursday night, Ms Everards family released a statement describing her as a shining example to us all, and said she had brought so much joy to our lives. Ms Everard vanished while walking home from a friends flat in south London on March 3, with her suspected kidnap and murder prompting anger over the safety of women on the UKs streets. A serving police officer, who is aged in his 40s, remains in custody after being detained on suspicion of Ms Everards murder and kidnap, and a separate allegation of indecent exposure. Police have been granted more time to question him. Read More The arrested officer, who is in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was treated for a head injury sustained while in custody on Thursday. He was later discharged and returned to the police station where he is being held. Scotland Yard is facing an investigation by the police watchdog into its handling of an allegation of indecent exposure involving the suspect in the Sarah Everard case. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is to probe whether officers responded appropriately after receiving a report that a man had exposed himself at a fast food restaurant in south London on February 28 three days before the 33-year-old went missing. Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave made the announcement outside Scotland Yard on Friday. He said: On Wednesday evening detectives investigating the disappearance of Sarah Everard discovered a body secreted in woodland in Kent. The body has now been recovered and a formal identification procedure has been undertaken. I can now confirm that it is the body of Sarah Everard. Clearly Sarahs family have been updated with this most distressing news. I just want to pause for a moment and say that my thoughts and prayers, and those of the entire organisation, remain with her and with them at this awful time. With additional reporting from PA. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Carl O'Donnell and Jeff Mason (Reuters) - The White House is holding onto some doses of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine so they can be given to Americans quickly if authorized by the U.S. health regulator, a top administration official said Friday. AstraZeneca has produced doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, where it has yet to be approved. The vaccine developed with Oxford University has been authorized for use in the European Union and many other countries. Reuters reported this week that U.S. officials told the EU not to expect shipments of the shot from the United States anytime soon. "We have a small inventory of AstraZeneca so, if approved, we can get that inventory out to the American people," White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said in a Friday press call. The New York Times reported this week that tens of millions of doses have already been produced in the United States and are sitting in production facilities unused. AstraZeneca said in February it expects its vaccine could receive U.S. emergency use authorization at the beginning of April and could immediately deliver 30 million doses to locations around the United States. The U.S. stance could jeopardize AstraZenecas attempts to come closer to delivering on its contractual obligation with the EU of 180 million doses in the second quarter. AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year it would cut its supplies in the second quarter by at least half to less than 90 million doses, EU sources told Reuters, after a bigger reduction in the first three months of the year. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the government will first give Americans COVID-19 vaccines, but any surplus would be shared with the world. "We...want to make sure we have maximal flexibility, that we are oversupplied and over-prepared and that we have the ability to provide vaccines, whatever the most effective ones are, to the American public," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday. Story continues "A number of countries... have requested doses from the United States and we have not provided doses from the U.S. government to anyone," she added. The United States has been one of the world leaders in vaccine administration. It has distributed more than 130 million shots and administered nearly 100 million, according to federal data last updated on Thursday. White House officials said on Friday that 65% of Americans over 65 years old have been given shots. (Reporting by Carl O'Donnell in New York and Jeff Mason in Washington; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington; Editing by; Bill Berkrot and Kirsten Donovan) The Lee University Symphony Orchestra will present its spring concert on Monday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Conn Center on Lees campus. The concert will be conducted by Sarah Pearson, part-time professor in Lees School of Music. The performance will feature Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Opus 64. Written in 1888, the piece is a cyclical symphony in four movements, with the main tune of the first movement returning in each of the other three. Tchaikovskys Fifth Symphony is one of his most popular and is in the repertoire of every major orchestra in the world. There will also be a surprise encore announced from the stage featuring soundtrack music from a 2013 film. Maestra Pearson graduated from Lee with a Master of Music in conducting and is the music director and conductor for The Cleveland Orchestra of Tennessee and The Cleveland Pops. She is involved in numerous music programs and ensembles in the area and is passionate about the arts in education. She has conducted the Lee Symphony this year while Lee artist-in-residence, Bob Bernhardt, has been teaching remotely. Maestro Bernhardt joined Lee's School of Music in the fall of 2011 as artist-in-residence and conductor of the Lee Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Bernhardt also serves as Music Director Emeritus and Principal Pops Conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera (CSO) and Principal Pops Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra and Grand Rapids Symphony. He was formerly the music director and conductor for 19 seasons with the CSO and is the first to hold the title Emeritus. The Lee University Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble of select instrumentalists, performs a wide variety of orchestral literature. In addition to performing one major concert each semester, its musicians frequently participate in operatic, choral, and other concerts on the campus. This performance is free, but tickets are required due to limited seating. To reserve a ticket, visit https://www.showclix.com/event/orchestra-spring-concert. It is also available for livestream viewing at https://livestream.com/leedu. For more information on the concert, contact Maestro Bernhardt at rbernhardt@leeuniversity.edu. SCHENECTADY Ex-Schenectady County Human Rights Commission Executive Director Angelicia Morris testified at a hearing to clear her name Thursday that nobody on the panel told her she was insubordinate, violating bylaws or abusing her power the reasons given for her firing. No one brought anything to my attention, Morris testified in a hearing on the sixth floor of the Schenectady County Office Building, responding to a question asked by her attorney, Kevin Luibrand. Morris, who had served on the commission since 2005 and was its executive director since 2013, rejected the accounts of commissioners Omar McGill and Jesse McGuire. They have claimed she was rightly terminated for alleged insubordination, abuse of power and for flouting the organizations bylaws and compromising its integrity. In January, state Supreme Court Judge Michael Cuevas ruled Morris could not get back her $69,496-a-year job but was entitled to a hearing to try to clear her name and restore her reputation. On Thursday, in a hearing before retired County Court Judge Michael Eidens, Morris defended her work. I was a one-man band. I ran the agency by myself , she testified. Luibrand asked Morris if anyone prior to her termination in February 2020 told her she was insubordinate, or that she not did not honor commissioners requests or that she violated bylaws, or was negligent. All were outlined in a Feb. 20, 2020, letter to the county manager. No one brought anything to my knowledge , Morris answered. Asked if there was ever a time she did not perform a duty assigned to her, Morris told Luibrand: Not to my knowledge, unless they were specific about it and nobody brought any specifics to me. The commission, established in 1965, is funded by the Schenectady County Legislature. The commission is expected to foster mutual respect and enhance understanding among all racial, religious and ethnic groups in the county, and to assist people in securing their legal rights. McGill testified on March 4 that Morris refused to tell commissioners who the keynote speaker for the groups annual Martin Luther King celebration in January 2020 would be, and failed to investigate discrimination complaints. Morris, who defended her handling of the MLK event, testified that conducting investigations was not part of her job. She said the commission never had the structure, ability, permission or authority to handle any complaints and was involved in intake and education. Morris is expected to be cross-examined by Jonathan Bernstein, an outside attorney representing the county, on March 19. Earlier Thursday, McGuire testified that Morris violated the commissions bylaws, was neglectful and abused her power. Under at-times heated questioning by Luibrand, McGuire appeared to have trouble citing specifics. McGuire testified that Morris was insubordinate because she had not performed the logistics for an Hispanic-American heritage forum at a community college that, according to McGuire, was requested by the commission. Luibrand asked McGuire if it was true that the event was not even brought to the full commissions attention. McGuire defended the move with a reason that, McGuire acknowledged under questioning by Luibrand, was not in the commission bylaws. Sergip Aguero fears his Manchester City career is being allowed to fizzle out and is frustrated by a lack of clarity around his future. Aguero, the greatest scorer in City's history and the man whose goal delivered the club's breakthrough Premier League triumph in 2012, is out of contract in June, along with another long-serving key man Fernandinho. City manager Pep Guardiola said earlier this week he could not think about making decisions on new contracts for either Aguero or Fernandinho as he does not want to become 'distracted' while he is trying to win four trophies. Striker Sergio Aguero fears his Manchester City career might be fizzling out this season Sportsmail understands, though, that Aguero has become increasingly disillusioned by the way Guardiola has used him through the course of this season, particularly in recent weeks when he has been fully fit having recovered from Covid-19 in January and anxious to start. The Argentine had hoped to be in Guardiola's team to face Southampton on Wednesday but remained on the bench until the 72nd minute. He has only started four times during this disrupted campaign, the last of which came at the Etihad Stadium against West Ham on February 27. Aguero missed four weeks in the autumn, having damaged his hamstring in the first meeting against David Moyes's side on October 24, but since returning from the bench against Olympiacos in the Champions League on November 23, he has played just 171 minutes. The striker is increasingly disillusioned with the way Pep Guardiola is using him this season Aguero's season has been hampered by injury but he's hardly played since regaining fitness It has led the 32-year-old to believe Guardiola has already made a decision. City insist that is not the case and are adamant that Aguero's outstanding achievements in the past decade he has scored 254 goals since his 35million move from Atletico Madrid entitle him to leave on his own terms. Guardiola said on Tuesday: 'We have to be calm. The club will speak to his agent.' Signing a marquee striker in the next window will be a priority for City the club's technical staff are firm admirers of Joao Felix, Atletico Madrid's outstanding young forward and Aguero, remarkably, is without a goal in the Premier League since January 21, 2020. But he is irritated that he is not getting opportunities to change that anomaly. Guardiola's argument is that Aguero is not physically at the level to complete 90 minutes consistently and the tension around games means this is not the moment to ease players in. Aguero overcame a difficult first 12 months with Guardiola in 2016-17 particularly when he had a spell in and out of the side shortly after Gabriel Jesus had been signed but he made tweaks to his game and became City's talisman. There are, however, some parallels in that Guardiola is not reliant on City's No 10 and it is likely he Aguero will seek talks with his manager. 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. Doireann Garrihy has broken her social media silence following the sudden departure of her RTE 2FM colleague Eoghan McDermott. McDermott took an unexpected annual leave over two weeks ago, leaving Doireann to host their 2FM breakfast show solo. The radio DJ had been noticeably silent on social media since her co-hosts hiatus but has now returned to Instagram to chat to her followers. The 28-year-old took a quick break from filming season 3 of her comedy sketch show The Doireann Project to thank those who messaged her during this manic time. Speaking on her Instagram stories, she said: I know Ive been very quiet in terms of talking on Instagram but things have just been absolutely manic between radio, filming this, and the Laughs Of Your Life season five, which isnt a million miles away if youre a listener of the podcast. I see all your messages coming in and I just want to say thank you for reaching out and saying you miss me having the chats or whatever. So, thank you for that to anyone who has messaged. The broadcaster continued: Im not making that up, Ive actually had lovely messages. Its not like Guys, Im inundated! Read More Doireann has been joined by an array of guest co-hosts since McDermotts departure, the latest being Rose Of Tralee presenter Daithi O Se. The popular talk show hosts guest stint came just after RTE released a statement confirming that Eoghan McDermott would not be returning to the show. An RTE spokesperson said: RTE confirms that Eoghan McDermott will not be returning to RTE 2FM. His contract is due to expire shortly. RTE is developing a new direction for the 2FM Breakfast Show which will be revealed in the coming weeks. Doireann Garrihy will remain with the show. After years of disrupted ties, Turkey and Egypt have restarted diplomatic-level contacts, according to Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. "We have contacts at both the level of intelligence and foreign ministries with Egypt. Diplomatic-level contacts have started," Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency and TRT in a joint interview. Noting that neither side put forth preconditions, Cavusoglu said since ties were derailed back in 2013, they cannot be mended quickly or easily. He said a lack of trust is also normal in such situations and may exist for both parties. "For this reason, negotiations take place and continue under a certain strategy, a roadmap," Cavusoglu said. He said that there used to be occasional talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry when they met at international meetings, including when they met in New York two years ago. Since the ties were disrupted in 2013, there are no preconditions, but contacts are being held step by step, he said. Ukraine and Croatia have signed a memorandum on cooperation in the agricultural sector, according to the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Croatia. "On the Ukrainian side, the memorandum was signed by Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Croatia Vasyl Kyrylych, on the Croatian side - by President of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture Mladen Jakopovic, reads the report. The memorandum provides for the foundations for further expansion of cooperation between Ukraine and Croatia in the agriculture industry by providing mutual support for bilateral trade, investment and business activities, as well as facilitating the exchange of training programs between Croatian Chamber of Agriculture and the Exporters and Investors Council under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The signing of the memorandum is a continuation of the embassy's activities to expand Ukrainian-Croatian cooperation in the agricultural sector and the results of bilateral agricultural forums (online), which took place at the initiative of the Ukrainian diplomatic missions on May 15, 2020 and February 23, 2021. The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture, established in 2009, is the main agricultural organization in Croatia. It represents the interests of about 75,000 family farms, farms, companies and associations in communication with the government, the Ministry of Agriculture and other government agencies in Croatia, as well as in international associations, in particular at the European Union level. iy Subscriber content preview SEATTLE Two small apartment buildings at 1809-1815 Fifth Ave. N. sold for $2.1 million, according to King County records. The seller was Arun Apartments LLC, which acquired the six-unit property in 2017 for almost $1.6 million. . . . In the wake of controversy surrounding Pepe Le Pew's removal from Warner Bros' Space Jam sequel, social media users are calling for the cancellation of another popular television character: Miss Piggy. Users have taken to Twitter to sarcastically and maybe even seriously protest Miss Piggy's character, who they say is eerily similar to the Looney Tunes skunk. The push comes after New York Times opinion columnist Charles M. Blow argued, in a piece about the removal of six Dr. Seuss books, that Pepe Le Pew "normalized rape culture." Blow also contended that Speedy Gonzales, another Looney Tunes character, had friends who "helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans." Related: How Brands Deal With Online Haters, Trolls, and Cancel Culture Following the publication of Blow's article, the Hollywood Reporter revealed on Monday that Pepe Le Pew a French skunk introduced to audiences in 1945 and known for making aggressive sexual advances would be scrubbed from Space Jam 2. The outlet additionally reported that Warner Bros. has no plans to bring the character back, much to the dismay of creator Chuck Jones' family. That same day, several Twitter users claimed that The Muppets' Miss Piggy should also be cancelled for her abusive treatment of Kermit the Frog. "Ok! I'm holding Miss Piggy accountable since we're going down this route," one person wrote. "[Excessive] violence towards guests and a variety of Muppets PLUS various examples of sexual harassment toward Kermit the frog." Ok! I'm holding Miss Piggy accountable since we're going down this route. Exessive violence towards guests and a variety of Muppets PLUS various examples of sexual harassment toward Kermit the frog. DESPOP (Des Taylor) (@DESPOPART) March 9, 2021 "What about Miss Piggy?" a user asked Blow on Twitter. "She does the same to Kermit just about, but from the female point of view. We need to get rid of Miss Piggy as well. We need to cancel all cartoons from back in the day cause they all don't fit in today's society. We are all screwed up from watching these." What about Miss Piggy? She does the same to Kermit just about, but from the female point of view. We need to get rid of Miss Piggy as well. We need to cancel all cartoons from back in the day cause they all dont fit in todays society. We are all screwed up from watching these NOLA_P (@nolapivon) March 7, 2021 Other users suggested other characters that should be canceled, including Clifford the Big Red Dog. "Clifford used steroids to grow and profited off of his illegal drug use," one person joked. Clifford used steroids to grow and profited off of his illegal drug use. #CancelACartoonCharacter pic.twitter.com/t3dB4IZX9z duck named soph (@MissMegaduck) March 8, 2021 There are no updates yet as to whether Walt Disney, which owns The Muppets, plans to, in fact, cancel Miss Piggy. Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The city of Kenner has joined a growing list of municipalities around the nation suing streaming content providers like Hulu and Netflix in an attempt to force them to pay franchise fees to the city. Kenner's suit, filed in January in state District Court in Jefferson Parish but since moved to federal court in New Orleans, is the first of its kind in Louisiana. It could have wide-ranging implications: The suit seeks class-action status on behalf of all affected municipalities in the state. Similar class-action suits have been filed several other states. Kenner's suit cites a 2008 state law, known as the Consumer Choice for Television Act, which enables local political subdivision to charge franchise fees to a provider of "video service if its programming is delivered over wireline facilities located even partly in the public right-of-way," according to the suit. Such franchise fees are paid by cable providers, the suit notes. But as more residents switch away from traditional cable television and to online streaming services, those same political subdivisions have been denied "much needed revenue," the suit says. According to the suit, Kenner is entitled to collect 5% of the gross revenue the streamers have earned from residents since the law took effect. It also asks a judge to order the firms to conduct an accounting to see how much that would be. The suit is an effort by the city to change with the times, said Joseph Bruno, one of the attorneys representing Kenner. "The municipalities are providing an opportunity for these services to be transmitted through the use of cables that are on municipal property," Bruno said. "This is an important thing to consider since tech is moving away from the old way of doing business to a new way." +2 Kenner signs new trash-collection pact as vendors sling allegations, counter-allegations A rollicking fight over Kenners lucrative trash-collection contract entered a new phase Thursday night when the Kenner City Council voted 6-1 The Kenner City Council in December unanimously approved an agreement with Bruno and several other law firms, including one that represents the city of Creve Coeur, Missouri, which was the first such suit filed in the country. The attorneys are working on contingency, meaning they will only get paid if the city wins or reaches a settlement. Winning the suit likely hinges on how the court views the law's definition of "video service," said Jeremy Bock, a Tulane University Law School professor who studies technology law and regulation. 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's not entirely clear that Netflix and Hulu provide a video service as contemplated in the statute," Bock said. "There is uncertainty." The play by Kenner and other municipalities is clear: The laws were enacted to allow them to collect money from cable providers, but as more residents have cut the cord, those fees have dwindled, Bock said. "How do the municipalities counter some of their losses?" Bock asked. The Creve Coeur suit was filed in 2018. That suit was, like Kenner's, moved to federal court but a federal judge later kicked the Missouri suit back to state court. Similar suits have been filed in Nevada, Texas and Indiana. All remain in the early stages of what are expected to be yearslong fights. Kenner to pay Robert Ramelli $215,000 after issuing him 22,000 littering tickets in garbage dispute The City of Kenner has paid $215,000 to its former garbage contractor, Ramelli Janitorial Services, to settle a federal lawsuit Ramelli filed The suits have already attracted the notice of the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates such industries, Bock said. "This will very likely attract the attention of Congress," he said. Bock noted that it would be difficult for companies like Hulu and Netflix to operate if they have to negotiate franchise fees with thousands of municipalities, likening the situation to when states went after Amazon to pay local sales taxes. "We have here a case that could be quite far reaching," he said. OROVILLE, Calif. The Butte County District Attorneys Office said it is waiting on autopsy results in an apparent homicide case that happened over the weekend in a holding cell at the Butte County Jail. As a result, the suspect in the case, 23-year-old Michael Borgman, was released Wednesday pending a determination of the cause of death of the victim, according to Ramsey. Borgman had been held in the death of Sherman Silva, 43, of Chico, after a struggle between the two men in a sobering cell at the jail. Ramsey said formal charges could not be brought within the legally required 48 hours deadline after an arrest to keep a person in custody. RELATED: One dead after altercation between two inmates in sobering cell Borgman and Silva were together in a sobering cell in the Butte County Jail. Both men had been arrested on the evening of March 6. Silva was arrested by the Chico Police on a felony parole violation warrant and was placed in the cell as he was suspected of being under the influence of drugs. Borgman was arrested by the CHP for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. While Borgman and Silva were in the sobering cell, the two became involved in a fight. When a correctional deputy arrived, he found Silva unresponsive, Ramsey said. Corrections deputies rendered first aid and medical assistance arrived, but Silva never recovered and was later pronounced dead. Ramsey said the district attorney and sheriffs investigators determined that when the correctional deputy arrived at the sobering cell, the deputy observed Silva and Borgman lying together on the floor against a wall. Borgmans arm was around Silvas neck and head and that Silva was lying face down toward the floor on top of Borgman. When the deputy entered the cell, he ordered Borgman to release his hold on Silva. The deputy said Borgman immediately released his hold on Silva and complied with the directions of correctional staff. In an interview with investigators, Borgman claimed Silva was the initial aggressor. Borgman described being punched and then charged by Silva. According to Borgman, because of Silvas charge, Borgmans back and head were slammed against the cells concrete wall. Borgman stated he reached around Silvas head and neck to establish and maintain a hold on Silva to stop and mitigate the continued assault. Borgman explained while he had ahold of Silva, Silva continued to punch Borgman. Borgman said he maintained his hold until the correctional deputy arrived. Ramsey said an examination of Borgmans injuries showed injuries consistent with Borgmans claim of self-defense. Silvas remains were transported to the Sacramento County Coroners Office for an independent forensic examination. But Ramsey noted the Sacramento County Coroners Office said it could not pronounce a cause of death until toxicology results were received on blood samples taken from Silva. Without a cause of death, the prosecution could not proceed in the case. The District Attorneys Office is waiting on toxicology results and the autopsy before they proceed with the case. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 17:14:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENTIANE, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Laos continues to administer the first batch of China-donated COVID-19 vaccine among specific group of people with higher infection risks, which is expected to be completed by March 20. Target groups of COVID-19 vaccination include at-risk health workers, those who have close contact with COVID-19 patients at central and provincial hospitals, those working at international border checkpoints across the country and those working at quarantine centers, Lao News Agency on Friday quoted Phonepaseuth Ounaphom, director of the Hygiene and Health Promotion Department under the Lao Ministry of Health, as saying. "These people are at higher risk of getting infected because they have close contact with people infected with COVID-19," said Phonepaseuth. As of Friday, 120,283 suspected cases have been tested in Laos with 48 being confirmed with COVID-19, including 42 recoveries. Laos reported its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 24 last year. Enditem A researcher plants a semiconductor on an interface board during a research work to design and develop a semiconductor product at Tsinghua Unigroup research centre in Beijing, China, on Feb. 29, 2016. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters File Photo) China Semiconductor Trade Association to Discuss IP, Trade Policy With US Counterpart SHANGHAIThe Chinese Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA), a major trade association for Chinas chip industry, will establish a working group with its U.S-based counterpart, the organization announced on Thursday. The announcement on the CSIA website comes at a time when China is concerned about reliance on U.S. intellectual property, and the United States leans on China-based manufacturing in its supply chain. The CSIA said in its post it would form a joint working group with Washington-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), with each side being represented by 10 chip companies. The working group will meet twice a year to discuss issues such as intellectual property, trade policy, and encryption. The date of the first meeting and the companies involved were not specified. The SIA did not respond to a request for comment. The website of the SIA made no mention of the working group. China is the worlds largest purchaser of semiconductors. Its domestic production of chips is marginal. Beijing has long been urging local governments and private enterprises to invest in the domestic chip industry, which has long lagged behind those of the United States, Japan, and Korea. In the previous decade, the government set a goal to produce 40 percent of the chips it consumes by the year 2020. But analysts say it has missed that target by far. According to research firm ICInsights, of the $143 billion in chips sold in China in 2020, only $8.3 billion was produced by Chinese-headquartered companies. Foreign companies produced $22.7 billion worth of chips from their China-based operations. Chinas need to reduce its dependence on overseas chip companies came to light in 2020 when U.S. sanctions imposed on Shenzhen-based hardware maker Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd prevented it from sourcing components, crippling its once-booming smartphone business. Meanwhile, both countries find themselves navigating through a global chip shortage, which has rattled the electronics industry as various automobile, smartphone, and gadget makers scramble to get components for production. By Josh Horwitz. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. Lambert here: I wonder if we could make it our default setting for industry hear me out not to spill stuff in the first place, instead of spilling, spilling, spilling, and waiting a few decades for people to notice what theyre doing. By Sharon Kelly, is an attorney and freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She has reported for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, National Wildlife, Earth Island Journal, and a variety of other publications. Originally published at Desmog Blog. You wont find an ethane cracker or industrial plastics manufacturing equipment on tiny Sullivans Island, South Carolina. The tiny 2.5 mile-long barrier island along the Atlantic coast near Charleston claimed a spot in history for its role in the Revolutionary War, though its perhaps better known among vacationers and tourists in recent years for its sandy beachfronts and blue waters. But, in July 2019, Charleston environmental lawyer Andrew Wunderley arrived on the beach after getting a tip from a dog walker whod noticed something strange in the sands along Sullivans Island. Wunderley arrived to discover an extraordinary number of tiny white bits, so dense and widespread on the beach and in the surf that he later compared them to sleet. The bits were newly manufactured pieces of plastic resin, known as nurdles, which pose hazards to wildlife and contaminate the environment as they breakdown into microplastics. In early March, Wunderley, as the executive director of the Charleston Waterkeeper, and the Coastal Conservation League reached a $1 million settlement with the suspected source of the nurdles: not a plastics manufacturing site, but Frontier Logistics, a shipping facility in South Carolina where plastic nurdles arrive by rail from manufacturing plants along the Gulf Coast and are packaged for export. The legal settlement among the largest in U.S. history over plastic nurdle pollution shines a light on ways that a rising wave of plastics manufacturing in the U.S. has impacts far from where the plastic itself is made from oil and gas. In addition to the $1 million to fund water-quality improvements in the Charleston Harbor watershed, Frontier Logistics agreed to upgrade its facility to prevent nurdle spills from its warehouse site on a former U.S. Navy base. After the 2019 spill, Frontier also moved its facilities to a location somewhat further back from the waterfront. Frontier is not the only operator in the Charleston area that handles large quantities of nurdles, but it is the company whose operations were closest to the water. Surveys by the Charleston Waterkeeper reported the highest concentrations of nurdles closest to Frontiers locations. More and more of these nurdle exporters want to set up shop on the coast, but industry growth cannot come at the expense of our waterways, said Laura Cantral, executive director of the Coastal Conservation League. We hope the precautions being put in place at Frontier as a result of this lawsuit will serve as an example for the rest of the industry. A Glut in the Gulf Drives Plastic North The March 2 legal settlement did not require Frontier to admit liability for the 2019 nurdle spill and the company continues to dispute that issue. It is our sincere hope and belief that the funds will be used for beneficial environmental projects in the greater Charleston Harbor, Frontier CEO George Cook told a local ABC News affiliate. We also maintain that we were not at fault for the subject matter under this lawsuit, however, we felt the monies could be better spent off the court room floor and into the hands of local environmental folks, who would then use the proceeds to do some good things for the greater Charleston Harbor Community. Amid a massive buildup of plastic manufacturing in the U.S., Charleston port officials encouraged the development of the region as a plastic resin export hub, where nurdles manufactured along the Gulf Coast could be loaded onto ships and sent abroad. Plastic nurdle spills have also driven litigation along the Gulf Coast, including a $50 million settlement over nurdles spilling from a Formosa Plastics Corp. USA site in Point Comfort, Texas. A federal court ruling labeled the company a serial offender of the Clean Water Act and Formosa agreed to a zero-discharge standard for its plant. Yet, local activists discovered evidence last year that the company continued to discharge nurdles into the regions waterways. And despite the pandemic, which depressed demand for oil generally, plastics manufacturing has continued to accelerate in the United States. In January, 8.3 billion pounds of plastic resins flowed from U.S. manufacturing sites, an increase of 5.4 percent from January 2020, the American Chemistry Council said in a March 2 statement. You have this glut of plastic manufacturing in the Gulf area around Houston. If youre Chevron Phillips or Formosa or whoever, youre backed up trying to move your product at the Port of Houston, Wunderley told DeSmog. So it makes sense for you to send them up here by train and have them packaged and sent out of our port. A Regulatory Wild West It can be quite difficult to keep nurdles from spilling during transportation and theres little state or federal regulation nationwide aimed at preventing spills. California adopted a state law in 2009, but an October investigative report by watchdog FairWarning found just 15 nurdle cases in the state, and could not identify a single Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) action outside of California. Its this new regulatory Wild West, Emily Cedzo, the land, water, and wildlife director of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, told Audubon Magazine in July. A 2020 investigation by Frontline and NPR found evidence that companies intentionally covered up the extent of their nurdle spills. They want you to put down a certain number on spill reports, a former Formosa supervisor told the news outlets. They want you to keep it low, so you lie. Thats my job, thats my bread and butter. I got a family. So I gotta do what they say. After a Chevron Phillips representative assured reporters that nurdle spills were not a problem here at the companys new $6 billion site along the Texas coast which they claimed had, in Frontlines words, some of the most advanced pellet containment systems in the world reporters discovered the plastic pellets themselves, causing the company to concede that a small amount of residual pellets had escaped. Nurdles are often shipped by rail in hopper cars that are loaded and unloaded via vacuum hoses and with pneumatic systems. And while shippers are extremely careful not to let, for example, a single white nurdle find its way into a carload of blue nurdles, where it could cause streaking and ruin tens of thousands of dollars worth of product, theyve proved far less careful about allowing nurdles to escape into the environment. When they load them into the train cars, they spill, when they load them into the containers, they spill, they rattle out of the containers as the trucks taking them to the port, Wunderley said. You can find these things all over: train tracks, bridge crossings over waterways, things like that. Its almost impossible to do this cleanly. This August, several railroad companies signed onto Operation Clean Sweep, the plastic industrys voluntary effort to curb nurdle pollution. When it comes to controlling the releases of plastic resin pellets and powders during rail and truck transport, it comes down to basic housekeeping, Miriam Gordon, policy director for UPSTREAM Solutions told FreightWaves, a rail industry trade publication. The best practice is to vacuum up the spilled pellets and powders. Its not rocket science. Its amazing how few facilities take these and other simple precautions to prevent feedstock materials from entering the environment, she added. Tiny white nurdles can be seen washed up among marine debris in this photo provided by Charleston Waterkeeper. In addition to problems with that sort of routine handling, there have been major nurdle spills, like one on the Mississippi River this past August (documented by DeSmogs Julie Dermansky) and another in Durban, South Africa, that spewed 49 tons of pellets into the sea an estimated 2 billion pellets in what Sky News dubbed an ecological nightmare. Small Pellets, Big Problems Once you know to look for them, environmentalists say, its shockingly common to find nurdles on beaches and not only in Charleston. Its a little like hunting for a sharks tooth, Wunderley said, as he described how easy it is to find nurdles on beaches. You know how if youre just walking along, you dont see them, but if you bend down or you sit down for a minute and look, you start seeing them. Its a situation sort of like that. Its not entirely clear where the nurdles discovered on Sullivans Island were manufactured but at least some of the nurdles handled by Frontier were made by Chevron Phillips Chemical, press reports have indicated. An October investigation by local press uncovered emails between local port officials and Frontier, including an offer from a port official to do our best to keep CP Chems name out of it sent to Frontiers CEO. South Carolina regulators had also reported numerous areas of concern after inspecting Frontiers Charleston operations, but declined to penalize the company, citing its efforts to prevent more spills. A researcher from the University of Texas at Austins Marine Science Institute found that Charlestons beaches continued to show strikingly high concentrations of nurdles months after the spill in the summer of 2019. The number of nurdles were finding is disturbing, the researcher, Jace Tunnell, said in a December 2019 statement released by the Southern Environmental Law Center. Thats because nurdles can not only be devastating for wildlife often eaten by birds and fish that mistake the tiny pellets for fish eggs but, with a little time, they degrade into microplastics, tiny particles of plastics with potentially severe environmental and human health impacts. Recent evidence indicates that humans constantly inhale and ingest microplastics, the journal Science reported in February, however, whether these contaminants pose a substantial risk to human health is far from understood. Researchers in Australia recently reported that, in part because microplastics have entered the food chain in significant quantities, most people now consume the equivalent of a credit card each week. And that makes these tiny plastic bits into what could be one of the largest environmental issues of the Anthropocene. The problem almost gets bigger, Wunderley noted, the smaller they get. MERIDEN An local man has been charged in connection with a February 2020 shooting where the victim suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, according to police. Law enforcement officers served the warrant Thursday on Daniel Oslander, 33. Oslander, of Rockwell Avenue in New Britain, was charged with first-degree assault and criminal possession of a firearm. The charges stem from a Feb. 13, 2020, shooting in Meriden. Police said the male victim was shot in the leg. Oslander was held on a $500,000 bond. Police urged residents to call 203-630-6253 to report violent crimes, and 203-630-6273 to report non-violent crimes. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Spruce Forest opens for season through a new door With the crashing of the trees, three of the cabins were destroyed, along with damaging the village church and other buildings as well. Now that the implications of the Harris/Biden administration are setting in, my Democrat friends (yes, I do have a few) are becoming very embarrassed. They bought into the propaganda that all the turmoil in Washington was created by the erratic and immoral behavior of Donald Trump. Their vote for Harris/Biden was a vote to return to normal. They didnt realize that the Democrats werent offering a return to normal, they were offering the establishment of a new normal. The new normal includes restricted energy exploration and cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline. This has caused a loss of well-paying union jobs, damaged relations with Canada, and triggered skyrocketing gasoline prices. It also threatens to return us to dependence on the most unstable region in the world. To those who would like us to leave the Middle East to resolve its own problems -- we cant now. Weve implemented more humane immigration policies, creating a flood of illegal immigrants across the border -- wearing Biden t-shirts. Our humane policy has given us men, women, and children sacrificing their lives pursuing the dream promised them by the Democrats. Thankfully, were no longer keeping illegal immigrant children in cages. Now were keeping them in Conex boxes. I guess we can feel good about that. Those arriving illegal immigrants are putting more pressure on a struggling job market, decimated by COVID lockdowns. Rather than help struggling small businesses, the Democrats seek to impose more economic distress with a $15-per-hour minimum wage. As small businesses close their doors, the dreams of their owners are dashed, and entry level job opportunities disappear forever. Since lunch-bucket Joes inauguration, the government has moved beyond its charter to ensure the rights, security, and safety of the citizens. Now its engaged in social engineering. Transsexuals will now be welcomed into the military. Given that these folks require ongoing hormone therapy, a few minor changes to the DoD logistics infrastructure will be needed. Its a small price to pay to check our wokeness box. Should any of our transsexual soldiers be captured, Im sure our enemies will continue their therapy. They need their wokeness boxes checked too. President Asterisk has also signed an executive order ensuring that transgender people may use whatever facilities they prefer. Well need to be on the alert for gender-fluid pedophiles seeking to spend quality time in bathrooms with young girls. But, thats a very small societal cost to show the necessary respect to a perfectly normal woman-with-a-penis, who wishes to shower with women-with-vaginas at the gym. The Democrats have also arranged to reward blue states for disastrous fiscal decisions. It seems that those states which imposed the most severe COVID lockdowns (New York, California, Michigan, and etc.) have suffered significant loss of tax revenue. Who could have seen that coming? The most recent COVID relief bill includes a $350B bailout for those states and municipalities which suffered tax loses during the lockdown. The citizens from the red states who stayed on the job are going to bail out the blue states that took the year off. San Fran Nan and Chucky Schumer owe a great big thank you to all the farmers, merchants, tradesmen, and truckers who have agreed to help them out. Im sure theyll respond with, Youre welcome. It was the neighborly thing to do. The new normal also includes a permanent military presence in Washington D.C. You can rest assured that our representatives are doing the peoples work when they need a contingent of heavily armed soldiers to protect them from the people. My friends who voted Democrat unwittingly facilitated the transformation of Washington D.C. into Pyongyang, North Korea. Consistent with our transformation into the North Korea of the west, censorship and cancel culture are now favored by our ruling class. Expression of dissenting views will get one dropped from social media sites. If youre an outspoken conservative who runs a factory, your products will be boycotted. Educators who express dissenting views will be forced out of their jobs. Freedom of speech is becoming freedom of approved-speech. Thankfully, the snowflakes among us need no longer endure those nasty Trump tweets. But what really embarrasses my friends is that after they voted for a return to political harmony, the turmoil is greater than ever. The Democrats called for unity, then slapped Trumps supporters in the face by impeaching Trump two weeks before he was to leave office. Theyve accused any Republican who questioned the election result of inciting insurrection. The Democrats even considered not seating any Republican congressmen who questioned election integrity. Some have even spoken publicly of the need for truth commissions and reeducation of MAGA supporters. Theres nothing creepy about that, is there? It seems that when the Democrats asked for unity, they were actually demanding obedience. If there were only some means to demonstrate our obedience to our new masters. How about we all wear facial coverings to demonstrate our fealty? Theres a word that describes order through forced obedience -- tyranny. My friends are belatedly realizing that the turmoil was not created by Donald Trump. It was manufactured by the Democrats, simply to win an election. The Democrats embraced socialists and anarchists (even though they never play well together) to create the turmoil, and now they cant turn it off. Radical elements of the left are political vampires. Once invited in, its not so easy to get them to leave. The Democrats are stuck with the radicals, even though the voters arent. But I dont get angry. As my friends complain, I keep reminding them that this is what they asked for. Theyre beginning to realize they helped create this mess and theyre feeling a bit like that guy that gave the Nigerian prince $1,000 -- embarrassed! But heres the thing about embarrassment -- its the embryonic stage of anger. I estimate gestation to require about 19 months. Angry and motivated voters will be fully mature, just in time for the midterm elections. John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Star, Idaho. He is a retired engineer with over 40 years of experience in the areas of product development, quality assurance, organizational development, and corporate strategic planning. He can be reached at greenjeg@gmail.com. Image: Sarebear Togo's new 2.5Mta plant to open next September 12 March 2021 CimMetal has provided an update for its 2.5Mta new plant project in Togo. Preliminary works related to construction are now 65 per cent complete and the plant is expected to open in September 2022. The company is set to invest XOF65bn (US$118.26m) in the project, while CimCo also received XOF25bn of funding from the West African Development Bank. Published under New York City, NY , March 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- If your child suffered nerve damage in their shoulder, arm, hand, or finger, it could be an Erbs Palsy injury. Learn here: COMMON BIRTH INJURIES >> The birth of a baby should be a joyous and exciting time for new parents. When an infant sustains a birth injury, however, parents are left feeling confused, scared, and worried about their childs future. Erbs Palsy is one of the most common types of birth injuries, occurring in about 2.6 per 1,000 births. About 10 percent of infants with Erbs Palsy will not fully recover their mobility. With a lifelong injury like this, its important for parents to work with a medical malpractice lawyer to ensure they receive full and fair compensation to cover the cost of their childs medical treatments, rehabilitation, therapy, and other damages. What Is Erbs Palsy? Erbs Palsy, which is named for the doctor who first described the injury, is a type of birth injury that damages the network of nerves in the neck that connect to the arm. This cluster of nerves allows a person to properly move their fingers, hand, arm, and shoulder. When these nerves are damaged, an individual typically experiences weakness and loss of mobility in all or some of these areas. In most cases, babies suffer Erbs Palsy during a difficult delivery, often when they get stuck in the birth canal and their heads are stretched too far to one side. In some cases, infants or toddlers regain full mobility through physical therapy. In other cases, however, they have a weak or paralyzed arm throughout their life. A common sign of Erbs Palsy is an arm that is rotated in toward the body. How Common Is Erbs Palsy? Erbs Palsy is actually one of the most common types of birth injuries. It can be difficult for doctors and researchers to determine how often it occurs, as some children will sustain Erbs Palsy and then recover on their own. However, estimates put the number of cases between 0.9 and 2.6 per 1,000 births. In between. 0.4 and 5 cases out of 10,000, Erbs Palsy causes serious arm weakness. What Causes Erbs Palsy? Erbs Palsy is entirely preventable, which is one of the reasons its so devastating when it occurs. Medical experts state that Erbs Palsy almost always occurs during a difficult obstetrical event, including cases in which a baby is overly large or delivered breech, meaning a feet-first delivery. Erbs Palsy can also occur when a mothers labor is prolonged and the baby is stuck in the birth canal for too long. In some cases, a babys oxygen level drops, and doctors rush to forcibly remove the baby from the birth canal, causing injury to the nerves in the neck. This can happen during a forceps delivery or when the doctor uses too much force to pull the baby out of the birth canal. In many Erbs Palsy birth injury cases, medical experts who review an infants case and birth state that a cesarean delivery would have prevented the birth injury. What Are the Symptoms of Erbs Palsy? Erbs Palsy can range from a mild case to a severe condition, depending on various factors during the birthing process. Each case is unique, which is why its important for parents to ensure their child is thoroughly evaluated as soon as possible. The symptoms of Erbs Palsy can include weakness in the affected arm, a loss of feeling in the arm and shoulder, numbness and lack of feeling in the fingers, loss of mobility, and total or partial paralysis. In many cases, doctors diagnose Erbs Palsy right away. In other cases, however, the condition isnt discovered until the child gets older and begins independently moving their arms. It may be necessary for the infant to undergo diagnostic testing to confirm Erbs Palsy. These tests can include MRIs, x-rays, and other types of imaging to determine the extent of injury to the nerves and muscles. As the child gets older, medical providers may also want to study nerve function, which can be done through nerve conduction studies (NCS) and electromyogram (EMG). How Is Erbs Palsy Treated? The treatments for Erbs Palsy can vary a great deal depending on the severity of the injury. In some cases, Erbs Palsy will resolve without treatment. In other cases, the condition will resolve over time and with treatment, which can vary. However, in some cases, Erbs Palsy is permanent. Medical experts note that nerves tend to heal very slowly, so it can take years for a child to fully recover function in their shoulder, arm, hand, and fingers. When doctors recommend nonsurgical treatment for Erbs Palsy, they typically recommend that a child undergo physical therapy. In some cases, a child may need daily physical therapy to recover from the condition, particularly as they grow and start developing fine motor skills. In other cases, a child may need to undergo surgery. Medical experts state that some doctors will recommend surgical intervention if a childs condition has not improved after six months of physical therapy and other non-invasive treatments. Surgical treatments can include the following: Nerve grafts In some cases, doctors may decide to repair ruptures in the nerves by using a spliced nerve from a donor and grafting it onto the childs damaged nerve. In some cases, doctors may decide to repair ruptures in the nerves by using a spliced nerve from a donor and grafting it onto the childs damaged nerve. Nerve transfers In a nerve transfer surgery, doctors replace a damaged nerve with a functioning nerve from a donor. In a nerve transfer surgery, doctors replace a damaged nerve with a functioning nerve from a donor. Release of joint contractures Doctors may also suggest a procedure known as a release of joint contractures, which involves releasing tissue around the shoulder and elbow joints that has become thickened. Doctors may also suggest a procedure known as a release of joint contractures, which involves releasing tissue around the shoulder and elbow joints that has become thickened. Tendon transfer In a tendon transfer, doctors remove a tendon from one part of the childs body and reattach it in the affected part of the shoulder. This is often done in cases where the child lacks the ability to raise their arm. One of the things that makes surgical treatments for Erbs Palsy nerve racking for parents is that nerves typically heal quite slowly. Thus, it can take months or years for a doctor to know if the surgery was successful. Complications with Erbs Palsy In the best case scenario, a baby with Erbs Palsy will fully recover their mobility somewhere between six and 12 months following birth. However, this is not always the case. There are situations in which an infants condition never gets better or only marginally improves. If the nerves are severely traumatized during birth, scar tissue can develop, which can affect the complex network of nerves running from the neck through the arms to the fingers. When nerves are severely stretched, damaged, and torn, the child may be permanently disabled. In the most severe cases of Erbs Palsy, a child suffers permanent paralysis and impairment. Are There Risk Factors for Erbs Palsy? While Erbs Palsy can happen during any labor and delivery, there are certain conditions that put a baby at higher risk of suffering a birth injury like Erbs Palsy. Large baby One of the most common risk factors for Erbs Palsy is a larger than average baby. When an infant is bigger than usual, it can have a difficult time descending through the birth canal. If the shoulders get stuck, doctors may have to work quickly to remove the baby. These interventions can include a forceps delivery, which can damage the babys nerves. Obstetricians can usually detect the likelihood of an abnormally large baby. They can usually estimate a babys size in the last few weeks of pregnancy by measuring the mothers stomach and performing ultrasounds. In addition, maternal conditions like gestational diabetes can often cause an infant to be larger than normal. In cases where a baby appears too large for a safe vaginal birth, many medical experts recommend a cesarean delivery to avoid complications like Erbs Palsy. One of the most common risk factors for Erbs Palsy is a larger than average baby. When an infant is bigger than usual, it can have a difficult time descending through the birth canal. If the shoulders get stuck, doctors may have to work quickly to remove the baby. These interventions can include a forceps delivery, which can damage the babys nerves. Obstetricians can usually detect the likelihood of an abnormally large baby. They can usually estimate a babys size in the last few weeks of pregnancy by measuring the mothers stomach and performing ultrasounds. In addition, maternal conditions like gestational diabetes can often cause an infant to be larger than normal. In cases where a baby appears too large for a safe vaginal birth, many medical experts recommend a cesarean delivery to avoid complications like Erbs Palsy. Breech birth A breech birth is another possible risk factor for Erbs Palsy. In a breech birth, the baby is facing feet first rather than head down. In a normal delivery, the head should emerge first. When the baby is delivered with their feet first, this can put abnormal pressure on the babys shoulders and head. In addition, when the doctor must tug on the babys feet and legs during the birth process, this can stretch the neck and shoulders, causing injury. In many cases, obstetricians will choose to perform a scheduled cesarean delivery rather than a vaginal delivery when a baby is positioned breech in the womb. If your doctor chose to deliver your baby breech as a vaginal delivery and your baby suffered a birth injury like Erbs Palsy as a result, you may be entitled to compensation. Types of Birth Injuries >> Erbs Palsy Injuries in Childhood Erbs Palsy typically happens during birth, but it can also occur in childhood and even adulthood in some circumstances. In some cases, a child can suffer an Erbs Palsy injury during an accident, playground injury, or some other type of trauma. In addition, contact sports such as football can sometimes lead to an Erbs Palsy injury. If your child suffered nerve damage in their shoulder, arm, hand, or finger, it could be an Erbs Palsy injury. Its important to seek medical treatment as soon as possible, and then discuss your case with a personal injury lawyer. Choosing the right NY birth injury lawyer When a child is injured at birth, the damages involved can span a lifetime. In a medical malpractice case, you get just one opportunity to ensure you receive the compensation you need to cover your costs throughout your childs life. This is why its so important to make sure you work with an experienced New York City birth injury and medical malpractice lawyer. Your child deserves full and fair compensation for their injury, and no parent or child should have to bear the burden of anothers negligence. Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2724163/ Check out Birth Injury Lawyer in New York Jonathan C. Reiter Law Firm >> CONTACT US ABOUT YOUR CASE Recent birth injury settlements & verdicts in NY >> See our New York Chiari Malformation Attorney Jonathan C. Reiter Announces $5 Million Verdict Featured on HuffPost >> 4 Things Children With Birth Injuries And Their Parents Should Know That Could Be Worth Lots Of Money Jonathan C. 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Attachment Oscar winner Mira Sorvino to star in new faith-based film The Girl Who Believes in Miracles Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino, Emmy Award-winner Peter Coyote and God's Not Dead actor Kevin Sorbo are the stars of the new faith-based film The Girl Who Believes in Miracles, which highlights the miracle-working power of God. The Girl Who Believes in Miracles was created by 98-year-old Laurence Jaffe, who decided to start a new career as a filmmaker much later in life. When Sara hears a preacher say faith can move mountains, she starts praying, the synopsis reads. Suddenly people in her town are mysteriously healed! But fame soon takes its toll can Saras family save her before its too late? Jaffes first feature film brought together a star-studded cast, including Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite, Do You Believe?) Austyn Johnson (The Greatest Showman, The Post), Sorbo (Let There Be Light) and Coyote (E.T. The Extraterrestrial, A Walk to Remember). The Christian movie will premiere in theaters nationwide on Easter weekend. I guess Ive never been one to look back, only forward. Thats the secret to a full life. Jaffes said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. Both young children and old people possess the same innocent and beautiful quality: they trust. I think that after the year weve all endured, the world needs an uplifting movie like this to give us the capacity to trust once more. The nonagenarian, who's now making movies in Hollywood, has been known to take risks. He joined the Marine Corps during World War II because he wanted to serve with the toughest and the best. Following the war and his service with the medical units, he received a masters degree from Columbia University. He then began a career in marketing during the Mad Men era with his bride of 72 years by his side. She died in October 2020. The trailer of The Girl Who Believes in Miracles shows Saras childlike faith. Her prayers are seen helping several animals come back to life, a lame boy walk, and a girl gets cured of cancer. Im just a lucky girl who God decided to visit, she says in the film. Truth is, all you have to do is believe in God and pray to Him. Hes listening. The 98-year-old filmmaker revealed that he hopes to use the money generated by the film to help the poor through a program he created to help disadvantaged children in Gainesville, Florida. My dream is to close the gap in income disparity that threatens the social fabric of our democracy, he said. That would truly be a miracle to me and for so many others. Despite his age, Jaffe said he intends to continue making films. The joke on the set was that Moses and I went to Hebrew school together, he shared. I may not be a spring chicken, but I am still clucking. (CNN) -- President Joe Biden can report in his first prime-time address Thursday that a vaccination drive now reaching 2 million people daily has brought America far closer to exiting the pandemic than when he took office 50 days ago. With new infections and deaths way down from their peaks of a horrific winter, Biden can afford to conjure hope that better days may be imminent and will speak to the nation from a position of political strength. He is also armed with a newly passed $1.9 trillion Covid-19 rescue package -- his first major legacy achievement -- which represents an ambitious attempt to rebuild the US economy to favor the less well off. "This bill represents a historic, historic victory for the American people," Biden said Wednesday, touting his rescue plan that finally cleared Congress on Wednesday and pivoting to an address that he said would inform the country what "comes next" in the effort to prevail over the coronavirus. A clear majority of Americans -- 60% -- approves of the new President's handling of the pandemic in a new CNN poll. He has reintroduced the nation to calm, functional leadership and a scientific approach to the public health crisis, and has ended the stream of vitriol that poured from the Oval Office for four years. Yet in a national crisis this deep and in a country so polarized less than two months since ex-President Donald Trump's insurrection, nothing is remotely normal. While Biden honored campaign promises to take the virus seriously, to secure funds to get kids back to school and to help Americans pummeled by the economic crisis, his White House is weighed down by stark challenges. A White House official said Biden's Thursday night speech, expected to last about 20 minutes, would focus on the lives lost and changed in the pandemic and the work Biden's administration has done to rapidly increase the vaccination effort. The President will also explain what must still be done to defeat the virus, the official said. The virus is far from purged. Covid-19 variants may trigger a new spring surge in infections before vaccination campaigns can tamp them down. Republican governors racing to open their states with cases still at a high plateau could also cause a new wave of unnecessary deaths. It will be a massive task to ensure a swift, smooth disbursement of American Rescue Plan largesse and to get money quickly into vaccination drives, for example, in ways that speed the pandemic endgame. Any corruption or bureaucratic glitches will only fuel Republican claims the plan is a massive liberal handout. A fast-building southern border crisis threatens to turn into the first big non-Covid-19-related emergency of this presidency, with Biden yet to get a handle on a surge of undocumented child migrants across the border. The issue is perilous for him because it is one area where a reeling Republican Party may gain traction on one of its key issues. Biden garnered one of his lowest ratings in the CNN poll -- only 43% approval -- on immigration. The White House hopes to repair Biden's reputation for bipartisan compromise -- battered by unanimous GOP opposition to the Covid-19 rescue plan -- with an infrastructure package. But when the President ventures into more controversial legislative areas, such as a vast voting rights bill that has already passed the House and a climate bill, his popularity will come under pressure. He will have to consider a nuclear option of seeking to abolish or at least amend Senate filibuster rules that allow Republicans to easily kill legislation. Controversial foreign policy gambits like an attempt to coax Iran back into a nuclear deal will also expose Biden to attacks at home. A historically fast start Biden's success -- along with Democratic leaders -- in piloting a massive piece of legislation through Congress despite the tightest of majorities in the first weeks of his presidency is a historic achievement that ranks alongside the fastest of starts by modern presidents. The new law delivers on his promise to send $1,400 stimulus payments to millions of Americans. If Biden succeeds in making a flurry of child tax credits, health insurance subsidies and nutrition assistance measures permanent, he will deserve a place in the pantheon behind reforming Democratic presidents such as Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt, who used vast federal power to lift Americans out of poverty. In a White House memo obtained by CNN on Wednesday, officials vowed to sell the American people on the benefits of the legislation and to get cash rolling immediately. "The implementation of the Rescue Plan is going to be an all-hands-on-deck effort across the administration," White House deputy chief of staff Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote in the memo. What was true at the start of the Biden administration remains true now: The President will be judged on his capacity to bring the country out of the pandemic. If he succeeds in leading America back to normality this year, his place in history will be secure whatever else happens in his term. The blanket Republican opposition to the Covid-19 bill may also look like a bad bet. Since taking office, Biden has led the nation in mourning for 525,000 lost citizens and has managed a steady rise in vaccinations, which now average 2 million a day. He is on course to blast past his target of 100 million vaccines in arms in his first 100 days. While his team has been unwilling to credit the previous administration's work in helping to develop the vaccine, it has put in place tangible improvements in what was a threadbare rollout effort. The overhaul of the US counter-pandemic strategy after Trump's denial and mismanagement and Biden's success in passing the Covid-19 rescue plan leave an impression that the new President is effectively wielding the tools of his office, after a lifetime Washington apprenticeship. The agreement he brokered for Merck to manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine developed by its rival Johnson & Johnson, for example, appeared to be a far more effective use of the wartime powers in the Defense Production Act than was managed by the Trump administration. And Biden's intervention helped coax moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on board the rescue act -- an unabashed liberal bill. Biden's impact is also being felt in the way he has restored traditional expectations of presidential behavior and has projected human decency from the White House -- for instance, when he visited an old friend, former GOP Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, after his recent cancer diagnosis. No longer does the president of the United States spend his time attacking American democracy, waging personal feuds on Twitter or cratering painstakingly brokered political compromises in Congress. As in the campaign, when his pandemic-enforced spell at his Delaware home made him an elusive political target, Biden's rationed public appearances have made it tough for Republicans and the conservative media to line him up. Washington journalists are complaining that the new President has yet to hold a formal news conference. But the strategy appears to be working. Perhaps because he is an old, White man, Biden is not the kind of lightning rod for right-wing radicals that former President Barack Obama was early on. Pro-Trump pundits have spent much of the last few weeks trying to whip up a storm over culture war issues like the supposed "cancellation" of children's author Dr. Seuss. The White House has refused to take the bait. Tough tests ahead Early victories do not guarantee successful or ultimately popular presidencies. The job is so vast, and the challenges -- from domestic security threats to a sudden foreign policy crisis -- can be grave and unexpected. The pandemic, which destroyed the economy Trump had hoped to ride to reelection, is proof of that. If Biden fails to get the immigration crisis under control, the success of passing the rescue plan may be quickly forgotten. White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused even to call the situation a "crisis" on Wednesday. The President is also under extreme pressure on the issue of getting kids back to in-person classes now that he has secured billions of dollars for fixes, including improved ventilation in school buildings, for instance. While education is largely a state and local responsibility, the hardest problems reach the President -- who gets the blame if he can't fix them. One of the most revealing aspects of the effort to pass the rescue plan was how powerful liberal figures such as Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders embraced the bill as a monumental liberal reform. But progressives were disappointed that a hike in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour was removed in the Senate, and the tensions between rival wings of the party are sure to resurface. One crucial issue overshadowed by the race to vaccinate Americans and put them back to work is the unresolved threat to American democracy. Republican state legislators across the nation are rushing to suppress the potential vote of the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 presidential election with new laws that often directly discriminate against minority and Democratic voters. The For the People Act now awaiting attention in the Senate is meant to address such behavior and could be a defining moment for the US political system. Given such tests, Biden's objectively strong start to his presidency is only revealing the height of the political mountain up ahead. The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Defence Minister Linda Reynolds will pay damages to Brittany Higgins as part of a defamation settlement over calling her former staffer a lying cow. Ms Higgins, who alleges she was raped by a male colleague in Senator Reynolds office in March 2019, will donate the money from Senator Reynolds to a sexual assault support group in the Canberra area. Brittany Higgins alleges she was raped by a colleague in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds office at Parliament House in March 2019. Credit:Channel Ten/Alex Ellinghausen The Defence Minister called her former staffer a lying cow in remarks to her staff when the alleged rape became public last month. She has maintained she did not make the comment in relation to the rape allegation but in response to news reports about her handling of it. Senator Reynolds apologised a day after the comments were reported last week, but on Friday issued another statement saying she wanted to retract the comment and unreservedly apologise to Ms Higgins. It's great to see you, this is how US President greeted Prime Minister at the first summit of the or Quadrilateral coalition on Friday. Besides Modi and Biden, the virtual summit of the was attended by Australian PM Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga. It was first time Modi and Biden came face-to-face after the American leader took charge in Washington in January. "A free and open Indo-Pacific is essential to each of our futures," Biden said in his opening remarks. "The is going to be a vital arena for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. And I look forward to working closely with with all of you in the coming years," he added. The four Quad member countries have been resolving to uphold a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific amid growing Chinese assertiveness in the region. "We are united by our democratic values, and our commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," Modi said in his initial remarks. "Our agenda today - covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies - makes the Quad a force for global good," 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.) WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Ulta Beauty (ULTA) said that its president Dave Kimbell will succeed Mary Dillon as chief executive officer and will be nominated to stand for election to the company's board of directors at the 2021 annual stockholders meeting. Dillon will transition to the role of executive chair of the board of directors. She intends to serve as executive chair for a one-year term and, with the board of directors. Kecia Steelman, currently chief store operations officer, will be elevated to the role of chief operating officer. As part of this transition, Ulta Beauty's current chair, Robert DiRomualdo, will retire from the board after serving three years in the role of chair and 17 years total on the board. The company also announced Lorna Nagler, who has served on the board since 2009, will become Lead Independent Director working with Dillon in her executive chair role. All of the changes announced will take effect following the company's annual shareholders meeting scheduled for June 2, 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. Android 11 has arrived for the LG V60 ThinQ in Europe. The update has arrived for the LMV600EA variant, which LG also sells in South Africa and Taiwan. 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 The Android 11 update has now reached the LG V60 ThinQ in Italy, following its arrival for US devices last month. Brought to our attention by a post on Reddit, the LG-ROMs database has confirmed that the new download is based on Google's latest OS. If you purchased a V60 ThinQ in the region, then the download to look out for is V600EA20c_00_COM1_EU_OP_0219. Unfortunately, it seems that the update has only gone live in Italy so far. LG likes to overcomplicate its software distribution, maintaining six software channels for the same variant of the V60 ThinQ (LMV600EA) for some reason. (Natural News) A Washington man with dark skin was arrested on two counts of false reporting after it was determined that he staged a call to 911 in a failed attempt to make himself the next George Floyd. Tamon Leverette, who currently wears an ankle bracelet and is under supervision by the Department of Correction (DoC) for being affiliated with the Bloods gang, pretended to be a scared young woman who observed Leverette brandishing a weapon at the bus stop. Leverette tried to mimic a female voice while calling 911, claiming his name was Stacy Williams. Well, Im at the bus stop and theres a colored young man, and I can see a pistol right there, Leverette, pretending to be Williams, told the 911 operator in a poorly acted female voice. [Hes] too young to even have a pistol, Leverette added. He only looks 16, 17 years old I saw him fidgeting a pistol at the bus stop, kind of scared me. The incident occurred on Feb. 22, and after police arrived Leverette pretended to have been targeted by a racist who falsely accused him of having a weapon simply because he is black. Leverette reportedly lifted up his pant leg and showed the cop his GPS tracking ankle bracelet, which was put there by the DoC to keep an eye on his whereabouts. He informed me that he was not doing anything wrong, just waiting for the bus to come so he could go to his DoC check-in with his assigned DoC officer, the officer wrote in an incident report. This same officer added that Leverette expressed concern about the call, want[ing] to understand why someone would call in with concerns that he was handling a firearm at the bus stop as described. When black people are having to invent fake incidents of racism, you know theres not actually a racism problem Leverette was searched and found to not be in possession of a firearm after all. This, Leverette apparently hoped, would lead to the officer pinning him to the ground in a similar fashion to what happened to George Floyd. When this did not happen, however, Leverette came up with a new plan the next day to accuse the officer of racial profiling. According to the DoC officers incident report, Leverette claimed that he was stopped and frisked by Everett Police for no reason the previous day because of being black.' Upon further investigation, it was determined that Leverette had done this before on at least five separate occasions, in fact. The call was traced back to his number and the young man was arrested pending a charging decision. Back in December, Leverette made a similar call under the fake name of Eric Johnson. He presented a similar story of seeing a young, African-American male teenager holding a gun. He has on black and red, Leverette, pretending to be Johnson, told the 911 operator. Ive seen he has a gun on him. And, you know, I have my children here. Just like Jussie Smollett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex (AOC), Leverette is an actor who apparently feels compelled to invent fake incidents of racism for attention. This just goes to show that there really is not a racism problem at all, and that so-called minorities are having to pretend there is out of boredom. This event tied up police resources for an extended period of time and unnecessarily placed our officers, our community, and the subject making the false call at risk, noted Arlington Police Chief Jonathan Ventura about Leverettes criminal behavior. These types of calls only serve to create division at a time when we need unity. This call highlights the training and professionalism of our officers despite the apparent attempt to goad law enforcement into some type of negative response or altercation. More related news can be found at FalseFlag.news. Sources for this article include: MyNorthwest.com NaturalNews.com Pakistan has once again banned Chinese short-video making app TikTok, this time for allegedly peddling vulgarity and spreading objectionable content on its platform. The country banned the ByteDance-owned platform in October 2020 for a brief 10-day period for hosting "immoral" and "indecent" videos. "In respectful compliance to the orders of the Peshawar High Court, PTA has issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App. During the hearing of a case today, the PHC has ordered for the blocking of App," the Pakistan telecommunication Authority (PTA) said in a tweet late Thursday. According to an Al Jazeera report, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan accused TikTok of hosting content "unacceptable for Pakistani society." Khan said the platform engaged in "peddling vulgarity" and ordered the ban take effect immediately during a hearing on Thursday. TikTok said in a statement that it "is built upon the foundation of creative expression, with strong safeguards in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform". "In Pakistan, we have grown our local-language moderation team, and have mechanisms to report and remove content in violation of our community guidelines. We look forward to continuing to serve the millions of TikTok users and creators in Pakistan who have found a home for creativity and fun," the company added. TikTok, along with several other Chinese apps, is already banned in India over national security concerns. Last October, the PTA had said that the app failed to block obscene and immoral contents despite being told several times. The app has been installed over 40 million times in Pakistan. (Newser) China's ceremonial parliament has approved a resolution to alter Hong Kong's election law that many see as effectively ending the city's already weakened local democracy. By a vote of 2,895-0, with one abstention, the National Peoples Congress voted to give a pro-Beijing committee power to appoint more of Hong Kongs lawmakers, reducing the proportion of those directly elected, and ensure that only those determined to be truly loyal to Beijing are allowed to run for office, the AP reports. Beijing has made it clear throughout the process that only true "patriots" will be able to sit in Hong Kong's Legislative Council, excluding government critics and anyone holding views that diverge significantly from the program laid out by Beijing. story continues below US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the vote a part of China's "continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong." Repressive measures have already hamstrung the Hong Kong opposition, with almost all of its major figures either in custody or self-exile. Some 47 former legislators and other activists have been arrested on subversion charges that carry a possible maximum penalty of life in prison. The Washington Post editorial board calls the moves "the most consequential political crackdown in China since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989." "The Hong Kong repression has been more gradual and less bloody; there have been no tanks rolling through the streets," they write. "But the effect has been much the same: the crushing of a movement that could have brought peaceful democratic change to China." (Read more Hong Kong stories.) Rolls-Royce plunged to a 4billion loss last year after the collapse in air travel hammered its engines business. The UKs premier engineering firm warned the recovery this year would be even slower than expected after a second wave of the pandemic led to more flight cancellations. But boss Warren East was in fighting mood and said the company was in a position to thrive, not just survive and had built up enough cash to deal with any further setbacks. Engine trouble: Rolls-Royce warned that the recovery this year would be even slower than expected after punishing second waves of the pandemic led to more flight cancellations Rolls makes half its revenue from servicing plane engines. It is paid for the number of hours its engines fly, in what are dubbed power by the hour contracts. But turnover tumbled by 29 per cent to 11.8billion as air traffic was disrupted worldwide. The 4billion loss which compares with a 583million profit in 2019 was worse than analysts had expected. In an effort to get through the crisis, Rolls kicked off a huge restructuring last May that included cutting 9,000 jobs from its 52,000-strong workforce and selling parts of the business worth 2billion. Rolls has also raised 7.3billion which included arranging loans and selling new shares and has access to 9billion. But at its lowest point last year, the Derby-headquartered company admitted it could struggle to survive if the downturn continued. Rolls has been burning through cash, 4billion in total last year, and expects to go through another 2billion in 2021. In an effort to get through the crisis, Rolls kicked off a huge restructuring last May that included cutting 9,000 jobs and selling parts of the business worth 2bn But East yesterday said the 9billion cushion was more than ample to last us if flying doesnt pick up this year or next year, even if theres no recovery from here over the next couple of years. In 2020, Rolls engines flew just 43 per cent of their normal hours. The company has revised down its forecasts for flight hours this year, which the company expects to run at about 55 per cent of 2019 levels. This is down from estimates of 70 per cent in October. And in the same set of forecasts yesterday, Rolls predicted flight hours would be at 80 per cent in 2022. However, the company also warned there was a severe but plausible scenario that they could be 40 per cent in 2021 and 70 per cent in 2022. Rolls said that while it was optimistic about the rollout of vaccine programmes, there were still uncertainties around new, and possibly more deadly, variants of Covid. Air travel is expected to take years to get back to 2019 levels but Rolls is at another disadvantage because it makes engines for bigger planes that fly on long-haul routes. This part of the market is expected to take even longer to recover. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laura Hoy described the results as brutal and said investors could forget about a dividend any time in the near future. Hoy said: No amount of cost-saving and restructuring was enough to offset massive declines in civil aerospace, the groups largest division. Defence was the only bright light, but it makes up less than 30 per cent of overall revenue so its 8 per cent uptick in profits was buried under heavy losses in all of the groups other segments. The companys power by the hour business model also came under fire from analysts yesterday. Jack Winchester, analyst at investment research firm Third Bridge, said: What weve seen over the past year is the inherent fragility of Rolls-Royces business model when you sell engines to customers at a loss, you are very dependent on your aftermarket power by the hour business. East told the Mail that the company had considered other sorts of deals it could strike with customers such as having a minimum usage charge on some contracts. But he said there were no plans to radically change the business model. Away from civil aerospace, Rolls is also trying to establish itself as a leader in building small nuclear reactors and developing green flight technology. Yesterday Rolls announced it had joined forces with Scandinavian carrier Wideroe to launch an all-electric plane by 2026. President Joe Biden declared that he would direct states to make all adult Americans qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1. The Biden administration will ensure that each adult would receive the vaccine by increasing the number of vaccination sites by May 1. COVID-19 Vaccines for All Adults by May 1 According to Biden, the move could help the United States return to a sense of normalcy by Independence Day. In the president's address marking the anniversary of the novel coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, he offered the nation a somber reflection on a year tainted by devastation and dreariness. Along with this, he also provided a renewed sense of hope that a post-pandemic future is soon to come if Americans do their part. A year after the country was brought to a near-standstill by the coronavirus pandemic, the president used his first prime-time address to outline his plan to make all adults vaccine-eligible by May 1 and get the United States "closer to normal" by the fourth of July. Speaking in the White House East Room, the president declared actions to accelerate inoculations. Basically, he used a pair of upcoming dates: May 1, when he will direct the states regarding the immunization, and July 4, when he stated Americans could again celebrate Independence Day in person. The deadlines provided distinct timeframes for worn-out Americans looking for a sign that the worst year in recent memory is receding. The dates also carry an inherent risk if they are not met, reported CNN. Biden is directing the 50 states, territories, and tribal governments. According to Biden in his television address, "That's much earlier than expected.That doesn't mean everyone's going to have that shot immediately. But it means you're able to get in line beginning May 1," reported VOA. Also Read: 4 Former Presidents, Except Trump, Encourages Vaccination The East Room speech came mere hours after Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law. He stated that an "overwhelming percentage" of Americans supported the measure and called it an effort focused on rebuilding the backbone of the US. Biden also remarked that his administration is on track to beat his vow to deliver 100 million COVID-19 vaccination doses by the 60th day of his tenure. With regards to his pledge, Biden said, "When I came into office, you may recall I set a goal, and many of you said it was way over the top. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in people's arms in my first 100 days in office," reported Boston 25 News. He continued, "Tonight, I can say we're not only going to meet that goal we're gonna be beating that goal. We are actually on track to meet the goal of 100 million in arms on my 60th day in office." As more individuals are fully vaccinated, Biden stated that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would update its guidance on travel and attending church worship services. The Biden administration has faced criticism by some for providing limited guidance so far for fully vaccinated individuals. Related Article: COVID-19 Relief Package Provides Families $3,600 per Child @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Since its release on March 11, Jathi Ratnalu has been garnering terrific response from critics and audiences alike. The team including lead actors Naveen Polishetty, Priyadarshi Pulikonda and Rahul Ramakrishna are on cloud nine with the tremendous success of the film and reviews that are overpouring on social media. Well now, fans and followers of the actors are highly elated with the latest review of Jathi Ratnalu that has become the talk of the town. Apparently, the one and only Allu Arjun reviewed the film after watching it on the same day of its release. Watched #JathiRatnalu last night . Congratulations to the whole team. Hilarious movie. I havent laughed soo much in recent years that much. @NaveenPolishety rocked the show with stellar performance. Rise of a new age stunning performer. @eyrahul was brilliant and effortless. Allu Arjun (@alluarjun) March 12, 2021 Congratulating the team, the Stylish Star took to his Twitter space and tweeted, "Watched #JathiRatnalu last night. Congratulations to the whole team. Hilarious movie. I haven't laughed soo much in recent years that much.@NaveenPolishety rocked the show with stellar performance. Rise of a new age stunning performer. @eyrahul was brilliant and effortless.@priyadarshi_i, @fariaabdullah2 and all the artists were very complimenting. Congratulations to all the technicians & nice music by @radhanmusic. My respect to the producers @nagashwin7, @swapnacinema, #priyankacdutt and Dutt garu for their conviction." Further, the Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo actor appreciated the captain of the ship Anudeep KV and wrote, "And last and the most important my respect to the director @anudeepfilm for entertaining everyone. Everybody switch off your brains, watch the movie and have a blast." Well, fans and followers of Allu Arjun are super excited with his latest tweet. Though many took this as an opportunity to request the actor for his upcoming film Pushpa's update, a few were seen recommending him other releases including Sharwanand's Sreekaram and Kannada actor Darshan's Roberrt. Coming back to Jathi Ratnalu, the comedy-drama backed by National Award-winning director Nag Ashwin also features Faria Abdullah, Murali Sharma, Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore, Brahmaji, Naresh and Tanikella Bharani. The Naveen Polishetty-starrer revolves around 3 naive youngsters who are on a quest to find happiness in life post getting released from prison. Talking about the film's business, Jathi Ratnalu has collected Rs 4 crore so far with its theatrical run in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Also Read: Jathi Ratnalu Twitter Review: Audiences Are Completely Impressed With Naveen Polishetty's Comedy Drama Also Read: Jathi Ratnalu Day 1 Box Office Collection: Naveen Polishetty's Film Kickstarts On A Positive Note Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 The dramatic photo and video of a Catholic nun kneeling infront of Myanmar police pleading to spare the life of some children and an end to violence has been circulating in social media platforms Facebook and Instagram for the last two days. Sr. Ann Rose Nu Tawng has been seen wearing her white and black habit with arms spread as if on a crucifix but begging on her knees on the streets of Myitkyina, northern Myanmar to stop shooting the children and instead offers them to take her life. A member of the St. Francis Xavier Congregation, the 45-year-old Tawng said to UCA News that she was working in a clinic run by the church when she saw on the street military personnel attacking on protesters who carried home made shields and wore hard hats. She then went outside the clinic and ran outside to confront the police with the conviction to "give my life for the Church, for the people, and for the nation." "I thought today is the day I will die. I decided to die," she said in an interview with Sky News. Tawng then knelt down and, in separate interviews with the The Guardian and Reuters, told the police she begged them "not to shoot and torture the children" and "not to hurt the protesters, but to treat them kindly like family members". "I told them that they can kill me, I am not standing up until they give their promise that they will not brutally crack down on protesters.," Tawng told Reuters. VIDEO | A nun who went viral in Myanmar during a protest knelt again in front of police officers on March 8 in an attempt to prevent them from shooting the protesters against the military coup. "There's no one to protect the people," says Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng. pic.twitter.com/b9nCaONScl EWTN News (@EWTNews) March 10, 2021 The Christian Post said Tawng was assured by senior officers that they were only clearing the road yet gunfire was immediately heard afterwards and two of the protesters were killed in front of her while several others were injured. "We heard loud gunshots, and saw that a young kid's head had exploded, and there was a river of blood on the street. The children panicked and ran to the front," she narrated, "I couldn't do anything but I was praying for God to save and help the children." According to Reuters, the nun tried to bring to the church clinic some victims but she was blinded by tear gas. The clinic floor then "became a sea of blood" and it made her "feel so sad" because "we need to value life." A week after the military staged a coup that detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi together with 24 high-ranking officials on February 1, Christians in Myanmar have already called out to fellow Christians around the world for prayers in the face of hopelessness they face. Christians then became the target of the military who on February 28 started arresting seminary students and pastors. The series of violence escalated on March 3 when the military staged a string of shootings across various cities of Myanmar that lead to the "bloodiest day" ever in the country as it caused the death of more than 38 people. Terrorist attacks have now been reported to take place in Myanmar targeting a number of religious and ethnic groups whose basic human rights are denied. The Myanmar Christians have called the international community for help in their fight for freedom from the military locally known as the "Tatmadaw," who are opressing the ethnic minorities Kachin Christians along with Christian and Muslim Rohingya. SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd (SBI Card) on Friday said it has received the board's nod to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore by issuing bonds. "The board of directors of the company, at its meeting held today (Friday), has approved raising of funds by way of issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) aggregating to Rs 2,000 crore," it said in a regulatory filing. The company said it will raise the money in one or more tranches over a period of time. Also Read: Ant Group publishes financial self-discipline rules amid Chinese scrutiny A fire has broken out on board a cruise ship docked off the coast of Corfu. Videos showed flames and black smoke billowing from the side of the MSC Lirica around 3.30pm local time on Friday. There were 51 members of the ship's crew on board at the time the fire started, but no injuries were reported. A fire has broken out on board the MSC Lirica as it sat docked off the coast of Corfu on Friday, with smoke billowing from the side of the vessel The ship was not carrying any passengers due to Covid shutdowns and had been idle in the port since January 30, Greek news site Kathimerini reported. The fire is believed to have broken out inside an empty lifeboat on deck six of the ship, a spokesman said, though it is unclear exactly how it started. Fire crews were called and by around 4.30pm appeared to have brought the blaze under control, though the side of the ship was heavily damaged. A spokesman for MSC cruises said the ship has not taken passengers since March last year due to Covid shutdowns. At the time of the fire the ship was in a 'warm layup' - meaning it was docked with a skeleton crew on board to keep the boat maintained. Global evangelist Luis Palau dies from lung cancer at 86 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Luis Palau, the notable preacher and Argentina native, known for leading massive outdoor evangelist gatherings, has died at age 86 after a lengthy battle with cancer. In an email sent to supporters on Thursday, Palaus children explained that he died earlier in the morning, having been recently moved to hospice care. It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that we share with you that Dad passed away early this morning. He died suddenly and very peacefully, just as he had hoped. Mom and the family are doing well, they stated. This is hard news, but Luis is experiencing the beauty of the Lord face to face. Love to you from the family. Well share more news and updates in the days ahead. The Palau family added that while it's too early for details on a memorial service, they plan to have a small, private service here in Portland that will be streamed online in the near future. The family has also launched a memorial website that includes an official obituary and allows people to leave comments in appreciation of the late evangelist. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1934, Palau moved to the United States in 1960 to engage in ministry work, eventually headquartering the Luis Palau Association in Portland, Oregon. Palau was known for gathering large numbers of people for outdoor revival events that include music and preaching, often cooperating with local congregations. In 2015, for example, 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 Portland Mayor Sam Adams and contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman. In 2018, the same year that the autobiographical film "Palau the Movie" was released depicting the evangelist's life story, Palau announced that he had lung cancer. To me, the first thing you do is cry, Palau stated 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." 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. On March 1, Palaus son, Andrew, announced on the Luis Palau Facebook page that his fathers health had worsened and he was being transferred to hospice care. We dont know exactly how much time we have left with Dad, but the end seems near, the son noted in the Facebook announcement. 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. In a message emailed to ministry partners not long before his death, Palau said, "God is good," and he had "no major regrets." "There is nothing better than serving Him and sharing His Good News Gospel," said Palau. "Dont ever forget that truth. God delights in using you. He takes pleasure in your service. He is smiling down on you." Palau is survived by his wife, Patricia, sons Kevin, Keith, Andrew, and Stephen, daughters-in-law Michelle, Gloria, and Wendy, sisters Matilde, Martha, Catalina, Margarita, and Ruth, brother Jorge, and 12 grandchildren. Advertisement If you're in the market for a post-lockdown excursion to somewhere breathtaking - with a little splash of wacky thrown in for good measure - then allow us to point you in the direction of Norway. There you'll find high altitude luxury cabins with views of fjords, a glass igloo, an igloo hotel, a place to stay that's so remote you can only reach it by snowmobile and more panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows than you can shake a Viking helmet at. Views to die for come pretty much as standard throughout. Here we present 17 of Norway's most unique places to stay... Manshausen Manshausen is owned by polar explorer Borge Ousland and features seven sea cabins, a restaurant, library, sauna and hot tub The Manshausen private island cabins have floor-to-ceiling windows to maximise views of the water and surrounding mountains High above the Arctic Circle in Norway, just south of the Lofoten archipelago, is the remote private island resort of Manshausen, which features seven stunning waterfront sea cabins. The cabins have floor-to-ceiling windows to maximise views of the water and surrounding mountains. The complex, which is owned by polar explorer Borge Ousland, also offers a restaurant, library, sauna and hot tub. Guests can take part in activities such as kayaking, scuba diving, biking, hiking and climbing and, of course, Northern Lights-watching in winter. Prices for a cabin with breakfast start from 194pp per night (2,300 krone) based on two people sharing, 30pp per night (350 krone) for under-16s. Birdbox Indulge your nesting instincts with a stay at this Airbnb glamping 'Birdbox', which has views of the epic Forde fjord The listing says that it's a place to 'relax, rejuvenate and unplug' - and guests agree Airbnb reviewer Alan said: 'This offers visitors the chance to lose themselves in wonder' Indulge your nesting instincts with a stay at this Airbnb glamping 'Birdbox' with views of the epic Forde fjord and Blegja mountain range. The listing says that it's a place to 'relax, rejuvenate and unplug' - and guests agree. Airbnb reviewer Alan said: 'This is a celebration of how beautiful Norway is and offers visitors the chance to lose themselves in wonder. This is a place for one or maximum two people - it is just a large bed in a box. But what a place.' A night's stay costs around 200 (2,350 krone). Laagen Laagen is situated an hour's drive from Oslo, in Lagendalen Valley. The cabins offer panoramic views towards the forest and Numedalslagen river Laagen's bedrooms have glass roofs so you can enjoy the view of the starry sky from the comfort of the duvet and pillow Unimpeded views of nature - and the heavens above - come as standard at Laagen. This mini forest resort, which lies about an hour's drive from Oslo, in Lagendalen Valley, has five cabins with floor-to-ceiling windows for panoramic views of the forest and Numedalslagen river - and glass ceilings in the bedrooms for star-gazing from the comfort of your duvet and pillow. Drinking in the views aside, the area offers great possibilities for biking, fishing and hiking in the woods. Plus, the climbing park Hoyt & Lavt (High & Low) is nearby. A night in one of the cabins starts from 322 (3,890 krone). Flokehyttene Panoramic windows don't get much more panoramic than the ones at Flokehyttene, which comprises five cabins built spectacularly into the rocks of a headland Each cabin is 18 square metres (193 square feet) with room for five people and includes a kitchen, living room, fireplace and toilet Panoramic windows don't get much more panoramic than the ones at Flokehyttene. Its five cabins - at the far end of the Ryvarden headland, just north of the city of Haugesund - each have cinema-screen-sized windows that offer jaw-dropping views out over the North Sea. Adding to the fascination of the accommodation is the rugged, eye-catching architecture involved. The cabins are set at various angles amid the rocks of the headland, 'claw[ing] their way into the rock crevices as if waiting for the next wave', as the website says. Each cabin is 18 square metres (193 square feet) with room for five people and includes a kitchen, living room, fireplace and toilet. There is also one larger cabin that has accommodation for 10 people and is accessible for wheelchair users. Stays start from 82 (1,000 krone) per night. The Arctic Hideaway The Arctic Hideaway has four houses, or 'sleeping pods', that can accommodate up to ten people The Arctic Hideaway is located in Fleinvaer, a group of small islands near the town of Bodo One of the rooms at The Arctic Hideaway. One night here starts from 105 (1,250 krone) per person per night, excluding food At The Arctic Hideaway there are no shops, no cars, and no dangerous animals. It's the place to go to learn the art of doing nothing. So says the website for this cluster of four 'sleeping houses' set amid a village that also contains a bathhouse, a cooking and eating house, a studio house with a piano, a sauna and a hang-out zone called the Tower House. The Hideaway is on Fleinvaer, a group of small islands south-west of the town of Bodo, from where speed ferries run to and from the archipelago on a daily basis. It's also possible to arrive by seaplane from Bodo. One night at The Arctic Hideaway starts from 106 per person per night (1,250 krone), excluding food. There is a minimum two-night stay. Trones Eye Trones Eye - a luxury glass igloo surrounded by 75 ancient burial grounds, obelisks and other intriguing cultural artefacts A night in the igloo starts from 204 (2,471 krone) per night, with that fee including luxurious beds and heating 'We promise you a night you will never forget, far from anything you have previously experienced in Norway,' boasts the website for Trones Eye. It's a bold claim, given the company. Still, it is a remarkable piece of accommodation - a luxury glass igloo surrounded by 75 ancient burial grounds, obelisks and other intriguing cultural artefacts with views across Trondheim Fjord. A night in the igloo starts from 204 (2,471 krone) per night, with that fee including luxurious beds, heating and 'everything you need for a comfortable night in the midst of nature and history'. Tungestolen Tungestlen is a series of nine pentagonal cabins located near Luster in Sognefjord by the foot of the Skyttarpiggen mountain The main cabin contains a lounge and a communal dining area. The remaining cabins sleep up to 30 guests and consist of a dormitory and a smaller private unit Tungestlen is a series of nine pentagonal cabins located near Luster in Sognefjord by the foot of the Skyttarpiggen mountain. The cabins have been designed as an 'architectural reaction' to the region's changing weather conditions. The main cabin contains a lounge and a communal dining area. The remaining cabins sleep up to 30 guests and consist of a dormitory and a smaller private unit. Stays can only be booked in the summer season from June to October and start from 19 (225 krone) per night. Woodnest Woodnest comprises two treehouses elevated 32ft (10m) above the ground with stunning views of Hardangerfjord Woodnest is a luxury treehouse experience. Each treehouse has electricity, a small kitchenette, high-speed Wi-Fi, a flushing toilet and shower Looking for a romantic escape with views that'll amaze? Then whisk a loved one away to Woodnest and one of its treetop cabins overlooking the heart-stopping Hardangerfjord. The website for Woodnest, which comprises two treehouses elevated 32ft (10m) above the ground in the beautiful town of Odda, says: 'Woodnest is a luxury treehouse experience: each treehouse has electricity, a small kitchenette, high-speed Wi-Fi, a flushing toilet and shower. Each treehouse is equipped with floor heating to keep you cosy during winter nights.' Stays start from 272 (3,200 krone) per night. The Bolder The Bolder Sky Lodges are located 604 metres (1,981ft) above sea level overlooking the Lysefjord, with views to die for The Bolder Sky Lodge cabins have two double bedrooms, a kitchen, a bath and a dining room (pictured above) Bored of the view? You can always read a book... Prices at Bolder Sky Lodges start at 306 per night The main selling point of The Bolder Sky Lodges? The to-die-for views. The two lodges are located 604 metres (1,981ft) above sea level overlooking the Lysefjord and close to the world-renowned Pulpit Rock. They are built on columns to minimise footprints in the landscape - and alongside a dining room they have two double bedrooms, a kitchen and a bath. Prices start from 306 (3,700 krone) for two per night. Pan Treetop Cabins The Pan Treetop Cabins, in Finnskogen forest in Solorare, are eight metres (26ft) off the ground and have room for six people Guests can simply enjoy the quiet of the forest or take part in a range of activities, including forest yoga and animal safaris Pan Treetop Cabins, situated in Finnskogen forest in Solorare, are ideal for nature lovers of all ages. The two cabins are eight metres (26ft) off the ground and have room for six people, plus a fully equipped kitchen. Guests can simply enjoy the quiet of the forest or take part in a range of activities, including forest yoga, animal safaris, hiking, fishing and climbing. One night starts from 323 (3,900 krone) based on two people sharing. WonderInn Glass Cabin The WonderInn cabin with its glass mirrored walls can be found in the quiet nature reserve of Nordre A one-night stay in the unusual property starts from 345 (4,149 krone). Pictured is one of the bedrooms The cabin claims to be located in an area that is home to 'more fish and bird species than almost anywhere else in the country' This unique cabin with glass mirrored walls can be found in the quiet nature reserve of Nordre - just 25 minutes from Oslo. The WonderInn cabin has two bedrooms that can sleep up to four guests and claims to be located in an area that is home to 'more fish and bird species than almost anywhere else in the country'. A one-night stay in the unusual property starts from 345 (4,149 krone) with the listing stating 'the unique design of the mirrored glass blends into the landscape so you can retreat to comfort and luxury as you watch the world pass by'. Veggli Inn train carriages Inside one of the train carriages at the Veggli Inn. Guest packages, which include accommodation on the train, breakfast and a three-course dinner, start from 149 (1,799 krone) per person Near the Veggli Inn is the disused Numedalsbanen railway line. Guests can rent bizarre bikes and cycle along the tracks A pair of cyclists make their way along the disused Numedalsbanen railway line near the Veggli Inn These quirky converted train carriages are sure to put your holiday on the right track. They can be found at the Veggli Inn in the village of Veggli in southern Norway and can accommodate parties of up to 34 people. Guest packages, which include accommodation on the train, breakfast and a three-course dinner, start from 149 (1,799 krone) per person. Visitors can cycle along the tracks of the nearby disused Numedalsbanen railway line on bike-trolley contraptions (see above). Namsen Salmon and Train Experience The 1960s train carriages of the Namsen Salmon and Train Experience, which are stationed on a bridge that crosses the river in the village of Oysletta The train accommodation has a total of 10 compartments, each with two beds Inside the dining carriage. A night's stay starts from 79 (950 krone) The accommodation is popular with anglers who come to fish for salmon, which is plentiful in the river below These 1960s train carriages, stationed on a bridge that crosses the river in the village of Oysletta, are just the ticket. There are 10 compartments, each with two beds, and a 'sanitary carriage' consisting of toilets, showers, and a small drying room. The accommodation overlooks the Namsen River, which is popular with anglers who come to fish for the plentiful salmon. A night's stay at the Namsen Salmon and Train Experience starts from 79 (950 krone). Kjeungskaer Lighthouse The Kjeungskjaer lighthouse can accommodate 10 overnight guests in its three bedrooms The Kjeungskaer lighthouse dates back to 1880 and is the only octagonal lighthouse in Norway. Located one kilometre out to sea, off Orland in Trondelag county, it can accommodate 10 overnight guests in its three bedrooms and is also equipped with a kitchen. Stays in the lighthouse can only take place in the summer months between May 1 and August 31. One night starts from 166 (2,000 krone) per person and includes the boat ride to and from the property. Canvas Hove Accommodation At Canvas Hove, guests can stay the night in a cocoon suspended in trees. A stay on the site starts from 66 (795 krone) Canvas Hove also offers glamping tents or guests can bring their own tents. The site is close to Raet National Park in southern Norway Guests can take camping to (modest) new heights at Canvas Hove - an accommodation site close to Raet National Park in southern Norway. That's because they can opt to stay the night in a cocoon suspended in trees. Canvas Hove also offers glamping tents or guests can bring their own tents. The campsite is close to the sea, reefs, islets and forests and a night's stay starts from 66 (795 krone). Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel The Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel, which is described as 'the gateway to the true Arctic wilderness'. It is located inside an old radio station Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel can only be reached by snowmobile in the winter. There is a main building as well as two separate buildings, where the bedrooms are housed A two-day winter snowmobile adventure, which includes a snowmobile ride to the property and meals, starts from 954 (11,500 krone) per person The hotel's website explains: 'It looks rough from the outside, but as you enter you will be surprised by an advanced hotel' Located in Norway's remote Svalbard archipelago, the Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel is described as 'the gateway to the true Arctic wilderness'. The hotel itself is located inside an old radio station that dates back to 1933 and can only be reached by snowmobile in the winter. There is a main building as well as two separate buildings, where the bedrooms are housed. The hotel's website explains: 'It looks rough from the outside, but as you enter you will be surprised by an advanced hotel with a modern and inviting interior.' A two-day winter snowmobile adventure to the hotel, which includes a snowmobile ride to the property and meals, starts from 954 (11,500 krone) per person. Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel The Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Alta is the world's northernmost ice hotel. The temperature inside the igloo only reaches minus four degrees Celsius Inside one of the 30 bedrooms at the igloo hotel. Guests keep warm thanks to the natural reindeer-hides, mattresses and sleeping bags in the rooms One night in the igloo starts from 424 (5,120 krone). It boasts an ice bar, an ice chapel and beautiful sculptures The Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Alta is the world's northernmost ice hotel, and is rebuilt each winter season as the summer sun causes it to melt in April. The temperature inside the igloo only reaches minus four degrees Celsius but guests can keep warm thanks to the natural reindeer-hides, mattresses and sleeping bags in the rooms. It has a total of 30 bedrooms as well as an ice bar, ice chapel and beautiful sculptures. One night in the igloo starts from 424 (5,120 krone). Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Austin authorities, seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent city and Travis County officials from enforcing a face mask mandate. Why it matters: The lawsuit claims that Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Mark Escott, interim medical director and health authority for the city, are illegally defying an order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott last week that rescinded a statewide mask mandate. Context: The suit alleges the governor's order "preempts more restrictive local emergency orders." The executive order, which took effect Wednesday, does allow local governments to enforce mask mandates in regions where coronavirus hospitalizations rise above 15% of bed capacity for seven consecutive days. which took effect Wednesday, does allow local governments to enforce mask mandates in regions where coronavirus hospitalizations rise above 15% of bed capacity for seven consecutive days. It also allows businesses to require masks on their properties, and many large chain stores in the state have continued the practice. What they're saying: Paxton threatened to sue local officials who maintain mask mandates on Wednesday, saying in a tweet that "City/county leaders must not be thinking clearly." "Maybe its oxygen deprivation from quintuple-masking. Whatever the case, theyve tried this before. They lost. Travis County and Austin have a few hours to comply with state law or Ill sue them. And theyll lose again," he added. Judge Andy Brown's office told CNN that although the city's mask mandate is valid, it will "not pursue any enforcement actions of this order in deference to the Court." Dehradun: Uttarakhand's new Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Friday (March 12) expanded his Cabinet, inducting 11 ministers who were sworn in by the state governor. Governor Baby Rani Maurya administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers in a simple function at the Raj Bhavan. Earlier on March 10, Chief Minister Rawat had been sworn in all alone. Barring the newly-appointed state BJP president Madan Kaushik, all other state ministers during former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat's term have been made ministers in the new government. Besides the old ministers, four new faces have also been inducted into TS Rawat's council of ministers. Out of 11 newly inducted ministers, eight have been made Cabinet ministers and three state ministers with independent charges. Tirath Singh Rawat meets his guru BC Khanduri A day after taking oath as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand, Tirath Singh Rawat on Thursday met his political mentor and state's former CM, Gen (Retd) BC Khanduri, and sought his blessings. Rawat said Khanduri has been his idol and like a father. Rawat said he has reached this stage only due to what he learnt from Khanduri and imbibed his ideals. Khanduri, however, interrupted him, saying "Imbibing ideals is fine but he has got a lot of flak from him?." To this, the new chief minister replied, "I indeed have often been rapped but one gets rebuked only by a person who considers you one of his own. Kids often get chided." Expressing happiness over Rawat becoming the chief minister, Khanduri described the new CM as a 'dedicated worker' and himself "lucky" that he got in touch with good people like Tirath Singh Rawat after joining politics from the Army. Live TV On Thursday, the new Chief Minister sought the holy Ganga's blessings for the well-being of the people of his state after showering flower petals on seers taking holy dips in the river on the occasion of 'shahi snan' on Maha Shivratri. Rawat said it was the first 'shahi snan' at Haridwar Kumbh and to make it special, all the sages and saints were showered with flowers. The saints looked happy, said the new chief minister, who was welcomed and felicitated by the Ganga Sabha officials with the holy river water, a shawl and the prasad. Rawat said devotees had begun gathering at the riverbank since the night itself to take a holy dip in the Ganges on Mahashivaratri. Rawat said there was no restriction for the public visiting Haridwar Kumbh and none would be imposed, but the people must follow all the anti-Covid guidelines like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. (With Agency Inputs) Friday, March 12, 2021 From The New York Times: The pandemic has worsened economic distress and other factors that lead to such unions. Studies show a clear link between marrying early and dying young. In Nepal, the impact of coronavirus led to many schools' closures. Sapana is a 17-year-old girl who once dreamed to be a government official, now being stuck in her little village with an out-of-work laborer. They fell in love. Soon they married. Now, Sapana has given up her professional dreams, with no plans to return to school. What happened to Sapana in a small town in Nepal is happening to girls across the developing world. Child marriage is increasing at alarming levels in many places, the United Nations says, and the coronavirus pandemic is reversing years of hard-earned progress toward keeping young women in school. Read more here. https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/family_law/2021/03/child-marriage-is-rising-across-the-world.html Kolkata, March 12 : Moving ahead with its probe into the illegal coal smuggling case and the ICore chit fund case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee's sister-in-law Menka Gambhir's father-in-law and husband for questioning. The CBI also summoned Trinamool Congress leader and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the ICore chit fund scam on March 15. A source related to the probe told IANS: "The CBI has summoned Menka Gambhir's father-in-law Pawan Arora and husband Ankush Arora for questioning on March 15 at its office here." The CBI has earlier questioned Abhishek's wife Rujira Banerjee and his sister-in-law Menka in connection with the same case. Abhishek is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinanool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee. The CBI had registered a case against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket Anup Majhi alias Lala, Eastern Coalfield Ltd General Managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL chief of security Tanmay Das, area security inspector Kunustoria Dhananjay Rai, and SSI and security in-charge Kajora area Debashish Mukherjee in November last year. On February 26, the CBI searched the premises of a businessman in Kolkata and on February 19, the agency had also carried out searches at 13 locations in four districts of West Bengal including the premises of coal mafia Jaidev Mondal. On November 28 last year, the CBI had conducted raids at 45 locations in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh in connection with the coal smuggling racket. The agency summoned Trinamool leader Chatterjee in connection with the ICore chit fund scam for questioning on March 15 at its Kolkata office. "If I am called, I will definitely go. I am not involved in any illegal activities," said Chatterjee, who also holds the parliamentary affairs portfolio, adding that he had left a highly lucrative job to join politics and had no greed for money. The central agency had registered a case against the ICore group in 2014 for allegedly raising over Rs 3,000 crore from thousands of investors across Bengal, much like the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund companies. The company had lured customers offering high returns but finally defaulted on promised pay backs. They had also floated many fraudulent schemes and raised money from the market. The CBI in December 2018 had arrested Suman Chattopadhyay, editor of a leading Bengali daily, in connection with the case. The agency has alleged that the ICore group which had allegedly raised over Rs 3,000 crore from people by offering high returns on investments had diverted a portion of these funds to other companies. The agency took over the probe in the matter of the ICore group in 2014 registering an FIR under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating. The case was registered on the basis of a Supreme Court order in 2014 directing the agency to take over all the cases related to chit fund companies probed by the state police. Its directors Anukul Maity and his wife Kanika were arrested by the agency last year. Maity passed away in November last year in hospital after he complained of chest pain while in Odisha's Jharpada jail. The central agency's actions have turned the heat on in poll-bound West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are engaged in a bitter war of words. 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. Counting will take place on May 2. The Howard County school system is hoping to double its summer school enrollment this year for students who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and virtual learning. During the school boards meeting Thursday, district leaders described how the system plans to increase staff, add learning programs and get 25% of its students to enroll in this years summer schooling. The main enrollment additions will be to recovery programs for all grades and tutoring for elementary and middle school students, said Caroline Walker, the systems executive director for program innovation. Programs will vary in modality from in-person, hybrid and virtual learning. Were very concerned about COVID loss and the needs of our students who may have not benefited by being virtual in the last school year, Walker said. We know thats not all of our students, but we know theres a significant population that would benefit from additional support. With the impacts of the pandemic and virtual learning setting some students back, Howard schools Superintendent Michael Martirano said its crucial for the system to get as many students as it can to enroll in the four- to six-week summer school programs. In the recovery programs, which will be half days, additional instructional time will be added. The curriculum will also be revised to focus on the most essential instructional components from the previous grade, Martirano said. To increase enrollment in summer programs, Walker said the district will gather data based on school assessments and invite students who are behind. During a normal summer, the district has a few thousand students in a couple different summer school programs. To increase that number to more than 12,000 students, Walker said a key factor is funding from the states Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Fund. That money will drastically decrease, or eliminate, the cost of some programs for families, like ones for academic intervention, special education and tutoring. However, other programs, like enrichment and academic programs, will continue to charge fees. Story continues Walker said transportation will be available for the in-person recovery programs and that more information will be provided to parents and educators in the coming weeks. This initiative wont be easy, though, and Martirano said the massive hurdle of staffing could be the biggest impediment. He also said he recognizes that many educators are burned out from the past year of virtual and now hybrid learning and could be unlikely to want to teach summer school. The major piece of this is staffing, he said. Weve set a high target. Thats going to create an incredible need for additional workforce. Before the pandemic, the system had some of its own educators work the summer school programs but also pulled from surrounding counties to fill in. This year, Martirano said most other systems are either attempting to ramp up programs or are also likely to see summer staff shortages themselves. We need to move swiftly and work creatively to be ahead of the curve in offering meaningful incentives to encourage teachers to participate both those working in our system and in other counties, he said. We have reached out to [the teachers union] for support with this effort. Heres a preliminary list of this years summer school offerings: Academic recovery programs Academic intervention: For elementary and middle school students who are below grade level in reading and/or math. Innovative pathways: For high school students to catch up on credits. Small group tutoring: For elementary and middle school students to provide extra support for students also attending academic intervention. Extended school year (ESY) School-age services: For special education students in all grades who are determined by the districts Individualized Education Plan team. Early intervention services: For children ages 3 through 5 to receive special education services. Enrichment Black Student Achievement Program summer institute: For students in kindergarten through ninth grade. Gifted and Talented summer institute: For G/T elementary and middle school students. STARTALK Chinese language summer camp: A grant-funded, 14-day program for 90 students in third through eighth grade. Maren Morris repeated her call for more diversity in country music. The 30-year-old made her views known on The Ellen DeGeneres Show which survived its own scandal last year over the alleged mistreatment of staff. During her interview this week, Maren referred to black artists who 'adore' her genre but 'don't feel like the door is open for them even a crack.' Using her voice: Maren Morris repeated her call for more diversity in country music; she is pictured this week at rehearsals for the upcoming Grammy Awards Her interview comes shortly after Gabrielle Woodland, the black director of Maren's Better Than We Found It music video, got nominated for an ACM Award. Maren gushed that 'I'm just so proud of Gabby. She's so talented and this was actually her first official music video to direct.' She added that 'for me someone kind of choosing her, out of someone I haven't worked with before, and it leading to an ACM nomination for her - I mean it's just crazy, you know, these steps that we take that we can do as artists or as entertainers that really help somebody's like resume.' When it came to her public statements about diversity she said that she is unconcerned about any online trolling she may get. Unbothered: When it came to her public statements about diversity she said that she is unconcerned about any online trolling she may get Talk show circuit: The 30-year-old made her views known on The Ellen DeGeneres Show which survived its own scandal last year over the alleged mistreatment of staff Her view: During her interview this week Maren referred to black artists who 'adore' her genre but 'don't feel like the door is open for them even a crack' 'Well, I mean and I'm a white woman in country music,' said Maren Morris, who won best female vocalist at the ACM Awards last year. 'I mean I already sort of have this leg up, and even though there is a huge disparity between men and women in our genre, there is even more of a disparity between white women and black women trying to be in country music,' she argued. 'And there's so many black women and men who adore country music and don't feel like the door is open for them even a crack.' Maren said she has 'been doing so much of my own homework the last couple of years and especially, you know, since George Floyd I just feel like country music as a genre - we all have so much room to grow, myself included.' Looking ahead: The Arlington, Texas native expressed her optimism that 'country music definitely is stepping up to the plate slowly but surely' Taking it in stride: Maren said that 'you're always gonna have people that wanna come for you if you say something that's like unpopular to them or their groupthink for the second' The Arlington, Texas native expressed her optimism that 'country music definitely is stepping up to the plate slowly but surely.' Maren said that 'you're always gonna have people that wanna come for you if you say something that's like unpopular to them or their groupthink for the second.' She noted: 'And for me it's just like, you know what? I have to think about my son and the people in my circle going forward who I write with, who I employ, and think, you know, am I making room for everybody?' 'I'm just so proud of Gabby': Her interview comes shortly after Gabrielle Woodland, the black director of Maren's Better Than We Found It music video, got nominated for an ACM Award Maren added: 'I don't care if, you know, someone on TikTok thinks I suck. Like, it's not really my issue. I think I just wanna exist in a genre that is working to be better.' As the interview went on she praised country star TJ Osborne, 'one of my first friends I made when I moved to Nashville eight years ago,' for coming out as gay last month. 'Oh my gosh, and I hope that him having the bravery to even do that has made a few more people that love country music that are gay feel like they have a home there too,' said Maren to Ellen, who has been married to Portia De Rossi since 2008. Three different restaurants and bars can be viewed from the second floor of C.O.A.T.I, an upscale food court on S. Tejon St. Luchals, a soul food seafood restaurant; Anju-Korean Street Eats; and Rival Bar-Curious Cocktails (left to right) were serving a bustling crowd on Sunday, March 7, 2021. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette) YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has complications caused by coronavirus, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Presidents Office. ''The President has complications caused by coronavirus and now he is undergoing medical examination at Astghik Medical Center'', a press service official said. Sarkissian tested positive for the coronavirus days after travelling to the United Kingdom in late December to spend New Years Eve with his sons and grandchildren living in London. The presidential office announced on January 13 that Sarkissian was hospitalized there after developing double pneumonia and showing other symptoms of COVID-19. It said on January 26 that he has been discharged from hospital but has not yet fully recovered from the disease. Nandigram: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari will file his nomination papers from Nandigram on Friday. Adhikari, who will be taking on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is expected to be accompanied by Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan and actor Mithun Chakraborty. The battle for Nandigram has become a prestige issue for Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari and the presence of top Modi government ministers during the latters nomination filing further underlines the significance attached to the Nandigram seat. It may be noted that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already filed her nomination from the Nandigram seat. Interestingly, Adhikari has also vowed to defeat Banerjee with a margin of 50,000 votes, or else, quit politics. The BJP leader visited a temple of Lord Shiva in Nandigram on Thursday and offered puja on the occasion of Mahashivratri. Adhikari visited the Sonachura Trilokeshwar Temple in the area amid a large number of devotees who gathered there to offer puja on the occasion. A large number of BJP supporters were also present as Adhikari, the party's candidate from Nandigram, offered puja at the temple. As a microphone was handed to him, he chanted 'Har Har Mahadev' and 'Bhole Baba Par Karega' amid loud cheers from his supporters. However, he refrained from making any political comments. Adhikari is fighting a high-stakes election against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram - the battle for which is being watched closely. Banerjee, who is the TMC candidate from the seat, visited one temple after another over the last two days during her election campaign in the area, which had to be cut short after she was injured in an alleged attack. Elections for the 294-seater West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting March 27. The battle for Nandigram will take place in the second phase. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. While the BJP has already claimed that it will come to power with over 200 seats, Trinamool Congress (TMC) has claimed that BJP will not be able to cross the double-digit mark. Live TV The owners of a former Christian reform school for girls in southwest Missouri are charged with more than 100 counts alleging they sexually, emotionally and physically abused girls for years. Sixteen former residents of the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County say Boyd and Stephanie Householder frequently restrained them with handcuffs, whipped them with belts, taped their mouths shut and struck or punched them for minor offenses such as drinking from a spring or singing. Several of the charges allege Boyd Householder, 71, sexually abused the girls. Attorney General Eric Schmitt said during a news conference Wednesday that the alleged victims also said they were forced to shovel manure for hours on end, stand with their noses against a wall while handcuffed for days at a time, and were locked in rooms without beds or lights. There are no words that I can say here today to describe the mixture of great sadness, horror, disgust and sympathy that I feel about these reports of cruel and almost unbelievable abuse and neglect, Schmitt said. We intend to do everything in the power of this office to get justice for these victims. Schmitt said Boyd Householder also told at least seven girls the proper way to commit suicide, and hes accused of forcing a girl to drink at least 220 ounces of water, run a mile until she vomited and then run again. The Householders were charged Tuesday and are being held in the Vernon County Jail. Boyd Householder faces 79 felony and one misdemeanor charge, including several counts of statutory rape, statutory sodomy, and abuse and neglect of a child. Stephanie Householder, 55, was charged with 22 counts, most involving abuse or neglect of a child. Her charges do not involve sexual contact. Stephanie Householder is accused of restraining students and allowing her husband to have continued contact with several girls after he physically assaulted them. With 16 victims so far, we believe this to be one of the most widespread cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse practiced against young girls in Missouri history, Schmitt said. He declined to say the ages of the victims who have come forward, describing them only as girls and young women. Circle of Hope closed in August after investigators removed about two dozen girls. Many of the girls were sent to the home from out-of-state. The charges came after an investigation by law enforcement in Cedar County and elsewhere that started when former residents of the home made allegations against the Householders on social media. Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither asked Schmitts office to help with the investigation in mid-November. Online court records do not name attorneys for the Householders. The Householders told The Kansas City Star in September that the allegations were lies prompted by their estranged daughter and girls who lived at the ranch who have not been successful in life. Theyre angry and theyre bitter, and they want to blame somebody, said Stephanie Householder. They feel like theyre victims, and they just want to take their anger out on somebody. Schmitt said the investigation continues and urged anyone who was a victim or knows of further cases of abuse to contact his office. Under Missouri law, faith-based boarding schools such as Circle of Hope are not subject to state oversight and are not required to be licensed. Circle of Hope described itself as a school that used the Bible to teach the girls proper behavior. After The Star published an investigation of faith-based homes last year, Democratic Rep. Keri Ingle, of Lees Summit, and Republican Rep. Rudy Veit, of Wardsville, introduced identical bills that would require some regulation of these unlicensed schools. The Missouri House Committee on Children and Families unanimously passed those measures last month and they are expected to be considered by the full House. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Abuse Molestation K 12 Missouri Advertisement Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are demanding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resign - becoming the most powerful Democratic voices to call for him to leave office in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Schumer and Gillibrand, who serve as New York's two sitting senators, released a joint statement Friday afternoon, which read: 'Confronting and overcoming the Covid crisis requires sure and steady leadership. We commend the brave actions of the individuals who have come forward with serious allegations of abuse and misconduct. 'Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York. Governor Cuomo should resign.' Both had previously said an independent investigation into the allegations against Cuomo was essential. Shortly after the Senators' joint statement was released, House Intelligence Chairman and California Rep. Adam Schiff also urged Cuomo to resign. 'I don't think he can carry on,' Schiff told Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Meanwhile, New York State Comprtoller Tom DiNapooli tweeted: 'These allegations are extremely disturbing and are impairing Governor Cuomos ability to lead, as our state struggles through a crisis and must make critical budget decisions. It is time for him to step down.' Earlier on Friday, New York representatives Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined 12 of the 17 other New York Congressional Democrats also demanding that the Governor step aside. Pressure is growing on Cuomo as a seventh woman alleged sexual harassment in a first-person essay published in New York magazine on Friday. Additionally, 30 women spoke to the same publication claiming they experienced bullying while working for the Governor. But a defiant Cuomo told reporters in a conference call Friday that he will not bow to 'cancel culture' by tending his resignation. He then hit out at colleagues who are calling for him to go. 'Politicians take positions for all sorts of reasons including political expediency and bowing to pressure,' he stated. 'People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth... let the review proceed. 'I am not going to resign. I was not elected by the politicians. I was elected by the people - part of this is that I am not part of the political club and you know what, I'm proud of it.' On Friday evening, Cuomo was seen looking strained as he paced up and down outside the Governor's Mansion in Albany with his daughter, Mariah. At one point, the Governor draped a blanket over his shoulders as he spoke into the phone while sipping from a bottle of Saratoga Springs water. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are demanding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resign - becoming the most powerful Democratic voices yet to call for him to leave office in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Cuomo is pictured outside the Governor's Mansion in Albany with his daughter on Friday The Governor draped a blanket around his shoulders and appeared to be in a downcast mood as he was spotted outside his residence Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called Friday on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign, adding the most powerful Democratic voices yet to calls for the governor to leave office in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment and groping Cuomo was pictured pacing with his daughter, Mariah, as he took a phone call on Friday evening Cuomo was seen clutching a bottle of Saratoga Springs water as he spoke on the phone. His dog, Captain, was also seen In the same conference call with the reporters on Friday, Cuomo stated: 'Women have a right to come forward and be heard and I encourage that but I also want to be clear - there is still a question of the truth. 'I did not do what has been alleged. Period. I won't speculate about people's possible motives, but I can tell you as a former Attorney General, who's gone through this situation many times, there are often many motivations for making an allegation. 'That is why you need to know the facts before you make a decision.' He went on to make his case for why he should stay in office, insisting he was the man for the job because he'd been in the public eye 'his entire life' as the son of former NY Governor Mario Cuomo. 'The people have known me for 40 years; elected me AG, governor 3 times, I've been in the public eye my entire life. 'My entire life, I have been under public scrutiny since I was 23. New Yorkers know me.. I am going to focus on my job because we have real challenges. People say avoid distractions. I am going to avoid distractions and focus on my job - I have to rebuild the state.' On Friday, Cuomo also seemed to suggest that he'd had consensual sexual relationships with some of the women after emphatically denying that he had 'abused, harassed or assaulted' any of them On Friday, Cuomo insisted again - as he did last week - that he never touched anyone inappropriately but accepted that he may have felt people feel 'uncomfortable' while taking photographs with them New York representatives Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday issued statements demanding governor Andrew Cuomo to resign amid sexual harassment claims AOC also released a statement to Twitter after calling for his resignation. 14 of the 17 New York Democrats in Congress are now demanding Cuomo stand down During questions, Cuomo insisted again - as he did last week - that he never touched anyone inappropriately but accepted that he may have felt people feel 'uncomfortable' while taking photographs with them. Cuomo also seemed to suggest that he'd had consensual sexual relationships with some of the women after emphatically denying that he had 'abused, harassed or assaulted' any of them. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez released a statement on Friday which read: 'After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney General's investigation finding the Governor's admin hid nursing home data from the legislature & public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign.' On Friday, Cuomo's seventh accuser, Jessia Bakeman, claimed she endured unwanted touching and humiliating comments while covering his administration as a journalist. The other group of women also spoke to New York Magazine in a detailed account of the allegedly abusive environment that the governor's aides are subjected to. It included multiple women who claim that they were led to take anti-depressants and go to therapy for the first time in their lives after the atmosphere created by Cuomo and some of his senior aides took a drastic toll on their mental health. One accuser revealed she had even called a suicide hotline. A current New York state senator also spoke about the alleged intimidation tactics and power plays used by the governor, including an incident in which Cuomo kissed her on the head in front on her fiance and asked if he was jealous. The claims made on Friday added to the allegations made by six women most of whom were former aides against the governor since December. Jessica Bakeman claimed in a first-person article for New York Magazine that she was sexually harassed by Cuomo on several occassions since the start of her journalism career in 2012 MEMBERS OF THE NY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CALLING FOR CUOMO'S RESIGNATION Issuing statements Friday: Rep. Jerry Nadler Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Rep. Jamaal Bowman Rep. Mondaire Jones Rep. Yvette Clarke Rep. Adriano Espaillat Rep. Carolyn Maloney Rep. Grace Meng Rep. Nydia M. Velazques Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Rep. Antonio Delgado Rep. Brian Higgins Rep. Paul Tonko Issued statement last week: 14. Rep. Kathleen Rice Advertisement Bakeman - Cuomo's seventh accuser - detailed inappropiate touching by the governor in an essay penned for New York magazine. 'He took my hand, as if to shake it, then refused to let go,' Bakeman wrote of an interaction with Cuomo as she said goodnight at a holiday party in 2014 when she was only 25 years old. 'He put his other arm around my back, his hand on my waist, and held me firmly in place while indicating to a photographer he wanted us to pose for a picture.' At the time Bakeman had been working for what is now Politico New York and claimed that red flags went up as it is her 'job was to analyze and scrutinize him'. 'I didn't want a photo of him with his hands on my body and a smile on my face,' she wrote. 'But I made the reflexive assessment that most women and marginalized people know instinctively, the calculation about risk and power and self-preservation. I knew it would be far easier to smile for the brief moment it takes to snap a picture than to challenge one of the most powerful men in the country.' The reporter, who now works in Florida, claimed that Cuomo 'never let me forget I was a woman' as she also alleged that he made frequent attempts to humiliated her, including calling our her purple phone instead of answering her question during a press gaggle. 'Cuomo seemed to think the fact that I had the audacity to speak over a man was hilarious. With him, these exchanges were always meant to be a public humiliation,' she said. Yet, Bakeman also claimed that she did not believe Cuomo ever wanted to have sex with her, and that it was instead about 'power'. 'He wanted me to know that he could take my dignity away at any moment with an inappropriate comment or a hand on my waist,' she states. 'He wanted me to know that I was powerless, that I was small and weak, that I did not deserve what relative power I had: a platform to hold him accountable for his words and actions. 'He wanted me to know that he could take my dignity away at any moment with an inappropriate comment or a hand on my waist.' 'The way he bullies and demeans women is different. He uses touching and sexual innuendo to stoke fear in us. That is the textbook definition of sexual harassment,' she added. Governor Cuomo (pictured) continued to resist calls for him to resign on Friday What happens if Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns from office? If Cuomo resigns Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul (pictured) would take over As of Friday afternoon, 14 out of 19 of New York's congressional Democrats have called for Governor Andrew Cuomo's resignation. They are joined by all Democrats in the NY State Senate and by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo on Friday refused to accept that he should resign despite the mounting pressure. If he resigns Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul would take over. She would finish Cuomo's term until the next scheduled gubernatorial election in 2022. Hochul is a Democrat who has served since 2015 and was a NY representative for New York's 26th congressional district from 2011 to 2013. She backed an investigation into allegations against Cuomo last month. 'Everyone deserves to have their voice heard and to be taken seriously. I support an independent review,' she said. The last time a governor resigned was in early 2008. Gov. Eliot Spitzer left office after he admitted to having extramarital affairs with sex workers. When Spitzer stepped down, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson took over until 2010. Cuomo, then Attorney General, won that election to take over from Paterson. To date, a lieutenant governor has stepped in to carry out a gubernatorial term in New York on eight occassions, the first one taking place in 1817. LG Hochul would also take over if Cuomo is impeached. New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie authorized its Judiciary Committee to start an impeachment investigation into Cuomo Thursday. The last time a NY governor was impeached was in 1913. The process in New York is very similar to the impeachment procedure in Congress. A simple majority in the state Assembly is required to impeach a governor. It then goes to the state impeachment court. A two-thirds majority of the state Senate and the justices of the New York Court of Appeals would be required to convict Cuomo and remove him from office. The lieutenant governor takes over as acting governor while the trial plays out. Advertisement Meanwhile, Cuomo's fourth accuser, Ana Liss, 35, also spoke to New York Magazine as she revealed how her treatment in the office led her to believe 'I was going crazy'. Liss said that she 'started pursuing mental-health services when I was there because I thought I was going crazy. My parents thought I was going nuts'. 'I was angry and crying all the time, and I went on Lexapro,' she added. 'I did call in to a suicide hotline because I felt like such a friggin' nobody.' She had previously told the Wall Street Journal that she had started drinking heavily while working with Cuomo's administration before asking to be moved to another office. And she revealed on Thursday that she was among the former aides to receive an allegedly intimidating phone call from top Cuomo aides in December after first accuser Lindsey Boylan came forward. In her first claims earlier this month she said that the governor asked her if she had a boyfriend, touched her on the lower back during an event reception and kissed her on the hand before she asked to move from his office. 'I felt gross, like I was just an ornament,' Liss said of requests for her to dress up while in the office. She added that had 'never felt more depleted by the male gaze'. 'Melissa DeRosa [Cuomo's top aide] had Louboutins, and there were legs everywhere, and I just felt stupid,' Liss said. 'I was living in a place that was full of people who were mean and predatory. It ground me down to the lowest point of my life, like I was a piece of nothing and my career was going nowhere.' Cuomo's fourth accuser, Ana Liss, 35, (pictured above) also spoke to New York Magazine as she revealed how her treatment in the office led her to believe 'I was going crazy' The current New York Attorney General Letitia James is currently investigating Cuomo over the women's complaints and over his handling of th data regarding nursing home deaths from COVID-19. The new calls for his resignation come a day after New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he had authorized its Judiciary Committee to start an impeachment investigation into sexual misconduct allegations that six women have made against Cuomo. The panel's investigation will run parallel to one being led by AG Letitia James. The mounting scandals have also left Cuomo in a weakened position during negotiations over the state budget, which is due on April 1. Cuomo has asked the public to await the results of that investigation before making judgment. The third-term governor, who took office in 2011, has pointed to his reelections as indication of strong statewide support, which was bolstered last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also touted his administration's passage of liberal goals such as same-sex marriage as evidence that his hard-nosed approach to politics works. protestor sits outside the New York State Capitol on Friday, following allegations that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed young women IN a precedent-setting ruling, the Speaker of the Manitoba legislature has found that an NDP MLAs privileges were violated when a senior civil servant filed a respectful workplace complaint against him last year. IN a precedent-setting ruling, the Speaker of the Manitoba legislature has found that an NDP MLAs privileges were violated when a senior civil servant filed a respectful workplace complaint against him last year. Adrien Sala complained to Speaker Myrna Driedger last December that Paul Beauregard, who was treasury board secretary at the time, had used the complaint to intimidate him and prevent him from asking questions in the legislature. Sala had alleged that Beauregard had improperly directed Manitoba Hydro on a number of business issues, including one in which Bell MTS wound up receiving a $37-million contract extension to manage networking services at government offices across the province. Hydro had expressed interest in bidding on the contract. In her six-page ruling Thursday, Driedger ruled that Sala had a case, although she expressed dismay that the MLA had revealed the existence of the harassment complaint. Citing a Quebec ruling in 2014, Driedger said, "it is the essence of parliamentary institutions to be a place of debate and exchange, and it will never tolerate that a member be subjected to threats or intimidation." She said a members privileges inside the legislative chamber "take constitutional precedence over any other process or complaint raised outside of this place." "That means that having a respectful workplace complaint raised against a member does not supersede a members right to ask questions or speak on any topic in this house." Speaking to reporters afterwards, Sala said the ruling validates the NDPs contention that the government abused a harassment complaints process designed to protect the vulnerable "for the purpose of shutting us down from asking questions" in the legislature and "ultimately doing our jobs." He said the NDP had been trying to point out government interference in the operations of Manitoba Hydro. The ruling is important for all MLAs, Sala said. "It doesnt matter what side of the aisle you fall on. We want to know that our privileges as MLAs are respected, and that were able to do our jobs free from intimidation, free from harassment. And this result confirms that ultimately, in doing my job, in seeking to ask tough questions of this government, that those privileges that all of us have as MLAs were breached." Government house leader Kelvin Goertzen said he understood the parliamentary reasons behind the Speakers ruling, but he was disappointed with the result. "I think of this as a disappointing day for public servants," he said. Beauregards harassment complaint was upheld by an investigator reporting to the legislative assembly, Goertzen noted. "The victim (Beauregard) has become accused of being something other than the victim. And that has to send a bit of a chill throughout the public service," Goertzen said. "The public service has to know that members of the legislature are not going to abuse parliamentary privilege to make unfounded and untrue allegations," he said. Last month, a private public relations company, acting on behalf of Beauregard, notified the media that Sala, the NDPs Hydro critic, was found to have breached the legislative assemblys workplace policy. The PR firm, which provided a summary of the findings of "an expert, independent investigator," said Sala had breached the policy for "disseminating false or alternatively misleading information, engaging in a repeated pattern of harassment and bullying and a severe form of disrespectful behaviour, as well as engaging in repeated humiliation and intimidation causing lasting, harmful adverse effects on his physical and psychological well-being." The investigators full report has never been released. Beauregard could not immediately be reached for comment late Thursday. A message sent to his government account was met with an automatic reply that said he was currently out of the office without access to email. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Astronomers have painted their best picture yet of an RV Tauri variable, a rare type of stellar binary where two stars - one approaching the end of its life - orbit within a sprawling disk of dust. Their 130-year dataset spans the widest range of light yet collected for one of these systems, from radio to X-rays. "There are only about 300 known RV Tauri variables in the Milky Way galaxy," said Laura Vega, a recent doctoral recipient at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. "We focused our study on the second brightest, named U Monocerotis, which is now the first of these systems from which X-rays have been detected." A paper describing the findings, led by Vega, was published in The Astrophysical Journal. The system, called U Mon for short, lies around 3,600 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. Its two stars circle each other about every six and a half years on an orbit tipped about 75 degrees from our perspective. The primary star, an elderly yellow supergiant, has around twice the Sun's mass but has billowed to 100 times the Sun's size. A tug of war between pressure and temperature in its atmosphere causes it to regularly expand and contract, and these pulsations create predictable brightness changes with alternating deep and shallow dips in light - a hallmark of RV Tauri systems. Scientists know less about the companion star, but they think it's of similar mass and much younger than the primary. The cool disk around both stars is composed of gas and dust ejected by the primary star as it evolved. Using radio observations from the Submillimeter Array on Maunakea, Hawai'i, Vega's team estimated that the disk is around 51 billion miles (82 billion kilometers) across. The binary orbits inside a central gap that the scientists think is comparable to the distance between the two stars at their maximum separation, when they're about 540 million miles (870 million kilometers) apart. When the stars are farthest from each other, they're roughly aligned with our line of sight. The disk partially obscures the primary and creates another predictable fluctuation in the system's light. Vega and her colleagues think this is when one or both stars interact with the disk's inner edge, siphoning off streams of gas and dust. They suggest that the companion star funnels the gas into its own disk, which heats up and generates an X-ray-emitting outflow of gas. This model could explain X-rays detected in 2016 by the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite. "The XMM observations make U Mon the first RV Tauri variable detected in X-rays," said Kim Weaver, the XMM U.S. project scientist and an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It's exciting to see ground- and space-based multiwavelength measurements come together to give us new insights into a long-studied system." In their analysis of U Mon, Vega's team also incorporated 130 years of visible light observations. The earliest available measurement of the system, collected on Dec. 25, 1888, came from the archives of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), an international network of amateur and professional astronomers headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. AAVSO provided additional historical measurements ranging from the mid-1940s to the present. The researchers also used archived images cataloged by the Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard (DASCH), a program at the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge dedicated to digitizing astronomical images from glass photographic plates made by ground-based telescopes between the 1880s and 1990s. U Mon's light varies both because the primary star pulsates and because the disk partially obscures it every 6.5 years or so. The combined AAVSO and DASCH data allowed Vega and her colleagues to spot an even longer cycle, where the system's brightness rises and falls about every 60 years. They think a warp or clump in the disk, located about as far from the binary as Neptune is from the Sun, causes this extra variation as it orbits. Vega completed her analysis of the U Mon system as a NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellow, a program funded by the NASA Office of STEM Engagement's Minority University Research and Education Project. "For her doctoral dissertation, Laura used this historical dataset to detect a characteristic that would otherwise appear only once in an astronomer's career," said co-author Rodolfo Montez Jr., an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, also in Cambridge. "It's a testament to how our knowledge of the universe builds over time." Co-author Keivan Stassun, an expert in star formation and Vega's doctoral advisor at Vanderbilt, notes that this evolved system has many features and behaviors in common with newly formed binaries. Both are embedded in disks of gas and dust, pull material from those disks, and produce outflows of gas. And in both cases, the disks can form warps or clumps. In young binaries, those might signal the beginnings of planet formation. "We still have questions about the feature in U Mon's disk, which may be answered by future radio observations," Stassun said. "But otherwise, many of the same characteristics are there. It's fascinating how closely these two binary life stages mirror each other." ### By Jeanette Kazmierczak NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Britain is preparing for tens of thousands of Hong Kong citizens to apply for special visas to settle in the UK after the government launched a new scheme offering fast-track citizenship to residents of the former British colony. Britains move, in response to Chinas crackdown on basic freedoms SUV EV MMI The German carmaker has promised to release 12 fully electric e-tron models by 2025. It all started with the mid-size e-tronand its Sportback version, followed by the spectacular e-tron GT.Next in line is the Q4 e-tron, which will be available in standard and Sportback guises. These new electric SUVs will compete for supremacy in the compact luxury SUV segment with the Tesla Model Y, BMW iX3 and the like.Built on Volkswagen Groups versatile MEB platform shared with the VW ID.3, ID.4 or Skoda Enyaq models, the Q4 e-tron will be Audis most affordableto date. Still, that doesnt mean the company will make any compromises in terms of performance, luxury, or comfort, as the recently revealed interior suggests.Many studies have shown that the main reason people buy SUVs is the high level of comfort these vehicles offer, and the Q4 e-tron should make no exception. The doors are large and open wide enough to allow the driver and passages to hop aboard easily.Once inside, even those hardest to please among us will be impressed by the high-quality cabin. Because this is an EV and the battery pack is part of the chassis, there is a lot of interior room for both front and rear occupants. Audi states that the compact Q4 e-tron offers what you would normally find inside a larger, conventional SUV in terms of spaciousness.Drivers are treated to a brand-new heated steering wheel that features a double-spoke design and touch surfaces with haptic feedback that replace physical buttons. Its available in different versions, with the range-topping unit offering paddles or coasting recuperation and a two-part trim on the spokes.Behind it, every Q4 e-tron boasts a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster that can be operated using the steering wheel touch surfaces. The optional Audi virtual cockpit and virtual cockpit plus packages add more customization options as well as navigation and infotainment control integration.The standard 10.1-inch touchscreen located in the central console has a resolution of 1,540x720 pixels and can be used to control theinfotainment system and several comfort functions. Additionally, a bigger, 11.6-inch display with a 1,764x824 resolution is available.Another cutting-edge feature is the augmented reality head-up display. It projects relevant information on the windshield on two separate levels and functions similarly to the one in the ID.3 and ID.4 According to Audi, the Q4 e-tron's front seats represent the pinnacle of safety technology. In case of a side-impact, the center airbag expands from the right, strengthening the drivers seat. Additionally, the side airbags ensure that the front occupants do not collide with each other.The seats are offered in basic or sport versions, with heating, power adjustment, and lumbar support being optionally available. To maximize legroom, the second row is positioned approximately 2.8 inches (7 cm) higher than the front seats, yet there is ample headroom even for tall passengers.Customers can choose between black, steel gray, Santos brown, or pergament beige in terms of interior colors. Five packages are available to customize the cabin of the basic Q4 e-tron further, while another four are offered for the S line models.While Audi didnt reveal what upholstery materials will be available on the standard models, they detailed what S-line customers can expect. Those who prefer traditional materials can choose between leather combined with artificial leather or a premium Nappa leather upholstery.There are also a couple of eco-friendly variants to choose from. The first is called Dinamica and consists of a combination of artificial leather and a microfiber material that looks and feels like suede, but its partially made from recycled polyester.The second eco-friendly option is called Puls. Looking more like conventional cloth, it also comes in a combination of artificial leather and a textile sourced from recycled PET bottles.The SUV offers many storage compartments that add up to a total volume of 0.9 cu ft (24.8 liters). Those include a 0.15-cu ft (4.4-liter) compartment integrated into the central console next to a couple of cup holders. It comes with a cover and two USB Type-C ports. Optionally, another two can be added, as well as Audis phone box, which connects the device to the vehicles antenna and provides wireless charging.All four doors are fitted with ingenious bottle holders located far up in the front section of the armrest so they can be easily accessible.As for the cargo compartment, it provides 18.4 cu ft (520 liters) of space for your gear. When folding down the rear seats, the volume increases to 52.6 cu ft (1,490 liters) which is a good value for a compact vehicle.Developed as an entry-level electric luxury SUV, the Audi Q4 e-tron offers an interior that delivers much more than an entry-level experience, even for the luxury segment. It's expected to arrive in dealerships later this year in both standard and Sportback versions. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form One of the things that we love about both Amy and Kirbys work in general, but also this series in particular, is that its bringing it to the surface, so that hopefully people will begin to talk more openly about it ... to then shift the cultures perspective on it and hopefully have an impact on its prevalence in culture and ... families. What we keep finding in conversations with people after they have been watching is, how prevalent incest really is and that kind of abuse of children. It is just something that is a difficult topic to talk about, but when it can be spoken about within the framework of this story, in some ways it provides a safe beginning to basically bring it out of the shadows, and by doing that, have an impact on how much this goes on and how deeply it affects the victims. Community Reporter Erica Welch is the special sections editor for The News-Review, mother of two and a native of Roseburg. She is an alumni of RHS, UCC and Western Oregon University. Contact her at ewelch@nrtoday.com or 541-957-4218. LOCK HAVEN The city of Lock Haven has paid $55,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former police officer who claimed he was wrongly fired in 2018 in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Bryan Burger will receive $36,267 and his lawyer $18,733 according to the agreement terms, which PennLive obtained through a right-to-know request. City Manager Gregory Wilson Friday said the entire $55,000 is covered by insurance. Non-monetary terms include no admission of liability by either party and Burger agreeing not to seek employment with the city again. The city agrees to provide, if requested by potential employers, a neutral reference for Burger, meaning only dates of employment and the last job he held. Burger and the city each agree not make any disparaging remarks about the other. The city maintained in court documents that Burger was fired for not adhering to department rules, regulations and instructions. Burger claimed in his complaint, filed last year in U.S. Middle District Court in Williamsport, that he was terminated June 18, 2018, because of his disabilities, not his work performance. He contended that psychological impairments substantially limited his comprehension, concentration, thinking, communicating, sleeping and performing the requirements of daily living. The citys responded that Burger was not disabled as defined by act and that his termination followed required Civil Service procedures and the collective bargaining contract. Chief Kristin Smith, in that court document, expressed concerns about Burgers job performance with respect to several specific incidents. A city-ordered psychological examination found that Burger met the criteria for attention deficit disorder and for at least an adjustment disorder with mixed anxious depressed mood, court documents stated. The examination report recommended he remain on the force in a conditional status and that he immediately begin consulting with a licensed psychologist familiar with police work. It also recommended Burger have one person at his or higher rank on the force with whom to consult before making any major decisions in his daily work. Burger was hired in 2008 and had been promoted to corporal but resigned that rank in November 2017. According to city records he had been reprimanded on Nov. 11, 2013, underwent disciplinary training on June 16, 2015, and was suspended without pay on Oct. 25, 2016. 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. LOS ANGELES (AP) California officials are looking ahead to being able to phase out restrictions on activities because of the coronavirus as infection rates slow and more people are vaccinated. Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state is developing a "green tier" in its reopening plan that would allow fewer restrictions, something officials said this summer was too far off. Meanwhile, state health officials are pushing the safety and efficacy of the new one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The state's surgeon general was among state officials who received the vaccine Thursday at a federally funded vaccination site in Oakland. FLINT, MI A team of medical and pediatric residents and Flint Southwestern High School staff delivered more than 12,000 menstrual products to a local high school. The goal of the Period Poverty project, spearheaded by Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at Michigan State Universitys College of Human Medicine, is to reduce school absences because of a lack of period supplies and the high cost of obtaining them. An often-ignored public health crisis, nearly one in five girls miss school for lack of period supplies, according to a MSU-Hurley Childrens Hospital press release. The project is an effort of the MSU-Hurley Childrens Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative. As we finally begin to welcome kids back into the classroom, we are thrilled to provide our students with this additional resource to keep them in class, Eileen Tomasi, Flint Community Schools nurse, said in a statement. Our kids already have so many stresses that make it hard to be in school and to learn; providing period supplies will hopefully be one less worry. Anyone interested in donating to the cause can reach out directly to Tomasi. Period poverty refers to the inaccessibility of menstrual sanitary products due to financial barriers. It is estimated that the total cost of these products over a lifetime is about $18,000. In addition, these items are often subject to sales tax despite being a medical necessity, and government programs for low-income families, such as WIC and SNAP, do not cover the expense, according to the press release. Low-income families are challenged to choose between food, bills, and health products, Dr. Fatima Hussain, former pediatric resident at Hurley Childrens Hospital and primary organizer of the project, said in a statement. With the lack of attention and provisions for menstrual management, many girls are unnecessarily missing school. Flint students were sent a voluntary survey asking about period poverty and how it may affect them at school. Whether or not they opt into the survey, and while supplies last, students can pick up free period supplies at the Flint Southwestern Academy,1420 W. 12th St., during food pick-ups from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays, or from the school nurse office at the high school. Period supplies are available now. Lately, this matter has come to the attention of many activists and policymakers. Efforts are pushing toward passing laws making these products tax exempted. However, in 37 states, these products are still taxed, including Michigan, which applies a 6% tax on these products. In February, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a plan to eliminate the tampon tax as part of her 2022 budget plan. This past week, New Zealand announced free period products to all students to reduce period poverty. University College of Human Medicine medical student Chrissiey Jackson, one of the people who helped deliver thousands of period supplies, recounted the struggles she endured when trying to purchase period supplies when she was younger. I grew up in a family that struggled financially, and I look forward to policies that remove the financial burden of these medically necessary items, Jackson said in a statement. Until then and as students are coming back to in-person school, Im so excited to support our Flint students. The American Academy of Pediatrics Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) is funding the project. The CATCH Program funds projects where pediatricians and pediatric residents help build broad-based community partnerships to address unmet child health needs with innovative strategies. Read more on MLive: New music studio for Flint students is medicine for their soul Female officers honored by Genesee County Sheriffs Office for Womens History Month Efforts to end tampon tax revived in Michigan legislature Flint women set to march in celebration of Breonna Taylors life one year after she was killed by police NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Spinal Association has announced the appointment of Kleo J. King, a legal advisor and attorney specializing in accessible housing, transportation, and public accommodations, as Senior Director of Accessibility Operations and Counsel. "During her impressive career, Kleo's steadfast work has helped to achieve unprecedented legal victories providing accessibility in transportation and the built environment for people with disabilities," said Dominic Marinelli, VP of United Spinal's Accessibility Services program. King previously served as Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel for New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities from 2014 to 2021, where she advised the Commissioner on legal issues and city policies that affect people with disabilities, worked with City agencies on accessibility issues, and drafted legislation and policies. She currently serves on the Accessibility Committee reviewing and revising the New York City Building Code. "Rejoining United Spinal Association will continue my work assisting the business community and others in improving accessibility for people with disabilities. Working with United Spinal's 57,000 members will help focus these efforts to areas and concerns that need to be addressed. I look forward to working with the Accessibility Services team once again," said King. King, who began her career with United Spinal, formerly Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association in 1987, worked for 27 years at the organization as Program Counsel and Senior Vice President of Accessibility Services. Principal duties included litigating cases before various courts and administrative agencies, including representing people with mobility disabilities in housing and transportation cases alleging disability-based discrimination. King also consulted on accessibility for major construction projects including the new Yankee Stadium, the Lincoln Center Redevelopment and various other facilities. A graduate of the George Mason University School of Law with a Juris Doctorate, King is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State and New York City Bar Association and the Virginia State Bar Association. For more information about United Spinal's Accessibility Services program, visit www.accessibility-services.com or view the recent United Spinal feature article. About United Spinal Association United Spinal is a national 501(c) (3) nonprofit membership organization formed in 1946 by paralyzed veterans and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Americans with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D), including multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, ALS and post-polio. It played a significant role in writing the Americans with Disabilities Act, and made important contributions to the Fair Housing Amendments Act and the Air Carrier Access Act. Membership is free and is open to all individuals with SCI/D. United Spinal was instrumental in getting New York City to create sidewalk curb ramps and accessible public transportation that has been used as a model for many United States cities. In 2021, United Spinal is celebrating 75 years of building an inclusive world that welcomes wheelchair users and all people with disabilities. SOURCE United Spinal Association Related Links www.unitedspinal.org Gov. Greg Abbott's move to reopen Texas and end the mask mandate has Colorado considering Texan tourists in marketing efforts. Shockwaves of Abbott's controversial March 2 decision to basically restore Texas to pre-pandemic ties reached throughout the U.S. Some people started eulogies for Texas as a whole. Colorado worked to make sure Texas visitors are aware the Lone Star State's stance doesn't fly there. 9News, a Denver-based television station, reported the Colorado Tourism Office took note of Abbott's decision and is working to send a message to Texans traveling there for Spring Break. The office launched the "Do Colorado Right" campaign in markets that have already shown interest in traveling to the Centennial State. RELATED: From 'too soon' to 'bout damn time': Here's how San Antonians feel about Texas' reopening "There is a concern suddenly that the law is changing in Texas around mask-wearing," Cathy Ritter, director of CTO, told the station. CTO did not disclose how much was spent on the marketing effort but told MySA the videos feature local celebrities to help reinforce the message. "The 'Do Colorado Right' campaign is a multi-month in-state and out-of-state campaign which shares safe travel tips and encourages travelers to avoid behaviors that could compromise our winter season," a representative for the department said in an email. Colorado uses color-coded system to determine restrictions on a county-by-county basis, but masks are still required throughout. READ ALSO: 'It needed to be said:' San Antonio restaurant owner rejects Texas reopening on CNN Colorado isn't the only place worried Texans will mess things up. On Tuesday, Chicago updated the emergency travel order to make Texas and Nebraska "orange" states, which denotes a higher risk category. The designation means Texas tourists must quarantine for 10 days or have a pre-arrival negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours before arriving, according to news station 5 Chicago. States are moved up to orange if there is the rolling seven-day average exceeds 15 cases a day or 100,000 residents, according to the report. Behave yourselves out there, Texas. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye 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. Radiant Presents GlobalSpec (Engineering360) Webinar on In-Vehicle Sensing Systems for Driver and Occupant Monitoring Automakers and suppliers are under pressure to implement sensing technologies quickly and effectively, with the role and performance of NIR light sources gaining new significance within the vehicle. Radiant Vision Systems, a leading provider of test and measurement solutions for light sources and displays, announces that it will host a webinar with GlobalSpec (Engineering 360) to present emerging applications for in-vehicle sensing, particularly the applications of near-infrared light for driver and occupant monitoring systems (DMS and OMS). In-Vehicle Sensing: Using Near-Infrared Light for Driver and Occupant Monitoring will be broadcast Tuesday March 23, from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (8:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)). The broadcast includes a 45-minute presentation followed by a live audience question-and-answer session with Radiant Automotive Business Leader, Matt Scholz. Near-infrared (NIR) light provides one of the leading methods of remote sensing in the vehicle. These invisible wavelengths are cast into the cabin to provide illumination for IR cameras, enabling unobtrusive detection of objects and their characteristics. Sophisticated image analysis functions enable sensing systems to gauge driver or occupant presence, alertness, focus, and attention from two-dimensional images. The use of near-IR LEDs and lasers for stereoscopic vision, time-of-flight (TOF) functions, and structured light patterns further enables three-dimensional depth and shape sensing for identification and personalization. New regulations in both Europe and the United States are advancing the automotive market toward interior sensing. The European Union mandated that DMS and other safety systems be integrated into all new vehicles by 2022, with rewards given by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) for vehicles that include Child Presence Detectionsystems that monitor children left unattended in the caras a standard feature. Requirements of the United States Stay Aware for Everyone (SAFE) Act of 2020 are soon to follow. Automakers and suppliers are under pressure to implement sensing technologies quickly and effectively, with the role and performance of NIR light sources gaining new significance within the vehicle. During his webinar presentation, Matt Scholz will discuss the latest developments and commercial integrations of in-vehicle sensing, which rely on NIR light and other methods for DMS and OMS. Scholz will introduce the two primary NIR light sourcesLEDs and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs)and compare their specific uses, benefits, and performance considerations for sensing. In particular, he will address the importance of light source measurement and methods for optimizing measurement accuracy and speed using new radiometric imaging solutions and software. With examples from the Radiant Vision Systems test and measurement portfolio, Scholz will demonstrate how direct measurement of NIR sources is improved through imaging and specialized optics, allowing manufacturers to measure any light source type and emission geometry in angular space to ensure accurate levels of intensity as well as intended distribution patterns. Scholz has over a decade of experience working in automotive metrology applications, with a fundamental understanding of the growing challenges in the industry. Working with engineering, development, and applications teams at Radiant Vision Systems, Scholz helps equip automotive manufacturers with complete turnkey solutions to meet the increased performance and quality demands for lighting, displays, and illuminated components. Scholz has led projects at all levels of the automotive supply chain, from Tier 1, 2, and 3 vendors to major OEMs worldwide. For more information about this webinar or to register for the live broadcast on March 23, visit https://www.globalspec.com/events/eventdetails?eventId=3162 About Radiant Vision Systems Radiant Vision Systems works with world-class brands and manufacturers to deliver creative visual inspection solutions that improve quality, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction. Radiants legacy of technology innovation in photometric imaging and worldwide install base date back more than 25 years and address applications from consumer electronics to automotive manufacturing. Radiant Vision Systems product lines include TrueTest automated visual inspection software for quality control, and ProMetric imaging colorimeters, photometers, and light source measurement systems. Radiant is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, with strategic offices in California, Michigan, China, Vietnam, and South Korea. Radiant has been a part of Konica Minoltas Sensing Business Unit since August 2015. For more information, visit http://www.RadiantVisionSystems.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. Ahmedabad, March 12 : On Friday, while inaugurating the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' at the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi elaborated upon the symbolism and meaning of salt. The PM described salt as a symbol of dignity of labour and equality. He said the future of a nation becomes brighter only when it stays connected to the pride of its past heritage. "India has an enormous reservoir to be proud of in the form of a rich history and a vibrant cultural heritage." The PM said,"Salt has never been valued by its price in India. For us salt means honesty, faith and loyalty. We still say that we've eaten the salt of the country. This is not because salt is a very precious item. This is because salt is a symbol of labour and equality for us." The PM said during his address,"The First War of Independence in 1857, Mahatma Gandhi's return from abroad, reminding the country of the power of 'Satyagraha', the call for 'Purna Swaraj' by Lokmanya Tilak, Azad Hind Fauj's call for Dilli Chalo under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose...who can forget the slogan of Dilli Chalo? The work of continuously keeping the flame of the freedom movement alive was done by our seers, saints and monks." The PM said that in a way the Bhakti movement had prepared the foundation for the nationwide freedom movement. "There are so many Dalits, adivasis (tribal people), women and youth from every corner of the country who made innumerable sacrifices. Remember, Kodi Kaatha Kumaran, a 32-year-old youth from Tamil Nadu, who was shot in the head by the Britishers but he did not let the country's flag fall to the ground even while he was dying. Shyamji Krishna Varma, while living on British soil, struggled for India's freedom under their might. But his ashes waited for seven decades to find their rightful place in his motherland. In 2003, I brought back his ashes on my shoulders." Modi said,"In the Andamans, where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose hoisted the tricolour by forming the first independent government of the country, the country has also given a grand shape to that forgotten history. The islands of Andaman and Nicobar are named after the country's freedom fighters. The country has been making a conscious effort for the last six years to keep this glorious chapter in history alive. The revival of the site associated with the Dandi March was completed two years ago. I myself had the opportunity to visit Dandi on this occasion," added the Prime Minister. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Amid a widening misconduct investigation involving several Louisiana state troopers assigned to patrol the Monroe area, internal investigators reviewed text messages that showed three officers joking about giving a suspect an "ass whoopin" he would remember for a long time, police reports show. The three troopers were arrested last month and accused of using excessive force during the May 2020 incident, which occurred after the suspect led law enforcement on a police chase spanning 29 miles and exceeding 150 mph. Their arrests came amid a series of scandals at Troop F, including the death of a Black man in State Police custody that prompted a federal civil rights probe. In a group text message soon after the chase, the troopers discussed how the man behaved while being booked into jail, according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Advocate. The warrant includes the following excerpt from the text conversation, which is peppered with abbreviations for "laughing my ass off" and "laugh out loud." "LOL he was still digesting that ass whoopin," said Dakota DeMoss, who later suggested the man would "have nightmares for a long time." "He gonna be sore tomorrow for sure," said Jacob Brown. "LMAO warms my heart knowing we could educate that young man." Brown resigned from State Police this week, officials confirmed Friday about a month after his most recent arrest. He has now been arrested in three separate incidents that together suggest a pattern of alleged abuse: All the incidents were traffic stops involving Black men who were subjected to unnecessary force, including being beaten with a flashlight, punched in the head and otherwise bloodied, investigators found. An attorney representing Brown, Scott Wolleson, declined to comment Friday. While details about the two other incidents have been previously disclosed in public records and lawsuits, that May 2020 encounter remained largely a mystery because the case is being handled in Franklin Parish, where officials denied having copies of any relevant court documents. That changed when the arrest warrant for DeMoss was filed into the court record last week. The warrant was attached to a recent lawsuit filed on behalf of three troopers facing criminal charges DeMoss, George Harper and Randall Dickerson seeking to halt the ongoing internal investigations against them. Louisiana state trooper resigns after being arrested 3 times for excessive force A Louisiana state police trooper who was recently arrested in three separate excessive force incidents resigned from the agency this week. The suit, which was filed in 19th Judicial District Court, argues that State Police officials failed to follow the proper timeline for administrative investigations against Louisiana law enforcement officers. State law specifies that investigations must be launched within 14 days of whenever supervisors become aware of the incident. A judge agreed to temporarily halt the investigations pending his final decision on the matter, which is expected next week. In addition to Brown and DeMoss, Harper was arrested last month in connection with the May 2020 incident. He also participated in the group text, according to the warrant. After reviewing bodycam footage and interviewing the suspect, as well as other law enforcement witnesses, investigators concluded that those three troopers used unnecessary and unreasonable force, the warrant says. Investigators also concluded that Brown lied about what happened, claiming the suspect resisted arrest after losing control of his vehicle during the chase. Arrested State Police troopers threw handcuffed man to ground, punched him in head, records say After four Louisiana state troopers were arrested Monday and accused of using excessive force, new court records describe a July 2019 traffic The incident originated from a traffic stop that Brown conducted after he noticed the driver drifted over the fog line after changing lanes on Interstate 20 in Richland Parish, according to the warrant. After running his Mississippi license, Brown noticed the driver had outstanding warrants for gun and escape charges. He called for backup, but while he was waiting for other troopers to arrive, the driver returned to his vehicle and fled. The police chase followed, ending 29 miles later in Franklin Parish after deputies used spike strips to stop the fleeing vehicle. The warrant notes that Brown accurately described those parts of the encounter. But his descriptions of what came next were deemed untruthful. Brown reported that the driver fled on foot but stopped when troopers told him to lie on the ground. Brown said the man then wedged his hands under his prone body and ignored commands to place them behind his back, fighting with troopers and hindering their efforts to get him into handcuffs. 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 "Troopers began delivering tactical strikes to gain compliance," Brown wrote in his report, which is quoted in the warrant. He said troopers were able to "overpower" the man "after an extensive struggle." However, internal investigators reviewed bodycam footage of the encounter and concluded that the suspect actually "immediately surrendered" after exiting his vehicle and laid on the ground with his arms extended, the warrant says. Investigators noted that DeMoss approached the man first and "delivered a knee strike" and then slapped him in the face even though he "had surrendered and was not resisting." DeMoss then turned off his body camera, the warrant says. The beating continued as Harper punched the man in the head several times and Brown pulled his hair, according to the warrant. Both Harper and Brown were holding flashlights, even though the warrant notes it was daylight. After troopers searched the man, DeMoss pulled him up by his hair, the warrant says. Then Harper told him: "I hope you act up when we get to the f****** jail. I am going to punish you, dumb b****. What the f*** is wrong with you." The three troopers later exchanged text messages. The conversation started when Brown asked "How was his attitude at the jail" and Harper responded: "Complete silence." The exchange devolved from there, the warrant shows. "Bet he won't run from a full grown bear again," Brown wrote, to which DeMoss replied: "Bet he don't even cross into LA anymore." Records show at least two of the troopers, DeMoss and Harper, received counseling back in June 2020 after supervisors reviewed their bodycam footage from the incident. The troopers received letters from a supervisor warning them about profane language and noting that it was inappropriate to strike the suspect and lift him up using his hair. But the consequences stopped there until the troopers were notified several months later of ongoing administrative and criminal investigations against them. That incident was the most recent of three separate cases in which Brown is accused of violating Louisiana law. He was arrested for the first time in December, accused of beating Aaron Bowman with a flashlight and causing him serious injuries, including broken ribs, a fractured arm and deep cuts to his head. Bowman filed a lawsuit against State Police last year after learning of a similar incident involving several members of Troop F including DeMoss that left Ronald Greene dead in police custody. State Police had initially claimed Greene died upon impact after crashing his car during a police chase, but a lawsuit filed on behalf of his family alleges troopers actually beat the man to death, leaving him "bloodied and in cardiac arrest" before covering up what happened. Both Bowman and Greene were beaten with a flashlight, according to attorneys. Both incidents occurred in May 2019, but State Police did not open investigations into either case until receiving lawsuits several months later accusing troopers of using excessive force and lying about it. The agency has also refused to release bodycam footage until its investigations are complete. Ron Haley, who represents both plaintiffs, said the arrest warrant that surfaced Friday adds to a growing pile of egregious misconduct allegations threatening the integrity of State Police. "This further shows that there is a cultural problem with State Police, in particular at Troop F," he said after reviewing the warrant Friday. "The fact that it has taken almost two years for even one ounce of accountability is extremely disturbing. Why has it taken so long?" Not long after the Troop F scandals started coming to light, Col. Kevin Reeves stepped down as State Police superintendent last fall. He had spent decades at Troop F before his promotion to the top job. His top assistant was Bob Brown, Jacob Brown's father, who also came from Troop F and has since retired. While Jacob Brown resigned this week, DeMoss and Harper remain on administrative leave, as does Dickerson who was arrested last month. All four face charges of simple battery and malfeasance in office, plus an additional obstruction of justice charge for Brown. Dickerson was accused, alongside Brown, of using excessive force during yet another traffic stop in Ouachita Parish in spring 2019. Los Angeles will begin reopening restaurants, movie theaters and gyms as early as next Monday after months of harsh lockdown restrictions. L.A. County - which is home to more than 10 million people - will be eligible to begin reopening once California administers 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to residents in the most disadvantaged areas. Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state is on track to reach that target on Friday - effectively clearing Los Angeles businesses to begin operations at a reduced capacity. 'L.A. will be a big beneficiary of this new metric. Moving through the weekend and into next week, you will see more activity, more loosening of the tiers,' he stated at a press conference on Wednesday. Los Angeles County has had some of the strictest lockdown laws in the country. Los Angeles will begin reopening restaurants, movie theaters and gyms as early as next Monday after months of harsh lockdown restrictions Tens of thousands of LA residents are being vaccinated each day, which may be contributing to the drop in daily case numbers. Pictured: a drive-thru vaccination center in LA count On July 1 last year, Gov Newsom closed indoor dining, cinemas, zoos and museums in a bid to stop the spread of the virus. But the closures did little to stop the spread of the virus, and the country was slammed by COVID-19 over the course of the winter. An estimated 1 in every 3 residents have contracted the disease. In late December, L.A. hospitals reached capacity and, by early January, one resident was dying from the coronavirus every 6 minutes. On January 16, Los Angeles became the first county in the country to surpass one million COVID-19 cases. The surge prompted even stricter stay-at-home orders, which have caused the number of infections to drop dramatically in recent weeks. LA residents have been unable to exercise indoors, but from Monday gyms and fitness centers are likely to reopen This file photo shows a shuttered cinema last March. While owners believed they would be back in business by April, they have been closed for the better part of a year. From Monday, they are likely to begin reopening While outdoor dining was given the go-ahead several weeks ago, patrons will be able to eat indoors for the first time in eight months if L.A. County is cleared for reopening Monday. However, capacity will be capped at 25 percent, and tables must be spaced eight feet apart, according to The Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, movie theaters would also be able to reopen at 25 percent capacity, while museums, zoos and aquariums will also be able to welcome back the general public. Gyms, fitness centers and dance studios are also able to recommence indoor operations - but capacity will be capped at just 10 percent. Perhaps, most crucially, schools from grades 7-12 will also be able to open for in person instruction. L.A. County has clocked more than 1.2 million COVID cases. Across the country, 29.2 million people have contracted the disease. A staggering 530,000 people have died. (Reuters) - A court in Myanmar extended custody on Friday for five journalists, including one from U.S. news agency the Associated Press, who were arrested while covering anti-junta protests in the biggest city of Yangon last month, a lawyer said. More than 70 people have been killed and about 2,000 arrested in a crackdown on protests since Myanmar's military took power in a coup on Feb. 1, advocacy body the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says. The six journalists, all arrested on Feb. 27, were not brought to court but attended the hearing via teleconference from prison. They have not been allowed to see their families or lawyers in person since the arrest. Lawyer Tin Zar Oo said the case of her client, Thein Zaw of the Associated Press, and four others, would next be heard on March 24. "He seems OK, but he said he has asthma, so he is a bit uncomfortable," she said, speaking of Thein Zaw. "His family members got to talk to him." Another court extended detention until March 25 for a sixth journalist, from Myanmar Now, the group's editor-in-chief, Swe Win, said. Court officials did not comment. The U.S. state department has voiced concern at the arrests and urged the immediate release of the journalists. Authorities in Myanmar have raided the offices of four independent news organisations during the last few days. The government has also stripped the licences of five organisations that have been active in covering the protests. At least 35 journalists have been arrested since the Feb. 1 coup, Myanmar Now reported, of whom 19 have been released. A junta spokesman told a news conference on Thursday that the military respected and valued press freedom but that the arrested journalists were provoking unrest. (Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Clarence Fernandez) 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. FLOGAS has become the sixth energy provider to raise its prices. The supplier blamed its decision on what it said were several months of rising costs in the wholesale energy market. Price rises have already been announced by Energia, SSE Airtricity, Panda Power, Pinergy and Glowpower. All eyes are now on the countrys biggest gas and electricity suppliers, Electric Ireland and Bord Gais Energy, to see what they do. Flogas said the rises will take effect from April 12 next. Read More Electricity unit prices and the standing charge are going up by 8.5pc, a move that will cost the average domestic user 96 a year. Gas prices are rising by 6.5pc, which will add 53 to the average residential bill. The company insisted its natural gas prices will still be lower than this time last year, due to a 10pc price cut implemented last October. And it said its electricity increase comes after a six-month price freeze announced last October. All electricity supplied by Flogas is 100pc renewable, it said. Flogas Energy general manager Paul Kenny said: We have kept our promise to freeze and reduce prices throughout the winter months, but increases are necessary due to the same rising wholesale and network costs that have affected all suppliers. One of the largest providers in the State, Energia, will raise its prices next month in a move which will see the annual bills of many customers climb by more than 100. Panda Power blamed what it said were external costs such as network and market charges for its decision to push put electricity prices by 7.5pc from April 8. The move will mean an additional cost of 84 a year for a typical household electricity customer who is not on a discounted rate. Earlier this month, SSE Airtricity said it was increasing electricity prices by 6.2pc from April 1. That will add 63 a year to the average bill. Gas is going up by 4.5pc, hiking annual bills by 32. And all residential electricity users have been hit by a 130pc rise in the public service obligation (PSO) levy. The increase will add almost 90 a year added to household electricity bills. The PSO levy is a Government levy that is charged to all electricity customers in Ireland mainly to fund wind power. And carbon tax on domestic gas bills is set to add 80 over a year to the cost of this fuel from May. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. CLAY COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - We have new details on a fatal Clay County crash on Interstate 70. The crash happened on Wednesday evening around 6:30. According to police, a semi driven by 35-year-old Emmanuel Ramos of Philadelphia crashed into the back of another semi. The driver of the second semi was 48-year-old Carey Baker of Sevierville, Tennessee. Baker was killed in the crash. A passenger in Baker's truck was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Ramos went to Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the crash. 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. Syracuse, N.Y. -- A 19-year-old man was found shot and killed Friday morning in Herkimer County, according to New York State Police. Akwen O. Ajang, of Utica, was found dead in a roadway in the town of Litchfield just after 5:30 a.m., police said. He had been shot, according to police. Troopers are still investigating the shooting and ask that anyone who may have heard or seen anything near Camp or Goodier roads call state police at 315-366-6000. 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. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! An interdisciplinary research team at Lehigh University has unraveled how functional biomaterials rely upon an interfacial protein layer to transmit signals to living cells concerning their adhesion, proliferation and overall development. According to an article published today in Scientific Reports, the nanoscale features and properties of an underlying substrate do not impact the biological response of cells directly. However, these properties indirectly influence cell behavior through their control over adsorbed proteins. In the article, "Nanostructure of bioactive glass affects bone cell attachment via protein restructuring upon adsorption," the Lehigh team demonstrates that living cells respond to interfacial layer characteristics that arise as a consequence of micro- and nano-scale structures engineered into a substrate material. These infinitesimally-tiny structures have an enormous impact upon the nature of the proteins and how they restructure themselves and electrostatically interact with the material, which in turn influences the manner in which cells attach to the substrate and develop over time. There are others who have studied the interfacial protein layer. But this work showed directly and unambiguously for the first time how some specific nanoscale features of the substrate can impact the secondary molecular structure of the proteinated interface that in turn affects the response of the cells that are thousands of times larger." Himanshu Jain, T.L. Diamond Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Applied Science and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University Jain also serves as director of Lehigh's Institute for Functional Materials and Devices (I-FMD). Joining Professor Jain in guiding this research is Matthias Falk, a Professor of Cell Biology with Lehigh's College of Arts and Sciences. The team is rounded out by two doctoral students jointly supervised by Falk and Jain--Dr. Tia Kowal, who received PhD in Biological Sciences and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford Medicine, and lead author Dr. Ukrit Thamma, who completed his doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering and is now a lecturer at King Mongkut's University of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand. "Lehigh is increasingly recognized as a place where interdisciplinary team science is taking root and flourishing," says Jain. "The creation and mission of Lehigh's Interdisciplinary Research Institutes is a strategic expression of this notion--and this project is an expression of that notion in action. And the crucial role that our students play, with support from a broad faculty team, speaks for itself." Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 67F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Drivers and other passers-by had to take cover today, in Port of Spain. As, gunmen began offloading bullets on a convoy of cars. Also, over 50 more people have been arrested for breach of curfew. The collective agreement for the cleaning industry in Luxembourg expired a year ago, leading to prolonged discussions between the unions and the federation. On Thursday afternoon, both the LCGB and OGBL unions met with the Federation of Cleaning Companies to negotiate once more. Prior to the meeting, both unions and employees in the sector staged a protest picket line to argue for better working conditions. The sector, which employs more than 11,000 people in Luxembourg, has been seeking better conditions for some time now. Gorek Pereira Fernandes, who has worked as a cleaner for more than 15 years, told RTL the pandemic had highlighted the importance of the sector and argued that cleaners were essential frontline workers. She said they could not accept the lack of recognition by employers, as well as their unwillingness to enter discussions with the unions to improve the sector. Domingos Oliveira / RTL Domingos Oliveira / RTL Domingos Oliveira / RTL Domingos Oliveira / RTL The Federation says they have suffered greatly due to the coronavirus crisis, but this is not considered a valid excuse, said Pereira Fernandes. The pandemic has meant more staff are required than ever before, with many cleaners feeling the pressure following the increasing pace of work. Pereira Fernandes was pleased with the protest turnout, but said more involvement would be appreciated to support the employees and their demands. The unions began negotiations with 19 demands, 17 of which have now been dropped. However, there are two points which they are not prepared to abandon, according to Bento Pires of the LCGB. These consist of a one-off 500 premium for all staff, and two days off a week. He said this should be achievable through negotiations. Both unions later described Thursday's meeting as a positive exchange, claiming the Federation was ready to reach an agreement but was still undertaking consultations. Both parties will meet again at the end of the month. The Federation did not comment. Video in Luxembourgish: The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has issued a warning letter to Oswego County Sheriff Don Hilton after investigating a complaint that the department flew a Trump flag from a government-owned boat last summer, according to Oswego County Legislature Chairman Jim Weatherup. The federal office investigated a complaint that the flag flying violated the Hatch Act, which forbids using taxpayer time and money to advocate for a politician. The law specifically bans the display of campaign materials or items on taxpayer time or resources. The warning letter said Hilton violated the Hatch Act, but closes the investigation with no disciplinary action. Please be advised that if you engage in any future prohibited political activity while employed in a Hatch Act-covered position, OSC would consider such activity to be a willful and knowing violation of the law that could result in disciplinary action, Erica Hamrick, deputy chief of the Hatch Act Unit, wrote in the letter. Oswego County Sheriff Don Hilton (right, no hat) is pictured aboard an on-duty boat that was flying a Trump campaign flag. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.comDennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com Weatherup said he has discussed the matter at length with Hilton, who has said it will not happen again. In August 2020, an Oswego County sheriffs patrol boat flew a large Making America Great Again flag emblazoned with Trumps image during a Flotilla for Trump rally on Oneida Lake near Brewerton. Several uniformed deputies were operating the boat. Hilton was spotted aboard the boat in pictures taken by a Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard photographer. Hilton has said he was on marine patrol boat with deputies when an event participant handed them the flag. He said he allowed it to be flown from the patrol boat to show support for the event and for Trump, who has supported law enforcement at a time when many groups are unjustly vilifying our profession. He has said the incident has inspired him to be even more vocal about criticism of police, but that he would do it on his own time and own dime. Related articles Why Trump campaign flag on Oswego sheriffs boat violated county policy, spirit of federal law Oswego Co. sheriff responds to Trump flag controversy: No apology, but it wont happen again Oswego County sheriffs boat flies Trump political flag at boat rally Editorial: In openly campaigning for Trump, sheriff only undermines his own cause Contact Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com | 315-470-3186. 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 Governor Whitmer Announces Michigan as One of the Few States in the Nation to Receive a Regional Community Vaccination Site Governor Whitmer Announces Michigan as One of the Few States in the Nation to Receive a Regional Community Vaccination Site FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 12, 2021 Contact: Press@michigan.gov Governor Whitmer Announces Michigan as One of the Few States in the Nation to Receive a Regional Community Vaccination Site Michigan will get an additional 6,000 vaccines per day for eight weeks to help hit 70% vaccination goal. LANSING, Mich. Governor Gretchen Whitmer today announced that an eight-week mass vaccination site with the capacity to administer 6,000 doses each day will open on March 24 at Ford Field in Detroit to serve residents in the broader southeast Michigan region. The Biden Administration in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) selected southeast Michigan for this major new community vaccination site. The site, which was selected according to the CDCs priority tool to help those hardest hit and most vulnerable, will operate from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., seven days a week, for eight weeks under the federal government's vaccination pilot program. The facility will be managed by the State of Michigan with support from FEMA, Wayne County, the City of Detroit, Ford Field, Meijer, Henry Ford Health System, and the Lions. The safe and effective vaccine is the best way to protect Michiganders and their families, and it is essential to getting our country back to normal, so that we can all hug our loved ones, get back to work, and send our kids to school safely, said Governor Whitmer. I want to thank President Biden and FEMA for the opportunity to build one of the nations first community vaccination sites to service the entire Southeast Michigan region. Over one million Michiganders of all races have already been safely vaccinated, and this site will help us to reach our goal of equitably vaccinating 70 percent of Michiganders who are 16 years or older more quickly. Ramping up vaccine distribution will also help our economy recover faster and help save our small businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic. Lets get to work, and lets get it done. After a year of tremendous challenges and heartache, the new vaccine site at Ford Field will be a beacon of hope in a community that was hit hard by the devastating impacts of this deadly virus, said Lt. Governor Gilchrist. When we saw this virus targeting Black and Brown communities, Michigan got to work setting up one of the nations first task forces to help reduce the staggering, disproportionate rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths in communities of color. As we continue to expand our states vaccine program, we must build upon the work that weve done in this space to ensure equitable access to this safe and effective vaccine. We can honor the legacies of the those weve lost to this virus by ensuring that we all get the vaccine when it is our turn. FEMA is committed to the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, said Kevin M. Sligh, acting regional administrator, FEMA Region 5. In coordination with our federal, state and local partners, we are establishing the Ford Field site to expand the rate of vaccinations in an efficient, effective and equitable manner, with an explicit focus on making sure that local communities with a high risk of COVID-19 exposure and infection are not left behind. This mass vaccination site will accelerate Michigans efforts to reach its goal of vaccinating 70% of Michiganders ages 16 and older with the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health. I am grateful to President Biden and FEMA for selecting Michigan for this site and urge Michiganders to make an appointment to receive their vaccine when it becomes available. The COVID-19 vaccine is our way to defeat the virus and return to normalcy. The most important thing we can do now as a community is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible so our lives and our economy can return to normal, Mike Duggan, Mayor of Detroit. Having this new mass vaccination site operated by FEMA will be a significant step forward for our city and our region toward that goal. We will be working closely with FEMA and state officials to make sure vaccines are distributed equitably. People in our state have experienced so much this past year - loss, sacrifice, and hardship. The vaccine provides something new hope. Todays news means more people will have easier and quicker access to the vaccine so we can bring an end to this pandemic, said Senator Stabenow. Vaccine distribution has rapidly increased under the Biden Administration and its critical we keep our foot on the gas to ensure Michiganders can get vaccines as soon as possible, said Senator Peters. I am thrilled that the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act will deliver resourcesthat I secureddirectly to the federal vaccination program at Ford Field. There is no question this historic legislation will continue to provide the help needed to get Michigan past this pandemic, and I will continue my efforts to ensure vaccines are widely available. In addition to the American Rescue Plan Act getting signed into law yesterday, this mass vaccination site at Ford Field is more great news for the residents of Southeast Michigan. Scaling up our vaccine distribution and outreach is exactly how we will beat this virus and keep our communities safe, said Rep. Brenda Lawrence, a member of the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities. We need to continue efforts like these to get Michiganders vaccinated, including people of color and other vulnerable communities. This includes tackling myths and building trust in the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Im grateful to President Bidens laser-focused leadership, and I look forward to continuing the work to get Michigan and our country through this pandemic. Vaccine doses administered at the Ford Field Mass Vaccination Site will be based on the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to vaccinate our most vulnerable populations, and it will be in addition to Michigan's regular statewide vaccine allotment. First doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be offered at the site for the first three weeks of operation. Those vaccinated within that timeframe will be guaranteed a second dose during fourth, fifth and sixth weeks of operation. The brand of vaccine to be supplied during the final two weeks of the of the mass vaccination site has not yet been determined. The surest way to end this pandemic is to get everyone vaccinated, especially our residents in at-risk communities, said Warren C. Evans, Wayne County Executive. The FEMA mass vaccination clinic at Ford Field will play an important role in improving access to the vaccine while allowing more people to receive shots at a quicker rate. It is important that we increase access to the vaccine, especially in communities of color and underserved communities. The FEMA mass vaccination clinic gives all Wayne County residents one more option in getting vaccinated when it is their turn. "Everything we can do to get more people vaccinated in Michigan is a plus. Using Ford Field as a regional hub to administer an additional 6,000 doses a day is a tremendous step toward reaching the goal set by President Joe Biden Thursday night to get enough vaccines produced and distributed for every American by the end of May, said Oakland County Executive David Coulter. Todays announcement is another powerful symbol that partnerships at every level of government, working alongside Michigan health care providers, pharmacies and organizations like the Detroit Lions will be the key to emerging from this pandemic. We are pleased to see our partners at the federal level expand vaccine accessibility in Southeast Michigan, said Mark A. Hackel, Macomb County Executive. In Macomb County we will continue to work with our public health experts and trusted community advocates to ensure that residents can access the vaccine The vaccine will be offered at no cost, and insurance is not required, nor will it be requested at the vaccination center. Any Michigan resident who is currently eligible to receive the vaccine under the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) vaccine prioritization guidance will be able to register for an appointment. The site is not yet taking reservations, but specific instructions on how to book an appointment will be announced in the coming days. The most recent vaccine prioritization guidance can be found on Michigans COVID-19 website. MDHHS follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for prioritization of distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines. CDC recommendations are based on input from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the federal advisory committee made up of medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the United States. Free parking will be available at the vaccination site. For those who indicate, during the registration process, they need assistance obtaining transportation to and from the vaccination site, the state is working to provide free of charge ride share options. Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit Michigan.gov/COVIDVaccine. ### LG Energy Solution's battery plant in Michigan / Courtesy of LG Energy Solution By Nam Hyun-woo LG Energy Solution (LGES) will invest 5 trillion won ($4.42 billion) to build at least two new battery plants in the U.S. and raise its own capacity there to 75 gigawatt-hours, the company said Friday. The electric vehicle (EV) battery giant also added that it will make separate investments into Ultium Cells, a joint venture with General Motors, to build its second plant. With these moves, there will be at least three new LGES-invested plants established in the United States, helping grow its total capacity to over 140 gigawatt-hours. LGES said it decided to shortlist at least two candidate sites for the forthcoming new battery plants in the U.S. within the first half of this year. LGES said it plans to add 70 gigawatt-hours of capacity through this investment, and the plants at these sites will be independently operated. LGES is already operating a battery plant in the U.S. state of Michigan with an annual capacity of five-gigawatt hours. Once its investment is completed as scheduled, LGES' independent battery manufacturing capacity will grow to 75 gigawatt-hours. Specifically, LGES plans to focus on strengthening its "cylindrical battery" business by expanding its portfolio from pouch-type batteries and energy storage systems (ESSs). LGES is hoping to create up to 10,000 new jobs because of the investments: 4,000 directly hired and 6,000 for construction. Given the fact that the company is already hiring 1,400 people for its existing plant in Michigan and 1,100 for Ultium Cells in Ohio, the total number of jobs that LGES will create in the U.S. will reach 6,500. Plus, LGES will make efforts to support partner companies' joint entry into the U.S. market, which will bolster the battery supply chain there. LG Energy Solution researchers examine a battery cell in this file photo. Courtesy of LG Energy Solution Government data shows that only five out of 54 killings of lawyers since 2016 actually reached the courts. Video Transcript JAMELA ALINDOGAN: Angelo Karlo Guillen is a human rights lawyer who was stabbed in the head in Panay Island in Iloilo province a week ago. Even in the Philippines, long accustomed to violence, the images were a shock to many. Police say this may have been a case of attempted robbery, but Guillen's colleagues say it was a deliberate attempt to kill a lawyer who has been representing 16 indigenous farmers, including nine who were killed in last year's raid by state forces. The farmers were accused of having links with communist rebels. JAMELA ALINDOGAN: Guillen is recovering in hospital, but not all lawyers who were attacked survive. Benjamin Ramos, a prominent human rights lawyer in Negros province was shot dead in 2018. His death was a blow to marginalized communities, including the farmers he represented for decades, but two years on, his killers remain at large. RODRIGO DUTERTE: I was not elected [INAUDIBLE]-- JAMELA ALINDOGAN: Since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, at least 54 lawyers have been killed, and some of those who died were government prosecutors and judges. Others were like Guillen, lawyers representing activists, journalists, and indigenous people from impoverished communities. These lawyers have also been exposed to what's called red tagging, the ones accused by the government of being communists. EDRE OLALIA: Lawyers, who took up the role, if I may call it, dangerous path of serving those who are endangered, who are voiceless, who, what the church will call the lost, the least, and the last in our society, there are very few, and then if you attack these very few, what would that leave us? Who will defend these defenseless people? JAMELA ALINDOGAN: But the Justice Department says investigations are proving difficult, because most of the attacks were carefully planned and committed by professionals, but many here say it is simply not enough, and they fear that the killings will continue unabated. Government data shows that only five out of the 54 killings actually reached the courts. This is why critics say the government should not be surprised if belief in due process in the country is at an all time low. This is expected, they say, especially when those who are mandated to administer justice are themselves killed. Jamela Alindogan, Al Jazeera, Manila. We've already heard that we should expect a lot more foldable smartphones this year from a bunch of different companies, and Oppo was name-checked in such leaks every single time. Now a new rumor from China says the company is expected to unveil its first such device in Q2, which starts in April and ends in June. Sadly it will be a folding device and not a rollable like the Oppo X 2021 concept pictured below and showcased last year - this one isn't going to become an actual product anytime soon. Alongside Oppo, Xiaomi, vivo, and even Google have been rumored to join the fray of the foldables in 2021, though we aren't yet sure when the other companies would unveil theirs. Most of these devices, however, if not all, are said to be of the in-folding variety, so it looks like the out-folding type employed by Huawei's Mate X and Mate Xs is no longer trendy. Or maybe it just has too many downsides regarding durability. Huawei has already announced its foldable for 2021 in the form of the Mate X2, and Samsung is also expected to release the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 at some point in the third quarter, so the foldable game is definitely heating up soon. Source (in Chinese) | Via (TNS) - The statistic is troubling.Georgia is vaccinating people at a slower pace than any U.S. state, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.Slightly less than 30,000 of every 100,000 Georgia adults have received a vaccine shot as of Thursday, the data show. Alaska, which is first among states, has nearly twice that vaccination rate. New Mexico is not far behind.And Georgia has consistently been near the bottom since federal officials began posting vaccination data.In response, Gov. Brian Kemp has repeatedly criticized news coverage of the vaccination rate, citing other figures he says are more important, such as 66% of Georgians over the age of 65 have received at least one vaccine shot, above the national average of 60%.He also has blamed supply shortages. Yet Georgia has been shipped hundreds of thousands more doses than it has administered.From the start of the vaccination rollout, Georgia has lagged in getting shots in arms because of technical challenges, distribution issues and communication gaps, according to a study released this week by Georgia State University researchers.For example, some health centers had delays in receiving the PINs they needed to order doses, resulting in their waiting for their first shipment, the Georgia State team found.The state's vaccination rate at times also looked worse than it may have been because some facilities were slow in reporting vaccinations, the GSU researchers found."Confusion arose regarding how soon they needed to report administering a COVID-19 vaccine because the reporting window is different than the one for non COVID-19 vaccines," they wrote. "All of these issues have compounded to set Georgia behind other states."Another issue: a mismatch in supply and demand. Kemp told reporters Wednesday that while some rural communities have been saturated with doses, meeting demand in metro Atlanta has been a challenge. State data shows about 33% of vaccinations have been administered in metro Atlanta's five highest populated counties ( Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett), although 36.5% of all Georgians live in those counties.Amber Schmidtke, a public health researcher and former Mercer University professor who tracks Georgia's epidemic on her widely read blog, said vaccine appointment websites which show relatively few available slots in the Atlanta area and many available in rural areas indicate an imbalance of demand."This might still be an issue where demand is really high in certain areas and less so in others," she said. "Is it a factor of hesitancy or eligibility?"If it is vaccine hesitancy, one missing component to Georgia's vaccination effort has been a broad media campaign, experts said, featuring civic leaders and well-known Georgians of all demographic and political stripes.Kemp, Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey and other officials hold roundtables with community groups and promote the vaccines at news conferences and other appearances. On Wednesday, Insurance Commissioner John King, speaking in Spanish, addressed the state's outreach efforts to encourage Latinos to get the vaccine.Those efforts are important, but a mass media campaign would help reinforce those messages and reach more Georgians, Schmidtke said."There needs to be a large public awareness campaign on the safety of the shots, the effectiveness of the shots and how they will get us back to normal," she said.The CDC data shows only six states have a larger gap between the number of vaccines delivered and and the number administered, raising concerns among experts that doses aren't being used by some facilities.Georgia has administered about 74% of the more than 3.3 million doses shipped, according to state data. Most states have rates greater than 80%, according to an AJC analysis of CDC data. Three states New Mexico, North Dakota and Wisconsin had vaccine administration rates greater than 90%.Georgia has had 3,870 doses that weren't used because they appeared contaminated, were damaged, not needed after being prepared or they leaked from the syringe, according to state Department of Public Health data that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution received Monday through an open records request.But that accounts for only a tiny fraction of the gap.In Georgia, the gap between vaccines shipped and administered is more than 850,000 doses, according to the DPH website Thursday. The CDC, which reports a higher delivery figure, put the gap Thursday morning at more than 1.3 million doses."When you are talking about 1 million doses on hand, that's 20 days of supply on hand. That's absurd," Schmidtke said.Each state gets a weekly shipment of vaccine based on the percentage of its adult population. The number of doses delivered to a state is the actual number of doses it ordered from the full amount of allocated doses available, a U.S. Health and Human Services department spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Kemp has said the gap is skewed because some doses en route to Georgia are added to the shipped vaccine totals. He also said some hospitals have been holding back supplies for second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.The governor notes vaccinations are increasing in Georgia. More than 1 million inoculations have been done over the past 30 days.Kemp's team also notes Georgia ranks 12th nationally in the total number of doses administered, well ahead of border states such as Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.Georgia, though, has the nation's eighth-highest population, so it has received more doses than those states. Tennessee has the 15th largest population; South Carolina, the 23rd, and Alabama, the 24th.The governor also said several times that the focus of his team has been on vaccinating older Georgians since they've died at higher rates. The first wave of eligible residents included those living in long-term care facilities, and on Jan. 11 Kemp expanded eligibility to all residents 65 and older."In this category, Georgia is well ahead of the national average, vaccinating nearly 1 million seniors, or 66% of the senior population. This is compared to the national average which hovers around 60% and is much lower in some other states," Kemp spokeswoman Mallory Blount said via email.Next week, the list of those eligible will expand to include all those 55 and older as well as adults with high-risk conditions. That addition means that the inoculation pool will cover categories that account for 92% of Georgia's more than 15,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths, Kemp said Wednesday.Still, some of those eligible have struggled to get appointments, prompting fed-up Georgians to flock to neighboring states to get shots when they were stymied here. Some other states also expanded their eligibility pools earlier.For example, by mid-February, at least 28 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico made some or all teachers eligible to receive the vaccine, according to a tally by education news site, Education Week. Teachers began receiving shots in Georgia March 8.State officials believe vaccinations will rapidly increase as they receive more doses. The ongoing challenge will be to have the logistics, vaccination sites, appointment systems and personnel to get shots in arms.State officials plan to soon double vaccinations at the Delta Flight Museum to address the demand issue in metro Atlanta.The state opened four mass vaccination sites last month, operated by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency ( GEMA), and five more will open next week.Federal officials plan to send about 42,000 doses a week to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta in an effort to increase vaccinations in underserved communities. The federal government will primarily staff the mass vaccination site. Federal and state officials are working out details on how people can sign up for shots.The site is expected to be up and running in about another week, according to the announcement.Kemp said Wednesday he hopes to expand vaccine eligibility to all adults by early April.___(c)2021 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)Visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) at www.ajc.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. By Kiley Russell Bay City News Foundation An unusually aggressive coyote that attacked five people in the Lafayette-Moraga area of Contra Costa County over the past eight months was caught and euthanized Thursday, state fish and wildlife officials said. DNA testing on the coyote matched that found on bite victims, according to a news release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While there is no evidence the animal was rabid, UC Davis veterinary staff will be conducting rabies tests on the carcass as a precaution. "It is the most aggressive behavior on the part of a coyote I've seen in my 24 years," said Capt. Patrick Foy of the state wildlife agency. "I've near heard of a coyote attacking and biting five people." Last year, about a dozen coyote bites were reported statewide and three of them were in Moraga, Foy said. In the most recent local attacks, a man was bitten Feb. 19 across from the Kwik Stop convenience store on Golden Gate Way in Lafayette and on Feb. 16, a child was bitten near the intersection of Campolindo Drive and Calle la Montana in Moraga. In attacks reported last year, a small child was bitten by the coyote at Moraga Commons Park in July and a runner was attacked at the Campolindo High School track in December. Another man was also attacked in December last year in a separate incident. All the attacks occurred within two miles of one another and all of the victims reported that the coyote appeared to be on its own and not accompanied by others of its species, Foy said. The offending coyote was captured in a padded leg hold trap near Calle la Montana Thursday, just north of Campolindo High School, where it was shot by personnel from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to its capture, the animal had been the subject of an intensive hunt by teams from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Moraga and Lafayette police departments and Contra Costa County Animal Services. Anyone interested in more information about coyotes can visit www.keepmewild.org. Any questions or concerns can be directed to the Moraga Police at (925) 888-7055, ext. 0 or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at (916) 508-7095. Copyright 2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. 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. County library to unveil story walk project in Vanderbilt The Otsego County Library is hosting a ceremony Saturday to formally open the latest story walk project. By Lee Min-hyung Kyobo Life Insurance is in the midst of "advanced talks" to acquire AXA General Insurance by joining hands with an unconfirmed digital partner, the insurer said Friday. Kyobo and the potential fintech player are set to move forward with a split acquisition of AXA and turn it into a digital-only non-life insurer, according to Kyobo. "Negotiations are still underway over the sale price of the company," a spokesperson at Kyobo said. "We will consider a joint acquisition with a digital partner once detailed terms and other specifics are finalized." The French multinational insurance group put its Korean non-life insurance affiliate up for sale last year after sales and profitability suffered a continued deterioration. The decision was mostly aimed at realigning the group's Asian business portfolio before the implementation of the new IFRS 17 accounting standard slated for 2023. IFRS 17 aims to standardize insurance accounting globally in order to enhance comparability and transparency. AXA holds a 99.71 percent stake in AXA General Insurance. The investment industry estimates the sale price of the company at around 200 billion won ($176.6 million). Earlier, Shinhan and a group of other private equity firms had been tapped as possible candidates to take over a major stake in AXA General Insurance. But they scrapped the plan as the country's non-life insurance industry is losing its luster, which stems in part from a structural slowdown. KakaoPay has also been considered to join the bid as it expressed keen interest in establishing a digital non-life insurer. Local financial firms that considered taking over the company are known to have given up their plans due to the relatively high price. In 2019, AXA General Insurance generated 929.4 billion won in sales, but reported a net loss of 36.9 billion won. But Kyobo could be flexible in assessing its sales target price depending on the progress of the talks. Once the deal is completed, the Korean life insurer will get a chance to resume its now-suspended car insurance business. The company sold Kyobo Auto Insurance to the French multinational insurance company for 100 billion won back in 2007. AXA then changed its corporate name to AXA General Insurance. DUBLIN, Ohio, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Cordis business to Hellman & Friedman (H&F) for approximately $1 billion, which includes buyer's assumption of certain liabilities and seller's retention of certain working capital accounts. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of Cardinal Health's fiscal year 2022, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances. "Cordis has a long history of innovation in minimally-invasive cardiovascular technology, and we are confident that with H&F as its owner, Cordis will be well-positioned for growth, innovation and success," said Mike Kaufmann, CEO of Cardinal Health. "Cardinal Health and H&F have a shared passion for delivering high-quality medical products to customers and we are excited about the future for the Cordis business under H&F's ownership." "Our decision to divest Cordis demonstrates our disciplined approach to evaluating our portfolio and focusing our resources in our strategic growth areas where we are an advantaged owner," Kaufmann continued. "Looking forward, we remain committed to our medical distribution and global medical products businesses." "Cordis is an excellent fit with our philosophy of investing in great businesses as a market-leading cardiovascular device manufacturer known for high-quality products, strong physician satisfaction and superb patient outcomes," said Hunter Philbrick, Partner at H&F. "We are excited to invest in the talented Cordis, Ajax and Zeus teams to drive industry leadership, therapeutic innovation and improved patient experiences." "We at Ajax Health and Zeus Health are ecstatic about injecting growth into Cordis' powerful platform, and will do so through investments in the core business and through an independent R&D engine - the 'Cordis Accelerator' - to develop and commercialize a new pipeline of products exclusively for Cordis," said Duke Rohlen, CEO of Ajax Health and Zeus Health, partners to H&F in the transaction, and Executive Chairman-designate of Cordis and CEO of Cordis Accelerator. "We see an unparalleled opportunity to partner with both existing Cordis leadership and H&F to combine a best-in-class innovation engine with a strong and robust commercial chassis. Together, we will establish Cordis as the standard bearer for medical device innovation." After closing, most assets and liabilities associated with the Cordis business will transfer to H&F. Cardinal Health will retain full authority for lawsuits related to inferior vena cava filters in the United States and Canada, as well as liability associated with these matters. Cardinal Health estimates that, after completion of the transition services agreement, the divestiture of the Cordis business will decrease Medical segment profit by approximately $60 million to $70 million on an annual run-rate basis. In connection with the entry into this definitive agreement, Cardinal Health will classify the Cordis business as held for sale, which Cardinal Health expects to result in a pre-tax loss of up to $120 million in the third quarter of its fiscal year 2021. Additionally, Cardinal Health was authorized to incur costs associated with the planned divestiture of up to $125 million, primarily in its fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Advisors J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Cardinal Health and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as the company's legal advisor. UBS Investment Bank served as the sole financial advisor to Hellman & Friedman, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP providing the firm's legal counsel and H&F's committed financing for the transaction provided by Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and UBS Securities LLC. About Cardinal Health Cardinal Health is a distributor of pharmaceuticals, a global manufacturer and distributor of medical and laboratory products, and a provider of performance and data solutions for health care facilities. With 50 years in business, operations in more than 40 countries and approximately 48,000 employees globally, Cardinal Health is essential to care. Information about Cardinal Health is available at cardinalhealth.com. About Hellman & Friedman Hellman & Friedman is a preeminent global private equity firm with a distinctive approach focused on investments in high-quality growth businesses. H&F seeks to partner with world-class management teams where its deep sector expertise, long-term orientation, and collaborative partnership approach enable companies to flourish. Since its founding in 1984, H&F has raised over $50 billion of committed capital, invested in over 90 companies, and is currently investing its ninth fund, with $16.5 billion of committed capital. Learn more about H&F's defining investment philosophy and approach to sustainable outcomes at www.hf.com. About Ajax Health Ajax Health seeks to identify, support and scale disruptive technologies in the healthcare space. Taking an active operating role, the Ajax team has a proven track record of helping companies of all sizes, stages and structures achieve their value-creation goals. Ajax Health is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif. and backed by an investor group led by HealthQuest Capital along with Polaris Partners and Aisling Capital. Learn more about Ajax at www.ajaxhealth.com. About Zeus Health Zeus Health is a platform formed by leading global investment firm KKR focused on investing in and operating a portfolio of emerging medical technology companies. Zeus Health is a continuation of the long-standing strategic partnership between KKR and Duke Rohlen. Zeus Health is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif. Contacts Media: Sarah Shew, sarah.shew@cardinalhealth.com and 614.553.3401; Investors: Kevin Moran, kevin.moran@cardinalhealth.com and 614.757.7942. Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements addressing Cardinal Health's plans to divest the Cordis business and the financial impact to Cardinal Health resulting therefrom, as well as other statements about future expectations, prospects, estimates and other matters that are dependent upon future events or developments. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "should," "could," "would," "project," "continue," "likely," and similar expressions, and include statements reflecting future results, trends or guidance, statements of outlook and expense accruals. These matters are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied. These risks and uncertainties include: the ability to successfully complete the divestiture of the Cordis business on a timely basis, including receipt of required regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other conditions; the risk that the costs associated with exit or disposal activities or stranded costs could ultimately be greater than we currently expect; the risk that the write-down or loss on sale of the transferred assets could ultimately be greater than we currently expect; and the possibility that the divestiture could result in an impairment of our remaining Medical unit goodwill. Cardinal Health is subject to additional risks and uncertainties described in Cardinal Health's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports and exhibits to those reports. This release reflects management's views as of March 12, 2021. Except to the extent required by applicable law, Cardinal Health undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/640263/Cardinal_Health_Logo.jpg Seham Hamu lost her husband, son and grand-daughter on the same night in 2016 when a missile struck their home in Douma, a rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the civil war. Now, aged 74 and confined to a wheelchair because of a heart condition, she looks after her sons four surviving children, a widowed daughter and a second daughter along with her husband and their children. Their plight is not unusual in a country where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed during a decade of violence and millions more forced to flee their homes and settle elsewhere in Syria or abroad. As the 10th anniversary of the start of the conflict in mid-March, 2011, approaches, Hamu just wants to forget. I dont want to remember...it was too cruel, she said of the war, a multi-sided conflict that sucked in Islamist militants, myriad rebel groups, government troops and foreign forces. Read More Hamu, who was born and bred in Douma, has never left the town, which still shows the scars of the violence. It is back under government control after a Russian-backed military campaign helped President Bashar al-Assad force Jaish al-Islam, the rebel group which controlled Douma in 2018, to retreat. The aerial bombing campaign that flushed them out followed a years-long siege of hundreds of thousands of residents, many of whom fled. Some who now want to return from Turkish-held areas in the north are not allowed. Douma is part of the Eastern Ghouta region that touches the outskirts of Damascus. Eastern Ghouta town was where a suspected chemical attack took place in April, 2018 that prompted missile strikes by the United States, France and Britain against several suspected chemical weapons facilities in Syria. The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied involvement in any such attack. Assad has survived the insurgency, which started as peaceful protests in March, 2011, a part of the Arab Spring uprisings that shook Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and beyond. But nowhere has the fallout been as devastating as in Syria. From a precarious position, Assad now holds sway over many parts of the country, helped by Russias military and Irans Shiite militias. Hostile Turkey still controls swathes of territory in the northwest and the United States has a presence in the northeast, a major oil and wheat producing area. Prior to the conflict, Hamu lived with her farmer husband who owned a mini-market. Relatively well off, the family were able to secure marriages for the son Subhi and both daughters on the same night. Expand Close Galway hurler and Unicef Ireland goodwill ambassador Joe Canning in the largely destroyed Syrian city Aleppo in 2017. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Galway hurler and Unicef Ireland goodwill ambassador Joe Canning in the largely destroyed Syrian city Aleppo in 2017. Photo: Mark Condren But the war escalated, and, on the fateful night in 2016, her life was shattered. I wish there had been no war and we lived in security. But this is Gods will, she said. The second floor of her traditional home is still charred and damaged by the flames that engulfed it in 2016, a permanent reminder of her loss. People are gradually trickling back to Douma and other former rebel-held areas, now that the fighting has subsided. More than half of Syrias pre-war population are either internally displaced inside Syria or refugees, according to new figures released by the U.N.s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Faris al-Barghout, who heads a local charity, says life is gradually returning to Douma, with schools and services back up and running. But the war has left its mark: there are around 3,200 orphans in the town registered with his charity alone. People are safe and have started to resume normal life, he said. Shops and businesses are open and streets are busy with cars, as people go about their daily lives. But Hamus son-in-law, Yassin al-Afa, does not hold out hope that he will get back to where he was before 2011 any time soon. Afa was once a builder making enough income to support his family. Now hes jobless and confined to his bed after major back surgery, making physical labour impossible. He said jobs were few and far between and he had no capital to start a business of his own. We were living like kings. We were working jobs and could provide for our household and there was something to look forward to, Afa said of life before the war. Hamus family tragedy is not unique in Douma. Umm Bashir al-Saour, a 37-year-old widowed by war, lives with her mother-in-law and four children in the same house. She washes and cuts up lettuce to deliver to local restaurants for a weekly wage to make ends meet. She lost her husband and one of her children in shelling during the final days of the conflict. We were hoping things would be better and that I wouldnt lose my husband, but he left us, she said. Its too late for us now but Im just hoping that things will be better for the children. 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 West Australian Liberal Party has cautioned politicians and candidates against attending functions organised by Chinese groups amid concerns about foreign interference after two candidates were spotted dining with influential Chinese businessmen in a Northbridge restaurant. While a senior figure within the Liberal Party went as far as saying there was a blanket ban on attending Chinese functions the party would not confirm the nature of the veto. Legislative Council president Kate Doust, senior policy adviser to Deputy Premier Roger Cook, and Liberal candidates for Bateman and Riverton Matthew Woodall and Anthony Spagnolo at the dinner. However, WAtoday understands there was displeasure within party ranks about candidates attending functions and an effort has been made to scrutinise interactions with Chinese groups more closely in recent months. A Liberal campaign spokesman said engaging with members of the community and attending events remained the cornerstone of the democratic process and key role of MPs and candidates. 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 City of Laredo continues to experience a resounding slowdown in COVID-19 positives and hospitalizations, some members of community have started to raise concerns about the effects migrants released into the city could have on the infection rates in the area. Local leaders addressed the topic in their coronavirus media briefing Thursday, downplaying the concerns and reports of large numbers of COVID-positive immigrants being released into the community. Reports from media outlets and tweets from state leaders have led to some alarm. On March 3, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted a tweet calling out the Biden Administration for "recklessly releasing" hundreds of immigrants with COVID into Texas' border communities. However, Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino disagrees with the governor's assertion, reporting that the positivity rate seen in the immigrant population is in line with the positivity rate throughout the state. On average, the positivity rate in the immigrant population has been between 4-10% in Texas, with the rate Laredo has seen being even lower, Trevino said. According to Johns Hopkins University, the state of Texas has a rolling seven-day positivity rate of 8.7%, and the rate throughout the United States is at 4%. Laredos rolling positivity rate as of Friday was 2.8%. "There has been no significant impact on (Laredo's) seven-day positivity rate," Trevino said. "Nonetheless, plans are being formulated to mitigate any potential increase in the number of immigrants." As of Thursday, Laredo Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Guillermo Heard said that less than 20 immigrants are currently being housed in the Holding Institute, the shelter which is housing a majority of incoming immigrants at the present time. These incoming immigrants are being tested at a steady rate, and should they test positive, they are being isolated and offered treatment, Heard said. Of the migrants at local shelters, only one has tested positive. As demand for the COVID-19 vaccine continues to outpace supply in Laredo, questions have also been raised on the availability of the vaccine to the migrant population something that Laredo leaders were also quick to address. While anyone residing in the U.S. is entitled to receive the vaccine, the scheduling and administration of the vaccine would make it difficult for migrants to receive a vaccine in Laredo without an extended stay in the area. "The likelihood of immigrants being in the city longer than a 24- to 36-hour period is very low," Laredo Health Director Richard Chamberlain said. Chamberlain added that immigrants released in the Laredo area likely travel through the city to a connecting point with a family member, meaning that Laredo's vaccine supply should not be heavily affected. In Friday's update, city leaders also confirmed only eight positives and no new deaths for the second consecutive day. It marks the third consecutive day with less than 10 positives reported in the daily public update. Since the emergence of the pandemic, 42,924 people have tested positive for the virus and 802 deaths have been recorded in the Laredo area. This week finishes off with 101 positive cases of the coronavirus and 12 deaths reported. The new cases are down from 141, 199 and 226 the previous three weeks. Prior to that, the area had been over 1,000 in 14 consecutive weeks including the 5,217 from Jan. 9-15. Similar to the previous two weeks, this week's total was the lowest outside the pandemic's first 13 weeks locally which were all below triple-digits. Laredo must be judged on a Saturday through Friday basis to accurately account for the brief time period earlier in the pandemic it stopped providing COVID updates over weekends. So far in March, 239 positives and 22 deaths have been recorded. Just over a third of the month, it is greatly below the record 148 deaths reported in February. That month also had 2,578 positives, the first major drop since January (13,140) and December (6,923) records together eclipsed 20,000. This month is currently on pace for 617.4 positives, which would be the fourth-fewest of the pandemics 13 months and the first below 1,000 since last Junes 990. The only months which had fewer were the first three months of the pandemic in 2020 in March (45), April (318) and May (185). Active cases saw another fall, with 116 persons now infected with the virus as of the report. An estimated 42,006 people have recovered from a previous infection. Should the trend continue, Laredo could see a drop below 100 cases for the first time since April of last year. A total of 29 people are currently under treatment with COVID-19 in Laredo hospitals, which matches the lowest number of hospitalizations seen in the Laredo since June 2020. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports a COVID-19 hospitalization rate of 5.8% for the Laredo hospital region based on data from March 11. Though slightly higher than the low of 5.3% reported Thursday, it now marks the 17th consecutive day the region has reported a rate below the state's 15% benchmark which has been described as a red flag before by Abbott if an area is above it. As of 11 a.m., 309,519 tests for COVID-19 have been administered in the Laredo. lsanmiguel@lmtonline.com Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid vaccine was authorized in the European Union Thursday, the fourth shot greenlighted by the bloc. AFP spoke to J&J's Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels about what it means for the fight to end the pandemic. The interview was edited for clarity. What makes the J&J vaccine such an important tool? Stoffels: The vaccine we just got approved by the European authorities is a single-shot vaccine, and it's the first vaccine which was studied on a very large scale (around 40,000 people), including the variants. And we have shown high efficacy against severe disease as well as hospitalization and death. In addition, it's a single dose with stability that you ship at 2 to 8 Celsius, normal refrigeration, which will help facilitate large-scale implementation in the world. Also Read | Novavax vaccine shows 96% efficacy against original coronavirus version in UK trial What's your response to criticism that J&J's shot isn't as protective as the RNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna? Stoffels: We did our study globally, on three continents: the US, South America, and South Africa, but also in very difficult circumstances in the surge of the pandemic. We now know the efficacy of the vaccine on the variants, and also can show that independent of region, independent of variant, or of age, you protect against severe disease, death and hospitalization. And that is 85 per cent protection for severe disease, but also 100 per cent so far, we have not seen after day 28 (any) people who are hospitalized or dead. That's the most important challenge in this disease. J&J's vaccine uses a common-cold causing adenovirus, genetically-modified so it can't replicate, as a "vector" to carry the gene for a part of the coronavirus to human cells in order to train the immune system. What's the biological advantage of this approach? Stoffels: We have a very decent antibody response, but cellular immunity is the one which makes it durable, but also broad spectrum. We learned that already: we have done an Ebola vaccine, a Zika vaccine, and we're working on an HIV vaccine. The secret sauce of such a vaccine is the combination of both. Can you explain in easy terms what cellular immunity is? Stoffels: When you get vaccinated as a child, you get your vaccines, which protects you for your life. So your body memory memorizes this pathogen, the disease agent. Although for many of them, you will not measure antibodies anymore later on, your body still can react because it immediately knows 'This is a pathogen I've seen before.' And that's where cellular immunity is very important, both for the efficacy immediately but also for remembering for a long time. Also Read | Biden may lift Covid-19 vaccine beneficiary restrictions by May 1 What's the state of your studies for children and pregnant women? Stoffels: At the moment, we are studying the vaccine in adolescents, that is ongoing, and that is 12 to 17 years. Phase 2 and 3 (when efficacy studies begin) for children below 12 years begins in April. Pregnant women will be studied beginning now. Will you make variant-specific vaccines? Stoffels: Out of abundance of precaution, we started already making a vaccine based on the South African variant. We don't know whether we'll need it, but if it's needed, it's on the way, and we are at the moment during the early stages of upscaling. Some scientists have raised concerns that repeating your vaccine will be a problem because the immune system will remember the virus used as a vector and attack it, reducing efficacy. Would this pose a problem for boosters? Stoffels: In our HIV vaccine work, we give people exposure to the vector four times over a year. Although we saw small changes, we did not see that we couldn't use it for a booster. Ad26 (Adenovirus 26) as a vector, the one we have, was selected for low immunogenicity, as well as low presence in humans. We are reasonably comfortable that we can boost the vaccine without issue. Also Read | EU drugs regulator gives green light to J&J's single-shot Covid-19 vaccine Is there anything else we should know? Stoffels: We have a very comprehensive network in the world to make sure we can serve the entire world, as well as collaborations with Covax (the global vaccine initiative). We hope that very quickly after what we're doing in the US and Europe, that we move to being able to vaccinate the entire world. And we have a big commitment at J&J to do this at a not for profit price. My last column featured some of my favorite kitchen hacks. I had many comments on the various ideas I mentioned, though, only Marilyn Gattuso, a native of North Adams and a former Pittsfield resident, now of Naples, Fla., offered her favorite. "When you burn your hand/fingers while baking or cooking, immediately place your hand in a container of flour or cover the area with flour sting and potential blister/scar will disappear." Sir Alexander Tytler was a Scottish advocate, judge, writer, and historian. Lord Tytler lived from 1747 until 1813; about the time of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson in America. Tytler was a professor at the University of Edinburgh. One of Tytler's most influential and proverbial historical writings was about the lifespan of countries operating under democratic republican governance. Tytler believed the life expectancy of a self-ruled nation was about 200 years. Tytler was very dismissive about who holds the real power in a democratic republic or even a pure democracy. He felt these types of government do not last, cannot sustain themselves, and eventually crumble because of human nature. History repeats itself because human nature does not change. Tytler's most famous historical and yet futuristic prediction was the "Eight Stages of a Democracy." After studying human nature as well as past history, Tytler predicted the "Eight Stages of a Democracy." A brief reading sure makes one nervous about America's future. "Eight Stages of a Democracy." 1) Bondage to Spiritual Faith 2) Spiritual Faith to Great Courage 3) Great Courage to Liberty 4) Liberty to Abundance 5) Abundance to Selfishness 6) Selfishness to Apathy 7) Apathy to Dependence 8) Dependence back to Bondage The study of Tytler's analysis can be sobering. A great many Americans, including 80 million Trump voters, are inclined to feel we're at stage #7 and closing in on #8 fast. Surely you would think that even the Americans who have placed their guy in the White House must see some of the danger signs. The Biden/Harris administration has declared war on religion. The Biden/Harris regime is criminalizing political dissent. There are way too many Americans who live only on government assistance and handouts. Our borders are being overrun by illegal immigrants for whom there are no jobs. And when there is work for illegals, it certainly pushes down the wages of the poor working-class Americans already legally here. Our nation's capital has been barricaded, bordered up, and beefed up with soldiers who are there to shoot fellow Americans. Lincoln did not even order this during the Civil War. And half of America does not believe the recent election results. We now in some ways resemble Germany of the early 1930s. Progressives might call this the "new normal." Patriots would call it bondage. The new McCarthyism from the Left has made some patriots prisoners in their own land. Increasingly, patriots are being cancelled out of their own society. Books are burned, authors are silenced, and careers are destroyed. Churches are shuttered in this new normal. This new Supreme Court has no credibility with half of America, which now believes the Supreme Court is comprised of either cowards, the compromised, or crooks. The late Milton Friedman famously said that America can either have a society with a welfare safety net for the less fortunate, or a borderless country without laws restricting immigration, but not both. That is exactly what the Biden/Harris administration is trying to do right now. It is almost as if they are trying to bring us to financial ruin and economic collapse on purpose. One must wonder if those in power are taking direct instructions from China. The French student of democracy Alexis de Tocqueville once said long ago of America that "America is a great country because America is good." But once they cease to be good, they will no longer be great. This is an ominous warning, even from the French. When we have to take moral guidance lessons from the French, were in trouble. Lord Tytler continued to say that neither democratic republics nor pure democracies last for more than 200 years for one simple reason. Tytler explained that, "It only exists until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury." Once the voters realize this, they only vote into office those politicians who give them free stuff without the need to work for it. This causes economic and eventual national collapse, and a dictatorial totalitarian government replaces the democratic republic. Tytler's words of wisdom are good for a Chamber of Commerce, an AP History class, and a Sunday School class to hear and ponder. Congress in particular should study Tytler's eight stages. November 4th, 2020 was a disastrous day in American history. And the days that followed January 6th, 2021, might even prove to be far worse and longer lasting. America is now in her 245th year of existence. One must wonder, unless we can change things around dramatically, rapidly, and extensively (and God heals our land); if we are living on borrowed time. Sir Alexander Tytler believed that we are. Image: Picryl A man receives a shot of China-aided vaccine in Conakry, capital of Guinea, March 5, 2021. (Xinhua) "If the weakest link is in some faraway country wherever the COVID-19 is still ... prevalent, we will all have ... mutations of COVID-19 which will defeat the vaccines already exist," said a renowned U.S. expert. WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's pledge and action to make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good will help strengthen "the weakest link" in the world's battle against the pandemic, a renowned U.S. expert has said. "I think China's doing about it the right way," Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies, told Xinhua recently, when talking about China's dispatching vaccines to countries in dire need. "If the weakest link is in some faraway country wherever the COVID-19 is still ... prevalent, we will all have ... mutations of COVID-19 which will defeat the vaccines already exist," he said. As vaccine researchers are working around the clock to offer stronger and broader protection against COVID-19, preliminary data from a study in Brazil indicates that a type of vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech is effective against the P1 variant first detected in Brazil, Sao Paulo State Governor Joao Doria confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday. A health worker holds a dose of CoronaVac, a vaccine against COVID-19 from China, on the first day of inoculation for people over 90 years old, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Feb. 5, 2021. (Photo by Rahel Patrasso/Xinhua) Gupta expressed the hope that China will continue proceeding forward with distributing vaccines "as widely as possible in the developing world" under the World Health Organization's COVAX framework. As a steadfast advocate for equitable vaccine distribution, China has joined COVAX, under which China has undertaken to provide an initial 10 million doses of domestic vaccine for emergency use in developing countries. China has also donated vaccines to peacekeepers from various countries and is ready to work with the International Olympic Committee to provide vaccines to Olympians, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference on Sunday. So far, China has donated or is donating COVID-19 vaccines to 69 developing countries in urgent need, and is exporting vaccines to 43 countries, Wang said, noting that China has worked in real earnest to improve vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. "In the long arc of things, the truth will be understood by people who ultimately get the jab," said Gupta. Gupta also slammed the so called China's "vaccine diplomacy" invented by some Western politicians and media outlets. A medical worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital on the outskirts of Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) "I think that it's been an unfortunate (thing that) the way even good deeds ... have been framed in an adversarial way," he said. Many rich countries, Gupta said, claimed to practice multilateralism in vaccine distribution, but they are "very unilateral," and stuck to their own national priorities, keeping "excessive stockpiles at their ends, without thinking of other poorer people." "It really doesn't matter if a Western media house is trying to create an alternative narrative about that, it is about people on the ground and their health matters," he said. The majority of developing countries have been unable to administer a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while rich nations have vaccinated their citizens at a rate of one person per second over the last month, said the People's Vaccine Alliance, a global coalition of organizations and activists, on Tuesday. "Vaccines are a powerful weapon against the virus and bring hope for saving lives. They should serve the entire world and benefit all humanity," Wang told reporters on Sunday. "We hope that all capable countries will do what they can to provide vaccines to countries in need, especially developing countries, so that people all over the world will have access to affordable vaccines, vaccines that truly benefit people," he said. Taxis wait for customers at a stand in front of the city's skyline in Hong Kong in 2020. Photo: Bloomberg (Bloomberg) Hong Kongs regulator warned that a price war among the citys accounting firms could impact quality of reports amid a boom in listed companies. In a report offering a broad overview of the industry from 2010 to 2019, Financial Reporting Council found average audit fees increased 1% a year, on average, per listed company over the period and that companies are able to pay less when switching auditors. On top of that, about 80% of listed companies in Hong Kong pay fees below the average each year, which indicates significant skewing of fees, the regulator said in the report. Of significant relevance to the FRC is whether audit quality has been maintained in these market conditions, Marek Grabowski, the regulators chief executive officer, said in the report. Hong Kongs market has added more than 1,140 companies over the period, while the city has seen a net increase of only six accounting firms. Audit fees paid by the top 20 listed companies, led by HSBC Holdings Plc, CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd., amounted to HK$3.45 billion ($445 million) in 2019, representing 28% of the total paid by all listed firms. The regulator also found big firms auditing more than 100 listed companies per year dominate the market, with the 6 Category A firms having more than 70% of the market since 2013. High cost of entry and interdependence among major firms have significant implications in audit services, the FRC said. Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) Support quality journalism in China. Subscribe to Caixin Global starting at $0.99. Follow the Chinese markets in real time with Caixin Globals new stock database. STAMFORD Conair Corp., the maker of personal-care products such as hair dryers and culinary items that include Cuisinart food processors, is set to keep its main offices in Stamford after announcing Friday that it would be acquired by a private equity firm. Financial terms of Conairs deal with Manhattan-based American Securities were not disclosed. Certain members of the Rizzuto family, who founded Conair in 1959, will retain minority ownership. I am proud to continue the journey I started under [Conair founder] Mr. [Lee] Rizzuto more than 40 years ago that helped us grow our iconic brands into a world class, diversified global company proudly sharing our products in millions of consumers' homes, Conair President Ron Diamond, who will serve as president and CEO after the deal is completed, said in a statement. The partnership with American Securities will allow us to continue our evolution with a focus on new product development and an acceleration of our M&A activities while continuing to bring efficiencies to our operations. In response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media about the acquisitions impact on Conairs operations, an American Securities spokesperson said that we have no plans to relocate Conairs headquarters. Our plan is to continue growing the company and providing opportunities for Conair employees around the globe. Conair has offices at 1 Cummings Point Road, in Stamfords Waterside section. A message left Friday for Conair inquiring how many employees it had in Stamford was not immediately returned. Conairs sale does not come as a surprise after a number of reports in recent months of private equity firms interest in the company. Bloomberg had reported in January that Conair had held talks with two firms about a potential $2 billion deal. We are excited to partner with Ron [Diamond] and the rest of the Conair management team as they continue to execute on a strategy to expand on the exceptional brand portfolio that consumers love all over the world, Kevin Penn, a managing director of American Securities, said in a statement. American Securities has made a total of 67 investments, including 21 current ones, with $23 billion of committed capital, according to its website. The company's scale, best-in-class product offering, supply chain capabilities, and strong management team creates a sustainable competitive advantage and makes Conair a strong fit for our investment strategy, Helen Chiang, another of American Securities managing directors, said in a statement. Comprising a $2+ billion global company, Conair sells its products in more than 125 countries, according to its website. Its merchandise includes professional-salon products, personal-care products and consumer and commercial kitchen appliances and cookware. Its more than 25 brands include Babyliss, Conair, Cuisinart, Scunci and Waring. After its founding in 1959 as a hair-care focused company, Conair soon became a major player in its industry. The pistol-grip hair dryer, which Conair began manufacturing in the mid-1960s, changed the way the world did hair, its website says. The company's founder, Lee Rizzuto, personally taught hairdressers how to use this innovative new hair dryer a brilliant alternative to the standing dryer to get clients in and out of the salon faster. Conair's iconic Yellowbird, introduced in 1972, remains one of the most respected and recognized blow dryers in the industry. Rizzuto died in 2017 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott An agreement to create 500 much-needed jobs in the Latrobe Valley is on the brink of collapse with an electric vehicle company handing funds back to the Victorian government in frustration. In 2018 the state government announced the Latrobe Valley would become the capital of electric vehicle manufacturing in Australia through a deal with SEA Electric to set up a factory in Morwell. SEA Electric delivery vans assembled at Dandenong. But the company confirmed it has not established any operations in the Latrobe Valley and will go elsewhere if it cannot overcome the impasse soon. The Andrews government has expressed its frustration of its own, insisting it has supported SEA Electric and its promise to deliver jobs for the Latrobe Valley. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Colleges In Pennsylvania for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 182 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 182 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. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-colleges-in-pennsylvania/ 2021 Colleges In Pennsylvania featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Albright College Allegheny College Bryn Athyn College Bryn Mawr College Bucknell University Cairn University California University of Pennsylvania Carnegie Mellon University Cedar Crest College Central Penn College Chatham University Clarion University of Pennsylvania Curtis Institute of Music DeSales University Dickinson College Drexel University Duquesne University East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania Edinboro University Elizabethtown College Franklin & Marshall College Gannon University Geneva College Gettysburg College Grove City College Haverford College Immaculata University Indiana University of Pennsylvania Juniata College King's College Lafayette College Lancaster Bible College Lehigh University Marywood University Millersville University Muhlenberg College Pennsylvania State University Saint Francis University Saint Joseph's University Slippery Rock University Swarthmore College Temple University Thaddeus Stevens College University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of Scranton Ursinus College Villanova University Washington and Jefferson College West Chester 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/. Thai health officials announced the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine would be delayed Thailand on Friday joined several European nations in suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears, despite a range of health authorities around the world insisting it was safe. The move came just hours after US President Joe Biden offered COVID-weary Americans hope of a return to some kind of normality by July 4, marking the national holiday as his target for "independence" from the virus. After a shaky start, the US has ramped up its vaccination programme, following the advice of scientists who say jabs are the only way out of a pandemic that has killed 2.6 million people around the world. But global hopes received a blow Thursday when Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Italy and Romania postponed or limited the rollout of their quota of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots. Thailand followed suit on Friday. Health regulators stressed there was no evidence of any link, but they were acting out of an abundance of caution. Australia, Mexico and the Philippines said they would continue their rollouts as they had found no reason to alter course. Canada said there was no evidence the jab causes adverse reactions. Thailand's decision led to the embarrassing spectacle of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha abruptly cancelling his own televised jab. "Vaccine injection for Thais must be safe, we do not have to be in a hurry," said Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, an adviser for the country's COVID-19 vaccine committee. Toll of coronavirus infections and deaths worldwide and in worst-affected countries based on AFP tallies, as of March 11 at 1100 GMT Fight not over In the US, Biden laid out the path for escape from the darkest days of the pandemic in the world's worst-hit country. "This fight is far from over," Biden said in his first televised primetime address as president, delivering an emotional tribute to the more than 530,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19. He said Americans could overcome the virus if they worked together and followed health experts' guidelines on wearing masks and getting vaccinated. "Just as we are emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and summer is not the time to not stick with the rules," he said. If Americans stay the course, they may be able to mark their cherished July 4th national holiday in somewhat normal circumstances, with a backyard barbecue, he said. "That will make this Independence Day something truly special where we not only mark our independence as a nation but we begin to mark our independence from this virus." 'Not good enough' After falling behind in its immunisation effort, the EU is now fighting hard to accelerate its vaccine push. It has targeted AstraZeneca, whose shares plunged more than 2.5 percent on the London Stock Exchange over the vaccine concerns, for censure over its failure to meet delivery promises. US President Joe Biden raised hopes that the country hardest hit by the global pandemic could overcome the virus The head of the EU's coronavirus vaccine supply task force said the pace of the company's production was "not good enough" to meet its obligations for the first quarter of the year, the latest in a bitter spat between the 27-nation bloc and the company. "AstraZeneca vaccines delivery: I see efforts, but not 'best efforts'," Thierry Breton wrote on Twitter. The EU approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Thursday, which is stored at higher temperatures than competitors and is easier to distribute. Despite the sluggish bloc-wide rollout, Greece on Thursday said it is aiming to reopen for tourists by mid-May because of the acceleration of its own programme. In another boost for vaccine hopes, a real-world study in Israel showed the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs to be 97 percent effective against symptomatic COVID cases, higher than originally thought. 'Greatest moral test' Since first emerging in China at the end of 2019, the coronavirus has infected more than 118 million people, with few parts of the globe left untouched. Countries have jostled for the most effective vaccines and enough doses to inoculate their populations, in some cases many times over. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday lashed out at what he called the "many examples of vaccine nationalism and hoarding" that will prevent some countries from getting the resources to bring their health crises to an end. "Many low-income countries have not yet received a single dose," he said. "The global vaccination campaign represents the greatest moral test of our times." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Appointment 12 March 2021 Miguel Ferreres has been appointed to head the new operations centre created by Melia Hotels International to optimise the management of its five properties in Barcelona. The former director of the Melia Sitges hotel will now head the Melia Barcelona Sarria and Melia Barcelona Sky - two of the city's leading properties - as well as the Hotel Apolo, the Hotel Condal Mar and the Hotel Barceona Airport. In his new role, Miguel Ferreres is responsible for unifying and optimising the operational efficiency of the five Barcelona properties in order to boost their performance in the post-Covid-19 phase and strengthen their competitiveness in one of the most important locations in Europe, such as Barcelona. He will be replaced in Melia Sitges by another of the directors with a long history in the company and experience in the destination, Sergi Uriol. Throughout his career, he has held various management positions in Egypt, Tunisia, the Canary Islands and Catalonia. In recent years, he has managed the Melia Sitges Hotel, which, since its opening in 1992, has always been linked to the International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, of which it is the main venue. In addition, Miguel Ferreres has been vice-president of the Hotel and Catering Guild and Melia's representative in the Catalonia Fantastic Film Festival Foundation. Dave Chappelle is making his way back to Houston this month. The news comes after the comedian tested positive for coronavirus in January, leading him to cancel the rest of his Texas shows. MEET DAVE CHAPPELLE: Lucky Houstonians get the chance to see Dave Chappelle at House of Blues Now that Chappelle is healthy, the three-day comedy show will be held from March 23-25 at the House of Blues. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster on Friday. While the mask mandate has been lifted in the state of Texas, the House of Blues has made a statement that their top priority is to protect fans, artists and staff during events and will follow the federal public health guidelines. According to a statement, the venue will be following similar guidelines in place for his previously canceled shows. Ticket holders will be required to take a mandatory rapid COVID-19 antigen test upon arrival. COVID-19 UPDATE: Texans 50 and older will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine starting March 15 Officials say that if a ticket holder tests positive for COVID-19, that person, and all members of the same household will not be allowed entry. Staff members at the House of Blues will be required to wear a mask at all times, and the cleaning staff will be sanitizing high-touch venue areas before, during, and after the event. In order to effectively maintain social distancing guidelines, rapid testing at the House of Blues will be staggered by seating location. For ticket holders who have floor seats, testing is between 5 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Lower balcony seating will be tested from 5:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and upper balcony seatholders will begin at 6:30. Eurofins (Paris:ERF) adds virus variant monitoring capabilities to its commercially available SARS-CoV-2 test portfolio. This new solution is part of the Eurofins COVID-19 Sentinel and SAFER@WORK programs which provide an early warning of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 amongst large populations or at a given site (e.g. a city, factories, education institutions, government and public service sites, nursing homes), before the virus spreads too broadly. The monitoring of wastewater, environmental surface, air and worn mask testing can give an early indication of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and can also detect virus variants. This allows for relevant containment measures to be put in place to avoid an outbreak of the disease even before symptom onset. With a new VIRType kit, Eurofins is now able to rapidly detect and identify between the original SARS-CoV-2 strain (Wildtype) or known variants of interest including the UK (lineage B.1.1.7), South Africa (lineage B.1.351) or Brazil (lineage P.1) variants in wastewater, air, environmental surfaces and worn masks via RT-qPCR. Single point mutations referring to the UK South Africa Brazil lineages help to distinguish between the original strain and these SARS-CoV-2 variants. The Eurofins COVID-19 Sentinel program is successfully being used in many countries and communities worldwide as an early and cost-effective indicator of virus presence. In the US, in addition to qualitative surface and worn mask testing the quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and air provides crucial information for monitoring viral spread. For more information, please visit the Eurofins SAFER@WORK website. About Eurofins the global leader in bio-analysis Eurofins is Testing for Life. With over 50,000 staff across a network of more than 800 laboratories in over 50 countries, Eurofins' companies offer a portfolio of over 200,000 analytical methods. Eurofins Shares are listed on Euronext Paris Stock Exchange. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005234/en/ Contacts: Brooke Maharg BrookeMaharg@eurofinsUS.com The guests have been revealed for tonight's Late Late Show on RTE One. Allen Leech, Home of the Year judges, Seana Kerslake and Nathan Carter are among the guests for The Late Late Show tonight. Following on from The Late Late Show's Taking Care of Business Special which aired last year, the show welcomes back the inaugural bursary winners Patrick Cox, Oliver Kirwan, Donagh Quigley, and Denise Rock with news of how their business have adapted and thrived through the lockdown. Actor Allen Leech of Downton Abbey and Bohemian Rhapsody fame on coming home to Ireland, the joy of a good pint and why he supports the work of the Sudden Adult Death Syndrome charity, CRY. Marie Greene & Emily MacKeogh will be asking for public support for CRY and recounting their personal experiences. Home of the Year is currently back on our screens and the differing opinions between the judges have got the nation talking. Hugh Wallace, Amanda Bone & Suzie Mc Adam will be in studio to discuss this year's homes. Seana Kerslake star of new Sunday night hit-drama Smother will be speaking to Ryan about filming the show in Lahinch in the middle of the pandemic, and she will be remembering her close friend Danika McGuigan, daughter of Barry McGuigan. Nathan Carter will be in studio with the first TV performance of his new song. Dea Matrona from Belfast will also be in studio to perform their latest single, Make You My Star. The line-up for the upcoming Late Late Show St Patrick's Day Special on Wednesday, March 17th will be released in the coming days. From Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town to Moscow via New York, the one-off Wednesday evening show will host the trad session to end all trad sessions. The show will also mark the most extraordinary twelve months in living memory with a very special dedication to a recipient who represents the very best of the Irish spirit. The Late Late Show St Patrick's Day Award will be presented live on the night. The Late Late Show, Friday, March 12th on RTE One. 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 recent passing of the $1.9-trillion relief package by House Democrats exposes once again the corrupt method used routinely to ensure passage of legislation that is weak or politically biased. I'm referring specifically to the practice of loading up a bill with additional appropriations that have little or nothing to do with the stated purpose of the bill, lovingly known as "pork." This helps to explain why a bill like this grows to 591 pages. It is estimated that only 9% of the funds are destined for actual COVID relief. It was apparently more important to Democrats to lard up the bill with more of their wish-list items. How about $350 billion to bail out mismanaged states, $12 billion for foreign aid, $135 million for the Endowment for the Arts? And how could they let any spending bill get by without something for Big Tech in California, specifically a Silicon Valley underground tunnel for $112 million? One of the more egregious items was for Howard University, which will receive $35 million to cover losses due to the pandemic, the only university to be reimbursed for that reason. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that V.P. Harris is a graduate of Howard. The unions certainly won't be left out. Funding for union pension plans will be to the tune of $86 billion. This money will go to about 10% of the 1,400 unions that have pension plans that are failing and projected to be unable to pay benefits to its members within 20 years. The taxpayers are once again forced to cover for gross mismanagement of pensions such as this. Another coincidence is the gifting of $1.5 billion to Amtrak, even though it hasn't spent the $1 billion it received in the last relief package. That's the rail company that operates a high-speed commuter train serving the Acela Corridor, running from Washington, D.C. to Boston, with 16 stops in between. It probably helped that many northeast politicians use this service. This process has been in place for decades and doesn't appear to be a major concern to Congress in general. Indeed, the party in power does most of the fattening up, and a lot of the items come out of the various congressional committees. Recall the dirty dealings with the Affordable Care Act back in 2010. The Senate votes to pass were stuck at 59 until the famous Cornhusker Kickback was born. Nebraska was promised an additional $100 million for Medicaid if Senator Ben Nelson would provide the required 60th vote. Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu was treated to an extra $300 million for Medicaid for her vote. There was so much outrage over the Nebraska deal that the Senate eventually deleted it. This was the bill that Nancy Pelosi informed us had to be passed so they could see what was in it. Obviously, reading the bill was much harder than fattening it up to make it palatable to enough members for passage. It boggles the mind that our representatives think we the people are okay with this method for making laws. The approval rating for Congress stood at 15% in December 2020. Somehow it has increased to 35% by February 2021. They shouldn't, however, be rejoicing over 35%. It is way past time that a few brave representatives introduce legislation to address this ridiculous practice. After all, they might even help themselves by improving the public's perception of Congress and get that rating to even higher than 35%. It might even guarantee re-election, which seems to be the driving force behind everything our representatives do. However, I'm as optimistic about that as I am about term limits being enacted. Image: Pixabay. POINTE BLANCHE:--- The Caribbean region as the largest cruise destination of the industry is still waiting for the resumption of the cruise, and this would also include Port St. Maarten as one of the primary ports of call in the northeastern Caribbean. Friday, March 12 marks one year since the last commercial cruise call to Port St. Maarten due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No one initially thought that the cruise business would have been interrupted beyond a year. We have taken the time during the pandemic to further strengthen our internal compliance protocols and procedures and business resumption planning, thereby becoming more resilient, and proactive while remaining connected with our local and international stakeholders as we look forward to rebounding stronger when the resumption of cruise tourism sets sail, Port St. Maarten Management said on Thursday. Port Management: The Port is very thankful to the staff for their contributions and commitment through the pandemic. This has been a difficult period for everyone, and staff well-being was our number one priority. Last September a number of staff took part in a mental health workshop titled, Surviving the Pandemic. The program provided tools to assist staff to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. The general consensus is that things are looking positive especially coming out of the United States, where the pace of COVID-19 vaccine inoculations are on the increase and the infection curve has been dropping leading to less hospitalizations and deaths. The cruise industry continues to await guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one of the major operating components of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services protecting Americans from health and safety threats, both foreign and domestic. The cruise industry is currently waiting on the technical details that would allow for the first conditional sail order and trial sailings to begin. Discussions within the United States Government have been taking place on a broader level that encompasses travel in general plane and cruise. In the meantime, Port St. Maarten attended on March 3 a meeting with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) under the banner of, Americas Cruise Tourism Task Force. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) was also a key partner that attended the virtual sessions. The Caribbean remains the number one cruise region which will be critical to cruisings recovery as it is the largest cruise line deployment region out of the global market, capturing 32 per cent of the cruise business. American market consumer research reveals that as it relates to cruise, are the most optimistic about the future since the beginning of the pandemic, and believe that the worst is behind us, and are looking forward to traveling. Destinations within the region including Sint Maarten, are wondering how the restart of cruises will look like. Port St. Maarten has been paying very close attention to trends and developments in order to be ready for the restart of cruising. The port will be launching a cruise return campaign sharing key business intelligence with its stakeholders. Some cruise brands have announced vaccine only cruises, as an example. There has also been mention of a cruise bubble within the region, maintaining current COVID-19 health preventative protocols and testing to the gradual reopening of destinations and post-vaccine plans. Due to the pandemic, the cruise industry has approximately 60 ships in the region with around 6,000 crew onboard. Port St. Maarten during the past 12-months has been providing a number of services to the cruise vessels that have made port calls for food and fuel provisioning as well as assisting with the crew transfers (in and out) to other countries via the Princess Juliana International Airport regularly. The aforementioned provisioning services have benefited the island economically within the past 12-months as we continue to look at alternative avenues to generate revenues from commercial and non-commercial sectors. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Two professors at the Georgetown University Law Center had a racist conversation about the allegedly poor performance of Blacks in their class, a negotiations seminar, which was recorded and uploaded for those same students to view. In the video, recorded in February and posted to Twitter on Wednesday evening, professor Sandra Sellers complained, I hate to say thisI end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower ones are Blacks. Happens almost every semester. And its like, oh, come on. Its some really good ones, but there are also usually some that are just plain at the bottom. It drives me crazy. Professor David Batson, who co-taught the class, appeared to nod. Advertisement In an email sent to students on Wednesday night, Dean William Treanor described the remarks as reprehensible and abhorrent but did not say whether either professor had been disciplined. Then, on Thursday afternoon, Treanor informed students that he had fired Sellers (who then said she intended to resign). He also placed Batson on administrative leave pending an investigation. Both Sellers and Batson are adjunct professors who lack tenure protections; Sellers has taught at the school since 2003. (Disclosure: I attended GULC but did not take their class.) 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. It may seem that Treanor took swift action to address Sellers remarks. But multiple GULC students with firsthand knowledge told Slate that a student discovered the video on Sunday night and reported it to the administration on Monday morning. The administration did not publicly address it until after it was widely shared on Twitter, and after the Black Law Students Association released a statement calling on GULC to immediately fire Sellers. The BLSA also urged the administration to demand a public apology from Batson, improve its subjective grading system, audit Sellers past grading and student evaluations, and hire more Black professors. By Thursday afternoon, 51 student organizations at the school had signed on, as had 74 other Black law student associations around the country, nearly 800 current GULC students, and nearly 700 alumni (including me). The schools Student Bar Association also issued a statement supporting the BLSAs requests. Advertisement Last summer, the BLSA and the Student Bar Association called for mandatory implicit bias training for all faculty, but the administration refused to implement such a policy. In his Thursday email, Treanor said the school would continue our work to address the many structural issues of racism reflected in this painful incident, including explicit and implicit bias, bystander responsibility, and the need for more comprehensive anti-bias training. Advertisement In conversations with Slate, GULC students said they were pleased with Treanors response but dismayed by the delay. I am not surprised by the racism exhibited by the universitys law professors, said one first-year student, who is Black. (Like most students quoted in this piece, she asked that I not use her name for fear that GULC administrators or professors might retaliate.) She noted that the administration had been aware of the video before Wednesday, but Georgetown only cares when theres widespread national response. And she said she was deeply unimpressed by what she called Treanors performative allyship, adding: This was not the first complaint about such racist comments from this professor and others. Advertisement A third-year student agreed that Treanor dragged his feet. Its always image control with this administration, he said. There are some incredible professors and staff here who do amazing work in the areas of race and gender and civil rights. But at higher levels, the only thing they care about is how many new centers and institutes they open, never any concern about common student issues. He criticized the law school leaders reckless disregard of the concerns of minority and first-generation students. Advertisement What happened to everyones commitment to dismantle white supremacy nine months ago? Chase Woods, Georgetown Law student Another third-year student pointed out that Sellers and Batsons class was a participation-based course, making Black students particularly susceptible to biased grading given Sellers racist views. A quarter of the final grade is based on pure class participation, a highly subjective criterion that gives professors broad latitude to inject their personal prejudices into the grading process. Alarmingly, Sellers made her statement while she and Batson were evaluating a Black students performance in class. Advertisement Chase Woods, another Black first-year student, sounded a note of cautious optimism in light of Sellers termination. Generally, I am pleased with this action, he said. Based on his prior experiences at other universities trying to navigate similar incidents, he didnt expect that any substantive action would be taken. But he added that there are elements of this that are deeply troubling and, to me, illustrate how far removed we all are from the urgency of last summer. During 2020s Black Lives Matter protests, the university indicated its support for genuine racial justice. What happened to everyones commitment to dismantle white supremacy nine months ago? the student asked. Are we just back to people and institutions issuing PR statements and offering platitudes after getting caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar? Advertisement One third-year student agreed that there is a chasm between the administrations words and actions. The administration, especially Treanor, always want to seem progressive and caring, but they take every opportunity to sit on the fence and leave their students out, she said, pointing to the prominent role on campus of the right-wing Federalist Society. They let Fed Soc run amok trying to get attention by hosting insensitive events, such as an event about a multi-ethnic working class conservatism hosted by three white men. Vanessa, a Black first-year student, told me that while GULC has a diverse student body, its faculty is very white, which often creates an awkward, unpleasant, or even painful classroom dynamic. Advertisement I think we do Black law students a disservice by putting them in situations where they have to deal with racism with no safeguards in place, she said. There was an orientation session in the fall where they essentially told us not to take it personally if professors make offensive comments and let them play devils advocate. However, professors dont have any racial sensitivity training sessions, even though BLSA and SBA have asked for that on multiple occasions. I found this whole situation pretty discouraging, Vanessa added. I fear that many of our professors might be evaluating us from a racist perspective and without evidence like this. And we just have to live with the consequences. Update, March 11, 2021: This article originally stated that two participants at the GULC Federalist Societys event on a multi-ethnic working class conservatism had the same last name. An official advertisement for the event stated that two participants shared a last name, but it was an error. 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. Facebook signup web page app on smart phone Samsung Galaxy S10 with user sign in registration screen using social networking and computer notebook from anywhere office. When Facebook started blocking Australian publishers and residents from posting or sharing news content earlier, government agencies and even non-profit organizations got caught in the crossfire. The social network implemented the news-sharing ban in response to the country's proposed law that would require tech giants like Facebook and Google to pay news outlets for using their content. However, in doing so, it also prevented users from seeing posts on the Pages of entities like Doctors without Borders, St. Vincent's Health, the Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA, and the health department Pages for ACT, South Australia, NSW and Queensland -- all of which are clearly non-media accounts. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Facebook told Engadget that those organizations weren't supposed to be affected. Apparently, it had taken a broad definition of the proposed law, as it didn't provide a clear guidance of the definition of news content. The spokesperson said: "Government and non-news Pages should not be impacted by todays announcement. The actions were taking are focused on restricting publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content. As the law does not provide a clear guidance on the definition of news content, we have taken a broad definition in order to respect the law as drafted. However, we will reverse any Pages that are inadvertently impacted." Most of the affected Pages have since been restored after working with the company, and it sounds like any other non-media organization that's been impacted will get back access to their accounts. Google and Facebook have been in conflict with the Australian government ever since the country started working on the law that would make payments to news organizations mandatory. Facebook previously said that it wouldn't be able to offer news as a product anymore, so this move doesn't come as a surprise. As for Google, it told the Australian Senate at a hearing that if the proposal becomes a law, it would have "no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A research team at Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and Caresyntax has succeeded in proving that artificial intelligence can reliably assess surgeons' skills. A method involving a three-stage procedure has been presented that correctly designates good and mediocre performance with a high accuracy rate. This paves the way for further steps towards AI-supported expert systems. More than one million operations are performed in Switzerland every year. A surgeon's skill has a direct impact on the outcome of the operation. Training and experience, as well as momentary fatigue and other influencing factors all play a role. At present, skill is tested by experts, either directly during an operation or by evaluating video footage. This approach is very costly and only a limited number of experts are available. Moreover, the assessment may vary and is not always fully reproducible. For some time, attempts have been made to automate and objectify the assessment of surgeons' skills. Proof of feasibility The key result of the study is the proof of the fundamental feasibility of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based assessment of a surgeon's skill in the context of a surgical procedure. The AI used in the study identified good or moderate surgical skill with 87 percent accuracy. This can be considered a very good finding. Lead author Joel Lavanchy explains: "What was surprising was the high degree of algorithms' accuracy with the selected method. Our method of assessing surgical skills is based on the analysis of instrument movement. Surgical instruments were identified using computer algorithms and their movement was analyzed during the time period." Innovative, three-stage approach with AI The research team used a newly developed, three-stage approach. The study was based on 242 videos of laparoscopic gallbladder removal procedures. The first step was to identify the instruments used. For this purpose, a convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained to recognize the instruments. In the second step, the movements were analyzed, and their patterns were extracted. In the third step, the extracted movement patterns correlated with rating results by experts using linear regression. Broader database and in-depth training of algorithms is needed The present study is an important first step towards assessing surgical performance. More in-depth steps are needed before the technology can be used in clinical practice. For one thing, the AI algorithms need to be trained on a broader database to further improve instrument recognition. For another thing, additional surgeries need to be investigated and, in the medium term, videos of open surgeries as well as procedures apart from the abdominal area can be addressed. Dr. Enes Hosgor, a co-author of the study who leads the AI division at caresyntax, a medical technology company headquartered in Berlin and Boston, classifies the results as follows: "AI has mainly been used thus far to identify instruments or specific surgical phases. In our study, we now assess surgical skill based on surgical videos. In the future, the use of AI can solve problems at multiple levels: it is available on-demand peri-operatively (not dependent on a few hard-to-find experts); it is objective using algorithm-driven standards; it is comparable at a transregional level as well as surgeon level and could thus provide important support for decision-making processes at certification institutes." AI at medical location in Bern: CAIM as an opportunity The project provides an important indication of the future development of the use of AI in medicine. In the future, it will shift from the erstwhile evaluation of image material to the provision of expert systems. Prof. Guido Beldi, head of the study, clarifies: "The study is a first step. Now that we have demonstrated the fundamental feasibility, we can start planning assistance systems that will support surgeons during operations. For example, they will be alerted when fatigue is detected, thereby helping to prevent complications." Explore further Skilled surgeons boost colon cancer survival by 70% More information: Joel L. Lavanchy et al, Automation of surgical skill assessment using a three-stage machine learning algorithm, Scientific Reports (2021). Journal information: Scientific Reports Joel L. Lavanchy et al, Automation of surgical skill assessment using a three-stage machine learning algorithm,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84295-6 Provided by Inselspital, Bern University Hospital Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched the 'Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' event. The mahotsav will continue till August 15, 2023. India will celebrate the 75th Independence Day on August 15, 2022. The mahotsav was launched on March 12 to commemorate 91 years of the Dandi March. A 25-day long march was also flagged off by PM Modi as a tribute to the Mahatma Gandhi-led Dandi March. "Today is the first day of the Amrit Mahotsav of independence. This Mahotsav has started 75 weeks before 15th August 2022 and will run till 15th August 2023," said PM Modi. The Prime Minister also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram. "During #AmritMahotsav the country will not only remember every important moment of its freedom movement, but will also move ahead with new energy to build the future," wrote PM Modi on the visitors' book at the ashram. ''During #AmritMahotsav the country will not only remember every important moment of its freedom movement, but will also move ahead with new energy to build the future'' PM @narendramodi writes his message in visitor's book at #SabarmatiAshram#DandiMarch#India75pic.twitter.com/DrGM6AxSzZ PIB India (@PIB_India) March 12, 2021 He then attended a cultural programme at Abhay Ghat where he launched the Azaadi ka Amrut Mahotsav. The mahotsav is a series of events that commemorates India's 75 years of independence. The mahotsav is being launched from places that were major centres of India's freedom struggle, including Sabarmati Ashram, Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab etc. PM Modi launched a website for Amrit Mahotsav as well as an 'Atmanirbhar Incubator' that seeks to support around 40,000 families involved in traditional craft. "Freedom Struggle, Ideas at 75, Achievements at 75, Actions and Resolves at 75 - these five pillars will inspire the country to move forward," said the PM at the Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.He said that Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav signifies the elixir of energy of freedom, inspiration from freedom fighters, new ideas, new resolutions and self reliance. "Salt has never been valued by its cost in our country. Salt here means honesty. Salt means faith. Salt means loyalty," he said. He said salt was the symbol of India's self-reliance during the freedom struggle. The British not only hurt our self reliance, it also hurt our values, he said, adding that Indians had to depend on salt coming from England. "Today's #AmritMahotsav programme begins from Sabarmati Ashram, from where the Dandi March began. The March had a key role in furthering a spirit of pride and Aatmanirbharta among India's people. Going #VocalForLocal is a wonderful tribute to Bapu and our great freedom fighters," he tweeted earlier in the day. "Buy any local product and post a picture on social media using #VocalForLocal. A Charkha will be installed near Magan Niwas at Sabarmati Ashram. It will rotate full circle with each Tweet related to Aatmanirbharta. This shall also become a catalyst for a people's movement," he added. Buy any local product and post a picture on social media using #VocalForLocal. A Charkha will be installed near Magan Niwas at Sabarmati Ashram. It will rotate full circle with each Tweet related to Aatmanirbharta. This shall also become a catalyst for a peoples movement. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2021 The march or padyatra flagged off by PM Modi will cover a journey of 241 km from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to Dandi in Navsari. It will continue for 25 days and end on April 5. Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said that he will lead the first lap of 75 km. Also read: PM Modi to participate in 1st Quad summit today; focus on vaccine supply, Indo-Pacific region Also read: 'Thank you India, PM Modi': Canadians put up billboards after receiving COVID-19 vaccines The ad hominem argument has been too prevalent and she hopes the series might encourage civilised debate the essence of a university on why we do things, what we should do and what we are doing, without it being driven by personality and partisan positions. Spaghetti cozze (with mussels) at Donninis. Credit:Eddie Jim One of the many consequences of the pandemic she sees a surprising one, perhaps is that in the debate over public health there has been a greater reference to evidence and science. Yes, theres been a lot of unedifying heat, finger pointing and quite silly ridiculous divisions, but she believes the general behavioural response has come due to people grappling with the science and responding in an evidence-based way. Gardner spent most of last year protecting Monash from the impact of COVID-19. The major financial hit was on income from student fees, particularly those from overseas, and it was reported that Monashs revenue was slashed to the tune of $350 million. When Australia closed its borders, many of the international students were still overseas and so unable to take up their places, and many didnt come back. The staff created 7000 personalised study plans and talked endlessly to students outside the country. That way the university lost less than we anticipated and then heres a very off little statement over time we made more savings than we lost as a consequence of campuses being virtually closed for the entire year. We made savings that hopefully well never make again. It was a tough year because it was constant reaction, change, huge amounts of hardship for international students. Gardner says Monash cut its capital, its non-salary expenditures, used up all its reserves, borrowed more, put $30 million into a hardship fund for international and domestic students and the executives took voluntary paycuts. Credit: She is full of praise for the way negotiations were held with the National Tertiary Education Union. It was agreed there would be 277 voluntary redundancies and pay increases would be deferred. (At RMIT she had had to make involuntary redundancies to get the university out of the red and told staff she would never do that again.) I found them great to deal with, she says. The commitment we gave to the union was, to the best of our ability, those voluntary redundancies would go in areas we have restructured so the workload is no longer there and someone else is not having to take it up. She does not expect more barring acts of God, we should be able to manage 20-2021. She has mixed views about the federal governments support for universities in the face of COVID-19. They went to a very significant extent not to give JobKeeper there were four changes of legislation and made it available to private universities but not public. That disappointed her and she saw no logic in it. But she was grateful for the new Job-Ready graduates program a very complex package that included a one-off payment through the research-support program: In our case that was a lifesaver because I have a very big research workforce. As an 18-year-old, she went to Sydney University from her high school in the western suburbs of Sydney. Both my parents finished school at 15. They were people who cared about ideas, education and were very smart. They had all the disadvantages of their lives when none of those things were possible. In the early days she realised she was going to have to work very hard, but she says she was lucky she chose to read economics because some degrees were very heavily dominated by particular private schools. Her father said she would struggle if she chose arts/ law because from where we are we dont have the contacts and youll never make it in law. Which isnt true. She laughs when I say shes still at university, so I wondered whether she still knew people from those early days. Recently she went to a Festschrift for a professor whom she met when they were only first-year students and eventually did their PhDs together. Given that her period at RMIT and Monash coincided with Davis at Melbourne, I suggested that their home must have strong Chinese walls. We learnt that over a long time. I was deputy VC at the University of Queensland when he was VC at Griffiths, she says. So you share the interest in the policy debate and were in adjacent fields he was in public policy and I was in industrial relations but you just learn theres stuff you cant talk about. The university drives her professional life and, at the moment, her reading for pleasure. She has been going through a spate of reading campus novels. I didnt read Stoner by John Williams until quite recently. It is so searingly honest, so pared back, so beautiful. And after reading Dorothy L. Sayers Gaudy Nights set in Oxford she is working her way through the English crime writers novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. In those days the university sector was a very different beast. Today she is particularly proud that Monash will open a campus in Indonesia at the end of this year, the first by a foreign university. I think for Australias interests its important that we build the links its in the national interest. Credit: More than nine months after New York City protests in the immediate aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota met with a brutal police response, including scores of injuries and mass arrests, ProPublica reports that the citys Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) has released no reports from investigations into the hundreds of complaints lodged over police abuse in connection with those demonstrations and later ones in the course of the year. The investigative journalism project begins its report on the lack of response this week by citing the New York Police Departments (NYPD) rampage against peaceful protesters in the Bronx on June 4, reported at that time by the WSWS. New York Police officers block off a section of a street as they corral and arrest demonstrators in the West Village, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Officers soon waded into the crowd, pepper-spraying, kicking, punching and swinging their batons, as ProPublica describes the scene. People were being stampeded, they would try to get up and theyd get hit again, recalled Conrad Blackburn, a criminal defense lawyer who was there as a legal observer. People were bleeding from their heads, with cuts all over their bodies. People couldnt breathe. They couldnt see. The June 4 events were among the most notorious, but by no means the only example of police brutality in the past year. About 60 people were injured on that date, including onlookers as well as demonstrators. The NYPDs top uniformed officer, Chief of Department Terence Monahan, was overseeing the police riot, according to ProPublica. Despite the numerous complaints submitted to the CCRB about the police conduct under his watch in the Bronx, however, it was not until March 5 of this year that Monahan was scheduled for an interview by the civilian board that supposedly holds the police to account. It is probably not a coincidence that the scheduled interview was set for just after Monahan announced he was retiring after 39 years as a cop. And progressive mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the former Chief of Department, still under investigation, would now be assisting in the citys COVID-19 response. ProPublica provides many more damning details pointing to a cover-up of the role of the police through the months of protests that followed the murder of George Floyd. There were a total of about 750 police complaints during the past year, and none have been reported on. The CCRB, created almost 70 years ago, was at first completely under the jurisdiction of the NYPD itself, but was later granted some nominal independence, even including subpoena powers, about 30 years ago. With some 200 staff members and a budget of about $20 million, however, the agency has required the cooperation of the very same department it is investigating. The NYPD has a budget of $6 billion and, in the words of ProPublica, is the most powerful agency in city government. When various staff began to push for more cooperation from the NYPD in connection with last years protests, including the release of body camera footage and other materials, they were actively discouraged from within the agency itself. The chief of the CCRBs investigative unit, Dane Buchanan, and the head of policy, Nicole Napolitano, were abruptly laid off, along with two other staff, in November. The four staff members had 50 years experience between them. The grounds given were cost-savings and restructuring. The four who were laid off filed suit last January. As ProPublica reports, they claimed they were fired in part as retaliation for demanding greater accountability and transparency with respect to the handling of complaints of police misconduct against NYPD officers. ProPublica also reports that the CCRB will provide no accounting of where it stands in the ongoing investigations, nor any information on how many officers have been charged with violations of policy in connection with brutality that was witnessed by scores of people, including bystanders as well as peaceful protesters. The role of the CCRB has become so obvious that even its own staff can no longer pretend that it is carrying out its legal responsibilities. The details of this cover-up of months of brutality were reported in the same week that the NYPD began publishing an online database of police disciplinary records. Last year the New York state legislature repealed the so-called 50-a provision, whereby the NYPD was allowed to keep secret the records of charges and punishments against individual cops involved in cases of abuse and brutality. The police unions went to court to prevent the new rule from being implemented, but a state appeals court ruled against them last week. No longer, it was hoped, would police officers be allowed to go about their business without the broader public being able to check on their behavior. Here too, however, as in the case of the CCRB, things turned out to be more complicated. According to Gothamist, civil liberties advocates charge that the database that launched on Monday is aimed at bolstering the NYPDs reputation, rather than providing the public with useful information about police officers who abuse their position and violate public trust. The records indicate an officers rank, promotions, training history, departmental commendations and disciplinary history. The public database includes only cases where a police officer was found guilty or pled guilty to charges, however. They do not include any charges brought before 2014, nor do they include cases where a cop was not disciplined, or faced a lesser punishment such as training. Gothamist gives two notorious examples: Lieutenant Michael Raso, who has had eight complaints substantiated by the CCRB, but has no disciplinary history on the NYPD database; and Sergeant David Grieco, one of the NYPDs most-sued cops, according to Gothamist, and the subject of an investigation stretching over years, but who is also listed as without disciplinary history. The two officers instead are listed as having 169 departmental awards and commendations between them! This is a very narrow set of cases that leaves out an enormous amount of important information about officer misconduct, Chris Dunn, the legal director for the New York Civil Liberties Union, told Gothamist, in a major understatement. This is a union friendly release. Lumumba Bandele, a spokesperson for Communities United for Police Reform, was more blunt. This isnt transparency, its a PR tool for the NYPD and a gift to racist and toxic police unions, he said in a statement released Monday. The de Blasio administration prioritized going back decades to include commendations and arrests by cops while including only a sliver of misconduct and discipline information from a handful of yearsall to shield abusive officers and the NYPD from transparency. The abusive behavior of the NYPD seen last year is not new. The kettling technique, in which peaceful protesters are virtually imprisoned behind police barricades, unable to come and go as the First Amendment right of free assembly guarantees, became very well-known during the mass protests on the eve of and in the early years after the US invasion of Iraq. These were also the years in which the blatantly illegal stop-and-frisk procedure was used to stop hundreds of thousands of workers and youth, especially African American and Hispanic, every year, funneling many into jails and prisons. In 2004, mass protests at that summers Republican National Convention in New York led to hundreds of illegal arrests, under the supervision of the same Terence Monahan who continued his climb up the rungs of the NYPD until his just-announced retirement. These arrests were the object of a lawsuit settled by the city for the sum of $18 million. Almost eight years ago, Mayor de Blasio ran for mayor on the basis of ringing denunciations of stop-and-frisk, which had just been ruled unconstitutional in Federal District Court. It did not take very long for him to reveal himself as the defender of brutality, as the latest ProPublica revelations prove yet again. Nor do any of the candidates vying to succeed de Blasio in the upcoming Democratic primary in June have anything different to offer. The primary consideration is not even their personal views or any qualms they may have when the police go into action. Any Democratic Party politician who has ever run for or held office has already been tested and made clear that they will uphold the need for capitalist law and order. Whatever admissions and lawsuit settlements they are obliged to make from time to time, these are just the cost of doing business. The Democrats, like the Republicans, turn to the bodies of armed men, in the words of Frederick Engels, to defend their outmoded social order. The events of the past few months have driven homeespecially the participation of active and retired police and military in the attempted coup of January 6that the long history of police violence in the United States now threatens to quickly escalate into outright dictatorship. As the WSWS pointed out last June, it is no more possible to eliminate police brutality than it is to eliminate poverty, inequality and war under the capitalist system. The existing state machine cannot be reformed or used by the working class. It is necessary to break from the parties of big business and build a revolutionary leadership to fight for a socialist program, putting an end to the system that requires police violence and brutality, and threatening dictatorship and war. Doctors should hold off clamping the umbilical cords of premature babies to help give them the best chance to thrive in their critical first days of life. An Australian-led meta-analysis and systematic review of 42 clinical trials involving 5772 infants worldwide is expected to pave the way for new global guidelines to give clinicians the confidence to delay severing the connection between the placenta and their pre-term patients. Danielle Rizks sone George, 14 months, was born at 23 weeks and two days gestation. Credit:Louise Kennerley When doctors waited just a minute or 30 seconds before cord clamping, preterm babies needed fewer blood transfusions and the strategy also appeared to improve their chances of surviving, said lead researcher Dr Anna Lene Seidler from Australias National Health and Medical Research Councils Clinical Trials Centre at the University of Sydney. Those babies were more stable, less sick, Dr Seidler said. 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Late last year to avoid having to ration care at the height of the pandemic ventilators and patients were being moved around Albuquerque-area hospitals to keep up with the jam. It became an hour by hour placement, recalled Dr. Vesta Sandoval, the chief medical officer at the Lovelace Health System. Where is there a bed? How can we get this patient moved? Where is there available staff? It was, at that time, very, very close. Top physicians at Albuquerque-area hospitals held a teleconference Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the declaration of the pandemic and the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Mexico. They said despite the tragic death toll that continues to rise the state reported six more deaths and 236 new cases Thursday New Mexico could have had a worse outcome. Dr. Jason Mitchell, the chief medical officer at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, said New Mexicos aggressive approach in the early days of the pandemic helped the state avoid massive outbreaks during the spring and summer. That helped health systems avoid having to go into a crisis mode where they would have needed to ration care. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ If the first and second (waves) would have come through and we had not paid attention, we would have been in crisis standards of care and we would have lost just a ton of life and devastated our state for years to come, Mitchell said. In a state like New Mexico where you have a lot of multi-generational households, you have lots of rural areas and you dont have that many hospital beds, it would have been a level of catastrophe that unfortunately you see in other countries. What stopped the worst-case scenario? The physicians credited state public health orders, which by some accounts were some of the most aggressive in the country, and collaboration between hospitals to share resources and ideas. Our Department of Health and our governor used data, and they used science, to make decisions, Mitchell said. And it worked. Because a pandemic is all about data and science. Despite those efforts, New Mexico did see a tremendous amount of the death. Exactly one year after the first case was reported in the state, the deaths reported Thursday brought the statewide toll to 3,845. There have been a total of 187,720 cases. And 161,650 designated recoveries. STAMFORD Conair Corp., the maker of personal-care products such as hair dryers and culinary items that include Cuisinart food processors, is set to keep its main offices in Stamford after announcing Friday that it would be acquired by a private equity firm. Financial terms of Conairs deal with Manhattan-based American Securities were not disclosed. Certain members of the Rizzuto family, who founded Conair in 1959, will retain minority ownership. I am proud to continue the journey I started under [Conair founder] Mr. [Lee] Rizzuto more than 40 years ago that helped us grow our iconic brands into a world class, diversified global company proudly sharing our products in millions of consumers' homes, Conair President Ron Diamond, who will serve as president and CEO after the deal is completed, said in a statement. The partnership with American Securities will allow us to continue our evolution with a focus on new product development and an acceleration of our M&A activities while continuing to bring efficiencies to our operations. In response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media about the acquisitions impact on Conairs operations, an American Securities spokesperson said that we have no plans to relocate Conairs headquarters. Our plan is to continue growing the company and providing opportunities for Conair employees around the globe. Conair has offices at 1 Cummings Point Road, in Stamfords Waterside section. A message left Friday for Conair inquiring how many employees it had in Stamford was not immediately returned. Conairs sale does not come as a surprise after a number of reports in recent months of private equity firms interest in the company. Bloomberg had reported in January that Conair had held talks with two firms about a potential $2 billion deal. We are excited to partner with Ron [Diamond] and the rest of the Conair management team as they continue to execute on a strategy to expand on the exceptional brand portfolio that consumers love all over the world, Kevin Penn, a managing director of American Securities, said in a statement. American Securities has made a total of 67 investments, including 21 current ones, with $23 billion of committed capital, according to its website. The company's scale, best-in-class product offering, supply chain capabilities, and strong management team creates a sustainable competitive advantage and makes Conair a strong fit for our investment strategy, Helen Chiang, another of American Securities managing directors, said in a statement. Comprising a $2+ billion global company, Conair sells its products in more than 125 countries, according to its website. Its merchandise includes professional-salon products, personal-care products and consumer and commercial kitchen appliances and cookware. Its more than 25 brands include Babyliss, Conair, Cuisinart, Scunci and Waring. After its founding in 1959 as a hair-care focused company, Conair soon became a major player in its industry. The pistol-grip hair dryer, which Conair began manufacturing in the mid-1960s, changed the way the world did hair, its website says. The company's founder, Lee Rizzuto, personally taught hairdressers how to use this innovative new hair dryer a brilliant alternative to the standing dryer to get clients in and out of the salon faster. Conair's iconic Yellowbird, introduced in 1972, remains one of the most respected and recognized blow dryers in the industry. Rizzuto died in 2017 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott A Chinese-linked company has been granted a mining lease on a remote Western Australian island near an Australian military training area and important strategic assets. The Hong Kong-based company was last October granted a licence valid until 2032 to dig for iron ore on Cockatoo Island, about 2000km from Perth, and next to the Yampi Sound Defence Training Area. The private company has three Chinese-born directors, with at least one Liberal figure raising concerns it has close links to the Chinese Communist Party. Cockatoo Island, which has its own air strip, found minor fame in the 1980s as a failed resort set up by the late disgraced business tycoon Alan Bond. 'Welcome to the least known island paradise in the world,' a sign on the island read at the time. Concerns have been raised that the Western Australia government has granted a new mining lease to a Chinese-linked private company on Cockatoo Island (stock image) Cockatoo Island is a remote 31 island in the Buccaneer Archipelago off north-western WAs Kimberley region, approximately 2000 kilometres from Perth The ABC reported that a senior Australian national security official, who asked to remain anonymous, pointed out the strategic importance of the Chinese-owned mine's proximity - including to north-west gas fields. State government deals with foreign governments have come under federal government scrutiny lately, with treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the Prime Minister threatening to scrap deals where national interest is potentially compromised. But deals done with private companies have not had the same focus. Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells was alarmed by the deal. 'The Cockatoo Island "transaction" is yet another example of why acquisition of strategic assets from governments in Australia by "private companies" with links to Beijing should come within the scope of both FIRB and foreign relation legislation,' she said. 'This "transaction" is another glaring example of our defective federal laws. China's company and national security laws require that the Chinese Communist Party "control", not only China's state-owned entities, but also Chinese "private companies".' The deal, which was signed off last year, is said to have concerned the federal government as well as the Defence Department. Hong Kong-based Cockatoo Island Mining has been granted a lease until 2032 to mine iron ore on the Island The federal government as well the Defence Department are said to have concerns about the deal, which was signed off last year The agreement is similar to the Port of Darwin lease to a Chinese state-owned company, which has attracted plenty of controversy. Recent activity by Chinese government vessels off the coast of north-west Western Australia has only added to concerns. Ryan Martinson, from the US Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute posted the movements of two Chinese government vessels in the region, the Yuanwang 6 and the Shiyan 3 this month. Martinson revealed on Twitter the vessel was owned by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science. Essential. This is a word that many have heard in the face of one of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our health care heroes have worked tirelessly in the battle against COVID-19 on the front lines at hospitals, nursing homes and community clinics. These workers have saved many lives and keep communities safe. They truly have earned access to vaccines for their health, safety and that of their patients and families. We also are on the front lines. Every day, we help to feed Pennsylvanians. We make sure that our grocery stores are stocked. We process and package the food on the table. We work to ensure that the food supply chain remains alive and well in our state and nation. We are both members of UFCW Local 1776 and we are among the 20,000-plus grocery store and pharmacy workers, and the 10,000 food processing workers that our local represents across the state. We have seen many of our co-workers fall ill or die from COVID-19. We keep their families in our prayers. Still, despite the risks, our fellow members continue to come to work every day to ensure that food is being produced for our communities. On behalf of all of our co-workers, we are writing to urge Gov. Tom Wolf to make sure that food processing and packinghouse workers are prioritized for the vaccine. We have been very successful in working with employers to enhance safety measures and protocols at our work sites, including our own. We have worked hard, as have the vast majority of employers, to secure personal protective equipment for workers and to institute important safety protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. At many work sites, it was necessary to make significant changes to production areas to help prevent the spread of this deadly virus to allow for proper social distancing. Our union was very pleased when Wolf rightly classified all of these workers as essential. The governor was right to classify grocery stores, pharmacies and food processing/packinghouse as lifesaving businesses. But these businesses cannot remain open without the very workers, like ourselves, that keep them operating. We know from experience that our fellow workers take an enormous risk. A new study by the University of Pennsylvania confirms what we already know, that essential workers have a 55% higher chance of contracting COVID-19 than members of the general public. Our family members have a 17% higher chance of contracting the virus. Now, because of the work of so many scientists and researchers, we can see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Our nation was key to developing and purchasing millions of COVID vaccines for distribution. Yet, still, we are waiting for this important resource to protect essential workers like ourselves. We take pride in nourishing America and benefiting our communities. We are proud to hold good-paying jobs that benefit all Pennsylvanians and our local economies. But we also are painfully aware of the fact that COVID-19 is still a threat. This virus continues to wreak havoc in our communities and among our co-workers and their families. For the sake of ourselves, our families and our communities, we need to have access to COVID-19 vaccines now. YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS. Moscow doesnt see any risks for regional security in Azerbaijans upcoming military drills, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said. Zakharova pointed out that these drills were planned and that all stakeholder parties are notified in advance. According to our information the exercises are of planned nature, are aimed at perfecting combat readiness and do not create risks for stability and security in the region, Zakharova said at a press briefing. The Azeri military announced it will start exercises involving 10,000 troops March 15-18. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan HOUSTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of severe, back-to-back mid-February winter storms that seriously impacted Texas and Louisiana, CITGO stepped up to provide ongoing support to affected communities. The intense, damaging storms prompted a major disaster declaration from the Federal Government, and both Texas and Louisiana declared emergencies in impacted counties. "With CITGO refineries in Corpus Christi, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and our corporate headquarters in Houston, the lion's share of our employees experienced these devastating storms first-hand," said CITGO President and CEO Carlos Jorda. "These are the communities where we live, so we immediately moved to lend a hand." The storms impacted safe water supplies for thousands of residents, and thousands more face broken water pipes and damaged homes many with little to no resources to repair the damage. CITGO is working with community partners to help meet ongoing needs for food and water and medium to long-term assistance for home repair in Houston, Corpus Christi and Lake Charles. The Company committed $225,000 to assist several organizations, including SBP, the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council and Rebuilding Together Houston. Donated funds will be used for wellness checks, food distribution, plumbing repairs and guidance on completing FEMA applications. In addition to these corporate donations, employees are supporting colleagues in need through the company's CITGO Stands Together Fund. This Fund, supported by corporate and employee donations, provides short-term loans and financial assistance to help employees in need. Volunteering in the recovery is also part of the effort. "As CITGO donates financial resources, the TeamCITGO group of employee volunteers is also donating their time and skills, working alongside our neighbors to recover and rebuild," said CEO Carlos Jorda. "As longstanding community members we're proud to do our part." About CITGO Headquartered in Houston, Texas, CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a recognized leader in the refining industry with a well-known brand. CITGO operates three refineries located in Corpus Christi, Texas; Lake Charles, La.; and Lemont, Ill., and wholly and/or jointly owns 42 terminals, six pipelines and three lubricants blending and packaging plants. With approximately 3,400 employees and a combined crude capacity of approximately 769,000 barrels-per-day (bpd), CITGO is ranked as the sixth-largest, and one of the most complex independent refiners in the United States. CITGO transports and markets transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products and supplies a network of approximately 4,600 locally owned and operated branded retail outlets, all located east of the Rocky Mountains. CITGO Petroleum Corporation is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc. SOURCE CITGO Corporation Related Links www.citgo.com Your browser does not support the video tag. Recent statements by Donald Trump and his enablers prove that he and his claim the 2020 election was stolen arent departing anytime soon. But neither is the push to hold him legally accountable, as shown by a new lawsuit the second against Mr Trump by a member of Congress arising out of the failed January 6 insurrection. As attorneys who have overseen prosecutions or other accountability efforts in Republican and Democratic administrations alike, we believe the combination of civil cases and a pair of rapidly accelerating state criminal investigations make for a potent force to combat the ex-presidents ongoing wrongdoing. The new litigation, filed by impeachment manager Eric Swalwell, a Democratic representative from California, alleges the former president, his son Don Jr, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Republican representative for Alabama Mo Brooks conspired to prevent Mr Swalwell and other members of Congress from discharging their duty to certify that Joe Biden had won last years presidential election. The complaint says the defendants engaged in an extensive promotion of a lie, capped off by Mr Trumps fighting words and the violence that followed on the day of the electoral vote count. Such alleged conspiracies are prohibited by the Ku Klux Klan Act, which was passed in 1871 to fight efforts to block public officials from performing their duties. The new suit joins the pending one initiated by Democratic representative for Mississippi Bennie Thompson, who is also suing the former president and Mr Giuliani, as well as far-right groups the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers on similar grounds. Both cases are assigned to the same capable and speedy DC federal judge, Amit Mehta, and Mr Trumps first deadline to answer is approaching next week. So the floodgates of civil litigation are now open. Once preliminary motions are over, we can expect a rush of new information to add to the public record of the events leading up to and including January 6, perhaps further implicating the former president and his cronies. The financial claims against Mr Trump will accumulate, too. Because of the potentially vast damages that can be awarded by DC juries for the very severe wrongdoing alleged, these civil actions have the capacity to financially break even wealthy individuals like Mr Trump and some of his alleged co-conspirators. Mr Trump also faces an even more immediate set of legal troubles that threaten to complicate his attempted re-emergence into public life. Recent days saw the delivery of long-sought tax and financial information to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr as part of an investigation into Mr Trumps many alleged misdeeds in New York Citys jurisdiction, including bank and tax fraud. That should greatly accelerate the long-running investigation. Mr Vance is not alone in investigating criminal liability theres a matching criminal threat from Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis over Mr Trumps call to ask the secretary of state in Georgia to find 11,780 votes to help Mr Trump beat Mr Biden. This is a more recent investigation, but its also potentially much less complex than the case in Manhattan, now in its third year. Donald Ayer is a former US Deputy Attorney General War games in a galaxy not so far away France on Friday prepared to simulate an attack by a hostile power on one of its satellites in a war game scenario the government said is less outlandishly futuristic than it may seem. President Emmanuel Macron was to watch onsite as his military chiefs started to play out a four-day sequence in which an unnamed space-capable power attacks a nation allied to France, and tries to take out a French communications satellite. Germany, Italy and the US are participating in the AsterX space war game at France's national space agency CNES in Toulouse, the first such exercise in France or in Europe. It is an opportunity to simulate modifying the flight path of satellites, sending backup satellites to fix a breakdown, monitoring the transmission of sensitive data and scrambling transmissions by hostile satellites temporarily or even shutting them down completely. The scenario of the exercise may be fictional, Macron's office said, but is far from implausible. The French government accuses Russia of having brought its intelligence-gathering satellite Olymp-K, also known as Louch, into close proximity of the French-Italian military satellite Athena-Fidus in 2017 in what Defence Minister Florence Parly called "an act of espionage". Last year, the US claimed that Russia had conducted a non-destructive anti-satellite weapons test from space. Macron's office said there had been other similar incidents since, but gave no details. Before the exercise kicked off, Macron headed a meeting of the space command, a body created in 2017 to run France's military strategy in space. "We need to have the means for action if we detect dangers that weigh on our capabilities or those of our allies," Macron's office said, adding that an attack on a satellite could, for example, disrupt the military's communications network. Explore further France conducts first military drills in space 2021 AFP Home Office chiefs are facing a furious backlash from MPs and civil liberties campaigners after teaming-up with UK internet providers to test ways to track people's browsing history. In a move described by one MP as a 'spectacular invasion of privacy', the Home Office and the National Crime Agency (NCA) have conducted a secretive trial which allows them to obtain information on what internet sites people have visited. If the 'small scale' scheme is a success, data collection systems could be rolled-out nationwide. The trial, said to have involved two unnamed internet providers, uses powers from the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 - dubbed the 'Snooper's Charter'. It allows the Government to request Internet Connection Records (ICRs) from telecoms companies. These records contain websites a person has visited - though not specifically what they have accessed on those websites. The trial has been going on for months and has been shrouded in secrecy - so much so that the two internet providers involved cannot be identified. The Home Office said the project is in its early stages and is looking at what data might be able to be acquired, how useful it is and how it could be used. Its emergence has reignited rumbling privacy concerns, with campaigners saying the trial gives security officials access to the 'most intrusive monitoring system of any democracy in history'. MPs have also expressed fears that the latest project could lead to a mass invasion of privacy. Former Conservative party chairman, David Davis MP, said the move was a 'spectacular invasion of privacy' and warned the powers could be misused to target individuals or groups who opposed the government. He told MailOnline: 'If they are going to do this, what are they going to do with the data they collect? The scope for it to be used for pressure or for blackmail is enormous. 'The problem is not just how the data will be used but the storage of it as well. If hackers are able to get into the Pentagon, it could end up being an enormous honey-pot.' Social media users also responded to the news by suggesting the move resembled something out of George Orwell's dystopian novel '1984'. Privacy rights groups have slammed the government for testing out 'snooping powers' by teaming up with two internet providers to track websites visited by their customers The act allows the secretary of state to make an internet provider keep their records for up to a year, with a judge's approval. These records can include which websites their customers visit and how much data they download - but it will not show the exact content they looked at on the sites (stock photo) The Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) allows the Home Secretary, subject to a senior judge's approval, to compel an internet provider to keep their records for up to a year. But it must be under the suspicion of a 'serious crime' - one that could attract the minimum of a 12-month sentence. The 'serious crime' element was added in 2018 after the UK's Court of Appeal ruled that the Government's previous legislation breached people's rights by collecting internet activity and phone records with no suspicion of 'serious crime' and no independent sign-off. Judicial Commissioners: Who are they and what do they do? There are currently 11 Judicial Commissioners in the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office. The Judicial Commissioners provide independent authorisation and oversight of certain investigatory powers - such as the Investigatory Powers Act - used by intelligence agencies, police forces and other public authorities. The current head is Sir Brian Leveson, the now retired judge who chaired the inquiry into British press ethics - a review that famously carried his name. Former High Court judge Sir Adrian Fulford is also a Judicial Commissioner. Appointments are made by the Prime Minister and candidates must hold or have held a senior judicial appointment. When filled, there should be 13 commissioners in total. Two more are set to be appointed following a selection process in Autumn last year. One unnamed Judicial Commissioner is said to have approved the trial of Internet Connection Records in July 2019, before approving another in October. The Judicial Commissioner is said to have sought and received advice from the Technology Advisory Panel as part of his consideration of these two applications for the retention of ICRs. Advertisement At the same time, the Investigatory Powers Commission also announced plans to appoint 13 judicial commissioners to provide independent oversight of surveillance. The current head of the commission is Sir Brian Leveson - who chaired the inquiry into British press ethics. Under IPA powers, records that can be collected include which websites customers visit and how much data they download - but the data will not show the exact pages viewed. For example, it would show that an internet user has visited MailOnline, but not what articles a person has viewed. However, even restricting the information to basic metadata could still reveal a lot about a person's habits, including where they shop, their political views and if they use pornography. First revealed in WIRED magazine, the trial of the powers was not formally announced or publicised, but was referenced in a 168-page report from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office (Ipco). The report said the Judicial Commissioner had provided approval for a network operator to retain communication data 'for the purposes of a trial' back in 2019. Another request was approved later the same year. A spokesman for the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office said that the trial is ongoing and it is conducting regular reviews to 'ensure that the data types collected remain necessary and proportionate'. It added that once the trial has been fully assessed, a decision will be made on whether the system will be expanded nationally. The passage of the Investigatory Powers Act was spearheaded by then-home secretary Theresa May who argued the updated surveillance powers were needed to keep the public safe and to help the police and security services combat crime and terrorism. The first approval of the ICR trial was made in July 2019 - the month Sajid Javid left the Home Office and Priti Patel took over. It is not clear which signed off the on trial or which of the Judicial Commissioners approved the programme. Privacy campaigners have long opposed the IPA legislation and the emergence of the trial of the powers prompted an immediate outcry. Silkie Carlo, from civil liberties and privacy campaigning organisation, Big Brother Watch, told MailOnline: 'We fought tooth and nail against these plans to put the nation's internet records at the fingertips of authorities, from police officers to DWP and even NHS trusts. 'We have absolutely no problem with robust targeted powers being used against identified suspects, but there is no justification for intruding in the private lives of the entire population. David Davis MP (left) described the trial as a 'staggering invasion of privacy'. Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo (right) told MailOnline that the scope for use of ICR's was 'excessively broad' 'The purposes for which ICRs can be accessed are excessively broad and could easily result in political surveillance. 'The purposes include 'preventing disorder', minor communications offences, protecting public health, public safety and collecting tax. 'Whilst drumming it into the public if we have nothing to hide we should have nothing to fear, the state has grown totalitarian-style surveillance powers and built the most intrusive monitoring system of any democracy in history.' Heather Burns, policy manager for the digital rights organisation Open Rights Group, said: 'It's needles in haystacks, and this is collecting the entire haystack. 'We should have the right to not have every single click of what we do online hoovered up into a surveillance net on the assumption that there might be criminal activity taking place.' How is the Government using the 'Snooper's Charter' and why is it controversial? The passage of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 caused a political storm at the time as ministers argued it was necessary to keep people safe but critics said it represented a significant threat to privacy and civil liberties. Concerns about the surveillance measures contained within the act have now been reignited after the emergence of the trial of some of the powers. The legislation allows the Home Secretary, with a judge's approval, to order internet providers to keep electronic data relating to browsing activity for 12 months. This data can then be subsequently collected and used by the police and security services to combat crime. The powers are particularly controversial because their use is shrouded in secrecy. For example, internet providers subject to an order are not allowed to identify themselves. The nature of the data collected is also of concern to campaigners because it can include a user's IP address and the websites they visit. The data will not show the actual content of what has been viewed but critics argue that what is collected still represents an invasion of privacy. Advertisement Privacy International's advocacy director, Edin Omanovic, echoed a similar sentiment and said: 'Make no mistake, as warned, the Investigatory Powers Act (2016) gives authorities across the UK some of the most far-reaching and draconian surveillance powers found anywhere in the world. 'When the Bill was proposed, we were promised the most transparent surveillance regime in the world. Yet, here we have a secret experiment where two secret internet companies have reportedly been collecting internet browsing data about individuals' online activities. 'When the Home Office first made its demands public, it was obvious that what it wanted was highly vague and likely to be technically impractical. Five years later, it looks like they're still trying to bend technical reality around their demands. 'When the IPA was being debated, Privacy International argued that the collection and retention of internet records was not necessary or proportionate. The Home Office's justification for these powers did not consider the full impact on individuals' privacy. 'The Home Office should now come clean and reveal who is involved in this experiment, what exactly they are hoping to achieve, and how many innocent internet users' histories will be swept up by this covert, indiscriminate, mass-surveillance system.' Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: 'The Government hoovering up huge amounts of data on everyone's internet use is not only an unacceptable invasion of our privacy, it's also a very ineffective way of tackling crime and terrorism. 'Yet again, Conservative ministers are trying to seem tough on crime, but failing to do what actually works to prevent crime and keep people safe. 'They are eroding people's civil liberties with draconian new powers, instead of giving our police and security services the resources they need to do their jobs properly and responsibly. 'Liberal Democrats are fighting to build a free society where every person's rights and liberties are protected. That's why we opposed the Snooper's Charter from the start and are calling on the Government to stop this bulk collection of people's internet records now.' The emergence of the trial prompted a similarly hostile reaction from some users on social media. One user said: 'Snooper's charter is nothing to do with catching criminals it is all about identifying opposition to the government. They want to be just like China and crack down.' Another added: 'Everything's getting rather 1984 ain't it.' It was reported that the National Crime Agency has spent around 130,000 on external contracts to build technical systems needed to run the trials. 'We are supporting the Home Office sponsored trial of Internet Connection Record capability to determine the technical, operational, legal and policy considerations associated with delivery of this capability,' a spokesman for the National Crime Agency said. The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of the jihadist terrorist organization Boko Haram, released a statement on Tuesday confirming the attack on soldiers that led to the deaths of up to 30 in the Borno State of Nigeria. According to International Christian Concern, Sahara Reporters revealed just how the statement outlined ISWAP's violent attacks on Nigerian soldiers resulted in the death of up to 30 of them. Sahara Reporters wrote that the Nigerian soldiers were "killed when two explosive-laden vehicles rammed into a military convoy in Wulgo," a forest area in Borno State. According to the report on the more recent attack of the Islamic terrorist group ISWAP, "About 25 AK-47 rifles, three anti-aircraft guns, three general purpose machine guns, two automatic grenade launchers (AGL), and two-gun trucks, among other ammunition, were also recovered by troops." The terrorist group ISWAP has been "growing in power and influence," according to the Geneva Centre for Security and Governance. ISWAP has a territorial base on the banks and islands of Lake Chad and is waging a war against the people in north-eastern Nigeria. The jihadist group finds supporters in local communities that have been neglected by the government. They are known to have "violent and coercive" methods and has "established a largely symbiotic relationship with the Lake Chad area's inhabitants." The Sahara Reporters' report recounted how the Islamic terrorist group ISWAP has grown to be a force since splitting from Boko Haram in 2016 and "focusing on military targets and high-profile attacks, including against aid workers." "The Nigerian army has repeatedly claimed that the insurgency has been largely defeated and frequently underplays any losses," the reporters added. Islamic terrorist group ISWAP, its parent group Boko Haram, and Fulani Militants have killed thousands of Christians and displaced millions more in their fight to purge Nigeria of western influence and implement stricter Islamic Sharia law. In response to ISWAP's deadly attack on Nigerian soldiers and their continued acts of terror on the northern part of Africa's most populous nation, the Nigerian government has committed to using the full force of its military to fight these terrorist groups. According to Bloomberg, the terrorist attacks have forced farmers to flee their lands due to the massacre of farmers and schools had to close following the mass abduction of children. These terrorist acts have been carried out by factions such as the Islamic Terrorist Group ISWAP as a result of the decade-long insurgency of Boko Haram. President Muhammadu Buhari is now pressured to address these growing concerns of conflict in the area. "Government will not allow itself to be blackmailed by any group or any individual who thinks he can hide under the surface and use proxies to deal a fatal blow on innocent people," Nigeria's national security adviser Babagana Monguno said about the ISWAP's attacks during a briefing in the country's capital of Abuja on Tuesday. Monguno revealed that the government is already acting on intelligence and in response is investing in both assets and equipment to quash these terrorist groups. A woman who was among the earliest Covid cases in the country is still experiencing intense symptoms one year after her diagnosis. Aoife Moore, 38, a mother-of-two from east Galway, is one of thousands of people across Ireland suffering from what is known as long Covid. Her life has been upended since she first began experiencing symptoms, before St Patricks Day last year. She said: Make no mistake about it, if you get long Covid, its going to affect every facet of your life. It affects every single part of you. Your mental, your emotional, your physical, your financial, your relationships. You feel so alone, you feel like nobody else gets this. The medical community arent providing any help, because they dont know themselves. Ms Moore is an activist who has worked on numerous campaigns, including for the pro-Choice movement and Direct Provision. She is a manager to the author Erin Darcy and stay-at-home mother to her daughter Aibhlin, five, and son Diarmuid, three. I was the kind of person who is constantly busy, constantly doing something, involved in plenty of different things. Unfortunately Ive had to give pretty much all of that up now, she told the PA news agency. Everything changed when she got her positive Covid diagnosis last year. I started feeling really unwell. I was very cold and I just could not get warm. I just couldnt regulate my body temperature. The way I describe it is like your lungs are being grated. It was like nothing I have had before. Aoife, from east Galway, has had her life upended since she first began experiencing symptoms, before St Patrick's Day last year. Picture: Erin Darcy/PA Wire While her condition has improved since then, Ms Moore is still dealing with a range of symptoms including chronic fatigue, severe coughing, difficulty concentrating, inflammation, swelling, mouth sores and various aches and pains. I constantly feel like Im being knocked back and knocked back. Its really hard, she said. The worst one would be the chronic fatigue. Its a whole body thing. Your head is too heavy to lift off the pillow. Your arms are heavy and so are your legs. I would get that on top of my symptoms. So I had to try and find a balance between doing too much and doing too little. If I did too much, Id be in bed for up to a week if I pushed myself too far. I would not be able to get out of bed. The cough that came with her initial diagnosis has never left. She said: The cough stays with you, it doesnt ever go. The way I describe it is I feel like I have two knots in my chest, in my lungs. Theyre constantly there and sometimes theyre more aggravated than not. But one of the biggest impacts long Covid has had is on Ms Moores family life, particularly for her husband Kerill. She said: My husband is effectively my carer. He looks after the house. Hes a software engineer and he works from home. On top of that he looks after the kids. Hes basically almost like a single parent in one respect. Because my ability to physically do things is hugely impacted. I cant lift the kids from a standing position. I cant bath them. I cant do simple things like getting their dinner together. From day to day I have to assess what my energy is like. My energy dictates my ability to do anything. I constantly have to prioritise and make choices. If I decide Im going to go for a shower, that might be my activity for the day. That means I cant do something else. Her son Diarmuid was diagnosed with autism last year, and she fears he has regressed as she is unable to give him the same level of attention as before. Mammy was there all the time, I was kind of his main person. The next thing I get sick, Im in bed and he cant come in to me. Ive just disappeared from his world. That was really hard. He kind of regressed for a while, she said. Aoife Moore (right) with her husband Kerill, daughter Ailbhin, five, and Diarmuid, three. She suffers from symptoms of long Covid, one year after first contracting the virus. Picture: Aoife Moore/PA Wire Professor Danny Altmann, from Imperial College London, said last month the number of people suffering symptoms of Covid-19 weeks after their diagnosis could be as high as 20% of those who get the virus. He has called for long Covid clinics to be opened across the UK, and Ms Moore wants the Irish Government to do the same thing. We need clinics that arent just based in Dublin or Cork. They have to be nationwide, they have to be available to everybody across the country. We need these centres that arent urban-centric. I know were getting the vaccine. It doesnt mean that this is going to go away. We dont know how long were going to have this for. Surely somebody can do something, surely someone with better knowledge than us can do something about it, she said. The group Covid Cases Ireland has been a source of support for Ms Moore. They now have 1,600 members across the country and have petitioned Government for stronger support. Thats the one support, the one good thing. You feel like were all in the same boat together, she said. She said she believes long Covid is a result of the virus lying dormant in her body. When you have long Covid, I do honestly believe that its still somewhere in my body, dormant. And when I get run down, that it activates and you get a relapse. You get the symptoms and you think Oh God, this is what it felt like at the start.' The University of Sydneys incoming vice-chancellor, former ABC managing director Mark Scott, is already facing opposition from his future academic staff who question how a leader without a scholarly background can understand their institution. However, others say the struggling university sector needs leaders with experience in winning support from politicians and the public, and believe other institutions hunting for vice-chancellors may follow. The University of NSW, which has only just begun its search, also approached Mr Scott, multiple sources told the Herald. Future Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott with chancellor Belinda Hutchinson. Credit:Rhett Wyman Mr Scott, the current secretary of the NSW Department of Education, will be the only vice-chancellor without a doctorate at a top 100 university when he takes over his new position in late July. After a tough period for the sector, due to loss of overseas student revenue and a strained relationship with the Commonwealth government, the University of Sydney decided a research background was less important for its leading executive than experience in strategy, finance and government relations. China Insider: China Summons British Ambassador Over Inappropriate Article Chinas Foreign Ministry summoned Britains ambassador in Beijing on March 9 to make stern representations over an inappropriate article she wrote recently. As Wall Street, the political establishment and corporate media celebrate Joe Bidens pledge to bring about a return to normalcy, the US government is committing a social crime of unprecedented dimensions against thousands of immigrant children at the US-Mexico border. On any given night this week, over 3,200 immigrant children were sleeping on cold cement slabs under police floodlights, far from their parents and their homes. Nearly 1,400 childrenmany younger than 13have been jailed for over three days in blatant violation of US law, held in cages that immigrants refer to as ice boxes or dog kennels. Immigrants await word on their status (Source: Democracy Now!) In the midst of a deadly pandemic, crowded tent camps set up by the previous Trump administration are now full to capacity. The number of children presently detained is 25 percent higher than at the peak of the Trump administrations 2019 crackdown on immigrant children. More than 10,000 immigrant children have been detained in the weeks since Biden declared at his inauguration that his administration would restore the soul of America and make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world. This ongoing crime exposes the rot at the core of the entire capitalist system and all its institutions and political representatives, from right to so-called left. Republican Representative Liz Cheney, a media favorite for her responsible criticisms of Trump, scapegoated immigrant children for the coronavirus and blamed Democrats for deciding to open the border and to let in thousands of people, potentially, who have got COVID. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who just ordered all schools and businesses to open and repealed the states mask mandate, said officials refused to test immigrant children and put these people on buses and sent them across the country to spread the disease. The Democratic-controlled Senate and House have refused to even convene hearings to address the mass detention of immigrant children. The Washington Post, owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and supportive of the Democratic Party, published an editorial board statement March 7 calling the mass detentions a humane and decent approach to address what it called the surge of illegal border crossings. Bidens attack on immigrant children exposes the cynical role of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose leading representatives urged workers and youth to vote for Biden as the lesser evil and now justify his actions. In 2019, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez traveled to the border for a photo-op and wept in front of what turned out to be an empty parking lot. But now that a Democrat occupies the White House, Ocasio-Cortez justifies child detention. On February 23, she refused to call for closing the concentration camps, instead saying they should be licensed and there should be oversight of contracting the operation of what she cryptically called influx facilities. The DSA-aligned Jacobin magazine similarly published an article February 10 praising the Biden administration for repealing Trump-era immigration restrictions, claiming even for the most cynical leftist, theres a lot to like in the Biden agenda so far. The proponents of racial and gender politics are also silent on the crimes being carried out at the border. The fact that the head of the Department of Homeland Security is a Latino immigrant has not improved the fate of detained immigrant children, nor has the fact that the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) happens to be black. The New York Times opinion sectionthe moral compass of the affluent upper-middle classhas not published any recent statement on the matter, though it has featured numerous articles promoting racial politics and moralizing about the alleged transgressions of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The hundreds of thousands of Central American immigrants of all ages who are presently seeking admission to the US are fleeing countries devastated by decades of crimes carried out by US imperialism. Perhaps no active American politician is as personally complicit in these crimes as Biden himself. After US-backed dictators killed hundreds of thousands of peasants and workers in a wave of reactionary violence throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Biden became the self-proclaimed architect of Plan Colombia, a brutal militarization campaign carried out by the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. In January 2020, Biden bragged, Im the guy who put together Plan Colombia. Under the program, the US poured billions of dollars into arming and training the Colombian military, which made seven million Colombians homeless and from 2003 to 2007 killed thousands of civilians, falsely claiming they were guerrilla soldiers in the false positives scandal. Plan Colombia was combined with a brutal regime of IMF-backed austerity measures that slashed pensions and wages and transformed Colombia into one of the worlds most unequal countries. Drug production only increased, fueling violence and strengthening gangs throughout the Central American and Mexican trafficking routes. This became the model, and then-Vice President Biden oversaw similar policies across Central America in the mid 2010s, when the US deployed $750 million to train and arm the militaries and death squads of US-backed regimes in Honduras (where the Obama-Biden administration carried out a coup in 2009), Guatemala and El Salvador. The numeric strength of the flow of immigrants testifies not only to the historic destruction of Latin America by US imperialism, but also the catastrophic response of the global ruling class to the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Latin America harder than any other region in the world. Though Latin America contains only eight percent of the worlds population, it accounts for a third of COVID-19 deathsover 750,000 people. In Central America, food prices are soaring as a result of the pandemic and last years hurricanes, and severe hunger and even starvation is a reality for millions. Mass unemployment is coupled with a near total lack of social support for workers, farmers and small business owners. For months, the American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer has been extorting Latin American governments, refusing to sell vaccines unless they put up embassy buildings and other sovereign assets as collateral, leading to a three-month delay in vaccine deployment, according to a report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The desperate exodus from Central America is a sign that social tensions across the world are at the breaking point. In the January/February edition of Foreign Affairs, former Colombian Ambassador to the US Luis Alberto Moreno points to the mass protests that swept Latin America in 2018 and 2019 and warns of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on the consciousness of masses of people: If nothing is done, Latin America will become an even greater source of instability, from which no oneneither its elites nor the United Stateswill be immune. The idea of a stagnant region awash in street protests, political instability, and organized crime is not some nightmarish vision of a lost decade ahead; it is the reality many Latin American countries are now confronting. In other countries, the protests have died down, but most observers believe that is mainly because of the need for social distancing due to COVID-19. Indeed, the pandemic may have cooled the protests in the short term, but observers expect that over time, it will make the underlying grievances, and the pervasive inequality itself, dramatically worse. Aware of profound social anger over inequality and death and fighting desperately to maintain its privileged position under capitalism, the financial aristocracy is attempting to scapegoat immigrant children for the mass deaths that are a deliberate outcome of the ruling classs own parasitic policy. Only a class that lives as a cancer on society could make such depraved arguments. The international working class must activate its profound social power and transform society on an egalitarian socialist basis. This requires the conscious political struggle for the unity of workers of all races and nationalities, regardless of immigration status. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 A suspect has been arrested in this weeks shooting at Bessemer hotel that killed one person and wounded two others. Benjamin Williams, 33, is charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder. Killed in Wednesdays gunfire was 35-year-old Cory Lamont Peterson. Police responded to a call of shots fired at the Red Roof In at 12:05 a.m., said Lt. Christian Clemons. When they arrived at the hotel, which is on Academy Court, they found Peterson suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to UAB Medical Center West where he was pronounced dead at 1:38 a.m. Two other gunshot victims showed up at UAB West by private vehicle. Investigators determined they were shot during the same incident. They were both treated and released and are expected to be OK. Police have not yet said what led to the shooting. Williams was taken into custody Thursday in the Bessemer area. He is awaiting transfer to the Jefferson County Jail. Israel celebrates 73 years of Independence Jan, 4X1VF, informs OPDX readers, "This year is a very special for the ham radio family all over the world." Special activity will take place during these days using the special callsigns 4X73(XX) and 4Z73(XX). The "XX" will include each operator's last two letters of their private callsign. The activity will start 0600 UTC, April 14th, until Saturday, 2200 UTC, April 17th. QSL connects will be uploaded to LoTW or operators will have their own private QSL cards printed. Some of the operators will use the special callsigns during the "Holyland Contest" that will be taking place in the same weekend. OPDX Two men and a woman, aged in their sixties and seventies, were targeted during the aggravated burglary at Corgary Road in Castlederg. A man who took part in a raid on a Co Tyrone farmhouse where terrified victims were beaten with iron bars is to have his jail term almost doubled, the Court of Appeal confirmed on Friday. Senior judges ruled that the sentence imposed on Luke Walls for his role in ransacking the property and stealing 2,000 should be increased from three and a half years to six years. Two men and a woman, aged in their sixties and seventies, were targeted during the aggravated burglary at Corgary Road in Castlederg. Armed with iron bars, ropes and spikes, three masked intruders burst into the kitchen of the bungalow on February 19, 2019, and demanded money. The two male victims were struck on the arms and legs during an ordeal lasting up to 15 minutes. The burglars only fled when the woman bluffed them with a mention of getting the gun. It was later discovered cash had been stolen from a bedroom, along with three mobile phones. Walls, a 25-year-old member of the travelling community from Co Wicklow, was forensically linked to a bottle of cleaning fluid in the property. He pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and two counts of common assault. With neither of his accomplices apprehended, Walls claimed he played a minor role by remaining in the kitchen and using bleach to clean DNA traces. He insisted that he had been unarmed, asked one of the other intruders to stop the assaults and was only given 100. But the Director of Public Prosecution appealed the sentence imposed on Walls, contending it was unduly lenient. Giving reasons for the decision reached in the case, the court cited the impact on the victims. All three were terrified, Lord Justice McCloskey said. He also held that the trial judge had wrongly rejected the prosecutions contention that planning was an aggravating feature in the burglary. When the three miscreants entered the bungalow, they had clearly driven some distance with purpose. They had armed themselves, their faces were covered and they shouted repeatedly Wheres the money? he said. The inference of a planned criminal enterprise was overwhelming and the judge identified nothing to the contrary. Concluding that Walls sentence was to be increased to six years, Lord Justice McCloskey confirmed he would spend half his term in custody and half on licence. Twelve months after the first reported infection of a strange and unfamiliar virus made headlines in Manitoba, the impact of the microscopic contagion remains, in many ways, unmeasurable. Since the addition of "social distancing" to the common vocabulary, countless events that were postponed last March remain in limbo as Manitobans wait for a time when gathering in person wont threaten the health of family, friends and neighbours. Meanwhile, the eerie quiet that enveloped communities early in the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, as the din of commerce and limited social connections has returned. By the numbers: health-care volunteers Nearly 500 volunteers have pitched in to assist with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's COVID-19 response over the past 12 months. click to read more Nearly 500 volunteers have pitched in to assist with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's COVID-19 response over the past 12 months. Volunteers primarily worked at COVID-19 testing sites as entry point screeners and greeters, and at the provincial contact call centre, a WRHA spokesperson said. "Together these volunteers have contributed more than 15,000 hours of volunteer work throughout the pandemic. We are extremely grateful for their efforts." Adding to the effort were 240 volunteers who worked at the Health Sciences Centre. Since April 1, 2020, approximately 13,004 hours of work to support the province's largest hospital has been provided by volunteers, including 28 medical students and 24 Ronald McDonald Family Room volunteers. Volunteers armed with iPads would also help patients with virtual visits through the spring and summer at HSC. Another 2,492 Manitobans put their name forward to be hired into Shared Health's COVID-19 casual workers pool and to fill open front-line positions in hospitals and other health-care settings, as needed, over the past 12 months. Of those who were hired into the temporary workers pool there were 119 retired nurses, including 78 who are now working on the COVID-19 immunization campaign. "We are grateful for the work of nurses, Allied Health, medical staff and support staff and clinical staff over the past year as our health system has faced the immense challenge that COVID represents," a spokesman for Shared Health said in a statement. Close After the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported March 12, 2020, Manitobans have, in some respects, learned to live with the novel coronavirus. There are, however, benchmarks to measure how the pandemic has impacted the province: deaths, cases, days in lockdown. While tallies don't capture the full cost of COVID-19 livelihoods lost, relationships frayed and strained, loved ones who died in isolation the figures do illustrate the story of a province emerging from a year of unprecedented crisis. Pandemic death toll The first reported Manitoban to die from COVID-19 was Margaret Sader, a Winnipeg woman in her 60s who worked at a local dental supply company. Her death was reported March 27, 2020, and made headlines as the weight of the coronavirus settled in. "Its a Manitoban that we lost, and our hearts go out to their friends and family," chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said. "But this is our time to act now. To stay home if you can, practise good social distancing, wash your hands all Manitobans have a role to limit days like this." The second COVID-19 death came April 3: Wade Kidd, 54, a custodian at Windsor Park High School in Winnipeg. "This disease can affect anyone, and we hope Wades death can help convince anyone who isnt already staying home to do so if they can," said a statement dated April 6, sent by Kidds family members to media. On Thursday, one year to the day the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, Manitoba reported three more deaths due to COVID-19, pushing the provinces death toll to 911. The deadliest day came Dec. 9, when Roussin told more than 11,000 Manitobans tuned in to the livestream briefing 18 people had died after being infected with the virus. At the height of Manitobas second pandemic wave last fall, the province was reporting double-digit deaths, driven in part by explosive outbreaks in personal care homes and hospitals. The death of Manitobas youngest COVID-19 victim, a boy under the age of 10, was reported Nov. 28. The double-digit trend continued until January. On Feb. 23, for the first time in months, no deaths due to COVID-19 were reported. In comparison to other Canadian provinces and territories, Manitoba had the second-highest COVID-19 death rate per capita as of March 11, with 66 fatalities per 100,000 people. Quebec held the top spot at 122. Spread of COVID-19 Over the past 12 months, 32,509 Manitobans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, or 2.4 per cent of the population. In comparison to other Canadian provinces, Manitoba was fourth in total cases per capita as of March 11, with 2,350 per 100,000 people. Leading the pack is Quebec, followed by Alberta and Saskatchewan. In order to track the spread of infection, nurses and staff at COVID-19 testing centres, doctors offices and hospitals have slid more than 544,000 swabs into the nasal cavities of Manitobans since late February 2020. But according to the latest provincial figures, just 366,619 individuals have been tested for COVID-19 since last March, translating to nearly 27 per cent of the population. Of all COVID-19 test swabs performed in the province, 5.9 per cent have come back positive for the disease. On the path to conducting more than a half-million tests, the province has opened 27 swabbing centres across Manitoba and expanded the service into two physicians' offices. However, the efforts came too late for the second wave. Late last September, with just four sites operating in Winnipeg, hundreds of people waited hours in line to get a test, with an untold number turned away or simply giving up on the process. Two months later, Nov. 22, the province shattered its record for daily reported cases and posted 593 new infections. Lockdown Manitobans were in a formal lockdown though not as strict as some stay-at-home orders imposed by governments elsewhere for 72 days. Between Nov. 12, 2020, and Jan. 23, Manitobans were asked to stay at home as much as possible, and only leave for essential purposes, as COVID-19 walloped the health-care system. As of Feb. 27, the latest data available, a total of 2,262 Manitobans had been hospitalized with COVID-19, and 423 had been admitted to intensive care. On Dec. 4, 2020, the province recorded its greatest number of COVID-19 hospital admissions: 361 infectious patients receiving treatment. As of Thursday, 156 people were in hospital with the disease. Over the past year, 1,954 people who provide health-care services to Manitobans have also been infected. Two have died, according to the government. Outbreaks of COVID-19 also became common in personal care homes, as well as jails and hospitals, through the last four months of 2020 as community spread of the virus increased. The province has formally recognized a total of 193 outbreaks, 102 of which were in personal care homes; two have been acknowledged in schools. Vaccination While Manitoba remains under critical code red on the pandemic response system, government officials are hoping, and strategizing, to avoid the pitfalls of the past year. Vaccination is one strategy the province is leveraging to protect Manitobans in the long term. As of Thursday, 6.2 per cent of adults had received at least one dose, including more than 7,800 residents of long-term care facilities who have received the required two doses. A total of 97,783 doses have been given to people so far, and another 125,311 are planned over the next 28 days. Its estimated all adult Manitobans who want it will get a single shot by the end of mid-May or mid-June. Manitoba plans to have the capacity to be able to deliver as many as 20,000 shots a day to reach the early summer target, a feat Premier Brian Pallister says he is confident his government can achieve. "I know that theres going to be challenges with this because weve never done it before," Pallister said Thursday. "The vaccines are coming for sure, but we cant let up. We have to play defence. "Weve got to remember to keep safe while were waiting for the cavalry, and even when the cavalry gets here, its going to take some time." with files from Michael Pereira danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 22:17:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian state media outlet, Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) on Friday said two separate attacks by rebels have left 42 civilians dead. EBC reported the first attack which occurred on Sunday left 22 civilians dead and the second attack which happened on Thursday left another 20 civilians dead. Both attacks which happened in the western part of Ethiopia's Oromia regional state were blamed on fighters belonging to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), according to the report. EBA quoting Mulatu Hordofa, Communication Director, Oromia Police Commission, said in the first attack OLA rebels abducted 31 civilians in Dabis locality of Horo-Guduru Wollega zone of Oromia regional state, and later executed 22 of them. The remaining nine abductees managed to escape their captors. Hordofa further said that the second attack, which occurred in Horo-Guduru Wollega zone, in an area not far from the first attack site left 20 civilians dead. The OLA is a breakaway faction of an ex-rebel group Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The OLF was designated as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian parliament in 2011. It was removed from the terror list in July 2018 to help facilitate negotiations and foster reconciliation. Enditem A housing association is looking to spend up to 9m on securing new development sites in Derry. There have long been concerns about the number of people waiting on social housing accommodation in the local area. However, housing associations have also regularly highlighted the difficulty they have in securing development sites in the city. Now, Habinteg Housing Association, one of the largest housing associations in Northern Ireland, has launched a new search for land in Derry. Habinteg, which manages 2,300 properties throughout the North, has issued separate tenders looking for land in both the Waterside and cityside areas. Each of the land tenders has an estimated value of 4.5m. Habinteg says that all its properties in Derry are currently let. Through the new tender process, the association says it is looking for sites that could provide enough space for anything between 10 and 100 houses. Habinteg Housing Association is actively seeking opportunities to address the social housing need in the Derry area, a spokesperson for the association told the Derry News. Habinteg currently has almost 2,300 homes located across Northern Ireland and is committed to seeking out and delivering high quality housing solutions to those who need it most. Habinteg will take on ownership of a new apartment complex which is currently being built at Duke Street in Derry. The complex will provide a total of 42 apartments when complete. Habinteg also currently own a large number of properties in various parts of Derry, including at Hazelbank, Creggan and at Brigade and the Top of the Hill in the Waterside area. It was reported last year that there were around 4,500 people on the social housing waiting list in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area. Around 2,000 of these were single people, while older people make up around 13% of the waiting list. By March 2020, the construction of around 800 new social houses was underway in the council area in a bid to tackle the huge waiting list. Lawmakers' decision to cut millions from the Marine Corps' budget earmarked to allow leathernecks to fire anti-ship missiles from land is hurting the U.S. military's ability to deter China, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Wednesday. Marines need funding for powerful Navy weapons they can use to target Chinese ships, Adm. Phil Davidson told members of the House Armed Services Committee. That includes the Maritime Strike Tomahawk, he said, and extended-range SM-6 missile. The Marine Corps requested $125 million in 2021 to buy nearly 50 Tomahawk missiles the service could launch from land. Congress ultimately did not fund the move. Read Next: This Salty Former Marine Corporal Now Grills Generals on Capitol Hill "I would say continuing to cut that in the hope for some future capability is not meeting the time-needs that we have to address Chinese threats ... in theater right now," Davidson said. "And it undermines our deterrence." The Marine Corps wants the ability to fire anti-ship missiles from unmanned vehicles ashore. They call the vehicle a ROGUE -- or remotely operated ground unit expeditionary -- fires vehicle. The plan is to base the vehicle on the existing Joint Light Tactical Vehicle frame and equip it with a launcher system. Davidson warned in multiple hearings this week that China's military investments could leave the U.S. outmatched in the region by 2026. "I cannot, for the life of me, understand some of the capabilities that they're putting in the field, unless it is an aggressive posture," he said. "And frankly, I think they've told us that with their ambition to supplant the rules-based international order and replace it with one with Chinese characteristics, which they said they intend to do by mid-century." More long-range fires capabilities, he added, will be crucial to allowing American ships and military aircraft to maneuver more freely. "We want to make our adversaries work harder to find our stuff and to defend against it," Davidson said. "That's what deterrence is about. It's imposing costs." Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger wrote in his planning guidance after becoming the service's top general that once Marines get ashore, they'll have to "contribute to all domain access, deterrence, sea control, and power projection." His follow-on plan for the Marine Corps to be ready to take on a peer adversary in the next decade says the service will invest in additional rocket artillery batteries. "This investment provides the basis, over time," Berger wrote, "for generating one of the fundamental requirements for deterrence, and ultimately successful naval campaigns -- long-range, precision expeditionary anti-ship missile fires." Berger said last month during a virtual conference on expeditionary warfare that he takes responsibility for not securing the funding needed for anti-ship missiles. "We lost time in development and experimentation due to lack of funding for some long-range precision fires capabilities because of cuts -- and that's on me," he said. " I have to do a better job with key members on the Hill to reassure them that this is the necessary direction for the future of the Marine Corps." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Marines Hop Islands, Set Up Long-Range Fires as Force Preps for Clash with China The Junta de Andalucia's Ministry of Health has decided to immobilise a batch of 1,200 AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines that is being investigated by the European Medicines Agency as a result of the blood clot incidents reported in Austria. Speaking in Cordoba the Health Minister, Jesus Aguirre, said the Junta has decided to keep this batch of vaccines on "stand-by" until the findings of the EMA are known. Aguirre has also reported that the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) has received, this Friday, "less than half of the expected doses" of the AstraZeneca vaccine and went on to announced that the new Janssen vaccine, recently authorised by the European Union, will not arrive "until April and there will be few." Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pastor John MacArthur states that he would not fight for religious freedom because he would not fight for idolatry, as reported in a recent media title. His statement highlights how difficult it is to grasp certain categories, especially if they can have various meanings and interpretations. MacArthur conceptually confuses fighting for the right of Christians to worship God and preach the Gospel, with endorsing pluralism of worship as the norm for all. If Christian evangelicals are fighting for the spread of Islam, under a pretext of defending freedom of religion, his argument may make sense. Religious Freedom is Not the End Goal but Can be Helpful. It is one thing to see religious freedom as the end goal, but it is a completely different thing to use religious freedom to help Christians freely worship and to further the Gospel. MacArthur should consider that he unabashedly used the services of lawyers, working for free for his church, to claim that under the First Amendment, the secular law of the land, the government has no right to shut down his church on a coronavirus pretext. Was he then relying on the idol worship that religious freedom affords in that case? An Issue in the Ministry of the Church. In Acts 4 and 5 the apostles establish the idea of religious freedom, freedom of conscience and the proper view on church-state relations. Actually, in all of the Bible freedom of conscience and religion is a central issue. There are numerous examples but the prophets Elijah, Jeremiah and Daniel come to mind as instances in the Old Testament. We read in Acts 4 and 5 that it is more reasonable to follow God, not men, as the apostles set the standard. It is also a theme in Jesuss teachings: give to God what is Gods and to Creaser what is his. The illustration with a coin shows that Caesar is due taxes but not worship. Later in history legal and philosophical developments, from a humanistic perspective on the subject matter, only further add to the apostles original work. An Opportunity for Witness. The apostles testified of their commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ before the authorities who actually denied them their right to witness publicly. Contemporary arguments for Christians to be afforded the right to worship God and spread the Gospel also allow for a witness for that Gospel, be it in court, in the media, or in any form in the public square. Therefore, arguing for religious liberty allows for a freedom to witness about Christ. That is exactly what Grace Community Church accomplished by standing up for the right to gather for public services. People started talking about the church, its message, its meetings. Grace Community did the right thing according to the New Testament. We translated their page, titled Christ is the Head of the Church, Not Caesar, to help pastors and minsters in Eastern Europe with this perspective. In addition, while contending for freedom we can witness by respecting the others dignity even in disagreement. Such attitude is an embodiment of the Golden Rule, do to others as you want it done to you. Treating others with undeserved respect is not accepting their false religion. Just the opposite, it is showing the superiority of ours. No Requirement to Defend Other Beliefs. If MacArthur means he will not fight for the freedom of other religions to worship and have freedom of religion, his statement makes sense. He should not feel pressured to defend other religions if he is a faithful follower of Christ. Religious freedom is freedom namely because one is not forced into certain beliefs or religious practices. However, if pastor MacArthur wont fight for freedom of religion even for Christians, and not even for those who are persecuted for their faith, as I said in the beginning, he would be quite hypocritical. After all, he wanted his church to have the right to meet and did not move to underground gatherings. Persecution of Faithful Followers of Christ is a Gross Injustice. If persecution and unjust treatment for being a follower of Christ had some intrinsic value in and of itself, and was not only an opportunity for Gods grace and truth to shine, then the beheaded martyrs in Revelation would not cry out for the Lords vengeance. Even if Gods grace is sufficient for Christians under persecution, it does not mean that persecution is wonderful and is to be desired. Religious persecution against Christians is a gross injustice and it should be called out. Yet, we have the hope that even in persecution God is glorified. The Sovereignty of God and the Uniqueness of Christ Do Not Suffer from Arguing for Freedom of Religion. It is noteworthy that Islam, Confucianism, Hinduism, communism, and other major belief systems generally do not have a clear concept of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. Their gods require undivided allegiance and even their pluralism of gods is accepted so long as the claim of Jesus as the only God is not introduced. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy do not fully embrace the idea of religious toleration, even for fellow Christians, and on not so significant theological issues. In a sense, banning freedom of religion for all but only for Christians we approve of, a position derived of MacArthurs statement that freedom of religion is idolatry, seemingly seeks to impose some form of a doomed-to-fail theocracy where the Gospel must advance by secular law, not by the power of the truth and the grace of God. However, freedom of religion has a lot to do with mans free will and the dignity of freely choosing the truth, rather than being forced to accept a cultural normative for (false) worship. Legal Protection of Conversion to Christ Can be Helpful to Evangelism. Freedom of religion is a complex right which includes freedom of thought, of expression, of assembly, and of association. It is also the legal rule that guarantees that one has the right to convert from one religion to another. Many new Christians in Hindu or Islamic cultures are threatened with their life and limb when they leave their respective religion and turn to Christ. While the existence of such legal protections should not be the sole motive to turn to Jesus, it may well help those who choose to follow the Lord in hard circumstances. Not Ultimate Freedom. Freedom comes from the truth, and the Truth is the Person of Christ (John 8:31-32; 14:6). Freedom of religion is not the truth. It is just a form of a legal guarantee that people will be allowed to explore the truth and they will not be beaten into submission to believe lies. I became a Christian after missionaries came to my post-communist country and shared the Gospel with me. I was of the generation in which many turned to Jesus and became the fruit of the post-communist revival in those lands. That would have been impossible if the Iron Curtain had not fallen, and freedom had not come to Eastern Europe. The one most fundamental human right is the right to hear the good news about Jesus Christ. Freedom of religion may help that right bring the real freedom which is found in the Gospel. Freedom of religion is a tool to advance the Gospel, it is not the Gospel itself. With all due respect for standing against the Caesars of quasi-medical tyranny, MacArthur, in his zeal, should consider that simple truth as well. 78-y-o Michigan grandmother deadlifts nearly 400 pounds with help of Holy Spirit Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment At 78, Michigan grandmother Nora Langdon is a powerlifting champion who can deadlift almost 400 pounds and bench presses more than 200 pounds, thanks, she says, to the power of the Holy Spirit, eating right, and training consistently. "When I squat this is what I say, I say, 'Holy Spirit fall on me,' and I just do it and I come right on up," said Langdon, who attends the Word of Faith church in Southfield in a recent interview with Fox 2. The spirit-filled grandmother who started powerlifting just 13 years ago holds 19 world records across two weight classes, according to Open Powerlifting and she doesnt appear ready to stop setting records any time soon. The retired realtor explained in an interview with The Christian Post Thursday that she started working out at the Royal Oak Gym after she noticed she became winded going up and down stairs and she was also a little overweight. I was 65 years old and I used to be a realtor. I got tired going up and down the stairs and so I said, let me get some training, she recalled. She said the husband of a friend offered to train her along with another friend at a birthday party for a good price, so they began training together. The friend ended up quitting the training, but Langdon said she pressed on with prompting from the Holy Spirit. When I first started now, I [trained] came home, took my shower and everything. The next morning I got up and I said, Im not going back. I was hurting all over. And I heard this voice say, go back, and I decided to go back. And that was the Holy Spirit telling me this is for you. Thats the way I felt, she said. After about a month or two, he [trainer] asked me did I want to go to a tournament and I said yes. So I went and I got a certificate that first time I went. And I fell in love with it, she said. Langdon said getting the certificate boosted her confidence and as she continued training, she also noticed added benefits. My health was not really good before I started. I was a little overweight, she said. I didnt have any physical ailments [but] I had real high blood pressure. [Now] my blood pressure is down to normal now, she said, and its been that way for at least the last 10 years. Art Little, who trains Langdon, told Fox 2 that he was apprehensive about training her at first because of her age, but she was determined. "She's really been an asset to the gym, and to me, and to the whole powerlifting field," Little said. "To see somebody at that age doing what she's doing, it's a blessing." Langdon told CP she works out three days each week and said she has inspired at least three other congregants from her church to join the gym with her. One guy, he told me the other day that his blood pressure is going down. I appreciated that. They just keep encouraging me, she said. Along with her faith in God, Langdon gives a lot of credit to her faith community for her healthy habit, particularly her pastor. My minister encourages all of us to read the Bible and take it literally and apply it to your own life and thats what Ive been doing all my life, ever since I started with the church in 1986. I was a heathen before then, she laughed. 1986 is when I started with the church and Ive been consistent with the church and he [minister] always teaches you to be consistent and change your way of life, and thats what I did. For older adults who might be scared of doing something new to improve their life, Langdon said she wants to inspire them to be brave. Dont be afraid. God did not bring us here just to sit down and do nothing. He brought us here to encourage one another and to live a Christian life. A lot of older people, when they retire from their job they want to sit down and watch TV. Thats the wrong thing to do, she said. God has never said retire. There is nowhere in the Bible that says retire. So you have to keep going, and thats one of the main things to keep your body going and to keep your health going. Its to keep moving, she said. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Press Release Nokia selected by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. to advance car carrier vessel digital transformation Car carrier to feature 4G/LTE network connecting vessel and onshore offices for improved berthing operational efficiency New network provides platform for enhanced productivity, safety and performance 12 March 2021 Espoo, Finland Nokia today announced that it has been selected by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K LINE) to deliver a 4G/LTE Field Area Network (FAN) solution for its latest LNG-fueled car carrier CENTURY HIGHWAY GREEN. The IP/MPLS-based network, will provide K LINE with a FAN environment that delivers high-speed, secure, encrypted wireless communications between ship and shore. It will enable application of a range of new efficient digital services such as CCTV and high-speed data transfer for remote monitoring of onload/offload work and remote visual inspection of machinery when the vessel is in port in Japan or overseas. Hiroshi Uchida, Head of AI Digitalization Strategy Group, KLINE, said: Working with Nokia, we plan to accelerate the development and utilization of advanced digital technologies that enable safer, world-class shipping services. With the Nokia 4G/LTE network, we will be able to communicate more effectively during berthing, using the same sophisticated technology as available on land. This creates the capability to deliver improved operational performance, skills transfer and safety management. Donny Janssens, Head of Customer Team, Nokia Enterprise Japan, said: Through deployment of the field area network, were helping K LINE not only to enhance operational efficiency and industrial safety but also to advance its digital transformation. This is the first Nokia 4G/LTE FAN deployment in Japan, bringing it to a new market following its successful deployment in mining sites, electric grids and ports worldwide. The solution comprises the Nokia 7705 SAR-Hm LTE router for on-board installation, as well as the Nokia 7705 SAR-8 for use onshore. This router pairing supports video and data transfer from the ships onboard CCTV and IT systems over LTE connections when in port. This FAN solution will enable K LINE to closely monitor loading and unloading in real time, and to significantly reduce time needed for large file exchange during port calls. All data is protected by Nokias Network Group Encryption (NGE). This encrypted communication technology protects MPLS services with minimal overhead and ensures a high level of security and quality of service without any degradation of LTE link performance. The domestic communication lines will be provided by KDDI Corporation and the system integration will be provided by KCCS Mobile Engineering Co., Ltd. Nokia has deployed mission-critical networks to over 1,500 leading customers in the transport, energy, large enterprise, manufacturing, webscale, and public sector segments around the globe. Leading enterprises across industries are leveraging decades of Nokia experience building some of the biggest and most advanced IP, optical, and wireless networks on the planet. Nokia has pioneered the private wireless space with many verticals and now has over 260 large enterprise customers deploying it around the world, of which over 40 incorporate 5G. Additional resources: About Nokia We create the critical networks and technologies to bring together the worlds intelligence, across businesses, cities, supply chains and societies. With our commitment to innovation and technology leadership, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we deliver networks at the limits of science across mobile, infrastructure, cloud and enabling technologies. Adhering to the highest standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities we need for a more productive, sustainable and inclusive world. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia. About K Line The K LINE Group is an integrated logistics company that owns and operates various fleets tailored to worldwide marine transportation needs, including land transportation and warehousing businesses. K LINE has been actively and proficiently expanding its business activities since its establishment in 1919. We will strengthen and accelerate safety, environmental, and quality initiatives, and strengthening our technical and sales capabilities to overcome the changing conditions and continue steadily increasing our corporate value. Media Inquiries: Japan Media Relations Takayuki Omino Phone: +81 80 9813 3239 Email: takayuki.omino@nokia.com Nokia Communications Phone: +358 10 448 4900 Email: press.services@nokia.com Do you have a news tip? Want to share good news story, or do you have information that should see the light of day? Then we want to hear from you. More here While scalpers have proven to be a real problem as resellers would buy prized items and sell them at a bigger price, Nike had to deal with a recent issue with the company's (now ex) Vice President Ann Hebert regarding her involvement in a resale scheme. Although reselling is allowed, the conversation took sideways when it was found out that the Vice President of Nike itself was somehow involved. CEO John Donahoe In an article by Complex, John Donahoe himself--the chief executive of Nike--had to address the recent circumstances revolving around he resignation of the company's very own vice president. The CEO had to attend an internal all-hands meeting for the brand's team over at North America on Monday. The resignation by Hebert came just two days after Bloomberg Businessweek published a story that uncovered her involvement with a sneaker resale business that was run by her 19-year-old son named Joe. This then raised questions regarding unfair practices and even nepotism circulating the limited sneaker launches. Joe Hebert's Nike Resell Business Joe Herbert noted to Bloomberg that there were instances when he would gather over 15 people to swarm the website all at once, along with bots that function by bypassing the system which is designed to limit the purchases to just one pair per customer. Joe then revealed that he was able to make a purchase of limited edition Yeezy sneakers worth $132,000 and flip them for a $20,000 total profit. Nike's president of consumer and marketplace, Heidi O'Neill, also addressed the issue in the meeting referring to Ann Herbert's actions as a demonstration of "poor judgment." Although Herbert openly disclosed her son's business back in 2018, she had not been updating the company regarding the business' growth, according to Nike. It was also said that it was not reported if the business follows Nike's policies when it comes to reselling, as well as family and employee relationships. Read Also: Nike Files Patent For Real-Time Monitoring Of Athletes' Performance Anti-Bot Technology As Dahoe said (via Complex), Nike has been developing its very own anti-bot technology for several years now. However, he acknowledged that it was not enough to totally eliminate scalpers. It remains to be seen how far the company is when it comes to the development of the technology, but it just means that stricter measures will be employed by the sneaker giant moving forward--especially after the bad press it received with the Hebert controversy. For what it's worth, O'Neil noted that Hebert and her son did not violate any policy, so the company decided not to take any corrective action. In response though, Nike will look to update its policies in order to avoid such circumstances from happening again. It is still unknown what other actions Nike will take, but scalpers will certainly be more wary as the retail giant looks to keep things fair to its customers. Related Article: Apple And Nike Team Up Brought Forth This Semi-New Product Sorry! This content is not available in your region Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:11:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENNA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Austria has decided to continue using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine even after blood clot reports prompted some European countries to slam the brakes. The national vaccination committee, the Federal Office for Health Safety, the European Medicines Agency and the ministry itself, as well as the federal states, would "clearly advocate the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine," the Health Ministry said in a statement after a video conference with experts and state health councilors late Thursday. "The decision is made by experts. At the end of the review, you have to respect the result," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said at a press conference here on Friday, insisting that he would be vaccinated with AstraZeneca. "There was no causal relationship, so I trust the experts," said the chancellor. On Thursday, health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of the formation of blood clots in some recently vaccinated people. Austria's coronavirus infection rate continued to trend higher, with 3,126 new cases registered on Friday. It's the first time since early December the single-day tally tops 3,000. The country's total infections now stand at 488,042, according to the Ministry of Interior. Enditem ALBANY Ten years ago, the heart of the citys student neighborhood woke up to chaos. Or more accurately: Its residents were already outside, watching it unfold with a beer in hand. Friday marked a decade since the infamous "Kegs and Eggs" riot that embarrassed the city and the state University at Albany, as well as countless denizens of the student-rich neighborhood. On that morning, hundreds of young people gathered on Hudson Avenue, "pre-gaming" for the citys annual St. Patricks Day parade. And for reasons that no one has ever quite explained, it turned bad. Revelers hurled televisions from balconies, destroyed furniture, flipped cars, and pelted the first few city police officers who showed up to the scene with curses and even bottles. Dozens of students were eventually arrested or ticketed. The mornings events shocked the city. The Times Union published a four-day series examining the ills of the student neighborhood. Other students tried to distance themselves from their classmates antics, and neighbors demanded change. The parties also happened just as smartphones and social media were exploding in use, allowing video clips to race across the internet. Fox News ran clips comparing the students' debauchery to the suffering in Japan, which had been hit by a devastating tsunami that same day. In the 10 years since, the Pine Hills neighborhood as well as city and university officials have worked to avoid a repeat of the mayhem. Former city police Chief Steven Krokoff called it a bellwether that exposed how issues in the neighborhood had largely been ignored. But once that event occurred, it really opened our eyes. We reorganized and reevaluated and started working in much closer partnership after that, he said. And I can tell you, a new era of cooperation was born. UAlbany Associate Dean of Students Charles Rogers said it forced the university to reconsider its relationship with the off-campus population and the city. The university took several immediate steps to head off future problems, including moving its spring break to coincide with St. Patricks Day weekend, in hopes of getting students out of town. It also canceled its annual Fountain Day celebration, an at-times raucous on-campus gathering. Luke Rumsey, the school's assistant dean of students for off-campus student services, said it comes down to communicating the expectations to the students and holding them accountable. We've spent a lot of time building up relationships with the different neighborhood associations in the city of Albany, different community organizations, the Albany Police Department and the city (itself), he said. City police send a weekly list of anyone arrested in student neighborhoods to the university, which runs the names against its enrollment list. University officials also worked closer with neighborhood associations, attending meetings, hosting cleanups and responding to complaints. In 2014, school employees began doing ridealongs on city police patrols in the neighborhood during busy party weekends. In 2020, that was taken a step further, with UAlbany police officers joining city police for patrols during Halloween. In 2015, Rumsey introduced a pilot program establishing a group of off-campus ambassadors: students who are hired to act as influencers and report inappropriate behaviors to the university as well as go door-to-door and remind students of the university's expectations. UAlbany is also considering a proposal to add an office for off-campus student services in the Pine Hills. University officials said they recognize that they havent permanently solved the problem. Instead, they see it as an ongoing effort to increase visibility and accountability in case an issue arises. City and school officials credit continuing conversations and other efforts as the key to preventing another raucous incident that brings viral shame to the school and its namesake city. Last summer, hundreds of young partiers gathered along Hudson Avenue, celebrating July 4th when mass gatherings were still supposed to be illegal. Mayor Kathy Sheehan said when photos and videos emerged, the university reached out immediately. It was about more than just the students; it's about residents feeling safe when they go to the corner store or to the pizza place in their neighborhood, she said. Sheehan said "code walks," in which university and city officials patrol the neighborhood for code violations, as well as student-organized neighborhood cleanups, have also been effective in maintaining good relationships in the area. But as in any college town, some facts of life are eternal. There are still parties, some more chaotic than others. Neighbors still wake up to smashed plastic cups and crumpled beer cans, along with the occasional property damage. Leah Golby, who was the Common Council representative for the area in 2011, said over the past year most of the student neighborhood has been quiet. Certain times of year, you expect to hear loud parties and expect to be calling the police to complain about noise, she said. (But) its been really, really quiet. I didn't even realize it until about like two weeks ago I heard a party, and it was like, 'What the hell? What's going on.'" On Thursday, two UAlbany seniors, Gina and Gianna, sat on their Hudson Avenue front porch. (The women would only give their first names.) They had heard of Kegs and Eggs but werent sure when it happened. Both had come across YouTube videos of it as they researched colleges in high school. The block of Hudson Avenue where it happened was still a party block 10 years later, they said. We like it over here its the quiet side, Gina said. They had gotten notices from the school about off-campus behavior, but most of them were weekly reminders to follow public health guidelines for the coronavirus pandemic. If students are caught at a gathering of more than 10 people, they face being suspended for a semester. The students complained that the warnings come off as parental scolding, rather than explaining and supporting them. Theres little things you can do to help students, like raise morale and stuff like that, especially in a time like this, Gianna said. I feel that the school isnt trying to raise morale at all anymore, and that sucks for seniors and people who are graduating. Two blocks away, small groups of young people trickled in and out of corner stores on Quail Street, 12-packs of light beer and hard seltzers in hand. Music thumped from upstairs apartments as temperatures topped 60 degrees for the first time this year. One man strutted down Hudson Street back to his front porch where his friends were gathered, two 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor in one hand, a bottle of orange juice in the other. Its so damn nice out! he shouted to no one in particular. A few hours later, dozens of students had joined in, filling the sidewalks and porches up and down the block. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Guv Parson flexes on critics who have been complaining about vaxx disparity with this high profile location in the 3rd District wherein locals can be herded in to help the nation achieve herd immunity. Take a look . . . The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. The worsening border situation sent 500 Texas Guards courtesy of Texas governor Abbott after Biden administration policies allow criminality and the cartels to take advantage of the border chaos. Governor Abbot Deploys 500 Texas Guard Blunders of the current administration is dismantling Trump's policies immediately. One of these is his border policies that secured southern states from illegal immigration. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the White House's attention and the very flawed policies that ran counter to his predecessor. Trump endorsed the border wall and stopped illegal immigration by criminal elements at the border. Now, with no Trump in the White House, he has made bold moves without help from Washington, reported Newsmax. The presence of illegal immigrants of most families and children went to the border, seeking entry in the United States. Many of the children and individuals are suspected to be part of the cartels seeing an opportunity to gain from it. In a statement, Abbott mentioned Washington's mistaken judgment to regain control of the borders. He added the Texas guardsmen and the Department of Public Safety would be partly lessening the border chaos and regain control without Biden's help. He gave these remarks at a news conference last Tuesday at Mission Texas. Also read: Migrants at the US-Mexico Border Wear Shirts Pleading Biden to Allow Entry into US He said that the southern state would go forward to secure the safety and security of all Texas. Abbott was not pleased how Biden ignores the worsening border situation. Only one of the many governors is repudiating the White House for its ill-advised decisions in less than 100 days. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), will be about 1,200 state police officers in the state for law enforcement. At the week's ends, to join them will be the Texas national guard remarked Stars and Stripes. Members of the guard are in training for the US Border deployment, said the Texas Military Department Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris. Major General Norris told the press, the Texas Guardsmen have been supporting Texas governors, federal and state partners for 15 years. The guard has been all over Texas if any situation called for their presence. Sources say that Abbott has an $800 million budget for border security in Texas, with extra cash to pay for more forces. Last year, 100 of these forces were sent on similar missions in 2020, with 1000 forces in 2019. The 500 guardsmen added to the 3,600 U.S. National Guard at the border last year are still serving under the new administration. Abbot told the press the border crisis is not going away anytime. Immigrants are flooding record in numbers because of Biden. Border policies were manageable, and the last administration had a better grip than the new White House. He stressed the open border calls to illegal immigration and creating a humanitarian crisis in Texas. It will get worse, he stressed to reporters. Deployment of the 500 Texas Guard and supporting personnel shows how severe it is at the US border. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas does not want to admit instead gives another narrative. Related article: Top ICE Officials Say Flooding Migrants Might be Exploited by Criminals @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. COVID vaccination efforts continue to gain momentum both in the US and around the world but that doesnt mean were out of the pandemic woods just yet. Regular testing remains an important factor in helping slow the spread of the disease but has typically required a trip to your doctor or local clinic. Luckily, thats no longer the case. In recent months, the FDA has approved a number of COVID tests which can be administered in the comfort of your own home and return results in a matter of minutes rather than days. If youve taken an in-person COVID test in the last year, your nasal swab sample was likely diagnosed using a real time reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (real time RTPCR), which is among the most accurate and widely used lab-based methods for detecting viral pathogens such as Zika, Ebola and coronavirus. The coronavirus only contains single strand RNA for genetic material which, unlike DNA, cannot be independently reproduced without the assistance of a host. As such, the virus must infect and repurpose healthy cells in order to make more of itself. RTPCR mimics this process by first converting any coronavirus RNA present in a given sample into DNA hence reverse transcription then creating billions of copies of the genetic material and marking them with a fluorescent dye for identification. The process is an offshoot of the more general PCR method, which is used to detect pathogens whose genetic material comes in DNA form and therefore doesnt need amplification. This process is sensitive and highly accurate, albeit time-consuming, but does enable pathologists to detect a coronavirus infection in its early stages since only a minute amount of initial RNA is required. While the RTPCR technique poses a low chance of outside contamination, its capability is limited in that it can only spot the coronavirus when its currently present in a sample. This method cannot tell if someone has been previously infected. Some at-home tests rely on a similar process called isothermal amplification. Like PCR, isothermal amplification generates numerous copies of the coronavirus genetic material to aid in detection. Though IA is not as sensitive as the lab-based PCR method, its more accurate than other at-home tests which look for antigens bits of coronavirus proteins that provoke the bodys immune response. For example, an antigen-based BinaxNOW test correctly detects the virus only about 64 percent of the time in symptomatic people. That figure drops to just 35 percent in asymptomatics. Because antigen tests dont include a reverse transcription phase, they are faster and less expensive to perform than PCR- and IA-based methods but are less accurate and return higher rates of false negatives especially among people who have only recently been exposed. The antigen method provides more of a general estimate as to how contagious you are, Dr. Gigi Gronvall of Johns Hopkins University told the NYT . If you test positive on that, you really need to isolate, she said. So, if you are asymptomatic, a PCR or similar molecular-based test should be sufficient. If you suddenly find that you cant smell or taste anything, pick up either a PCR or the most sensitive antigen-based test you can find. If you test positive, regardless of the type of test you use, isolate yourself immediately and call a doctor. So far, only a handful of at-home tests have earned Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. EUAs are otherwise-unapproved treatments, tests or medical countermeasures that have been allowed to sidestep the formal (and lengthy) FDA approval process in response to life-threatening health crises like the one we are currently facing. The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test is the first at-home test available without a prescription. It is antigen-based and takes 15 minutes to return a result. Youll have to swab your nose then drop the sample in a desktop analyzer along with some processing liquid. Once the device does its thing, the results are transmitted via Bluetooth to your smartphone. That data is also shared through a secure, HIPAA compliant cloud connection to health authorities to aid in outbreak mapping. The test is expected to cost around $30 though the company has yet to announce where and when it might become available. The Ellume test displayed 96 percent accuracy in people ages 2 and up during its US clinical trial. The Biden administration recently announced a $231.8 million deal with the Australian company to purchase 8.5 million units of the test. Ellume will be delivering 100,000 tests per month from the Australian manufacturing facility until the U.S. facility is built, a company representative told NPR. At full capacity, the U.S facility will be able to produce up to 19 million tests per month. The 8.5 million tests for the US government is a portion of the overall manufacturing." However, not all health professionals are excited about this public-private partnership , with one going so far as to characterize the effort as a spit in the ocean. The Cue OTC Test will also soon be available over the counter but unlike the Ellume, it uses a nucleic acid amplification test (similar to PCR) for improved accuracy and generates results in 20 minutes. Per a recent press release , in prospective studies to evaluate the use of the Cue OTC Test, the results were 97.4% agreement for positive cases and 99.1% agreement for negative cases compared to the results from a highly sensitive EUA PCR laboratory-based test. The company has not yet announced pricing or availability. Abbott's BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test isnt just a mouthful to say, its a whole process. After answering a series of screening questions via the eMed digital health website, Abbot will deliver a test to your home. Youll then be connected with a telehealth professional who will guide you through the sample collection process. Once you drop your sample into the analyzer, you should get your results in about 15 minutes through the Navica smartphone app. The Abbot test costs $25 and is only available with a prescription. The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit costs $50 and, like the Cue, uses molecular tech. As with BinaxNOW, it requires a prescription so your doctor will have to order it on your behalf. The Lucira test is intended for use by people ages 14 and up, it returns results in 11 to 30 minutes. If you dont mind waiting a bit for your results, Amazon is selling Dxterity mail-in tests . Each one costs $110 and requires you post it to the companys LA-area lab for diagnosis. On the plus side, this test is saliva-based so you wont have to impale your nasal cavity with a Q-Tip to collect your sample. Results will be available within 24 - 72 hours through the companys web portal. Similarly, the CRL Rapid Response COVID-19 Saliva Test can be purchased from the Walgreens website for $119 and returns results in a scant 24 - 48 hours. If you test positive, the company will have a telemedicine rep reach out to discuss the diagnosis and potential next steps. BBC journalist Jo Coburn, seen standing outside Parliament in London, suggested during the debate that Jews have succeeded in reaching high political office and therefore "don't need to be seen as a group needing recognition in the same way as others." (JTA) - The BBC has been accused of bias in its coverage of Israel for decades. Now the public broadcaster is taking flak from British Jews for coverage much closer to home. What's causing their biggest dispute in years? It's the broadcast of a debate over whether Jews should be considered an ethnic minority - a panel discussion featuring four non-Jewish panelists and a Jewish commenter as a guest. Monday's discussion touched raw nerves in the organized community, where many Jews feel marginalized by allegedly hostile media treatment and the rise of anti-Semitism both from the far right a... One year ago today, the first case of COVID-19 was discovered in Manitoba. Advertisement Advertise With Us One year ago today, the first case of COVID-19 was discovered in Manitoba. By the time April 2020 came to a close, Economic Development Brandons unemployment data for Brandon states that within that month and a half after the virus reached the province, Brandons unemployment rate had spiked from 5.8 per cent in March to 9.6 per cent in April. As businesses and organizations shut down voluntarily or were forced to shut down due to public health, the unemployment situation got even worse. The 9.6 per cent unemployment rate in April was already Brandons highest monthly rate going back to the beginning of 2010, but May 2020 one-upped that figure with an 11.2 per cent unemployment rate. June was the peak of pandemic unemployment in Brandon last year, besting May with a 12.9 per cent unemployment rate. If the estimated size of the local labour force listed on Economic Development Brandons website of 32,200 is still accurate, that would mean approximately 2,500 Brandonites were without work by June. Many of those left unemployed by COVID-19 in Brandon would have needed assistance paying for the essentials and had to turn to the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit for income. First announced by the federal government on March 25, 2020, the CERB offered qualifying Canadians who had lost their job or faced a reduction in hours, were sick or quarantined or were taking care of someone sick with COVID-19 up to $2,000 a month ($500 a week) in taxable assistance. Applications first opened on April 6, with payments supposedly going out within three to five days by direct deposit or 10 days by mail to successful applicants. Thanks to a freedom of information request filed by The Canadian Press and shared with the Brandon Sun, we know how many Brandonites needed assistance from CERB over the first seven weeks of the programs existence. The data breaks down how many people and the percentage of the eligible workforce (based on 2016 census data) in each of the three forward sortation areas in Brandon. Forward sortation areas are the first three characters of Canadian postal codes. Brandon has three forward sortation areas: R7A, R7B and R7C. Data from the last census indicates that 23,615 people aged 15 or over lived in R7A compared to 17,000 in R7B and 2,175 in R7C. During the first week of the program, 4,480 people in R7A (18.97 per cent people aged 15 or over), 2,930 people in R7B (17.24 per cent) and 310 people in R7C (14.25 per cent) received CERB payments. Those figures would decline almost every week from that point on until week seven, when the data ends. Barbara McNish, who became the executive director of Samaritan House Ministries on April 6, recalled what it was like managing the organizations food bank around the same time CERB was introduced. Because of limited food supplies caused by people stocking up at the beginning of the pandemic, Samaritan Houses food donations from the public started to dry up. "So then both corporate and local businesses, our banks, credit unions, United Way programs, the churches, our donors both private and general people in the community stepped up to give us money to purchase food," McNish said. "That was the first time in a long time we actually had to purchase food in April." Normally, food donations made at food drives would have lasted longer, supplemented by donations of food from the public. McNish credits community support as the reason Samaritan House was able to keep handing out food hampers uninterrupted, even when a COVID-19 outbreak at the organizations Safe and Warm shelter forced the temporary closure of its building in January 2021. "Our hearts are just so grateful," she said. Not everyone wants to reveal why theyre visiting the food bank, but McNish knows the reason for several people and families who have started coming over the last year is because theyve been laid off or the business they worked for had to shut down either permanently or temporarily. Though demand for Samaritan Houses services remained roughly on par with previous years, McNish did have a note about a certain period of time. "We did see a little bit of a decline in the numbers in the beginning," she said. "Only because, I think, maybe CERB was in effect so they had money to be able to purchase their own food or they chose to stay home and stay safe and to reduce community contacts by not coming out." McNish isnt the only one to make this observation. Vandana Jamadagni, the co-ordinator at Helping Hands soup kitchen on Seventh Street, said that she has noticed that fewer people come by for meals on the weeks where CERB cheques (or cheques from its successor programs) come out. "Its the same as welfare cheques," she said. "Whenever they get the cheques, the numbers were a little bit lower ... when people get paid, I think they want to buy some groceries for themselves." She said that the demand for meals from the soup kitchen, which has switched to handing out individually packaged takeout meals during the pandemic because of health concerns, has remained roughly the same as pre-pandemic, but with a couple of caveats. School children who take advantage of meal programs at their school frequently will start coming to Helping Hands for meals over the summer break. Because kids have been staying at home more frequently because of COVID, that number was smaller last year. "In normal days, our busiest time is summer," said Jamadagni. Demand from older guests has also dropped, with many people avoiding dropping by to reduce contact with other people. However, there are a number of people who pick up and drop off meals for elderly friends and relatives. Of course, the bitterly cold weather Brandon experienced in February was also a factor in dissuading older people and people with disabilities from dropping by last month. If the demand for meals at Helping Hands remained the same while certain groups that normally pick up meals were less likely to come by, that would imply that there was an increased demand from people who dont usually rely on the soup kitchen. That would include people who were isolating at the Redwood Inn last fall. Jamadagni said that for about a month and a half, Helping Hands was sending 15 to 20 meals a day to people isolating there. By week three of CERB, 2,610 people (11.05 per cent) in R7A, 1,610 people (9.47 per cent) in R7B and 160 people (7.36 per cent) in R7C were receiving CERB payments. Although numbers raised slightly in week six for R7A and R7B, by week seven only 1,810 people (7.66 per cent) in R7A, 1,010 people (5.94 per cent) in R7B and 100 people (4.6 per cent) in R7C were receiving CERB. By the end of 2020, unemployment numbers had also improved in Brandon. The respective 5.6 and 5.3 per cent unemployment numbers for November and December 2020 were both better than the 6.8 per cent pre-pandemic unemployment rates for November and December 2019. The long-term economic impact of COVID, however, is still unknown. cslark@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ColinSlark Listen to Outbreak Alabama: Stories from a Pandemic below. Weve reached the 1-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic reaching Alabama. The state has had more than 500,000 cases, and more than 10,000 deaths. And as of this week, more than 1 million COVID vaccines have been administered. Now that were a year into this, I wanted to reflect on the pandemic through the eyes of my colleagues at AL.com, some of the best journalists in the world who have dedicated a calendar year to getting vital information about the virus and our response to the public. For 365 straight days, Ive seen firsthand the relentless dedication to telling the story of the pandemic from every possible angle from our reporters and editors. And like everyone else in the world, theyve made tremendous sacrifices to document the crisis, some of them even contracting the virus themselves. I spoke to 13 journalists who covered COVID for the last year -- whether its data, healthcare, education, crime, sports, opinion, photography or human interest. Their work runs the gamut, and now they can reflect on their greatest challenges, what gave them hope during such despair, the stories theyll remember forever and how theyve changed since last spring. This is called Covering COVID. Listen to all four episodes below. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like the show, please rate it and write us a review. Thank you for listening. Guests: Ramsey Archibald, Trisha Crain, J.D. Crowe, Greg Garrison, Joseph Goodman, Leada Gore, Ivana Hrynkiw, Roy Johnson, Dennis Pillion, Carol Robinson, Joe Songer, Sarah Whites-Koditschek, Amy Yurkanin. Episode 1: The Hardest Part A pandemic that has so far killed half a million people in the country is inherently dark, and its challenging work to put it all into context for readers who want as much information as they can get as quickly as they can get it. AL.com journalists talk about the hardest part about covering the pandemic the last year. Episode 2: What Gave Us Hope While they were faced with telling difficult stories about death and struggle, the reporters also found tremendous humanity and inspiring moments that gave them hope about the direction the pandemic was headed in Alabama. Episode 3: The Stories Well Remember The journalists reflect on which stories they will always remember -- whether it was something they wrote or shot, a piece they read, something or someone from our COVID coverage in Alabama the last year that they will never forget. Episode 4: How Weve Changed A year into the pandemic, AL.com journalists reflect on how they and their outlook on COVID-19 have changed. More from Outbreak Alabama: Tuscaloosas dwindling numbers, how it avoided a super-spreader The vaccine is here, so now what? UAB doctor gets real about COVID outlook Voting during the pandemic Running a haunted house during COVID Why are hospitalizations up in college towns? A funeral directors perspective Some parents have had it with virtual learning When your kid gives you COVID UA students are anxious Sidewalk at the drive-in The situation at Auburn A cluster at UA Finally, some good news How are our schools doing so far? Going back to college Why do we suck at this? Close one restaurant, open another Being black with COVID-19 Are bars really the problem? Historic theaters in grave situation Will the college football season really happen? Spirit AeroSystems Names Mindy McPheeters as General Counsel Tweet this "Mindy has gained an understanding of the many facets of our business and our industry during her tenure with the company," said Gentile. "I look forward to her contributions as a member of our Executive Leadership Team as we continue to transform Spirit into a more diversified company." During her six years at Spirit, McPheeters has also held positions overseeing various aspects of Legal, including Litigation, Commercial, Employment and Compliance. Prior to joining Spirit, McPheeters served as In-house Counsel for Delta Dental of Kansas. On the web: www.spiritaero.com On Twitter: @SpiritAero About Spirit AeroSystems Inc. Spirit AeroSystems is one of the world's largest manufacturers of aerostructures for commercial airplanes, defense platforms, and business/regional jets. With expertise in aluminum and advanced composite manufacturing solutions, the company's core products include fuselages, integrated wings and wing components, pylons, and nacelles. Also, Spirit serves the aftermarket for commercial and business/regional jets. Headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, Spirit has facilities in the U.S., U.K., France, Malaysia and Morocco. More information is available at www.spiritaero.com. SOURCE Spirit AeroSystems Inc. Related Links http://www.spiritaero.com New Delhi: The apex child rights body NCPCR has asked Netflix to stop streaming 'Bombay Begums' citing inappropriate portrayal of children in the web series. In a notice to Netflix on Thursday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the OTT platform to furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which it said it will be constrained to initiate appropriate legal action. Objecting to the alleged inappropriate portrayal of children in the series, the commission said this type of content will not only pollute the young minds but may also result in the abuse and exploitation of children. The commission took action based on a complaint that alleged that the series normalises minors indulging in casual sex and drug abuse. "Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content in respect of the children or for the children and shall also refrain themselves from getting into such things," the commission said in its notice. "Therefore, you are directed to look into this matter and immediately stop streaming of this series and furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which the Commission will be constrained to initiate appropriate action pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of the CPCR (Commission for Protection of Child Rights) Act, 2005," the commission said. 'Bombay Begums' delves into the lives of five women from different sections of society who all want different things in life. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. When Margel Hinder told an interviewer in 1972 that she was terribly thrilled by all the television towers it may have sounded like a joke about Sydneys suburban sprawl, but she was probably quite sincere. Hinder drew inspiration from both natural and mechanical forms, being as fascinated by a spider web as by a metal structure bristling with high-tension wires. The artist had found it harder to generate enthusiasm when she first arrived in Australia in 1934. Born in Brooklyn and trained at art schools in Buffalo and Boston, Margel had met and married an Australian student, Frank Hinder. As the Depression tightened its grip on the United States the Hinders and daughter, Enid, relocated to Sydney. Margel Hinders sculpture was installed outside the Reserve Bank in Martin Place in 1964. Credit:Steven Siewert After the intellectual and cultural stimulation she had imbibed in her native country Margel found Australia to be a dull, backward place. There was little understanding of modern art, no interest in sculpture, and nothing much to see in the local art museums. Shed consider it a distinct improvement that visitors to the Art Gallery of NSW today may sample the retrospective, Margel Hinder: Modern in Motion. There have been three joint retrospectives with husband, Frank but this is the first time Margel (1906-95) has been given a show of her own. Its an event that fits into a new general emphasis on the work of women artists being pursued by museums around the world. It makes specific use of a sizeable archive of material acquired for the AGNSW collection by former curator, Renee Free. Eclectic Montrose has a glamorous new addition in The Residences at La Colombe dOr, a high-rise apartment building that sits behind the storied mansion that once housed oilman/philanthropist Walter Fondren Sr. and his family. The Beaux-Arts mansion, built in 1923 for the Fondrens, is nearing its 100th birthday. Operating most recently as a hotel and restaurant/bar La Colombe dOr and the upscale Cinq restaurant with a separate Grand Salon event space behind it, the mansion got a $10 million makeover while the contemporary 34-story residential tower went up behind it. It was very important to us to not dumb down either of them not try to make them go together, said interiors architect Lauren Rottet, comparing the new and old buildings that share a 2-acre lot. So we used the (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) as a great example. When Mies van der Rohe did his addition to the 1924 Beaux-Arts building, he just made it a gorgeous piece of architecture. Neither one was compromised. Rottet and her Rottet Studio were the interiors architects on both the mansion restoration and the residential tower. Houston-based Munoz + Albin handled the towers architecture, and Hines developed the high-rise. The mansion restoration touched every inch of the building ceiling to floor. Paneling was stripped and restained or painted. Doors were refinished and their hinges stripped and replated. New lighting was brought in, and new furniture fills every room. Except for a new doorway in a lounge connected to the first-floor bar, nothing in the floor plan changed. The rest of the first floor includes a welcoming lobby with a grand staircase, and a kitchen and dining room for its new Tonight and Tomorrow restaurant that strikes a much more casual tone than its upscale predecessor. The mansions five guest suites and an amenities room are on the second floor. Some 18 more hotel suites were included in the lower floors of the residential tower, and all feature original work from artists from around the world. Real estate investor Steve Zimmerman, who has a strong affection for the south of France and its original La Colombe dOr Hotel, wanted to create a similar experience in Houston when he bought the mansion from the Fondren family in 1979. (Walter Fondren Sr. was a co-founder of Humble Oil, an antecedent to ExxonMobil.) Zimmerman, a New Orleans native and an avid art collector, later purchased an 18th-century French ballroom from the Mecom family and built another structure behind the mansion to house it: the Grand Salon, a venue for weddings and other events. It was torn down to make way for the residential tower, and its paneling, gilded mirrors, chandeliers and other components were sold to the Houston Oaks Country Club, which plans to use them in similar fashion. In the mansion, the Zimmermans and Rottet hope theyve contributed to the walkability of the neighborhood with a restaurant and bar casual enough that anyone can visit but luxurious enough that theyll want to sit and relax with a craft cocktail or a meal. Rottet turned to the era of the home Americas Roaring Twenties and added a European flair. Talking about the decor, from flooring to wall coverings and furniture, she referenced the eras Parisian Cafe Society, artistic and literary talents gathering in Left Bank salons. Walls in the hotels bar are covered in a green, black and white geometric print. The bar is topped with a dramatic green-black marble, and black leather chairs some wrapped in a wood veneer are scattered cozily around marble-topped tables. The front of the bar is covered in back-painted green glass. An artful lounge nearby has a coffered ceiling and furniture in sumptuous fabrics. A custom Jan Kath rug at first appears as an abstract design, but on closer inspection you realize the words sex, rugs and rock n roll are written in row after row of yarn. In the first-floor dining rooms, new tables and chairs represent the materials and styles of the 1920s, in cane-back chairs you can imagine working in a cozy French cafe. The mansions five guest suites they start at $500 a night are in spaces where the Fondren family actually slept. Each large bedroom has a sitting room; bathrooms are swathed in cool gray Carrara marble. In one guest room, Rottet stopped in front of a footboard bench with a large swatch of Schumachers Jokhang Tiger fabric set in the middle. A designer on her staff fell in love with the fabric, which was priced way out of their budget. She bought just a little bit of it enough to put a tiger in the center of this bench and then make four small throw pillows for the sitting room. Across the street are nine midcentury bungalows that were already part of the property and were renovated, too. Gin Braverman of Gin Design Group worked her magic, mixing vintage and contemporary for a Bohemian Parisian apartment feel, since each has a bedroom and bath, living room, dining area and a small kitchen. The residential tower, designed by architects Jorge Munoz and Enrique Albin, of Munoz + Albin, and their team has 18 more hotel suites decorated in similar fashion but without the Beaux-Arts touches. The two buildings couldnt be more different, but the classic sensibilities of Rottet and Munoz allow the mansion and tower to coexist in harmony. Though the architects love to talk about materials and elevations, the Zimmermans revel in the broad canvas for displaying pieces from their vast collection of art. Paintings occupy every wall in the mansion, and outdoor sculptures are viewed from every angle. Texas artists such as Dorothy Hood and Lucas Johnson are prominently displayed, but youll also find works by Arik Levy, Troy Stanley, Richard Anuszkiewicz Georges Barque, Dan Flavin and even a piece by Barbara Hines, the artist-wife of the late Gerald Hines, whose corporation developed the tower. The towers exterior on the Montrose Boulevard side shows off a 45-foot mural, Last Tango, by French street artist Blek Le Rat. From the lobby to mail room, the amenities floor and even finishes in individual units, the building feels more like a for-purchase condo building than rental apartments. Units range from 736 square feet to 3,110 square feet with 10 penthouses on the top two levels. The 10th floor has a fitness center;, a pool deck; a private dining room; and vast public spaces where you can co-work, watch TV or just sit and read. And the view spans from downtown to the Texas Medical Center with a sweet surprise in the shiny golden dome of the Chapel of St. Basil at the nearby University of St. Thomas. Munoz sees deep meaning in a primary material in the tower: limestone, an essential material in traditional French architecture and one that feels right at home in Texas, too. But he also is proud of what the project brings to the neighborhood. We all talk about walkable cities. We come from long experience working in Europe 50 percent of our portfolio is in Europe so the walkable idea is very much a part of our everyday life, with the exception of the COVID year, Munoz said. We are finally embracing that in Houston. Suddenly, its fashionable to sit outside in the sun in summer. diane.cowen@chron.com Gorakhpur : , March 12 (IANS) An international mega seminar on the Nath sect will be held from March 20 to 22 at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya University in Gorakhpur. DDU University vice-chancellor Prof. Rajesh Singh, who met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to discuss the event, later told reporters that the Chief Minister said that literature related to the Nath sect should also be translated in other languages as Nath sect followers live in Nepal, Bengal, Tripura, Odisha, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Also, there are followers and educationists of the Nath sect all over the world and it is required to associate with them through the seminar. Yogi Adityanath, who belongs to the Nath sect, is the head of the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur. The vice chancellor said that the main topic of the seminar is 'Nath Panth ke Vaishvik Pradey'. Prof. Singh said that the university will ensure a platform in the mega international seminar to the followers of the Nath sect all over the world and it will also become a place to translate the literature on the Nath sect available all over the world. "The people working on Nath Panth and educationists all over the world, including Yogi Hallman Nath from Austria, Bhagwan Nath from Spain, Yogini Devkinath from Brazil, Dr. Madhavdesh Pandey of Michigan University, America will be connected to the seminar, he added. Executive Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Zhang Xiaoming on Friday highlighted the profound influence of the improvements in the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), calling the move a "milestone" in implementing the principle of "One Country, Two Systems" and the Basic Law of the HKSAR. Zhang made the remarks at a press conference held by China's State Council Information Office in Beijing. Deputy Director Deng Zhonghua of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and Deputy Director Zhang Yong of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) also attended the briefing. The NPC, China's top legislature, on Thursday adopted a decision on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR after the draft was passed by an overwhelming majority vote at the fourth session of the 13th NPC. Based on the decision, the HKSAR's Election Committee will be expanded from the current 1,200 members to 1,500, divided into five sectors. This will broaden the scope of political participation of Hong Kong compatriots and better integrate national interests with the overall interests of the Hong Kong society. The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th NPC is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) Profound influence in five areas According to Zhang, the methods for the selection of the chief executive and the formation of the Legislative Council (LegCo) of the HKSAR, formulated 30 years ago, have visible flaws that need immediate rectification. He highlighted the profound influence of the decision in five points. First, he viewed the improvement as a necessary measure to fix the loopholes in the existing electoral system and to uphold the principle of "One Country, Two Systems." Rather than undermining the democracy in HKSAR, Zhang stated the decision was a concrete practice of "One Country, Two Systems." Second, Zhang said the improvement also attaches great importance to safeguarding the order of the Hong Kong society and the maintenance of the city's long-term prosperity and stability. Viewing the decision as an appropriate choice made based on the real situation in Hong Kong, Zhang stressed the improvement ensures the steady implementation of "One Country, Two Systems" in the long run. In Zhang's words, the improvement is also the only route to enhance the HKSAR government's effectiveness in governance. It is beneficial to developing the city's economy and improving local residents' livelihoods and the well-being. Last but not least, Zhang said that the decision provides a solid legal guarantee for fully implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," which follows a principle that is indisputable for governance in any country in the world. A flag-raising ceremony is held to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Golden Bauhinia Square in south China's Hong Kong, October 1, 2020. /Xinhua No changes on 'One Country, Two Systems' principle Zhang dismissed concerns over whether the decisions may erode the principle of "One Country, Two Systems." He reiterated that all the decisions are made to ensure improvement and full implementation of the principle. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the initiator, pioneer, implementer and defender of "One Country, Two Systems," said Zhang, underlining that no one has a more thorough understanding of the principle than the CPC. Solid legal basis for the decision Zhang Yong gave a detailed overview of the decision, which has a solid legal basis originating from China's Constitution. He reaffirmed that the decision was made to improve the electoral system of the HKSAR and develop a democratic system suited to the its realities. It is in accordance with China's Constitution, the HKSAR Basic Law and the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, the deputy director noted. According to him, Hong Kong has been under China's overall governance system since its return in 1997. And China's Constitution and the Basic Law of the HKSAR jointly form the constitutional basis of the HKSAR. Therefore, the NPC, as China's top legislature, has the solid legal force to approve decisions related to Hong Kong, said Zhang. Market Reports on India Provides the Trending Market Research Report Employee Benefits in India 2021 under Financial Services Category. 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Contact us at: Market Reports on India Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Email: info@marketreportsonindia.com Website: www.marketreportsonindia.com Follow us on: Twitter,Facebook, LinkedIn THE FATHER and daughter who were convicted of killing Limerick man Jason Corbett have won a full retrial over the murder of the father-of-two. Tom and Molly Martens have been in North Carolina prisons since their conviction for second degree murder almost four years ago. The North Carolina Supreme Court today ratified a Court of Appeal decision that the father and daughter should have a new trial as it was deemed their ability to argue self defence at their 2017 trial had been unfairly hindered. According to a report by Ralph Riegel of the Irish Independent, it was decided by a majority decision of four judges to three on the Supreme Court just three months after an oral hearing was granted to both the defence and prosecution teams in Raleigh. However, one dissenting judge pointed out that the evidence against the defendants in this case "was overwhelming". The dissenting opinion was shared by North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby. Mr Corbett's Limerick-based family are understood to be devastated by the shock North Carolina ruling. We are so disappointed and distraught that the Supreme Court of North Carolina has decided to grant a retrial to Tom and Molly Martens who admitted killing our beloved Jason - a father, a brother, a son and a loyal friend - who is dearly missed by all who knew and loved him. pic.twitter.com/5rcxsk2Wp4 Tracey Corbett Lynch (@Lynchtr5) March 12, 2021 Prosecutors - who had expected the Supreme Court to ratify the original of the Davidson County murder trial conviction from August 2017 - are ready to proceed with a new trial though this is unlikely to be staged before 2022. It is expected that the defence legal teams will move immediately to secure a release on bail from prison of both the father and daughter. The previous trial heard how Tom Martens, 68, and Molly Martens, 34, beat the 39-year-old businessman and father-of-two to death as he lay asleep and helpless in bed. Tom Martens, a retired FBI agent, claimed he acted in self-defence and alleged Mr Corbett had been attacking his second wife, Molly, who is Mr Martens daughter. However, the Corbett family maintained that the businessman was planning to bring his children back to his native Limerick amid increasing concerns over his wife's mental health problems. Spokesperson of the Head of the Altai Republic Mikhail Maksimov reports that Anna Grigoryan has been appointed acting Minister of Health of the Altai Republic. Maksimov stated that Grigoryan will perform the duties of the minister in the period of investigation of the case regarding Minister of Health Sergey Kovalenko and until the appointment of a new minister, the news agency of Altai Mountains reports. Born in 1974 in Armenia, Anna Grigoryan survived the 1988 Spitak earthquake, after which she lost most of her relatives and decided to become a doctor. After the earthquake, she lived in Gorno-Altaisk and graduated from the local medical college and Altai State Medical University. In 2005, she served as an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Republican Hospital. In June 2020, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Health of the Altai Republic. Minister of Health of the Altai Republic Sergey Kovalenko is charged with corruption crimes. Inquest is underway. On March 11, the local court ruled to detain him for a term of two months. Sorry! This content is not available in your region By Geoff Cantrell Amanda Clapp Amanda Clapp, of Sylva, has received the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers, which recognizes outstanding teachers in the North Carolina public primary and secondary schools. Clapp is a science teacher at the Catamount School, the laboratory middle school operated by Western Carolina University in partnership with Jackson County Schools. Additionally, she serves as an instructor of science education methods for the university. The award will provide $175,000 over five years for her project Building Bridges: Using STEM to Cross the Rural-Urban Divide. The award also provides opportunities to North Carolina STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) teachers, such as Clapp, who have an outstanding performance record in education for their professional development and collaboration with others, and to ensure individual success and satisfaction within the field. Special consideration is given to teachers working in hard-to-staff, economically deprived classrooms and to efforts that integrate environmental science and climate change into STEM-related curriculum. I think of the award as an opportunity to use science as a way to increase equity in North Carolina, said Clapp. Through authentic learning experiences, students with different backgrounds can develop relationships and respect for each other. Im looking forward to getting started. Clapp holds a bachelors degree in natural resources conservation and physical anthropology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a masters degree in primate ecology and evolution from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a 2019 Keenan Fellow and currently completing her second masters degree in STEM Education at WCU. Clapp joined the staff of the Catamount School when it opened in August 2017 on the campus of Smoky Mountain High School. [March 12, 2021] Angel Notes Publishes BUY Recommendation for MSBAI LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MSBAI, an Air Force Techstars 2020 company, has been selected by Angel Notes as a BUY recommendation to their community of subscribed investors (angelnotes.co/msbai-deal-analysis). MSBAI's equity crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine (startengine.com/msbai) is presently raising $1,070,000 to commercialize the GURU Engineering Artificial Intelligence Assistant. In the Angel Notes Deal Analysis for MSBAI, they cover: MSBAI Overview & Business Model Terms Traction MSBAI Financials & Liquidity Cap Table & Valuation Market Analysis Can MSBAI build a sustainable economic moat? The Team ebt And it concludes: Conclusion: Did I Invest? "Yes! As you can see below, the company meets all our investment criteria. So let's go add MSBAI to our portfolio!" Is there a market for the product offered? YES Is it a stable/growing market? YES Has the company a sustainable and scalable business model? YES Is the market big enough? Is there a chance for us to realize a 100x return on the investment if everything goes smoothly? YES Has the company a healthy balance sheet? YES Has the company a competitive advantage? YES Can the company build a sustainable economic moat? YES Will the company have a sufficient runway after the raise? YES Can we trust the team? YES Is the valuation reasonable? YES Angel Notes Analyzes startup investments from 50+ online investment platforms like Republic and WeFunder to help investors build a successful portfolio of startups. MSBAI is a privately held small business located in Los Angeles, CA, developing the cognitive AI assistant for engineering: GURU. Contact: Allan Grosvenor, CEO allan@msb.ai 310-954-2049 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/angel-notes-publishes-buy-recommendation-for-msbai-301246658.html SOURCE MSBAI The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) will be participating in the traffic safety initiative Operation Impact 24. The mission of this operation is to promote safe driving behaviors and increase the visibility of law enforcement in areas that have historically experienced high volumes of crashes. The operational focus will be aimed at distracted driving, hands-free, seat belt, and hazardous moving violations. We are also focusing on the detection of impaired drivers along with an emphasis on commercial motor vehicle enforcement. Beginning at 12 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, troopers are joining other law enforcement officers on I-24 from the Kentucky/Tennessee state line to extend across the THP Nashville and Chattanooga Districts to the Tennessee/Georgia state line in Hamilton County. The marked THP semi will be utilized and operated by troopers to allow for a unique vantage point to observe for commercial vehicle driver and hands-free violations. When a violation has been detected a trooper in the semi will report the violation to officers participating in the operation. This is a multi-jurisdictional effort organized by the law enforcement members of the Rutherford County Traffic Safety Task Force, of which the THP is a member. The goal of the operation is to make a positive impact on the driving behaviors of all drivers. In addition to the THP marked semi, troopers will be utilizing a variety of patrol vehicles during this operation. The Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Highway Safety Office, and members of the Rutherford County Traffic Safety Task Force have extended an invitation to all law enforcement agencies with an area of responsibility on I-24. Our goal is to prevent injury and fatal crashes, said THP Colonel Matt Perry. We are asking for all drivers to join us to make this goal a reality. Together we are more effective. by Nirmala Carvalho Rodney Borneo, former principal at Loyola High School, joined the Hindu nationalist party to stand in local legislative elections. The Archdiocese of Calcutta suspended him from the ministry with immediate effect. For Archbishop Thomas D'Souza, it is a very sad fact. Calcutta (AsiaNews) A priest from the Archdiocese of Calcutta has decided to become a candidate in local legislative elections in West Bengal scheduled for the end of this month. He will run under the banner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hindu nationalist party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As a result of this decision, Father Rodney Borneo, who until now was the principal at Loyola High School, a diocesan educational establishment, resigned from his post and the Archdiocese of Calcutta suspended him from the priestly ministry with immediate effect. Borneo made his announcement last Tuesday at a meeting attended by BJP National Vice-President Mukul Roy, local party secretary Sabyasachi Dutta and spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya. The now ex-priest described his decision to join the BJP as a new trajectory in his life. I have served the Church and the people for 22 years, now I will go on doing it outside the Church, he said. A video shows him walking onto a stage, receiving the BJP flag and singing Bharat Mata ki jai (victory to his mother India). The Archbishop of Calcutta Thomas D'Souza confirmed that he had received a letter from Father Borneo asking to leave the priesthood. The archdiocese appointed an interim principal for Loyola High School, Prof Clive Joseph. Father Rodney, was a good priest, said Archbishop D'Souza, speaking to AsiaNews. He did his job very well as school principal for five years. I dont know the reasons for his decision. It is his choice. In the interview he says that he wants to do something more in the service of humanity. I do not know what he means. Was there not enough scope to serve in the Church? Outside a political party he could have done more. It is a sad fact that he preferred a political party, any party, over the priesthood. We continue to pray for him because he is very dear to us. But it remains a sad fact for us, noted the Archbishop of Calcutta. Sinaloa Cartel Founded in 1989 by Hector Palma, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, the Sinaloa Cartel today stands as one of the most established transnational drug trafficking organizations. While it has carved out a presence in 15 of the 32 Mexican states, the cartel also expanded its operations into the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. With El Chapo in prison, the cartel has been plagued by internal fighting between Zambada and three of El Chapo's four sons, known as 'Los Chapitos'. The Drug Enforcement Administration views the Sinaloa Cartel as one of the top two criminal organizations along with its rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The DEA said the Sinaloa Cartel 'exports and distributes wholesale amounts of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana in the United States by maintaining distribution hubs in various cities.' How they get drugs into the US: 'Illicit drugs distributed by the Sinaloa Cartel are primarily smuggled into the United States through crossing points located along the [south west border]. The cartel employs gatekeepers assigned to Ports Of Entry and controls Arizona and California area smuggling corridors into the United States.' Jalisco New Generation Cartel The Jalisco New Generation Cartel was once allied to the Sinaloa Cartel as El Chapo depended on its firepower to combat Los Zetas. Commandeered by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera, the group set itself apart from other cartels in the country butchering its enemies and today is considered by the Mexican government as the most dangerous group in the country. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is spread out across 23 of the Mexico's 32 states and currently finds itself at war with at least ten cartels. The group has been known to have increased the power that its members have by purchasing military weapons and parts from the United States. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to the DEA, specializes 'in manufacturing and distributing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine.' How they get drugs into the US: 'The CJNG smuggles illicit drugs into the United States by accessing various trafficking corridors in northern Mexico along the SWB including Tijuana, Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo. The CJNG also has influence over the busiest port in Mexico, the Port of Manzanillo, and utilizes that influence for the distribution of large quantities of drugs.' Beltran-Leyva Organization For a while, the Beltran-Leyva Organization [BLO] was born out of the Sinaloa Cartel and became one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico led by the Beltran Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo, Mario Alberto and Hector. The Beltran-Leyva Organization was involved in a deadly war with the Sinaloa Cartel after the brothers accused their cousin, El Chapo, of being responsible for the January 2008 arrest of Alfredo. The brothers retaliated by reportedly plotting the murder of El Chapo's 22-year-old son, Edgar Guzman, in May 2008. Alfredo's arrest sparked one of the worst periods in Mexico's war on drugs as the BLO's new ally, the Juarez Cartel, went to war with the Sinaloa Cartel in Ciudad Juarez, a border town across from Texas. The BLO also expanded its might by going toe-to-toe with the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Cartel in the northeastern border city of Reynosa. While the cartel remains viable today, the organization's members over time split into 11 factions. How they get drugs into the US: 'BLO relies on its loose alliances with larger cartels for access to drug smuggling corridors along the [south west border].' Los Zetas and the Cartel del Noreste [Northeast Cartel] Los Zetas were created by Mexican military deserters who formed an alliance with the Gulf Cartel in 1999 and based its operations in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, across from Laredo, Texas. The group quickly carved out a named for itself through its savage killings. By 2010, Los Zetas split from the Gulf Cartel. Los Zetas at one point dominated more cities across Mexico than the Sinaloa Cartel, with whom it clashed amidst a threat from the Gulf Cartel to eliminate it completely. Like some of the other Mexican cartels, Los Zetas saw some of its members split and form their own groups. Los Zetas role play in the drug trade is enforced by one of its factions, the Cartel del Noreste [Northeast Cartel]. Together, the criminal groups have set up its small, but lucrative, drug trade business into the Texas border cities of Laredo and Eagle Pass while controlling routes and turfs in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas. How they get drugs into the US: 'Members smuggle the majority of their illicit drugs through the [south west border] in the areas of Laredo, Texas; Eagle Pass, Texas; and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and parts of Tamaulipas.' Guerrero Unidos Operating in central Mexico, the Guerrero Unidos broke away from the Beltran-Leyva Organization and formed an alliance with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to traffic drugs into the United States and bring back its profits into Mexico. The cartel is accused of being behind the September 2014 disappearance of 43 students, who were kidnapped by local police in Iguala, a city in the southern state of Guerrero. How they get drugs into the US: 'The cartel has a working partnership with the CJNG and uses the same transportation networks to move drug shipments into the United States and to return drug proceeds back to Mexico.' Gulf Cartel The Gulf Cartel is considered to be one of the oldest active criminal organizations in Mexico and is believed to have close ties to other gangs in Europe, West Africa, Asia, Central America, South America, and the United States. The organization started off by smuggling alcohol into the United States during the Prohibition Era. It was not until the 1980 that it got itself immersed into the drug trade. The DEA believes the Gulf Cartel has been working closely with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as it ships heroin and cocaine to the Texas border cities of McAllen and Brownsville. How they get drugs into the US: 'The Gulf Cartel focuses its drug trafficking activities on heroin and cocaine by transporting loads into the United States near the McAllen and Brownsville, Texas, areas.' Juarez Cartel and La Linea The Juarez Cartel cemented itself as one of the mayor players in the drug trade business back in the 1970s. It founder, Amado Carrillo, was known as 'El Senor de los Cielos' or 'The Lord of the Skies' due to the massive fleet of planes he owned to transport drugs, especially cocaine from Colombia and other countries in Latin America. The cartel was once allied to El Chapo before that relationship fell apart after the notorious drug lord declined to pay the Juarez Cartel for the right to use its drug smuggling routes. The Juarez Cartel has depended on its armed wing, La Linea, to transport heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. How they get drugs into the US: 'These cartels' greatest territorial influence is in the state of Chihuahua near the [south west border]. This area has profitable smuggling opportunities between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.' La Familia Michoacana La Familia Michoacana was once linked to the Gulf Cartel before it went on its own in 2006. Between 2009 and 2010, the cartel proposed to the Mexican government that it had plans of laying down its arms as long as its home state of Michoacan was granted protection. However, President Felipe Calderon shot down their offer, which led to the cartel becoming increasingly involved in the funding of political candidates. La Familia Michoacana today maintains a relationship with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and other criminal groups as part of its drug smuggling operation. How they get drugs into the US: 'LFM has some ties to the CJNG and also works with other smaller groups to further the cartel's drug trafficking activities.' Los Rojos Just like Guerreros Unidos, Los Rojos was formed as an armed wing and broke away from the Beltran-Leyva Organization. According to a 2020 Congressional report, Los Rojos 'operates in Guerrero and relies heavily on kidnapping and extortion for revenue as well as trafficking cocaine, although analysts dispute the scope of its involvement in the drug trade.' How they get drugs into the US: 'Los Rojos is involved in heroin trafficking' Atitiriw Magazine team together with actress Nana Ama McBrown paid a visit to Despite Medias Managing Director, Dr. Fadda Dickson Narh to give him first glance of the magazines latest edition. The magazine's executives visited Fadda who is on the cover of the latest edition, to present him with exclusive copies before it is officially released on the market. The affable media magnate received Atitiriw Magazine CEO and her team and expressed his gratitude to them for choosing him to cover the magazines latest edition. Maud Acheampong, CEO of Atitiriw Magazine on her part, stated that Fadda Dicksons achievements and contribution in the media landscape is incomparable, and cited the highest honour bestowed on him during the 2020 Radio & Television Personality Awards, adding that is what motivated the team to settle on him for the cover. "....this is to celebrate him and project his personality and achievements," she added. Fadda Dickson, was honoured with Super Hero of the year Award at 2020 RTP Awards for his amazing managerial skills and input into the media works in Ghana. His company Despite Media, won over 13 awards on the same night. Fadda Dickson has successfully managed the Despite Media empire for over two decades and sill counting. The Despite Media platforms includes; Peace FM, Hello FM, Okay FM, UTV, Neat FM and Peacefmonline.com among others. Watch the video below: Source: Eugene Osafo-Nkansah/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 Blevins Franks Q&A Phone-In Days 22 & 23 March 10am 4pm Contact Numbers: La Cala de Mijas/Marbella/Estepona 952 198 029 Nerja 952 522 660 Have you recently become resident in Spain? Are you planning to move here? Without careful planning, changing residency can have unexpected financial pitfalls, not least because you become subject to the complex Spanish tax and succession rules. This can be hard to navigate at the best of times, more so when we are social distancing. With this in mind, Blevins Franks has arranged Q&A Phone-in Days to enable you to put your questions to our panel of experts. Some of the questions we are regularly asked: How do I obtain residency/freedom of movement in Spain post Brexit? What are my tax reporting obligations in Spain? Why can't I continue to take advice from my UK financial adviser if I'm resident here? Will I be liable for Spanish capital gains tax if I sell my UK home or other UK assets? What is wealth tax and will I be liable to pay it? How are my non-Spanish savings and pension funds taxed? What happens to my assets on death if I am resident in Spain? How is the rental income on my UK property taxed? What is form 'Modelo 720'? Does Spain need to know about my non-Spanish assets? Should I have both a UK and a Spanish Will? For the answers to these, and any other questions you may have, call us on our Q&A days: 22nd & 23 March, between 10am and 4pm Our office contact numbers: La Cala de Mijas/Marbella/Estepona: 952 198 029 Nerja: 952 522 660 Find out more about Blevins Franks: www.blevinsfranks.com Blevins Franks Wealth Management Limited (BFWML) is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, registered number C 92917. Authorised to conduct investment services under the Investment Services Act and authorised to carry out insurance intermediary activities under the Insurance Distribution Act. Where advice is provided outside of Malta via the Insurance Distribution Directive or the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, the applicable regulatory system differs in some respects from that of Malta. BFWML also provides taxation advice; its tax advisers are fully qualified tax specialists. Blevins Franks Trustees Limited is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority for the administration of trusts, retirement schemes and companies. This promotion has been approved and issued by BFWML. The Texas Active Shooter Alert System bill, or the Leilah Hernandez Act -- named for the 15-year-old student killed in the 2019 Odessa mass shooting -- will be considered this legislative session after passing out of committee Thursday. House Bill 103 would direct the Texas Department of Public Safety to develop and implement a shooter alert system like the one used for Amber Alerts. Local law enforcement agencies would coordinate with DPS to send out alerts within a 50-mile radius of an active shooters location, according to the bills text. Members of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee unanimously approved the bill on Thursday. Rep. Brooks Landgraf of Odessa filed HB 103 in November 2020 after an active shooter alert system was suggested during public hearings by the House Mass Violence Prevention Committee, which was created following the Labor Day weekend shooting in Odessa that left seven dead and 25 injured. Hernandezs mother and uncle testified in favor of the bill during the hearing on Thursday, saying they believe an alert system would have saved the teenagers life, according to a press release from Landgraf. Leilahs entire family made the 6-hour drive to Austin to testify on behalf of the bill, to tell their story and honor Leilahs life, he said in the release. Their testimony was powerful, and motivated the committee to move the bill immediately. I am grateful for the family's strength and courage. According to the bills text, DPS would activate the alert system if a local law enforcement agency: --Believes an active shooter is in the agency's jurisdiction; --Determines an active shooter alert would assist individuals near the active shooter's location; --Verifies the active shooter situation through a preliminary investigation; --Provides the department with the active shooter's last known location and any identifiable information for the active shooter. HB 103 will now be considered this legislative session, which began in January and is underway through May 31. If passed by the Texas House and Senate, the Active Shooter Alert System bill would become law on Sept. 1. My hope is that the Texas Active Shooter Alert System will prevent other Texas families from enduring the grief and heartbreak that Leilahs family has to live with for the rest of their life, Landgraf said. The goal of HB 103 is to save lives and assist first responders during active, mass shooting situations. This is an opportunity to keep Texans safe without infringing on anyones liberties. During todays press conference, leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan said even though the President of Armenia has sent an invitation for a meeting, there is nothing mentioned about the topics, and for this reason, the political party doesnt find it appropriate. I will be meeting with Nikol Pashinyan, and I have already informed my colleagues of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement about this. I will meet with him soon, and everyone will know about it. It is necessary to meet in order to get out of this situation as soon as possible, Tsarukyan said. Asked what the topic of the meeting will be, Tsarukyan emphasized that he continues to insist that Nikol Pashinyan needs to resign and that snap parliamentary elections need to be held. Touching upon the moods within his political party, the fact that member Gevorg Petrosyan left the party and the rumors about other deputies leaving the party, Tsarukyan said he has already commented on Petrosyans resignation. Tsarukyan also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stated that it is always on the political partys agenda and that the political party will start carrying out activities in Nagorno-Karabakh when the demarcation is over and everything is clear. Former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, along with a dozen other people, were charged with corruption on Thursday, March 11. A lawyer for the former Mauritanian president told RFI. The defendants left the judges chambers free, but were placed under judicial supervision. In addition to former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, one of his sons-in-law, two former Prime ministers, and several former ministers and businessmen are involved in the proceedings. It is not yet known precisely what charges the judge has brought, but the public prosecutors office had sent him a long list: corruption, money laundering, illicit enrichment, squandering of public property, or obstruction of justice, according to a source close to the public prosecutors office quoted anonymously by the AFP. A little more than a year ago, a parliamentary commission of inquiry was set up around suspicions of corruption and misappropriation of public funds during the years of power of the former president: management of oil revenues, sale of state estates, or activities of a Chinese fishing company. The commissions report was sent to the courts last August. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was questioned for a week by the police and decided to remain silent, but he left without his passport and was forbidden to leave Nouakchott. Since then, companies, buildings and sums of money have been frozen or seized, amounting to nearly one billion euros, in Mauritania alone, according to the public prosecutor. In early March, the former president and many other prominent figures were again summoned by the police. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who claims immunity as a former president, has once again chosen to remain silent. He and his lawyers cry settling of accounts and denounce an attempt to sully his honor. Former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz led Mauritania from 2008 to 2019. But since the election of his successor, Mohamed Ould Cheickh el Ghazouani, a friend of 40 years, the sky has continued to darken over his head and that of his family and former collaborators. Egypt approved more incentives for drivers to switch to natural-gas powered vehicles, giving extra impetus to a green-friendly transition urged by the North African nations president. Under the new directives, those obtaining a newly gas-powered private car will get a 10% incentive" on the price, capped at 22,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,410). The statement Wednesday from Egypts cabinet didnt give further details on the exact terms and delivery of the inducements. The Arab worlds most populous country is targeting the conversion of as many as 1.3 million private cars. Taxi-owners would be eligible for an incentive of 20%, capped at 45,000 pounds and those of microbuses would receive 25%, limited to 65,000 pounds. (Also read | Amazon orders hundreds of trucks that run on natural gas) President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi last year said new cars will have to be able to operate on natural gas before theyll receive a license. The move, which will cost about 8 billion pounds to convert 1 million vehicles, will help reduce middle-income families fuel bills by half, he said. Egypts central bank introduced a 15 billion pound program last month that includes loans with 3% interest for individuals looking to change their gasoline-powered vehicles to a hybrid that can also use gas. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. The vegan Salchi Salsa Dog is available at Hi-Lo Lounge at 1354 Prince Avenue in Athens, Georgia. (Photo/Jason Born) EBRD, EU and Switzerland help build a modern pharmacy warehouse in the Kyrgyz Republic Better availability of affordable medicines for people in the south of the country EBRD shares risk on US$ 350,000 loan provided by DemirBank The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Union (EU), Switzerland and DemirBank are helping to increase the availability of affordable and high-quality medicines in the Kyrgyz Republic by boosting the efficiency of Darmek Pharm, a leading pharmaceutical chain operating 42 outlets in the south of the country. Customers in the Osh and Batken regions of the Kyrgyz Republic will now benefit from better access to medicines at an affordable price something that is particularly important for hygiene and health reasons during the Covid-19 pandemic. The modern and energy efficient pharmacy warehouse was unveiled today in the city of Osh, in a ceremony attended by representatives of the Osh city Mayors Office, DemirBank, the EBRD and other officials. The 1,600 square metre facility, built to the highest international standards, will help Darmek Pharm reduce its operating costs and increase medicine turnover, also through direct partnerships with international suppliers. The warehouse is equipped with modern and efficient thermal insulation, a water supply and the lighting, heating and ventilation systems necessary to preserve the shelf life of the drugs supplied. Darmek Pharm built the storage facility with the help of a US$ 350,000 loan from DemirBank under the Kyrgyz Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (KyrSEFF+), with the EBRD taking on part of the risk under a risk-sharing facility with DemirBank. The EU provided a US$ 45,000 grant towards the construction costs. Darmek Pharm has received technical and financial assistance, which allowed it to unlock access to finance, facilitated its expansion and helped the retailer in business planning. The support was provided through EBRDs Advice for Small Businesses, the Banks Small Business Impact Fund, supported by Switzerland and the European Union. KyrSEFF+, a joint programme by the EBRD and the EU, finances and provides grants for owners of commercial and residential buildings to invest in measures that save energy, water and other resources. Since 2013, the programme has financed more than 3,000 energy-efficiency projects to the tune of over US$ 50 million. It has also provided US$ 6.3 million in EU grants to 1,930 projects. In total, each year, these successful projects save 177 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, conserve 111,000 cubic meters of water and reduce CO 2 emissions by more than 61,000 tonnes. These investments are particularly important for the Kyrgyz Republics energy-intensive economy, which is seeing annual growth in power usage and recurring periods of low water supply amid outdated energy and heating infrastructure. *** To date, the EBRD has invested 795 million through 191 projects in the Kyrgyz Republic, with the majority of investments supporting private entrepreneurship. In the period of 2014-2020 the EU has supported the Kyrgyz Republic with 174 million in education, integrated rural development and rule of law. Additionally, the EU has provided 90.5 million grants to support investments, mainly in the water sector. The Government of Switzerland provides assistance for the development of the Kyrgyz Republic to improve the well-being of the population. Over the last 25 years, Switzerland has granted more than CHF 430 million to Kyrgyzstan in the form of technical, financial and humanitarian support. For more information, please visit https://www.eda.admin.ch/bishkek. Stock Market News UK Market Open - FTSE 100 stays put; volatile housing market weighs on Berkeley 12-03-2021 02:37 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 Just a few days after the celebration of International Women's Day, social media is awash with women highlighting the challenges we face to stay safe. The disappearance of Sarah Everard while she walked through London gives shape to the constant threats against us. The circumstances of the case are not known - but it throws the spotlight on a wider issue. Along with the fear, there is also a knowledge - on a general level - constantly carried by women that the targeting of us, from sexual harassment up to murder, is for many a fact of life. Even for women who follow 'The Rules' like Sarah - walk in a brightly-lit area in clothes you can run in, let someone know where you are - when it comes down to the worst outcome, what we do to protect ourselves is sometimes never enough. As if anyone needed any proof most violence against women is carried out by men, a report from the UN last year showed that in the UK a woman is killed by a man every three days. The same organisation has also deemed sexual harassment a human rights crisis, with 97% of women aged 18 to 24 saying they had been sexually harassed and 80% of women of all ages said they had experienced sexual harassment in public spaces. Could any legal system truly address the issue? Sexual harassment is just the tip of the iceberg when it precedes the assault or worse that can follow on from it. It means men who catcall or make comments often have to be considered as potential attackers by the women they target. It is the potential perpetrator that holds the power and this becomes even more evident after high profile incidents. There are so many similar cases of other women that never receive the same level of attention. But the advice women are given to address their own safety places all the onus on us. When the Met Police ask women to not go out alone, they mean well, but they are making the women of London prisoners of behaviour they cannot control, when it is our most frequent attackers - men - who should be taking more responsibility for preventing violence. The vast majority of men do not murder or engage in sexual violence. But many allow low-level damaging behaviour when talking about women in their social circles and workspaces. Many men do not call out others when they use objectifying language - even on what they would view as a small scale - in regard to women. This allows what can become insidious threatening conduct, which can be followed by much worse. When men ask how they can alter their behaviour to make women feel safer, steps like crossing the road to give us space are welcome. But we need men to share our anger. We need more than a commitment not to use violence against women, but for men to stand against it on this frontier of women's rights to feel safe in the world. SBI Life Insurance Company fell 2.45% to Rs 916.95 amid strong volumes. On the BSE, 5.18 crore shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 85,648 shares in the past one quarter. On NSE, 1.40 crore shares were traded on the counter so far compared to average daily volume of 21.18 lakh shares in the past one quarter. Shares of life insurance company hit a high of Rs 933.8 and a low of Rs 901.2 so far during the day. Meanwhile, the media reported that BNP Paribas Cardif is looking to sell its stake in SBI Life Insurance. As of 31 December 2020, BNP Cardif, classified as promoter group, held 5.2% stake in SBI Life. SBI Life Insurance Company is one of the leading life Insurance companies in India. The company has distribution network of 224,223 trained insurance professionals consisting of agents, CIFs and SPs along with 947 offices across country. The life insurer's net profit declined by 40.3% to Rs 232.85 crore on a 68.3% rise in total income to Rs 26,551.90 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Advertisement Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths may be falling one year into the pandemic, but public health experts are warning not to relax precautions just yet. On Thursday, the U.S. recorded 48,223 new infections with a seven-day rolling average of 54,840, which is the lowest figure seen since October 15, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Over the last seven days, from March 5 to March 12, 383,883 COVID-19 cases were reported in the country. This is the first time that the weekly total has fallen below 400,000 in five months, when a total of 373,786 cases were recorded between October 9 and October 5 In addition, 1,463 deaths were reported on Thursday, with a seven-day average of 1,560, a figure not seen since December 1. However, with just one in 10 Americans fully vaccinated, officials says the U.S. is nowhere near the level needed for herd immunity and Americans are being 'fooled' into easing restrictions. What's more, if states don't keep up with mitigation measures, a new projection estimates that an additional 23,000 people could die of COVID-19 by the beginning of April. On Thursday, the U.S. reported 48,223 new infections with a seven-day rolling average of 54,840, which is the lowest figure seen since October 15 Data also showed that there were 1,463 coronavirus deaths on Thursday, with a seven-day average of 1,560, a figure not seen since December 1 Weekly coronavirus infections have fallen below 400,000 for the first time since mid-October with 383,883 COVID-19 cases reported in the U.S. from March 5 to March 12 A new model from IHME predicts there could be as many as 23,000 COVID-19 related deaths over the next two weeks, by April 1 and nearly 600,000 deaths by July 1 'I think we are going to get fooled,' Dr Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told CNN. 'I think what's going to happen is you're going to see that as we enter the summer months, numbers are going to go down, people will think great, we're good.' During summer 2020, states began easing restrictions as daily cases and deaths began falling - only to be met with a second wave. The summer surge was particularly devastating in southern states, hitting places like Florida, Texas and Arizona particularly hard. So far, 64 million Americans - 19.3 percent of the population - have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 33.8 million - 10.2 percent - are fully immunized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over the last five days, an average of two million people in the U.S. have been vaccinated every day, up from 1.6 million that were done the previous week. But Offit says that four out of every five Americans need to have immunity - either through vaccines or through natural immunity - for the county to achieve herd immunity. 'And then, if we don't get to what I think is going to be at least 80 percent population immunity from natural infection or immunization, when the winter comes, you're going to see a surge again,' he told CNN. A new model seems to agree with Offit and suggests that, if the policies that are currently in place remain as they are, the death toll could exponentially rise. Forecasts published on Thursday by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) project there could be as many as 23,000 deaths over the next two weeks. Health experts say Americans are being 'fooled' into relaxing restrictions too soon because only one in 10 Americans is fully immunized, with 19.3% having received one dose The forecast also projects the seven-day rolling average will not fall below 1,000 until mid-April with an absolute worse-case scenario of not reaching three digits until mid-June (left). In another prediction, the model suggests that cases will rise around late March and decline around late May (right) This would bring the death toll to a total of 553,682 deaths by April 1, with the seven-day rolling average not falling below 1,000 until mid-April. In an absolute worst-case scenario, including the spread of variants - and mobility returning to pre-pandemic levels - the U.S. could see the rolling average not be three digits until mid-June. Overall, by July 1, the IHME predicts 598,523 COVID-19 deaths, meaning more than 67,000 people could die from the disease in the next three-and-half months. The forecasts come at a perilous point for the country's ability to control the spread of the virus, according to the CDC. 'I think March and April are just such important, critical times,' CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky told NBC Nightly News on Thursday. 'On the one hand, you have this hyper-transmissible virus that could result in another surge after spring break. 'On the other hand, we are scaling up vaccinations so very fast, and what we really want to do is just give those vaccines a fighting chance to overcome and not let this virus surge again.' Walensky also addressed the recently released guidelines from the CDC about whom fully vaccinated people can take their masks off around. In a nationally televised address on Thursday, President Joe Biden said (above) he would be directing all states, tribes and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1 Biden's directive would have the nation pushing well past the current average of two million shots in arms per day (above) However, the federal agency still advised against large gatherings and travel, and some have complained the recommendations are too strict. 'We have to be humble with this virus,' Walensky told anchor Lester Holt. 'Every time we felt like we had it under control, we had an enormous surge.' She said the CDC plans to update the guidelines against once more people become immunized and case numbers decline even further. In a nationally televised address on Thursday, President Joe Biden said he would be directing all states, tribes and territories to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1 in hopes of a somewhat more normal Fourth of July than last year. 'Here's the point: If we do all this, if we do our part, we do this together, by July the 4th, there's a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,' he said. Athens, March 12 : The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced Athens as the host of its 138th Session in 2025 after the Greek capital could not stage the current meeting due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The IOC Session unanimously approved the proposal at its virtual meeting on Thursday, said a statement. The 2025 Session will see the election of a new IOC President when Thomas Bach's second and final term ends. Bach was re-elected on Wednesday. The next IOC Session is also scheduled ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The 67-year-old Bach, who clinched gold with the West German foil fencing team at the Olympic Games Montreal in 1976, was elected as IOC President at the IOC Session in 2013 in Buenos Aires for a first eight-year term. This term will finish on the closing day of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on August 8 this year, as decided by the IOC Executive Board. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (Newser) City police in Albany, home of the New York governor's mansion, say they've been alerted to the latest accusation against Gov. Mario Cuomo because a crime might have been committed. The department said it was contacted by state police and the governor's office Wednesday night, after the Albany Times-Union reported that a female aide to Cuomo said he'd groped her months ago at the governor's mansion. Police said that an investigation of the accusation has not begun, the New York Times reports, but that the department had contacted the woman's lawyer and offered assistance in the case "as we would do with any other report or incident." The aide has not filed a police report or a complaint with the governor's office. Cuomo said he wouldn't address "the specifics of this or any other allegation" because the state's attorney general is conducting an investigation. story continues below Democratic legislators, who control New York's assembly, met Thursday about the accusations against Cuomo. They were considering starting the impeachment process, per the Wall Street Journal. Nearly 60 Democrats on Thursday called on the governor to resign. They issued a statement saying their reasons included accusations involving the recording of COVID-19 deaths at New York nursing homes as well as multiple allegations of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. "We have a Lieutenant Governor who can step in and lead for the remainder of the term," the statement said, per Politico, "and this is what is best for New Yorkers in this critical time." Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul has expressed her faith in the attorney general's investigation. "I trust the inquiry to be completed as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible," she tweeted. (Read more Mario Cuomo stories.) NEW HAVEN After vaccinating about 170 homeless people in the last three weeks, Cornell Scott Hill Health Center will be seeking out unsheltered people beginning this week, according to Jessica Arroyo, program manager for the centers services to the homeless. A clinic at Columbus House on Feb. 19 vaccinated 100 people, including 84 who were experiencing homelessness, she said. On March 4, another event saw 84 more homeless people vaccinated, this time with the easier-to-administer Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Columbus House was gracious to host for us, Arroyo said. The shelters clients are staying at a city hotel so there is space at the shelter on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard to hold vaccination clinics, according to Executive Director Margaret Middleton. Johnson & Johnson is easier to bring into the community, both because it doesnt require storage in a special freezer and because it only requires one dose, Arroyo said. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media With the unsheltered, were starting slow, she said Friday. She said they have five people lined up to receive the vaccine Monday at Liberty Safe Haven on State Street and can go back to the health center for more if needed. Were there every Monday, so we have kind of designated that as Hey, come here Monday morning. Were going to have the vaccine, she said. I would say its been incredibly positive to get started on vaccinating people who are experiencing homelessness, Middleton said. Its been a ray of hope for people. She also praised Arroyo and the rest of the Cornell Scott team. Working with them is just a pleasure because they go so above and beyond to make health care accessible to our clients and to make vaccination accessible, she said. Homeless people are more vulnerable to COVID than the general population because they tend to have more health problems and comorbidities, Middleton said. They also are not able to keep social distance when staying in a shelter or a tent. Cornell Scott also is arranging with the Community Soup Kitchen on Broadway to vaccinate people. Theyve generated a list as well. They have 25 people that are eligible by age or by homelessness, Arroyo said. People experiencing homelessness are eligible because they live in congregate settings. Every event that weve done, Ive been there and another member of the team has been there, so they feel that trust that its a member of the team, Arroyo said. Arroyo said Cornell Scott also has reached out to people at Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Sunrise Cafe, New Reach, the Beth-El Center in Milford and Spooner House in Shelton. She said the more people who are vaccinated, the more others are willing to get a shot. We have some who have been infected, had COVID and theyre saying, OK, I definitely dont want to get this again, Arroyo said. We still are confronting vaccine hesitancy with both our clients and our staff, but Im starting to get optimistic, Middleton said. Its not a no, its a not yet. Ultimately, she said, she would like the solution to be to create more affordable housing and not just see vaccination as an opportunity to move back into congregate housing. edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382 RTHK: Fresh global concern about AstraZeneca vaccine Thailand delayed the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine scheduled to start on Friday with its prime minister and cabinet members taking the first shots, citing safety concerns after reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people in Europe. Bulgaria, meanwhile, temporary halted inoculations with the AstraZeneca vaccine until the European medicine regulator produces a written statement dispelling all doubts about the vaccine's safety. "Until all doubts are dispelled and as long as the experts do not give guarantees that it does not pose a risk to the people, we are halting the inoculations with this vaccine," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in a statement. Bulgaria joined Denmark, Norway and Iceland, who had temporary suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid reports that blood clots had formed in some who had received the shot. In a health ministry news conference in Thailand, Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital, confirmed the rollout would be delayed after a suspension of inoculations using the vaccine in some European countries. "AstraZeneca is still a good vaccine but with what has happened... the health ministry based on this advice would like to postpone the usage of the AstraZeneca vaccine momentarily," Kiattiphum Wongjit, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry. Thailand was in a position to suspend the rollout for safety investigations because it had largely brought a second wave of coronavirus under control through quarantines and border controls, he said. AstraZeneca said on Thursday it had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis marked by the formation of blood clots in safety data of more than 10 million records, even when considering subgroups based on age, gender, production batch or country of use. Yong Poonvorawan, a Thai virology expert, told the news conference the investigation would also check on whether any issues might be related to particular batches in Europe and said the vaccines supplied to Thailand were made in Asia. Thailand has so far recorded just over 26,500 coronavirus infections and 85 fatalities in a population of 66.5 million. New cases are now registering below 100 per day. The European Medicines Agency backed the use of the vaccine on Thursday, saying its benefits outweighed its risks and could continue to be administered. More than 11 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine have so far been administered across the United Kingdom. On Friday, Germany said it would continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine and France said it has shown great efficacy. "This may reflect how much the decision makers in a country tolerate temporary uncertainty about vaccine safety and balance that against the vaccines undoubted benefits of protection from Covid-19," said Julie Leask, a public health professor at the University of Sydney, referring to varying government decisions. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Gov. Kate Brown stopped short of confirming Thursday night that Oregon would meet President Joe Bidens directive to make all Americans 18 and older eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine starting May 1. Biden made the announcement Thursday evening in a primetime address, his first such speech since taking office in January. The address came hours after Biden signed his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which includes a third round of direct payments to most Americans and billions of dollars for vaccine and COVID-19 safety plans. The president said just because people will be eligible doesnt mean they will get shots in arms that day. It means youll be able to get in line May 1, Biden said. But he pledged new tools to help connect people to vaccines in their communities. No more searching day or night for an appointment for you and your loved ones, he said. Bidens timeline is roughly two months ahead of a plan outlined by Brown and state health officials in late February, which said that all Oregonians would be eligible for the vaccine by July 1, barring increase in vaccine distribution and other factors. When asked whether Oregon would amend its plans to meet Bidens May 1 timeline, the state health authority and Browns office initially referred to a brief thread posted to the governors Twitter account, which was light on details. Oregons plan has always been to ramp up distribution when we see federal vaccine shipments increase, Brown wrote. But while our timelines may change, my priorities for equitable vaccine distribution have not. An hour later, Browns spokesman said officials would take a wait-and-see approach. We intend to reevaluate our timelines when we see our weekly allocations of vaccine doses increase, Charles Boyle said in a statement. Today, however, vaccines remain a scarce resource, and as long as vaccines are scarce, we will continue to prioritize our most vulnerable Oregonians, seniors and our frontline workers. Brown, who called the development hopeful news for all Oregonians, will take questions Friday at an 11 a.m. news conference. Bidens timeline does not seem all that different than one recently cited by Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority. In a legislative briefing March 3, Allen told lawmakers the state would likely be able to accelerate its timelines. Based on current federal forecasts of vaccines received, we should actually be at a place at April 21, where we would have received enough vaccines to hit 70% of the adult population and, as the president said yesterday, by the end of May 100% of the adult population, Allen said roughly 15 minutes into a legislative hearing, which was first reported by Willamette Week. We think this is a reasonably reliable forecast of where we should be. Allen told lawmakers the Johnson & Johnson partnership with rival Merck to produce its vaccine was one factor driving that optimism. This will likely allow us to accelerate the timelines. On Thursday, Biden started his national address by directly pointing to but without naming his predecessors administration for mishandling the pandemic. A year ago, we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, he said, saying that silence and subsequent denials about the virus severity lasted for days, weeks, then months. While it was different for everyone, we all lost something, he said of the pandemic one year later, at one point pulling a card out of his jacket pocket and noting that at least 527,726 people nationwide had died of the virus as of Thursday. Biden said the United States is able to meet the May 1 timeframe due to his administrations focus on ramping up the vaccine since taking office in January, and he credited the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine shot as critical to meeting his new May 1 timeline. Thank God were making some real progress now, he said of the nations vaccination rates. Oregon still has one of the nations lowest infection and mortality rates, and it has stepped up its vaccination rate as well in recent weeks and is in the middle of the road, nationally, in terms of people vaccinated, according to a New York Times analysis. But its rate of vaccinations among seniors badly lags the nation. Oregon is still limiting vaccines to health care workers, people living in nursing homes and other congregate care settings, educators and people over age 65. The Oregonians who are up next to be eligible to receive a vaccine March 29 include residents ages 45 and older who have underlying medical conditions, such as cancer, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. By May 1, Oregon had planned to open vaccinations to people with underlying medical conditions aged 16 to 44. Frontline workers such as grocery store employees, restaurant and bar staff, retail store employees, bus drivers, construction workers and government employees will also be next in on that same date. Oregons current timeline calls for anyone aged 16 and older being eligible by July 1. Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen With the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, organizations across the globe are gradually flattening their recessionary curve by leveraging technology. Many businesses will go through response, recovery, and renewal phases. 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Download the Post-Pandemic Business Planning Structure Key Considerations for Market Forecast: Impact of lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, demand destruction, and change in customer behavior Optimistic, probable, and pessimistic scenarios for all markets as the impact of pandemic unfolds Pre- as well as post-COVID-19 market estimates Quarterly impact analysis and updates on market estimates Related Report on Consumer Staples Include: Global Vegan Ice Cream Market - Global vegan ice cream market is segmented by product (take home, impulse, and artisanal) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global Chocolate Flavor Market - Global chocolate flavor market is segmented by application (food products and beverage products) and geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA). Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Major Three Gourmet Ice Cream Market Participants: Amorino Amorino operates its business through segments such as Perfumes, Ice cream & ice cream, Hot drinks, Sweets, Deli, and Allergens. The company offers Amorino gourmet cup, Caramello gourmet cup, and Inimitable gourmet cup. Braums Inc. Braums Inc. operates its business through segments such as Menu, Fresh market, and A2 milk. The company offers cherry limeade sherbet, grape sherbet, orange sherbet, and others. Conagra Brands Inc. Conagra Brands Inc. operates its business through segments such as Grocery and Snacks, Refrigerated and Frozen, International, Foodservice, and Pinnacle foods. The company offers gourmet ice cream under its brand Healthy Choice. Some of the variants are Brownie Bliss, Chocolate Cherry Mambo, and Crazy for Caramel. If you purchase a report that is updated in the next 60 days, we will send you the new edition and data extract FREE! Get report snapshot here to get a detailed market share analysis of market participants during COVID-19 lockdown: https://www.technavio.com/report/gourmet-ice-cream-market-industry-analysis Gourmet Ice Cream Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Gourmet ice cream market is segmented as below: Product Gelato Sorbet Frozen Custard Others Geographic Europe North America APAC South America MEA The gourmet ice cream market is driven by a significant increase in disposable income. In addition, other factors such as the growing influence of online retailing are expected to trigger the gourmet ice cream market toward witnessing a CAGR of over 7% during the forecast period. Get more insights about the global trends impacting the future of the gourmet ice cream market, Request Free Sample @ https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43642 Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario 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/ SOURCE Technavio Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Australias central bank maintained its policy settings as it prepares to decide on extending its yield target and quantitative easing programs, with a Covid-19 lockdown complicating the outlook.The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate and three-year yield target at 0.10% in Sydney on Tuesday, as expected. It will make a decision in July on whether to extend the yield target and undertake further quantitative easing. A weeklong shutdown in the nations second-largest city adds a layer of uncertainty to the outlook.Despite the strong recovery in the economy and jobs, inflation and wage pressures are subdued, Governor Philip Lowe said. The board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions to support a return to full employment in Australia and inflation consistent with the target.The Australian dollar edged lower, trading at 77.41 U.S. cents at 2:53 p.m. in Sydney from 77.62 cents just before the release.The case for Lowe to maintain the April 2024 bond as the target maturity had been strengthening amid strong hiring, sentiment and investment plans. This was reinforced by the government keeping open the fiscal spigot in the May budget as it joins the RBA in seeking to drive down unemployment to revive wages growth and inflation.Progress in reducing unemployment has been faster than expected, Lowe said in his statement. There are reports of labor shortages in some parts of the economy.Risks AheadYet the RBA may be encouraged to err on the side of caution if Melbournes outbreak worsens and extend both of its bond programs to keep maximum support for the economy.An important ongoing source of uncertainty is the possibility of significant outbreaks of the virus, although this should diminish as more of the population is vaccinated, Lowe said. The board continues to place a high priority on a return to full employment.Globally, central banks are beginning to edge away from emergency monetary settings. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets last week in presenting projections of its official cash rate rising in the second half of next year.Back in Australia, economists predicted ahead of data Wednesday that gross domestic product rose 1.5% in the first three months of the year from the prior quarter, and advanced 0.6% from a year earlier.Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy, in testimony to a parliamentary panel earlier today, said partial data showed around 56,000 workers had lost their jobs in the four weeks following the end of the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy that expired March 28.He said strong employment data and forward indicators continue to give us confidence that the labor market has the underlying strength to absorb workers transitioning off the JobKeeper payment.End of Australias $68 Billion Job-Saving Stimulus Tests EconomyLowe estimates Australias jobless rate will need to fall to close to 4% before driving economy-wide pay increases. It stood at 5.5% in April.The governor expects wages growth will need to increase at a pace faster than 3% -- more than double the current rate -- for inflation to return sustainably to the central banks 2-3% target.Lowe reiterated that this is unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest.(Updates with further comments from governor throughout text.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Indian Railways is exporting the first batch of two locomotives as part of the total order of six locomotives of 3,000 HP cape gauge locomotive and 90 stainless steel passenger coaches to Mozambique. New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that with significant innovation, re-modelling and upgradation, Indian Railways wishes to become the preferred supplier for Mozambique and countries around the world for all their requirements. These locomotives are developed indigenously by Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) under the Make-in-India programme, they are being exported through Indian Railways' PSU Rites Limited. Goyal made the remarks while flagging off the 3,000 HP Cape Gauge Loco developed by Banaras Locomotive Works along with Minister of Transport and Communications of Mozambique government Janfar Abdulai which will be exported to the African country. After flagging off the 3,000 HP locomotive, Goyal said, "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visionary leadership and his commitment to further strengthen African-Indian relations, we will work as Mozambique's trusted partner." He said, "With significant innovation, re-modelling and upgradation, the Indian Railways wishes to become the preferred supplier for Mozambique and countries around the world for all their requirements." The Minister said that India is willing to support further development of the rail network in Mozambique. He also stressed that by 2030, the Indian Railways plan to become a net-zero Railway unit and power their entire electricity requirements with renewable energy. "We will be the first large railway in the world to become 100 per cent electric traction driven," he added. Abdulai thanked the Indian government for the cooperation in the area of transportation. The railway ministry, highlighting the features of the 3000 HP Cape Gauge Locomotive, said that it is capable of hauling 2,255 tonnes at 100 kmph at level track and maximum tractive effort of 400N. The officials said that the driver cabin of this locomotive is noise vibration and harshness standard compliant having very good acoustics, ergonomically designed seats, integrated graphic driver display, and also provided with heating venting AC (HVAC) for better crew comfort and reducing fatigue. The new locos include facilities like on board water-closet (toilet module), refrigerator and hot plate, new control console designed and developed for right hand drive. The new locos made at Banaras Locomotive Works are also equipped with computer-controlled brake system (CCB 2.0) for ensuring highest safety standards, reliability and maintainability, larger fuel tank of 6,000 litres for longer operation and stainless steel pipes have been used for ensuring corrosion resistance. The officials said that Bureau Veritas, a Noida-based international inspecting agency appointed by Mozambique Railway is doing stage inspection of Mozambique Locomotives at BLW. DGAP Voting Rights Announcement: Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.: Release according to Article 40, Section 1 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] with the objective of Europe-wide distribution 12.03.2021 / 15:22 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. DISCLOSURE OF SUBSTANTIAL HOLDING NOTIFICATION Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (the 'Company') The AFM (the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets) has informed the Company on 12 March 2021 that a substantial holdings notification related to Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. had been received by the AFM. Date of transaction: 9 March 2021 Person obliged to notify: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The Issuing institution: Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. Registration Chamber of Commerce 63570173 Place of residence: Amsterdam Distribution in numbers Type of share Number of shares Number of voting rights Capital interest Voting rights Manner of disposal Settle-ment Ordinary share 19 264 432.00 19 264 432.00 Potential Potential Indirectly (Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC) Physical delivery Swap 438 766.00 438 766.00 Potential Potential Indirectly (Goldman Sachs International) In cash Contract for difference 5 187 055.00 5 187 055.00 Potential Potential Indirectly (Goldman Sachs International) In cash Ordinary share 32 060 418.00 32 060 418.00 Real Real Indirectly (Goldman Sachs International) Physical delivery Ordinary share 44 493 286.00 44 493 286.00 Potential Potential Indirectly (Goldman Sachs International) Physical delivery Distribution in percentages Type Total holding Directly real Directly potential Indirectly real Indirectly potential Capital interest 2.38% 0.00% 0.00% 0.75% 1.63% Voting rights 2.38% 0.00% 0.00% 0.75% 1.63% The above notification has been disclosed in the relevant register on the AFM website: https://www.afm.nl/nl-nl/professionals/registers/meldingenregisters/substantiele-deelnemingen/details?id=108206&KeyWords=steinhoff+international The Company has a primary listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited. Stellenbosch, 12 March 2021 12.03.2021 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de New Delhi, March 12 : The opposition in the Delhi Assembly on Friday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over its proposed new exicise policy. Addressing the Assembly on the fifth day of the Budget session, Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri slammed the Arvind Kejriwal-led government over its proposal to increase the number of wine shops in the city, accusing the AAP of double standards on the security of women in the national capital. "On one hand, the Delhi government is making tall claims about providing security to women, on the other it is planning to collect huge revenues from exicse duty," the BJP leader said. For its estimated Rs 69,000 crore Budget for FY 2021-22, the Delhi government has set a target to receive highest share of revenues from taxes worth Rs 43,000 crore, which is 62 per cent of the total estimated revenue for FY 2021-22. Of the total Rs 43,000 crore tax revenues, the government has planned to collect Rs 6,000 crore (14 per cent) from state excise tax, Rs 30,000 crore (70 per cent) from GST and VAT, Rs 5,000 crore (11 per cent) from stamps and registration fees, and Rs 2,000 crore (5 per cent) from taxes on motor vehicles. The BJP leader also raised the issue of lack of teachers in Delhi schools. "There is a shortage of 12,000 teachers in Delhi, and you are talking about revolutionary changes in the education system," Bidhuri said. Later, Bidhuri also targeted AAP over shortage of water supply. "What have you done in the last six years for increasing water supply in Delhi? You couldn't increase even 100 MGD water in the last six years," Bidhuri said. How's our health? Best in the west Henderson County ranks as the heathiest county in Western North Carolina and among the healthiest in the state, according to the 2020 County Health Rankings report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Henderson County achieved one of its highest combined rankings ever in the report, which evaluates both health factors and outcomes in all 100 counties. In overall health outcomes, Henderson Countys rank improved from 13 in 2019 to 8 in 2020. In overall health factors, the county improved from 5 to 3. The release of the County Health Rankings report in any other year would have garnered more attention. This has largely gone unnoticed given the challenges posed by Covid-19, which remains the top priority for public health. Despite the current challenges, it is important to take a moment to celebrate countys achievements and progress with improving health. The recognition is certainly welcome and validates the strategic direction created by the board to unite in an organized way with our many community partners to address needs identified in the community health assessment and prioritize key initiatives that are clearly making a difference, said Dr. Craig Poole, Chair of the Henderson County Board of Health. The board is proud of the department, the community and the efforts of our partners which are connected through the Partnership for Health. The countys current priorities include mental health, substance misuse, physical activity, nutrition as well as safe and affordable housing. An update about those efforts is available in the 2020 State of the Countys Health report available at: https://www.hendersoncountync.gov/health/page/state-county-health-report It has been a remarkable few years and I am privileged to serve on both boards and to have led some of the initial community conversations about mental health and substance misuse, said Bill Lapsley, Chairman of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners. I commend the Commissioners for forming the Substance Abuse Task Force which I chaired on their behalf. That group and other community conversations led to our success with multiple grant resources that are now building upon the foundation that the Hope Coalition and Partnership for Health have established. The strategic investments by the commissioners for school nurses, social workers and the behavioral health system coordinator are also adding value to our collective vision for improved health in Henderson County, Lapsley added. The Henderson County Partnership for Health, a coalition of community organizations supporting collective efforts to address the health priorities, has also been briefed on the recent report. We are thrilled with the County Health Rankings report; this years ranking is clear confirmation of the strength of collaboration and of our communitys tremendous commitment to work together toward common goals, said Judith Long, Chair of the Partnership. We all acknowledge that there is still much work to be done, but the progress we have made together over the last several years is truly remarkable, Long added. These rankings demonstrate the efficacy of our efforts, and the affirmation inherent in these rankings underscores and deepens our collective commitment to tackle those unmet needs and challenges. I am honored and privileged to work with my colleagues to create the change we seek and to contribute to the improvement of the health and vitality of our community. More details and metrics on the County Health Rankings can be found at www.countyhealthrankings.org. By Mimi Dwyer LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden has moved swiftly to start dismantling a cornerstone of former President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy, a program that sent thousands of asylum seekers back to Mexico to await their immigration court hearings. Biden's focus on ending the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) - under which 65,000 migrants were sent back to Mexico - fulfills a key election campaign promise, but it leaves thousands of migrants not in the program unsure of their fate, migrants, attorneys and activists told Reuters. Some of those migrants not in the program have been waiting along the U.S.-Mexico border longer than those who were enrolled in MPP after they were caught crossing the border illegally. Now, migrants with active MPP cases are eligible to claim asylum in the United States. The exact number of non-MPP asylum seekers along the border is not clear because there is no single record of them, but advocates say there could be thousands. The president's focus on MPP is not surprising - it was one of Trump's most controversial immigration policies, and Biden denounced it on the campaign trail. Trump said the program aimed to curb the release of thousands of migrants who had entered the United States to claim asylum. But migrant groups said many of those people were forced to live in squalor in Mexico and were vulnerable to violence, including kidnappings and extortion. In the rush to get rid of the program, attorneys and activists say one unintended effect is that non-MPP asylum seekers who have spent months and even years at the border have been left in limbo. Advocates are now pressing the U.S. government to allow these asylum seekers entry into the United States to make their claims. The issue highlights the challenges facing the Biden administration as it seeks to reform immigration policies, while also emphasizing that not everyone who comes to the border will be granted asylum. Story continues Republicans and critics have coalesced around the message that Biden has implemented an open-border policy. Biden officials, however, are discouraging migrants from making their way to the United States, stating that the majority of people who arrive will be turned away. The White House referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security, which said in a statement that the "system to process individuals with active MPP cases is the first phase of a program to restore safe and orderly processing at the southwest border." It declined to elaborate on when or if asylum seekers without active MPP cases would be allowed to claim asylum in the United States. 'THE LIST' Angeles, a Nicaraguan mother of two who asked that Reuters use her middle name for her safety, is one of the asylum seekers not in MPP. She has been waiting with her family in the Mexican city of Tijuana for 15 months after fleeing her country for political persecution. Afraid of kidnappings, the family rarely goes outside their home and struggles to buy basic necessities like food. Her husband works as a mechanic in exchange for a room for his family. Angeles' children, aged 15 and 7, are not in school, and her eldest son is sleeping poorly. Despite her family's difficult situation, Angeles says she wants to enter the United States legally. In November 2019, she added her family to "La Lista," - The List - an informal, handwritten book maintained by migrants on the Mexican side of the border. Administrators recorded the names of thousands of migrants and gave them numbers as they waited their turn to make asylum claims to U.S. officials. She and her family got two numbers - 4,465 and 4,466 - on two scraps of paper. For more than a year, that has been their only clue about when they could enter the country. La Lista was borne out of another policy embraced by Trump called "metering," which limited how many migrants could seek asylum each day at U.S. ports of entry. The Strauss Center, a University of Texas research organization, estimates that 9,600 people were on La Lista in Tijuana alone up until it closed in March 2020, though it is not clear how many of those people are still at the border. But Angeles' family never got called. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the United States sealed the southern border to the vast majority of asylum seekers. Angeles doesn't know whether her family's numbers mean anything anymore. "I just want an answer, for them to tell me, 'Look, come present yourself on this day,' even if they interviewed me and gave me a number and told me to come back," Angeles said. "But I have nothing." "There's basically almost no access to asylum for people who are not in the MPP program," said Ginger Cline, a lawyer who represents migrants in Tijuana with Al Otro Lado, an immigration nonprofit group. "It's an issue because there are now thousands of people who are waiting in dangerous border cities who don't have access to basic needs." BLACK MIGRANTS FACE UNCERTAINTY Tijuana also has a large population of Haitian migrants as well as migrants who traveled from Africa. They are particularly vulnerable to extortion and racism, migrants and advocates say. They, too, have been left in limbo as MPP was mostly limited to Spanish-speaking asylum seekers. "The situation is really difficult for those of African descent," said Katerine Giron, an organizer with Espacio Migrante, a migrant community organization in Tijuana. The Biden administration "has not done anything for Black immigrants except continuing the cruel and inhumane system that existed before Trump but heightened under Trump," said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an activist group which provides humanitarian assistance to migrants along the border and in the United States. The group estimates there are about 5,000 Black immigrants in Tijuana, and 10,000-15,000 border-wide. The White House and DHS did not respond to questions about how its approach to unwinding MPP is affecting Black migrants. In the absence of clarity from the U.S. government, hundreds of asylum seekers have begun camping near the port of entry in Tijuana, hoping to make their asylum claims. The camp has swelled to about 1,500 people since mid-February, said Alex Mensing, a Tijuana-based immigration advocate with Innovation Law Lab who is part of a coalition that has been trying to help migrants coming to the port of entry. The expansion of the camp comes as U.S. officials have declared that the swift processing of MPP claimants has allowed Mexico to close the sprawling Matamoros camp on the border that was the most visible symbol of Trump's crackdown on migration from Central America. Mensing's group had counted 241 tents at the port as of Tuesday. Many people camping out do not have active MPP cases but have spent more than a year at the border. "Theres almost universally this idea that it doesn't make sense to let some asylum seekers in and not others," Mensing said. "They do not see that as fair." (Reporting by Mimi Dwyer; editing by Ross Colvin and Aurora Ellis) Mr. Reeves called in the National Guard last month to help distribute water and has hinted that the state might take over Jacksons water system. His chief of staff, Brad White, said the governors office was helping the city explore securing low-interest state loans to help pay for upgrades. He also noted that Mr. Lumumba had been meeting with members of the Republican-dominated State Legislature, including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, in an effort to secure more state funding. In an interview this week, Mr. Lumumba said he hoped the current crisis would finally push both state and city officials in the direction of a long-term solution. Theres a saying that you should allow no crisis to go to waste, he said. Its crises like these that really allow us to take stock of conditions of where we are as a city, where we are as a state and hopefully it allows us to build the resolve to address it. The city has had a dwindling tax base for decades, after the integration of schools and other public spaces in Jackson triggered a dramatic flight of white residents. In many cases, they took their wealth and tax dollars with them. In 1960, the city was about 64 percent white and 36 percent Black. Today it is about 16 percent white and 82 percent Black. This week, the water barely trickled from the faucets in Carolyn Williss apartment. Ms. Willis, a retired nursing home cook who is Black, said that in a majority-white city, the kind of water crisis she and her neighbors continued to face wouldnt be happening. I dont think our water would be like it is, Ms. Willis, 69, said. I dont feel like we would have to pick up the phone and call these people about the water. A doctor supposedly working at the Hopitaux Robert Schuman wrote a letter to the Luxembourg Medical Association (College medical), describing a hostile working environment. Following the premature vaccination of three administrative board members, General Director Claude Schummer taking his leave, and the heated discussions surrounding the planned medical centre in Junglinster, the Hopitaux Robert Schuman (HRS) is once again at the centre of further controversy. On Wednesday, the Luxembourg Medical Association received a letter from a long-time employee of the HRS. In his letter, the doctor describes a work environment increasingly marked by blackmail and bullying. This was first reported by the newspaper Luxemburger Wort on Friday morning. The letter's main criticism is aimed at medical director Gregor Baertz who, according to the letter, has the "full support" of the administrative board. Baertz allegedly exploits this support to act "like a dictator", firing any doctor who "does not meet his expectations". The doctor, whose name was not revealed by Luxemburger Wort, also raises the question whether it is normal that the office of HRS president Jean-Louis Schiltz is responsible for any activity related to the hospital. Bullying and terror have become "everyday occurrences" at the HRS, according to the letter. HRS react to allegations On Friday morning, the HRS reacted to the accusations in a press release, stating that the doctor who allegedly wrote the letter has informed them via his lawyer that he is in fact not the author of the anonymous letter. The HRS announced that this revelation as well as the letter's "slanderous statements" will have "legal consequences". Regarding Schiltz' law firm "Schiltz&Schiltz", the HRS state that the firm has represented the hospital for the past 30 years and that they see no conflict of interest whatsoever as Schiltz has only been president of the Hopitaux Robert Schuman Foundation since 2016. JUNO BEACH, Fla., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Consistent with its preliminary proposal announced in January, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today filed a comprehensive four-year request with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) for new base rates that would be phased in beginning in 2022. FPL now serves 5.6 million customer accounts from Miami to Pensacola across more than half of Florida(1), a rapidly growing state on the front lines of climate change and frequently severe weather. Recognizing this, FPL's plan will enable the company to continue building a more resilient and sustainable energy future for everyone including future generations while keeping typical customer bills lower than the national average through at least 2025. "At FPL, we have a passion to deliver America's best energy value and a commitment to do right by our customers, particularly during these challenging times," said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "We recognize there is never a good time to request a rate increase, and we remain steadfastly committed to providing customers unparalleled value while building an energy future they can depend on. Due to our consistent and disciplined, long-term investments, we're able to provide service that is cleaner and more reliable than ever before while our residential, commercial and industrial bills have remained among the lowest bills in the state and the nation for over a decade. Our proposed four-year rate plan beginning in 2022 will help us continue delivering unmatched value to customers by ushering in Florida's energy future and keeping bills among the lowest in America." With rates consistently well below the national average, FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential and business customer bills are lower today than they were 15 years ago. As FPL's bill has decreased over time, the service it provides customers has consistently and demonstrably improved. FPL's investments to build a stronger, smarter energy grid have resulted in best-in-state reliability every year since 2006, as well as repeated national recognition. As detailed in FPL's annual reliability report recently filed with the PSC, FPL delivered its best-ever overall service reliability in 2020 and continued a trend in which FPL has improved reliability by nearly 40% since 2006. Aligned with previous multi-year plans approved by the Commission, FPL has designed its new rate plan in a way that provides exceptional customer value while strengthening the company's commitment to disciplined and proven, long-term investments in the infrastructure, innovative technology and clean energy that are foundational for communities to continue to thrive. Even with the plan's proposed base rate increase, FPL's typical residential customer bills are projected to remain well below the national average through 2025. FPL's typical business customer bills are projected to be at or below the national average through 2025. Delivering service efficiently FPL ranks best-in-class among all major U.S. utilities based on its low operating and maintenance (O&M) costs per kWh of retail sales. FPL's innovative and relentless day-to-day focus on driving costs out of the business saves customers approximately $2.6 billion annually compared to an average performing utility, which equates to savings of about $24 a month on a typical residential customer's $99 bill or nearly $300 annually. Never satisfied, FPL continues to find new ways to work more efficiently to save customers money. For example, FPL's 2022 non-fuel O&M, which is reflected in the company's filing, is projected to be lower than FPL's 2018 best-in-class level. The merger and consolidation of FPL and Gulf Power operations will produce enormous benefits. Productivity improvements at Gulf Power since its acquisition by NextEra Energy, FPL's parent company, are expected to reduce annual O&M expenses in 2022 by $86 million which, on a scale adjusted basis, is the equivalent of saving nearly $1 billion at FPL. FPL also projects long-term combined system benefits of approximately $1.53 billion as a result of power generation upgrades already underway, a new transmission line physically connecting both utility systems and the ability to dispatch from, and plan for, a common fleet of power generation resources. In total, combining the two companies and operating as a single utility system is projected to save customers more than $2.8 billion over the lifetime of the assets. The company is committed to operating efficiently in order to deliver reliable service while keeping price increases low, even while the costs of other essential products and services have risen dramatically. For example, groceries, medical care, health insurance and housing increased 25%-75% from 2006 to 2020. Meanwhile, FPL's typical customer bill is approximately 10% lower today than it was in 2006. While FPL's focus on efficiency and productivity has lessened the impact, the costs of many materials and products, such as trucks, wire and employee healthcare, which the company must purchase in order to provide clean, reliable and affordable power, have increased. These increased expenses, together with the increased investment required to serve approximately 500,000 new customers from 2018 through the end of 2025 and to support Florida's growing $1 trillion-plus economy, are driving up the cost to provide service. Overview of the proposed adjustments to revenue requirements FPL's proposal includes four adjustments to base revenue requirements that would be phased in during the four-year period, 2022-2025, providing customers continued, longer-term cost certainty. Consistent with our initial estimate in January, the plan includes: In 2022, an adjustment to base annual revenue requirements of approximately $1.1 billion . . In 2023, a subsequent year adjustment to base annual revenue requirements of approximately $607 million . . In 2024 and 2025, a request for a Solar Base Rate Adjustment (SoBRA) mechanism to recover up to 894 megawatts (MW) of cost-effective solar projects in each year. If the full amount of new solar capacity allowed under the SoBRA proposal was constructed, FPL's preliminary estimate is that it would result in general base rate adjustments of approximately $140 million in 2024 and $140 million in 2025, which would be partially offset by a reduction in fuel costs on the clause portion of customer bills. Investing in Florida's future The phased-in rate adjustments are necessary to help pay for the more than $29 billion FPL will have invested from 2019 through 2022 to benefit customers, including improving electric service reliability, reducing emissions and improving generation fuel efficiency, strengthening its electric system to make it more resilient in severe weather and preparing for customer growth. In addition, FPL will continue to make significant investments throughout the base rate proposal timeframe to further improve service for its customers. Investments to build a more resilient energy future : FPL continues to build a stronger and smarter energy grid to further improve service reliability for customers, including fewer outages and restoring service faster. This includes: : FPL continues to build a stronger and smarter energy grid to further improve service reliability for customers, including fewer outages and restoring service faster. This includes: Continued deployment of advanced smart grid technology that enables the company to continually monitor and assess the health of its system, predict potential issues before they disrupt service to customers and restore power faster following outages. Rebuilding the main 500-kV high-voltage electric transmission line that serves as the backbone of Florida's energy grid. Construction of the North Florida Resiliency Connection, a new, storm-hardened, state-of-the-art transmission line that physically connects FPL's energy grid to Northwest Florida . . Investments to build a more sustainable energy future: FPL is building more fuel-efficient power generation, solar and energy storage facilities that drive down costs over the long term. This includes: FPL is building more fuel-efficient power generation, solar and energy storage facilities that drive down costs over the long term. This includes: Solar: FPL's four-year rate plan includes adding more solar to the energy grid through the company's "30-by-30" plan to install 30 million solar panels in Florida by 2030. FPL's four-year rate plan includes adding more solar to the energy grid through the company's "30-by-30" plan to install 30 million solar panels in by 2030. Energy storage: The plan includes building the world's largest integrated solar-powered battery. It also includes an innovative green hydrogen pilot project, a technology that could one day unlock 100% carbon-free electricity that's available 24 hours a day. The plan includes building the world's largest integrated solar-powered battery. It also includes an innovative green hydrogen pilot project, a technology that could one day unlock 100% carbon-free electricity that's available 24 hours a day. Ultra-efficient natural gas clean energy centers: As FPL deploys leading edge, renewable technology, it's also committed to meeting the 24/7 energy needs of customers today. The future FPL Dania Beach Clean Energy Center projected to enter service in mid-2022 will enable FPL to continue meeting customers' growing energy needs while delivering more than $300 million in customer savings over its operational lifetime. Additionally, FPL has modernized its power plant in Northwest Florida , converting it from coal to run entirely on clean natural gas cutting its carbon dioxide emissions rate by 40%. As FPL deploys leading edge, renewable technology, it's also committed to meeting the 24/7 energy needs of customers today. The future FPL Dania Beach Clean Energy Center projected to enter service in mid-2022 will enable FPL to continue meeting customers' growing energy needs while delivering more than in customer savings over its operational lifetime. Additionally, FPL has modernized its power plant in , converting it from coal to run entirely on clean natural gas cutting its carbon dioxide emissions rate by 40%. Anticipated growth of new customers: From 2018 through the end of 2025 alone, the anticipated growth of approximately 500,000 new customers will require the addition of new infrastructure and result in higher operating costs. From 2018 through the end of 2025 alone, the anticipated growth of approximately 500,000 new customers will require the addition of new infrastructure and result in higher operating costs. Regulatory compliance: FPL will incur costs associated with increased federal and state governmental and regulatory reliability requirements, as well as cybersecurity costs to ensure the company's assets and critical information, including customer account records, are safeguarded. Information for residential customers Based on the proposed base rate adjustments and the company's current projections for fuel and other costs, FPL estimates that its typical residential customer bill will grow at an average annual rate of approximately 3.4% from January 2021 through 2025. Even with this growth, FPL estimates that, through 2025, its typical residential bill will remain approximately 20% below the projected national average and the typical 1,000-kWh residential bill in Northwest Florida is projected to decrease by the end of the four-year rate plan. Combined with current projections for fuel and other costs, FPL's four-year rate plan would phase in increases totaling about $18 a month, or about 60 cents a day, on the typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill, phased in as follows: In 2022, a base rate adjustment, along with projections for fuel and other costs, would add about $10.50 a month or about 35 cents a day on a typical bill. a month or about a day on a typical bill. In 2023, a subsequent-year base rate adjustment, along with projections for fuel and other costs, would add about $4 a month or about 13 cents a day on a typical bill. a month or about a day on a typical bill. In 2024, a solar base rate adjustment, combined with projections for fuel and other costs, would add about $2 a month or about 7 cents a day on a typical bill. a month or about a day on a typical bill. In 2025, a solar base rate adjustment would add $1.50 a month or about 5 cents a day on a typical bill. Most FPL customers power their homes for just a few dollars a day. FPL's residential customer monthly usage median is approximately 950 kWh, which means that the majority of FPL customer households consume less than the standard 1,000-kWh typical bill benchmark, which is about $99 as of January 2021. In recognition of the initial difference in the costs of serving the existing FPL and Gulf Power customers, FPL is proposing a transition rider/credit mechanism to address those differences in a reasonable manner for all customers. The transition rider/credit would decline to zero over a five-year period, at which point rates would be fully aligned by Jan. 1, 2027. To estimate what the proposed rates would mean for their own bills based on individual electricity usage, FPL and Gulf Power residential customers can visit the online calculator at www.FPL.com/answers and www.GulfPower.com/answers. In addition to the calculator, customers can find more information on FPL's four-year base rate proposal. FPL Bills 2006, 2021 & 2022-2025 Jan. 2006 $108.61 Jan. 2021 $99.05 Jan. 2022 $109.58 Jan. 2023 $113.49 Jan. 2024 $115.61 Jan. 2025 $117.06 "Jan. 2006" reflects FPL rates in effect during the year 2006. "Jan. 2021" reflects FPL rates for Jan. 2021. "Jan. 2022-2025" reflects the current projection for FPL's typical 1,000-kWh customer bill from 2022-2025, which includes projected base rate adjustments, as well as current projections for fuel and other clauses. All bill totals include the state's standard gross receipts tax, but do not include any local taxes or fees that vary by community. FPL bills do not include the company's Gulf Power region. All rates are subject to change. Northwest Florida Bills 2006, 2021 & 2022-2025 Jan. 2006 $92.48 Jan. 2021 $132.41 Jan. 2022 $133.21 Jan. 2023 $132.39 Jan. 2024 $129.79 Jan. 2025 $126.50 "Jan. 2006" reflects Gulf Power rates in effect during the year 2006. "Jan. 2021" reflects Gulf Power rates for Jan. 2021. "Jan. 2022-2025" reflects the current projection for the typical 1,000-kWh customer bill in Northwest Florida from 2022-2025, which includes projected base rate adjustments as well as current projections for fuel and other clauses. All bill totals include the state's standard gross receipts tax but do not include any local taxes or fees that vary by community. Bills also do not include surcharges for hurricanes. All rates are subject to change. Information for business customers FPL business customers' typical bills are lower today than they were 15 years ago and are well below the national average. The proposed base rate adjustments vary widely depending on rate class and customer usage. For small and medium businesses, typical bills are projected to grow at an average annual rate of about 3.9% to 4.4% from January 2021 through 2025. Even with the proposed increase, small and medium business customer bills will remain well below the national average through 2025. Large commercial and industrial customers with more complex rate structures may contact their FPL account managers for information about their proposed rate adjustments. The estimates above are based on the company's filed proposal and may change. In the coming months, the PSC is expected to conduct an extensive review of the request. Florida Power & Light Company Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S and in 2020 won the ReliabilityOne National Reliability Excellence Award, presented by PA Consulting, for the fifth time in the last six years. The company was recognized in 2020 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the seventh consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2021 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com. Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NextEra Energy) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL's control. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and FPL and their business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause their actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require them to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's and FPL's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; disallowance of cost recovery by FPL based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy Resources) or the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or ballot or regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy and FPL; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of their operations and businesses; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy and FPL resulting from risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail gas distribution system in Florida and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra Energy Resources' gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain projects becoming impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and capacity requirement services; inability or failure by NextEra Energy Resources to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's and FPL's risk management tools associated with their hedging and trading procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas by NextEra Energy, including FPL; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy's or FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy and FPL's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in OTC markets; impact of negative publicity; inability of FPL to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements with municipalities and counties in Florida; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with NextEra Energy Resources' and FPL's ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities of NextEra Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy Resources' or FPL's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets or actions by third parties in connection with project-specific or other financing arrangements on NextEra Energy's and FPL's ability to fund their liquidity and capital needs and meet their growth objectives; inability of NextEra Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain their current credit ratings; impairment of NextEra Energy's and FPL's liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of NextEra Energy's and FPL's nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NEP's inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and the ultimate severity and duration of public health crises, epidemics and pandemics, including the coronavirus pandemic, and its effects on NextEra Energy's or FPL's businesses. NextEra Energy and FPL discuss these and other risks and uncertainties in their annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other SEC filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy and FPL undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. On Jan. 1, 2021 , Gulf Power, which serves customers in Northwest Florida , legally combined with FPL. Gulf Power will continue as a separate operating division under the Gulf Power name through 2021. SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company Related Links http://www.fpl.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. A woman who filmed herself wrecking a display of face masks in Target has revealed how she was 'groomed' by QAnon, chose the conspiracy theory over her family and is still in therapy following the incident almost a year later. Melissa Rein Lively, a 35-year-old publicist, hit headlines back on July 4 after she tore the face coverings off a display and threw them to the ground while shouting expletives and saying she was wearing a '$40,000 Rolex' in the store in Scottsdale, Arizona. The footage, which she streamed live on her Instagram, quickly went viral and earned her the nickname 'Rolex Karen.' In a second video, Lively filmed police arriving at her home after her husband alerted the authorities as she told the officers she was a spokesperson for the White House and QAnon and had been on the phone to Donald Trump 'all the time.' Now, eight months on from the incident, Lively has spoken out to reveal how her actions were the result of being 'pretty effectively radicalized' by QAnon which ultimately left her feeling 'robbed of my life.' Lively told how she went from being 'the first person in the grocery store with a mask and gloves on' in February to going into 'denial about the pandemic' and losing trust in everyone including her husband because of 'digital brainwashing' by the conspiracy theory. A woman who filmed herself wrecking a display of face masks in Target has revealed how she was 'groomed' by QAnon, chose the conspiracy theory over her family and is still in therapy following the incident almost a year later. Melissa Rein Lively pictured The 35-year-old told Yahoo News, in an interview to coincide with the day - March 11 - the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, how her indoctrination by QAnon was 'like hitting rock bottom for alcohol or drugs' and that she is still trying to rebuild her life. Lively said she went from being 'freaked out' about the pandemic early on before the extent of the virus became common knowledge across the US to being outraged about being told to wear a mask in just a matter of months after being drawn in to videos of the conspiracy theory online. 'On January 27, I had this terrifying phone call with my brother. He was in China with his wife, whos Chinese, visiting family for the Chinese New Year,' she said. 'They were starting to see images of people becoming very sick in the streets and keeling over on the sidewalk. Images that were not quite making it to the US yet.' Lively said her brother 'freaked out' and headed back to the US fearful the borders would close but life continued to carry on as normal in the US. 'I went to work the next day, and everything was normal. If I had come into a meeting with clients and been like, I know weve got that big event on March 15, but we're gonna have to pull the plug on that because theres a huge pandemic coming, people would have thought I was crazy,' she said. Melissa Rein Lively, a 35-year-old publicist, hit headlines back on July 4 after she tore the face coverings off a display and threw them to the ground while shouting expletives and saying she was wearing a '$40,000 Rolex' in the store in Scottsdale, Arizona. The footage (above), which she streamed live on her Instagram Live, quickly went viral. 'This s***'s over, this s***'s over, this s****'s over. Woo! I dont need this s***. We dont want any of this anymore, this s***'s over, shes heard saying as she spreads the masks across the ground Two Target employees then approach her as she makes her mess and say,' Maam can you please stop' By the first week of February, she said she 'was the first person in the grocery store with a mask and gloves on' and people thought she was 'nuts.' She started canceling all her work meetings and staying home voluntarily by the middle of the month as she grew increasingly concerned about the virus that has now claimed the lives of 530,000 Americans. When her worst fears were confirmed on March 11 when the WHO declared the virus a pandemic, Lively said she 'the reality set in' and she 'couldn't catch my breath.' 'In my minds eye, Im seeing the compounding tragedy that was gonna unroll before us. I can see it like dominoes,' she told Yahoo. 'The economy is going to crash. People are going to get very, very sick. If what they're saying is true, a lot of people are going to die. 'I just had a very private sort of mental collapse. That week the reality set in the avalanche of information, uncertainty, confusion, panic, distress. I was just absolutely drowning. And I couldn't catch my breath.' Lively said she soon started coming across conspiracies about the pandemic on social media which were disguised as 'something about prayer or spiritual enlightenment or self-empowerment.' 'It started to trickle into my news feed: Here's what they're not telling us about the COVID-19 pandemic. You click on something about prayer or spiritual enlightenment or self-empowerment,' she said. 'And then it would transform into conspiracy theories.' In a second video (above), Lively filmed police arriving at her home after her husband alerted the authorities as she told the officers she was a spokesperson for the White House and QAnon and had been on the phone to Donald Trump 'all the time' Before long, Lively said she found herself in an 'echo chamber' where she was in denial about the pandemic and QAnon had emerged as her 'comfort'. 'There was QAnon to comfort me and tell me, Oh, it's not real. Its not happening. It was a digital brainwashing,' she said. In just two short months, Lively said she went from being fearful about the pandemic to being 'pretty effectively radicalized' by the conspiracy theory. When Arizona started reopening in May, she said she had a 'completely different mission' that she would not be forced to wear a mask to slow the spread of the virus. Lively said, by this point, she felt 'every day was Judgment Day', she was having nightmares about her newfound beliefs and her husband was urging her to get help. She recalled how this only pushed her further into the grips of QAnon as it 'basically grooms you to believe that anyone who tells you this is wrong, is one of the bad guys'. She added: 'So I started to not trust my husband.' Things reached breaking point when her husband gave her an ultimatum to choose between her life and family or the conspiracy theory, she said. Now, eight months on from the incident, Lively (above) has spoken out to reveal how her actions were the result of being 'pretty effectively radicalized' by QAnon which ultimately left her 'robbed of my life' Lively revealed she chose QAnon and left her family, moving into a hotel a few days before the viral encounter on July 4. The 35-year-old recalled driving to Target that day 'angry' that 'the New World Order was trying to kill us' and feeling 'robbed of my life.' At this point she said she was so drawn into QAnon and the theories pushed online she believed the pandemic was the 'next Holocaust.' 'Id seen a meme that kind of connected everything for me. It said, First, they put you in the masks, and then they put you in the boxcars. You know, This is the next Holocaust,' she told Yahoo. 'I have relatives who died in the Holocaust. So when I saw the masks at Target, I just lost it. All of that rage and grief and panic and fear just came out of me.' In the footage, Lively films a rack selling various face masks inside the Target store. 'Finally we meet the end of the road. Ive been looking forward to this s*** all my f***ing life,' she says. She then proceeds to aggressively rip the masks from the shelves and fling them onto the floor. Lively said she went from being 'the first person in the grocery store with a mask and gloves on' in February to going into 'denial about the pandemic' and losing trust in everyone including her husband because of 'digital brainwashing' by the conspiracy theory Things reached breaking point when her husband gave her an ultimatum to choose between her life and family or the conspiracy theory, she said. Lively revealed she chose QAnon and left her family, moving into a hotel a few days before the viral encounter on July 4 'This s***'s over, this s***'s over, this s****'s over. Woo! I dont need this s***. We dont want any of this anymore, this s***'s over, shes heard saying as she spreads the masks across the ground. Two Target employees then approach her as she makes her mess and say,' Maam can you please stop'. 'Why? You let everyone else do it. Why? I cant do it cause Im a blonde, white woman? Wearing a f***ing $40,000 Rolex? I dont have the right to f*** s*** up?' she fumes. The second video shows cops at her home following the incident. In the clip Lively claims shes a spokesperson for QAnon and the White House. 'I was hired to be the QAnon spokesperson,' she said in the clip adding police can 'call Donald Trump and ask him' claiming she cant share any 'classified information'. After claiming to be a spokesperson for the group the cop asks her to put her phone down. 'Youre doing it to me cause Im Jewish. Youre doing this to me cause Im Jewish. This is a Nazi game. This is Nazi bulls***,' she says. Lively told Yahoo she lost everything because of QAnon and compared it to addiction to alcohol or drugs. 'It was like hitting rock bottom for alcohol or drugs. My husband had filed for divorce. I had lost 100 percent of my business,' she said. 'I was basically the most-hated person on the Internet.' Other people lured in by QAnon have also spoken out in the hope others can learn from what happened to them. Ashley Vanderbilt, 27, broke her silence on TikTok earlier this year to share how she became so indoctrinated by the extreme right-wing conspiracy that even her four-year-old daughter knew 'something was wrong with her mom' After her video incident went viral and her husband called the police, Lively was taken to a psychiatric facility where she continued to spew 'delusional claims about Q.' She said doctors diagnosed her as having a manic-type episode because of the information she was consuming online. She said she learned she had been vulnerable to the conspiracies as she had never dealt with childhood trauma after losing both her parents at a young age. 'I'm still in therapy. Im still working through it every day, and still trying to apologize to people and repair relationships that I damaged, peoples feelings that I hurt,' she said. 'Im getting through it day by day. It was incredibly traumatic. I mean, it took probably 20 years off my life. I dont know, but Im still hanging in there.' QAnon is the debunked extreme right-wing conspiracy theory that claims Satan-worshipping pedophiles are plotting against Donald Trump and are running a global child sex trafficking ring. The theory gained traction last year as Trump refused to denounce it and it was pushed online during the pandemic. Other people lured in by QAnon have also spoken out in the hope others can learn from what happened to them. Ashley Vanderbilt, 27, broke her silence on TikTok earlier this year to share how she became so indoctrinated by the extreme right-wing conspiracy that even her four-year-old daughter knew 'something was wrong with her mom.' Supporters of the theory were seen among the MAGA mob riot on the US Capitol back on January 6 that left five - including a Capitol cop - dead. Center the man known as the QAnon Shaman inside the Capitol Before getting caught up in QAnon, Vanderbilt said she was passive with politics, didn't read the news and had always been someone 'that you just tell me what to do and I do it.' She said she had always been a Republican as she grew up being told to be and was a Donald Trump supporter but ended up so far 'down the rabbit hole' she started viewing him as being above God. She said only realized that she 'wasn't 100% there' after Joe Biden's inauguration when she called her mom and told her 'we're all going to die.' The 27-year-old placed part of the blame on Donald Trump for pushing his agenda on 'fake news' and for not denouncing QAnon. Supporters of the theory were seen among the MAGA mob riot on the US Capitol back on January 6 that left five - including a Capitol cop - dead. Security around the Capitol was ramped up again ahead of March 4 - the day supporters believed Trump would become president again. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 16:06:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo shows a China-Europe freight train bound for Helsinki, Finland departing from Putian Station of Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Nov. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Hao Yuan) "I'm very often asked ... 'We want to talk with you. Are we too much dependent on China?' I think this is a nonsense discussion," said Horst Loechel, a German professor of economics. "If you make business, you always depend on each other. And if you see more business better than less business, that means more dependence is better than less," he said. FRANKFURT, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's new five-year plan gives the country more room and possibilities for sustainable growth, and will also offer great opportunities to European investors and companies, said a German expert. Setting a modest annual economic growth target, the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) will provide China with "more possibilities, more room, and more opportunities" for sustainable growth, Horst Loechel, a professor of economics and head of the Sino-German Center at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Travellers visit Yangchenghu Expressway Service Area along the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo) The new development paradigm of "dual circulation," where domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other with the domestic market as the mainstay, shows that China is much intended to increase consumption and self-reliance on high tech, said Loechel, a longtime China watcher. The new five-year plan, whose outline has been approved by the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, will further clarify how the country will implement the "dual circulation" strategy and achieve high-quality development. China has targeted economic growth of over 6 percent for 2021, as the world's second-largest economy is experiencing fundamental changes with its development focus shifting from quantity-driven growth to a quality-oriented model. Loechel added that China's pursuit of innovation-driven development outlined in the plan "is fully right." Making development plans every five years makes it much more predictable for foreign investors and companies to do business in China, he said. Aerial photo taken on Aug. 17, 2020 shows a photovoltaic power station at the green industrial development park in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan, northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Long) The expert said he hopes Europe and China can further promote cooperation in such areas as high-quality consumption, technology and green economy. For example, many foreign companies "are very strong" in high-quality products and services, for which China has a strong demand, noted Loechel. Besides, China is already very advanced in areas such as artificial intelligence, he said. "If European, German companies cooperate with Chinese companies in this kind of areas, they also have some benefits." It is also "a huge opportunity" for Europe to cooperate with China in green finance, sustainable development and pollution-free production, as the two sides "have very strong joint interest" in green economy, he said. "Pollution is not a national issue. This is a global issue simply," he noted. Loechel said he is optimistic about the future of the China-European Union investment agreement, as there will be a "very, very good situation" with China's "dual circulation" strategy. People work at the assembly workshop of FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Feb. 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Foreign investors will have a lot to gain as they seize the opportunities in the Chinese market, he said. "The German industry, German trade unions and employers (will be) very happy to have a lot of business with China." "I'm very often asked (by) German journalists: 'We want to talk with you. Are we too much dependent on China?' I think this is a nonsense discussion," Loechel said. "If you make business, you always depend on each other. And if you see more business better than less business, that means more dependence is better than less," he said. Noting a "surprisingly high" volume of German exports in January driven by trade with China, the expert said "the recovery in Germany was strong because we had a strong trade with China, because China had a strong growth." Germany relies much on exports, he said. "That means for us trade is very substantial for any development in this country, especially for employment." (Natural News) I suspect a large portion of the public is at least partially aware when they are being pushed or lured into a specific way of thinking. We have certainly had enough experience with institutions trying to manage our thoughts over the years. Governments and mainstream media outlets in particular have made the manufacture of public consent their top priority. This is what they spend most of their time, money and energy on. All other issues are secondary. (Article by Brandon Smith republished from Alt-Market.us) The media does not objectively report facts and evidence, it spins information to plant an engineered narrative in the minds of its viewers. But the public is not as stupid as they seem to think. This is probably why trust in the media has plunged by 46% in the past ten years, hitting an all time low this year of 27%. Except for pre-election season spikes, mainstream outlets from CNN to Fox to CBS to MSNBC are facing dismal audience numbers, with only around 2 million to 3 million prime time viewers. There are numerous YouTube commentators with bigger audiences than this. And, if you sift through the debris of MSM videos on YouTube, youll find low hits and a majority of people that are visiting their channels just to make fun of them. The MSM is now scrambling to explain their crumbling empire, as well as debating on ways to save it from oblivion. The power of the Fourth Estate is a facade, an illusion given form by smoke and mirrors. Bottom line: Nobody (except perhaps extreme leftists) likes the corporate media or activist journalists and propagandists. One would think that media moguls and journos would have realized this by now. I mean, if they accepted this reality, they would not be struggling so much with the notion that no one is listening to them when it comes to pandemic mandates and the covid vaccines. Yet, journalists complain about it incessantly lately. In fact, half the media reports I see these days are not fact based analysis of events, but corporate journalists interviewing OTHER corporate journalists and bitching to each other about how Americans are too ignorant or too conspiratorial to grasp that journos are the anointed high priests of information. I actually find this situation fascinating as an observer of oligarchy and being well versed in the mechanics of propaganda. The fundamental narrative of control-culture is that there are experts that the establishment chooses, and then there is everyone else. The experts are supposed to pontificate and dictate while everyone else is supposed to shut up, listen and obey. Media elitists see themselves in the role of the experts and the public as devout acolytes; a faithful flock of sheep. But what happens when everyone starts ignoring the sheep herders? The other day I came across this revealing interview on CBS news about a poll of Americans showing at least 30% will refuse to take the covid vaccine outright. The interview is, for some reason, with another journalist from The Atlantic with no apparent medical credentials and no insight into the data surrounding covid. One thing to note right away is that the discussion itself never addresses any actual facts about the virus, the pandemic, the lockdowns, the mandates, or the vaccines. The establishment keeps telling us to listen to the science, but then they dismiss the science when it doesnt agree with their agenda. When is the the mainstream going to finally acknowledge facts like these: 1) According to multiple official studies, including a study from American College of Physicians, the Infection Fatality Ratio (or death rate) of Covid-19 is only 0.26% for anyone outside of a nursing home. This means that 99.7% of people not in nursing homes will survive the virus if they contract it. 2) Nursing home patients account for over 40% of all Covid deaths across the US. These are mostly people who were already sick with multiple preexisting conditions when they contracted covid. 3) The Federal Governments own hospital data from the Department of Health and Human Services indicates that capacity for hospital beds is ample in the US and that this has been the case for the past year. Covid patients only take up around 13% of inpatient beds nationally. The stories in the media of hospitals at overcapacity due to covid are therefore inaccurate or they are outright lies. 4) International studies including a Danish study published by the American College of Physicians have proven that wearing masks makes NO significant difference in the spread or infection rate of Covid-19. Interestingly, the states in the US with the most heavily enforced mask mandates have also had the highest infection rates. 5) In March of 2020, head of the NIAID Dr. Anthony Fauci had this to say about mask wearing when being interviewed on 60 Minutes: Right now, in the United States, people should not be walking around with masks.theres no reason to be walking around with a mask. When youre in the middle of an outbreak wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better, and it might even block a droplet but its not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is, and often there are unintended consequences people keep fiddling with the masks and theyre touching their face. 6) On Twitter in February of 2020, the US Surgeon General had this to say about mask wearing: Seriously people STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers cant get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! Both the Surgeon General and Fauci later reversed their stance on mask wearing when it no longer suited the control narrative, and are now fervent supporters of enforcing mask mandates. Scientific data continues to show that mask wearing does nothing to stop the spread of Covid. 7) The Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines are made with a brand new technology that has had limited testing. The NIAID used minimal animal testing on mice, but these mice were NOT a type that is normally susceptible to contracting covid the way humans are. These tests were completely inadequate, yet the mRNA vaccines were released for human use anyway. 8) The new vaccines do not contain the virus that triggers COVID-19, as a conventional vaccine might. Instead, Moderna and Pfizer researchers used a new technique to make messenger RNA (mRNA), which is similar to mRNA found in SARS-CoV-2. In theory, the artificial mRNA will act as instructions that prompt human cells to build a protein found on the surface of the virus. That protein would theoretically trigger a protective immune response. The entire Covid vaccine effort was essentially a giant shortcut. This is not an advantage, as the long term effects of any vaccine from 1 year to 5 years to 10 years should be understood before it is injected into human beings. 9) Multiple medical industry professional including the former VP of Pfizer have signed a petition warning about the new mRNA vaccinations. They say far more testing is needed before humans are exposed, and they warned that the vaccines may cause severe autoimmune responses or even infertility. 10) Numerous polls also show that at least 30% to 50% of medical professionals including nurses and doctors plan to refuse the vaccines as well. These people are facing the risk of losing their jobs, but they are still not going to accept the shot. That is how potentially volatile the mRNA vaccines could be; long term health is more important than short term risk. When all of these facts are taken into account, along with numerous others that I do not have space to mention here, it is not so outlandish for millions of Americans to be skeptical of medical mandates and vaccination over covid. Why should we worry about getting vaccinated over a virus that 99.7% of the population will survive without difficulty? Why should we allow economic shutdowns, medical passports or invasive contact tracing at all, let alone over a pandemic that less than 0.3% of the population is susceptible to? Beyond that, why should we volunteer to be guinea pigs for a new vaccine technology without knowing what the long term consequences might be? Even if covid was a legitimate danger, no crisis justifies handing over our civil liberties in response. The basic establishment narrative is this: Covid is an existential threat to the public, therefore, we are justified in taking away peoples freedoms, their economy and their privacy. It is for the greater good of the greater number. Vaccination is infallible and cannot be questioned. The experts are infallible and cannot be questioned. Its not your body and it is not your choice. Your body is property of the government and if you do not voluntarily take injections of whatever experimental cocktail we give you, then we will continue to erode your freedoms until you give in and submit. Then, once you have submitted, your freedoms will still never be given back. Its not really a persuasive argument for lot of people. Media outlets like CBS will rarely mention the overall issue of control and oppression tied to the pandemic response, just as they will never address any facts that run contrary to their message. What they will do is misrepresent the situation in order to gain compliance. The Atlantic journo basically admits this in the interview above, arguing that the media in particular needs to change the message to better attach incentive to vaccine compliance. In other words, people are easier to manipulate when they are tricked into thinking there is more to gain by submission rather than rebellion. The medical passport system is the personification of false incentive. The media presents the notion that no one will be forced to take the vaccines; but what they dont mention is that without the vaccine they will not get a medical passport, and without a medical passport they will be cut off from the normal economy. You can be vax free, but you will be punished through poverty and zero access until you give in. My question is, why do they care so much if people dont want or trust the vaccine? Why are they so obsessed? If the mRNA cocktail actually works and is not a health hazard, then they should be perfectly safe from infection. The idea that people who refuse are a danger to others is nonsense. If we are going to start talking about potential mutations that bypass vaccine protections, then why take any vaccine? If mutations are really a threat and are not obstructed by current vaccines, then taking a vaccine now is useless. And, why the constant attempts at public division? CBS and The Atlantic use an obvious ploy to assert that black and brown Americans have different reasons for refusing to comply when compared to apparently white conservatives. Why do they assume that black and brown people are not conservative or that we do not have ample reasons in common? This is never explained or supported. Finally, as always the media seeks to gaslight anyone that disagrees with the prevailing agenda as conspiracy nuts, presenting strawman arguments while ignoring all legitimate arguments on the side of liberty. There is such a thing as conspiracy REALITY, and none of these journos would survive a debate on a level playing field against those of us in the alternative media when it comes to covid and the vaccines. The media and the governments stalker mentality when it comes to people skeptical of covid restrictions and vaccines is unsettling. They act more like jilted psychopathic ex-girlfriends rather than people concerned with saving lives. This tells me they are afraid. Their agenda is uncertain, and they have doubts. This is a good thing. At bottom, covid is a non-issue that has been inflated into a crisis of epic proportions through storytelling and selective fact checking. Millions of people around the world die every year from a myriad of illnesses, some of them as infectious as covid. We dont shut down our lives, wear diapers on our faces, inject ourselves with untested cell altering cocktails or sacrifice our freedoms because of this. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness continues. Those who wish to take away our self determination in these matters are the real threat; covid is not. Read more at: Alt-Market.us and MediaFactWatch.com. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 04:45:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are displayed during the launch of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign at Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, March 10, 2021. (Photo by Joseph Kiggundu/Xinhua) "WHO is aware that some countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines, based on reports of blood clots in some people who received doses of the vaccine from two batches. This measure was taken as a precaution while a full investigation is finalized," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on Friday. GENEVA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the Geneva-based UN health agency "systematically reviews safety signals, and is carefully assessing the current reports on the AstraZeneca vaccine." The COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been suspended in a number of countries across Europe and Asia, following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people. "WHO is aware that some countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines, based on reports of blood clots in some people who received doses of the vaccine from two batches. This measure was taken as a precaution while a full investigation is finalized," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on Friday. A number of countries like Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Romania and Thailand have suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine after it was linked to blood clots in recipients, while Austria and France have decided to continue using it. "It is important to note that the European Medicines Agency has said there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and blood clots, and that the vaccine can continue to be used while its investigation is ongoing," Tedros said. The European Commission said on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine is still safe to use, adding that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had adopted a preliminary review on the case in Austria "where they said there is no specific indication that the vaccination led to these conditions." "As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events, the findings and any changes to our current recommendations will be communicated immediately to the public," Tedros said. A nurse shows a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, March 5, 2021. (Photo by Joy Nabukewa/Xinhua) The WHO chief also said that more than 335 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally so far, and no deaths have been found to have been caused by them. "But at least 2.6 million people have been killed by the virus. And more will continue to die the longer it takes to distribute vaccines as rapidly and as equitably as possible," he said. As countries roll out COVID-19 vaccines, the WHO is continuing to keep a close eye on their safety, Tedros added. Also on Friday, WHO gave emergency use listing to Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the fourth vaccine to receive WHO's approval. Emergency use listing is the green light for a vaccine to be procured and rolled out by COVAX, he said, referencing the global WHO-led initiative to ensure vaccine equity. 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, 263 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 81 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 March 12. File photo taken on May 18, 2020 shows a logo in front of AstraZeneca's building in Luton, Britain. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua) The operator of a Big4 holiday park where a camper was tragically killed by a tree branch that crashed onto his tent says the park has a thorough maintenance program. WorkSafe investigators arrived at the Healesville caravan park, north-east of Melbourne, on Saturday afternoon, hours after the man was pinned by the falling tree branch that crushed his tent. The 44-year-old, from Knoxfield, was alone in his tent at the Big4 Yarra Valley Park Lane Holiday Park on Don Road when the tree branch came down shortly before 6am. He died at the scene. No other people were injured during the incident, a police spokeswoman said. Paramedics and State Emergency Service crews from Healesville and Lilydale were called to the scene about 5.50am. Despite the vaccine being discontinued in many European countries due to news of a small number of blood clots, Dr. Bonnie Henry of Canada told the public that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe. Canada says AstraZeneca vaccine is safe On Tuesday, AstraZeneca delivered 68,000 doses of B.C., which will be used in a related program to immunize front-line staff in sectors where COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred, such as food processing plants and agricultural sites. In B.C., the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are being used to vaccinate the general population, beginning this month with seniors 80 and older and Indigenous people 65 and older. Henry, the regional health officer for B.C., said she's been paying careful attention to news that two individuals in Europe died soon after getting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Henry met with Health Canada officials on Thursday to address the situation and reassure the public that the vaccine is safe, Vancouver Sun reported. "We are keeping a close eye on this," she said on Thursday. Investigations of adverse effects are "unexpected when a new medication, a new vaccine is used on a significant number of people," she added. Bonnie pointed out that AstraZeneca has immunized tens of millions of citizens in the United Kingdom and that "the same protective signs have not occurred there." Read also: COVID-19 Fragments Found in Australia, US Wastewater While the European Medicines Agency stated that there is no evidence linking the vaccine to an elevated risk of blood clots, health officials in at least nine European countries, including Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, halted the use of AstraZeneca's doses on Thursday - some completely, some only on small batches - pending further investigation. According to the CDC, 30 blood clots occurred in more than five million people who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, two of which were fatal. This is in line with the average occurrence of blood clots in the general population. The federal government has put an order for 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 1.9 million will be distributed by COVAX, an international initiative aimed at providing universal access to vaccines. Despite ordering more COVID-19 vaccine doses per capita than any other nation, Canada's initial rollout has been weak, in part due to temporary delivery delays from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc, as per Reuters via Yahoo. Read also: Adults With Down Syndrome More Likely To Die From COVID-19 Halting AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine rollout in EU According to one leading Australian doctor, the European authorities' decision to halt the introduction of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after a small number of people developed blood clots is a "overreaction." "You can't ignore these incidents," Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert at ANU, said, "but I think it's an overreaction." He said that in the general population, blood clots occur at a rate of about 100 per 100,000 and that the rate of blood clots in people who got the AstraZeneca vaccine did not seem to be any greater. Professor Collignon explained that certain patients would have health problems that aren't directly related to the vaccine with any public vaccination campaign. He added no sign of increased blood clots in the phase 3 trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine. According to ABC.net, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that the AstraZeneca vaccine benefits appear to outweigh the risks. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recorded 30 cases of clot-related incidents among the 5 million Europeans who got the vaccine. After receiving doses from a specific batch of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, one person in Austria died of blood clots, and another was hospitalized with a lung blockage. Denmark halted the shoots for two weeks after a 60-year-old woman died from a blood clot after receiving an AstraZeneca shot from a sample used in Austria. As a precautionary measure, several EU countries postponed this batch while the EMA conducted a full investigation. When two men died in Sicily, Italy also stopped using AstraZeneca, but those shots were not from the Austrian batch. Immunizations of the vaccine have also been suspended in Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Latvia as investigations proceed. Read also: WHO To Throw Away Interim Report Plans on COVID-19 Origin Investigation @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Recent years have seen electoral results and other political developments that have particularly surprised those who consider themselves well informed, from practitioners such as politicians to direct close observers such as the mainstream media and academia. Senator Scott Ryan says the Black Lives Matter movement has general rather than specific demands. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer and James Brickwood Examples across democracies Australians are familiar with include the success of the Brexit referendum in Britain, the election of Donald Trump in the United States, the rise then return to earth of Emmanuel Macron and his En Marche! party in France, and the eclipse of longstanding parties across Europe. But how much of this should really surprise us? So many experts experienced disbelief and shock in the wake of these developments, yet there is a rational explanation for all of this. The word populism is often used to describe this trend, but its a term Ive always been uncomfortable with. Democracies are supposed to consider popular support and consent as a yardstick, so using it in a derogatory fashion is counter-intuitive. Rather, I contend that the key elements that should concern us are the attacks on politics itself and the dismissal of complexity in addressing various policy challenges, as if there are simple, easy solutions that are being ignored by a conspiracy of those in power. When the motives of those involved in politics are impugned, as a substitute for focusing on the impact of specific policies or proposals, it is not political debate that is occurring but a drive towards political tribalism that is intentionally encouraging one group to not even listen to the views or perspectives of others. These are the very factors making domestic politics harder than it used to be, leading to frustration from those claiming to be directly engaged, and disengagement and disillusionment from the wider population. Alongside the unexpected electoral outcomes, there has also been a rise in political conflict regarding issues that are either binary in nature (such as the Brexit referendum) or where movements challenge the core institutions of politics without specific policy demands that can be implemented to address the relevant concerns. Advertisement For example, in the US, a key difference between the modern Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s is the generality of the demands of BLM. Whereas the push for civil rights included calls for the repeal or override of the Jim Crow segregation laws that condemned African-Americans to second-class citizenship, the generality of the BLM claims makes them more difficult to actually address. In particular, this reflects how the movement itself may not have determined the policy priorities that it believes will help it achieve its desired outcome. Politics requires specificity. That is how public resources are allocated. It is how success is measured. The common experience of a grievance, no matter how valid, is impossible to address without some agreement on a course of action to resolve it. Furthermore, the world in which all this has occurred has arguably changed more in the last decade than at any other time since television became commonplace in the 1950s. But unlike during the expansion of mass media, we have separated. Were all spending more time talking and listening to people like ourselves, those who hold similar views of the world and its problems, those with whom we share similar social and economic experiences and lifestyles. Decades ago, the historian Bernard Bailyn outlined the impact of pamphlets on the American Revolution. Early printed newspapers not much more than handbills or leaflets, passed by hand in public houses, churches, shops and marketplaces were critical in creating the environment for many otherwise conservative churchgoing farmers and traders to rise up against the British Empire. This culture continued in the politics of the new republic, before the rise of the mass media. Some of these pamphlets were scandalous, containing outrageous personal abuse and extraordinary allegations about political opponents personal lives and policies. Eventually, they evolved into highly partisan newspapers with wide circulations. People at that time often received news based on the perspective it represented, just like the stories they heard and the sermons they attended within communities comprising citizens of similar views and outlook. The mandates of geography and communication created communities of shared experience. Now replace the old technologies of handbills and the printing press with global connectivity and you have the modern world of digital and social media, with news no longer bound by location. People still seek, receive and believe information from sources they have come to know and trust, but often with little in the way of verification or fact checking, as is a norm of traditional journalism, and with algorithms and online communities replacing the community of church or town selecting what is heard, seen and read. And, of course, there are the slurs and claims of personal abuse. The effect is the same, but amplified by the speed and capability of modern technology: a rise in personal and personality-driven comments and attacks; claims striving for an emotional response; and disputes over basic facts that previously would have been accepted, leading to a dramatic increase in the spread of disinformation. Advertisement In future years, we may view the 20th century world of a common, shared mass media as the exception rather than the rule. Our fragmented 21st-century media and information environment better reflects the experiences of the 18th and 19th centuries. Despite technology making it appear an evolution, it is actually a reversion. The upshot is that those who seek to influence public debate, including political candidates themselves, can now go directly to the voters and distinct communities in much more targeted ways, often without the verification process inherent in the traditional media. This in turn opens up much wider opportunities for campaigns aimed at grievances, or even for simple lies or mistruths to gain traction, in a way that just wasnt possible when mass media was shared. Fuelling this is the same trend we see across the uglier side of social media: personal abuse. Assigning someone a motive, and abusing or insulting them from a distance or anonymously, is at the other end of the spectrum from respectful face-to-face interaction. It shouldnt come as a surprise that this is intensified by people not having to see or meet each other, or that its a sadly effective way of blocking out alternative world views. President of the Senate Scott Ryan seen from the Members Hall. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The style of campaign that impugns motives is increasingly coming from single-issue movements and minor parties - critically, those that do not need to govern. These groups are not subject to the requirement to have a coherent policy framework for government, with all of the internal compromises, trade-offs and policy prioritisation that this entails. Compromise is critical in addressing public priorities, and it must involve complexity and nuance - exactly what is lacking in most social media content, which can be an echo chamber of peoples pre-existing prejudices, priorities and attitudes. The memberships of political parties are a fraction of what they were two generations ago, and they continue to fall. Both major parties in Australia have well under 100,000 members - this across a nation of nearly 17 million voters. At the same time, community engagement with single-issue or specific-campaign movements is growing. Whether its an organised and openly electoral and political campaigning body, such as GetUp!, or a movement expressed through more direct public participation, such as the BLM protest marches of 2020, individual causes or perspectives that explicitly avoid a wide-ranging platform are succeeding, not failing, in attracting support. Advertisement In essence, movements that dont require the sentiments of compromise or prioritisation are strengthening at the expense of political parties which need to do so in order to viably govern. Modern minor parties have very different incentives to those of the parties intent on governing. They may advocate a particular policy agenda, or they may seek patronage and preferment in the allocation of public resources, or sometimes a combination of both. But a key aspect of minor parties, especially the newer incarnations, is who they see as their prime electoral competition. Historically, if a minor party was a breakaway from a major party, it often explicitly campaigned against that major party; for example, the Democratic Labour Party from the 1950s through the 1970s. The Australian Democrats, the most prominent minor party of the previous generation, and until recently the most successful, had a different agenda, partly expressed so bluntly in inaugural leader Don Chipps famous words: Keep the bastards honest. Following on from the short-lived Australia Party, it was explicitly middle-of-the-road, with the aim of negotiating with both sides of politics. The inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats Don Chipp. His famous words and party mantra was to Keep the bastards honest. Credit:Antonin Cermak The Greens, now Australias largest minor party, is a very different party to the Australian Democrats. The rise of The Greens as a national force shines a light on the trends outlined above: the demonisation of compromise; a specific ideological agenda; a lack of interest in cooperating with a governing majority or respecting its electoral mandate. The language used by The Greens is instead often absolute and moralistic; for example, the claim that Australias immigration policies are responsible for people dying. Even more notably, it has been entirely open about competing with the Labor Party for progressive voters. Similarly, One Nation often tries to position itself in opposition to the Coalition, and particularly the National Party, knowing that its appeal to those parties supporters is a major component of its success. Looking at the social media activity of the minor parties, you often see emotive, simplistic claims that are critical of both major parties (that is, those who seek government). What does all this mean for the citizens of this country? It is up to you, as much as your political representatives, to confound the challenges Ive described. Seek out views that you have previously not seen, heard or read. Strive to understand the perspectives and experiences of those who hold views that are different to your own. Reject those who try to impugn others when you consider political debates. And, of course, be open to the idea that compromising on a particular priority is not a failure, but rather may represent progress, if not success; that it doesnt preclude reconsideration in the future; that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. Advertisement The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) was right to demand teachers and school staff be pushed to the head of the line for those getting vaccinated against COVID-19. And the state came up with the ideal way to do it without hurting seniors and those most vulnerable to death and serious illness from the virus. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is bringing a big sigh of relief to the thousands of people charged with keeping schools safe and children healthy. But in reality, its the kids who represented the threat to older teachers and school employees, who had good reason to worry about their interactions with hundreds of children many of whom carried the virus. PennLive Editorial Board meeting with PSEA Educators tell us how to reopen schools safely. Posted by PennLive.com on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 Rich Askey, president of PSEA, and Red Lion math teacher Rachael Curry were clearly elated that Gov. Tom Wolf and state legislators have taken seriously their concerns about the safety of their colleagues. They joined PSEA Communications Director Chris Lilienthal for a meeting with PennLives Editorial board last week to explain why getting school staff at every level vaccinated was so important. This virus has made teaching a challenge, theres no doubt about it. This opening and closing of schools when someone comes down with COVID-19 is traumatic and disruptive to learning. PennLives Jan Murphy reported the Centers for Disease Control now says if a vaccinated teacher is exposed to COVID-19, they wont have to quarantine, and schools wont have to close. Thats a very big deal. The bottom line is this teachers, parents and students want to go back to school. They want to see each other in person, talk face to face and enjoy a school play in the gym. Everybody wants to get back to normal. But the truth is, we cant get back to anywhere near normal unless schools can reopen safely. And schools cant reopen safely unless principals, teachers, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and janitors have some protection against dying from COVID-19. Teachers and school staff from four counties receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the vaccination clinic at the Capital Area Intermediate Unit in East Pennsboro Township, March 11, 2021. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com Thats why the state task force that looked into this issue concluded people who work with children should be in the first group to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Seniors and those with underlying health issues are still top priority for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. And they should be overjoyed to know teachers, exposed to dozens of kids carrying the virus, arent spreading COVID-19 throughout their communities. Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster County, a member of the task force, said he hopes school employees who want to be vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can do so at least by the end of April. And frankly, its hard to see why anyone would turn down a chance to survive a pandemic that has killed half a million people in the United States alone. Protecting lives should be paramount, and getting more people vaccinated is the best way to do it. Over this past year, Curry rightly reminds, teachers and school personnel were among those who were hospitalized and who died from COVID-19. Yet even with school employees now being vaccinated, no one should act like the threat is gone. Manager Yllka Murati waits for a delivery driver to pick up takeout orders at the Penrose Diner, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, in south Philadelphia. Philadelphia plans to prohibit indoor dining at restaurants, shutter casinos, gyms, museums and libraries, pause in-person instruction at colleges and high schools, and reduce occupancy at stores and religious institutions, the health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, said at a news conference Monday as the city battles a resurgence of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)AP Masking and social distancing will remain in place inside schools. Regular hand washing and sanitizing will still be required. All of that is wise. Scientists still cant tell us with certainty how long the vaccine is effective. And there still are questions about how much protection it provides against the COVID-19 variants that are mutating around the globe. So while getting teachers vaccinated may allow schools to reopen for in-person learning, we still cant let down our guard. Curry rightly cautioned that even when this virus is defeated, we may not go back to what we once knew as normal. Teachers used to be able to hug a crying child without thinking twice. Best friends used to share sodas, and kids used to sneeze and cough all over the place without anyone batting an eye. Not anymore. Even with the vaccine, life is not back to what we once knew as normal-- anywhere. And it may not be for a very long time. Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. INMATES in Manitoba jails will start receiving COVID-19 vaccines next month. Focused immunization teams are set to go into jails in April, a provincial spokesperson told the Free Press Thursday. The provinces vaccine task force prioritized those in congregate-living facilities, including jails, but there had been no word on when inmate vaccinations would begin, until now. "The schedule and more defined timing will be announced as we get closer to that date," the provincial spokesperson wrote in an email. Correctional officers 60 or older are already eligible to receive the vaccines, as are health-care workers and Indigenous spiritual leaders who work in jails. In a March 9 memo to judges and lawyers, obtained by the Free Press, Manitoba Corrections stated no timeline had yet been established for when inmates would become eligible. The memo stated that as of Monday, there were no current COVID-19 jail outbreaks and only seven active cases in total three at the Winnipeg Remand Centre, two at Womens Correctional Centre and two at Brandon Correctional Centre. Over the past year, there have been outbreaks in five of Manitobas eight jails including two different outbreaks at Headingley Correctional Centre with 583 people infected. No one has died of COVID-19 in a provincial jail. Roughly 28 per cent of all Manitoba inmates have contracted the virus, based on Mondays custody count of 1,654 adults and youth. There have been 464 inmates and 119 correctional staff infected since the pandemic began. Prioritizing vaccinations for inmates is the responsible thing for the provincial government to do, said Sharon Perrault, acting executive director of the John Howard Society of Manitoba. "I see it as a health issue," Perrault said. "I see it as lowering the risk for everyone," considering the number of inmates who will be released on bail, she added. Tuesdays memo stated 71 per cent of those currently jailed in provincial institutions are on remand, meaning they are waiting for their charges to be dealt with and havent been found guilty. Perrault said Indigenous people, who are already at higher risk from COVID-19, are overrepresented in provincial jails. She emphasized the need for the public health risk to pre-empt any political concerns about vaccinating inmates ahead of others. Meanwhile, the province hasnt said whether homeless shelters will be included in the next phase of its congregate living vaccine rollout. A strategy for vaccinating homeless people in Manitoba is being developed with "extensive" consultation, and the plan is expected to take into account that many homeless people dont have provincial health cards, a provincial spokesperson said. Marion Willis, founder of Morberg House and St. Boniface Street Links, said she has been consulted and Morberg House has been put forward as a potential vaccination site for people who are homeless. In the meantime, she and her team have been registering more than 70 clients for health cards with Morberg Houses Provencher Boulevard address. "Theres a real need to make sure that everybody in congregate-living facilities, not just those who work there, but also ones who live there, (are) vaccinated. The homeless population, I always believed, should have been very, very high on the priority list," Willis said. Manitobas vaccine task force has said every Manitoban who wants a COVID-19 vaccine will have one by mid-June at the latest. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay A vicar has become an online sensation after a Zoom filter blunder accidentally turned him into one of the Blues Brothers during a live-streamed church service. Reverend Vaughan Roberts, 62, proved he really is on a Mission from God after the hilarious mishap left him resembling Joliet Jake Blues from the hit 1980 movie. Comical footage shows Rev Roberts welcoming the online congregation at St Mary's Church, in Warwick, wearing a black fedora hat and sunglasses on his face. Reverend Vaughan Roberts, 62, opened his Sunday service in Warwick with a bang when he accidentally had a Blues Brothers filter on He stands up to address the congregation as normal but as he begins to speak to hilarious filter appears. Throughout the video it appears intermittently as he looks down at the paper he is holding and reappears when he looks directly at the camera. He believes his wife Mandy, 62, inadvertently selected the filter while setting up his mobile phone to record the service last Sunday. When she couldn't rectify the error she quietly told her husband during the first hymn to remain seated for the sermon as the filter only appeared while he stood at the altar. The hilarious footage, showing Rev Roberts looking like John Belushi's comedy character, has since racked up thousands of views on social media. The morning service normally has between 20-30 viewers but at least 2,500 people have now tuned in to watch the hilarious clip on the Facebook page. Rev Roberts said a button must have accidentally been pressed while setting up for the Sunday service and joked: 'At least it wasn't Rambo or the Godfather.' He said: 'It just happened by complete chance. The comical church service opening started off normally as Reverend Vaughan Roberts approached the camera but as he began to speak the filer appeared, cutting out intermittently Rev Roberts said: 'I suppose it's meant to be Joilet - because I look a lot more like John Belushi than the Elwood Blues. 'Unlike in the film, I did not go cartwheeling down the aisle. 'It wasn't until I got home and photographs and videos were pinging around on social media I realised it was a Blues Brothers filter.' 'Thankfully it was only on my face for a couple of minutes while I was doing the welcome,' Rev Roberts said. 'If I had gone back out to do the sermon without noticing it would've been on my face for the whole 45 minutes. 'It was quite fitting it was the Blues Brothers. In the film they are on a mission from God to raise money for the nuns in the orphanage where they grew up by doing concerts. while we are trying to raise 2million to fund urgent repairs to our landmark tower to avoid its closure.' While acknowledging the hilarity of the situation, Reverend Vaughan Roberts (pictured) said he would not be making the filters a regular feature of his live stream services Despite laughing off the mishap, Rev Vaughan Roberts said his Zoom disguise will not become a weekly tradition at the historic 900-year-old church. He added: 'Although some of the congregation are speculating how I will dress up this Sunday I can assure them it was an accident and a one off.' On social media viewers said it had 'made their day' after the video quickly went viral, being shared thousands of times. Tom Caswell wrote: 'You should do this every week - Rev Roberts proving he is definitely a Soul Man right there.' Ben Kingston added: 'I was just waiting for him to start cartwheeling down the aisles with James Brown asking, Can you see the light?!' Stephen Keen said: 'This has truly brightened up my day. Funniest thing I have seen in a long time.' Similar gaffes have taken place as people across the globe have had to rely on Zoom calls to continue providing services. In Burtonport, Donegal, last week Father Pat Ward somehow managed to play a rap song by grime artist Black the Ripper at the start of his blessing. During an online Mass at a church in Donegal Father Pat suffered some technical difficulties when a rap song began playing over his opening blessing He only makes it through 'in the name of the Father, and of the son' before the music cuts across him and booms around the church. Father Pat tries to continue despite the mishap but suddenly the words 'Ok, it's Black the Ripper' interrupts him and he is forced to try and turn the music off. Eventually, a few seconds into the rap titled Young Prophet, he managed to pause the music and he can be heard chuckling at the incident. 'Black the Ripper, a wee bit of rap in the morning wakes you up,' he joked. And in Texas, a lawyer accidentally left a kitten filter on during a Zoom hearing in February, hilariously telling the judge 'I'm not a cat' as he frantically tried to remove the animated image. The amusing mishap happened to Presidio County attorney Rod Ponton during a live streamed hearing this morning for the 394th Judicial District Court of Brewster. The amusing mishap happened to attorney Rod Ponton during a live streamed hearing this morning for the 394th Judicial District Court of Brewster The video begins with presiding judge Roy Ferguson telling Ponton: 'I believe you have a filter turned on in video settings and you might want to turn it off.' Ponton is then heard letting out a panicked 'aghh', as the cat filter over his face begins shifting its eyes back-and-forth and moving its mouth in unison with his voice. 'Can you hear me judge,' the feline-emblazoned Ponto is heard asking, his voice quivering. Ferguson confirms that he can hear Ponton and reiterates that he believes he has a filter switched on. 'It is [a filter]', Ponton hastily interjects. 'And I dont know how to remove it. Ive got my assistant here, shes trying to, but ahhh Im prepared to go forward with it Im here live, Im not a cat.' Last month a US House committee hearing also witnessed a Zoom blunder when a Minnesota congressman accidentally flipped his Zoom video upside down. The hilarious moment starring GOP Rep Tom Emmer (pictured) has since gone viral and shows the congressman speaking about job security amid the pandemic during the House Financial Services Committee meeting until he's interrupted about appearing upside down The hilarious moment starring GOP Rep Tom Emmer went viral and showed the congressman speaking about job security amid the pandemic during the House Financial Services Committee meeting until he's interrupted. 'Will the gentleman suspend?' Committee Chairwoman Rep Maxine Waters is heard asking. 'I'm sorry, Mr Emmer. Are you okay?' she asked him as their colleagues snickered in the background. 'I am,' Emmer responded. Another person yelled out: 'You're upside down, Tom.' Emmer then said: 'I don't know how to fix that.' New Delhi: The Home Ministry has rejected the claim of RTI activist Saket Gokhale, in which he had said that the Ministry did not have any information about the "bomb making factory" in West Bengal. The Ministry has said it neither received any such question nor any response was given. The Ministry has said the activist has spread false information on social media with malicious intent. Following the Home Ministry's response, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Gokhale, accusing the Congress and its former chief Rahul Gandhi of being "close to him". According to sources, Gokhale may face an action on this issue. BJP's IT Cell Head Amit Malviya said, "Saket Gokhale, a self-proclaimed activist close to Rahul Gandhi and working for the opposition parties, deliberately presented the Home Ministry's answer with another question to question the Home Minister's statement." Presenting the sting video of a TV channel, Malviya said that the Congress, and Trinamool Congress are not aware of presenting an RTI to seek information about bomb making factory in Bengal. In fact, there were some reports in the media citing Gokhale's tweet, which claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah had said that there are bomb making factories in Bengal, but the Home Ministry has told in response to an RTI that it has no such information. Rejecting Gokhale's claim, the Ministry said that he misrepresented the facts by tweeting with a malicious intent. According to the Ministry, it received two online RTI applications on January 12 this year on behalf of Gokhale. Gokhale sought information on three specific points related to the involvement of Khalistani organisations in the farmers protest (against the three farm laws) in both applications. Live TV The Israeli army has been striking Iranian oil tankers and other vessels, bound for Syria, for months, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials. The motivation for the attacks has been that oil profits help fund extremism in the Middle East, according to the report. Iran has been a regular supplier of oil to Syria amid sanctions against both countries from the U.S. in Irans case, and from the U.S. and Europe in Syrias case. Syria, however, has been a relatively minor export destination for Iranian oil. China, on the other hand, has been gobbling it up, despite the sanctions. Recently, Iran began ramping up its oil production and exports, especially to China, hoping that the new U.S. administration will lift sanctions. This month, Iranian oil shipments to the province of Shandongthe home of most of Chinas independent refinershave increased so much they are causing port congestion, Bloomberg reported earlier this week, citing traders and analysts. Iranian oil sells at a deep discount because of the U.S. sanctions, which makes it highly desirable by Chinese refiners looking for a bargain. In fact, Iranian oil exports to China could this month jump to over 850,000 bpd, according to a Kpler analyst cited by Bloomberg. Start Trading Oil On OPC Markets Today Irans oil production rose by 35,000 bpd in February, according to the latest Monthly Oil Market Report by OPEC. Fitch Solutions recently forecast that exports of crude could rise by 6.8 percent this year if the United States rejoins the so-called Iran nuclear deal. By 2022, exports could double compared with 2020 levels, the agency also said, if sanctions are lifted. The prospects for the Iranian oil sector have brightened significantly following Joe Bidens victory in the U.S. presidential election on November 3. President Biden has indicated that he will seek to re-enter the U.S. into the Iranian nuclear deal, paving the way for a roll-back of secondary sanctions and recovery of around 2.0 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil production, Fitch Solutions said. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Pianist Lora Kolean of the Hope College music faculty will present a recital Thursday, March 18, at 11 a.m. with the live performance available for viewing online at hope.edu/live. Out of an abundance of caution due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, in-person attendance is being limited to a small campus audience. Kolean will be performing Op. 34, by Ludwig van Beethoven; Transcendental Etude No. 11, by Franz Liszt; and Sonata No. 1, Op. 22, by Alberto Ginastera. Kolean is an assistant professor of music and head of the keyboard area at Hope, where she has taught since 2001. She teaches applied piano lessons and various classes, including Piano Pedagogy, Collaborative Piano and Piano Literature. In recent years she taught beginning and intermediate piano classes for the college. She studied for three years at Accademia Musicale Umbra in Perugia, Italy. She received her Master of Music degree from Western Michigan University and her Bachelor of Music degree from Hope College. Kolean has been a finalist or won several local competitions and has worked with numerous well-known artists in master classes and festivals, including performances at Festival Musicale Savinese in Monte San Savino, Italy. Besides teaching and performing, Kolean judges piano competitions in Michigan. She is also the Music Teachers National Association Michigan Young Artists Competition Coordinator; serves on the Executive Board of Holland Piano Forum and directs the Holland Piano Club; and helps with the childrens-education program at her church. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday he wants providers of COVID-19 vaccines to at least schedule appointments for everyone eligible in the first phase of the rollout by March 28. The first phase, dubbed Phase 1A, has been limited to health care workers, senior citizens and those with certain health issues and high-risk conditions. Still, more than 4 million Pennsylvania residents are in that first group and many, including seniors, have struggled to find vaccines. In a news conference Friday, Wolf said he expects everyone in Phase 1A who wants a vaccine should at least have an appointment by the end of the month. Wolf spoke with other members of the bipartisan COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. Were within striking distance of the finish line, Wolf said. President Joe Biden said Thursday night hes directing all states to make all adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines by May 1. Wolf said Friday he said the state should meet that goal. We can meet that timeline, Wolf said. About 2.6 million people in Pennsylvania have received a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 1.3 million have received both doses and are fully vaccinated. (Those numbers include the city of Philadelphia, which is doing its own rollout.) While Wolf outlined a goal of everyone in Phase 1A having an appointment by the end of March, it doesnt mean they will all have shots in arms by that date. Democratic state Rep. Bridget M. Kosierowski, a member of the task force, said by the middle of April, 80% of the population in Phase 1A will be on track to be fully vaccinated. The state has earmarked the first batch of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccines for school staff and child care center workers. The vaccination effort targeting educators is underway. Wolf said he expects the state will have enough Johnson & Johnson vaccines by the end of the month to vaccinate school staff. As school staff are vaccinated, Wolf said Friday additional Johnson & Johnson vaccines would be directed toward regional vaccination clinics. This will help speed up our overall rollout, Wolf said. In addition, Wolf said some Johnson & Johnson vaccines would be reserved for other critical workers, including law enforcement, firefighters, grocery workers, meat processing and agriculture workers. Unions representing state police and corrections officers have said they should get higher priority in the vaccination rollout. So far, about 6,500 teachers have received COVID-19 vaccines, said Randy Padfield, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. In central Pennsylvania, the Capital Area Intermediate Units vaccination site for teachers opened up Thursday. By the end of Friday, 20 of the states 28 intermediate units will be giving shots to educators, with the rest slated to open this weekend, Padfield said. State Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, a member of the COVID-19 Task Force, said the steps outlined Friday show the vaccine rollout is making progress. Today were able to look forward and perhaps get a glimpse at the end, Aument said. The faucet is opening, said state Sen. Art Haywood, D-Philadelphia. The vaccine rollout has received criticism for lagging behind other states, including in vaccinating seniors. Wolf and other members of the bipartisan COVID-19 Task Force said the state is making progress, particularly as the federal vaccine supply has increased. Members of the task force, which includes Democratic and Republican lawmakers, said they have been pleased by the groups ability to make changes. The task force recommended earmarking Johnson & Johnson vaccines for teachers and other school staff as a step in reopening schools that are still operating remotely. Republican Rep. Tim ONeal, a member of the task force, said he wasnt sure what to expect when the task force was initially formed. To be completely forthcoming, its been a wonderful experience, said ONeal, R-Washington County. Ive been extremely pleased with the progress of the task force. Earlier Friday, the Wolf administration announced that the COVID-19 task force has established several subcommittees to deal with different aspects of the pandemic and the states recovery. The new groups are focused on aging, racial equity, business and the workforce and education. More from PennLive The $1.9 trillion stimulus plan: How much will your school district or municipality receive? Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. A group of Canyon High School students gathered Thursday evening to protest the school districts decision to make masks optional. Brittany Soto, a former student and candidate for the Comal Independent School Districts board of trustees candidate, was joined by about 15 students to call on the board to reconsider its decision and to livestream future meetings. A lot of students, teachers and staff are really upset over that because they feel like they didnt have a voice at all, Soto said. On ExpressNews.com: Giving parents choice Comal ISDs board votes to make masks optional after governor drops mandate On Tuesday, the board voted 5-2 to leave it to teachers and parents to decide whether to wear masks on campus. Until then, students and staff members were required to wear masks. The change went into effect Wednesday, coinciding with Gov. Greg Abbotts lifting of his statewide mask mandate. Soto said the board did not inform anyone it was holding the emergency school board meeting. The students held signs reading Masks protect and Make Canyon safe again as they walked to the Comal ISD Support Services building. The students received a mixed reaction to their protest. Some passersby honked in support. Other drivers indicated they disagreed. Canyon senior Joshua Berkien and three other students told their peers they supported the boards decision. Berkien said he thinks the threat of COVID-19 is mostly gone in their area, and that its an illness he and other students on campus can recover from. If I get sick, Ill go home and Ill go quarantine myself, he said. Well quarantine ourselves until were better. Thats how it works, thats how it has always worked. Berkien, however, said he wears his mask when he is around the elderly. But one of the protesters, student Colby Kloehr, said, The threat is not gone, adding that lifting the restriction was ridiculous. Nurse practitioner Rosa Delatorre, 48, encouraged the students to make their concerns known at the next school board meeting. Dont they regulate what you wear to school, what kind of haircut you can have? She asked. So they should regulate the safety measures put in place. Were the only school district in this area that made that choice. Why are we the outliers? Delatorre said the vote was done under the table, and that parents should have been given more time to respond. They could have waited a couple of months for more people to get vaccinated, she said. On ExpressNews.com: Almost every measure to track COVID-19 is trending in the right direction She said she is concerned for her children, one of whom has asthma. All three attend Canyon. I think being in school eight hours a day, they need to be masked, she said. In a letter to parents, Comal ISD board President David Drastata said the board wanted parents and teachers to have a choice. He asked parents to strongly consider following the safety protocols that have been in place all year. Those include including daily health screenings, social distancing and face coverings. He also said the district would continue to enforce its quarantine rules. Neither he nor other trustees responded to phone calls Thursday. As of Thursday, Comal ISD was reporting 41 symptomatic cases districtwide. The district has more than 25,000 students. Comal County was reporting 351 active coronavirus cases. Ma has been lying low for months amid clashes with Chinese regulators. Wang HE/Getty Images Billionaire Jack Ma has been lying low amid a crackdown on his companies by Chinese regulators. Flight records show he has mostly been at home and flying within China, FT exclusively reported. FT's reporting counters rumors that Ma was under house arrest or had fled China. See more stories on Insider's business page. The whereabouts of Jack Ma, the Chinese billionaire who founded Alibaba and Ant Group, have been up in the air since the Chinese government cracked down on his companies in late 2020. But flight records for what is believed to be the businessman's private jet show he has been mostly at home and traveling within China, mostly to Beijing and Hainan, the Financial Times exclusively reported. FT's reporting shows Ma has had access to his jet and dismisses rumors that the billionaire was under house arrest or had fled the country to Singapore. Ma has been laying low for months after publicly criticizing China's financial regulatory system in October, weeks before his fintech firm, Ant Group, was set to go public. The IPO, which would have been the largest in history, was halted in November when China introduced new regulations. In December, China launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba. Ma was spotted in February playing golf at the Sun Valley Golf Resort in Hainan, a tropical island in China, sources told Bloomberg News. It was his first public appearance in two months, easing fears that Ma had been detained. He also made a 50-second video appearance in January during a call where he addressed rural teachers across China. FT reviewed flight logs compiled by Radarbox, a flight tracking company, and matched the records of one jet to Ma's known travel schedule in the three months prior to the crackdown on his companies. Ma was traveling once every three days until he began lying low in October but was traveling just once a week in January and February, FT reported. He appears to have been flying to Beijing to discuss his companies with Chinese regulators, and sources told FT Ma has been directly involved in negotiations over Ant Group. Story continues Insider has reached out to Ant Group and Alibaba for comment. Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider Ammo Grrrll IF TRUE. She writes: Two horrendous phrases barged their way into the common lexicon during the opposition to President Trump, his Supreme Court nominees and especially with the wretched #MeToo Movement: credibly accused was the first one, effectively supplanting innocent until proven guilty, and the second was if true. Heres how if true worked. There would be a wild rumor, touted endlessly on CNN and MSNBC. Someone would say it for example, that a Presidential candidate who was a NOTORIOUS germophobe had urinated on a bed in Russia then the media would have to investigate it because someone had said it. Then as it would start to fall apart, the brainless news-heads would assert, Yeah, but, IF TRUE, that would be a very bad thing. You betcha. I heard (from a guy on a bus) that Joe Biden has regular sex with his dog, which is how he got injured when the dog tried to fend off his advances, even after Joe had gone to the trouble of showering for the occasion. Inspired by Harvey Weinstein, he also tried to get the cat to watch him shower, with no luck. Okay, I have no real evidence except he admitted to chasing his dog and pulling its tail and then he got hurt. And, IF TRUE, that would be really icky. Not that theres anything abby-normal about the Man-Dog Love Association. As long as you get a certificate from PETA that the dog has given consent. The standard for what could maybe be credibly true has fallen so low as to be no standard at all. A gay black actor that not 12 white people in America had ever heard of could call the cops on a frigid night in Chicago and accuse two white men who recognized him in the dark, of throwing bleach on him. All racists just carry rope and bleach on spec, its well known, especially in -25 below zero weather. The miscreants of pallor called him a bad name suggestive of gay leanings and also threw a noose around his neck. And they also warned him that This is MAGA country!? Chicago! Famous bastion of Trump support. The story broke down in about 10 minutes for anyone with a brain, including black people like Charles Barkley and Shaq, but our current West Virginia land-mine activist Vice President, at least one Senator, Spartacus of New Jersey and an otherwise pleasant and sane news personality, Robin Roberts all rushed to the defense of this charlatan and Senator Spartacus suggested that we needed NEW, tougher lynch laws. Never mind that there WAS no lynching, no beating, one tiny cut on Jussies pretty face. He didnt even drop his sammich. Somehow the would-be MAGA lynchers even allowed him to make a phone call during the incident, surely a first for a lynch mob. To this day, Jussie has never been forced to pay for the extensive investigation of that famous Hate Crime, or even to admit he faked the whole thing, including paying black friends (by check!) to pretend to beat him up. He still had the noose around his neck and the sandwich in his hand when the cops got there. Oh, the humanity. Can you imagine if a white actor had made up a similar story about two black attackers and it was proven to be a giant racist lie? I believe that if true that Kamala Harris had slept her way into government service by boinking a married politician, humiliating his wife by carrying on right in public, that that would set a terrible example for young girls everywhere on how to get ahead. Oh wait, that is TOTALLY TRUE!! Willie Browns wife famously pointed out that although Kamala may be the one running around with him, when it came time for Willie to take his oath of office, SHE, the wife would be the b holding the Bible for him. Well, alrighty then. Fighting over Willie Brown puts me in mind of many a Jerry Springer episode where two women went at each other competing for the favors of some obvious loser missing major teeth and sporting a nearly-clean wife-beater undershirt. But, WHY, ladies? Why? Circling back or, more accurately, circling the wagons we come to the fate of one Andrew Cuomo. What a world we live in! One minute you are accepting an Emmy for a book about how great you did with the COVID crisis. You are being touted as a possible back-up Presidential candidate in the unlikely event that Hidin Biden would call a young female citizen a lying, dog-faced pony soldier or mistake his wife for his sister or be unable to remember how many grandchildren he had, or to fail to recall Obamas name and refer to him instead as my boss. Oh wait, again! All those things happened! Well, anyway, once Creepy Porn Lawyer Avenatti, who was on CNN at least 2,760 times, was cast aside as a contender just because he stole money from his vulnerable clients, all eyes turned to Andrew Cuomo to save the Democrats from certain defeat. Heres a lesson he probably should have put on Post-It Notes all over his house and office: Its okay to lie about the President and the help he gave you around COVID. Its okay to hustle every female within your, uh, reach. But DO NOT kill the elderly parents of important Democrats. You can only cry Russian disinformation campaign so many times, and not when the bereaved Democrats are standing over the caskets of their parents who expected to live in their nice Assisted Living units for many more happy years. So Andrew has got to go. BUT its awkward to try to get him for his inept, if deadly, actions around COVID. Because SEVERAL governors, all with big fat Ds after their names, did virtually the same thing. How can we placate the angry Democrat children of the dead elderly New Yorkers without implicating many of our own? Ah, the ever-useful #MeToo weapon! Always available, always at the ready. And here comes the Parade of Horrors purloined kisses, touches on bare backs, bawdy talk, inquiries about whether a young lady has ever experienced older men one, two, five, seven, how many accusers will it take before the plug is pulled? Youve heard of Ready Reserve in your bank account there must be a National Ready Reserve of offended and pawed women who have worked for all the media stars, politicians, movie stars, directors and producers. They all have stories they are itching to tell for their 15 minutes of fame. I am 100 percent consistent in my attitude toward #MeToo. I think ALL the Cuomos are creepy, arrogant, spoiled, entitled jerks. But I have little to no interest in tardy accusations of very minor incidents. I do not believe all women. My Lived Experience has made me very cynical and I believe very few. Oh, I believe things happened because Cuomo is a horndogbut I also believe they put up with it sometimes encouraged it if it benefited them at the time. Will the belated charges be decisive? Cuomo is a fighter. Stay tuned. Ahmed Tilly is an established creative problem solver with 25 years of experience in advertising agencies and is often referred to in the industry as "Mr Nando's", due to the award-winning Nando's campaigns he created in 14 countries around the world. He has judged the Loeries for close to two decades and has also served on international award panels including both the Cannes Lions and New York festivals. CWDi has repositioned the agency to offer a full through the line service and Tilly's contribution is expected to multiply the offering. Congrats on joining forces with CWDi. Could you tell us what your role will entail? How and when did this come about? How do you feel about it? What excites you most about taking on this role? Over the years I have learnt how important people, structures, processes and cultures are in successful creative companies. To able to make a fundamental difference in a creative business is something I cannot resist. You're an established creative problem solver with 25 years of experience. What are your biggest highlights? What do you love most about your career, the industry and what you do? There were patches where I hated advertising, but I chose to change what I hated instead of giving up. Its a decision I make regularly. What is your biggest motivation in life? Could you speak about your vision for moving CWDi forward? The greatest currency any agency has is creativity and big-idea thinking Thank you! Its so exciting to have CWDi onboard as one of my clients. CWDi has embarked on a journey to transition into a big ideas company that delivers great creative solutions irrespective of platform or media. This is something I believe will carry the business into the next phase of its journey.I was brought on to challenge the thinking within the agency, help improve the quality of the creative product and by doing so help the agency grow. A tall ask but something I believe I can achieve, which is why I accepted the challenge.I was approached by Lesley Waterkeyn to have a chat about her business. The conversation just felt right. I was excited by a business leader who sees the potential for growth in every aspect of her business and by her commitment to positive change. And most importantly, our shared passion for great creativity.This role requires a shifting of the needle. I have always been motivated by change more than I am by maintaining a certain standard. To be part of a transition is both challenging and hugely rewarding.My role will be to implement some of these at CWDi so that the company can revolutionise its creative approach and in doing so its creative product.I have been blessed with many highlights in my career. However, if I have to single-out one, it would have to be starting Black River FC in 2005 as a completely unknown entity in the South African creative landscape and growing it into an exciting agency that consistently created some of the most talked about campaigns in South Africa. Also, to see young talent rise through the Black River FC ranks and go on to become the accomplished professionals they are today is most rewarding.I fell in love with advertising when I started studying for it and the love never stopped.My current role as a consultant has reinvigorated my passion because it has given me the privilege of working with so many different people, different agencies, marketers and different types of projects. Im now helping companies help their people deliver strategically sound, creatively inspiring work. My greatest source of joy is being able to share the knowledge Ive acquired so widely.There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing people grow, helping them find their best selves and improving their lives whilst doing it. I wake up every day with the intention of helping someone be better by sharing what Ive learnt. Its that simple.CWDi has great clients, great people and a can-do attitude. Id like to see CWDi break loose from its past by embracing a future where it becomes the agency its clients turn to for smart creative solutions.. CWDi has the appetite for this, so I have no doubt that it will be the agency that produces world-class ideas that are media agnostic. I will do everything in power to help make this a reality. 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 12, 2021] Fiibot Launches a Crypto Futures Investment Fund To Make The Investing Process Simple, Secure, And Transparent Tortola, British Virgin Islands, March 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A state-of-the-art crypto futures investment fund with a unique AI-based technology helping investors gain steady income on a daily basis. (AMLP) Since crypto futures have been around for a while already, there are many traders that have tested their skills in this risky business, mostly with disappointing results. Indeed, this highly manipulative and volatile market leaves small chances for a fair game and makes even the most stubborn players eventually give up. If this is your case, Fiibot may change your attitude by offering an innovative solution to avoid all these pitfalls. What are crypto futures? Just like the futures in the traditional stock markets, crypto futures are derivative products. They represent a contract between two parties obliging them to buy or sell a given cryptocurrency on a predefined date at a predefined price, regardless of what the market state will be that day. In their essence, crypto futures are a bet, as one may never be 100% sure about what the price of an asset will be, especially on such a volatile market. Also, some platforms offer crypto futures with leverage. In this case, instead of funding a trade upfront, investors borrow funds that make up just a small portion of the whole sum. If their bet wins, they get the full sum. Otherwise, they lose only the small part that they have funded. Apart from potentially high profits, crypto futures bear another advantage as they may be a good solution for those who want to diversify their investment portfolio. However, theres another side of the coin as well. Top 5 problems in crypto futures trading There are a number of typical problems that traders and investors regularly come across when trading crypto futures. Among them are the following: High risks With the current level of volatility and unpredictability of the crypto market, crypto futures represent one of the riskiest tools that traders get exposure to. The dramatic statistics show that more than 90% of all traders lose the lions share of their deposits in the first year. The opacity of centralized trading platforms Although centralized cryptocurrency exchanges offering futures among other products operate with blockchain-based assets, they lack the transparency offered by this exquisite technology. Traders have no means to verify the asset prices which leaves a lot of room for dark manipulations. High diversity of the market. CoinMarketCap lists more than 8k of different cryptocurrencies already, and their number constantly keeps growing. Spotting an opportunity in the conditions of such high diversity is a really difficult task. No convenient way to track historical data Since the number of platforms is also huge, investors simply dont have the technical capabilities to track the historical prices of all assets and see the whole picture. This prevents them from making weighted decisions and makes them fall short of potential profits. Difficulties in conducting arbitrage trading Transferring funds between different platforms to make gains on th differences in assets prices is a complicated task when handled manually, let alone the chances to find these opportunities. As you may see, the problems are aplenty, and they can scare off even experienced players. However, dont rush to give up on the whole enterprise. Fiibot offers a solution to traders and investors Fiibot releases a crypto futures investment fund that can help traders forget about all these pains. Its key goal is to help seasoned investors and newbie traders diversify their portfolios with crypto futures and get steady passive income while minimizing the risks. Heres what makes achieving these goals possible: Automatization : Fiibot team has developed the Algorithmic Machine Learning Protocol to spot trading opportunities, conduct them in a fully automated way and thus exclude chances for human errors. : Fiibot team has developed the Algorithmic Machine Learning Protocol to spot trading opportunities, conduct them in a fully automated way and thus exclude chances for human errors. Secured by smart contract : investors funds are locked in both Erc20 & Trc20 smart contract. : investors funds are locked in both Erc20 & Trc20 smart contract. Calculated risk : Fiibot relies on the well-tested low-risk scalping strategy which implies setting up small orders in milliseconds that result in small but steady profits and bring the risks down to the minimum. : Fiibot relies on the well-tested low-risk scalping strategy which implies setting up small orders in milliseconds that result in small but steady profits and bring the risks down to the minimum. High-frequency trading : to increase profits, Fiibot implements another technology to process a large number of small transactions in milliseconds. : to increase profits, Fiibot implements another technology to process a large number of small transactions in milliseconds. High-speed infrastructure : the platform entrusts its infrastructure to Amazon Cloud which ensures processing trading data with zero latency with no errors. : the platform entrusts its infrastructure to Amazon Cloud which ensures processing trading data with zero latency with no errors. Big data analysis : Fiibot relies on the historical market data that has been gathered across multiple exchanges over the past 10 years. It has a robust basis to analyze trends and make precise predictions. : Fiibot relies on the historical market data that has been gathered across multiple exchanges over the past 10 years. It has a robust basis to analyze trends and make precise predictions. Full transparency : the underlying blockchain technology makes the whole process transparent and verifiable. : the underlying blockchain technology makes the whole process transparent and verifiable. Only 60% of the deposit is used for active trading : the rest is used as collateral to protect your money against sudden drops of the market. : the rest is used as collateral to protect your money against sudden drops of the market. Livestream trading:watch how Fiibot operates on Binance 23 hrs a day via Livestream. With all these features, Fiibot represents a state-of-the-art solution that helps to minimize risks and maximize profits in a fully automated and transparent manner. Want to give it a try? Getting started with Fiibot is pretty simple. Follow the step-by-step guide below: Go to Fiibots website. Select one of the 3 offered plans that differ in the level of risk and the expected ROI. Create an account and sign up using one of the supported smart wallets: Trust wallet (ERC20) Huobi DApp wallet (ERC20) Metamask (ERC20) Tronlink (TRC20) Upload funds to the smart contract. Note that the funds will be locked for the first 7 days to ensure that the sum is sufficient to execute the orders. Withdrawals also will be locked during this period. Withdraw your profits on a daily basis. About Fiibot Fiibot is an innovative crypto futures trading system that was created by the parent company Futures Intellectual Investment (or shortly Fii) located in San Francisco. Its team members include seasoned entrepreneurs, traditional commodity analysts, crypto traders, and data scientists that have worked in such commodity trading giants as JP Morgan, APMEX, and Baird & Co. Fii develops the worlds first trading system leveraging high-frequency trading, AMLP, and smart contracts to make the investment process more transparent and secure. What you have to know before you start investing Are my funds secure? In the core of Fiibots platform, the underlying technology Erc20 & Trc20 smart contract that locks investors funds and prevents any theft. Note that Fiibot has no access to your private keys. Do I have to pass the KYC procedure? Yes, Fiibot requires full authorization since it is compliant with the local legal standards. How much can I invest with Fiibot? You can invest any sum between 10 and 500,000 USDT. Want to get your fair profits with crypto futures? Sign up at Fiibot following the link below and start earning crypto today! Company: Futures Intellectual Investment limited Website: www.fiibot.com Telegram Group: https://t.me/Fiibotteam Telegram Channel: https://t.me/Fiibotchannel Telegram : https://t.me/Teamfii Media Details Company: Fiibot Email: cs@fiibot.com Website: http://www.fiibot.com Attachment Fiibot [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Negotiators in Portland police contract talks argued this week over whether the city has the right to create a civilian police oversight board that could independently discipline officers. Steve Schuback, a private labor attorney serving as the city lead negotiator, and Deputy City Attorney Heidi Brown contended Wednesday that the city can decide who investigates police and who imposes discipline. They said the civilian oversight board approved by voters in November and now in the planning phase -- would investigate certain misconduct allegations and issue discipline directly to an officer, independent of the police chief. Were trying to come forward with the fact that our full intent is that there will be a board that will impose discipline, at some point in time, Schuback said. Attorney Anil Karia, representing the Portland Police Association, said he couldnt understand how the city is trying to negotiate the discipline grievance process for the contract when the city hasnt set parameters yet for the future oversight boards powers. We cant bargain the impacts of something when we have no idea what the it is, Karia said. Further, he said, the union holds that the citys creation of such a board alters the police disciplinary process and must be negotiated as part of collective bargaining. I can show you reams of case law from both the (state Employment Relations Board) and from throughout the country that changes to the disciplinary systems are a mandatory bargaining subject, he said. The union cited a decision last month by the Employment Relations Board in a Portland Public Schools case that found both the standard for disciplining employees and the procedures and guidelines for discipline are mandatory subjects for bargaining. The state labor board also cited a Portland Fire Fighters Association case against the city of Portland from 1995. Brown countered that the city is only changing who issues the discipline not the disciplinary process. The city, though, is open to negotiating how officers challenge discipline imposed by the new board, she said. Were talking about the management right to determine -- not the process -- but the person that makes the (discipline) decision, Brown said. The city disagrees with you that we are making a change to the disciplinary process. The union last year filed an unfair labor practice objection to the citys plan to create a civilian oversight board without having negotiated the change. Ill have to figure out a way to understand how getting rid of a current disciplinary system and replacing it with a new system is merely just changing people, Karia said. Wednesday marked the third public session of contract talks, held via Zoom video conference. It came a day after the city urged Oregon lawmakers to adopt Senate Bill 621, essentially legislation to ensure that Portlands new police oversight board can operate unimpeded by the state Employment Relations Board or a labor arbitrator. The bill also would acknowledge the citys management rights to create such a board. What this bill does is really provide us certainty about whether or not we need to bargain this, Brown told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. If there are any impacts that would require bargaining ... we would then address that at the time that the board is ready to actually get set up, Brown said. Darren Golden, who lobbied for the civilian oversight board through the Real Police Accountability PAC, told lawmakers that the support of 82% of voters in November for the new board marked a culmination of decades of work' by advocates who have dreamed of a better way to hold police accountable. The Portland City Council is working to fill a 20-member volunteer commission that is expected to meet for a year and a half to come up with the structure, makeup and parameters of a new board. Jason Renaud, board secretary of the Mental Health Association of Oregon, testified in support of the bill, saying, Cities and counties are the owners of police departments. And so they should be highly engaged in oversight and holding officers accountable. Chloe Becker, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, called the voter-approved board a response to the crisis of confidence that people in Portland have with the ability of police to police themselves. Scott Winkels, a lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, and Shiloh Phelps , whose 22-year-old son Bodhi Phelps was shot and killed by Gresham police in 2016 , said the bill will not only help Portland but allow other cities to pursue similar boards that investigate and discipline their officers. Winkels said any discipline issued by a civilian board would still have to adhere to a discipline matrix or guide each city adopts. Michael Selvaggio, lobbyist for Oregon Coalition of Police and Sheriffs, called the bill an attempt by Portland to do an end-run around the state collective bargaining law at a time when the city is in contract talks with the police union. When the Legislature enacted the states collective bargaining law in 1973, it did so in order to ensure that the process balanced the interests of management and labor unions that collectively represent public employees, Selvaggio said. Passing Senate Bill 621 would be a terribly dangerous precedent to set. Indeed, every local government would now feel compelled to come to the Legislature to change the rules to tilt the scales entirely in managements favor at the local level bargaining tables, which would necessarily disenfranchise employees and their ability to meaningfully bargain over their working conditions,' he said. Another topic raised Wednesday during Portlands contract talks with the police union: Whether an officer facing an ongoing internal investigation into a complaint but in line for a promotion should be passed over for the promotion. Schuback questioned how the city could promote someone to a higher classification with more pay and authority if theyre under investigation. The union argued that there have been officers facing low-level complaints who have been passed over for promotion until after a complaint is cleared, which often can take months. Theres also been officers placed in acting supervisory roles, such as an acting sergeants job, who oversee a critical incident and then are passed over for promotion if that incident comes under internal investigation, and once cleared, have lost six to eight months of seniority because of a delayed promotion, Hunzeker said. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - German banking major Deutsche Bank AG disclosed in its annual report that total compensation awarded to its employees in 2020 was 10.1 billion euros, flat year-on-year. Variable compensation, Group and individual components, rose 29% to 1.9 billion euros driven by financial performance and delivery on targets. Fixed compensation declined by 6% to 7.5 billion euros, driven by workforce reductions, and offset by a rise in variable compensation. The company noted that nearly half of variable compensation awarded in respect of 2020 will be paid out in future years, the highest proportion in five years, and up from 36% in 2019. The Management Board, comprising ten members on a full-year equivalent basis, received total compensation of 50.0 million euros for 2020, versus 36.0 million euros in 2019, when the Management Board comprised eight members on a full-year equivalent basis. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, the total compensation of the Management Board was reduced by a total of 4.6 million euros. This included a reduction in the Group Component and an additional reduction in total compensation of one twelfth. The total compensation of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board was also reduced by one twelfth in 2020. In addition, many senior executives voluntarily waived compensation equal to a month's salary. The bank reaffirms its 2022 financial plan, including its target for Return on Tangible Equity of 8%. In 2021, the bank expects revenues to be marginally lower than in 2020, reflecting an anticipated normalization of volatility and industry volumes in investment banking after the high levels of 2020. The bank foresees growth resuming in 2022 in line with guidance provided at the Investor Deep Dive in December. Deutsche Bank continues to expect that from 2022, execution against financial targets will enable the distribution of 5 billion euros to shareholders over time. As announced, management does not plan to propose a dividend in respect of 2020. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX DEUTSCHE BANK-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de During his first primetime televised speech, President Joe Biden emphasized protecting Asian-Americans, who have been victims of hate crimes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. "Vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans, who have been targeted, threatened, accused, and demonised," Biden said while delivering his speech at the East Room of the White House. Biden added that many Asian-Americans are on the pandemic's front line to save lives while fearing for their own lives. "It's wrong, it's un-American and it must stop." Biden denounces hate, violence against Asian-Americans Biden's remarks came only one day after his predecessor, Donald Trump, in a tweet that sought credit for the rapid growth of COVID-19 vaccines, once again used the racist word "China flu." On day 6 of his administration, the President signed an executive order titled "Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Toward Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the US," to put an end to the use of the word. Read also: Kamala Harris Ignores Cuomo's Sexual Harassment Case After the address, Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, whose wife is Korean-American, applauded Biden's sentiment. Hogan tweeted that his family appreciated Biden's remarks condemning the rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans and included a snapshot of his mixed-race family. "It is truly 'un-American,' and it must come to an end." Stop APPI Hate announced in February that from March 19, 2020, to the end of last year, it received 2,808 firsthand reports of anti-Asian hatred from 47 states and Washington, D.C. According to his relatives, in January, an 84-year-old Asian-American man was killed in a racially targeted attack in San Francisco. Meanwhile, the video of 19-year-old Antoine Watson slamming Vicha Ratanapakdee to the ground went viral, Daily Mail reported. Read also: Biden on Infrastructure: Can He Accomplish What the Two Former Presidents Failed to Finish? Anti-Asian assaults rose amid the COVID-19 pandemic According to The Hill, Biden addressed the grim reality of a year of pandemic and lockdown during his first primetime speech as president from the White House, saying that every American has suffered some loss. The president went on to say that while members of the AAPI group in the United States serve on the front lines of the pandemic every day, they also fear for their personal safety going down the street in the country. According to NBC News, violent attacks against Asian-Americans increased by nearly 150 percent last year in major cities, especially New York City and Los Angeles. Violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders increased after the coronavirus pandemic, thought to have arisen in Wuhan, China, and reached the United States in early 2020. After the COVID-19 pandemic started, more than 3,000 hate crimes against the AAPI community have been recorded, which Democratic lawmakers and community leaders claimed are related to politicians' anti-Asian rhetoric. Between 2019 and 2020, police in major cities across the U.S. have seen an increase in Asian-targeted hate crimes. Last year, the NYPD's hate crime task force reported 28 anti-Asian assaults compared to only two in 2019. Based on the data gathered by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism in California, Los Angeles had 15 cases in 2020, up from seven in 2019, and Denver had three attacks, the first in six years, as per the NY Post report. Read also: Key Takeaways With President Biden's Primetime Speech @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, file photo, police speak with protesters at the First Unitarian church, in Louisville, Ky. It could become a crime to taunt a police officer in Kentucky, under a bill that passed the state Senate on Thursday, March 11, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) FRANKFORT, Ky (AP) It could become a crime to taunt a police officer in Kentucky, under a bill that passed the state Senate on Thursday. The measure was filed months after Louisville, the state's largest city, became the site of huge protests in the wake of the police killing of Breonna Taylor. The bill passed the Republican-dominated Senate 22-11 and now awaits House input. Under the legislation, anyone who accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words, or by gestures or other physical contact, that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response would be guilty of a misdemeanor and face up to 90 days in jail and fines. The proposal also increases penalties for rioting. For instance, those charged with rioting would be required to be held for a minimum of 48 hours. Another provision would criminalize aiming a light, a laser pointer, an activated horn or other noise-making device towards the head of a first responder. Several Republican senators who voted against the bill shared concerns that some parts of it would violate First Amendment rights and strain the judicial system. Nevertheless, they signaled support for the bill if some parts of it were amended in the House. Bill filed in response to last summer's Louisville protests State Sen. Danny Carroll, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said he filed the proposal in response to last summer's Louisville protests against police brutality and racial injustice. Demonstrations some of which turned violent were a frequent occurrence, as protesters called for charges to be brought against the officers involved in Taylor's death. Many gathered peacefully in Jefferson Square Park in downtown Louisville for weeks. Dubbed Injustice Square by protesters, it became an impromptu hub during months of demonstrations. Taylor, a Black woman, was shot in her Louisville home multiple times by police during a botched drug raid. A grand jury indicted one officer on wanton endangerment charges in September for shooting into a neighbors apartment, but no officers were charged in connection with her death. Police had a no-knock warrant but said they knocked and announced their presence before entering Taylors apartment, a claim some witnesses have disputed. No drugs were found in Taylors apartment. Republicans hold supermajorities in both the House and Senate. Democratic lawmakers warned that the proposal could be used to unfairly target peaceful protesters. State Sen. Gerald Neal, a Democrat who represents Louisville, called the legislation unnecessary and unreasonable." This is a hammer on my district, Neil said. I personally resent it. This is beneath this body. Hyderabad, March 12 : In a major operation undertaken early Friday, Rachakonda Commissionerate police have detained 90 youngsters from a rave party organised at a farm house near the city. The detained youngsters include techies, college students, and also two women, who had purchased tickets for the event. Apart from seizing sizeable quantities of drugs and alcohol, the police said they arrested seven organisers, including the farmhouse owner. While the organisers were slapped with charges under various sections of NDPS Act and Telangana Excise Act among others, those who partook in the rave party have been charged with sections 188 and 294 of the IPC and were produced in court. Rachakonda police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagvat said that the organisers had advertised the event on social media and had deliberately planned for it to coincide with Shivaratri festival as the bulk of police personnel would be tied up with extra policing duties during the festive occasions. To keep off the party off the police radar, the organisers selected a remote farmhouse at Narayanpur in Yadadri-Bhongir district. On receiving a tip-off, Bhongir Zone's special operations team sprang into action and raided the premises. The police confiscated 400 gram of Ganja, 3 blots of LSD, and few grams of an unidentified drug apart from liquor bottles. Among other things the police also confiscated mobile phones, cameras, laptops, DJ music systems, 30 motorbikes, 15 cars, and a generator-mounted vehicle. The accused have been identified as Girish Dhaduvai, Cholleti Sharath Chandra, Shaik Umar Farooq, Jakkidi Srikar Reddy, and his father Dhanwanth Reddy who owns the farmhouse. One more accused person has been identified as Balemula Prem, who allegedly supplied the narcotic substances. The seventh accused is Syed Arman Ali Reza of Delhi, who managed the music arrangements for the event. As per preliminary inquiries, the main accused had organised a similar event in Warangal district. Sen. Rick Scott to Meet With Trump at Mar-a-Lago Amid Growing Tensions With GOP Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the new chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), is set to meet with former President Donald Trump at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida this week amid growing tensions between the GOPs political committees. Scott, a former two-term Florida governor, was an early endorser for Trumps bid for president in 2015 and has remained loyal to the former business mogul. He was also the only member of Senate Republican leadership to vote in favor of challenging the 2020 election results to favor Trumps repeated claims of election fraud. In an interview with the Miami Herald, Scott said that he hopes to use the meeting to reinforce the need for Trump to work with the NRSC as Republicans look to win back their Senate majority next year. I want to be an additive, I want us all to row the boats in the same direction, Scott said. My goal is to tell the [former] president what Im doing. Ive talked to him, and he tells me he wants to be helpful to me. Hes committed to Republicans taking back a majority in the U.S. Senate. His upcoming meeting with Trump comes amid growing tensions between the former President and the GOPs political committees, including the Republican National Committee (RNC), the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), and the NRSC over fundraising. On Monday, the former president issued a statement on his official website urging donors to direct contributions to his leadership PAC Save America rather than to the GOPs political committees. No more money for RINOS. They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting basethey will never lead us to Greatness. Send your donation to Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com. We will bring it all back stronger than ever before! Trump wrote. President Donald Trump before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on May 29, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) However, Trump issued a second statement the following day stating that he supports the Republican Party and its affiliated groups, but would work to withhold money from so-called RINOs, or Republicans in name only. He also criticized them for using his likeness or image to raise funds. So much money is being raised and completely wasted by people that do not have the GOPs best interests in mind. If you donate to our Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com, you are helping the America First movement and doing it right. We will WIN, and we will WIN BIG! Our Country is being destroyed by the Democrats! the former president said. As the new chairman of the Mitch McConnell-aligned NRSC, Scott is in charge of spearing the GOPs effort to take back the Senate, putting him in a delicate position with Trump, who has openly mocked McConnell since the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Scott has vowed to support GOP Senate incumbents, including those that Trump is hoping to oust in 2022, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who was among seven Republican senators who voted to convict him in his second impeachment trial last month. Last week, Trump vowed to travel to Alaska to campaign against Murkowski, a longtime critic of his, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. In a statement to Politico on Saturday, Trump said: I will not be endorsing, under any circumstances, the failed candidate from the great State of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski. She represents her state badly and her country even worse. I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will bein Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday announced more stringent measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, with strict border surveillance and a ban on political rallies Sonoma County, which has been stuck in the most restrictive tier of Californias reopening system since it was established in August, will soon see some relief. The county advanced from the purple tier into the less restrictive red tier on Sunday. The move was based on a recent modification to the states reopening blueprint that incorporates vaccine equity, California officials said Friday. That means Sonoma County restaurants can open for indoor dining for the first time in six months. Museums and gyms can also move activities inside, and movie theaters can reopen. Contra Costa County, the only other Bay Area county that remained in the purple tier last week, also moved to red on Sunday. Sonoma County stands alone as the only place in the region that had never moved out of the purple tier, even in last falls lull between surges. San Francisco dropped all the way to the yellow tier the least restrictive while Sonoma County remained purple, largely due to stubbornly high cases among residents in hard-hit communities. But even as public health and business leaders said they were eager to finally move out of the most restrictive tier, after a year of ups and downs not everyone in the county is scrambling to reopen. Were not going to rush to open indoors even though wed be able to, said Chad Richard, co-owner of Furthermore Wines in Sebastopol. Several wineries in Sonoma County built outdoor spaces for visitors during the pandemic and if the weather remains amiable, there may not be an immediate demand for indoor seating at tasting rooms. Richard said his winerys expanded outdoor seating has left it with roughly the same capacity for visitors that it had pre-pandemic with indoor seating. Well reevaluate on having people inside once our staff is fully vaccinated, Richard said. There are four tiers in Californias reopening blueprint, based on how widespread the virus is. The move to red opens the door to advancing quickly through the rest of the tiers, allowing increased business reopenings and loosening restrictions on activities. The tier assignments are based on a countys daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents and its positive test rate. Earlier this month, California officials said they would adjust the blueprint structure to make it easier for counties to move to less restrictive tiers based on how well the state does at vaccinating people living in low-income and otherwise disadvantaged communities that have had the highest rates of infection throughout the pandemic. On Friday, the state announced that it had administered 2 million doses to people in those communities, which triggered the new tier structure. Based on the new metrics, 13 counties statewide moved from the purple to red tier, including Sonoma and Contra Costa counties; Los Angeles County also moved to red. The tier assignments went into effect on Sunday. The tier metrics will loosen again once the state reaches 4 million doses. Each countys progression could also be jeopardized if case and positive rates start climbing back up. Both Contra Costa and Sonoma county officials said they would align with the states reopening guidelines once they move to the red tier. Previously, some counties had kept in place certain restrictions as extra caution to prevent increases in cases. Given that we have been in the purple tier for all this time, we will align with the state, said Dr. Sundari Mase, the Sonoma County health officer. We dont see any red flags. She recently urged county businesses to implement randomized staff testing to prepare for the resumption of some in-person business operations. More than 70 small businesses in Sonoma County have shuttered during the pandemic, the Economic Development Board says. The county also was hammered by the worst fire seasons in California history, which further impacted local wineries and other businesses. But many business owners in the county said they plan to take a conservative approach to reopening. The owners of Valley Bar & Bottle, a restaurant in downtown Sonoma, said they feel very good about the prospect of moving into the red tier, but that they wouldnt be opening for indoor dining right away. We want to make sure our staff has had their second dose before we decrease any safety precautions, said co-owner Emma Lipp, noting that all of the restaurants staff have had at least one vaccine dose so far. We have a lot of outdoor space, and being indoors just doesnt feel quite right to us yet. Richard that hes noticed wine tasters tolerance for inclement weather has increased since the pandemic began. People used to be sensitive to being outside even when it was just a little cloudy, Richard said. But now, if it starts to rain, nobody flinches. Julie Rothberg, president of Medlock Ames Winery in Healdsburg, said the move into the red tier would probably make visitors feel more comfortable with the idea of going wine tasting. With the positive news about all adults being offered vaccines by the end of May, weve seen a groundswell of interest in people near and far wanting to spend time in Wine Country, said Rothberg. Moving into the red tier will continue to increase the comfort level across the board. Although Medlock Ames tasting room in Healdsburgs Alexander Valley has lots of outdoor space, Rothberg said the winery looked forward to adding indoor wine tastings once it is cleared by the county. Mase said she hoped Sonoma County residents would see the red tier move as the light at the end of the tunnel. We have been in the purple since day one of the blueprint, she said. This is going to bring a huge amount of optimism for our residents. Aidin Vaziri and Esther Mobley are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com emobley@sfchronicle.com As more people in New Jersey continue to become vaccinated with more than 2.5 million doses already administered you might be wondering if you can donate blood or plasma. Heres what you need to know about donating blood or plasma after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the American Red Cross. Q: How urgent is the need for blood right now? It changes constantly, which is why theres always a constant need for blood, but it depends on the demand from hospitals, said Diane Concannon, the communications director for the Red Crosss New Jersey region. Recent inclement weather and storms across the country have forced blood drives to be cancelled, leaving typically collected blood now uncollected, she said. Q: Can I donate blood if Ive received a COVID-19 vaccine? Yes. Youll need to provide the manufacturer name when you come to donate. There is no deferral time for eligible blood donors who are symptom free and feeling well at the time of donation who have been vaccinated with an inactivated or RNA based vaccine. The vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca, Janssen/J&J, Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer are all inactivated or RNA-based vaccines. Q: Can I donate blood if I dont know which COVID-19 vaccine Ive received? Yes, but you must wait two weeks before giving blood if youve either received a live attenuated COVID-19 vaccine or dont know which vaccine youve received. Q: Can I donate convalescent plasma after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine? No, you cannot currently donate plasma. The FDA has updated its guidance regarding convalescent plasma donor eligibility related to a COVID-19 vaccine, but the Red Cross said its evaluating the feasibility and timeline to implement this update. Q: I havent received a COVID-19 vaccine. Can I still donate blood? Yes. But the Red Cross has asked donors to postpone donations for 14 days following a diagnosis of COVID-19, a positive diagnostic test for the virus, or any symptoms of the virus. Q: If I donate blood after getting the vaccine, does it reduce my protection against the virus? No, it does not reduce a donors protection from the virus, similar to other vaccines, the COVID-19 vaccine is designed to generate an immune response, Concannon said. Q: Where can I donate blood in New Jersey? You can schedule a donation and find a blood drive near you at the Red Crosss website. For more information regarding donating blood or plasma, visit the Red Crosss FAQ page here. Q: Is there anything else I should know about donating blood? Blood donation is safe and it is essential, Concannon said. It must come from donors. In New Jersey, Im proud to say that yes, we do see the generosity of people and they step forward to help others because theres no greater gift, she added. Its the gift of life. 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. Many of the restrictions are anathema to the usual free-flowing St. Patricks Day festivity: Customers must wear masks at all times except when seated and actively eating or drinking; drinks can only be ordered while seated; dancing isnt allowed; activities such as darts and pool are permitted, but patrons cannot eat or drink while doing them and must wear face coverings. Bars and restaurants also remain beholden to capacity limits, which are currently set at 50% or 50 people per space, whichever is less. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Glycomics is the study of carbohydrates and carbohydrate-containing biomolecules in biological processes such as cell recognition, immune response, cell-to-cell interaction, infection and inflammation. Glycan microarrays, carbohydrate chemistry, and high-throughput mass spectroscopy are the advanced technologies that assist in order to unfold the complexity resulting from this diversity. The global glycomics market was 727 million USD in 2018 and will reach 1532.35 million USD by 2025 with a CAGR of 10.62% during the period. Growth by Region North America has dominated the market owing to huge investments in biotechnology. Asia Pacific will grow significantly due to growth in industrial development and increasing funding in R&D. For more information about this report to click Here:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3966 Drivers vs Constraints The rising investment on R&D by pharmaceutical and biotech companies, increasing funding by public and private organizations for glycomic research are the key factors for the growth of the market. However, lack of awareness about the importance of glycomics restrains the growth of the market. Get Full Access Summary Buy Now:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3966/Single Industry Trends and Updates Shimadzu and PREMIER Biosoft said they will support the combination of each other's technologies to advance lipidomics and glycomics research. The Copenhagen Center for Glycomics and Desktop Genetics are collaborating to test and improve a tool for analyzing mutations generated by CRISPR nucleases. Request For Report Discount:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/3966 About Us Trends Market Research has the distinguished objective of providing the optimal quality market research reports to clients. Our market research studies by products, services, applications, technologies, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to know more, see more, and do more, which further help answer the important questions you have about the industry. Our Research Analysts are eager to share their knowledge and assist you in making strategic decisions and to lead you company toward a greater endeavour. We bridge the gap between our clients and their clients by identifying and decoding just the target group, while generating leads with the highest accuracy. Why select TMR Trends Market Research can assist you with identifying the key opportunities to boost your business growth exponentially. We have a diligent team of analysts specialized in specific industries to assist you with your mission and vision for the future. From market reports to customer service to our internal mechanism, we live by quality and pour our heart and soul into maintaining it. Contact Us: One Vincent Square Westminster, London SW1P 2PN United Kingdom Email: sales@trendsmarketresearch.com Website: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 77F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. AUSTIN, Minn. An Iowa man gets probation for dealing methamphetamine in Mower County. Jon Thomas Faas, 32 of Alexander, IA, was sentenced Thursday to five years of supervised probation and fined $1,000. He was arrested in December 2019 and eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree sale of drugs. The Southeast Minnesota Drug Task Force says Faas sold 30.92 grams of meth to a confidential informant in Austin. Court records show Faas was convicted of a second-degree drug crime in Mower County in 2015. South Africa: Deputy President confident SA will meet its vaccination demand Deputy President David Mabuza believes that South Africa will meet its COVID-19 vaccination demands as the government wraps up negotiation contracts with drug makers. The Deputy President made this declaration during the virtual South African National Aids Council (SANAC) plenary this morning. Meanwhile, he admitted that the inoculation acquisition has been a very difficult journey given the shortage of global vaccine supply. He told delegates that the country faced challenges of negotiating onerous and tough contractual terms imposed by the vaccine manufacturers. While the process of vaccine acquisition and procurement will require agility and speed to meet our domestic vaccination demands, we are confident of meeting our targeted projections based on negotiations currently underway to access vaccines through various institutional platforms, he said on Friday. Deputy President Mabuza also took the opportunity to commend Minister Zweli Mkhize and the team for their job well done as they continue to work under demanding circumstances. In the end, we will overcome as a country, he vowed. Alongside efforts to accelerate the countrys comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), the Deputy President has called on delegates to support governments vaccination programme aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 and reduce deaths. Over and above non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as continuous sanitisation of hands, social distancing and avoiding high spreader gatherings, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines will help us to reach population immunity so that more people are immune against the virus. He said the plan has comprehensively mapped out storage, distribution and immunisation sites that will ensure equitable access to lifesaving vaccines by everyone irrespective of where they live. The phases of the plan provide clear categorisation and prioritisation of various population groups to be targeted over the period of the vaccination process until the country achieves the desired population immunity. The Deputy President, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccines, appointed by President Cyril said the team has been providing leadership and overseeing the distribution. Meanwhile, the Health Department and National Treasury have been leading negotiations with global vaccine manufacturers to ensure that the country has enough jabs for the distribution plan to succeed, he added. Future pandemics In the meantime, he said South Africa has taken a firm view, and commitment to building its own capabilities for research, innovation, development and local production of vaccines. According to the Deputy President, this will ensure that the country is better prepared for outbreaks and pandemics such as COVID-19, HIV and AIDS, TB and other communicable diseases. We need to leverage existing capacities and foster collaborative platforms for vaccine research and innovation among universities, the scientific community and global partners to position South Africa as one of the leaders in vaccine research, development, and manufacturing. He told SANAC that it remains an essential institutional coordination platform to deepen multi-sectoral collaboration in the fight against HIV, TB and STIs and COVID-19. For it to be effective, we have a responsibility to strengthen governance systems, and mobilise resources to execute the tasks at hand. Catch-up plan He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the accelerated national response to HIV and TB. However, he said government is encouraged by the catch-up plans aimed at ensuring that the country does not fall behind in reaching its targets. As we will be commemorating the World TB Day, which provides us an opportunity to educate the public about the impact of TB around the world, and raise awareness about efforts to prevent the spread of the epidemic. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Around 30 students have been kidnapped from a forestry college in the northwest Nigerian state of Kaduna, according to the state's security commissioner on Friday (March 12). It's the fourth mass school abduction in the country since December. The Federal College of Forestry Mechanization sits on the outskirts of Kaduna city - a region where banditry has festered for years. Kaduna state's security commissionersaid that an armed gang attacked the college at around 11:30 p.m. local time on Thursday (March 11). He said the army rescued some 180 people in the early hours of Friday but that, quote, "about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for." One local resident said he'd heard sporadic gunshots, which he initially thought were military exercises from the nearby Nigerian Defence Academy. The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram. But it has since been taken up by armed criminal gangs seeking ransom. Military and police attempts to tackle the gangs have had little success so far. Many worry that authorities are exacerbating the situation by letting kidnappers go unpunished, paying them off or providing incentives. Video Transcript - [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] - Around 30 students have been kidnapped from a forestry college in the Northwest Nigerian state of Kaduna, according to the state security commissioner on Friday. It's the fourth mass school abduction in the country since December. The Federal College of Forestry Mechanization sits on the outskirts of Kaduna City, a region where banditry has festered for years. Kaduna state security commissioner said that an armed gang attacked the college at around 11:30 PM local time on Thursday. He said that the army rescued some 180 people in the early hours of Friday, but that, quote, "about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for." One local resident said he'd heard sporadic gunshots, which he initially thought were military exercises from the nearby Nigerian Defense Academy. The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, but it has since been taken up by armed criminal gangs seeking ransom. Military and police attempts to tackle the gangs have had little success so far. Many worry that authorities are exacerbating the situation by letting kidnappers go unpunished, paying them off, or providing incentives. STAY SAFE, STATEN ISLAND: This story is part of a series examining crime trends in communities across our borough. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Staten Islands got a car-theft problem. Its been going on for a while and exploded during the pandemic. The thieves are still at it in 2021. But heres the thing: Unlike most crimes, this is one regular borough residents can bring to a screeching halt. It entails nothing more than locking our car doors and not leaving key fobs inside our vehicles. Because as much as 75% of car thefts on our borough are occurring under those very circumstances. Weve heard this before. Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, our former NYPD borough commander, began making these appeals as early as 2016. Just last week, Assistant Chief Frank Vega our current top cop as well as Capt. Tim Wilson and Capt. Andrey Smirnov, commanding officers of the 122nd and 123rd Precincts, respectively, and Lt. Rafet Awad of Community Affairs met with the Advance/SILive.com to issue a similar plea. Because it still hasnt resonated here yet. Why? Apparently were very trusting in nature. Thats an admirable trait. And it says a lot about how we feel about our communities. But in this instance, its got to change. Look, we all know life is hectic. All parents can sympathize at the thought of leaving the car unlocked while you shepherd your kids into the house after school and struggle with as many bags as you can possibly carry. Or the temptation of leaving your car unattended as it warms up in the driveway on a cold winter morning. Or running into your neighborhood deli while your car is idling. Remember: Thieves know all this too. Right now theyre making some pretty big bucks off it. In just the last few weeks, it happened here in Bulls Head. Here in New Dorp. Here in Charleston. And thats just a few. Weve reported that sophisticated rings from New Jersey are on the prowl, yanking car handles looking for their latest score. And weve also reported on tragic occurrences where stolen cars have led to fatal crashes. Maybe this time the message will stick? Because we know Chief Vega and the rest of the NYPD would love to finally put the brakes on this very avoidable trend. In large part, that depends on all of us. Stay safe, Staten Island. RELATED COVERAGE New York governor Andrew Cuomos grip on power is under threat as a majority of state legislators called for his resignation, Democrats launched an impeachment investigation and police said they stand ready to investigate a groping allegation. The firestorm around the states leading Democrat grew a day after the Times Union of Albany reported that an unidentified aide had claimed Mr Cuomo reached under her shirt and fondled her at his official residence in the state capital late last year. The woman has not filed a criminal complaint, but a lawyer for the governor said that the state had reported the allegation to the Albany Police Department after the woman involved declined to do so herself. Expand Close Activists demand the governors resignation outside his office (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Activists demand the governors resignation outside his office (AP) Beth Garvey, the governors acting counsel, said: In this case the person is represented by counsel and when counsel confirmed the client did not want to make a report, the state notified the police department and gave them the attorneys information. An Albany Police Department spokesperson, Steve Smith, told The New York Times police had reached out to a representative for the woman. The possible involvement of police comes as more legislators called on Mr Cuomo to resign over alleged misconduct with women and allegations that his administration concealed how many nursing home residents died of Covid-19. At least 121 members of the state assembly and senate have said publicly they believe Mr Cuomo should quit office now, according to a tally from The Associated Press. The count includes 65 Democrats and 56 Republicans. Expand Close New York assembly Republicans calling for the impeachment Mr Cuomo in Albany (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp New York assembly Republicans calling for the impeachment Mr Cuomo in Albany (AP) The top Democrat in the state assembly, speaker Carl Heastie, has backed a plan for its judiciary committee to launch an impeachment investigation. The legislature needs to determine for itself what the facts are, a member of the committee, assemblyman Tom Abinanti, said. For the people who want immediate impeachment, I think we say please be patient. The process is slow. This could be the next step. In New York, the assembly is the legislative house that could move to impeach Mr Cuomo, who faces multiple allegations that he made the workplace an uncomfortable place for young women with sexually suggestive remarks and behaviour, including unwanted touching and a kiss. One aide claimed the governors aides publicly smeared her after she accused him of sexual harassment. All of us are extremely disappointed, assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, a Democrat representing Orange and Sullivan counties, told The Associated Press. I think theres no room in the world right now for that kind of behaviour. He should have known better. Expand Close Mr Cuomo is also facing allegations over coronavirus nursing home deaths in the state (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Cuomo is also facing allegations over coronavirus nursing home deaths in the state (AP) Ms Gunther on Thursday became the ninth assembly Democrat saying they would vote for impeachment, alongside at least 37 Republicans. Mr Cuomos support in the state senate is especially thin. Roughly two-thirds of its members have called for the Democrats resignation, including majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. A group of 59 Democrats, including 19 senators and 40 Assembly members said in a letter that it is time for Mr Cuomo to go. The letter read: In light of the governors admission of inappropriate behaviour and the findings of altered data on nursing home Covid-19 deaths he has lost the confidence of the public and the state legislature, rendering him ineffective in this time of most urgent need. It is time for Gov Cuomo to resign. Mr Cuomo has repeatedly said he will not resign and urged the public to await the outcome of the attorney generals investigation. By Zhang Yifan After Adm. Phil Davidson, Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), recently submitted to Congress a written report asking for more money for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, he has soon come under the international spotlight. After that, he has been on a video-based talk with the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank, and participated in a hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), where he went to great lengths to hype the so-called "China threat" by describing the country as "the greatest long-term strategic threat to security in the 21st century". His remarks have been making headlines all over the world. As the USINDOPACOM commander appointed by the Trump administration, Davidson has been "faithfully" fulfilling his three "missions" to fabricate and spread the so-called "China threat" theory, plan anti-China policies, and execute actions to deter and contain China. He has been spearheading the implementation of Washington's anti-China policies. It should be noted that the commander's propaganda of "military threats from China" is largely driven by interests rather than perception, much fewer facts, as he needs an excuse for his military expansion and war-preparing actions in order to secure fund from Congress. "Guam is a target today. It needs to be defended." When trying to convince Congress how Guam has become targeted by China and needs protection from the Aegis Ashore system, Davidson was actually lobbying for resources for the missile defense system. Moreover, as the US Marine Corps' plan for developing anti-ship missiles was rejected last year, he claimed at the recent senate hearing that the Marine Corps needs to have land-based anti-ship assault capability to cope with the threats from Chinese navy. The area under USINDOPACOM's mandate totals more than 270 million square kilometers spanning from Africa's eastern coast to America's western coast, and from the Bering Strait in the north to the Antarctica in the South. How to maintain America's military alliance in the Indo-Pacific region and handle its military relations with regional countries are what the USINDOPACOM commander needs to think about. The USINDOPACOM is a critical agency whose every move bears heavily on America's military strategy and national security strategy. The strategic decision makers are open to opinions from its commander, and Congress often requires its presence at hearings on Indo-Pacific issues. It's safe to say that the commander's opinions largely affect or shape Washington's policy on the Indo-Pacific region, particularly China. Unfortunately, USINDOPACOM commanders have become increasingly rigid and stiff in recent years due to Washington's consistent anti-China stance. Instead of thinking about how to promote the military exchanges between the US and China, they are focused on how to deepen the military confrontation with China to maintain America's military superiority. That's why the USINDOPACOM, the theater command facing China directly, has always been a vanguard in containing and blocking China on the military front. In recent years, American military ships have constantly challenged China's sovereignty in the South China Sea by carrying out the so-called "freedom of navigation operations" and passing relevant islands and reefs. They have flamed tension across the Taiwan Strait by crossing it; they have imposed deterrence and pressure on China by conducting various exercises and training, including the twin-carrier exercise, in waters around China. Moreover, various US reconnaissance planes have been constantly sent to air space around China to pry into its military movements. All these moves have been planned and commanded by USINDOPACOM. Davidson is about to retire and be replaced by John Aquilino, who has been serving as the commander of the US Pacific Fleet since May 2018. Ever since Aquilino assumed that role, the vessels and planes of the Pacific Fleet have performed the most rampant activities in sea areas around China. Aquilino was appointed by Trump, to which Biden didn't object, largely because of his hardball approach toward China. Editor's note: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Security footage has captured the moment a brave shop keeper stood up to a young would-be robber who pulled a handgun on her and demanded the contents of the cash register in Missouri. Pam Overstreet, owner of Pam's One Stop Bottle Shop in Avondale, even chased the young man down the street when he fled empty-handed from the store. The attempted armed robbery happened Wednesday morning. Fox4 reported. Overstreet said the man - who was dressed in a blue hooded sweatshirt with a Gap logo and wore a white face mask - purchased chips and a soda 20 minutes after the store opened. After his purchase, the man did not not leave. Instead, he produced a gun from his right pocket and aimed the weapon at her across the counter before demanding the cash from the register. Overstreet said the thief maintained good manners during the crime. 'Very politely, he stepped back and was like, "Yeah, one more thing," and pulls out his gun. "Empty the register please",' Overstreet said. 'Please! Who says please? Are we going to get a thank you afterwards? I instantly was like, "Are you kidding? Are you serious? That's not happening",' she said. Scroll down for video Store Owner Pam Overstreet is confronted in her store by a thief with a handgun Wednesday Pam Overstreet, owner of Pam's One Stop Bottle Shop in Avondale, said the attempted armed robbery happened Wednesday morning Video of the attempted robbery then shows Overstreet's son entering the store before the man fled out the front entrance with Overstreet chasing after him. 'If my son had not walked through that door, I think the situation would have been completely different, but he did, and momma-mode kicked in,' she said. 'He's lucky he's a fast runner.' No one was hurt during the robbery attempt. 'I was not scared at all,' Overstreet said, noting that the potential thief seemed young. 'He definitely was so young looking,' Overstreet said. 'All I kept thinking about was my kid. He looks like a little kid.' Pam Overstreet says she chased thief down the street after her son arrived Pam's One Stop Bottle Shop in Avondale, Missouri Suspect makes a purchase before attempting to rob the store Robber threatens Pam Overstreet with a handgun and politely demands money from register Overstreet said she eventually stopped running after a short chase down the street and the suspect got away without taking anything from the store. The chase was spontaneous and Overstreet would not recommend others repeat her actions, she said. She also gave the suspect a failing grade for his attempt. 'We do not have the world's smartest criminals here,' Overstreet said. 'He gets an F. I'm sorry, He gets an F. That was not very good at all.' The Clay County Sheriff's Office said the attempted robbery is under investigation. DETROIT, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new market research report on Aircraft Battery Market by Platform Type (Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, General Aviation, Helicopter, Military Aircraft, and UAV), by Battery Type (Nickel-Cadmium Battery, Lithium-Ion Battery, and Lead-Acid Battery), by Sales Channel Type (Direct Sales and Distributor Sales), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, & Industry Analysis: 2021-2026. This report, from Stratview Research, studies the aircraft battery market over the trend period of 2015 to 2020 and the forecast period of 2021 to 2026. The report segments and analyzes the market in the most detailed manner to provide a panoramic view of the market. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for the market participants as well as investors in the identification of the low-hanging fruits available in the market as well as formulate growth strategies. Aircraft Battery Market: Highlights In the aircraft industry, batteries are used mainly for power backup & emergency systems, starting the engines and auxiliary power units, and flight preparation. They play a very crucial role as they supply power to the aircraft in case of power failure. Batteries in an aircraft must be reliable, durable, low maintenance, low weight, have low cost of ownership, and have an extended life. The industry is witnessing a gradual transition from lead-acid batteries to nickel-cadmium batteries to lithium-ion batteries. With unending orders and booming demand, the aerospace industry exhibited an uphill trajectory until 2019. The market underwent a minimal impact of B737MAX grounding, only the North American demand suffered a minor downturn in 2019. However, this flourishing industry could not escape from the pandemic in 2020. What initially seemed like a viable hitch, lately has metamorphosed into an obstruction for survival for many stakeholders across industries. The long-term outlook still seems hopeful with a gradual rebound in aircraft production, ultimately imprinting a positive impact on the market. Stratview Research's estimates suggest that the market is likely to pick up pace from 2021 onwards to reach an estimated value of US$ 198.2 million in 2026. Click Here and Run Through the Detailed TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/201/aerospace-and-defense-battery-market.html Based on the platform type, narrow-body aircraft is expected to maintain its unquestionable dominance till 2026. The aircraft segment is expected to fuel the market in the long-term, logging the fastest recovery, owing to strong order backlogs of 10,403 (Airbus: 6,372 and Boeing: 4,031) aircraft as of December 2020. The UAV and the military aircraft segments remained relatively unflinching. Early signs of healing are discernible with the lift of FAA's B737max grounding order (Nov. 2020) and Airbus' highest delivery figures (Oct. 2020) since before the onset of the pandemic. Based on the battery type, Nickel-Cadmium battery is likely to hold the throne in the market till 2026, whereas lithium-ion battery is expected to grow at the fastest rate over the next five years. The shifting paradigm in the aerospace industry with the preference of key stakeholders is gradually transitioning from lead-acid to nickel-cadmium to lithium-ion batteries. Register Here and Ask for a Free Sample on the Exclusive Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/201/aerospace-and-defense-battery-market.html#form All regions took a nosedive in 2020. Despite the downturn, North America is projected to remain the largest market during the forecast period owing to the region's predilection towards new technology adoption and implementation. However, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to log the quickest recovery in the market during the forecast period. Upcoming commercial aircraft program, C919, opening of assembly plants in China by Boeing and Airbus, and an ongoing shift in assembly plants of OEMs in the region from North America and Europe are likely to create a healthy long-term demand for aircraft batteries in the region. The supply chain of this market comprises raw material suppliers, aircraft battery manufacturers, distributors, OEMs, and MRO companies. Key aircraft battery manufacturers include Saft Groupe S.A., GS Yuasa Corporation, Concorde Battery Corporation, and Securaplane Technologies, Inc. Formation of long-term contracts, application development, and development of innovative products are some of the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market. The prevalent COVID-19 crisis has pushed leading players to realign their strategies to adapt to the need of the hour. Report Features This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis. Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis. Market trend and forecast analysis. Market segment trend and forecast. Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities. Emerging trends. Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players. Key success factors This report studies the global aircraft battery market and has segmented the market in four ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the four ways in which the market is segmented: Aircraft Battery Market, by Platform Type Narrow-Body Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Wide-Body Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Very Large Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Regional Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) General Aviation (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Helicopter (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) UAV (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aircraft Battery Market, by Battery Type Nickel-Cadmium Battery (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Lithium-Ion Battery (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Lead-Acid Battery (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aircraft Battery Market, by Sales Channel Type Direct Sales (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Distributor Sales (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aircraft Battery Market, by Region North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico ) Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , the UK, Russia , and Rest of Europe ) Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: Japan , China , India , and Rest of Asia-Pacific ) Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: Latin America , the Middle East , and Others) Stratview Research has number of high value market reports in the global aerospace & defense industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Aerospace-Defense.html About Stratview Research Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas. We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies. Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making. Stratview Research has launched 'Composights', an online portal which offers free thought leadership reports, whitepapers, market report synopsis and much more for Composites and allied industries, worth US$ 20,000 every year. Click here to sign up (No costs involved): https://www.stratviewresearch.com/composights/sign-in For enquiries, Contact: Stratview Research E-mail: [email protected] Direct: +1-313-307-4176 SOURCE Stratview Research 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. 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. Candidates started filing for San Antonio City Council elections on Jan. 13. A week later, some big news rocked District 5, which has 11 candidates competing for the seat being vacated by a term-limited Shirley Gonzales. The San Antonio Housing Authority abandoned its plan to partner with a private developer to raze the West Sides historic Alazan Courts and replace them with mixed-income apartments. SAHA now plans to redevelop Alazan itself and maintain it as a public-housing complex. All kinds of logistical questions remain: Where will the funding come from? Where will residents stay while their units are rebuilt? How long will the process take? Nonetheless, public-housing advocates have praised SAHAs policy reversal. For District 5 candidates, the issues underpinning the Alazan Courts debate are fundamental to the district they hope to represent much bigger than the 501 units the complex holds or the 33 acres on which it rests. Its about the West Sides chronic population loss and need to attract new residents vs. concerns that gentrification could damage the social fabric of its neighborhoods. Its about displacement, the value of history and the question of what kinds of economic development are healthy for a community and what kinds are damaging. Teri Castillo, a housing advocate who is competing in the District 5 race, sees SAHAs change of course as a victory for community members who objected to the private-housing plan. I think this is the result of community work and organizing and bold and brave tenants speaking out, up against the demolition and the practices that were going over the last few years, Castillo said. Castillo was among those decrying SAHAs plan to work with the NRP Group, a for-profit developer, to tear down the 501 units and replace them with 648 apartments, only 10 percent of which would be reserved for families making less than 30 percent of the area median income (about $26,200 for a family of four). The NRP plan likely would have forced out many current Alazan Courts residents, destroying the familial bonds of the complex, forcing some families into different school districts and disrupting the established patterns of their lives. It also raised questions about whether some families would be able to find any affordable housing at all. They were going to be replaced with mixed-income, but they were being sold to the community as affordable, Castillo said. Not affordable to the working residents of Alazan, not affordable to the working residents in District 5. No plan was ever presented on where the community would be relocated to. We were told that residents would be given housing vouchers, but we know that in San Antonio there is a shortage of landlords who accept vouchers. District 5 hopeful Geremy Landin said the displacement issue has trumped all others for him. The biggest issue here is that no one wants to displace residents, said Landin, the director of marketing, communications and community relations for STAAMP Allergy. Thats been my biggest concern. And if one resident is displaced, theres an issue, because we shouldnt have to force people out of where they live in order to say that were bringing some sort of prosperous growth or new opportunities forward. The average Alazan household earns $8,796 a year and pays $131 in monthly rent. Landin, who was homeless for much of his last three years at Fox Tech High School, said he had conversations with a SAHA board member who worried that under the NRP plan, Alazan Courts residents who have fallen behind on their rent (a problem intensified by the job-killing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic) could have faced exclusion from a private apartment complex. At the same time, Landin believes that the existing, 80-year-old cinder-block units, which lack central air and heating, need to be replaced. I come from a single-mom household, Landin said, so I think, Would my mom want to live there or would she be wanting, hoping for something new to come along that shed be able to put her family in? Jason Mata, a local nonprofit executive, said the NRP plan not only would have displaced Alazan residents, it also could have put pressure on local school districts faced with an influx of new students. Mata said many of the existing units are dangerous. For that reason, he welcomed the idea of building new Alazan Courts units at the complexs current location. Im more into the safety part of it, Mata said. And that the families stay united. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 Kids on an EdVenture Quest in Eureka's Sequoia Park. "This is a great web resource for parents visiting the North Coast," said Marian Baker, a Humboldt homeschool parent and charter school teacher. With more children home and Zoom schooling, many parents have expanded the classroom to include the great outdoors. In Humboldt County, a popular place for natural exploration with many parks, beaches and youth programs, a team of parent educators is sharing its homegrown lessons at https://HumboldtKids.com. The North Coast region, home to the worlds tallest trees of Redwood National Park and the Avenue of the Giants, also boasts some of the states most pristine coastal ecosystems, easily accessible from the historic Eureka seaport. "This site is a great web resource for parents visiting the North Coast," said Marian Baker, a Humboldt homeschool parent and charter school teacher. While local homeschoolers take advantage of the many resources in Humboldt, which the USDA named Americas most scenic rural county, many are easily accessible to visiting parents and offer quality options for educational field trips and science studies. HumboldtKids.com, created by a certified school teacher and adventure travel writer who are home school parents, launched this month to share these resources and more opportunities to learn in Covid-safe outdoor environments. For example, the Humboldt Board of Education sponsors dozens of scavenger hunts. Known as EdVenture Quests and scattered throughout the county, they guide children with facts and clues as they search forests, comb beaches, explore an Indian village and identify plants and animals. Those who complete them earn cool free patches specific to each Quest. Eureka, Californias largest coastal city north of San Francisco, offers four Quest options: Sequoia Park, a 70-acre community forest with old growth redwoods, zoo and playground; the Hikshari Elk River Trail, which looks out on Humboldt Bay; Fort Humboldt State Historic Park, where President Grant once served as a young Army officer; and the new Eureka Waterfront Trail, geared to explorers on bikes. Other Quests lead children to a forest where Imperial stormtroopers chased Luke Skywalker, an ocean headland with a hidden lighthouse, a waterfall in Redwood National Park and a mountain lake near the home of a legendary Bigfoot. For more field trips and classroom ideas, visit Eurekas Sequoia Park Zoo, the oldest certified zoo in the state, home to river otters, red pandas, monkeys, primates, rare birds and, coming soon, a canopy walk in a redwood forest. The fun-sized municipal menagerie has print-friendly virtual resources for homeschool parents, including a redwood forest curriculum, supported by the Save the Redwoods League; and a lesson on North Coast ecology. Stop by the zoo and request a copy of the comic book Super Salmon and the Watershed Heroes, loaded with puzzles and games. Waves, Wetlands and Watersheds is a classroom and community activity guide for teachers that addresses issues such as endangered species, marine debris, coastal geology, water use, and much more. This curriculum, which can be repurposed for home school educators, is correlated to the California State Science Content Standards for grades 3 through 8. No natural educational trip would be complete without park rangers. In Humboldt, homeschoolers can work with them and earn free ranger badges. Before visiting Redwood National and State Parks, download and print a junior ranger booklet. Children complete the activities while exploring the parks, turn in completed booklets at any visitor center and get an official-looking ranger badge. Want to join a ranger in real life with your small group? The Bureau of Land Management oversees a little known redwood park gem, the Headwaters Forest Reserve, which protects a fine stand of old growth giants and encompasses the Elk River watershed around an old ghost timber town. For a walk that focuses on history or ecology, accessible from either Eureka or Fortuna, contact the headwaters ranger at the Bureau of Land Management office in Arcata. ABOUT HUMBOLDTKIDS.COM A project of the Eureka Lodging Alliance (ELA), Humboldt.Kids.com is coordinated by Eureka homeschooling parents and educators passionate about sharing the natural wonders of Eureka and Humboldt County with the world. More at https://HumboldtKids.com. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome is promising more education, access and resources to the city-parish's underserved communities as it relates to distribution of coronavirus vaccines in the days ahead. Broome responded Friday to a set of recommendations given by her Health Equity Vaccine Task Force. It wants her to create greater awareness around the vaccines and remove barriers for those living in the pockets of the parish where access to healthcare is sparse. "Throughout this pandemic, we have seen how health disparities have significantly impacted the underserved residents of our community," Broome said. "This is especially true when we examine COVID-19 vaccinations. It is critical for our local and state government, medical partners, community stakeholders, and residents to work together to address these inequities and remove the barriers to the COVID-19 vaccine." +10 As Baton Rouge tries to fix racial disparities in coronavirus vaccines, churches step into the gap Elaine Guerin, 70, from Baton Rouge, is a breast cancer survivor who became cancer free in July of 2020. She was hesitant about taking the COV This campaign from the Mayor's Office comes more than month after a report from National Public Radio looked at the lack of vaccination sites in the city-parish's predominantly Black and Hispanic areas. At the time, only three of the 25 sites in the parish were in north Baton Rouge, an area with a far larger Black population than the southern parts of the city. Since then, several mass vaccination pop-up sites have emerged as more vaccines for the coronavirus roll into the state in greater supply. 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 Among the set of recommendations from the group of medical professionals, community leaders and advocates Broome brought together include: Disseminate the answers to frequently asked questions surrounding coronavirus and the various vaccines through social media platforms. Frequently share vaccination locations, dates, and times with the community. Host informational town halls and interviews to educate the community on the importance of the vaccine. Provide a platform for community representatives to share their vaccination experience. When it comes to giving people more access to vaccines, the group has suggested: Working with community stakeholders to hold vaccination events in nontraditional settings with extended time frames to accommodate residents. Canvassing and phone banking to connect residents to information, resources, and vaccination appointments. Creating a system for residents to opt into updates about vaccination opportunities. More information on the vaccine campaign will be announced in the "coming days," the mayor's office said. Kiersey Clemons is set to appear as Iris West in the upcoming DC Comics-based film The Flash. On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the 27-year-old actress will portray the love interest of the titular character, who will be played by Ezra Miller. The Scoob! actress was supposed to appear in the original cut of the 2017's Justice League, but her scenes were eventually cut when the film's first director Zack Snyder stepped away from the production. Big part: Kiersey Clemons has been confirmed to be reprising her role as Iris West for the upcoming superhero film The Flash; the actress is pictured in 2019 However, the 55-year-old director has restored her parts for his upcoming director's cut of the film, which will be released on the HBO Max streaming service later this month. Clemons will join various actors from the DC universe in the forthcoming Andy Muschietti-directed project, which is tentatively set to be released next year. Apart from Miller, other actors who have been confirmed to appear in the film include Ben Affleck, who commenced his Batman portrayal in 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Michael Keaton, who portrayed the vigilante in the 1989 film Batman and 1992's Batman Returns, is also returning to the role. One more time: The actress was supposed to appear in Justice League, but her parts were cut out after Zack Snyder stepped away from the project; Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot are seen in the 2017 feature Central character: In the source material, Iris West is a reporter who often works with Barry Allen, better known as The Flash Sasha Calle will portray Supergirl; the actress will be the first performer of Latin American descent to play the character. The screenplay comes from screenwriter Christina Hodson, who is best known for her work on the 2020 film Birds Of Prey starring Margot Robbie. The Flash is set to begin filming in London next month; specific plot details are currently being kept from the general public. Although DC Films initially attempted to deviate from the Marvel Studios model of producing standalone films focused on specific characters, a number of solo-superhero projects are currently in the works. Doing it right: It director Andy Muschietti will helm the upcoming film, which will feature a screenplay from Christina Hodson; the filmmaker is seen in 2017 A sequel to the 2018 feature Aquaman is currently in pre-production, with Saw director James Wan set to helm the feature, which also has a tentative 2022 release date. Jason Momoa has been confirmed to be returning to the title role, and Amber Heard confirmed that she would reprise her part as Mera in November of last year. Zachary Levi is also set to return to his role as Shazam in the 2019 film's upcoming sequel; the forthcoming feature will see David Sandberg taking the director's chair for a second time. Dwayne Johnson has been attached to the long-gestating Black Adam project since 2014, and the film is currently set to begin filming next month after years of delays. The character was supposed to appear in a supporting role in the first Shazam film, but the project's producers decided to let the supervillain have his own feature before the DC Comics characters crossed paths. Making a one-year commitment to focus on growing your business produces long-lasting, life-changing results. said Dean Cottrill, who leads the program as senior vice president of brokerage consulting at T3 Sixty. T3 Fellows, the executive leadership program for real estate entrepreneurs passionate about dramatically growing their business, announced its ninth class of graduates today. The MBA-like program from T3 Sixty delivers a year-long curriculum focused exclusively on business-specific solutions for the residential real estate brokerage industry is delivered through an extensive one-on-one mentoring schedule, in-person mastermind workshops and monthly web conferences. The four business owners have successfully completed the rigorous 12-month program and are graduates of the Spring 2021 class are as follows: Imbar Meidani & Roi Vana, Improov Homes, Bloomfield, New Jersey Laura Kimble, Graham Real Estate, The Bahamas Lani Kahn Drody, Lowell International Realty, Coral Gables, Florida Mike Balsitis, Bellabay Realty, Caledonia, Michigan The T3 Fellows curriculum covers all vital aspects of building and expanding a real estate brokerage and agent team business. It targets growing brokerage and agent revenue by recruiting the agents that best match each organization; improving profitability by increasing agent sales; creating powerful branding and marketing programs; and leveraging lead generation and conversion for more sales. The experience of real estate leaders such as Lani Drody, who graduates in the Spring T3 Fellows class, epitomizes the results the program is designed to create. Drody more than doubled her sales volume with the help of the analysis, perspective, guidance and insight she received through Fellows, from $32 million in 2019 to $75 million in 2020. Clearly defining my strategic intent and setting a path for future business growth were some of the most valuable components of the course, Drody said. The curriculum forces you to do a comprehensive deep dive into all aspects of your business. We built the T3 Fellows program to help talented brokers and agents like Lani to achieve remarkable results with proven business practices, said Dean Cottrill, who leads the program as senior vice president of brokerage consulting at T3 Sixty. Making a one-year commitment to focus on growing your business produces long-lasting, life-changing results. For more information on the program, visit t3fellows.com. About T3 Fellows The T3 Fellows program helps the leaders of brokerages and teams grow successful real estate organizations through a detailed, thorough curriculum, one-on-one consulting, in-person retreats and mentor support. The program provides a proven framework for success, supported by smart, accomplished cohorts and an experienced group of guides and mentors. To learn more about the program or apply, visit t3fellows.com. About T3 Sixty T3 Sixty is a trusted advisor and management consultancy in the residential real estate brokerage industry. T3 Sixty also provides extensive data services and research to affect intelligent change and growth. For more, visit t360.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. Bengaluru, March 13 : Amid surging Covid cases, Karnataka on Friday banned large gatherings at weddings and public functions across the state to prevent the virus spread, a top official said. "Gathering of people will be restricted to 200 from 500 earlier in halls or closed places for social and cultural events like weddings," state health secretary Jawaid Akhtar said in a circular. With more coronavirus clusters emerging in cities and towns across the state, especially in Bengaluru, the circular in Kannada has put a cap on the number of people who can gather in public places. "Only 50 people will be allowed at birthday parties in closed space or death ceremonies like cremations or burials. If they are held in open spaces, 100 people can be allowed with social distancing and wearing masks," Akhtar said in the circular. About 500 people are allowed in open spaces for religious and political gatherings and 100 for other congregations if the venue is spacious to maintain physical distancing and other protocols. The state health department has also increased testing targets for districts bordering Kerala and Maharashtra where the cases have been rising. The state government had on Wednesday banned all late-night parties at star hotels and restaurants in the state, including in Bengaluru, to curb the surge in infections. With 833 new cases reported on Thursday, the state's Covid tally shot up to 9,58,417, including 8,114 positive cases, while recoveries rose to 9,37,898. As the epi-centre of the pandemic in the southern state, Bengaluru registered 526 fresh cases on Thursday, taking its tally to 4,10,181 while recoveries rose to 3,99,656, with 341 persons getting discharged during the day. An Italian volleyball club accused its former team captain of "hiding her desire to be a mother" and is seeking legal action. (Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images) An Italian volleyball club is suing its former team captain, alleging that she broke her contract by getting pregnant, according to The Guardian. Volley Maniago Pordenone claims in its lawsuit that former player and team captain Lara Lugli, 41, did not tell them that she was planning to get pregnant when she signed a contract to play for them in the 2018-19 season, per the report. She was fired in March 2019 after she informed the club about her pregnancy, though she suffered a miscarriage a month later. Lugli asked the club to pay her the nearly $3,000 she was owed in salary for the time she played, though it declined and instead took legal action against her. It accused her of disproportionately selling her experience and hiding her desire to be a mother in court documents, per the report. When I read the legal document, I was so angry, Lugli told the Guardian. Ive been playing volleyball for 25 years and had given it everything they knew this. They said a 38-year-old woman should have known whether she wanted to have a baby and therefore should have said something. Not only did they call into question my professionalism but they are comparing pregnancy to illicit and malicious conduct its a very serious thing. The head of the club, Franco Rossato, said they only opted to make a legal move against Lugli after she requested to be paid, per the report. He also said the contract was ended mutually. Suddenly, many months later, we received a message from her lawyer for the presumed entitlement, Rossato said, via The Guardian. Only then did we object and so activated the clauses of the contract. More from Yahoo Sports: As she was growing up, Patricia Engel remembers her paternal grandmother Lucia, the mother of nine children, writing everyday volumes and volumes of stories, poetry, and long letters to her family. Lucias work was never published but her devotion to writing was treated as a sacred act by everyone around her. It was from her that I learned to have a personal writing practice even if you dont publish or share your work, said Engel. Just write for the love of the act of writing. That love and respect for writing has served Engel well. An associate professor in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Miami, she has published four books. Her recently published novel Infinite Country was chosen as the March pick for Reese Witherspoons book club. This story paints a picture of love through the lens of two generations of a Colombian family, whose journeys to America illuminate the realities of immigration, deportation, mixed-status, and the definition of home, the actress said of the book. The daughter of Colombian parents, Engels work is infused with the exploration of immigration and the diaspora. Many of her characters struggle with the pain of leaving their homeland and the travails and opportunities of life in the United States. Infinite Country is not different. It tells the story of a Colombian family fractured by immigration and deportation in a period of 20 or such years in late 1990s in Bogota and New Jersey, Engel said. It follows five peopletwo parents and three childrenwho have a collective experience of emigrating. But it also gets into each of their personal experience and their own private experience because they each occupy a different space in this spectrum of migratory status. Engel, who was born in New Jersey, maintains dual citizenship and travels to Colombia frequently. Infinite Country is rich with cultural references and language of the motherland. It also explores the complex feelings that arise from leaving ones country and family to start anew while trying to maintain ties to those left behind. Very often in media, immigration is portrayed as an action where you leave one place and you land in another, said Engel. It is treated as if the door closes behind you. In reality, it is much more nuanced. The author comes from a large family. Many came to the United States and others did not. Those in the U.S. had different immigration statuses. But one feeling that united them all was a longing for what was given up. Immigration is filled with longing, with homesickness, with doubt, with regret about wondering if you made the right choice, said Engel. It is a very heavy burden to be the person that leaves. It makes life different. It creates a fracture between your generation and the ones that will follow. In writing the novel, Engel wanted to create a family portrait based on many of the stories that she had heard in her community and in her countries. Patricia Engels writing is controlled, specific, and genuine in its representation of immigrant families, all without losing any of its poetry, said Chantel Acevedo, a colleague of Engels and director of the Creative Writing Program, who also is a well-known novelist. Engel is the author of three other works of fiction, including The Veins of the Ocean, which won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was named a New York Times Editors Choice and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year. Its Not Love, Its Just Paris won the International Latino Book Award. And Vida, her first book, was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Fiction Award and the Young Lions Fiction Award. It also won the Florida Book Award, International Latino Book Award, and Independent Publisher Book Award. COLUMBIA Two men have been charged in a shootout at a Columbia motorcycle dealership that left a man dead and four others injured, authorities say. The incident at Capital City Cycles on Two Notch Road near Interstate 77 on March 11 stemmed from an undisclosed argument that "led to a shootout," Richland County Sheriff's Department said. No details of the disagreement were released. Charles Lilly, 55 of Beech Island in Aiken County near the Georgia border, died in the shooting, the Richland County Coroner's Office said. James Hill, 58, has been charged with murder in Lilly's death and assault by mob in the first degree, the sheriff's department said. He is from Powersville, Ga., outside Macon, according to court records. Kristopher Wheat, 36, also was arrested after being released from the hospital and charged with assault by mob, a felony charge that carries a minimum sentence of 30 years if convicted. Wheat also faces obstruction and unlawful weapon possession charges. Wheat lives about two miles from the cycle shop, according to his address listed in court records. Hill and Wheat were booked at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Jail records showed both men still detained as of late afternoon. Neither Hill nor Wheat have previously faced charges in South Carolina, according to a criminal history report from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division. Two other men, who have not been identified, remain hospitalized in unknown condition, the sheriff's department said. The shooting is still being investigated and more charges could follow, the agency said. An employee who answered the phone at Capital City Cycles on March 12 said owner Byron Dinkins declined to comment on the shooting. 2021 Toyota Tacoma Limited 4x4 Double Cab - Review by Bruce Hotchkiss +VIDEO Almost Perfect By Bruce Hotchkiss* Special Correspondent West Coast Bureau The Auto Channel The 2021 Toyota Tacoma would almost be the perfect pickup for me. Only four things keep the test Tacoma from being ideal for me and Ill get to them at the end of this article. None of them are fatal. I will say that I seem to be in the minority in my opinion of the Tacoma. 2020 Tacoma sales were about 240,000 units (down slightly from the previous year like most makes/models). The next closest competitor was 100,000 + down from that number. So although the Tacoma is way off the F150s numbers, in the mid-size market it rules. Ive been a Toyota fan since the early 70s; Ive owned eight. But nothing new in years. So whenever Im offered a Toyota product to review I never, ever say no. Which brings me to the 2021 Tacoma Limited 4X4 Double Cab Nightshade Edition. Thats a long name right? Nightshade is a trim package that includes 18 Dark Smoke Wheels, Black Wheel Locks & Lug Nuts, and a bunch of black trim pieces. I prefer the blacked out trim to the chrome that is standard. The Double Cab is a true four-door with seating for five, two up front and three in the rear. There are two bed lengths available 73.7 or 60.5. Id opt for the shorter because it makes the truck itself shorter, down from 225.5 to an easier to maneuver 212.3. If you use the Tacoma as a work truck youll probably go for the longer bed. The test Tacoma was a 4X4, something that many people seem to prefer even where the weather is not severe. I have no idea why. Most 4WD vehicles are never taken off-road. But unlike 4X4s of old there is little extra maintenance, or complicated engagement, required for many 4WD vehicles. Remember when you had to get out and manually engage the front hubs, then with the wheels straight shift into 4WD? And as routine maintenance you had to take the front hubs apart to lube them. No more. On the Tacoma theres a dial on the dash to select 4WD. Easy peasy. There are two engines offered; a 2.7-liter four, and a 3.5-liter V6. The test Tacoma had the V6 and other than the difference in initial cost I see little downside to the V6. It makes 278 hp (119 more than the four), 265 lb-ft of torque (85 more), and the same or ever so slightly less mpg. The V6 4X4 with the 6-speed automatic transmission is rated at 18/22/20 (city/highway/combined) versus the four-cylinder 4X4 at 19/22/20. There is a 6-speed manual transmission available but only with the V6 in the TRD Off-Road and TRD Pro. The double cab 4X4 can tow up to 6,400 pounds, and it has a payload capacity of just under 1,200 pounds. The Limited package moves the Tacoma upscale. Theres leather trimmed seats (power driver seat), premium audio with JBL speakers, 8 touchscreen, plus, plus. Thankfully Toyota doesnt overdo it; this is a truck after all. The interior is all black (or dark charcoal gray), and it looks easy to maintain. The floor mats are thick rubber and made to hose off (out of the truck of course). One little feature that I never noticed on other vehicles was the cup holders in the rear door panels. Many vehicles have cup holders in rear door panels but these allow you to put tall bottles wine bottles in them. Now this is of great importance to me as I've had two wine bottles clink together on a rear seat with one of them breaking. Oh the joy of having a car smell like Merlot! Im not sure why all 4WD trucks and SUVs need to be so high. Every Tacoma has 9.4 of ground clearance (even on 2WD!). Ive driven many 4X4 makes and models from the 60s to now. They really dont need to be so tall. A Jeep CJ5 had 6.89 of ground clearance. I drove one as a service vehicle during Connecticut winters in the late 60s; I never got stuck. You young folk may enjoy climbing up into a seat but not me. As I told someone recently I got aches were I didnt even know I had body parts. I enjoyed driving the Tacoma 4X4. Its responsive with good sight lines all around. The engine sounds great when you floor it. The seats were comfy with one exception. Even with the lumbar support fully deflated I found it too stiff. So why isnt the Tacoma Limited 4X4 my ideal pickup? First I have no need nor desire for a 4X4. It also sits too high. The manual transmission seems to be only for dedicated off-roaders. Im also not a fan of the styling, particularly the nose. But as I said many, many do not agree with me. In the Tacoma's favor it is a Toyota. With proper maintenance it will last forever. And that is a huge plus. When it comes to price I always have to reboot my brain as it seems to be stuck in the past. A Tacoma Limited 4X4 Double Cab lists at $41,980. The Nightshade Edition adds $1,000, and other options and delivery charge bumps the final price up to $45,847. You can get a base Tacoma (2WD and 4-cylinder) for $26,250 if you just want a basic pickup. Hundreds of thousands have put down their hard-earned money for a Tacoma. You cant argue with that. *Author's Note: I have been writing car reviews since 1984. I am a Certified Automotive Technician although I no longer ply that trade. I worked for twenty years for the California Department of Consumer Affairs & Bureau of Automotive Repair. I sat on three legislative advisory committees. I wrote an automotive column for the Tracy Press, and before that the Pacifica Tribune. I was a member of the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada and am a member of the Western Automotive Journalists. The last day of April this year will see the introduction of the countrys first Minister without portfolio. Justice Minister Helen McEntee will assume the role as she takes paid maternity leave for six months before returning to her own position in six months time. In the interim, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys will assume the duties and responsibilities of Minister for Justice. She will be assisted by Fine Gael Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton, who will be designated new responsibilities from the Department of Justice while also remaining in her current position in the Department of the Environment. Fianna Fail Minister of State James Browne, who already serves in the Department of Justice, will be given additional responsibilities. The maternity-leave ministerial shake-up announced in the Dail by Taoiseach Micheal Martin is a significant day for Irish politics, but it is only a sticking-plaster solution. Read More First and foremost it gives Minister McEntee and her husband Paul some peace of mind as they focus on raising their first child. But it does not resolve the ministerial maternity-leave quandary for any future female Cabinet minister who becomes pregnant while serving at the highest level of Government. The Taoiseach acknowledged legislative or even constitutional changes will be necessary to ensure other female ministers, or indeed TDs, are faced with a workable situation. We want to make sure that having a family is in no way in conflict with pursuing a career in public life, Mr Martin said. The constitutional requirement for the Cabinet to be made up of strictly no more than 15 ministers is the main stumbling block to introducing a more permanent solution for ministerial maternity leave. Various Government departments are examining the issue and the Citizen Assembly on Gender Equality will also debate possible solutions. The decision to appoint Ms Humphreys as an interim Justice Minister was made after the issue gained publicity when Ms McEntee announced she intended on taking her full maternity leave. Appointing Humphreys to the ministry is interesting in itself. She is already a Cabinet minister with two busy portfolios Social Protection and Rural and Community Development. Fine Gael naturally wanted to keep the party political balance at Cabinet and were not keen on a Fianna Fail TD or even the Taoiseach taking on the Justice responsibilities. Gender was not the only issue but Fine Gael sources say replacing a female Cabinet minister, who is going on maternity leave, with another woman rather than male colleagues sends a better message to women considering a career in politics. Humphreys is the longest-serving female Fine Gael Cabinet member and has vast amounts of political experience. In Fine Gael, she is considered both a workhorse and a steady pair of hands. It is also hoped the Cavan/Monaghan TDs links to the border means she will have a unique understanding of the issues facing the region during a difficult time in Anglo Irish relations. Cross-border policing may prove tricky over the coming months if tensions continue to escalate over the Northern Ireland protocol. The enforcement of Covid-19 restrictions could also become a headache if the appalling vista of a fourth national lockdown emerges. There is also the possibility of a Garda investigation into Tanaiste Leo Varadkar over his decision to leak a State contract. At the same time, Ms Humphreys will have to address the ever-increasing social welfare bill linked to pandemic payments and make a decision on whether or not to increase the State pension age next year. The budget for both her ministries will need to be decided before Ms McEntee returns from her maternity leave. It will be no small order keeping the two departments afloat. [March 11, 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 JAKARTA, Indonesia, March 12, 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, maintenance, and operating existing and new contrl 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 Indonesia. 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://www.rs-online.id/ DesignSpark www.rs-online.com/designspark Electrocomponents plc www.electrocomponents.com SOURCE RS Components [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Chinese government is mulling imposing a record penalty of around $1 billion on e-commerce giant Alibaba for allegedly violating monopoly norms, as authorities continue to tighten the noose around the company as part of a clampdown on the technology sector. The fine could outdo the $975 million paid by the US chipmaker Qualcomm in 2015, the biggest known for anticompetitive practices in China, the Wall Street Journal reported. Alibaba, which is China's largest online shopping platform, has been in the authorities' crosshairs in recent months over several concerns about its reach into the daily finances of common Chinese people. Also Read: Ant Group publishes financial self-discipline rules amid Chinese scrutiny However, the e-commerce giant's legal problems began following its founder Jack Ma's comments in October last year where he criticised China's byzantine regulatory system. Financial regulators had in November last year pulled the plug on the record $35 billion Hong Kong-Shanghai IPO (Initial Public Offering) of Alibaba's online payment subsidiary Ant Group. A month after this, the officials initiated a probe into the company's business practices, deemed anti-competitive, and Ma vanished from public view until mid-January. Also Read: Alibaba's Jack Ma spotted playing golf in Chinese island; detention fears put to rest Alibaba said it was "fully cooperating" with the inquiry by the State Administration for Market Regulation last month. Meanwhile, antitrust regulators are also looking into whether the conglomerate should disinvest assets unrelated to its main e-retail business, the report added. Alibaba has come under fire in the past for purportedly prohibiting its merchants from listing on rival e-commerce sites. Once concluded, punitive steps against Alibaba will need to be authorised by China's top leadership. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2021 ) :Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App. In a tweet, the PTA said, "In respectful compliance to the orders of the Peshawar High Court, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App." During the hearing of a case, the PHC has ordered for the blocking of the App. In an official official statement TikTok said, maintaining a safe and positive in-app environment is essential to the TikTok experience. "We use a combination of technologies and moderation strategies to detect and review content that violates our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines (https://support.tiktok.com/ur/privacy-safety/community-policy-ur), and we implement penalties including removing videos and banning accounts when there are violations" it said. The statement further said, "Our H2 2020 Transparency Report showed that we aggressively and proactively take down inappropriate content in Pakistan. This highlights our commitment to complying with local laws."In fact, we have enhanced moderation capabilities in Pakistan, with our local-language moderation team growing close to 250% since September. "We are committed to continue working closely with the PTA to further strengthen our safeguards on behalf of our users, but we are also committed to ensuring our users' rights to express themselves creatively on the platform, in line with our policies. We have faith that by working with the authorities to explain our policies and demonstrate our dedication to user security, we can arrive at a resolution that would allow TikTok to continue serving the millions of users in Pakistan who have found a home for creative expression on our platform" the statement added. Tata Power on Friday called a news report about the company being in talks with electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla for setting up charging infrastructure for such vehicles in the country as "factually incorrect". Earlier on Friday, CNBC-TV18 had reported that the company is in talks with Tesla for setting up EV charging stations. The talks, it said, are in initial stages and no agreements have been signed. "Our EV charging business are constantly examining and exploring various growth opportunities of the business. No arrangement or agreements have been finalised as reported in the media. As required, we confirm that the news item published in "CNBC TV 18" dated March 12, 2021, is factually incorrect," Tata Power Co Ltd said in reply to clarification sought by exchanges about the news. Tesla has set up a firm with three directors and a paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh in India, and reportedly plans to open showrooms in the country. The company is also scouting for land possibly for manufacturing and R&D set up, and is reportedly in talks with multiple states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Earlier this month, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran had denied speculations on talks between Tesla and Tata Motors for a possible tie-up in India. When people think of sea level rise, they usually think of coastal erosion. However, recent computer modeling studies indicate that coastal wastewater infrastructure, which includes sewer lines and cesspools, is likely to flood with groundwater as sea-level rises. A new study, published by University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa earth scientists, is the first to provide direct evidence that tidally-driven groundwater inundation of wastewater infrastructure is occurring today in urban Honolulu, Hawai'i. The study shows that higher ocean water levels are leading to wastewater entering storm drains and the coastal ocean--creating negative impacts to coastal water quality and ecological health. The study was led by postdoctoral researcher Trista McKenzie and co-authored by UH Sea Grant coastal geologist Shellie Habel and Henrietta Dulai, advisor and associate professor in the UH Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). The team assessed coastal ocean water and storm drain water in low-lying areas during spring tides, which serve as an approximation of future sea levels. To understand the connection between wastewater infrastructure, groundwater and the coastal ocean, the researchers used chemical tracers to detect groundwater discharge and wastewater present at each site. Radon is a naturally occurring gas that reliably indicates the presence of groundwater, while wastewater can be detected by measuring specific organic contaminants from human sources, such as caffeine and certain antibiotics. "Our results confirm that indeed, both groundwater inundation and wastewater discharge to the coast and storm drains are occurring today and that it is tidally-influenced," said McKenzie. "While the results were predicted, I was surprised how prevalent the evidence for these processes and the scale of it." In low-lying inland areas, storm drains can overflow every spring tide. This study demonstrated that at the same time wastewater from compromised infrastructure also discharges into storm drains. During high tides, storm drains are becoming channels for untreated wastewater to flood streets and sidewalks. In addition to impeding traffic, including access by emergency vehicles, this flooding of contaminated water also poses a risk to human health. The team also found evidence that many of the human-derived contaminants were in concentrations that pose a high risk to aquatic organisms. This has negative consequences to coastal organisms where the groundwater and storm drains discharge. "Many people may think of sea-level rise as a future problem, but in fact, we are already seeing the effects today," said McKenzie. "Further, these threats to human health, ocean ecosystems and the wastewater infrastructure are expected to occur with even greater frequency and magnitude in the future." This project demonstrates that actions to mitigate the impact from sea-level rise to coastal wastewater infrastructure in Honolulu are no longer proactive but are instead critical to addressing current issues. Through its multi-partner effort, the Hawai'i State Climate Commission also raises awareness around the variety of impacts of sea level rise, including those highlighted by this study. "Coastal municipalities should pursue mitigation strategies that account for increased connectivity between wastewater infrastructure and recreational and drinking water resources," said McKenzie. "We need to consider infrastructure that minimizes flooding opportunities and contact with contaminated water; and decreases the number of contaminant sources, such as installation of one-way valves for storm drains, decommissioning cesspools, monitoring defective sewer lines, and construction of raised walkways and streets." ### This study led to McKenzie being awarded the L&O Letters Early Career Publication Honor, given in recognition of the high quality of research conducted by excellent early career scientists. Washington Central New Yorks two members of Congress voted Thursday against House bills that would tighten federal laws for gun sales, giving more scrutiny to those who purchase firearms. Reps. John Katko, R-Camillus, and Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, voted with the majority of Republicans in opposition to two gun bills, arguing they would do little to keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals. Both bills passed the Democratic-controlled House along party lines, with fewer than 10 Republicans breaking ranks on either measure. Senate Majority Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., promised Thursday he would bring the legislation to a vote in the Senate as soon as possible. The effort is part of a renewed push by Democrats to pass tougher gun laws at a time when the party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House. The bills would require background checks on all gun sales and transfers, while expanding the time period for authorities to finish the checks from three days to 10 days. The first bill, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, passed by a vote of 227-203. The legislation would expand the requirement for background checks to include firearms sold at gun shows, online and in private sales. Eight Republicans voted for the bill with 219 Democrats. Katko said in a statement after the votes that the legislation was overly broad and has the potential to criminalize routine firearm transfers between law-abiding Americans and is unlikely to deter gun violence or crime. Tenney said the new regulations would be burdensome, weaken the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms, and negatively impact law-abiding gun owners. These bills are poorly written and could open the door for sportsmen and hunters to be treated the same as violent criminals, Tenney said in a statement. A sportsman could potentially face charges for simply storing a gun with a fellow hunter while a farmer could similarly run afoul by simply lending a firearm to a fellow farmer, she said. These progressive gun bills are out of touch with rural America and treat honest gun owners like criminals. The bill approved Thursday would provide exceptions, allowing temporary trades and sharing of firearms at shooting ranges or on hunting trips. The second bill, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, passed by a vote of 219-210 with the support of only two Republicans. The bill, extending the review period for background checks from three days to 10 days, was originally introduced in response to the 2015 mass shooting at a church in Charleston, S.C., in which nine Black people were killed during a Bible study session. The killer, a white supremacist with a criminal arrest record, was able to legally buy a gun under existing federal law that allows gun sales to go through without a completed background check if three business days have passed. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 That reflects the banks wider approach to disruption, an area in the spotlight after high-profile deals such as Commonwealth Banks investment in BNPL business Klarna and NABs planned purchase of neobank 86 400. Elliott does not downplay the challenge or the high stakes of the competitive threat, and even admits the model of banks filling all manner of customers financial needs probably wont survive. Apparently when you buy something and pay for it later, apparently thats not borrowing. Shayne Elliott, ANZ chief executive The big picture is that our industry is going through a massive level of disruption and disaggregation, he says. Weve got competitors picking off bits of it, whether its in the payments sector, whether its in small business lending. We need to decide where were going to play. Even so, he is adamant ANZ will not adopt a lipstick on a pig strategy of adding new digital features without making more fundamental change to its business model. So it seems safe to assume ANZ will not follow NAB and snap up a neobank anytime soon. We could go down the Oh, you know, buy now, pay later, neobank, that sort of thing, lets buy some of those. I dont think thats really fundamentally changing the business, he says. TIME TO SHIFT GEARS After taking the reins in early 2016 from former chief Mike Smith, much of Elliotts early focus was on scaling back a push into Asia led by Smith, and simplifying its operations. He says the bank is now entering a new phase in its strategy. As the economy emerges from the pandemic recession in far better shape than feared, Elliott says its time for ANZ to shift gears and put more emphasis on growth. Weve been cleaning up, weve spent a lot of time simplifying the bank. We didnt do that to be smaller. The purpose was to strengthen our core for, ultimately, growth. And now we feel its time to shift gears and move into that, he says. So, what will the bank do to try to realise these growth ambitions? Elliott emphasises it will remain focused on its fundamental priorities: helping customers buy homes, run businesses and move capital around the region. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video One example he points to is the banks stake in the digital mortgage platform Lendi, which is merging with Commonwealth Banks Aussie Home Loans. Expanding its $280 billion mortgage portfolio also seems to be a high priority, through organic growth or potentially through acquisitions. ANZ was one of the interested parties in ME Bank, a mortgage lender sold to Bank of Queensland last month, and it has also reportedly been looking at AMPs banking unit, which is on the auction block. Without commenting on specific deals, Elliott confirms the bank is open to acquisitions, as one way of growing. But consistent with his scepticism towards neobanks and BNPL, he says any deals would probably not be aimed at buying technology, but to acquire businesses that are really core to us, where we can get customers. We feel were in a confident position to be able to look at those things, were not going to do anything silly, were not going to overpay. But I think wed be foolish not to look, he says. Its in our core business. This is not about new adventures. Were not trying to find new exciting things to do. VERY, VERY SHALLOW CLIFF Loading The banks confidence is no doubt helped by a much better economic backdrop, which has pushed bank shares sharply higher, with ANZs closing price hitting $29.10 on Tuesday, the highest since August 2018. With unemployment much lower than feared, Elliott says his view of the economy is more positive than not, and he is full of praise for the actions of state and federal governments. The reality is that the so-called cliff that we all feared is a very, very shallow cliff, if it all, he says. House prices have bounced back strongly, and Elliott says the bank is watching closely but expecting the growth to continue. There are reasons to believe that house prices will remain reasonably well supported, he says. Were not predicting a house price correction or anything. Elliott is also optimistic about the impact of COVID-19 vaccines, saying his personal view is that once there is a level of mass vaccination, the virus can be treated more like the flu, avoiding lockdowns. As well as having massive economic impacts, the pandemic has accelerated deep-seated technological changes in finance, chief among them a shift to digital banking. This adaptability by customers has made the bank more confident about making changes. Weve seen quite remarkable uptake of digital, whether its internet banking, or using a debit card instead of a passbook, Elliott says. Weve stuffed money away for a rainy day, and it just didnt rain. Shayne Elliott The fact almost all of its 14,000 non-branch staff worked from home also gave the lender more confidence in its own ability to manage change. (It now wants employees back in the office most of the time). For all the greater optimism and talk about growth plan, however, there is no escaping the reality that banks profit margins are likely to remain under pressure from the longer-term forces of low interest rates and new types of tech-based competition. In response, the market is demanding that banks keep a lid on operating costs. For customers, that is likely to mean that while banking apps and digital features become more advanced, the number of branches and ATMs slowly dwindle as lenders try to protect returns. Elliott says the bank has maintained flat or lower costs for 19 quarters, and as digital competition heats up, this pressure on expenses will continue. We have to drive costs lower, he says. Even so, the view among market analysts is that the generally more buoyant economic conditions will flow into higher dividends, which were slashed last year. UBS analyst Jonathan Mott recently said the sectors latest earnings results were stronger than thought across nearly every line item. While Elliott says the economic ride ahead may be bumpy, he says the banking sector as a whole is extremely well capitalised, and some of that money will eventually find its way back to shareholders. Weve stuffed money away for a rainy day, and it just didnt rain, he says. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:09:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Burak Akinci ANKARA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- "It is a happy day for me," says Tuna Akin, a 13-year-old Turkish teenager who returned to class on Wednesday as schools reopened amid a gradual COVID-19 normalization process in the country. The boy from a private education establishment based in Incek suburb in capital Ankara was wild with joy when Turkey had to shut down schools in March 2020 following the coronavirus outbreak. "He was so happy last year about the decision, went to the balcony of our house and shouted because schools are closed," said his mother Selin. "But after a year of remote education, his feelings changed entirely. He is now overwhelmed to be reunited with teachers and classmates. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep the night before returning to school," the mother explained. Akin and other students now can go to school two days a week, and receive online education for the rest of the week amid controlled easing of COVID-19 restrictions launched on March 1. The pandemic has taken a toll on children, parents and teachers who were confronted with an unconventional education style, which has cut dramatically all the necessary physical contact among them. Schools in Turkey were forced to close several times last year, while only some high school students were able to have in-person classes for two days a week. In late November 2020, as coronavirus infections spiralled out of control, all schools were closed. "It's more fun to study at school," said Leyla, a third grade student from a public school located in the Hilal neighbourhood of Ankara, smiling to see her peers again despite the obligatory face mask wearing. Her teacher Fatma Demirel, worried about her students' emotional and academic status, said the return indicates imminent success to defeat the pandemic. "Virtual learning has been a struggle for everyone ... we have to return to some form of normalcy even though the pandemic is not over," she stressed, adding that some students are showing signs of depression. However, some parents decided to keep their children home and continue remote instructions as in-person classes are not mandatory. In-person class attendance varies according to different age groups. Elementary schools were full while around 75 percent of middle and high school students have returned to class. Meanwhile, parents' mood was relieved, also nervous. "I am not sure how a teenager will wear a mask all day long and respect social distancing. They are likely to breach safety rules as many young people believe they are immune and won't get sick," Ergin Yilmaz, a health professional said. "Nevertheless, it's good that they are back to school because they easily get distracted during virtual education ... so face-to-face education is a blessing despite some risks," Yilmaz added. Following health professionals and senior citizens, education workers have started to be vaccinated in late February as part of a mass inoculation campaign against the coronavirus launched in mid-January. Turkey has so far administered over 10.4 million jabs with Chinese Sinovac vaccine, according to the Health Ministry's latest data. Education Minister Ziya Selcuk said that return to school for children in all grades this year is possible but not assured. He also announced that the school year is to be extended until July. Enditem DENVER, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Food for Thought Denver, a local non-profit organization providing weekend meals to hungry school children, today unveiled a significant expansion into Westminster School District #50. Starting in March, an additional 16 schools including elementary and high school locations will receive weekend food bags called PowerSacks that bridge the hunger gap that students experience over the weekends. With the expansion, Food for Thought Denver will now provide 10,000 school children a month with a total of 20,000 PowerSacks (each student receives one for each weekend day). "This expansion is a direct response to District 50's outreach and the immense generosity of our donors," said Bob Bell, founder of Food for Thought Denver. "Sixteen schools sounds like a big jump but, honestly, we have both the logistic support and boots on the ground standing by to help. That being said, we could always use more volunteers and donors because we know there are more Denver-metro area schools in need of our services!" Food for Thought Denver now serves over 70 Schools in the Denver Public School District (DPS), Adams County and Aurora Public Schools. During the pandemic there has be no lapse in service to the Food for Thought Denver partner schools. More About Food for Thought Each Friday, Food for Thought Denver provides students at participating schools with PowerSacks filled with enough food to help feed a family of four for the weekend. Over 90% of the students enrolled qualify for free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs, but often come to school hungry on Monday mornings due to a lack of adequate nutritious food over the weekend. Sponsors or volunteers interested in helping should contact Food for Thought Denver at [email protected] or visit the website: foodforthoughtdenver.org Bob Bell Founder, Food for Thought Denver Email: [email protected] Phone: 720-201-9192 SOURCE Food for Thought Denver Thursday, Congressman John Moolenaar, R-Midland, voted to "uphold the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans" by voting against two bills proposed by House Democrats. "I will always defend the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans," Moolenaar stated. "Right now, every commercial gun purchase in America goes through the national background check system, but today's legislation goes too far. It would give the FBI unlimited time to dig into the background of every person who purchases a gun. An unlimited timeframe is an abuse of power against law-abiding Americans and they would have no legal recourse to defend their Constitutional rights. Thanks to the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic, it is clear that the workplace will never be the same. Companies and organizations of all kinds are planning for a more flexible future that blends in-office days with working from home. But especially in the cash-strapped public sector where remote work is seen as a valuable way to cut costs leaders expect a sea change in the way state and local agencies conduct business.The COVID response has really permanently changed how agencies have embraced this, Georgia CIO Calvin Rhodes said recently. But another important aspect that really drove us in this direction, he said, was a mandate from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for every agency to cut its budget by 10 percent. A number of agencies responded by looking at ways to reduce their physical office space, Rhodes said. Really, were viewing it now as a long-term strategic element for us to try to keep and retain staff.Rhodes made his comments on a recent webinar, The Remote Work Workplace: Policies, Procedures and Processes for a New Era, part of a new series of virtual discussions convened by Governing and Government Technology on the Future of Work.In Georgia, remote work isnt just seen as a way to reduce overhead expenses, Rhodes said. Its a valuable tool for expanding the pool of potential state employees.The governor has given a directive to all agencies to hire people from all across the state, he said. We typically had looked to the metro [Atlanta] area. But [remote work] gives us the ability to go after talent. Were in a very competitive market for talent here in the Atlanta area, and this really opens that up.Georgia agencies are even working with state human resources officials to write specific definitions of flex-work into future job descriptions. Under the new definitions, a teleworker might physically be in an office one or two days a week. A remote worker, meanwhile, may come into the office once or twice a year, Rhodes said.When you look at the private sector companies we compete with, [their approach to flex-work] is going to look different, he said. So, to be competitive, were going to have to embrace this.But theres one other factor that may even be more important in cementing the future of remote work, he added: Our teams really like it.Of course, managing remote teams isnt as simple as merely allowing employees to work from home. States and localities must revisit a host of policies and procedures to ensure that remote workers are engaged and productive.King County, Wash., for example, has taken several steps to help transition employees to work from home, said county CIO Tanya Hannah, who joined Rhodes in the recent virtual conversation. In the early days of the pandemic, for instance, King County provided $1,000 stipends to help employees set up a home office. It conducted video evaluations of workers home setups to make sure theyre ergonomically safe. The county even created a $9 million daycare fund to help defray costs for employees with children who were now learning from home.Now, as the county turns its attention to longer term plans for a hybrid work future, its confronting policy questions on, say, disaster planning and other contingencies.And its dealing with the very real concern of maintaining group morale and a positive work culture when employees may never see some of their colleagues in person.Were conducting employee engagement surveys, Hannah said. Were trying to understand, what are the needs of our remote workers as well as our on-site employees, those first responders who have to come into the office? Were designing programs to ensure that our entire workforce is cared for. That includes comprehensive communication and collaboration tools, along with an increased focus on mental stress and well-being. And like other jurisdictions, King County agencies have hosted online group yoga sessions, chef-led cooking shows, Xbox tournaments and even virtual open-mic nights for public employees.Team cohesion is a very big deal when you havent seen your team in a year, Hannah said.Watch the full discussion, and find other tools for empowering the public workforces, at governing.com/futureofwork Celebrities share the stories behind their favourite photographs. This week its legendary photographer David Bailey, 83. Legendary photographer David Bailey, 83, has shared the stories behind some of his favourite photographs 1938: This is me as a baby with my mum, Glad. She was a machinist and my dad Bert was a tailors cutter I also have a younger sister called Thelma. We were bombed out of our flat in Leytonstone, east London, during the Blitz and moved to East Ham. One of my earliest memories is walking on glass after the house next door had been hit. I was about three and a half at the time 1963: I was dyslexic and used to skip school to look at the birds (of the feathered kind) on Wanstead Flats. I ended up leaving school at 15 with no qualifications but got into photography during my National Service. This is on a shoot with Jean Shrimpton. We were an item for about four years but our professional relationship stayed strong. We helped make each others names 1965: When I married French film star Catherine Deneuve, the wedding [pictured] was a big happening, with crowds in the street. Inside though, it was just me and my friends having a drink. Mick Jagger was my best man I knew Mick before he was in the Rolling Stones. He was just a bloke I met because he was going out with my then girlfriends sister Chrissie Shrimpton. He used to stay at my house when he had nowhere to live. All my ex-girlfriends or wives are friends of mine. Ive never understood how you can live with somebody for five or six years and then not like them 1983: Ive been friends with American model Jerry Hall since she arrived in London in the 70s. Shes one of the funniest people Ive ever met she has perfect comic timing and weve always had a good time when were together. This is us at the Cannes Film Festival its an important place to meet people professionally, but its always great for a party too. A little while after this, I was photographing famine victims in Sudan for the Band Aid appeal. I had started to branch out with my photography; taking portraits of tribespeople in Papua New Guinea, for instance. Something more than just frocks 1986: Ive been married four times; my wives have never fallen out with each other. My third wife, Marie Helvin, and my current wife, Catherine Dyer, get on fine, even though I was married to Marie when I met her. Ive been married to Catherine [pictured with David and their daughter Paloma] for 34 years now. I think the secret to our marriages success is honesty and humour. If you laugh at something, it makes it ridiculous. Plus like all women, Catherines a mystery to me so theres always something new to find out 2002: One or two photographers I have considered as rivals, such as Helmut Newton, but people like Patrick Lichfield, John Swannell and Terry ONeill [left to right, at an event with David] were always just friends. Patrick and I got on well, despite coming from different backgrounds he was a cousin of the Queen. I used to stay at his estate, Shugborough Hall. I didnt mind that he was able to use his connections to get work, such as the marriage of Charles and Diana. I used to think, Good luck to him.' 2010: The Queen is a charming woman. Were at a reception at Buckingham Palace here, but when I photographed her for her 88th birthday in 2014 she gave me half a day of her time and we discussed all sorts of things, such as Alzheimers. I told her that if I said anything wrong, then it would be because I have truth Tourettes. We laughed all morning. She has very kind eyes with a mischievous glint. Ive always liked strong women, and the Queen is a very strong woman 2019: Getting this huge anthology of my work, called a SUMO, was like getting an Oscar. Only three photographers have SUMO books: Helmut Newton, Annie Leibowitz and Sebastiao Salgardo. I took my wife and children [l-r son Sascha, daughter Paloma, wife Catherine and son Fenton] to the launch at Claridges. Saschas into digital currency and will probably become a billionaire. Fenton, an excellent photographer, works with me. Paloma is a very good painter. Ive not asked what they think of my career. But I think Ive done all right for a boy from East Ham As told to Simon Hemelryk. David Baileys new autobiography, Look Again, is out now. Reports of a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine - which also arrived in Sardinia - which would have played a role in three suspected deaths in Sicily and caused "adverse events" in various states, come from half of Europe. Aifa therefore banned it in Italy, and Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg and Denmark suspended it. But, the health authorities reassure, "the benefits remain greater than the risks". The investigations are underway and the Nas of the carabinieri have seized thousands of doses in different regions. Meanwhile, the national vaccination plan changes: ahead with the over 80s, teachers and law enforcement agencies, then people with high fragility will have priority. Prime Minister Mario Draghi has promised a "decisive boost". IN SARDINIA - The batch of the vaccine under accusation, the one marked with the initials ABV2856, has also arrived in Cagliari, Nuoro, Sassari, Olbia, La Maddalena. So far, none have had worrying consequences. As confirmed by Giovanni Sotgiu, infectious disease specialist and rectoral delegate for Prevention, safety and biological risk Covid-19, for example, the staff of the University of Sassari were given the AstraZeneca vaccine which is part of the withdrawn batch, but, he added, " trust must not fail ", since millions of doses have been administered in many countries and the adverse reactions that have occurred are minimal in a limited number of people. (Unioneonline) More details on L'Unione Sarda on newsstands She threw chappals at me: Zomato delivery man denies allegation of 'attacking' model in Bengaluru India oi-Madhuri Adnal Bengaluru, Mar 12: A Zomato delivery personnel who was arrested for allegedly assaulting a city- based model and makeup artist for complaining against him over late delivery of food, has denied all her claims. Zomato delivery person assaults Bengaluru woman, arrested | Oneindia News In an interview with The News Minute, the delivery person named Kamaraj, who has been suspended by the company after the complaint, said, "After I reached her apartment door, I handed her the food and I was expecting her to pay me (as she had opted for cash on delivery mode of payment). I also apologised since the delivery was delayed due to traffic and bad roads. But she was very rude from the outset. She asked me 'Why are you late?' I replied apologetically, as there were road blocks due to ongoing civic works and there were traffic jams as well. But she kept on insisting that the order has to be delivered within 45-50 minutes. I am working on this job for more than two years and this is the first time that I have had to go through this kind of an ordeal." The man was arrested shortly after Hitesha Chandranee took to Twitter to air her woes and tagged the city police, who asked her to provide the area details to assist her further. The model said she lodged a complaint with the Zomato customer care asking them to either deliver food free of cost or cancel the order after it was delayed on Tuesday. "So guys, my Zomato order was late and I was talking to the customer care executive and meanwhile the delivery person just did this," said Chandranee, crying and showing her bleeding nose in a selfie video, which was aired by some TV channels. Zomato reacted to her twitter post, saying, "We can assure you this is not the experience our delivery universe stands for. Our local representative shall be in touch with you shortly to help you with the police investigation along with assistance on the medical care required." Stating that they were sorry for the incident, the food delivery company tweeted: "Rest assured we''ll take necessary actions to prevent such incidents from happening in the future." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 11:56 [IST] Im not a big party person, so I think if we would have had a party with 40 people in a room, at 7 months pregnant I would have been exhausted, Greene said. We saved a ton of money, and a ton of time and effort, because we didnt have to lug presents around. Everything was already there. NPP Constituency Executives of Old Tafo in the Ashanti Region has appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to renominate Mr Fred Obeng Owusu as the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the area. They described the MCE as an effective leader whose leadership and relationship with indigene has been impressive in a statement. His superb performance during his 2-year reign in office as MCE has brought massive development to the newly created Old Tafo Pankrono Municipality. Statement read Explaining the need to maintain Fred Obeng Owusu - acting chairperson in the constituency, Nana Afia Konadu said that we trust and believe in the leadership of Hon. Fred Obeng Owusu to deliver, he is endowed with knowledge, experience and competent administrative skills to lead Old Tafo Municipal Assembly, to create wealth, ensure peace and fulfil President's agenda of prosperity for every citizen in freedom, she added. She further appealed to the President to also appoint Hon. Dr Anthony Akoto Osei the immediate past Member of Parliament for the Constituency as a minister in his second term administration. Dr Anthony Akoto played a pivotal role as the minister of monitoring and evaluation and also performed credibly in elsewhere President Kofour's government as minister of state and finance and as ranking member in the Parliament in leading and advocating projects and programmes in the country. She noted Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Staff of Ochsner Health administer the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at the Castine Center in Pelican Park in Mandeville on Wednesday. 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 12, 2021] Mastercard Kicks Off Strivers Initiative Multi-City Educational Road Show and Fearless Fund Grant Effort, Reinforcing Commitment to Black Women-Owned Businesses Across the U.S. As an extension of its Strivers Initiative, Mastercard kicks off its virtual, multi-city educational road show in partnership with Create & Cultivate, the women's online community and digital platform, to drive awareness on the state of women and minority-owned businesses in four cities across the U.S. and launched a grant contest in collaboration with Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund built by women of color for women of color, to award grants to Black women-owned businesses with an emphasis in road show cities. The Strivers road show will stop in four cities, starting with Los Angeles on Saturday, March 13th, and continue in Atlanta, New York and New Orleans. Each event will include local small business experts, community members and small business owners to drive a dialogue around the needs of Black women business owners in that city, closing with a virtual shopping segment highlighting local businesses. "We've heard firsthand from many Black women-owned businesses of the devastating effect of the pandemic, forcing them to close doors or suspend business for months on end. Couple that with the systemic barriers they've had to overcome in the first place to get to where they are and it's clear this is an issue that needs to be addressed," said Cheryl Guerin, EVP Marketing and Communications in North America for Mastercard. "We're committed to fostering dialogue and taking action to support the economic progress of Black, female business owners in cities across America ensuring they have access to the funding and digital resources needed to grow and thrive." In Los Angeles, Fearless Fund, in partnership with Mastercard, awarded two local Black women business owners, Megan Smith of Megan Renee and Angela Stevens of Conscious Curls, each with a Priceless Surprise of $10,000 grant to help support and grow their business. From a sustainable clothing line that embodies strength, confidence and unapologetic femininity, to a high-quality hair extensions line that empowers and educates women on the beauty of hair, while donating to various organizations, these women are not only running businesses, they are giving back and supporting their communities. To further underscore their commitment to this community, Fearless Fund, in partnership with Mastercard, also launched the Fearless Strivers Grant Contest* to provide Black female small business owners across the U.S. who've been hit hardest by the pandemic with additional grants and tools to help grow their business. "Our mission since day one has been to support women and minority-owned businesses across the country and we are thrilled to continue those efforts through the Strivers Road Show", says Arian Simone Co-Founder and General Partner of Fearless Fund. "Now more than ever, women of color entrepreneurs need financial support, guidance, and access to tools that will help their businesses get off the ground. This is still only the beginning of our work to create actionable change." These efforts build on Mastercard's sustained efforts to build a more inclusive digital economy and previously announced half-billion-dollar commitment to support Black communities over the next five years. Specifically, in Los Angeles, Mastercard has made progress against this commitment by partnering with Accion Opportunity Fund, a Community Development Financial Institutions, to provide capital, access to credit, and support securing PPP loans to hundreds of Black small business owners. Through mastercard.com/smallbiz visitors can learn more about these efforts, as well as shop Black Women-owned businesses, share their stories on social media and support their work. GRAMMY Week Celebration and Live Stream Event Mastercard will continue the conversation and celebration around Black women entrepreneurs during GRAMMY week. On Saturday, March 13, Mastercard will hold FEARLESS: A Celebration of Strivers, a livestream concert event that spotlights the contributions of Black women in music and business, featuring performances by three artists who will take the stage at women-owned small businesses. This includes: Ella Mai performing live from The Braid Bar: Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) Ari Lennox performing live from iwi fresh: Atlanta, GA Tierra Whack performing live from Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse: Philadelphia, PA Viewers will not only experience a truly unique musical event, but will also have the opportunity to hear from small business owners from across the country, make a contribution to Fearless Fund and learn how to apply for the grant contest if they are a Black, female business owner. To tune into the livestream follow @mastercard on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and to discover other Priceless at-home experiences in celebration of GRAMMY week visit priceless.com/GRAMMYs. *Fearless Strivers Grant Contest Rules NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. THIS IS A SKILL BASED CONTEST. Void where prohibited. Open to black females who are legal U.S. residents (including DC), 18+ and the principal owner of a U.S.-based small business (as described in the Official Rules). Ends 5/23/21. For Official Rules & complete details, Click here. About Mastercard Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all. www.mastercard.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005361/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi, March 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the quadrilateral grouping of the US, India, Japan and Australia has "come of age" as he attended the first Quad leaders' summit virtually. The grouping is being seen as a united front to counter China's imperialistic aggression and expansion through trade and military occupation. Modi participated in the virtual summit headed by US President Joe Biden along with Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison and Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga. Modi started his speech by declaring, "It is good to be among friends." The four countries, he said, "are united by our democratic values and our commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific." The agenda of the summit -- covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies -- makes the Quad a force for global good, he said. Describing Quad as a positive vision, the Prime Minister said that it is an extension of India's ancient philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', which regards the world as one family. "We will work together closer than ever before for advancing our shared values and promoting a secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Modi said. Quad, he added, "is an important pillar of stability in the region". Modi's statement was welcomed by a lot of India watchers in the US. Former US diplomat and Harvard academic Nicholas Burns praised the move, tweeting, "Today's first-ever Quad leaders meeting - of the US, India, Japan and Australia - is a big deal. Led by the President of the United States Joe Biden, these four can lead on vaccine distribution, strengthen democracies in the region and limit China's assertiveness." There are reports that India will produce Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid vaccine shot as part of the first Quad initiative. The project will be financed by Japan and the US, while Australia will use its logistics capability to ship the vaccines to Southeast Asia and Pacific countries. NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry says it has asked Chinese authorities to "help resolve issues" raised by ethnic Kazakhs in China, who have been demanding their relatives' release from custody in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang. Mukhtar Karibai told reporters in Nur-Sultan on March 12 that the decision "to ask China for help" was made after it became obvious that dozens of ethnic Kazakhs from China, who have been picketing the Chinese Consulate in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, for more than a month "have not been following sanitary regulations to prevent the spread of the coronavirus." "We have asked the Chinese side to meet with those people and make certain decisions regarding their complaints so that [the protesters] stop gathering [in front of the Chinese consulate] every day," Karibai said. Subscribe To Our New 'China In Eurasia' Newsletter It has become impossible to tell the biggest stories shaping Eurasia without considering Chinas resurgent influence in local business, politics, security, and culture. China In Eurasia is the new biweekly newsletter by correspondent Reid Standish in which he builds on local reporting from RFE/RLs journalists across Eurasia to give you unique insights into Beijings ambitions. It's sent on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. To subscribe, click here. Karibai confirmed that some naturalized Kazakh citizens and ethnic-Kazakh Chinese citizens, whose relatives reside in Kazakhstan, have not been able to leave Xinjiang to come to Kazakhstan for some time, adding though that "more than 90 percent of such people have returned to Kazakhstan" by now. "We are sticking to the international norm, according to which, one country cannot interfere in the internal affairs of another country...But because there is another norm which does not allow the separation of close relatives, we are trying to do what we can to resolve the issue," Karibai said. "At this point there are 5 to 6 ethnic Kazakhs stuck in Xinjiang who are not able to join their families [in Kazakhstan]. All of them are Chinese citizens. Some media reports say they broke the law in China, and that is why very likely they are being kept in custody there. It might take longer time to solve their issues," Karibai added. When asked by an RFE/RL correspondent about reports saying that the number of ethnic Kazakhs held in custody in Xinjiang is much higher, Karibai said he could not comment on "unofficial information." Karibai's statement came one day after the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan posted an interview on Facebook with Sairagul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh from Xinjiang, who was one of the first individuals to speak publicly about so-called reeducation camps for Xinjiang's indigenous, mostly Muslim ethnic groups. Sauytbay, who fled China in April 2018 and is currently living in Sweden, repeated that thousands of ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang were undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of "reeducation camps," facing "torture and humiliation" there. On March 10, U.S. Embassy officials met with other ethnic Kazakhs who fled Xinjiang and are currently in Kazakhstan, and discussed their ordeals in China. The U.S. State Department has said that as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim, ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers. China denies that the facilities are internment camps. Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, is the second-largest community in Xinjiang. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to deliver his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly in person, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "We are preparing for an in-person address," TASS cited him as saying. When asked if the event would take place before the falls parliamentary election and whether the address would be particularly targeted at the current members of the lower house of parliament, Peskov said: "It will certainly be targeted at the current lawmakers." Putin said on Thursday that he had stared to work on his annual address to the Federal Assembly. According to the head of state, the work involves the presidential administration and the government. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Australias central bank maintained its policy settings as it prepares to decide on extending its yield target and quantitative easing programs, with a Covid-19 lockdown complicating the outlook.The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate and three-year yield target at 0.10% in Sydney on Tuesday, as expected. It will make a decision in July on whether to extend the yield target and undertake further quantitative easing. A weeklong shutdown in the nations second-largest city adds a layer of uncertainty to the outlook.Despite the strong recovery in the economy and jobs, inflation and wage pressures are subdued, Governor Philip Lowe said. The board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions to support a return to full employment in Australia and inflation consistent with the target.The Australian dollar edged lower, trading at 77.41 U.S. cents at 2:53 p.m. in Sydney from 77.62 cents just before the release.The case for Lowe to maintain the April 2024 bond as the target maturity had been strengthening amid strong hiring, sentiment and investment plans. This was reinforced by the government keeping open the fiscal spigot in the May budget as it joins the RBA in seeking to drive down unemployment to revive wages growth and inflation.Progress in reducing unemployment has been faster than expected, Lowe said in his statement. There are reports of labor shortages in some parts of the economy.Risks AheadYet the RBA may be encouraged to err on the side of caution if Melbournes outbreak worsens and extend both of its bond programs to keep maximum support for the economy.An important ongoing source of uncertainty is the possibility of significant outbreaks of the virus, although this should diminish as more of the population is vaccinated, Lowe said. The board continues to place a high priority on a return to full employment.Globally, central banks are beginning to edge away from emergency monetary settings. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets last week in presenting projections of its official cash rate rising in the second half of next year.Back in Australia, economists predicted ahead of data Wednesday that gross domestic product rose 1.5% in the first three months of the year from the prior quarter, and advanced 0.6% from a year earlier.Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy, in testimony to a parliamentary panel earlier today, said partial data showed around 56,000 workers had lost their jobs in the four weeks following the end of the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy that expired March 28.He said strong employment data and forward indicators continue to give us confidence that the labor market has the underlying strength to absorb workers transitioning off the JobKeeper payment.End of Australias $68 Billion Job-Saving Stimulus Tests EconomyLowe estimates Australias jobless rate will need to fall to close to 4% before driving economy-wide pay increases. It stood at 5.5% in April.The governor expects wages growth will need to increase at a pace faster than 3% -- more than double the current rate -- for inflation to return sustainably to the central banks 2-3% target.Lowe reiterated that this is unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest.(Updates with further comments from governor throughout text.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Porterville, CA (93257) Today A good deal of sunshine. Near record high temperatures. High around 105F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 68F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. SPRINGFIELD A community task force has scheduled a town hall virtual meeting on Tuesday to provide detailed information about coronavirus vaccines and to dispel myths about it. City officials will join with the Springfield Vax Force Committee to host the meeting from 6-8 p.m., with information provided by the 17-member committee. The vax force is a group of professionals, including medical professionals and activists, active in researching the vaccine program, said Helen R. Caulton-Harris, the citys commissioner of health and human services. The goal is to give credible information to the public to aid in understanding and deciding on vaccinations, Caulton-Harris said. The committee will explain how the vaccine is effective and the best practices to use after being vaccinated, city officials said in a statement. In addition, the Vax Force will help to debunk the myths about the vaccine and clarify rumors and misinformation. There are many people who are hesitant or are not trustful of the vaccines, officials said. The Vax Force Town Hall can be viewed on the citys Office of Communications Facebook page. It can also be viewed on Focus Springfields Community Channel 17. The meeting can also be viewed, via Zoom at the link, here. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the committee is an assembled group of diverse, respected and trusted individuals in the community. Those serving on the Vax Force Committee and participating in the meeting are: Helen Caulton-Harris, health commissioner and committee chairwoman Tom Ashe, Sarnos chief of staff Elsie Sanchez, chair, Medical Reserve Corps Kathleen Szegda, Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts Dr. Jeffrey Scavron, Public Health Council, Brightwood Health Center Dr. Andrew Balder, Mason Square Health Center, Health Services for the Homeless Jose Claudio, chief operating officer, New North Citizens Council Dr. Sarah McAdoo, University of Massachusetts Population Health Capstone director Denise Jordan, executive director, Springfield Housing Authority Jeanne Clancy, Public Health Council, nursing supervisor for Springfield Public Schools Yemisi Oloruntola-Coates, chief diversity and inclusion officer, Baystate Health Melissa Mattison, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Western New England University Wesley Days, Public Health Council, UMass Springfield Damaris Jones, Tapestry Health System Ashley Bogle, Health New England Cristina Torres, Caring Health Center Magdalene Eboso, infection prevention and control coordinator Sarno and Caulton-Harris will provide introductory remarks, followed by presentations regarding how the vaccine works, the operations and process, the vaccine and youth, the faith community, diversity, equity and inclusion, and survey research, according to the program. Conspiracy theories never solved any medical challenges, vaccines do, Sarno said. While Fitch Ratings worries that litigation over COVID-19-related business-interruption claims is creating uncertain risk for property and casualty insurers, an economist who once served as a chief advisor to the industry said he doubts there will be a widespread impact. Robert Hartwig, an associate professor at the Risk and Uncertainty Management Center at the University of South Carolina, said COVID-19 has remarkably left insurers combined ratios largely unscathed. Amazingly there was virtually no change in the industrys underwriting performance 2020 v. 2019, Hartwig said this week during a podcast hosted by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. Hartwig was president of the Insurance Information Institute up until 2016 and continues to speak at industry events. He said he did a retrospective analysis of doom and gloom predictions made last spring that COVID-19 will generate billions of dollars in workers compensation, general liability and business-interruption claim losses. He said preliminary data indicates the property and casualty industrys loss ratio will remain about 99 percent for 2020, even though insures grappled with a record 5 million catastrophe claims. When you look back at those data 10 years from now, people will wonder and scratch their heads, why isnt there more evidence of what happened in a really tumultuous year in the actual annual results that are being reported by the industry?' Hartwig said many of the costs created by COVID-19, such as event cancellations, were offset by countervailing factors. For example, while there was a surge in workers compensation claims, that was offset by a reduction in claims for other types of workplace injuries. He said insurers have lost some COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuits, but theyve won most cases. Despite what I think has been very vigorous forum shopping by trail lawyers today, I think that we have gotten to the point here in the United States that the risk of these business-interruption claims has gone from what some people estimated to be tens of billions of dollars to be isolated to peculiarities in policy language associated with a number of carriers, Hartwig said. He said the insurance industry did a reasonably good job in getting ahead of the business-interruption issue by presenting facts that demonstrated the industry never intended to make insurance available for business income losses caused by a pandemic. He said most state insurance commissioners, well aware that they would have egg on their faces if their decisions led to insurer insolvencies, did not got on their soapboxes to demand that such claims be covered. There was clearly never any intent to provide coverage of this nature given the massive potential exposure to the industry, which was many times orders of magnitude larger than the entire capital base of the property casualty industry, even exceeding any potential reinsurance that would come into play here, he said. Fitch struck a more cautious tone in an advisory posted on Tuesday. The ratings house said a group of 50 North American publicly traded insurers reported more than $9 billion in coronavirus-related losses in 2020, while Lloyds of London and major global insurers and reinsurers reported $30 billion in losses. The majority of losses were related to event cancellations and travel insurance. A substantial volume of litigation remains unresolved, creating vulnerability to adverse judicial actions in BI and other segments, Fitch said. Class action filings may still emerge in BI and other liability coverages (D&O, E&O, EPLI), the extent of which may depend on strength of the economic recovery. While most BI cases resolved so far have come out in favor of insurers, that winning streak is stronger in federal courts than in state courts, Fitch noted. Federal courts have largely accepted BI policy language specifying physical damage to property, Fitch said. In addition, federal courts have upheld exclusions for viruses in the contract language of insurers BI policies. However, Fitch said the judicial interpretation risk facing insurers was illustrated by a Jan. 19 ruling by U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster. In Henderson Road Restaurant Services, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Co., he decided the government shutdown response to coronavirus caused the business-interruption loss rather than the virus itself. Questions remain as to whether any individual plaintiff victory with a particular vein of argument in a given jurisdiction will lead to a slew of larger insurer losses in similar cases, Fitch said. A litigation tracker maintained by the University of Pennsylvanias Carey Law School shows that in federal courts, insurers have won dismissals with prejudice in 75% of the cases heard so far. In state court, they have won only 42% of cases. About the photo: Shoppers pass a theater closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Wednesday, March 3, 2021, in San Antonio. Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas is lifting a mask mandate and lifting business capacity limits next week. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas released the following statement about TPS for Burma. Confusingly, the rest of the world calls Burma by the name Myanmar. Due to the military coup and security forces brutal violence against civilians, the people of Burma are suffering a complex and deteriorating humanitarian crisis in many parts of the country, said Secretary Mayorkas. After a thorough review of this dire situation, I have designated Burma for Temporary Protected Status so that Burmese nationals and habitual residents may remain temporarily in the United States. Secretary Mayorkas decided to designate Burma for TPS after consultation with interagency partners and careful consideration of the extraordinary and temporary conditions in Burma caused by the coup, which has led to continuing violence, pervasive arbitrary detentions, the use of lethal violence against peaceful protesters, and intimidation of the people of Burma. The coup has worsened humanitarian conditions in several areas by limiting access to life-saving assistance, disrupting flights carrying humanitarian and medical aid, and spurring an economic crisis. Such conditions prevent Burmese nationals and habitual residents from returning safely. A country may be designated for TPS if the Secretary determines that current country conditions fall into one or more of the three statutory bases for designation: ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. Only individuals who are already residing in the United States are eligible for TPS. Individuals who can demonstrate continuous residence in the United States as of March 11, 2021, are eligible for TPS under Burmas designation. For their own health and safety, individuals should not believe smugglers or others claiming the border is now open. Due to the pandemic, travel and admission restrictions at the border remain in place. In addition to demonstrating continuous residence in the United States since March 11, 2021, initial applicants for TPS under this designation must meet other eligibility criteria, which will be detailed in a forthcoming Federal Register notice. All individuals applying for TPS undergo security and background checks as part of determining eligibility. The Federal Register notice will explain the eligibility criteria applicants must meet and describe procedures necessary to submit an initial TPS application and apply for work authorization documentation. A major hospital in Brisbane has been placed in lockdown after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, the Queensland government said on Friday night. Princess Alexandra Hospital, a major teaching hospital in Brisbane, went into lockdown after a staff member, believed to be a doctor, tested positive earlier in the day. The infected worker is believed to be a doctor. Credit:Bradley Kanaris The staff member had contact with COVID-19 patients in the early hours of Wednesday, March 10, Queensland health officials said. The person was infectious while moving around in the community on Thursday, March 11. Contact tracing is under way. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino speaks during an announcement in Ottawa, Canada, on Oct. 30, 2020. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Opposition MPs Question Use of CCP-Affiliated Contractor to Run Canadas Visa Centre in Beijing Canadas immigration minister said he is confident that there are no security concerns about allowing a company owned by the Chinese police to manage Canadas visa application centre in Beijing, despite calls from opposition MPs to cancel the contract. VFS Global, the company that manages the Canadian visa application worldwide, uses a subcontractorBeijing Shuangxiong Foreign Serviceto run its visa centres in Beijing. The company is reportedly owned by the Beijing Municipal Public Security, the police agency in the Chinese capital. According a Globe and Mail report on Tuesday, a staggering 86 percent of employees in the Beijing visa centre work for Beijing Shuangxiong Foreign Service, while only the remaining 14 percent of the staff is hired by VFS Global. At the Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan asked Immigration Minister Marco Medicino if the Liberal government has considered the possibility of espionage, since an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is allowed into Canadas visa application process. The Chinese Communist Party develops a fake identity with an attempt to infiltrate our overseas visa office, via espionage and collect visa applications and then runs them through the hiring process for the subcontractor, Hallan asked. He said the Chinese Ministry of State Security has manipulated innocent civilians to unknowingly helping spy on Canadas allied nations. How do we know that VFS employee are not compromised? As even one Chinese spy could destroy the entire functioning of the office and cause a significant security threat, Hallan said. NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan noted that the chair of Beijing Shuangxiong is a secretary in the CCP and the companys general manager is a deputy secretary. The truth is the entire structure stinks and this is a huge conflict of interest for the safety of applicants, she said. Mendicino insisted that the Canadian government has rigorous security measures for vetting and monitoring employees who work at its visa application centres. He said the equipment in the offices also ensure the secrecy of sensitive personal information used for visa applications. I am confident with the protocols we have put in place to manage the risks in foreign environments, including in China, Mendicino said. The screening and vetting, which is undertaken by our contractors, ensures that there is a standard that is applied uniformly across government to the reliability status. We are eyes wide open on this issue and well continue to manage these risks carefully going forward, he added. Hallan also questioned the risks it would pose for a pro-democracy Chinese activist seeking to flee to Canada when applying at a visa centre affiliated with the communist regime. The CCP has further ramped up control in Hong Kong this week, demanding that hundreds of civil servants pledge allegiance to the Chinese regime or risk losing their jobs. Last year, the Immigration Department introduced a pathway that would allow more Hong Kong residents to come to Canada, following Chinas passing of the national security law, which allows Beijing to tighten its grip over the regions electoral system and further restrict independence. Mendicino said that Chinas introduction of the law would not obstruct pro-democracy protesters from coming to Canada. No Hong Kongers will be prevented from coming to Canada or claiming asylum, because they have participated in peaceful protests, Mendicino said. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of consumers say they will not feel comfortable shopping on their local high street until a number of conditions are met, according to a new research report published today by .IE, the company that manages Irelands country domain .ie, in partnership with Digital Business Ireland. The .IE Tipping Point report was commissioned by .IE, in partnership with Digital Business Ireland, and carried out by Core Research. Research was carried out from 1127 January 2021. A total of 1,000 consumers aged 18 and over were surveyed via online questionnaire. A total of 500 SMEs in the retail and customer-facing professional services sectors were interviewed via telephone. Twenty eight percent will not feel comfortable until Covid cases are much lower than they are now and 27% not until vaccines are available to the general adult population, not just at-risk groups. Sixteen percent would prefer to wait until the government declares that social distancing and masks are no longer required, while 6% say they will never feel comfortable shopping in-store on their local high street ever again. Overall, just 45% believe that life will return close or completely to pre-Covid normality by the end of 2021. The other 55% believe that life this year will be more or less the same as life in 2020, or even more restricted. Sixty eight percent of consumers reported spending more online in 2020 than they did in 2019. Looking ahead, 58% will prioritise online shopping over in-store shopping in 2021, up from 52% last year. Forty two percent of consumers said they will do most of their shopping in bricks-and-mortar stores this year, down from 48% in 2020. Among consumers who say they will do most of their shopping in physical stores in 2021, 61% said it is more convenient. 39% said they will shop mostly in physical stores because it is a chance for social interaction and to go outside; interestingly, this figure has dropped from 55% in 2020, presumably as cases have increased since Christmas. For those consumers who said they would do most of their shopping online, social interaction had the exact opposite effect: 66% said shopping online is safer and means less social interaction. 52% say it is more convenient and 46% say it saves them time. Almost a third (30%) of SMEs now claim to sell a product online in some way (either through a website or third-party platform), up from 25% in 2020. Almost 9 in 10 of that group say they have noticed an increase in their online sales numbers since the Covid pandemic began. The number of SMEs that have invested in their online presence has increased dramatically since last year. Now more than half (55%, up from 21% in 2020) claim to have spent money on improving their digital platforms, with most either launching or improving their website. 78% of SMEs say that they are busier than or as busy as before the pandemic because of their online investment, up from 46% in 2020. Sixty one percent of SMEs say their online services will be more important to their business in 2021 than they were in 2020, and 79% will continue to invest in them this year. It is clear that a greater number of Irish businesses accept that their business model is likely to be permanently changed by the pandemic. Commenting on the research, Chief Executive of .IE, David Curtin said, "While vaccines offer Ireland a way out of lockdown, until a critical mass is reached and the population is immunised, our economy and society are set to remain in a state of flux. This flux is accelerating major trends in how consumers spend and how SMEs sell their goods and services." He added, "Irish consumers want to support local businesses through a difficult period, but SMEs cant expect that goodwill to last forever. A stable, long-term e-commerce strategy cannot be built on crisis solidarity alone. Irish SMEs have a number of unique, competitive advantages that consumers recognise and value, namely trustworthiness, reliability, and delivery speed. SMEs need to focus on these factors, on honing the customer experience online and off, rather than trying to undercut overseas retailers on price and range." Source: www.businessworld.ie 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 Following the death of a patient, his family members went on a rampage at the Hindu Rao Hospital here on Friday evening, brutally assaulting a junior resident doctor besides damaging hospital property. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, March 12 : Following the death of a patient, his family members went on a rampage at the Hindu Rao Hospital here on Friday evening, brutally assaulting a junior resident doctor besides damaging hospital property. The family members also threw chairs and other articles they could lay their hands on at the duty room where the nursing and paramedical staff were present. A video of the incident shows the terrorised staff screaming for help while a mob, allegedly the attendants of the deceased patient, could be seen shattering glasses in the duty room. As per the hospital, the 34-year-old patient from Mallikaganj was admitted to the hospital with complaint of seizures. The investigation carried out by the doctors revealed that the patient had suffered a cardiac arrest which triggered the seizures. The doctors told IANS that his condition deteriorated to such a level that his life could not be saved. "He (the patient) suffered cardiac asystole induced by a complex partial seizure. The family members refused to believe that their patient could suffer a heart attack at this age. They blamed the hospital for lax approach and turned violent," Ahemadullah Shaikh, a doctor at the hospital, said. Eyewitnesses said that a junior resident doctor was chased and brutally beaten up by seven-eight people. "He has fractured his arm besides suffering blows on his head," an official from the hospital administration said. The official also said that the police were called to the spot and the hospital intends to file an institutional FIR against the deceased person's family. As per a 2019 order by the Delhi government, in cases of assaults against doctors, an institutional FIR can be filed by the head of the institution. The health department of the Delhi government had directed all the government hospitals to file institutional FIRs in casses of abuse or violence by any patient or attendant. (L-R) Antony Blinken, who was then the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, shakes hand with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Olive Hall in Beijing, on Feb. 11, 2015. (Andy Wong-Pool/Getty Images) US Lawmakers Urge Biden Officials to Stay Tough on China During Upcoming Talks TAIPEI, TaiwanU.S. Lawmakers are calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to be tough on Beijing when they meet with Chinese officials in Alaska next week. Communist China is Americas greatest national security threat, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said, according to a March 11 statement. General Secretary Xi [Jinping] knows President Biden is weak on China and wants nothing more than to appease the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Blinken and Sullivan are scheduled to meet with two top Chinese officialsChinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and the top CCP official in charge of foreign affairs, Yang Jiechiin Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18. The meeting is the first high-level in-person meeting between the two nations since President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20. Scott added: General Secretary Xi is leading a genocidal campaign against the Uyghurs, systemically stripping civil liberties from Hong Kongers and harassing and intimidating the people of Taiwan. Secretary Blinken and National Security Adviser Sullivan need to make clear that the United States will not waver in its commitment to human rights and the protection of our national security, he said. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that the two U.S. officials would not hold back on discussing concerns with the Chinese diplomats, whether its on Taiwan, or efforts to push back democracy in Hong Kong, or on concerns we have about the economic relationship. Psaki added Beijings genocide of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region will also be raised. Scott is not the only U.S. lawmaker to voice concerns about the upcoming talks. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that Hong Kong must be on the top of the U.S. agenda, following a decision by Chinas rubber-stamp legislature this week to approve a draft plan to change Hong Kongs electoral system. When they meet next week, I strongly urge Secretary Blinken and NSA Sullivan to remind their CCP counterparts they will not get away with crushing Hong Kongs freedom and democracy, stated McCaul according to a statement. The draft decision will further cement Beijings control over the territory by reducing Hong Kongs democratic representation and pave the way for only patriots to govern the city. U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Blinken have both condemned Beijings recent moves on the city. New limits on political participation and democratic representation decimate democratic institutions in HK and run counter to PRC [Peoples Republic of China] international commitments Blinken wrote on Twitter on Thursday. The Meeting Experts told The Epoch Times that Beijing and Washington wont be able to resolve their differences in the upcoming talks. Soong Hseik-wen, a professor at the Institute of Strategic and International Affairs (ISIA) of Taiwans National Chung Cheng University (NCCU), said that Beijing wants to use the talks to ease tensions with the United States, so it could have a four-year reprieve to deal with problems caused in part by former President Donald Trumps tough-on-China policies. The Trump administration took a range of hardline actions targeting the CCP on multiple fronts, from its human rights abuses to theft of American research and technology to military aggression in the South China Sea. For instance, federal authorities have zeroed-in on Chinese state-sponsored recruitment plans which U.S. officials say allow Beijing to steal American intellectual property or violate U.S. export controls. A number of Chinese researchers working in the United States have been prosecuted for hiding these Beijing-backed plans, such as the Thousand Talents Program. A reprieve would also be needed for Beijing to deal with its domestic problems, including political instability, a declining GDP, and a real estate bubble, according to Soong. The professor is also the founder of ISIA and former dean of NCCUs Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Soong said he believed the two sides will talk about a number of issues, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, the South China Sea, and the United States restrictions on semiconductors to China. However, Soong explained that the two sides wont come to any agreement on any of these issues. China is heavily dependent on foreign semiconductorstiny chips that power everything from cellphones to missiles. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Chinese tech giant Huawei that prevented it from buying U.S. components including chips, crippling its smartphone business. Chinese chipmaker SMIC has also been hit with U.S. sanctions. Soong predicted that the Biden administration will continue to block and deter challenges posed by China in technology fields. Meanwhile, the professor expected the two sides to come out of the talks reaching consensus on a few issues, such climate change and cooperation on vaccines to fight the pandemic. Bidens decision to rejoin the Paris Climate accord has drawn criticism from Republicans and analysts, who fear it may be used by Beijing as a bargaining chip to extract U.S. concessions in other areas not related to climate change. Critics have also decried Bidens re-engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council and rejoining the World Health Organization as moves that ultimately benefit Beijing. The cooperation on COVID-19 will be limited to vaccines, Soong said, as the two sides will not be able to reach an agreement on other related issues, such as the origin of the virus and Beijings accountability for the pandemic due to its initial coverup of the outbreak. The U.S.-China trade deal, signed by the two sides in January 2020, could also be another topic of discussion at the meeting, according to Soong. So far, China has fallen short on its pledges in the agreement. Beijing had agreed to buy an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. goods and services in 2020 and 2021, compared to 2017 levels. After the talks, China will maintain a friendly relationship with the United States on the surface. However, both nations will set their own agenda, pitting the two sides on a more confrontational future, Soong concluded. Tzeng Wei-feng, an assistant professor at the Graduate Institute of China Studies of Taiwans Tamkang University, told The Epoch Times in an email that Beijing sees the upcoming talk as a way to defuse tensions so that it may continue its socialist modernization at home. More importantly, the CCP sees the easing of bilateral relations as something good for the 20th National Peoples Congress set to be held next year, according to Tzeng. The CCPs top leadership will be reshuffled at the 20th National Peoples Congress. Current members of the CCPs top decision-making bodies, the Central Committee and Politburo, could be replaced, while Chinese Leader Xi Jinping could be reappointed for a third term. Tzeng believes that the Biden administration sees issues including Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Tibet as bargaining chips which could be used to extract significant economic and diplomatic deals from Beijing. It is difficult for the two sides to resolve their differences immediately, Tzeng said. Myanmar's security forces shot to death at least 10 people protesting the military's Thursday, spurning a UN Security Council appeal to stop using lethal force and as an independent UN expert cited growing evidence of crimes against humanity. The military also lodged a new allegation against the deposed government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, alleging that in 2017-18 she was illegally given USD 600,000 and gold bars worth slightly less by a political ally. She and President Win Myint have been detained on less serious allegations and the new accusation was clearly aimed at discrediting Suu Kyi and perhaps charging her with a serious crime. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said at a news conference in the capital that former Yangon Division Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein had admitted giving the money and gold to Suu Kyi, but presented no evidence. has been roiled by protests, strikes and other acts of civil disobedience since the toppled Suu Kyi's government Feb. 1 just as it was to start its second term. The takeover reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule. Local press reports and posts on social media on Thursday said there were six deaths in Myaing, a town in the central Magway Region, and one each in Yangon, Mandalay, Bago and Taungoo. In many cases, photos of what were said to be the bodies of the dead were posted online. Security forces have attacked previous protests with live ammunition as well, leading to the deaths of at least 60 people. They have also employed tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and stun grenades. Many demonstrators have been brutally beaten. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council unanimously called for reversing the and strongly condemned the violence against peaceful protesters. It also called for utmost restraint by the military. An independent UN rights expert focusing on told the the UN-backed Human Rights Council on Thursday that violence against protesters and even people sitting peacefully in their homes was rising. He said the junta was detaining dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people every day. Thomas Andrews, a former US lawmaker, also pointed to growing evidence of crimes against humanity being committed by security forces, citing murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture and imprisonment against basic rules of law. He acknowledged a formal determination requires a full investigation and trial. He is working under a mandate from the council and does not speak for the UN. The human rights group Amnesty on Thursday issued a report saying Myanmar's military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country. The London-based group said its examination of more than 50 videos from the crackdown confirmed that security forces appear to be implementing planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force. Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions. These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions. These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open, Joanne Mariner, its director of crisis response, said in a statement. As widespread street protests against the coup continue, the junta is facing a new challenge from the country's ethnic guerrilla forces, which until recently had limited themselves to verbal denunciations of last month's coup. Reports from Kachin, the northernmost state, said guerrilla forces from the Kachin ethnic minority attacked a government base on Thursday and were in turn attacked. The armed wing of the Kachin political movement is the Kachin Independence Army, or KIA. This morning in Hpakant township, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO/KIA) attacked a military council battalion based in Sezin village, and the KIO/KIA's Hpakant-based 9th Brigade and 26 battalions were attacked by helicopter. Both sides are still investigating, The 74 Media reported on Twitter. A Facebook page for the Kachin Liberation Media said the KIA had overrun the government outpost and seized ammunition. It warned the government against using lethal force to break up anti-coup protests in the Kachin capital, Myitkyina, where two demonstrators were killed this week. The reports could not be independently confirmed, and ethnic guerrilla armies as well as the government often release exaggerated information. However, even making such an announcement amounts to a sharp warning to the government. The Kachin actions come a few days after another ethnic guerrilla force belonging to the Karen minority announced it would protect demonstrators in territory it controlled. The Karen National Union deployed armed combatants to guard a protest in Myanmar's southeastern Tanintharyi Region. has more than a dozen ethnic guerrilla armies, mostly in border areas, a legacy of decades-old struggles for greater autonomy from the central government. Many have formal or informal cease-fire agreements with the government, but armed clashes still occur. There has been speculation that some ethnic groups could form a de facto alliance with the protest movement to pressure the government. (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.) During the first week of March 2020, University of Georgia students went home or to the beach for spring break, not knowing we wouldnt be returning to a normal semester. At first, it was an extended spring break by two weeks, but then the University System of Georgia made the decision to continue the rest of the semester online. Looking back on this moment one year later, UGA students have experienced numerous changes to what they know as a normal college experience, and even though there have been improvements, there is still no full spring break. Instead, UGA has implemented instructional breaks throughout the semester so that students can get a slight break in the middle of various weeks or a long weekend. The Red & Black staff said how they would be spending their spring break this week had it not been canceled. Below are their responses. Olivia Mandeville - Senior Account Executive If we had a full spring break, I would be visiting my friend in California. Im not using my instructional break to make up for this because it doesnt justify me spending $500 on a flight. Spencer Donovan - Executive Editor I would be camping with my friends. During this instructional break, Im going hiking with my friends in North Georgia. Its not the same as camping, but its still a great way to get outside. It also helps to get out of Athens. Taylor Gerlach - Photo Editor If spring break wasnt canceled, I would probably be trying to hike somewhere in Europe on a budget. I really cant use this instructional break to make up for it one day isnt long enough to have a full break. Shawn Pollack - Senior Account Executive If we had spring break, Id be sitting on a beach somewhere with my friends. I made up for it though this weekend by going to the beach with my family. Julia Walkup - News Editor I would be at home, relaxing in the sun and reading books. Im making up for it by spending time with a couple of friends, safely, to celebrate my birthday. Jacqueline GaNun - Assistant Recruitment Editor I would probably be at a beach in Florida. For my instructional break, all of my in-person classes were canceled this week, so I went home to Zoom in from there instead of Athens. Im trying not to do any work on Friday. While truly universal Internet access is still a ways off, yesterday marked a milestone in a yearlong push by ed-tech policy advocates to expand reliable high-speed Internet to millions of rural and low-income students learning remotely during COVID-19 school closures.On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, including more than $7.1 billion for the Federal Communications Commissions E-rate program that funds school broadband connectivity and hot spots, routers and other devices needed to facilitate remote or hybrid learning.Reg Leichty, policy counsel for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), said he was grateful for the bill following months of CoSN efforts to convince lawmakers of such needs during the public health crisis. He said the funding serves as a great down payment on the work that will be needed ahead to further close the digital divide.As we mark the one-year anniversary of the countrys abrupt shift to remote learning, the need for all students to have access to digital learning is even more apparent, he said in an email to. We live in a world where access to online resources and learning is an essential part of normal schooling.Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition spokeswoman Alicja Johnson said the funding represents a historic step forward in closing the digital divide among students an issue that has exacerbated learning loss particularly among students of color and students in other underserved communities.Compared to the CARES Act, which spent a little under $2 billion on remote learning, the American Rescue Plans funding will go a lot further toward ending the homework gap for millions of kids. We expect to see a lot of schools partner with broadband companies to purchase home Internet for students in need, but some will opt to deploy their own networks through new wireless solutions, she said Friday in an email.Still, Johnson said policymakers must recognize that the FCC funding isnt a permanent solution to the digital divide in education.Even after the pandemic, students will need home broadband for their homework, so SHLB encourages policymakers to pursue legislation that will take a long-term approach to closing the digital divide for everyone in the country, Johnson added.The coalition and others have also urged lawmakers to support the Accessible, Affordable Internet For All Act, reintroduced Thursday by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Senate Broadband Caucus co-chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to provide over $90 billion in funding aimed at expanding broadband infrastructure and adoption in underserved communities.Julia Fallon, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, noted that connectivity isnt the only concern in an increasingly tech-integrated educational landscape that will remain even after millions of students make their way back to schools.A more long-term approach to closing the divide, Fallon said, could facilitate future virtual shifts that may be necessary for things like natural disasters. She noted that funding to mitigate the divide has been a concern for policy advocates long before the pandemic brought the issue into focus.Other places that we see some need for is professional learning for our educators and administrators on how to effectively integrate technology into the learning environment, especially when students and educators are back in the school buildings full time, she said. We dont want this investment to go to waste. After getting her second dose of a COVID vaccine, a Utah Mom lost her life four days after her immunization. The woman has been administered a second dose of Moderna vaccine, which is included in the vaccine roll of the United States and has a high efficacy rate. KUTV noted that the mother got her vaccine because she was working as a surgical tech for several plastic surgeons. Her family is now waiting for the autopsy result, which would determine whether the vaccine has something to do with her death. ALSO READ: Some People Fell Ill With Rare Blood Disorder After Getting Their First COVID-19 Vaccine Utah Mom and Vaccine New York Post mentioned Alfred Hawley, saying that his daughter, identified as Kassidi Kurill, was very positive about getting the COVID vaccine and even encourage them to take their doses. Kurill only experienced a sore arm after her first dose of Moderna, making her positive about the vaccine. But everything turned the other way four days after she got her second shot. KUTV mentioned Kurill's older sister from Arizona, who said that she was not worried about her sister because she had gone shopping and started to feel differently in the evening. In addition, the older sister mentioned that everyone from Kurill's workplace experienced flu-like symptoms. That is why the family thought it was only normal. However, Hawley woke up on her daughter asking for help, noting that her heart was beating so fast and that she needs to be in an emergency room. New York Post noted that soon after, Kurill was brought to Intermountain Medical Center situated in Murray, a trauma center, because Kurill's liver is failing. Experts in the hospital believed that a transplant is her only chance. Prepared to donate a portion of their livers, Kurill's parents could not help their daughter as her kidneys, liver, and heart shut down. COVID-19 vaccine-related death Hawley noted in Fox News that Kurill's death surprised the whole family because she was healthy as a horse and had no underlying conditions before getting the vaccine. Chief Medical Examiner from the Utah Department of Health, Dr. Erik Christensen, shared that the connection of Kurill's death and the second dose of the said vaccine is only related temporarily. Christensen noted that they still do not have evidence that will show the link between the vaccine and death, emphasizing that the only known side effects are a pain in the arm and symptoms like the usual fever. Christensen continued in KUTV that the only instance where a vaccine would cause death to someone is anaphylaxis. Furthermore, "only an autopsy can provide answers to the family when no disease or red flags are found." He also furthered that finding out if the vaccine is the cause of death will be hard for the autopsy to find out. Despite what happened to the Utah Mom, Fox News highlighted Kurill's father still got the COVID vaccine, arguing that the disease is a threat to the demographic he belongs to. RELATED ARTICLE: Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Deemed Safe and Effective. When Can You Get It? WATCH: Is the Moderna Vaccine Safe? Allergic Reactions and Side Effects - from Doctor Mike Hansen The Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone the Silicon Valley-like industrial zone in Hefei, capital of Anhui province is welcoming new co-development opportunities with the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). The 2021 Anhui government work report listed improving scientific and technological innovation capability as a priority and proposed building the "USTC Silicon Valley" for the first time to achieve this goal. USTC is a major source of sci-tech innovation in Hefei. By building the USTC Silicon Valley, the provincial and the municipal government and the university will cooperate to support USTC teachers and alumni to start businesses and incubate their sci-tech achievements in USTC's surrounding area. The Hefei high-tech zone will become the core area of the USTC Silicon Valley. The zone and USTC have been benefiting from mutual cooperation for years. Attracted to the zone's business environment, many USTC talents became tech entrepreneurs there, and their innovative achievements have turned the zone into a high-tech industrial cluster with unique competitiveness. According to the zone's plan, the Hefei high-tech zone area of USTC Silicon Valley will include a sci-tech innovation belt around USTC and three sections for high-end R&D, incubation of sci-tech achievements and a sci-tech industrial cluster. The local government will strengthen efforts in building a highland for innovation by speeding up the construction of the new USTC campus in the zone, enhancing financial support for sci-tech innovation and boosting the development of local scientific institutes. Liu Qingfeng, a doctoral graduate of USTC, is one of the earliest USTC entrepreneurs in the zone. His company, iFLYTEK, is currently one of China's leading AI companies. Driven by iFLYTEK, China Speech Valley, China's first industrial park in the AI field, was established in the zone. "If you have a dream and are eager to make it a reality, come here! We can work together and share our dreams in Hefei high-tech zone," Liu once said. In addition to China Speech Valley, the Hefei high-tech zone also features a Quantum Center which is home to a number of quantum technology companies engaged in key tech fields such as quantum communication, quantum computing and quantum precision measurement. Pan Jianwei, the top Chinese quantum scientist and executive vice-president of USTC, recalled: "When we came to the zone in 2009, they offered full support that has guaranteed the industrial application of quantum technology." Professor Pan and his USTC team established China's first company that industrialized quantum technology in an entrepreneurship park in the zone. 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! Thats resulted in a yawning gap for people with moderate illness who need intensive community support but not in-patient care. These Australians are often referred to as the missing middle. The Productivity Commission report into mental health, handed to the government in June 2020 and released in November, found people were falling through the cracks of the countrys mental health system. Loading Despite the fact one in five people experience mental illness each year, and half of all Australians will be diagnosed with a mental health condition during their life, the report found the system often fails because it is too difficult to navigate. Australias mental health system is not comprehensive and fails to provide the treatment and support that people who need it legitimately expect, the report says. The Productivity Commission estimates mental ill-health and suicide costs the country at least $200 billion a year, but implementing reforms would create almost $20 billion a year through improved quality of life and increased economic productivity. The day he released the report, the Prime Minister committed to sweeping changes. Its obvious that we cant use the same template for a national mental health system as we use for a physical health system, he said. We need to go beyond government. We need to go far beyond the health system and we need a whole of economy approach, whole of community approach, partnerships between all levels of government, sectors, organisations. All of us are involved in this. The next month, Morrison chose Coleman to oversee the reforms. A former immigration minister who stepped aside in 2019 on personal leave for almost 12 months, Coleman remains intensely private surrounding the circumstances of his leave but is energised about the task ahead. Loading He says while the substantial majority of mental health investment remains in acute and severe care situations, it is clear more needs to be done earlier to assist people with depression, anxiety or pre-suicidal thoughts. Mental illness often first manifests itself in adolescence and early adulthood, Coleman says. And so focusing on everything we can do to help kids and adolescents and young adults to have the best start in life and to deal with any mental health issues as they arise is extremely important. Further regulation of the online space has not been ruled out by the government. There are very real concerns about the negative impact of digital, Coleman says. This is a new phenomenon, because 20 or 30 years ago kids did not have the access to the breadth of material that they have now through social media. He says the education system will be ground zero for helping children with mental health issues before they arise, so that should their circumstances deteriorate later they are better positioned to deal with it. One of the countrys leading psychiatrists, Professor Patrick McGorry, says the Productivity Commission report did not give the government solid guidelines for reform but Victorias royal commission into mental health provides a road map. The [Productivity Commission] pointed out that youre going to actually get money back in spades if you do this right but it didnt really help the government much in terms of knowing what to do, he says. The federal government was very interested in what the Victorian royal commission would come up with, and I think its come up with an absolutely superb blueprint. Loading Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews agrees. Committing to all 65 of the royal commissions recommendations when the report was released on March 2, he said it would serve as our blueprint for the biggest social reform in a generation. Its not one year, its not one budget, its not one set of forward estimates, its going to take continued work and a really passionate commitment, he said. Those recommendations include the creation of new crisis facilities and safe spaces, a new Mental Health Act and a commitment to eliminating the use of seclusion and restraints within 10 years. Victoria will be the trial site for a redesigned system. McGorry, who chaired the royal commissions expert advisory committee, says one of the biggest changes will be filling in the missing middle. The main thing in the Victorian royal commission is building a community mental health system with several levels which is fit for purpose, he says, adding it will involve an increased number of adult and youth mental health hubs catering to more moderate mental health needs. Those changes will require a high level of co-operation and funding from state and federal governments to cover the gap between federally regulated primary care and state-run acute hospital treatment. Despite their broader political differences, McGorry believes Morrison and Andrews can make it work. Theyve got a very positive, mutual commitment to doing this. Ive never seen this before in my career, he says. Im very grateful to both the PM and the Premier for their leadership on it. Loading Once the Victorian prototype is working, McGorry expects NSW will be the next state to adopt sweeping reforms. The Prime Minister has made it clear to McGorry that he is committed to seeing a national agreement on both the model and funding by the end of the year. Coleman says he is determined that the experiences of those who have been saved or failed by the system will play a critical role. One of the things that has come out of the various reports recently has been significant numbers of people who have lived experience saying that the system didnt work as well for them as it should have, he says. So incorporating that experience and really embedding it in the system is something that needs to happen. Harman says reform will fail if it does not listen to those voices. By drawing on the deep, rich and informed insights of people who live with mental health issues people who have tried to navigate the broken system I think there is a clear vision with pragmatic solutions that will put the community at the heart of a remade system, she says. John Brogden, chief executive of Lifeline Australia, said the government cant tinker around the edges of reform. Credit:Edwina Pickles One example is John Brogden, the chairman of Lifeline Australia, a prominent voice in public discussions surrounding mental health and suicide. The former NSW Liberal leader has shared his own struggles and suicide attempt with policy makers for more than a decade and has called for increased suicide prevention training within the community. Loading He has also advocated for better support services for those at risk of suicide post-discharge and appropriate facilities and responses for people experiencing suicidal behaviour and presenting to emergency departments. We need a whole-of-government, sector and community plan for suicide prevention to move fast towards an Australia free of suicide, he says. Harman warns it will be a decade-long process that every stakeholder will need to commit to. GOP House Leader to Try to Remove Swalwell From Intelligence Committee House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) plans to introduce a resolution next week to remove Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from the House Intelligence Committee. Pelosi just reappointed Eric Swalwell to the Intelligence Committee. Based on the briefing she and I received together, Swalwell should not be on the panel in charge of guarding our nations secrets, McCarthy wrote on Twitter. Next week, I will offer a resolution to remove him from the Intel Committee. The Epoch Times sent a request for comment to Swalwells office. Late last month, more than a dozen House Republicans sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, asking to be briefed on Swalwells past ties to an alleged spy for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The lawmakers referred to public reporting that Swalwell was among a group of politicians targeted by the alleged CCP spy, known as Fang Fang or Christine Fang. A report by Axios on Dec. 7 claimed that Fang built up an extensive network of contacts with up-and-coming politicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Swalwell. The report said Swalwell cut ties with her after investigators gave him a defensive briefing, and that he provided information about her to the FBI. Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN that he didnt do anything wrong and accused Republicans of trying to weaponize the report. I was told about this individual, and I offered to help, he told CNN. All I did was cooperate, and the FBI said that. But national security concerns have persisted, given Swalwells membership on the House Committee on Homeland Security, whose members have access to sensitive classified information. Swalwell served as one of the impeachment managers during the Senate trial of President Donald Trump. According to Axios, which broke the story on Fang, she was believed to have helped place unwitting subagents in local political and congressional offices, but it was unlikely that she herself received or passed on classified information. Nonetheless, she collected private information about U.S. officials. Fang appeared to have become close with Swalwell before federal investigators alerted the California lawmaker to their concerns in a defensive briefing. The honeypot tactic is the oldest trick in the book, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) told The Epoch Times in January. Swalwells gullibility and recklessness should disqualify him not just from a seat on the House Intelligence Committee, but also from being a member of Congress as well. Jack Phillips and Bowen Xiao contributed to this report. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - 1246773 B.C. Ltd. ("773") announces that it has agreed to complete a series of transactions with 2311548 Alberta Ltd. ("TargetCo") that will result in 773 (to be named "Atacama Cobre Ltd." as discussed below) indirectly acquiring the rights to the El Cofre Project, the Los Naranjos Project, the Caballo Muerto Project and the Placeton Project located in Chile (the "Chile Properties"). The proposed transactions will be effected through an amalgamation agreement (the "Amalgamation Agreement"). The transactions are conditional on TargetCo completing the Private Placement (as defined below) and the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approving the listing of the common shares of 773 ("Resulting Issuer Shares") and other customary conditions, with closing occurring by April 30, 2021. Amalgamation Agreement The Amalgamation Agreement between 773 and TargetCo provides for, among other things, a three-cornered amalgamation (the "Amalgamation") pursuant to which (i) TargetCo will amalgamate with a wholly-owned subsidiary of 773 incorporated pursuant to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (Alberta), (ii) all of the outstanding common shares of TargetCo (each, a "TargetCo Share") will be cancelled and, in consideration therefor, the holders thereof will receive Resulting Issuer Shares on the basis of one TargetCo Share for one Resulting Issuer Share, and (iii) the amalgamated corporation will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of 773. After giving effect to the Amalgamation, the shareholders of TargetCo will collectively exercise control over 773. Pursuant to the Amalgamation, all securities of TargetCo convertible into TargetCo Shares will cease to represent a right to acquire TargetCo Shares and will provide for the right to acquire the same number of Resulting Issuer Shares at the same exercise price per share, reflecting the Exchange Ratio. Prior to completion of the Amalgamation, it is intended that 773 will change its name to "Atacama Copper Corporation" or such other name as agreed to by 773 and TargetCo and accepted by the applicable regulatory authorities (the "Name Change"). Completion of the Amalgamation will be subject to certain conditions, including among others: (i) the requirement for TargetCo to obtain approval of all of the shareholders of TargetCo with respect to the Amalgamation by way of written resolution; (ii) the requirement for 773 to obtain approval the Name Change (which will be evidenced by a unanimous written consent resolution); (iii) completion of the Private Placement (defined below); (iv) obtaining conditional approval of the TSXV to the listing of the Resulting Issuer Shares; (v) the Exchange shall have granted an exemption or waiver from the sponsorship requirement or a sponsor shall have filed an acceptable report with the Exchange; and (vi) 773 shall not be in default of the requirements of the Exchange and any securities commission and no order shall have been issued that would prevent the Amalgamation or the trading of any securities of 773. The Chile Properties The Chile Properties are located approximately 650 kilometers north of Santiago close to the city of Vallenar in northern Chile. Placeton, Caballo Muerto and Los Naranjos are located within the Tertiary porphyry copper environment. El Cofre is located 30 kilometers west of Vallenar city on the Atacama fault trace on the northern extension of the San Juan Cu-Au-Co district. Placeton Projects The Placeton Projects which together include the Placeton, Caballo Muerto and Los Naranjos projects comprise of 7,257 hectares in thirty-nine exploitation tenements that are 100% owned by Aconcagua Minerals SpA. Placeton is located directly between the Relincho (15 kilometers southeast) and the El Morro (25 kilometers west) projects owned by NuevaUnion, Teck Resources and Newmont Corporation's joint venture company. Placeton shows geological features of a Cu-Mo-Au mineralized sub-volcanic complex with characteristics that are common in the upper part of many porphyry copper systems in the Andean Region. Copper mineralization is primarily hosted by an epizonal magmatic-hydrothermal system centered on small porphyritic felsic stocks and dacitic-rhyolitic dome complexes, within a cluster of at least four centers of mainly phyllic alteration within a broad propylitic background. A number of small artisanal mines are located across the tenement area and have previously been worked in small vein structures for copper, silver and gold. Mineralization identified during the different exploration campaigns is related to small epizonal stocks and dikes of intermediate to acid nature. Past exploration work at Placeton comprises surface mapping and geochemical sampling along defined profiles as well as two IP/resistivity profiles. No drilling has been performed up to date. This work has identified three targets of potential mineralization. Follow-up surface geological and structural mapping work, surface geochemistry, and geophysics is required to validate historical results and to define potential drill targets. Caballo Muerto is located 10 kilometers east of the Placeton targets and 15 kilometers northwest of the El Morro project and the Los Naranjos project is located on non-contiguous tenements approximately 20 kilometers south of Relincho project. Past exploration work on both Caballo Muerto and Los Naranjos is limited to surface mapping and geochemical sampling. El Cofre The property comprises 7,429 hectares in thirty-seven exploration tenements (in the process of being converted to exploitation tenements) that are 100% owned by Cobalt Chile SpA. The Cu-Au-Co mineralization at El Cofre is linked to an intense deformation zone related to the Atacama Fault System hosted within the shear zone. There are a large number of historical workings over the area. Previous exploration has included geological mapping, geochemical sampling and IP/resistivity profiles. This work has identified three targets of potential mineralization and drill targets on these areas of potential mineralization have been outlined. As a condition of the Amalgamation, 773 is currently working to complete a technical report for the Property pursuant to the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (the "Technical Report") which will cover the Placeton and Caballo Muerto projects. Financing Matters TargetCo intends to complete a brokered private placement of subscription receipts at an issuance of $0.50 per subscription receipt (the "Subscription Receipts") for aggregate gross proceeds of at least CAD$4,000,000.00 (the "Private Placement"). Immediately prior to the Amalgamation, the Subscription Receipts are expected to convert into TargetCo Shares which will subsequently be exchanged pursuant to the Amalgamation for Resulting Issuer Shares. The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be placed into escrow and released to TargetCo subject to the satisfaction or waiver of a number of conditions including the completion of the Amalgamation. The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used by TargetCo to advance exploration on the Placeton and El Cofre projects and for general corporate purposes following completion of the Amalgamation. The securities to be offered in the Private Placement have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Further details in respect of the Private Placement will be announced by 773 in a separate press release. Stock Exchange Matters As at the date hereof, neither the common shares of 773 nor the TargetCo Shares are listed on any stock exchange. A condition to completion of the Amalgamation is the conditional approval for the listing of the Resulting Issuer Shares on the TSXV. A listing application in respect of the Resulting Issuer Shares, which will include further details of the Amalgamation, will be filed on 773's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com provided TSXV's conditional approval of the listing of the Resulting Issuer Shares has been obtained. There can be no assurance that the TSXV will grant such conditional approval of that the Amalgamation will be completed as proposed or at all. 773 intends to apply to the TSXV for an exemption from the sponsorship requirements for the Amalgamation based upon the Private Placement and/or other exemptions available in TSXV policies. About 2311548 Alberta Ltd. TargetCo is a private corporation incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) on December 23, 2020 and is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and evaluation of mineral properties. Immediately prior to the Amalgamation, there will be 20,000,000 TargetCo Shares outstanding and 7,000,000 TargetCo Shares issuable upon exercise of options and warrants to purchase TargetCo Shares. Proposed Directors and Senior Management Team Upon the closing of the Amalgamation, it is anticipated that Gino Zandonai, Martyn Buttenshaw, Scott Hicks, and Richard Reinert will constitute the Board of Directors of Atacama Copper Corporation. It is also anticipated that the new senior management team of Atacama Copper Corporation will be comprised of Gino Zandonai (Chief Executive Officer), Martyn Buttenshaw (Executive Director) and Walter Muehlebach (Vice President of Exploration). The following are brief resumes of the currently proposed directors and senior officers of Atacama Copper Corporation following the Amalgamation: Gino Zandonai, Proposed CEO and Director Mr. Zandonai has more than thirty years of experience in international mining consulting in over 40 countries and was the South American Managing director Behre Dolbear Inc. mineral consulting firm. Mr. Zandonai is a competent person and has been the main geostatistician for NGEx Resources Inc (Lundin Mining) activities in Chile among other listed companies. He is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese and holds a MSc degree in Mining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and a minor in Mineral Economics. Martyn Buttenshaw, Proposed Director Mr. Buttenshaw is a senior mining executive and experienced non-executive director with over 20 years of mining experience, and is currently Chairman & CEO of Melior Resources Inc. Most recently was Managing Director with Pala Investments, a mining focused investment company. Previously, Mr. Buttenshaw has held senior roles with Anglo American in business development and as senior mining engineer with Rio Tinto. Mr. Buttenshaw is a chartered mining engineer and holds an MBA with distinction from the London Business School and a MEng (First Class) in Mining Engineering from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London Scott Hicks, Proposed Director Mr. Hicks is a former investment banker working with RBC Capital Markets and BMO Capital Markets on their respective mining teams. He also served as VP Corporate Development and Communications of Anfield Gold Corp., which was acquired by Equinox Gold Corp. He currently serves as the CEO of Strategic Resources Inc. and as VP Corporate Development and Communications of Lumina Gold Corp. and Luminex Resources Corp. Over the last decade he has worked on a variety of equity, debt and advisory assignments while working in Canada and Australia. Mr. Hicks holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours from the University of British Columbia. Richard Reinert, Proposed Director Mr. Reinert as well as being the Managing Partner of Citation Capital Management Limited an FCA authorised and regulated company, is also a non-executive director of a number of Alternative Investment Funds and has been since 2001. He began his career in 1978 at Compagnie des Metaux Precieux (CMP) in Paris, and moved to Gerald Metals Ltd in London in 1979 as a physical base metals trader. In 1980 he became an Account Executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert SA. 1983 saw him move to Refco SA Paris as a Founding Director. In 1989 he was transferred to London to become the Managing Director of Refco Overseas Ltd until September 1999. In October 1999 Mr. Reinert formed Citation and in 2002 became a Board Member of OTEKO the largest independent rail transporter of oil within the FSU. During his time at Refco Overseas Ltd., he was appointed Chairman of the International Petroleum Exchange and the Futures Industry Association and a director of the board of the London Metal Exchange Ltd and the London Commodity Exchange. Qualified Person The technical information contained in this news release related to the Placeton Projects has been reviewed and approved by Christian Feddersen, of Aconcagua Minerals SpA, an independent "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. The technical information contained in this news release related to the El Cofre project has been reviewed and approved by Gino Zandonai, Managing Director of Cobalt Chile SpA, a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the terms and conditions of the proposed Amalgamation; the terms and conditions of the proposed Private Placement; use of proceeds from the Private Placement; future development plans; and the business and operations of 773 after the proposed Amalgamation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: satisfaction or waiver of all applicable conditions to the completion of the Amalgamation (including receipt of all necessary shareholder, stock exchange and regulatory approvals or consents, and the absence of material changes with respect to the parties and their respective businesses); ability to close the Private Placement on the proposed terms or at all, the synergies expected from the Amalgamation not being realized; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to Chilean Peso exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding);inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties. 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. 773 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Completion of the Amalgamation is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance. Where applicable, the Amalgamation cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Amalgamation will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the listing application to be prepared in connection with the Amalgamation, any information released or received with respect to the Amalgamation may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. For further information, please contact: 1246773 B.C. Ltd. James Ward, Chief Executive Officer Phone: 416-897-2359 Email: james@wardfinancial.ca 2311548 Alberta Ltd. Martyn Buttenshaw Phone: 413-278-9411 Email: mbuttenshaw@hotmail.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not for distribution to United States news wire services or for dissemination in the United States. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77049 Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. 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. Shares of surged 17 per cent to Rs 44.80 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) removed the lender from the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework on improving finances and credit profile. This eases the rules for the lender to expand its business and also sets the stage for strategic divestment by the government which holds a 45.48 per cent stake in the firm. had placed under the framework in May 2017, after it had breached the thresholds for capital adequacy, asset quality (net NPAs was over 13 per cent in March 2017), return on assets and the leverage ratio. The performance of was reviewed by the Board for Financial Supervision (BFS) in its meeting held on February 18, 2021. It was noted that as per published results for the quarter ending December 31, 2020, the bank is not in breach of the parameters on regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio. The bank has provided a written commitment that it would comply with the norms of minimum regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio on an ongoing basis and has apprised the of the structural and systemic improvements that it has put in place which would help the bank in continuing to meet these commitments. Taking all the above into consideration, it has been decided that IDBI Bank be taken out of the framework, subject to certain conditions and continuous monitoring, the bank said in a press release. Thus far in the month of March, the stock of IDBI Bank has rallied 42 per cent from the level of Rs 31.55 on February 26. It had hit a 52-week high of Rs 55.75 on July 7, 2020. At 09.19 am, the stock was trading 15 per cent higher at Rs 43.95, against a 0.95 per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 33 million equity shares have changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE so far. Armenias Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian, who is on a working visit to Abu Dhabi, gave an interview to Al Arabiya news agency. Armenian News-NEWS.am presents the interview below: Question: Now from Abu Dhabi via ZOOM we connect with His Excellency Ara Aivazian, Foreign Minister of Armenia. Welcome to the program. First, what are the reasons for President Sargsyan to decline the signing of the decree. Ara Aivazian: Well, thank you, indeed, it is a pleasure to be with you. Of course, you know that we have a very complicated situation in the aftermath of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh. The situation also had its repercussions on the internal situation in Armenia. Of course, we are now confronting internal difficulties, but I would like to emphasize the fact that Armenia is a democracy, may not a perfect one. And the recent years we witnessed significant achievements in this regard. This is the path of development that we have chosen and we are not going to backtrack from this path. As for the internal processes within Armenia, this is going on strictly upon the provisions of the Constitution. And its my conviction that the current difficulties can be overcome through dialogue, consolidation and unification of our society both in Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to safeguard and protect our state and national interests. Question: Mr. Ayvazian, you said the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh was the cause of the political crisis in Armenia and the attempted coup. Ara Aivazian: Of course, the results of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan had its negative impact on internal stability in Armenia but I strongly disagree with the qualification of the attempted coup d'etat in Armenia. Question: This is not an attempted coup, so what is it Minister? Ara Aivazian: This was a kind of political positioning of some members of General Stuff. They just made a political statement, which is not an attempted coup itself. This was also the assessment of different countries and international organizations. There are no elements of a coup d'etat in Armenia. And Armenia continues to be a democracy and the current situation, as I said, will be dealt according to democratic standards in our society. Question: Minister, Armenia said, that without Turkeys support to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan would not have achieved military victory against Armenia. What is your assessment of Turkeys involvement in the crisis? Ara Aivazian: Well, its not a secret that Turkey played and continues to play an extremely destabilizing role in our region. That role was vividly exposed during recent 44-day aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan. That country not only merely supported Azerbaijan, but was strictly involved in all military actions and phases of this aggression started from planning to ground operations. Id like to recall that Turkey together with Azerbaijan on the threshold of the war conducted a large-scale military drill with the involvement of Turkish air force. That country resorted to the non-usual toolkit: export of foreign terrorist fighters to our region for its power projection. The involvement of Turkish-affiliated foreign terrorist fighters in the war is a well-known fact that was confirmed by international media, world leaders, and many international bodies, such as the UN Working Group on Mercenaries. And it is also verified by captured terrorists who revealed the chain from recruitment to their transfer to the region. Hundred and six years have passed since the Armenian Genocide, yet Turkey continues to spearhead new atrocities against Armenia now in our region. Yet the South Caucasus is not the only target of Turkey. World has continuously witnessed the destabilizing role of Turkey in the Middle East, in the Eastern Mediterranean and now in the South Caucasus. Impunity inspires and entails new crimes, and these words are fully describing the attitude and stance of Turkey towards its neighbours. Question: Minister, you spoke about Turkeys role in the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. And you said Turkey provided fighters in the conflict. Is this role of Turkey still going on? Ara Aivazian: Well, both Azerbaijan and Turkey are now claiming that conflict is solved. And by saying this they tried to validate the use of force as an effective means, legitimate means to solve the conflicts. I would like to stress that this is a very dangerous precedent for conflict resolutions in international relations. Now we are hearing confusing messages from official Ankara. And I would like to say that based on the common past with Turkey, its high time not to be guided by the messages but real actions. And I believe that the international community should play a conducive role that Turkey changes its aggressive attitude towards Armenia. Regarding foreign terrorist fighters and mercenaries, which were exported, transferred to our region, I think this is an issue of regional and international security and that issue should be solved by an unequivocal stance of the international community. The terrorist fighters and mercenaries should be pulled out from our region. Question: Minister, does Armenia consider that the international community is working hard to find a solution for the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis? Ara Aivazian: First and foremost, Armenia does not consider that the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan creates the basis for the solution of the conflict, nor an opportunity for regional cooperation. Armenia stands ready for the resumption of the peace process, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and they are Russia, US and France. We have to address the core pending issues, which are not addressed in the statement of November 9, signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. I would like to remind that the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a territorial dispute; it is about the survival of autochthonous population of Artsakh of the Armenian origin, which lived there for thousands of years; it is about their rightful self-determination, their right to master their own destiny. So, we have to address the right of those people to self-determination, which entails also the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. It should be very clear for Azerbaijan and Turkey that the current status quo, which occurred after the aggression and the illegal use of force can neither be stable, nor acceptable for ensuring a lasting peace, security and stability in the region. Thank You. Former Australian finance minister Mathias Cormann was elected Friday as the new head of the influential Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, sources told AFP, in a choice that dismayed environmental campaigners. The 50-year-old Belgian-born politician was chosen "by a slim majority" during a meeting of ambassadors to the OECD, which acts as a think-tank and club of democratic countries, the sources close to the organisation said. Cormann served as Australia's finance minister for seven years until late 2020, a record for the country, having been first named to the job by right-wing premier and climate change sceptic Tony Abbott in 2013. He has criss-crossed Europe by plane in the last two months, where most of the OECD's members are located, promoting his candidacy and promising an agenda of "inclusive and sustainable economic growth". In a statement on Friday, Cormann said leading the organisation would be a "privilege and an honour." "It provides a great platform for international cooperation and best practice policy development, from the foundation of a shared commitment to democracy, human rights, the rule of law, market-based economic principles and a rules-based international order," he said. This month, more than two dozen global civil society leaders took the unusual step of writing to the OECD's selection chair to criticise Cormann's record on climate change while in government. Greenpeace on Friday expressed "deep dismay and anger" at the choice for one of the world's major multinational institutions, while the head of E3G campaign group Nick Mabey said the appointment sent a "dangerous signal". Cormann has defended his political career and promised to work to cut emissions at the OECD, telling AFP earlier this month that "action on climate change, to be effective, requires an ambitious, globally coordinated approach". The conservative church-goer, who moved from the German-speaking part of Belgium to Australia in his mid-20s, emerged as a surprise frontrunner to beat fellow contender Cecilia Malmstrom, a Swedish former EU trade commissioner. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called it "the most senior appointment of an Australian candidate to an international body for decades." He said in a statement that Cormann's experience in Europe and Australia "will ensure he makes an outstanding contribution as leader of the OECD." - Past statements - Green groups have sought to highlight Cormann's sceptical statements on climate policy in the past, such as when he called Australia's emission-trading scheme "economic self-harm which does nothing to help global emissions". When students in Australia took part in a global strike for climate action, Cormann suggested they "stick to school". During his first stint as finance minister under Abbott, the government made killing off a carbon tax a political priority, while the last election in 2019 saw the ruling Liberal party repeatedly attack its Labor rival over its pro-climate policies. "He helped lead the charge on dismantling an effective legislative and regulatory framework for bringing down emissions and reshaped Australia into a global laggard and anchor on climate action," Julie-Anne Richards from Climate Action Network Australia said in a statement. Cormann will take over from longstanding OECD chief Angel Gurria, who is stepping down at the end of May after 15 years at the helm. The new appointment must still be ratified by the OECD's decision-making council on Tuesday. The Paris-based OECD, which has 37 member nations, publishes influential analysis on government policies and compiles databases to compare country performances. It also serves as a forum to discuss policy, and has recently spearheaded talks on a new global plan to tax multinational tech groups that has become a tense issue between European countries and the United States. That issue is likely to be one of the first Cormann will have to confront as leading nations aim to reach a deal by July. Under Gurria, the body has also become a vocal backer of policies to tackle the climate emergency, and it has been critical of the Australian government's actions in the past. - Asia experience - Cormann grew up in the small town of Raeren in eastern Belgium and speaks in strong German-accented English, which has seen him likened to "Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger in his adopted homeland. While campaigning for the OECD job, he emphasised his multilingual background and experience in Asia. As well as German and English, he speaks French and Flemish. According to the sources who spoke to AFP, he was strongly backed by the United States, and his Asian experience was decisive. Japanese automakers Suzuki Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Motors Corp plan to increase their investments in Indonesia over the next four years in the manufacturing of hybrid models, an Indonesian minister said. Suzuki will raise its investment in Indonesia by 1.2 trillion rupiah ($83.36 million) to develop mild hybrid vehicles, Indonesia's industry minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, said on Thursday in Japan, where he is meeting automakers and government officials. Mitsubishi Motors will invest an additional 11.2 trillion rupiah ($778 million) in Indonesia by the end of 2025 and develop two electric vehicles in the country, Agus said in a statement released late on Wednesday. (Also read | Renault to supply Mitsubishi with two European car models) The offices of Mitsubishi and Suzuki in Indonesia did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation late on Thursday, which was an Indonesian national holiday. Mitsubishi's chief executive Takao Kato told Reuters in December that the automaker sees hybrid models in Southeast Asia as a key part of its electrification strategy to stay competitive in the region. Agus said Mitsubishi's production capacity in the country would also be increased. (Also read | Mitsubishi Motors to focus on hybrids in select markets) He said vehicle ownership was low in Indonesia so "the potential of investors coming in is really good." Toyota Motor Corp has previously said that it planned invest $2 billion to develop electric vehicles (EVs) in Indonesia over the next four years. Indonesia aims to start processing its rich supplies of nickel laterite ore for use in lithium batteries as part of a bid to eventually become a global hub for producing and exporting EVs. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Kolkata, March 12 : Moving ahead with its probe into the illegal coal smuggling case and the ICore chit fund case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee's sister-in-law Menka Gambhir's father-in-law and husband for questioning. The CBI also summoned Trinamool Congress leader and Education Minister Partho Chatterjee in connection with the ICore chit fund scam on March 15. A source related to the probe told IANS: "The CBI has summoned Menka Gambhir's father-in-law Pawan Arora and husband Ankush Arora for questioning on March 15 at its office here." The CBI has earlier questioned Abhishek's wife Rujira Banerjee and his sister-in-law Menka in connection with the same case. Abhishek is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinanool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee. The CBI had registered a case against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket Anup Majhi alias Lala, Eastern Coalfield Ltd General Managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL chief of security Tanmay Das, area security inspector Kunustoria Dhananjay Rai, and SSI and security in-charge Kajora area Debashish Mukherjee in November last year. On February 26, the CBI searched the premises of a businessman in Kolkata and on February 19, the agency had also carried out searches at 13 locations in four districts of West Bengal including the premises of coal mafia Jaidev Mondal. On November 28 last year, the CBI had conducted raids at 45 locations in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh in connection with the coal smuggling racket. The agency summoned Trinamool leader Chatterjee in connection with the West Bengal ICore chit fund scam for questioning on March 15 at its Kolkata office. The CBI in December 2018 had arrested Suman Chattopadhyay, editor of a leading Bengali daily, in connection with the case. The agency has alleged that the ICore group which had allegedly raised over Rs 3,000 crore from people by offering high returns on investments had diverted a portion of these funds to other companies. The agency took over the probe in the matter of the ICore group in 2014 registering an FIR under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating. The case was registered on the basis of a Supreme Court order in 2014 directing the agency to take over all the cases related to chit fund companies probed by the state police. Its directors Anukul Maity and his wife Kanika were arrested by the agency last year. Maity passed away in November last year in hospital after he complained of chest pain while in Odisha's Jharpada jail. The central agency's actions have turned the heat on in poll-bound West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are engaged in a bitter war of words. 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. Counting will take place on May 2. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Armenian President Armen Sarkisyan once again refused to sign Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans motion to appoint Artak Davryan as the new Armed Forces General Staff head. According to the presidential press service, the head of state will also not challenge this motion in the Constitutional Court. "The president of the republic will not sign the draft order and will not turn to the Constitutional Court. We remind that, on March 10, 2021, the president has already contacted the Constitutional Court, asking to decide on whether the law on military service and the status of serviceman complies with the norms of the Constitution. The Constitutional Courts ruling and adoption of necessary measures may have a significant effect on legal procedures of dismissal and appointment of a General Staff head," the press service said. Earlier, Pashinyan filed the motion to appoint Davtyan as the new General Staff head for the second time. Once such motion is filed, the president must either sign it within three days of challenge it in the Constitutional Court. Davtyan already served as the head of the General Staff between 2018 and June 2020, but was dismissed by the Prime Ministers motion. Later, Pashinyan appointed Onik Gasparyan to this position. This Wednesday, Pashinyan stated that Gasparyan was dismissed, because the president failed to sign the motion or challenge it in the court within three days. Gasparyan said his resignation is unconstitutional and announced his intention to challenge it in the court. In the meantime, Sarkisyan asked the Constitutional Court to review the law "on military service" for compliance with the constitution. The opposition demands that Gasparyan keeps his position. This political crisis in Armenia started on February 25, when Gasparyan and other senior military staff called for resignation of Pashinyan. The Prime Minister viewed such move as an armed coup attempt, and has already filed two motions to the president to dismiss the General Staff head. Lee was with a 31-year-old man outside on the sidewalk when someone shot them, police said in January. Lee suffered three gunshot wounds to the chest and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:14 a.m. the day he was shot. Stephanie Miner is no friend of Andrew Cuomo. A onetime top Democratic official in New York and a former mayor of Syracuse, Ms. Miner has spent years criticizing the governors polarizing leadership style, even mounting a bid to unseat him in 2018. But as Mr. Cuomo fights for his job, facing growing calls by Democratic lawmakers to resign over allegations of groping and sexual harassment, Ms. Miner isnt quite ready to push him out. We have this culture now of purity tests where theres this instant gratification are you on the right side or the wrong side? said Ms. Miner, who wants to wait for an independent investigation into the accusations, which she believes is the best way to address broader problems of sexual harassment in Albany. The answers and the solutions need to be more nuanced. Democrats are now confronting a highly fluid, still-developing situation in New York, with many voters appearing to share Ms. Miners caution about swiftly expelling the governor. The gravity of the allegations increased this week when The Times Union of Albany reported a new accusation against Mr. Cuomo: that when he was alone with a female aide in the Executive Mansion last year, he closed a door, reached under her blouse and began groping her. He has denied that he touched anyone inappropriately. Support for Mr. Cuomo among Democratic politicians in New York has fallen away. On Friday evening, the states senators, Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, and Kirsten Gillibrand, called on him to resign, hours after most of the other Democrats in New Yorks congressional delegation urged him to step down. A day earlier, state Democratic officials took the first step toward potentially impeaching Mr. Cuomo. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Three venues in Brisbanes south, including a cafe and a gym, have been listed as high-risk exposure sites after they were visited by a doctor from the Princess Alexandra Hospital while she was infectious with COVID-19. The Morning After cafe in West End, the Corporate Box gym in Greenslopes, and the Stones Corner Hotel have been listed as the high-risk exposure sites, while McDonalds in Coorparoo has been identified as a low-risk site. Visitors will be barred from hospitals and aged-care facilities in Brisbane, Ipswich, Redlands and Moreton Bay as a precaution. The doctor wore full protective gear when she treated two patients with the highly contagious UK variant of the virus on Wednesday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. Ukrainian citizens who travel to Russia on their own business are mainly the target. Counterintelligence officers of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine in 2020-2021 recorded over 90 attempts by Russian special services to recruit residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukrainian citizens who travel to Russia on their own business are mainly Russian secret agents' targets, as reported by the press service of Donetsk Regional State Administration. The SBU officers said they had recorded cases of people being detained during passport and customs control under the guise of additional document checks. After that, representatives of the Russian special services tried to involve the detainees in covert cooperation to the detriment of Ukraine's state security. Read alsoSBU reacts to Ukraine's map without Crimea, with 'LPR/DPR' posted by pro-Russian MP (Photo)It was found that subject to threats and intimidation, the Ukrainians were required to collect and share information about the deployment and relocation of Ukrainian military units. Also, the so-called "supervisors" were interested in personal data of Ukrainian Armed Forces and law enforcement personnel. The SBU reiterates such actions fall under Article 111 (high treason) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and are punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years. "We emphasize citizens of Ukraine who did not commit any actions in pursuance of a criminal assignment received from representatives of a foreign special service and voluntarily informed state authorities about contacts with them are not criminally liable," the SBU added. More news reports Reporting by UNIAN A self-taught baker who became 'Instagram famous' by posting photos of her decadent desserts on social media has shared her simple recipe for a 'no-bake' Creme Egg cheesecake. It's the latest treat from Eloise Head, a London blogger who shot to stardom during the first Covid lockdown with her drool-inducing food account, FitWaffle Kitchen. The Easter-inspired cake has a 'thick, buttery' base made from Digestive biscuits and a vanilla and orange flavoured filling topped with a rich coating of milk chocolate ganache and crumbled pieces of Dairy Milk chocolate. Ms Head describes it as 'super simple' for bakers of all skill levels, as the base, filling and topping can all be made without turning on an oven. Scroll down for video The best cheesecake yet? London baker Eloise Head's 'no-bake' Creme Egg cheesecake (pictured) has been hailed as the perfect Easter dessert For the base, Ms Head breaks a 350 gram packet of plain Digestive biscuits into fine crumbs, then melts 170 grams of unsalted butter and stirs the two together to form a biscuit-like mixture. She presses the base into a nine-inch cake tin lined with baking paper, then leaves it to set in the fridge while she turns her attention to the filling. In a large bowl, Ms Head beats 480ml of double cream with an electric whisk, then sets it aside while she mixes 500 grams of cream cheese with 120 grams of icing sugar in another. Once the cheese and icing has turned rich and creamy, she adds a few drops of orange food colouring to the double cream, then spoons both mixtures onto the biscuit base that has been setting in the fridge. The filling (left) is made from double cream, icing sugar and cream cheese, while the ganache topping (right) is a rich blend of chocolate and cream Ms Head decorates the cheesecake with grated chocolate and a Creme Egg cracked in two Ms Head uses a knife to blend the cream together, creating a filling that is lightly tinged with an orange hue. Once you are satisfied with the colour, return the tin to the fridge to set for at least five hours. When the time is nearly up, Ms Head starts on the topping by adding 200 grams of Dairy Milk chocolate and 150ml of double cream to a bowl and microwaving it on a high heat for 70 seconds. The two should form into a shiny ganache, which should be poured over the orange cheesecake filling as soon as it cools. Eloise Head (pictured) built a mammoth Instagram following during the first Covid lockdown by sharing her simple tricks for making decadent desserts After smoothing the top with a palette knife, Ms Head sprinkles 20 grams of grated chocolate over the top and cracks a Creme Egg in two, placing each half in the centre for decoration. 'Feel free to top with more Creme Eggs if you wish,' she added. Photos of the cheesecake, which show an impossibly fluffy filling and gleaming ganache coating, have attracted widespread praise since they were uploaded to Instagram on January 27. 'This one is the best yet,' one woman wrote, while a second simply said: 'Woah.' New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday (March 12, 2021) told the Election Commission (EC) that the attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was premeditated and a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy. "An attempt was made on the life of our chairperson Mamata Banerjee, on March 10 at Nandigram, though the perpetrators failed in their vicious attempt," the TMC said in the letter submitted to the EC The letter also read, "The events/actions leading up to the attempt on her life, leave no doubt that the attack was premeditated and part of a deep-rooted conspiracy." .@MamataOfficial attacked in Nandigram on the day she filed her nomination. 4-5 people pushed her on purpose & grievously injured her leg. Clearly, it's a conspiracy for the rousing response she got from the people of Bengal earlier today. (2/2) All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 10, 2021 A delegation of six TMC MPs met the EC officials in Delhi to raise their concern over the Nandigram incident. "We have demanded a high-level probe into attack on Mamata Banerjee at Nandigram. When the incident happened, there was no police presence there. The events leading up to the attempt on her life, leave no doubt, that the attack was part of the deep-rooted conspiracy," TMC leader Saugata Roy said after the meeting. The TMC delegation had filed a complaint at the EC office in Kolkata over the attack on Thursday. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suffered injuries when she was on a two-day visit to Nandigram from where she filed her nomination on Wednesday. She alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaigning. This is not the first time an attempt has been made to silence @MamataOfficial. Earlier too, she was attacked on this very historic turf for standing by farmers. But nothing will break her will. She was, she is and she will continue to be your strongest voice. All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 10, 2021 According to the report of her initial medical examination, the TMC supremo sustained 'severe bony injuries' on her left foot and ankle as well as bruises and injuries on her shoulder, forearm and neck. Earlier on Thursday, Mamata Banerjee issued a video statement from the hospital and urged everyone to be calm and exercise restraint. The West Bengal CM also said that she will not be affecting her election work for the injury but will have to remain wheel-chair-bound for some time. We appeal to all our workers to not let their emotions overflow. We understand your concerns & well keep updating about Honble @MamataOfficial's health. We request to maintain peace & not resort to means which Didi would not approve of. Let us all pray for her speedy recovery. All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 11, 2021 The polls to 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27. The final round of voting will take place on April 29, whereas, the counting of votes will take place on May 2. (With inputs from agencies) Live TV Bulgaria on Friday temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and demanded safety guarantees from the European Union's medicines regulator. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told a cabinet meeting that immunization with the jab will be stopped until the European Medicines Agency issues a written statement saying it is safe. A number of other European countries have taken similar steps following reports of blood clots in some people who received the AstraZeneca shot. Bulgaria has so far administered some 320,000 doses from the three vaccines that have been approved by the regulator. Due to a shortage of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, most people have received the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab. Bulgaria has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in the past weeks. It reported 3,121 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, bringing its total number to 272,700 with 11,094 deaths. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Aguila American Gold completes targeting study for WUSA gold project and provides exploration update Posted by Publisher Internet Aguila American Gold Limited (?Aguila? or the ?Company? https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/aguila-american-gold-ltd/) (TSX-V: AGL) (OTC: AGLAF) (WKN: ?A2DR6E) is pleased to announce the completion of a detailed remote sensing study for the WUSA Gold Project in southern Oregon. This work has generated a structural, geological and exploration target map on a scale previously unavailable for the property. The study processed and interpreted various satellite datasets to provide direct targets based on alteration signatures, and indirect targets based on domal and structural positions. Furthermore, the Company advises that on the basis of expenditure, drill metres and landholder payments completed to date, it has earned a 51% interest in the WUSA Gold Project as per the agreement signed August 5th 2020.? ?As we await the Company?s first drill results from the Scorpion-Cinnabar project, we have greatly advanced our understanding of the WUSA Gold Project with this regional precious metal targeting study? said Mr. Mark Saxon, President and CEO. ?While COVID-19 distancing policies and a very busy North American gold industry has delayed receipt of drill assays much longer than we anticipated, we remain very optimistic about the local and regional potential at WUSA.? We have earned the first tranche of project equity and are now initiating the 2021 seasons work.? The remote sensing study integrated a range of regional datasets with the intent of prioritizing gold mineralization at the Walker Creek and Scorpion-Cinnabar prospects and identifying new prospective targets. Once the data from the fall 2020 drill program is received this will be integrated to provide a greater understanding of the project.? ASTER, Sentinel-2 super spectral, Lidar and NASA?s STRM digital elevation data were processed to provide direct targets based on alteration signatures, and indirect targets based on domal and structural positions.? While the WUSA Gold Project itself exceeds 70,000 Ha, an area more than four times this size was studied for context and to highlight regional opportunities. As the surface and mineral rights for the WUSA Gold Project have been held by a single landholder without significant exploration for more than 150 years, historic exploration data is very sparse, and this study provides a much needed regional understanding.???? The study has identified zones of mixed alteration potentially indicative of epithermal fluids, and zones of structural complexity that crosscut the volcanic/volcaniclastic pile.? Domal features may suggest shallowly buried syn-volcanic intrusions that are commonly associated with epithermal gold mineralization. These areas will be integrated with existing geochemical data and form immediate targets for surface follow up.? 2021 Exploration Program Aguila will commence the 2021 field season at WUSA with semi-regional soil and stream sediment sampling in March. The fall 2020 drill program assay results will be incorporated into project planning and released when they become available. The 2021 program will include field checking and testing of the alteration and structural targets, and mapping and sampling at the Walker Creek prospect. Target Areas Scorpion-Cinnabar is a low-sulphidation mineralization system defined by a gold in soil geochemical anomaly across a 2.2 km long and up to 400-metre-wide area. More than 1200 soil samples have been collected associated with highly acid altered volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. Gold in soil ranged from below detection limits (3 ppb Au) up to 5.51 g/t Au with 91 samples exceeding 0.1 g/t Au. The site lies only 1.8km south of the historic Black Butte mercury mine, providing strong evidence of the potential for epithermal mineralization.? One hole was drilled at Scorpion in 2018 which intersected 0.6 metres @ 3.25 g/t Au, 27.3 g/t Ag, 6680 ppm As, 485 ppm Sb, 2.8 ppm Te from 21.3 metres. Aguila completed 4 holes to December 2020, results from which are awaited. Walker Creek is a high-level maar-type low sulphidation epithermal alteration developed over an area of more than 3 square kilometres. 10 vertical RC holes were drilled in early 1990?s which intersected anomalous gold including 12.2m @ 1.41 g/t Au.? No further work was completed after drilling. The Cascade Range in Oregon is underlain by Eocene to Holocene intermediate to felsic volcanic and volcaniclastics rocks erupted along the western margin of North America. Immediately adjacent to the WUSA project lies a well-mineralized district containing multiple mineral deposits including polymetallic veins (Bohemia, a gold-rush mining area discovered in 1858) and historic hot-spring style mercury mines. Placer gold mining is still undertaken within the option area. The qualified person for the Company\-\-s projects, Mr. Mark Saxon, the Company?s Chief Executive Officer, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, has reviewed and verified the contents of this release. About Aguila American Gold Ltd (TSX.v: AGL) (OTC: AGLAF) (WKN: ?A2DR6E) Aguila American Gold is an emerging gold company enhancing shareholder value through exploration and discovery. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information set out in this news release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as \seek\, \anticipate?, \plan\, \continue?, \estimate?, \expect\, \may?, \will\, \intend\, \could\, \might\, \should\, \believe\ and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements and, in certain cases, information provided or disseminated by third parties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, and that information obtained from third party sources is reliable, they can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Albany, N.Y. Hospitalizations in New York due to Covid-19 fell by 101 on Thursday to 4,634. Hospitalizations have been dropping since climbing over 9,000 in at times in January. Theyre at their lowest level since early December, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomos office. A total of 935 people were in New York intensive care units due to the coronavirus yesterday, down 20, and 639 were intubated, down 26. Another 74 people in the state died due to Covid on Thursday. The statewide death toll is now 39,385. The statewide percentage of people testing positive for the virus was 3.11% on Thursday and the seven-day average of the positive test rate was 3.13%, up from 3.11% the previous day. The seven-day average positive rate in Central New York was 0.89% on Thursday, down from 0.95% the day before. New York confirmed another 9,299 new Covid cases yesterday and reported another 299,278 test results. The state continues to find cases at much higher levels than the summer and early fall, when daily totals were often less than 1,000. But the state is also conducting more tests now. New York has had 1,715,863 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began. Time off for vaccines Cuomo today signed a bill granting public and private employees in New York time off to get Covid vaccines. Workers get up to four hours per shot. Employers are not allowed to charge the time off against any other leave employees have earned. The law is effective immediately. Vaccines for all President Joe Bidens pledge to make Covid vaccines available for all adults by May 1 will take major preparation, Cuomo said today during a conference call with reporters. He did not provide a timeline or address how the state will handle the change. Were going to have to dramatically increase our capacity to do that, Cuomo said. We are not at that capacity now. READ MORE: Who can get a Covid vaccine in New York? See full list of jobs, ages, health conditions Currently, only New Yorkers who work in certain jobs, have certain medical conditions or are at least 60 years old can get a shot. People living in nursing homes and congregate settings are also eligible. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources CNY districts start to work out full-week in-person schooling: Buses? Sneeze guards? Why arent NY farm workers in the Covid-19 vaccine line? New York ending mandatory quarantines for domestic travelers Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. SIRACUSA, MAR 12 - AstraZeneca Italia CEO Lorenzo Wittum is one of four people placed under investigation as a formality in the death of navy sub-lieutenant Stefano Paterno, who died three days ago near Catania a day after having his first COVID jab. The other three probed are a doctor and nurse in the military hospital where the jab was given and an emergency doctor. Astrazeneca said Friday there was no evidence of increased risk of blood clots from the vaccine. In all, three people including a Sicilian police officer and a Carbiniere have died after getting the vaccine in Italy. Health ministry prevention chief Gianni Rezza urged people to avoid unjustified alarmism "because so far no causal link has been shown" between the three deaths and the Astrazeneca batch, which has been banned as a precaution. Rezza added that Italy expected the "maximum transparency" from the drugs firm. (ANSA). Twenty-eight patients including 14 new-born mothers at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital have had their bills paid for by Consolidated Shipping Agencies Limited (Conship), paving way for them to be discharged by the nations premier hospital. The move was part of the companies planned activities to celebrate its 25 years of operation in the country. Aside from footing the GH40,000 bill, the company also presented some items to the patients upon their discharge. Gift bags containing baby diapers, wipes, nose mask, sanitiser, washing powder and soap, savlon among others were also presented to each nursing mother and child health patient whose medical bills were paid for. A director at Conship, Ben Nartey said: We embarked on this gesture to give back to the society, we really felt it as a responsibility. For 25 years we have been operating in the country and as part of activities to celebrate our anniversary we thought it wise to give back and what better way can you do it than to touch the lives of newborns and their mothers. That is why we came to Korle-Bu. The insolvent patients who had exceeded their discharge dates but were still in the hospital were grateful to the company. One of them said: This is an act I will forever recall and would tell my son. He has to know that if not for Conship, his stay at the hospital after birth would have prolonged. You can see smiles on our faces. We are happy and grateful. A donation of COVID -19 related items and toiletries; 12 gallons of sanitizer both gel and liquid; 3 packs of kitchen towels; 3 packs of toilet roll, box of parazone; 10 gallons of liquid soap; 50 boxes of surgical nose mask; 2 boxes of N95 nose mask; 5 boxes of latex gloves were also presented to the hospital. The Chief Nursing Officer at the Korle-Bu administration, Grace Ahianyo, who received the items and the check aslo expressed gratitude to Conship: I am very glad; those who did the donation said something that when God bless you, it is an opportunity to bless others and I so much agree with that. She noted that, Korle-Bu being the premier referral hospital, there is enormous pressure on it daily and any help from the corporate institution would go a long way to ease their struggles: We would want others to emulate; just as we are big so is our challenge and we would need corporate firms to support us. A Community Relations Officer at the Petroleum Commission, regulators of the upstream oil and gas industry, Akorfa Dokpli was present to support Conships donation. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. President will visit from March 13 to 15, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement on Friday. The president will reach Varanasi on Saturday afternoon, it said. "On March 14, the president will visit Chapki in Sonbhadra district where he will grace the Vanvasi Samagam and inaugurate the newly constructed building of Seva Kunj Ashram," the statement said. On March 15, he will attend the inaugural session of the Jagran Forum on issues relating to river Ganga, environment and culture of India in Varanasi, 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.) On the return flight from Baghdad to Rome it is impossible not to think of the journey Abraham undertook when he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans toward a promised land where his countless descendants were to flourish. Watching from the window one is struck by the harshness of the mostly desert territory passing by, and thus the vital beauty of the waterways stands out even more. It is the rugged, extreme charm of Mesopotamia, the land between rivers, the two great rivers: the Euphrates and the Tigris which passes through Baghdad itself. This same image, the rivers, which had accompanied the start of the journey, accompanies us at the end as well: the water which brings life and the desert, death, all around. The first river we encountered was that of blood which flowed out of the church of Our Lady of Salvation, the scene of the massacre of 48 Christians during Mass in 2010, and we were aided by the prophecy of Ezekiel, who lived and is buried in this very land, with the images of a river flowing right from the temple with powerful waters, such that everywhere the river goes every living creature which swarms will live (Ez 47:9). The setting for Pope Francis, who on Friday afternoon entered that church sprinkling holy water, evoked that image of rebirth, or rather, of resurrection. It is this image, the sensation that remains at the end of this journey so dense with episodes, charm, meaning: a sensation of resurrection. Here again we are aided by the prophet, master of the house, Ezekiel, who foresees the death and resurrection in that land and describes it with powerful images: the valley full of dry bones that came back to life listening to his prophesy: Again he said to me, Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet.... Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel (Ez 37:4-12). What the whole world experienced in these three days of the Papal journey on Iraqi soil was a grand scene powerful as only joy knows how to be of resurrection. A desolate land, devastated by war and terrorism, abandoned by the rest of the world, returning to breathe, its heart to beat, to stand up, to walk. Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of the Chaldeans expressed it effectively at the end of Mass in the stadium in Erbil, where more than 10,000 people warmly welcomed the Popes arrival from Rome: Holy Father, we thank you for your courage. Your courage now flows within us. Courage, like a river which, by flowing, brings life to where death once prevailed. This is the first of the effects (there will be many, here prophecy is simple) that Pope Francis journey will develop in time to come. SEATTLE Baby Boy Doe, who was found dead in a trash can at a 24-hour Lake City convenience store more than 23 years ago, is buried in Section 18 at Seattles Calvary Cemetery, his gravestone adorned with a teddy bear in one corner. Seattle police on Thursday arrested the infants now 50-year-old mother and booked her into the King County Jail on investigation of homicide, according to jail records and an item posted on the police departments online blotter. According to news accounts from the time the baby boy was discovered on Nov. 20, 1997, the King County Medical Examiners Office determined he had been born alive two days earlier and ruled his death a homicide. He was buried in January 1998. The Seattle woman, who was 27 years old when the baby was born, was identified through genetic genealogy, an evolving technique in which a genealogist uploads a previously unknown DNA profile to public genealogy sites like GEDmatch and then builds a family tree to identify possible suspects. Until recently, it had been used to identify suspects in decades-old homicide and rape cases but is increasingly being used in abandoned-baby cases. Genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter, of Monterey, California who helped crack the Golden State Killer case in 2018 and was named one of Time Magazines 100 most influential people the next year worked on Seattles Baby Boy Doe case, Seattle police homicide detective Rolf Norton said. Norton said a placental blood clot found at the Lake City scene allowed forensic scientists at the State Patrol Crime Lab to develop the mothers DNA profile early on in the investigation, but it was never matched to DNA included in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a law-enforcement database operated by the FBI. I first picked this case up in 2018 and the work by the initial case detectives was very thorough and set us up to be successful in using techniques not available in 1997 or 1998, he said. Rae-Venter, who works for DNA Solutions, generated a list of possible names and police then compared photographs to video-surveillance footage from the Chevron station in the 8700 block of Lake City Way Northeast, where the baby was found, Norton said. He said detectives were able to rule out several people before obtaining a sample of the womans DNA during an undercover operation. Norton learned the sample matched DNA from the crime scene on Dec. 31. Whats fascinating is going way back into unsolved homicides is that there were a lot of these (abandoned baby) cases in the 1940s and 50s. It really floored me, he said. There was another rash of cases in the 1990s and early 2000s, but they dont seem to be nearly so common now, said Norton, who declined to talk about the Baby Boy Doe case in detail because the woman has not been criminally charged. In 2002, Washington state enacted its Safe Haven law, which provides legal amnesty to parents who surrender infants no older than 72 hours to a staff member in hospital emergency rooms, fire stations and rural health clinics. The legislature recognizes that prenatal and postdelivery health care for newborns and their mothers is especially critical to their survival and well-being, says a note explaining the laws intent. The legislature does not intend to encourage the abandonment of newborn children ... but rather to assure that abandonment does not occur and that all newborns have an opportunity for adequate health care and a stable home life. The Seattle woman will make her first court appearance Friday, and prosecutors are expected to make a charging decision by Tuesday, said Casey McNerthney, a spokesman for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. The statute of limitations for manslaughter is three years, which has run out, but there is no statute of limitations for felony murder, he said. For nearly 30 years, Michelle Oberman, a law professor at Santa Clara University has researched and written extensively about legal and ethical issues surrounding pregnancy and motherhood, including neonaticide, the term for infant homicide within the first 24 hours of life. She said the crime is marked by extreme impulsivity and not a deliberate, premeditated strategy seen in first-degree murder cases. Those who abandon their babies tend to be socially isolated, marginalized and vulnerable women who find themselves paralyzed in the face of pregnancy without a trusted person in their lives to turn to for help, she said. In all but one case shes studied, Oberman said the babys father was out of the picture long before the mother went into labor, and a lack of money and resources often factored into the decision to abandon a newborn. Theres blood on more than one set of hands, she said of the circumstances surrounding an infants death through abandonment. I think were so disturbed by the fact pattern that we fail to engage with what would cause a person to do this, deliver a baby unattended and react with that kind of fear and panic. Citing research by Dr. Margaret Spinelli, a psychiatrist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, Oberman said vulnerable women can be in such profound denial about their pregnancies that they experience a psychotic break during labor. Despite Safe Haven laws, the crime of neonaticide persists and theres no reason to think numbers are declining, said Oberman, noting states vary widely in the punishment meted out, from life in prison to a manslaughter conviction with probation. My sense is these cases look a lot like manslaughter, Oberman said. I believe the taking of a human life necessitates a criminal-justice response, but I think the over-prosecution of these cases with the highest possible charges is irresponsible. She said cases like the Baby Boy Doe case are complicated, and its important to understand who the mother was at the time she delivered. Its naive to think theres a quick fix for these cases. They expose the raw underbelly of what goes through a womans mind when she finds out shes pregnant, Oberman said. This is a such a tragedy but putting a person in prison for the rest of her life just compounds the tragedy. ___ 2021 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez continues to deny the claims against him by a U.S. prosecutor, accusing him of helping smuggle tons of cocaine in the country. In February, Hernandez warned that anti-narcotics cooperation between his country and the United States could be negatively affected if authorities believe the allegations against him. New York prosecutor Jacob Gutwillig said that Honduran drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes had paid Hernandez a $25,000 bribe, according to an Al Jazeera report. "How can anyone believe false testimonies that I was dealing with drug traffickers," Hernandez was quoted in a report. Gutwillig claimed that the accountant Jose Sanchez was included at the meetings in 2013 and 2014. This was the time Fuentes paid the money to Hernandez. The U.S. prosecutor added that Sanchez was due to tell the jury that he was shocked and afraid when he saw the defendant sitting with the president. Gutwillig said that Sanchez will testify that Hernandez told Fuentes they transport so much cocaine to the U.S. "they'd shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos," according to an AFP News report. The Honduran government said Wednesday night that photos shown during the trial were taken during the president's birthday in 2017 during the election campaign. READ MORE: Twitter Deletes 20,000 Fake Accounts Linked to Honduras and Other Governments Honduran President's Brother This is not the first time that Honduras President Hernandez had been involved in a drug trafficking case. His brother, Tony Hernandez, was convicted of large-scale drug trafficking in 2019 during a New York trial. He was linked to his brother's trial by Leonel Rivera. Rivera, the leader of a Honduran drug trafficking gang called Los Cachiros, testified that he had worked with Fuentes from 2011 to 2013. Rivera allegedly got into a fight with Fuentes with the traffickers trying to kill him. The president's brother faces life sentences with additional 30 years in prison. However, he hopes it will be reduced in exchange of his testimony. During the major drug trafficking trials in New York, Rivera has been of help to the U.S. government as a witness. During the Tony Hernandez' trial, Rivera said the president received millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers to protect the cocaine shipments to the United States, according to a Channel News Asia report. Investigation Honduras President Hernandez has claimed that traffickers, particularly Los Cachiros, were seeking vengeance against him for allowing them to be extradited to the U.S. He further claimed that the said group was lying in the most obvious way, according to a U.S. News report. The president further said that the traffickers were trying to manipulate U.S. authorities into helping them attack Honduran officials pursuing them. A bill was introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley with the goals of seeking to isolate Hernandez, Merkley said that the U.S. government cannot shun the corruption and human rights issues on the Honduran government. Merkley's bill was supported by Sens. Patrick Leahy, Richard Durbin, and Elizabeth Warren. READ NEXT: Immigration News Today: Honduras Near 'Failed State' Status Due to Free Trade Agreement, Says Labor and Latino Leaders WATCH: Honduran president denies drug trafficking charges by US prosecutors -from Al Jazeera English Country music artist Granger Smith and his wife Amber have announced they are expecting a baby - just under two years after tragically losing their son River, three. Granger, 41, and Amber, 39, took to their respective Instagram accounts to announce they are having another son on Thursday. The news comes 21 months after the couple's son River died in a devastating drowning accident at their home in June 2019. The announcement came with a heartfelt video where they gathered with their children, daughter London, nine, and son Lincoln, seven, where they shared ultrasound images of their new addition. Expecting: Just 21 months after country music artist Granger Smith and his wife Amber lost their three-year-old son River in a tragic drowning accident, they're adding another child to their family Baby bump: The announcement came with a heartfelt video where they gathered with their children, daughter London, 9 and son Lincoln, 7, where they shared ultrasound images of their new addition The video features the family all gathering in a sunny field, as they all narrate a message to River. 'Dear River, because of the live you've lived, we've known so much joy,' Granger began in the video message. Lincoln added, 'Dear River, because of the life you've lived, we laughed a lot,' while London added, 'and because of the life you've lived, we've cried a bunch too.' As the whole family came together, Granger added, 'Dear River, because of the life you've lived, you've brought us closer to God,' as Amber added. Family: The video features the family all gathering in a sunny field, as they all narrate a message to River Dear River: 'Dear River, because of the live you've lived, we've known so much joy,' Granger began in the video message London and Lincoln: Lincoln added, 'Dear River, because of the life you've lived, we laughed a lot,' while London added, 'and because of the life you've lived, we've cried a bunch too.' 'And God gave us a miracle. Sweet Riv, because of the life you've lived, you're going to have a baby brother.' The family all shared photos of the kids, along with River, plus ultrasound photos of the new addition. Granger added in his Instagram caption, 'Were pregnant. I dont have many words for this video. Life isnt perfect. Sometimes its beat up and broken but its NEVER hopeless. God promises that.' 'Our story isnt finished yet, and neither is yours! Through our suffering and joy, Gods glory radiates through it all! A new Smith boy is due in August,' he concluded. Amber shared the same video, adding a lengthy caption about her family's journey, including numerous Bible verses. Family: As the whole family came together, Granger added, 'Dear River, because of the life you've lived, you've brought us closer to God,' as Amber added, 'And God gave us a miracle. Sweet Riv, because of the life you've lived, you're going to have a baby brother' Pregnant: Granger added in his Instagram caption, 'Were pregnant. I dont have many words for this video. Life isnt perfect. Sometimes its beat up and broken but its NEVER hopeless. God promises that' 'Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19,' she began. 'God has made a way we never thought possible. If Ive learned anything over the last 2 years, its that I do not have as much control as I think I do,' she added, along with another Bible verse: 'The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9.' 'Never did I think at 39 I would be blessed with expecting another baby boy. These past couple of years have been so rough but also so full of so much joy, hope, healing, growing and grace from God,' she added. 'Lord, I pray that our story can speak life to someone else who may be suffering to never give up hope. To surrender their burdens to you. To trust you even when it hurts,' she continued. Not finished: 'Our story isnt finished yet, and neither is yours! Through our suffering and joy, Gods glory radiates through it all! A new Smith boy is due in August,' he concluded 'Sweet Riv, because of the beautiful life you lived, we are forever changed and we will continue honoring your big, little legacy until we come home to you,' she said. 'To God we give all the glory and we cant wait to meet our new little boy August 2021,' she added, while telling her fans to 'Head to my stories and swipe up to see The Smiths tonight.' 'We talk a little about the journey. You guys will know everything weve gone through over the last 14 months by next episode. We are so excited to finally share this with you,' Amber concluded. Shortly after their son's tragic death in June 2019, both Granger and Amber appeared in a heart-wrenching YouTube video titled Finding Light In Our Darkest Time. The singer recalled thinking about how important it was to soak up every possible second with his family just minutes before the accident happened. Speak life: 'Lord, I pray that our story can speak life to someone else who may be suffering to never give up hope. To surrender their burdens to you. To trust you even when it hurts,' she continued 'Soak up this moment because it's not going to last,' he said he thought to himself, before going on to share details about the horrific accident that claimed his son's life. 'Between 30 seconds and three minutes, we don't know, Amber and I are inside our pool gate doing CPR on our son,' he shared. Smith began the video by thanking fans, friends and family for keeping him and his family in their thoughts. He explained in the caption of the video, as well as in a post on Instagram, that he had gone 'dark on social media,' but that he felt 'obligated on certain levels to include [his followers] in [his] current journey.' He then explained in detail his final moments with River, recalling how he was watching his daughter London do gymnastics in the yard. The Backroad Song hitmaker's thought was not unlike those of many parents... children grow up, those moments should be treasured. But he couldn't have expected what was about to take place. River had fallen into the pool and drowned. He was rushed to a hospital, but doctors were not able to save him. He died two days later. The If the Boot Fits singer shared a Facebook post after River's death saying that he and Amber 'made the decision to say our last goodbyes and donate his organs so that other children will be given a second chance at life'. He wrote: 'Our family is devastated and heartbroken, but we take solace in knowing he is with his Heavenly Father. 'Riv was special. Everyone that met him knew that immediately. The joy he brought to our lives cannot be expressed and his light will be forever in our hearts. If there are words to say more, I cannot find them in this moment. Love the ones close to you. There has never been a more difficult moment for us than this.' WASHINGTON Senate Democrats on Thursday announced plans for a floor vote on legislation to expand background checks for private gun sales, which would force Republicans to choose between their partys traditional gun rights positions and a policy that is broadly popular with the public. Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer told reporters there will be hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee and at least a procedural vote on a bill the House passed Thursday on a 227-203 bipartisan vote. HR 8 will be on the floor of the Senate and we will see where everybody stands, the New York Democrat said at a news conference ahead of the House floor vote. No more hopes and prayers, thoughts and prayers a vote is what we need. The bill would require background checks of sales between private individuals, with the actual checks to be conducted through the federal system at licensed gun dealers closing the so-called gun show loophole that Democrats say allows sales to felons, domestic abusers or others who are prohibited from owning firearms. The gun control issue clearly falls along partisan lines in Congress. At least 10 Republicans would need to join Democrats to overcome any potential filibuster and go to an up-or-down vote, which would then require 50 votes to send the bill to President Joe Biden. The House passed the same bill last Congress, but it died in the Republican-led Senate under then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Trump administration issued a veto threat because, it said, the burdensome requirements in the bill do not sufficiently protect Second Amendment rights. Republicans who opposed the bill in the House say it would hinder the Second Amendment rights of lawful gun owners while not doing much to prevent unlawful gun purchases. The Senate rejected a similar background checks proposal in 2013 after a school shooter killed 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. Connecticut Democratic Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, an outspoken proponent of gun control after the Sandy Hook shooting, said the political reality is fundamentally different now and that hes had a lot of Republican members come to me and express their willingness to take a new look. Around 90% of the public supports universal background checks, the political power of the anti-gun violence movement has grown, and the National Rifle Association is a shell of its former self, Murphy said. So I dont think we should accept that there arent 60 votes in the Senate for universal background checks, Murphy said. Democrats should be confident there are Republicans who dont want to litigate this issue election after election. Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, also a longtime proponent of gun control measures, said there were a majority of votes for expanded background checks in the Senate in 2013. When that proposal failed to get the 60 votes required for passage under an agreement reached prior to the vote, he said the cry from the public in the gallery was shame. If the Republicans vote against it, and there will be a vote, they will pay a price politically, Blumenthal said. He added that House Democrats who ran on gun control policies showed that people are not only supportive, theyre willing to vote based on this issue. Congress last faced the question of whether it will pass any substantive gun control measures to curb mass shootings in August 2019, in the wake of three events in less than a week where gunmen opened fire on crowds in public settings, killing at least 34 people. President Donald Trump addressed the nation and called for real bipartisan solutions to stop the attacks, but he stopped short of calling for legislation and did not call for votes on the House-passed background checks bill despite his tweeting earlier in that day that Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks. Its almost exclusively Democrats who propose legislation to address gun violence. Democrats in 2016 staged a historic Senate filibuster and a sit-in on the House floor over the proliferation of mass shootings, including one at a club in Orlando, Fla., then the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Murphy led a nearly 15-hour filibuster that got Republican leaders to agree to hold votes on four gun-related amendments to a fiscal 2017 spending bill. The Senate rejected two Democrat-backed proposals on procedural votes, including one focused on background checks for gun purchases. Two Republican-backed gun measures countering the Democratic plans also were turned back. Congress took limited action in 2018 after the deaths of 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school. Lawmakers provided $1 billion over 10 years in federal grant funding for school design and teacher training to bolster student safety the only federal law to address mass shootings at schools. Congress also strengthened compliance with the current background check system for firearm purchases. And the Trump administration banned bump stocks after a mass shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017 where the attacker used one to more rapidly fire a rifle. On Thursday, Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., whose son was fatally shot, sounded a note of optimism ahead of the vote. Theres so many of us survivors and family members who have lost their loved ones who have been waiting and waiting and waiting, and today we have the real possibility to make a difference and save lives, McBath said. The Pew Research Center found in October 2018 that 91% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans favor background checks for private gun sales and sales at gun shows. Schumer said Thursday that Democrats would shine a spotlight on the issue, including during committee hearings. And, he said, maybe well get the votes. If we dont, well come together as a caucus and figure out how were going to get this done, Schumer said. Because we have to get this done. ___ Todd Ruger of CQ-Roll Call wrote this story. (c)2021 CQ Roll Call Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Every once and a while a story breaks that's a real eye opener. Today Apple filed a lawsuit against former employee to stop the misappropriation of Apples trade secrets by Simon Lancaster. Despite over a decade of employment at Apple, Lancaster abused his position and trust within the company to systematically disseminate Apples sensitive trade secret information in an effort to obtain personal benefits. Apple further noted in their court filing that "after Lancasters resignation, he began working at a company [Arris] that served as a vendor for Apple under a vendor service agreement. Portions of the trade secret information Lancaster misappropriated relate directly to his role at his new employer, and it is likely Lancasters misuse of Apples trade secrets continues to this day." Apple is demanding a jury trial for all issues so triable. The Three Causes of Action Violation of Defense of Trade Secret Act Violation of California Uniform Trade Secret Act Breach of Written Contract Secret Apple Information or "SAI" The following is from Apple formal Complaint before the court: "Apple is engaged in the development of new computer hardware and software, including the development of novel hardware products and improvements to its existing line of products. Apples research and development activities related to these products are closely guarded secrets that are not publicly revealed, if at all, until Apple releases those products or issues official statements about them. As with all its unannounced products, Apples research and development is conducted under rigorous conditions to maintain the secrecy of those activities and the products themselves. Apple carefully controls all information relating to these projects. The Apple teams working on these products expend substantial time and energy to ensure that the process remains secret. Further, those teams often spend multiple years working on secret products that they cannot discuss outside work in light of the required secrecy. Apple has made substantial investments in developing proprietary technology in support of its novel products and updated generations of its existing products. Apple protects the details concerning this technologyincluding but not limited to schematics, software code, project plans, algorithms, and hardwarefrom disclosure to the public and to Apples competitors, including persons who can obtain economic value from the use or disclosure of this technology Maintaining this information as a trade secret is essential to Apples ability to compete in the computer hardware and software markets. These fields are characterized by rapid technological advances and intense competition. If an Apple competitor were to obtain details about Apples technology or related commercial information, that competitor could significantly harm Apple by using Apples own technology, know-how, and other details about these products to compete directly with Apple without having to spend the capital and/or time that Apple invested in developing such technologies. In addition to these technology secrets, Apple also possesses information about unannounced novel products and updated generations of existing products that Apple is developing and may release. This information is not accessible to the public or to persons who can obtain economic value from its use or disclosure. Even within Apple, such knowledge is shared only on a need-to-know basis; accordingly, this information is also not accessible to Apple employees other than those working on the products or who otherwise have a legitimate need to know. If Apples competitors obtain access to Apples unannounced product information, those competitors could also benefit significantly from the knowledge gained through that access by directing their product development and marketing efforts to frustrate Apples plans. This strategic advantage to Apples competitors could, in turn, severely harm Apple. Apple also makes significant investments in advertising and promotional activities surrounding the launch of a new product. Unauthorized disclosures of unannounced products cause Apple to lose control over the timing and nature of potential product releases. Unauthorized disclosures diminish the interest of both the mainstream and trade media in the launch of a new product. Such disclosures may also dampen customer demand for current products. Thus, Apple maintains and protects such information as a trade secret. 21.The information misappropriated by Lancaster comprises information about Apple technology, information about Apples unannounced products, and confidential Apple documentation. All of this material comprises Apple trade secrets. In this Complaint, Apple will refer to this information collectively as Secret Apple Information or SAI. Lawsuit against Former Employee Simon Lancaster Apple's formal complaint before the court further states the following: "Plaintiff Apple Inc. ("Apple") brings this action to stop the misappropriation of Apples trade secrets by its former employee Simon Lancaster. Despite over a decade of employment at Apple, Lancaster abused his position and trust within the company to systematically disseminate Apples sensitive trade secret information in an effort to obtain personal benefits. He used his seniority to gain access to internal meetings and documents outside the scope of his jobs responsibilities containing Apples trade secrets, and he provided these trade secrets to his outside media correspondent ("Correspondent"). The Correspondent then published the stolen trade secrets in articles, citing a "source" at Apple. On multiple occasions, Lancaster proposed that the Correspondent give benefits to Lancaster in exchange for Apples trade secrets. For example, Lancaster proposed that the Correspondent provide favorable coverage of a startup company in which Lancaster was an investor as a quid pro quo. Lancaster even recruited the Correspondent to serve as his personal investigator. In one instance, Lancaster requested that the Correspondent explore a rumor that could prove harmful to a company in which Lancaster had invested. Lancasters role as the Correspondents "source" deepened even after he announced his resignation from his role at Apple. Indeed, Apples internal investigation of the Apple-owned devices provided to Lancaster as part of his employment shows that after Lancaster announced his resignation, he communicated with the Correspondent regarding specific Apple trade secrets sought by the Correspondent and took specific steps to obtain additional Apple trade secrets. The trade secrets Lancaster stole and sent to the Correspondent for publication included details of unreleased Apple hardware products, unannounced feature changes to existing hardware products, and future product announcements, all of which Apple guards closely. Apples product teamsinnovators, designers, and builderswork in complete secrecy, often for many years, and at significant personal burden, all to surprise and delight Apples customers with their creations. The deceitful and indefensible release of these product details enabled by Lancasters misappropriation has undermined the morale of the teams that worked on the products and features in question. Lancasters misappropriation also disadvantages Apple with respect to its competitors. With access to valuable Apple information, Apples competitors can anticipate Apples future course of action and attempt to degrade Apples hard-won position as a company at the forefront of innovation. Further, forensic review of the devices Apple provided to Lancaster for his work at Apple shows Lancaster and the Correspondent coordinated to pilfer specific documents and product information from Apple. On numerous occasions, the Correspondent had requested Lancaster obtain specific Apple trade secret documents and information. On multiple occasions, Lancaster then sent the Correspondent certain of the requested confidential materials using Apple-owned devices. On other occasions, Lancaster met with the Correspondent in person to provide them with the requested confidential Apple information. The full extent of their conspiracy is presently unknown; however, Apples investigation is ongoing. After Lancasters resignation, he began working at a company [Arris] that served as a vendor for Apple under a vendor service agreement. Portions of the trade secret information Lancaster misappropriated relate directly to his role at his new employer, and it is likely Lancasters misuse of Apples trade secrets continues to this day. In fact, on his last day at Apple, Lancaster downloaded a substantial number of confidential Apple documents from Apples corporate network onto his personal computer that would benefit his new company. Lancasters misconduct constitutes trade secret misappropriation under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1836 et seq.; trade secret misappropriation under Californias Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Cal. Civ. Code 3246, et seq.); and a breach of his contractual obligations to Apple. Apple seeks injunctive relief, damages, and other appropriate relief to stop Lancasters misappropriation, disclosure, and potential use of Apples confidential and trade secret materials. For more details, read Apple's full complaint filed with the court in the full SCRIBD document below, courteous of Patently Apple. Apple Versus Lancaster by Jack Purcher on Scribd Lancaster got away with revealing trade secrets for over a decade. Whether Apple will reveal the identity of the media Correspondent and their publication at trial is unknown, but if it is, it's going to blockbuster news that could put other leakers on notice. Will Apple TV+ turn this into a limited series in the future? No. But it sure would make for an interesting story. By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Mar 11, 2021 - 21:46 | World, All China wrapped up this year's annual session of the country's parliament after paving the way for a controversial third term for President Xi Jinping, with its neighbor Japan increasingly on guard against the Asian power's ambition. In a bid to cement the authority of the Communist Party, the National People's Congress on Thursday adopted a resolution to alter Hong Kong's electoral system so that the mainland can exclude pro-democracy activists from the political arena in the territory. Also at the parliament, the Chinese government pledged to take measures to surpass the United States as the world's biggest economy by 2035, highlighting Xi's eagerness to remain in power at least for the next decade. In February, meanwhile, Xi's leadership enforced a law allowing its coast guard to use weapons in waters it claims, a move sparking fears in Tokyo that Beijing has been attempting to bring the Japanese-controlled disputed islands in the East China Sea into its fold. "Xi has successfully contained the novel coronavirus, and then he has been trying to expel nuisances in Hong Kong and enhance citizens' loyalty to him by vowing to boost the Chinese economy," a diplomatic source in Beijing said. "Unfortunately, Xi has been steadily preparing to become China's emperor for life," the source said. "At the same time, Xi has been keen to bolster China's influence on its neighbors including Japan, and for that purpose, he may take every step he can. Japan should become much more vigilant against China," he added. In the early 2010s, Beijing and Tokyo were mired in a territorial row over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, called Diaoyu in China, but bilateral ties have been improving in the past few years by effectively shelving the spat. With its relations with the United States under former President Donald Trump deteriorating over several issues such as trade, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China has been extending its olive branch to Japan, one of the closest U.S. allies in the world. Earlier this month, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed at a press conference that the nation's new coast guard law does "not target any specific country," while expressing hope for further improvement in ties with Japan. Asked about how the two Asian nations can cooperate, Wang said China and Japan have "every reason to support each other" for the success of the Tokyo Olympics, which has been put off by one year to July, and the Beijing Winter Games in February 2022. "Wang talked about Sino-Japanese relations in a very careful manner. It seems that China has put emphasis on Japan as its tensions with the United States have shown little sign of easing soon," a source familiar with Beijing's thinking said. "For peace and stability in the region, Japan should maintain the current relations with China, while gauging how U.S. policy toward Beijing will change" under the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who took office in January, he said. At home, however, the Chinese Communist Party has taken actions to strengthen Xi's clout, erode democracy and freedoms in Hong Kong and accelerate the country's military rise in the nearby waters. In 2018, China removed from its Constitution the two-term limit for the president and vice president, which would enable Xi, who became the head of the party in 2012, to hold on to power for life. All eyes are on whether Xi will be re-elected as leader of the Communist Party at its twice-a-decade congress in autumn next year. In late June 2020, the mainland enacted a national security law for Hong Kong to crack down on what it views as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, aiming to quell protesters against the pro-Beijing government in the territory. China also plans to increase its defense spending in 2021 by 6.8 percent from last year to 1.36 trillion yuan ($210.14 billion), as Xi has promised to give the nation's military forces "world-class" status by the mid-21st century. Even after the coast guard law takes effect, Chinese official vessels have frequently entered Japan's territorial waters around the Senkakus, with Beijing insisting that the islets are the country's "inherent territory." To counter China's movement, Japanese policymakers have recently argued that it is possible for the nation's coast guard to fire on foreign official ships under laws by regarding their forcible landing on the islands as violent crimes. "There is speculation that China's economy will become the world's largest as early as in 2028, so it is still necessary for Tokyo to get along with Beijing in economic terms," a Japanese government source said. "But we should also warn against China's military moves. We have to seriously map out our diplomatic strategy toward China, while closely watching how the country will change under the long-term rule by Xi," the source said. He added Xi's first state visit to Japan since he became president in 2013, which has been delayed due to the pandemic, may be canceled against a backdrop of backlash from conservative lawmakers of the ruling party headed by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. "Under the present circumstances, it is impossible for Suga's government to invite Xi to visit Japan," the source said. "But if Japan proposes the cancellation of Xi's visit, that could shake relations between Japan and China." At the press conference on the sidelines of National People's Congress, Foreign Minister Wang was mum about whether Beijing and Tokyo have been arranging Xi's trip to Japan. This year's session of China's parliament was held for seven days through Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 13:21:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on Feb. 22, 2021 shows a container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin Municipality. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo) "China's investment under the transportation network planning will definitely help boost the global logistics industry, the global supply chain and the transportation network," Pakistani political economist Shakeel Ramay told Xinhua. LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's plan to expand and modernize its transport network will boost connectivity, the allocation of global resources, and trade across the globe, experts have said. China recently unveiled a program called the "Global 1-2-3 Logistics Circle" to expand the country's strength in the transport sector over the next 15 years, setting long-term goals for the industry to develop a modern, high-quality and comprehensive national transport network. The aim is for one-day domestic delivery of goods in China, two-day delivery from neighboring countries, and three-day delivery to major global cities, according to guidelines jointly released last month by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. Aerial photo shows a China-Europe freight train bound for Helsinki, Finland, departing from Putian Station of Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Nov. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Hao Yuan) A SMALLER WORLD "China's investment under the transportation network planning will definitely help boost the global logistics industry, the global supply chain and the transportation network" against the backdrop of global economic setbacks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Shakeel Ramay, director of the China Study Center at the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute, told Xinhua recently. "It will lead to a better allocation of global resources as goods can be transported farther and faster with less energy," Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, told Xinhua. Developing countries that lie on China's doorstep will be major beneficiaries of the expected growth, Tourk said. The program lays the foundation for the construction of a territorial transportation corridor that serves many members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said. "As such, countries like Myanmar and Vietnam are expected to be manufacturing hubs in the near future." The corridor would also promote a community built on common interests in the region and help ASEAN integration, with many landlocked countries being connected to the seas, he added. Europe will be another major beneficiary of the program, he said, as a large amount of goods transported through the China-Europe railway network tend to be of relatively high value. "Faster connectivity among nations results in cultures coming into more contact with one another. This bodes well for world peace," he said. "China has laid out a sweeping transportation plan that knits the world together," Tourk said. Photo taken on Nov. 8, 2020 shows an Orange Line metro train leaving a station in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore. (Photo by Sajjad/Xinhua) BOOSTING GLOBAL TRADE The plan will also "have a positive impact on global trade," Ramay said. Chinese investment under the plan will help improve customer satisfaction regarding product quality, and at the same time reduce logistics costs, he said. "Perishable commodities, agricultural commodities like fruits, vegetables, and even the meat industry will also be benefiting from this efficient transportation infrastructure," he said. Noting that Pakistan's transport infrastructure has been greatly improved with the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a landmark project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Ramay said the transport plan will further improve the land routes between the two countries and promote bilateral trade. They will "facilitate Pakistan's exports to China's Xinjiang and other regions and BRI countries, while China can also regard Pakistan as a transit country for trade with other countries. It will be a win-win situation," he said. Wu Kegang, director of the British Chambers of Commerce's Link to China program, believes China's transport plan will be meaningful to British businesses interested in the China and Asian markets. "Firstly, the expansion of transport networks into rural communities in China means greater markets for British products. Secondly, British exporters can use China as a distribution hub for Asia-Pacific countries if better logistics are provided," Wu said. Regarding Latin America, Argentine economist and sinologist Gustavo Girado said that although the region has no "natural geographic link" with China, the development of the Asian country's port system and railways will facilitate trade between the two sides. "If China improves its port system and railways, there will be an eventual drop in logistics costs. This would have an impact on the commercialization and distribution of its goods, especially on the final prices of both imported and exported products," said the expert. Australian Prime Minister said on Friday his first-ever meeting with President Joe Biden as well as the leaders of India and Japan will become an anchor of stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, representatives for the four member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007. That followed the nations providing relief to Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami there. But this virtual gathering early Saturday morning Australia time will mark the first time all four leaders will come together. China has called the so-called an attempt to contain its ambitions. Morrison said there was no reason for China to object to the leaders' meeting. This is about four nations that have had a long-term interest in the Indo Pacific. For us, this is where we live, this is where Japan lives, where India lives and of course with United States across the Pacific has had a long-term presence, so this is about an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and that benefits all nations of the Indo-Pacific, Morrison told reporters. This is about ensuring that we can trade more easily and peacefully, that there is freedom of movement within the seas and the overflight of the area to ensure that there is facilitation, trade and movement across our great region and before these four nations, liberal democracies, standing up for our values, coming together and ensuring that we are an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, he added. Biden has said that he sees cooperation with US allies in the region as a central focus of his strategy to deal with China's growing economic and military strength. While Biden has said he wants a more civil relationship with Beijing, he's shown no sign of softening former President Donald Trump's confrontational measures on trade, technology and human rights. That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we've placed on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said he hoped the meeting would lead to peaceful development and regional cooperation. We hope that the relevant countries will act in line with the common interests of regional countries, uphold the principle of openness, inclusiveness and win-win outcomes, and do more things that are conducive to regional peace, stability and development, not the other way around, he said. China-Australian relations have plumbed new depths since Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Australians on the east coast are in for almost a week of miserable weather with severe rainfall on its way - but the sun will briefly come out over the weekend. New South Wales and south Queensland residents are being warned to prepare for heavy thunderstorms in the coming week, having already been battered by rain on Thursday. Those in NSW will get a short reprieve on Saturday to soak up the sun with temperatures set to reach 32C. But this isn't expected to last with Sydneysiders looking at a wet Sunday with a 90 per cent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Brisbane will also welcome a warm and sunny weekend with temperatures hitting 29C on Saturday and 31C on Sunday, but the city will be drenched with rain on Monday. New South Wales and south Queensland residents are being warned to prepare for more severe rainfall and thunderstorms in the next week Those in NSW will get a short reprieve on Saturday to soak up the sun with temperatures set to reach 32C (Bondi Beach pictured) Those in Sydney are looking at a wet Sunday with a 90 per cent chance of rain forecasted The intense storm activity is the result of an upper-level trough interacting with warm, moisture-laden air. The Bureau of Meteorology have issued a flood watch alert for residents on NSW's northern coast from Friday night. In Queensland's south-west flood warnings have been issued for the Paroo River, the Barcoo River, and the Bulloo River. Severe thunderstorms are also expected to hit southern areas of the state starting on Friday afternoon and lasting well into the night. The storms will roll into the next week with Brisbane seeing an 80 per cent chance of rain on Monday and a 50 per cent chance on Wednesday and Thursday. In Brisbane's south, the Leslie Harrison Dam recorded 55mm of rain in just one hour on Thursday morning. In NSW, the rains will continue with a 60 per cent chance of rain forecasted for Sydney on Tuesday and Wednesday. There's an 80 per cent chance of rain in Brisbane on Monday and a 50 per cent chance on Wednesday and Thursday. Pictured: People caught in the rain in Brisbane Swathes of rain are seen spreading across NSW and Queensland as well as the Top End As storms battered the state on Thursday, Weatherzone warned the wild weather could develop into a hazardous supercell over the central west and northern inland parts of NSW, potentially creating winds of up to 125km/h. 'Supercells are very dangerous rotating storms that are capable of producing destructive weather including giant hail and wind gusts above 125km/h,' the forecaster said. 'As Thursday unfolds and the sun warms the ground, rising air will create more widespread showers and thunderstorms.' Strong wind warnings have also been set in place on Friday for areas in NSW such as the Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, and Illawarra coast. Northern NSW and south-western QLD are expected to take the brunt of the wild weather The two states are expected to be whipped with downpours and possible hail, wind, severe thunderstorms and severe storms. Pictured: Someone in Eastern Creek, NSW, records the wet weather on Monday Meanwhile on the other side of the country, those in Perth will enjoy a warm and sunny week with little chance of rain. Melbournians will enjoy a sunny and dry Friday but will be lashed by rain and thunderstorms on Saturday. South Australia is in for a sudden change of cold weather with temperatures to drop by 10C. After soaring to 32C on Friday, Adelaide is only forecast to reach 22C on Saturday and 19C on Sunday. The cold snap will also bring gusty winds and thunderstorms. Darwin will experience significant wet weather, facing rainfall and possibles storms over most of the week. Hobart will see rain on Saturday before the wet weather dries up for the rest of the week. Canberrans should get their umbrellas ready, with some showers predicted over the week. EASTHAMPTON The citys new COVID-19 dashboard added a new data item, in the most current weekly update publicly released on Friday: the percentage of residents that have taken the vaccine as a proportion of those 16-and-older that are eligible to have that administered. Massachusetts Department of Public Health weekly vaccine report on the state website shows data by county, and does not further delineate this for individual cities and towns. According to the Easthampton data, 14.6% of residents are fully vaccinated -- have taken both shots; 10.9% have had at least one shot, meaning the percentage of individuals with at least one dose administered in the city equals 25.5%. The DPH weekly vaccine report published online Thursday shows 20% in Hampshire County with one dose administered and partially vaccinated. This rate is 18% in Hampden County, 22% in Franklin County, 26% in Berkshire County and 19% in Worcester County, the DPH reported on March 10. The Easthampton 14.6% cumulative proportion of fully vaccinated is greater than the Hampshire County rate, currently 12%, the DPH data says. Hampden County, proportion of fully vaccinated is 10%, Franklin County 11%, Berkshire County 17% and Worcester County, 9%. The DPH defines the term fully vaccinated if the individual has received the number of doses required to complete the COVID-19 vaccine series. This is measured as the total number of 2nd doses of Moderna and Pfizer administered and reported plus the total number of Johnson & Johnson doses administered and reported. Individuals with at least 1 dose: An individual is counted as having at least 1 dose if they have received one or more doses of vaccine. This is measured as the total number of 1st doses of Moderna and Pfizer vaccine administered and reported, plus the total number of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson doses administered and reported. In an email statement on Friday, Easthampton Public Health Nurse Amy Hardt said: we now have access to vaccination data by zip code. I will update and share these percentages weekly on the dashboard. Well be able to track Easthamptons progress towards herd immunity in real time. Related: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 11, 2021) -New Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: ENRG) (OTC Pink: NEMCF) (the "Company") is pleased to confirm the closing of the Company's non-brokered private placement financing as previously announced on February 8, 2020 (the "Offering"). On March 5, 2021, the Company issued 1,600,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.06 per Unit for gross proceeds of $96,000, with each Unit consisting of one common share in the capital of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one common share in the capital of the Company for a period of 12 months at an exercise price of $0.08 per share, and for a further 12 months at an exercise price of $0.10 per share. Stuart Ross, the CEO and a director of the Company, and Christopher Little, a director of the Company, each invested $6,000 in the Offering in exchange for 100,000 Units. Each of these transactions constituted a "related party transaction" as such term is defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements under MI 61- 101, and in particular, Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the transactions is not more than the 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company did not pay any finder's fees in connection with the Offering. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a four-month and one day hold period in Canada, expiring on July 6, 2021. The Company expects to use the net proceeds from the Offering for general corporate purposes, including the settlement of certain outstanding accounts payable. None of the securities referenced in this news release have been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About the Company New Energy Metals is focused on the exploration and development of energy metals in Chile. On behalf of New Energy Metals Corp. Stuart Ross, CEO T: 604-484-1232 E: info@newenergymetals.ca W: www.newenergymetals.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including the intended use of proceeds from the Offering, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, the receipt of any necessary regulatory approvals in connection with the Offering, including TSXV acceptance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others: requirements for additional capital; future prices of precious metals, copper and lithium; changes in general economic conditions; changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities; other risks of the mining industry; the inability to obtain any necessary governmental and regulatory approvals (including TSXV acceptance of the Offering); changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations; hedging practices; currency fluctuations; as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent management's discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein. **NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES** To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76950 A Kansas hospital has been forced to destroy hundreds of Covid vaccines after a 'processing error' meant the doses weren't frozen during shipping. Meanwhile, a Kroger clinic in Virginia has administered doses of saline solution instead of coronavirus vaccine due to a 'staff blunder'. The Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Kansas said it received 570 doses of the Johnson and Johnson shot from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health on Wednesday. The Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Kansas (pictured) has been forced to destroy hundreds of Covid vaccines after a 'processing error' meant the doses weren't frozen during shipping The vaccines are supposed to be frozen during shipping so that they can be put into the hospital's freezer on arrival but they had been transported in a chilled state. 'When we discovered the vaccines had been delivered to the hospital in a refrigerated state, LMH Health immediately reached out to Johnson & Johnson for guidance,' Brian Bradfield, LMH Health associate vice president of ancillary services, told Fox News. 'The company advised these doses will have to be discarded.' LMH Health President & CEO Russ Johnson said that his was a fraction of the overall vaccines which the county had received but acknowledged 'it is not insignificant.' 'This is a heart-wrenching situation for our hospital, our Phase 2 community members and our Unified Command partners,' Johnson said. LMH said it had been advised by Johnson and Johnson to liaise with a local health care company which is overseeing distribution to avoid another such error. The hospital are working to reschedule inoculations for those affected. It comes as shots of dud vaccines were given to patients at a Kroger clinic in Virginia this week. A Kroger clinic in Virginia has administered doses of saline solution instead of coronavirus vaccine due to a 'staff blunder' The blunder happened when a member of staff assumed that their colleague had already filled the syringes with live vaccine. A company spokesman said the mistake had affected 'less than 10' people. Carrie Hawes was given a Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Monday and received a call on Tuesday to tell her of the mistake. She told WWBT News: 'Talked to a manager right away and they explained that there had been a mistake made, that we had been given saline only. 'There was no vaccination material. My initial reaction was shock and surprise, and a little anxiety.' She received the real vaccination two hours after the call. Kroger is estimated to have administered nearly one million shots across the US and has apologized for the 'honest mistake'. Sanjeev Gupta has urged colleagues in his GFG Alliance empire to cut the fat in their businesses, after the group was sent reeling by the collapse of Greensill Capital. In an email sent to staff yesterday, seen by the Mail, the steel tycoon warned there would be 'less group support' available now its major backer Greensill had tumbled into administration. Financial services firm Greensill, run by Gupta's friend Lex Greensill, was a major lender to the loosely connected group of businesses known as the GFG Alliance. Stoking the flames: Financial services firm Greensill, run by Sanjeev Gupta's friend Lex Greensill, was a major lender to the group of businesses known as the GFG Alliance It fell apart this week after its insurer refused to renew a vital policy, meaning Greensill would be on the hook for huge losses if any of its customers failed to repay their debt. Greensill's backers, including Credit Suisse and asset manager GAM, abandoned the lender leaving it insolvent. Its collapse has raised fears over the future of businesses in Gupta's GFG, which relied heavily on Greensill for cash. Firms which are part of GFG include Liberty Steel, Britain's third largest steel maker with around 3,000 employees at 11 sites. In a message to colleagues yesterday, 50-year-old Gupta said GFG was in a 'challenging situation which requires careful management'. He added: 'We are asking all of our businesses to take prudent steps to manage their cash positions carefully and reduce their call on group resources.' Gupta added that he would be 'working around the clock to ensure our people and communities have a sustainable future.' The types of COVID-19 tests Did you know that there are two types of COVID-19 tests? According to the FDA, a diagnostic test can show active coronavirus infection. There are two types of diagnostic tests: a molecular test and an antigen test. The molecular test, also known as the lab test or molecular PCR, detects the virus's genetic material and is most commonly administered through a nasal or throat swab. The test is highly accurate but can take longer to get results it could be the same day or up to a week. The rapid antigen test detects specific proteins from the virus by nasal swab. Finding out results takes 15-30 minutes, but it isn't as accurate as the molecular test. The antibody test looks for antibodies that are made by your immune system in response to the virus. This test is administered by blood draw, and results take one to three days. This test doesn't look for active virus; instead, it shows if you've been infected in the past. The FDA is not sure how long antibodies stay in the body or if they give a person immunity, so it cautions against using the results as an indication to stop taking steps to protect yourself against COVID-19. Three men were charged in a Newark killing after the trio was stopped by New Jersey State Police detectives riding in a vehicle that matched a description from the shooting, authorities said Thursday. Tyshon Armor, 19, Isaad S. Jackson, 20, both of Newark, along with Reynold Henderson, 18, of Irvington, each face charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons offenses, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose announced in a statement. The trio was arrested in the shooting Tuesday that killed 22-year-old Dedric Bracey in Newarks West Ward, according to authorities. Bracey, a city resident, was found around 4 p.m. on St. Paul Avenue shot multiple times and died at a local hospital, authorities said. Based on a description of an SUV that fled the scene, state police pulled over the suspects in Irvington a short time after the attack, the prosecutors office said. An investigation by detectives from the Essex County Prosecutors Homicide Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department and the New Jersey State Police, led authorities to charge these males with the murder of Bracey, the statement said. All three were being held at the Essex County jail ahead of detention hearings, according to the prosecutors office. A possible motive for the shooting was not immediately released. Two of these three suspects were released from prison early due to COVID-19, Ambrose, the Newark public safety director, added. Not everyone who is released re-offends, but since November, we have had 57 crimes in Newark committed by people who were released early. That number includes the suspects in this murder. Early releases are a consequence of COVID-19 that will drive up the crime rate. Now that vaccines are available, the criminal justice system should re-visit the issue of early releases. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 84F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 67F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. It seems science has come to the rescue of Kathleen Folbigg, who was branded 'Australia's worst female serial killer after she was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering her own four babies. The recent turn of events has turned Folbiggs case upside down and opened the possibility of the convict being freed after already spending 18 years in prison. If freed, the case would go down as the worst miscarriage of justice in Australia's history. As many as 90 leading scientific experts, including two Nobel laureate, signed petitions backing her pardon, arguing that her all four children had rare genetic conditions and they were not smothered by her. Folbigg was jailed in 2003 for killing her children before each had turned two between 1990 and 1999. She was convicted of killing her children Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Elizabeth. Now 53, she has maintained her innocence all along, insisting that the children died due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A full genomic sequencing of Folbigg and her four children shows that two of her children inherited a genetic mutation from their mother. The variant was in a gene called CALM2 (that encodes for calmodulin). Calmodulin variants can cause sudden cardiac death, Carola Vinuesa, a professor of immunology and genomic medicine at the Australian National University, told the BBC. Defects in the CALM genes could lead to heart arrhythmias that can cause cardiac arrest and sudden death in infants and children. According to experts, only 75 people in the world have genetic mutations in CALM genes. Two other children, Caleb and Patrick, had genomes which showed a rare genetic variant in the BSN gene, which is linked to lethal epileptic fits. The medical history showed one with epilepsy and another with floppy larynx. The key factor is that the science has shifted in this case, through new knowledge, to the point where this long list of incredibly learned and eminent Australians is demanding justice be served, Ian Connellan, editor-in-chief of the Royal Institution of Australia said. If pardoned, Folbiggs sentences will not overturned but she will have to appeal for her conviction in the New South Wales courts, ABC News reported. She would also be eligible for parole, including the time served, in 2028, if the pardon is not granted. Police have revealed they were never handed a letter sent to the prime minister outing rape allegations against Attorney General Christian Porter. NSW Police released a bombshell statement revealing the anonymous letter was referred to the Australian Federal Police by Scott Morrison - but it was never passed onto state authorities. Labors Penny Wong and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young were also said to have received the letter. The letter featured a warning from the woman's friends that further evidence was available to support her claims of sexual assault. Police closed the case against the Attorney General after the victim took her own life in 2020 Christian Porter, who is on mental health leave, has firmly denied the historical rape allegation and does not recall having discussed it with anyone A close friend of the woman provided police with an 88-page document authored by the victim following her death on July 2, 2020, Police Commissioner Mick Fuller confirmed. Porter vehemently denies the allegation of rape and said he never had consensual sexual relations with the woman. In a number of answers to questions on notice released on Friday, NSW Police confirmed the decision was made not to proceed with the case after the womans death. Police Commissioner Fuller also confirmed a conversation with the victims sister in September last year. On Friday, NSW Police revealed officers had been in contact with the woman several times between February and June 2020, including eight emails, five text messages and 11 attempted calls. In another twist, revealed in evidence to NSW Parliament, Covid restrictions last year stopped police from taking a sworn statement from the victim before she committed suicide. She took her own life on June 24, the day after withdrawing her complaint with police. Additionally, the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting there was a three month gap between SA Police passing on the womans rape claims to their colleagues in NSW. Christian Porter (pictured right) has vehemently denied the allegations and is currently on mental health leave The time frame was from November 28, 2019, to February 26 last year, before the victim eventually spoke to Sydney based detectives. The development comes as the prime minister continues to insist there is no reason under the 'rule of law' for Mr Porter to face any further action. NSW Police also confirmed the AFP only passed on a 'summary email' on February 25 this year into the alleged matter. Meanwhile, the ex-boyfriend of a woman who accused Mr Porter of raping her when they were both teenagers in 1988 said on Friday he had 'relevant discussions' with him over a number of years. James Hooke, who is now senior managing director with Macquarie Group, has offered to appear before an independent inquiry. Mr Porter, who is on mental health leave, has firmly denied the historical rape allegation and does not recall having discussed it with anyone. Mr Hooke said he was concerned for Mr Porter's well-being and was devastated by the untimely death of his very dear friend. Prime Minister Scott Morrison passed the anonymous letter on, declaring it was a police matter 'Mine is just one set of recollections, and I am aware of the fallibility of human memory, however unintentional,' he said. 'That said, I have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with her over the years from mid-1988 until her death. 'I also have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with Christian Porter from April 1992 in Perth and through the mid-1990s.' Mr Hooke said he made himself known to NSW police last year after the woman's death and understood why they were unable to interview him. 'In relation to any criminal prosecution, Christian Porter was manifestly and appropriately entitled to the presumption of innocence - it is essential to the rule of law,' he said. James Hooke, the ex-boyfriend of the woman who accused Mr Porter of raping her when they were both teenagers in 1988 said on Friday he had 'relevant discussions' with Mr Porter over a number of years 'In relation to any investigation of the important non-criminal aspects of this matter, I support an inquiry, like either that conducted by three retired eminent judges after Justice Lionel Murphy was acquitted of charges or that conducted by Dr Vivienne Thom into allegations about Justice Heydon. 'I am willing to testify under oath at any appropriately convened inquiry.' The NSW Bar Association on Friday moved to clarify the use of the term 'rule of law', saying it applied not only to criminal and civil matters but 'executive inquiries' with 'specific terms of reference setting out the scope of the inquiry'. 'Each of these criminal and civil processes involves the ordinary and lawful use of state authority, and comprises an aspect of the rule of law.' The statement came as NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller told a state estimates hearing the woman made five primary contacts with police via email and phone before she took her own life last year. But the woman never lodged a formal statement of complaint that could be admissible in court. NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller told a state estimates hearing he had a 'high-level discussion' about the matter with deputy commissioner David Hudson Mr Fuller had a 'high-level discussion' about it with deputy commissioner David Hudson. But asked whether he kept politicians including Mr Morrison informed of the matter, Mr Fuller said: 'At no point in time in this matter have I had any communication with any member of government, federally or from a state perspective.' Mr Fuller said it was police custom and practice if a victim withdrew the matter 'then, outside the victim care aspect of it is, the matter is finalised'. 'And that is not (just) for the attorney-general, that is for every matter,' he said. 'Now whether that is right or wrong, they are certainly things that we are looking at the moment with a whole broader range of things around the journey for victims into the justice system, particularly around sexual assault and historic sexual assault matters.' Mr Fuller said the last contact between investigators and the woman involved her saying she no longer wanted to proceed in the matter. He said such a withdrawal was not unusual for victims, and it took enormous courage for people to come forward. The police chief was aware the woman had prepared another document - which he described as a 'diary entry' - and friends had passed it on to the AFP. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) Supreme Court Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Alexander Gesmundo both in the running for the SCs highest post on Friday said they favor the publication of the statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) of members of the court, subject to conditions. But Perlas-Bernabe said what should only be made public is the summary of their SALN. She argued that while she has nothing to hide, full disclosures of SALNs can be used to destroy the reputation of a magistrate. I have really nothing to hide. It is just that sometimes people tend to criticize or to find ways and means to really destroy the reputation of a justice," Perlas-Bernabe said during the interview for the top magistrate post. "And so, I think the summary of the SALN would just be enough," she added. "And if there are cases or there are complaints then I think the complainant should really file a case in the proper forum. For his part, Gesmundo takes no issue with publicly disclosing his wealth as long as the purpose of getting full copies of SALNs must be legitimate. Transparency is the rule, the justice said when it was his turn to be interviewed by members of the Judicial and Bar Council. Justices of the Supreme Court are facing certain risk in the performance of their duty, but if the intention of getting details about the SALN is legitimate then there should be no problem in giving them access, he also said. Section 8 of the Republic Act 6713 protects the right of the public to access the SALNs and financial and business interests of public officials and employees, including those of their spouses and of unmarried children below 18 who are living with them. But in a controversial move last year, the Office of the Ombudsman restricted public access to SALNs of government officials. Ombudsman Samuel Martires said these records were being "weaponized to harm political enemies. Under Memorandum Circular No. 1, the Ombudsman said a copy of the SALN will be provided to the requester if: * he or she is the declarant or the person who filed the SALN or the duly authorized representative of the declarant; * the request is upon lawful order of the court in relation to a pending case; and * the request is made by the Ombudsmans field investigation units Aside from Perlas-Bernabe and Gesmundo, SC Justice Ramon Paul Hernando is vying for the chief justice post. One of them will replace outgoing Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, who is set to retire a year early and will bow out of the high court on March 27, 2021. Peralta, appointed as the top magistrate in 2019, signified in December his intention to step down on his 69th birthday. YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS. From now on it is possible to purchase all home-related services and gadgets at Ucom as a single package, control them via voice instructions or through a mobile application, while saving time and electricity. By the way, the range of innovative smart devices for the Smart Home, presented in a number of sales and service centers of the company, has been expanded and is available with a 10% discount, in particular, for the current and new subscribers of Ucoms fixed service uMix packages. Smart devices, including the uTV box connected to them, can be turned on or off at a preferred time, monitored on power consumption, managed with a smartphone, or with Alisa, Siri and Google smart assistants. The entire assortment is presented in Ucom sales and service centers on Northern Avenue, in Megamol and Yerevan City, as well as in the Ucom online shop. "In the daily hustle and bustle, technologies are created to make work easier, to save time, energy resources, make the house more comfortable and safe. You can be outside the house, controlling all the devices from one place, switching on the preferred uTV channel via smartphone for the other members of your family, heating the food, checking the air humidity and temperature, said Ara Khachatryan, Director General at Ucom. Let us note that on a variety of devices Alisa, Google, or Siri smart assistants respond quickly to voice commands and can turn on or off, for example, any device connected to a smart socket: from a kettle to a Wi-Fi router. uTV subscribers will enjoy watching their favorite program or movie without having to get up from the chair, as the smart assistant is able to turn on the TV, control the volume and perform any action within the uTV services; customers just need to pre-configure the universal remote controller. Let us add that the installation and configuration of individual gadgets or Smart Home gadget sets is easy. To control, one just needs to add the corresponding devices to the smartphone app. All gadgets can be purchased both as a set and individually. Luxembourg 12 March 2021 - Subsea 7 S.A. (Oslo Brs: SUBC, ADR: SUBCY) today published and distributed to eligible holders of Common Shares and American Depositary Receipts the Notice of Meeting and supporting materials for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the AGM) and the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (the EGM). The AGM is scheduled to take place at 15:00 (local time) on 14 April 2021 at the Company's registered office, 412F, route d'Esch, L-2086 Luxembourg and the EGM will take place immediately thereafter. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, both the AGM and the EGM will be held without the shareholders physical presence, as permitted under the Luxembourg law dated 23 September 2020 on measures concerning the holding of meetings in companies and other legal entities, as amended. The holders of Common Shares and American Depositary Receipts on record at the close of business on 1 March 2021 will be entitled to vote at the AGM and EGM. In addition, for both the AGM and EGM, the deadline for submission of votes for holders of American Depositary Receipts is 5 April 2021 and for holders of Common Shares is 9 April 2021. The Board of Directors recommend that eligible holders of Common Shares and American Depositary Receipts submit their votes electronically. The Notice of Meeting and supporting materials, including the full text of the proposed changes to the articles of association, the report of the Board of Directors with respect to the requested authorisation to waive, limit and suppress the preferential subscription rights of existing shareholders, as well as copies of the 2020 statutory and consolidated financial statements of the Company can be found on the Companys website: www.subsea7.com ******************************************************************************* Subsea 7 is a global leader in the delivery of offshore projects and services for the evolving energy industry, creating sustainable value by being the industrys partner and employer of choice in delivering the efficient offshore solutions the world needs. Subsea 7 is listed on the Oslo Brs (SUBC), ISIN LU0075646355, LEI 222100AIF0CBCY80AH62. ******************************************************************************* Contact for investment community enquiries: Katherine Tonks Investor Relations Director Tel +44 20 8210 5568 Katherine.Tonks@subsea7.com www.subsea7.com Forward-Looking Statements: This announcement may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the safe harbour provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements relate to our current expectations, beliefs, intentions, assumptions or strategies regarding the future and are subject to known and unknown risks that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, future, goal, intend, likely may, plan, project, seek, should, strategy will, and similar expressions. The principal risks which could affect future operations of the Group are described in the Risk Management section of the Groups Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2020. Factors that may cause actual and future results and trends to differ materially from our forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to): (i) our ability to deliver fixed price projects in accordance with client expectations and within the parameters of our bids, and to avoid cost overruns; (ii) our ability to collect receivables, negotiate variation orders and collect the related revenue; (iii) our ability to recover costs on significant projects; (iv) capital expenditure by oil and gas companies, which is affected by fluctuations in the price of, and demand for, crude oil and natural gas; (v) unanticipated delays or cancellation of projects included in our backlog; (vi) competition and price fluctuations in the markets and businesses in which we operate; (vii) the loss of, or deterioration in our relationship with, any significant clients; (viii) the outcome of legal proceedings or governmental inquiries; (ix) uncertainties inherent in operating internationally, including economic, political and social instability, boycotts or embargoes, labour unrest, changes in foreign governmental regulations, corruption and currency fluctuations; (x) the effects of a pandemic or epidemic or a natural disaster; (xi) liability to third parties for the failure of our joint venture partners to fulfil their obligations; (xii) changes in, or our failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations (including regulatory measures addressing climate change); (xiii) operating hazards, including spills, environmental damage, personal or property damage and business interruptions caused by adverse weather; (xiv) equipment or mechanical failures, which could increase costs, impair revenue and result in penalties for failure to meet project completion requirements; (xv) the timely delivery of vessels on order and the timely completion of ship conversion programmes; (xvi) our ability to keep pace with technological changes and the impact of potential information technology, cyber security or data security breaches; and (xvii) the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting;. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Attachments Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Border Patrol agents apprehend illegal immigrants who have just crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States near McAllen, Texas, on April 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) DHS to Hold Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic for Border Patrol Agents in Texas: Gov. Abbott The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will hold a mass vaccination clinic next week in the Rio Grande Valley to vaccinate Border Patrol agents in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott and National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) Brandon Judd said in a joint statement on Friday. Abbott and Judd said that agents had been left vulnerable and exposed to COVID-19, the disease the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus causes. We are glad to hear that the Biden Administration is finally stepping up and holding a mass vaccination clinic next week for Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley who had been left vulnerable and exposed to COVID, they wrote in the statement. They added that they had to publicly request the federal government provide vaccines for Border Patrol agents. Border Patrol agents apprehend a busload of illegal immigrants in Penitas, Texas, on March 10. 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) It is unfortunate that, after months of inaction, we had to publicly call on the federal government to protect these brave men and women and provide the necessary vaccine allocations. These agents risk their lives every day on the front lines of our nation, and they deserve the same level of commitment from those they serve. We look forward to the Biden Administration following through and fully vaccinating each and every Border Patrol agent in Texas. Illegal aliens cross the Rio Bravo to get to El Paso, Texas, from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on Feb. 5, 2021. (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images) Since late January, officials said that more than 100 illegal immigrants that were released into Texas by Border Patrol agents had tested positive for the CCP virus. Felipe Romero, a spokesperson for Brownsville, Texas, told Fox News that 108 illegal immigrants tested positive for the CCP virus since Jan. 25when rapid testing began. That represents about 6.3 percent of the total illegal immigrants who were rapid-tested at Brownsvilles bus station, the official said. Officials at the DHS, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. Romero told Fox that the city doesnt have the authority to illegal immigrants who test positive for the virus from traveling anywhere else in the United States, although officials have advised them to quarantine and follow federal health guidelines. Jack Phillips contributed to this report Exports of UK goods to the European Union dropped by more than forty per cent in January as Britain and Brussels began their post-Brexit trading relationship. New data published this morning by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the overall export of goods fell by 5.3billion - some 19.3 per cent - in the first month of the year. This was largely driven by a 40.7 per cent fall in exports to the EU, worth an estimated 5.6billion. Meanwhile, imports of goods to the UK also suffered a significant hit, falling by 8.9billion overall, approximately 21.6 per cent. This was largely as a result of a 28.8 per cent fall in imports from the EU, worth an estimated 6.6billion. The ONS said the monthly fall in goods imports and exports in January represent the largest monthly falls since records began in January 1997. Labour claimed the numbers illustrated 'just how many British businesses have been struggling with the new reams of costly red tape and bureaucracy' following the end of the Brexit transition period. UK imports and exports to and from the EU fell significantly in January after the end of the post-Brexit transition period, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics The overall exports of goods fell by 5.3billion - some 19.3 per cent - in the first month of the year, this was largely driven by a 40.7 per cent fall in exports to the EU, worth an estimated 5.6billion The latest ONS numbers came one day after Michael Gove announced that Britain will delay the introduction of post-Brexit border controls on some imports from the EU because of coronavirus disruption. The Government had agreed to phase in customs requirements for GB imports from the EU over a six-month period in the first half of 2021. But the Government has now extended the timetable by a further six months after businesses said they needed more time to prepare. Full border control processes will now be introduced on January 1 2022 six months later than originally planned. Total imports of goods from non-EU countries fell by 2.4 billion - some 12.7 per cent - in January while exports increased by 0.2 billion - some 1.7 per cent. Suren Thiru, the head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the trade numbers showed 'difficulties faced by businesses on the ground go well beyond just teething problems'. He said: 'While changes in data collection limit historic comparisons, the significant slump in UK exports of goods to the EU, particularly compared to non-EU trade, provides an ominous indication of the damage being done to post-Brexit trade with the EU by the current border disruption. 'Continued coronavirus restrictions and the unwinding of Brexit stockpiling also added to downward pressure on trade between the UK and EU in January. 'The practical difficulties faced by businesses on the ground go well beyond just teething problems and with disruption to UK-EU trade flows persisting, trade is likely to be a drag on UK economic growth in the first quarter of 2021. 'Although the postponement of import checks will help avoid exacerbating the current disruption, there must be a greater focus on long-term solutions to improving the flow of UK-EU trade. Offering tax credits to support firms to adapt to the new arrangements would help many address new burdens and requirements better.' The latest numbers published by the ONS do come with a health warning from the organisation. The ONS said the monthly fall in goods imports and exports in January represent the largest monthly falls since records began in January 1997 Michael Gove yesterday announced Britain will delay the introduction of post-Brexit border controls on some imports from the European Union because of coronavirus disruption It said that 'monthly data are erratic and small movements in these series should be treated with caution'. The ONS pointed out that January is the first post-Brexit month of trade after the end of the transition period on December 31 while the UK also faced another coronavirus lockdown at the same time as it rolled-out new border arrangements. The ONS said that November and December last year had seen increasing imports and exports of goods 'consistent with potential stockpiling of goods from the EU in preparation for the end of the EU exit transition period'. It noted that UK imports from the EU had previously peaked in the weeks leading up to previous Brexit deadlines in March and October 2019. 'All of these are potential contributing factors to the fall in January trade in goods,' the ONS added. Rachel Reeves, Labour's shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: 'These figures make it clear just how many British businesses have been struggling with the new reams of costly red tape and bureaucracy this Government has wrapped them in. 'Businesses have been appealing to the government to start listening to the problems they've been facing, but they've been left out in the cold. 'The Government must up their ambition here, and take practical action, hand in hand with businesses, to build on the limited deal they negotiated with the EU.' A Government spokesman said: 'A unique combination of factors, including stockpiling last year, Covid lockdowns across Europe, and businesses adjusting to our new trading relationship, made it inevitable that exports to the EU would be lower this January than last. 'This data does not reflect the overall EU UK trading relationship post Brexit and, thanks to the hard work of hauliers and traders, overall freight volumes between the UK and the EU have been back to their normal levels since the start of February. 'Many businesses have adapted well, and our focus now is on making sure that any business that is still facing challenges gets the support they need to trade effectively with the EU.' New Delhi, March 12 : A court here on Friday extended the stay on the search warrant against advocate Mehmood Pracha, who is representing various accused in the Delhi riots cases, till March 19 after he moved the court against the recent second raid on his office. On Tuesday, Pracha alleged that the Delhi Police raided his office in southeast Delhi's Nizamuddin area. He said that around 100 police personnel came to raid his office about 12.30 p.m. The search warrant was procured by the police from the court on March 4 to seize the computer with primary evidence as identified on the previous search. The court had directed the search proceedings be videographed. The investigating officer was directed to carry out the search in the presence of a senior police officer within two weeks of issuance of the search warrant. On Friday, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma of the Patiala House Court sought a reply from the investigating officer as to how the police wants to retrieve the targeted data from the lawyer's office computer without creating any "evidentiary vulnerabilities" with regard to his clients' data. The Delhi Police's Special Cell had raided the premises of Pracha in December 2020 in a case related to alleged use of forged documents as genuine in judicial records in a Delhi riots case. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 06:31:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Spanish King Felipe VI gives a speech during the ceremony to mark the 17th European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism in Madrid, Spain, on March 11, 2021. Europe on Thursday commemorated those who lost their life to terrorism with a solemn ceremony in Madrid, the capital of Spain. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo) BRUSSELS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Europe on Thursday commemorated those who lost their life to terrorism with a solemn ceremony in Madrid, the capital of Spain. In an event organized by the European Commission, the 17th European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism brought together victims of terrorism, victims' associations and first responders to share their stories and experiences. This year, the theme of the event was "Always United." "To all who seek to hurt and divide us, we will continue to respond with unity," the commission said in a statement for the occasion. "We are committed to building inclusive and cohesive societies in which everyone has a stake and everyone can feel safe," said the statement. It explained how it was building the European Union's resilience to prevent these attacks, and fighting the terrorist threat resulting from different forms of extremism. "We are taking steps to block online terrorist propaganda, to stop terrorists from spreading hatred online. But no one can fight crime without taking care of its victims," it said as it remembered the victims and survivors of these acts. Established to commemorate the Madrid bombings of March 11, 2004, the annual Remembrance Day is devoted to remembering all those who lost their lives or loved ones to terror, irrespective of whether those terrorist attacks took place inside the EU or beyond its borders. On March 11, 2004, a series of bombings took place in Madrid, claiming lives of some 200 people and injuring a thousand others. Enditem Slovakias health minister Marek Krajci said he would resign to help defuse a row over coronavirus vaccine shipments that rocked the four-party ruling coalition as the country battles the worlds second highest per capita COVID-19 death rate. Prime Minister Igor Matovic angered his coalition partners late last month when he bypassed them to order shipments of Russias Sputnik V vaccine. One party threatened to quit the coalition and another demanded a reshuffle. "Two coalition parties made my resignation a condition for them to stay in the coalition. In such a situation, I think there was no point arguing... I am not glued to my seat (at the ministry)," Reuters cited Krajci as saying. Matovic, seeking a smooth transition during the public health crisis, said Krajcis departure would be "gradual" and take weeks, allowing time for the Sputnik V vaccinations to get underway. "The man (Krajci) standing next to me sought to protect health and lives with every decision he made. Unfortunately, those who put obstacles in his way made him their target," the prime minister told the same televised briefing. Slovakia, like Hungary and others in central Europe that are facing a worsening COVID-19 situation, has looked outside EU channels for shots as the bloc struggles to accelerate its vaccination rollout and catch up with countries such as Britain and the United States. Slovakia, a country of 5.5 million, has had the worlds second highest per-capita death rate in the past week, according to Our World in Datas website, after the neighbouring Czech Republic. 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 (Newser) A British baroness has responded to police suggesting that women not go out alone at night with a different proposal: that men not be allowed out after 6pm. Metropolitan Police warned residents, including women, "not to go out alone" following the disappearance of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in London, British media reported Wednesday. Green Party member Jenny Jones, also known as Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, responded by "turning the idea on its head," she wrote in a Facebook post, per Fox News. "I argue that, at the next opportunity for any bill that is appropriate, I might put in an amendment to create a curfew for men on the streets after 6pm," she said during a debate about domestic violence in Parliament's House of Lords on Wednesday. "I feel this would make women a lot safer, and discrimination of all kinds would be lessened." story continues below Though the speech prompted #CurfewForMen on Twitter, Jones tells Sky News that it was "not an entirely serious suggestion"but she wanted to make a point. "Nobody makes a fuss when, for example, the police suggest women stay home." But with her suggestion, "men are up in arms." She tweeted that she's seen "a deluge of misogynistic emails and tweets. Which rather proves my point about the problem being with men." "I just don't think that men understand the pressure that women are under," she adds, per Sky. Women have been sharing experiences of harassment or assault and tips for how they keep safe when alone in public, per the Washington Post. (A police officer has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the case.) By Duncan Miriri and Nyasha Nyaungwa NAIROBI/WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Tanzania's President John Magufuli is in good health and working normally, two officials said on Friday, after reports that he had flown abroad in critical condition with COVID-19. Magufuli, 61, is Africa's most prominent coronavirus sceptic. He has not been seen in public since Feb. 27. Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who left for Belgium after disputing his election defeat to Magufuli last year, has said the president was flown to the private Nairobi Hospital in neighbouring Kenya and then to India in a coma. However, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa denied that, blaming the narrative on "hateful" Tanzanians living abroad. "Tanzanians should be at peace. Your president is around, healthy, working hard," he said in a speech after Friday prayers in the southern Njobe region. "To spread rumours that he is sick is just an outcome of hate." Magufuli was busy at work indoors reviewing files, Majaliwa said, adding that he spoke to him by phone on Friday morning. "I have decided to say this to give hope to Tanzanians that our president is around," he said. "If he were sick, would I talk to him on the phone? He sent his greetings to you." The prime minister's remarks, along with similar comments from Tanzania's ambassador in Namibia, Modestus Kipilimba, were the first official reactions since concerns surfaced at the start of this week. "He's OK, he's going on with his job," Kipilimba told Namibia's state broadcaster NBC. Neither NBC nor Tanzania's state broadcaster showed video of Magufuli in their reports. 'THE BULLDOZER' Kenya's Nation newspaper had on Wednesday cited unidentified political and diplomatic sources saying that an African leader, which it did not name, was being treated for COVID-19 on a ventilator at Nairobi Hospital. [L1N2L80WJ] The hospital has said nothing. Story continues John Mnyika, general secretary of Lissu's Chadema party, said Tanzanians had a right to know more. "We urge the government to come out publicly and say where is the president and what is his condition?" he told reporters in Dar es Salaam before the prime minister's comments. Nicknamed "The Bulldozer", Magufuli has frustrated the World Health Organization (WHO) during the pandemic by playing down the threat from COVID-19, saying god and remedies such as steam inhalation would protect Tanzanians. The former chemistry teacher has mocked coronavirus tests, denounced vaccines as part of a Western conspiracy to take Africa's wealth, and opposed mask-wearing and social distancing. Tanzania stopped reporting coronavirus data in May last year when it had reported 509 cases and 21 deaths, according to the WHO, which has urged the government to be more transparent. Magufuli, from northwest Tanzania, was first elected president in 2015 and has faced accusations from Western countries and opposition parties of eroding democracy. He denies that. According to the constitution, 61-year-old Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan would take over for the rest of the five-year term should the president be unable to carry out his duties. Born in Zanzibar, Suluhu has studied economics in England and worked for the United Nations' World Food Programme as well as holding various government posts prior to becoming Tanzania's first female vice-president in 2015 under newly elected Magufuli. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri in Nairobi, Nyasha Nyaungwa in Windhoek; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Alex Richardson and Hugh Lawson) Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron spent 26,000 euros (USD 30,695) on makeup during his first three months in power, his office confirmed saying its trying to find a cheaper alternative. The report in Le Point news magazine prompted harsh criticism of the president from French social media users. It said the cost includes the pay of a freelance makeup artist following Macron during television appearances and trips abroad. The presidents office confirmed the amount today. The report comes at a bad time for Macron, with polls showing his popularity plunging in recent weeks following the announcement of budget cuts and divisive labor reform. Le Point said Macrons makeup expenses are lower than those of predecessor Francois Hollande, who paid a full-time employee about 10,000 euros monthly. ALSO READ: 'You're in such good shape', Trump caught on camera complimenting Macron's wife For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Throughout their determined fight against the protracted lockout by the supermarket giant Coles, the 350 workers at the companys Smeaton Grange warehouse in southwest Sydney have been confronted by the opposition of the United Workers Union (UWU) to any call for industrial action by their fellow workers at other Coles facilities, or any other workplace. It has been the same line-up in every working-class dispute for decades: the trade unions insist that no common struggle is possible because of workplace laws that prohibit all industrial action except during legally-sanctioned bargaining periods for new enterprise agreements at individual workplaces. These same laws legally protect employers who lock out workers, as Coles has done. Locked out Coles warehouse workers at Smeaton Grange (WSWS Media) It is essential to understand how and why these laws were imposed. Workers in Australia, together with their class brothers and sisters internationally, are coming into ever-greater struggles amid the greatest public health breakdown and economic crisis for a century. Around the world, big business and its governments are exploiting the disastrous consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic to seek to accelerate a fundamental further restructuring of working and social conditions at the expense of the working class. The fight by the Coles workers was the longest industrial battle in Australia for years. It is part of a worldwide resurgence of the class struggle, directed against a failed economic systemthat of capitalismthat threatens workers lives, livelihoods and future. As the WSWS has documented, the lockout by Coles, the countrys third-largest private employer, is a spearhead of a wider corporate offensive, driven by the demands of the global financial markets for ever-higher investment returns and share prices. The fight by the Coles workers to defend their jobs and conditions brought them into direct conflict with the trade union movements enforcement of laws that threaten them with massive fines, backed by the full force of the state. This legislation features some of the most draconian anti-strike provisions in the world. It did not come from the sky, however. In fact, this industrial and political straitjacket is the product of the unions themselves, as well as the Labor Party to which they are affiliated. The origins of the laws, cynically rebadged under the title of the Fair Work Act by the last Labor government in 2009, lie in the earlier Labor governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating from 1983 to 1996. Since 2013, the current Liberal-National Coalition government has retained these laws, precisely because they provide the mechanism through which the unions operate as an industrial police force over the working class. Its current industrial relations bill is designed to enhance, not replace, Labors Fair Work regime. From their birth in the 19th century, trade unions have always been organically wedded to the system of wage labour. Their very existence is based on seeking to extract concessions from employers within that framework, and therefore they oppose any fight to abolish the capitalist exploitation of workers labour power for private profit. The past four decades, however, mark the transformation of Labor and the unions from organisations that once sought limited gains within a nationally-regulated economy into apparatuses for overturning the hard-won conditions of workers in an endless drive to make their employers competitive on the global market. Throughout this period, the central preoccupation of Labor and the unions has been to shackle and suppress workers struggles. This week marks the 38th anniversary of the formation of the Hawke government on March 11, 1983. The bitter experiences of the Coles workers, like so many others over the past four decades, make it necessary to examine this historical period and draw the political lessons for the struggles ahead. From Whitlam to Hawke and Keating Prime Minister Hawke and his Treasurer Keating came to office in 1983 with the task of putting an end to the convulsive strikes and struggles of the working class that had reached new heights in the 1970s. Bob Hawke, 1982 (WSWS Media) The previous Labor government of Gough Whitlam had been removed from office in the Canberra Coup executed by the governor-general in 1975 after it had failed to contain an explosive upsurge of the class struggle. Whitlams election in 1972 after 23 years of Coalition rule sparked a rising tide of industrial struggle, as workers took the return of a Labor government as a signal to seek to regain lost living standards. In 1972, 2 million working days were lost as a result of strikes; in 1973, 2.6 million and in 1974, almost 6.3 millionthe most since the industrial and political turmoil of 1919 following World War I and the 1917 Bolshevik-led revolution in Russia. Wage claims leapfrogged as workers won first $15 per week, then $24 and even $40 increases. In December 1973, one year after taking office, Whitlams government unsuccessfully tried to stifle this movement by introducing a referendum to legalise government controls over wages and prices. Big business insisted that industrial stability be restored. However, the penal powers that had outlawed strikes during the post-World War II period had been rendered a dead letter following a threatened general strike in 1969. That referendum, which the Socialist Labour League (SLL), the forerunner of the Socialist Equality Party, strongly opposed, was roundly defeated, setting off the resumption of a wages offensive by the working class. This was part of an international movement by the working class from the MayJune 1968 general strike in France 1968 to the defeat of the Heath government in Britain and the collapse of the Nixon administration in the United States in 1974, and the downfall of the dictatorships in Portugal, Greece and Spain in 197475. Mass protest against dismissal of Whitlam government, Sydney November 24, 1975 (Wikipedia) Whitlams sacking on November 11, 1975 sparked massive walkouts by workers across Australia for days. Amid these immense political tensions, the incoming Coalition government of Malcolm Fraser also proved unable to contain working class opposition. That came to a head in October 1982, when thousands of miners and steelworkers demonstrated outside parliament house, eventually bursting through the doors, in a protest against BHPs decision to sack 384 miners and more than 3,000 steelworkers. Miners at Kemira Colliery, near Wollongong, had organised an occupation of the pit in order to defend their jobs. The Accords with the ACTU With the Fraser government on its knees and an election due, Hawke, a former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), was installed as Labor Party leader in February 1983 for the essential purpose of cementing a partnership with the unions to subdue the working class movement and enforce the program of big business. Hawkes three key credentials were his backing by the trade union bureaucracy, his close ties to prominent business leaders and his support in Washington, where he was regarded as a proven defender of the US military alliance and the US bases in Australia, such as the key CIA spy base at Pine Gap in Central Australia. Just nine days after Hawke became Labor leader, on February 12, 1983, a special unions conference adopted a Prices and Incomes Accord with Labor as official policy. In a statement published on March 1, 1983, the SLL issued a clear warning. The Accord was an agreement for the trade union bureaucracy to act as the governments policemen, as it carries out the policies of the bankers and big business and to do what the Liberals have been unable to do for the past seven yearsbreak the strength of the working class. As soon as Labor won the March 1983 election, and even before parliament met, Hawke convened a tripartite summit with the union leaders and employers to map out a supposed consensus policy that amounted to subordinating workers to the interests of business. The Accord was the linchpin of this united stand. Hawke and Keating took office at a critical turning point internationally, marked by a worldwide slump and the increasing globalisation of production by transnational corporations. By the end of the year, the Labor leaders had floated the Australian dollar, and begun to deregulate financial markets and reduce tariffs, seeking to satisfy the requirements of investors. As it had done in every earlier period of economic turmoil or war, the ruling class turned to Labor to carry through what the Coalition proved incapable of delivering. Like the Reagan and Thatcher governments in the US and UK, Labor imposed deregulation and free market policies, together with the privatisation of key infrastructure, such as the Commonwealth Bank and Qantas, and set about crushing the resistance of the working class to the resulting wholesale destruction of jobs and conditions. Workers protest Labor government's Accord in December 1984 (WSWS Media) The initial primary role of the Accords, which were renewed by Labor and the unions in seven versions by 1991, was to make cuts to real wages that were unprecedented in the post-war period. Wages began to fall as a share of national income for the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Accords also created a material base of corporate wealth for the unions themselves. Supposedly in return for lower real wages, the Accords promised a social wage that featured the diversion of wages into the establishment of joint union-employer controlled superannuation funds. Today, these funds manage about $3 trillion, making them some of Australias largest investors and employers. This gives the union bureaucrats a direct interest in driving up the extraction of profits from the labour power of workers. The Accords performed another, even more significant function. They became the mechanism for the destruction of all independent forms of workers organisation in factories and workplaces, and for the restructuring of working conditions and practices in line with employer demands for greater competitiveness in the international market. The ACTU Congress of 1987 adopted a program committing the unions to boost profits and productivity, at the expense of workers conditions and basic rights. Outlining this perspective in the document Australia Reconstructed, adopted at the congress, Bill Kelty, the ACTU secretary from 1983 to 1999, wrote: Structural change and the promotion of a productive culture are necessary to enhance our international competitiveness. We are about nothing less than the reconstruction of Australia. These are historic times Understanding and responding to the international pressures is a national requirementa requirement to which the unions must contribute. Labor and the unions could not impose this program without the help of the various Stalinist parties, both in devising and implementing the Accord and Australia Reconstructed. The key documents were drafted by leading members of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), such as Laurie Carmichael, and carried into the union movement by CPA officials, together with the Maoist and pro-Moscow parties, whose leading members held senior positions in some of the largest unions. Throughout the working class, the SLL, as opposed to every other political tendency, fought to expose the Accord, the role of the Hawke government and its Stalinist accomplices. At the 1987 ACTU Congress, the left leadership of the NSW Public Service Association removed one of its delegates, Mary Kerr, a SLL member, who was the only delegate to speak against Australia Reconstructed. An Open Letter to the Congress from Kerr warned that her removal was an indication of what is being prepared for the whole working class as the ACTU bureaucracy sought to silence, intimidate or suppress all opposition in the working class to the demands of the international money markets and the Hawke-Keating government. Throughout the 1980s workers repeatedly entered into struggles to defend their wages and conditions, only to be isolated and betrayed by their union leaderships. A series of pivotal defeats followedfrom the mass sacking of the SEQEB workers in Queensland in 1985 and the imposition of massive fines and legal costs against the meat workers union in the 1985 Mudginberri abattoir dispute, to the Hawke governments deregistration and dismantling of the builders labourers union in 1986 and the sellout of the Robe River mining dispute in 1986. This offensive culminated in the Labor governments use of the armed forces to break the pilots strike in 1989. Backed by the ACTU and the entire trade union bureaucracy, Labor demonstrated its readiness to mobilise the full force of the state against workers to enforce the Accords. It was the first time military forces had been deployed to break an industrial dispute since Hawkes predecessor, Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley, called in the army against striking coal miners in 1949. To silence all opposition, Labor and the unions implemented a deliberate policy of breaking up workplaces and shutting down factories that employed large numbers of workers with a history of militant struggle. In those that remained open, shop committees and other forms of organisation were either destroyed or turned into pliant instruments of management. Any semblance of democracy inside the unions was abolished and militant workers victimised. Delegates in the metal trade unions, who continued to believe they were elected to defend the members who had voted for them, were victimised by the union apparatus and summarily removed. In the building industry, where on-the-job organisation was required to meet the changing and often dangerous character of the work, workers safety committees were disbanded. Keating and enterprise bargaining Once this wrecking operation had succeeded in undercutting workers resistance to the deepening corporate offensive, a new phase beganthat of atomising the working class into individual workplaces and outlawing all industrial action outside that framework. Chart shows sharp drop in strike activity since Hawke and Keating Labor governments (WSWS Media) Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs) were first introduced under the Accord Mark 7 in October 1991. EBAs were championed by Kelty on behalf of the ACTU and Keating, who replaced Hawke in December 1991 taking Labors assault on workers to a new level. EBAs became the centrepiece of the industrial relations system when the Accord was next revised in 1993, ending nearly a century of industry-wide struggles and centralised wage-fixing. EBAs were the logical extension of the unions Australia Reconstructed program. Workers struggles were not only separated into individual workplaces. Their wages and conditions were tied to the production and profits of their employers. This required a never-ending process of cutting workers conditions to match the lowest-cost employers around the world, constantly pitting workers in Australia against their fellow workers globally in a never-ending race to the bottom. Enterprise bargaining met the demand of the Business Council of Australia, representing the largest companies operating in the country, for full labour market flexibility. Kelty spelt out the rationale for EBAs in an industrial relations journal article he wrote in 2012, by which time he had long quit the ACTU for greener pastures as a director of Linfox, a major trucking company, and the Bank of Queensland. Businesses need profits, he wrote, and for productivity growth we need to open up the economy and make rapid adjustments. Cynically, under the banner of enshrining a legal right to strike, workers were restricted to taking protected industrial action during union-run bargaining periods every three years or so, always subject to the sanction of the Industrial Relations Commission. All other industrial action became unprotected, that is, unions and workers could be fined thousands of dollars for any such breakout of the EBA. More broadly, any industry-wide or nationwide industrial action or stoppages in solidarity with other workers, or over underlying economic, social or political issues, as workers had developed for decades, was prohibited. Sympathy strikes in support of workers under attack were illegalised. There could be no walkouts against budget cuts, mass sackings, privatisations, war-related operations or police attacks on workers. Within this regime, the unions isolated and betrayed further key struggles by workers, including the two-month 1992 APPM paper workers struggle in Tasmania and the 1998 waterfront dispute, which resulted in the halving of the workforce on the docks nationally. By 1997, the widespread working-class hostility produced by the betrayals of Labor and the unions opened the way for the landslide defeat of the Keating government and the return of the Coalition under Prime Minister John Howard, a previously discredited figure. In 200607, the Howard government sought to step up the offensive against workers by adopting Work Choices laws that allowed similar enterprise agreements to be struck without the involvement of the unions. This threatened the monopoly that the unions had over the dismantling of workers conditions, driving them to launch an all-out campaign against the Work Choices legislation. Melbourne workers protest against WorkChoices in 2005 (Wikipedia) At the same time, the nakedness of the Howard governments drive to tear up basic conditions, such as penalty pay rates, triggered widespread opposition. By falsely claiming to oppose the intensified attack on workers, the unions were able to channel this movement behind the election of another Labor government, that of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his deputy Julia Gillard, who became Labors workplace relations minister. The Rudd-Gillard Fair Work Act After initially retaining the Work Choices laws to prevent an eruption of workers demands in response to its election victory, Labor drafted, in close collaboration with the unions, its Fair Work legislation. Once again, as with the Accords, the overriding aim was to suppress all industrial action and tie workers to the ever-intensifying profit and productivity requirements of employers. Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd (Wikipedia) Like the Keating governments laws, industrial actionwhich includes partial stoppages, go-slows, overtime bans and work-to-rules campaignswas banned except during limited bargaining periods for enterprise agreements. What was new were provisions to try to reinforce the grip of the unions and simultaneously bolster the repressive role of the industrial tribunal, now renamed Fair Work Australia (FWA). The straitjacket was further tightened. Workers could not take any action unless they first prove to FWA that they had participated in good faith bargaining. This requirement outlawed independent (so-called wildcat) action by workers and entrenched the positions of the unions, the only official FWA bargaining agents. Among other things, workers or unions must participate in bargaining meetings with management and refrain from capricious or unfair conduct. Then they must give the employer notice of an application for an industrial action postal ballot, a complex process that may take several weeks. To get a ballot, workers must prove that they are seeking an industrial agreement covering only permitted matters relating directly to their employment. They cannot pursue rights in a new (greenfields) workplace or engage in pattern bargaining across multiple workplaces. All enterprise agreements must contain an individual flexibility arrangements clause that offers employers the kind of flexibility they were promised by Work Choicesthe power to deal with workers individually to scrap basic conditions. If no agreement is struck, FWA can issue bargaining orders to force workers to negotiate further, or make binding workplace determinationsa form of compulsory arbitration. FWA has extensive powers to ban industrial action, including if it could cause significant economic harm to the employer or significant damage to the Australian economy or part of it. The workplace relations minister can exercise the same powers via a Ministerial Declaration. For breaking any of these rules, workers and unions can be fined thousands of dollars, and so can organisations or political parties that advocate industrial action. It is an offence to advise, encourage, incite or coerce or aid, abet, counsel, procure, induce, conspire or be knowingly concerned with breaches of the Act. The union leaders all voted at Labor Party and ACTU congresses for this legislation, and enforce it ruthlessly. The union bureaucrats welcome the fact that the laws boosted their policing role, backed by a partial return to compulsory arbitration, a system that was used in Australia throughout most of the 20th century to try to suppress independent working-class struggle. Conclusion Workers need to study the lessons of this history. It is clear that no matter how militant the struggles of the working classas seen in the repeated eruptions in the 1970s and 1980sthe offensive of the ruling class cannot be defeated without developing a clear-sighted political perspective. As the experience of the Coles lockout demonstrates once again, the defence of the most elementary rights of the working class for jobs, decent working conditions and living standards brings workers immediately into a collision course with the full force of the state apparatus, backed and enforced by Labor and the unions. This very fact raises basic political issues. Any struggle by workers at Coles or other supermarket chains, or in any industry, against closures and restructuring means a fight against the basis of the anti-strike lawsthe profit-driven demands of the financial elite and its Labor and union servants. Capitalism internationally is today in the midst of its worst crisis economic and politically, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia is no exception as the Liberal-National government, backed by the Labor opposition, strives to meet the demands of big business to re-open and restructure the economy regardless of its impact on the lives of working people. The incompatibility of the basic needs and rights of workers with the endless profit demands of the financial oligarchy is driving a radicalisation of workers and youth that has led to a resurgence of the class struggle around the world. The essential lesson of the past four decades is the necessity for the working class to establish its political independence from all the agencies that defend the profit systemabove all, the Labor Party, the trade unions and all their apologists. To prepare for the struggles ahead, the starting point is the creation of genuine working class organisations, such as rank-and-file committees, totally independent of the unions. These action committees will have the task of leading the fight against the employers assault, establishing networks across industries and unifying workers struggles nationally and internationally. Such struggles can develop and succeed only to the extent that they are based on a political program opposed to that of Labor and the unionsthe reorganisation of society to meet the needs of the working people, not capitalist profits. That is bound up with the fight for workers governments to expropriate the accumulated wealth of the billionaires and place the banks and basic industries, including the supermarket chains and logistics empires, under public ownership and democratic working-class control. As it has shown throughout the Coles lockout, and its long history of opposition to the betrayals of the Labor and union apparatus, the Socialist Equality Party is committed to assisting workers in linking up and developing this struggle against the employers, the unions and capitalism as a whole. We urge workers at Coles and everywhere to prepare for these battles by contacting the SEP to discuss these issues. To take forward this discussion, we invite all workers, young people and defenders of social and democratic rights to take part in our online public meeting this Sunday at 2 p.m. (AEDT) on The Coles Smeaton Grange struggle: The next stage for the working class. 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 You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Services: Applegreen is expanding in the US with deal on New York State Thruway Forecourt retailer Applegreen completed its stock market delisting yesterday following its Blackstone-backed take-private deal. The company said in a statement that its shares were cancelled as of 7am on Thursday. Shareholders were offered 5.75 a share in the take-private deal. Applegreens shares made their stock market debut at 3.80 each in June 2015. They traded as high as about 6.62, a level hit in September 2018, and sank to a low of 2.05 when the pandemic hit. Applegreen which has extensive operations in Ireland and a presence in the UK is paving the road to a new future as a private company by expanding its activities in the United States. The group has already significantly expanded its footprint there since it first entered the US market in 2014 and now has operations in a number of states along the eastern seaboard and also in Wisconsin and Minneapolis. Its also eyeing separate significant acquisition on the US east coast, and a smaller deal in the western United States. Applegreen told shareholders in December that it intends to go private in a 718m plan. Applegreen founders, CEO Bob Etchingham and chief operating officer Joe Barrett who between them owned 41.3pc of the company backed the deal and remain with the business in their respective roles. A former Shell executive, Mr Etchingham founded Applegreen, as Petrogas, in 1992. Mr Barrett came on board in 1993. Both retain significant stakes in the Blackstone consortium behind the take-private move. Last month, Applegreen finalised the acquisition of a venture that will spend $301m (252m) redeveloping 27 service areas on the 917km-long New York State Thruway. Applegreen will also operate the service areas under a 33-year lease with the New York State Thruway Authority. The Empire State Thruway Partners (ESTP) consortium had until last year included investors including UK infrastructure giant James Laing. Opportunities like the New York Thruway concession are going to be essential to reshape the Applegreen business, as fossil fuels start to go into decline, the company told shareholders in January. The service areas feature a total of 84 food and beverage outlets. Read More 404 STAMFORD A Greenwich woman accused of cruelty to animals was released from custody in December on two conditions: She was not permitted near any dogs and was not allowed to sell them. But police say Catherine Palmer, 49, charged in the deaths of three dogs, failed to abide by that agreement. Marshals arrested Palmer Wednesday when she appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford for allegedly violating the conditions of her release. New Canaan Police / Contributed Photo The charge stems from Palmer being seen dropping off three dogs last month at a Norwalk veterinarian, according to her arrest warrant. Norwalk Police Lt. David OConnor said Palmer dropped off three dogs covered in vomit, feces and urine on Feb. 5 at the United Animal Center on Westport Avenue. Palmer told employees that the dogs belonged to her boyfriend, the warrant said. Employees told police that Palmers boyfriend could not provide any details about the animals when he was contacted, according to the warrant. At Palmers arraignment Thursday, defense attorney Mark Kratter argued the crime his client is accused of committing did not merit the $150,000 bond that was set. But Assistant States Attorney Elizabeth Moran said the act showed a blatant and flagrant disregard for court orders. In addition to having contact with dogs, Moran said Palmer has been arranging to sell more pets, which she said also violates court orders. Moran argued for the bond to be maintained at $150,000 and for the court to impose GPS monitoring, a curfew and a travel ban outside of Connecticut as conditions of release. In a compromise, Judge John Blawie lowered the bond to $25,000 and instituted GPS monitoring. As a part of the conditions of her release, Blawie said Palmer cannot have contact with dogs. He also said she cannot participate in any dog sale directly or indirectly. Youre in a hole right now, and you need to stop digging, Blawie warned Palmer. Palmer was arrested in December on three counts of cruelty to animals stemming from the deaths of three puppies in her New Canaan home, police said. New Canaan Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm described a scene at the home that included feces on the floor where the dogs were held, feces matted in their fur and the presence of the parvovirus that she said killed at least two puppies. During testimony in December in a civil case for custody of the dogs that were seized, Halm described how she was first called to the home last August when a tenant reported a sick dog. Halm testified she returned to the home in September and seized 12 dogs after three puppies died. She described the animals as being neglected and living in feces in the kitchen, according to her testimony. Palmer is next scheduled to appear in court April 28 for the criminal charges. LEVERKUSEN (dpa-AFX) - Bayer (BAYZF.PK, BAYRY.PK, BYR.L) said two representatives of the stockholders are to be put forward for election to the Supervisory Board at the Annual Stockholders' Meeting. The independent candidates proposed for election are Fei-Fei Li, an expert in artificial intelligence and Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University in California, and Alberto Weisser, a renowned agricultural expert. Li and Weisser are intended to succeed Johanna Faber and Wolfgang Plischke, who will not be seeking reelection after their terms of office expire at the end of the Annual Stockholders' Meeting. The company said Li and Weisser are set to be elected for a term of four years. The company's stockholders will also vote on an adjustment to Supervisory Board compensation. The Board of Management and Supervisory Board are proposing to increase the compensation of Supervisory Board members. The fixed annual compensation is set to rise from 132,000 euros to 160,000 euros. 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. Sensor Calibration Engineer - SPG Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Hardware Summary Posted: Mar 11, 2021 Role Number: 200230410 One of Apple's R&D groups is currently seeking an algorithm development engineer to support sensor calibration. Responsible for developing new (experimental) processes and prototyping/evaluating the calibration algorithms that will be scaled by the implementation team. Delivers prototype code, documentation, and golden datasets with expected results. Responsible for interfacing with test equipment, test software automation and analysis of results. This position will require the individual to understand industry best practices, develop novel characterization and modeling techniques, as well as support transition to implementation teams. Key Qualifications Background in computer vision, robotics or optics (camera models). Numerical methods and optimization such as LS, NLLS, batch optimization, bundle adjustment, VIO/SLAM Experience transitioning R&D algorithms into production systems. Understanding of stochastics, statistics & random processes Linear algebra, 3D data manipulation, computational geometry Ability to perform software development for test equipment and data analysis. Expert in scientific computing languages such as Matlab/Python Proficient in C/C++ development. Experience working with source control tools (git) Description In this role you will work with sensor hardware engineering and our data product consumers from the algorithms teams to develop calibration performance requirements. You will create descriptive models for sensor intrinsic and extrinsic for cameras, depth sensors, IMUs, and other sensors projects! You will develop novel techniques to calibrate these sensors and prototype scalable factory production systems. Your hard work in calibration will define the sensing performance critical to the success of our teams. It would be great to have experience in: Standing up a novel calibration process from first principles to production Factory production techniques (GRR, V&V, line optimization) Fundamental understanding of robotics and typical sensor data consumers, impact of sensor quality on consumers Education & Experience Degrees in Computer Science, Computer Vision, Physics/Optics, or Robotics M.S. in Engineering + minimum of 5 years of industry experience PHd. in Engineering + minimum of 3 years of industry experience Additional Requirements Apple's most important resource, our soul, is our people. Apple benefits help further the well-being of our employees and their families in significant ways. No matter where you work at Apple, you can take advantage of our health and wellness resources and time-away programmes. We're proud to provide stock grants to employees at all levels of the company, and we also give employees the option to buy Apple stock at a discount - both offer everyone at Apple the chance to share in the company's success. You'll discover many more benefits of working at Apple, such as programmes that match your charitable contributions, reimburse you for continuing your education and give you special employee pricing on Apple products. Apple benefits programmes vary by country and are subject to eligibility requirements. Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Apple is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. Apple is a drug-free workplace The U.S. 405th Army Field Support Brigade's Army Field Support Battalion-Mannheim (Germany) received about three dozen next-generation M109A7 Paladin Artillery Systems and M992A3 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles by railhead at Coleman Barracks, March 4. Cameron Porter, 405th AFSB Public Affairs Officer, reports. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link Unloading of three dozen M109A7 Paladin Artillery Systems and M992A3 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles from the trains and moving them to the Army Prepositioned Stock-2 Coleman worksite. (Picture source: U.S. Army/courtesy photo) These new armored vehicles, now a part of the 405th AFSB's Army Prepositioned Stock-2 Program at Coleman worksite, will enhance U.S. Army Europe and Africa's readiness and capability to support the warfighter while simultaneously promoting stability and security in the region. These enhanced self-propelled artillery systems offer key fire-support for a variety of combat missions conducted by the Armys Armored Brigade Combat Teams in conventional, hybrid, irregular and counterinsurgency combat environments. Jason Todd, a logistics management specialist at Coleman worksite, AFSBn-Mannheim, said the work of unloading the new self-propelled howitzers from the trains and moving them to the APS-2 site was a joint effort between multiple teams at Coleman Barracks. The APS-2 site at Mannheim could not support USAREUR-AFs readiness mission without the total team more than 800 dedicated and highly-skilled maintainers, mechanics, and staff personnel said Thomas Esposito, the director of Coleman worksite, AFSBn-Mannheim. A contractor ground guides an M113 APC inside one of the hangars at Coleman worksite. The 405th Army Field Support Brigade's Army Field Support Battalion-Mannheim is responsible for two Army Prepositioned Stock-2 sites. The one at Coleman Barracks houses an Armored Brigade Combat Teams worth of vehicles and equipment forward and ready to issue. (Picture source: U.S. Army/Cameron Porter, 405th ASFB Public Affairs Officer) At the Coleman worksite, AFSBn-Mannheims primary mission is the storage and maintenance of one ABCTs worth of vehicles and equipment over 500 pieces, such as M1A2 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley fighting vehicles, self-propelled howitzers, staff tracked vehicles, armored personnel carriers and more. Thomas Esposito, the director of Coleman worksite, AFSBn-Mannheim, said: Our regular business is the maintenance and storage and accountability, thereof, said Esposito. We maintain this ABCT forward ready to issue to an active-duty unit in the event of a requirement here in theater. We are also able to issue forward, as we demonstrated during DEFENDER-Europe 20. The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, USAREUR-AF. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging the U.S. Army Materiel Command materiel enterprise to support joint forces. By Bahk Eun-ji An appellate court has acquitted a man of buying narcotics for the purpose of collecting evidence to report drug trade to the police. The Seoul High Court said, Friday, it overturned a lower court ruling that had sentenced the Korean Kazakhstani, 40, to two and a half years in prison suspended for three years for violating the Act on the Control of Narcotics. The man was indicted in March 2019 on charges of buying a new type of drug, a synthetic cannabinoid known as "spice," in October 2018. Korea Times file New Delhi, March 12 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday said it has filed a supplementary charge sheet against Imran Yakub Giteli aka Giteli Imran, a key accused in the Visakhapatnam naval spy ring case, on charges of depositing money in the accounts of Indian Navy personnel in lieu of sensitive data provided by them that is of use to Pakistan, officials said. An NIA spokesperson said that Giteli, a resident of Godhra in Gujarat, has been charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The NIA submitted its charge sheet before the NIA Special Court in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada. The official said that Giteli was in contact with Pakistani agents and used to meet them during his visits to Pakistan. "On the instructions of Pakistani ISI agents, he was transferring money into the accounts of Navy personnel in lieu of passing sensitive and strategic information," he said. The official said that Giteli, 38, was raising funds for terrorist activities in the garb of illegal "cloth business". The official said that Giteli, who was arrested in September last year, was associated with Pakistani spies or agents under the guise of cross-border cloth trade. "Investigations have revealed an organised wide network of Pakistan-based espionage activities in India utilising services of operatives like Giteli," he added. The NIA took over the case on December 29, 2019. The case was originally registered on November 16, 2019 at the CI Cell division of Andhra Pradesh Police under criminal conspiracy and waging or attempting to wage war against the Indian government and sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 3 of Official Secrets Act. The 2019 Visakhapatnam espionage case relates to an international racket involving individuals based in Pakistan and at different locations in India, including in Visakhapatnam and Mumbai. It included agents in India recruited by Pakistan-based spies between 2011 and 2019. They were collecting sensitive and classified information about locations or movements of Indian naval ships and submarines and other defence establishments. Investigation revealed that a few navy personnel came in contact with the Pakistani nationals through various social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Through chats and messages, often comprising sexually-explicit content, exchanged with accounts of ISI agents posing as young women, Indian recruits were lured into sharing classified information in lieu of monetary gains. The money was deposited into the bank accounts of the navy personnel through Indian associates having business interests in Pakistan. The espionage racket was busted in an operation code-named 'Dolphin's Nose', jointly executed by the naval intelligence, Central agencies and Andhra Pradesh State Intelligence wing. The anti-terror probe agency has filed a chargesheet on June 15 last year against 14 people involved in the espionage case. She starred as famous detective Sherlock's younger sister in the mystery film Enola Holmes last year. And Millie Bobby Brown gave fans a glimpse of her training for the fight scenes in a throwback video from the movie. The actress, 17, appeared to be a natural at the coordinated scene in the clip she shared with her 43.5million Instagram followers on Thursday. Showing her moves! Millie Bobby Brown, 17, gave fans a glimpse of her training for the fight scenes in a throwback video from Enola Holmes she shared on Instagram on Thursday In the clip, Millie threw a series of punches and kicks at her enemy as the pair rehearsed the scene. She wore a light top and leggings as she went barefoot on the mat. The Stranger Things star battled her foe with various props including sticks and even threw a series of objects at him in one shot. Millie is thrown against a crash mat on several occasions as she tries to fight off her opponent. Beautiful: The actress starred as famous detective Sherlock's younger sister in the mystery film Enola Holmes last year following her big role as Eleven in Stranger Things, (pictured in January 2020) Action packed: Millie appeared to be a natural at the coordinated scene as she threw a series of punches and kicks at her enemy It appears the star has met her match in the clip, as the man she's fighting blocks her attacks and manages to land a few hits of his own. During the very physical training, she also manages to pin the stunt man down, despite him being twice her size. She climbs on his back during the scene and is thrown against a wall before it stops short of her about to be flipped over. The duo appear to be in great spirits once the fight is done and give each other a high five to celebrate. Attack mode: The star battled her foe with various props including sticks and even threw a series of objects at him in one shot Rolling with the punches! It appears she has met her match in the clip, as the man she's fighting blocks her attacks and manages to land a few hits of his own Change: Millie revealed that she struggled to do a British accent while playing Enola after five years in the American Netflix series Stranger Things She captioned the clip: 'This video is nearly 2 years old !! training for my girl, enola' (sic). Millie revealed that she 'found it really challenging being British' in the role after five years in the American Netflix series Stranger Things. Millie, who grew up in Dorset, England, and settled in Florida with her family to pursue her acting career aged eight, said she 'had to learn how to speak again'. Speaking to Radio Times, she said: 'For the last five years Ive been playing an American character in Stranger Things and I found it really challenging being British in this, even though I am a Brit. Fighting back: During the very physical training, she also manages to pin the stunt man down, despite him being twice her size 'I had to learn how to speak again because Im so used to speaking in an American accent.' Millie, who produced and starred as the title character, plays the sister of Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft Holmes (Sam Claflin). In the movie, the youngest member of the Holmes family goes off in search of her missing mother (Helena Bonham Carter), even as her more famous brothers try to thwart her investigation. The film was originally planned for a theatrical release by Warner Bros., but it was picked up by Netflix in April amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Fight training: She climbs on his back during the scene and is thrown against a wall before the scene stops short of her about to be flipped over Chinese J-15 fighter jets being launched from the deck of the Liaoning aircraft carrier during military drills in the Yellow Sea, off China's east coast, on Dec. 23, 2016. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) The Possibility of a War in the Taiwan Strait Should Not Be Overlooked Commentary China military expert Oriana Skylar Mastro told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in a video conference on Feb. 18 that Chinese military leaders have told her personally that Beijing will force reunification with Taiwan in a year or two. Mastro stated that the U.S. failure to build robust coalitions to counter Chinese regional aggression and cross-strait deterrence is arguably weaker than at any point since the Korean War. This caused heated discussion. Is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) going to or able to force Taiwan to be reunited with the mainland? There are different opinions of various angles and analyses. I believe that the possibility of a war in the Taiwan Strait should not be overlooked. Id like to discuss two reasons. Taiwans Security Predicament Lets compare the militaries of Taiwan and Israel in order to understand Taiwans security dilemma. Lets look at the basic situation in Taiwan first. Taiwan has a population of 23 million, a land of 36,000 square kilometers, a GDP of $635.5 billion in 2020, and a per capita GDP of $26,910. The Taiwanese army consists of 190,000 personnel. The annual military expenditure has not exceeded 2 percent of GDP for many years. The military budget for 2021, which set a record high, is only NT$366.8 billion (about $13.1 billion, while the CCPs military expenditure is about 15 times that of Taiwan), accounting for 2 percent of GDP in 2020. Even with the special budget of NT$29 billion and non-operating special funds of NT$57.6 billion for the purchase of new jet fighters (a total of $16.23 billion), the military budget only accounted for 2.5 percent of GDP in 2020. In the 2016 election, Tsai Ing-wen publicly promised that the annual military budget would reach 3 percent of GDP. However, the four-year defense budget (2017-2020) compiled during her first term in office still accounted for less than 2 percent of GDP. Israel is a developed country with a population of about 8 million, an actual control area of 25,000 square kilometers, and a GDP of $403.3 billion in 2020. However, Israel is much more militarized than Taiwan. The Israeli army consists of about 180,000 personnel (equivalent to 4.66 percent of the national labor force, which is the worlds leading proportion). Israeli troops advance against Palestinian infiltrators during a training exercise in Peat Sadeh settlement in the Gaza Strip on Aug. 16, 2005. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) Military expenditure is Israels largest single item of fiscal expenditure, and accounts for more than 5 percent of its GDP and in some years, it exceeds 6 percent. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israels military expenditure in 2019 was $20.5 billion, and accounted for 5.3 percent GDP, making Israel the 15th largest military spending country in the world that year. The 2020 defense budget has increased to approximately $22 billion. Taiwans militarization is much less than Israels, and Taiwans security environment is much worse than Israels. First, although some Arab countries threatened to erase Israel from the earth and they are generally bigger and richer than Israel, the internal division of the Arab world has made it difficult in terms of combat capability and military strength to fight against Israel. The situation in Taiwan is quite the opposite. The CCPs military strength has formed a crushing advantage over Taiwan, a seriously out of balance situation along the strait. Second, Israels strong will to fight a war, mature defense system, and rich experience in warfare are prominent in the world, and it can even be said to be unparalleled. The research and development in weapons and equipment, the military training, and the actual combat operations are the three magic weapons for Israel to maintain a strong combat capability and military strength. Relatively speaking, Taiwan is inferior in this sense. For example, Israel has participated in eight major wars and countless other conflicts of various types since its founding in 1948, while the Taiwanese army has a long history of peace and lacks actual combat experience. Conscription is required of all Israel citizens over the age of 18. Taiwan has also implemented a policy of compulsory conscription for a long time, but since 2018, it has changed to concurrent recruitment and conscription. Male citizens born after January 1, 1994 are required to accept four months of military training in Taiwan. The combat power of Taiwans military, especially its reserve combat capabilities has been a controversial issue. Under wartime conditions, Israel can effectively mobilize at least tens of thousands of defense reserves into active service within 24 hours and immediately into actual combatthis has become a model for countries, including Taiwan, to learn from. Third, the United States has given Israel firm and strong support and both countries are de facto strategic allies. In 2019, the United States provided $3.8 billion in foreign military aid to Israel. Moreover, the United States provided a steady stream of advanced technology and weapons to support Israels military superiority over Arab countries. As for Taiwan, there are no firm and strong supporters. The Biden administration has not taken a strong stance on its Taiwan policy. CCP: Unpredictable and Irrational From a rational point of view, many believe that the CCP will not dare to attack Taiwan in the short to medium term. Of course, they are backed by concrete reasons. For example, there was an opinion article published by the Chinese language Epoch Times which analyzed data on the CCPs military power. It concluded that the top CCP officials ambitions, but lack of military strategy has led to an imbalance of the military that focuses more on offense than defense. The CCPs offensive operations have taken the United States as the enemy. Therefore, the CCPs army has long been ignored with lagging equipment, its Air Force is still inferior, and the Navy is in an embarrassing situation of receiving the most development but still lacks competitiveness. The army can neither defend itself effectively nor attack with enough strength, its intention and ability are highly mismatched, and the strategy is chaotic. A Chinese navy formation, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning (C), during military drills in the South China Sea, on Jan. 2, 2017. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Given the gap in the military power between China and the United States, the United States absolutely has a way to repel the Chinese army and defend Taiwan. In this situation, the CCP shouldnt just go ahead and attack Taiwan until the day that Chinas market size and overall economic competitiveness exceeds that of the United States, making the United States unable to implement comprehensive economic sanctions against China when there is a serious military conflict with China, said Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of state-run tabloid Global Times. Some experts believe that Xi Jinping will be re-elected for a third term. Beijing must maintain a steady economic development for another year or two. Therefore, the CCPs plan to attack Taiwan in the near future is unlikely. However, history shows that many major decisions made by the CCP are often irrational such as the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the June 4th Massacre, and the persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong. If the CCP were rational, it wouldnt dare rush into taking Taiwan by force; but when the CCPs irrational decision-making impulse is taken into account, a war in the Taiwan Strait is not unlikely. On June 4, 2020, former British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt stated in an article in The Times that the CCP may be on the verge of invading Taiwan and abandoning plans of a peaceful reunification with the self-ruled island. The reasons include: the CCP leaders witnessed that the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong has gained momentum and they worry that it could spread in Taiwan; Taiwan wont accept the one country, two systems framework as the CCP is dismantling it in Hong Kong; the CCP will use military force to bring Taiwan under its control if necessary. The last point is the most concerning. In fact, the CCPs claim that the unification of Taiwan as its core interest is not out of national interest considerations. The CCP has a hidden agenda: the secure its rule and legitimacy. The CCP violently subverted the Republic of China (ROCa sovereign state based in mainland China between 1912 and 1949) during the civil war and the ROC retreated after being defeated by the CCP in 1949 and fled to Taiwan. The existence of independent Taiwan has been a reminder of the CCPs illegal occupation of China. To secure its dictatorship in China, the CCP promoted its brainwashing propaganda: the people must unite with the CCP to fight against the common enemy, the separatist Taiwan. Under this circumstance, the CCP must reclaim Taiwan as its territory. If a major event triggers the CCP to react, it may make a crazy move to launch a war with Taiwan. Therefore, a war in the Taiwan Strait in the short to medium term isnt unlikely and the international community should be on high alert. Wang He has masters degrees in law and history, and has studied the international communist movement. He was a university lecturer and an executive of a large private firm in China. Wang now lives in North America and has published commentaries on Chinas current affairs and politics since 2017. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers market will register an incremental spend of about USD 11.73 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 4.27% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers Key Highlights Offered in the Report: Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices. Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models. Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPIs to evaluate incumbent suppliers. Get a free sample report for more information Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers: Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives. For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, Click here. Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth: The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers. Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 4.00%-6.00%. Identify favorable opportunities in Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers TCO (total cost of ownership). Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes. Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities. Some of the top Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers suppliers listed in this report: Story continues This Industrial Cleaners and Degreasers procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. BASF SE DuPont de Nemours Inc. 3M Co. Evonik Industries AG Ecolab Inc. Solvay SA Akzo Nobel NV Stepan Co. Croda International Plc Spartan Chemical Co. Inc. To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free. Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us. About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more: https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo Contacts SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us SpendEdge Logo (PRNewsfoto/SpendEdge) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-industrial-cleaners-and-degreasers-market-procurement-intelligence-report-with-covid-19-impact-analysis--global-market-forecasts-analysis-2021-2025--spendedge-301246206.html SOURCE SpendEdge A long-legged Great Dane was left stumped when his owner pranked him by placing plastic wrap across a doorway. Three-year-old Zeus was unable to the navigate the barrier, even when his owner simply stepped over the film in front of him. Avoiding any attempt to lift his legs over it, the puzzled pooch eventually took a less obvious route - opting to slide underneath it instead. Jewel Newport, 20, from Alberta, Canada, shared the clip on Tik Tok as part of the 'Invisible Challenge' which sees doorways blocked off with cling film to test pet reactions. It has foiled dogs around the globe. Zeus, a three-year-old Great Dane, fell victim to Tik Tok's Invisible Challenge at his home in Alberta, Canada, opting to slide underneath rather than simply step over the plastic wrap The Tik Tok challenge sees owners place cling film across doorways to test their dog's reactions. Despite his height Zeus (pictured with owner 20-year-old Jewel Newport) seemed unwilling to jump over it In the comical clip, Ms Newport can be seen launching herself over the cling film which is blocking the corridor. But Zeus does not follow suit, staring at his owner for help to get over the 'invisible barrier'. To help him figure it out, Ms Newport lowers the height of the plastic wrap, so it is shorter than the dog's long legs. Instead of stepping over, Zeus inspects the bottom of the wrap, cautiously nudging it a little at a time before sliding himself underneath - looking terrified as his paws slip on the wooden floors. To show Zeus how it is done, Ms Newport first jumped over the plastic wrap barrier and even stepped across it after lowering it for the pup - who watched closely but refused to do the same Ms Newport said: 'I have seen this challenge on TikTok before. As Zeus is capable of simply stepping over the plastic wrap, even if he doesn't know it, I thought it would be an interesting challenge for him. 'I never thought he'd try to slide under. I've since challenged him with other products such as tin foil and he once again slid under.' Zeus's invisible challenge, which was captured in February and shared on Jewel's Tik Tok profile, has received close to three million likes. Refusing to step over, Zeus opted to slide under the barrier - much to Ms Newport's surprise - and his efforts have received close to three million likes on Tik Tok One viewer commented: 'Secret: All big dogs think they are small and all small dogs think they are big.' 'Actual footage of me choosing the hard path in life every single time for no reason,' another said. Another added: 'I love how in the time he spent trying to go under, he could have been over and back ten times.' Ms Newport is a Great Dane breeder and has had Zeus since he was nine weeks old. She also owns his 11-month-old son Apollo. The BBI public participation forum in Parliament witnessed a rare spectacle Thursday after a businesswoman invited MPs to buy her groundnuts. Beatrice Wayeko from Nairobis Kawangware slum was among Kenyans who presented their views on the Constitution Amendment Bill. Ms Wayeko, otherwise known as Mama Njugu, had just finished making her submissions in favor of the BBI when she started hawking nuts to MPs in attendance. She walked over to Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja who bought some groundnuts. Sakaja later ook to social media to laud Wayeko. What a woman! Mama Njugu (Beatrice Wayeko) from Kawangware has made her submissions on BBI then brought me njugu. Hapo Sawa! he tweeted. In her passionate submission before the joint legal committees of the National Assembly and Senate, Wayeko said the Uhuru-Raila handshake had allowed her to sell her merchandise in peace. We have suffered every election. Today, we are free. Our children can walk and I can sell njugu to everybody, she said. Mama Njugu also noted the BBI will allow slum children to access more bursaries. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 77F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Almost a year to the day after it introduced the JobKeeper wage subsidy, the Morrison government will turn the financial tap off on March 28. As a means of keeping people in employment during the worst of the pandemic, the scheme has been successful. There are now fewer than one million people on the subsidy, but a disproportionate number of those are in tourism-related areas such as aviation. It is no secret why. There has been a drop of 41 million domestic passenger airline flights over the past 12 months, with tourist operators hardest hit by rolling state border closures and the lack of international visitors. Prime Minister Scott Morrison leaning out of a Qantas plane on Thursday ahead of announcing the $1.2 billion industry package. Credit:Dean Lewins/AAP So in principle, the new federal scheme that funds 800,000 domestic travellers to take half-price flights hits the mark in offering help where it is most needed. Not everyone is happy. The cheap flights to 15 airports from April to July includes just one destination in Victoria (Avalon), New South Wales, and Western Australia, two in South Australia and the Northern Territory but five in Queensland and three in Tasmania. The question has to be asked why the federal government is subsidising Victorians to fly to Queensland for their winter break? ---- On Dec. 14, 2012, a young man armed with a semi-automatic rifle slew 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Within a month, New York enacted whats known as the SAFE Act, a series of measures intended to help stem such gun violence in this state. Eight years later, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, seems to think enough time has passed that the memory of that horrific shooting, and so many more in America before and after that, has sufficiently faded to afford her an opportunity to try to undo the SAFE Act through an act of Congress. Or perhaps this is just a symbolic, if cynical, performance to raise money to fund her future political ambitions. Sorry, Ms. Stefanik, enough time hasnt passed. Not for the parents of the children killed in their classrooms, and not for the many New Yorkers whose hearts still break at the very mention of Sandy Hook. And because no, Ms. Stefanik, there is never a good day to roll back intelligent gun controls that allow responsible people to keep and bear arms while ensuring, as best we can, that those who shouldnt have a gun dont. There is never a good day to encourage the proliferation of military-style weapons of mass murder in our society. In fact, Tuesday, March, 9, the very day Ms. Stefanik announced her so-called Second Amendment Guarantee Act (whose acronym, SAGA, conspicuously echoes Donald Trumps MAGA slogan), marked the anniversary of two mass shootings in this country. On March 9, 2018, a man entered a veterans home in Yountville, Calif., and shot to death three staff members, killing, too, the unborn child of one of the victims. On March 9, 2016, in Wilkinsburg, Penn., two gunmen fired on a backyard party, killing five adults and, once again, an unborn child. There are, fortunately, people who think more responsibly about guns than how many political points they can score trying to turn back the clock on smart gun control. This week, the House of Representatives passed a bill to finally close the gun show loophole through which people can acquire weapons in private sales without a federal background check. If the bill becomes law, all gun sales would have to go through a federally licensed firearms dealer. Ms. Stefanik, like nearly all but eight of her Republican colleagues, voted against that bill. She rejected a straightforward step, one supported by a wide majority of Americans including most gun owners, in the same week that a 12-year-old in Troy was shot at home by someone who fired a gun from the street. The same week, too, that authorities broke up an operation in Philadelphia that was allegedly selling untraceable ghost guns guns assembled from nearly complete kits that remain legal federally and in many states. As least on the gun show loophole, a Congress mindful of the tens of thousands of lives lost to gun violence is finally moving to bring some sanity to U.S. gun laws. Ms. Stefanik, sadly and cynically, is going in the exact opposite direction. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is His servant and Messenger. Dear brothers and sisters, Shaaban, the eighth month of Islams Hijrah or lunar calendar, and the month that precedes the noble month of Ramadan was the most beloved month to Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Respected brothers and sisters, the month of Shaaban is significant for many reasons. First, it is the time that Muslims Ummah start getting ready for the blessed month of Ramadan. It was in the middle of the month of Shaaban when Muslims Ummah believe that Allah Almighty ordered Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to change the Qiblah, the direction towards which Muslims face when they pray, from Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to the noble Kaabah in Makkah. Al-Aqsa Mosque had been the Qiblah for thirteen years in Makkah, and for nearly eighteen months after Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) migrated to Madinah. Verses from the Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), instructing him and all Muslims to turn towards the Kaabah in Makkah when they pray. Most interpretations date this incident to be the middle of the month of Shaaban. The Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) show that it is recommended to fast during the month of Shaaban. A well-known companion of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), Anas Bin Malik reported that Prophet Muhammad was asked: Which fast is the most meritorious after the fasting of Ramadan? Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) replied: Fasting of Shaaban in honour of Ramadan. Dear servants of Allah, fasting in the month of Shaaban is like mental and physical training for fasting in Ramadan. Many Muslims may experience difficulty when they start the fast in Ramadan, but if they started fasting a few days in Shaaban, their bodies may get used to fasting and not feel so lethargic and weak when Ramadan comes. And the month of Shaaban is like an introduction to Ramadan and it has some things in common with Ramadan, such as fasting, reciting Quran and giving to charity. Aisha, the wife of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is narrated to have said: The Messenger of Allah used to fast until we thought he would never break his fast, and not fast until we thought he would never fast. I never saw the Messenger of Allah fasting for an entire month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more than he did in Shaaban. And Usamah Ibn Zaid narrated that: I said to the Prophet, O Messenger of Allah! I did not see you fasting in any month as you do in the month of Shaaban. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, People neglect this month which is between Rajab and Ramadan; in this month the actions of the people are presented to Allah, so I like my deeds to be presented while I am fasting. Though fasting is made obligatory in Ramadan, Muslims believe fasting in Shaaban is beneficial in a number of ways as it offers a chance to start preparing for Ramadan. In Shaaban, many Muslim scholars and others used to consistently recite and read the noble Quran along with fasting, which also helps in getting our routines of worship in place for the coming month of Ramadan. Muslims believe that if they begin increasing acts of worship in Shaaban, they will enjoy the fruits of their efforts in the noble month of Ramadan. The actions of people are presented to Allah in the month of Shaaban, so the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) used to fast repeatedly in this month. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) fast for a complete month except for Ramadan, and I never saw him do more fasting in any month than he did in Shaaban. [Bukhari and Muslim] Usamah Ibn Zaid, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that: I said to the Prophet, O Messenger of Allah! I did not see you fasting in any month as you do in the month of Shaaban. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: People neglect this month which is between Rajab and Ramadan, in this month the actions of the people are presented to Allah; so I like my deeds to be presented while I am fasting. [Abu Dawud and An-Nasai] ADVERTISEMENT Dear brothers and sisters, as for fasting particularly the fifteenth of Shaaban this is not proved through any sound evidence. There are some sayings of the companions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and their successors, may Allah be pleased with them, which indicate the virtue of this night. But this does not mean that there is any special significance to this particular day or this specific night. So, there is no evidence proving that fasting such a day is a Sunnah nor is there any evidence proving that there are some specific prayers to be performed in the fifteenth night of the month of Shaaban. Respected servants of Allah, tomorrow Saturday is Rajab 29, 1442 AH (March 13, 2021), 31 days countdown to the month of Ramadan In Shaa Allah, and hence the first day to look for the month of Shaaban 1442 AH crescent. My beloved people, please kindly endeavour to look for the crescent on that Saturday or ask someone to do so on your behalf and then share the results especially to the reliable authorities. It is suggested, if possible, to look for the crescent in a group with others, for our peace, unity and progress. Dear brothers and sisters, our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), used to fast a lot during the blessed month of Shaaban. He encouraged Muslims around him to increase in worship during Ramadan before it actually arrived, by mentioning the extra rewards for doing good deeds during it. He tried to motivate them in advance. Also the beloved Companions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to prepare for Ramadan six months in advance. So, if we really want to make the best of this 1442/2021 Ramadan, then we need to prepare for it now! As we know, fasting is more than just abstaining from food but from indecent speech and lustful desires as well. Fasting pushes us to be cognisant of our actions, to be patient and to be moral individuals, thereby increasing our Taqwa (Allah-consciousness). Here are some ways we can improve on different aspects of our life so we can fully benefit from Ramadan, a time when deeds are multiplied: 1. Fast Voluntarily especially in the month of Shaaban 2. Recite and Reflect Upon the Quran 3. Follow the Sunnah and Pray Extra Prayers 4. Repent and Make Dua (Supplication) 5. Give Charity and help the needy 6. Improve Your Character 7. Eat Healthy and Moderately Respected brothers and sisters, in order to take full advantage of this noble month, we need to prepare ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically. In Shaa Allah if we constantly try to improve ourselves, then when we reach Ramadan, we will be able to easily move to the next level spiritually. I pray, may Allah gives us the ability to observe all our daily worships, may He Almighty accept them and reward us with Jannatul Firdaus, ameen. May Allah send His Salah and Salam upon our noble Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). And all praises and thanks are due to Allah alone, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and his true and sincere followers. Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumuah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okenes Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761. This Jumuah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today, Friday, Rajab 28, 1442 AH (March 12, 2021). The Red Chinese have been cracking down on freedom in Hong Kong for some time, in violation of the promises they made when Great Britain returned sovereignty to China. The CCPs latest move is intended to permanently extinguish democracy in Hong Kong. The London Times reports: Chinas grip on the city tightened yesterday when its parliament unanimously approved new election rules that make it almost impossible for democracy activists to run for office. I am not sure I knew that China has a parliament. The National Peoples Congress voted 2,895-0, with one abstention, for the changes that will give Beijing a veto on candidates deemed unpatriotic. 2,895 to 0! Hows that for unity? Americas Democrats must be jealous. More on how the CCPs veto will work: Beijing said the changes were necessary to return Hong Kong to its constitutional order after mass protests, and that patriots would be able to stand. Hey, no problem: if you are certified as a patriot by the CCP, you can still run. Zhang Xiaoming, from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said that the chaos of recent years showed that the citys electoral system had clear loopholes and shortcomings. Our electoral system had clear loopholes and shortcomings too, as revealed by the election of Donald Trump. The Democrats are moving to close those loopholes via H.R. 1 and other measures intended to assure that only those approved by them can be elected in the future. The rest of the Times article is devoted to the ongoing exodus of freedom-loving Hong Kongers to Australia and the U.K. Here in America, I am not sure where we will flee if the Democrats succeed in curing the loopholes and shortcomings in our electoral system. MEXICO CITY Mexico, a country carved up by cartels for decades, is poised to take a major step in drug policy. This week, the lower house of Congress approved a landmark bill to legalize recreational marijuana, which would make it the worlds largest legal market for the drug. With legalization considered all but certain to win Senate and presidential approval, many in the business world are predicting a Mexican green boom: a newly legal industry providing tens of thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in profit for savvy entrepreneurs and welcome tax revenue for the government. But many business analysts and economists are wary, and caution that the cannabis industry here is more likely to be a green blip than a boom. Opening a licit market would matter more legally and symbolically than economically, they argue, citing relatively low domestic demand and little chance of exporting the product, as well as seemingly restrictive regulatory measures. Its hard to see any obvious broad effects on the Mexican economy, said Jeffrey Miron, an economist at Harvard University. You will see a little bit of a bump in measured G.D.P., he added, but people claiming that it will be a big boost to the economy through legalization, I dont think that makes sense at all. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Late Wednesday the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued its final judgment on the interlocutory appeal of Judge Cahills order denying reinstatement of the third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin. Under the Court of Appeals decision, Judge Cahill was to apply the Court of Appeals decision in the Noor case as binding precedent. He heard argument on the reinstatement issue from both sides first thing Thursday morning and granted the prosecutions motion to reinstate the charge. Please note, however, that the viability of the charge as a matter of law remains subject to a future ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court in the Noor case later this year. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison omits any note of this wrinkle in his press release on the reinstatement of the charge. Defense counsel Eric Nelson has an all-Star team of attorneys arrayed against him in this case. Former Obama administration acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal argued the reinstatement issue via Zoom on behalf of the prosecution. Katyal is contributing his services to the prosecution, as is Maslon partner Steve Schleicher and Blackwell Burke partner Jerry Blackwell. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank will apparently lead the trial team in court with their assistance and that of another attorney or two from the Attorney Generals office. The set-up reminds me of The Verdict, where a team of corporate lawyers works to crush Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) and his client. I always thought that aspect of the film was unrealistic, but here is something like a real-life version with the polarity of popular sympathies reversed. As jury selection made clear again yesterday, Derek Chauvin is generally a hated figure among the pool of potential jurors. Everyone has seen the video. Everyone hates his face. That is one problem Paul Newman didnt have to contend with in The Verdict. Which raises another point. As each panel of prospective jurors is brought in, Judge Cahill has the attorneys introduce themselves. Christina Marinkakis has been introduced several times as part of the prosecution team. I thought she was an attorney or legal assistant like the others, but no. She is a jury consultant. I seriously doubt that she is contributing her services to the state, which is sparing no expense to convict Chauvin and his former colleagues. The attorneys examined six prospective jurors yesterday, yielding one juror number 36 whom I had down in my notes as a difficult juror for the defense. According to the responses on his juror questionnaire, his opinion of Chauvin is very negative. Having viewed the video, he thought Chauvin was just flaunting his authority in holding George Floyd down. However, he wasnt enthusiastic about the riots that followed Floyds death. He believes the police are here to help us. He wants to see the big picture in the case. He professed to understand that he doesnt yet have it. This is about as good as its going to get for Chauvin before the prosecution exercises a peremptory strike (as Schleicher did on juror number 38). Judge Cahill adjourned before the scheduled time of 4:30 when juror number 41 cut to the chase at the end of the day. Taking her seat for voir dire, she stated that she wanted to amend one of her answers on the questionnaire. In light of the video, she had concluded that she could not be an impartial juror. Floyds death, she said, has impacted her life. She reiterated that she could not serve as a fair and impartial in the case. Schleicher tried without success to rehabilitate her. Judge Cahill excused her for cause and announced we would resume this morning at 9:00 a.m. (Central). Attorney Andrew Branca is covering the case for Legal Insurrection. His colorful take on yesterdays proceedings is here. In short, Judge Cahll struck jurors 31, 37, and 43 for cause. Nelson used peremptory challenges to strike jurors 39 and 40 (a music teacher whom I had noted as a nightmare for the defense). Judge Cahill noted that juror 43 responded to every question on the questionnaire with the answer No English. He also failed to return the form stating his qualifications citizenship and residence to serve as a juror. I think juror 43 is, as they say, undocumented, but Minneapolis is a sanctuary city. Juror 43 will remain free to pursue other interests during the Chauvin trial. When Schleicher made a Batson challenge to Nelsons peremptory strike of juror 39 I had him down in my notes as tough for the defense Judge Cahill ruled that Schleicher had not even made out a prima facie case supporting the challenge. He added that three of the six jurors seated so far identify as white, one as multiracial, one as Hispanic and one as black. Yesterday I included the FOX News video of Tucker Carlsons overview of the case in my update on day 3. I was invited to comment briefly at the end of the segment. In case you may be interested, Rose Williams covered the segment for Alpha News and dug up the tweets below with video of my comments. The amps and microphones, the iPad, the pedal, the bag of cables all that stuff stolen five years ago from Greg Smith can be replaced. But the Fender bass, customized with a blowtorch by legendary bass-amp maker Larry Hartke, that Smith wanted back. Through a friends keen eye for Facebook Marketplace deals and a young man with a strong moral compass, Smith was reunited this week with the bass that was stolen along with his other gear in May 2016 outside an Allentown bar. I never thought in a million years Id ever see any of this stuff ever again, Smith, who lives outside Bangor, told lehighvalleylive.com Thursday night. Smith plays bass for rocker Ted Nugent, among others, including The Wizards of Winter. On the Friday night into early Saturday in 2016 when he was victimized, he was playing with a classic rock power trio called Off the Road at Strange Brew Tavern off Route 145. The gear was packed into a blue 1997 GMC Yukon that someone made off with. Police would recover the SUV that same weekend, with minor damage, but its contents and battery gone. This was a one-of-a-kind instrument, Smith said of the pilfered Fender. Its the only thing I really cared about. Wednesday morning, he woke up about 7 a.m. at home in Washington Township, Northampton County, and saw a message from fellow bass player Billy Voight with a link to Facebook Marketplace. He said, I think this is your bass, Smith said. Of course, I knew right away it was mine because its a unique instrument. The bass is known as the Larry Hartke No. 3, since it was the third one in a series customized by Hartke, whos been supplying Smiths bass amplifiers since 1992. He made this bass for me and he personally torched it with a blowtorch, Smith said. Hes kind of been doing it as art, and this was No. 3 that he ever did. Before the coronavirus pandemic, plans were in the works to display the Hartke bass guitars in a gallery all except No. 3. Smith didnt want to scare off the seller, so he contacted his friend Lyle Sharman, a private investigator, who tracked down the personal details of the seller 19-year-old Bruce Macchione, of Hillsdale in Bergen County, N.J. Macchione had gone to Brooklyn to purchase a Warwick bass, and the seller had another bass on him to unload. He said it was a cool blue Fender, Macchione said Thursday night. It was cool. I got it for $300. I thought it was a good deal. Macchione plays guitar and likes to work on instruments and resell them. The Fender he listed online for a couple hundred more than he paid. When he got the call with the back story on the bass, he didnt hesitate offering it back to Smith. They met up Wednesday night at Macchiones home. Thats just the right thing to do, just return the bass back to where it belongs, Macchione said. Rocker Ted Nugent performs alongside bassist Greg Smith June 29, 2012, at the then-Sands Bethlehem Event Center.Matt Smith file photo | For lehighvalleylive.com Smith hooked up Macchione with a concert poster signed by Nugent, a whole bunch of guitar picks and $100 in cash. He also put the teenager on the phone with Nugent, who said next time hes in the area, he wants to shake his hand. So the Ted Nugent meet-and-greet is part of the deal, too. Thatd be a very interesting ending to the story, Macchione said. Smith said he has yet to fully grasp that the bass is back in his possession. It looks and sounds exactly the same, the neck is in perfect shape, he said. This nice young man, Bruce, he actually put a fresh set of strings on it. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. 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 Seth Rogen has gotten in on a popular product. The 38-year-old stoner comedy star launched a marijuana company called Houseplant in America on Thursday only for the website to crash. He headed over to Twitter to try to assuage his fans amid the technical difficulties caused by 'insane traffic,' and the site managed to get back up by mid-afternoon. Popular product: Seth Rogen launched a marijuana company called Houseplant in America on Thursday only for the website to crash At around 9:25am in California he foreshadowed the problems to come with a tweet about the high demand for his product. 'Hi!! We are experiencing a tremendous amount of traffic right now. Thank you! We have a nice little waiting room set up on the website to manage this,' he wrote. 'If you are having trouble accessing the waiting room, please try refreshing your browser or clearing your cache. Thank you yay!!' By 10:17am Pacific the site had gone down and he informed his fans on Twitter: 'Well... we have underestimated you once again.' Sweet smell of success: He headed over to Twitter to try to assuage his fans amid the technical difficulties caused by 'insane traffic,' and the site managed to get back up by mid-afternoon The Superbad co-writer joked: 'Due to insane traffic we took the Houseplant site down temporarily while I learn to write code.' He added: 'Im very sorry if youve been waiting. Theres still a lot of products available! I will let you know as soon as its up again. Shortly before 2pm he crowed: 'I fixed it! Happy to say houseplant.com is back up and running! We still have a waiting room set up to deal with traffic. Head there now to shop explore our Housegoods (and other things on our website!).' On brand: Seth has played marijuana enthusiasts in movies ranging from This Is The End to Knocked Up; he is pictured in Pineapple Express (2008) with co-star James Franco However by 2pm PST the website was still experiencing such an influx of users that anyone who opens the page was brought to the digital 'waiting room' and told it would take 'more than an hour' to access the full site. Seth, who has played marijuana enthusiasts in movies ranging from Pineapple Express to Knocked Up, sells a variety of cannabis-related products on the site. He announced on Instagram at the beginning of the month that Houseplant, which had been a decade in the making, was ready to arrive in America. And now it's here: He announced on Instagram at the beginning of the month that Houseplant, which had been a decade in the making, was ready to arrive in America Seth plugged his product by saying 'what were doing is bringing you the best strains of weed that have been handpicked - and by that I mean hand-smoked - by me! Its just the weed that I love that I wanna be smoking.' The firm was initially launched in 2019 in Seth's native Canada which had formally legalized cannabis nationwide the previous year. Along with marijuana itself the brand sells a table lighter for a hefty $220 as well as an ashtray that fans can buy for $85, TMZ reports. A PLAN to allow parking for residents only on a popular walking area beside the Grand Canal in Tullamore has been mooted by a local councillor. Cllr Tony McCormack said residents of the Convent View and Callary St areas along the Grand Canal Greenway in Tullamore were unable to park their own cars outside their homes because of walkers parking their vehicles there. He said the way to ensure parking in that area was for residents only was through a permit system. In that way there would be permanent parking only for people who have permits, outlined Cllr McCormack at this week's meeting of Tullamore Municipal District. Director of Services, Tom Shanahan said the issue around parking along the Greenway was being looked at by the council. These are issues which are going to be addressed, promised Mr Shanahan. Cllr Ken Smollen also highlighted problems with parking at Digby Bridge in Cappincur and claimed farmers were having difficulties getting tractors and trailers over the the bridge due to parked cars. He asked if temporary parking spaces could be put in place and said problems were also being experienced in Ballycommon, outside the Tullamore Municipal District area. Area Engineer John Connelly revealed the council had carried out some work at Sragh, another area on the Greenway in Tullamore where there are parking issues. He said he had no definitive answer on the Digby Bridge issue. drnadig/iStockBy ALEXANDER MALLIN and MICHELLE STODDART, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- The Justice Department expects to charge at least 100 more still-unidentified individuals connected to the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors revealed in a court filing Friday. They also describe the investigation as likely "one of the largest" investigations and prosecutions in U.S. history. Facing an unprecedented and continuously growing caseload in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., prosecutors in the government's conspiracy case against members of the Oath Keepers militia group outlined the investigation's scope as they requested a judge delay scheduling a trial in the case for at least 60 more days. "The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence," the filing states. "Over 300 individuals have been charged in connection with the Capitol Attack. The investigation continues and the government expects that at least one hundred additional individuals will be charged." A Justice Department official said earlier this week approximately 316 individuals have been charged but the department has still only unsealed roughly 290 cases as of Friday -- meaning multiple cases remain unsealed as agents try and track down individuals to arrest them. Prosecutors say that at least 900 search warrants have been executed in almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Investigators have accumulated more than 15,000 hours of surveillance and body-camera footage, and their evidence includes roughly 1,600 electronic devices, 210,000 tips from the public, 80,000 reports and 93,000 attachments related to law enforcement interviews of suspects and witnesses. "As the Capitol Attack investigation is still on-going, the number of defendants charged and the volume of potentially discoverable materials will only continue to grow," the filing states. As many cases move into the discovery phase, the Justice Department says it is working in consultation with the Federal Public Defender's office to develop a comprehensive plan for managing all of the evidence that defendants will expect them to produce relevant to government's prosecutions. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) notes a significant improvement in the security situation in eastern Ukraine compared to the previous reporting period after the agreement to strengthen the ceasefire regime came into force on July 27, 2020, according to a new report from the Office. Three civilians were injured as a result of active hostilities during this reporting period and no one was killed. However, OHCHR is concerned about the persistent high number of civilian casualties, including children, caused by mine explosions and explosive remnants of war, said head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine Matilda Bogner at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday. According to her, during the reporting period, eight people were killed (seven men and one woman) and another 28 were injured (20 men, five boys and three women). Two more civilians, including a girl, were injured in an accident involving a military vehicle. OHCHR recorded four attacks on civilian targets, none of which resulted in damage, compared to 72 in the previous six months. Bogner stressed that the restrictions associated with COVID-19 continue to be a heavy burden for civilians who need to cross the contact line. "From August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021, the number of crossings of the contact line in both directions decreased by 96 per cent compared with the same period in 2019-2020 (294,000 and 7,117,000 crossings, respectively). Women and older persons, who comprised the majority of those crossing before the COVID-19 lockdown, were particularly affected," she said. The head of the monitoring mission added that restrictions on freedom of movement across the contact line especially affect pensioners who live in the territory not controlled by the Ukrainian government, since they face problems with access to pensions, it is difficult for families to register the birth of children. "According to OHCHR estimates, up to 65,000 children do not have Ukrainian State-issued birth certificates," she said. Bogner also said that almost seven years after the start of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, no comprehensive state policy of legal protection and redress for civilians affected by the conflict was introduced. The head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine also expressed concern that the SBU continues the practice of holding people believed to be members of or otherwise associated with the self-proclaimed republics in unofficial places of detention, which is in violation of Ukraine's international obligations. Bogner added that while the number of cases of torture and ill-treatment related to the conflict has decreased in recent years, OHCHR is concerned over the practice of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials in non-conflict-related cases, in particular cases of violence on the part of police. She also pointed out that seven years after the tragic events on the Independence Square in central Kyiv ended, OHCHR continues to monitor trials for prosecution for the killings and violent deaths of people during the protests. "Despite the gradual progress, there is still no justice for the victims," Bogner said. Global beauty brand Mary Kay Inc., a leading corporate advocate of womens entrepreneurship and empowerment, with its global headquarters in Addison, Texas, U.S.A, recently announced the appointment of Wendy Wang as President of its Asia Pacific Region. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005138/en/ Wendy Wang, President of Mary Kays Asia Pacific Region (Photo: Mary Kay Inc.) In her new role, Wang will provide strategic vision and leadership while working to create growth for the Company in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. Wang joined Mary Kays Corporate Legal Department in 2002 as Counsel for the Asia Pacific region. Shortly thereafter, she began a multi-year assignment in China. Upon her return to the global corporate headquarters in 2012, she was promoted to the position of Vice President and Associate General Counsel where she was responsible for legal work and compliance in all four regions. In 2019, Wang returned to China for a new assignment and was promoted to the position of Chief Commercial Officer for the Asia Pacific Region in 2020. In this role, she developed and drove the implementation of commercial strategies, and lead the Asia Pacific regional team in support of sales, marketing, business technology and operations, preparing her to take on the challenge of the Region President responsibilities. We want to congratulate Wendy as she transitions into her new role as President of Mary Kay Asia Pacific, said David Holl, Mary Kay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Wendy is passionate for the Mary Kay independent sales force and is a proven leader within Mary Kay. During her tenure, she has tirelessly built a strong and talented legal team that created a culture of compliance and compassion for China and the entire Asia Pacific Region. We are thrilled to welcome her as a member of the executive committee as we build on our efforts to enrich womens lives around the globe. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Wang earned her law degree as well as an undergraduate degree in Economics. She has received numerous honors and accolades including her recognition in 2017 by D CEO magazine as Outstanding Deputy General Counsel/Associate General and the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce Corporate Executive Diversity award. I am committed to empowering women and their families in the Asia Pacific region, says Wang. Supporting Mary Kays independent sales force is my greatest honor and always brings me hope, love and confidence in our future. We are a people business with a mission to enrich womens lives and a vision to empower the Independent Beauty Consultant. My team and I are committed to delivering the very best business opportunity, building upon the values Mary Kay upholds as cornerstones of our corporate culture and mission. The promotion of Wang is the latest in Mary Kay Inc.s decades-long commitment to empowering women to serve in leadership positions around the globe. Mary Kay is a company built by women for women, and that core value is reflected in Mary Kays global workforce gender diversity data (as of March 2021): 61% of Mary Kays global workforce is female 59% of Directors and above are female 54% of Global Vice Presidents and above are female Over 50% of Mary Kays global executive team is female About Mary Kay One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her beauty company nearly 60 years ago with three goals: develop a rewarding opportunity for women, offer irresistible products, and make the world a better place. That dream has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar company with millions of independent sales force members in nearly 40 countries. Mary Kay Inc. is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skin care, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements and fragrances which are sold exclusively by Mary Kay independent beauty consultants. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005138/en/ By Antoine Rolland (Reuters) - Central African Republic will vote in a second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday under high security after a surge in rebel violence surrounding December's polls. Insurgents laid siege to the capital Bangui in January, strangling food supply routes, forcing more than 200,000 from their homes, and raising concerns that the country was slipping back into the kind of sectarian conflict that has killed thousands over the past decade. President Faustin Archange Touadera won re-election but rebels, who the United Nations say are backed by former president Francois Bozize, sought to take control amid allegations of voting irregularities. Sunday's polls concern leglislative elections, including run-off votes in 49 electoral districts and first round voting in 69 districts where violence stopped the vote from taking place in December. The country's army, backed by Russian and Rwandan forces, and aided by U.N. peacekeepers, have steadily retaken a number of rebel strongholds since their initial offensive. "We have a much stronger defense and security forces presence on the ground to help secure the elections," said Abdoul-Aziz Fall, spokesman for the country's U.N. peacekeeping mission, know as MINUSCA. Government officials are optimistic that the vote will be peaceful, pointing to military victories and the unblocking of a 580-km (360-mile) corridor that brings much needed supplies from Cameroon to Bangui. The situation is far from stable in the gold- and diamond-rich nation of 4.7 million people that has seen repeated bouts of violence since Bozize's ouster in 2013. The U.N. has reported a steep increase in human rights violations by armed groups and security forces since December. It has accused rebels of abducting civilians, shooting into crowds and burning down polling stations. It says state agents have tortured and killed civilians. "Impunity can fuel further violations and embolden the perpetrators," said Ravinda Shamdasani, the U.N.'s human rights representative. "It is very important that the government sends a clear message that such violations will not be tolerated." Meanwhile, Aboubakar Ali Siddick, a spokesman for a coalition of rebel groups known as the Coalition of Patriots for Change denied that the army has made significant headway and dismissed Sunday's vote as "a masquerade". (Additional reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Edward McAllister and Chizu Nomiyama) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 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. Ambala: Haryana farmers on Thursday(March 11), staged a protest outside BJP MLA Aseem Goel's residence in Ambala condemning the remarks made by the ruling party legislature about them in the state Assembly recently. A group of farmers held a protest outside BJP MLA Aseem Goel's residence in Ambala and burnt effigies objecting to a remark made by him against farmers who are protesting against farm laws. Haryana: Farmers protested outside BJP MLA Aseem Goel's residence in Ambala & burnt effigies condemning his remarks about them in state Assembly recently "Heavy deployment was done as precaution. Farmers protested peacefully, all went well," said Ambala DSP Sultan Singh (11.03) pic.twitter.com/eg3LpoQ9D3 ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 The no-confidence motion moved by Haryana Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda against Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khatter-led government on Wednesday (March 10) was defeated. In the assembly, Hooda commented on the ongoing farmers' protests and said, "More than 250 farmers died on the border." "The protesters claimed Goel had made some indirect remark in the context of farmers.The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Ambala Sultan Singh said, "Heavy deployment was done as a precaution. Farmers protested peacefully, all went well." The no-confidence motion moved by Congress over farm laws issues against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) government in Haryana was defeated in the state assembly on Wednesday. A total of 55 MLAs supported the government while 32 voted against the ruling dispensation in the state. The 90 membered Haryana assembly currently has 88 members. The ruling alliance needed 45 votes to stay in power. Live TV Doctors and pharmacists reassured the public they will be ready to administer COVID-19 shots, one day after being caught by surprise by the province's announcement that vaccines would be shipped to them imminently. Doctors and pharmacists reassured the public they will be ready to administer COVID-19 shots, one day after being caught by surprise by the province's announcement that vaccines would be shipped to them imminently. Ryan Chan, owner of Exchange District Pharmacy on McDermot Avenue, said he has been allocated 100 shots. "We are anticipating getting the shots Friday or Monday. So we're booking appointments for Tuesday." Chan said, unlike the annual flu shot campaign, a lot more questions must be asked to determine who qualifies for the vaccine at this time. "This one is a lot longer," he said. "Manitoba Health provides us with the distribution and the requirements... It is all about trying to be fair." JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ryan Chan, executive director of Exchange District Pharmacy, books appointments for upcoming COVID-19 vaccinations at his pharmacy in Winnipeg Thursday. A provincial spokesman said a video call would be held Thursday night in which Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province's vaccination task force, would answer questions from physicians and pharmacists about the AstraZeneca vaccine, which they will administer. "Allocations of this vaccine to pharmacies and medical clinics was based on a variety of factors such as their health region, historic flu vaccination volume and capacity-related factors obtained from the respective site," the spokesman said. "Vaccine age eligibility continues to evolve and move downward. However, age restrictions are in place for this pilot project rollout: general population 50 to 64 and 30 to 64 for First Nations people, with priority given to those with one or more medical condition(s) from the list, or those 18 to 64 who are already eligible." "We are anticipating getting the shots Friday or Monday. So we're booking appointments for Tuesday." Ryan Chan, owner of Exchange District Pharmacy The province announced on Wednesday that the AstraZeneca vaccine was available, and it put out an eligibility list as well as a map showing the medical clinics and pharmacies that would have it. The province did that before clinic staff had been told what to tell patients. On Wednesday, Doctors Manitoba spokesman Keir Johnson said that sparked a lot of confusion. One day later, Johnson said it a matter of explaining to Manitobans who is eligible for the vaccine. Doctors are getting a lot of calls from seniors who wonder why they are left out. "We've heard from people who are 65 to 79 and who also have the (medical) conditions on the priority list," he said. "They feel it is unfair, but we are telling them it is because of who can get the different vaccine products. "It is all complicated and that's what makes it difficult for people to understand." JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chan organizes the supplies for COVID-19 vaccinations at his pharmacy in the Exchange District. It will receive 100 doses of AstraZeneca, which will be used to inoculate 100 people. Currently, Manitobans aged 80 and older, or who are First Nations people 60 and older, are able to get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at specialized clinics set up by the province. On Wednesday the province announced AstraZeneca would be available to Manitobans aged 50 to 64, and First Nations people aged 30 to 64, as long as they also have a high-risk condition on a priority list. That list includes including Down syndrome, end-stage kidney disease, severe COPD, cystic fibrosis, or severe obesity with a body mass index equal to or greater than 40. Health officials have said the AstraZeneca vaccine wasn't tested on enough seniors by the manufacturer to get safety information so most health regulators around the world recommend it only be given to people under the age of 65. Johnson said seniors left out of current vaccine priorities will get vaccinated soon. "I think it is just a couple of months of really challenging guidelines, but then we should have enough supply by May or June for everybody to get them," he said. Bhargav Desai, manager of Peguis Pharmacy at 1065 Portage Ave., said they'll get 50 doses soon. "We will take appointments based on the prioritization," said Desai. "We've had people asking for it since (Wednesday). I'm letting people know if they don't qualify. We've been getting many calls." Meanwhile, Chan said while he'll be ready to begin giving the vaccine to people, there's one person he knows who qualifies who hasn't got it yet: himself. "I personally have not had my shot yet. I just need to find the time to get out to get it," he said chuckling. "I'm hoping to get it before next week." kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca Women in El Salvador celebrate the release of Evelyn Hernandez, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a suspected abortion. Salvador Melendez / AP The voice that conveyed the information to Morena Herrera, from El Salvador, was foreign. There are women who have been imprisoned for abortion, the voice said, and theyll stay there for 30 years or more. Herrera could not believe what she was hearing; under the criminal code, abortion carried a maximum sentence of eight years. Why such long prison terms? Morena Herrera asked the speaker, Donna Ferrato, how she knew about these women. Ferrato had just finished a photo essay for The New York Times on the criminalization of abortion in El Salvador, and she had heard the story from the imprisoned women themselves. One of them was Karina Herrera. The coincidence of sharing the same last name helped Morena embark on a journey to identify these women and take the fight for their freedom to national and international courts. It was 2006. There were no organizations working to change abortion laws then; the issue was too risky in the years following the armed conflict that devastated the country. Abortion was fully criminalized in El Salvador in 1997, after the penal code had been harshly revised. Even today, the criminalization of abortion remains absolute; the procedure cannot even be performed to save a womans life or if a young girl has been raped. Morena Herrera decided to investigate what Donna Ferrato had told her. She knocked on the prison gate and introduced herself as Karina Herreras aunt. Their common surname facilitated this initial meeting. One of the most important feminist resistance efforts in the Americas began there: woman to woman, Herrera to Herrera. Transforming abortion into aggravated homicide increases the stigma of abortion while also lengthening the prison sentences for these women After three years of investigations and legal battles, Karina was released. It was through her that Morena came to understand one of the patriarchys most perverse stratagems in Latin America: the criminalization of obstetric emergencies, including miscarriage, unsafe abortion and unattended, out-of-hospital births. Identifying these criminalized women was tricky because, through a legal ploy, they had been charged not with abortion but with aggravated homicide against a victim aged zero or a newborn. Framing the crime as aggravated homicide versus abortion is not some dispute regarding the interpretation of the penal code, but an indication of how the patriarchy uses criminal policy to cruelly interfere with womens bodies. Transforming one type of crime into a more serious one has two purposes: it increases the stigma of abortion, legally categorizing the practice as a type of homicide, while also greatly lengthening the prison sentences for these women. The women were identified by their fellow prisoners. Morena knew it was important to locate them, but wanted to make it a collective endeavor. Working with other men and women, and with the support of feminist organizations in Nicaragua, they founded the Agrupacion Ciudadana por la Despenalizacion del Aborto (Citizens Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion). Between 2000 and 2019, an estimated 181 women were unjustly charged with abortion or obstetric emergencies followed by fetal death in El Salvador, three of them girls between the ages of 10 and 14. Of these, at least 66 had spent months or years in jail; as of 2020, 41 had regained their freedom. The latter cases included Cindy Erazo, who spent six years in prison for suffering a stillbirth; Alba Lorena Rodriguez, imprisoned for 10 years following complications during the delivery of a baby conceived by gang rape; Evelyn Hernandez, locked up for three years after she also became pregnant as the result of rape and had a stillbirth. Another was Maria Teresa Rivera, sentenced to 40 years in prison for having a miscarriage; she had spent four years in prison and was afraid she would be sent back, since the courts kept pursuing the case. Legally, she is a political refugee of the patriarchy, who has been living with her son in Sweden since 2016. Six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean criminalize abortion in all instances. There are others, like Brazil, whose political leaders have signaled they agree with the El Salvadorean model for example, Brazils Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights Damares Alves, who at the last meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, in February 2021, declared that human life begins at conception. We live in the region of the world that persecutes the greatest number of women with criminal laws and where more abortions are performed. Why such insistence on persecuting, intimidating, arresting and killing women for having an abortion? Because patriarchal power regimes modulate the social reproduction of life by controlling biological reproduction, that is, by overseeing womens bodies. There is no way to separate the abortion issue from gender equality policies, because it is by criminalizing reproductive rights that the life plans of young women are controlled. Perhaps no woman has suffered the effects of this anti-abortion zealotry more than Manuela, a pseudonym. Her case reached the Inter-American Court of Human Rights at the request of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Colectiva Feminista para el Desarrollo Local (Feminist Collective for Local Development), and the Agrupacion Ciudadana por la Despenalizacion del Aborto; public hearings have been set for March 10-11, 2021. The use of a fictitious name is meant to protect this poor, young illiterate rural worker and mother of two small children from any further brutal torture. Manuela was unaware of her pregnancy, she was more worried about the nodules on her neck, which were accompanied by weakness and fever all symptoms of an advanced but undiagnosed case of cancer. When she was about 32 weeks pregnant, the young woman suddenly fell ill, hemorrhaging and fainting. After she miscarried, her family and neighbors tried desperately to save her. She was too debilitated to walk from her home to the road where she could get a ride to the nearest hospital, so she had to be carried there in a hammock. This was her final departure from her home and the last time she would see her parents and children outside of prison, where she was only allowed a single visit during her incarceration. Manuela lived on land farmed by her family. The father of her first two children had abandoned them and joined the thousands of Salvadorans who have fled to the United States whether legally or not, this was just one more chapter in the familys story of abandonment. We do not know if the pregnancy that led to her arrest was the result of a consensual act or a violent one; this information was of little concern to the criminal court that sentenced her for aggravated homicide. The judge felt free to create his own narrative of the facts: Manuela was an unfaithful wife, lacking maternal instinct, who killed her child in an act contrary to nature itself. As soon as Manuela had been admitted to the hospital, a female doctor had reported her and the police had been sent to search the shack where she lived. There, they opened the latrine pit and forced Manuelas illiterate father to register the fetus with a first and last name (the familys). The victim was no longer Manuela; instead, the patriarchy assigned itself the role by representing an unborn creature, named so it could be publicly cast as an innocent. There is no way to separate the abortion issue from gender equality policies, because it is by criminalizing reproductive rights that the life plans of young women are controlled Denying Manuela the right to a defense and never taking her bodys truth into account, the court quickly handed down its decision, sentencing her to 30 years. Forced to sleep on her cell floor, she was persecuted in prison and suffered from her painful cancer. She received hardly any visitors and died two years after the obstetric emergency that had prompted her miscarriage. Hers was a sick and suffering body, but one ignored by the fury of the police, courts and medical establishment. Her biography became a fictional construct of the patriarchy; she was painted as a fickle woman unfaithful to her husband, a husband no longer in her life. The family tried to challenge the courts in El Salvador so the story of her death would reflect the true story lived by her body: that she had died of a cancer that had been inadequately treated in prison and not because she was a criminal; she had been arrested for a nonexistent crime. The family was even denied the right to truth in court records, which is why the case has gone to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The current climate of anti-abortion zealotry fosters brutal regimes that persecute and torture women. Manuela died because abortion has been totally criminalized and because the State apparatus was used to persecute her, with touches of cruelty. It did not matter that the truth of her lived experience involved too much misery for one body to endure: poverty, loneliness, a body stricken by cancer. Now, the judges with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights must draw inspiration from the two courageous Herreras who began this journey and ensure that their legal decision crosses the borders of El Salvador to protect other women, eternalizing Manuela by setting a legal precedent with her case. Manuela is dead and the court must redress its error, restoring her dignity by restoring the truth of her lived experience. Debora Diniz is a Brazilian anthropologist and researcher at Brown University. Giselle Carino is an Argentinian political scientist and IPPF/WHR director. Kolkata, March 12 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday summoned three prominent leaders of the Trinamool Congress, including former minister Madan Mitra, in connection with its probe into the Saradha chit fund case, just ahead of the eight-phase Assembly elections in the state starting March 27. According to the ED officials, the agency has summoned former Trinamool Rajya Sabha members journalist Ahmed Hassan Imran and businessman Swapan Sadhan Bose along with Mitra for questioning on March 17, 18 and 19, respectively. Mitra is Trinamool Congress' candidate from Kamarhati for the forthcoming state elections. a former Transport Minister in the state, Mitra was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014 in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam. He was released on bail two years later in 2016. Last week, the ED had summoned noted Bengali artist Subhaprasanna Bhattacharjee and Trinamool MLA Samir Chakraborty for questioning in connection with the case. On March 2 this year, the ED had questioned former Rajya Sabha member and Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh for over eight hours in connection with the case. 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 FIR lodged by the CBI. 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. The results will be declared on May 2. Sinn Fein MLA Caral Ni Chuilin, who recently held the ministerial role for the department responsible for housing, has defended her tweet hitting out at a lack of social housing in Belfast after been heavily criticised by the SDLP. Ms Ni Chuilin took to twitter to highlight cramped conditions families have been forced to live in. "Imagine living in a three-bedroom house with your ma, da, granda and three siblings," she tweeted. "No privacy, no hope of getting a proper home. Its [sic] the rule rather than exception, for many families in north Belfast." She then tagged the NI Housing Executive, adding the organisation was "failing in their statutory duty and need to end housing inequality". Last year the North Belfast MLA took on the Communities Minister portfolio while her party colleague Deirdre Hargey took a break for health reasons. She has since returned to her post. The department is responsible for the Housing Executive. Imagine living in a 3 bedroom house with your Ma, Da, Granda & 3 siblings. No privacy, no hope of getting a proper home. Its the rule rather than exception, for many families in North Belfast. @nihecommunity failing in their statutory duty & need to end housing inequality #SinA CarAl NA ChuilAn-Nigh do lAmha a (@CaralNiChuilin) March 11, 2021 CAral you were literally housing minister three months ago. https://t.co/2jxdqvtQf2 Matthew O'Toole (@MatthewOToole2) March 11, 2021 In response to Ms Ni Chuilin's, the SDLP's Mark H Durkan tweeted: "Says the recent minister with responsibility for housing, whose party colleague is currently minister." Mr Durkan's tweet was accompanied by the hashtags: #rulingbyfooling #spinfein. "Some craic," SDLP leader Colum Eastwood added. South Belfast MLA Matthew O'Toole also chimed in, tweeting: "Caral you were literally housing minister three months ago." In response to the SDLP, Ms Ni Chuilin told the Belfast Telegraph: "With 40,000 people on the waiting list, most of which are in chronic housing need, the SDLP would do well to support Deirdre Hargey and the biggest transformation in public housing in 50 years. "Rather than engaging in inane social media commentary the SDLP should focus their attention on the people who are opposed to building homes, rather than those who are trying to bring forward meaningful outcomes to people's lives." You are here: China The National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, concluded its annual session Thursday afternoon. Chinese leaders Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan attended the closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Li Zhanshu, an executive chairperson of the presidium of the session, presided over the meeting attended by nearly 3,000 NPC deputies. Lawmakers adopted the amendments to the organic law and procedural rules of the NPC. President Xi Jinping signed presidential orders to promulgate the amendments. The meeting adopted a decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The lawmakers also approved the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, the government work report, and the work reports of the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. They approved a report on the implementation of the 2020 plan for national economic and social development, and the 2021 plan for national economic and social development. They also passed a report on the execution of the central and local budgets for 2020, and approved the central budget for 2021. Addressing the meeting, Li Zhanshu said that the annual session has successfully completed its agenda. The decision on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR has been highly endorsed by the deputies, Li said. Li called for better leveraging the role of people's congresses on the journey toward fully building a modern socialist China. Li urged rallying even closer around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, as the CPC will celebrate its centenary this year. He also called for advancing toward realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. Before the closing meeting, Li presided over the meetings of the session's presidium and the presidium's executive chairpersons. In a White House address last night, President Biden tried to balance realism and hope. He began with a somber recitation of Covids costs, including job loss, loneliness, canceled gatherings, missed time in school and, most of all, death. At one point, he reached into his jacket pocket and removed a card which he always carries, he said with the current American death toll printed on it. The past year, he said, had been one filled with the loss of life and the loss of living for all of us. Yet when it came time for Biden to tell Americans what he wanted them to do to wear masks, maintain social distancing and get vaccinated he did not use darkness as motivation. He used July 4. If we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4th, theres a good chance you, your families and friends, will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day, he said, standing alone at a podium in the White Houses East Room. Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do. The speech included plenty of caveats, about virus variants, uncertainty and more. Bidens political strategy on the virus is clearly to underpromise so he can overdeliver. But thats part of what made the July 4 vision memorable. Even Biden, with all of his caution, seems to grasp the power of hopefulness at this moment. After 12 months of a pandemic, its hard to inspire people to action with only grim warnings of all that could still go wrong. People need to know the full picture, both bad and good. They need a source of motivation beyond fear. 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. In 2014, Army Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin was at the top of his game until an undiagnosed bipolar disorder suddenly cost him his 36-year career and plunged the Iraq War veteran into the battle of his life. In mid-July of that year, Martin was serving as president of the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., when his boss, Gen. Martin Dempsey, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, summoned him for a meeting. When Martin arrived, Dempsey greeted him with a hug, saying, "Gregg, I love you like a brother ... but your time at NDU is done. You have until 1700 today to submit your letter of resignation to me or I will fire you. Is that clear?" the retired NDU president recalls in a new opinion piece co-authored for Task & Purpose with his son, Phillip, a former staff sergeant and combat veteran who served with Army Special Forces. Read Next: Almost Nobody Wants Troops at the US Capitol, Including the Guard Chief and Congress "A lot of people think you have serious mental health problems. I'm ordering you to get a command-directed psychiatric health exam at Walter Reed. You need to go this week," Dempsey told him. In the article, Martin describes the chairman as a friend of 20 years who made the right decision. "He was taking good care of my own health and welfare, as well as his university's welfare and mission success. Had I been in his shoes, I would have made the exact same decision," Martin writes. In November 2014, Martin was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Type I. He believes the condition was triggered in 2003 while he served as an engineer brigade commander during the invasion of Iraq. It grew progressively worse over the next decade until his forced resignation sent him spiraling into a "hopeless, terrifying depression and psychosis" from late 2014 through 2016, he writes in the op-ed. Formerly known as manic depression, bipolar disorder is a general term that, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, comprises a cluster of related disorders that are characterized by extreme mood shifts ranging from mania to depression, the op-ed states. Martin's doctors suspected that his genetic predisposition for bipolar disorder was activated by the intense stress of the war. "I suddenly went from having latent bipolar potential to actual, activated bipolar disorder," Martin says in the article. "This Iraq War 'triggering event' is the confirmed opinion of the Army Medical Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs in their medical analysis and assessments of my condition." Martin describes being terrified by the delusion that "I had committed financial fraud against the U.S. government" and living in fear of being "arrested, convicted, tortured, and murdered in prison," according to the article. "Or I would imagine being stripped of my achievements and retirement, retroactively demoted, and lose my pension and medical benefits, leaving my wife in poverty, and me homeless and dying on the streets," he writes. "I believed that my closest colleagues were conspiring against me." Martin credits the support of his wife; their three sons; and the VA hospital in White River Junction, Vermont, where he spent two weeks as an inpatient and four more as an outpatient, for saving his life, according to the article. "I am absolutely not ashamed or embarrassed to be a bipolar survivor," writes Martin, who has authored an upcoming book, "Battling Bipolar Disorder -- A General's Invisible War." "In fact, I am thankful and proud to have survived this toughest of wars -- with the support of my wife, family, friends, the VA ... and to be thriving once again, with the unexpected gift of a great new life," he writes in the op-ed. "I ask you to help me abolish the stigma associated with bipolar disorder and other brain maladies, by admitting you or another needs help, and then by getting it." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: DoD Mental Health Care Programs Leave Thousands of Families in Need, IG Finds When our producer Jessica Cheung saw a video of Eugene Goodman, a Black Capitol Police officer, fending off rioters inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, she knew she wanted to talk to an officer who had been on the front lines. I was particularly interested in hearing from a Black officer, given the Confederate flags and white supremacist symbols we were seeing on the Hill that day, Jessica said. So, she set out to find police officers who were willing to talk openly about their experiences. She contacted officers, but none were quite ready or willing to share their stories. She had heard from others that they were forbidden to speak with the press and that they feared retaliation from their employers. And, in fact, the Capitol Police press office said officers would not be granting interviews at this time. But after multiple tries, Jessica found Officer Harry Dunn. It was about a week after the riots that I reached Officer Dunn, Jessica said. He sounded pretty shaken up as he recounted his experience being called the N-word multiple times by rioters, fighting against them while being punched at and pepper sprayed with his eyes closed. I knew when I got off the phone with him that his was the story people needed to hear. But getting him on the show wasnt easy. He had already shared his story anonymously with another publication but feared retaliation if he were to go on the record. Jessica went back and forth with the standards team, which advises newsroom reporters and editors on ethics, fairness and style for our journalism, trying to work out how we could get him on the show. She wondered whether The Times could offer him anonymity. Perhaps we could alter his voice on The Daily? Ultimately, he decided against it. But she didnt let up. Jessica called Officer Dunn every couple of weeks to check in on him. Then, finally, after the Capitol Police changed its policy on officers speaking to the press, he agreed to go on the record with The Times. He acknowledged that his decision was not without risk (on the night of the interview, he said hed had a new security system installed), and Officer Dunn remains one of the only Capitol Police officers to go on the record about his experience on Jan. 6. California ethnic studies proposal teaches kids white Christians are evil, chant to Aztec gods Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The California Department of Education is set to vote on a new ethnic studies curriculum aimed at the decolonization of American society and includes lessons teaching students to chant to Aztec gods. If approved, what is being called the "Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum" will be implemented statewide in the Golden states primary and secondary public schools, which serve approximately 6 million students in some 10,000 schools, according to investigative journalist Christopher Rufo who wrote about the issue in City-Journal. The co-chair of the curriculum, R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, developed much of the material cited throughout the proposed lessons in which Christians, specifically those of European ancestry, are viewed as the source of evil to be resisted and overthrown. White Christians are guilty of theocide against indigenous tribes, the killing of their deities and replacing them with the Christian faith, Cuauhtin argues in a chart. White settlers thus established a regime of coloniality, dehumanization, and genocide, Rufo wrote of the curriculum materials in a corresponding Twitter thread Wednesday, adding that what is billed as the solution to this is to name, speak to, resist, and transform the hegemonic Eurocentric neocolonial condition in a posture of transformational resistance." The ultimate goal, according to Cuauhtin, is to engineer a "countergenocide" against whites. The lessons also include an official ethnics studies community chant, and it's recommended that teachers lead students in indigenous songs, chants, and affirmations, including the In Lak Ech Affirmation, which is a direct appeal to Aztec gods. In that affirmation students are led to chant to an Aztec god named Tezkatlipoka, asking it for power to be warriors for social justice. Aztecs traditionally worshiped this god through such practices as human sacrifice and cannibalism. The students are also taught to chant to other Aztec deities in pursuit of healing epistemologies and a revolutionary spirit, including Huitzilopochtli, the patron god of the Aztec empires capital city, a god of war and human sacrifice. The chants have a clear implication: the displacement of the Christian [G]od, which is said to be an extension of white supremacist oppression, and the restoration of the indigenous gods to their rightful place in the social justice cosmology. It is, in a philosophical sense, a revenge of the gods, Rufo explained. The religious element of the ethnic studies curriculum, with direct appeals to Aztec gods, is almost certainly a violation of the First Amendments Establishment Clause. Public schools are prohibited from leading state-sanctioned Christian prayers; they would presumably be similarly prohibited from leading state-sanctioned chants to the Aztec god of human sacrifice. Dr. Richard Land, the executive editor for The Christian Post, noted in his weekly column: "This is all so comprehensively evil and destructive it is hard to know where to begin criticism of this dangerous, divisive, retrograde cultural vandalism. The idea that a tax-supported public school system would, or could, be used to unleash this vicious cultural and spiritual poison into our young peoples consciousness is both extremely offensive and quite possibly illegal." Writing in the New York Times Tuesday, columnist Bret Stephens said the state was advancing ideological groupthink and noted that ethnic studies is not so much an academic discipline but a recruiting arm for radical ideologues. Yet because of how it is labeled and framed, its sinister nature stays hidden. That would be fine if it appeared in the pages of, say, [left-wing magazine] The Nation. It would be fine, too, if students were exposed to critical race theory the way they might be exposed to Marxist philosophy or some other ideology as a subject to be examined, not a lens through which to do the examining, Stephens opined. The former is education. The latter is indoctrination. The ethnic studies curriculum conceals the difference, Stephens added. The special issue dives deep into the long-term ramifications that the global pandemic may have on conservation. New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) A new special issue of PARKS, the journal of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, revealed massive impacts on global conservation efforts seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. Studies reveal major job losses among the protected area rangers, reductions in anti-poaching patrols, and environmental protection rollbacks. Bright spots from around the world, however, emerged as studies showed indigenous peoples and local communities with governance power over their lands and waters were in many cases able to continue to steward their resources and protected areas even amid the massive economic downturns and significant increases in local reliance on ecosystem resources for food and livelihoods. WCS scientist Sangeeta Mangubhai contributed to two peer-reviewed papers published in the Parks journal. The first, titled "COVID-19, Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and Natural Resource Governance," explores the ways in which Covid-19 is affecting communities from 40 countries who manage and conserve their own lands and waters. Findings outline the importance of self-empowerment and recognition of indigenous peoples and local communities rights, which allowed those communities to utilize traditional medicines, meet subsistence requirements, help individuals sustain livelihoods, and govern, defend and conserve their territories during lockdowns. The second study, titled "Marine Protected and Conserved Areas in the Time of COVID," presents 15 diverse case studies of marine protected and conserved areas from around the world as a framework for rethinking the future of conservation. Marine protected and conserved areas pre-pandemic statuses are reviewed and compared to current state Covid-19 conditions, focusing on innovative post-pandemic conservation approaches that equally balance both management for conservation and management for sustainable livelihoods. "Covid-19 has impacted people all over the world in many different ways," said Mangubhai, WCS Fiji Country Director. "But, there are many important stories of resilience to inspire us, and to learn from. For example, indigenous peoples and local communities with rights to govern their lands and waters were able to put in place protective measures to isolate themselves and maintain the protection of their natural resources, highlighting their self-sufficiency. "Closer to home, indigenous communities from Nakorotubu district in Fiji decided to maintain a large protected area they had established with the tourism sector, despite having no visitors to the park." The special issue comes at a critical time as vaccine rollouts begin to chart the path toward eventual Covid-19 recovery. The world has an opportunity to better incorporate ocean conservation with pandemic response planning, and to rethink the future of marine area-based conservation tools, particularly for marine protected and conserved areas, to enable to continue safeguarding marine resources. Findings in this PARKS issue give governments and other institutions a timely opportunity to thoughtfully mitigate identified gaps in global conservation efforts and infrastructure and bolster needed financial investments heading into the post-2020 decade of ocean conservation. --IANS vg/dpb 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 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. We started with a positive framing, and will include others who are more negative, and some in the middle. All will come from evangelicals. And, it is important that we hear from people of color, and, in this series, not all people of color will agree. Its a conversation mature, Christ-like, and God-honoring. We hope it serves you and your church well. To start it off, I asked Sitara Roden from my team to give us a framing article. Now, we are dropping articles, pro, con, and others on a continuum, modeling Christian dialogue and learning. Our first contributor, who will be sharing a three-part article, was Dr. Pat Sawyer, with references to be shared at the conclusion. You can read part one here, part two here, and part three here. Now, we will be hearing from D.A. Horton, as he shares a four-part article of his examination of CRT. You can read part one here, part two here, and part three here. Pastor Horton is a latino missiologist, academic and author, and his latest book Intensional, delves into ethnic reconciliation. I will share my thoughts at the endof the series. -Ed Stetzer In the final part of my series, I answer the five most frequently asked questions I receive about CRT. Before doing this, I want to unpack two nuances about my work. First, I view CRT as an available tool I, a Christian missiologist, can use when performing cultural exegesis.[1] My conscious is clear when saying Im not compromising my assured salvation in Christ (John 1:12; 10:27-29; Rom 5:8; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 John 5:11-13) or Christian worldview when I engage CRT. CRT gives me opportunities to interact as a missionary in the field of education where Jesus has placed me (Psalm 25:4-5; 37:23-24; Acts 17:26-27). CRT gives me a platform to share gospel-infused solutions to its insightful questions, and calls me to address pressing social issues impacting the lives and communities I serve while developing resources Christian urbanites can use in their evangelism and discipleship work. I also acknowledge there have been times when CRT has called out racism in society thats been either ignored or practiced by Christians. To me, this is an opportunity to redeem our witness. Second, in part-one I cite Habermas pivot of Critical Theory (CT) away from Marxism and his call for the inclusion of religious voices in civil discourse. I did this because, as a missiologist I see this as an invitation for Christian influencers in spheres such as the arts, economics, education, engineering, medicine, politics, the social sciences, et al to communicate Gods truth in ways the non-religious can understand and wrestle with. Accepting this invitation does not make me a Marxist. The work I produce is evidence Im not a Marxist. More importantly, with God the Holy Spirits empowerment and supernatural work (Rom 8:9-13; John 3:3-8), the missiological efforts of my work can be a tool God uses to redirect eyes away from idols so they can be fixed on Christ![2] Now Ill share answers to the FAQs Ive placed in two categories: blessings and burdens. Blessings Acknowledged by CRT Below are two questions I embrace as blessings since they allow me to provide clarity on how CRT can be engaged without compromising ones faith in Christ and Christian worldview. These blessings are opportunities Christians can leverage for gospel proclamation and disciple making. Q: Why is it necessary for all Christians to use CRT? A: First, it is not necessary for all Christians to use CRT. Salvation is a gift given by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, confirmed in Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone (Eph 2:4-10). Embracing Christ as Savior is necessary to be part of His Church (1 Pet 2:5). Jesus was building His church (Matt 16:18; Acts 2; Eph 1:22-23) for nearly two millennia before CRT surfaced in the late 20th Century. Jesus work is not dependent on anything or anyone other than Him. In light of these truths, as a missiologist who is evangelistically active and discipleship driven, I choose to engage CRT because its relevant to my mission field in North America. CRT brings awareness to matters that impact the precious lives in my field. My work involves applying biblical truth to the complexities sin has produced by distorting the living conditions where I, live, move, and have my being alongside millions of others. At times, CRT gives language to the afflictions and sufferings of those whose cries are ignored. Their pain doesnt disappear because others ignore it. My engagement with CRT allows me to privately and publicly address these sufferings in real time while sharing my hope in Christ. I realize not every Christian experienced the same up bringing I did, in fact we Christians in North America are the minority population of the global church![3] I also acknowledge other Christians in North America have different spiritual gifts and missional callings from Jesus. To them I say, be free to pursue Gods desire for you in your ministry endeavors (cf. Psalm 34:4; 37:4; 20:4) but please extend this freedom to myself and others who share a similar calling. Q: Whats the best way Christians can address our racial tensions in the Church? A: I believe Ethnic Conciliation is our best move.[4] In my book Intensional: Kingdom Ethnicity in a Divided World [5] I define Ethnic Conciliation, support it with Scripture, share practical ways we can do this work, and call Christians to leverage our privileges by obeying Jesus social and spiritual commands.[6] In addition, Christians in America must become more honest in communicating how the systemic sin of partiality enforced by those of European descent resulted in the redemptive birth of the Black Church.[7] Also we must improve how we respond to the present day consequences stemming from Christian passivity during Jim Crow. Southern Christians of European descent branded the Civil Rights Movement, which grew out of and was anchored by the Black Church [8], not just a social crisis but an attack on certain unchanging truths taught in Holy Scripture and required of all true Christians and said those who contradicted such teachings were not merely social deviants, they were also biblical apostates.[9] People are alive today who were taught this in the 1950s! The consequences for this anti-biblical view calls for both individual and institutional issues to be dealt with and repented of [10] so we can move forward as salt and light (Matt 5:13-16). To accomplish this, en mass we Evangelicals must address and resolve our three weaknesses Francis Schaeffer identified in 1984 that remain present in 2021.[11] Burdens Assigned by CRT Below are questions I accept as burdens because theyre often asked after hearing Christian leaders say CRT must be accepted or rejected in total. I give answers revealing how this false binary doesnt have to obeyed. Q: If you engage CRT, youre really admitting the gospel is not enough right? A: Absolutely not! Ive been following Jesus since March 31, 1996 and have never strayed from preaching Christ alone saves (John 14:6; 17:3; Rom 1:16-17; 10:9-17; Col 1:28). To me, CRT is filled with gospel conversation starting points, however its not the finish line I point to. Let me explain. I begin gospel conversations in Genesis 1 instead of Genesis 3. I affirm every human is made in Gods Image (Gen 1-2) and identify the one time in history when Open Fellowship (or conciliation) between God and humanity (vertically) and man and woman (horizontally cf. Gen 2) were realized. Next, I unpack Genesis 3 demonstrating how Adams disobedience caused Sin and death to be introduced to our world and spread every to human equally (Rom 5:12-21). From here I explain why sin comes with a Penalty (Rom 6:23) and Price (Heb 9:22) and this leads to the grand Entrance of Jesus. I boldly share the nuances of His perfect life, mission, and holistic work of redemption (John 1:1-14; Matt 20:28; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 7:26; Matt 28; Mark 16; Luke 21-24; John 20-21; Rev 19-22). From here I announce Jesus alone offers Life Everlasting to men and women from every ethnicity and social class globally. While all of this is being shared, when the other person is speaking, Im listening but also praying for God the Holy Spirit to mobilize them to accept Gods plea bargain in Jesus, who endured Gods just sentence for the penalty and price of sin (John 1:12; 17:3; Rom 4-5; John 5:22-23; Rev 20:11-15). Those who embrace Jesus globally make up the multiethnic population in the City of God, which is the finish line I point to (Rev 21-22)![12] If themes of CRT surface during evangelistic exchanges (e.g., Christianity is racist or a tool of oppression) Im not scared to affirm aspects of truth in such claims especially when history holds receipts. If I preach Jesus, who is the personification of truth, why would I in the same breath deny historic facts highlighting times the Church didnt steward the gospel properly? I have no fear regarding CRTs truth claims because the gospel of the kingdom is full of eternal truth and is more robust than CRT. Plus, global church history has receipts dating back to Genesis 1 in addition to a future that shows Gods election stands and Jesus makes all things new (Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21-22)! Since I truly believe the gospel, my heart bears an unceasing grieve to proclaim how Gods shalom intersects not just with theology but also the economic, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual needs of humans. Q: Arent you denying the Sufficiency of Scripture by engaging CRT? A: No. I affirm all Scripture (both Old/New Testaments) is God breathed (2 Tim 3:16-17) and the rule of standard used to correctly measure beliefs and behaviors. I affirm God is the sole source of Scriptures content, in which we do well to submit all our life experiences to (2 Pet 1:16-21). I affirm the verbal plenary of Scripture meaning, every word of Scripture was spoken by God and is full eternal truth. I affirm Article I of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BF&M2000)[13] and Article 7 of the Belgic Confession [14]. Upholding the sufficiency of Scripture does not mean other documents written by humans or concepts they develop cant be interacted with or studied, or that theyre devoid of truth. The sufficiency of Scripture identifies the Bible is enough regarding the global churchs doctrine, preaching, worship, in addition to our source of authority for how we engage interpersonal relationships at home, in our local church, greater community, and world. My engagement with CRT and other systems of human thought, especially regarding Urban Apologetics [15] (where Ive been working for 24 years), are filtered through Scripture, similar to water and coffee grinds in a filter. Truthful content can be used for evangelism and insights for the multiethnic discipleships rhythms I live in (Matt 28:19-20). What doesnt filter through Scripture is not consumed rather, refuted with gentleness and respect (1 Pet 3:15). To me, being cynical or a jerk towards image bearers is not a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-24) or an effective evangelistic or discipleship method so, I work hard to not allow my apologetic responses distract attention away from the beauty, power, and sufficiency of Gods Word. Q: As a Southern Baptist, why do you engage CRT since its incompatible with the BF&M2000? A: There is content regarding CRT (addressed in parts two and three) that is not in alignment with Gods word (as well as the BF&M2000). However, there are truthful claims CRT platforms that are useful for evangelism and discipleship in North America [16]. I try my best to apply balance with my academic freedom and responsibility [17] by leveraging many of the privileges I have to benefit others [18]. My work identifies the will of Christ in my life as well as society at-large. Since I oppose racism (the sin of partiality, rebuke White Supremacy [19], and refute ethnocentric cults [20]), speak out against unholy sexual practices, work with my family to share relief with orphans, widows, and other vulnerable populations, and advocate for the sanctity of life, my behavior patterns are in alignment with Article XV of the BF&M2000.[21] It is possible to engage CRT and walk in submission to Christ and Scripture. As a Southern Baptist pastor and professor, my life and doctrine are not at odds with the BF&M2000. Im called to stay inside the SBC to help bring Christ exalting and God honoring change from within.[22] Im aware not every Christian will agree with me. I affirm their freedom in Christ and take no issue with them. I will stand before Christ not them, when my life and work for Christ is evaluated (Rom 14:10-12; 2 Cor 5:10). I refuse to force a binary by giving a false ultimatum for Christians to fully accept or reject of CRT, when the mission field I serve need balance, nuance, and truth. I close with two requests from you the reader. First, please join me in prayer, asking God to intersect my life with evangelistic prospects inside the academy so I can make Jesus known to them as I employ my missiological method. Secondly, let all of us in Christ, who have the privilege of public influence stop withholding charity in our engagement with each other when we have different approaches to CRT. Were all in a process of progressive sanctification, so let practically resemble our positionally reality of Ethnic Conciliation in greater measures each day so our actions dont distract the attention of others away from our Savior. D.A. Horton is the author of eight books and currently serves as an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Intercultural Studies program at California Baptist University. He is also blessed to serve as an Associate Teaching Pastor at The Grove Community Church. He earned his B.S. in Biblical Studies from Calvary Bible College, his Masters Degree in Christian Studies from Calvary Theological Seminary and is working on his Ph.D. in Applied Theology with a North American Missions emphasis at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. [1] Bruce Ashford defines culture as the products humans produce when they interact with each other and Gods creation (Bruce Riley Ashford, Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians (Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham, 2015), 13. Chris Morgan and Robert Peterson define exegesis as the careful study of biblical passages and the foundation of all good theology. Includes attending to both the historical and the literary context of each passage from A Concise Dictionary of Theological Terms (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2020), 5859. So then, my use of Cultural Exegesis is meant as; the careful study of cultural products humans use in their daily life rhythms in order to discover their historic and contemporary meaning (if different) and the influence they have in society at-large. [2] Bruce Ashford, Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 50-53. [3] This is why my work includes platforming the work of men and women missiologists and theologians from the Majority World (Africa, Asia, and Latin America). My heart beats to support the global church. [4] Ethnic Conciliation vs Racial Reconciliation, California Baptist University Chapel, October 1, 2019, https://vimeo.com/363913499 [5] D.A. Horton, Intensional: Kingdom Ethnicity in a Divided World, (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2019), https://www.navpress.com/p/intensional/9781631466915 [6]Intensional 137-183. [7]Freedoms Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers, by Richard S. Newman [8] Allison Calhoun-Brown, Upon This Rock: The Black Church, Nonviolence, and the Civil Rights Movement, Political Science and Politics, Vol. 33 No. 2 (Junee 2000), 168-174. [9] Andrew Michael Manis, Southern Civil Religions in Conflict: Black and White Baptists and Civil Rights, 1954-1957, (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1987). [10] See Anthony Bradley, Finally Healing Wounds of Jim Crow: Maybe what we need is transitional justice, Fathom Magazine, July 11, 2018, https://www.fathommag.com/stories/finally-healing-the-wounds-of-jim-crow and Mary Beth Swetnam Matthews, Doctrine and Race: African American Evangelicals and Fundamentalism Between the Wars, (Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press, 2017). [11] Francis A. Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster, (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1984), 115-116. [12] Notice the letters in bold form the acronym G.O.S.P.E.L. [13] The Scriptures, https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#i-the-scriptures [14] The Sufficiency of Scripture, https://www.crcna.org/sites/default/files/BelgicConfession.pdf [15] Steve Lee, Trends in Urban Apologetics, Is Christianity True?, https://ischristianitytrue.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/trends-in-apologetics-urban-apologetics/ [16] Article XI Evangelism and Missions expresses how it is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. In my work, this involves directly engaging ethnic and cultural nuances instead of dismissing and/or ignoring them. Article XI also says, It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ. My work both of engaging CRT as well in Urban Apologetics embodies the language of Article XI. See Article XI Evangelism and Missions, https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#xi-evangelism-and-missions [17] Article XII Education, https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#xii-education, I strive to keep my engagement with individual and ideologies that are in opposition to Scripture as charitable, compassionate, and truthful as possible. I work hard to not be guilty of libel or slander when dealing with those who are opposed to my position. I would recommend. Andreas J. Kostenbergers, Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue helped shape my view of charitable, honest, and theologically faithful academic engagement. [18] Article XIII Stewardship, https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#xiii-stewardship [19]Intensional, 28-31. [20] See Urban Islam: Assessing the Moorish Science Temple, Nation of Gods and Earths, and Nation of Islam, https://vimeo.com/472337761 [21] Article XV The Christian and Social Order, https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#xv-the-christian-and-the-social-order [22] See Why I Stay, https://youtu.be/mMynyBVsTAM West Bengal elections 2021: Ramdas Athawale's RPI to contest 15-20 seats, support BJP India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Kolkata, Mar 12: Ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections 2021, Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale has announced that his party would contest the State Assembly elections. Athawale said in Mumbai today that the RP is likely to fight on 15-20 seats. Athawale said that his party would support the BJP in West Bengal. Noting that the people of West Bengal want change, Athawale said the BJP will unseat Mamata Banerjee from the West Bengal chief minister's chair in the upcoming polls. West Bengal election 2021: Jitin Prasada 'upset' over delay in Congress' candidates list "Looking at the situation in West Bengal, I think BJP will come into power. Mamata Banerjee has been in power for 10 years, now people want change. Republican Party of India will contest on 15-20 seats and support BJP there," the RPI chief said. Athawale also questioned over the alleged conspiracy and attack theory being floated by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) after CM Banerjee was injured in Nandigram on Wednesday evening. The union minister pointed out that Banerjee has never been attacked before in Bengal and it was difficult for the same to happen now. "I don't know who attacked Mamata Banerjee or what was the plan. It should be investigated. I don't think there is any politics involved. She wasn't attacked ever before, how can someone do it now," Athawale told the media. Full list of Congress star campaigners for West Bengal elections Athawale was speaking to the press in Mumbai after receiving the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at JJ Hospital in Mumbai. The minister got vaccinated against the COVID-19 disease along with his wife Seema Athawale. It may be noted that the BJP has emerged as the main challenger to the incumbent TMC in the eight-phase West Bengal Legislative Assembly Election 2021 beginning March 27. The results will be announced on May 2. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 17:22 [IST] MPs have demanded an explanation from the home secretary for the apparently misleading evidence she gave in Parliament about the conditions in two controversial military sites housing asylum seekers. An inspection by the UKs immigration and prison watchdogs of Napier Barracks, in Folkestone, and Penally Barracks, in Pembrokeshire both of which were repurposed as asylum accommodation in September found that the sites did not comply with official health and safety guidance. Preliminary findings of the inspection, published on Tuesday, stated that recommendations and concerns from Public Health England (PHE) and Public Health Wales (PHW) were not actioned before hundreds of asylum seekers were placed there. The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) and the Prison Inspectorate stated that PHE had advised the Home Office that opening multi-occupancy dormitory-style accommodation at Napier was not supported by current guidance, and both they and PHW expressed concerns about the Covid-safety of the accommodation. The findings were at odds with evidence given by Ms Patel to the Home Affairs Select Committee two weeks before, when she stated that advice around dormitories and the use of the accommodation was all based on PHE advice. The home secretary added at the time: It is all working in line with public health guidance and with local authority partners so we have been following guidance in every single way. Her remarks were echoed by the Home Offices permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft during the same evidence session, who claimed the department had followed the guidance at every stage. In a letter to Priti Patel on Wednesday, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee Yvette Cooper states that she is very concerned that some of those findings contradict the evidence that you and the permanent secretary gave to the Committee on Wednesday 24 February. Please can you provide an immediate explanation for the discrepancy between the information you gave us and the information provided in the ICBI report including any corrections needed to the evidence you gave us to ensure it is accurate and not misleading, the letter states. Ms Cooper goes on to demand that Ms Patel explain why she had not yet provided the committee with the public health assessments and advice the department received before starting to use the barracks, and to immediately disclose the PHE and PHW advice that was given. Stuart McDonald, SNP MP and member of the committee, called on Ms Patel to go a step further and make an urgent statement on the matter in Parliament, saying the ICIBI findings utterly undermined what she had been telling Parliament for months. Describing the camps as a reckless policy choice, he added: The contradictions between ministerial accounts and the reality in this report are many and varied. A Home Office spokesperson said: The permanent secretary and home secretary were clear that we have followed public health advice on how multiple occupancy accommodation can be used in a Covid-secure way and we followed all steps to mitigate risks. Man Infraconstruction advanced 2.35% to Rs 45.80 after the company said its joint venture is launching a real estate development project in Mumbai. Man Infraconstruction through its joint venture (JV) entity, Man Chandak Realty, is launching a real estate development project having total saleable area of approx. 3,50,000 square feet at Vile Parle (West), Mumbai under the 'Development Management Model'. The project will be developed in two phases and Phase-I of the project will be launched in the name of 'Insignia'. The announcement was made during market hours today, 12 March 2021. Meanwhile, Man Infrasconstruction on Tuesday, announced that the Bombay High Court has disposed-off the review petition filed by the Government of Maharashtra, related to a project involving subsidiary Manaj Tollway (MTPL). "Accordingly, MTPL is expected to receive within 30 days, an amount of Rs 357.79 crore plus interest, aggregating to approx. Rs 380 crore," the company added. Man Infraconstruction is a construction company engaged in the business of civil construction. The stock soared 29.37% in the past nine trading sessions from its recent closing low of Rs 35.40 on Friday, 26 February 2021. The scrip hit 52-week high at Rs 46.70 during intraday trade. The stock surged 215.86% from its 52-week low of Rs 14.50 hit on 24 March 2020. On the technical front, the stock's RSI (relative strength index) stood at 80.117. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally, the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30. The stock was trading above its 50-day moving average (DMA) placed at 36.85 and its 200-day moving average (DMA) placed at 27.62. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MHC Teacher of the Year Rebecca Tuuri to Present Online Lecture March 16 on Black Mississippi Women in Civil Rights Movement Tue, 03/09/2021 - 16:47pm | By: David Tisdale Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, a University of Southern Mississippi (USM) History professor nationally recognized for her research on the important role Black women played during the Civil Rights Movement, will present the online lecture Black Mississippi Womens Pivotal Role in Securing the Vote for All Americans Tuesday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. The presentation is in conjunction with Dr. Tuuri being honored by the Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC) with its Teacher of the Year award. The Zoom meeting ID for this lecture is 93274768312. Dr. Tuuris talk will spotlight three of those women -- Fannie Lou Hamer, Victoria Jackson Gray and Annie Devine -- whose bravery and perseverance proved invaluable in turning the tide against white supremacy and segregation. Her presentation will draw upon her second book project, I Question America: Mississippi Black Womens Leadership that Changed the Nation, which explores the history of these and other women in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), a rival Democratic party formed first to unseat segregationist Mississippi delegates at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. A member of the USM School of Humanities faculty since 2013, Dr. Tuuris research illuminates the important work Black women engaged in to secure freedom for all people, and how even though at times they toiled in the shadow of their more well-known male counterparts in the fight for freedom and justice, they were no less critical to the success of the Movement. She hopes her talk will inspire listeners to reconsider and evaluate their assumptions about expertise and historical significance by spotlighting historical actors like Hamer, Gray and Devine who, while often left out of mainstream narratives, significantly affected the course of democracy. The goal of my lecture is to illuminate the historic work of black women in Mississippi to secure the vote for all, Dr. Tuuri said. I will draw upon key history, sociology, and anthropology works that analyze different models of leadership to show how Mississippis black women community leaders worked behind the scenes for the larger Civil Rights Movement. As I will show, the women of the MFDP are leaders who not only made Mississippi better, they made America better. A native of New Orleans, La., Dr. Tuuri earned her Ph.D. in U.S. History from Rutgers University. She is the author of Strategic Sisterhood: The National Council of Negro Women in the Black Freedom Struggle (UNC Press, 2018), winner of the 2019 Julia Cherry Spruill prize for the best book on Southern womens history as given by the Southern Association for Women Historians. Dr. Tuuri is an Association of College and University Educators Distinguished Teaching Scholar and an Academic Service-Learning Faculty Fellow at Southern Miss. She is also co-director of the Center for the Study of the Gulf South and affiliated faculty with the Center for Black Studies and Womens and Gender Studies. She is also the recipient of a 2016 NEH Summer Stipend, a 2015 Moody Foundation grant at the LBJ Library, and the 2019 USM College of Arts and Sciences Junior Faculty of the Year award. She currently serves on the boards of the Gulf South Historical Association, the Mississippi Historical Society, and the Mississippi Encyclopedia (electronic version). Dr. Tuuri previously served as the state liaison for Mississippi History Day, the state contest for National History Day, which teaches middle and high school students critical thinking, historical research, and writing skills. Im so honored and humbled to be recognized with this award from the Mississippi Humanities Council, Dr. Tuuri said. I stand on the shoulders of our dynamic, knowledgeable, and caring faculty at Southern Miss who have shared so many excellent ideas with me for how to make my classes more engaging and effective for our students. In addition, I owe a tremendous debt to community civil rights educators and countless others who have spoken with my classes over the years, educating both my students and me. Finally, I am very grateful to the wonderful students at Southern Miss, who always teach me new things. I am proud to be a part of their learning experience and constantly amazed by what they can do." While she highly values the opportunity to teach classes on subjects that encompass her areas of expertise, which include Women and Gender, African American, U.S. and World History, Dr. Tuuri says she feels especially honored to teach the history of the Civil Rights Movement at USM. Hattiesburg was one of the most important locations of the Mississippi civil rights movement, she said. With that in mind, I try to create a classroom environment that provides students, who are sometimes the direct descendants of both activists and resistors, the opportunity to learn from past freedom struggles. I hope these lessons empower my students to build a fairer and more just world. The USM History program is housed in the College of Arts and Sciences School of Humanities. For more information about the School of Humanities and the USM History program, visit https://www.usm.edu/humanities/index.php. Jaipur: Bank unions held a demonstration near Ambedkar Circle here on Friday (March 12) to protest against the government's decision to privatise two public sector banks. State Convenor of United Forum of Bank Unions, Mahesh Mishra said 10 lakh bank employees have been protesting in the country for the last one month and called for a two-day nationwide strike on March 15 -16. He said on March 4, the United Forum made every effort before the Additional Chief Labour Commissioner to prevent the strike. The union's representatives stayed in Delhi till March 10 for the government's response, but it was not ready to change its decision of privatisation of two public sector banks. He said the names of two public sector banks are yet to be announced. Banks will remain closed for four days from Saturday (March 13), he added. Live TV KYODO NEWS - Mar 12, 2021 - 14:15 | All, Japan, Coronavirus Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo Co. said Friday it has started manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine of Britain's AstraZeneca Plc in Japan, as reports emerged in some European countries of blood clots in people receiving the vaccine. Based on an outsourcing agreement concluded in February, the Japanese pharmaceutical firm began Thursday the vial filling and packaging of the vaccine using undiluted solutions provided by AstraZeneca at its subsidiary Daiichi Sankyo Biotech Co., it said. "We will supply the vaccine immediately after gaining approval from the Japanese government," an AstraZeneca official said. AstraZeneca, which filed for the Japanese health ministry's approval of its COVID-19 vaccine in early February, is set to provide to Japan 120 million doses, enough for about 60 million people, of the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford. Of the 120 million doses, 30 million will be manufactured by Daiichi Sankyo and another pharmaceutical firm, KM Biologics Co., while JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. will produce solutions for 90 million doses. The European Medicines Agency said Thursday it has started investigation of blood clot cases among people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, including one death reported in Denmark. Some European countries have halted supplying shots of the British pharmaceutical giant's vaccine following reports of 30 cases of thromboembolic events among nearly 5 million people who have received it. Thailand also suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday. The EMA said the number of such cases is no higher than the number seen in the general population and that the vaccine's benefits currently still outweigh risks. Meanwhile, the European Union on Thursday extended its vaccine export control mechanism until the end of June as part of efforts to secure vaccines for EU citizens. "We will make every effort to secure stable supply of vaccines (to Japan) from the European Union," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Friday at a press conference, adding all applications for vaccine exports to Japan have been so far approved. Minding the Body Commentary My mind thinks Im still 25. My body thinks my mind is an idiot. This piece of social media wisdom may not be the most subtle or sophisticated, but it probably is the most recent example of an imagined conversation or debate between body and mind. In such exchanges, not uncommon in medieval and Renaissance literature, the mind (or spirit or soulthe terms were sometimes used interchangeably) is the superior party, the essence of the person. It might berate the body, which it associated with carnality, lust, and the flesh, for leading the soul into sinful and destructive behavior. The body might reply that it was merely a pile of inert matter, unable to do anything without being directed and animated by the soul. Or as in Plato, the body is pictured as a cage in which the soul was entrapped to be released only by death. Or as in some Eastern religions, it might be seen as a coat which one puts on or takes off but which has no life or meaning of its own. The mainstream Christian (as well as Jewish) tradition rejects this mindbody dualism. It sees the human person as a mindbody composite, an ensouled body or an embodied soul. It gave an important place to the body. It rejected the idea that the soul was good and the body bad. The human body was Gods creation and was good. God became man and dwelt among us, the orthodoxy proclaimed, and dwells in us still. The body was, as the well-catechized learned, to be treated with dignity and not abused by lust or self-harm. But the ambivalent attitude persisted. The body was both the prison of the soul and the temple of the Holy Spirit. As Robert P. George puts it in First Things, the old heresy that we are non-bodily persons inhabiting non-personal bodies never quite goes away. Indeed, it has become the new orthodoxy, central to woke ideology and identity politics in all its forms, imposed by schools, courts, and Twitter mobs alike. Forgetting the Body In modern times, the split between mind and body has become radical. The body is seen more or less as a machine, though one inhabited for a time by a soul or self. It might seem odd to say that we neglect the body. After all, do we not idolize youth and physical beauty, seeking by all possible means to slow down our own aging and preserve the bodies we had when we were 25? But when we think of ourselves, who we are as persons, it is as disembodied beings who have a body in the way we have a car. Both must be maintained properly to obtain proper wear from them. But we are not our bodies, as we see it, or our cars. We dont expect our body to have much to say beyond, Look after me if you want to last and look good. But it has much more to say. The Body as Reality Check The body provides a reality check when we look in the mirror and see we are not as we saw ourselves. Or find we can no longer run or see or lift weights as we once could. Or see a picture of our mother or father as they were 40 years ago, looking much as we did at the same age. But the mind or self has become disconnected from our bodily reality to an extraordinary degree. Even talking in this way about the body telling us something suggests that the body is not us, but something we own. The real self as we think about it is about will and the capacity to choose. Its associated fundamentally with mind in that sense, not body. We see how extreme this divorce of body and mind has become in the confused and incoherent way liberal elites and the law think about major controversies of the day, such as euthanasia and the kinds of physical treatments used in cases of gender dysphoria, validated and enforced through the regnant ideology of transgenderism. These treatments do not seek to help patients be at peace with the bodies they actually have, male or female in every cell, but aim to adjust the body into some semblance of what the mind, for the moment, desires. What the Body Tells Us The body tells us that we are finite beings on earth, born as we die in complete dependence, and subject to becoming dependent once more because of illness or impairment at any stage in life. When the capacity to choose defines humanity, then we are all at timesbirth, death, disability, a coma, even sleepless than human. Some entire classes of humans are reduced to subhuman status, like those with Down syndrome whom some countries decide as a matter of policy to kill while still in the womb. Euthanasia has expanded rapidly, even for psychological reasons like depression, where suicidal feelings are not treated but acceded to. Or severe dementia, where theres no possibility or pretense of consent or where consent is assumed on the basis of what the patient said he felt earlier in life when he was not a patient. In one notorious case in the Netherlands, the doctor drugged and killed a patient, asking the family to hold her down while she did soand was exonerated and praised for it. Suffering itself, even without consent at the time, becomes grounds for killing. Even children as young as 9 and 11, supposedly with their own and their parents consent, have been put to death to relieve their suffering in Belgium and the Netherlands. When we deny the truth and meaning of the body as central to what it means to be human, we are not taking a higher, more spiritual path. We are trying to be as gods while dehumanizing the life we are given. Paul Adams writes on ethics, marriage and family, and social policy. He is professor emeritus of social work at the University of Hawaii. He has also taught at Case Western University and the University of Texas. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Since last week, just about everybody in Villanueva del Rosario has paused as they walked down Avenida Juan Molina, to see part of the history of this village in Malaga province portrayed in the form of two murals, each measuring 10 metres wide by four metres high. Their reactions as they have looked at the photos have ranged from 'Oh look, there's my mother!" to "Could that be my great-great-grandmother?" Where did these murals come from, and what is this all about? They are designed as a tribute to all the women of the past who worked so hard for the village and for themselves, forging out a future in this world which was treating them so unjustly. This project is called 'Saucedenas' (people from Villanueva del Rosario are known as 'saucedenos') and it has been organised by the RARA art residence, which is run by Veronica Ruth Frias y Cyro Garcia, and the local council, thanks to the funds from the State Pact against Gender Violence. It has been produced by artists Ana Becerra and Selector Marx in conjunction with someone who is very special to the people of this village. Young people from the village took part in this project. / SUR That someone is a man who is always called upon for help when there is a desire to find something out about the history of Villanueva del Rosario. His name is Paco Alvarez Curiel and he has spent more than 30 of his 76 years collecting photos, archaeological items and just about anything relating to the history of this village. "All the women deserve this tribute. Life was very hard for everyone, but especially so for them. Although it has taken so long, the time has come to recognise their work," he says. Since 2012 he has been publishing a blog called 'Murre, tanrre, querre', featuring over 5,000 photos which are accompanied by stories of village life and people's work in the past. These photos in the 'Saucedenas' exhibition were taken in the 1960s, and specifically at the 'chapel-schools' which had been founded by Cardinal Angel Herrera Oria. Paco Alvarez Curiel remembers it well: "Most of the women there were teachers, and one of them was Ana Maria Matute. I went to her house to do a report for the local TV station and she showed me several photos; two of them have been used for this project. You can see her with the women that she used to help and teach," he recalls. History and street art Ana Becerra (from Ronda) and Selector Marx (Madrid), who had been staying for a week in the artists' residence RARA, became involved in this project. They both work in photography and street art, in Spain and internationally, and they were very excited about the idea of this exhibition. "We are both fanatics of traditions and the people who have so much to tell. In the moments in history they have had to live through, they have perhaps been more in the background than they should have been," says Marx. "This project has linked several generations, not just the people in the photos. We wanted to give a voice to stories that have been forgotten with the passage of time," says Becerra. This project has made a strong impact in the village, because although its content was already in people's memories, it is now clearly visible to everyone who passes by. Pupils at the Pintor Jose Hernandez secondary school also paid tribute to these women from the village, to keep in mind the way previous generations used to live. TMC Birbhum president Anubrata Mondal to be under strict EC surveillance from 5 pm till Fri 7 am: Official Six-member TMC delegation to meet EC in Delhi today over 'attack' on Mamata Banerjee India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 12: A six-member parliamentary delegation of the Trinamool Congress will meet Election Commission officials in Delhi on Friday over concerns following the alleged attack on TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the party sources said. Six TMC MPs from both the Houses of Parliament have flown to the capital to be part of the delegation which will meet the EC at 12 noon. The delegation comprises Derek O''Brien (Leader, AITC Parliamentary Party, Rajya Sabha), Saugata Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (MP, Lok Sabha), Satabdi Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Pratima Mondal (MP, Lok Sabha) and Santanu Sen (MP, Rajya Sabha). A delegation of the party also met poll panel officials in Kolkata on Thursday and later alleged that the "Election Commission did nothing despite there being reports of a possible attack on Banerjee". Claiming that the attack was a "deep-rooted conspiracy to take the life of the TMC supremo", party leaders alleged that anti-social elements have been mobilised from the neighbouring states by the BJP in Nandigram to unleash violence. The EC can''t shun responsibility as it is in charge of the law-and-order situation in poll-bound West Bengal, it said. The Trinamool Congress supremo was injured in the leg after being allegedly pushed by unidentified people near a temple at Reyapara area during campaigning at Nandigram on Wednesday, where the BJP has pitted her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari against her. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News Banerjee alleged that she was pushed by four to five men while she was trying to get into the car, following which she fell flat on her face. The EC on Thursday sent a strongly-worded letter to the TMC on its memorandum over injuries to Banerjee during campaign, saying it looks "undignified to even respond" to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a "particular party". PTI ASG CK For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 10:25 [IST] London, March 12 : British television personality Sharon Osbourne has issued an official statement, after her discussion with "The Talk" host Sheryl Underwood on Piers Morgan Morgan went public. She has apologised to anyone who might have been hurt by her comments. In the statement, which she posted on her Instagram page on Friday, Sharon wrote: "After some reflection, after sitting with your comments and sitting with my heart I would like to address the discussion on The Talk this past Wednesday. I have always been embraced with so much love & support from the black community and I have deep respect and love for the black community." She goes on to say: "To anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said I am truly sorry. I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive & allowed my fear & horror of being accused of being racist take over. There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism so to feel associated with that spun me fast! I am not perfect, I am still learning like the rest of us and will continue to learn, listen and do better." Sharon, who was invited on "The Talk" after she showed support to Piers Morgan, spoke to Sheryl on and off air about why she supported Morgan. Sharon had earlier tweeted to Morgan saying: "@piersmorgan I am with you. I stand by you," which had created an uproar. The day after her tweet, Sharon explained that she didn't "agree with what he said", but supported her friend's "freedom of speech". During the "The Talk", Sharon and Osbourne had a heated argument about the former supporting Morgan's comments against Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. US President Joe Biden on Thursday condemned what he called "vicious hate crimes" committed against Asian Americans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, calling such acts "un-American" and demanding they stop. "Too often, we've turned against one another," Biden said in his first primetime address, detailing the progress made in the fight against Covid-19. The Democratic president decried "vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated" over the pandemic, which originated in China. "At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans -- they're on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives and still, still they're forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America," Biden said. "It's wrong. It's un-American. And it must stop." Activists say broader anti-Asian discrimination has been fuelled by talk of the "Chinese virus" from former president Donald Trump and others. Racial motivation is hard to establish in many cases, but reported anti-Asian hate crimes more than doubled from 49 to 122 last year across 16 major US cities including New York and Los Angeles -- even as overall hate crime fell, according to a California State University study. The report looked at events categorized as criminal in nature and showing evidence of ethnic or racial bias, using preliminary local police data. It aligns with another study from the Stop AAPI Hate advocacy group showing more than 2,800 incidents of racism and discrimination -- including non-physical forms -- targeting Asian-Americans and reported online across the United States between March and December last year. sms-sst/jh NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors Ormat Technologies, Inc. ("Ormat" or the "Company")(NYSE: ORA). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether Ormat and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On March 1, 2021, before the market opened, Hindenburg Research ("Hindenburg") published a report entitled "Ormat: Dirty Dealings in 'Clean' Energy." According to the Hindenburg report, the Company "has engaged in what we believe to be widespread and systematic acts of intentional corruption," adding that it "expect[s] the blowback to these revelations to be severe, threatening Ormat's contracts in its most lucrative markets." In the report, Hindenburg claims to have "uncovered evidence tying Ormat to corruption with senior government officials" and "direct evidence tying Ormat to corruption with senior Guatemalan government officials", further noting that "Ormat paid contractors in Kenya tied to corrupt government officials." On this news, Ormat's stock price fell $1.00 per share, or 1.1%, to close at $84.67 per share on March 1, 2021. That same day, after the market closed, Ormat responded to the report and acknowledged that "[t]he Company is aware of claims being investigated in Israel regarding Ravit Barniv, an Ormat Board member, and Hezi Kattan, the Company's General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer." Though the "claims involve Ms. Barniv's and Mr. Kattan's work at another company, prior to joining Ormat," the Company announced that it would "transfer the responsibility for the Company's compliance function to other members of the Ormat management team until these issues are resolved." On this news, Ormat's stock price fell another $1.68 per share, or nearly 2%, to close at $82.99 per share on March 2, 2021. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gives a press conference after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination at Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 21, 2021. (Mark Evans/Getty Images) Australia to Put Squeeze on Car Manufacturers Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is threatening global car manufacturers with massive fines if they do wrong by Australian dealers. The prime minister is promising to stand up to multinational companies so Australian business gets a fair go. He compared his motoring plan to a news media bargaining code recently imposed on Facebook and Google. Morrison wants to impose mandatory requirements during the bargaining process, including increased penalties for manufacturing giants who breach the automotive code. We expect big multinational companies to deal with Australian companies fairly and to do the right thing, he told reporters in Sydney on Friday. Theyre not allowed to come and ride roughshod and justify it on the changes to their business models for decisions taken in other parts of the world. International car companies could be fined up to $10 million for unilaterally changing contracts, providing insufficient compensation or reneging on warranties. The government is also working with motor dealers to ensure they are adequately protected from unfair contract terms. It is considering options to achieve mandatory binding arbitration for car franchisees to address power imbalances in disputes. One idea being explored is the merits of a stand alone automotive franchising code. By Daniel McCulloch Rashmi Samant, Indian president-elect of Oxford student union quits over racist social media posts India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 12: After being elected the first Indian woman president of the University of Oxford's Students' Union, a 22-year-old student from Karnataka's Udupi was forced to quit after some of her old social media posts that were deemed to be "racist" and "insensitive". Rashmi Samant, a student of MSc in Energy Systems, contested the elections for Presidency of Student Union and won the election. She had positioned herself as an "inclusivity" candidate in the election and campaigned to "decolonise" the Oxford syllabus and to remove all statues proven to be imperialist, including that of Christopher Codrington at the Conference of Colleges. One Instagram post that showed her at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin in 2017 was captioned: "The memorial *CASTS* a *HOLLOW* dream of the past atrocities and deeds" and another photo from Malaysia captioned as "Ching Chang". Speaking to leading newspaper, Rashmi said that was her first trip to Europe. "I was young and I didn't know better. I did not mean to be insensitive. I was trying to make a pun on words and I am a non-native English speaker." Although Rashmi apologised in an open letter as soon as the posts emerged but as the clamour for her resignation refused to die down, she announced on Facebook on Tuesday that she has decided to quit as president-elect. She wrote: "I wish to ask a question to all who termed me insensitive and racist citing my social media posts of the past. Are you being sensitive when you judge a person's worth based on social media captions of a non-native English speaking teenager that were posted years before the person formed convictions on issues of race? Let me reiterate this: those posts are not a reflection of my hatred towards communities. They were the posts of a teenager who just had access to the world of social media. I again reiterate my apology to those genuinely hurt for my ignorance but not to those with malicious intent targeted me on 'insensitivity'." However, the student union expressed regret and said it has a no-tolerance policy towards discrimination. There will now be a by-election. Rashmi also claims that her parents and religion were dragged into the controversy and subjected to hateful messages. Following a backlash over some old social media posts,Twitter even suspended her account over the post. Even after a suspension of 36 hours and deleting all of her followers, Twitter restricted her account again hours after restoring her account. Post which, Samant questioned the social media giant for curtailing her right to free speech. When I thought I could not be humiliated even more, my account was suspended. Restored after 36 hours with zero followers. Freedom of Speech? https://t.co/yXgblIDAcs Rashmi Samant (@Rashmidvs) March 9, 2021 Twitter has alleged that Samant, a 22-year-old MSc student in energy systems, concealed her true age when she created her online account, which was against its regulatory guidelines. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News A similar story had come to light in 2019 involving physicist Mrittunjoy Guha Majumdar, who had completed his masters and PhD from Cambridge University. Californias Proposed K-12 Curriculum Encourages Chanting to Aztec Gods The California Department of Education has proposed a new curriculum that would involve teachers leading students in chanting the names of Aztec gods in an effort to build unity in the classroom. The latest draft of the proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, which will undergo a vote for approval next week, seeks to center and place high values of the traditions and experiences of pre-Columbian America, and to critique white supremacy and racism that led to their marginalization in the modern world. This guiding narrative is reflected in the design of sample lessons and various class activities, including the model curriculums official ethnic studies community chant, in which students directly appeal to the deities of the Aztec pantheon for the power to become warriors of love, ecological and social justice. In the community chant of In Lak Ech, which translates to You Are My Other Me, teachers are instructed to first lead the group of students in chanting and clapping to Tezcatlipoca, a cannibalistic wizard-god who, according to the Aztec tradition, brought the downfall to the Toltec civilization in favor of the human-sacrificing Aztecs. The students then chant to other deities including Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god, seeking healing epistemologies and a revolutionary spirit. Seeing themselves as people of the sun, the Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli needed daily nourishment of human blood and hearts, and brutally sacrificed hundreds of thousands of people in offering to him. The chant ends with a request for liberation, transformation, decolonization, after which students shout Panche beh! Panche beh! which translates to seeking the roots of the truth or think critically. The document includes a link to a video showing what a unity chant looks like in practice. The video was taken at Social Justice Humanitas Academy in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where many indigenous songs and chants like In Lak Ech were developed. Christopher Rufo, the journalist who first reported about the chant to Aztec gods promoted by Californias new curriculum, wrote in his City Journal article that such practice almost certainly violates the First Amendments Establishment Clause that prohibits the state from showing a preference for one religion over others. Public schools are prohibited from leading state-sanctioned Christian prayers; they would presumably be similarly prohibited from leading state-sanctioned chants to the Aztec god of human sacrifice, Rufo wrote. The curriculum, if approved, would serve as a guide to Californias K-12 education system of more than 6 million students. It was originally proposed in 2019 as a part of the states effort to teach students about the accomplishments of non-Christian people, groups, and ethnic minorities to address issues of ethnicity, identity, service, and social justice. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) shares, which have been trading in a channel during the short term, lost some ground in Thursday's session. The shares have seen a strong uptrend in the long term. f5min3-11-21.png Ford Technical Levels To Watch: The 5-minute chart above shows that the stock has been trading in a channel in recent days. The chart has shown to have some support at the $12.40 level. This area was a previous resistance that retested as support and held later in the short-term chart. The chart is also showing that the $13 level has previously held as resistance. This level could hold as a future resistance level. Short-term bullish technical traders would like to see the $13 resistance level break with some consolidation above the level before the price makes an upward move. Short-term bearish traders would like to see the stock fall below the support level with some consolidation before a further downward push occurs. Watch: a recent discussion on Ford on Benzinga's "ZingerNation" YouTube show. fdaily3-11-21.png The daily chart shown above displays the price trading in a channel. The stock was previously building higher lows into the resistance level near $12 before it broke above the level. A technical trader may call this an ascending triangle pattern. Now the stock looks to be holding this level as a possible support. The next potential resistance may be near the $13 level, as this is the new high. See also: How to Buy Ford Stock Bulls would like to see consolidation above the $12 level before the resistance level of $13 eventually may break. Bears would like to see the price fall through the $12 support level with consolidation below before the price may fall further. Ford is trading with a market cap of $50.9 billion. Photo of Ford headquarters by Dave Parker via Wikimedia. See more from Benzinga 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. BURBANK, Calif., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SCA Claim Services, the trusted national quality leader of independent appraisals and services, announced today it has launched its new property adjusting service. SCA brings to residential and commercial property adjusting the same unmatched attention to quality and detail, as well as consistency, speed and integrity it has provided to its personal automobile and specialty vehicle and equipment customers since 1979. Every property claim will be assigned to a trained and experienced property adjuster with specific peril expertise to ensure the most accurate estimating and reporting. Furthermore, whether it is for a daily claim or responding to a catastrophe, SCA has at the ready a nationwide network of property adjusters and adjusting teams. For the customer, this means the claim will be assigned to a local market expert who understands both the geographic and legal nuances that may affect how the claim is handled. "We've spent 40 years becoming increasingly proficient at managing a nationwide network of franchise and independent adjusters to support our customers, no matter the nature of the claim," says SCA President Tim Davis, Jr. "Our property adjusting service will be no different. We are supporting our customers with the best, most appropriate resources so their focus can remain on adjusting and not administering." As with all claim files handled by SCA, property damage claims will undergo rigorous review by a dedicated, internal Quality Control team to verify use of best practices, accuracy and adherence to the customer's company guidelines. Customers benefit from this by being able to close files faster and eliminate unnecessary costs. SCA Claim Services, founded in 1979, is a national appraisal and adjusting company providing services to insurance carriers, financial services companies, adjusting companies, municipalities and other organizations. In addition to private passenger vehicles, SCA has a dedicated specialty unit that appraises heavy equipment and commercial vehicles, and a dedicated residential and commercial property damages unit as well. For more information about SCA and the range of appraisal and adjusting services provided, please visit scaclaims.com or contact us at [email protected]. For inquiries: Client Services |[email protected] | 1-800-572-8010 Related Images sca.png SCA SCA Logo SOURCE SCA Claim 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. Louisiana is reporting the lowest number of coronavirus hospitalizations in nearly a year. There are 478 hospitalized patients who tested positive for coronavirus as of the Friday report from the Louisiana Department of Health. That number reflects hospitalizations from Thursday. That's the lowest number since March 24, 2020, when the hospitalization number was reported as 271. That was the very first day that the Department of Health reported that data. In the days following March 24, 2020, hospitalizations quickly ballooned in Louisiana. Reported hospitalizations grew from 271 to 1,156 in the span of a week. Louisiana reported a peak of 2,069 hospitalizations on January 8, 2021. Hospitalizations have steadily declined since then. The Louisiana Department of Health also reported 449 more confirmed coronavirus cases and 28 more confirmed deaths in its noon update Friday. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 36, and the number of patients in need of ventilators decreased by one. +4 Most Louisiana adults can get a coronavirus vaccine, but who can't? Some essential workers When Louisiana expanded vaccine eligibility earlier this week to anyone over 16 with a long list of medical conditions, the state shifted over There are now a total of 374,421 confirmed coronavirus cases and 62,061 total "probable" coronavirus cases in Louisiana, according to the agency's dashboard. These are another few key statewide statistics as of Friday: 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: 374,421 Total "probable" cases: 62,061 Total confirmed deaths: 9,122 Currently hospitalized: 478 Currently on ventilators: 63 Vaccine series initiated: 819,170 (updated twice weekly) Vaccine series completed: 470,147 Presumed recovered: 420,459 as of March 8 (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. Here are some of the parishes with the highest single-day increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, based on the Friday report: East Baton Rouge: 68 Jefferson: 46 St. Tammany: 38 Calcasieu: 34 Lafayette: 29 Bossier: 26 Orleans: 23 Can't see chart below? Click here. Can't see chart below? Click 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 before putting Louisiana back in a modified Phase 3 on March 2, 2021. This is a developing story. More details and analysis to come. Pubs and restaurants which are "dead on their feet" due to lockdowns have welcomed news of another year's rates holiday in a 230m relief package. Finance Minister Conor Murphy said 29,000 businesses in areas like retail and hospitality, tourism and leisure will not have to pay rates for another year, getting rid of one of their major overheads. In last week's Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended rates relief for firms in England from April to the end of June, followed by a two-thirds discount for another nine months. Mr Murphy said: "This 230m package will provide continued support for businesses dealing with the impacts of the pandemic. "Recognising that the months ahead will continue to be hugely challenging, extending the 12 months rates holiday in the hardest hit sectors will protect jobs. "This package goes well beyond what has been announced in England and demonstrates the Executive's commitment to providing certainty and support for businesses." He said firms have now benefited from over 0.5bn in extra rates support over the last two years, with the regional rate also frozen for the second year in a row. Airports, childcare, manufacturing and newspaper production are also benefiting. All shops get the relief, except larger food stores and off-licences. Colin Neill, chief executive of pub trade body Hospitality Ulster, said: "This is really welcome news at a time when businesses in the hospitality sector are dead on their feet. "They have either been closed or required to operate under the most severe restrictions of any business sector for nearly a year." But he said businesses needed more information about how and when they can reopen safely so they can benefit from the rates holiday while trading. Belfast Chamber chief executive Simon Hamilton said: "As we look towards reopening our economy, this is a recognition by the Executive that the road to recovery will be a long and hard one for many customer facing businesses and the removal of this substantial cost will be of huge assistance." Roger Pollen, head of FSB NI, said the move would provide valuable support but added: "The Executive should not rule out supporting those businesses that do not fall into these sectors but which may have seen income dry up through the indirect impact of restrictions." The factory makes the Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y electric vehicles. (NYSE:TSLA) shares point lower ahead of Fridays open after a fire at a manufacturing facility in California. A large metal stamping machine caught fire, ignited by hydraulic fluid and molten aluminium. No injuries were reported and the fire was extinguished, meanwhile, reports say that the equipment damage and impact on production was not yet known. Tesla employs some 10,000 people at the factory which produces four EV models - Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y. In New York, Tesla shares had risen by 4.72% at Thursdays close and on Friday was indicated at US$672, down 4%. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Sunshine and a few clouds. High around 80F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Theres a reason why almost every MLA who has used unparliamentary language in Manitoba's legislature, and been asked to withdraw their statement, has done so immediately and without reservation: they respect the institution. Theres a reason why almost every MLA who has used unparliamentary language in Manitoba's legislature, and been asked to withdraw their statement, has done so immediately and without reservation: they respect the institution. That cant be said about NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine, who this week got tossed from the chamber after deciding she's above the rules. The legislature can be a toxic environment at the best of times. Political sniping, heckling, and mudslinging occur often in the house, particularly during question period. All political parties are guilty of it. The worst barbs are often heard when microphones are turned off; those rarely make it into Hansard (the official record of what is said in the chamber). JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES MLA Nahanni Fontaine, the NDP justice critic, said the Pallister government "doesnt give a crap about Indigenous women and girls in this province." However, when comments are on the record when a member crosses the line and makes disparaging remarks (or uses a word not permitted in the house) the Speaker asks the MLA to withdraw it. It's a recognition there's a line in the sand between civil and uncivil debate. Ninety-nine times out of 100, the member withdraws. Fontaine defiant after Speaker ejects her from chamber Click to Expand NDP Justice Critic, Nahanni Fontaine, was ejected from the Manitoba legislative chamber by the Speaker for the use of "unparliamentary language" during question period on Wednesday. Posted: 7:00 PM Mar. 10, 2021 The NDP justice critic was ejected from the Manitoba legislative chamber by the Speaker on Wednesday for saying the Tory government doesnt give a crap about Indigenous women and girls in this province." It's against the rules to use "unparliamentary language" during question period. When pressed to retract her comment, Nahanni Fontaine refused. Read Full Story They do so because they know the legislative assembly is an institution that is bigger than themselves. They respect its history and the critical role it plays in our democracy, including the need to maintain decorum. If they refuse to withdraw, as Fontaine did Wednesday, they are ejected from the house. They cant return for the rest of the day. Its a rare occurrence; it has only happened a handful of times in Manitoba over the past few decades. Theres no honour in getting kicked out of the chamber for using unparliamentary language. Its not a courageous act of civil disobedience that raises awareness around an important issue. Its a political stunt, a cheap attempt at self-promotion. Fontaine, the NDP justice critic, said the Pallister government "doesnt give a crap about Indigenous women and girls in this province." She has every right to criticize government for inaction on violence against Indigenous women and girls, whether perceived or real. She doesn't have a right to disrespect the institution; the place St. Johns voters sent her to represent the constituency. There are reasons for maintaining decorum in the legislature. If MLAs were allowed to say anything that pops into their head, the legislative assembly would degenerate into a cesspool of insults and character assassinations (eclipsing anything that exists today). It would erode its legitimacy. NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Fontaines unparliamentary language was acceptable because the word "crap" is used on radio and TV. Thats a pretty low bar. If MLAs were allowed to say anything that pops into their head, the legislative assembly would degenerate into a cesspool of insults and character assassinations (eclipsing anything that exists today). It would erode its legitimacy. The legislative assembly is not broadcast media; its a democratic institution where elected officials debate and pass laws and make important decisions for society. Its not a pool hall. Protocols exist in courtrooms for the same reason. People in courtrooms follow etiquette, they dont chew gum or wear hats, and they refer to judges as "your honour." Lawyers dont tell judges they "dont give a crap" about something, no matter how much they may disagree with a ruling. Decorum is a necessary part of maintaining legitimacy. Fontaine, who also serves as NDP house leader, said the legislative assembly is more concerned about the word "crap" than the killing of Indigenous women and girls. Poll Loading... Should Nahanni Fontaine have been kicked out of the Manitoba legislative chamber for saying the word "crap"? Yes, it is unparliamentary language and shouldn't be used in the chamber. No, it's not a swear. She said nothing wrong. Should Nahanni Fontaine have been kicked out of the Manitoba legislative chamber for saying the word "crap"? Yes, it is unparliamentary language and shouldn't be used in the chamber. 52% (954 votes) No, it's not a swear. She said nothing wrong. 48% (877 votes) Total Votes: 1831 View ResultsHide Results Its a ludicrous claim. To suggest Speaker Myrna Driedger, a longtime advocate of womens rights, or MLAs on either side of the house are not concerned about women and girls being murdered is preposterous. It's a disgraceful accusation. Fontaines antics do nothing to advance the cause of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. They do not elevate the debate or get people "enraged" enough to do something about the crisis, as Fontaine suggests. All it does is drag down the quality of debate and debases the institution Fontaine serves in. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca A Great Ormond Street Hospital porter who carried out more than 500 sex assaults on children as young as five is facing life in prison. Paul Farrell pleaded guilty to a total of 69 offences against eight victims over a 35-year period. From 1985 to 2020 he sexually abused victims aged between five and 16 hundreds of times, hiding behind the pretence of being a 'loving family man'. The 55-year-old brought the victims to his place of employment on the pretext of work experience, a court heard. He admitted abusing two boys in the linen room of Great Ormond Street Hospital, in central London, where he would 'lock the door' as he carried out the horrific abuse. Prosecutors said Farrell's crimes amounted to at least 500 instances of abuse. In each case, the 'prolific sex attacker' befriended the parents before abusing their children. He was arrested in January last year but continued to assault children while he was on bail last June. Paul Farrell pleaded guilty to sexually abusing eight children between 1985 and 2020 Farrell at Wood Green Crown Court, London where he pleaded guilty to 58 child sex offences carried out between 1985 and 2020, including attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 1. Pictured, a court sketch of Farrell from November last year Farrell did not target children at Great Ormond Street, but at least two alleged victims claimed they were sexually abused in areas he had access to Given the 'predatory nature' of his offending over a lengthy period of time, police have warned 'there is a very real possibility that Farrell has abused other children' and are urging any further victims to contact the Met. The charges related to eight victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and are now aged between eight and 43. The offences, carried out between 1985 and 2020, include attempted rape, sexual assault of a child under 13 and making indecent photographs of children. The youngest child Farrell abused was believed to be five years old in the 1980s. Farrell did not target children at Great Ormond Street, but at least two alleged victims claimed they were sexually abused in areas he had access to. Other offences took place in the victims' homes and a community centre. A search of Farrell's home in Camden, north London, last year unearthed a safe in his bedroom containing numerous indecent DVDs and photographs of children, while analysis of his mobile phone found indecent images of children and extreme pornographic material. Text messages were found on his mobile phone which led to enquiries being made about other young victims who may have been abused. He was arrested in January 2020 after victims came forward and spoke to the police. The most recent offences were in June 2020 while he was on bail, police said today. Farrell held a number of positions, including working as a porter, at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in central London between 1994 and 2020. None of the victims were patients at the London hospital (file photo) Great Ormond Street Hospital speaks out about 'catalogue of truly awful crimes' A spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) said they were 'deeply sorry that he was able to abuse his position and use our hospital to commit some of his offences'. She said their thoughts were with all the victims of 'this horrendous abuse' and that Farrell had 'admitted to a catalogue of truly awful crimes'. She added: 'His actions are in direct contrast to everything we stand for as a children's hospital. 'We will continue to work with the police to understand more about his crimes and consider whether there is anything more we can do to prevent cases like this. 'We know that the crimes he committed and his association with the hospital may cause alarm and distress among our patients, their families and our wider hospital community. We would like to reiterate what has been said in court; that Paul Farrell did not target children at GOSH. 'We urge anyone who has concerns about this case to call the helpline that we have set up with the NSPCC on 0800 101 996.' Advertisement More than 20 other charges were left to lie on file and Farrell will not face trial as no further charges are expected. He pleaded guilty to a further five counts of possessing indecent images and extreme pornography of children in relation to this at a previous hearing. Today, a judge at Wood Green Crown Court lifted restrictions which had prevented Farrell's image being published as well as details of where some of the offending is said to have occurred within the hospital. Prosecutor Paul Douglass said many of the counts were 'multi-incident', adding: 'We are looking at several hundred discrete acts of sexual abuse over a period of 35 years against boys aged between five or six and 16. 'Offences against two of the victims happened in Great Ormond Street, in the linen room, which is where the defendant was based for a large period of his employment there. 'He had a key for it and he locked the door and abused two boys in the linen room. 'A lot of the offences were committed...at the victims' home addresses and a community centre. A number of boys were abused at the centre over a period of many years.' David Osborne, acting for Mr Farrell, said he accepted his client will receive either a life sentence or an extended sentence. Jane Ndeti, from the Crown Prosecution Service, branded Farrell a 'a prolific sex attacker who presented himself as a loving family man with a stable job in London's biggest children's hospital'. Ms Ndeti added: 'Sexual offences against children are abhorrent crimes. 'These guilty pleas mean that Farrell's victims will now be spared the ordeal of giving evidence in court.' Judge Noel Lucas QC said the sentencing process will take place over two days due to the high number of offences. He also said he will have to consider imposing a life sentence on the defendant. Pictured, a court sketch of Farrell from November last year The 55-year-old appeared at Wood Green Crown Court today where other charges were left on file 'Detective Superintendent Dave Courcha said: 'Farrell was extremely calculating and devious in his targeting of children he lodged at the homes of accommodating families and won their trust, only to abuse their children under their noses over a prolonged period. 'Most of the victims lived with the trauma of what they were subjected to for decades. 'Given the predatory nature of his offending over an extremely long period of time, there is a very real possibility that Farrell has abused other children. We urge any further victims to contact police right away a specially trained team of detectives are ready to listen to your story and support you.' Farrell's sentencing will take place at the same court on May 21 and 24 and Judge Noel Lucas QC ordered that he must appear in person. The judge said the sentencing process will take place over two days due to the high number of offences. A variety of financial matters dominated the last Sanilac County Commissioners meeting. Michigan Association of Counties Executive Director Steve Currie explained to county commissioners the services the agency provides to counties, and reported American Rescue Plan for COVID-19 Aid funds were on the way to the county. He said it is expected that the county would receive $8.1 million in funds to help cover COVID-19 related expenses to replace revenue that was lost due to the pandemic. In other money matters, commissioners recognized the need for a 2021 Ford Police Interceptor with related K-9 transportation equipment for the K-9 unit, and applied for funding for it from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Community Facilities Grant Program. The county was notified on Feb. 18 that its pre-application had been reviewed for a grant of 75% from the USDA that requires a 25% match by the county. The USDA recommended awarding the grant. Commissioners approved accepting the grant funds and paying 25% of the cost. Commissioners also supported submitting a Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant for the Forester Park Accessibility Playground Renovation Project that would have a 50% match. It would cost $160,300 for a handicap accessible playground renovation and addition to the park. If successful, the countys share would be $80,000. The funds to cover that cost would come from the park's millage account. Commissioners also approved a resolution for Suzanne Palmer, who retired from Sanilac County with over 18 years of service. She began her career with Sanilac County on May 21, 2002, as a part-time employee with the Public Guardians Office and retired as a clerk for the 73A District Court. Trinamool Congress supporters pray for the speedy recovery of party chief and West Bengal CM Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, outside SSKM hospital, in Kolkata, Thursday, March 11, 2021. (PTI/Ashok Bhaumik) New Delhi: A six-member parliamentary delegation of the Trinamool Congress will meet Election Commission officials in Delhi on Friday over concerns following the alleged attack on TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the party sources said. Six TMC MPs from both the Houses of Parliament have flown to the capital to be part of the delegation which will meet the EC at 12 noon. The delegation comprises Derek O'Brien (Leader, AITC Parliamentary Party, Rajya Sabha), Saugata Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (MP, Lok Sabha), Satabdi Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Pratima Mondal (MP, Lok Sabha) and Santanu Sen (MP, Rajya Sabha). A delegation of the party also met poll panel officials in Kolkata on Thursday and later alleged that the "Election Commission did nothing despite there being reports of a possible attack on Banerjee". Claiming that the attack was a "deep-rooted conspiracy to take the life of the TMC supremo", party leaders alleged that anti-social elements have been mobilised from the neighbouring states by the BJP in Nandigram to unleash violence. The EC can't shun responsibility as it is in charge of the law-and-order situation in poll-bound West Bengal, it said. The Trinamool Congress supremo was injured in the leg after being allegedly pushed by unidentified people near a temple at Reyapara area during campaigning at Nandigram on Wednesday, where the BJP has pitted her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari against her. Banerjee alleged that she was pushed by four to five men while she was trying to get into the car, following which she fell flat on her face. The EC on Thursday sent a strongly-worded letter to the TMC on its memorandum over injuries to Banerjee during campaign, saying it looks "undignified to even respond" to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a "particular party". 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. Lena Torres living room in Chalmette overflowed with bouquets of flowers, oversized cards and heart-shaped balloons on Jan. 29. It was a special occasion. Miss Lena, as she was known throughout St. Bernard Parish for her decades of public service, turned 100 that day. People are so nice and thoughtful, Torres said, sitting in an easy chair, as her son Sidney Torres III and her daughter Lena Nunez hovered in the background, along with other family members and friends. Archbishop Gregory Aymond had called earlier with his birthday wishes. Torres touched virtually every person in the tight-knit parish at some point or another over 72 years in the Clerk of Courts Office. During her final 24 years there, until 2012, she served as the elected clerk, efficient but unassuming. On Friday, she died peacefully in her sleep, Sidney Torres III said. Were thankful we had her for so long, he added. Lena Randazzo started in the Clerk of Courts Office in 1940, at a time when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and tomato farms occupied much of the parish. In 1943, she married Sidney Torres Jr. He became the clerk in 1956 and named Lena as his deputy. She succeeded Sidney after he died in 1988, and went on to win six elections before losing her seventh race to Randy Nunez, the current clerk, who is not related to her daughter. As she recounted on her 100th birthday, Torres never took a vacation during those 72 years. She recalled taking her first plane trip to travel to Connecticut in 1992 for the high school graduation of her grandson Sidney IV, who for a time struggled with drug abuse. Id go to her house during my worst times, Sidney IV said. She would listen to me and give me advice. She was never there to judge. He straightened himself out and went on to become a garbage magnate, reality TV star and real estate investor. 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 Lena Torres biggest challenge came in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which left most of St. Bernard underwater. As clerk, she was the parishs legal custodian for such documents as property sales, marriage licenses, mortgages, divorces and lawsuits. The hurricane damaged 95% of those records. Torres wasted no time in reaching out for assistance to other clerks of courts, including Louis Perret, the Lafayette Parish clerk. I need men with sidearms, and I need trucks to get my records, she told Perret. He and other clerks rented whatever vehicles they could find and drove to Chalmette. The records were taken to Blue Bell Creameries in Slidell, which froze them, and then to a warehouse in Houston, where they were treated page by page with a chemical solvent to remove the mold. Within a year, Torres had restored about 95% of the records. She was the most energetic senior citizen Ive ever been around, said Perret. When the courthouse reopened, Torres resumed her position at a small desk among the assistant clerks where she could greet each visitor and make sure her office attended to their needs. In addition to her son and daughter, Torres leaves behind two grandchildren, Sidney IV and Leander Nunez (a third grandchild, Anthony Torres, died in a car accident in 2007); and four great-grandchildren. Sidney Torres III said his mom was smiling and joked with him when he visited her Thursday at his sisters house, where she lived. You could tell she was at peace with her life, he said. Funeral arrangements will take place on March 18 at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church, 2320 Paris Road in Chalmette. Family visitation from 8:30 - 9:00; public visitation from 9:00 - 1:00 with a mass to follow. Burial at St. Bernard Catholic Cemetery, 2805 Bayou Road, in St. Bernard. (JNS) - A new Holocaust documentary narrated by British actor and "Harry Potter" star Jason Isaacs debuted this week for students in the United Kingdom. Holocaust Learning UK commissioned the hour-long film "Out of the Darkness," which features the testimony of Janine Webber, a survivor of the Lvov Ghetto. Isaacs, 57, who played Lucious Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" series of films, is Jewish and has spoken about experiencing anti-Semitic attacks as a teenager in London by the far-right group National Front. The documentary "teaches students about the Holocaust as it contextualizes the su... The Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region have recorded four deaths out of 97 Covid-19 cases recorded in the Municipality. Mr. Martin Obeng, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), disclosed this in an Interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Thursday after the Assembly, together with personnel from the Ghana Police Services, distributed COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment to residents in some communities in the Municipality. The beneficiaries, including traditional rulers, traders and individuals at Chiraa, Odomase and Nsuatre communities, received 5,000 nose masks and alcohol based hand sanitizers. Mr Obeng sensitized the people about the dangers of the disease and asked the public not to believe the rumours about the Covid-19 vaccine. He encouraged the public to partake in the vaccination exercise to boost their immune systems and to also continue to comply with the safety protocols to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Eric Anaba, the Sunyani West Municipal Police Commander, in an interview said the Municipal Security Council had reactivated the COVID-19 Taskforce to monitor and ensure strict compliance with the protocols to stem the spread of the pandemic. DSP Anaba cautioned that funerals, parties, wedding, wake keeping and other social gathering activities must stop as directed by the President. He said the Taskforce would prosecute the people who disobey the protocols. 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 Donegal fashionista, Nicola McLaughlin, got the opportunity to call the shots at the latest OK Magazine photoshoot, which featured Girls Aloud and I'm a Celebrity star, Nadine Coyle. It was something kinda ooooh when Nicola, who owns the Sequin Cinderella boutique in the seaside town, got an email from the glossy magazine inviting her to style the 'at home' feature with the Derry pop star. Speaking to Donegal Live, Nicola, who also designs clothing, said she did not believe the email at first. She added: But it was true, Nadine had suggested me to style the photoshoot. I had four days to get everything together, which in the current circumstances, with all of the shops closed, was a wee bit of a panic. It was also between seasons, so it was difficult to get nice, new stock. However, I was very lucky to have some lovely pieces here in the boutique, which I used to style Nadine. I was also able to call on some local boutiques to help me out with a few extra pieces for Nadine and her daughter, Anaiya, as well. Elizabeth O'Donnell (Paisti Collection), Jade O'Neil (Doolily Designs) and Topline Fashions in Buncrana; Una Rodden Couture in Belfast; Katie McColgan (Ayda and the Moon) in Derry; and Next, all provided clothes for the photoshoot. Jade designed the most beautiful aprons for Nadine and Anaiya for the baking segment of the shoot, which took place at Taggart Homes, Barleyfields in Derry. OK Magazine sent me a mood board of what they had in mind for the shoot and I had free reign to style it. Khara Pringle, the photographer and I planned everything in advance, then Nadine came and, luckily, she loved everything. Nadine was amazing to work with. She loved all of the pieces and really appreciated all of the hard work which had gone into the photoshoot, said Nicola. Nicola said the craic was great during the photo shoot. I actually forgot Nadine was a pop star, a member of Girls Aloud, we were having so much fun. It was an amazing experience and the thing which topped it all off for me was getting to use one of my own designs. Nadine wore a silk evening gown with one of my prints in one of the main pictures used in the magazine. Getting such a fabulous opportunity was amazing, incredible. I would love to work with Nadine and OK Magazine again. It was also great that my details were included in the article. I really enjoyed working with Nadine and Anaiya. With the current Covid-19 restrictions still in place, Nicola said she had been able to devote more time to all of her Sequin Cinderella social media, to help with sales. She added: Luckily, I have been able to work all along because my sales have all moved online. I have also received great support from my customers. The OK Magazine shoot was a great opportunity. It was dream come true and I was lucky to have the help of other local businesses. Schumer Says Biden Administration Must Do Better on Immigration The top Democrat in Congress on Thursday said that President Joe Bidens administration needs to do better on immigration, as the country deals with a surge in migrants arriving at the southern border. Biden inherited a huge mess on immigration, and its not going to be cleaned up in a month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said during an appearance on ABCs The View, blaming former President Donald Trumps administration for the current situation. Officials in the current administration are rolling up their sleeves and working on this, Schumer continued. I think it will get better in the next few months. If it doesnt, I will go to them and say you got to do better. And if they dont, I will be public. But I got to give them a little bit of a chance because they inherited a big, big mess created by Donald Trump, whose views on immigrants just turned me off. Illegal border crossings hit 100,411 along the southern border in February, according to recently released figures, including nearly 9,500 unaccompanied minors. Under Trump, agents encountered what was a near-record low of 17,106 illegal immigrants in April 2020. Every month since then, the number of encounters has gone up. Biden rescinding a number of immigration orders imposed by Trump, such as one requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims were being adjudicated, has been blamed by critics for the surge this year. Asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors are transported in a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle after they crossed the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas on March 9, 2021. (Adrees Latif/Reuters) An administration official acknowledged that policies may have driven the surge while urging people not to listen to disinformation spread by human smugglers. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the border is not open. The vast majority of individuals apprehended or encountered at the border continue to be denied entry and are returned to their home countries, she added. The Biden administration kept Title 42, which was imposed under the previous administration and lets officials deny entry to non-citizens because of the danger they may carry a serious disease into the United States. But theyre not applying the rule to unaccompanied minors, in a bid to promote a more humane system, officials say. Democrats have in some cases defended the Biden administrations actions. At other times, theyve urged the administration to take action before things get even more out of hand. We are weeks, maybe even days, away from a crisis on the southern border. Inaction is simply not an option, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said last week. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), appearing on CNNs New Day on Thursday, said the surge reveals the need for legal reform. The right way to handle immigration has been well known to be the right way to handle immigration for 20 years. Its comprehensive immigration reform, with the path to legal status for those who are here without proper documentation and otherwise follow the law, and substantive efforts to improve border security, Ossoff said. There is a bipartisan consensus among the people that thats what we need. Mar. 12State police in Somerset say that an Ohio man was arrested after an argument with his former employer over pay issues on Tuesday in Somerset Township. Police allege that Christopher Neville, 26, of Millersburg, Ohio, brandished a firearm during an argument with John Moore, of Somerset, while also using a spade shovel to shatter the mirrors and windows of a vehicle belonging to Moore. An affidavit filed by state police said that Neville, who had been fired by Moore on Monday, had been staying in a camper that sat on Moore's property. The report states that Neville got upset that Moore wouldn't give Neville a ride back to Ohio, which resulted in a text message from Neville threatening to shoot Moore. The two men then allegedly got into an altercation over pay before Neville used the spade shovel to shatter vehicle mirrors on the driver's and passenger's side, along with the windows. Neville then allegedly used an unknown object to damage the cap on the rear of Moore's truck. The affidavit states that Neville grabbed a .38 caliber revolver from the camper that he was staying in and approached Moore. Neville allegedly held the revolver in his hand while arguing with Moore, not allowing him to pass. Police say that Moore was eventually able to get by Neville and enter his residence, where he contactedstate police at the Somerset barracks. Neville is currently confined in Somerset County Jail after failing to post $5,000 bail set by District Judge Kenneth W. Johnson, of Somerset. Documents state that Neville is charged with counts of terroristic threats, simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment. Obtained by ABC NewsBy CATHERINE THORBECKE and BENJAMIN SIU, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- A Georgetown Law School professor has been terminated after comments she made about a lot of her "lower" students being Black went viral and sparked a firestorm of backlash on social media. In a recording of the video call, adjunct professor Sandra Sellers is speaking to a fellow adjunct about students' evaluations and performance. "And you know what, I hate to say this, I end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower ones are Blacks. Happens almost every semester," Sellers said. "And it's like, 'Oh, come on.' You get some really good ones, but there are also usually some that are just plain at the bottom. It drives me crazy." Bill Treanor, the dean of the law school, said in a statement Thursday that he was "appalled that two members of our faculty engaged in a conversation that included reprehensible statements concerning the evaluation of Black students." Treanor said he gave both professors the opportunity to provide additional context, and then informed Sellers that he was terminating her relationship with the law school effective immediately. "During our conversation, she told me that she had intended to resign," Treanor added. "As a result of my decision, Professor Sellers is no longer affiliated with Georgetown Law." The dean said that the other adjunct professor on the call, David Batson, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the school's Office of Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action. Until the completion of the investigation, Batson will not have further involvement with the course in which the incident arose, according to Treanor. The Georgetown University Law Center Black Law Students Association condemned the incident in a statement. "Not only is this situation revealing of Sellers' true beliefs about Black students, it is also illustrative of the conscious and unconscious bias systemically present in law school grading at Georgetown Law and in law school classrooms nationwide," the statement added. "The difference is that Sellers was caught and her racism was broadcast for the world to see." The BLSA Executive Board released this statement regarding Professor Sandra Sellers racist remarks towards Black students at GULC and Professor David Batson's complicity upon hearing those remarks. In the statement, we make explicit demands for the GULC administration. pic.twitter.com/nAx1jDE37G Georgetown BLSA (@GeorgetownBLSA) March 11, 2021 In a resignation letter obtained by ABC News, Sellers said she was "deeply sorry" for her "hurtful and misdirected remarks." "While the video of this incident is an excerpt from a longer discussion about class participation patterns, not overall grades, it doesn't diminish the insensitivity I have demonstrated," she wrote. "I would never do anything to intentionally hurt my students or Georgetown Law and wish I could take back my words." "Regardless of my intent, I have done irreparable harm and I am truly sorry for this," Sellers added. "For that reason, I am immediately and voluntarily resigning my position as an adjunct professor." She also reflected on her nearly 20 years teaching at Georgetown, saying when her students do not excel in courses she teaches, "it reflects shortcomings on my part, not just on the part of any single student." "My comments were the inarticulate reflection of long soul searching. I must do better to understand and address these issues," Sellers continued. "I am committed to doing this for myself and also looking for ways I can combat racism in the Georgetown community." Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Latin Americas police dogs are being trained to detect COVID-19. In El Salvador, police are using artificial aromas similar to the sweat of a person infected with the coronavirus to train dogs. AFP "It's not so easy, because the Covid-19 strains seem to be changing a lot," Wilber Alarcon, a canine handler from the Central American nation's anti-narcotics police told AFP. Also Read: Watch: Disabled Dog In Wheelchair Has Become A Guide For Blind Fox "But the ones that are known have been synthesized and pseudo-aromas have been extracted to train the dogs," Alarcon, who was in Mexico for a regional canine training exercise told AFP. Alarcon expects COVID-19 sniffer dogs to soon be patrolling airports, bus terminals and border posts in his country, one of seven to attend the drills in Mexico's eastern state of Veracruz. AFP "The dog detects and marks the infected person, a strict biosafety protocol is activated, and you are reducing the risk that a person, or others close to the infected person, may catch the virus," he said. Dogs are believed to have up to 300 million olfactory receptors, far more than humans, that give them their superior sense of smell. Studies have suggested that they can detect the virus even in asymptomatic patients. Also Read: Behold The Wolf And Hear Its Mighty ... Bark? Zoo In China 'Tries To Pass Off A Dog As A Wolf' It is not the first time that dogs have been trained with artificial scents -- they are also used to teach them to sniff out drugs or explosives. In crime-plagued Mexico, where 80,000 people officially went missing between 2006 and 2020, the aromas include "putrefied, fresh or drowned corpse." China denied on Friday it was planning to hit e-commerce giant Alibaba with a record fine of almost $1 billion for allegedly flouting monopoly rules, as authorities turned up the pressure on the countrys vast technology sector. Alibaba, China's largest online shopping portal, has been in the crosshairs of authorities in recent months over concerns of its reach into the daily finances of ordinary Chinese people. The market's regulator denied it was planning to fine the company almost $1 billion for anti-competitive behaviour, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, who cited unnamed sources "familiar" with the matter. However, on Friday it hit 12 other tech firms -- including giants Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance -- with symbolic fines for allegedly flouting monopoly rules. Tencent was fined $77,000 for its 2018 investment in online education app Yuanfudao without seeking prior government approval for the deal, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement Friday. Search giant Baidu has to pay the same amount for acquiring consumer electronics maker Ainemo under the radar in 2014. Beijing has warned it will take an increasingly ruthless approach to antitrust questions. Premier Li Keqiang last week said the government would "strengthen anti-monopoly laws" and "prevent the disorderly expansion of capital". Analysts said Friday's blizzard of fines send a strong signal of the Communist Party's dominion over the country's tech landscape. "These penalties send a message: the economy and everything within it must comply with the states directive," Alex Capri, a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore's business school, told AFP. Capri said heavy-handed regulations will rein in the ability of tech firms to gobble up market share and influence with unchecked acquisitions. - Alibaba's woes - The ongoing squeeze on Alibaba - one of China's most influential companies - is the latest sign that the leadership is ready to deflate the ambitions of big tech firms in a runaway internet sector. Story continues The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that officials are considering levying a hefty penalty against the company that could top the $975 million paid by US chipmaker Qualcomm in 2015 -- the biggest known fine for anticompetitive practices in China. But the regulator in charge of the case told AFP there was no truth to the story. "If it's not there (on our website), it's not (true)," a spokeswoman for the State Administration for Market Regulation said. Still, the company's legal troubles linger. Problems began after comments in October by billionaire founder Jack Ma in which he laid into China's convoluted regulatory system. In November, financial regulators pulled the plug on the record $35 billion Hong Kong-Shanghai initial public offering of Alibaba's online payment subsidiary Ant Group. A month later, officials opened an investigation into Alibaba's business practices, deemed anti-competitive, and Ma disappeared from public view until mid-January. The company, based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, last month said it was "fully cooperating" with the investigation by the State Administration for Market Regulation. Regulators are also investigating whether the conglomerate should divest assets unrelated to its main online retail business, the Wall Street Journal reported, without offering details. An Alibaba spokesperson declined to comment on the report when contacted by AFP. The company has come under fire in the past for allegedly forbidding its merchants from listing on rival e-commerce platforms. Once finalised, measures against Alibaba will need to be approved by China's top leadership. Regulators have already told Ant Group to change its business model and hack back its lending, insurance and wealth management services. Alibaba saw profits jump 52 percent to $12.2 billion over the last three months of 2020, despite the official crackdown. burs-prw-bys/apj/reb Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 10:04:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the National Health Commission said Friday. Nine new imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday, said the commission in its daily report. One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was reported in Shanghai, but no new deaths related to the disease were reported, it added. On Thursday, eight COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery. By the end of Thursday, a total of 5,124 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 4,947 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 177 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 90,027 by Thursday, including 182 patients still receiving treatment. A total of 85,209 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died of the disease. There was one suspected COVID-19 case on the mainland on Thursday, and 4,594 close contacts remained under medical observation. Thursday also saw 10 asymptomatic cases newly reported, all arriving from outside the mainland. On the same day, three asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases. A total of 244 asymptomatic cases, all arriving from outside the mainland, were under medical observation. By the end of Thursday, 11,150 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 203 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 48 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 978 cases, including 10 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan. A total of 10,695 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, 47 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 936 had been discharged in Taiwan. Enditem Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain One year ago this month, the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools and child care centers to close and many working parentsespecially working motherswere thrust into new roles as teachers and day care providers as schools switched to distance learning. Now, 12 months later, experts at the Center for the Changing Family at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Rossier School of Education reflect on the loss of 2.5 million women from the U.S. workforce, the disruption to children's education and what the nation must do to get families back on track. What's at stake: The post-pandemic future of women in the workforce "Women carry an increasingly heavier load than men when it comes to providing child care and educational support for their children during this pandemic, even while working," said Maria Prados, a research scientist at USC Dornsife's Center for Economic and Social Research. Increased and prolonged child care responsibilities may make it even harder for women to recover from employment lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. Prados is one of several USC researchers who have been analyzing gender differences in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic since it began, using data from the Understanding America Study. Their analysis showed the percentage of working moms who have sole responsibility for providing child care and help with schoolwork increased from 33% to 45% between May and October 2020. At the same time, Prados said, women have lost jobs at a higher rate than men during the pandemic and almost twice as many women as men remain without a job. According to the latest national jobs reports, Black and Hispanic women have higher rates of unemployment than white women and saw the largest drops in labor force participation since the beginning of the pandemic. The 'implosion' of child care and early education Affordable child care access is the most pressing issue facing families right now, said Dorian Traube, an associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and expert on early childhood education and development "Since the start of COVID-19, 865,000 women have left the workforce because they cannot find or afford child care," she said. "Furthermore, the vast majority of early care providers are women, and that workforce has also shrunk." Traube said early childhood care providers are facing a 47% increase in operating costs during the pandemic, despite the fact that enrollment is down. "This is unsustainable, and we are on the precipice of a total implosion of the early childhood care sector," she warned. "This is fueled by the American idea that child care and early education are two separate topics when in fact, child care is early education." America needs to repair its social safety net The required long-term solutions extend beyond child care and education, said Clare Pastore, a professor of the practice of law at the USC Gould School of Law. "We desperately need to overhaul and repair the safety net for low-income families," said Pastore, an expert on poverty, social welfare programs and civil rights. "The pandemic has revealed that women are the safety net for most families, but we need a more workable unemployment benefits system, paid family leave and paid sick days." Help for many of the hardest-hit Americans is on the way. This week, President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. The bill includes direct payments, extended unemployment benefits and an expanded child tax credit, and also allocates billions of dollars to schools. One analysis predicted it would cut child poverty in the U.S. by half. "[The law] is a major step in U.S. welfare policythough not a permanent change, as written in the billwhich is likely to have the most significant effect in reducing child poverty that we have seen in generations," Pastore said. Remote learning again exposed the digital divide Along with moms, kids have suffered during the long year of lockdowns and remote schooling. "The pandemic has shown us that education is not a product that can be packaged and delivered," said Stephen Aguilar, an assistant professor at USC Rossier. "It requires a network of physical resources and human capital to be equitably deployed. "We cannot simply give teachers and students technologies like Zoom and assume that things will work themselves out. Ongoing support and training is necessary." Aguilar and Hernan Galperin, an associate professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, authored the recent report "When school comes home: How low-income families are adapting to distance learning." It documented the multiple challenges of remote learning for low-income, minority families whose children are enrolled in Los Angeles public schools. "When the pandemic began, we shifted toward emergency distance learning. A year later, it is tempting to simply use the term 'distance learning' as though we have figured it out. We haven't," Aguilar said. "For many low-income families, the emergency has not abated. It is still acutely being felt." The pandemic exposed deep inequalities in access to technology resources among K-12 families, Galperin said, and not just in terms of internet service and devices "but also the ability to help a child who may struggle to connect to Zoom, to check an assignment online or to simply communicate with teachers." "Many school districts have stepped up to provide devices and wireless hotspots, and the federal government has now made an emergency broadband subsidy available to low-income families," he added. "But many of these programs are temporary fixes. We need long-term solutions to close this divide once and for all." Kids transitioning back to school will need mental health servicesand moms may need them, too "We are facing an impending mental health crisis in our school children," said Marian Williams, a psychologist specializing in early childhood mental health and an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "Children will need help to cope with their grief regarding family members who have been sick or passed away; feelings of disconnection from their peers together with anxiety about trying to rebuild friendship groups; and gaps in learning that have occurred." "School mental health professionals need the tools, training and support to be able to help young people virtually and to prepare for the challenges they will face as they transition back to in-person school," she added. Psychological stress has also disproportionately impacted women with children during the past year. Prados and her colleagues found the pandemic has been associated with even greater feelings of anxiety and depression among women with children. Mothers reported a huge spike in psychological distress in early April 2020, compared to men and to women without kids. While those levels of distress have been reduced, one-third of women (with and without kids) reported experiencing psychological distress in November 2020, compared to 1 in 5 men. What needs to happen for women, children and families post-pandemic? "At a most fundamental level, families need a sense of security and safety," said Gayla Margolin, a professor of psychology at USC Dornsife whose research identifies how family relationships can be sources of both risk and resilience for children and young adults. "We need to prioritize ending food insecurity and homelessness and making sure families have access to health care and educational opportunities," she said. "As new employment opportunities emerge post-pandemic, we need policies that provide retraining for new jobs and programs that make child care more accessible." Explore further Among couples, the pandemic continues to disproportionately impact women Accretive Transaction Adds High-Margin Revenues and Award-Winning Brands Foundational Asset in AUSA's Multi-State Footprint Acquisition Agreement Includes Resolution of Litigation by Unwinding Original Transaction LAS VEGAS, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Australis Capital Inc. (CSE: AUSA) (OTC: AUSAF) ("AUSA" or the "Company") today announced that, further to the Company's press release of January 5, 2021, AUSA has entered into a definitive agreement on March 11, 2021 with, among others, Green Therapeutics LLC ("GT") and the holders of the issued and outstanding membership interests of GT concerning the acquisition of GT. The transaction will be completed in two parts, the first being the acquisition of a subsidiary of GT (the "Subsidiary") containing a number of unregulated assets including the GT brands and certain ancillary agreements including brand licensing and management agreements. Subsequently, subject to regulatory approval, the Company will complete the acquisition of GT itself (the "Subsequent Closing"). In conjunction with, and as a condition to the completion of the acquisition of the Subsidiary (the "Initial Closing"), the parties have agreed to settle a previously announced legal dispute which will be formally discharged contemporaneously with the Initial Closing, expected later this month. Green Therapeutics GT is an award-winning, Nevada-based cannabis company with a strong brand portfolio of high-end dried flower and designer/luxury derivative products. GT was co-founded by former MedMen President Dr. Duke Fu and is led by a strong team of medical professionals and pharmaceutical manufacturing experts. GT's team has a strong execution track record with several company exits and an acquisition by a Fortune 500 corporation. Transaction Highlights Accretive: The transaction, when completed, will be immediately accretive to AUSA results. While Nevada state regulations require prior approval of any transfer of an interest in a cannabis establishment or license, the timing of which the Company has no control over, AUSA anticipates recognizing high-margin revenue through aforementioned brand licensing and management agreements. Further revenue acceleration is expected upon the full transfer of the interest in the Nevada licenses. The transaction, when completed, will be immediately accretive to AUSA results. While state regulations require prior approval of any transfer of an interest in a cannabis establishment or license, the timing of which the Company has no control over, AUSA anticipates recognizing high-margin revenue through aforementioned brand licensing and management agreements. Further revenue acceleration is expected upon the full transfer of the interest in the licenses. Foundation for MSO expansion : GT, through its products, brands and multi state operations is anticipated to be a foundational element in AUSA's expansion strategy aimed at scaling up its footprint across multiple U.S. jurisdictions. : GT, through its products, brands and multi state operations is anticipated to be a foundational element in AUSA's expansion strategy aimed at scaling up its footprint across multiple U.S. jurisdictions. Cultivation & manufacturing : With the proposed acquisition comes an 8,000 sqft cultivation and manufacturing facility, as well as a management and brand licensing agreement with an entity in Oklahoma owned by Dr. Duke Fu and licensed for extraction and processing, and a brand licensing agreement with an entity in Missouri owned in part by Dr. Duke Fu , which is completing a process to obtain a license for extraction and processing. The Company will also have the right to acquire an interest in the Oklahoma entity when permitted at law. Once the license is granted for the Missouri entity, the Company will work with Duke to secure an equity interest subject to regulatory approval. : With the proposed acquisition comes an 8,000 sqft cultivation and manufacturing facility, as well as a management and brand licensing agreement with an entity in owned by Dr. and licensed for extraction and processing, and a brand licensing agreement with an entity in owned in part by Dr. , which is completing a process to obtain a license for extraction and processing. The Company will also have the right to acquire an interest in the entity when permitted at law. Once the license is granted for the entity, the Company will work with Duke to secure an equity interest subject to regulatory approval. Award winning brands & genetics : : The GT product portfolio has won multiple highly coveted industry awards, including the High Times Cup, Patient Choice and the Jack Herer Cup. GT currently produces three brands: GT Flowers: high-end flowers Tsunami TM : a collection of hydrocarbon extraction-based luxury products, such as live resins : a collection of hydrocarbon extraction-based luxury products, such as live resins Provisions TM : a line of distillate-based designer products, such as accurate dosing oral spray. : a line of distillate-based designer products, such as accurate dosing oral spray. High-end genetics with multiple +30% THC, High THC-V, and CBG cultivars, achieving premium pricing. ALPS Synergies: Through the Company's acquisition of ALPS, GT will be, management believes, in a position to scale up its brands across multiple jurisdictions by virtue of novel streaming agreements with ALPS customers. Through the Company's acquisition of ALPS, GT will be, management believes, in a position to scale up its brands across multiple jurisdictions by virtue of novel streaming agreements with ALPS customers. Multi-State assets: It is anticipated that drop-ship cultivation, extraction and manufacturing capabilities will allow for capital-light expansion in Oklahoma and Missouri as well as in other markets into which AUSA intends to expand. It is anticipated that drop-ship cultivation, extraction and manufacturing capabilities will allow for capital-light expansion in and as well as in other markets into which AUSA intends to expand. High-velocity sell-through: The quality and popularity of GT products has resulted in strong market penetration with GT brands currently being carried by 52% of Nevada dispensaries. dispensaries. All that is produced is sold; revenue growth is capacity limited, not demand constrained. By expanding the GT supply chain in Nevada as well as multiple other jurisdictions, AUSA anticipates further accelerating profitable growth. as well as multiple other jurisdictions, AUSA anticipates further accelerating profitable growth. Pharma-grade operations: GT's operations team with a deep background in the production of GMP certified, pharmaceutical-grade products, has successfully launched innovative product offerings with appeal across a broad range of consumer segments. GT's operations team with a deep background in the production of GMP certified, pharmaceutical-grade products, has successfully launched innovative product offerings with appeal across a broad range of consumer segments. Attractive home market : GT has an established footprint in Nevada , a market with a regulatory framework that is highly favorable for operators in the cannabis industry. : GT has an established footprint in , a market with a regulatory framework that is highly favorable for operators in the cannabis industry. Capped licensing regime reduces competitive pressure. Nevada boasts some of the highest wholesale prices for cannabis in North America (USD $5.33 - $7.91 / gram 1 ). boasts some of the highest wholesale prices for cannabis in (USD - / gram ). Nevada attracts over 45 million visitors annually (pre-COVID-19). attracts over 45 million visitors annually (pre-COVID-19). Public company/international ownership permitted. No restrictions on number of verticals. Innovation : Laboratory, pharmaceutical and manufacturing expertise focused on innovative R&D with short-time-to-market commercial applications, such as novel extraction methods, accurate dosing forms and custom compounding. : Laboratory, pharmaceutical and manufacturing expertise focused on innovative R&D with short-time-to-market commercial applications, such as novel extraction methods, accurate dosing forms and custom compounding. Accelerating growth : : Nevada : : GT currently holds a provisional dispensary license in South Lake Tahoe ( Douglas County ), the location of world class ski resorts and multiple casinos with a large and captive audience. ), the location of world class ski resorts and multiple casinos with a large and captive audience. Missouri : : Missouri has capped the number of cannabis licenses, making these very valuable in a state with approximately 6.2 million people. The Company is assisting Duke in an effort to operationalize a medical cannabis processing and extraction facility in the state, where the license grant is subject to final inspection. The 8,727 sq ft manufacturing facility is largely complete with minimal additional investment required. The Company is pursuing an agreement to launch the Company's brands in Missouri . has capped the number of cannabis licenses, making these very valuable in a state with approximately 6.2 million people. The Company is assisting Duke in an effort to operationalize a medical cannabis processing and extraction facility in the state, where the license grant is subject to final inspection. The 8,727 sq ft manufacturing facility is largely complete with minimal additional investment required. The Company is pursuing an agreement to launch the Company's brands in . GT is also in advanced discussions with a number of high-end, commercially successful out-of-state brands to serve as their white label producer for entry into the Missouri market. market. Oklahoma : : Manufacturing license expected to be operationalized in late 2021. GT is negotiating the acquisition of a 23-acre plot of land in Clark County, Nevada , for development into a multi-company cannabis campus in Las Vegas . , for development into a multi-company cannabis campus in . Attractive valuation : The proposed transaction has been structured such that the selling principals are very closely aligned with the future success of AUSA, with an attractive initial valuation that leaves considerable upside based on current assets, operations and future initiatives. : The proposed transaction has been structured such that the selling principals are very closely aligned with the future success of AUSA, with an attractive initial valuation that leaves considerable upside based on current assets, operations and future initiatives. Balance sheet strengthening through reversal of the original transaction: the closing of the proposed land sale related to the unwinding of the original transaction is anticipated to strengthen the Company's cash position by close to $2 million . Commentary "Entering this definitive agreement to acquire GT marks another kept promise to our shareholders," said Terry Booth, CEO. "With its award-winning brands, excellent operational team and assets across three states currently, combined with the leverage ALPS brings to secure novel streaming agreements, we are positioned exceptionally well to execute on our expansion strategy and develop AUSA into a top-tier MSO. The structure of the transaction aligns the GT principals with the AUSA shareholders' interests, and we look forward to communicating with our shareholders frequently on our progress as we execute." Duke Fu, co-founder of GT and AUSA COO, added, "Executing on the transaction with AUSA brings us the network, capacity and capital markets access to fuel our growth across the nation. We are working on a number of exciting growth initiatives that we expect to execute on following closing of the transaction. I look forward to working with Terry and the team in building AUSA into the company it was always meant to be." Transaction Terms The Company will pay to the holders of the GT membership interests between C$8 million and C$10 million for 100% of the outstanding membership interests of both GT and the Subsidiary. The consideration will be paid as set out below. (i) C$7,500,000 will be paid through the issuance of units ("Buyer Units") of GT Acquisition LLC ("Buyer"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Australis formed for the acquisition, at a deemed price of C$0.20 per Buyer Unit. Each Buyer Unit will be exchangeable on a one-for-one basis into common shares of the Company at the option of the holder; (ii) C$500,000 as an Indemnity Holdback, which will be payable on the day that is the later of the Subsequent Closing or 18 months after the Initial Closing and such amount shall be reduced dollar-for-dollar by the amount of any indemnity claim made by AUSA; (iii) Up to $2,000,000 (the "Contingent Payment"), which will be payable in two (2) equal installments payable on the later of the Subsequent Closing or the first and second anniversary of Initial Closing respectively, provided that Dr. Fu continues to be employed by the Company on each such applicable payment date. The Indemnity Holdback and the Contingent Payments may be paid in either cash, the issuance of Buyer Units, or both, at the election of the Company, with any Buyer Units so issued at a deemed price per Buyer Unit equal to the greater of (i) the VWAP of the common shares of the Company on the CSE for the 10 trading days immediately prior to the payment date of such payment; and (ii) $0.14625. At the Initial Closing, GT and its affiliates will formally dismiss their legal action against AUSA with prejudice, and will return for cancellation all AUSA stock issued to them in May 2019, being 11,417,376 AUSA shares. In addition, AUSA will return all of the assets it purchased from GT in May 2019, and the GT Members will retain certain redundant licenses not required by AUSA including a non-operational grow and processing licenses. Furthermore, land in North Las Vegas purchased from an affiliate company of GT ("Meridian") will be sold and the proceeds will be divided between Meridian and AUSA whereby USD $2.93 million will be paid to Meridian, USD $1.02 million will be paid to AUSA, and any remaining proceeds will be split 55% for AUSA and 45% for Meridian. AUSA anticipates total proceeds from this land transaction to be approximately $2.0 million. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including execution of final closing documents. The Subsequent Closing is subject to applicable Nevada State regulatory approval. If such conditions are not satisfied it is possible that the proposed transactions will not be completed on the terms set forth herein or at all. The parties anticipate completing the Initial Closing within the next 30 days. This transaction was negotiated by the independent Special Committee formed by the board of the Company to settle outstanding litigation with GT. As Dr. Fu is the Chief Operating Officer of AUSA as well as a principal of GT the transaction with GT constitutes a "related party transaction" under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). The Company will rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61-101, in respect of the Proposed Acquisition set forth in Section 5.5(b) (Issuer Not Listed on Specified Markets) and Section 5.7(a) (Fair Market Value Not More Than 25% of Market Capitalization) of MI 61-101, respectively. About Australis Capital Inc. AUSA is implementing a capital light growth strategy towards establishing a highly competitive and profitable MSO in the U.S. and global cannabis markets. AUSA's business lines and assets include a 51% ownership interest in ALPS with an option to acquire the remaining 49%, as investments in Cocoon, Body and Mind Inc., Quality Green, land assets in Washington, and a joint venture partnership with 3 Rivers Biotech. AUSA is currently working towards the closing of a transaction whereby it will acquire Green Therapeutics LLC, an award-winning MSO with operations in Nevada and is taking steps to operationalize related assets in Oklahoma and Missouri. The acquisition of GT is contingent on approval by the State of Nevada's Cannabis Control Board and subsequent local approval by Clark County Department of Business License. The timing of Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board review and approval is beyond the control of the Company. The Company's common shares trade on the CSE under the symbol "AUSA" and on the OTCQB under the symbol "AUSAF". "Terry Booth" ________________________________ Terry Booth Chief Executive Officer Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein is forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information in relation to: the timing and ability to close the proposed transaction; the anticipated development of the GT business and its ability to grow revenues; the proposed transaction being immediately accretive to the Company's financial position; the ability of the Company to scale up the GT assets across multiple jurisdictions; the ability for the Company to be able to execute on its plans for expansion in Oklahoma, Missouri and other markets; the impact of the changes to U.S. federal and state developments with respect to the cannabis industry and the opportunities this may present for the Company; and the Company's current liquidity. This forward-looking information reflects the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the ability of the Company to successfully satisfy the conditions to closing the proposed transaction; the ability of the Company to successfully execute on its plans for the Company and GT; legal changes relating to the cannabis industry proceeding as anticipated; and the Company's continued response and ability to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic being consistent with, or better than, its ability and response to date. 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. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; the actual results of the Company's future operations; competition; changes in legislation affecting the Company; the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic including various recommendations, orders and measures of governmental authorities to try to limit the pandemic, including travel restrictions, border closures, non-essential business closures, service disruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, shelters-in-place and social distancing, disruptions to markets, economic activity, financing, supply chains and sales channels, and a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession; and a deterioration of financial markets that could limit the Company's ability to obtain external financing. A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in the Company's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. However, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Australis Capital Inc. Related Links www.ausa-corp.com Yellow handkerchiefs bearing messages supporting people in areas hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami are hanged at Iwaki 3.11 (Photo : REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon) With a moment of silence, prayers and anti-nuclear protests, Japan on Thursday mourned about 20,000 victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan 10 years ago, destroying towns and triggering nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima. Huge waves triggered by the 9.0-magnitude quake - one of the strongest on record - crashed into the northeastern coast, crippling the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant and forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee as radiation spewed into the air. Advertisement The world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl and the tremor have left survivors struggling to overcome the grief of losing families and towns to the waves in a few frightening hours on the afternoon of March 11, 2011. About 50 kilometres (31 miles) south from the plant, in the gritty coastal city of Iwaki, which has since become a hub for labourers working on nuclear decommissioning, restaurant owner Atsushi Niizuma prayed to his mother killed by the waves. "I want to tell my mother that my children, who were all close to her, are doing well. I came here to thank her that our family is living safely," said Niizuma, 47. Before setting off for work, he quietly paid his respects at a stone monument at a seaside shrine with carvings of his mother's name, Mitsuko, and 65 others who died in the disaster. On the day of the earthquake, Mitsuko was looking after his children. The children rushed into a car but Mitsuko was swept away by the waves as she returned to the house to grab her belongings. It took a month to recover her body, Niizuma said. The Akiba shrine has become a symbol of resilience for the survivors, as it was barely damaged by the tsunami while houses nearby were swept away or burned down. About two dozen residents gathered with Niizuma to decorate it with paper cranes, flowers and yellow handkerchiefs with messages of hope sent by students from across the country. "It was sleeting 10 years ago, and it was cold. The coldness always brought me back to the memory of what happened on the day," said Hiroko Ishikawa, 62. "But with my back soaking up the sun today, we are feeling more relaxed. It's as if the sun is telling us that 'It's okay, why don't you go talk with everyone who came back to visit their hometown?'" REMEMBERING THE DEAD At 2:46 p.m., exact moment the earthquake struck a decade ago, Emperor Naruhito and his wife led a moment of silence to honour the dead in a commemorative ceremony in Tokyo. Silent prayers were held across the country. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told the memorial ceremony that the loss of life was still impossible to contemplate. "It is unbearable when I think of the feelings of all those who lost their loved ones and friends," said Suga, dressed in a black suit. At the ceremony attended by emperor and prime minister, the attendees wore masks and kept their distance, and did not sing along with the national anthem to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In a joint statement, Suga and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden said the two countries would continue to move forward shoulder-to-shoulder to finish the reconstruction of the region. The Japanese government has spent about $300 billion (32.1 trillion yen) to rebuild the region, but areas around the Fukushima plant remain off-limits, worries about radiation levels linger and many who left have settled elsewhere. Some 40,000 people are still displaced by the disaster. Japan is again debating the role of nuclear power in its energy mix as the resource-poor country aims to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050 to fight global warming. But an NHK public TV survey showed 85% of the public worries about nuclear accidents. The work to decommission the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, deal with contaminated water and solid waste, and make the area safe is immense, as critics say it could take up to a century to return the plant to a usable state. About 5,000 workers pass through gates each day to work on dismantling the crippled plant, which still has about 880 tonnes of melted fuel debris in its reactors. The mass demonstrations against nuclear power seen in the wake of 3/11 have faded, but distrust lingers. Some protesters held an antinuclear rally in front of the headquarters of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power on Thursday night. In Fukushima, fireworks lit up night sky to connect to the souls of the victims and pray for a bright future. "Watching the fireworks, I felt like we're taking another new step towards recovery," said Hiroshi Yokoyama, 56, a school teacher from the Fukushima town of Namie who lost his parents and home to the tsunami. "I don't think it will ever go back to the way it used to be.. but I am looking forward to what sort of new approaches there will be to revitalize the town." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Bill to Expand New Mexicos Red Flag Gun Laws Hits Hurdle A bill that seeks to expand New Mexicos fledgling red flag gun laws has been bumped from this years 60-day legislative session by more pressing priorities, according to local reports. For all intents and purposes, its gone, unless something really radical changes, one of the bills Democrat sponsors, State Rep. Daymon Ely, told the Santa Fe New Mexican on Wednesday. But there are just too many other priorities this time. Calling the bills demise in this years session a calendar management problem, Ely told the outlet he hopes to revive House Bill 193 next year. The measure sought to expand New Mexicos existing red flag gun law, called the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act (pdf), by letting law enforcement officersof their own accord and based on their own observationsapply for a court order to temporarily take away guns from a person considered a threat. Current law allows police to apply for an extreme-risk protection order (ERPO) only at the request of specified reporting partiespeople who have a closer relationship with the individual being targeted for firearms confiscation, such as spouses or employers. Filing of such a petition must also be based on police being presented with credible evidence that a person poses a significant danger of causing imminent personal injury to themselves or to others by having access to a firearm. The amendment is opposed by the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), which criticized the measure as overreach in a recent statement. House Bill 193 is an amendment to the red flag firearms surrender law that would allow a police officer to petition for an extreme risk protective order directly and to confiscate any firearms discovered when serving the order, the organization said. Keep in mind that no crime has to be committed, or alleged to have been committed, for the order to be issued. The current red flag law went into effect in May 2020, after being signed into law by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat. This is another meaningful and productive step forward in our effort to keep New Mexico communities safe, Grisham said in a statement. Surely we can all agree that if someone is making threats of harm, we must act to prevent it. The alternative is to leave New Mexicans at riskand that is flatly unacceptable. One of the bills co-sponsors, Rep. Joy Garratt, argued for the adoption of extreme-risk protection orders as a suicide-reduction measure, noting that New Mexicos suicide rate is at least 50 percent higher than the national rate and that suicides make up around 70 percent of all firearm deaths. This law gives law enforcement and our courts an additional tool to prevent crime in New Mexico and reduce firearm-related homicides and suicide deaths, Garrett said in a statement. The bill was met with opposition from some New Mexico law enforcement officials, with Sheriff Corey Helton of Lea County saying he would rather go to jail than enforce the law, according to Taos News. This was echoed by the head of the New Mexico Sheriffs Association, who said most sheriffs in the state would refuse to confiscate a persons firearms. We dont work for the governor. We dont work for the Legislature, Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace told The New Mexican. We have discretion to use whichever laws we want. The NRA-ILA has also criticized the red flag law. New Mexicos ERPO law has been a failure, as has every gun-control law passed in New Mexico, the organization said. No one has been made safer as anti-gun lawmakers, elected with the support of billionaire gun control financier Michael Bloomberg, have rushed to trample on New Mexicans civil liberties with little or no due process. This law should not be expanded, it should be repealed. As of mid-February 2021, the ERPO law has been applied just four times across New Mexico since it went into effect in May, according to The Associated Press. The Administrative Office of the Courts confirmed Tuesday that a total of four petitions for extreme risk firearm protection orders had been filed through January in Eddy, Santa Fe, Taos, and San Juan counties. Appointment 12 March 2021 Rosewood Sao Paulo, the ultra-luxury hotel set to open in fall 2021 as Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' first South American property, is pleased to welcome Silvio Araujo as director of sales and marketing. In his role, Silvio will be responsible for developing and executing innovative sales and marketing strategies for all aspects of the new hotel, including its six bars and restaurants, eight distinctive event spaces and an outpost of Asaya, Rosewood's lifestyle community that provides encouraging experiences for growth and self-discovery. Silvio joins Rosewood Sao Paulo with more than 20 years of hospitality sales and marketing experience, working with prominent international hotel brands throughout Brazil. Most recently, Silvio served as the director of marketing and sales for Transamerica Hospitality Group, managing the sales and marketing operations for the group's 23 hotels in Brazil. Prior to this position, he served as director of sales and marketing at Palacio Tangara, an Oetker Collection hotel in Sao Paulo, and area director of marketing and sales for Hyatt in Brazil based at Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro, where he prepared for the property's 2015 grand opening and its 2016 Olympic Games operations. During his career, Silvio has held various roles at hotels and hotel groups in Brazil, including Atlantica Hotels International, Caesar Park Hotels and Resorts and Marriott Hotels and Resorts. WASHINGTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fragrance Creators Association issued a statement today from President & CEO Farah K. Ahmed recognizing the National Economic Council (NEC) for meeting with the association's industry leaders to discuss advancing the Biden Administration's economic policy, including its "Made in America" Executive Order: Fragrance Creators Association "Fragrance Creators is grateful for the opportunity to meet with the NEC to discuss our shared goals of a strong, sustainable U.S. economy that emphasizes U.S.-made goods and well-paying jobs. We appreciate the NEC engaging directly with us and a diverse slate of our members about the meaningful benefits fragrance brings to our lives, as well as the many important contributions the fragrance industry makes in our communities. "Fragrance Creators stands ready to support implementation of the Administration's goals for a sustainable economynamely by amplifying its members' experience and expertise. After gaining deeper insights from the NEC on the Administration's strategy and approach, our members are committed to an ongoing partnership to advance American competitiveness and supply chain strength. We are uniquely positioned to share perspectivesincluding R&D, innovation, and value-driven manufacturingwhile ensuring human, community, and environmental needs are prioritized and justly integrated. "As a model of responsible industry stewardship, the fragrance industry contributes $22.4 billion to the U.S. economy and more than 200,000 well-paying jobs for American workers. Fragrance Creators' membership reflects the dynamic fragrance value chainour 60 member companies run from small, family-owned businesses that source, create, and supply fragrance, to large consumer packaged goods companies that use fragrances in the finished products they market. We look forward to further productive engagement with the NEC as we continue to work with the Biden Administration and the 117th Congress, including the Congressional Fragrance Caucus, to bring about policies that are good for people, perfume, and the planet." Fragrance Creators Association is the principal fragrance trade association. The organization represents the majority of fragrance manufacturing in North America. The association also represents interests along the fragrance value chain. Fragrance Creators' membership is diverse, including companies that create, manufacture, and use fragrances and scents for home care, personal care, home design, fine fragrance, and industrial and institutional products as well as those that supply fragrance ingredients, including natural extracts and other raw materials that are used in perfumery and fragrance mixtures. Fragrance Creators established and administers the Congressional Fragrance Caucus, ensuring ongoing dialogue with members of Congress and staff. The association produces The Fragrance Conservatory, the comprehensive digital resource for high-quality information about fragrance. Learn more about Fragrance Creators at fragrancecreators.orgfor people, perfume, and the planet. Contact: Lia Dangelico [email protected] +1 571 317 1504 Related Images fragrance-creators-association.jpg Fragrance Creators Association Related Links Fragrance Creators Association SOURCE Fragrance Creators Association Highlights The COVID-19 vaccination process has kickstarted in India. Google has taken measures to provide accurate, science-based information about vaccines to the public. Google has collaborated with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide accurate information. The COVID-19 vaccination process has kickstarted in India. Along with this, a lot of misinformation about the same have also started floating on the internet. To curb misinformation, Google has taken measures to provide accurate, science-based information about vaccines to the public. The search giant has collaborated with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide accurate, and science-based information about the vaccines to the public to provide factual information to the users about the COVID-19 vaccination. "As the government activates the processes involved in implementing these large-scale vaccinations, our teams have been hard at work to surface authoritative and timely information for people asking vaccine-related questions. We have worked with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to amplify this science-based narrative around vaccination drive, and have been working closely with the Rapid Risk Response team at the MoHFW that is tracking misinformation using social media listening tools across region and languages, and countering it with science-based messaging on vaccines and pandemic response overall," Google said in a statement. When the first phase of vaccinations was rolled out in India, Google rolled out knowledge panels in Google Search that show up for queries relating to the COVID vaccine. These panels provided correct information about the two vaccines Covaxcin and Covishield that are currently available in India. The panels also display the effectiveness, safety, distribution, side effects, and more about the vaccines that the public should know. The information is also available in English and eight Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Hindi. "Our teams also supported the MoHFW in helping optimize their website for mobile viewers by improving the website's page load times, enabling users to find information swiftly. We also helped localize their various vaccination resource pages into the eight Indian languages listed above. On YouTube, we launched information panels that show up when searching for COVID-related queries and also have a banner on the YouTube homepage, both of which redirect to key vaccine resources on the MoHFW website. We also featured FAQ videos from the MoHFW on the YouTube homepage," Google statement read. Google is helping the MoHFW and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accurately surface the information on vaccination centers on Google Search, Maps, and Google Assistant, and expect to roll this out in the coming weeks. NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- Two PTA members for the North Royalton City Schools have been awarded the Ohio PTA Achievement Award after being nominated by fellow PTA members. The Ohio PTA Achievement Award was created to provide an opportunity to celebrate individuals who have rendered outstanding service to children and youth. In January, the North Royalton High School PTA presented this award to two outstanding volunteers: Laurie Weiser, who was nominated by Leslie Stetler and Ashley DeAngelis; and Debbie Sexton, who was nominated by Becky Cozzens and Cristina Hornik. Weiser has always been known as one of the first to raise her hand and help out wherever there is a need. She is actively involved in all three PTA units and has been an important part of PTA events and activities from kindergarten through high school. Her nominators wrote that she is creative and goes the extra mile to make an event even better than planned. Her outgoing personality has made people feel comfortable as new PTA members and committee heads. In addition to her work with the PTA, Weiser is an active volunteer in both her community and her church. In her family life, she is the mother of three competitive dancers and is willing to lend a hand behind the scenes. Sexton became active in the PTA starting at Albion Elementary School and has since been involved in PTA positions at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Her positions have included vice president for membership, vice president of fundraising and involvement with the Welcome Back Luncheon, Staff Appreciation, Craft Fair, Nominating Committee, Packet Stuffing, Tailgate, Field Day, Picture Day and Book Fair. The nomination stated that Sexton exemplifies the characteristics that are most admired in volunteers. She steps forward for so many jobs -- not looking for recognition, just wanting to help. She also is very welcoming. Newcomers and experienced PTA members have all commented on her inclusiveness and willingness to share her knowledge about the many PTA roles. In addition, she has volunteered with many other North Royalton organizations that support the students of the district. Curbside meals: The North Royalton Community Meal Team at St. Albert the Great distributed over 350 curbside meals last month. The next Community Meal will be on March 28. St. Alberts is located at 6667 Wallings Road in North Royalton. Next month is the 10th anniversary of the Community Meal, a collaboration among several local churches. Save the date: Every winter, the Kiwanis Club of Brecksville and the Lions Club of Broadview Heights have held their highly successful Empty Bowls dinner to raise money for the Brecksville Pantry and South Hills Lend a Hand food banks. However, COVID-19 put a stop to that in February. But the two clubs came up with a way to continue this time-honored tradition. The ninth annual dinner will be a drive-thru event on from 5 to 8 p.m. May 4 in the parking lot of the Brecksville Department of Human Services. The takeout dinner is spartan in order to emphasize the ongoing need to feed less fortunate people right here in our area. Participants will dine on three different kinds of soup, bread and a cookie. The homemade soups will be created by the Brecksville Human Services Centers own chef, Dina Lawton. Guests will also receive a handcrafted Empty Bowl made by local artisans to remind us of the hungry people in the world. Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased from Brecksville Kiwanian Bill Rittman at 440-725-4893 or Broadview Heights Lion Kevin Krcmar at 440-590-2380 or any Kiwanis or Lions member. Tickets are also available at the Broadview Chiropractic & Health Center, 1100 W. Royalton Road, Suite H in Broadview Heights. Tickets will not be sold at the pickup site, since the event has been a sellout for eight consecutive years. The clubs would also like to remind everyone to support the restaurants that have donated to Empty Bowls in the past and hope that they will help support the event next year. They are: 24 Karrot Kitchen, Burntwood Tavern, Courtyard Cafe, Creekside Restaurant and Bar, Danny Boys, Demetrios Family Restaurant, Frankies Wok, Good Old Daze, Last Stop at Dantes County Line Saloon, Simons Restaurant and Deli, Sokolowskis University Inn, Tom & Chee, The Wild Eagle, Zoup, Austins, Reineckers Bakery, East of Chicago Pizza, Michael Angelos Bakery, London Pickle Works, Augies Pizza of Independence and North Royalton, and Sirnas. Egg hunt: On Saturday, March 25, the Lions Club of Broadview Heights will be hosting a drive-thru Easter egg hunt from 10 a.m. to noon. Enter off of Broadview Road and take a right to go toward the Splash Park. There, circle around past the pavilion, where the fire truck and Easter Bunny will be handing out eggs to everyone. Vaccine spotter: A COVID-19 vaccine spotter website is available if you would like to find an appointment at a local pharmacy and are currently eligible for the vaccine. The website https://www.vaccinespotter.org/OH/ automatically scans the pharmacy websites and shows you any available appointments all on one page, rather than searching around on each pharmacys website. All CVS, Rite Aid, Sams Club, Walgreens and Walmart locations in Ohio are scanned on a regular basis, and the page is updated with any available appointments in the state. If you dont see locations near you right now, appointments can come and go quickly, so try visiting the page at different times throughout the day. If you need assistance registering for an appointment, please call the Brecksville Human Services Department at 440-526-4074. Let the Brecksville, Broadview Heights and North Royalton communities know what is going on with your organization, church, school, business or family. Email me at shirleymac48@att.net. Read more from the Sun Star Courier. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. A Klamath County man has pleaded guilty to three counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. According to court documents, Jerrold Hanson is accused of duplicating pictures and recordings depicting sexually explicit conduct involving children. Hanson was sentenced on March 10, 2021 to 117-months in the Oregon Department of Corrections with an additional 36-months of post-prison supervision. According to a statement released by the Klamath County Deputy District Attorney, Hansons behavior was exacerbated by the facts that he is a registered sex offender and, at the time of the current offenses, was on post-prison supervision for similar charges. BACKED BY Mayor Joyce Craig, Manchester school Superintendent Dr. John Goldhardt has gone big in an attempt to restart high school in the Queen City. To be sure, Manchesters schools are struggling but Goldhardt and Craig would have us believe that the way to turn things around is to lau Jessica Soule, director of strategic partnerships at East Hill Medical Center, said Thursday that the center has administered more than 1,000 doses of the vaccine. There is another clinic planned for Friday at Auburn High School. "We hope that having a more steady supply of vaccines will allow us to better reach our patients and local residents, and continue to support our ability to serve our community," Soule said. "As a federally qualified health center, serving the community is a vital part of what we do." Soule added that East Hill wants to expand its home-based vaccination program. With its participation in this federal program, they will have a supply to be able to follow through on those plans. The allocations, according to Schumer, will be in addition to the doses sent to the facilities by New York state. The exact allocation figures will be announced in the coming days, his office said. "We've heard numerous stories of people having to travel way too far to get a vaccine, hampering our ability to recover from the pandemic and return to 'normal'," Schumer said. "With this announcement of more vaccines and the sites poised to open up, New York is positioned to get more shots in arms, especially in areas where COVID has hit the hardest." Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE A House-approved proposal to add some transparency to New Mexicos capital outlay process began moving through Senate committees Friday as supporters pitched it as a first step toward broader reform. The legislation, House Bill 55, has repeatedly cleared the House in past sessions only to die in the Senate. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ But supporters are expressing optimism about final passage this year because 11 members of the 42-person Senate are new to the chamber. The legislation would shine more light on New Mexicos secretive capital outlay process for funding road repairs, dams and other infrastructure projects. Legislators now allocate funding for projects but dont have to disclose their decisions. The full list of projects and amounts is public, but not how much each member allocated to a project. In this years session, each legislator has about $2 million in capital outlay funds to spend. House Bill 55 would require the Legislature 30 days after the session to publish a list of capital projects approved each year with details on which legislators sponsored each project and how much funding they or the governor allocated to it. Sen. Bill Tallman, an Albuquerque Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, described the publication of legislators individual allocations as a good start toward future reforms of how New Mexico chooses capital outlay projects. If enacted, he said, it will address the transparency, but it wouldnt fix a broken system. The proposal advanced through the Senate Rules Committee on a 9-1 vote. It heads next to the Senate Finance Committee, potentially its last stop before the Senate floor. To win final passage, it has to clear both chambers by noon March 20. Sen. Bill ONeill, D-Albuquerque, said lawmakers should be proud to disclose which projects theyre supporting. I just think this is commonsense, he said of the bill. The proposal won House approval 65-1 last month. The sponsors include Tallman; Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo; Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Los Lunas; and Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec. Tallman, a retired city manager, said New Mexicos capital outlay process now results in large amounts of funding sitting unused. Lawmakers often allocate small amounts that arent enough to actually carry out a particular project, he said, tying up money that could otherwise be put to good use. Tallman suggested the Legislature eventually needs to move to a system in which projects are vetted and evaluated for their impact on the state as a whole, though proposals for such an overhaul have been unsuccessful in recent years. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Alabama economic development officials will be taking part in a virtual trade mission to Israel in May as a prelude to an in-person visit later this year in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Alabama Department of Commerce and the Export Alabama Alliance will host the virtual event May 10 through 12. Exports to Israel from Alabama totaled $49 million last year, an increase of nearly 27% from 2019. Target sectors for U.S. exports to Israel include security, healthcare, information and communication technologies, as well as defense. The United States is Israels single largest trading partner, and Israel is the second-largest trading partner for the U.S. in the Middle East. The states commerce department said Alabama companies already exporting to Israel in addition to those looking to get started in this market are welcome to apply. The virtual trade mission is not meant to replace the in-person trade mission to Israel, but to better prepare companies for it. Participating companies will get a chance to meet with potential business partners on one-on-one business matchmaking meetings in a virtual setting. At a time when businesses face continued challenges globally and domestically, we are looking to deepen and strengthen ties with our long-term ally, Israel, which is a logical choice for a virtual trade mission, Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said. For more information on the virtual trade mission, contact Beau Lore at the Alabama Department of Commerce, Beau.Lore@commerce.alabama.gov or 334-324-7525. Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has told a jury a woman's steamy messages and photos were promising signs they would have sex but he did not assume this would happen when he visited her. 'The best case scenario was having sex with her. The worse case scenario was I get to introduce myself and that was it,' he said in his recorded evidence played at his retrial in Sydney's District Court on Friday. The 33-year-old has pleaded not guilty to two charges of aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm on the then-26-year-old woman. Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has told a jury a woman's steamy messages and photos were promising signs they would have sex but he did not assume this would happen when he visited her. He is pictured with his wife at Sydney's Downing Centre on Monday He had been celebrating a bucks weekend in Newcastle when he arranged to meet-up for the first time at the home she shared with her mother on the evening of September 30, 2018. Hayne paid a taxi driver $550 to take him to Sydney before asking her to stop at the woman's house so he could collect a bag. Under questioning from his barrister Phillip Boulten SC, Hayne said after the woman realised the cab was waiting he knew she did not want to have sex with him but he wanted to please her. He says they kissed each other on her bed before she removed her pants and he performed oral sex on her as he thought she would like it. 'She was breathing heavily, she was fine,' Hayne said. But both of them were in shock when he realised he had blood on his hands and she told him it wasn't her period. He ran to the bathroom to clean up before she had a shower. He told his barrister he had not bitten the woman. 'I said to her it was an accident. I was pretty confident my finger (caused the bleeding).' After she told him it was stinging and hurting, he said it would be fine but to see a doctor the next day if the pain continued. The 33-year-old has pleaded not guilty to two charges of aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm on the then-26-year-old woman He denied ever deliberately intending to hurt her. The complainant has testified that Hayne tried to kiss her despite her saying the words 'no' and 'no Jarryd' before he pulled off her jeans and put his face down into her crotch area. He only stopped after she started bleeding. 'It was forceful and fast, that's why I can't say for sure how the injury was done ... with his mouth, his teeth, his nails or a ring ... I was numb,' she said. But Hayne denied she ever told him to stop the sexual activity. Under cross-examination from prosecutor Brian Costello, Hayne said if the woman told him 'no', 'no Jarryd' or 'Jarryd stop', he would have known she was not consenting and would have respected her decision. He agreed even if the woman had consented to some sexual activity at the start, she was entitled to tell him to stop at any time. But he repeated his evidence that she had never said 'no'. Hayne agreed the woman never sent him messages specifically inviting him to come to her house for sex, but there were 'promising signs' after they exchanged flirty, steamy messages. In one she said she had imagined having sex with him, while another said 'You are absolutely gorgeous x'. Hayne said the woman did confront him after she realised he had the cab waiting and asked if he thought he could just come to her house and have sex with her. He said he replied something along the lines, 'It's up to you really'. The trial continues. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. This Notice is sent to you as Shareholder of the Fund. It is important and requires your immediate attention. If you are in any doubt as to the action to be taken, you are advised to consult your stockbroker, solicitor or attorney, accountant or other independent financial adviser. If you have sold or otherwise transferred your holding in the Fund, please send at once this document to the stockbroker or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for transmission to the purchaser or transferee. Where appropriate, please pass the contents of this communication on to the beneficial investors of the Fund. This Notice has not been reviewed by the Central Bank of Ireland (the "Central Bank"), and it is possible that changes thereto may be necessary to meet the Central Bank's requirements. The Directors are of the opinion that there is nothing contained in this Notice or in the proposals detailed herein that conflicts with the CBI UCITS Regulations, the guidance issued by, and the regulations of, the Central Bank. The Directors accept responsibility for the information contained in this Notice. Capitalised terms used in this notice shall have the same meaning ascribed to them in the latest version of the Prospectus unless the context otherwise requires. LETTER FROM THE BOARD TO THE SHAREHOLDER OF VANECK VECTORS NATURAL RESOURCES UCITS ETF (THE "FUND") VanEck Vectors UCITS ETFs plc REGISTERED OFFICE 33 Sir John Rogerson's Quay Dublin 2 D02 XK09 Ireland (A company incorporated with limited liability as an open-ended investment company with variable capital under the laws of Ireland with registered number 548554) Directors: Jonathan R. Simon, Bruce J. Smith, Adam Phillips, Mary Canning, Jon Lukomnik, Adrian Waters, Gijsbert Koning, 12 March 2021 Dear Shareholder, This letter is to inform you on behalf of the board of directors of the Company (the "Directors") about recent developments in respect of the Fund. Fund and issued share class details Share Class Name ISIN VanEck Vectors Natural Resources UCITS ETF (USD) Class A IE00BDFBTK17 Closure of the Fund The assets under management of the Fund are at a level which has been below the expectations since the Fund was launched on 21 September 2017. After careful consideration and with the long-term interests of investors in mind, the Directors have resolved that it is in the best interest of the Fund and its investors as a whole to effect a total redemption of all remaining Shares in the Fund as at the Compulsory Redemption Date (as defined below), in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Constitution and the Prospectus. Consequently, the Directors wish to give notice to investors in the Fund that it is the intention to: i. permanently de-list the Shares of the Fund from the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Borse Xetra, SIX Swiss Exchange, Borsa Italiana and Euronext Dublin (the "Relevant Exchanges"); ii. permanently close the Fund to further subscriptions and redemptions; and iii. compulsorily redeem any residual shareholdings in the Fund in accordance with the procedure and the dates set out under the heading "Procedure" below (the "Compulsory Redemption"). Procedure It is intended to close the Fund in accordance with the procedure and relevant dates set out below. 1) The last day of trading of the Shares in the Fund on each of the Relevant Exchanges shall be 12thApril 2021, (the "Final Exchange Trading Date"). Therefore, investors on the secondary market who wish to avoid having their Shares compulsorily redeemed should consider selling their Shares on a Relevant Exchange on or before the Final Exchange Trading Date. 2) The last day on which applications from Authorised Participants for subscriptions and redemptions of Shares in the Fund may be made will be 14thApril 2021 (the "Final Dealing Date"). Therefore, final applications for subscriptions and redemptions from Authorised Participants in respect of the Final Dealing Date must be received no later than the cut-off times outlined in the Supplement for the Fund on 13thApril 2021. 3) Investors who: have not sold their Shares on or before the Final Exchange Trading Date; or have not validly applied for redemption of their Shares in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus, on or before the Final Dealing Date, and, in each case, who are investors in the Fund as at 23rdApril 2021 (the "Record Date"), shall have their Shares compulsorily redeemed on 20thApril 2021 (the "Compulsory Redemption Date") which will be the day the final net asset value (the "FinalNAV") is calculated. 4) The effective date of the cancellation of admission to and listing of the Shares in the Fund on the Relevant Exchanges shall be 13thApril 2021 (the "Delisting Date"). 5) The proceeds of the Compulsory Redemption shall be distributed on or around 27thApril 2021 (the "Settlement Date") to such person listed in the Company's register of Shareholders as the holder of the Shares of the Fund as at the Record Date. If your shareholding in the Fund is compulsorily redeemed, as set out above, it will be redeemed at the appropriate redemption price for the relevant Shares (calculated on the Compulsory Redemption Date in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus) and, subject to all anti-money laundering documentation requirements having been complied with. Please note that, investors buying and selling Shares through a broker or market maker/Authorised Participant and/or investors who hold Shares through a nominee and/or clearing agent, may not appear in the Company's register of Shareholders. Such investors should deal directly with the relevant broker, market maker/Authorised Participant, nominee or clearing agent (as relevant) in respect of their investment. If you do not wish to be automatically redeemed on the Compulsory Redemption Date, you can (if you are an Authorised Participant) redeem your Shares in the Fund at any time up to and including the Final Dealing Date in accordance with the Fund's normal redemption procedures as set out in the Prospectus. However, if a redemption request does not settle by the Record Date, such Shares will be compulsorily redeemed against the Final NAV Value as of the Compulsory Redemption Date as part of the Fund closure process as outlined above. You may also wish to acquire an alternative ETF within VanEck Vectors UCITS ETF plc range. If you would like further information, please contact VanEck using the details set out at the end of this Notice. Investors should seek their own advice as to the suitability of any alternative investment option. Please note that as part of the closure process and before the Compulsory Redemption Date, the ability to meet the investment objective of the Fund may be compromised in the event of significant redemptions and/or as the underlying portfolio of the Fund is liquidated in preparation for its closure. Particularly, a regular rebalancing of the Funds' assets may be waived in advance of the closure, if it is deemed in the best interest of the Shareholders. Therefore, there will accordingly be an increased risk of tracking error in the Fund versus its Index. Costs of closure The additional costs incurred in respect of closing the Fund will be paid by VanEck Asset Management B.V. The Fund's normal operating costs and transaction costs together with any Cash Redemption Fees will continue to be borne by the Fund and its respective Shareholders in accordance with the terms of the Supplement for the Fund. Tax consequences Investors are advised to consult their own professional advisers as to the tax implications of the Compulsory Redemption and closure of the Fund under the laws of the countries of their nationality, residence, domicile or incorporation. If you have any queries, concerning the matters outlined in this Notice, please contact your local agent, or (if none) VanEck at the registered address provided above or at international@vaneck.com. Yours faithfully, The Directors VanEck Vectors UCITS ETFs plc Researchers have suggested that samples of sperm and eggs from 6.7 million species on Earth should be sent to an ark created on the moon as a sign of modern global insurance policy. The lunar gene bank which could also abode specimens of seed and spore is considered as being constructed beneath the lunar surface, in an empty, relaxed lava tube. Samples stored in the ark would be kept freezing at a low temperature, with the equipment electrified by solar panels on the lunar surface. The ark would continue to conserve the genetic diversity of the earth in a situation of global calamity, such calamity might arise as a result of climate change, an asteroid impact, or a supervolcano eruption. How Would 6.7 Million Species Get to the Moon Constructing a genetic storage facility on the moon would be an unforgettable undertaking but Professor Thanga is of the belief that it would be possible. According to Professor Thanga's 'back-of-an-envelope' estimation, transferring some 50 specimens for each of the 6.7 million target species means that 250 rockets would have to be launched. For similarity, to gather the low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station, a total of 40 rockets were launched. Professor Thanga said It is not really big and they were a little bit surprised about it. Read More: Three's a Charm! Eclipse, Comet and Full Moon All Set to Make an Appearance on Friday Night Earth is a Volatile Environment Jekan Thanga, study author and mechanical engineer from the University of Arizona said, naturally, "Earth is a volatile environment." Thanga added that, "As human beings, we had a near hit around 75,000 years ago along with the supervolcano eruption at Toba, which led to a cooling period of 1,000-year and, in accordance with some, cues with a calculated decrease in human diversity." Because civilization of humans has such a huge step, and it could have a negative surging impact on the rest of the planet if it were to break down. The idea of building gene banks to get back lost ecological diversity in the years to come is not new. For example, over one million seed specimens are presently kept in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Spitsbergen Island in the Arctic Sea. A Safer Location Meanwhile, Professor Thanga and co-workers made it known that locating such equipment on this planet leaves them also exposed to accidental loss. For example, Climate change has the possibility of pushing many species into ultimate decline in the future, and, at the same time, the increasing sea levels that would accompany global warming will experience the Svalbard vault lost under the waves. Removed but still reachable, the moon may provide a location that is safer. Constructing genetic storage equipment on the moon would be a crucial undertaking - which Professor Thanga says would be feasible. The Toba Eruption The biggest volcanic blast on Earth was the Toba super-eruption, which occurred around the past 2.5 million years. It erupted on what is now known as the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Related Article: 2021 First Full Moon: The History of 'Wolf Moon' For more news, updates about global insurance policies and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! A West New York man is facing life in prison after he was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a girl when she was 6 or 7 years old, authorities said. Vikier Castillo Meza, 41, committed the sex assaults over a period of several months approximately five to six years ago, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. He knew the girl, who is now 12, through family. Castillo Meza, who was arrested Wednesday, is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, authorities said. A detention hearing is scheduled for March 16, 2021. Under the Jessica Lunsford Act, Castillo Meza, if convicted, could face life in prison, because the alleged victim was under the age of 13. The Hudson County Prosecutors Office Special Victims Unit was notified of the alleged sexual assault of the girl after being contacted by the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency. Coming amid challenging times, Vocal for Local is seen as giving a major impetus to homegrown businesses and brands as well as local Apps. We at Adgully support this movement wholeheartedly, and with Startup Stars, we are featuring all local/ homegrown businesses, brands and Apps. In conversation with Adgully, Suraj Raj Vazirani, Founder & CEO, The Beauty Co., speaks about what motivated him to start his own venture, the difficulties faced, message for budding entrepreneurs and much more. Please take us through your journey as an entrepreneur. What motivated you to establish your startup? What were you doing prior to turning an entrepreneur? Brought up in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, I fell in love with e-commerce at the right time, when e-commerce was gaining momentum in India. I began working with online marketplaces and e-commerce portals for branded consumer electronics and started learning the business. I had seen that despite the presence of countless beauty brands in the market, there were still a few crucial and untapped segments in the womens grooming industry. Id always wanted to create a business and brand of my own and be a part of its journey and success. After my hand at Beardo and building its brand and running the operations, I launched my own business and private label The Beauty Co. in 2018, in Ahmedabad. It is a premium Indian skincare and grooming brand that has a vast portfolio of products in four categories, namely Hair, Body, Skin, and Oral care. The Beauty Co. started by launching Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder and Coffee Scrubs on Amazon, which became instant hits. Soon after, the company launched a complete range of skin and hair care products, and started selling to Nykaa, Flipkart, Amazon, BigBasket, and Paytm, among others, who, in turn, sold directly to customers. After they became hits on Amazon, the team and I decided to scale up. Id always aspired to be an entrepreneur, and right from the beginning of my professional journey, I was focused on learning the ropes in the business world. Since I was a teen, I have always been involved with extra-curricular activities and that led me to explore theatre acting and radio profession as well. What need gap did you want to fulfil with your startup? What is the core business proposition? We had realised that everyone appreciates products that pamper them with a touch of nature, and we diversified accordingly. Our tagline, #TheCareYouDeserve, completely sums up our brand philosophy of pampering every user of ours to the fullest. We do not see ourselves as just another brand that is here to offer trendy beauty products, but one that carefully curates premium offerings, sourced from the best ingredients in nature. The Beauty Co. is a brand that aims to make its products with 100 per cent natural ingredients. The majority of our products are 99-100 per cent natural, and they are carefully crafted to suit our customers needs. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing online beauty and personal care brands in India, and all the credit goes to its products with unique ideologies. Most of The Beauty Co. products are paraben-free, silicon-free and sulphate-free and all the products are cruelty-free; they contain natural ingredients that are safe and enhance the overall appearance of skin and hair, naturally. Made from natural ingredients, these products are pure, gentle, no-fuss-easy-to-use. Further, the compact packaging makes them convenient to carry everywhere. We got the first mover advantage, pan-India, with our Coconut Shell Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder, dry Coffee Scrubs, Activated Charcoal Glitter Glow Mask and our bestseller Rose Gold Oil. How did you identify your TG? Did you carry out any feasibility study prior to starting your business? Our target audience is primarily women between the ages of 18 and 45. But our offerings are suitable for both men and women. Our customers are digital-savvy and spend time on social media, online shopping platforms and other digital activities. We use digital media, such as social media ads and influencer marketing to target them. We curate multiple videos that they can relate to, such as the right way to use the product and its outcome. We reach them through our domestic clients in the online space, such as Nykaa, Flipkart, Amazon, Big Basket, Paytm, etc., and our offline client, Nail Spa. We learned about the feasibility of the business through our experience in the offline business and applied those learnings in the online space. We kept learning and applying it to grow and expand the business in the beauty & grooming space. What were the challenges that you faced in your startup journey and how did you overcome them? Our vision is to spearhead the online beauty sector with products made from 100 per cent natural ingredients. Being a bootstrapped brand, availability of capital remains the toughest issue. Building a private label, both online and offline, requires multiple resources to grow. The business was majorly impacted with sales at an 80% low during the lockdown. Considering the products did not fall under the essential goods category, we were not able to take or ship orders for a brief period. We used this period to focus our efforts on R&D and marketing campaigns. This period gave us time to develop new product lines as well as introspect and improvise on the existing product offerings. The marketing and communication campaigns focused on identifying an individuals skin type, skin conditions and provided skin/ hair care tips for attaining a healthy glow at home. Collaboration with influencers, bloggers for natural ingredient awareness in The Beauty Co. products, the benefits of using these ingredients in ones daily regimen as well as fun DIY care videos was a way of connecting with our consumers confined within their homes during the lockdown. As far as the internal technical and marketing issues are concerned, we have had sufficient time during the lockdown to investigate and rectify them. What were the clearances that you required for your venture from various authorities? Depending on the nature of our business, we had to obtain several permissions and clearances that every beauty and grooming business must have. These are from various authorities such as manufacturing/ sale licensing authorities, FDA, etc. Funds/ finance is the prime issue of almost all start-ups. What can the industry and the Government do to address this issue and ease the capital requirements of start-ups? The Governments new budget is quite positive for start-ups and encouraging for the whole eco-system. Initiatives such as hassle-free loans, tax free holidays, simplification of the registration process are some active steps that are bound to benefit start-ups a great deal. Additionally, the industry can get together to extend support to each other by holding start-up fests and exhibitions. Prime Minister Modi recently announced a Startup India Seed Fund. How do you see start-ups benefiting from it? Start-ups will definitely have a headstart in terms of funding, backing and monetisation. This positive push is a breather for ambitious upcoming businesses, and a step in the right direction for self-sustaining start-up ideas. The Seed Funds frameworks definitely aid with the crucial steps that make or break a start-up, such as prototype development and commercialisation. It will indeed transform the promising Indian landscape. How is digital helping you further your business? We started as a 100 per cent online brand and into both B2B and B2C. After finding success in selling our initial products online, we diversified into various skin and hair care products. The biggest advantage is that the digital world is not limited by geographies; hence the reach is wider which leads to more consumers and more sales. We use digital media, such as social media ads and influencer marketing to reach our customers. We curate multiple videos that they can relate to, such as the right way to use the product and its outcome. We reach them through our partners in the online space, such as Nykaa, Flipkart, Amazon, Big Basket, Paytm, etc. However, we are also optimistic about our next move to expand in the modern and general trade and are thrilled to enter the international markets. What were your key learnings from 2020? How do you see the start-up ecosystem progressing in 2021? We are very optimistic about 2021 as we believe that the customer of today appreciates products that deviate from your regular run of the mill offerings and see this as a time of great innovation for our brand as well as the rest of the industry, and an opportunity to further enhance and expand our already diverse product range. We expect to see a surge in sales as the country swiftly recovers from the pandemic, and have observed that due to the lockdown, missing out on shopping experiences has led customers to actively make purchases and re-stock their shelves. We are all set to take the market by storm again with our upcoming range of products and see a limitless sky! We are optimistic that our determination combined with the resilience of the industry will prove promising in the future to come. What would be your message for the budding entrepreneurs? My advice would be to go for your dreams, albeit by taking smart little practical steps in the right direction. Taking the time to truly understand the market needs of your potential offering makes all the difference in the world. Business is a very unpredictable domain, but the only thing that remains constant is building something that can transform lives, because that is bound to boom. Australians are flocking to an enchanting swimming spot less than two hours' drive from Sydney, where pristine white sand meets sparkling turquoise ocean. The scenery is so breathtaking, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Minnamurra River on the NSW South Coast was a secluded stretch of a tropical island. A video of the location uploaded to TikTok by travel blogger Nat Explores reveals crystal clear waters and vibrant grassy hills, perfect for camping and picnics after long days kayaking or paddleboarding in the sea. Further inland, Minnamurra boasts cascading waterfalls and a rainforest brimming with winding hiking trails and native wildlife. A video of the location uploaded to TikTok by travel blogger Nat Explores reveals crystal clear waters and pristine white sand beaches (left), while further inland the region boasts cascading waterfalls (right) and a rainforest brimming with winding hiking trails and native wildlife The stunning scenery (pictured) has captured the imagination of travel enthusiasts online The clip, which has been viewed 45,500 times since it was posted on February 28, has captured imaginations on social media at a time of increased demand for domestic travel destinations while Australia's international border remains closed. 'My favourite secluded swimming spot,' Nat wrote in the caption. One woman replied 'that's so pretty', while a second said she swims there 'everyday'. A third likened the scenery to Fiji, saying she would make do with the NSW alternative until overseas travel resumes. The sparkling turquoise water (pictured) provides the perfect conditions for kayaking or paddleboarding throughout the summer The breathtaking spot (pictured) is less than two hours' drive from Sydney CBD But not everyone was convinced. One man who lives in the area said Minnamurra could not be described as 'secluded', certainly not on weekends or public holidays. 'Not like it used to be 10 years ago. Every man and his dog goes there now,' he added. Others recommended driving one hour further to Huskisson, hailed as New South Wales' answer to the Whitsundays. Huskisson, a beachside town of 786 residents two and a half hours' drive from Sydney, has been described as NSW answer to the Whitsundays Videographer Andrew Zhao recently visited Huskisson, a picturesque beachside village on the NSW South Coast that looks almost identical to the iconic islands known as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef in northeast Queensland. In a clip posted to his TikTok account 'Andy Escapes' - which has 2.1million 'likes' - Mr Zhao showcased the similarities between the two locations that include white sand beaches, world-class diving and and crystal clear turquoise waters. 'The Whitsundays in NSW?' he captioned the video. The tiny beachside town (pictured) looks almost identical to the iconic islands known as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef in northeast Queensland While some are discovering Huskisson for the first time, it's been a go-to holiday spot for Australians - chiefly those from NSW - for many years. The top attraction in the tiny town of just 786 residents is the pristine stretch of sand which acts as a base for a host of activities including snorkelling, kayaking and standup paddle boarding. Award-winning wineries are between 25 and 40 minutes' drive from the beach, while a quaint country pub serves up tasty Australian fare and thirst-quenching sundowners overlooking the ocean. The top attraction is the pristine stretch of sand (pictured) which acts as a base for a host of activities including snorkelling, kayaking and standup paddle boarding Popular with families and couples, Huskisson has a variety of accommodation ranging from budget-friendly motels to boutique resorts, with three nights costing anywhere from $440 to $1,782. Mr Zhao's video, which was filmed with a drone and has been viewed 54,700 times, has drawn dozens of stunned responses since it was uploaded online on February 1. 'Part of one of the most stunning areas in the world,' one viewer wrote. 'The Shoalhaven has beautiful beaches that are world class.' The revelation is sure to be welcomed by NSW travel enthusiasts frustrated by snap border closures, which have scuppered countless holiday plans since the pandemic began last year 'This beach is amazing I was there last week,' said a second, while a third called anyone who lives close to Huskisson 'so lucky'. Others called the town the 'best place on the South Coast'. The revelation is sure to be welcomed by NSW travel enthusiasts frustrated by snap border closures, which have scuppered countless holiday plans since the pandemic began in early 2020. Ford is donating $250,000 to DAPCEP to create a signature program that encourages high school students in underserved communities to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. As Ford builds the future of mobility, we are building the ladders for a more diverse group of young people to reach their goals while helping us transform the world through programs such as this with DAPCEP, said Ken Washington, chief technology officer, Ford Motor Company. Too often, underrepresented students simply dont receive the resources, guidance and level of support needed to aide their pursuit of a successful STEM career. Working in concert with the educational 501(c)3 Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP), Ford is making a concerted effort to eliminate those barriers. Ford is donating $250,000 to the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program to create a new signature program that encourages high school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). This program will engage 80 underrepresented students in a series of engineering courses, internships, and mentoring experiences to ensure they gain the aptitude, motivation and preparation needed to pursue successful STEM careers. I know from personal experience that young men and women in underserved communities need help overcoming the societal and financial obstacles that can derail even the most ambitious students who have significantly less access to achieving the American Dream, said Ken Washington, chief technology officer, Ford Motor Company. As Ford builds the future of mobility, we are building the ladders for a more diverse group of young people to reach their goals while helping us transform the world through programs such as this with the Detroit Area Prep-College Engineering Program. Intended to engage boys and girls in 11th and 12th grade, the signature program will support students with pre-college preparation courses, mentorship from Ford employees, and the opportunity to apply for summer internships at the company. DAPCEP is thrilled to be selected to receive Ford STEM Signature Program funding. Ford has been one of DAPCEPs founding partners and their decades of support has been vital to our impact in the community, said DAPCEP Executive Director Michelle Reaves. According to recent UCLA research, 22 percent of Black students and 29 percent of Latinx students complete a STEM degree within six years. If the pandemic has taught us anything, its that the world will need more scientists, engineers and researchers who represent and support underrepresented communities. The signature program was created by Washingtons Research and Innovation Center team that helps organize the companys wide-ranging STEM efforts, with a focus on expanding its student outreach and making a significant impact on existing educational programs. The group received additional funding in 2021 to expand support for eligible programs that aim to generate a meaningful way for students to experience STEM fields and expand access to underserved communities. In addition to funding, Ford provides program engagement as well as student mentorship. Established 44 years ago, DAPCEP provides rigorous and inspiring STEM programming to 11,000 pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade students throughout Southeast Michigan each year. With a 50:50 female-male ratio and near 100 percent graduation rate, DAPCEP remains one of the leading organizations for maximizing youth potential. DAPCEP collaborates with a variety of local schools and universities, corporations, community organizations, and public entities. Since their founding, DAPCEP has amassed more than 68,000 alumni, 70 percent of whom have entered STEM careers. Approximately 150 of DAPCEP alumni have worked at Ford. Climbing ladders to STEM success The signature program will be focused on supporting students in three key ways: Building student aptitude in foundational mechanical engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and engineering design-thinking topics to prepare them for success in post-secondary STEM courses. Increasing student awareness of potential career pathways at Ford and offering students the opportunity to engage with current STEM practitioners. Providing support to high school students from racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in STEM to persist in STEM pathways. Beginning in February 2021, the program will initiate two separate tracks to serve students. On the first track, the program will select 40 high-achieving 12th grade students to participate in the eight-week Steps to Success course, which focuses on topics such as college transition, career awareness and exposure, professional and workplace skills, networking and financial literacy. As part of this course, students will also be able to apply for the summer internship program at Ford, which will designate 10 spaces for DAPCEP students. Students who are not selected for internships will participate in a robust mentorship program developed in partnership with Ford employees. They will also participate in a pre-year-1 college program consisting of continuing support from DAPCEP and mentorship by Ford employees. On the second track of the program, beginning February 2021, 40 11th grade students will take part in a series of eight-week academic courses focused on mechanical engineering, computer science and electrical engineering. These courses will help ensure students understand foundational concepts and will be built with input from Ford employees to ensure the curriculum reflects current industry practices. Students interested in learning more about DAPCEP and the signature program can visit: http://www.dapcep.org/programs/ford-signature-program About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford trucks, utility vehicles, and cars increasingly including electrified versions and Lincoln luxury vehicles; provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company; and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification; mobility solutions, including self-driving services; and connected vehicle services. Ford employs approximately 187,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit corporate.ford.com. Edward Wilks, owner of Tradesmen Gun Store and Pawnshop helps Lauren Boebert with a firearm at his store in Rifle, Colorado on April 24, 2018. (Emily Kask/AFP/Getty Images) Tighter Background Check Legislation Burdens Law-Abiding Citizens, Wont Reduce Crime: Expert Prominent economist and gun rights advocate John Lott said that the enhanced background checks contained in new House-passed measures would burden law-abiding citizens and not reduce crime. The House approved two bills on Thursday that expand background checks on individuals who are seeking to purchase or transfer firearms and lengthens the review period for background checks from three days to up to 20. Its just a way for gun control advocates to impose what can be long waiting periods on people to be able to go and buy a gun, Lott said. The bills would still need Senate approval before becoming law, an outcome Lott said is unlikely, unless Democrats reach for the so-called nuclear option and get rid of the Senate rule that requires a 60-vote majority to pass most legislation. If the filibuster remains, I dont think theyll get it passed, Lott said, noting that the two bills are a kind of testing the water of tighter gun legislation on the part of Democrats before potentially moving forward with more ambitious proposals. Lott, who holds a doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles and is perhaps best known for his 1998 book, More Guns, Less Crime, told NTD in the interview that advocates of tighter gun laws make the false correlation that gun ownership drives crime. Rather, it is public perception of crime that drives people to buy guns out of concern for their safety. The reason why people went out and bought the guns was because of the increased crime and increased fear that they had, he said. It wasnt the gun sales, and then the increase in violence. Its that people were seeing riots, they were seeing that police werent able to respond, they saw with the coronavirus police being not allowed to go and respond to calls. And that is what caused them to go and buy guns, not the reverse, Lott added. People stand in line outside the Martin B. Retting, Inc. guns store in Culver City, Calif. on March 15, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Record numbers of firearms have been sold recently in the United States. According to recent figures from the FBIs National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), gun sales in January surged by almost 10 percent month-over-month and about 60 percent as compared to January 2019. February sales have tempered, however, falling 20.3 percent month-over-month, but still 23 percent higher than in February 2019. While both violent and property crime across the United States has fallen significantly since the early 1990s, when crime surged across much of the nation, there have been spikes in some types of violent crime in some regions in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders have risen by 82 percent over the past two years, as of March 7 (pdf), while shooting incidents have increased by 71 percent in the same period. Overall crime in Chicago has fallen by 18 percent over the past two years, however. At the same time, even though data shows that overall crime has fallen nationwide, Americans tend to believe crime is up nationally, according to a recent Gallup survey. It found that 78 percent of Americans believe there is more crime in the United States compared to a year ago, up 14 percentage points from last year and reminiscent of figures not seen since the early 1990s. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), who co-sponsored one of the measures, known as H.R. 8 or the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, said, this bill is a critical step toward preventing gun violence and saving lives. Jason Ouimet, executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement that the bill would only penalize law-abiding citizens and do little to reign in crime. H.R. 8, so called universal background checks, cannot be enforced without a federal gun registry, will not prevent crime, and will turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals for simply loaning a firearm to friends or family members, Ouimet wrote. Lott said that not only would the measures be unlikely to reduce crime, they might actually have the opposite effect. If you primarily disarm law-abiding citizens relative to criminals, youre actually going to see increases in violent crime, he said. Lott said that his research convinces me that police are the single most important factor for reducing crime, noting that deterrents to crime like higher arrest and conviction rates, and tougher penalties, all make it riskier for criminals to go and commit crime. But the police themselves understand that they virtually always arrive on the crime scene after the crimes occurred. And the question is, what should people do when theyre having to confront a criminal by themselves? he said. The fact that a victim might be able to go and defend themselves also makes it riskier for criminals to go and commit crime, Lott said, summarizing the key argument he makes in his book, that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens act as a deterrent to crime. One of the Republicans who voted against H.R. 8 said these measures wont make Americans safer. The idea that this is going to make us safer is laughable, said Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) on the House floor on March 11. Criminals looking to get their hands on firearms to use in crimes are not going to submit to background checks. Only law-abiding citizens will follow the law. This is a back door means of setting up a national registry of firearmssomething I completely oppose. Miller added that the United States has enough gun laws, but she said that we need is to make sure the laws we have are enforced. After being caught on a video harassing and coughing on a California Uber driver, the woman who is considered an 'Uber driver attacker' has been arrested. The incident started due to the passengers' non-wearing of face masks based on the report of the San Francisco police. Woman Turns into Uber Driver Attacker According to the New York Post, the driver, Subhakar Khadka picked up three women near the intersection of San Bruno Avenue and bacon Street in the Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco at around 12:45 p.m. on Sunday but afterward one among the women turned into an 'Uber driver attacker,' tearing off the face mask of the driver, coughing on him, and even dousing him with pepper spray. Based on the statement of the city Police Department, one of the passengers was not wearing a mask and Khadka did not get farther than two blocks before ending the ride as a woman refused to put one on. The dashboard camera of the vehicle recorded the whole incident. The recorded video which circulated on social media displayed the woman coughing at the driver and curses him for not wearing a mask. Another passenger also stated that she got corona while pulling down her cover on her face. In addition, the Uber driver, who is wearing a white surgical mask, leaned back against his seat and shook his head. Then the unmasked woman reaches forward and grabbed the phone of Khadka and the two struggled before the driver took back his device. Moreover, the woman also pulled off his mask and tossed it to the front of the car. Khadka can be heard in the video saying that they should not touch his property and he unbuckled his seatbelt. As the three women exited the Uber vehicle, one of them pepper-sprayed the driver through an open window before fleeing based on the police. Based on the statement of the spokesperson of the company, the account of the passenger who booked the ride has been banned from the application of Uber, Los Angeles Times reported. Read Also: Birthmothers in 2021 Eligible for Another $ 1,400 Stimulus Check On the Uber statement, they mentioned that the behavior that they have seen in the footage caught by the dashboard camera of the vehicle is appalling. The company also emphasized that they have a policy and it is clear that 'no mask, no respect, no ride.' On the other hand, the Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested the 24-year-old, Malaysia King on suspicion of assault and battery, assault with a caustic chemical, and conspiracy, and a violation of state health and safety codes based on the report of San Francisco police. A second suspect, also 24-year-old Arna Kimiai has yet to be detained but has communicated through her lawyer that she intends to surrender the police have mentioned. Also, Police Department's Robbery Detail leader, Lt. Tracy McCray, shared that they were glad to hear that Ms. Kimiai intended to do the right thing and turned herself into the nearest law enforcement agency and they hoped that it happens promptly. McCray also mentioned in the statement that the suspects had shown a callous disregard for the safety and well-being of an essential service worker in the middle of the life-threatening pandemic, The Guardian reported. Related Article: Trump Insists He Won in a Call with Election Investigator @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Monica Hynds, has been appointed General Manager, BBDO Singapore, to partner the highly accomplished creative head Guan Hin Tay. An industry veteran with over 20 years of experience, Monica has worked with some of the biggest network agencies and clients locally, as well as across the region. After 9 years at Ogilvy Singapore and J. Walter Thompson, Monica became Agency Head at Spark44, where she managed the Jaguar and Land Rover businesses across Asia Pacific. Since joining BBDO Singapore in 2020 to lead the expansion of client services within the agency, Monica has hit the ground running with new business wins and injecting drive and passion into the agency and the team combined. JP Burge, Regional CEO, said of this appointment The role of Singapore and how it fits into our Asia strategy is evolving, with that, we are building a local offer that suits the market and opportunities within it. Monica & Guan Hin are the foundation of this, they are proven operators who bring creative thinking and hustle to the table. When asked about her new role and what Monicas plans are for the agency in 2021, she said BBDO has a big comeback in store, this last year was a tough one for our industry, but from a sleeping giant we are waking up with creative energy and passion to bring innovative business solutions to our clients and we are ready to take the bull by the horns moving forward. We opened the year with a fewnew business wins and we are excited to continue with this momentum throughout 2021. Current Managing Director, Nick Morrell is leaving BBDO Singapore to pursue other projects. Britain's Prince William watches a child in the playground during a visit with Kate, Duchess of Cambridge to School21, a school in east London, Thursday March 11, 2021. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP) PHOTO:Justin Tallis/Pool via AP Prince William Defends UK Royal Family By The Associated Press LONDON - Prince William defended Britain's monarchy Thursday against accusations of bigotry made by his brother, Prince Harry, and sister-in-law, Meghan, insisting the family is not racist. In comments made during a visit to an east London school, William became the first royal to directly address the explosive interview broadcast Sunday in the U.S. that Harry and Meghan gave to Oprah Winfrey. Were very much not a racist family, he said as his wife, Kate, walked by his side. Harry and Meghans allegations of racism and mistreatment have rocked the royal family, and Buckingham Palace sought to respond to them in a 61-word statement Tuesday, but it has failed to quell the controversy. William, second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, says he hadnt yet spoken to Harry in the aftermath of the interview, but I will do. Meghan, who is biracial, said in the interview she was so isolated and miserable as a working member of the royal family that she had suicidal thoughts. She also said Harry told her there were concerns and conversations by a royal family member about the color of her babys skin when she was pregnant with their son, Archie. Hers and Harry's comments have touched off conversations around the world about racism, mental health and even the relationship between Britain and its former colonies. William and Kate toured School21 in Stratford, east London as children returned to classes. The visit was also meant to mark the rollout to secondary schools of a mental health project Kate launched in primary schools in 2018. After reading the March 11 article, Sign-up for Clevelands mass vaccination clinic is now open, I went to the the new Ohio website, gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov, to attempt to register. It was pretty much useless. All the site does is direct you to a suppliers site where the user can then register. For example, for me in Painesville, it listed one supplier -- Walgreens -- and ignored the many others in the area, especially the Lake County system, other pharmacies nearby, the Wolstein Center mass-vaccination site in Cleveland, University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic. And in my case, there were no appointments available. The Ohio vaccination registration website touted by the governor is only an incomplete yellow pages. What a waste of time. I wonder how much Ohio spent creating this fiasco. Daniel Bergen, Painesville 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 New Zealand Dollar Outlook: New Zealand Dollar Churning The New Zealand Dollar is closing out the week on mixed footing, down versus four of the major currencies while gaining ground against three (incidentally, the three safe havens). While a risk-on environment has been historically beneficially for the New Zealand Dollar, and the recent change in the RBNZs remit makes its monetary posture more hawkish relatively speaking, the Kiwi seems to be plagued be a weakening economic environment in the near-term. Thus far in 2021, New Zealand economic data results have deteriorated relative to analysts expectations. The Citi Economic Surprise Index for New Zealand has droppeda yearly high of +157.90 on February 3 to a yearly low of +63.1 by Friday, March 12. In a sense, New Zealand data has been good, just not as strong as its been, which leaves the Kiwi on mixed footing in the near-term. As the week comes to a close, well take a look at two of the major NZD-crosses, NZD/JPY and NZD/USD. NZD/USD rates have slipped below their pandemic uptrend, while NZD/JPY rates continue to point higher. The difference in the performance between NZD/JPY and NZD/USD moving forward may be contingent upon USD/JPY, which is tracking US Treasury yields. NZD/JPY RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (March 2020 to March 2021) (CHART 1) On the daily timeframe, the recent pullback in NZD/JPY rates is insignificant; an inside day candle amid an otherwise strong uptrend. Despite the sharp pullback at the end of February, NZD/JPY rates have stabilized above the daily 5-, 8-, 13-, and 21-EMA envelope, which remains in bullish sequential order. Its noteworthy that NZD/JPY never dropped below the 50% Fibonacci retracement of the 2015 high/2020 low range at 76.77 during its pullback. Daily MACD has turn higher once again above its signal line, while daily Slow Stochastics are rising once more above their median line. The charts still suggest more gains are on the way. NZD/JPY RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: WEEKLY CHART (November 2014 to March 2021) (CHART 2) Ignoring recent noise, our outlook remains the same: From a weekly perspective, NZD/JPY rates are on track with what is our longer-term bullish point of view: a bottoming process has commenced. NZD/JPY rates continue to trade higher following their break above the descending trendline from the January 2014, July 2017, December 2018, and August 2020 highs. Momentum remains bullish weekly timeframes. Rates continue to hold above the 50% Fibonacci retracement of the 2015 high/2020 low range at 76.77, while the pair is still above its weekly 4-, 13-, and 26-EMA envelope. Weekly MACD remains at its highest levels since early-2017, while weekly Slow Stochastics continue to linger in overbought territory. NZD/USD RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (March 2020 to March 2021) (CHART 3) As noted previously, if your disposition is that US Treasury yields (among others) can continue to rise, its likely that NZD/USD lags NZD/JPY. This has been the environment since the prior New Zealand Dollar forecast update on March 2. NZD/USD rates are materially weaker than their NZD/JPY counterpart. NZD/USD is below its March and November 2020 uptrend, which constitutes the pandemic trendline. The gains this week saw this uptrend serve as resistance, as did the former support in the symmetrical triangle that formed between mid-December 2020 and mid-February 2021. Moreover, NZD/USD is still struggling to recapture its daily 5-, 8-, 13-, and 21-EMA envelope, which is nearly aligned in bearish sequential order. Daily MACD is trending lower and is nearing its signal line, but daily Slow Stochastics have rebounded from oversold territory. The indicators, while turning bearish, are not all of the same disposition, particularly with the cluster of support levels nearby: the 50% Fibonacci retracement of the 2014 high/2020 low range at 0.7153; the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement of the 2017 high/2020 low range at 0.7065; and the December 2020 low at 0.7006. If NZD/JPY rates remains bullish, NZD/USD rates may simply be carving out an area in which they can base before turning higher; the cluster of key technical levels below suggest that this may be the place for NZD/USD bulls to make their stand. IG Client Sentiment Index: NZD/USD RATE Forecast (March 12, 2021) (Chart 4) NZD/USD: Retail trader data shows 37.11% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders short to long at 1.69 to 1. The number of traders net-long is 1.95% lower than yesterday and 16.67% higher from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 6.75% higher than yesterday and 18.94% higher from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-short suggests NZD/USD prices may continue to rise. Traders are further net-short than yesterday and last week, and the combination of current sentiment and recent changes gives us a stronger NZD/USD-bullish contrarian trading bias. --- Written by Christopher Vecchio, CFA, Senior Currency Strategist Speaker of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) National Assembly, Artur Tovmasyan, on Friday received the representative of Armenia before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Yeghishe Kirakosyan. They discussed the realities following the recent Artsakh war. In this connection, the head of the Artsakh parliament raised the issue of protection of the rights of the captive Armenians in Azerbaijan, considering their quick return to the homeland as a priority. Kirakosyan, for his part, stressed that this issue is on their agenda and every effort is made to contribute to this process. Then their talk continued in an expanded meeting, during which the interstate legal process was presented. Armenia has petitioned to the ECHR in connection with Azerbaijans gross human rights violations and war crimes during the recent war, and the respective Armenia v. Azerbaijan complaint was submitted to the court on February 1. The property rights of displaced residents and the fate of captive Armenians also were raised by the Artsakh MPs. New Delhi, March 12 : The new Hollywood creature feature "Godzilla Vs. Kong" will now release in India on Wednesday March 24, two days ahead of its initial international release date. "After looking at the tremendous response the trailer has received and sensing the huge anticipation for the film, we are delighted to announce that we are now releasing this movie -- Godzilla Vs. Kong -- two days earlier than scheduled, so that fans in India get to experience this film in cinemas the sooner!" said Denzil Dias, vice president and managing director, Warner Bros. Pictures (India). Directed by Adam Wingard, the film follows the adventures of "Godzilla: King Of Monsters" (2019) and "Kong: Skull Island" (2017), and will see the two iconic screen monsters take on each other. The last time that happened was in 1962, in the film "King Kong vs Godzilla". "This is a battle that hasn't been waged since 1962, so for us it was like -- It's gotta be the most definitive version and the most satisfying version of these two monsters coming together," says Wingard. "In doing that and knowing that everybody has got their favourite, we had to ensure to satisfy both their supporters. They both have their unique special powers and weaknesses...so that's all taken into consideration. For us, it was most important that this is the most epic battle of all time," he adds. The film stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown and Rebecca Hall among others. IANS smg/vnc Robert Owen arrived on the Greek island of Hydra in 1963, joining a storied exodus of boho expats that included Australian writers George Johnston and Charmian Clift. For a rebellious and curious kid from Wagga Wagga, enamoured with nature and Albert Namatjiras diaphanous watercolours, Europe unlocked a world of ideas. Canadian Leonard Cohen, then an aspiring novelist and poet, became a mentor. Leonard introduced me to the I Ching, the artist recalls. George and Charm gave me a copy of the Greek myths by Robert Graves. I didnt know anything about Greek history. I left school at 15. Artist Robert Owen: I was interested in this inner self, thats the soul inside thats full of light. Credit:Justin McManus Still curious and enthusiastic at 83, Owen enjoins me to read a Cohen quote pinned above a long desk in his neat Collingwood studio. It expresses his own artistic life: I treat this world that surrounds me with the integrity and dignity necessary to bring it through me to everyone else. Books, artworks, and posters from past shows surround him. Sculptures of abstracted hypercubes hover above like drawings in space personal zodiacs connecting newfound constellations. Under glass on a shelf perches Oscar, his stuffed pet cockatiel. A few moments later Owen is flipping through a diary he kept in Greece. He chuckles at the prescience of the first entry. Below his drawing of Earth, Owen has written it remains where it is but as for me I am passing. The Alabama House of Representatives began a lengthy review of medical marijuana legislation on Wednesday, requiring the bill to go through two committees before it can secure a vote by the full House. The Alabama Senate approved the bill by a 21-8 vote last month after 15 minutes of debate. However, the House of Representatives has traditionally been more skeptical of medical marijuana proposals and will require the bill to go through two committees. The House Judiciary Committee will vote next week after holding a Wednesday public hearing. If approved, it will then move to the House Health Committee. The bill by Republican Sen. Tim Melson would allow people with a qualifying medical condition to purchase marijuana after getting a recommendation from a doctor. Im still optimistic. I just think people realize that there are people out there who have nothing else to try, Melson said. Under the proposal, people could get a doctors recommendation to use medical marijuana for more than a dozen types of conditions including cancer, anxiety, epilepsy, menopause, a terminal illness and chronic pain. The bill would allow marijuana in forms such as pills, skin patches and creams but not in smoking or vaping products. During the public hearing, speakers gave committee members divergent views on whether marijuana should be a treatment for medical conditions. Dr. Marsha Raulerson, a pediatrician, said state medical marijuana laws bypass the normal approval process for medications which must be cleared for federal regulators. She said that process is there for the protection of patients. It can approve the peoples quality of life, said Amanda Taylor, who told committee members that she suffers from six debilitating diseases, including diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Its inhumane to allow 36 states to say yes and then for Alabamians to be refused and denied, Taylor said. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Cannabis Alabama Politics 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. Indosat in collaboration with Novosol has launched iADs-MGram. moLotus, Novosols breakthrough video mobile advertising and customer interaction platform, will power the Indosat iAds-MGram service. The service will provide Indonesian advertisers with a unique video customer interaction reach - to existing and new customers. Featuring hyper-personalization and interaction, the service will generate higher response and conversion rates, while catering to almost every vertical and providing a gamut of marketing uses. With Four of Chinatowns most cherished businesses are heading to the Ferry Building this month for a special pop-up series. Throughout March, the Chinatown Kite Shop, China Live, Dragon Papa Dessert and Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory will set up shop within the Ferry Building where they will offer some of their most iconic goods. The Ferry Building hopes the pop-up will highlight each small business and remind locals to shop local. Kevin Chan, the owner of the longstanding Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, told SFGATE that its an honor to be part of the monthlong series. Its a great way to step out and promote, Chan said. Were all collaborating and hopefully in a few more months well get through this. Chan said that since the March shutdown nearly a year ago, business at Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory has dropped by 80% as tourism has faded. General foot traffic around Chinatown has likewise dipped. Its like a ghost town, but we still continue to survive, Chan said. 3 1 of 3 Xinhua News Agency/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Xinhua News Agency/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images Show More Show Less 3 of 3 One of the main goals for the pop-up series is to support businesses around Chinatown that have particularly struggled to remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. In January, SFGATE reported that Chinatown businesses lost an average of 70% of revenue and that between 50-75% of businesses were vacant or closed along certain blocks of Grant Avenue an area which was once a bustling tourist destination. Lin Wu, who is the property manager at the Ferry Building, reached out to Chinatown advocates Myron Lee and Lily Lo, who helped facilitate introductions with business owners and helped select Chinatown businesses for the pop-up series, a spokesperson told SFGATE. Courtesy of Kevin Chan Chan feels thankful to be chosen as one of the Chinatown businesses, especially after looking forward to a spike in sales during the 2021 Chinese New Year Parade that was ultimately canceled. Now, hes excited to bring his legendary fortune cookies to the Ferry Building, including the flat ones that happen to be Chans best-selling item. A portion of the sales made from the four businesses during the pop-up series will also go toward San Francisco Community Business Resources, a nonprofit organization that assists small businesses around the city. The Ferry Building will host the pop-up series on Saturday and Sunday throughout March from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Zoez Lajoune, a student of writing who resides in Minnesota, has completed his new book The Rise of the Widow-Maker: The Light of Death Will Come: a gripping and thrilling novel about facing the innermost fears of ones own psyche and exploring the undiscovered chambers of the mind. Lajoune writes, It had only been three months since Dominics funeral. The cousin that he loved and lost. Three weeks prior to that, there was a horrible incident at Park Center High. A guy was found mutilated in the parking lot. His eyes were missing, and car battery acid was seeping out of his ears. The following day, a man under police watch was murdered in the same fashion at Regions Hospital. The authorities investigating still hadnt commented on the murders. Hospital records, along with the autopsy report from the county morgue, indicated the same modus operandi for both murders. Then there were those six nickels found in the eye sockets of each victim. They appeared to be some sort of dark age calling card. It was as if a tocsin was chiming out from a church steeple, warning souls of what was already among us and nobody was listening. Published by Page Publishing, Zoez Lajounes mysterious tale gives in more and more to the darkness, one without a safe haven, bargaining chip to use as leverage or a plea to offer that will acquire any type of mercy. Many people praise the Widow-Maker, even though the walking curse that is within himself seems to be looking for a way to escape. The journey is one that is going to be tumultuous and with the help of friends and colleagues, is destined to become one that will not be soon forgot. Readers who wish to experience this chilling work can purchase The Rise of the Widow-Maker: The Light of Death Will Come at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Ukraines State Agency of Automobile Roads (Ukravtodor) will soon announce a tender for the selection of an investor for the construction of the Krakovets-Brody-Rivne road on the terms of a public-private partnership (concession). Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated this during the signing of the Memorandum on the preparations of proposals for public-private partnership on the project of construction and operation of the road on the route Krakovets-Brody-Rivne, Ukrinform reports referring to the Government portal. According to Denys Shmyhal, such a step will allow Ukraines State Agency of Automobile Roads to announce an open tender in the near future to select a private investor for the construction of the road on this route (except for the Northern bypass of Lviv), reads the report. The Prime Minister stressed that the use of the public-private partnership mechanism will make it possible to more actively attract investment in the development of a quality road network in Ukraine. The construction of roads with the involvement of a private investor will not only create new jobs and promote economic development, but it will also make roads comfortable and safe for Ukrainians in the long run. Shmyhal also said he hopes that in a few years a modern highway of the first category will connect the capital of Ukraine with the countries of the European Union. As reported, Ukravtodor intends to rehabilitate 20% of Ukraine's main road network as part of the Great Construction project in 2021. Ukravtodor considers the possibility of attracting additional financial sources for this purpose. In particular, such sources include public-private partnerships. iy * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. CERRO GORDO COUNTY, Iowa - A 44-year-old woman is facing multiple child endangerment charges after she was allegedly drunk while driving a school van with students on board. Rebecca Spencer, 44, of Forest City, was arrested Friday morning for speeding on B-14 east of Apple Ave. just after 8 a.m. According to court documents, Spencer was driving a Forest City School District van when she was stopped for speeding (16-20 miles per hour over the speed limit). She was transporting three minor children to school in the van, documents state, and a trooper detected an odor of alcohol. She allegedly admitted to drinking the night before and had a blood-alcohol level of .292. A second sample record a BAC of .244. The Forest City school district issued the following statement on the arrest: "Today, at approximately 8:30 a.m., Forest City Community District school officials were made aware that an employee, who was transporting children to another educational setting, was stopped by law enforcement and taken into custody on suspicion of Operating While Intoxicated. Those being transported in the vehicle, including the driver, are all safe and no injuries occurred." "The investigation is pending and The Forest City Community School District is fully cooperating with law enforcement. The conduct alleged in this case is not tolerated. The district thoroughly investigates any report that raises a concern about the conduct of a staff member. The employee will be on administrative leave during this investigation." "As this is an ongoing investigation, the district will direct further inquiries about the specifics of this case to the Iowa State Patrol." For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Harry Sou had devoted two decades to building a Chinese restaurant empire in far north Queensland, serving up to 1000 hungry international tourists a time from its base at the Cairns casino. Now he has retreated from five restaurants to a 50-seat venue off a service station car park that caters for locals and the occasional road-tripper. Id like to think this pandemic is only once in 100 years, Sou quips. I dont think bad luck will come so regularly nothing like this scale. One of many vacant shops in the Cairns CBD. Credit:Brian Cassey Empty shops with For Lease signs and shuttered hotels highlight the economic pain the pandemic caused the tropical far north Queensland community, which is heavily reliant on international tourism. Australia slammed its international borders shut in its fight against COVID-19, and there is no clear timetable to reopen the country to overseas visitors. The federal governments JobKeeper program has provided a lifeline to struggling Cairns tourism operators, but they fear the fallout when the wage subsidy ends within weeks. Advertisement While the Queensland and federal governments have announced $200 travel vouchers, an aggressive marketing campaign, and a subsidy to reduce airfares to prop up the industry, many want JobKeeper extended beyond the end of this month. Well beyond a road trip for most tourists, Cairns is almost 1700 kilometres north of Brisbane. The drive from the Queensland capital to Sydney is significantly shorter. Sugar cane and tourism fuel the economy in Cairns, which is home to about 150,000 residents and a once-bustling international airport. Pre-pandemic, about 40 per cent of visitors came from overseas, driving a tourism sector worth $2 billion a year. Cairns restaurateur Harry Sou has had to downsize his business to survive. Credit:Brian Cassey Domestic tourists have failed to fill the breach caused by international border closures, tourism operators say. They welcome the government subsidies announced this week but stress that extending JobKeeper is the key to keeping them afloat and preventing further job losses. Sou waves as he issues a friendly thank you over the clanging of pots and pans in the kitchen just metres away at Cafe China. Until late last year, his restaurant occupied some of the best real estate in the Cairns CBD in the only casino a short stroll from the marina, where thousands of people would queue daily to board boats bound for the Great Barrier Reef. Advertisement After two decades working in the region, including 12 years spent slowly growing the Chinese tourist market, his restaurant could seat more than 900 diners at a time. But as border closures coincided with a number of leases expiring, Sou realised he had one option downsizing. We had no choice, he says. We wouldnt been able to survive in our older business model. Perry Jones and the Ocean Freedom return from a day out on the Great Barrier Reef. Credit:Brian Cassey Like many others who have managed to keep their doors open for the past year, he now caters largely to domestic tourists and locals. Other tourist attractions, such as the long-running Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, have fared worse. It is with great regret we announce that the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park (Tjapukai) will not be reopening, it announced. When the Ocean Freedom pulls into the Cairns Marlin Marina on a Wednesday afternoon, 10 paying customers step off the vessel, which ferried about 70 tourists a day to the reef before the pandemic. Advertisement The days takings would not even cover the fuel bill, owner Perry Jones says. I made nothing today, but the crew got a job, he says. Earlier in the week, Jones attended a breakfast with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and asked if the federal wage subsidy could continue and expand to allow operators to hire staff. At the moment I cant employ someone because with 10 [passengers], that doesnt even pay the fuel, Jones says. Loading He and two others of the larger family-owned operators have banded together to push through the tough times. Since July last year, they agreed to split the week so they were not cannibalising each others already-reduced business. Waived state port authority fees have helped significantly, too. Thats a very Cairns thing, Allan Wallish says around the table of his own tour boat, Passions of Paradise, which now runs four days a week at 20 per cent capacity. Ive been doing this now for 30 years and my competitors are still some of my best friends. Advertisement Tour boat operators have shared some research work and coral planting for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which has helped lift finances and staff morale. We didnt want to just fall off a cliff in March, Wallish says. So how you replicate JobKeeper, that was obviously a big thing for us. Tourism Tropical North Queensland chairman Ken Chapman says it is very disappointing the JobKeeper program is set to end. Passions of Paradise tour operator Allan Wallish. Credit:Brian Cassey At the end of March, we are going to see, unfortunately, quite a lot of people losing their jobs around town, he says at a press conference at the marina. But this is an opportunity for the people of Australia to do something about it. A few streets back from the waterfront, thousands of backpackers from around the globe have stayed within the terracotta-coloured walls of Travellers Oasis. Advertisement The Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) has urged Kazakh authorities to review the conviction of activist Alnur Ilyashev, who was handed a parole-like three-year sentence and banned from social or political activism for five years for openly criticizing the Kazakh government's response to the coronavirus. "[Ilyashev's] conviction is an example of how Kazakhstan is using COVID-19 as a pretextual ground to clamp down on speech, in particular on the Internet -- often the only space left for dissent during the pandemic," CFJ's TrialWatch Fairness Report, released on March 11, said. The CFJ is a human rights watchdog founded by Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife, Lebanese-British lawyer Amal Clooney. Ilyashev, who used social media to criticize Kazakhstans ruling Nur-Otan party, led by former President Nursultan Nazarbaev, was convicted of spreading false information about the coronavirus in June 2020. An Almaty court found Ilyashev guilty of the dissemination of knowingly false information that threatens public order during the state of emergency implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic. The trial was held online due to coronavirus precautions. Ilyashev was detained on April 17, 2020, after he wrote on Facebook that authorities in Kazakhstan, including Nur-Otan, were corrupt and had been incompetent in their response to the coronavirus. This case shows the pitfalls of virtual trials. The defendants rights were repeatedly violated as a result of poor connectivity and the authorities failure to provide a way for him to consult with his lawyers. Kazakhstan needs to take immediate steps to ensure that virtual proceedings protect the rights of defendants, said Vania Costa Ramos, the TrialWatch expert who authored the report along with staff at the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights. The report also concluded that Ilyashev "was kept in arbitrary pretrial detention and denied medical care while in custody, in violation of his right to humane treatment." The CFJ's report says that Ilyashev has exhausted all possibilities to appeal his sentence in Kazakhstan, adding that if Kazakhstans prosecutor-general does not take action, the "CFJ will work with Mr. Ilyashev and his counsel to submit a communication to the United Nations Human Rights Committee." Ilyashev had been helping to organize protests against the government since 2019 and took the Almaty mayor's office to court, unsuccessfully, after his requests to hold peaceful public meetings were rejected dozens of times. Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, who was handpicked by Nazarbaev in March 2019 following almost three decades of his rule, has pledged reforms in the energy-rich Central Asian country. In May 2020, Kazakhstan reformed laws on protests that define how many people can attend a demonstration, what venues are available for rallies, and what permission is needed to conduct such public events. Critics say the law falls short of international human rights standards and is replete with numerous restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles to prevent protests. Nazarbaev still maintains key positions of power, including head of Nur-Otan and the countrys influential Security Council. In 2021, 1.8 million people will be diagnosed with cancer, and 600,000 will die of the disease in the United States alone. But what does it look like when cancer comes to live in your home, when youre told that your life will become one of those statistics? On this episode of Surprised by Grief, Christianity Todays editor-in-chief Daniel Harrell and author Clarissa Moll talk about Daniels experience as caregiver for his wife Dawn as she walked her own short path with pancreatic cancer. They discuss how dying can instruct a community, what open conversation can do to support grieving people, and how the honor of caregiving becomes a last act of great love. Tune in for an poignant look at how grief loves before and after death. Our special guest, professor and author Deanna Thompson, shares her experience living with chronic cancer and her wisdom on how faith and despair can coexist in the life of a believer. Deanna Thompson is the author of Glimpsing Resurrection: Cancer, Trauma and Ministry. Surprised by Grief is a production of Christianity Today. Produced by Mike Cosper Written by Daniel Harrell and Clarissa Moll Edited and mixed by Mark Owens Music by The Porters Gate The Northern Ireland Secretary has failed to explain the legal basis for shelving post-Brexit Irish Sea checks, as a furious EU prepares to launch its court action. Brandon Lewis was challenged to set out under which part of the Northern Ireland Protocol the incendiary unilateral action falls amid claims it will breach international law. Is it Article 16, which allows the UK to unilaterally take appropriate safeguard measures? And, if not, which other article is he citing? Labours Hilary Benn asked. But despite repeatedly insisting the government is acting lawfully Mr Lewis was unable to point to any part of the Protocol that allows it. In the Commons, he repeated his warning that Northern Ireland was faced with empty shelves, potentially, in just a couple of weeks time, if the action had not been taken last week. And he lashed out at Labour for defending the EU rather than defending the actions of the UK government, which is standing up for the people of Northern Ireland. Mr Lewis insisted London is keen to get back round the table with the EU, to reach agreement on extending grace periods before the checks are introduced. However, the failure to set out the basis for unilaterally delaying the checks is likely to be seized upon, as Brussels prepares to take its legal action. That is likely to include a formal infringement proceeding that could end up at the European Court of justice, as well as triggering the dispute mechanism in the Brexit withdrawal agreement. EU27 ambassadors are said to be in full agreement that the EU had to act firmly and action could begin as early this week. The checks on goods from Britain were agreed to avoid a hard border with the Irish Republic, as the EU seeks to protect the integrity of its single market. But the UK suddenly aborted their introduction, having failed to persuade Brussels to delay them until 2023, an agreement the Protocol requires. Facing an urgent question and Unionist demands to scrap the agreement altogether Mr Lewis told MPs: We are a very trustworthy partner. And, in reply to Mr Benn, he blamed Brussels for inflaming issues and tensions by briefly threatening to invoke Article 16 itself, in the row over vaccine exports. The measures I announced last Wednesday are lawful and consistent with the progressive and good faith implementation of the Protocol, he said. And he added: They do not change our legal obligations as set out in the Protocol under any of its articles. These measures are of a kind well precedented in the context of trade practice internationally and are consistent with our intention to discharge our obligations under the Protocol in good faith. A group of 17 fishermen on board a Spanish trawler were rescued by two RNLI lifeboats off the coast at Cushendall. A group of 17 fishermen on board a Spanish trawler were rescued by two RNLI lifeboats off the coast at Cushendall. A group of 17 fishermen abroad a Spanish trawler were rescued 11 miles off the coast at Cushendall by two local RNLI stations after the ship lost power. Red Bay and Larne RNLI volunteers launched all-weather lifeboats around 7.30pm on Thursday following a report from Belfast Coastguard that the 35metre trawler was drifting into a shipping lane. Weather conditions at the time were challenging with Storm Force 10 gusts of up to 54 knots and high seas recorded during the course of the call out. Red Bay RNLIs lifeboat under Coxswain Paddy McLaughlin and with five crew onboard, was on scene first to assess the situation. Meanwhile, Larne RNLIs lifeboat meanwhile, under Coxswain Frank Healy and with four crew members onboard, was diverted from a training exercise and made its way to the scene. Red Bay RNLI began to work with the crew of the trawler to establish a towline while the lifeboat from Larne illuminated the scene in what were dark, wet and windy conditions. The lifeboat started a slow tow to bring the vessel back to Red Bay but the extreme weather forced the tow to part mid-way. Larne RNLI then established a second tow and brought the trawler the remainder of the way into Red Bay where it was secured at 11pm. Both lifeboats were requested to launch once again on Friday morning after the trawler began to drag its anchor out of Waterfoot. In much better conditions, Red Bay RNLI safely towed the vessel into the shelter of Red Bay. Larne RNLI Coxswain Frank Healy said: "Weather conditions on scene last night were extremely challenging for all involved and I would like to commend our volunteers both here and in Red Bay for their teamwork over the three and half hours as they worked in darkness amid Force 10 winds gusting up to 54 knots and high seas. "Our volunteers are highly skilled and trained for all eventualities at sea and that was certainly put to the test last night but we were delighted to help and bring the fishermen to safety." 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 Paul W. Hansens Common Ground column appears about twice per month. Columns are solely the opinion of their authors. Contact him via columnists@jhnewsandguide.com. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned in strongest words the resolution adopted by the European Parliament regarding Bahrains rights situation. The foreign ministry statement said the resolution was based on false allegations and fallacies irrelevant to reality and based on adverse and dishonest sources seeking to discredit the Kingdom. The ministry statement also expressed surprise at how an elected parliamentary institution could take such a decision without communication with competent authorities in the Kingdom without verifying the correctness of the allegations. The resolution constitutes unacceptable transgression and unacceptable interference in Bahrains internal affairs. The EU resolution blatantly overlooked the progress made by Bahrain in protecting and promoting human rights, ensuring basic freedoms by focusing only on limited cases without accuracy, said the statement. The EU parliament also failed to see the complete picture of the development of the human rights situation in the Kingdom in its various dimensions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that respect for human rights and freedoms is an essential national component. Bahrain adopts a proactive and preventive approach regarding any possible allegations of individual cases affecting human rights. The Kingdom is also continuously working to enhance the ability to respond to such cases, following the constitution, laws, and customs followed, the statement added. The doors of Bahrain are open and available to the international bodies to view its human rights record, programmes and advanced initiatives in this regard, said the ministry. Unilateral view Shura Council viewed the report as a unilateral view, which lacked objectivity and professionalism, the basic framework of parliamentary work. This act constitutes a clear violation of the international treaties and conventions, and a clear circumvention of parliamentary norms, it said in a statement today. Bahrain has an advanced legislation system that guarantees the rights of people of Bahrain and determines their duties based on the Constitution and National Action Charter, said Shura Council. The Council said it has amended the Penalty Law and introduced Alternative Penalties Law, which protects the cohesion of society, and enables the inmates to reengage into the community. John Finucane has welcomed a decision by the Council of Europe to reopen the case of the 1989 murder of his father, solicitor Pat Finucane (Liam McBurney/PA) The son of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane has welcomed a decision by the Council of Europe to reopen his fathers case. John Finucane, Sinn Fein MP for North Belfast, said the decision to reopen examination of the case by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was a hugely significant move. The 47-nation council, which oversees the implementation of ECHR judgments, has also called on the UK authorities to step up efforts to conclude all legacy killing inquests within five years. Expand Close The Council of Europe has decided to reopen its investigation into the murder of Pat Finucane in North Belfast in February 1989 (PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Council of Europe has decided to reopen its investigation into the murder of Pat Finucane in North Belfast in February 1989 (PA) Mr Finucane welcomed the decision, calling it a hugely significant move, which will advance calls for a public inquiry into his fathers murder. He told the PA news agency: Its very unusual for the Council of Europe to reopen an investigation. We have been hopeful as a family that they would do that, but we certainly werent complacent. This is a result of efforts not just by my family but also by the Irish Government, and I want to thank them for their efforts in that regard. I think what the announcement today does is it puts a level of scrutiny and spotlight on the British Government and how they propose to deal with the investigation and all of the circumstances around the murder of my father. The Council of Europe has reopened the investigation into my fatheras killing. This is a hugely significant move. The British govt have been criticised internationally for their failure to establish an inquiry & this level of scrutiny is vital to ensure truth can finally emerge pic.twitter.com/pQtQBHfWtm John Finucane MP (@johnfinucane) March 12, 2021 Asked if it makes a public inquiry more likely, Mr Finucane said: I think it does, because the announcement last November that the British Government essentially wanted to bat this back to the PSNI and the Police Ombudsman, I dont think that really held much water with anybody internationally. I think the Council of Europes decision today puts focus and scrutiny on that. It requires the British Government to justify how that decision will live up to the Convention standards. Thats the international human rights standard which the British Government are still bound by. I think that does draw out the weakness of the British Governments position and I would say it does advance our calls for a public inquiry. Leading European human rights body the Council of Europe decided to reopen its examination of the case on Friday. In a statement, the Council said it did so in order to supervise the ongoing measures to ensure that they are adequate, sufficient and proceed in a timely manner. The Council has invited the authorities to clarify how the ongoing police and Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (Oponi) processes will proceed promptly and in line with Convention standards. In December the UK Government decided not to hold an immediate public inquiry into the killing of Mr Finucane in 1989, a move branded an insult by the solicitors family. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he was not taking a public inquiry off the table but that further examinations of the case by police and the Police Ombudsman should conclude first. The Council rebuked the UK Government at the time for failing to enforce judgments by the ECHR involving security forces killings and suspected collusion cases in Northern Ireland. Statement on behalf of the Finucane family following the decision by @coe to reopen the case of #patfinucane pic.twitter.com/DoFpRQA9vU Michael Finucane (@michaelfinucane) March 12, 2021 Pat Finucane, 39, who represented republican and loyalist paramilitaries during the conflict, was shot dead in his family home in North Belfast in February 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in an attack found to have involved collusion with the State. UK authorities have also been called on by the Council of Europe to step up efforts to reach its targets of concluding all legacy killing inquests within five years. Acknowledging delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Council noted: Some progress is now being made, inquests are resuming and recovery planning is under way. In a statement on Friday it strongly encouraged the authorities to step up their efforts to accelerate as far as possible to meet their target of the conclusion of all inquests within five years. It has asked for concrete information and explanations as to what measures are being taken to meet the current timeframes and prevent unnecessary delays. While noting the authorities intention to introduce legislation under the Stormont House Agreement to address legacy issues as soon as possible, the Council outlined its profound concern about the lack of detail over a plan to do so. The Government must get the Finucane inquiry under way without further delay and heed Council of Europe calls for a human rights-compatible approach to dealing with all outstanding legacy cases Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International The decision was also welcomed by Amnesty International. Patrick Corrigan, the human rights groups Northern Ireland programme director, said: This is a welcome move by the Council of Europe, but it is deeply regrettable that the UK Governments shameful refusal to open a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane has made it necessary. Given the failure to properly investigate this killing, previously identified by the European Court of Human Rights and the UK Supreme Court, it is appalling that the Government continue to shirk not only their duty to the Finucane family but also their obligations under international law. The Government must get the Finucane inquiry under way without further delay and heed Council of Europe calls for a human rights-compatible approach to dealing with all outstanding legacy cases. In February 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that investigations into the fatal shooting of the solicitor have not been effective and fell short of international human rights standards. In November 2020, the government again refused a public inquiry into the circumstances of his killing. The decision not to hold an immediate inquiry into the killing was criticised by Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Green Party late last year. Expand Close (left to right) Katherine Finucane, with her brother, John, and mother, Geraldine, at the offices of Finucane Toner in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (left to right) Katherine Finucane, with her brother, John, and mother, Geraldine, at the offices of Finucane Toner in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) A letter signed by Sinn Feins Michelle ONeill, the SDLPs Colum Eastwood, Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry and the Green Partys Clare Bailey urged a rethink from the UK Government. They said the decision was neither a credible nor tenable position. It was an insult to the Finucane family, the senior party figures added. Your approach to this matter is now a matter of serious public concern. To avoid a public inquiry, you have clearly made a calculated decision to embark on a high-risk distraction strategy that now places both the Office of the Police Ombudsman and the PSNI in the midst of a historic murder investigation at a time when the intent is to take legacy out of policing. Your suggested approach potentially risks wider confidence in the rule of law and the administration of justice. The issue has divided political opinion in Northern Ireland and several unionist politicians have welcomed the Governments decision, arguing that a public inquiry is not justifiable when so many other bereaved families are still waiting for answers. Many domestic and foreign organizations and businesses have contacted the Ministry of Health to suggest providing vaccines against Covid-19. However, the manufacturers of vaccines offered for sale on the market have not authorized these organizations to sell their vaccines. Photo: AstraZeneca vaccine. The Ministry of Health said on March 10 that the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), and the Chinese and South African Police had recently arrested many people involved in the sale of fake Covid-19 vaccines. Interpol has also received more reports of counterfeit vaccine distribution and fraudulent activity targeting health authorities. In Vietnam, many domestic and foreign organizations and enterprises have submitted registration dossiers to the Ministry of Health to offer for sale Covid-19 vaccines produced by Moderna (USA) and AstraZeneca. However, these vaccine manufacturers have not authorized these organizations and individuals to sell their vaccines. On March 1, AstraZeneca confirmed that apart from the COVAX Facility program, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC), AstraZeneca has not authorized any other company, organization, or individual to supply its Covid-19 vaccine in Vietnam. Moderna has also confirmed that it has not authorized any party to register, sell and import Covid-19 vaccines for Vietnam. Other vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson all have subsidiaries in Vietnam. The first Vietnamese received the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 8. For the Russian Sputnik vaccine, the Russian Embassy in Vietnam stated that purchase, sale, and cooperation need to be discussed directly with the Russian Direct Investment Fund. China and India also said that the purchase and import of Covid-19 vaccines must be approved by the government. On February 15, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) warned governments about fraud and scams related to the purchase and sale of Covid-19 vaccines. In its statement, OLAF said organizations and individuals are impersonating others to offer fake vaccines, in order to deceive EU member governments that are trying to speed up vaccinations. The fraud may include: claiming to be a commercial representative of vaccine manufacturers and claiming possession or having access to Covid-19 vaccine; offering large quantities of vaccines to Government or organizations, providing sample vaccines to receive deposits and then appropriating money; providing fake Covid-19 vaccines. To ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines for the Vietnamese, the Ministry of Health encourages all eligible businesses to negotiate with Covid-19 vaccine suppliers in the world to import vaccines for domestic use. However, in order to ensure an adequate and safe supply of vaccines, the Ministry of Health recommends that agencies and organizations, when receiving information on cooperation on the provision of Covid-19 vaccines, should be cautious and carefully verify information to ensure legal, financial and commercial safety. They can ask relevant authorities (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Security, diplomatic and trade agencies...) to help verify information related to the supply of vaccines. At the same time, the negotiation and purchase of Covid-19 vaccines should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Health. This will ensure smooth import and use as well as management of the source and organization of vaccination in accordance with the Government's direction on the purchase and use of Covid-19 vaccines. Nguyen Lien 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. REDDING Sixty-five goats were seized from a Redding property this week, a state Department of Agriculture official told Hearst Connecticut Media on Thursday. Department officials executed a search-and-seizure warrant Wednesday at the Cross Highway property after receiving complaints about injured goats and general care issues, according to a department statement. The most recent complaint the department received was in 2020, which prompted an investigation, the department said in a statement. In addition to a complaint received in October about general care issues, the department received complaints dating to 2017 regarding roaming goats and the number of goats on the property, the department stated. 5 1 of 5 H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 5 H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 5 of 5 Nancy Burton, who resides at the property, has not returned Hearst Connecticut Medias request for comment. The goats were transported to a state rescue and rehabilitation facility in Niantic until the case is settled in the court system, according to a Department of Agriculture statement. The Second Chance Large Animal Rehabilitation Facility is considered a collaborative effort between the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Correction, according to its website. Inmates from York Correctional Institution, where the facility is located, are allowed to work with the program. York is considered a high-security prison for female offenders only. The barn for the facility was built in 2003 and a second was added in 2015. More than 200 horses and other livestock have spent time at the facility, according to the site. The driving force behind this initiative is the desire to respond faster to large animal cruelty cases, the website states. Burton first adopted a goat Katie the Goat in 2008, according to court documents Burton has filed, including an appeal against Reddings Zoning Board of Appeals and a complaint against the town of Redding and First Selectwoman Julia Pemberton. [Burton] later rescued two other goats from southeastern Connecticut and since that time the goat population at [Burtons] property has expanded, she wrote in a complaint against the Zoning Board of Appeals, seeking to be allowed more goats on the property. Reddings zoning rules allow five goats per lot or one for every 0.4 acres of property. Burtons property is 3.61 acres, according to town records, which would mean nine goats are allowed before needing to appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals for additional goats. The state Department of Agriculture said its investigation into the animals welfare is ongoing, but surveillance evidence confirmed its concerns over several matters including mobility issues due to untrimmed hooves, excessive manure, lack of sufficient water, and structures in poor condition that did not provide adequate protection from the weather on the property. More than three years after the state rejected a plan to build a psychiatric hospital in Wilsonville, a Pennsylvania health care company has revived the proposal. Universal Health Services reached a significant milestone early this month when it completed its new certificate-of-need application. It generally takes the Oregon Health Authority 90 days to issue a recommendation after the certificate of need is deemed complete, the agency told the company in a March 2 letter. With homelessness on the rise across the state, driven in part by chronically untreated mental health issues, advocates agree Oregon badly needs more facilities to help. In 2017, though, skeptics raised doubts about the quality of Universals care and its proposed Wilsonville location 20 miles from Portlands urban core. Pennsylvania-based Universal owns and operates 400 hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities, including the Cedar Hills Hospital, a small behavioral health hospital in Beaverton. Universals revenue hit $11.6 billion last year. Oregon rejected Universals original Wilsonville application in 2017, concluding that the company had failed to demonstrate that the state needed its facility or that the proposal was the most efficient way to meet local requirements. Its not clear exactly how Universal has changed its plans. Universal officials did not return phone calls. The company again is proposing a 100-bed facility. It would hold both voluntary and involuntary patients. The company argues in its certificate of need that there is a substantial unmet need for adult psychiatric beds in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties. The proposed $47 million facility, Willamette Valley Behavioral Health, would include inpatient programs for psychiatric patients, chemical dependency, crisis stabilization, a womens only program, and pain management. Plans call for a two-story, 62,660-square-foot building that employs 200. Dr. Bruce Goldberg, former head of the Oregon Health Authority, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the need for more mental health facilities is clear. Goldbergs time at the agency predates the states consideration of Universals hospital proposal in 2017. Oregon desperately needs more outpatient behavioral health treatment services, more mental health crisis services, more preventive services, more peer services and more psychiatric inpatient beds, he said. Sadly we continue to incarcerate more individuals with mental health problems than we hospitalize. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 01:34:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China is committed to making COVID-19 vaccines global public goods and building a global community of health for all, and is ready to provide as much support and assistance as possible for the Jordanian side in its fight against the pandemic, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday. In a phone conversation with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Wang congratulated Safadi on the centenary of the founding of Jordan. Noting that China and Jordan enjoy a profound traditional friendship, Wang said the bilateral strategic partnership has kept progressing in the past years, mutual political trust has been continuously enhanced, and the two sides have made solid progress in practical cooperation. This year, Wang said, also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and as China enters a new stage of development and forges a new development pattern, it will bring more opportunities for the friendly cooperation between the two sides. Wang also said that China appreciates Jordan's firm adherence to the one-China principle, and supports Jordan's efforts to maintain national security and stability and promote economic and social development. China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with Jordan to jointly promote the resolution of regional hot-spot issues, he added. Enditem Facebook has heavily criticized Apple for its upcoming anti-tracking ad changes. The company has published full-page newspaper ads that put Apple in a bad light, with Zuckerberg even claiming that this move will be disastrous for small companies. Apple, however, plans to roll out its privacy-focused changes with the upcoming iOS 14.5 update. One of the talked features of this update is app tracking transparency, which would force developers to ask users if their app usage can be tracked for ad targeting purposes. Facebook, however, has made a lot of noise about Apples anti-tracking feature, it has not exactly mentioned how the changes will affect businesses. CNBC spoke to former Facebook employees in a bid to find out how the upcoming iOS 14 anti-tracking changes will affect Facebooks ad platform. Facebook, like most social media websites, relies on selling ads as a part of its revenue. Apple, before iOS 14, allowed these advertisers to collect an identifier called IDFA to identify which device actually made a purchase through ads. After the purchase is made, the retailer records the IDFA of the user who bought the jeans and shares it with Facebook, which can determine whether the IDFA matches with a user who saw an ad for the jeans. This shows the retailer that their Facebook ad worked. But, Facebook employees say that the companies that rely on IDFA for ad-conversion are sophisticated, VC-backed startups. They say that a small business is likely to use a different approach for ad targeting. Citing an example, he said that a small coffee shop in Texas is likely to use a broad targeting categories like pin code and age for ads, which is data that Facebook can collect from its own apps without the need for the IDFA. If you talked to any restaurant owner anywhere and asked them what IDFA is, I dont think any of them would know what that is, Love said. Its affecting Facebook at scale. Not the small business owners. The app tracking, however, will threaten Facebooks metric known as view-through conversion. This figure enables the company to track how many people saw an ad, did not click on it, but made a purchase related to the ad at a later stage. CNBC says that app tracking transparency will affect this aspect of Facebook ad-tracking, and in turn its revenue. This is the main reason why Facebook is asking users to enable app tracking, by the use of an information pop-up. [Via CNBC Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a lecturer of the Central University in Accra, has called on government to amplify public education on its good policies and initiatives. Reacting to President Nana Akufo-Addo's State of the Nation Address, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah wondered why the government is silent on some of its good works that are benefiting Ghanaians. President Nana Akufo-Addo delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) before Parliament on Tuesday, March 9. He touched on various sectors of the economy and one of the sectors that, according to Dr. Otchere-Ankrah, must be in the spotlight is the agricultural sector. Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' programme, he narrowed his discussion to the government's Planting for Food and Jobs policy. The President, in his address, recounted the benefits of the policy saying, "we have seen the dramatic turnaround of our agricultural fortunes, due to the progressive policies that have improved the living standards of farmers in the country. The excellently executed policy for Planting for Food and Jobs has laid the foundation for the agricultural transformation of our country. We are able to say that our country is now a net exporter of food, and we no longer have to import basic foods like plantain and tomatoes''. "Mr. Speaker, Ghana rice is the preferred choice in an increasing number of our homes, as the growing, processing and packaging of rice become a more established and attractive industry. During this COVID crisis, we have, mercifully, been spared the spectre of food shortages. On the contrary, thanks to Planting for Food and Jobs, food has been in abundance in our markets across the country," he added. Dr. Benjamin applauded the President for his good initiative but called for intense publicity. He shared a testimony where he as a farmer cum lecturer went to buy seeds for his farm and was told the government has subsidized the prices making it affordable for farmers due to the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative. He wondered why many Ghanaians are not fully aware of the benefits of the intiative. He noted that agriculture is one of the avenues to generate huge revenues for the country and so urged the government to educate Ghanaians on the Planting for Food and Jobs policy as well as all other good works by the President. "The publicity is on the low; let's pay attention to it. Because even if we can get more (food) to feed ourselves and not able to export, it will help us as a nation," he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the Turkish government will host a senior-level meeting between Afghan government representatives and the Taliban in the coming weeks to finalize a peace deal. "We were one of the few countries invited to this signing ceremony, and we are one of the most important actors in Afghanistan, he told Anadolu Agency and TRT in a joint interview. Turkey is trusted by both parties in the talks, Cavusoglu said, and added: "Both the Taliban and the negotiation delegation, meaning the government side, had asked us to host such a meeting before." He cited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans meetings with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistans High Council for National Reconciliation. Cavusoglu said he also met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban deputy chief and leader of its delegation, in Qatar last year after the signing of a peace deal with the U.S. He stressed that Turkey would also appoint a special envoy for Afghanistan to contribute to the process. Cavusoglu added that the meeting in Ankara will not be an alternative to the Qatar process but a supporting one. "We will do this in coordination with our sister nation Qatar," he said, adding that the aim is to make the negotiation continue in a result-oriented manner. Cavusoglu said he believes that Turkey will contribute significantly to the meeting, which is planned to be held in Istanbul in April. Infosys said that its business process management arm Infosys BPM has on Thursday announced a five-year extension to its strategic collaboration with Newmont Corporation, the world's largest gold mining company, to standardize and digitize delivery models across its mine sites. Wipro on Wednesday announced the appointment of Pierre Bruno as chief executive officer for Europe. Pierre Bruno will lead Wipro's business in six distinct regions across Europe. "This appointment, a bold indication of the company's continued investment and focus on the European market, builds on Wipro's momentum across the region in recent years," Wipro said in a statement. The board of BPCL will meet on Tuesday, 16 March 2021, to consider a proposal for declaration of the second interim dividend for the FY2021. The board of GAIL (India) will consider payment of second interim dividend for FY 2020-21 on March 15. JSW Steel's crude steel production fell by 1% to 13.06 lakh tonnes in February 2021 compared with 13.20 lakh tonnes in February 2020. Meanwhile, production of flat rolled products declined 6% to 9.27 lakh tonnes in February 2021 as against 9.82 lakh tonnes in February 2020. Production of long rolled products jumped 10% to 3.4 lakh tonnes in February 2021 from 3.08 lakh tonnes in February 2020. AstraZeneca Pharma India has received import and market permission in Form CT-20 (subsequent New Drug Approval) from the Drugs Controller General of India for osimertinib 40mg/80mg film coated tablets (Tagrisso). The board of Quick Heal Technologies on Wednesday approved a proposal to buyback 63,26,530 equity shares of the company (equivalent to 9.85% of the total paid-up equity share capital of the company) at Rs 245 a piece. The aggregate consideration of the buyback shall not exceed Rs 155 crore. IDBI Bank said that the bank has been taken out of Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework by the RBI. The bank has provided a written commitment that it would comply with the norms of minimum regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio on an ongoing basis. Borosil Renewables said that the government's recent decision to impose a countervailing duty and a basic customs duty on certain import items will benefit the company. The Ministry of Finance (MOE), Government of India, has imposed a countervailing duty ranging from 9.71% to 10.14 of cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value for a period of 5 years, on imports of textured tempered coated or uncoated solar glass from Malaysia or of which origin is in Malaysia and exported from some other country or of which origin is some other country and exported from Malaysia. NBCC (India) has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 5 March 2021 with National Institute of Technology (NIT), Patna for supervision of construction and development of institute campus, hostel and residential buildings, at NIT Patna. NBCC is the project management consultant (PMC) for this project of value Rs 468 crore. Separately, NBCC (India) on Thursday, 11 March 2021, announced that it has awarded two separate work orders to Backbone Construction-Sangeeta Engineering & Contracts (JV) and Hayagrev Civil Engineering. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 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| 2021-03-12 10:59:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PRETORIA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- South African police on Thursday arrested five people in connection with the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank, the country's biggest banking scandal in recent years. The police said the suspects were arrested in an early-dawn raid at various places in Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces as they "continue to rid the country of corruption and corrupt activities." The arrestees will be answering to a combined 188 counts of charges which include theft, fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said in a press release. "Now that the attendance of a suspected organized criminal group is secured in court, attention needs to be given to those who contributed to the looting from various municipalities as well as undue beneficiaries," said National Head of the Hawks Godfrey Lebeya. The VBS institution collapsed back in 2018 after its reserves were plundered by greedy executives, leaving thousands of customers in financial troubles. Enditem The Hamilton County Health Department has added a total of 4,465 new first dose Pfizer appointments to the schedule. New First Dose Appointments : March 16 and 17 at Enterprise South Nature Park March 17 at Tennessee Riverpark March 17 at CARTA Bus Barn People in the eligible phases are encouraged to visitvaccine.hamiltontn.gov and make their appointment online. Those who do not have access to the internet can call the appointment call center for assistance: First dose appointments: 423-209-5398 Second dose appointments: 423-209-5399 A Spanish vaccine webpage and Spanish appointment call center are available for residents who speak Spanish. Spanish appointment line: 423-209-5384 Spanish vaccine webpage: health.hamiltontn.org/enus/ allservices/coronavirus( covid19)/vaccine/ vacunacioncontracovid19.aspx All three call center lines are open Monday-Friday from 8AM-4PM. Due to high call volume, callers may experience a busy signal and need to hang up and call back. General COVID-19 questions may be directed to the Health Departments hotline at 423-209-8383. Hours are Monday-Friday from 8AM-4PM and Saturday 10AM-3PM. Bilingual representatives are available. Current Phases/Eligibility COVID-19 vaccine appointments are for people who live or work in Hamilton County and meet current eligibility according to the Tennessee Department of Healths Vaccination Plan. For a full list of eligible phases, visit vaccine.hamiltontn.gov and click on the Current Phases/Eligibility tab. To see the list in Spanish, visit the Spanish website and scroll to the bottom. A list of documents an individual may bring to the vaccination site to demonstrate Hamilton County residency or Hamilton County work status are available on the Health DepartmentsFAQ page in English and on theSpanish Vaccine page in Spanish. No documentation is required to demonstrate Phase 1C status. Minors (16 and 17 year olds) must have a parent/guardian with them to give medical history and consent at the time of vaccination. Important Information to Know Prior to Appointment Do not arrive more than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment. Wear appropriate clothing to get a shot in upper arm Bring proof of Hamilton County residency (if applicable) Bring proof of Hamilton County employment (if applicable) Bring proof of age (if applicable) Print and complete the COVID-19 Vaccine Encounter form for both 1st and 2nd dose appointments. Click here to download the form: https://bit.ly/3caxvL3. Forms are available on-site, but bringing a completed form to the vaccination site will accelerate the process. Be prepared to wait 20 minutes after shot Be prepared for the entire process to take an hour or more Vaccination Record Card When patients receive their first dose with the Health Department, they will receive a Vaccination Record Card with the following important information. The vaccine manufacturer (either Moderna or Pfizer) The date the first dose of vaccine was given The date the second vaccine dose is due. This date is not an appointment. Patient must schedule a second dose appointment. Additional Resources Stay up-to-date on new vaccine appointment information. Follow the health department via their email newsletter and social media accounts, available at this link:health.hamiltontn.org/ AllServices/Coronavirus(COVID- 19)/ConnectWithUs.aspx . Transportation is available to the vaccination site. Call 423-209-8383 to schedule a ride. Visit the Health Departments new vaccine FAQ page, updated regularly: health.hamiltontn.org/en-us/ allservices/coronavirus(covid- 19)/frequentlyaskedquestions( faq).aspx The Health Departments COVID-19 hotline is available to answer your COVID-19 questions at 423-209-8383. Hours are Monday-Friday from 8AM-4PM and Saturday 10AM-3PM. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Jamesville, NY The four police officers involved in the shooting death of a Jamesville teen a week ago were not wearing body cameras. Body camera footage is key evidence in police shootings: it can show exactly whats going on the second that an officer opens fire. Thats crucial information as the state Attorney Generals Office probes the police fatal shooting of 17-year-old Judson Albahm. But none of the officers who fired -- from DeWitt, state police and the sheriffs office -- were equipped with body-worn cameras during the March 4 incident, Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard found. RELATED: 4 officers from 3 agencies fired guns during fatal shooting of Jamesville teen In fact, only one of the three police agencies involved uses body cameras at all. The agency with body cameras is the DeWitt Police Department. But the departments 16 cameras are deployed to patrol officers, not criminal investigators, spokesman Lt. Jerry Pace said. Two DeWitt investigators, Lucas Byron, an 11-year veteran, and Matthew Menard, a 5-year veteran, shot Judson after the teen pointed a replica handgun at them, authorities have said. Pace declined to comment specifically on the Jamesville incident, citing the ongoing investigation. State police and the sheriffs office do not equip officers with body cameras, according to public information. Trooper Corey Fike, a 7-year veteran, and sheriffs Sgt. Amy Bollinger, a 20-year veteran, also opened fire during the March 4 shooting off Apulia Road. Authorities have released little information about the police response to Judsons mental health call that turned deadly. Still unknown is how many officers from each agency responded, how many shots were fired, where the shooting happened or what happened in the hour leading up to the shooting. The state police are required to begin using body cameras beginning April 1, but only for patrol officers, according to a law passed last year. Its unclear if Fike, after April 1, would have been equipped with one under the new law. The Onondaga County Sheriffs Office does not use body cameras, and has no timetable for using them in the future, spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber said. Whats less clear is whether theres any body camera footage from any officer at the scene. There was a large police response and many officers involved. If there is video, it would have had to come from other responding DeWitt Police officers. Even if other DeWitt officers responded, its unclear if any of them would have been close enough to capture the shooting itself with their body-worn cameras. DeWitt just started outfitting officers with body-worn cameras last year, Pace said. The department has spent $35,000 to buy 16 body-worn cameras and necessary equipment. Those cameras went to offices in the uniformed patrol division. (Investigators are plainclothes officers.) The department is planning to buy eight more body-worn cameras this year, allowing all officers of every rank -- from patrol to investigators to command -- to wear when on the job, Pace said. However, that hadnt yet happened at the time of the Jamesville shooting. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick declined to comment on whether theres any body camera footage from the scene, citing the ongoing AGs investigation. However, he did confirm Syracuse.com | The Post-Standards analysis regarding each departments use (or non-use) of body cameras. Related articles We tried to find answers: Mother of Jamesville teen killed by police on her sons mental health struggles 4 officers from 3 agencies fired guns during fatal shooting of Jamesville teen, deputies say 3 days after officers fatally shot teen in Jamesville, police have answered few questions about what happened Jamesville teen killed in police shooting IDed Dispatcher warned of Jamesville teens airgun and suicide by cop before fatal shooting by police Listen to 911 dispatcher call to police 17-year-old fatally shot near Jamesville after pointing what police say appeared to be a gun at officers DA: Civilian dead after police shooting off Apulia Road in Jamesville Officer involved in Jamesville shooting Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070. According to two pictures tweeted by an unidentified social network user from Qatar, Soviet-made T-34/85 tanks dating back to World War 2 are still used to fight in Yemen. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link One of the Yemeni T-34/85 tanks in action (Picture source: screenshot tweeted by an unidentified social network user from Qatar) According to International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), nine countries still have World War 2 Russian T-34 tanks in their inventories: Cuba, Yemen, Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, North Korea, Vietnam (believed to still have 45 in working order), and Laos (from where 30 units were sent back to Russia in January 2019 for historical parading purpose). Yemeni T-34/85 tanks passing in an unidentified location (Picture source: screenshot tweeted by an unidentified social network user from Qatar) The T-34 was introduced in 1940, famously deployed with the Red Army during World War 2 against Operation Barbarossa launched on 22 June 1941 by Nazi Germany against the USSR. Its 76.2 mm (3 in.) tank gun was more powerful than its contemporaries while its 60 sloped armor provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The Christie suspension was inherited from the design of American J. Walter Christie's M1928 tank, versions of which were sold turret-less to the Red Army and documented as "farm tractors", after being rejected by the U.S. Army. After the Germans encountered the tank in 1941, German general von Kleist called it "the finest tank in the world" and Gen. Heinz Guderian affirmed the T-34's "vast superiority" over German tanks. "As early as July 1941, OKW chief Gen. Alfred Jodl noted in his war diary the surprise at this new and thus unknown Wunder-armament being unleashed against the German assault divisions." Although its armor and armament were surpassed later in the war, it has been described as the most influential tank design of the war. The T-34/76 (76.2mm gun) was the mainstay of Soviet armored forces throughout the war. Its general specifications remained nearly unchanged until early 1944 when it received a firepower upgrade with the introduction of the greatly improved T-34/85 variant (85mm gun). The Soviets ultimately built over 80,000 T-34s of all variants. Replacing many light and medium tanks in Red Army service, it was the most-produced tank of the war, as well as the second most-produced tank of all time (after its successor, the T-54/T-55 series). With 44,900 lost during the war, it also suffered the most tank losses ever. Its development led directly to the T-44, then the T-54 and T-55 series of tanks, which in turn evolved into the later T-62, T-72, and T-90 that form the armored core of many modern armies. T-34 variants were widely exported after World War II, and as recently as 2018 more than 130 were still in service. Laos transferred thirty T-34 main battle tanks to Russia. Their arrival in Naro-Fominsk, 80km (50 miles) from the capital, has been greeted by an impressive parade. (Picture source: Russian MoD) Laos transferred thirty T-34 main battle tanks to Russia in January 2019. These tanks were placed at the disposal of the Kantemirov division. Tank crews started training for the Victory Parade 2019. These tanks and other splendidly restored WW2 vehicles started participating in historical TV and movie projects. "As instructed by the Russian Defence Minister, the Chief of the General Staff ordered to established the T-34 battalion. The battalion will station in Naro-Fominsk, in the 4th Guard Kantemirov division", stated Vladimir Zavadsky, the commander of the division. According to him, the battalion will be ready to perform its tasks from March 1. These thirty T-34 tanks were in fact manufactured in Czechoslovakia during the 1950s. Until recently, they were on active duty in the Laotian military, almost 80 years after first being introduced into the Soviet military in 1940. "The equipment transferred by Laos is planned to be used during the Victory Parades in various cities of Russia, for updating museum exhibits, as well as for making historical films about the Great Patriotic War," the Russian Defense Ministry said. Boris Johnson has been snubbed by Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill during his visit to Northern Ireland after he declined a political meeting with Sinn Fein. Ms ONeill refused to welcome the Prime Minister to Belfast on Friday in her Stormont role after a request for a meeting with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and herself was not accepted. After he declined the political meeting, requested amid growing tensions over post-Brexit restrictions, Ms ONeill, Sinn Feins deputy leader, refused to meet him at all. However, Mr Johnson was to hold a meeting with First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster during a visit tied to the response to the coronavirus pandemic. He also joined Health Minister Robin Swann, the Ulster Unionist Party leader and Mrs Foster at a vaccine centre in Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen, which is in her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency. Expand Close Prime Minister Boris Johnson is greeted by Brigadier Chris Davies, Commander 38 (Irish) Brigade, during a visit to Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove in Northern Ireland (Peter Morrison/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Boris Johnson is greeted by Brigadier Chris Davies, Commander 38 (Irish) Brigade, during a visit to Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove in Northern Ireland (Peter Morrison/PA) Mrs Foster urged the Prime Minister to stand up for Northern Ireland and ditch the intolerable protocol governing Irish Sea trade post-Brexit, which has angered unionists who say it undermines the nations place in the UK. In a statement, Ms ONeill said: Mary Lou McDonald and myself have a long-standing request to meet with the British Prime Minister to discuss a number of commitments which he and his Government have reneged on in the New Decade New Approach over this past year, and also his reckless and partisan approach to the Irish Protocol. He did not facilitate the meeting. I have no plans to meet with him today. Mr Johnson said he was willing to meet people all the time. He added: Alas, Michelle was otherwise engaged. I am always happy to meet all sides. Ms McDonald criticised the most unfortunate manner of the Prime Ministers visit. Speaking to reporters on Friday, she said: I have to say that the manner in which this visit was planned and conducted was really most unfortunate. We have for some time now been seeking a meeting with Boris Johnson. We have very substantial and important matters to discuss with him. The British Government is in default in respect of key commitments that it has made. Unfortunately he has not facilitated that meeting. He did meet with the leader of the DUP, who suggested that we might cooperate in a photo-op in Belfast, but that was never going to happen. We have serious business to transact with Boris Johnson, so we will be reaching out to Downing Street again, and seeking that meeting without further delay. Sinn Fein MP John Finucane said the party was refusing to engage with the day out for unionism after No 10 refused the request for a professional, grown-up engagement to cover topics including the Northern Ireland Protocol. Mr Finucane, who represents North Belfast, said: Were not in the business of engaging in a fairly superficial PR stunt, which is what the British Prime Minister invited us to do today. We have made the request to meet with him. I think its insulting to the 770,000 people on this island who vote for us that he feels it appropriate to ignore and refuse that meeting. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: Michelle ONeill was invited to join the PM on the visit. The protocol was agreed by the EU and UK during the withdrawal negotiations to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. It achieves that by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods, with regulatory checks and inspections now required on agri-food produce moving into the region from the rest of the UK. The new arrangements have caused some disruption to trade since the start of the year as firms have struggled with new processes and administration. The U.S. Forces Korea said Thursday that it has started inoculating soldiers here with Janssen's one-shot coronavirus vaccine, which was greenlit by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month. Wildfires in Argentina's Chubut and Rio Negro provinces have left dozens of people injured, hundreds evacuated, and homes destroyed. Officials said the fire may have started on Tuesday in a Las Golondrinas sector and then advanced towards Lago Puelo's town. The wind spread the flames rapidly, devastating forests and some 250 houses. About 350 people have been evacuated. The Argentine government sent two helicopters, three fire hydrants, 12 fire engines, support vehicles and more than 60 brigades from different provinces to fight the flames. The fires have already destroyed some 2,000 hectares. Carola Salguero, Secretary of Government of Lago Puelo Municipality, has demanded an investigation. Some 20 Argentine provinces have been affected by recurring fires since 2020, caused largely by drought. But many were started deliberately, authorities believe. The province of Cordoba, in the centre of the country, has been the most affected, with 331,000 hectares burned, while more than one million hectares have been destroyed nationwide, according to information from the National Fire Management Service. The lack of rain in 2020 made it the driest year in Argentina for a quarter of a century. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) British Airways is considering using some of its long-haul passenger jets on European routes once the government lifts travel restrictions. Before the pandemic, BA used its fleet of smaller Airbus A300-series aircraft on its short haul aviation routes while the larger wide body jets concentrated on its long haul routes. It is understood BA is considering using some of its Boeing 777s and Airbus A350s servicing European routes as they have twice the capacity of the smaller jets. British Airways is considering putting some of its largest aircraft such as the Boeing 777-200, pictured, on European routes to cope with demand once foreign travel restrictions are lifted The Boeing 777s and Airbus A350s are ordinarily used on long haul routes because of their extreme range The pandemic has seen BA retire its fleet of Boeing 747 jumbo jets because the massive four-engine aircraft were no longer financially viable. Greece and Spain are currently working on plans to reopen their tourism industries and are desperate to welcome British holiday makers to resorts over the summer. It is likely that tourists will require a vaccine passport to travel this summer. According to Bloomberg, BA will make a firm decision on how to deploy its fleet when they know for certain which routes they can reopen and the demand from travellers. A spokesperson for the airline told MailOnline: 'We keep our operation under constant review.' Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted that vaccine passports are likely to become 'a feature of our life in the future'. The Prime Minister acknowledged that documents providing proof that someone has received a coronavirus jab 'raise all sorts of issues'. He said: 'It's a novel one for our country. We've never had this type of question before within the domestic UK economy, within our own home market. 'Though clearly vaccine passports as an idea are not new when it comes to international travel. 'There's been certificates for things like yellow fever and other diseases in the past, and I'm sure that that will be a feature of our life in the future.' The government is considering introducing Covid-19 vaccination passports so the airline industry can resume operations, including these parked up jets at Bournemouth Airport Mr Johnson said there are 'some complexities' regarding how such a scheme will affect unvaccinated people such as children and those 'not medically able' to receive a jab. He added: 'We're looking at what they're thinking of in other countries and we'll be making sure we report back to everybody as soon as we possibly can.' Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove is heading up a Government review into 'Covid status certificates'. It is understood he is considering the possibility of the NHS coronavirus app featuring a digital health passport, which would carry details of vaccinations and negative test results. Proof of a recent negative coronavirus test or having been vaccinated could then be used to attend events held within the UK or to gain entry to foreign countries, depending on border rules. Research has shown that three out of four people would be willing to carry proof they have been vaccinated if it meant they could travel, a new survey suggests. The poll indicated that acceptance is highest among people aged over 65 (89 per cent), who have been offered Covid-19 jabs ahead of most younger people. The figure falls to 67 per cent for 18-24-year-olds, but London City Airport, which commissioned the research, believes it will rise as vaccines are rolled out further. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that all UK adults will be offered their first dose by the end of July. Under his road map, international holidays could be permitted for people in England from May 17. Currently, anyone who gets a jab is given a vaccination card and has their medical records updated. The European Union has confirmed plans for a 'digital green pass' to allow people to travel into the bloc by showing they have been vaccinated or had a negative Covid test. The London City survey of 2,014 adults also indicated that 72 per cent of frequent flyers want to return to travel as soon as restrictions are lifted. Some 71 per cent of those polled believe travel should be allowed between countries that have the virus 'under control'. Civil Aviation Authority data shows just 6,474 passengers travelled through London City in January, down 98 per cent on the same month last year. The airport's chief executive Robert Sinclair said: 'After the weakest first quarter that anyone in the industry can remember, the survey results show that the Prime Minister's road map has given British people hope again and it is very pleasing to see that so many see travel as a priority as restrictions are eased. 'It has also given our airline partners confidence to schedule services throughout the summer and I am delighted that we will be able to connect travellers to so many destinations across the UK and Europe for the most well-deserved summer holiday they will ever have. 'The challenge now for industry and Government is to make sure that May 17 is not another false dawn and to agree travel standards with our key international partners as soon as possible which will allow everyone to fly safely from early summer. 'And when this is achieved, I would anticipate another surge in bookings that will not only be a huge shot in the arm for the industry but demonstrate that we can finally begin our recovery.' After Denmark, two more nations have joined the country in suspending the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine over reports of blood clotting among the vaccine recipients. The European Union's regulator has also launched an inquiry to investigate the matter. The AstraZeneca vaccine is manufactured by the world's largest vaccine maker Serum Institute of India, a Pune-based vaccine giant. Denmark suspended the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday after many recipients reported blood clotting and one among them has allegedly "died". Immediately after Denmark, Norway and Iceland also followed the suit, scrapping the vaccine administration. These countries have not specifically mentioned how long the suspension would go on. Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said the suspension was a "precautionary measure". "We act early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated," he tweeted. The Danish authorities have also said the decision to suspend the vaccine was "temporary". "We are in the middle of the largest and most important vaccination rollout in Danish history. And right now we need all the vaccines we can get. Therefore, putting one of the vaccines on pause is not an easy decision. But precisely because we vaccinate so many, we also need to respond with timely care when there is knowledge of possible serious side effects. We need to clarify this before we can continue to use the vaccine from AstraZeneca," Soren Brostrom, director of the Danish National Board of Health, stated. The decision on AstraZeneca was taken after 22 cases of blood clots were reported among over 3 million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area. Austria also suspended an AstraZeneca batch after a nurse, 49, died due to "severe blood coagulation". She has received the vaccine a few days ago. Other nations like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg also suspended the current batch supply from AstraZeneca but refrained from placing full ban. The Swedish-British pharma major AstraZeneca's vaccine is developed by the University of Oxford and is also manufactured in India with the name Covishield. AstraZeneca has defended its vaccine, saying it has been studied extensively in the phase 3 trials, which shows high efficacy. "The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in phase III clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been generally well-tolerated," an AstraZeneca spokesman told AFP. The vaccine is being widely used in India and Britain as well. As part of phase 2 of the vaccination drive in India, the Modi government has placed a fresh order of about 10 crore Covishield vaccines. Apart from AstraZeneca's Covishield, India is using homegrown Bharat Biotech's Covaxin to inoculate about 27 crore people of the age group of over 60 and between 46 and 60 years with co-morbidities in phase 2. Also read: Denmark suspends AstraZeneca jab after blood clot reports It could cost a local authority almost 5 million to deliver post-Brexit food standards checks at a Northern Irish harbour once full regulation is introduced. Each shift at Larne Port would require 17 officers if 100% checks are required following the end of soft-touch grace periods. The Government has unilaterally extended grace periods limiting bureaucracy linked to the Northern Ireland Protocol until October. They had been due to expire at the end of March. A local authority spokesman said: Mid and East Antrim Borough Council understands it could be required to provide 72 full-time staff at a cost of almost 5 million to deliver on its obligations at Larne Port for 100% checks to be completed at the end of the grace period. Data has been provided to Council by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), and assuming there are no changes, they have advised Council that potentially each shift at Larne Port would require a total of 17 officers. Council is currently operating four shifts with three staff per shift, so the total staff complement could rise to 17 staff across four shifts meaning 68 staff would be required. Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has said Northern Ireland may have to carry out the same number of agri-food checks as the EU does as a whole (Liam McBurney/PA). Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has said the prospect of Northern Ireland having to carry out the same number of agri-food checks as the EU does as a whole was neither sensible nor rational. DUP leader and Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster has urged Boris Johnson to stand up for Northern Ireland and ditch the intolerable Protocol governing Irish Sea trade post-Brexit. She added: Not a single unionist party in Northern Ireland supports this unworkable Protocol. Rather than protect the Belfast Agreement and its successor agreements, the Protocol has created societal division and economic harm. Whilst grace periods have been extended unilaterally, we need a permanent solution so business can plan and the integrity of the United Kingdom internal market can be restored. Twelve staff are already employed by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for work at Larne but extra requirements could equate to an additional 56 members of staff. This does not take into consideration additional managers; the Council has assumed a minimum of four would be needed. This would mean 72 staff to deliver the port services required from the council. It is expected they would need to be qualified environmental health officers, however, this requires further clarification. The Council statement added: Based on the information provided by the FSA on the expected increased number of staffing, Council have written to the FSA requesting 100% funding, totalling 4.8 million, to include the complement of officers and associated costs. No written confirmation has been received for the continued funding beyond the end of this month of the 12 EHOs currently employed at Larne Port. Verbal confirmation has been given that they will be funded for the next 12 months. The protocol was agreed by the EU and UK during the withdrawal negotiations to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. It achieves that by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods, with regulatory checks and inspections now required on agri-food produce moving into the region from the rest of the UK. The new arrangements have caused some disruption to trade since the start of the year as firms have struggled with new processes and administration. Unionists are opposed to the protocol, claiming it undermines Northern Irelands place in the UK internal market. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be addressing rallies in poll-bound Assam on March 16 and West Bengal on March 17. CM Yogi Adityanaths name is on the list of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) star campaigners for West Bengal. He will address a dozen election rallies in the state. News agency ANI reported that he will also campaign in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Elections to 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. Assam will face a three-phased poll from March 27 to April 6. The results will be announced on May 2. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently released a list of its 'star campaigners' for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly election 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the party's campaign in both West Bengal and Assam. Actor Mithun Chakraborty, who joined the BJP at the Prime Minister's rally on Sunday (March 7), has been made one of the star campaigners of the party in West Bengal. Live TV After Tandav, and Mirzapur 2, Pooja Bhatt's web-series 'Bombay Begums' has courted controversy over its portrayal of children. Issuing a notice to Netflix, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked Netflix to stop streaming the new series. Citing inappropriate portrayal of teenagers, the apex child rights body has directed the subscription-based streaming service provider to take down the show and submit a detailed action report within 24 hours. Failing this, as per the Commission's notice, it will be "constrained" to initiate appropriate legal action against the American streaming service. Also Read: AR Rahman's mother Kareema Begum passes away in Chennai "You are directed to look into the matter and immediately stop streaming of this series and furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which the Commission will be constrained to initiate appropriate action pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of CPCR Act, 2005," NCPCR said in its notice to Netflix. Objecting to the alleged unseemly depiction of children in the series, the commission said it will "not only pollute the young minds of the children, and may also result into abuse and exploitation of children at the hands of the perpetrator(s)/offender(s)." The NCPCR said that it took the action after receiving a complaint from two Twitter handles that allege that the series normalises minors indulging in "casual sex" and drug abuse. Also Read: Uh oh! Netflix tests ways to prevent users from sharing passwords "The Commission doesn't allow representing, portraying, glorifying children in India in such a manner on any media platform/internet/OTTs, etc.," it said in the notice, further advising Netflix to take "extra precaution" while streaming any content concerning children. Launched on International Women's Day on March 8, Bombay Begums is a six-part series that takes viewers into the lives of five women of different age groups and backgrounds who struggle with ambition, societal pressure, personal flaws, and sexism. The series is directed by Lipstick Under My Burkha-famed Alankrita Shrivastava and stars Pooja Bhatt, Shabana Goswami, Rahul Bose, Danish Husain, Amruta Subhash, Aadhya Anand, Plabita Borthakur, and Vivek Gomber. OTT platforms have come under tight scrutiny of late after the Centre formally tightened its control over digital and OTT platforms, notifying a three-tier mechanism that it called a "soft-touch regulatory architecture." Netflix has previously courted controversy when shows such as Tandav and Mirzapur 2 were slammed for showing explicit and inappropriate content. New Delhi, March 12 : The war of words has escalated between Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP over the free travel scheme announced by the former for senior citizens visiting the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. The Delhi BJP on Friday demanded an apology from AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj for his comment on the parents of the party's state unit chief Adesh Gupta. Earlier this week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced in the Assembly that his government will offer free trips to the elderly people from the city to Ayodhya once the Ram Mandir is constructed there. On Thursday, AAP MLA Bhardwaj had said, "If Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta has never taken his parents on a pilgrimage, then tell us, the Delhi government will take care of their free pilgrimage." Addressing a press conference, Delhi BJP Vice President Virender Sachdeva said, "With the passage of time, the schemes and functioning of the Kejriwal government is getting exposed. AAP leaders are losing their patience and now their political decency and language against opponents too are going from bad to worse." Sachdeva further stated that the way AAP spokesperson Bhardwaj has stooped down to the level of invoking names of parents of Delhi BJP chief in his indecent political statement is highly condemnable as he violated all the norms of political decency with his words. Sachdeva demanded that Bhardwaj should apologise to Adesh Gupta's parents for his comment. Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said that the 'Chief Minister Teerath Yatra Yojana' is a gimmick of the Kejriwal government, just like its other schemes. "People still remember how during such a pilgrimage tour to south India, senior citizens were offloaded from a train at Mathura due to lack of proper bookings," Khurana said. Confirmation came as lawmakers approved a much-criticized law on preventing the spread of the virus. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures as he receives the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination campaign in Phnom Penh, March 4, 2021. Cambodias Ministry of Health on Thursday confirmed the countrys first COVID-19-related death, one year to the day that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus that causes the disease a global pandemic. The patient, 50, was a driver for a Chinese company chief who lived in Sihanoukville city, and who also had tested positive for COVID-19, according to a ministry statement. The driver died at a Phnom Penh hospital, the statement said, without providing further details. The ministry also announced Thursday that it had confirmed 39 new cases that were transmitted locally, bringing the total number of such cases to more than 600. There has been a total of more than 1,000 COVID-19 positive patients in Cambodia, around half of whom have recovered. RFAs Khmer Service was unable to reach Ministry of Health spokesman Or Vandin for comment Thursday. However, she told government affiliated Bayon TV that the condition of the patient who died had deteriorated quickly after he was infected by his boss. The patients body will be cremated, Or Vandin said, adding that other patients remain in critical condition. At this point, we have some patients who are in bad condition, she told Bayon TV. Our doctors are working hard to save them. A resident of Phnom Penh named Sok Sreynich told RFA that she is concerned about her health after learning of the countrys first COVID-19 death and questioned why the government hadnt banned large gatherings, such as weddings, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. My financial situation is in free-fall, she said. I am barely making any money and I am afraid to go out of the house, even to the grocery store. Am Sam Ath of local rights group Licadho told RFA that the first COVID-19 death should send a message to the government that it must pay more attention to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The government must be more transparent with its information so that the people can prevent the spread of the virus, he said. Also, on Thursday, Cambodias Head of State and Senate President signed a much-criticized COVID-19 prevention law into effect following the Senates approval earlier in the day. Prime Minister Hun Sen had pushed Cambodias rubber stamp legislature to approve the draft law. Following its approval by the Senate, which is entirely made up of ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) lawmakers following the countrys ban of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in 2017, the draft will go before the Constitutional Council and then King Norodom Sihamoni, who will sign it into law. Ny Sokha, a human rights defender and the head of monitoring at the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), told RFA that dissidents can expect to face lengthy jail terms as a result of the prevention law, which he said included vague articles that may confuse local law enforcement officers. Activists told RFA in the days leading up to its approval that Hun Sen should be paying attention to the well-being of the people, instead of making laws to prosecute them. To cremate or not to cremate Thursdays developments followed mixed messages from Hun Sen who days earlier ordered that the bodies of patients who have died from COVID-19 must be cremated, citing a lack of land availability for cemetery space, and despite ethnic funerary traditions that require burial of the dead. I discussed this with the minister of health, and we have agreed that patients who die of COVID-19 must be cremated, Hun Sen said on Tuesday, adding that Phnom Penh municipal authorities are building crematoriums in anticipation of more deaths related to the disease. On Wednesday, Hun Sen said that members of the Muslim Cham ethnic minority who die of COVID-19 can be buried, following a request from the Cham community, while members of indigenous groups could choose between cremation and burial. Majority Buddhists, as well as Christians, will be cremated, he added. Meanwhile, Vorn Pov, president of Independent Democratic Association of Informal Economy (IDEA) told RFA on Wednesday that the government should consider a stimulus package for informal workers, who are unable to work from home like civil servants. He said that the government has done nothing to assist the sectors workers to date. There should be a package to subsidize them between U.S. $50 and $60, just like what was provided to garment factory workers, he said, adding that the government should also provide informal workers with health benefits. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. The International Federation of Journalists today published the report on journalists and media staff killed in work-related incidents around the world during 2020. The annual report, in its 30th edition, details the circumstances of the 65 killings which occurred during targeted attacks, bomb attacks and cross fire incidents in 16 countries . That is 17 more killed than were in 2019 (49), and bring the total to 2680 journalists and media workers who lost their lives to violence in the world since 1990, when the IFJ started publishing these annual reports to highlight the deepening safety crisis in the media. The figures published by the Federation for this year show that the number of media professionals killings are more or less on the same levels as in 1990s. The report cites among the main reasons for the safety crisis in journalism the organised crime groups, extremists and sectarian violence which continue to strike terror among journalists, dozens of whom paid the ultimate price for their independent reporting in the four corners of the world. In this regard, 2020 was no exception. The ruthless reign of crime barons in Mexico, the violence of extremists in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, as well as the intolerance of hardliners in India and the Philippines have contributed to the continued bloodshed in the media", said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger. The thoughts of the IFJ and the 600.000 members of its affiliated unions go to all those victims, their families, friends and all those who are jailed, subjected to violence and harassed both physically and online. The reports 2020 ranking per country has Mexico at the top of the list for the fourth time in five years with 14 killings, followed by Afghanistan (10), Pakistan (9), India (8), Philippines (4), Syria (4) while Nigeria and Yemen recorded three killings each. There were also two killings in Iraq and Somalia. Finally, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Honduras, Paraguay, Russia and Sweden recorded one killing each. The report also underscores the Federations commitment to pursuing its campaign against impunity by pressing governments on the need to live up to their responsibilities by investigating the murders of journalists, including through the adoption of an International Convention for the Protection and the Security of Journalists by the General Assembly of the United Nations. For the first time, the report features a list of journalists currently behind bars for their reporting. According to IFJ records, the number of journalists in prison totals at least 229 as of March 2021. No democracy worthy of that name can jail messengers of freedom of expression. Every day, the IFJ works actively on the ground for the immediate and unconditional release of colleagues who are unjustly imprisoned, added Anthony Bellanger. The report will be officially launched at an online press conference to be jointly held on 15 March by the International Federation of Journalists and Fight Impunity, a Brussels-based organisation which advocates for ending impunity across the world. Then-Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington on Feb. 22, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) AG Garland Vows to Uphold One Standard of Justice in First Speech at DOJ Attorney General Merrick Garland has vowed to uphold one standard of justice on his first day leading the Department of Justice, echoing comments made by his predecessor William Barr during Barrs tenure. Garland addressed the whole of the Justice Department (DOJ) on Thursday where he reiterated his promise to apply one standard of justice across all cases handled by the department. As I said at the announcement of my nomination, those norms require that like cases be treated alike, that there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans; one rule for friends and another for foes; one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless; one rule for the rich and another for the poor; or different rules depending upon ones race or ethnicity, he said. Garland was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday in a 7030 vote, with 20 Republicans joining all Democrats in approving President Joe Bidens nominee. His confirmation process largely proceeded without drama. However, Republicans took steps to delay his confirmation vote over what they said were unsatisfactory responses to questions relating to politically sensitive issues. The attorney generals remarks on Thursday echoed comments made by former attorney general Barr, who was frequently accused by Democrats, former President Donald Trumps critics, and the liberal media of politicizing the DOJ and interfering with politically sensitive cases related to Trump and his allies. Barr defended his independence and actions during his tenure, saying that his decisions were made to uphold the rule of law and restore a single standard of justice across the United States. I wanted to make sure that we restore confidence in the system. Theres only one standard of justice, Barr said in an interview in response to the criticism last year. During a House Judiciary hearing in July last year, Democrat lawmakers grilled Barr over his involvement in several cases involving Trumps alliesRoger Stone and Michael Flynnaccusing him of shielding them from prosecution and punishment. Under Barr, the DOJ sought to lower a sentencing recommendation in Stones case after four line prosecutors recommended 7 to 9 years. The department also sought to drop its case against Flynn after a series of exculpatory information was made public. Read More McCabe Aware of Exculpatory Evidence Before Opening Obstruction Probe Into Trump, Documents Show Barr responded by saying, Now, you say I helped the presidents friends both cases, I determined some intervention was necessary to rectify the rule of law, to make sure the people were treated the same. I agree the presidents friends dont deserve special breaks but they also dont deserve to be treated more harshly than other people, and sometimes that is a difficult decision to make, especially when you know youre going to be castigated for it. But that is what rule of law is, he added. Garland has appeared to be stepping carefully around the issue of independence of the DOJ, given the criticism his predecessor received. Shortly after he was nominated to lead the department, Garland promised to oversee an independent DOJ if he was confirmed by the Senate. Those policies included: guaranteeing the independence of the department from partisan influence and law enforcement investigations, regulating communications with the White House, establishing guidelines for FBI investigations, ensuring respect for the professionalism of DOJs lawyers and agents, and setting our principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Those policies became part of the DNA of every career lawyer and agent, he said in January. Garlands tenure comes at a time when several politically sensitive investigations are underway, including a probe into Hunter Bidens foreign business dealings, and another on the origins of the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Members of the Lehigh County Republican Committee this week condemned U.S. Sen. Pat Toomeys against-the-grain vote to convict former President Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial. The censure resolution was based on a violation of the U.S. Constitution to have an impeachment trial of the former president without a presiding chief justice, committee Executive Director Robert Arena told lehighvalleylive.com. The resolution passed Tuesday by a majority of over two-thirds of committee members, Arena said. The committee planned to send a letter to Toomey alerting him to the censure, before the resolution is released publicly, according to Arena. A vote March 1 by the Republican State Committee fell short on censuring Toomey for his impeachment vote. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, presided over last months impeachment trial in the Senate instead of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. Leahy is the president pro tempore of the Senate, meaning he is the senior senator of the party that holds the majority in the chamber. Both of Trumps impeachments by the U.S. House of Representatives ended in acquittal before the Senate, with votes falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction of the Republican. Roberts did preside over Trumps first impeachment trial that ended Feb. 5, 2020, with a vote to acquit of 52-48. The House had accused Trump of abuse of power and obstructing Congress based on a July 2019 call to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky asking for a favor -- an investigation of Democrats in the 2016 election and his 2020 rival Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden, who worked on the board of a gas company in Ukraine while his father was vice president. The second Senate trial followed Trumps impeachment in the House on a charge of incitement of insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6 mob that overran the Capitol building in Washington. The vote tally Feb. 13 was 57-43, short of the 67 votes needed to convict, with Toomey joining six other senators and all 50 Democrats. Legal scholars accused Roberts, in skipping the second trial, of setting up Trump to argue the ruling was unconstitutional because the rules according to the Constitution were not followed, according to thehill.com. The terms of the Constitution dictate that When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside, cnn.com reported. A headline on bloomberglaw.com read, Trump Trial Without Chief Justice Lets GOP Talk Optics, Not Riot. Politico.com delved deep into the implications had Roberts agreed to preside over impeachment a second time. Toomey lives in Lehigh County and was elected to the U.S. House to represent Lehigh Valley communities in Pennsylvanias old 15th Congressional District before winning election to the Senate in 2010, and a second six-year term in 2016. He announced last Oct. 5 he would not seek re-election. Toomey has been critical of the former presidents efforts to overturn Pennsylvanias vote for Biden, and called on Trump on Nov. 21 to begin the transition to the new administration. Moments before Trump-supporting protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Toomey took to the Senate floor to call on his colleagues to reject a challenge to the election results posed by some of his fellow Republicans. Asked to comment on the Lehigh County GOPs censure vote, Toomeys office referred lehighvalleylive.com to the senators statement following last months vote: Let me start by observing that President Trumps defense team made several accurate observations over the course of this trial. Its true that many elected democrats did want to impeach President Trump actually before he even became president. Many in the mainstream media were unrelentingly biased and hostile to Donald Trump, and both Democrats and many in the media often overlooked violent riots when they were perpetrated in favor of causes that they found sympathetic over the course of last summer. Having said that, these facts do not make Donald Trumps conduct in response to his loss of the 2020 election acceptable. It began with the dishonest, systematic attempt to convince supporters that he had won. His lawful, but unsuccessful, legal challenges failed due to a complete lack of evidence. Then he applied intense pressure on state and local officials to reverse the election outcomes in their states. When all these efforts failed, President Trump summoned thousands of people to Washington, D.C., inflamed their passions by repeating disproven allegations about widespread fraud. He urged that mob to march on the capitol for the explicit purpose of preventing Congress and the Vice President from formally certifying the results of the presidential election. All this to hold onto power despite having legitimately lost. As a result of President Trumps actions, for the first time in American history, the transfer of presidential power was not peaceful. A lawless attempt to retain power by a president was one of the founders greatest fears motivating the inclusion of the impeachment authorities in the U.S. Constitution. I was one of the 47 million Americans who voted for President Trump, in part because of the many accomplishments of his administration. Unfortunately, his behavior after the election betrayed the confidence that millions of us had placed in him. His betrayal of the constitution and his oath of office required conviction. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. On "Sisyphus: The Myth" Episode 7, Park Shin Hye makes a deal with Sung Dong Il. Read on to find out what it is. "Sisyphus: The Myth" Synopsis Ongoing drama "Sisyphus: The Myth "stars talented actors Cho Seung Woo and Park Shin Hye. The series is dubbed "JTBC's 10th Anniversary Special Drama". It's a time travel story between a genius engineer and a girl who went back in time to save him. Cho Seung Woo portrays the character of Han Tae Sul, the genius engineer who co-founded Quantum and Time Company. Due to his innovative achievements, Quantum and Time became a world-class company and is known as "The Miracle of South Korea's Engineering Industry." One day, he meets a girl who came from the future named Kang Seo-hae, starred by Park Shin Hye. She is an elite warrior who has survival skills that she's learned from living amongst gangsters and warlords. She is able to fight men twice her size with her bare hands. She even knows how to make bombs and is good with guns. Her mission is to travel back in time and save Han Tae Sul and help him save humanity. "Sisyphus: The Myth" Episode 7 The previous episode of the drama (Episode 7) started with Kang Seo Hae waking up and discovering she's wearing a different dress. She immediately noticed that her wound is healed and that she's at Choi Jae Sun's (Chae Jong Hyup) house. She recalled what happened the night before and how she ended up there. When she mentioned Han Tae Sul's name, Choi Jae Sun showed her the news on TV. Kang Seo Hae headed out of the living room and had a nostalgic feeling, and she suddenly had some flashbacks of her mother. As she went outside, Choi Jae Sun confessed to her what happened after she disappeared from the train station that night. He told her he used the lottery numbers that Kang Seo Hae gave him. He won and enjoyed a wealthy life. But despite this, he didn't feel right to leave things unresolved, so he spied on Tae-Sul's house. Kang Seo Hae went to President Park's (Sung Dong Il) office with Bingbing as her hostage. She demanded answers from President Park. She made a deal with him as she dropped the key, asking for his help in return. She specifically requested three people to leave the country safely: Sun and his family. Secondly, she asked for his help to save Han Tae Sul upon realizing that the man with a hooded jacket was clearly not Tae Sul. Choi Jae Sun tried to convince her to join him and flee the country, but she declined the offer. Instead, with a sniper rifle in hand, she took off to the alleyway where she saved Han Tae Sul. Together, they drove off to Asia Mart, where Kang Seo Hae said her goodbyes to Choi Jae Sun for the last time. Kang Seo Hae gave the key to Mr. Park. She also confessed to Han Tae Sul that she actually met his brother. As Mr. Park opened the safe, they eventually realized that the safe was empty, and only has the letter for Tae Sul. Park allowed him to read the letter, penned by his brother Tae San, which promised him that the blueprint is safe with him. As long as the blueprint is with him, Tae Sul will be safe. Then, at the end of the letter, he claimed to know who Sigma is. Moving forward, Chairman Han eventually made a big decision and decided to take his own life. At His funeral, Sigma was in attendance. This shocking episode ending is definitely enough to keep things intriguing for the upcoming events yet to unfold. Are you also watching "Sisyphus: The Myth"? What do you most look forward to in the upcoming episodes? Tell us in the comments! READ MORE ABOUT SIGMA HERE: Kim Byung Chul Shares Details about His Mysterious Character in 'Sisyphus: The Myth' Kdramastars owns this article. Written by Liza Parker He is currently in Milan filming scenes for the upcoming movie House of Gucci where he plays Paolo Gucci. And Jared Leto looked in high spirits as he left his hotel in the Italian city on Friday afternoon where he is staying amid shooting his scenes. The actor, 49, wrapped up warm in a blue North Face padded jacket and navy Gucci tracksuit bottoms. Casual: Jared Leto wrapped up warm in a blue padded jacket and donned a face mask as he stepped out in Milan where he is filming House of Gucci He completed his very casual look with a pink stripped beanie and wore a beige and black checked shirt under his warm jacket. The star made sure to put safety first by donning a pink face mask as he waved to fans while setting off on his stroll. Jared is currently in Milan filming for House of Gucci, where he plays Paolo Gucci, the grandson of Guccio Gucci. Style: The actor, 49, wrapped up warm in the North Face padded jacket and navy Gucci tracksuit bottoms Stepping out: He completed his very casual look with a pink stripped beanie and wore a beige and black checked shirt under his warm jacket He will star in the film alongside Lady Gaga who plays Patrizia Reggiani, in celebrated director Ridley Scott's autobiographical drama about the 1995 assassination of Italian businessman Maurizio Gucci. The film, which documents Reggiani's plot to murder her ex-husband, is based on the novel The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by author Sara Gay Forden. Patrizia Reggiani, nicknamed the 'Black Widow', was found guilty of paying a hit man 300,000 (240,000) to murder 46yearold Maurizio Gucci, an heir to the fashion empire, in 1995. He had left her for another woman 10 years previously after telling her he was going on a short business trip. She was also said to be furious her former husband had started seeing other women, and feared her daughters' $170million inheritance was at risk if he remarried before ordering the hit. She also wanted more than the $650,000 she had been offered in a divorce settlement, the court heard. Stars: Jared will star in the film alongside Lady Gaga (right) who plays Patrizia Reggiani, in celebrated director Ridley Scott's autobiographical drama about the 1995 assassination of Italian businessman Maurizio Gucci played by Adam Driver (left) The Gucci empire The fashion empire of Gucci was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, a Florentine leather merchant whose business of selling leather travel bags prospered after the Depression and World War Two. Guccio's son Aldo expanded the business into Paris, New York and Tokyo as the 'twin Gs' of the family name became a worldwide fashion icon. By 1974, the Gucci empire numbered 14 stores and 46 franchised boutiques around the world. At around the same time, celebrities like Jackie Kennedy were helping establish Gucci as the world's leading fashion brand by embracing its products. Maurizio Gucci, Guccio's grandson and Aldo's nephew, took control of the company from the board of directors after Aldo, who was sent to prison for tax evasion in 1986 aged 81. However, Maurizio would be the last member of the family to head the Gucci business. By 1989, nearly 50 per cent of the business had been bought out by Investcorp, a group of investment bankers angling for shares of the business. In 1993, Maurizio sold his holding for $170m to a Bahrain-based investment company. Advertisement Reggiani eventually hired hitman Benedetto Ceraulo, a debt-ridden pizzeria owner who shot Gucci dead on the steps of his office in Milan as he arrived for work. Ceraulo was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. She was convicted after her clairvoyant and confidante Pina Auriemma turned informer and told police about the plot. During the murder trial, which transfixed Italy, Reggiani arrived each day wearing head-to-toe Gucci clothes and accessories. Stylish: Meanwhile, fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni was seen enjoying an outing in Milan Fashionista: Chiara looked stylish in a bright pink jacket that she wore over a grey jumper and jogging bottoms Doctors have long known about the bloodshot eyes. The strange rashes. And the cardiac issues. But other aspects of a mysterious COVID-19 syndrome in children continue to baffle medical experts as cases of the rare inflammatory disease slowly rise in New Jersey. Health officials recently discovered acute kidney injury is among the most severe outcomes in patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). The rate of acute kidney injury is significant among all kids who have COVID-19, but especially among those with MIS-C, which usually emerges about a month after they contract the coronavirus. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% give or take of kids with COVID infection during the course of their COVID infection will have some acute kidney injury. Kids who have no prior history of kidney problems, said Dr. Kenneth Lieberman, chief of pediatric nephrology and professor of pediatrics at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. That risk rises to close to 40% or 50% with MIS-C. Lieberman also referred to a recent study published in the journal Kidney International. It was a retrospective analysis that studied the medical records of 152 children 18 years and younger from four New York hospitals who had COVID-19 or MIS-C. It found 11.8% of the kids developed acute kidney injury, including 18.2% of MIS-C cases. The inflammatory syndrome caused by a problem in childrens immune systems after a coronavirus infection can produce a variety of symptoms: Red or bloodshot eyes. Rashes. Swollen hands and feet. Long-lasting fevers. Serious heart issues. But researchers are also examining how it impacts the kidneys even in children with no history of issues. Health experts have known for some time that theres an increased risk of kidney injury in adults hospitalized with COVID-19. We know that the more severe the disease that you have that lands you in the hospital, the greater the chance of your kidneys becoming impaired in some way, Lieberman said. Simply put: The kidneys can take a hit when the rest of you is real sick, he added. However, Lieberman cautioned that roughly 90% of coronavirus-related kidney issues in children are mild or moderate. The vast majority of AKI in these children gets all better, he said. It resolves. However, children with preexisting kidney issues are especially at risk for more severe COVID manifestations, Lieberman noted. He said its unclear what the long-term effect may be for children who develop kidney issues. MIS-C remains new and rare, requiring further study. Since most of the kids suffer only a mild to moderate AKI, I think that it will be recoverable, Lieberman said. However, I dont know that yet for sure, because we havent had enough follow-up time. Hackensacks Department of Pediatrics recently formed a post-COVID-19 follow-up clinic specifically to study pediatric patients and answer these questions, he said. MIS-C is an extremely rare condition. Only 106 cases have been recorded in New Jersey with no fatalities. But a spike in cases attributed to a surge in coronavirus infections from the fall through January lifted the total number of kids with MIS-C from 88 on Feb. 14 to 104 by Feb. 24. Nationally, 2,617 MIS-C cases have been reported as of March 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 900 cases have been announced just since Jan. 8. There have been 33 deaths across the country. One of the factors that makes MIS-C so complex is it doesnt track evenly with COVID-19 cases. The syndrome is rare. And when it does develop, it takes about a month for the illness to emerge after the child contracted the virus. But experts say its not surprising that cases continue to climb. Im not surprised that we continue to go up, said Dr. Margaret Fisher, a pediatric infectious disease expert and special advisor to New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli. I think that that number will go up until a month after we really see a more dramatic drop in the cases in New Jersey. While there are signs of hope, the nation remains in a delicate position. Some experts fear another spike in COVID-19 cases is possible, especially with highly contagious variants spreading while some states lift restrictions. Right now, unfortunately, were kind of plateauing, Fisher said. So, theres still a lot of transmission of the virus. What we absolutely dont know are what role the variants will take. And we dont know whether the immune system response to the variants might be different. And because we dont know that, I think we really dont have any idea whether it will make a difference with the MIS-C cases. Only time will tell, experts say, as health officials closely monitor how the variants are spreading. Keep in mind that MIS-C is an inflammatory response to prior infection, said Dr. Sivia Lapidus, pediatric rheumatologist and assistant professor at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. So it happens a few weeks after the preceding infection. So I think in this illness, its just too soon to tell if variants are influencing the picture. She added, I think by April well have a better sense Predictions are that the variants will be more prevalent in March. So I think by April, well have a better sense of that nationally. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. The times they are a-changin' said many years ago Bob Dylan, but thanks to automakers classic divisions, some things do stay the same. We may not have a 2021 edition of the Geneva Motor Show, but we do have the celebration of 60 years since Jaguar first introduced the legendary E-Type.It occurred precisely on March 15th, 1961, and the British automaker is keen to rekindle the fond memories with the creation of a limited-edition series dubbed 60 Collection. Although were six decades away from the initial presentation, the newly matched pairs of restored 3.8 E-Types aim to bring the Swinging Sixties back into fashion.Jaguar modeled the rare E-Types directly based on the 9600 HP and 77 RW examples seen in Geneva back in 1961; as a result, they come as matched fixed-head coupes or roadsters. The British carmakers classic division will offer just six pairs (at an undisclosed price) featuring reverential details and either a Flat Out Grey (with Smooth Black leather inside) or Drop Everything Green (with Suede Green in the cabin) shade for the exterior.Naturally, the homage cars also include unique design elements, such as special logos, a tailored and engraved center console (by artist King Nerd), as well as a few sensible technology upgrades. For example, the Jaguar XK-sourced 3.8-liter inline-six engine is now mated to a specially developed close-ratio five-speed manual gearbox, while the stainless-steel exhaust system, electronic ignition, and alloy radiator are clear modifications directed towards better reliability Inside, the lucky owners will find the Jaguar Classic Infotainment System packing Bluetooth connectivity and satellite nav, which might come in handy because these cars are supposed to go on their own road trip from Coventry to Geneva next summer. Cook County health officials said they have been working with pharmacies to try to get vaccines to long-term care facilities and other places with vulnerable and less-mobile residents but a lack of supply has made it difficult. The county could not immediately provide details on which facilities have been reached so far but said the places remaining on the list will get a visit soon. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research published this week in the British Medical Journal found the coronavirus variant originating in the United Kingdom, called B.1.1.7, is substantially more deadly than the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. The authors say the B.1.1.7 variant is between 32 and 104% deadlier. However, it's important to recognize these data were only collected from one group of people so more research is needed to see if these numbers hold true in other groups of patients. The B.1.1.7 variant is becoming the dominant virus in many parts of the world, and is more infectious than the original strain (UK authorities have suggested it's up to 70% more transmissible). This makes sense because a virus can become more transmissible as it evolves. However, it's actually a strange thing for a virus to become more deadly over time (more on that later). The good news is preliminary data suggest COVID vaccines still perform very well against this variant. Virus is still spreading at an extraordinary rate in NYC. ~4,000 cases/day, despite steady progress on vaccination. One big reason: variants B.1.117 (UK) & B.1.526 (NYC) now together make up 51% of new cases here, up from 31% last week. We still need to take this seriously. Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) March 10, 2021 What did the study find? There are two ways to check if someone has this variant. The first is by doing full genomic sequencing, which takes time and resources. The other, easier way, is to analyze results from the standard PCR test, which normally takes a swab from your nose and throat. This test targets two viral genes in the swab sample, one of which doesn't work very well with this variant (it's called the "S-gene"). So if someone was positive for one of these genes, but negative for the "S-gene," there's a good chance they're infected with the B.1.1.7 variant. The study authors looked at the S-gene status of 109,812 people with COVID, and looked at how many died. They found S-gene negative people had a higher chance of dying 28 days after testing positive for the virus. The study "matched" patients in the S-gene positive and S-gene negative groups based on various factors (including age) to ensure these factors didn't confound the results. This matches a report from the UK government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), which said in January there's a "realistic possibility" infection with this strain is linked with a higher chance of death. With increased death from a variant, you would also expect to see increased hospitalisations and ICU admissions in places where the variant is surging. We're still waiting for better data on this, but one Danish study suggested an increased risk of hospitalization from this variant. But why is it more deadly? Viruses have a selective advantage (meaning they're more likely to outcompete other viruses) if they're able infect more hosts. It's also advantageous for the virus if they can evade the host's immune response, because it helps them survive longer and reproduce more. But it's actually quite strange for this variant to be more deadly. There's not a selective advantage for a virus to kill its host, because it might kill its host before they transmit the virus. Scientists still need to find out why this variant is more deadly, and how it came about. One possibility is this variant's increased disease severity is linked to its increased transmissibility. For example, it could be that because it's more infectious, it's leading to larger clusters of infection including in places like aged care homes, which we know are linked to more deaths. We don't know for sure yet. Vaccines still respond well to this variant It's important to note the current crop of vaccines still perform well against the variant. A slight drop in the numbers of neutralizing antibodies responding to the B.1.1.7 virus was recorded after vaccination with vaccines from Novavax and Moderna. But the protection these vaccines offer should still be sufficient to prevent severe disease. This variant also had a negligible impact on the function of T-cells, which can kill virus-infected cells and help control the infection. Preliminary data suggest people given the AstraZeneca vaccine also experienced a mild decrease in the number of circulating antibodies when infected with the B.1.1.7 variant. But again, the effect was relatively modest, and the authors say the efficacy of the vaccine against this variant is similar to that of the original Wuhan strain of the virus. It's becoming dominant The B.1.1.7 variant is becoming the dominant strain in many parts of the world. The ABC reports it's dominant in at least 10 countries. In the UK it represents around 98% of new cases, and up to 90% of new cases in some parts of Spain. In Denmark, new cases from this variant were around 0.3% in November last year, rising to 65% of new cases in February. It accounts for more than two-thirds of new cases in the Netherlands. In the United States, the states of Florida, Texas and California (among others) are seeing significant increases in the number of cases from this variant. 1/ The B.1.1.7 UK variant is spreading rapidly across the U.S. It is more transmissible and likely more virulent (causing more severe disease). This is NOT the time to be lifting mask mandates & opening up indoor dining. https://t.co/olnPgSxSyH pic.twitter.com/RcmHT6MJco Celine Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA (@celinegounder) March 6, 2021 It's possible the spread of this variant is even higher than reported. The ability to detect its spread is dependent on how often genomic sequencing is done, and many countries aren't currently in the position to do regular genomic testing. There's a suggestion from some researchers and commentators the variant is linked with a surge in cases among kids. However, this observation remains largely anecdotal and it's unclear if this simply reflects rising total case numbers in certain places. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. He has created a sublime parody of a memoir in which earnestness is not the least notable quality though the characterising feature of the whole work is the poignancy of the effort at remembrance and the concomitant, nearly solipsistic, apprehension that nothing exists that cannot be remembered. Memory is the subject of his story in He, his strange, lame anti-memoir. Not I, because this is a self-portrait in the way T.S. Eliots Four Quartets is a confessional poem. Still, the American poet Kenneth Rexroth was not wrong to say that a high modernist cult of impersonality leads to greater indiscretions than the analysts couch and this has its own applications to a bush modernist such as Bail. Murray Bail has for decades been one of the most significant writers in Australia and one of the strangest. Hes the author of novels such as Homesickness, Holdens Performance, and Eucalyptus. You can read his every word with admiration and stupefaction. His last book, The Voyage, gleamed, as they all do, with the power of its design in the face of every disability contrived or innate. But what it was about, who could remember? Credit: The upshot is a book that exists as the tesserae of the temple of a life, not the structure. The man who was once married to Helen Garner says, very much in passing, that he admired the forthright individual way she spoke. And he also says of Garner that he did not realise someone who was schooled to feminism would feel such pain at separation. These moments are like body blows and so is the whole book. He was born, he indicates, not only to a sort of lower middle-class Adelaide suburban narrowness, all rectitude and bad suits and ties worn even to garden, but Methodism to boot. Yet none of this is essayed with any snobbery. His is a meticulous collage of tiny crystalline worlds that were vanishing even as they were perceived. His relationship with his mother, the greater part of her family scattered, had an intensity on her side that he did his best to accommodate, and then she dies, suddenly, a few days after her last call. There is an endless stream of attempts to capture the memories of owl-faced school teachers with immense canes who smiled matily before they beat him, and of people who endured in the face of every cold wind. Was it his first wife, with whom he seems to have enjoyed comfort and consolation, who says, dying, from her hospital bed, I did love you? It does not matter, the power is in the fragment not the biographical speculation. The innocent mother who was shot in the chest and the arm in a flats complex in south inner city Dublin last Saturday is expected to survive but is facing long term medical complications, it can be revealed. She is still gravely ill and it was touch-and-go whether she would survive this at all over the weekend. She will require long term medical attention, a senior source said. Sinead Connolly (30) remains in intensive care at St James Hospital while the man who is suspected of shooting her is also being treated on a ward of the same hospital for apparent self inflicted gunshot wounds. Armed gardai are monitoring him and he is expected to be arrested as soon as he is discharged from hospital. Meanwhile a manhunt is continuing for a suspect from the Bluebell area who gardai want to arrest in relation to the attempted murder. This suspect is suspected of providing the handgun used in the shooting and also driving the suspected shooter to hospital last Saturday afternoon. A number of properties linked to the small time criminal were raided by gardai over the weekend but there was no sign of him. The belief is that he is more worried about dissident associates of Sineads brother Sean Connolly than he is of gardai but either way there has been no sign of him, a senior source said. Gardai are confident that there will be two further arrests in this case sooner rather than later, the source added Sinead Connolly is the sister of Real IRA killer Sean Connolly, who is serving life for the December, 2012, murder of crime boss Eamon Kelly. Expand Close Sineads brother, Sean Connolly, is an IRA killer / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sineads brother, Sean Connolly, is an IRA killer However the Connolly family said in a statement which they issued online earlier this week that Sean is not intent on avenging the attempted murder of his sister. The attack is rooted in a long-standing local dispute. Sinead was shot by a person known to her. Despite press reports there is no link between it and Seans imprisonment, the statement reads. Sean has called for calm and for no one, no matter how aggrieved they might feel, to even think about engaging in any sort of tit for tat. He is adamant that what happened to Sinead be visited on no other family. He insists that after many years of reflection he has come to the realisation that violence has no place in society and can never be a way to settle grievances or differences. Read More Sinead is a single parent, not a republican activist of any hue. Far from being the result of an IRA dispute the backdrop to the incident was a local culture of bullying, it stated. On Tuesday, Dublin District Court heard that Ms Connolly suffered "catastrophic injuries" when she was shot in front of her seven-year-old daughter after a gunman opened fire in her home. She barricaded herself into her kitchen but was critically wounded when shots were fired through the door at the weekend. A man who was her childhood friend, Paul Mooney (32), has been accused of picking up the weapon left by a fleeing gunman and "carefully" disposing of it. He was refused bail after Dublin District Court heard he maintained he had no prior knowledge of the shooting and had been "in the wrong place at the wrong time". Mr Mooney, with an address in the south inner city, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. WASHINGTON Rick Scott was the only member of Senate Republican leadership to vote in favor of overturning 2020 election results to favor former President Donald Trumps baseless claims of election fraud, and now the Florida Republican will be the first member of Senate GOP leadership to meet face to face with the former president at his Palm Beach club. Scott occupies an interesting position in the post-Trump GOP. He was an early, enthusiastic and consistent Trump backer since 2015 who now leads the establishment-friendly and Mitch McConnell-aligned National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2022 election cycle. Trump has openly mocked McConnell since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that led to five deaths and urged supporters to donate to his political action committee instead of GOP-aligned groups like the NRSC. In an interview, Scott said hell tell Trump that their interests are aligned when he visits this week. I want to be an additive, I want us all to row the boats in the same direction, Scott said to the Miami Herald. My goal is to tell the [former] president what Im doing. Ive talked to him, and he tells me he wants to be helpful to me. Hes committed to Republicans taking back a majority in the U.S. Senate. But Trumps own messaging undercuts Scotts position that requires him to defend incumbent GOP senators. In a tweet-style statement, Trump vowed to travel to Alaska to defeat Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial but the only one who is on the ballot in 2022. I will not be endorsing, under any circumstances, the failed candidate from the great State of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, Trump said in a statement. She represents her state badly and her country even worse. I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator. Republicans currently control 50 U.S. Senate seats but do not control the chamber after President Joe Bidens victory and two runoff elections in Georgia won by Democrats ensured that Vice President Kamala Harris can cast tie-breaking votes. The opposing party of the president typically performs well in midterm elections, though Republicans dont have an incumbent running in six of the 10 most competitive races. Scott reiterated that he will defend all GOP incumbents from his NRSC perch, which largely relies on raising millions to fund TV ads and campaign infrastructure in competitive races. But Scott did say the NRSC under his watch will be different in one respect: It wont get involved in Republican Senate primaries, noting that every Republican endorsed my opponent during his first gubernatorial race that he won in 2010. I dont have a plan on getting involved in primaries in open seats, Scott said. Im going to support all incumbent senators. Im very comfortable that voters will choose good candidates. Mar-a-Lago meetings have become commonplace for GOP officials seeking to stay in Trumps good graces. The top two House Republicans, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise, have also ventured to Mar-a-Lago, along with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Scotts Mar-a-Lago meeting was first reported by The Washington Post. Yet others who arent seen as Trumpy enough are told to stay away, notably former U.N. ambassador and potential 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley. So far, Trump has mostly focused his attention on Washington and hasnt weighed in on Florida races like Sen. Marco Rubios and Gov. Ron DeSantis 2022 reelection bids. But he did tell donors to steer their money to his Save America PAC. No more money for RINOs [Republicans in name only], Trump said in a March 8 statement. They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our voting base, they will never lead us to greatness. A day later, his message softened somewhat to clarify that he fully supports groups like the NRSC, though it doesnt have the right to use his likeness to raise money. But the back-and-forth, much like his presidency, keeps supporters like Scott on their toes. I fully support the Republican Party and important GOP Committees, but I do not support RINOs and fools, and it is not their right to use my likeness or image to raise funds, Trump said in one of his statements. So much money is being raised and completely wasted by people that do not have the GOPs best interests in mind. Alex Daugherty of the Miami Herald wrote this story. 2021 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Boris Johnson yesterday insisted the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was safe after the EU launched a probe into reports of blood clots in vaccinated Europeans. The European Medicines Agency said it had received reports of 22 cases of blood clotting among the three million vaccinated with the jab on the Continent including one person who died ten days later. A host of European countries including Denmark, Norway and Iceland have halted the use of AstraZeneca jabs amid fears they cause blood clots, while Italy has suspended a batch following the death of a naval officer and another man. But No 10 yesterday insisted the jab is safe and that Britons should continue to take it, pointing to the success the vaccination programme is having. Mr Johnson's spokesman said: 'We've been clear that it's both safe and effective, and when people are asked to come forward and take it, they should do so in confidence.' 'And in fact you're starting to see the results of the vaccine programme in terms of the (lower) number of cases we're seeing across the country, the number of deaths, number of hospitalisations.' After the news that some European countries had suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots, No 10 yesterday insisted the jab is safe and that Britons should continue to take it, pointing to the success the vaccination programme is having on Covid cases. Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson, seen on Wednesday The decision by some countries to halt the vaccine came after a nurse in Austria, 49, died from a clot on Monday shortly after receiving the vaccine amid reports of similar cases across Europe, despite millions of doses being administered safely. Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg have also suspended the use of the same specific batch of vaccines given to the nurse, ABV5300, which was sent to 17 European countries and consisted of one million jabs. Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday went further, suspending the total use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine. Italy's medicine regulator banned a different batch of the jabs, ABV2856, after non-commissioned naval officer Stefano Paterno died of a cardiac arrest 24 hours after receiving a dose in Sicily, where a second man also died after receiving the jab. 'We are of course saddened by this news,' said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on the decision to halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Frederiksen, who has pushed for the production of more vaccines and has formed a controversial alliance with Austria and Israel to do so, defended the Danish health authorities' decision. 'Things have gone well in Denmark, but there are some risks linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine that need to be examined more closely,' she told reporters. 'That seems to me to be the right way to proceed.' But France's health minister Olivier Veran said last night that the country has 'no need' to suspend use of the jab after he consulted with the French medicines agency which advised him against taking a similar action to other countries. He said the agency urged him to follow the EU drug regulator's ruling that AstraZeneca was still safe to use. 'There is no need to suspend AstraZeneca,' Veran told a news conference. Other European nations also signalled their intention to continue using the vaccine, including Sweden, Spain and The Netherlands. Swedish authorities said they did not find sufficient evidence to stop vaccination with AstraZeneca's jab. 'There is nothing to indicate that the vaccine causes this type of blood clots,' Veronica Arthurson, head of drug safety at the Swedish Medical Products Agency, told a news conference. Spain on Thursday said it had not registered any cases of blood clots related to AstraZeneca's vaccine so far and would continue administering the shots. Boris Johnson yesterday insisted the Oxford jab was safe after the EU launched a probe into reports of blood clots in vaccinated Europeans. The European Medicines Agency said it had received reports of 22 cases of blood clotting among the three million vaccinated with the jab on the Continent including one person who died ten days later. Pictured: A man receives an AstraZeneca vaccination in Berlin on March 8 European countries are lagging behind the UK in vaccination numbers after fuelling fears over the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca jab Danish health minister Magnus Heunicke admitted it was too soon to conclude if 'there is any connection' between the vaccine and blood clotting, but added: 'We act early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated.' Denmark suspended the shots for two weeks after a 60-year-old woman, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died, Danish health authorities said. Their response was also prompted by reports 'of possible serious side effects' from other European countries. Heunicke said authorities were probing whether there was a link between having the jab and blood clotting, after several cases and one death. So far, 138,148 Danes have received a shot with AstraZeneca's vaccine in a country of 5.8 million. The Nordic country, which also uses vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, is set to receive 2.6 million doses from AstraZeneca over the coming months. Denmark's Health Authority said the final date for when it expects all Danes to have been fully vaccinated would be pushed back by four weeks to August 15. 'We are of course saddened by this news,' said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (pictured centre) on the decision to halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Frederiksen, who has pushed for the production of more vaccines and has formed a controversial alliance with Austria and Israel to do so, defended the Danish health authorities' decision Danish health minister Magnus Heunicke (pictured in March last year) admitted it was too soon to conclude if 'there is any connection' between the vaccine and blood clotting, but added: 'We act early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated.' EU regulators on January 30 approved the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying it was effective and safe to use, but many European leaders have frequently doubted the effectiveness of the Oxford vaccine which has subsequently seen a low uptake compared to other jabs. French President Emmanuel Macron previously said the jab was 'quasi-effective' in over-65s. The claim was widely rejected by scientists and was criticised as a political move born out of post-Brexit ill will. But France, along with a host of other European nations, then blocked use of the jab for the elderly. Last week, Mr Macron made a partial U-turn on the decision after a slow uptake of the Oxford jab among the French was seen to be contributing to the country's sluggish immunisation programme. Germany followed with its own U-turn, recommending the jab for the over-65s. The scaremongering around the jab has led some Europeans to refuse to take it, with authorities in Germany forced to resort to threatening people who balk at it. That has hampered Europe's already-slow vaccine drive which has been plagued by supply issues and has seen just 10 per cent of people given at least one dose, compared to 36 per cent in the UK. France's health minister Olivier Veran (pictured on Thursday) said last night that the country has 'no need' to suspend use of the jab after he consulted with the French medicines agency which advised him against taking a similar action to other countries Meanwhile yesterday, AstraZeneca said in a statement that its vaccine had met 'clear and stringent' safety standards before being approved for use in Europe in January. An AstraZeneca spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'We're aware of the statement made today by Sundhedsstyrelsen [the Danish health authority] that they are currently investigating potential adverse events related to vaccination against COVID-19. 'Patient Safety is the highest priority for AstraZeneca. Regulators have clear and stringent efficacy and safety standards for the approval of any new medicine, and that includes COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. 'The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in Phase III clinical trials and Peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine is generally well tolerated.' 'Peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine is generally well tolerated,' the company said. And the UK's Medicines And Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) suggested the number of blood clots reported in the EU is no greater than the amount that would occur naturally. AstraZeneca's share price was however down 2.28 percent in mid-afternoon trading in London. AstraZeneca said in a statement that its vaccine had met 'clear and stringent' safety standards before being approved for use in Europe in January. Pictured: Vials labelled 'AstraZeneca COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine' and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken March 10, 2021 Dr Phil Bryan, the MHRA head of vaccines safety, said: 'The Danish authorities' action to temporarily suspend use of the vaccine is precautionary whilst they investigate. Blood clots can occur naturally and are not uncommon.' Dr Bryan said more than 11million doses of the Oxford jab had been administered in the UK, adding: 'Reports of blood clots received so far are not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population. 'The safety of the public will always come first. We are keeping this issue under close review but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause.' Professor Stephen Evans, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the suspensions were 'a super-cautious approach based on some isolated reports in Europe'. He said the problem lay in 'the enormous difficulty of distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence', adding that Covid-19 itself was very strongly associated with blood clotting. Denmark was first to announce its suspension this week, 'following reports of serious cases of blood clots' among people who had received the vaccine, the country's Health Authority said in a statement. The vaccine would be suspended for 14 days in Denmark. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (back, 2R) speaks with medical staff during her to visit Herlev Hospital in Copenhagen on March 11, 2020. Denmark was first to announce its suspension this week, 'following reports of serious cases of blood clots' among people who had received the vaccine, the country's Health Authority said in a statement It stressed the move was precautionary, and that 'it has not been determined, at the time being, that there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots'. 'This is a cautionary decision,' Geir Bukholm, director of infection prevention and control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), told a news conference. FHI did not say how long the suspension would last. 'We ... await information to see if there is a link between the vaccination and this case with a blood clot,' Bukholm said. So far, 138,148 Danes have received a shot with AstraZeneca's vaccine in a country of 5.8 million. Denmark's Health Authority said the final date for when it expects all Danes to have been fully vaccinated would be pushed back by four weeks to Aug. 15. The Nordic country, which also uses vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, is set to receive 2.6 million doses from AstraZeneca over the coming months. Magnus Heunicke said: 'At present it can not be concluded whether there is a connection. We are acting early, it must be thoroughly investigated.' AstraZeneca said in a statement that its vaccine had met 'clear and stringent' safety standards before being approved for use in Europe in January [Stock image] As of March 9, 22 cases of blood clots had been reported among more than three million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said. Denmark however suspended the use of all of its AstraZeneca supply, as did Iceland and Norway in subsequent announcements on Thursday citing similar concerns. Denmark's decision comes days after Austria suspended use of a particular batch of the drug, ABV5300, because a woman died within 10 days of the jab. Another three cases of blood clotting issues had been reported in Austria from people who had also taken the vaccine. One of those patients, a 35-year-old woman, developed a pulmonary embolism - a blockage of an artery on the lung - but is now recovering. The EMA said that the batch which had been singled-out in Austria, labelled ABV5300, comprised one million doses and had been delivered to 17 EU countries. Italy suspended use of a separate batch after two Italians died, and Italian authorities decided to halt delivery of a different batch of AstraZeneca jabs over safety fears. Italy's medicine regulator banned a different batch of the jabs, ABV2856, after non-commissioned naval officer Stefano Paterno (pictured with his wife) died of a cardiac arrest 24 hours after receiving a dose 'Following the reporting of some serious adverse events... AIFA has decided, as a precaution, to issue a ban on the use of this batch throughout the national territory,' AIFA said in a statement. It said that it 'reserves the right to take further measures, if necessary,' in coordination with the European Medicines Agency (EMA). But it stressed that at the moment there had been no established link between the administration of the vaccine and the alleged side-effects. The batch mentioned by the Italian regulator, batch ABV2856, is different to the ABV5300 suspended by Austria and other countries. It has been linked to the death of Stefano Paterno in Sicily this week after he suffered a cardiac arrest 24 hours after taking a jab. A policeman, Davide Villa, 50, also died 12 days after receiving a vaccine from the same batch. The Italian ministry of health will investigate the possible links between their deaths and the jabs while the batch of doses is on pause. The European Medicines Agency said there was 'no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions (clots), which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine'. It has opened an investigation into the quality of the ABV5300 batch. The investigation by the EU comes after a humiliating U-turn by European leaders who have given their backing to the vaccine after claiming it was ineffective at the height of their row with the vaccine-maker and Britain in January. During the ongoing row, the EU has furiously blamed Britain for its woeful vaccine rollout, blocked doses from leaving to Australia and begged the USA to give them its surplus doses. Last week, Italy stood at the European vanguard as it embargoed 250,000 doses which were destined for Sydney. The move raised eyebrows Down Under, as Australia's finance minister Simon Birmingham said it is 'a reminder of the desperation that exists in other parts of the world, compared with the very good position we found ourselves in here'. 'We are obviously disappointed and frustrated by this decision,' he added. Over the weekend, it was reported that the EU had gone cap in hand to Washington to beg them to provide some of their surplus AstraZeneca. It's a humiliating U-turn for Brussels whose leaders had wildly claimed that the AstraZeneca vaccine was ineffective earlier this year. Emmanuel Macron was accused of anti-vax propaganda when he claimed the jab was only 'quasi-effective' for elderly patients. French PM Jean Castex has since endorsed the vaccine, saying it is just as effective as any other approved in the EU. Keylor Navas put in a man-of-the-match display to prevent a Barcelona fightback, as Paris-Saint-Germain advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday night. With the scoreline at 1-1, he saved a Lionel Messi penalty and also pulled off a string of brilliant saves. With this performance, Keylor has surely put an end to the rumours about Hugo Lloris taking his place as PSG's No.1. The rumours regarding Lloris have been growing since Mauricio Pochettino took charge at the start of January, as it created the possibility of a reunion between the pair, who have a close relationship after their successful period together at Tottenham Hotspur. However, Keylor, who shone for PSG in their run to the Champions League final last season, once again demonstrated why he is one of the best in the world in his position with a stunning performance. With two years left on his contract, the 34-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down. The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia until December, and called on Somali authorities to hold elections "without further delay." The 13-page text drafted by Britain was unanimously approved by the 15 members of the Council, diplomatic sources said. It had proven difficult to finalize due to differences in the past month between Western countries and the African members of the council, including Kenya, Niger and Tunisia, who had even forced London to postpone the vote for 15 days. The question of funding for the African Union force, known as Amisom, was one of the points of contention. After the result of the vote was announced, Niger issued, in the name of the African member states, a long and critical statement on how the negotiations were conducted by Britain, which it said had ignored some of their concerns. "Some of our proposals were rejected without any convincing explanation or none at all," said Abdou Abarry, the ambassador for Niger. He said the "the final text does not reflect the positions of the African Union." Somalia missed a deadline to hold an election by February 8, when President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, was due to step down, sparking a constitutional crisis in the already-fragile state. Farmajo and Somalia's five regional leaders reached an agreement on September 17 that abandoned a promised one-person, one-vote ballot but offered a common path forward for elections. Colorado Senate President Leroy Garcia, front, waits to speak as House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, back right, and House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar look on during a news conference outside the Governors mansion on Wednesday in Denver. Leaders from the Democratic and Republican parties outlined the plan to spend $700 million over the next 18 months on job-creating transportation programs, sustaining a multibillion dollar agriculture industry and delivering critical aid to small businesses hit hard by the effects of the coronavirus over the past year. Reston, VA--Immuno-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging can provide early insight into a tumor's response to targeted therapy, allowing physicians to select the most effective treatment for patients who have cancer. The new research was published in the March issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The research showed that immuno-PET successfully visualizes changes in different cancer receptors (receptor tyrosine kinases, or RTKs) within tumors during targeted therapies. This gives physicians a tool that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment soon after its administration. "When healthy cells turn into cancer cells, there is a disruption in the RTK signaling. This makes RTKs a valuable therapeutic and imaging target," said Patricia Pereira, Ph.D., a research associate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York. "Techniques that allow for real-time monitoring of RTK dynamics, such as immuno-PET, could be very beneficial in informing treatment choice and predicting response." Immuno-PET uses a "tracer" to follow an antibody directed to a specific tumor. This allows physicians to obtain images of events happening at the tumor site and provides information into whether the tumor responds to the treatment. The physician can then visualize how the tumor is responding. In this study, researchers used immuno-PET and three different antibodies to visualize three RTKs (MET, EGFR, and HER2) in a kidney tumor. Their results confirmed that immuno-PET visualizes RTKs in ways that determine the level of protein within a tumor. After administering a treatment, immuno-PET can detect changes in RTK levels that indicate whether a tumor is responsive to that treatment. "Precision medicine involves the identification of certain gene mutations and expressions, as well as other features, that contribute individual tumor signatures," noted Pereira. "Our study shows that immuno-PET is a powerful technique to document RTK changes and predict tumors' response to targeted therapies." ### This study was made available online in July 2020 ahead of final publication in print in March 2021. The authors of "Immuno-PET Detects Changes in Multi-RTK Tumor Cell Expression Levels in Response to Targeted Kinase Inhibition," include Patricia M.R. Pereira and Jalen Norfleet, Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; Jason S. Lewis, Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, and Molecular Pharmacology Program and Radiochemistry and Molecular Imaging Probes Core, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Departments of Pharmacology and Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York; and Freddy E. Escorcia, Molecular Imaging Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Visit JNM's new website for the latest research, and follow our new Twitter and Facebook pages @JournalofNucMed. Please visit the SNMMI Media Center for more information about molecular imaging and precision imaging. To schedule an interview with the researchers, please contact Rebecca Maxey at (703) 652-6772 or rmaxey@snmmi.org About JNM and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) is the world's leading nuclear medicine, molecular imaging and theranostics journal, accessed more than 11 million times each year by practitioners around the globe, providing them with the information they need to advance this rapidly expanding field. Current and past issues of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine can be found online at http://jnm. snmjournals. org . JNM is published by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine and molecular imaging--precision medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. For more information, visit http://www. snmmi. org . Funders: Onartuzumab was provided by Genentech. The Radiochemistry and Molecular Imaging Probe Core and the Antitumor Assessment Core were supported by NIH grant P30 CA08748. This study was supported in part by the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center of MSKCC (Jason Lewis), NIH NCI grant R35 CA232130 (Jason Lewis), NIH NCI grant ZIA BC 011800 (Freddy Escorcia), Mr. William H. and Mrs. Alice Goodwin and the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research, and the Center for Experimental Therapeutics of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Freddy Escorcia is supported by the American Board of Radiology Leonard B. Holman Research Pathway and the Clinical Investigator Development Program of NCI and NIH. Patricia Pereira is supported by the Tow Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship from the MSKCC Center for Molecular Imaging and Nanotechnology and the Alan and Sandra Gerry Metastasis and Tumor Ecosystems Center of MSKCC. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. While automated milking systems sound appealing in many aspects, it takes careful consideration to determine if robotics are the right fit for a dairy. Adoption has been more widespread among smaller farms, but the technology has been integrated into larger herds more slowly. During a panel discussion at the California Dairy Sustainability Summit, a group of Golden State dairy farmers talked about robotic milking. Two of the dairymen, Jon Postma and David Jones, have been using automated milking systems to milk part of their herds for the past few years, and during the discussion they shared improvements they have noticed in their robot-milked cows. Postma farms near Modesto, Calif., with his dad and brother. They milk about 2,200 head; 600 of those cows are milked using robots. As for production, Postma reminded the audience that the change in milk volume is dependent on whether cows were previously being milked 2x or 3x. We were a 2x dairy, so our cows obviously went up in production, as we were getting an extra 0.7 or 0.8 milkings per cow per day, he said. Production also went up because of the environment in the barn, he shared. For example, he said that they are able to dial in on the rations. He also commented on the overall reduction in stress. Cows are not getting pushed up to a holding pen every day. Its all voluntary in our facility, he explained. These cows are able to do what they want. The stress level is significantly lower. Milk quality is similar to production in that it depends what somatic cell count level the herd was at prior to the transition and the farms goals. We try to do the best that we can, and we didnt see a significant impact on milk quality, Postma said. They currently run at a 120,000 somatic cell count in both their robotic and conventionally milked cows. Postma said the biggest benefit of robotic milking has been overall cow health, and he returned to the positive attributes of less stress. The cows overall do better in the robotic facility, and the number one reason is stress. Those cows are not being forced to do anything at any specific time, he said. Postma said with confidence that cows in robotic facilities will last another half lactation, if not a whole lactation. Thats a significant amount of money, he noted. The longer we can keep cows around, the quicker you are going to get the robot paid for. More opportunities with robots Another panelist was David Jones, who farms with his family near Stevenson, Calif. A portion of their 800-cow herd is milked with robots. Jones shared that their first-lactation animals in the robotic barns are averaging 10 pounds more than the young cows in their conventional barns. Cows in their second lactation or greater are averaging 12 to 15 pounds more in the robotic barns. He explained that the robotic effect, including no holding pen waits and reduced stress, bundle together to make more milk in their robotic strings. He noted that their milk quality is also even with the conventionally milked cows. He said reproductive health has improved, including one less service per conception and higher pregnancy rates. In addition, they have been able to reduce their involuntary cull rate by 7%. He recognized that these changes dont just happen overnight. You dont just plop a robot down and create more milk, he explained. It is management and creating more comfort for the animals. But there are incredible opportunities and more levers you can pull with a robotic facility that you just dont have in a conventional system. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2021 March 8, 2021 Career discussions often focus on those just starting out. But what if you want to get into whisky (or whiskey!) a bit later on? Lisa Roper Wicker, Widow Jane president and head distiller tells us her story. On a recent video call a friend was lamenting not enjoying her job. Its too late for me! she cried. Why didnt I realise what I wanted to do in my twenties? Another chimed in: We see all these 30 Under 30 lists. I want the stories of people who found their calling later in their career. It was serendipity most glorious when the following week, I found myself chatting with Lisa Roper Wicker, president and head distiller at Widow Jane Distillery. Her screen is set up in the distillery itself, a site in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Stroll just a few moments from the door and youll be at the waterfront, looking across to the Statue of Liberty. The brand has small-batch blending at its heart (think five barrels at a time), and, now in its ninth year, combines sourced bourbon and rye with its own liquid. Theres a focus on heirloom grains, too, and its unusual proofing water which comes from a limestone mine in Rosendale, Upstate New York. As we talk, there are the sounds of production in the background and I can just about glimpse some barrels. Its almost like being back in a distillery; all thats needed is the aroma of production to permeate through the screen. A varied career When I was growing up, I never knew what I wanted to do, she opens. Initial focuses included pursuing careers in journalism, then law. If someone told me I would have been a whiskey distiller in the second part of my life, I never would have believed them. Wicker spent a number of years moving around the country with her husband and young family before setting up a costume design enterprise. Her first foray into drinks was working as a farm hand during the harvest at a vineyard. She quickly fell in love with the production side, and embarked on eight years of winemaking study. There werent any sacrifices but there were certainly trade-offs, she says, when I ask about juggling work, study and family. Its not a sacrifice if you love it. Wicker then moved to Kentucky to build a winery, and it was there that distilling caught her eye. She learned to distil at Limestone Branch, before joining Starlight Distillery, and then launched a consulting business, Saints & Monsters. An early client was Samson & Surrey, which owns FEW Spirits and Brenne among others, plus Widow Jane. She held the position as director of distilling across the entire portfolio, before honing in on the Brooklyn distillery with its corn growing, distilling and blending programme two years ago. Im so grateful that I didnt have it overlap too much with raising my kids, because it really has been an obsession! she laughs. Whiskey career pathways Im not unusual coming to it a little bit later in life, she says. Theres not a lot of us, but its also not unusual. She says when talking to women in their twenties and thirties, its about stressing the myriad pathways available to them. Whatever you study, whether its marketing or HR or chemistry or food science, culinary skills, theres a pathway to whiskey through all of it. Plus, theres the career change option: I get that from young women a lot. Like, oh my gosh, I get to change my mind? The answer is yes! To highlight the space women can move into at very senior levels, she recalls a panel she sat on a couple of years back. I was with Pam Heilmann, she was just retiring as the master distiller for Michters, and with Joyce Nethery of Jeptha Creed. It was so interesting how many jobs wed all had before we got into whiskey. All in the same age group, theyd previously held roles like school teachers, designers, engineers. With eight children between them, theyd also managed to patch together roles to ensure they had the flexibility needed to balance family. Wicker is also keen to shout out women who demonstrate the significant progression opportunities in the industry. Like Jane Bowie at Makers Mark, she says. For years, she was in the UK as the brand advocate. She came back to Kentucky, and went back to work within the distillery. Now shes the director of maturation for Makers Mark. Responsibilities include the Makers Mark 46 programme. Its a pretty amazing progression, and we see this a lot in whiskey. For the love of whiskey blending Right now whisky is a dynamic sector with lots going on. I love that its not stagnant. I love that theres so much opportunity. The increasingly positive standings of both blending and sourcing liquid are particular sources of excitement for her. I think its because whiskey used to be vatted and not necessarily blended. They were just lets take all these barrels and dump them together. Blended whiskey got a very bad reputation. Thankfully times have changed. Then it was just about elevating really good whiskey! Sourcing too is starting to be better understood. Now you can get the good barrels and it means youre high up on the list and working with the best brokers and the best whiskey houses. She explains. I love seeing blending coming into its own. Wickers responsibilities at Widow Jane are wide-ranging. She oversees the heirloom corn project (for two years, the largest of its kind in the whole of the US), distilling itself, barrel sourcing (including likes of maple casks), and blending. All while splitting her time between Brooklyn and her home in Bardstown, Kentucky. The barrel game is a game! She laughs as the blending conversation picks up again. Each one will behave differently. She sources both fully- and part-matured stock, and looking after them can be tricky. The largest lot I purchased was several years ago and it wasnt drinking as old as an age statement, she recalls. We moved those barrels and now they have taken off and are where they need to be. But it was crazy. Theres one delight that comes from whiskey making that will never change, and thats seeing her creations on-shelf in a store. Ill never get over the thrill of that. You dont tell people who you are or what you do. You just go in and you pat your bottles and buy one. Even better if theres product from previous ventures there, too. An optimistic future for women in whiskey As we say our goodbyes, I recall an earlier part of the conversation where I asked Wicker about what needs to change for more women and underrepresented groups to be aware of the opportunities whiskey can offer. I think getting more and more women in front of tastings where they realise I am somebodys grandmother and I love what I do and Im passionate about it and I wont ever retire. My mentor, hes 75 and he still picks and chooses his projects, right? More than anything its about setting the example that the business is flexible, its definitely something that someone can pursue as a career and stay in it forever. There can be a sense that weve somehow missed the boat if weve not kicked off our dream careers by 25. If youre a woman, that pressure could be compounded by a desire to start a family. In male-dominated industries, this can feel like even more of a weight. Wicker is proof that its not only possible to switch it up, but you can excel too. This evening, Im raising a glass of Widow Jane to Lisa Roper Wicker, the women like her, and all the women who could be about to join our wonderful whiskey industry. Photo: The Canadian Press Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Their numbers have dwindled since protesters first flooded Louisvilles streets after police fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her home a year ago, but their push for justice has never waned. A federal investigation of the shooting that has been quietly proceeding could be their last chance. We cant expect people to continue to emotionally and mentally keep moving forward when there hasnt been any justice yet for Breonna Taylor, said Rep. Attica Scott, a state lawmaker who was tear-gassed and arrested during summer protests in the city. Weve been failed every single time from every level of government, and we need a freaking break. That could come in the form of the ongoing inquiry by the U.S. Department of Justice, which appears to have expanded well beyond the actions of the three police officers who fired their guns into Taylor's home on March 13, 2020. Last year, a grand jury formed by state Attorney General Daniel Cameron charged one officer with putting Taylor's neighbours in danger but issued no charges related to her death. The warrant that sent the police to Taylors home was not part of Cameron's criminal investigation, but that document and how it was obtained are under review by federal investigators. And there are signs the investigation could range into the Louisville police response to protests after the shooting. Taylor's death initially flew under the media radar, as the COVID-19 crisis shut down society, but George Floyd's death in Minnesota and the release of a chilling 911 call from Taylor's boyfriend in late May sparked interest in the case. Months of protests, police reforms and investigations followed. The city banned controversial no-knock warrants, hired a new police chief and paid a $12 million settlement to Taylor's mother. Two of the officers who fired shots were dismissed from the department, along with a detective who sought the warrant. Through it all, protesters continued to chant, Arrest the Cops! But that hasn't happened. The federal investigation into her death will be slow and methodical, experts said, examining everything from what the officers may have been thinking that night to how they were trained leading up to the shooting. The civil rights investigation will turn the whole situation upside-down, said Cynthia Deitl, the former head of the FBI's civil rights unit who has overseen similar police shooting probes. You look at everything everything the officers ever learned. It takes time to build a case against police officers, Deitl said. She said a change in administrations in Washington wouldn't have an effect on the officials who are leading the case. After Taylor's front door was breached by officers, her boyfriend fired his gun once, saying later that he feared an intruder was entering the apartment. One officer was struck, and he and two other officers fired 32 shots into the apartment, striking Taylor five times. The FBI has declined to comment on specifics of the investigation, but there are signs that other actions by the Louisville Metro Police Department have drawn their attention. That includes the response to citizen protests, especially in late May and early June when the city was under a curfew and officers patrolled the streets in force. Despite disappointment with the grand jury outcome, there is cautious and guarded hope that the federal investigation could bring some measure of justice, community activist Christopher 2X said. The FBIs Louisville office has declined to provide details of the federal investigation into the Taylor shooting while it is ongoing. A predatory paedophile who has admitted a string of offences against young boys had been a babysitter who befriended parents before abusing their children. Paul Farrell worked as a Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) porter and also abused two of his eight victims there. He can be pictured for the first time since admitting 69 offences which occurred over more than three decades. On Friday a judge at Wood Green Crown Court lifted restrictions which had prevented Farrells image being published as well as details of where some of the offending is said to have occurred within the hospital. The 55-year-old had been a lodger or babysat at the homes of his victims families, and befriended their parents before abusing the children at different addresses in London, the Metropolitan Police said. Paul Farrell (Metropolitan Police/PA) Given the predatory nature of his offending over a lengthy period of time, police have warned there is a very real possibility that Farrell has abused other children and are urging any further victims to contact the Met. At Fridays hearing prosecutor Paul Douglass said many of the counts were multi-incident, adding: So we are looking at several hundred discrete acts of sexual abuse over a period of 35 years against boys aged between five or six and 16. Farrell did not target children at the hospital, where he worked between 1994 and 2020, and Mr Douglass made clear it is not a case of patients at the hospital being abused. He said: Offences against two of the victims happened in Great Ormond Street, in the linen room, which is where the defendant was based for a large period of his employment there. He had a key for it and he locked the door and abused two boys in the linen room. A spokeswoman for GOSH said they were deeply sorry that he was able to abuse his position and use our hospital to commit some of his offences. David Osborne, acting for Mr Farrell, said he accepted his client, who was not present for Fridays case management hearing, will receive either a life sentence or an extended sentence. Former hospital porter Paul Farrell will be sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court in May (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Farrells offences include indecent assault of a boy aged between five and seven between April 1985 and April 1987. He has also admitted 12 charges of indecent assault against another boy from 1992 to 1998, when he was aged between six and 11. Five counts of indecency with a child in relation to the same alleged victim over the same period, for which Farrell had been expected to face trial, were left to lie on file. Farrell has previously pleaded guilty to a series of charges relating to six other complainants, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, who are now aged between eight and 43. The offences, carried out between 1985 and 2020, include attempted rape, sexual assault of a child under 13 and making indecent photographs of children. A further 20 charges had already been left to lie on file. Farrells sentencing will take place at the same court on May 21 and 24 and Judge Noel Lucas QC ordered that he must appear in person. Jane Ndeti, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Farrell had carried out an appalling campaign of sexual abuse and branded him a a prolific sex attacker who presented himself as a loving family man with a stable job in Londons biggest childrens hospital. Detective Superintendent Dave Courcha, from the Met, said: Farrell was extremely calculating and devious in his targeting of children he lodged at the homes of accommodating families and won their trust, only to abuse their children under their noses over a prolonged period. Most of the victims lived with the trauma of what they were subjected to for decades, with two victims waiting more than 30 years before feeling ready to come forward to police. Former hospital porter Paul Farrell pleaded guilty to dozens of child sex offences carried out between 1985 and 2020 (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Detective Sergeant Jules Manock, from the safeguarding team who led the investigation, paid tribute to the incredible bravery of the survivors in coming forward. She added: The accounts they gave to police of the abuse they suffered at the hand of Paul Farrell, and how their childhoods were stolen from them, were nothing short of harrowing, and todays result means a predatory paedophile is now in custody where he cant harm any more children. The GOSH spokeswoman said Farrells actions are in direct contrast to everything we stand for as a childrens hospital. She added: We know that the crimes he committed and his association with the hospital may cause alarm and distress among our patients, their families and our wider hospital community. We would like to reiterate what has been said in court; that Paul Farrell did not target children at GOSH. We urge anyone who has concerns about this case to call the helpline that we have set up with the NSPCC on 0800 101 996. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Doctors and pharmacists reassured the public they will be ready to administer COVID-19 shots, one day after being caught by surprise by the province's announcement that vaccines would be shipped to them imminently. Doctors and pharmacists reassured the public they will be ready to administer COVID-19 shots, one day after being caught by surprise by the province's announcement that vaccines would be shipped to them imminently. Ryan Chan, owner of Exchange District Pharmacy on McDermot Avenue, said he has been allocated 100 shots. "We are anticipating getting the shots Friday or Monday. So we're booking appointments for Tuesday." Chan said, unlike the annual flu shot campaign, a lot more questions must be asked to determine who qualifies for the vaccine at this time. "This one is a lot longer," he said. "Manitoba Health provides us with the distribution and the requirements... It is all about trying to be fair." JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ryan Chan, executive director of Exchange District Pharmacy, books appointments for upcoming COVID-19 vaccinations at his pharmacy in Winnipeg Thursday. A provincial spokesman said a video call would be held Thursday night in which Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province's vaccination task force, would answer questions from physicians and pharmacists about the AstraZeneca vaccine, which they will administer. "Allocations of this vaccine to pharmacies and medical clinics was based on a variety of factors such as their health region, historic flu vaccination volume and capacity-related factors obtained from the respective site," the spokesman said. "Vaccine age eligibility continues to evolve and move downward. However, age restrictions are in place for this pilot project rollout: general population 50 to 64 and 30 to 64 for First Nations people, with priority given to those with one or more medical condition(s) from the list, or those 18 to 64 who are already eligible." "We are anticipating getting the shots Friday or Monday. So we're booking appointments for Tuesday." Ryan Chan, owner of Exchange District Pharmacy The province announced on Wednesday that the AstraZeneca vaccine was available, and it put out an eligibility list as well as a map showing the medical clinics and pharmacies that would have it. The province did that before clinic staff had been told what to tell patients. On Wednesday, Doctors Manitoba spokesman Keir Johnson said that sparked a lot of confusion. One day later, Johnson said it a matter of explaining to Manitobans who is eligible for the vaccine. Doctors are getting a lot of calls from seniors who wonder why they are left out. "We've heard from people who are 65 to 79 and who also have the (medical) conditions on the priority list," he said. "They feel it is unfair, but we are telling them it is because of who can get the different vaccine products. "It is all complicated and that's what makes it difficult for people to understand." JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chan organizes the supplies for COVID-19 vaccinations at his pharmacy in the Exchange District. It will receive 100 doses of AstraZeneca, which will be used to inoculate 100 people. Currently, Manitobans aged 80 and older, or who are First Nations people 60 and older, are able to get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at specialized clinics set up by the province. On Wednesday the province announced AstraZeneca would be available to Manitobans aged 50 to 64, and First Nations people aged 30 to 64, as long as they also have a high-risk condition on a priority list. That list includes including Down syndrome, end-stage kidney disease, severe COPD, cystic fibrosis, or severe obesity with a body mass index equal to or greater than 40. Health officials have said the AstraZeneca vaccine wasn't tested on enough seniors by the manufacturer to get safety information so most health regulators around the world recommend it only be given to people under the age of 65. Johnson said seniors left out of current vaccine priorities will get vaccinated soon. "I think it is just a couple of months of really challenging guidelines, but then we should have enough supply by May or June for everybody to get them," he said. Bhargav Desai, manager of Peguis Pharmacy at 1065 Portage Ave., said they'll get 50 doses soon. "We will take appointments based on the prioritization," said Desai. "We've had people asking for it since (Wednesday). I'm letting people know if they don't qualify. We've been getting many calls." Meanwhile, Chan said while he'll be ready to begin giving the vaccine to people, there's one person he knows who qualifies who hasn't got it yet: himself. "I personally have not had my shot yet. I just need to find the time to get out to get it," he said chuckling. "I'm hoping to get it before next week." kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca The Whitfield County Superior Court resumed jury trial operations this week after the Georgia Supreme Court lifted the COVID-era prohibition against trials which was originally imposed on March 14, 2020. The restriction was lifted effective at midnight on Tuesday, after which jurors were empaneled at the Dalton Convention Center on Wednesday morning. Judges Cindy Morris and Scott Minter selected criminal juries all day Wednesday with a total of five juries selected, two of which have now been tried to completion. Anthony Morgan, 34, formerly of Cohutta, Ga., was found guilty Friday morning of burglary, robbery and family violence battery. Morgan was sentenced after lunch by Judge Morris to serve 10 years in confinement followed by 10 years on probation. He had been in custody since his arrest shortly after the June 10, 2020 crime in which he forced his way into the residence of a woman with whom he had previously had a relationship, struck her causing injury, and stole money from her. Morgan was arrested by the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office not long after at his mothers residence and the stolen money was recovered. The case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant District Attorney Scott Helton. Morgan was represented by P.J. Hemmann of the Public Defenders Office. Jacob Cody Moser, 29, of Ringgold, on Thursday was convicted of shoplifting at Walmart although he was acquitted of more serious charges including the hijacking of a motor vehicle in an attempt to escape from the area of the Kohls parking lot where he had fled after leaving Walmart. Officers responding from the Dalton Police Department had located him in the Kohls lot and were able to arrest him there. Judge Minter set sentencing for March 26. Moser has been in custody since his Oct. 11, 2020 arrest. He faces up to 12 months in confinement. Moser was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Geoff Bard and represented by Latasha Heflin of the Public Defenders Office. Judge Minter resumes trials next week while Judge Morris will select juries in Murray County on Monday and then resume her Whitfield County trials on March 22. Judge William Boyett will be selecting juries in Murray County on March 22. Juries in Whitfield County were selected at the Convention Center to allow for social distancing and other safety precautions to protect jurors. The space that would normally be used at the courthouse is not as large and is about to come under renovations as well. Officials thank the Convention Center staff, the Sheriffs Office - especially Captain Steve Fields and his Court Services staff, and the Clerk of Superior Court Babs Bailey and her staff for helping make this go off as smoothly as it did. Officials said, "Considering that we had never selected juries off-site or under these safety and health precautions, the entire process went extremely well. Jurors who were asked for feedback said they felt safe and were happy with how the process was handled." When trials resume next week in Murray County, juries will be empaneled at the First Baptist Church across the street from the courthouse while jury selection and trials will occur at the courthouse itself. Similar safety measures will be in place to ensure mask use, social distancing, and cleaning of the facilities. The last jury trial to occur in either county was that of James Robert Ash, 42, of Chatsworth, who was convicted on March 11, 2020 of possession of methamphetamine and sentenced on May 20, 2020 to serve eight years in prison by Judge Boyett. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak at the beginning of the fourth Ukrainian-German economic forum, which will be held on March 19. "Together with high-ranking speakers from Ukraine and Germany, we want to raise current topics and put them up for discussion in several panels. President of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry Eric Schweitzer will open the conference together with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal," says the forum program. Merkel's speech is scheduled for 10:00 on Friday. According to the organizers, the German-Ukrainian business forum serves as a platform for the discussion and development of economic relations between Germany and Ukraine. It is intended for business and political decision makers in Germany and Ukraine. In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, the forum will be held digitally with live broadcast from the German Business House in Berlin. The Embassy of Ukraine in Germany announced that within the framework of the forum, international experts of the highest level in four consecutive panels will discuss the topics of industrial development and digitalization, energy and renewable energy, food processing and agriculture, as well as logistics and infrastructure. Ukrainian ministers from the aforementioned sectors, as well as representatives of German politics and international economics, are invited to participate in the discussion. The forum is organized by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, UkraineInvest, the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany in cooperation with the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Ukraine) and the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. SALEM, Ore. Its official: Oregon public schools will soon be required to offer in-person instruction to students. Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 21-06 on Friday a week after announcing her plans in a letter to the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Health Authority. The order directs schools to offer access to hybrid or full in-person learning by the weeks of March 29 for kindergarten through fifth grade and April 19 for sixth through 12th grade. On March 12, 2020, I issued my executive order closing Oregon schools for what was then an extended spring break, said Brown. One year later, thanks to the hard work and smart choices of Oregonians to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, I am so pleased to see over 174,000 students back in the learning environment that serves them best: in-person instruction. While parents can keep their children in distance learning if they choose, this order will give every Oregon student the option to return to school this year. ODE is expected to release updated guidance for schools early next week. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. HOLLAND, MI - New Holland Brewing Company is known for making a very popular glass drinking boot, which is on sale at their locations in Holland and Grand Rapids. But starting this week, New Holland is collaborating on a different kind of boot. This one is meant for walking and working, and designed to last 1,000 miles. Meet the first-ever Dragons Milk Boot. Its a collaboration between New Hollands iconic brand, Dragons Milk, and Wolverine, a Michigan company with a 135-year history of making durable boots. The Dragons Milk limited edition 1,000 Mile boot went on pre-sale Tuesday. It sells for $400 and will be released April 6. You can get it exclusively on Wolverines website, wolverine.com/dragonsmilk. This is a fantastic partnership between two Michigan-based heritage brands highlighting our commitment to craftsmanship and the many skilled craftspeople it takes to create a unique, handcrafted product, said Tom Kennedy, global brand president for Wolverine, in a news release. We are proud to team up with Dragons Milk and solidify their legendary beer into a pair of Wolverine 1000 Mile boots. According to press materials, the boot is infused with handcrafted details reminiscent of Dragons Milks rich colors and tastes, this boot will only get better with time. And it features roughout suede from Englands finest suede manufacturer, Charles F. Stead, with the texture mimicking the oak bourbon barrels that Dragons Milk is aged in. It is truly amazing to see how Wolverine was able to take Dragons Milk and then translate all aspects of what makes our stout so special and turn it into a boot that can be worn for a lifetime said Brett Vanderkamp, founder & CEO of New Holland Brewing Co. We are excited to work with Wolverine and add a new chapter and story to our legacy with a brand that shares our values. The boot, according to press materials, is a testament to the quality, durability and craftsmanship of the boots and will last for 1,000 miles and more. Dragon's Milk and Wolverine have collaborated on a Dragon's Milk Boot. The boot, according to press materials, "is a testament to the quality, durability and craftsmanship of the boots and will last for 1,000 miles and more."Courtesy of Wolverine In recognition of the many bartenders still awaiting the return of their patrons, Wolverine will be contributing 10% of all sales of this limited-edition collaboration to the USBG Foundations Bartender Emergency Assistance Program (BEAP). Dragons Milk Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout is the No. 1 selling American-made stout. It dates back to 2001 when it began as a single barrel in the back of the brewhouse. It is now New Hollands biggest brand. Learn more about Dragons Milk at dragonsmilk.com. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) The Philippines has secured $900 million (about 43.67 billion) in fresh funding from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for its purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and measures to respond to the health crisis. In a statement emailed to the media Friday, the World Bank said its board of executive directors approved a $500 million (around 24.26 billion) loan to aid the governments vaccine purchase and rollout. Inclusive deployment of vaccines in line with the World Health Organization Fair Allocation Framework is critical for preventing grave illness and deaths from COVID-19, opening the economy in earnest, ensuring a resilient recovery, and restoring jobs and incomes, said Ndiame Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The Washington-based institution said this financing will also support the execution of public health measures until a majority of the population has been vaccinated or is deemed safe based on global evidence. The board approved the additional funding atop the current Philippines COVID-19 Emergency Response Project it approved in April last year, which aims to assist the country in fulfilling urgent healthcare needs to address the health crisis and further prepare its public health. In a separate release, the Asian Development Bank announced the Philippines is the first to receive funding support under its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility or APVAX. The regional lender said it approved a $400 million (about 19.4 billion) loan to assist the countrys efforts to procure vaccines. ADBs support will boost the Philippine governments urgent efforts to secure and deploy COVID-19 vaccines for all Filipinos, especially those who are vulnerable, such as frontline workers, the elderly, and poor and marginalized populations, as well as those at increased risk of severe illness, said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa. ADB Vice President for Southeast Asia Operations Ahmed Saeed cited the Philippine government's "strong sense of initiative and priority" as the reason why they chose the country to be the first APVAX beneficiary. He explained Philippine government officials presented a "solid" COVID-19 vaccines distribution plan and other pandemic response measures. "One of the conditions of our loan is the government should have placed a fair and comprehensive strategy for allocating vaccines and for identifying priority groups. This is something the Department of Health has done in close coordination with World Health Organization guidelines," Saeed told CNN Philippines' The Final Word on Friday. Saeed added the loan requires COVID-19 vaccines for distribution to have a high regulatory bar, notwithstanding the country where the immunizations were made. The $400 million loan from ADB will fund the Second Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 under the APVAX (HEAL 2) project, which will help the Health Department in buying and ensuring the delivery of vaccines certified by the global COVAX facility and bilateral vaccine suppliers meeting APVAXs eligibility criteria. A project document published last month on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank website said the AIIB is expected co-finance the project with a $300 million (around 14.5 billion) loan. Loans from both the AIIB and ADB will finance the purchase of up to 110 million COVID-19 vaccines that will cover as many as 50 million Filipinos. Foreign lenders are among the governments sources of funding for its pandemic response measures, along with vaccine procurement. As of January, the countrys outstanding debt shot past 10.3 trillion, a new record high. The Philippines formally commenced its nationwide vaccination drive on March 1, a day after the arrival of 600,000 doses of CoronaVac vaccines donated by Chinese firm Sinovac. Apart from being one of the last nations in Southeast Asia to roll out vaccines, the Philippines also has the highest case tally in the region next to Indonesia. To date, it has over 607,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The Philippine government hopes to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos or two-thirds of the population this 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. The Hamilton County Grand Jury has indicted 39-year-old Donyell Holland for first-degree murder in connection with the death of Randall Leslie. The 33-year-old Leslie was last seen by the reporting party on May 27, 2020. He was reported missing to Chattanooga Police Missing Persons Unit the next day. Through investigative efforts it became evident that Mr. Leslie's disappearance was suspicious and CPD's Homicide Unit was brought in to further assist in the ongoing investigation, police said. A positive identification was later made through forensic means. On June 21, 2020, the Marion County Sheriff's Office contacted CPD's Homicide Unit to inform them a body was found that fit the physical description of Randall Leslie.A positive identification was later made through forensic means. Holland was already in custody in Hamilton County on other, unrelated charges when he was indicted. The Chattanooga Police Department was assisted throughout this investigation by the ATF, TBI, Coffee County Sheriff's Office, Manchester Police Department, and Marion County Sheriff's Office. Panaji, March 12 : The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a recent order of the Bombay High Court which had postponed elections to five municipal councils in Goa over irregularities in reservation of constituencies for Scheduled Tribes and women. Speaking to reporters following the apex court on Friday, advocate Carlos Ferreira, who heads the state Congress legal cell, said that the SC had also faulted the Goa government for appointing a serving state Law Secretary as a State Election Commissioner (SEC) and had directed other states to ensure that the SEC, should not hold dual responsibilities. The Court has also said that elections to the five municipal councils, which were originally scheduled to be held on March 20, should now be completed by April 30. "The SC using this judgement has passed unique directions under Article 142 of the Constitution, directing that the Law Secretary who is holding charge as SEC (in Goa) be removed forthwith and directed that if SECs are holding dual charge in other states, should be removed (from their posts) forthwith," Ferreira said. "This independent post (SEC) is a very high Constitutional post, as underlined by the SC in this judgement. The SC has come down very heavily on the Law Secretary on his conduct in the manner of functioning and manner of maintaining the decorum as SEC," the Congress official also said. On March 2, the Bombay High Court bench, which was hearing a petition related to irregularities in reservation of municipal wards for women and Scheduled Caste categories, had postponed elections to five municipal councils, namely Margao, Mapusa, Mormugao, Sanguem and Quepem, by April 15. In all, 11 municipal councils and one municipal corporation were scheduled to go to polls on March 20. The Goa government had challenged the HC order in the apex court, through a special leave petition, even as two opposition parties, the Congress and Goa Forward, had filed caveats in the Supreme Court subsequently. Opposition parties in Goa have welcomed the SC order. "After this SC order, the CM should not be sitting in the chair for a single minute because of all the harakiri and flouting of election processes, his government has violated ahead of the municipal polls," state Congress president Girish Chodankar said. Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar also applauded the SC order. "The SC has given the right decision. The Court has said that if you flaunt processes, we will show you your place. At least, the government should try and rectify its position now," Dhavalikar said. President of the Goa Forward party and former deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai, while reacting to the order said: "The government who has not given the Bahujan Samaj (a non-Brahmin caste grouping in Goa), the STs', the SCs' and women their worth has been shown its place by means of the SC order". Multiple members of New Yorks congressional delegation called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign in the wake of mounting allegations of sexual harassment and an allegation of groping, as well as scrutiny over his administrations reporting of Covid-19 deaths among nursing home residents. The Democratic governor has denied he ever touched anyone inappropriately, and has said he is sorry if he ever made anyone uncomfortable. But a majority of state politicians are calling on him to resign, and Democratic congressional members including US Representatives Jerry Nadler, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Grace Meng and Antonio Delgado joined those calls on Friday. Mr Nadler said Mr Cuomo has lost the confidence of New Yorkers. The repeated accusations against the governor, and the manner in which he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point, Mr Nadler said. After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney Generalas investigation finding the Governoras admin hid nursing home data from the legislature & public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign. pic.twitter.com/jV5dwtuVPr Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 12, 2021 The delegation also pointed to sweeping criticism of Mr Cuomo for keeping secret how many nursing home residents died of Covid-19 for months. The governor has claimed his administration had to verify deaths of residents at hospitals, but critics question why that has not held up the release of data in other states. After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the attorney generals investigation finding the Governors admin hid nursing home data from the legislature and public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign, Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. Ms Cuomos office did not immediately respond to request for comment. The governor in recent days has been calling politicians and supporters asking them to refrain from calling for his resignation, and instead support the ongoing investigations. The state Assembly allowed an impeachment investigation into Mr Cuomo on Thursday as politicians investigate whether there are grounds for impeachment. Spokespeople for New Yorks Democratic US Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. A long march-7A Y2 carrier rocket blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, south China's Hainan Province, March 12, 2021. China launched its Long March-7A Y2 carrier rocket on Friday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's island province of Hainan. The rocket blasted off at 1:51 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the launch site, sending an experimental satellite into the planned orbit. The satellite will be mainly used for in-orbit tests of new technologies including space environment monitoring. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng) WENCHANG, Hainan, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China launched its Long March-7A Y2 carrier rocket on Friday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's island province of Hainan. The rocket blasted off at 1:51 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the launch site, sending an experimental satellite into the planned orbit. The satellite will be mainly used for in-orbit tests of new technologies including space environment monitoring. This was the 362nd flight mission of the Long March rocket series. A modified version of the Long March-7 rocket, the launch vehicle represents the new generation of China's medium-sized high-orbit rocket. It has three stages and a total length of 60.1 meters, seven meters longer than the Long March-7, giving it a slim and tall appearance. To reduce the risk of the slim rocket breaking off, scientists developed intelligent technologies to offer the rocket better control in the strong winds found at high altitudes, enabling it to find the optimal flight path after liftoff, said Shen Dan, chief designer of the Long March-7A development team from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. With a takeoff weight of 573 tonnes, the newly launched rocket has a greater carrying capacity than previous models. China's main carrier rockets in service have a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) capacity of 5.5 tonnes, while the Long March-7A is capable of sending a payload of at least 7 tonnes to GTO, about 36,000 km above the Earth's equator. The Long March-7A also uses environmentally friendly propellants made of liquid oxygen and kerosene. Its launch marks the upgrading of China's medium-sized launch vehicles, said Ma Zhonghui, deputy chief designer of the rocket. Along with Long March-3A and Long March-5 carrier rockets, the Long March-7A will undertake the country's high-orbit missions. The Long March-3A rocket can carry payloads of 5.5 tonnes to GTO, and the Long March-5 can send payloads of 14 tonnes to GTO. Meng Gang, chief director of the rocket project, said the Long March-7A is expected to carry out three to five missions annually before 2025. Meanwhile, scientists will further upgrade the launch vehicle to meet the demand for sending satellites and deep-space probes to explore the moon, Mars and asteroids. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing pressure to step down from his post in recent weeks due to allegations of sexual harassments surrounding him. Because of the women who have given their testimonies on Cuomo showing appropriate behavior towards them, impeachment has been in the equation in response to the allegations. New York Daily News reported that an impeachment investigation will now be held against the New York governor to determine if the sexual harassment allegations are true. It can be recalled that several New York officials had already called for his resignation. But Andrew Cuomo said "no way," arguing that the people of New York are the ones who put him on his post and not the politicians themselves. Over 55 Democratic state legislators on Thursday called on Cuomo to step down from his post. RELATED ARTICLE: Kamala Harris Remains Mum on Mounting Cuomo Sexual Harassment Allegations Andrew Cuomo's Impeachment Investigation Leading the "impeachment investigation" committee is Long Island Democratic Assemblyman Chuck Lavine. Spectrum Local News noted that the committee would push through with the investigation amid mounting calls for the immediate removal of Andrew Cuomo from office. In announcing the formed committee to investigate the potential impeachment of Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie noted that the reports of accusations concerning the New York governor are serious. He added that the committee had the authority to interview witnesses, subpoena documents, and evaluate evidence as allowed by the New York State Constitution. "I have the utmost faith that Assemblymember Lavine and the members of the committee will conduct an expeditious, full and thorough investigation," Heastie said. Daily Voice reported that Heastie authorized the Assembly Judiciary Committee to start with the investigation after the meeting with the Assembly Majority Conference. Heastie noted that the subpoena power would not interfere with the separate probe conducted by Attorney General Letitia James' office. James named former federal prosecutor Joon Kim, and employment lawyer, Anne Clark, to lead the investigation. Democratic Assemblyman John McDonald said since Andrew Cuomo expressed his plans not to resign, he believed that "it is in the best interest of our state if Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul serve as acting governor" until the AG's investigation or any other inquiries reach a conclusion. Andrew Cuomo's Groping Incident After several women surfaced and claimed to be sexually harassed by Andrew Cuomo, New York Post reported that the Albany Police Department had been informed about an allegation that the New York governor has groped a female staffer. However, police spokesman Steve Smith noted that there had been no formal complaint filed yet and no active criminal investigation. A person familiar with the incident told the Albany Times Union that Cuomo put his hands under the woman's blouse and groped her despite telling him to stop. The female staffer, who has not been identified, was reportedly younger than Cuomo. Reports said the 63-year-old New York governor summoned the woman to his official residence to fix his cellphone's problem. Meanwhile, the District Attorney's Office shared that the accusation against the New York governor will not roll unless the accuser or the alleged victim coordinates with the authorities. Cuomo has denied the allegation that could constitute a criminal offense. New York Daily News noted that the actual impeachment could not move forward without Heastie allowing it to come to a vote. Reports noted that the impeachment would require a majority of 76 lawmakers in the Assembly. A trial overseen by the state's Senate and Court of Appeals would then be conducted. Andrew Cuomo would then be required to temporarily turn over his power to Hochul, taking the acting governor's role. READ MORE: Sexual Harassment Is Also Problem In Mexican Police Forces WATCH: N.Y. Governor Andrew Cuomo Faces Growing Calls For His Resignation - From CNBC Television Jason Lee/Reuters China has been stealing data, including DNA files, to advance its economic, security, and foreign-policy goals, the US government says in a recent report. China's acquisition of healthcare data is ostensibly part of an effort to become the global leader in biotechnology and medicine. But that DNA data, which is like a biological ID, could allow China to target political opponents, foreign spies, and even its own citizens. See more stories on Insider's business page. In February, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) released an unclassified version of its report on Chinese intelligence efforts against US citizens. The report provides a scathing breakdown of how China has been stealing data, including DNA files, which are like a biological ID of your health data and medical background, to pursue its economic, security, and foreign-policy goals. On the face of it, China is using legally and illegally acquired healthcare data as part of an effort to become the global leader in biotechnology and medicine. But that data theft reflects a more sinister ambition. In addition to financial gains, China is using stolen data to target dissidents, foreign intelligence officers, and even its own citizens, including ones spying on their government. In data, China sees control; in control, it sees security. Who's Big Brother? A lab technician works with human DNA. REUTERS/Jim Young Beijing's focus on data and the creation of a security state where every movement, interaction, and transaction are monitored makes George Orwell's "Big Brother" look like a petty amateur. China's interest in stolen data isn't new, but it was only in the early 2010s that it ramped up its data-collection efforts. Around that time, the Chinese security services discovered just how deep US intelligence had penetrated China's security and military apparatuses. The Chinese government's interest in data exceeds traditional security norms. For example, in 2015, the US government revealed that Chinese hackers broke into the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and stole sensitive data - including security background forms, fingerprint records, and health and financial data - from millions of current and former US officials and applicants for federal jobs. Story continues Although the OPM hack was an attempt to map out the US national-security community in general, it primarily targeted the intelligence community to determine who works there. The purloined data compromised several former and current intelligence officers. Equally concerning is the fact that it might endanger future officers and operations and may make the future recruitment of assets inside and outside of China more difficult. Further, the OPM data offers Chinese intelligence services ample information with which to recruit US assets through blackmail or financial enticement. Indeed, through successive cyberattacks, China has taken hold of the personal data of much of the American population, regardless of their occupation. (Chinese firms also gather this data by investing in US companies and through partnerships with US researchers.) In addition to the OPB hack, in the last decade alone China has stolen about 500 million travel and personal records from the Marriott hotel chain, 145 million financial and personal records from Equifax, and 78 million financial, healthcare, and personal records from Anthem. While data itself used to be hard to come by, the advancement of bulk-data collection over the past 20 to 30 years has made processing, interpreting, and analyzing it in a timely fashion the bigger challenge. In the 1990s, access to so much data didn't necessarily translate into actionable intelligence, but investments in and rapid improvements to artificial intelligence are changing that. Different methods of categorizing and storing data won't necessarily solve the problem. "The most [technologically] advanced security can often be bypassed using an analog [and simple] method. We've seen a number of different strategies being tossed around in the public discourse, from mounting a stronger offense to focusing almost exclusively on buffering our critical infrastructure defenses," a former Air Force officer with a background in joint special operations and intelligence told Insider. A more aggressive cyberwarfare strategy might be the solution, and the Biden administration has indicated that it will be more active in the cyber realm. But according to Privacy Matters, a digital security and privacy publication, there are important considerations to make before opening the Pandora's box of cyberwarfare, where there are still no established norms, even among state actors. What about you? New biometric facial recognition scanners in Dulles airport in September 2018. Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Image According to the NCSC report, the ethnic diversity of US healthcare data, as well as that data's accessibility, makes it especially appealing to China. China's aggressive bulk-collection strategy, especially of DNA files, poses risks for private citizens. As the NCSC states, the loss of your DNA isn't like losing your phone or credit card. You can't replace your DNA, and its theft can affect you as well as your immediate family and relatives. Unfortunately, the theft of financial or travel data by Chinese or Russian hackers may not concern people who aren't immediately affected. But losing your DNA is a wholly different proposition, as it's literally your biological identity and can be used to track you or to design a biological weapon tailored to you. "Things can seem pretty helpless from an individual perspective, especially when we read headlines suggesting the NSA has had their own cyber hacking tools stolen and reused against them," the former officer said. "We can't very well defend our financial institutions or other companies from Chinese hackers, but we can know what to do when that inevitably occurs and our personal information is leaked online (along with millions' of others)," the officer said. "All of this is to say that maintaining an understanding of your online privacy and digital security is an individual responsibility - all else is supplemental." For a private citizen, caught in a cyber war between world powers, there are few responses to such theft. Understanding the threat and acting to safeguard the information you can beforehand is probably the best defense. Read the original article on Business Insider Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A man who was paddle-boarding Thursday afternoon on a Massachusetts river suffered life-threatening injuries after cutting his leg on something sharp, authorities said. First responders were sent to 10 Stanwood Point in Gloucester around 4:30 p.m. for a report of the injured paddle-boarder. The 59-year-old man had struck his leg on a sharp object after falling from the board. He cut his femoral artery in doing so, according to officials. Emergency crews applied a tourniquet to control his bleeding and were able to safely bring him to shore, the Gloucester fire and police departments said in a statement. A man who was paddle-boarding Thursday afternoon on a river in Gloucester, Massachusetts suffered life-threatening injuries after cutting his leg on something sharp, authorities said. (Gloucester Fire Department) The wounded man was then brought to the West Parish School in Gloucester to be flown by medical helicopter to a Burlington hospital to be treated for his serious injuries, according to the statement. No further information was released. 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. Other health officials have defended the appointment systems, and the developers behind the software said the complaints about their products were overblown. Tiffany Tate, PrepMods creator and the executive director of the Maryland Partnership for Prevention, said criticisms of her system largely stemmed from health providers lack of knowledge about how to use it, or from the constantly shifting needs of states. The pandemics evolving, and weve got to be able to keep up with it, she said. We just have to be a very flexible platform. Deloitte, whose software is used by nine states, said VAMS was originally intended for smaller groups at early stages of states vaccine rollouts, so the company was responding quickly to meet their changing needs and was updating the system to handle a greater load. Health experts say multiple factors complicated the software rollout. In some cases, developers condensed work that would normally take years into weeks, leading to glitches. In addition, the varied approaches to determining eligibility in the dozens of localities using the software have made it difficult to develop a one-size-fits-all approach. Some states use more than half a dozen appointment scheduling systems, from tools used by federal, state and local agencies to the software employed by private hospitals and pharmacies to rudimentary solutions like SignUpGenius. Some sites do not support appointment scheduling at all, but allow people to browse databases to find available vaccines or get on wait lists. Often, the systems cannot communicate with one another. Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua attends the opening session of the regimes rubber-stamp legislatures conference in Beijing on March 5, 2019. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images) Chinese Regime Denies Trademark Using Vice Premiers First Name The blacklist of trademarks using names of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials has been expanded again following a rejection of the Chunhua trademark, owing to its association with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua. A Notice of Trademark Rejection issued by China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has been circulating on the internet lately, catalyzed by CNIPAs decision to turn down the trademark request applied by a company named Chunhua on June 29, 2020. The official reason for the trademarks denial, as outlined by the Notice, was that the companys logo contained the word, Chunhua, and Hu Chunhua was an incumbent member of the Politiburo of the CCP Central Committee and a vice premier of the State Council. Accordingly, its use as a trademark was, likely to produce adverse social influence. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) denies a Chunhua trademark application because Chunhua is one Chinese vice premiers first name in Beijing, China on June 29, 2020. (Screenshot/Weibo) Chinas Trademark Law doesnt rule that the state leaders and senior officials names cannot be used as trademark. But a Chinese court announced the rules when it judged similar cases. Chinese state-run Legal Daily on March 11 quoted Xu Chuanhan, an assistant judge of the Asian Games Village Court of Chaoyang District Court in Beijing, that the prohibition against the commercial use of a name should satisfy two points: The specific name should have a certain degree of popularity, be known to the relevant public, and be used to refer to the natural person; or the specific name should have a corresponding relationship with the person. However, Chunhua is a very common name in China and no correlation has been established with Hu Chunhua. Such a strained interpretation of trademark law by government apparatchiks has become a hot topic in the public discourse. Some netizens have wryly commented that parents may have to be very careful when naming their children in the future. Overseas Chinese media have already mocked the treatment of the name as taboo, lamenting the apparent sacrosanct status of all names connected to the CCP leadership. In general, Chinese leaders names are censored by the regimes propaganda system, with no negative words allowed to be used in conjunction with the names. To express anger or dissatisfaction with such figures, Chinese people find alternative words and spread them among themselves, which then get banned by Chinese censors. For example, Cui () is a Chinese character consisting of CCP leader Xi Jinpings surname () and another Chinese character that could mean death or low-ranking soldier. Chinese netizens promoted QiCui, which means pray for Cui on social media in early 2020 to express their anger that Xi didnt do well to control the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, and allowed the virus to spread all around China. Cui then became a sensitive word in China, with any Cui combined with Xi-related characters being censored on Chinese social media platforms. For example, a blogger named Cui Dada was deleted, along with all his posts online, because Chinese people call Xi Dada as a nickname. Chinese people use blades () to replace habits (, Xis surname) on a street sign during 2021 Chinese Lunar New Year in China in February, 2021. (Screenshot/Weibo) The absurdity of this culture of doublespeak culminated during the 2021 Chinese New Year, when Chinese people changed eradicating bad habitshabits () being Xis surnameinto eradicating bad blades () on a street sign to avoid a possible punishment. (CNN) -- The global rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has encountered another hurdle as a handful of countries paused their use of the shot following reports it could be connected to blood clots, despite no clear evidence of a link. AstraZeneca has robustly defended its vaccine, saying Friday there was "no evidence of an increased risk" of blood clots, and European and UK medicines regulators have each said the link between the vaccine and blood clots has not been confirmed and that rollouts should continue. After a group of European countries -- including Denmark, Norway and Iceland -- suspended use of the vaccine on Thursday, Thailand's Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, canceled plans to publicly get the AstraZeneca shot on Friday and the country also delayed its rollout. "When there is an adverse event, we don't need to be in rush," said Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, a senior member of the country's vaccination committee. Bulgaria has become the latest country to suspend use of the vaccine on Friday pending investigations into safety. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov ordered a halt to all inoculation using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine until the European Medicines Agency "rejects all doubts" about the vaccine's safety, according to a government statement. The moves came in response to reports of blood clots in a few inoculated people in Denmark, including one fatality. Denmark was the first country to take the precautionary measure, announcing a 14-day break while authorities investigated further. Norway and Iceland soon followed. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said the country has also reported cases of blood clots shortly after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination in Norway but "mainly in the elderly where there is often another underlying disease as well." Other countries, including Austria and Italy, have suspended specific batches of the vaccine. But a number of nations -- including Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Mexico and Nigeria -- stood by the shot and reassured citizens of its safety. Health agencies tell countries to keep rolling out The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Thursday that it did not recommend suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, stating that there is "no indication" the vaccine caused the blood clots in the people who received the vaccine. The agency told countries they could keep rolling out the shot while investigations take place. "The vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing," the agency said. The UK's medicine regulator -- the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) -- also issued a statement Thursday reassuring the public that the vaccine is still safe and that "people should still go and get their COVID-19 vaccine." The episode nonetheless poses another headache for the pharmaceutical giant, whose vaccine has been beset by political disputes, delivery delays and other concerns. But the tone across most of Europe was one of calm, as other governments sought to put the reports into context. "Investigations are carried out systematically each time serious adverse effects are declared," France's health minister Olivier Veran said in his weekly briefing on Thursday. "But what are we talking about? About 30 people out of more than five million Europeans having received an injection." The UK's MHRA, where 11 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, said blood clots "can occur naturally and are not uncommon." Its vaccines safety lead Phil Bryan added that the reports of blood clots "are not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population." And Germany confirmed late on Thursday that it would stick to its rollout plans. "We are planning to continue vaccinating with AstraZeneca, just like an overall majority of other European countries," German health minister Jens Spahn said. 'No evidence' of clotting link AstraZeneca said Friday that its analysis not only shows "no evidence of an increased risk" of blood clots in vaccine recipients, but demonstrates a lower number than in the general population. "An analysis of our safety data of more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca," the company said in a statement. "In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than would be expected among the general population," it added. Denmark's health leaders had stressed their decision to announce a two-week pause on its use of the vaccine was a precautionary one, reminding people there is "good evidence that the vaccine is both safe and effective" but saying they would "act early" to investigate the reports of clotting. Spain delayed giving the jab to those aged between 55 and 65 until a review is conducted, but Dutch health minister Hugo de Jonge said Thursday there is "no cause for concern," and no reason to stop using the AstraZeneca vaccine. Earlier this week, a number of EU nations paused the use of doses that came from a particular batch of AstraZeneca vaccine, after a 49-year-old woman in Austria died of multiple thrombosis on Sunday. The EMA said Wednesday there was "no indication" that vaccination had been behind the cases of clotting or death. And on Thursday, Italian medicines agency AIFA also banned use of another batch of AstraZeneca vaccines. The agency said it was responding to "some serious adverse events" taking place around the time of vaccinations from one specific batch. It did not say what the events were and said no causal link between the events and the vaccine had been established. Nigeria, which has started receiving millions of vaccine doses through the COVAX program, defended the vaccine Thursday, saying it is satisfied with the clinical evidence indicating the shot is "safe and effective" and urging its citizens to continue to participate in the rollout. Real-world data has also shown that the vaccine is having a significant impact in reducing COVID-19 hospitalizations. A single dose of the vaccine reduces the risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 by more than 80% in people aged over 80, data from Public Health England showed earlier this month. The vaccine is given in two doses, though countries differ in how far apart they are spreading those shots. Concerns about the vaccine's safety nonetheless come at an awkward time for AstraZeneca, with disputes over its supplies to the EU still unresolved. After announcing it would pause the vaccine, Denmark's health authority said Thursday the country would now receive approximately 900,000 fewer doses of the shot. "The fact that AstraZeneca is once again downgrading the number of doses delivered to the EU and thus Denmark is, of course, both unsatisfactory and a serious challenge," Ole Jensen, deputy director at the Statens Serum Institut, said. Polish officials also announced on Friday that AstraZeneca will reduce the number of coronavirus vaccine doses delivered there. This story was first published on CNN.com, "AstraZeneca says 'no evidence' of blood clot risk from vaccine as countries suspend its use" Laois people are managing to keep the number of new Covid-19 cases low again, in latest figures released this Friday, March 12. However neighbouring county Offaly has seen a dramatic rise in new cases. In Laois there are less than five cases reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). The daily statement also shows that the incidence rate in Laois has fallen to 118.1 per 100,000 population in the two weeks to March 11 on the back of 100 positive cases. The average number of new cases a day over five days has also fallen again, to four a day. Laois is coping better than the national average incidence rate of 159.3. The national incidence has risen marginally in recent days due to an upturn in positive results. Laois remains in the middle rank at 13th out of the 26 counties for the number of new cases. However Offaly has 34 new cases reported today, rising from 21 yesterday, placing it as the second highest for new cases in Ireland, with an incidence rate of 370.7, and 289 new cases in the past 14 days. Nationally, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has today been notified of 10 additional deaths related to COVID-19. 4 deaths occurred in March, 1 in February, 1 in January and 4 are under investigation. The median age of those who died was 67 years and the age range was 41 - 83 years. There has been a total of 4,509 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. One death was denotified. NPHET also reported that as of midnight Thursday 11th March, the HPSC has been notified of 646 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 225,820 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Five cases were denotified. Of the cases notified today: 311 are men / 332 are women 74% are under 45 years of age The median age is 30 years old There are 243 in Dublin, 80 in Kildare, 45 in Meath, 35 in Galway, 34 in Offaly and the remaining 209 cases are spread across 20 other counties. As of 8am today, 344 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 87 are in ICU. 16 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. In vaccination update, as of March 9th, 553,161 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland: 396,089 people have received their first dose 157,072 people have received their second dose 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. NSU swim coach Monanian moving on after four seasons Monanian moves on to Purdue after accepting an assistant position at their program. Ever since Om Raut announced his mega budget film Adipurush, the media and the industry has been waiting with bated breath to know who plays the female lead. While we were the first one to tell you that Kriti Sanon has been in talks with the team, today the makers finally made it official. Director Om Raut took to his Twitter and shared a lovely picture with his Adipurush team. In the clip we see him posing with Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Sunny Singh. He captioned this picture saying, Welcoming @kritisanon and @mesunnysingh to the #Adipurush family. Now while Kriti Sanon plays Sita in this adaptation of Adipurush, it looks like Sunny Singh will play the role of the loyal brother Lakshman. Kriti Sanon whos thoroughly ecstatic with the news, tweeted saying, This one is too special.. Proud, honoured and beyond Excited to be a part of this magical world.. She further even tweeted the pictures from her own account and said, A new journey begins.. One of my most special ones.. overwhelmed to be a part of #Adipurush. Looks like the actress is truly overwhelmed to be a part of this one. And why not, after all Adipurush has been the talk of the town project ever since its inception, moreover with Prabhas doing his first pan-India film and marking his debut in Bollywood, this one is surely most anticipated films in the coming year. Kriti Sanon has a bunch of big releases in her kitty. Right from Tiger Shroffs Ganpath, a horror-comedy Bhediya with Varun Dhawan, playing Akshay Kumars leading heroine again with Bachchan Pandey, a film with Rajkummar Rao where the couple seeks for parent-adoption and now finally Adipurush. Whoa girl, this just cant get bigger! The sister of one of loyalist killer Michael Stone's victims has widened her legal bid to have him sent back to prison, the High Court heard today. Deborah McGuinness is seeking to judicially review the Northern Ireland Parole Commissioners' decision to release the notorious Milltown Cemetery bomber. With reasons for their determination now disclosed to her lawyers, she has increased her original five grounds of challenge to more than 20. The legal action was listed for hearing next month due to the urgency of the case. Mr Justice Colton pointed out: "At the heart of the proceedings is someone's liberty. I am conscious that that is very much at play." Stone, 65, had been imprisoned for waging a sectarian murder campaign expected to keep him behind bars until 2024. But in January the ex-UDA man was freed on parole from HMP Maghaberry. Expand Close Challenge: Deborah McGuinness, whose brother Thomas McErlean was killed by Michael Stone Presseye/Stephen Hamilton / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Challenge: Deborah McGuinness, whose brother Thomas McErlean was killed by Michael Stone Ms McGuinness' brother, Thomas McErlean, was among three mourners he murdered in a grenade attack on an IRA funeral at Milltown graveyard, west Belfast in March 1988. Her lawyers claim a failure to provide information about parole hearings and to allow bereaved relatives to take part in those proceedings. As part of the case Northern Ireland's Parole Commissioners were ordered to disclose reasons for the decision to release Stone. A heavily redacted summary was then provided to Ms McGuinness's legal team. In court today the judge revealed that further papers lodged this week "substantially" add to the points on which they allege the decision was unlawful. "The grounds in fact were increased from five to 23," Mr Justice Colton explained. "The added grounds have been triggered as a result of the disclosure of the redacted version of the Parole Commissioners' decision. "Prior to the release of that decision the applicant didn't have any reasons at all for the decision which she seeks to challenge." Stone, who was also the gunman in three other killings, had previously been freed on licence in 2000. Six years later he was returned to jail after launching an infamous attempt to murder Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Stormont. He entered Parliament Buildings in 2006 armed with explosives, knives and an axe. Stone denied it had been an attempt to murder the politicians, instead claiming it was an act of performance art. In 2013 he was told that he must serve the rest of the 30-year tariff on his life sentence. A series of legal cases have centred on the eligibility of the Parole Commissioners to assess his suitability for release. In November last year the Court of Appeal overturned a decision that he must remain behind bars until 2024. Judges held that the six years he spent out on licence should count towards the 30-year tariff, leading to the decision to grant him parole. As most of Texas struggled with days-long power outages, water access issues and other problems from the winter storm that blasted the region from Feb. 14-19, much of The Woodlands Township experienced few problems compared other areas. While there were some significant power outages in the township, most notably in the Village of Creeskide Park which receives electricity from CenterPoint Energy, many residents who get their electricity from Entergy Texas never had power service interrupted while others saw periods ranging from only a few hours to as many as 90 hours with no power. On HoustonChronicle.com: A tale of two freezes: How the Texas power grid stayed on in the 1989 cold snap Even though things were muted in The Woodlands compared to a few miles south in Houston, according to some township leaders like Director John Anthony Brown, the power outages, albeit minimal compared to elsewhere, were unacceptable. During a Feb. 18 meeting, he vowed to get answers from officials at both Entergy Texas and CenterPoint Energy. Officials from both companies are expected to make presentations at a board meeting in the coming months. We are all sorry to all our residents and all who were affected. Usually, I give a pass to our energy companies because things may cause power outages for a few hours. But, 15 hours or more with no power in these conditionswhat happened this week was unacceptable and quite frankly inexcusable, Brown said on Feb. 18. As Texans, we should be better than this. I am embarrassed we were in this predicament. (The storm) technically (was) not even what I call a winter storm. This was not a blizzard. Take a look at what happens up norththis was a dusting. I am really asking all our elected officials to be vigilant and make sure this does not happen again, and hold everyone responsible. This wasnt something that just happened overnight. On HoustonChronicle.com: The Woodlands cleans up after massive winter storm There were no water access issues for the most part in the community due to most of The Woodlands receiving surface drinking water which does not require as much electrical power to operate pumps. Those water facilities also have back-up natural gas-powered generators that assisted during the storm. There were instances of lack of water in some apartment complexes and homes due to frozen and burst pipes. Different power grid One reason for the difference in experiences for township residents was the simple fact Entergy Texas is not a part of the Electric Reliabilty Council of Texas, or ERCOT, the massive power grid that serves more than 90 percent of Texas residents. Entergy Texas is part of a different grid, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator also known as MISO which is in the Eastern Grid of the nation. Entergy joined the MISO grid in the past 10 years, said Allie Payne, a communications specialist with Entergy Texas. In the early 2010s, we determined that joining MISO would allow us to better serve our customers by being a part of a larger pool of capacity and energy. MISO comprises a pool of electricity generators and users that stretches from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and as reliability coordinator is responsible for planning and monitoring the portion of the electric grid it oversees and providing instructions to its members regarding actions needed to maintain reliability in that portion of the grid, Payne explained. MISO membership benefits our customers in a variety of ways. First, participation in the vast MISO pool offers enhanced reliability to each member, as compared to what it could achieve operating on its own. MISO also administers and operates an organized power market that allows us to buy and sell wholesale energy more efficiently and reliably. On HoustonChronicle.com: Days ahead of Texas deadly blackouts, the warning signs were there Payne also said weatherization of Entergy power infrastructure was a result of MISO playing, a key role in planning the transmission grid to ensure that investments are made in transmission projects that benefit our customers by improving reliability or lowering the costs to provide electric service. Billing issues a focus Payne said while millions of other residents on the ERCOT grid with varying electricity providers face uncertainty in regard to their energy bills. There have been news reports from across the state of customers receiving electricity bills ranging from more than several hundred dollars about normal to thousands of dollars in charges. Most Entergy customers in The Woodlands will not face similar issues, she noted. Our customers are rightly wondering how all this might impact their bill. Entergy Texas only charges residential customers a fixed rate for the energy they use. That rate does not fluctuate based on usage, she explained. The only way we can change our rates is by filing a request that the Public Utility Commission of Texas must review and approve. Some of these reports customers may be hearing are about variable rates, which fluctuate. Entergy does not have those types of rates. While there will not be huge price spikes, it is important for customers to recognize that these extremely cold temperatures have driven increased consumption of electricity, which can result in a higher bill. Despite luck, issues remain Township board chairman Gordy Bunch said while The Woodlands was less impacted by the winter storm that most of the state, there were still significant problems and issues for residents. I was on the calls and monitoring the maps, and we have about 25,000 to 30,000 people on CenterPoint. Just because you live in The Woodlands doesnt mean you were not affected. You have two different grids, just like we are in two different counties. All of Sterling Ridge south of The Woodlands Parkway is ERCOT. All of Creekside Park is on ERCOT, Bunch said. I got messages from people who were out of power for 90 hours. I think where we fared better than other areas was water. Our water plants all have back up generators on natural gas and they never failed, he said. We had more than 50 percent of our power out simultaneously. There were very few pockets in The Woodlands that did not lose power at all. Bunch said he was in constant contact with Sallie Ranier, the president and CEO of Entergy, during the winter storm. He said when Entergy did do rolling blackouts, they prioritized emergency facilities such as hospitals. Bunch said he was affected to a degree in his own home, but others in his neighborhood had worse problems. Neighbors on either side of my house had pipes breaks because they did not have (back-up) generators. We are just as upset as everyone, he added. Much of this is just a power generation issue. Entergy generates their own power, CenterPoint does not. Entergy was in a better position to serve its own needs rather than rely on the energy market. Payne said the company worked hard to prevent outages and respond to them when power was lost for customers. There are a variety of potential reasons why an individual Entergy Texas customer may or may not have experienced an outage during the event. During the winter weather event, we did our absolute best to rotate the outages across different segments of the system in order to minimize the amount of time any individual customer out. In some cases, we were able to do this. In some areas, the amount of generation available on the system was only sufficient to maintain the designated critical feeders, which serve hospitals, water treatment facilities, and similar critical services; and there was no way to roll the outage. It is possible a customer who is served by the same feeder as a critical facility would have been spared an outage due to our efforts to maintain service to such facilities, Payne added. While this was happening, our number one focus was getting power to those that had been out the longest. There were also, of course, sporadic outages caused by direct damage to the distribution grid, whether from downed vegetation, ice, or damaged equipment. It is not known when officials from the two companies will appear at a township board meeting, but directors have made it a priority in light of the issues from the winter storm. jeff.forward@chron.com Confidence in the global roll-out of the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine has been rocked after health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday suspended the use of shots following reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated with doses traced to a batch of one million vaccines distributed to 17 European Union countries. Austria earlier stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Still, the European medicine regulator EMA said the vaccine's benefits outweighed its risks and could continue to be administered. Europe is struggling to speed up a vaccine rollout after delivery delays from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, even as a spike in cases amid a more contagious virus variant has triggered fresh lockdowns in countries like Italy and France. Denmark halts AstraZeneca over "possible serious side effects" Denmark suspended the shots for two weeks after a 60-year-old woman, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died, Danish health authorities said. Their response was also prompted by reports "of possible serious side effects" from other European countries. "It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter. "This is a cautionary decision," Geir Bukholm, director of infection prevention and control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), told a news conference. FHI did not say how long the suspension would last. "We ... await information to see if there is a link between the vaccination and this case with a blood clot," Bukholm said. Iceland on Thursday suspended jabs with the vaccine as it awaited the results of an investigation by the EMA. Italy, also on Thursday, said it would suspend use of an AstraZeneca batch different to the one used in Austria. Health experts back AstraZeneca vaccine Some health experts said there was little evidence to suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered and that the cases of blood clots corresponded with the rate of such cases in the general population. "The problem with spontaneous reports of suspected adverse reactions to a vaccine are the enormous difficulty of distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence," Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told Reuters. Evans added that the covid-19 disease was very strongly associated with blood clotting. Phil Bryan, head of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said reports of blood clots so far didn't exceed what would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population. "Available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause," he said. More than 11 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine have so far been administered across the UK. AstraZeneca told Reuters in a written statement the safety of its vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials and peer-reviewed data confirmed it was generally well tolerated. The drugmaker said this week there had been "no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine". It said it was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support their investigation. The European Union's drug regulator, the EMA, said on Wednesday there was no evidence so far linking AstraZeneca to the two cases in Austria. It said the number of thromboembolic events - marked by the formation of blood clots - in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine was no higher than that seen in the general population, with 22 cases reported among the 3 million people who have received the shot as of March 9. EMA said it understood the decision by Denmark and Norway was taken as a precaution. Four other countries - Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia - have stopped inoculations from the batch while investigations continue, the EMA said. World reaction to AstraZeneca vaccine scare Thailand announced on Friday that it would delay its AstraZeneca vaccine program after developments in Europe. The administration of vaccines among Thais has to be safe. We are not in a position where we need to rush things, Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, the head of the governments vaccination committee, said in a press conference. Bulgaria has also halted inoculations with the AstraZeneca vaccine until the EMA sends a written statement dispelling all doubts about the vaccine's safety, the government said in a statement. Romania on Thursday also temporarily halted the roll-out of 4,000 doses from the batch withdrawn by Italy. French vaccination chief Alain Fischer said on Friday the AstraZeneca vaccine had shown great efficacy, reaffirming France's commitment to an inoculation which has been suspended in several other countries. Speaking on Radio Classique, he also welcomed the approval by European Union health authorities of the COVID vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, saying it would not be available in France before next month. French Health Minister Olivier Veran said the French drug safety agency, in line with its European Union counterpart, had advised that there was no reason to suspend injections with the AstraZeneca vaccine. "The benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine are considered higher than the risks at this point," Veran said at the government's weekly coronavirus briefing. He said investigations were continuing in France and abroad and added that Britain - which has vaccinated millions with the AstraZeneca shot - advised continuing with it and had not noted large-scale excess risk related to the vaccine. Mexico's deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Thursday that Mexico will continue applying doses of AstraZeneca vaccine while Canada said there is no indication that the vaccine causes adverse effects such as blood clotting. "At this time, there is no indication that the vaccine caused these events," Canada's health department said in a statement. The statement added that none of the batches of the vaccine that were the focus of investigation in Europe had been delivered to Canada. Philippine health authorities said on Friday they saw no reason to halt using the AstraZeneca vaccine. "At present, the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration emphasize that there is no indication for the Philippines to stop rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines," the health ministry and the country's food and drug administration said in a joint statement, adding that benefits outweigh the risks. The Philippines has so far received 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca's covid-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility. Everyone eligible and looking for a COVID-19 vaccination in Pennsylvania should have an appointment to get one by March 28, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday. Every single one, Wolf said during a virtual news conference also attended by House and Senate legislators on a joint COVID-19 response task force. Our 1A population contains some of the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, and it is critical that they get vaccinated as quickly as possible. Wolfs administration issued an order Friday to ensure residents in the top priority Phase 1A group get the appointment. Phase 1A includes frontline health care workers, nursing home and assisted-living center residents and staff, senior citizens and people 16 and older with risky medical conditions. Wolf said the state will help vaccine providers meet the deadline by letting them know more about their future vaccine allocations. State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., a task force member, said she expects 80% of the Phase 1A population, about 4.5 million people, will be on track to full vaccination by mid-April. The governor said the state would also dedicate a significant portion of each weeks vaccine allotment to vaccinating law enforcement, firefighters, grocery workers (and) meat processing and agricultural workers. Kosierowski said that will begin in April. Its really going to be a wide range of ways that we approach this, said state Rep. Tim ONeal, R-48, Washington County, another task force member. It might be a specific way for the police officers and yet its a different situation for fruit processing workers or grocery store workers. In some instances, theres no doubt we will be taking the vaccine to them. ONeal said he expects Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard to aid the vaccination plans in this phase. The goal is to vaccinate the group before May 1 when President Joe Biden wants all states to open vaccinations to everyone who wants one, Wolf said. The governor also said the state will work with counties to establish regional vaccination clinics using part of the weekly allocation of Johnson & Johnson vaccines after vaccinating all willing teachers, school staff and child care workers. The governor said the state will work with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania to determine the size and nature of the regional clinics. A state news release said counties will be encouraged to work to develop proposals for mass vaccination or community vaccination clinics, mobile clinics or other strategies. Wolf expects regional clinics wont be close enough for some people. In some cases, well have mobile sites that can go to places, he said. These mass vaccination sites will be with the intention of getting people who have some amount of mobility and they can get to these sites. And we will look for ways to allow people to go to their local pharmacy. If we need to find other ways to make it even more convenient, we will do that. Daily cases, deaths The daily Department of Health report released Friday showed another 3,074 new cases and 40 new deaths statewide for a total of 961,456 cases and 24,530 deaths. The region saw another 197 cases and one death, in Monroe County. In all, the region has had 59,044 cases and 1,662 deaths. By county: Lackawanna added 42 cases for 14,457 total, including 2,223 probable, and remained at 427 deaths. Luzerne added 69 cases for 25,530 total, including 1,873 probable, and remained at 746 deaths. Monroe added 55 cases for 10,209 total, including 277 probable. One new death raised the county total to 278. Pike added 16 cases for 2,722 total, including 244 probable, and remained at 48 deaths. Susquehanna added one case for 1,761 total, including 202 probable, and remained at 53 deaths. Wayne added eight cases for 3,162 total, including 278 probable, and remained at 68 deaths. Wyoming added six cases for 1,203 total, including 197 probable, and remained at 42 deaths. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque-based Dreamstyle Remodeling has entered its second California market, with an expansion to the Inland Empire region of Southern California. The company announced that it has leased a 15,700-square-foot building in Ontario, California, for the operation, and has key leadership in place coming from management roles at Home Depot, Sears Home Services and Leaf Filter. Dreamstyle anticipates hiring 75 employees in the new market and an additional 15 people in New Mexico to serve as support staff for branch operations, according to a news release from the company. Dreamstyle will be offering shower systems and replacement windows and doors in the market. The company expects revenues of $8.5 million in the market in 2021, and hopes to grow to $40 million in annual revenues within five years, the release said. Founded and headquartered in Albuquerque, Dreamstyle Remodeling currently employs more than 500 people in New Mexico, California, Idaho, Colorado, Texas and Arizona. The expansion is located nearby to Dreamstyles existing operations in San Diego, but will operate independently as its own branch with staff and operations, according to the release. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ 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 Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. ESB is not planning to follow other electricity suppliers with tariff rises after Flogas said on Friday that it would hike prices for residential customers. The pledge from the semi-State utility came as it announced a sharp fall in profits last year, in large part due to a writedown in the value of a UK power plant that it owns. Price increases have already been announced by Energia, SSE Airtricity, Panda Power, Pinergy and Glowpower as well as Flogas, which said that its standard electricity rate would rise by 8.5pc from April 12. We dont have any plans at this time, there is nothing coming up on the immediate horizon there, we dont have any plans to increase price at the moment, ESBs chief financial officer Pat Fenlon told the Irish Independent after the companys earnings announcement. ESB, whose retail arm is Electric Ireland, said electricity demand remained resilient last year, with a fall in consumption of less than one percent in 2020 versus 2019 in Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland electricity usage among small and medium businesses (SMEs) was down by about 14pc in 2020, Mr Fenlon said. Residential demand increased by 8pc here, while demand from large electricity users, including data centres, rose by around a quarter. The larger users account for a smaller overall volume than SMEs, he said. Overall, Covid-19 had around a 15m negative impact on ESBs operating profit, mainly due to an increased provision for bad debts. ESB reported an operating profit before exceptional items of 616m for 2020, a fall of 66m on the prior year. Profit after exceptional items, interest and tax of 126m was down from 338m in 2019. The company incurred exceptional charges of 247m last year, including a non-cash impairment charge of 188m made against its Carrington gas-fired power plant in Manchester. In addition, it took an exceptional charge of 59m relating to an increase in its asset retirement obligation associated with the future cost of the disposal of wooden electricity poles retired from the network. Revenue and other operating income at the company increased by 32m to 3.75bn, mainly due to growth in its electricity business in the UK. The company spent 1.1bn on capital expenditure in 2020. This will expenditure will grow as the company moves forward, Mr Fenlon said. The ESB currently has about 1,000 megawatts of renewables, and is aiming to grow that to around 3,000 megawatts by the end of the decade. We dont publish forward numbers, but it will give you a guideline, thats an extra 2,000 megawatts, Mr Fenlon said. He added that an offshore megawatt can cost, on average, up to 3m-4m to per megawatt to produce, while onshore could be closer to 2m. The semi-State company is recommending a dividend of 81m for 2020, this brings it to 1.2bn paid to the Irish Exchequer in the last 10 years. ESB owns distribution and transmission networks in the Republic and the North. Hang tight, because its going to get windy in the hours ahead. A cold front is expected to cross southern New England late Friday into early Saturday, bringing 45- to 55-mile-per-hour wind gusts to Massachusetts and chillier conditions, according to the National Weather Service. Later this weekend, the state is expected to be hit with much cooler air than it has been experiencing for the past several days, with an unseasonably cold airmass set to sweep through the commonwealth Sunday, the weather service said. Isolated gusts of 60 mph are forecast in the Hilltowns of the Pioneer Valley and the Worcester Hills area, according to the federal agency. Gusts of 35 to 40 mph are expected in the Berkshires, while much of the rest of the state should be hit with gusts of 45 to 50 mph. The weather service issued a wind advisory for all of southern New England that will will last from Friday night through Saturday morning. The highest risk will be along and just east of the Berkshires and Worcester Hills, given the high elevation and momentum there, forecasters noted. Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result, the weather service warned. Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high-profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects. [5 AM Update] Strong winds are expected late Friday night and early Saturday morning. Winds will gust up to 45 to 55 mph, with isolated 60 mph gusts possible. Gusty winds diminish Saturday afternoon but return on Sunday #MAwx #RIwx #CTwx pic.twitter.com/qcCh19P15C NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) March 12, 2021 Differing from the mild, 60- to 70-degree weather felt this week, low temperatures Saturday will plummet into the 20s and 30s by daybreak. The strong winds are expected to cause wind chill values to dip into the single digits in higher-terrain areas and the teens elsewhere, according to forecasters. Quite a change from our recent springlike weather, the weather service pointed out. The winds Saturday wont be as strong as Friday nights gust. However, conditions will remain quite blustery, marking a return to seasonable mid-March weather, officials said. High temperatures in the afternoon will only reach the 40s. Another cold front will move through Massachusetts on Sunday, bringing an unseasonably cold airmass into the state that should linger through Monday. A big drop in temperatures is expected by Monday morning, with lows dipping into the teens and highs reaching near-freezing digits, according to the weather service. Together with the gusty winds, it will lead to wind chills in the single digits, near zero in the higher elevations Monday morning, the weather service said. Fortunately, even though the temperatures will be quite cold, high pressure overhead will bring plenty of sun on Monday. The forecast is subject to change more than 72 hours out. Linda Robson has recalled the horrifying moment she was groped by a man while on holiday with her family. The Birds of a Feather star, 62, had joined her fellow Loose Women panelists on Friday's show in which they were discussing the disappearance of Sarah Everard and the resulting social media calls for women to feel safer on the streets. As as the women shared their experiences, Linda opened up on being touched on the breast by a supposed fan who wanted a picture, stating that it left her feeling 'violated'. Shocking experience: Linda Robson has recalled the horrifying moment she was groped by a man while on holiday with her family Kicking off the chat, anchor Nadia Sawalha, 56, told how it has been a 'sad week' in the wake Sarah's disappearance, before noting that Linda herself has suffered many incidents with men over the years. Speaking about the incident, Linda said: 'A lot of them, worryingly, Id forgotten about.' She then continued: 'I remember being on holiday in Cyprus a few years ago with my family and the kids were all there. We walked outside of a bar and a young man said to me, Would you mind if we took a photograph? Sad: The Birds of a Feather star, 62, had joined her fellow Loose Women panelists on Friday's show in which they were discussing the disappearance of Sarah Everard and the resulting social media calls for women to feel safer on the streets I said yeah so he gave the phone to one of my family and he put his arm around me, and he put his hand straight onto my breast. It was like I couldnt believe it, I just burst into tears. I was crying. I felt violated. How dare he do that?' Revealing her perpetrator's reaction, she said: 'He was laughing his head off, he thought it was really funny. My family got really upset by it and he ran off and they were chasing him up the road and everything. Linda's co-star Stacey Solomon, 31, revealed that she'd 'never been so taken aback' as he fellow panellists shared their experiences, after stating that she was one of the 3% who'd never experienced any form of harassment in their life. Horrid: As as the women shared their experiences, Linda opened up on being touched on the breast by a supposed fan who wanted a picture, stating that it left her feeling 'violated' Horrifying: 'He gave the phone to one of my family and he put his arm around me, and he put his hand straight onto my breast' She explained: 'I don't know if I'm being naive or sheltered or what it is but I thank god I am one of the 3% who just haven't experienced what all you have been talking about. 'It just really upsets me - I mean, I don't want to make it about me, but I couldn't get over the way that women are treated.' The former X Factor star added: 'I've been so blessed with the men in my life that I can't even comprehend what kind of person would do that somebody.' While Nadia told how there'd been backlash on social media about men being attacked in the debate, Stacey added: 'We collectively as a society are clearly not doing enough about the gap between men and women. 'How dare he?' It was like I couldnt believe it, I just burst into tears. I was crying. I felt violated. How dare he do that?' 'I know the intention is good, but sometimes when you say, "You need to raise your men better", it's almost like you bring that whole blame back round to the woman where, actually, everybody - every man, woman and child in society needs to look at the way to change the situation.' After commenting that her own husband Mark was taught to cross the street when approaching a woman on her own after being raised in a feminist household, Nadia then gave a message to any men watching the show who has done the same. She said: 'To all men that have ever crossed the street when I've been walking along and we've had that 'moment' where I know you know and you cross the street, you are heroes. Because it's not about blaming you - it's about understanding that for us, it can be a very scary world.' Stunned: ''It just really upsets me - I mean, I don't want to make it about me, but I couldn't get over the way that women are treated' Stacey added that after feeling 'so ignorant' about the matter, she will in future educate her own sons on how to act around vulnerable women. It comes after 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah 'vanished into thin air' after leaving a friend's house in Clapham, south London at around 9pm on Wednesday, March 3. Wayne Couzens, a diplomatic protection officer based at the Palace of Westminster, was arrested on Tuesday night over the disappearance. After Loose Women had aired on Friday, it was later confirmed that a body found in Kent woodland this week was in fact Sarah Everard. Message: After commenting that her own husband Mark was taught to cross the street when approaching a woman on her own after being raised in a feminist household, Nadia then gave a message to any men watching the show who has done the same Officers are looking for evidence underground as it emerged Wayne served in the territorial army in Kent in the 2000s before joining the police guarding the nuclear power plant at Dungeness and embassies in London until his arrest. In the wake of Sarah's disappearance, women took to social media by the thousands to stress that the vulnerability felt when walking alone in the dark resonates with almost all women. Nicola Sturgeon, arguably the most powerful woman in the country, said 'there will be few - if any - women who don't completely understand and identify with this'. Real talk: To all men that have ever crossed the street when I've been walking along and we've had that 'moment' where I know you know and you cross the street, you are heroes' Labour MP Diane Abbott wrote: 'Even after all these years if I am out late at night on an isolated street & I hear a man's footsteps behind me I automatically cross the road. 'It is the habit of a lifetime to try & keep safe. But it should not have to be like this #SarahEverard.' Actress Katy Brand also said: 'Important to clarify I think that although instances of kidnap and murder from a stranger are indeed rare, being aggressively followed in the street by a man is not rare at all. 'I think it would be good to separate the two things. Lots of us have been scared many times.' Meanwhile, Priti Patel has said that 'every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets' as dozens shared their harrowing personal stories with #saraheverard and #TooManyMen Reclaim These Streets marches, designed to show that women should feel safe no matter the time of day, are now being organised. New Delhi: There is a huge difference between protest movements of the yesteryears like Dandi March and the farmers protest that has been taking place in Delhi now. Earlier, the people struggled for freedom against British rule and yet made sure no citizens were disturbed or bothered due to the agitation. While the protests in recent times have troubled the tax-paying citizens the most and have had enormous repercussions on the economy as well. Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Friday delved deep to analyse how the protest movements in India have taken a different shape and form. As per research by the Cyber Security company Cyble and Anti-Virus company Quick Heal revealed that a phone can be taken hostage in the name of farmers' movement. It also warned that preparations are underway to kidnap your data, your privacy, all your information. Hackers who do this are taking cover under the farmer movement this time. That is, preparations are being made to execute digital kidnapping in the garb of farmers' movement. Quick Heal Security Labs has detected a ransomware virus named Sarbloh. According to the report of Quick heal, this virus may be associated with the peasant movement. 'Sarbloh' is a Punjabi word which is used for large iron utensils such as the pan. This virus can be sent via a link on e-mail like online shopping discount or any document or video. It is a dangerous ransomware that will enter your phone or laptop as soon as you click on the link that is received on the email. After which this ransomware will lock all the files in your phone or laptop, such as audio, video, documents, ENCRYPT and all files will be captured by hackers. Usually, after locking files hackers demand money and return the file as soon as they get the money. But in this case the demand of these hackers is different. According to the researchers, a message comes after the files are locked which reads that the files are locked and will it will be retrievable till the demands of the farmers are accepted. Your files will be rendered useless. The name of the sender at the end of the message is written - Khalsa Cyber Fauj. There are many reasons to believe that ransomware has a connection with the farmer movement. The research company says that Khalsa Cyber Fauj has not been named in any cyber attack before and this is the first time that a cyber attack is being used to threaten the government to withdraw laws. Information about this virus and Khalsa Cyber Fauj has been shared through Social Media Teams associated with the farmers' movement. If you have got such a link, which you suspect in this ransomware then a complain can be made with the Cyber Cell or call National helpline 155260. This Helpline works from 9 am to 6 pm. Judas and the Black Messiah (12) Verdict: Stylish and compelling Rating: Locked Down (15) Verdict: Deserves a health warning Rating: The inclusion of Daniel Kaluuya in this week's Bafta nominations will come as no surprise to anyone who sees his electrifying performance in Judas And The Black Messiah. What does seem slightly odd is the category: Best Supporting Actor. It's a bit like calling Mick Jagger or Cristiano Ronaldo a support act. Kaluuya plays Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who was murdered by the Chicago police in 1969. It's a true story, so I don't think that counts as a spoiler. Besides, the film's title itself rather gives away the ending. It starts with Bill O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) recalling, in a 1989 television interview, events of two decades earlier. O'Neal was a car thief who, with a fake FBI badge and a lot of brass neck, would confiscate people's car keys and scarper. The inclusion of Daniel Kaluuya in this week's Bafta nominations will come as no surprise to anyone who sees his electrifying performance in Judas And The Black Messia Eventually, he was caught and offered a deal. In the words of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen, with enough prosthetics to stop us picturing The West Wing's angelically liberal President Jed Bartlet), the principal danger to the United States, 'more than the Chinese, even more than the Russians', was the rise of a 'black Messiah'. Hampton, with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X both assassinated, seemed to him the most likely candidate. Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor bore each other in lockdown. Here, she plays an expatriate American, Linda, married to a Brit called Paxton (Ejiofor). So to swerve a five-year sentence for impersonating a federal agent, O'Neal was told to infiltrate the Black Panthers and get close to Hampton in particular. DECENT BUT DATED, JUST LIKE DENZEL A veteran, seen-it-all, out-of-town cop, haunted by memories of a long-ago unsolved case that effectively wrecked his career, teams up with a shiny young college-boy cop when a serial killer re-emerges in Los Angeles only for the younger guy to get an emotional clobbering, too. If that sounds like a dated premise, it's because it is; writer-director John Lee Hancock had the original idea in 1993. Prime suspect: Jared Leto may be a killer The Little Things (three stars) seems like a throwback on screen, as well as on paper. But with Denzel Washington and Rami Malek as the two crimebusters, and Jared Leto as their seedy chief suspect, the retro feel doesn't stop a moody psychological thriller from exerting a grip. It's not without flaws: are there really uniformed cops in the U.S. as old as Washington (who turns 67 this year)? But it's slick, atmospheric, nicely acted and beautifully shot. Cherry (two stars) offers another cocktail of crime and mental health, as a disturbed former U.S. soldier (Tom Holland) becomes a bank robber to fund his drug addiction. The film is directed by the Russo brothers, who have worked with Holland in the Avengers films, but this is a much less successful collaboration, not least because the protagonist does a 'Goodfellas' by narrating his own life story. Here, through no particular fault of Holland's, it becomes very wearing very quickly. So does Yes Day (two stars), which is a shame, because we could all do with a decent family comedy. But this is mostly a saccharine and inane mess, in which an all-American mom (Jennifer Garner) is goaded into reforming her children's view of her as a fun-wrecking tyrant by granting them 24 hours in which she and her husband (a floundering Edgar Ramirez) will answer affirmatively to all their demands. The British sitcom Outnumbered covered similar territory with infinitely more wit. Yes Day, by contrast, is a definite no-no. The Little Things is available on most digital platforms. Cherry is on Apple TV+; Yes Day is on Netflix. Advertisement From there, Shaka King's film unfolds like a thriller, but a finely nuanced one, with the traitorous O'Neal finding camaraderie and even ideological purpose as he rises in the Black Panther hierarchy, while moral unease gnaws away at his FBI handler, Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons with the standard 1960s FBI haircut, parting modelled on an interstate highway). One uncomfortable but gripping scene finds Mitchell having an audience with the avuncular, egregiously racist Hoover, who uses the spectre of Mitchell's baby daughter one day 'bringing home a negro' to suggest that an entire way of life is at stake. Stanfield and the ever-reliable Plemons are both terrific throughout, as are Sheen and Dominique Fishback (also a Bafta nominee) as Hampton's girlfriend. But this is Kaluuya's show, and I mean it as the greatest possible compliment when I say you can't take your eyes off him, even when you haven't a clue what he's saying. At any rate, it takes a while for a British ear to become attuned, so completely does the man raised in North London inhabit a fizzingly charismatic Sixties radical from a working-class Chicago suburb. There are, of course, many films addressing U.S. civil rights in the 1960s. In the past few months alone we've had Aaron Sorkin's The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and Regina King's One Night In Miami. But the latter, especially, seemed to me to buckle under its own artifice. Judas And The Black Messiah tells its compelling story fiercely, yet with great swagger and style. It is the pick of the bunch and let me throw in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, too by a street. Speaking of accents, and for that matter streets, I come to Locked Down, which is largely set in a middle-class London thoroughfare during the first coronavirus lockdown and features Anne Hathaway, though fear not if you still wake up screaming in the night remembering her Yorkshire vowels in One Day (2011). Here, she plays an expatriate American, Linda, married to a Brit called Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor). That's a top-notch pair of leads, and the cast also includes Ben Stiller, Ben Kingsley, Mark Gatiss, Stephen Merchant, Mindy Kaling and Claes Bang, a classy ensemble by any standards. Moreover, the writer is Steven Knight, the Peaky Blinders creator whose big-screen credits include the fantastic Locke (2013), while the director is Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr And Mrs Smith, Edge Of Tomorrow). So it's not unreasonable to sit down to Locked Down with high expectations, and all the more disappointing when they are shattered within moments, which is as long as it takes to realise that Paxton and Linda, whose marriage is crumbling, are similarly insufferable (though the former might just edge it). They don't converse, they just swap whiny monologues that couldn't sound more scripted if they were actually reading them, and you'll lose patience with them and their miserable relationship long before Knight's disastrously overwritten script contrives the most improbable heist caper I think I've ever seen in the movies (and I've seen the Morgan Freeman turkey Momentum). The irony in all this is that Knight and Liman, by setting their story during the pandemic and peppering it with an A-Z (antibodies to Zoom) of Covid-era buzzwords, were clearly aiming to strike a collective chord. Alas, it's the shrillest chord imaginable. The film deserves total lockdown, preferably in a steel vault, somewhere deep underground. Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. This change, alone, would slash child poverty by an estimated 40 percent. But this change isnt alone. The American Rescue Plan also triples the value of the earned-income tax credit for low-income workers without children, providing a benefit of roughly $1,500 to more than 17 million Americans and fixing a tax code that, as it stands, punishes childless workers in low-wage jobs. Bidens relief plan also includes a major expansion of the Affordable Care Act in the form of greater subsidies for Americans who purchase their health insurance on the marketplaces established by the law. This would, according to an Urban Institute estimate, reduce the number of uninsured people in the United States by more than four million. The list of new policies goes on. There is money in the American Rescue Plan to expand food stamps, bolster state welfare programs, and increase federal support for child and dependent care. Put all this together and the bill is expected to reduce overall poverty by more than a third and child poverty by more than half. It is, with no exaggeration, the single most important piece of anti-poverty legislation since Lyndon B. Johnsons Great Society, itself the signature program of a man who sought to emulate F.D.R. I would even say that the American Rescue Plan compares favorably with the signature legislation of F.D.R.s first 100 days, in that its $1.9 trillion price tag dwarfs the mere tens of billions (in inflation-adjusted dollars) spent by Congress during the earliest period of the New Deal. The challenge is very different a Great Depression and its attendant unemployment and immiseration versus a health crisis and its economic impact but the ambition is of similar scope. Indeed, the story of this bill may be the story of how Biden has repudiated the austerity politics of much of the last decade, as well as the anti-assistance paradigm he himself helped forge when, as a senator, he warned in 1988 of welfare mothers driving luxury cars and voted, in 1996, to make so-called welfare reform a reality. The American Rescue Plan is only a start. Because the administration was limited by the budget reconciliation process, many of its provisions need to be made permanent. Which is to say that there is still a lot of work left for the Biden administration and the Democratic majorities that exist, for now, in Congress, much of it tied to whether the Senate will reform itself to allow majority rule. That said, we can and should acknowledge that this bill is, as Biden once said of Obamacare, a very big deal for the country. And we can marvel, at least a little, at the trajectory of his political career, as this consummate centrist and proud bipartisan dealmaker begins to move in somewhat unexpected directions. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here's our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven discussed progress in the investigation into the UIA plane crash that occurred in Iran on January 8, 2020. This was discussed during a phone conversation between the two leaders, according to the press service of PM Trudeau. "The prime ministers discussed Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 and the ongoing work with international partners to get the transparency, accountability, and justice from Iran that the victims and their families deserve," the statement reads. The interlocutors spoke about other international issues, in particular the situation in Myanmar and human rights in Xinjiang. They also discussed the need for global cooperation to fight climate change. On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport. There were 176 people on board nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK). On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner. On January 5, 2021, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine had received from Iran a draft technical report on the circumstances of the crash of flight PS752, and should prepare its comments by the end of February. On February 20, Iran announced the completion of the investigation into this case. ish Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. For Scott Mesloh, a registered nurse, handling the admission of a COVID-19 patient last March left him with an infection thats had a lasting effect. Still struggling to breathe while hooked up to supplemental oxygen, Mesloh said Thursday he has not returned to work at Natchaug Hospital in Mansfield since he was sent home when the patient tested positive for COVID-19. Still, he cannot get approved for workers compensation. But Mesloh and thousands of other workers are faced with a challenge: Proving they contracted the disease on the job, despite rampant community spread, to receive this key benefit. Unfortunately, Ive been dealing with this every day. Its unfair that they are fighting, that they are saying this came from somewhere else. I wouldnt have gotten COVID if I didnt admit this patient. ... I did my job. I did what was asked of me. And now here I am, sick. I cant breathe. Breathing every day is a struggle, Mesloh said, who lives in Pawtucket, R.I. Labor groups and employees, with the support of legislators, are seeking to make COVID-19 a rebuttable presumption for workers' compensation claims, shifting the burden to employers to prove the worker did not contract COVID while on the job. A bill before the legislature would restore this protection that was briefly established last March in an executive order from Gov. Ned Lamont, and run through the duration of a public health emergency. It also bolsters burial benefits for essential workers who died. Essential workers have waited long enough to be made whole, said state Rep. Robyn Porter, a New Haven Democrat that co-chairs the labor and public employees committee that held a hearing Thursday on the bill. This is the least that we can do for them. I think this should be given. Some of the strings need to be loosened in the way that we are awarding workers comp. It is unclear how many workers compensation claims would be affected, but officials from the AFL-CIO said 3,100 COVID-related claims have been filed and 300 are actively in litigation. They did not know how many had been denied with individuals unaware they could appeal the decision. Sal Luciano, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said thousands of workers have contracted the virus since the onset of the pandemic, and many have died. At the very least, our states essential workers deserve a workers compensation presumption so we can take care of them when they get sick, Luciano said. This legislation comes at a crucial time, Luciano argued, since he said the state deprioritized essential workers in its vaccine rollout and announced plans to lift many business restrictions on March 19, further putting these people at risk of contracting COVID-19. People are still testing positive for COVID. As good as we are doing with our numbers, we are not out of the woods. Ive said it before and I will keep saying it, we dont get to call them essential workers and treat them like sacrificial lambs, literally being led to slaughter, Porter said. Without the protection of this rebuttable presumption, advocates say its a challenge to show that a worker contracted the virus on the job, despite the clear risks for those deemed essential, be it an employee at a grocery store or a nursing home. The problem is how are we going to prove these cases? Its one thing to go to work and have a brick hit you in the head or you tripped and fell and hurt your knee. Its another thing for you to go to work and be exposed to a microscopic virus and then be told you have to the leave the workplace, said Nathan Shafner, head of the workers compensation section of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association. How are you going to show your exposure? Shafner said law protects the privacy of peoples medical conditions, which a sick workers might need for the case. When you factor this privacy with the fact that you are dealing with a microscopic disease, this rebuttable presumption helps the injured worker, Shafner said. For those like Mesloh and Lisa Marquis, a 25-year nursing home worker from Thompson in Connecticuts northeastern corner, the struggle to get workers compensation has been drawn out for months. Marquis, a certified nursing assistant at Davis Place in Danielson, said she contracted the virus in November. I got COVID at work. Ive battled COVID for four months. Ive ... been drained physically and emotionally. To this day, I struggle to breathe [and] find myself deeper and deeper into financial crisis, Marquis said. For her and others, this bill, she said, could help make them whole while they are unable to return to work. We need to be believed when we file for aid, she said. When COVID-19 spread swiftly through Connecticut prisons, correction officers Virginia Ligi and Sean Howard found themselves working in a petri dish of the virus. Both contracted the coronavirus while working in Cheshire Correctional Institution, they said. Howard, who lives in the Hartford area, said the virus led to a heart conditions he now has to manage with seven medications. Like others, he said, his claim remains in a holding pattern. He said he hasnt been denied, but hasnt received his benefits. He said his fellow corrections workers used sick, vacation and personal time to recover from the virus. It has left me fatigued and feeling short of breath every day, Howard said. I cant even play with my young son like I used to, which is really troublesome ... clearly, my life will never be the same because of COVID-19. Sorry! This content is not available in your region The national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong is playing out in line with the worst-case scenario its critics feared. Driving the news: A slew of arrests under the draconian law culminated last week with charges against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai. On Dec. 11, Lai, who publishes the Hong Kong tabloid Apple Daily known for its open criticism of Beijing, was charged on suspicion of "colluding with foreign forces" under the law. He was also denied bail, and court proceedings were delayed until April. Prosecutors said they needed this extra time to go through more than 1,000 posts on Lai's Twitter account a bald-faced admission that what's on trial is Lai's free speech. The backstory: The national security law, which was forced on Hong Kong by China's legislature in Beijing, subverts Hong Kong's own once-independent judiciary and imposes harsh penalties for vaguely defined crimes, including secession, terrorism and sedition. It's now clear how Beijing is implementing the law. Beyond its general chilling effect, which resulted in a wave of self-censorship, the new law has already been invoked to charge over two dozen people, including numerous pro-democracy commentators and activists. The imposition of the law, and the atmosphere of fear it created, has emboldened Hong Kong authorities to crack down on protests and free speech. That atmosphere has made it easier for authorities to issue harsh sentences even without invoking the law. Pro-democracy activists Agnes Chow and Joshua Wong, known around the globe for their leadership during the 2014 "umbrella protests," were sentenced in early December for protest activities they led in 2019. Chow has also been charged under the national security law. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has repeatedly defended the law, saying it will only be used against "radicals" and "enemies of the people," while Zhang Xiaoming, a top Chinese official tasked with Hong Kong affairs, said the law would only "punish a tiny number of criminals who seriously endanger national security." But Hong Kong and international law experts warned the law could be applied very broadly and used to crush civil society and organizing. Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese law, wrote in July that the law's impact on Hong Kong would be determined by how Beijing chose to implement it. The big picture: Laws can criminalize activities in more than just a legal sense. Charges stemming from the national security law have referred to pro-democracy activities with the same linguistic framework used for terrorism and corruption such as arresting a radio host for "money laundering" after he launched a Patreon account to fund his show. Over time, the repeated portrayal of such activities can make them seem inherently illegitimate in a social sense. Because it uses a recognized national security and legal lexicon delivered by the vestiges of a once-respected judicial system, Hong Kong's crackdown gives a sheen of legitimacy to repression. What to watch: Hong Kong activists seeking asylum or refugee status in the U.S. currently face numerous obstacles. There is strong interest in Congress and the Trump administration in finding ways to help Hong Kong residents find safe haven in the U.S. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration will be holding a hearing on this topic on Dec. 16, with activist-in-exile Nathan Law and others as witnesses. The bottom line: Lai's arrest shows the power and true intent of the law to legally equate criticism of Beijing with sedition, and to crush it accordingly. Cathal Coughlan, Song of Co-Aklan Four stars Cathal Coughlan never stopped being a firebrand, even after he moved on from the apocalyptic art-pop of Fatima Mansions. But on his new album arriving a decade after the underrated Rancho Tetrahedron these flames burn fiercer than ever. Witty, wry, occasionally devastating, Song of Co-Aklan finds the London-based, East Cork-born artist reaffirming his gifts for melody, arrangement and beautifully bleak lyrics. It also is his first substantial work since the triumphant reunion of Microdisney. Getting back together with his old songwriting partner Sean OHagan for a run of acclaimed gigs has clearly had a positive impact on Coughlans solo writing, with the new LPs title track kicking off in a blaze of jauntiness. Chamber-pop production wraps around Coughlans expressive baritone with results that are the most Microdisney thing hes done in years. Raise your hands if you dont know what this means, he croons at one point perhaps encapsulating the confusion were all going through at the moment. That mix of upbeat and ominous defines much of what follows. A rollicking piano introduces Passed-Out Dog, and then Coughlan sings Ive got bonemeal in my hair. Hummable yet pulsating with dread, its Coughlan in a nutshell and a worthy addition to one of the most storied canons in Leeside music. Zara Larsson, Poster Girl Four stars One of pops biggest mysteries is why Zara Larsson isnt filling arenas and headlining festivals. With 18 million monthly Spotify listens, the Swedish artist is hardly obscure. But she has yet to ascend to the level of ubiquity achieved by Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa. Poster Girl might be the record to get her there. It driven by her take-no-prisoners personality (she has never been slow to call out misogynists on social media). And by the ups-and-downs she has been through across the past several years, with the fall-out from the split from a long-term boyfriend a recurring theme. Typical is single Love Me Land, a full-throttle stomper with big swooning synths and Larsson owning lines such as Never thought I would love again. Its irresistible pop and couldnt we all do with a bit more of that in our lives right now? By Ben Mikek mikekben@grinnell.edu Legislation to restrict the teaching about systemic racism in Iowa public schools died before it could reach the governor, but state lawmakers have since passed a new law that restricts early voting, and are pushing ahead during a busy session with legislation to loosen gun control and fund charter schools. Grinnells state Representative Dave Maxwell explained his role in the legislature and his views on controversial legislation at a virtual March 6 event hosted by Grinnells League of Women Voters. Grinnells newly elected state Senator Dawn Driscoll did not attend the event because of a family emergency, according to Marta Miller of the League of Women Voters, who moderated the event. Driscoll and Maxwell were part of a wave of Republican victories last November which resulted in majorities in both the state House (59 of 100 seats) and state Senate (32 of 50 seats). Republicans also hold the governorship, meaning they have total control over Iowas government. Since the election, Republicans have supported legislation to loosen gun control, reduce early voting and shift state funding of education to private and charter schools. Maxwell, who represents Poweshiek County and parts of Iowa County and was first elected in 2012, said that this flurry of legislation is typical under a united government. Government works best when government has competitions, and when we have [a majority] and the governor, and when we get that, the first year were going to have a lot of questionable legislation because we can do it, said Maxwell. I dont like to include me as part of the we, but I am a Republican, he continued in response to a question about the legislatures focus on controversial issues like gun control and reproductive health care. I do question lots of bills, but I end up supporting them. I can be a no on some of them, but I cant be a no on everything. Absentee and early voting The Iowa legislature passed Senate File 413 on Feb. 24, which reduced opportunities for early and absentee voting. The legislation shortened Iowas early voting period to 20 days, down from the previous 29, and forbids county auditors from sending absentee ballots to voters who do not specifically request them. Previously, such mailing had been up to auditors discretion, but it wasnt until 2020, to combat the spread of COVID-19, that such mailings became widespread for the first time. SF-413 also makes it harder for county officials to set up satellite voting sites and imposes criminal penalties on auditors who do not follow the rules. Democrats decried the measure as voter suppression, but the bill passed on a party-line vote in each house, with both Maxwell and Driscoll voting aye, and now only needs the signature of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds before going into law. Maxwell supported the bill by citing the possibility that events may take place between the submission of a ballot by a voter and election day, and the need for smooth counting of votes. The number one thing that all of us asked for going in was, we need to check Iowas laws so we dont look embarrassing when the votes done like several other states did, he said. In reply to a question from moderator Miller on whether cheating in elections is a major problem, he said, I dont think we have a problem in Iowa. I told everybody that, I thought things were pretty good. I think [the bill] tightens it up just a little bit. Gun control The legislature is also mulling House Study Bill 254, which would remove the permit requirement for carrying concealed firearms and make it easier to buy guns. The bill would also remove the requirement for private sellers to pass background checks in order to sell handguns, as well as the requirement that those buying from private sellers would need to pass background checks. Federally licensed firearms dealers would still have to conduct these checks under federal law, though. According to research conducted at Iowa State University, nearly a quarter of a million permits to carry concealed weapons are active in Iowa roughly one for every 10 adults. Such permits would no longer be required under the new law, allowing most adults to carry concealed weapons anywhere in the state. I probably will be supporting [the bill] because theres just hundreds of people who want that permit-less carry, said Maxwell, although he noted that he personally favors permits. Maxwell also cited the need for personal protection. We still have what I call an outlaw class in society, and if nothing else, theyre going to make their own weapons, he said. Were going to have [shootings] happen, and I dont know how to make everything perfect. 1619 Project Among the legislative proposals this year have been several laws related to education. House File 222, which would have prohibited schools and public universities from teaching the 1619 project, a New York Times program that aims to reframe how students are educated about the history of slavery in the United States, failed to pass out of committee on March 5 and so wont be passed by the legislature, at least this year. Though the bill is dead, Maxwell said there were reasons to support it. We need to remember that slavery was not used in any large number north of Virginia, he said. Maxwell went on to argue that the legacy of slavery is not directly related to Iowa because nearly all of the slaves that were brought over worked on agricultural jobs in the south, well, all kinds of jobs in the south. The 1619 project is centered around the idea that we can still feel the looming presence of this institution [of slavery], and seeks to highlight the inequities and institutional racism that extend beyond southern states as a result of slaverys legacy. Maxwell did not address the ways in which systemic racism continues to disadvantage Black Iowans today. Charter Schools The legislature is still considering a proposal by Governor Reynolds to give public money to private charter schools. Senate File 159 would give permits to charter schools that are directly beholden to the state department of education, not local school boards, and would also create a scholarship fund using taxpayer money to pay for some students to attend private schools. The proposal was passed by the senate in January, but Driscoll voted against most of her party in opposition to the bill. The house is still considering the legislation. The bill is still alive, but its not doing real well, simply because theyve got to come up with more rules, better ideas of how to run it, said Maxwell. Right now I dont think theres enough support. I dont think [I support the bill] unless someone can tell me what the advantage is. I think we should put that money into the schools. The Iowa legislature will remain in session until April 30, considering dozens of other bills on topics from healthcare to traffic cameras. Maxwell and Driscoll will appear for another legislative coffee sponsored by the League of Women Voters on April 3. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. State of Michigan announces the MI Propane Security Plan to protect consumers and Michigan's energy supply State of Michigan announces the MI Propane Security Plan to protect consumers and Michigan's energy supply FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 12, 2021 Media Contact: Matt Helms 517-284-8300 Customer Assistance: 800-292-9555 Michigan.gov/MPSC Twitter LANSING, Mich. - Today, the State of Michigan announced the MI Propane Security Plan, a multiagency effort with the Michigan Public Service Commission; the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy; the Michigan Department of Transportation, and the Department of Technology, Management and Budget. The five-point plan is focused on ensuring Michigan's energy needs are met when Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipelines that run through the Great Lakes shut down. This plan protects propane customers from price gouging; sends clear signals to encourage market participants to invest in alternative sourcing options; ramps-up state investment in rail and propane storage infrastructure; increases state monitoring of the propane industry and coordinates the response to potential disruptions; and sets a long-term path to lower energy costs through investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electrification. "The Michigan Public Service Commission takes seriously our responsibilities relating to energy planning and security, regardless of what the future holds," said MPSC Chair Dan Scripps. "This five-point approach will allow us to better protect consumers and ensure that Michiganders have access to the energy resources on which they rely." "Under Governor Whitmer's leadership, the U.P. Energy Task Force has been working hard and remains focused on assessing the energy needs for the Upper Peninsula and how those needs are being met. We've been working on how to best formulate alternative solutions for meeting those needs while focusing on security, affordability, and environmental soundness," said Liesl Clark, Director of EGLE. "This multiagency plan takes the recommendations from the task force and implements them in a real way that will positively impact Michiganders, businesses, and our economy." "As we move forward with repairing and improving our infrastructure across the state, this moment creates an opportunity for us to increase reliability and resiliency in our energy delivery systems," said Paul Ajegba, Director of MDOT. "MDOT remains committed to ensuring all energy options are delivered safely and efficiently across our state." Since early in 2019, the Whitmer administration has been preparing for potential alternatives to ensure energy security for both of Michigan's peninsulas in the event of a Line 5 closure. This work started with the Statewide Energy Assessment in January 2019 and continued with the creation of the U.P. Energy Task Force (UPETF) in July 2019 and other informal workgroups. The administration is implementing recommendations from these bodies. While many state government efforts are already in place to help support Michiganders' energy needs under Governor Whitmer's direction, this five-step plan further ensures propane security for the residents of our state and businesses. The plan details: Protect consumers from price gouging and provide accessible heating assistance for families in need. The Attorney General's Corporate Oversight Division currently handles consumer complaints related to propane price gouging and has a zero-tolerance policy for price gouging under existing laws. The administration has worked to increase funding and restructure state assistance programs to allow for faster processing of bill payment assistance and to make access to benefits easier for Michigan's most vulnerable households, including the needs of propane customers. The Attorney General's Corporate Oversight Division currently handles consumer complaints related to propane price gouging and has a zero-tolerance policy for price gouging under existing laws. The administration has worked to increase funding and restructure state assistance programs to allow for faster processing of bill payment assistance and to make access to benefits easier for Michigan's most vulnerable households, including the needs of propane customers. Send clear signals to encourage market participants to invest in the development of alternative propane sourcing options. In November 2020, Governor Whitmer and the Department of Natural Resources notified Enbridge they were terminating its easement to run an oil pipeline through the Great Lakes based on persistent and incurable failures to comply with the terms of the easement. Additionally, the governor and DNR also revoked the easement under the governor's public trust responsibilities. It's an unacceptable risk the current dual pipelines pose to the Great Lakes' health and millions of jobs across the region. This action sent as clear a signal as possible to propane retailers and other propane suppliers, who are responding to this opportunity. In November 2020, Governor Whitmer and the Department of Natural Resources notified Enbridge they were terminating its easement to run an oil pipeline through the Great Lakes based on persistent and incurable failures to comply with the terms of the easement. Additionally, the governor and DNR also revoked the easement under the governor's public trust responsibilities. It's an unacceptable risk the current dual pipelines pose to the Great Lakes' health and millions of jobs across the region. This action sent as clear a signal as possible to propane retailers and other propane suppliers, who are responding to this opportunity. Leverage the tools of state government to encourage the development of alternative sourcing options. The state is working with industry to secure alternative propane deliverability and sourcing options like pipelines, rail, and storage. Governor Whitmer's FY 2022 Executive Budget Recommendation includes strategic investments to assist with the propane transition, including funding for new rail infrastructure and storage of propane at rail yards, and planning grants for local development organizations to ensure strategic infrastructure planning and the development of local supply alternatives to deliver propane. To protect Michigan residents during the 2021-2022 heating season, the state will prioritize propane storage, as Michigan has some of the nation's largest propane reservoirs. In addition, the state is working to pre-buy propane to lock in supplies for Michigan, and is aggressively identifying other sources for propane beyond Line 5. The state is working with industry to secure alternative propane deliverability and sourcing options like pipelines, rail, and storage. Governor Whitmer's FY 2022 Executive Budget Recommendation includes strategic investments to assist with the propane transition, including funding for new rail infrastructure and storage of propane at rail yards, and planning grants for local development organizations to ensure strategic infrastructure planning and the development of local supply alternatives to deliver propane. To protect Michigan residents during the 2021-2022 heating season, the state will prioritize propane storage, as Michigan has some of the nation's largest propane reservoirs. In addition, the state is working to pre-buy propane to lock in supplies for Michigan, and is aggressively identifying other sources for propane beyond Line 5. Monitor propane supply and coordinate responses to potential disruptions with the energy industry. MPSC houses the Propane Monitoring and Assurance Program within its Energy Security Section. Through this program, the MPSC performs several critical functions, such as monitoring state, regional, and national energy supplies, infrastructure outages, and other factors that could cause an energy imbalance; participating in coordination calls with industry and governmental agencies to share information on propane supplies, price and potential disruptions; and maintaining and updating the Petroleum Shortage Response Plan to manage limited supplies and reduce overall demand. MPSC houses the Propane Monitoring and Assurance Program within its Energy Security Section. Through this program, the MPSC performs several critical functions, such as monitoring state, regional, and national energy supplies, infrastructure outages, and other factors that could cause an energy imbalance; participating in coordination calls with industry and governmental agencies to share information on propane supplies, price and potential disruptions; and maintaining and updating the Petroleum Shortage Response Plan to manage limited supplies and reduce overall demand. Maximize propane efficiency while reducing energy costs in Michigan through efficiency, weatherization, and the transition to electrification and renewable energy. To view the full the plan, click the link below: # # # Galveston, TX (77553) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy...isolated thunderstorms developing late. Low 76F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and also garlanded his portrait at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Gujarat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi garlands a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at Hriday Kunj, Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. pic.twitter.com/h0U5Fcn4X9 ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 The PM also launched the official website of the 'Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches 'Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' website at Ahmedabad, Gujarat pic.twitter.com/va3EEysxrF ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 The Prime Minister is also set to flag off the Dandi March from the Ashram, as part of 'Amrit Mahotsav' programme to mark 75 years of India`s independence. Gujarat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. He will flag off the Dandi March from the Ashram today, as part of Amrit Mahotsav programme to mark the 75 years of India's independence. pic.twitter.com/gDutZrBNzX ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 Earlier this morning, announcing the beginning of the Amrit Mahotsav`, PM Modi said in a tweet, "Today`s #AmritMahotsav programme begins from Sabarmati Ashram, from where the Dandi March began. The March had a key role in furthering a spirit of pride and Aatmanirbharta among India`s people. Going #VocalForLocal is a wonderful tribute to Bapu and our great freedom fighters." Todays #AmritMahotsav programme begins from Sabarmati Ashram, from where the Dandi March began. The March had a key role in furthering a spirit of pride and Aatmanirbharta among Indias people. Going #VocalForLocal is a wonderful tribute to Bapu and our great freedom fighters. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2021 The PM added, "Buy any local product and post a picture on social media using #VocalForLocal. A Charkha will be installed near Magan Niwas at Sabarmati Ashram. It will rotate full circle with each Tweet related to Aatmanirbharta. This shall also become a catalyst for a people`s movement." Buy any local product and post a picture on social media using #VocalForLocal. A Charkha will be installed near Magan Niwas at Sabarmati Ashram. It will rotate full circle with each Tweet related to Aatmanirbharta. This shall also become a catalyst for a peoples movement. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2021 The Mahotsav is a series of events to be organised by the Government to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of India`s Independence. It will be celebrated as a Jan-Utsav in the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari. The curtain raiser activities are beginning from March 12, 75 weeks prior to August 15, 2022. Live TV At today's first quad summit, leaders from the United States, India, Australia, and Japan will gather. China wanted the four countries to do something helpful to international peace and stability rather than something "counterproductive." India would respond by laying a strategic siege on China on issues like the South China Sea, the Indo-Pacific region, and India's role in Afghanistan. Leaders of the US, India, Australia, and Japan will hold a meeting at the first quad conference today, creating panic in China. China on Wednesday expected that the four countries would do something that would be beneficial for international peace and security, not counterproductive. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihida Suga will participate in the digital meeting. India will also begin the siege on the diplomatic front, with attempts to alleviate tensions with China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India will answer with strategic siege to China on issues such as the South China Sea, the Indo-Pacific zone, and Indias position in Afghanistan. The quad conference today will be a special message for China. The four major leaders meeting together for the first time on the Quads forum would certainly lift Chinas concern. Also Read: First Quad Summit: PM Modi, Biden, Suga to meet virtually; Heres what to expect All the countries in the Quad support a rule-based structure in the South China Sea and the Indian Pacific area. Strategically, Indias increasing cooperation with the US, Japan, Australia in the quad is also necessary to maintain balance across the country. In fact, these countries tend to be united in the matter of planning an alternate to China on the supply chain. Considering the circumstances emerging during Covid, India has been continuously urging cooperation from around countries in terms of the supply chain. In the statement on the Quad meet, Summit will provide a chance to share views on current issues such as resilient supply chains, new and essential technologies, maritime security, and climate change. said Indias ministry of external affairs. This is the first such gathering of the quad founders. In addition to their regional challenges, the four leaders will also address several global problems at the conference. Issues ranging from the Corona crisis to climate change will be addressed. Many other burning issues may also come up for discussion, like the situation in Myanmar. Updates via Twitter_ Quad has come of age and will remain an important pillar of stability in the Indo-Pacific region: PM Modi during First Quad Leaders Virtual Summit pic.twitter.com/j5JQdEy8dL ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 United States is committed to working with you & with all our allies in the region to achieve stability. This group is particularly important because it is dedicated to the practical solutions and concrete results: US President Joe Biden during First Quad Leaders Virtual Summit pic.twitter.com/M0lmxHhikh ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 Also Read: Chinas 14th Five Year Plan: Key Projects Highlighted Europe to become a semiconductor leader Over the past few months, there have been numerous reports about a global semiconductor shortage that's slowing down the production of everything from the latest smartphones to brand new cars. With this issue affecting many parts of the globe, the European Commission this week unveiled a bold goal to manufacture 20 percent of the world's computer chips in Europe over the next decade (as per a BBC report). Last year, this figure stood at 10 percent. This will see the EU take the US and China head-on in an international semiconductor arms race. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to consider the initiative to restore travel between Ukraine and Israel on "green passports," which are currently being received by Israelis who have passed two stages of vaccination. "Grateful to [Benjamin] Netanyahu for his willingness to help speed up COVID-19 vaccine supply. I wish the people of Israel good health. Green passports can resume air travel between Ukraine and Israel. We are ready to discuss this initiative," Zelensky wrote on Twitter on Friday. The head of the Ukrainian state also invited the head of the Israeli government to visit Ukraine. "Welcome to the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence," Zelensky said. To date, passenger flights between Israel and other countries have been suspended. The exception is humanitarian special flights. From March 7, the country is moving to the third stage of lifting restrictions that were previously imposed by the government because of the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. Many of the restrictions will ease the confirmation that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19 with two doses of the vaccine, and that at least a week has passed since the last injection for those with a so-called "green passport." According to the Interfax-Ukraine tourism portal, Israel resumes international tourism from March 2021, and citizens of the country who have received a "green passport" will be able to travel without the need to undergo quarantine and pass a PCR test before departure and after landing. These include persecution of activists who stand against the occupation, the unlawful conscription of local men into the Russian army ranks, and inhumane conditions in penitentiary facilities, as well as torture and pressure exerted on held persons. Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), delivered an address to the high-level videoconference Arria-formula meeting titled "Crimea: 7 years of violations of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity", held on Friday, March 12. The official recalled that the UN had been monitoring the situation in the occupied Crimea since 2014, and continued to do so, an UNIAN correspondent reports. Read alsoUkraine approves strategy to end Russian occupation of CrimeaDue to the lack of unfettered access to the occupied peninsula, the UN Monitoring Mission has been forced to conduct its work remotely do interviews with victims and witnesses of human rights violations, as well as other stakeholders, collect public information, such as court registries and official statistics, and analysis of legislation which impacts human rights in Crimea. "OHCHR continues to receive credible information alleging torture and ill-treatment by the Russian Federation's security service and police in Crimea of individuals deprived of liberty," the official stated, adding that such methods were used to force people to self-incriminate or testify against other persons, as well as retaliation for their political stance. She underlined that such incidents are not investigated and none of those responsible of torture and other rights violations was ever held accountable. Also, detainees, their families and lawyers have complained about the conditions of detention in Crimea which could amount to inhumane or degrading treatment. "The Russian Federation continues to apply the entirety of its legislation, including criminal law, in Crimea contrary to its obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law. This has particularly impacted pro-Ukrainian activists, critics of the occupation of Crimea, and individuals believed to be members or sympathizers of religious organizations banned under Russian law but legal in Ukraine," Brands Kehris added, noting that most Crimea residents subjected to persecution are Crimean Tatars. Pressure is being exerted on local journalists, some of whom are accused of extremism, while others are deported from the peninsula and banned reentry. The UN Secretary General's assistant has added that the occupation authorities had been exerting major pressure on the Ukrainian church in Crimea and parishioners with the Crimea diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. She also recalled that Russia had been unlawfully conscripting Crimea men to the Russian army, while prosecuting those dodging draft. Background The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Liudmyla Denisova, said 114 Ukrainian nationals were being illegally held in the occupied Crimea and mainland Russia, including 78 ethnic Crimean Tatars. Reporting by UNIAN Two women who allegedly requested a circumcision on a baby girl as part of their cultural beliefs have been charged by police. The women, aged 23 and 50, from the Cannington District in Western Australia, allegedly met with a doctor to conduct the illegal procedure on a two-week-old baby in January. Police said the doctor refused and reported the incident to officers, sparking an investigation by Child Abuse Squad detectives. WA Police said they believed the circumcision was planned as part of the women's cultural beliefs. Two women allegedly planned a circumcision on a two-week-old baby girl in January (pictured: stock image) 'The WA Police Force embraces the diversity provided by the many cultural and ethnic groups that form our community', a police spokesperson said. 'Practices which may be acceptable by some cultures and in some countries may constitute criminal offences in Western Australia.' 'It is an offence to commit female genital mutilation in Western Australia.' Any procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons are illegal across Australia. It is estimated that 53,000 girls and women born elsewhere but now living in Australia have undergone female genital mutilation. The most common age to undergo female genital mutilation/circumcision is between the ages of four to ten years old. The procedure is performed for complex cultural and social factors that can vary across ethnicity, time and regions. According to the World Health Organisation, the most common reasons are to prepare for marriage and adulthood, for femininity and modesty, and to ensure a womans premarital and marital fidelity. The two women have been charged with conspiracy to commit indictable offence and will appear before the Armadale Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), concluded its successful participation in the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2021 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as part of the Saudi Pavilion. SAMIs participation witnessed the signing of three key strategic partnership agreements, visits of several dignitaries to its booth, display of latest military and defense technologies, and attendance of the companys affiliates under its umbrella. During the five-day show, SAMI signed a host of collaboration agreements with global industry players and government entities. On day one, SAMI signed a joint venture agreement with Lockheed Martin to develop capabilities in manufacturing technology, software technology, and systems integration, as well as the production, maintenance, and repair of rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, and missile defense systems, besides naval and land systems. On day two, the company entered into a Teaming Agreement with Abu Dhabi-based NIMR, an EDGE entity, for joint cooperation on armored military and security vehicles, in the first-of-its-kind military industries agreement between Saudi and Emirati companies in the Kingdom. Also, it inked an agreement with the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) to be a Strategic Partner in the upcoming World Defense Show 2022. Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali, Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), Lt Gen Nasser bin Ali Al-Sikhan, Deputy Chief of State Security for Human Resources, and Turki bin Abdullah Al-Dakhil, Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the UAE who represented Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs visited SAMIs booth at IDEX 2021. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Lt Gen Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation also toured the companys exhibit. Commenting on the participation, Eng. Walid Abukhaled, CEO of SAMI, said: We at SAMI are pleased that our participation in IDEX 2021 was a remarkable success that would lead to new milestones in Saudi Arabias evolution as a leading global manufacturer of military systems. The exhibition offered our affiliate companies and us an excellent platform to showcase our locally developed innovations and gain meaningful insights into new and emerging trends in the world of defense. The strategic agreements we signed at the show will support PIFs efforts through SAMI in localizing cutting-edge technology and knowledge, as well as building strategic economic partnerships. SAMI showcased its cutting-edge military products, systems, and technologies, spread across its land systems, aeronautics, defense electronics, weapons and missiles, and emerging technologies divisions during the show. The companys affiliates, Advanced Electronics Company (AEC, a wholly-owned subsidiary), Accessories and Components Company (AACC), SAMINavantia (a joint venture with Navantia SA), SAMIL3Harris (a joint venture with L3Harris Technologies), and SAMICMI (a joint venture with CMI Group) also put their innovative solutions and services on show at the exhibition. TradeArabia News Service Just a week after he began a two-year prison sentence for obstructing a federal investigation into the disappearance and death of contractor Christopher Tur at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, former Capt. John Nettleton faces a civil lawsuit filed by the dead man's family. The 57-page lawsuit, filed in Duval County court, also demands damages from the Navy base's former spokesperson and Tur's former wife. It states federal prosecutors failed to pursue murder charges against Nettleton, who had served as commander of the U.S. Navy base in Cuba, for Tur's drowning death. The 42-year-old's body was found in January 2015 floating in Guantanamo Bay, only two days after he disappeared following a drunken brawl with Nettleton, now 55. The lawsuit states that prosecutors apparently felt it would be difficult to convict Nettleton of murder, opting instead for charges they knew would meet the burden of proof. "Plaintiff now accuses John Nettleton of intentionally and/or recklessly and/or negligently causing the death of Christopher Tur and brings claims of wrongful death, survival, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failure to render aid and tortious interference with a dead body," the lawsuit says. It also accuses Turs wife at the time, Lara Sabanosh, and former base public information officer Kelly Wirfel of "intentional infliction of emotional distress" for covering up information relevant to his death. Nettleton was convicted in January 2020 on six counts including obstruction of justice and making false statements for not disclosing the fight or that Tur had been at his waterfront home before he disappeared. The retired commander from East Palatka was then sentenced to two years in prison for hiding the fight with Tur, whose body was found after both fought at the retired commander's home on the island base. Prosecutors argued Nettleton was still culpable for concealing a drunken altercation over the captain's relationship with Tur's wife, although the reason he died was never revealed. Prosecutors also argued that even if Nettleton didn't kill Tur, staying quiet deprived searchers of information they needed to locate the civilian contractor. Tur was working with the base's Naval Exchange when he confronted Nettleton about claims of an affair during a party, prosecutors said. There was a fight later that night at Nettleton's home, and Tur's body was found two days later in the water. During court proceedings, members of Tur's family told the judge about their devastation after his death, saying they were haunted by questions about what happened. Mike Tur, his brother, called the sentence prosecutors were seeking "a relative slap on the wrist." The family's lawsuit gives details of the fight between the two men, some of it witnessed by Nettleton's daughter. It says Tur suffered four broken ribs, skull contusions and a deep cut over an eye. It says Tur's blood "was scattered all over Nettleton's house." According to the lawsuit, Nettleton "took the injured Tur to the water and caused him to be drowned knowing that his body would wash out to sea and likely never be found." "Following Tur's killing, Nettleton then cleaned up and destroyed as much physical evidence as possible inside his house," the lawsuit says. "Nettleton also attempted to sell his boat which was docked at the pier the night Tur disappeared, and the boat was also extensively cleaned." The lawsuit states that Sabanosh knew or should have known that "her lies to NCIS and her abhorrent testimony at trial would cause serious emotional distress to the Tur family." "Sabanosh flipping the Tur family the middle finger during the criminal trial further indicates her mindset and desire to hurt the Turs," it says. And Wirfel also should have known that her concealment of vital information would cause emotional distress to the Tur family. Her holding back pertinent information "was done in a reckless disregard for the emotional harm which is certain to result from such actions." The lawsuit demands a jury trial but does not state a specific amount of compensatory and punitive damages. Those named in the lawsuit had not filed responses as of Thursday. This article is written by Dan Scanlan from The Florida Times-Union and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:19:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's health ministry on Friday reported 53 deaths from COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, continuing the downward trend in the daily death toll over the past months. So far a total of 61,069 have died from COVID-19 in Iran since the outbreak of the disease in the country on Feb. 19, 2020. Meanwhile, the pandemic has infected 1,731,558 people in Iran, up by 8,088 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing. Of the newly infected, 593 were hospitalized, said Lari. A total of 1,477,588 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 3,829 remain in intensive care units, she added. According to the spokeswoman, 11,588,441 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran by Friday. Earlier in the day, health officials reiterated travel restrictions ahead of the new Iranian year starting March 20. Enditem Now Open 12 March 2021 The Ven at Embassy Row, Washington, D.C., a Tribute Portfolio Hotel,managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, opens its doors in the heart of Dupont Circle. In the famed Dupont Circle area known for art, international culture, cuisine and home to the world's embassies, The Ven is reflective of the vibrant neighborhood it calls home. Offering style and international flair in a sophisticated yet comfortable environment, The Ven will implement various elements and touchpoints reflective of the Danish and Norwegian concept of hygge; design meant to encourage guests' comfort, exploration and personal well-being. The boutique property will feature 231 guestrooms and suites overlooking Embassy Row's stately mansions. All of the rooms will feature STAYCAST that allow guests to stream over 1,000 apps from their mobile device to the TV. The hotel will also feature three flexible meeting spaces designed to accommodate bespoke and intimate gatherings of up to 25 people. The Ven will be partnering with Spin to provide convenient on-property access to an electric scooter docking station for guests to use and roam around the nation's capital. LOS ANGELESThe online forum Reddit one of the worlds most popular social media sites, with 430 million monthly visitors has no plans to ban porn, according to the companys CEO Steve Huffman. The declaration by Huffman, made during an interview with Axios on HBO, sets Reddit apart from many other social media platforms, and defies a global trend toward banning adult content online. In the interview, Huffman added that Reddit does not want to see exploitative porn on its forums. "But there's another aspect that's empowering. And these are people sharing stories of themselves, pictures of themselves. And we are perfectly supportive of that, Huffman said. In late 2018, the blogging site Tumblr once a haven for sexually explicit content and discussion in an online social media setting announced that it would ban all adult material. Eight months later, Tumblrs corporate parent, Verizon, sold the site at a $1 billion loss. Facebook and its subsidiary, Instagram, have long imposed bans not only on porn, but on nudity or most any form of sexually frank content, though users and sex workers in particular have complained that the rules are often enforced unevenly, in discriminatory fashion. Among social media sites, only Reddit and Twitter continue porn-friendly policies. Huffman also added that Reddit would enforce its policy against nonconsensual, or as he put it, involuntary sexual imagery on the site, a category that includes revenge porn another types of nonconsensually created or posted images. "We want people to be safe, we have rules on Reddit no involuntary sexualization. And if anybody makes those sorts of reports to us we take those very seriously," Huffman told Axios. He also noted that Reddit does not permit sexualized images of minors. It was on Reddit in 2017, however, that the deepfakes phenomenon originated, when Reddit users began creating and posting porn clips with the faces of mainstream female celebrities superimposed, complete with realistic facial expressions generated by artificial intelligence technology. Reddit soon shut down the deepfakes subreddit (that is, forum) on which the videos were posted. The deepfakes phenomenon prompted Reddit at the time to create policies specifically banning involuntary porn, which included deepake porn. Reddit prohibits the dissemination of images or video depicting any person in a state of nudity or engaged in any act of sexual conduct apparently created or posted without their permission, including depictions that have been faked, the then-new Reddit policy stated. Reddit users are required to tag any adult content with an NSFW label, however. "There are difficult decisions to make in this sphere, but we think they're worth making. As opposed to saying 'no sex at all,' for example," Huffman told Axios. Photo By Web Summit / Wikimedia Commons YEREVAN -- Armenian President Armen Sarkisian returned to a "working regime" after a medical checkup, his office said late on March 12. Earlier in the day the presidential administration said Sarkisian had undergone testing at a medical clinic in Yerevan for unspecified complications apparently linked to COVID-19. "Some complications have appeared in connection with the coronavirus infection sustained by the president of Armenia," his office said. "He is undergoing tests." In January, while having surgery in London, Sarkisian tested positive for the coronavirus and was treated there before he returned to Armenia the following month. Sarkisian planned to host talks this weekend with the country's opposition and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on finding a solution to the ongoing political crisis the country has faced after six-week war with Azerbaijan last fall. That conflict ended with Armenia's losing control over some parts of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region and several adjacent districts of Azerbaijan. Pashinian has not said yet if he plans to attend the talks. With reporting by Interfax On February 13, almost 10 years to the date after the infamous March 11 triple disaster that struck northeast Japan, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake shook the same region. Like a strobe light, memories and emotions that had been dimming for a decade returned. However, the aftershock was not just a reminder of the devastation and 20,000 deaths from 2011s 9.0-magnitude earthquake in the Tohoku region and resulting 45-foot tsunami and nuclear disaster in Fukushima. It also prompted the Japanese church to call to mind all that God has done since. Pastors and ministry leaders in Japan told CT of how the disaster has shaped the Japanese church and where they are headed next, providing a perspective of hope and urgency for churches worldwide amid the trials of the pandemic and current conflicts. Shaken and Stirred into Action For Yoshiya Hari, the triple disaster marked an almost immediate career and life change. Within days, the pastor of Saikyo Nozomi Chapel was assigned to help run CRASH (Christian Relief Assistance Support and Hope), organizing and allocating the masses of donated material and volunteers that were suddenly flooding into Tohoku from Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, the United States, and other nations. I was so overwhelmed. I was just a local church pastor and suddenly I was here, said Hari, also Asian Accesss national director for Japan since 2011. The news was broadcasting shocking scenes: the tsunami, the nuclear reactor explosion in Fukushima. There was so much fear and it felt like trials were hitting us like waves that keep coming and coming. Japan seemed almost at its end. But we realized that people all over the world were praying and sending support and we were encouraged, he told CT. Organizations like CRASH helped mobilize relief efforts in Tohoku and, more importantly, established support networks of pastors and ministers across Japan that have continued for the past decade. Relief has its time limits, said Hari. But the local church has an eternal commitment. Image: Courtesy of Asian Access Japanese pastors agree that in many ways the disaster in Japan has been a catalyst for positive change. The spiritual atmosphere has changed and people are more open to the gospel, said Nobuyoshi Nagai, lead pastor of Tohoku Central Church and Japans national director for Alpha. Churches from all over Japan and the world now have a desire to come to Tohoku to evangelize and plant churches. Many people have accepted Christ and many churches have been planted since the disaster. Small communities in the northeastern disaster area that had been notorious for limited receptivity to the gospel before 2011 have now recognized the presence and importance of the church, said Takeshi Takazawa, a church planting veteran who currently serves as Asian Accesss vice president for innovative initiatives. Weve also seen more connections within Asia, he said. For example, the Love Singapore movement has embraced Love Japan, and the Filipino church has a strong relationship with Japanese churches. Churches in Japan also now feel better prepared to address new disasters and social issues. When a large earthquake struck Kumamoto in 2016, Christians from Tohoku immediately connected with leaders there to share about their experiences and advise the response. Prepared for Pandemic COVID-19 has brought about challenges for the recovery effort in Japan, including drawing government and media attention away from any tsunami recovery efforts in the northeast. But the church has been able to use wisdom gained after the disaster to offer help during this new crisis. Support methods such as pastor networks and crisis management plans that were created in relief efforts have been reactivated nationwide this year to support those in need. Establishing networks and building local community trust were necessary in addressing both the 2011 disaster and the 2021 pandemic. Networks we had set up in 2011 allowed us to share ideas and wisdom in the midst of the pandemic, and since we had built trust with the community and local government after the tsunami, people sought help from churches during the pandemic, said Yukimasa Otomo, pastor of Shiogama Bible Baptist church in a small fishing town between the large cities of Sendai and Matsushima. For example, his church provides food for those who have lost their jobs or working hours amid public health measures. Image: Courtesy of Asian Access All Japanese were impacted in some way by the disasters in 2011. For some, it may be just a superficial change, but for others, including pastors and churches, it has caused deep and significant changes, said Hari. I pray that the pandemic causes similar deep changes in usincluding myself. Japanese Christians are once again re-examining what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ because of the pandemic, said Takazawa. The church has moved out of the come in mindset to be more missional. The increased sensitivity to outsiders and commitment to holistic care prompted several churches to reach out to internationals who came to Ishinomaki for fishing jobs and were stranded with limited options or made to work harder to make up for factories losing workers because of COVID-19. Let the Walls Fall Down Many people came into contact with Christians for the first time through their presence after the 2011 disaster. The Japanese church consequently learned to go beyond its walls and to serve people physically and emotionally as well as spiritually. They learned that its task is not only to proclaim and persuade, but to communicate the gospel through acts and to meet the social needs in front of them, said Takazawa. This holistic approach to the gospel in Japan is an exciting development growing from the seeds of disaster, sources told CT. Were starting to sense a greater awareness of the needs of those on the outside who often remain invisible or do not have as much of a voice at the table, like women, those with disabilities, foster and adopted children, and immigrants, said Sue Takamoto. She and her husband Eric serve with Asian Access on a team in Ishinomaki, one of the worst-hit areas, and have created a community with other international Christian workers from a variety of organizations. They moved into a rural area where there was no local church to try to live out the gospel there, and ended up helping to plant a new church. At the very least, pastors agree that the massive disaster brought issues to light and challenged the church in Japan. Some people realized how out of touch their churches were with their communities, others that they did not have the proper vocabulary to explain the gospel to rural Japanese people with no Christian background, said Makito Matsuda. Born in Miyagi Prefecture, where more than 10,000 people lost their lives in the 2011 earthquake, the pastor hosted 15,000 volunteers from all over the world at Oasis Chapel Rifu, providing much-needed relief in the tsunami-affected areas around his church. Some, like myself, realized that serving in unity with Christians from other parts of the world with different languages and cultures can have a great impact on the community, said Matsuda. Prompted by these realizations, we gradually began to change. A common opinion among pastors is that the post-disaster networking has caused the Japanese church to be more unified than ever. I have seen churches across denominations coming together for training, but it was not until after 2011 that I saw such a unified effort for the sake of the suffering and those in need, Takamoto said. While the immediacy has lessened in recent years, I dont think this desire for unity has dissipated. Denominational divides were a huge issue prior to the disaster, and although the walls between churches and communities have been torn down, there is still much work to be done in bridging the gaps. Networks are beautiful, but hard to maintain, said Otomo. We need to cultivate a better kingdom mindset and develop appreciation for diversity within the body of Christ for the mission to accelerate, said Nagai. Image: Courtesy of Asian Access Hope Beyond Relief Neighborhoods remain lost, scattered, or neglected even 10 years after the tsunami, so current ministry has shifted from immediate relief to building relationships and community. Many leaders have taken to creative, entrepreneurial community-building solutions. For example, The Nozomi Project emerged from the disaster to provide a space for women to find dignity, employment, and hope as they created beautiful jewelry out of broken shards of pottery. Amid setbacks and challenges of keeping a business afloat, I have realized that when God breathes into projects, they can become much bigger than ourselves, said Takamoto, who directs the project which has now sent more than 60,000 pieces of hope to more than 45 countries. For the past two years, Nozomi has also been serving a group of vulnerable women in Cambodia. Its been one of the most amazing experiences of my life to see former tsunami victims reaching beyond themselves to bring hope to women in Cambodia with needs greater than their own, said Takamoto. Whether they recognize it yet or not, this is the gospel, and it is beautiful. Beyond survival and recovery, church networks discovered a need to refocus on reaching the unreached. The tsunami destroyed five Tohoku churches, which was a small statistic in comparison to the $250$500 billion worth of damage wreaked on Japan. But it was a wake-up call for Japanese pastors. It proved how few churches had been planted along the coast. We had to repent once we realized it, said Hari. It was not intentional, but those people were abandoned. These were, for the most part, unchurched areas that had slid out of our sight. Today, Asian Access estimates that 75 congregations, including 33 house churches started by a single pastor in Miyagi, have been planted in the area since the disaster. There is social division between Fukushima and the rest of Japan, and even within Fukushima due to the radiation and the scattering of communities caused by the power plant meltdown. The government may take more than 50 years to fully decommission the reactor, and although radiation levels are much safer, hardship and stigma linger. Im really concerned about Fukushima, especially the next generation that has to deal with the same issues, said Hari. After the disaster, hundreds of missionaries flocked to Miyagi and other areas affected by the tsunami, but very few to Fukushima. We know there was risk, but we hope people can overcome the fear and the stigma and come. That is where there is a huge need. From Tohoku to the World In addition to reflecting on their post-disaster church, the network of Japanese pastors provided advice for their brothers and sisters around the world on preparing for and responding to disasters as leaders. Matsuda admitted that his team felt overwhelmed, overworked, and anxious at first. What gave me life again was to return to a rhythm of sitting at the Lords feet, listening to his word, and obeying it. I now believe that a steady commitment to this way of life is the only way to prepare for unexpected disasters and survive in the midst of chaos. Nagai urged leaders to be open to being changed. Whether COVID-19 or a tsunami, no one is exempt from change in a crisis. God is constantly looking for his new wine skin to work with, and he sometimes uses a disaster or trial to form us into that vessel. Church leaders should all consider responding to a disaster now, said Otomo. It is too late to think about it after the disaster. If your church has a clear vision on this matter, you will be ready to respond. If not, it will be difficult to maintain good works when times like this come. Once youve decided it is important, building your local church network is the first step. We must see disaster and crisis as normal and not as something that catches us by surprise, Takazawa said. Leaders tend to see the period of time without crisis or disaster as normal, so crisis becomes something to just get through or something outside of Gods control. But God is always working in the crisis and Jesus warned that they will even intensify. It is also important to listen to the people who were there from before the crisis and who will still be there when it has gone, he said. God has already placed leadership within that community, so if you are going to help as an outsider, listen to, support, and serve local leadership. The Next 10 Years On the 10th anniversary of the triple disaster, Japanese churches continue allowing themselves to be shaken into action rather than growing complacent. They are able to look back with thankfulness at Gods transformational work this decade, but maintain a holy discontent with the state of the church even after such recovery and change. I hope to see more churches standing up for their own communities and serving in the name of Jesus Christ with wisdom and skills born out of the experience of disaster, said Otomo. God saw even before the disaster that there were sheep without a shepherd on the coast. The country has recovered but is still in spiritual poverty in these areas, said Hari, noting that a third of municipal areas in Japan are unchurched. Today he works with hundreds of leaders across Japan to grow networks and inspire a church multiplication movement. I dream of mobilizing the Japanese church to those areas and having a church with the heart to respond to physical disaster but also spiritual disaster, he said. Two or three people gathered in Christs name is the beginning of a church. I dream of seeing a local church in every municipality in Japan. Evenespeciallyin a time that seemed hopeless, we were reminded that our help was on the way, said Nagai. So today we have confidence that God has prepared a better and brighter future for us. There was dim light and rough seas on Thursday morning as authorities trailed a small fishing boat in Port Botany. Authorities spent two days training for the operation to seize hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, search two boats including a 330-metre ship and arrest a 27-year-old Australian man. Police will allege a small boat was launched from Port Botany, south of Sydney, to meet its 330-metre mother ship, the MSC Joanna, which originated in Antwerp, Belgium. Drugs, believed to have been stored on the larger ship, were transferred to the small fishing boat. South Australian man Jake Hurkmans has been charged in relation to an alleged cocaine importation. Credit:Facebook On board the smaller boat, police will allege, was Jake Laurens Hurkmans, who was completing the drugs transfer at sea. What we observed was the daughter vessel heading closely behind the container vessel the MSC Joanna, Australian Federal Police Commander Kirsty Schofield said. The daughter vessel was observed to be stationary for about an hour. By Benjamin Jumbe The minister of health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has asked Members of Parliament to wait for communication from the COVID-19 task force to guide on how to handle the curfew imposed by the government a year ago. Aceng was responding to concerns raised by one of the legislators Jackeline Amongin who asked the ministry to consider reviewing the Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) meant to contain the spread of Covid -19. The legislators proposed that the ministry considers adjusting the curfew time to enable Ugandans take part in the covid-19 vaccination exercise thats ongoing across the country. The minister however said the matter had referred to the taskforce for guidance. Parliament this week asked the government to come to parliament on Tuesday next week with a statement on the matter. WASHINGTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Three residents of the International Space Station will take a spin around their orbital neighborhood in the Soyuz MS-17 on Friday, March 19, relocating the spacecraft to prepare for the arrival of the next set of crew members. Live coverage on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website will begin at 12:15 p.m. EDT. Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA and Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, both of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, will undock from the Earth-facing port of the station's Rassvet module at 12:38 p.m. and dock again at the space-facing Poisk docking port at 1:07 p.m. The relocation will free up the Rassvet port for the docking of another Soyuz vehicle, designated Soyuz MS-18, which will carry three Expedition 65 crew members to the station next month. NASA's Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos' Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov are scheduled to launch to the station Friday, April 9, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This will be the 15th overall Soyuz port relocation and the first since August 2019. Rubins, Ryzhikov, and Kud-Sverchkov will return to Earth April 17 in the Soyuz MS-17 that carried them to the space station in October 2020. Get breaking news, images and features from the space station on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov Lawyers bid to review recovery of $4 million to be reviewed by first instance RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 13:01 12/03/2021 MOSCOW, March 12 (RAPSI) - The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has ordered a first instance to reconsider an application filed by lawyer Igor Tretyakov seeking to review recovery of 308.5 million rubles ($4 million) from him, according to court records. The court has overturned the ruling of the Moscow Regional Commercial Court of late October 2020 refusing to rehear Tretyacovs case upon the applicants appeal. In late November 2018, the Moscow Regional Commercial Court ordered recovery of the money Tretyakov allegedly received in the S.A. Lavochkin Scientific Union under the pretence of legal services. The court also declared 21 contracts signed by the Scientific Union and the lawyer between July 2016 and January 2018 invalid. The court therefore granted a claim filed by the Moscow Region Prosecutors Office on behalf of the Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimushchestvo) and the state corporation Roscosmos. Prosecutors insisted that the agreements were invalid as Tretyakov had not participated in court proceedings himself. Thus, the lawyer has only created a semblance of his activity. In May and September 2019, the Tenth Commercial Court of Appeals and the Moscow District Commercial Court upheld the ruling. Currently, Tretyakov is a defendant in the case on embezzling 330 million rubles (about $5 million) from Roscosmos. In late December, the case was returned to prosecutors, according to the lawyers attorney Stanislav Shostak. He is in detention now. Two other defendants, ex-CEO of the S.A. Lavochkin Scientific Union Sergey Lemeshevsky and chief of the Unions legal department Yekaterina Averyanova were also detained. Later, Averyanova admitted guilt and signed a deal with investigators in exchange for release from detention under house arrest. According to investigators, the defendants have stolen assets of Roscosmos by signing fraudulent contracts for provision of legal services with the law firm. All the works were allegedly performed by the corporations own specialists. The overall sum of payments to the firm reached 330 million rubles. Tretyakov pleads not guilty. Sorry! This content is not available in your region James MacDonalds son launches church near Harvest Bible Chapel following claims he's unfit to lead Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Luke MacDonald, son of the controversial founder of Harvest Bible Chapel in greater Chicago, James MacDonald, launched a new evangelical church on Sunday, following claims by some that he's unfit to lead. James MacDonald, who was ousted from Harvest Bible Chapel for "highly inappropriate recorded comments" he made on a radio program as well as "other conduct" on Feb. 12, 2019, touted the first service of his sons Good News in the Neighborhood church on Instagram last Friday. The service was held at the Chez Hotel in Arlington Heights which is about 5 miles from Harvest Bible Chapels Rolling Meadows campus. My son Luke MacDonald, his wife and 4 children are starting a new church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago Good News in the Neighborhood. They are working hard to do what good ministry is in every generation: Holding fast to the Word of God and pioneering fresh ways of reaching people, James MacDonald wrote in his Instagram post. If you have been out of church or are looking for a new church, Kathy and I highly recommend you to check it out in-person or online THIS SUNDAY, March 7, 2021. Luke MacDonald noted on the churchs website that we are an evangelical church in the sense that we believe the things the evangelical church believes, but not in the sense of having a fixed political ideology. He also noted that before starting Good News in the Neighborhood, he served as an associate pastor at Faithful Central Bible Church, a historic African American congregation in Los Angeles. He also served at Harvest Bible Chapel for 13 years as a pastor leading a number of youth initiatives as well as being an executive pastor. A report by independent journalist Julie Roys published last November painted Luke MacDonald as an unfit leader who has an aggressive leadership style. The report cited accusations that he exhibited bullying behavior, urinated during a meeting, threw chairs in a rage, and failed to report the alleged abuse of a minor in the megachurchs youth ministry. The Christian Post reached out to Luke MacDonald for comment on the allegations on Wednesday but he was not immediately available to respond. Roys reported that Alex George whose father, Dan George, was an elder at Harvest told her that Luke MacDonald urinated into a cup while interviewing him for a job at the church in December 2012. George, who was a part-time youth worker with the church at the time, was seeking a full-time position with Harvests junior high ministry. While interviewing with Luke MacDonald in his office, he said the former megachurch pastors son removed a cup from his desk, then he heard what sounded like Luke MacDonald urinating into the cup. I asked him, Are you peeing in that cup? To which he said, Yeah, pretty nonchalantly, and moved on as if it wasnt an issue, George told Roys. Luke MacDonald allegedly then placed the cup of urine on his desk and told George he could make him do anything he wanted. George responded no, and he was fired from his part-time job shortly after that. Kevin Rowan, who first started attending Harvest around 2004, when he was 16, and volunteered as a musician, told Roys that Luke MacDonald regularly bullied him, telling him, for example, that he had a s--- voice, and would never lead worship on the main stage. The big thing is just the way they talked about people, Rowan said, the way they treated people even in just conversations. ... Its like playing a game: We can get whoever we want to do whatever we want. No one has value unless we assign it. Rowan recounted once challenging Luke MacDonald and his brother, Landon, about the abuse, and the former became enraged and started swearing and taking the chairs and throwing them. His experience, he said, left him suffering from something his counselor likened to PTSD. When youre a 16-year-old and trying to find your identity and you have all this s--- youre dealing with from a church ... that stuff messes with you at your core, Rowan said. President Joe Biden has promised enough covid vaccine to immunize every willing adult by June 1. But right now, the gap between supply and demand is so dramatic that vaccinators are discovering ways to suck the final drops out of each vaccine vial if federal regulators will let them. Pharmacists involved in the covid vaccination drive say it's common to have half a dose left in a Pfizer vial after five or even six doses have been administered and to have half a dose left after 10 doses have been drawn out of a Moderna vial. Combining two half-doses could increase vaccinations by thousands at a time when 2 million or so doses are being administered every day in the country. So, they want to use a single hypodermic needle to withdraw leftover vaccine from two vials from which all full doses already have been removed. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists asked the Food and Drug Administration consider granting permission to do so in a recent letter. The governors of Colorado and Oregon also have sought permission to allow their pharmacists to pool covid vaccine vials. Federal health regulators, however, have long opposed the reuse of drug vials because of the risk of introducing a bacterial contaminant. From 1998 to 2014 more than 50 outbreaks of viral or bacterial disease were reported as a result of unsafe injection practices, including injecting multiple patients with a drug from the same vial. The FDA wouldn't comment on the pharmacists' letter but restated to KHN its current policy that "doses not be pooled from different vaccine vials, especially for coronavirus vaccines, which are not formulated with a preservative." On its website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explicitly tells vaccinators to discard vials "when there is not enough vaccine to obtain a complete dose. Do NOT combine residual vaccine from multiple vials to obtain a dose." "It's a recipe for disaster," said Ann Marie Pettis, president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. There is always a tiny chance that one of the two vials has previously been contaminated, which would contaminate a shot that combined their contents, she said. Spokespeople for both Moderna and Pfizer said excess portions of their vaccines must be discarded and never pooled. Johnson & Johnson had no comment on the issue. Before the covid vaccination program, public health officials generally frowned on giving multiple patients doses of medicine from a single vial, unless it contained an antibacterial preservative. Most children's vaccines, for example, have been shipped and stored in syringes or single-dose vials since 2001, when drug companies stopped using a preservative containing traces of mercury in some shots. Rajesh Gupta, a biologics consultant who set up a sterility testing lab while serving at the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research from 2006 to 2013, sees little risk in the covid vaccination process, or even in using a single needle to combine vaccine from two vials. The covid vaccines are being used so quickly after removal from cold storage that there's no danger of contamination, he said. "I can say with some degree of confidence that it's scientifically sound," if vaccinators carefully wipe the rubber stopper atop the vial with disinfectant before each penetration with a syringe, he said. While their plea for combining vial contents may fall on deaf ears at the FDA, pharmacists already are taking many other steps to maximize the yield of the mRNA vaccines, which have quite finicky shipment, handling and administration requirements. Documents leaked through a cyberattack on the European drug regulatory agency suggest that Pfizer has had difficulty assuring the quality of the mRNA in its vaccine. The company said in a response that all the vaccine doses it has put on the market had been "double tested to ensure compliance" with regulatory specifications. Michael Hogue, president of the American Pharmacists Association and dean of the Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy in California, runs a clinic at a university gymnasium that has been administering up to 10,000 vaccines each week since Jan. 28. It's nowhere near as simple as administering flu shots at a pharmacy, he said. "The planning and procedures for these mRNA vaccines [made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna] require a tremendous amount of focus," said Hogue. "You have to pay close attention to what's going on in the moment." The Pfizer vaccine, which until recently was always stored in dry ice, is especially challenging. After Pfizer vials are removed from a freezer and thawed, saline solution is squirted into each vial. If the syringe preparer doesn't withdraw air from the vial after adding the saline, vaccine will shoot out. After adding the solution, "you take the vial between thumb and forefinger and make a rainbow sweeping motion 10 times gently to mix the liquids together," Hogue said. Shaking the vaccine could render it ineffective. Each Pfizer vaccination contains just a bead of liquid about 1/16th of a teaspoon and pharmacists must use tiny syringes in which air bubbles tend to form. But they can't tap on the syringe to get the bubble out, because that, too, could damage the vaccine, Hogue said. To get six doses out of the Pfizer vials requires a type of plunger that pushes the last trace of vaccine out of the syringe. But about 15% of the syringes the federal government has been shipping to Loma Linda have larger needles that leave a bit of vaccine in the syringe, making it impossible to extract all six doses, he said. So, Loma Linda has been purchasing its own syringes to replace the inadequate ones. U.S. Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit agency that issues standards for use of medical products, issued an 11-page guide on how to store, handle and administer the covid vaccines. Among other things, it urges that vaccine sites set up clean rooms separate from the areas where vaccines are being administered to prepare the syringes, said Farah Towfic, CEO of operations for USP. "That way we don't have clients breathing on it," not to mention the distraction of greeting old acquaintances who are bubbling over with enthusiasm about getting vaccinated, said Patricia Slattum, a retired Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacy school professor who has been volunteering at a mass vaccination site in Richmond, Virginia. "There's a lot of love to go around in there." Another technique is to inject each needle into a different spot on the rubber vial stopper. If the syringe goes into the same location over and over, it can create a big hole that causes leakage. This tip is especially important now that Moderna is in talks with FDA to include up to 15 doses of vaccine in each vial, meaning 15 punctures of the stopper, noted Anna Legreid Dopp, director of clinical guidelines and quality improvement at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. "To draw up the vaccine, you stick a needle through the rubber stopper, then turn the vial upside down," said Slattum. "If you stick it in the same place, drops will leak down the needle. So there's an art to not losing vaccine." Slattum hopes the FDA will consider allowing vaccinators to draw the leftover vaccine from two vials. "We who are doing this work all feel this pressure, that our doing it well is one of the ways we're going to get out of this pandemic," said Slattum. "You just don't want to waste any vaccine!" Durand, 21, now the mom of a 2-month-old son, knew she wanted someone to help guide her through pregnancy. At the end, when she felt something different, she texted her doula. Later that week, she delivered. She said she might not have thought to reach out to a provider, but weekly sessions with her doula left her feeling supported and connected. Cities and counties throughout South Carolina will receive nearly $1.6 billion in direct financial aid from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Biden administrations landmark coronavirus relief plan, after President Joe Biden signed the bill into law March 11. As the most populous county in the state, Greenville County will receive an estimated $101.5 million, while the city of Greenville will get about $19.7 million. Unlike previous rounds of federal funding, the relief plan allows more flexibility in how the money is spent. Each county will receive money based on population, a change from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed last March, in which Greenville was the only county in South Carolina with a population large enough to qualify to receive its own share of funds. Greenville County received $91 million in CARES funds and distributed nearly all of it by the end of 2020. No cities in the state received dedicated funding in the CARES Act. All municipalities will receive funds based on population through the latest financial relief measure, though funding will come from two separate buckets of money with some geared toward metropolitan cities and others toward towns and smaller cities. In all, South Carolina counties stand to receive nearly $1 billion in aid. South Carolina towns and cities will receive $587.06 million. Under the American Rescue Plan, counties will receive half of their allocation in the next 60 days and the rest of it within a year. Broadly defined, according to analysis by National Association of Counties and National League of Cities, the money can be used to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its economic impacts. That could include further assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, or for aid to industries impacted by the pandemic like hospitality, tourism or travel. Counties and cities may also choose to use funds to offer extra pay for essential county workers, up to $13 an hour extra capped at $25,000. That could include premium pay for police officers, sheriffs deputies and emergency medical services employees. Counties could also provide grants to companies with employees who perform essential duties to provide the extra pay. Cities and counties can also use the funds to offset their own financial losses from the pandemic, including unpaid property taxes or lower hospitality and accommodations revenues from the last fiscal year. Finally, they can also choose to spend the funds on necessary infrastructure projects such as water, sewer or broadband internet. The aid to cities and counties is part of $350 billion total in the $1.9 trillion relief package that marked the first major legislative effort of the Biden administration. 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! The bill turned into a partisan affair and Republicans attacked the $350 billion in aid to states, tribal organizations and local governments as a blue state bailout to make up for deficits from Democratic-run states that overall took more drastic measures to shut down their economies and suffered financially during the pandemic. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said the funding formula would "bias the money toward big blue states." Rep. William Timmons, R-Greenville, said the bill spent too much money on extraneous Democrat priorities that will not help our recovery efforts. It is the wrong bill, at the wrong time, for all the wrong reasons. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Anderson, said the bills $350 billion would bail out blue states that poorly managed their budgets. The funds, though, will go to red and blue states alike, and in South Carolina, millions will flow into Upstate towns, cities and counties with largely conservative elected officials. Officials are just learning some of the details for the unprecedented federal allocation to local governments across the country. In the weeks ahead, Greenville County will evaluate its needs and will formulate a plan among staff and County Council for how best to use the money, said Bob Mihalic, Greenville County spokesman. While the county acted much like a granting organization for much of the CARES Act spending, this money will be sent directly to the county for its officials to determine its use, he said. The city of Greenville is working on a usage plan that focuses on restoring lost revenue needed to provide essential services, said Beth Brotherton, the citys spokeswoman. Counties and cities have until December 31, 2024 to spend the money. The U.S. Treasury Department will release official amounts and will be tasked with distributing the money across the country. In Greenville County, in addition to the city of Greenville, the following cities will receive a shared total of $36.9 million based on estimates from the National League of Cities: Greer, $12.46 million; Mauldin, $9.49 million; Simpsonville, $9.05 million; Fountain Inn, $3.9 million; Travelers Rest, $2 million. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 23:59:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China urges some related countries to abandon ideological prejudice and stop double standards on human rights issues, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday. Cuba made a speech on behalf of 64 countries on Friday at the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It supported China's position on Xinjiang-related matters and urged relevant parties to stop using such matters to interfere in China's internal affairs. In response, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that for quite some time, certain countries have been using Xinjiang-related matters to fabricate lies that slander and discredit China's counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts in Xinjiang. Many friendly and developing countries uphold an objective and unbiased attitude, and have voiced their support on multiple occasions regarding China's position and measures on Xinjiang-related matters. At the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Cuba made a speech on behalf of 64 countries, advocating that all parties promote and protect human rights through constructive dialogue and cooperation. It firmly opposes the politicization of human rights issues and double standards, and stresses that Xinjiang is an inseparable part of China. Cuba also urged relevant parties to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and stop using Xinjiang-related matters to interfere in China's internal affairs. They should end unjustified and politically-motivated accusations against China, and stop seeking to contain developing countries under the pretext of human rights issues. Besides the joint statement, representatives from many other countries have spoken out separately to support China's legitimate stance on Xinjiang-related matters. Zhao said Xinjiang-related issues are not human rights issues. At its essence, they are about countering violent terrorism, radicalization and separatism. There have never been such things as "genocide", "forced labor" or "religious oppression" in Xinjiang. They are nothing but baseless and sensational accusations made by those ignorant, ill-intentioned and biased individuals who simply want to extend their political interests. The overwhelmingly just voices of many developing countries at the UN Human Rights Council are in sharp contrast to a handful of countries that made trumped-up charges against China. It reflects that their lies cannot stand the test of the facts, he added. "We urge these countries to abandon ideological prejudice, stop politicizing and applying double standards on human rights issues, and stop undermining China's interests and interfering in China's internal affairs by using Xinjiang-related issues as a pretext," Zhao said. Enditem Nacogdoches, TX (75965) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) On March 13, residents of Palawan gather to the polls to vote on whether they approve or reject the move to split the province into three. Here's what you need to know about this historic event. The Palawan plebiscite is the first voting event in the country to take place in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic with the implementation of minimum health protocols. The Commission on Elections reported 490,639 registered voters but only a maximum of 200 will be allowed per clustered precinct and five at a given time. There are 2,959 clustered or grouped precincts, 3,250 established precincts and 487 voting centers in 23 municipalities except Puerto Princesa, as a highly urbanized city. Residents such as indigenous people who live in far-flung communities will be able to vote through Accessible Voting Centres set up near their areas. Voters have from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to cast their vote, during which they are required to observe physical distancing and wear face masks while face shields are optional since some communities may not have access to supply. Voters are required to submit health declaration forms but medical personnel will still be stationed in the centers to conduct temperature checks. Those found with a temperature of at least 37.5 and with answers of "yes" to any of the questions on the health form will stay in an isolated space while they fill their ballots. Disinfection will also take place from time to time, the Comelec said. After they have been cleared to enter the polling place, voters shall proceed to the assistance desk to check their precinct number and receive other instructions. They will vote in order of their arrival and shall leave immediately after sending in their ballot. The Comelec said it expects to finish canvassing votes on March 16. The creation of the three provinces will be upon the approval of majority of the votes but protests on the results can be filed 10 days after the proclamation. Background Back in April 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into a law a measure that sought to divide Palawan into three provinces, namely: Palawan Del Norte. Palawan Oriental, and Palawan Del Sur. Palawan Del Norte will cover the municipalities of Coron, Culion, Busuanga, Linapacao, Taytay and El Nido. Its capital would be Taytay. Palawan Oriental will have the towns of Roxas, Araceli, Dumaran, Cuyo, Agutaya, Magsaysay, Cayancillo and San Vicente with Roxas as the capital. Meanwhile, Palawan del Sur - named as the mother province - will be comprised of Aborlan, Narra, Quezon, Rizal, Espanola, Brooke's Point, Bataraza, Balabac and Kalayaan, with its capital being Brooke's Point. Yes or No Palawan officials have been pushing for this measure given that Palawan is the biggest province in the country. With a size of 1.7 million hectares, it is three times as big as Cebu, five times as big as Batangas and seven times as big as Laguna, according to the Partidong Pagbabago ng Palawan. "Dahil sa laki ng Palawan, hindi madali sa ating mga opisyal na pangalagaan o bantayan ang buong probinsya ng Palawan at mabigay na mas mabilis na serbisyo," said Atty. Christian Cojamco, of the group's legal department, in a previous conference. [Translation: Because of the largeness of Palawan, it has been difficult for our officials to take care or monitor the entire province and to provide services speedily.] The group also mentioned that through the law, the island's allocated budget will double from P3 billion to P6 billion, with each new province getting at least P2 billion. However, there are sectors who oppose the proposal, saying the province's budget increases every year regardless of the new law and the new allocation will only be a waste of money that will serve political interests. The One Palawan Movement raised that the increased budget allocated to the new provinces will mostly be used to construct new capital facilities and office resources instead of actual improvements into the island. The organization also argued that despite the largeness of Palawan, it is mostly forests and mountains, which do not warrant the need for more capital cities and structures. It said Palawan only had 58 residents per square kilometer. "Hindi pagdadagdag ng kapitolyo ang kailangan. Ang kadalasang pumupunta at may transaksyon sa kapitolyo ay mga pulitiko at opisyales lamang, hindi ang simpleng mamamayan" said Cynthia Sumagaysay-Del Rosario, One Palawan Movement's lead campaigner. [Translation: Additional capital cities are not needed. The people who often visit or have transactions in those facilities are the officials, not the ordinary people.] It also said the division of Palawan is a ploy by politicians who are close to the end of their terms to remain in office by creating more local positions. As for the argument on delivery of services, the One Palawan Movement said municipalities and other local government units have been effectively doing that job. It instead urged better enforcement of existing laws, placing commercial or "growth centers" and promoting community-based development. 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 York Governor Andrew Cuomo refused to resign on Friday despite 14 of the state's 19 congressional Democrats demanding he step aside and 30 more women alleging bullying and harassment in his office. Those added to the allegations of sexual misconduct made by seven women - most of whom are former aides - against the governor in the past weeks. New York representatives Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among the powerful state Democrats demanding his resignation Friday morning amid the sexual harassment claims and the nursing home scandal. Nadler claimed that Cuomo had 'lost the confidence of the people of New York' in a statement issued Friday as part of the coordinated effort by the state's congressional delegation. The twelve representatives who issued statements on Friday joined with Rep. Kathleen Rice of Long Island, who has been calling for Cuomo to step down since last week. Shortly after the representatives issued their statements, State Senator Mike Gianaris revealed that the entire Democratic state senate delegation had also now agreed that Cuomo should resign. However, Cuomo claimed that he won't bow to 'cancel culture', despite a seventh accuser coming forward and calls to quit from Democrats making it appear that his position is untenable. New York representatives Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday issued statements demanding governor Andrew Cuomo to resign amid sexual harassment claims It comes after 59 Democrats in the state legislature on Thursday signed a statement demanding Gov Cuomo (pictured above) resign Nadler claimed Cuomo had 'lost the confidence of the people of New York' in his statement issued as part of the coordinated effort by the state's congressional delegation AOC also released a statement to Twitter alongside Rep Jamaal Bowman Cuomo blasted the politicians calling for him to resign as 'reckless and dangerous' and questioned the motives of the women who have made claims against him. Ordinarily, the governor's televised press briefings run for over an hour, with at least 30 minutes of questions. Today's call was less than 30 minutes in total, including questions. What happens if Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns from office? If Cuomo resigns Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul (pictured) would take over As of Friday afternoon, 14 out of 19 of New York's congressional Democrats have called for Governor Andrew Cuomo's resignation. They are joined by all Democrats in the NY State Senate and by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo on Friday refused to accept that he should resign despite the mounting pressure. If he resigns Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul would take over. She would finish Cuomos term until the next scheduled gubernatorial election in 2022. Hochul is a Democrat who has served since 2015 and was a NY representative for New York's 26th congressional district from 2011 to 2013. She backed an investigation into allegations against Cuomo last month. 'Everyone deserves to have their voice heard and to be taken seriously. I support an independent review,' she said. The last time a governor resigned was in early 2008. Gov. Eliot Spitzer left office after he admitted to having extramarital affairs with sex workers. When Spitzer stepped down, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson took over until 2010. Cuomo, then Attorney General, won that election to take over from Paterson. To date, a lieutenant governor has stepped in to carry out a gubernatorial term in New York on eight occassions, the first one taking place in 1817. LG Hochul would also take over if Cuomo is impeached. New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie authorized its Judiciary Committee to start an impeachment investigation into Cuomo Thursday. The last time a NY governor was impeached was in 1913. The process in New York is very similar to the impeachment procedure in Congress. A simple majority in the state Assembly is required to impeach a governor. It then goes to the state impeachment court. A two-thirds majority of the state Senate and the justices of the New York Court of Appeals would be required to convict Cuomo and remove him from office. The lieutenant governor takes over as acting governor while the trial plays out. Advertisement With a sprawling coalition of congressional leaders joining dozens of state lawmakers in calling for the embattled governor to step down, the Democrat hit back. Cuomo accused those who are calling for him to step down of 'playing politics', and said that as a former Attorney General, he knows that people 'allege all sorts of things, for all sorts of reasons.' 'Women have a right to come forward and be heard and I encourage that but I also want to be clear - there is still a question of the truth. 'I did not do what has been alleged. Period. I wont speculate about people's possible motives, but I can tell you as a former Attorney General, who's gone through this situation many times, there are often many motivations for making an allegation. 'That is why you need to know the facts before you make a decision.' He did not mention any politicians by name, but went on: 'Politicians who don't know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and an opinion are in my opinion reckless and dangerous.' 'The people of New York should not have confidence in a politician who takes a position without knowing any facts or substance that my friends is politics at its worst 'Politicians take positions for all sorts of reasons including political expediency and bowing to pressure. 'People know the different between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth...let the review proceed. 'I am not going to resign. I was not elected by the politicians. I was elected by the people - part of this is that i am not part of the political club and you know what, I'm proud of it. 'This is all I am going to say on this topic at this time.' He went on to make his case for why he should stay in office, insisting he was the man for the job because hed been in the public eye his entire life as the son of former NY Governor Mario Cuomo. 'The people have known me for 40 years; elected me AG, governor 3 times, I've been in the public eye my entire life. 'My entire life, I have been under public scrutiny since I was 23. New Yorkers know me.. I am going to focus on my job because we have real challenges. People who say avoid distractions. I am going to avoid distractions and focus on my job - I have to rebuild the state.' During questions, Cuomo insisted again - as he did last week - that he never touched anyone inappropriately but accepted that he may have felt people feel 'uncomfortable' while taking photographs with them. 'I never harassed anyone, abused anyone, assaulted anyone and I never would. Is it possible that I have taken a picture with a person who after the fact, says they were uncomfortable with the pose? Yes. 'That is what you're hearing about. I have taken thousands of pictures. I never meant to make anyone feel awkward.. there re times when I can feel they are stand-offish and I respect that. 'I apologized for people who I have taken pictures with and who after the fact said they were uncomfortable.' He went on to say he was the 'best' person to lead New York out of a period of crisis because he has been in the public eye 'his entire life' and that he will carry on focusing on the 'job' at hand. 'I have a job to do. This is the most critical time in the state's history. Everything I have learned, I am bringing to the table at this moment.' Cuomo also seemed to suggest that he'd had consensual sexual relationships with some of the women after emphatically denying that he had 'abused, harassed or assaulted' any of them. MEMBERS OF THE NY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CALLING FOR CUOMO'S RESIGNATION Issuing statements Friday: Rep. Jerry Nadler Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Rep. Jamaal Bowman Rep. Mondaire Jones Rep. Yvette Clarke Rep. Adriano Espaillat Rep. Carolyn Maloney Rep. Grace Meng Rep. Nydia M. Velazques Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney Rep. Antonio Delgado Rep. Brian Higgins Rep. Paul Tonko Issued statement last week: 14. Rep. Kathleen Ric Advertisement A reporter asked if any of his interactions with the women had been, in his view, consensual. He responded: 'Look... my statement could not be clearer. I never harassed anyone, assaulted anyone, I never abused anyone.' At the end of the call, he said: 'What is being alleged just did not happen. 'The last allegation is not true and I have not had a sexual relationship that was inappropriate period. OK. Thank you,' before hanging up. Cuomo's growing list of detractors now covers virtually every region in the state and the political power centers of New York City and Washington. His allies insist he will not resign, but as allegations of sexual harassment grow, his political isolation has reached unprecedented levels. New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gilibrand, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have not yet called for him to quit but have voiced support for the accusers and an investigation into the claims being led by state Attorney General Letitia James. Schumer, however, did take a swipe at Cuomo as he appeared at Mayor de Blasio's press conference on Thursday and claimed that he was giving billion of dollars for new vaccine sites straight to New York City as the Big Apple sometimes doesn't see funds it's sent through the state legislature in Albany. Other Republicans in New York's Congressional delegation previously called for Cuomo's resignation, including Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney and Lee Zeldin. Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, claimed that the allegations made by then-six women against the governor have 'made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point'. 'The bravery individuals have shown in coming forward to share their experiences with Governor Cuomo is inspiring, and I stand with them in support,' Nadler, one of the highest-ranking members of Congress, added in a statement posted to Twitter. 'Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York. Governor Cuomo must resign.' protestor sits outside the New York State Capitol on Friday, following allegations that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed young women A group also gathered to protest over the nursing home COVID scandal (pictured) Democratic Representatives from New York, Grace Meng, Carolyn Maloney, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia M. Velazques, and Yvette Clarke who all issued statements Friday AOC also released a statement to Twitter alongside Rep Jamaal Bowman, another member of the party's left-wing, in which they referenced both the harassment allegations and the nursing home COVID-19 deaths scandal. 'This week, the second sexual assault allegation and the sixth harassment allegation was leveled against Governor Cuomo,' Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman said. 'The fact that this latest report was so recent is alarming, and it raises concerns about the present safety and well-being of the administration's staff. These allegations have all been consistent and highly-detailed, and there are also credible media reports substantiating their accounts.' 'After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney General's investigation finding the Governor's admin hid nursing home data from the legislature & public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign,' AOC added in a tweet. It was the sharpest rebuke yet for the governor from inside his own party, where just a year ago he was being praised as a star for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. The New York Democrats who spoke out on Friday had previously said the supported AG James' investigation but shifted their position as more women came forward this week. The statements were made just as news broke about the allegations made by 30 women who spoke to New York Magazine about their experience with Cuomo and his administration. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (pictured left to right above) all issued statements demanding Cuomo resign on Friday morning Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill Rep. Mondaire Jones, Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Rep. Yvette Clarke also issued statements State legislator Alessandra Biaggi has been vocal in her criticism of Cuomo since the allegations emerged and has said that his office and approach to politics is abusive. She has now claimed that the governor kissed her head in front on her fiance twice when they met at a wedding after she left his office. She claims Cuomo asked 'are you jealous?' while looking at her fiance. 'I didn't feel sexually harassed. I felt like he was trying to make me feel uncomfortable, to disarm me,' Biaggi claimed. It tied with reports from other women of bullying in his office, which led to multiple aides beginning to take anti-depressants and go to therapy for the first time in their lives while working there. Ana Liss, a former Cuomo aide (pictured above), was among the ex-staff to speak out on Friday about the impact working in Cuomo's office had on her mental health His fourth accuser Ana Liss told New York that she 'started pursuing mental-health services when I was there because I thought I was going crazy'. 'My parents thought I was going nuts. I was angry and crying all the time, and I went on Lexapro.' She had previously told the Wall Street Journal that she had started drinking heavily there before asking to be above to be moved to another office. Other women reiterated previous claims that they were expected to wear nice dresses and high heels in the office, with some saying they were contacted about interviewing for the governor's administration after he met them at parties. 'We all knew that this was only because of what I looked like,' one former aide known only as Kaitlin said of her call. 'Why else would you ask someone to come in two days after you had a two-minute interaction at a party?' Cuomo was also accused of 'racialized abuse' by Camonghne Felix, a black speech writer. She told New York that she eventually moved to the press team when she accepted he was never going to use her speeches. 'It's a very subtle form of racialized abuse,' she said. 'You know I am beneficial to you. I fill a quota. It looks good on paper, and we made sure to put press releases out. But you don't intend to incorporate me into the government. You just like to show me to people.' As well as AOC, Nadler and Bowman, Reps. Mondaire Jones, Yvette Clarke, Adriano Espaillat, Carolyn Maloney, Grace Meng, Nydia M. Velazques, Sean Patrick Maloney, Antonio Delgado and Brian Higgins all issued similar statements at the same time. 'I support those who spoke out about their stories and admire their courage. Thanks to the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, women are emboldened to step forward,' Congresswoman Maloney wrote in her statement Friday. 'I join with Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, my colleagues, and others who have called on Governor Cuomo to resign in the best interest of all New Yorkers. 'We have come a long way, but now is the time to finally ensure that this generation's courage stops harassment once and for all.' Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney joined the pack calling for resignation on Friday Rep. Antonio Delgado (left) and Rep. Brian Higgins (right) also issued a statement Rep. Kathleen Rice was the first to call for Cuomo to resign last week Congresswoman Clarke said in her statement that she is now 'in favor of a more expedited call to action' regarding Cuomo. 'These allegations have reached a level that I believe impedes the Governor's ability to serve the people of New York State to the best of his abilities,' Clarke said. 'I remain confident that Attorney General Tish James has the resources, prowess, and ability to conduct a comprehensive and determinative report. However, I must join my colleagues in calling for Governor Andrew Cuomo to step down.' President Joe Biden has also not said that he believes the governor, a long-time friend and ally, should step aside. Vice President Kamala Harris has also not commented. Biden has, however, voiced his support for Cuomo's seven accusers. 'The president has known him a long time but that doesn't matter in this scenario,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Good Morning America on Friday. 'I would say the president, VP, we all believe that every one of these women coming forward should be treated with respect, should have her voice heard. 'It's heard for me as a woman to read a lot of these stories and sometimes we wake up and there's a new one, but we believe there there in an independent investigation that's ongoing, led by the attorney general with subpoena power and we certainly support that moving forward,' Psaki added. Along with an allegation that the governor groped a female aide at the Executive Mansion last year, Cuomo is facing allegations of sexually suggestive remarks and behavior toward women, including female aides. One aide, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett said he asked her if she would ever have sex with an older man. And another former aide Lindsey Boylan claimed the governor once kissed her without consent, and said governor's aides publicly smeared her after she accused him of sexual harassment. On Friday, his seventh accuser emerged. Reporter Jessica Bakeman detailed in New YorK Magazine that she was sexually harassed by Cuomo on several occassions since the start of her journalism career in 2012. The new calls for his resignation come a day after New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he had authorized its Judiciary Committee to start an impeachment investigation into sexual misconduct allegations that six women have made against Cuomo. The panel's investigation will run parallel to one being led by AG Letitia James. Cuomo has asked the public to await the results of that investigation before making judgment. The third-term governor, who took office in 2011, has pointed to his reelections as indication of strong statewide support, which was bolstered last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also touted his administrations passage of liberal goals such as same-sex marriage as evidence that his hard-nosed approach to politics works. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. The Belarusian Health Ministry on March 11 said that the coronavirus variant, which was first discovered in the UK, now has been registered in Belarus. The press service said that people who arrived from countries, including Poland, Ukraine and Egypt, were the first carriers of the new strain. According to Belarus state-owned news agency BelTA, the officials further informed that several cases of local transmission of the UK variant were also confirmed. Yelena Gasich, head of the laboratory for diagnostics of HIV and associated infections, said that the centre conducts continuous genotyping to determine mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulating in or imported into the country. She said that the UK variant was found in people who arrived from abroad and added that the deletion at position 69/70 in the spike protein has been found in the samples. Yelena said that this deletion is common for the UK variant of the virus'. Moreover, she added that the analysis of viral genome sequence data identified other spike protein mutations present in four samples, which also suggested that it was the UK variant. Further, Yelena said that in order to confirm the presence of new COVID-19 variants in Belarus, one of the samples was subject to whole-genome sequencing, and the analysis of this sample in the GISAID database revealed that this genome belonged to the UK variant. The Belarusian press service has said that the COVID-19 pandemic is aggravated by mutations of the pathogen. The officials added that this is common for RNA genomic viruses and thus, it is of paramount importance to track mutations, observe social distancing and conduct vaccinations. UK variant has higher mortality rate Meanwhile, the UK reported a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC), lineage B.1.1.7, last year in December 2020 after cases were detected in England and parts of London. The strain quickly became dominant, spreading in over 30 countries abroad, including the US. Earlier, scientists found that the more virulent UK strain of the coronavirus which was first detected across England and London has a "significantly higher mortality rate. The variant dubbed as B.1.1.7, is more lethal, and leads to more hospitalizations and caseload as compared to the other mutants, based on the analysis of data released by New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) on SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7. After several preliminary analyses, it was found that the death rate from the new SARS-CoV-2strain was 70 per cent more lethal, a study published British Medical Journal on Wednesday revealed. Human Rights Activists to Protest at NBC Headquarters in New York City, Calling for Them NOT to Broadcast the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games Because of China's Human Rights Abuses Reverend Mahoney Being Arrested in Tiananmen Square During the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics NEWS PROVIDED BY Christian Defense Coalition March 12, 2021 NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /Standard Newswire/ -- The protest will be on Friday, March 12, at 1:00 PM at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The name of the project is, "NBC Say No To The 'Beijing Genocide Games.'" Here is a link to the Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/132489442013592 It would be unconscionable for NBC to broadcast the Beijing Games while China is committing genocide against the Uyghrus, oppressing Hong Kong, bulldozing churches, persecuting all religious minorities and trampling free speech and human rights against their own citizens. "NBC Say No To The 'Genocide Games'" is part of a march larger global campaign of human rights organizations, politicians, activists and international leaders calling for the boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Here is a link to a news article of 180 worldwide human rights groups urging a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics: https://thehill.com/policy/international/537363-180-human-rights-groups-urging-boycott-of-beijing-olympic-games. Lead Organizer Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C., has been an outspoken critic of the human rights abuses in China for over 40 years. In 2008, he was involved in an effort to boycott the Beijing Summer Olympics and was arrested in Tiananmen Square (pictured above) during the Olympics speaking out for human rights. He was threatened with six months in prison and is currently banned from China. Rev. Mahoney states; "It would be unconscionable for NBC to broadcast the Beijing Olympic Games while China is committing genocide against the Uyghrus, oppressing Hong Kong, bulldozing churches, persecuting religious minorities and crushing free speech and human rights against their own citizens. "We call upon NBC not to give the Chinese Communist Party an international propaganda platform before billions of people worldwide for a China that does not exist. The 'real China' is one that the government would never allow NBC to broadcast. That is, a country where Uyghurs are living in concentration and forced labor camps, Hong Kong democracy leaders are sitting in prison with no bail, Christian Churches are bulldozed, political and religious dissidents are daily being brutalized and persecuted and so many more atrocities. "Simply stated, 'NBC Say No To The Beijing Genocide Games.'" Kris Keating, President of Bright Mercy, adds; "Hosting the Olympics is an honor that is endorsed by those countries that participate. In 1980, the United States stood on principle and boycotted the Olympic Games hosted in the Soviet Union. As China refuses to cease the oppression and genocide of minorities, I ask that the United States again stand against tyranny and oppression by boycotting the Olympic Games in China. "This is an unprecedented opportunity to hold China to a higher and better standard for safeguarding human rights for people in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The United States government must also be an advocate for a return to democracy in Hong Kong. We must loudly urge against any compromises with respect to the human rights abuses occurring under Chinese authority." For more information or interviews call: Rev. Patrick Mahoney at 540.538.4741 SOURCE Christian Defense Coalition CONTACT: Rev. Patrick Mahoney, 540-538-4741 Gunmen in northwest Nigeria kidnapped around 30 students overnight from a forestry college near a military academy, three students said on Friday, in the fourth mass school abduction since December. The Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation sits on the outskirts of Kaduna city, capital of Kaduna state, in a region roamed by armed gangs, who often travel on motorcycles. Kaduna states security commissioner, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the attack but did not say how many students had been taken. Sani Danjuma, a student at the college, said those abducted were all female students, but authorities were unable to confirm this. Other students said some of the young women had managed to escape during the attack. Local resident Haruna Salisu, speaking by phone, said he had heard sporadic gunshots at around 11:30 pm. We were not panicking, thinking that it was a normal military exercise being conducted at the Nigerian Defence Academy, he said. We came out for dawn prayers, at 5:20am, and saw some of the students, teachers and security personnel all over the school premises. They told us that gunmen raided the school and abducted some of the students. Mr Salisu said she had seen military personnel taking the remaining students into the academy. On Friday morning, relatives of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by around 20 army trucks. Banditry has festered for years in northwest Nigeria, rendering large swathes of the region lawless. The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which seized 270 schoolgirls from a school at Chibok in the northeast in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found. It has since been taken up by armed criminal gangs seeking ransom. Within the last few weeks, 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigerias Zamfara state, and 27 teenage boys were released after being kidnapped from their school in the north-central state of Niger, along with three staff and 12 family members. One student was shot dead in that attack. Military and police attempts to tackle the gangs have had little success, while many worry that state authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished, paying them off or, as in Zamfara, giving them amenities. In late February, the presidency said President Muhammadu Buhari had urged state governments to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously. The unrest has become a political problem for Mr Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism over the rise in violent crime, and replaced his long-standing military chiefs in February. Reuters New Delhi, March 12 : The Uttarakhand Cabinet is likely to be expanded on Friday. According to sources, newly appointed Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat may induct 11 ministers in his cabinet during the oath taking ceremony scheduled at Raj Bhawan in Dehradun later. Uttarakhand BJP Vice President Devendra Bhasin told IANS expansion of Tirath Singh Rawat's cabinet is scheduled at 5 p.m. Former Uttarakhand BJP chief Bansidhar Bhagat is likely to be inducted in the Tirath Singh Rawat cabinet, the source added. As per provisions, Uttarakhand cabinet can have maximum 12 ministers including the Chief Minister. In Trivendra Singh Rawat government, three ministerial berths were lying vacant. "A year before assembly elections, party will try to make everyone happy by giving ministerial position to maximum MLAs as per provisions. All the ministers in previous government are likely to be inducted in new cabinet," said a party leader. Earlier in the day, Bhagat was replaced as Uttarakhand BJP chief by state minister in Trivendra Singh Rawat government and Haridwar MLA Madan Kaushik. "Going with party policy of 'one man, one post', Bhagat was replaced by Kaushik and former state unit chief is likely to be inducted in the Tirath Singh Rawat government as Minister," said a BJP leader. Tirath Singh Rawat took oath as new Chief Minister On Wednesday, a day after former Chief Minister resigned. The ECOWAS Commission and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) are strengthening their existing collaboration in peace, security and good governance in West Africa. Steaming from the challenges of peace and security in the region and the complications of the COVID 19 pandemic, the resolve for greater collaboration was the main outcome of a virtual Desk-to-Desk meeting between the ECOWAS Commission and UNOWAS which held on the 9th of March 2021. Speaking at the opening session of the meeting, the Director of Political Affairs at the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Aderemi Ajibewa, recalled the various areas of common interest between the two institutions and reiterated ECOWAS commitment in sustaining this enviable partnership. Dr Remi Ajibewa, who also gave insights to key institutional reforms and political happenings in the region, highlighted the jointly adopted work plans and the various joint activities in support of regional peace and stability, including High-Level Preventive Diplomacy missions in support of Member States electoral processes. He stated further that the Desk-to-Desk presented a veritable platform for ECOWAS departments and directorates to identify areas of collaboration with UNOWAS and alignment of various sectoral agenda. On his part, the Director of Political Affairs at UNOWAS, Mr Moudjib Djinadou, gave an overview of the last Desk-to-Desk meeting in October 2019, noting that challenges including the advent of the COVID19 pandemic had hampered full implementation of agreed joint activities. He remained optimistic that with the common resolve of both organisations, much more will be achieved in the coming months and beyond. He informed the meeting that the UNOWAS Liaison Office located in Abuja, will now be effectively functional, and said that the office manned by a senior officer will further facilitate collaboration and synergy with ECOWAS. Participants at the workshop included UNOWAS heads of Cluster and political officers, staff of ECOWAS political Affairs, Peace Keeping and Regional Security, Humanitarian, Communication and Early Warning Directorates. Discussions centered on recent key institutional as well as political developments, strengthening joint communication and identification of joint programmes/activities for 2021. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Watertown, NY (13601) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Given the COVID-19 restrictions, the election took place virtually. "I am deeply honored to serve as the new President of the ICC together with the two Vice-Presidents. I am particularly pleased to do so as the first ICC President coming from the Eastern European group of states," newly-elected ICC President Hofmanski expressed. According to Hofmanski, the Court is currently facing many challenges and the best way to meet those challenges is to refocus on doing all that we can do to deliver justice. "I intend to continue the efforts undertaken by the judiciary to increase the efficiency of its work and to harmonize practices. The judges of the Court, acting together, should seize the opportunity to strengthen the Court in performing its important mandate under the Rome Statute, as a court of law," he added. For her part, Peruvian Judge Ibanez said: "I am deeply honored to serve as First Vice-President. I have no doubt that this Presidency will work to the best of its ability in the service of international justice, to help ensure redress for victims and to contribute to the prevention of future crimes." About It coordinates with the other organs and seeks the concurrence of the Prosecutor on matters of mutual concern. In accordance with the Rome Statute, the ICC's governing treaty, the Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court, with the exception of the Office of the Prosecutor. It oversees the activities of the Registry and provides input into a broad range of administrative policies affecting the Court's overall functioning. Furthermore, it conducts judicial review of certain decisions of the Registrar and concludes Court-wide cooperation agreements with States and international organizations. Judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez Prior to joining the ICC, Judge Ibanez served as a Senior National Prosecutor in Peru's specialized system for the prosecution of crimes such as terrorism, grave violations of human rights, and crimes against humanity. Likewise, she acted as the Coordinator of the 17 prosecutorial agencies of the aforementioned system. In her capacity as a Public Prosecutor, Judge Ibanez implemented a number of measures towards victims' reparations. These measures supported, for example, searching for missing persons; recovering and identifying human remains in mass graves; organizing public ceremonies for the declaration of public apologies from the Peruvian State to the victims and the restitution of the human remains to the relatives of the victims; rescuing children abducted by armed groups, etc. Judge Ibanez holds a Master's degree in Criminal Law and a Doctorate in Law degree from Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, in Peru; she obtained her degree in law and in political science from Universidad Nacional de Trujillo. Editor's note: Based on information provided by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Press release no. 2-2021 Sborg, March 12, 2021 Konsolidator signs first Consolidation as a Service (CaaS) partner agreement with a local Beierholm entity in Denmark Konsolidator has signed the first CaaS partner agreement with Beierholm Hobro. Beierholm is one of the leading audit firms in Denmark. The partner agreement will allow the local Beierholm entity to use Konsolidator to deliver consolidation and reporting services for their clients. Offering a CaaS partner agreement is an integrated part of Konsolidator's growth strategy for 2021 and a way of expanding the sales channel to the existing partner program that counts end-user sales partners and onboarding-partners. Konsolidator launched the CaaS partner program in February 2021 and estimates the potential for this type of partner program to be significant. Adding a CaaS partner channel to our current sales channels allows us to tap further into the end-user market through audit firms and other providers of financial reporting. Being able to sign the first CaaS partner in March after just launching the program in February is a good indication that the market is ready and will drive new business revenue for Konsolidator says CEO Claus Finderup Grove. About Konsolidator Konsolidator A/S is a financial consolidation software company whose primary objective is to make Group CFOs around the world better through automated financial consolidation and reporting in the cloud. Created by CFOs and auditors and powered by innovative technology, Konsolidator removes the complexity of financial consolidation and enables the CFO to save time and gain actionable insights based on key performance data to become a vital part of strategic decision-making. For further information: CEO Claus Finderup Grove, mobile. +45 2095 2988, e-mail: cfg@konsolidator.com Konsolidator A/S Vandtarnsvej 83 A 2860 Sborg www.konsolidator.com Attachment This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong! Tehran, March 12 : Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for the end of the US' presence in Syria and Iraq. "The Americans must leave Iraq, which is the will of the Iraqis and their law," Xinhhua news agency quoted the top leader as saying in a televised address on Thursday. By "the Iraqis' law", Khamenei was referring to a resolution passed on January 5, 2020, by the country's Parliament requiring the Baghdad government to end the presence of foreign forces. The resolution was passed two days after Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, were killed in an American drone strike near the Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020. On the other hand, Khamenei slammed the criticism of Iranian presence in Syria, Iraq and other countries in West Asia. He arguing that, contrary to the US, the Iranian presence is not military but "political, and wherever it is "indeed military, it has an advisory role". Khamenei went on to say that either in Syria and Iraq, Iran's presence seeks to "defend the legitimate governments in place, at the request of those governments". US critics, he further noted, "magnify" Iran's regional presence, and at the same time Washington "attack a country without permission and establish a military base". A few thousand US troops are leading international coalition forces tasked with helping the Iraqi security forces in the fight against the Islamic State by carrying out airstrikes against the terror group's positions in Iraq and Syria. The American troops also provide military equipment and training to Iraqi forces. A personal financial plan in line with healthcare needs is provided to each patient through the Patient Financial Navigation Program at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. The Patient Financial Navigation Program was created to help patients and their families address financial needs and to help reduce barriers and stress related to healthcare costs, visits, and treatment. We are so happy to be able to offer this service to our patients, said CEO Irene Richardson. The Patient Navigation Program was developed by one of our employees, Patty Stickney. While Patty was working on... Sound sleep plays a critical role in healing traumatic brain injury, a new study of military veterans suggests. The study, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, used a new technique involving magnetic resonance imaging developed at Oregon Health & Science University. Researchers used MRI to evaluate the enlargement of perivascular spaces that surround blood vessels in the brain. Enlargement of these spaces occurs in aging and is associated with the development of dementia. Among veterans in the study, those who slept poorly had more evidence of these enlarged spaces and more post-concussive symptoms. "This has huge implications for the armed forces as well as civilians," said lead author Juan Piantino, M.D., MCR, assistant professor of pediatrics (neurology) in the OHSU School of Medicine and Doernbecher Children's Hospital. "This study suggests sleep may play an important role in clearing waste from the brain after traumatic brain injury - and if you don't sleep very well, you might not clean your brain as efficiently." Piantino, a physician-scientist with OHSU's Pape Family Pediatric Research Institute, studies the effects of poor sleep on recovery after traumatic brain injuries. The new study benefited from a method of analyzing MRIs developed by study co-author Daniel Schwartz and Erin Boespflug, Ph.D., under the direction of Lisa Silbert, M.D., M.C.R., professor of neurology in the OHSU School of Medicine. The technique measures changes in the brain's perivascular spaces, which are part of the brain's waste clearance system known as the glymphatic system. "We were able to very precisely measure this structure and count the number, location and diameter of channels," Piantino said. Co-author Jeffrey Iliff, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of neurology at the University of Washington and a researcher at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, has led scientific research into the glymphatic system and its role in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. During sleep, this brain-wide network clears away metabolic proteins that would otherwise build up in the brain. The study used data collected from a group of 56 veterans enrolled by co-authors Elaine Peskind, M.D., and Murray Raskind, M.D., at the Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center at the VA Puget Sound between 2011 and 2019. "Imagine your brain is generating all this waste and everything is working fine," Piantino said. "Now you get a concussion. The brain generates much more waste that it has to remove, but the system becomes plugged." Piantino said the new study suggests the technique developed by Silbert could be useful for older adults. "Longer term, we can start thinking about using this method to predict who is going to be at higher risk for cognitive problems including dementia," he said. The study is the latest in a growing body of research highlighting the importance of sleep in brain health. Improving sleep is a modifiable habit that can be improved through a variety of methods, Piantino said, including better sleep hygiene habits such as reducing screen time before bed. Improving sleep is a focus of research of other OHSU scientists, including Piantino's mentor, Miranda Lim, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology, medicine and behavioral neuroscience in the OHSU School of Medicine. "This study puts sleep at the epicenter of recovery in traumatic brain injury," Piantino said. ### The study was supported by the National heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, award K23HL150217-01; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Service Merit Review grant B77421; and NIH award P30AG008017-18. Domingo Echague Marino hires Domingo Echague as art director. Echague joins Marino from Nickerson, where he was director of creative services. Domingos deep expertise in branding and design has positioned him as an emerging leader in the industry, and his creative talent will be a tremendous asset to our clients and firm, said Marino president John F. Marino. Robert Holobinko Rebel Gail Communications brings on Robert Holobinko as managing director and chief brand creative strategist. Holobinko comes to Rebel Gail from Gap, where he was vice president of brand marketing. He previously spent 10 years in executive marketing positions at American Eagle. In his new position, Holobinko will be responsible for new business growth, talent development and operational oversight in addition to serving as creative and strategic account lead. "His distinctive combination of creative brainpower and strategic acumen has already had a huge impact on the agency and his enthusiasm and leadership skills are a huge asset for both our clients and growing staff," said Rebel Gail founder and joint CEO Nancy Caravetta. Michael Henrich Arch Street Communications names Michael Henrich director of public engagement. An Emmy Award-winning journalist, Henrich most recently reported and anchored on the morning newscast at Bostons WFXT-TV. At ASC, he will focus his community and media relations experience on the agencys federal, state and regional transportation clients. Storytelling and audience connection come second nature to Michael. We are thrilled to add his communication and media insights to Arch Street, said ASC founder and chief executive officer Nora Madonick. Varnua Bhatia ROKK Solutions adds Varuna Bhatia to its executive team as vice president. Bhatia comes to the agency from DCG Communications, where she worked on project management, media relations, event planning, social media and newsletter production. She was previously an several roles, including assignment editor, at Fox News Channel. At Fox, her responsibilities spanned reacting to breaking news and coordinating live news coverage; planning logistics for multiple major events; managing daily assignments of field producers, photographers and audio technicians; blogging news stories for FoxNews.com as well as serving as an off-air breaking news reporter for the network. Not so fast, supernova: highest-energy cosmic rays detected in star clusters For decades, researchers assumed the cosmic rays that regularly bombard Earth from the far reaches of the galaxy are born when stars go supernova -- when they grow too massive to support the fusion occurring at their cores and explode. Those gigantic explosions do indeed propel atomic particles at the speed of light great distances. However, new research suggests even supernovae -- capable of devouring entire solar systems -- are not strong enough to imbue particles with the sustained energies needed to reach petaelectronvolts (PeVs), the amount of kinetic energy attained by very high-energy cosmic rays. And yet cosmic rays have been observed striking Earth's atmosphere at exactly those velocities, their passage marked, for example, by the detection tanks at the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory near Puebla, Mexico. Instead of supernovae, the researchers posit that star clusters like the Cygnus Cocoon serve as PeVatrons -- PeV accelerators -- capable of moving particles across the galaxy at such high energy rates. Their paradigm-shifting research provides compelling evidence for star forming regions to be PeVatrons and is published in two recent papers in Nature Astronomy and Astrophysical Journal Letters. A characteristic of physics research is how collaborative it is. The research was conducted by Petra Huentemeyer, professor of physics at Michigan Technological University, along with recent graduate Binita Hona '20, doctoral student Dezhi Huang, former MTU postdoc Henrike Fleischhack (now at Catholic University/NASA GSFC/CRESST II), Sabrina Casanova at the Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, Ke Fang at the University of Wisconsin and Roger Blanford at Stanford, along with numerous other collaborators of the HAWC Observatory. Huentemeyer noted that HAWC and physicists from other institutions have measured cosmic rays from all directions and across many decades of energy. It's in tracking the cosmic rays with the highest known energy, PeVs, that their origin becomes so important. "Cosmic rays below PeV energy are believed to come from our galaxy, but the question is what are the accelerators that can produce them," Huentemeyer said. Fleischhack said the paradigm shift the researchers have uncovered is that before, scientists thought supernova remnants were the main accelerators of cosmic rays. "They do accelerate cosmic rays, but they are not able to get to highest energies," she said. So, what is driving cosmic rays' acceleration to PeV energy? "There have been several other hints that star clusters could be part of the story," Fleischhack said. "Now we are getting confirmation that they are able to go to highest energies." Star clusters are formed from the remnants of a supernova event. Known as star cradles, they contain violent winds and clouds of swirling debris -- such as those noted by the researchers in Cygnus OB2 and cluster [BDS2003]8. Inside, several types of massive stars known as spectral type O and type B stars are gathered by the hundreds in an area about 30 parsecs (108 light-years) across. "Spectral type O stars are the most massive," Hona said. "When their winds interact with each other, shock waves form, which is where acceleration happens." The researchers' theoretical models suggest that the energetic gamma-ray photons seen by HAWC are more likely produced by protons than by electrons. "We will use NASA telescopes to search for the counterpart emission by these relativistic particles at lower energies," Fang said. The extremely high energy at which cosmic rays reach our planet is notable. Specific conditions are required to accelerate particles to such velocities. The higher the energy, the more difficult it is to confine the particles -- knowledge gleaned from particle accelerators here on Earth in Chicago and Switzerland. To keep particles from whizzing away, magnetism is required. Stellar clusters -- with their mixture of wind and nascent but powerful stars -- are turbulent regions with different magnetic fields that can provide the confinement necessary for particles to continue to accelerate. "Supernova remnants have very fast shocks where the cosmic ray can be accelerated; however, they don't have the type of long confinement regions," Casanova said. "This is what star clusters are useful for. They're an association of stars that can create disturbances that confine the cosmic rays and make it possible for the shocks to accelerate them." But how is it possible to measure atomic interactions on a galactic scale 5,000 light-years from Earth? The researchers used 1,343 days of measurements from HAWC detection tanks. Huang explained how the physicists at HAWC trace cosmic rays by measuring the gamma rays these cosmic rays produce at galactic acceleration sites: "We didn't measure gamma rays directly; we measured the secondary rays generated. When gamma rays interact with the atmosphere, they generate secondary particles in particle showers." "When particle showers are detected at HAWC, we can measure the shower and the charge of secondary particles," Huang said. "We use the particle charge and time information to reconstruct information from the primary gamma." In addition to HAWC, the researchers plan to work with the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), an observatory currently in the planning stages that will feature Cherenkov light detectors like HAWC but will be located in the southern hemisphere. "It would be interesting to see what we can see in the southern hemisphere," Huentemeyer said. "We will have a good view of the galactic center that we don't have in the northern hemisphere. SWGO could give us many more candidates in terms of star clusters." Future collaborations across hemispheres promise to help scientists around the world continue to explore the origins of cosmic rays and learn more about the galaxy itself. ### This story has been published on: 2021-03-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. man pouring red wine in glass Luis Alvarez / Getty Images The label on a bottle of wine, how much it costs, where it's from, and how it tastes can all affect how consumers judge a glass of wine. However, price may be the biggest factor that determines how we perceive the quality of a certain wine. According to a new study conducted by researchers at Basel University in Switzerland, consumers were more likely to favor a cheap red wine if they were lied to and told that it was actually expensive. In order to test their theory, researchers stocked up on three different Italian red wines produced in 2013, ranging in price from 8, 25, and 50. When the bottles were presented to consumers, the prices were intentionally mislabeled to deceive those who were participating in the study. The cheapest wine was given a deceptively high price and was ultimately considered to be the most pleasant of the three, performing 20 percent better in the taste test. Related: Should You Judge a Wine Based on Its Price? "Wine companies are clever," Jens Gaab, a placebo researcher from Basel University in Switzerland, told The Times. "They know this. They know that if they make wine more expensive it tastes betterand they aim for that, because it's a huge market." As part of the study, 140 participantsnone of whom were wine expertstasted six glasses containing 10ml of wine. Three of these glasses contained Wine A, B, and C with no pricing information. The other three glasses also contained Wine A, B, and C, but included a label that either featured their true price tag or a deceptive price tag. Participants were asked to judge each wine based on its pleasantness and taste intensity on a scale of one to six. When a cheap bottle was labeled as being more expensive than it was, customers found it to be more palatable. However, adding a cheaper price tag to a truly expensive bottle of wine did not make consumers think less of it. Therefore, researchers believe that distorting prices can make a cheap wine taste more pleasant, but can't make an outstanding wine taste less pleasant. "Thus, in wine may lay the truth, but its subjective experience may also lie in the price," the researchers wrote in their paper, which was published in Food Quality and Preference. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has admitted that he expected Irelands lockdown to last for no more than a few weeks or months, one year on from his infamous Washington speech. It is exactly 12 months since the then-taoiseach addressed the Irish public from the steps of Blair House in the US capital and told them: I need to speak to you about coronavirus. Mr Varadkar said he had no concept at the time that some businesses would remain shuttered one year on, and paid tribute to the inspiring perseverance and courage of the Irish people. The first lockdown that I announced from Washington was for just two weeks, and we believed that the full effect would be for perhaps six weeks or a few months at most Tanaiste Leo Varadkar He said: I remember vividly standing on the steps in Washington for St Patricks Day last year. Visits to the White House are always special, but this one is etched in my memory. We knew so little about the virus at the time. Now we know so much more, but even so we are still learning. At the time there was no road map, no manual for dealing with a pandemic. The previous pandemic had occurred around 100 years previously, at the start of the twentieth century, and it was influenza not coronavirus. Even the WHO and the ECDC had large gaps in their knowledge, despite years of scenario planning. So we took decisions based on the best advice available, and by instinct. That day he announced the closure of all schools, colleges, childcare services and cultural institutions until March 29 with pubs, restaurants and nightclubs soon to follow. Mr Varadkar said: The first lockdown that I announced from Washington was for just two weeks, and we believed that the full effect would be for perhaps six weeks or a few months at most. We had no concept that one year later some of those closures would still be in place, such as nightclubs and pubs in Dublin. The Tanaiste said he has been struck by the resilience of the Irish people over the last year. He told the PA news agency: A few things have made a really big impression on me in the last year. There is all the pain and suffering that people in Ireland and around the world have endured. But equally the perseverance and courage of Irish people has been inspiring. They have withstood extraordinary restrictions, and continue to do so. Huge numbers of Irish businesses have been closed for much of the last year, some of them for the whole 12 months. Families have been separated, friends cannot make contact. Its been particularly hard on young people and those who have been bereaved. Mr Varadkar said that while the pandemic is not over, there is hope for the future. The hardest part is that were not at the end. However, as (World Health Organisation special envoy on Covid-19) David Nabarro said, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if its still some way off. The vaccination programme, while slower than hoped for, is nevertheless making progress, with more than 100,000 people over the age of 80 having received a dose. We are coming into the summer when respiratory viruses find it harder to spread, and treatments are getting better. I used to say that I wanted the pandemic to be a lost year, not a lost decade. It looks like its going to be more than a year, but hopefully not much more than one. We have overcome many trials in the past with our determination and our spirit. We will prevail Tanaiste Leo Varadkar Mr Varadkar was strikingly upfront about the challenge facing the country when he spoke in March 2020. There will be many more cases. More people will get sick and unfortunately, we must face the tragic reality that some people will die, he told a worried nation. His message now is much the same as it was then. Ireland is a great nation. And we are great people. We have experienced hardship and struggle before. We have overcome many trials in the past with our determination and our spirit. We will prevail. [March 12, 2021] Anycubic is to hold "Brand Fest" promotion on Aliexpress to usher in a good beginning for 2021 SHENZHEN, China, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Brand Fest is a promotion day operated by a 3D printer brand Anycubic on Aliexpress from March 15-17 (PST). It is the first time that Anycubic its own brand activity on Aliexpress. Anycubic selects many popular and high-performance products and provides special offers for international buyers, in an effort to return new and regular customers and usher in a good beginning for the first month of the lunar calendar. Models Russia/??? Photon Mono 14436.46 Photon Mono X 41092.57 Wash & Cure 2.0 7526.14 UV Resin Basic 1839.39 Anycubic Photon Mono is an affordable and fast monochrome resin 3D Printer. It is one of the classic, entry-level resin 3D printers with fast speed and is capable of producing high quality prints. If you're set on a resin printer, this is the best desktop 3D printer for you. Photon Mono X is one of our most popular models with an extremely competitive price. This model features a large printing size, high printing speed and precision. The 192*120*245mm printing size can bring users more printing choices. Its maximum printing speed can be up to 60mm/h, which is 3 times faster than Photon. Its printing precision can reach 0.01mm. Wash & Cure 2.0 is a multifunctional machine that integrates washing and curing. Its two cleaning methods bring users a lot of convenience and can avoid contact with resin. This model is absolutely a good choice for the post-processing of prints. Anycubic's UV Resin Basic is a kind of professional resin especially made for LCD printers. The resin features low shrinkage, high precision, quick curing and great stability. Models printed with the resin can present clear details and delicate textures. The resin also has a good combination of hardness and toughness, which ensures a better printing quality and easy removal of the model. About Anycubic Anycubic is a leading company in 3D printer industry which specializes in 3D printer R&D, manufacturing and sales. We provide many affordable, high-performance and smart printers for different customers, consumers, hobbyists, schools and product designers. Since the establishment in 2015, we have been committed to propelling 3D printing technology so as to enable people from all walks of life to unleash their imagination and turn creativity into reality. During the promotion, Anycubic will have many attractive deals, for example, free gift (1kg of resin)for top 3 buyers who pay at midnight, 8am, 4pm PST per day; free orders for the 1st, 199th, 399th buyer. There will also be slash deals to get a limited number of Photon mono and Wash & Cure 2.0 for only $1. For more details and promotions can be found in Anycubic Offical Store on Aliexpress. https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_pwbNn3S Carina Email: mediacontact@anycubic.com SOURCE Anycubic [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] You are here: Business China's tech giant Xiaomi began trial production in Turkey, Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said on Thursday. "Xiaomi started test production at the factory which is established with the global supplier Salcomp. Welcome @XiaomiTurkiye," Varank announced on his Twitter account. The minister posted several photos showing his visit to the factory. He posed for the cameras while holding a Xiaomi smartphone along with the employees. When the production starts at full capacity, 2,000 citizens will find employment opportunities at the factory, Varank was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu agency. "The facility will have a production capacity of 5 million smartphones per year," he added. The Finland-based Salcomp is one of the world's leading charging and power supply product manufacturers. Xiaomi became the best-selling smartphone brand in Turkey in the third quarter of 2020, covering July, August, and September, according to Teknosafari, an online technology news platform. The platform's sale graphic revealed that Xiaomi achieved an annual market share of 26 percent and a growth of 340 percent. The sales of Samsung, Huawei, Apple, and OPPO followed Xiaomi consecutively during the same period, it added. On Monday, Varank had stated that Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO also began test production in its factory in Turkey. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley on Friday praised India for its efforts in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines across the world. She said that the nation understands that merely administering vaccinations to its own citizens would not be sufficient to solve the world's problems. Barbados PM praises India for COVID-19 vaccine distribution Lauding India for its 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative, Barbados Prime Minister said that the Indian government's gift (COVID-19 vaccines) is so "significant today". She affirmed, "The one thing that was missing is global coordination in the things that we do to shut down or to coordinate on how we treat the virus and how we distribute vaccines." Mottley added, "If we can do that and that's why the gift of the government and people of India is so significant today because they understand that simply giving their population vaccines will not solve the world's problems in fighting this pandemic." Barbados Prime Minister lauds PM Modi's leadership during the pandemic Thank you PM @miaamormottley. Special friendship between our nations has always helped us bridge geographic distances. #VaccineMaitri is proud to support vaccination efforts of Barbados and other CARICOM countries. https://t.co/8w3KytQpqu Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 4, 2021 Mottley also applauded PM Modi for helping Barbados in its vaccination drive. She said, "PM Modi @narendramodi made it possible for more than 40K persons in Barbados and tens of thousands elsewhere, to receive their 1st dose of COVISHIELD via VaccineMaitri before receiving his. A genuine demonstration of generosity. Thank you and we wish you continued good health." Earlier this month, India sent stocks of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Ghana, Nigeria, Guyana, Guatemala and other countries. India's Vaccine Maitri programme that was started around one-and-a-half-month ago aims to help poor countries amid pandemic has won global praise. In this brief period, the country has delivered around 56 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech's indigenous vaccine. So far, India has exported the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech's indigenous vaccine to more than 31 countries and will be providing vaccine doses to 46 more countries in the coming days. (with inputs from ANI) Firmmit's smart farming facility in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of HiteJinro By Kim Jae-heun HiteJinro is entering the smart farming business in an effort to find a new growth engine for the company, due to its main business reaching the limits of growth. The country's top beer and soju maker revealed Thursday that it had signed a contract to invest in Firmmit, a local startup company that develops and sells smart farming systems. "The smart farm industry is growing rapidly, and we have decided to invest in Firmmit because we appreciate its technology, growth potential and expertise in the agricultural sector," a HiteJinro official said. Firmmit provides total solutions for smart farming, from selecting crops, designing the facilities for growing them, to delivering the final products to buyers. It confirmed recently that it is exporting strawberry farming technology in container boxes to Southeast Asia. Firmmit aims to operate in 15 countries and open 30 branches around the world by 2025. "In this turbulent market environment, we will continue to look for competitive startups in various fields, while receiving investment proposals directly from companies, in order to expand our business portfolio," a HiteJinro official said. In 2019, HiteJinro was selected as the first corporate angel investor, or funder of early startups, among domestic for-profit companies. The alcoholic beverage manufacturer has funded a total of six startups so far. HiteJinro is not the only firm in its field that is turning its eyes to other types of businesses. Lotte Chilsung Beverage also acquired 1.61 percent of Bifido's stocks, a local microbiome company that studies the overall genetic information of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the human body, and their connections to health and disease. Bifido is expanding its scope to functional strains, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, based on its research on bifidobacteria, which is used widely in food and beauty products. Lotte Chilsung Beverage aims to create synergy by combining Bifido's technology with the research capabilities of Lotte R&D Center. The country's largest fishing company, Dongwon Industries, spent 6.5 billion won to acquire 10 percent of Salmon Evolution, a Norwegian land-based salmon farm operator. This investment helped Dongwon Industries to open a smart and eco-friendly salmon salmon in Yangyang, Gangwon Province. "Considering the fact that growth in the domestic market is virtually stagnant and competition among heterogeneous industries is intensifying, ideas for new business and products from outside are a prerequisite," said Jung Kwang-ho, a professor at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Administration. CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- By the beginning of March 2020, Mac's Hospitality Group, known for its award-winning BBQ concept Mac's Speed Shop, had heard rumblings that something big was coming. The brand that started in a former transmission shop did a warp-speed pivot and went whole hog adapting to the surge of COVID-19. By March 2021, Mac's pandemic strategy had produced a smokin' 520% increase in take-out and delivery sales, plus a 30% growth in fans on social media audiences. Mac's signature Lil Pig sandwich, Brisket Burnt Ends, Smoked Chicken Wings, Shrimp Po Boy and Ribs How did they do it? They found and promoted new delivery partners through web carousels, pop-ups, and social media platforms; rolled out a new point-of-sale system more geared toward take-out and delivery; and added a third-party technology platform to fire every ticket directly into the kitchen. Mac's also became hyper-focused on local marketing. "We made sure people knew that we were absolutely there for our communities in a challenging time," said Mac's President Shang Skipper. Mac's immediately joined forces with anyone who came to them with a local cause, from schools to Second Harvest Food Bank to the Isabella Santos Foundation for children with cancer. With out-of-pocket financial support and monetary donations from local companies and Mac's "regulars," they launched the Mac's Give Back Program. "Our customers could pay for food packages and tell us where they wanted them to go -- to front-line workers or any other group that needed assistance or was food poor," Skipper said. With such caring and support, Mac's Give Back Program fed 10,000 people. Mac's Director of Marketing Callie Murray made contacts at corporate offices to get guidelines on how to safely double-package and deliver meals without entering healthcare facilities. "Just when the pandemic depleted grocery store shelves, our 'Take a Pound, Freeze a Pound' promotion effectively moved product we had on hand," she said. The bottom line? Mac's is now in its best financial position ever, fueled by a new Orloff-led training team and new Culinary Director Andres Kaifer eagerly creating seasonal menus that stay true to Mac's commitment to fresh food made from quality ingredients. Skipper's core advice to others? "Ensure that your food is fantastic all the time. Ensure that your service is friendly and efficient. And stay hyper-focused on your local community. Pandemic or not, that's the recipe for success." About Mac's Speed Shop Mac's Speed Shop, opening their ninth location in Summer 2021, has blended BBQ, beer and bikes to create a truly unique experience with a scratch-made kitchen, dog-friendly patios, and daily drink specials including local craft beer, wine and an extensive liquor menu specializing in bourbon and scotch whiskey. They have used their culinary talents to elevate comfort-food favorites, like mac 'n' cheese and brisket chili. With a selection of more than 300 different beers, everyone (white collar, blue collar or no collar) is welcome at Mac's. Related Images macs-barbecuterie.jpg Mac's Barbecuterie Mac's signature Lil Pig sandwich, Brisket Burnt Ends, Smoked Chicken Wings, Shrimp Po Boy and Ribs Contact: David Jewell The Jewell Agency 704.996.0165 [email protected] SOURCE Mac's Hospitality Group MNM (Makkal Needhi Maiam) founder Kamal Haasan will be contesting from Coimbatore South constituency in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections. Announcing the same, the actor-turned-politician took to his Twitter space and tweeted in Tamil which loosely translates to, "In the battle of safeguarding soil, language and the people of Tamil Nadu, I will be contesting from Coimbatore South. The victory will be of the people of Tamil Nadu, not me." According to The News Minute, while announcing his inclusion in the second list, the actor interacted with the media and said (in Tamil), "Coimbatore is very close to my heart. 'Kongu sezhithaal, engum sezhikkum' (If Kongu region- Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, etc. flourishes, everywhere else would flourish too) is a proverb. But this region has become synonym to corruption and I am going to raise my voice against this in the Assembly. But for that to happen I will need your support" (loose translation) Fans and followers of the Ulaganayagan are highly elated with the big announcement that they have been waiting for since long. Many congratulated and have also extended their support to the legendary superstar. In South Coimbatore, Kamal will fight National parties BJP and Congress. The two parties are yet to announce their candidates, but reports are rife that Vanathi Srinivas would bat for BJP, while Mayura Jayakumar will represent Congress. Well, the second list of candidates announced today has other popular faces that include actress Supriya and IAS officer Santhosh Babu. Notably, on March 10, Kamal Haasan announced the initial list of 70 candidates for the Assembly election, which is going to be held on April 6. Also Read: Kamal Haasan Receives COVID-19 Vaccination; Pens Down An Inspiring Note Also Read: Bigg Boss Tamil 5 To Start From June 2021 End: Report Aiming for Revenues of JPY 1 Trillion (approximately US$9 Billion 2 ) by FY2030 Double-Digit Revenue Growth Expected to be Driven by a Balanced and Focused Geographic Presence, Portfolio of 14 Global Brands and Wave 1 Pipeline Assets Commitment to Patient Access to Medicines and Addressing Unmet Patient Needs in Emerging Markets Underpin Sustainable Growth Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited(TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) (Takeda) today outlined its ambition for above-market, double-digit revenue growth of its Growth and Emerging Markets Business Unit (GEM BU). The revenue goal of JPY 1 trillion (approximately US$9 billion) by FY2030 represents more than doubling of current revenues in GEM BU. This potential growth will be primarily driven by a balanced geographical focus and targeted portfolio investments in the Companys highly innovative 14 Global Brands and Wave 1 pipeline assets. Building upon Takedas global vision to bring long-term value to patients, society and shareholders, we have sharpened our regional strategy to deliver healthcare in geographies that include 85% of the worlds population. As a purpose-led, patient-centric and values-based company, our portfolio combines innovative therapies with the right degree of scale to be competitive. Together with attractive market fundamentals and an executive team equipped to deliver strong business performance, we are committed to delivering sustainable revenue growth while increasing patient access to our life-saving and life-transforming treatments, said Ricardo Marek, President of Growth & Emerging Markets Business Unit at Takeda. With 95%3 of GEM BUs current revenues coming from innovative treatments aligned with the companys five key business areas, GEM BU has an ambition to outpace forecasted market revenue growth for the region over the next ten years. As a vast geographic area with a combined population of 6.5 billion, the Emerging Markets region presents significant growth opportunities in unmet patient needs across key therapy areas, which we believe can be achieved by a globally-aligned access-first strategy. Emerging Markets will be a key source of revenue and momentum for Takeda over the next decade, with a strategy aligned to our global innovation focus, said Costa Saroukos, Takeda chief financial officer. Through targeted investments in the portfolio and key markets, we expect growth of the GEM BU to outpace the market for specialized, innovative treatments, as we expand our 14 global brands and launch our Wave 1 pipeline assets in the region. Takedas GEM BU is targeting expansion in high growth markets such as Brazil, China and India. These markets are expected to provide strong platforms for continued growth of existing brands and upcoming launches of our Wave 1 pipeline assets across key therapeutic areas. China in particular is expected to be a significant growth driver for Takeda on a regional and global level, with the potential to deliver revenue growth at a compound annual growth rate of over 20% over the next five years.1 Takedas innovative R&D engine is also expected to add potentially transformative therapies to the GEM BUs current portfolio. Among the Wave 1 pipeline assets, Takedas dengue vaccine candidate (TAK-003), developed to address the 390 million global dengue infections every year, is projected to be a significant growth driver for the region, with the majority of projected revenues coming from GEM BU. For sustainable growth in Emerging Markets, Takeda is committed to ensuring that patients get continued access to innovative medicines. This includes strengthening local health systems and prioritizing sustainable approaches to commercial operations. The recently published 2021 Access to Medicine (AtM) Index has ranked Takeda first in Governance of Access, highlighting its work in the strengthening of health systems and compliance. About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Genetic and Hematology, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in peoples lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in healthcare in approximately 80 countries. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com. About Takedas Growth and Emerging Markets Business Unit Globally, Takeda operates from four regions: Japan, the U.S., Europe & Canada (EUCAN), and Growth & Emerging Markets (GEM). Led from its regional offices in Singapore, GEM BU has presence in almost 50 geographies that include Brazil, China and Russia. These three countries, in addition to three Area operations* with hubs in South America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, are of particular focus as part of the Regions ambition to deliver sustainable, profitable growth via commercial activities, and increase patient impact via Takedas commitments to expand its global Access to Medicines strategy. *The three Areas in GEM are: ICMEA - India, CIS (excluding Russia), the Middle East and Africa led from Dubai, UAE SAM - South Cone, Andean and Mexico led from Buenos Aires, Argentina APAC - Asia Pacific led from Singapore Important Notice For the purposes of this notice, press release means this document, any oral presentation, any question and answer session and any written or oral material discussed or distributed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) regarding this release. This press release (including any oral briefing and any question-and-answer in connection with it) is not intended to, and does not constitute, represent or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, exchange, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction. No shares or other securities are being offered to the public by means of this press release. No offering of securities shall be made in the United States except pursuant to registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. This press release is being given (together with any further information which may be provided to the recipient) on the condition that it is for use by the recipient for information purposes only (and not for the evaluation of any investment, acquisition, disposal or any other transaction). Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws. The companies in which Takeda directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release, Takeda is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Takeda and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words we, us and our are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. Forward-Looking Statements This press release and any materials distributed in connection with this press release may contain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions regarding Takedas future business, future position and results of operations, including estimates, forecasts, targets and plans for Takeda. Without limitation, forward-looking statements often include words such as targets, plans, believes, hopes, continues, expects, aims, intends, ensures, will, may, should, would, could anticipates, estimates, projects or similar expressions or the negative thereof. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements: the economic circumstances surrounding Takedas global business, including general economic conditions in Japan and the United States; competitive pressures and developments; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; challenges inherent in new product development, including uncertainty of clinical success and decisions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; uncertainty of commercial success for new and existing products; manufacturing difficulties or delays; fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates; claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates; the impact of health crises, like the novel coronavirus pandemic, on Takeda and its customers and suppliers, including foreign governments in countries in which Takeda operates, or on other facets of its business; the timing and impact of post-merger integration efforts with acquired companies; the ability to divest assets that are not core to Takedas operations and the timing of any such divestment(s); and other factors identified in Takedas most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and Takedas other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available on Takedas website at: https://www.takeda.com/investors/reports/sec-filings/ or at www.sec.gov. Takeda does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statements it may make, except as required by law or stock exchange rule. Past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results or statements of Takeda in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast, guarantee or projection of Takedas future results. Medical information This press release contains information about products that may not be available in all countries, or may be available under different trademarks, for different indications, in different dosages, or in different strengths. Nothing contained herein should be considered a solicitation, promotion or advertisement for any prescription drugs including the ones under development. 1 Includes incremental revenue not adjusted for Probability of Technical Success (PTS) and is not a forecast or target figure. PTS applies to the probability that a given clinical trial/study will be successful based on pre-defined endpoints, feasibility and other factors and regulatory bodies will grant approval. 2 Based on FY20 Plan rates (1 USD = 111 JPY) 3 Adjusted for divested assets; based on FY2019 underlying growth View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311005284/en/ Norwegian investor Johan H. Andresen, the head of the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, poses for a picture at the Councils office in Oslo, Norway, on Mar. 8, 2016. (Gwladys Fouche/Reuters) Norway Wealth Fund to Probe Whether Firms Could Be Using Forced Labour From Chinas Xinjiang OSLONorways $1.3 trillion wealth fund will probe whether companies it is invested in may be using the labor of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims linked to Chinas internment camps in farwestern Xinjiang, the head of the funds ethics watchdog said. The worlds largest sovereign wealth fund, which has massive market influence because it owns 1.5 percent of the worlds listed shares across 9,100 companies, operates under ethical guidelines set by parliament. Johan H. Andresen, chair of the funds Council on Ethics, said the fund had begun identifying companies that it said used workers that had been held in internment camps in Xinjiang. We are concerned that some of our companies in the fund may make use of this labor. This is possibly a widespread practice, he said in an interview ahead of the publication of the councils annual report on Wednesday. If we were to make a recommendation it would be in the first half of this year, he added. Recommendations are sent to the board of the central bank, which ultimately makes decisions. The United States has accused the Chinese regime of genocide and crimes against humanity in its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Beijings repression of Uyghurs, perpetrated through its network of internment camps and mass surveillance system, has drawn international condemnation. According to U.S. government estimates, more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups are held without charge in Xinjiang internment camps. Norways central bank typically follows the councils recommendations to censure companies but sometimes, rather than immediately excluding them, it puts them on a watchlist to give them a set period of time to come up with a plan to change their behavior, or face exclusion. The bank can also ask the funds management to engage directly with the company on the issue of concern and can also decide to divest from a company if it believes the funds ownership stake poses too much of an ethical risk. Companies to be excluded are not named until the fund has sold the shares, to avoid the stock falling in value beforehand. The main aim is to remove the ethical risk. Ethical Guidelines The Norwegian fund is forbidden by parliament from investing in companies that produce nuclear weapons, landmines, or tobacco, or which violate human rights, among other criteria. Several textile companies have been excluded from the fund, most recently Indias Page Industries, which produces swimwear for the Speedo brand. Page denies wrongdoing. The council is now turning its attention to companies that produce footwear, a natural extension of its work in the textile industry, Andresen said, given that the production processes are similar. We are still at an early stage, he said. Forced labor, or modern slavery, is also becoming a growing issue that will dominate the councils work in the years ahead, he said. The council will this year commission a report from a non-governmental organiszation to map out the extent of forced labor worldwide. The fund has already excluded companies, including security firm G4S, on those grounds. G4S said at the time it had engaged with the council and was making good progress on recruitment and welfare standards. Overall some 70 companies have been excluded by the fund, on various grounds, on recommendations from the Council on Ethics. Another 73 companies have been excluded directly by the central bank based on their dependence on coal. Asked if China would contact the Norwegian authorities about the work of the funds ethics watchdog on Xinjiang, the foreign ministry said it hoped the relevant Norwegian institutions will respect the facts and refrain from contributing to the wrong practice of politicizing economic trade and cooperation. By Gwladys Fouche Epoch Times staff contributed to this report Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Republicans introduce bill to protect religious beliefs of faith-based foster care providers Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Congressional Republicans introduced legislation designed to protect faith-based foster care providers who seek to carry out their business practices in accordance with their religious beliefs on marriage and sexuality. The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, sponsored by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., was introduced in the U.S. Senate Wednesday. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives. The legislation comes at a time when faith-based foster care providers have faced lawsuits for refusing to place children with same-sex couples in light of their religious beliefs defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As explained in a statement published by Kennedy's office on Wednesday, "The bill prohibits federal, state and local government agencies that receive federal adoption assistance funding from discriminating against child welfare service providers based on the providers' unwillingness to take action contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs." "This would include all agencies that receive funding under Part B (Child and Family Services) or Part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care, Prevention and Permanency) of Title IV of the Social Security Act." Kennedy said that faith-based child welfare providers "are an essential part of caring for some of the most vulnerable children in our communities." "I'm deeply saddened to see some government officials punish foster services for their sincere religious beliefs," the Louisiana lawmaker stated. "That discrimination comes directly at the expense of boys and girls who are waiting for loving, healthy homes. No government agency that discriminates against people based on their faith which goes against the interests of foster children deserves taxpayer dollars," he added. In a statement, Scott said that faith-based foster care providers support over 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. "At a time when religious freedoms are under assault, the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act is a necessary protection for those who are living according to their convictions," Scott said. "I am grateful my colleagues are standing with me to protect this most fundamental right." Kelly voiced disgust with the fact that some state and local governments are "requiring faith-based adoption agencies to choose between helping kids and violating their religious faith." "This blatant attack on the First Amendment makes it even harder for children to find loving homes," he argued. "By passing this legislation, Congress can stand up for kids and defend religious liberty." The introduction of the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act comes as a case involving faith-based adoption agencies is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2018, the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania stopped placing children with foster parents affiliated with Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Bethany Christian Services of Greater Delaware Valley because their policies would not allow children to be placed with same-sex couples. Catholic Social Services argued that the city's action violated the Constitution. A federal appeals court sided with the city of Philadelphia, claiming that the First Amendment "does not prohibit government regulation of religiously motivated conduct so long as that regulation is not a veiled attempt to suppress disfavored religious beliefs." The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision on the case later this year. The Senate bill has attracted 21 cosponsors, all of whom are Republicans. Meanwhile, eight Republicans have signed on as cosponsors in the House. The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act was previously introduced in the 116th Congress but failed to gain traction in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. While the Democrats have a reduced number of seats in the 117th Congress, the legislation will likely fail to pass again because of the Democrats' expected near-unanimous opposition to the bill, not to mention their control of the Senate and the White House. JOHANNESBURG, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sasol Limited ("Sasol") herewith announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Sasol Financing USA LLC (the "Issuer") has priced an offering of US$-denominated, SEC-registered notes (the "Notes"), including $650 million of senior notes due 2026 (the "2026 Notes") and $850 million of senior notes due 2031 (the "2031 Notes"). The 2026 Notes will bear interest at a rate of 4,375% per annum. The 2031 Notes will bear interest at a rate of 5,50% per annum. The total orderbook amounted to approximately $4 600 million, which represents an oversubscription of more than 3 times. "We are very pleased with the uptake and interest in our senior notes. This issue is an important step in sharpening our focus on balance sheet management under volatile conditions," said Paul Victor, Chief Financial Officer, Sasol Limited. "It is testament to the high quality of our credit profile and a strong vote of confidence in Future Sasol." The Notes will be general unsecured obligations of the Issuer and will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Sasol Limited. The offering is expected to close on 18 March 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. The proceeds of the offering will be used for partial repayment of outstanding revolving credit facility (RCF) balances and is therefore leverage neutral. BofA Securities acted as Global Coordinator. BofA Securities, Citigroup, Mizuho and MUFG acted as active Joint Book-Running Managers. ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, J.P. Morgan, SMBC and UniCredit were appointed as Passive Joint Book-Running Managers. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus. A registration statement, preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering and containing detailed information about Sasol and its management, as well as financial statements, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on its website at http://www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus for the offering may be obtained from: BofA Securities, Inc., telephone: +1 800 294 1322; Citigroup Global Markets Inc., telephone +1 800 831 9146; Mizuho International plc, telephone:+44 20 7090 6698; or MUFG Securities Americas Inc., telephone: +1 877 649 6848. This announcement 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 prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities being offered have not been approved or disapproved by any regulatory authority, nor has any such authority passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the prospectus supplement, base prospectus or the shelf registration statement. Issued by: Matebello Motloung, Manager: Group Media Relations Direct telephone: +27 (0) 10 344 9256; Mobile: +27 (0) 82 773 9457 [email protected] About Sasol: Sasol is a global integrated chemicals and energy company. We harness our knowledge and experience to integrate sophisticated technologies and process into our world-scale operating facilities. We safely and sustainably source, produce and market a range of high-value product streams in 30 countries, creating superior value for our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. About Sasol's Information Privacy Policy: We wish to inform you about the processing of your Personal Information by Sasol South Africa Limited and your rights under applicable data protection law, as interpreted and included in Sasol Information Privacy Policy. Within our company, only Sasol Group Media Relations will receive your Personal Information to fulfil the purpose of maintaining the relationship with the receiver in his/her capacity as a member of the media. You have the right to request for the correction or deletion of your Personal Information stored by us at address: Sasol Place, 50 Katherine Street, Sandton in Johannesburg. You also have a right to restrict the processing of your Information. To exercise your privacy rights or find out more about Information Privacy Policy, kindly contact our Privacy Office on: [email protected] Forward-looking statements Disclaimer: Sasol may, in this document, make certain statements that are not historical facts and relate to analyses and other information which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to our future prospects, developments and business strategies. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the execution, timing and completion of the offering of the Notes and the use of proceeds therefrom. Words such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may", "endeavour", "target", "forecast", "project" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are risks that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. If one or more of these risks materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. You should understand that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward looking statements. These factors are discussed more fully in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed on 24 August 2020 and in other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The list of factors discussed therein is not exhaustive; when relying on forward-looking statements to make investment decisions, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events and you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements apply only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. MiFIR professionals / ECPs-only / No PRIIPs KID No PRIIPs/UK PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as not available to retail in EEA or the UK. No sales to retail clients in the EEA or the UK, as defined under MiFID II and UK MiFIR. Manufacturer target market (UK MiFIR product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). This communication is being distributed to, and is directed only at, persons in the United Kingdom in circumstances where section 21(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 does not apply. Please note: One billion is defined as one thousand million. bbl barrel, bscf billion standard cubic feet, mmscf million standard cubic feet, oil references brent crude, mmboe million barrels oil equivalent. All references to years refer to the financial year 30 June. Any reference to a calendar year is prefaced by the word "calendar". SOURCE Sasol Limited Burma Myanmar Military Regime Sues The Irrawaddy Protesters run from soldiers and police in Yangon. / The Irrawaddy Yangon Myanmars military regime has sued The Irrawaddy, one of the countrys independent news media outlets, for disregarding the armed forces in reporting the ongoing anti-regime protests. The lawsuit under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code is the juntas latest attack on media freedom after nearly 10 reporters from different employers were charged. Twelve other journalists are also being detained without charges. Naypyitaw sources said the police opened the case against The Irrawaddy as a whole rather than individual employees, making it the first news outlet to be sued by the regime since the Feb. 1 coup. Article 505(a) outlaws any statement likely to cause military personnel to mutiny or to disregard their duties and carries up to three years in prison. The lawsuit targets a Feb. 20 video showing the police asking for 13 million kyats (US$9,200) from relatives to release striking doctors who they detained at an anti-regime protest. The Irrawaddy published the video, featuring the civilians voices. Military-run Myanma Radio and Television claimed The Irrawaddys report was false. Since the onset of the regimes crackdowns on the protesters, journalists have been targeted. Media offices were raided and the publication licenses of Mizzima, the Democratic Voice of Burma, Myanmar Now, 7Day and Khit Thit Media were revoked by the regime on March 8 for their supposed anti-regime coverage. On the ground, reporters have been vulnerable to teargas, rubber bullets or even live rounds and detentions while covering the protests. The Irrawaddys reporters have so far managed to avoid arrest. Many journalists across the country have been forced into hiding to avoid being detained. The Irrawaddys Burmese editor U Ye Ni said the lawsuit is further proof the military is attempting to suppress the media and restrict the flow of information since the Feb. 1 coup. We are not surprised at the lawsuit. We expected that our turn will come sooner or later after [the military] banned five media outlets, said U Ye Ni. We dont believe justice can be done within the legal framework as there is no judicial independence under the military authorities, he added. The Irrawaddy was founded in 1993 by journalists from Myanmar in exile in Thailand. The publication covers the news in Myanmar and Southeast Asia. Due to its strong belief in democracy, the agency reported on human rights abuses and military oppression in Myanmar to the world under previous periods of military rule. In 2013, the publication returned to Myanmar to report on the transition to democracy and its editors and reporters have faced arrests and lawsuits from the military for impartial news coverage. You may also like these stories: UK Asks Citizens to Leave Military-Ruled Myanmar Myanmars Democracy Movement Hires International Lawyers If the Army is Disbanded Will Myanmar Become Like Libya or Iraq? About 2.6 million people in Pennsylvania have received a COVID-19 vaccine, and the vaccination of teachers is getting underway. The Pennsylvania Health Department provided new figures on the vaccine rollout Friday. The department said 3,395,360 shots have been given through Thursday. So far, 2,292,737 people in Pennsylvania have received at least one shot, while 1,173,730 have received their second shot and are fully vaccinated, the health department said Friday. The state data doesnt include the city of Philadelphia, which is receiving its own supply and handling its own distribution. The Philadelphia Health Department said the city has given out 321,000 first doses and more than 131,000 city residents have been given second doses and are fully vaccinated. When including the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvanias numbers look like this: roughly 2.6 million have had at least one shot and more than 1.3 million are fully vaccinated. President Joe Biden said Thursday night hes directing all states to make all adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines by May 1. Biden said he expects the country to have enough vaccines to give shots to all of the nations adults by the end of May, but added it will take additional time to actually give them out. Right now, Pennsylvania is limiting COVID-19 vaccines to seniors, adults with health issues or high risk conditions, and school employees. There are more than 4 million people in this initial group (dubbed Phase 1A). The state has been ramping up its vaccination as the federal government has increased its supplies. Still, some have complained about the pace and equity of the rollout. In recent days, lawmakers in southeastern Pennsylvania, including some Democrats, have argued that some counties in the Philadelphia suburbs arent getting their fair share of vaccines, in comparison to other counties. The Wolf administration has said southeastern Pennsylvania is getting an equitable amount. While the federal supply of vaccines has been improving, Wolf said the main challenge remains the fact that the demand still exceeds the number of doses available. At least 6,500 educators have been vaccinated under a new initiative to give COVID-19 shots to school staff, said Randy Padfield, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. The Wolf administration has earmarked the first allocation of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine to teachers, school employees and child care center employees. The goal is to get school staff vaccinated so school districts that are still operating remotely can reopen their classrooms to kids. The Johnson & Johnson vaccines only require one shot (the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines call for two doses). The initial batch of Johnson & Johnson vaccines is going to teachers of early grades and those working with kids with special needs or those learning English as a second language. The administration hopes to have enough Johnson & Johnson vaccines by the end of March to vaccinate all school staff who want the shots. In central Pennsylvania, the Capital Area Intermediate Units vaccination site for teachers opened up Thursday. By the end of Friday, 20 of the states 28 intermediate units will be giving shots to educators, with the rest slated to open this weekend, Padfield said. Statewide, 1,463 patients are being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, well below the peak of more than 6,300 who were hospitalized in December. The Pennsylvania Health Department reported 3,074 new coronavirus cases Friday, raising the statewide total to 961,456 since the emergence of the pandemic. The state reported 40 new coronavirus deaths Friday. Since the pandemic began, 24,530 deaths have been tied to COVID-19. More than half of those deaths have occurred in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities, according to state data. More from PennLive The $1.9 trillion stimulus plan: How much will your school district or municipality receive? Where are Pa.s vaccines being administered? March 12 map, county-by-county breakdown City Hall Now Accepts Credit, Debit Card Payments By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - The City of Paducah is now accepting credit and debit cards for in-person and over-the-phone payments at City Hall.This service for in-person and over-the-phone payments provides a more convenient way to pay for many of Paducahs fees and charges collected through the Finance Department and Fire Prevention Division, in addition to the Engineering and Planning departments.Services payable by credit or debit card include business licenses, property tax bills, building permits, fines, and liens. A 2.95 percent service charge will apply on credit and debit card payments. Accepted cards include American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa. There is a $2.00 minimum per transaction.To view a list of services and features currently available through the Citys website, visit the Online Services section of the City's website.On the Net: Spruce Forest opens for season through a new door With the crashing of the trees, three of the cabins were destroyed, along with damaging the village church and other buildings as well. An autopsy has been scheduled for a 29-year-old New Freedom woman found dead in a York County park, according to the York County Coroner. Nicole Elizabeth Ebaugh, who had been missing since March 6, was found in the area of Heritage Rail Trail County Park at Glatfelters Station Road in Springfield Township Friday, said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Kevin Kochka. Ebaughs autopsy is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Monday at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pam Gay said. Additional information about her death was not included in Gays most recent statement. The York County womans cause and manner of death will be determined during the autopsy, Kocha said. Authorities said there is no threat to the community, but no additional information was immediately available. Ebaugh was last seen between 10:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. March 6 at the parks parking lot, off Glatfelters Station Road in Springfield Township, according to state police. More than 100 officers and volunteers on horseback, ATVs and in a helicopter were involved in a Monday search of the trail. The search was called off Tuesday as state police announced theyd instead focus on following leads. The search resumed Wednesday with the help of kayaks, K9s and the South Central Pennsylvania Search and Rescue team. Police on Friday did not address why the intense searches earlier in the week did not result in finding Ebaughs body when it was eventually found in the area Friday. The exact location where her body was found was not released, but there was a lot of police activity Friday morning near the foot bridge that connects the Glatfelter Station parking lot and Heritage Rail Trail. Her brother, Matt Ebaugh, had taken part in the search for his sister. He released a statement and provided information Thursday to anyone who wanted to help them find her. Over the past several days, we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support in the efforts to find my sister Nicole, he said. He continued to thank all our family members, friends, the Pennsylvania State Police, Search & Rescue, countless volunteers, and the community in general. Our goal from the beginning and to this date is to bring Nicole home, Matt said. He concluded the statement by saying, It saddens us that we must release this statement so please take this information to heart. Our family is experiencing a very trying time, but the outpouring of love and support has been truly humbling. Authorities said Ebaughs yellow Volkswagen Beetle was found in the lot near the trail after they traced her cell phone there. Kochka previously has said state police dont believe Ebaughs disappearance is suspicious or criminal in nature. Very few new details were provided over the last week. Read more from PennLive Missing York County womans body found near trail where she was last seen Woman who led cops on 150 mph chase in dads Camaro cant outrun prison sentence: Pa court COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alterra Real Estate Advisors is excited to welcome Northwest Bank as our newest tenant at 3 Easton Oval and we look forward to accommodating their growth plans in Central Ohio. We recently completed most of the remodeling of the building which includes new common areas, LED lighting, new HVAC units with anti COVID Ionization for improved air quality, a new roof, as well as solar panels for maximum energy efficiency and reduced carbon footprint. We also installed a 17' light wall in the main building lobby designed by MR Walls in California, the first of its kind in the Midwest. This commitment by Northwest Bank demonstrates that high quality office space will continue to perform well as companies bring employees back to the office. Alterra Real Estate Advisors Alterra Real Estate Advisors Northwest Bank will be joining the accounting firm Brady Ware which has leased half of a floor in 3 Easton Oval, and there is continued interest from other companies to potentially lease other spaces. When Brad Kitchen purchased 3 Easton Oval in December of 2019 (right before the COVID shutdown) knowing the building was soon to be vacant was a bit unnerving, but Kitchen knew that this high quality building in Easton would still be in demand and thankfully Northwest Bank and Brady Ware confirmed this theory. We look forward to seeing the Northwest Bank signs on the building and welcoming their headquarters to the Columbus, Ohio area. Brad Kitchen, President of Alterra Real Estate Advisors, typically buys value-add properties in which he can add value by fixing deferred maintenance, property management and leasing issues to add value to the property. Alterra Real Estate Advisors leases and manages the property. Alterra leases and manages nearly two million square feet of commercial real estate and has nearly $50 million worth of properties for sale. Brad Kitchen is an individual member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR), an exclusive designation earned only by the top commercial real estate agents worldwide. Contact: Brad Kitchen, President Alterra Real Estate Advisors 300 Spruce Street, Suite 110, Columbus, OH 43215 614.545.2155 [email protected] SOURCE Alterra Real Estate Advisors Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson on Friday maintained that Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade is not qualified to hold another office, particularly a civilian post, countering claims that the latters appointment as spokesman of the government's anti-communist task force is legal. Pag active military service ka, doon ka lang sa Armed Forces. Hindi ka pwedeng humawak ng ibang position in any capacity, Lacson told CNN Philippines The Source. For all intents and purposes, yung NTF-ELCAC is a civilian task force. It is not a military task force. Now ang sabi ni [Defense] Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana, hindi raw unconstitutional. Ang advice ko sa kanya is to first read the composition of the NTF-ELCAC, basahin niya 'yung Executive Order series of 2018, he added. [Translation: If youre active in the military service, you should stay in the Armed Forces. You cant hold another position in any capacity. Now Secretrary Lorenzana said this is not unconstitituonal. My advice to him is to first read the composition of the NTF-ELCAC, read the Executive Order series of 2018.] A Senate panel earlier this week adopted a committee report recommending the removal of Parlade in the task force because of the said provision. But Lorenzana on Thursday said he does not see any violation of the Constitution with regards to this matter. He said the NTF-ELCAC is composed of military and police officers, so if the same principles apply, they should all be removed from the controversial task force. Parlade, for his part, said he was fine with the lawmakers move. It's a welcome move actually because I'm performing dual hats," he told CNN Philippines separately. READ: Parlade unfazed by Senate proposal to ax him from anti-insurgency task force The New York Assembly is launching an impeachment probe into Governor Andrew Cuomo days after a sixth woman came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D - Bronx) gave his chamber's judiciary committee the green light to open a probe into Cuomo on Thursday amid mounting calls for the governor to resign. 'The reports of accusations concerning the governor are serious,' Heastie said in a statement. 'The committee will have the authority to interview witnesses, subpoena documents and evaluate evidence, as is allowed by the New York State Constitution.' 'I have the utmost faith that the committee will conduct an expeditious, full and thorough investigation.' He noted that the probe will not interfere with an independent investigation already underway by Attorney General Letitia James. New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (left) on Thursday gave his chamber's judiciary committee the green light to open an impeachment investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo (right), days after a sixth woman came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment Heastie's announcement came as a group of 59 Democrats in New York's Senate and Assembly released a statement on Thursday demanding that Cuomo resign because he has 'lost the confidence of the public and the state legislature'. The group of 19 senators and 40 Assembly members called for Cuomo - who has repeatedly said he will not resign - to be replaced by Lt Gov Kathy Hochul in the interests of 'the future of New York State'. In addition to the sexual harassment allegations, the letter also mentioned allegations that Cuomo sought to cover up COVID-19 deaths in the state's nursing homes after a directive meant infected patients were sent back to facilities at the peak of the crisis. Impeaching Cuomo in the Assembly would require 76 votes. If the 40 Democrats who signed the letter joined with all 43 Republicans, they would meet the threshold to send the case to an impeachment court made up of senators and state appeals court judges. A group of 59 Senate and Assembly Democrats released a statement (pictured) on Thursday morning demanding Cuomo stand down and be replaced by Lt Gov Kathy Hochul in the interests of 'the future of New York State' New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a longstanding rival of the governor's, joined calls for him to resign on Thursday, saying 'he can no longer serve as governor' amid the 'disgusting' allegations. The increased pressure on Cuomo followed the emergence of a sixth accuser earlier this week. In what is the most damning accusation leveled at Cuomo to date, the woman, a former aide who has not been named, claimed he called her to his Executive Mansion in Albany last year, saying he needed help fixing his cellphone. The pair were alone together on the second level of the residence when the woman said Cuomo closed the door, reached under her blouse and fondled her before she told him to stop. A female supervisor in Cuomo's office first became aware of the aide's allegations on March 3, when the governor, following multiple allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, issued a televised statement denying touching anyone inappropriately The aide reportedly became emotional during the governor's address, which the supervisor noticed. The women then told the supervisor about her alleged encounter with the governor months earlier. The three-term New York governor faces harassment allegations from five other women, including former aide Charlotte Bennett. The 25-year-old's attorney, Debra Katz, said in a statement released Wednesday evening that the latest allegations are 'eerily similar' to Bennett's own story. Bennett has said she was summoned to the Capitol on a weekend and left alone with Cuomo, who asked her for help with his cellphone. She has said Cuomo asked about her sex life and propositioned her. At least five accusers - Bennett, Lindsey Boylan, Anna Liss, Karen Hinton and the unnamed woman - worked for the governor in Albany or during his time in President Bill Clinton's Cabinet. Another, Anna Ruch, told The New York Times that she met Cuomo at a friend's wedding. Cuomo has denied inappropriately touching anyone, but said he is sorry if he made anyone uncomfortable and didn't intend to do so. 'As I said yesterday, I have never done anything like this. The details of this report are gut-wrenching,' Cuomo said through a spokesperson Wednesday evening. 'I am not going to speak to the specifics of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review, but I am confident in the result of the Attorney General's report.' Charlotte Bennett, 25, worked as an aide for Cuomo. She claims he sexually harassed her and left her 'terrified' Ana Liss, 35, (left) previously served as Cuomo's policy and operations aide between 2013 and 2015 but claims he subjected her to sexual misconduct during her time in his administration. Karen Hinton (right) claims the governor summoned her to his 'dimly lit' hotel room and embraced her after a work event in 2000 before she managed to escape Anna Ruch, 33, (left) claimed Cuomo behaved inappropriately at a Manhattan wedding in September 2019. Lindsey Boylan, 36, (right) claims Cuomo commented on her appearance inappropriately, kissed her without her consent and went out of his way to touch her on her lower back, arms and leg The women who've accused Gov Andrew Cuomo of harassment Lindsay Boylan, 36 Former aide Lindsay Boylan, 36, was the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment in a Medium post on February 24. She claimed that the governor asked her to play strip poker and kissed her on the lips without her permission when she worked for him in 2017. Lindsay Boylan, 36 Charlotte Bennett, 25 Charlotte Bennett, 25, came forward a few days after Boylan and claimed that Cuomo sexually harassed her last June while she was working as a health policy adviser in his administration at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Bennett accused Cuomo of 'grooming' her and asking inappropriate questions about her sex life. She also claimed that he told her he was open to dating women in their 20s. BENNETT said the governor asked her about her love life - including whether she ever had sex with older men - and talked about his own, saying that age differences didn't matter in relationships and he was open to dating women over 22. During a meeting alone in his office, the governor said he was lonely and talked about wanting to hug someone, Bennett said. She said she swiftly complained to Cuomo's chief of staff and was transferred to another job. She said she spoke to a lawyer for the governor, but didnt insist on further action because she liked her new post and wanted to move on. Charlotte Bennett, 25 Anna Ruch, 33 Anna Ruch was the third woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment and the only one thus far who did not work with him in a professional capacity. She claimed that Cuomo put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her just moments after they met at a September 2019 wedding in Manhattan. Anna Ruch, 33 Ana Liss, 35 Ana Liss, 35, a former aide, said Cuomo asked her whether she had a boyfriend, once kissed her hand at her desk and called her by patronizing names, including 'blondie,' 'sweetheart' and 'honey.' At a reception, the governor hugged her then put his arm around her lower back and waist as they posed for photo, Liss said. She said she eventually asked for a job transfer. In an interview, Liss said she was 'not claiming sexual harassment per se,' but felt the administration 'wasn't a safe space for young women to work.' Liss, who previously served as Cuomo's policy and operations aide between 2013 and 2015, told the Wall Street Journal that during her time in his administration, the governor had subjected her to unsolicited advances, including touching her lower back, kissing her hand and quizzing her about her love life. Ana Liss, 35 Karen Hinton, 62 The oldest allegations against Cuomo came from Karen Hinton, who served as a press aide for him when he led the US Department of Housing and Urban Development two decades ago and she was a consultant for the agency. Hinton told the Washington Post about a 2000 incident when she said Cuomo summoned her to his 'dimly lit' hotel room and embraced her after a work event. She said she tried to pull away from Cuomo when he pulled her back and held her before she managed to escape the room. Karen Hinton, 62 Unnamed sixth accuser The most damning allegations leveled against Cuomo to date came from a sixth accuser, whose name has not been released. The accuser, who is a member of Cuomo's staff, alleged that he closed a door, reached under her blouse and fondled her after summoning her to the governor's mansion in Albany for help with his cellphone, according to the Times Union of Albany. It first reported on her accusation last month; she then gave more detail in her first interview on the matter, published Wednesday. The woman spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her privacy, although her identity is known within the governors circle, the Times Union reported. The woman, an executive assistant, told the Times Union the governor gave her kisses on the cheek and inappropriately tight hugs for years and made remarks including, 'If you were single, the things that I would do to you' and 'I'm single and ready to mingle.' Then, one day in November, she was summoned to his Executive Mansion office to help him with a cellphone problem, she said. He got up from his desk, started groping her and told her 'I don't care' after she tried to deflect him by saying he was going to get them into trouble, and then he slammed the door, she said. Then he reached under her blouse and clutched one of her breasts over her bra, she told the newspaper. The woman told a colleague this winter about the alleged encounter, and the co-worker told a supervisor in early March, according to the newspaper. Cuomo called the report 'gut-wrenching' in a March statement and said: 'I have never done anything like this.' Another female aide, who has remained anonymous, claimed he called her to his Executive Mansion last year, reached under her blouse and fondled her Jessica Bakeman Jessica Bakeman claimed in a first-person article for New York Magazine that she was sexually harassed by Cuomo on several occasions since the start of her journalism career in 2012. Bakeman added her voice as the seventh accuser as she detailed inappropriate touching by the governor as he continued to deny all of the claims. 'He took my hand, as if to shake it, then refused to let go,' Bakeman wrote of an interaction with Cuomo as she said goodnight at a holiday party in 2014 when she was only 25 years old. 'He put his other arm around my back, his hand on my waist, and held me firmly in place while indicating to a photographer he wanted us to pose for a picture.' At the time Bakeman had been working for what is now Politico New York and claimed that red flags went up as her 'job was to analyze and scrutinize him'. 'I didn't want a photo of him with his hands on my body and a smile on my face,' she wrote. Jessica Bakeman, a reporter who once covered the Cuomo administration, was the seventh woman to come forward with claims of harassment 'But I made the reflexive assessment that most women and marginalized people know instinctively, the calculation about risk and power and self-preservation. I knew it would be far easier to smile for the brief moment it takes to snap a picture than to challenge one of the most powerful men in the country.' In an earlier 2012 incident while she was working for USA Today, Bakeman also claims that Cuomo kept her pinned to his side as he told a story to her male colleagues. 'He left it there, and kept me pinned next to him, for several minutes as he finished telling his story,' she said. 'I stood there, my cheeks hot, giggling nervously as my male colleagues did the same. We all knew it was wrong, but we did nothing.' The reporter, who now works in Florida, claimed that Cuomo 'never let me forget I was a woman' as she also alleged that he made frequent attempts to humiliate her, including calling out her purple phone instead of answering her question during a press gaggle. Alyssa McGrath, 33 McGrath, a current administrative assistant in Cuomo's office, told The New York Times that he looked down her shirt, quizzed her about her marital status, and told her she was beautiful, using an Italian phrase she had to ask her parents to interpret. McGrath didn't say the governor made sexual contact with her but thought his behavior was sexual harassment. She recalled Cuomo kissing her on the forehead and gripping her firmly around the sides while posing for a photo at a 2019 office Christmas party. Alyssa McGrath (pictured) is one of two aides who have come forward to accuse the governor of harassment Sherry Vill, 55 Sherry Vill, 55, accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct during a press conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on Monday. She alleges Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her 'aggressively and in a sexual manner' on both cheeks in May 2017 while he was touring her home in Greece, near Rochester, as he inspected local flood damage. Vill, who said she felt uncomfortable at the time, shared an image her daughter took on the day that showed Cuomo holding her face as he kissed her cheek and her attorney held up multiple photos showing the Governor inside her home. The same photos appear on Cuomo's Flickr account, as well as multiple others that show him kissing and greeting residents as he toured the town. None of the women in the other photos have accused the governor of inappropriate behavior or wrongdoing. Sherry Vill, 55, accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct on Monday. Vill, who said she felt uncomfortable at the time, shared an image her daughter took on the day that showed Cuomo holding her face as he kissed her cheek Advertisement The Albany Police Department on Thursday confirmed that it had been formally notified by Cuomo's office over the sixth accuser's claims, which it said may have 'risen to the level of a crime'. A spokesperson for the department, Steve Smith, said that police had not received a formal complaint from the alleged victim, but they have reached out to a representative for her. This doesn't mean police have opened a criminal investigation, rather that the department has offered its services to the woman, 'as we would any other report or incident', Smith said. Albany PD said it received the referral from a state official on Wednesday night, shortly after an article was published in the Times Union that detailed the woman's accusations. Smith told the New York Times that the call alerting Albany PD to the latest allegation against Cuomo had initially come from the New York State Police. However, in a statement, Cuomo's acting counsel, Beth Garvey, confirmed it was her who had contacted authorities after a lawyer for the female aide told the governors office that the aide did not want to file a report. 'As a matter of state policy, when allegations of physical contact are made, the agency informs the complainant that they should contact their local police department,' Garvey clarified. 'If they decline, the agency has an obligation to reach out themselves and inform the department of the allegation.' 'In this case, the person is represented by counsel and when counsel confirmed the client did not want to make a report, the state notified the police department and gave them the attorneys information.' While the police department is just following standard procedure by reaching out to the alleged victim, the situation could quickly lead to potential criminal exposure for Cuomo, should the woman wish to pursue charges for unwanted touching. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan waded in on the scandal on Wednesday, tweeting a statement affirming that any other potential victims who wish to come forward will be properly assisted by police. 'The act of speaking out after being victimized can be a deeply painful and traumatic experience,' Sheehan wrote. 'The young woman reference in recent reports has the right to determine who she speaks to regarding her experience and when. 'The Attorney General has commenced an investigation into previous allegations against the Governor, and I have the utmost confidence in her ability to investigate this latest report. She continued: 'At this time no criminal complaint involving this matter has been file by the victim with the Albany Police Department, but Chief Hawkins assured me this evening that APD stands ready to assist any victim who seeks to come forward.' De Blasio also sounded off earlier on Thursday and directly called for Cuomo to resign. 'The latest report, and the fact that we can talk about how many people have been come forward with accusations. Its not one, its not two, its not three, its not four, its not five its six women who have come forward,' the mayor said. 'Its deeply troubling, the specific allegation that the governor called an employee of his - someone who he had power over - he called them to a place and then sexually assaulted her is absolutely unacceptable. 'It's is disgusting to me,' de Blasio continued. 'He can no longer serve as governor. It's as simple as that.' De Blasio said his stance was compounded 'so many troubling things' that have come out about Cuomo in recent weeks, including his handling of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes. 'We still don't have the truth about that,' he said of nursing home deaths. 'And their families need and deserve to know the truth. 'We know one thing: We know there was a purposeful cover-up and that alone is unacceptable and disqualifying. 'These six women have come forward with these powerful and painful stories and particularly this most recent report is just disqualifying. He just cant serve as governor anymore,' de Blasio concluded. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) addressed the controversy during a radio interview on Thursday and called the latest claim against Cuomo 'nauseating' but did not say that he should resign. Schumer also appeared to accuse Cuomo of withholding pandemic money from New York City in a separate address, while announcing a massive COVID vaccine push in the Big Apple which will see him hand $32 billion allocated for the shots in the COVID relief bill in December straight to Mayor de Blasio. 'There's money for the MTA, there's money for our schools, and there is money for New York City,' the New York Senator said as he appeared at de Blasio's press conference. 'With the mayor's guidance and a little bit of prodding, we made sure that money doesn't come through Albany, it goes directly to the city because when Albany gets the money sometimes the city doesn't see all of it.' A small oil boom may be dawning in the flatlands outside Bakersfield, where many are hoping for a petroleum-led economic bump for the San Joaquin Valley, but where others see California losing its will to break away from fossil fuels. Leaders in Kern County, the heart of the states still-bustling oil country, approved a policy this week that will streamline the approval of drilling, and potentially allow nearly 2,700 new oil and gas wells annually. This would mean more than 30% more drill sites in California over the next 15 years. The increase comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom praises California as a leader in the nations shift to clean energy. The governor recently set an ambitious goal of requiring all new cars sold in the state to be electric by 2035. Still, many say Newsom needs to do more to halt fossil fuel extraction and get California to live up to its climate-friendly hype. This decision in Kern County completely undermines our efforts, said Hollin Kretzmann, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, which has pushed to phase out fossil fuels in California and long battled petroleum development in the San Joaquin Valley. Producing this oil is detrimental to the fight against climate change. The high emotions over the new drilling policy was evident at an eight-hour virtual meeting of the Kern County Board of Supervisors on Monday, when more than 300 people weighed in. On one side were the states powerful environmental groups and representatives of polluted communities near the drill sites, criticizing fossil fuels as dirty and the source of catastrophic global warming. On the other side were moneyed oil companies and supportive residents, lauding the industrys economic contributions and the delivery of locally sourced energy. The supervisors ultimately voted to create a permitting system, supported by the industry, that gives the go-ahead to new oil and gas wells that meet a standard set of conditions. The system was praised by supporters for adding regulatory certainty and speed to the approval process and providing greater incentive for investment in Kern Countys sprawling oil fields. But while critics blasted the move as a giveaway to Big Oil, county officials described it as sound policy that actually requires a lot more of fossil fuel producers than in the past. Without the permitting system, no county-level approval was needed for new wells, only state approval, which comes with narrower guidelines, officials said, and long waits. The idea that oil companies are trying to evade something here is not true, Kern County Planning Director Lorelei Oviatt told The Chronicle. Those seeking a permit for a new well, she said, must now adhere to strict, and often costly, health and environmental regulations, including paying into a fund that supports clean air programs. They also still need approval from the state, though Sacramento is likely to lean on the county for time-consuming reviews. Why can we not have environmentally safe drilling? Oviatt said. The companies have a legal right to drill. So until that changes or something else is worked out (to shift the state off oil), this permitting system is our transition plan. Environmental and community groups say its incumbent upon the governor to speed up Californias elimination of oil, and theyre calling upon him to do so. Its really just a massive drilling proposal were facing in Kern County, said Alexandra Nagy, California director of Food and Water Watch. We need the governor to step up to the oil industry in California but were just not seeing that. The governors office told The Chronicle that climate change remains a top priority but that progress wont happen overnight. The governor is committed to achieving our climate goals in ways that continue to grow our economy while preserving and creating high-quality jobs, including in counties like Kern that currently rely on resource-intensive industries for jobs and for the overall tax base, said Lisa Lien-Mager, a spokeswoman for the Newsom administration, in a statement. Newsoms office noted that oil production is down in California in recent decades, though it hasnt dropped as much as environmentalists say is necessary for meaningful cuts to heat-trapping gas emissions. Kathryn Phillips, director of the Sierra Clubs California chapter, said shes been pleased with Newsoms messaging on climate change but thinks his actions fall well short of his ambition. He and his administration have a tendency to make broad statements about what theyre going to do and there seems to be a failure on the follow-through, she said. Political experts say cracking down on oil production, or anything for that matter, should not be expected from Newsom while hes facing a recall campaign. Even if he wanted to do something more germane and creative about climate change or try to stop oil drilling in California, I think he feels like now is not the time to deepen or pick fights, said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at California State University, Los Angeles. Its part of his strategy to be safe and sound politically. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Pressure for Newsom to take more aggressive action on oil, however, is not likely to let up. A statewide ban on fracking and the implementation of buffer zones around drill sites are making their way through the Legislature, which could eventually force the governors hand. Meanwhile, in Kern County, the permitting policy is already facing at least two court challenges. The lawsuits take issue with an environmental impact report done to determine what actions the oil companies need to take to reduce the impacts of drilling before getting a permit. The suits say the applicants should be doing more. The permitting system is actually a new iteration of a previous system that was deemed inadequate by the courts. Under the new policy, up to 2,697 oil and gas wells can be permitted in Kern County each year. This means close to 40,000 new wells through 2035. California currently has about 107,000 wells, including those that are active and idle. The bulk are in the southern San Joaquin Valley. The economic impact of the industry is considerable. In Kern County, oil and gas development accounted for $197 million in property taxes in 2019, the last year records are available, while providing more than 16,000 jobs. Residents are well aware of the industrys financial importance and often proud of the energy being created. Well continue to point out that every person in our state consumes enormous amounts of petroleum products on a daily basis, said Tracy Leach, with the group Kern Citizens for Energy. Very simply, we should get those products right here. The number of wells permitted under the new policy is not much more than the number of wells pursued in past years. Whether the limit will be reached, and whether more oil and gas will actually be pulled from the ground, remains largely a matter of the market. Still, climate activists say opening the door for more petroleum production and rubber-stamping well approvals is not the direction California should be headed in. Its well past time to start transitioning to a future thats safer and cleaner than the path were taking here, said Kretzmann, with the Center for Biological Diversity. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's embattled defence minister apologised on Friday and withdrew remarks made about a former staffer in settling a defamation claim by the latter, who had said she was raped in the ministerial office in 2019. Domestic media had said Linda Reynolds, who is under pressure over her handling of the rape accusation, had called Brittany Higgins a "lying cow". Prime Minister Scott Morrison has clarified that the remarks, made in Reynolds' private office, referred to her frustrations over suggestions that she did not give enough support to Higgins over the rape accusation against a colleague at Parliament House. In a statement on Friday, Reynolds said she wanted to retract the remark and "unreservedly apologise to Brittany Higgins and acknowledge the hurt and distress it caused to her". Reynolds is on extended sick leave after the crisis broke and will miss next week's parliamentary session. On Twitter, Higgins said she had accepted the apology, adding that an undisclosed sum forming part of the settlement would be paid to a Canberra organisation that counsels and supports survivors of sexual assault and abuse. "This has been an immensely challenging period for me and I wish to reiterate that the only reason I have chosen to come forward is to help others," Higgins added. Higgins did not immediately respond to an email request from Reuters to seek comment. (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) If you think our current nanny state is there to look out for you and make sure you are safe, you've got a problem. The actual message of our helicoptering elite is that we are not to be trusted; we are unreliable and discountable, and our "nannies" know better. We're simply naive children who must be led, watched over, and protected from ourselves. We must cede self-determination, and everything's gonna be okay. We may not have anything anymore if we give up things like our self-respect, a way to earn a living, and our sovereign country, but it'll be worth it because they'll take care of us all. There are many ways this warped relationship manifests. All cancel culture would come under the umbrella that the nanny (in this case a combo of state, media, and tech oligarchy) knows best. Our delicate eyes and ears can't be trusted to assess what we see and hear and come to the "correct" conclusions; they must do it for us, leading us by the nose ring, as it were. Where we were once taught to say, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me," and to think for ourselves and defend our positions, we now are treated as a bunch of delicate blooms who must be shielded from damage by the mis-think of others specifically, others who don't uphold the progressive ethos. We must be shielded from our own bad thoughts (presumably "conservative" ones) and shielded from any opinion that's not congruent with the state groupthink. Mask mandates, and many other COVID safeguards too, fit the definition. The State knows better than you whether you need to protect others from your germs. You aren't even trusted to know when you're sick. You must have your temperature taken every time you enter a restaurant, or any office, just to be sure you're not (unbeknownst to yourself) running a fever. You must mask nay, double-mask to protect those around you, even if you're healthy and have no virus to pass around. You must remain masked, even if you've been fully vaccinated. You must be vaccinated, with an experimental drug, because Nanny knows best and so what if it kills a certain number of you? It's better than the alternative of maybe getting COVID and having to be treated for it. Once upon a time, we were a people with free will. Once upon a time, we could run our own businesses if we followed basic rules, paid our taxes and our rent, and treated our employees fairly. Once upon a time, we knew when we were sick, and we isolated ourselves so we didn't get others sick. Once upon a time, we could evaluate life using logic taught to us by our parents, by ethical teachers, by people who didn't presuppose they had our best interest in mind whether we wanted them to or not. Those days seem to have passed. By ceding our free will to the nanny state, we tacitly acknowledge that bureaucrats know best and always have our best interests in mind, despite obvious evidence to the contrary. That contrary evidence is routinely shoved under the rug, thanks to a complicit media. Illogical logic rules the roost. We are told to ignore any reminders that anarchists were, and still are, committing horrible violence around the country. Antifa members get released from jail and melt back into the mass, without comment. Yet the FBI hunts down every last person who happened to demonstrate in front of the Capitol, regardless of whether he participated in any violence. A fence surrounds our congresspeople, keeping them safe from us, but nobody keeps us safe from people from foreign lands carrying COVID and other diseases who are pouring over our southern border and dispersing through the land. We listen to the "great" news that a "COVID" relief bill has been passed, and the newsreaders never mention that only 9% of it has anything to do with COVID. The rest is just pork for the Democrat-favored few. We are asked to swallow whole all the nanny states dictums. Never mind that they are mostly lies. The nanny state's relationship with us is predicated on the theory that we are helpless, and Nanny will care for us. The opposite is true. First, the nanny state does not have our best interest at heart, and, given the chance, we can perfectly well care for ourselves. Second, of late, the nanny state thinks half of us are bad actors and demands that we be seriously disciplined. Image: Vintage photograph; public domain. This is an opinion column. Im a bit embarrassed I havent written about Toforest Johnson before. I believed wrongly that I wouldnt have to. The facts are clear enough that I thought even the most stubborn Alabama officials would concede something had gone horribly wrong. The injustice of Johnsons case should have been rectified already. Im still waiting for that to happen. But more importantly, Johnson is still waiting on death row. If you arent familiar with Johnsons case, here are a few of the important facts. Johnson was one of two men accused of murdering Jefferson County Sheriffs Deputy William Hardy in 1995. The other was a man named Ardragus Ford. Both men were tried for the murder. After a couple of mistrials, Ford was acquitted. Only Johnson was convicted. But whats peculiar here is the defendants werent tried together. They were tried separately and around the same time. And they were accused of the exact same crime. By the same prosecutors. In one trial, in one courtroom, prosecutors told a jury Ford shot Hardy. And then in another trial, in another courtroom, the same prosecutors told a different jury that Johnson shot Hardy. This is not a case where prosecutors tried one person and then figured out later that somebody else was the right suspect. They accused both men separately, but at the same time. They couldnt make up their minds who the real killer was, so they decided to try them separately and see which a jury would convict. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt, this aint. Only one of these men could be guilty, but its very likely neither of them was. In the course of his appeals, Johnsons legal team has produced 10 witnesses who put Johnson and Ford in a completely different part of town at the time of the murder. Prosecutors case against Ford relied on the testimony of a teenager, Yolanda Chambers, who had named three other people as the shooter before saying it was Ford who pulled the trigger. Despite the witness having changed her story several times, prosecutors in that case told jurors she was credible and they should believe her. After Fords first trial ended with a hung jury, Johnsons lawyer called Chambers as a defense witness in the other trial. Again, Chambers said Ford had done it, but this time prosecutors told jurors that Chambers was a liar and an unreliable witness. In Johnsons case, however, prosecutors had another witness, a woman who had come forward seeking a cash reward for information. The witness testified that she had eavesdropped on a phone call in which someone she believed to be Johnson admitted to the shooting. However, the testimony she gave didnt fit other evidence in the crime. The state later paid the witness $5,000 for her testimony, but the jury was never told this. The Johnson and Ford prosecutions took place during the tenure of Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber. So far, four death row defendants prosecuted by Barbers office have later been exonerated, most notably Anthony Ray Hinton, who was set free after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2015. But heres the thing. No matter the problems of Hintons case or the others, a prosecutor in one of those trials could plausibly tell a jury they believed the defendants to be guilty, whether the evidence supported that or not. In Johnsons case, prosecutors could make no such argument. But they put him on trial, anyway. That might not be against the law, but damn, if that shouldnt be a crime. And there was one person who was adamant Johnson didnt pull the trigger Ford. Prosecutors offered him immunity if he testified against Johnson. He refused, telling his lawyer he wouldnt lie to save himself. Washington Post journalist Radley Balko wrote about the most exhaustive account of Johnsons case in 2019, (where I first learned of it). Then, last summer, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr requested Johnsons conviction be set aside and that he be given a new trial. Since then, it has been in Jefferson County Circuit Judge Teresa Pulliams hands. More than a dozen former judges and prosecutors, including former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley and former Chief Justice Drayton Nabers, have called on the court to do something. As a lifelong defender of the death penalty, I do not lightly say what follows: An innocent man is trapped on Alabamas death row, Baxley wrote this week in an op-ed for the Washington Post. So many people are now picking up their pens for justice in this case except the ones that matter. Judge Pulliam could fix this with a stroke of a pen, but that hasnt happened yet. Attorney General Steve Marshall could, too, but hasnt. If neither of them does soon, Gov. Kay Ivey should. Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group. You can follow his work on his Facebook page, The War on Dumb. And on Twitter. And on Instagram. More columns by Kyle Whitmire John Merrills absentee voting flip-flop has no excuse What will you carry with you from the pandemic? Kay Ivey wont be bullied Alabama doesnt have a gambling problem. Its worse than that. Tuscaloosa named street for slain officer. Lawmaker wants to rename it for Nick Saban. The Medicaid Civil War is over. Quit fighting, Kay Ivey. Just keep talking, Tommy Tuberville Richard Shelby, Mo Brooks and the death of Alabama pork politics Alabama lawmaker has a health care plan for lawmakers, not you Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 03:47:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RABAT, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's COVID-19 tally rose to 488,181 on Friday as 431 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours. According to a statement by the Ministry of Health, the death toll mounted to 8,716 as four COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours. The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 474,938 after 681 new ones were added, while 398 people are in intensive care units, the statement said. The COVID-19 fatality rate in Morocco stands at 1.8 percent while the recovery rate is 97.3 percent. Meanwhile, 4,169,133 people have received so far the first vaccine shot against COVID-19 in the country, and 1,224,959 people have received the second dose. The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on Jan. 28 after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines. Enditem Stay up to date on the latest news and the local entertainment scene by subscribing to The New Mexican's email lists. Letters: Embrace historic names of streets in the Quarter and the rest of the city 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 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 22:45:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close File photo taken on Oct. 19, 2019 shows the European Union flag and the Union Jack flag outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan) The ONS said multiple factors may have attributed to the falling trade in goods between Britain and the EU. In addition to the changes facing Britain after the transition period ended, the country went into another national lockdown at the beginning of January. LONDON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Britain's exports of goods to the European Union (EU) fell by 40.7 percent in January while imports from the bloc dropped by 28.8 percent, the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Friday. Falling imports of goods, excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals, were largely seen in machinery and transport equipment, and chemicals from the EU in January, particularly in imports of cars and medicinal and pharmaceutical products, according to the ONS. January marked the first month of trade after the Brexit transition period ended on Dec. 31, 2020. Photo taken on Jan. 1, 2021 shows the Calais Port in France. (Photo by Sebastien Courdji/Xinhua) The ONS said multiple factors may have attributed to the falling trade in goods between Britain and the EU. In addition to the changes facing Britain after the transition period ended, the country went into another national lockdown at the beginning of January. Stockpiling of goods from the EU increased in November and December 2020 in preparation for the end of the Brexit transition period, just like Britain's goods imports from the EU also peaked in the weeks approaching previous Brexit deadlines in March and October 2019, the ONS said. The ONS said data suggested that importing and exporting to the EU began to increase toward the end of January 2021. The British government announced on Thursday that it will delay post-Brexit checks on some EU goods coming into Britain to help firms recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for health certificates on imports such as meat and milk will be pushed back from next month to October. In contrast to the falling exports to the EU, exports of medicines and pharmaceutical products to non-EU countries increased by 0.3 billion pounds (about 0.42 billion U.S. dollars) in January, and a large proportion is represented by increasing exports to China and Japan, according to the ONS. A ship arrives at the Port of Dover in Dover, Britain, Jan. 1, 2021. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua) HOLYOKE The City Councils Public Safety Committee, health and medical professionals continue a push to reduce the citys asthma rate, one of the highest in Massachusetts and the nation. The committee held a virtual session Wednesday chaired by Ward 2 City Councilor Terence Murphy, whose constituents, particularly children, experience higher than average asthma rates. Murphy said the goal was to improve the air quality for residents who suffer from the condition. Asthma also affects the public schools chronic absentee figures. Murphy has held a series of meetings on the subject. Staff from Revitalize CDC and the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition outlined programs to improve outcomes for families affected by asthma, especially in hard-hit urban areas. Sarita Hudson of the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition said her organization looks for solutions to cut asthma rates in homes and schools. The Healthy Homes Asthma Program, managed by Revitalize CDC and Holyoke Medical Center, offers educational programs, supplies, and home repairs for families to reduce asthma symptoms. We know asthma is an issue up and down the Pioneer Valley, Hudson said. Its an air quality issue. Yet, weve never been able to do the sophisticated monitoring that we wanted to do, and now we have an opportunity. Hudson said a Springfield project, funded by the state attorney generals office, will monitor air quality. Along with Springfield, Holyoke participates in the Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership, allowing for widespread monitoring. Its fantastic to set up this network of air quality monitors and then be able to track the information, Hudson said. Our goal is to get that information into the hands of folks like you and so that residents understand what the sources of air pollution are. Murphy said a significant goal is to provide air purifiers for renters at low or no cost. Holyokes aging tenements are a significant source of asthma triggers, whether from mold or other environmental exposures. Hudson added the Healthy Home Program uses community health workers to identify asthma causes such as pets, dust, mold, gas stoves, smoking or cleaning products. The health workers help clients spot asthma triggers and how to use medications effectively. If there are things we can do inside the home to fix it, that will save a lot of problems, Hudson told Murphy. Revitalize CDC uses home assessors to evaluate a renters living situation and offer steps to mitigate problems. Solutions include: installing an air purifier replacing an old mattress using a pillow protector cleaning air ducts and better dealing with pets Colleen Loveless of Revitalize CDC said the organization collaborates with Baystate Health, Holyoke Health Center and other regional agencies. Its important the community health worker works hand-in-hand with our Healthy Homes assessors. The two of them are working in-house to determine the needs of a particular client. Everybodys situation is a little different, Loveless said. Healthy Homes also examines a homes structural makeup, another potential asthma origin, with the hope of reducing emergency room visits and school absenteeism. Typical repairs include pest control, mold remediation and carpet removal. All that work is targeted and specific for the person who has asthma, Loveless said. Its been very successful in this area. Were kicking this off at the Holyoke Medical Center. Were going to expand our work because theres such a need. Murphy recommended the Healthy Homes initiative coordinate activities with medical professionals who directly deal with asthma patients. Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-11 23:48:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), speaks via teleconference during the five-party meeting at the Tokyo 2020 headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on March 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi) International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on Thursday that China will provide additional vaccines to participants of both Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on Thursday that China will provide additional vaccines to participants of both Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. Bach told the virtual IOC 137th session in Lausanne: "The IOC has received a kind of offer from the Chinese Olympic Committee, the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics. The offer is to make additional vaccine doses available to participants in both editions of 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games." He said that the Chinese vaccine doses will be available in two different ways, in collaboration with international partners, or directly to those countries and regions where agreements with Chinese vaccines are in place. Bach praised it as a "milestone" to ensure a secure and safe Games. "We are grateful for the offer, which is in the true Olympic spirit of solidarity," the IOC president said. Bach said that the IOC will pay for these additional doses not only for the Olympics but also for the Paralympic teams. He added that for each of these additional doses of the Olympic or Paralympic teams, the IOC will pay for two doses more which can be made available for the people in the respective countries and regions according to their needs. "These initiatives are another milestone in ensuring the security and safety of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games," Bach said. Bach said that the IOC firmly supports the fair distribution of vaccines among every country and region in the world as it also signed on the declaration initiated by World Health Organization on the issue. The Countess of Wessex cut a casual figure as she continued her volunteering efforts by packing food parcels for healthcare staff on Tuesday - just days after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Oprah Winfrey interview caused shockwaves across the globe. Sophie Wessex, 56, opted for a short padded khaki jacket and blue jeans as she was pictured volunteering with Nourish Our Nurses, which works to deliver nourishing, healthy food to Surrey's NHS staff amid the coronavirus pandemic. A series of snaps were posted on the Nourish Our Nurses Twitter page, alongside a caption which read: 'It was a pleasure to welcome back HRH The Countess of Wessex on Tuesday to help volunteer with Nourish Our Nurses. 'The Countess once again helped our cause, lifting and packing with our other volunteers.' It marks Sophie's first engagement since the bombshell interview, where Meghan claimed that an unnamed royal - not the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh - raised concerns about Archie being 'too brown.' The Countess of Wessex (pictured), 56, cut a casual figure as she continued her volunteering efforts by packing food parcels for healthcare staff onTuesday The Countess, who is married to the Queen's youngest son Prince Edward, could be seen wearing gloves as she carried large cardboard boxes filled with fresh fruit and vegetables. There has been much speculation about which member of the royal family they were accusing of racism. But during the interview the couple would not be drawn on who had deeply offended them. Harry said: That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked. But living up to her stoic reputation, Sophie Wessex quietly returned to work and could be seen wearing gloves as she carried large cardboard boxes filled with fresh fruit and vegetables. Nourish Our Nurses shared a series of snaps alongside a caption which read: 'It was a pleasure to welcome back HRH The Countess of Wessex on Tuesday to help volunteer with Nourish Our Nurses' (pictured) The royal, who wore her blonde hair loose and tucked behind her ears, donned a cable knit beige jumper and floral patterned face mask. Pictured, with the volunteers During the bombshell interview, Harry accused an unnamed member of his family of racism and said the lack of support he and his wife received from the other royals was behind their decision to quit the UK Bombshells from the Oprah interview - Meghan's mental health The Duchess of Sussex revealed she had suicidal thoughts and said: 'I just didn't want to be alive any more.' She said she begged for help, and asked to go somewhere to get help, and approached one of the most senior people in the institution, but was told it would not look good. The duchess said: 'I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that I've never felt this way before and I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution.' - Baby Sussex is a girl Harry and Meghan revealed they are expecting a baby girl. The duke joined his wife in the second half of the interview, and told the chat show host: 'It's a girl.' He said his first thought was 'amazing' when he discovered they were having a girl, adding: 'Just grateful. To have any child, any one or any two, would have been amazing. 'But to have a boy and then a girl, I mean what more can you ask for? Now we've got our family, we got the four of us and our two dogs.' Asked if they were 'done' with two children, Harry said 'done' and Meghan said: 'Two is it.' She also confirmed the baby is due in the 'summertime'. - Royal family accused of racism Meghan said, when she was pregnant with Archie, an unnamed member of the royal family raised 'concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born'. Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be 'too brown' and that would be a problem, Meghan said: 'If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.' Pushed by Winfrey on who had those conversations, Meghan refused to say, adding: 'I think that would be very damaging to them.' She added: 'That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations the family had with him, and I think it was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations.' - Archie's title Meghan suggested she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so he would have security and be protected. The duchess expressed her shock at 'the idea of our son not being safe', and the idea of the first member of colour in this family, not being titled in the same way as other grandchildren. Archie, who is seventh in line to the throne, is not entitled to be an HRH or a prince due to rules set out more than 100 years ago by King George V. He will be entitled to be an HRH or a prince when the Prince of Wales accedes to the throne. As the first born son of a duke, Archie could have become Earl of Dumbarton - one of Harry's subsidiary titles - or have been Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, instead at the time of his birth, a royal source said Harry and Meghan had decided he should a regular Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. - The Prince of Wales The Duke of Sussex said his father the Prince of Wales stopped taking his calls while Harry and Meghan were in Canada 'because I took matters into my own hands. I needed to do this for my family'. He said Charles wanted him to put his plans in writing. - The Queen Harry denied that he had 'blindsided' his grandmother Queen with the bombshell statement about stepping down as senior royal. The duke said he believed the report probably could have come from 'within the institution'. - The Duchess of Cambridge Meghan said Kate made her cry ahead of her wedding. Reports circulated ahead of the Sussexes' nuptials that Meghan left Kate in tears at Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress fitting. But Meghan told Winfrey the 'reverse happened'. Meghan said she was not sharing the information to be 'disparaging', but added it was 'really important for people to understand the truth'. 'She's a good person,' the duchess added. Advertisement The royal, who wore her blonde hair loose and tucked behind her ears, donned a cable knit beige jumper and floral patterned face mask. Completing the laidback look, Sophie, who is married to the Queen's youngest son Prince Edward, added a pair of black comfy boots and a subtle, dainty necklace. Nourish our Nurses was founded by Jo-Ann Airikkala, who was inspired to start the scheme after learning of a friend's experience as a nurse in Edinburgh. 'Seeing the panic buying and empty supermarket shelves really got me thinking about our frontline NHS heroes,' Ms Airikkala previously said. 'Those working flat out to care for patients deserve to be looked after and provided with the ingredients for a healthy, hearty meal.' Sophie's volunteering efforts come just days after an impassioned Prince William publicly hit back against Harry and Meghan's racism claims, insisting, 'We're very much not a racist family'. The Duke of Cambridge was the first royal to personally respond to the allegation during his first royal engagement since the Oprah interview yesterday, as he also revealed that he has not spoken to his brother since it came out, but added that he 'will do'. It was also the first engagement for Kate since she was accused by Meghan of making her cry in the bombshell tell-all chat. Previously, it was believed it was Meghan who had made Kate cry during a row over bridesmaids' dresses. Meghan said: 'She (Kate) was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers'. During the Oprah interview, Meghan also revealed details about their strained relationship, saying of pictures of them laughing at Wimbledon, 'Nothing is what it looks like.' She added that Kate being called 'waity Katie' in the press couldn't compare to the alleged racism she faced. Meghan also made allegations that she felt suicidal and turned to the palace for help. The Duchess of Sussex told Oprah she 'couldn't be left alone' and told her husband she 'didn't want to be alive anymore' before claiming the Buckingham Palace HR department ignored her plea for help because she wasn't a 'paid employee'. Describing how she considered ending her life believing it 'was better for everyone', Meghan said: 'I knew that if I didn't say it, that I would do it. I just didn't want to be alive anymore. 'And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. I remember how he just cradled me. I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. 'I said that 'I've never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere'. And I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution'. She said that after confiding in her husband, she was forced to go to the Royal Albert Hall for a charity event in January 2019, claiming photos from that night 'haunt me'. She told Oprah she later reached out to one of the best friends of Diana, Princess of Wales, because she felt unsupported by the palace. She said: 'When I joined that family, that was the last time I saw my passport, my driving licence, my keys - all of that gets turned over'. Meghan said Harry had 'saved my life' by agreeing to move to Los Angeles. During the broadcast, Prince Harry hinted at the extent of the alleged rift between the two brothers, claiming that their relationship was now space, but added he hoped time would be a healer. He went on to claim he was 'on different paths' to William and spoke about his brother was 'trapped' in the Royal Family. Harry also said he felt 'very let down' by his father Prince Charles, accusing him of refusing to take his calls and and then 'cut him off' financially when they emigrated. He said: 'My father and brother. They're both trapped' and added that his mother Diana would be 'angry and sad' that he felt he had to leave the royal family, but 'she saw it coming'. Harry said: 'All she'd ever want for us is to be happy', adding that his wife had 'saved me', declaring: 'I myself was trapped, as well. I didn't see a way out'. The Queen broke her silence on the interview on Tuesday, voicing her 'concern' over the issues raised, 'particularly that of race', although the statement added that 'some recollections may vary'. Remote working is helping to boost gender balance in work opportunities, says Marie Moynihan, senior vice-president of global talent acquisition, Dell Technologies. Speaking at the virtual I Wish event promoting greater female participation in STEM roles, Marie told the 15,000 girls tuning in from secondary schools across Ireland that digital transformation is helping to pave the way towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce, particularly within the tech sector. Prior to Covid-19, remote work was already on the rise, said Marie. With it now having become a mainstream thing, more and more people are seeing the value of what that flexibility does for their lives. Virtually everyone sees the extra time they gain in their day by not having to commute. The greater flexibility on when you do your work is equally important to people. Now that work is not all about being in an office at fixed hours, some work tasks can easily be done early in the morning or later in the evening. Work is now becoming more about the outcome. That is good for everyone. That aspect is really good for women. When you have more care-giving responsibilities, remote working really suits your needs. Most industry sectors agree they could benefit from the talent boost that will come with greater female participation in the workplace. Even Europe's tech sector has surprisingly low levels of female workers. European data shows that 90% of all jobs in all sectors of the economy require digital skills. Over 53% of companies looking for ICT specialists report recruitment difficulties yet of the nine million reported to be working as ICT specialists across Europe only 17% of them are women. This highlights an untapped potential talent pool. Although Ireland rates higher than the EU average, only 21% of those within the ICT sector are female. From Cork, Marie Moynihan is responsible for attracting the best global talent into Dell Technologies. Over recent months, she has helped the company to move to virtual onboarding of new recruits. Interviewing is exclusively online now, she said. Whereas in the past, the video interview was seen as a second-tier thing, to be followed up with the 'real' interview; now it is the norm. At Dell, we have also switched our intern programme to remote working. Honestly, we were a bit nervous about it at first, but it turned out that we were able to replicate everything via video. The feedback on remote work has been very positive. The same is true across our staff; costs are lower, productivity has gone up and so have satisfaction levels among workers. Our in-house surveys show that the optimum work balance for the future would be a mixed hybrid of remote and office-based work. That is what the majority of workers favour. At present, 90% of workers with Dell Technologies are working from home. That number was already at 21% prior to Covid, which was quite high at the time. Now in-house surveys show that more than 50% of the staff want to continue working full-time from home in the future, with near unanimity agreeing that some form of hybrid model would be preferable. In terms of attracting global new talent, the hybrid model certainly makes a company more attractive. Irish-based companies, particularly the larger multinational corporations, have invested hugely in digital transformation since the advent of Covid. While partly acting out of in-house necessity, the move has also delivered a huge boost to talent search options. You might find someone living in Bulgaria who has the skills you need, said Marie. In the past, most companies were very focused on location. Now you can recruit the person you want and they can stay in Bulgaria rather than asking them to move to Ireland. We are also seeing that many women who may have opted out of the workforce for care-giving reasons are now opting back in. In time, that trend will grow, with more women seeing the value of working remotely. In the past year, families have had more time together. Without the morning and evening commute, families have achieved a greater balance between work and home life. I want to make sure we bottle the learnings from the past year and maintain the positives in a post-pandemic world to forge an even more inclusive talent pipeline both within Irelands vibrant technology sector and beyond. While the last twelve months have brought so much turmoil and sadness for many it has also been an incredible year of transformation for many organisations. Despite everything, weve achieved so much in the past year and my hope is that when restrictions are a thing of the past and we all return to some form of normality that we continue to remember whats possible and choose to challenge the boundaries within which we are asked to work. In Ireland, Dell Technologies has campuses in Dublin, Cork and Limerick with a large and diverse workforce. The company has always embraced remote working and flexible working arrangements for its teams. Marie Moynihan welcomes the wider societal change in mindset around remote working that has occurred in the past year. In Ireland, the Government has launched a National Remote Work Strategy to make remote working a permanent option for life after the pandemic. The Strategy sets out plans to strengthen the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, to provide the infrastructure to work remotely, and sets out clear guidance on how people can be empowered to work remotely from the office, she said. It is steps like these that will help to make our workplaces more inclusive and diverse. Panellists at India Today Conclave-South 2021 on Friday discussed how South India could play a significant role in realising the country's $5 trillion economy dream. Speaking on the topic 'Self-reliant South: Cultural Capital or Ease of Business?', Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said for South India to play a leading role in contributing to India's $5-trillion goal, it has to focus on building infrastructure, continue its digital push and provide a pervasive environment to do business. "If we speak sector-by-sector, manufacturing has the potential to refine the resilient global supply chain and with government policy matching the aspirations, Tamil Nadu has become a manufacturing hub. Karnataka and Telangana are also catching up," said Dr Reddy, adding organisations emerging from South India are setting the country on the right track. R Seshasayee, Vice Chairman, Hinduja Group, said the South's contribution to India's $5 trillion-dream could be much bigger as it already contributes about 24-25 per cent to its GDP so it ought to be higher than $1 trillion. "The South should not be looked at as a separate engine for India, and need to look holistically. As far as advantages in the South are concerned, it has the strength of IT," he said. B Santhanam, Chairman and Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India, said to reach a $5 trillion economy, the South's contribution has to be more than 25 per cent in GDP. He said manufacturing plus construction will need to play a bigger role. "South has an incredible infrastructure and a large base of companies. We need to inspire MSMEs to drive the economic growth engine. The government can do whatever it can but aspiration must be there to go beyond," he said. K Ullas Kamath, Joint Managing Director, Jyothi Laboratories, said South India stands out from the rest of the country. "We have 27 factories here. Quality and productivity both are amazing. Infra is unthinkable," he said, adding that South could lead the country in providing the best education, high tech facilities. On the impact of the Modi government's PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) scheme, Dr Reddy said the aspiration of boosting manufacturing contribution to 25 per cent of the total GDP is the basis of the scheme but there are problems such as land issues, ease of doing business, and logistics, which need to be solved. Seshasayee said if there should be an exit clause to the policy. "The initial years, it is important to provide nourishment to the baby to help it stand on its feet but it has to be for a certain period." Santhanam said he was in favour of the PLI scheme and that it was being implemented well. "SEZ in Chennai attracted a lot of electronic industries, including Nokia. If you go there, over 100,000 people have been reemployed, thanks to the PLI scheme," he said, adding that if handled well, states and the Centre can work together to take advantage of the scheme. Kamath said the PLI scheme was a welcome step but it needs to be time-bound. "It can benefit forever. The PLI scheme has been defined nicely. There needs to be a greater partnership between the government and private sector," he said. On increasing competition among states to garner more investment, Dr Reddy said there's adequate scope for growth in all areas. "There's enough capital coming to India. There's great potential in choosing areas where they can excel. For example, Andhra is focussing on leveraging pharmaceuticals. If each state could find their cluster, scope and scale, it can win global opportunities. Disruptive competitiveness is a few years away in India," she said. Seshasayee said states should make promises that they can keep. "Affordability checks are critical. States have to be responsible while seeking investment. It's important to have a national benchmark," he said. Santhanam said from a firm's point of view, it's good. "States earlier used to give away future revenue but they have now shifted to classical investment subsidy. There is an investment related to the subsidy. That's beneficial. I am for states intensely competitive with themselves. With time, they will figure out what is going on. We should let that play and have a free market to attract investment," he said. Kamath said states should have the ability to honour concessions. In terms of ease of doing business Andhra and Telangana were doing a great job, while Kamath said Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat were leading the pack. Seshasayee said though it's been figured out how to ensure ease of doing business, slow judicial decisions and environment clearances are still the pain points. "These situations must be tackled at the state level," he said. As per Kamath, Karnataka and Telangana give a red carpet welcome to investors. Seshasayee said the south is becoming Saas capital. "There are immense opportunities in teaching," he said. Also read: India Today Conclave: 'Where is the V-shaped recovery,' asks Chidambaram 2021 is a year for vaccines and the hope of a return to a certain degree of normalcy. How much of the Chinese population has been vaccinated? Are Chinas vaccines really safe and effective? Can the vaccines protect us from being infected with COVID-19 again? Questions like these are being constantly asked by both the Chinese and foreign public. During this years Two Sessions, China reiterated its commitment to making COVID-19 vaccines global public goods that are affordable and accessible. In response to the peoples concerns, Peoples Daily Online has launched a chat show featuring leading scientist, vaccine manufacturer, foreign opinion leaders and foreign ambassador on the program to share their opinions on COVID-19 vaccines and global cooperation in the post-pandemic era. Stories from the pandemic The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide brought massive disruption to peoples social activities and daily lives. Previously normal practices, such as travelling and social interaction, have all become the ultimate luxury. Filmed scene at the Night Cafe with the Chief Editor (People's Daily Online/ Yuan Yue) During the quarantine, I really missed my favorite Chinese food, such as hotpot, said Stuart Wiggin, a famous British online celebrity in China, who added that he had been caught unprepared by the pandemic. Echoing Wiggin, American actor Jonathan Kos-Read noted that the pandemic has made his life really inconvenient. After first being trapped in Istanbul for days, when he came back to his apartment in Spain, he found that restrictions were even more stringent. Md Enamul Hassan, a Bangladeshi journalist who tested positive for COVID-19 last October when he entered Guangzhou, shared his experience of receiving treatment in China. The sincerity and the cordial behavior of the Chinese medical workers really impressed me, said Hassan, adding, "I asked them why they treated me like Chinese people with such sincerity. They said, Actually we are saving humankind. From his personal experience and observation, Hassan concluded that Chinas success in battling the COVID pandemic was built on four pillars - the leadership of the Communist Party of China, applying Western and traditional Chinese medicine together, the confidence of the people in the government and state-of-the-art technology. For foreign guests, a universally acknowledged international travel document and the possibility of receiving Chinese vaccines are the most pressing concerns. During this years Two Sessions, the Chinese government announced that it will roll out electronic health certificates for international travelers. I would really like to take a Chinese vaccine. Theres no nationality in vaccines. As long as they are scientifically proven, they are effective, said Kos-Read. I think Chinese vaccines have brought hope to the whole world. Im willing to take the Chinese vaccines if Im permitted to, said Hassan. Silver lining of vaccination Having majored in molecular biology, Kos-Read believes that Chinese vaccines are among the most effective and safe in the world, as the technology it uses is the most mature one. The theory of Chinese vaccines goes like this: first you kill the real virus with chemicals, then inject the dead virus into the body. The immune system will tear the dead virus into pieces, and then cells will display the dead virus protein on its surface. It is a safe and effective way to tackle the virus, said Kos-Read. Guests talking about the concept of inactivated vaccines (People's Daily Online/ Yuan Yue) Gao Fu, Director-General of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, further explained the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines, noting that after vaccination, the immune system, like a squad of policemen, can distinguish the virus from ordinary cells. Once the virus is targeted, the immune system will catch it. Inoculation with COVID-19 vaccines can significantly reduce the probability of occurrence of COVID-19. Even if you get infected by the virus, the chances of severe symptoms or death can be largely reduced with vaccination, said Zhang Yuntao, vice president and chief scientist of Sinopharms China National Biotech Group. Luo Hua, Editor-in-Chief of Peoples Daily Online, called for international vaccination cooperation. He stressed that no matter what kind of technologies are used to produce the vaccines, as long as they are proven safe and effective and can be manufactured swiftly, they should be used to bring benefit to all humankind. Vaccines are powerful weapons against the COVID-19 pandemic. Only when herd immunity is achieved can all of us be safe. There should be no vaccine competition, but more vaccine cooperation, so that the world can unite together to tackle the virus, said Gao. Vaccines connect the world Ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine manufacturing and distribution has become a major concern of every nation and every citizen. As one of the leading powers in this area, China has worked earnestly to improve vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. So far, China has donated or is donating COVID-19 vaccines to 69 developing countries in urgent need, and is exporting vaccines to 43 countries. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that vaccines will inject more confidence and hope into the global fight against the virus. Based on mutual trust, the UAE was one of the first nations to conduct vaccine cooperation with China. In the summer of 2020, vaccines designed by Sinopharm were put into clinical trial in the UAE. In September 2020, the UAE become the first nation to permit the emergency use of Chinese vaccines. In December 2020, Chinese vaccines were approved in the UAE. Luo Hua (L) , Editor-in-Chief of the Peoples Daily Online, Sheng Chuyi (R), English editor of the Peoples Daily Online, and Ali Al Dhaheri, UAE Ambassador to China (M) talk about global cooperation in the fight against the pandemic (People's Daily Online/ Yuan Yue) Through all this process, we have been able to send a message of trust, of confidence in the Chinese vaccine, said Ali Al Dhaheri, the UAE ambassador to China. When talking about the cooperation with China in pandemic control, the ambassador revealed that the two nations are currently working together on the development of vaccines, while the pandemic has brought new cooperation opportunities in areas such as science, technology and health care. The two nations will further strengthen cooperation in virus tracking, vaccine distribution and logistics, he added. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, no country or person can remain safe alone. Only by working together can we defeat the pandemic, said Luo. 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 New Hampshire woman and her son found dead in December died in a murder-suicide, an autopsy has confirmed. Mercedes Tremblay, 25, and Mason Tremblay, 2, were found in their Manchester, New Hampshire condo on Dec. 14. She was on the bed and he was in his bedroom closet. Mason Tremblay, 2, and his mother, Mercedes Tremblay, 25. Mason Tremblay, 2, and his mother, Mercedes Tremblay, 25. (Handout/) Bedroom furniture had been placed against the outside of the closet door, preventing Mason from fully opening the door, police said in a statement. Masons body was found pinned in the partially open door, between the closet door and doorframe. An autopsy found that Tremblay had died of a single gunshot to the head, and the manner of her death was a suicide, police said. Her son died of compressional asphyxia due to being pinned between the closet door and door frame, as well as a contributory cause of death of malnutrition, police said. The fact that his mother had stacked furniture against the door so that his attempt to escape the closet suffocated him made his death a homicide, police said. Based upon the information available at this time, it appears that Ms. Tremblay caused the death of Mason. Police reports and court documents showed a history of domestic abuse incidents with her mother, and state officials had been notified about her treatment of her son, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. Bridgett Floyd, sister of George Floyd, speaks during a press conference outside the Hennepin County Government Center earlier this week in Minneapolis. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images A Judge has granted prosecutors requests to add a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyds death. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill added the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get appellate courts to block it. Mr Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as not warranted by the circumstances of Mr Floyds death, but an appellate court ruling in an unrelated case established new grounds for it. Mr Chauvin already faced second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Legal experts say the additional charge helps prosecutors by giving jurors one more option to convict Mr Chauvin. Potential jurors in Mr Chauvins trial returned yesterday to continue the selection process that started this week. Mr Floyd was declared dead on May 25 after Mr Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against the black mans neck for about nine minutes. Mr Floyds death sparked sometimes violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond, leading to a nationwide reckoning on race. Five jurors have been seated after just two days of screening by attorneys and Judge Cahill, who had set aside at least three weeks to fill the panel. Lawyers have given considerable attention to the jury pools attitudes toward police in the first two days of questioning, trying to determine whether theyre more inclined to believe testimony from law enforcement over evidence from other witnesses to the fatal confrontation. The first juror picked on Wednesday, a man who works in sales management and grew up in a mostly white part of central Minnesota, acknowledged saying on his written questionnaire that he had a very favourable opinion of the Black Lives Matter movement and a somewhat unfavourable impression of the Blue Lives Matter counter-movement in favour of police, yet somewhat agreed that police dont get the respect they deserve. He said he agrees that there are bad police officers. Are there good ones? Yes. So I dont think its right to completely blame the entire organisation, he told the court under questioning from prosecutor Steve Schleicher. The second, a man who works in information technology security, marked strongly agree on a question about whether he believes police in his community make him feel safe. His community wasnt specified jurors are being drawn from all over Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis and many of its suburbs. Mr Schleicher noted the man also stated in his questionnaire that he strongly disagreed with the concept of defunding the police, which has become a political flashpoint across the country in the wake of Mr Floyds death. Mr Chauvin and three other officers were fired in the wake of Mr Floyds death. The others face an August trial on aiding and abetting charges. The defence hasnt said whether Mr Chauvin will testify in his own defence. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. 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Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Iranian authorities have arrested multiple music producers connected to a California-based Iranian pop singer in Tehrans latest effort to halt what it deems decadent Western behaviour. The arrests come as Iranian social media has been awash with criticism of the new music video of popular singer, Sasy real name Sasan Heidari Yafteh. The video for the song, Tehran Tokyo, features actresses including an American porn star dancing in kimonos and short bodycon dresses on top of cars and inside bars. The clip has racked up 18 million views within a week. Over the years, Sasy has become known for contentious lyrics that Iranian conservatives see as tainting the countrys moral probity. In a previous song which also featured a porn actress, he instructed teenagers to take alcohol shots if they cannot fall asleep, and to scroll through Instagram instead of finishing their homework. Sasy with Alexis Texas in the video (AZ Films/AP) In Iran, where the government retains tight controls over traditional media like newspapers and television, authorities have used courts to patrol social media platforms beyond their reach. Hours before the video went live late on Wednesday, Iranian security forces detained two popular music arrangers who worked on the song in the southern city of Shiraz and raided their studio, according to Sasys manager, Farshid Rafe Rafahi, the CEO of Los Angeles-based EMH Productions. The brothers, Mohsen and Behrouz Manouchehri, now face prosecution by a criminal court in Tehran, he added. A week ago, the songs teaser, featuring the well-known porn performer Alexis Texas dancing to clubby Farsi pop, fuelled such public consternation that authorities pledged to investigate the app that carried the video. Sasy's mission isn't to create havoc, it's to make people happy Farshid Rafe Rafahi Soon, Irans guardians of conservative morals cracked down on those associated with publicising or producing the clip. Referring to Ms Texas, Mr Rafahi said: Its pretty crazy, shes just dancing like any person in any ordinary music video, shes not doing anything inappropriate in these scenes. Sasys mission isnt to create havoc, its to make people happy. Semi-official news agencies in Iran confirmed several arrests on Wednesday, alleging that Sasys associates in Iran had produced music contrary to culture. The Fars news agency, believed to be close to Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also accused the music producers in Iran of running gambling websites at Sasys behest. Mr Rafahi said the gambling accusations stemmed from a misunderstanding, given that a poker website helped sponsor the music video. Sasy is now a permanent resident of the US and has lived in exile since leaving his career as a successful underground rapper in Iran in 2009. Since the video came out, Iran has promised to pursue his case with international legal authorities, according to the Fars report. While hard-liners consider the song a Western assault on Islamic teachings, thousands in the country are of a different mind. Scores of teenagers and twenty-somethings have posted videos on social media lip-syncing, dancing and striking poses to Tehran Tokyo in their living rooms, kitchens and workplaces. In the clips, many women wear bright lipstick and few cover their hair with the hijab. Iranian semi-official news agencies reported that those who cooperated with Sasy would would face decisive judicial action. It remains uncertain whether police also detained any of the lip-syncing fans. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution installed the clerically overseen system that endures today, the Revolutionary Guard has extended its reach into most aspects of Iranian society, with laws banning women from dancing in public or appearing outside without the hijab. Authorities have cracked down on music in the past arresting young Iranians who appeared in videos dancing to Pharrell Williams hit song Happy in 2014. Under pressure from hard-liners, the Iranian government has blocked access to various websites and social media platforms, from YouTube and Facebook to Twitter and Telegram. Young Iranians still manage to get around this ban, accessing social media to share Sasys outlawed songs through VPNs and proxies. ANSAmed - weekly diary from March 15 to March 21 (ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 12 - The following are the main events of interest in the Euro-Mediterranean area from March 15 to 21: MONDAY, MARCH 15 SYRIA - 10th anniversary of the protest movement against the regime under Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. BENGHAZI - swearing in of the new Libyan prime minister ad interim. MONTAUBAN (FRANCE) - French-Spanish summit with President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish head of government Pedro Sanchez, on the fight against terrorism and economic recovery. GENEVA - probable publication of an investigative report into the World Health Organization (WHO) mission to China on the origins of COVID-19. MARDRID - Spanish authorities press conference on the public health situation. TUESDAY, MARCH 16 ATHENS - second round of talks between Greece and Turkey on the situation in the eastern Mediterranean. ATHENS - announcement of the renewal on restrictions in place to contain the spread of COVID-19. PARIS - second reading in the Senate of a law on 'global security' SPAIN - reopening of borders for passengers coming from the UK. MOROCCO - COVID-19, national night curfew ends. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17 PARIS - trial against former president Nicolas Sarkozy and 13 other defendants in the Bygmalion case on illicit funding for the 2012 presidential elections. PARIS - 2021 annual oil report by the International Energy Agency. SFAX (TUNISIA) - general strike in the Sfax region proclaimed by the UGTT union. MOSTAGANEM (ALGERIA) - verdict in the appeals trial for the activist Dalila Touat, spokesperson for the Mostaganem jobless sentenced in early January to 18 months in jail. THURSDAY, MARCH 18 MADRID - press conference by Spanish authorities on the public health situation. FRIDAY, MARCH 19 LIBYA - 10th anniversary of the beginning of the French-British-American coalition offensive under a UN mandate. FRANCE - youth mobilization for climate and social justice, Youth For Climate France (until 20/3) SATURDAY, MARCH 20 No major event scheduled SUNDAY, MARCH 21 No major event scheduled (ANSAmed). (ANSA). COLUMBIA Three months into the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, South Carolina's vaccine providers will start getting a reliable number of weekly doses, hopefully putting an end to canceled appointments, public health officials said March 11. The shipments to hospitals starting March 15 will set the weekly minimum they'll receive for first-dose Pfizer vaccines, giving the state's largest providers consistency for whittling down waiting lists and scheduling appointments for millions of newly eligible South Carolinians, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. Hospitals' allotments "will go nowhere but up. They may go up, but they wont go down," Nick Davidson, deputy director for public health, told DHEC's governing board. It will take another week for DHEC to provide similar consistency to the state's hundreds of Moderna vaccine providers. Minimum deliveries for those providers are harder to determine because there are so many of those pharmacies, doctors' offices and clinics statewide, and the shipments are smaller, Davidson said. DHEC's distributions to nearly 1,000 providers are based on next week's total allotment of 115,490 first doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The newly authorized Johnson & Johnson vaccine won't be part of DHEC's calculations for several weeks. The state's first allotment of 41,400 doses this week of the single-shot vaccine was a one-week starter boost. South Carolina expects to get little-to-none of that vaccine for the next two weeks as manufacturing catches up. Beyond demand far exceeding supply, vaccine providers have said their biggest challenge is not knowing how much they'll get one week to the next. The long-awaited reliability comes as DHEC transitions to a new regional distribution system, as frustrated legislators required by law last month. Until now, distribution has been a hodgepodge, with DHEC collecting providers' requests and ordering from the federal government some portion of what each wanted, since their collective requests were generally several times more than South Carolina's total allotment. Hospitals overbooked when they made appointments based on what they asked for before knowing how many vials would actually arrive, said DHEC Director Edward Simmer. "The problems with canceling appointments should hopefully largely go away," Simmer said. A set minimum will be extremely helpful, said a spokesman for the Medical University of South Carolina. The state's second-largest vaccine provider has managed to reschedule about half of the roughly 50,000 first-dose appointments it had to postpone. "We never know until about two days in advance how much vaccine we're getting," said Dr. Danielle Scheurer, chief quality officer at the Medical University of South Carolina Health, the state's second-largest vaccine provider. "We have to shift our operations to match supply." Under the new distribution system, each of the state's four regions Lowcountry, Midlands, Pee Dee and Upstate will get a percentage of the state's total allotment, with each provider guaranteed a minimum. Each region's share is based primarily on population but also factors in demographics such as ages, race, and poverty, as well as local disease spread and the percent unvaccinated. Providers in the Midlands will receive 29 percent, while the Lowcountry will receive 27 percent, the Upstate will see 24 percent and the Pee Dee, 20 percent. The bulk of South Carolina's adult population became eligible for the vaccine March 8, when an estimated 2.7 million additional people were added to the list. So far, nearly 910,000 people have received at least their first of two doses, and roughly 60 percent of them have gotten both, according to DHEC's latest data. Mary Katherine Wildeman contributed to this report from Charleston. A father of six threatened to shoot a supermarket security guard who he claimed had barred his son from the shop, a court has heard. Shortly before 10pm on August 25, 2017, Brian Butler (38) went into the Tesco in Ballybrack, south Dublin, and told the victim he had barred his son earlier. He then repeatedly told him I am going to shoot you while he held his hand down under his waistband. Butler told the man he would come back and shoot him and said I'll do ten years. The victim told gardai later that he really believed Butler and was in fear. Butler was arrested and denied that he was holding a gun down his trousers. Expand Close Brian Butler of Wyattville Park, Loughlinstown, pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill at the Ballybrack shopping centre. He also pleaded guilty to two charges of intimidation of witnesses at the same place on September 2, 2017. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brian Butler of Wyattville Park, Loughlinstown, pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill at the Ballybrack shopping centre. He also pleaded guilty to two charges of intimidation of witnesses at the same place on September 2, 2017. Read More He told gardai that he was preparing to punch the victim and was tying the waistband of his tracksuit bottoms in order to get ready to run off afterwards. He also told gardai that he normally walks around with his hands down his jocks and that it was a comfort thing. He said that people did tell him it was unhygienic but he told gardai that he kept clean. A week later Butler walked up to two other security guards who had witnessed the earlier threats and told then you have to drop the charges or you're going to get a bullet. He told them I know my son is acting the bollocks but alleged somebody had pushed him in the chest. The court heard he told them I swear to God if I go to jail I am going to kill you. Butler of Wyattville Park, Loughlinstown, pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill at the Ballybrack shopping centre. He also pleased guilty to two charges of intimidation of witnesses at the same place on September 2, 2017. Butler's 20 previous convictions include assault and robbery. Taking the stand, Butler told Judge Karen O'Connor that he was really sorry for his actions and said he was going through a bad bad time in my life after five years of severe drug use. Judge O'Connor said that any interference in the course of justice was very serious. But she said that the defendant now appears to realise that he cannot behave in the way he has in the past. She noted that a Probation Service report put him at a moderate risk of reoffending and that he has made efforts to address his drug addiction issues. She said that to encourage his continued rehabilitation she was suspended a three-year prison term on strict conditions including that he be of good behaviour. She warned Butler that he will serve the three years if he breaches any conditions of the suspension. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Thursday demanded Netflix to stop airing the newly released web series, Bombay Begums, on the grounds that its contents may result in the abuse and exploitation of children. Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content in respect of the children or for the children and shall also refrain themselves from getting into such things," said the government-appointed commission. Bombay Begums / Netflix India The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights notice to the streaming platform is based on a complaint from two Twitter handles about some scenes of the show. From normalization of minors indulging in casual sex we now hate web series showing minors having cocaine, the child rights body quoted one of the tweets. Screengrab from Bombay Begums where a 13-year-old is snorting coke as the party she goes to is all about alcohol, drugs. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights issues a notice to Netflix for #BombayBegums . Asks it to stop streaming the series in 24 hours. @ETPolitics pic.twitter.com/iWcVWD09IL Vasudha Venugopal (@vasudha_ET) March 11, 2021 The commission called the Twitter users objections serious, and said that it did not allow representing, portraying and glorifying children in India in such a manner on any media platform, including the internet and OTTs. The commission has given Netflix 24 hours to stop streaming Bombay Begums or else they will take "appropriate legal action". COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Given the impact of the extraordinary number of natural disasters in 2017, Demotech published a special issue of The Demotech Difference to discuss the impact of disasters on the industry. Strength Through the Storm focused on promises made and promises kept, featuring the resiliency of Demotech rated carriers. An electronic copy is at: www.demotech.com/pdfs/demotech_difference/flexpaper/Strength_Through_The_Storm/index.html. As bad as 2017 was, the natural disasters that property insurers faced in 2018, 2019, and 2020 made 2017 look like a walk in the park. The six more infamous events of 2018 were the Montecito mudslides, Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire in California, Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael, and the flooding in Ellicott City, Maryland. 2019 saw inland flooding across the Central states. There were 14 unique billion-dollar disasters in the U.S., the fourth highest number of such events. 2019, 2018, and 2017 each produced more than a dozen billion-dollar disasters. 2019 was the fifth consecutive year in which 10 or more separate billion-dollar disasters impacted the insurance industry. Not to be outdone, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season set another record, 30 named storms, 13 hurricanes, and 6 major hurricanes, more than double the activity of an average season. The 2020 season saw a record number of rapidly intensifying storms (10), landfalling U.S. named storms (12), and landfalling U.S. hurricanes (6). Every inch of the U.S. coast from Texas to Maine was under a watch or warning related to tropical cyclones during 2020. Unfortunately, 2021 is off to a fast start. Winter Storm Uri was a coast-to-coast event producing snow and ice from the Pacific Northwest to the South, Midwest, and Northeast. With four years of record setting natural disasters buffeting the United States, a logical question is "what is the status of the property insurance marketplace in Florida, one of the most catastrophe prone geographical areas of the world?" Since Demotech actively reviews and rates carriers writing approximately two-thirds of Florida's residential property insurance marketplace, we supplement our initial release dated March 5, 2021 with this update on the latest quarterly review of the carriers that we follow that write in Florida's residential property insurance marketplace. In addition to being one of the most catastrophe-exposed jurisdictions in the world, two recent analyses of the operating environment of insurers writing residential property insurance business in Florida confirm Demotech's previously stated position: there is a need for meaningful and substantive tort reform. Well before these two analyses identified the need for tort reform, Demotech referenced revisions to judicial precedents that resulted in changes in claims procedures, practices and protocols that heavily favored plaintiff attorneys, litigation of routine claims and suits as First Notice of Loss, among others. As such, the need for meaningful and significant tort reform to remedy dysfunctions in Florida's residential property insurance marketplace and, in turn, moderate the rate of increase in premiums is a return to the normalcy that previously existed in Florida and currently exists in the remaining 49 states and operating jurisdictions associated with the US. In this regard, Florida is an island and not a peninsula. The conclusions or statements in both analyses should encourage Florida's legislature to return to a balanced environment protecting consumers from substantial incremental annual increases in insurance premiums associated with the cost of fraud and abuse. In FLORIDA's P&C INSURANCE MARKET: Spiraling Toward Collapse, Guy Fraker, cre8tfutures, wrote, in part: Florida's residential P&C insurance marketplace faces convergence of existential threats in the form of increasingly unpredictable claims litigation, rising costs of risk capital and its persistently high exposure to natural catastrophe risks. Targeted legislative reforms are needed Without intervening public policy solutions, the residential property insurance marketplace will experience an accelerated trajectory of unsustainability. Market conditions will force closures, adverse investment terms, investor lawsuits, market exits, and further consolidations. Without addressing the challenges other economic challenges to Florida become magnified, such as recovering from COVID-19, and rebuilding from the next hurricane to hit the state. A review of The American Tort Reform Association's (ATRA) 2020/2021 JUDICIAL HELLHOLES indicated that ATRA had placed Florida, a former No. 1 Judicial Hellhole, on its Watch List. While acknowledging Governor Ron DeSantis' 'thoughtful and decisive leadership, as he continued to remake the Florida Supreme Court' through his appointments, ATRA stated that 'the legislature stalled in its efforts to pass long-sought, meaningful lawsuit reform.' In addition to the need for tort reform, the natural disasters of the past several years have impacted the cost of reinsurance. In Florida, the cost and availability of reinsurance has been exacerbated by the need for meaningful and significant tort reform. Absent meaningful and significant tort reform to address an operating environment tilted toward plaintiff attorneys, the remedies available to Florida focused property insurers to sustain a Financial Stability Rating (FSR) from Demotech have included the following: Infuse additional capital to replenish surplus Secure rate revisions that reflect the incremental cost of reinsurance Secure rate revisions that reflect the status quo as to frequency and severity of claims Re-evaluate the Company's business model and/or plan so as to return to profitability Re-underwrite the current book of business and, to the extent permitted by law, cancel or non-renew policies that are outliers as regards their incremental cost of reinsurance. These remedies are not mutually exclusive and may be concurrently implemented. In addition to meeting our financial metrics, absent meaningful and significant tort reform in 2021, carriers will need to possess the financial wherewithal, managerial acumen, and access to capital to implement their business models in a dysfunctional property insurance marketplace. To recap our affirmations of FSRs on March 5, we affirmed 22 FSRs of Florida focused property insurers who successfully completed our review of year-end 2020 financial information. We also announced the withdrawal of one carrier from our process when the FSR level they could sustain was unacceptable to them. Today, we provide affirmations and a status report on other Florida focused carriers. As to some of those previously affirmed on March 5, 2021, in recognition of action taken by management over an extended period of time, including such things as a well above average Enterprise Risk Management function, favorable operating results over time, in conjunction with their current capital position, these insurers are trending toward an upgrade in the Financial Stability Rating assigned. American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida , Inc. , Inc. Florida Peninsula Insurance Company Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company Southern Oak Insurance Company TypTap Insurance Company As to initial quarterly affirmations, the FSRs assigned to the next group reflect their recent acquisition by respected entities that have replenished their balance sheets to provide the capacity to weather the impact of past natural disasters on inception to date operating results, respond to issues that may have arisen related to loss and LAE reserve development, and sustain the staying power of execution of business models so as to avail themselves of the future revenue benefit associated with rate revisions that are approved and in place. The acquirers will also supply managerial acumen to sustain business models focused on future profitability. Future profitability may require canceling or non-renewing certain policies whose underwriting characteristics generate a disproportionate cost of reinsurance. Equally important, current management and the investor team have advised us that the companies will secure a premium structure consistent with the anticipated loss and LAE levels in the residential property insurance marketplace. We interpret this to mean if there is no tort reform in 2021, incremental costs associated with fraud and abuse will be passed on to consumers through rate revisions. Although the cost of the rigorous horizontal and vertical catastrophe reinsurance programs necessary to meet or exceed our requirements has not yet been finalized, these carriers and their affiliates now appear positioned to secure an appropriate reinsurance program as required in the next phase of our annual review process. Centauri National Insurance Company Centauri Specialty Insurance Company Weston Insurance Company Weston Specialty Insurance Company Southern Fidelity Insurance Company In summary, absent the level of natural catastrophes associated with the record years of 2017 through 2020, as these carriers move forward, we believe they have ameliorated the impact of the operating results reported at year-end 2020 on their balance sheets, are positioned to record and report markedly improved operating results in 2021 that meet or exceed the financial metrics that Demotech deems consistent with carriers assigned an FSR at the A, Exceptional, level as well as successfully address other phases of our annual review process. The next group of carriers have taken specific actions to enhance results as well as secure and infuse a substantial amount of additional capital to mitigate the cumulative impact of the operating results on their balance sheets. They appear to be positioned to record and report markedly improved operating results in 2021 while concurrently meeting or exceeding financial metrics that Demotech deems consistent with carriers assigned an FSR at the A, Exceptional, level as well as address the upcoming phases of our annual review process. American Coastal Insurance Company Family Security Insurance Company (an affiliate of UPC) FedNat Insurance Company Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company KIN Interinsurance Network Maison Insurance Company (an affiliate of FedNat Ins Co) Monarch National Insurance Company (an affiliate of FedNat Ins Co) Tower Hill Preferred Insurance Company Tower Hill Prime Insurance Company Tower Hill Signature Insurance Company United Property & Casualty Insurance Company Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company The following carriers have taken specific actions to enhance results as well as secure and infuse capital to ameliorate the impact of the operating results reported at year-end 2020 on their balance sheets. To sustain an FSR at the A level, they must record and report markedly improved operating results in 2021 while concurrently meeting or exceeding financial metrics that Demotech deems consistent with carriers assigned an FSR at the A, Exceptional, level as well as other phases of our annual review process. Access Home Insurance Company (an affiliate of Cypress P&C Ins Co) Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Company Cypress Property & Casualty Insurance Company Lighthouse Property & Casualty Insurance Company Lighthouse Excalibur Insurance Company (an affiliate of Lighthouse P&C Ins Co) St. Johns Insurance Company The final group of carriers have taken initial action to enhance results and ameliorate the cumulative impact of the operating results reported at year-end 2020 on their balance sheets while continuing to address longer term needs. To sustain an FSR at the A level, they must record and report markedly improved operating results in 2021 while concurrently meeting or exceeding financial metrics that Demotech deems consistent with carriers assigned an FSR at the A, Exceptional, level as well as other phases of our annual review process. Olympus Insurance Company Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Company Gulfstream Select Insurance Company Due to singularly unusual circumstances associated with a key member of the Universal Insurance Company of North America team, the year-end 2020 financial statement has not yet been finalized. However, as of this date, we have received information on preliminary year-end 2020 operating results as well as recent affirmations from senior management that published year-end 2020 results will be consistent with the preliminary financial statements submitted to us. We remind all that an annual review and analysis process is similar to taking a class in college. No one test or grade is likely to be the final grade of the participant. All catastrophe prone carriers that we review, Florida focused or not, are subjected to multiple phases and analyses in any given annual review cycle. The phases may be supplemented to address carrier specific issues or in response to natural catastrophes: - Now through April 30 Initial reviews of reinsurance programs commence - Now through April 30 Reviews of catastrophe response programs - Now through April 30 Reviews of disaster response programs - Now through April 30 Florida legislature discussed tort reform - Now through June 30 Reviews of year-end 2020 independent audits - May 15 to May 30 Reviews of Q1 2021 data and decisions on FSRs - Now through May 30 Verification/acceptance of reinsurance programs - August 15 to August 30 Reviews of Q2 2021 data and decisions on FSRs - November 15 to November 30 Reviews of Q3 2021 data and decisions on FSRs - January/February 2021 Discussions of anticipated 2021 operating results. About Demotech, Inc. Demotech, Inc. was the first firm to review independent, regional and specialty insurers. Since 1985, Demotech has served the industry by assigning accurate, reliable, and proven Financial Stability Ratings to Property & Casualty insurers and Title underwriters. FSRs provide an objective baseline of the solvency of an insurer. Demotech's philosophy is to review and evaluate insurers based on their area of focus and execution of their business model rather than solely on financial size. Demotech was the first to review and rate independent regional and specialty insurers. Demotech's increasing accreditations and acceptances has resulted in its review of more than 400 insurers operating in the US. Visit www.demotech.com for additional information. SOURCE Demotech Randeep Hooda is one of those celebs who never fail to entice his fans with some fond aspects of his personal and professional life on his social media handle. The actor recently shared a heartfelt birthday wish for his father. Not only that but Randeep also shared a glimpse of his recovery phase in the post from when he had suffered an injury on the sets of the film Radhe. Talking about the post, Randeep Hooda can be seen lying in a hospital bed from the time when he was undergoing his recovery from his knee injury. The Main Aur Charles actor's father, Ranbir Singh Hooda who is also a doctor can be seen examining his knee. Along with the picture, Randeep also shared a heartfelt message for his father. The actor said how his father has always been to his rescue since the year 1976 as a father, doctor, friend and guide, no matter where he is in the world. Randeep then mentioned how his father is examining his knee in the picture which the actor had dislocated while performing an action sequence in the movie, Radhe. The Kick actor's caption for the same read as, "To the man who's always been the first to my rescue since 1976 as a doctor, father, friend, guide no matter where I am in the world. Happy birthday, papa. Dr Ranbir Singh Hooda. Here he's examining my knee I had dislocated doing action on the sets of #Radhe." Take a look at the post shared by him. Meanwhile, Randeep Hooda will be seen in the Salman Khan starrer Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai. The film is one of the most awaited movies of this year. It has been helmed by Prabhu Deva and also stars Disha Patani, Jackie Shroff and Megha Akash in the lead roles. The film is slated to release on May 13, 2021. The actor will also mark his debut in the digital sphere with his upcoming series, Inspector Avinash. Reports also suggest that Randeep has been roped in for Balwinder Singh Janjua's directorial debut, Unfair & Lovely wherein he will be seen alongside Ileana D'Cruz. Randeep Hooda Mumbai ; Check Out | FilmiBeat Also Read: Randeep Hooda Recreates His Version Of 'Pawri Ho Rahi Hai' Trend On Inspector Avinash Sets Also Read: Randeep Hooda's Extraction Character To Get An Origin Story ADVERTISEMENT The Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, announced on Tuesday that he had discussed the deteriorating security situation in the State with the president who has ordered the deployment of an additional 6,000 troops to crush the bandits if they fail to surrender their arms within two months. This means the forthcoming battle will be between 30,000 well-armed bandits and 16,000 soldiers The numbers tell us that the Nigerian state is being overwhelmed by gun wielding terrorists, bandits and militants. On Wednesday, Kaduna State presented its 2020 security report. The numbers are frightening 937 people were killed; 1,972 people kidnapped for ransom; and 7195 cattle rustled. That was just last year. The most affected area in the State was Birnin Gwari, the Emir of which described graphically the normal reality they live in 200 to 300 heavily armed men will surround a village; kill, abduct, steal, and burn their food stores regularly. Rape and sexual violence have also reached industrial levels. The people are living in hell on earth. It is not surprising that so many people are abandoning their homes, farms and livelihoods and running to the cities to live precarious and miserable lives. In Zamfara State, traditional rulers told the service chiefs, who visited this week, that there were over 30,000 armed bandits in Zamfara forests, and a number that far outstrips the less than 10,000 troops deployed to the State to tackle insecurity. The Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, announced on Tuesday that he had discussed the deteriorating security situation in the State with the president who has ordered the deployment of an additional 6,000 troops to crush the bandits if they fail to surrender their arms within two months. This means the forthcoming battle will be between 30,000 well-armed bandits and 16,000 soldiers, who we are told will crush them. We are Nigerians, so we pray for their success in crushing the bandits. The Zamfara people have also demanded to know the sense of the declaration of a no-fly zone in a State that does not even have an airport. The chairman of the Traditional Rulers of the State and Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Muhammad Ahmad, speaking for his colleagues, told the new service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, who were on an official visit to the state that Zamfara had no airport to warrant the declaration, insisting that there were states worst hit by armed banditry but which were not declared no-fly zones. According to the Anka Emir, There is no connection between mining and armed banditry. We have no evidence that aircraft are coming to provide weapons to bandits or that miners are giving arms to bandits. In plain words, the people of Zamfara were telling the Nigerian State THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY ARE DOING. The armed forces, he added, should realise that the bandits are the same group of people with the same source of arms and ammunition, moving from one State to another. The politician was telling the Generals that they are fighting a war of position deal with bandits, one State at a time, while the bandits are fighting a war of movement The two months ultimatum given to bandits in Zamfara State to surrender is an indication of this lack of understanding. The bandits are making millions on a daily basis and they appear confident that they outnumber and can outgun the security personnel, so why should they take the threat seriously. For years, hundreds of armed bandits were roving around as raiding bands and doing whatever they wanted without challenge. The reality is that the bandits and terrorists are the ones delivering credible threats to governments, security personnel and communities. Many communities are currently contributing money and paying bandits not to attack them. The response of the Zamfara State Government this week is to ban: the movement of motorcycles in groups in all the nooks and crannies of the state and security operatives are directed to apprehend the violators of this order. This is the right thing to do but what is the value of a directive that cannot be enforced? After their Zamfara visit, General Irabor led the service chiefs to Katsina. Governor Masari told them about the necessity of a single command coordinating the military operations to decisively deal with the security situation in the region: I know the military has a central command, but we want a situation where the command will dissolve borderlines between Katsina and Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna and between the borders of all the affected states so that the operations will be going on simultaneously in all the sides such that the criminals will not have anywhere to run to if they come under attack, he told them. The armed forces, he added, should realise that the bandits are the same group of people with the same source of arms and ammunition, moving from one State to another. The politician was telling the Generals that they are fighting a war of position deal with bandits, one State at a time, while the bandits are fighting a war of movement, where they move away from planned and announced assault in one State to surrounding zones, where they can operate without disturbance. When, therefore, in two months time, the 6,000 additional troops are sent to Zamfara, the bandits will simply move out to another State and return when the coast is clear. Governors are chief security officers in their States but they cannot provide arms without authorisation from the Federal Government. The time has come for a national conversation on this matter, which can get out of hand, whatever decision is taken or not taken. Meanwhile, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State has announced that the way forward is for him to supply vigilante in the State with automatic pump-action riffles to enable them take the battle to the bandits. As firearms is on the exclusive legislative list, State governors have no powers to arm their vigilante groups. The reality of the overwhelming force of bandits and low capacity of our armed forces to deal with them is forcing many State governments, and indeed communities to pursue the path of self-help. It is interesting that in both Zamfara and Niger States, the bandits have organised congresses to debate and map out their own strategies. They have issued demands to State governments to disband and disarm vigilantes as condition for future peace. They are turning Max Weber on his head. Rather than the State having the monopoly of the means of violence, they want to have that monopoly for themselves without competition from the vigilantes. I am not sure what this tells us about our armed forces but I suspect there is a message that we should decipher. In Niger State, Governor Bello has responded to the bandits saying: We are not going to disband the vigilante as a result of threat from the bandits. Governors are chief security officers in their States but they cannot provide arms without authorisation from the Federal Government. The time has come for a national conversation on this matter, which can get out of hand, whatever decision is taken or not taken. As I argued last week, there is no nationally coordinated strategy to combat insecurity and the bandits and terrorists are the ones taking initiatives in their own interest. As the scale of the problem grows, and security forces are becoming increasingly overwhelmed, Nigeria has to get back to the drawing board and develop an effective and sensible plan to provide safety for citizens and visitors. A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES. EDWARDSVILLE Madison County officials are criticizing a decision by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that could lead to parole for infamous child-murderer Paula Sims. Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine on Friday said his office is ready to fight against Sims parole. Life should mean life, Haine said. Two babies are dead. At the time of the trial, she insisted she was not guilty. Sims was convicted of the 1989 murder of one child and eventually admitted killing another could get a chance at parole after Pritzker on Thursday granted her executive clemency. That changes her sentence from life without the possibility of parole to life with the possibility of parole. Sims must now petition the Illinois Prisoner Review Board for a parole hearing. Sims currently is serving a life sentence at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln. She was convicted of killing her six-week-old daughter, Heather, in 1989 in Alton. She later acknowledged killing her first daughter, Loralei, in 1986 in Brighton. Sims initially told police Loralei Sims just 13 days old had been abducted by a masked gunman. The childs body was found in a wooded ravine behind the rural Jersey County home Sims shared with her husband, Robert. The couple later moved to Alton where, on April 29, 1989, Paula Sims said she was taking out the garbage when a masked man knocked her unconscious and, when she awoke, her 6-month-old daughter, Heather, was gone. Robert Sims and the couples son, Randall, died in an automobile accident in 2015. The crime was initially treated as a kidnapping but, according to court testimony, Paula Sims kept her deceased daughter in the freezer before dumping her in a park trash receptacle. She was convicted Feb. 2, 1990, after days of deliberation by a jury. Both cases created a firestorm of media coverage, with Heather Sims disappearance and death leading to an unprecedented media presence in the Metro East. At the time, The Telegraph had several teams of reporters working on various aspects of the story, with media outlets monitoring radio communications (how newspapers, radio and television stations kept in contact with reporters in the field at that time). Eventually, former Madison County Assistant States Attorney Don Weber and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Charles Bosworth wrote a best-selling book, Precious Victims, about the crimes. A television movie was made based on the book. In recent years Paula Sims attorney, Jed Stone, has sought a new trial or commutation of her sentence, citing laws allowing postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis to be introduced at a trial or sentencing. He argued the new law, and advances in the understanding of post-partum depression and psychosis, should be introduced in court to prove that Paula Sims had post-partum psychosis at the time of her childrens murders. That issue had been raised a number of times since Sims conviction, but all previous attempts had failed. Governor Pritzkers granting of a commutation to allow for parole is a giant step, both for Illinois law and for Paula, Stone said Friday. It recognizes that post-partum psychosis is a mitigating factor in tragic cases like Paulas. Stone noted that most of his cases are not who done it, but rather how come they done it. It is an important piece of trying to understand what a just and fair sentence would be, he added. When Paula was tried, no one had heard about post-partum psychosis, he said, adding that post-partum depression was known, but was a relatively new concept. Stone said they planned to meet with the Prisoner Review Board in September. It is absolutely clear that Paulas crimes were precipitated by a post-partum psychosis, Stone said. Haine agreed there have been advancements in how the subject is viewed, but noted that Sims continued to blame others for the murders. Society has advanced in its understanding of post-partum depression since the time of this trial, Haine said. That being said, this is a terrible murder. She did not accept responsibility. We dont have the death penalty in Illinois, and there has to be an ultimate punishment, he added. Former State Sen. Bill Haine, Madison County States Attorney at the time of the trial, on Friday declined comment on the case. Others have been more outspoken. State Sen. Rachelle Crowe, D-Glen Carbon, a former Madison County prosecutor, said she was horrified by Pritzkers decision. As a mother with 15 years of prosecuting experience in the Madison County States Attorneys office, I find Paula Sims charges especially disturbing, Crowe said in a released statement. In order to ensure justice for victims of violent crimes, vile actions must have equivalent consequences. According to prosecutors, Sims fabricated a story under oath blaming masked intruders for her daughters disappearances, she added. Failing to take responsibility for her heinous actions, she showed no remorse while also delegitimizing mothers who suffer mentally from postpartum health issues. Crowe said Sims was charged and imprisoned because she poses a significant threat to our community. That she may soon be released to walk among us is not only insulting to those whose lives were destroyed by her actions, but also endangers the integrity of our criminal justice system as a whole, Crowe said. SPANISH police have seized the first-ever narco submarine made in Europe. Detectives say the 30ft-long vessel would have been capable of carrying two tonnes of drugs at a time. It was discovered in a warehouse at an undisclosed location in the province of Malaga near to the Costa del Sol. Police sources have said it was nearly finished and was going to be used to transport cannabis resin across the Gibraltar Strait between Morocco and Spain. Police chiefs, who have described the vessel as the first narco sub made in Spain, are expected to reveal more details later today. The first narco submarine discovered in Spanish waters was located in the Aldan Estuary in Galicia in November 2019. Expand Close Detectives say the 30ft-long vessel would have been capable of carrying two tonnes of drugs at a time / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Detectives say the 30ft-long vessel would have been capable of carrying two tonnes of drugs at a time It had crossed the Atlantic from Colombia laden with more than three tonnes of cocaine after being built in South America. Seven people ended up being arrested. Read More The vessel was seized after bad water thwarted an attempt by the drugs traffickers behind the daring venture to offload the cocaine to a sailing boat near the Galician coastline. Two cousins from Ecuador and a Spanish boxer identified as the three crew members along with four alleged accomplices, are yet to be tried. Expand Close The submarine was discovered in san Roque on the Gibraltar strait / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The submarine was discovered in san Roque on the Gibraltar strait The sub was moved from the Galician port of Vigo to a police museum in the city of Avila a 75-minute drive north-west of Madrid last month. The investigation which led to the discovery of the latest sub is understood to have resulted in around 50 arrests in different countries. The US Drug Enforcement Administration and EU crime-fighting organisation Europol have reportedly formed part of the international operation. More than three tonnes of cocaine have also been seized and drugs labs dismantled. Credit: APL Photonics (2021). DOI: 10.1063/5.0033516 Shaping radio signals using photonics technologies seems like a detour. But the versatility of current programmable silicon photonic circuits can open new possibilities according to researchers of the University of Twente. They have presented their microwave photonic spectral shaper inAPL Photonics . For processing signals in the radio frequency (RF) domain, for example, in 5G communications, future 6G or radar, sharp filtering and other high-precision operations on the high frequency radio signals are important. Light molded in integrated photonic circuits can offer signal processing with high bandwidth and unmatched flexibility thanks to the programmability of integrated photonics. But still, the stage where radio signals are converted to lightwaves, known as optical modulation, is cumbersome. The spectral shaper presented by the researchers solves this bottleneck thanks to a number of flexible photonic components. Programmable photonics In order to shape the information signal, first the light components are taken apart. The separate parts, like the radio side bands around the optical frequency, can then be processed separately. When all photonic processing is done and the desired spectral shape is created, light is recombined and converted back into a radio frequency signal. All of these processes were done in the silicon chip using ring-shaped resonators and filters that can be electronically programmed. The chip also includes a high-speed detector for converting the light back to radiowaves. "This new spectral shaper is the basis for a whole range of complex operations that can be done on RF signals using programmable photonics," David Marpaung says. He is a professor at the Nonlinear Nanophotonics group at the University of Twente. The chip that the researchers from Twente, Sydney and Ghent demonstrate in this paper was made using silicon photonics. Next-generation chips made in silicon nitridethe main photonic technology at UT's MESA+ NanoLabare currently under tests in Marpaung's lab. The paper, "Versatile silicon microwave photonic spectral shaper," is published in APL Photonics. Explore further Reconfiguring microwave photonic filters without an external device More information: Xin Guo et al. Versatile silicon microwave photonic spectral shaper, APL Photonics (2021). Xin Guo et al. Versatile silicon microwave photonic spectral shaper,(2021). DOI: 10.1063/5.0033516 CHICAGO, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Winston & Strawn LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Angela Russo as a partner in the firm's Chicago office, and as a member of the firm's Tax Practice. Angela is an experienced tax attorney with particular expertise in advising on leveraged buyouts and other complex transactions ranging from several million dollars to several billion dollars for private equity firms. Angela has represented clients on domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and debt and equity restructurings. "The past year has underscored the importance of having collaborative, global capabilities to address cross-border client issues," said Russo. "I am honored to be joining such an outstanding team and look forward to working together to help our mutual clients navigate critical issues related to tax and complex transactions." "Angela's deep knowledge in both the funds and private equity space will be a great asset to our capabilities in fund formation, private equity, international tax, and other types of deals," said Linda Coberly, Managing Partner of Winston's Chicago office. Angela has extensive transactional experience in tax matters, specifically in structuring and negotiating complex domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures of private and public companies in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, retail, food and beverage, professional services, technology, and health care. She also advises on the tax aspects of debt and equity financings, corporate restructurings and recapitalizations, various capital market transactions, and structuring and formation of funds. "Winston's capabilities in global tax law continue to grow," said Rob Heller and Olga Loy, Co-Chairs of Winston's Tax Practice. "Angela is the third attorney to join Winston's Tax Practice this year in addition to James Mastracchio and Susan Seabrook, who were welcomed to the firm's Washington, D.C. office in January." Angela is also the second new partner hired in Winston's Chicago office this month, following Andrew Hutchinson's addition to the Global Leveraged Finance Team. "We expect dealmaking in the global capital markets to increase in both volume and complexity for the foreseeable future," said Winston Chairman Tom Fitzgerald. "The ability to navigate tax issues for such deals in multiple jurisdictions is a tremendous value to our global clients. We look forward to Angela's contributions." Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm with 15 offices located throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. More information about the firm is available at www.winston.com SOURCE Winston & Strawn LLP Pope Francis pictured on November 22, 2020. VINCENZO PINTO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Obama said his ideal group text of world leaders would include some of his closest presidential allies. Obama told the Skimm it would have the Dalai Lama, Pope Francis, and Angela Merkel. He also said he may include Queen Elizabeth II due to her dry sense of humor. See more stories on Insider's business page. Former President Barack Obama says his ideal hypothetical group chat of world leaders would include Pope Francis, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "The Dalai Lama, I love that guy, Pope Francis, a genuinely good man," Obama said in an interview with the Skimm. Obama also said that he would maybe include Queen Elizabeth II "because she has a drier sense of humor than people think." Obama met with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, multiple times during and after his presidency, including welcoming him to the White House in 2015 and meeting with him in 2016 over the Chinese government's objections. The Dalai Lama lives in exile in India. The former president hosted Pope Francis at the White House in 2015, a visit to Washington where the Pope also made a rare address to a joint session of the United States Congress. "I was just commenting that I noticed that all of you are much better-behaved than usual," Obama joked to the White House press corps in the Oval Office while sitting aside the Pope. Obama had a close diplomatic relationship with Merkel, who shared his cerebral approach to issues and largely level-headed disposition, in contrast to the far rockier and more tense relationship Merkel brokered with former President Donald Trump. During Obama's presidency, the US and Germany worked together on important global issues - including responding to Russia's annexation of Crimea, tackling ISIS and the refugee crisis, and recovering from the global financial meltdown. "You have been a trusted partner throughout my entire presidency - longer than any world leader - and I value your judgment," Obama told Merkel in April 2016 towards the end of his presidency. "I thank you for your commitment to our alliance and to the values and human rights for which we stand. And I'm grateful for our personal friendship." Story continues Obama also carried on the US' "special relationship" with the Royal Family. In 2009, Obama gifted the Queen an iPod with historical video footage of her previous visits to the US going back to the 1950s, as well as his 2009 inaugural address and 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention. And in her 2018 memoir "Becoming," former First Lady Michelle Obama described accidentally violating royal protocol by putting her arm around the queen as a show of affection and support. She said, however, that Her Majesty didn't seem offended and reciprocated the gesture back. Read the original article on Business Insider Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 04/03/2021 Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald TD during a Sinn Fein press brieifng on the Plinth at Leinster House on Kildare Street, Dublin. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins Sinn Fein will seek a further meeting with Boris Johnson after he refused to meet the party on a visit to Northern Ireland. Mary Lou McDonald has said that the party declined a photo op with the British Prime Minister after he agreed to meet with with DUP leader Arlene Foster, but not Sinn Fein. We have serious business to transact with Boris Johnson," she said. We will be reaching out to Downing Street again and seeking that meeting without further delay. She said that she was not disappointed and that there are serious matters to deal with. The British Government does not want to face its failures, according to Ms McDonald. I can only surmise that the British Government is not minded to face up to its own failures and the fact that they are in default of an agreement that we struck with them and the other parties just a year ago. I certainly think that the British Government and the British Prime Minister is trying to evade his responsibilities. I know that there are serious matters that we have agreed and that have not been delivered. Speaking at Leinster House this afternoon, Ms McDonald said that Mr Johnsons first concern is himself and his Government. It is very clear that Boris Johnsons first concern is to himself and his Tory Government. He has no track record of acting in good faith or honouring the agreements that we have entered into. That is his form but that is not acceptable. The Prime Ministers visit to Northern Ireland comes amid increasing tensions within Unionism and Arlene Fosters party over the Northern Ireland Protocol and its new post-Brexit restrictions. Sources say the Sinn Fein leaders had been seeking a meeting with Mr Johnson to discuss the Brexit fall-out as well as legacy issues relating to last years New Decade New Approach agreement. As a result, Ms ONeill, the regions Deputy First Minister, was not invited to meet him and as a result, declined to attend any of his engagements in Enniskillen and Belfast. Mallorca was given a major lift this morning with the announcement that the island was no longer "a risk zone" for German tourists. The drop in the number of Covid cases across the Balearics led to the announcement this morning which means that German tourists could soon be heading to our shores. "From this Sunday the islands are considered a safe destination again for the Germans," said a travel source this morning. British tourists will be unable to travel to the islands until at least May 17. Amaravati, March 12 : Within hours of meeting the family members of Indian flag designer Pingali Venkaiah on Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommending a Bharat Ratna to be awarded to him posthumously. "Request your kind self to honour the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh by giving a deserving acknowledgement to the life and contribution of late Pingali Venkaiah by conferring Bharat Ratna (posthumously) upon him," Reddy said in the letter. Bharat Ratna is the highest Indian award. In his letter, Reddy highlighted that the key theme of Har Ghar Jhanda (flag in every home) is part of the 'Azad ka Amrut Mahostav' programme from March 12 meant to mark the 75 years of Indian Independence, bringing Venkaiah's contribution to the fore. Venkaiah was born on August 2, 1876 in Bhatlapenumarru village near Machilipatnam in Krishna district. "Deeply influenced by Gandhian thoughts and ideology, Venkaiah decided to dedicate his life to the service of the nation and take part in the freedom movement," said Reddy. According to the chief minister, Venkaiah witnessed the effect of the common national flag on the mind and psyche of people and decided to undertake a scientific study of multiple flags from around the world. Reddy said his study went on to sharpen his acumen in designing India's national flag and enabled him to publish a booklet named 'A National Flag for India' which depicted various flags of countries and doled out his ideas for one Indian national flag. "It had 30 different designs of Indian national flag, each with its rationale and explanation. He ardently advocated that the country should have a flag of its own that will help in precipitating the energies of people participating in freedom movement," he said. A century ago on March 31, 1921 in Vijayawada, Venkaiah gifted his designs to Mahatma Gandhi, who recognized his passionate efforts and wrote in his journal 'Young India', "we should be prepared to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our national flag. Pingali Venkaiah, who is working in Andhra National College Machilipatnam, has published a book describing the flags of countries and designed many models for our own national flag". On July 22, 1947, the Constituent Assembly adopted Venkaiah's design as the free Indian national flag, thus crediting him as the designer of the Indian national flag. "However, his life and works largely remain unrecognized. He breathed his last on July 4, 1963. The country has lost several decades without recognizing the untiring efforts of her son Venkaiah who gifted it the first designs and specimen of the national flag," noted Reddy. The chief minister highlighted that the flag went on to fill the hearts of millions of Indians with the spirit of freedom, independence and duty to carry on with the struggle until the motherland was unshackled from the chains of slavery. "It is right in this light, I request your kind self to confer Bharat Ratna (posthumously) upon Venkaiah that would not only bequeath peace on to his parted soul but also fulfil the aspirations of the people of AP," observed the CM. Reminding the precedent of conferring Bharat Ratna on other eminent departed leaders, Reddy invoked the names of Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika (1926-2011) and Nanaji Deshmukh (1916-2010), who were posthumously decorated by the Government of India in 2019. "In recognition of their contribution to public life, Government of India has conferred Bharat Ratna posthumously upon Aruna Asaf Ali, Jayprakash Narayan and many others," he said. Anerlisa Muigai was quick to shut down internet trolls that got on her mothers case over her weight loss. Anerlisas mother Tabitha Muigai Karanja became a topic of social media gossip this week after she appeared at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi for the inquest into the death of daughter Tecra Muigai. Seeing as it was the first time a majority of internet users were seeing her in public for some time, a certain section was taken aback by her transformation. This sparked wild reactions as some trolls linked Mrs Karanjas weightloss to all manner of things including the painful loss of Tecra. This forced Anerlisa to jump to her mothers defense in a post on social media, explaining the reason behind Karanjas transformation. She said the Keroche Breweries family decided to lead a healthier lifestyle. Muigai also shared pictures of her family members showing their respective transformation. Leave my mum alone, her weight loss is fine and we decided as a family to shed off excess weight. #healthyliving, she wote. MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador demanded an investigation Friday into judges who have temporarily blocked the implementation of his plan to favor older, dirtier government power plants over renewable and gas-fired facilities built in many cases by foreign firms. Lopez Obrador has said in the past that he would always respect the judicial branch, but on Friday he practically accused judges of being in the pay of private energy companies. We want the Judiciary (council) of the federal courts to review the actions of these judges, because it would be outrageous if the country's judicial branch were to be at the service of the private sector, the president said. In response, the National Association of Federal Circuit Court and District Judges wrote our only commitment is to the Constitution and (our) independence to guarantee the rule of law. Lopez Obrador also vowed to take the battle to Mexicos Supreme Court, though he faces likely defeat there. On Friday he acknowledged he had not attempted to overturn a 2013 energy reform or Constitutional guarantees of competition in the electricity industry. The constitutional guarantees were part of what led the judge Thursday to grant an injunction blocking the new law, and the president's appeal is likely to founder on the same point. Lopez Obrador's new law, which took effect Tuesday, says electricity must first be bought from government-owned generating plants, which largely run on fossil fuels like coal, oil and diesel. If any demand remains, power will be purchased from renewable and private natural gas-fired plants. That has drawn complaints from investors, many of them foreign, who say it violates the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact and Mexicos commitments to cut carbon emissions. They claim it also creates a de-facto government monopoly, hurts competition and will make Mexicans buy dirtier, more expensive electricity. Lopez Obrador suggested Friday he was willing to negotiate with the foreign companies if they accept less lucrative contracts. That is something he did once before, when he threatened to cancel contracts for natural gas pipelines to feed power stations unless the companies that built them agreed to changes in their contracts. Story continues Lopez Obrador has said the law is meant protect government-owned fossil-fuel plants against what he call unfair competition from private wind, solar and natural gas-fired power plants. We are open to seeking a dialogue, a negotiation, the president said. We are seeking to eliminate the worst points, the most damaging ones. And the companies can continue to do business, but with reasonable profits, but without coming here to steal. Let them go somewhere else to steal. Lopez Obrador has complained in the past that the private renewable and gas power plants got unfair preference over the state-owned electrical power company, were guaranteed high prices for their power and weren't required to contribute to building transmission lines to distribute electricity. But the issue came to a head when electricity use plunged during the pandemic. As a result, the state-owned power company, the Federal Electricity Commission, faced declining revenue and increasing stocks of fuel oil it has to burn even as the dirty fuel has lost customers worldwide. The commission also has come under pressure to buy coal from domestic mines. Many wind, solar and gas-fired power stations were built in Mexico by foreign companies following the previous administrations 2013 energy reform that Lopez Obrador opposed. The president is a strong supporter of state-owned enterprises and fossils fuels. Lopez Obrador has also taken an increasingly nationalistic stance in recent months, saying foreign energy companies should go steal somewhere else" and decrying feminist criticism of his administration as imported concepts. The new law has drawn complaints from private business groups and U.S. investors, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce saying in February the law would directly contravene Mexicos commitments under the trade agreement, known as the USMCA, which places strict limits on how much a government can favor its own firms over outsiders. Lopez Obrador argues that Mexico should become energy self-sufficient, a conviction he says was strengthened after winter storms in Texas temporarily cut off supplies of imported natural gas early this year. An eight-foot-tall steel fence topped with concertina razor wire circles the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 29, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Lies That Democrats Tell Commentary Writing for the website of the UK Guardian newspaper, Robert Reich, who served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, recently took up the rhetorical cudgels on behalf of H.R. 1, known to its supporters as the For the People Act. To its Republican detractors, H.R. 1 is a blatant attempt to remove long-established, state-enacted safeguards against election fraud. To Mr. Reich, now a professor at Berkeley, such safeguards are not only unnecessarysince it is axiomatic among Democrats that election fraud is a myth or a liebut they amount to voter suppression aimed at people of color. This new laxity about election security, according to Mr. Reich, amounts to the most momentous American civil rights legislation since LBJs landmark civil rights and voting rights acts of 1964 and 1965. The Republican effort to defeat H.R. 1 would therefore be, if successful, the biggest setback to civil and voting rights since the end of Reconstruction and start of Jim Crow in the 1870s. Well, its a point of view. Hes entitled to his opinion. But heres how the Guardian headline writer re-phrases that opinion in a sub-head: Republicans want to go back to Jim Crow. Does Mr. Reich really believe that? Does even the headline writer really believe that? I dont think so. I prefer to believe that neither is delusional. Theyre simply lying. But the lie is so obvious, the context so openly (though not avowedly) partisan, that it doesnt count as a lie. Not really. Not to partisan Democrats way of thinking anyway. You might compare it to Vice President Joe Bidens telling what was described at the time as a predominantly black audience back in 2012 that Mitt Romney and the Republicans were gonna put yall back in chains. The Republicans understandably objected to such inflammatory rhetoric but, still old-fashioned enough to be squeamish about calling their opponents liarssomething that never bothered the Democratsthey objected on the grounds that Mr. Biden was playing the race card, not that he was lying. The argument then turned on whether or not he had intended a literal reference to slavery. He himself insisted that he had intended no such thing but was referring instead to the effects of Republican economic policies on the middle class. The last time these guys unshackled the economy, to use their term, they put the middle class in shackles. Though that was itself a highly dubious proposition, it was slipped into the election-year debate without further objection under cover of being not nearly so outrageous as the blatant lie it was now meant to replace. Thus, an opinion was transformed into a lie for the sake of its emotional impact and then, when anyone sought to call attention to the lie, it could be turned back into an opinion at will. Obviously, this bit of rhetorical trickery doesnt work for Republicansand especially not for Donald Trump, many of whose plainly stated opinionsfor example, that the Mueller investigation was a witch hunt or the Russian collusion story a hoaxwere automatically labeled as lies by the medias misnamed fact checkers. A similar trick is now being used to keep alive the medias narrative of insurrection. This characterization of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was a lie from its inception, but by pretending that the assault on the Capitol may be resumed with greater force at any moment, the media hope to lend credence to the lie. Again and again we have been told that the insurrectionists are preparing for further uprisings, which is why National Guard troops are still patrolling in Washington, and why the Capitol itself is ringed with razor wire. And again and again no insurrection happensnot even a little bit of a riot to provide a shred of validation to the prediction. If the threat of armed insurrectionists and domestic terrorists is as great as some claim, writes the honest progressive Glenn Greenwald, why do they have to keep lying and peddling crude media fictions about it? I think I know why. I think Mr. Greenwald does too. I think everybody does. When the Biden quotation about how they gonna put yall back in chains was revived in response to his announcement of his candidacy for the presidency in 2019, David Emery, the fact checker for Snopes, was inclined to go easy on the former vice-president. He was not said to have lied, or even to have engaged in a bit of rhetorical trickery. No, wrote Mr. Emery, Joe Biden had certainly said it, but, whether it should taken as a racially charged reference to slavery we leave it to readers to judge for themselves. Im pretty sure readers were going to do that anyway, just as they are with Robert Reichs not quite assertion that Republicans want to go back to Jim Crow or Congressional Democrats claims of an imminent armed revolt by right-wing extremists. The readers for whom no evil is too great to attribute to Republicans or Trump supporters will regard the lies as being, at worst, expressive of a higher truth, while Republicans and Trump supporters themselves, long accustomed to being belied by those who regard them not as democratic opponents but as enemies, will simply shrug their shoulders. Thats just the way we do things in todays media environment. James Bowman is a resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The author of Honor: A History, he is a movie critic for The American Spectator and the media critic for the New Criterion. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Kohl's Corp. (KSS) said that Activist Investors are focused on short-termism and financial engineering at the expense of sustainable operating and financial success. They also propose certain ideas that the Company already has well underway. The company rejected their attempt to disrupt the company's strong business momentum. Earlier today, the Investor Group, which owns about 9.5% of Kohl'soutstanding common stock, said that it filed revised preliminary proxy materials announcing its slate of five directors to run in opposition to five of the company's long tenured directors who the Investor Group believes do not have the relevant retail and governance skills to create shareholder value. The Investor Group believes board refreshment is essential to driving increased value creation for all Kohl's shareholders. The Investor Group's slate of nominees consists of Jonathan Duskin, Margaret Jenkins, Jeffrey Kantor, Thomas Kingsbury and Cynthia Murray. The Investor Group consist of Macellum Advisors GP LLC, Ancora Holdings Inc., Legion Partners Asset Management LLC, and 4010 Capital, LLC. Meanwhile Kohl's said its directors outmatch the Activist Investors' slate of nominees on relevant experience. Kohl's said that the Activists' slate lacks critical relevant experience. One of their nominees has presided over four companies that filed for bankruptcy. Three of their five nominees have not served on boards of retail companies of a comparable size to Kohl's. Two of the nominees have never served on a public company board. Four of five of the Activists' nominees lack meaningful digital experience. 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. London: Mathias Cormann has been elected the next secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in a strategic coup for the Australian government that also catapults the former finance minister onto the world stage. Cormann was on Friday named the winner of the six-month contest, which pitted him against nine other candidates from around the world for the top international post. Mathias Cormann, Australias longest-serving finance minister, will become the next secretary-general of the Paris-based OECD. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Cormann pledged to put his early focus on the economic recovery from coronavirus, climate change and digital taxation. He thanked his chief rival, former European Union trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, and acknowledged the efforts the Australian government had put into backing his bid. 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 House Administration Committee will consider an appeal from Democrats to contest the results of the closest 2020 congressional race after Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by just six votes. The Committee will consider the merits of an appeal from Democrat Rita Hart after she lost to Miller-Meeks by a less than 1% margin of more than 400,000 ballots cast in Iowa's Second Congressional District. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during press conference on Thursday that 'of course' the review could overturn the results of the close election. 'Could you see a scenario? We don't do press conferences on 'can you see a scenario.' Of course! Of course!' Pelosi said, according to Fox Business. 'I respect the work of the committee. ... We'll see where that takes us. There could be a scenario to that extent.' Iowa state officials certified the results last year and Miller-Meeks was sworn in to Congress on January 3. Scroll down for video Democrat Rita Hart has petitioned Congress to investigate her claims that she wrongfully lost the election by six votes Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, right, has filed a counter motion to dismiss Hart's petition House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during press conference on Thursday that 'of course' the review could overturn the results of the close election In December, Hart filed a Notice of Contest to petition the election results with Congress instead of an Iowa court and claimed that the results were certified in favor of Miller-Meeks after 22 'lawful ballots' were ignored in the count. Hart's petition was filed under the Federal Contested Election Act which allows candidates to contest general elections by filing a motion with the House clerk. 'Of these wrongfully excluded 22 ballots, the evidence establishes that 18 were cast for Contestant, three were cast for Contestee Miller-Meeks and one did not record a vote for either candidate,' according to the petition. 'After the House has conducted its investigation and all lawful votes are accurately counted, Contestant Hart finally will be seated as the new U.S. Representative from the Second Congressional District.' A Hart campaign spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday that the ballots 'still have not been counted due to a string of errors.' 'We are glad to see the House Committee on Administration taking the next step towards ensuring that every legally-cast vote is counted in this race and that all Iowans' voices are heard,' according to the statement. Miller-Meeks filed a motion to dismiss Hart's petition and claimed she 'failed to exhaust state judicial procedures before filing her notice of contest with the House.' But the committee postponed the motion by Miller-Meeks on Wednesday in order to consider Hart's appeal, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported. The vote on Miller-Meeks' motion fell on party lines as Democrats and Republicans argued about the implications a potential investigation could cause. 'The margin separating the two candidates was only six votes out of almost 400,000 cast: less than 1/6 of 1%. That's six votes not 6,000; not 600; not 60 or even 16 just six fewer votes than we have members of this committee,' Chair Zoe Lofgren told committee members. She added: 'It should not be surprising that any candidate in these circumstances with a margin this close would seek to exercise their rights under the law to contest the results.' Illinois Republican Rodney Davis, however, said the election included a recount as well as a bipartisan canvassing of ballots, the Press-Citizen reported. Davis argued that Hart could have appealed those results through the Iowa's court system, which she chose not to do. 'It will be one of the greatest mistakes this House makes to take up an election contest with a candidate who side-stepped the courts and instead turned to a partisan process in the House because they knew they could not win any other way,' Davis said. He added: 'Sounds familiar doesn't it?' Before the vote, Davis said the committee should not move forward with overturning the state certified election, according to The Hill. 'She is a sitting member of Congress with all of the same rights as each and every one of us,' Davis said. 'We already know the outcome of this contest. Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks won a free and fair election. It's in the best interest of taxpayers and the integrity of our election process to dismiss this motion and to dismiss it today.' National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg told Fox News in a statement that Hart and Pelosi 'are trying to subvert Democracy.' 'I look forward to all Democrat members condemning this partisan stunt,' he said. Alan Ostergren, Miller-Meeks' campaign attorney, said in a statement obtained by KCCI that Wednesday's vote was 'procedural' and that Hart's petition 'has no more merit today than it did when it was filed.' 'Congresswoman Miller-Meeks' motion to dismiss is still pending. The Congresswoman's legal team will prepare and file the answer to the notice of contest,' he said. 'In the meantime, the Congresswoman is focused on serving the needs of her constituents.' He added that Hart 'ignored Iowa law' during the recount and again when she failed to make her case before a contest court in Iowa. 'She hopes that her fellow Democrats in Washington D.C. will ignore Iowa law and the precedents of the House to grant her the seat in Congress that the voters denied her,' he said. He added: 'Hart's power quest is wrong and damages our electoral system.' Experts are surprised but cautiously optimistic as new coronavirus cases in Florida continue to fall despite the high prevalence of the UK 'super COVID' variant there, suggesting that the U.S. may escape a new surge fueled by viral mutations. Florida now leads the nation in confirmed cases of the B117 variant, which now account for an estimated half of all new cases there, but has seen a 75 percent decline in total cases since early January. It comes despite dire warnings from UK officials that the B117 variant is up to 70 percent more contagious than prior strands, and new research suggesting it is twice as deadly, sparking fears that a variant surge could outpace vaccine rollouts. 'I think we just keep watching the data. If cases continue to drop in Florida despite circulating variants, maybe the variant won't be as bad as was predicted,' Suzanne Judd, a PhD epidemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Public Health, told DailyMail.com. 'This is why we have to avoid speculating on variants until we have the data,' she added. 'If cases continue to drop in Florida despite circulating variants, maybe the variant won't be as bad as was predicted,' PhD epidemiologist Suzanne Judd (not pictured) told DailyMail.com. Above, spring breakers descend on Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thursday Florida leads the nation in confirmed variant cases, and the B117 variant accounts for an estimated half of all new cases there Yet new cases in Florida have continued to plunge, dropping 75% from early January, despite doomsday warnings about the Super Bowl and relaxed business restrictions. 'The good news from Florida is an encouraging sign for the rest of us. It doesn't mean America is out of the woods. But it does suggest we could emerge sooner than we thought,' wrote Andrew Romano for Yahoo News. Florida leads the nation with 690 confirmed cases of the B117 variant - but surveillance testing estimates that the true number of variant cases there is much higher. Earlier this week, researchers estimated that B117 had reached more than half of all new cases in Florida, after accounting for just 4 percent of cases a month ago. But meanwhile Florida's case count has plunged, despite doomsday predictions about the state's lax restrictions on businesses, and large gatherings for Super Bowl LV in Tampa in early February. Florida's latest COVID surge peaked on January 8 at 84 daily new cases per 100,000 population, but cases have steadily dropped and stood at 22 per 100,000 on Thursday. Hospitalizations have also declined by half over the same period, as has Florida's test positivity rate, which is now at 4.88 percent. Deaths have also declined sharply. The percentage of Florida surveillance tests with 'S gene target failure', the vast majority of which are B117 cases, are seen above surpassing 50% this week Deaths have dropped sharply in Florida as hospitalizations and cases also decreased Meanwhile, 18.5 percent of Floridians have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and 10 percent are now fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. Judd, the epidemiologist, pointed out that data from Israel showed that even partial vaccination seems to limit the spread of B117, suggesting that the vaccine rollout arrived just in time. 'While the variant spread rapidly in the UK, there was little data as to how it would spread in population with some level of vaccination,' she said. Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and researcher, called the trend in Florida a 'bellwether to know if the B.1.1.7 strain will hit the US.' 'And there's no sign of any increase in cases. All good so far,' he tweeted this week. Meanwhile, troubling new researcher has emerged suggesting that the B117 variant, also known in the UK as the 'Kent variant', is more lethal as well as being more contagious. College students have descended on Florida for spring break with Fort Lauderdale beaches packed with maskless revelers. Florida is the B117 capital of the US but has declining cases The more infectious variant, which swept across the UK at the end of last year before spreading across the world, is between 30 percent and 100 percent more deadly, a new study found. Epidemiologists from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol said the data suggests the variant is associated with a significantly higher mortality rate among adults compared with previously circulating strains. Robert Challen, from the University of Exeter, lead author of the study, said: 'In the community, death from Covid-19 is still a rare event, but the B117 variant raises the risk. 'Coupled with its ability to spread rapidly, this makes B117 a threat that should be taken seriously.' Researchers looked at death rates among people infected with the new variant and those infected with other strains. They found that the variant first detected in Kent led to 227 deaths in a sample of 54,906 patients compared with 141 among the same number of closely matched patients who had the previous strains. Mutations of the virus have raised concerns about whether vaccines would be effective against the new strains, including the B117 strain. But research suggests the Pfizer jab is just as effective against the variant of coronavirus as it was against the original pandemic strain, and other studies indicate the Moderna vaccine is also highly effective against the variant. A new partnership between specialty wholesaler CRC Group, 5Star Specialty Programs and life insurer subsidiary Pan-American Benefit Solutions (PABS), will focus on offering workers compensation coverage for the trucking industry. The offering is part of PABSs capacity expansion to writing trucking occupational accident coverage. The new partnership is designed to address the needs of clerical WC class codes as well as fleet risks, and will enhance PABSs accident & health services for the transportation industry. As one of PABSs distribution partners, 5Star will be among a group of providers with access to the workers compensation program. As a division of CRC Group, 5Star is a managing general agent specializing in transportation and workers compensation coverage. PABS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pan-American Life Insurance Group, a provider of insurance and financial services. Topics Workers' Compensation Trucking Over the last few weeks, a sordid and protracted account of abuse and neglect of the welfare of both their staff and young charges has unfolded in the press and on social media. The scandal has seen several founder executives leaving or being terminated. The two organizations have belatedly begun to redress the damage caused, the statement said in part, signed by board president Richard Logan. Sadly, the appalling absence of courage nor the will to take decisive action by the executive staffs and their boards has caused untold damage to the lives of many innocent teenagers. Chennai, March 12 : Leading environmentalists in Tamil Nadu have urged political parties to take effective measures to resolve the human-animal conflict in the state. The conflict has claimed 81 human lives since 2016, they say. The environmental activists called upon the political parties to take up this issue and include it in their election manifestos. V. Surendra Kumar of the Coimbatore-based organisation Sraddha, while speaking to IANS on Friday, said,"Human-animal conflict is a major concern for state administrators. We don't know whether the political parties who are wielding power have any concern for this issue and if this is not taken up seriously, it is certain that more human lives and crops will be lost." As many as 81 people lost their lives in wild elephant attacks since 2016 which is an average of 16 people a year. Kumar elaborated,"Politicians who frequently visit Krishnagiri, Coimbatore and Nilgiris are aware of what is happening, but without an initiative nothing will happen and it is high time that preventive measures are taken." The Tamil Nadu Agriculture department also attributed the heavy losses to crops to attacks by wild animals including wild boars,pigs and even elephants which reach the human settlements bordering forest areas in herds. Shanmughasundaram, Deputy Director, Tamil Nadu Agriculture department, while speaking to IANS, said, "Indeed there are heavy crop losses through wild animal attacks. Mostly the issues are settled through crop insurances but there are instances where this happens late. The government has formulated several policies and we are trying to make the settlement process quick and convenient. However, farmers must also not encroach on forest land for cultivation and in certain cases it is such encroachment in the habitat of elephants that leads to attacks." With loss of lives and crops becoming a regular phenomenon, agriculturists and environmentalists are jointly of the opinion that a concrete policy must be there to put an end to such losses. Speaking to IANS, R Veerapandyan, President, Nilgris District Farmers Association, said: "The government must take pro- active measures to bring to an end these conflicts. This has to be taken as a priority or we may have to take to the streets. We have already petitioned all the major political parties to make this a top priority matter in their election manifestos". N Mohanraj of World Wide Fund for Nature( WWF) said, "There are around 600 to 800 tigers in the Western Ghats and once they are old, they will scout for easy preys and this will be a threat to human beings living in the borders of forest areas. The government must bring in a concrete policy addressing such issues." He also said that there should be a detailed study on the elephants and tigers which are problematic and a committee of environmentalists, veterinarians and tribals to track wild animals like elephants and tigers. With elections on April 6, it has to be seen whether the political parties will adhere to the appeal of environmentalists and activists and bring about a concrete policy on this issue. Media billionaire Bruce Gordon will continue his push for a Nine Entertainment Co board seat after securing rights to air its programming in regional markets, in a move that triggered a steep fall in the share price of current affiliate Southern Cross Media. Mr Gordon is Nines largest shareholder with a 14.94 per cent stake held in his investment vehicle Birketu. The deal will allow Mr Gordons WIN Corp network to broadcast programs such as Married at First Sight and The Block in regional markets. But the news hit shares in Nines existing regional broadcast partner Southern Cross Media Group, which closed 10 per cent lower at $1.97. WIN TV owner Bruce Gordon is Nines biggest shareholder. Credit:Sylvia Liber In a statement Mr Gordon said the deal brings about an alignment between WINs broadcast business and Birketus investment business. Nine is the owner of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. New Delhi [India], March 12 (ANI): A BJP delegation met the Election Commission of India on Friday and demanded an impartial probe into an alleged attack on Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Speaking to reporters after meeting the Election Commission, BJP leader Bhupender Yadav, said: "Today, BJP delegation led by Union Minister Piyush Goyal met the Election Commission. We demanded an impartial probe into the March 10 incident. Whenever any candidate goes to file a form (nomination), after that if that candidate participates in any rally, then it is video-graphed by the Election Commission. We have demanded that that first video of the matter should be made public." The BJP leader also demanded the Election Commission to take action against the undue influence allegedly by the TMC party people. "When we submitted a memorandum to Election Commission in West Bengal, we said that TMC people have been appointed as administrators in local body and corporation by Mamata Banerjee government. No political party is able to put up a banner, do a political campaign due to these people. The Election Commission should take action against this undue influence," he said. Yadav also said special observers should be appointed for sensitive constituencies. The Chief Minister, who was on a two-day visit to Nandigram from where she filed her nomination earlier on March 10, alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaigning. She was brought to Kolkata's SSKM Hospital by road from Nandigram. Banerjee sustained "severe bone injuries" on her left foot and ankle as well as bruises and injuries on her shoulder, forearm and neck, according to the report of her initial medical examination. Meanwhile, Banerjee has been discharged from the hospital. "CM Mamata Banerjee has responded well to the treatment. She has been discharged with appropriate instructions, due to her repeated requests. She has been advised to review after 7 days," SSKM Hospital said. West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray. Elections to 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Queensland man who allegedly travelled almost 2,000km with the intention of having sex with a child has been arrested in a police sting. Detectives swooped on the 20-year-old after he left Mount Isa for a Hungry Jack's in Brisbane on Friday to allegedly meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl who he had groomed online. The 'girl' was actually an undercover officer attached to task force Argos, which investigates online child exploitation and abuse. A Queensland man who allegedly travelled almost 2,000km to have sex with a child has been arrested in a police sting The investigation began on 11 January 2021 after a referral from Western Australia Police who received a tip the man had allegedly been talking to underage girls online. He has been charged with using the internet to procure a child and four grooming offences, and police will allege he travelled to Brisbane in order to engage in sexual acts with someone he thought was a child. The man has been released on bail and will face the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Detective Inspector Glen Donaldson warned the taskforce was watching out for alleged child predators. 'Every day Argos has undercover officers working in a range of online platforms to detect and apprehend people who seek to exploit children in our community,' he said after the arrest. Detectives swooped on the 20-year-old after he allegedly left Mount Isa for a Brisbane fast-food shop on Friday to meet a 15-year-old girl he'd groomed online. Pictured: The man being arrested by detectives on March 12 The 'girl' was an undercover officer attached to task force Argos, which investigates online child exploitation and abuse. Pictured: The accused paedophile is put in handcuffs by officers 'To those that seek to engage in this predatory behaviour, just remember that the next 'child' that you engage may be a member of Argos.' Mr Donaldson warned parents there are predators lurking on social media and they need to be aware of who their children are talking to online. 'Supervision is key to prevention, as is ongoing communication with children about how to stay safe online and the dangers of having online 'friends' they have never met face-to-face,' Mr Donaldson said. Microsoft confirmed that the Patch Tuesday update for Windows 10 versions 2004 and 20H2 released earlier this week is causing a blue screen of death (BSOD) error to appear while printing documents on a certain brand of printers. As spotted by Windows Latest, the issue was mainly reported on printers such as Kyocera, Ricoh, and Zebra, although some have experienced the issue while using other printers. Microsoft has confirmed the issue exists in cumulative updates KB5000802 (OS Builds 19041.867 and 19042.867), KB5000808 (OS Build 18363.1440), KB5000809 (OS Build 17134.2087), and KB5000822 (OS Build 17763.1817). The affected versions of Windows 10 include Windows 10 version 1803 to 20H2, and Windows Server versions 1803, Windows Server 2019, 1809, 1909, 20034, and 20H2. On a support page, Microsoft states that users of these versions of Windows 10 might receive an APC_INDEX_MISMATCH error with a blue screen when attempting to print to certain printers in some apps. It also points out that the company is presently investigating and will provide an update when more information is available. According to reports, Microsoft has temporarily halted the rollout of the Windows 10 KB5000802 update. However, the updates are still available via the Microsoft Update Catalog. While currently there is no known workaround to fix the problem, the only way to resolve this seems to be uninstalling the latest cumulative updates from Windows 10 PC, which can be found under Settings > Update and Security > Windows Update. You can also alternatively fix this by running the commands: wusa /uninstall /kb:5000802 and wusa /uninstall /kb:5000808 in an elevated Command Prompt window. However, removing cumulative updates is not recommended, as this could make you lose the latest update that includes important bug fixes and security updates, and put you at unnecessary risk. And for those who havent installed the cumulative updates yet, it is recommended to wait until the issue is fixed. New Delhi: The CBI Court on Friday convicted Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh in a 15-year-old rape case. After the verdict, Dera Chief was taken into custody but the quantum of sentence will be announced on August 28. Ram Rahim can be sentenced to 7 years in prison which can be extended to life imprisonment. Soon after the verdict, supporters of the popular Guru resorted to violence and police had to lathi-charge and fire live bullets in the air to disperse the mob. The supporters of Dera chief started attacking media vans and they have set Income tax office in Panchkula ablaze. There were also reports coming in from various sources that police have also fired tear gas shells and baton charged on violent supporters. Curfew imposed in Bhatinda, Firozpur, Muktsar and 2 more districts of Punjab. Dera Chief often called as Pitaji (Father) by his followers will be airlifted from Panchkula court and will be shifted to Rohtak jail, said reports. Earlier, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the third chief of Dera Sacha Sauda arrived in the Panchkula Court with his cavalcade of more than 100 cars. Tens of thousands of Dera chief supporters had started gathering in Sirsa, Panchkula, Chandigarh and others parts of Punjab and Haryana. Authorities have suspended internet services in parts of Haryana and Punjab and section 144 was imposed anticipating violence. The sexual exploitation case was registered against the head of the sect, which is based in Sirsa in Haryana, in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged exploitation of two 'Sadhvis' (female followers) by Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Ram Rahim has also had a run-in earlier with Sikh radicals for allegedly dressing up as the 10th Sikh master, Guru Gobind Singh, in 2007 among other instances considered blasphemous by a section of the community. (With PTI Inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Countries should continue to use the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, saying there was no indication of a link between the jabs and blood clots. It comes after Thailand said it will delay use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after several European countries temporarily suspended the jabs following a small number of reports of health problems. Speaking via videoconference in Geneva, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: As countries roll out Covid-19 vaccines, WHO is continuing to keep a close eye on their safety. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. WHO is aware that some countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines based on reports of blood clots in some people who have received doses of the vaccine from two batches. This measure was taken as a precaution while a full investigation is finalised. Its important to note that the European Medicines Agency has said there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and blood clots and that the vaccine can continue to be used while its investigation is ongoing. He said the findings and any change to the organisations recommendations following the investigation will be relayed to the public immediately. His comments echoed earlier remarks made by WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris, who described the vaccine as excellent. Yong Poovorawan, an adviser to Thailands vaccination programme, said the delay, pending an investigation into the cause of reported side-effects, will not have a big impact on the rollout. It came as AstraZeneca released a new statement saying there is no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis with the vaccine. It said that, in fact, the occurrence is significantly lower in those who have been vaccinated than what would be expected among the general population. The UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has said there is no evidence to suggest the vaccine causes blood clot problems, and that people should still get their Covid-19 jab when asked to do so. Story continues The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has also backed the jabs safety and said there have been 30 reports of blood clots among close to five million people given the vaccine across Europe. (PA Graphics) It said in a statement: The position of EMAs safety committee is that the vaccines benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing. On Thursday, Denmark, Norway and Iceland said they were temporarily halting all AstraZeneca vaccinations to investigate reports of blood clots among people who have had the jab. Italy also followed Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Lithuania in banning jabs from one particular batch of one million AstraZeneca vaccines, which was sent to 17 countries, after reports of a death. (PA Graphics) AstraZeneca said in a statement on Friday: An analysis of our safety data of more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country with Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca. In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than what would be expected among the general population. Earlier this week, the EMA reported that one person in Austria was diagnosed with blood clots and died 10 days after vaccination, but stressed there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions. Another person was admitted to hospital with pulmonary embolism (blockage in arteries in the lungs) after being vaccinated. (PA Graphics) Dr Phil Bryan, MHRA vaccines safety lead in the UK, said on Thursday: Blood clots can occur naturally and are not uncommon. More than 11 million doses of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine have now been administered across the UK. Reports of blood clots received so far are not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population. Dr Bryan said the safety of the public always comes first and the issue is being kept under close review, but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause. (PA Graphics) Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said: Vaccine safety is critically important. Our UK regulator, the MHRA, reviews all reports of adverse events for both vaccines as they are reported. The public should have confidence that both vaccines used in the UK vaccination programme are safe and highly effective at preventing severe disease, including the prevention of blood clots caused by Covid. Alphabet Inc .s Google attacked Microsoft Corp. for rallying support for legislation that would give news publishers more power to negotiate with technology platforms for payment for content. Google said in a blog post Friday that Microsoft is engaging in naked corporate opportunism" by appearing before Congress to back a proposal that would allow media organizations to band together to negotiate with Google and Facebook Inc. They are reverting to their familiar playbook of attacking rivals and lobbying for regulations that benefit their own interests," Googles chief legal officer Kent Walker wrote. They are now making self-serving claims and are even willing to break the way the open web works in an effort to undercut a rival." Googles statement came ahead of a hearing Friday held by the House antitrust panel to examine proposals to help publishers. Microsoft President Brad Smith is set to testify in favor of the proposed legislation introduced by the committees chairman David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat. Microsoft is pushing lawmakers around the world to approve measures to force the tech platforms to pay news outlet for content. The software maker publicly backed a law in Australia that prompted Facebook last month to impose a news blackout on its site, and has called for a similar measure in Europe. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Valerie Di Maria As we mark a full year of working remotely and continue to experience the power of social movements such as Black Lives Matter, the impact is being felt in myriad ways. This uncharted environment has made every enterprise reevaluate how they act, to whom they communicate, what they say and how. As a result, new trends are emerging that expand an employers internal communication audience and require organizations to get more stakeholder involvement in key decisions. These will require companies to create a fully inclusive communications strategy, and two trends are driving this need for inclusivity: The definition of "employee" has expanded. In the work-from-home environment, companies must consider their impact on the employees own ecosystem in a greater way. People are living not just with partners, but with children of all ages (from infants to young adults), as well as their parents or other older family members. Often, co-habitants may make guest appearances during a Zoom meeting or work in the same room if space is limited. Internal communications need to go beyond just the employee now more than ever. These extended families become internal audiences, and more empathy and emphasis are required regarding their needs and reactions. Consensus guides strategic decisions. Top-down management is dead. Today, everyone gets a vote. In light of 2020s dramatic political polarization and our collective social conscious being raised by organized gender and ethnic calls to action, there is greater appreciation for getting input from many sourcesinternal and externalbefore big and little policy decisions are made. This is also true for how decisions are communicated. Using focus groups, social media listening, direct community outreach and other data and techniques to gain insights, the communicator is the perfect candidate to be the eyes and ears of the organization to bring diverse viewpoints and potential reactions to the table for discussion. In the current environment, work life balance has taken on new meaning and presents unique opportunities to listen and learn. Companies have gotten feedback from employees not to schedule meetings during lunch hour because when everyone is home, that should be designated as family time. Although people may seem more accessible 24/7 when working remotely, there need to be barriers. Many organizations have issued guidelines on whats an appropriate workday. In other wordsdont send 11 p.m. emails. IBMs CEO Arvind Krishna took things to another level by sharing the IBM Work from Home Pledge. A product of a grassroots initiative, it was created by employees and addressed the challenges of taking care of family members as well as themselves while managing their work. The specific pledges include being family sensitive, supporting flexibility for personal needs (such as homeschooling) and being kind, by welcoming members of the extended work family. Says Krishna, Ill roll with it with empathy. It is totally fine if children make noise or jump on camera, or pets make an appearance or say hellotheyre family too! When its on-site childcare centers were closed because of COVID, Patagonia surveyed parents extensively on the present and potential future state of care. Action items included sharing activity calendars adapted from their childcare program and making the program director available for conversations. The marcom experts at CVS Health increased their amount of employee listening and made sure the information got to the right people to help make decisions about hours, protective equipment, bonuses, childcare and more. Inclusive decision making is not just limited to employees and their families. Seeking input from the community and diverse representatives of those most impacted by decisions and those with special viewpoints goes a long way toward avoiding missteps in actions taken and messaging used. Major energy companies have long practiced sitting down with NGOs and other possible adversaries to try to come to a mutual understanding. More recently, when Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben finally changed their brand names, part of the process was to consult with relevant outside stakeholders. The list included retailers and consumers. One of the Page Society's key principles for the effective practice of public relations is Listen to stakeholders: To serve the enterprise well, understand what the public wants and needs and advocate for engagement with all stakeholders. Keep top decision makers and other employees informed about stakeholder reaction to the enterprise's products, policies and practices. To listen effectively, engage a diverse range of stakeholders through inclusive dialogue. Today, more than ever, decisions require considerable thought about how they will affect employees, customers/consumers, shareholders, community, regulators and others. Emotion and ethics must play a role. Adapting a truly inclusive communications approach by expanding the definition of internal audiences and building true consensus, will enable companies to see business benefits now and in the future. *** Valerie Di Maria, founder and principal of the10company, has earned recognition as a communications and marketing leader at complex, global corporations and agencies. She is also an executive coach, and started VOICES, a program specifically for women by women. Previously, she held CMO/CCO roles at GE Capital, Motorola and Willis. Ahead of the summit on Friday, China said exchanges and cooperation between countries should contribute to mutual understanding rather than targeting a third party and refrain from pursuing exclusive blocs. US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will attend the virtual summit, which is the first conclave of the top leaders of the Quadrilateral alliance, on Friday. Known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, representatives for the four-member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007. Asked for China's reaction to the conclave, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that exchanges and cooperation between nations should contribute to the mutual understanding and trust among nations, rather than targeting a third party or damaging the interest of a third party. We hope that relevant countries uphold the principles of openness, inclusiveness and win-win results and refrain from pursuing exclusive blocs and do things that are conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity, he said. The meeting to be held virtually is expected to last about 90 minutes, during which all the four leaders would also lay out their vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, amidst China flexing its muscles in the strategically-vital region. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years. Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan. The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China's increasing military muscle-flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. The US has been favouring making a security architecture to check China's growing assertiveness. (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.) Many UW Employees, Eligible Students Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Rapid clinics to administer the COVID-19 vaccine have been taking place at the former National Guard Armory now owned by UW. (UW Photo) Close to 1,700 Albany County residents, including many University of Wyoming employees and students, are being vaccinated for COVID-19 this week, helping set the stage for the return to a more traditional semester this fall. The vaccination program, a collaborative effort of Albany County Public Health, Ivinson Memorial Hospital and UW, is vaccinating people in Phase 1c, priority groups 1-3, of the Wyoming Department of Health priority tiers. The list of those who qualify includes people between the ages of 50 and 64; individuals with moderate to severe asthma, hypertension, high blood pressure, liver disease and those who are overweight; and essential critical infrastructure workers. UW faculty and staff members qualify under the essential critical infrastructure workers category. President Ed Seidel has granted an hour of release time for each dose of the vaccine for UW employees. The scheduling of release time should be a collaborative discussion between employee and supervisor to ensure the effective and efficient operation of the unit. Those who have used personal leave time already to be vaccinated can work with their departments to change the designation to release time. To be able to administer as many vaccines to as many as we can right now is really of the utmost importance, says Matt McDermit, UWs manager of strategic enrollment operations, one of many UW volunteers helping with the clinics. I like to see not only everyone come out to get their vaccine, but I also like seeing other people with the same idea and sentiment that they want to help out and see people get the vaccine. It does kind of feel like a movement, in a way. As of the end of today (Friday), the collaborative vaccination program will have administered close to 7,000 first doses. Another 800 doses are anticipated next week. Reed Scull, an associate professor in UWs College of Education, is among those receiving the first dose of the vaccine this week. He says its important for all members of the UW community to be vaccinated when its their turn. To my students, I would say: Do this for yourself, but also for others. There are things that are larger than ourselves and, as professionals, we need to think about those larger issues like the community health as well as your individual health, Scull says. I think its going to make people feel confident, long term, to get out and about. And I think it will help our campus environment considerably. I most look forward to seeing my friends and colleagues in person and having nice, long conversations with my students. There are several options individuals who are eligible to receive their vaccine can choose to schedule appointments: -- Albany County Vaccine Call Center -- Individuals who are eligible in Phase 1a, 1b or 1c can call (307) 766-8222 to schedule their vaccination appointments. Due to high call volumes, individuals should remain patient and try again later if their calls do not go through initially. -- Ivinson Memorial Hospital My Health Connection -- Individuals who qualify based on age and are currently signed up for My Health Connection may receive a self-scheduling link via email to book appointments. If youve already signed up on My Health Connection, you are on Albany Countys vaccination list, even though the language on the site references Colorado and UC Health. -- Walmart Pharmacy -- Walmart has received a federal allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligible individuals can visit the Walmart website to schedule appointments. -- Walgreens Pharmacy -- Walgreens has received a federal allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligible individuals can visit the Walgreens website to schedule appointments. -- Pole Mountain Pharmacy -- Pole Mountain has received a county allotment for the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligible individuals can visit the Pole Mountain website to schedule appointments. Those who need assistance to travel for their vaccinations may request rides by calling UW Transit and Parking Services at (307) 766-7433. Requests should be scheduled in advance, if possible. Callers should indicate if the transportation is vaccination-related and if any special accommodations are needed. While vaccinations are not required for UW employees, theyre strongly encouraged. And, to allow the university to track overall vaccination numbers to inform plans for the fall semester, employees must report their vaccinations once theyve received them. To report receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, employees should click on Career and Performance under My Profile in HCM. From the Career and Performance page, click Skills and Qualifications. The section of this page containing the opt-in to COVID-19 testing has been updated to include the ability to report receiving the vaccine. Under COVID-19 Testing and Vaccine Status, click Add, then select the vaccine provider received as well as date(s) received. Employees can edit this section multiple times, allowing for entering of an initial dose, then returning to enter the date of the second dose. Completing the opt-in to COVID-19 testing contained in the same block is not required. As Albany County continues to receive increased vaccine supply, rapid vaccine events will be scheduled. Eligible individuals will be able to schedule appointments at the rapid events through the Vaccine Call Center or My Health Connection. After quite a challenging and difficult period, we all kind of feel like were looking at the light at the end of the tunnel, finally, says College of Health Sciences Dean David Jones, who is helping lead the vaccination clinics. Were hoping that as many people as are able to get vaccinated will get vaccinated. The more people who get vaccinated, the closer we get to having normalcy again. Questions specifically about the vaccine should be emailed to COVIDVX@uwyo.edu. Additional information is available on UWs COVID vaccine webpage. Many people in the Jewish community have asked where did Robby Etzkin, former executive director of The Roth Family JCC, go? He is in Sarasota and according to The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Etzkin has accepted a position as senior director of Camp Marci Lynn at the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. The camp will open on the Federation's Larry & Mary Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life in June 2022, but Etzkin has already started and is excited about his new role. "I am most excited about being able to create a Jewish summer camp from scratch. Camp has always been my passion,... 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. "I am struck by the fact that in the resignation letter issued by her, she (Astete) indicated that she had made a serious mistake, but now she says that she had done so authorized by the President, and there I find a contradiction ," he pointed out. CALGARY, Alberta, March 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Badger Daylighting Ltd. (Badger or the Company) (TSX:BAD) announces the planned retirement of Garry Mihaichuk and the appointment of Stephen Jones to Badgers Board of Directors. Garry Mihaichuk has indicated that he will be retiring at the Companys 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders. We would like to thank Garry for his 15 years of service to the Company and for his Board leadership as Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and previously, Chair of the Health and Safety Committee. Garrys leadership and collaboration on the board will be missed and Badger has benefitted from the significant contributions he has made over the years, said Glen Roane, Chair of the Board. We are pleased to welcome Stephen as an independent director to Badgers Board, said Mr. Roane. Stephens wide range of U.S. business experience will be a tremendous benefit to Badger. The addition of Stephen further strengthens the Boards skills and experiences, providing valuable perspective and insight as we execute on Badgers strategic growth initiatives. We look forward to Stephens contribution, added Mr. Roane. Stephen Jones is a corporate director, currently serving as a director of Tronox Holdings plc and the Bloomsburg University Foundation. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Jones was President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Covanta Holding Corporation, a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and a leading global provider of sustainable waste and energy solutions. In addition, over the past 20 years, Mr. Jones has held a variety of senior-level management positions with Air Products and Chemicals Inc., a global supplier of industrial gases, equipment and services. He served as a senior vice president and general manager, Tonnage Gases, Equipment and Energy of Air Products, from April 2009 through September 2014, Air Products China president in Shanghai from June 2011 to September 2014, and was also a member of Air Products Corporate Executive Committee from 2007 to September 2014. Prior to joining Air Products in 1992, Mr. Jones practiced corporate law at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Jones, who resides in Pennsylvania, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Temple University and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Jones appointment is effective March 11, 2021, and he will be a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and the Health, Safety and Environment Committee. About Badger Daylighting Ltd. Badger Daylighting Ltd. (TSX:BAD) is North Americas largest provider of non-destructive excavating services. Badger works for contractors and facility owners in a broad range of infrastructure industries. These market segments consist primarily of infrastructure projects in areas such as energy generation, electricity and natural gas transmission networks, roads and highways, telecommunications, water and sewage treatment and general municipal infrastructure. Customers in these segments typically operate near high concentrations of underground power, communication, water, gas and sewer lines, particularly in large urban centres where safety and economic risks are high and therefore non-destructive excavation provides a safe alternative for certain customer excavation requirements. The Companys key technology is the Badger HydrovacTM, which is used primarily for safe excavation around critical infrastructure and in congested underground conditions. The Badger Hydrovac uses a pressurized water stream to liquefy the soil cover, which is then removed with a powerful vacuum system and deposited into a storage tank. Badger manufactures and designs its truck-mounted hydrovac units, giving Badger the opportunity to incorporate feedback from its hydrovac operators into its existing and future design and manufacturing processes. For further information: Paul Vanderberg, President and CEO Darren Yaworsky, Vice President, Finance and CFO Pramod Bhatia, Vice President, Strategic Planning and Investor Relations Badger Daylighting Ltd. ATCO Centre II Suite 400, 919 - 11th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta T2R 1P3 Telephone (403) 264-8500 Fax (403) 228-9773 Source: Badger Daylighting Ltd. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Hundreds of almond and apple trees in Kashmir have been damaged beyond revival in the last few weeks. Porcupines have shredded the barks off the trees from the stumps to lower branches, leaving farmers and horticulture experts flummoxed. Trees that had taken 20 years to grow to full size will steadily decay after this attack. Farmers are set to suffer a collective loss running into lakhs. South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Shopian and Budgam are worst-hit by porcupine attacks. Farmers with almond and apple orchards have been left crestfallen after the barks of full-grown trees have been stripped off by porcupines. South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Shopian and Budgam are worst hit by porcupine attacks. (Photo: Reuters) The distressed farmers have consulted experts at the J&K Horticulture Department. Not much, unfortunately, can be done to save the trees that have been extensively damaged. Horticulture experts say that if porcupines remove the bark around the trunk or a branch in a girdling motion, it can lead to irreversible damage to the tree. Horticulture experts have advised farmers that they must take preventive measures to guard against porcupine attacks by putting wire meshes around the stumps of the trees that have not been attacked yet or layering them with pepper. According to experts at the JK Horticulture Department, if the porcupine manages to strip the bark of the tree trunk or the branch in a girdling pattern, then the trunk or branch will be killed from that point up or out. This will weaken the tree and make it more vulnerable to damage from diseases, insects and birds. The loss of trees is severe for farmers because it takes up to 15 years for a tree to mature and reach the size of the damaged trees. Farmers say that even hybrid trees will take at least 10 years to bear fruit. Almond and apple farmers have also approached wildlife experts to seek a solution to this problem. The wildlife experts have advised that exclusion by fencing is the most effective method to prevent damage from porcupines. Farmers are now resorting to wire fencing around the trees to avoid damage by these thorny rodents and give protection to their prized fruit-bearing trees and also the young trees. Experts have advised the farmers it is important to monitor these rodents because they can physically damage the tree or even girdle it if left unattended for too long. Experts say porcupines prefer to eat the nutritious inner tree bark or phloem. To get to the phloem, they remove the bark all the way down to the inner layer of the tree, where the wood begins. If the bark is stripped all the way into the inner layer, that part of the tree will die and can damage the rest of the tree. Farmers say that some of their trees have been saved because the wounds caused to the trees are small. The horticulture experts have assured them that the small wounds may eventually heal after new tissue grows back from the edges of the wound. Also read: Why Kashmirs walnut industry needs a booster shot A retired elementary school principal whos the subject of a sexual abuse lawsuit filed last year by a former student was arrested Thursday on suspicion of molesting multiple children. Jeffrey Hays was indicted by a Clackamas County grand jury Monday. Hes accused of six counts of first-degree sexual abuse and a single count of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration. Hays was the principal of Deep Creek Elementary School in the Gresham-Barlow School District from 2005 to 2009. He became the executive director of the City View Charter School in Hillsboro in 2009 and is now retired, according to the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office. The agency said Hays victims included four former students. One former student was awarded $3 million in a civil suit early last year after a jury found that Hays molested her in his office for years. The Gresham-Barlow School District was responsible for paying the sum. Another former student also filed a $3 million lawsuit against Hays and the district last August. That case remains open, according to court records. At least one other student who alleged abuse by Hays also previously settled claims against the district. Hays criminal case had not yet been entered into the states online courts system Thursday night. No information about when he will appear in court to face the criminal charges was immediately available. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR A protestor is seen outside the Hennepin County courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the United States, March 11, 2021. A third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd last year was reinstated on Thursday, as the trial's start date neared. (Photo by Matthew McIntosh/Xinhua) WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd last year was reinstated on Thursday, as the trial's start date neared. Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes before the Black man died last May, already faced second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. He was initially charged with third-degree murder days after Floyd's death, but Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the count in October, saying it did not apply to the circumstances of the case. The state of Minnesota appealed Cahill's ruling on March 5 and asked him to reconsider the motion to reinstate the third-degree murder charge. Cahill did so Thursday after the Minnesota Supreme Court decided Wednesday not to take up an appeal from Chauvin against the charge. According to Minnesota law, the maximum sentence for second-degree murder is 40 years, and 25 years for third-degree murder. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is now scheduled for March 29, after the selection of the jury was delayed and ultimately began Tuesday. The death of Floyd triggered a nationwide reckoning over police brutality and racial justice in the United States, with the Black Lives Matter movement gaining support all around the world. A major winter storm is expected to sweep through Colorado this weekend, potentially reducing oil and gas production in the Rockies and testing the utilities ability to provide power to customers amid expected high demand and fears of downed power lines. This weekend, Denver could see one of the biggest snowstorms since 1885, AccuWeather meteorologists said on Thursday. The snowstorm threatens to be a long-duration event that could result in snowfall nearing 2 feet in Denver and as high as 3 feet in places west of Denver, such as Boulder and Fort Collins. Heavy snowfall is expected to stretch north into Wyoming as well, according to AccuWeather. One of the biggest snowstorms weve seen all year, AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. Colorado is activating National Guard to assist with potential search and rescue efforts this weekend, as the National Weather Service Denver/Boulder forecast office issued on Thursday a Winter Storm Warning for the Mountains, Front Range Foothills, and the Urban Corridor from Friday night into early Monday. Expect difficult to impossible travel conditions, scattered power outages, and severe impacts to newborn livestock, NWS Weather Prediction Center said. While fuel demand will collapse with near-impossible travel conditions, power consumption in Colorado is expected to jump this weekend, testing again the grid and utilities ability to withstand a major storm following the February Freeze from Texas to Maine. During last months cold snap, two utility firms in northern Colorado asked their customers to converse electricity. Platte River Power Authority and Mountain Parks Electric pleaded with customers to reduce where possible their consumption of natural gas and electricity in mid-February. Unprecedented cold weather and snow is causing a natural gas shortage and impacting availability of energy from Platte Rivers solar fields and wind turbines, Platte River Power Authority said on February 14. During that cold snap, the winter storm in Texas shut in an estimated 4 million bpd of U.S. oil production and almost 6 million bpd of refining capacity across the United States, and forced rolling outages across Texas as extreme winter weather forced generating units offline, while electricity demand set a new winter peak record. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Myanmars security forces have shot at least 10 people dead amid ongoing protests against the militarys coup. The deadly crackdown spurned a UN Security Council appeal for Myanmars military rulers to stop using lethal force, while an independent UN expert cited growing evidence of crimes against humanity in the country. The military also lodged a new allegation against the deposed government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, alleging that in 2017-18 she was illegally given 600,000 US dollars (429,000) and gold bars worth slightly less by a political ally. She and Myanmars president Win Myint have been detained on less serious allegations. The new accusation appears aimed at discrediting Ms Suu Kyi and perhaps charging her with a serious crime. Expand Close Anti-coup protesters collect makeshift shields during a demonstration in Yangon (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anti-coup protesters collect makeshift shields during a demonstration in Yangon (AP) Military spokesman Brig Gen Zaw Min Tun said at a news conference in the capital that former Yangon Division chief minister Phyo Min Thein had admitted giving the money and gold to Ms Suu Kyi, but presented no evidence. Myanmar has been roiled by protests, strikes and other acts of civil disobedience since the coup toppled Ms Suu Kyis government on February 1, just as it was to start its second term. The takeover reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the south-east Asian nation after five decades of military rule. Local press reports and posts on social media said there had been six deaths in Myaing, a town in the central Magway Region, and one each in Yangon, Mandalay, Bago and Taungoo. In many cases, photos of what were said to be the bodies of the dead were posted online. Expand Close People shout slogans and light candles to honor Chit Min Thu, where he was shot during an anti-coup protest in North Dagon Town, Yangon, on Thursday (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People shout slogans and light candles to honor Chit Min Thu, where he was shot during an anti-coup protest in North Dagon Town, Yangon, on Thursday (AP) Security forces have attacked previous protests with live ammunition as well, leading to the deaths of at least 60 people. They have also employed tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and stun grenades. Many demonstrators have been brutally beaten. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council unanimously called for reversing the coup and strongly condemned the violence against peaceful protesters. It also called for utmost restraint by the military. Expand Close Protesters on the streets of Mandalay gesture with a three-finger symbol of resistance (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters on the streets of Mandalay gesture with a three-finger symbol of resistance (AP) An independent UN rights expert focusing on Myanmar told the the UN-backed Human Rights Council on Thursday that violence against protesters and even people sitting peacefully in their homes was rising. He said the junta was detaining dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people every day. Thomas Andrews, a former US legislator, also pointed to growing evidence of crimes against humanity being committed by security forces, citing murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture and imprisonment against basic rules of international law. He acknowledged a formal determination requires a full investigation and trial. He is working under a mandate from the council, and does not speak for the UN. Expand Close Protesters wear eye protection and face masks on the streets of Mandalay (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters wear eye protection and face masks on the streets of Mandalay (AP) The human rights group Amnesty International issued a report saying Myanmars military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country. The London-based group said its examination of more than 50 videos from the crackdown confirmed that security forces appear to be implementing planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force. Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions. These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions. These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open, Joanne Mariner, its director of crisis response, said in a statement. As widespread street protests against the coup continue, the junta is facing a new challenge from the countrys ethnic guerrilla forces, which until recently had limited themselves to verbal denunciations of last months coup. Reports from Kachin, the northernmost state, said guerrilla forces from the Kachin ethnic minority attacked a government base on Thursday and were in turn attacked. We verified more than 50 videos from the ongoing #MyanmarCoup crackdown. The international community must act to halt violations and hold perpetrators accountable. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/H6IhPtRNQu Amnesty International (@amnesty) March 11, 2021 The armed wing of the Kachin political movement is the Kachin Independence Army, or KIA. The 74 Media reported on Twitter: This morning in Hpakant township, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO/KIA) attacked a military council battalion based in Sezin village, and the KIO/KIAs Hpakant-based 9th Brigade and 26 battalions were attacked by helicopter. Both sides are still investigating. A Facebook page for the Kachin Liberation Media said the KIA had overrun the government outpost and seized ammunition. It warned the government against using lethal force to break up anti-coup protests in the Kachin capital, Myitkyina, where two demonstrators were killed this week. The reports could not be independently confirmed, and ethnic guerrilla armies as well as the government often release exaggerated information. However, even making such an announcement amounts to a sharp warning to the government. The Kachin actions come a few days after another ethnic guerrilla force belonging to the Karen minority announced it would protect demonstrators in territory it controlled. The Karen National Union deployed armed combatants to guard a protest in Myanmars south-eastern Tanintharyi Region. Myanmar has more than a dozen ethnic guerrilla armies, mostly in border areas, a legacy of decades-old struggles for greater autonomy from the central government. Many have formal or informal cease-fire agreements with the government, but armed clashes still occur. There has been speculation that some ethnic groups could form a de facto alliance with the protest movement to pressure the government. Rapid antigen self-tests for home use could soon play a major role in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 virus and allowing society and the economy to safely reopen in Ireland in tandem with ongoing vaccination efforts. Thats according to the award-winning Kilkenny-based life sciences company, MyBio, which has announced it is bringing the first Covid-19 rapid antigen self-tests to the Irish market. Managing Director of MyBio, Dr Linda Nolan describes the products as a game changers, and says regular self-testing at home can reduce pressure on the healthcare system. The company has formally submitted an application to the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) for approval of its rapid antigen Covid-19 self-tests for sale directly to consumers on the Irish market. HUGE NEWS FOR #CovidTesting in Ireland MyBio are bringing the first Covid-19 rapid #antigen self-test to the Irish market. Self-tests for home use will provide Irish society with an invaluable tool as we open up again. More here https://t.co/3adHex7E4M pic.twitter.com/iAWsmAe4sC MyBio (@MyBioLtd) March 4, 2021 The test has already been evaluated by leading state scientists and reference laboratories in Germany and has received approval for at home use from the German medical regulatory authority, said Dr Nolan. It is our view that this approval by a fellow EU Member State means that it should be a very quick turnaround for HPRA approval in Ireland. In the UK, a similar application for exceptional use of at-home Covid-19 rapid tests was approved by the UKs medical regulatory authority back in December. They are now playing a key role in a surge of nationwide testing. Millions of tests are being deployed to parents and families on a weekly basis to allow for repeated at-home testing as children and college students return to schools and universities. In Ireland, hundreds of thousands of students are returning to the classroom over the coming weeks and Education Minister Norma Foley has indicated that she is considering the role that antigen testing could play in schools. Last October, MyBio published a white paper on The Role of Antigen Testing in the Plan for Living with Covid-19, which argued that Ireland needs to ramp up the scale of its testing in order to track, trace and curb the spread of the virus in the community and to allow society and the economy to safely reopen. The advantage of using rapid antigen testing alongside the states PCR test is that they are faster, relatively cheap, and can play a crucial role in picking up asymptomatic individuals in the community. The rapid antigen self-tests are highly accurate with high sensitivity and specificity," says Dr Nolan. "They are simple and more comfortable to use than previous iterations as the test collects the sample from the front area of the nose instead of the nasopharynx. By following simple instructions, people can perform the test at home and have results within 15 minutes. These tests are already in widespread use in Germany. We have them warehoused and ready to be on shelves in retail outlets across Ireland within weeks once we have approval from the HPRA." For further information, visit www.mybio.ie. From todays Down in Alabama podcast: Back in 1993 the Alabama state Board of Education banned yoga in public schools because of its religious roots. But, over time, some have said that the way yoga is popularly practiced in American culture, calling it religious is, well, a stretch. On todays briefing well talk about this years effort in Alabama legislature to lift the yoga ban. Well also update the case of an Alabama man allegedly involved in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach and see how Alabamas economic recovery is going. The Down in Alabama podcast is short and free. Listen to it by clicking on the player above or subscribe by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing. Get this and other AL.com newsletters here. Click here for the Spotify podcast page Click here for the Alexa skill page on Amazon Click here for the Amazon Music podcast page Click here for the iTunes podcast page Consultant Public Division, Washington Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Childrens Fund Country: United States City: Washington, United States Office: UNICEF Washington, United States Closing date: Wednesday, 24 March 2021 Consultant Public Partnerships Division, Washington, DC, USA (9 months) Job no: 538695 Position type: Consultancy Location: United States Division/Equivalent: Partnerships School/Unit: Public Partnerships Division Department/Office: Government Partnerships Categories: Consultancy UNICEF works in some of the worlds toughest places, to reach the worlds most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up. For every child, hope . . . The Public Partnerships Divisions International Financial Institutions Team in Washington, DC supports UNICEFs work by managing partnerships and resource mobilization with International Financial Institutions including the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as well as the U.S. Development Finance Corporation. The partnerships with the Washington, DC-based IFIs are among UNICEFs most important and multi-faceted external partnerships. How can you make a difference? In 2020, the DC IFIs team tripled its agreement output compared to the 2016-2019 period, with over 80 agreements completed across 46 countries. This increase is expected to continue as more country offices deepen their operational relationships with the World Bank. The Consultant will support the expanding work of the Public Partnerships Division office in Washington, DC, with a focus on managing UNICEFs operational partnerships with DC-based IFIs and will report to Senior Partnership Manager in Washington, DC. Perform initial review of operational partnership agreements between UNICEF and DC-based IFIs. Track and prepare weekly reports on the status of agreements based on communications with team members and COs. Maintain the master agreement tracker updated. Perform analyses of agreement data using agreement documentation and other data sources, and develop presentations as needed. Support the development of guidance and tools for partnership agreements between UNICEF and DC-based IFIs, including the teams guidance for engaging the World Bank and checklist for drafting agreements. Tags development finance financial institutions international finance international financial institutions internship public relations resource mobilization word processing Support the development of Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) guidance for World Bank agreements and the review of project-specific ESF requirements. Support other functions of the UNICEF Public Partnerships Division DC Office team as needed. To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have... An advanced university degree (Masters or higher) is required with a preferred focus on finance, business administration, development or related field. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree. A minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience in preferably with an international organization or a government agency. Knowledge of UN or UNICEF programs and procedures is an asset. Post requires initiative, mature judgement, diplomacy, tact and excellent skills writing and public relations. Excellent English writing skills and word processing skills and knowledge of Windows Operating System applications are required. Strong analytical skills and a capacity to work independently on multiple assignments simultaneously and adapt to changing demands and circumstances. Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset. Visa Information: In the event that the fellow is expected to report to Washington D.C., United States, they will be responsible for obtaining their G-4 visa before traveling to United States. They will not be permitted to enter the United States without a valid G-4 visa. UNICEF will only issue guidance and a letter stating acceptance of an individual as an intern/fellow and the conditions governing the Internship/Fellowship. Insurance: UNICEF will not be responsible for costs arising from accidents and/or illness incurred during the volunteers service. Therefore, the selected candidate must provide proof of enrollment in a health/accident plan prior to starting his/her work. How to Apply: Please apply online with cover letter, resume and indicate your availability and monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a rate will not be considered. For every Child, you demonstrate...UNICEFs values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. Remarks: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered staff members under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEFs policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. Advertised: Mar 09 2021 Eastern Standard Time Application close: Mar 23 2021 Eastern Daylight Time Link to the organizations job offer: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1615323623530 Albany nurse Tyhisha Ghaffar-Adjei goes by the name Queen - and British royals could likely learn some lessons from her big-hearted example. Queen is celebrating her birthday Saturday the same way she did last year; shes cooking gourmet meals for 350 low income seniors and throwing a party in their apartment building. The lunch is at 3 p.m. at South Mall Towers at 99 and 100 Pearl Street in Albany. She also organized a free indoor farmers market for that morning. Like most nurses, Queens pandemic workload is grueling. Yet she seems energized by the long to-do list. A devout Muslim, Queen views the lunch parties she hosts several times annually as her way of following the Qurans directives to help the poor and respect community elders. Im lucky to have wonderful friends I can rely on who help me, said Queen, who often partners with 518 SNUG, Trinity Alliance and the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless. Three chefs donate their time and Ive gotten a small core of volunteers who have helped me over the years. She founded her not-for-profit group Guardians of Al-Fitrah in 2007. Fitrah is the state of pure innocence Muslims believe all humans to be born with, an innate nature unblemished by bigotry, cruelty or selfishness. This week, the guardians will create 350 goodie bags, pick up party favors and 350 cards handmade by the Boys & Girls Club, gather the seniors lunch orders then pack their choices of roast or curry chicken or brisket (with salad and vegetables) into containers following all the COVID-19 safety guidelines. Schenectadys Villa Italia is making her birthday cake which, naturally, she plans to share with her guests. Once shes gotten permission from a housing facility manager to host a luncheon on the property, she knocks on every residents door to offer a personal invite and hand them a Guardians of Al-Fitra brochure. Queen wears an elegant headdress to cover her hair. She recalls two white men around age 65 who were unnerved by her headdress and the Arabic name on the brochure. I had to reassure them that I was not ISIS she said wryly. But thats OK. It gave us a chance to have a conversation. It was an educational moment. A lot of Americans arent accustomed to meeting Black Muslims. They didnt know we do community outreach. Queens mother was a member of the Nation of Islam when Malcolm X was preaching in Harlem. Queen differentiates between NOI as an activist movement and Islam. I grew up Muslim and I can tell you, Islamophobia existed before Trump, before Obama, she said. Kids in my school would make fun of me for being Muslim but I didnt care, she pauses, then adds, laughing: My grandmother was Christian so she made sure I had a Christmas tree and presents, which was fine with me. Guardians welcomes volunteers of all faiths and she meets them everywhere. She met Albany law student Gienabou Diallo, a U.S. Army Reserves logistics specialist with a masters degree, at an event examining concerns over a rise of anti-Muslim sentiment in India.My logistical skills seem to come in handy when Im helping organize Queens lunches; she tackles big jobs, said Diallo. I love helping. Its made me a better Muslim. End Homelessness Winnipeg was created in 2015 to lead implementation of our citys 10-year Plan to End Homelessness. Since that time, other Canadian cities have taken significant steps toward preventing and reducing homelessness. Some communities, such as Medicine Hat, have ended homelessness entirely. Opinion End Homelessness Winnipeg was created in 2015 to lead implementation of our citys 10-year Plan to End Homelessness. Since that time, other Canadian cities have taken significant steps toward preventing and reducing homelessness. Some communities, such as Medicine Hat, have ended homelessness entirely. It has become clear what needs to happen for Winnipeg to realize similar success. Two areas pose the most significant challenges for ending homelessness here: first, there is a lack of appropriate housing supply to meet the needs of those experiencing or at risk of homelessness; and second, there is a lack of co-ordination among different levels of government to create the housing needed. Kikininaw Oma, the Strategy to Support Unsheltered Winnipeggers, was released last June, calling for the creation of housing as the top priority for addressing unsheltered homelessness and encampments. Since that time, the Winnipeg Comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment, CMHCs 2020 Rental Market Report and a Parliamentary Budget Office Report on Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing all point to the same critical gaps in Winnipegs housing continuum: shortages of low-income housing units for singles, larger families, Indigenous people and people requiring supportive housing. End Homelessness Winnipeg has conservatively estimated that at least 1,340 new units are required by 2025 to address these gaps. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, over the past three years combined, only 143 affordable units have been created across Manitoba. Last week, the province announced another 50 units will be made available. This leaves more than 250 new units needed each year, for the next four years. All levels of government have roles to play, and must work together to achieve this target. The Our Winnipeg 2045 Development Plan commits to "End Homelessness"; however, the citys outdated zoning and development regime presents obstacles to creating the types of housing needed to achieve this. The city has numerous tools at its disposal to fast-track the types of housing Winnipeg is missing, by reducing red tape and costs for developers of urgently needed housing. Expediting approvals and waiving fees for permits, zoning and development of low-income housing initiatives are just a few of these options. The provinces three-year action plan prioritizes housing and supports for "Manitobans experiencing homelessness, people with mental or physical disabilities, persons with addictions, youth aging out of care, and women fleeing violence." To address this priority, the province will need to house more than 1,500 Winnipeggers experiencing homelessness, a large majority of whom belong to one or more other prioritized groups. While the Canada-Manitoba Housing Benefit will assist up to 370 people to access a broader range of housing, and a recent announcement commits to housing supports for another 250 individuals, success of these measures is threatened by inadequate housing supply. Kikininaw Oma calls for the province to invest in 670 new units of supportive and low-income housing to address its own priorities as a housing funder. The federal government also needs to invest in capital and operating costs of low-income housing, and in Indigenous-led housing models and initiatives specifically. To meet its goals of advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and ending chronic homelessness, the federal government must lead collaborative engagement with other levels of government and Indigenous leaders. Bold investments are required for Reaching Home, Canadas Homelessness Strategy; the Rapid Housing Initiative; and an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy. This last measure is particularly important, given that Winnipeg has 9,000 Indigenous households in core housing need the largest of any Canadian metropolitan area. Beyond these actions specific to levels of government, co-ordinated effort from philanthropy, the private sector and Indigenous leadership is needed to end homelessness in Winnipeg. Social innovation is required to develop low-cost, sustainable housing alternatives. Promising Indigenous-led models such as The Village project will have to be scaled to meet demand. Community agencies must work in ever-closer collaboration to provide the person-centred, culturally appropriate supports some people need to thrive in housing. Systemic racism within public and charitable services must be addressed by building capacity for Indigenous-led, culturally informed solutions. Government systems that currently inflow people to homelessness Corrections, Child and Family Services, Health and Community Living Disability Services among them require changes to policies and procedures that prevent or delay access to identification, employment and income assistance, housing and other services for individuals exiting their care. This is an ambitious set of tasks on a tight timeline. However, it is not vague, overly complex, or unachievable. Working together, we can end homelessness in Winnipeg. Lucille Bruce is the CEO of End Homelessness Winnipeg A county prosecutor facing multiple charges of using his office for personal gain has been indicted on an additional charge of lying to the Alabama Ethics Commission, court records show. Suspended Lee County District Attorney Brandon M. Hughes was indicted on a perjury charge in Montgomery County alleging he lied during sworn testimony to the panel on April 1, 2020, according to a document filed Thursday. Hughes, 46, was charged in November with illegally hiring his three children to work for his office and paying private lawyers with public funds to settle a matter that helped him and his wife, authorities said. He also was charged with issuing a subpoena to a company to gather evidence for his own potential defense and perjury. A defense lawyer has said Hughes, who was elected in 2016, maintains his innocence. He is set for trial beginning June 21 on charges including ethics violations and conspiracy to commit theft. Hughes referred a possible violation to the Ethics Commission last year before the agency referred the matter to prosecutors. At the time, Hughes denied doing anything wrong intentionally. SACRAMENTO Bay Area legislators are ramping up pressure on the Newsom administration over a state program to vaccinate the poorest Californians that largely bypasses the region, after two private meetings this week failed to yield changes. Twenty state lawmakers, representing nearly the entire Bay Area delegation, released a letter Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly and Government Operations Secretary Yolanda Richardson, denouncing the recent changes to vaccine distribution that they said were not equitable and hurt the Bay Area. This is a matter of life and death for our community, they wrote. This plan needs to be restructured and recalibrated immediately. Sen. Dave Cortese, a San Jose Democrat who met with the governors aides Monday and had expected a fix within days, said Friday that negotiations were at a standoff. He said a second meeting with administration officials Thursday evening which, like the first, did not include Gov. Gavin Newsom himself undermined his confidence in their approach to public health. Its hard to understand the motivation, he said. My colleagues in the Bay Area are kind of dumbfounded or perhaps flabbergasted would be a better word that they are not just looking at the actual COVID impact. On a call with reporters Friday, Ghaly said the fluctuations in vaccine distribution under the plan were fairly small across the whole state and that he expected counties will be at least getting as much as theyve received in the past as supply increases over the coming weeks. In their latest shift to Californias ever-changing vaccination strategy, officials announced last week they would begin allocating 40% of doses to residents in more than 400 of the states lowest-income ZIP codes, an attempt to address a disparity in who has been able to get shots. But a Chronicle analysis found that only 2% of people who would benefit from the program live in the Bay Area, even though the region represents 20% of Californias population and has many needy communities. Five of the nine counties Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Sonoma and Napa are excluded from the plan altogether. Hundreds of local officials and community organizations signed onto Fridays letter, which urges the state to consider census tracts instead of ZIP codes for vaccine prioritization. It cites East Palo Alto, Hayward, San Franciscos Mission and Bayview districts, Marin City and East San Jose, among others, as areas that were left out of the states plan despite having disproportionately high rates of COVID-19. Cortese said legislators presented that option, which he believes would be a relatively easy adjustment, to the Newsom administration during the Thursday evening meeting, but the governors aides were not receptive. Thats their call, he said. I dont know whether anyone can force them to do anything differently. I dont think its sustainable for them. Sen. Mike McGuire, a Healdsburg Democrat who has also been in the meetings, said he expected that the conversations with Newsoms office would continue, though nothing has been scheduled yet. The governor is absolutely right to shine a huge spotlight on equity, he said. Those in the Bay Area deserve equal attention. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! 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 (Natural News) All the way back in 1984, what sure seems like an eternity ago, a movie now known as a cult classic stormed across the United States that depicted an America under occupation, with large parts of the country invaded and controlled by the Soviet Union and its Cuban and Nicaraguan allies. (Article by Stefan Stanford republished from AllNewsPipeline.com) With Soviet troops in the movie controlling most of the Southern USA, setting up re-education camps along the way in an attempt to re-program Americans, while disposing of those who werent able to be successfully re-programmed, nuclear war and nuclear fallout filled the movie Red Dawn, with several US cities destroyed by nuclear strikes while Americans all across the country went through TEOTWATKI, the end of the world as they knew it. And while this 2019 story over at The Independent asked as their story title Was Red Dawn The Most Right-Wing Blockbuster Ever?, since when did wanting to defend ones country and ones freedom become right wing? And whats so awfully bad about wanting to do so in a 2021 America that is now witnessing radical leftists steering the country towards perils both known and unknown? With the movie Red Dawn the 20th highest-grossing film of 1984, leftists immediately called the movie an alarmist concept that soon landed a place in the Guinness Book of Records at the time as the most violent film ever, with a rate of 134 acts of violence per hour, or 2.23 per minute. Also leading to leftist protests and the arrests of protestors at the MGM/UA building of at least 35 people who were opposed to the movie, filmmaker John Milius responded by saying words that would be utterly off limits in 2021 Hollywood and liberal America: What these people really dont like is that the movie shows violence being perpetrated against Russian and Cuban invaders, which is what the demonstration was all about. My question is, where were all these demonstrators when the Russians shot down that airliner? Were they cheering? And what about the people being gassed and yellow-rained in Afghanistan? Theres really no pleasure in outraging these people. I suppose next some extreme right-wing organization will give me an award, which is equally ridiculous. And while Milius was proven partially correct when soon afterward, the Gun Owners of America announced that they were honoring Milius for dramatically depicting the importance in our time of the Second Amendment, America may be headed on an equally perilous path as the Wolverines of that movie, with Joe Biden and Democrats opening our doors to China, the United Nations and illegal aliens, all the while hoping to disarm the American people. So as well explore within this ANP story, while at the moment, it might seem to some like World War 3 and/or an invasion of America might be far away, the globalists have long been setting up Americans for the kill. And as the Daily Mail reports in their lead story of the day, under Joe Biden, America is now wide open to anyone who wants to come in while Americans remain locked down. Anyone else see something terribly wrong with that picture? How about the picture below? From that previously mentioned Daily Mail story before we continue.: Lindsey Graham has warned that terrorists could try to smuggle in future jihadis through the U.S.-Mexico border, as Donald Trump said the situation threatened to destroy the country yet Joe Bidens administration refused to call it a crisis. Graham, senator for South Carolina, told Fox News Sean Hannity on Tuesday night that the surge in unaccompanied child migrants was being sparked by Bidens change in policies. And he said it was dangerous. People are coming by the thousands. Theyll be coming by the hundreds of thousands by the summer, he said. Its a humanitarian crisis: its going to be an economic crisis for our cities along the border. And eventually its going to be a national security crisis because they are children today, but they could easily be terrorists tomorrow. Graham said that, with the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks coming up, Al-Qaeda and Isis would like nothing better than to hit us again. Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com and InvasionUSA.news. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. On Easter Sunday, churches in Yakima County are still struggling with loss of all kinds as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. But faith leaders will stress the timeless Easter message of hope today, with hope for the future beyond the pandemic. The European Commission gave approval for the use of Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine, the final step to allowing the European Union to use it across the bloc. More safe and effective vaccines are coming to the market. We have just authorised the use of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine in the EU, following EMA positive review, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission wrote on Twitter. The COVID-19 shot is the fourth to be endorsed for use in the European Union after vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford University and Moderna, and is recommended for those over 18 years of age, the European Medicines agency (EMA) said. Its the first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. The United States, Canada and Bahrain have also approved the shot. South Africa is carrying out an expedited review. The first shipments will start in the second half of April, the company said, adding it is committed to delivering at least 200 million doses to the EU this year, Reuters reported. Exact volumes are not clear though and the U.S. drugmaker has told the European Union it is facing supply issues that may complicate plans to deliver the 55 million doses due in the second quarter in full. French schoolgirl whose accusation led to teacher's beheading admits she lied: lawyer Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The French schoolgirl who accused her teacher of showing cartoon caricatures of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad to a class in October, which led to his murder and decapitation by an Islamic radical, has admitted she lied about the incident. The 13-year-old girl, whose complaints about her teachers actions led to an online campaign against him, recently admitted she was not even in the class that day. She said she did not see the controversial cartoons of Muhammad personally, but a girl in her class showed them to her, BBC reports. The girl, who is not named, initially told her father that her teacher, Samuel Paty, asked Muslim students to leave the classroom while he showed students cartoons from the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo during a lesson on blasphemy and free speech. This led her father to file a legal complaint, post videos in response to the allegations and begin a social media campaign. The father has been charged in connection with Patys October 2020 murder. A different account regarding the teachers actions emerged that said the original story was distorted. Paty, who had taught a similar lesson on free speech for years, told students he was about to show a picture of Muhammad and to close their eyes if they would feel offended. The girl originally claimed he asked Muslim students to leave the room. In a leaked testimony, the schoolgirl said she made up the story so she wouldn't disappoint her father. The girls attorney, Mbeko Tabula, told AFP that the girl lied because she felt trapped in a spiral because her classmates had asked her to be a spokesperson. While going home from school, Paty, a 47-year-old history and geography teacher, was killed and decapitated by Addoulakh Anzorov shortly after the students accusations resulted in a social media campaign. Anzorov, 18, was shot dead by the police on Oct. 16 in Conflans Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris, after he killed and beheaded Paty. Multiple students and family members have been detained since Patys assassination, and police carried out raids in suspected radicals' homes, the BBC reported last year. Since the attack, reports say two university professors have received police protection after being accused of Islamophobia by student protesters last week. In response to Patys murder, thousands participated in rallies and memorials across France to honor the late teacher and carried signs with the slogan Je suis enseignant, which means I am a teacher. France launched a terror investigation into the murder, and French President Emmanuel Macron visited the site, calling the killing an attack on the republic and its values. He said that the battle against Islamic terror is existential. One of our compatriots was assassinated today because he taught. He taught his students about freedom of expression, freedom to believe or not believe. It was a cowardly attack. He was the victim of a terrorist Islamist attack, Macron said in October. This evening, I want to say to teachers all over France, we are with them, the whole nation is with them today and tomorrow. We must protect them, defend them, allow them to do their job and educate the citizens of tomorrow. Macron posthumously awarded Paty the French Legion dhonneur, which is the highest French decoration. The president called Paty a quiet hero in a ceremony the week after the assassination. We will continue this fight for liberty and for reason of which you have now become the face, because we owe it to you, Macron shared, according to The Guardian. Because in France, sir, the lights will not go out. Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that published the caricature of the prophet Muhammad, is known for anti-religious cartoons that stir controversy. In January 2015, a terror attack on the magazines office killed 12 staff members in response to the magazines cover that seemingly depicted God as a jihadist. Images of the prophet Muhammad are considered highly offensive and taboo by Muslims. France has experienced a rise in Islamic-extremist terror attacks in the past decade. In October 2017, a jihadist shouting Allahu Akbar stabbed two women to death at a Marseille train station. In July 2016, a truck ran into a crowd at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, killing 84 people. Later in July 2016, Islamic jihadists stormed a morning mass in Normandy, murdering a French priest and taking worshippers and nuns hostage. In 2015, a series of attacks by gunmen and bombers killed about 130 people across Paris. Anti-Christians incidents in France rose 285% from 2008 to 2020 due to a rise in attacks and acts of vandalism against houses of worship, according to the Vienna-Based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe. Frances Interior Ministry reported 1,052 anti-Christian incidents in 2019, which mainly consisted of attacks on religious property. 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. After weighty community pushback, Albuquerque Public Schools is looking for a new place to locate its East Mountain bus depot. Residents in the area called foul on proposed plans, spoke in front of the Board of Education and flagged traffic and environmental concerns. On Thursday, Gabriella Blakey, APS interim chief operations officer, told the Journal that based on conversations with county officials and the resistance from the community the district will find a new home for the depot. That being said, it is still critical we find a space to build a bus depot that will safely and efficiently transport students to and from our schools in the East Mountain community, she said in a statement. We are open to suggestions with the county on possible areas this facility may be built which will provide jobs to the community and safely transport our children. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Folks from the district previously said that it had been collecting public input, putting the plan on hold in the meantime. NOTICE OF INTENT: The leader of a successful charter school in Albuquerque is aiming to open a sister school, proposing to target students in the Sandoval County region. Kathy Sandoval, the director of Albuquerque Institute for Mathematics and Science at the University of New Mexico, filed a Notice of Intent to submit a charter application for Sandoval Institute for Math and Science at UNM after previous expansion plans sparked a long-running legal battle. The paperwork submitted says that the school would eventually offer grades 6-12 with a projected enrollment of 400 students. Sandoval told the Journal that she would like the school to open next year in Rio Rancho. The Sandoval Institute of Mathematics and Science is committed to preparing its students for college, community and beyond through a rigorous focus on math and science and an emphasis on global participation and participation in dual credit classes necessary for graduation, the notice said. Sandoval said that the AIMS model is something the Rio Rancho community has asked for and going the route of filing a new charter application should avoid roadblocks the school faced previously when it tried to expand under its existing charter. She said her proposal for the school is expected to go before the Public Education Commission this year. SHOT CLINICS: APS has hosted over 20 COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the past two months to help get New Mexicans vaccinated. The district has used its schools and provided staff to help with setup, cleaning and providing the shots, among other roles. As of early March, more than 6,000 doses of the vaccine have been given at 21 events. Sites used include Albuquerque, Cibola and West Mesa high schools, Jefferson Middle School and the Berna Facio Professional Development Center, APS officials wrote in a news release. Shelby Perea: sperea@abqjournal.com A man charged over the murder of Melbourne teen Solomone Taufeulungaki has dropped his bid to be released on bail. Taataa Tafa, 21, is one of 11 people charged with murdering the 15-year-old at Brimbank Shopping Centre in June 2020. He withdraw his bail bid before Victoria's Supreme Court on Friday following publicity around his initial application. Man charged over the murder of Melbourne teen Solomone Taufeulungaki (pictured) has dropped his bid to be released on bail Solomone was stabbed in an alleged gang attack at the Deer Park shopping centre car park. Nine boys aged between 13 and 17 are charged with his murder, alongside Tafa and another man, 23-year-old Soreysa Jibrael. ALBANY The state has lost a court battle to reverse a ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency that General Electric Co.s dredging project to remove PCBs from the Hudson River was satisfactorily completed. This lawsuit comes too late and (is) based on improper theories, Northern Federal District Court Judge David Hurd concluded Wednesday in dismissing the states suit against the federal agency and GE. Hurd, however, noted that General Electric could still be on the hook for more dredging, as the state could essentially restart the process that led to the companys $1.7 billion dredging project, which ran from 2006 to 2015. GE and the EPA in 2006 entered into a consent decree in which the government agreed not to sue GE if the company adequately removed PCBs, which were released from its electric capacitor factories in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls between 1947 and 1977. Polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, was a manmade compound used as an electronic insulator as well as other applications due to its heat resistance. But concerns over the toxicity of PCBs led to a ban in 1979. GE dumped an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs in the Hudson over the years. Amid growing efforts to clean up the river, GE agreed to dredge the 40 miles between Fort Edward and Troy as part of the 2006 EPA agreement. They took out about 310,000 pounds of PCB-laden sediment from the river bed, or about 72 percent of what was believed to be there. In 2015 GE finished dredging and in 2019 the EPA issued a certificate of completion, saying that GEs dredging task was completed. The company also had dismantled a dewatering facility in Fort Edward, which at the time riled activists who believed that more work was still needed. They believed the scope of dredging was too limited and suggested that dredging should also take place below Troy, where there is a dam. And shortly after the certificate was issued the state sued the EPA, contending that the job wasnt done. New York is taking action to demand a full and complete remediation," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the time. Lawyers for New York argued that the EPAs granting of a certificate of completion had been made in an arbitrary and capricious manner and in a way that exceeded the EPAs authority. The state also argued that the cleanup failed to achieve the highest of five levels of protectiveness, meaning it guarded against present and future problems. But Hurd said the federal laws governing protectiveness dont demand that highest level. There are other levels of protection, such as doing remediation without a clear idea of what the future would bring. Hurd, though, also stressed that should conditions change, the government could still induce GE to perform more cleanups. The consent decree is clear that GEs obligations for the cleanup remain undisturbed. And in the event that the government determines that the river was not adequately cleaned by GEs efforts, the language of that consent decree leaves a clear opening for the government to come after the company with the full force of the law to see the job done, wrote Hurd. The DEC says it is considering their options, including a possible appeal of the decision. "DEC remains committed to ensuring that a comprehensive cleanup and full restoration of the Hudson River is completed as expeditiously as possible and that the polluters are held responsible," the agency said in a prepared statement. "We are disappointed in the courts decision and are evaluating our next steps," added Hayley Carlock, a lawyer for Scenic Hudson. The group wasn't a party to the suit but it filed a friend of the court brief supporting the state. Carlock also noted that the EPA is considering whether to look at possible remediation needs on the lower Hudson River, below Troy. GE issued a statement saying We will review the decision in detail. We are pleased that environmental conditions in the Hudson River continue to improve. GE will continue to meet its commitments to EPA and New York State on Hudson River-related projects. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU CannMart has also signed a supply agreement with Sugarbud Craft Growers Corp, paving the way for Sugarbuds craft cannabis collection to be available to Canadian medical consumers at cannmart.com Namaste says it continues to expand its business and remains focused on becoming a global cannabis and wellness organization ( ) ( ) (FRA:M5BQ) said its wholly-owned CannMart Inc subsidiary has received a license renewal from Health Canada for the processing and sale of medical cannabis effective March 11. Namaste also noted that CannMart has signed a supply agreement with Sugarbud Craft Growers Corp, paving the way for Sugarbuds craft cannabis collection to be available to Canadian medical consumers at cannmart.com. We are pleased with the renewal from Health Canada of our licence for standard processing and sale for medical purposes in Canada, Namaste Technologies CEO Meni Morim said in a statement. Morim added: The CannMart team has done a tremendous job growing our business over the past year as they are focussed on bringing new partners to distribute an increased variety of products to our customers. We look forward to this continued momentum of expanding our business and remain focused on executing our strategy of becoming a global cannabis and wellness organization. Namaste Technologies Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Marketplace Chad Agate also commented on the Sugarbud agreement, stating: We are pleased to welcome Sugarbud to CannMart.com - another high quality producer recognising the value of our online distribution channel that leverages our VendorLink platform and innovative technology. As well, the company reported that it intends to issue a total of 880,144 common shares, at a price of $0.3062 per share, as payment of the second tranche of the purchase price to the vendors under the share purchase agreement for the acquisition of CannMart Labs. Namaste also said it has a new corporate website, www.namastetechnologies.com, which has been designed to offer a user-friendly experience with improved navigation and functionality, allowing shareholders to access all the information they need, including access to the companys quarterly and annual financial statements. Namaste Technologies is a cannabis-focused, e-commerce technology company with a goal of becoming the one-stop-shop for everything a cannabis user needs. The Toronto-based company, which has been described as the Amazon of cannabis, operates the largest global cannabis e-commerce platform with over 30 websites in more than 20 countries under a variety of brands. In addition to its product offerings of vaporizers, glassware, accessories, and CBD products, the company's CannMart Inc, is a key part of its operations that sells online medical and recreational cannabis. Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com Over the past day, March 11, Russian invaders violated the ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas four times. "The armed formations of the Russian Federation opened fire from automatic mounted grenade launcher on Ukrainian positions near Pyshchevyk (25km north-east of Mariupol); small arms outside Talakivka (17km north-east of Mariupol); and grenade launchers of various systems and small arms in the area of Novozvanivka (70km west of Luhansk)," the press center of the JFO Headquarters reports. One Ukrainian soldier received a gunshot wound in the attack. His health is satisfactory. The serviceman was taken to a medical facility, where he received the necessary medical care. Ukrainian troops fired back in response to the enemy's shelling. The OSCE representatives were informed about all ceasefire violations through the Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC). In addition, Russian mercenaries carried out a number of provocations near the villages of Zolote-4 and Novozvanivka in Luhansk region, which were aimed at implementing another anti-Ukrainian information case. Today, March 12, one ceasefire violation has been recorded. In particular, the armed formations of the Russian Federation opened fire from small arms near Pisky (11km north-west of Donetsk). Ukrainian military continue to monitor the situation in the JFO area and adhere to the ceasefire. ish Political scientist Stepan Grigoryan publicly refutes his statements that he made about former chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia Yuri Khachaturov on July 30, 2018. Respecting the court decision, taking into consideration the fact that it has entered into legal force, I publicly refute the information that I provided about Yuri Khachaturov in my interview taped in the studio of A1+ TV and posted on Yuri Khachaturovs YouTube channel. My statements were about Khachaturov handing over territories for money, not allowing to show resistance to the adversary and not being on spot during the war and failing to perform his official duties, Stepan Grigoryan stated in the text of his refutation. On August 10, 2018, Yuri Khachaturov submitted a statement of claim to the court with the demand that Stepan Grigoryan compensate for damage caused to his honor and dignity and refute the statements. In one of his press conferences, political scientist Stepan Grigoryan had touched upon the Four-Day Artsakh War of April 2016 and said certain army generals werent on the spot, hadnt shown up to work in a short period of time and had made allegations according to which some territories were sold by army generals of Armenia, including Yuri Khachaturov during the Four-Day Artsakh War. WASHINGTON, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hispanics are one of the largest communities in the U.S. and Latinas are the primary managers of their household finances. Jen Hemphill, Latina Money Expert, AFC and host of the award-winning Her Dinero Matters podcast announces the debut of Financially Strong Latina, a virtual series event sponsored by AARP, bringing together financial experts and speakers from the Latino community, from across the U.S., to provide financial education and discussions by Latinos for Latinos. This one-of-a-kind series takes place on March 18, March 25, and April 1 at 7:30 pm EST. To register, please visit financiallystronglatina.com. Financially Strong Latina provides relatable money discussions to help Latinas become financially strong. It also offers a digital toolkit with the main takeaways of the event. The topics to be discussed are: March 18 7:30 pm EST: What it Means to be Financially Strong and Why it is Within Your Reach March 19 7:30 pm EST: Getting Clear & Having a Plan for Your Money April 1 7:30 pm EST: Creating Financial Stability Speakers include Beatriz Acevedo (CEO of SUMA), Natalie Torres-Haddad (Financially Savvy Latina), Amanda Abella, Camilo Maldonado (The Finance Twins), Anna N'Jie Konte, Mabelle Nunez (Girls on the Money). "Latinas have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic both at work and at home, maintaining safety, paying bills, and caring for our families," said Veronica Segovia Bedon, Senior Advisor at AARP. "It's important to sponsor events like this one, as they present the opportunity to connect women of all ages to the resources that AARP offers. Among them, our AARP Money Map(TM) and AARP Interview an Advisor tools. We also advocate for the protection of Social Security and increased access to workplace savings. Making connections so Latinas feel supported on a path to Financial Resilience is critical to our mission," added Segovia Bedon. Financially Strong Latina is sponsored by AARP, the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older. For Financially Strong Latina updates stay connected by following Her Dinero Matters on Instagram (@HerDineroMatters) and select "going" on the Facebook event page. About Jen Hemphill Jen Hemphill is a Latina Money Expert, an AFC (Accredited Financial Counselor), author, speaker and hosts the award-winning Her Dinero Matters podcast. She has been featured in publications such as Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, and Oprah Magazine. To learn more visit www.jenhemphill.com 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 www.aarp.org/espanol and follow @AARP, @AARPEnEspanol and @AARPadvocates, @AliadosAdelante on Facebook and Twitter. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Jen Hemphill 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. (Bloomberg) -- JD.com Inc. slid Friday after the Chinese online retail giant flagged to investors it may sustain spending on logistics and new initiatives to continue riding the countrys online commerce boom. The company reported a higher-than-expected 31% jump in December quarter revenue. The strong results means JD has a strong foundation for investments in a range of growth opportunity, Chief Financial Officer Sandy Ran Xu told analysts on Thursday. She declined to forecast margins in short term. Investors have been concerned that JDs margins will come under pressure as the Chinese company spends to maintain and expand its delivery network. Net margin in the first quarter will drop 1 percentage point, Bocom analysts Brandy Sun and Connie Gu said in a research note, in part because of investments in infrastructure. JDs inhouse logistics network has been instrumental to buoying the companys operations during the pandemic, when lockdowns drove a record number of consumers online. That fueled a surge in e-commerce for players from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Pinduoduo Inc. in 2020, straining delivery networks, and questions remain about whether they can sustain growth this year. The retailer reported sales of 224.3 billion yuan ($35 billion) in the December quarter, outpacing the 219.52 billion yuan average of analysts estimates. Net income was 24.3 billion yuan. JDs market value has more than doubled since the start of 2020 despite a broader tech selloff that began last month. The shares fell as much as 5.8% in Hong Kong trading. On Thursday, the company announced its infrastructure management affiliate was raising $700 million in a preferred share issuance co-led by Hillhouse Capital and Warburg Pincus. Chinese e-commerce revenue should surpass 50% of the countrys total retail sales this year -- a first anywhere in the world, according to researcher EMarketer. JD is now preparing to spin off its logistics unit in an initial public offering that could raise roughly $5 billion, the second debut of a subsidiary since JD Health Inc.s 2020 coming-out party. Story continues What Bloomberg Intelligence Says JD.coms profitability could keep improving as it benefits from economies of scale and operating efficiencies. The companys increasing penetration of users from lower-tier cities may help to fund continued market-share gains vs. offline retailers, even amid intense e-commerce competition. The company operates its own fulfillment network and logistics infrastructure, and owns the inventory for a sizable portion of its sales. These strategies attract merchants and consumers who demand high-quality goods. - Vey-Sern Ling and Tiffany Tam, analysts Click here for the research. JD Logisticss imminent IPO would be a milestone for its parent, which spent billions of dollars building one of Chinas largest courier services and hundreds of warehouses nationwide to ensure on-time delivery and retain control over its shipping network. Its debut however will be overshadowed by the likely withdrawal of another financial services affiliate from capital markets. JD Digits Technology Holding Co.s filed for an initial public offering on Shanghais Star market but is expected to let that lapse because of tougher rules on micro-lending. (Updates with CFOs comments from the second paragraph.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2021 Bloomberg L.P. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - European Medicines Agency or EMA, the health regulator of the European Union, said the administration of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine can continue even as investigation on cases of blood clot events in Denmark and some member countries are ongoing. According to EMA's safety committee PRAC, the vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks. The agency was responding to the Danish Health Authority's act of pausing its vaccination campaign with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca as a precautionary measure after reports of blood clots in people who received the vaccine, including one death. Some other Member States, including Norway, have also paused vaccination with this vaccine. Earlier, Austria said it had suspended the use of a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines after a nurse died of severe blood coagulation problems days after receiving the shot. EMA stated that there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine. The most common side effects with COVID-19 Vaccine of AstraZeneca are usually mild or moderate and improve within a few days after vaccination. PRAC is already reviewing all cases of thromboembolic events, and other conditions related to blood clots reported after vaccination with AstraZeneca's vaccine. As of March 10, 30 cases of thromboembolic events had been reported among close to 5 million people vaccinated with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca in the European Economic Area. However, the EMA said the number of thromboembolic events in vaccinated people is no higher than the number seen in the general population. 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. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 A multiple-horse accident in the Thursday evening opener at Woodbine Mohawk Park resulted in driver James MacDonald being taken to local hospital. MacDonald and fellow reinsman Doug McNair were unseated from their racebikes after race leading Dont Dilly Dally made a sudden break on the way to the three-quarter pole. McNairs charge Just Plain Needy collided into the back of the breaking horse and then fell while MacDonalds charge Red Dirt Fulofhart caught the racebike wheel of the fallen horse before running loose and then being apprehended. Both horses walked off the track and both drivers got to their feet quickly, but driver James MacDonald wound up being taken to nearby hospital. No updates were available on his condition. Driver Doug McNair drove in the next race, but his horse was a late scratch from Race 3. He then booked off the remainder of his drives. "I feel ok," said McNair. "I drove a few more and just felt it would be better to take the night off and start fresh tomorrow." McNair is scheduled to drive in all 11 of Friday's races at Woodbine Mohawk Park. "All seems good with him," said trainer Mark McKinnon when asked about Red Dirt Fulofhart. "He came out of it just fine. He was caught [in the infield] with no issues and dove right into his hay and feed when I got him home with the ears up." "Thank God he seems ok," said co-owner Kenny Ellis when asked for an update on Just Plain Needy. "He somehow managed to tuck and roll and came away with just some minor scratches. Everything looked superficial. Hes at home now munching on some hay with his mini pony." Trot Insider will provide additional updates on those involved in the accident when details become available. Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing horses and drivers a speedy return to racing. To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results Woodbine Mohawk Park. A Queensland man who is accused of having sexualised conversations with two children overseas will appear in court today after police investigated reports linked to children in the Philippines. A 59-year-old man from Moreton Bay is expected to face Pine Rivers Magistrates Court on Friday after police investigated reports from the United States National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children that alleged a person suspected to be in Queensland was engaging in sexualised online chats with children located in the Philippines via Facebook. The evidence seized by police after an investigation into a Queensland man accused of having sexualised conversations with children in the Philippines. Credit:AFP Police inquiries allegedly connected the 59-year-old to the account. Investigators from AFP Brisbane Child Protection Operations executed a search warrant at a home in Caboolture on January 14 this year. PHILADELPHIA (March 12, 2021) - The biennial award honors the best scholarly qualities that Dr. Fagin, the School's third Dean, exemplified. It is given to a Penn Nursing faculty member, or a graduate from the School's doctoral program, who has made a distinguished contribution to nursing scholarship. Dr. Bruner will deliver the lecture 'Inspiration, Innovation and Impact' virtually during the award presentation on April 15, 2021 from 3-4:30 PM EST. Deborah Watkins Bruner, RN, PhD, FAAN, is Senior Vice President for Research at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Bruner is also Professor and Robert W. Woodruff Chair in Nursing, Professor of Radiation Oncology, and a member of the Winship Cancer Institute. She is an internationally renowned researcher and clinical trialist with a focus on patient reported outcomes, symptom management, and comparative effectiveness of radiotherapy modalities. Bruner's most current research is focused on the role of the human microbiome in carcinogenesis and cancer treatment outcomes. She earned her PhD in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and has been continuously funded since 1998, culminating in her ranking among the top five percent of all National Institutes of Health funded investigators in the world since 2012. She is a member of the American Academy of Nursing and National Academy of Science and serves in numerous voluntary leadership roles in the National Cancer Institute including as a Presidential appointee to the National Cancer Advisory Board. ### About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world's leading schools of nursing. For the sixth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University and is consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools. Penn Nursing is ranked as one of the top schools of nursing in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Instagram. : The in will field candidates in 91 of the 140 constituencies for the April 6 assembly polls and the final list is expected to be released by Sunday. PCC president Mullappally Ramachandran, leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters in Delhi that the party will be putting up candidates in 91 seats and candidates have been unanimously finalised in 81 segments. Discussions are on to finalise candidates for remaining 10 seats.The central election committee of the party, chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi, has decided to field 91 candidates in Kerala, Ramachandran said. "Till now names have been finalised for 81 seats.The final list will be announced on Sunday after deciding on the names of the remaining 10 seats," Ramachandran said. Asked if the party had finalised the candidate for the Nemom constituency, the lone seat won by the BJP in the 2016 assembly polls, Chennithala said it would not be a weak candidate. Speculation is rife that the congress high command was keen that either Chandy or Chennithala should be prepared to try their luck from the prestigious Nemom seat to wrest it from the saffron party. None of the MPs would be in the fray this time and no candiate would be fielded from two constituencies, Ramachandran said. "The party in is united, UDF is united and the front will win hands down in the coming polls," he asserted. The IUML, which has been allotted 27 seats, released its list of 25 candidates, including a woman, on Friday. Kerala Congress (Joseph) has been allotted 10 seats, while RSP will field candidates in five seats, Nationalist Congress Party Kerala, led by Mani C Kappen, which had recently severed ties with NCP and joined the UDF, will be given two seats, including Pala, Ramachandran said. One seat each has been allocated to Kerala Congress (Jacob), Bharatiya National Janata Dal and Communist Marxist Party (CMP) led by C P John. Chennithala said the front will support K K Rema, leader of the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP), if she contests from Vadakara. The day also saw former KPCC general secretary Vijayan Thomas joining the BJP. Asked about his quitting the party, the leaders said it was not an important matter. The CPI(M) and CPI of the ruling left front have already announced their candidates, while the BJP is expected to finalise its list by Sunday. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian prosecutors on Friday charged three men over the 2009 murder of one of the country's most notorious gangsters and drug traffickers who had served time in both Russian and US prisons Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2021 ) :Russian prosecutors on Friday charged three men over the 2009 murder of one of the country's most notorious gangsters and drug traffickers who had served time in both Russian and US prisons. Vyacheslav Ivankov, alias Yaponchik or The Little Japanese, was shot in the abdomen in July 2009 by sniper fire as he left a glitzy Thai restaurant in the Russian capital. He died from his wounds several months later, aged 69. The Prosecutor-General's office said Friday that it had charged Kakhi Gazzayev, Murtazi Shadanii and Dzhambula Dzhanashii in Ivankov's murder, saying they had carried out the killing at the behest of a rival mobster to Ivankov. "In April 2009, a previously convicted resident of the Moscow region, Ilya Simoniya, organised the murder of Ivankov in order to redistribute the spheres of influence in the criminal community," the Prosecutor-General's office said in a statement. It said that another two men, Nugzar Papava and Astamur Butba, were involved in the murder, and that Butba was the triggerman. It added that both men, like Simoniya, had fled Russia. The men are subject to an international warrant for their arrest. Simoniya, known as Makho, was arrested in absentia by a Moscow court last year, charged with organising Ivankov's murder. The Prosecutor-General's office said Gazzayev, Shadanii and Dzhanashii have been taken into custody and that they have also been charged with the illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. They face up to 20 years in prison on murder charges and up to eight on the weapons charges. Ivankov was nicknamed "The Little Japanese" because of his short stature, facial features and expertise in the martial art of ju-jitsu. He began a career of racketeering, robbery, arms smuggling and drug trafficking in the 1960s and served long jail terms before his release in 1991. He fled Russia the next year, beginning a reign over the Russian community of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York. After serving a nine-year sentence in a US prison, Ivankov was released in 2004 and deported to Russia. His close ally Aslan Usoyan, known as Grandpa Hassan, was shot and killed by a sniper in Moscow in January 2013, having survived four previous assassination attempts. Simoniya left Russia after an attempt on his life in the wake of Usoyan's murder. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. (Natural News) Toyota will sell a hydrogen fuel cell module to manufacturers starting later this year as an alternative to electrified powertrains. The Japanese automaker has been at the forefront of hydrogen fuel technology since developing a hydrogen-powered electric vehicle, the Toyota Mirai. The new module will be compatible with stationary generators and various types of vehicles, including trucks, buses, trains and ships. The firm hopes that the module will stimulate interest in fuel cell products, as the technologys niche status is a major barrier to widespread adoption. Toyotas fuel cell module The fuel cell module can be directly connected to an existing electrical instrument equipped with a motor, inverter and battery, Toyota said in a statement on Friday, Feb. 26. Many companies involved in fuel cell products in a variety of industries are looking for fuel cell systems that can be easily adapted to their own product, the automaker said. As with most fuel cells, Toyotas module runs on hydrogen gas, a low-polluting source of energy touted as a promising alternative to fossil fuels. Hydrogen fuel cells directly convert hydrogen to electricity and generate only water and heat in the process. They are commonly used today for transportation, where vehicles are kitted out with fuel cells and a tank to store hydrogen gas. Toyota will start selling the module to other companies as early as spring but did not reveal its price. Customers will be able to choose either a horizontally or vertically packaged model weighing around 500 pounds. With an output of 60 to 80 kilowatts, both models will offer a voltage range of between 400 and 750 volts. The module has achieved a world-class, top-level output density per unit volume, Toyota said, adding that the maintenance requirements are simple and infrequent. Lack of fueling stations, sellability challenge hydrogen fuel cell tech Toyota is one of the key stakeholders in hydrogen fuel technology. In 2015, it introduced its Mirai fuel cell vehicle to the market after years of development. Last year, the firm unveiled an upgraded version of Mirai with the intention of promoting the technology, which remains unpopular in the market despite backing from the Japanese government. Japan poured billions into companies including Toyota in a bid to build a hydrogen-fueled society. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga set a goal to cut the countrys carbon emissions to zero by 2050 and reduce its reliance on imported oil and nuclear power. While North America and Europe turned to battery-powered electric vehicles, the Asian giant chose to bet on hydrogen-powered electric cars. But the vehicles, as well as other fuel cell products, have yet to see widespread adoption due to the lack of fueling stations across the globe. For instance, there are only over 40 hydrogen fueling stations in California, which is the only state that sells hydrogen cars. Uncertainties about the vehicles resale value also plague the fuel cell industry. U.S. sales fell to less than a thousand last year from a peak of 2,400 units in 2018. Meanwhile, Mirai sales plunged to less than 500 last year from around 1,500 in 2019. Besides Toyota, the only automakers with hydrogen cars in the market are Japans Honda and South Koreas Hyundai. But Toyota is unfazed by those dismal sales figures. During the launch of the revamped Mirai in December, the automaker made it clear that profitability is not its top priority at the moment. We dont think its important to focus on sales. We have a larger target that is contributing to the realization of a carbon-neutral society, said Toyota chief technology officer Masahiko Maeda. In Toyotas statement on Friday, the firm pledged to continue strengthening its initiatives to develop fuel cell technology and popularize hydrogen fuel cell products. Learn more about hydrogen fuel and other alternative sources of energy at Power.news. Sources include: Forbes.com OilPrice.com AZOCleanTech.com Reuters.com CNBC.com ABCNews.com Bloomberg.com At a typical Friday fish fry, your beer-battered, deep-fried fish comes with a side of coleslaw, maybe a slice of rye bread and pad of butter, and likely French fries or another form of potato. (Brent Hofacker/shutterstock) Friday in Wisconsin? Time to Get Your Fish Fry On A brief history of the beloved state tradition Wisconsin didnt invent fried fish, but they certainly have made the Friday fish fry a cultural imperative. Few restaurants, taverns, or supper clubsor for that matter, church basementsskip the tradition during Lent, the Christian 40-day period of preparation for Easter, but the meal has taken on a life of its own. Let me explain. From the early days of Christianity, Fridays were considered days of abstinence out of respect toward the crucifixion of Christ. In the 9th century, Pope Nicholas I made it specifically a meat issue. Fishwho may be offended they dont rate as fleshwere still allowed, as they werent the meat of a warm-blooded animal. Ergo, they became a favored Friday protein source. No, the fish allowance wasnt a secret deal between the Vatican and Big Fish. Still, it doesnt explain the frying. A fish fry plate with tartar sauce at Tobys Supper Club in Madison, Wis. (Courtesy of Travel Wisconsin) Who Fried It First? Surely fried fish must have origins as far back as someone burning their finger on hot oil and having a Eureka moment. The Greeks used frying as early as the 5th century BCE and the Egyptians were likely frying foods at least two millennia before thatbut likely with animal fats. Did the Greeks use olive oil early on? The Romans sure didnt care for it as it became rancid fast. Much of this frying origin story is left to archaeologists and historians to translate and debate over, but at the very least, we know that fish pieces dipped in flour and fried in sesame oil appear in a 13th-century Egyptian cookbook, while fried fish in egg batter can be found in Spanish-Arabic cookbooks from the same time period, perhaps the influence of the Moors on the Iberian Peninsula. But often Portugal is credited with bringing peixe frito, fried fish, to the larger world. An early adopter of the Maritime Empire model, Portugal sailed the seven seas, ferrying merchants and Christian (read: Friday fish-eater) missionaries to faraway lands. Portuguese ships arrived in Japan in the 16th century, opening up trade and cultural exchanges and introducing what would become known as tempura. The term applied to Japanese frying techniques was taken from quatuor anni temporafour annual seasons in Latinreferring to the Ember Days, a Catholic practice of three days of fasting, abstinence, and prayer at the beginning of each of the four seasons, not merely Lent. Even the British classic fish and chips took its fish roots from Portugal. Claudia Rodens The Book of Jewish Food informs us that under threat of persecution during the Inquisition in Portugal, many Portuguese Marranos, Sephardic Jews, ate fried fish on Fridays, giving the appearance of following Christian abstinence rules. Theyd then save cold leftovers to eat on Shabbat to abstain from cooking, according to their own religious customs. The batter helped keep the fish overnight, and the olive oil they used gave it a lighter flavor. When the Marranos fled to the UK as refugees during the 16th century, the fried fish dish followed with them. Thomas Jefferson himself wrote of eating fried fish in the Jewish fashion during a trip to London. Beer and Fish But then how did fish fry come to be such a cultural norm in the upper Midwest? Two factors: the predominance of Christian fast-keepers looking for a Friday alternative, and the dark days of Prohibition. Catholic immigrants such as the Poles, Germans, and Irish settled in these areas, especially in and around Milwaukee. Germans, who came to Wisconsin in abundance in the 19th century, are often associated with the lagers that long defined the beer culture of the Midwest, but in the 1920s when Prohibition was the law of the land, the taverns needed an alternative revenue source. Lake Michigan, and so many other local fishing holes, had a massive supply of fresh product. Frying it had already proved popular in Europe, and preparing large amounts was fairly easy: Dip a fillet in flour, then beaten eggs, and then into bread crumbs. Drop it into the fryer and deliver to dinersmaybe even with a little beer under the table. Prohibition ended, but the meal proved to be so beloved that supper clubs and other taverns and restaurants continued the tradition, and today many establishments offer fish on all Fridays of the year. (Some places have even added Wednesdays. Im looking at you, Dexters Pub.) Todays Fish Fry The meal often is an all-you-can-eat serving of cod, walleye, or, if youre lucky, lake perch or even bluegill. Beer-battered and deep-fried, your fish comes with a side of coleslaw, maybe a slice of rye bread and pad of butter, and likely French fries or another form of potato, especially German-style potato pancakeshighly prized and insisted upon by certain diehards. The fish fry at Essen Haus Restaurant and Bar in Madison, Wis. includes the option of a side of German-style potato pancakeshighly prized and insisted upon by certain diehards. (Courtesy of Travel Wisconsin) American Serb Hall, a favorite in Milwaukee, wont be doing dine-in this year, but cod, pollock, and perch are available for drive-through, walk-up, or delivery. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee keeps a calendar for its parish fish fries (ArchMil.org/Parish/fish-fry), and Visit Madison rounds up its favorites (VisitMadison.com). And I suspect the comments below will be showing recommendations in 3, 2, 1 RECIPE: Wisconsin-Style Beer-Battered Fish Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler, craft beer enthusiast, and home cooking fan. He is the author of 15 books, including The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey and his new collection of short stories, Stealing Away. He is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and his website is TheMadTraveler.com. Nikita Mazepin has to start thinking "100 times" before acting now that he is a Formula 1 driver. That is the warning of F1's CEO Stefano Domenicali, following an intense social media campaign to see the Russian rookie driver ousted over the recent 'groping' affair. However, Domenicali says the 22-year-old will not be stripped of his super license. "He will drive in Formula 1," the Italian said of the Haas rookie, whose billionaire father Dmitry's company Uralkali is the American team's new title sponsor. "What he did was unacceptable, but he officially apologised for his behaviour," Domenicali added. Like FIA president Jean Todt, though, Domenicali warned Mazepin that he may be on his first and last warning. "It is important to have one thing in mind - if you drive in Formula 1, you have to realise that you are an ambassador for an incredible platform," he said. "You have a great responsibility with that," Domenicali insisted. "You don't have to think twice, but 100 times before you do something. That gives us the opportunity to say that the drivers represent our values. "I think he understood that. Now he has to take action and show that he has learned the lesson." (GMM) ADVERTISEMENT A student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Owoeye Olaoluwa, was on Friday assaulted by operatives of the institutions security outfit for protesting over fuel hike. Mr Olaoluwa, a 400-level law student, was assaulted by the security officials when some students of the institution stormed the university gate to express their displeasure over the transportation hike that arose as a result of fuel price increment in the country. Several students told our correspondent that transporters in the university environment on Friday forced them to pay N70 as transportation fee for places that used to be N50. They were also mandated to pay N100 to places that used to be N70. As a result of this, some of the students intervened, urging the transporters to stop the price increment. Witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES that while this was going on, members of the security department of the university visited the scene and were forcefully dispersing the students. When the school security came, they ordered students to leave campus gate but the student-activists resisted. It was at that point they assaulted Olaoluwa. His shirt was torn and his trousers removed publicly, Seun Alayo, one of the protesters, said. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Olaoluwa and four others were being detained at the security department of the institution as of the time of filing this report. The Chief Security Officer of the institution, Babatunde Oyatokun, did not respond to calls and text messages when contacted by our correspondent. Also, the spokesperson of the institution, Abiodun Olanrewaju, could not be reached as his telephone numbers were not connecting. A CONGREGATION of underage revellers are gathering together at the best preserved Dominican Priory in Ireland. The Abbey as it is known in Kilmallock has becoming a hotspot for drinking, littering and adult behaviour, according to Cllr PJ Carey. Photographs show cans, bottles and other rubbish casually thrown around the historic and sacred building that dates back to 1291. Inside, there were boxes of empty cans and bottles. Cllr Carey said he has received a number of reports about drinking in The Abbey. The councillor said he has also received complaints of people engaging in adult behaviour at these parties. Its shameful and an embarrassment for the good people of the town. Its a complete lack of respect for the historical and religious significance of the Dominican Priory which goes back centuries, said Cllr Carey. He continued: Its disappointing when you consider all of the great work that has been done regarding walkways, footpaths etc. The numbers using the picturesque walk behind the school, beside The Loobagh and up to The Abbey has dramatically increased under Covid. Cllr Carey said the anti-social behaviour at the historic site is an ongoing problem. The littering problem is scandalous. Its not fair on the people who have to clean up after them. It is so demoralising for the Tidy Towns, CE scheme etc... who do so much. Its a real kick in the teeth, said Cllr Carey. In January, the Leader reported that teens running amok in Kilmallock for months reached a new low when a rock was thrown through the passenger window of a moving car. The young female motorist, who was returning home from work, was understandably shaken as glass shattered all around her. Local councillors, PJ Carey and Mike Donegan both expressed their disgust at the incident. Bruff superintendent John Ryan moved quickly to tackle an upsurge in anti-social behaviour in Kilmallock by assigning an extra sergeant to the town. Reports of people being harassed on the street and of criminal damage have fallen in recent weeks. It appears they may have turned their focus to partying in The Abbey. It was stablished in 1291 by Gilbert Fitzgerald of the White Knights, who then invited the Dominicans to the monastery, where his clan remained the key benefactors. Maurice Fitzgerald was the main patron of the friary when it was enlarged in 1320. Its community both grew and dwindled over the centuries, mainly due to changing land laws and wars, with friars eventually abandoning the venerable building for good in 1790. Its most recent inhabitants appear to be more interested in spirits than the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Alabama lawmakers this week introduced lottery bills following the defeat of a sweeping gambling proposal that would have authorized multiple casinos in the state. Republican senators this week proposed two new lottery bills, saying voters in their districts want to end Alabamas status of being one of five states without a state lottery. However, the bills face an uncertain outlook because of disputes over how the required changes in state law would affect existing bingo operators. Unifiedpost Group (Euronext: UPG) (the 'Company' or 'Unifiedpost') announces today its financial results 2020 as well as an outlook for 2021. The fintech company is on track with its expansion strategy to create a leading international communication and payment business network. The Company realised in 2020 a double-digit organic digital service revenue growth and exceeded its targeted growth of SME customers. The Company remains confident to achieve the financials goals it has set for the coming years. In 2021 there will be a continued focus on the further international roll-out of its SME-solution including payment services. Continued organic and acquisition growth The consolidated revenue of the Group grew with 47% to 69 million in 2020 (47 million in 2019). If the recently announced 2021 acquisitions are also included, the pro forma revenue amounts to 146 million for 2020. The quality of earnings improved with pro forma recurring service revenue increasing from 85% in 2019 to 96% of total revenue in 2020. The growth in SME users amounts to 34%, thereby surpassing to 450,000 European SME customers. The organic recurring service revenue grew with 12.4%. The Company realised a gross margin of 42.6%. The Company invested 21 million in R&D (which represents 30% of the revenue). With the capital increases in 2020 net cash proceeds of 170 million were raised. This results in a net financial cash position amounting to 92 million at year end. The bank debt of the Company is reduced to 26 million. Further realising the expansion plan 2021 will be a 'construction year' to achieve the financial goals set for 2022 and 2023. The Company will continue to invest in organic growth through an acceleration of its R&D program, supported by sales and marketing activities. As shown already early 2021, the Company will continue to combine focus on organic growth with targeted acquisitions for market and product expansion. During 2021, the Company will continue to roll out its fintech platform, including payment services, to a targeted twenty-six countries. In all countries, a local Unifiedpost team will be responsible for the business development. The Company confirms the financial targets it has set for 2022 (an organic digital service revenue growth exceeding 25% year-on-year) and for 2023 (a gross margin of more than 60% and an EBITDA margin of more than 25%) Financial summary The consolidated revenue of the Company grew with 47% from 47 million in 2019 to 69 million in 2020. The total pro forma revenue when including the acquisitions of Akti, BanqUP and 21 Grams (closed on 8 January 2021) would amount to 146 million in 2020. This can be split up in 91 million digital processing, the Company's core revenue, and a further 55 million turnover coming from post and parcel optimisation services (a newly acquired business belonging to 21 Grams). The estimated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is limited to approximately 3 million decrease in revenue. This was caused by a reduction of economic activity in some industries (less transactions). The Summer of 2020 has proven that revenue recovers quickly to the historical level after the end of the lockdowns. In 2019 the Company had material one-off projects (representing in total 6 million pro forma revenue). In 2020 there were no material one-off projects resulting in a decrease in pro forma project revenue from 11 million in 2019 to 6 million in 2020. The Company's effort in research and development amounts to 21 million of which 10 million is capitalised as own development and 11 million is expensed in the income statement. General administrative expenses are impacted with 3,9 million non-recurring IPO expenses (compared to 2.2 million in 2019). Furthermore, sales marketing expenses are impacted with 1,8 million impairment on the brand name Fitek. EBITDA improved from 2019 to 2020 with 1.5 million. This increase in EBITDA is the result of increase from realised gross profit of 7.6 million, an increase in R&D expenses for an amount of 0.1 million, an increase in G&A expenses of 4.5 million, an increase in S&M expenses of 1.4 million and increase in other income/expense of 0.2 million. In the course of 2020, the Company increased its issued capital in three rounds for a total amount of 231 million. The increase in paid-up capital was achieved, on the one hand, by the conversion of convertible bonds for an amount of 45 million and on the other hand by the contribution of cash amounting to 185 million. The cost of the various capital rounds amounts to 16 million and is booked in reduction of issued capital, resulting in net cash proceeds of 170 million. Due to the acquisition of Fitek Balkan the Company granted a put option to non-controlling shareholders whereby they have the right to sell their shares to the Company. On 31 December 2020, the present value of the put option is valued at 6 million. The net financial cash position on 31 December 2020 amounts to 92 million. The available cash together with financial leverage will be used for further funding of the research and development program, the roll out of the pan-European product strategy and the realisation of acquisitions in strategic areas. On 8 January 2021, Unifiedpost completed three acquisitions of 100% of the shares of 21 Grams Holding AB (Sweden Norway Denmark-Finland), Akti SA (Belgium) and BanqUP SRL (Poland Belgium). After the three acquisitions, the Company makes a distinction between digital processing (core Unifiedpost legacy business model) and post and parcel optimisation services. Business Highlights 2020 2020 has been a milestone in the history of Unifiedpost. In September the Company listed on Euronext Brussels where it successfully placed 12.6 million new and existing shares with institutional investors. The Company received gross proceeds of 175 million to execute its dual-track growth strategy. With the large demand of global Tier-1 institutional investors Unifiedpost is now backed by investors who sustainably support Unifiedpost's growth to become the leading European cloud-based platform for SMEs. The proceeds of the transaction were immediately deployed with an accelerated investment in organic growth (21 million invested in R&D) and with the realisation of further strategic acquisitions (closing the first three acquisitions in the beginning of 2021). 2020 was also the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unifiedpost had on the one hand a tailwind with an increasing demand for digitisation services. The SMEs onboarded on the platform grew during 2020 with 34%, surpassing the landmark of 450,000 European SMEs using Unifiedpost services. The Company had on the other hand also a headwind from the pandemic: it lost more than 3 million of revenue caused by a decrease of economic activity (less transactions). This is a temporary set-back as was shown after the end of the first lockdown that revenue levels return quickly to the historical level. Another headwind was that new business initiatives and deployments were postponed until after the lockdown. The opportunities are not lost, but postponed in time. In April 2020 Unifiedpost signed an exclusive partnership with the national French accounting organisation providing digital tools to the country's chartered accountants, in this case related to the government decision to oblige B2B e-invoicing as from 2023. During spring 2020, Unifiedpost also launched the payment functionality on the SME platform. Unifiedpost Group owns a certified payment institution as from 2016. By integrating payment services in its SME offering, Unifiedpost now sets the base for its international roll-out of the SME platform to 26 countries. Unifiedpost was also proud to announce a partnership with technology provider Google. Through this collaboration Unifiedpost can leverage on the Google Cloud for its services and document digitisation, and above all also make use of Google AI. Post-period events On 8 January 2021, Unifiedpost completed three acquisitions of 100% of the shares (21 Grams Holding AB Akti SA, BanqUP SRL). Awareness on Environment, Social and Governance priorities Unifiedpost Group now reached two important milestones when it comes to the need for a strong ESG framework. The Company went public on Euronext Brussels in September 2020, and has exceeded the threshold of employing more than 1,000 people worldwide in January 2021. Both of these events raised awareness even more about the importance of strengthening governance policies, as well as the attraction and retention of talent. The nature of Unifiedpost's business implies a high importance of human capital as a base for sustainable and innovative growth. In 2021, the Company will further build on its ESG framework and on maintaining its inclusive and talent-focused company culture worldwide, which already is characterised by a wide range of nationalities and ages. Having 37% women on board and 63% men, Unifiedpost also works on the gender diversity at every staff level. Outlook 2021 2021 is to be seen as a 'construction year' within Unifiedpost, as it is integrating the acquisitions and rolling out its platform, including payment services, in twenty-six countries. Partnerships with financial institutions and software companies will become an additional way of executing the indirect sales approach. Not only will Unifiedpost offer financial solutions and operational services on the platform, but also e-commerce support and big data analytics will be integrated into the platform. This will entail significant investments during the year. However, the Company is confident to complete this growth phase in 2021 and meanwhile maintain high customer growth and an increasing earning per customer. In 2021, the Company will continue to build solid foundations to achieve its financial targets for the years 2022 and 2023. The Company confirms the earlier guidance it has given for digital processing. For the business of digital processing the organic growth will exceed year-on-year 25% by 2022. The growth includes all acquired digital business. By 2023 the gross margin of the digital business will exceed 60% and the normalised EBITDA margin will exceed 25%. For postal parcel optimisation Unifiedpost will maintain a steady gross margin in the coming years. Unifiedpost will continue with this business as there are also many opportunities for digitisation in this area, and the business will not be divested. Key Consolidated Figures 2020 Thousands of euro, except per share data For the year ended 31 December unaudited audited Income statement in thousands of EUR (1) 2020 2019 Revenue 68,928 46,952 46.80 Cost of services -39,577 -24,812 59.50 Gross profit 29,351 22,140 32.60 Gross margin 42.58 47.16 Research and development expenses -10,505 -9,083 15.70 General and administrative expenses -25,753 -19,877 (*) 20.20 Selling and marketing expenses -14,542 -9,515 (*) 82.50 Other income (expenses) 466 683 -31.80 Net impairment gains (losses) on financial and contract assets -20 -29 -29.00 Profit (loss) from operations -21,003 -15,681 33.90 Change in fair value of financial liabilities -5,343 -573 Financial income 102 3 Financial expenses -6,602 -6,181 Share of profit (loss) of associates joint ventures -51 278 Profit (loss) before tax -32,897 -22,154 48.50 Income tax -872 -211 PROFIT (LOSS) FOR THE YEAR -33,769 -22,365 51.00 EBITDA (2) -5,985 -7,465 Earnings per share attributable to the equity holders of the parent (3) Earnings per share attributable to the equity holders of the parent basic -1.72 -1.06 Earnings per share attributable to the equity holders of the parent diluted -1.72 -1.06 Consolidated statement of financial position Balance sheet total 247,128 111,297 Equity 168,197 -19,198 Net financial cash/(debt) (4) 92,084 -49,148 (*) 1,546 thousand relating to Fitek Group's amortisations of the customer relationships and brand names has been reclassified in the 2019 consolidated statement of profit and loss from general and administrative expenses to selling and marketing expenses. (1) The balance sheet and income statement for 2020 and 2019 are attached to this press release (2) EBITDA for a period, profit (loss) from operations, plus amortisation impairment (of intangible assets) and depreciation (of property, equipment and right-of-use assets) (3) Weighted average number of ordinary shares amounts to 19,762,181 (4) Net financial cash/(debt) is defined as cash and cash equivalents investments minus interest bearing financial debts minus lease liabilities "The statutory auditor BDO Bedrijfsrevisoren CVBA, has confirmed that their audit procedures for the year ended 31 December 2020, which have been substantially completed, have not revealed material adjustments which would have to be made to the accounting information included in this press release." Comments on Key Consolidated Figures 2020 Revenue growth was realised by the product lines Documents (+58%), Identity (+33%) and Payments (+35%). The revenue from recurring services represented 91% of total revenue. General administrative expenses were impacted by 3.9 million non-recurring IPO expenses. Sales marketing expenses were impacted by 1.8 million impairment on the brand name Fitek. The Company's effort in R&D amounts to 20.6 million (nearly 30% of the Company's revenue) of which 10.1 million was capitalised and 10.5 million was expensed. In the course of 2020 Unifiedpost increased its issued capital with 230.8 million. The increase was achieved by the conversion of convertible bonds (45.4 million) and by the contribution of cash (185.4 million). The cost of the capital rounds amounts to 15.5 million and is booked in reduction of issued capital. With the acquisition of 1% additional shares of Fitek Balkan (bringing the total to 51%) the Company granted a put option to non-controlling shareholders, valued on 31 December at 6.2 million. The net financial cash position on year-end 2020 amounts to 92.1 million. Key Pro forma Figures 2020 For the year ended 31 December Unaudited Unaudited Thousands of Euro 2020 consolidated 2020 pro forma (incl. 2021 acq.) PRO FORMA STATEMENT OF LOSS Digital Processing Revenues 68,928 91,049 24.3 Digital Processing Cost of services -39,577 -55,839 Digital Processing Gross profit 29,351 35,210 16.60 Gross Margin Digital Processing 42.6 38.7 Postal Parcel Optimisation Revenues 55,027 Postal Parcel Optimisation Cost of services -48,932 Postal Parcel Optimisation Gross profit 6,095 Gross Margin Postal Parcel Optimisation 11.1 Total Revenu 146,076 Profit (loss) from operations (*) -21,003 -17,778 -18.10 (*) subject to changes as a result from the completion of the purchase price allocation exercise Comments on Key Pro forma Figures 2020 The pro forma figures are reported as if all acquisitions had occurred on 1 January 2020. Five businesses were acquired after 1 January 2020, impacting pro forma figures: On 11 February 2020, the Company acquired an additional 1% of the shares in the Fitek Balkan joint ventures and obtained control thereof. On 3 July 2020, the Fitek Balkan acquired 51% of the shares of Tehnobiro d.o.o. and obtained control thereof. On 8 January 2021, Unifiedpost completed three acquisitions of 100% of the shares of: 21 Grams Holding AB (Sweden Norway Denmark Finland), an acquisition that brings a large customer base in the Nordics to Unifiedpost, a region where digitisation is already well developed. Akti SA (Belgium), a company that adds functionality to the digital processing activities. BanqUP SRL (Poland Belgium), a strategic acquisition strengthening the payment product offering. The turnover of 21 Grams needs to be divided in two main categories: i) the classic Unifiedpost business of digital processing and ii) postal parcel optimisation, an optimisation of physical pieces. As this type of business is non-digital it is a lower margin activity. Postal parcel optimisation revenue and cost of service are shown as separated line items in the income statement. The pro forma contribution to the digital processing revenue for the five acquisitions together, as if the acquisition had occurred on 1 January 2020, amounts to respectively 22.1 million (operating profit 3.2 million) subject to changes as a result from the completion of the purchase price allocation exercise. A further 55 million increase in revenue (21 Gram activity) is generated from post parcel optimisation services. The drop in gross margin is logic with the acquired businesses. It is the Company's financial target to bring the digital business' gross margin to 60% by 2023. The presented pro forma figures are still subject to the completion of a purchase price allocation exercise. Commenting on the 2020 results Hans Leybaert, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unifiedpost Group, said: "2020 was an extraordinary year. While economies were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Unifiedpost onboarded 34% new SME customers from increasing trend to digitisation. We realised financial results in line with expectations and realised a strong transaction volume growth. A major milestone for the funding of this growth was set in 2020 with the successful listing on Euronext Brussels. This allowed us to accelerate the pan-European roll-out of the SME-platform and to deliver on our buy-and-build strategy with 3 acquisitions (21 Grams, Akti and BanqUP). Unifiedpost is now represented in 21 countries. Our numbers confirm that we are on track to become the leading European cloud-based platform for SMEs. By offering a one-stop-shop when it comes to document, identity and payment services, as well as by maintaining our successful indirect sales approach we keep on boosting the robust demand for our platform services. Tapping new ecosystems and partnerships will remain an important cornerstone for our long term, sustainable growth. In 2021 we will thus continue to focus on this business growth, by investing our resources in expanding by acquisitions as well as by investing in R&D. We will focus also on increasing the ARPU by, inter alia, giving our customers access to a finance marketplace. We look ahead with confidence to 2021 which is an important year for Unifiedpost Group to lay further foundations to achieve the financial objectives the Company has set for 2022 and 2023". Live webcast: Analysts, Investors Press call Management will host a video webcast for investors, analysts and press on 12 March 2021 at 2.00 PM CET. Click on the link below to attend this presentation: https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/unifiedpost/20210312_1/ A full replay and a copy of the slides will be available after the webcast on: https://www.unifiedpost.com/en/investor-relations Financial Calendar 2020 results 12 March 2021 2020 Annual report available 16 April 2021 Ordinary general meeting of Shareholders 18 May 2021 Publication of Q1 business update 27 May 2021 Announcement of 2021 half-year results 17 September 2021 Publication Q3 business update 25 November 2021 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION For the year ended 31 December unaudited audited Thousands of Euro 2020 2019 ASSETS Goodwill 35,159 30,842 Other intangible assets 47,865 44,065 Property and equipment 6,778 1,549 Right-of-use-assets 8,101 7,708 Interest in associates and joint ventures 0 6,394 Non-current contract costs 857 283 Deferred tax assets 205 830 Other non-current assets 586 471 Non-current assets 99,551 92,142 Inventories 507 205 Trade and other receivables 17,718 13,317 Contract assets 374 200 Contract costs 1,320 610 Current tax assets 124 191 Prepaid expenses 1,610 1,586 Cash and cash equivalents 125,924 3,046 Current assets 147,577 19,155 TOTAL ASSETS 247,128 111,297 SHAREHOLDER'S EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Share capital 251,543 20,744 Costs related to equity issuance (15,926) (389) Share premium reserve 492 492 Accumulated deficit (73,818) (40,420) Reserve for share-based payments 1,767 1,552 Other reserve 4,395 (1,173) Cumulative translation adjustment reserve (520) (4) Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent 167,933 (19,198) Non-controlling interests 264 Total shareholders' equity 168,197 (19,198) Convertible bonds 34,999 Derivative financial instruments 12,937 Non-current loans and borrowings 7,991 7,074 Liabilities associated with puttable non-controlling interests 1,788 2,000 Non-current lease liabilities 5,087 5,306 Non-current contract liabilities 2,389 1,202 Retirement benefit obligations 262 345 Deferred tax liabilities 2,912 2,469 Non-current liabilities 20,429 66,332 Interest payable on convertible bonds (0) 1,431 Derivative financial instruments 3,750 Current loans and borrowings 18,141 38,066 Current liabilities associated with puttable non-controlling interests 6,178 Current lease liabilities 2,970 2,602 Trade and other payables 16,553 14,918 Contract liabilities 10,211 6,722 Current income tax liabilities 699 424 Current liabilities 58,502 64,163 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 247,128 111,297 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME Consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income For the year ended 31 December Thousands of Euro, except for share data 2020 2019 Unaudited Audited Revenue 68,928 46,952 Cost of services (39,577) (24,812) Gross profit 29,351 22,140 Gross margin 42.6% 47.2% Research and development expenses (10,505) (9,083) General and administrative expenses (25,753) (19,877) Selling and marketing expenses (14,542) (9,515) Other income (expenses) 466 683 Net impairment gains (losses) on financial and contract assets (20) (29) Profit (loss) from operations (21,003) (15,681) Change in fair value of financial liabilities (5,343) (573) Financial income 102 3 Financial expenses (6,602) (6,181) Share of profit (loss) of associates joint ventures (51) 278 Profit (loss) before tax (32,897) (22,154) Income tax (872) (211) PROFIT (LOSS) FOR THE YEAR (33,769) (22,365) Other comprehensive income: (541) (208) Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss: Remeasurements of defined benefit pension obligations (33) (215) Items that will or may be reclassified to profit or loss: Exchange gains arising on translation of foreign operations (508) 7 TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) FOR THE YEAR (34,310) (22,573) Profit (loss) is attributable to: Owners of the parent (33,992) (22,365) Non-controlling interests 223 Total comprehensive income (loss) is attributable to: Owners of the parent (34,533) (22,573) Non-controlling interests 223 Basic (1.72) (1.06) Diluted (1.72) (1.06) (*) 1,546 thousand relating to Fitek Group's amortisations of the customer relationships and brand names has been reclassified in the 2019 consolidated statement of profit and loss from general and administrative expenses to selling and marketing expenses Consolidated statement of cash flows For the year ended 31 December Thousands of Euro 2020 2019 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Profit/(loss) for the year (33,769) (22,365) Adjustments for: Amortisation and impairment of intangible fixed assets 11,019 5,358 Depreciation and impairment of property, plant equipment 861 743 Depreciation of right-of-use-assets 3,138 2,115 Impairment of trade receivables 71 Financial income (102) (3) Financial expenses 6,602 6,181 Share of (profit) loss of joint ventures 51 (278) Gain on disposal of associates 126 Gain on disposal of fixed assets (66) Gain from remeasurement of previously held interest upon assuming control over a subsidiary (465) (412) Share-based payment expense 215 308 Income tax expense (income) 872 211 Fair value change of financial asset (23) Fair value change of derivative 5,343 573 Subtotal (6,104) (7,592) Changes in Working Capital (Increase)/decrease in trade receivables and contract assets (4,552) (991) (Increase)/decrease in other current and non-current receivables (229) (666) Increase/(decrease) in Inventories (41) (8) Increase/(decrease) in trade and other liabilities 4,472 4,905 Effects of foreign exchange rate changes on working capital Cash generated from/ (used in) operations (6,454) (4,352) Income taxes paid (381) (169) Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (6,835) (4,521) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Payments made for acquisition of subsidiaries; net of cash acquired 1,121 (33,876) Payments made for purchase of property, plant equipment (2,398) (376) Proceeds from the disposals of property, plant equipment 223 26 Payments made for purchase of intangibles and development expenses (10,672) (7,253) Proceeds from the disposals of intangibles and development expenses 73 Proceeds from sale of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 567 Proceeds from sale of subsidiaries, net of cash disposed (112) Upfront payments made for leases (38) Interest received 1 3 Dividend payments received from joint ventures 135 Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (11,802) (40,774) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Issue of ordinary shares (private placement and subsequent listing) 175,000 Issue of ordinary shares (other) 10,408 Costs related to equity issuance (15,537) Dividends paid to non-controlling interests (14) Proceeds from loans and borrowings 5,836 52,794 Repayments of loans and borrowings (29,115) (4,291) Interest paid on loans, borrowings and leasings (1,584) (2,753) Repayment of lease liabilities (3,459) (2,337) Net cash provided by/ (used in) financing activities 141,535 43,413 Effect of exchange rate changes (20) Net increase/(decrease) in cash cash equivalents 122,878 (1,882) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 3,046 4,928 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 125,924 3,046 Alternative performance measurement (APM) Disclosure The APM's are defined as follows or based on the following defined terms: Organic Digital Service Revenue, excludes the impact of digital service revenue from acquisitions over the last 12 months as well as exchange rate movements. Net Financial Cash Position: Net financial cash/(debt) is defined as cash and cash equivalents investments minus interest bearing financial debts minus lease liabilities. Recurring (digital) Service Revenue is revenue from recurring services, including transactions (document processing and print production), subscriptions (including maintenance on licenses) and managed services, given that these services are expected to be delivered continuously in the future. Organic recurring (digital) service Revenue for a period, as the recurring (digital) service Revenue excluding the impact of acquisitions of the last 12 months as well as exchange rate movements ("Organic recurring service Revenue"). EBITDA for a period, as profit (loss) from operations, plus amortization (of intangible assets) and depreciation (of property, equipment and right-of-use assets) (EBITDA). EBITDA margin for a period, as the ratio of EBITDA to revenue for the period ("EBITDA Margin"); Adjusted EBITDA for a period, as EBITDA plus share-based payment expense, Non-Recurring Operational Expenses, acquisitions expenses, costs in relation with the Company's contemplated listing and the issuance of Bonds, less other income and expenses ("Adjusted EBITDA"). Adjusted EBITDA margin for a period, as the ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to revenue for the period ("Adjusted EBITDA Margin"). Non-Recurring Operational Expenses, as one-time expenses ("Non-Recurring Operational Expenses"). About Unifiedpost Group Unifiedpost Group wants to become the leading cloud-based platform for SME business services built on "Documents", "Identity" and "Payments". Unifiedpost operates and develops a 100% cloud-based platform for administrative and financial services that allows real-time and seamless connections between Unifiedpost's customers, their suppliers, their customers and other parties along the financial value chain. With its one-stop-shop solutions, Unifiedpost Group's mission is to make administrative and financial processes simple and smart for its customers. Since its founding in 2001, Unifiedpost Group has grown significantly, expanding to offices in 21 countries, with more than 400 million documents processed in 2020, reaching over 450,000 SMEs and more than 500 Corporates across its platform today. Noteworthy facts and figures: Established in 2001, with a proven track record 1000+ employees 400+ million documents processed in 2020 Diverse portfolio of clients across a wide variety of industries (banking, leasing, utilities, media, telecommunications, travel, social security service providers, public organisations, etc.) ranging from large internationals to SMEs Unifiedpost Payments, a fully owned subsidiary, is recognised as a payment institution by the National Bank of Belgium Certified Swift partner International M&A track record Listed on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels, symbol: UPG (*) Warning about future statements: The statements contained herein may contain forecasts, future expectations, opinions and other future-oriented statements concerning the expected further performance of Unifiedpost Group on the markets in which it is active. Such future-oriented statements are based on the current insights and assumptions of management concerning future events. They naturally include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which seem justified at the time that the statements are made, but may possibly turn out to be inaccurate. The actual results, performance or events may differ essentially from the results, performance or events which are expressed or implied in such future-oriented statements. Except where required by the applicable legislation, Unifiedpost Group shall assume no obligation to update, elucidate or improve future-oriented statements in this press release in the light of new information, future events or other elements and shall not be held liable on that account. The reader is warned not to rely unduly on future-oriented statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311006124/en/ Contacts: Enquiries Hans Leybaert, CEO +32 477 23 94 80 hans.leybaert@unifiedpost.com Laurent Marcelis, CFO +32 477 61 81 37 laurent.marcelis@unifiedpost.com Press contact Investor Relations Sarah Heuninck +32 491 15 05 09 sarah.heuninck@unifiedpost.com SIPTU members working in the Bon Secours hospital at Barringtons are to be balloted for industrial action up to including a walkout. Its part of a national vote in an effort for support grade workers mostly non-medical staff and healthcare assistants to have a job evaluation process, with the union claiming it has an agreement linking pay and conditions to staff in the private hospital to those of workers in the HSE. Its understood 35 of the approximately 230 staff based at Barringtons in Limerick will take part in the ballot. Siptu sector organiser, Miriam Hamilton, said: Following wide consultation over the last number of weeks with our shop stewards in the Bon Secours Health System, it has been agreed to ballot for both industrial and strike action across five hospital locations in Dublin, Limerick, Galway, Cork and Kerry. Despite repeated requests, the Bon Secours management has refused to engage with Siptu representatives on the implementation of a job evaluation scheme. The Bon Secours Health System and Siptu have a long standing agreement linking the pay and working conditions of our Bon Secours members to those of workers in the HSE. The actions of management in recent weeks have threatened this link and our members wont stand for it. Our members believe that pay movements arising from the implementation of the job evaluation scheme in the HSE should also be applied to support grade workers in the Bon Secours Health System, said the union official. Ms Hamilton confirmed the ballot will take place in the coming weeks. Management must accept that support grade workers including health care assistants, porters, catering attendants and cleaners are essential to the running of every hospital and deserve to feel valued and respected. Siptu representatives remain available to meet with management and we again call on them to engage with us in advance of our ballot in an attempt to find a resolution to this dispute, she concluded. Bon Secours did not return a request for comment from the Limerick Leader. Last week, the firm announced plans to open a second hospital on a site in Ballysimon, in a move which would bring 250 new roles. Piers Morgan left GMB earlier this week. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Piers Morgan has demanded an apology for what he called disgraceful slurs against him on US television show The Talk. The presenter spoke out after his friend Sharon Osbourne got into a heated discussion about him on the programme. Osbourne has been one of Morgans most outspoken supporters after he stepped down from ITV's Good Morning Britain following his comments about Meghan's revelations in her interview with Oprah Winfrey. She tweeted her support of him earlier this week and on Wednesday got into a debate about the situation on The Talk, asking co-host Sheryl Underwood to "educate" her about racism. Osbourne was criticised for the discussion and has since said she is "sorry" if she caused offence with her defence of Morgan causing the TV star to leap in. Watch: Sharon Osbourne 'truly sorry' after backlash for defending Piers Morgan's Meghan Markle rant Read more: Piers Morgan steps down from Good Morning Britain in wake of Meghan Markle row This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Sharon's been shamed & bullied into apologising for defending me against colleagues accusing me of racism because I don't believe Meghan Markle's b*******, Morgan wrote on Twitter. This is where we've reached. "I demand an apology from those @TheTalkCBS bullies for their disgraceful slurs against ME. Morgan left GMB this week, after sparking a backlash when he said he did not believe The Duchess of Sussex after she told Oprah she had suffered with her mental health and had suicidal thoughts. Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff on 'America's Got Talent' (Trae Patton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images) The star later restated his opinion in a post on Twitter, saying freedom of speech is a hill Im happy to die on. Osbourne spoke out in Morgans defence on Twitter, saying she stood by him. Then discussing the situation on The Talk, she told Underwood: I feel even like Im about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is a racist so that makes me a racist. You tell me where you have heard him say, educate me, tell me when you have heard him say racist things, she asked. Story continues Underwood then said it was not the exact words of racism but the implication and the reaction to it, to not want to address that because she is a Black woman and to try to dismiss it or to make it seem less than what it is, thats what makes it racist. Watch: Sharon Osbourne in tears on The Talk as she defends Piers Morgan Read more: Piers Morgan stands by Meghan Markle comments On Thursday, Osbourne said on Twitter that after some reflection, she was truly sorry. She wrote: I have always been embraced with so much love and support from the black community and I have deep respect and love for the black community. To anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said, I am truly sorry. I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive and allowed my fear and horror of being accused of being racist take over. There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism so to feel associated with that spun me fast! I am not perfect, I am still learning like the rest of us and will continue to learn, listen and do better. By Hamid Shalizi, Charlotte Greenfield and Jonathan Landay KABUL/ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan proposed a shakeup of the stalled peace process this week, including an interim government and a conference of key players, according to diplomatic and political sources, but his plan faced immediate objections by the warring sides. Afghan-born U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad is on a visit to Kabul, Doha and other regional capitals, his first since U.S. President Joe Biden's administration began reviewing its options for the peace process and as time runs out before a May 1 U.S. troop withdrawal deadline. With peace negotiations in the Qatari capital making little progress and violence in Afghanistan escalating, Khalilzad is trying to build consensus around alternative options with all Afghan sides and key regional players, sources said. "(The United States) thinks Doha isn't working and needs impetus and an alternate approach," said one diplomatic source who closely follows the process. In Kabul, Khalilzad met Abdullah Abdullah, the chief peace envoy, President Ashraf Ghani and other political and civil society leaders, including former President Hamid Karzai. Three diplomatic sources, two sources on the teams of political leaders who met with Khalilzad and two international sources in Kabul said one of the envoy's main proposals was an interim government arrangement, referred to as a participatory or representative government. A former Afghan government official familiar with the matter said Khalilzad shared a document detailing the power-sharing proposal and that it revised a paper he circulated in December. Another proposal was a meeting with a similar format to the 2001 Bonn conference, to involve representatives from a wide range of Afghan parties meeting in person while international agencies and diplomats push them to a solution. Anti-Taliban leaders met under international auspices in the German city of Bonn after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted the insurgents from power and agreed on a provisional administration and a roadmap for forming a permanent government and writing a new constitution. Story continues "We're considering a number of different ideas that might accelerate the process," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Friday. "The United States is not making any formal proposals and is continuing to review all relevant options for future force posture - and all means all," a State Department spokesperson said on Saturday. "Ambassador Khalilzad has discussed a range of ways to move the diplomacy forward, nothing more." The two international sources said Khalilzad is asking the United Nations to take a lead role and call the conference. Spokespeople for the U.N. mission in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Two of the sources said the conference could be held in Turkey, but a third cautioned that location might meet resistance from Western nations and other countries including Germany and Uzbekistan were being considered. CHALLENGES AHEAD Khalilzad's plans immediately encountered objections from both the Afghan government and the Taliban. Ghani made a fiery speech in Afghanistan's parliament on Saturday, repeating his refusal to step aside for an interim government. "Any institution can write a fantasy on a piece of paper and suggest a solution for Afghanistan" he said, warning any transfer of power would have to take place through elections as required by the constitution. Two international officials in Kabul said Ghani's fierce opposition would be a problem for the plan. "The problem here is that Ghani can blame the United States directly ... by challenging his legitimacy and considering an interim government it implies they are undermining the democratic process," one of the officials said. A Taliban leader in Doha who spoke on condition of anonymity said Khalilzad raised the possibility of an interim government and a conference with the insurgents' negotiating team, as well as asking for a ceasefire or reduction in violence by 60-70%. "Khalilzad has come with some ideas and his top agenda is the intra-Afghan dialogue to deliver some tangible results and very soon," he said. He said the Taliban would not join an interim government, but was not opposed to one being formed. "We would recommend people with a good reputation for the interim government and this set up would need to work for at least two years to depoliticise all the government departments, including the security establishment," he said. They could consider the reduction in violence, but not a ceasefire, the Taliban leader said, and had asked Khalilzad to pressure the Afghan government to release 7,000 more Taliban prisoners. "We don't believe any other conference in any country would help resolve the Afghan conflict," he said. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said they had not yet seen the plan, but if an alternative to talks in Qatar was sought, "it is doomed to failure." Two sources said Khalilzad was expected to visit Islamabad, Pakistan, a key player in the peace process, on his trip. The envoy was the architect under President Donald Trump's administration of a February 2020 deal between Washington and the Taliban, which envisaged the Afghan government and Taliban negotiating a peace agreement and setting a final withdrawal of foreign forces by May 1. (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad, Hamid Shalizi in Kabul, Jonathan Landay in Washington, Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar, Alexander Cornwell in Doha and Rupam Jain in Panjim, Goa; Additional reporting by Orooj Hakimi and Abdul Qadir Sediqi in Kabul; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft) * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. As the main foreign influence in Syria, Russia now has a considerable role in shaping the countrys future. A decade ago, civilian protests broke out across Syria. The regime has met the demands of civilians with excessive violence, which led to militarizing these protests and made Syria an arena for proxy wars and battles waged by many countries. Russia has emerged as one of the more significant, and even the most significant actors, in the Syrian arena, especially at the military and political levels. Several analysts wrote about the Russian military role in Syria. But none of them paid sufficient attention to the Russian role in ending the conflict and shaping the future of Syria. A host of reports on political projects and proposals have resurfaced, which the Syrian opposition groups introduced to the Russian side. Some rumors also surfaced about new proposals introduced to Russia to end the conflict in Syria, which stirred up controversy on the Syrian street. With the aim of clarifying the Russian role in Syria, the Syrian Initiative, at the American University Washington College of Law, hosted a symposium on the Western-Russian relations regarding the Syrian file. Dr. Andrey Kortunov, Director of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), and Yost Hiltermann, Director of Middle East Programs at the International Crisis Group, participated in this symposium. The dialogue in the seminar provided a somewhat precise analysis of the Russian position. Kortunov pointed out that the Russian intervention in Syria was a well-considered adventure to achieve several objectives, foremost of which is restoring Russias role as a main actor in the international arena and asserting its recovery from the economic and political crises that gripped it in the past. The intervention also sought to reiterate Russias refusal to change regimes via the power of street protests and nongovernment organizations as they are a continuation of the Western project hostile to the Russian clout. This is in addition to reiterating the assertion that elections are the only acceptable mechanisms for the rotation of power. Russia also has a desire to restore its prestige in the face of the Western camp regarding what is considered the deception of passing the resolution to change the Libyan regime at the UN Security Council and competing with the US in the Middle East. Especially in light of the frustration suffered by Washingtons allies after the US administration distanced itself from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Then came the signing of the nuke deal with Iran at the expense of the interest of Arab countries who had always considered themselves powerful allies of the US in the region. Hence, Russia introduced itself as a faithful partner to its allies unlike the US, which abandoned allies according to the shifts in its interests. The Russian speaker expressed a host of military objectives, including piloting and marketing sophisticated Russian military hardware and technology and harnessing the Russian private security firms to be the countrys unofficial arm for intervention in other regions. Russia intends to solidify its policy and clout in considering its new Russian model, which it claims is worth monitoring, especially after the successes it made in Libya. Russia has moved ahead with its intervention in a way that ensures achieving these objectives, taking into account the lessons learned from its intervention in Afghanistan and its disastrous consequences. For example, the annual cost of the Russian intervention in Syria did not exceed 2 billion dollars, which is a small budget compared to its overall defense budget. Its fatalities throughout six years did not surpass 300 deaths, according to official tallies. The impact of this figure remains limited on the Russian street compared to the constant ambition of Russia restoring its stature as a main international actor. Russia also succeeded in introducing itself as a mediator between regional and international foes on the Syrian cause, including Iran, Israel, Turkey, the Gulf states, Egypt, Iraq, and the European Union. Its intervention in Syria helped it play a role in Libya and Sudan. The lack of solutions: From the military to the political phase After achieving the desired military triumph, Russia is now experiencing uncertainty since it is hard to maintain equilibrium among all parties. The Syrian regime has bigger confidence in itself as it believes that the Syrian army played the biggest role in achieving victory and has the ability to return and restore control over the whole of Syria without Russia. More accurately, the regime considered that Russia is waging the battle in Syria to achieve its interests and the regime gave it the legitimacy to achieve this. Hence, the regime engages in a foolish head-to-head competition with the Russians. This clearly appeared in the behavior of the Syrian regime in dealing with the Syrian constitutional committee file. The government-backed delegation exercised procrastination and delay, showing complete heedlessness to the Russian desire to achieve progress on this file. After the end of the military phase, though temporarily, the Russians ushered in changing the approach of dealing with the Bashar al-Assad regime. This approach was mainly outlined by the Russian Ministry of Defense. The ministry is considered the number one ally of Assad who promotes his role before the Russian leadership. At the same time, Assad doesnt enjoy the same appeal in the political corridors, and even before Putin himself. Maybe what explains the reason why Russia didnt put the Syrian regime under bigger political pressures is the theory that suggests that putting Assad under bigger pressure will push him to totally rely on Iran and undermines the Russian role. But following the economic deterioration in Iran, Putin embarked on reducing the role of the Ministry of Defense for the sake of political representation through naming political envoys to Syria. The move seeks to enhance Russias ability to impose its political vision. The future of Syria According to what was mentioned by Dr. Andrey at the symposium, it seems that Putin has decided to grant Assad an additional opportunity and perhaps it will be the last one, which is represented in holding the coming presidential election as scheduled. It goes without saying that Assad will win this election, which will not obtain international political legitimacy and wont involve any transparency, nor will it meet any of the international criteria on election integrity. But at the same time, Assad will be required to enforce economic, social, and administrative reforms such as combating corruption and working on bringing home immigrants. The political and legal affairs will remain deadlocked. For example, there will be no progress on the file of the detainees since its unclear whether Assad has intentions to change the doctrine of the security apparatuses and redistribute the power centers within the security and military system showing stubbornness towards any change. In order to push for this change, the Russians hope some UN and European assistance would arrive for renovating schools, hospitals, and power networks although they know the US opposes this proposal as it means moving from the crisis phase to the post-crisis phase. The Western camp refuses this matter and deems it a coalescence to the fait accompli and recognition of the post-crisis phase. But the Russians hope there will be European-Russian cooperation to bring home refugees that would open financial doors. The Russian spokesman responded to a hypothetical question about the Russian withdrawal from Syria by saying that Putins decision to withdraw from Syria and declare military and political victory depends on the existence of a friendly government in Damascus, which maintains the unity of the Syrian territory, prefers to be secular, and respects the economic and military agreements signed between the two countries. Given the lack of the alternative deemed appropriate by the Russians to fulfill these requirements and the distrust between them and the Americans, it is difficult to see cooperation between them, which leads to a transition that ensures the Russians interest. Maybe Iran is the only guarantor for achieving this Russian aspiration, but this seems far-fetched. None of the countries involved in the Syrian file will agree to make Syria entirely controlled by Iran. Dr. Kortunov reiterated that Putin does not pay attention to Assad nor does he respect him. In case the regime in Syria changes in an organized manner, without plunging into chaos and bringing a new personality with more credibility than Assad accepted by the West and fulfills the Russian requirements Russia wont impede such change. While it is certain that Russia doesnt favor moving ahead with this change, it seems that it wont prevent realizing it, provided it is accepted by the West and Iran. What Kortunov mentioned clarifies some aspects of the Russian view of Syria and the possible concessions which Russia could proceed with to end the crisis in Syria. The Russian aim behind the presence in Syria is far bigger and deeper than the crisis itself. For Russia, the resolution mainly depends on its talks with the US and the Western recognition of it, and its constructive international role. This shall be unattainable in the short run. Russias communication with different entities, including the political opposition, the relief bodies, and the Syrian civil society aims solely to strengthen its position within the international community more than its desire or ability to resolve the crisis. When lawmakers met for a brief emergency session last spring, Harris said, we were just starting to get our arms around the fact that some communities suffered far, far more than others, that there was death and disease that impacted some of our neighbors far more than maybe others. REDDING, Calif. Shasta County Secret Witness is offering a reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of 34-year-old Bo Nunn. Investigators said Nunn is currently wanted for his arrest in 10 counts of child molestation. Nunn molested several children over a seven-year period, and frequently raped and sodomized his girlfriend at the time, according to the Shasta County Secret Witness. There is also a $2 million warrant out for his arrest, according to the Redding Police Department. Nunn is a white male adult, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 165 pounds, with black hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information regarding Nunn's current whereabouts is asked to contact the Redding Police Department at 530-225-4200. To give your tip anonymously to Secret Witness, call 530.243.2319 or visit their website. The French schoolgirl who accused her teacher of showing cartoon caricatures of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad to a class in October, which led to his murder and decapitation by an Islamic radical, has admitted she lied about the incident. The 13-year-old girl, whose complaints about her teachers actions led to an online campaign against him, recently admitted she was not even in the class that day. She said she did not see the controversial cartoons of Muhammad personally, but a girl in her class showed them to her, BBC reports. The girl, who is not named, initially told her father that her teacher, Samuel Paty, asked Muslim students to leave the classroom while he showed students cartoons from the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo during a lesson on blasphemy and free speech. This led her father to file a legal complaint, post videos in response to the allegations and begin a social media campaign. The father has been charged in connection with Patys October 2020 murder. Source:The Christian Post 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. Dr. Deborah Birx, who served as Coronavirus Task Force coordinator in the Trump White House, will join a Texas air purifier maker and has signed on as a senior fellow at the George W. Bush Institute. Birx, 64, will serve as chief scientific and medical adviser for ActivePure Technology, according to the company's website. ActivePure Technology, based in Dallas, makes air purifiers that it claims cleans COVID-19 from the air within minutes and from surfaces within hours. In December, the company said it was seeking emergency approval from the FDA for its devices to be used in places from MLB ballparks to schools and business offices, CNBC reported. Birx resigned as the top public health official on the White House coronavirus task force in December after facing criticism for hosting a large family Thanksgiving party in Delaware, the BBC reported. Dr. Deborah Birx, who served as Coronavirus Task Force coordinator in the Trump White House, will join a Texas air purifier maker as chief scientific and medical adviser ActivePure Technology, based in Dallas, makes air purifiers that it claims cleans COVID-19 from the air within minutes and from surfaces within hours In December, the company said it was seeking emergency approval from the FDA for its devices to be used in places from MLB ballparks to schools and business offices The doctor, who initially was interested in a job in the Biden administration, has also landed a role at the George W. Bush Institute - which is housed within the former president's Dallas library. The nonpartisan group works to advance public policy. In that new role, Birx will use her expertise in global health and pandemic response to address health disparities, according to a press release from the organization. Birx has previously worked with the Bush Institute in 2018 as a government official to reduce cervical cancer cases among women living with HIV in 12 African countries. 'I am thrilled to be working with the incredible people and impactful programs at the Bush Institute,' Birx said in the press release. 'The Bush Institute programs put people at the center, recognizing we are stronger when we listen to each other, learn from one another, and come together to do things bigger than any of us could do alone.' Birx also joined the board of the investment firm Innoviva this week, Politico reported. Regulatory filings show that the Bay Area company collects royalties from medicines made by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, the outlet reported. Birx was tapped by former Vice President Mike Pence to manage the Trump administrations response to the COVID-19 but her reputation suffered throughout the pandemic. Former White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah Birx answers a question while meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. President Donald Trump The doctor often clashed with President Donald Trump and other officials who pushed to reopen the country. She also faced criticism for not speaking out more forcefully against the former president's guidance as he played down the virus and spread misinformation about its transmission. Trump repeatedly predicted the virus would disappear and made dangerous suggestions, such as questioning at a news briefing whether ingesting bleach would help cure infected Americans. Birx, an expert in global health, came to the White House at the beginning of the pandemic to help lead the Trump administration's response. B While her friend and former mentor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was promoted to become a top medical adviser to Democratic President Joe Biden, Birx did not get a job in the new administration. Most individuals who received COVID-19 emergency and recovery benefits from the CRA should have their T4A by now and they are encouraged to file their 2020 income tax and benefit return as soon as they can. A federal police officer takes cover behind a shield while clashing with rioters at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore., on July 23, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images) Rioters Attack US Courthouse in Portland Rioters in Portland created chaos at a U.S. courthouse on Thursday, smashing windows, setting fires, and clashing with federal officers. Dozens of people gathered outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland in the afternoon, initially entering the building and refusing to leave. Officers arrived and found about 30 people refusing to leave, some smoking inside, some with pets. The situation escalated when people began damaging property, including a television and the front doors to the building, the Portland Police Bureau wrote in an incident summary. Officers eventually ejected the group and located one suspect on the courthouse steps, arresting him. The man, identified as 22-year-old Darby Howard, resisted arrest and punched an officer in the face, according to the bureau. Rioters returned as night fell. Video footage showed them shattering windows, ripping plywood from the exterior, setting fires, and sparring with law enforcement. No local law enforcement officers were spotted. Federal officers utilized crowd control munitions to force rioters away from the building. Clashes lasted into Friday morning. Darby Howard, 22, was arrested for allegedly being part of a group that trespassed and damaged property at the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., on March 11, 2021. (PPB) Rioters were encouraged to go to the building by a poster that called for action using language often used by the far-left Antifa network. The poster urged people to wear black, adding a Black Lives Matter slogan: No Justice! No Peace! Portland hosts one of the largest Antifa contingents. The members and Black Lives Matter activists participated in the targeting of the courthouse in the summer of 2020, which triggered a federal response to protect the courthouse from being burned to the ground, according to former Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf. Rioters spray-painted ACAB, an anti-police acronym favored by Antifa, and BLM on the side of the courthouse on Thursday. They also wrote: You are trying to destroy us so we will destroy you next to an Antifa symbol. The riot took place just after federal authorities removed a protective fence that was installed around the courthouse because of the repeated attacks last year. Plywood protecting windows had also been removed, but was put back up following the actions in the afternoon. The recent protests and riots in the city have been made up of self-described anarchists, Robert King, Mayor Ted Wheelers senior public safety adviser, told KOIN, adding: The mayor will meet this week with the Acting U.S. Attorney to talk more about this group and potential assistance from the US Attorneys office and other federal entities to hold individuals involved in this conduct accountable. A rioter throws a flaming object toward the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse after breaking through the perimeter fence, in Portland, Ore., on July 22, 2020. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images) The police bureaus deputy chief, Chris Davis, said that protesting is fine. Thats not what were talking about, he said. With this group, this is a small group that is bent on destroying things. And what they want is a conflict. My advice isdont give them a conflict. The bureau said in a tweet late Thursday officials were aware of events planned for Friday and this weekend and offered assistance to organizers to better ensure a safe environment for event participants and non-participating community members. The bureau referred The Epoch Times to its incident summary; a spokesman for Oregons acting U.S. Attorney Scott Asphaug declined to comment. The Department of Homeland Security didnt respond to an inquiry. Wheeler, a Democrat who oversees the bureau and was reelected last year, announced earlier Thursday he wants $2 million in funding for the police and other agencies to try to cut down on shootings in the city, which have spiked over the past year. The City and its partners are working hard to prevent and reduce gun violence. Its a public health crisis thats harming our entire community, he said in a tweet this week. Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Oregons U.S. attorney. The Epoch Times regrets the error. Hidden inside a Malaga warehouse the National Police have made an incredible discovery - they uncovered what is believed to be the first narco-submarine to be constructed in Europe. In an important strike against international drug trafficking the officers also arrested 50 people. In addition to the arrests, more than three tonnes of cocaine were seized during the operation and drug laboratories have been uncovered. The semi-submersible vessel, which is nine metres in length by three metres wide and three metres deep, can navigate underwater - although close to the surface - and has the capacity to transport up to two tonnes of drugs. Sources said the craft is equipped with two engines and, was ready to be launched soon. Apparently, it was going to be used for hashish trafficking through the Strait of Gibraltar. It is believed to be the first narco-submarine to have been built in Europe. The first vessel of its type to to be seen in Spain arrived from Colombia in November 2019, at the Galician port of Aldan. At 20 metres in length it was loaded with three tonnes of cocaine. KYODO NEWS - Mar 12, 2021 - 02:39 | All, Coronavirus, World The French government said Thursday it will remove Japan and six other countries from a travel ban imposed on non-European Union nations since late January to prevent the spread of variants of the novel coronavirus. While the travel ban targeting non-essential trips will be dropped as of Friday for the seven countries, travelers between France and these countries will still be required to present documents proving they tested negative for the coronavirus 72 hours prior to departure, the French Foreign Ministry said. The six other countries include Australia, Britain and South Korea. The ministry noted the variant of the coronavirus that was detected in Britain has been rampant in France, while also taking into account the situations in the seven countries. On Jan. 31, France imposed the travel restrictions on countries outside the EU. The measure will continue to apply to non-EU countries other than the seven. President Biden addressed the nation Thursday night and made some claims that weren't entirely true. In his speech, Biden claimed that Covid-19 has taken more American lives 'than World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined.' According to the CDC, 527,726 Americans have so far died from coronavirus - a number that is less than the 580,000 lives lost during the events mentioned by Biden. Throughout the 24 minute address, Biden touted his administration's vaccine rollout and made misleading claims of the timeliness of Trump's response to the virus and the number of vaccines the former president's administration ordered. Biden gave his first prime time address on Thursday night, declaring that all American adults would be able to have their first vaccine dose by May 1 According to the CDC, 527,726 Americans have so far died from coronavirus - a number than is less than the 580,000 lives lost during the events mentioned 'As of now, total deaths in America, 527,726. That's more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined.' Biden's claim of a high death rate was among his biggest blunder in the speech. Worldwide, in World War I there were 116,516 deaths, World War II saw 405,399, Vietnam had 58,220 and about 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. If Biden would have specified American casualties in all four events, then his math would have been correct. 'We're actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this. None,' he said. The president went on to tout the number of vaccinated Americans. While it is true that no other country has vaccinated as many people as the U.S., smaller countries have vaccines more of their total population. The U.S. has vaccinated 95 million people - or about 19% of the population - while smaller countries like Israel, Chile and the U.K. have vaccinated more people per capita. 'Two months ago this country didn't have nearly enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all or anywhere near all of the American public. But soon we will,' Biden claimed. This is not entirely true as by the end of 2020, the Trump administration had ordered at least 800million doses that were expected for delivery by July 31, 2021, the Government Accountability Office reported. And according to the CDC, about 62.4% of people over 65 have received one dose, with just 32.2% fully vaccinated. The U.S. has vaccinated 95 million people - or about 19% of the population - while smaller countries like Israel, Chile and the U.K. have vaccinated more people per capita 'When I took office 50 days ago, only 8% of Americans after months, only 8% of those over the age of 65 had gotten their first vaccination. Today, that number is 65%,' he said. Biden's claim is an exaggeration. When he took office on January 20, the vaccinations were already underway after the FDA authorized Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use in December. Biden's claims of the vaccine having been available for 'months' is incorrect. When he took office the vaccine had only been available for one month. 'A year ago we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, then months.' While Trump did downplay the seriousness of the pandemic for months, by this time last year Trump addressed the nation and acknowledged the threat. The address was on March 12, 2020 and at the time Trump announced new travel restrictions for Europe. 'I set a goal that many of you said was kind of way over the top. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in people's arms in my first hundred days in office,' he said. President Biden took a shot at those who questioned his ambitious vaccine rollout plan. According to the Washington Post, many experts called the plan 'ambitious' but not impossible. The New York Times said that 'fulfilling it will require no hiccups in manufacturing or distributing the vaccine and a willingness by Americans to be vaccinated.' 'We've been working with vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, to manufacture and purchase hundreds of millions of doses of these three safe, effective vaccines,' Biden said in his address. He continued: 'Now, at the direction and with the assistance of my administration, Johnson & Johnson is working together with a competitor, Merck, to speed up and increase the capacity to manufacture new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is one shot. In fact, just yesterday, I announced, and I met with the CEOs of both companies. I announced our plan to buy an additional 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines.' Biden has since been slammed for taking sole credit for America's vaccine roll-out, despite the fact his Administration has heavily relied on Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed initiative. Sean Hannity led the outrage stating on his Fox News show: 'Joe, you want unity? Why don't you just thank Donald Trump? You want us all to get along, you say. No Trump, no vaccine, Joe. Stop trying to take credit for something, frankly, you had nothing to do with. Nothing.' Meanwhile, Katie Pavlich told her 807,000 Twitter followers: 'Biden taking credit for the vaccine is just absolutely astonishing, but not surprising'. Conservative commentators are now criticizing the Commander-in-chief for failing to acknowledge the role his predecessor played in the vaccine process 'Who let him out of the basement?' actor Terrence K. Williams asked. 'Joe Biden is taking credit for the things President Trump made happen in this horrible presidential address. Operation Warp Speed created by Trump is the reason the rollout of the vaccine is successful.' The Trump Administration established Operation Warp Speed last April to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID vaccines. The public-private partnership has been lauded by people on both sides of the aisle. In recent days, even mainstream media outlets such as ABC and The New York Times have credited Trump with contributing the success of the vaccines. Both publications have criticized Biden for failing to truthfully acknowledge that fact. ADVERTISEMENT The wife of Ekiti State governor, Bisi Fayemi, has warned government workers against sexual harassment. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Fayemi condemned the act on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti at a special Public Service programme in commemoration of International Womens Day. She explained that dress codes in Civil Service should be for both gender and indecent dressing should not be accepted as the basis for sexual harassment. She added: Public service is an institution guided by rules and regulations and as such, deliberate efforts are put in place for public servants to appreciate the essence of service with dignity. The fact that Ekiti State promotes issues relating to gender equality, empowerment for the girl-child and women via necessary legislation, enforcement, advocacy, enlightenment and support for victims of gender-based violence cannot be controverted. The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Wale Fapohunda, urged the Head of Service to create gender-based violence policies to complement those created by the Ministry of Justice. Mr Fapohunda explained that the Public Service of the state has zero-tolerance for gender-based violence, as the Ministry of Justice gets complaints of sexual harassments often. He maintained that gender-based violence should be treated as an everyday intervention and complaints should not be treated like any other complaints. In her address of welcome, the Head of Service, Peju Babafemi, disclosed that a study would be conducted to stem sexual harassment in the Civil Service. She said that Women In Management (WIM) would raise a voice against sexual violence and mentor young female officers. The Secretary to the State Government, Abiodun Oyebanji, and other top government officials also decried sexual harassment in the service and advised that serious measures be taken to fight it. The programme featured the inauguration of WIM group and a lecture entitled Understanding Workplace Sexual Harassment For Effective Policy Formulation And Implementation: Ogun State Experience. The lecture was delivered by the Director, Commercial Services, Ogun Ministry of Justice, Jumoke Adewole. (NAN) Palmdale, CA (93550) Today Plenty of sunshine with gusty winds developing this afternoon. Hot. High 101F. WSW winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 70F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Thailand has delayed use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine after several European countries temporarily suspended the jabs following reports of blood clots in some people. A publicity event with Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha receiving his first jab was cancelled, with dozens of media attending, less than an hour before the scheduled start. Instead, health officials held a news conference to explain the delay was based on the decision made by Denmark, Austria and others, as a precaution. The Danish health authority said on Thursday it has no evidence the vaccine was responsible for blood clots. Other experts pointed out that of the millions of AstraZeneca vaccine jabs administered elsewhere, including in the UK, there have been no reported cases of the vaccine causing blood clots or related problems. Yong Poovorawan, an adviser to Thailands vaccination programme, said the delay pending an investigation into the cause of the reported side effect will not have a big impact on the rollout. Thailand started its vaccination drive last month with an initial 200,000 doses of Chinas Sinovac and 117,000 doses of AstraZeneca, which is also being manufactured locally. The country aims to administer 10 million doses per month from June, and plans to cover at least half its population by the end of the year, though some say the campaign is too slow and inadequate. The company has fixed 20 March 2021 as the record date for the dividend. The board of Bharat Dynamics approved payment of interim dividend for the Financial Year 2020-21 at Rs 6.70 per share of the face value of Rs 10 each. The record date is set on 20 March 2021. Shares of Bharat Dynamics were up 0.74% at Rs 362.65 on BSE. At the ruling market price, the dividend yields work out to 1.85%. Bharat Dynamics manufactures defense equipment. The company offers ammunitions, counter measures dispensing, infra-red interference indicators, and missile systems. It serves military and aerospace industries in India. As of 31 December 2020, the Government of India held 74.93% stake in the company. The company's standalone net profit fell 7.5% to Rs 49.19 crore on 8.9% decline in net sales to Rs 451.56 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Nebraska lawmaker who is a leading supporter of medical marijuana has warned her fellow senators that the issue will likely appear on the 2022 ballot if they dont pass a legalization measure this year. Sen. Anna Wishart, of Lincoln, said advocates will propose a one-sentence ballot measure through a citizen-led petition drive if the bill in the Legislatures Judiciary Committee doesnt become law. A divided Nebraska Supreme Court stripped a legalization measure off the ballot last year after concluding that its wording violated the state constitutions single-subject rule, which bars activists from bunching multiple issues into a single yes-or-no question for voters to address. The court ruled, 5-2, that the ballot measure at the time contained multiple subjects, including the right to use cannabis, the right to grow it, and how to regulate it. The new ballot proposal seeks to avoid that problem so it can survive a legal challenge, but it would make the legalization measure much broader, with fewer regulations. Several senators on the Judiciary Committee said theyre confident the new ballot measure will pass this time if lawmakers dont act on it. Opponents, including Gov. Pete Ricketts, said theyre concerned about unintended health consequences. Topics Legislation Cannabis Nebraska US President Joe Biden will meet on Friday with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan, a group central to his efforts to counter China's growing military and economic power. The White House said the virtual meeting of the countries known as the Quad would show the importance Biden placed on the Indo-Pacific region and focus on ways to fight the coronavirus, cooperate on economic growth and the climate crisis. India and Australia have emphasized the importance of regional security cooperation, which has been boosted by previous lower-level meetings of the four countries. A senior Biden administration official told Reuters the meeting would announce financing agreements to support an increase in manufacturing capacity for coronavirus vaccines in India, something New Delhi has urged to counter China's widening vaccine diplomacy. The United States wants to strengthen ties with allies and partners as China adopts an increasingly assertive foreign policy in Asia and beyond. Washington says the additional vaccine capacity will be used in vaccination efforts in Southeast Asia, where Beijing is competing for influence. The virtual meeting between Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will aim to lay the groundwork for an in-person meeting later this year, the administration said. Among the issues to be addressed are supply chains exposed as heavily reliant on China during the pandemic. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday that the four countries would work together to secure rare earth metals essential to the production of electric car motors and other products. The US official told Reuters on Tuesday the United States and Japan would help fund Indian firms manufacturing vaccines for U.S. drugmakers Novavax Inc and J&J. However, Indian government sources said US curbs on exports of critical materials could hamper that effort and those to start large-scale distribution to Southeast Asia. India, Australia and Japan have all faced security challenges from China, strengthening their interest in the four-nation alliance. Cooperation among them dates back to their joint response to the Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami in 2004. The Quad was revived under the Trump administration, which saw it as a vehicle to push back against China's spreading influence. The United States hosted a foreign ministers' meeting in 2019, that was followed by another in Japan last year and a virtual session in February. Friday's meeting coincides with a major US diplomatic drive to solidify alliances in Asia and Europe to counter China. On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will head to Japan and South Korea for the first meetings between senior officials of the Biden administration and US allies - underscoring the critical importance Washington places on Asia and the China challenge. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will join Blinken in Alaska next week for a meeting with China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor Wang Yi, the first high-level in-person contact between the two sparring countries under the Biden administration. Washington has said it will not hold back in its criticism of Beijing over issues ranging from Taiwan to Hong Kong and the genocide it says China is committing against minority Muslims. Biden's administration has committed to reviewing elements of policies toward China, in consultation with allies, as the world's two largest economies navigate frosty relations that sank to their lowest depths in decades during Donald Trump's presidency. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first phone call as leaders last month and appeared at odds on most issues, even as Xi warned that confrontation would be a "disaster" for both nations. Also read: PM Modi to participate in 1st Quad summit today; focus on vaccine supply, Indo-Pacific region Also read: WHO still struggling to manage pandemic response 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. OMAHA, Neb., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance defense firm, Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan , welcomes attorney John Denberger today. Denberger's extensive experience on workers' compensation cases will help the firm provide even more robust support for their clients. Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan has built a strong reputation for swiftly settling cases and fighting relentlessly in court to deliver successful verdicts. Much of their success stems from the firm's collaborative approach to defense. Denberger will help strengthen this aggressive team effort. "We feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to bring John on board," says Daniel Lenaghan, Partner at Sodoro, Mooney, and Lenaghan. "His expertise and wisdom will help further our firm's mission to provide the best legal product and customer service." Denberger completed his undergrad at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and he graduated from the Creighton University School of Law. Since then he has made a career out of tirelessly defending workers' compensation cases for insurance carriers, self-insureds, and insureds. He is ready to get to work with the team at SML and make sure their clients' needs are met. Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan is a full-service law firm answering to the legal needs of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota. For more information, or to contact the team at Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan, go to smllawoffice.com or email Kelsey Sievers at [email protected] or (402) 504-9346. SOURCE Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan 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 By Moses Ndhaye The ministry of health says misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine must be fought because it is likely to reduce its uptake. The Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine has asked the eligible sections of the population that have already been identified to access the vaccine to respect the governments call and ensure that they get vaccinated. Dr. Atwine was receiving a donation of PCR coronavirus test machines worth over Shs1bn from the Private Sector Foundation and MasterCard Foundation to help the ministry of health leverage the COVID-19 testing across the country. The Private sector Foundation is Ugandas umbrella body for the private sector made up of 240 Business Associations, Corporate bodies and the major Public Sector Agencies that support private sector growth. 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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region An Armenian man in a California prison for the 1982 assassination of the Turkish consul general to Los Angeles will be released on parole, in a decision that drew a rebuke from the U.S. State Department and the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Hampig Harry Sassounian, an ethnic Armenian immigrant to the United States, was convicted in 1984 for shooting dead Turkish diplomat Kemal Arikan when he had stopped at a traffic light in Los Angeles. A member of an Armenian militant organization that carried out a string of attacks on Turkish interests across the globe, Sassounian was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but an appeals court later overruled that judgment. In 2002, prosecutors cut a deal that made Sassounian, who is now 58, eligible for parole in exchange for a declaration renouncing terrorism and admitting guilt. He had applied for parole on several occasions but was unsuccessful until a judge recently granted it. A spokeswoman for California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had previously opposed granting parole, told AFP he had decided not to challenge the ruling. "The governor has carefully weighed the factors in this case and will not pursue an appeal," the spokeswoman said. The decision drew a sharp response from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which has had its diplomats killed in the 1970s and '80s by Armenian militants seeking revenge for the World War I-era massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. This grave decision, that could not be reversed despite all attempts of the U.S. administration, is in conflict with the universal principles of law and the understanding of justice, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that 58 Turkish citizens, including 31 diplomats, have lost their lives as a result of attacks carried out by Armenian terrorist organizations. The State Department issued a statement saying it was deeply disappointed by the parole decision. "Attacking a diplomat is not only a grave crime against a particular individual, it is also an attack on diplomacy itself. To ensure the safety of the dedicated U.S. diplomats serving around the world, it has been the long-standing position of the United States to advocate that those who assassinate diplomats receive the maximum sentence possible, and that they serve those sentences without parole or early release, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. During and immediately after World War I, as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from Anatolia. Many historians, Armenia, and more than 30 countries consider the killings genocide. As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide. Ankara says that about 500,000 Armenians died as a result of civil strife, disease, and starvation rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate them. Turkey also asserts that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died in Anatolia at the time due to combat, starvation, cold, and disease. With reporting by AFP 04/03/2021 Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald TD during a Sinn Fein press brieifng on the Plinth at Leinster House on Kildare Street, Dublin. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins Sinn Fein will seek a further meeting with Boris Johnson after he refused to meet the party on a visit to Northern Ireland. Mary Lou McDonald has said that the party declined a photo op with the British Prime Minister after he agreed to meet with with DUP leader Arlene Foster, but not Sinn Fein. We have serious business to transact with Boris Johnson," she said. We will be reaching out to Downing Street again and seeking that meeting without further delay. She said that she was not disappointed and that there are serious matters to deal with. The British Government does not want to face its failures, according to Ms McDonald. I can only surmise that the British Government is not minded to face up to its own failures and the fact that they are in default of an agreement that we struck with them and the other parties just a year ago. I certainly think that the British Government and the British Prime Minister is trying to evade his responsibilities. I know that there are serious matters that we have agreed and that have not been delivered. Speaking at Leinster House this afternoon, Ms McDonald said that Mr Johnsons first concern is himself and his Government. It is very clear that Boris Johnsons first concern is to himself and his Tory Government. He has no track record of acting in good faith or honouring the agreements that we have entered into. That is his form but that is not acceptable. The Prime Ministers visit to Northern Ireland comes amid increasing tensions within Unionism and Arlene Fosters party over the Northern Ireland Protocol and its new post-Brexit restrictions. Sources say the Sinn Fein leaders had been seeking a meeting with Mr Johnson to discuss the Brexit fall-out as well as legacy issues relating to last years New Decade New Approach agreement. As a result, Ms ONeill, the regions Deputy First Minister, was not invited to meet him and as a result, declined to attend any of his engagements in Enniskillen and Belfast. YEREVAN -- Armenia has announced it will hold military drills next week that will coincide with similar maneuvers by rival and neighbor Azerbaijan. Last fall, the two nations fought over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts that had been occupied by ethnic Armenian forces for almost three decades. The conflict ended with a peace deal that allowed Baku to reinstate its control over the districts and some parts of the breakaway region. "According to the plan of the first half of 2021, the armed forces of Armenia will hold tactical and professional maneuvers on all operative directions with the involvement of combined armed groups and special troops," the Armenian Defense Ministry said on March 12. The ministry added that 7,500 troops, 200 missile and artillery units, some 100 armored vehicles, more than 90 anti-aircraft units, and various aircraft would be involved in the exercises. On March 10, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced plans for military maneuvers from March 15 -18. According to the ministry, the drills would include up to 10,000 troops, about 100 tanks and other armored vehicles, up to 200 missile and artillery units, up to 30 aircraft units, and drones of different types. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on March 12 that the planned exercises do not pose a threat to the South Caucasus region. "According to the data we have, the maneuvers... have been planned beforehand with a purpose to polish the military preparedness of the troops, and they do not impose any risks for stability and security in the region," Zakharova said. The six-week war last year ended with a Russia-brokered agreement on November 10, resulting in the deployment of 2,000 Russian peacekeeping forces to the conflict zone. Many Armenians have seen the accord as a humiliation and have taken to the streets to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian step down. He has refused to resign. With reporting by TASS and Interfax Dont know if you watched Quiz on RTE One recently. Quiz was a three part series about Major Charles Ingrams appearance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and how he won the million. And how he cheated! (It may still be on the RTE Player). Me, I was glued to it. I wanted to see how the cheating, ie the coughing was managed. I also wanted to see the outcome of the ensuing court case (I genuinely had forgotten) but above all I was glued to it because yours truly appeared on the Irish version of the show with the late Gay Byrne back in 2001 - the same year as the coughing episode across the water! What really intrigued me was how Major Ingrams wife, Diana, had gotten on the show. Her brother had been on it before her and I thought perhaps when yet another family member, namely her husband, managed to make it on to the show someone might have smelled a rat. And there was a rat, or rather a system. But Im not getting into all that because its a tad complicated and besides there are no less than three programmes on YouTube regarding the scandal, including the entire episode of the infamous show itself. What I really want to write about is how Diana Ingram and Gerry Moran got on their respective screenings of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? I should mention here that Mrs Ingram went on the win 32,000, as did her brother before her. Gerry Moran went on to win nothing because his finger wasnt fast enough and he failed to make it into the hot seat with Gay. But heres what fascinated me: Diana Ingram made over 300 calls to the show in the hope of getting on. And the calls paid off. And how many calls did Gerry Moran make to get on the show? Give a guess. Ten? Twenty? One hundred? Two hundred? Nope. Gerry Moran made NO calls to the show! None whatsoever! And I had better explain because the only way of getting on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was to answer a general knowledge question advertised on radio and ring the accompanying telephone number with that answer (and there was no way of cheating with this). So, Gerry, how did you manage to make it on to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? without going through the necessary protocol? Were you cheating Mr Moran? I wouldnt know how. Then again, if I had known how well. well I just might have been tempted. It all started in a pub. In Thomastown. My wife and I were with two other couples when I casually, by way of making conversation, asked them the general knowledge question Id heard on the radio that day for a chance to get on to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The question was simple; they always are, as the WWTBAM? people make their money from the phone calls. The more. The merrier. The more money. One of our company took a mobile phone (when few of us had one) from his pocket and dialled the easy-to-remember number of the show that I gladly gave him. Same again? he asked as he walked to the bar with the phone to his ear. And that was that. Until two days later my house phone rang. Hi, is that Gerry? Gerry Moran? It is. This is Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? your phone number has been randomly chosen to answer a question which may result in you appearing on WWTBAM? Jesus, Mary and Holy St Joseph my friend - the fecker - had obviously given my name and phone number when answering instead of his own. Do you wish to proceed, Gerry? Sure what could I say? And the possibility of winning a million pounds (or even a thousand) flashing before my eyes. Yes. Gerry, you have 10 seconds (at least I think it was 10) to answer, your answer will be put into the system and we will ring back to let you know whether youve made it. Are you ready? Of course I wasnt but what the hell. Gerry, what, do you think, is the area of Greenland? Good Jesus! Greenland! Where exactly is that? Up around Iceland, Im thinking. Only its bigger. Much bigger. We need an answer, Gerry. Gerry throws out an answer. Dont ask me what my answer was but when I checked out Greenland later I thought: good luck, goodbye and goodnight to your chances of appearing on WWTBAM? About an hour later the phone rang. Gerry youve been one of the 12 (I think) chosen to be on WWTBAM? Are you happy to go on the show? Am I what? Yes, I meekly reply. I could only assume that many of the other hopefuls knew even less about Greenland than I did. And the rest, as they say, is history. The history of how yours truly appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? And knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. About coughing! Proteins are the key component in all modern forms of life. Haemoglobin, for example, transports the oxygen in our blood; photosynthesis proteins in the leaves of plants convert sunlight into energy; and fungal enzymes help us to brew beer and bake bread. Researchers have long been examining the question of how proteins mutate or come into existence in the course of millennia. That completely new proteins - and, with them, new properties - can emerge practically out of nothing, was inconceivable for decades, in line with what the Greek philosopher Parmenides said: "Nothing can emerge from nothing" (ex nihilo nihil fit). Working with colleagues from the USA and Australia, researchers from the University of Munster (Germany) have now reconstructed how evolution forms the structure and function of a newly emerged protein in flies. This protein is essential for male fertility. The results have been published in the journal "Nature Communications". The background: It had been assumed up to now that new proteins emerge from already existing proteins - by a duplication of the underlying genes and by a series of small mutations in one or both gene copies. In the past ten years, however, a new understanding of protein evolution has come about: proteins can also develop from so-called non-coding DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - in other words, from that part of the genetic material which does not normally produce proteins - and can subsequently develop into functional cell components. This is surprising for several reasons: for many years, it had been assumed that, in order to be functional, proteins had to take on a highly developed geometrical form (a "3D structure"). It had further been assumed that such a form could not develop from a gene emerging at random, but would require a complex combination of amino-acids enabling this protein to exist in its functional form. Despite decades of trying, researchers worldwide have not yet succeeded in constructing proteins with the desired 3D structures and functions, which means that the "code" for the formation of a functioning protein is essentially unknown. While this task remains a puzzle for scientists, nature has proven to be more adept at the formation of new proteins. A team of researchers headed by Prof. Erich Bornberg-Bauer, from the Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Munster, discovered, by comparing the newly analysed genomes in numerous organisms, that species not only differ through duplicated protein-coding genes adapted in the course of evolution. In addition, proteins are constantly being formed de novo ("anew") - i.e. without any related precursor protein going through a selection process. The vast majority of these de novo proteins are useless, or even slightly deleterious, as they can interfere with existing proteins in the cell. Such new proteins are quickly lost again after several generations, as organisms carrying the new gene encoding the protein have impaired survival or reproduction. However, a select few de novo proteins prove to have beneficial functions. These proteins integrate into the molecular components of cells and eventually, after millions of years of minor modifications, become indispensable. There are some important questions which many reearchers wonder about in this context: How do such novel proteins look like upon birth? How do they change, and which functions do they assume as the "new kids on the block"? Spearheaded by Prof. Bornberg-Bauer's group in Munster, an international team of researchers has answered this question in much detail for "Goddard", a fruit fly protein that is essential for male fertility. Methodology The research proceeded on three related fronts across three continents. At the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, USA, Dr. Prajal Patel and Prof. Geoff Findlay used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to show that male flies that do not produce Goddard are sterile, but otherwise healthy. Meanwhile, Dr. Andreas Lange and PhD student Brennen Heames of Prof. Bornberg-Bauer's group used biochemical techniques to predict the shape of the novel protein in present-day flies. They then used evolutionary methods to reconstruct the likely structure of Goddard ~50 million years ago when the protein first arose. What they found was quite a surprise: "The ancestral Goddard protein looked already very much like the ones which exist in fly species today" Erich Bornberg-Bauer explains. "Right from the beginning, Goddard contained some structural elements, so called alpha-helices, which are believed to be essential for most proteins." To confirm these findings, the scene shifted to the Australian National University in Canberra, where Dr. Adam Damry and Prof. Colin Jackson used intensive, computational simulations to verify the predicted shape of the Goddard protein. They validated the structural analysis of Dr. Lange and showed that Goddard, in spite of its young age, is already quite stable - though not quite as stable as most fly proteins that are believed to have existed for longer, perhaps hundreds of millions of years. The results match up with several other current studies, which have shown that the genomic elements from which protein-coding genes emerge are activated frequently - tens of thousands of times in each individual. These fragments are then "sorted" through the process of evolutionary selection. The ones which are useless or harmful - the vast majority - are quickly discarded. But those which are neutral, or are slightly beneficial, can be optimized over millions of years and changed into something useful. ### Funding The research undertaken received funding from the European Grant EsCat within the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme No. 722610 (Munster), from the ARC Centres of Excellence in Peptide and Protein Science and Synthetic Biology (Australia), and from an NSF CAREER Grant #1652013 (USA). Texas Can Remove Planned Parenthood From Medicaid Program, Judge Rules A state district court has given the green light for Texas to remove Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program. In her ruling on Wednesday, State District Judge Lora Livingston sided with state officials, who have been seeking to oust Planned Parenthood from Medicaid since 2015. The abortion provider sued the state last month, arguing that its health clinics were not properly notified about terminating the Medicaid agreement before their Medicaid funds were cut off. Livingston, who granted last month a 14-day extension of Planned Parenthoods Medicaid funding, wrote in her decision that since Planned Parenthood has already challenged its termination in a federal court, its not up to a state court to determine whether state officials didnt followed the proper termination procedures. In November, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision that had blocked Texas from removing Planned Parenthood in 2017, ruling that Medicaid beneficiaries dont have the right to challenge how states determine which providers are qualified to receive the programs funding. This decision is not made lightly, Livingston wrote. In the light of the ongoing public health crisis, the risks of the individual losing health care and medical attention requires increased attention and scrutiny. Planned Parenthood decried the decision, saying that thousands of low-income patients who use its clinics for services that are not related to abortion, such as STD testing and cancer screenings, will be forced to find new providers. The 8,000 Planned Parenthood patients who rely on Medicaid should be able to access care at the provider they know and trust. Without access to the comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care Planned Parenthood provides, thousands of lives are now at even greater risk, Dyana Limon-Mercado, the executive director for Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, said in a statement. The state effort to exclude Planned Parenthood from Texas Medicaid started in 2015, when pro-life organization Center for Medical Progress published a video showing representatives of a Houston clinic talking about selling fetal tissue to researchers. Undercover video plainly showed Planned Parenthood admitting to morally bankrupt and unlawful conduct, including violations of federal law by manipulating the timing and methods of abortions to obtain fetal tissue for their own research, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said last year. Planned Parenthood is not a qualified provider under the Medicaid Act, and it should not receive public funding through the Medicaid program. At the federal level, Medicaid funding has been restricted for abortions for decades by whats commonly known as the Hyde Amendment. Enacted in 1976, three years after the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, the Hyde Amendment blocks federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment. It is not a permanent statute, but exists by being added to federal spending bills every year. Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Tseyi in Navajo) in Arizona is located on Navajo Nation land. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Working with the Navajo Nation, the rover team has named features on Mars with words from the Navajo language. The first scientific focus of NASA's Perseverance rover is a rock named "Maaz"the Navajo word for "Mars." The rover's team, in collaboration with the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President, has been naming features of scientific interest with words in the Navajo language. Surface missions assign nicknames to landmarks to provide the mission's team members, which number in the thousands, a common way to refer to rocks, soils, and other geologic features of interest. Previous rover teams have named features after regions of geologic interest on Earth as well as people and places related to expeditions. Although the International Astronomical Union designates official names for planetary features, these informal names are used as reference points by the team. Before launch, Perseverance's team divided the Jezero Crater landing site into a grid of quadrangles, or "quads," that are roughly 1 square mile (1.5 square kilometers) in size. The team decided to name these quads after national parks and preserves on Earth with similar geology. Perseverance touched down in the quad named for Arizona's Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Tseyi' in Navajo), in the heart of the Navajo Nation. The team's plan was to compile a list of names inspired by each quad's national park that could be used to name features observed by Perseverance. Mission scientists worked with a Navajo (or Dine) engineer on the team, Aaron Yazzie of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, to seek the Navajo Nation's permission and collaboration in naming new features on Mars. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, Vice President Myron Lizer, and their advisors made a list of words in the Navajo language available to the rover's team. Some terms were inspired by the terrain imaged by Perseverance at its landing site. For example, one suggestion was "tsewozi bee hazhmeezh," or "rolling rows of pebbles, like waves." Yazzie added suggestions like "strength" ("bidziil") and "respect" ("ho nili") to the list. Perseverance itself was translated to "Ha'ahoni." This rock, called "Maaz" (the Navajo word for "Mars"), is the first feature of scientific interest to be studied by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech "The partnership that the Nez-Lizer Administration has built with NASA will help to revitalize our Navajo language," said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez. "We hope that having our language used in the Perseverance mission will inspire more of our young Navajo people to understand the importance and the significance of learning our language. Our words were used to help win World War II, and now we are helping to navigate and learn more about the planet Mars." The Perseverance team has a list of 50 names to start with. The team will work with the Navajo Nation on more names in the future as the rover continues to explore. "This fateful landing on Mars has created a special opportunity to inspire Navajo youth not just through amazing scientific and engineering feats, but also through the inclusion of our language in such a meaningful way," Yazzie said. However, for Perseverance to recognize landmarks that have been labeled in Navajo, it has to be "taught" the language. The accent marks used in the English alphabet to convey the unique intonation of the Navajo language cannot be read by the computer languages Perseverance uses. Yazzie noted that while they work hard to come up with translations that best resemble Navajo spellings, the team will use English letters without special characters or punctuation to represent Navajo words. "We are very proud of one of our very own, Aaron Yazzie, who is playing a vital role in NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Mission," President Nez said. "We are excited for the NASA team and for Aaron and we see him as being a great role model who will inspire more interest in the STEM fields of study and hopefully inspire more of our young people to pursue STEM careers to make even greater impacts and contributions just as Aaron is doing. As the mission continues, we offer our prayers for continued success." Scientists on the team have embraced the opportunity to learn Navajo words and their meaning, said Perseverance Deputy Project Scientist Katie Stack Morgan of JPL. "This partnership is encouraging the rover's science team to be more thoughtful about the names being considered for features on Marswhat they mean both geologically and to people on Earth," Stack Morgan said. YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Ayvazian gave an interview to Al-Arabiya news agency, referring to the domestic political situation in Armenia, Turkeys participation in the war against Artsakh unleashed by Azerbaijan and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the MFA Armenia, the interview runs as follows, Question: Now from Abu Dhabi via ZOOM we connect with His Excellency Ara Aivazian, Foreign Minister of Armenia. Welcome to the program. First, what are the reasons for President Sargsyan to decline the signing of the decree. Ara Aivazian: Well, thank you, indeed, it is a pleasure to be with you. Of course, you know that we have a very complicated situation in the aftermath of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh. The situation also had its repercussions on the internal situation in Armenia. Of course, we are now confronting internal difficulties, but I would like to emphasize the fact that Armenia is a democracy, may not a perfect one. And the recent years we witnessed significant achievements in this regard. This is the path of development that we have chosen and we are not going to backtrack from this path. As for the internal processes within Armenia, this is going on strictly upon the provisions of the Constitution. And its my conviction that the current difficulties can be overcome through dialogue, consolidation and unification of our society both in Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to safeguard and protect our state and national interests. Question: Mr. Ayvazian, you said the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh was the cause of the political crisis in Armenia and the attempted coup. Ara Aivazian: Of course, the results of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan had its negative impact on internal stability in Armenia but I strongly disagree with the qualification of the attempted coup d'etat in Armenia. Question: This is not an attempted coup, so what is it Minister? Ara Aivazian: This was a kind of political positioning of some members of General Stuff. They just made a political statement, which is not an attempted coup itself. This was also the assessment of different countries and international organizations. There are no elements of a coup d'etat in Armenia. And Armenia continues to be a democracy and the current situation, as I said, will be dealt according to democratic standards in our society. Question: Minister, Armenia said, that without Turkeys support to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan would not have achieved military victory against Armenia. What is your assessment of Turkeys involvement in the crisis? Ara Aivazian: Well, its not a secret that Turkey played and continues to play an extremely destabilizing role in our region. That role was vividly exposed during recent 44-day aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan. That country not only merely supported Azerbaijan, but was strictly involved in all military actions and phases of this aggression started from planning to ground operations. Id like to recall that Turkey together with Azerbaijan on the threshold of the war conducted a large-scale military drill with the involvement of Turkish air force. That country resorted to the non-usual toolkit: export of foreign terrorist fighters to our region for its power projection. The involvement of Turkish-affiliated foreign terrorist fighters in the war is a well-known fact that was confirmed by international media, world leaders, and many international bodies, such as the UN Working Group on Mercenaries. And it is also verified by captured terrorists who revealed the chain from recruitment to their transfer to the region. Hundred and six years have passed since the Armenian Genocide, yet Turkey continues to spearhead new atrocities against Armenia now in our region. Yet the South Caucasus is not the only target of Turkey. World has continuously witnessed the destabilizing role of Turkey in the Middle East, in the Eastern Mediterranean and now in the South Caucasus. Impunity inspires and entails new crimes, and these words are fully describing the attitude and stance of Turkey towards its neighbours. Question: Minister, you spoke about Turkeys role in the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. And you said Turkey provided fighters in the conflict. Is this role of Turkey still going on? Ara Aivazian: Well, both Azerbaijan and Turkey are now claiming that conflict is solved. And by saying this they tried to validate the use of force as an effective means, legitimate means to solve the conflicts. I would like to stress that this is a very dangerous precedent for conflict resolutions in international relations. Now we are hearing confusing messages from official Ankara. And I would like to say that based on the common past with Turkey, its high time not to be guided by the messages but real actions. And I believe that the international community should play a conducive role that Turkey changes its aggressive attitude towards Armenia. Regarding foreign terrorist fighters and mercenaries, which were exported, transferred to our region, I think this is an issue of regional and international security and that issue should be solved by an unequivocal stance of the international community. The terrorist fighters and mercenaries should be pulled out from our region. Question: Minister, does Armenia consider that the international community is working hard to find a solution for the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis? Ara Aivazian: First and foremost, Armenia does not consider that the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan creates the basis for the solution of the conflict, nor an opportunity for regional cooperation. Armenia stands ready for the resumption of the peace process, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and they are Russia, US and France. We have to address the core pending issues, which are not addressed in the statement of November 9, signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. I would like to remind that the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a territorial dispute; it is about the survival of autochthonous population of Artsakh of the Armenian origin, which lived there for thousands of years; it is about their rightful self-determination, their right to master their own destiny. So, we have to address the right of those people to self-determination, which entails also the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. It should be very clear for Azerbaijan and Turkey that the current status quo, which occurred after the aggression and the illegal use of force can neither be stable, nor acceptable for ensuring a lasting peace, security and stability in the region. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he is not worried by news that some European countries have temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after reports of blood clots in a handful of people who received doses from the same batch of the vaccine. Asked if Australia should pause its AstraZeneca rollout in line with Denmark, Norway and Iceland, Mr Morrison said No, that is not the view of our medical advisors. Austria had earlier stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Danish health authorities decided to suspend the vaccine for two weeks after a 60-year-old woman in Denmark, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch that was used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Photo: The Canadian Press Statistics Canada says the economy added 259,000 jobs in February, almost wiping out losses sustained over the previous two months. The economy lost almost 213,000 jobs in January as lockdown measures erased months of gains, and marked the worst monthly declines since last April. February's reopenings reversed that drop with gains largely in Ontario and Quebec, and in sectors highly affected by tightened public health restrictions. The national unemployment rate fell to 8.2 per cent, the lowest level since March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and down from the 9.4 per cent recorded in January. In British Columbia, the jobless rate was 6.9 per cent, down from 8.0 per cent in January. In Kelowna, it was 5.2 per cent, up from 4.6 per cent the previous month. Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate would have been 10.7 per cent in February had it included in calculations Canadians who wanted to work but didn't search for a job. The figures blew past expectations of a gain of 75,000 and an unemployment rate of 9.2 per cent, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes writes that the quick turnaround in jobs numbers is reminiscent of the first wave of the pandemic when employment rebounded far faster than expected as the economy began reopening. However, he says in a note that the labour market has a long way to get back to where it was prior to COVID-19. The gains now leave the country 599,100 jobs short of where they were in February of last year, or 3.1 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. The federal government is keeping a close eye on the labour market, suggesting it will use jobs as a gauge for planned stimulus measures to be unveiled in a spring budget. So too is the Bank of Canada monitoring employment, noting the uneven impacts of job losses in its reasoning this week for holding its key policy rate at 0.25 per cent. RTHK: UK police say body found belongs to missing woman British police said on Friday that human remains found in a wood outside London belonged to Sarah Everard, whose disappearance last week has sparked anger and fear among women about their safety. Everard disappeared while walking home from a friend's house in south London last Wednesday and police have arrested a serving officer on suspicion of her kidnap and murder. Detectives discovered a body in woodland two days ago and London Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave confirmed that it was of the missing 33-year-old. "I know that the public feel hurt and angry about what has happened, and those are sentiments that I share personally," Ephgrave said outside the London police headquarters. "I also recognise the wider concerns that are being raised quite rightly about the safety of women in public spaces in London and also elsewhere in the country." Detectives on Thursday were given extra time to question the arrested officer, who is aged in his 40s and whose job is to guard diplomatic buildings. A woman in her 30s, who media said was his partner, was released on police bail having been detained on suspicion of assisting an offender. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Company Formalizes Full Board of Directors Ouster, Inc. ("Ouster") a leading provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors for the industrial automation, smart infrastructure, robotics, and automotive industries, today announced that its common stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "OUST". Angus Pacala, CEO and co-founder of Ouster, commented, "Today marks a significant milestone in Ousters evolution to a public company. The capital raised through our transition to a publicly traded company positions us to further accelerate the adoption of our proven technology across multiple end markets and realize a safer, smarter, more efficient future. We look forward to driving long-term shareholder value and intend to deliver on our stated goals on the path to digital lidar ubiquity." As part of the closing of its business combination transaction with Colonnade Acquisition Corp., Ouster formalized its board of directors with a roster that adds substantial expertise in engineering, manufacturing, and operations to support the company as production and deployment of Ouster digital lidar sensors accelerates globally. "Weve constructed a board that prioritizes expertise in the high-tech sector and hands-on engagement to help guide Ousters rapid growth at this critical moment of expansion," said Carl Bass, Chairman of the Ouster board. "We believe the companys unique digital technology, established scale manufacturing and strong traction across its four key customer markets are the ideal foundation for building the market leader in lidar. The board members look forward to leveraging our respective experience in growing and operating technology companies to help Ouster aggressively and thoughtfully pursue its expansion plans." In addition to Mr. Pacala, Ousters board of directors following the transaction is comprised of: Carl Bass Mr. Bass is the former CEO of Autodesk and Chairman at Zoox. Prior to Autodesk he was the co-founder of Ithaca Software. He currently serves on the boards of several technology companies. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Cornell University. Jorge del Calvo Mr. del Calvo is a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP, and has served as a director for a private technology company and a private foundation. He has a B.A. in History from Stanford University, an M.A. in History from UCLA, an M.P.P. in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Emmanuel Hernandez Mr. Hernandez serves on the boards of several technology companies including Rodgers Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp., BrainChip, Inc., Aruba Networks, Inc., and ON Semiconductor Corp. Mr. Hernandez was also an operating Partner at Khosla Ventures, and earlier served as the CFO of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. and SunPower Corporation. He previously held multiple senior finance executive positions in the semiconductor industry. Mr. Hernandez holds a bachelors degree in Commerce from the University of Nueva Caceres and an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University. Susan Heystee Ms. Heystee has served as a member of the Ouster board of directors since September 2018. Previously, she was SVP of Global Automotive Business at Verizon Connect and EVP of Global Sales and OEM Business at Telogis, and served as a member of the board of directors of revVana Inc. Ms. Heystee holds bachelors degrees in mathematics and business from the University of Waterloo and an executive M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Sundari Mitra Ms. Mitra is Corporate Vice President of Intel Corporation and was previously the CEO and a director at NetSpeed Systems. She founded and held senior engineering positions at various technology companies earlier in her career, including Director of Engineering at Sun Microsystems, Inc. Ms. Mitra holds a masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Baroda University in India. Remy W. Trafelet Mr. Trafelet is the former CEO of Colonnade Acquisition Corp., and President and CEO of Trafelet & Company, LLC, a private investment firm. He began his career as an analyst at Fidelity Management and Research Company Mr. Trafelet holds a bachelors degree from Dartmouth College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. "We are at a critical inflection point for growth that is common among digital disruptors entering analog industries," said Mr. Pacala. "The Ouster team is excited to have the wisdom and guidance of those who have led and advised companies through this phase and fostered the creation of industry leading companies." Story continues For complete board member bios, please visit www.investors.ouster.com. About Ouster Ouster invented its digital lidar in 2015 and is a leading manufacturer of high-resolution digital lidar sensors used throughout the industrial automation, smart infrastructure, robotics, and automotive industries. Ousters sensors are reliable, compact, affordable and highly customizable, laying the foundation for digital lidar ubiquity across endless applications and industries. Already hundreds of customers have incorporated Ouster lidar sensors in current products or those in development for imminent commercial release. For more information, visit www.ouster.com, or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the products and services offered by Ouster and the markets in which it operates. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this document, including but not limited to the risk of downturns in the highly competitive lidar technology and related industries, and other factors discussed in Ousters filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ouster assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ouster gives no assurance that it will achieve its expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005256/en/ Contacts For Ouster Erica Bartsch / Nevin Reilly / Alex Kovtun Sloane-Ouster@sloanepr.com The Airports Authority of India (AAI), an Aviation Company, has called for applications in a prescribed format from retired AAI officials for filling vacancies to the post of Consultants and Jr Consultants in AAI through direct selection to be posted at Dumka and Bokaro Airports in Jharkhand, India on contract on a fulltime basis. The registration-cum-application process towards the same started on March 11, 2021 onwards and closes on March 31, 2021. CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Consultants and Jr Consultants posts in AAI Organisation Airports Authority of India (AAI) Educational Qualification Must be retired AAI officials Experience Five to ten years of experience in relevant field Job Responsibilities null Skills Required null Job Location Dumka and Bokaro Airports Salary Scale In the range of Rs. 50,000 up to Rs. 75,000 per month as per the post Industry Aviation Company Application Start Date March 11, 2021 Application End Date March 31, 2021 AAI Recruitment 2021: Age Criteria And Fees Candidates interested in applying for AAI Consultant Jobs 2021 through AAI Recruitment 2021 must not have exceeded 70 years of age as specified in the AAI Notification 2021. There is no application fee for AAI Consultant Jobs 2021 through AAI Recruitment 2021, as mentioned in the AAI Notification 2021 given at the end of the article. Also Read: IBBI Recruitment 2021 Notification For General Managers And CGM Posts, E-mail Applications Before April 9 AAI Recruitment 2021: Education And Eligibility Desirous candidates applying for AAI Consultant Jobs 2021 through AAI Recruitment 2021 must be retired AAI officials having minimum of five to ten years of experience in relevant field as detailed in the AAI Notification 2021. AAI Recruitment 2021: Selection And Pay Scale The selection of candidates for AAI Jobs 2021 through AAI Recruitment 2021 will be done through Shortlisting and Interview as notified in the AAI Notification 2021. Candidates selected for AAI Consultant Jobs 2021 through AAI Recruitment 2021 will be paid emolument in the range of Rs. 50,000 up to Rs. 75,000 per month as per the post. Also Read: NYKS Recruitment 2021 For District Project Officer Posts In NYKS Bihar, Apply Offline Before March 28 AAI Recruitment 2021: How To Apply Candidates applying for AAI Consultant Jobs 2021 through AAI Recruitment 2021 must fill the application form in a prescribed format attached with the AAI Notification 2021 and e-mail the same to recttceller@aai.aero on or before March 31, 2021. Download AAI Recruitment 2021 Notification PDF for Consultants and Jr Consultants posts Sinn Fein TD Martin Kenny described the scenes at a funeral in Carrick-on-Shannon yesterday as very upsetting and has angered locals in the area. Deputy Kenny said, "I have been contacted by numerous people in the Carrick-on-Shannon area who are very annoyed and upset at what took place in Carrick-on-Shannon yesterday, when hundreds of people from long distances away and many from outside the jurisdiction attended a funeral in the town. "I believe there was a large gathering after the funeral in a marquee that was specifically erected for the event. Some of the images that were posted on social media have caused upset and anger. "These are very difficult times that we are living in and it is especially difficult for those who have lost loved ones and have not been able to mourn and grieve in the usual way that Irish people do. There is obviously a family grieving here and I offer my condolences to them. "However there are rules and guidelines set out by the government on how funerals should be run and we are all obliged to follow them. I have spoken to senior Gardai about this and they have informed me that they had liaised with the family, the church and the local authority prior to the funeral and that they had a Garda plan in place to manage the funeral on the day. "I understand that there were numerous breaches of the guidelines in relation to non-wearing of face masks and social distancing and the Gardai issued over 70 on the spot fines and made a number of public order arrests. I have also been informed that Gardai are conducting an investigation into the organisation of the after funeral event. "These rules and guidelines, while they are very difficult for everyone, the reality is they are for everyone and no one or group should consider themselves exempt," he said. Police officers and sheriff deputies are some of the people who have some of the most interaction with the public. Although most of them are vaccinated, COVID-19 is not yet in the rearview mirror. So, how does law enforcement protect themselves from the virus while continuing to keep us safe? "We're going to be a little more cautious. We're not going to go in unless we have to. Our deputies are going to wear masks when they're in close contact," said Morgan County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Mike Swafford. While serving an arrest warrant for shooting into a house, Morgan County sheriff's deputies still have to keep the public safe, even during a pandemic. In the past, they might storm a house looking for the suspect. Now, they coax him outside. In this case, the person wanted wasn't home. But, dad told deputies where to find him. It doesn't matter who deputies are talking to, though. They still have COVID in mind, especially when you never know what's on the other side of that door. "If they're masked up, if they're sweating, or they'll even tell you, especially if it's police, because they don't want contact," said Chief Deputy Alan Host. The Morgan County Sheriff's Office has made the vaccine available to anyone in the department who wants it. More than 50% took it. But, all deputies still mask up in most situations, like traffic stops, for instance. That's because vaccinated people can still be carriers. "And it's going through stages. What we did today is not the same thing that we did in June of last year," said Swafford. The sheriff's office says it's been lucky when it comes to keeping COVID-19 out of the jail. Chief Deputy Host says a few staff members there caught the virus, but they were able to catch it early and prevent any widespread outbreaks like other county jails have seen. People offer flowers next to a mask with blood of an unidentified demonstrator, who died during the crackdown by the security forces in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 11, 2021. EPA South Korea's Christian community has expressed concerns about political instability in Myanmar in connection with the recent coup and vowed for solidarity with the pro-democracy movement there. "The Catholic Church in Korea expresses her deepest concern about the outbreak of violence and the subsequent bloodshed in our neighboring country, Myanmar," the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea said in a statement released Thursday. It said South Korea has gone through similar military oppression in the past and sympathizes with the people in Myanmar who have staged persistent public resistance since the military takeover on Feb. 1. "The Catholic Church in Korea expresses fraternal solidarity with brothers and sisters of Myanmar who are walking in the path of the Cross, as sharing indescribable lament and pain," it added. Burma Kachin Independence Army Attacks Myanmar Military Outpost KIA fighters at Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State. / The Irrawaddy Yangon The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) carried out a pre-dawn attack on a Myanmar military outpost near the village of Selzin in Hpakant Township, Kachin State, on Thursday. KIA information officer Colonel Naw Bu confirmed the KIA Battalion 26 attack. It has been nearly two months since the Tatmadaw [Myanmars military] carried out operations in territory controlled by our Brigade 4 in northern Shan State. There have been clashes almost every day in territories held by Battalions 9 and 36. Perhaps the Thursday attack was organized by a [KIA] commander to help another. It was not ordered by KIA headquarters, said Col. Naw Bu. KIA troops withdrew without occupying the outpost it seized. Following the KIAs raid, Myanmars military attacked the KIA Battalion 26 headquarters with helicopters. There have been few major clashes between Myanmars military and the KIA since late 2018 and the two sides were in the process of negotiating a ceasefire. Military tensions resurfaced when the Tatmadaw attacked four KIA outposts in northern Shan State after its Feb. 1 coup. Myanmars military governing body, the State Administrative Council, declared that it would continue the peace process with ethnic armed organizations. But the KIA said it would stand by the people and has refused to recognize the military regime. Following anti-regime protests in Kachin State, the KIA called on the militarys Northern Command not to use live ammunition against protesters. However, two protesters were killed during the crackdown on Monday. The KIA, following the incident, has threatened to retaliate if more violence is used against protesters. You may also like these stories: Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? Asian Development Bank to Halt Funding for Myanmar Government Projects Myanmars Military Junta Launches Corruption Probe of Suu Kyi and President Tim Berners-Lee, 65, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has called the internet a 'basic right' and says getting all young people online should be a global priority. In an open letter to mark the 32nd birthday of the World Wide Web a tool Mr Berners-Lee built in 1989 while at CERN to navigate the burgeoning internet he says the internet is to the 21st century what electricity was to the 20th century. He urged leaders to fund schemes to make sure 'everyone, everywhere is within reach of a meaningful internet connection' because 'things need to change'. The letter also took aim at 'Big Tech', saying companies must 'respect the rights' of young people and they should be held to account by tougher laws. In a separate interview, Mr Berners-Lee added he is optimistic that change is coming, believing the tech giants that dominate the internet are a 'fad'. Scroll down for video In an open letter to mark the 32nd birthday of the World Wide Web a tool Mr Berners-Lee (pictured) built in 1989 while at CERN to navigate the burgeoning internet he says the internet is to the 21st century what electricity was to the 20th century Tim Berners-Lee says Australian law forcing Facebook to pay media companies would make internet 'unworkable' Speaking before the law came into force and media outlets were forced off Facebook in Australia, Tim Berners-Lee gave his opinion on the controversial legislation. He told an Australian Senate committee that the News Media Bargaining Code violates the fundamental principals the public internet was founded on. 'Specifically, I am concerned that that code risks breaching a fundamental principle of the web by requiring payment for linking between certain content online,' Berners-Lee said. If the code is deployed globally, it could 'make the web unworkable around the world,' he said. Advertisement The letter was also authored by Rosemary Leith, 53, an internet expert, director at YouGov, and co-founder of the World Wide Web Foundation. The eminent digital personalities are also married. Leith and Berners-Lee praise the internet for the role it has played over the last 12 months throughout the pandemic. They say that while the digital world has been tested like never before in the era of lockdowns and self-isolation, the internet has 'proven to be a lifeline that allows us to adapt and carry on'. But, only one third of under-25s worldwide currently have access to a home internet connection, according to stats from UNICEF. As a result, 2.2 billion young people are without ready and reliable access to the internet. To rectify this, the authors say it would require $428billion of new investment over the next decade in order to get broadband into every home. 'To put this in perspective, that amounts to the equivalent of just $116 per person for the 3.7 billion people who remain offline today,' they say. Berners-Lee and Leith add: 'It's estimated that a 10 per cent increase in the number of people online translates to a two per cent lift in an economy's GDP, and new analysis finds that achieving universal broadband in the developing world by 2030 would deliver around $8.7 trillion in direct economic benefits. We can't afford not to do it.' In the letter, the pair of experts say the tech firms that rule the internet currently need to be held to account by governments with stricter legislation. Mr Berners-Lee also believes there is a feeling of restlessness online and there is a need to implement change. 'I'm optimistic, because we've seen some dominant fads on the internet before ... and then things change. (Theres) great awareness that things need to change,' he said in an interview with Reuters. He added that people are pushing back against the use and abuse of personal data. In an interview with Reuters, Mr Berners-Lee (pictured here at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic games) said he is optimistic that change is coming, believing the tech giants which dominate the cyberspace are a 'fad' which will pass Berners-Lee is working on a project called Solid where people's personal data is controlled by the user, rather than platforms like Facebook. 'The only sane thing to think is that ... things are going to accelerate (and) continue to accelerate,' he said. 'We're going through another step-change in the speed at which the world is changing.' Upendra Tripathy, the outgoing director-general (DG) of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), has played a key role in setting up the first treaty-based international government organization to be based in India. Tripathy, a former secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), passes on the baton to Ajay Mathur, who earlier headed the New Delhi-based The Energy and Research Institute. In recognition of his service, Tripathy was accorded the honorary title of founding director-general emeritus by the ISA assembly. In an interview, Tripathy said that the World Solar Bank (WSB) and global electricity grid may be launched at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, and countered the perception of ISA becoming a significant public policy tool for India. Edited excerpts: How important is ISA from Indias viewpoint for its efforts towards achieving a global leadership role in tackling climate change? India is the host country; the president of the assembly and the DG is Indian. Indian public sector units and institutions (EESL, NTPC, SECI, IIT-D, NISE, etc.) help the implementation of ISA programmes and projects in the absence of a big Secretariat. Most of the Indian best practices from MNRE are being implemented in southern countries. India is the seat of ISA, and annual assemblies are held in India. Most of the corporate partners are Indian. The only other countries that have contributed to the corpus are Comoros and Myanmar. This gives India the leadership role globally that she worthily deserves. Many member countries look up to India for finance and technologies to ensure a smooth and green energy transition. What is the road map ahead for Green Grid Initiative (GGI), Sun Charter and the World Solar Bank? The Green Grid Initiative is in partnership with Climate Parliament to mobilize legislative support for two marque projectsthe World Solar Bank (WSB) and the One Sun One World and One Grid (OSOWOG). The ISA assembly has constituted the international steering committee to establish the WSB, which will have a loan portfolio of $100 billion over the next 10 years. This is a concrete financial mechanism to translate the promise we made to our member countries in the framework agreement of mobilizing more than $1,000 billion by 2030. WSB is a natural corollary of ISA to deliver on our promise made to the members. This is difficult but is clearly doable and desirable. Sun Charter is a charter statement by ISA member countries to be announced at COP26 in Glasgow at the ministerial level when all the three initiativesWSB, GGI, and the OSOWOG may be launched. A consortium led by French state-run power utility firm EDF and comprising Frances AETS and Teri has been tasked with creating the road map for the global grid OSOWOG. What has been the progress there? They have started working under the guidance of a steering committee under the chairmanship of secretary, MNRE. World Bank plays an important role. SBI (State Bank of India) has signed the contract, and the consultants have a time frame of 13 months. But some midterm report by the time of COP26 is likely to be provided. Will it be fair to say that ISA has become a significant public policy tool for India and is considered a counter to Chinas ambitious One Belt One Road initiative? We do everything as a multilateral organization. We are registered under Article 102 of the UN charter. Our global tenders are open to all global companies, including that of China. So, it may not be fair to say that ISA has become a significant public policy tool for India and is considered a counter to Chinas ambitious One Belt One Road Initiative. We work for all member countries. And all United Nation members can be our members. How was the experience of setting up the first treaty-based international government organization to be based in India from the ground up? As it always happens when you put up something from scratch, the opportunity and the experience of setting up the first treaty-based organization, was humbling, challenging, and a great learning curve. One had to assemble ideas, partner institutions, and bring together a network of actors to support. I am not a career diplomat, although I had briefly worked in the Indian embassy in Belgium that looked after the European Union and Luxemburg. My experience of growing up in a distant east-coast hamlet in the eastern ghats of Odisha helped greatly. Of course, the assembly, the standing committee, and the host country India were of great strength and support in building what we are today a thriving global organization with the universal recognition of being the only solar-specific organization. You have had a long career in the public policy during your stint in the IAS, where you also got the Prime Minister's award for excellence in public administration. What are your future plans? I received PM's award in 2009 for excellence in public administration which was when I, as the managing director, helped transform the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation from a sick PSU to a profit-making PSU, with a host of welfare measures for our workers and commuters. I am grateful to the ISA assembly, India (our host country), and my colleagues for having given me the opportunity to build and shape ISA under the leadership of honorable PM Modi and minister R.K.Singh. My future plan is to build something new and innovative again in the climate space, to teach, write, mentor young entrepreneurs and spend time with my family and grandchildren. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Miss Panama organization announced that starting this year, the pageant would include transgender women "who have completed all their legal and medical procedures" in its competition. The contest, which is responsible for choosing the country's representative for the Miss Universe pageant, said the decision was made "after plenty of conversations and in line with the rules of the Miss Universe organization." Miss Panama "will permit women officially legally recognized in the country," which will "open the door to transgender women who have completed all of their legal and medical procedures," the organization said. Miss Universe requires that each national event allow people legally recognized as women to participate in that particular country. President of Miss Panama, Cesar Anel Rodriguez, told AFP Tuesday that the country's move is a response to the Miss Universe regulation in regards to transgender women. Read | Miss India Delhi 2019 Mansi Sehgal joins AAP "We investigated the issue of people who are legally recognized for changing their gender" in Panama, he said. He said that a 2018 announcement indicated that at least 10 transgender women had been recognized in the civil register. "Guaranteed to be an inclusive organization, we approved this decision based on strict legal guidelines and according to previous international agreements," the organization's statement said. For now, there are no transgender women registered for the pageant, according to its officials. In 2018, Angela Ponce became the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Miss Universe pageant as the representative from Spain. 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. During his brother Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince William was accused of racism. Prince William: Royal family is not a racist The monarchy was defended by the Duke of Cambridge, who said that his family is "very much not a racist family." During a visit to an East London school, William discussed the explosive interview given to Winfrey by his brother and the Duchess of Sussex, which was broadcasted in the United States on Sunday. In the wake of the interview, Prince William, who is second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Charles, said he had not yet spoken to Harry. "However, I can do," he said. The royal family has been rocked by Prince Harry and Meghan's statements, which have sparked worldwide discussions over racism, mental health, and Britain's relationship with its former colonies. As the public awaited the royal family's response, tensions have only increased, as per Fox News. Read also: Top 5 Biggest Bombshells Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Drop in Their Oprah Interview Meghan, who is biracial, said in the interview that serving as a member of the royal family had made her feel so lonely and unhappy that she had suicidal thoughts. When she was pregnant with their son, Archie, she said Harry told her there were questions and talks about the color of her baby's skin by a royal family member. Prince William has been the first member of the royal family to comment out about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's racist allegations raised during an explosive interview earlier this week. The visit is William and Kate Middleton's first public appearance since Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired in the United Kingdom on Monday night, as per the Independent. The monarchy has been rocked by reports that a member of the royal family had "conversations and doubts" about Archie's skin color before he was born. When it came to William and Harry's relationship, the younger royal admitted that there was some distance between them but expressed confidence that time would cure all wounds. Read also: Prince Harry Accused of 'Blowing Up Family' Royal Family in ongoing 'crisis talks' Members of the royal family are said to be having "crisis talks" behind closed doors after Palace courtiers "underestimated" the range of allegations leveled against the monarchy by Meghan and Harry. Senior royals have convened crisis talks to put the accusations leveled at the Palace by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Express reported. Courtiers around the Royal Family were awaiting fireworks from the unprecedented interview with Oprah Winfrey, aired in the UK on Monday night, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl. She did say, though, that Palace advisors were not prepared for the intensity of the bombshells issued by Meghan and Harry during the two-hour special. It came when Andrew Neil of This Morning reported that Queen Elizabeth II had ordered her royal staff not to engage in a slanging match with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. According to Neil, the queen needs to address the problems raised in the Oprah Winfrey interview behind closed doors, but the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may be hesitant to do so. "The issues raised, especially that of race are concerning." Buckingham Palace said in a statement released on Tuesday in response to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey. Read also: Meghan and Harry's Revelations Send Royal Family in Crisis @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. To the Editor: This is in response to March 4 letter to the editor from state Sen. Dave Argall. He is really against the state income tax hike as most of us are, or is he? I said it in a previous letter. This tax hike, along with the property tax, is an easy fix if they truly want to do something about it. Im tired of hearing the same old lines of not being able to do anything and we just have to make sacrifices. My question is this: When are the politicians in Harrisburg going to make any sacrifices? If Sen. Argall is really concerned about the small businesses in Pine Grove and other towns then all hed have to do is put a 6% extraction tax on the oil and gas industry in the state. Tax hike eliminated! But Im going to say that wont happen because the small businesses in Pine Grove arent making $200,000 contributions to the senators campaign. I know this letter has somewhat of a harsh tone and I apologize for it, but his words no longer have merit. They are just theater. There are other ways to get rid of the proposed tax hike without the extraction tax, but the senator will have to make sacrifices. Im talking about reducing the legislature by 70 members, capping salaries at $45,000 per year and ending health and retirement benefits for all past and present Legislature members. Sen. Argall has a lot of ways to help out the citizens of Pennsylvania if he truly wants to help us. Sen. Argall ran unopposed last election; it isnt going to happen again if he continues to do nothing for those small businesses he is suddenly concerned about. Respectfully, Dan Daskus Minersville Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. gettyimagesbank By Bruce Klingner Korea watchers are anxiously awaiting both the Biden administration finishing its North Korea policy review and Pyongyang conducting its next provocation. Impatience with the former and fear of the latter have led experts to advocate for measures buying Pyongyang's continued inertia against committing further violations of U.N. resolutions. Bruce Klingner If you owe money for certain kinds of debts, you may not get the third stimulus payment. The new stimulus legislation, signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday, doesnt stop stimulus payments from being garnished, 19 consumer and financial industry groups said in a joint letter sent to Congress earlier this week. The second stimulus package had a specific provision to protect payments from garnishment, while the first stimulus bill allowed the garnishment of stimulus money only for back child support. The third stimulus bill does not similarly protect debtors. While the $1,400 payments cant be garnished for back taxes or child support, for example, according to the Tax Foundation, the payments can be garnished for private debts, such as judgments from a credit card company or other creditor. We believe it is imperative that Congress ensure that these next stimulus payments are treated as benefits subject to the federal exemption from garnishment, the letter said. Otherwise, the families that most need this money those struggling with debt and whose entire bank accounts may be frozen by garnishment orders will be not be able to access their funds. This group includes very low-income families with children, people who have been disconnected from work opportunities for a long period, and many low-income adults now raising children in their homes. Congress would need to pass new legislation to protect the funds from garnishment, the groups said, noting that without it, financial institutions will have no choice but to comply with court orders and hand stimulus funds over creditors who have won judgments. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) said Tuesday he would offer up separate legislation to protect the payments from garnishment. The letter was signed by groups including the National Consumer Law Center, the American Bankers Association, Public Citizen and the Consumer Bankers Association. People who havent received their first or second stimulus payments could also face possible garnishment when they claim the stimulus on their tax return based on tax law. The estimated 8 million people who didnt get the payments can still get the money by filing a 2020 tax return, taking whats known as the Recovery Rebate Credit and getting the stimulus money as a tax refund. But because the IRS can garnish tax refunds, the money loses the protections that were part of the legislation, said Erin Collins, the National Taxpayer Advocate, an IRS watchdog, even though the stimulus funds are mostly off-limits. The rug is being pulled out from under eligible individuals with outstanding debts, she said. Collins called it unfair to treat taxpayers differently. Financially struggling taxpayers who were entitled to receive the full amount of the Economic Impact Payment last year but did not have effectively been harmed once, she said. It is unfair to harm some of these taxpayers a second time by seizing some, or all, of their stimulus payments. Collins said the IRS is permitted to use discretion and can choose to leave the stimulus funds untouched. Given the pandemic and the millions of individuals struggling with financial issues, I believe the IRS should use its discretion to issue Recovery Rebate Credits without offset against federal tax debts, she said. The reality is that many of the taxpayers who are most likely to be subject to offset because they cannot afford to pay their bills and have unpaid debts are the ones who need relief the most. The IRS has not yet addressed how it will treat the issue with the third stimulus payment. Use our updated stimulus calculator to see how much you may receive. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. A former pharmacy technician allegedly stole more than $8.2million-worth of prescription HIV medication from a Veterans Affairs hospital in northern New Jersey. Lisa Hoffman, 48, of Orange, is charged with theft of medical products, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Hoffman worked at the hospital in East Orange, where she was responsible for ordering drugs and supplies for the site's outpatient pharmacy and maintaining its inventory. From at least August 2017 through November 2019, prosecutors said Hoffman used her position to steal prescription HIV medication from the hospital. She placed large orders for the medication, purportedly on behalf of the hospital, then stole it after it was delivered, prosecutors said. Pharmacy technician Lisa Hoffman, 48, allegedly stole more than $8.2million-worth of HIV medication from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Orange, New Jersey (pictured) Hospital surveillance footage captured Hoffman regularly taking dozens of bottles of HIV medications from the pharmacy shelves and eventually putting them in her bag, then leave the hospital with the stolen medication, prosecutors said. Hoffman would then meet with another conspirator, 33-year-old Wagner 'Wanny' Checonolasco, and sell him the stolen medications for cash. Checonolasco would then sell the medications to other people. A criminal complaint outlined five different dates on which Hoffman was filmed in the act of stealing, including one on October 30, 2019, where she was seen stashing bottles of medication in a white mail bin that she then placed under her desk. The complaint also described text messages that Hoffman and Checonolasco sent on WhatsApp before meeting up at her home for exchanges. For example, on July 12, 2019, Hoffman texted: 'I told you I got it. Imma get dress now and go take it to you. Checonolasco responded with a photo of a wad of cash and the words: 'On my way.' Investigators did not say how they uncovered the scheme but cited pharmacy records from around the dates of the theft which showed medications were missing. Federal agents discovered 64 bottles of pills in her car as she was leaving the hospital on November 20, 2019. A subsequent search of her home led to the recovery of $14,490 in cash. Hoffman could face up to 20 years in prison and a $1million fine if convicted on the charge filed Wednesday. Checonolasco was previously charged last fall with conspiracy to steal government property in a case that is still pending. Ghislaine Maxwell is selling her London home to raise funds for her legal defence in the US, her spokesman has said. The British socialite has been in a New York jail since July due to allegations that she and former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein groomed and abused young girls between 1994 and 1997. Now faced with an expensive court trial, the 59-year-old is said to be selling the home in highly sought-after Belgravia to cover her legal fees. Brian Basham, Ms Maxwells spokesman, told the Daily Telegraph that she had already set aside 5million in funds but hopes the sale would boost this to more than 7million. Ghislaine Maxwell is selling her London home to raise funds for her legal defence in the US. The Belgravia home is said to be the setting of an infamous photo (pictured) showing her with Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts and Prince Andrew Ghislaine Maxwell's mews house in Belgravia, where Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts, aged 17, and Ghislaine Maxwell were pictured The mews house is claimed to be the setting of an infamous photograph of Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia Roberts Giuffre's waist. Ms Giuffre, one of Epstein's accusers, alleges she was taken in 2001 to have sex with the Duke of York when she was 17. Ms Maxwell's brother Ian recently said he 'recognised the setting' of the photograph, but said he did not know about the pair's alleged meeting. 'I don't know anything about the photograph other than that I've seen it's been published,' he added when speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today. The Duke of York has categorically denied he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre, and said in his BBC Newsnight interview that the photo might have been faked. Compact: The layout of Ghislaine Maxwells London mews house, showing the cramped bathroom, and Andrew in the house with Virginia Roberts and Maxwell, The Duke of York has categorically denied he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre, and said in his BBC Newsnight interview that the photo might have been faked The British socialite (pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in 2005) is currently being held in Merrimack County Jail in Boscawen, New Hampshire, but she is likely to be transferred to New York City this week Maxwell's spokesman, Brian Basham, confirmed to the Telegraph the intended sale of the house, the proceeds of which are expected to boost Maxwell's legal fighting fund from $7 million (5 million) to more than $10 million (7.17 million). Homes in the area have sold for between 2.6 million and 8 million in the past two years, according to property records. It is believed that an original attempt at a sale ran into difficulty after Ms Maxwell's bank closed her account. 'Ghislaine will be sad to see the house sold,' Mr Basham told the paper. 'She is devastated by all this. She will have a lot of good memories. She will be terribly sad to sell the house. It was her refuge in London.' It comes as billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side mansion was sold for a slashed-down price of $51million - with the proceeds going to his victim compensation fund. Ghislaine Maxwell (a sketch of her video link court appearance last year) faces child sex trafficking charges over allegedly recruiting three teenage girls as young as 14 for paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse in the 1990s Maxwell is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (pictured), and faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted Earlier this week Ian Maxwell lobbied for his sister's release from pre-trial custody, claiming she was losing her hair and struggling with her eyesight in conditions that are 'degrading' and 'amount to torture'. However, US prosecutors have poured cold water on her hopes of securing bail by renouncing her French and UK citizenships - calling it 'window dressing' after her two previous applications were denied. Mr Maxwell said his sister 'remained resolute' but was being served 'brown' water, 'inedible' food and monitored around the clock in 'grotesque' conditions in Brooklyn which he said were 'not the way that a democratic country' should run its prisons. A US judge has twice denied bail to Maxwell, saying she 'plainly poses a risk of flight', but her brother insisted she would not seek to flee if her third bail application is successful. Mr Maxwell said his sister had offered in her latest bail application to renounce her French and UK citizenships, which she said was 'no easy thing' for her. Prosecutors have repeatedly urged the court to deny bail, arguing that Maxwell, who also has US citizenship, might flee to Britain or France and evade extradition if she is released. The Canadian Government has donated 50 double cabin pick-ups to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) for purposes of strengthening agricultural extension service delivery in the country. The vehicles are valued at GHC10.6 million and were procured with funds provided by Canada for the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) Programme. Canada is supporting the programme with 135 million Canadian Dollars over a six-year period. Since its inception about four years ago, the MAG Programme has procured 265 vehicles and over 3000 motorcycles for the agriculture sector and five buses for the agricultural colleges in Ghana to facilitate training to deliver modernized agricultural extension services. With the additional 50 vehicles, the Programme has supported all the regions and districts in the country with vehicles and motor bikes to improve the productivity of farmers and create market linkages for their produce. The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said if agriculture in Ghana is to be modernised and transformed, farmers must have easy access to extension services in the form of knowledge transfer, guidance and advice in the application of modern technology, farm management practices and a new orientation of perceiving agriculture as a business. The Minister noted that the agriculture sector has been a major beneficiary of the great relationship between the Government of Ghana and Canada, for which the Ministry remains eternally grateful. He was happy that an additional one-year no cost extension has been successfully negotiated for the MAG Programme, which will now end next year 2022. Speaking at the handing over ceremony, the Canadian High Commissioner in Accra, Ms. Kati Csaba, said in the first four years of MAG implementation, there has been increases in the adoption of relevant, productivity-enhancing technologies by both female and male farmers in Ghana. There have also been new market-oriented approaches to farm management, improvements in major crops and much more. Canada recognises that the agriculture sector continues to hold great potential for reducing poverty and inequality in Ghana. That is why we are providing 125 million Canadian dollars of assistance directly to the Government of Ghana to help modernize the agriculture sector through the MAG Programme, she said. Ms. Csaba spoke about the collaboration between Canada and Ghana on gender equality and explained that it was critical for economic growth. The Programme has sought to understand the specific needs of women farmers and to ensure that both female and male farmers are receiving the appropriate extension services to help them improve their yields, their income and livelihoods. 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. Sarm Heslop, pictured, was last seen on a catamaran in the US Virgin Islands on Sunday Divers are searching for a British woman missing in the US Virgin Islands after her boyfriend said she might have fallen overboard from their catamaran. The US Coast Guard told local media it was alerted to Sarm Heslop's disappearance at 11.46am on Monday when her boyfriend said she was nowhere to be found on board the 47ft Siren Song. The boyfriend said he had gone to sleep at around 10pm, and 'at 2am he woke up and realised that she was not on board.' Police searching for the missing 41-year-old from Southampton have been scouring land and water off the island of St John, where the yacht was moored. 'Her friends here at home are devastated and just need her disappearance to be made a critical priority,' a friend in the UK said. The friend said they were told that Heslop's phone, passport and belongings had all been left behind on the yacht. 'She would not just disappear, leaving no trace,' they said. The friend added: 'We would like to thank all the local community for their support in searching for Sarm both on water and land. 'They have been so amazing but we urge them not to give up until she is found or we have more information.' Heslop is described as a slim 41-year-old woman with a southern English accent and a tattoo on her left shoulder. She was last seen on board on Sunday before her boyfriend called the Coast Guard's San Juan station reporting that 'his girlfriend may have fallen' from the yacht. The Leopard 4700 luxury catamaran was moored off the coast of St John, the third-largest of the US Virgin Islands. Police and volunteers searching for the missing 41-year-old from Southampton (left) are scouring the waters (right) off the island of St John where the yacht was moored 'Heslop was last seen on March 7 aboard the vessel Siren Song, that was moored off the coast of St John,' Virgin Islands police spokesman Toby Derima said. Divers from various law enforcement agencies have searched hundreds of square feet of water for Heslop. Volunteers from the Virgin Islands have also scoured the area around Cruz Bay during daylight hours, police said. 'Unfortunately, this effort proved unsuccessful,' said Derima who added that the search will continue. An island source in St John where the boat was last seen said that they are very concerned about her welfare. 'An Englishwoman has gone missing on our island and we are appealing for help in trying to locate her, 'they said. 'Every day that goes by and we don't have any news about her is a major concern for us. We need to locate her as soon as possible.' Chanthy Ratha was at her home in Phnom Penhs Sen Sok district when she received a phone call last June. She put down the phone, quickly wore her medical uniform, picked up her bag, and headed straight to the National Institute of Public Health. At 7 p.m., Chanthy Ratha and other medical volunteers left for the Phnom Penh International Airport to process incoming passengers. She boarded a van filled to the brim with personal protective equipment, disinfectants, medical forms, snacks, coffee, and tea anything they would need that night and set off. After conducting dozens of tests and medical interviews that night, she returned home at 2 a.m. This was not her first mission, but it was a grueling one for the then-recent graduate. As medical workers, we have to always standby and stay alerted for the emergency mission, she said. Chanthy Ratha graduated from university as a nurse-midwife last year and, after assessing her options, decided to join the Samdech Techo Volunteer Youth Doctor Association to help tackle the growing threat from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since January 2020, Cambodia has reported more than 1,200 COVID-19 cases, more than 600 of those have come in the last three weeks, as the country struggles to control the latest community transmission incident. Chanthy Ratha has been working through the highs and lows of Cambodias attempts to keep the novel coronavirus at bay. Despite the risks, she wants to be on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response to protect her family and fellow citizens. Most of the time, everyone steps back in such a situation. What if I also step back? What if the outbreak is as big as what happened in China, who would be responsible then? she said. Then, the victims are not just our Cambodian people, but also my own family. VOA Khmer contacted several other medical volunteers to speak about their experiences but they said they were not permitted to speak to the media or were on a mission. The medical volunteer said she received some intensive training on how to deal with people she was testing, how to safely administer the test and to conduct case interviews to accurately pinpoint and assist contact tracing. The mission requires high attention and extreme caution, Chanthy Ratha said, and to make sure that volunteers were safe so they would not transmit the virus to other team members, families, or people around them. I always have alcohol spray and hand sanitizer and wear a mask. Every time I go on a mission, I tie my hair up, wear long socks, long pants, and closed-toe shoes, she said. Then I put on the PPE gear an isolation gown, N95 masks, face shields, and gloves. When the mission is finished and after taking off the protective gear, we spray alcohol from head to toe. When I get home, I wash my clothes, take a shower and wash my hair. Dr. Chhea Chhorvann, director of the National Institute of Public Health, said volunteer medical workers were critical to certain areas of the COVID-19 fight, especially in contact tracing. He said that while the research and public health teams were occupied with laboratory work or treatment of patients, the volunteers were taking the lead in identifying sources of the virus and contacting potential contacts. "They work without proper time and schedule. When there is a suspicious case, they are always there right away, he said, Their work is critical and urgent. Chanthy Ratha grew up in Battambang provinces Ra village and left in 2014 to attend university. Her family has been supportive of her career choices and proud of her decision to work with the volunteer group. My father is happy for his daughter who dares to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. He never complains or restricts me for late-night missions, she said. Today, more than ever before, our pets are treated as a part of the family. We feed them specially developed diets, provide them with memory-foam beds and lavish them with expensive treats. The quality of life of these pampered creatures is far better than that of many human beings. The animals we share our homes with have a very different experience to the ones we breed to consume. Their lives are mostly nasty, brutish and short. But we block our ears and eyes to the realities of factory farming because it's easier that way. We get to have our meat, and eat it too. Conveniently, a sanitised, sterile-looking piece of chicken, in its sealed polystyrene tray on the supermarket shelf, bears no obvious relation to the bird it came from, or the miserable, stunted existence it may have had. We chuck the tray in the trolley and move on to the canned foods aisle, with no upsetting thoughts about animal suffering to bother us. If more people knew what was involved in industrial-scale farming, maybe the cheap meat it produces would stick in their craw. Consider the horrible practice of keeping female pigs in narrow metal cages, known as farrowing crates, for up to seven weeks before and after giving birth. Imprisoned in the cage, the sow is prevented from building a nest for her piglets, as instinct prompts her to do. She gnaws and bites at the cage in frustration, and there may be sores on her feet and legs from contact with the hard slatted floor. Then she is forced to give birth and to feed her young through the metal bars of the crate. How is such cruel treatment legal? The answer is because we allow it to be so. Although we may profess to despise cruelty to animals, what we really mean is that we hate to witness cruelty to animals. When it's done out of sight, and thus out of mind, it seems we don't actually care at all. We're happy to tuck in, regardless of where the meat came from. Luckily, some people do care. Thanks in part to the efforts of the actor Joanna Lumley, who has long campaigned for the charity Compassion in World Farming, pig farmers in England will be banned from confining sows in cages under new government plans to improve animal welfare. Sweden, Switzerland and Norway have already banned these hateful crates. Will Northern Ireland follow England's lead and ban them too? It's a vital question, because intensive pig farming is big business in Northern Ireland, and it's getting bigger. The number of breeding sows has shot up to nearly 48,000 and 83% of all pigs are kept in 60 so-called 'super-farms', which can contain more than 9,000 animals per farm. This has huge consequences, and not only for animal welfare. Friends of the Earth has warned that pollution from factory farms is harming the health of Northern Ireland's people, habitats and ecosystems. Globally, the consequences could be still more severe. The farmer and author John Lewis-Stempel says that "factory farms are ticking time-bombs of zoonotic disease - those which leap from animals to humans - and petri-dishes of bacterial infections". He points out that between 1997 and 2006, the H5N1 virus, which was transmitted from poultry to humans, had a 59% mortality rate among people affected. The mortality rate for Covid, by contrast, is about 1%. It doesn't have to be this way. Personally, I've made the decision to only eat naturally farmed, outdoor-reared meat. I buy mine from a rare-breed farm in Co Down where the pigs are free to roam and forage the way nature intended. They have long, happy, healthy lives. They get to stretch out in the sun, or wallow in glorious muck. There is no need for the routine antibiotics which are pumped into intensively reared animals, crammed together indoors, where stress and overcrowding often leads to illness. Spending time with these free-range pigs has made me realise what sensitive, intelligent, social and highly active creatures they are. To imprison them, cheek by jowl, in huge forcing houses is, in my view, morally indefensible. Faced with this ethical dilemma, some people choose not to eat meat at all. I respect that. For me, eating only free-range meat is about supporting humane, traditional and sustainable farming methods, as well as enjoying delicious sausages and bacon, of course. It is wrong, full stop, for sentient animals to live and die without ever seeing daylight. As Joanna Lumley says, "life in a cage is no life at all". Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 12.03.21: The UK company HALO Trust, which is engaged in demining in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), has denied the reports of its handing of minefield maps of Artsakh to the Turkish special services. For over 20 years HALO has worked in Karabakh to make the local people safe. [...] The claim is totally false, the HALO Trusts respective statement noted. Earlier, the rumors have been spread by the Artsakh Presidents representative-at-large, Boris Avagyan. Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has accused Armenia of interfering with the creation of the Zangezur corridor. According to him, Armenia refuses to cooperate in this regard. The Azerbaijani president also said on Tuesday that Armenia wants to obstruct the implementation of the Zangezur corridor, but they will not succeed. We will force them. Russian FM spokesperson Maria Zakharova, in turn, commented on Aliyev's statement, noting the generally constructive attitude shown by Baku and Yerevan. She also commented on the Azerbaijani military drills adding that they pose no risks to stability and security in the region. The Armenian defense ministry, in turn, also noted that they will hold joint tactical and tactical-professional military drills from March 16 to 20. "All states of the South Caucasus conduct military exercises on a regular basis," Zakharova said. However, international experts believe that Azerbaijan is preparing for a new war. As Paul Antonopoulos wrote in his article on Greek City Times, Aliyev's statement 'is a clear indication that Azerbaijan is prepared to use force to open a transportation corridor through Armenian territory to connect Nakhchivan with Azerbaijan-proper.' The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has alerted US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken of a planned attack on Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and Turkey are targeting Syunik, Armenia for their next attack, ANCA wrote on Twitter. Armenia on Friday recorded a magnitude-3.8 earthquake in Turkey, 34 km southwest of Igdir town, and 10 km beneath the surface, MES reported. It measured magnitude 5 at the epicenter. The seismic activity was felt also in Armeniawith magnitude 2 to 3, and in the capital Yerevanwith magnitude 2. As of Friday morning, 818 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 177,104 in the country. Also, four more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,243 cases. The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 277, the total respective number so far is 165,718. The European Union said it is implementing a 3.5 million euros project in Armenia to assist labor migrants. And together with UNDP, the Austrian agency, and the Government of Armenia, the EU is also implementing the program in the Shirak, Lori, and Tavush provinces of Armenia worth over 11 million euros. The project is aimed at facilitating the active involvement of a wide range of stakeholders in the socio-economic development of communities. Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, in turn, noted on Friday that there is a need to expand support to Syunik Province. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Discussion of COVID-19 vaccines dominates the news: Who will have access? When will they receive their shots? What's the difference between Pfizer and Moderna vaccines? But the topic seldom turns to costs and who will eventually own the rights to these critical technologies. It's a conversation that should be happening, says Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, a physician-fellow in the Yale National Clinicians Scholars Program. In her research with Yale colleaguesincluding Jason Schwartz at Yale School of Public Health; Dr. Joseph Ross, professor of medicine; and Meera Dhodapkar, a third-year medical student at Yale she has found that the cost of flu vaccine prices has outpaced the prices of prescription drugs, driving up costs for the public and private sectors alike. There's every reason to expect a similar trajectory will play out with the COVID-19 vaccines, said Ramachandran, who last week testified before U.S. lawmakers about vaccine pricing, taxpayer funding, and the refusal of the government and drug manufacturers to reveal information about the arrangements they've reached around these technologies. In an interview with YaleNews, she discussed the need for transparency about these government-manufacturer agreements, who will control the intellectual rights to the technologies, and how this will ultimately affect public budgets and health care costs. Dr. Reshma Ramachandran. Credit: Yale University The conversation has been condensed and edited. YaleNews: How much do we know about how dollars are being spent in developing these vaccines and the agreements in place between the government and pharmaceutical companies? Reshma Ramachandran: Multiple consumer advocacy organizations and news outlets have requested these agreements through Freedom of Information Act requests, and they've either been ignored or there have been many months of delays. This has led to a number of lawsuits seeking the release of these contracts. When we've had access to the agreements, a lot of the pages have been redacted. Take the Moderna vaccine, which was fully funded by taxpayer dollars, both in development and manufacturing, and resulted in advance purchase agreements. We received the 53-page agreement and only 14 pages were left unredacted. There is a lack of clarity around who owns the technology, whether or not the government will have rights to the manufacturing facilities we're hoping to build, and what this means for the not-so-distant future when it is anticipated that we will need booster vaccine doses against variants, as well. Why does so much of this information remain secret? Ramachandran: With the prior administration, there were concerns around conflicts of interest between administration officials and the companies that they were allocating money to. There was a recent news article that found that Operation Warp Speed [the Trump Administration's COVID-19 response plan] had taken some funds from a specific line item that was meant for hospitals and health care providers affected by COVID-19around $10 billionand awarded it to companies for developing these vaccines. People are asking for these agreements to be made public, but the Biden administration has been silent. During your congressional testimony, you talked about the Taxpayer Research and Coronavirus Knowledge, or TRACK Act. How might that be part of the solution? Ramachandran: The TRACK Act was just introduced this past week by Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and senators Jeff Merkley (D-OH) and Mike Braun (R-IN) and it has bipartisan support. Both sides agree that there should be transparency about how our taxpayer dollars are being spent and the terms. The idea is to have a user-friendly, publicly available database showing both the agreements as well as all public funds across agencies so we can know what mechanisms are available to us under these agreements to actually lay claim on the technology. We want to know who owns the intellectual property and who has rights to the production knowledge for manufacturing so that we can share that with other companies to further ramp up supply. What might be the implications for vaccine prices in subsequent rounds if there are no adequate consumer protections in place? Ramachandran: Pfizer told their investors recently that as soon as next year [when booster vaccinations will be required] they're going to be moving away from "pandemic pricing" and towards price points that are on par with other vaccines that they have on the market, at $150 or $175 per dose. When insurance companies have to shoulder this cost, they're going to pass it down to us through our insurance premiums. This also has implications for the federal government when it purchases these vaccines for those patients with public plans. Every dollar that is spent on COVID-19 vaccines is another dollar that they won't be able to spend on repairing our public health infrastructure or the economy after the pandemic. This is what we've seen historically with flu vaccines: a publicly funded vaccine technology has continued to increase in price over the past two decades with significant impacts on our public health program budgets and our insurance premiums. How much have Moderna and other companies received as part of these vaccine agreements? Ramachandran: Moderna received just over $3 billion from Operation Warp Speed. But even before the pandemic began, the NIH [National Institutes of Health] spent around $700 million on coronavirus research based on what was found in one of their databases (NIH RePORTER). As part of this initial research, NIH scientists developed a method for stabilizing coronavirus spike proteins that is used across multiple vaccine candidates. At the beginning of the pandemic, the NIH also created a public-private partnership with a number of these companies to allow them easy access to their clinical trial recruitment tools, their scientists, and other resources. And NIH fully funded, designed, and conducted Moderna's Phase 3 trials that led to its authorization. Is there a growing demand for transparency? Ramachandran: My patients often ask me when they will receive a vaccine and there continues to be concerns around whether or not we have an adequate supply of vaccines given the continued delays in production. Also, as state health officials have had to make difficult decisions to prioritize populations for the vaccine rollout due to limited supply, we're also seeing some communities being left behindespecially communities of color that have suffered far worse from COVID-19 and often may not have the same protections of being able to work from home to prevent contracting the disease while they wait for a vaccine. Right now, the U.S. government needs to do everything in its power to take control of the supply. The Biden administration did step in for the recently authorized Janssen vaccine [from Johnson & Johnson], brokering a deal to share their vaccine technology with Merck to increase supply. This was made possible again with taxpayer funds$269 million was awarded to Merck for manufacturing. At the same time, we're also trying to educate folks. It's not the companies that have taken on the risk of developing and manufacturing vaccines. It's the American people. We need to make sure that we get a fair return on our investment, both now and in the future. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak AstraZeneca cut its supply forecast of COVID-19 vaccines to the European Union in the first quarter to about 30 million doses, a third of its contractual obligations and a 25% drop from pledges made last month, a document seen by Reuters shows. The shortfall will represent a further blow to the EU's vaccination plans, which have been hampered by repeated delays in vaccine supplies and by a slow rollout in some nations. The document, shared with EU officials and dated March 10, shows that the company now expects to deliver 30.1 million doses by the end of March, and another 20 million in April. On Feb. 25, AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot told the European Parliament that the company would try to deliver 40 million doses by the end of March.. The document shows that on Feb. 24, the Anglo-Swedish company already estimated a supply of only 34 million doses to the EU for the January to March period, well below its contracted target of 90 million doses. A spokesman for AstraZeneca declined to comment on Friday. A person familiar with the situation said that the uplift the company had expected for the first quarter did not materialise because of the difficulties of moving vaccines around global supply chains. The United States, from where AstraZeneca expected to partly supply the EU market, told the EU that it would not export AstraZeneca shots in the near future, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing EU officials. The company had said its initial supply cuts were caused by production problems in the EU. "I see efforts, but not "best efforts". That's not good enough yet for AstraZeneca to meet its Q1 obligations," EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton said on Twitter late on Thursday. "It's time for AstraZeneca's Board to exercise its fiduciary responsibility and now do what it takes to fulfil AZ's commitments," Breton added. The AstraZeneca document also shows that the company expects to deliver about 20 million doses to the EU in April. It includes no forecasts for May and June. Under the contract, AstraZeneca committed to supplying the 27-nation bloc with 180 million doses in the April to June quarter, for a total of 300 million shots from December. Also read: Denmark suspends AstraZeneca jab after blood clot reports Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: Italy first EU country to produce Sputnik V Also read: No restrictions on export of COVID-19 jabs, says White House Morrisons has vowed to extend its 10 per cent discount for NHS workers until the end of the year, despite profits more than halving. The supermarkets commitment comes as the Government faces a backlash over the 1 per cent hike in pay for nurses. Morrisons first introduced the discount last April and said it reflected continuing gratitude for the work of the health service during the crisis to date. Morrisons chief executive David Potts (pictured) said the supermarket's profits slump was 'a badge of honour' reflecting the supermarket's commitment to 'feed the nation' The grocer posted a fall in profits yesterday after suffering 290million of costs related to the pandemic. Profits fell 62.1 per cent to 165million for the year to January 31, down from 435million the year before. The company explained its bottom line was impacted by a 99million bill for staff bonuses and wages while they self-isolate, 46million to make its stores safe, and the 230million of business rates relief it waived. Chief executive David Potts said the result was a badge of honour reflecting the supermarkets commitment to feed the nation, and that profits will rebound as the economy reopens. Morrisons sales only rose by 0.3 per cent because of the closure of its cafes and food counters, and lower fuel sales. Bosses announced a 5.1 per cent final dividend. The handout meant that, including a special dividend, the total dividend rose by 27.1 per cent to 11.2p, equivalent to 268million. Morrisons was able to triple online sales during the year, as capacity jumped five-fold, thanks to its ever-growing ties with Amazon. Potts said online sales are more profitable than people think. At the same time Morrisons is supplying Amazons Fresh store in west London. Potts declined to comment when asked if Amazon was preparing a takeover bid. Shares fell 1 per cent to 175.25p. ALBANY, N.Y. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos grip on power appeared increasingly threatened Thursday as a majority of state legislators called for his resignation and police in the state capital said they stood ready to investigate a groping allegation. The firestorm around the Democrat grew a day after the Times Union of Albany reported that an unidentified aide had claimed Cuomo reached under her shirt and fondled her at his official residence late last year. Cuomo said he never touched anyone inappropriately. A lawyer for the governor said Thursday that she reported the allegation to Albany police after the woman involved declined to do so herself. In this case the person is represented by counsel and when counsel confirmed the client did not want to make a report, the state notified the police department and gave them the attorneys information, said Beth Garvey, the governors acting counsel. She said the state was obligated to do so under state law. An Albany Police Department spokesperson, Steve Smith, didnt immediately return a message from The Associated Press, but told The New York Times police had reached out to a representative for the woman. The possible involvement of police comes as more lawmakers called on Cuomo to resign over alleged misconduct with women and allegations that his administration concealed how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19. At least 121 members of the state Assembly and Senate have said publicly they believe Cuomo should quit office now, according to a tally by The Associated Press. The count includes 65 Democrats and 56 Republicans. The top Democrat in the state Assembly, Speaker Carl Heastie, on Thursday backed a plan for its judiciary committee to launch an investigation of the governor. The committees inquiry could be wide-ranging: from alleged sexual misconduct to COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes, according to committee member Tom Abinanti. It would come on top of a separate inquiry of sexual harassment allegations being conducted by state Attorney General Letitia James. The legislature needs to determine for itself what the facts are, Abinanti said. For the people who want immediate impeachment, I think we say please be patient. The process is slow. This could be the next step. In New York, the Assembly is the legislative house that could move to impeach Cuomo, who has faced multiple allegations that he made the workplace an uncomfortable place for young women with sexually suggestive remarks and behavior, including unwanted touching and a kiss. One aide claimed the governors aides publicly smeared her after she accused him of sexual harassment. Cuomos support in the state Senate was especially thin. Roughly two thirds of its members have called for the Democrats resignation, including Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. A group of 59 Democrats, including 19 senators and 40 Assembly members said in a letter Thursday that it was time for Cuomo to go. In light of the Governors admission of inappropriate behavior and the findings of altered data on nursing home COVID-19 deaths he has lost the confidence of the public and the state legislature, rendering him ineffective in this time of most urgent need, the letter said. It is time for Governor Cuomo to resign. Cuomo has repeatedly said he wont resign and urged the public to await the outcome of the attorney generals investigation. Asked for comment Thursday, Cuomos office referred reporters to previous statements in which the governor denied inappropriately touching anyone, but apologized for some comments he made to female staffers. He has said he was engaging in what he thought was playful banter and didnt realize it was making people uncomfortable. In the newest allegation against Cuomo, the Times Union of Albany reported that the governor had summoned the aide to his Albany mansion, saying he needed help with his cellphone. After she arrived, Cuomo closed the door, reached under her shirt and fondled her, the newspaper reported. The newspapers reporting was based on an unidentified source with knowledge of the womans accusation, who said she first told the story to someone on Cuomos staff in recent days. The newspaper hadnt spoken to the woman and didnt identify her. I have never done anything like this, Cuomo said through a spokesperson Wednesday evening. Several other women who worked for the governor in Albany or during his time as the U.S. housing secretary, and one who met him briefly at a wedding, have also accused Cuomo of inappropriate conduct. Federal investigators are scrutinizing how the Cuomo administration has handled data about how many nursing home residents have died of COVID-19. The governor and his aides argued for months that it couldnt release full figures on deaths because it had yet to verify the data. The state Assembly has 150 members. It could convene an impeachment trial against Cuomo with a simple majority vote. Until the new allegations surfaced, most of its members appeared to be leaning against trying to convene an impeachment or demanding Cuomos resignation until the attorney generals investigation was complete. The state Senate, which would join with members of the states top appeals court to hold an impeachment trial, has 63 members. --The Associated Press Reporter Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey). Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Students back in class all week March 23 Following approval by the Henderson County School Board today, Henderson County Public Schools will welcome its middle and high school students back on campus Tuesday, March 23, under Plan A the fully in-person learning model. This planned transition follows Wednesdays announcement of the NC General Assemblys compromise legislation to reopen schools in North Carolina. Signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday, March 11, this legislation allows Grades 6-12 to operate under either Plan A or Plan B. Our teachers and staff have worked tirelessly to keep our students connected and engaged throughout Plans C and B, and are thrilled at the opportunity to deepen these relationships in-person in this final stretch of the school year," Superintendent John Bryant said. On Monday during the regular monthly school board meeting, board members signaled their intent to schedule a special called meeting to consider transitioning all schools to Plan A as soon as was allowable. Under Plan A, all students will attend school in-person following their schools regular bell schedule, and standard bus transportation schedules. As during regular school operations, breakfast and lunch will be provided to students on campus. Although 6 feet of social distancing is not required under Plan A, HCPS will continue to follow the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines for minimal social distancing, by marking 6 feet of spacing in high traffic areas, encouraging physical distancing among students and staff, and limiting nonessential visitors and activities in schools. Plan A requirements also include wearing face coverings in schools and on buses, frequent hand washing, and daily temperature screenings for all individuals entering school buildings. Things will still look different than they did pre-pandemic as we continue to take precautions, but our children will be back in our schools, said Bryant. And that is something we have been looking forward to ever since schools closed, almost a year ago to this day. Grades 6-12 will continue operating under Plan B next week (March 15-19), under a modified schedule: Monday, March 15, and Wednesday, March 17, are A days for middle and high school students in Group A, and Tuesday, March 16, and Thursday, March 18 are B days for those in Group B. Friday, March 19, and Monday, March 22 will be Required Teacher Workdays in our middle and high schools for the facility preparation and staff planning necessary to bring all students back onto campuses. There are no changes in the existing elementary school schedules under Plan A. While operating under Plan A, the district will continue updating the COVID-19 District Dashboard with school-affected cases reported while in-person learning is occurring on campuses. Remote option As with each Return to Learn transition, families have the opportunity to decide whats right for their student and household. Middle and high school students may still attend school fully remotely through the Engage Remote Learning Option (RLO) model, following the traditional 8 a.m.-3 p.m. school day for grades 6-12. Following the bell schedule from home means remote middle and high school students will need to be available to teachers during their typical class periods, and teachers will provide balanced engagement. Remote attendance will continue to be recorded based on students physical attendance of live virtual class sessions, as well as completion of coursework and assignments through which they demonstrate their attendance and attention. Families are asked to confirm with their schools by March 17 whether their child will be attending school in-person or enrolled in Engage RLO. Instructional Return to Learn plans and school system operations continue to be evaluated and refined based on the public health of our community, and district administrators will continue to monitor community health trends and workforce stability. Any additional changes will be communicated to HCPS families via the district's R2L Weekly updates each Thursday at 5 p.m. and telephone alert messaging. The HCPSNC.org/ReturnToLearn webpage will also be updated to reflect Plan A details. 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. Tourism and Energy States Hit Hard Terms and Conditions Do Apply Pittsburgh ran through $120 million in reserve funds last year and yet still faces a shortfall. The city has been planning to lay off 633 workers at the start of its fiscal year in July, or more than one out of six of its employees.But suddenly, those workers no longer have to worry about their jobs. Pittsburgh stands to receive more than $300 million in direct federal aid, as part of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package President Biden signed yesterday.These funds will help us avoid layoffs and will also allow us to fill the revenue gaps the pandemic created last year and this year, says Kevin Pawlos, Pittsburghs budget director. It will also allow us to restore vacant positions and programs that were removed from our 2021 budget.Similar stories are now being told all over the country. Almost overnight, budget shortfalls accumulated over the past year are being eliminated, thanks to the federal largesse. The stimulus includes $350 billion in direct aid to states and localities $195 billion for states and $130 billion for local governments, with the rest going to territories and tribal governments.It allows us to offset some of our major revenue losses in a way that the CARES Act did not, says Jeff Aluotto, the county administrator in Hamilton County, Ohio, referring to the first major federal stimulus package enacted a year ago. It will permit us to provide ongoing support to those areas of the community most devastated by the pandemic.State and local officials begged Washington most of last year for fiscal help, to little avail. By now, however, their revenues have rebounded much faster than expected, particularly at the state level, leading some to wonder whether this isnt a case of too much, too late. For some states, the windfall will equal more than 20 percent of their 2020 operating revenues.The worst since the Depression cash crisis in states that was predicted last year ultimately did not materialize. Overall, state revenues fell by less than 2 percent between April and December, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Expenses shot up due to the pandemic and unemployment, so states and localities did get a real fiscal shock. But once previous rounds of federal aid are factored in, they ended up only $56 billion in the hole from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2022, according to a recent estimate by Moodys Analytics Youre talking roughly $300 billion more than necessary to keep the lights on and not lay people off, says Dan White, director of government consulting and public finance research at Moodys Analytics. Its definitely big enough. Its probably more than big enough.The intent wasnt just to make states and localities whole, however. As with the rest of the package, the hope is that the sudden gusher of federal funds will help stimulate the broader economy. This is going to be an injection, a shot in the arm thats very good for states, says David Brunori, a public finance expert at George Washington University. He thinks the amount was probably excessive. That said, he notes that the money will be welcome and will be spent and will be a boost to the economy.State and local officials still have to be careful about how they spend the money. Its more than enough to fill general fund budget holes in most cases, but lawmakers cant get giddy and take on ongoing expenses they wont be able to afford once the federal dollars run out. Few people would bet on another round of relief of this magnitude.This is not by any means a silver bullet to solve our budgetary problems long-term, says Chris Cate, who chairs the San Diego city councils budget committee. The fear that I have is that if we use this money now, without addressing any structural issues that we have, next year we wont be in the same financial position in terms of federal help, so were still facing deficits.Although state revenues have recovered pretty well in general, there are plenty of states still struggling, including major states without income taxes such as Texas and Florida. Particularly hard hit are those that rely heavily on tourism, such as Nevada and Hawaii, or on energy, such as Alaska and North Dakota. Or both, as in the case of Louisiana.We saw tourism fall out from under us, says Della Au Belatti, majority leader of the Hawaii House. We cannot have a vibrant economy here without some form of tourism.There are also continuing worries at the local level. There is a chance that business districts or large sporting events may not be as well attended as before, says Pawlos of Pittsburgh. It will affect some of our major revenue sources moving forward if that occurs.Although the amount of federal money may exceed whats necessary for a lot of states, politically it would have been impossible to target funds only where help was needed most. Biden and Congress erred on the side of being generous, says Kim Rueben of the Urban Institute, to ensure other levels of government can do whatevers necessary to address the pandemic and the economy.Theres also an emphasis on speed. As vice president in 2009, Biden oversaw state and local spending included in that years package. Transparency and watching out for wasted funds were public commitments from the Obama administration, with Biden acting as sheriff, as President Barack Obama called him.The current stimulus will certainly require reporting, but given that most of the funding is undirected, the feds shouldnt be looking over state and local shoulders as much. They want states, cities and counties to avoid cuts and keep spending. Those with long memories will recall that state and local spending and job cuts slowed the nations overall recovery following the Great Recession.I think President Biden is aware of some of the lessons we learned in the last recession, Rueben says. For example, having too many restrictions on how the money could be spent and having to report back in ways that led to delays in spending the money.In addition to the $350 billion in direct aid, the new stimulus includes lots of other money that should help take pressure off state and local budgets. Theres $40 billion more for higher education, $30 billion for mass transit and more than $30 billion for housing and rental assistance programs.States and localities will have until the end of 2024 to spend the direct aid. In the case of local funds, half the funding will be made available within 60 days, with the second half provided 12 months later. Given the 2024 end date, it will give us the opportunity to be more strategic in using these dollars to promote the long-term recovery and resiliency of our community, says Hamilton Countys Aluotto.There are some restrictions on how direct aid can be spent. Most notably, federal money cant be used to shore up pension funds and cant go toward tax cuts.Thats going to cause some problems for states. The stimulus law itself exempts the first $10,200 worth of unemployment benefits from income taxes, retroactive to last year. States that want to change their laws to match that relief may not be able to do so, without facing a potential clawback of federal funds. There have been a lot of proposals to provide relief for unemployment benefits, says Belatti, the Hawaii legislator. That is now off the table.Other tax cuts may come under question. In Hawaii, the states earned-income tax credit will sunset this year. It would almost certainly have been extended, but now its fate is uncertain. The way were reading it, the states cannot pass anything that provides a tax cut or tax relief, Belatti says.There are bound to be some unexpected pitfalls as well. The bigger question facing state and local officials, however, is how theyll choose to spend all the money now coming their way. They shouldnt bake too much additional spending into their budgets, warns White, the Moodys Analytics director. Since theyre getting what amounts to a one-time influx of funds, it might make sense to pay for one-time expenses, he suggests, such as infrastructure projects, including broadband.But with shortfalls suddenly erased, there will be a lot of demand to spend money for ongoing expenses, notably salaries. Were in the middle of negotiations with our six employee unions, says Cate, the San Diego council member. We have to be very careful and tread lightly.The stimulus package includes hefty incentives to try to convince the 12 states that havent expanded Medicaid under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act that its finally time to do so. Leaders of those states have long argued that expanding Medicaid will expose them to increased costs. The new law makes that argument harder to sustain. If all 12 non-expansion states accept the incentives, each will net an estimated nearly $10 billion, after their new Medicaid costs, according to Moodys Investors Service.No congressional Republican supported the stimulus package. A good number of state-level Republicans were opposed also, finding its price tag excessive. Still, its unlikely that any GOP governors will turn down the federal money, as some talked about doing after the 2009 stimulus passed. Even some legislators who opposed the stimulus recognize that it will make their jobs easier.Today, our reserve funds are full and weve got a projected ending balance of $433 million for fiscal year 2021, says Tim Kraayenbrink, who chairs the Iowa Senate Appropriations Committee.That doesnt mean Iowa will reject federal aid.While Im not sure we need the additional federal money being sent to us by Congress, Kraayenbrink says, we will certainly put it to good use helping Iowa families as we all work to recover from this global pandemic. NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) today announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. Data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study showed that the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was well tolerated and demonstrated a 67 percent reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 disease in participants who received the vaccine in comparison to participants given the placebo. The onset of protection was observed from day 14 and was maintained 28 days post-vaccination. The data also demonstrated the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied, and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death across countries with different variants, beginning 28 days after vaccination.1 Variants observed in an ongoing analysis in the ENSEMBLE study included the B.1.351 variant which was identified in 95 percent of the COVID-19 cases in South Africa. "From the beginning of the pandemic, we have worked to develop and deliver a vaccine that could protect the health of people everywhere, and today's milestone represents significant progress toward ensuring global access to our single-shot vaccine," said Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Johnson & Johnson. "We are moving forward with urgency and purpose to meet our commitments to the global community as we do all we can to help end the pandemic." The EUL procedure streamlines the process by which new or unlicensed products can be assessed for use during public health emergencies by governments and United Nations procurement agencies. The EUL process expedites access to such products in many countries around the world and is also a prerequisite to supply vaccines to the new COVAX Facility, a global mechanism for pooled procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in 190 participating countries, including 92 lower-income countries. "The WHO listing of our single-shot COVID-19 vaccine advances our pledge to help stem this pandemic and our unwavering commitment to equitable access," said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson. "Achieving this important prerequisite for distributing our vaccine through the COVAX Facility which is co-led by Gavi is a major step forward in making our vaccine accessible for all." In December 2020, Johnson & Johnson entered into an agreement in principle with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) in support of the COVAX Facility. Johnson & Johnson and Gavi expect to enter into an Advance Purchase Agreement (APA) that would provide up to 500 million doses of the Company's vaccine to COVAX through 2022.2 "A single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that can be distributed and stored using established supply chains has the potential to be very meaningful in the face of this global pandemic," said Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head, Janssen Research & Development at Johnson & Johnson. "In addition, the clinical data shared with WHO that informed the Emergency Use Listing demonstrated protection against disease across countries with multiple variants." Commitment to Equitable Access Equitable access is at the center of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 response. The Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine candidate and its compatibility with standard vaccine distribution channels align with WHO's recommendations for medical interventions in a pandemic setting, which emphasize ease of distribution, administration, and compliance. The Company is committed to ensuring global access to the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine candidate on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use. In September 2020, Johnson & Johnson joined other life sciences companies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in signing an unprecedented communique which outlined a steadfast commitment to facilitating equitable access to the innovations being developed to fight the pandemic.3 Regulatory Filings Johnson & Johnson received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States on February 274 following a unanimous vote by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on February 26, 2021.5 The Company's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine was also granted Interim Order authorization in Canada on March 5, 20216 and Conditional Marketing Authorization (CMA) in the European Union on March 11, 2021.7 Manufacturing and Supply Chain Information The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-shot vaccine is compatible with standard vaccine storage and distribution channels enabling delivery to remote areas.4 The vaccine is estimated to remain stable for two years at -25 to -15C, and a maximum of three months of which can be at routine refrigeration at temperatures of 2-8C.4,8 This enables the vaccine to be shipped using the same cold chain technologies used to transport other medicines and vaccines in routine use.4,9 Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine uses the AdVac vaccine platform, a proprietary technology that was also used to develop and manufacture Janssen's European Commission-approved Ebola vaccine regimen and construct its investigational Zika, RSV, and HIV vaccines.6 Phase 3 ENSEMBLE Study Design The Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in individuals 18 years of age and older.10 The study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Company's vaccine candidate in protecting against both moderate and severe COVID-19 disease, with assessment of efficacy as of day 14 and as of day 28 as co-primary endpoints.11 The study enrolled a total of 43,783 participants. The trial, conducted in eight countries across three continents,10 includes a diverse and broad population of which 34 percent of participants were over age 60.1 Forty-one percent of participants in the study had comorbidities associated with an increased risk for progression to severe COVID-19.1 For more information on the Company's multi-pronged approach to helping combat the pandemic, visit: www.jnj.com/coronavirus. About Johnson & Johnson At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That's why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world's largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Learn more at www.jnj.com. Follow us at @JNJNews. About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at @JanssenGlobal. Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding development of a potential preventive vaccine for COVID-19. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments. ______________________________ 1 Janssen. Johnson & Johnson Announces Single-Shot Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Met Primary Endpoints in Interim Analysis of its Phase 3 ENSEMBLE Trial. Available at: https://www.janssen.com/emea/sites/www_janssen_com_emea/files/johnson_johnson_announces_single-shot_janssen_covid-19_vaccine_candidate_met_primary_endpoints_in_interim_analysis_of_its_phase_3_ensemble_trial.pdf Last accessed: March 2021. 2 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Announces Agreement in Principle with Gavi to Supply Janssen's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate to Lower-Income Countries in 2021. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/our-company/johnson-johnson-announces-agreement-in-principle-with-gavi-to-supply-janssens-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-to-lower-income-countries-in-2021. Last accessed: March 2021. 3 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Joins Other Companies in Signing a Landmark Communique on Expanded Global Access for COVID-19. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/latest-news/johnson-johnson-signs-communique-on-expanded-global-access-for-covid-19-vaccines. Last accessed: March 2021. 4 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Authorized by U.S. FDA For Emergency Use - First Single-Shot Vaccine in Fight Against Global Pandemic. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-authorized-by-u-s-fda-for-emergency-usefirst-single-shot-vaccine-in-fight-against-global-pandemic. Last accessed: March 2021. 5 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Unanimously Recommended for Emergency Use Authorization by U.S. FDA Advisory Committee. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-single-shot-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-unanimously-recommended-for-emergency-use-authorization-by-u-s-fda-advisory-committee. Last accessed: March 2021. 6 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Granted Authorization under Interim Order by Health Canada For Emergency Use. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-granted-authorization-under-interim-order-by-health-canada-for-emergency-use. Last accessed: March 2021. 7 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine Granted Conditional Marketing Authorization by European Commission. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-single-shot-covid-19-vaccine-granted-conditional-marketing-authorization-by-european-commission 8 Custers, J., Kim, D., et al. Vaccines based on replication incompetent Ad26 viral vectors: Standardized template with key considerations for a risk/benefit assessment. Vaccine. 2020. 9 ClinicalTrials.gov. A study of Ad26.COV2.S for the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2-Mediated COVID-19 in Adult Participants (ENSEMBLE). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04505722. Last accessed: March 2021. 10 ClinicalTrials.gov. A study of Ad26.COV2.S for the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2-Mediated COVID-19 in Adult Participants (ENSEMBLE). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04505722. Last accessed: March 2021. 11 Johnson & Johnson. COVID-19 Phase 3 study clinical protocol. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/coronavirus/covid-19-phase-3-study-clinical-protocol. Last accessed: March 2021. SOURCE Johnson & Johnson Related Links www.jnj.com In an epic segment (and I do not use the word "epic" lightly in this case), Tucker Carlson directed desperately needed attention to the Biden administration's policies regarding the American military. Obama started the process of turning the military into a social justice institution. While Trump managed to slow the process, Biden's administration, with help from a highly partisan Pentagon, is purging the military of people expressing views with which Democrats disagree while doubling down on race, radical feminism, and transgenderism. Defense is an afterthought. On Monday, in honor of International Women's Day, Joe Biden read from his teleprompter about the military's pro-women initiatives. He boasted about promoting women, combatting sexual assault, and getting them into fighter jets and attack helicopters. He got a lot of flak for a seemingly silly statement about "maternity flight suits," although healthy pregnant women were already flying during the Trump administration. Conservatives erred in focusing on this, because there was more going on, and it was quite serious. The really nasty thing was the implication that the two women Biden was promoting had previously been denied the opportunity because of Trump. Back in late February, the New York Times had reported that the two women hadn't been promoted last fall because Trump promoted only white men: For the defense secretary at the time, Mark T. Esper, and Gen. Mark A. Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the tricky part was that both of the accomplished officers were women. In 2020 America under President Donald J. Trump, the two Pentagon leaders feared that any candidates other than white men for jobs mostly held by white men might run into turmoil once their nominations reached the White House. That is complete and unmitigated horsepucky. First, notice the weasel words about "jobs mostly held by white men." The left-leaning Council on Foreign Relations looked at both race and sex in the military and what you'll see if you follow the link is that the military as a whole is predominantly white and male and that the officer ranks roughly reflect the general representation of both women and minorities in the military. As young officers rise up, and older officers from a more white and male era retire, presumably, the representation will be even more accurate. Second, going back to the 1970s, Trump was the first major developer in New York City to promote women to important positions. Trump was also hugely pro-female in his White House hiring, including giving women highly responsible jobs. He has been the most effortlessly and naturally pro-woman president ever. Let's be straight here: Esper and Milley were lying. The fact that the Pentagon would lie this way is an important insight into the problems facing America's military. As Tucker Carlson explains in a "must-see" video, the Pentagon has become highly partisan a departure from the American military's 238-year history of being a non-partisan institution. This trend started under Obama. Indeed, it probably started even before then, as college graduates marinated in leftism started to rise in the ranks beginning in the late 1980s. Obama purged generals, presumably for malfeasance or incompetence, but somehow all the ones left behind were Democrats. His military leaders focused hard on feminism (remember the troops made to walk in high heels?) and encouraged transgender people to serve, as well as promoting homosexual activities something separate from allowing homosexuals to serve. And there was the obsession with race in what had long been America's purest meritocracy. In addition, the military went all in on climate change, which meant subordinating quality to carbon emissions. All of this took time, energy, money, and focus away from the military's real job: defense. Trump managed to slow the process. He poured funding into weapons systems again but still drew the wrath of the military-industrial complex because he refused to start new wars and was drawing down troops from the old wars. Not only did this put him at odds with weapons-manufacturers, but it also put him at odds with high-level officers who had fewer promotion opportunities and, worse, had fewer chances of highly paid sinecures in the defense industry after they retired. With Biden in office, all the worst trends are accelerating. Rather than laboriously write it all out, let me hand the baton to Tucker Carlson, who, after ribbing Biden about maternity flight suits, gets to the main point: the left is turning the military into a partisan institution that is highly focused on "social justice" and that views half of America as the real enemy: Full Tucker Carlson segment responding to the DOD's criticisms of his show: "If the Pentagon can show that pregnant pilots are the best, we will be the first to demand an entire air force of them." "The U.S. military is not a vehicle for achieving equity." pic.twitter.com/kK2mZBWrOr Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 12, 2021 Image: Screen grab from video of troops in high heels. Ever since Meghan Markle and Harry opened up about facing racism in Buckingham Palace, while speaking to Oprah Winfrey, they have become a hot topic of discussion on social media. The former royals also alleged that they didn't receive any kind of support by the royal family for Markle's mental health issues and media intrusion. Recently, actress-turned-host Simi Garewal reacted to Meghan Markle's interview and took a jibe at her and tweeted, "#OprahMeghanHarry I don't believe a word Meghan says. Not a word. She is lying to make herself a victim. She is using the race card to gain sympathy. Evil." "She further tweeted, "I withdraw the word 'evil'. It was excessive. Calculating would have been more appropriate..." Now, actress Kangana Ranaut is the latest name to react to the controversy around the royal family. Lending her support to Queen Elizabeth, Kangana tweeted, "For few past days, people gossiped, judged, online lynched a family based on one sided story at the cost of a family, I never saw the interview as sass, bahu, sajish type stuff never excites me. All I want to say is one woman the only ruling Monarch left on this globe." (sic) She further added, "May not be an ideal MIL/wife/sister,but she is a great Queen,she carried forward her father's dream, saved the crown better than any son could have. We can't play every role to perfection even if we excel at one should be enough. She saved the crown. Let her retire like a Queen." May not be an ideal MIL/wife/sister,but she is a great Queen,she carried forward her fathers dream, saved the crown better than any son could have. We cant play every role to perfection even if we excel at one should be enough. She saved the crown. Let her retire like a Queen. Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 12, 2021 As expected, Kangana's tweet received a mixed response from the netizens. While some disagreed with her, others lauded her thoughts about the Queen. ALSO READ: When Kangana Ranaut Furiously Told Her Father 'If You Slap Me, I Will Slap You Back' However, when a Twitter user praised Kangana's tweet, the actress replied saying that the world is only forgiving to men, and shared an example of Mahatma Gandhi. "Mahatma Gandhi was accused of being a bad parent by his own children, there are various mentions of him pushing his wife out of the house for refusing to manually clean guest toilets, he was a great leader may not a great husband but the world is forgiving when it comes to a man," (sic) tweeted Kangana. Mahatma Gandhi was accused of being a bad parent by his own children, there are various mentions of him pushing his wife out of the house for refusing to manually clean guets toilets, he was a great leader may not a great husband but the world is forgiving when it comes to a man Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 12, 2021 Kangana Ranaut looks angry during Pilates class ; Check out | FilmiBeat Well, we won't be surprised if the latest tweet of the Rangoon actress lands her into hot water. ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Shares A Throwback Picture; Recalls Childhood Memories That Pierced Her Heart Jessika Power landed at Sydney Airport on Friday - and the normally glammed-up Married At First Sight star skipped the makeup. The 29-year-old was all smiles when she flew in from Queensland's Gold Coast, happily baring her real face to the world. The blonde reality star looked very different to her usually preened and perfect appearance in Instagram images. Natural beauty: Jessika Power (pictured) landed at Sydney Airport on Friday - and the normally glammed-up Married At First Sight star skipped the makeup The beauty flaunted her flawless complexion and augmented lips, but looked far more natural than she often does in social media images. Jessica was dressed casually in a ribbed, olive-green crop top with short sleeves, which clung to her figure. She added a matching pair of loose jogging bottoms, which were tied with a bow at the waist and showed off her pert derriere. Look here: The 28-year-old was all smiles when she flew in from Queensland's Gold Coast, happily baring her real face to the world Everyday girl: The beauty flaunted her flawless complexion and augmented lips, but looked far natural than she often does in social media images Jessika wore a pair of white sneakers and carried an iPhone, and other than a dainty gold necklace, she skipped the accessories. The stunner has never shied away from discussing the nips and tucks she has had since appearing on Married At First Sight in season six. She's previously admitted to undergoing more than AU$60,400 (GBP 33,000) worth of cosmetic procedures. Different! Jessica wears heavy makeup in her Instagram images and is flawlessly styled Flashback: Jessika was fresh faced and innocent during her televised wedding to Mick Gould on Married At First Sight In 2019, Jessika underwent a breast lift and autologous fat graft, an AU $13,500 (GBP 7,3000) procedure involving the removal of fat cells from her thighs and buttocks. Jessika explained that she decided on a fat transfer as it would fix her problem areas on her thighs while also boosting the size of her chest. 'I went from a very small C to a full D cup, and the retention rate for this procedure is 80 per cent,' she said on Instagram. Upgrade: The star has admitted to undergoing more than AU $60,400 (GBP 33,000) worth of cosmetic procedures over the years Her transformation has also included a new set of veneers, two rounds of dental work, cheek and lip fillers, Botox and a brow lift. 'I can't stop and think I'm addicted,' she told UK publication The Sun when quizzed on her penchant for going under the knife. 'I'm going to get a BBL [Brazilian butt lift] next,' Jessika added. An obsessed stalker wrote champion Australian surfer Mick Fanning a series of chilling letters before breaking into his house. Sarah Anne Foote, 38, from Ballina on the far north coast of NSW, was on Friday sentenced in Southport Courthouse after pleading guilty on March 12 to unlawful stalking and entering a house with intent. The court heard she had stopped taking her medication and had sent Fanning three letters by post and a fourth she hand delivered which detailed her fixation with the surfer - including that she 'occasionally wanted to kill him'. Sarah Anne Foote, 38, (pictured with her lawyer leaving court after being sentenced) wrote a series of highly disturbing notes to Fanning before breaking into his house Fanning (pictured with his girlfriend) found the stalker in his house on February 2 and called police Fanning had been on a three-week overseas trip when he arrived at his Gold Coast house to find Foote at the top of his stairs, the court was told. He ordered her to leave which she did without incident, reports the Gold Coast Bulletin. The letters shown to the court were described by crown prosecutor Matt Hynes as 'ramblings' and included drawings of hearts, a drawing the offender did of herself, and a beaded bracelet. The messages professed her love for the surfer and had deeply disturbing undertones. 'What is wrong with you? Or for that matter, what is right with you?' an excerpt from one letter reads. Sarah Anne Foote (pictured) was sentenced to 15 months prison but released on parole 'I have smelt a murdered corpse in Rockhampton. She was very stinky, worse than any road kill I have ever smelt,' another excerpt reads. 'I met a kiddie killer, she smothered her baby. Only spent a year in a psychiatric hospital, then was released only to murder another child,' a third reads. Her defence lawyer said she was abusing alcohol when she wrote the letters and was back on her medication - allowing her to see her behaviour was wrong. He told the court she lived with her mother and four-year-old daughter. Judge Nicole Kefford sentenced her to 15 months in prison and immediately released her into the community on parole. Fanning revealed the details of the stalking last year. 'When someone walks into your house, it's concerning, so that's why I called the police,' he told the Gold Coast Bulletin. Fanning is pictured with his American model girlfriend Breeana Randall A menacing excerpt from one of the handwritten letters she sent to Fanning 'I know the details of it, I was there, I look after people in my house and that's what I am doing. 'It is what it is, it's done, she was arrested. It's in the court's hands, it's in the police hands.' Fanning retired from competitive surfing in 2018, finishing second to Brazilian Italo Ferreira in his final contest at the Rip Curl Pro Bell's Beach. The 38-year-old ended his career with 22 elite tour wins and was famously attacked by a shark while competing at Jeffrey's Bay in South Africa in 2015. Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth joined with top Pentagon and senior military officials Thursday in sharply condemning Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson, who decried efforts to accommodate women in the military while Chinas military becomes more masculine. Duckworth, an Iraq War combat veteran who lost her legs after her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, took to her campaigns Twitter page to declare: F--- Tucker Carlson. While he was practicing his two-step, Americas female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of Americas women, tweeted Duckworth, who two days earlier used the same forum to announce her 2022 reelection bid. Happy belated International Womens Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than. Duckworths reference to dancing was a jab at Carlson, Fox News most-watched commentary host, over his showing as a 2006 contestant on Dancing With the Stars. He was booted from the show after his first appearance. The Illinois junior senator added a tweet saying, ...and we all know it was his female partner who did all the hard work on the dance competition show, referring to professional dancer Elena Grinenko. On his show Tuesday night, Carlson railed against President Joe Bidens comments a day earlier, on International Womens Day, as he was discussing the promotion of two female generals and efforts to better accommodate women in the military with measures such as maternity flight suits and allowing more hairstyles. So weve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. Its a mockery of the U.S. military, Carlson said. While Chinas military becomes more masculine as it has assembled the worlds largest navy, our military needs to become as Joe Biden says more feminine, whatever feminine means anymore, he said. The military changes Carlson criticized were initiated during Republican President Donald Trumps administration. Story continues Carlsons comments were met with revulsion by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. Acknowledging a need for the U.S. military to be more inclusive and respectful, especially to women, Kirby said, What we absolutely wont do is take personnel advice from a talk-show host or the Chinese military. Its not the first time that Duckworth and Carlson have clashed. In July, Carlson labeled Duckworth a coward, a fraud and a callous hack who hated America over comments she made to CNN that she was open to a national discussion over the removal of statues honoring historical figures, including George Washington, who owned slaves. At the time, Duckworth was on Bidens list of potential running mates. As she did Thursday, Duckworth chose Twitter to respond to Carlson in July. Does (Carlson) want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America? she said on Twitter. Carlsons appearance on Dancing With the Stars came the same year that Duckworth made her first bid for public office in Illinois after being severely injured two years earlier. It was a losing bid to unseat then-Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton. She went on to win two terms in the U.S. House starting in 2012 and was elected to the Senate in 2016. A genetic treatment has been developed that leads to fruit flies living as much as nine per cent longer. Two therapies were created which each target a protein and they both were found to stave off signs of Alzheimer's as well as elongating healthy lifespan. While the findings raise the possibility of replicating the treatments in humans, such genetic therapies are currently prohibited on ethical grounds, despite an ongoing debate about potential benefits. Scroll down for video Pictured, a picture of a fruit fly brain that has been altered so that it certain proteins glow. In this picture the yellow dots are the damaging protein p62/REF2P and the magenta is poly-ubiquitin. A similar technique was used to track FKH and FOXO Genome editing is NOT yet ready to be tried safely in humans Editing the genes of embryos is not yet safe for humans, according to a new report published by the world's leading experts in fertility, ethics and biology. Germline gene editing is a process where faulty, diseased, or undesirable genes in an embryo, sperm of egg are removed, altered or replaced by scientists. This system is extremely powerful and the changes made are not only permanent, but will be passed down the generations. However, this landmark report says not enough is known about the safety or precision of the process for it to be trialled in humans. Advocates of human germline genome editing are pushing for the procedure to be investigated, as it has the ability to allow babies destined to inherit life-threatening conditions to be born disease-free. The topic of gene editing embryos to 'customise' a baby has been at the forefront of science since the shock announcement in 2018 that a rogue scientist in China had used the powerful gene-editing tool Crispr on a pair of twin girls. Currently, editing the DNA of a human embryo is not allowed in the US, thanks to a 2017 ruling by the international committee of the National Academy of Sciences. Crispr-based experiments on human embryos were approved in the UK in 2016 with the stipulation they are never transplanted to create a pregnancy and must be destroyed after a week. Advertisement Researchers from UCL altered the genetics of fruit flies a common animal in lab studies with extra chunks of DNA inserted into their genome. These alterations were specifically designed to promote expression of genes responsible for the production of two proteins. In turn, these proteins, called forkhead (FKH) and forkhead-box-O (FOXO), act on neurons and glial cells in the brain, respectively. Neurons carry electrical impulses around the nervous system and make up the brain's grey matter whereas glial cells do not carry signals and make up the white matter of the organ. Both proteins are very similar in shape and function, and bind to DNA, turning sections of the genome 'on' or 'off'. The team of scientists were studying fruit flies to learn more about the impact insulin has on the body and ageing. Co-lead author Dr Nathan Woodling told MailOnline: 'Insulin is very important to development, but it appears that we may have too much of it late in life. 'Insulin signalling likely developed through evolution due to its benefits early in life, in spite of its detrimental effects later in life.' Their research revealed flies have various chemicals and mechanisms to help regulate the response to insulin, which itself helps the body deal with sugar. They then honed in on FKH and FOXO due to their similarity to proteins seen in humans brains. By studying the impact they had on the fruit flies the researchers got an idea of what their impact may be for human health. Their research involved creating genetically altered flies with elevated and depleted levels of both proteins. It revealed overexpression of FOXO leads to a 'significantly increased healthy lifespan' of 8.8 per cent. For the neuron-targeting FKH, overexpression elongated healthy lifespan by 6.6 per cent. The treatments also reduced the buildup of amyloid, harmful brain proteins which are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. 'The neuronal treatment protected fly brains against the damage caused by amyloid-beta, one of the proteins thought to cause Alzheimer's disease,' Dr Woodling says. 'The treated flies in that experiment had improved motor behaviour and fewer protein aggregates in their brains, which suggests that a longer lifespan was accompanied by protection from one of the causes of dementia.' Dr Woodling says the genes involved in the experiment have equivalents in humans which are very similar. A genetic treatment has been discovered which extends the lifespan of fruit flies by as much as nine per cent. Two different therapies which target different proteins were created and found to also stave off signs of Alzheimer's (stock) There are also several drugs which target the insulin signalling network, so modifying an approved treatment to target these genes in people may be possible in the future. 'Studies on human cells would therefore be a crucial step before taking these findings into clinical use,' he says. While the study identified a clear link between the genetic treatment and increased lifespan, how it did this remains unknown. 'Our best hypothesis at the moment is that these treatments help increase a process called autophagy (which literally means self-eating) in neurons, so that the cells can degrade and recycle the aggregates of protein that build up when there is too much amyloid in the brain,' Dr Woodling told MailOnline. 'This is a particularly interesting direction for us, since a number of clinically approved drugs can increase autophagy, but we do not know yet whether these drugs could successfully be used to treat Alzheimer's disease.' The full findings are published in PNAS. His goal, his chief of staff, Ron Klain, said in an interview, is laying up the next steps in this rescue and what, now that weve got this bill passed, are we really going to do in the coming months to get back toward a more normal way of life in this country. All of Mr. Bidens instincts tell him that declaring a move to recovery too soon carries dangers. It would signal that states could follow the example of Texas, eliminating mask mandates, opening restaurants and bars too quickly, and making themselves vulnerable to a resurgence what Mr. Biden called Neanderthal thinking. He said as much in the speech, arguing, This is not the time to let up. We need everyone to get vaccinated, he said, an unspoken recognition that soon there may be more supply than willing takers. Keep wearing a mask, because beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity. Though Mr. Biden made no mention of it, his top cabinet members have emphasized that even eliminating the virus at home is not enough. As his secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, said last month, Unless and until everyone in the world is vaccinated, then no one is really fully safe, because if the virus is out there and continuing to proliferate, its also going to be mutating. And if its mutating, he added, its also going to come back and bite people everywhere. But the subtext of Mr. Bidens message on Thursday evening, was that for the first time, people can begin to imagine a post-Covid world. After a year behind closed doors, the government can start to think about managing the virus to the point where it does not drive every policy decision, and families can find a way to go to dinner, or visit grandparents, without wondering whether it is a life-or-death decision. All of which raises the question of what will be permanently changed and what, when the history of this national trauma is written, will prove recoverable. And what will the country have learned? The past provides a mixed guide. There were too few lessons gleaned from the 1918 pandemic, an event that most history books overlooked, and that many Americans first heard about in any detail a century later, when it returned to afflict the nation in a different form. But in 1918, as in 2020, the presidents instinct was to play down its severity, invoking the odd logic that Americans would be dispirited by the truth even as their family and friends succumbed around them. Circle Creative Studio/iStockBy BRUNO ROEBER and ELLA TORRES, ABC News (LONDON) -- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's explosive and intimate interview -- in which they alleged racism within the royal family, serious mental health concerns and being cut off financially -- did little to change the minds of most British people about the monarchy, according to recent polls and public commentary. A poll conducted by YouGov for Sky News showed that Britons were more sympathetic toward Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family than the duke and duchess of Sussex. Thirty-six percent of people said they were more sympathetic to the royal family, a two-point drop compared to polling done on March 4, while 22% of people said they more sympathetic to Harry and Meghan, a rise of just four points. Britons were split on whether Harry and Meghan were treated unfairly, with the majority of people saying they didn't know. ABC News spoke with Londoners about the interview, which was viewed by more than 11 million Britons. Much of what people said illuminated the poll's results. While most people interviewed did believe that Meghan had been subjected to racism, they still voiced affection for the royal family. "I can't imagine that they lied about the racist comment. What do they gain by lying? And I've grown up in this country and I've had comments like that," a woman named Michelle, who is Black, told ABC News in Shepherd's Bush on Tuesday. "But why'd they do that [interview]? The majority of the country likes the royal family. They feel that they're a part of the royal family." She, as others did, also questioned why Meghan would want to "put their dirty laundry out to the whole world." Yet Michelle did say that it was important to expose racism within Britain, which she said was "covert," but she worried that the interview could make the country more divided. "Because what's happening is I'm reading outrageous things on Facebook going, 'Oh we're fed up with this racist thing.' It's, you know, 'I'm fed up of hearing about the Black thing.' And that, in a way, is more disturbing because people's racism is sort of coming out to the surface," she said. Another man, who identified himself as Jeff, said that while he thought there was truth to what Meghan said, he accepted that the royal family was "very old fashioned" and "stuck in their ways." He said that he was mainly disappointed after the interview because he hoped the royal family was "making headway." Despite the conflicting reactions, public conversations around racism within British institutions are slowly beginning to take hold. After the couple's sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, the Society of Editors in the U.K. put out a statement strongly refuting any racist coverage that Meghan received from the press. The statement also added that the press in the U.K. was not racist, prompting backlash. More than 160 journalists of color in the U.K. responded to the statement in an open letter, saying there was evidence that racism and bigotry existed in the media. "While Meghans comments shone a light on her own personal experiences of discriminatory treatment, they reflect the depressingly familiar reality of how people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are portrayed by the UK press on a daily basis," the letter, published Wednesday, read. It gave examples of such racism and bigotry, including 2016 research from Cardiff University which showed that British press coverage was uniquely aggressive in its campaigns against refugees and migrants. The executive director of the Society of Editors, Ian Murray, has since stepped down from his position. "Since the statement was issued the SoE has been heavily criticized, Murray said in a statement. While I do not agree that the Societys statement was in any way intended to defend racism, I accept it could have been much clearer in its condemnation of bigotry and has clearly caused upset." Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah was the first time they spoke about stepping as as working royals. Both Harry and Meghan said a conversation about "how dark" their son's skin might be took place before Archie's birth. Neither would reveal who brought up the question, but Harry said the incident "was awkward. I was a bit shocked." Oprah later said Harry told her it was not the queen nor Prince Philip. Meghan also opened up about her mental health while working as a senior member of the royal family, saying at one point she felt suicidal but was told nothing could be done because she was not a "paid employee of the institution." "I just didnt see a solution I just didnt want to be alive anymore, and that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought," Meghan said. Despite their allegations of unfair treatment, 32% of people believe that Harry and Meghan were treated fairly by the royal family. Another 32% thought the opposite, saying they were treated unfairly. However, 36% of people said they didn't know. The responses differed greatly depending on the generation. Of people aged 16 to 29, 61% said Harry and Meghan were treated unfairly. Only 13% said they were treated fairly. The majority of people (40%) aged 25 to 49 polled said they were treated unfairly, compared to 23% who said otherwise. Yet the majority was switched for people aged 50 and over; 39% said that Harry and Meghan were treated fairly and 20% said they were treated unfairly. Half of the people who are 65 or older said Harry and Meghan were treated fairly, with just 15% saying they were treated unfairly. Buckingham Palace released a statement Tuesday saying that the allegations of racism were "concerning" and would be addressed privately by the family. Prince William made his first comments since the interview aired on Thursday, addressing the media to say he had not yet spoken to Harry but would do so. When asked directly if the royal family was racist, he replied, "We're very much not a racist family." The one question Britons did agree on more, regardless of generation, was whether or not being part of the royal family was a privilege or burden. Thirty-eight percent polled that it was equally both. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) were first successfully imported from China to the United States in 1881. Their first successful release in Minnesota came in 1916. The ring-necked pheasant is one of Minnesota's most popular upland game birds. Guyana has started the year with an exploration disappointment as a partner in the ExxonMobil-operated Canje block last week revealed that the first wildcat in the license failed to deliver. However, Rystad Energy expects exploration activity in the country to rebound with an annual record of 16 wells, including on the Stabroek block, also operated by ExxonMobil. The years first completed well, Bulletwood-1 in the Canje block, encountered quality reservoirs but non-commercial hydrocarbons, according to Westmount Energy, which holds a stake in Canje partner JHI Associates. The well was targeting more than 500 million barrels of mean prospective resources in a prospect similar to Liza in the neighboring Stabroek block. Guyanas exploration activity will be spearheaded by ExxonMobil as the operator of the Stabroek and Canje blocks. Having set an ambitious divestment target of $15 billion by offloading mature assets in Asia, Europe, and Africa, the U.S. supermajor is expected to prioritize investments in high-value assets such as Stabroek. The companys drilling activity will focus on firming up resources in the southeastern part of the Stabroek block, where the operator identified deeper plays underneath the existing discoveries and is now eyeing the unexplored northwestern parts of the block. In addition, work is lined up on the Canje block. Rystad Energy data suggests that close to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent has been discovered on average for each exploration well (wildcat and appraisal) drilled in the country over the past six years. With around 16 exploration wells planned, including some in riskier frontier regions, 2021 holds a lot of promise, says Santosh Kumar, analyst with Rystad Energys upstream team. ExxonMobils fleet of contracted drillships in Guyana is set to increase to six with the arrival of the Noble Sam Croft in April. The Rystad Energy Offshore Rig tracker shows that three drillships are currently located in the greater Liza area performing development drilling activity. The recently arrived Stena DrillMAX already initiated drilling activities on the Longtail-2 appraisal well, while the Stena Carron drillship, which recently concluded drilling Bulletwood-1, has now spud the Jabillo-1 exploration well in the Canje block. The operator and its partners plan to deploy four floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSOs) to develop the existing resources within the block. However, the supermajor is expected to ramp up drilling activities, as it plans to have at least five FPSOs online by 2026. Success at this years Mako-2 and Uaru-2 wells on the Stabroek block could potentially firm up the Mako/Uaru area as a candidate for the next FPSO location. On the Canje block, plans are in place to drill two wells in 2021 in addition to the uncommercial Bulletwood-1 find, with the Jabillo well already in progress. No further exploration plans are expected for the Kaieteur block. Canada-based explorer CGX Energy operates the Demerara and Corentyne blocks with 66.67% interest, with Frontera Energy as its consortium partner. The plan for 2021 consists of up to two exploration wells, at a combined estimated cost of about $90 million. Related Video: Fukushima's Radioactive Wastewater Disaster There are no drilling plans reported for this year as yet on the Repsol-operated Kanuku block and Tullow Oils Orinduik block. However, 3D seismic reprocessing is scheduled to mature prospects for future drilling. Meanwhile, in eastern Guyanese waters, there are only two unallocated blocks: Block C, which lies east of the Kaieteur block and north of Stabroek, and a smaller 1,325 square kilometers block, which was relinquished by the Canje consortium. The other unallocated offshore deepwater region lies northwest of Guyanas offshore sector. This area, formerly called the Roraima block, is bordered by the Kaieteur and Stabroek blocks. It is, however, part of a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela, therefore potentially struggling to generate interest. In the middle of this booming exploration activity, Guyana is mulling over a new bidding round that could see the light of day in 2022. Drilling results will be eagerly watched by the services industry, as more exploration success off Guyana would translate into welcomed opportunities after the market slump of 2020. By Rystad Energy More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Priti Patel has said the case of missing Sarah Everard is 'deeply disturbing' and has 'sickened' police officers as she vows to publish a national strategy to tackle violence against women and girls by the end of the year. The Home Secretary made the pledge following the disappearance of the marketing manager 33, as she walked home from Clapham, south London, on March 3. On Wednesday human remains were found in Ashford, Kent, by police searching for Miss Everard - a day after serving police officer Wayne Couzens was arrested in connection with her disappearance. The 48-year-old was also arrested in connection with an unrelated allegation of indecent exposure, said to have happened three days before Sarah went missing. Speaking about the arrest, Ms Patel said: 'The police hold positions of trust in our communities and it is deeply disturbing to imagine that someone who we would all put our faith in if in danger could allegedly be responsible for such an abhorrent crime.' Priti Patel said police officers were 'sickened,' by the case of missing Sarah Everard, 33, as a 48-year-old Met Police officer remains in custody in connection with her disappearance Priti Patel promised to publish a Government strategy by the end of this year that focused on tackling violence against women and girls Writing in The Sun, Ms Patel said: 'If you are feeling angry or worried, please try to remember that tens of thousands of police officers are equally sickened by what has happened, and there are currently hundreds of dedicated officers working night and day to bring the perpetrator to justice.' Ms Patel pledged to publish a Government strategy dedicated to cracking down on gender-based violence by the end of this year. The strategy will be based on the findings of the UK's first ever public survey on violence against women and girls. Ms Patel added: 'With Sarah and her family in my thoughts and prayers, I will continue to do all I can in my role as Home Secretary to protect women and girls.' Ms Patel said it was 'deeply disturbing,' that a Met Police officer 'could allegedly be responsible for such an abhorrent crime'. Wayne Couzens remains in police custody at this stage Sarah's disappearance has ignited fury over the issues of female safety with hundreds of women openly discussing the fear they have felt when alone in public day or night. Reclaim These Streets marches, designed to show that women should feel safe no matter the time of day, are now being organised. In a statement released yesterday, Ms Patel said: 'I am deeply saddened by he developments in the Sarah Everard investigation. 'My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with Sarah, her family and friends at this unbearable time. 'Many women have shared their stories and concerns online since Sarah's disappearance last week. 'These are so powerful because each and every woman can relate. Every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets without fear of harassment or violence. 'At this deeply sad and tragic time as we think and pray for Sarah and her family. I will continue through my role to do all I can to protect women and girls from violence and harassment.' Priti Patel has said that 'every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets' as dozens share their harrowing personal stories with #saraheverard and #TooManyMen as Reclaim These Streets marches are announced Ms Patel vowed that she would 'do all she can to protect women and girls from violence and harassment' and praised women for sharing their own experiences on social media Dozens of women have shared their stories of being stalked in light of Sarah's disappearance, including Labour MP Diane Abbott, actor Katy Brand and author Caitlin Moran. Diane Abbott wrote: 'Even after all these years if I am out late at night on an isolated street & I hear a man's footsteps behind me I automatically cross the road. 'It is the habit of a lifetime to try & keep safe. But it should not have to be like this #SarahEverard.' Katy Brand also said: 'Important to clarify I think that although instances of kidnap and murder from a stranger are indeed rare, being aggressively followed in the street by a man is not rare at all. 'I think it would be good to separate the two things. Lots of us have been scared many times.' And Caitlin Moran added: 'Being a woman: my 'outside' day finishes at sundown. If I haven't taken the dog for a walk/jogged by then, I can't. In the winter, it often means the choice between exercise and work. Today, I had to stop work at 4 to exercise. My husband worked until 6, and is now off for a run. 'I am 45 and it is 2021 and I am essentially under a curfew. Like all women. And there are absolutely no exit plans for this. It's just presumed women will stay home when it's dark... forever.' Labour MP Diane Abbott (left) and author Caitlin Moran (right) are among those who have spoken out about their own experiences Dozens of women have shared their stories of being stalked in light of Sarah's disappearance, including Labour MP Diane Abbott, actor Katy Brand and author Caitlin Moran Sky's Kate McCann also issued a tweet that read: 'What happened to Sarah Everard has hit home hard for so many women because we make the calculations she did every day too. 'We take the longer, better-lit route, push the fear aside for the voice that says 'don't be daft, you've every right to walk home alone at night and be safe'.' And members of the public were quick to follow suit as one wrote: 'As a teenager I'd walk home at night with keys clutched in my hand, always thinking which was the nearest house I knew someone that I could run to if needed. 'Wish I didn't have to tell my teenage daughter to do this 30 years later. Thinking of Sarah's family #ReclaimTheNight.' Another added: 'From the moment we reach puberty women get used to being flashed, followed, touched being told what we should & shouldn't do. 'Almost all of us has had the experience of wearing flat shoes for a quick get away, keys in hand, phone ready, looking over our shoulder #ReclaimTheNight.' Reclaim These Streets marches, designed to show that women should feel safe no matter the time of day, are now being organised And members of the public were quick to follow suit with their own personal concerns and stories A third commented: 'Every woman you know has taken a longer route. 'Has doubled back on herself. Has pretended to dawdle by a shop window. Has held her keys in her hand. 'Has made a fake phone call. Has rounded a corner and run. Every woman you know has walked home scared. Every woman you know.' Dr Julia Grace Patterson: 'This must be a moment of reckoning' Dr Julia Grace Patterson, who runs campaigning organisation EveryDoctor UK, took to Twitter to share her own experience Dr Julia Grace Patterson, who runs campaigning organisation EveryDoctor UK, took to Twitter to share her own harrowing experience. She wrote: 'I feel exposed tweeting this, but I think I'll do it anyway. I cried tears of anger and exhaustion and heartache last night for Sarah. 'But I also cried for all women. I was attacked on the street by a man when I was at medical school. 'My facial injuries meant I had to seek A+E treatment. I was then stalked by the police officer who'd taken my evidence (my passport, bag and keys, which had been stuffed in a nearby bin). 'I was called daily by this police officer who said he was handling my case. Eventually when he accepted I'd turned down his romantic advances, he sent my things to a police station in the outskirts of London, and it took me several weeks to track them down. 'I had no ID, no phone, no money. I was a new student in London. I had PTSD symptoms from my attack, physical injuries, and shame I didn't report him because I felt stupid, like I'd done something wrong. 'Like my presence on that street in broad daylight has attracted the attack. I am still scared of walking alone in my own neighbourhood at night. Sarah could be any one of us and I'm devastated for her. 'I'm devastated for all of us. This must be a moment of reckoning. It's 2021. #saraheverand.' Advertisement It comes as organisers announce the first Reclaim These Streets protest will be held on Clapham Common near to where the Durham University grad was last seen alive. The event organisers said: 'We believe that streets should be safe for women, regardless of what you wear, where you live or what time of day or night it is. 'We shouldn't have to wear bright colours when we walk home and clutch our keys in our fists to feel safe. 'It's wrong that the response to violence against women requires women to behave differently. 'In Clapham, police told women not to go out at night this week. 'Women are not the problem. 'We've all been following the tragic case of Sarah Everard over the last week. 'This is a vigil for Sarah, but also for all women who feel unsafe, who go missing from our streets and who face violence every day. 'Come to the bandstand on Clapham Common at 6pm on Saturday March 13 to reclaim these streets and our public spaces. 'This event is for and about women, but open to all. Bring a light to remember those we've lost.' Organiser Jamie Klingler said: 'Every WhatsApp group I am in is filled with dread over Sarah Everard. 'All of us are replaying the millions of times we, as urban adults, have walked home at night. 'That we have taken for granted that we deserve to be safe. 'My heart is breaking for her family.' The organisers said campaigners should maintain social distancing and, across the county, other Reclaim These Streets marches are springing up in cities such as Cambridge. Sarah disappeared after leaving a friend's house in Leathwaite Road, Clapham, at about 9pm on March 3. She was thought to be making the 50-minute walk to her home in Brixton where she lives alone. Detectives believe she walked over Clapham Common and was seen on CCTV about halfway through the journey, on the A205 Poynders Road at 9.30pm. She had been on the phone with her boyfriend Josh Lowth, also 33, for 15 minutes but after that her phone lost signal or was switched off. She was not seen on CCTV further down the road, or by her flat in Brixton. Police have since arrested a serving Metropolitan Police officer in connection with her disappearance. He has been arrested on suspicion of murder, kidnapping and a unrelated charge of exposure. The man, in his 40s, remains in police custody and is being questioned by detectives. PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Oregon Cares Fund is nearly ready to release its final round of COVID grants to the Black community, after a settlement agreement was reached with plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed against the fund. If approved by the judge, the agreement allows the remaining $8.8 million to be distributed to Black Oregonians, Black-owned businesses and Black-led nonprofits that have demonstrated financial harm due to COVID. So far, the Fund has allocated $49.5 million to 15,600 Oregonians (more than 33,000 when dependents are included), 488 businesses and 103 nonprofits that submitted applications and met the criteria. In at least one case, a Black business owner reported that the fund saved his life. The resounding success of The Oregon Cares Fund demonstrates the impact of state government when it appropriately responds to the needs of community members. I am pleased to continue organizing with community leaders across Oregon and collaborating with State officials so that future relief funds will be prioritized for communities with the greatest needs, said one of the Funds architects, Nkenge Harmon Johnson, chief executive for the Urban League of Portland. Grants from the Oregon Cares Fund saved Oregon jobs and small businesses. In nearly every county in Oregon, the fund helped children and families who are struggling to survive the pandemic. The fund also illustrated the wisdom of addressing disproportionate impacts on Black Oregonians through narrowly tailored remedies. Three plaintiffs - Great Northern Resources, Dynamic Service Fire and Security, and Dynamics owner Walter Van Leja - sued the State of Oregon, The Contingent and the Black United Fund of Oregon this past fall. The plaintiffs filed and lost a motion for an injunction and a motion for a restraining order, which, if granted, would have shut the fund down immediately. By denying both motions, the judge allowed the fund to continue operating. Nonetheless, on December 8, the state and The Contingent agreed to deposit what remained in the fund at that time -- $8.8 million -- with the court until a decision was made or settlement reached. This settlement resolves all ongoing litigation in this case. Moving forward, the state is poised to continue to lead the nation on ways to support communities of color and ensure resources are distributed without discrimination by pushing forward a data equity legislative concept. In an ideal state, a fund like The Oregon Cares Fund would not be needed, said Dr. Tyler TerMeer, chief executive officer of the Cascade AIDS Project and member of the Council of Trust, the 11-member body of Black leaders statewide that guided administration of the Fund. The reason it was needed is that we know that systems have discriminated against the Black community, leading to dollars being distributed unevenly and unfairly. For example, Black-owned businesses get less funding than white-owned businesses. Black families have a harder time securing loans and financing. We are proposing that businesses in Oregon be required to collect demographic data on beneficiaries, so that in the future, we know exactly which communities need more support and how much. The Oregon Cares Fund saved my business and helped my family rebuild after we lost our home to the wildfires, said Aisha Wand, owner at Ashland DanceWorks. I am thankful The Oregon Cares Fund removed barriers and made Black people, Black business owners and Black-led nonprofits a priority during these times. I look to the Oregon legislature to continue investing resources into Black communities during and after the pandemic. The Oregon Cares Fund was an important first step toward ensuring, for the first time, that financial relief designed for all communities actually came to its most vulnerable community. It was an equity-based systemic response to systemic racism, and it was a great success, said Rep. Janelle Bynum, state representative. The pandemic is still happening, and Black Oregonians are most vulnerable to the virus and least likely to receive aid. There is an urgent need for ongoing relief. Im committed to holding the state accountable to expanding the collection of disaggregated data to include race, ethnicity and gender. The Oregon Cares Fund was an incredible success that served the diversity in Blackness to provide relief to African communities, Afro-Latinx Oregonians and Black-mixed folks, said Musse Olol, Somali American Council Of Oregon (SACOO). Black people are not a monolith and this Fund truly reflected the diversity among Black Oregonians in terms of nationality, geography, religion and language. More on the details of the settlement agreement If the court approves the settlement agreement, the court will immediately release $5.3 million of the $8.8 million held by the court. The Contingent will disperse that money to eligible applicants that were vetted and approved in November and December and have been waiting for grants. The remaining $3.5 million would continue to be held by the court and disbursements made by The Contingent upon court approval. The lawsuit filed by Cocina Cultura remains ongoing and the approximately $42,000 being held by the court for that applicant will remain with the court until the suit is settled or decided by a judge or jury. Background on The Oregon Cares Fund The Oregon Cares Fund was a targeted grant program available to help Black individuals and families, Black business owners and Black-led nonprofits across Oregon weather the financial harm caused by COVID-19. The $62 million fund was made available through the Oregon Legislatures Emergency Board. In July 2020, the Board voted to allocate a portion ($200 million) of Oregons $1.4 billion in federally funded COVID-19 relief (from the CARES Act) toward specific communities and sectors of the economy -- including the Black community in Oregon. This was necessary because the Black community often receives a disproportionately lower amount of financial support from relief funds such as the CARES Act. The Oregon Cares Fund highlights the strength of a diverse leadership coalition aligned on behalf of the Black communitys interests. This investment was championed in the legislature by Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spence, Rep. Janelle Bynum, Sen. James Manning, Sen. Lew Frederick, Black leaders across the state and thousands of Oregon constituents. The Council of Trust, composed of 11 Black leaders from across Oregon, was charged with guiding the fund and approving applications. The fund distribution was carried out by two nonprofits The Contingent and The Black United Fund. The need for The Oregon Cares Fund Even before COVID-19, twice as many Black Oregonians were living in poverty than white Oregonians. The global pandemic has widened and exacerbated the longstanding inequities that existed before the virus, hitting Black Americans harder than whites in terms of job and wage loss, the amount of financial reserves on hand and the ability to pay monthly bills. According to state data, in the past two months approximately four times as many Black Oregonians have contracted COVID-19 than white Oregonians. The Black business community is less likely to have access to loans and traditional capital and has also received proportionally less COVID-19 federal aid. ADVERTISEMENT Scores of youth in Lagos Wednesday attempted to destroy a BRT bus station at Cement bus-stop, Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, after one of the buses fatally hit a commercial motorcyclist. The deceased, Gbenga Adeniyi of No 13 Oko filling station Ogun State, was said to have been hit by the BRT bus while plying the corridor, and died on the spot. Mr Adeniyi, 30, lost control while using the BRT corridor, and was crushed to death by an oncoming BRT bus, the police said. In a statement by Muyiwa Adejobi, on Thursday, the police spokesperson said officers in the area were drafted to the scene to prevent the destruction of BRT buses by restive youth. The police spokesperson said about 22 BRT buses were secured by the officers and were escorted to the Oshodi terminal to prevent their damage. Operatives of the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad (RRS), on Wednesday, 10th March, 2021, successfully prevented a reprisal attack on twenty two (22) BRT buses and robbery of passengers caught during the fracas that ensued after the accident, involving a BRT Bus and one motorcyclist, that occurred at Cement Bus-Stop along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway. The Commissioner of Police had ordered the RRS Commander, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, to lead the enforcement team to the accident scene where he discovered that a commercial motorcyclist, who lost control while using the BRT corridor, was crushed to death by an oncoming BRT bus which resulted to attacks by some motorcyclists and miscreants on all BRT buses and passengers in the area. ALSO READ: Hoodlums raze Oyingbo terminus of Lagos BRT The RRS enforcement team was able to restore order and escorted the 22 BRT buses safely back to Oshodi terminal, the police said. Reacting to the incident, Hakeem Odumosu, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police decried the flagrant disobedience of traffic rules by motorcyclists and motorists in the state especially plying the BRT corridors with impunity. He emphasised that such is unacceptable. The Commissioner directed the police to arrest the youth that caused the mayhem in the area following the incident, saying they will be made to face the wrath of the law as the command will not tolerate any act of lawlessness in any part of the state. UPDATE: The Morgan County Sheriff's Office reported Friday that Carter O'Bryan Lyle surrendered to deputies and was booked in the Morgan County Jail. Bond was set at $125,000. From earlier: The Morgan County Sheriffs Office is asking the public to help it locate a suspect in a nearly year-long drug investigation. Agents with the Morgan County Drug Enforcement Unit attached to the Alabama Drug Enforcement Task Force Region F on Monday searched a storage unit Monday and found about 5.9 pounds of meth, about $48,000 and three firearms. One of those was a short-barreled shotgun that violates state and federal laws. Agents determined that Carter OBryan Lyle, 30 of Decatur, was the primary suspect, said Mike Swafford, Morgan County Sheriffs Office spokesman. Swafford said a search of Lyles residence in the 2,200 bock of Graham Avenue in Decatur uncovered more evidence and money. Lyle now has arrest warrants on charges of trafficking in methamphetamine and possession of a short-barreled shotgun. Swafford said Lyle is believed to be in the Decatur area. Anyone who knows Lyles whereabouts is asked to call the sheriffs office at 256-351-4800 or use the Sheriffs Office TipLink: http://bit.ly/SheriffTipLink Swafford said the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are pending. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-03-12 03:17:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on March 11, 2021 in Moscow, Russia, shows the picture "Kiss" shot by Xinhua photographer Tao Liang displayed outside of TASS news agency. This Xinhua picture won the award of "Special Perspective by (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov" on Thursday in the news photo competition "Overcoming COVID" organized by TASS news agency. The picture "Kiss" shot by Xinhua photographer Tao Liang shows a medic kisses his love goodbye at an airport in southwest China's Guiyang City on Feb. 11, 2020, before departing to join the fight against COVID-19 in central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn) MOSCOW, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A Xinhua picture won the award of "Special Perspective by (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov" on Thursday in the news photo competition "Overcoming COVID" organized by TASS news agency. The picture "Kiss" shot by Xinhua photographer Tao Liang shows a medic kisses his love goodbye at an airport in southwest China's Guiyang City on Feb. 11, 2020, before departing to join the fight against COVID-19 in central China's Hubei Province. Xinhua pictures "Social Distancing," "The Ark" and "Together in Wuhan" were also shortlisted for the awards. "Birthday" from Spain won the grand prize, with "The Sacrament" from Russia being "the single photo category winner" and "In the Epicenter of COVID-19" from the United States being "the photo series category winner." About 4,000 works from photojournalists from 84 countries were sent to the competition. The pictures were evaluated by a professional jury, which included representatives of the world's leading media outlets. Enditem Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Increasing the amount of time schools devote to physical education each week could dramatically reduce the number of children who are doing only minimal levels of exercise, researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington and Sport New Zealand have found. Lead researcher Dr. Anja Mizdrak from the University of Otago, Wellington, says increasing PE time at school to 2.5 hours a week could halve the number of young people doing minimal levels of exercise while increasing the proportion of sufficiently active young people to 68 percent. The researchers used information from Sport New Zealand's Active NZ Survey of more than 8,000 children and young people aged from five to 17 years to assess current activity levels and then modeled the impact of increasing PE time at school. Their research is published in The New Zealand Medical Journal. Dr. Mizdrak says the survey showed 61 percent of children and young people were 'sufficiently active," clocking up more than seven hours of exercise a week. Almost 20 percent were moderately active (3.5 to seven hours a week) and 19 percent were minimally active (less than 3.5 hours a week). "The results suggest urgent action is required. Introducing 2.5 hours of PE a week in schools would reach a large proportion of young people who are currently missing out on physical activity, and would halve the number who are minimally active to eight percent." While New Zealand schools are required to include PE as part of the curriculum, there is no requirement on how much time should be devoted it, in contrast to many other countries, including Australia, where schools are required to provide at least two hours of PE a week. Co-Researcher Dr. Justin Richards, the Academic Lead at Sport New Zealand and Associate Professor in Physical Activity and Wellbeing at Te Herenga WakaVictoria University of Wellington, says schools are an important setting for promoting quality physical activity among children and young people. "The routine and regularity of school on five days a week provides an opportunity to ensure physical activity is better spread throughout the week and to ensure that daily physical activity recommendations are met." He says despite PE being part of the curriculum, a large proportion of children and young people surveyed (44 percent) said they had received one hour or less of physical education at school in the previous week. "Ensuring all pupils do at least 2.5 hours of quality physical activity a week at school is the best way of reaching those young people who were most inactive and had the most to gain from being active." Dr. Richards says there was variation in the proportion of young people who were sufficiently active among different groups, with males having higher physical activity levels than females and the least deprived young people having higher physical activity levels than the most deprived young people. "Introducing a minimum time requirement for PE, or in fact physical activity participation during the school day, would close the inequity gap in physical activity participation across socio-economic, ethnicity and gender lines." The research paper, "The potential of school-based physical education to increase physical activity in Aotearoa New Zealand children and young people: a modeling study," is published in the New Zealand Medical Journal. Explore further Physical activity should be a vital sign of children's overall health More information: The potential of school-based physical education to increase physical activity in Aotearoa New Zealand children and young people: a modelling study. New Zealand Medical Journal. www.nzma.org.nz/journal-articl le-a-modelling-study Journal information: New Zealand Medical Journal The potential of school-based physical education to increase physical activity in Aotearoa New Zealand children and young people: a modelling study. A fight in a Massachusetts city Thursday afternoon turned deadly, claiming the life of a 34-year-old man, according to authorities. Haverhill police responded shortly after 4:30 p.m. to 127 Winter St. for a report of the fight, Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgetts office said in a statement. There, they found the 34-year-old man suffering from blunt force trauma. He was taken to a nearby hospital and then flown via medical helicopter to a Boston hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the statement. Dieryk Garcia, a 35-year-old Haverhill man, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the deadly fight. He is expected to be arraigned Friday in Haverhill District Court, the district attorneys office said. Authorities did not publicly identify the man who died. The fatal assault remains under investigation by Haverhill police and Massachusetts State Police. GSK Named First MRS International Affiliate Pharmaceutical company GSK has become the Market Research Society's (MRS) first International Affiliate - a designation developed as a 'mark of research excellence and best practice'. Based on MRS' Company Partner Accreditation, the International Affiliate status was launched last year to enable a company to increase commercial opportunities and support the training and development of its insight and analytics teams, wherever they are based in the world. Benefits include use of the International Affiliate logo, access to online training and development programmes, and expert advice about data privacy and codes of conduct. To be eligible, organisations must employ at least one MRS Certified Member and support their local research association to ensure standards in their national market are upheld and promoted. Companies and organisations en route to joining GSK are Mintel, Unilever, Savola Foods, NATO and on the agency side, Behaviorally. The programme now includes organisations from countries including Belgium, Egypt, the Republic of Sudan, and the US. James Sallows (pictured), Head of Capability and Transformation at GSK Consumer Healthcare, comments: 'We are proud to become the first international MRS Company Partner. As we look to drive curiosity and deep human understanding across our global organisation, MRS provides our teams with access to powerful resources and growth opportunities regardless of where they may be physically working from'. Web site: www.mrs.org.uk . Donald Trump's parting political legacy for the Republican Party is giving it an issue to rally around as it's being outflanked on COVID-19 recovery efforts. Driving the news: The former president's strident immigration language vowing to have Mexico pay for a wall fueled Democratic pledges for a more humanitarian approach. Now, unaccompanied children are flooding across the border, and the Biden administration is scrambling to respond. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free Although Trump's no longer in office, his fellow Republicans are following his playbook. He also forced many progressives to take a maximalist response to his approach, making it difficult for President Biden to find either the middle ground or a workable solution. Between the lines: House Republicans rallied Thursday behind a lectern reading, "Biden's Border Crisis." House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is leading a Republican delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday. Now, some Democratic members of the House are also planning their own trip, as Axios reported Thursday. This is a deep humanitarian situation that demands a dignified response, not dangerous rhetoric, said Rep. Julian Castro (D-Texas), who is organizing the Democrats' trip. The big picture: Trump convinced his supporters a border wall, as well as strict policies for returning families and unaccompanied children, would solve most of Americas problems. His political opponents responded by saying that removing him from office was a better approach. Biden vowed to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, but many Central Americans fleeing poverty, the coronavirus and a pair of hurricanes took his approach as an invitation to make their way north. White House press secretary Jen Psaki has dismissed Trump's most recent criticism and said, "We're going to chart our own path forward, and that includes treating children with humanity and respect, and ensuring they're safe when they cross our borders." What they're saying: Some Democrats are now warning the situation is much more complex. Story continues "You just can't say, 'Yeah, yeah, let everybody in' because then we're affected down there at the border," Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told Axios recently. On Thursday, he said: Im glad that different people are coming down to the border and visiting. But I do caution my colleagues that just a few hours at the border doesnt take away from the lifetime of experience a lot of people who live at the border do understand. Why it matters: Republicans in both the House and Senate voted unanimously against the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that Biden signed into law on Thursday. They said a majority of it was focused on issues unrelated to the coronavirus. Nonetheless, polls showed the package was supported by some 75% of Americans. Shifting focus to the border provides their own form of political refuge. Go deeper: The White House acknowledges some responsibility for the situation at the border but says many of the dynamics are beyond the president's control. Last weekend, Biden dispatched senior officials to the border to assess the situation firsthand. They briefed him in person Wednesday. That same day, the White House conceded his more welcoming rhetoric had contributed to an increase in border crossings. Surges tend to respond to hope, and there was significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of pent-up demand, said Roberta Jacobson, the presidents border czar. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Story Highlights 72% in Tunisia said in 2020 that their local economy was getting worse 80% of Tunisians said it was a bad time to find a job in their local area More Tunisians are out of work, earning less because of COVID-19 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution 10 years ago was one of the quickest and relatively most peaceful revolutions that beset the Arab world at that time. Longtime Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali resigned about a month after the protests started. However, many of the economic problems that drove people to the streets a decade ago still remain. In many ways, they are even worse today, which helps explain why Tunisians are returning to the streets again in 2021. In 2020, eight in 10 Tunisians said it was a bad time to find a job in the city or area where they live -- up from 53% in 2010 before the revolution began. Line graph. Tunisians' assessments of whether or not it is a good time to find a job in their local areas. In 2020, 80% of Tunisians said it was a bad time to find a job, while 15% said it was a good time. While some of the recent pessimism about the job market is likely related to lockdown measures implemented by the Tunisian government because of COVID-19, the percentage of Tunisians saying it was a bad time to find a job had already climbed to 76% by 2019. In fact, roughly seven in 10 Tunisians have said so since 2015, suggesting that much of the current economic pain predated the pandemic. Regarding the broader question of the trajectory of their local economy, Tunisians in 2020 were nine times more likely than they were in 2010 to say economic conditions were getting worse (72% vs. 8%, respectively). As with assessments of the local job market, it is likely that COVID-19-related developments played a part in this pessimism. However, in 2019, 62% of Tunisians said their local economy was getting worse, which at the time was a new high. Line graph. Tunisians' assessments of the trajectory of their local economies. In 2020, 72% of Tunisians said their local economies were getting worse, 18% reported it was getting worse and 4% said it stayed the same. Tunisians' Living Standards Also Suffering Forty percent of Tunisians said in 2020 that their standard of living was getting worse, up from 7% who said the same in 2010, before the revolution. The percentage of Tunisians saying their standard of living was getting worse has generally trended upward since 2010, peaking at 42% in 2019, before the pandemic. Line graph. Tunisians' assessments of whether their standards of living are getting better or worse. In 2020, 41% of Tunisians said their standards of living were getting worse, 40% reported they were getting better and 15% said they were staying the same. At the same time, the percentage saying their standard of living was improving dropped 20 percentage points from 2010. The 61% saying so a decade ago was the highest point in Gallup's trend, though the 41% saying so in 2020 was well off the low of 23% in 2017. That low occurred after the approval of substantial austerity measures in the Tunisian government's budget. Percentages Struggling to Afford Food, Shelter Triple Since Revolution In addition to more Tunisians reporting declining standards of living a decade after the revolution, substantially more reported struggling to afford the basics. In 2020, four in 10 Tunisians said there were times in the past 12 months that they could not afford the food they needed, three times higher than the 13% who said so in 2010. This 40% is the highest level in Gallup's trend, topping the previous high of 34% in 2019. Additionally, 31% of Tunisians reported being unable to afford adequate shelter within the past 12 months, up from 9% in 2010. The 31% saying so in 2020 was unchanged from the previous year. Line Graph. The percentages of Tunisians who report having lacked money for food or shelter in the last 12 months. In 2020, 40% of Tunisians reported having lacked money for food, while 31% said they lacked money for shelter. More Tunisians Out of Work, Earning Less Because of COVID-19 Tunisians were already experiencing substantial levels of economic pain before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only served to make it hurt more. Last fall, more than four in 10 Tunisians reported having temporarily stopped working at a job because of the pandemic, while nearly one in five said they had lost a job or business as a result of the situation. Additionally, 36% reported having worked fewer hours and 33% said they received less money from their employer. The Economic Impact of COVID-19 in Tunisia Yes No Does not apply/ No job % % % Temporarily stopped working at job or business as a result of coronavirus situation 43 27 29 Lost job or business as a result of coronavirus situation 19 50 30 Worked fewer hours at job or business as a result of coronavirus situation 36 33 31 Received less money than usual from employer or business as a result of coronavirus situation 33 37 30 Gallup World Poll, 2020 Bottom Line Tunisians had high hopes for change coming out of their revolution in 2011. However, their hopes have largely remained just that. By Gallup's measure, Tunisians reported being substantially worse off economically in 2020 than they were in 2010. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly made a poor economic situation worse, further increasing the difficulties the country's government will have in delivering on long-held hopes for prosperity. These difficulties are only likely to get tougher in the days ahead. Late last month, the International Monetary Fund warned of an "unprecedented economic downturn" in the country. The body recommended limiting energy subsidies and lowering the wage bill. For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works. 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 young Syrian refugee outside her home in an informal settlement camp in Beqaa Valley, Lebanon. UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sanchez Ten years of the Syrian crisis have inflicted unimaginable human suffering and pain. The world has failed Syrians. As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, leading a response to one of the largest refugee crises in modern times, I observe this anniversary with a heavy heart. For global leaders, its a stark and damning reminder that this decade of death, destruction and displacement happened on their watch. After ten years, half of the Syrian population has been forced to flee their homes. More than 5.5 million are refugees in the region while hundreds of thousands more are scattered across 130 countries. Another 6.7 million Syrians have also been internally displaced. In ten years, hardly any town or village in Syria has been spared the violence, and the humanitarian suffering and deprivation of those inside Syria is untennable. A combination of waning aid with COVID-19 induced economic downturn has driven Syrian refugees to unseen levels of desperation. In Lebanon, nine out of ten Syrians live now in extreme poverty. The loss of livelihoods, rising unemployment and COVID-19 have also pushed millions of their Jordanian, Lebanese, Turkish and Iraqi hosts below the poverty line. At the same time, we have been witnesses to extraordinary generosity that has saved millions of Syrian lives. Syrias neighbours have been sheltering millions of refugees, shouldering huge responsibility. Their economies, scarce resources, infrastructure and societies are under tremendous pressure. Beyond the region, a groundswell of solidarity with Syrian refugees has driven many governments to shift policies and offer genuine gestures of help to refugees and refugee-hosting countries through resettlement, family reunifications, humanitarian visas, scholarships and other safe and legal pathways for Syrian refugees. The gravity of this crisis must not weaken our solidarity for Syrians. On the contrary, we must redouble our collective effort to support both refugees and the communities hosting them. We owe Syrian refugees and the region no less. A central Pennsylvania woman convicted of trying to outrun three state troopers during a 150-mph chase in her fathers Chevy Camaro deserves a parking space in a jail cell, a state Superior Court panel concluded Friday. Serena Alice Nicole Lees contention that her conviction on a charge of fleeing police wasnt justified gained no traction with Senior Judge Eugene B. Strassburger III, who wrote the state court opinion denying her appeal of that verdict by a Franklin County jury and her 6- to 23-month prison sentence. Lees own attorney conceded her appeal was frivolous. The incident that led the 26-year-old Chambersburg woman to trial occurred after troopers clocked her going 110 mph in the Camaro on Buchanan Trail West on July 6, 2019. The speed limit on that road is 55 mph, Strassburger noted. The troopers said Lee raced by them even after they turned on their cruisers lights. When they pulled out to follow her, she accelerated to 150 mph, they said. Police said Lee drove on the wrong side of the road and forced another driver to dodge out of the way. Finally, Lee stopped her car in a homes front yard. Prosecutors used the dash cam footage from the police cruisers against Lee during her trial. Lee testified that she was speeding because she was late for work. She claimed she didnt even know the troopers were in pursuit, Strassburger noted. She contended she see or hear the lit-up police cruisers because she was playing her music loud and had not adjusted the Camaros rear-view mirror. Lee told the jury she stopped only because her cars brakes were malfunctioning, causing the vehicle to shake, the state judge wrote. Lee was allowed to remain free on bail pending the outcome of her appeal to Strassburgers court. In denying that challenge, Strassburger discounted Lees claims that she was ignorant of the pursuit. He rejected her assertion that the favt that she didnt try to hide the Camaro at the end of the chase showed she wasnt aware she had committed a crime. Friday, March 12, 2021 A PSA For CBD Consumers Overview: Cannabinoids are naturally present in low concentrations, and manufacturers must innovate in order to produce compliant natural extracts. Chemical modification or synthesis processes are often used to mitigate the issues of low yield and THC compliance. Consumers are unaware that chemical or synthetic processes are being used, and are often under the impression that their products were made using natural, hemp derived cannabinoids. Manufacturers are not disclosing the presence of chemically modified or synthetic cannabinoids in their extracts. Kazmira uses large scale extraction and separation science to purify the naturally occurring cannabinoids and never uses synthetic compounds or processes to chemically modify our cannabinoids. There is a high demand for extracts containing phytocannabinoids derived from Industrial Hemp. However, there are two major molecular limitations, related to the biology of the plant itself, that make these extracts difficult to produce commercially. The first is a generally low cannabinoid percentage / dry weight ratio. Since the average cannabidiol percentage in industrial hemp is only around 6-8%, and minor cannabinoid percentage is around 1-3%, manufacturers must use large scale extraction procedures to produce extracts. This limitation has pushed some manufacturers to search for alternative methods for producing these cannabinoids, especially for those which are present in the lowest concentrations (CBG, CBN, CBC, etc.). The second is the presence of THC. Due to THCs status as a schedule 1 substance, manufacturers must figure out how to produce CBD extracts with compliant levels of THC. This challenge has also resulted in manufacturers turning to alternative methods, whether it be new technology, simple dilution, or chemical modification to produce extracts below the THC threshold. While manufacturers scramble to produce these extracts legally and at lower costs, consumers are left in the dark about what is going on behind the scenes. Although the majority of consumers assume they are purchasing products which contain cannabinoids that occur naturally in hemp, it is very common for many of these products to contain cannabinoids that have been artificially produced or chemically modified from industrial hemp derivatives after extraction. Therefore, the industry must hold itself accountable with consumers and make a clear distinction between cannabinoids which occur naturally in hemp, and cannabinoids which undergo deliberate chemical modification, including synthetic cannabinoids. Naturally Occurring Cannabinoids Industrial Hemp provides a biomass that contains an average of 8% cannabinoids by dry weight, the majority of which is CBD. Another important cannabinoid, often with relatively high concentrations, is THC, which by law must be below 0.3% by weight. In addition to CBD and THC, there are also minor cannabinoids, which are typically present in relatively low concentrations ( 1%). Of the ones that have been identified, these minor cannabinoids include CBG, CBN, and CBC. Many of these cannabinoids are related to one another in their natural synthesis process. For example, when THC is exposed to light and heat, it converts to CBN. This is a process that occurs naturally over time in the plant in the hemp field as the THC begins to degrade. However, some manufacturers have deliberately leveraged this natural process in order to subvert federal THC regulations. Cannabinoids That Undergo Deliberate Chemical Modification Keeping THC within federal limits is a major challenge in the CBD industry, as manufacturers do not have the technology or know-how to remove THC. Instead of purification or separation science, most extractors have turned to cooking their extracts in order to chemically convert THC. Heres how it works: By introducing the hemp extract to heat and oxygen, the THC will undergo a chemical conversion. Cooking hemp extracts is a method used in the industry to chemically modify the non-compliant THC found in the CBD oil and turn it into the cannabinoid derivative CBN. This process should not be described as extraction or purification, rather, it is more accurately described as a chemical reaction. Not only is the THC subject to this process, but the entire extract is cooked, meaning this reaction is likely affecting other cannabinoids and molecules in the extract as well. The reason this is a problem is because manufacturers are not disclosing these processes to consumers. Regulatory bodies are beginning to catch onto this dangerous trend. In the UK, CBN is still considered a Schedule 1 Substance. CBN is also considered to be an artifact of THC oxidation, meaning that a high CBN concentration on a Certificate of Analysis is often the sign of an extract that used to have a high THC concentration, and was cooked in order to convert it to CBN. There are other methods, arguably even more risky, that have been described for converting THC into CBN. In addition to heat oxidation, UV light & Iodine Treatment have both been suggested as methods. Iodine treatment not only affects THC molecules but also reacts with other cannabinoids like CBD, which could result in novel and untested compounds in the finished product. Cannabinoids that have been chemically modified after extraction should not be described as hemp derived. Although the precursor molecules may have been derived from hemp, the final product was produced through an alternative chemical process, and consumers deserve to be aware of that. The Dangers of Synthetic Cannabinoids In addition to the chemical modification of cannabinoids like THC, there is another unnatural method for creating cannabinoids, which is the production of synthetic cannabinoids. Synthetic cannabinoids are the opposite of naturally derived cannabinoids, because they are created in a laboratory. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with synthetic cannabinoid production, the problem lies in consumer awareness and lack of clinical testing. Customers should be informed if they are consuming synthetic cannabinoids, and it is the responsibility of manufacturers to be transparent about this. The risks of consuming synthetically derived compounds is well documented in the pharmaceutical world, but it is also well documented in the cannabinoid industry. The most infamous synthetic cannabinoids are K2 and Spice, which are psychoactive, synthetic cannabinoids made known for their adverse health effects before they were outlawed. Natural & Synthetic Cannabinoid Structures Synthetic production of cannabinoids without complete characterization of the finished extract is also risky. A natural extract from the hemp plant contains a single enantiomer of THC (- delta 9 THC), while a synthetically produced extract contains both the + and enantiomers. Since the synthetic form does not exist in nature, it may interact with the human body in a unique and potentially harmful way. For this reason, manufacturers should disclose whether or not they are using synthetic cannabinoids. Enantiomer Example The reason synthetic compounds are potentially dangerous is because The human body is not equipped with the tools needed to catabolize synthetic cannabinoids. Novel cannabinoid molecules created through synthesis are chemically very different from their naturally derived counterparts. This means that the human body does not have the appropriate enzymes to break them down, which could be very dangerous. There are multiple reports and studies about adverse health effects of synthetic cannabinoids found in CBD products on the market. This study investigates 50+ cases associated with a CBD product in Utah that contained a synthetic cannabinoid. This report analyzes the case where an epileptic child was poisoned by a CBD product which contained a synthetic cannabinoid. In both of these instances, consumers were completely unaware that there were synthetic compounds in the products they purchased. Kazmira is Keeping it Natural At Kazmira, we never use synthetic compounds or processes to chemically modify our cannabinoids. We believe in the importance of extracting and purifying the naturally occurring compounds in industrial hemp, as well as removing impurities and THC through separation science, not chemical modification. Our process is conducted without extreme temperature or pressure. Extracting and purifying our oils at ambient temperature ensures minimal degradation and damage to the cannabinoids and terpenes. We employ our TruSpeKtrum technology, a patent protected purification process which plucks out THC from the extract without any chemical modification. Consumers should not have to question whether or not their CBD was actually derived from hemp. That is why we uphold the integrity of our hemp derived cannabinoids. We believe that everyone deserves access to safe, high quality, and naturally derived cannabinoids. Consider this a public service announcement for the consumers of CBD. After all, every consumer deserves to know what they are putting in their body. As industry leaders, it is our duty to demystify CBD for consumers. Whitley Striebers bestselling 1987 book Communion: A True Story, his account of his traumatic experiences at the hands of beings he called the visitors, catapulted him into international fame. In the nearly three and a half decades since that books publication, he has remained a major figure in in public discussions of UFO phenomena through subsequent books, his website Unknown Country and his podcast Dreamland. In recent years, though, since the death of his wife, Anne, in 2015, Striebers writing has turned to overtly spiritual themes, such as his book The Afterlife Revolution, which was concerned with communication with the deceased. That continues with the publication of his book, Jesus: A New Vision (Walker & Colier, $17.95). Strieber, a San Antonio native who was raised a Roman Catholic and attended Central Catholic High School, said his thinking about Jesus actually began when he was young. I had an interest in the ancient world, particularly the ancient Roman world, going back to my childhood, and I was enamored with the classical ancient writers, he said. I had learned Latin in high school, and in college I studied Greek. When I read the Gospels in Greek, I realized they were actually among the most subtle documents written by anybody in the ancient world period. Strieber said he and his wife shared a strong interest in the Gospels. We kind of teamed up and over the years and spent a great deal of time talking about what happened, and the mystery of it all, he said. His interest in the gospels and Jesus took a new turn in 1987 when he and Anne attended a meeting in New York about research into the Shroud of Turin. Previously, I had viewed the gospels as apocryphal, but I began to realize that something else was going on, he said. Decades of research followed, he said, eventually leading him to new insights into key elements of the story of Jesus, from the miracles to the resurrection. My book is not an anti-Christian book at all, he said. It is quite the opposite in that in it I try to go beyond where we are now where we have fallen into this assumption that Jesus is somehow separate from us. We are emphasizing his divinity much more than his humanity. I believe we need to do the opposite and see him first as a human being and secondly as a divinity, so we can embrace his presence in our own humanity. This is the main theme of my book. In Jesus: A New Vision, Strieber takes the reader through a sequential approach to understanding Jesus as a human being, exploring the various interpretations of his identity as the son of a humble carpenter, as heir to the throne of Judah, as an initiate into spiritual mysteries and even as a husband found in both canonical and apocryphal gospels. He explores the childhood of Jesus in the highly controversial Infancy Gospel of Thomas, rejected as heretical, Strieber writes, because it portrayed the young Jesus as something of a monster. He adds that it is a profoundly human document fiction or not about a very extraordinary childs very difficult coming of age. His discussion of Jesus domestic life also touches on the Gospel of Mary from the Nag Hammadi Library. Strieber examines an anomaly in the text of a famous passage referring to Mary Magdalene: Jesus kissed her on the The word following the is missing from all extant copies. That passage demonstrates that Jesus was willing to be seen as a husband, Strieber said, because in those times a Jewish man would not kiss any woman who was not his wife. Strieber relies on the Gospel of Thomas, also apocryphal, to demonstrate that, in his opinion, Jesus was undoubtedly the greatest teacher to have ever lived. In the gospel, Jesus is shown contradicting himself, even saying to his disciples, Dont pray! he said. But that was because the gospel is clearly about Jesus saying to his disciples, You must find your faith within yourself. There is much more in the book relating to the conversion of Paul and the Passion of Jesus. Strieber likens the spiritual and social challenges of our time, such as the pandemic and climate change, to those experienced by people during the decline of the Roman Empire, which led the Romans to turn from their old gods to Jesus as a deity. Our situation today exactly parallels that of Rome, he said, and we will go through what the Romans did. Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of Striebers book is his focus in great detail on the Shroud of Turin, which he interprets as proof of the resurrection of Jesus. What the book is about, he said, is finding the energy that Jesus expressed when he walked out of that tomb as a being of light in ourselves. Now we might not be able to walk out of a tomb in a new form, but if we live by love, compassion and humility, and really find our way in our lives to express the Beatitudes, then we will die into the goodness that is discussed in the Gospel of Mary and is deeply embedded in the teachings of Jesus. The resurrection is part of us all. Ed Conroy is a freelance writer in San Antonio. WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government says its long-awaited plan to reform kindergarten to Grade 12 education will be released Monday with the aim of improving student learning and cutting administration costs. Advertisement Advertise With Us Cliff Cullen speaks during an announcement outside the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. Cullen, Manitoba's education minister, says a review of the provinces kindergarten to Grade 12 education system will be released on Monday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Malone WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government says its long-awaited plan to reform kindergarten to Grade 12 education will be released Monday with the aim of improving student learning and cutting administration costs. "We would like to take some of the money that we're spending on the administrative side (and) get that to the front line where we think the students need it best," Education Minister Cliff Cullen said Friday. The Progressive Conservative government set up the review in 2019 and has repeatedly hinted that changes could include a sharp reduction in the number of school divisions. There are currently 37, including six English-language divisions in Winnipeg. Nor has the government ruled out eliminating elected school boards and replacing them with a provincewide advisory council. The government's lead consultant on the review, Avis Glaze, recommended that change in an earlier review done for the Nova Scotia government, which followed through on the advice. Glaze's recommendations in Nova Scotia also included removing school principals and vice-principals from the teachers union and creating a licensing body with the power to discipline teachers. The Manitoba School Boards Association said it is concerned elected school boards might be eliminated. The group said local elected boards are needed so that people can ask questions about education in their home communities. "Imagine what their recourse is, if they have to take up their concerns with someone who lives two hours or three hours away," said association's president Alan Campbell. The review also was tasked with finding ways to improve literacy, graduation rates and test scores in math and science. Changes to the format and frequency of standardized tests was one topic put up for consultation. Findings of the review were supposed to be made public last year, but it was pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Opposition New Democrats said any changes made by the government won't be about providing more money to schools. "Education is underfunded in Manitoba and the review is not going to address the chronic underfunding, the structural underfunding, of education," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021 Angola, IN (46703) Today Partly cloudy this morning. Increasing clouds with periods of showers this afternoon. High 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 56F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The private company Nemiroff received from the State Tax Service the first license in Ukraine for the production of alcohol at Nemyriv distillery (Vinnytsia region), which it acquired in November 2020, the company said in a press release on Friday. "Nemiroff is again at the forefront as the first private company in the modern history of Ukraine to privatize a distillery and receive a license to produce alcohol. This is an important step not only for the brand, but for the entire industry," the press release said. The company noted that obtaining a license for the production of alcohol completed the legal stage of privatization of state-owned Nemyriv distillery, and its acquisition by a private company was a harbinger of fundamental changes in the domestic vodka industry. "For Nemiroff, this is a strategic decision, because now the company will be able to fully control and improve the quality of key raw materials and, accordingly, finished products. Also, this is the restoration of the historical roots of the brand, its heritage, because products in this region have been produced since the 18th century," the company said in a press release. As reported, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine in July 2020 issued the first licenses for the production of alcohol to other state-owned factories. Earlier, acting director of the state-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt Serhiy Bleskun said that the law on the abolition of the state monopoly on alcohol production came into force on July 1, 2020, but for another year, only state-owned enterprises remain as alcohol producers, and private companies need to use this to privatize them. In December 2020, the Ministry of Finance delegated the issuance of licenses for wholesale trade in excisable goods to regional divisions of the State Tax Service from January 1, 2021. Nemiroff is one of the largest alcohol producers. It has production facilities in Nemyriv (Vinnytsia region). The total design capacity of the bottling lines of the plant is 120 million liters of finished products annually. According to Nemiroff, the company is the largest exporter of Ukrainian vodka products, accounting for more than 40% of total sales in foreign markets, and is also one of the top ten world suppliers of vodka in the Duty Free & Travel Retail segment. Nemiroff's sales cover about 80 countries. Tiktok users in Pakistan won't be able to access the app yet again after the Peshawar High Court issued an order to ban the short-form video sharing platform in the country. According to Al Jazeera, Ary News TV and other local news outlets, the court made the ruling during a hearing into a petition against the app. TikTok had around 33 million users in Pakistan (out of a total of 100 million users) as of last month, App Annie told TechCrunch. After receiving the order from the court, Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) published a statement on Twitter confirming that it has issued directions to service providers "to immediately block access to the TikTok App" in compliance. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan said TikTok videos "are peddling vulgarity in society," Ary News TV wrote, and that the platform hosts unethical and immoral content. He also decided that the app should remain blocked until TikTok cooperates with authorities after PTA told the court that it approached the company to have "objectionable and indecent" content removed to no avail. In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, a spokesperson defended the platform and its moderation practices: "TikTok is built upon the foundation of creative expression, with strong safeguards in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform. In Pakistan we have grown our local-language moderation team, and have mechanisms to report and remove content in violation of our community guidelines. We look forward to continuing to serve the millions of TikTok users and creators in Pakistan who have found a home for creativity and fun." This isn't the first time the app was banned in the country, which recently rolled out digital laws that give regulators the power to censor content. As Financial Times notes, the new laws require companies to remove offensive content, including ones that threaten the "integrity, security and defense of Pakistan." The first time TikTok was banned was before the new laws came out, though, after authorities decided that it hosted "immoral and indecent" videos. That said, PTA lifted the ban a few days later after TikTok promised to moderate clips according to Pakistani "societal norms" and laws. Midland is unrivaled when it comes to the recent increase in gas prices across the state, according to AAA Texas. There are other facts that show how things have changed at the pump inside Midland. The average price of gas has increased by 44 cents in the last three weeks. The price in Midland was actually higher than the national average ($2.83), according to AAA Texas. The price was 64 cents higher than the average from one year ago, according organization. That increase year over year was tied for third highest increase in the state. Since Jan. 1, the average price in Midland is up 79 cents. The state average has increased 63 cents during that time. AAA Texas in its weekly report stated that oil prices keep climbing due to the surprise decision by The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to essentially keep current production cuts in place through April. This, coupled with market optimism of the impact the stimulus package could have on the economy, has led to higher prices at the pump. The last time the statewide average was at this price was around Memorial Day 2019, AAA Texas reported. The latest data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows refinery utilization in the U.S. is at 61 percent in the Gulf Region, which is likely also contributing to the continued rise in gas prices. Thats up from 41 percent the week prior. The price increases in West Texas included 13 cents in Odessa and Wichita Falls, 10 cents in Amarillo, 6 cents in Abilene, 4 cents in San Angelo and 2 cents in El Paso. Averages this week included $2.55 in San Angelo (31 cents less than Midland), $2.57 in Amarillo, $2.61 in Abilene, $2.63 in Wichita Falls, $2.65 in Lubbock and $2.75 in El Paso. Distributors have told the Reporter-Telegram there are many complexities in the fuel business that impact pricing. They pointed to the high cost of transportation from Gulf Coast refineries and Midlands distance from pipelines. The lowest average in the state was $2.47 in the Red River MSA of Sherman-Denison. The average there increased by 6 cents week over week. This week Midland $2.86 Odessa $2.82 El Paso $2.75 Lubbock $2.65 Wichita Falls $2.63 Abilene $2.61 Brownsville-Harlingen $2.61 Texas $2.57 National $2.83 Last week El Paso $2.73 Odessa $2.69 Midland $2.68 Abilene $2.55 Texarkana $2.52 Texas $2.47 National $2.74 Source: AAA Texas At some point in the next few days Oregon is expected to reach a milestone: Half of its seniors will have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. As of Thursday, 46% of Oregonians 65 and older -- or more than 356,000 residents -- had received at least one dose. Just three weeks ago, that figure stood at 19%, with Oregon ranking in the bottom three of 31 states that publicly shared such data. Many states remain far ahead of Oregon. The Biden administration on Thursday reported 63% of Americans 65 and older had received first doses -- meaning more than 126,000 elderly Oregonians already would be vaccinated with one dose if the state met the national average. The Oregon Health Authority acknowledged the upcoming milestone of reaching half of all seniors with a shot. (W)e are making clear progress toward our stated goal shared on Feb. 26, to ensure all willing and eligible Oregonians in currently eligible populations can be fully vaccinated by the end of March, spokesman Rudy Owens said in an email. Nationwide, 32% of seniors have received second doses. The Oregon Health Authority couldnt provide statistics on the percentage of Oregon seniors whove received second doses. Meanwhile, some states already have offered vaccinations to the vast majority of their seniors, prompting them to move on to other groups. Alaska, with 90% of its seniors inoculated, became the first state to start offering shots this week to residents 16 and older. Oregon is so far behind in part because it prioritized teachers over the elderly, becoming the last state in the nation to start vaccinating its oldest populations of residents by age group. Gov. Kate Brown gave the green light Feb. 8 for Oregonians 80 and older to start booking appointments. The governor granted eligibility to the youngest seniors -- age 65 to 69 -- March 1. Since then, the state has intensified its efforts. Data analyzed by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows about three out of every four first-dose shots administered in the past 10 days has gone to people 65 and older. Owens said the state expects to have offered first doses to 80% of seniors by the end of March, if the federal government comes through with promised shipments of vaccine. But this week, in a written question-and-answer session, Health Authority Director Patrick Allen acknowledged to state lawmakers that his agency is encountering a complication in determining exactly when itll reach that threshold: Line-jumping. Like many other states, Oregon does not require members of the public to prove theyre eligible. State officials say checking identification and paperwork would slow down the vaccination process -- and force health care providers to act as enforcers. (W)e know that there have been many people across Oregon who were not in any of the eligible population categories that did receive vaccinations, Allen wrote. Meanwhile, the timeline for vaccinating younger Oregonians appears in flux. State officials had said they planned to open up a new wave March 29 for people ages 45 and older with underlying conditions, people who are homeless and workers in industries such as agriculture and food processing that put them at high risk of exposure. Oregon had said every Oregonian 16 and older would be eligible by July 1. But Thursday the Biden administration announced the presidents plan to open eligibility across all states by May 1, two months ahead of Oregons schedule. Browns office wouldnt answer questions Thursday about whether Oregon would adopt Bidens timeline. But a spokesman pointed to a tweet by the governor, which in part said: Oregons plan has always been to ramp up distribution when we see federal vaccine shipments increase. But while our timelines may change, my priorities for equitable vaccine distribution have not. Oregons first shipments of vaccine arrived Dec. 14, with the governor designating them for health care workers and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, but also an assortment of others, including jail and prison staff, police officers and veterinary clinic workers. On Jan. 25, the governor allowed daycare, preschool and K-12 school employees to start receiving vaccinations -- making Oregon one of only two states in the nation to prioritize educators over seniors. That move drew widespread condemnation from seniors, who noted Oregonians ages 65 and older accounted for 84% of COVID-19 deaths even though they make up just 18% of the population. When seniors did become eligible in February and early March, many in the Portland area encountered fierce online competition, overwhelmed phone lines, slow-moving websites and many glitches that mired the scheduling process. Many are still trying to secure appointments, to no avail. But a new registry and lottery system for the Oregon Convention Center unveiled March 1 is now gaining rave reviews from some who are lucky enough to get selected. Pat Brooks, a 67-year-old resident of Portlands Linnton neighborhood, said he entered the registry that first day and received an email a week later telling him hed been chosen. He scheduled an appointment, which took place Thursday morning. Brooks was all-around impressed with everything from booking to inoculation. There were plenty of volunteers there, they were quite professional, Brooks said. Clearly they had a lot of practice, and it showed. They were doing a great job. ...I couldnt ask for more, quite honestly. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter -- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Xinhua A third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd last year was reinstated on Thursday, as the trials start date neared. Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyds neck for almost nine minutes before the Black man died last May, already faced second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. He was initially charged with third-degree murder days after Floyds death, but Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the count in October, saying it did not apply to the circumstances of the case. The state of Minnesota appealed Cahills ruling on March 5 and asked him to reconsider the motion to reinstate the third-degree murder charge. Cahill did so Thursday after the Minnesota Supreme Court decided Wednesday not to take up an appeal from Chauvin against the charge. According to Minnesota law, the maximum sentence for second-degree murder is 40 years, and 25 years for third-degree murder. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is now scheduled for March 29, after the selection of the jury was delayed and ultimately began Tuesday. The death of Floyd triggered a nationwide reckoning over police brutality and racial justice in the United States, with the Black Lives Matter movement gaining support all around the world. To learn more My Turn, at myturn.ca.gov, is the new, centralized appointment scheduling system for receiving coronavirus vaccinations in California. Users can check their eligibility by entering their information on the website. Those who are currently eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine will be matched to the closest available vaccination hubs in their area. If a person is not yet eligible, the user is able to register to receive information and be notified when he or she becomes eligible. All California residents 18 and older, and the parents or legal guardians of minors, will be able to register on the website. Those who do not have an email account or a cellphone, or who need assistance with My Turn, can call the California COVID-19 hotline at 833-422-4255. Service hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Napa County residents who want to be tested for the coronavirus at the free county-sponsored site should go to countyofnapa.org/test for more information. For more information on COVID-19, visit countyofnapa.org/coronavirus For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mynmar anti-junta protesters pary at the site where a demonstrator was killed by security forces in North Dagon township, Yangon region, March 11, 2021. Violent suppression of Myanmar demonstrations killed 15 people Thursday, raising the death toll from five weeks of street protests to 73, as the military junta announced a corruption investigation of leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials from the deposed civilian government. Accusations by the military regime that Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted U.S. $600,000 and more than 25 pounds of gold, swiftly dismissed as totally baseless by an MP from her National League for Democracy (NLD), add to a list of charges imposed on the 75-year-old leader since she was ousted and detained on Feb. 1. While the military pressed its case against Aung San Suu Kyi and other top NLD figures at a news conference in Naypyidaw, violent crackdowns by police and soldiers killed at least 15 protesters in the cities of Yangon, Myaing, Mandalay, Myingyan, and Bago. The confirmed death toll is now 73, according to an RFA tally. In Yangons North Dagon township, 25-year-old Chit Min Thu died instantly when police shot him in the head while he defended fellow protesters with a homemade shield, witnesses said. Two others were hit by gunfire, one of whom is in critical condition, they said. We had to run because they were using live rounds, and he was shielding us from the front to protect other protesters behind, said a demonstrator at the scene. Supporters held an impromptu vigil for Chit Min Thu, who left behind a wife who is two months pregnant. In Myaing, a town in Magway region, six protesters were killed and another 10 were wounded when security forces fired into crowds, locals said. I saw six people die and about a dozen get injured, said a man at the scene who did not give his name. One of the injured was in critical condition and was sent to Monywa General Hospital. Security forces intentionally resorted to excess violence to cause harm to peaceful protesters, using tear gas and gunfire, said a university student in Myaing. Myanmar anti-junta protesters gather for a rally in Hlaingthaya township, Yangon region, March 11, 2021. Credit: RFA Not only words of support Police and soldiers in Myanmars second-largest city Mandalay killed one man and wounded 30 others when they cracked down on protesters near the Koe Lone Dagar Pagoda, witnesses said. At least 20 protesters were arrested in the incident. In Myingyan, in central Myanmars Mandalay region, residents said a man shot during a protest Wednesday died of his injuries Thursday. In Bago region, one man died by police gunfire and another was hit in the leg, though his wound was not life-threatening, a witness said. Residents in Kalaymyo, Sagaing region, continued protest marches despite a police crackdown on Wednesday. Five people there already have been arrested, including one who was taken from his home during the night, locals said. The Myanmar juntas response to peaceful protests likely meets the legal threshold for crimes against humanity, the U.N.s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar told the Human Rights Council on Thursday. The people of Myanmar need not only words of support but supportive action, said Tom Andrews in a statement. They need the help of the international community, now. The appeal came a day after the U.N. Security Council issued its strongest statement since the Feb. 1 coup. The Security Council strongly condemns the violence against peaceful protestors, including against women, youth and children, the statement said. It also called for the immediate release of all those detained arbitrarily in a statement that was agreed to after accepting the objections of China, Russia, and Vietnam to language calling the takeover a coup. On Wednesday, U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the two adult children of coup leader and commander-in-chief of the military forces, Min Aung Hlaing, as well as six companies the pair owns. Min Aung Hlaing was placed on the U.S. blacklist on Feb. 11. The indiscriminate violence by Burmas security forces against peaceful protesters is unacceptable, said OFAC director Andrea Gacki in a statement. The United States will continue to work with our international partners to press the Burmese military and police to cease all violence against peaceful protestors and to restore democracy and the rule of law in Burma, she added. Myanmar Buddhist monks stage a sit-in to protest the rule of the military junta in Hlaingthaya township, Yangon region, March 11, 2021. Credit: RFA Corruption probes begin At a news conference in Myanmars capital Naypyidaw, regime spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun accused Aung San Suu Kyi of accepting U.S. $600,000 and more than 25 pounds of gold from detained Yangon region chief Phyo Min Thein between December 2017 and March 2018. He also accused President Win Myint and other state and regional chief ministers of bribery. It has been learned that Daw [honorific] Aung San Suu Kyi herself received that $600,000 and seven viss of gold, and now the Anti-Corruption Commission has opened an investigation into this, Zaw Min Tun told reporters. A viss is a traditional unit of measure equivalent to 3.6 pounds. Zaw Min Tin also accused the Committee Representing Pyihtaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a shadow parliament formed by lawmakers elected in the November 2020 vote that the junta claims was marred by irregularities, for misleading youths who lost their lives following the Feb. 1 coup. Aung San Suu Kyi faces four other charges for alleged incitement, violation of telecommunication laws, possession of illegally imported walkie-talkie radios, and violation of the Natural Disaster Management Law for breaching COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign. The charges carry up to nine years in jail. This is a violation of conduct, and it is not in accordance with the law, said Kyee Myint, a High Court lawyer. I believe these are totally baseless accusations, said Myint Oo, an NLD lawmaker representing a Bago constituency. They have always stated blatant lies. Authorities also stepped up a crackdown on the media, with 37 journalists arrested since Feb. 1, of whom 22 have been released. Six of the remaining 15 journalists will go on trial via video conference Friday on charges of defamation and incitement for their reporting on the anti-military protests, their lawyers said. Those facing trial are Kay Zun Nway from Myanmar Now, Thein Zaw from the Associated Press, Ye Myo Khant from Myanmar Pressphoto Agency, Aung Ye Ko from 7Day News, freelance reporters Banyar Oo and Thint Myat Zaw, and Hein Pyae Zaw of Zeegwet Journal. Still in detention are Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reporters Aung Kyaw and Min Nyo, Ye Yint Tun of Than Daw Sint News, Kyaw Nay Min of the Choon Journal, freelance reporter Pyay Phyo, Kamayut Media chief editor Nathan Maung and co-founder Hanthar Nyein. It is not known where they are being held and what charges they are facing. On Monday, the military council officially banned independent media outlets Mizzima, DVB, 7Day News, Myanmar Now, and Khit Thit News following earlier raids on the offices of Mizzima and Myanmar Now. Security forces raided the offices of Khit Thit Media and Kamayut Media on Tuesday. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Im struggling not to cry, seeing you all in the sunshine, like in London 100 years ago, said English writer Natalie Haynes as we watched her on the video screen at Adelaide Writers Week. Hug someone safe. That was typical of the emotions that writers from London, New York, Jakarta and other relatively dangerous places showed last week when they realised they were talking to hundreds of maskless people, thousands of miles away, gathered together under the trees, feeling relaxed. Laura Jean McKay wrote her novel with a pandemic before the scourge of the novel coronavirus. Credit:Brendan Lodge Coming from recently locked-down Melbourne at the last minute, when South Australia reopened its borders, I felt much the same as those writers. The organisers took contact details and marshals politely tried to enforce social distancing, but many people took no notice as the crowds grew. I guess we trusted each other. While it was a shame that the overseas writers couldnt join us in person, we lost very little by seeing them on a screen. The organisers also had the excellent idea of a curated dozen: 12 sessions that were live-streamed and available for a short time as recordings. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) The Department of Foreign Affairs directed on Thursday the Philippine embassy in Wellington, New Zealand to look into the plight and assist stranded Filipino seafarers in Fiji. The DFA said the seafarers are currently assisted by the Fijian government and the International Transport Workers Federation. A news report published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Thursday revealed the situation of at least seven Filipino seafarers, who were abandoned by their employer Goundar Shipping after raising their working conditions to the management. Four of the seven Filipinos were fired on Christmas Day last year after refusing to surrender their passports to Goundar Shipping. The other three Filipino sailors said the company left them stranded at a remote wharf. The seven Filipino seafarers said they have no money and no means to return home, which caused them to be stranded in Fiji. "We're pushing for them to get home with all expenses paid by Goundar, for their backpay to be made good to them. If not the full amount then some form of restitution has to be made to them," said Adrienne Ali, lawyer of the seven Filipino sailors. Goundar Shipping has yet to comment on the seafarers' claims. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. HOUSTON (AP) Residents from Houston's Third Ward are mourning the shooting death of Xavier Roberson, a rapper who used his music as a vehicle to highlight systemic racism and police brutality. Rapping under the moniker Obe Noir, Roberson, 31, was fatally shot early Monday, March 8, the Houston Chronicle reported. Witnesses say they heard gunfire around 3:40 a.m. before spotting him running down the street. A vehicle drove around the block as if chasing Roberson, opened fire and fled, according to police. Roberson, a good friend to George Floyd, had marched the streets of Houston and Washington D.C. after Floyd's death. He was planning to honor Floyd by forming a nonprofit to help people in the Third Ward. Cal Wayne, a Houston rapper who also grew up with Floyd in Cuney Homes, said Roberson stuck out among other aspiring rappers because of his vocabulary how fluent he was. How much he could articulate a story on any topic. Roberson also played professional basketball in multiple countries overseas, including Colombia, where local news reports about his death hailed him as a great figure on the team, Titanes de Barranquilla. Houston police have not made an arrest in the killing, and a detailed description of the suspects was not available. On Monday, the Boomer feminists and their intellectual heirs are setting out to converge on the national bogan moth trap, under the hashtag #March4Justice . They are channelling righteous anger, felt by women around the country, about the ongoing poor treatment of women. But they are crippled by a limited Boomer understanding of what womens rights have meant to most women. To get it right this time, feminism must learn from the wrong turns, as well as acknowledge the ground covered. We are now in a transformational feminist moment. The powerful words of Australian the Year and child abuse survivor Grace Tame unleashed pent-up anger . She exhorted women to no longer be silent about sexual abuse and harassment. Her call was answered by allegations of rape inside Australian Parliament House, and amplified by the stories of non-consensual experiences that thousands of young women poured into an online petition. A rape allegation against a cabinet minister, who stongly denied it, has ensured that the focus of the anger remains centred on Parliament House. These are connected social issues. In the intervening years, I have owned many feminist T-shirts and I have had plenty of time to reflect on what feminism has achieved. I am deeply conscious that I am beholden to the women who went before me, who made it possible for me to choose education, independent travel and a career. I have also had plenty of time to reflect on some of the ways in which feminism has not worked for women, on the shallowness of the feminism we celebrate, and the unintended consequences of Boomer-era feminism. I was around five years old when I got my first feminist T-shirt. Women are not chicks it read, with a little drawing of a baby chicken underneath. My father explained that it wasnt acceptable for women to be talked about as though they werent human, which made sense. I loved that T-shirt. Significantly, Boomer feminism brought us the sexual revolution. In some perverse ways, the rape culture young women are currently protesting is a consequence of Boomer failure to review the progress of the revolution. Without further attention, the benefits of sexual liberation accrued only to the already privileged, and the young and the disadvantaged have been lumped with the costs. While ground-breaking feminist Germaine Greer sowed her wild oats, women without her maturity, social class and intellectual advantages went from being chattels to commodities. Centuries of tradition about the right and wrong way for men and women to interact were swept away and I am not sorry to see most of it go but without it there was a void, which has been left for boys and girls to fill as best they can. This has contributed to the difficult conversations now arising around consent and its grey areas. We havent yet developed a vocabulary to deal with the disappointments, regrets, heartache, confusion and frustration that come with sexual freedom, says Claire Lehmann, editor of ideas website Quillette. The irony is that in focusing so much on consent we have forgotten about the emotional and moral valence of sex. So its not surprising that many young people have no vocabulary to deal with its many complexities other than a black and white legal concept. Thanks to the birth control pill, women and men can be free of the biological consequences of sex. But sex still has consequences we are looking for ways to express. Marriage rates dropped as sexual freedom caught on. With no other way for women to meet the expectations of a male-centric workforce, many women forwent children. While some women are glad to be free of their biological destiny, others have lived to regret it. The early 2000s saw a spate of rueful articles by women who had missed their childbearing years in pursuit of the Boomer feminist dream. Marriage rates slightly increased after that again chiefly among the middle classes but women are still having fewer children than they say they would like. And yes, alongside workforce participation, these should be feminist issues. Especially because poorer women are more likely to be unintentionally single mothers. In recent times, the #MeToo movement was the catalyst for women to reveal the boorish sexual behaviour they have been subjected to everything from leering through to rape. The movement was cathartic and has made real change in many workplaces, as men were made aware that poor behaviour would no longer be tolerated. But the inexorable logic of activism pushed the movement to the point of backlash. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Scott Morrison could be forgiven for wondering how his political year might be going if the Australian of the Year had been a man, not a woman; if the former chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy, one of the heroes of our world-beating response to the coronavirus, had won the award instead of Grace Tame, the Tasmanian sexual abuse survivor who successfully fought her states archaic laws that prevented women like herself from speaking publicly about their experience. It was an image of the Prime Minister sharing the podium with Tame that hardened the resolve of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins to speak out about her alleged rape in Parliament House on the eve of the 2019 election. The image of Scott Morrison with Australian of the Year Grace Tame inspired Brittany Higgins to come forward. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen I was sick to my stomach, Higgins told journalist Samantha Maiden last month. Hes standing next to a woman who has campaigned for Let Her Speak and yet in my mind his government was complicit in silencing me. It was a betrayal. It was a lie. If Higgins hadnt stood up for herself, Morrison would have been free to talk up the governments plans to vaccinate the population against the coronavirus, and re-open the economy. The historical rape allegations against the Attorney-General Christian Porter may still have reached the public domain, but they wouldnt have had the same wider context of community outrage. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday hoped that Mahatma Gandhi's message would "shake the conscience" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he would take a decision over the three farm laws. Gehlot on Friday flagged off a march here on the 91st anniversary of Dandi March taken out by Gandhi. Ashok Gehlot The prime minister flagged off a padyatra (foot march) from Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat to re-enact Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi Yatra. "Narendra Modi is himself flagging off Dandi March from the Sabarmati Ashram to commemorate this day. I hope that Gandhiji's message would shake his conscience and he may take any decision (on farm laws) by this evening. I will be very happy and people of the country will be happy," Gehlot told reporters here. He said it is "unfortunate" that the central government is maintaining a "stubborn attitude" towards the farmers who played a role in freedom struggle. "I say again and again that governments should never be stubborn, governments should always bow down before the public, in front of the 'Janata Janardan', in front of the voters," Gehlot said. Farmers' protest The chief minister asked what difference will it make if the Centre withdraws these laws. "The Centre can withdraw the laws and talk to farmers, state governments and other stakeholders and bring a new law after four-six months," he said. "Nothing has to be done, it is just a matter of making decisions, which Prime Minister Modi has to take, the government has to take," Gehlot said. He said it's been about four months that the farmers are agitating against the three laws. Ashok Gehlot "It's height of insensitivity in the country. The entire country is watching. There is so much anger inside people that no one can imagine. They are not feeling it right now, but there is a lot of anger in the entire country, it is there among the farmers and it is also within the common people. The government cannot be so stubborn but people can be," the Congress leader said. Gehlot cautioned the government that due to the ongoing farmers' protest, "India is becoming infamous" in many parts of the world. "I hope that the Ministry of External Affairs and the foreign minister will give the prime minister the right advice, so that he is forced to rethink what action he really have to take for the benefit of farmers," he said. Corporate Finance Institute (CFI) Acquires Macabacus By combining CFIs world-leading courses, training, and certification programs with Macabacus leading add-ins for MS Office, we are now taking the definition of a world-class financial analyst to an entirely new level. Today, Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), the leading global provider of financial analyst training and certification programs announced the acquisition of Macabacus, creating the most effective and in-depth online finance training platform in the world. With a shared mission of helping finance professionals become world-class performers in their jobs, the combined platform represents the school for the future of finance: hands-on, practical, and keeping pace with continuous changes in the industry. By bringing together the online skills training and certification programs from CFI and the Microsoft Office add-in productivity software from Macabacus, the combined entity provides the highest quality hands-on training and the leading tool kit for financial modeling, valuation, credit analysis, capital markets, business intelligence, and data analysis. As part of this acquisition, Elephant and Arthur Ventures have made additional investments in CFI, bringing the companys previously unannounced total funding raised to US $48 million. Banks, institutions, and finance teams across sectors and geographies are transitioning to modern financial analyst practices, while approximately 90% of all finance professionals lack a certification or designation. Companies and individuals are struggling to keep up with the expanding breadth of knowledge required in the industry and the rapid adoption of technology solutions such as Tableau, Power BI, and others. CFI now makes solving that problem easier. Our mission is to help anyone become a world-class financial analyst. This requires more than education and certification; it also requires access to new and powerful tools that give finance professionals an unfair advantage in performing their jobs, said CFIs CEO and Co-Founder Tim Vipond. By combining CFIs world-leading courses, training, and certification programs with Macabacus leading add-ins for MS Office, we are now taking the definition of a world-class financial analyst to an entirely new level. CFI will bring together both companies offerings to create an integrated journey for students and active finance practitioners where they can learn, explore, and practice the most innovative and advanced financial analysis. Im incredibly excited for our users. They will benefit so much in this combination with CFI, both in terms of the increased investment that will go into our products and the access they will get to CFI training, said Macabacus Founder and CEO Ryan MacGregor. Our missions are aligned, and we can have a much bigger impact on the industry by combining our efforts. Vipond will lead the combined entity, which has already helped nearly one million students who have enrolled in over four million courses learn finance, and MacGregor will serve as Executive Vice President and Head of Product. The company is growing revenues rapidly, is profitable, and employs approximately 50 team members worldwide. About Corporate Finance Institute (CFI) Founded in 2016, CFI is the leading global online finance training platform. The company is on a mission to help anyone become a world-class financial analyst. What began as individual courses has expanded into a series of proprietary certification programs, including the Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA), the Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA), the Capital Markets & Securities Analyst (CMSA), and the Business Intelligence & Data Analyst (BIDA). CFI has helped nearly one million students across 200 countries and territories acquire the skills and certifications they need to pursue meaningful careers in finance. The companys state-of-the-art learning platform allows individuals and businesses to quickly develop their accounting, finance, and related skills, as they move through learning paths to become world-class financial analysts in specialized areas. CFIs website attracts over seven million unique monthly visitors. For more information, please visit https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com About Macabacus Macabacus was founded in 2008 by Ryan MacGregor, a former investment banker at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse. Macabacus develops trusted add-in solutions that dramatically increase Office productivity and are used globally by finance professionals and others working in multinational firms, global investment banks, Big 4 accounting firms, corporate finance teams, and many others. Macabacus has tens of thousands of monthly and annual subscribers. For more information, please visit https://macabacus.com About Elephant Elephant is a venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests in the enterprise software, internet and mobile markets. Elephant has raised over US $900 million and is a leading investor in eLearning businesses, with a portfolio that includes CFI, A Cloud Guru, KnowBe4, and one other unannounced leading online training platform. About Arthur Ventures Based in Minneapolis, Arthur Ventures leads investments in high-growth, capital-efficient B2B software companies in every region across North America. Arthur Ventures has raised $300 million and has invested in eLearning businesses that include Cybrary, DataCamp and Linux Academy. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:13:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 students were yet to be accounted for after Nigerian troops rescued 180 persons following gunmen attack on a college in Kaduna state, northwest Nigeria, according to a internal security official in the state on Friday. Samuel Aruwan, the state commissioner of internal security and home affairs, told media in Kaduna city, the state capital, that the gunmen in large numbers attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization located at Afaka, Igabi local government area of Kaduna state at around 11:30 p.m. local time on Thursday. "The armed bandits broke into the institution by breaching a perimeter fence. They then encroached about 600 meters to attack the first facility," Aruwan said. He said troops of the Nigerian army immediately moved to the school on receiving a distress call, and engaged the gunmen. "The troops successfully rescued 180 citizens; 42 female students, eight staff and 130 male students. However, about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for," he said. Aruwan assured that the security operatives, including the police and military, were working round the clock to rescue them. "Some of the rescued students were injured and presently receiving medical attention at a military facility," Aruwan said. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Here's what made the headlines on page one of the Kilkenny People 50 years ago this week - March 12, 1971 A savage hatchet attack was made on a prize thoroughbred horse stabled in Kilkenny this week. The horse was split to a point between his eyes, injuries described as the most awful thing I have seen in my career by the veterinary surgeon who attended. The owner of the horse, Mr John Hutchinson, still very distressed by what happened, told a People reporter on Wednesday that he was completely baffled by the attack. The incident occurred in Mr Hutchinsons stables at Greenshill early on Monday morning. He and veterinary surgeon, Mr Paddy Fennelly, worked through the day to calm the frightened animal and stitch his gaping wound. He was frantic with pain, said Mr Hutchinson. He went berserk. He was sweating with fever and you could hardly see him with the steam. I thought he might have hurt himself off one of the walls but there was no evidence of this. Mr Fennelly supported this view. Sometimes horses do injure themselves, he told the People. But this was not the case on this occasion. He said it was obvious that the wound had been caused by a severe blow and the horse had probably been knocked unconscious and left for dead. Mr Fennelly explained that a layer of muscle about half to three-quarters of an inch thick on the horses forehead had been cut right through. It was of his opinion that a hatchet had been used. He added that the blow had been struck at the exact spot which is easiest to kill a horse. He felt it was a definite attempt to kill the horse and not just maim it. The horse undoubtedly had the greatest potential of any horse owned by Mr Hutchinson. A thoroughbred gelding it already had considerable jumping success and Mr Hutchinson regarded it as having true international potential. Its worth in the future is now uncertain. There may be a happy ending to the story, however. Mr Fennelly believes that the horse will recover fully, though it will be scarred for life. Planning Is A Big Laugh There is to be a clampdown on all developments and buildings in Kilkenny City that contravene the Planning Act in any way. This was announced at Mondays Corporation meeting after Ald McGuinness said that planning in Kilkenny was a big laugh. He said that people were doing what they liked and some buildings were a disgrace. The Planning Act was being flouted. Planning in this town at the moment seems to me to be a cod, he said. He asked if a new structure went up in Kilkenny could the Corporation insist on it being pulled down. The Town Clerk said that if a person contravened the Planning Act action would be taken against him. And when Mr T Martin asked if similar action would be taken in all cases, the Co Manager Mr DF Donovan said it would. Trees Under Sentence Three of the towering trees on the Parade are under sentence of death. They must be knocked. And all the rest have been given hefty sentences ranging from a pruning down from 35 feet to 25 feet according to condition. Borough Engineer Mr J Frawley told Mondays Corporation meeting that these were recommendations of two people from the Board of Works who recently examined the trees. It was estimated that it would take three tree experts about four weeks to do the work. California County Risk Levels map 3-12-21 View Photo Sonora, CA Current restrictions on some businesses in Tuolumne County will be eased this Sunday (3/14). State public health officials released updated guidelines for its Blueprint for a Safer Economy to allow for additional safe and sustainable reopening activities in the state. The purple most restrictive tier for reopening business will shift from 7 cases per 100,000 in population to greater than 10 and the red is now 4 to 10. Tuolumne County now meets that threshold with 7.9% and will move to the red tier. It allows for restaurants to open indoor dining to 25% capacity and instead of just takeout and outdoor dining. Also, all retail can open indoors with 50% capacity and gyms at 10%. Click here for a chart of the updated blueprint. The switch was made since California has met the first vaccine equity goal of at least 2 million doses administered in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods/areas of the state, as earlier reported here. The exact number to be posted by the state later today is 2, 016,539. A total of thirteen counties will move with Tuolumne to the red tier they include: Amador, Colusa, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Mono, Orange, Placer, San Benito, San Bernardino, Siskiyou, and Sonoma, click here for a map. On Tuesday, Calaveras County moved to the red tier and Alpine to the least restrictive yellow tier, as reported here. Additionally, Governor Gavin Newsom also announced today that a fifth or green tier will be added to the blueprint. Counties will be allowed to enter that tier once there is little to no risk of transmission of COVID-19, click here for details. NSU swim coach Monanian moving on after four seasons Monanian moves on to Purdue after accepting an assistant position at their program. The Congress and the UDF need to device a scheme that can rival that of the LDF if they were to return to power following the four-decade-old pattern. (Photo:DC) The parting shot of senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has reduced itself into a Kerala Pradesh Coordination Committee of the two groups in the local party unit and that the high command has failed to make amends to the situation reflects the disarray the party faces in the state and at the national level. Kerala is one of the last states where the grand old party of Indian politics still commands grassroots support and has organisational machinery across levels. Factionalism has been part of its functioning for at least four decades but Mr Chacko alleges that it has now come to such a pass that only those who align with either of the groups have a future; merit and popular appeal have got a neat burial even as the party is a headed for the Assembly elections. The party high command has turned a blind eye to it even though its tallest leader now, Rahul Gandhi, represents a Kerala constituency in the Lok Sabha and is familiar with the developments in the party in the state. The Kerala electorate has faithfully alternated between the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in every Assembly election since 1980. However, the LDF goes back to the people this time around with the confidence that it will be returned to power, on the back its performance in the past five years. It pins its hope on the steps it took to ameliorate the hardships of the people in the aftermath of the back-to-back floods in 2018 and 2019, the way it fought back epidemic Nipah and pandemic Covid-19, the remarkable improvement it has made in the states physical infrastructure, the welcome changes it introduced in the educational and health sectors and the faithful implementation of welfare schemes. The Congress and the UDF need to device a scheme that can rival that of the LDF if they were to return to power following the four-decade-old pattern. However, the initial indications do not point to such a well-thought-out strategy. The partys senior-most leader in the state and two-time chief minister Oommen Chandy, whom the UDF has informally anointed as its chief ministerial candidate, has put a legislation to protect the rituals at Sabarimala, struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, at the top of the UDF agenda. The aim is to repeat the performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha election when it won 19 of the 20 seats riding on the antipathy of a sizeable section of the people against the LDF government which sided with the courts ruling on the plea it would strengthen the states renaissance traditions. It is not yet clear if the attempt to play the soft-Hindutva tune unmindful of the disastrous consequences it faced in several north Indian states has the blessings of the partys central leadership. The Congress has of late demonstrated an unenviable ability to watch nonchalantly the sight of its bastions falling to the rivals. Kerala could be next in line, if the warnings are, as usual, left unattended. A light field with time-dependent frequencies - propagating in a waveguide. Due to self-compression the pulse addresses individual quantum emitters. Credit: University of Innsbruck In order to exploit the properties of quantum physics technologically, quantum objects and their interaction must be precisely controlled. In many cases, this is done using light. Researchers at the University of Innsbruck and the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have now developed a method to individually address quantum emitters using tailored light pulses. "Not only is it important to individually control and read the state of the emitters," says Oriol Romero-Isart, "but also to do so while leaving the system as undisturbed as possible." Together with Juan Jose Garcia-Ripoll (IQOQI visiting fellow) from the Instituto de Fisica Fundamental in Madrid, Romero-Isart's research group has now investigated how specifically engineered pulses can be used to focus light on a single quantum emitter. Self-compressing light pulse "Our proposal is based on chirped light pulses," explains Silvia Casulleras, first author of the research paper. "The frequency of these light pulses is time-dependent." So, similar to the chirping of birds, the frequency of the signal changes over time. In structures with certain electromagnetic propertiessuch as waveguidesthe frequencies propagate at different speeds. "If you set the initial conditions of the light pulse correctly, the pulse compresses itself at a certain distance," explains Patrick Maurer from the Innsbruck team. "Another important part of our work was to show that the pulse enables the control of individual quantum emitters." This approach can be used as a kind of remote control to address, for example, individual superconducting quantum bits in a waveguide or atoms near a photonic crystal. Wide range of applications In their work, now published in Physical Review Letters, the scientists show that this method works not only with light or electromagnetic pulses, but also with other waves such as lattice oscillations (phonons) or magnetic excitations (magnons). The research group led by the Innsbruck experimental physicist Gerhard Kirchmair, wants to implement the concept for superconducting qubits in the laboratory in close collaboration with the team of theorists. Explore further Cooling magnets with sound More information: S. Casulleras et al, Remote Individual Addressing of Quantum Emitters with Chirped Pulses, Physical Review Letters (2021). Journal information: Physical Review Letters S. Casulleras et al, Remote Individual Addressing of Quantum Emitters with Chirped Pulses,(2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.103602 According to Focus Taiwan, Philip Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, made the comments in response to questions from Republican lawmaker Scott DesJarlais during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on national security challenges on Wednesday, including what he considers to be the most likely target of Chinese aggression or military action in the next 5 to 10 years. "Given what they've said both publicly and over time, and certainly during the tenure of Chairman Xi Jinping, I would say is the first," Davidson said. On Tuesday, the commander said that Beijing's threats toward could manifest in the next six years as China seeks to supplant the U.S. leadership role in the order. Focus further reported that the US Commander was also asked to express his views on how cross-Taiwan Strait relations have evolved over the past three years during his tenure as commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. He responded that China's revocation of its "one country, two systems" approach in Hong Kong alarmed Taiwan to an extent that during Taiwan's 2019 legislative elections, both the Democratic Progressive Party and the Kuomintang had to voice their opposition to the "one country, two systems" approach. "So it has steeled, I think, Taiwan's status in the region and I think all other nations in the region as well have noticed a very pernicious approach that China took to Hong Kong and that has put a chill on many relationships as well," Davidson said. David F. Helvey, acting assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, said the future of the U.S. is inextricably linked to that of the Indo-Pacific region. "As our department's priority theater, we're committed to upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific region where all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, can pursue economic opportunity and resolve disputes without coercion, and can exercise the freedoms of navigation over flight, consistent with an open and stable order," Helvey explained. The White House on Monday said that Washington will continue to contribute to Taiwan's self-defence capabilities. "Our position on Taiwan remains clear. We will stand with friends and allies to advanced our shared prosperity, security and values. And in the Indo-Pacific region, we maintain our long-standing commitment," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a press briefing. "We maintain our long-standing commitments as outlined in the three communicates, the Taiwan Relations Act and the six assurances. We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability. So our position remains the same," she added. Sputnik citing an official reported that a State Department bilateral fact sheet stated the US and Taiwan enjoy an unofficial relationship, but Washington does not support the Island's independence. A 1979 pact with China switched US diplomatic recognition to Beijing, although The Taiwan Relations Act, passed by Congress in that same year, allows Washington to support the island's defensive capabilities. Deeming one-China policy as outdated and counter-productive, recently two United States congressmen have introduced a resolution calling for the US government to resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The bill, US Congress House Concurrent Resolution 21, was sponsored by US House representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry on February 26, Focus Taiwan reported. The resolution called US government to scrap the one-China policy. Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades. Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. Taiwan returned to the forefront of US-China tensions last weekend when Beijing sent more than two dozen warplanes into the self-governing island's air defence identification zone in a 48-hour period. While the frequency of such drills has increased in recent years, the timing and the composition of the latest formations -- mostly fighter jets and bombers -- appeared intended to send a message to the new administration in Washington, reported CNN. (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 Talk presenter Sharon Osbourne has apologised following comments she made in an argument with co-host Sheryl Underwood about Britains Piers Morgan. Osbourne had defended Morgan, who quit Good Morning Britain earlier this week after his comments about the Duke and Duchess interview provoked more than 41,000 complaints. Asking for quotes demonstrating Morgans racism she said, I will ask you again Sheryl. Ive been asking you during the break, Im asking you again, and dont try and cry because if anyone should be crying, it should be me. Underwood told Osbourne it isnt the exact words of racism, but rather the implication and the reaction to it. The exchange drew a volatile reaction on social media, but later Osbourne issued a statement on Twitter saying she was truly sorry. Piers Morgan, who quit Good Morning Britain this week, then claimed Osbourne had been bullied into an apology and demanded his own apology from The Talk. The Talk airs in Australia on 10. Yesterday on The Talk Sharon Osborne behaved in a way that no Black woman would ever be allowed to in the workplace, let alone National TV. Kudos to @sherylunderwood and @ElaineWelteroth pic.twitter.com/6HkumHIsLf Blk Girl Culture (@blkgirlculture) March 11, 2021 Source: Evening Standard Related Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Chennai, March 12 : The DMK on Friday released a list of 173 candidates for April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. DMK supremo M.K. Stalin will contest from Kolathur seat while his son and actor-turned-politician Udayanidhi Stalin, who is also the Secretary of the party youth wing, will contest from the Chepauk-Thiruvalakkani constituency. Party General Secretary Duraimurugan will contest from Katpadi assembly seat where the Vanniyar community is dominant. Senthil Balaji, who has switched from the AIADMK to the AMMK and now to the DMK, will contest from Karur assembly constituency against state Transport Minister M.R. Vijayabhaskar, with whom he was at loggerheads while with the AIADMK. Sampath Kumar will take on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy at the Edapaddy constituency, dominated by the Gounder community, in Salem district. Thanga Tamilselvan, who has joined the DMK from the AMMK, will be contesting against Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam in Bodinayakanur constituency. Senior leader P Thiagarajan will contest from Madurai Central constituency while iDream cinemas owner, Ramamoorthy will contest against Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar from Royapuram constituency. Trouble has been brewing against Jayakumar in the constituency over the introduction of Chinese fishing nets with several fishermen organisations protesting against him. Environmental activist Karthikeya Sivesenapathy will take on Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani in Thondamathur constituency in Coimbatore district. Velumani is a grassroot politician who has been representing the constituency since 2011, and even won it in 2006 when it was named Perur. As part of the DMK-led alliance, the Congress is contesting 25 seats, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India six seats each, the Indian Union Muslim League three and the MMK two seats in the 234-member Assembly. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text In this Nov. 14, 2016 file photo a supermoon sets behind the Philadelphia skyline. Bird Safe Philly announced on Thursday, March 11, 2021, that Philadelphia is joining the national Lights Out initiative, a voluntary program in which as many external and internal lights in buildings are turned off or dimmed at night during the spring and fall bird migration seasons. Millions of birds annually migrate through Philadelphia during spring and fall and many are killed when they fly into buildings, confused by the bright artificial lights and glass (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek,File) The lights of Philadelphia might not shine as bright in the coming weeks as a coalition in the City of Brotherly Love tries to prevent millions of migrating birds that pass through twice a year from slamming into skyscrapers and crashing to the sidewalk. Bird Safe Philly on Thursday announced the Lights Out Philly initiative, a voluntary program in which as many external and internal lights in buildings are turned off or dimmed at night during the spring and fall. The problem of artificial lights attracting birds to their deaths in the city is not new. "We have specimens in the academy's ornithology collection from a kill that happened when lights were first installed on Philadelphia's City Hall tower in 1896," said Jason Weckstein, associate curator of ornithology at Drexel University's Academy of Natural Sciences. The coalition, which includes Audubon Mid-Atlantic, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club and two local Audubon chapters, formed after the city's largest mass-collision event in 70 years was reported last October. Hundreds of dead birds were found around the city. "Conditions were perfect for a heavy migratory flight and imperfect given that there was a low ceiling of clouds and rain," Weckstein said. "That in combination with Philly's bright city lights was a disaster for many fall migrant birds winging their way south." Birds navigate during migration using celestial cues and when they cannot see stars on a cloudy night they get confused by bright city lights, according to experts. Windows pose a problem, according to Weckstein, because birds might see a reflection of trees or the sky. Scientists estimate between 365 million and one billion birds are killed by collisions with buildings or other outdoor structures in the U.S. every year and those crashes are taking a toll on some species. In this Aug. 6, 2020 file photo, the Philadelphia skyline is viewed during sunset at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Bird Safe Philly announced on Thursday, March 11, 2021, that Philadelphia is joining the national Lights Out initiative, a voluntary program in which as many external and internal lights in buildings are turned off or dimmed at night during the spring and fall bird migration seasons. Millions of birds annually migrate through Philadelphia during spring and fall and many are killed when they fly into buildings, confused by the bright artificial lights and glass. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) Common yellowthroats, white-throated sparrows, gray catbirds and ovenbirds are the most common victims in Philadelphia, experts said, and those species are also threatened by climate change and other predators. "The ovenbird and the black-throated blue warbler are among the hundreds of bird species that are now at an increased risk of extinction in North America because of climate change," said Keith Russell with Audubon Mid-Atlantic. "But many of these species also face the additional threat of colliding with buildings." Russell said the Philadelphia initiative has the added benefit of reducing energy consumption, potentially slowing climate change. The Lights Out Philly program runs from April 1 through May 31 and from Aug. 15 to Nov. 15. Property managers and tenants are asked to voluntarily switch off lights between midnight and 6 a.m., especially in a building's upper levels, lobbies and atriums. The Building Owners and Managers Association of Philadelphia, which represents over 475 members who own or manage commercial properties or provide services to buildings, said the response has been "extremely robust." "We have some early adopters and the list is approaching 20 buildings, many of which are iconic and very recognizable members of the Philadelphia skyline, such as One and Two Liberty Place, Comcast Technology Center and Comcast Center, Mellon Bank Building and all of Brandywine Realty Trust's Center City and University City buildings," said BOMA executive director Kristine Kiphorn. "We get to do our part in the community to help preserve the bird population, and we get to conserve energy at the same time, saving money for our tenants and our assets." The National Audubon Society, along with partners, established the first Lights Out program in 1999 in Chicago. Philadelphia joins 33 other cities including New York, Boston, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The Bird Safe Philly coalition is working to broaden monitoring throughout the city to identify problem areas and to track whether its campaign is effective. While dimming the lights may help, there's one danger wild birds will still face: feral and outdoor cats are the birds' biggest killers, Weckstein said. Explore further Chicago tops list of most dangerous cities for migrating birds 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. With daily record death tolls, a nationwide collapse of the hospital system, more infectious variants spreading rapidly and less than 5 percent of the population vaccinated, the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has reached a level of total catastrophe. On Wednesday, the country had a record 2,349 deaths from COVID-19. With this staggering number, 50 percent higher than the peak reached during the first wave of the pandemic, Brazil has surpassed the milestone of 270,000 coronavirus deaths. Of this total, 75,941 deaths have occurred this year. On the same day, 80,955 new cases were recorded, reaching the highest number of new infections for the entire pandemic. Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against the governments response in combating COVID-19 and also asking for the extension of emergency aid by the federal government amid the pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) The severity of the collapse of the countrys health care system was underscored by a statement from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, reporting that 15 of Brazils 27 state capitals already have 90 percent of their ICU beds occupied by patients suffering severe cases of COVID-19. Another ten capitals are in an extremely critical situation, that is, above 80 percent ICU occupation. The prediction made by neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis, that Brazil could reach 2,000 deaths per day in the next few days, and 3,000 deaths per day in the next few weeks, is tragically coming true. This means that the next three months will see a doubling of the countrys total death toll. The scientist defined Brazil as an open-air laboratory for the creation of the most dangerous mutations of COVID-19 and possibly even a new virus, an even more infectious and lethal SARS-CoV-3. This devastating potential has already been demonstrated by the appearance of the P.1 coronavirus variant last year in Manaus, which is more contagious, and may cause re-infections and be resistant to vaccines. The uncontrolled spiraling of the pandemic in Brazil presents grave dangers not only to Brazils population, but to the entire planet. It is the result of the criminal herd immunity policy widely adopted by the worlds ruling classes, and most aggressively promoted by the Brazilian government, which has deliberately allowed the virus to spread throughout society. A scientific policy to fight the pandemic, with the closure of all non-essential activities followed by testing and contact tracing, was never implemented in any part of the country. In May 2020, when Brazil had yet to record 12,000 COVID-19 deaths, representatives of the largest big business associations marched alongside the fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro to denounce the minimal restrictive measures taken by local governments, saying they have gone too far. Bolsonaro promised the capitalists that he would wage a war on lockdowns. The sociopathic demands of the national bourgeoisie were resisted by not a single party of the Brazilian political establishment, including the so-called opposition led by the Workers Party (PT). On the contrary, since then, all actions taken by state governments of every political stripe have been directed at ending social distancing policies. Educators challenge the homicidal policy of the ruling class Even after the disastrous example of the pandemics second wave in Europe and the United States, with record numbers of cases and deaths, and in face of the staggering rise of these numbers in Brazil itself since the end of last year, the ruling class pushed for the broad reopening of classrooms across the country. A propaganda campaign coordinated between the federal and state governments and the corporate media viciously attacked scientific conclusions that schools are major vectors for the spread of the virus and sought to overcome the widespread view among the Brazilian population that reopening schools is not safe. In the state of Sao Paulo, the most affected by the coronavirus with more than 60,000 recorded deaths, Governor Joao Doria of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) has defined face-to-face education as an essential service, to be continued regardless of the severity of the pandemic. The homicidal character of this policy has already been thoroughly exposed. Since Sao Paulo schools started to reopen on February 1, there have already been 21 reported deaths, two of students and the rest of educators, along with 4,084 confirmed COVID-19 infections and another 24,345 suspected cases. This situation forced Governor Doria on Thursday to announce more restrictive measures to avoid a total collapse of the health care system, while making a point of emphasizing that this is not a lockdown. Industries and services will have their opening and closing times staggered to reduce crowding in public transportation, while private schools will be allowed to keep up to 35 percent of students in class. Sao Paulo state public schools will have a school recess for the next two weeks, but are scheduled to resume classes afterwards. An even greater catastrophe has been avoided by the independent action of educators in Sao Paulo, who went on strike against the school reopenings on February 8 in the state public network, and three days later in the capitals municipal school system. Last Saturday, private school teachers in Sao Paulo also voted to begin a strike starting this Thursday. After a month, the teachers strike in Sao Paulo is at a critical juncture. The strike is continuing due solely to the determination of rank-and-file educators, who are facing deliberate sabotage by the unions. Both the APEOESP and SINPEEM, the largest educators unions in Sao Paulo, are working relentlessly to divide teachers, suppress their independent initiatives and wear them down in order to bury the strike. But the educators movement is being fueled by powerful social forces. Besides new teachers strikes in states such as Santa Catarina and Parana, there is growing discontent within the Brazilian population as a whole over government neglect of the pandemic, and a wave of unrest is spreading through different layers of the working class. Working class strikes and protests spread throughout Brazil Today, any drop of water threatens to overflow the dikes containing social opposition. Last weeks increase in fuel prices triggered wildcat strikes and protests by truck drivers, Uber drivers and app delivery workers in different regions of Brazil. On a number of occasions, protesters headed to oil refineries, agitating among the oil workers, who have called a strike against rising COVID-19 infections and threats to privatize their facilities. Demonstrations also erupted among call center operators, who in March of last year initiated the first response of the Brazilian working class to the COVID-19 pandemic, raising the powerful cry: We are not going to die in our cubicles! Demanding better wages, opposing the cancelling of their health plans and denouncing the negotiations between the company and the union, AlmaViva operators in Aracaju, Sergipe, held a protest last Monday. The workers shouted: Strike, now! Strike, now! The next day, a spontaneous protest against similar conditions took place at the Liq company in Salvador, Bahia. The social media group Senzala80, independently organized by the companys workers, declared: This is called breach of contract. We signed a contract where we were given the right to a health plan, and in the middle of a pandemic we had our right to health care taken away. And the union does what for the operators? NOTHING. Over the last year, there have been continuous strikes by bus drivers and fare collectors, who have suffered 70,000 layoffs since the beginning of the pandemic, and in many cases have had their salaries delayed for months. A bus drivers strike lasted a month in Teresina, the capital of Piaui; on Monday, a strike was started in Vitoria, capital of Espirito Santo; next Monday a strike will begin in Sao Luis, capital of Maranhao. In many other cities the same situation is developing. At the beginning of February, the National Confederation of Land Transport Workers, which includes more than 300 bus drivers unions, sent a letter to the federal government and the Congress demanding the financing of the countrys transport companies. Expressing the unions nervousness over the unrest within their ranks, the document declared: We emphasize that the above measures are urgent and aim, in this first instance, to mitigate the growing GENERAL STRIKE movement stimulated (rightfully) by the local unions and federations. No local unions are demanding a general strike! But they fear they will prove unable to contain rank-and-file workers heading in this direction. These concerns are shared by the entire ruling class. In the upper echelons of the state, a red alert was triggered last week by the eruption of massive demonstrations in Paraguay against the disastrous mismanagement of the pandemic by Bolsonaros fascistic ally, President Mario Abdo Benitez. The threat that these protests will cross the border and infect the Brazilian masses, who face fundamentally the same catastrophe as their Paraguayan brothers and sisters, is not being underestimated within ruling circles. A socialist program against the COVID-19 pandemic So far, the response to the pandemic has been dictated by the capitalist class. Private profit interests have prevailed over the social interest of preserving lives. While hundreds of thousands have died from COVID-19 and millions more were thrown into unemployment and misery in Brazil, the parasitic capitalist oligarchy has immensely increased its share of the national income. The same economic activities that provoked COVID-19 outbreaks among workers guaranteed obscene profits for capitalist corporations and their shareholders. The meatpacking companies, responsible for spread of the pandemic into the interior of Brazil and for the largest outbreaks in states like Rio Grande do Sul, which is now facing a total health care collapse, have had record profits in 2020. Steel producer Usiminas had a 243 percent growth in profits in 2020, the highest in the last ten years. Meanwhile, the Steel Valley region, whose economy is dominated by the company, has recorded the second highest mortality rate in Minas Gerais and is on the verge of a health care collapse. An end to the prolonged nightmare of the COVID-19 pandemic requires a political struggle of the working class against the capitalist system, organized independently of the corporatist unions and all the parties of the bourgeoisie. The logic of development of the movement that is beginning to take shape in different sections of the Brazilian working class is towards the unification of these growing struggles into a general strike, one that closes down all non-essential economic activities, establishes workers control over the workplaces that continue to operate, and demands full income for all working families. To do this, it is necessary to build rank-and-file committees in the different workplaces and neighborhoods, allowing workers to free themselves from the malign control of the unions over their movement. These committees must adopt a socialist program of expropriation of the large corporations and the fortunes of the capitalists, and for their redirection to meet social interests. The Brazilian working class taking such independent action will have immediate international significance. Lives all over the world are at stake, as the new more deadly variants of the virus emerging in Brazil will inevitably cross national borders. A struggle waged by workers in Brazil, in turn, will be immediately answered by their brothers and sisters all over the planet. The building of the Socialist Equality Group (GSI) in Brazil as a section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (CIQI), the only world political force that represents this internationalist socialist program, is the most fundamental step towards the victory of the working class. Houston rapper Paul Wall celebrates his 40th birthday today. The self-proclaimed People's Champ recently made headlines for his individuality as a white rapper in the music industry, where the title "white rapper" isn't so common. THE PEOPLE'S CHAMP PUTTING ON: Paul Wall is as Houston as it gets on Tik Tok Wall recently spoke to Houston radio station 97.9 The Box about trending on social media and how fans have been praising the Houston emcee in honor of his birthday. During the brief conversation, the rapper discussed participating in a Verzuz battle. The "Sittin Sidewayz" rapper was said that he was interested in participating in the viral event. "It might be cool, depending on how it goes," Paul Wall said. "I enjoy watching the battles. But when you're doing it yourself I know that it's a lot that goes into it." The rapper did confess if he were to participate in the now Triller-owned streaming event, the person who could match his energy and caliber would be none other than his fellow H-Town emcee, Chamillionaire. "Maybe Chamillionaire. That would be cool to have my boy on there," the "Swangin in the Rain" rapper said. A battle between the two Houston OGs would be epic, as the duo could be compared to a then Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The two's work as the Color Changin' Click would have them revered as one of the most underrated rap duos ever. It's nice to know that even at the age of 40, the "Still Tippin" emcee still has the "Internet Going Nutz." COLUMBIA A bill to enhance penalties for hate crimes advanced out of a South Carolina House subcommittee March 11, but not before lawmakers reduced the categories of identity that would be protected by the bill, removing sexual orientation and gender. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Chris Murphy, R-North Charleston, proposed amending the bill, H.3620, to limit the protected classes to race, color, religion, sex, national origin and physical or mental disability. That removed earlier references to creed, gender, age, ancestry and sexual orientation. The reasoning, Murphy explained, was that he had heard concerns from "a large number" of other House members about the bill being too expansive and wanted to ensure it could make it through the Republican-dominated Legislature by focusing on the protected classes most widely used in other hate crimes legislation. "The goal here is to get a bill that we're going to be able to pass, not only in judiciary, but in the House as well," Murphy said. State Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, pushed back, saying the bill is "falling short from going as far as we should." "I don't necessarily know that the class change effectively covers what is and has been a very big problem, which is discrimination or hate crimes towards the homosexual community," Bamberg said. Subcommittee chairman Weston Newton, R-Bluffton, sought to assuage Bamberg's concerns by pointing to a Supreme Court decision last year, Bostock v. Clayton, that found discrimination "because of sex" includes sexual orientation or gender identity. "If that body of case law is there, getting too hung up on the specific wording and the specifically identified categories, this thing may get derailed," Newton warned. "I'd like to see us move it out, I'd like to see us get into full committee. I think that sending this kind of message is important, that South Carolina cares about this kind of behavior." Bamberg and state Rep. Will Wheeler, D-Bishopville, ultimately voted with the Republican members in favor of both the amendment and the broader bill Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! LGBTQ advocates expressed outrage at the move. S.C. Equality executive director Jeff Ayers wrote to supporters that it is "a sad day in South Carolina" and said the group cannot support the bill any longer without LGBTQ protection. Chase Glenn, the executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, described the amendment as "incredibly discouraging." "The FBI has stated that hate crimes against LGBTQ people are on the rise and if we can't count on our representatives to pass a hate crimes bill that actually includes one of the communities most impacted by hate-motivated crimes, then what's the point of the bill?" Glenn said. "We cannot play politics when the lives of LGBTQ people are at stake." The bill's lead sponsor and longtime champion, state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, said the the day was "bittersweet" for him. "It was good that it got that far, but along the way, we gave up a lot," said Gilliard, D-Chaleston. But Gilliard emphasized that the process is not over yet and said he is optimistic that the language about sexual orientation and gender will be added back into the bill when it comes up in the full judiciary committee. Murphy's amendment also added language to the bill making clear that the enhanced penalties in the bill would be the maximum a judge could use, leaving it to their discretion if they want to go that far, and it cut a section about civil lawsuits that some religious organizations feared could be used to suppress free speech. South Carolina is one of only three states without any hate crimes law on the books, along with Wyoming and Arkansas. Prominent business groups, including the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, have rallied behind the bill this year, saying the lack of such a law could reflect poorly on the state's values. The measure will now move to the full House judiciary committee, likely within the next few weeks, before potentially advancing to the floor. SINGAPORE, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Openspace Ventures is pleased to announce the final close of Openspace Ventures III, L.P. on 26 Feb 2021, with total subscriptions accepted at US$200 million. Openspace now manages committed capital of US$425 million across three funds. "2021 is poised to be a strong year for Openspace Ventures and the Southeast Asian ecosystem," said Shane Chesson, Co-founder and Partner of Openspace. "Companies are scaling faster than ever and reaching key milestones on the path to liquidity or exit. This progress helped Openspace fully raise Fund 3 in 8 months during a pandemic. We thank investors for their confidence in us as we aim to continue to deliver superior returns and positively transform Southeast Asian economies in the long run." The firm counts global institutional powerhouses such as Temasek, StepStone Group and Sofina in its highly-regarded stable of repeat limited partners, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, university endowments, and insurance companies. Fund 3 saw the addition of new global investors including European institutions DEG and Norfund, US-based 57 Stars and Mizuho, a leading global bank headquartered in Japan. Established in 2014, the Singapore-based venture fund manager is a pioneer in the region. It has 33 investments across key sectors including logistics, fintech, agtech, edtech, healthtech, cleantech and B2B SaaS. Selected leading companies invested at Series A include Halodoc (health - Indonesia), Kumu (consumer tech - Philippines), TaniHub (agtech - Indonesia), Finnomena (fintech - Thailand), FinAccel (fintech - Indonesia), Gojek (transport, logistics, fintech - Indonesia) and Biofourmis (health - Singapore/US). Despite COVID-19, Openspace's companies raised more than US$2 billion in capital in 2020, bringing total follow-on capital to US$6.5 billion to date. Hian Goh, Co-founder and Partner of Openspace, said, "The team and all the portfolio founders worked tirelessly through the unprecedented crisis of 2020 and it showed. We executed two successful full exits last year and made four investments out of Fund 3 in Indonesia and Thailand in the midst of the pandemic." Openspace's team of 25 spans 12 nationalities. The firm has offices in Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila, and is in the process of setting up an office in Ho Chi Minh City. The VC's first and second funds, launched in 2014 and 2017, respectively, are both performing in the top quartile against global peers, according to Cambridge Associates and Preqin benchmarks. "We continue to see enormous untapped potential in the market," said Jessica Huang Pouleur, who joined Openspace as Executive Director in 2020 to lead OSV+, the firm's first growth fund targeted at mid-stage tech opportunities in the region. "The Southeast Asian startup ecosystem continues to evolve and is now producing a high volume of attractive mid-stage investment opportunities. We are proud to be a meaningful contributor to the region's tech ecosystem's evolution as we continue to back strong start-ups and participate in their next phase of growth." SOURCE Openspace Ventures Related Links https://openspace.vc/ The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. The April 6th election is quickly approaching and supporters of the Kansas City earnings tax aren't wasting any time building an army of proponents. To wit and just released a few moments ago . . . KANSAS CITY E-TAX RENEWAL CAMPAIGNERS RELEASE ENDORSEMENTS FROM AN EPIC COALITION!!! Take a look . . . Like it or not, this list is a virtual 'who's who' of KCMO power players from the world of politics, biz and local elected officials. Moreover, Mayor Q dutifully leads the cheering section with growing enthusiasm as telework debate and appeals for exemptions from our suburban friends ramps up. Developing . . . Peshawar, March 12 : A Pakistani TikTok star from Peshawar has committed suicide after female fan rejected his marriage proposal, a media report said. Twenty-year-old Shahzad Ahmad, who had over a million followers on the Chinese video-sharing app, had tried to commit suicide in the recent past but was saved, The Express Tribune report said on Thursday. "He was in love with a girl but her father turned down his marriage proposal repeatedly after which Shahzad was really depressed and he committed suicide," the victim's brother Sajjad said a complaint he had filed. One of Shahzad's friend told The Express Tribune: "Two years ago, he was approached by a girl who claimed to be a fan. This relation developed into a friendship soon but the girl was just a 16-year-old teenager studying in school. "He immediately proposed her but his proposal was turned down on the basis of the girl's age." A 27-year-old woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend's elderly father to death in his Manhattan apartment has claimed she did it because he raped her. Jerry Fox, 71, was found dead in a pool of his own blood with cuts to his neck, torso, legs and hands in the early hours of Wednesday morning when cops responded to multiple 911 calls for the apartment building on Seaman Avenue near West 207th Street in Inwood. Cassandra Carter, the girlfriend of Fox's adopted son, was spotted trying to flee the crime scene via a fire escape ladder before she stopped and told officers she 'did what she had to do' because he had raped her, authorities said. Carter was arrested and charged with second-degree murder over his slaying and was arraigned Thursday. A 27-year-old woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend's elderly father Jerry Fox (pictured) to death in his Manhattan apartment has claimed she did it because he raped her Police received multiple calls around 2:30 am Wednesday morning to the second-floor apartment Fox shared with his son. When officers arrived on the scene, they spotted Carter making her way down the fire escape and walking away, prosecutors said Thursday. A sergeant called out to her and she initially sped up in an apparent attempt to flee before stopping and telling the officer of the alleged sexual assault. 'The guy in the apartment raped me,' she told the cop, according to the criminal complaint. Carter allegedly said she and Fox both cut each other and she sprayed him with roach spray but said she thought he was now dead. 'I did what I had to do. I think he's dead. I cut him and he cut me. I sprayed him with roach spray. He's in the apartment where I left him,' she reportedly said. Carter then gave the officer a key to the apartment and they entered to find Fox's bloodied body lying on the floor with multiple slash wounds, prosecutors said. The 71-year-old, who previously worked for Verizon Communications as a research analyst in IT finance per his social media, was pronounced dead at the scene. Carter was arrested on a homicide charge Wednesday night. Authorities have not confirmed if there is evidence of the alleged rape or whether the allegation has impacted the decision to bring second-degree rather than first-degree murder charges. A spokesperson told DailyMail.com the force takes reports of rape 'extremely seriously' and offers support to survivors. Jerry Fox, 71, (pictured) was found dead in a pool of his own blood with cuts to his neck, torso, legs and hands in the early hours of Wednesday morning 'The NYPD takes sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors,' the statement read. One neighbor told New York Daily News Fox had come to his apartment just hours before his death because of an alleged altercation with Carter. Fox told the neighbor Carter had locked herself in his bedroom with his phone and asked to use his phone to call the police because he was 'physically scared' of her. 'He called the police. He was physically scared of her because she's big and strong,' the neighbor said. He said Fox used his phone but he didn't hear what the 71-year-old told police during the call. Cops then arrived on the scene and 'there was lots of yelling and shouting' coming from Fox's apartment, the neighbor said. The incident unfolded around dinnertime Tuesday, he said, just hours before Fox's body would be discovered by officers. The neighbor described Fox as a 'good guy' who carried the 'burden' of his son's girlfriend who had become an 'unwelcome guest' in their home. 'We've heard yelling before. I think she just became an unwanted guest,' they said. Another neighbor also told the outlet they were aware of 'run-ins' between Fox and Carter prior to Wednesday's incident. Sherry, a 73-year-old resident, said she had heard rumors of 'domestic scuffles' with Carter but insisted Fox was close to his son. 'He had some run-ins with her in the past. We heard stories that they had domestic scuffles. He tried to smooth it over at the time, because he cared about his son,' she said. 'I feel really bad for him. Because he was religious and he really tried to be a good person.' It wasn't clear if Carter lived with Fox and his son in the apartment or just visited regularly. Police sources told Daily News Carter had been arrested at least once in the past over a 2016 incident at the apartment where she was accused of setting fire to a floor mat. Carter was arraigned Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court and denied bail. She is due to next appear in court Monday. Much has been written in the past 12 months, on this site and elsewhere, about how a crisis like COVID-19 can accelerate changes that were already underway. Scarcely has it been more visible than in schools, where the slow march away from textbooks and toward digital instruction materials took on new urgency as teachers and students across the country adapted to laptops and remote learning. Some investors are betting 2020s upheaval was only the beginning, as the K-12 instructional content platform Newsela recently announced $100 million in new fundraising, which will go toward creating new digital instruction materials.Its the largest funding haul in the companys history, according to Founder and CEO Matthew Gross, who took it as the latest sign that textbooks and paper-based instruction materials are on their way out. The lead investor was global firm Franklin Templeton Investments, with other money coming from TCV, Owl Ventures, Tao Capital Partners, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Waycross Ventures.The size of the investment is noteworthy, but not unheard of last month, digital courseware company Top Hat pulled in $130 million from Canadian investment fund Georgian.Gross toldthat around the time he founded Newsela in 2012 and launched its first product beta the following year, only 30 percent of all K-12 schools had broadband. By the end of 2019, he said, the figure was 99 percent.When we first started, it was very rare that the school would have a laptop for every student, but now thats the norm, he said. Theres been this broad recognition that digital is a right for students, that we must get laptops and broadband into their hands, in school, and now increasingly there have been efforts to do it at home.According to its news release , Newsela is a software-as-a-service platform that hosts over 14,000 texts on various subjects, curated from over 175 major publishers such as the Associated Press and Encyclopedia Britannica, reproduced for different reading levels and including other materials such as lesson ideas, assessments and professional development. In a blog post on the companys website, Gross said Newsela is now preparing to expand this catalog, add new media types, build new features and find new ways to disseminate its products.The news release said Newsela's annual recurring revenue grew 81 percent from 2019 to 2020, to a point where it now serves 37 million students and 2.5 million teachers across 90 percent of all U.S. K-12 schools. Gross said one reason for the companys success last year was that its products worked in physical classrooms and remote learning environments alike. They were adaptable.He also pointed to an October report from education marketing firm MDR that found just 44 percent of teachers said they used a textbook during remote instruction, and only 22 percent reported using the digital companions that came with the books. Gross said Newselas own research found teachers on average reported using textbooks between two and six days a month, while the nations schools still spend $5 billion a year on textbooks. In his view, theyre a huge expense getting minimal use in many cases.While textbooks are essentially dead in the classroom, theyre still alive and well in district purchasing. At least they were up until the pandemic hit, Gross said. Fortunately, school districts are now seeing the light, but that $5 billion is a crazy level of waste that every policymaker should be paying attention to right now and saying, How do we spend that $5 billion on things that teachers actually use and are actually moving the needle for our students?The project of putting digital materials in students hands cleared another hurdle this week with the signing of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, guaranteeing $7.1 billion for school broadband connectivity and hot spots, routers and other devices. Gross said now that schools are seeing the advantage of adaptable, digital course materials as well as the funding to implement them, they have choices to make about what to buy and how to use it.A lot of our work over the next year is going to be supporting school districts consultatively, helping them through that transition, he said. One on One with Joe Korkowski, as heard Saturdays on KXRA-1490AM (@7:40am) and KXRA-92.3FM (@8:00am), as well as each Sunday morning on KXRZ Z99.3fm (@10:15am). The interview is also re-broadcast on Monday mornings on KX92 at 10:00am and on Z99 at 9:10am. By J. Keeler Johnson ("Keelerman") Twitter: @J_Keelerman Our quest to picks 50% winners in 2021 enters the second week of March in the "close, but not quite" territory. We were right on target after Life Is Good rolled to a convincing win in the San Felipe (G2) last Saturday, but then Ride a Comet faltered with a seventh-place effort in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1), leaving our record for the year at 8-for-17 (47%). We'll try to get back on track when Oaklawn Park hosts the $1 million Rebel (G2) on Saturday. Truthfully, I believe there's a 50% chance we'll get back to the 50% mark, because to me the Rebel looks like a two-horse race between #1 Caddo River (9-5) and #7 Concert Tour (2-1). I actually suspect Concert Tour will start as the favorite, and for a good reasonhe's trained by Bob Baffert. Since 2010, the Hall of Fame conditioner has compiled an extraordinary 13-7-3-1 record in the Rebel, most notably winning six out of seven editions between 2010 and 2016. Even more remarkable? All seven of Baffert's Rebel champs went on to win Grade 1 races, a testament to the quality of horses Baffert sends to Oaklawn. Certainly Concert Tour brings promising credentials to the table. A flashy debut winner sprinting six furlongs at Santa Anita, Concert Tour most recently battled to a narrow victory in the seven-furlong San Vicente (G2), in which he posted solid Beyer and Brisnet speed figures. A son of Street Sense out of a Tapit mare, Concert Tour is bred to stretch out and figures to enjoy a perfect trip behind the speed in the Rebel. But not even Baffert can win the Rebel every year. Four of his last five starters have been defeated, including champions Game Winner and Improbable in separate divisions in 2019. Why the shift? You can argue it's because Baffert has started running his best sophomores in the San Felipe (G2) instead. Four consecutive high-profile Baffert trainees (Life Is Good, Authentic, McKinzie, and Mastery) have crossed the wire first in the San Felipe, and Game Winner was likewise expected to tackle the San Felipe until a temporary shutdown at Santa Anita prompted the cancellation of the race. So might Concert Tour actually be vulnerable at Oaklawn? It's a possibility worth pondering, especially since Concert Tour has yet to defeat the toughest competition. The runner-up from his maiden win, Mr. Impossible, regressed in two subsequent starts against similar company. And Concert Tour's stablemate Freedom Fighterbeaten just half a length in the San Vicentefaltered to finish fourth in the Gotham (G3) last week, a disappointing effort considering he escaped with an easy lead as the 2-1 second choice. For these reasons, I'm going to side with Caddo River instead. A son of Hard Spun out the stakes-winning router Pangburn, Caddo River showed promise in his first two starts sprinting, finishing second in a pair of competitive maiden special weights on the New York circuit. Notably, Caddo River finished ahead of future Fountain of Youth (G2) winner Greatest Honour on both occasions. But Caddo River has elevated his game to a new level since stretching out over one mile and switching to front-running tactics. The Brad Cox trainee crushed a maiden race at Churchill Downs last fall, carving out fast splits of :22.38, :44.59, and 1:09.48 before drawing off to beat a decent field (including future Dania Beach Stakes winner Kentucky Pharoah) by 9 1/2 lengths. Then in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn, Caddo River assumed a comfortable lead before surging clear to score by 10 1/4 lengths over future Saudi Derby runner-up Cowan and Tampa Bay Derby (G2) third-place finisher Moonlite Strike. Caddo River's performance in the Smarty Jones was impressive because he appeared well within himself from start to finish. He had little difficult securing the early lead through splits of :23.12, :47.16, and 1:12.42, and down the stretch he was just galloping along with his ears pricked, drawing away under a vigorous hand ride from hot jockey Florent Geroux. Assuming Caddo River breaks alertly in the Rebel, he should have no difficulty securing the lead from the rail draw. He's facing a few speedy rivals, but in terms of Brisnet Pace ratings, Caddo River is clearly the "speed of the speed," and anyone who tries to knock heads with him early will likely sacrifice their own chances. My only hesitation is the fact Caddo River is picking up a significant amount of weight from the Smarty Jones, carrying 122 pounds (up from 115) while spotting Concert Tour five pounds. But my gut feeling is that Caddo River is good enough to overcome the obstacle and record a third straight front-running victory. #4 Get Her Number (8-1) and #6 Keepmeinmind (4-1) are the other major names in the Rebel field. Get Her Number defeated future stakes winners Rombauer and Spielberg in the American Pharoah (G1) last September, while Keepmeinmind hit the board in the Breeders' Futurity (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) before rallying to victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2). But Get Her Number and Keepmeinmind are both returning from long layoffs, and in the case of Keepmeinmind, his layoff has been longer than planned. He was originally slated to contest the Southwest (G3) last month, but winter weather shut down training at Oaklawn, so Keepmeinmind missed some training time and was forced to reroute to the Rebel. I'll both Get Her Number and Keepmeinmind for the top two slots, though they're certainly logical candidates to round out the trifecta or superfecta. ***** Even if Concert Tour fails to win the Rebel, Baffert can still make headlines with a different Triple Crown-nominated colt. In Saturday's second race at Santa Anita, the highly regarded #5 Triple Tap (4-5) will make his debut in a seven-furlong maiden special weight, and all signs suggest the son of Tapit is sitting on a powerful performance. A half-brother to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, and a full brother to Grade 1 winner Chasing Yesterday, Triple Tap has been training up a storm in preparation for his first start. He's cranked out four bullet workouts since the beginning of February, and on Feb. 27 he breezed six furlongs in a swift 1:11 1/5 alongside stablemate and Robert B. Lewis (G3) winner Medina Spirit. For good measure, Triple Tap capped off his preparations with five furlongs from the starting gate in :59 flat last Sunday. According to statistics from DRF Formulator, over the last five years Baffert has gone 6-for-14 (43%) debuting colts and geldings in seven-furlong sprints, including victories by future Grade 1 winners Justify and McKinzie. This record becomes even more remarkable when you consider how four of Baffert's losing colts were beaten by their own stablematesin other words, Baffert saddled the winner in six of the 10 races included in the sample size. Triple Tap doesn't have to be a superstar to defeat Saturday's field. He'll face just four rivals, all of them experienced runners with generally unremarkable form and speed figures. But if Triple Tap is a superstar... we can expect to see eye-catching performance. Now it's your turn! Who do you like in the Rebel? ***** Want to test your handicapping skills against fellow Unlocking Winners readers? Check out the Unlocking Winners contests pagethere's a new challenge every week! ***** The Road to the Kentucky Derby handicapping challenge is back for the seventh straight year! Check out the Road to the Kentucky Derby contest page for more details. J. Keeler Johnson (also known as "Keelerman") is a writer, videographer, voice actor, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. He is the founder of the horse racing website www.theturfboard.com. Boris Johnson's plan to cut the foreign aid budget is set to be dramatically scaled back over fears of a Tory rebellion. Ministers had announced they would change the law to lower the target to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on international development to 0.5 per cent. This would have allowed them to slash handouts by 4billion to around 10billion and keep them at a lower level for years. But amid warnings that the proposals, which would breach a 2019 Tory election manifesto pledge, will be blocked in both houses of Parliament, the Government is considering alternatives such as missing the 0.7 per cent target as a one-off this year and returning to it in 2022. Ministers had announced they would change the law to lower the target to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on international development to 0.5 per cent. Pictured: Dominic Raab This means that the foreign aid bill could jump back to around 14billion in just a year. Officials are studying whether the one-off cut could be done through a loophole which allows the target to be missed for reasons such as the economic situation without the need for a new law. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had previously discounted this option. As he announced the proposed aid cuts last November, Mr Raab told MPs a new law was needed as the Government was not 'able to rely just on the limited derogation written into [existing] legislation'. Sir Peter Bottomley, the longest continuously serving MP, said he will 'work with anyone across' the Commons to 'fight to maintain' his party's 0.7 per cent pledge on overseas aid He said: 'We have taken advice very carefully on this, and it is very clear that if we cannot see a path back to 0.7 per cent in the foreseeable, immediate future and we cannot plan for that, then the legislation would require us to change it. We would almost certainly face legal challenge if we do not very carefully follow it.' The Prime Minister, Mr Raab and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are to decide in the coming weeks whether to introduce a new law as planned so the aid budget can be lowered for several years, or whether to just reduce it this year. If they decide on the latter, it is understood they will claim the improving economic picture is the reason for the U-turn. The Daily Mail revealed last month that the Government had postponed a vote on cutting foreign aid to avoid a clash with Tory backbenchers ahead of the G7 summit in June. Ministers are keen to avoid the embarrassment of a row about Britain's place in the world as Mr Johnson prepares to welcome world leaders, including US president Joe Biden, to the Cornwall summit. Senior Tories including Theresa May and David Davis warned they will join a revolt led by former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell if the Government attempts to bring in new legislation. Mr Mitchell has claimed the cuts will be the 'cause of 100,000 preventable deaths, mainly among children'. Sir Peter Bottomley, the longest continuously serving MP, said he will 'work with anyone across' the Commons to 'fight to maintain' his party's 0.7 per cent pledge on overseas aid. In a Mail article earlier this year, Mrs May warned Britain would be 'abandoning our position of global moral leadership' by cutting the aid target. 'Whatever the rhetoric we deploy, it is our actions which count. So, we should do nothing which signals a retreat from our global commitments,' she wrote. While his predecessor made do with a $152,500 annual salary, newly elected Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams has given himself a 22% pay bump that puts his compensation in line with other top prosecutors in Louisiana. Williams now earns $185,000, less than north shore District Attorney Warren Montgomery, East Baton Rouge DA Hillar Moore or Jefferson Parish DA Paul Connick Jr., but more than some other district attorneys in Louisiana, all of whom have the power to set their own pay. The raise means that the leader of one of the states busiest prosecutorial offices can claim a salary to match. Its a big boost from the $152,500 salary of former Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro. Two of Cannizzaros top lieutenants actually made more than Cannizaro in direct salary before their departures from the office. First Assistant District Attorney Graymond Martin made $165,000 and Chief Assistant District Attorney Robert Freeman Jr. $157,500, according to records. After Williams, the next two highest-paid employees in the office now are his first assistant Robert White, at $145,000, and his chief administrative officer, Tyronne Walker, at $140,000. Williams now makes more than New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who is currently paid $174,920, Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, who makes $183,860, and judicial district judges, who make $159,666. In a statement, Walker said Williams' pay is in line with his duties. "The District Attorneys salary is approximately $15,000 below the maximum amount recommended in guidelines provided by the Louisiana District Attorneys Associations Ad Hoc committee on salaries," Walker said. "Additionally, Orleans Parish is the only parish that handles criminal cases every single week. Every other parish has a 'one week on, one week off' structure. The Orleans Parish caseload and courtroom responsibilities are incomparable to the rest of the state." Other district attorneys in Louisiana make salaries in the neighborhood of Williams, even in parishes that handle far fewer cases, according to state ethics disclosures or statements from their offices. They are: St. Tammany and Washington Parish District Attorney Warren Montgomery: $200,290 Caddo Parish District Attorney James Stewart: $190,514 (as of 2019 disclosure) East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore: $190,300 Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick Jr.: $187,315 St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney Bridget Dinvaut: $180,670 (as of 2019 disclosure) St. Charles Parish District Attorney Joel Chaisson: $179,637 Plaquemines Parish District Attorney Charles Ballay: $175,000 St. Bernard Parish District Attorney Perry Nicosia: $165,000 Rapides Parish District Attorney Phillip Terrell: $161,459.9 (as of 2019 disclosure; also drew $82,604.84 in state retirement benefits) One-to-one comparisons between the different offices can be difficult because they have different duties. Some district attorneys represent their parishes in civil matters, but in New Orleans that task is handled by the City Attorney's Office. Rafael Goyeneche, president of the non-profit Metropolitan Crime Commission, said he believes Williams' pay is in line with the office's responsibilities. He recalled that when Cannizzaro came into office, he also gave himself a pay increase over that of his predecessor, Eddie Jordan. 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 "One hundred and eighty five thousand, I think, is reasonable for the Orleans Parish DA, based on what Ive learned from reviewing the advisory parameters," Goyeneche said. Loren Lampart, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said a $185,000 salary would be "well below the top line." The association lays out pay guidelines for district attorneys based on their caseload, experience, duties, parishes covered and other factors, he said. It's a "pretty intentional process" that also involves comparisons to other government executives and district attorneys in other states, he said. Williams and many other district attorneys also maintain private law practices. Williams previously made more than $100,000 from his law firm on top of his $95,000 salary as a member of the New Orleans City Council, according to ethics disclosures. Cannizzaro didnt have a law practice on the side, but he and his wife reported $25,000 to $100,000 a year in rental income from several properties. In addition to his salary as DA, he received $85,566 from the State Employees Retirement System in 2019, according to his most recent financial disclosure. Cannizzaro had previously served as a district judge, appellate judge and assistant district attorney. Outside work is usually legal, but district attorneys cannot be paid extra for their official duties. Former north shore District Attorney Walter Reed, for example, was convicted in 2016 for receiving $574,063 from St. Tammany Parish Hospital for legal services that his office was supposed to provide. Jefferson DA says he takes pains to avoid conflicts of interest St. Tammany Parish District Attorney Walter Reeds lucrative side work has been making headlines in recent months, but he is hardly the only h But at times, private income streams attract added scrutiny for district attorneys. Jefferson Parish DA Paul Connick owns a law firm with his brother that has received government work. Connick has defended that arrangement, saying that hes not involved in drumming up parish business. In a Jan. 15 interview, Williams said he didn't foresee having time to recruit private clients. The DA's Office will be his "primary practice," he said. "My focus will be getting the ship straight over here. I have very talented lawyers at the law firm that have been handling cases, without a whole lot of need for my input, for a very long time while on the City Council," Williams said. "Youre going to probably see a very similar pattern to what youve seen already." Local Journalism Initiative Later this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet his G7 colleagues with an unenviable climate record on the books. Canada has had the highest emission growth of its peers since the Paris Agreement was signed. From 2016 to 2019, Canadas emissions leapt 3.3 per cent, according to a new report authored by earth scientist David Hughes and co-published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Corporate Mapping Project, the Parkland Institute, Stand.earth, West Coast Environmental Law and 350.org. That emission creep is far more than the United States 0.6 per cent growth over that same period, and represents a major failing compared to the other five G7 countries, which managed to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4.4 per cent to 10.8 per cent. We have politicians that are trying to please everybody and are making totally counter-productive policy decisions, said Hughes, calling it a stark contradiction between government priorities, which are building the Trans Mountain Expansion to the coast (and) reducing emissions by 40 per cent by 2030. Its going to lead to continuous growth for as long as the resource inputs hold out, and then a crash, a very painful crash, he said. In late April, Ottawa committed to a 40 per cent GHG reduction from 2005 levels by 2030 at the same time it plans to grow the oil and gas sector that is responsible for a quarter of the countrys emissions. Despite the emission jump from 2016 to 2019, overall emissions are down 1.2 per cent since 2005, says Hughes. So we've got 39 per cent to go in nine years, he said, warning that the low-hanging fruit of phasing out coal is in the rearview mirror and the next phase of decarbonization will be even more challenging. Assuming the government continues to implement climate policies, the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) forecasts the oil and gas sector will cause Canada to miss its Paris Agreement target of an 80 per cent reduction from 2005 levels by 2050, let alone the target of net zero proposed in Bill C-12. Even if you reduce emissions from every other sector of the economy to zero, we'd still miss an 80 per cent reduction target by 32 per cent in 2050, said Hughes. However, we claim that we're going to get to net zero by 2050, so the numbers just don't make any sense. The report notes that under CERs pipeline export capacity forecasts neither the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion or the Keystone XL pipeline are needed, and it calls for the cancellation of both and any other pipeline projects CER deems unnecessary. Further, it says if a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry is developed in British Columbia, the provinces CleanBC climate plan would be impossible to achieve. The CER estimates oil and gas exports will grow 42 per cent and 186 per cent, respectively, by 2050, with domestic demand falling over that time. Oil production is predicted to peak in 2039 and then fall through 2050. That forecast estimates all production growth occurring in Alberta and British Columbia, at 13 and 146 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, the CERs modelling forecasts a 12 per cent decline in production in Saskatchewan and a staggering 99 per cent drop in Newfoundland and Labrador. However, the modelling does not take into account Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Fureys recent attempts to attract new exploration to that provinces offshore, nor tentative plans swirling on the island to use hydropower from Labradors Churchill River to power offshore oil rigs. Clearly if Canada is to have any hope of meeting its emissions-reductions targets, the oil and gas production sector will have to reduce emissions to a level far below what is projected in the CER evolving scenario, reads the report. The only way this can be done is to radically reduce production, and cutting production will have economic impacts. The oil and gas sector represents about nine per cent of total GDP and is essentially the countrys dividing line between which provinces are making GHG progress and which arent. The oil- and gas-producing provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador all saw emissions climb from 2005 to 2019, while Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island all saw emissions fall significantly, largely owing to the phaseout of coal-fired plants. While Ottawa sets new GHG reduction targets, the report highlights that since 2000, fossil fuel companies have extracted more and paid less for it. Over that time, royalty revenue is down 45 per cent despite record production, and tax revenues from the oil and gas sector have fallen to less than four per cent in 2018 of all industry taxes, compared to over 14 per cent in 2009. These cuts represent billions of dollars of lost revenue. Hughes says the reason for lower collection is due the price of oil dropping and government incentives to encourage more drilling. Because Canada has heavy energy demands in winter not easily satisfied by existing renewable power, Hughes says the country will depend on oil and gas to some extent for the foreseeable future, which is why hes against selling the resources off for diminishing returns. It is cold up here, likely we are going to need some of that gas and some of that oil, and it's finite and industry always takes the best stuff first We're selling off the best of what we have left, destroying our emissions targets and getting nothing for it, he said. John Woodside, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, National Observer Vietnam hopes to provide anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment to about 160,000 people living with HIV/AIDS this year, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam. People living with HIV/AIDS are consulted and give ARV in a health centre in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province. Photo: VNA Vietnam hopes to provide anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment to about 160,000 people living with HIV/AIDS this year, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam. Dam, who is also chairman of the National Committee for AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention and Control, has called on ministries and agencies to improve the legal framework and issue detailed instructions to better implement the amended law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control that was approved by National Assembly last year. He asked for diverse measures to be used for HIV/AIDS prevention and control and increasing the provision of preventive treatment for people in high-risk groups. The Deputy PM said he expected more HIV/AIDS patients would be able to access ARV treatment with the medical costs covered by the public health insurance fund. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, since the first HIV/AIDS case was detected in Vietnam in 1990, until now, more than 102,000 people in the country have died of AIDS and about 250,000 HIV patients are still alive, but only 210,000 know their HIV status. Vietnam has a rate of HIV-infected people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment with a viral load below the inhibitory threshold reaching 96 percent, meaning that they have undetectable levels of HIV in their bodies and they pose no risk of HIV transmission to their sexual partners who are negative to HIV. Over the past 10 years, Vietnam has kept the community HIV infection rate below 0.3 percent. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), since 2000 the country has deployed preventive measures to stop 400,000 people from being infected with HIV while 150,000 received treatment that prevented death from AIDS. In 2014, Vietnam became the first country in Asia to adopt the 90-90-90 targets set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, under which by 2020, 90 percent of those living with HIV would know their HIV status; 90 percent of people who know their status are in HIV treatment, and 90 percent of all patients in treatment would have undetectable levels of HIV in their bodies. Only the third target was achieved by the year 2020. Vietnam is known as one of four countries with the best HIV/AIDS treatment in the world along with Germany, the UK and Switzerland, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said when he introduced to the National Assembly the draft of amendments to Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control last year. At a recent meeting highlighting key tasks in HIV/AIDS, drug and prostitution prevention and control this year, Dam emphasised the need to increase public understanding and awareness over the issues. He called on press and media agencies to support communication campaigns. Regarding drug crime prevention and control, he asked the ministries of security, defence and finance to step up the fight on drug crimes, particularly in border areas. Ministries of Public Security, Industry and Trade, Finance, Health, Agriculture and Rural Development were told to direct strict control of precursors and addictive drugs in import, export and production and business so criminals could not take advantage of legal loopholes to produce synthetic drugs. The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs was asked to study and propose policies on drug addiction prevention, evaluate the pilot implementation of detoxification support models and improve the capacity of drug addiction treatment. VNA HCM City strengthens HIV prevention efforts, hopes to end transmission by 2030 HCM City will continue to strengthen HIV preventive efforts with tests for early detection and treatment among high-risk groups to help achieve the national goal of eradicating the spread of the disease by 2030. The General Electric logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, on June 28, 2018. (Richard Drew/AP Photo) GE, AerCap Join Air Leasing Businesses in $30 Billion Deal General Electric is combining its aircraft leasing business with Irelands AerCap Holdings in a deal valued at more than $30 billion, a big step in what has become a six-year odyssey to reshape the one-time sprawling, global conglomerate. By pushing GE Capital Aviation Services, or GCAS, into a separate business, GE is essentially closing the books on GE Capital, the financial wing of General Electric that nearly sank the entire company during the 2008 financial crisis. Today marks GEs transformation to a more focused, simpler, and stronger industrial company, Chairman and CEO Larry Culp said in a prepared statement Wednesday. AerCap will pay about $24 billion in cash for GCAS, and GE will take an approximately 46 percent ownership stake in the combined company, and $1 billion paid in AerCap notes or cash at closing. GEs Capital Aviation Services and AerCap are two of the biggest aircraft leasers in the world with more than 2,500 aircraft between them. The companies lease commercial aircraft to hundreds of airlines around the world. The global pandemic sent shockwaves through the entire air travel industry, and the deal announced Wednesday could have extensive ramifications. It could mean more pressure on plane manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus if beleaguered airlines chose not to buy planes. It could also mean some breathing room for airlines that are reeling from plunging air travel, if they can cut near-term costs through leases. A combined company would in all likelihood be able to lower its own costs, and extend them to customers. As for GE, it said Wednesday that it will be able to lower its debt by about $30 billion, bringing total debt reduction since the end of 2018 to more than $70 billion. In 2015, GE announced a radical transformation of the company, vowing to shed billions in assets to better focus on the companys industrial core, namely power, aviation, renewable energy and healthcare. With the new company formed with GCAS, the largest remaining operation in GE Capital, General Electric has largely excised what many industry analysts viewed as a risk. That belief existed before the financial crises that almost brought Wall Street to its knees more than a decade ago. GE went through a series of upheavals following the crisis. Longtime CEO Jeff Immelt, who had built GE into a massive conglomerate that many came to believe had grown to complex, was ousted in 2017. He was replaced by John Flannery, who lasted just one year in the job. Culp took the job in October 2018, vowing to continue the transformation of GE. This is the right time to further accelerate our transformation, Culp said. This action will enable us to significantly de-risk GE and continue on our path to being a well-capitalized company. The remainder of GE Capital, including Energy Financial Services and its run-off insurance operations, will become part of GE Corporate when the transaction closes. GE gets two directors to newly created seats on AerCaps board. The company also announced on Wednesday a reverse stock split at a ratio of 1-for-8 and a corresponding proportionate reduction in the number of authorized shares of common stock. The deal is expected to close in nine months to a year. It still needs approval from AerCap shareholders. By Michelle Chapman This strong signal of confidence in mdf commerce underscores the companys ability to offer an innovative and scalable product in the CLM space MONTREAL, March 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- mdf commerce inc. (TSX:MDF), a leader in SaaS commerce technology solutions, today announces a five-year renewal agreement with Alutiiq Professional Consulting, LLC (APC). APC is a sister company to Alutiiq, LLC (Alutiiq), a premier Alaska Native Corporation-owned company whose subsidiaries are leading providers of specialized services to the US Federal Government. The renewed mdf commerce contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution for APC has dramatically improved team collaboration and operational efficiency. This enterprise-grade solution streamlines the complete contract lifecycle, which provides uniform and comprehensive visibility to all contracts and ensures proactive and automated CLM processes. Included is efficient document storage and administration as well as dynamic search capability and reporting. Complying with US Federal Government regulations is of paramount importance to all federal contractors, and APC, Alutiiq and its companies can count on the CLM systems integrated clause management feature to ensure the tracking of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clauses, the associated versions, and the subsequent government regulations consistent with contracted tasks. The mdf commerce CLM solution has vastly improved our processes when it comes to managing contracts and clauses, and ensuring a transparent and efficient workflow, said Kathryn S. Stem, Senior Director of Contracts and Procurement at APC. It was a very easy decision for us to renew our agreement with mdf commerce, as the CLM solution not only increases our productivity, but also helps us with compliance requirements and advanced collaboration. "We are excited to renew our successful partnership with APC," said Mark Eigenbauer, President, Strategic Sourcing at mdf commerce. "Fostering long-term commercial relationships like the one we have with APC is a great testament to the services we provide and we look forward to helping Alutiiq achieve its business goals." Story continues About mdf commerce inc. mdf commerce inc. (TSX:MDF) enables the flow of commerce by providing a broad set of SaaS solutions that optimize and accelerate commercial interactions between buyers and sellers. Our platforms and services empower businesses around the world, allowing them to generate billions of dollars in transactions on an annual basis. Our strategic sourcing, unified commerce and eMarketplace platforms are supported by a strong and dedicated team of more than 600 employees based in Canada, the United States, Denmark, Ukraine and China. For more information, please visit us at mdfcommerce.com, follow us on LinkedIn or call at 1-877-677-9088. For further information: mdf commerce Mark Eigenbauer President, Strategic Sourcing Toll-free number: 1-877-677-9088, ext. 6250 Email: meigenbauer@mdfcommerce.com mdf commerce Andre Leblanc Vice President, Marketing and Public Affairs Phone: +1 (514) 961-0882 Email: aleblanc@mdfcommerce.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. Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office. [Photo/Xinhua] A mainland spokeswoman on Thursday condemned remarks made by the Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party on Taiwan, over the decision to improve Hong Kong's electoral system adopted by China's top legislature. The decision on improving the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's electoral system was passed by the 13th National People's Congress at the closing of its fourth session on Thursday. Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the decision reflects the full implementation of the "patriots governing Hong Kong" principle and will ensure the steady implementation of "one country, two systems". It's necessary for safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests as well as Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, she said. She condemned the DPP authorities after the party said the decision was a destruction to the democracy in Hong Kong. "The DPP used so-called 'democracy' and 'freedom' to deceive public opinion and made malicious attack on the mainland, which once again exposed its sinister intentions of manipulating Hong Kong affairs and seeking independence," she said. Zhu warned the DPP authorities there is no way for them to seek "independence" and any attempt to destabilize Hong Kong would not succeed. "Their accumulated crimes will definitely be severely punished," she added. Women in Construction Week takes place every March. Why? Because females comprise 50.8 percent of the United States population and 47 percent of the countrys work force; however, that rate plummets to 10 percent in the construction industry (including administration, human resources and marketing), and just under 6 percent in production roles, according to the National Association of Women in Construction. As the industry continues to face a skilled workforce shortage, it is imperative to actively address the lack of female talent in construction. We believe that early discussions about career opportunities in construction needs to happen to help dispel the myth that women cannot be successful in our industry. A perception exists that construction careers are limited to swinging a hammer, that construction isnt a place for women. The truth is there are a variety of jobs in engineering, estimating and technology (such as virtual reality). Construction is an exciting and ever-changing industry; every day and every project is different. A career in construction brings opportunity for personal pride in what you are building whether hospital, skyscraper, port or bridge. It also offers the chance, starting on day one, to problem-solve and have a significant impact on the future of our communities. One of the things we do to impact the future workforce is by supporting and being active in ACE Mentorship a program for high school students (males and females) interested in architecture, construction and engineering. We mentor students, encourage their aptitudes and interests, and invite them to jobsites to fully appreciate how various skills work together to create something amazing and lasting. Fostering student interests also needs to come from outside the industry. School districts, educators, counselors and parents must encourage all students to explore STEM and introduce them to a variety of career opportunities, including those in construction. Some students may head to college for engineering, construction science and construction technology related degrees. Other students may be interested in learning a trade, which is an area of huge need right now in the construction field. During the 1980 and 90s, educational programs that train trade skills went out of favor and school systems focused on readying students for college, which left a gap in the industry employment base. That gap, compounded with baby boomers retiring in recent years, leaves plenty of opportunities within the industry. Due to Texas stable economy and growing population, and thus strong construction market, we especially feeling the crunch. Houston in particular has a larger gap as the employee base is shared with the oil and gas sector. A lack of workforce can hinder project starts, impact schedules and increase project costs. This can hinder business progress for the client and impacts the construction industry and the local economy as a whole. At McCarthy, our goal is to recruit and retain top female talent in the marketplace and empower them to succeed; weve established the McCarthy Partnership for Women, a national resource group designed to develop and support women in construction This is an opportunity that we cant afford to ignore. Women provide both diversity of thought to best solve client needs, as well as to reflect the communities for which we build. From 2016 to 2020, our female employee count has increased 23.3 percent nationally and 26 percent in the southern region which includes Texas. Nationally, 25 percent of our new hires in 2020 were women, and in the southern region 30.4 percent of new project engineers were women in 2020. The importance of encouraging females to consider the opportunities in construction should be explored by educators, parents and young people. An exciting and rewarding career awaits. Hodges is vice president of McCarthy Building Companies Houston office. Martindale is director of estimating for heavy civil projects for McCarthys southern region and is on the national McCarthy Partnership for Women committee. Dr Anthony Fauci has told of his sadness at the COVID-19 death toll, saying on the eve of the anniversary of a global pandemic being declared that he never imagined the scale of the tragedy. 'It was exactly one year ago this morning I said things are going to get much worse before they get better,' he said. 'But I did not realize in my mind even anything close to more than half a million people having died in this country.' Fauci told Good Morning America on Thursday he underestimated the scale of the tragedy Chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to @GStephanopoulos looking back on the pandemic: I did not realize in my mind even anything close to more than half a million people having died in this country. https://t.co/JNWxLBHFJY pic.twitter.com/gkWAY5ksR6 Good Morning America (@GMA) March 11, 2021 Fauci said he never expected that half a million U.S. citizens would die from COVID He said people should get vaccinated (above, in LA on Thursday) but keep wearing masks Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said that the vaccination program was giving hope. He told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would shortly roll out a new series of guidelines for people who have been vaccinated, giving them more freedom and encouraging others to be vaccinated themselves. He said mutations should always be taken seriously - but he was optimistic that the U.K. variant was being limited by the vaccine, and other variants were not proving to be a 'showstopper'. Fauci said that variants of the virus were concerning, but not necessarily a 'showstopper' 'But one of the positive aspects is the 117 variant, the one from the United Kingdom - the vaccines that we are distributing now do quite well against them. 'There are others that are not so good, but they are not the dominant ones. They don't necessarily have to be a showstopper. 'The more people we vaccinate, the more quickly we vaccinate them, the less chance you give a variant to take hold.' He told NBC that the politicization of safety measures and 'mixed messages' out of Washington under the Trump administration were to blame for the high number of fatalities. Host Savannah Guthrie noted that Fauci said exactly one year ago that 27 people in the U.S. had died from COVID-19 and asked what he would have thought then of today's death toll of more than 531,000. People in Chicago are seen lining up for the vaccination at a mass-inoculation site Wednesday 'I have to tell you quite honestly, Savannah, it would have shocked me completely,' said Fauci. Asked what went wrong, Fauci pointed to the 'divisiveness in our country.' He continued: 'Even simple, commonsense public health measures took on a political connotation. 'If you wanted to wear a mask, you were on this side. If you wanted to stay in and avoid congregate settings, you were on this side. It wasn't a pure public health approach. It was really very much influenced by the divisiveness that we had in this country.' Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - The Very Good Food Company Inc. (CSE: VERY) (OTCQB: VRYYF) (FSE: 0SI) ("VERY" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") to list its shares on the TSXV effective as of the open of market on March 17, 2021. The Company's trading symbol "VERY" will remain unchanged and shareholders will not be required to take any action in connection with the listing on the TSXV. The Company's shares will continue to be listed in the United States on the OTCQB under the symbol "VRYYF" and on the Frankfurt stock exchange under the symbol "0SI". The last day of trading of the Company's shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange will be March 16, 2021. Mitchell Scott, CEO commented: "We are very excited to be listing on the TSXV. Our Rupert (Vancouver) facility is currently being commissioned with food production planned to commence in the coming weeks, VERY will be soon be able to meet the growing demand for its products in both Canada and in the US and further drive revenue. As we continue to achieve our business objectives, listing on the TSXV will allow the Company to expand its shareholder base, enhance shareholder value and accelerate the Company's M&A initiatives in pursuing strategic opportunities." The Company today also announced that it has engaged Trent Collett to provide communications and investor relations services for a monthly cash fee of $3,500. Mr. Collett has also been granted 25,000 options, exercisable at a price of $5.72 until March 8, 2024, which options will vest in equal quarterly tranches over the next 12 months. About The Very Good Food Company The Very Good Food Company Inc. is an emerging plant-based food technology company. Our mission is to use progressive food technology to create plant-based meat and other food products that are delicious while maintaining a wholesome nutritional profile. To date we have developed a core product line under The Very Good Butchers brand. For further information, please contact: Mitchell Scott Chief Executive Officer and Director Investor Relations: Edge Communications Group Invest@verygoodbutchers.com 1-855-472-9841 Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements or information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "proposed", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", and similar expressions. Forward-looking information contained or referred to in this news release includes, but is not limited to: the listing of the Company's shares on the TSXV including the timing therefor; the delisting of the Company's shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange and the timing therefor; the benefits the Company expects to derive from the TSXV listing including expansion of its shareholder base, enhanced shareholder value and acceleration of the Company's M&A initiatives in pursuing strategic opportunities; the anticipated timing for commencement of food production at the Rupert facility; and the Company's belief as to the growing demand for its products and its ability to meet such demand. Forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such statements and information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Certain assumptions in respect of continued strong demand for our products; that added production capacity will enable us to increase our sales volume, that we do not experience material interruptions or supply chain failures as a result of COVID-19, our ability to retain key personnel, the availability of labour, and changes and trends in our industry or the global economy are material assumptions made in preparing forward-looking statements or information and management's expectations. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: negative cash flow and future financing requirements to sustain operations; dilution; limited history of operations and revenues and no history of earnings or dividends; competition; economic changes; and the impact of and risks associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic including the risk of disruption at the Company's facilities or in its supply and distribution channels. The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76936 Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 13:35:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A press conference on temporarily halting the roll-out of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination in Thailand is held in Bangkok, Thailand, March 12, 2021. Thailand announced Friday to temporarily halt the roll-out of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination after some European nations suspended the use of the vaccine due to concerns of blood clotting. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak) BANGKOK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Thailand announced Friday to temporarily halt the roll-out of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination after some European nations suspended the use of the vaccine due to concerns of blood clotting. "It is not certain whether the blood clot symptom is directly related to the AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccine is good, but for the safety of the Thai people, we decide to suspend the use of the vaccine until further evaluation," Kiattiphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Public Health told a news conference. Thailand also canceled the plan scheduled for Friday for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and members of his cabinet to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine shots. The announcement came after countries including Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of the formation of blood clots after some people received the vaccines. "With this postponement, we are not saying that the vaccine is problematic. This postponement is to wait for verification whether there is any relation with the vaccine or that batch of the vaccine," Yong Poovorawan, a senior virologist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, told the news conference. "The vaccines supplied to Thailand were not the same batch as in Europe, but made in Asia," Yong said. Thailand launched its national inoculation program on Feb. 28, using vaccines developed by China's Sinovac. It has ordered Sinovac vaccines with the first doses having arrived on Feb. 24. The country also received AstraZeneca vaccine on the same day. Thailand has so far confirmed more than 26,600 COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths. Enditem By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - Inc Chief Executive has been sued by a shareholder who accused him of violating his 2018 settlement with the U.S. over his Twitter use. According to a complaint unsealed late Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court, which also names the electric car company's board as defendants, Musk's "erratic" tweets and the failure of directors to ensure he complied with the SEC settlement have exposed shareholders to billions of dollars of losses. The complaint highlighted several Musk posts on social media platform Twitter, including his assessment last May 1 that Tesla's stock price was "too high," prompting a more than $13 billion tumble in Tesla's market value. Chase Gharrity, the plaintiff, said Musk's actions and the directors' inaction have caused "substantial financial harm," and that they should pay damages to Palo Alto, California-based for breaching their fiduciary duties. The lawsuit was filed even though Tesla's share price has soared nearly fivefold since Musk's "too high" tweet, giving Tesla a valuation well above $600 billion, and the SEC has not publicly accused Musk of recent violations. "It could pressure the SEC into taking some sort of recourse," said Charles Elson, a University of Delaware professor and corporate governance specialist. Tesla did not immediately respond on Friday to requests for comment. Gharrity's lawyers, Musk's lawyers in the SEC case, and the SEC did not immediately respond to similar requests. The SEC settlement followed Musk's August 2018 tweet that he had "funding secured" to possibly take Tesla private in a $72 billion transaction. In reality, Musk was not close. Musk and Tesla each paid $20 million in civil fines, and Tesla lawyers agreed to vet some of Musk's tweets in advance. The settlement was later amended to clarify when pre-approvals were required, prompted by a unvetted tweet by Musk about Tesla's vehicle production forecast. Last April, a San Francisco federal judge said Tesla and Musk must face a lawsuit claiming Musk's going-private tweet defrauded shareholders. That case remains pending. The case is Gharrity v Musk et al, Delaware Chancery Court, No. 2021-0199. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco, and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Rosalba O'Brien) (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.) I lift up my eyes to the hills from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. - Psalm 121:1-2 Psalm 121 is one of the most beloved Psalms in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The psalmist looks up to the hills the beauty of verdant foothills ascending and descending to the green valleys. The soul-satisfying visage stirs the psalmist unto his exuberant prose. Only God could create such beauty. There is nothing that humankind has conceived that can rival the beauty of God's creation. As he observes the splendor of creation, he asked himself the rhetorical question: from where will my help come? Of course, the answer is self-evident. The same God who created the hills is capable and willing to help the psalmist in the seemingly unconquerable challenges of life. Once again, the passage calls for the reader to recognize that, indeed, our help can come from nowhere else and no one else. Only the creator has the power, the omnipotence, the omniscience, and the attributes of glory to intercede in our troubles and provide miraculous resolution. That is the affirmation in verse two. The soliloquy continues as the psalmist answers his question with the obvious his eyes undoubtedly still gazing unto the hills "My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Why Is Psalm 121 Important Today? This passage is very important to us today. The appearance of the pandemic more than a year ago caused all of us to look not unto the hills but to the seat of supposed final resort: the federal government. It is good and right that we have a representative government and a body politic that is able to pool the resources of 300 million people to provide support in times of trouble. The challenge for earthly powers is altogether connected to the fall of man. We have heard the clever, cynical voices of some who say, "Never waste an emergency." Naturally, the bad idea behind such a statement is that the disruption caused by a national emergency creates a void that can be filled by partisan groups, often driven by nefarious plans. If we extrapolate the consequences of the fall as described in the Bible, we will have to admit that such a tendency to grab for power is not limited to one political party or another. Seizing control of another person is a consequence of a sinful nature that we can observe every day in marriages, in business relationships, and even in the Church. The State that is, the collective and centralized authority of political governance merely, tragically, magnifies on a large scale what we witness on the small scale. However, the same sins of individuals, and power centers of despotic rule, can manifest tragically different consequences. So, there is a difference between manipulative power grabs in relationships and in the same thirst for dominion in government. We are witnessing the consequence of emergency powers that transcend our covenanted agreement of governance that is, the Constitution of the United States attempting to become normalized. To put it simply, a national crisis, like a global pandemic, or civil unrestor even a manufactured emergencyincreases the opportunity for totalitarianism and abuse of power. Such control, once ceded by the populace, is rarely surrendered willingly. Emergency powers assumed are rarely relinquished. What Can We Learn from the Past? During the Second World War, the Prime Minister and his government of Great Britain necessarily assumed to itself many of the policies, plans, and powers ordinarily vested in Parliament and lower echelons of government, down to the most vital authority, the Family. that would have the magnitude of the threat demanded such unprecedented, centralized planning, and oversight. Mercifully, the powers assumed and stewarded went to Winston Churchill, a benevolent ruler. Toward the end of that WWII, when victory over Nazi Germany, appeared secure, Churchill was approached by a prominent economist. Frederick Hayek was an Austrian-born economist who had fled his Nazi-occupied homeland, to find refuge as the subject of Her Majesty the Queen. Hayek, who would later come to America to teach at a university, counseled the great prime minister of Great Britain that the country faced a new threat. Dr. Hayek told Winston Churchill that he must work immediately to return the power assumed, during the war, back to the lowest echelons of governance. Hayek described a perennial, historical beastly figure from the book of Revelation, that continues to appear throughout human history, and with each successive appearance grows in strength and toxicity. What Is Statism? Statism is the term used in theology (and economics) to describe this monstrous creature that prowls across the landscape of history: a faceless consolidation of relentless central control and absolute power. Statism frequently uses nation emergencies to seize and hold power to feed its own insatiable lust to erect a veritable Tower of Babel in defiance of Divine rule. Statism is an enemy of the Church because the Body of Christ is a threat to Statisms insidious reign. The prophetic nature of the Church intimidates the unholy rule of statism. For we preach human liberty as a divine gift from the Greater Power, our God and Savior Jesus Christ. We do not turn to the State when in need, but to GOD. We do not remain quiet when told that the Bibles message is offensive. Instead, when faced with the beastly threats of Man and the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, we obey God (Acts 5:29). What Can We Do Today? Firstly, we should exercise our God-given rights and remind the government that they exist because of the allowance of the governed. Secondly, we should be very leery of placing our hopes and aspirations in the hands of human government, especially in times of distress. Thirdly, we should look unto the hills from whence cometh our help. Our help comes from the One who made those hills and who sustains the entire universe. We are subjects of one king, King Jesus. He who made the heavens and the earth and sustains the planets in their courses and who has named the billions of stars in the heavens knows your name and will sustain you. By placing your trust in Almighty God through our only mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I may enter the greatest act of defiance in history: choosing God over earthly powers. In the end, these are the five stones that will fail Goliath. In doing so even those who were caught up in the seductive beastly powers of statism are released from its intoxicating bondage. The Ruling Powers in This World Are No Match for the Power of God Our world is in a perilous place, susceptible to seizure by absolute rulers. Statism defies the rule of God, but mercifully, the gospel of Jesus Christ remains the greatest power in the universe. The ultimate prevailing power on earth is death, and Jesus Christ has defied death. Walter Brueggemann in his Lenten devotions, A Way Other Than Our Own, wrote: "We are surrounded on the way by the God of all trust, the God who kept Abraham and Sarah safely, the one who walked all the way to Jerusalem with Jesus, all the way to Friday and only through to Sunday." Jesus bids us to follow that Way. Look not to the government for final solutions (which only feeds the beast); instead, lift up your eyes to the hills from whence cometh thy help." The hills are alive with the promise of life abundant and life eternal. The State can never provide life over death. Jesus can and Jesus does; choose Him, choose liberty. Photo credit: Unsplash/Christopher Sardegna MICHAEL A. MILTON (Ph.D., University of Wales; MPA, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; MDIV, Knox Theological Seminary; Cert. in Higher Education Teaching, Harvard University) serves as the Provost and James Ragsdale Chair of Missions and Evangelism at Erskine College and Seminary. A Presbyterian minister (PCA, ARP), Milton has penned more than thirty books, hundreds of articles in journals, magazines, opinion columns, and newspapers. As president of the D. James Kennedy Institute and Faith for Living, Milton has served as a public theologian. His work has been cited on numerous national media outlets as he provides historic Christian insights into faith and life in a changing world. Dr. Milton's record of ministry includes seminary chancellor, president of three seminaries, senior minister of one of America's historic churches, founder of three congregations, and a Christian academy. A composer and artist, Mike and Mae Milton reside in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Learn more at michaelmilton.org/about. [from a press release by McCain& Associates.] The Elevate Prize Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of its second year of the Elevate Prize, which will commit $5 million in funding and services to 10 prize winners. The Foundation is searching for social impact leaders globally who are tackling the most pressing challenges of our time, with the most innovative and effective solutions. Founders and CEOs of nonprofits and public charities worldwide are welcome to apply to win one of 10 annual Elevate Prizes. New this year is a simplified, two-phase application, making it significantly easier for nonprofit leaders to apply for the Prize. Phase 1, now open to all applicants, includes a shortened written application, while Phase 2 will include a more robust set of questions, released only to select applicants this summer. The Elevate Prize Foundation, founded in 2019 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Joseph Deitch, is dedicated to giving unsung social entrepreneurs the necessary resources to scale their impact, and to ultimately help inspire and awaken the hero in all of us. The Foundation awarded its inaugural class of 10 winners in October 2020. Each winner of this years Elevate Prize will receive: MONEY . A minimum of $300,000 (USD) shared between winners and their nonprofit organizations, so they can collectively drive change. . A minimum of $300,000 (USD) shared between winners and their nonprofit organizations, so they can collectively drive change. AMPLIFICATION . Our strategic marketing and media expertise can take winners to the next level. Be a social impact influencer. Find fans. Build a platform. Think bigger. Do great things. Change the world. . Our strategic marketing and media expertise can take winners to the next level. Be a social impact influencer. Find fans. Build a platform. Think bigger. Do great things. Change the world. MENTORSHIP . Our network of partners, executives and decision-makers offer the kind of professional development and business guidance money cant buy. . Our network of partners, executives and decision-makers offer the kind of professional development and business guidance money cant buy. CONNECTIONS . Each cohort is a radically diverse group of people leading innovative organizations. As a member of this cohort, winners will have the opportunity to learn from each other, create shared experiences, and build lasting relationships. . Each cohort is a radically diverse group of people leading innovative organizations. As a member of this cohort, winners will have the opportunity to learn from each other, create shared experiences, and build lasting relationships. SUPPORT. We take the time to thoroughly understand winners needs as an individual and organization, and then create a tailored program that will help each winner reach their goals and beyond. The Elevate Prize remains committed to finding a radically diverse group of innovative problem solvers, and investing unconventional and personalized resources that bring greater visibility to them as leaders and the vital work they do. We make good famous, said Carolina Garcia Jayaram, executive director, Elevate Prize Foundation. The Foundation is proud to partner with MIT Solve on this years Elevate Prize. As an extension of its partnership, the Foundation will commit one of its 10 Prizes to MIT Solves first US Challenge on Antiracist Technology. The Elevate Prize for Antiracist Technology is open to nonprofit leaders who are helping to create an antiracist and equitable future in the U.S. This exemplar leader will take part in both the MIT Solver program and the Elevate Prize program and receive ongoing support from both organizations. The application process for the Prize begins today at www.elevateprize.org/apply and applicants can submit up until the May 5 deadline. Following this deadline, select applicants will be invited to complete Phase 2 of the application. Winners will be announced in October 2021. About the Elevate Prize Foundation Founded in 2019 by businessman, philanthropist, and author Joseph Deitch, the Elevate Prize Foundation aims to elevate humanity on a global scale by funding, guiding, and scaling the platforms of social entrepreneurs. The Foundations signature program is its annual Elevate Prize a search for innovators and activists that culminates with the selection of 10 leaders to receive funding and guidance to amplify their work. These changemakers are working to solve the worlds problems within healthcare, the environment, poverty, inequality, the arts, and more. Elevate Prize winners embark on a two-year program fueled by access to top scholars and industry leaders who guide and support them in scaling their impact. Together, Prize winners, advisors, partners, and collaborators across industries combine their impressive reach to create a single, powerful philanthropic amplification platform to awaken the hero in all of us. For more information, visit www.elevateprize.org and follow @ElevatePrize on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. About MIT Solve Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to solve world challenges. Solve is a marketplace for social impact innovation. Through open innovation Challenges, Solve finds incredible tech-based social entrepreneurs all around the world. Solve then brings together MITs innovation ecosystem and a community of Members to fund and support these entrepreneurs to help them drive lasting, transformational impact. Join Solve on this journey at solve.mit.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005111/en/ One of the leading figures in European climate policy, Peter Vis, just last month fretted that the European Union might be rushing too fast towards the sort of border carbon tax it voted for this week. Such a tax might put the EU in the role of judging the adequacy of other countries [climate policies], which is awkward, Vis, who helped oversee the creation of the EU emissions trading system, told the UK climate journal, The ENDS Report. The EU is moving to force polluters to cut carbon emissions. Credit:AP Some members of the EU Parliament felt far less awkward about sitting in judgment. Belgian socialist MEP Kathleen van Brempt told the ABC after the vote that Australia had not been loyal to the Paris agreement and was a free-rider. Van Brempts comment was not loose political rhetoric. In relation to the proposed EU tariff, the term free-rider has a specific meaning, and understanding it helps you to understand the purpose of the tariff. Even as infection rates decline, there are signs that the economy could sour again nearly 100,000 fewer residents in the state had jobs last month compared to February of last year. Employment is even worse for low-wage workers, dropping some 23 percent among residents who earn less than $27,000 a year, according to the Center for American Progress. Claims for unemployment insurance are more than triple what they were in 2019, the study found. And it is unclear whether the glittery city will ever return to its prepandemic heyday. After the longtime casino magnate Sheldon Adelson died in January, his company sold off both of its Las Vegas properties, saying it would concentrate on its businesses in Asia. Were in a world of hurt here in terms of Las Vegas, Rob Goldstein, the president and chief executive of the company, Las Vegas Sands, said in July. Ive never felt more gloomy than I do today about whats happening in Las Vegas. A little more than a year ago, the ballroom at the Culinary Union of Las Vegas played host to presidential candidates, there to talk with leaders from the most powerful labor union in the state and one of the most politically powerful in the country. Today, the ballroom is covered with onion skins and dried beans, as dozens of workers pack boxes brimming with food for out-of-work union members. Roughly half of all members are still without a job an improvement from last spring, when more than 90 percent of them did not have work. We never ever have had something like this before, said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, the head of the union, Culinary Workers Local 226. We have more need than ever and we have to realize this is an emergency. The Democrats always say they are for working people, so we elect them, and now we expect them to find more ways to help in this crisis. A group of 30 women on Friday spoke out about the bullying and harassment they faced while working with for Andrew Cuomo as the New York Governor insists he won't resign and is not guilty of abuse. It came as a reporter came forward as Cuomo's seventh accuser, claiming she endured unwanted touching and humiliating comments while covering his administration. Jessica Bakeman claimed in a first-person article for New York Magazine that she was sexually harassed by Cuomo on several occasions since the start of her journalism career in 2012. The other group of women also spoke to New York Magazine in a detailed account of the allegedly abusive environment that the governor's aides are subjected to. It included multiple women who claim that they were led to take anti-depressants and go to therapy for the first time in their lives after the atmosphere created by Cuomo and some of his senior aides took a drastic toll on their mental health. One accuser revealed she had even called a suicide hotline. A current New York state senator also spoke about the alleged intimidation tactics and power plays used by the governor, including an incident in which Cuomo kissed her on the head in front on her fiance and asked if he was jealous. And Cuomo's first black speech writer has accused him of 'racialized abuse' which caused her to ask to be moved to another office after she claims that it became clear Cuomo had only hired her to 'fill a quota'. Jessica Bakeman claimed in a first-person article for New York Magazine that she was sexually harassed by Cuomo on several occasions since the start of her journalism career in 2012 Cuomo's fourth accuser Ana Liss, 35, (right) revealed she went on anti-depressants and called a suicide hotline while working there. State legislator Alessandra Biaggi (left) also claimed that the governor kissed her head in front on her fiance twice Cuomo's first black speech writer Camonghne Felix accused him of 'racialized abuse' It comes as Cuomo's future as governor becomes unclear with 14 out of the state's 19 congressional Democrats calling for him to step down and all Democrats in the state senate saying that he should quit. The claims made on Friday added to the allegations made by six women most of whom were former aides against the governor since December. Bakeman added her voice as the seventh accuser as she detailed inappropriate touching by the governor as he continued to deny all of the claims. 'He took my hand, as if to shake it, then refused to let go,' Bakeman wrote of an interaction with Cuomo as she said goodnight at a holiday party in 2014 when she was only 25 years old. 'He put his other arm around my back, his hand on my waist, and held me firmly in place while indicating to a photographer he wanted us to pose for a picture.' At the time Bakeman had been working for what is now Politico New York and claimed that red flags went up as her 'job was to analyze and scrutinize him'. 'I didn't want a photo of him with his hands on my body and a smile on my face,' she wrote. 'But I made the reflexive assessment that most women and marginalized people know instinctively, the calculation about risk and power and self-preservation. I knew it would be far easier to smile for the brief moment it takes to snap a picture than to challenge one of the most powerful men in the country.' In an earlier 2012 incident while she was working for USA Today, Bakeman also claims that Cuomo kept her pinned to his side as he told a story to her male colleagues. 'He left it there, and kept me pinned next to him, for several minutes as he finished telling his story,' she said. 'I stood there, my cheeks hot, giggling nervously as my male colleagues did the same. We all knew it was wrong, but we did nothing.' The reporter, who now works in Florida, claimed that Cuomo 'never let me forget I was a woman' as she also alleged that he made frequent attempts to humiliate her, including calling out her purple phone instead of answering her question during a press gaggle. Governor Cuomo (pictured) continued to resist calls for him to resign on Friday What happens if Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns from office? If Cuomo resigns Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul (pictured) would take over As of Friday afternoon, 14 out of 19 of New York's congressional Democrats have called for Governor Andrew Cuomo's resignation. They are joined by all Democrats in the NY State Senate and by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo on Friday refused to accept that he should resign despite the mounting pressure. If he resigns Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul would take over. She would finish Cuomos term until the next scheduled gubernatorial election in 2022. Hochul is a Democrat who has served since 2015 and was a NY representative for New York's 26th congressional district from 2011 to 2013. She backed an investigation into allegations against Cuomo last month. 'Everyone deserves to have their voice heard and to be taken seriously. I support an independent review,' she said. The last time a governor resigned was in early 2008. Gov. Eliot Spitzer left office after he admitted to having extramarital affairs with sex workers. When Spitzer stepped down, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson took over until 2010. Cuomo, then Attorney General, won that election to take over from Paterson. To date, a lieutenant governor has stepped in to carry out a gubernatorial term in New York on eight occassions, the first one taking place in 1817. LG Hochul would also take over if Cuomo is impeached. New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie authorized its Judiciary Committee to start an impeachment investigation into Cuomo Thursday. The last time a NY governor was impeached was in 1913. The process in New York is very similar to the impeachment procedure in Congress. A simple majority in the state Assembly is required to impeach a governor. It then goes to the state impeachment court. A two-thirds majority of the state Senate and the justices of the New York Court of Appeals would be required to convict Cuomo and remove him from office. The lieutenant governor takes over as acting governor while the trial plays out. Advertisement Bakeman said he humiliated her again after she shouted over a male reporter in 2014. 'Cuomo seemed to think the fact that I had the audacity to speak over a man was hilarious. With him, these exchanges were always meant to be a public humiliation,' she said. Yet, Bakeman also claimed that she did not believe Cuomo ever wanted to have sex with her, and that it was instead about 'power'. 'He wanted me to know that he could take my dignity away at any moment with an inappropriate comment or a hand on my waist,' she states. 'He wanted me to know that I was powerless, that I was small and weak, that I did not deserve what relative power I had: a platform to hold him accountable for his words and actions. 'He wanted me to know that he could take my dignity away at any moment with an inappropriate comment or a hand on my waist.' 'The way he bullies and demeans women is different. He uses touching and sexual innuendo to stoke fear in us. That is the textbook definition of sexual harassment,' she added. Cuomo's fourth accuser, Ana Liss, 35, also spoke to New York Magazine as she revealed how her treatment in the office led her to believe 'I was going crazy'. Liss said that she 'started pursuing mental-health services when I was there because I thought I was going crazy. My parents thought I was going nuts'. 'I was angry and crying all the time, and I went on Lexapro,' she added. 'I did call in to a suicide hotline because I felt like such a friggin' nobody.' She had previously told the Wall Street Journal that she had started drinking heavily while working with Cuomo's administration before asking to be moved to another office. And she revealed on Thursday that she was among the former aides to receive an allegedly intimidating phone call from top Cuomo aides in December after first accuser Lindsey Boylan came forward. In her first claims earlier this month she said that the governor asked her if she had a boyfriend, touched her on the lower back during an event reception and kissed her on the hand before she asked to move from his office. 'I felt gross, like I was just an ornament,' Liss said of requests for her to dress up while in the office. She added that had 'never felt more depleted by the male gaze'. 'Melissa DeRosa [Cuomo's top aide] had Louboutins, and there were legs everywhere, and I just felt stupid,' Liss said. 'I was living in a place that was full of people who were mean and predatory. It ground me down to the lowest point of my life, like I was a piece of nothing and my career was going nowhere.' State legislator Alessandra Biaggi also claimed in her conversation with New York Magazine that the governor kissed her head in front on her fiance twice when they met at a wedding after she left his office. She claims Cuomo asked, 'are you jealous?' while looking at her fiance. 'I didn't feel sexually harassed. I felt like he was trying to make me feel uncomfortable, to disarm me,' Biaggi claimed. Biaggi had also worked for Cuomo and that his comment to her at a 2016 party at the governor's mansion just weeks after she joined his office were also inappropriate . She claimed that he grabbed her by the elbow and said 'nice dance moves' rather than welcoming her into the fold. Cuomo also received accusations of 'racialized abuse' by Camonghne Felix, who was his first black speech writer. She told New York that she eventually moved to the press team after she accepted he was never going to use her speeches. Cuomo's fourth accuser, Ana Liss, 35, (pictured above) also spoke to New York Magazine as she revealed how her treatment in the office led her to believe 'I was going crazy' 'It's a very subtle form of racialized abuse,' Camonghne Felix has said of Cuomo's office 'It's a very subtle form of racialized abuse,' she said. 'You know I am beneficial to you. I fill a quota. It looks good on paper, and we made sure to put press releases out. But you don't intend to incorporate me into the government. You just like to show me to people.' 'I probably wrote about 30 speeches or sets of remarks for him, and I think he used one,' Felix said of the time in his administration, which she joined in 2015 as a 23-year-old. 'My desk was close to his office. He loved to see me, but he didn't listen to a single word I ever said.' Other women reiterated previous claims that they were expected to wear nice dresses and high heels in the office, with some saying they were contacted about interviewing for the governor's administration after he met them at parties. 'We all knew that this was only because of what I looked like,' one former aide known only as Kaitlin said of her call. State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi has been among the state lawmakers calling for Cuomo's resignation 'Why else would you ask someone to come in two days after you had a two-minute interaction at a party?' Kaitlin said that she first met Cuomo while working at a fundraiser in 2016 and that he grabbed her into a 'kind of dance pose' as a photographer took their picture. 'This is the weirdest interaction I've ever had in my life. I was like, Don't touch me. Everybody was watching,' she remembers thinking. She added that she had never handed over her contact information to Cuomo's office but still received a call the following week about coming to work for him. Kaitlin had been working as a waitress while carrying out a 9-5 with a Democratic congressman before being offered a position at a lobbying firm that allowed her to cut back to waitressing just weekends. She was offered the role with Cuomo just weeks after starting at the lobbying firm but was among those who felt the pressure to dress expensively and to always look done up. 'I did what I could with my clothes,' she said, 'and it wasn't good enough for them.' She claimed that if Cuomo came into the office early it would give her less time to get ready and he would berate her with questions like 'decided not to get ready today?' 'I'd think, You're such an a*****e; you know you left early so I didn't have time,' Kaitlin said, claiming that she was given very little direction once she joined the administration but was simply told to be 'a sponge' to learn from more senior women. Cuomo's team has denied that women were ever pressured on the way they dressed or to wear high heels. One former staffer claimed that there was a link between Cuomo's treatment of women and the nursing home scandal. 'The same attitude that emboldens you to target a 25-year-old also emboldens you to scrub a nursing-home report,' she said. Others have also claimed that policy came second over the governor's public appearances. 'It was policy-making like paint-by-numbers,' one former staffer said. 'The goal was superficial, as opposed to changing people's lives.' 'Someone from the inner circle would call and say, "The governor wants to go to Orange County. What can we announce?"' she added. Joel Wertheimer told New York that when he first joined Cuomo's office in 2017, he was invited to a party where the governor's staff laughed at the fact that Melissa DeRosa, now secretary to the governor, did not know the names of many state officials. Wertheimer left the office after seven months stating: 'Its this total toxic masculine bullshit that disguises a very poorly run place.' The accusations of bullying come on the back of claims by state assemblyman Ron Kim of Cuomo threatening to 'destroy' him over Kim's comments on the nursing home scandal to the press. And after accuser Boylan also revealed in her February Medium post about her allegations that 'parts of a supposed confidential personnel file' from her time with the Cuomo administration were sent to the press in what she claimed was an effort to smear her. A protestor sits outside the New York State Capitol on Friday, following allegations that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed young women A group also gathered to protest over the nursing home COVID scandal (pictured) On Friday, Cuomo refused to resign and claimed that he won't bow to 'cancel culture'. With a sprawling coalition of congressional leaders joining dozens of state lawmakers in calling for the embattled governor to step down, the Democrat hit back. Cuomo accused those who are calling for him to step down of 'playing politics', and said that as a former Attorney General, he knows that people 'allege all sorts of things, for all sorts of reasons.' The current New York Attorney General Letitia James is currently investigating Cuomo over the women's complaints and over his handling of the data regarding nursing home deaths from COVID-19. The new calls for his resignation come a day after New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he had authorized its Judiciary Committee to start an impeachment investigation into sexual misconduct allegations that six women have made against Cuomo. The panel's investigation will run parallel to one being led by AG Letitia James. The mounting scandals have also left Cuomo in a weakened position during negotiations over the state budget, which is due on April 1. Cuomo has asked the public to await the results of that investigation before making a judgment. The third-term governor, who took office in 2011, has pointed to his reelections as indication of strong statewide support, which was bolstered last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also touted his administration's passage of liberal goals such as same-sex marriage as evidence that his hard-nosed approach to politics works. Cuomo is due to run for election again in 2022. Chennai, March 12 : The Tamil Manila Congress (TMC) is upset over the AIADMK providing it only six seats while the party had requested for 12 seats. TMC president and former Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan had expressed his unhappiness to AIADMK leaders, Chief minister K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam. Vasan while speaking to IANS said, "Yes, we are unhappy. TMC is a political party with a legacy and we have asked for 12 seats, unfortunately we got only 6. However, we will contest in the "Two Leaf" symbol of AIADMK in these 6 seats but we have lodged our protest." The TMC will be contesting on the "Two Leaf" symbol of AIADMK as the party was not able to get the "Cycle" symbol which it had sought for. The party will be contesting from Lalgudi, Thiru Vi, Ka Nagar (Reserved), Erode East, Pattukottai, Thoothukudi and Killiyur seats. Vasan has been consistently stating that the party would contest on the 'Cycle' Symbol but the symbol is now sub judice as some one has filed a case in using this symbol. Vasan said that the symbol is used by Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh and Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh, and that there was no reason for the symbol not to be allotted to his party. The TMC President said, "While we have lodged a protest against the AIADMK reducing the number of seats to us, we will strive for the victory of the front candidates. The AIADMK has been working extremely well for the people of the state and hence the front will win the April 6 elections with a good majority." Justice Minister David Lametti delivers a statement on Bill C-7 during a media availability on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 11, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) Liberals Pass Controversial Medically Assisted Dying Bill, With Help of Bloc Quebecois Next, senators will have to decide whether to accept the verdict or insist on their amendments A revised bill that expands access to medically assisted suicide was passed in the House of Commons on March 11. In order to force a vote before a March 26 deadline as well as force closure on debate, the Bloc Quebecois joined with the minority Liberal government to help pass the controversial bill. Bill C-7 will expand access of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people suffering solely from mental illness, and also relaxes eligibility rules to give access to people who are not close to a natural death. Most Liberal and Bloc MPs supported the bill, while the Conservatives, New Democrats, and two of three Green MPs voted against it. The bill is intended to bring the law into compliance with a 2019 Quebec Superior Court ruling which struck down a provision that allows MAiD only for intolerably suffering individuals whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable. The March 11 vote was on a motion laying out the governments response to major amendments passed by the Senate last month. Among other things, senators voted to allow advance requests for assisted deaths and to impose an 18-month time limit on the bills originally proposed blanket ban on assisted dying for people suffering solely from mental illnesses. The government motion rejected the advance request amendment but proposed to put a two-year time limit on the mental illness exclusion. Opening the door to people with mental illness proved too much for some MPs who had supported the bill in its original form. The Conservatives attempted to amend the motion to eliminate the time limit on the mental illness exclusion on the grounds that it could be seen as undermining suicide prevention initiatives and normalizing death as a solution to many forms of suffering. The revised bill will now return to the Senate next week, where senators will have to decide whether to accept the verdict of the House or insist on their amendments. Justice Minister David Lametti said 139 MPs have spoken for nearly 45 hours on the bill since it was introduced over a year ago. He noted that the Conservatives three times rejected government proposals to extend sitting hours to allow more debate specifically on the Senate amendments. They dont want more time. They just want to stop it altogether, he said. But Conservative Leader Erin OToole said the use of closure was quite unprecedented on a topic this sensitive. He said hundreds of thousands of Canadians have concerns about the bill, particularly about the Senate-triggered change to include people suffering solely from mental illnesses. Why would the government limit reasonable questions of concern, particularly when it comes to mental health, and use closure in this way on C-7? he said. Disability rights groups and people suffering from mental illness have strongly opposed the bill from the outset. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said earlier on March 11 that his party would be voting against the revised bill on the grounds that unelected senators should not rewrite legislation passed by MPs. The government has sought and received four extensions to the court-imposed deadline for complying with the ruling. The latest extension expires on March 26. With files from The Canadian Press The president hinted at more such steps to be taken in the future. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has referred to the latest decisions handed down by the National Security and Defense Council as a response to all those "who have been hitting Ukraine for many years." Addressing the nation in a video message posted on the Telegram channel of the President's Office, Zelensky noted that the latest NSDC decisions reverberated significantly with the public, seeing people's approval, as well as indignation on the part of those "who found their name and their business in the NSDC decisions." "In short ... Ukraine hits back at everyone who has been hitting it for many years, taking advantage of its weakness, lack of rule of law, order and, most importantly, justice. Justice, which for many years for ordinary people was more than some rare delicacy, something mythical, as from the legends of the blossoming fern," Zelensky said. Read alsoSBI investigating alleged complicity of Medvedchuk and Kozak in Russian aggressionWhile Ukrainians believed that there was justice in place, some appropriated the country's resources, its subsoil, strategic enterprises, pipelines, and even the Constitutional Court, the president stressed. "Restoration of justice in Ukraine was one of my key promises. They say it takes three years of waiting to see promises fulfilled. We started a little earlier. First of all, we stopped attempts to split Ukraine with propaganda and disinformation. On February 2, 2021, we blocked the activities of individuals who found it normal to do business on Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories and finance disinformation battalions, attacked Ukrainians with volleys of lies and manipulations," the president recalled. The head of state went on to ask, why this hadn't been done by his predecessor, while calling the question rhetorical. He also recalled that on February 19, sanctions were imposed against Vladimir Putin's ally Viktor Medvedchuk along with several other persons, and instructions were issued to renationalize the fuel pipeline operated by PrykarpatZapadtrans. "And, no less important is to find out, under what circumstances in 2015 ... the state-owned, almost 1,500km-long fuel pipeline turned out in private hands. Also, Ukraine must deliver a fair and lawful response to those who believed it wasn't the state but private hands who must own a controlling stake Ukraine's strategic defense enterprises, in particular Motor Sich, while land and mineral resources that belong to the people of Ukraine may be appropriated by anyone," Zelensky said. Read alsoUkraine approves strategy to end Russian occupation of CrimeaThe president said that the answers to these questions will be found by law enforcement together with the State Service of Geology and Subsoil, because citizens should be aware of the conditions under which a number of individuals have obtained certain resources. The president added that those who did it legally have nothing to fear, adding that a thorough audit will be carried out, whose results will be made available to the general public. In addition, yesterday we finally did what should have been done back in 2014 the state Strategy for the De-occupation and Reintegration of Crimea and Sevastopol was approved. For those who were counting on something, I can say this: forget that Ukraine will forget about Crimea. At the same time, when we talk about de-occupation, it is also logical to understand: who created the conditions for the occupation, and how? And this is not only about 2014, but also about the adoption of the so-called Kharkiv Accords," the head of state said. Zelenskiy promised that this is not a complete list of steps recently taken by the government, and neither is it a final list of measures that Ukraine will take in the future. Read also"We are fighting": Zelensky speaks of war on Russian propaganda"I emphasize it's measures undertaken by our government, according to our decision, in line with our duty not because someone called us ... I don't need additional motivation, in particular from our partners. As for support, I do need it. And for such support, we will always be grateful. But first of all, we must defend ourselves, no one will do it but us. And Ukraine can independently make decisions in order to protect itself and restore justice," Zelensky concluded. Reporting by UNIAN WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Cardinal Health (CAH) said that it agreed to sell its Cordis business to Hellman & Friedman (H&F) for about $1 billion. The deal price includes buyer's assumption of certain liabilities and seller's retention of certain working capital accounts. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of Cardinal Health's fiscal year 2022. Cardinal Health noted that it will classify the Cordis business as held for sale, which Cardinal Health expects to result in a pre-tax loss of up to $120 million in the third quarter of its fiscal year 2021. In addition, Cardinal Health was authorized to incur costs associated with the planned divestiture of up to $125 million, primarily in its fiscal years 2021 and 2022. 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. VIVAIA, a women's eco-friendly footwear brand, has launched a new round of the 'Brand New Collections Free Trial' campaign worldwide on March 12th, 2021. MIAMI, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As an eco-friendly brand, VIVAIA has committed to creating stylish, comfortable, and sustainable footwear for women. In this event, VIVAIA provides eight collections of its pre-launched Spring Summer 2021 New Arrivals, which are the breakthroughs in VIVAIA's previous categories and styles. "Our SS 2021 New Collection is inspired by women in different professions and lifestyles. We hope that we can offer more shoes of various styles for our customers to choose from, such as the mule Giselle suitable for a seaside holiday, elegant heels Emery and Della both for parties and daily work, and sneaker Evermore supporting hiking activities. Every woman can discover the one that suits their own lifestyle," said Jeff Evans, the Chief Designer of VIVAIA, "and in the meanwhile, we are eager to hear more feedback and suggestions from them, so that VIVAIA can achieve a better future. And that's why we launched this Free Trial campaign." Application Link: https://bit.ly/3etr7kM This is not the first time for VIVAIA to invite customers to experience their products. Last year, the brand conducted a similar campaign for their evergreen styles of flats, which got a lot of authentic feedback from 200 testers, and their support has helped to upgrade the products. And this time VIVAIA is recruiting 500 testers from all over the world. "My favorite thing of all (and the reason I really wanted them rather than other brands) is that they are sustainable, preventing the plastic bottle from being broken down into microplastics and harming marine life." said the tester who participated in VIVAIA last free trial campaign. The brand applies the unique 3D knit technology: extruding plastic bottles into threads to knit the shoe uppers. So far, VIVAIA has recycled 23,000 plastic bottles from the ocean. As a newborn brand, VIVAIA always sticks to its social responsibility of sustainability and focuses on creating a positive impact on both the world and the people. Therefore, they launch this free trial campaign and try to encourage more public to participate in the environment protection. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1455101/2021311_184930.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1455102/Lark20210311_160303.jpg Three Sisters (NT at Home) Rating: Verdict: Wonderful women Stevie Smith: Black March (deadpoets.live) Rating: Verdict: Audio-visual delight Back in the day, brimming with idealism at university, I tried to join the Feminist Society. The woman at the freshers' fair desk objected on the grounds that I was clearly a man only to be overheard and berated by another woman for discrimination. History repeated itself this week when I went in search of plays to celebrate International Women's Day, along with Mother's Day this weekend. A 20-minute monologue at the Old Vic (Putting A Face On) warned that 'the biggest red flag is a man telling you he's a feminist'. And there was me thinking it was a man telling you he's Harvey Weinstein. Thanks to Katrina Lindsay's impressive 1960s set, it's easy on the eye. But it is the vividly drawn female characters, with their hunger to live for better or worse who will stay with you This time it was my wife who rescued me from a tight spot, and a dismally familiar tale of a woman who suspects she's being 'gaslighted' (psychologically controlled) by her husband. 'What about Three Sisters on NT at Home?' she suggested. What indeed? I'd been looking for an excuse to revisit Inua Ellams's epic reworking of Anton Chekhov's Russian masterpiece from 1900, which Ellams has reset in Nigeria's Biafran war of the late 1960s. Here are three fabulous, real, complex, paradoxical, driven, funny women who are well worth your time and money. It's a long haul at nearly three hours but Nadia Fall's production hums with passion, politics and humour. The story starts as a garrison of soldiers are billeted in a region of provincial Nigeria inhabited by the Igbo tribe instead of Chekhov's provincial Russia. The setting is the verandah of the handsome family home where youngest sister Udo (Racheal Ofori) celebrates her birthday and looks forward to a bright new future filled with hope. Here are three fabulous, real, complex, paradoxical, driven, funny women who are well worth your time and money. It's a long haul at nearly three hours but Nadia Fall's production hums with passion, politics and humour Sarah Niles, as oldest sister Lolo, is a tough-minded teacher, dismayed by the emerging violence of war and jealous of middle sister Nne Chukwu, who has been married off to the man who used to be her own childhood sweetheart. And as that middle sister, Natalie Simpson yearns not for her husband but for a troubled, handsome soldier (Ken Nwosu) who is fighting for Biafran independence. Thanks to Katrina Lindsay's impressive 1960s set, it's easy on the eye. But it is the vividly drawn female characters, with their hunger to live for better or worse who will stay with you. While you are on the NT at Home site, two other titles with great roles for women have just been released. Benedict Andrews's take on Tennessee Williams's family meltdown drama Cat On A Hot Tin Roof features Sienna Miller as the feral Maggie. And Roger Michell's production of Consent, Nina Raine's drama about barristers and questions of sexual agreement, stars Anna Maxwell Martin as a new mum whose life, and marriage, is not as perfect as it seems. A much quieter portrait of a very different woman features Juliet Stevenson in Oliver Rowse and James Lever's docu-drama about the poet, novelist and illustrator Stevie Smith. Performed and filmed in the candlelit Sam Wanamaker studio at Shakespeare's Globe, it's a haunting account of Smith's life told through her poetry, letters and drawings. Born in Hull in 1902, she lived a reclusive life in the suburbs of Palmers Green, North London. Her most famous poem, Not Waving But Drowning, gave us the phrase that has become an everyday idiom; and the poet Philip Larkin said her work spoke with 'the authority of sadness'. Smith described herself as 'a couple of sherries below par most of the time'. Even so, she managed an affair with George Orwell and commanded the admiration of other poets including Sylvia Plath and Seamus Heaney. She had a lifelong fascination with fairy tales, too, and the joy of her writing lies in the simplicity of nursery rhyme language used to grapple with the biggest questions about God, death and more. Stevenson gives a peculiarly stern yet tender performance as a woman described as 'half nun, half schoolgirl'. She is enthroned in a sturdy armchair while, beside her, commentary (some of it excitable) is offered by mop-haired literary pundit James Lever. What I loved most about Smith, though, was her cartoons: childlike sketches that are innocent yet ominous. And these are cut in throughout, creating an audiovisual delight. Three Sisters from nationaltheatre.org.uk/ntathome; 9.98 monthly subscription/5.99 rent. Stevie Smith: Black March, free to view at deadpoets.live until April 5. The Great Gatsby (thewardrobetheatre.com) Rating: Verdict: Suspend your disbelief Great to see women two women, to be precise taking centre stage in this shoestring rendition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel about a young man returning from World War I in Europe and becoming starstruck by a super-rich New York socialite. This is a fringey but brilliantly inventive rendition of the story, using coffee cups for phones, a second-hand sofa for scenery, toy cars for the climactic car crash, and a drinks trolley for a drinks trolley! Tom Brennan's production, filmed in January, never lets the gimmicks get in the way of a good story and I found myself happy to suspend disbelief. Most impressive are Jesse Meadows and Tamsin Hurtado Clarke, playing a dizzying cast of characters. And just when the pocket hanky-sized set starts to feel limited, they daub it with paint, and whisk you off somewhere else. It may be too rough for some tastes, but given it's on the A-level syllabus, students of English should be put on alert. P.M. A Jamaican pastor who went out to clear a piece of land was found headless in the bushes a day after going missing. Jamaican Pastor Kenniffe Andre Reid was found dead and headless on Monday morning in Sandy Bay along a dirt track at New Town district in Hanover, Jamaica, The Star reported. According to The Star, Reid called his wife, Latoya, last Friday that he'll be going to a community in New Town, Hanover and attend to a land that he is clearing to build a house on. Reid then left the home of a church sister in New Town after lunch of Sunday, specifically 1:30 p.m., to go to the said land. The church sister called the Sandy Bay police when he did not return as he said on Sunday. However, the church sister was told by police that they could not do anything until a person has gone missing for 24 hours. The church sister then organized a search party on Monday morning and found Reid's bag and water bottle in the bushes along with a machete. They found his headless body thirty minutes later, specifically at 8:30 a.m., in the bushes along a dirt track. They immediately called the Sandy Bay police who came to the scene to process it. His body was then removed from the scene and brought to the morgue. However, the pastor's head could not be found days after. Loop Jamaica, on the other hand, reported that Reid's severed head remained missing until Tuesday afternoon. The media outlet added that no motive could be established for the killing of Reid, whose residence is in St. Catherine. Reid, a 40-year-old resident of Westmoreland, is an ordained minister according to the records of Open Ministry since February 12, 2020. Meanwhile, the Jamaica Observer revealed on Thursday that Reid was actually a former pastor of Alpha and Omega Tabernacle that was located in St. James before it closed. In addition, the Jamaica Observer also disclosed that Reid was separated a year ago from his wife whom he had two sons--aged four, Fael, and one, Josiah. He relocated from Ewarton, St. Catherine to Unity Hall, St James but kept in communication with his wife and sons. The Jamaica Observer added that the pastor's family remains in shock and unable to grasp the situation especially with the children still very young. "I told the big one and he said he is not going to see him smile again, but he doesn't really understand," Latoya said. Latoya said that their children would "fight for the phone to speak to him" when he called and the last time she actually saw him was last Christmas when he picked up Fael who stayed over his place for the holidays. "I am very sad, heartbroken and it also gives me a constant headache, especially because of the way it happened. It is just heartrending. When I first got the news it was worse. But it is not sinking in alltogether," Latoya said. The Jamaican Observer also clarified that Reid left his cellphone to charge at the church sister's house before he left to clear the plot of land. This is why when dusk came and he didn't return, the church sister got worried and organized a search party on Sunday, during which they found his stuff in the plot of land that prompted community members to call the police. The search party then resumed early next day and found Reid's lifeless body. Hanover Police Division Superintendent Commander Sharon Beeput told the Jamaican Observer that one person was already taken into custody for questioning while another is still being pursued for the pastor's heinous murder and that they are looking into "domestic dispute" as a motive for it. In similar news, the Jamaica Gleaner reported that Reid previously told the residents of New Town that "someone had appeared to be preparing to commence construction on the land" during one of his visit to it for clearing. EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021 Take Off the Geopolitical Spectacles: The U.S. Must Work with China March 11 , 2021 (EIRNS)Anybody who does not have geopolitical spectacles on their nose can see that, unless the two largest economies in the worldthe U.S. and Chinawork together to tackle problems such as the pandemic, poverty, and famine, the world will be a miserable place, Helga Zepp-LaRouche asserted in her weekly international webcast today. And therefore some of these military doctrines which declare Russia and China to be the enemy are really stupid.... The end result can only lead to war. Zepp-LaRouche referred specifically to the recent Dr. Strangelove-type rampage of Adm. Philip Davidson, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, who defined China as the leading strategic threat to the United States. But the dangerous policy outlook originates in imperial London and extends deep into both the Republican and Democratic partiesand also into an all-too-gullible American population. The simple fact of the matter, as Lyndon LaRouche stressed repeatedly, is that we are in the throes of a systemic breakdown crisis of the entire trans-Atlantic system, characterized by both a bankrupt financial system and plunging real living standards of most of the worlds population, which has unleashed pandemics, famine, and cruel poverty. And solving that crisis, LaRouche also insisted, requires mustering the combined physical economic capabilities of China and the United States, in a science-driven global infrastructure program such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Whether Londons ideologues like it or not, China cannot be absent from the real-world solution to these problems. It not only launched the BRI and made it available to all nations, regardless of ideology; China has also succeeded in lifting 850 million Chinese out of extreme poverty over the last 40 yearsthe single, greatest contribution to the growth of physical-economic productivity worldwide, emphatically including real productivity inside the U.S. Consider the plight of Yemen, where millionsincluding childrenare facing mass starvation, in what World Food Program director David Beasley painfully described, after a visit to that country this week, as Hell; its the worst place on Earth. And its entirely man-made. So, too, with the explosion of new strains of COVID across the Americas, centered in Brazil, where the Bolsonaro governments policy of arrogant inaction has encouraged the spread of the disease to crisis proportions. The new P1 Brazilian strain of the coronavirus is apparently twice as contagious as the original strain; and it is reportedly capable of re-infecting those who had COVID in anywhere from 25-60% of cases. Brazil, with its 211 million population, one-quarter of whom live in abject poverty, shares borders with 10 out of South Americas 12 countries. Do you really think this can be contained within Brazil? But just as the crisis is man-made, so, too, is its solution: The accelerated development of Southwest Asia, Africa, Ibero-America, and elsewhere, based on the extension of high-tech BRI corridors throughout these regions, in which China and the U.S. must play the keystone roles. The upcoming Schiller Institute/ICLC conference will present a detailed blueprint for such an approach. China, and Russia, are also both natural allies of those in the United States and Europe who rightly view the Green New Deal as a threat to economic development and human existence itself. As Helga Zepp-LaRouche stated in her webcast: Behind all of this so-called climate and anti-nuclear question, there are quite different motives: namely to reduce the population, and that is what is not being accepted by Russia and China. This self destruction of the West by deindustrializing, by reversing the level of industry and agriculture to pre-industrial times, means that the west is weakening itself drastically. And naturally, this increases the war danger, because Russia and China have no intention to do likewise. The Biden administration expects that the talks with the Chinese diplomats during the bilateral meeting which is scheduled to take place in Alaska next week would be "difficult," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday. "We expect Beijing to demonstrate seriousness regarding its own off-stated desire to change the tone of our bilateral relationship. This will be a difficult conversation, will be frank in explaining how Beijing's actions and behavior challenge the security, the prosperity, the values of not only the United States but also our partners and allies," Price said during a press briefing. "On the flip side of that coin, we also will explore avenues for cooperation that are in our interest," he added. Price said he expects US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to raise issues concerning Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade and the origins of the novel coronavirus. Price explained the Biden administration expects China to demonstrate seriousness to change the tone in the bilateral relationship. "The US-China relationship is multifaceted and predicated on competition", he added. In light of the worsening ties between China and the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will be meeting with counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi in Alaska Anchorage, Alaska next week. The meeting comes amid a deep strain in relations between the world's two largest economies. CNN reported that Biden has prioritized economic and military issues, and mentioned potential areas of cooperation, including climate change and nuclear proliferation while calling China out on a range of issues related to its nefarious use of technology, trade practices and human rights abuses. Blinken said during a congressional hearing on Wednesday that he will raise concerns over the treatment of Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province during a meeting with Chinese officials in Alaska next week. "We will certainly be raising them again in Alaska," Blinken said on Wednesday when asked if he and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will raise the issue concerning Uyghurs during a meeting with Chinese counterparts on March 18. On Tuesday, The White House confirmed that Chinese and US diplomats are "directly engaged" in talks, in response to questions over an exclusive report in the South China Morning Post that plans are afoot for a senior-level meeting in Alaska. "Of course there'll be a range of engagements that the president and his national security team will have with China and other countries in the region in the months and years ahead," press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday when asked to confirm the meeting would take place. "We are directly engaged. There are a range of issues we of course have talked with the Chinese about through those engagements. We don't hold back about our concerns, but we also look for opportunities to work together," she said. Under the Trump administration, ties between the two countries had deteriorated over issues such as human rights violations in Xinjiang, encroachment on the special status of Hong Kong, accusations of unfair trade practices by Beijing, lack of transparency concerning the pandemic and China's military aggression in various parts of the world. (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.) Iman has revealed she faked her parents' signatures on her passport when she was a teen so she could travel to the US to pursue her early modelling career. The supermodel, 65, explained at an evening with Harpers Bazaar, in celebration of International Womens Day, on Thursday that she did it because she didn't think she 'had a chance' of succeeding. Explaining how her parents didn't know she was going, and she lied that she was already 18 so she could fly from Kenya to the USA, Iman said: 'She [her mother] had no idea I was leaving. Candid: Iman revealed on Thursday she faked her parents' signatures on her passport in order to travel to the US to pursue her early modelling career because she didn't think she'd succeed 'To get a passport to leave the country I needed a signature from both my parents, but I faked it and said I was already 18. 'I didnt think I had a chance [to become a model], so I thought I would go to the US and then go back in a couple of months before my parents would know I left. 'I came to the US and the first thing that was written about me was a week later in Newsweek the only magazine my father reads and they were mortified, of course, that I lied my way out of the country, was on my own and I didnt finish my Political Science education.' Of course Iman did succeed, becoming an iconic model and muse for fashion designers like Gianni Versace, Halston, Calin Klein, and Yves Saint Laurent. Honest: Iman explained, 'To get a passport to leave the country I needed a signature from both my parents, but I faked it and said I was already 18. 'I didnt think I had a chance' Reflecting on her prolific career, Iman went on: 'The reason for my success was out of necessity, being a refugee in Kenya. When the opportunity [to be a model] arose, I thought I would give it a whirl. 'It was an opportunity to take care of my brothers and sisters because all of us were at the age of furthering our education when we became refugees. Through modelling I was able to finance my siblings schooling.' But Iman claimed she's seen as 'average-looking' in Somalia, as she told editor-in-chief Lydia Slater: 'They still say [in Somalia] if Iman became a model every Somalian girl has a chance. I was an average girl, but I did good, I cant complain.' Going on to discuss the institutional racism she experienced as a young model, she said she made sure she received the same pay as her white counterparts by going on 'a hiatus' until the discrepancy was solved. Plan: Iman (pictured with Cindy Crawford in 1989) said 'I thought I would go to the US and then go back in a couple of months before my parents would know I left' Iman explained: 'I walked into this industry, not knowing the discrepancy between what they were paying Black models versus Caucasian models. To me it wasnt about Black or white, it was about what my worth was. 'If I was doing the same job as a Caucasian model, then I should be compensated for it. I took a hiatus until they started paying me the same amount. She went on: 'I never thought that I had to overcome anything. It was the industry that had to change. 'If I can make them change for me, then that would become the norm for any other Black model that comes after me.' Supermodel: Of course Iman did succeed, becoming a muse for fashion designers like Gianni Versace, Halston, Calin Klein, and Yves Saint Laurent (pictured in 1979) The model added that she decided to launch her own range of make-up, IMAN Cosmetics, because a make-up artist once asked if she had her own foundation and made her look 'grey' because he didn't have make-up that suited her skin tone. 'The seed was planted in my head on my first job in New York,' she began. 'I was working for American Vogue and at the shoot there was a makeup artist and a Caucasian model. 'When it came to my turn to get my makeup done, the makeup artist asked me, Did you bring your own foundation? I was perplexed by the question because he didnt ask the Caucasian model. 'I said no. He then proceeded to mix and match products for my face and when I looked in the mirror, I didnt look brown anymore, I looked grey.' Experience: Iman (pictured in 2019) also discussed the institutional racism she faced, saying she only got the same pay as her white counterparts by going on 'hiatus' until it was changed It was her mother Mariam who helped her believe in herself, as Iman said: 'she instilled in me self-worth, to always know my worth. 'I was able to engage this industry [modelling] with the idea that I was going to walk away from anything that did not serve me well.' Iman, who was married to rock star David Bowie from 1992 until his death in 2016, also spoke about how he and her father Mohamed helped support her throughout her career. Fashion mogul: The model added that she decided to launch IMAN Cosmetics because a make-up artist once made her look 'grey' because they didn't have foundation to suit her skin tone 'I am very close to my dad. He raised me as a Muslim girl in Somalia [and said] that there is nothing in the world I cant do like my brothers or even better,' she said. 'He used to say, or even better. He never treated me as I was less than my brothers. My father is my rock. 'My husband David Bowie. He was always my biggest fan. Of course, I also chose someone who is like my father, kind and supportive.' Love: Iman, who was married to David Bowie from 1992 until his death in 2016, said the iconic musician 'was always my biggest fan' and was 'kind and supportive' (pictured in 1996) Iman and David share 20-year-old daughter Alexandria Zahra Jones, known as Lexi, together, who is a budding artist based in California. David also had a son, Duncan Jones, from a previous marriage while Iman shares her daughter Zulekha Haywood with a former love. It has been five years since David shockingly passed away at the age of 69, on January 10, 2016, after an 18-month battle with cancer. Iman married the English rocker in a romantic ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland in April 1992 which was later formalised in a wedding hosted in Florence in June. Bengal Polls: Attacks and injuries shaped Mamata's political career India oi-Deepika S Kolkata, March 12: Mamata Banerjee has earned for herself the image of the gutsy political leader, who has weathered physical attacks and injuries in her four-decade- long career to emerge stronger in her public life. Her comebacks after such incidents saw her attacking her opposition with greater ferocity. The TMC supremo''s image as a fearless fighter, endowed with nerves of steel and political acumen who can become one with legions of her supporters, took shape after one such deadly attack when she was hit on the head by a CPI-M youth leader in 1990 and had to be confined to a hospital bed for an entire month. Again in July 1993 Banerjee, then a Youth Congress member, was beaten up by the police when she lead a rally to Writers'' Buildings, the erstwhile secretariat, demanding voter photo identity cards. Full list of BJPs star campaigners for West Bengal elections 2021 The rallyists had clashed with the police prompting the force to fire killing 14 Youth Congress activists. Banerjee was beaten up and then too she was under treatment in the hospital for a few weeks. The Bengal chief minister, who is presently facing one of the toughest political battles of her career, is in hospital yet again with her leg in a cast and complaints of chest pain after being injured in an alleged attack on Wednesday night at Nandigram hours after she filed her nomination for the seat. Banerjee has said that she was attacked by four to five men on that day. The battle is crucial this time as BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition, has thrown down the gauntlet and aims to stop her from returning to power for the third straight time. Nandigram is where she will take on her former protege and now BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. The place had played a significant role in her career as the historic anti-farmland acquisition movement led by her party there in 2007 in the face of violence and police bullets saw her emerging as a giant slayer. Riding the crest of the movement, she had led TMC to defeat the longest serving democratically elected communist regime of the world in 2011. The CPI-M;led Left Front had to bite the dust that year in West Bengal after helming the the state for 34 long years. A quick look at the 66-year-old leader''s political journey in the mid-1970s shows how injuries and physical assaults have shaped her political career over the years. Banerjee, then Youth Congress leader, first came into the limelight after defeating CPI(M) stalwart and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee from Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency in 1984 riding the sympathy wave following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. She, however, lost the 1989 Parliamentary polls. The attack on her on August 16, 1990 by DYFI leader Lalu Alam who hit her on the head with a stick had taken place at Hazra crossing in the city, the scene of many of her agitations, near her Kalighat residence. The attack had fractured her skull. The incident had made her a household name in the state and one of the tallest mass leaders of West Bengal Congress on the same pedestal as stalwarts like A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and Somen Mitra. Banerjee was in her 30s then. Three years later in January 1993, Banerjee, then president of the state Youth Congress, had stormed into Writers'' Buildings with a hearing-and speech-impaired girl heavily pregnant after being raped by a CPI-M man. She had led a three-hour-long dharna in front of the chambers of the then chief minister Jyoti Basu alleging that the rapist had not been arrested because of his political affiliations. Banerjee had sat with the victim on the floor virtually laying a seige on the chief minister''s office demanding immediate arrest of the rapist and an audience from Basu. After the police failed to persuade her, a huge contingent of the force had reached Writers'' Buildings, dragged her by the hair, put her in a prison van and whisked her to the nearby Lalbazar central police lock up. In 2000-01, just two years after she broke away from the Congress and formed Trinamool Congress, her vehicle was repeatedly attacked at Keshpur and Chamakaitala in West Midnapore district, where several TMC workers were killed during the bloody turf war between the party and CPI(M). Crude bombs were hurled at her car in 2001 whe she visited Choto Angaria in West Midnapore where 11 workers of her party had been killed in political clashes. In 2006 and 2007 Banerjee was attacked on several occasions by alleged CPI(M) goons who threw bombs and fired at her car to stop her entry into Nandigram - then a battlefield due to the anti-farm land acquisition movement. In 2006 during her protest outside the office of the block development officer at Singur, she was dragged by the police and removed from the spot. In 2010 during her tenure as Railway Minister, a car in Banerjee''s convoy was hit by a truck. The TMC supremo was returning from a rally at the then Maoist bastion of Lalgarh and had alleged that it was an attempt on her life. Such incidents, however, did not occur since TMC came to power in 2011 and Banerjee became the chief minister until Wednesday''s attack at Nandigram. The attacks on her had been greeted with derision by her political opponents. CPI-M had on several occasions alleged that Banerjee had herself scripted the "dramas" of being attacked to gain sympathy. The TMC has claimed that Wednesday''s incident was a "well planned conspiracy" by BJP to "remove" her from the poll campaign. "Mamata Banerjee is a fighter. The more you attack her she makes a comeback with more ferocity," TMC leader Sougata Roy said. Banerjee has described herself as a "street fighter" many times in the past. "Many people don''t want her to campaign for the elections. They want her to be removed from their path. The BJP should be ashamed that it has stooped so low that its supporters are attacking a woman," Roy said. The BJP has denied the allegation and said Banerjee is only trying to get sympathy votes. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the attack on Banerjee at Nandigram saying that it needs to be seen whether the incident was a "well-scripted drama" to garner votes. "The people of the state have seen such a drama earlier too", he added. The Congress too has been critical about the alleged attack on Banerjee at Nandigram. Its state party president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had on Wednesday accused her of resorting to "hypocrisy and theatrics" to gain public sympathy ahead of the assembly polls. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News Chowdhury, who is also the Congress'' leader in Lok Sabha, said Banerjee is "feeling the heat" in Nandigram and is thus resorting to "stunts and drama". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 9:54 [IST] 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. Exports of UK goods to the European Union dropped by more than forty per cent in January as Britain and Brussels began their post-Brexit trading relationship. New data published this morning by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the overall export of goods fell by 5.3billion - some 19.3 per cent - in the first month of the year. This was largely driven by a 40.7 per cent fall in exports to the EU, worth an estimated 5.6billion. Meanwhile, imports of goods to the UK also suffered a significant hit, falling by 8.9billion overall, approximately 21.6 per cent. This was largely as a result of a 28.8 per cent fall in imports from the EU, worth an estimated 6.6billion. The ONS said the monthly fall in goods imports and exports in January represent the largest monthly falls since records began in January 1997. Labour claimed the numbers illustrated 'just how many British businesses have been struggling with the new reams of costly red tape and bureaucracy' following the end of the Brexit transition period. UK imports and exports to and from the EU fell significantly in January after the end of the post-Brexit transition period, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics The overall exports of goods fell by 5.3billion - some 19.3 per cent - in the first month of the year, this was largely driven by a 40.7 per cent fall in exports to the EU, worth an estimated 5.6billion How post-Brexit red-tape stopped Stilton dairy exporting to EU An award-winning British cheesemaker has abandoned sales to the European Union because of the 180 cost of post-Brexit paperwork. Hartington Creamery in Pikehall, Derbyshire is seeking to replace European sales with exports to the United Sates and Canada. Before Brexit, the cheese manufacturer faced no red tape when exporting to the European Union. Since January, the business has seen 20 per cent of its online sales wiped out because of post-Brexit restrictions on EU trade. However, according to Simon Spurrell, director of the Hartington Creamery, each EU-bound pallet or container requires a veterinary surgeon certificate for each destination at a cost of 180. Mr Spurrell said his average online order is for approximately 30 so there was 'absolutely no way' he could continue with EU exports. He told the BBC: 'About 20 per cent of our overall online turnover was with the EU. 'We've had that completely and utterly wiped off overnight.' Blue Stilton is protected by law as a Protected Designation of Origin which can only be produced in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Advertisement The latest ONS numbers came one day after Michael Gove announced that Britain will delay the introduction of post-Brexit border controls on some imports from the EU because of coronavirus disruption. The Government had agreed to phase in customs requirements for GB imports from the EU over a six-month period in the first half of 2021. But the Government has now extended the timetable by a further six months after businesses said they needed more time to prepare. Full border control processes will now be introduced on January 1 2022 six months later than originally planned. Total imports of goods from non-EU countries fell by 2.4 billion - some 12.7 per cent - in January while exports increased by 0.2 billion - some 1.7 per cent. Suren Thiru, the head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the trade numbers showed 'difficulties faced by businesses on the ground go well beyond just teething problems'. He said: 'While changes in data collection limit historic comparisons, the significant slump in UK exports of goods to the EU, particularly compared to non-EU trade, provides an ominous indication of the damage being done to post-Brexit trade with the EU by the current border disruption. 'Continued coronavirus restrictions and the unwinding of Brexit stockpiling also added to downward pressure on trade between the UK and EU in January. 'The practical difficulties faced by businesses on the ground go well beyond just teething problems and with disruption to UK-EU trade flows persisting, trade is likely to be a drag on UK economic growth in the first quarter of 2021. 'Although the postponement of import checks will help avoid exacerbating the current disruption, there must be a greater focus on long-term solutions to improving the flow of UK-EU trade. Offering tax credits to support firms to adapt to the new arrangements would help many address new burdens and requirements better.' The latest numbers published by the ONS do come with a health warning from the organisation. The ONS said the monthly fall in goods imports and exports in January represent the largest monthly falls since records began in January 1997 Michael Gove yesterday announced Britain will delay the introduction of post-Brexit border controls on some imports from the European Union because of coronavirus disruption It said that 'monthly data are erratic and small movements in these series should be treated with caution'. The ONS pointed out that January is the first post-Brexit month of trade after the end of the transition period on December 31 while the UK also faced another coronavirus lockdown at the same time as it rolled-out new border arrangements. The ONS said that November and December last year had seen increasing imports and exports of goods 'consistent with potential stockpiling of goods from the EU in preparation for the end of the EU exit transition period'. It noted that UK imports from the EU had previously peaked in the weeks leading up to previous Brexit deadlines in March and October 2019. 'All of these are potential contributing factors to the fall in January trade in goods,' the ONS added. Rachel Reeves, Labour's shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: 'These figures make it clear just how many British businesses have been struggling with the new reams of costly red tape and bureaucracy this Government has wrapped them in. 'Businesses have been appealing to the government to start listening to the problems they've been facing, but they've been left out in the cold. 'The Government must up their ambition here, and take practical action, hand in hand with businesses, to build on the limited deal they negotiated with the EU.' A Government spokesman said: 'A unique combination of factors, including stockpiling last year, Covid lockdowns across Europe, and businesses adjusting to our new trading relationship, made it inevitable that exports to the EU would be lower this January than last. 'This data does not reflect the overall EU UK trading relationship post Brexit and, thanks to the hard work of hauliers and traders, overall freight volumes between the UK and the EU have been back to their normal levels since the start of February. 'Many businesses have adapted well, and our focus now is on making sure that any business that is still facing challenges gets the support they need to trade effectively with the EU.' Colloidal suspensions of microscopic particles show complex and interesting collective behaviors. In particular, the collective dynamics of colloids is fundamental and ubiquitous for materials assembly, robotic motion, microfluidic control, and in several biological scenarios. The collective dynamics of confined colloids can be completely different from that of free colloids: for instance, confined colloids can self-organize into vortex structures, coherent motion, or different phase behaviors. On one hand, due to the complexity of colloidal suspensions, how to finely tune the collective dynamics of confined colloids remains elusive. On the other hand, since the microscale confinement is on the same length scale as the colloidal size, it is difficult to determine how the colloids interplay with each other and the geometrical constraints. To study the colloidal collective in confinements, prior work has been focused on the microscopic visualization and simulation method, lacking direct evidence to characterize the mechanical property of colloidal interaction. Can this mechanical property be probed in a direct way or expressed as feedback of force in real-time? With the help of liquid gating technology, the answer could be yes. The leading research field "Liquid gating technology" was selected as the "2020 Top Ten Emerging Technologies In Chemistry" announced by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Liquid gating technology allows certain liquids to selectively open and close pores on-demand. Especially, liquid gating membranes can respond to pressure changes, which also indicate transmembrane fluid transport capability. Therefore, utilizing the pressure-driven intrusion fluids as efficient causes, the mechanics of the confined colloids can be determined in real-time. In a new research article published in the Beijing-based National Science Review, scientists at Xiamen University present a new paradigm of the liquid gating system that confines the magnetic colloidal suspension in a porous matrix. This confined magnetic colloid system (CMCS) can probe the mechanical properties of the colloidal suspension in real-time, showing the ability to allow or stop the microscale flow or dynamically manipulate the fluid transport. Interestingly, it seems that "freedom is not free". Firstly, the colloidal suspensions are trapped by the porous matrix. However, the confined colloids are also free in their limited space because their collective dynamics is vastly controllable via the magnetic field. The collective configuration of the confined colloids is statistically and thermodynamically characterized by the colloidal entropy. Meanwhile, the interplay between the confined colloids and the interplay between the colloidal suspension and geometrical constraints are simultaneously indicated by the pressure value. Notably, the pressure change is in a linear relationship with the entropy change. Both of them are prominently affected by the geometrical constraints, packing fraction of colloids, and the strengths and directions of magnetic fields. Moreover, as a proof of concept, this system has been demonstrated for the applications of dynamic and preprogrammed fluid transport, remote drug release, microfluidic logic, and chemical reaction, enabling sustainable antifouling behavior. Beyond the magnetic field, the reported strategy of entropy regulation of confined colloids is also applicable to other remote external stimuli, such as acoustic field, light field, electric field, and so on. This work would enlighten the exploitation for fundamental research of colloidal science, and applications ranging from fluid transport, multiphase separation, logic microfluidics, to programmable cargo transport. The findings described here would also deepen the understanding of phenomena such as swarm intelligence, cellular collective, pollutant treatment by granular particles, and stop-and-go in traffic jamming. ### This research received funding from the National Key R&D Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Overseas Expertise Introduction Project for Discipline Innovation, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China, CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. See the article: Zhizhi Sheng, Mengchuang Zhang, Jing Liu, Paolo Malgaretti, Jianyu Li, Shuli Wang, Wei Lv, Rongrong Zhang, Yi Fan, Yunmao Zhang, Xinyu Chen and Xu Hou Reconfiguring confined magnetic colloids with tunable fluid transport behavior Natl Sci Rev, DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwaa301 https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1093/ nsr/ nwaa301 The National Science Review is the first comprehensive scholarly journal released in English in China that is aimed at linking the country's rapidly advancing community of scientists with the global frontiers of science and technology. The journal also aims to shine a worldwide spotlight on scientific research advances across China. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 15:34:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A truck transporting garment workers to their factory flipped onto its side in southeastern Cambodia Friday morning, leaving 44 people wounded, the National Police reported. The accident happened on National Road 1 in Svay Rieng province's Bavet city when the truck's driver was trying to avoid a collision with a bus coming from the opposite direction and veered off the road, causing the vehicle to overturn. "Forty-four out of 55 workers aboard the truck were injured, and four of them sustained serious injuries," the National Police said on its website. The injured, including 40 women and four men, had been rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment and the National Social Security Fund would take responsibility for their medical expenses, the police said. Transporting workers in open trucks to and from factories is not uncommon in the Southeast Asian country. Last month, more than 80 garment workers sustained light injuries when their truck slid off the road and turned over in a rice field in southern Takeo province. The country's multi-billion-U.S.-dollar garment industry is comprised of some 1,000 factories, employing around 750,000 workers, mostly female. Enditem 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! 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 Irish family of a murdered father of two said they have placed their faith in God and will now work to help US prosecutors convict his killers for a second time. Tom (71) and Molly (37) Martens face being released from prison on bail after North Carolina Supreme Court ordered that they be granted a new trial over a conviction for the second degree murder of Limerick businessman Jason Corbett (39) in August 2015. The NC Supreme Court said rulings at the original murder trial had been prejudicial to the father and daughter as well as their ability to argue self defence. A retrial is not expected in North Carolina before 2022. Mr Corbett's sister and brother-in-law, Tracey Corbett Lynch and David Lynch, vowed to see justice done for a second time. Expand Close Molly Martens with Jason, who was beaten to death / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Molly Martens with Jason, who was beaten to death Read More The couple were appointed legal guardians to Mr Corbett's two children, Jack and Sarah, who were left orphaned by their father's death. Their mother, Margaret 'Mags', died from a severe asthma attack in November 2006. Both had spearheaded a justice campaign for Mr Corbett since his killing in August 2015. We are so disappointed and distraught that the Supreme Court of North Carolina has decided to grant a retrial to Tom and Molly Martens who admitted killing our beloved Jason - a father, a brother, a son and a loyal friend - who is dearly missed by all who knew and loved him," Tracey said. "Neither of the convicted defendants has ever expressed remorse for Jasons killing. They put his orphaned children, then aged eight and 10, and Jasons parents, siblings and friends through the horrific ordeal of the first trial, all the while waging a vicious and unrelenting smear campaign in the media and in the courtroom." "The jury unanimously found them guilty of second-degree murder, concurring with the detectives and EMT workers who found the crime scene to be wholly inconsistent with the defence claims concocted by Tom Martens, a former FBI agent, and his daughter, Molly, who drugged Jason prior to the attack." Both admitted the prospect of a second trial in the US is deeply upsetting. "We can only put our faith in God to guide us through the torment of a second trial." "We place our trust in the Davidson County Sheriffs Department and in the District Attorney for North Carolina both of whom recognised from the outset that Jason was the victim of a cold and calculated murder, designed to give Molly custody of Jasons children, and the financial benefit of an insurance policy." "Despite our disappointment at this decision, by a 4-3 majority, to grant the Martens a retrial, we retain our faith in the US Criminal Justice system and our confidence that a jury will once again find the Martens guilty of this heinous crime." "Our priority is to continue providing love, care, support and protection to Jasons two wonderful children whom we are blessed to have as part of our family." Pan-American Life Insurance Group on Thursday confirmed that some of its customers' data was stolen when its computer systems suffered a cyberattack in mid-February. The New Orleans-based insurance company confirmed March 5 that its systems had been hacked, though it would not say at that time when the cyberattack had occurred, whether any customer data had been compromised nor whether any of its customers had been informed of the hack. In a news Thursday, the company said the attack occurred Feb. 19 and that some customer data had been stolen. The statement said that basic details of an unspecified number of customers had been stolen, and it "appears that a relatively small percentage of policyholders and beneficiaries may have had more sensitive information taken, and (the company) will be contacting those individuals directly by mail or email with more information." As previously reported, Pan Am Life's employees became aware of the cyberattack on the morning of Friday, Feb. 19, when they received messages on their cellphones telling them to immediately unplug their computers and other devices. Pan Am Life's systems have been offline since and they've been dealing with customers via emergency emails and an overloaded phone system, with many customers struggling to get through to the company in order to get health and other benefits, including prescription orders, according to employees of the company who wanted to remain anonymous because they weren't authorized to speak for the company. The company said it has engaged third-party cyber experts to investigate what happened. "Out of an abundance of caution, (the company) is also offering additional services to individuals whose information was taken," the statement said, without giving further details. Spokespeople for the company didn't immediately respond to requests for further information. 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 statement advised clients to visit the company website, www.palig.com, for further information on the security breach, though the site still didn't appear to be working late Thursday afternoon. The company did not say and didn't respond to requests for information about when customers whose data was stolen were informed. Under a law passed by the Louisiana Legislature last year, insurance companies are required to inform the Louisiana Department of Insurance of a security breach within three days of it occurring and to promptly inform customers of a data breach. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon warned last year that health insurance information was especially sought after by cyber criminals, as it fetches $1,000 per person on the black market and has been used in lucrative medical fraud operations in the past. On Thursday, Donelon said that he had heard about the Pan Am cyber attack late last week and has been in daily contact with company officials, including CEO Jose Suquet. "We have not really begun the process of investigating their actions," said Donelon, though he said it should not take more than a week or so to determine when the company knew it was a serious breach, when they informed LDI and when customers were advised that their data had been stolen. Pan-American Life, a privately owned company, was founded in New Orleans in 1911 and employs about 2,100 globally. It operates in 49 U.S. states and 22 countries overseas, mostly in Latin America. A Fitch Ratings agency report last month described it as "a strong niche player targeting certain markets in the U.S., including the Hispanic and wealthy U.S. foreign national markets." CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect date for the cyberattack. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. NYC Parks Staten Island Borough Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone, Councilman Joseph Borelli and other supporters officially unveiled the reconstructed landscape and tot-lot playground in Eltingvilles Crescent Beach Park on Thursday morning. The park is named for the sandbar that separates the community from Great Kills Harbor. At low tide, this crescent-shaped sandbar emerges from Wiman Avenues foot toward Crookes Point in Gateway National Recreation Area. This is Crescent Beach, looking south. March 11, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) The park now features a new tot-lot playground, seating and enhanced landscaping. New pathways were constructed to improve neighborhood access to the parks waterfront. This $2.2 million project was funded with $1.8 million from Borelli and $197,000 from Mayor Bill de Blasio. Were pleased to provide the children of Staten Island with another imaginative space where they can come play, learn and enjoy the great outdoors, said Ricciardone. Were grateful to Mayor de Blasio and Council Member Borelli for their continued support and dedication to ensuring that Staten Islanders have access to quality greenspaces. Siblings Eva, 4 and her brother Benjamin, 2 1/2 live in the neighborhood and come to the park often. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) It is so important that children are given the space to roam, play,and enjoy the great outdoors, said Borelli. Its with great pleasure to see the investment of taxpayer dollars going toward enhancing one of Staten Islands prized parks, while providing recreational opportunities to support the physical and mental well-being of our youth. I am privileged to be able to provide the funding for such a great development. John Borelli, 2 1/2 runs over the new playground bridge for tots at the formal ribbon cutting for Crescent Beach Park on the Eltingville/ Great Kills border. March 11, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) The project constructed a childrens play area which will serve as an exciting playground for kids ages 5 to 12. The site now features new play equipment, enhanced landscaping and new pathways that provide community access to the parks waterfront. Little local resident Eva, 4 1/2 plays in the new tot playground. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) Crescent Beach Park offers magnificent views of Great Kills Harbor and Raritan Bay. From the sands of the beach, visitors can see the borough skyline and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The parks grasslands and oak woods offer year-round sanctuary to various animals, including egrets, great blue herons, ducks, geese, gulls and terns. Monarch butterflies, short-eared owls and snow buntings also live in the parklands, while the salt marsh is home to diamondback terrapins, muscles, crabs and snails, according to the city Parks Department. Today was the formal ribbon cutting for Crescent Beach Park on the Eltingville/ Great Kills border. NYC Borough Parks Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone and councilman Joe Borelli were on hand with other supporters of the park. March 11, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) Councilman Joe Borelli reaches for his son John's hand as they head to the new playground for tots. March 11, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) Today was the formal ribbon cutting for Crescent Beach Park on the Eltingville/ Great Kills border. NYC Borough Parks Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone and councilman Joe Borelli were on hand with other supporters of the park. March 11, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) The park includes an osprey nest platform. March 11, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:19:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SOFIA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's trade deficit with the European Union (EU) has significantly decreased in 2020 year-on-year, preliminary data released by the country's National Statistical Institute (NSI) showed on Friday. According to the NSI, Bulgaria's foreign trade balance with the EU in 2020 was negative and amounted to 719.1 million Bulgarian lev (BGN) (about 440 million U.S. dollars), while in 2019 the deficit stood at 2.87 billion BGN. Bulgarian exports to the EU in 2020 decreased by 4.1 percent in comparison with 2019 and amounted to 35.837 billion BGN, the NSI said. The country's main trading partners were Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece, France and Belgium, which together accounted for 70.2 percent of the exports to the EU member states, it said. Meanwhile, Bulgaria's imports from the EU decreased by 9.2 percent year-on-year to 36.556 billion BGN, the NSI said, adding that the largest amounts were reported for the goods imported from Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands. (1 Bulgarian lev = 0.61 U.S. dollar) Enditem TEHRAN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Thursday for the end of the United States presence in Syria and Iraq. "The Americans must leave Iraq, which is the will of the Iraqis and their law," he said in an appearance on state TV at an Islamic religious occasion. By "the Iraqis' law," Khamenei was referring to a resolution passed on Jan. 5, 2020, by the Iraqi parliament requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq. On the other hand, Khamenei lambasted criticism of Iranian presence in Syria, Iraq and other countries in West Asia, arguing that, contrary to the U.S. presence, the Iranian presence is not military but "political," and wherever it is "indeed military, it has an advisory role." Iran's top leader went on to say that either in Syria and Iraq, Iran's presence seeks to "defend the legitimate governments in place, at the request of those governments." U.S. critics, he further noted, "magnify" Iran's regional presence, and at the same time Washington "attack a country without permission and establish a military base." Islamabad, March 12 : Asad Umar, Pakistan's Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, on Friday said that a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has started in the country. "Yes, there is no doubt that the third wave has started and basically, the phenomena that's driving it is the spread of the UK strain," The Express Tribune quoted Umar as saying while speaking to a local media outlet. The Minister added that the uptick in cases was witnessed in districts where a large portion of the Pakistani British community lives. "We then asked NIH to carry out genome sequencing, after which it became evident in northern Pakistan, including Islamabad," said Umar, who also heads the country centre for Covid-19 response. Later, he added, sequencing was carried out across the country, adding: "(We reached the conclusion that) the dominant strain right now is the UK strain." On Friday, Pakistan's Covid-19 case tally crossed the 600,000 mark with 2,701 fresh infections. There are a total of 566,492 recoveries, while the death toll stood at 13,377. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Compared to France, Luxembourg's hospital staff are much less reluctant to be vaccinated against Covid-19. According to the Federation of Luxembourg Hospitals, the vaccination rate will rise from the current 68% to over 90% after the second vaccination phase. The affair of early vaccinations at the Hopitaux Robert Schuman is still at the centre of national debate. However, in Luxembourg, unlike in its neighbouring country France, a majority of the nursing staff is already vaccinated. At least 68%, as was confirmed on Thursday by Paul Junck, president of the Federation of Luxembourg Hospitals (FHL) in an interview with RTL. Even if there is still some reluctance among caregivers in the Grand Duchy, the situation is far better than in France, where only 30% of caregivers in hospitals and 41% in retirement homes are immunised. This low vaccination coverage recently prompted the seven associations of the health professions to issue a joint call to action, addressed to the entirety of France's nursing staff, urging them to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to slow the spread of the pandemic. While Junck stated that he considered 68% "too low", he also added that he is certain this figure will increase. Vaccination rates will continue to rise in the coming weeks, and Luxembourg will reach "a much more satisfactory zone", according to the FHL president. Approaching "91% vaccinated" Junck stated that an additional 1,300 employees from the healthcare sector want to be vaccinated. These additional volunteers "will be included in the second vaccination phase" and will benefit from the government's decision to grant them a "second chance". Hospital and health care staff were - together with residents of nursing and retirement homes - the very first of the population categories to be able to receive vaccinations in Luxembourg from the end of February. In addition to the 7,800 people in the hospital sector who were vaccinated at the end of the first phase, another 1,300 people are still to come. This means that 91% of the 10,000 employees in the sector in Luxembourg will be vaccinated at the end of the second phase of the national campaign. The latter started on 22 February; however, its end date is not yet known. "Hospitals are continuing to raise awareness among their staff," says Sylvain Vitali, secretary general of the FHL, who attributes the new wave of converted healthcare workers to word of mouth and "the experience of people who were vaccinated four to five weeks ago". Another phenomenon contributing to the boost in enthusiasm is that "more and more scientific publications are enabling people to take the right decisions". The situation in Luxembourg's major hospitals The reasons behind the reluctance to get vaccinated of some care staff are varied. Some employees already went through a Covid-19 infection in the past, and thus simply think of a vaccination as unnecessary. Anja di Bartolomeo, who is in charge of communications at the Centre hospitalier du Nord (CHdN), believes that at the beginning of the campaign there were a lot of discussions, but in the end people decided to take action. She talks about a phenomenon called "autodynamics". BERTRAND GUAY / POOL / AFP The CHdN has nearly 1,200 employees and has already vaccinated 961 people, including staff working for external service providers (security, cleaning, catering). "Nearly 70%" of hospital staff have already been vaccinated, di Bartolomeo says. At the Centre hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (CHEM), 65% of the teams have been vaccinated so far. That is 1,431 employees out of the 2,200 who work daily in the hospital centre located in the south of the country. At the Hopitaux Robert Schuman (HRS), the internal vaccination campaign has so far enabled "more than 2,500 people" to be vaccinated. As a result, the vaccination rate is "over 75%". The Centre hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) has yet to reveal its vaccination rate. Mandatory vaccinations - still a possibility? While "mass vaccination represents the main lever for action against Covid-19", the French National Academy of Medicine stated on Tuesday that "vaccine hesitation is ethically unacceptable among healthcare workers". The Academy recommends making vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory "for all health professionals working in the public or private sector, in health establishments and in retirement and nursery homes, as well as for care assistants for the elderly." An option that has been ruled out in Luxembourg until now, where vaccination remains a voluntary act. And for the time being, there is no question of changing tactics. "Everyone has their reasons", reminds Monique Putz, head of communications for the Ministry of Health. Just before the national vaccination campaign began, Guy Castegnaro, a lawyer specialising in labour law, explained that in principle it is not possible to make vaccinations mandatory. Vaccination or forcing people to have a vaccination is an invasion of privacy but also an invasion of physical integrity, Castegnaro explained. The private sphere and physical integrity are protected. For vaccination to become compulsory in Luxembourg, a new law would have to be drafted. This would not be easy, as the European Convention on Human Rights has to be respected. Japan's government plans to cap the number of people entering the country at 2,000 a day for the time being. Officials hope the measure will help prevent the spread of coronavirus variants. Transport Minister Akaba Kazuyoshi unveiled the plan on Friday. He said the government plans to control the number of people coming to Japan, so it can properly implement quarantine measures. Akaba said his ministry has asked airlines to cooperate. The country's two biggest carriers have responded to the request. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines will both limit the number of passengers entering Japan on their planes at 3,400 a week. Cartels Should Be Listed as Foreign Terror Organizations: Expert An expert on Mexicos cartels has renewed the call for the federal government to list the crime groups as foreign terrorist organizations. Jaeson Jones, Director and CEO of Omni Intelligence, told American Thought Leaders Jan Jekielek that declaring the Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations would allow U.S. law enforcement agencies to combat the cartels criminal activities of drug and human trafficking into the United States. Designating the Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations is absolutely essential, Jones said, noting that this did not mean that America would go to war with them. Retired Texas Department of Public Safety Captain Jaeson Jones. (Courtesy of Jaeson Jones) Instead, Jones argued it would mean that the tools of national power would come to bear on their activities, making those who are known members of the cartels a priority for every agency at the local, state, and federal level, including the Department of Defence, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and intelligence organizations. We have thousands upon thousands of cartel operatives throughout every major city in small communities in this country, and this allows those who are here, who are terrorists, to be deported from the country immediately, he said. Second, it limits their mobility globally because now, we can put them on watch lists. And we limit their activities to just Mexico unless they flee via boat or their own aircraft. Moreover, the designation would also allow the federal government to cut off the cartels wealth using the current anti-terrorism financing laws. Were removing them from our country or removing their mobility globally. Were isolating them to Mexico. And now, were creating an environment over time with which the Mexican government can then go after them, Jones said. Jones push for registering the cartels as narcoterrorists comes after former President Donald Trump indicated he would declare the cartels as terrorist organizations after nine Americans were gunned down in a cartel shooting at the border 2019. The three women and six children, who were part of a breakaway Mormon community, were killed in an ambush in the border Mexican state of Sonora. Members of their extended family, the LeBarons, petitioned the White House to list the cartels as terror groups, saying: They are terrorists, and its time to acknowledge it. Trump then stated on the Bill OReilly Show in November 2019 that he would designate the cartels as terror groups. However, his plan was later shelved after it met strong resistance from Mexican authorities due to concerns it would violate Mexican sovereignty by opening up a legal avenue for the United States to take action against cartels inside of Mexico. Mexicos cartels are currently involved in moving thousands of illegal immigrants every week across the border, with estimates from Texas stating that Border Patrol has been apprehending an estimated 1,000 illegal border-crossers every day. We essentially have an open border today on the southern border of the United States, Sherrif A.J. Louderback, from Jackson County, Texas, told The Epoch Times on March 5. The current situation has been blamed by some on the Biden administrations more open policies at the border, which the administration has described as more humane. This has included removing some of the Trump immigration policies, including the Remain in Mexico initiative, halting the former presidents border wall construction, and reinstating the Obama-era catch and release policy. If we were on the border right now, we were talking to migrants that are being apprehended, what they would tell you is that the Biden administration said to come, and they have come. And thats just the facts of it, Jones said. Throughout the campaign, the Biden administration said that if people are going to cross, theyre going to be let in the country. And you have to understand that that was like a beacon to folks all over the world. Jones noted that he believes this year there will be more people crossing the border than ever before. And part of that is that for about the last nine to 10 months, people have been crossing from China, from Africa, and the routes they take are really incredible. They come down the Horn of Africa, they come across on big ships, usually to South American, and they make their way north, he said. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on March 10 that the latest Border Patrol figures show that in the past two months, there have been 108,000 people apprehended crossing the Rio Grande illegally. In comparison, only 90,000 were arrested for the whole of 2020. Abbott has declared a crisis and ordered 500 military personnel to the border to help deal with the increased numbers. Texas is sending a message to any caravan and to any cartel member. Were ready. Were waiting for you. If you dare step into the state of Texas, Texas will use every tool or strategy we can to arrest anybody whos violating the law, to put behind the bars anybodys violating the law, to make sure that the laws in the state of Texas are going to be enforced, Abbott said. If you are a caravan or youre a cartel, you better take your activities to some other place because they will not be accepted in Texas. Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, Texas adjutant general and commander of the Texas Military Department, confirmed the deployment and noted that 100 of the guards had already been deployed to the border. Manoj Bajpayee's team confirmed that the actor has tested positive for COVID-19. The actor's team further stated that he is currently quarantining at home. Their statement revealed that Manoj tested positive while shooting for his upcoming project, Despatch after his director, Kanu Behl had tested positive for the virus. The statement from Manoj Bajpayee's team said, "Manoj Bajpayee has tested Covid positive after his director was infected with it. The shoot has stopped and will resume in a couple of months. Manoj Bajpayee is on medication and recovering well. He is in self-quarantine at home and following all precautions." Talking about the actor's upcoming project, Despatch is being helmed by filmmaker Kanu Behl who had directed the critically acclaimed film, Titli. The project is being bankrolled by Ronnie Screwvala and will be shot in locations like Mumbai, Delhi and London. Also Read: The Family Man Season 2: Manoj Bajpayee Rubbishes Reports Of Show Being Cancelled A few days ago, Manoj Bajpayee had rubbished the rumours of the second season of his popular series, The Family Man being cancelled. Speculations were doing the rounds that The Family Season 2 has been shelved after the OTT streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video was facing some legal troubles for their other shows like Tandav and Mirzapur. For the unversed, the makers of the show had already shared several teasers and posters of the new season. They had also revealed the release date of the show to be February 19, 2021, and were gearing up for the trailer release when the legal troubles started for the OTT streaming platform. Also Read: The Family Man 2: Makers Issue Statement, Manoj Bajpayee's Show Will Release This Summer However, Manoj Bajpayee had taken to his social media handle to address these rumours and revealed that there is no truth to the same. His tweet read, "Absolute nonsense !!! Quite amazed that there is not even a single name appeared to authenticate this article or news whatever you call it. BS BS BS !!!! arey bhai director se hi baat kar lo ya OTT se .bas kisi tarah ek shagufa chhodna hai." The actor had also tagged the makers of the show, Raj and DK along with Amazon Prime Video in his tweet. Notably, the second season of The Family Man will mark South actor Samantha Akkineni's debut in the digital sphere. UK GDP fell by almost three per cent in January, reversing a mini-bounce back recorded in December, as the latest national coronavirus lockdown hit the economy hard. New figures published this morning by the Office for National Statistics showed that GDP plunged by 2.9 per cent in the first month of the year. The contraction came after statistics showed the economy had grown by an estimated 1.2 per cent in December. January's overall GDP figure is nine per cent below the level recorded in February last year, before the pandemic took hold. It is also still four per cent below the level recorded in October - the initial peak of the recovery after rules were eased over the summer. The ONS data showed that all main sectors of GDP remained notably below their pre-pandemic levels and all were lower than in October 2020. UK GDP fell by an estimated 2.9 per cent in January this year as the latest lockdown hit the economy hard The services sector of the economy was particularly badly hit by Boris Johnson's latest restrictions The services sector of the economy was particularly badly hit by the latest wave of national restrictions which were imposed by Boris Johnson at the start of January. The ONS said the sector had acted as the 'main drag' on growth in January, decreasing by 3.5 per cent. Overall, the services sector was more than 10 per cent below the level recorded in February last year and 4.9 per cent below the level recorded in October. Meanwhile, the production sector suffered a fall of 1.5 per cent in January following eight months of consecutive growth. The sector was five per cent below the level recorded in February last year. The construction sector did record positive growth of 0.9 per cent in January after suffering a decline of 2.9 per cent in December. However, the construction sector was still 2.6 per cent below the level recorded in February last year. Deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow said: 'The economy took a notable hit in January, albeit smaller than some expected, with retail, restaurants, schools and hairdressers all affected by the latest lockdown. 'Manufacturing also saw its first decline since April, with car manufacturing falling significantly. 'However, increases in health services from both vaccine rollout and increased testing partially offset the declines in other industries.' Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts have GDP dropping 3.8 per cent in the first quarter before bouncing back by 3.9 per cent in the second quarter, if the Government's vaccination rollout and road map reopening goes to plan. Anneliese Dodds, Labour's shadow chancellor, said: 'Today's figures confirm that under the Conservatives we've had the worst economic crisis of any major economy. 'Rather than securing the recovery, Rishi Sunak's budget last week risked weakening it through a combination of pay cuts and tax rises, and a looming cut to social security just as unemployment is set to spike. 'The Chancellor's mask has slipped. He's making irresponsible choices now and has no long-term plan for the future. The people of Britain deserve better.' Suren Thiru, the head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: 'The latest data confirms a better than expected start to the year for the UK economy as the third lockdown and post-Brexit border disruption combined to trigger only a relatively modest decline in economic activity in January. 'The vaccine rollout and budget stimulus will boost output as restrictions ease. However, the lingering economic effects of covid, including elevated consumer and business debt levels, may severely limit the pace of any recovery. 'Despite a number of welcome announcements in the budget, there are still many businesses and individuals who have, through no fault of their own, been excluded from government support. 'Many will require help if they are to navigate a difficult few months ahead before the economy is able to fully reopen.' Alpesh Paleja, lead economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: 'Activity fell in January, as widely expected, with much of the UK entering some form of lockdown at the start of the year. 'However, the decline was notably smaller than the first lockdown in spring 2020, demonstrating the growing ability of businesses and households to adapt to greater restrictions on mobility.' Washington: A Catalan translator has been removed from the task of translating the poem written and performed by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman at US President Joe Bidens inauguration because he did not fit the profile, according to AFP. The move by Barcelona publisher Univers marks the second instance of backlash in Europe against a white person being chosen to translate The Hill We Climb by Gorman. American poet Amanda Gorman recites a poem during the Inauguration of US. Credit:AP Translator Victor Obiols told AFP on Thursday (AEDT) that Univers had commissioned him last month to translate Gormans work into Catalan, a language spoken in Spain and Andorra. After he completed the job, the publishing house informed him that he was not the right person, he said. They told me that I am not suitable to translate it, Obiols told AFP. They did not question my abilities, but they were looking for a different profile, which had to be a woman, young, activist and preferably black. Chennai, March 12 : There may be mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the domestic Indian syringe and needles segment as nearly 200 crore pieces of manufacturing capacity is remaining idle owing to imports, unused stocks sourced by government, hospitals and retailers and rise in input costs, said industry officials. They also said the central government should give the domestic industry a combo booster dose of curbing Chinese imports and increase the duties. "Should Chinese syringes be used to combat the coronavirus that allegedly originated from that country," an industry official question. "The total Indian market size for syringes will be about 500 crore pieces of which the government supplies will be about 200 crore pieces and exports about 150 crore pieces. The remaining will be for domestic institutional (hospitals, clinics) and retail sales," Vimal Khemka, General Secretary, All India Syringes and Needles Manufacturers Association (AISNMA) told IANS. He is also a Director in the Rs 17 crore turnover Veekay Surgicals. Queried whether the industry would see higher sales in the coming years as the Covid-19 vaccine is likely to be a permanent fixture like other vaccines Khemka said: "It has to be seen. Firstly, the vaccine makers have to come out with vaccines for children. Further the vaccine's efficacy has to be seen. Different vaccines have different efficacy levels." Khemka said that developed countries use normal syringes for Covid-19 vaccination. Similarly, the Indian government should buy normal syringes from the domestic market restricting Chinese imports. Presently the Indian government uses auto disable syringes for Covid-19 vaccine jabs. "The syringe industry is down and it is a tough situation for the players with only a few are making money. M&A may happen in the industry if the price is right," Khemka said. "Different drugs need different dosages and so standardisation of syringes is not possible to bring down the costs. Pre-filled syringes (syringes filled with drugs) are costly and it is for the pharmaceutical companies to do that," Rajiv Nath, President, AISNMA told IANS. Adding further Nath said, the auto disable syringes are procured by the government in public healthcare delivery to assure safe injections avoiding reuse. In the private healthcare sector, the use of auto disable syringes for vaccination is not mandatory and hospitals use the standard disposable syringes, he added. Nath also the Managing Director of the over Rs 650 crore syringe major Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices Ltd said his company is not interested in acquisitions while concurring with Khemka's views that many may exit if the price is right. "We trust our own technology platform and would not buy out competition with baggage of lower technology/quality," Nath said. The AISNMA had written to the government to double the import duties to 15 per cent as they have to match the price of cheap subsidised Chinese syringes in the case of tenders there by making the supplies unremunerative, Nath said. Khemka hopes the situation will turn better for the players in the coming days as hospitals have started functioning now and surgeries are happening and outpatient departments are also open. (Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in) Click here for updates on this story PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) -- A Portland man who was arrested for a 1999 cold case last year has now been charged with a second murder, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office. The district attorney's office announced Wednesday that Christopher Charles Lovrien, 53, was indicted by a grand jury for the murders of Mark Dribin and Kenneth Griffin. Dribin disappeared in July 1999. Investigators found evidence at his home leading them to believe hed been killed, but they didnt find his body and they werent able to identify DNA samples recovered from his home and vehicle. For two decades the case went unsolved. Then in 2019, Portland police reopened the case and submitted the DNA evidence for analysis. Based on the forensic genealogy investigation, Lovrien was identified as a potential suspect. Lovrien was interviewed by detectives in Nov. 2019. The district attorney's office said Griffin was last seen and reported missing in Feb. 2020. A sample of Lovrien's DNA was received through a court-authorized search warrant in April 2020. On May 4, 2020, US Marshals arrested Lovrien for Dribins murder. After his arrest, detectives searched Lovrien's home in southeast Portland and found Griffin's dismembered remains inside a shed on May 19, 2020, according to the district attorney's office. Griffin's death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner. During the search of Lovrien's home, the district attorney's office said detectives also found six firearms - two .9mm caliber pistols, a .40 caliber pistol, a .357 caliber revolver and two .223 caliber rifles. Lovrien was re-indicted on Wednesday for the murder of Griffin. He now faces two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree abuse of a corpse, and six counts of felon in possession of a firearm. Lovrien appeared in court Thursday morning and entered a not guilty plea for the charges. Detectives believe both killings to be stranger-related as there is no known connection between Lovrien and the victims, the district attorney's office said. Investigators have reason to believe there may be additional murder victims based on evidence found at Lovrien's home. Based on the investigation, the district attorney's office said the Portland Police Bureau's Cold Case Homicide Detail would like to speak with anyone with information about missing persons who may have been living under the Interstate 205 bridge in southeast Portland between summer 2019 and May 2020 and had contact with Lovrien or anyone with any additional information about the charged offenses. Anyone with information should contact Detective Brendan McGuire at (503) 823-0869 or Brendan.McGuire@portlandoregon.gov, or Detective Scott Broughton at (503) 823-3774 or Scott.Broughton@portlandoregon.gov. ozdigital/iStockBy DR. ABAMA RAMANATHAN, ABC News (NEW YORK) -- As new COVID 19 variants are rapidly spreading across the world, vaccine manufacturers are preemptively finding ways to adapt to the emerging threats. Moderna announced Wednesday it had dosed the first patient in a study to test a booster shot against one of the new variants. New vaccines typically take many months to invent, develop and refine. But vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer rely on cutting-edge, highly adaptable mRNA technology, which can be rapidly modified to keep up with the virus as it evolves. These vaccines can be updated like "computer code, where they can be reprogrammed to handle differences," said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Childrens Hospital and an ABC News contributor. A third vaccine -- Johnson & Johnson's single shot, based on a noninfectious viral vector -- should also be relatively straightforward to update because it also relies on genetic material that can be tweaked. But among all the currently available vaccines across the globe, those that use mRNA may be the easiest to update against new variants, experts said. Currently available COVID-19 vaccines are designed to target one specific portion of the virus -- the so-called "spike" protein that helps the virus latch on to our cells. If a new variant develops any mutations within that crucial spike protein, vaccines can be updated. According to Pfizer and Moderna, the modifications can be made in mere weeks. Based on experiments conducted in laboratories, it looks like their original vaccines will work just as well against almost all of the newly emerged COVID variants. Only one variant, the one that originated in South Africa, showed worrying signs of being able to chip away at vaccine efficacy. For now, Moderna, Pfizer and other companies are exploring updated booster shots against the South African variant out of an abundance of caution. "The variants haven't crossed the line yet," said Dr. Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory board. "When that line gets crossed, if that line gets crossed, then I think we're going to have to think about a second-generation vaccine that includes the variants," he said. Last month, the FDA updated its guidelines to give companies a clear path forward about how to test updates to a vaccine in a timely way that still ensures the booster shots are safe. Similar to what we do again with seasonal flu shots, we don't have to have the same burden of proof of efficacy and safety in order to release updated versions, said Brownstein. In other words, people won't have to wait almost a year for each new booster shot. It's possible the vaccines of the future could offer one-and-done protection against multiple variants. Moderna, for instance, is developing a multivalent vaccine that will target the ancestral COVID strain and the new South African strain in a single shot. But Brownstein said it's more likely everyone will get annual booster shots -- tweaked if needed to address whatever variant happens to be circulating at that time -- just like with the flu shot. 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. COLUMBIA One out of four state agencies including several of South Carolina's largest will have workers back to their job sites full-time a little more than a week after an order from Gov. Henry McMaster. Despite concerns expressed on social media by some state government employees, 26 agencies will either begin or have resumed in-person operations by March 15. They include the University of South Carolina and the state Departments of Social Services, Mental Health, Corrections and Natural Resources, The Post and Courier learned. They cover close to 20,000 employees or more than one-quarter of all state workers. Employees at the state's other 77 agencies and colleges must return to work by April 5, according to the state Department of Administration. McMaster told agency heads on March 5 when he issued a new executive order to draft re-entry plans to get workers back onto job sites "expeditiously" but didn't give a deadline. The governor made the call to have state workers return as COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available and four of the five South Carolinians are eligible to get doses. The 77 agencies not coming back next week sought extensions to make modifications to workspaces, such as installing barriers, obtain personal protective equipment and provide time for employees to make arrangements for dependent care, Department of Administration spokeswoman Kelly Coakley said. Individual employees at agencies can ask to continue to work from home if they have dependent care issues or are at high-risk if they become infected with COVID-19 or live with someone who is at high risk. Coakley did not provide a complete list of which agencies are returning to in-person work next week and which ones are taking more time. Most state employees were already back at work as of March 11, according to the Department of Administration. About 43,000 employees on the states payroll had reported to their workplaces, while 24,300 are still doing their jobs remotely. An additional 6,548 employees were either on leave or not scheduled to work. State employees began returning last May. The first wave included managers, call center employees and others who cant easily do their jobs at home, state Administration Director Marcia Adams said at the time. Last month, agency heads told lawmakers that they needed some employees to remain on the job in-person because of the nature of their work, such as road repair crews. Some of our work tasks aren't conducive to tele-work. You can't patch a pothole working from home," S.C. Department of Transportation chief Christy Hall told a House Ways and Means subcommittee in February as it considered a bill that would have given vaccine priority to K-12 employees. Hall told The Post and Courier March 12 that 98 percent of her staff are already back at the workplace. Bryan Stirling, who heads the S.C. Department of Corrections, told The Post and Courier on March 12 that his agency had to get creative as 21 institutions require round-the-clock staffing by officers. At certain points over the past year, National Guard troops helped with medical checks for quarantined inmates or with meal preparation. Officials also set up virtual classrooms and schedules for ongoing educational programs within state prisons. Some agencies began asking lawmakers in January to make it easier for their employees to get shots. As of Feb. 16, 550 positive cases of COVID-19 were logged among the Department of Social Services 4,200 workers, agency communications director Connelly-Anne Ragley told lawmakers. We realize that front line child welfare and protective workers that are going into nursing homes and assisted living centers are essential public workers that have continued to do their work throughout the pandemic, she said. A Department of Mental Health spokeswoman said 2,473 workers were already back on the job as of March 12, and 932 were functioning remotely. Correction: The agency with 2,473 workers back on the job as of March 12 was the state Department of Mental Health. Every day the vacuum yawns wider. The refusal by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to call an inquiry into a historical rape allegation against his Attorney-General Christian Porter was intended to cauterise the issue, stare down critics and hold a line for what Morrison grandly says is the very existence of the rule of law in this country. Whether or not you agree, it is a defensible strategy. The trouble is its not working. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to allow an inquiry into contested claims against his Attorney-General Christian Porter. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen If nature abhors a vacuum, politics hates it even more. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... President Joe Biden has stepped up, saying all teachers should receive at least a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the month. N.M. Department of Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins says tens of thousands of N.M. teachers have gotten at least one shot and all educators, staff and early childhood professionals will be scheduled by the end of March. The administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has stepped up, first moving teachers up in the vaccine queue and then having Public Education Department Secretary Ryan Stewart say Monday all public schools are expected to open fully for in-person learning by April 5. His announcement was music to the ears of many teachers. IM SO HAPPY TO BE GOING BAAAAAAACKKK!!!!! a Northwest Albuquerque elementary school teacher posted on nextdoor. I will get to start transitioning back to my classroom TOMORROW!!!! Untold numbers of other teachers and students are experiencing that same palpable thrill of returning to their classrooms, colleagues and peer groups and resuming in-person instruction, class projects and more. For the first time in over a year I get to go back to my school to TEACH!!! the teacher continued. Not just to rush to get supplies and food and rush to take them to my students. I get my babies back!!! This morning, its the turn of the states largest school district to step up. Although no vote is scheduled, the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education will discuss an update of the districtwide school reentry plan at a special virtual meeting starting at 7:30 a.m. APS has kept the vast majority of its students in remote learning for the past year. APS officials announced Monday they were reworking reopening plans to present to the board. Board members should join with interim Superintendent Scott Elder to work with PED to pursue an immediate plan for full reopening five days a week. No more half-measures, union obstructions or contract stipulations. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Teachers have indeed been stressed throughout the pandemic. Transitioning to total remote learning last year, then reversing course to very limited in-person instruction this year and all the technological and logistical maneuvering that has entailed has made life difficult for educators, students and parents. But the bottom line lies in statistics like those presented in a Legislative Finance Committee report last June that estimated students had already lost up to a year of learning. As well as in rising behavioral health and youth suicide reports. So now that studies across the nation show little to no contagion in school settings, the reopening of all N.M. public K-12 schools has finally arrived. Its time for districts to get their kids back in school full-time while adhering to COVID-safe best practices. Unions continue to raise objections, but they should not be determining who opens when. Some teachers and students have reservations, and we get that. Some have underlying medical conditions, and many teachers and students have loved ones theyve worried about carrying germs home to. Thats why our state leaders have prioritized vaccines for our teachers and staff and our districts have worked hard on cleaning, sanitizing and social distancing. The state began contacting teachers last week to get them vaccinated. Collins said earlier this week almost 54,000 educators had registered on the states portal for a vaccine, with nearly 23,000 having received one shot and over 11,000 having been fully vaccinated. Educators who have a medical waiver are exempt from returning to schools until after they are fully vaccinated, when they would work with their schools on appropriate accommodations. Students retain the option of remote learning. But it can not be over-emphasized how essential teachers in-person teachers are to education, and political parsing on learning loss aside, our students have indeed lost serious academic and emotional ground. The science, and our elected leaders, say its safe to return to in-person learning. Its time for APS and all of New Mexico districts to get students back in class. On instructions of Pakistani ISI agents, Giteli Imran was transferring money into accounts of Navy personnel for passing sensitive and strategic information. Representational Image/PTI VISAKHAPATNAM: National Investigative Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a fresh charge sheet against an ISI operative in Visakhapatnam Espionage Case in the NIA special court in Vijayawada. According to a press release issued by the agency, NIA has filed a supplementary charge-sheet against Imran Yakub Giteli @ Giteli Imran, a resident of Gujarat, for his involvement in raising funds for espionage activities in India. The case was initially registered under various sections of IPC and UAPA at Counter Intelligence Police Station, Intelligence Department, Vijayawada. It pertained to conspiracy hatched by Pakistani ISI agents with their associates based in India to carry out terrorist acts in the country. In furtherance of this conspiracy, they were collecting sensitive and classified information relating to vital defence installations. The agency had earlier filed a charge sheet against 14 accused persons, including three civilians with business interests in Pakistan, on June 15 last year. It has re-registered the case and taken up investigation accordingly. Investigations so far have established that accused Giteli Imran was in contact with Pakistani-based handlers. He also used to meet them during his visits to Pakistan. On instructions of Pakistani ISI agents, he was transferring money into accounts of Navy personnel for passing sensitive and strategic information. He was raising funds for terrorist activities in the garb of illegal cloth business. Investigations further revealed that there is an organised network within Pakistan that is utilising services of operatives like Imran Yakub Giteli in India. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 77F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. New York, March 12 : Pfizer-BioNtech's Covid-19 vaccine offers at least 97 per cent effectiveness in symptomatic Covid-19 cases, according to real world data published by the pharma company. The analysis, based on real world data gathered by the Israel Ministry of Health, also found the vaccine's effectiveness at 94 per cent against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. "We are extremely encouraged that the real-world effectiveness data coming from Israel are confirming the high efficacy demonstrated in our Phase 3 clinical trial and showing the significant impact of the vaccine in preventing severe disease and deaths due to Covid-19," Luis Jodar, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer Vaccines, said in a statement. The latest data analysis finds unvaccinated individuals were 44 times more likely to develop symptomatic Covid-19 and 29 times more likely to die from this virus-borne disease. This comprehensive real-world evidence can be of importance to countries around the world as they advance their own vaccination campaigns one year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic, the statement said. In January, Pfizer and the Israel MoH entered into a collaboration agreement to monitor the real-world impact of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. The findings from the analysis were derived from de-identified aggregate Israel MoH surveillance data collected between January 17 and March 6, 2021. For all outcomes, vaccine effectiveness was measured from two weeks after the second dose. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text VFS Global, an outsourcing and technology services specialist , said its operations at the Al Hada Visa Application Centre in Riyadh was managed by all-female staff on the International Womens Day. As part of the unique initiative, a women-only team handled visa applications for 28 countries including, Canada, the UK and countries falling under the Schengen zone. In addition, female team members took control of security, operated control rooms as well as transported passports to respective embassies/missions. Sumanth Kapoor, Business Head KSA & Bahrain, VFS Global said: VFS Global is proud to support International Women's Day. We are having an all-female work day at Al Hada centre to honour the social, economic and cultural achievements of women in Saudi Arabia and across the world. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality, so we are committing to empowering our teams with actionable steps for personal, professional and organizational success in the Kingdom and beyond." In line with Saudi vision for women empowerment, VFS Global has enhanced its Inclusion and Diversity framework. Its efforts have culminated in 40% of its existing workforce in Saudi Arabia being female, 90% of which are Saudi nationals. Other female staff members belong to the Philippines, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Palestine and Yemen. Worldwide, VFS Global has a ratio of 58% women across all its operations in more than 140 countries. TradeArabia News Service Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A pair of Bald eagles are tending a nest with two eggs in the snow at Big Bear Lake in California. On Thursday morning, the larger male eagle returned to the nest, put a stick on the females tail feathers and moments later the female flew away, leaving the male to tend to the eggs. Friends of Big Bear Valley, which operates a webcam near the nest, say the eggs are expected to hatch in mid-March. The nest is in a pine tree about 145 feet (44 meters) in the air. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... The first solo trip by the countrys first second gentleman will be to Albuquerque. Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will arrive next week as part of a trip promoting the American Rescue Plan, the massive coronavirus relief effort, according to a White House official. Harris and Emhoff are scheduled to be in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday and Denver on Tuesday, before Emhoff comes to Albuquerque alone on Wednesday. Details about the Albuquerque trip havent been announced. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the relief bill into law, which will trigger $1.9 trillion in government spending to fight both the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. New Mexico is expected to receive billions of dollars as part of the effort. HAALAND ON TAP: Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., could be confirmed as the next secretary of Interior on Monday. The Senate on Thursday voted 54-42 on a motion to invoke cloture, a procedural step to essentially end debate before the full Senate votes on her final confirmation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, announced that the final confirmation vote would be on Monday. During Thursdays vote, all Democrats voted for the Haaland motion as did Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. Four Republican senators didnt vote. LUJANS FIRST BILLS: Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., on Thursday introduced his first bills as a senator, both aimed at improving internet access and infrastructure to places that need it. One of the bills makes a provision to the Federal Communications Commissions E-Rate Program, which helps finance schools and libraries to obtain broadband. Lujans bill would expand that program to include school buses. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is a co-sponsor of the legislation. Closing the broadband gap is a bipartisan challenge that we all need to solve, Lujan said. In the area of broadband investments across America youre going to see strong bipartisan support. Lujans other bill would create a broadband infrastructure finance and innovation program, which would authorize $5 billion to be made available for low-interest financing for broadband infrastructure projects. Ryan Boetel: rboetel@abqjournal.com (TNS) Edison State Community College in Piqua announced Wednesday that it will waive tuition for qualifying 2021 high school graduates, for both online and in-person classes, all the way through completion of a certificate or associate's degree."This waiver is an all-out effort from Edison State to minimize the disruption of COVID-19 on a student's college career," Edison State President Doreen Larson said in a statement. "Our goal is to remove any hesitation for high school graduates from immediately continuing into a college program. This is our investment in our families, our community, and the future of our state."Edison State officials did not immediately respond to questions about enrollment levels or the financial impact of the move on the school.State and national data have shown that college applications and financial aid applications are both down this spring. The Ohio Department of Higher Education listed Edison State with 4,203 students in fall 2020, its third straight year with an increase.With campuses in Piqua, Greenville, Eaton, and Troy, Edison State offers associates degrees in more than 40 academic programs along with dozens of career certificates requiring fewer credit hours. They focus on career pathways in business, engineering and manufacturing, health sciences, information technology, and social and public services.School officials said the 100-percent tuition waiver is available to all graduating high school seniors in the school's service area (Miami, Preble, Darke and Shelby counties), including homeschool students in that area. It's also available to graduates whose high school has a College Credit Plus partnership with Edison State.To participate, students must fill out the FAFSA financial aid form and accept any grants or scholarships they are awarded. After application, students must enroll at Edison State in the year immediately after their graduation and stay enrolled for the fall and spring semesters.If they meet those steps, the waiver will cover remaining costs. Edison documents say "the waiver review will continue until degree completion or the completion of 70 credit hours."According to the school's website, a full-time student currently pays about $2,500 per semester for 15 credit hours for tuition and base-level fees (general, technical, activity and career service fees). The waiver would cover all of that.Students would be responsible only for the cost of textbooks, any course-specific lab/material fees, and a few smaller fees, such as online and web-flex course fees of $13 per credit hour. NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of CytoDyn Inc. ("CytoDyn" or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: CYDY). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether CytoDyn and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On March 5, 2021, CytoDyn issued a press release providing an update on its product "Vyrologix (leronlimab-PRO 140), a CCR5 antagonist with the potential for multiple therapeutic indications." The press release stated, in part, that "the Phase 3 trial of leronlimab for the treatment of severe-to-critical patients with COVID-19 demonstrated continued safety, substantial improvement in the survival rate, and faster hospital discharge in critically ill COVID-19 patients." Although the press release touted purportedly positive results, industry observers and analysts quickly characterized the Company's press release as misleading. For example, on March 8, 2021, Seeking Alpha published an article by Paul Santos entitled "CytoDyn: Parsing Failure." The article asserted that Cytodyn's "leronlimab Phase 3 trial on COVID-19 severe-to-critical patients failed . . . to meet both its primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints with any statistical significance" and described the Company as having effectively "buried" the results in its press release. Santos noted that "[a] normal biotech company would have stated this clearly, both in its PR titles and in their text bodies. Cytodyn, however, did something else." As the market digested the actual significance of CytoDyn's announcement, the Company's stock price fell $1.70 per share, or 41.98%, over the following two trading sessions, closing at $2.35 per share on March 9, 2021. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP [email protected] SOURCE Pomerantz LLP Related Links https://pomlaw.com/ Google has discussed how Chrome version 89 has improved the browser's memory usage and loading times on Mac, Windows and Android in a new post on the Chromium blog. The tech giant says the browser is now smarter when it comes to using and discarding memory across platforms for instance, it now discards memory that the foreground tab is not actively using, such as big images that you've already scrolled past. In addition, the update is also shrinking the browser's memory footprint in background tabs for macOS, which Chrome has already been doing on other platforms for a while now. For macOS, in particular, Google is seeing up to eight percent in memory savings and up to 65 percent in improvement on Apple Energy Impact score for tabs in the background. Those translate to a cooler Mac with quieter fans. Chrome 89 now also uses PartitionAlloc, the company's own advanced memory allocator, everywhere on Android and 64-bit Windows. Thanks to that change, it has improved browser responsiveness by up to 9 percent, and it's seeing up to 22 percent in memory savings on Windows. The Chrome team says new Play and Android capabilities allowed it to repackage the browser for fewer crashes and that it rebuilt the browser to be more stable for newer Android devices. It has also introduced a feature called "Freeze-Dried Tabs" to make starting up Chrome on Android up to 13 percent faster. Freeze-Dried Tabs work by saving a lightweight version of your tabs it's around the size of a screenshot, but it still supports scrolling and zooming, and it keeps links clickable. The screenshot-like tabs show up when you first fire up Chrome and while the actual tabs are loading in the background, so you can see pages load faster than before. (This March 12 story corrects paragraph four to say JD.com is China's biggest e-commerce company by revenue, not 2nd-biggest) By Julie Zhu HONG KONG (Reuters) - JD.com Inc is in talks to buy part or all of a stake in brokerage Sinolink Securities worth at least $1.5 billion, three people said, as the e-commerce major aims to bolster its financial services operations. A deal to buy the stake from Sinolink's largest shareholder, Yongjin Group, would be the biggest bet in acquisition value terms by Beijing-based JD.com in China's $45 trillion financial market. "The valuable brokerage licence is key for tech giants to monetise their huge online traffic and grow into bigger firms, as otherwise they have to direct such traffic to other financial institutions," one of the sources said. China's biggest e-commerce company by revenue started discussions with Yongjin late last year, seeking to buy part or all of its 27% stake, said two of the people with direct knowledge of the matter. Based on Sinolink's market value of 39 billion yuan ($6 billion) on Thursday, a 27% stake would be worth about 10 billion yuan, Reuters calculations show. After Reuters reported the discussions, Sinolink shares jumped by their maximum 10% daily limit on Friday, reversing earlier losses. The potential deal comes as Chinese tech majors look to expand into financial services despite a regulatory crackdown on some parts of the sector, sources said. JD.com draws the bulk of its revenue from its core e-commerce business and owns only a few small financial licences, mainly offering online services including consumer credit and wealth management products. It has long eyed a foray into the fast-growing brokerage industry, which was worth $1.4 trillion by the end of 2020, the same two people said. Chengdu-based Sinolink was just outside the top 20 biggest brokerages in China by operating revenue in 2019, official data showed. Its business includes stock broking, sponsoring and underwriting equity and debt deals, financial advisory and wealth management. Story continues China's top two tech giants, Alibaba Group and Tencent, hold stakes in leading investment bank China International Capital Corp. Alibaba has also invested in large broker Huatai Securities, while Tencent has backed Hong Kong-based online brokerage Futu Holdings. Refinitiv shows, JD.com has only made two deals in the financial sector: its investment in online platform for automotive financing Yixin Capital's $550 million fundraising in 2016, and another worth an undisclosed amount in China Taiping Insurance Holdings' financial services unit in 2018. The JD.com-Yongjin talks were at an early stage and subject to change, cautioned the sources, who declined to be identified because of confidentiality constraints. Sinolink said its controlling shareholder had not discussed with JD.com the sale of part or all of its stakes, and the firm did not have information to disclose. JD.com and Yongjin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. TIGHTER REGULATION For privately run Yongjin, the potential deal would satisfy its plan to divest its financial services business to bypass new regulations on financial holdings firms, said the third person. The new rules require a capital threshold for companies that operate more than two types of financial businesses. Should a company fail to meet the requirement after a one-year grace period, Beijing can force a share sale. In September, Guolian Securities said it would acquire Sinolink through a share swap and stake purchase from Yongjin, exchange filings showed. The tie-up was later scrapped amid questions over potential insider trading activities. Founded in 1995 by late entrepreneur Wei Dong and now run by his wife, Chen Jinxia, Yongjin manages more than 400 billion yuan of assets, with 30 billion yuan self-owned, according to its website. (Reporting by Julie Zhu in Hong Kong and Cheng Leng in Beijing; Editing by Stephen Coates) The global economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to worsen in New Zealand. Working people are bearing the full burden, through job losses and the soaring cost of living, especially in housing, pushed up by landlords and investor speculation. In the 12 months to September 2020, New Zealands economy shrank by 2.2 percent. While there was a return to growth in the September quarter, some economists believe the country is now in another recession. The tourism, retail and education industries have all been severely affected by the border closure, imposed nearly a year ago. Victoria University of Wellington (Wikimedia Commons) Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns Labour Party-led administration responded to the crisis, like governments internationally, by protecting the rich, with tens of billions of dollars in subsidies, tax concessions and loans to big businesses. The Reserve Bank in a one-off quantitative easing program is printing up to $100 billion to buy back bonds held by commercial banks. Officially, unemployment dropped from 5.3 to 4.9 percent in the December quarter, but this is still 25,000 more unemployed people than a year earlier, an increase of about 22 percent. The figures do not reflect the real scale of the crisis. Since March last year, the number of people receiving the main Jobseeker welfare benefit has increased by 63,000. The underutilisation rate, including people not actively looking for work and workers who want more hours, is 11.9 percent. Stuff reported on March 4 that from September to November 2020, 16,234 businesses closed permanently, compared to 7,154 in the same period in 2019 an increase of 127 percent. Tourism areas are among the worst affected. Business revenue in the Queenstown Lakes District has collapsed by 23 percent and in the past year 9.1 percent of its jobs, about 2,000 jobs, have vanished. Other sectors are also being hit with redundancies. On February 23, the Whakatane Mill, which produces paper and packaging products, announced a plan to close by the end of June, after more than 80 years of operations, destroying 220 jobs. The mills parent company, Switzerland-based multinational SIG Combibloc, decided to stop purchasing its products, instead opting for cheaper third-party suppliers. Whakatane Mill (Source: Facebook) The closure will devastate the already-struggling district of 35,700 people, which in 2018 had a median income of just $26,30017.3 percent below the national median. Stuff reported that up to 100 contractors and other businesses are indirectly supported by the mill. FIRST Union and the E tu union, which have 100 and 40 members at the mill respectively, responded to the announcement by calling on the government to subsidise local forestry businesses and help redundant workers find new jobs. No industrial campaign has been launched to stop the closure and defend every job. In the retail sector, Australian department store chain David Jones announced last month that its Wellington store, which employs 150 people, will close in 2022. Auckland homeware store Nido is also closing, with 60 redundancies. Consumer spending has declined for five months in a row, with more than half of all retailers reporting a drop in sales in the last month, according to Retail NZ. Hundreds of bank staff are losing their jobs, even as the banks profits are propped up by the states money-printing program. The Bank of New Zealand recently announced plans to close 38 branches, mostly in rural areas. Kiwibank, ANZ, ASB and Westpac are likewise closing dozens of regional branches. The countrys major universities have recently announced around 700 redundancies, in response to the sharp decline in international students, thousands of whom were stranded overseas by the border closure. The total number in the country has halved to around 10,000. In addition, universities are scrapping many part-time and temporary roles, including tutors, who are usually postgraduate students. A student union spokesperson told RNZ, dozens if not hundreds of students at some institutions who would be employed in a normal year now arent. As a result, many undergraduate students are missing out on tutorials. The Tertiary Education Union (TEU) has accepted the cuts as inevitable and is helping to impose them. On March 10, Stuff reported that Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) had ruled out large scale sackings. The TEU posted the article on Facebook presenting this as a victory, with the comment: The Vic Uni branch has shown how much is achieved when we stand together. According to Stuff, branch leader Dougal McNeill, a leading member of the pseudo-left International Socialist Organisation (ISO) said he welcomed the announcement, but the union remained concerned about staff workloads and called on the government to increase funding. In fact, as Stuff notes, around 60 staff at VUW are taking voluntary redundancies. Vice-chancellor Grant Guildford made clear that further cost cutting is likely, saying: It will still be necessary to keep a very tight rein on operational costs, including pay levels this year. The TEU reportedly advised its members at VUW not to take redundancy. But it provided no alternative way forward. The union has made no attempt to unite staff at all universities and polytechs in a nationwide strike campaign against the cuts. The University of Auckland has so far signed up 300 permanent staff for redundancy. Massey University aims to sack 74 people, Auckland University of Technology 71, Lincoln University 72, the University of Canterbury 40 and University of Waikato 25. In the 2017 election, the TEU supported Labour, falsely stating that it offered a credible and popular alternative to the former National Party governments austerity measures. Universities continued cutting jobs in 2018, while Labour froze funding. But the union, and the ISO, again supported Labour and the Greens in the 2020 election. To defend jobs, as well as conditions for students, requires a political fight against the Ardern government, the unions and their pseudo-left allies. New organisations, rank-and-file committees of students and staff, must be built to oppose the pro-business onslaught. They must link up with workers in factories such as the Whakatane Mill, and with retail, tourism and workers internationally who are facing the same onslaught of pro-corporate restructuring. Above all, the fight against austerity requires a socialist political perspective. Why should workers and young people suffer while the government hands over tens of billions of dollars to the banks and big business? This money must be urgently redirected to provide high-paying, secure jobs and well-resourced public services, including free and accessible tertiary education. ALBANY New York public schools are on track to experience the largest decline in enrollment since 1981, with 66,424 fewer K-12 studentsa 2.6 percent dropas compared to the 2019-20 school year, according to a report from the Empire Center for Public Policy. The report, based on preliminary data released by the New York State Department of Education released in January, shows the vast majority of enrollment losses from 2019-20 to 2020-21 occurred in grades K-6. Though public school enrollment in New York has been gradually declining since 2011, the reduction in enrollment between this year and last marks a significant acceleration of that trend, Empire Center fellow Ian Kingsbury said. The Empire Center is a fiscally conservative think tank based in Albany. A significant number of students are persistently absent from virtual learning, meaning the real number of students that have functionally exited New York public schools is likely higher than the preliminary estimate provided by the State Education Department, the report's authors said. Student loss can be attributed to people moving out of state or current residents switching their children to private or parochial schools, or home schooling - all factors that have no doubt been influenced by the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary enrollment data indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures have accelerated recent trends in declining enrollment, Kingsbury added. While these numbers are historic, they likely fail to capture the true number of students to have functionally exited the New York public education system. Enrollment changes varied by county and region. The decline was most pronounced in the Southern Tier, which had a 3.9 percent reduction in enrollment from last year, and the North Country, which lost 3.4 percent of its public school enrollment. Overall, enrollment losses were more significant upstate than downstate. In the Capital Region, Schoharie and Columbia counties saw the steepest declines, each losing approximately 5 percent of their public school populations this year. Rensselaer County saw a decline of about 3.1 percent compared to the previous year. Schools in Schenectady and Saratoga counties saw enrollment declines of just over 2 percent. Albany County districts saw a decline of 1.1 percent from the previous school year. Changes in enrollment varied significantly according to a students economic status. Enrollment among students classified as economically disadvantaged decreased by 3.9 percent. However, among students not categorized as economically disadvantaged, enrollment increased by 2.9 percent. There were also substantial changes in enrollment according to school type. Charter school enrollment increased by 7.4 percent, while traditional public school enrollment decreased by 3.2 percent. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form I remain very hopeful that Im returned in Dawesville, but this is always the prospect, I understand that. It just continues to reinforce why its so important as we get out there for the next day and a half really. The Opposition Leader said he just needed to keep pushing and ask the public to consider what a landslide would mean. Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup at the Liberal Partys costings announcement. Credit:Peter de Kruijff Mr McGowan rubbished the bad for democracy talk coming out of the Liberal camp and urged the public to vote how they feel because it was indeed a democracy and it was their choice to give his government a mandate. Labor control in both houses would mean the party has no excuses when it comes to passing its backed-up legislative agenda and delivering on major projects like Metronet. Metronet delays seem all but assured, however, with the WA under treasurer warning it would be difficult to deliver on the timelines for all the proposed infrastructure in the pipeline. A sprawling Labor backbench will also test the mettle of the ever-patient Premier, who will need to juggle how he hands out cabinet positions in a major re-shuffle post-election while appeasing the union factions, as well as the more ambitious and hard-working members of the party. The loss of Treasurer Ben Wyatt and reported impending departure of chief of staff Guy Houston will leave Mr McGowan without two experienced heads in his circle of trust which will have an influence on the day-to-day of the Premiers office. Concerns around electorate office behaviour and culture will also not be going away for Labor and the impending end to the rental moratorium will create an immediate crisis for Mr McGowan to respond to. Where to for the Liberals? With WAs iron curtain looking set to close on Mr Kirkup, whose only certainty at this stage is that he will get back into his ambulance volunteering after the election, the direction of the Liberal Party is at the mercy of their Saturday result. As much as a 10 per cent swing would leave the Liberals with just Sean LEstrange in Churchlands, David Honey in Cottesloe, and Deputy Leader Libby Mettam in Vasse. Such a result would actually mean the Nationals become the official opposition with four seats but the Liberals would still need to pick their own leader. Mr LEstrange, the shadow treasurer, was spotty on the details of key Liberal promises at Thursdays costings event and repeatedly told reporters he was just there to talk about how he had made the calculations for his partys policies fit the budget forward estimates. The performance gives him room to scrap things like the energy plan if he were to become the new leader. Ms Mettams unbridled enthusiasm and familiarity with the transport portfolio puts her in a good position to take on the top job, however, with scrutiny of Metronet and an overflowing infrastructure schedule to become a major point of debate in a new Parliament. Dr Honeys energy plan will have a tough time surviving a new Liberal caucus if the party suffers a major loss in electorates like Murray-Wellington, which had looked like one of the only places the opposition would gain ground. In the upper house, the Liberals look to be in danger of losing at least two seats and dropping down to just seven representatives. How to follow along on election day WAtoday will be live blogging on Saturday from 3pm with the latest updates from the McGowan and Kirkup camps into the night, a seat-by-seat call, and analysis on the ramifications of the results. Loading With Mr McGowan expected to romp home, the election could be called within an hour in the event of a Labor landslide. The 2012 Queensland election was declared by analysts just 48 minutes after the polls closed as the Liberal-National Party, which won 78 of 89 seats in the one-house parliament, went on to record 49 per cent of the primary vote and 62.8 per cent on a two-party preferred basis. A similar showing in WA will see the dissection of the oppositions strategies and hot takes for its future in full swing with no shortage of political insiders on radio and television from 6pm. Nine News Perth, owned by the same company as this masthead, has one of the more interesting commentator line-ups with the states potential new treasurer in Rita Saffioti alongside the man who could have been opposition leader Dean Nalder, who has retired from politics and will be free to give his two cents without fear of party repercussion. Switching to the wireless and 6PR, also in the Nine media stable, has revered columnist and presenter Gareth Parker, political sciences professor Martin Drum, and WAtodays very own Tess Ingram. Loading On ABC, TV viewers have two veteran politicians in Police Minister Michelle Roberts and the first of the three opposition leaders during the past parliament in Mike Nahan, who also served as treasurer under the previous government. Mr Kirkups old boss, former Premier Colin Barnett, will be heard with federal Labor MP Madeleine King, and the bloke who wrote the book on WA premiers, Peter Kennedy, in the ABCs radio coverage. Whether Labor achieves the total control in the upper house the Liberals keep talking about could take a few more days, given the complexities of counters sifting through the preference maze of ballots which feature 19 parties. Democracy kebabs Youve heard of democracy sausages but Mr McGowan is taking full advantage of his cult status in the kebab hospitality sector by encouraging people to get their hands around a wrap on election day. Labor has been wringing Mr McGowans moment of pop culture levity for everything it is worth but all that kebab talk will probably start to subside post-election as the social media boffins in the Premiers office switch their strategy to stoking the public to back his future moves in Parliament. The promises you might have missed this week There has been no new money pledged by the Liberal Party for about two weeks but its costings announcement on Thursday was a shambles. The Liberals say they will only create a $1.4 billion impost on the budget but a lot of their major projects were back-ended to beyond the out years and relied heavily on federal grants. Labor kept rolling out tens of millions of dollars in promises and revealed its commitments would cost $2.4 billion over the forward estimates. Mr Kirkup cut short a planned last-minute bush blast hitting up towns between Kununurra and Albany on Thursday and Friday. Instead he just ducked into Kalgoorlie, a marginal seat which was a marginal three-way contest in 2017, on Thursday afternoon after a trainwreck reveal of the Liberals election promise costings. Mr Kirkup said the trip had to be cut short to meet media commitments in Perth ahead of polling day, which was easily spun as another knock against the Liberals regional efforts. Mr McGowan was also in Kalgoorlie on Thursday, where he was chased by a No Mandatory Vaccination candidate, following a stop-over in towns like Kalbarri in the electorate of Nationals MP Vince Catania. Loading Kalbarri has been this year been included in North West Central which only has about 10,000 electors after a boundary re-draw, but is still firmly Nationals territory. Dedicating time in the last week of an election to a country seat which requires a 9.5 swing to win shows just how confident Mr McGowan is at this point, targeting electorates that dont seem all that marginal but could very well be swept up by a red tsunami, with some polling still suggesting a 60 per cent two-party preferred vote for Labor. by Francis Khoo Thwe At the UN Commission for Human Rights, Thomas Andrew demands international sanctions against the junta and the state owned oil company in the hands of the military. So far the security forces have murdered "at least 70 people" and jailed over 2,000 in an arbitrary manner. One third of those killed are young people under the age of 18. Testimonies about the death in prison of U Zaw Myat Lin, tortured and killed. New charges against the "Lady": she allegedly pocketed $ 600,000 illegally. "A joke". Yangon (AsiaNews) - UN human rights expert Thomas Andrew says the military in Myanmar, perpetrators of the February 1 coup, may have committed crimes against humanity. Yesterday, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, he asked for international sanctions against the junta and the oil company owned by the state, but in reality still in the hands of the military. Andrew, described what is happening in the country after the coup: "the security forces of the junta are carrying out killings, imprisonment, persecution and other crimes as part of a coordinated campaign directed against the civilian population in a systematic and widespread way". Citing reliable sources, he says that "Myanmar security forces have so far murdered at least 70 people", and arbitrarily put more than 2,000 in prison. One third of those killed are young people under the age of 18. Among the victims of the junta is U Zaw Myat Lin, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (Ndl). He was arrested on the night between 8 and 9 March, and died the next day in prison. The police refused to hand over the body to the family, to prepare for the funeral. According to witnesses, U Zaw Myat Lin was tortured and then killed. From the burns on his face it would appear that acid had been poured on his face and in his mouth. The corpse had no teeth and his tongue was loose and shrunken. The junta keeps repeating that he died trying to escape, falling from the top of the building in which he was imprisoned. Despite the increase in military violence, demonstrations are scheduled in several cities today. In order not to be trapped, activists suggest demonstrating in the evening or at night. Many demonstrations, by candle light, are held in defiance of the curfew imposed by the junta. In the demonstrations, the crowds show large photographs of Aung San Suu Kyi and call for her release. Since the night of the coup, the "Lady" has been under house arrest, accused of illegally purchasing some walkie-talkies and violating anti-Covid rules. Yesterday the junta also accused her of corruption: she allegedly accepted a payment of 600 thousand dollars. The spokesman who released the accusation did not, however, cite any evidence. Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, commented: " This accusation is the most hilarious joke". Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Thursday (March 11) termed National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as an India centric education policy and said that education is the backbone of a society. "Education is the backbone of a society and no progress and development could be achieved without education," he urged teachers to render their services wholeheartedly, as he inaugurated a one-day panel discussion on National Education Policy (NEP) in Imphal. Speaking at the occasion he said that NEP 2020 is an India centric education policy. He added that the NEP aims to incorporate the teaching of vocational skills within the school curriculum to augment innovation, adaptability, and productivity would help in solving the problem of unemployment to a larger extent. Manipur CM N Biren Singh attended the inaugural function of a one-day panel discussion on National Education Policy (NEP) in Imphal "NEP will incorporate vocational skills in school curriculum to elevate productivity that could help in solving unemployment," he said (11.03) pic.twitter.com/ETRKVvujfv ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 Appreciating the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his far-sighted vision, he said that NEP had been revised taking into view the importance of quality education in making the country a Global Power. This would certainly help in solving the unemployment problem to a larger extent, he hoped. The Panel Discussion on National Education Policy 2020 was organized by the Department of Education of the Manipur government held at the City Convention Centre. Singh said that officials of government departments should interact with the public regularly, hearing their grievances, so as to make the public feel that government is for the people. Glad to have attended One Day Panel Discussion on National Education Policy, 2020 at City Convention Centre, Imphal, organised by Department of Education, Government of Manipur. pic.twitter.com/qonDvYOSmP N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) March 11, 2021 Through this act from the side of the concerned authorities, the public can be made to possess a sense of belongingness, he added. Live TV MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announces plan to launch social media platform Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A prominent Christian businessman and outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump has announced plans to create an alternative social media site in the wake of censorship that he and other conservatives have faced. Appearing on "The Charlie Kirk Show"on March 5, Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, discussed the censorship and boycotts that he and his company have faced after he made claims about targeted voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election before touting a forthcoming "big platform where they can't touch us, nobody's going to be able to come in, (and) we're going to have everybody's voices out there." After spending much of the podcast running through the list of his claims of election fraud, Lindell elaborated on his proposed social media platform. "I have a platform coming out, where all the influencers in this country will be able to go to and not worry about YouTube and actually be able to talk without losing YouTube," Lindell said. "That's how they're canceling us all out." "People will be able to talk and ... not walk on eggshells," he added. While he said it would probably take "four or five weeks" to launch his platform, he later said the platform would come out "in 10 days." Since the podcast was recorded last Friday, the platform, which he declined to name, could launch as early as March 15. "Every single influencer and person on the planet can come there, you're going to have a platform to speak out," he continued. "You will not need YouTube; you won't need these places. So it will be where everything can be told because we've got to get our voices back." Toward the end of the podcast, Lindell predicted that when his claims of a fraudulent election are vindicated, the country will experience "the greatest uniting of our country ever." He suggested that it will lead to "the greatest revival ever for Jesus." "We're going to get God back in our schools, our foundations ... even our politicians. I only have one fear, and that's the fear of the Lord," he declared. Lindell's announcement of his new social media platform came six weeks after he was permanently banned from Twitter due to his claims of election fraud. When Lindell began using the MyPillow Twitter account to circumvent the ban, the social media giant banned the company's account, citing a violation of its policy against "ban evasion." Several major retailers, including Bed, Bath & Beyond, Kohl's and BJ's, cut ties with MyPillow as a result of Lindell's assertions about the 2020 presidential election. Lindell is not the only conservative to face censorship from social media. Following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by a group of fringe supporters of Trump and others, Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account while Facebook announced that it was suspending his account indefinitely. Others who've been targeted by social media platforms include a Christian professor who expressed concerns about President Joe Biden's policy allowing trans-identified individuals to serve in the military, a Christian magazine that asserted Biden's trans-identified nominee to serve as assistant secretary of Health and Human Services is a man, and the satire news site Babylon Bee, which was demonetized by Facebook for posting a satirical piece about Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii. Due to the increasing censorship against conservatives and Christians by social media companies, a growing list of alternative social media outlets have emerged, with varying degrees of success. The list of companies branding themselves as alternatives to the Silicon Valley giants include USA.Life, Parler and CloutHub. After a decades-long legal battle, a Malaysian court has overturned a policy banning Christians from using the word "Allah in publications in the Muslim-majority country. On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court deemed unconstitutional a 35-year-old government ban on the use of Allah and three other Arabic words by Christian publications. An earlier court ruling had stated that Allah should be reserved exclusively for Muslims, as the word is not an integral part of the faith in Christianity and could cause confusion among religious groups. Three other words kaabah (Islams holiest shrine in Mecca), baitullah (house of God) and solat (prayer) were also banned in a 1986 government directive. Source:The Christian Post Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:10:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) criticized the Republic of Korea (ROK) for yielding to U.S. pressure when it comes to unfreezing Iranian assets, Tasnim news agency reported Friday. "From the outset, it was clear that the ROK government cannot decide independently to settle problems pertaining to Iran's forex resources," Abdolnaser Hemmati said. Referring to his recent meeting with the ROK ambassador to Iran, the CBI chief said the ROK envoy had agreed to help the return of Iran's financial resources during the meeting. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed press reports about the ROK unfreezing 1 billion U.S. dollars of Iranian assets as "relief" before Iran "comes back into compliance" with the 2015 nuclear agreement, Bloomberg reported. Iran has repeatedly urged ROK to provide access to its assets of about 7 billion dollars, which has been blocked by the ROK banks on account of U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran after Washington unilaterally withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018. Enditem The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says her case has been a 'failure of diplomacy and campaigning' ahead of her return to court in Iran on Sunday. Richard Ratcliffe said it would take 'a long time' for his wife to recover from the psychological trauma of her ordeal, but that continuing media coverage had 'kept her a bit safer'. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, last week completed a five-year sentence in Tehran on spying charges levied by Iranian authorities, the last year of which was spent under house arrest due to the pandemic. Richard Ratcliffe, pictured outside the Iranian Embassy in London along with his daughter Gabriella while holding a photograph of his wife Nazanin who faces the prospect of another court hearing in Tehran on Sunday But she must return to court to face more charges in the case some observers have linked to a long-standing debt Iran alleges it is owed by the UK. Speaking to Times Radio on Friday, Mr Ratcliffe said: 'She served her full sentence, she's still being held. That's a failure of diplomacy. It's also a failure of campaigning. 'I don't think it ever occurred to me at the beginning that it would last this long, because it shouldn't have done. 'I think we've kept her a bit safer. It sounds a bit rich given all she's been through already, but some of the stories from her cellmates ... are even more harrowing. 'Keeping her visible has kept her safer and protected. A consequence of so many people following her story meant that bad things couldn't happen in the same way to her. 'It may be that this weekend we get a long prison sentence, it may be that we don't. She remains in harm's way until she gets on the plane. 'Until she's home she's not home and the ordeal continues.' It comes after a detailed medical assessment, commissioned by a charity, found Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been a victim of torture, suffers major depression and PTSD and requires urgent psychiatric treatment. Human rights group Redress has called on the Government to recognise her as a victim of torture, having sent the Foreign Secretary the 77-page report on the mother-of-one it commissioned from the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT). Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, pictured, has been held by Iranian authorities since 2016 after she was arrested moments before she was due to board a plane to return to the UK The report says Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's condition has been caused by 'extremely stressful, traumatising experiences in the prisons of Iran' and the uncertainty surrounding her immediate future. It also says at the beginning of her sentence in 2016, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was interrogated for hours on end, often blindfolded, while in solitary confinement. Redress says the report also shows the former Thomson Reuters Foundation aid administrator has suffered hair loss, developed obsessive compulsive disorder about washing, and distress at being separated from her own child. Speaking about her treatment, Mr Ratcliffe said his six-year-old daughter Gabriella had been 'weaponised' against his wife, but that was a 'standard tactic'. He said that female guards would call their own children outside his wife's cell, when she could not, which he described as a 'real studied cruelty'. 'In fairness to the Iranian regime they are quite sophisticated about not leaving physical scars but they do an awful lot of cruel tricks,' he said. 'Things are still very uncertain... that fear of bad stuff happening again, of being put back in solitary (confinement) will stay with her until she's safe. 'It takes a long time for that anxiety to go away.' Downing Street said that Boris Johnson again demanded the release of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a call with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday. A No 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister had said 'that while the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's ankle monitor was welcome, her continued confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK'. Amnesty International UK has called on Britain's ambassador in Tehran to visit Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe before her court hearing on Sunday to show 'maximum solidarity' with her. Downing Street has previously said officials have been denied access to legal proceedings because Iran does not recognise dual nationality. Too much celebrating on Mothers Day and St Patricks Day could delay any potential return to full-time education for thousands of young people, Michelle ONeill has warned. The Deputy First Minister said that people still need to be very careful with two big dates in the calendar coming up over the next few days. Asked during Thursdays Covid-19 briefing in Dungannon if there was a danger that plans for school returns would be affected if restrictions were flouted, Mrs ONeill said: Yes, thats why were appealing to the public to be very careful. We understand Mothers Day is a significant time. Families want to get together. Its just not going to be possible this year. Expand Close Education Minister Peter Weir / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Education Minister Peter Weir Read More She said the new variant of Covid means the virus spreads faster than ever, even among a small number of people gathered together. Were asking people to bear with things for a bit longer, she added. Her comments came after thousands of children were left waiting for a date when they will be allowed to return to school. She said: We are on the cusp of brighter days but we are not out of the woods, so please celebrate St Patricks Day with your own family. No decision was reached at Thursdays Executive meeting on the full return of all pupils. But First Minister Arlene Foster did confirm that P1-P3 pupils will now be allowed to remain in class beyond March 22. The youngest pupils were due to revert to remote learning from that date to allow those in post-primary exam years 12-14 to return to school. Exam year pupils will still return on March 22. The Education Minister had argued it did not make enormous sense to withdraw P1-P3 from school just nine days after returning. Peter Weir said while he was pleased a small step had been taken, this journey will only be over when every pupil is back in school. There will be further discussions on Tuesday in terms of the remainder of those school years that have not been confirmed. I hope there can be further progress. It wasnt a question of the Executive saying the timing wasnt right. I brought forward a paper with three recommendations. It was accepted across the board that P1-P3 needed to change. In terms of the others, while I would have liked them to have been decided, particularly with regards to the rest of primary schools, it was clear there wasnt going to be a consensus. The DUP would be keen to see these steps. We want to see movement, but there needs to be complete consensus. Thats different to saying there was opposition, but other ministers will need to explain their own positions. Mr Weir said Covid testing kits would be arriving with the Education Authority on Friday and a programme to roll them out, with emphasis on the upper ends of school and staff, will then get under way. After the Department of Health confirmed a further nine deaths and 223 new Covid cases over the previous 24 hours on Thursday, Mrs ONeill said as well as the full return to school next Tuesday, the Executive will have a wider review of restrictions. We have consistently said as an Executive that we have a shared focus on the education and wellbeing of young people and we have prioritised getting them back into school, she added. It was great to see the youngest children returning to school this week and we look forward to all children being back in the classroom as soon as possible. The message today is still very much steady as you go. But we are approaching a number of occasions over the next week that we know are very important to families. She added the situation in the Holyland area of Belfast, usually blighted by anti-social behaviour on St Patricks Day, would be watched carefully. Mrs Foster added: Please enjoy the festival within your own home, please be responsible and do not break the law. We continue to collaborate around the situation in the university area and we will continue to have those conversations. She said she had hoped to go further towards a full school return, but that the Executive will aim to provide clarity and certainty on Tuesday. I would have liked to have moved a bit further in relation to other cohorts but what were doing is looking at this in a strategic way and we will make announcements on P4-P7 and Years 8-11 on Tuesday. Weve seen the joy from P1-P3 and thats what we want to see, our young people back at school, she added. A teaching union said if the situation had now changed to allow P1-P3 to remain in school, the advice of chief medical officer Michael McBride should be published. If it is not published we must assume that this decision is not based on the science and the relentless criticism of the chief medical officer by certain politicians will continue, said Justin McCamphill of the NASUWT. In relation to other year groups, it is regrettable that the minister continues to undermine the Executive decision. Bringing a paper to the Executive on March 16 is disrespectful to teachers and schools leaders, who have put plans in place for remote learning for the week beginning March 22. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. The getaway driver in a bid by an organised crime gang to murder Lee Boylan in west Dublin has been jailed for 10 years. Passing sentence today, Mr Justice Michael White said this was "a well-planned attack" with a sophisticated degree of surveillance and was carried out "at the behest of a criminal organisation", which perceived that Mr Boylan had been involved in a previous attack. The judge said Mr Boylan was shot three times at close range and his life was saved due to a "fortuitous fluke" when his gunshot wounds formed an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein that stopped him from bleeding out. Although Mr Boylan did not co-operate with the investigation it was likely he would have life-long injuries, he added. Referring to the getaway driver Alan Graham (aged 49), the judge said he could not have been "more proximate" to the event other than the gunman, who was a senior member or one of the leaders of this criminal organisation. There was also a strong possibility that the accused had become involved in the attack as he owed a drug debt, he said. Graham of Davin Gardens, Cahirdavin, Limerick, pleaded guilty last January to having knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation and participating in activities with the intention of facilitating the commission by the criminal organisation of the offence of attempted murder of Mr Boylan (aged 26) or being reckless as to same at Blakestown Road, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15 on March 6, 2019. The Central Criminal Court was told during last month's sentence hearing that Mr Boylan, the victim of the murder bid by the criminal organisation, sustained three gunshot wounds to his shoulder and neck as he sat in his van in broad daylight in a highly populated area in west Dublin. Evidence was given that it was "a miraculous piece of medical luck" that the then-24-year-old survived and he would have bled to death if his carotid artery and jugular vein had not joined in an "arteriovenous fistula", an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein that stopped the bleeding. Mr Boylan was shot and left with "life-changing injuries" because an organised criminal gang "perceived" he had been involved in the murder of a man in December 2018. The three bullets could not be removed from the victim and remain in his body. The father, whose three-year-old child was supposed to be with him in his van that day, asked the gardai in the ambulance on the way to the hospital not to let him die. Read More Limerick man admits to helping facilitate attempted murder of Lee Boylan Graham has 20 previous convictions in this jurisdiction, mainly for drug-related offences and one Canadian conviction for selling stolen passports. He was caught in 2010 with 750,000 worth of cocaine and 200,000 in cash and jailed for 10 years. Mr Justice White set the headline sentence at 14 years in prison. The judge sentenced Graham to 11 years' imprisonment with the final year suspended, backdated to June 17, 2019, when he went into custody. Prosecution counsel Pauline Walley SC said the State wished to enter a "nolle prosequi" - a decision not to proceed with the case - on the charge of attempted murder. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Facebook says that Ireland should reconsider introducing an upcoming national online safety law because it is likely to clash with binding EU law currently being passed. In a submission to an Oireachtas Committee, Facebooks policy directors say there are 17 different areas in which the Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Bill might fall foul of the upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA) from the EU. Given the significant overlap in both timing and scope between the [Irish online safety bill] and the DSA, serious consideration should be given by the Government to pausing progress on the [bill] and waiting until the DSA is adopted to avoid unnecessary duplication of work and ensure that consistency between the two regimes can be achieved, said Facebooks head of public policy for Facebook, Dualta OBroin. The social media giant also believes that enactment and implementation of the online safety bills regulatory rules wont now happen in Ireland until at least 2023 because of complicated timetabling and legislative processes. Our current estimate for the passage of the OSMR Bill is that it will not pass before March 2022, said Facebooks Oireachtas Committee submission. This means that the establishment of the Media Commission, appointment of an Online Safety Commissioner and the full implementation of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive is unlikely to take effect until late 2023 or early 2024. A spokesperson for the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, who is overseeing the introduction of the safety commissioner and who published the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill last December, said that delays had occurred but that her department still hopes to put the safety commission in place next year. Due to the unusual circumstances of 2020, roughly 23 member states, including Ireland, had not yet transposed the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive into Irish law by the end of that year, the spokesperson said. In order to give proper effect to the Directive in Ireland, it has been necessary to revise and make substantial amendments to Irelands current broadcasting and media law regulatory framework. "This has included substantial revision to current regulatory structures (which has involved extensive work and consultation with stakeholders) in order to ensure that the provisions of the Directive are properly and effectively transposed in this jurisdiction. While the intention is to publish and enact the OSMR Bill this year, the timing of the Joint Oireachtas Committee report will impact on this indicative timeline. It is intended that the Media Commission, including an Online Safety Commissioner, will be formally established in 2022. Read More The Philippines recorded almost 4,600 new COVID-19 cases the highest single-day increase in nearly six months while health authorities on Friday said they would not stop inoculating people with the AstraZeneca vaccine despite concerns in some European countries about the drugs safety. Officials from the Philippine Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said they were aware that some European Union countries have paused their use of the vaccine. These countries have suspended their use of the AstraZeneca vaccines as a precautionary measure, while they conduct a full investigation to determine causality between the vaccination and the reported adverse events following immunization, the health department said in a statement. Both the health department and the FDA believe that there is no indication for the Philippines to stop the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines. The public is assured that they will closely monitor all deployed vaccines. Meanwhile in Thailand, public health officials postponed Fridays planned vaccination of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and other officials over reports about the AstraZeneca vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which evaluates medicinal products for the European Union, noted that there are no indications the AstraZeneca vaccines caused the reported adverse effects. There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine, it said in a statement on its website. The position of EMAs safety committee PRAC (Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee) is that the vaccines benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing. AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish firm, issued a statement declaring the vaccine is safe. An analysis of our safety data of more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country, the company said in a statement to the media. The Philippines recorded 4,578 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, even as the country moves to vaccinate more people, the government said. The total number of cases reached 611,618, while 87 new deaths pushed pandemic-related fatalities to 12,694, the health department said. The inoculation program began earlier this month with 600,000 vaccine doses from Chinas Sinovac, and 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility, an international partnership set up to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines around the world. Financial assistance Meanwhile, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank granted $900 million in financial assistance through loans to cover vaccine purchase and other pandemic-related health care needs. Ndiame Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, said COVID-19 vaccines must be distributed to priority groups that include frontline health workers, senior citizens, indigent communities, teachers, government workers, indigenous people and the remaining population. Inclusive deployment of vaccines in line with the World Health Organization Fair Allocation Framework is critical for preventing grave illness and deaths from COVID-19, opening the economy in earnest, ensuring a resilient recovery and restoring jobs and incomes, Diop said in a statement. The Manila-based Asian Development Bank announced that the Philippines is the first country to receive $400 million under its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility to assist the countrys efforts to procure vaccines. ADBs support will boost the Philippine governments urgent efforts to secure and deploy COVID-19 vaccines for all Filipinos, especially those who are vulnerable, such as frontline workers, the elderly, and poor and marginalized populations, as well as those at increased risk of severe illness, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said in a statement. Last year, the World Bank approved $900 million in loans to support the Philippines efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeoffrey Maitem in Cotabato City, Philippines, contributed to this report. Exited 2020 with record orderbook driven by broad-based resurgence in demand Thalwil, Switzerland - 12 March 2021 - u-blox (SIX:UBXN,OTC:UBLXF), a global leader in wireless and positioning technologies, today announced its financial results for the full year 2020. u-blox's full-year 2020 results were considerably impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As demand began to accelerate in the second half of the year, u-blox ended 2020 with a record orderbook driven by strong levels of demand across all regions and end markets. Financial Highlights (All comparisons versus the prior-year period unless otherwise noted) Revenue of CHF 333.5 million compared to revenues of CHF 385.1 million, a decline of -13.4% (-9.3% at constant exchange rates) Gross profit (adjusted) of CHF 150.9 million compared to CHF 175.1 million, a decline of -13.8%, and equivalent to a gross margin of 45.3% versus 45.5% EBITDA (adjusted) of CHF 42.2 million, compared to CHF 71.7 million EBIT (adjusted) of CHF 18.0 million, compared to CHF 43.1 million Net profit (adjusted) before minority interests of CHF 2.9 million, compared to CHF 32.0 million Cash flow from operating activities of CHF 39.5 million, compared to CHF 77.3 million Free cash flow of CHF -16.5 million (CHF -3.0 million before acquisitions), compared to CHF 10.5 million CHF 93.9 million of cash and cash equivalents at year-end 2020, compared to CHF 127.4 million at year-end 2019 Ended 2020 with record bookings driven by a broad-based resurgence in demand across all end markets and regions, which continued to accelerate into 2021 Business Highlights Acquired IoT Communication-as-a-Service Provider, Thingstream, in April 2020. Thingstream provides customers with a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for global IoT connectivity. The acquisition aligns with u-blox's strategy to grow its recurring service component and to achieve a unique silicon-to-cloud differentiation. Published our first Sustainability Report detailing u-blox's commitment to important issues in the following areas: business ethics, employees, environmental responsibility, supply chain responsibility and communities. Product Announcements Our product launches in 2020 represented a broad expansion of solution capabilities across our entire platform: The M10 is a leading edge GNSS platform for wearables and asset trackers, with small size and very low power consumption. We also expanded the M9 position platform with additional features to serve the demanding automotive and high-end telematics sectors. The UBX-R5 LTE M/NB IoT chipset and modules offer unprecedented wireless technology integration with built in end-to-end security, making it ideal for mission critical or long life cycle IoT applications. The JODY W3 is designed for the increasing number of wireless high-speed connections that will be required in vehicles. The global LPWA cellular module, SARA-R422, provides increased security and positioning features compared to other available products ideal for a wide range of robust IoT solutions. In Services, we acquired Thingstream and quickly built out the acquired services platform with existing and newly created data services. Financial Overview For the full-year 2020, u-blox generated revenues of CHF 333.5 million, EBIT (adjusted) of CHF 18.0 million and EBITDA (adjusted) of CHF 42.2 million. The pandemic and its effect on the global economy negatively impacted our business for much of the year. AMEC and EMEA were especially affected by prolonged automotive and business shutdowns and companies adopting a delayed approach through much of 2020. APAC, where the initial outbreak occurred and, accordingly, where the economy reopened earlier, showed signs of a recovery earlier. Across all regions, demand in the automotive and certain industrial sectors were substantially impacted. The weakened USD/CHF exchange rate impacted the topline by -4.1%, resulting in a currency adjusted revenue decline of -9.3%. In APAC, full-year 2020 revenues amounted to CHF 137.7 million compared to CHF 145.6 million in 2019 (-5.4%). While revenues in China benefitted from the steady development and deployment of 5G networks during the first half of 2020, this development became more subdued during the second half due to the U.S. government placing bans on certain manufacturing technologies. From an end-market perspective, revenues increased from a rebound in automotive, particularly Japan and Korea, but were offset by decreased demand in telematics and in some consumer product markets in the second half of 2020. Revenues in EMEA decreased to CHF 95.9 million in 2020 from CHF 119.3 million in 2019 (-19.6%). Revenues were substantially impacted by automotive markets and mobility end markets as a direct result of COVID-19. Automotive OEMs enacted prolonged shutdowns due to the pandemic and the mobility markets, where applications used in shared services such as scooters and e-bikes were particularly impacted by reduced localized travel and transit. We began to see signs of a rebound in automotive beginning in the second half of 2020, accelerating toward the end of the year. Other areas of revenue growth in EMEA included industrial automation in general. AMEC revenues decreased to CHF 99.5 million in 2020 from CHF 119.2 million in 2019 (-16.5%). AMEC revenues declined due primarily to decreased demand in general consumer and fleet management applications. The pandemic caused many businesses in AMEC to push out decisions from the first half of the year to the second half of 2020 and into 2021. Partially offsetting this decline was increased year-on-year demand from industrial automation applications, such as metering, as well as fitness applications and health-care. u-blox operates in two segments: Positioning and wireless products u-blox develops and sells chips and modules for positioning and wireless connectivity that are used in automotive, industrial and consumer applications. For 2020, revenue was CHF 333.2 million compared to CHF 385.0 million in 2019. Wireless services u-blox also offers wireless communication technology services in terms of reference designs and software. For 2020, revenue for wireless services was CHF 31.5 million compared to CHF 32.1 million in 2019 (including intra group revenue). In 2020, u-blox generated approximately 80% of total revenues from 93 customers. u-blox's largest customer accounted for only 7.4% of revenues and at year-end, u-blox served over 9'000 customers worldwide. Adjusted gross profit decreased by 13.8% to CHF 150.9 million in 2020 from CHF 175.1 million in 2019, resulting in an adjusted gross profit margin of 45.3% (2019: 45.5%). Adjusted operating expenses, which include R&D, distribution and marketing and G&A expenses, totaled CHF 134.6 million for 2020, compared to CHF 135.7 million in 2019. Higher R&D expenses were offset by lower distribution and marketing and G&A expenses. R&D activity was fully maintained during the COVID crisis. As a percentage of revenue, operating expenses were 40.4% of revenue compared to 35.2% last year. R&D expenses (adjusted) increased to CHF 82.4 million in 2020 compared to CHF 78.9 million in 2019 due to lower capitalization rates and higher amortization than in 2019. As a percentage of revenue, adjusted R&D expenses in 2020 were 24.7% of revenue compared to 20.5% in 2019. During the first half of 2020, u-blox recognized an impairment charge of CHF 74.1 million due to the COVID-19 induced market conditions mainly in automotive, changes in business plan expectations and refocusing of various programs. The company's existing lines of product offerings remain unaffected and no further impairment is expected. Distribution and marketing expenses (adjusted) in 2020 were CHF 31.9 million compared to CHF 35.2 million in 2019. As a percentage of revenue, distribution and marketing expenses (adjusted) were 9.6% in 2020 compared to 9.1% in 2019. Distribution and marketing expenses declined as expositions, conferences and other large-scale events were cancelled or moved to a virtual setting and business travel was reduced due to government-imposed travel restrictions in the Americas and EMEA for the majority of 2020. u-blox initiated a CHF 15 million cost savings program driven in large part by the discontinuation of one large non-revenue generating program. As of year-end 2020, the company had completed this savings program. Share based payment expenses recognized according to IFRS in 2020 were CHF 4.8 million compared to CHF 5.3 million in 2019. Finance costs of CHF 10.3 million (CHF 4.1 million in 2019) consisted primarily of interest payments for the two outstanding bonds and realized and unrealized foreign currency losses. Share of loss of equity-accounted investees net of tax was CHF 4.2 million in 2020, which was flat compared to 2019. Net profit (adjusted) before minority interests was CHF 2.9 million, compared to CHF 32.0 million last year. Diluted EPS (adjusted) in 2020 was CHF 0.42 per share compared to CHF 4.69 per share in 2019. Net cash generated from operating activities u-blox generated cash from operating activities of CHF 39.5 million in 2020, a decline of 48.9% compared to the previous year (2019: CHF 77.3 million), due to lower business levels. Net working capital improved with inventory levels adjusted to the declined revenues. Investing Activities Investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets totaled CHF 42.8 million for 2020 compared to CHF 56.9 million in 2019. Free cash flow (before acquisitions) was CHF -3.0 million compared to CHF 21.3 million last year. Due to differing maturities of projects in the R&D pipeline and the refocusing of some development projects across all product categories, capitalization of development costs decreased to CHF 36.8 million from CHF 50.0 million in 2019. In 2020, 88.3% of total investments went into the development of new products compared to 87.9% in 2019. No investments were made into production capacity expansion in 2020 and also none in 2019. Financing Activities In 2020, u-blox paid total dividends of CHF 4.3 million by means of a par value reduction of CHF 0.60 to CHF 14.80 per share. Financial Position At 31 December 2020, u-blox had a solid balance sheet with an equity ratio of 54.6%. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaled CHF 94.4 million as of 31 December 2020, compared with CHF 128.3 million as of 31 December 2019. Goodwill increased due to the acquisition of Thingstream from CHF 56.0 million in 2019 to CHF 60.0 million, or 11.6% of total assets, in 2020. Based on the challenges faced and the Company's financial results in 2020, the Board of Directors will not propose any form of dividend payment at the Annual General Meeting this year. Management Commentary Thomas Seiler, CEO of u-blox, commented, "We ended 2020 with a record orderbook, driven by the long-term growth drivers of our business combined with resurgent demand that began to materialize in the second half of 2020 and continued to accelerate through the end of the year. We are experiencing this significant increase in demand across all of our regions and throughout our end markets. The restart in business activity has been particularly strong in automotive, and geographically, in the Americas and EMEA, where production and business shutdowns were substantial during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, our orderbook is approximately four times the amount we held in summer 2020 and we are very optimistic about the level of opportunities that we see available to u-blox in 2021." "The global semiconductor industry is contending with a tight supply chain situation as the pandemic drove greater than expected demand for electronic devices and digital products. This circumstance is particularly acute in the automotive supply chain. We have been managing our situation carefully, and we are working closely with our customers to offer multiple alternatives to mitigate." "We are solidly positioned in EMEA and AMEC to grow as their economies continue to fully reopen. In the Americas, issues with full adoption of CATM1 networks have been resolved and we plan to capture this and other opportunities with targeted go-to-market plans, especially with key accounts. EMEA is expected to benefit from a strong swing in automotive and we will also focus on expanding share in several fast-growing accounts in both automotive and industrial. We are also expecting solid growth in APAC in 2021, with automotive being a key factor in Japan and Korea. China will continue to be the largest part of our business in APAC and we expect continued growth evidenced by recent design wins and strong momentum across end markets. We see no abatement of the secular trends driving the ubiquitous growth of positioning and wireless technology for the industrial IoT, and moreover we believe the pandemic has accelerated the digital and electronic transformation shaping in our world." Outlook For 2021, u-blox is providing the following high-level guidance: While we are currently experiencing a strong level of business activity across our regions and end markets, the situation remains challenging due to the continued uncertainty caused by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy as well as the present tight supply situation within the global semiconductor industry. The indications are made on the basis of the previous year average foreign exchange rates. Revenue growth in the range 5% to15% EBITDA margin (adjusted) in the range of 16% to 22% EBIT margin (adjusted) in the range of 9% to 15% Entire press release with tables 2020 Full year report Presentation Conference call and webcast details Thomas Seiler, CEO and Roland Jud, CFO, will host a conference call and webcast with analysts and investors Friday, 12 March, at 2:30 PM CET. To participate, please dial the following number approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call: Switzerland / Europe: +41 (0) 58 310 50 00 United Kingdom: +44 (0) 207 107 06 13 United States: +1 (1) 631 570 56 13 Other numbers: See list Pre-Registration Link: https://ccwebcast.eu/links/ublox210312/indexl.html The webcast will be available at the u-blox website after the event. About u-blox u-blox (SIX:UBXN) is a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies for the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. Their solutions let people, vehicles, and machines determine their precise position and communicate wirelessly over cellular and short range networks. With a broad portfolio of chips, modules, and a growing ecosystem of product supporting data services, u-blox is uniquely positioned to empower its customers to develop innovative solutions for the Internet of Things, quickly and cost-effectively. With headquarters in Thalwil, Switzerland, the company is globally present with offices in Europe, Asia, and the USA. Find us on www.u-blox.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter @ublox and YouTube Financial calendar Annual General Meeting: 22 April, 2021 Half year results 2021: 20 August, 2021 Analyst day: 23 November, 2021 u-blox investor releations contacts: Switzerland and Europe: Doris Rudischhauser, c/o Dynamics Group AG Phone: +41 79 410 81 88 E-mail: dru@dynamicsgroup.ch US: Jeehae Linford, c/o The Equity Group Inc. Phone: +1 (404) 840-3122 E-mail: jlinford@equityny.com u-blox AG Zurcherstrasse 68 8800 Thalwil Switzerland Phone +41 44 722 74 44 Fax +41 44 722 74 47 info@u-blox.com www.u-blox.com Disclaimer This release contains certain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the u-blox Group to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include risks related to the success of and demand for the Group's products, the potential for the Group's products to become obsolete, the Group's ability to defend its intellectual property, the Group's ability to develop and commercialize new products in a timely manner, the dynamic and competitive environment in which the Group operates, the regulatory environment, changes in currency exchange rates, the Group's ability to generate revenues and profitability, and the Group's ability to realize its expansion projects in a timely manner. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this report. u-blox is providing the information in this release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in it as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release is published in German and English. Should the German translation differ from the English original, the English version is binding. SOURCE: u-blox AG View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/635125/u-blox-AG-u-blox-Reports-Full-Year-2020-Financial-Results Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. New Delhi: The Central government has sanctioned Rs 165 crore for the completion stalled builder projects in Greater Noida, that will fulfill the housing dream of 900 buyers, as per a newspaper report. Under the project, to be completed in two phases, buyers will get flats by February next year. Four more builder projects are expected to get money soon, that will enabling in construction of about 2500 more flats, a Hindustan report said. In order to give relief to homebuyers of stalled projects, a Special Window for Completion of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH investment fund) has been created for funding stalled projects that are net-worth positive, including those projects that have been declared as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) or are pending proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. SWAMIH investment fund will provide last mile funding to the stressed affordable and middle-income housing projects in the country. The paper further said that four more projects in the Greater Noida Authority area are expected to be funded soon. A meeting regarding this has been scheduled for March 15 when the said fund will also be likely released. Live TV #mute In September last year, Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha said that in order to boost real estate sector, the Government has taken various initiatives such as reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on under-construction Affordable Housing project from existing 8% to 1% without Input Tax Credit (ITC) and in case of other housing projects from 12% to 5% without ITC; increase in Priority Sector Lending for Affordable Housing Project from Rs. 28 lakh to Rs. 35 lakh in metros and from Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh in non-metros; Setting up of Affordable Housing Fund in National Housing Bank; additional Deduction of Rs. 1.5 lakh on account of Home Loan Interest in addition to the deduction of Rs. 2 lakh for affordable housing, Extension of 100% deduction on profits for construction of affordable housing projects under section 80-IBA of the Income Tax Act till 31.03.2021 and widening the scope of section 80-IBA from 30 to 60 square meters in metros regions and 60 to 90 square meters in non-metros cities. The 10 school districts in Lackawanna County could share more than $65 million in the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief funds. The estimates, provided by the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, include $36 million for the Scranton School District. The seven counties in Northeast Pennsylvania Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming could share $269 million. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act Thursday. The funds for districts will assist school leaders as they navigate beyond the pandemic and get students safely back to in-person instruction. The act requires school districts to direct at least 20% of the new funding to conquering learning loss. Districts must spend the money by October 2023. Total funding estimates from PASBO are: Abington Heights, $2,639,670. Carbondale Area, $5,915,413. Dunmore, $3,300,444. Lakeland, $1,775,142. Mid Valley, $4,155,936. North Pocono, $2,935,617. Old Forge, $1,969,412. Riverside, $3,740,011. Scranton, $36,016,869. Valley View, $2,986,307. The Pennsylvania Department of Education is expected to release official funding totals later this month. School leaders await federal guidance on acceptable uses of the money, but anticipate updating buildings, purchasing technology and starting tutoring programs. Were very much focused on trying to determine the best use of those funds, Abington Heights Superintendent Michael Mahon, Ph.D., said. The district could offer an extended school year program, with classes in the summer for students who need extra help, he said. After-school tutoring programs and planning for both in-person and virtual options for the fall are also possible uses for the funding, Mahon said. Valley View could invest in strengthening technology, including purchasing more Chromebooks and increasing network capacity. An early literacy program, math remediation and increasing mental health services are also possibilities, Superintendent Michael Boccella, Ed.D., said. It will be put to good use, to the benefit of our wonderful students, he said. Scranton, which has started a comprehensive capital improvement project across the district, could use some of the federal funding for that work, officials have said. The district has received more than $22 million in emergency state and federal funding since the pandemic began, using some of it to purchase enough Chromebooks for every student. The new federal money would require the district to spend at least $7.2 million on conquering learning loss. Efforts to reach Superintendent Melissa McTiernan were unsuccessful Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 23:32:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YEREVAN -- Armenian President Armen Sarkissian on Friday went through a medical checkup in a hospital here, according to media reports. The president had complications of the COVID-19 infection, which he contracted in January, reported local Armenpress, citing sources from the President Office. (Armenia-President-Medical Check) - - - - ISLAMABAD -- Sadiq Sanjrani, the candidate from the ruling coalition for the chairman of Pakistan's Senate or the upper house of the country's parliament, has been re-elected as the chairman of the Senate on Friday, Senator Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah who presided over the session for chairman election announced. Sanjrani secured 48 votes in the election, defeating the opposition's candidate for the position Yousuf Raza Gillani, who got 42 votes, Shah said, adding that eight votes were rejected because the voters did not stamp the ballot paper correctly. (Pakistan-Senate Chairman) - - - - ADDIS ABABA -- Ethiopian state media outlet, Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) on Friday said two separate attacks by rebels have left 42 civilians dead. EBC reported the first attack which occurred on Sunday left 22 civilians dead and the second attack which happened on Thursday left another 20 civilians dead. (Ethiopia-Rebel-Attack) - - - - THE HAGUE -- Pirates attacked tanker Davide B in the Gulf of Guinea and kidnapped 15 crew members, the Netherlands-based shipowner De Poli Shipmanagement said on Friday. According to a statement, six other seafarers of the ship are safe and remain on board. The ship is currently attended by security personnel that have arrived on the scene. (Netherlands-Kidnapping) Enditem Saumu Agnes Mbuvi has admitted that her biggest challenge with regards to dating is breaking from her relationship hopping cycle. The daughter of former Nairobi governor said she finds it hard to stay single and is always rushing into a new love affair after a break-up. Problem yangu, I have always been scared of being single na nilikuwa na haraka ya kuingia kwa relationship at a time I did not heal from the previous relationship, Saumu said on Radio Jambo. True to her words, Saumu has in the last couple of years been in three known relationships that came short of marriage. Saumu was first engaged to be married to Benson Gatu before they broke up sometime in 2017 when she was pregnant with their child. The following year, she unveiled her new fiance but the engagement also fell apart before they had even celebrated one year together. Then in 2019, it became apparent she was dating Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip after they were attacked in a bar brawl at the Memphis Lounge along Thika Road near USIU. The two have since broken up amid allegations of domestic abuse. According to Saumu, Loitiptip wooed her when she was still mending a broken heart. Huyu Mwanume alinipata kwa sababau nilikuwa na heartbreak hiyo time. Kwa sababu shida yangu kubwa sijui kukaa single. Hii ndo shida yangu kubwa. I have been swimming in relationships, by the way sikuwa najua kukaa single. Najipata kwa hii relationship, mara tumeachana tayari niko kwa ingine hata sijmaliza siku moja, she recounted. Saumu added: Yule mwanaume alinipata kama niko broken down and I needed a shoulder to lean on, akakuja kama rafiki kumbe alikuwa son of Pharaoh because you never know intentions za mtu Tulipatana Facebook, akaanza kunitumia message saa hizo ananiita my sister sijui ninilakini kwa hayo yote I have to forgive myself for being a fool. We speak the truth and let the truth judge us. Also Check Out Saumu Sonko: Senator Loitiptip Would Come Home Drunk and Start Strangling Me MINNEAPOLIS The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyds family over the Black mans death in police custody, even as jury selection continued in a former officers murder trial. The Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the record settlement, which includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Floyd was killed. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump called a news conference for 1 p.m. that was to include family members. Crump, in a prepared statement, said it was the largest pretrial civil rights settlement ever, and sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end. Floyd was declared dead on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a former officer who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes. Floyds death sparked sometimes violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond and led to a national reckoning on racial justice. I hope that today will center the voices of the family and anything that they would like to share, Council President Lisa Bender said. But I do want to, on behalf of the entire City Council, offer my deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, his friends and all of our community who are mourning his loss. Floyds family filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in July against the city, Chauvin and three other fired officers charged in his death. It alleged the officers violated Floyds rights when they restrained him, and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity to flourish in its police force. In 2019, Minneapolis agreed to pay $20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an unarmed woman who was shot by an officer after she called 911 to report hearing a possible crime happening behind her home. The federal lawsuit sought unspecified compensatory and special damages in an amount to be determined by a jury. It also sought a receiver to be appointed to ensure that the city properly trains and supervises officers in the future. Meanwhile, another potential juror was dismissed Friday after she acknowledged having a negative view of the defendant. The woman, a recent college graduate, said she had seen bystander video of Floyds arrest and closely read news coverage of the case. In response to a jury pool questionnaire, she said she had a somewhat negative view of Chauvin and that she thought he held his knee to Floyds neck for too long. I could only watch part of the video, and from what I saw as a human, I, that did not give me a good impression, she said. She said she did not watch the bystander video in its entirety because I just couldnt watch it anymore. The woman repeatedly said she could put aside her opinions and decide the case on the facts, but Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson nonetheless used one of his 15 challenges to dismiss her. With jury selection in its fourth day, six people have been seated five men and one woman. Three of those seated are white, one is multiracial, one is Hispanic and one is Black, according to Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill. Cahill has set aside three weeks for jury selection, with opening statements no sooner than March 29. Fridays quick dismissal echoed others earlier in the case for similar reasons. On Thursday, one woman was dismissed after she said she cant unsee the video of Chauvin pinning Floyd. Nelson pressed the woman hard on whether she could be fair despite her strong opinions. Looking in your heart and looking in your mind can you assure us you can set all of that aside, all of that, and focus only on the evidence that is presented in this courtroom? Nelson asked. I can assure you, but like you mentioned earlier, the video is going to be a big part of the evidence and theres no changing my mind about that, she replied. Potential jurors identities are being protected and they are not shown on livestreamed video of the proceedings. Chauvin and three other officers were fired. The others face an August trial on aiding and abetting charges. The defense hasnt said whether Chauvin will testify in his own defense. --The Associated Press Good evening, my fellow Americans. Tonight I would like to talk to you about where we are as we mark one year since everything stopped because of this pandemic. A year ago, we were hit with the virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked - denials for days, weeks, then months that led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness. Photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another era - the last vacation, the last birthday with friends, the last holiday with extended family. While it was different for everyone, we all lost something a collective suffering, collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life and the loss of living for all of us, but in the loss, we saw how much there was to gain in appreciation, respect and gratitude. Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do. In fact, it may be the most American thing we do, and that is what we have done. We have seen front-line and essential workers risking their lives, sometimes losing them to save and help others; researchers and scientists bracing for a vaccine; and so many of you, as Hemingway wrote, being strong in all of the broken places. I know its been hard; I truly know. As I've told you before, I carry a card in my pocket with a number of Americans who have died from COVID to date; its on the back of my schedule. As of now, total deaths in America 527,726. Thats more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined. They were husbands, wives, sons and daughters, grandparents, friends, neighbors, young and old. They leave behind loved ones unable to truly grieve or to heal, even have a funeral, but Im also thinking about everyone else who lost this past year to natural causes by cruel fate of accident or other disease. They, too, died alone. They, too, leave behind loved ones who are hurting badly. President Joe Biden takes off his mask to speak about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House You know you've often heard me say before I talk about the longest walk any parent can make is up a short flight of stairs to his childs bedroom to say I'm sorry I lost my job, can't be here anymore, like my dad told me when he lost his job in Scranton. So many of you had to make that same walk this past year; you lost your job, you closed your business, facing eviction, homelessness, hunger, the loss of control, maybe worst of all the loss of hope. Watching a generation of children who may be set back up to a year or more because they have not been in school because of their loss of learning. Its the details of life that matter the most, and we miss those details, the big details and the small moments, weddings, birthdays, graduations; all of the things that needed to happen but didn't - a first date, the family reunions, the Sunday night rituals, its all exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us. For we are fundamentally a people who want to be with others to talk, to laugh, to hug, to hold one another, but this virus has kept us apart. Grandparents havent seen their children or grandchildren; parents havent seen their kids; kids havent seen their friends. The things we used to do that always filled us with joy have become things we couldn't do and broke our hearts. Too often, we've turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives sometimes, it divides us. States pitted against one another instead of working with each other; vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated. At this very moment, so many of them - our fellow Americans on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives - and still, still they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. Its wrong, its un-American, and it must stop. Look, we know what we need to do to beat this virus; tell the truth, follow the scientists, the science, work together, put trust and faith in our government to fulfill its most important function, which is protecting the American people - no function more important. We need to remember the government isnt some foreign force in a distant capital; no, its us, all of us. We, the people. For you and I, that America thrives when we give our hearts, when we turn our hands to common purpose, and right now, my friends, we are doing just that, and I have to say, as your President, Im grateful to you. Last summer, I was in Philadelphia, and I met a small-business owner, a woman, and I asked her, I said, "What do you need most?" Never forget what she said to me. She said, she looked me in the eye, and she said, "I just want the truth, the truth, just tell me the truth." Think of that. My fellow Americans, you are owed nothing less than the truth. And for all of you asking when things will get back to normal, here is the truth: The only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track is to beat the virus. You have been hearing me say that for - while I was running and the last 50 days I have been President, but this is one of the most complex operations we have ever undertaken as a nation in a long time. Thats why Im using every power I have as President of the United States to put us on a war footing to get the job done. It sounds like hyperbole, but I mean the war footing, and thank God we are making some real progress now. In my first full day in office, I outlined for you a comprehensive strategy to beat this pandemic. We have spent every day since attempting to carry it out. Two months ago, a country - this country didn't have nearly enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all or near all of the American public, but soon we will. We have been working with vaccine manufacturers Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson to manufacture and purchase hundreds of millions of doses of these three safe, effective vaccines, and now at the direction and with the assistance of my administration, Johnson & Johnson is working together with a competitor, Merck, to speed up and increase the capacity to manufacture new Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which is one shot. In fact, just yesterday I announced, and I met with the CEOs of both companies, I announced our plan to buy an additional 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines. These two companies, competitors, have come together for the good of the nation, and they should be applauded for it. Its truly a national effort, just like we saw during World War II. Now because all of the work we've done, we will have enough vaccines for all adults in America by the end of May. Biden said the US would be heading towards normality by July 4 when families and friends will be able to celebrate Independence Day in 'small groups'. Thats months ahead of schedule, and we are mobilizing thousands of vaccinators to put the vaccines in ones arm, calling active-duty military, FEMA, retired doctors and nurses, administrators - and to those who administer the shots. And weve been creating more places to get the shots. Weve made it possible for you to get a vaccine at nearly one - any 1 of 10,000 pharmacies across the country, just like you get your flu shot. Were also working with governors and mayors in red states and blue states to set up and support nearly 600 federally supported vaccination centers that administer hundreds of thousands of shots per day. You can drive up to a stadium or a large parking lot, get your shot, never leave your car and drive home in less than an hour. We've been sending vaccines to hundreds of community health centers all across America located in underserved areas, and weve been deploying and we will deploy more mobile vehicles from pop-up clinics to meet you where you live so those who are least able to get the vaccine are able to get it. We continue to work on making at-home testing available. And weve been focused on serving people in the hardest hit communities of this pandemic: Black, Latino, Native American and rural communities. So what does all this add up to? When I took office 50 days ago, only 8% of Americans - after months, only 8% of those over the age of 65 had gotten their first vaccination. Today, that number is 65%. Just 14% of Americans over the age of 75 50 days ago had gotten their first shot. Today, that number is well over 70%. With new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, that came out on Monday, it means simply this: Millions and millions of grandparents, who went months without being able to hug their grandkids can now do so. And the more people are fully vaccinated, the CDC will continue to provide additional guidance on what you can do in the workplace, places of worship, with your friends, as well as travel. When I came into office, you may recall, I set a goal that many of you said was that kind of way over the top. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in peoples arms in my first 100 days in office. Tonight, I can say were not only going to meet that goal. Were going to beat that goal because weve actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this. None. And I want to talk about the next steps for thinking about. First, tonight, Im announcing that I will direct all states, tribes and territories to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1. Let me say that again. All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. Thats much earlier than expected. Let me be clear, that doesnt mean everyones going to have that shot immediately, but it means youll be able to get in line beginning May 1. Every adult will be eligible to get their shot. And to do this, were going to go from a million shots a day that I promised in December before I was sworn in, to maintaining, beating our current pace of 2 million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world. Secondly, at the time when every adult is eligible in May, we will launch with our partners new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot, including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones. Thirdly, with the passage of the American Rescue Plan - and I thank, again, the House and Senate for passing it - and my announcement last month, I have a plan to vaccinate teachers and school staff, including bus drivers. We can accelerate massive nationwide effort to reopen our schools safely and meet my goal that I stated at the same time of about 100 million shots - of opening the majority of K through 8 schools in my first 100 days in office. This is going to be the number one priority of my new Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Biden was also criticized for taking credit for the vaccine rollout that began under Trump Fourth, in the coming weeks, we will issue further guidance on what you can and cannot do once fully vaccinated to lessen the confusion, to keep people safe, and encourage more people to get vaccinated. And finally, fifth, and maybe most importantly, I promise I will do everything in my power. I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people, I need you. I need every American to do their part. Thats not hyperbole, I need you. I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well. Because heres the point. If we do all this, if we do our part, we do this together, by July the 4th, theres a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn't mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together. After this long, hard year that will make this Independence Day something truly special where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we began to mark our independence from this virus. But to get there, we cant let our guard down. This fight is far from over. As I told the woman in Pennsylvania, Ill tell you the truth. On July 4th with your loved ones is the goal. But a goal - a lot can happen. Conditions can change. The scientists have made clear that things may get worse again as new variants of the virus spread. Weve got work to do to ensure that everyone has confidence and the safety and effectiveness of all three vaccines. So my message to you is this. Listen to Dr. Fauci, one of the most distinguished and trusted voices in the world. Hes assured us the vaccines are safe. They underwent rigorous scientific review. I know theyre safe. Vice President Harris and I know theyre safe. Thats why we got the vaccine publicly in front of cameras so, for the world to see so you get to see us do it. The first lady and the second gentleman also got vaccinated. Talk to your family, friends, your neighbors, the people you know best who have gotten the vaccine. We need everyone to get vaccinated. We need everyone to keep washing their hands, stay socially distanced, and keep wearing the mask as recommended by the CDC, because even if we devote every resource we have, beating this virus and getting back to normal depends on national unity. And national unity isn't just how politics and politicians vote in Washington and what the loudest voices are saying on cable or online. Unity is what we do together as fellow Americans, because if we dont stay vigilant and the conditions change, then we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track. And please, we dont want to do that again. We've made so much progress. This is not the time to let up. Just as we were emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and summer is not the time to not stick with the rules. Ill close with this. We've lost so much over the last year. We've lost family and friends. We've lost businesses and dreams we spent years building. We've lost time, time with each other. And our children have lost so much time with their friends, time with their schools, no graduation ceremonies this spring. No graduations from college, high school, moving-up ceremonies. You know, and there's something else we lost. We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people. But as I stand here tonight, were proving once again something Ive said time and time again to the - probably tired of hearing me say it. I say it to foreign leaders and domestic alike. Its never, ever a good bet to bet against the American people. America is coming back. The development, manufacture, distribution of vaccines in record time is a true miracle of science. It's one of the most extraordinary achievements any country has ever accomplished. We also just saw the Perseverance rover land on Mars, stunning images of our dreams that are now reality, another example of the extraordinary American ingenuity, commitment and belief in science and one another. And today I signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people, includes $1,400 in direct rescue checks, payments. That means a typical family of four earning about $110,000 will get checks for $5,600 deposited if they have direct deposit, or in a check, a Treasury check. It extends unemployment benefits. It helps small businesses. It lowers health care premiums for many. It provides food and nutrition, keeps families in their homes. And it will cut child poverty in this country in half, according to the experts. And it funds all the steps Ive just described to beat the virus and create millions of jobs. In the coming weeks and months, Ill be traveling, along with the first lady, the vice president, the second gentleman and members of my Cabinet to speak directly to you, to tell you the truth about how the American Rescue Plan meets the moment. And if it fails in any place, I will acknowledge that it failed, but it will not; about how after long, dark years, one whole year, there is hope and light of better days ahead. If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon, our economy will be on the mend, our kids will be back in school, and we'll have proven once again that this country can do anything, hard things, big things, important things. Over a year ago, no one could have imagined what we were about to go through, but now we're coming through it. And it's a shared experience that binds us together as a nation. We are bound together by the loss and the pain of the days that have gone by. We are also bound together by the hope and the possibilities in the days in front of us. My fervent prayer for our country is that, after all we've been through, we'll come together as one people, one nation, one America. I believe we can and we will. Were seizing this moment in history, I believe, will record we faced and overcame one of the toughest and darkest periods in this nations history, the darkest we've ever known. I promise you we'll come out stronger with a renewed faith in ourselves, a renewed commitment to one another, to our communities and to our country. This is the United States of America, and there's nothing, nothing, from the bottom of my heart I believe this, theres nothing we can't do when we do it together. So, God bless you all. And please, God, give solace to all those people who lost someone. May God protect our troops. Thank you for taking the time to listen. I look forward to seeing you. Britain's communications regulator Ofcom has been criticized for its decision to ban and fine China Global Television Network (CGTN) for political reasons. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005537/en/ CGTN headquarters building in Beijing. /CFP A group of journalists, filmmakers and artists recently challenged Ofcom's "act of censorship" in an open letter published by the No Cold War campaign and the Morning Star. "The decision by Ofcom to remove the broadcasting license of CGTN is an act of censorship which is not in the interests of Britain and its people," the open letter said, calling the move an "attack on free speech." Ofcom revoked the license of CGTN to broadcast in the UK in early February on the grounds of its ultimate control and its political attributes. Beijing slammed the move as political repression against Chinese media. In their letter, the signatories questioned Ofcom's justification for banning CGTN. "Ofcom's justification for taking CGTN off air is that any holder of a broadcasting license in Britain must not be controlled by political bodies. However, this law is only selectively applied. Numerous private and state channels have clear political agendas or control the BBC itself, for example, which had its staff vetted by MI5, has not had its broadcasting license revoked," it said. The letter urged Ofcom to reverse its decision and reinstate CGTN's license. CGTN committed to balanced reporting A spokesperson for CGTN on Tuesday called on the British regulator to calmly listen to the opinions expressed in the letter and end its political crackdown on Chinese media. The spokesperson said that as an international news channel, CGTN is committed to providing "accurate, timely and objective news and information with diverse and balanced views" for its global audiences. "China is increasingly connected and engaged with the rest of the world including the UK," the spokesperson said in a statement. "It is our responsibility to present Chinese viewpoints and perspectives in our news reporting, which is what our viewers expect and is also in the interest of the public." 'The world should be able to hear China's voice' In a separate statement on Tuesday, CGTN said it is disappointed with and firmly opposes Ofcom's latest sanction decisions and adjudications against it. Ofcom on Monday fined CGTN 225,000 British pounds (about $310,933) for "breaching rules on fairness, privacy and due impartiality" just weeks after it stripped the network of its right to air in Britain. "CGTN believes its coverage of the 2019 violent protests in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was fair, truthful and duly impartial," the statement said. "As a news outlet from China, CGTN made it possible for global audiences to see and hear a more complete picture of events in Hong Kong by reporting on the voices opposing violence and destruction," it stressed. "The fact that CGTN has been sanctioned by Ofcom for its objective coverage of the event is unjust." "It is in the public interest that the world should be able to hear China's voice and perspective and see the true picture more clearly," it added. At a regular press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian urged Ofcom and certain individuals to immediately cease engaging in political manipulation and correct their mistakes, slamming the move as "blatant political oppression." https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-10/UK-regulator-criticized-for-act-of-censorship-by-banning-CGTN-YvNehReHaE/index.html View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005537/en/ SUGAR LAND, Texas, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Service King Collision is bringing 45 years of collision repair experience to Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Come this spring, Service King will open its doors at 10215 S. Texas State Highway 6. Service King to expand in Southeast Texas this spring. The nearly 14,000-square-foot auto collision repair facility will feature Service King's new prototype program that merges modern finishes into an advanced auto industry environment. In addition to new Car-O-Liner Frame Rack systems and a fully air-conditioned shop, the facility will have HVAC systems that help minimize its carbon footprint through optimized performance. The shop's spacious drive-under canopies are another distinguishing characteristic, which provides an indication of customer convenience, confidence and trust as soon as the customer arrives. "What better way to celebrate our 45th anniversary than to introduce the Service King promise to the Sugar Land community," said Service King President Jeff McFadden. "First established in Dallas, the company stands proud in our Texas roots and looks forward to serving our customers and carriers in expanded areas across our home state." Service King provides free online photo estimates as well as convenient rental options and towing arrangements. Undergoing a rigorous quality control inspection, the safety and satisfaction of each repair is Service King's top priority. Like all Service King shops, the Sugar Land location will also offer a lifetime guarantee on all repairs. The company's certified technicians are designated I-CAR Gold Class to ensure all vehicles are returned to pre-accident condition. When Sugar Land's new collision repair facility opens, it will mark the 28th Service King in the Houston area and 96th in Texas, with more than 300 locations systemwide. Service King Sugar Land will maintain the operating hours of Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. To learn more about Service King, visit serviceking.com. About Service King Collision Service King Collision, which is now celebrating 45 years of experience in the automotive repair industry, is a leading national operator of comprehensive, high-quality auto body collision repair facilities. The organization is consistently recognized for its commitment to customer satisfaction, quality workmanship and giving back to the industry through innovative training and recruiting initiatives. Service King traces its roots back to Dallas, Texas and founder Eddie Lennox who opened the very first Service King in 1976. Today, Service King operates locations in 24 states and the District of Columbia across the U.S. For more information and to find a local Service King, visit serviceking.com and follow Service King on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact: Emily Ashmun, Service King Collision [email protected] Jami Sharp 4694267657 [email protected] SOURCE Service King Related Links http://www.serviceking.com Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX:CS) has today filed on SEDAR a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant technical report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Cozamin Mine, Zacatecas, Mexico" for the updated life of mine plan to 2031 and estimated Mineral Reserves announced on January 27, 2021. The Technical Report was prepared in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrator's NI 43-101-Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects; and is available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and the Company's web site at www.capstonemining.com. ABOUT CAPSTONE MINING CORP. Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. Our two producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US and the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico. In addition, Capstone owns 70% of Santo Domingo, a large scale, fully-permitted, copper-iron-gold project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, as well as a portfolio of exploration properties. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at www.capstonemining.com. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release, and the documents incorporated by reference herein, contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect our expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the continuing success of mineral exploration, Capstone's ability to fund future exploration activities, the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the expected success of the underground paste backfill system study, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our mining operations, the estimations for potential quantities and grade of inferred resources and exploration targets, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "aiming", "approximately", "guidance", "scheduled", "target", "estimates", "forecasts", "extends", "convert", "potential", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "will", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining operations and closure of mining, projects, the inherent uncertainty of mineral exploration and estimations of exploration targets, potential delays in exploration due to COVID-19 or governmental action, increase to operating costs directly or indirectly related to due to COVID-19 including but not limited to supply chain issues, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise capital or fund explorations, Capstone's ability to acquire properties for growth, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our operations, title or royalty claims and rights to mineral tenure, increased taxes on mining activities, interruption of production due indirectly or directly to criminal activity land reclamation and mine closure obligations, uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the Cozamin project, increased operating and capital costs, challenges to title to our mineral properties, maintaining ongoing social license to operate, dependence on key management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats, legal proceedings, and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and MD&A of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 43-101 COMPLIANCE Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, 13 and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents. The following Qualified Persons, as defined by NI 43-101, are independent from Capstone (except as noted below) and have reviewed and approved the content of this news release that is based on content from their respective portions of the 2020 Technical Report: Gregg Bush, P.Eng. (Non-independent), Leslie Correia, Pr.Eng., Paterson Cooke Canada Inc., Jenna Hardy, P.Geo., FGC, Nimbus Management Ltd., Tucker Jensen, P.Eng., Capstone Mining Corp. (Non-independent), Darren Kennard, P.Eng., Golder Associates Ltd., Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., FGC, Kirkham Geosystems Ltd., Chris Martin, CEng MIMMM, Blue Coast Metallurgy Ltd., Vivienne McLennan, P.Geo., Capstone Mining Corp. (Non-independent), Josh Moncrieff, P.Geo., Capstone Mining Corp. (Non-independent) and Humberto Preciado, PhD, P.E., Wood Environment Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. The Technical Information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with definitions and best practices referenced in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Capstone's Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, a Qualified Person and the person who oversees exploration activities on the Cozamin Mine property. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311006053/en/ Contacts: Jerrold Annett, SVP, Strategy and Capital Markets 647-273-7351 jannett@capstonemining.com Virginia Morgan, Director, IR and Communications 604-674-2268 vmorgan@capstonemining.com TikTok is losing it over this unconventional travel hack. Navigating airline rules can be exhausting. You have to carefully separate your items, ensure your liquids are the correct sizes and even weigh your luggage just to get on the plane. And, of course, if your luggage is overweight youve got to pay extra. A TikTok user who goes by @melanated_adventures shared how she gets around the rules. Pillows are free overweight not bags, she wrote in the video caption. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. She then proceeded to fill an empty pillowcase with clothing items. This way it not only functioned as a pillow for the trip but also as additional storage. Genius. The video received over 3.4 million views. TikTok users praised the idea. Im a flight attendant and this is the best travel hack so far, one user commented. You know what, I thought I knew all the travel hacks but I needed this! another said. This is the most brilliant thing Ive ever seen, a TikToker wrote. While many airlines will allow you to bring a pillow aboard, others may count it as a personal item. Coats, travel pillows, books, etc. are all generally accepted as part of your attire, according to the travel blog, Sleep Judge. But due to the size of a pillow, if it cannot fit within your backpack or personal bag, it may be considered your one allotted personal item. So if you plan on using this hack, be sure to check what pillow size is appropriate for your airline. You dont want to get stuck with any additional fees when thats exactly what youre trying to avoid! This lavish body scrub will change your life: In The Know is now available on Apple News follow us here! If you enjoyed this story, read about this TikTokers secret behind how she got her two-bedroom apartment in NYC. More from In The Know: TikToker Lauren Kettering opens up about leaving Not a Content House This $15 drugstore foundation is going viral (again) on TikTok The best iron Ive ever owned: Amazon shoppers love this 2-in-1 hair straightener and curler Sephoras 2021 Accelerate program features 8 new BIPOC beauty brands The post TikTokers travel hack for over-packers is brilliant appeared first on In The Know. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 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. Ken is turning 60, two years after his best friend Barbie did. A reproduction of the original Ken doll, launched in 1961 as a companion to Barbie, appears in Bergen County, N.J., on Monday, March 8, 2021. Mattel has put the doll on sale this week to commemorate its 60th anniversary. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey) Ken is turning 60, two years after his best friend Barbie did. Mattel launched a reproduction of the original Ken doll on Thursday to commemorate his 1961 debut. That slender doll with blond felt hair wears a red bathing suit and comes with red sandals and a yellow towel. Over the years, Ken's body type, hair textures and fashion choices have become more diverse. The company said it is working with several fashion designers to celebrate Kens birthday and showcase him as an influencer. The designs will be viewable on Instagram with the handle @BarbieStyle. Ken, much like Barbie, has always been a reflector of the times that he lives in, said Robert Best, Barbie senior director of design at Mattel. The original, clean-cut 60s version of Ken became much groovier over that first decade. I would say Ken is a good friend and a best friend, a supportive best friend to the Barbie doll, Best said. The original Barbie, launched in 1959, also came in a bathing suit, a minimalist strategy to encourage consumers to buy outfits and accessories. That was really what the play pattern was, that you bought a single doll and then you would add the different fashions to play out the different careers and roles the dolls would play, Best said. Best said Mattel sold 76 million dolls last year, numbers that show that Ken is an important part of that world and contributes to Barbies success. Barbie and Ken were named after the children of Mattel founders Elliot and Ruth Handler. On Wednesday, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger and the defense for Kyle Rittenhousethe fascist youth charged with killing two anti-police violence protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin last Augustagreed to postpone the teenagers murder trial for seven months. In a four-minute virtual appearance before Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder, Rittenhouses lawyer Mark Richards agreed with DA Binger that more time was needed to prepare the trial originally scheduled to begin on March 29. Rittenhouse displays a white supremacist hand gesture while meeting with members of the Proud Boys Binger told Judge Schroeder that he was recommending a trial date in the fall with a status update in two months. Binger said, There are a number of outstanding issues in discovery, some DNA testing and some other issues that need to be taken care of. There are also some logistics with regard to the eventual jury that will need to be hammered out. ... Attorney Richards and I have discussed the option of setting a trial date sometime in the fall and trying to see if we can work towards that. Richards then replied that he supported moving the trial to fall although he was also interested in moving this matter forward. Judge Schroeder said that the extension request was unusual in that it would mean that more than a year would elapse since Rittenhouse had been arraigned. The judge asked Rittenhousewho has been out on $2 million bond since November 20if he had a problem with the extension and the defendant said he did not. Judge Schroeder then set the final pretrial hearing for May 17 and a trial date of November 1 and concluded the hearing. The requested postponement of the Rittenhouse trial is an indication that the prosecutor is preparing for a courtroom battle with the well-financed and politically connected legal representatives of the shooter who was openly supported by then-President Donald Trump on the grounds that the teenager acted in self-defense. Rittenhouse who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting was charged with five felonies for killing two menJoseph Rosenbaum (36) and Anthony Huber (26)and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25. The shooter, who pleaded not guilty to all charges in January, traveled 30 miles from his hometown of Antioch, Illinois to join an armed militia that volunteered to protect property during the protests that followed the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed 29-year-old black man, two days earlier. Remarkably, even though Rittenhouse fired his AR-15-style assault rifle numerous times that evening with deadly impact, he was permitted to walk through police lines, return to his vehicle and drive back to his hometown without interruption. The shooter turned himself in to Antioch police the next morning where he was detained pending his extradition to Kenosha to face felony charges, including first degree intentional homicide in the death of Rosenbaum and first degree reckless homicide in the death of Huber. Numerous smartphone videos captured by bystanders showed the unfolding of Rittenhouses confrontation with protesters and some of these streamsalong with eyewitness interviewsbecame the basis for the charges against him. The teenage shooter was immediately hailed as a hero by the far-right and fascist elements supporting Trump. After he was extradited against the objections of his attorney, Rittenhouse was able to post $2 million bond raised in a campaign launched by Fight Back, an organization founded by L. Lin Wood, the fascist attorney from Atlanta who has represented Trump. While out on bail, Rittenhouse and his mother have been celebrated by the Republican Party, and, following his not guilty pleas, the shooter has been seen in public flashing white power hand gestures and singing the anthem of the fascist Proud Boys with supporters of the organization. A motion filed by DA Binger to increase Rittenhouses bond and to have him rearrested for violating the terms of his bail agreement was struck down by Judge Schroeder on February 11. In an extraordinary alignment of the judge with the far-right supporters of Rittenhouse, DA Binger was denied access to the address where Rittenhouse has been residing since his release, a standard procedure in murder cases where the defendant is out on bond. In attendance at the March 10 hearing in addition to Judge Schroeder, DA Binger, Rittenhouse and his attorney Richard was Kimberly Motley, attorney for the families of Rosenbaum and Huber and shooting victim Grosskreutz. Motley told Urban Milwaukee of Rittenhouse, His behavior has not been appropriate, and it will be interesting to see how this trial will move forward. GQ Magazine published a major feature about the Kenosha shooter on Wednesday that provides details about the background of the now 18-year-old Rittenhouse. GQ reporter Doug Bock Clark writes that Rittenhouse idolized the police from an early age and he enrolled in a cadet program, which offered rearms training and the chance to ride along in patrol cars. Rittenhouse and his mother made frequent use of the so-called thin blue line aga black-and-white version of the American ag, with a single blue stripe. The report goes on, When he was nine years old, his mother shared a picture on Facebook of her boy wielding an AR-15-style assault rie, the mass-market military-inspired weapon Americans have snapped up by the millionssometimes for as little as a few hundred dollars from big-box retailers. In the photo, he stands in a muddy yard, the weapon comically large in his stubby arms, its magazine well empty. He smiles with cherubic cheekiness while one nger pokes at the trigger. Clark describes Rittenhouse as coming from an unstable upbringing in a family beset by financial problems and numerous evictions and writing that he attended some high school but seems to have left without nishing ninth grade. He was known by classmates as a supporter of Donald Trump. A video posted to Rittenhouses TikTok account showed him ring the rie in a wooded area while a rap song played. The social media account carried the subtitles Bruh Im just tryna be famous, Trump 2020, and BLUE LIVES MATTER. These details clearly expose as false the presentation of Rittenhouse by his supporters as a blue-collar high school kid who volunteered to clean graffiti off buildings and brought a first aid kit to Kenosha to simply help people. NEWS PROVIDED BY Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights March 12, 2021 NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's duplicity: Now that Gov. Cuomo has been accused of being a serial predator, he is insisting that his due process rights be respected. Yet when it came to accused priests, Cuomo sang a different tune. Cuomo has a different standard for himself. When asked this week about the charges against him, he said, "You can allege something, might be true, might not be true. You may have misperceived, there may be other facts." If this is his best defense, the man is in trouble. Nevertheless, what he said was accurate. Not all allegations are true. Misperceptions are not uncommon. There may be other facts that have yet to surface. That's why the accused, including him, are entitled to due process. However, when it came to allegations against priestsfor offenses alleged to have happened decades earlierCuomo showed no respect for their due process rights. He was happy to sign legislation that gave rapacious lawyers out to sunder the Catholic Church all the leeway they wanted. Just as important, Cuomo knew these lawyers would focus on the Church and not pursue claims against public school teachers. Given the generosity of the teachers' unions at election time, he was not about to demand that their sordid record of child rape be prosecuted. When Cuomo signed the bill aimed at the Catholic Church in 2019, he called out the Church for fighting the legislation. What he said was as ignorant as it was cruel. Cuomo accused Catholic Church officials of "threatening" those who were not supportive of their opposition to the bill. He said, "I believe it was the conservatives in the Senate who were threatened by the Catholic Church. And this went on for years." When teachers' unions oppose a bill it is called lobbying. When bishops oppose a bill it is called a threat. Cuomo's double standard, and his animus against the Catholic Church, could not be more plain. What he failed to note is that for over a decade, bills targeting the sexual abuse of minors did not apply to the public sector. It took the bishops, and the Catholic League, to demand that the bill be made inclusive of all entities. We didn't threaten anyone. Our major concern was the due process rights of accused priests. Most of the allegations took place a very long time ago, making it difficult to determine innocence or guilt. We know that memories fade and witnesses die, which is why we have statutes of limitations in the first place. There is nothing "threatening" about opposing bills that gut this fundamental due process provision. If I had said about accused priests, "You can allege something, might be true, might not be true. You may have misperceived, there may be other facts," would Cuomo have agreed with me? Not a chance. In fact, on the day he signed the bill that the Church opposed, he blithely assumed that all of the accused priests were guilty. "I want to start by applauding these victims/advocates who went through a horrendous violation in life and an aggravated defilement because it was a person in authority, a person who was supposed to be respected." So there we have it. The accusers are to be believed and the accused is guilty. If Cuomo's standard for priests were applied to himself, then his accusers are telling the truth and he is guilty. And if that is the case, why is he still in office, especially now that he is accused of sexual assault? Contact: Press.Office@exec.ny.gov Schools, restaurants, shops and museums set to close in half of Italy from Monday as nation faces "new wave" of covid-19 and a second Easter under lockdown. Italy is to be split between high-risk red zones and medium-risk orange zones, under the nation's tiered system of coronavirus restrictions, from 15 March. The move, which will effectively see half the country placed under lockdown from Monday, comes amid a sharp rise in new cases and increasing pressure on intensive care units in most regions. Speaking during a visit to a covid-19 vaccination hub at Rome's Fiumicino airport this afternoon, Italy's premier Mario Draghi said: "Unfortunately, one year after the start of the emergency, there is a new wave of contagion." Accompanying Draghi was the governor of Lazio, Nicola Zingaretti, who confirmed that the Lazio region - which includes Rome - will be classified as a maxium level red zone from 15 March. Under Italy's updated list of colour-coded zones, the following regions will become red zones from Monday: Basilicata, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio (Rome), Lombardia (Milan), Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Veneto and the autonomous province of Trento. The rest of Italy's regions will be classified as medium-risk orange zones, with the exception of Sardinia which remains in the lowest-risk white zone category. There will be no regions in the lower-risk yellow zones from 15 March. In red zones, non-essential shops, hairdressers, restaurants and museums are closed. All schools are closed (including kindergartens) with distance learning applying from elementary school onwards. People are restricted from leaving their homes unless for urgent or necessary reasons such as work or health. Food shops and pharmacies remain open. On top of the regional measures, red zone restrictions will apply nationwide from 3-5 April, effectively placing the country under a national lockdown over the Easter holiday weekend. The new restrictions, approved by the Italian government in tandem with regional authorities, are due to be signed into effect this evening. From 15 March until 5 April, regions with more than 250 weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants will automatically be classified as red zones. "In the last week there have been more than 150,000 infections, compared to 131,000 the previous week, an increase of almost 5,000 people in hospital and 600 in intensive care," Draghi said today, adding: The memory of what happened last spring is vivid, and we will do everything to prevent it from happening again. This evening, 12 March, Italy's health ministry recorded 26,824 new covid-19 cases and 380 deaths over the last 24 hours. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Gallagher Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan has made a raft of changes to his twenty-three to face the Crusaders in Christchurch as Chiefs look to bounce back from a dramatic comeback loss against Highlanders in their season opener. Lock Josh Lord and loose forward Kaylum Boshier are in-line to make their Sky Super Rugby debut in the second game of this years Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa competition at Orangetheory Stadium on Saturday, March 13 at 7.05pm. McMillan and the side will also welcome the return of Gallagher Chiefs loosehead prop Aidan Ross, midfielder Quinn Tupaea and utility back Chase Tiatia. Tighthead prop Angus Taavao has been promoted to join the starting front row of Reuben ONeill and Samisoni Taukeiaho with Bradley Slater, Ross and Sione Mafileo providing front row cover on the bench. Naitoa Ah Kuoi shifts to bench, seeing All Black Tupou Vaai pair with Lord. Loose forward Mitchell Brown earns his first start at six alongside Gallagher Chiefs co-captain Sam Cane on the openside and in-form Luke Jacobson will pack down the scrum at number eight, completing a powerful forward pack. Only two changes feature to the backline that was a force against the Highlanders in the opening 40 minutes last Friday. Tupaea will start at second five-eighth with All Black midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown covering on the bench. Maori All Blacks winger Shaun Stevenson shifts from the bench to start on the right wing. Remaining in their starting spots will be halves combination of Gallagher Chiefs co-captain Brad Weber and Bryn Gatland, along with winger Etene Nanai-Seturo and All Black fullback Damian McKenzie. Joining the tight five cover will be debutant loose forward Boshier in jersey number twenty. Experienced halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi returns to the twenty-three joining Lienert-Brown and returning Gallagher Chief Chase Tiatia as backline cover. This week we have made a number of changes in our match day twenty-three, says McMillan. Josh and Kaylum get their opportunity to pull on the Gallagher Chiefs jersey for the first time. We were impressed with our debutants last week, but we know the Crusaders are a formidable team and we need to have the right balance of youth and experience. We didnt want to compromise our preparation this week after Anton picked up a niggle in the Highlanders game. He will be a valuable injection off the bench, says McMillan. McMillan finished acknowledging the calibre of the defending champions. The Crusaders have set the benchmark for a number of years now, he says. They have a well-balanced team with plenty of experience and a good group of young talent. We know they are hard to beat at home, when you play down there you dont win unless you deliver an 80-minute performance. Gallagher Chiefs: Reuben ONeill (11) Samisoni Taukeiaho (37) Angus Taavao (36) Tupou Vaai (8) Josh Lord** Mitchell Brown (46) Sam Cane (123) (cc) Luke Jacobson (26) Brad Weber (86) (cc) Bryn Gatland (1) Etene Nanai-Seturo (15) Quinn Tupaea (12) Sean Wainui (39) Shaun Stevenson (53) Damian McKenzie (85) Reserves: Bradley Slater (16) Aidan Ross (36) Sione Mafileo (1) Naitoa Ah Kuoi (13) Kaylum Boshier** Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (32) Anton Lienert-Brown (82) Chase Tiatia (1) () = Gallagher Chiefs caps in brackets *denotes Gallagher Chiefs debut **denotes Sky Super Rugby debut Unavailable for selection: Atu Moli (hips), Laghlan McWhannell (knee), Lachlan Boshier (foot), Pita Gus Sowakula (knee), Kaleb Trask (knee) Game Day Information: Fixture: Crusaders vs. Gallagher Chiefs, Saturday 13 March, 7.05pm Location: Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch Draw: Click here for full 2021 Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa Gallagher Chiefs draw. Squad: Click here for the 2021 Gallagher Chiefs Squad GENESEE COUNTY, MI - A proposed ordinance that would set new guidelines on medical marijuana caregivers in Flushing Township, raising concerns among residents as being too restrictive, will undergo further discussion. Board members unanimously voted Thursday night to move Ordinance 2021-01-Home Occupations Text Amendment back to the planning commission for additional review and for a public hearing. Under the proposed ordinance, caregivers would be required to house and grow their plants in a secured, locked accessory structure on their property -- separate from their home -- as well as allowing township staff to inspect the property at their convenience. The townships proposed ordinance would also require caregivers to possess at least five acres of land, not to operate within 50 feet of a property line, and have the correct equipment for reducing smoke, odor, and noise. If a caregiver is to live on the property, the ordinance further states that the attached building or detached accessory structure being used to grow the plants in, shall not occupy more than 25% or 375 square feet of the residential floor are Related: Residents in Genesee County community upset over proposed medical marijuana ordinance Before taking a vote on the language, township Supervisor Frederick Thorsby opened the meeting for public comments that offered some mixed reviews. To the board members, thank you for your decision to move this back to planning and to have a public hearing, we appreciate that greatly, said resident Ron McClain. Thats a good move. I look forward to having a more formal discussion about this. Despite some support for the measure, other residents voiced their dissatisfaction. Youve opted the worst possible scenario, to make large changes to a number of fronts, said Rick Thompson, a Flint Township resident and medical marijuana advocate. Rethink this, table the motion, dont even send it to planning and zoning, sit on it, do nothing, and let someone else go first. Cindy Fejedelem, a Flushing Township resident for 11 years, revealed to the board her chronic disability and her need for cannabis as part of her treatment plan. The people that youre hurting are people like me, because I cant grow my own and I buy my products, Fejedelem said. I am the kind of people that you guys are trying to hurt and not help. Following the public comments, the board went on to pass the language back to the planning commission. Our feeling is that because we didnt have any participation at the front end of this process, at the public hearing, we want to make sure that people have a chance to participate in this process and get their expertise and what theyll like to see in this ordinance, Thorsby said. He previously said the planning commission developed the language over several months before it came before the board for a first reading in January. A second reading was postponed after residents spoke up with concerns. The planning commission is expected to hold a public hearing at its April 12 meeting. Read more on MLive: Michigan judges cant stop medical marijuana use by probationers, court rules Michigan marijuana stock could offer residents chance to buy their hood back Bay County scores $420K in marijuana sales tax revenue Some of the 20 residents and staff at Cottonwoods care home on Ethel Street who have COVID-19 previously received two vaccination shots against the disease. But the jabs likely didn't have time to take effect, Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. PORTLAND, Ore. Heres a populist slogan for President Joe Bidens infrastructure plan: Pee for Free! Sure, we need investments to rebuild bridges, highways and, yes, electrical grids, but perhaps Americas most disgraceful infrastructure failing is its lack of public toilets. Almost every industrialized country is more bladder-friendly than America. Even poorer countries like China and India manage networks of public latrines. I go between cars or in bushes, Max McEntire, 58, who has been homeless about 10 years, told me as he stood outside the tent where he lives. Sometimes at my age, if your body says pee, youve got to pee. People lose their dignity, they lose their pride. Its not just the homeless who suffer. Taxi drivers, delivery people, tourists and others are out and about all day, navigating a landscape that seems oblivious to the most basic of needs. The same is true of parents out with kids. In Ferguson, Missouri, Walter and Ritania Rice took their children to a city park. Their 2-year-old son needed to pee, there was no toilet around, so Walter Rice took his son behind a bush. A police officer arrested Rice for child neglect, and he was held in jail for nine hours and found guilty by a judge. Whats a parent supposed to do? And what about people with medical conditions that require more frequent urination? How is it that we can afford aircraft carriers but not toilets? For men, its more convenient to disappear behind a trash can, but men also face greater risk of being arrested; 13 states sometimes classify people arrested for public urination as sex offenders. In Florida, a welder named Juan Matamoros was fined and ordered to move away from his home, which was near a park, because 19 years earlier he had been arrested for public urination; as a result, he was considered a lifelong sex offender. Women seem less likely to be arrested but more likely to be humiliated. Its a big hit to your dignity the first time you have to squat down in a field or by the side of the road, said Raven Drake, 37, who works with Street Roots, a Portland group supporting the homeless. Slowly you take these hits to your dignity, and one day you dont even think youre a person anymore. Drake told me that she had lived in a homeless encampment in Portland that was two miles from the nearest restroom, and she flinched as she recounted the shame of having to relieve herself where she could. Toilets, she said, are an infrastructure issue, but also are a humanitarian issue. In the 19th century, the United States did set up public toilets in many cities. They were called public urinals, abbreviated as PU (this may be the origin of PU to mean something that stinks). In the early 20th century, these were supplemented by comfort stations, but most closed in waves of cost-cutting. This is a class issue. Power brokers who decide on infrastructure priorities can find a restaurant to duck into, while that is less true of a Black teenage boy and utterly untrue of an unwashed homeless person. Operating toilets is tough. Cities have found that they are costly and sometimes attract drug use and prostitution. Still, no one would build a home without a bathroom, even though it adds to the expense. So why accept cities without lavatories? The White House can work with cities to expand restroom access. We can work with corporate sponsors. We can use advertising to help underwrite the expense. We can give tax breaks to businesses that open restrooms to all. There are models all over the world. So come on, Biden! Lets see an infrastructure plan that addresses not only bridges and electrical grids, but also bladders and bowels. NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF writes for The New York Times. 'Arrest Randeep Hooda' trends on twitter after his 'sexist and casteist' joke video on Mayawati goes viral Netflix told to stop streaming 'Bombay Begums' over portrayal of children India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Mar 12: The apex child rights body NCPCR has asked Netflix to stop streaming ''Bombay Begums'' citing inappropriate portrayal of children in the web series. In a notice to Netflix on Thursday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the OTT platform to furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which it said it will be constrained to initiate appropriate legal action. Objecting to the alleged inappropriate portrayal of children in the series, the commission said this type of content will not only pollute the young minds but may also result in abuse and exploitation of children. The commission took action based on a complaint which alleged that the series normalises minors indulging in casual sex and drug abuse. "Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content in respect of the children or for the children and shall also refrain themselves from getting into such things," the commission said in its notice. IT raids locations linked to Anurag Kashyap, Tapsee Pannu "Therefore, you are directed to look into this matter and immediately stop streaming of this series and furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which the Commission will be constrained to initiate appropriate action pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of the CPCR (Commission for Protection of Child Rights) Act, 2005," the commission said. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News ''Bombay Begums'' delves into the lives of five women from different sections of society who all want different things in life. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 9:22 [IST] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The orphanage is in an area of northeastern Syria that is controlled by American-backed Kurdish-led authorities and is semiautonomous. Sinjar Province, where the Yazidis are from, lies across the border in Iraq. Mr. Galbraith said an unnamed White House official had helped clear the final obstacles with a call to a Kurdish-Syrian general who is a U.S. ally. The National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment. For the women, the nightmare began when the forces of the Islamic State swept across northern Iraq in 2014, declaring the territory an Islamic caliphate. The terrorist group considers Yazidis pagans. When the ISIS fighters got to the Yazidi homeland that August, they separated the men and older boys and massacred up to 10,000 of them in what the United Nations and the Congress have declared a genocide. About 6,000 women and children were captured, and many were sold to ISIS fighters. They were treated as disposable property, repeatedly raped, traded and sold at will. When ISIS was driven from southeastern Syria in early 2019, most of the Yazidi women were freed and taken with their children to halfway houses. They were told by Yazidi elders that they could go home but that they had to leave their children behind. Many of the children were taken to the Kurdish-run orphanage. Some women who were not identified as Yazidi, including some who hid their ethnicity in order to keep their children, were taken to Al Hol, a squalid detention camp in northeastern Syria for the wives and children of ISIS fighters. Despite the camps conditions, the woman with the 2-and-a-half-year-old pretended to be Arab so that she could stay there and keep her child. During the final days of the caliphate, when American-led airstrikes were pounding Baghuz, Syria, and she was wounded by shrapnel, she fought to keep her infant daughter alive. She fed her flour mixed with water to keep her from starving. She sewed baby clothes from cloth cut from her own dresses. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. There is no shortage of merchandise in China devoted to the former president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. There are commemorative coins, toilet brushes and cat toys; countless figurines, including updated versions of Mount Rushmore, plus all those flags, bumper stickers and hats from campaigns past and future. (Does anyone still believe all that Make America Great Again stuff was really made in America?) Enter the Trump Buddha. A furniture maker and decorator in southern China has cast a sculpture of Mr. Trump in ceramic whiteware, his legs crossed and hands serenely resting in his lap. He is draped in a monks robes, his head is lowered and his eyes are closed, as if in meditative repose, an emotional state not typically associated with the 45th president of the United States. The artist calls it Trump, the Buddha of Knowing of the Western Paradise. He has been already very successful, but now he is still tormenting himself, being obsessed, having a lot of ideas and doubts, the creator, Hong Jinshi, said when asked about his inspiration. Mr. Hongs sculpture reflects an abiding cultural fascination with Mr. Trump in China that began with his election. Many admired his brash style, his familys business ties to China and even his early courtship of Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, whom he called an incredible guy. A slide stolen from a public playground has been recovered three months later after cops found it mounted to a child's bed inside a Washington home. Detectives say the slide, which has been resprayed in blue, was sawed off the city park in Pasco in December. Detective Julie Lee was searching a mobile home for stolen car parts when she came across the 400-pound slide, bolted to the top bunk of a child's bed. Although it had changed colour, the shape of the slide struck her as being familiar and later the Pasco Parks and Recreation Department arrived to confirm that it was indeed the stolen slide. Detective Julie Lee (posing atop the slide) was searching a mobile home for stolen car parts when she came across the 400-pound slide, bolted to the top bunk of a child's bed The slide before it was stolen, resprayed blue, had its top hacked off and bolted to a bunk bed Dustin Allen Bushnell, 30, of Burbank, was booked into Walla Walla County Jail on suspicion of stealing the slide Detective Lee had been searching the home for stolen catalytic converters on February 26 after reports that a thief had been cutting away the exhaust part from cars in the local area. The police department wrote on Facebook: 'To make a long story as short as a cut-off exhaust pipe, our Crime Prevention guy put out some good info on some suspects in the thefts. 'Sharp-eyed patrol officers found a matching truck with suspects. 'Detective Lee came over to help, and about five search warrants later, Detective Lee found herself inside the suspects home in Burbank, looking for catalytic converters and finding a gigantic slide. 'Oh, yes, she also found catalytic converters. And other detectives helped.' Dustin Allen Bushnell, 30, of Burbank, was booked into Walla Walla County Jail on suspicion of stealing the slide. So far the police department has not made any arrests over the stolen catalytic converters. The car parts contain precious metals, including platinum, which can be scrapped for between $50 and $500, depending on the model of car. However, the price of a replacement for the owner is much higher, making the crime particularly infuriating for the victim. Southern Baptist leaders react to Beth Moore leaving denomination Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Southern Baptist pastors and other Christian leaders have weighed in on the topic of Bible teacher Beth Moore leaving the denomination after nearly 30 years and ending her longtime partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources. There comes a time when you have to say, this is not who I am, Moore, 63, told Religion News Service in an interview published Tuesday. I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists, she added. In recent years, Moore has grown increasingly critical of the Southern Baptist denomination, particularly after the election of former President Donald Trump. She told RNS she was shocked at how fellow evangelicals rallied around Trump, particularly after the "Access Hollywood" tape from 2005 was released ahead of the 2016 presidential election. On Twitter, where she now has more than 950,000 followers, she wrote at the time: "I'm one among many women sexually abused, misused, stared down, heckled, talked naughty to. Like we liked it. We didn't. We're tired of it." She has also denounced Christian nationalism and what she deems as the sexism & misogyny that is rampant in segments of the SBC. I love so many Southern Baptist people, so many Southern Baptist churches, but I dont identify with some of the things in our heritage that havent remained in the past, she told RNS. Moore said she ended her longtime publishing relationship with Lifeway, but it will still sell her books. Heres how Christian leaders both within and outside the Southern Baptist denomination have reacted to the news. CC Vice Mayor Lee Captures Only 13.5% of Votes Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) cruised to an easy victory on Tuesday night after capturing more than two-thirds of the vote in a special election to fill the vacant 30th Senate District seat. Semi-official returns show Kamlager with 67.7% of the vote in the seven-candidate field, surpassing the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Her closest opponent and fellow Democrat, Culver City Vice Mayor Daniel Lee, had just 13.5%. Kamlager, who won re-election for the 54th Assembly District last November, will fill the post vacated by her former boss, Holly Mitchell, after she won a seat on the powerful Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Kamlager once was former Sen. Mitchell's district manager. Businessman Joe Lisuzzo, one of the two Republicans in the race, placed third with 6.7% of the votes while Democrat Cheryl C. Turner, a trial lawyer, came in fourth with 5.7%. The other Republican, business consultant Tiffani Jones, received 2.4%, while community organizer Ernesto Alexander Huerta, a member of the Peace and Freedom Party, garnered 2.2%. Renita Duncan, a sergeant major in the U.S. Army Reserves, who ran as a no-party-preference candidate, finished last with 1.8% of the votes. The results will be certified by March 11, according to the Secretary of State's office. The 30th district has the largest African American voting population in the state, according to the Target Book. Roughly two-thirds of voters in the district are registered Democratic, 23% declined to disclose, and 7% are registered Republican The district includes Culver City, Ladera Heights, View Park and West Athens, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Downtown, South Los Angeles, Crenshaw, Mid-City, Century City, Cheviot Hills and Mar Vista. When she will be sworn in later this month, Kamlager will reportedly be the only black woman in the state Senate. Her victory will require a special election to fill her Assembly seat. Kamlager has endorsed Isaac Bryan, who has been a senior adviser to her. Fellow Democrat Heather Hutt, a former state director for then-Sen. Kamala Harris, also announced her candidacy for the Assembly seat. According to state laws, Governor Gavin Newsom has 14 days from Kamlager's resignation from her current seat to call a special election. That special election shall be conducted between 126 and 140 days after the proclamation, state officials said. TN elections 2021: Deputy CM O Panneerselvam files nomination from Bodinayakkanur constituency India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Theni, Mar 12: Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister and AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam on Friday filed his nomination to the Bodinayakkanur constituency for the April 6 Assembly polls and expressed confidence of the party winning a record straight third term in the state. The senior party leader filed his papers on the first day of nomination, which closes on March 19. Elections to 234 Assembly seats are scheduled on April 6. Panneerselvam is seeking a third term from this Assembly segment and will be challenged by DMK's Thanga Tamilselvan, said to be his rival in the district when the latter too was in AIADMK. TN polls: Filing of nominations open today; AIADMK to contest in 178 constituencies, DMK 174 He later joined the DMK before a siding with AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran. "People of the constituency gave me a grand win in 2011 when I first contested from here. I had implemented all the promises made ever since, people's basic needs have been met and I have done my duty as an elected representative," Panneerselvam later told reporters. On that basis, people would vote him for another term and the party will not only do well here, but win all over the state and form the government for the third successive time, he said. He said late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had delivered a lot of welfare measures and growth oriented initiatives after coming to power in 2011, thus endearing the ruling AIADMK to the people and added that the present government under K Palaniswami has taken forward all of the schemes. Therefore people would choose the party once again to be in the ruling saddle, he added. "Our handling of the coronavirus pandemic was even praised by the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi)," he added. Meanwhile, Industries Minister MC Sampath filed his nomination at Cuddalore. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 18:09 [IST] A University of Delaware professor is drawing inspiration from shellfish to develop resilient adhesives for affordable housing and next-generation infrastructure. Jovan Tatar, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and an affiliated faculty in the Center for Composite Materials, received a prestigious NSF CAREER Award to create new durable adhesive joints for concrete structures by mimicking mussel adhesion -- how the shellfish stick to things. Concrete -- a mix of water, gravel or rock, and cement -- is a useful building material for many structures, from museums to bridges. To join two hardened concrete surfaces together and glue other structural materials to concrete, engineers must use a special adhesive, a super-strong type of glue. Existing concrete adhesives are not durable when exposed to moisture, said Tatar, and that's a problem. Most adhesives do not bond well to damp surfaces, and concrete is, intrinsically, a moist material. In addition, many concrete structures, such as bridges and building exteriors, are often exposed to water. In fields such as the automotive and aerospace industries, engineers use special adhesives to accelerate production, prolong product life, reduce stress concentrations, and control maintenance costs, said Tatar. "Similar benefits could be attained in the structural engineering field with adhesives that are specifically designed to withstand the environmental stressors and structural demand in concrete structures," he said. "This need in the field has inspired me to seek nature-inspired solutions for durable adhesive bonding to concrete." Mussels piqued his interest because of their ability to establish and maintain adhesion underwater, on substances made of minerals similar to those found in concrete. Before they end up in your bouillabaisse, mussels live in shallow waters and make special proteins that allow them to plod along and stick to surfaces. A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report recently identified externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (EBFRP) composite retrofits, which strengthen structures made of reinforced concrete, as critical for making concrete infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and restoring decaying urban infrastructure. NIST identified the durability of adhesive bonds to concrete in structures where moisture is a significant concern -- such as along coastlines -- as the highest priority research area. "By enabling durable adhesive bonding to concrete, this project will improve the durability of EBFRP retrofits, which addresses two important needs: the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program's call to improving retrofit technology; and the National Academy of Engineering's Grand Challenge to restore and improve urban infrastructure," said Tatar. After all, to keep up with rapid urbanization, it is estimated that the construction industry must deliver over 13,000 buildings (excluding single-family homes) per day across the world by 2050, which is 3,600 buildings above the current rate of production, he said. "The booming urban population will also generate unprecedented demand for affordable housing and next-generation infrastructure to support sustainable growth," said Tatar. "To meet the needs of modern society, the construction industry must substantially accelerate production which will likely be possible through prefabricated construction and additive manufacturing." New, stronger adhesives could join together prefabricated structural components and combine layers of 3D-printed concrete in a way that promotes structural integrity and enables the seamless transfer of loads through a structure. "I envision fundamental advances in the understanding of bio-inspired adhesion to concrete will enable the development of durable adhesive joining techniques that support innovation and increase productivity in the construction sector," said Tatar. Outreach for students with ADHD Every NSF CAREER Award has an outreach component, an opportunity for scientists to engage with the community and promote STEM. In this portion of this project, Tatar is focusing on outreach to individuals with ADHD. As he wrote in his proposal: "Increasingly wicked problems require disruptive solutions; most often, these originate in highly creative, interdisciplinary teams. Individuals with ADHD exhibit creativity to a much greater extent than the neurotypical population, along with cognitive disinhibition that allows them to consider ideas outside their field. These qualities do not serve them well as engineering students, however -- they are twice as likely to change majors after their first year as their neurotypical peers, largely because engineering curricula rely on teacher-centered modes of instruction which are not sufficiently open to diversity in learning. The overarching goal of my education plan is to nurture a cadre of highly creative engineers capable of creating transformative knowledge." Tatar will design accessible outreach activities for students in grades 4 through 12 in collaboration with UD Engineering's K-12 Outreach group. He will provide summer research internships and personalized mentoring for high school students and first-year undergraduates with ADHD. This aligns with Tatar's research, which requires out-of-the-box thinking and is highly interdisciplinary -- he's collaborating with faculty in biology, biomechanics, surface science, quantum chemistry and materials engineering. Tatar joined UD in 2018 after two years as an assistant professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He holds a doctoral degree and master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Florida and a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Montenegro. ### Nearly two dozen Massachusetts businesses that temporarily lost their liquor licenses for violating state rules meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus also received a total of almost $1.4 million in state COVID-19 relief grants. Of the 57 restaurants, bars, and other businesses whose liquor licenses the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission suspended over COVID-19 breaches, 23 received grants, The Boston Globe reported. They included a Springfield strip club where state inspectors found maskless strippers giving lap dances, a Gardner hotel that hosted more than 400 guests for a pair of weddings, and a Weymouth bar where the owner when confronted by licensing officials responded no government is going to tell me how to run my business. The grants were administered through the quasi-public Massachusetts Growth Capital Corp. A spokesperson for Mike Kennealy, the state secretary of housing and economic development and the MGCCs chair, defended the program, saying it is the largest of its kind in the country to provide direct aid to businesses. All businesses met eligibility requirements when applying for MGCC grants, and MGCC expects all businesses to adhere to all applicable safety protocols in place to minimize transmission of this virus, said Michael Verseckes, the spokesperson. State Sen. Eric Lesser, who co-chairs the Legislatures committee on economic development, said many businesses that never violated the rules did not receive grants. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Minister Donnelly also said mandatory quarantine hotels will be operational "very soon". There is no evidence that any funny business is going on with AstraZenecas supply chain despite constant downward revision of delivery targets by the company, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said. The ministers comments come as the New York Times reports today that tens of millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses are sitting idly on shelves in US manufacturing facilities awaiting trial results, while over 70 countries worldwide, including Ireland have already approved the vaccine. There is reportedly a push on White House and federal health officials to decide whether to keep or share the 30m dose stockpile, with some arguing the administration should let them go abroad to countries in need of the approved vaccine, while others argue that they are not ready to relinquish the vaccine just yet. AstraZeneca are involved in the debate. Read More We understand other governments may have reached out to the US government about donation of AstraZeneca doses, and weve asked the US government to give thoughtful consideration to these requests, Gonzalo Vina, a spokesman for AstraZeneca said. Europe has experienced repeated delays in scheduled deliveries, despite the UK reporting no supply issues with the drugmakers deliveries and the USs unused supply of tens of millions of doses. Although the vaccine is already authorised in over 70 countries, including Ireland, the US trial has not yet reported results, and the company has not yet applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency authorisation. The New York Times has reported that 30 million doses are currently bottled at AstraZenecas facility in West Chester, Ohio, which handles the fill-finish or final phase of the manufacturing process. AstraZeneca has asked the Biden administration to loan some of the stockpile to the European Union, which has for now denied the request. Officials have pushed the White House to decide in the following weeks, and also discussed sending doses to Brazil, the EU or Britain. Whats going on with AstraZeneca is very, very frustrating, not just for Ireland but globally, the Minister said on RTE Radio Ones Morning Ireland. Essentially, what they are saying is they are having unanticipated problems with their supply chain. Theyve been putting in place very significant manufacturing capacity at a speed they would never normally do and theyve admitted they have had problems. Mr Donnelly said he voiced his frustration with the companys newly-appointed country representative for Ireland last night due to volumes being constantly revised downward, which is causing logistical issues and a lot of anxiety amongst the public. The company gave no firm dates to the Health Minister on when the total number of vaccine doses promised to Ireland would arrive, but did recommit to the volumes they have promised to Ireland. It is not fair and not right that they are constantly revising downward their doses delivered, the Minister said. He said that the EU has no evidence that any funny business is going on. Minister Donnelly acknowledged the issues faced by GPs in receiving a steady supply of vaccine for their patients was causing an awful lot of anxiety for some people but said over 99pc over the over-85 cohort have received their first dose. The Minister said that among the three cohorts (nursing home residents and staff, healthcare workers and over-85s) already vaccinated, there has been a 50pc reduction in the number of cases in just seven days. He said this was astonishingly good news. Just 93 people in cohort 4, which consists of people aged 16-69 who are medically at-risk from Covid-19, were vaccinated on Monday, with the weekly target in this cohort set for 10,000. The Minister said we should wait until the end of the week to see if this target will be met. There are 160,000 within this cohort, which Minister Donnelly called a complex group to identify and get to with vaccinations. Stephen Donnelly will meet with Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn today to discuss using AstraZeneca for anyone over 65. Current advice is that over 65s should receive either the Moderna or Pfizer jabs. It is anticipated Dr Glynn will accept the National Advisory Immunisation Committee (NIAC) advice to permit AstraZeneca use for over 65s. Minister Donnelly also admitted the Government are worried that compliance with public health guidance will slip as the lockdown wears on and admitted close contacts and mobility data are a cause for concern. Hotels used for mandatory quarantining should be up and running very shortly the Minister said, adding that the Government is engaging with one major hotel group on the matter and contracts will be finalised soon. Meanwhile, speaking separately this morning, Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe said that the government is determined to get as many vaccines for the country as possible and insisted going through the European Union is the most effective way of doing it. "The fact that we've 18 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines ordered for our country just shows how determined we are. "The reality of it is there is no spare vaccines anywhere in the world. "What we need to do is make sure that AstraZeneca and other manufacturers live up to the commitments that we have. "And doing this through the European Union is the most effective way of Ireland doing it. "The EU overall is a customer that is global in scale because of how much vaccine its ordered, the minister added, speaking on Newstalks The Pat Kenny Show. New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest till March 15 to climate activist Shubham Kar Chaudhari in the Greta Thunberg `Toolkit` case related to the farmers` protest. Chaudhari had moved the court seeking pre-arrest bail in the matter, in which another climate activist Disha Ravi is an accused. She was granted regular bail last month. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana said that his anticipatory bail application will be taken up with the similar plea filed by engineer-turned-activist Shantanu Muluk and lawyer Nikita Jacob on March 15. "Meanwhile, no coercive action be taken against the person until the next date of hearing," the Additional Sessions Judge said. The Bombay High Court had recently granted him transit anticipatory bail, providing him protection till March 12 in order to enable him to approach the competent court in Delhi for seeking appropriate reliefs. Ravi, Muluk and Jacob are facing charges of conspiracy and sedition in the case related to the farmers` protest. The police said that the `Toolkit` was a sinister design to defame India and cause violence. On February 23, the court had granted regular bail to Disha Ravi. The judge allowed the bail considering the "scanty and sketchy evidence on record". In the bail plea, Muluk has asserted that he merely created the document with information on the agitation, which was then edited by others without his knowledge. Live TV Officer Hibbs committed his professional life to Chicago Heights and protecting its citizens and inspiring others to serve our community, including his son, Jimmy, who became a Chicago Heights police officer more than five years ago, Gonzalez said in a statement. Officer Hibbs passing is a grievous loss to both his family and to our city, and my heartfelt condolences are with his family at this moment. FILE PHOTO: A soldier stands guard at a checkpoint on the Grand Unification Bridge which leads to the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - World powers bear responsibility for ignoring crimes against humanity that may still be perpetrated by authorities in North Korea amid a focus on its nuclear programme, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Wednesday. Tomas Ojea-Quintana urged the U.N. Security Council to refer grave violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. He voiced concern at reports of severe punishments imposed for breaking COVID-19 lockdown measures, including alleged orders to "shoot on sight" anyone trying to cross the border. "Crimes against humanity may be ongoing," Ojea-Quintana told the U.N. Human Rights Council. He had received information confirming the findings of a landmark 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry on extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, rape, forced abortion, sexual violence, political persecution and "the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation" in the isolated country. "The urgency to stop violations of such a scale, gravity and nature cannot take a back seat to national interests or geopolitical interests," Ojea-Quintana told the Geneva forum. This was not justifiable under the U.N. Charter, he said, adding: "I believe that the Security Council bears responsibility for its inaction against the continuation of crimes against humanity in the DPR Korea." Ojea-Quintana presented his latest report, issued last week, which said that drastic measures taken by North Korea to contain the novel coronavirus have exacerbated abuses and economic hardship for its citizens, including reports of starvation. "We are concerned about increasing reports of starvation, imprisonment and summary executions," U.S. charge d'affaires Mark Cassayre told the council. Australia's deputy ambassador, Jeffrey Roach, said that North Korea's top priority should be improving the lives of its citizens. "Instead, the regimes focus remains on developing weapons of mass destruction and the vehicles for delivering them," he said. Story continues North Korea's mission to the U.N. in Geneva did not respond to Reuters' queries for comment. Pyongyang does not recognise the U.N. investigator's mandate and boycotted Wednesday's debate. It has previously rejected U.N. allegations of crimes against humanity. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Steve Orlofsky) A massive asteroid that is twice the size of the Eiffel Tower will pass 1.25 million miles from the Earth next week before being flung back to the outer system, NASA said. The asteroid, dubbed 2001 FO32 was first discovered 20 years ago and is 2,230ft in diameter, making it the largest space rock to pass the Earth so far this year. As 2001 FO32 makes its inner solar system journey, the asteroid 'picks up speed like a skateboarder rolling down a halfpipe, and then slows after being flung back out into deep space and swinging back toward the sun,' NASA explained. 'We know the orbital path around the sun very accurately, since it was discovered 20 years ago and has been tracked ever since,' said Paul Chodas, from NASA. The space rock 'poses no danger to the Earth' as it will be 1.25 million miles away, which is more than five times further from the Earth than the moon. It will make its closest approach to Earth on March 21, visible to astronomers using larger telescopes in the southern hemisphere and low latitude northern regions. The asteroid, dubbed 2001 FO32 was first discovered 20 years ago and is 2,230ft in diameter, making it the largest space rock to pass the Earth so far this year The space rock 'poses no danger to the Earth' as it will be 1.25 million miles away, which is more than five times further from the Earth than the moon ASTEROID 2001 FO32 Asteroid 2001 FO32 was discovered in March 2001 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program in Socorro, New Mexico. It had been estimated, based on optical measurements, to be roughly 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) wide. In more recent follow-up observations by NEOWISE, 2001 FO32 appears to be faint when observed in infrared wavelengths, which suggests the object is likely less than 1km. Analysis by the NEOWISE team shows that it is between 1,300 to 2,230 feet (440 to 680 meters) wide. This figure is disputed, with speculation it is between 1,300ft and the higher original 3,000ft. Even if it is at the smaller end of the scale, 2001 FO32 will still be the largest asteroid to pass this close to our planet in 2021. The last notably large asteroid close approach was that of 1998 OR2 on April 29, 2020. While 2001 FO32 is somewhat smaller than 1998 OR2, it will be three times nearer to Earth. Advertisement Despite being more than a million miles away, NASA says it will give astronomers a 'rare close look' at the rocky relic from the dawn of the solar system. Under NASA 'Near Earth Object' guidelines, it will still be close enough for 2001 FO32 to be classified as a 'potentially hazardous asteroid.' However, the space agency said in a statement that 'there is no threat of a collision with our planet now or for centuries to come.' NASA said 2001 FO32 will pass by at about 77,000 miles per hour faster than the speed at which most asteroids encounter Earth. The reason for the asteroid's unusually speedy close approach is its highly inclined and elongated (or eccentric) orbit around the sun. This is an orbit that is tilted 39 degrees to Earth's orbital plane. This orbit takes the asteroid closer to the sun than Mercury and twice as far from the sun as Mars. The space rock completes one orbit of the sun every 810 days (about 2 1/4 years). 'Currently, little is known about this object, so the very close encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to learn a great deal about this asteroid,' said Lance Benner, principal scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA said astronomers hope to get a better understanding of the asteroid's size and a rough idea of its composition by studying light reflecting off its surface. The March 21 encounter will provide an opportunity for astronomers to get a more precise understanding of the asteroid's size and albedo, - how bright, or reflective, its surface is - and a rough idea of its composition. 'When sunlight hits an asteroid's surface, minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths while reflecting others,' NASA said. 'By studying the spectrum of light reflecting off the surface, astronomers can measure the chemical 'fingerprints' of the minerals on the surface of the asteroid. This will be achieved, in part, with the use of NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, a 10.5ft telescope atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea. It will observe the asteroid in the days leading up to close approach using its workhorse infrared spectrograph, SpeX. 'We're trying to do geology with a telescope,' said Vishnu Reddy, associate professor at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson. This diagram depicts the elongated and inclined orbit of 2001 FO32 as it travels around the Sun (white ellipse). Because of this orbit, when the asteroid makes its close approach to Earth, it will be traveling at an unusually fast speed of 77,000 mph (124,000 kph) As 2001 FO32 makes its inner solar system journey, the asteroid 'picks up speed like a skateboarder rolling down a halfpipe, and then slows after being flung back out into deep space and swinging back toward the sun,' NASA explained SHINING A LIGHT ON ASTEROID GEOLOGY Astronomers will be able to use the relatively close approach of 2001 FO32 to better understand its geology. By examining the wavelengths of light reflected from the space rock as it gets closer to the sun experts can see the minerals that make up its surface. Certain minerals reflect different wavelengths of light, and comparing them to minerals on Earth can say whether it is carbon or iron-rich. For example, if it is very dark this suggests it is heavy in carbon and may be the remnant of a long-dead comet. Advertisement When sunlight hits the surface of an asteroid minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths of light, while reflecting others. Scientists know which rocks reflect which wavelengths so can determine the composition of the asteroid from light. 'We're going to use the IRTF to get the infrared spectrum to see its chemical makeup,' Reddy explained. 'Once we know that, we can make comparisons with meteorites on Earth to find out what minerals 2001 FO32 contains.' For example, a low albedo, or darker, asteroid may contain a lot of carbon and so could be the nucleus of a long-dead comet, according to NASA. Other observatories will use radar to bounce signals off the rock, allowing them to determine its orbit, dimensions, rotation and look at surface features such as boulders and craters. 'Observations dating back 20 years revealed that about 15% of near-Earth asteroids comparable in size to 2001 FO32 have a small moon,' said Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL. 'Currently little is known about this object, so the very close encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to learn a great deal about this asteroid.' This is a view from inside the dome of NASAs Infrared Telescope Facility which will be used to measure the infrared spectrum of asteroid 2001 FO32 Amateur astronomers in some parts of the globe should be able to conduct their own observations, particularly those in the southern hemisphere. 'The asteroid will be brightest while it moves through southern skies, Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), said. 'Amateur astronomers in the southern hemisphere and at low northern latitudes should be able to see this asteroid using moderate size telescopes with apertures of at least eight inches in the nights leading up to closest approach,' he added. However, because of its distance, and relatively small size compared to planets or stars, 'they will probably need star charts to find it.' After its brief visit, 2001 FO32 will continue its voyage, not coming this close to Earth until 2052, when it will pass by at about seven lunar distances, or 1.75 million miles NASA said more than 95 per cent of near-Earth asteroids the size of 2001 FO32 or larger have been catalogued and none of them has any chance of impacting our planet over the next century. Condemning China's continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Thursday called on Beijing to uphold its obligations and commitments and to act consistently with Hong Kong's Basic Law. The US condemns China's continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong, he said. The National People's Congress decision early in the day to unilaterally change Hong Kong's electoral system is a direct attack on autonomy promised to the people in under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, he said. "These actions deny Hong Kongers a voice in their own governance by limiting political participation, reducing democratic representation, and stifling political debate. Beijing's actions also run counter to the Basic Law's clear acknowledgment that elections should progress towards universal suffrage," Blinken said. Blinken, in a statement, called on China to uphold its obligations and commitments and to act consistently with Hong Kong's Basic Law. The Chinese attempt to label its crackdown on as an "internal matter" ignores the commitments Beijing made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration to uphold Hong Kong's autonomy and enumerated rights and freedoms until at least 2047, he said. Blinken called on China and Hong Kong authorities to allow the September 2021 Legislative Council elections to proceed and ensure that all candidates are included in a transparent and credible manner. We also call on these authorities to release and drop charges against all individuals charged under the National Security Law and other laws merely for standing for elections or for their expressions of dissenting views, he said. A stable, prosperous Hong Kong that respects human rights, freedoms, and pluralism serves the interests of Hong Kong, mainland China, and the broader community. The United States stands united with our allies and partners in speaking out for the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong, Blinken 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.) Like most states, Alabama has lots of designated symbols, such as a state flower the camellia and bird yellowhammer. But did you know our state honors several insects, as well? Yep, and they include the official state mascot, which is a beautiful yellow-and-black butterfly. Yet many people dont even realize Alabama has a mascot. So how did Alabama come to have a butterfly as its symbol? In 1989, the Alabama Legislature passed Act 89-676, making the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail its official mascot. The move came at the behest of officials from the City of Selma, who had designated the city the Butterfly Capital of Alabama in 1982. To celebrate this distinction, Selma erected dozens of butterfly sculptures around the city painted by various artists and more recently added a colorful butterfly mural. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is one of the most common butterflies found east of the Mississippi River, Stephen Buchmann said in an article for the US Forest Service. He says their broad yellow wings are edged by black and with four stripes, like tapering chevrons from the forewing margins downward into the yellow wings. The bottom edges of the hind wings are especially colorful with bluish scales and one or more red spots. But despite their bright colors and large size with a wingspan as much as 5.5 inches these butterflies may be more difficult to spot because they are solitary and enjoy flying high in the treetops, Buchmann said. Other state insects The Alabama Legislature has also recognized two other insects as state symbols. A monarch butterfly. (Birmingham News | Bernard Troncale)bn The official state insect is the Monarch Butterfly. It was also designated in 1989, in Act 89-935. The orange-and-black butterflies can be found in every county in the state, according to the Alabama Butterfly Atlas. The state agricultural insect is the queen honeybee. The designation was made in 2015 at the request of the Alabama Farmers Federation. The act was meant to draw attention to the importance of honeybees in pollinating crops. Alfafarmers.org lists more fun honeybee facts on its website here. A honeybee hive. (Joe Songer| The Birmingham News)bn . Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. American administrations routinely and appropriately call for their Mexican counterparts to break up the cartels that smuggle vast amounts of drugs into the United States. Less noticed above the border is the Mexican leaders responses, just as appropriate, calling for U.S. leaders to stop the flow of deadly weapons from the U.S. to Mexico. Those weapons enable cartels to defy the government and terrorize local populations, as the infamous Sinaloa Cartel did in October 2019. It laid siege to the northern city of Culiacan, where Ovidio Guzman, son of the notorious drug lord El Chapo, had been captured. Guzmans forces used Barrett .50-caliber rifles to shoot Mexican soldiers, lifting the siege only when authorities freed Guzman. As reported by Leon Krauze of The Washington Post, Mexican authorities have seized more than 167,000 firearms from drug cartels since 2007, almost all of which were bought in the United States often through gun shows and private sales that do not require background checks and sold illegally across the border. Thursday, the U.S. House passed two bills that could help to keep guns out of the hands of criminals north and south of the border. The Bipartisan Background Checks Act would require background checks for gun sales between private parties. A federally licensed dealer would hold the weapon while conducting the check. And the Enhanced Background Checks Act would extend from three to 10 days the amount of time allowed for completion of a background check. Neither bill prevents anyone from legally buying or owning a firearm, while helping to keep guns out of criminals hands. Both should become law. VIJAYAWADA: Amid a volatile atmosphere and braving strong resistance by his party men and cadre, Telugu Desam leader Kollu Ravindra was arrested in Machilipatnam on Thursday for allegedly disrupting the election duties of a police official. The police, who went to the house of the former minister around 6 am on Thursday, had to face some embarrassing moments but they managed to take him away. A case under Sections 506, 341 and 188 has been registered against Kollu Ravindra at Inukuduru police station for physically abusing a Sub-Inspector on duty. He was produced before the court and later released on bail. Police stated that Ravindra created a ruckus at a polling station on Wednesday. In addition to obstructing the voting process, he confronted an SI who prevented him from going inside the polling station along with activists as Section 144 was in place. Ravindra claimed that he had followed all norms but was targeted because he had questioned the illegalities in the polling process at the behest of transport minister Perni Venkatramaiah. Meanwhile, TD AP president Kinjarapu Atchannaidu and other leaders condemned the arrest of Ravindra and alleged that the Chief Minister was suppressing the voice of BC leaders from other parties. MLC Nara Lokesh accused Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of 'misusing' official machinery to target and harass opposition leaders for cheap political mileage. YSR Congress MLA Jogi Ramesh refuted the anti-BCs allegations levelled against the government and said that Ravindra was arrested for assaulting a police officer during the Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation elections. President Biden on Thursday evening condemned vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans, who he said have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated during the coronavirus pandemic. Theyre forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America, Mr. Biden said during a prime-time address at the White House, marking a year since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Its wrong. Its un-American, and it must stop. Asian-Americans have grappled with anxiety and fear as violence against them spiked during the pandemic. Activists and elected officials say the attacks were fueled early on in part by the rhetoric of former President Donald J. Trump, who frequently referred to the coronavirus as the Chinese virus because it originated in Wuhan, China. Mr. Trump has also blamed the Chinese government for the pandemic, saying Beijing failed to keep the virus from spreading beyond Chinas borders. Over the past year, researchers and activist groups have tallied thousands of racist incidents against Asian-Americans. Earlier this year, an 84-year-old man from Thailand was violently slammed to the ground during an attack in San Francisco, and he later died. The killing, which his family described as racially motivated, spurred a campaign to raise awareness of his death and the recent attacks against Asian-Americans. SC agrees to examine Places of Worship Act India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 12: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the validity of the Places of Worship Act. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde sought the response of the Centre. The court is hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of act, which barred any litigation seeking to change the character of a religious place from what it was at the time of independence. The petitioner Ashwini Kumar said that the law is discriminatory as it deprives Hindus, Jains and Buddhists from reclaiming their ancient places o worship which were damaged and converted to Mosques during the reign of Muslim Kings. Websites to come under ambit of Section 69(A) of IT Act "The 1991 Act has barred the right and remedy against encroachment made on religious property of Hindus exercising might of power by followers of another faith. The result is that Hindu devotees cannot raise their grievance by instituting any suit in Civil Court or invoking the jurisdiction of the High Courts against high handiness of ultras and will not be able to restore back the religious character of Hindu Endowments, Temples, Mutts etc from hoodlums if they had encroached upon such property before August 15, 1947 and such illegal and barbarian act will continue in perpetuity," the petitioner said. Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniyan appeared in the court for the petitioner. The law has made only one exception -- on the dispute pertaining to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The fresh plea assumes significance as there has been an ongoing demand by some Hindu groups to reclaim religious places at Mathura and Kashi, which are prohibited under the 1991 law. The provisions not only offend the right of equality and life, but also violate the principles of secularism, which is an integral part of the Preamble and the basic structure of the Constitution, the plea says. The PIL claims that the provisions of the law "not only offend Articles 14 (equality), 15 (prohibits discrimination of Indians on basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth), 21 (protection of life and personal liberty), 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion), 26 (freedom to manage religious affairs) and 29 (protection of interests of minorities), but also violate the principles of secularism, which is an integral part of the Preamble and the basic structure of the Constitution". The PIL contends that the Centre has barred the remedies against illegal encroachment on places of worship and pilgrimage of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, who cannot file a suit or approach a high court. The petitioner has sought a declaration from the court that the provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 are void and unconstitutional for being violative of the fundamental rights to equality, practise one''s religion and maintain religious places, among others, as the law validate the "places of worship" illegally made by barbaric invaders. The plea claims that the restriction to move court is against the principle of rule of law and secularism, and adds that "if the Ayodhya case had not been decided by the Supreme Court''s constitution bench on November 9, 2019, Hindus would have been denied justice even after 500 years of the demolition of the temple". Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News "The Centre by making impugned sections has, without resolution of the disputes through process of the law, abated the suit/proceedings, which is ''per se'' unconstitutional and beyond its law-making power. "Moreover, impugned provisions cannot be forced with retrospective effect and the judicial remedy of dispute pending, arisen or arising cannot be barred. Centre neither can close the doors of Courts of First Instance, Appellate Courts, Constitutional Courts for aggrieved Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs nor take away the power of high courts and Supreme Court, conferred under Article 226 and 32," it says. Earlier also, another public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed by the "Vishwa Bhadra Pujari Purohit Mahasangh", seeking directions to declare section 4 of the Act as ultra vires. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 14:45 [IST] For weeks during Worcesters weekly COVID-19 briefing the citys medical director, Dr. Michael Hirsh, has provided mostly positive metrics regarding the city, state and nations progress in battling the virus. At a certain point during his portion of the briefings inside city hall, Hirsh reminds the public the fight against COVID is far from over. Everything I always say has a but, you know? Hirsh said. On Thursday, Hirsh targeted three upcoming events that could prompt a third surge of the virus especially as variants continue to become more prevalent. Hirsh called spring break, St. Patricks Day, Easter and Passover as all possible super spreader events. Defined spring break used to be the middle of March or end of March, its all kind of morphing into each other, Hirsh said. I think March Madness is already upon us. With remote learning, Hirsh said, many students are extending spring break travel. Massachusetts still restricts travel to states with high COVID rates. Locally in Worcester, Hirsh has concerns over St. Patricks day, one of the citys most celebrated holidays, many events were canceled last year and this year. However, unlike last year, restaurants in the city will be open. Easter and Passover may not generate as large of crowds, but Hirsh fears a similar spread that was seen over the December holidays. I think all of these events are big threats to becoming super spreader events, Hirsh said. Officials in Worcester said more than 50% of its senior population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Those numbers may help mitigate some of the spread for families gathering, but the risk remains high. I think theyre at risk of doing what happened in November and December where they said, What the heck, were all family. Well take off our masks and enjoy our food and not worry so much, Hirsh said. I think the fact that weve opened bar seating and finding, unfortunately, people are lingering too long those are the things that are the biggest threats. With those events upcoming, Hirsh believes a third surge could occur in the city, which saw a slight uptick in cases this week. City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said the city saw 283 new cases this week, 22 more than last week. The third surge, Hirsh said, could be different than previous surges as it will likely involve new strains. We still dont have enough information on what that means, Hirsh said. What does it mean when the London variant takes over as the predominant strain? Hirsh said models suggest two possibilities. The first involves a higher transmission rate but fewer deaths. Another suggests that with such high case numbers, more deaths are possible. Over the last week, cases in the United States have more or less plateaued after stark declines from January to February, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Nationally, the country still averages about 60,000 new cases a day with about 1,800 new deaths. This is a plateau that I dont think we should accept as the right one, Hirsh said. Related Content: MONROE COUNTY, MI A Monroe County Sheriffs deputy and a Monroe Township firefighter were both injured Friday morning when they crashed into each other way on the way to the same emergency call. The crash, involving a police SUV and a pickup, occurred at 7:48 a.m. Friday, March 12 at the intersection of S. Dixie Highway and E. Dunbar Road in Monroe Township, according to the Monroe County Sheriffs Office. The initial investigation indicates the deputy, responding to an emergency, was going west on E. Dunbar Road when she was stuck at the intersection by a truck, driven by the firefighter, going south of S. Dixie Highway, police said. They both appear to have been responding to the same emergency call, according to the Michigan State Police The deputy and the firefighter were both taken to an area hospital to be treated for injuries not considered life threatening, police said. The crash is being investigated by the Michigan State Police. No additional information is available at this time and the crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the crash is ask to contact the Michigan State Police Monroe Post at 734-242-3500. The Monroe Township Fire Department and Monroe Community Ambulance assisted at the scene. More from MLive: Solar panel permits triple in Ann Arbor under new program Tentative dates for in-person graduation set by Ann Arbor schools 9,000 newly eligible Washtenaw County residents waiting for COVID vaccination appointments Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Just 139,378 patients were admitted for routine NHS treatment such as knee or hip operations a 54 per cent decrease from 304,888 in 2020 Treatment for non-Covid conditions halved in January as the NHS was engulfed by coronavirus patients, figures revealed yesterday. Cancer surgery plummeted to its lowest level in ten years with operations to remove tumours down 23 per cent compared to the same time in 2020. Meanwhile, heart operations and procedures fell by 39 per cent according to NHS performance data. Just 139,378 patients were admitted for routine NHS treatment such as knee or hip operations a 54 per cent decrease from 304,888 in 2020. Hospitals were forced to cancel thousands of operations due to the second wave of Covid-19 that saw 100,000 patients admitted with the virus in January alone. Treatment for non-Covid conditions halved in January as the NHS was engulfed by coronavirus patients, figures revealed yesterday. Waiting lists for hospital treatment have now soared to 4.59million patients, the highest since records began [Stock image] Waiting lists for hospital treatment have now soared to 4.59million patients, the highest since records began. Of these, an astonishing 304,044 have been waiting more than a year. Just 1,643 had been waiting more than 52 weeks at the start of 2020. The NHS's progress at clearing the backlog from the first wave went into reverse during the surge over winter which pushed hospitals to a breaking point. Macmillan Cancer Support raised alarm over another significant drop in referrals for treatment and cancer diagnosis in January on top of the enormous backlog. Only 22,942 started cancer treatment a 16 per cent drop from last year and surgery was down nearly one quarter. The figures also show 171,231 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in January, an 11 per cent fall on the 191,852 from January 2020. The charity said: 'This is on top of the tens of thousands of people who are still missing a diagnosis due to disruption caused by the pandemic, which could be impacting their prognosis with each day that passes.' The number of heart operations and procedures fell from 40,800 in January 2020 to just over 25,000 in 2021 the biggest monthly drop since the first wave in May. Tim Mitchell, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: 'Behind today's statistics are people waiting in limbo. Many will be in considerable pain, others will have restricted mobility and be at risk of isolation and loneliness.' Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the true demand for care could become even greater when referrals for treatment begin to increase again, adding: 'There may be a possible backlog of 6.9million by the end of 2021.' But NHS England said staff had cared for more non-Covid patients in January than during the first wave. In January, cancer surgery plummeted to its lowest level in ten years with operations to remove tumours down 23 per cent compared to the same time in 2020. Meanwhile, heart operations and procedures fell by 39 per cent according to NHS performance data [Stock image] They added that when comparing the first and second peaks, around 400,000 more people got pre-planned care and 70,000 more were admitted for emergency care. They also said average waiting times for non-urgent surgery have fallen by more than 38 per cent since July. It said efforts are being made to tackle the backlog of patients from the first wave with the number on the waiting list for a diagnostic test falling by more than 50,000 between December and January. When Margel Hinder told an interviewer in 1972 that she was terribly thrilled by all the television towers it may have sounded like a joke about Sydneys suburban sprawl, but she was probably quite sincere. Hinder drew inspiration from both natural and mechanical forms, being as fascinated by a spider web as by a metal structure bristling with high-tension wires. The artist had found it harder to generate enthusiasm when she first arrived in Australia in 1934. Born in Brooklyn and trained at art schools in Buffalo and Boston, Margel had met and married an Australian student, Frank Hinder. As the Depression tightened its grip on the United States the Hinders and daughter, Enid, relocated to Sydney. Margel Hinders sculpture was installed outside the Reserve Bank in Martin Place in 1964. Credit:Steven Siewert After the intellectual and cultural stimulation she had imbibed in her native country Margel found Australia to be a dull, backward place. There was little understanding of modern art, no interest in sculpture, and nothing much to see in the local art museums. Shed consider it a distinct improvement that visitors to the Art Gallery of NSW today may sample the retrospective, Margel Hinder: Modern in Motion. There have been three joint retrospectives with husband, Frank but this is the first time Margel (1906-95) has been given a show of her own. Its an event that fits into a new general emphasis on the work of women artists being pursued by museums around the world. It makes specific use of a sizeable archive of material acquired for the AGNSW collection by former curator, Renee Free. The Texas electricity disaster laid bare the corroded latticework of the states electric grid, and it exposed the fact that Texas leaders have no concept of their responsibility to voters, the state or the nation. Their failure poses a risk not just to Texans, but to national security. The Texas electricity market was not built for the consumer. The costs to consumers from the latest fiasco are dozens of lives lost and more than $140 billion $50 billion from ERCOT charges the week of February 14 for which consumers received only 60 percent of the service demanded, and an estimated $90 billion in property and casualty losses. In legislative hearings, Bill Magness, the CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas before he was fired, lauded the great achievement of only losing 40 percent of the grid. He said ERCOT was only four minutes or so away from losing the entire grid tripping generators across the entire state and forcing a black start from a completely de-energized grid resulting in a statewide blackout lasting weeks or months. With that, he again reminded our foreign enemies and domestic terrorists alike of the fragility of our electricity infrastructure. Why is that a problem? The ERCOT grid is comprised of antiquated connections of wires and generation plants, some of which are quite old. Each generation plant needs a live grid to transmit electricity. Pouring too much electricity into that grid will fry the circuits. Too little electricity and the switching equipment degrades and shuts the generators down. Texas has avoided a black start so far. But other grids around the nation have suffered massive failures and rebounded from black starts: the great Northeast blackout in 1977 impacted 30 million people; the massive 2003 blackout hit 50 million people along the Atlantic seaboard after a tree hit a line in Ohio; and more recently the 2011 Arizona and Southern California failure, when an operator made an error. These grids recovered in days, if not hours. Leaving Texas open to the prospect of a months long blackout is sheer idiocy. If the Texas grid is unprepared for a predictable weather event because of a lack of investment, the public needs to question the grids vulnerability to other kinds of extreme events: physical attacks, cyberattacks, and electromagnetic pulse radiation. Electrical infrastructure is vulnerable to physical attack, just like railroads or petroleum pipelines. It is the first thing our military hits when attacking a foe, and domestic terrorists have previously bombed transmission towers and destroyed substations. While it is difficult to protect against all such threats, it is more than feasible to provide workarounds that would limit the damage such attacks can cause. The comments by Magness during the hearings indicates widespread damage could result from the failure of just a few network nodes. The U.S. grid faces cyberattacks every day. Security experts do their best, but one slips through now and again, as in the U.S. in 2019 or Mumbai in 2020. The National Conference of State Legislatures has made hardening of the various U.S. grids a priority since 2018. The threat of a nuclear detonation at altitude a blast that would trigger an electromagnetic pulse is considered the greatest threat from North Koreas nuclear arsenal (as well as the plot line in the 1995 James Bond thriller GoldenEye). Now is a good time to ask if precautions have been taken in Texas. The stakes associated with the answer to that question are high and not just for Texas. In the 1930s, when the Texas grid was isolated from the national grid, the state became the industrial machine for World War II. Petroleum. Synthetic rubber made from petroleum. Natural gas to power the Northeast. A months long grid failure across Texas would take down the states petroleum, petrochemical and industrial engine, with massive repercussions for the nation. An attack on the grid would necessarily divert the militarys attention inward toward medical services and the supply lines for food and water. This would allow bad actors more than one strategic opening. The lack of investment in the Texas grid hit home the week of Feb. 14. Failing to invest in the Texas economy is a failure of leadership. It is a sorry state of affairs when the nation cannot count on Texas to do the right thing for national security. The response of the Legislature and governor are paramount. The eyes of the nation are upon you. Hirs is an energy economics professor and the inaugural University of Houston Energy Fellow. WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2021 / David Jones, founder of The Human Health Initiative, has announced research suggesting that using smaller doses of COVID-19 vaccines could save nearly a million lives worldwide by allowing more people to be vaccinated sooner with a limited supply. Jones is calling on drug companies and regulatory agencies to collect additional data required to approve the new strategy. Jones compiled clinical trial data and research to show that smaller doses of the vaccines - even 1/30th of a Pfizer dose - have an extremely high probability of equal efficacy when compared to full doses despite requiring far less of the vaccine. "We are simply more efficiently stimulating the immune system, with small booster doses of the vaccine, to reach the same levels of cells and protective antibodies," Jones argues. He suggested that ideally, regulators would approve the use of correlates so that additional phase 3 trials are not required. Using correlates would allow for the approval of smaller vaccine doses by showing that immune cells produce an equivalent response from smaller doses versus full doses. Such data could be collected from a small cohort of people over a five- to eight-week period, allowing a change of dosing strategy to occur in as little as a few weeks in the best-case scenario. Jones sought input from dozens of immunologists, microbiologists, doctors, and other scientists affiliated with institutions such as Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These experts overwhelmingly agree that the idea of using smaller vaccine doses has merit, further backed by scientific evidence. "The research is well-rounded and adequately addresses all primary concerns associated with the possibility of fractional dose vaccination," Pialy Ghanekar, a virologist and immunologist with a Ph.D. in microbiology, said. Ghanekar's work has focused on viruses such as influenza, rabies, rotavirus, dengue and HIV. Jones argues that it is the artifacts of our regulatory system that have caused us to choose larger doses of the vaccines, not because those are the only doses we should use. Due to our regulatory process, vaccine companies would have had to double their trial size to seek approval for a second dose, potentially delaying approval. Now that we better understand what causes severe illness and how the vaccines prevent it, it is clear that smaller doses are nearly certain to be equally effective, and this can be confirmed with more data. "This is not a scientific problem. This is a problem of political will. With nearly a million lives at stake and such a simple solution to end the pandemic quickly, we must convince our leaders to take action to save these lives and return the world to normal," Jones said. About The Human Health Initiative The Human Health Initiative was founded by David Jones, an entrepreneur and software developer with a lifelong passion for curing diseases. To reach The Human Health Initiative or the scientists involved in the research above, please contact: CONTACT: David Jones 301-357-0858 davidjones@thehhi.org SOURCE: The Human Health Initiative View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/635146/The-Human-Health-Initiative-Announces-Strategy-to-Save-More-Lives-with-COVID-19-Vaccines-Following-Groundbreaking-Research Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase 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. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has considered the issue of returning the Motor Sich enterprise to state ownership, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov has said. He said this at a briefing following an NSDC meeting on Thursday, March 11, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "The issue concerns the Motor Sich enterprise in Zaporizhia. To date, a relevant decision has been made, according to which the Motor Sich enterprise will be returned in the near future to the Ukrainian people, to the ownership of the Ukrainian state in a constitutional way," Danilov said. According to him, each case, when defense industry enterprises found themselves in private hands, will be considered separately. "If the enterprise is strategically important to us, we will [return] it legally. People who have invested money in these enterprises will certainly receive appropriate compensation. This is being done for the national security of the country," he said. As was reported earlier, Ukraine imposed three-year restrictive measures on Chinese citizen Jing Wang and three Chinese-based companies. The sanctions also targeted a company from the British Virgin Islands. On January 8, President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted the NSDC decision on the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures. In January, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on China's Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited, an investor in Ukraine's Motor Sich. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the United States wanted to warn exporters that Skyrizon had close ties to the Chinese army. In early August 2020, DCH Group announced the beginning of a partnership with Chinese investors representing Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited. On August 6 last year, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine announced that it would assess the sale of Motor Sich for compliance with competition law. On September 4, 2020, Chinese investors in Motor Sich submitted a Notice of Investment Dispute to the Ukrainian Justice Ministry regarding their intention to apply to an international arbitration court to recover $3.5 billion in losses from Ukraine. The working group on pre-arbitration settlement also includes a representative of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine. It emerged in November that Chinese investors in Motor Sich had hired three law firms for the $3.5 billion lawsuit against Ukraine. op Vietnam has completed the first-dose vaccination of 560 volunteers who participated in the Phase 2 trial of Nanocovax's Covid-19 vaccine, Dr. Chu Van Men, Director of the Center for Clinical Trials and Bioequivalence at the Military Medical Academy, has told VietNamNet. A volunteer participated in the second phase trial of Nanocovax vaccine at the Military Medical Academy on February 26. Photo: Thuy Hanh In phase 2, Nanocovax vaccine was tested simultaneously at the Military Medical Academy and the Medical Center in southern province of Long An by the HCM City Pasteur Institute, with the participation of 280 volunteers at each site. Of the 560 volunteers, 80 were injected with placebo, 105 are aged over 60, and the oldest volunteer 76 years old. The remaining 375 volunteers were divided into three groups for vaccination with doses of 25mcg, 50mcg and 75mcg. All the volunteers are now in stable condition. They will have blood tests for antibody on the 28th, 34th, 42nd day, and after 3 months and 6 months from the first shot. Twenty-eight days after being injected with the first dose, 560 volunteers will receive the second shot. If phase 2 goes well, the research team will have data to report to the Ethics Council in Biomedical Research at the Ministry of Health before moving to phase 3, shortening half of the time. In phase 3, 10,000-15,000 people, including volunteers in countries such as India, Hungary and Bangladesh, will join the trial. In this phase, the Ethics Council in Biomedical Research will decide on whether to immediately use this vaccine for Vietnamese people in high-risk groups such as anti-epidemic forces and employees at airports, flight attendants. The decision will be made based on the results of phase 2 clinical trials. Nanocovax vaccine of Nanogen is Vietnams first Covid-19 vaccine in clinical trial. Trial of phase 1 took place from December 17, 2020 to February 7, 2021. Results of phase 1 showed that Nanocovax vaccine can prevent variant SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 from the UK. In phase 2, the research team will continue to evaluate the protective effectiveness of the vaccine with other variants. Vietnam expects to complete clinical trial of Nanocovax vaccine by the end of this year so that it can start large-scale vaccine production and use it widely by early 2022. Thuy Hanh We want a trade liberalisation approach, not a protectionist approach, in terms of how we deal with emissions reduction, Mr Tehan told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Federal Trade Minister Dan Tehan confirmed he would push back against the EUs move, revealing Australia would argue through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for an alternative plan to slash tariffs on more than 50 environmental goods and services. They include wind turbines, solar panels and wastewater treatment technologies. Millions of dollars in new tariffs could be slapped on Australian exports after the European Parliament this week voted to forge ahead with carbon tariffs on products from countries without a carbon price. Australia will launch an ambitious global plan to eliminate tariffs on wind turbines, solar panels and other green industries in a bid to fight back against the European Unions push to impose carbon levies on countries with weak emissions laws. If the EU uses a carbon border adjustment mechanism, it not only raises serious concerns about WTO compliance, but also the negative impact it could have on trade between nations which as we know creates jobs and in particular helps developing countries grow jobs and their economies. Australias plan represents the first serious push-back against carbon tariffs after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and new United States President Joe Biden indicated plans to follow the EU in enacting carbon levies at the border. In 2012, members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum agreed to cut tariffs on 54 environmentally friendly products to 5 per cent. Australia will now argue at the WTO that the tariffs on these products should be slashed to nothing, while environmental services such as climate change mitigation, wastewater management and refuse disposal should also be added to the list. The EU has argued for carbon tariffs on the basis they provide a level playing field between the domestic production of goods that are subject to a carbon price and the production of products that are coming into Europe from countries with less ambitious climate policies. While presenting its alternative plan, Mr Tehan said Australia would make the argument there cannot be a level playing field unless the EU removes its wide-scale agricultural subsidies and exemptions under its emissions trading scheme. He said Australia would also point out that we are on track to meet our commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Christian Horner is reluctant to say that the 2021 season is Red Bull Racing's best chance in years. The Austrian team boss is confident about Max Verstappen 's chances of winning the world title this year, but the Briton does maintain that much will depend on Mercedes. "That depends very much on what Mercedes does. They have been the benchmark for years and they will continue to be," Horner is quoted in Bahrain by the likes of Formula1.nl. The winter was very short and then there was a lockdown."It wasn't easy, for anyone, although I think the team handled it well. However, we are under no illusions: Mercedes are the favourites." Red Bull has first feedback in Early in the morning session, Verstappen spun in the RB16B. It was an image we saw regularly last year too, but according to Horner, it's not something to worry about. "I think that was because of the wind. Max of course indicated some points to fine-tune, but nothing fundamental," the top man explained. The Friday afternoon session is still difficult for all teams. The circumstances are bad. There's a lot of wind and sand on the track. The grip is therefore hard to find. For the racing teams, it doesn't make sense to go out on the track now, because a lot of the data won't be representative. The step-children of an elderly woman who promised her $16million waterfront estate to them in her will have hit out a court ruling that meant the property was given to her neighbours instead. Barbara Murphy had left two properties in Birchgrove in Sydney's inner-west to her elderly brother and sister before she died at the age of 83 in 2015. The 83-year-old had tweaked the will before her death to leave her neighbours David Moore and Dee Andreason $25,000. But Mr Moore and Mrs Andreason claimed Mrs Murphy had actually agreed to give them her entire estate in return for the couple agreeing not to build an extension to their home that would block her view of the harbour. The New South Wales Supreme Court in October sided with the neighbours and ordered 66 and 68 Louisa Road be signed over to them - thought to be worth $16million together. Mrs Murphy and her husband owned both 66 and 68 Louisa Road at Birchgrove and promised the properties to David Moore and Dee Andreasen who lived at number 70 Ms Murphy pictured left. Her step-children have hit out a court ruling that honoured the agreement between the 83-year-old and her neighbours rather than give the $16million estate to her siblings Part of the deal had also involved Mr Moore providing care for Mrs Murphy in her old age, a stipulation the court said he fulfilled. The step-children of Mrs Murphy's sister Marion - who believe the house would have been passed down to them - said they were 'gobsmacked' at the court decision. 'All she wanted to do was to provide for us, so she was very happy to pass on some of that inheritance to her step-children,' one of the relatives Shirley Archer told A Current Affair. Another of the step-children, Carol Gaarde, said she was not financially wealthy and the money could have allowed her to retire comfortably. 'I'm not very well off. I don't have a lot of money to retire. I'm probably going to be eating dog food. I mean we should have got some of that,' she said. Pictured left to right are the devastated stepchildren of Mrs Murphy's sister Marion: Carol Gaarde, David Hickman and Shirley Archer 'We were told that really it was a will and it was not going to change you know and yet this happened, it was just unbelievable.' Mr Moore declined to speak on the issue when approached for comment. One of Mrs Murphy's other neighbours Bev Maunsell - who had lived across the road from her for more than 30 years - previously told Daily Mail Australia she was shocked at the ruling. She said she does not believe being the couple's actions warranted getting someone else's home. 'I'm absolutely flabbergasted,' Mrs Maunsell said. The decision to give the entire estate to the couple has shocked other neighbours such as Bev Maunsell (pictured) 'She was an amazing woman. She used to mow the lawns for all the houses along there and all the able bodied men used to give her money for petrol, including Mr Moore. Mrs Maunsell's view is shared by fellow Louisa Road resident Drew Vukelic, who also gave evidence at the Supreme Court hearing. 'He organised some people, apparently from his church, they came and looked after her superbly,' he said. 'I would've thought you may give them a little bit, sure, but not the whole estate.' A general view of 66-70 Louisa Road, Birchgrove, which became a battleground over Ms Murphy's will The NSW Supreme Court has ruled ownership of the two properties on the left should be given to David Moore and his partner Dee Andreasen, after they were promised to them by their old owner Barbara Murphy when she died Mr Moore told the court his elderly neighbour praised him and his partner and said they had been 'so good' to her over the years. 'I want you and Dee to help me to stay living here,' Ms Murphy said, according to Mr Moore's evidence in court. 'Will you help me to do that as I get older? I will see to it that in my will everything goes to you and Dee when I am gone.' Mr Moore promised he would take care of Ms Murphy and 'look after her' as she got older, he told the court. 'We are sure that we can figure out a way that we can renovate without building out your view,' he said. All three homes have views of Sydney Harbour Bridge from their waterside backyards 'Then if you leave everything to us in your will, we are very happy with that.' Just a year before her death Mr Moore took Ms Murphy to see her solicitor to get a new will but was horrified to discover that the elderly woman had not included him. Instead, she left almost her entire estate to her brother and sister equally and if she outlived them, the money was to go to two Sydney hospitals. After Ms Murphy's death, Mr Moore contacted his lawyer saying he was 'unhappy' he had been left with $25,000 when he had been promised the entire estate. Ms Murphy's sister was also surprised she inherited so much property since she was told the estate would go to the neighbours, the court heard. When Mr Moore and Mrs Andreasen purchased 70 Louise Road in 1999 it was regarded as the 'worst house in the best street', the court heard Her brother also admitted he had no interest in the property as he did not know how much it was worth. Mr Moore visited Mrs Murphy's siblings - both in their 80s at the time - and asked for both of them to give up their share to him. Both refused, to which Chief Judge Ward said she was 'not surprised'. 'That to my mind was surprisingly optimistic, though perhaps I am too cynical', she said. The court heard Mr Moore and Ms Andreasen decided to take legal action because they had kept their side of the agreement. Chief Judge Ward ruled she was satisfied there was a 'clear representation by the deceased to the effect that, if the plaintiffs looked after her (in the way in which Ms Andreasen had been looking after her own mother), so that the deceased could stay in her own home for as long as possible, then the deceased would leave the Louisa Road properties to them'. Migrants approach the U.S. border on Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas, on March 2, 2021. (Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images) Biden Admins Dont Come Now, Come Later Messaging Not Being Heeded by Migrants: Rep. Cuellar Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose district shares a border with Mexico, said the large number of migrants coming to the U.S-Mexico border are listening to smugglers or family members over the Biden administrations Dont come now, come later messaging. Illegal border crossings along the southern border hit 100,411 in February, according to recently released figures, including nearly 9,500 unaccompanied minors. The Texas congressman said the administration has to do something to stem the pipeline of illegal immigrants coming to the border, and that wont happen until they send a solid message down to Central America. There are three messages One message from the White Housedont come now, come later. Message number two from the family members and neighborsHey, Pedro, ya pasamos. Were able to come. Come over right now, Cuellar told CNN on Thursday. Message number three is from the criminal organizationsHey, I can get you across. Pay me a little bit of money. And they are going to listen to message number two and three. Quite honestly, that is whats happening until we have a solid message that we can send down to Central America. Cuellar then warned that the number of illegal immigrants entering the country will continue to increase. Although the Biden administration has refused to use the word crisis to describe the influx of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sent an email requesting emergency volunteers to help curb the number of illegal immigrants entering the country. Today, I activated the Volunteer Force to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as they face a surge in migration along the Southwest Border, Mayorkas said in an email to staff, according to Fox News. In 2019, over 900 volunteers deployed to support their CBP colleagues during a similar migration surge, Mayorkas said. Please consider joining the Volunteer Force to again provide needed humanitarian support along the Southwest Border and relief for our CBP colleagues. Under the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents encountered what was a near-record low of 17,106 illegal immigrants in April 2020. Every month since then, the number of encounters has gone up. President Joe Bidens reversal of a number of immigration orders imposed by former President Donald Trump, such as one requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims were being adjudicated in U.S. courts, has been blamed by critics for the surge this year. New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party's Central Election Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting on Saturday (March 13) to finalise a list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls, sources said. BJP Central Election Committee to hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the names of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls in 4 states and one UT," sources said. The BJP on Wednesday (March 10) had announced the names of three candidates for Assam. Similarly, the BJP had earlier released the list of 60 candidates for the first two phases of the West Bengal Assembly elections. A total of 824 Assembly constituencies shall be going for polls in four states Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The polling in these states will start on March 27 and end on April 29. The counting of votes for elections to four states and one UT will be held on May 2. As many as 18.68 crore electors will cast votes at 2.7 lakh polling stations in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. Live TV GRAND RAPIDS, MI The historic Sligh Furniture Company building in Grand Rapids would be renovated as part of a project being pitched by a Detroit developer that would bring 753 apartments, ground-floor retail, and greenspace to the Roosevelt Park neighborhood. The idea was discussed Thursday by the citys South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority and developer John Gibbs of Detroit-based Sturgeon Bay Partners. An application filed by Gibbs with the citys planning department says the project at 446 Grandville Ave. SW would help meet demand for affordable- and market-rate housing near downtown and represents a rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic but dilapidated furniture building. The site is home to several antique stores and straddles the border between downtown and Roosevelt Park. More than 440 of the 753 apartments are classified as micro units, according to documents detailing the project. The city defines micro units as being no more than 475 square feet. The remaining 310 units are described as mixed units. Members of the corridor improvement authority said they were pleased with their conversation with Gibbs and expressed enthusiasm about the project, citing demand for more housing in Grand Rapids. However, they have concerns about affordability. Authority members said Gibbs told them that monthly rental rates have not yet been finalized. Gibbs declined to speak with MLive about the project. How accessible is it going to be for people that are in the community right now, asked Synia Jordan, a neighborhood resident who sits on the corridor improvement authority and owns Samaria Js Salon. These questions need to be answered up front. The planned development encompasses an entire city block roughly seven-acres large. Its bordered by Century, Wealthy, Grandville and Logan streets. An industrial building at the northeast corner of Wealthy Street and Century Avenue is not included in the development. The owners of the properties being considered for redevelopment are identified on city paperwork as Gregory Scott Degaynor Trust and CGFH 446 Grandville LLC. While the historic Sligh building would be renovated, three other standalone buildings within the projects footprint would be demolished, said Kristin Turkelson, planning director for the city of Grand Rapids. And while the project is significant in size, its direct impact on existing residents is lessened because its located in an industrial area and not the middle of a residential neighborhood, said Turkelson, who also praised the inclusion of public courtyard with greenspace. I think theyve put in a lot of thought in putting a plan together that really provides a lot of amenities that will be an asset to the community, The project is slated to go before the planning commission for approval in April. Turkelson said information submitted by the developer to the city does not indicate the total cost of the project, nor does it indicate tentative monthly rental rates for the apartments. However, the developers application does state that the proposed housing mix includes affordable and market-rate units. Grand Rapids City Commissioner Kurt Reppart, who sits on the South Division-Grandville Corridor Improvement Authority, said theres a need for more housing in the city, and that hes thrilled with the developers plans to create nearly 800 apartments. A recent study conducted for the city of Grand Rapids by the firm Housing Next estimated that Grand Rapids needs an additional 5,340 additional apartments and 3,548 owner-occupied condos, townhomes or single-family homes by 2025. It sounds like the developer is open to a lot of ideas, and hes willing to come back and meet with our group once his plans are finalized, Reppart said. I was encouraged with their willingness to stay engaged throughout the development of the project. Reppart said hes also concerned about affordability. He said he would like to see the developer finance the project in part through the states low-income housing tax credit program. Doing so would help ensure that some of the units would be reserved and affordable to low- to moderate-income residents. Materials submitted to the city did not indicate the developer would be seeking a low-income housing tax credit. The developer will, however, be seeking historic tax credits, documents show. In addition to the 753 apartments, the development is expected to include 22,647 square feet of retail space, a cafe, and two parking garages containing a total of 614 spaces. The buildings on the site will range between five stories and seven stories. Amy Brower, executive director of the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association, said she and other corridor improvement authority board members told the developer about the importance of ensuring that the retail space is affordable to local businesses and entrepreneurs. Its a value of the neighborhood to be able to provide opportunity for our neighborhood businesses to be able to grow and expand, she said. Brower said the developer expressed openness about considering ways to ensure the affordability of retail space. Read more: We will not be silenced, protesters say after Grand Rapids police arrest them Kent County receives 2.5K additional vaccines to target vulnerable populations All Michigan adults will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by April 5 GLEN CARBON There is a new therapy option in Madison County for children and families dealing with autism and other disabilities. Behavioral Perspective, Inc. (BPI), located at 117 Glen Crossing Road in Glen Carbon, had its ribbon cutting and opened for in-clinic services in February. BPI offers Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), occupational therapy, speech therapy, school consultation services and parent training/support services. Applied Behavior Analysis is a type of therapy that focuses on improving specific behaviors, such as social skills, communication, reading, and academics as well as adaptive learning skills, such as fine motor dexterity, hygiene, grooming, domestic capabilities, punctuality, and job competence. Our mission is to provide positive outcomes for everyone that we work with, said Scott LaPorta, Director of New Regions for BPI. We have a program that we created called Apple Academy and its an intensive ABA program for children ages 2 to 7. We try to get them caught up with their developmental milestones. We can overcome barriers to learning here and then transition them back to a traditional education system where they can have a healthy educational career. Our goal is to identify those barriers and teach them the skills that they need to be successful. Candice Gizewski is the founder and CEO of BPI, which also has central Illinois locations in Springfield and Champaign. In 2000, Gizewski began working with children with autism and other disabilities. After seeing the results ABA could make with individuals with autism, she decided to work toward becoming a Board-Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA). In 2010, she founded BPI, serving a small group of families in the Oswego area. The company now has eight Apple Academy Clinics and home services throughout the Midwest, including Columbia, Missouri and Austin, Texas. Two years ago, we serendipitously fell into central Illinois when we helped service a company that was no longer able to provide services, LaPorta said. We were able to help those kids and provide those staff members with jobs. Applied Behavioral Analysis is at the heart of the clinics philosophy. Research suggests that ABA is more effective for children and adults with autism than any other therapeutic approach. The rate of prevalence for autism right now is one in every 50 children born in the U.S. and its increasing every year, LaPorta said. The earlier you can start services, the better the outcome will be. The BPI staff at the new Glen Carbon location includes Clinic Manager Kaitlynne McNutt and Meredith Becks, who is the local BCBA lead clinician. She does all of the assessments and program management for the clinics clients, who are known as learners. McNutt and Becks work closely with LaPorta and Michaela Goode, who is the Regional Director of Central Illinois Clinical Services. I will do the initial intake with the family and build a plan for what we need to work on, Becks said. I will always be there to support the learner as they work one-on-one with our RBTs (registered behavior technicians). Were constantly making changes and evaluating how we can continue to see growth in the learner. Becks also provides parent training/support services so parents can carry over their childs lessons from the clinic to their home. BPI offers a wide range of services, depending on the age and background of their clients. We run the Apple Academy during the day, and its designed for ages 2 to 7, but if an 8-year-old has a developmental profile that matches what we offer in our class, we will accept them, said LaPorta, who emphasized the one-on-one ratio of learners to instructors. We can service young adults who are 20 to 25 years old, but because of the skills they would probably need to work on, they would be in a home setting. As the clinic manager, McNutt also has a wide range of duties. As with all BPI staff members, McNutts goal is to create a classroom atmosphere at the clinic to ease the learners eventual transition into a traditional school system. In addition to the daily operation of the program, Im here to support our staff members, including our registered behavior technicians or RBTs, who directly with our kids, McNutt said. I do whatever else is needed, including playing with the kids and helping out if our staff members need a break. Throughout the day were doing Apple Academy activities, including an afternoon circle time where were reading stories and singing songs. We also do physical activities like throwing a ball as well as a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activity. No two clients or families are the same, so all programming at BPI is individualized, based on the needs, strengths and priorities of each client and their families. For everyone that comes through the door, we do an intake with their family to learn more about their childs or their young adults history, LaPorta said. Then we develop a curriculum for the next three to six months specific to that learner based on their current strengths and deficits. The Glen Carbon clinic is currently serving three young clients in person while another learner is being served via in-home services and telehealth. Were drawing from various locations, including Wood River, Collinsville and Belleville, Becks said. Behavioral Perspective has plenty of success stories from its clients over the years, with Goode citing one example. With one of the kids we have now, his communication has really flourished, Goode said. Before coming to our services, he was not able to vocally speak and now he is requesting items and increasing his social skills and his daily living skills. With that intensive one-on-therapy, they are able to transition into a traditional school setting with their peers. The clinic, which is open until 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, also offers flexible hours to meet the needs of its patients. We work around parents and their schedules, but typically Apple Academy runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or whatever works best for them, Goode said. In the afternoon around 2:00 or 3:00, we have Apple Too, which is more for the 7 and older age range. They work on individualized skills but also a lot of social skills and daily living skills. At some point, the clinic plans to add speech therapy and occupational therapy to its list of services. In every other clinic location, were a multidisciplinary team and our goal is to bring that to the Glen Carbon clinic as well, LaPorta said. For more information on Behavioral Perspective, Inc., visit www.bpiaba.com or call 888-737-1833. The company also has an active social media presence on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BehavioralPerspectiveInc New Delhi, March 12 : Since the day he presented the Delhi government's 'Deshbhakti' Budget, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said people from all sections of the society have openly accepted it. He said if hoisting the national flag is patriotism, then AAP believes that making a good education policy is also 'Deshbhakti'. Speaking on the Delhi Budget, Sisodia who is also the Finance Minister slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying they talk about 'Deshbhakti' but have made the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi corrupt bodies. Challenging the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Sisodia said, "Be careful the party that has come up with the 'Deshbhakti' budget is not like you. Our patriotism is quite different from yours. Our 'Deshbhakti' is developing Delhi, educating children, ensuring the security of women etc." Sisodia gave a slogan -- 'Muh mein Shri Ram hai, aur hath mein Sanvidhan hai'. He took a direct jibe at the BJP, saying, "BJP's 'Deshbhakti' is nothing but pretence. The Aam Aadmi Party's 'Deshbhakti' is different from the BJP," he added. "BJP's patriotism is just a slogan and we do not need it. People need development and not 'fake Deshbhakti' of the BJP," said Sisodia. He said whatever the Delhi government has promised in the annual Budget for 2021-22 would be achieved. He also defended his announcement of making Delhi's per capita income equivalent to that of Singapore. "The Opposition is trying to take this issue as an attack to prove us wrong. But I tell you, what I had mentioned in the budget was after thorough examination. And we will prove it," he added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Right now elite Insta-hottie Khloe is one of our faves and her newsworthy promo work not only influences the global discourse but inspires this blast of community news, pop culture and top headlines. Kansas City Cashing Checks Kansas Citians make plans to use new round of stimulus checks Another round of stimulus checks will be going to 85% of American households. As the government prepares to send checks, people in Kansas City plan how they'll use the money."Oh, this will mean a lot. Pay some bills, stuff like that, clean up debt, all kinds of stuff," said Uzo Ajoku, of Kansas City."Get caught up on a lot of stuff. No Go In JoCo Edgerton warehouse plan partially delayed after Johnson County residents speak out EDGERTON, Kan. - Residents from Johnson and Miami counties have scored a temporary, partial victory after a long council meeting last night ended up delaying a controversial construction project. The Edgerton City Council is partially delaying a vote that would have cleared the way for recently annexed land to be rezoned for industrial use. Jazz NextGen Debuts KCUR's Newest Show Brings The Music That Inspires Jazz Trumpeter Hermon Mehari To Kansas City World-renowned jazz musician Hermon Mehari is bringing his voice and record collection to Kansas City airwaves in the form of KCUR's new music show, The Session With Hermon Mehari. Though the award-winning trumpeter currently resides in Paris, Mehari's Kansas City roots have called him back starting Saturday, March 13 at 7 p.m. Scantily Clad Hottie Influences MILLIONS Of Adoring Fans Khloe Terae Turns Heads In A Checkered Bikini In Smoldering Bathtub Video Khloe Terae turned heads on Tuesday, February 16, when she treated her 2.6 million Instagram followers to a smoldering new post. The Canadian model and influencer took to her popular account to share a video in which she struck a series of seductive poses in a bathtub as she rocked a stylish swimsuit. Military leaders thrash Tucker Carlson after comments about female troops At that event, Biden said the military was undertaking "relatively straightforward work" to better reflect gender diversity within its ranks and retain female recruits, including "designing body armor that fits women properly, tailoring combat uniforms for women, creating maternity flight suits [and] updating requirements for their hairstyles." AOC Demands Cuomo Out Several House Democrats, including Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler, call for Cuomo to resign Several House Democrats from New York, including Reps. Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign on Friday, increasing the pressure on the governor to step down amid an investigation into multiple sexual harassment allegations. COVID Still Kills The US might be fooled by improving Covid-19 numbers, experts say, as tens of thousands of Americans are predicted to die by July Covid-19 numbers may be on the decline in the United States after a year of collective grief. But with tens of thousands of deaths expected over the next few months, experts are warning Americans not to drop their guard just yet. Prez Biden Confronts China Biden's meeting with "the Quad," a new alliance to counter China, explained When President Joe Biden meets virtually with the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia on Friday, he'll be doing much more than joining a routine gathering of nations. He'll be showcasing the growing importance of an informal alliance of those four countries to counter China, known as "the Quad." Brit Talker Thrives On Dispute Piers Morgan 'thrives on the uproar' over Meghan Markle Piers Morgan isn't bothered by the commotion following his public criticism of Meghan Markle, sources confirm to Page Six. The bombastic Brit revealed he was forced to leave his job on "Good Morning Britain" because he wouldn't apologize to Markle for disbelieving her claims about her mental health, but a source who knows him tells Page Six he isn't concerned and "thrives on the uproar." Hipsters Share Worthwhile Kansas City Helping Hand Giving the Basics is the hygiene resource hub for those in need Giving the Basics volunteers loading up items for delivery. // Photo courtesy of Giving the Basics. In 2011, Teresa Hamilton was contacted by a close friend who was newly divorced with six children and struggling to make ends meet. They were requesting food donations from the local pantry, but basic necessities like shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent, diapers, and toilet paper... More Plaza Coffee Talk Messenger Coffee Co. Will Soon Hit The Plaza With-Count 'Em!-Two Locations - In Kansas City Java junkies, rejoice! Messenger Coffee Co. is bringing their farm-direct, locally roasted coffee to the Country Club Plaza. And, before you ask, yes-both stores will feature IBIS Bakery's famous, local pastries and breads. It's a perfect addition to the Plaza-a beloved local coffee brand coming to one of Kansas City's most iconic locations. Soggy Weekend Forecast Your Storm Track 5 Daily Forecast Have your umbrella and rain gear ready to go if you are heading out for the evening and don't pack it away this weekend. Rain and cool air has moved in already and will stubbornly hang around this weekend while an east wind whips in at a blustery pace adding to the level of goose bumps you will have if you spend much time outside. Maroon 5 - Beautiful Mistakes ft. Megan Thee Stallion is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. Los Angeles, March 12 : The popular American show "Grey's Anatomy" put out their latest teaser, which shows the return of Derek Shepherd, essayed by Patrick Dempsey. This came right after another popular character Andrew DeLuca, played by Giacomo Gianniotti, died on the show. The teaser features Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek reuniting on a beach. Meredith is currently unconscious on the show, after being infected with Covid. According to etonline.com, the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital can be seen dealing with the trauma of DeLuca's death, as he was stabbed. Dr Webber, essayed by actor James Pickens Jr, tries to encourage the doctors by saying: "Grey Sloan is a family and Andrew DeLuca was a member of that family," Webber rallies the troops, as Owen picks up DeLuca's badge." Dempsey's character was killed in season 11 of the show after a road accident. His was one of the most popular characters on the show and was also referred to as McDreamy in the story due to his good looks. Attending an estate/garage sale, one would hope to find furniture, antiques and perhaps even jewelry. But an artifact from an iconic and classic television comedy? Thats what one very lucky person found rummaging through what she later found out was the estate of late All in the Family actor Carroll OConnor. In an appearance on the PBS reality program Antiques Roadshow, she reeled at discovering its stunning monetary value. Carroll OConnor, left, and Jean Stapleton in a scene from All in the Family; a valuable prop appears in the 1975 set photo | CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images Antiques Roadshow, like All in the Family, was influenced by a Brit export show All in the Family was an American production of the British 1960s and 70s comedy called Till Death Us Do Part. Likewise, the PBS program Antiques Roadshow has its origins in a UK series by the same name that began airing in 1979. The show quickly became a huge viewer favorite in the United States. And it takes its appraisals seriously. In 2000, Peter McGhee, a vice president for WGBH-TV, which created the American version of the show, was concerned about the authenticity of a 17th-century Milanese parade helmet. The woman who brought the helmet in to the roadshow discovered it was worth $250,000. While she claimed she found the helmet in her attic, she wouldnt return McGhees calls at that time. The woman owners story of finding it in the attic; thats the part we werent able to get her to verify for us, McGhee told the Associated Press. There was at least a cloud of doubt about that. Heres a case where doubt persists and we couldnt eliminate it, so we withdrew the program. Antiques Roadshow is reality TV at its finest Produced for PBS by WGBH Boston, the public television program hasnt lost any of its steam over the years. Despite practically no changes in its style of presentation or format, it has sustained loyal viewership in its decades on the air. RELATED: All in the Family: Archie Bunker Was Almost Played by This Box-Office Star The series executive producer Marsha Bemko remarked on Antiques Roadshows lasting appeal at the start of its 22nd season in 2019. We are the first in our genrea genre we can say we startedreality TV built around material culture, Bemko said. Were the only show of this kind where theres no commerce. We are strictly there to provide information, to educate our guests and our viewers. Roadshow is reality TV at its finest. The conversation that you see on screen between the appraiser and guest is the first time theyve talked. It isnt stagedits an authentic interaction. Archie Bunkers coat was worth more than 350x the purchase price At a 2016 Antiques Roadshow event in Palm Springs, Florida, appraiser Timothy Gordon was made aware that a yellow plaid coat, the very familiar stage prop that Carroll OConnor wore frequently in episodes of All in the Family, had been brought in for evaluation. The woman who brought the coat in explained to Gordon that she went to an estate sale in Malibu, California. She was apparently unaware, until she was told by another sale visitor, that she was at the home of the late All in the Family actor Carroll OConnor who died in 2001. His wife, Nancy, died in 2014 and the sale was held after her death. I went in the house, I went upstairs, and the master bedroom closet was filled with mens clothes, she explained. It was actually his daughter-in-law that was having the sale. OConnors only child, Hugh, died in 1995 at age 32. Carroll OConnor, seated second from left in a scene from All in the Family, wearing the plaid coat that an Antiques Roadshow appraiser placed at an auction value of $15,000 | CBS via Getty Images The Roadshow visitor said she immediately noticed and bought the item, Carroll OConnors coat with the lived-in appearance and American flag pin still on its lapel, because I was just going to give it to my dad. She paid $40 for the iconic outerwear, which Gordon confirmed was Archie Bunkers and that Carroll OConnor took it home. Stunned to learn that the coat, in fabulous condition, had a value at auction of up to $15,000, its new owner remarked that it reminded her of a time when my whole family was together, laughing and having a good time. Former head of Ukrbud, former MP of Ukraine Maksym Mykytas was released from custody by the decision of Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv, his attorney-at-law Yevhen Hrushovets said on Facebook. "It is officially! By the decision of Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv, Maksym Mykytas was released from custody. The unfair measure of restraint has been changed!" Later Mykytas confirmed this information. "I am going home! [...] Thanks to all the people of goodwill who helped me in this difficult time. I was detained an hour and a half before the New Year, and now I went out into the street, and here is almost the same New Year's weather," he wrote. As the prosecutor's office told Interfax-Ukraine, Mykytas was changed from the measure of restraint to night house arrest. As reported, on December 8, a group of persons kidnapped an employee of a law firm in Kyiv that provided legal assistance to the head of a well-known house development firm. The attackers lured the victim under the pretext of a meeting. After the abduction they demanded that he returned a non-existent debt and forced him to sign a receipt for $800,000 given of the head of the house development company. Subsequently, they seized two mobile phones, money and a car ID card of the victim. A source in law enforcement agencies told Interfax-Ukraine that the developer, in whose favor the receipt was signed, is former MP Mykytas. A young Cork man faced a remand in custody on charges of producing a hammer during a violent row as Christmas shoppers walked along Barrack Street but the accused said he was about to enter a rehabilitation programme. Garda Iain King objected to bail being granted to Edmond OSullivan, 28, formerly of Inchera Lawn, Mahon. Garda King charged OSullivan with engaging in violent disorder at Barrack Street, Cork, on December 13 2020, causing criminal damage to 143 Barrack Street, assault causing harm to a woman and production of a hammer. Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said the 28-year-old had managed to get accommodation in the Simon Community and was about to go to St. Helens in Blarney. OSullivan said he was never more serious about going into rehabilitation. He said that when he spoke about it before he was not too pushed about it. He also said that he was disputing all of the alleged facts against him in relation to December 13 last. Garda King said they responded to a report about an altercation between two men on Barrack Street where a hammer was allegedly being used. Garda King alleged in relation to Edmond OSullivan, He was identified as the person who started the altercation and that he assaulted [a woman] by punching her in the face, and that he smashed windows at 143 Barrack Street causing 2,500 in damage. Garda King said the accused did not show much regard for people who were out and about doing Christmas shopping on the day. Judge Kelleher said that he hoped the rehabilitation mentioned by the accused worked out well in due course but he said that for now he was remanding the defendant in custody on the charges. Edmond OSullivan was remanded in custody for a week to appear at Cork District Court by video link from prison. European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Google faces a very large investigation into its advertising business, adding a new front to a decade-long antitrust battle. Technology is really a high priority for us because what has happened over these last 12 months has changed a lot of habits, Vestager told an online event Friday. Vestagers investigation into the Google ads ecosystem is one of series of tech probes she cited, including investigations into Apple Inc.s app store and payment system, Facebook Inc.s marketplace and data. Her most advanced investigation into Amazon.com Inc. focuses on how its control of seller data may be dramatically reducing the risks of Amazon retail compared to the risk run by traders on the platform Regulators gathered information in January on Googles practices in the advertising technology value chain according to questionnaires sent to publishers and ad firms. The EU has been examining Googles data practices since 2019 and has widened the scope to look at Googles plans to phase out third-party cookies, which the U.K.s antitrust authority is investigating amid complaints from publishers. Also read: Facebook, Google fight bill that would help the US news industry We will use every tool that we have to the fullest with antitrust action necessary to make sure that the marketplace is fair, Vestager said on the event organized by the European retailers association, EuroCommerce. Google didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on Vestagers remarks. Vestager previously said shes taking a keen interest in Googles advertising business in order to fully understand it and respond to people who are uncomfortable as to how it works. She said in January she didnt know if regulators would open a formal probe to scrutinize the issues more deeply. The Dane has already fined Google more than $9 billion euros after three earlier antitrust investigations found the company breached the law over its shopping service, Android mobile phone operating system and advertising business. Regulators have also looked at the companys travel and local search services. Written by Aoife White. Jedward's John and Edward Grimes revealed on Friday's BBC Breakfast that their friend has asked them to help her have twins via IVF. The two brothers, 29, who found fame on The X Factor in 2009, appeared on the chat show to discuss new statistics where one one in every 42 children born is now a twin. During the chat, Jedward revealed that their friend has asked them for help in having twins via IVF and it is the 'best gift' they could give. Good friends: Jedward's John and Edward Grimes (L-R) revealed on Friday's BBC Breakfast that their friend has asked them to help her have twins via IVF They said: 'It's actually crazy because our friend actually wants us to help her have twins via IVF. So, as her friend, it is the best gift we can give her!' Jedward added that twins are common in their family as their granddad's brothers, Pat and Henry, were twins. The duo admitted that they hope to have their own twins one day and that they have saved all of their clothes from aged 10 to 29 so their future children can recreate some of their looks. Statistics: The two brothers, 29, who found fame on The X Factor in 2009, appeared on the chat show to discuss new statistics where one one in every 42 children born is now a twin Jedward also sweetly praised the benefits of being a twin as they share the same vision 'creatively' and they always have someone to lean on during life. The duo ended their interview by pointing out their painting in the background which was a gift from Ed Sheeran for Christmas. More twins are being born than ever before, according to a new and comprehensive global study earlier this week. Since the 1980s, the twinning rate has increased by a third from 9 to 12 per 1,000 deliveries, meaning that about 1.6 million twins are born each year worldwide and one in every 42 children born is a twin. 'Best gift': During the chat, Jedward revealed that their friend has asked them for help in having twins via IVF and it is the 'best gift' they could give (pictured on The X Factor in 2009) A big cause of this increase is a growth in medically assisted reproduction (MAR), including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), ovarian stimulation and artificial insemination. In-vitro fertilisation, known as IVF, is a medical procedure in which a woman has an already-fertilised egg inserted into her womb to become pregnant. Another cause of the increase is the delay in women getting pregnant in many countries over the last decades as the odds of having twins increases with age. Women experience hormonal changes as they near menopause, which may encourage their body to release more than one egg during ovulation. TWINS: EXPLAINED Twins are two individuals who form in the same uterus. There are a few different kinds: 1. FRATERNAL TWINS (non-identical) These account for two-thirds of twins. Two eggs are fertilized by two sperm and both implanted into the walls of the uterus at the same time. These eggs form separately, in separate sacs adjacent to each other. They share 50 percent of their DNA, as they would with their other non-twin siblings. They can be different genders, though most (around 60 percent) are same-sex twins. Research suggests fraternal twins run in families, typically down the maternal line. 2. IDENTICAL TWINS A single egg is fertilized by one sperm and embeds in the uterus wall. But at some point, it splits from one zygote into two. They do not always share the same amniotic sac, but they always share the same placenta. Those that share the same amniotic sac are known as monoamniotic, while those that have their own are diamniotic. Most identical twins split within eight days of conception. Those that split between eight and 12 days are known as mono-mono twins - incredibly rare. Those that split after 12 days tend to be conjoined. Advertisement The UK registers somewhere between 15 to 17 twin deliveries per 1,000 deliveries which puts it in the mid-range globally. For most countries, the proportion of twin deliveries is at its highest since records began. John and Edward Grimes found fame on the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009. In February 2019, Jedward lost their mother Susanna, following a five-year battle with cancer and turned to Tara Reid in LA for support, with the twins living in the same building as the American Pie star. They said: 'It's actually crazy because our friend actually wants us to help her have twins via IVF. So, as her friend, it is the best gift we can give her!' Famous pals! The duo ended their interview by pointing out their painting in the background which was a gift from Ed Sheeran for Christmas During an appearance on Loose Women last June, The trio discussed turning to each other after losing their mothers as they quarantined together during the COVID-19 pandemic. Edward said: 'The things about it is Tara and us, we all lost our mums within the same year so I feel like we're all a support network. It was a very hard time for it all.' 'And during this time... our families who we would have quarantined with aren't there, so us together, we can relate to each others' situations. I feel like we're looking after each other and have the best intent.' The twins appear to have since returned to their home in Dublin, Ireland, as they have been tagging it as their location on Instagram. Republican lawmakers objected to the package, saying it was too large and did not sufficiently target those who were most in need of economic assistance. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday called the bill "costly, corrupt and liberal." Biden, a Democrat, signed the package one day after the House of Representatives approved the bill 220-211 without Republican support and one day earlier than the White House initially had planned. "This historic legislation is about building a backbone in this country and giving people in this country, working people, middle-class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance," Biden said as he prepared to sign the bill. U.S. President Joe Biden signed his US$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package into law Thursday, opening the door for the release of federal aid for financially ailing American households and businesses. No federal Minimum Wage Hike The measure narrowly passed in the Senate on Saturday after the chamber altered some aspects of a bill approved earlier by the House. Among the changes was the removal of an increase in the federal minimum wage. The new law provides $1,400 checks for all but the highest-earning adults in the country, and expanded tax credits for lower-income families of $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17 and $3,600 for children under 6 for the tax year 2021. Unemployed workers will continue to get $300-a-week national government payments into early September on top of state assistance. State and city governments will get $350 billion to help them recover from the pandemic. Unlike a round of direct payments that went out last year in a coronavirus relief package, this time the checks will not have the signature of the president. The package also includes tens of billions of dollars to fund coronavirus testing and contact tracing, as well as vaccine distribution, along with new aid for businesses that have been hard hit by directives that curtailed their operations over the last year. Biden on Tuesday visited a hardware store in Washington that has benefited from a pandemic-related paycheck protection loan program. Targeted Help Compared with coronavirus relief approved last year, Biden said the newest package targets loans more narrowly to small businesses. He said a lot of "mom-and-pop businesses got muscled out of the way by bigger companies that jumped in front of the line" a year ago. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki praised the legislation at a news conference Monday, saying that while there were some changes on the margins as the Senate acted, it represented the "core" of what Biden proposed. On Tuesday, she said Biden and other senior administration officials planned to continue to tout the benefits of the relief plan after it passed. "We certainly recognize that we can't just sign a bill," Psaki told reporters. "We will need to do some work and use our best voices, including the president, the vice president and others, to communicate to the American people the benefits of this package." "So, I think you can certainly expect the president to be doing some travel, and we'll have more details on that in the coming days," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 13:16:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KABUL, March 12 (Xinhua) -- At least two suicide bombers were killed and one soldier wounded in two car bomb blasts in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province early on Friday, an Interior Ministry official confirmed. The militants tried to assault a special forces' operating base by explosive-laden vehicles in Maidan Shar, capital of Wardak, about 35 km west of national capital Kabul, but the soldiers manning the base identified the militants and fired on the vehicles before they reached the base entrance gate, Tariq Arian, spokesman of the ministry, told Xinhua. The explosions sent a column of thick smoke into the sky and triggered panic, witness Abdul Wahhid told Xinhua earlier in the day. The sound of one of the blasts which occurred roughly at 5:50 a.m. local time was heard in Kabul. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident. Enditem WASHINGTON Marking a year of loss and disruption, President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the $1.9 trillion relief package that he said will help the U.S. defeat the coronavirus and nurse the economy back to health. The signing came hours before Biden delivers his first prime-time address since taking office. He's aiming to steer the nation toward a hungered-for sentiment hope as he marks one year since the onset of the pandemic that has killed more than 529,000 Americans. "This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country," Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office. $1,400 individual stimulus checks may arrive as soon as this weekend, White House says WASHINGTON The White House says the $1,400 direct payments for most Americans funded by the American Rescue Plan will start showing up in ba Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. "We want to move as fast as possible," tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain. He added, "We will hold our celebration of the signing on Friday, as planned, with congressional leaders!" Previewing his remarks, Biden said he would "talk about what we've been through as a nation this past year, but more importantly, I'm going to talk about what comes next." Biden's challenge Thursday night will be to honor the sacrifices made by Americans over the last year while encouraging them to remain vigilant despite "virus fatigue" and growing impatience to resume normal activities given the tantalizing promise of vaccines. Speaking on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization's declaration of a pandemic, he'll mourn the dead, but also project optimism about the future. "This is a chance for him to really beam into everybody's living rooms and to be both the mourner in chief and to explain how he's leading the country out of this," said presidential historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley. "This is a big moment," Brinkley added. "He's got to win over hearts and minds for people to stay masked and get vaccinated, but also recognize that after the last year, the federal government hasn't forgotten you." Biden's evening remarks in the East Room are central to a pivotal week for the president as he addresses the defining challenge of his term: shepherding the nation through the twin public health and economic storms brought about by the virus. On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released initial guidance for how vaccinated people can resume some normal activities. On Wednesday, Congress approved the president's $1.9 trillion "American Rescue Plan," aimed at easing the economic impact of the virus on tens of millions of people. And the nation was on pace to administer its 100 millionth dose of vaccine as soon as Thursday. 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 Biden said he would focus his remarks on what his administration plans to deliver in the coming months, but also reiterate his call for Americans to continue to practice social distancing and wear face coverings to hasten the end of the pandemic. "I'm going to launch the next phase of the COVID response and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask of the American people," he said. He added: "There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of the past year. There is real reason for hope." Almost exactly one year ago, President Donald Trump addressed the nation to mark the WHO's declaration of a global pandemic. He announced travel restrictions and called for Americans to practice good hygiene but displayed little alarm about the forthcoming catastrophe. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he had been deliberately "playing down" the threat of the virus. For Biden, who has promised to level with the American public after the alternate reality of Trump's virus talk, the imperative is to strike the correct balance "between optimism and grief," said Princeton history professor and presidential scholar Julian Zelizer. "Generally, the country likes optimism, and at this particular moment they're desperate for optimism, but you can't risk a 'Mission Accomplished' moment,'" he said, warning against any premature declaration that the threat has been vanquished. Fifty days into his presidency, Biden is experiencing a polling honeymoon that his predecessor never enjoyed. Yet public sentiment remains stubbornly polarized and fewer people among his critics seem willing to say they'll give him a chance than was the case for earlier presidents. Overall, he has earned strong marks on his handling of the pandemic. According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released last week, 70% of Americans back the Democratic president's handling of the virus response, including 44% of Republicans. The White House hopes that as Biden assumes the role of cheerleader for the virus relief package, the elements of the $1.9 trillion bill that are popular with Republicans will boost his support even further. Brinkley said Biden's decision to deliver a speech aimed directly at the nation before he makes the traditional presidential address to a joint session of Congress signals that it is as much an "introduction" of the president and his administration to the American people as a status report on his first 50 days in office. Presidential addresses to Congress "tend to be a series of soundbites," Brinkley said. "This way, he can make his case directly." Still, the prime-time speech is in many ways an anachronism, better suited for an era when Americans had vastly fewer television options and in which a presidential address could reframe the national conversation. The fragmented media landscape makes it more difficult for Biden to reach people, Zelizer said, but that may be beside the point. "Everything he's doing is throwback," said Zelizer. "It's part of his effort to create normalcy after the last four years." Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 20:11:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Tafara Mugwara HARARE, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Lulu Dube carefully examines a new pair of exquisitely handmade leather sandals inside a dusty shade in Mbare, a high-density township south of downtown Harare. The energy and determination she exudes shows her passionate devotion to her work. Dube is one of more than 160 shoemakers who work at Two-Kuzvitonga Leatherworks Cooperative near Harare city center. What makes her stand out is that she is the only female shoemaker there. Dube makes trendy leather and rubber sandals that are popular among locals due to their comfort, durability and excellent grip on any type of surface -- which makes them suitable for the local environment. Besides, the sandals are very affordable. Typically, a pair costs just 5 U.S. dollars, but for one with good bargaining skills, the price can even be lower. Dube said building a career in a male-dominated industry was an uphill battle at first. Carving herself a niche in the competitive shoemaking business did not come off easily, but she remained steadfast and undaunted. Women working in such a male-dominated industry face a myriad of challenges, including doubts about their capabilities and the quality of their work, she said. "At first people said a lot of things. Some would say can a woman make durable products as a man? But so far customers are responding positively," she told Xinhua. As time goes on, her customer base has been growing remarkably. "There are some customers that actually come specifically looking for me, so the reception of my products is quite good," she said. With no formal training in making shoes, Dube was exposed to the shoemaking business when she was employed as a salesperson at the market. "That's when some people said you can't just spend the whole day seated, this is how you make sandals, this is how you cut, you join this way -- until I could do it myself," she said. As a courageous and passionate woman, she has grown to be one of the most distinguished shoemakers. Tapson Mbodya, spokesperson of Two-Kuzvitonga Leatherworks, said Dube is very hardworking. "Her work cannot be distinguished from what other members are doing, in fact, her products are actually of superior quality compared to what other men are making here. It shows that she has a lot of potential," he told Xinhua. "As we celebrate women, these are some of the women that are doing wonders." "If there are organizations that provide support, these are the people that should be supported so that they can flourish, so that their progress can be emulated by other women," he said. Mavis Chapingisa is one of the few women who make sandals at a busy roadside market in downtown Harare. Besides making trendy shoes for women and children, her products are much more affordable -- a pair of toddlers' sandals cost just 1 U.S. dollar. "For a dollar, anyone can afford to buy shoes," she chuckled. "At least every child can have something to put on their feet," she told Xinhua in an interview at her roadside market. She, however, bemoaned lack of proper workplaces, as they often clash with the police, hindering their work progress. She said due to lack of proper working environments, women often suffer heavy losses when their products are confiscated by police who usually conduct raids on traders selling their wares on undesignated areas. Dube and Chapingisa are just two of the women who are scaling the heights in traditionally male-dominated domains, smashing stereotypes along the way. In many careers, women and men remain concentrated in different jobs and fields -- and male-dominated jobs generally pay more than female-dominated occupations. Gender lines, however, are gradually blurring, with new posts in male-dominated fields increasingly being filled by women. Enditem Afghanistan's Envoy-designate to India, Farid Mamundzay, praised India on Tuesday for its role in defence training, saying that India is his country's most "reliable regional partner". He expressed gratitude to the Indian government for assisting with protection and security by providing military hardware and many Afghanistan cadets with much-needed training opportunities. India participates in Afghan National Defence and Security Forces Day celebration To mark Afghan National Defence and Security Forces Day, Mamundzay, speaking at the reception organised at the Afghan embassy, said that New Delhi is Afghan's "most reliable regional partner and the largest regional contributor to development." Farid Mamundzay in his official statement said, "As the most reliable regional partner and the largest regional contributor to Afghanistan's development, I would like to thank the Government of India for providing much-needed defence and security assistance by helping us with military hardware and providing much-needed training opportunities to many of our cadets at the finest Indian military academies along with some of the finest Indian military officers." Lieutenant General Sanjeev Sharma, Director General of Military Intelligence, on the occasion extended his heartfelt felicitations to officers and soldiers of Afghanistan. He said, "Afghan National Defence and Security Forces Day commemorates the service of Afghan forces towards the great country. On behalf of the Indian Army, I extend my sincere and heartfelt felicitations to brave officers and soldiers of Afghanistan who defend their motherland under extremely challenging and tough conditions." Afghanistan's Envoy-designate to India praises new Delhi Praising the India-Afghan defence relationship, Lt Gen Sharma said, "India and Afghanistan share a very strong relationship. The relationship has its foundation in our historical linkages and people-to-people exchanges. The Indian Army is committed to assist and support the Afghan security forces in all aspects and all domains. India is keen to see Afghanistan as a peaceful, powerful, prosperous and vibrant country. We are highly appreciative of the professionalism of the Afghan armed forces and their contribution in maintaining peace." Military Attache at Afghanistan Embassy, Karimullah Karim, said that his country is facing a number of security threats and challenges from over 70 foreign-backed terrorist groups, but he is confident that Afghan military forces can effectively address these dangers and difficulties. "I can confidently state that our forces have the capability and will overcome current security problems. We would like to thank all our international counterparts and the Indian government for their generous contribution," Karim asserted. (With ANI inputs) Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Data have demonstrated vaccine protects against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death in broad geographic regions, including those with variants of significant concern(1) Available on not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use Compatible with standard vaccine storage, distribution channels, enabling delivery to remote areas NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) today announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. Data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study showed that the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was well tolerated and demonstrated a 67 percent reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 disease in participants who received the vaccine in comparison to participants given the placebo. The onset of protection was observed from day 14 and was maintained 28 days post-vaccination. The data also demonstrated the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied, and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death across countries with different variants, beginning 28 days after vaccination.1 Variants observed in an ongoing analysis in the ENSEMBLE study included the B.1.351 variant which was identified in 95 percent of the COVID-19 cases in South Africa. "From the beginning of the pandemic, we have worked to develop and deliver a vaccine that could protect the health of people everywhere, and today's milestone represents significant progress toward ensuring global access to our single-shot vaccine," said Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Johnson & Johnson. "We are moving forward with urgency and purpose to meet our commitments to the global community as we do all we can to help end the pandemic." The EUL procedure streamlines the process by which new or unlicensed products can be assessed for use during public health emergencies by governments and United Nations procurement agencies. The EUL process expedites access to such products in many countries around the world and is also a prerequisite to supply vaccines to the new COVAX Facility, a global mechanism for pooled procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in 190 participating countries, including 92 lower-income countries. "The WHO listing of our single-shot COVID-19 vaccine advances our pledge to help stem this pandemic and our unwavering commitment to equitable access," said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson. "Achieving this important prerequisite for distributing our vaccine through the COVAX Facility which is co-led by Gavi is a major step forward in making our vaccine accessible for all." In December 2020, Johnson & Johnson entered into an agreement in principle with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) in support of the COVAX Facility. Johnson & Johnson and Gavi expect to enter into an Advance Purchase Agreement (APA) that would provide up to 500 million doses of the Company's vaccine to COVAX through 2022.2 "A single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that can be distributed and stored using established supply chains has the potential to be very meaningful in the face of this global pandemic," said Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head, Janssen Research & Development at Johnson & Johnson. "In addition, the clinical data shared with WHO that informed the Emergency Use Listing demonstrated protection against disease across countries with multiple variants." Commitment to Equitable Access Equitable access is at the center of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 response. The Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine candidate and its compatibility with standard vaccine distribution channels align with WHO's recommendations for medical interventions in a pandemic setting, which emphasize ease of distribution, administration, and compliance. The Company is committed to ensuring global access to the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine candidate on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use. In September 2020, Johnson & Johnson joined other life sciences companies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in signing an unprecedented communique which outlined a steadfast commitment to facilitating equitable access to the innovations being developed to fight the pandemic.3 Regulatory Filings Johnson & Johnson received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States on February 274 following a unanimous vote by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on February 26, 2021.5 The Company's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine was also granted Interim Order authorization in Canada on March 5, 20216 and Conditional Marketing Authorization (CMA) in the European Union on March 11, 2021.7 Manufacturing and Supply Chain Information The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-shot vaccine is compatible with standard vaccine storage and distribution channels enabling delivery to remote areas.4 The vaccine is estimated to remain stable for two years at -25 to -15C, and a maximum of three months of which can be at routine refrigeration at temperatures of 2-8C.4,8 This enables the vaccine to be shipped using the same cold chain technologies used to transport other medicines and vaccines in routine use.4,9 Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine uses the AdVac vaccine platform, a proprietary technology that was also used to develop and manufacture Janssen's European Commission-approved Ebola vaccine regimen and construct its investigational Zika, RSV, and HIV vaccines.6 Phase 3 ENSEMBLE Study Design The Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in individuals 18 years of age and older.10 The study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Company's vaccine candidate in protecting against both moderate and severe COVID-19 disease, with assessment of efficacy as of day 14 and as of day 28 as co-primary endpoints.11 The study enrolled a total of 43,783 participants. The trial, conducted in eight countries across three continents,10 includes a diverse and broad population of which 34 percent of participants were over age 60.1 Forty-one percent of participants in the study had comorbidities associated with an increased risk for progression to severe COVID-19.1 For more information on the Company's multi-pronged approach to helping combat the pandemic, visit: www.jnj.com/coronavirus. About Johnson & Johnson At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That's why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world's largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Learn more at www.jnj.com. Follow us at @JNJNews. About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at @JanssenGlobal. Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding development of a potential preventive vaccine for COVID-19. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments. ______________________________ 1 Janssen. Johnson & Johnson Announces Single-Shot Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Met Primary Endpoints in Interim Analysis of its Phase 3 ENSEMBLE Trial. Available at: https://www.janssen.com/emea/sites/www_janssen_com_emea/files/johnson_johnson_announces_single-shot_janssen_covid-19_vaccine_candidate_met_primary_endpoints_in_interim_analysis_of_its_phase_3_ensemble_trial.pdf Last accessed: March 2021. 2 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Announces Agreement in Principle with Gavi to Supply Janssen's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate to Lower-Income Countries in 2021. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/our-company/johnson-johnson-announces-agreement-in-principle-with-gavi-to-supply-janssens-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-to-lower-income-countries-in-2021. Last accessed: March 2021. 3 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Joins Other Companies in Signing a Landmark Communique on Expanded Global Access for COVID-19. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/latest-news/johnson-johnson-signs-communique-on-expanded-global-access-for-covid-19-vaccines. Last accessed: March 2021. 4 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Authorized by U.S. FDA For Emergency Use - First Single-Shot Vaccine in Fight Against Global Pandemic. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-authorized-by-u-s-fda-for-emergency-usefirst-single-shot-vaccine-in-fight-against-global-pandemic. Last accessed: March 2021. 5 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Unanimously Recommended for Emergency Use Authorization by U.S. FDA Advisory Committee. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-single-shot-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-unanimously-recommended-for-emergency-use-authorization-by-u-s-fda-advisory-committee. Last accessed: March 2021. 6 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Granted Authorization under Interim Order by Health Canada For Emergency Use. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-granted-authorization-under-interim-order-by-health-canada-for-emergency-use. Last accessed: March 2021. 7 Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine Granted Conditional Marketing Authorization by European Commission. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-single-shot-covid-19-vaccine-granted-conditional-marketing-authorization-by-european-commission 8 Custers, J., Kim, D., et al. Vaccines based on replication incompetent Ad26 viral vectors: Standardized template with key considerations for a risk/benefit assessment. Vaccine. 2020. 9 ClinicalTrials.gov. A study of Ad26.COV2.S for the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2-Mediated COVID-19 in Adult Participants (ENSEMBLE). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04505722. Last accessed: March 2021. 10 ClinicalTrials.gov. A study of Ad26.COV2.S for the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2-Mediated COVID-19 in Adult Participants (ENSEMBLE). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04505722. Last accessed: March 2021. 11 Johnson & Johnson. COVID-19 Phase 3 study clinical protocol. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/coronavirus/covid-19-phase-3-study-clinical-protocol. Last accessed: March 2021. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/403394/Johnson_and_Johnson_Logo.jpg It has been a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 a global pandemic and the world is still struggling with the outbreak, with no possible end to it in sight at least in the near future. India has been the second-worst hit country due to COVID-19 after the US. And making matters worse for the country is another surge in the number of new daily infections. Reuters In the past few weeks, almost every day the country had been recording an increase in the number of new infections, and in the past 24 hours, 23,285 new Covid-19 cases were reported from across India. Though 23,000 cases in a day is far less than the over 97,000 infections the country saw in a day in September 2020, the rise of new COVID-19 infections is a matter of concern. Since October 2020 the number of new COVID-19 infections had been falling drastically, to the relief of everyone, and on 1 February 2021, just 8,635 cases were recorded in India, the lowest daily tally in eight months. BCCL With the vaccine rollout gaining momentum, many were convinced that India had the pandemic under control. But just one month later, the daily tally has crossed 23,000 and is likely to go up in the coming days. The increase is being reported in six states, including Maharashtra where authorities have announced a weeklong lockdown in the densely populated Nagpur city next week. Maharashtra, the worst-COVID-19 affected state recorded 14,317 new infections - its highest number of new cases this year on Thursday. In Delhi too, there has been a fresh spike in the number of cases. The national capital on Thursday reported 409 new infections of Covid-19, the highest single-day increase in cases in over two months. BCCL However, in Kerala, the second-worst hit state, the number of new infections is slowing down. The rise in the number of new cases has triggered fears of a second wave of COVID-19 in India. Several countries around the world have seen a second over even a third wave of COVID-19, due to the mutations of the virus. AFP Mutant, much deadlier strains that can escape the existing vaccines are a challenge around the world and India is no different. Though several mutations of Sars COVo2 have been reported in India, the government has said that it is not the reason behind the spike in new infections across the country. Lucknow, March 12 : Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday flagged off a cycle yatra from Rampur to protest against the 'continued oppression' of its senior leader and MP Azam Khan. Through the yatra that will wind its way to Lucknow on March 21, passing through various districts, the SP will seek to strengthen its base among Muslim voters who form a crucial segment of the magical MY (Muslim-Yadav) combination that has kept the party in the centre stage of Uttar Pradesh politics since the last three decades. Khan is the tallest Muslim leader in SP and the Yogi Adityanath government has been targeting the Khan with a slew of criminal cases since July 2019. Khan is currently lodged in Sitapur jail since February 2020, along with his son Abdullah Azam. According to the party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary, the yatra will begin from Rampur, the home district of Azam Khan, and culminate in Lucknow on March 21. "The purpose of this yatra is to register public anger over the actions of the BJP government against the founder of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University and SP MP Azam Khan," said Chaudhary. The yatra will pass through Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur and Sitapur to reach the party headquarters in Lucknow where the party president will address workers. All these districts have a sizeable Muslim population. "The yatra will focus on the manner in which efforts are being made to demolish the Jauhar University which is one of the finest educational institutions. The government is on a vendetta mission," said party spokesman Anurag Bhadauria. Akhilesh, who addressed the public meeting Rampur on Friday, mounted a blistering attack on the state government, accusing it of indulging in the politics of hatred. Political analysts are of opinion that the move by the SP to focus on Mohd Azam Khan and Jauhar University through the cycle yatra will definitely help the party in consolidating its base among Muslims and also adopting a confrontational approach towards the ruling BJP. The party will also position itself as the main opposition party against the BJP elbowing out the Congress and the BSP. AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT's specs and benchmarks have been leaked online. Several sources stated that this high-end computer hardware could be faster than the current RTX 3070. Also Read: New Google Feature Links Android Phones to Chromebooks-More Updates Revealed! According to WCCF Tech's latest report, the new AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is set to be launched just a week from now. Interestingly, several rumors and speculations provided the list of gaming and raytracing performance benchmarks of the upcoming RDNA 2 graphics card. Gadgets 360 also revealed that the new AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the most affordable variant in the latest Radeon 6000-series. This lineup also includes the current AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, and AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. On the other hand, the upcoming Radeon RX 6700 XT is expected to have the same design as the other variants since it will also have two fans for cooling. AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT's Leaked Specs AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is expected to pack the latest Navi 22 XT GPU that features 40 compute units, which equal to 2560 stream processors. On the other hand, its cores are expected to have a clock speed of 2321 MHz base, 2424 MHz Game, and 2581 MHz boost. The graphics chip also features 40 Ray accelerators for raytracing capabilities on the RDNA 2 based GPUs. Aside from these, the upcoming computer hardware could feature an 11 phase PCB design, which would be powered by an 8+6 pin connector configuration. What Is Radeon RX 6700 XT's Downside? Although the upcoming AMD's computer hardware is expected to be faster than RTX 3070 in terms of DX12 titles, it is still slow when it comes to raytracing benchmarks. Based on the leaked benchmarks, AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is faster than the RTX 3060 TI and RTX 3070 in several titles. However, its raytracing performance is not that good, making it fall behind against the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070. However, it still generated great benchmarks that are optimized around the RDNA 2 architecture titles such as "Fortnite," "World of Warcraft: Shadowlands," "Godfall," and "Dirt 5." This means that although this new hardware is cheap, it still packs some amazing features that will improve your gaming performance. If you want to know the exact details of AMD Radeon 6700 XT's performances, all you need to do is click here. Related Article: AMD 3rd Gen Epyc Milan Specs, Release Date, Benchmark Confirmed The granting of the EPO reaffirms the Zimbabwean Government policy that Zimbabwe is open for business," said chief executive George Roach. ( ) shares surged higher in Friday mornings deals The junior told investors it has received the formal grant of an exclusive prospecting order (EPO) covering the companys Zulu Lithium and Tantalum claims. Zulu remains a significant deposit, said George Roach, chief executive. Roach added: "I am deeply appreciative of the Zimbabwe Government for the granting of this substantial EPO and Premier will reciprocate with mobilization for the commencement of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the Zulu deposit which has an estimated completion time of 14 months. Roach highlighted that the EPO area contains further known lithium-bearing pegmatites offering upside to Zulu, as well as historic small gold mines, potential molybdenite and many tungsten mineral occurrences within the area. The granting of the EPO reaffirms the Zimbabwean Government policy that Zimbabwe is open for business and further supports the Ministry of Mines policy of creating a US$12bn mining economy by 2023. Premier expects to provide details in regard to further developments associated with Zulu and full details of the terms and conditions associated with the grant of the EPO in the near future." In London, Premier African Minerals shares rose as much as 25% in the wake of the news and changing hands at 0.29p were up 16.5% at around 11:00am. The Israeli military said it conducted a joint naval exercise with Greece and Cyprus, in the latest sign of increased cooperation among three countries that view Turkey as a rival in the Mediterranean Sea. It said the "Noble Dina" exercise, which was led by Israel and also included France, covered "anti-submarine procedures, search and rescue scenarios, and a scenario simulating battle between ships." The exercise was concluded on Thursday. "Over the past week, the Navy led a large-scale exercise in which it implemented capabilities in underwater warfare, search and rescue, convoy escort and surface combat," Rear Admiral Eyal Harel, the head of Israeli naval operations, said. "These exercises are of paramount importance in strengthening the Navy's connection with foreign fleets who share common interests," he added. Israel, Greece and Cyprus have taken a number of steps in recent months to cement ties, including advancing plans to build a 2,000 megawatt undersea electricity cable and a 1,900-kilometer (1,300-mile) undersea gas pipeline. The three countries' defense ministers met in November and agreed to increase military cooperation. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Seed in Bostons Jamaica Plain neighborhood is more than just a dispensary. A co-located museum with justice at its core to brings something new to the retail experience. The shop, which plans to open Saturday with about a dozen flower strains, massage oils, concentrates and more on the menu, is also home to the Core Social Justice Cannabis Museum, which aims to give a platform for people to share perspectives on the war on drugs, particularly its disproportionate impact on low-income and underrepresented communities. We wanted to provide a platform, create some culture that could allow people who had been victimized by the drug war to have voice, said CEO April Arrasate. Seed is 72% women-owned and its management is 100% diverse, Arrasate said. In raising capital to get going, Seed worked with 82% local investors and 81% Black or Latino investors. We pride ourselves on being a diverse organization all the way through and through, Arrasate said. I would say that really defines our organization. Additionally, Seeds investors collectively have spent more than 10 years incarcerated as a result of the war on drugs, Arrasate said. Arrasate said she first got into the cannabis business as a founder of Curaleaf. I really founded that business with a very large fire of injustice in my heart because I had lost my mom to breast cancer and I was pretty horrified by the state of affairs for people dying in this country, Arrasate said. I felt like the success was linked to that passion that I had in sort of building that company for my mom so when we started this, I didnt go out and seek out women and people of color. It was more that we were just already in orbit together. Arrasate saw cannabis become a multi-billion dollar industry by the same people who always run industries, she said. It seemed so awkwardly juxtaposed against human beings still sitting in cages for the same things that people were now making millions and millions of dollars doing so that sort of injustice was crucial to our mission and what were trying to remedy, she said. Seed is retail only, which Arrasate wanted to do to carry a wide selection of brands. I was really dedicated to carrying as many brands as possible so that consumers had a convenient place to go to find anything they were looking for whether its their favorite big box brand in Mass. or sort of some of the more unique standalone cultivators that have come online since the recreational market was legalized, Arrasate said. Arrasate said she feels many cannabis shops have shuffled consumers in and out. With Seed and the co-located museum, she hopes to offer a different experience. She said purveyors, the title Seed is using rather than the more common budtenders, have received ample training to assist people new to cannabis and regular consumers. For Saturdays opening, Core Social Justice Cannabis Museum will have an exhibit featuring the story of Jawara McInTosh, known as Tosh1, musician and son of legendary reggae icon Peter Tosh, who recently lost his life to the war on drugs. There will be a ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. Saturday by Tosh1s mother, Melody Cunningham, as well as vendors offering swag and giveaways, Arrasate said. The museum has a curating council, Arrasate said. Theres a graffiti wall that will change in addition to exhibits. We want to just really promote art and create a culture around this, she said. The museum is a separate entity and is applying for non-profit status. The COVID-19 pandemic did slow down Seeds opening. The location, the former home to Bella Luna and The Milky Way, needed construction to transform from a bowling alley and restaurant into a dispensary and museum space. When Boston shut down construction for about 70 days amid the pandemic, work skidded to a halt. But eventually, work continued. Theres a lot going on in Hyde Square and were just happy to be a part of that, Arrasate said. Also, just looking forward to revitalizing some of what was lost when Milky Way and Bella Luna left. WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden beckoned leaders of two of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to the White House on Wednesday and credited his administration for the "nearly unprecedented collaboration" between the longtime rivals, Merck and Johnson & Johnson, now jointly producing acoronavirus vaccine. But the breakthrough touted by Biden was first conceived by Trump officials last year, culminating in a Jan. 4 conference call arranged between Merck and Johnson & Johnson's senior leaders, said four Trump administration officials with knowledge of the efforts. "Biden can take credit for finishing the deal, that's for sure," said Paul Mango, a former Health and Human Services deputy chief of staff and one of those Trump officials. "But it wasn't an original idea he had." Pharmaceutical executives credited Biden's team for critical workto forge the alliance but acknowledged the deliberations began during the Trump administration. "When the Biden administration came in, they took a new look at this," Merck CEO Ken Frazier said. "It's not a black-or-white situation. We were inclined to do something. They made it more possible for it to happen in a timely way." Since taking office 50 days ago, Biden has overseen significant strides in the nation's quest to curtail the pandemic. Vaccinations have more than doubled to 2.2 million per day; coronavirus cases have plunged more than 70% from their mid-January peak; and the White House has repeatedly promoted new deals to secure hundreds of millions of doses in additional vaccine supply. But after turning last year's race for the White House into a referendum on the nation's coronavirus response, Biden officials are building on some Trump-era ideas, while confronting challenges that also dogged Trump officials, including how to roll out a new vaccine and reopen schools. Like their predecessors, they have made abrupt changes to vaccine prioritization, recently elevating teachers in a directive that sowed confusion in some states. These dynamics cast the early rollout in a new light. They undercut the notion that Biden started from scratchon efforts to distribute and administer vaccines, which has been central to his administration'smessaging, and show instead that he has accelerated efforts by scientists and pharmaceutical companies, as well as by career health and military officials, some of whom are still laboring inside his government. "For me, the first big test was going to be how well they did with the J & J distribution, which was totally their thing and not left over from the prior administration," said Walid Gellad, a pharmaceutical expert at the University of Pittsburgh, referring to the single-shot doses that were first authorized under the Biden administration last month. Of the 3.9 million Johnson & Johnson doses that began shipping out at the beginning of last week, about 630,000 had been administered as of Thursday, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Biden administration officials say there is a data lag, just as their predecessors insisted in December. "So far it seems there is room for improvement," Gellad said. - - - Biden addressed the nation Thursday evening, describing the toll of the pandemic, while also touting his administration's efforts to curb it by summer, and unveiling a new goal of ensuring all adults would be eligible for shots by May 1. Biden officials have repeatedly said the Trump administration left them "no plan" to carry out vaccinations and failed to secure sufficient supply, claims faulted by fact-checkers. The new president also hadpledged to deliver 100 million doses in his first 100 days - a promise that Biden on Thursday said he'll achieve in 60 days. He claimed that critics had panned his target as "way over the top," although mosthad argued he had aimed too lowgiven the scale of the public health crisis. Moncef Slaoui - a registered Democrat and pharmaceutical industry veteran who helped lead Trump's Operation Warp Speed initiative to speed vaccine development - expressed bewilderment about the blame directed by Biden and his top advisers at the early immunization effort, which equipped the United States with multiple vaccines as well as contracts allowing the government to snap up more supply than any other country. "Honestly I find that unwarranted, unwise and un-understandable," said Slaoui, who resigned at the Biden administration's request. "I'm amazed that people felt the need to belittle the work that was done." Trump, who had little involvement in the vaccine accelerator managed by his administration, gave voice to these criticisms on Wednesday, saying in a release distributed by his office that the vaccine would not exist were it not for his efforts. "If I wasn't president, you wouldn't be getting that beautiful 'shot' for five years, at best, and probably wouldn't be getting it at all. I hope everyone remembers!" he said, using the sort of hyperbole that characterized his vaccine promises. Biden officials and close advisers have scoffed atsuch complaints, saying execution is among the hardest steps and that they deserve credit for quickly mustering federal resources to speed production and delivery of vaccines. "We think there's a significant role for the federal government, and that's why . . . right in the beginning, we started with a comprehensive plan," said a senior White House official involved in the coronavirus response, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. "We've gone way beyond drop-shipping vaccines to states and saying 'good luck.' " The stimulus bill signed into law by Biden on Thursday provides additional funding for vaccine distribution. Already federal deployments have enabled the openings, or planned openings, of 20 mass vaccination centers. And the new administration has quickly expanded direct vaccine shipments to retail pharmacies, under a program devised by the Trump administration and advertised by CVS as early as last November. State health officials also praise Biden administration advances,saying they have better access to senior leaders at the CDC and a clearer understanding of the federal government's priorities. Keith Reed, Oklahoma's deputy health commissioner, said the inauguration brought "pretty much immediate improvements in communication and predictability." But state and local efforts have been most directly affected by additional vaccine supply, which owes to long-anticipated improvements by manufacturers, in addition to new pressure and steps taken by Biden's team. The current forecast - widespread access to vaccines by the spring - was predicted last year by numerous federal officials, ranging from Alex Azar, Trump's health and human services secretary, to Anthony S. Fauci, whom Biden has made his chief medical adviser. State and local officials, however, lost faith in the projections as the government missed one target after another, in part because manufacturers kept revising down their own production estimates. Biden was more cautious at first, keen not to overpromise as he predicted that the United States would have enough supply to cover every eligible resident by the end of July. But the president swiftly moved up his timeline, suggesting his administration's efforts would ensure enough vaccine by the end of May. The May target mainly results from scaled-up manufacturing, as well as the authorization of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to current and former officials. In a contract secured last year by the Trump administration, Johnson & Johnson committed to delivering 100 million doses of its one-shot vaccine by the end of June - and 87 million by the end of May. It is now expected to deliver slightly more in that time frame, after senior Biden administration officials pressured one of its subcontractors to put more resources into bottling the product. But the bulk of the supply needed to cover the adult population by May will come from Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, and from Moderna. The companies had originally set targets for July and June, respectively, for doses sufficient to cover 100 million people each. But federal officials familiar with their operations say these were conservative estimates that didn't reflect steady improvements in production. Pfizer, for instance, had been indicating for several months it could scale to more than 13 million doses a week, according to one federal official - a rate that, if maintained, would easily allow it to supply 80 million doses in April and May, after delivering 120 million by the end of March. The company also won approval in January to count six doses in each of its vials, rather than five. Asked how its accelerated timeline was affected by the Biden administration's move in February to give the company priority access to filling pumps and filtration devices, Pfizer spokesman Eamonn Nolan did not address the question, pointing to the six-dose labeling change and to "enhancements to our . . . facilities and processes." "What we see now in terms of vaccine manufacturing - I don't think there's any impact from the new administration," said Slaoui, who had been chief scientific adviser to the federal government's vaccine accelerator. "These are natural progressions in scaled-up manufacturing capacity, where you gain more knowledge of your process, you understand which cycles you can shorten and you become more confident in publicly expressing commitments." Senior Biden administration officials say they have improved the government's relationship with Pfizer, which did not take research and development money last year and kept aspects of its operations at arm's length from the government. That detente, these officials say, helped give the company confidence in its U.S. production targets after the Trump administration had delayed using the Defense Production Act in Pfizer's behalf, at first reserving its powers under the Korean War-era law for companies in the government's portfolio. Biden administration officials also said they helped Moderna overcome a bottleneck in the fill-and-finish process by freeing up space at Catalent, the New Jersey-based contractor carrying out this critical phase of the production process. Frazier, the Merck CEO, credited the Biden administration for building on earlier Trump-era talks that were focused on the fill-and-finish process, culminating in Merck agreeing to help produce Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. "They expanded the discussions," Frazier said. "And they also brought together some of the financial support that allowed us to then think about converting our factories to making this stuff." Slaoui also allowed that the new administration has made improvements in federally coordinated mass vaccinations. Political appointees, he said, had cautioned against mobilizing members of the military to support vaccination sites out of fear it would turn people away. Some states had already enlisted National Guard members, and Biden quickly moved to fully reimburse states for these expenses. "The only thing I can discern that they've added to our playbook was the FEMA-run mass vaccination centers," Mango concurred. "Good idea, if you have enough vaccines to do it. We didn't have enough in the early days." At the same time, decisions about where to erect these sites have raised eyebrows among some at the CDC, where one senior official wondered why FEMA was opening a center in Atlanta, when Fulton County had already set up a vaccination site at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the city's downtown. At the same time, the official praised new efforts to send the vaccine directly to community health centers, saying this channel could help address racial disparities that have given Black and Latino Americans less access to the vaccine than Whites. The biggest change, the official said, was more money for states and more supply. - - - The Biden administration has made vaccine administration a priority, saying their predecessors did little more than ship the product to states. But in striking ways, challenges involved in rolling out Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine mirror difficulties that marred the vaccination campaign's inception late last year. In particular, CDC data suggests the shots have been slow to reach arms, with only about a sixth of allocated doses administered as of Thursday. The pace is all the more surprising because of the vaccine's easier handling requirements. Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna products, it does not need to be kept frozen. Still, some providers are proceeding slowly - a sign of how little control authorities in Washington have over the pace of inoculations performed throughout the country. A shipment arrived Monday at Albany Area Primary Health Care in Dougherty County, Ga., to the surprise of the medical group's chief executive, Shelley Spires. She said her staff would be trained in handling the new vaccine and prepared to start administering it next week. The sluggish pace in doling out the new vaccine owes to uncertainty about supply, as well as to challenges in communicating about the vaccine's efficacy to the public,said state and local officials. Originally, governors were told supply would dry up for several weeks after an initial burst last week. But they were informed Tuesday by members of the White House's coronavirus task force that about 400,000 doses could be available to order starting Sunday. The supply, which includes another 200,000 doses for pharmacies and mass sites, was allocated Wednesday, according to two federal officials, after regulators certified the product from one of the company's manufacturing sites in the Netherlands. A Johnson & Johnson spokesman declined to comment. Different jurisdictions have diverged in how they distribute the single-shot vaccine, and in how much information they share with residents about whichproducts they will get. After briefly weighing a more centralized distribution for the new vaccine, federal officials decided to leave the decisions largely to states and local jurisdictions, as they did with the initial vaccines. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan caused a minor stir last week when he turned down a Johnson & Johnson shipment, saying it was his "intention, as long as possible, to stick with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and get Detroiters 95 percent protected." His comments were rebuked by health officials who noted that head-to-head comparisons of the vaccines' efficacy rates are impossible because they were tested in different countries and at different points during the pandemic. Duggan cleaned up his comments in an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press, in which he celebrated all three authorized vaccines and urged residents to take the first one available to them. He also spoke with Jeffrey Zients, the coordinator of the White House's coronavirus task force, about the matter, said the mayor's spokesman, John Roach. Allies say Biden's team has been forthright about these challenges. "They're not hiding key information. They're not trying to obfuscate. They're not trying to pretend things are other than they are," said Celine Gounder, a physician who served on Biden's covid-19 advisory board. "They're not afraid of being held accountable for their performance." Gounder herself criticized the Biden administration's announcement last week to prioritize vaccinating teachers, writing on Twitter that the plan "doesn't make any sense" given ongoing steps to protect high-risk teachers and the administration's own call for equity in vaccinations. "This means taking vaccine away from higher-risk persons & communities of color to [vaccinate] young healthy teachers," she added. Biden's move on teachers alsocaught states by surprise, deepening dilemmas about eligibility while supply remains sharply limited. Governors, including Republicans Charlie Baker in Massachusetts and Spencer Cox in Utah, expressed frustration about the lack of consultation during a call Tuesday with members of the White House's coronavirus task force, according to people who participated in the conversation and spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was held privately. They asked whether teachers should displace those already in line for shots this month - residents who have been prioritized because they are at high risk from the coronavirus - or simply be added to the pool. The White House provided no clear answer, these people said. Cox emphasized that Utah had been vaccinating teachers since January, said the governor's federal liaison, Gordon Larsen, "but that governors can be most helpful when they're at the table and not surprised by announcements from the White House." [March 12, 2021] QNET's European Business Accepted Into French Direct Selling Association HONG KONG, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Operating in one of the biggest direct selling markets in Europe, the Federation De La Vente Directe (FVD) , or Direct Selling Association of France, welcomed QN Europe, the European business of e-commerce direct selling giant QNET, as its newest member. Jerome Hoerth, General Manager of QN Europe, says that this is a milestone moment for the business. "We are honoured to become a member of the FVD which is known to be the leading body in promoting regulatory standards and integrity in France's direct selling industry. QN Europe is committed to promoting the highest level of professionalism and integrity within our network of distributors and our membership into the FVD is a testament to that. This membership will also provide us with a deeper insight into our French market as FVD oversees one of the top five direct selling markets in Europe, which generated 4.6 billion in sales in 2019 alone." FVD was established in 1993 to provide legal protection for direct sellers, support and give credibility to member companies, promote job opportunities and upskilling for direct sellers, and enforce ethical behaviour to gain consumer trust. FVD also offers professional certifications for Direct Selling through its in-house academy and is partnered with the University Paris-Est Creteil Val de Marne (UPEC) to offer a 3-year university degree specialising in direct selling. Acceptance into the FVD requires member companies to strictly adhere to the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics for Direct Selling. These codes necessitate members to operate in a fair, responsible, and ethical manner towards direct sellers and customers. FVD is also part of The European Direct Selling Association (Seldia) . Seldia was founded in 1968 as an organisation that aims to foster an inclusive and sustainable marketplace in the European direct selling industry , as well as uphold the European Code of Conduct for Direct Selling to protect distributors and customers. "We are proud to have the Federation De La Vente Directe accept QN Europe as a member." says Malou Caluza, Chief Executive Officer of QNET. "The team at QN Europe has demonstrated through a series of initiatives, a strong emphasis on maintaining the highest standard of ethical integrity in direct selling. It is an honour to have the FVD recognise these efforts and acknowledge their ongoing commitment to promoting and developing a professional network of direct sellers. This membership further signifies to our partners, distributors, and customers that QN Europe is committed to running its business responsibly and fairly." In addition to this membership in the FVD, QNET is also currently a member of the Direct Selling Associations in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia. About QN Europe Founded in 2014, QN Europe is the European business of e-commerce based direct selling company QNET. With a strong emphasis on sustained R&D investment, QN Europe offers a diverse and innovative portfolio of products ranging from home, beauty & wellbeing, to luxury products that meet the highest manufacturing standards in Europe. QN Europe offers a modern business model that empowers individuals to achieve financial autonomy via a network of independent sales representatives. By equipping representatives with sales and product training that adhere to best business practices, this business model has proven highly successful as it resonates greatly with a growing portion of a population looking for autonomous, flexible, and rewarding work. For more information, please visit QN Europe's website at https://www.qneurope.com/uk . About Federation De La Vente Directe The FVD is a registered organisation established as a reference body for direct selling companies in France. FVD's mission is to "Represent, Defend, Promote", and is leading the movement to develop the reputation of the direct selling sector among consumers and public authorities. FVD is currently working in agreement with Ministere de l'Economie, de l'Industrie et de l'Emploi (Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Employment of France) to promote direct selling and create job opportunities for the public. More information about FVD can be found at https://www.fvd.fr/ . Contact: media@qnet.net View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/qnets-european-business-accepted-into-french-direct-selling-association-301246597.html SOURCE Qnet [ 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. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 The past year has been one of incomprehensible loss. There is that number, of course: 530,000 dead and counting. The human mind is notoriously bad with big numbers wasnt built, never evolved to really understand a figure of this magnitude. So, we talk about it in ways that feel more familiar. In euphemisms. This loss is greater than the population of Sacramento or Fresno. Or its the equivalent of more than 2,690 planes, each with 197 passengers, crashing in one year. Its the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, 177 times over a 9/11 every other day. And then there is the other loss, less comprehensible, less tangible still the loss of a year in our lives. Were always losing time. Every day lived is, in some ways, a day lost. But the past year feels different. Like weve lost a year we never got to live. On March 5, 2020, Rebecca Schmidt gave birth to her first child. She and her husband named him Santiago. By that point, COVID was in the news and on our minds. At her prenatal screenings, theyd ask, Do you have a fever? Do you have a cough? Everybody had told her the first baby always comes late, but Santiago Santi came a little bit early. Sebastian Sanchez de Lozada, her husband, was still allowed in the delivery room. Just a few days later, that wouldnt have been the case. Sarahbeth Maney / Special to The Chronicle Theyd had so many plans for Santiagos first year of life. There were introductions to be made, to family in Bolivia and northern Virginia and Australia. Something kind of silly in retrospect but at the time it felt like a big deal we did a lot of research on baby gear. We live in a small apartment. We really looked for compact baby stuff so that we could travel a lot. At home with her newborn, Schmidt listened as the city grew quieter and quieter. Then one day, the Muni line outside went silent too. It felt like as this thriving little baby was growing and getting bigger each day, the world was shutting down. It was this very eerie feeling. Now, the year theyd imagined for so long has been lost. Schmidt and her husband still have Santiago, of course. Every day, she says, she learns something new about her son. But she doesnt spend time with other moms. And she can count on two hands the number of people her child has touched. Theres this constant fear he hasnt met any other kids, really. Hes seen them but he doesnt interact with other people, really. Except for his doctor. As we approach this first year milestone, thats one of the things thats really eaten at me. Well never really know all that we lost in the past year. Somewhere, someone never got to flirt and fall in love in a loud and smelly bar. We know, for a fact, that many women have left or lost their jobs during the pandemic. What have they lost, and what have we all lost, as a result? And what of the person who just retired, who had planned to finally travel or to read a book on some soft-sand beach? Maybe next year. Were left to imagine, to speculate, and in some ways thats harder still. Last winter, Julia Oller had applied for jobs all around the country. She planned to go wherever the best job offer took her, and in the end, that meant San Francisco. She remembers the car ride from Ohio in late February, her parents, her cat and all her possessions crammed into a Honda Fit. She imagined a year of going to concerts and making new friends, of trips to Los Angeles or maybe Big Sur, of being 25 in a brand new city. Sarahbeth Maney / Special to The Chronicle Instead, the past 12 months have been quiet, filled with walks along Ocean Beach. She knows the citys outdoor stairways, and the best, most beautiful paths through the Sunset. But her only real connections here are her partner and her roommate. If you asked me to describe San Francisco culture, I couldnt tell you, she says. I could tell you what the weather is like or good walking routes, but thats about it. Shes lost just being 25, too. She thinks about that sometimes. It kind of comes in waves. You cant sit around and think Ive lost a year of my life every day, she says. Still, I think Im going to look back at this year and think, Wow. I was so lonely. I dont really have an option to feel otherwise. Oller was not alone in her loneliness. For so many of us, the past year has been one of lost connections. The last dance party Frida Ibarra threw was Jan. 17 at the Stud, San Franciscos longest-running queer bar, a place where stars like Etta James and Sylvester once danced. The party, called T4T, was one shed been hosting and DJing for a while, but this was the first time it was held at the Stud. It was Saturday night and the place was packed, all sticky and warm. That really felt like the beginning of something new for T4T, where we were building this new community of trans folks and trans allies, Ibarra says. It was honestly the best T4T ever. That night, the future felt full of parties like that one. Those parties are gone, and the Stud, as she knew it, is, too. Ibarra still DJs virtual parties she even got voted Best DJ in the Bay Area by the readers of the website 48 Hills but its not the same. I think weve all been grieving the dance floor. Sarahbeth Maney / Special to The Chronicle When people talk about this lost year, theres almost always some sort of an acknowledgment. As though to say whats a lost year, when so many have lost entire lives? Im a total crier, Chiara Wine says. She says it like an apology, like shes sorry for getting teary while talking about her lost year. A year she spent watching her daughter, a junior in high school, fall behind, racked with anxiety, and her son, a fifth-grader, miss out on all the milestones that come with the final year of elementary school. They have all these things that have just been canceled and theyre not going to get that time back. Shed imagined a much different year, a super busy, super scheduled year. Her son would go on the school camping trip and to the schools Halloween celebration. Shed make the most out of one of the last years with her daughter before she graduated. Theres just such limited time with her before she goes off to college, Wine says, and she knows from her friends that kids dont come home that often once that happens. Were OK. We have a home. Were not going to lose our house, she says. She took a salary cut, but she hasnt lost her job. Theres been none of the displacement or death that other families have suffered. Looking back, she says, I feel like a lot of the things I have to say, I know so many other people feel the same way. Shes right, of course. The pandemic affected each of us differently, but we can all mourn the year we lost. Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @RyanKost A rare yellow northern cardinal spotted in Alabama in 2018 became an internet sensation and opened millions of peoples eyes to a spectacular power of genetic mutation. Now, Geoffrey Hill, an ornithologist at Auburn University who helped identify Alabamas yellow cardinal, has released a 15-minute YouTube video breaking down the science behind that genetic mutation, and how to tell if a bird youve seen in the wild is a yellow cardinal or not. Because I spent my life studying bird coloration, I can explain this fascinating phenomenon and answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding yellow plumage coloration, Hill said in the video. Hill, a leading expert on bird colorations, has written books on the topic and hopes that interest in yellow cardinals can spark peoples curiosity to learn more about their winged neighbors. The yellow cardinal is a great entry point for learning about bird coloration and the basis for variation among birds in their coloration, he said. Differences between young and old birds, male and female birds, and variation within an age and sex class. What makes a yellow cardinal yellow? Hill said there hasnt been enough genetic research to know exactly what happens in a yellow cardinal, but he and other ornithologists have a general idea. In the video, Hill explains that most cardinals have an enzyme in their bodies that converts yellow pigments in the foods they eat plants and insects into red feathers. However, the yellow cardinals likely carry a genetic mutation that prevents them from producing that enzyme. What in most cases are brilliant red feathers become a bright yellow instead because of the missing enzyme. Because this has never been studied in detail, genetically, we have to presume, Hill said. But we know that theres almost certainly a mutation, probably a point mutation, that means a single letter in the genetic code is changed. If you randomly change a letter in the genetic code, its almost certainly going to be bad. Very, very rarely will be good. But in this case, the bad seems to be manageable. It simply changes the birds coloration. Hill said he and fellow researcher Kevin McGraw, now at Arizona State University, conducted a biochemical analysis of a yellow cardinal feathers collected in Louisiana in the late 1980s that seems to support that conclusion. We confirmed that the chemical composition of those feathers was just what youd expect if there had been a disruption in the pathway leading to red coloration, Hill said. How to confirm what youre seeing is a yellow cardinal Bright yellow feathers and distinctive black mask around the male cardinal make it easy for many to identify, at least to people who know what to look for. But for more novice birders, Hill has some tips. Its really easy to mistake a typical female cardinal for that sought-after yellow cardinal, Hill said. Hill said typical female cardinals will have a reddish color on its tail and wings, but the bodies are usually a pale brown color that can look yellowish in certain light. Hill said that if the bird has any red feathers on its body at all, then its not a yellow cardinal, as the mutation makes those birds incapable of having feathers that color. Theres no red whatsoever in the feathering, Hill said. The video includes a visual guide for how to tell the yellow cardinal from female cardinals or other birds. Goldfinches are also sometimes mistaken for yellow cardinals by inexperienced birders (including some who sent photos to this reporters inbox), but those lack the distinctive plume of feathers sticking up atop a cardinals head, as well as other differences. Sightings on the rise, but still a rare bird Since Mr. Yellow became famous in 2018, at least 10 other yellow cardinal sightings have been reported. That may be because more people now recognize what theyre seeing in a yellow cardinal, and because the rise of social media and camera phones makes it easier to document and share the sightings. There was Sunshine, a yellow cardinal spotted in south Alabama in 2019. Hill said sightings have also been confirmed in Florida, Tennessee, Delaware, Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana and this week, in Illinois. 10 Yellow Cardinal 'Sunshine' Hill said in 2018 the cardinals mutation made it a one-in-a-million bird, and he stands by that assessment. I think one in a million is a pretty good ballpark guess here, Hill said in the video. Cardinals are a tremendously abundant bird, and theres well over 12 million, say, in eastern North America. And I think at any one time, theres probably about a dozen yellow cardinals known in yards around the country. Yes, other birds also carry this mutation Hill said the mutation that causes cardinals to appear yellow also occurs in other birds, but isnt as easy to recognize. Cardinals have a few characteristics that make a yellow individual really stand out, Hill said. For example, cardinals molt only once per year, so they mostly look the same year-round. Other species, like the scarlet tanager, molt twice per year and regularly appear yellowish in the fall and winter and red in the summer. In the video, he shows photos of a red-bellied woodpecker with a yellow, not red, nape, as well as a yellow scarlet tanager, and a yellow rose-breasted grosbeak. Its not surprising [that this would occur in other species], Hill said. All that is required is a mutation that disrupts the pathway from yellow to red, and you end up with a yellow bird instead of a red bird. Hill said that house finches can also appear yellow, but for a different reason: stress. This is a different phenomenon, Hill said. For reasons we dont clearly understand -- and this has been my lifes work trying to understand this -- when [house finches] are in reduced condition, if theyre sick, if they are stressed in some way, the pathway to red feather coloration shuts down and they produce yellow and orange coloration. That doesnt happen with cardinals. Yellow cardinals can reproduce One of the questions about yellow cardinals is whether they would be accepted by females and successfully reproduce despite their unusual appearance. Charlie Stephenson and photographer Jeremy Black, who observed and photographed the bird at Stephensons home in Alabaster, may have helped answer that question when they photographed Mr. Yellow feeding chicks in a nest after being observed spending a lot of time with a female cardinal. But the chicks left the nest before Stephenson and Black could tell if they carried the same genetic mutation as Mr. Yellow. 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 A Nazi sex mansion where Hitler's propaganda chief bedded film stars will become an artists' commune with special accommodation for immigrants under bold new plans. Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda, was gifted land at Bogensee, near Berlin, for his birthday in 1936 and spent fortunes building a mansion there. It was where he seduced his various mistresses, including the then film starlet Lida Baarova. It is also where he wrote his notorious 'Total War' speech of 1943 - which saw him urge the German people to continue fighting the Allies even though the tide of the war had turned against them. Today, the Bogensee mansion - which is comprised of more than 70 rooms and boasts a private cinema - lies abandoned. It fell into disuse in the 1990s, after spending the Cold War as an East German college for indoctrinating young people into communism. Now plans are afoot to transform the Bogensee complex into an artists' commune, complete with a vegan restaurant, non-profit supermarket and homeopathic health centre. The scheme also includes workshops, a theatre and a museum, and priority living space for those 'disadvantaged in our society', including immigrants and the disabled. It is hoped that the transformation will deter neo-Nazis from wanting to visit the complex. A Nazi sex mansion where Hitler's propaganda chief bedded film stars will become an artists' commune with special accommodation for immigrants under bold new plans Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda, was gifted land at Bogensee, near Berlin, for his birthday in 1936 and spent fortunes building a mansion there Arnim Beutel, a spokesman for LKC Bogensee, the organisation behind the vision, believes Hitler and Goebbels would be seething to see their plans. 'It should be a diverse community,' he said. 'I think they would hate it because of course we do the opposite of what they would do.' He continued: 'We want to build a co-operative community and we want to bring life back there. 'We want to make it a hotspot for culture and education and health. 'We want to create an area for an alternative way to live and to work.' Goebbels seduced his various mistresses at Bogensee, including seduced the film starlet Lida Baarova The transformation is expected to be expensive, however the Bogensee mansion alone comprises 70 rooms as well as a private cinema. The complex also includes numerous Stalinist buildings from the Cold War era. But LKC Bogensee are already in discussion with a local renewable power company, Barnim Energie, about supporting the scheme. They're also planning a gradual approach to renovation, unfolding over the span of 10 years. Meanwhile, the current owners the Berlin government are spending an estimated 230,000 (200,000) a year on maintaining the property. Ultimately, the renovated estate would house approximately 250 people, with some of the living space set aside for the disadvantaged. In a 1936 diary entry, Joseph Goebbels called Bogensee 'an idyll of solitude' where you could be 'completely left to your own devices'. Pictured: The mansion during its time as an East German college The transformation is expected to be expensive, however the Bogensee mansion alone comprises 70 rooms as well as a private cinema Goebbels' mansion itself would host a museum, detailing the history of the site and the two totalitarian ideologies that shaped its past. Arnim's daughter, Fanny, 16, explained: 'I think that far-right people would be deterred from using it as a pilgrimage because of our principals, our beliefs and the way we try to treat people equally.' They also believe that preserving the buildings is better than demolishing them, however dark their history. The complex also includes numerous Stalinist buildings from the Cold War era It fell into disuse in the 1990s, after spending the Cold War as an East German college for indoctrinating young people into communism Mr Beutel said: 'The difficulty of this place is this historical weight, and that's a problem. 'I think we have to give this place a new use. 'It could be a symbolic way to show how to live with this history.' In a 1936 diary entry, Joseph Goebbels called Bogensee 'an idyll of solitude' where you could be 'completely left to your own devices'. However, he would eventually move his family into the mansion, having been ordered by Hitler to break off his affair with Lida Baarova. He and his wife, Magda, ultimately killed themselves and their six children in Berlin on May 1, 1945, after Nazi Germany's defeat in the Second World War became certain. The family had fled Bogensee for the German capital on April 22. New Delhi: Light rains hit the Delhi-NCR regions on Friday (March 12) morning. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted a thunderstorm with hail in the national capital and its surrounding regions. The sudden downpour caught commuters by surprise after Delhi had recorded the hottest day so far on Thursday (March 11). Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Greater Noida saw light to moderate showers in the morning and as forecasted by the IMD, might see thunderstorms and hail later in the day. The national capital recorded a maximum temperature of 35.2 degrees Celsius on Thursday, six notches above normal and the highest so far this year, the IMD records reported. The minimum temperature settled at 17.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal. The IMD had also forecasted light rain, hail and gusty winds towards the night on Thursday. The air quality in the national capital was recorded in the 'poor' category. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 242, according to real-time data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe', while an AQI above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category. Live TV Support for the Good Friday agreement is expected to be voiced in the US Senate early next week. It is reported that the motive is being supported by Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Senator Susan Collins. The resolution is expected to be introduced next week ahead of St. Patrick's day. The news comes following Wednesdays virtual briefing to members of the Friends of Ireland Caucus in Washington DC attended by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney, and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic. Minister Coveney said the meeting was a chance to take stock of recent developments in Northern Ireland and the UK's unilateral move on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. "The EU and the US have been unwavering partners to the peace process. Throughout the Brexit process the EU has worked hard to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is protected in all its dimensions and a hard border on the island of Ireland is avoided, said Minister Coveney. Last week, the UK government announced plans to unilaterally extend the grace period for post-Brexit supermarket agri-food movements entering Britain from Northern Ireland. Minister Coveney said that he strongly advised against the decision to extend the grace period, while Mr. Sefcovic said that Brussels intends to initiate legal action very soon", according to RTE. Last week a spokesperson for US President Joe Biden said the President has been unequivocal in his support for the Good Friday Agreement. This agreement has been the bedrock of peace, stability and prosperity for all the people of Northern Ireland. And stated, we also welcome cooperation between our British and Irish partners on the Northern Irish Protocol and the recent strong statements on these government's full commitment to the Good Friday Agreement. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) A Minnesota man with a history of gun violence is charged with a shooting in Lafayette on Sunday. 29-year-old Robert Lee Williams was arrested shortly after the shooting at Ninth and Ferry Streets. The victim was shot in the buttocks. According to police, Williams was located in a bar on Union Street. A handgun in his car was loaded but missing a single round. He's charged with four felonies: Attempted murder (level 1 felony) Aggravated battery (level 3 felony) pointing a firearm (level 6 felony) Possession of methamphetamine (level 6 felony) According to prosecutors, Williams has previous convictions including "Shooting at a Public Vehicle," "Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Firearm," and "Terroristic Threats" in Minnesota. Learn not only about the opportunities but also how to capitalize on them with Vinculums Masterclass. 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Vinculums full-stack solution helps brands in every step of their journey. Vinculums stable platform has been a part of Gartner Magic Quadrant for the past 4 years. (2017-20). Globally, Vinculum serves 500+ customers e.g. NyKaa, Fabindia, Skechers, The Body Shop, EigerIndo, and FM Global Logistics to name a few. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos grip on power appears increasingly threatened as a majority of state legislators called for his resignation and police said they stood ready to investigate a groping allegation. The Times Union of Albany reported Wednesday that an unidentified aide had accused Cuomo of reaching under her shirt and fondling her. Cuomo said he never touched anyone inappropriately. A lawyer for the governor said she reported the allegation to police after the woman involved declined to do so herself. At least 121 members of the state Assembly and Senate have said publicly they believe Cuomo can no longer govern and should quit office now, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Spruce Forest opens for season through a new door With the crashing of the trees, three of the cabins were destroyed, along with damaging the village church and other buildings as well. Connecticut has administered more than 1.2 million COVID vaccines, but statistics released Thursday show that nearly half of those receiving inoculations are not yet fully vaccinated. As Connecticut plans to ease pandemic restrictions next week, Gov. Ned Lamonts administration has touted falling COVID-19 metrics and the states success at administering vaccines as signals that it is time to reopen further. Those that are infected tend to be a little healthier than they were six months ago, so our hospitalizations, complications, fatalities continue in the right direction, Lamont said Thursday. He said there is no change to the planned easing of restrictions set to begin March 19, when he said occupancy caps can be lifted on businesses and houses of worship, and gathering sizes can increase. Mask and social distancing mandates will remain in place. Lamont has maintained that Connecticut will have many more people vaccinated by March 19. President Joseph Biden wants all states to make every adult eligible for the vaccine by May 1, which is closely in line with Connecticuts plan to have everyone 16 and older eligible on May 3. While Connecticut ramps up inoculations, the state has a sizable difference between the number of people who have received a first dose, giving them some immunity against the disease, and those who have been fully vaccinated. Vaccination figures released Thursday show 813,616 people have received at least a first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, while 417,873 have received their second dose. Coupled with the 27,358 people who received doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the data shows a little more than 12 percent of the states population of 3.6 million have been fully vaccinated, while about 24 percent have received at least one dose. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show only around 9.9 percent of Connecticuts population has been fully vaccinated. Connecticut sits right at the national average for the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. However, Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, said the CDC is misidentifying some of Connecticuts second doses. Its up to about 81,000 doses that they have misclassified that are actually second doses that are administered that are counting in their data as first doses, Geballe said. The good news on this topic is they have committed to us they understand what the fix is thats required. He said the data should be adjusted by Saturday. On Thursday, there were seven fewer Connecticut patients hospitalized with COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 383. The daily positivity rate stood at 2.36 percent dipping back below 3 percent for the first time in three days after 735 new cases were reported out of 31,185 tests. Another nine deaths attributed to the disease were reported, bringing the states official death toll to 7,761. With Connecticut offering the vaccine to anyone age 55 and older, the governor acknowledged shortcomings in inoculating the states most vulnerable populations including communities of color where he said more work needs to be done. The state is targeting 50 high-need ZIP codes, which comprise about a quarter of the states population. Vaccine providers have been given a benchmark of administering 25 percent of their doses to those communities. But a chart Lamont showed during his presentation Thursday showed only federally qualified health centers health organizations that work in underserved communities like people experiencing homelessness or public housing residents have met that mark. Pharmacies, which now receive all their vaccine doses directly from the federal government rather than a portion from the state allocation, were farthest from the mark at 14 percent, according to the state. Asked to reflect on the one-year anniversary of March 11, the day when Connecticut and much of the U.S. shuttered in the face of the pandemic, Lamont said he wished the state had acted sooner, but noted it did so as early as anybody. The people of Connecticut really rallied, Lamont said. We were all confronted with something that was totally unknown and alien to us and we had to work on it together. We had to give each other the benefit of the doubt, we had to do things wed never dreamed wed ask anybody to do wear a mask, close a school, cant go to a restaurant. I think people understood why we were doing what we were doing, and we worked together, he added. My hats off to the legislature, it was a deep politicized situation, we worked together hand-in-hand. That comes as President Biden signed a sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package into law on Thursday, a day earlier than expected. Along with direct payments of $1,400 to many Americans and expanded unemployment through early September, the nations third pandemic-related stimulus will provide Connecticut with about $1.1 billion for education funding, according to the governors office. He also emphasized using stimulus funds to support mental health services. The commissioners of the states education and mental health services departments, both of whom were Lamonts guests for Thursdays press conference, were asked what challenges lie ahead for the post-pandemic world. Charlene Russell-Tucker, acting commissioner of the state Department of Education, suggested the feeling of being safe for both educators and families will be key. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, suggested the funds could partly be used to let residents know what mental health services are available in the state. She also said one focus could be working with people coming to terms with emerging back in public. One thing Im hearing about is people may have struggles with just managing some of the post-pandemic anxieties around, is it really safe now? she said. The Dreamcatcher Charitable Foundation's mission is to build healthy and vibrant Aboriginal communities in Ontario by helping to develop our youth as future community leaders. OHSWEKEN, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2021 / Meagan Hill is Mohawk, from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. As a young woman, she dreamed big. On her way to becoming the first college graduate in her family, Meagan successfully applied to Dreamcatcher Charitable Foundation for tuition costs and promptly enrolled at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Meagan said at the time, "Dreamcatcher's generous support for my education has led to the next phase of my life". Meagan's original intention was to attend medical school but, immersed in the inspiring environment at Harvard, she discovered that her true passion was business. She applied and was accepted into Harvard Business School. As the only First Nations graduate of her 2016 class at Harvard, she realized that she could be a role model,because "In some First Nations communities, there just might not be an understanding that Harvard is possible. There was such a sense of pride and excitement that I had been successful enough to get accepted to a place like Harvard," Meagan said. "Ever since that happened, I've constantly been thinking of ways to share that excitement and experience with other people." "I'd like to help First Nations in Canada and Native American Nations in the U.S. manage their capital,enterprises, and resources so that they can sustain wealth for generations to come," Meagan says. Meaganco-created the 'Leading People and Investing to Build Sustainable Communities' program, a Harvard Business School Executive Education initiative. This is a program for leaders, executive officers, senior administrators, and senior financial managers of tribal nations and Native organizations serving the needs of tribal communities and Native people. While still at Harvard, Meagan worked as an analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York for 2 years. Currently, Meagan works as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Additionally, she continues to support Native governments and organizations on both sides of the Canada and United States border. Dreamcatcher is proud to have been part of Meagan's journey from the very start. "Dreamcatcher is a place that will nurture one's dream. Everyone deserves an opportunity" Adam Beach, Film and Television Actor Contact: Grand River Enterprises http://www.grandriverenterprises.com/ grandriver@prmcampaign.com https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/grand-river-enterprises SOURCE: Grand River Enterprises View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/635009/Dreamcatcher-Charitable-Foundation-Was-Proud-to-Support-Meagan-Hill-in-Continuing-Her-Education Nemi: A looted mosaic that once decorated Roman emperor Caligulas ship and ended up as a coffee table in New York City finally returned home Thursday, as details emerged about the lucky break in the investigation that got it there. Officials unveiled the mosaic at the Museum of Roman Ships, which was built in the 1930s specifically to house the treasures of two huge ceremonial ships Caligula commissioned in around AD 40. The ships eventually sank and were excavated from the depths of Lake Nemi, in the Alban hills south of Rome. The mosaic, a 1.5 square-metre geometric print in rich green, reddish-purple and white stone, was part of an inlaid floor on one of the ships, which were designed and decorated essentially as floating palazzi in a testament to Caligulas greatness. Authorities stand around a 1.5 square metre mosaic dating back to 40 AD, belonging to Caligulas lavish ceremonial ships. Credit:AP Its unclear when the mosaic passed into private hands or under what circumstances. But eventually it was purchased by a New York antiquities dealer and her Italian journalist husband, who shipped it back to New York and made a coffee table out of it for their Park Avenue apartment. In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, employees pack boxes containing vials of COVID-19 vaccine at Serum Institute of India in Pune, India. Serum Institute of India has been contracted to manufacture a billion doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. President Joe Biden and fellow leaders of the Indo Pacific alliance known as "the Quad" will announce on Friday, March 12, a plan to expand coronavirus vaccine manufacturing capacity in India, according to administration officials. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File) President Joe Biden and fellow leaders of the Indo-Pacific alliance known as the Quad are set to announce a plan to expand coronavirus vaccine manufacturing capacity in India, according to administration officials. The effort was to be announced Friday at a virtual meeting of the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States. It comes as the Biden administration is putting greater emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region in the face of growing economic competition from China. The effort by the alliance to pump up India's vaccine manufacturing also comes as the Biden administration and leaders of other wealthy nations have faced calls from France and some global health advocacy groups to donate a small percentage of vaccine produced in the U.S. and other industrialized nations to poor countries. Biden has also fielded requests from allies, including Canada and Mexico, to buy vaccines made in the United States. But the Biden administration has remained steadfast that, at least for now, it is focused on making sure that all Americans are first vaccinated even as China and Russia have engaged in vaccine diplomacy, sending badly needed vaccines to other countries. Administration officials have noted the United States' $4 billion commitment to COVAX, an international effort to bolster the purchase and distribution of coronavirus vaccines to poor nations. "If we have a surplus, we're going to share it with the rest of the world," Biden said earlier this week at an event where he announced that the U.S. had acquired an additional 100 million doses. The effort by the Quad is projected to allow India to increase manufacturing capacity by 1 billion doses by 2022, according to two senior administration officials who briefed reporters ahead of the meeting. But the effort is already deemed not ambitious enough by some groups advocating for Biden to press for the World Trade Organization to allow a temporary waiver of the body's intellectual property agreement. That would pave the way for generic or other manufacturers to make more vaccines. The United States, Britain, European Union nations and other WTO members on Wednesday blocked a push by more than 80 developing countries to grant the waiver. "The pandemic cannot be stopped anywhere unless vaccines, tests and treatments are available everywhere," Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said in a statement. Biden administration officials said that bringing together Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan so early in the new administration was intentional. Each of the four nations has a complex, if not strained, relationship with China. Biden, in his calls with each of the leaders during the first weeks of his administration, has stressed the need for cooperation on China. Australia's relationship with China has soured over a series of trade disputes. India is in the midst of a 10-months-long military standoff with China along their disputed border in eastern Ladakh. Tens of thousands of soldiers are facing each other at friction points in the region. Biden, in his first call with Suga days into his administration, underscored his commitment to protecting the Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islets administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, according to the White House. The White House is also expected to announce on Friday that Biden will host Suga for the first in-person foreign leader visit of his presidency, according to a senior administration official. A date has not been set for the visit. China has called the Quad an attempt to contain its ambitions. Morrison said there was no reason for China to object to the leaders' meeting. "This is about four nations that have had a long-term interest in the Indo-Pacific. For us, this is where we live, this is where Japan lives, where India lives and of course with United States across the Pacific has had a long-term presence, so this is about an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and that benefits all nations of the Indo-Pacific," Morrison told reporters. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made clear that the Democratic administration believes the best counterweight to China is for U.S. allies to stand together "The more China hears not just our opprobrium but a chorus of opprobrium from around the world, the better the chance that we'll get some changes," Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week. Biden administration officials wanted to first hold the meeting of the Quadan alliance that grew out of the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 peopleand additional meetings with Pacific partners ahead of their first face-to-face, high-level meetings with China. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are scheduled to travel to Japan and South Korea next week to meet with their counterparts. Austin will then head to India on his own, while Blinken will head to Anchorage, Alaska, along with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, to meet with their Chinese counterparts. White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday said that Blinken and Sullivan plan to raise directly U.S. concerns about Beijing's actions against Uyghurs, the Turkic ethnic group native to China's northwest Xinjiang region. The Associated Press has documented widespread forced birth control and forced labor of the Uyghurs. President Donald Trump's last secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in the final 24 hours of the Republican administration, declared that China's policies against Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang were "crimes against humanity" and a "genocide." "I know that addressing the genocide against Uyghur Muslims is something that will be a topic of discussion with the Chinese directly next week," Psaki 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. AVIC floats idea of airships for tourists From:ChinaDaily | 2021-03-12 07:46 Aviation Industry Corp of China, the nation's major aircraft maker, is developing an airship to meet potential demand from tourists, according to a project insider. Zhang Jinhua, a senior designer at the Special Aircraft Research Institute, an AVIC subsidiary in Jingmen, Hubei province, that designs blimps and other types of special aircraft, said engineers are finalizing the design work for the AS700 airship and expect to carry out its maiden flight in the second half of this year. The blimp's research and development started in August 2018, aiming to meet tourist demand for sightseeing air tours, he said, adding that the project is also a result of the government's favorable policies for general aviation business and low-altitude airspace tourism. Propelled by piston engines, the airship will be able to carry one pilot and nine tourists and will be capable of flying 700 kilometers and staying in the air for 10 hours. In addition to sightseeing, the AS700 will also be suitable for a wide variety of operations such as mineral prospecting, marine surveillance, cargo transport and emergency rescue, Zhang said, with project managers estimating that as many as 100 of the craft will be needed to meet market demand in the coming decade. There will be plenty of space inside the aircraft, which will allow it to have cooking facilities and a washroom. It can also be equipped with high-end appliances or be modified into a luxury vehicle to meet various kinds of market needs, Zhang said. Zhang made the remarks on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress, which concluded in Beijing on Thursday. He is a deputy to the top legislature. Zhang's institute has designed a number of manned and unmanned airships since the mid-1980s. However, almost all of them have been small models used to carry scientific equipment to perform experiments or technology demonstrations rather than for tourism. In addition to Aviation Industry Corp of China, another State-owned defense contractor, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, is investing in airships and has designed some prototypes, but it seems that none of them have entered the tourism market. Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, explained that compared with conventional aircraft like fixed-wing planes or helicopters, airships have much lower costs in terms of procurement, operation and maintenance. They can be used almost everywhere, as opposed to fixed-wing planes that require a large airport. Therefore, airships are a good choice for aerial tourism and cargo transportation to remote areas, he said. Ever wondered what happened to that restaurant you once loved and have memories of dining at with your family and friends? We did! There is an amazing website called Lost Tables, dedicated to celebrating the restaurants of our past. We are partnering with the sites creator Harley Hammerman and celebrating these wonderful stories. Hammerman and his wife Marlene are members of Shaare Emeth, and she is past president of the National Council of Jewish Women of St. Louis. Visit Lost Tables on Facebook William Louis Louie McGinley was born on November 25, 1898 in Norman, Oklahoma. When he was six, his family moved to the resort town of Mineral Wells, Texas. Hotels became the family business, and young Louie quickly took to the world of hospitality. At the onset of World War I, McGinley moved with his family to Wichita Falls, Texas. Rather than finish high school, he studied typing, shorthand and bookkeeping at a commercial college in Tyler, Texas, where he met Ellen Adelle Robertson. The two were married a short time thereafter and moved to Ranger, Texas, where McGinley worked selling cars for Goad Motor Company. McGinley had an older brother Mack, who was creative and highly visual. After returning from military service in World War I, Mack joined his brother selling cars at Goad. ADVERTISEMENT While at Goad, Mack came up with the idea of an auto soda server a tray that could attach to the side of an automobile to serve beverages. Together, the McGinley brothers built a prototype of Macks service tray, applied for a patent and began manufacturing and delivering TrayCo Service Trays to drugstores, confection shops and refreshment stands. Eventually, Mack would sell his shares of the Tray Service Company to his brother, Louie. The viability of TraCo trays was dependent on the viability of the fledgling curb-service business. So McGinley set out traveling the country in his Model T Ford, determined to sell the concept of drive-in restaurants. McGinleys cross-country trek led him to St. Louis, where drive-in restaurants and curb-service were not yet popular. He realized that St. Louis restaurants were resistant to curb-service because they didnt understand it. So to help them realize the boon it would be, he opened his own curb-service restaurant. McGinley called his drive-in restaurant The Parkmoor. It opened on Clayton Road at Big Bend on July 15, 1931, and Clayton police had to be summoned to direct the carloads of customers who turned out. Carhops in bright orange jackets and white hats weaved in and out, serving 16-cent sandwiches and 5-cent Cokes on McGinleys aluminum trays. The Parkmoors business took off. It attracted a wealthy clientele from Clayton and University City. The greatest portion of the business came from students at Washington University. Sit-down dining was offered in addition to curb-service. Click here to read more about the history of The Parkmoor on LostTables.com New Delhi: Microsoft Corporation has released a new Windows 10 preview for PCs with only bug fixes and other improved features. The company is now working on Windows 10 Fall Creators Update to finalise it which is likely to be launched in September-October. Microsoft has released many updates, including three major ones: November Update, Anniversary Update, and Creators Update. This time they are emphasising on stability, meaning new features are would not likely to be included. Here are the improvements and general bug fixes: 1. This time Microsoft has fixed an issue resulting in Asphalt 8 not accepting input in recent flights. 2. Fixed an issue from recent flights were when Slideshow was enabled resuming from sleep a second time might place the Lock screen in a state where it couldnt be dismissed without pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del. 3. The bug that caused minimized per-monitor DPI aware windows to miss DPI changes and end up with a mix of DPI scaling upon restoring has also improved. Also Read: Microsoft Windows 10 Fall Creators Update: All you need to Know 4. Fixed an issue in XAML resulting in text animations appearing slightly blurry in the last flight until the animation had stopped (for example, when loading the main page of Settings). 5. Also, fixed an issue resulting in progress wheels on certain websites in Microsoft Edge unexpectedly moving out of place during their rotation. 6. Fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected change in mouse sensitivity in the last flight for PCs using non-default display scaling. 7. Fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar being unexpectedly thick if you booted up the PC while plugged into an external monitor with a different DPI. Also Read: Microsoft announces Age of Empire IV for Windows 10, 12 years after third version ( ) (FRA:45A) is well prepared for a very busy 2021 as newly installed chief executive officer James Wilson leads the company through "aggressive but targeted exploration". Wilson, who took the reins in 2021 at what has been described as an exciting time for the company, said the exploration timeline was very much on target and it planned on ramping up activities in the second quarter on multiple fronts. The company plans to kick-start mining at its 20% joint venture with Superior Gold Inc (CVE:SGI) at the Hermes South deposit, which will offer production revenue to be used to ramp-up exploration spending. I think aggressive but targeted exploration is key, and we've got some great brownfields assets like Karonie, which require follow-up from the existing mineralised trends we've already found, as well as a number of greenfield assets like Lake Rebecca which we are waiting to get our teeth into," Wilson told Proactive. Busy schedule ahead Alchemy's advanced assets are in strategic locations adjacent to existing producers and along major gold and copper belts. In WA, in addition to being right next to Silver Lake Resources Ltd ( ) (OTCMKTS:SVLKF) (FRA:4SL) at the Karonie project, it has the lion's share of the prospective structure on which it had recent discoveries. We don't think that's the main game though, further south, we have the Batavia Project, which has had historic high-grade intercepts such as 3 metres at 14.6 g/t gold, which haven't been followed up since 2012, Wilson added. Its Lake Rebecca project, which sits next to the Carosue Dam mine of Saracen, now part of ( ), has got tenure covering the highly prospective Keith Kilkenny and Claypan shear zones. Thats going to be granted sometime mid-year we hope, and we really look forward to getting on the ground up there. It also has a 20% JV on the Hermes South deposit with Superior Gold, giving the company a stake in a 114,000-ounce gold resource which could be mined sometime late this year or early next year. That is actual production revenue, which will build our cash balance and allow us to ramp up exploration spending," the CEO said. We also have a 20% joint venture with Sandfire (Sandfire Resources Ltd - ) over the Bryah tenements along strike from DeGrussa, which are free-carried to production." In New South Wales, the company has copper-gold porphyry assets, including large-scale Cadia look-like targets at Yellow Mountain with solid broad intercepts while at Overflow, it has high-grade gold/copper/zinc, including intercepts such as 7 metres at 6.7 g/t gold, 1.0% zinc and 0.3% copper with a strike extent of mineralisation of roughly 700 metres so far and open at depth and along strike. So there's a lot to explore, and a lot of value upside for investors, Wilson added. New CEO James Wilson joined the company on January 1, 2021. He is a geologist with more than 15 years of hands-on experience in exploration and operational roles both in Australia, Africa and China, covering a wide range of resources including gold, copper, nickel and uranium. He has spent the past 14 years working as a metals and mining analyst, with the last five of those years as senior research analyst - resources for Argonaut Securities. Wilson has joined the Alchemy team at an exciting junction, with exploration programs having been recently completed at the Karonie Project in Western Australia and Overflow Project in the Cobar Basin in NSW, and with several high-quality targets to be tested early in 2021. Karonie Project Karonie, 100 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie, is the companys near-term objective after it had success last year at the Parmelia prospect with 26 metres at 1.6 g/t gold and at KZ5 with 20 metres at 1.3 g/t gold. Both deposits extend all the way to surface and are open at depth and along strike. And most importantly, they are both within close proximity to Silver Lake's Aldiss Mining Centre, which is right next door and represent very real, near-term open pit opportunities. The Karonie Project, comprises 15 exploration licences (including four licence applications) covering over 1,142 square kilometres of highly prospective Archaean greenstones. It also includes a 38-kilometre-long section of the Claypan Shear Zone directly along strike from s ( ) (FRA:1X2) Bombora gold deposit, which contains a resource of 23.2 million tonnes at 1.3 g/t gold for 1 million ounces. Alchemy is focusing near-term exploration efforts towards the discovery of additional high-grade gold mineralisation associated with this structure, and other mineralised structures in the district. So far, only four lines of rotary air blast drilling have been completed. We expect to get on the ground with more mapping and structural work near term, and hopefully drilling mid-year, Wilson added. Bryah Basin Project Alchemys Bryah Basin Project comprises a 488 square kilometres ground package, 130 kilometres northeast of Meekatharra, in the highly prospective Bryah Basin region. It is just 30 kilometres along strike to the southwest of leading Australian base metal producer Sandfire Resources high-grade DeGrussa and Monty copper-gold deposits, and adjacent to Peak Hill where about 1 million ounces of gold has been mined from several deposits. Alchemy retains a 10-20% interest in the base metal and gold prospective Bryah Basin Project through farm-in and joint venture agreements with Sandfire and Billabong Gold Pty Ltd. The company also retains a 1% net smelter royalty (NSR) over 20,000 ounces of gold recovered from the Hermes Deposit (4.7 million tonnes at 2.0 g/t for 303,000 ounces gold) once production reaches 70,000 ounces. Lake Rebecca Project Lake Rebecca is still under application - and it's perhaps the most exciting area due to its proximity to the 4.6 million ounces Carosue Dam operations and s ( ) 1 million ounces Rebecca Project. We hope to hit the ground running here with soil geochemistry and mapping as soon as we get the requisite permits to get going and drilling a bit later in the year, said Wilson. It has tenure covering the highly prospective Keith Kilkenny and Claypan shear zones, which is expected to be granted sometime mid-year. Cobar Basin & Lachlan Fold Belt Alchemy has recently earned an 80% interest in eight NSW licences that are subject to a farm-in and joint venture agreement with ( ). The licences cover 1,055 square kilometres of the highly prospective, under-explored, Cobar Basin and the Lachlan Fold Belt, and include the Overflow Gold-Base Metal Project, Eurow Copper-Gold Project, Girilambone Copper Project and the West Lynn and Woodsreef Nickel-Cobalt Projects, each containing multiple gold and/or base metal and/or nickel-cobalt targets, including drill-ready targets at Overflow, Yellow Mountain and West Lynn. Yellow Mountain Project The geological consultants report recommends a combination of deeper diamond drilling at Yellow Mountain, and broad spaced aircore drilling and detailed gravity over the Melrose anomaly. These recommendations will be integrated into Alchemys NSW exploration strategy, which is expected to commence in early 2021. At Yellow Mountain, the company is looking at deep diamond drilling to test the strong untested IP chargeability high, which could represent potential disseminated sulphides within a VMS feeder zone. Overflow Alchemy hopes to be back on the ground at Overflow as soon as possible. Describing it as an exciting asset, Wilson said the last diamond drill program showed that mineralisation remained open down plunge and at depth. The system is about 700 metres in total strike length so far with high grades. Drilling confirmed the extent and significance of the Overflow shear zone, whilst highlighting the complexity of structural controls on high-grade shoots at the prospect. Detailed re-logging of both Alchemy and other historic drill core is planned to determine the structural controls and identify additional drill targets at depth and along strike to the north and south. Melrose Project At Melrose, the company is targeting a Cadia lookalike within a 12-kilometre-long alteration zone with a circular magnetic feature within the large Fountaindale intrusive. There has been no drilling greater than 100 metres deep within the intrusive, despite having gold and low-level copper results historically. Base metals exploration Sandfire Resources has earned an 80% interest in Alchemys 100%-owned tenements and a 70% interest in the tenements jointly owned by Alchemy and Jackson Minerals Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fe Ltd ( ). Alchemy remains free-carried on further exploration to completion of a pre-feasibility study (PFS) and then carried on an interest-free deferred basis for a further $5 million of PFS expenditure, with the deferred amount to be repaid from 50% of Alchemys share of free cash flow earned through production. Heritage surveys and drill rig access clearing for the proposed aircore drilling within the Fiddler and Bulgullan licences were completed in the six months to December 2020. The drilling will target copper-gold mineralisation within the Narracoota volcanics and the Ravelstone Formation sediments to the south of the Horseshoe Lights copper mine. A total of 115 aircore holes were completed during the half-year, with a further 250 holes within the Bulgullan Bore prospect area likely to commence in 2021. A program of Moving Loop Electromagnetics (MLEM), which commenced at Bulgullan Bore during the half will continue into the next reporting period. Gold exploration Exploration of Alchemys tenements that cover the gold prospective part of the Bryah Basin Project continued under a farm-in and joint venture arrangement with Billabong Gold Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Superior Gold, with Billabong now having earned a 70-80% interest. Under the terms of the JV, Alchemys interest is carried on an interest-free deferred basis to production, with Alchemy to repay the deferred amount from 50% of its share of free cash flow from production following the commencement of mining. The Billabong Gold JV includes the Hermes South inferred resource estimate of 2.2 million tonnes at 1.6 g/t for 114,000 ounces gold (0.6 g/t gold lower cut-off). The mineralisation remains open at depth and has excellent potential for further drilling to expand the area of gold mineralisation and add to the known resource. Alchemy is confident the Hermes South deposit will become part of the production profile for the Plutonic Gold Operation, with design and scheduling work for Hermes South continuing and mining expected to begin in the first half of 2021. Detailed work is ongoing to optimise several potential open pit sources, including the Hermes and Hermes South Pits, and to finalise resources and scheduling. It is expected that heritage surveys and permitting will be undertaken on the Hermes South deposit in the first half of 2021 as Superior Gold looks to include this deposit in its pipeline of near-term development activities. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. On March 4, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in what was known in Israel as the "vaccine summit." On March 11, Netanyahu repeated a similar trilateral operation, meeting in his Jerusalem office with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. By the end of the March 4 meeting, the three leaders had agreed to establish a vaccine alliance and cooperate in ventures for producing large quantities of vaccines. The March 11 was about cooperating in the research, development and production of vaccines. "This is a delight to welcome two close friends, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary and Prime Minister Andrej Babis of Czech Republic. In the spirt of that friendship, they came here to Jerusalem to see how we can cooperate on COVID. We discussed a number of ideas. The first is exchanging 'green' passports, as we've done with several countries already. It would be an important addition to add Hungary and the Czech Republic to this but equally to see how we can involve both Czech Republic and Hungary in the international plant that we want to build here in Israel for the production of the vaccines of the future," said Netanyahu. The communique from Netanyahus office added that the three leaders held a working meeting with their countries' professional teams. The heads of government and their representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs and health discussed the fight against the coronavirus, including exit strategies and travel. On March 15, Kosovo is expected to open its embassy in Jerusalem. It is not yet clear if senior Kosovar officials will meet with Netanyahu on that occasion. Not everyone in Europe is happy about Netanyahus zeal for joint ventures against the virus. The European Union is struggling to distribute vaccines in an equitable fashion and the European Commission is working to coordinate contracts with different vaccine producers. Shortly after the March 4 meeting, France criticized Austria and Denmark for coordinating with Israel outside the EU framework. France was especially irked by Kurz saying that the European Medicines Agency was too slow in approving vaccines. French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian defended the agency, saying, The most effective solution for meeting our vaccination needs must remain within a European framework. This is what guarantees the solidarity among member states that is more essential than ever. Netanyahu couldnt care less about ruffling French feathers. On the contrary, his new vaccine alliances send a clear message about Israels diplomatic independence from Brussels or Paris. This message is nothing new. Netanyahu has demonstrated on numerous occasions his preference for alliances with smaller European countries, those with hard right-wing/nationalist leaders, in defiance of the European Union. Still, the current vaccine alliance offers a very concrete dimension to Netanyahu's policy. Netanyahu is also busy working on other levels. Today, for instance, he spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about cooperating on the pandemic, including "green" passports and the reopening of Jewish pilgrimages to the Ukrainian city of Uman. In an even more significant vaccine-diplomacy development, according to the Times of Israel, Israel is moving forward on its plan to supply surplus Moderna vaccines to a group of 20 friendly countries. This plan first came to a halt shortly after it was publicized at the end of February, when Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit opined that the prime minister did not have the authority to approve such a move without consulting with the cabinet. Defense Minister Benny Gantz (who also holds the justice portfolio) warned against Netanyahu exploiting the vaccines for his personal agenda. Now that Mandelbit has set the guidelines for such transfers of vaccines, Netanyahu has reportedly renewed efforts on his initiative. With these surplus doses expiring at the end of May, the donations must be made quickly. Gantz seems to have come around and wont stand in the way. The nearing expiration date could explain why Israel is acting on its own, outside the COVAX international initiative for vaccinating populations in developing countries. Israel is part of the Friends of the COVAX Facility group but has not offered to finance vaccine doses for needy countries nor to donate vaccines via that mechanism, as Netanyahu prefers to act on his own and is not hiding the political and diplomatic considerations behind his project. NEW FAIRFIELD The towns COVID-19 infection rate remains higher than other municipalities in the greater Danbury area, but local officials are optimistic that the continued increase in vaccinated residents will help lower the cases. About 20 percent of New Fairfield residents are now vaccinated, First Selectwoman Pat Del Monaco said Thursday. She said that includes 63 percent of the towns 65- to 74-year-old population and nearly all of those 75 and older. Selectman Khris Hall said 500 COVID vaccine doses will have been administered at New Fairfields clinic this week 400 first and second doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 100 of the new single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We were surprised to have gotten the (Johnson & Johnson), and we were a bit nervous, Hall said. We thought that there might be some resistance but it was just the opposite. People really want it. Before ordering more vaccines on Tuesday, Hall said members of the towns vaccination working group will meet on Monday to review how things went with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and decide what were going to do. My personal recommendation is that we maybe even go for more (Johnson & Johnson) than Moderna, she said. Its one and done we can vaccinate twice as many people. Given New Fairfields rising COVID-19 infection rate which increased from 29 per 100,000 people last week to 32.4 per 100,000 this week Hall said she believes the quicker people get vaccinated, the better off the town will be. As of Thursday, no surrounding towns had a higher infection rate than New Fairfield, according to the states COVID-19 Data Tracker. Other than there being more spread within households than seen in the spring and summer, Del Monaco said contact tracing has not detected any demographic- or age-related trends tied to the rise in New Fairfields infection rate. Weve had some members of the public inquire to see if its related to any one location (or) age group in town, and the answer to all that is no, she said. It is spread pretty evenly around town all different age groups. Del Monaco said she reminds residents that just because the statewide infection rate has been on the decline doesnt mean they should get lax on precautionary measures like social distancing and mask-wearing. In this part of the state, our numbers are not (going down) at the same rate and in New Fairfield and Sherman, theyre actually going up every week, she said. Please continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing. I know its hard to keep hearing all this, but were almost there. As of Wednesday, roughly 22 percent of Connecticuts total population and three-fourth of residents 75 and older had been vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health. CORWITH, Iowa A Mason City man is facing a drug charge after a traffic stop in Hancock County. Nathan Ray Veal-Cox, 20, is accused of a controlled substance violation. Law enforcement says he was stopped on Wednesday for a traffic violation while driving on State Highway 17, just south of 170th Street. Court documents state the smell of marijuana was detected and Veal-Cox admitted to smoking the drug. Investigators say a search of Veal-Cox vehicle found over a pound of raw marijuana in the trunk, along with ammunition, several bundles of U.S. currency, a heat-sealing device, several bags, and an unloaded handgun. Authorities say they also found a digital scale and several other items used in selling marijuana. Milan legend Paolo Maldini has dismissed suggestions Zlatan Ibrahimovic is bigger than the club. Ibrahimovic has been a revelation since returning to Milan for a second spell in late December 2019, with the evergreen 39-year-old spearheading the club's Scudetto charge this term. The former Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain striker - out of contract at the end of this season - has scored 14 Serie A goals in 2020-21 to help Milan up to second position, six points adrift of city rivals Inter. A huge resource Maldini is now technical director at Milan and rates Ibrahimovic as a "huge resource", but he believes the club sit well positioned to withstand the Swede's departure if he does not extend his contract at San Siro. "The truth is, the club is above any player because the players pass through, and the club remains," Maldini told So Foot. "There are players who leave a different mark than others, and Zlatan is one of them. The first jab of AstraZeneca Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine has been administered in Lagos State. The Incident Commander in the State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, kicked off the vaccine rollout programme after he got a jab of the serum supplied by the Federal Government. Mr Sanwo-Olu was vaccinated on Friday afternoon at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, behind the Deputy Incident Commander and Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, who took the first shot. The Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, also got the shot of the vaccine. Speaking after the injection, the governor corroborated the World Health Organisation (WHO), testifying the safety of the vaccine. He said there was no reason for anyone to panic over the desirability of the inoculant while urging frontline workers enrolled in the priority list to take shots of the vaccine within the stipulated period. He said: I have just received a shot of AstraZeneca vaccine and I dont feel awkward. This falls in line with what the WHO has been saying about the safety of the vaccine. I commend all our numerous health workers for their sacrifice. The IDH is still the epicentre of our COVID-19 response; that is why I came here for the vaccination. We have also started administering the vaccine to our health workers, who are part of the frontline workers we identified in the rollout programme. All other frontline workers in other hospitals are also receiving the vaccine and they should continue with the process, as we roll out our strategy on how people need to be vaccinated. Mr Sanwo-Olu urged the public to refrain from churning out unsubstantiated information about the vaccine, and asked residents to allow science to lead the nation out of the pandemic. The governor said he was optimistic that the nation would be out of this pandemic if the vaccine rollout programme went as planned. Rollout The vaccination programme started across three centres IDH, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), and Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta. In the coming days, the rollout programme, according to a government statement, will also take place simultaneously at other 85 designated locations within Lagos for frontline workers captured in the first phase, who include medical workers, police officers, military officers, laboratory scientists, port health workers, judicial officers and rapid response teams. Earlier at a briefing, Mr Abayomi said the federal and the state governments had inspected data associated with vaccinations around the world, including the clinical trials of all COVID-19 vaccines to ensure that they are safe for use. He stressed that the risk of not receiving the vaccine was higher than the chance of taking ill from COVID-19. We are encouraging all Lagosians, and Nigerians by extension to see the period of vaccination as an opportunity to achieve herd immunity and build collective capacity as a community to resist the transmission of an infectious agent across our communities. If we are able to achieve herd immunity in Lagos and other communities, then we will be able to reduce the chance of the virus from propagating itself and developing variants. Meanwhile, the commissioner said those that enrolled in the vaccination programme would get two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine each within 12 weeks apart. The first dose, Mr Abayomi said, will help achieve about 60 per cent protection, while the second dose would give above 80 per cent protection. ADVERTISEMENT The Country Representative of the WHO, Walter Mulombo, re-emphasised the safety of the vaccine, urging Nigerians to participate in the rollout programme. The kick-off of the vaccination programme in Lagos was witnessed by various international agencies, including United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Rotary, and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), among others. 21st Meeting of WMCC on India-China Border Affairs seeks in-depth discussions on remaining issues India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 12: The 21st meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on March 12, 2021. According to reports, the Indian delegation was led by Additional Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs. The Director General of the Boundary and Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation. The two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector and had in-depth discussions on the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. Quad summit: Cooperation between countries should not target third party, says China They agreed that the completion of the disengagement in North and South Bank of the Pangong Lake provided a good basis for the two sides to work towards early resolution of these remaining issues. They agreed that the agreement reached between the two Foreign Ministers in Moscow in September last year as also their recent phone conversation last month should continue to guide the work of two sides. The two sides should continue their dialogue to reach a mutually acceptable solution for complete disengagement from all friction points at the earliest. This would enable two sides to look at broader de-escalation of troops in the area and work towards restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas. They also agreed that in the interim two sides should continue to maintainstability at ground level and prevent any untoward incident. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 18:43 [IST] Ponzi scam case: CBI summons West Bengal TMC leader Partha Chatterjee India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 12: The CBI has summoned West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee on March 15 in connection with a probe into a ponzi scam pertaining to ICore group of companies, officials said on Friday. Chatterjee, considered close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been asked to appear before a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team on March 15, they said. The CBI had registered the case against ICore group which had allegedly raised over Rs 3,000 crore from people by offering high returns on investments and diverted a portion of these funds, defaulting on promised returns, they said. The agency had taken over the probe into the matter in 2014 and registered an FIR ICore E-services under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating. The case was registered on the basis of a Supreme Court order in 2014 directing the central probe agency to take over all cases related to chit fund companies that were being probed by the state police. West Bengal elections 2021: Mamata vs Suvendu play on aggressive Hindutva in Nandigram Company directors Anukul Maity and his wife Kanika were arrested by the agency in 2017. Maiti, a prime accused in the ICore E-Services ponzi scam, died at a Bhubaneswar hospital while under judicial custody. Action by the CBI has picked up pace in poll-bound West Bengal. The BJP is leading a vigorous campaign to oust the ruling Trinamool which had secured consecutive wins in 2011 and 2016 under its leader Mamata Banerjee. The agency has already questioned the family members of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in connection with the illegal coal mining case and summoned two more relatives on March 15 in the case, they said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 18:53 [IST] [March 12, 2021] Ault Global Holdings Announces $10 Million Investment in Alzamend Neuro Ault Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: DPW), a diversified holding company (the "Company"), announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Digital Power Lending, LLC ("DPL"), has entered into a securities purchase agreement with Alzamend Neuro, Inc. ("Alzamend"), a related party, to invest $10,000,000 in Alzamend common stock and warrants, subject to the achievement of certain milestones. The Company agreed to fund $4,000,000 upon execution of the securities purchase agreement and to fund the balance upon Alzamend achieving certain milestones related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Alzamend's Investigational New Drug application and Phase 1a human clinical trials for Alzamend's lithium based ionic cocrystal therapy, known as AL001. Under the securities purchase agreement, Alzamend has agreed to sell up to 6,666,667 shares of its common stock to DPL for $10,000,000, or $1.50 per share, and issue to DPL warrants to acquire up to 3,333,334 shares of Alzamend common stock with an exercise price of $3.00 per share. The transaction was approved by the Company's independent directors after receiving a third-party valuation report of Alzamend. Alzamend is an early stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel products for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders. Alzamend currently has two product candidates, aiming to bring treatments or cures for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders to market at a reasonable cost as quickly as possible. On December 30, 2020, the Company announced that Alzamend had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The public offering is expected to commence after the SEC (News - Alert) completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions. "Our Company is proud to support Alzamend in it development and testing of treatments and cures for Alzheimer's disease," said Milton "Todd" Ault, III, the Company's Executive Chairman. "We believe that strong support of research is the foundation for true innovation. Alzamend is currently working to transition two therapeutics targeting Alzheimer's disease from the preclinical stage at the University of South Florida into the clinical stage and towards full commercialization. Alzamend has licensed both a patented mutant-peptide immunothrapeutic ("AL002") for use as a treatment or vaccine and a lithium based ionic cocrystal therapy ("AL001") that we believe may greatly reduce or eliminate the symptoms of agitation and other endpoints for mild to moderate stage patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's. While there is currently no cure, prevention, or treatment to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, if AL001 and AL002 prove safe and efficacious, we believe that we can change that." For more information on Ault Global Holdings and its subsidiaries, the Company recommends that stockholders, investors and any other interested parties read the Company's public filings and press releases available under the Investor Relations section at www.AultGlobal.com or available at www.sec.gov. About Ault Global Holdings, Inc. Ault Global Holdings, Inc. is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies with a global impact. Through its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, the Company provides mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including defense/aerospace, industrial, automotive, telecommunications, medical/biopharma, and textiles. In addition, the Company extends credit to select entrepreneurial businesses through a licensed lending subsidiary. Ault Global Holding's headquarters are located at 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway, Suite 240, Las Vegas, NV 89141; www.AultGlobal.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "may," "will," "should," "could," "potential," or similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of them publicly in light of new information or future events. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors. More information, including potential risk factors, that could affect the Company's business and financial results are included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All filings are available at www.sec.gov and on the Company's website at www.AultGlobal.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005136/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BMEX Gold (CVE: BMEX) CEO Amrik Virk joined Steve Darling from Proactive with news the company has now completed 19 drill holes, totalling 4,500 metres at their flagship King Tut Gold Project in Quebec. Virk telling Proactive results from 8 of the 19 holes have been reported and they have intersected a 50 m wide gold-bearing structure. Virk also sharing the company is preparing to launch our inaugural drill program on the Dunlop Bay Project. Sri Lanka has complained to Beijing over Chinese-made doormats featuring the island's national lion flag being sold through online retail giant Amazon, officials said Friday. Sri Lanka is highly sensitive to what it sees as any misuse of its national flag as well as Buddhist symbols. The Sri Lankan foreign ministry said it had taken up the issue with the Chinese embassy in Colombo, and also asked Colombo's mission in Beijing to track down the manufacturer. The ministry has also instructed the Sri Lankan embassy in Washington to "follow up on the matter" with Amazon. Several Chinese vendors on Amazon were offering the non-slip doormat with Sri Lanka's flag on it at prices ranging from $10 to $24. Sri Lanka is highly sensitive to what it sees as any misuse of its national flag as well as Buddhist symbols / AFP "This is how the Chinese see Sri Lanka," said one Facebook user. Another suggested the doormat was a forewarning of how future relations might play out in light of Sri Lanka's huge debt to China: "May be it's the sign (of how) they gonna treat us when we fail to pay their loans." "If we are unable to pay our debts, they will print our flag on toilet paper for sure," wrote another on Facebook. In 2010, Sri Lanka prevented US rap star Akon from visiting the country over one of his music videos, which featured scantily clad women dancing in front of a Buddha statue. In 2002, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ordered police and customs to seize CDs of Buddha Bar lounge music. Two years ago, a Muslim woman was arrested for wearing a dress with prints of a ship's steering wheel, which police mistook for Dharma Chakra, a Buddhist symbol. Businesses on Wharf Street are ramped up and ready to go for this weekends Wharf Street Festival. Wharf Street has recently undergone a redevelopment and a host of movie stars, circus fun and entertainment is being planned to celebrate its transformation. Sally Cooke, from Downtown Tauranga, says the festival is a great way for the street to celebrate its beautiful new development and to show the public the many ways the street can be used. From an entertainment space, to a dining space, to the venue for an open air movie night or a great place to bring the kids for some circus fun as one of the key events this weekend. The city centre gets a lot of bad press but its our city centre and its going through transformational change with new developments and street scapes and theres a lot of growing pains that come with that. Sally says what many people may not appreciate is there are more amazing cafe, restaurant and bar options in the city centre than anywhere else. We also have some long established and much loved retail stores that passionately open their doors every day to look after their valued customers. Wharf Street has new eateries opening and established eateries that are the favourites of many. Theres nothing nicer than seeing people enjoying the environment, for breakfast, lunch or dinner in Wharf Street. This weekend we ask the public to come down, show their support for the city centre as a whole and for the Wharf Street businesses who are proudly hosting this festival for all to enjoy. The Wharf Street Festival features a couple of highlights including a Night Owl Cinema Open Air Movie Night on the Saturday evening, March 13, and also a chance for kids to have a go at being in a circus on the Saturday morning. The festival also features live music and entertainment on the Friday night, March 12. For full details of the Wharf Street Festival with runs March 12 and 13 go to www.downtowntauranga.co.nz By Nqobile Dludla, Kirthana Pillay JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who saw himself as the custodian of his peoples culture and was praised by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as a visionary monarch, died on Friday. Zwelithini, who was 72, died in hospital, the royal family said. He had been admitted to hospital in KwaZulu-Natal province last month to be treated for diabetes. Though his role was largely ceremonial, Zwelithini was revered by his people and had vast influence over millions of Zulus. Ramaphosa hailed his contribution to national unity and economic development in KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa as a whole, and the opposition Democratic Alliance party called Zwelithini a hugely important and influential figure on our political and cultural landscape for the past five decades. Tragically, while still in hospital, His Majestys health took a turn for the worse and he subsequently passed away in the early hours of this morning, a statement issued by Prince Mangosutho Buthelezi, founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party and traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch, said. On behalf of the Royal Family, we thank the nation for your continued prayers and support in this most difficult time. Zwelithini was officially crowned the eighth monarch of South Africas largest ethnic group in 1971, after going into hiding fearing assassination when his father died in 1968. In 1984, he revived the reed dance, a 19th century practice which sees thousands of bare-breasted maidens dance in front of the king to celebrate their beauty and virginity in the KwaZulu-Natal province. Facing criticism, Zwelithini defended his decision by saying it helped stem pre-marital sex and the spread of AIDS. I feel like its not just a loss for the Zulu nation, but the loss of culture in itself, Johannesburg resident Noni Casmiro told Reuters. GUIDE THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES Another resident, Lazarus Aphane, said Zwelithini had helped guide his people through difficult times during apartheid. Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was born on July 14, 1948, the year the National Party came to power and began its programme of racial segregation and domination. In 2018, he waded into South Africas contentious land debate, warning the governing African National Congress not to include territory under his control in a land reform drive which mostly targeted white-owned property. The lands he controlled under an entity called the Ingonyama Trust - 3 million hectares (7,413,161 acres) - comprised the Zulu homeland in KwaZulu-Natal, one of several ethnically-based regions where most black South Africans were confined under apartheid. Across South Africa, tribal authorities say they are custodians of land that was communal before European colonialism, and they often control access to resources on such lands, including negotiating deals with mining companies. The king also courted controversy in 2015, when several people were killed in anti-immigrant violence following xenophobic remarks Zwelithini made. He later called the attacks vile. Additional reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Shafiek Tassiem, Editing by Timothy Heritage Loading The media treated the Shorten allegations with caution. When The Australian first reported them, for instance, it did so in November 2013 after three days of discussion with Shorten and his office about the claims. It did not name him. It did not say whether the man was in federal or state politics. There was no follow-up story the next day. The allegations against Porter were aired on Friday, February 26, as claims against a man in federal cabinet. This narrowed the suspects to about 16 men. Porters spokesman says the ABC did not put questions to the Attorney-General or his office about the allegation of rape before going to air that night a key point likely to come up in Senate estimates. Only Porter has faced calls for a further inquiry. Shorten was given gentler treatment. His Labor colleagues said his public statement was enough to draw a line under the matter. His opponents, such as Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, let the matter fade. Porter is different, of course. He is a cabinet minister, part of the executive government and the first law officer of the country. But the difference is not vast. Shorten was a party leader and aspired to be prime minister. He asked voters to give him a bigger job than attorney-general. Loading The first law officer has to be beyond doubt, beyond reproach, said Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek on Tuesday. But cant the same be said of the potential prime minister? Of course it can. Voters know it can. There is another pillar in the case for an inquiry, however. Shorten faced an accuser who signed a formal statement and could be questioned again at any time. Police completed their investigation, closing the case. Porter is accused from the grave. The woman wrote a detailed account of the alleged rape but never made a formal statement to police. She took her own life last June. This is enough for some to argue that an inquiry is the only way to look into Porters history and decide whether he committed a horrific crime. Yet the womans death would hobble an inquiry just as it did the police investigation. There can be no sworn testimony from the accuser. There would not be enough admissible evidence. Could a retired judge really overcome this basic problem? He or she could hear from others, such as the womans friends, but the ability to listen to hearsay is not a compelling case for a judicial inquiry. So the very fact used by some to call for a review the tragic death of the woman involved can also be used to reject one. Loading This does not mean Porter can walk on. Shorten was interviewed at least once by Victoria Police and waived privilege against self-incrimination. He answered follow-up questions from police. He handed documents to police in response to requests. The investigation lasted 10 months. Porter was never interviewed by NSW Police. The reason is simple: he was not asked. The force said last week that it did not want to put claims to a suspect before having a formal statement from the woman. This is a better argument for an inquiry than some of the others. Porter has taken questions from the media in a torrid press conference but not from authorities who have all the claims before them not least the womans written account of her experience. Loading So some questions remain to be answered. Here is one. The woman claims they had dinner in Perth in the final days of September, 1994. It is a confounding part of her statement that she agreed to dinner with her alleged rapist. It is yet to be explained. Porter says, to the best of his recollection, they last met in January 1988, but he does not dispute the possibility of that later meeting. Still, that is not enough to clear the stench of a double standard. One rule for Shorten, another for Porter. The argument over Porter is so intensely political, with each side entrenched, that Morrison may have to ask the Attorney-General to step aside or resign. Those close to Morrison say he will tough it out. What nobody knows is whether the political cost will become too great to bear. One theory in the government is that Albanese will be happy to press the nuclear button. What would he care if Shorten is collateral damage? If it comes to mutually assured destruction, Labor will assume Morrison suffers greater damage. New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday reviewed the security situation in north India, particularly Haryana where violence following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief in a rape case has claimed 31 lives, officials said. Top officials, including Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Jain, gave detailed presentations about the situation in Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and chiefs of paramilitary personnel were also present at the meeting. The home minister was apprised about the steps taken to maintain law and order and restore peace, said an official privy to the development. While Panchkula and Sirsa were very tense, the situation in the rest of the state was tense but under control, the minister is believed to have been told. The death toll in the violence that erupted in Haryana after the rape conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has climbed to 31, the Home Ministry said. Curfew has been imposed in several places in Haryana and Punjab while prohibitory orders have been imposed in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh, all but two districts of Delhi and one district in Rajasthan following massive violence, an official said. Apart from Haryana, there were reports of sporadic violence in Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan where police have taken precautionary measures to foil any attempt to disturb peace. At least 20,000 paramilitary personnel were deployed in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh to assist the local police to deal with the law and order situation. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. More than seven weeks after President Biden took office, White House staff members are working from California, Puerto Rico, Texas and elsewhere around the country, a striking indication of the strange reality of building a new administration during a pandemic as well as the sharp shift from the Trump administrations casual approach to dealing with the coronavirus. Many Biden officials have never met in person with colleagues they interact with on a daily basis. Gina McCarthy, the White House national climate adviser, has met her chief of staff only on a video screen. The setup might be inconvenient and somewhat anticlimactic for government officials who would normally be sporting coveted White House badges and establishing regular after-hours watering holes. But those who chose not to move during the coronavirus pandemic said it had also given them an outside-the-bubble perspective as they experienced firsthand a grim reality that many of the administrations policies are trying to address. Emmy Ruiz, the White Houses director of political strategy and outreach, said she became alarmed when she lost water after the deep freeze in Texas last month and immediately recognized it as a huge red flag. Because she lives near a hospital, her neighborhood had until then been prioritized in keeping power and utilities running. She called the nurses she knew at the hospital, where her son was born, and they were painting a very dire picture, Ms. Ruiz said. The hospitals needed water, and in some cases they had to transfer patients, but the roads were ice. Study provides new details on the fate of spilled oil in the marine environment, effectiveness of chemical dispersants MIAMI--A new study lead by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science demonstrates that under realistic environmental conditions oil drifting in the ocean after the DWH oil spill photooxidized into persistent compounds within hours to days, instead over long periods of time as was thought during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This is the first model results to support the new paradigm of photooxidation that emerged from laboratory research. After an oil spill, oil droplets on the ocean surface can be transformed by a weathering process known as photooxidation, which results in the degradation of crude oil from exposure to light and oxygen into new by-products over time. Tar, a by-product of this weathering process, can remain in coastal areas for decades after a spill. Despite the significant consequences of this weathering pathway, photooxidation was not taken into account in oil spill models or the oil budget calculations during the Deepwater Horizon spill. The UM Rosenstiel School research team developed the first oil-spill model algorithm that tracks the dose of solar radiation oil droplets receive as they rise from the deep sea and are transported at the ocean surface. The authors found that the weathering of oil droplets by solar light occurred within hours to days, and that roughly 75 percent of the photooxidation during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred on the same areas where chemical dispersants were sprayed from aircraft. Photooxidized oil is known to reduce the effectiveness of aerial dispersants. "Understanding the timing and location of this weathering process is highly consequential. said Claire Paris, a UM Rosenstiel School faculty and senior author of the study. "It helps directing efforts and resources on fresh oil while avoiding stressing the environment with chemical dispersants on oil that cannot be dispersed." "Photooxidized compounds like tar persist longer in the environment, so modeling the likelihood of photooxidation is critically important not only for guiding first response decisions during an oil spill and restoration efforts afterwards, but it also needs to be taken into account on risk assessments before exploration activities" added Ana Carolina Vaz, assistant scientist at UM's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies and lead author of the study. ### The study, titled "A Coupled Lagrangian-Earth System Model for Predicting Oil Photooxidation," was published online on Feb 19, 2021 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. The authors of the paper include: Ana Carolina Vaz, Claire Beatrix Paris and Robin Faillettaz. The study was supported by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI): C-IMAGE III (Center for the Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem) and RECOVER 2 (Relationship of Effects of Cardiac Outcomes in ?sh for Validation of Ecological Risk). Friday, March 12, 2021 John Manchester said in his statement to Jim Garrison that the black Cadillac, seen in Clinton, was identified as being with the International Trade Mart. Here is his statement: Here is a very telling memo written by Jonathan Blackmer of the HSCA: Donald Carpenter, in his book Man of a Million Fragments, writes that: (page 365-366) "Shaw testified at trial that the International Trade Mart had never owned any vehicles. A review of balance sheets and other financial records for the Mart, from its inception through the 1960s, also shows no evidence of vehicle ownership or leasing by the Mart." Why didn't Garrison investigate this back in 1967? Why was Manchester's testimony "sufficient"? Did he perhaps know that any investigation would reveal 'issues' with the Clinton scenario? There is also a major discrepancy between the Manchester statement and his subsequent testimony before the HSCA. In his statement, he wasn't too sure about talking to Clay Shaw. When testifying before the HSCA he was not only certain he talked to Clay Shaw, but that Shaw had showed him his driver's license: So, Manchester's memory improved over time! Why didn't Blackmer ask Manchester about his changing testimony? Was Blackmer even aware of Manchester's earlier testimony? Lawyers for Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny say he has been moved from a detention center in the Vladimir region, northeast of the Russian capital, to an undisclosed location amid a call from Western countries for his immediate release. Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was sent to prison last month to serve 2 1/2 years over alleged parole violations related to an embezzlement case he and rights activists say was trumped up for political reasons, something the authorities deny. Navalny's lawyers said in a tweet on March 12 that they showed up at Detention Center No. 3 in Kolchugino at the start of the work day, only to be run around and deceived before being informed several hours later "that Aleksei had left." The TASS news agency quoted on unnamed source in law enforcement as saying he had been moved to a penitentiary in nearby Pokrov, but was in quarantine, which can last as long as 15 days under Russian law. Russian authorities typically do not provide information about the transfer of prisoners until after they reach their destination and by late afternoon Navalny's lawyers reiterated that they still did know his whereabouts. "Aleksei's lawyers went to IK-2 in Pokrov. There they were told that there was no information about the delivery of Navalny, and in general the institution had 'a short day.' It was 15:30 local time. Where Aleksei is is still unknown and the FSIN [Federal Penitentiary Service] is clearly going to hide it as long as possible," a tweet from Navalny's certified Twitter account said. On March 3, Navalny said that he had been moved to Detention Center No. 3 in the town of Kolchugino, though it was expected that eventually he would be moved to a penal colony in the nearby city of Pokrov, 100 kilometers east of Moscow. The colony is known as one of the toughest in the European part of the Russian Federation. As news of his transfer broke, dozens of countries, including the United States, called for his immediate release and an investigation into his poisoning last year with a military-grade nerve agent. Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport in January immediately upon returning from Berlin, where he had been recovering from what several Western labs determined was a poisoning attempt using a Novichok-type nerve agent that saw him fall ill on a flight in Siberia in August 2020. Russia has denied involvement, but Navalny has said the assassination attempt was ordered by Putin. A Moscow court in February ruled that, while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case that is widely considered politically motivated. His suspended 3 1/2-year sentence was converted into jail time, though the court reduced that amount to 2 1/2 years for time already served in detention. Navalnys detention set off a wave of national protests and a crackdown against his supporters. The European Union and the United States imposed fresh sanctions against Russia over the Navalny case. On March 12, the representative for Poland read out a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council that said the actions against Navalny by Russian authorities were "unacceptable and politically motivated." "We call on the Russian Federation for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Navalny and of all those unlawfully or arbitrarily detained, including for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of religion or belief," the joint statement said. It was signed by 45 countries, most of which were European but also included Australia, Canada, and Japan, along with the United States. With reporting by Reuters Oregon is considering letting schools pack students more tightly into classrooms, which would allow students to get more hours of in-person instruction, but will move slowly even if the best science says it would be safe, a top public health official said Friday. The key would be to reduce required distancing from six feet to three -- a step Oregon is considering but would only allow on a gradual phased-in basis, State Epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger said during a news conference hosted by Gov. Kate Brown. Oregons current rules require students and employees to remain six feet apart at all times when inside a school building, meaning a classroom can only accommodate one student or teacher for every 36 square feet. That has meant many classrooms can accommodate just 10 or 12 students, meaning only half or one-third of students can physically be in class at a time. The upshot is that the vast majority of Oregon students are now or soon will be allowed to take part in in-person instruction for only half days or alternating days at most. Many Portland-area schools have said they will offer students as few as five hours a week of in-person learning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set six feet of separation as the standard in all indoor spaces. But the World Health Organization says a distance of three feet -- or rather its close metric equivalent, a meter -- is safe when people wear masks, particularly when rates of community transmission are low. Several states, including Massachusetts and Colorado, already allow schools to space students three feet apart. Reducing the minimum required distance to three feet means schools can give each person just nine square feet in a classroom, gym or hallway -- allowing four times as many people into school spaces. That is why Oregon school districts that are already offering in-person instruction, including Grants Pass and Klamath County, have officially requested permission to switch to three-foot spacing. Sidelinger did not offer hope that would happen in the near term. We will see about making changes to our current guidance and may phase in new rules that would allow schools to operate more like they did in pre-pandemic times, particularly in the fall, he said. We may need to ease into it. The question of six feet versus three is playing out in scientific and political circles around the nation, including in Chicago. Illinois health officials changed their rules this week to allow masked people to come as close as three feet inside schools. But the Chicago Teachers Union insists the six-foot standard should maintained in the citys public schools. NOTE: This story has been corrected to attribute Fridays statements to the correct top health officials at the Oregon Health Authority, Dean Sidelinger. -- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @ChalkUp INTERVALS between doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are to be stretched by up to three times in order to give more people their first jab. The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) has accepted international evidence that this confers the greatest protection on the greatest number months after the United Kingdom increased the interval. The news raises the prospect of thousands more people getting their first dose promptly conferring up to 80 per cent protection instead of having to wait or weeks or months while the virus remains rampant. It also has implications for the reopening sooner of society and the economy. Read More A day after a call in the Dail for the widening of dose intervals by Richard Bruton, former Minister for Education and current chairman of Fine Gaels parliamentary party, the head of NIAC went on radio to concede the point. Prof. Karina Butler said the AZ vaccine, which has been in short supply as a result of its makers under-providing to Ireland and other countries, was approved for use between four and 12 weeks. Ireland had been giving the second jab after four weeks, but Prof Butler said: What were recommending now is that we leave it at least eight to 12 weeks. She accepted that confirmation had emerged of initial studies that delaying the second doses provided greater immunity. But after the first jab, by 20 to 22 days, you really got a big benefit with up to 70 over 70pc efficacy against serious disease or hospitalisation, Prof. Butler told Claire Byrne on RTE Radio One. What they found was, if you extended that gap from four weeks to eight or 12 weeks, not only did you not lose any of that efficacy it actually seemed to increase a little bit. But when you delayed giving that second dose, you got a much better response than if you gave that second dose early. She added: If you leave it a little bit longer, you have recruited more (antibody) cells that know it, so that when they see it again they make a very strong immune response. And the hope is that then would give more lasting immunity. Prof Butler said: What were recommending now is at least eight to 12 weeks. There does seem to be benefit to stretching that interval out more towards the 12 weeks. People who get the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine will know they will have very significant protection after the first jab, and they don't have to worry about getting that second dose until about 12 weeks later. That gives time for more supplies to come in and to get the vaccine we do have out to more people. Extending the gap between doses could increase the number of people given a first jab by 40pc, Richard Bruton told Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in the Dail on Thursday. From what we hear, 80pc of the impact is delivered on the first jab, and the second jab only adds another 10-15pc to that in terms of effectiveness, he said. Longer intervals until the booster jab would be better, allowing the State to move more quickly down through the priority groups. The Health Minister pledged that the Government would study any recommendation that emerged, as has now happened. Asked about the UK pushing out the intervals last month, the acting Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn told the Irish Independent there was a concern that interval delay could allow vaccine-beating virus variants to emerge. Mr Bruton said however that the dramatic de-risking of the virus through greater initial coverage could change the trigger points for a re-opening of the economy. He said: Clearly the risk associated with say 300 cases per day is very different, if 80 per cent of the risk has been removed. We need to level with people if were to sustain their support. Despite the frustration with the stop-go nature of the vaccine programme, there were now probably 600,000 people vaccinated, an increase of a fifth in a week, he said. By the middle of next week all of the over 80s would be jabbed, and that will take out 63 per cent of the risk of fatalities from this virus. As we move to the group with high risk conditions, we will take out even more, particularly in the risk of people being admitted to ICU. So we should be extending the gap between doses. Mr Donnelly said a NIAC recommendation was something we will certainly look at. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican left-leaning President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador celebrated on Friday the decision by a Brazilian Supreme Court to annul graft convictions of the South American nation's former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. On Wednesday, Lula gave an impassioned speech in the labor union where his political career took off in the 1980s, which had the feel of a campaign launch ahead of next year's presidential election. However, he said he had not decided whether to run. "I celebrate that the country's authorities have exonerated" former President Lula, Lopez Obrador said at his daily morning news conference. "He was imprisoned and faced a whole campaign against him and against the movement he represented." Lopez Obrador has repeatedly rejected the concept of "intervention" from other countries but has previously lent a hand to left-wing leaders, including former Bolivian president Evo Morales during a contested election. He has warm relations with like-minded governments in Argentina and Bolivia, but has rarely talked about Brazil's current president, right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro. Lula, 75, governed Latin America's biggest country and largest economy between 2003 and 2011, overseeing a commodities boom that turbocharged economic growth. In 2018, he was convicted of taking bribes from engineering companies in return for public contracts and spent a year and a half behind bars. (Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Matthew Lewis) 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 Juanita Garcia doesn't think her opinion counted for much in Los Angeles Unified School District's decision to reopen campuses next month. Garcia, whose adopted grandchildren attend San Fernando High School, believes LAUSD students are returning because parents from areas more affluent than the East Valley have demanded it. "What we can see from this district and from the union is that our students don't count," Garcia said in Spanish through an interpreter. "And we don't either. What really counts for them is the money." Michelle Rojas-Soto, whose eighth- and tenth graders attend school in Eagle Rock, gave LAUSD a little more credit: "They're the district that has done the most," to balance the concerns of its predominantly low-income and Latino community with pressures to resume on-campus instruction, she said. Still, like Garcia, Rojas-Soto will likely keep both kids home for the rest of the year. If COVID-19 flares up again, she says, she says Black and Latino kids are likely to be at the most risk. HOW MANY PARENTS WILL SEND THEIR KIDS BACK TO CAMPUS? United Teachers Los Angeles leaders and LAUSD officials tentatively agreed to a plan this week that could reopen elementary campuses by April 19, and middle and high school buildings a few weeks after that. (The district's school board approved the deal Thursday, and now it goes to a full union vote.) Some teachers, kids and parents have welcomed the deal. Distance learning has been an academic disaster for many English learners, and for students with disabilities. Campus closures have left parents in a long-term childcare lurch -- forcing some to leave their jobs -- and have left many children feeling isolated, depressed or worse. But it's still an open question how many parents will send their kids back. Many of the COVID-19 cases and deaths from L.A.'s especially bad winter surge ravaged many of the same neighborhoods that LAUSD serves. "There is concern in the community that many families have already contracted coronavirus," said Evelyn Aleman, a public relations professional who started a group called "Our Voice" for Spanish-speaking public school parents. "There is a fear that they will contract it again, and this time they may not (survive)." LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner is conscious of the need to convince uneasy parents. At the East Valley's Panorama High School on Wednesday, news cameras paraded by newly-bought jugs of hand sanitizer, new filters for the HVAC system and new electrostatic mister cleaning machines -- all visual reminders of special safety protocols baked into the deal with UTLA. The plant manager of Panorama High School shows off a new electrostatic sprayer cleaning machine during a campus tour on March 10, 2021. (Kyle Stokes/KPCC/LAist) "Part of what we're here (to do) today," Beutner told the cameras Wednesday, "is to make sure families understand: this is the safest possible school environment -- period, end of story. I challenge you to find a safer school environment anywhere in the country." In my conversations with a dozen parents and teachers after this week's announcement, three themes emerged: (1) IS A LESS-THAN-IDEAL CLASSROOM SETTING WORTH THE RISK? As NPR has reported, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has advised that "proper mitigation can help keep kids and staff safe at school, even in hard-hit communities, though it also warns that schools lulled into a false sense of security because of low community transmission rates could still spread the virus if they don't enforce mask-wearing and socially distanced classrooms." That latter scenario -- or something like it -- is what concerns Rojas-Soto in Eagle Rock: "When there is another outbreak of COVID, it will again disproportionately affect Black and Latinx communities." Already uneasy about reopening, Rojas-Soto said LAUSD's plan for reopening middle- and high school students made the decision to keep her students home easier. Starting potentially at the end of April, LAUSD secondary students will be given the option to return to campus on alternating days. But they won't receive much in-person instruction or mingle between classes. Instead, they'll continue to attend classes online in their "advisory" (think: homeroom) classrooms -- with the aid of noise-canceling headphones. "I think the 'Zoom in a room' is sad," said Rojas-Soto -- who believes her teens will be more comfortable attending classes at home. "I know that [the in-classroom environment] is better than what some people can create at home," she added, "and I want those people to have better. They deserve that and they should. But it's not where we should all end up ultimately." For her family, she said, "Health is first and foremost." Desks spaced six feet apart in a classroom at Panorama High School in the L.A. Unified School District. The nation's second-largest school system hopes to welcome back middle- and high schoolers to campuses in late April. (Kyle Stokes/KPCC/LAist) (2) EVEN A NOT-GREAT SITUATION ON CAMPUS MIGHT BE BETTER THAN HOME Beutner has said that a mixture of health guidelines and logistical concerns -- including the difficulty of redoing a school's master schedule so late in the year -- likely make the district's "Zoom-in-a-room" scenario the best that LAUSD can offer in middle- and high school this semester. Science teacher Darlene Tieu said the setup will be less than ideal. But assuming that LAUSD's investments in safety equipment and protocols pay off, Tieu said that most of her students at her school -- Mann UCLA Community School, at Florence & Western in South L.A. -- will benefit from the opportunity to return to campus. "Those four walls were a protective barrier," said Tieu, "that allowed students to access education despite everything that was going on outside of school. So when we went into distance learning and a lot of that was lost -- now students were not in a place where they could just be students. Now, they were babysitters, they had to go to work with their parents, they were no longer in a space where they could focus." And even if a student can focus at home, some may need some space of their own away from family. "A lot of these kids are living in homes that have multiple families living in an apartment, multiple families in a home," said Luis Mora, who teaches science at Harry Bridges Span School in Wilmington. "I don't think it's a bad thing opening up the schools in parts of L.A. as long as it's done safely and right. It gives the students a chance to have a little independence." But how many students will think it's worth it? Don Luong, a history teacher at Gage Middle School in Huntington Park, polled students in his advisory about returning. He said earlier this week, his class was split 50-50 between coming back and opting out. When he polled them again on Thursday -- after details of the "Zoom-in-a-room" arrangement came out -- he said 12 of 20 students said they wouldn't be back. A worker at LAUSD's Panorama High School changes out a dirty MERV-13 filter for a clean one during a media tour of the campus on March 10, 2021. (Kyle Stokes/KPCC/LAist) Many of the older high schoolers Tieu advises won't be coming in either -- they have immunocompromised parents and unvaccinated older siblings. "Miss, that just sounds like the same thing I do here," Tieu's students told her. "Why get up, why take two buses to go to school? Why do all of that to just do the same thing?" Which for Tieu raises this question: Why reopen now? She wonders what would happen if state lawmakers hadn't passed an aid package contingent on schools reopening next month -- or if California weren't moving forward with plans to give students standardized tests this spring. "If it weren't for the funding and state testing," Tieu said, "we wouldn't have much to lose if we spent the summer really workshopping how this could work for our students." (3) SOME PARENTS ARE RELUCTANT TO TRUST LAUSD Beutner says the district is immediately spending that aid on improvements to keep buildings clean. LAUSD has received more than $1.8 billion in extraordinary aid from the state and federal governments. Of those funds, LAUSD has invested more than $120 million "in custodial staff, cleaning supplies and upgraded facilities," Beutner has said. However, many LAUSD parents and teachers have accumulated years' worth of anecdotes about unclean bathrooms, a lack of soap dispensers or empty towel rolls. Labor groups representing the district's custodial staff have long said LAUSD suffers from a lengthy maintenance backlog. "There are classrooms that don't have a sink to wash your hands," said Eloisa Galindo, whose children attend Marianna Avenue Elementary in East L.A. and Eagle Rock Junior-Senior High. "That was in the 'regular' times. Now, they're going to forget about us after the pandemic." L.A. Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner (center), United Teachers Los Angeles president Cecily Myart-Cruz (right) and Panorama High School principal Joe Nardulli lead reporters on a campus tour to show off safety preparations made to welcome students back in the spring. (Kyle Stokes/KPCC/LAist) The reopening deal includes what teachers' union president Cecily Myart-Cruz called "enforceable" safety measures: cleanliness task forces at each school site, and a COVID-19 hotline where anyone at a school site can report a problem. "If there's something amiss," Myart-Cruz said, "we will be able to -- all of us, as stakeholders -- be beholden to our communities and be beholden to our students. No one wants to see a student sick, a staff member sick." At Wednesday's press conference, Beutner put the onus on himself to be the district's "chief enforcement officer," saying that a central office compliance team will oversee each school site's efforts to keep classrooms sanitized. But South Gate parent Carla Franco has yet to be won over. She recounted a recent meeting -- before the UTLA deal was struck -- where a school principal spoke about a possible return to campuses. "He never really actually had a plan (for safety)," Franco recounted, "and never talked about the return of the school to the campus. All he talked about was 'the vaccine, the vaccine, and the vaccine.'" She, too, would rather wait until fall to send her daughter back to school. READ MORE: Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. Baku wants EUs participation in improving relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Toivo Klaar, the European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, told this in an interview with Turan news agency of Azerbaijan. According to him, during his meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, substantive discussions were held on the possibility of the EU's participation in restoring relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. When asked whether the EU plans to implement any projects with the participation of the media and civil society aimed at restoring relations between the societies of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the diplomat responded: We have been working in this direction for many years, in establishing such ties. The war interrupted our work, but I think in the coming months and years we will resume activities to build bridges between the societies of Armenia and Azerbaijan, between civil societies and ordinary people. I think, with the support of the Azerbaijani authorities and taking into account the experience of the EU, much can be achieved. Klaar noted that at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, he was "very inspired" by the position of the head of Azerbaijan. He said unequivocally that he supported these efforts and I believe that the authorities want this. I am an optimist and I really think that this is a very important taskbuilding peace, the European diplomat emphasized. When asked what the EU could do to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Toivo Klaar responded that the EU has long-term partnership relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, which are members of the Eastern Partnership program. Several weeks ago I was in Yerevan and there I discussed how the European Union can help. In Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi, where I also discussed this, I heard the same thingthe wish that the European Union would help in normalizing relations and overcoming the legacy of conflicts in the region. We are here because this is the decision of our partners. We have extensive experience in solving problems and conflicts, establishing regional cooperation. All this is now needed here, so the European Union can do a lot and we hear proposals on this from all sides, the diplomat said. And when asked what the EU thinks about some countries saying that the Caucasus is a zone of their interests and that other forces should not be present there, Klaar said that he did not agree with such a statement and that this does not benefit anyone. The more international involvement in the South Caucasus and economic support to the countries of the region, the better for these countries and for their neighbors. We want peace and prosperity in the Caucasus and this is beneficial for everyone, Toivo Klaar emphasized. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. 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 Srinagar: Eight security personnel, including four CRPF men, were killed when militants carried out a suicide attack on a district police complex in south Kashmirs Pulwama on , triggering a massive gunfight in which the four terrorists were killed. The terror strike took place at the crack of dawn when the militants, believed to be foreign mercenaries, entered the police complex in the worst-hit Pulwama district, 25 km from Srinagar. Police, CRPF, and Army personnel quickly swung into action and cornered the militants and ensured that family members of the police personnel living within the complex were taken out to safety. By afternoon, the security personnel neutralized one of the three terrorists while another militants body was recovered after 5 PM, officials said, adding the firing had stopped and the third body would be recovered soon. The militants had entrenched themselves in all the three blocks of the police complex and were firing at the approaching troops, they said. Lt Gen J S Sandhu, General officer Commanding of Srinagar-based XV Corps, said it is a fidayeen (suicide) attack. Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: 3 Pakistani Rangers killed in BSF's retaliatory firing in Sunderbani Among those killed four were from the CRPF, one was a constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police and three were Special Police Officers working with the state police. Two of the four CRPF personnel were killed at the fag end of the operation when they were defusing one of the improvised explosive devices planted by the militants. Terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed the responsibility for the deadly attack. Director General of Police S P Vaid said it was a sad day for security forces who suffered such a heavy causality. However, the boys fought bravely and we are only more determined to wipe out militancy from the entire state, he said. A police official said that one of the militants came out of a building and fired indiscriminately during the encounter. He was gunned down on the spot, the official said. The authorities have suspended mobile internet services in the district as a precautionary measure. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Foreign media said that the report made by Russia National Airlines said that General Manager of Russia National Airlines, General Manager of Russia, China National Airline Director Ke-Jian Zhang, signed the Memorandum of Understanding of the Federal Government Cooperation Construction of International Monthly Research Stations. Russia National Aeronautics Company said in the news: "Russian National Airlines and China NASA will promote extensive cooperation in the International Moon Research Station, open the national and international partners of interest, strengthen scientific research exchange, and promote all human beings. Peaceful exploration space used. " According to this report, the signing ceremony is carried out through a video conference. Experience in Sino-Russian State In Space Science, R & D, and Space Technology will jointly develop the construction road map of the International Moon Research Stations. 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Those ballots were in wooden boxes on the Senate floor. Another assault on voting is occurring in statehouses across the country including here in Texas. While this assault is not violent, the potential for damage is wider and more enduring. These attacks on democracy are through the 253 bills to restrict voting access in 43 states, including Texas, according to the most recent tally by the Brennan Center for Justice. This isnt a case of both sides as in redistricting when Democrats in control of statehouses are as likely as Republicans to maintain power through ridiculously gerrymandered districts. The new spate of restrictive bills comes after American voters, in 2020, turned out in record numbers, despite the pandemic, to vote in an election that top federal agencies overseeing elections and many Republican state officials declared the most secure in American history. Nevertheless, Republican officials, stoked by Trumps lie, are now pushing the argument of voting security, which really means making it harder for people to vote. Could this have anything to do with the fact that Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections? We wonder. Their attempts hinge on the widely debunked myth of voter fraud, which is virtually nonexistent, as evidenced in 2020. Many of the proposed and restrictive measures would do nothing to address fraud even if it did exist. Reducing the number of polling sites and the period for early voting, and shortening early and Election Day voting hours are aimed at voters, especially Blacks or Latinos, who are more likely to vote Democratic than Republican. Its been estimated these measures would impact tens of millions of voters. Georgia which went to Biden and sent two Democrats to the Senate, swinging the majority is ground zero of GOP attempts to discourage voting, even though its Republican secretary of state said there were no voting irregularities in the November elections. Georgia Republicans show what theyre about by eliminating early voting on Sundays, which takes aim at Souls to the Polls, an after-church-get-out-the-vote-drive popular among Black churches. Before the Supreme Court is an Arizona case that could prove fatal to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discriminatory voting practices or procedures. Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked the Republican lawyer defending the states restrictions what was the interest of the Arizona Republican National Committee in keeping the restriction. The attorney said the quiet part out loud: 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 interpretation of Section 2 hurts us; its the difference between winning an election 50-49 and losing an election 51 to 50. The salvation of our democracy may rest with passage of two critical pieces of legislation in Congress. HR 1, which passed the House on March 3, guarantees every American fair voting access, making it easier to cast a ballot and harder for states to purge their voter rolls. HR 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, would reinstate the Justice Departments preclearance authority (Section 5) in the Voting Rights Act, which was removed by the Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder. Unfortunately, neither can pass the Senate as long the filibuster is in place and 60 votes are needed for passage. The insurrection of Jan. 6 made us fear for our democracy. Attempts to suppress votes should worry us no less. Both are rallying cries to fight harder in securing the vote of every American. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Areas where disabled inmates gather in five California prisons must have surveillance cameras installed and guards must wear body cameras, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken on Thursday also ordered the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to reform policies on how abuse of inmates by staffers is investigated, The Sacramento Bee reported. The order covers California State Prison, Los Angeles County; the state prison and the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility at Corcoran; the California Institution for Women and Kern Valley State Prison. The move comes amid a long legal battle over allegations of abuse and mistreatment of disabled inmates that led to a September 2020 order that cameras be required inside Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego. Attorneys then sought to have the reforms instituted at seven more prisons. The judge agreed to add five prisons but did not find enough evidence to include two others, Salinas Valley State Prison and the California Correctional Institution. This is really a great victory for incarcerated people with disabilities, Gay Grunfeld, an attorney for the inmates, told the Sacramento Bee. Grunfeld said the systems will improve a discipline system that too often ignores testimony and information from inmates. The judges 71-page order commented on declarations submitted by dozens of current and former inmates who described being denied their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some of the incidents involve the use of force against mentally or physically disabled inmates even though the disabled inmates appear to have posed no imminent threat to the safety of staff or other inmates, the judge wrote. The judge said that in one case at the Los Angeles prison an inmate who had a manic episode in 2019 was taken to the ground by guards, sprayed with an entire can of pepper spray, beaten, handcuffed and beaten again. The inmate now refrains from asking for help, the judge wrote. The judge wrote that she gave little weight to arguments by corrections lawyers that disabled inmates rights were not being violated and that the inmates had access to and regularly used systems for requesting accommodations and reporting officer misconduct. The judges order requires surveillance cameras be placed in housing units, exercise yards, dining areas, gyms, sally ports and other areas and that video recordings be kept for at least 90 days. The judge wrote that corrections officials argued that there already are cameras in some places and are adding more but that they shouldnt be installed anywhere other than yards that house the most vulnerable inmates. Dylan Williams of J Street, in a recent op-ed, called on the Biden administration to rebuild the U.S. relationship with moderate Palestinian leaders. Since presumably J Street would not claim that the leaders of the genocidal Hamas gang are moderate, then the moderate Palestinian leaders Williams and J Street have in mind must be Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and those around him. Less than three years ago, on April 30, 2018, Abbas stood before the opening session of the Palestine National Council and delivered a blatantly anti-Semitic speech. Abbas stated... ADVERTISEMENT The Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, announced on Tuesday that he had discussed the deteriorating security situation in the State with the president who has ordered the deployment of an additional 6,000 troops to crush the bandits if they fail to surrender their arms within two months. This means the forthcoming battle will be between 30,000 well-armed bandits and 16,000 soldiers The numbers tell us that the Nigerian state is being overwhelmed by gun wielding terrorists, bandits and militants. On Wednesday, Kaduna State presented its 2020 security report. The numbers are frightening 937 people were killed; 1,972 people kidnapped for ransom; and 7195 cattle rustled. That was just last year. The most affected area in the State was Birnin Gwari, the Emir of which described graphically the normal reality they live in 200 to 300 heavily armed men will surround a village; kill, abduct, steal, and burn their food stores regularly. Rape and sexual violence have also reached industrial levels. The people are living in hell on earth. It is not surprising that so many people are abandoning their homes, farms and livelihoods and running to the cities to live precarious and miserable lives. In Zamfara State, traditional rulers told the service chiefs, who visited this week, that there were over 30,000 armed bandits in Zamfara forests, and a number that far outstrips the less than 10,000 troops deployed to the State to tackle insecurity. The Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, announced on Tuesday that he had discussed the deteriorating security situation in the State with the president who has ordered the deployment of an additional 6,000 troops to crush the bandits if they fail to surrender their arms within two months. This means the forthcoming battle will be between 30,000 well-armed bandits and 16,000 soldiers, who we are told will crush them. We are Nigerians, so we pray for their success in crushing the bandits. The Zamfara people have also demanded to know the sense of the declaration of a no-fly zone in a State that does not even have an airport. The chairman of the Traditional Rulers of the State and Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Muhammad Ahmad, speaking for his colleagues, told the new service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, who were on an official visit to the state that Zamfara had no airport to warrant the declaration, insisting that there were states worst hit by armed banditry but which were not declared no-fly zones. According to the Anka Emir, There is no connection between mining and armed banditry. We have no evidence that aircraft are coming to provide weapons to bandits or that miners are giving arms to bandits. In plain words, the people of Zamfara were telling the Nigerian State THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY ARE DOING. The armed forces, he added, should realise that the bandits are the same group of people with the same source of arms and ammunition, moving from one State to another. The politician was telling the Generals that they are fighting a war of position deal with bandits, one State at a time, while the bandits are fighting a war of movement The two months ultimatum given to bandits in Zamfara State to surrender is an indication of this lack of understanding. The bandits are making millions on a daily basis and they appear confident that they outnumber and can outgun the security personnel, so why should they take the threat seriously. For years, hundreds of armed bandits were roving around as raiding bands and doing whatever they wanted without challenge. The reality is that the bandits and terrorists are the ones delivering credible threats to governments, security personnel and communities. Many communities are currently contributing money and paying bandits not to attack them. The response of the Zamfara State Government this week is to ban: the movement of motorcycles in groups in all the nooks and crannies of the state and security operatives are directed to apprehend the violators of this order. This is the right thing to do but what is the value of a directive that cannot be enforced? After their Zamfara visit, General Irabor led the service chiefs to Katsina. Governor Masari told them about the necessity of a single command coordinating the military operations to decisively deal with the security situation in the region: I know the military has a central command, but we want a situation where the command will dissolve borderlines between Katsina and Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna and between the borders of all the affected states so that the operations will be going on simultaneously in all the sides such that the criminals will not have anywhere to run to if they come under attack, he told them. The armed forces, he added, should realise that the bandits are the same group of people with the same source of arms and ammunition, moving from one State to another. The politician was telling the Generals that they are fighting a war of position deal with bandits, one State at a time, while the bandits are fighting a war of movement, where they move away from planned and announced assault in one State to surrounding zones, where they can operate without disturbance. When, therefore, in two months time, the 6,000 additional troops are sent to Zamfara, the bandits will simply move out to another State and return when the coast is clear. Governors are chief security officers in their States but they cannot provide arms without authorisation from the Federal Government. The time has come for a national conversation on this matter, which can get out of hand, whatever decision is taken or not taken. Meanwhile, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State has announced that the way forward is for him to supply vigilante in the State with automatic pump-action riffles to enable them take the battle to the bandits. As firearms is on the exclusive legislative list, State governors have no powers to arm their vigilante groups. The reality of the overwhelming force of bandits and low capacity of our armed forces to deal with them is forcing many State governments, and indeed communities to pursue the path of self-help. It is interesting that in both Zamfara and Niger States, the bandits have organised congresses to debate and map out their own strategies. They have issued demands to State governments to disband and disarm vigilantes as condition for future peace. They are turning Max Weber on his head. Rather than the State having the monopoly of the means of violence, they want to have that monopoly for themselves without competition from the vigilantes. I am not sure what this tells us about our armed forces but I suspect there is a message that we should decipher. In Niger State, Governor Bello has responded to the bandits saying: We are not going to disband the vigilante as a result of threat from the bandits. Governors are chief security officers in their States but they cannot provide arms without authorisation from the Federal Government. The time has come for a national conversation on this matter, which can get out of hand, whatever decision is taken or not taken. As I argued last week, there is no nationally coordinated strategy to combat insecurity and the bandits and terrorists are the ones taking initiatives in their own interest. As the scale of the problem grows, and security forces are becoming increasingly overwhelmed, Nigeria has to get back to the drawing board and develop an effective and sensible plan to provide safety for citizens and visitors. A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES. After Mr. Trumps defeat, there have been some signs of donor burnout. Close to nine out of 10 respondents said Mr. Trump had been one of the top factors driving them to donate in recent years. And upward of one in five grass-roots donors said they were now likely to cut back on their gifts to candidates and political parties. The share who said they planned to increase their giving tapered down to nearly zero. But Mr. Mellman isnt hugely concerned. This years study found one change from four years ago that he said was particularly heartening for his clients: Just as grass-roots donors to liberal causes have grown more partisan, theyve also grown more positive about the Democratic Party and its leadership. Close to half of all donors expressed a positive view of the Democratic Party, and a wide array of top Democratic officials received broadly favorable ratings from the surveys Democratic respondents. Those include establishment politicians like President Biden and Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, as well as left-wing figures like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders. There was a time when people were really dissatisfied with the party, this leader or that leader, Mr. Mellman said. That is not the case. There is admiration for the party, and nearly universal admiration for the whole range of leaders. He added, Its not the case that any one faction has a hold on these donors. The study also revealed that anxiety about Mr. Trumps continued influence on Republican politics remained a concern for many left-leaning donors. And that Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene a former QAnon supporter and staunch Trump defender, whom Democrats stripped of her committee posts this year was nearly as well known and as intensely disliked as the former president. Trump and Trumps policies motivated a lot of gifts and people recognize that hes gone. But there is still intense antipathy toward his supporters, Mr. Mellman said. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of pepper-spraying an Uber driver in San Francisco who was coughed at and insulted after he demanded a passenger wear a mask, police announced. Malaysia King, 24, was arrested in Las Vegas on suspicion of assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery and other charges. She was being held without bail. It wasn't immediately clear whether she had an attorney to speak on her behalf. Arna Kimiai, 24, who also was sought in connection with Saturday's attack, indicated through legal counsel that she intended to turn herself in soon, a San Francisco Police Department statement said. The behavior captured on video in this incident showed a callous disregard for the safety and wellbeing of an essential service worker in the midst of a deadly pandemic, Lt. Tracy McCray, who heads the Police Departments Robbery Detail, said in the statement. The Uber driver, Subhakar Khadkas, was attacked in the city's Bayview District after he picked up three women. When he noticed one woman wasn't masked, Khadkas stopped the ride and told the passengers he couldn't continue, according to police. A video then shows the women in the back seat berating Khadka, using profanities while the car is stopped on the shoulder of a highway. At one point, the woman without the mask coughs on him, grabs his cellphone from the center dash area and rips off his face mask. Khadka told KPIX-TV Tuesday that after the women got out of the car, another of the women pepper-sprayed him through the front passenger window. Khadka says he had to get out of his car because it became difficult to breathe. I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way, Khadka said. Khadka said he believes he was attacked because he is a South Asian immigrant. He came to the U.S. eight years ago and works hard to support his family in Nepal. Uber said in a statement Thursday that it had banned all three riders. Uber does not tolerate racism or hate in any form, against any community," the statement said. This file photo taken April 26, 2017, shows South Korean and U.S. soldiers watching from an observation post during a joint live firing drill between the two countries at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, 65 kilometers northeast of Seoul. AFP The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday its commander's recent remark on a plan to build new missile defense capabilities on the Korean Peninsula does not involve the introduction of new equipment or units. Gen. Robert Abrams said Wednesday that the United States will deploy two "specific" anti-ballistic missile capabilities in South Korea this year in addition to one that is already in place. His remarks raised speculation that the U.S. might be considering bringing in an additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system or other advanced anti-missile assets to the peninsula. "The new capabilities mentioned by Gen. Abrams do not involve introduction of new equipment or units to Korea," USFK spokesperson Col. Lee Peters said. The colonel declined to elaborate on what the capabilities refer to, citing "operational security," but said they will ensure the USFK can "maintain a high 'Fight Tonight' readiness level and provide a robust combined defense posture to protect" South Korea from "any threat or adversary." Seoul's defense ministry also said the two countries did not have discussions on deploying additional anti-missile assets on the peninsula. "The USFK commander's remarks appear to be an explanation on the process of continuously supplementing and developing its missile defense system to better respond to North Korea's evolving threats," the ministry said in a statement. Abrams' remark was made at a U.S. House Armed Services Committee hearing when asked to comment on his assessment on missile defense priorities amid threats from North Korea. Referring to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA)'s push to build "three specific capabilities," the commander said, "One is already here. The other two will come on board this year that will significantly enhance our ballistic missile defense." Experts say the system already in place could be related to the U.S.' THAAD system that was installed in South Korea's central town of Seongju in 2017. The U.S. has sought to upgrade its THAAD batteries around the world, including the one in South Korea, to add an advanced radar and integrate the system with Patriot missiles. As an integral part of the U.S.-led missile-defense system, THAAD is designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles at a high altitude in their terminal phase using a hit-to-kill method. Its deployment has been one of the most sensitive issues for South Korea, as China has taken economic retaliatory measures over Seoul's hosting of the battery. Seoul and Washington have stressed that the system aims only to better cope with the growing missile threats posed by North Korea. (Yonhap) HOUSTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Three people were shot to death and another person was injured during a shooting incident Wednesday night in southwest Houston, Texas, the United States, police said. According to the Houston Police Department, the shooting was reported after 11 p.m. local time outside an apartment complex in southwest Houston. It began with five people in the complex' parking lot who got into a confrontation with two men. The men fired multiple gunshots at the group, police said. An 18-year-old male, an 18-year-old female, and a man in his 40s were confirmed killed in the shooting. Another injured female teen was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. A fifth person among the group was not hurt. Police said the shooters fled the scene and did not have a clear description of them. This incident is considered a mass shooting, which is when there are three or more victims. ADVERTISEMENT A Nigerian politician, Anthony Tosan Prest, is set to debut Billionaires Wives Search, which he describes as the first search for wives reality show in Nigeria. According to information on his official Instagram handle, the first season of the show will see him hunt for three wives to marry traditionally. Mr Prest, who was a 2015 governorship candidate in Delta State, made the announcement on his social media pages on Wednesday. He also revealed that the winner of the shows debut season will get a loving husband and father to your children and brand new cars among other perks. Others incentives include abroad residency as well as world travel and holidays four times in a year. Those eligible for the show must be between 18 to 70 and must be looking for love, happiness and marriage. Other requirements are that applicants must be pan-African, believe in polygamy, and be African. The organisers added that people of all religions are welcome but expressed a preference on adherents of African traditional religion. Other details like the duration and commencement date have not been revealed. On 60 Minutes Sarah Abo looks into Aussies & QAnon, while Tara Brown delves into a Tasmanian true crime case. Mind Games This story presented a serious dilemma for Sarah Abo because for the most part it is pure fantasy, and 60 Minutes reporters prefer to deal in facts. But pure fantasy is how to best sum up QAnon, an ever-shifting mega-conspiracy theory thats bizarre and nonsensical. As whacky as it is though, millions of people appear to be caught up in the internet-based cult, including more and more Australians. The dangerous real-world consequences of QAnon, where families are being torn apart, now demand that the rest of us stop scratching our heads in disbelief and start to take much more notice of this strange group. Reporter: Sarah Abo Producers: Garry McNab, Darren Ally Tasmanian Devil The crimes Jamie Curtis committed could not have been more brutal or cruel. He abducted an innocent young couple; tortured and murdered the 22-year-old man, then repeatedly raped his 17-year-old fiancee. Curtis spent 32 years in prison for one of Tasmanias most sadistic attacks, but in 2018 was granted his freedom. Within weeks he had breached the conditions of his release and was back behind bars. Now the parole board has given Curtis another chance, outraging the community and terrifying his surviving victim, who argues he has long given up any right to be free. But as Tara Brown discovers in a painful confrontation, there is one person determined to stand by this devil of a man. Reporter: Tara Brown Producers: Madeleine Apps, Amelia Ballinger 8:40pm Sunday on Nine. Related Married At First Sight's Cameron Dunne said last week producers had deliberately mismatched him with Samantha Jayne so he would pursue another bride. But it turns out this probably wasn't the case, as the crane operator, 32, is in fact a dead ringer for single mum Sam's first husband and the father of her two children. A never-before-seen photo of Samantha, 31, and her ex kissing one of their sons shows that he bears a striking resemblance to Cameron. Mismatch: Married At First Sight's Cameron Dunne (right) said last week producers had deliberately mismatched him with Samantha Jayne (left) so he would pursue another bride. But a new photo obtained by Daily Mail Australia suggests this probably wasn't the case Her first husband, whose name has not been revealed, looks almost identical to Cameron thanks to their matching shaved heads. The photo was taken shortly after Samantha and her first husband married, and shows them kissing their eldest son on each side of his cheek. In further evidence Samantha and Cameron weren't purposely mismatched, Daily Mail Australia can reveal he has the same job as both her parents. Seeing double! A never-before-seen photo of Samantha, 31, and her ex-husband (left) kissing one of their sons shows that he bears a striking resemblance to Cameron A source said Samantha was instantly attracted to Cameron and was 'desperate to take him back home to show off to her friends and family'. 'Her parents are both crane operators and she thought they would hit it off,' they added. Cameron hinted on the Cliffo & Gabi radio show last week that his affair on MAFS with Pilates studio owner Coco Stedman, 30, had been encouraged by producers. Attraction: In further evidence Samantha and Cameron weren't purposely mismatched, Daily Mail Australia can reveal he has the same job as both her parents: operating cranes Claims: Cameron hinted on the Cliffo & Gabi radio show last week that his affair on MAFS with Pilates studio owner Coco Stedman, 30, had been encouraged by producers when they deliberately mismatched him with Samantha (pictured on their wedding day) He said the producers and experts had deliberately mismatched him with Samantha in the hope he would pursue another bride. 'That was my theory on paper. Coco is probably the perfect match for me. We'll see how that plays out,' he said cryptically. Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine 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. JACKSON, MI As COVID-19 vaccine allocations begin to increase, retail pharmacies, such as Meijer, Walmart and Rite Aid have joined in offering vaccinations to eligible residents as the supply allows. While eligibility has expanded to include more people, there are still many Jackson County residents age 65 and older waiting to receive an appointment to be vaccinated, Jackson County Health Department officials said. Jackson County residents age 50 and older who have medical vulnerabilities began signing up for appointments on Monday, March 8, per state eligibility guidelines. On March 22, all residents age 50 and older can sign up for an appointment. As of March 10, 47,690 doses have been administered to county residents by the Jackson County Health Department, Henry Ford Allegiance Health, pharmacies and other providers, state data shows. People must pre-register for an appointment through the health departments Online Vaccine Interest Survey, which can be found at mijackson.org/2442/COVID-Vaccine. Those without internet access, or who need assistance with the survey, are asked to seek a friend or family member to help. The health department will contact everyone who has pre-registered to set up appointments. Updates about vaccine scheduling are available on the health departments COVID-19 vaccine information line at 517-817-4469. Jacksons Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center now is hosting vaccine clinics in partnership with Henry Ford Allegiance Health from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Thursday. COVID-19 vaccination clinic open weekly at King Center for Jackson residents Henry Ford Allegiance Health is also making vaccination appointments. The hospital will contact eligible vaccine recipients by text, email or phone based on the contact information provided in the health systems online database, which can be found at mychart.hfhs.org. READ MORE FROM THE JACKSON CITIZEN PATRIOT: Overtime costs bring public safety employees to the top of Jacksons payroll in 2020 Jackson music producer who was fatally shot had tough outside, soft inside, sister says After 43 years, DNA test provides new information in 1978 Jackson County cold case homicide LONDON (Reuters) - A man who made music videos about his admiration for Islamic State was convicted on Friday for planning a terrorist attack in Britain, London's Metropolitan Police said. Sahayb Abu, 27, ordered weapons, equipment and clothing online in preparation for an attack, the police said, and was detained in an armed police operation after ordering a large sword online. "Over several months, Abu sought to obtain weapons and the equipment needed to commit a terrorist attack," said Richard Smith, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. "He is an extremely dangerous individual, but we were able to intervene and arrest him before he was able to carry out his attack." Police seized electronic devices from Abu when he was arrested on July 9, and found video and voice messages where Abu recited lyrics describing himself as a "straight ISIS supporter" and referring to having a suicide vest. Abu had denied planning a terrorist attack and said equipment he had purchased was for parody "drill" music videos, a form of rap that focuses on violence and crime. He is due to be sentenced on April 9. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton) Over half of schools in eastern Ghouta have reopened thanks to efforts by the local society, international organizations, and the Ministry of Education, writes SANA. Children returned to their classrooms in eastern Ghouta after rehabilitating 77 schools, a return that terrorists have attempted to hinder for years. Rehabilitation of the damaged schools didnt stop the return of pupils to their classrooms in towns of eastern Ghouta following the reopening of 77 schools. Crimes committed by terrorists in the towns before they were liberated by the Syrian Arab Army didnt prevent the teachers from bringing in the books of the Education Ministry and teaching the ministrys curricula despite the dangers they had faced. The main difficulties facing the teachers is the students dropout and displacement rates due to terrorism, which led to an educational loss for students. However, educational cadres are trying to compensate for it in many ways, including through a class B curriculum. Seventy-seven schools out of 130 in eastern Ghouta were reopened in cooperation between the local society, international organizations, and the Ministry of Education, with the aim of continuing the educational process there. 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. Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 24 Hour Access Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 04:59:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close STOCKHOLM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and her spouse Prince Daniel have tested positive for COVID-19, Swedish Television (SVT) reported on Thursday. The royal couple isolated themselves on Wednesday following cold symptoms, the Royal court's information manager Margareta Thorgren told SVT. "They both show milder flu-like symptoms but feel good under the circumstances." The royal couple's children Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar were also quarantined at home. Enditem Skeleton Technologiesthe largest European manufacturer of ultracapacitorsunveiled its plans to develop first-of-its-kind production technology for manufacturing its ultracapacitors, following the official support announced by German authorities in January. These plans include a fully-automated ultracapacitor production line in its Grorohrsdorf factorya first in the industry. The economies of scale provided by this new technology, combined with the use of Skeletons patented curved graphene material, will drive down production costs, boosting the competitiveness of ultracapacitors as a key enabling technology for the future of transportation and electrification. We are continuously investing in R&D whether it is improving the performance of our products or the process in which we make those products. The next stage of our production will see an implementation of fully automated Industry 4.0 manufacturing techniques a first-of-its-kind in the ultracapacitor industry. Coupled with our curved graphene material, we are able to dramatically decrease the cost of ultracapacitors. The ultracapacitor industry is in the same situation as lithium-ion batteries were in 1999, but our advancements in core technology and production capabilities will be able to show a cost reduction faster than for any other energy storage technology. We have a clear road map to lower it by almost 90% after completion of our 5 years project. Taavi Madiberk, CEO and co-founder of Skeleton Technologies Skeletons patented curved graphene enables an increase energy density of nearly three-fold for the same cost. Skeletons new development plans will receive direct funding from Germanys Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Free State of Saxony under the European Battery Innovation - EuBatIn IPCEI framework. The leadership demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by the University of South Florida has become a true testament to the spirit of faculty, staff and students a spirit of perseverance, collaboration and community partnership, despite the emotional and often taxing circumstances that have become part of many daily lives. Over the last year, USF has creatively converted classes and services to quality online formats, established new safety protocols, conducted countless research projects and shared its expertise with the world. Amid the angst and uncertainty, USF has reaffirmed the value of a public research university and the significant role it plays as an urban-grant institution embedded in a vibrant city, serving the Tampa Bay region and state of Florida. Classroom impact: Florida had just started reporting its first cases of COVID-19 when USF transitioned to remote learning following spring break in March 2020. What many first believed to be a temporary precaution has turned into a year-long effort to prevent viral spread throughout the USF community and nation. Innovative Education and Information Technology mobilized to convert more than 5,000 classes on the Tampa, St. Peterburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses to a virtual format within a week. Faculty members rose to the challenge, adjusting their teaching methods to help maintain academic continuity even conducting laboratory research through smartphones. While a majority of courses continues to be offered virtually, unique hybrid model courses were introduced during the 2020-2021 academic year, providing some students the option of attending courses in person and faculty the flexibility to continue teaching in a safe environment. In preparation, USF established safety measures across its campuses that have resulted in a relatively low positivity rate compared to many other universities and was even featured on NBCS Today Show. USF students, faculty and staff are highly credited for continuing to fulfill the shared responsibility of keeping the university community safe through their own behaviors and by following the guidance of health experts. Those who needed to remain on campus are commended for continuing to maintain critical operations. Additionally, USF has continued to honor graduates by holding virtual commencement ceremonies in the spring, summer and fall of 2020. With many on-campus operations on hold and businesses shut down, USF addressed the financial impact of COVID-19 on the community. In late March 2020, it launched the USF United Support Fund, which has raised more than $400,000 in private donations to assist hundreds of students in need. It also invested $20 million to establish the We Got U-SF Scholarship and Waiver, providing financial assistance to nearly 22,000 students. Food pantries on the three campuses have remained open in order to assist those experiencing food insecurity. The USF Counseling Center responded to increased demand, adjusting its services to telehealth and offering daily group sessions to assist students in managing the psychological and emotional effects of the coronavirus. Advising and tutoring services have also remained available in a virtual format in support of student success and to help students graduate on time. Rapid response: The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly strained the healthcare system, draining supplies and staffing levels. In partnership with Hillsborough County, USF Health established a mass testing site, deployed volunteers to additional locations and offered testing on the Tampa campus, as well as converting physician appointments to telehealth. A team of USF researchers swiftly designed 3D-printed nasal swabs that were manufactured and expedited for use around the world. The Department of Internal Medicine and Division of Infectious Disease launched the COVID Confirmed (COCO) clinic, which provided virtual follow-up visits to thousands of infected individuals discharged from the hospital, helping prevent readmission, and a place for students pursuing medical professions to complete their clinical rotations. The clinic transitioned management to Tampa General Hospital in November and is now the TGH Transitional Care Center. USF Health and Tampa General Hospital also created the joint TGH-USF Health Office of Clinical Research, which is conducting the Novavax COVID-19 Phase 3 clinical trial. Dozens of students in the College of Public Health immediately signed up as contact tracers to assist the Florida Department of Health in notifying individuals of their potential exposure to COVID-19 and identifying potential hot spots. Faculty and students across disciplines creatively addressed increased demand for personal protective equipment. The Mini-Circuits Design for X Laboratory in the College of Engineering converted its facility into an assembly line to mass produce face shields and ear savers. The School of Art & Art History provided medical personnel its 3D printer, face shields and respirators regularly utilized in its studios. USF Health has teamed up with Hillsborough County to offer COVID-19 testing to residents in several neighborhood community centers in Hillsborough County. The USF-Designed 3D Printed Nasal Swab has been used by several hundred hospitals and academic medical centers around the country. The USF College of Engineering developed an assembly line to produce face shields for medical personnel at Tampa General Hospital, USFs primary teaching hospital and the USF Health faculty practice. Research and Innovation: With so much to learn about the coronavirus, USF created the COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Grants program. It has provided more than $1 million to study the effects of the pandemic and develop innovative solutions to help stop community spread. This includes new tools to monitor the bodys psychological response to COVID-19 and technologies that can rapidly sterilize and electrostatically recharge N95 respiratory masks to restore their original filtration efficiency. Such institutional support has resulted in additional funding from federal sources, such as RAPID grants from the National Science Foundation. Many studies are underway, including one that looks at the impact of remote work, the effectiveness of pooled testing, the accuracy of mortality data, how social mobility has impacted air quality and the creation of various data sets to assist government entities in better understanding the multiple facets of COVID-19. Leading experts: USF Health experts played a pivotal role in educating the public about the evolving pandemic, conducting thousands of interviews with local, national and international media outlets. Many served on a number of high-level committees, helping guide government leaders in making informed decisions about operational changes. Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, provided personal counsel to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott on coronavirus-related questions and served on the states COVID-19 Testing Workgroup, a subcommittee of the Re-Open Florida Task Force. In July, USF hosted the governor and then-members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, including former Vice President Mike Pence, at the Center for Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) for a roundtable discussion about the virus. A second public discussion ensued with DeSantis in August regarding reopening of K-12 schools. Donna Petersen, dean of the College of Public Health, serves on the Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board. Tom Unnasch and Edwin Michael, professors of epidemiology, advise a variety of county and city agencies regarding the viruss trajectory and impact on hospitals. The USF Libraries has populated data from a variety of sources to develop an interactive dashboard that tracks cases and vaccination rates and Jason Salemi, associate professor of public health, created a dashboard dedicated to the positivity rate among children. Community engagement: The pandemic has rocked nearly every aspect of our lives. Isolation. Unemployment. Fear. To ease many of these concerns, USF has been highly visible in the community, not just sharing its expertise, but also providing individualized attention to those who may need it most. The Workgroup Enhancing Community Advocacy and Research Engagement (WE-CARE) is working to educate communities of color about COVID-19 and the benefits of vaccination. Volunteers have been actively involved in addressing food insecurity, assisting Feeding Tampa Bay in providing fresh produce, dairy, protein and shelf-stable items to help ease the burden on families during its Mega-Pantry events. The St. Petersburg campus launched St. Pete Friends, a program designed to prevent loneliness among senior citizens by connecting them with students for regular phone calls, video chats and letter exchanges. The Compass Student Experience office launched the College Pen Pal initiative, which was open to university students across the country as a unique way to socialize when courses transitioned to being fully online last spring. In light of K-12 schools also abruptly transitioning to remote learning, the College of Education provided resources to parents and teachers, helping them navigate challenges posed by the pandemic, including its social and emotional impact on children. The Center for Analytics and Creativity in the Muma College of Business has been helping keep a pulse on COVID-19s economic impact by providing real-time data to the Tampa Bay Partnership for its ongoing State of the Region: COVID-19 Community Report. The college also established the Post-Crisis Leadership certificate program, which offered the expertise of faculty and business leaders for free to those eager to get back to work and begin repairing the economy. The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management on the Sarasota-Manatee campus created the free Post-Crisis Hospitality Management Certificate program to help hotels, restaurants and other hospitality businesses navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for the future economic environment. Communication: The USF COVID-19 Task Force, formed in early March, has been meeting regularly throughout the pandemic, utilizing expertise from USF Health and Emergency Management to make informed decisions regarding campus operations, such as reopening plans, travel restrictions and the residence halls. President Steve Currall and members of his leadership team have hosted more than a dozen town hall meetings, keeping the university community informed of new developments and to answer direct questions from faculty, students and staff. USF is currently in Phase II, which allows for up to 50% of staff to return to the campuses, with individuals who can work remotely continuing to do so. Future decisions will be made based on scientific evidence, guidance from public health experts and the Florida Board of Governors. Thursday, March 11, 2021 A PSA For CBD Consumers Overview: Cannabinoids are naturally present in low concentrations, and manufacturers must innovate in order to produce compliant natural extracts. Chemical modification or synthesis processes are often used to mitigate the issues of low yield and THC compliance. Consumers are unaware that chemical or synthetic processes are being used, and are often under the impression that their products were made using natural, hemp derived cannabinoids. Manufacturers are not disclosing the presence of chemically modified or synthetic cannabinoids in their extracts. Kazmira uses large scale extraction and separation science to purify the naturally occurring cannabinoids and never uses synthetic compounds or processes to chemically modify our cannabinoids. There is a high demand for extracts containing phytocannabinoids derived from Industrial Hemp. However, there are two major molecular limitations, related to the biology of the plant itself, that make these extracts difficult to produce commercially. The first is a generally low cannabinoid percentage / dry weight ratio. Since the average cannabidiol percentage in industrial hemp is only around 6-8%, and minor cannabinoid percentage is around 1-3%, manufacturers must use large scale extraction procedures to produce extracts. This limitation has pushed some manufacturers to search for alternative methods for producing these cannabinoids, especially for those which are present in the lowest concentrations (CBG, CBN, CBC, etc.). The second is the presence of THC. Due to THCs status as a schedule 1 substance, manufacturers must figure out how to produce CBD extracts with compliant levels of THC. This challenge has also resulted in manufacturers turning to alternative methods, whether it be new technology, simple dilution, or chemical modification to produce extracts below the THC threshold. While manufacturers scramble to produce these extracts legally and at lower costs, consumers are left in the dark about what is going on behind the scenes. Although the majority of consumers assume they are purchasing products which contain cannabinoids that occur naturally in hemp, it is very common for many of these products to contain cannabinoids that have been artificially produced or chemically modified from industrial hemp derivatives after extraction. Therefore, the industry must hold itself accountable with consumers and make a clear distinction between cannabinoids which occur naturally in hemp, and cannabinoids which undergo deliberate chemical modification, including synthetic cannabinoids. Naturally Occurring Cannabinoids Industrial Hemp provides a biomass that contains an average of 8% cannabinoids by dry weight, the majority of which is CBD. Another important cannabinoid, often with relatively high concentrations, is THC, which by law must be below 0.3% by weight. In addition to CBD and THC, there are also minor cannabinoids, which are typically present in relatively low concentrations (< 1%). Of the ones that have been identified, these minor cannabinoids include CBG, CBN, and CBC. Many of these cannabinoids are related to one another in their natural synthesis process. For example, when THC is exposed to light and heat, it converts to CBN. This is a process that occurs naturally over time in the plant in the hemp field as the THC begins to degrade. However, some manufacturers have deliberately leveraged this natural process in order to subvert federal THC regulations. Cannabinoids That Undergo Deliberate Chemical Modification Keeping THC within federal limits is a major challenge in the CBD industry, as manufacturers do not have the technology or know-how to remove THC. Instead of purification or separation science, most extractors have turned to cooking their extracts in order to chemically convert THC. Heres how it works: By introducing the hemp extract to heat and oxygen, the THC will undergo a chemical conversion. Cooking hemp extracts is a method used in the industry to chemically modify the non-compliant THC found in the CBD oil and turn it into the cannabinoid derivative CBN. This process should not be described as extraction or purification, rather, it is more accurately described as a chemical reaction. Not only is the THC subject to this process, but the entire extract is cooked, meaning this reaction is likely affecting other cannabinoids and molecules in the extract as well. The reason this is a problem is because manufacturers are not disclosing these processes to consumers. Regulatory bodies are beginning to catch onto this dangerous trend. In the UK, CBN is still considered a Schedule 1 Substance. CBN is also considered to be an artifact of THC oxidation, meaning that a high CBN concentration on a Certificate of Analysis is often the sign of an extract that used to have a high THC concentration, and was cooked in order to convert it to CBN. There are other methods, arguably even more risky, that have been described for converting THC into CBN. In addition to heat oxidation, UV light & Iodine Treatment have both been suggested as methods. Iodine treatment not only affects THC molecules but also reacts with other cannabinoids like CBD, which could result in novel and untested compounds in the finished product. Cannabinoids that have been chemically modified after extraction should not be described as hemp derived. Although the precursor molecules may have been derived from hemp, the final product was produced through an alternative chemical process, and consumers deserve to be aware of that. The Dangers of Synthetic Cannabinoids In addition to the chemical modification of cannabinoids like THC, there is another unnatural method for creating cannabinoids, which is the production of synthetic cannabinoids. Synthetic cannabinoids are the opposite of naturally derived cannabinoids, because they are created in a laboratory. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with synthetic cannabinoid production, the problem lies in consumer awareness and lack of clinical testing. Customers should be informed if they are consuming synthetic cannabinoids, and it is the responsibility of manufacturers to be transparent about this. The risks of consuming synthetically derived compounds is well documented in the pharmaceutical world, but it is also well documented in the cannabinoid industry. The most infamous synthetic cannabinoids are K2 and Spice, which are psychoactive, synthetic cannabinoids made known for their adverse health effects before they were outlawed. Natural & Synthetic Cannabinoid Structures Synthetic production of cannabinoids without complete characterization of the finished extract is also risky. A natural extract from the hemp plant contains a single enantiomer of THC (- delta 9 THC), while a synthetically produced extract contains both the + and enantiomers. Since the synthetic form does not exist in nature, it may interact with the human body in a unique and potentially harmful way. For this reason, manufacturers should disclose whether or not they are using synthetic cannabinoids. Enantiomer Example The reason synthetic compounds are potentially dangerous is because The human body is not equipped with the tools needed to catabolize synthetic cannabinoids. Novel cannabinoid molecules created through synthesis are chemically very different from their naturally derived counterparts. This means that the human body does not have the appropriate enzymes to break them down, which could be very dangerous. There are multiple reports and studies about adverse health effects of synthetic cannabinoids found in CBD products on the market. This study investigates 50+ cases associated with a CBD product in Utah that contained a synthetic cannabinoid. This report analyzes the case where an epileptic child was poisoned by a CBD product which contained a synthetic cannabinoid. In both of these instances, consumers were completely unaware that there were synthetic compounds in the products they purchased. Kazmira is Keeping it Natural At Kazmira, we never use synthetic compounds or processes to chemically modify our cannabinoids. We believe in the importance of extracting and purifying the naturally occurring compounds in industrial hemp, as well as removing impurities and THC through separation science, not chemical modification. Our process is conducted without extreme temperature or pressure. Extracting and purifying our oils at ambient temperature ensures minimal degradation and damage to the cannabinoids and terpenes. We employ our TruSpeKtrum technology, a patent protected purification process which plucks out THC from the extract without any chemical modification. Consumers should not have to question whether or not their CBD was actually derived from hemp. That is why we uphold the integrity of our hemp derived cannabinoids. We believe that everyone deserves access to safe, high quality, and naturally derived cannabinoids. Consider this a public service announcement for the consumers of CBD. After all, every consumer deserves to know what they are putting in their body. As industry leaders, it is our duty to demystify CBD for consumers. 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 woodworking business owner from western Pennsylvania is accused of joining rioters inside the U.S. Capitol two months ago, rifling through Electoral College vote certification related paperwork from a desk on the Senate floor. Federal court records unsealed this week show Dale Jeremiah DJ Shalvey was charged in February with trespassing on Capitol grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct and obstruction of Congress. Dani Jahn, his federal public defender in Washington, where charges were filed, declined comment Thursday. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday that Shalvey runs a woodworking business in Bentleyville, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. Witnesses told the FBI he attended high school in West Virginia. An FBI affidavit says agents fielded several tips that Shalvey was the person shown in photos wearing a green helmet and other tactical gear. A tipster said Shalvey sent them texts and photos that appear to depict official correspondence that was handled by Shalvey from at least one of the desks in the Senate chamber. More than 300 people, including several from Pennsylvania, have been charged with federal crimes as federal agents continue to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. UPDATE : State Police Troop D Spokesperson Jack Keller said on Monday their investigation in the Litchfield homicide is "progressing" and they will release more information as soon as they can without jeopardizing their investigation. Utica Police Sgt. Micheal Curley said on Monday UPD is continuing to work with State Police to determine if the two homicides are connected. Earl Davis // WKTV Earl Davis // WKTV ----------------------------------------- Authorities are investigating after two people were found dead Friday morning, one in Herkimer County and one in Oneida County. New York State Police say a passerby found a man dead in the middle of Camp Road in Litchfield around 5:30 a.m., and called to report it to authorities. Police say the victim, 19-year-old Akwen O. Ajang, of Utica, was fatally shot. Then around 7:30 a.m., the police were called to the 1600 block of Sunset Avenue, where they found 20-year-old Kelvin Valladares, of Utica, dead from a gunshot wound in the backyard of one of the homes. State police say both cases are homicides, but its too early to know if theyre related. Anyone with information can call state police at 315-366-6000. Both investigations are ongoing. Victoria's Secret model Devon Windsor has announced she is pregnant with her first child. The model, 27, took to Instagram on Friday to share two black and white snaps of her blossoming baby bump and ultrasound scan, alongside her husband Johnny Barbara. Devon wrote in the caption: 'Mom & Dad. I'm pregnant!! Johnny and I are so excited to finally share the news with you guys! Congratulations! Victoria's Secret model Devon Windsor has announced she is pregnant with her first child 'I have dreamt of being a mama my whole life. We are so grateful for this little angel in my belly, and are so excited for this new chapter in our lives! 'Sending extra love and light to the mamas out there who are trying to conceive. I am hopeful your miracles are around the corner!' One photo showed Johnny tenderly kissing Devon's cheek while she held up the ultrasound scan to the camera. Over the moon: Devon wrote in the caption: 'Mom & Dad. I'm pregnant!! Johnny and I are so excited to finally share the news with you guys!' Expecting: The model, 27, took to Instagram on Friday to share two black and white snaps of her blossoming baby bump, alongside her husband Johnny Barbara The model wore her jeans partially unbuttoned and lifted her shirt up so as to display her baby bump. In the other snap, Johnny kissed Devon's stomach as the model beamed down at him. American beauty Devon got her start as a model when she was just 14 and moved to Europe after graduating from school to further her career. A career changing moment for Windsor was walking for Prada in September 2013. During fittings, her hair was dyed platinum blonde and this became her signature look. Loved-up: The 5ft 11in beauty wed Johnny - co-owner of fashion label Alexis - at St Bartholomew's Anglican Church on the Caribbean island of St Barths on November 16 2019 The 5ft 11in beauty wed Johnny - co-owner of fashion label Alexis - at St Bartholomew's Anglican Church on the Caribbean island of St Barths on November 16 2019. Announcing the engagement by sharing the image of the beach proposal in June 2018 she wrote on Instagram: 'When you think you're flying into a photoshoot and then you look down and see this... 'This was the best day of my life and I cannot wait to marry the best person in the whole universe 'I'm the luckiest woman in the world!' Devon also showed off her impressive diamond engagement ring - which took over a month to design- in an Instagram story post. Romantic: The couple got engaged in 2018 when Johnny wrote the question: 'Marry me?' on a beach as Devon flew in on an aeroplane Pre-wedding party: The couple's wedding celebrations are said to have lasted three days She wrote: 'I'll never finish falling in love with you...... ladies and gents, my fiance!!!!' Georgia Fowler, Shanina Shaik, Olivia Culpo and Cara Santana were among the celebrities who attended the lavish nuptials in an extravaganza that lasted for three days, according to Harper's Bazaar. Devon recalled the elaborate methods he took in order to propose to her during a trip to The Bahamas in 2018. 'Johnny worked really hard to trick me into thinking I was flying into the Exumas for a modeling job,' she told the magazine. 'I had to take a sea plane to the final destination, and when we were getting ready to land I looked out of the window and I saw the words "Marry Me" written in roses on the beachand then I noticed it was Johnny standing there waiting for me. 'That was definitely one of the happiest and most incredible days of my life that I will never forget.' "The price of this unnecessary lockdown will be felt by first-time buyers as housing output will be depressed," warned CIF director general Tom Parlon. Photo: Tony Gavin Irelands 27bn construction industry faces the threat of being left crippled in its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown by chronic staff shortages and 'poaching' of skilled workers by UK firms. It has emerged some construction firms found almost 50pc of their workforce failed to return after Christmas, taking jobs overseas after realising Ireland would be stranded in Level 5 lockdown for months to come. Two major construction bodies, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Irish Plant Contractors Association (IPCA), warned the Government that restarting the critical sector after lockdown will prove problematic. One of country's leading developers, Michael O'Flynn, stressed the sector urgently needed to get back to building homes. The simple reality is that the construction sector cannot just be turned on and off," he said. "Not only has this approach resulted in job losses for the sector that are not easily replaced, it has also seriously impacted momentum in terms of new house builds. "What is deeply frustrating is that this major setback was unnecessary the sector had clearly demonstrated that it could work safely with all of the necessary safeguards in place. "In 12 months time we are going to be asking ourselves why the housing crisis in Ireland hasn't improved. Unfortunately, we will have caused it ourselves by not allowing the sector to safely continue its critical work through the pandemic period. "The net effect will have been a loss of skilled resources, damage to construction businesses because of fixed overheads and, of course, above all a serious reduction in housing output, said Mr OFlynn. CIF challenged the Government to allow the full reopening of the construction sector without delay. The construction sector is worth 27bn and contributes 7pc to Irelands gross domestic product (GDP). Read More Critically, it also provides direct employment for more than 147,000 people and a further 180,000 through indirect and support jobs. IPCA boss Brian Coogan said the industry was facing "a major crisis". "If the Government continues to fiddle and stall the return of construction, we will lose 300 to 400 (plant operator) workers per week," he said. "UK firms are now actively recruiting in Ireland as a result of Brexit, UK firms can no longer recruit in Europe so they are aggressively recruiting in Ireland and offering substantial wages. "The UK needs to recruit at least 5,000 construction machinery operatives per week to support projects like HS2, Crossrail, new power stations and road works." CIF, the largest industry body, said the extended lockdown has proved very damaging. "The price of this unnecessary lockdown will be felt by first-time buyers as housing output will be depressed for the near term, the wider economy in terms of lost competitiveness, and our international reputation as investors and global companies choose other locations where the buildings they required can be built," warned CIF director-general Tom Parlon. "The extension of the partial lockdown of construction will not impact Covid-19 but will take 800 homes per week out of supply, in addition to the 8,000 to date. "Further, it will see over 60,000 construction employees go onto PUP with thousands of jobs lost. Britain on Friday advised its citizens to flee Myanmar, as a UN expert warned the junta is likely committing 'crimes against humanity' in its attempt to stay in power. The military authorities are cracking down with increasing severity on daily protests against their February 1 coup, with at least 70 people killed according to the UN's top rights expert on the country. The turmoil prompted Britain, the country's former colonial ruler, to urge its citizens to get out if they could, warning that 'political tension and unrest are widespread since the military takeover and levels of violence are rising'. Britain, Myanmar's former colonial ruler, has told its citizens to leave the country immediately due to rising levels of violence being used by the military junta to crush protests At least 70 pro-democracy protesters have been killed during daily marches demanding an end to military rule, after Myanmar's generals seized power in a February 1 coup Myanmar's military-controlled police and soldiers have repeatedly opened fire on demonstrators using live ammunition, as well as tear gas and rubber bullets Britain's warning came a day after the UN said military leaders were committing 'crimes against humanity' in repressing the protests 'The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advises British nationals to leave the country by commercial means, unless there is an urgent need to stay,' the British foreign ministry said. The move comes after Thomas Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, gave a stark assessment of the crisis. The country is 'controlled by a murderous, illegal regime' that was likely committing 'crimes against humanity,' Andrews told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. These crimes likely include 'acts of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture' carried out with 'the knowledge of senior leadership', including junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, Andrews said. While stressing that such offences can only be determined in a court of law, he said there was clear evidence that the junta's crimes were 'widespread' and part of a 'coordinated campaign'. Thursday saw at least nine protesters killed in different parts of the country, including six in central Myanmar's Myaing township - five of them shot in the head, according to a witness. The wife and sister of protester Chit Min Thu weep at his funeral after the pro-democracy protester was killed during clashes in Yangon People pay tribute by laying flowers and lighting candles next to dried blood at the spot where Chit Min Thu was shot dead by Myanmar's security forces Protesters flash three-finger salutes, a gesture from the Hunger Games books that has been adopted as a symbol of resistance among protesters, during a march Rights group Amnesty International released a major report on the crisis on Thursday, accusing the junta of using battlefield weapons on unarmed protestors and carrying out premeditated killings. International pressure has been building on the generals, but they have shown no signs of heeding calls for restraint, continuing to try to quell daily protests by force. The United Nations on Wednesday condemned the crackdown, which has seen more than 2,000 arrested, with even traditional Myanmar ally China calling for 'de-escalation' and dialogue. The military - which defends its takeover by citing alleged voting irregularities in November elections won by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party - held a rare news conference on Thursday accusing her of corruption. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the detained chief minister of Yangon admitted giving Suu Kyi $600,000 (430,000) in cash, along with more than 11 kilograms ($680,000 worth) of gold. Masked protesters wearing home-made riot gear and carrying improvised shields, take part in a march against military rule in Yangon Protesters have taken to hanging women's clothing over streets due to a superstitious belief held by security forces that walking under them will make them powerless Police patrol at the street during a protest against the military coup in Yangon Demonstrators carry placards during a protest against the military coup in Mandalay Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, detained since the coup, faces other criminal charges including owning unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions by staging a campaign event in 2020. On Thursday state-run media announced that the Arakan Army (AA) - which fights for autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine people in northern Rakhine state - was no longer considered a terrorist organisation. Observers say the move indicates the military is trying to avoid spreading itself too thinly, aiming to concentrate its forces on quelling the protests. The AA has been fighting the army for years, with hundreds killed and some 200,000 civilians forced to flee their homes. As well as using tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to break up street protests, the military authorities have also carried out regular night raids, searching apartments and making arrests after dark. (@ChaudhryMAli88) London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2021 ) :The financial toll of Brexit is clear for exporters like cookware maker Neil Currie: He is buried in new paperwork, has lost orders and the cost of exporting frying pans to France has doubled. Those are some of the new challenges that companies shipping goods ranging from lobster to pasta and perfume are now facing since Britain left the European Union. "Britain now looks a little bit toxic," said Neil Currie, managing director of Netherton Foundry, which makes traditional iron and copper cookware in Shropshire, England. The post-Brexit trade deal struck between the EU and Britain is "a barrier to sell, an additional wall", Currie told AFP. Official data on Friday confirmed the worst. British exports to the EU collapsed by a record 41 percent in January, the first full month following Britain's official exit. The government, however, described the news as "inevitable" due to stockpiling last year, coronavirus lockdowns and "businesses adjusting to our new trading relationship". Data also revealed that the post-Brexit economy hit reverse overall in January, shrinking 2.9 percent from December also on Covid restrictions. Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. To the Editor: Well, seeing how Nancy Pelosi and her posse lost another impeachment, shes going to try another moronic farce. I would like to know how much this foolishness is costing me, you and everyone else. There is a lot better use for this wasteful spending. We have the COVID that most people arent getting the vaccine for. I, for one, am eligible for it due to my health, age and already having COVID once. This is totally unfair to the American public. They made sure the politicians were given their shots, but what about the ordinary citizens? We count, too. I feel that we, the people, are more important than other politicians. They can replaced by better people that arent trying to boost their egos or power bases. They have continued to stall the new stimulus checks. They get paid even though they didnt do their jobs. We have homeless people because the people cant pay their rent, feed themselves or their children. When did we become a third-world country? They dont care about their people. Check out their poverty levels. They get their paychecks for protecting the Americans. Right! Maybe they should check our levels. Lou Huber Mahanoy City Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Champaign, IL (61820) Today Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 72F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. In many emerging markets, economic growth has come at the stark price of appalling levels of pollution. But the Financial Times suggested that in China, home of the largest steel and aluminum industries in the world by far, steel output is under threat from Beijings war on pollution. China steel and the war on pollution During the winter season in recent years, power production that runs on coal and polluting industries such as steel and cement, many of which are not only large emitters themselves but also draw electricity from polluting sources of power generation, have been closed in phased programs to reduce air pollution. But this is much more than those short-term remedies to peak smog levels. The Financial Times suggests Beijings new Five Year Plan focuses on pollution. The plan will require legislation that will result in an unavoidable decline in steel output. Apparently, local governments have already begun to impose curbs. Seven blast furnaces are under pressure to shut by next week in the city of Tangshan. The news raises fears that reduced output will result in higher steel prices. In turn, it will increasingly drive Chinese producers further up the value chain. As a result, they would venture into technically more sophisticated product areas to which Western producers had retreated in the face of relentless competition from China at the commodity end of the market. A boon for Chinese mills The China steel sectors success in these moves and prospects for higher prices have already led to Chinese steel mills share prices rising. Those larger mills will likely to be able to respond to tightening environmental controls and will ultimately be benefactors from this process. That will happen as they find ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Some might invest in more scrap-based, electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production associated with renewable energy power sources. Mills could also switch blast furnaces to direct reduced iron (DRI) and possibly even hydrogen-based heating (rather than carbon-intensive coke). In the short term, buoyed by better margins, the China steel sector will likely cope by using higher 67% purity iron ore. This would further extend a trend that has been developing for some years. In short, low-grade iron ore continues to trade at a widening discount to the highest grades. By AG Metal Miner More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: For the past year or so Asian Americans have been negotiating belligerence, intimidation and even violence from members of their community. But the hatred is nothing new. Asian Americans in this country have long been the target of xenophobia, racism and scapegoating from micro-aggressions in the workplace, stereotyping in Hollywood, to outright blatant acts of ethnic isolation and violence. That long history of ethnic intimidation and hate crimes both as a community and on a personal level was the focus of a town hall meeting Thursday night designed to raise awareness of the surge in ethnic hate crimes against Asian Amerians. The town hall forum, No Hate in our State Town Hall, was hosted by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and featured a panel of Asian American leaders from across the commonwealth as well as racial justice advocates from the medical and legal communities. The personal narratives of some of the panelists underscored the uncomfortable history of racism against Asian Americans, and particularly the more recent uptick in incidents of discrimination and racism against the community since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly every member of the panel had a personal story or personal reflection that resonates with the current escalation in racial scapegoating in the community. State Rep. Patty Kim, D-Harrisburg, noted that while her district is a richly diversified community, it has in recent years experienced a number of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. She noted how in 2016 the Islamic Center in Steelton received a hate-filled, threatening letter. The following year one of the Jewish synagogues in Harrisburg was evacuated after it received a bomb threat; and last year, a hate symbol was spray-painted on another synagogue in Harrisburg. It was very painful to see, Kim said. But my community is very good at running towards the pain and running toward these incidents. For Kim, who is of Asian descent, news stories of elderly members of Asian American communities across the country have been deeply troubling. It hits home, she said. John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, said that even in Philadelphia, a richly diverse city, the Asian American community is struggling to negotiate the climate of hate and ethnic intimidation against the community. I feel despair for my fellow Asian Americans, Chin said. I empathize with their fear. Ive had them tell me they dont want to go out in public. They dont want to take public transportation, even though they need to go get groceries. Its angering to me that my fellow Asian Americans dont feel safe. Ive heard from parents who are concerned about sending their kids back to school. Many families are driven and acting on the fear of being attacked. This is very troubling to me. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Asian Americans have seen an increase in hate crimes and intimidation directed at their community. Chef Douglas Kim, owner of the restaurant Jeju in New York, saw his business vandalized last year. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) AP The three-hour town hall was designed to raise awareness at a time when such incidents have spiked, but also promote a conversation about solutions. Dr. Walter Palmer, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, laid out how the parallel histories of racism toward the Black community and the Asian American community are motivated by the same hatred. You dont have to be Black or Asian American or other in order to feel pain and hurt when that takes place, when these things happen, said Palmer. who shared his own experience of organizing a community effort decades ago to help his Philadelphia community solve the murder of a young Asian American man. Palmer said government has the responsibility to use its resources to address race and racism and to integrate into the education system the cultural history of the Black and Asian American communities. Discrimination is part and parcel of American society, he said. Until we admit it and own it, it will never end. It takes work to overcome this, and it means still feeling some pain. Similar public forums are happening across the country in recent weeks as the wave of racism and ethnic harassment toward Asian Americans has continued to surge. The incidents began to increase noticeably last year after former President Donald Trump began to refer to the coronavirus as the Kung flu and the China virus. According to research by the California State Universitys Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, 2020 saw ere 122 incidents of anti-Asian hate crimes in 16 of the countrys most populous cities, an increase of almost 150 percent over the previous year. Rep. Patty Kim, D-Harrisburg, a member of the town hall on Thursday, urged Asian Americans to seize the historic moment to raise awareness and education on their culture and community. Reports of violence and ethnic intimidation have been lodged by restaurant and business owners, as well as parents, whose children had been the target of ethnic intimidation. Lt. William Slaton, Heritage Affairs Commander for the Pennsylvania State Police, and a member of the panel, noted that state police had logged only one report of a hate crime against the Asian American community. We swiftly made an arrest and its no cause for celebration, he said. We know incidents are happening and are underreported. Often the victim is reluctant to report or there might be a language barrier. Every single member of the panel agreed that the single report was not representative of the widespread incidence of the crimes. Its solidarity we need, said Andy Toy, a senior director of SEAMAAC, which works with immigrants and refugees. Just as with the Black Lives Matter we needed to come together as a country, as a people who care for each other and understand the issues of inequity and need to shine light on that. Toy stressed how words matter and can rally people to act out on hate and racism; he also said law enforcement and the community-at-large needs to recognize and label hate crimes as such when they happen and not downgrade the incidents. Last summer a woman walking down Walnut Street was attacked, Toy said. We all know what the reason was. Others did not recognize it as ethnic intimidation or hate crime. But she came forward. People are not taken seriously. We have to make sure we elevate those times and voices. They know what happened to them. We need to hear them and respect their voices. Stephanie Sun, the executive director of Asian American Affairs & Special Projects for the Wolf administration, urged all Pennsylvania residents to use their cell phones to document any incidents of hate crimes. When you witness something. When your safety is unsecure, take a picture. Take a video. Take notes. Write it down whatever details you remember and report it. We know there is far more than one incident. Kim urged the Asian American community across the commonwealth to seize the reactive cultural climate to raise awareness and educate. Right now we have the spotlight on Asian Americans, she said. We have to have a sense of urgency to use this moment in history to raise awareness and educate. Tell your story. We have plenty of social media platforms that will embolden our allies to come together. We all know what its like to be the different one. If we tell our story, we can raise awareness to a higher level. U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended two large groups of illegal aliens within an hour of each other near Mission, Texas, on Feb. 4, 2021. (Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection) Texas Rancher Says Illegal Immigrants Are Repeatedly Causing Property Damage And Trashing His Land Illegal immigrants have torn down fences, left bricks of marijuana and even stolen vehicles from a ranch near Carrizo Springs, Texas, and its happening more frequently since the election of President Joe Biden, a rancher told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday. The changes in visible foot traffic around the ranch increased in the months leading up to the transfer of power when Biden was making promises and after he took office, Brock Wilkerson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Wilkerson, a native of south Texas, has leased the ranch just outside Carrizo Springs for hunting and cattle ranching for around 15 years. Its not a safe environment, I can guarantee you that, Wilkerson told the DCNF. He added that run-ins were sporadic over the last 15 years where tracks were found about every few weeks, but recently hes seen between seven and 10 sets of tracks appear over a two-day period. The ranch is located in Carrizo Springs, about 30 miles from the Eagle Pass Port of Entry at the southern border, according to Wilkerson. He said that immigrants have frequently cut the fence at the ranchs perimeter in order to access the highway where they can be picked up while avoiding checkpoints. We, fortunately, are capable of doing a lot of things on our own but this past week we had to replace approximately 100 yards of fence and because of the way the damage was done it took us about a full day, Wilkerson told the DCNF. Illegal immigrants previously stole a Jeep off the ranch and drove it to San Antonio, Texas, Wilkerson told the DCNF. Illegal immigrants have literally cut into the house, they found a steel saw and did thousands of dollars worth of damage to get inside the house, Wilkerson said. The trash alone is astronomical, you would never believe I could probably go out to the ranch right now and find 50 to 80 backpacks, Wilkerson told the DCNF. He added that trespassers have torn up deer blinds, and left plastic tarps and water bottles scattered across the ranch and that a neighboring ranch has experienced similar problems. CBP did not respond to the DCNFs request for comment. By Kaylee Greenlee From The Daily Caller News Foundation NACKA, Sweden, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fabege and Huddinge Municipality have signed an agreement on land allocation in Flemingsbergsdalen. The agreement provides for Fabege to be granted exclusive rights to negotiate with the municipality on land acquisition and development on the basis that Fabege will develop the land in accordance with the existing planning programme. The intention of the parties is for the areas of land allocated to be subject to new local plans. The current area covers a total of about 220,000 sqm, of which 190,000 sqm is for commercial space and 30,000 sqm for residential. Based on agreed prices and the estimated distribution between commercial and residential properties, the total purchase price is estimated to be just over SEK 800 million. As a result of the land allocation agreement, Fabege will pay an additional purchase price to WA Fastigheter of SEK 270 million. "The land allocation agreement with Huddinge Municipality is the next important step in Fabege's development of Flemingsbergsdalen. The agreement reinforces Fabege's presence and control over future developments. We're pleased to continue our planned development of Flemingsberg in partnership with Huddinge Municipality," comments Stefan Dahlbo, CEO at Fabege. Flemingsberg is already a location that brings together approximately 15,000 residents, higher education, world-leading research, government agencies and companies. Flemingsberg is therefore designated as a regional centre and promoted as a natural hub for the infrastructure of tomorrow. With regional and national investments already approved and the local conditions that are already in place, Flemingsberg has unique opportunities to grow and create a balance in the range of primarily workplaces between northern and southern Stockholm. The development plans for the whole of Flemingsbergsdalen cover a total of over 1 million square metres intended for housing and commercial use. The vision for 2050 is for Flemingsberg to be one of Sweden's most significant centres for education, research and attractive housing. An inspirational hub, where innovation and collaboration promote sustainable societal development. Flemingsberg will be a natural location to establish knowledge-intensive enterprises, and a much sought-after place to live. For further information, please contact: Stefan Dahlbo, President and CEO, tel. +46 (0)70-353 18 18, stefan.dahlbo@fabege.se Klaus Hansen Vikstrom, external vice president, tel. +46 (0)70-239 34 81, klaus.hansenvikstrom@fabege.se This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/fabege/r/fabege-signs-land-allocation-agreement-in-flemingsberg,c3304575 The following files are available for download: There's no St Patrick's Day parades this year due to Covid-19 restrictions but March 17 is still the day to celebrate being Irish in Longford. The Longford Leader wants to help you celebrate. So get your green outfits and shamrocks on and grab those flags and send us your photos of you celebrating St Patrick's Day here at home or from abroad to newsroom@longfordleader.ie Remember to include your name, where you are living, and if it's a photo from previous years, please let us know what year and what parade, if possible. You can also include a little message wishing your friends and family a Happy St Patrick's Day! Their Netflix limited series True Story was announced back in December. And Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes were spotted in Los Angeles on Thursday as they filmed a tense scene together in what looked like a hotel lobby. The 41-year-old superstar comedian's character appeared to be accosted by fans in the scene, before Snipes steps in. It takes two: Kevin Hart, 41, and Wesley Snipes, 58, play brothers as they film a tense scene in LA on Thursday for their Netflix limited series True Story Hart's character was dressed in an outfit he might have worn off set with a stylish textured black sweater. He stuck to the monochrome color scheme with black jeans and black-and-white Nike high tops. Snipes looked cool in a pair of military-style square aviator sunglasses with a tan button-up shirt and matching khakis, along with brilliant white trainers. True Story, though fictional, is inspired by Hart's life and features himself playing a character inspired by his own career trajectory. True story: Hart plays a comic named Kid, inspired by his own life story, while Snipes plays his older brother, who was modeled after his real-life brother From bad to worse: The scene appeared to show a fan accosting Hart, before Snipes' character steps in In the miniseries, Hart plays a comedian named Kid, while Snipes, 58, plays his troubled older brother Carlton. According to Deadline, which first announced the project, 'A tour stop in Kids hometown of Philadelphia becomes a matter of life and death for one of the worlds most famous comedians when the consequences of a lost evening with his wayward older brother threaten to destroy everything hes built.' The real-life comedian was born in Philadelphia and has a brother who has struggled with legal issues, and his father was also in and out of jail throughout his childhood due to drug problems. 'Ive never been more excited about an acting project in my career,' Hart gushed in a statement from December. 'Ive always been a fan of Wesley Snipes and working with him is mind-blowing. Having HartBeat Productions at the helm and working alongside Eric Newman as a partner and creative arm has been unreal, nobody is ready for what this show is going to be.' New project: Snipes sounded excited about the show when he shared a photo of the two standing together on set on Tuesday Back at it: Snipes has risen to renewed promise in recent years with appearances in Spike Lee's Chi-Raq (2015) and two Eddie Murphy films: Dolemite Is My Name (2019) and Coming 2 America; seen in 2019 Snipes also sounded excited about the show when he shared a photo of the two standing together on set on Tuesday. 'Filming with this genius @kevinhart4real,' he captioned the photo. 'I told you I had more for y'all, JUST WAIT until you see what we have been working on!!' The project may signal a continued rise to prominence for the actor, whose career slowed down in the mid-2000s amid a string of direct-to-video releases and a three-year prison stint for failing to file his tax returns that began in late 2010. Since returning from prison, Snipes returned to action films with a part in The Expendables 3 (2014) and honed his comedy chops in Spike Lee's Chi-Raq (2015). More recently, he starred opposite Eddie Murphy in his acclaimed Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name (2019) and in his recent sequel Coming 2 America. New relationship: Hart signed a four-film first-look deal with Netflix earlier this year, according to Deadline; seen in 2019 in NYC Hart will have plenty more projects for Netflix after signing a four-film first-look deal with the streamer. Deadline reported in January that he will star and produce for Netflix via his HartBeat Productions company. While the terms of the deal weren't disclosed, the streaming giant's last major commitment to a comedic actor was reportedly the $150 million, four-picture extension it signed with Adam Sandler, so Hart's deal may be in that ballpark. The Jumanji star's standup special No F***s Given was the top comedy special for Netflix in 2020. Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday officially launched the Amrit Mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of India's Independence that began on this day will continue till August 15, 2023. "Today is the first day of the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence. This Mahotsav has started 75 weeks before 15th August 2022 and will continue till 15th August 2023," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing a gathering at the `Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav` in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off 'padyatra' from Ahmedabad to Dandi, as part of the Amrit Mahotsav programme to mark the 75 years of India's independence. pic.twitter.com/8rhApYluGh ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 "Freedom Struggle, Ideas at 75, Achievements at 75, Actions and Resolves at 75- these five pillars will inspire the country to move forward," the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters for their contribution to the nation. "I pay tribute to Bapu on this occasion, those who sacrificed their lives and those who led the independence struggle. I pay tribute to brave soldiers who after independence maintained the tradition of defending the nation and sacrificed their lives for the security of the country. I pay tribute to those who rebuilt the country in these 75 years," PM Modi said. #WATCH The country can never forget Lokmanya Tilak's 'Purna Swaraj' 'Azaad Hind Fauj's call for 'Delhi Chalo', Quit India movement...We take inspiration from Mangal Pandey, Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmi Bai, Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Pt Nehru, Sardar Patel, Ambedkar...:PM Modi pic.twitter.com/bna7o6S256 ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 The PM further said, "The country can never forget Lokmanya Tilak`s `Purna Swaraj`, `Azaad Hind Fauj`s call for `Delhi Chalo`, Quit India movement...We take inspiration from Mangal Pandey, Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmi Bai, Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Ambedkar...." Earlier, the Prime Minister launched the `Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav` website in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The Prime Minister also flagged off the Dandi March from the Sabarmati Ashram, as part of the Amrit Mahotsav programme to mark 75 years of India`s independence. Earlier this morning, announcing the beginning of the Amrit Mahotsav`, PM Modi said in a tweet, "Today`s #AmritMahotsav programme begins from Sabarmati Ashram, from where the Dandi March began. The March had a key role in furthering a spirit of pride and Aatmanirbharta among India`s people. Going #VocalForLocal is a wonderful tribute to Bapu and our great freedom fighters." Todays #AmritMahotsav programme begins from Sabarmati Ashram, from where the Dandi March began. The March had a key role in furthering a spirit of pride and Aatmanirbharta among Indias people. Going #VocalForLocal is a wonderful tribute to Bapu and our great freedom fighters. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2021 The PM added, "Buy any local product and post a picture on social media using #VocalForLocal. A Charkha will be installed near Magan Niwas at Sabarmati Ashram. It will rotate full circle with each Tweet related to Aatmanirbharta. This shall also become a catalyst for a people`s movement." The Mahotsav is a series of events to be organised by the Government to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of India`s Independence. It will be celebrated as a Jan-Utsav in the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari. The curtain raiser activities are beginning from March 12, 75 weeks prior to August 15, 2022. Live TV Mumbai: The preliminary examination of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC), which was earlier scheduled for coming Sunday, will now be held on March 21, the commission announced on Friday (March 12). The MPSC had postponed the exam, which is required for government jobs, citing the COVID-19 situation. The decision, announced by the Relief and Rehabilitation Department in a circular, sparked protests by students and also came in for flak from leaders of the ruling coalition members Congress and NCP as well as opposition BJP. After backlash, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced on Thursday evening that the examination would be held by March 22. "The exam will now be held on March 21 across the state at the same centres. The students who have received hall ticket to appear for the exam (earlier scheduled on March 14), will be considered valid for the March 21 exam," the commission said, according to news agency PTI. The MPSC also announced that the other two examinations scheduled on March 27 and April 21 will be held as per the schedule and there is no change in that. The preliminary examination was to take place in April last year but was repeatedly delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. NEW DELHI : India has emerged as the fifth most attractive growth destination, slipping one position after being surpassed by the United Kingdom, according to a global survey of CEOs. The United States is the number one market that CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) are looking to in terms of growth over the next 12 months and China is at the second spot. The findings are part of leading consultancy PwC's 24th Annual Global CEO Survey that covered 5,050 CEOs in 100 countries and territories, including India. "At 17 %, Germany holds on to its number three spot on the list of growth destinations, while the UK, post-Brexit, moves up to number four (11%), surpassing India (8%). Japan also rises up the ranking to become the sixth most attractive growth destination, overtaking Australia which held that position last year," as per the survey. The US has extended its lead as the number one market that CEOs are looking to for growth over the next 12 months at 35%, seven percentage points ahead of China at 28%. In 2020, the US was only one percentage point ahead of China, it added. The survey found that 76% of CEOs worldwide expect the global economic recovery to improve in 2021, showing record levels of optimism about growth a year after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. As cross-border competition heats up global tax debates, CEOs foresee some cooling of global trade tensions. Both trade conflict and protectionism dropped on the CEO threat list, in relative and absolute terms, the survey released on Thursday said. "But, there's considerable nuance behind that top-line story. Trade conflict still ranks as a top-ten threat in China and Germany, both of which depend on export-driven growth. In China, which has often found itself at the centre of debates, trade conflict is CEOs' second-highest source of worry. "It's hard not to wonder whether fundamental tensions will reassert themselves as we move past the landmark moments, such as the resolution of the US presidential election and of Brexit uncertainties, that immediately preceded our survey period," it noted. Further, the survey said it was important to recognise that trade patterns and partnerships are in flux. "For example, CEOs in the US are reducing their emphasis on China as a growth driver, and increasing their focus on Canada and Mexico; compared to the findings in our last survey, US CEOs' interest in the latter two countries rose by 78 per cent," it said, adding that those trends are contributing to a broader shift of the US extending its lead over China as global CEOs' most important growth destination. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. After six women brought forward sexual misconduct allegations against the New York governor, the state's assembly has authorized its judiciary committee to start an impeachment investigation against Gov. Andrew Cuomo. According to The Guardian, the speaker of the state assembly, Carl Heastie, said that the panel investigation, which would run parallel to one being led by the state attorney general Letitia James, would be authorized to interview witnesses, evaluate evidence, and subpoena documents. He also mentioned that the reports of accusations concerning the governor are serious. The 63-year-old New York Governor Cuomo has denied all allegations of the six women, who were mostly his former aides. The latest allegation came from an unnamed aide who shared to a newspaper outlet on Tuesday that the governor had groped her after calling her to the executive mansion last year under the pretext of business. The New York governor denied the accusation and stated that he has never done anything like that. He also called the details gut-wrenching. When asked for a comment, the representatives for Cuomo did not respond immediately. During a news conference last week, Cuomo issued a broad apology for any behavior he displayed that made women feel uncomfortable. Despite his apologies, the New York governor maintained his statement that he had never touched anyone inappropriately. The speaker of the state assembly, Heastie, said that he decided to launch the investigation after meeting with fellow Democrats who control the assembly. Last weekend, he also mentioned that Andrew Cuomo should seriously consider whether he can effectively meet New York's needs. The list of politicians in New York, which includes fellow Democrats of Cuomo who has been calling for him to step down, has also been growing. On Thursday, even the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, stated that Cuomo could not serve as governor anymore. Read Also: Biden Approves $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Ready for Rollout However, Cuomo has emphasized that he will not resign and has asked the public to wait for the investigation results against him before making any judgment. De Blasio, a longtime political rival of Cuomo, added that the latest accusation was disturbing, CNN reported. In an interview, De Blasio shared to the reporters that it is unacceptable as the specific allegation stated that he called an employee, had used power over her, called her to a private place, and then sexually assaulted her. He added that it is disgusting for him, and he thinks that Cuomo cannot serve as governor anymore. Since late February, calls for Cuomo to step down have been mounting. At that time, his first accuser, Lindsey Boylan, his former aide and currently the Manhattan borough president candidate, published an essay accusing him of making unwanted advances. Aside from that, the New York governor has also faced accusations in recent weeks that his administration sought to downplay the number of nursing home residents killed by the coronavirus, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the state senate majority leader, also called on Governor Cuomo to resign. He added that Cuomo's governing style is a toxic environment, and the misconduct allegations undermined his ability to lead. Related Article: Birthmothers in 2021 Eligible for Another $ 1,400 Stimulus Check @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The story on the poster is this. Palmerston was built outside Armidale by Albert Dangar, son of prominent pastoralist Henry Dangar (1796-1861) whose 1827 dismissal as assistant government surveyor for misappropriating land did nothing to prevent his election to the NSW upper house in 1851. So far, so NSW. We regard this, now, from a position of moral safety bordering on smugness. But are we so different? Our ongoing readiness to destroy hundreds of Indigenous sacred sites in the relentless pursuit of jobs and dollars suggests otherwise. Its almost dusk and were eating out. Surrounded by mature elms, frog-song and the scent of cooling grass were on the broad veranda of Palmerston, a charming New England guest house. Our hard decision of the evening is between the seared scallops with Asian slaw and the duck dumplings. First world problems. A few steps away, though, in the dark-panelled hall, carrying the story behind the place betrays a deeper truth . This is blood-soaked soil. Henry Dangar did not participate in the massacre but he did advise his employees not to report it and vigorously defended them at trial, to the point where the judge questioned his veracity. So the house, in some ways, has misery built into its foundations. This story, the Myall Creek massacre, is relatively well known because of John Plunketts heroic prosecution of the stockmen and Mark Tedeschis marvellous book, Murder at Myall Creek: The Trial that Defined a Nation. But numerous other, similar incidents in the area are less well known. These include the follow-up murder of 30 or so remaining Wirrayaraay men and killings of sometimes hundreds of people at sites such as Slaughterhouse Creek, Waterloo Creek and Darkie Point, off Waterfall Way near Ebor. In that particularly sickening incident, memorably referenced in Judith Wrights 1945 poem (and apologies, this is shocking, but it was Wrights chosen name for that reason) Niggers Leap - scores of Aboriginal people were chased to the edge of a cliff, shot and pushed over. Did we not know, their blood channelled our rivers? asks Wright. Even now the answer is no, on the whole, we dont know. A University of Newcastle map of Indigenous massacres shows 311 mass killings of more than 8000 people, and those are just the ones that we know about. It puts the glorious houses of New England in a grimmer light more like the grand antebellum mansions of the American deep south but still we dont address it. The school curriculum makes it possible but not necessary to teach the true history of our conquest and it is scarcely ever discussed no doubt because it raises big, difficult questions of guilt, shame and reparation. Gamil means no: Local Indigenous people object to Santoss Narrabri gas project on cultural grounds. Credit:Getty Bigger still, though, is the question of purchase. History shows that wealth and its beauty are nearly always built on the misery of others. From Egyptian times on, civilisation has been built, mostly, on slavery or empire. This is essentially theft. So the biggest question, which we still confront every day, is this: Are we doomed, as a species, to purchase the lives we want with the pain of others nations, peoples or generations? Can we have civilisation without theft? The Islamic Center of Midland and Midland Area Interfaith Friends are seeking donations to rebuild the flooded house of Hope resident Vernon Loree. They are calling this "Project Vernon Rebuild." The two groups will be working with a local licensed builder, Mike from Roebuck Builders. Because of many variables, including bringing existing items up to code, the estimated need for the project is $60,000. A small amount of money is set aside to get the project started, but about $50,000 is needed to cover the remaining cost. After the mid-Michigan dam failures last May, Lorees home had about two feet of water and he wasnt able to return to his home until five days later. His yard was full of water, fish and sewage, and very few things in the house were salvageable. "Ten months after the flood, we still have families that are not able to live in their homes due to the damage, said Umbareen Jamil, member of the Islamic Center of Midland and co-director of Midland Area Interfaith Friends. Rebuild can be an exhausting and expensive process. We are extremely excited about helping another family with such a big impact and getting Vernon back into a safe home. Loree has a cognitive mental disorder and mows lawns, shovels snow and does other simple jobs for a living. His primary caretaker is his sister Lynn, who drives him to his doctor appointments and jobs and financially supports him. Lynn is also the caretaker of her husband, who has had multiple strokes and heart conditions, making her the primary source of income for all three of them. Loree didnt qualify for help from FEMA, and due to limited finances and resources, no substantial progress has been made to rebuild his home. He suffers from a great deal of stress and trauma due to the flooding. Therefore, for his physical and mental well-being, he needs to get back to his normal routine in his own home. Therefore, after much discussion and collaboration with other area supporters, Islamic Center of Midland and Midland Area Interfaith Friends feel privileged to help Loree finally return to a safe home. Our community has already been so generous with their time and donations thus far for our projects but we are hoping everyone can give just a little more for Vernon, said Hayley Lodhi, member of Islamic Center of Midland and Midland Area Interfaith Friends. If we could get 100 people to donate $500 or 200 people to donate $250 each, we would reach our estimated goal. Every penny donated will go directly to the Project Vernon Rebuild fund. To donate to Project Vernon Rebuild, visit www.paypal.com/paypalme/islamiccentermidland or send a check to: Islamic Center of Midland, 1801 North Stark Road, Midland, MI 48642 For questions about Project Vernon Rebuild, contact the Islamic Center via email Islamic.Society.of.Midland@gmail.com or call 989-948-1012. (JTA) Israel must grant citizenship to Jews who converted to Judaism in Israel under non-Orthodox auspices, its Supreme Court ruled Monday, possibly igniting another round in the long-running government battle over who the state should recognize as Jewish. The decision, written by Chief Justice Esther Hayut, comes less than a month before national elections. Israels Law of Return offers automatic citizenship to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent. The state also generally recognizes those who converted to Judaism under Orthodox standards. Past Supreme Court decisions have man... By Storay Karimi HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A powerful car bomb near a police station on Friday night killed at least seven people and wounded more than 50 others in Afghanistan's western Herat province, officials said. Herat Governor Sayed Abdul Wahid Qatali said several women and children were among the dead. He added that at least 53 people, including civilians and security forces, were hurt when a van packed with explosives went off in a crowded part of the city in the evening. Dozens of homes and shops were also damaged in the blast, and rescuers rushed to the scene to help several people trapped under the rubble, Qatali said. According to Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai, a senior health official, eight bodies, including two women, three children, two male civilians, and one member of the military, had been taken to hospitals. Forty-seven others including, 20 women, 11 men, eight children and eight security forces members have been wounded, Sherzai said, adding that 10 injured were in critical condition. No one claimed responsibility for the bombing but local officials blamed Taliban insurgents. Representatives of the Taliban, which has been fighting a foreign-backed Afghan government since they were ousted from power by U.S.-led forces in late 2001, were not immediately available to comment. Peace negotiations between the Afghan government and insurgent Taliban in Qatars capital Doha have struggled to make progress amid international calls to reduce violence. The U.N. Security Council in a statement condemned "in the strongest terms the alarming number of attacks deliberately targeting civilians in Afghanistan." "The members of Security Council called for an immediate end to those targeted attacks and stressed the urgent and imperative need to bring the perpetrators to justice," it said. President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack and blamed the Taliban. "The Taliban, by continuing their illegitimate war and violence against the people, once again showed that they not only have will to resolve the current crisis peacefully but by complicating the situation,"Ghani said in a statement. Story continues There were 8,820 civilian casualties in 2020, according to a report released by UN mission in Afghanistan last month. Russia plans to hold a conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on March 18 and has invited several regional players, including Afghan government and politicians to jumpstart the peace process as diplomacy by foreign powers including Washington ramps up. It comes at a crunch time for the peace process as a May 1 deadline for foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan looms and the United States reviews its plans. (Additional reporting by Orooj Hakimi in Kabul, Writing by Hamid Shalizi, Editing by Grant McCool and Gerry Doyle) Seeking a new way to celebrate Black History Month, the staff at Azalea Middle School decided to hold a door decorating contest this year. It was supposed to be a fun and creative way to give students information about the role Black Americans played in U.S. history. Things didnt go quite as expected. Instead of bringing everyone together, the contest amplified divisions on the west St. Petersburg campus. One teacher called police on another, and the principal scheduled more diversity training for the entire staff. It happened in a year when the Pinellas County school district has worked to pay more attention to equity and social justice. Soon after the contest started, one door decoration started drawing complaints, said teacher Charra White-Banks, who chairs the schools Black History Month Committee. In addition to not having a Black history theme, it offended many at the school, she said. The decoration belonged to social studies department chair Melissa Creaser, who teaches seventh-grade civics. Creasers door featured pictures of NAACP founder W.E.B DuBois, the second United States president John Adams and Mingo Nation Chief Logan over a background of the U.S. flag, with the words All my colors matter. What history is in your DNA? Lots of people had lots of things to say about this, White-Banks said. Some in the school considered the message a slap in the face to the Black community, and its perceived All Lives Matter message inappropriate. Principal Susan Alvaro sent an email to Creaser, in which she encouraged the teacher to reflect on the meaning of Black History Month. Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history, Alvaro wrote. Although I appreciate teachers participating in the door decorating event, I encourage it, but I am uncertain how your door celebrates African American achievement. The principal declined to be interviewed for this story. Story continues Creaser, who also did not want to comment, responded to the principal that her aim was to encourage children to learn more about their own family blood line. It shows that part of me was a part of the civil rights and I celebrate that, her return email said. It makes them see there is more to a person and U.S. history then face value and just the few individuals we chose to celebrate. Two days later, the Black History Month Committee removed the decorations, and posted an explanatory letter on Creasers door. To ensure the well being of students and staff at AMS during this Black history month celebration, all inappropriate, offensive or misleading materials have been removed from this door in the name of the Black History Month Committee, the letter stated. All materials will be returned to you in a timely manner. Creaser was not at school, having been on vacation. Upon her return, she asked for her decorations back in an email, and questioned why her door entry had been deemed offensive. I have heard that the students didnt see it as offensive till they saw the letter that was posted on my door and started asking if their teacher was racist, she wrote. Creaser got her materials returned on March 1, about a week later, according to school reports. On March 4, she contacted St. Petersburg police, telling officers she felt attacked by the teachers who took the decorations and then slow-walked them back. She further contended she had been deprived of the right to use her property. She felt they willing(ly) held them from her to prove their point, Officer George Graves wrote in his report after investigating Creasers complaint over the $10 worth of materials. Melissa advised she felt like she was the victim of a Petit Theft because she was a white school teacher and that the committees that deemed her decorations offensive and inappropriate were singling her out. The school instructional staff is 63 percent white, 31 percent Black and 6 percent Hispanic, according to district records. In contrast, the schools enrollment is 49 percent Black, 29 percent white and 14 percent Hispanic. Eight percent come from other groups. In her written statement, Creaser said Azaleas racial tensions contributed to the incident. Art teacher Melanie Coney, who took down the decoration, said she was caught off-guard when Graves called her into an office and told her she had the right to remain silent. She told him as much in the 17-minute interview that was recorded on the officers body-camera. I just figured whenever she came back, she would come and get it, and wed talk about it or something, Coney told the officer, as he questioned her. Not this. This is definitely a surprise. No charges ever came. Graves wrote in his report that the situation would be best handled as a Civil Problem due to the fact that the stolen items had been returned to Melissa and that this was more of a school policy issue and not a criminal matter. It had all started as an educational matter. Noting the heightened awareness to race relations after a summer of protests and rallies, the Black History Month Committee settled on the contest as a way to reach more students at Azalea. They sent out the judging criteria, which put a premium on visual impact, originality, completeness and themes that convey Black history. What ended up happening was not part of the plan. White-Banks said that having a department head call the police on a colleague served to widen the divide on the staff, and suggested it created a hostile work environment. People are really upset, White-Banks said. We dont feel safe at school. Alvaro, the principal, has met with the teachers involved and will continue to meet with them, said school district spokeswoman Isabel Mascarenas. She said Alvaro also will continue to employ the districts restorative practices principles, a set of practices that aim to build a positive school culture by improving and repairing relationships. Hilaria Baldwin shared a photo of husband Alec cradling their newborn daughter Maria Lucia after they welcomed the child via surrogate just two weeks ago. The news of the pair's sixth child sent shockwaves through the internet, after Hilaria, 37, had just welcomed their fifth child Eduardo back in September, prompting many questions about the timing of it all. Inconceivable that she could have gotten pregnant and welcomed a child in the span of only six months, a surrogacy was assumed, but a source told People that their decision to have another child so quickly is 'no one's business.' Surprise delivery: Alec Baldwin, 62, cradles the newborn daughter he welcomed with wife Hilaria Baldwin, 37, via surrogate just two weeks back as a source tells People the couple's decision is 'no one's business' Hilaria who has disabled all comments on Instagram posted the snap of the 62-year-old comedy vet and the baby with two hearts for the caption. She coyly announced the new addition to the family on March 1, writing '7' as she shared a photo of she, the pair's five kids, and a new tiny baby. Many were confused about the timing of it all, given she would have been pregnant with Eduardo while moving forward with plans for another child via surrogate. She had suffered a miscarriage in November 2019 while trying for a girl, prompting many to speculate the surrogacy decision had to do with the desire for a daughter or as a precautionary measure since she lost the child at four months. Quick expansion: The news of the pairs sixth child came as a shock to many as Hilaria would have already been pregnant with Edu (born in September) while moving forward with the decision for a surrogacy; March 1 Their business: 'It's no one's business about a woman's right to choose how and when she expands her family,' a source told People; March 8 Despite the chatter, a Baldwin source told People that their family matters should be of no concern to others. 'It's no one's business about a woman's right to choose how and when she expands her family,' the source shared. The couple have not confirmed the surrogacy publicly or on social media. Hilaria does however follow a surrogacy agency, Alcea Surrogacy, on Instagram and it had posted a photo congratulating two intended parents on the 'amazing birth of their daughter,' days before Hilaria's post. It has now been deleted. The Mom Brain podcast host chose to give their daughter yet another Spanish sounding name like the rest of their brood that includes Carmen, seven, Rafael, five, Leonardo, four, Romeo, 2, and Eduardo, despite the explosive scandal about her purported heritage. Unconfirmed: The couple have not confirmed the surrogacy publicly or on social media but Hilaria does follow surrogacy agency Alcea Surrogacy on Instagram and they had posted about congratulating a pair on the birth of their daughter days before her post; February 18 Full house: The Mom Brain podcast host chose to give their daughter yet another Spanish sounding name like the rest of their brood that includes Carmen, seven, Rafael, five, Leonardo, four, Romeo, 2, and Eduardo, despite the explosive scandal about her purported heritage In December a post on Twitter went viral that raised questions about the authenticity of Hilaria's Spanish upbringing, after she was seen talking sans-Spanish accent in a video. 'You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin's commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person,' the tweet read. She had claimed to be born in Mallorca, Spain, only moving to the United States for college, but it was later uncovered that she was born Hilary Thomas and was actually from Massachusetts. Both she and Alec had claimed that English was her second language, and a viral clip showed the yoga instructor seeming to forget the English word for 'cucumber' during a cooking segment. The pair's wedding had tons of Spanish touches so she could bring 'a bit of [her] culture,' she said in 2012. Hilaria held a flamenco fan and they read their nuptials in both languages, their wedding bands even having the inscription 'somos un buen equipo,' inside. Crumbling down: She had claimed to be born in Mallorca, Spain, only moving to the United States for college, but it was later uncovered that she was born Hilary Thomas and was actually from Massachusetts; pictured March 2020 And she had claimed she and her family had trouble pronouncing her new last name at the time, despite both parents having multi-generational roots in Massachusetts, only moving to Spain in 2011. Hilaria tried to come clean about all of it in an Instagram video, confessing, 'Yes I am a white girl, my family is white,' while clarifying that she had grown up 'in this country.' She chalked up the dual names to being called 'Hilaria' in Spain and 'Hillary' in America, claiming to have spent her childhood in both countries. The mom signed off 'I'm getting attacked for being who I am people wanting to label me Spanish or America, can't it be both? It's frustrating that is my story.' After a month off line she returned back in early January saying she had been 'listening and reflecting,' still however claiming to have a 'deep connection' to both cultures. 'I should have been more clear and I'm sorry.' On March 8, the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh has approved the passage of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021 which is basically an anti-conversion law. It aims to regulate religious conversions and will impose penalties on those they find as breaching the law. Following the passage of the bill, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports that Christians in Madhya Pradesh fear the worse about radical Hindu nationalists using it to their advantage to persecute them further. Since the enactment, ICC has already received reports of 48 incidents of Christian persecution including "physical assaults, false criminal allegations, intimidations, and the closure of churches." According to the Library of Congress on India's state anti-conversion laws, "conversion" is defined as "renouncing one religion and adopting another." This includes interfaith marriages. The new bill seeks to curb conversion attempts, either directly or otherwise, through "forcible" or "fraudulent" means, or by "allurement" or "inducement." The following are the given definitions of the said terms. "The term 'force' in the law includes a 'show of force or a threat of injury of any kind including threat of divine displeasure or social excommunication.'[67] The term 'fraud' is defined to include 'misrepresentation or any other fraudulent contrivance,'[68] and 'inducement' means 'the offer of any gift or gratification, either cash or in kind and shall also include the grant of any benefit, either pecuniary or otherwise.'"[69] ICC reports that should a person seeks to change his religion, the law requires him and the facilitating religious leader to file an application at the district administration 60 days in advance. Failure to meet this demand could result to imprisonment and monetary penalties. "It is absurd to get permission from the magistrate if you want to convert to another religion," says Gerald Mathias, Bishop of the Diocese of Lucknow. "It also makes interfaith marriages almost impossible, thus depriving adults of the freedom to choose their partner." ICC further states in their report that radical Hindu nationalists have accused Indian Christians and Muslims as perpetrators of the "forcible" and "fraudulent" conversions. This was due to the felt and seen mass conversions in India to either Islam or Christianity. Other states with similar anti-conversion laws are Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. With the approval of laws limiting religious freedom, radical nationalists were emboldened to spread false accusations against Christians to justify their violence without any intervention from the local police. ICC has done some digging into India's constitution. Article 25 in the constitution states that "Indian citizens have the fundamental right to profess, practice, and propagate the religion of their choice. The new anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh flies directly in the face of this fundamental right." This was also highlighted by Bishop Mathias while pointing out the obvious partiality in the new law where "reconversions" to Hinduism are not regulated. "The anti-conversion law goes against the fundamental right to profess, practice, and spread one's religion. It goes against a person's fundamental freedom to choose and practice a religion of their choice," the Bishop of Lucknow told Asia News. The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 29,150,068 and 529,102, respectively Washington: US President Joe Biden has announced that all Americans will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination by May 1 with an aim to get the country, worst-hit by the pandemic, closer to normal by July 4th, Independence Day. In his first prime-time address to the nation on Thursday since assuming office in January, Biden also announced the deployment of more than 4,000 active-duty troops to support vaccination efforts, bringing the total to over 6,000. His speech comes a year to the day the outbreak was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Laying out new steps in the school reopening effort, Biden in his speech that lasted for a little over 20 minutes said his administration will continue to take steps to combat the spread of variants including expanding testing and genomic sequencing. My fellow Americans, you are owed nothing less than the truth. And for all of you asking when things will get back to normal, here is the truth: the only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track is to beat the virus you have been hearing me say that for-- while I was running and the last 50 days I have been President, but this is one of the most complex operations we have ever undertaken as a nation in a long time, Biden said. The First Lady Dr Jill Biden was present in the East Room of the White House for the prime-time address of her husband wherein Biden said that he is using every power he has as President of the United States to put the US on a war footing to get the job done. It sounds like hyperbole, but I mean the war footing, and thank God we are making some real progress now. In my first full day in office, I outlined for you a comprehensive strategy to beat this pandemic. We have spent every day since attempting to carry it out, he said. As of Thursday, he said total deaths in America due to COVID-19 is over 527,000. That's more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined, he said. They were husbands, wives, sons, and daughters, grandparents, friends, neighbours, young and old. They leave behind loved ones unable to truly grief or to heal, even have a funeral..., he said. The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 29,150,068 and 529,102, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Biden said his administration has been working with vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson to manufacture and purchase hundreds of millions of doses of these three safe, effective vaccines. And now at the direction and with the assistance of his administration, Johnson & Johnson is working together with a competitor, Merck, to speed up and increase the capacity to manufacture new Johnson & Johnson vaccines which is one shot, he said. Biden said at the start of his presidency, his goal was to get 100 million shots in people's arms in my first 100 days in office. Tonight, I can say we're not only going to meet that goal. We're going to beat that goal because we've actually been on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this. None, he asserted. Announcing the next steps, he said that he is directing all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1. Let me say that again. All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. That's much earlier than expected, he said. Secondly, at the time when every adult is eligible in May, we will launch with our partners, new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot, including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones, he said. Thirdly, with the passage of the American Rescue Plan,... we can accelerate a massive nationwide effort to reopen our schools safely and meet my goal that I stated at the same time about 100 million shots of opening a majority of through 8 schools in my first 100 days in office, he said. Fourth, in the coming weeks, Biden said his administration will issue further guidance on what Americans can and cannot do once fully vaccinated to lessen the confusion, to keep people safe, and encourage more people to get vaccinated. And finally, fifth, and maybe most importantly, I promise I will do everything in my power. I will not relent until we beat this virus. But I need you, the American people, I need you. I need every American to do their part. That's not hyperbole, I need you, he said, adding that he needs fellow countrymen to get vaccinated when it's their turn. If we do all this, if we do our part, we do this together, by July the 4th, there's a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighbourhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day, Biden said. On July 4th with your loved ones is the goal. But a goal---a lot can happen. Conditions can change. The scientists have made clear that things may get worse again as new variants of the virus spread. We've got work to do to ensure that everyone has confidence and the safety and effectiveness of all three vaccines, he said urging Americans to listen to scientists and doctors. The province is set to release its long-awaited K-12 education review, alongside lessons learned from the last 12 months in pandemic schooling, nearly one year after the grand reveal had been postponed indefinitely. The province is set to release its long-awaited K-12 education review, alongside lessons learned from the last 12 months in pandemic schooling, nearly one year after the grand reveal had been postponed indefinitely. "With COVID-19, we learned so many valuable lessons about how valuable education is and how important education is but we also saw many challenges in our system, amplified," Education Minister Cliff Cullen said in his opening remarks at a morning news conference Friday. He announced the review and a provincial strategy to improve student outcomes will be revealed Monday. Cullen later told reporters two takeaways from the pandemic are how adaptable the school system is and how difficult it has been for the government to manage upwards of 30 school boards. When pressed about what exactly is inside the K-12 commissions recommendations, Cullen repeated generic statements about how the public will get answers next week. The minister said the education system needs to be focused on outcomes, citing Manitobas poor standardized test scores in comparison to other provinces, despite high investment. He called Fridays announcement a "courtesy" heads-up, while noting parliamentary privilege prevents the education department from releasing information about Bill 64 (the Education Modernization Act) before MLAs see what is inside it. The second reading of Bill 64, which has remained under wraps since it was first introduced in autumn, is expected in the coming weeks. Since the K-12 commission was established in 2019, there has been widespread speculation school boards will either be amalgamated or abolished. Avis Glaze, lead consultant for the commission, authored a report in Nova Scotia that recommended its government consolidate school boards and create a centralized education authority. "Whether its elimination or forced amalgamation, all this is about is centralizing control so its harder to be accountable to the taxpayer," said Alan Campbell, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association. Campbell said there is no evidence changing the school board set-up will affect student outcomes, noting jurisdictions who lead the country's standardized test scores have boards. Fridays announcement which "poured gasoline on a fire thats been burning slowly for over a year now with every front-line education worker overcome with anxiety" was a perfect example of what happens when local voice and choice is disregarded, he added. Limited details during the news conference came as a letdown to educators anxious about what exactly is inside the K-12 review, said James Bedford, president of the Manitoba Teachers Society, who echoed member frustrations Friday. School divisions and the teachers society have been invited to a technical briefing at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Bedford said he was dismayed the minister did not assure Manitobans the recommendations will address the high rates of child poverty, which impacts test scores. "This government seems to be focused on outcomes and not focused on inputs along the way that get us to those outcomes," said Bedford, who represents upwards of 16,000 public school teachers. The pandemic, he added, has proven factors ranging from access to technology to socio-economic status affect education outcomes. The province received more than 2,300 written submissions, 62 formal briefs, 9,000 public survey responses, and 1,200 teacher survey responses as part of the K-12 review process. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie The company already has one of the largest voluntary renewable portfolios in the country and expects to continue as a leader in solar energy production by growing its renewable generation by more than 72% by 2025, which will increase the company's total renewable resources to 22 % of its already diverse portfolio. Georgia Power works with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to develop and expand cost-effective renewable energy resources, including solar, and introduce renewable programs, products and services to benefit all customers. "Solar energy is a valuable part of our diverse generation portfolio at Georgia Power, and we've worked closely with the Georgia Public Service Commission to bring solar to our state and our customers in a way that protects reliability, further diversifies our energy mix, and keeps rates low," said Tray Leslie, Georgia Power renewable development manager of customer engagement. "From our installation options to our programs for customers who can't or don't want to install solar, we are helping make solar available to all Georgia Power customers." Georgia Power plans to add 2,260 megawatts (MW) of renewables to its already diverse energy mix by 2025. Solar is expected to make up a majority of the company's renewable resource growth. The company currently has more than 2,500 megawatts (MW)* of renewable resources online. Combined with the renewable programs approved through the company's 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, the company plans to have approximately 5,400MW* of renewable energy resources in its portfolio by the end of 2025, comprising 22 percent of the company's generation mix. Solar Programs and Services Georgia Power's renewable development offerings include innovative customer programs such as Community Solar, Simple Solar, the Customer Renewable Supply Procurement (CSRP) and Customer-Connected Solar Program (CCSP). The company offers a full range of programs and services to provide customers options for using solar energy to power their homes and businesses: Solar rooftop installation For customers who want to install their own personal solar rooftop generation system, Georgia Power offers a solar education, consultation, and installation service, provides interconnection assistance, and has options to give customers credit for the energy they send back to the power grid. For customers who want to install their own personal solar rooftop generation system, Georgia Power offers a solar education, consultation, and installation service, provides interconnection assistance, and has options to give customers credit for the energy they send back to the power grid. Community Solar Customers who sign up for Community Solar enjoy similar benefits as residential customers who own solar panels. Community Solar allows you to support the development of solar power in Georgia by subscribing to a portion of local solar farms. Your family then receives energy credits on your monthly bill based on the solar farm's production. Customers who sign up for Community Solar enjoy similar benefits as residential customers who own solar panels. Community Solar allows you to support the development of solar power in by subscribing to a portion of local solar farms. Your family then receives energy credits on your monthly bill based on the solar farm's production. Simple Solar Simple Solar gives any interested Georgia Power customer, residential or business, the ability to purchase certified Renewable Energy Credits to match a percentage of their monthly energy usage. Simple Solar gives any interested Georgia Power customer, residential or business, the ability to purchase certified Renewable Energy Credits to match a percentage of their monthly energy usage. Customer Renewable Supply Procurement This program allows commercial and industrial (C&I) customers to support their sustainability initiatives. Georgia Power will procure new renewable generation through power purchase agreements (PPAs) for subscription by C&I customers. This program allows commercial and industrial (C&I) customers to support their sustainability initiatives. Georgia Power will procure new renewable generation through power purchase agreements (PPAs) for subscription by C&I customers. Customer-Connected Solar Program This program allows customers to partner with any solar developer to build a solar facility on or adjacent to the customer's property. Georgia Power will purchase 100% of the energy generated. Maximizing Renewable Growth The company is also working to maximize the value of renewable energy for customers through researching battery energy storage systems. As approved in the 2019 IRP, the company will own and operate 80 MW of battery energy storage systems, which will help position Georgia as a leader in storage in the Southeast. This will allow the company to demonstrate the deployment, integration, and operation of storage to gain valuable insight into how to maximize the value of storage for customers. Additionally, the Georgia Power Smart Neighborhood also serves as a research opportunity to gain insights and learnings on the interactions between behind-the-meter rooftop solar, in-home battery storage, energy efficiency measures, and our electric grid. Solar Installations Across the State As part of its diverse generation mix, Georgia Power is committed to using reliable, cost-effective, renewable energy sources that work best in Georgia. Solar installations have been developed across the state, including solar projects in collaboration with the U.S. military, universities, and others to capture the current market benefits of solar for all customers. Examples of installations include: Large-scale military solar projects currently in service at Fort Benning , Fort Gordon , Fort Stewart , SUBASE Kings Bay, the Marine Corps Logistics Base, and Moody Air Force Base, with solar at Robins Air Force Base set to come online this spring.) , , , SUBASE Kings Bay, the Marine Corps Logistics Base, and Moody Air Force Base, with solar at Robins Air Force Base set to come online this spring.) A large-scale solar project under development at Fort Valley State University for the University System of Georgia . for the . Solar facilities located in Comer , Waynesboro and Guyton, Georgia , support the company's Community Solar program. , and , support the company's Community Solar program. Installation of 4,000 solar panels at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta . Installed to help the stadium achieve LEED Platinum status, these panels help provide power for the stadium. To learn more about Georgia Power's solar programs, including a variety of solar tools and resources for customers, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com/Solar. *REC Disclaimer: Georgia Power purchases only the null energy output from some renewable generating facilities that have contracted to sell that energy to Georgia Power. Ownership of the associated renewable energy credits ("RECs") is specified in each respective power purchase agreement. The party that owns the RECs retains the right to use them. 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 https://www.georgiapower.com/ Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. The US reaffirmed that it would not offer any unilateral incentives for talks with Iran. "We will not offer any unilateral gestures or incentives to induce the Iranians to come to the table," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday during his daily briefing, Xinhua news agency reported. "If the Iranians are under the impression that absent any movement on their part to resume full compliance with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) that we will offer favors or unilateral gestures, that's a misimpression," he added. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday made clear in a congressional hearing that Washington would not make concessions only to get a meeting with Tehran. Blinken also dismissed media reports that South Korea would release frozen Iranian assets before Tehran "comes back into compliance" with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The US and Iran are in a standoff over reviving the nuclear deal. The Joe Biden administration said that if Iran returns to full compliance with the JCPOA, the US would do the same. But Iran insisted its compliance would only take place once US sanctions were removed. Tehran recently also rejected an offer from the European Union to hold nuclear talks with European countries and the US. In response to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018 and the reimposition of sanctions, Iran has suspended implementing parts of its obligations under the deal. --IANS int/pgh (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping has pointed the way for China, which is at a historic development juncture, by expounding on a wide range of topics at this year's "two sessions," a key political event slated to close on Thursday. The two sessions are the country's annual meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, participated in deliberations with national legislators and joined discussions with political advisors at the two sessions. He took part in deliberations with other lawmakers from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province, and attended a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police Force. He also joined national political advisors from education, medical and health sectors in a joint group meeting. 2021 marks a historic juncture for China as it embarks on a new quest for fully building a modern socialist country. Here are some key takeaways from Xi's speeches at the sessions that may provide insights into China's development trajectory. Green GDP Xi has always stressed adopting "a holistic approach" to conserving mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands. This time, he brought "deserts" into the picture. Top-level design and comprehensive measures are needed to protect the eco-systems in mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts, said Xi, an NPC deputy himself. Highlighting the concept of "green GDP," Xi said that maintaining a good ecological environment is of enormous value. Ethnic Unity Xi stressed cementing the sense of community for the Chinese nation. He called for promoting standard spoken and written Chinese language and the use of state-compiled textbooks. Efforts should be made to facilitate more comprehensive understanding of the Party's policies concerning ethnic groups, especially among young people, Xi said. People's Health as 'Strategic Priority' Xi has stressed giving "strategic priority" to safeguarding people's health and focusing on tackling major diseases and problems that affect people's health. The country's public health protection network should be fortified, and efforts should be made to promote the high-quality development of public hospitals, he said, demanding comprehensive health care for the people at all stages of life. The fight against COVID-19 has once again proved that prevention is the most economical and effective health strategy, Xi said, calling for reforming and improving the disease prevention and control system. Xi also urged the preservation and development of traditional Chinese medicine and breakthroughs in core technologies in key areas, as well as more protection, care and support for health workers. Quality Basic Public Education On education, Xi said China must strive to build a high-quality and balanced basic public education service system. He emphasized the socialist orientation in running schools, the non-profit nature of education and developing education that people are satisfied with. Education is essential to the country and the Party, Xi stressed. He called for efforts to train more talents who can contribute to the country's high-quality development and high-level self-reliance. Teachers are the central pillar of education, and strengthening the professional ethics of teachers must be a top priority, Xi said. High-Quality Development & People's Well-Being Xi noted that high-quality development is the general requirement for all aspects of economic and social development. It will not only be the requirement for developed regions, but will also be the requirement that entails implementation by all regions, Xi said, urging each region to pursue high-quality development based on local conditions. He urged efforts to integrate high-quality development with action in meeting people's aspiration for a better life. Xi stressed efforts to strengthen areas of weakness in people's well-being, unfailingly meet the basic living needs of the people and improve the availability and equality of basic public services. He asked local authorities to promote coordinated development between rural and urban areas, advance rural vitalization on all fronts, improve people's well-being, and build a new socialist countryside that is beautiful, prosperous and harmonious. Combat Readiness Xi stressed achieving a good start in strengthening national defense and the armed forces during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period. Development of the armed forces must focus on combat readiness, he said. Xi demanded efforts to step up building high-caliber strategic deterrence and joint operation systems. He called for intensified efforts and more concrete measures in the pursuit of independent innovation in science and technology, to fully leverage the role of science and technology as the strategic support for military development. Highlighting the "instabilities" and "uncertainties" in China's current security circumstances, Xi said the whole armed forces must always be ready to respond to all kinds of complex and difficult situations, resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and provide strong support for fully building a modern socialist country. (Source: Xinhua) Government is introducing a Covid-19 Health Levy of 1% on Vat, Flat Rate Scheme (VFRS) and a 1% on National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) as part of revenue measures to help the economy recover. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Majority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu who disclosed this during the 2021 Budget Statement in Accra on Friday 12th March 2021 said the levies will be used for the procurement of vaccines and establishment of 14 medical waste treatment facilities. This is because, he said, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused additional health spending that far exceeds the annual budget for health. "To provide the requisite resources to address these challenges and fund these activities, the government is proposing the introduction of a Covid-19 Health Levy of a one percentage point increase in the National Health Insurance Levy and a one percentage point increase in the VAT Flat Rate to support expenditures related to Covid-19, he disclosed. The Caretaker Finance Minister said the levy will also assist in the construction of 33 major health projects, the recruitment of more health professionals and agenda 111. Agenda 111 would see the construction of 100-bed capacity district hospitals in one hundred and one districts with no hospitals. It is the latest ever investment in healthcare infrastructure in Ghanas history and a massive vision by the Akufo-Addo led administration for Ghanas Healthcare sector. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The formal investiture of members (Ministers) of the new government of national accord in Libya will be held next Monday at the House of Representatives (Parliament) at the provisional seat of Parliament in the city of Tobruk (East), a spokesperson for the legislative body, Abdallah Belaihak, announced in a statement on Friday Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. A 'psychotic' truck driver who had been on a drug bender for days before causing a fatal crash which killed four police officers deserves sympathy when it comes to his sentence, a court has heard. Mohinder Singh, 48, thought he had been cursed by a witch named Glenys when he slammed his truck into the officers on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway on April 22. He had only slept for five hours over the previous three days when he killed Leading Senior Constable Lynnette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King and constables Glen Humphris and Josh Prestney. In chains: Mohinder Singh Bajwa arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Thursday Left to right: Constable Glen Humphris, Senior Constable Kevin King, Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor and Constable Joshua Prestney all died in the crash Guards arrive at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Friday with Mohinder Singh Bajwa On Friday, Singh's barrister Peter Morrissey, SC, fronted the Supreme Court of Victoria in an attempt to convince Judge Paul Coghlan his client was not a total monster. Singh is looking at more than a decade behind bars over the atrocity when he is eventually sentenced. 'He is quite an engaging character worthy of some interest and some sympathy,' Mr Morrissey said. 'Because despite the difficulties that he's faced in his life, he's lived a rather productive life. 'He's been a worker throughout and he's been part of raising a family which is a good family ... he maintains their support and so against the odds somewhat and in a bizarre world that he inhabits, he's a person who merits some sympathy in that respect.' The barrister made the submission in front of the families and friends of the fallen officers, who just yesterday faced-off with Singh one-by-one and delivered heart breaking victim impact statements. They had been warned by Justice Coghlan at the end of yesterday that they were likely to hear submissions on Singh's behalf that would be 'unpalatable'. 'But that's just what it is. It's the only time that there'll be the opportunity for things to be said on his behalf,' he warned. Singh was further supported in court on Friday by forensic psychiatrist Dr Andrew Carroll, who told the court Singh had been psychotic at the time he got behind the wheel of his near 20-tonne truck on April 22 last year and drove. Dr Carroll said Singh had been on a drug bender to stay awake and work so he could fend off the curse of an imaginary witch named 'Glenys'. The psychiatrist found Singh had been suffering from a meth-induced psychosis and meth use disorder, which had led to him seeing strange 'stick figures' and the witch. Singh's barrister Peter Morrissey, SC, fronted the Supreme Court of Victoria in an attempt to convince Judge Paul Coghlan his client was not a total monster. Partner of Constable Glen Humphris, Todd Robinson, arrives at court on Friday. A day earlier he called Singh by name as he outlined all of the ways he had ruined his life The family of Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, husband Stuart Schultz, and son arrive at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Friday The police officers had been impounding a Porsche driven by mortgage broker driver Richard Pusey when they were struck and killed by Singh's semi-trailer. The court heard Singh had been told to get some rest before he got behind the wheel that day. He had complained to his supervisor that he was 'unfit to drive' but failed to mention he had been on an epic drug bender that had concerned his own junkie cohorts. It was a topic Singh's barrister repeatedly returned to throughout his plea on Friday. The court heard just 48 minutes before Singh lay waste to the police officers, he carried out one final drug deal. Crash experts later found Singh never hit the brakes and the only reason the truck stopped at all was because the vehicle itself had done so. Singh had spent the previous few days on a bender smoking ice and cannabis and downing bottles of booze. His own junkie clients had repeatedly told him to get some sleep. 'He was off it. He was talking nonsense. He was saying the witches are coming and we have to leave,' one customer later told police. 'I had never seen anyone as drug f**ked in my life. He hadnt slept for eight days.' The partner of Constable Glen Humphris, Todd Robinson (centre in light blue suit), arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Thursday Mohinder Singh Bajwa arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne on Friday before his pre-sentence hearing Mohinder Singh Bajwa's truck careered off the highway and into the car of Richard Pusey, who had been pulled over by the officers for speeding The court heard Singh apologised the moment he was pulled from the cabin of his truck. 'I feel so sorry for the police officers. That's what happened. I wasn't fit for work. That's what happened,' Singh told an officer at the scene. 'I like you guys. Youse (sic) help us, you know. I've got nothing against any police officer or anything like that. It's just the worse possible accident that could possibly happen. I'm so sorry to all their families that this happened. I'm very sorry. I just wake up like that.' Singh continued to plead for forgiveness as the officer's body-worn camera captured his every word. He would be too drug-impaired to actually provide an official police statement until days later. 'Tell the families, I swear to God that I didn't mean to hurt them and I wish they were alive. It was a big accident, it was a really, really big accident.' Singh continued to try and convince police of his despair at killing four of their colleagues. 'Their families probably waiting for them to come home, you know what I mean?' he said. 'Imagine it was my kids or your kids. Oh God.' The funeral procession lines up during the funeral of Constable Josh Prestney on May 4 last year. Floral tributes before the funeral of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor at the Victoria Police Academy in Melbourne last April Mohinder Singh thought he was being chased by a witch in the moments leading up the the horrific crash on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway on April 22 Singh continued to apologise through his barrister on Friday. 'I don't think anyone, your honour, will dispute the genuineness of the remorse,' Mr Morrissey said. 'It's pretty futile from the point of view of the families.' Motorists who observed Singh on the freeway that day described Singh's truck as being out of control and veering repeatedly into the emergency lane. 'This dudes going to f**king kill someone,' a witness told his mum. The court heard Singh was so trashed he had delusions he was being followed by a witch who had chased him through paddocks and sat in his passenger seat. 'He said she wouldn't leave the car no matter how much he begged,' a drug-using friend of Singh's told police. Other witnesses said Singh was so tired he couldn't speak in the days leading up to the accident. The truck driver on Thursday admitted to selling ice and cannabis to a number of associates. Pusey himself pleaded guilty on Wednesday to several charges after filming the crash site and taunting a senior constable as she lay dying. Pusey avoided being struck in the crash as he had been urinating off to the side of the road. He fled the scene and was arrested a day after the crash on April 23. The deaths of Leading Senior Constable Lynnette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King and constables Glen Humphris and Josh Prestney was the biggest loss of officer lives in a single incident in Victoria Police's history. Singh will return to court for sentence on April 14. HOME-SCHOOL enrolment in Manitoba more than doubled this year, owing to parents pulling their children out of public schools over COVID-19 concerns. HOME-SCHOOL enrolment in Manitoba more than doubled this year, owing to parents pulling their children out of public schools over COVID-19 concerns. Now, the province is contemplating whether to continue supporting home-schoolers in the future. The annual enrolment report has yet to be released, but education department briefing notes obtained by the Free Press show home-school numbers have spiked by 118 per cent over 2019-20 figures. There were 3,689 home-school students in fall 2019. That figure jumped to 8,027 approximately four per cent of the K-12 student population this school year. "There are parents who are just so thankful in many ways that COVID (learning disruptions) happened, because its a little bit like being forced to jump into the deep end and realize you like the water," said Jennifer Gehman, a longtime home-schooler and Manitoba Association for Schooling at Home board member. At the same time, many families are eager to partake in the public school system again once they feel its safe to do so, Gehman said, adding shes curious how enrolment will look next year. Home-schoolers are not typically eligible for provincial funding or other resources from Manitoba Education, but the province invited them to participate in its $10-million remote-learning support hub this year. "The increase in home-schooling was largely due to parent concerns about COVID-19 (These parents) generally lack knowledge of the home-schooling process," states a transition briefing note provided to Education Minister Cliff Cullen when he took over the file in January. The remote learning support centre, which launched in January, is staffed by full-time distance learning teachers and home-school connectors, certified teachers who provide learning packages and check-ins with families. As of last week, 221 home-school students were accessing remote teachers and an additional 96 home-school students had a home-school connector. Jeanine Thomlinson said she reluctantly started home-schooling her two children with little idea of what to expect in autumn, after a challenging remote-learning period in the spring and amid uncertainty around COVID-19. "Were planning on continuing next year, regardless of what happens, which is something I didnt expect Id ever say. The kids are just absolutely thriving," said Thomlinson, citing a flexible schedule and the ability for her grades 3 and 5 students to learn at their own pace. Thomlinson said she has relied on the curriculum she purchased rather than the support centre, given it launched halfway through the school year. "It would be nice if there was a line on the income tax returns to get some money back even for being a stay-at-home parent or educator, because they offer nothing to home-schoolers," she added. A provincial spokesperson said Thursday no decisions have been made about whether Manitoba will continue to provide support to home-schoolers, or if the support centre will be staffed with full-time teachers next year. John Wiens, dean emeritus of the University of Manitobas faculty of education, took issue with the province providing support to home-schoolers this year let alone the prospect of future support, citing inadequate funding for public education. "Its a huge problem if youre shortchanging public schools, as youre actually funding individuals with public money," Wiens said. The province recently put out a survey to new home-schooling families to collect input on resource needs for alternative schooling. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Opinion Friday marks the anniversary of a significant and unfortunate milestone in Manitoba. March 12, 2020 the day when the provinces first COVID-19 case was announced is a day many of us remember well. I know I do. As special assistant to Manitobas health minister, I had expected this day was coming for quite some time. It was inevitable. The pandemic was already wreaking havoc in Ontario. In British Columbias Lower Mainland, officials were scrambling to combat an outbreak at the Lynn Valley Care Home. Our teams had prepped speaking notes weeks ahead of time for Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitobas chief provincial public health officer, and then-health minister Cameron Friesen. Despite the strong warnings from public health officials and the provinces top politicos, COVID-19 was bound to be detected in Manitoba whether we liked it or not. That morning I received a text message from a top official within the Department of Health. "We have a case," the text read. Immediately I rushed into the Legislature and we got to work. The public was informed 90 minutes later. By that afternoon, we had announced two additional presumptive cases. Over the past year, over 32,000 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in the province and, tragically, more than 900 Manitobans have died. Far too many families are being forced to deal with the devastating consequences of losing a loved one in the most untraditional of ways. Manitobas response to the COVID-19 pandemic has stewed criticism from all corners of the province. This is not unexpected. Manitobans are frustrated as they continue to be urged to stay home. Many are also struggling emotionally and financially with the economic consequences of public health orders. And opposition parties feel criticism is the only way to attract media attention at a time when reporters are rightly focused on daily press conferences by public health officials. Let me be clear, criticism of governments throughout the pandemic is healthy and necessary. That said, Manitobans should take pride in their governments response, which has balanced necessary public health measures with the need to ensure the provincial economy avoids catastrophic damage both during and after the pandemic. Manitoba led the country in its response to the first wave of the pandemic. This is a fact. Case numbers and, more importantly, test positivity rates remained low. The province rapidly increased testing capacity to supplement the work of the provincial lab. Manitoba signed on to a bulk order of PPE from the federal government and when that order got held up, the province acted immediately to set up a COVID-19 procurement table of its own. Schools were closed, public health orders were put in place and financial relief programs, such as the Manitoba Gap Protection Program, were launched. The second wave of the pandemic hit Manitoba much harder, and earlier, than the rest of the country. Yet again, the government showed it was ready. By then, the colour-coded Pandemic Response System, which laid out various restrictions to enact in a particular public health climate, had been put in place. Alternative Isolation Accommodations, an innovative concept that has since been replicated in Ontario and Saskatchewan, were ready for Manitobans who needed a place to self-isolate including those experiencing homelessness. And public health orders were again enacted to bring the pandemic back under control. Have there been mistakes along the way? No doubt. The horrific events at Winnipegs Maples Personal Care Home could have been handled better by all involved. Contact tracing capacity could have been increased before case counts reached such high levels during the second wave. And government could have acted quicker to provide financial supports to those Manitobans in need. But these criticisms are not unique to Manitoba. Similar complaints have been made in all jurisdictions across the country. As someone once told me, "There is no playbook to follow when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic." So, one year into this pandemic in Manitoba, where do we go from here? Manitobans should have a sense of confidence in their governments response and hope that, as vaccines continue to be administered, there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel. More importantly, Manitobans should feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the health care workers who continue to risk their lives, day in and day out, on the frontlines of this pandemic. Nathan Clark was special assistant to former health minister Cameron Friesen for two years, including the opening months of the pandemic. He now is a senior consultant at Enterprise Canada, a national strategic communications firm. As a growing number of Wall Street banks and virtually all major asset managers declare their shift away from fossil fuel investments, the Texas Senate is striking back with a bill proposing that the states investment funds exit all companies boycotting oil and gas. The Texas Tribune reports that the bill, proposed by five Republican Senators, covers state entities such as the $46-billion Texas Permanent School Fund, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and the Texas Municipal Retirement System of Texas. Both of these have some $31 billion under management. If passed, all these entities and more will be obliged to exit companies that refuse to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with a company because this company is involved in oil exploration and production. The bill also makes a provision that no business or individual could sue the state entities for divesting from companies that refuse to invest in the fossil fuel industry. Already six of the largest U.S. lenders have made official commitments to work towards accomplishing the goals set in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. These commitments essentially come down to the banks saying they would aim to become net-zero in terms of the projects they finance over a certain period of time. This means huge divestments from oil and gas may be on the way, which has naturally raised oil and gas hackles. The banks are hazy on the details generally. There is talk about curbing exposure to oil and gas and boosting exposure to clean energy projects, but some feel that this is not enough, and Wall Street should pledge a full exit from oil and gas. According to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, the bill, which also includes a stipulation for forced divestment, should pass easily. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Australias central bank maintained its policy settings as it prepares to decide on extending its yield target and quantitative easing programs, with a Covid-19 lockdown complicating the outlook.The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate and three-year yield target at 0.10% in Sydney on Tuesday, as expected. It will make a decision in July on whether to extend the yield target and undertake further quantitative easing. A weeklong shutdown in the nations second-largest city adds a layer of uncertainty to the outlook.Despite the strong recovery in the economy and jobs, inflation and wage pressures are subdued, Governor Philip Lowe said. The board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions to support a return to full employment in Australia and inflation consistent with the target.The Australian dollar edged lower, trading at 77.41 U.S. cents at 2:53 p.m. in Sydney from 77.62 cents just before the release.The case for Lowe to maintain the April 2024 bond as the target maturity had been strengthening amid strong hiring, sentiment and investment plans. This was reinforced by the government keeping open the fiscal spigot in the May budget as it joins the RBA in seeking to drive down unemployment to revive wages growth and inflation.Progress in reducing unemployment has been faster than expected, Lowe said in his statement. There are reports of labor shortages in some parts of the economy.Risks AheadYet the RBA may be encouraged to err on the side of caution if Melbournes outbreak worsens and extend both of its bond programs to keep maximum support for the economy.An important ongoing source of uncertainty is the possibility of significant outbreaks of the virus, although this should diminish as more of the population is vaccinated, Lowe said. The board continues to place a high priority on a return to full employment.Globally, central banks are beginning to edge away from emergency monetary settings. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets last week in presenting projections of its official cash rate rising in the second half of next year.Back in Australia, economists predicted ahead of data Wednesday that gross domestic product rose 1.5% in the first three months of the year from the prior quarter, and advanced 0.6% from a year earlier.Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy, in testimony to a parliamentary panel earlier today, said partial data showed around 56,000 workers had lost their jobs in the four weeks following the end of the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy that expired March 28.He said strong employment data and forward indicators continue to give us confidence that the labor market has the underlying strength to absorb workers transitioning off the JobKeeper payment.End of Australias $68 Billion Job-Saving Stimulus Tests EconomyLowe estimates Australias jobless rate will need to fall to close to 4% before driving economy-wide pay increases. It stood at 5.5% in April.The governor expects wages growth will need to increase at a pace faster than 3% -- more than double the current rate -- for inflation to return sustainably to the central banks 2-3% target.Lowe reiterated that this is unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest.(Updates with further comments from governor throughout text.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Startup Grind Fort Lauderdale is hosting Endeavor Miami, FAU Tech Runway, Founder Institute, Startup Boost South Florida at The Semi Annual South Florida Acceleration Tour on Wednesday March 17th 6PM EST. The Semi Annual South Florida Acceleration Tour is a unique event, called an accelerator reverse pitch, during which top local Accelerators will be pitch battling each other, and the public will be the judge. Founders should take this opportunity to .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... TAMPA, Fla. A police officer intentionally veered his SUV into the path of a wrong-way driver to keep him from hitting others on Interstate 275 in Tampa, police and eyewitness accounts say. Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen, 45, and Daniel Joshua Montague, 25, of Golden, Colorado, were killed in the crash early Tuesday morning, Tampa police Chief Brian Dugan said during a Thursday news conference. Montague was driving more than 100 mph (160 kph) and likely intoxicated, Dugan said. Madsen, who was on patrol, was traveling at about 65 mph (104 kph) when the crash occurred. Officer Madsen is a true American hero, Dugan said. He deliberately moved his patrol car into the other drivers path of travel. We believe Jesse Madsen was attempting to stop this wrong-way driver from putting anyone elses life in danger by laying down his own. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Investigators believe Montague got onto the interstate at Busch Boulevard and was weaving in and out of lanes as he headed south in the northbound lanes. Toxicology reports are pending but the chief said initial findings show he was intoxicated. There was beer bottles found at his hotel room and we have reason to believe he was at a local bar and was out drinking somewhere, Dugan said. Montague was moving to Tampa and had been in the city for less than 12 hours, Dugan said. Investigators found his bags had not been unpacked in his hotel room. This whole incident could have been avoided, the chief said. Sandra Bundy, who was Montagues partner of six years, told the Tampa Bay Times, Montague had moved to Tampa to work for a moving company. His goal was to bring Bundy, their 3-year-old daughter, and her son from a previous relationship, to Tampa. Everything about what happened was terrible, Bundy said through tears. People are talking about (Madsen) and they should, but Josh was a father, too. An amazing one. Madsen was married with three children. Dugan said he will be awarded the police Purple Shield, presented to officers who suffer extreme injury or death in the line of duty. The former U.S. Marine will also be awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest medal for employees who distinguish themselves by an act of heroism at the cost of imminent personal danger, Dugan said. Madsens family will receive the Gold Cross Award, presented to families of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, Dugan said. A candlelight vigil was set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the departments downtown headquarters. His name will be added to the Fallen Officers Memorial will be unveiled. A public funeral is planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday, followed by a private service will at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 16, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Marco Rubio Endorses Amazon Workers Unionization, Tells Business Community to Stop Taking Republicans for Granted Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio threw his weight of support behind the Amazon workers attempting to unionize at a Bessemer, Alabama warehouse. Rubio endorsed the Bessemer warehouse workers effort to unionize in a USA Today editorial Friday morning, in which he sharply criticized Amazon. Rubio said the retail giant, which has fought hard against the unionization campaign, has waged a war against working-class values and has used anticompetitive strategies to harm small businesses. For decades, companies like Amazon have been allies of the left in the culture war, but when their bottom line is threatened they turn to conservatives to save them, Rubio wrote. But the days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over, he continued. Rubio added that he will always side with working-class Americans over corporations that wage culture wars against working-class values. The Florida senator cited Amazons decisions to ban conservative books from its marketplace and block conservative charities from participating in its program. Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on Jan. 29, 2016. (Mike Segar/Reuters) The choice is easyI support the workers, he stated. Rubio is the most prominent Republican to endorse the historic unionization effort, which has been backed by Democrats including President Joe Biden. A congressional delegation consisting of only Democrats and led by Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell, who represents the district that houses the Bessemer facility, visited the warehouse last week in support of the unionizing workers. In November, the Bessemer Amazon workers filed a notice of a vote to form a union. The workers would become the companys first unionized workforce if a simple majority approves unionization in a vote that began on Feb. 8 and will last until the end of March. If successful, Bessemer workers would join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). We welcome support from all quarters. Senator Rubios support demonstrates that the best way for working people to achieve dignity and respect in the workplace is through unionization, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement Friday. This should not be a partisan issue. Amazon, meanwhile, has been accused of improperly attempting to interfere in the union vote. The company introduced an initiative to pay $1,000 to unhappy workers to quit, which critics said was an attempt to bribe pro-union workers to leave, The Washington Post reported. The company was also criticized after it posted targeted ads on its video live streaming platform Twitch encouraging Alabama workers to vote against the unionization effort, according to The Verge. By Thomas Catenacci From The Daily Caller News Foundation Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. Dandi March: India becoming increasingly chained by authoritarian forces, says Rahul Gandhi India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 12: On the anniversary of the historic "Dandi March", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday that India is becoming increasingly "chained by authoritarian forces led by the RSS" and urged people to be guided by Mahatma Gandhi's example to continue with the march for freedom. On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi walked from the Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in Gujarat to break the salt-tax law imposed by the British. It was an act of civil disobedience to protest against the British rule in India. "Gandhiji's Dandi March gave a bold message of freedom to the entire world," Rahul Gandhi said in a Facebook post. India is no longer a democratic country: Rahul Gandhi slams Modi government "Today, as India is becoming increasingly chained by authoritarian forces led by the RSS, we must renew our individual commitment to collective freedom. Let us be guided by Gandhiji's example and continue the march for freedom. Jai Hind!" the former Congress chief said. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News In a tweet, he also attacked the Centre over the issue of employment, saying students want jobs but the government is giving them "beating by police, spraying by water cannon, tag of 'anti-national' and unemployment". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 16:11 [IST] Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 [March 12, 2021] Impaired Shipment of Qualcomm 5G RFIC Expected to Lower 2Q21 Smartphone Production by About 5%, Says TrendForce The Line S2 fab of Samsung (News - Alert) in Austin, Texas sustained a power interruption, which has forced it to suspend operation since mid-February, under the impact from the winter storm. TrendForce's latest investigations indicate that the capacity utilization rate for the entire fab is not expected to climb back to over 90% until the end of March. In particular, Samsung manufactures several products that are highly important for the production of smartphones, including the Qualcomm (News - Alert) 5G RFIC, Samsung LSI OLED DDIC, and Samsung LSI CIS Logic IC. Supply-wise, the first two products sustained the brunt of the winter storm's impact, and global smartphone production for 2Q21 is therefore expected to drop by about 5% as a result. According to TrendForce's investigations, Samsung was able to prepare for the power interruption ahead of time as the company had been forewarned by the local utility. Hence, the loss of WIP (work in progress) wafers caused by the incident was minimal. However, the delay in the resumption of full operation at the plant is expected to last more than two weeks, during which the fab will suspend its wafer input. The incident on the whole will have a definite impact on the global foundry industry that is already experiencing a serious capacity crunch. In terms of wafer input, the Qualcomm 5G RFIC, Samsung LSI OLED DDIC, and Samsung LSI CIS Logic IC account for 30%, 20%, and 15% of the Line S2's monthly production capacity, respectively. Of the three aforementioned products, the Qualcomm RFIC is primarily supplied to smartphone brands to be used in 5G handsets. This product is delivered to clients as part of either AP bundles or 5G modems. The winter storm's impact on the production of the Qualcomm RFIC is expected to take place in 2Q21, resulting in a 30% decrease in 5G smartphone production for the quarter. However, TrendForce expects this incident to impair the 2Q21 production of all smartphones by only about 5%, given smartphone brands' existing inventory of 5G AP bundles and 5G modems, in addition to the fact that smartphone brads are likely to keep up their quarterly smartphone production by increasing the production of 4G handsets to make up for the shortfall in 5G handsets. Furthermore, TrendForce expects the Line S2 fab to prioritize resuming the production of RF products ahead of other products, in turn further mitigating the winter storm's impact on global smartphone production. On the other hand, the Samsung LSI OLED DDIC is primarily used in Apple's (News - Alert) iPhone 12 series. The winter storm's impact on these DDICs will similarly take place by the end of 2Q21. Even so, Apple likely possesses sufficient DDIC inventory, at least in the short term, since the period of peak DDIC demand for the company's existing smartphone models has already passed. Moreover, the iPhone (News - Alert) 12 mini may reach EOL earlier than expected due to disappointing sales. Should Apple decide to cut iPhone 12 mini production, the company will be able to further minimize the impact of OLED DDIC undersupply. Finally, as sales of the iPhone 11 (which is equipped with an LCD, instead of OLED, panel and therefore does not require OLED DDIC) have been resurging recently, Apple may increase the share of iPhone 11 in its total smartphone production in order to keep up its quarterly production volume. In light of these factors, TrendForce believes that the production volume of iPhones in 2Q21 will suffer only limited impact from OLED DDIC supply disruptions. On the whole, although the production of 5G smartphones will face a relatively considerable challenge in 2Q21, smartphone brands will be able to keep up their quarterly production volume by raising the production share of 4G smartphones instead. TrendForce thus projects the winter storm to impair smartphone production for 2Q21 by no more than 5%, while maintaining the previous forecast of 1.36 billion units produced for 2021. However, TrendForce also does not rule out the possibility that the winter storm will lower the penetration rate of 5G smartphones in 2021 from 38%, as previously forecasted, to 36.5%. For further details of this press release, please visit: https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20210312-10711.html For more information on reports and market data from TrendForce's Department of Semiconductor Research, please click here, or email Ms. Latte Chung from the Sales Department at lattechung@trendforce.com About TrendForce (www.trendforce.com) TrendForce is a global provider of the latest development, insight, and analysis of the technology industry. Having served businesses for over a decade, the company has built up a strong membership base of 500,000 subscribers. TrendForce has established a reputation as an organization that offers insightful and accurate analysis of the technology industry through five major research departments: Semiconductor Research, Display Research, Optoelectronics Research, Green Energy Research, and ICT Applications Research. Founded in Taipei, Taiwan in 2000, TrendForce has extended its presence in China since 2004 with offices in Shenzhen and Beijing. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005135/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The emotion inside the Capital Area Intermediate Unit headquarters on Thursday from school employees after receiving their COVID-19 vaccination could rival an amusement park, said its executive director Andria Saia. Disney has nothing on a COVID vaccination event, she said. People are so happy and so relieved. Really it is a weirdly happy place for getting a big needle stuck in your arm. Im just absolutely shocked at how happy everybody is. Thursday was the first day when school employees who work in Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry and northern York County could receive vaccinations through this special statewide initiative aimed at getting schools back to in-person learning five days a week. The vaccination clinics are being run by the states 28 intermediate units in partnership with the Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare LLC. Gov. Tom Wolfs administration reserved the first 94,600 doses of Johnson & Johnsons one-shot vaccine for school staff and child care center workers. The educator vaccination initiative was recommended by the states bipartisan COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. Priority for the first shots is being given to those who work in elementary schools or with students with disabilities or English language learners, since those children have shown to be most susceptible to learning loss. The age or health of those employees makes no difference as to the order in which their appointments are scheduled, Saia said. The 5,500 doses allocated to the Capital Area Intermediate Unit covers the bulk of the public, private and charter school employees who signed up to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, she said. The remaining 3,000 who requested the vaccine will receive their shots in about four weeks when the next batch of that vaccine arrives. Saia said she could sense the emotion from the school employees as they made their way past the registration desk and temperature check and back to a vaccinator inside the IU headquarters in East Pennsboro Township. Im telling you they are so happy, so happy and I get it, she said. They are so relieved the anxiety and worry that they have that they are taking their lives in their hands or their families lives by going to school and being around all these folks is gone. So that really does help. Wolf said the task force sees this initiative as a way to not only get children back into the classroom but allow parents to return to work and get the states economy rolling again. Administration officials say dedicating the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to those who work with children prevents them from competing with senior citizens and those with medical conditions, who can still get the two-shot Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. But still it isnt sitting well with those in Phase 1A who are having difficulty scheduling an appointment to get their protection from COVID-19. Beth Richards, a 61-year-old substitute gym teacher, knows that well. She said her 87-year-old mother had a horrible time trying to get an appointment but she finally got one. Wearing her I got my vaccine at the CAIU sticker on her shirt as she exited the IU headquarters, Richards said she can now feel more comfortable about taking her subbing assignments that come her way usually two to three times a week. She also is happy that the vaccine she received is the one-dose variety. One shot was fabulous, Richards said. Im so glad I only have to do it one time. Triniti Thornhill, a communication specialist at Susquehanna Township School District, said she too was relieved to have received the vaccine. I feel this will enable for us to have students to be able to come in that need to come in to get in-person eduction to best serve our students properly, she said. While she feels her school district does a good job sanitizing and following the necessary protocols, Thornhill has severe asthma, which isnt one of the pre-existing conditions that would have allowed her to be vaccinated during Phase 1A. So she admits it is a relief for her personally. Getting teachers and support staff vaccinated will not eliminate the need for mask-wearing and social distancing in schools because students are not vaccinated, Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said in a Facebook Live conversation with PennLives editorial board on Wednesday. Still, he added, I have to tell you our members are thrilled this is happening and that theyre going to be able to see their students more. Currently, about two-thirds of Pennsylvania school districts are operating with at least a few days of in-person instruction. Red Lion School District math teacher Rachael Curry shared with the editorial board about the struggle teachers face in the classroom this year due to the social distancing that is required. Its really hard to have the students feel like were connected to them and we care about them when they ask a question and we stand six feet away, she said. Even though the mitigation efforts are going to remain in place, she said, Its going to allow for that personal connection that we havent been able to have. Another advantage to getting staff vaccinated is the updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, which suggests if someone is exposed to COVID-19 and has had the vaccine, teachers wont have to quarantine and schools wont have to close. They can still teach. They can still be with their children because there isnt that concern so parents arent going to get that note saying the classroom has to close down for 10 days, Askey said. Thats another reason why this vaccine is important because not only is it going to bring more kids back. Its going to give a continuity to the instruction that has been missing. With all that said, Askey said getting the vaccine into the arms of school employees gets teachers and school support staff one step closer to what is normal. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. A boy, 11, made a rare and exciting discovery while on a family vacation: A 2,500-year-old amulet of a fertility goddess. Last month, Zvi Ben-David was visiting Israel's Negev Desert when he found a ceramic figurine from the sixth century BC, when the region was controlled by Persia. The idol, about two-and-half-inches tall, is of a female figure with her head and neck covered but her breasts exposed and her hands tucked underneath her cleavage. According to experts, the relic is so rare only one other similar one has ever been found. Such figures were common in that era, though, and it was likely used as a fertility amulet or as protection for an infant. A seven-centimeter figurine of a woman with her breasts exposed was discovered by a child on vacation in Israel's Negev Desert last month. Experts date the amulet to the 5th or 6th century, when the region was governed by the Persians In February, Zvi Ben-David was on a trip with his family to Nahal Besor, a trail in the Negev Desert that follows a 50-mile streambed out to the Mediterranean Sea. The 11-year-old from Beer Sheba 'caught sight of an unusual object,' according to a report from the Israel Antiquities Authority: A ceramic female figurine about seven centimeters (2.7 inches) tall and six centimeters (2.3 inches) wide. It depicts the outline of a woman with basic facial features and a head and neck covered by a scarf. The woman's breasts are bare, though, and her hands are folded underneath, making her chest more prominent. Zvi Ben-David, 11, was issued a certificate of appreciation for discovering the ceramic fertility amulet, one of only two ever discovered Ben-David shared his discovery with his mother, professional tour guide Miriam Ben-David, who realized its significance and contacted the IAA. Researchers believe it was made from a mold during the Iron Age, some time in the fifth or sixth century BC. That would have been at the end of the late First Temple period, when Israel was governed by the Achaemenid Empire from Persia. 'Pottery figurines of bare-breasted women are known from various periods in Israel, including the First Temple era,' said archaeologist Oren Shmueli and IAA curator Debbie Ben Ami. Ceramic figures of bare-breasted women were common in the ancient Middle East, often used to invoke prosperity or good luck. Experts believe this mold-made amulet was used for protection during a pregnancy or for an infant. 'They were common in the home and in everyday life, like the hamsa [Hand of Fatima] symbol today, and they apparently served as amulets to ensure protection, good luck and prosperity.' This particular kind of figurine is rare, thoughin fact only one similar has ever been found, also found in the northern Negev. Ancient Israelites were forbidden from worshiping idols, but fertility amulets were very common among neighboring tribes that may have shared their traditions. 'We must bear in mind that in antiquity, medical understanding was rudimentary. Infant mortality was very high and about a third of those born did not survive,' the researchers said. 'There was little understanding of hygiene, and fertility treatment was naturally non-existent. In the absence of advanced medicine, amulets provided hope and an important way of appealing for aid.' The figurine is currently being studied by IAA and will join the other amulet in the National Treasures collection. The IAA issued Ben-David a certificate of appreciation for discovering the amulet. 'The exemplary citizenship of young Zvi Ben-David will enable us to improve our understanding of cultic practices in biblical times and man's inherent need for material human personifications,' the agency said. Nahal Besor is typically dry, but in the rainy season it fills into the largest stream in the northern Negev According to the Old Testament Book of Samuel, Besor was in southwest Judah, where 200 of King David's men took refuge because they were too exhausted to pursue their enemies, the Amalekites. Turkey and Egypt made their first diplomatic contacts since 2013, the Turkish foreign minister said Thursday. We have contacts at both the level of intelligence and foreign ministries with Egypt. Diplomatic-level contacts have started, Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Turkish state Anadolu Agency. The diplomat added that the two states are following a road map as they resume diplomatic communication and that the talks are happening without preconditions, according to the outlet. Turkish-Egyptian relations deteriorated in 2013 after a coup removed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi from power, with current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi later taking over the post. Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was supported by Turkey. An Egyptian security official received a phone call from a Turkish intelligence official Thursday. The Turkish official proposed a meeting in Cairo to discuss economic, political and diplomatic cooperation, Reuters reported Friday, citing Egyptian intelligence sources. Turkey and Egypt are on opposite sides of several regional conflicts. In Libya, Egypt backed the eastern-based Libyan National Army in the civil war, while Turkey supported the United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord. In the Gulf, Turkey supported Qatar during the diplomatic crisis, while Egypt was allied with Saudi Arabia. BRIDGEPORT A Waterbury man out on bond on drug charges allegedly tried to bribe police after they found him asleep in his car. Heres some cash, take it, police said Richard Davis told Officer Steven Caldwell, thrusting a handful of bills at the officer. Davis, of Harvard Street, Waterbury, was charged with bribery, possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. You were here just two weeks ago on a similar (drug) case, Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton told Davis during his arraignment Friday. You keep getting arrested for the same thing. The judge ordered Davis held in lieu of $50,000 bond and continued the case to April 21. According to police, shortly after 5 a.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to William Street and Huntington Road for a car crash. When they got there, they found a 2000 Toyota sedan parked on the grass with its engine running. A man later identified as Davis was asleep behind the wheel, police said. When they awoke him, police said Davis appeared disoriented and believed he was on the other side of the city. Police said there was cash sticking out of his pockets and all over the drivers seat and on the floor of the car. As for his license, police said Davis instead tried to hand Officer Caldwell a wad of cash. I dont want your money but I do need to see your drivers license, police said Caldwell responded. But police said Davis persisted in trying to give the officer cash in exchange for letting him go. Police said during a search they found two bags of marijuana in Davis pockets along with two cell phones. On Feb. 12, Davis was charged by Bridgeport police with numerous narcotics offenses and released on a $10,000 bond, according to court records. India and on Thursday held bilateral consultations on United Nations Security Council issues using the VTC platform where both sides agreed to work closely together on key issues on the UNSC agenda. According to a release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Vietnamese delegation was led by Do Hung Viet - Director-General, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of along with officials from the Department of International Organisations, Department of Southeast Asia - South Asia - South Pacific of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of at New Delhi and the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN. Prakash Gupta, Joint Secretary (UNP & Summits) led the Indian delegation and was joined by officials from the Southern Division of MEA, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New York and the Embassy of India in Hanoi. "Both sides discussed a wide range of issues on the UNSC agenda and briefed each other on their UNSC priorities," MEA said. Vietnam would be holding the Presidency of the UNSC in April 2021 and also informed the Indian side of its Presidency initiatives. "Both sides agreed to work closely together on key issues on the UNSC agenda," it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two men linked to the Mongols motorcycle gang will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday following a lengthy police investigation. Detectives from the Organised Crime Gangs Group executed search warrants at Loganlea, Aspley and Deagon in Brisbane on Thursday and arrested two men allegedly involved in drug trafficking. Detectives from the Organised Crime Gangs Group arrested two men with links to the Mongols bikie gang following a lengthy drug investigation. Credit:Queensland Police Police said the raids and arrests followed investigations after a two-kilogram stash of methylamphetamine was seized from inner-city apartments in January, where a man was arrested and charged. A 30-year-old Loganlea man was charged with trafficking a dangerous drug, possessing dangerous drug and breaching bail. A detail from Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), between 1656 and 1657, by Diego Velazquez. Oil on canvas; 10 feet ,5 inches by 9 feet ,1 inch. Prado Museum. (Public Domain) A Painting to Remember: Las Meninas One of the most written about paintings of all time Three memories I have of the first time I visited Madrid: the relentless elegance of the women in the fashionable areas, the sumptuous gazpacho at the Ritz Madrid, and seeing Las Meninas in the Prado. Ask an artist or a philosopher today to name the greatest painting in the world and the chances are they will say Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor) by Diego Velasquez. As a history of art student, I would gaze at the reproductions in my Thames and Hudson art books. I wasnt sure why this was the most written about painting in Western civilization. Velazquezs supreme painting hangs in the high octagonal room at the heart of the Prado Museum. It is recognized as a masterpiece of the Spanish Golden age, one of the pivots on which art history turns. I gasped in sheer wonder at the first sight of it. Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), between 1656 and 1657, by Diego Velazquez. Oil on canvas; 10 feet, 5 inches by 9 feet, 1 inch. Prado Museum. (Public Domain) Velazquez: Come Into My Painting The oil painting is huge (10 feet 5 inches by 9 feet 1 inch) so it competes with real life. It demands to coexist with you, in three-dimensional space, and does this by creating an illusion of continuity between the room you are in and the one in the painting. It is as though you were looking through a wormhole in time into the tall room in the Alcazar Palace in Madrid where Velazquez, who looks back at you, has set up his easel. Velazquez, however, doesnt just invite you into the painting. He casts you as a specific character in his play. Initially, your attention is drawn to the figure of a young girl, Infanta Margaret Theresa, the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain. The little girl with candyfloss-blond hair is wearing a formal gown, her small torso bound in a corset and a panniered skirt extending around her like a candy box. She is mind-wateringly pretty. She is orbited by an entourage of court servants, including dwarves and a bodyguard. Six of the nine people in this painting are seemingly staring at you. There are many points of especial interest. On the left is Velasquez himself in a rare self-portrait. To the rear of the painting, the queens chamberlain is shown in silhouette in the light of an open door. This provides a vanishing point, but it also draws our eyes to the depth that exists beyond. To the left of the artist, in the distance, is a mirror in which the King and his wife Mariana of Austria are reflected. The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich suggests that in this masterpiece Velasquez has arrested a real moment of time long before the invention of the camera. Las Meninas is described as a dialogue between the artist and the viewer. In some way, it is the ultimate selfie. In High Style In addition to the intellectual nuances, Velazquez paints in the theatrical style of high Baroque. The lighting and use of space moving from dark background to light foreground, the lavish costumes, the sparkling scumble of laceall are painted with extravagant and loose brushstrokes that served his main purposethe animation of life, not merely its representation. Velazquezs brush is able to create sparkling, gleaming, and flashing brilliance. The painting has been debated by philosophers, historians, and critics for three and a half centuries. It has inspired artists from Goya to Dali and Picasso. Dalis moustache was an homage to Velazquez. Picasso painted some no fewer than 58 versions of Las Meninas. Velazquez (15991660) had the ability to depict a face in such a way that it became not only immortal but metaphysical. When he painted kings or misfits he accorded them the same respect. Some have called him the Shakespeare of painters because he portrayed the world with profound honesty. Like Shakespeare, too, he effaced himself: one art critic avers, You cant even decide if Velazquez was a loyal Christian court artist or a sly ironist who saw through the whole charade. In Las Meninas, the painter creates one of the most beguiling enchantments in art. As you look at the golden-haired Infanta flanked by her fussing maids of honorthe meninasaccompanied by a female dwarf and a male dwarf who nudges a sleeping Mastiff dog, you accept the paintings return of your interest. It is as if Las Meninas were not a work of art but another person looking back. This is the perfect illusion of life. It is an argument for the virtue of painting. It is a painting about painting. Professor Roger Scruton, in his documentary Why Beauty Matters, argues that beauty is a universal human need that elevates us and gives meaning to life. Las Meninas is indeed a beautiful painting. It enriches us and serves as a reminder that man can aspire to noble aims. Jani Allan is a journalist, columnist, writer, and broadcaster. OTTAWA Churchills railway and port owners have lost both their corporate backers, but insist that having northern Manitobans in full control will be better for the regions future. OTTAWA Churchills railway and port owners have lost both their corporate backers, but insist that having northern Manitobans in full control will be better for the regions future. Toronto financier Fairfax and Saskatchewan grain giant AGT Foods announced Thursday they'd given up their combined 50 per cent share in Arctic Gateway Group. "They have decided to move along; theyve given us the ownership to take this on, and were pretty excited about it," said Churchill Mayor Mike Spence, who co-chairs Arctic Gateway. "This is a Manitoba company now that really has an opportunity for success." In fall 2018, The Trudeau government helped transfer the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill from Denver-based Omnitrax to a consortium of northern Manitoba groups. Arctic Gateway was launched by First Nations bands and town councils served by the railway, which had washed out in 2017, requiring costly repairs. Proponents hail Churchill as a strategic asset in a world increasingly focused on Arctic shipping routes with Canadas only northern deep-sea port, and Fairfax and AGT Foods cited this long-term potential in joining Arctic Gateway. Yet repairs and maintenance to the railway have cost more than anticipated, and members of the consortium have asked Ottawa for a bailout given the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the two shipping seasons since its takeover and repair, the port and railway had completed seven grain shipments for market abroad, as well as six cargo top-ups for shipments to Nunavut. On Thursday, everyone involved in the project insisted they remain optimistic. "We all decided it was the best outcome; for us its a happy, celebratory day," said Murad al-Katib, the head of AGT Foods. Asked why his group was pulling out if they feel the project is viable, al-Katib insisted one of the possibilities from the start was empowering local interests to take over the project. He said AGT helped shape corporate policies, such as financial protocols and labour agreements with staff. An aerial view of the rail line and Via station in Churchill. (John Woods / The Canadian Press files) "A really strong goal of that partnership was capacity-building, within the communities and the company. This was actually a contemplated outcome," he said. "It was time." Yet town residents said on Facebook they were under the impression that Fairfax and AGT were going to be part of the project for at least a decade, which was also Lloyd Axworthys understanding. "Im certainly surprised," said Axworthy, the former Liberal federal cabinet minister who has advocated for Churchill for decades. "It does seem like an awkward move," he said. "Its terrific for reconciliation, but I didnt see AGT and Fairfax withdrawing." Axworthy wondered if both corporate partners were curtailing projects due to COVID-19, and hoped the local investors can maintain connections with financial institutions that the companies arranged. The Trudeau cabinet declined an interview Thursday, instead issuing a statement on behalf of both Manitoba ministers Jim Carr and Dan Vandal. "We want to thank the consortium for their hard work over the last four years and for their investment and commitment to repair the rail line. The long-term viability of this important national project is stronger today because of their contributions," reads the statement. The ministers wrote that the local owners have "a very strong transition plan in place, and we are excited and confident in the future of the project." Area MP Niki Ashton welcomed the news, saying local interests had tried for decades to get full control of the assets. "It is historic to see full ownership of the port and rail line, that are core to who we are in northern Manitoba, being owned by Manitobans, First Nations and northern communities," the New Democrat said. "Theres been a real sense of hope these last few years, and even more so in this announcement." She said the Liberals should boost their decade-long funding package, which is a $43-million operating subsidy on top of $117 million to acquire and repair the railway. Ashton, Carr and Vandal all repeated calls for the province to boost its financial support. The Pallister government has repeatedly said it supports Churchills town infrastructure but that railways and ports fall under federal jurisdiction. Axworthy suggested Ottawa work with the Biden administration to anchor Churchill as a strategic location for trade and security. "Canada has so few hubs in the North that you can build on," he said. "They're going to have to do something." dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Chennai, March 12 : The prospects of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the AIADMK front at the Jayankondam Assembly constituency seems to have dimmed after party strongman and Vanniyar Sangam State secretary G. Vaithilingam quit from the post and the party. Vaithilingam was a close aide of the late "Kaduvetti" J. Guru who was the state President of Vanniyar Sangham. Sources in the PMK said that the resignation of Vaithilingam on Wednesday has reduced the prospects of the PMK-AIADMK front in Jayankondam Assembly seat, considered a stronghold of the Vanniyar community -- the ideological fountainhead of the PMK. Vaithilingam who was expecting to contest from the Jayankondam seat immediately resigned after the name of K. Balu, an advocate was considered for the seat. The disgruntled leader, it is learnt, has been trying to convince Latha, the widow of J. Guru to contest from the seat as an Independent candidate. If Latha contests from the seat, the Vanniyar votes will split, leading to the victory for DMK candidate. Speaking over telephone from Ariyalur, Vaithilingam told IANS: "There is no role for hardworking lower level cadres in this party and only high profile people without grass root base can survive in the PMK now. "I have been running around the constituency convincing the Vanniyar community of the 10.5 per cent sub-caste reservation under the MBC quota for the community, but I was not considered even though I had got 37,000 votes when the party contested alone in 2016. "If the party does not consider this, then what more can one say." When asked whether Latha will contest from the seat, the veteran leader said: "Politics is the art of possibilities. And in the best interests of the people of the constituency, lets wait." President Donald Trump encouraged Georgia's chief elections investigator in a December phone call to uncover "dishonesty" in her investigation of absentee ballot signatures in an effort to reverse his defeat against Joe Biden in the state, according to a recording of the call released this week by the Georgia secretary of state's office. "The people of Georgia are so angry at what happened to me," Trump told Frances Watson, the chief investigator for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, according to the recording. "They know I won, won by hundreds of thousands of votes. It wasn't close." He added, "When the right answer comes out, you'll be praised." Later on the call, he said, "You have the most important job in the country right now." The Washington Post reported on the substance of Trump's Dec. 23 call in January, describing him saying that Watson should "find the fraud" and that she would be a "national hero," based on an account from Jordan Fuchs, the deputy secretary of state, whom Watson briefed on his comments. In fact, he did not use those precise words. Rather, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize Fulton County, where she would find "dishonesty," he said. He also said, "whatever you can do, Frances, it would be - it's a great thing. It's an important thing for the country. So important. You've no idea. So important. And I very much appreciate it." When The Post first reported on the call, state officials said they did not believe that a recording existed. Officials located the recording on a trash folder on Watson's device while responding to a public records request, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the internal process. Watson has not responded to requests for comment. The Post originally withheld her name because of the risk of threats and harassment directed at election officials. A spokesman for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The recording was first reported Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. At the time Trump called her, Watson was leading an audit of mail ballot signatures in Cobb County, a suburb of Atlanta. Legal experts have said the president's outreach - and another call he placed directly to Raffensperger on Jan. 2 - may have amounted to obstruction of a criminal investigation. The Fulton County district attorney's office has launched a probe into the efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the results in Georgia. On the call, Watson sounds surprised and flattered to find herself on the telephone with the U.S. president - but also careful to reveal little about the investigation she was conducting in partnership with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. "Well, Mr. President, I appreciate your comments," she said. "And I can assure you that our team and the GBI, that we're only interested in the truth and finding, you know, finding the information that's based on the facts." She added: "I know that you're a very, very busy, very important man. And I'm very honored that you called. Quite, quite frankly, I'm shocked that you that you would take time to do that. But I am very appreciative." Trump said he called on the suggestion of his chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows - who had returned from a visit to Georgia the previous day to see the signature investigation in action. Raffensperger had called for the audit after Trump and his allies claimed without evidence that thousands of absentee ballots with forged signatures on their envelopes had been improperly accepted by local election officials. In November, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Raffensperger directly to inquire about the feasibility of rechecking ballot signatures and discarding all absentee ballots in counties with high mismatching rates, Raffensperger told The Washington Post last year. Graham denied that he was trying to toss votes, saying he was merely seeking information to better understand how the state verified mail ballots. It would be impossible to discard the ballots associated with individual ballot envelopes, as they are separated early in the tabulation process to protect voter privacy. On the call with Watson, Trump urged her to check the envelope signatures against older signatures on file rather than a current file - an apparent attempt to inflate the numbers of nonmatching signatures. In Georgia and Florida in 2018, thousands of eligible voters saw their ballots rejected because officials checked their signatures against one on file that was older, and the voters' signatures had evolved in the intervening time. "I hope you're going back two years as opposed to just checking, you know, one against the other because that would just be sort of a signature check that didn't mean anything," Trump said. "But if you go back two years, and if you can get to Fulton, you're going to find things that are going to be unbelievable, the dishonesty that we've heard from, just good sources, really good sources." "But Fulton is the mother lode, you know, as the expression goes. Fulton County," he added. Trump also urged Watson to continue investigating past the Christmas holiday "because, you know, we have the date, which is a very important date" - an apparent reference to Jan. 6, the day a joint session of Congress was scheduled to formalize the electoral college results. Trump was fixated on that date as a last opportunity to overturn the election results, encouraging thousands of his supporters to descend on Washington and protest the vote. The ensuing storming of the U.S. Capitol left five people dead, including one police officer. Dozens of officers were injured. In the aftermath of the violence, Congress formally recognized President Biden's win that night. The BPA free bag provides an airtight seal that allows the consumer to easily remove air from the bag by hand and roll the top to close. The Anova Precision Reusable Silicone bag is perfect for sous vide cooking, including multi-day cooks, and storage of leftovers. The half-gallon bag can withstand temperatures from -40 degrees Fahrenheit up to 446 degrees Fahrenheit, and is dishwasher safe - meaning it can be used over and over again. "Each year, millions of single-use plastics end up in landfills and the ocean. At Anova, we want to pave the way for sustainable sous vide cooking and the Anova Precision Reusable Silicone bag is another step on our journey to be an overall more sustainable company," said CEO and Co-Founder, Steve Svajian. "Our goal is to have a fully recyclable or compostable vacuum sealer bag available by 2022. However, we didn't want to wait to start reducing our plastic footprint," said Svajian. "In the past year, we have created several new products that allow our food nerd community to do just that. Our new and improved Anova Precision Vacuum Sealer bags and rolls are now plastic neutral through our partnership with Plastic Bank. The Anova Precision Oven gives our food nerd community the results of sous vide cooking without the plastic through steam cooking and our 'Sous Vide' mode. The Anova Precision Reusable Silicone bag is the latest product designed with the environment in mind as part of the Anova Sustainability Initiative." At $19.99, the Anova Precision Reusable Silicone bag is a long lasting alternative to plastic. It is now available at anovaculinary.com, and also coming to Target later this month. ABOUT ANOVA Founded in 2013, Anova helped transform the smart kitchen appliance market with the launch of the first commercially available and affordable sous vide immersion circulator. Today with its family of Anova Precision products, Anova is a leading provider of sous vide cookers. Headquartered in San Francisco, Anova is changing the way people cook through its hardware devices and software platform, enabling home cooks to easily create perfectly cooked meals every day. For more news and information on Anova and its products, please visit anovaculinary.com . Media Contact: Austin Lewis, [email protected] SOURCE Anova Related Links http://anovaculinary.com Qatars Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani recently said that his country and Egypt are working toward rapprochement two months after the signing of a reconciliation agreement between the two sides. In the first meeting since the two countries restored diplomatic relations as part of a reconciliation agreement that officially ended more than three years of Gulf division, Al-Thani met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo March 3 on the sidelines of an Arab League meeting. In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar and imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel blockade against Doha over its alleged support for terrorism. Qatar has repeatedly denied their accusations. We in Qatar and our brothers in Egypt are looking at matters in a positive light and are striving to restore warm relations, the Qatari minister said during a March 3 press conference in Cairo at the conclusion of the Arab League meeting held under the chairmanship of Qatar. Al-Thani said that his meeting with Shoukry was marked by a spirit of positivity and optimism. On Jan. 5, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain signed the Al-Ula Declaration at a GCC summit in Saudi Arabia to end the dispute with Qatar and restore diplomatic relations. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that reconciliation will promote solidarity between the countries of the Arab Quartet and strengthen joint Arab action to confront regional challenges. In a Jan. 5 statement, the Foreign Ministry stressed the need to rebuild relations based on good will and avoid interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Kuwait and the United States, which have close relations with all concerned countries, have led the mediation efforts to end the Gulf dispute, which Washington says is impeding attempts to contain Iran. Tension started to build between Egypt and Qatar with the 2013 military ouster of late President Mohammed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The group was subsequently classified in Egypt as a terrorist organization. Although Qatar has denied having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Doha continues to host Egyptian Brotherhood members who are wanted in Cairo on terrorism charges. Rakha Hassan, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, told Al-Monitor that Egypt and Qatar are moving toward improving relations in an effort to defuse the tension between the two sides. On Jan. 20, Egypt announced an agreement with Qatar to officially resume diplomatic relations. The Egyptian Embassy in Doha resumed its work, but diplomatic representation remains limited to the charge daffaires level. Hassan speculated the Egyptian and Qatari foreign ministers may have discussed increasing diplomatic representation with the imminent return of ambassadors to the two countries. There are common interests between the two countries that are greater than differences. We hope that the coming period will witness positive developments, he added. Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, told Al-Monitor, I do expect that relations between Qatar and Egypt will normalize as a result of the reconciliation agreement reached at Al-Ula. Ulrichsen added, It is likely that the joint committees that have been established will facilitate both sides to identify confidence-building measures that will underpin the full restoration of ties, and we have already seen a resumption of investment ventures, which in any case were never fully dissolved, unlike in Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia." On Jan. 9, the Qatari Diar company obtained the Egyptian governments approval to complete the City Gate project in New Cairo. Egypt also allowed Qatari Finance Minister Ali Shareef Al-Emadi to participate in the inauguration of the St. Regis Hotel owned by Qatari Diar on the day of the signature of Al-Ula Declaration. On Feb. 23, delegations from Egypt and Qatar held their first meeting in Kuwait to discuss ways to rebuild relations between the two countries. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the two sides discussed the necessary measures to enhance joint work and bilateral relations between the two countries to achieve the aspirations of their peoples in terms of security, stability and development. Following his meeting with Shoukry on March 3, the Qatari foreign minister said that the meeting in Kuwait was positive and that progress is being made toward restoring ties. Moataz Salameh, head of the Arab and Regional Studies Department at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor that reconciliation between the two countries has come a long way. Reconciliation has received a strong push from the meeting held between the two countries delegations in Kuwait, and later between Shoukry and [Al-Thani] in Cairo, he said. I think political reconciliation is on the right track, and there are practical measures that both sides have taken toward each other. Salameh added, But at the media level, there will still be a threat to this reconciliation because [changing attitudes in] the media and putting an end to the mutual media attacks will take time. We are in a period of testing of intentions. In televised statements on Feb. 12, Shoukry said that his country monitors and documents on a daily basis all content broadcast in Qatar. He added that committees have been formed in both counties to monitor implementation of their pledges. Salameh said, Reconciliation for Egypt means putting an end to the media campaigns by Al Jazeera and other state-owned media outlets to incite against the Egyptian regime. It also means refraining from harboring Egyptian opposition political activists carrying extremist Islamic ideas and handing over wanted individuals. I think these are issues that are being discussed quietly and might require some months." Federal officers on Thursday repeatedly drove demonstrators away from the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland in response to fires and damage to the building just hours after a security fence was removed. Dozens of demonstrators assembled near the courthouse Thursday night, and some of them broke glass at the federal building and lit fires, according to reports from the scene. A large contingent of federal officers responded by deploying impact munitions, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and smoke bombs, according to livestream videos from independent journalists and others documenting the demonstration. Officers drove protesters away from the courthouse in at least three distinct pushes. At least one person was detained. Demonstrators and officers remained squared off in front of the courthouse about 11:30 p.m. Authorities repeatedly said federal property, including the sidewalk surrounding the courthouse, was closed and that those who were on federal property were trespassing. Journalist Suzette Smith, a former Portland Mercury editor, reported the demonstration was a continuation of protest efforts from earlier in the day, when a group gathered in opposition to the replacement and expansion of an oil pipeline that would go from the Canadian province of Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin. Protesters say the new corridor would harm watersheds, wild rice lands and Anishinaabe treaty territories. They argue corporations should clean up an existing, old pipeline. Demonstrators also cited the recent dismantling of protections in front of the courthousea large security fence had been erected around the building last summer, but was taken down earlier Thursdayand proceedings in the case of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyds death as reasons they were protesting Thursday night, Smith reported. Workers put wooden boards on courthouse windows earlier in the day. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Bengaluru, March 12 : State-run NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to make polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) rockets by Indian industry for carrying communication or observation satellites into the earth's lower orbits, an official said on Friday. "We have recently issued an RFP to manufacture the entire PSLV rocket by the Indian industry, which has been making various subsystems and components for rockets launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) over the years for carrying multiple satellites into the earth's orbits," NSIL Director D. Radhakrishnan told IANS here. Unlike in the present set-up, where ISRO procures various parts from the industry and assembles them into a rocket at its Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh for integrating and launching satellites, a consortium of Indian firms will make and assemble the rocket at their plants for integration at the launchpad with satellites. As the commercial arm of the space department, NSIL plans to initially procure five rockets from the industry for launching multiple satellites of Indian or foreign customers from the spaceport. "As part of the space reforms process, we have been mandated to own and operate space assets, including satellites and launch vehicles (rockets) and provide end-to-end services on a commercial basis," said Radhakrishnan, who is in-charge of the company's technology and strategy. The state-run NSIL was in the news recently for launching Brazil's earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 on February 28 from the Sriharikota spaceport on board ISRO's PSLV-C51 rocket along with 18 other satellites. Amazonia-1 is the optical earth observation satellite of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). "The new mandate also envisages a paradigm shift in providing space-based services to a demand-driven model from the present supply-driven model," said the company in a statement. NSIL was formed in March 2019 with a paid-up capital of Rs 10 crore and an authorised capital of Rs 100 crore as a state-owned central public sector enterprise to take over the production and operation of launch vehicles from ISRO. "We have also undertaken transfer of technologies to the Indian industries from ISRO so as to enable them to make rockets and satellites for domestic and overseas customers and for launching them from the Sriharikota spaceport," said Radhakrishnan. The RFP mandates the consortium to procure subsystems and components from the vendors, who have been making and supplying them to ISRO's PSLV and GSLV (geo-synchronous launch vehicle) rockets that carry heavy satellites into the geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the earth. NSIL Chairman G. Narayanan said: "We will soon finalise the needs for new satellites with multiple users and start procuring, owning, launching and providing space-based services, primarily in the communications sector." The 2-year-old company is in talks with the Department of Space to take ownership of two new communication satellites to be launched by ISRO soon for providing direct-to-home (DTH) services and broadband services in Ku band by private operators. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Joe Bidens administration is preparing to launch a comprehensive national coronavirus testing programme, beginning with an initial $650m investment in Covid-19 testing and screening in schools and at underserved congregate settings like homeless shelters, group homes and prisons. The president discussed the plan during his national address on Thursday, hours after he put his signature on a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan package funnelling billions of dollars into testing and vaccine strategy and distribution, along with direct payments and financial relief for millions of Americans one year into the public health crisis. The initial effort from the US Department of Health and Human Services will begin to bring more testing to teachers, staff, and students and serve as a bridge to the comprehensive testing investment in the American Rescue Plan that is critical to get the pandemic under control, the White House said on Thursday ahead of the presidents remarks. The administration will immediately take steps to help schools implement regular screening testing to assist them in safely reopening classrooms, including through tests and test supplies as well as implementation assistance to make it easier for schools to adopt a testing programme. Read more: Follow live updates from the Biden administration Mr Bidens announcement follow calls from public health officials for a wider virus surveillance system to bring the pandemic to an end, a critical tool as the administration pushes for schools to reopen for in-person instruction. The American Rescue Plan vital to the administrations efforts to combat the pandemic contains $130 billion to help schools pay for mitigation, staff and other accommodations to avoid spreading infections. The president also announced on Thursday that he is instructing states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by 1 May, along with a federally supported website and 1-800 number to connect people with nearby vaccines. The administration also is doubling the number of retail pharmacies that will be able to deliver vaccine shots, doubling federal vaccine centres through FEMA, and deploying a total of 6,000 active-duty US military services members to distribute vaccines. He spoke of the war-time effort to vaccinate the US population, with the goal of getting the nation closer to normal by July 4th, Independence Day. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has relaunched a Department of Agriculture advertisement, reminding dog owners that sheep worrying by dogs remains as big an issue as ever, particularly during lambing season. Sheep worrying brings immense and unnecessary stress upon farmers. Many of us will remember the 1984 advertisement featuring Bonzo the dog, the theme of which remains as relevant today as back in the 1980s. "Each year, dogs that are allowed to run free are a menace to sheep. Uncontrolled pets can decimate a flock, with reports suggesting that up to 4,000 sheep are killed or seriously injured in dog attacks yearly. Pet owners are responsible for ensuring that their dogs are under control at all times. Sheep worrying can occur at any time of the year but it is hugely problematic when it happens during the lambing season. Up to 2.5 million lambs are born across the country every Spring. Sheep flocks are very vulnerable to dog attacks at this critical time, and especially during the night. The Minister added, Dog owners must remember that even the most gentle family pet can kill or maim sheep and lambs if allowed to roam. Never let your dog out unsupervised, especially at night. It comes amid reports of dog attacks on flocks in recent weeks. However, IFA Sheep Chairman Sean Dennehy said that while it is a welcome first step, the Minister for Agriculture must provide funding to drive awareness of the advert. "The new advert is excellent, but its disappointing that theres no reference to a budget to ensure that the public will see the advert. Its the equivalent of giving someone a brand new car, with an empty tank of petrol, which is pointless. 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 Subject to INTERPOL Red Notices, the fugitives were wanted for serious crimes, including murder, kidnapping, and violence against women. LYON, France An INTERPOL-coordinated EL PAcCTO operation (20 November 5 March) has seen a team of investigators from across Latin America locate and arrest 13 of their most wanted fugitives. Wanted for serious and often horrific crimes, including murder, kidnapping and sexual violence against women, the fugitives were all subject to INTERPOL Red Notices a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person. Their names also featured on a list of priority fugitive targets established by INTERPOLs Fugitive Investigative Support (FIS) unit and law enforcement in eight Latin American countries in late 2020. Then, during a two-week operational phase (22 February 5 March), INTERPOL coordinated intensive working meetings between national law enforcement aimed at locating and arresting as many of these fugitives as possible. The operational model effectively pushes international police cooperation into hyper drive, allowing investigators to exchange actionable information in real-time. Multiple arrests in a single day This year, more fugitives were arrested during the operational phase than in any other INTERPOL EL PAcCTO project to date. On one occasion, multiple fugitives were arrested in a single day. Positive locations were also secured for a further two wanted persons. A fugitive wanted by Peru for child sexual exploitation and human trafficking was arrested by Argentinas Federal Police after several days spent tracking down family members that had provided erroneous addresses. Inga Molina was on Ecuadors most wanted list since 2018 for rape. Initially thought to have fled abroad, investigators exchanging information within the EL PAcCTO task force managed to locate and arrest him in Quito through open-source analysis and wiretaps. The head of an international drug trafficking ring, wanted by Brazil following a series of seizures who had brought in more than two tonnes of cocaine, was arrested by Bolivian police in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. A permanent EL PAcCTO network These results are only possible thanks to the permanent EL PAcCTO network that has been built up over time between national fugitive investigators, said Stephen Kavanagh, INTERPOLs Executive Director of Police Services. Each year, this network gets stronger and it becomes even harder for criminals to escape justice by fleeing from one Latin America country to another, added Mr Kavanagh. Law enforcement from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru took part in the EL PAcCTO operation. EL PAcCTO is a European Union-funded cooperation programme that seeks to strengthen capacities and facilitate international cooperation. Its partnership with INTERPOL aims to create and develop a permanent mechanism for fugitive investigations across Latin America. First launched in 2018, INTERPOL-coordinated EL PAcCTO operations have so far led to the location and arrest of 79 fugitives as well as 28 positive locations. "Regina Maria" frigate on Friday evening ended the search for the missing members of the crew of the "Volgo Balt 179" ship, which sank on Thursday, and continues its travel in the Black Sea to join, during the night, the Permanent Naval Group of the North Atlantic Alliance SNMG-2 (Standing NATO Maritime Group). According to a press release sent by the General Staff of the Naval Forces, the Romanian military ship handed over to the Coast Guard ship MAI 0201 the command of the search operation in the areas indicated by the Maritime Coordination Centre Constanta (MRCC), the coordinating structure of search operations. The "Volgo Balt 179" cargo ship, located under the flag of the Comoros Islands, sank on Thursday in the Black Sea, with ten crew members rescued out of the total 13 (Ukrainian citizens), who are currently at the Emergency County Clinical Hospital Constanta. It appears drug dogs aren't as needed as they used to be Ukrainian news media have carried reports of opened vials of vaccine going to waste at hospitals because not enough willing doctors and nurses could be found to receive the doses. First Ukraine got caught up in the geopolitics of vaccine distribution between Russia and the West, and struggled to get hold of any doses. Now that it has them, Ukraine faces a new challenge: finding enough people who are willing to be vaccinated. The country is so plagued by misinformation about COVID-19 that vaccine hesitancy in Ukraine is among the worst in Europe, even among doctors and nurses, The New York Times wrote. That shows in the slow start for Ukraine's vaccination program: So far, just over 23,000 people have received a dose, out of a population of 42 million. Ukrainian news media have carried reports of opened vials of vaccine going to waste at hospitals because not enough willing doctors and nurses could be found to receive the doses. Read alsoCOVID-19: Health ministry pledges those wishing will be vaccinated by late 2021The United Nations Development Program and UNICEF released a study saying that Ukraine was suffering from an "infodemic," with social media "flooded with false narratives" about the disease and vaccination. Ukraine's tense internal politics are partly to blame. Opponents of President Volodymyr Zelensky have extended their criticism of him to the two vaccines his administration has put into use one from Oxford-AstraZeneca and the other from Sinovac both of which have been shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective. A former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, who now heads an opposition party, introduced a bill in Parliament that implicitly criticized the Zelensky administration's choices by providing for the government to compensate Ukrainians for any side effects and "protect every Ukrainian from the negative consequences" of the two vaccines. A former president, Petro O. Poroshenko, said that Ukrainian health care workers were refusing inoculation in the belief that the two vaccines were of poor quality. He used scatological language to describe the vaccines in a speech in Parliament. The Ukrainian health minister, Maksym Stepanov, said in an interview that the political fight was eroding confidence in vaccination. "Politicians contribute to people's distrust of vaccines," he said. Health officials have said that about one-third of doctors and nurses in the country have already been infected with the coronavirus, and the rest are evenly divided between those who want to be inoculated and those who say they have no intention of taking either of the available vaccines. Mr. Stepanov said that the widely held negative attitudes were a result of "a lot of fake news spread by members of the anti-vaccination movement." 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, 2021, the first batch of the Covishield vaccine arrived in Ukraine. On February 24, 2021, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. About 160 healthcare workers were first who got vaccinated, as well as members of the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas. On March 1, 2021, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov had had his COVID-19 vaccine shot, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was vaccinated against COVID-19 during a trip to the Donbas warzone on March 2. According to the Health Ministry, elderly people are next to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine. Reporting by UNIAN ROME, MAR 12 - A member of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta who had been on the run since 2018 and was on the list of Italy's most dangerous fugitives was arrested in Barcelona on Friday. Giuseppe Romeo, a key player in the Calabrian Mob's domination of the European cocaine trade, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail on mafia and drug trafficking charges. Romeo, 35, from the 'Ndrangheta fief of San Luca, was arrested by the Guardia Civil with the help of Italian prosecutors. Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said the arrest "rewards the work and the great determination of state police investigators, coordinated by the anti-mafia directorate of Reggio Calabria". She said it was a "hard blow" to 'Ndrangheta's narcotics trafficking activities. She said the Italian police had shown "dedication, professionalism and great ability to cooperate with authorities in other countries". 'Ndrangheta is Italy's richest and most powerful mafia, outstripping Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Camorra in Naples. (ANSA). (TNS) Oregon is one of just four states along or west of the continental divide that has yet to launch smartphone technology to aide in coronavirus contact tracing, leaving the state some two months behind schedule with no explanation from officials about the delay.Gov. Kate Brown announced Oregon would test the Exposure Notifications Express technology last fall and state officials anticipated a wider rollout in January. The program allows users to opt-in to receive notice if theyve spent time in close proximity to someone who later tests positive, such as when dining at a restaurant or spending time at a college party.California launched its notification system Dec. 10, with millions now using it. Washington started even earlier, Nov. 30, and more than 1.8 million residents have opted in.Oregon officials have given only vague statements and shifting timelines. A spokesperson for the Oregon Health Authority in December said the agency was currently working towards a January 2021 launch. In early January officials said they were assessing the results of a pilot project at Oregon State University and would likely have an update by mid-month. This week the health authority said those results are still being reviewed and neither the agency nor Oregon State University responded to public records requests for documentation about the results or recommendations.OHA is still assessing the results of a now-completed Oregon State University pilot of the application to determine a date for rolling it out, but as mentioned previously, we are looking at spring for go-live, Tim Heider, a spokesman for the health authority, said in an email.The notification system is a complementary tool to traditional contact tracing, in which public health officials interview someone who has been infected, collect the names of people whove been in close contact with that person, and then contact those people to tell them about exposure.The smartphone system allows people who opt-in to use their cell phones to anonymously ping nearby cell phones, with the data kept confidential. If someone later tests positive, they receive a code from local health officials that they can punch into their phone. That triggers a process for sending out notifications to people who were in close contact with the infected person without disclosing anyones personal information.While officials in many states have lauded the technologys potential to help slow coronavirus spread,its unclear how successful those programs have been.Washington officials say they believe the exposure app is a useful tool, though its hard to know for sure. The way WA Notify works is that no news is good news, Teresa McCallion, a state health spokesperson said in an email.State officials said they werent able to provide detailed information on how many of their 1.8 million users have received a notification, saying there are multiple ways to be notified. The main source is through contact tracers, who ask residents if they use the app.The University of Washington is studying the nascent state program and expects to release a report this month.We are adding approximately 3,000 new users every week, McCallion said. That kind of response exceeds our wildest expectations.King County, home to Seattle, estimated roughly 20 percent of contact tracing interviewees indicated they had WA Notify on their phone, local officials said.Since December, the system has sent codes to 2,140 app users with infections so they could choose to trigger notifications for people who they came in close contact with.The effect of WA Notify on curbing transmission is being reviewed at the state level, a county spokesperson said.A United Kingdom study released last month determined more than 1.7 million smartphone users in England and Wales were told to isolate via an exposure notification app in the span of a few months. The study estimated more than 600,000 COVID-19 cases were prevented since the app launched in September.Isolating and knowing when you have been at risk of catching coronavirus is essential to stopping the spread of this virus, and the app is the quickest way to notify you if you are at risk, Matt Hancock, the Health and Social Care Secretary, said in a statement last month.Oregons information gap remains as cases this month plunged statewide to levels below last summers peak. But the technology could seemingly come in handy, as the governor has authorized indoor dining in 31 of 36 counties, including the entire metro area, and pledged to keep it that way at least until March 26.According to state figures, just 50 percent of cases as of this week were traced back to a known source. Multnomah county falls far short of that mark, with just 41 percent of the countys rapidly declining cases traced back to a specific source, far below the states stated goal of 70 percent.Contact tracers in the tri-county area were overwhelmed this winter amid surging cases and its not clear what role, if any, their challenges have played in the delay. In December, state health officials said they were coordinating with county health offices on the app rollout but offered no details.In late November, tri-county health officials were so overwhelmed that they urged COVID positive residents to call close contacts and their employer and not wait for a contact tracer to reach out suggesting new duties tied to a notification system werent feasible.Beyond Washington and California, Hawaii, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Nevada have enabled statewide notification systems. Arizona launched notification systems on some college campuses and New Mexico has a small-scale option in Santa Fe.Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana dont have notification systems enabled.Colorado said it now has about 1.8 million users, with the technology so widely adopted because it is free, anonymous and easy to use on Android and Apple devices. It also comes in multiple languages.A state spokesperson said the notification system has been a useful tool in helping slow disease transmission. ADVERTISEMENT The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on purchase of arms and ammunition, on Friday, insisted that the Chief of Army Staff, Attahiru Ibrahim, a lieutenant general, must appear in person to clarify issues on purchase of arms by the Nigerian Army. This followed the adoption of a motion by Bede Eke (PDP-Imo) at a public hearing in Abuja. Mr Ibrahim had sent a team of officers led by Charles Ofoche, a major general, to represent him at the event. A member of the Committee, Ifeanyi Mouma (APGA-Anambra), while raising a point of order at the hearing, said a written invitation was sent to COAS by the committee to appear in person. For me as a member of this committee which is supposed to actually lay ground facts for the people of Nigeria on the objective that this committee was set up. I do not think the representative of the Chief Army Staff can be held culpable or liable for the remarks made here because it is assumed that any remarks made here is made by the Chief of Army Staff. So if he is not the one making the remarks, it makes it very easy for him to actually engage in culpable deniability since he is not the one making the remarks, he said. Mr Ofoche had tendered the apology of COAS for his inability to appear in person. He explained that the COAS, who was recently appointed, has been on tour of formations in the country to get first-hand information on the state of troops. He was in Ibadan and Enugu yesterday all for the same security needs; the country is embroiled in a lot of crises so he is moving around, he said. Formula 1 needs to be "careful" not to be left behind as climate change takes centre stage, according to quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel. After switching from Ferrari to Aston Martin for 2021, the 33-year-old has emerged as an ambassador for Austrian team sponsor BWT's new environmental initiatives. As such, he will race a pink helmet livery at least at some grands prix in 2021, according to Decalspotters. But it's not just about the sponsorship for the German driver. He thinks Formula 1, given its status, is not being proactive enough on environmental issues including climate change and sustainability. "I find it absolutely justified that every company has to face this responsibility," Vettel told the German edition of Playboy magazine. "If Formula 1 is not careful, it will have a serious problem very soon." The Aston Martin driver thinks Formula 1's current priorities lie elsewhere. "Having a profitable business is a common goal in our society," said Vettel. "But that doesn't help everyone. "Perhaps it would be better to adapt to the conditions so that everyone benefits. But I think we are still a long way from this idea in Formula 1. We have some urgent catching up to do." (GMM) Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Goodwill Zwelithini, the controversial but revered king of the Zulus, South Africa's largest ethnic group, died Friday aged 72 after weeks in hospital for a diabetes-related illness, the royal palace announced. The king wielded great influence among millions of Zulus and beyond through his largely ceremonial and spiritual role, despite having no official power in modern South Africa. In a short statement, the palace said the king "took a turn for the worse and he subsequently passed away in the early hours of this morning". Born in Nongoma, a small town in the south-eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province, Zwelithini ascended the throne in 1971 during the apartheid era. No succession plans have been divulged yet. His body will be taken from a Durban hospital to the palace in Nongoma, around 300 kilometres away, to lie in state for "a couple of days", said Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a powerful veteran politician who is also a Zulu prince. President Cyril Ramaphosa has granted the king a special official funeral of the type usually reserved for presidents and ex-presidents. The date is yet to be announced, but in the meantime national flags will fly at half-mast. During a half-century-long reign, Zwelithini revived festivals celebrating virgin women, was blamed for fuelling deadly xenophobic violence, slammed gays as "rotten" and enjoyed a lavish and hedonistic lifestyle in a country where millions live in poverty. Nevertheless, Ramaphosa said the king "will be remembered as a much-loved, visionary monarch who made an important contribution to cultural identity, national unity and economic development". - Culture of defiance - Returning from hiding over assassination fears, Zwelithini was crowned the eighth Zulu monarch at the age of 23. Under the white-minority regime which ended in 1994, kings ruled homelands where most blacks were confined to defuse broader national struggles. He was to become the longest-reigning of all known Zulu kings - dying during his 50th year on the throne. Story continues The Zulus are South Africa's largest ethnic group with over 11 million people. He was "very popular because he came from a very powerful and defiant line of kings," one of whom defeated the British during the 1800s Anglo-Zulu war, said historian and cultural analyst Ntuli Pikita. And Zwelithini maintained that culture of defiance. Traditional rulers play a largely symbolic role in modern South Africa, where they are constitutionally recognised. "We have lost one of the giants of the institution of traditional leadership on the continent," Zolani Mkiva, secretary general of a pressure group, the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, told AFP. His home province has declared a week of mourning, with its leader Sihle Zikalala describing him as "the father and pillar of our nation... our unique torch-bearer during some of the darkest times that this country has ever seen". - Courting controversy - In 2015, Zwelithini gained international notoriety for anti-foreigner remarks suggesting immigrants were responsible for rising lawlessness in South Africa, blamed for inflaming a spate of xenophobic attacks on mostly African migrants. Zwelithini later denied whipping up xenophobic sentiments, saying his remarks were taken out of context. "If it was true I said people must kill each other, the whole country would (have been) reduced to ashes," he said. A descendent of the all-powerful Shaka -- who ruled the Zulu nation until his assassination in 1828 -- Zwelithini revived the annual Reed Dance in 1984, where thousands of bare-breasted young women celebrate their virginity by dancing in front of the king. He was the most prominent among a handful of traditional rulers who hold sway over emotive issues such as land ownership in South Africa. In 2018, he sought an exemption for nearly three million hectares of royal land which the government had wanted to expropriate for redistribution to landless marginalised blacks sidelined by apartheid. "All hell will break loose" if his ownership was challenged, Zwelithini warned. He also sparked a storm in 2012 when he slammed same-sex relationships as "rotten", drawing rebuke from rights groups. But he was lauded for his dispelling myths around HIV-AIDS in a country which has the biggest HIV epidemic in the world. In 1994, he sparked fears of a secessionist conflict when he rallied up to 50,000 stick-wielding men -- most of them supporters of the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) - to march through Johannesburg to support his call for sovereignty ahead of the country's first democratic election. The marchers engaged in a firefight outside the headquarters of the IFP's main rival, the now-ruling African National Congress, leaving 42 people dead. Zwelithini enjoyed the trappings of his royal status, receiving some 60 million rand ($4 million) in yearly allowances from government to help fund a lifestyle that includes several royal palaces, six wives and over 28 children. bur-sn/tgb 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 small gas exoplanet may have lost its atmosphere billions of years ago, but then gained a second one through volcanic activity, according to astronomers. The planet, GJ 1132 b, is thought to have begun as a gaseous world, similar to Jupiter or Saturn but smaller than Neptune, with a thick hydrogen blanket of atmosphere. It quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere, having it 'cooked off' within the first 100 million years of the planet forming due to the intense radiation of its hot, intense host star - which it orbits once every 1.6 days. This left it a 'bare core', similar in size to the Earth, but with no atmosphere - but astronomers say it developed a second atmosphere due to volcanic activity on the surface of the now rocky world at some point in the billions of years that followed. The team, from NASA and the University of Cambridge used Hubble and computer modelling to explore how the atmosphere was first lost and then regained. This is an artist's impression of the Earth-sized, rocky exoplanet GJ 1132 b, located 41 light-years away around a red dwarf star It quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere, having it 'cooked off' within the first 100 million years of the planet forming due to the intense radiation of its hot, intense host star - which it orbits once every 1.6 days EXOPLANET GJ 1132b: THE CLOSEST WORLD TO A RED DWARF STAR Discovered by: MEarth-South Array Discovered in: May 2015 Orbital period: 1.6 daylight s Distance from star: 1.4 million miles Star type: Red Dwarf Atmosphere: Molecular hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, methane and also contains an aerosol haze Mass: 1.6 times Earth Radius: 1.2 times Earth Temperature: 278 degrees Fahrenheit Distance from Earth: 41 light years Advertisement Recent observations of the planet, first discovered in 2015, revealed more details about its atmosphere including the fact it has a hydrocarbon haze, similar to what can be seen on Earth after a smog. Astronomers believe this is a 'secondary atmosphere,' in part due to the inclusion of chemical 'fingerprints' in the observations showing elements of primordial hydrogen and helium. The team reports that the atmosphere consists of molecular hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, methane and also contains an aerosol haze. Modeling suggests the aerosol haze is based on photochemically produced hydrocarbons, similar to smog on Earth, and likely the result of volcanic activity. Hydrogen from the original atmosphere was absorbed into the planet's molten magma mantle billions of years ago - within the first 100 million years of it forming - and is now being slowly released by volcanism to form a new atmosphere. This second atmosphere, which continues to leak away into space, is continually being replenished from the reservoir of hydrogen in the mantle's magma. 'This second atmosphere comes from the surface and interior of the planet, and so it is a window onto the geology of another world,' explained team member Paul Rimmer of the University of Cambridge. The rocky exoplanet GJ 1132 b, similar in size and density to Earth, possesses a hazy atmosphere made up of volcanic gases Recent observations of the planet, first discovered in 2015, revealed more details about its atmosphere including the fact it has a hydrocarbon haze, similar to what can be seen on Earth after a smog 'A lot more work needs to be done to properly look through it, but the discovery of this window is of great importance.' As the second atmosphere comes up from the surface of the planet it provides astronomers with a 'window into the geology of another world,' said Rimmer. 'We first thought that these highly radiated planets would be pretty boring because we believed that they lost their atmospheres,' said team member Raissa Estrela of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. The discovery led the team to question how many terrestrial planets don't begin life as rocky worlds, but rather cores of gas planets - like this one. Then they 'become terrestrials through a mechanism whereby light evaporates the primordial atmosphere,' said team leader Mark Swain of JPL. 'This process works early in a planet's life, when the star is hotter. Then the star cools down and the planet's just sitting there. 'So you've got this mechanism that can cook off the atmosphere in the first 100 million years, and then things settle down. And if you can regenerate the atmosphere, maybe you can keep it.' In some ways, GJ 1132 b has various parallels to Earth, but in some ways it is also very different, according to the British and American team behind the study. As the second atmosphere comes up from the surface of the planet it provides astronomers with a 'window into the geology of another world,' said Rimmer Pictured here is the region around the host star of the exoplanet GJ 1132 b, the star is too small to be visible in this wide field image FROM GAS PLANET TO TERRESTRIAL WORLD The planet, GJ 1132 b, is thought to have begun as a gas world with a thick hydrogen blanket of atmosphere. It started out at several times the diameter of Earth nearly 5 billion years ago when it formed. This so-called 'sub-Neptune' is believed to have quickly lost its primordial hydrogen and helium atmosphere. This was due to the intense radiation of the hot, young star it orbits. In a short period of time, such a planet would be stripped down to a bare core about the size of Earth. That's when things got interesting. To the surprise of astronomers, Hubble observed an atmosphere which, according to their theory, is a "secondary atmosphere" that is present now. It consists of molecular hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, methane and also contains an aerosol haze. Advertisement Both have similar densities, similar sizes, and similar ages, being about 4.5 billion years old and both started with a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere. The two worlds were also very hot before eventually cooling down and have similar atmospheric pressure at their surface, the team discovered. The big difference comes from how the two worlds first formed, authors explained. Earth is not believed to be the surviving core of a sub-Neptune gas planet and orbits a comfortable distance from a yellow dwarf sun - within the habitable zone. GJ 1132 b is so close to its host red dwarf star that it completes an orbit the star once every day and a half, keeping it tidally locked with one face always facing the star. 'The question is, what is keeping the mantle hot enough to remain liquid and power volcanism?' asked Swain, who added that this system is special 'because it has the opportunity for quite a lot of tidal heating.' The phenomenon of tidal heating occurs through friction, when energy from a planet's orbit and rotation is dispersed as heat inside the planet. GJ 1132 b is in an elliptical orbit, and the tidal forces acting on it are strongest when it is closest to or farthest from its host star - getting as close as 1.2 million miles. To show how close this is, the planet orbiting nearest to the sun is Mercury, and it 36 million miles away from our star - orbiting every 88 days. The thin crust is 'much too feeble' to support volcanic mountains but the flat terrain may have been 'cracked like an eggshell' due to tidal flexing This plot shows the spectrum of the atmosphere of an Earth sized rocky exoplanet, GJ 1132 b, which is overlaid on an artist's impression of the planet JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE: A CHANCE TO LOOK FURTHER THAN BEFORE The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe. The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago. It will also observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system. Most of its instruments have an operating temperature of roughly 40 Kelvin about -387 Fahrenheit. Officials say the cost may exceed the $8 billion (5.6 billion) program cap set by Congress. The space agency has already poured $7 billion (5 billion) into the telescope. When it is launched in 2021, it will be the world's biggest and most powerful telescope, capable of peering back 200 million years after the Big Bang. Advertisement In the GJ 1132 system there are thought to be as many as three planets, this one closest to the star orbiting every 1.6 days, another orbiting every 8.9 days and an unconfirmed exoplanet orbiting the star every 176 days. At least one other planet in the host star's system also exerts a gravitational pull on the GJ 1132 b, according to the astronomers behind the study. The consequences are that the planet is squeezed or stretched by this gravitational 'pumping' between the nearby star and relatively close planet, creating a tidal heating that keeps the mantle liquid for a long time. A nearby example in our own Solar System is the Jovian moon, Io, which has continuous volcanism as a result of a tidal tug-of-war between Jupiter and the neighbouring Jovian moons. The team believes the crust of GJ 1132 b is only a few hundred feet thick, much thinner than the 18 mile thickness of Earth's crust. The thin crust is 'much too feeble' to support volcanic mountains but the flat terrain may have been 'cracked like an eggshell' due to tidal flexing. Hydrogen and other gases could be released through such cracks in the crust. 'This atmosphere, if it's thin meaning if it has a surface pressure similar to Earth probably means you can see right down to the ground at infrared wavelengths. 'That means that if astronomers use the James Webb Space Telescope to observe this planet, there's a possibility that they will see not the spectrum of the atmosphere, but rather the spectrum of the surface,' explained Swain. The James Webb Space Telescope is a follow on mission to the Hubble telescope, a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency, it will be able to observe distant stars, worlds and galaxies in much greater detail. 'If there are magma pools or volcanism going on, those areas of the surface will be hotter' than if volcanism wasn't happen, said Swain. 'That will generate more emission, and so they'll potentially be looking at the actual geological activity which is exciting!' This result is significant because it gives exoplanet scientists a way to figure out something about a planet's geology from its atmosphere,' added Rimmer. 'It is also important for understanding where the rocky planets in our own Solar System fit into the bigger picture of comparative planetology, in terms of the availability of hydrogen versus oxygen in the atmosphere.' Details of the discovery are available on the pre-print server arXiv.org. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 If youve been sharing passwords with your friends for access to Netflix, you might be in for some bad news. Netflix is now looking at a way to curb password sharing amongst users for both business and security reasons. The streaming giant was spotted testing a new feature by GammaWire which prevents users who are not authorised to use the account from accessing it. Unsplash/david-balev Netflix said in a statement to The Verge, This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so. The feature that is being tested can now detect users who are trying to use the account without being the actual owner of it. The person trying to access the account will be asked to verify later or verify being the owner of the account via an email code or text code. GammaWire The person will have to verify the account ownership within a timeframe and if they're unable to do so, it will result in the user not being able to stream any content on Netflix. Instead, the user will then be asked to make their own account to start streaming content on the platform. In part, this is to curb password sharing amongst friends however this will also reduce the possibility of accounts getting hacked. The new security measures will strengthen account protection and prevent any malicious attempts to use the account via fraudulent methods. There is still a big question about household account sharing as Netflixs terms of service says users can stream content for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household. It doesnt specify whether the household needs to be at the same physical address or constitutes family members too. There is also no clarification about users who travel often or have family members living at a different address. These circumstances are some of the main reasons why passwords are shared in the first place so that Netflix can be accessed by multiple family members at different locations. Unsplash/mollie-sivaram Do you like Netflix testing this new feature where it could curb password sharing amongst friends and family? Let us know in the comments about how this could affect you in the long run and why password sharing is important amongst family members. Source: GammaWire The Oregon Health Authority on Friday announced three COVID-19 deaths and 402 new coronavirus cases as cases continued their rollercoaster journey this week. The latest figures came as state leaders released the latest COVID-19 forecast, which cautioned that while transmission has already decreased since the winter peak, the state isnt out of the woods yet as the disease variants could continue to spread. Those concerns may accelerate if Oregonians dont continue to wear masks and socially distance, health leader said Friday. As access to vaccine gradually expands throughout the state, the projections on spread of the virus emphasize the importance of continuing to practice preventive measures that can slow the spread of the disease, the state said in a statement. If transmission continues at the reproduction rate documented through the bulk of February, the state estimates the number of identified average daily cases would be 170 starting next week. An increase in transmission, either because of the variants or relaxed safeguards, could results in 265 identified cases a day. But the modeling doesnt appear to align with the current reality. As of Friday, the state was averaging about 300 cases a day over the past week. Subscribe to our free weekday coronavirus newsletter. Email: Where the new cases are by county: Baker (3), Benton (18), Clackamas (49), Clatsop (2), Columbia (2), Coos (21), Crook (1), Curry (5), Deschutes (8), Douglas (19), Grant (4), Hood River (1), Jackson (24), Jefferson (2), Josephine (25), Klamath (11), Lake (2), Lane (14), Lincoln (5), Linn (12), Malheur (1), Marion (34), Multnomah (73), Polk (8), Tillamook (5), Umatilla (3), Union (4), Washington (41) and Yamhill (5). Who died: Oregons 2,317th COVID-19 death is a 93-year-old Josephine County man who tested positive March 1 and died March 10 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. Oregons 2,318th death is a 70-year-old Deschutes County woman who died Feb. 2 at St. Charles Bend Hospital. Her death certificate listed COVID-19 as a cause or significant factor contributing to her death. Oregons 2,319th death is a 63-year-old Deschutes County man who tested positive Jan. 24 and died Feb. 12 at St. Charles Bend Hospital. Each person who died had underlying medical conditions. The prevalence of infections: On Thursday, the state reported 665 new positive tests out of 15,961 tests performed, equaling a 4.2% positivity rate. Who got infected: New confirmed or presumed infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (33); 10-19 (45); 20-29 (71); 30-39 (69); 40-49 (66); 50-59 (50); 60-69 (28); 70-79 (18); 80 and older (13). Whos in the hospital: The state reported that 123 people were hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19, which is two greater than Thursdays figure. There were 23 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, one fewer than were in similar care Thursday. Vaccines administered: Oregon has administered 1,269,595 first and second doses as of Friday. The state reported 34,613 new doses. Of those vaccines, 23,075 doses were administered Thursday and 11,538 were administered on previous days but entered into the system Thursday. Since it began: Oregon has reported 159,037 confirmed or presumed infections and 2,319 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported 3,938,818 lab reports from tests Andrew Theen; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen Nearly a quarter of churchgoers plan to attend worship more regularly post-pandemic: Lifeway Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Nearly one in four people who attended church before the coronavirus pandemic plan to attend more frequently after it has ended, according to Lifeway Research. According to a report on Protestant churchgoers, Lifeway found that 91% plan to return to attending worship post-pandemic, with 23% saying they will attend more often. The report also found that 6% responded that they will attend less often than before the pandemic, while 2% plan to rarely attend and 1% will stop altogether. Churchgoers aged 18-29 were the demographic most likely to report planning to attend more, with 43% saying they will go to worship more than before after the pandemic. Two-thirds of pastors whose churches were open for in-person worship in January saw attendance of less than 70% of their January 2020 attendance, stated Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, in the report. Many of these pastors are wondering if those who havent returned ever will. Nine in 10 churchgoers plan to when it is safe to do so. The report drew from a survey conducted by Lifeway of 1,000 Protestant churchgoers from Feb. 5-18, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2% with a 95% confidence. Other findings included 87% of respondents saying they stuck with the same church during the pandemic, 51% saying they did not attend worship in January of this year, and 83% saying they watched a livestream of a service instead of in-person attendance at least once in 2020. Since it began early last year, the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically impacted churches, and pastors found themselves canceling in-person services for public health reasons. Many have debated the long-term consequences of the pandemic on congregations and overall spiritual practice in the United States, with some seeing dire results. For example, Barna Group President David Kinnaman told NPR last August that he expected as many as one in five churches in the U.S. to close over the next year-and-a-half. Even for those churches that have reopened, theyre seeing much smaller numbers of people show up. So simply reopening a church doesnt fix the underlying economic challenges that you might have, Kinnaman explained at the time. Others have noted a rise in interest for religious matters, with the law firm Becket releasing a report last November which found Generation Z relying more on their faith than expected. According to Beckets Religious Freedom Index report, 74% of Gen Z respondents said faith was at least somewhat important during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting them above the 62% average of all generations. The same report found that Gen Z respondents were most likely to consider faith extremely or very important, with 51% saying so. Millennials were the lowest at 31%. 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. 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. Also, health authorities throughout Canada are keeping a watchful eye on European investigations of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots following inoculations, but say there is no evidence they were caused by the vaccine. Canada's first 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca are being put to use just this week. No province or territory has said it would stop its rollout in light of the investigations in Europe. Here's a list of their vaccine 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. Newfoundland and Labrador announced March 3 it was extending the interval between the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to four months. Public health officials said the change will help them vaccinate 40,000 more people with a single dose by the end of March. Liberal Leader and incumbent Premier Andrew Furey said the decision is a game changer for the province's vaccination prospects. Nova Scotia Health officials in Nova Scotia announced March 2 that vaccination rollout plans for the month included the province's first pharmacy clinics. Prototype pharmacy clinics launched in Halifax and Shelburne on March 9, and will then start in 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. Health officials said March 3 the upcoming shipment must be used by April 2 and, therefore, all 13,000 doses will be administered to residents across the province aged 50 to 64 years starting March 15. The vaccine will be given out at 26 locations in Nova Scotia on a first come, first served basis. 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 March 1, 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. COVID-19 vaccination appointments opened March 10 for residents aged 70 and older across Quebec. Vaccines had previously only been accessible to people as young as 70 in Montreal and its northern suburb of Laval. Health Minister Christian Dube has said the arrival of more vaccine shipments could allow the government to open vaccination to people aged 65 and older in the Montreal area this week. Premier Francois Legault told reporters this week his hope is that once those over 65 are vaccinated, more health orders could be relaxed, including the ban on indoor private gatherings. Legault says seniors aged 65 and older have accounted for 80 per cent of hospitalizations and 95 per cent of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Quebec. Ontario Ontario has focused its initial vaccine effort on those in long-term care, high-risk retirement home residents, some health-care workers and people who live in congregate care settings. 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 include a service desk and online portal. It has said the rollout will look different in each of its 34 public health units.Several regions in Ontario have moved ahead with their plans to vaccinate the general public using their own booking systems to allow residents aged 80 and older to schedule appointments. The province has also said it will extend the interval between doses of COVID-19 vaccines to up to four months. Toronto began vaccinating police force members who respond to emergency calls on March 1 and has also started offering vaccines to people experiencing homelessness. The province has said the recently approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will go to residents between the ages of 60 and 64. A pilot project is set to launch Friday at more than 300 pharmacies in Toronto, Kingston and Windsor to give the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot to those aged 60 to 64. The health minister has also said the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot could be used in correctional facilities, but further details haven't been released. 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. Like British Columbia, Manitoba has already indicated it would opt for a four-month interval between doses. --- Saskatchewan The Saskatchewan Health Authority says it's dropping the eligible age for seniors to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments to 80, down from 85. March 11 was the start of the province's booking system, announced after people raised concerns about waiting to be contacted by public health to receive their shots. The health authority says about 4,300 appointments were made by phone or online. It was only open to residents 85 and older, but the authority says the age will drop to 80, starting March 12, after a successful first-day rollout. The province has started vaccinating for long-term care residents and staff, health-care workers at elevated risk of COVID-19 exposure and anyone 50 or older living in a remote area. Saskatchewan 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. Premier Scott Moe has said that people will get their second shot up to four months after the first, which falls in line with a recentrecommendation from Canada's national immunization committee. Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro has said the province expects to offer all Albertans aged 18 and over a first dose of vaccine by the end of June. Shandro said residents aged 65 to 74, and First Nations, Inuit and Metis aged 50-plus, can begin booking March 15. The province had originally not expected to begin this stage of vaccination until April. The AstraZeneca vaccine will for now be offered to adults aged 50 to 64 who dont have a severe chronic illness. Alberta has also said it will follow other provinces by extending the time between the first dose and the second to four months. 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 March 1 and health authorities began contacting residents and staff of independent living centres, those living in seniors' supportive housing as well as homecare support clients and staff. Health Minister Adrian Dix said health authorities across the province can schedule COVID-19 vaccine appointments for people aged 85 and older. Health authorities started scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments for people aged 90 and older Indigenous people 65 years and up on March 8. Henry has said the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine means some people will get their first shot sooner than planned. She said 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 said. 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 12, 2021. Sponsored Content Banking on digital transformation how Teams is reshaping financial services. The financial services industry is facing a number of challenges, both in terms of evolving customer expectations, the introduction of new challenger brands, and the increasing impact of technology. As banks and lenders around the world come to terms with a new normal Microsoft Teams is helping them connect workers to drive better collaboration, better ideas and drive better customer outcomes. Friday, March 12th 2021, 11:44AM Financial services providers have historically been hesitant to embrace new technology because they are so heavily governed by strict regulations around what they can and cant do, and how the data they keep on customers is stored and used, that taking on new tech is like climbing Everest. But thats all changing. As technology has become more advanced, providers like Microsoft have taken extra steps to ensure the products they provide appeal to a wider range of customers. For financial services providers, which are constantly faced with challenges including appealing to new digitally savvy customers and disruption from new market entrants, this has been a blessing in disguise. Take Teams for example, were seeing more financial services providers around the world embrace the power of Teams to drive better collaboration, document management and, ultimately better experiences for customers. Helping meet strict compliance requirements With heightened regulatory controls around the use of data and its governance, financial services providers need a tool that ensures all documents and files are kept up to date in a safe and secure environment. Microsoft 365, which brings together tools like Office 365, Windows 10, Microsofts leading enterprise mobility and security, and is all accessible from Teams, helps financial services providers with data governance. There are features like automatic classification of data types, which allows businesses to automatically file any document uploaded to Teams under any one of 80 different classifications. This means less time filing documents in the correct places because the platform does it all for you. Then banks can also use built-in Teams policies, which harness the power of Artificial Intelligence to create additional policies around data storage. What this means is that Teams can be trained to pick up on keywords and automatically file documents, or rules can be set up to monitor the data kept in certain folders to ensure its safe, secure and compliant. Teams also helps businesses meet security requirements through multi-factor authentication, Azure information protection and Microsoft Secure Score. Keeping frontline workers connected and on task Frontline workers are the heart and soul of any financial services provider. They are the ones who talk with customers, build relationships with them and are the face of the business. Its integral these workers can maintain high levels of connectivity not just with customers, but also with other staff members. Using Microsoft Teams to empower frontline staff gives them the tools they need to keep up to date on how a client relationship is progressing and flag any urgent client requests that need to be addressed quickly. Frontline workers can also use Teams to ask for time off, swap shifts with other co-workers and let their manager know they are available for additional shifts, all on the go. This creates a more unified team. Managers can use Teams to ensure their staff are turning up to work on time and working in the right parts of the business. Time Clock with geo-detection capabilities allows managers to not just see when their team arrives, but also what part of the building they are working in. Financial services workers are constantly undergoing training to stay on top of new changes to regulation and in some instances this training requires getting experts into run sessions. This used to require costly travel expenses and longer lead-times. Moreover, the opportunity to leverage the interaction with the expert(s) for future training or reference required additional work or investments. By running the training session over a scheduled Teams meeting, advice from experts can be gathered quickly and remotely. With high-quality video, recording, and transcript options, the content can also be leveraged as training or be added into a set of best practices. Teams helps keep staff on track and help monitor task progress in real-time. If there are loans that need to be processed and uploaded into the system for review, or insurance policies that are about to expire and need to be updated with the customer, managers can get instant visibility into what jobs have been done and what is outstanding. When tasks are logged in Teams a priority level and due date can be set, alongside notes for the job, any relevant files and then the job can be assigned to a specific team member, who receives a notification. If tasks arent being completed, management can make contact with the staff member involved, find out what is delaying the task, and help move the job along faster. Improving collaboration and unity According to Microsoft research, up to 80% of financial services employees time is spent on repetitive, manual tasks. Whether that time is spent uploading documents into a system to be reviewed, checking over customer documents or working through checklists for compliance, financial services providers have a clear opportunity to use technology to improve productivity and boost staff morale. Teams can help financial services businesses: Connect more: Schedule meetings using synced calendars, or a meet now feature - this means more instant and open communication channels between staff, no matter where they are. Co-author documents in the cloud: Version control is a challenge for many businesses, especially those that have strict compliance requirements. With teams you can create and co-author documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more in the cloud with Office 365, so no changes are ever missed. Keep everyone aligned: Channel tabs for everyone in the organisation to stay on the same page. Store documents within a cloud-enabled repository using Files section or channel tabs. Collaborate in one place: Theres no need to use a different tool or app for every task, with teams you can collaborate on multiple projects from within a single environment. Unify data: Bring disparate data sets together under the one platform to make better decisions. You can also combine data across legacy systems and applications to respond faster and more accurately when markets change. How financial services providers are harnessing the power of Teams. BNZ, one of new Zealands big four banks switched to Microsoft Teams from Skype for Business in January 2020, as a part of a wider digital transformation process. However when the COVID-19 lockdown occurred in March, it called for dramatic adoption acceleration so every one of its thousands of employees & contractors could collaborate remotely. Teams has quickly risen to become the cornerstone of how BNZ works, managing everything from daily stand-ups to inter-team collaboration. Even though BNZ couldnt connect face-to-face, Teams helped them stay connected and deliver a seamless service to customers, with 3.8 million chat messages, 85,000 1:1 calls, and over 6,000 meetings taking place in a single month. Fidelity Life is another example of a financial services organisation using Teams and the Microsoft 365 suite to drive better customer experiences and outcomes. Since 2019 the business has been on its own transformation journey, underpinned by a significant investment in a new Microsoft D365 platform. Named Project Watson after the businesss founder, the project will see Fidelity Life leave its 35-year old legacy systems behind and move forward on a new, bespoke digital platform specifically built for New Zealanders. Teams plays a crucial role in connecting Fidelity Lifes people, facilitating flexible working, driving collaboration, and ensuring strict privacy, compliance and security policies are adhered to. What this means in a practical sense is that Project Watson will equip Fidelity Lifes teams with the tools and insights to monitor customer interactions, ensure timely engagement and deliver a vastly more personalised experience. Learn more about Microsoft Teams for financial services providers here. Comments from our readers No comments yet Sign In to add your comment New Delhi: Gadget freaks will be on cloud nine as Samsung has cut the prices of its 2017 smartphone Galaxy S8 plus yet another time. While the 6 GB variant of the Galaxy S8+ will now be available at Rs 65,900 in India, the Galaxy S8 4 GB RAM variant is priced at Rs 64,900 in the country. After the Galaxy S8 plus hit the market at Rs 74,900 back in March, the South Korean multinational electronics company Samsung brought it down to Rs 70,900 in July. Though Goods and service tax by the Indian government seems to be the reason behind this latest price cut, the compant has not confirmed so far. Let's have a look at the key features and specifications of both S8 and S8 plus at a glance. 1. Display With two different variants, Samsung Galaxy S8 comes with a 5.8-inch display. While the Galaxy S8 Plus will sport a mega 6.2-inch display. Both the phones come with "Infinity Display" - an edge to edge screen with no bezel except a small bezel at the top and bottom. The two smartphones have curved screen design, Gorilla Glass 5, 2960x1440 pixel resolution, and 18.5:9 aspect ratio. Also, The Galaxy S8 has an "invisible home button" beneath the display. Also Read: Vivo Y69 smartphone launched at Rs 14,990, check specifications here 2. Processor, RAM and Internal Storage The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835-based Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be sold in the US market only. Both the phones have 6GB of RAM and an internal storage of 64 GB, which can be further expanded to 256 GB with the help of an external SD card. 3. Battery and Operating System The new Galaxy smartphone run on Android Nougat-based TouchWiz out of the box. Coming to the battery, the Galaxy S8 is powered by a 3,000mAh battery while Galaxy S8 Plus has a larger 3,500mAh battery inside. Both the smartphone support wireless charging feature. 4. Artificial Intelligence Samsung has unveiled a new voice-powered digital assistant Bixby, which will have a set of pre-installed applications that will work with the interface. Also Read: Reliance Jio offering Rs 75, Rs 76 cashback via Paytm and PhonePe 5. Special features Both Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 plus will be both water and dust resistant. The Galaxy S8 has a fingerprint scanner, an iris scanner, and even facial recognition for easier passwords. Further, Every S8 will come with high-end AKG headphones. Hyderabad, March 12 : The stage is set for elections to two graduates' constituencies of Telagana Legislative Council on Sunday as an intensive campaign came to an end on Friday. Over 10 lakh graduates in Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda constituencies are eligible to cast their votes. The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the polling which will be held on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Counting of votes will be taken up on March 17. The polling will be held through ballot papers. A total of 179 candidates are contesting in Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar seat while 78 contestants are testing their fortunes in Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda constituency. The poll authorities have arranged jumbo size ballot boxes in Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar in view of large number of contestants. A total of 5,31,268 graduates are eligible to cast their votes in Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar while the number of voters in Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda is 5,05,565. The number of voters has doubled since the previous election held in 2016. The poll authorities have set up 1,530 polling centres in the two constituencies. The actual number of polling booths was 1,162 but this number increased after it was decided to have an additional booth in areas where there are over 1,000 voters. Both the constituencies are witnessing multi-cornered contests. Sitting legislators Ramchander Rao (BJP) and P. Rajeshwar Reddy (TRS) are seeking re-election from Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda seats respectively. Aiming to check the BJP, ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has fielded former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao's daughter Vani Devi from Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar constituency. The polls are considered significant as the outcome is likely to indicate which way the wind is blowing ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls. Upbeat over its victory in Dubbak Assembly by-election and the impressive performance in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls late last year, the BJP is going all out to retain one seat and wrest the other from TRS. On the other hand, TRS is using entire force at its disposal to capture both the seats. However, presence of candidates of other parties and some prominent independent contestants has made the battle multi-cornered. The Congress party, which is making a determined effort to revive its fortunes in the state, has fielded former minister G. Chinna Reddy from Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahabubnagar and former MLC S. Ramulu Naik from Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda. In Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahabubnagar, Professor N. Nageshwar Rao is contesting as an independent candidate. He had represented the seat twice in the past and is considered popular among voters. The entry of Professor M. Kodandaram of Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) in Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda has made the poll battle interesting. Kodandaram had played an active role in Telangana statehood movement with Chandrasekhar Rao but parted ways after he was sidelined by the TRS following formation of Telangana as a separate state in 2014. A bitter critic of KCR's policies, he floated the TJS. A month-long campaigning saw leaders of major parties engaged in no-holds-barred attacks on each other. The contestants conducted both offline and online campaign to woo the voters. They organised meetings with various groups of voters like government employees, teachers, lawyers, traders and other professionals to put forward their agenda. TRS roped in all ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other elected representatives in 70 Assembly segments spread over the two constituencies to ensure the victory of its candidates. TRS working president and cabinet minister K. T. Rama Rao led the party campaign by addressing 3-4 meetings every day. He highlighted the achievements of TRS government during last six years. At every meeting, KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, claimed the government provided 1.32 lakh jobs in the government departments. The opposition disputed the claim and leaders of both BJP and Congress challenged him for an open debate. Realising that a win in MLC polls will brighten its prospects ahead of Assembly polls in 2023, the BJP conducted an intensive campaign in both the constituencies. Party's central leader incharge of party affairs in the state Tarun Chug addressed several meetings as part of the campaign. The saffron party also roped in union minister for education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank for a couple of meetings in Hyderabad. Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar and other party leaders also participated in the campaign and targetted TRS for its failures on various fronts during last six years. Beijing-Linked Firms to Control Islands Off East, West Coasts of Australia Firms linked to Beijing now control leases on two islands, off the east and west coasts of Australia, reportedly sparking concerns in Canberra about the national security risks. The Western Australia Labor government approved the lease on Cockatoo Island for a Hong Kong firm with ties to Beijing last year. This comes after the Queensland Labor government on the opposite east coast approved a lease to another Hong Kong firm for Keswick Island. Cockatoo Island is 2,000 kilometres from Perth, Western Australias capital, and the island includes an airstrip. The facility fell into disuse in 2015, and according to the ABC, Western Australias Department of Mines registry approved the new lease by a Hong Kong firm last year. It will expire in 2032. Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells told the ABC, a public broadcaster, that she was alarmed by the lease agreement. Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (right) during Senate Business in the Senate at Parliament House on June 17, 2020, in Canberra, Australia. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) The Cockatoo Island transaction is yet another example of why the acquisition of strategic assets from governments in Australia by private companies with links to Beijing should come within the scope of both FIRB and foreign relation legislation, Fierravanti-Wells said. FIRB is the Foreign Relations Review Board which assesses deals in which a foreign entity purchases Australian interests. This transaction is another glaring example of our defective federal laws, Fierravanti-Wells, a New South Wales senator, argued. Informing her concerns are Chinese laws that require private companies, along with state-owned enterprises, to share data with Beijings military, the PLA. This creates the risk that every Chinese company that has dealings with Australian entities and individuals would be compelled under Beijings law to share information with the PLA. George Christensen speaks at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Dec. 7, 2017. (Michael Masters/Getty Images) The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, in its Leaping Across the Ocean report, warned Canberra that Chinese state-owned enterprises could be utilised by the CCPs Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) during peacetime for grey zone actions, and, more concerningly, during wartimes to aid the PLA. Grey zone activities are actions that fall just below the threshold to be considered acts of war. Echoing Fierravanti-Wells concerns, federal Liberal MP George Christensen, from Queensland, took to Facebook to speak out against the deal. Another State Labor Government has given away an island to a Chinese company. This time there might be implications for our national security, Christensen wrote. Christensen has championed a campaign to reclaim Keswick Island after the Queensland government approved the lease to a Hong Kong developer, also with links to Beijing, for 99 years. Concerns Over National Security The Department of Defence might also have cause for concern, as the island is adjacent to the Yampi Sound Defence Training Area on the Kimberley coast, the ABC reported. A Department of Defence spokesperson told The Epoch Times on March 13 that it does not comment on potential, current, or past Foreign Investment Review Board cases. Defence has a multi-layered approach to managing security across its estate, which includes addressing security risks through protective security, contractual arrangements, and legislative protectionsthese arrangements are regularly reviewed and adjusted, the spokesperson said in an email. Defence does not comment on the detailed security arrangements at individual Defence facilities. The ABC reported that a Defence spokesperson said the Yampi Sound Training Area was predominantly used for land and vehicle-based training activities and has a range of security mechanisms in place. The Government does not comment on the foreign investment screening arrangements as they apply, or may apply, to particular cases, the spokesperson said. The approval of the lease now means there are three islands very close to Australia that are either held or proposed to be held, in some form by Chinese entities with links to Beijingone in the northwest and one in the northeast (both with airstrips). The third is Papua New Guineas Daru Island, 200 kilometres north of Queensland, where Beijing wants to build a city and fishing facility and an airport. A student may have found a rare exotic bird that has been thought to be extinct in the United Kingdom. The fowl, known as Lady Amherst's pheasant, is a sight to see. It has a red crest and plumage that is brilliantly colored in orange, blue, green, and purple. Its tail feather is long and exaggerated in a black and white pattern, measuring 3 to 4 feet in length. The birds were introduced to England in the 1890s by Lady Sarah Amherst, who brought them to her estate from their native China and Myanmar. By 1990 there were only about 20 of the pheasants left in the U.K. The last Lady Amherst's was believed to have been discovered and photographed in 2015. Related Article: The World's Biggest Owls Are Now Endangered: Is it too late to save them? 2021 Sighting That is, before Sophie Pearson, a student at St. Andrews University, discovered the rare bird when gazing out her flat window on March 5, 2021. "At first, I couldn't believe what I saw, particularly considering the bird's height, and I mistook it for a peacock," Pearson told the Courier. "We ran out to get a better look, and to our delight, it didn't run and seemed to be very docile." Pearson fed the pheasant rice, and the bird lingered for about 20 minutes in her backyard. Pearson told the Courier, "I was very awestruck as it was an amazing-looking creature and the colors were so bright." "Eventually, it went into a tree and then vanished, even though I left out more food." The student notified the British Trust in Ornithology (BTO) about the extraordinary sighting. "The bird is now believed to be extinct in the wild in the United Kingdom, but it's not inconceivable that a 'rogue' bird may be alive in Fife," Paul Stancliffe, BTO's publicity officer, told the Courier. "Despite their vivid colors, pheasants can be elusive and difficult to track down when they wish to be; who knows?" Why the Fowls Went Extinct in the Wild? Lady Amherst's Pheasant's largest British population developed itself along the Greensand Ridge of Bedfordshire, extending spontaneously west into Buckinghamshire after the species' deliberate arrival at Woburn in the 1890s. The area's dense mixed fir, ash, oak, and beech woodlands (with an added rhododendron understory) tend to be a reasonable substitute for the area's native deciduous forest and bamboo thickets. Related habitat elsewhere in the UK, on the other hand, seems to have struggled to support several other introduction attempts over the last two centuries. By any interpretation, this seems to be an extinction curve, and given that the species has only been present in Britain for about 125 years - at times chemically fed - it may be suggested that, like the Red-winged Laughingthrush on the Isle of Man, Lady Amherst's Pheasant was never fully 'established.' 2015 Sighting One was seen in woods near Bedford in 2015, and another was spotted in St Andrews in 2019. 'We thought it had fled captivity,' Sophie continued. 'I contacted the university's bird society, who said a local woman had seen it on occasion but didn't know where it came from.' 'We've been asking where it's been all this time; it's a mystery.' 'We just needed to make sure it was a Lady Amherst's pheasant, so we contacted the British Trust for Ornithology, who agreed it was. 'They said seeing one in the wild was very unusual, and they were fascinated that it had been seen here before.' ALSO READ: Wind Energy Company To Breed California Condors, Replace Those Killed by Turbines For more animal related news, don't forget to follow Nature World News! The House of Commons could go on tour to Scotland as part of the Government's plan to boost the Union and see off Nicola Sturgeon's independence push, it was claimed today. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons Leader, is said to be pushing a proposal which would see MPs relocate for two weeks every September. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales would take it in turns every year to host the Commons, with the two weeks falling between the end of the summer recess and the start of the party conference break. The initiative is reportedly being considered by the Government as part of Boris Johnson's wider strategy to strengthen ties within the UK. Meanwhile, Mr Johnson is expected to use a speech to the Scottish Conservative Party conference on Sunday to categorically rule out holding a second independence referendum - even if the SNP win a majority at the Holyrood elections in May. Boris Johnson and his ministers are trying to come up with ways to boost the Union. Jacob Rees-Mogg is said to be pushing a plan to relocate the House of Commons for two weeks every September The plan would see the Commons rotate between Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland every year The proposal is part of a wider push in Whitehall to combat Nicola Sturgeon's independence drive Ministers are increasingly focused on coming up with ways to strengthen the Union amid growing concerns in Whitehall over Ms Sturgeon's attempts to break up the UK. Mr Rees-Mogg has apparently discussed the proposal to temporarily relocate the Commons with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. But Sir Lindsay is said to be unconvinced by the plan, according to The Daily Telegraph. A source familiar with the proposal told the newspaper: 'It would bring Parliament closer to the people.' Relocating the Commons would require the sign off of Parliament, the Prime Minister and the devolved administrations. The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: A decision on the location of the UK Parliament is ultimately a decision for Parliament. But as we have said previously we have been clear that we want to decentralise decision-making and level up the country as this will help all parts of the UK feel connected to government and politics. But again, it is ultimately a decision for Parliament. The proposal is likely to be greeted with scepticism but it demonstrates the breadth of thinking currently taking place in the Government as ministers try to combat calls for independence. It came as Mr Johnson prepares to deliver a speech to the Scottish Tory conference on Sunday in which he will reportedly double down on his opposition to holding a re-run of the 2014 independence referendum. Ms Sturgeon has said that if the SNP wins a majority at the May elections she believes she will have a mandate for holding another border poll. But a second vote can only go ahead if Mr Johnson gives it the green light - something he has repeatedly ruled out. One Government source told The Daily Telegraph in relation to the PM's speech this weekend: 'Absolutely, now is not the time for a reckless independence referendum. We need to be pulling together.' Another source said: 'We're not having a referendum in the middle of a pandemic.' Some 51 per cent want to stay in the United Kingdom in research published this week by YouGov excluding those who were not sure - the reverse of the result it had in November Ms Sturgeon's independence push had received a boost in recent months after numerous polls suggested a majority of Scots backed breaking away from the UK. But the race now appears to have narrowed after another poll this week found a majority of Scots oppose her independence drive. Some 51 per cent wanted to stay in the UK in the research by YouGov excluding those who were not sure - the reverse of the result it had in November. The YouGov poll is the latest in a line of surveys to identify a drop in backing for the SNP's separatist agenda. Ghislaine Maxwell is reportedly selling her London home to raise funds for her legal defence in the US. The British socialite has been in a New York jail since July due to allegations that she and former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein groomed and abused young girls between 1994 and 1997. The Daily Telegraph said Maxwell will sell her home in Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, where one of Epsteins accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, alleges she was taken in 2001 to have sex with the Duke of York when she was 17. A letter from lawyers for Virginia Roberts, featuring the infamous photograph of her with the Duke of York, formally requesting that Andrew respond to her allegations under oath (Court of Florida/PA) The house is claimed to be the setting of the infamous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffres waist. The Duke of York has categorically denied he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre, and said in his BBC Newsnight interview that the photo might have been faked. Maxwells spokesman, Brian Basham, confirmed to the Telegraph the intended sale of the house, the proceeds of which are expected to boost Maxwells legal fighting fund from 7 million US dollars (5.02 million) to more than 10 million dollars (7.17 million). Ghislaine will be sad to see the house sold, Mr Basham told the paper. She is devastated by all this. She will have a lot of good memories. She will be terribly sad to sell the house. It was her refuge in London. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 77F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Taking the vaccination clinics to the buildings ensures all residents, who are at high risk of contracting coronavirus because of their age, have access to the vaccines as quickly as possible, Frazier said. And although it is optional, Frazier said that most residents are optimistic and want the vaccine because they want to go back to some normalcy. Haryana man who lit pyres of over 300 Covid victims succumbs to virus Admin gears up as Hisar farmers get set to protest today Haryana govt presents Rs 1.55 lakh cr budget with focus on health, agriculture India oi-Madhuri Adnal Chandigarh, Mar 12: The Haryana government on Friday presented a Rs 1.55 lakh crore budget for the 2021-22 fiscal, with health, agriculture and infrastructure identified as key priority areas. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who also holds the finance department portfolio, presented his second budget in the State Assembly here. Presenting the budget estimates, which have no fresh tax proposals, Khattar proposed a budget of Rs 1,55,645 crore for FY 2021-22, an increase of 13 per cent over FY 2020-21 of Rs 1,37,738 crore. The budget outlay comprises 25 per cent as capital expenditure of Rs 38,718 crore and 75 per cent as revenue expenditure of Rs 1,16,927 crore. Oppn ready to take on Khattar govt in Haryana Budget session Reading out the budget estimates in the House, Khattar said that the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges and "taught us several lessons". "It is important for the budget to prioritise specific sectors that are key to leverage a rebound in the economy, particularly in times of crisis. We have identified health, agriculture and infrastructure as key priority areas that we need to focus recovery and resurgence," he said. "While focusing on health is of paramount importance in these times of unprecedented public health crisis, agriculture which forms the foundation of our economy and which is the sheet anchor of our self-reliance is critical," he said. Khattar said that his government needs to continue assistance to farmers for paving the way for Haryana''s economic growth. An outlay of Rs 6,110 crore has been proposed for 2021-22, of which Rs 2,998 crore is earmarked for agriculture and farmers welfare, Rs 489 crore for horticulture, Rs 1,225 crore for animal husbandry & dairying, Rs 125 crore for fisheries and Rs 1,274 crore for cooperation. The outlay of Rs 6,110 crore for 2021-22 indicates an increase of 20.9 per cent against the 2020-21 fiscal''s Rs 5,052 crore. He said the government is committed to doubling the farmer''s income. "We are indebted to our farmers, whose toil and hard work has made Haryana the food bowl of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of our economy. We are committed to doubling farmer''s income and ensuring his/her wellbeing," he said. He said this budget endeavours to reinforce "our interventions and schemes for agriculture on increasing farmer''s income, crop diversification and water conservation". Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News It is also important to support and nurture these interventions by providing critical infrastructure - be it expanding the health network, increasing the outreach of vaccination, setting up testing labs and so on, farm gate processing infrastructure, irrigation specially micro-irrigation facilities to promote crop diversification among other key things, he said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 14:26 [IST] Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. The fourth member of a suspected Brazilian hit team has pleased guilty to the possession of a 9mm sub machine gun and ammunition following an alleged foiled shooting incident in Co Offaly last year. Thirty-seven-year-old Sergio Machado Filho, Apartment 7, 3 Temple Bar, Dublin 2, appeared before a sitting of Tullamore Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon in connection to an alleged incident at River Street, Clara, Co Offaly on May 27 2020. Prosecution Counsel Garnet Orange SC, revealed Mr Machado Filho, who is in custody, could be arraigned on two firearms related counts in connection to the incident. They included the possessions of a 9mm sub machine gun and four 12 gauge shotgun cartridges. Mr Machado Filho, who was wearing a yellow jacket and blue trousers, lodged both guilty pleas through a Portuguese interpreter. Read More Three other men have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a total of 12 years arising from the incident. Ildomar Cabrar Da Silva (29) of no fixed abode, Jefferson Dos Santos (35) and Hugo Henrique Rodrigues (23), both of Ballymahon, Co Longford all pleaded guilty to firearms offences and breaching Covid-19 regulations. Expand Close Jefferson Dos Santos (34) of Inny Court, Ballymahon, Co. Longford / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jefferson Dos Santos (34) of Inny Court, Ballymahon, Co. Longford They were sentenced last December at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court over what Judge Keenan Johnson described was an incident that could have ended in fatalities. The gang, it was revealed, were wearing plastic gloves when stopped and arrested by gardai while travelling through Clara village armed with a sub machine gun and a shotgun along with ammunition. The court heard their objective was to "frighten a particular individual" but that the planned use of firearms had the capacity to go "fatally wrong". It had previously been revealed the gang had got lost twice on the way to their intended target and were using ill-equipped weapons as part of the alleged enterprise. Mr Machado Filho was remanded in custody until June 29, 2020. In a Jan. 26 interview, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had an emphatic answer to whether there was any legal agreement that barred her from speaking about the departure of former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon. No, she told MLive at the time. I just, hes worked incredibly hard, I really am grateful for everything that weve done together over the past two years. It has been grueling. I wish him well. You know, theres no, theres not more to the story here. Less than a month later, her office executed just such an agreement with Gordon, giving him $155,506 in severance pay and precluding either party from speaking more about his abrupt resignation. When the agreement became public, Whitmer defended it as common. Separation agreements... are used often in the public and private sector when someone in a leadership position leaves an organization. And due to the nature of the agreement, theres not a lot more than I can say on the subject, she said. But according to experts and state records, separation agreements and severance pay for high-ranking state leaders have not been commonly used in Michigan state government or in governments generally. Fred Whittlesey, founder and principal consultant of Washington-based Compensation Venture Group, has worked with clients in the public and private sectors on compensation agreements for leaders and executives. While agreements including severance pay have become nearly ubiquitous for leaders in the private sector, he said, thats not the case in the public sector. MLive filed Freedom of Information Act requests with each state department requesting any separation agreements with the departments previous three directors. Ten departments responded within the five-day period laid out in state statute, saying no such documents existed within their records. Four sought 10-day extensions under the law. Despite a recent email from state Chief Operating Officer Trish Foster urging departments to respond to such requests in a timely manner, five state departments did not provide an initial response within the five business days required by statute (four of those did respond later after the statutory deadline had passed.) Thats an increase from a FOIA audit MLive undertook in 2016, when only two state departments failed to respond in the statutorily-required five-business-day window. People familiar with the states personnel processes werent surprised the records requests didnt turn up separation agreements or severance pay. John Truscott, CEO of the public relations firm Truscott Rossman and formerly the communications director for former Gov. John Engler, said he did not recall any separation agreements in that administration. I think its common in the private sector. But never for highly-placed political appointees, he said. Thats because a governor is typically appointing somebody who will be loyal to them and wouldnt need a separation agreement, he said. The only payments he recalls were for accrued vacation days if somebody leaving had earned and not used them before departing. Matthew Schneider, an attorney in private practice who some have speculated could run for governor as a Republican, worked as chief legal counsel under Attorney General Bill Schuette. He said separation agreements came across his desk, but he doesnt specifically recall any for high-level officials. Most were with people in the civil service, he said, and it would be strange to execute one for somebody who left voluntarily. You do a settlement agreement because each side gets something out of it. The state gets the employee doesnt sue me. But if he has no grounds to sue the state, why would he get the payout? That doesnt seem to make sense, Schneider said. The separation agreement document between Gordon and Whitmer legal counsel Mark Totten specifies that Gordon voluntarily resigned his employment. Whittlesey said severance pay is designed to get somebody through a transition period when theyre let go unexpectedly -- something that comes up pretty often in private-sector businesses and is less common in government where many workers have civil service and other protections. What I dont think Ive ever seen is somebody saying okay I quit, and the employer says, oh, heres some money because you quit, Whittlesey said. Its illogical and counterintuitive to what the purpose of severance compensation is. Gordons separation agreement is not the only one the Whitmer administration has executed. One of Gordons deputies also had an agreement, and Unemployment Insurance Agency Director Steve Gray was given $85,872 as part of a separation agreement that also included a confidentiality clause last year. Its a departure from how former Gov. Rick Snyder administration handled replacing department directors. MLive reporting from 2017 traced a pattern of his administration creating new jobs for department directors removed from those leadership roles. They were often kept on state payroll in different roles with similar salaries. One other area of state government where severance agreements and payments have taken place is the state legislature, to the tune of nearly $700,000 over the last decade. The legislature has not disclosed the details of those payments, including who they went to. House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Clare, said in a statement this week the payments were small settlements to avoid litigation. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, described the Senates payments as akin to the practice at other public and private organizations. In general, Republican lawmakers have been critical of Whitmers separation with Gordon, calling it hush money due to the confidentiality agreement -- a characterization Whitmer has said she bristles at. Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, is encouraging her fellow appropriations subcommittee chairs to insert language in the budget that would prohibit confidentiality agreements with departing officials and require the disclosure of severance packages for department directors. My proposal seeks to end payouts to buy the silence of departing government officials thats what is most troubling here. Hush money deals by their very nature suggest theres something the governor wants hidden and thats troubling, no matter who the governor is, Glenn told MLive in an email last week. She said the legislature doesnt have data to know how widespread the practice is or how often separation agreements are used in state government-- something her proposal aims to help shed light on. More on MLive: Michigan Legislature had its own series of confidential staff separation agreements Michigans unemployment agency director got $86,000 to leave job, on condition of confidentiality Former Michigan health director given $155K severance pay after abrupt resignation Second Michigan health department employee given separation agreement Two Bangladeshi nationals, who had inadvertently crossed the international border into India in a mentally challenged state, were handed over to their families on Friday after years of medical treatment in India. Image Source: IANS News Two Bangladeshi nationals, who had inadvertently crossed the international border into India in a mentally challenged state, were handed over to their families on Friday after years of medical treatment in India. Image Source: IANS News Two Bangladeshi nationals, who had inadvertently crossed the international border into India in a mentally challenged state, were handed over to their families on Friday after years of medical treatment in India. Image Source: IANS News Two Bangladeshi nationals, who had inadvertently crossed the international border into India in a mentally challenged state, were handed over to their families on Friday after years of medical treatment in India. Image Source: IANS News Agartala, March 12 : Two Bangladeshi nationals, who had inadvertently crossed the international border into India in a mentally challenged state, were handed over to their families on Friday after years of medical treatment in India. The Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Agartala, Mohammad Jobayed Hosen, who coordinated the repatriation of the two Bangladeshi nationals through the Agartala-Akhaura check-post, said that 22 more Bangladeshi nationals are now under treatment at a psychiatric hospital in Tripura. "Of the 22 mentally challenged Bangladeshi nationals, 12 have been cured. After completing the stipulated formalities, they would also be repatriated to their families in Bangladesh," Hosen told the media. On Friday, Amir Majumder and Mohammad Jainal Abedin came to the Agartala-Akhaura check-post to take back their brother Samir Majumder and sister Salintara Begum, respectively. Amir Majumder told the media that his mentally challenged brother Samir went missing eight years ago from their village Jhumarkhanda in Faridpur district. Recently, he learnt from a senior railway official that his brother is in Tripura. Mohammad Jainal Abedin also said that his sister Salintara Begum had gone missing 13 years ago from Gurigram village in Brahmanbaria district. Recently, they came to know that she is in Tripura. Hosen said that the authorities obtained information about the family members of the two Bangladeshi nationals after they were cured following treatment. The two were apprehended by the security forces when they had inadvertently crossed the international border. Matt Damon has done his fair share of death-defying stunts during his career as an action hero. It's no wonder the American actor, 50, looked so relaxed as he scaled the Sydney Harbour Bridge with his family on Friday. Matt, his wife Luciana, 45, and their daughters, Isabella, 14, Gia, 12, Stella, 10, all suited up in the necessary safety gear as they climbed the iconic landmark as part of a popular tourist activity. Chill! Matt Damon (pictured) looked relaxed as he scaled the Sydney Harbour Bridge with his family on Friday With his blue and grey jumpsuit, headphones and harnesses, Matt looked like he could have been on the set of a Hollywood blockbuster. The Bourne Identity star stopped to wave to onlookers below and couldn't wipe the smile off his face. In addition to his jumpsuit and harnesses, the actor had a pair of trendy sunglasses strapped around his neck. Iconic landmark: The Sydney Harbour Bridge is Australian heritage-listed and transports traffic and pedestrians between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore Bourne hits Sydney: With his blue and grey jumpsuit, headphones and harnesses, Matt looked like he could have been on the set of a Hollywood blockbuster Details: In addition to his jumpsuit and harnesses, the actor had a pair of trendy sunglasses strapped around his neck Having fun! The Bourne Identity star stopped to wave to onlookers below and couldn't wipe the smile off his face In it together! Matt was joined by his wife Luciana (left) and their three daughters Scared of heights? Luciana looked a tad less at ease with the heights she was scaling By his side was wife Luciana, who looked a tad less at ease with the heights she was scaling. The couple's three daughters walked directly behind an instructor, and appeared fascinated as they took in the sights. Once walking 1,149 metres (3769 feet) over a whopping 1,332 steps, the family were treated to breathtaking, 360-degree panoramic views of Sydney from 134 m (440 feet) above mean sea level. Safety first: The couple's three daughters walked directly behind an instructor Look down there! They family appeared fascinated as they took in the sights High! The climb spans 1,149 metres (3769 feet) over a whopping 1,332 steps Worth it! The family were treated to breathtaking, 360-degree panoramic views of Sydney A view from above: Among the stunning sights seen from a bird's-eye view are the Sydney Harbour and the Opera House Among the stunning sights seen from a bird's-eye view are the Sydney Harbour and the Opera House. The BridgeClimb costs AU $198 (USD $153) per adult and AU $126 (USD $97.00 per child, meaning the family would have spent AU $774 (USD $600) for the outing. Matt and his family have been enjoying various tourist activities while Down Under, including feeding giraffes at Taronga Zoo last week. Pricey: The BridgeClimb costs AU $198 (USD $153) per adult and AU $126 (USD $97.00 per child, meaning the family would have spent AU $774 (USD $600) for the outing Out and about: Matt and his family have been enjoying various tourist activities while Down Under, including feeding giraffes at Taronga Zoo last week Busy: The Martian star has been in Australia since the start of the year, as he shoots his role in Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder, currently being filmed in Sydney Back: He is reprising his comedic cameo from the 2017 Thor installment, Thor: Ragnarok The Martian star has been in Australia since the start of the year, as he shoots his role in Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder, currently being filmed in Sydney. He is reprising his comedic cameo from the 2017 Thor installment, Thor: Ragnarok. Matt portrayed an Asgardian actor who is portraying the character Loki, normally played by Tom Hiddleston, in a theatrical production which takes place within the film. High concept: Matt portrayed an Asgardian actor who is portraying the character Loki, usually played by Tom Hiddleston, in a theatrical production which takes place within the film In town: Thor: Love and Thunder, features a similar play scene, which the Downsizing actor filmed last month in Sydney's Little Bay Nice digs: Matt and his family have been living in the idyllic town Bryon Bay, at a $7,000-a-night mansion Frequent flyer: The Martian actor has been travelling between Bryon Bay and Sydney by private jet to film scenes for the Marvel film over the past month Thor: Love and Thunder, features a similar play scene, which the Downsizing actor filmed last month in Sydney's Little Bay. Matt and his family have been living in the idyllic town Bryon Bay, which has become a favourite for Hollywood celebrities visiting Down Under, at a $7,000-a-night mansion. The Martian actor has been travelling between Bryon Bay and Sydney by private jet to film scenes for the Marvel film over the past month. The Damons are currently staying at the new Crown Tower which boasts spectacular views of the Harbour City and can cost $4,000 per night. Brazilian star Pato hopes to build a better life on and off the pitch with his move to Orlando City this season. When he terminated his contract with S 1/4 u00e3o Paolo in August, the striker knew he needed a change. I expected for the new step, for the new club [to] get my happiness back for myself, Pato said. I want to just be happy. Pato said he received offers from clubs in Europe, Asia and Brazil. But he wanted something different for both himself and his family. Pato was a youth sensation, debuting professionally at the age of 16 and netting 12 goals for Internacional on the way to winning the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup. He earned a massive transfer to AC Milan while still a teenager, scoring 63 goals over six seasons. By the age of 22, Pato had won hardware at nearly every top level of the sport. But his career was haunted by injuries, which impacted the longevity of his time in the top European leagues. Despite those difficulties, the striker knows he has plenty of runway left in his career. Im 31 years old, Pato said. Im so young. Im still so young. With his move to Orlando, Pato is looking for something to reinvigorate his love for the game. The striker believes he found that spark in coach Oscar Pareja. Pato said he already spoke to new teammates Nani and Junior Urso, both of whom gave consistently glowing reviews of Pareja. After their first meeting, the striker said he was impressed by the kind nature and work ethic of his new coach, who has long earned the nickname Papi for his paternal style of coaching. Hes like a father, Pato said. He loves you, but sometimes he knows [you] need a push. ... I will give everything for him. From the first impression, hes amazing. Pato said he was also impressed by the growth of Orlando City since its inception in the USL 10 years ago. Pareja has emphasized the importance of a slow, sustained build for the Lions as they chase new records in MLS this season. Pato said he saw his arrival as an important part of the next chapter for the team. Story continues You need to build step for step, Pato said. The project here, its amazing. In the five months since the end of his contract in Brazil, Pato said hes been focused on improving himself. He logged two-a-day trainings every week during that time, honing his physical fitness to bring the best to his new club. After months of individual workouts, the striker said hes eager to begin training with his teammates. After completing his mandatory testing and quarantine period upon arrival, he will be allowed to join the team at preseason camp in Bradenton this weekend. Pato said his mother noticed his excitement during a phone call Thursday, saying she could see a new energy and a new Alexandre. Im so empowered now, Pato said. My mentality is empowered. I understand what I need to do to enjoy my work. I need to work hard. You get some things important in your life, you need to work hard. So thats my challenge when I accept[ed] to come to Orlando. This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Julia Poe at jpoe@orlandosentinel.com. VANCOUVER, BC, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - BBTV Holdings Inc. (TSX: BBTV) (OTCQX: BBTVF)("BBTV" or the "Company"), a media tech company that uses technology enabled solutions to help influencers become more successful, today announced it is now eligible for Depository Trust Company ("DTC") services in relation to the company's listing on the OTCQX. Through the OTC listing United States investors may more easily trade BBTVQX stock in addition to BBTV's listing on the TSX [BBTV.TO]. "I'm thrilled that BBTV is now DTC eligible, allowing the company to provide wider access to US investors to acquire stock," said Shahrzad Rafati, Chairperson and CEO of BBTV. "BBTV is a truly global company, and we look forward to expanding our investor base in the US market." DTC is a subsidiary of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), one of the world's largest securities depositories that manages the electronic clearing and settlement of publicly traded companies. BBTV is now eligible to be electronically cleared and settled which will streamline the process of trading, enhance liquidity, and provide direct access to investors in the U.S. OTC capital markets. About BBTV BBTV is a media and technology company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The company's mission is to democratize content by leveraging its proprietary technologies to drive viewership and monetization for content creators of all sizes. From individual content creators to global media companies, BBTV monetizes the media of content creators through end-to-end management, distribution and monetization solutions, powered by its innovative VISO Platform, including related proprietary technology, while allowing content creators to focus on their core competency content creation. In August 2020, BBTV had the second most unique monthly viewers among digital platforms with more than 600 million globally, who consumed more than 50 billion minutes of video content, the most among media companies*. www.bbtv.com *Calculations and classifications made by BBTV based on August 2020 data from Comscore's reports from its top 12 countries. Each report is titled, "Comscore Video Metrix Media Trend Multi-Platform Top 100 Video Properties Report." Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forwardlooking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information") which reflects the Company's current expectations regarding future events, including the expansion of the Company's investor base in the U.S. market, the Company's use of technology enabled solutions to help content owners become more successful, and the Company's mission to democratize content by leveraging its proprietary technologies to drive viewership and monetization for content creators of all sizes. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that we consider appropriate and reasonable as of the date such information is given, including but not limited to our assumption regarding continued changes and trends in our industry or the global economy, and the performance of our technology and strategic partners. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to the risk that our assumptions on which our forward-looking information is based may not be accurate, the effect of competition, that historical or previous results are not necessarily indicative of future results, as well as the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the final prospectus of the Company dated October 22, 2020 filed on sedar at www.sedar.com and in our other filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forwardlooking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. Regarding the United States This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to a U.S. Person unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Contacts: Media Relations Dan Gamble Head of PR & Corporate Communications 778-873-0422 [email protected] Investor Relations [email protected] BBTV-C SOURCE BBTV Holdings Inc. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 22:20:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member checks the packaging quality of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to cooperate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to provide vaccines to athletes preparing to participate in the Olympic Games, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said this at a press briefing in response to a question on the Chinese COVID-19 vaccines and international cooperation on vaccines. According to media reports, Thomas Bach, the IOC president, said that the IOC has received a kind offer from the Chinese Olympic Committee to make vaccine doses available for participants in this year's Tokyo Olympics and Beijing Winter Games in 2022. Preliminary data from a study in Brazil shows that Chinese vaccines could effectively fight the P1 variant of the coronavirus first discovered in Brazil. The Mongolian Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan spoke highly of the efficacy of Chinese vaccine on social media after receiving his first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine donated by China. "From the cases above, we can see that more and more countries recognize the safety and efficacy of Chinese vaccines," said Zhao. He noted China firmly supports international cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines. He also added that China responded to the United Nations' call to donate vaccines to peacekeepers from all over the world. The country is also willing to work with the IOC to provide vaccines to athletes preparing to participate in the Olympic Games. "These are concrete measures to implement the pledge of vaccines as global public goods. We sincerely hope that Chinese vaccines will inject more confidence and hope into the global fight against COVID-19," Zhao 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. South Africa: Tributes continue for the late King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu Messages of condolences continue to pour in for King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu, who passed away this morning. Traditional Prime Minister to the King, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, confirmed the tragic news on Friday morning. The King of the Zulu Nation met his death in the early hours of this morning at a Durban hospital after battling with his health for a while. He was 72. Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Nathi Mthethwa, extended his heartfelt sympathies to the family of the King. Mthethwa said King Zwelithini made history as the longest-serving monarch of the Zulu Kingdom, with a reign spanning over five decades. Born on 14 July 1948, he was the eldest son born to King Cyprian Bhekuzulu and his second wife, Queen Thomo. He was crowned King in 1971, following the passing of his father in 1968. The sun has set on the Zulu nation. King Goodwill Zwelithini was a true custodian of Zulu culture, who was proud of his identity and heritage as umZulu. He was a direct descendent of the great King Shaka Zulu and ruled throughout the apartheid era, said Mthethwa. The Minister said he was regarded as a unifying force in the Zulu Kingdom. The Minister also described him as a bold and fearless leader who led one of the biggest monarchies in the world. Our hearts are with his family, his children, the Zulu nation and South Africa as a whole, said Mthethwa. Meanwhile, Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, said she was saddened by His Majestys passing. Having learnt of the hospitalisation of His Majesty a few weeks back and regular updates that we have been getting about his health, I have been hopeful of his speedy recovery, said Didiza. The King was a sole trustee of the Ingonyama Trust, an entity of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. He is also remembered as someone who always provided his vision for the Ingonyama Trust Board. We have worked very well with His Majesty on improving the operations of the Ingonyama Trust Board and subsequently improving the lives of his subjects. I wish to send my heartfelt and sincere condolences to the royal family and the Zulu nation. We continue to pray for your strength during this difficult time and may His Majesty rest in eternal peace, Didiza said. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula also paid his respects to the late King, saying he built an unparalleled and unprecedented rural development agenda, enhancing indigenous economies with his great wisdom. He recognised the fact that unless the voice of young people is recognised and not stifled, the country as no future. I had constant interactions with him, pondering on questions affecting our country. He reached out and listened to any political persuasion, not bound by ideological borders," Mbalula said Earlier in the day, President Cyril Ramaphosa also conveyed his condolences, saying the King will be remembered as a visionary. His Majesty will be remembered as a much-loved, visionary monarch, who made an important contribution to cultural identity, national unity and economic development in KwaZulu-Natal and through this, to the development of our country as a whole, the President said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Blessed with abundant natural and human resources, coupled with a peaceful environment, Akwa Ibom State was ready for business alternatives other than civil service and over-dependence on one multinational oil company for its economic turnaround. The field was ripe, but the harvesters were few. There was a need for cultivators with foresight. A Turkish firm, VKS Group, in 2016, took the bull by the horn and kick-started an investment that would contribute immensely in changing the economic narrative of Akwa Ibom State, fondly called the Promise Land. Hitting the ground running was not too difficult owing to the fact that Nigeria is one of Turkeys largest trade partners in Africa, according to Daily Sabah, a pro-government Turkish newspaper. For the people of the State, their reputation gave hope. VKS Group, a global company with over 25 years of experience, is renowned for undertaking investments and projects around the world since 1981. Over the years, VKS Group has successfully completed projects in various parts of the world, some of which are: Nigeria, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and United Arab Emirates. The firm also has active operations and branch offices in Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, and Libya. The Birth of JSM How would it start its business in a State estimated to be less than 7 million people in population? The first in their plough was the establishment of Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Limited (JSM). The VKS Group understood the dynamics of the market for syringes in Nigeria. Already, in the country, it is estimated that the requirement of syringe and needle is between 1.5 billion to 2 billion units per annum. Out of this requirement, data shows that an estimated over 1 billion units per annum of syringes and needles are being imported into the country, thus exposing the country to loss of huge foreign exchange. To bridge the gap, VKS Group reportedly invested $30 million as initial capital for the project in ONNA, Akwa Ibom State. The project commenced in July 2016 and was inaugurated by the Countrys Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo in September 2017. The factory sources its raw materials, polypropylene, from nearby Indorama Eleme Petrochemical in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. This singular Investment has now placed Akwa Ibom State in the global map as the sanctuary of the largest Syringe manufacturing factory in Africa with a production capacity of over 400 million syringes per annum. The firm is greatly tapping into the global syringe market expected to be worth over $1.64 billion by 2021 from a market value of $1.22 billion in 2016, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.98 per cent. According to the Managing Director of JSM, Akin Oyediran, at a 100 percent capacity, the factory produces over a million syringes daily, ranging from 2 millimetres, 5 millimetres, and 10 millimetres. In February 2021, the company hit 1.2 million syringes per day production out of the projected 1.5 million. With this development, JSM is envisaged to be addressing the syringe needs of the country. Yet, the investment on syringe was just the tip of the iceberg. Kings Flour Mill. The flour industry in Nigeria puts the value of Nigerias 3.2 million-tonne flour market at $2 million, with growth at 3.5 per cent a year. Curiously, the industry is dependent on imported wheat which is the main ingredient for flour. The United States Department of Agriculture Attache Forecast estimates that Nigerias 2018-19 imports of wheat was at 5.4 million tonnes, while domestic production is around 60,000 tonnes. ADVERTISEMENT Interestingly, Nigerias demographics underpin growth in demand for downstream food products, such as bread, pasta, noodles and biscuits, supports demand for the principal products of the milling industry bread flour, pasta flour, noodle flour, confectionery flour and semolina. Understanding this large market must have made VKS to establish Kings Flour Mill which has a 500 metric tons per day capacity in ONNA, Akwa Ibom State in August 2019. In 2020, when the world was hit by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Kings Flour came handy. Its product and few others became the solution in ameliorating food scarcity in the county. At the same time, Jubilee Syringe became the saving grace, as hospitals across the country relied heavily on the syringe to treat patients. Yet, in all these firms established, there already existed the mother of them all. VKS Nigeria Construction Limited According to the companys official website, VKS Nigeria Construction Limited incorporated in Nigeria as part of VKS Group has successfully completed projects with a cumulative worth of over $750 million to date. VKS has achieved a wide reference list by successfully undertaking on turn key basis in the diversified fields such as residential, commercial, industrial buildings, highway construction and infrastructure works, complete factories of various sorts as well as waste water treatment plants. Projects executed by the company in Akwa Ibom are: a 21-floor smart storey building in Uyo, the states capital, building of St. Gabriel Coconut Refinery, building of Jubilee Syringe factory, building of Kings Flour Mill factory, ongoing construction of Victor Attah International Airport terminal building, construction of 12,742Km Awa Iman-Asong-Ikot Edim-Ikot Emem Road with two Bridges in Onna and Mkpat Enin Local Government Areas, and Dualization Of 1 Km Awa- -Ikot Nkan Road With outfall drains in Onna Local Government Area. With all these exploits in the State, one does not need to be persuaded on the benefit the State has derived from hosting the company. How Akwa Ibom State has benefitted from VKS VKS has stationed itself as one of the biggest economic drivers in Akwa Ibom after the state government and ExxonMobil. The multiplier effects on the state and its people have been enormous. According to data from the Human Resource Manager of the Company, Mr. Ndiana Isong, VKS in less than five years operations in the State has in its employ 1,724 staff. According to the breakdown, VKS Nigeria Construction Limited has direct employment strength of 1,045, Jubilee Syringe staff strength (direct employment) is 3.64, while Kings Flour Mill is 315. The MD of JSM, Mr Oyediran, says over 70 per cent of staff are Akwa Ibom indigenes. What is more, the three companies under VKS group are reported to have contributed immensely to the Internally Generated Revenue of the State through the taxes they remit. As the prominent industries that have berthed the State under the current administration, their taxes may have contributed to the steady IGR growth in the State. The book Business in the Community recommends more for a company that seeks to be a responsible business. It notes: The prosperity of business and society is inextricably linked. If every individual business strives to be the best it can be in all areas as a responsible business, there will be a positive multiplier effect that will benefit society, the economy and the environment. If businesses collaborate, they can have a greater impact upon key issues than if acting alone. In line with the recommendation above, the VKS Group through Jubilee Syringe had sent 12 Nigerian youth, mostly Akwa Ibom people within its employ for advanced training on injection machine operation, maintenance of mold and quality control among other technologies in Turkey, so that they can transfer such knowledge and technology to others. Yet, that is not all from the company. VKS Group appears to understand that to build and sustain brands that people could love and trust, they must focus not only on today but on tomorrow. Hence, in their Corporate Social Responsibility to host communities, VKS have been strategic in supporting communities and organisations with projects that will be profound to their lives. One recent case in point is the donation of academic materials to some public Schools in ONNA LGA of the State. VKS Opportunities Not Fully Tapped Akwa Ibom people appear not to have keyed into the full potentials that VKS offers. The people appear not to have understood fully the business potentials available for them through VKS investments in the state. For instance, wheat is the key raw material used in the flour Mill. This writer gathered that wheat used in the Mill is mostly imported. The Chairman of the Akwa Ibom state branch of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Prince Bassey Inwang, says the establishment of Kings Flour Mill has opened another window for farmers in the State to go into massive wheat production, being the major raw materials for the mill. Although he says that AFAN in the state had already acquired two hectares of farmland in Ibiono Ibom local government area of the state where they embarked on the cultivation of wheat under a pilot scheme. The reality, if truth be told, is that this project has not been followed through. Agricultural experts insist that wheat can be effectively cultivated in Akwa Ibom if its cultivation is taken seriously. The experts say that such cultivators could attract billions of naira as key suppliers to Kings Flour Mill. In addition, the distribution chain of the flour is reported to be dominated by businessmen from states in Nigerias South-east, while business people in Akwa Ibom State show less interest. The Head of Sales, Kings Flour Mill, Frank Agaba, says the company is not to blame for the situation as they deal with only distributors who are interested and show seriousness in business. Our distribution is open to those who are interested to do business with us. There are Akwa Ibom people in Eket and Uyo who are our distributors. But we all know that in this business, the major people that have a strong desire and understanding of the running of this particular business are the Igbos. We deal with those who are serious, he points out. Akwa Ibom people are also yet to fully embrace the business opportunity in the syringe distribution. Out of the six pharmacies which sell Jubilee Syringes that were sampled by this writer, five among them say they buy their pharmaceutical products including the Syringes made by JSM from a distributor based in Lagos. The MD of JSM, Mr Oyediran insists that the company is not to blame for that. He says Distributorship is open for everybody. The form is available on our website. There, the company will simply give you the rules and regulations. When you are eligible and we see your commitment, we will gladly do business with you. VKS honoured for its foresight The quality of products and impact of Kings Flour Mill, JSM and VKS to the Akwa Ibom society and Nigeria at large has not been unnoticed. On March 5, 2021, the Nigeria Medical Association NMA, endorsed Jubilee Syringe for producing the best syringes in the country and one of the very best in the world. The President of NMA, Professor Innocent Ujah, while speaking on the occasion described the efforts made by JSM as unprecedented and worth commending. According to Prof Ujah, No one ever believed any good thing can come to Nigeria. Thank God that today Jubilee Syringe has changed the narrative. I must say here that Jubilee Syringe took risk coming into this sector, but today that risk has paid off. The man behind the VKS Group and the successes recorded therein is Mr. Onur Kumral, a Turkish businessman and investor. Mr. Kumral has been decorated and honoured for his job-creation effort in the State. Two socio-cultural groups in Akwa Ibom State, Afe Mkparawa Annang, and the Supreme Council of Ibibio Youths, in 2020, honoured Mr. Kumral for contributing to the growth of the State economy. Afe Mkparawa Annang, which presented Mr. Kumral with an Award of Excellence, said in a letter to him that they were aware that his companies have provided thousands of direct and indirect employment for Akwa Ibom people and contributed hugely to the Akwa Iboms Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the last few years. They applauded him for finding the State fit for his Investments. The letter from the Afe Mkparawa Annang signed by its President, Adede Uduak Akpan, called on the Akwa Ibom and the Federal Government to give special recognition to the efforts of the Turkish national so as to encourage him and other investors. With the mutual benefits derived from VKS investments in Akwa Ibom State, it is the hope of many that the firm continues to operate responsibly while the State plays its role in giving them maximum support needed to thrive. Mr Godwin Akpan, a journalist, writes from Uyo. Although the city of Pearlands 21-mile Clear Creek Trail System may take another decade to complete, the city is close to completing approximately eight miles of hike-and-bike paths that run alongside the areas most prominent tributary. The city is gearing up to open a new trail segment from Shadow Creek Sports Complex to the Lower Kirby District in the western part of the community. Once installation of a pedestrian bridge along the pathway behind the areas Buc-ees is complete in the coming month, the city expects a springtime grand opening. That is a significant piece (of the project), said Matt Buchanan, president of the Pearland Economic Development Corp. The city is also in the design phase for a segment of the planned east-to-west trail in the eastern part of the city that would extend from Hughes Ranch Road to the University of Houston-Clear Lake Pearland Campus, Buchanan said. Thats probably going to be open in the next two to three years, he said. The 10-foot-wide trail will connect to El Franco Lee Park to the east and sport a 750-foot pedestrian bridge that will run adjacent to Pearland Parkway before continuing south to the university facility. Late last year, City Council approved a $618,000 design contract to Gauge Engineering to develop this trail section. Though Pearland does have some responsibility for funding the trail system, in 2015 the Houston-Galveston Area Council approved the project as part of the Transportation Alternatives Program, making it eligible for a funding arrangement in which the Texas Department of Transportation would cover 80 percent of costs and the city 20 percent. Buchanan said some segments of the trail may be funded by area developers and other sources as the project moves forward. The trail system project has been on the citys books for nearly 15 years and is being developed with stakeholders including Brazoria County Drainage District No. 4, Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County Precinct 1 and the Houston Parks Board. The idea is to provide a continuous trail system that boosts residents quality of life and connects Pearlands parks, retail centers and neighborhoods. It also will serve as a link from neighborhoods to employment centers along Texas 288, Beltway 8, the Lower Kirby District and along Texas 35 corridors. Portions of the trail between FM 521 and Texas 288 have been completed, as have a part to the east extending from Pearland Parkway to Green Tee Terrace subdivision. Though completion of the full 21-mile project is some years down the road, Pearland Parks and Recreation Department director Carry Capers said the community has responded enthusiastically to the work. People ride on the trails before we even take down the barricades, she said. Capers said it has been gratifying to see people using trails to move about the city in a different way, especially when they can access the paths from their own neighborhoods. Connection (between neighborhoods and other areas) is very important and is a priority in the design, she said. Employees at Kelsey-Seybolds Pearland Clinic on Business Center Drive have made good use of a nearby trail segment, using the amenity to walk to and from work to nearby retail/restaurant centers for lunch and shopping, Buchanan said. In addition to the Clear Creek Trail Master Plan, other city plans including the 2007 Pearland Trail Master Plan for Parks & Recreation and the Pearland 20/20 Economic Development Strategic Plan recognize the importance of trail-based amenities and outdoor leisure activities. The city became further invested in the plan when the U.S. Corps of Engineers announced a nearly $300 million project to improve drainage capability in and around Clear Creek, such as widening the channel and providing in-line detention. The drainage work, which is not yet underway, will be conducted along the creek from Texas 288 to Dixie Farm Road. Buchanan said putting together a Clear Creek master plan was important to ensure the city lets the Corps know about its plans for trails along the creek. We went out and did this to make sure we can inform the process, he said. Capers said the city likes the idea of developing trails along the creek and its natural elements. More details on each Clear Creek Trail Master Plan segment and background information on the plan can be accessed at https://bityl.co/5xrC. The plan is divided into five segments, all of which are about three to five miles long. The segments are from Farm Road 521 to Texas 288; from Texas 288 to Stone Road; from Stone Road to Mykawa Road; from Mykawa Road to Barry Rose Road; and from Pearland Parkway to Dixie Farm Road. The trail document also shows the trails pathway and clearly identifies existing trails, trails under design, pedestrian bridges, key attributes of each segment including trailheads and connections from the path to parks and other commercial, recreational or residential spots. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Thailand abruptly delayed its rollout of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, stopping Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha from getting the first jab as several European nations suspended their programmes over blood clot fears. The kingdom was scheduled to start administering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, with Prayut expected to be filmed receiving the first injection. But by 8:30 am (0130 GMT) the gruff former general was nowhere to be seen, the event was abruptly cancelled, and a press conference with health officials was called. "Vaccine injection for Thais must be safe, we do not have to be in a hurry," Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, an adviser for the country's COVID-19 vaccine committee, told a press conference. "Though the quality of AstraZeneca is good, some countries have asked for a delay. We will delay (as well)." Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab the day before. Austria on Sunday stopped using doses from one batch, after a 49-year-old nurse died of "severe blood coagulation problems" days after receiving an anti-COVID shot. However, there is still no established link between the vaccine and blood clots, and Denmark stressed that its move was merely precautionary as it examined the risks more closely. Thai virologist Yong Poovarawan said the kingdom was waiting for other European countries to "make a conclusion". "We are delaying to let others prove (the side effects) of whether or not it is because of the vaccine or if it is only on that specific batch," he said, adding that the batch Thailand received was made in a factory in Asia. Prayut said Friday afternoon that he had been prepared to be vaccinated but then was told to refrain from it. "I have to listen to the doctors... I think the company itself will also have an explanation," he told reporters who asked if he was afraid. "I live until todaywhat do I have to be afraid of?" he scoffed. Thailand already rolled out its vaccination campaign last month, with the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine, and health workers were the first to receive the injections on February 28. The Sinovac shipment arrived with huge fanfare at Bangkok's airport, with a Chinese embassy official vowing that the vaccine export showed the "strengthened relations between China and Thailand". Thailand, which imposed stringent restrictions on people entering its territory to tackle the virus, has managed to limit its impact, registering just 26,000 cases and 85 deaths. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP NSU swim coach Monanian moving on after four seasons Monanian moves on to Purdue after accepting an assistant position at their program. By Nidhi Verma and Shu Zhang NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Top oil exporter has cut the supply of April-loading crude to at least four north Asian buyers by up to 15%, while meeting the normal monthly requirements of Indian refiners, refinery sources told Reuters on Friday. Saudi Arabia's reduction in supplies come as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, decided earlier this month to extend most of its supply cuts into April. has pledged to continue with an extra 1 million barrels per day voluntary output cut for a third month in April. Chinese refiners received a small cut in their Saudi supply, while the reduction in volumes for Japanese buyers was between 10% and 15%, the sources said. Saudi Aramco is also commissioning its 400,000-bpd Jizan refinery in the south west of the country which may have reduced its exports, one of the sources said. For India, Saudi Aramco has rejected Indian refiners' requests for extra supplies in April, but will keep average monthly supplies to the country unchanged, three Indian refining sources said. Saudi Aramco declined to comment. India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, had repeatedly called on major oil producers to ease supply curbs and had pointed to Saudi Arabia's voluntary cuts for contributing to a spike in global oil prices. Saudi Aramco did not cut supplies for some Asian buyers in March, but reduced volumes by up to a quarter in February. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Shu Zhang and Florence Tan in Singapore; Additional Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jane Merriman) (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.) [March 12, 2021] A Magical 100W GaN Charger with Quick Charge 5 Certification Revealed by Baseus HILLIARD, Ohio, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- It is fair to say that Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 technology has made an obvious impact on the fast charging industry since it released last year. Baseus is incorporating this technology into its new charging accessory, which has more than 100W of charging power. This allows users to charge a 4500mAh phone battery from 0 to 50% in just five minutes. Moreover, the 100W+ power enables Quick Charge 5 to have better performance in other areas. For example, 100W power is powerful enough for fast charging ultraportable laptops. The Quick Charge 5 implementation in a mobile device will also bring a better experience in terms of battery life and other aspects. The end of last year saw the first appearance of a number of devices supporting the Quick Charge 5 technology. For example, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Extreme Commemorative Edition is compatible with Quick Charge 5 chargers, and some newly launched laptops are also compatible with Quick Charge 5 technology. Many domestic manufacturers have already devoted to the development of Quick Charge 5 chargers, but the first exposed one may be Baseus 100W charger. Judging from the size and thickness, it should use gallium nitride technology. If it is true, then it is likely to be the first domestic GaN charger supporting the Quick Charge 5 technology. In view of the strategic partnership between Baseus and Navitas Semiconductor which represents the first echelon of domestic GaN R&D strength, it might well be true. The picture below is an image just officially revealed by Baseus. The small fast charging device surrounded by several laptops should be Baseus latest product using the Quick Charge 5 technology. The slogan "All laptops" is truly exciting. Does it mean that users no longer need to carr an as heavy as a brick laptop charger? This new charger shouldn't be too bulky according to Baseus style. If it is compatible with most laptops, it can solve most customers' pain point. In short, it is worth waiting for. As a new generation of semiconductor technology, gallium nitride chargers have higher power and a smaller size than traditional high-power chargers, making it easier to carry. The biggest change for users is that they can replace the original large charger of a laptop so that they can travel light. A more pleasant mobile working is predictable. People just need to carry a small Quick Charge 5 gallium nitride charger for computers and phones most of the time. Just taking 15 to 30 minutes, customers' phones and laptops can have a few hours of battery life. Let us look forward to the birth of such an epoch-making new product together. Quick Charge 5 sets a new standard for charging performance by charging up to four times faster than the previous generation. While Quick Charge 5 charges devices at blazing fast speeds, it also keeps extreme safety measures in mind; Quick Charge 5 incorporates 12 separate voltage, current and temperature protections, including USB-input overvoltage protection at 25V and external power controls beyond 30V. It also runs 10 degrees Celsius cooler than Quick Charge 4. Quick Charge 5 enables Dual/Triple Charge technology, adaptive input voltage, INOV4, Qualcomm Battery Saver and the new Qualcomm Smart Identification of Adapter Capabilities technology, which work together to maximize power transfer efficiency, increase safety and help extend the battery life cycle on a users' device. Quick Charge is designed to increase the battery charge of a device by up to 50% in 5 minutes. Actual results may vary depending on device design. Qualcomm and Quick Charge are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm Quick Charge, Qualcomm Battery Saver, and Qualcomm Smart Identification of Adapter Capabilities are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Related Links: http://www.baseus.com/ Press Contacts: Address: 4340 Lyman Dr.,Hilliard, OH 43026, United States Alber Ou Public Relations Specialist Email: vipbaseus@gmail.com Phone: +86 13530560435 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-magical-100w-gan-charger-with-quick-charge-5-certification-revealed-by-baseus-301246323.html SOURCE Baseus [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 00:29:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The humanitarian situation in the rural areas of Ethiopia's northern Tigray regional state remains precarious, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday. In a press statement, the ICRC said after months of fighting in the Tigray regional state, the humanitarian situation in rural areas remains challenging despite improving conditions in urban areas of the region. "Four months after fighting erupted in Tigray region, electricity, communication networks and water supply are gradually being restored and markets are reopening in the main towns, but humanitarian access in rural areas, and off the main roads, remains challenging because of the volatile security situation," the ICRC said in a statement. "The ICRC estimates food supplies in rural areas of Tigray are dangerously low, as many people lost both stores and livelihoods when they fled their homes. Lack of access to health services and lack of security are other major concerns," the statement further said. The ICRC also expressed concern about the lack of enough visibility on the humanitarian needs in many rural areas, as well as safety concerns in rural areas of Tigray region and the large number of missing people. "Many family members became separated when they fled their homes," the ICRC statement said. "Many are still unable to find their relatives, even if some communication networks have been restored. Following months of fighting, communities continue to live with the heavy burden of fear and uncertainty," the ICRC statement further said. More than 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 and displaced hundreds of thousands. Enditem A package of seized fentanyl in the evidence room of the Pinal County Sheriffs Department in Florence, Ariz., on Nov. 12, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Fentanyl Flowing Into United States at Record Volume The amount of fentanyl seized while coming through the southern border during the first five months of fiscal year 2021 has already surpassed that of all of fiscal year 2020, according to the latest statistics from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP has intercepted more than 5,000 pounds of fentanyl since Oct. 1, 2020, said Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller during a March 10 media call. We are seeing a dramatic increase in fentanyl seizures this fiscal year, more than 360 percent higher than this time last year, Miller said. Nationwide drug seizures increased 50 percent in February from January; cocaine interceptions increased 13 percent; seizures of methamphetamine increased 40 percent; seizures of heroin went up 48 percent. Fentanyl is the synthetic opioid attributed to the escalating overdose death rate in the United States. It is most often manufactured in Mexico using chemicals supplied by China. Its mixed with other narcotics to increase potency as well as pressed into counterfeit pain pills commonly known as Mexican oxys. The cartels are dominating the distribution of this poison and its really, really alarming, Derek Maltz, former head of the DEAs special operations division, told The Epoch Times. I do anticipate the crisis continuing on this escalating path. And to be honest with you, its really sad, because Ive been communicating with a lot of parents who have lost their young kids, especially to the counterfeit pills. And its all coming from Mexico. The Rio Grande City Border Patrol station monitors a 68-mile strip of international border in south Texas. It sits within the Rio Grande Valley Sector and, in 2019, was the busiest of the nations 135 stations for drug seizures and the second-busiest for illegal alien apprehensions. Were not even probably catching about 10 percent of it [drugs], Raul Ortiz, then-deputy chief Border Patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley sector, said in March 2019. Experts have said its likely that Border Patrol drug seizures will decrease as illegal immigration surgesagents will be tied up with large groups of people rather than interdicting drugs. Border Patrol highway checkpoints are also closing in many areas, as agents are sent to the border to help with processing the increased numbers. The Biden administration has said theres no crisis on the border and urges potential migrants not to come in illegally. But the latest illegal crossing numbers show that February hit a 14-month high, with more than 100,000 Border Patrol apprehensions. Mexicos president has expressed concern that President Joe Bidens policies are encouraging illegal immigration and human trafficking along the border with the United States. They see him as the migrant president, and so many feel theyre going to reach the United States, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said of Biden the morning after a virtual meeting with his U.S. counterpart on March 1, according to Reuters. Maltz said: Perception is reality. People around the world look at Biden as a softie on immigration. The open border is a disaster. It just increases the [cartels] ability to move drugs freely into America. Also, most importantly, it allows them to get their command and control operatives in the [United States] to establish the stash houses, the distribution outlets, the money collection points, so they have lots of people in America who are able to operate freely around the country. The cartels control the southern side of the U.S.Mexico border and anyone who crosses illegally has to pay them. Many cant afford the smuggling fees and become indentured to the cartels once they reach the United States. Others realize its more lucrative to become involved in transnational crime rather than get a job at a fast-food restaurant, for example, Maltz said. This didnt start under Donald Trump. It didnt start under Barack Obama. It didnt start under George Bush. This drug crisis has been escalating for years, he said. But theyre doing it at levels that weve never seen in the history of the country. OTTAWA, ON, March 12, 2021 /CNW/ - The Honourable Daniel Hays, P.C., O.C., C.D., and Mr. Robert Dick Richmond, C.M., were invested virtually into the Order of Canada today. His Excellency the Right Honourable Richard Wagner, P.C., Administrator of the Government of Canada presented each of them with their insignia of the Order of Canada during the private virtual ceremony, which was attended by a small gathering of family and friends. The Honourable Daniel Hays, P.C., O.C., C.D. Calgary, Alberta and Ottawa, Ontario Respected lawyer, rancher and parliamentarian, Daniel Hays is deeply committed to his province and country. For nearly a quarter of a century, the well-respected figure and mentor on all sides of the chamber was sought after for his expertise on international trade, energy and agriculture. Proudly committed to his roots, he steadfastly advocated for Canadian farmers and the key role they play. His distinguished service culminated in his role as speaker of the Senate, giving him the opportunity to enrich Canadian relations around the world. Robert Dick Richmond, C.M. Toronto, Ontario Robert Richmond helped bring Canada's aerospace industry to new heights between the 1950s and the 1980s. An aeronautical engineer, he is a founder, past president and fellow of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. He is credited with initiating such diverse programs as the Royal Canadian Air Force's CL-41 aircraft used by the Snowbirds acrobatic team as well as the Canadarm program for NASA. His contributions to the management and marketing of aerospace products and engines helped shape international markets and situated Canada as a major industry competitor. Nominations for the Order of Canada are accepted on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Nominate someone who has made outstanding contributions to their field of endeavour to the Order of Canada. From community volunteers to scientists, from artists to entrepreneurs, the members of the Order of Canada have enriched the lives of others and made our country a better place. Quick facts: Encouraging excellence is at the core of the governor general's mandate. The Order of Canada is one of our country's highest honours. Its Members, Officers and Companions are people whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations, and whose compassion unites our communities. is one of our country's highest honours. Its Members, Officers and Companions are people whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations, and whose compassion unites our communities. Anyone can nominate a person for a Canadian honour, decoration or medal. Each nomination is researched before being reviewed by an independent advisory committee or council, which then makes recommendations to the governor general. Related links: Stay connected: Follow GovernorGeneralCanada on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. SOURCE Governor General of Canada For further information: Media information: Rideau Hall Press Office, 343-573-7563, [email protected] Related Links http://www.gg.ca/ 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. (Alliance News) - Aviva PLC on Friday said it has increased its tender offer for notes to GBP1 billion in a move to reduce debt. On Thursday last week, the London-based insurance company said it is accelerating debt reduction plans, which will allow the company to lower debt by GBP1.7 billion in the first half of 2021. Alongside this, Aviva announced an GBP800 million debt tender offer. The FTSE 100-listed company launched separate tender offers for holders of its outstanding EUR500 million 0.625% senior notes due 2023, EUR750 million 1.875% senior notes due 2027, GBP700 million 6.125% tier 2 reset notes due 2036, EUR650 million 6.125% tier 2 reset notes due 2043, EUR700 million 3.875% tier 2 reset notes due 2044, EUR900 million 3.375% tier 2 reset notes due 2045, and GBP800 million 6.125% fixed rate perpetual reset subordinated notes. These offers expired on Thursday and Aviva noted that pricing for the offers in relation to the fixed purchase spread notes will take place later on Friday. Aviva said about GBP2 billion of notes with a priority level of 1 had been tendered, therefore, it decided to increase its initial offer and proposed to accept notes of up to GBP1 billion. The company also said it does not intend to accept any tendered notes with a priority level of 2. Aviva shares were trading 0.4% lower in London on Friday at 388.14 pence each. By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance decided not to seek reelection because he was 'stuck in the middle' between progressives and the NYPD, according to a source familiar with the matter. On Friday, Vance announced that he would not seek re-election when his term ended at the end of the year. 'He was stuck in the middle,' an insider told the New York Post. 'He's the old guard white guy, so he's not getting support from the new guard.' 'But he's really doing the new guard's work and picking up the baton and telling the NYPD we're going to do things differently.' Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is not planning on staying in office after 2021 after being 'stuck in the middle' with progressives and the NYPD, according to a source The source added that the disapproval from both sides was motivating Vance's decision to not seek re-election. 'I think he may feel he's not the best guy for the job going forward,' the source added. As Vance's office adopted more progressive policies, he found himself in opposition with the NYPD, especially regarding his decision not to prosecute low-level protest arrests during the George Floyd protest. 'They wanted these low-level arrests and to have more information about more people who break the law is good for law enforcement,' the source shared. 'But Vance saw that it was time to do things differently. He was fighting with the police department on one hand and the new guard on the other.' As Vance's office adopted more progressive policies, he found himself in opposition with the NYPD, especially regarding his decision not to prosecute low-level protest arrests during the George Floyd protest 'They wanted these low-level arrests and to have more information about more people who break the law is good for law enforcement,' the source shared. 'But Vance saw that it was time to do things differently. He was fighting with the police department on one hand and the new guard on the other' 'From the police department's perspective, it was, "We're going to arrest these people and you're just going to let them go. Whose side are you on?" 'He's not a fighter. He's not going to want to spend his days fighting with the police department.' And according to the source, Vance had taken 'rough press and criticism' for work he had put in. 'He's not your typical politician. He's not Andrew Cuomo,' the source claimed. 'He's a man with a heart.' And while Vance did eventually convict Harvey Weinstein in 2020, several progressives felt his failure to do so in 2015 was enough to tarnish his time in office. A group of Weinstein accusers cited his failure to do so in their November endorsement of former Manhattan prosecutor Lucy Lang to replace him. 'He feels like if he's going to turn the DA's office over, now is the time to do it,' the source claimed. 'If you, the new generation, think you can do a better job, who are we to stop you? Let's give you a chance.' Harvey Weinstein accusers did not like that Vance failed to prosecute him in 2015 and announced in November that they were endorsing former Manhattan DA Lucy Lang Danny Frost, a spokesman for Vance, rejected the notion that the DA was cutting his career short. He added that his relationship with both parties didn't factor into his decision to only serve two or three terms, which Frost said Vance had informed family of back in 2009. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. made the announcement in a memo to his staff, ending months of speculation about his future. His term expires at the end of the year. Vance, a Democrat, counted Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction a year ago among his crowning achievements but faced withering criticism over other high-profile cases, including dropping rape charges against French financier Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011 and declining to prosecute Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. over fraud allegations in 2012. Vance also missed an opportunity to prosecute Weinstein in 2015, declining to file charges against him in a case of alleged groping due to a cited lack of evidence despite an incriminating tape possessed by the model making the accusation. 'He was cautious in what high-profile cases he brought,' Marc F. Scholl, who worked in the district attorney's office, told the New York Times. 'He was more interested in not making mistakes than anything else.' Vance has also faced criticism for being slower to stop prosecuting low-level marijuana cases, doing so as recently as 2018. 'I never imagined myself as District Attorney for decades like my predecessors. I never thought of this as my last job, even though it's the best job and biggest honor I'll ever have. I said twelve years ago that change is fundamentally good and necessary for any institution,' Vance wrote in a statement about his decision. Vance's decision not to run for re-election was widely anticipated Vance's decision not to run for re-election was widely anticipated, but he held off on making it official while the U.S. Supreme Court was weighing whether his office could obtain Trump's tax records. The court ruled in Vance's favor last month. Vance, 66, raised little money this election cycle and stayed curiously quiet as other Democrats campaigned to replace him. Eight candidates are on the ballot for the party's June primary, an election that will likely decide Vance's successor because Manhattan is so heavily Democratic. According to the New York Times, three of the candidates to replace Vance lack any experience as a prosecutor. Additionally, at least five candidates have worked to distance themselves from Vance, including Lucy Lang and Diana Florence, who each worked under him at one point. The February 22 Supreme Court ruling giving Vance's office access to Trump's taxes was a capstone for his tenure as district attorney, ending an 18-month fight with the former president's lawyers and bolstering a grand jury investigation that has drawn worldwide attention. Vance is currently investigating Donald Trump's finances and recently won a battle to gain access to his taxes. It's unclear if he will pursue charges before leaving office The focus of Vance's probe of Trump appears to be moving towards real estate dealings Vance is conducting a wide-ranging investigation that includes examining whether Trump or his businesses lied about the value of assets to gain favorable loan terms and tax benefits, and hush-money payments paid to women on Trumps behalf. Vance will continue to lead the Trump probe through the end of this year with his general counsel, Carey Dunne, who made appeals court arguments on the office's behalf. He recently hired former mafia prosecutor Mark Pomerantz to assist in the probe. In a statement after the Supreme Court ruled, Vance said: 'The work continues.' Vance's exit, however, means it will almost certainly be a brand-new D.A. who sees the Trump case through. And, in the short term, legal observers say, his announcement could hasten the departure of prosecutors who've been loyal to him and won't want to work for his successor. According to NBC News, Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, met with prosecutors for the seventh time on Wednesday. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the investigation, which remains without a clearly defined focus. Vance failed to prosecute Dominique Strauss-Kahn (left) in a sexual assault case According to the Associated Press, Vance's criminal probe is investigating whether or not Trump manipulated the value of some of his properties to receive enhanced tax benefits. One of the properties being looked as the Silver Springs estate in Westchester County, which Trump purchased for $7.5 million in 1995. Trump received a $21 million income tax deduction based on an appraisal of the land in December 2015, which valued the estate at $56.5 million. Local government assessors, however, valued the property at just $20 million. Cohen told a congressional committee in 2019 that Trump often manipulated property values to either secure better tax benefits or loan terms. CANDIDATES FOR MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY Tahanie Aboushi (D): Human rights attorney whose father was sentenced to 20 years in prison for untaxed cigarettes. Wants to decrease jail population and establish police accountability unit Alvin Bragg (D): Former chief deputy attorney general for New York State running as a progressive reformer. Vowed not to prosecute low-level offences that don't involve public safety Liz Crotty (D): Former assistant district attorney from Manhattan. A moderate who would look at low-level offenses 'fairly and appropriately' Tali Farhadian Weinstein (D): Professor of law, former general counsel for the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office seen as a moderate. Would end cash bail but allow judges to detain someone considered 'dangerous' before trial Diana Florence (D): Led Construction Fraud Task Force at Manhattan district attorney's office. Would take on real estate and construction corruption. Criticized Vance for not holding Trump and Weinstein accountable Lucy Lang (D): Former director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at CUNY's John Jay College, from Manhattan Eliza Orlins (D): Public defender with Legal Aid Society who would decriminalize sex work and decline to prosecute low-level crimes. Has competed on 'Survivor' and 'The Amazing Race' Dan Quart (D): State Assembly member who plans to abolish cash bail and avoid prosecuting sex workers Source: City & State Advertisement Grand jury rules have prevented Vance from saying much about the probe, other than that it is looking at 'extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.' Vance's successor will be just the fourth elected district attorney in Manhattan in the last 80 years. Frank Hogan, the namesake of the street where the office is located, served for 31 years. Robert Morgenthau was in office for 34 years, and Vance will leave after 12, as he took office in 2010. It's one of the most high-profile prosecution jobs in the world, dramatized on TVs 'Law and Order' and 'Blue Bloods.' The district attorney oversees a staff of 500 lawyers and has a budget of about $125 million. A separate forfeiture fund bankrolled by Wall Street settlements and worth more than $800 million is used for grants to criminal justice and community organizations and big initiatives, like testing backlogged rape kits - a push celebrated by the likes of 'Law & Order: SVU' star Mariska Hargitay. Vance, whose father was President Jimmy Carter's secretary of state, served as an assistant district attorney under Morgenthau in the 1980s. Practicing law in Seattle for 16 years, he represented Vili Fualaau, who as a preteen became involved in a sexual relationship with his sixth-grade teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau, and fathered two of her children. Vance returned to New York in 2004 and was elected district attorney five years later. Running as a death penalty opponent, he was buoyed by endorsements from Morgenthau and former Mayor David Dinkins. Vance positioned himself as a national criminal justice innovator, taking interest in national and global efforts to prevent cyberattacks and gun violence. He has testified before Congress about cellphone encryption and financial transparency. After Vance made a made a campaign pledge to re-examine the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz, a 2012 tip led to a new suspect and ultimately a conviction. Weinstein's conviction in the landmark #MeToo case last year boosted Vance's lagging legacy, giving him a career-defining win a decade into a tenure clouded by concerns that he repeatedly gave powerful people special treatment, such as sidestepping an effort to pursue charges against Weinstein in 2015. He was ultimately charged in May 2018 with rape and sexual misconduct and found guilty of rape and sexual assault in February 2020. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Strauss-Kahn, meanwhile, was never sentenced after his sexual assault case was dropped, though he later reached a civil settlement with is accuser. Last year, Strauss-Kahn was the subject of a Netflix documentary about the case, 'Room 2806: The Accusation,' which he did not appear in. In addition to Strauss-Kahn, whose charges were dropped amid concerns about inconsistencies in the account of the hotel maid who accused him, a Vance prosecutor once took the unusual step of seeking low-level sex offender status for Jeffrey Epstein, alarming the judge who said she had 'never seen a prosecutor's office do anything like this.' Vance's office also struck a deal in 2016 so well-connected gynecologist Robert Hadden could avoid prison for allegedly sexually abusing patients. KYODO NEWS - Mar 12, 2021 - 22:26 | All, Coronavirus, Japan Japan is set to receive about 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. across May and June, the minister in charge of vaccination efforts said Friday, enough for nearly half of its population. The shipments from the drugmaker's factory in Belgium will need to be individually approved under the European Union's export controls, Taro Kono said at a press conference. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to secure COVID-19 vaccines for Japan's population of 126 million within the first half of 2021. The vaccine developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE, the only one the health ministry has approved so far, consists of two shots, meaning 100 million doses will be enough for 50 million people. Kono said after negotiations with Pfizer, Japan expects to receive nearly 1.8 million vials, which could yield up to about 10.7 million doses using low dead space syringes, per week in May, with shipments to further increase in June. Related coverage: Japanese drugmaker starts AstraZeneca vaccine production in Japan U.N. chief calls for doubling vaccine production capacity China offers vaccines to all Tokyo, Beijing Olympic athletes Such syringes, capable of drawing six doses from a vial, will be used to administer the second shots for health care professionals, while typical ones can only extract five doses from a vial. The vaccine for their first shots will be shipped from April 12. The more efficient syringes will be used for inoculating elderly people as well. Japan is in the process of inoculating 4.8 million health care workers and plans to expand the vaccine rollout to people aged 65 or older, a group of about 36 million, in mid-April. People with underlying conditions such as diabetes and those working at elderly care facilities will follow. Shots for the elderly will be delivered to municipalities by the end of June, Kono said. Japan has lagged behind other countries such as the United States and Britain in its vaccine rollout amid a supply shortage due to production delays at Pfizer's factory and the European Union's export controls, which are set to run until the end of June. The fifth batch of the Pfizer vaccine, about 420,000 doses, will arrive in Japan on Monday, according to Kono. The country received its first shipment last month. Public skepticism over side effects could also hold up the effort, with only 63.1 percent of respondents in a Kyodo News poll conducted last month saying they want to be inoculated. Among the 181,184 people in the country who have received a shot, 37 claims of anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction, were reported as of Thursday, but one of them was retracted, according to the health ministry. Kono added all of them had recovered. As for 17 cases reported by Tuesday, only seven were confirmed as being anaphylaxis following intricate exams based on international standards, the ministry said. ADVERTISEMENT The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) lockdown has impacted negatively on the livelihood and income of women globally with unprecedented loss of jobs. Isha Sesay, UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Goodwill Ambassador, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja. The interview was part of the activities by the West and Central Africa Regional Office of the UNFPA to mark the 2021 International Womens Day (IWD). The day is annually marked on March 8 to raise awareness on the plight of women and girls and to celebrate women making giant strides in different areas of endeavour. The international day has Choose To Challenge as its theme for this year. Ms Sesay, a British journalist of Sierra Leonean descent, who described women as very important group in every industrial sector, however, said the COVID-19 lockdown had affected the financial income and earnings of millions of women around the globe. She explained that women were hard hit in terms of impact on livelihood and income, as a lot of industries that were dominated by women remained shut while the lockdown lasted. She said: We want to draw attention to the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on women; we want to see more support for small rural farmers in Africa, majority of whom are women. It has been particularly hard for women during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown as caregivers, doctors, scientists have been on the frontline to save lives. The UNFPA ambassador, who called for greater access to capital and support for women to achieve self-sustenance, added that we should ensure that women access enough capital; they have been feeding families and communities with their meagre income. The journalist, who expressed confidence in the ingenuity of women, said the female folks had been leaders in different areas, beginning from the homes. She added that women in leadership had excelled more than their male counterparts in many countries of the world. Ms Sesay pointed out that women had from time immemorial, distinguished themselves as shining examples in the leadership of their countries and organisations. She expressed the hope that both women and girls, as well as the youth, would be able to engage government positively for the desired change. Ms Sesay had previously worked as an anchor and correspondent for CNN but left in 2018. As UNFPAs goodwill ambassador, she shared her personal life experiences, her journey as a journalist and her interest in women and girls. (NAN) Local Ireland, the association representing 42 weekly paid-for print and online newspapers around the country, has created a blank print and digital newspaper to illustrate the crisis facing the sector as a result of COVID-19. The newspaper includes strong editorial messages from the newspaper editors, adverts calling for Government support and a map showing newspapers in every county of Ireland but its 48 pages are mostly empty of stories. The industry is calling on the Government to match its 5 million funding for local radio with support for local newspapers and is urging a fair share of Government advertising for COVID information campaigns. President of Local Ireland David Ryan said: The Blank Newspaper shows what will happen if professional, quality journalism is not supported. We have already seen measures being taken for shorter working weeks, lay-offs and redundancies. There has been a dramatic fall in advertising during the COVID period for publishers, who were already having to deal with the fall-out from the global recession and the mass migration of advertising to tech giants such as Google and Facebook prior to COVID. Advertising fell an average of 22% in 2020 compared with 2019 and the start of 2021 is, if anything, worse. We provide a unique service to our readers both urban and rural. We are in every county, every town, every estate and every townland, in print and online. Our readers rely on us to give them the detailed local coverage that they cannot get anywhere else." Executive Director of Local Ireland Bob Hughes said: Local radio stations, which operate in the same market as ourselves, received 2.5 million via a COVID funding scheme last April and have just been given the opportunity to apply to another 2.5 million scheme. We have received no such similar support. Government needs to come forward with creative solutions to support the industry during the current crisis. Ninety one per cent of our advertising comes from local businesses and many have been devastated by the pandemic, particularly those in the hospitality and tourism sector. We are also calling on the Government to ensure that local news publishers receive their fair share of advertising around national COVID campaigns. Our newspapers reach older people and the most vulnerable in society who rely on us for the latest information about changes in COVID restrictions and the roll-out of vaccines. We need to see a fairer distribution of advertising spend to serve our readers and to support our businesses. Up until this week, Greensill Capital was a high-flying, Anglo-Australian group that had taken the world of high finance by storm. But it all went horribly wrong very quickly for the group born out of a sugar farming dynasty in Bundaberg. Lex Greensill. Credit:Joe Benke Who is he? Lex Greensill may not be a household name in Australia but the boy from Bundaberg has over the past five years become a big deal in the world of global finance through his eponymous business. Greensill grew up on his parents sugar cane and melon farm and according to the companys website it was those (self-described) humble beginnings that drove Greensill to revolutionise the world of supply chain finance. On the farm, Lex saw how his parents had to wait up to two years to be paid for crops. It spurred him to start a business that would buy debts from companies and then quickly pay the suppliers, after deducting a fee for the service. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 00:07:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Chan Ping-yuk, 66, wrote her signature carefully on an autograph book Friday morning at a promotional booth set up on Nathan Road for a campaign in support of a decision of the national legislature to improve Hong Kong's electoral system. "I was born and grew here. The (decision of the) nation is for Hong Kong's good. Why shouldn't I support (it)?" the retired woman said. Nathan Road, as the main thoroughfare of Hong Kong's Kowloon, links busy shopping districts of Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, and it is lined with shops and restaurants and packed by visitors. However, the street was frequently ransacked by rioters during the social unrest in 2019, because of which many shops used to put up protective planks against vandalism. "I was really sad to see the place is trashed. I am 66 years old but rational. People who commit crimes should be put in prison, and it is illegal to subvert peace of Hong Kong," she said. The area has come to life again after the national security law in Hong Kong took effect on June 30, 2020. Lobo Fung, a property manager who volunteered to run the booth, also remembered clearly the devastating blows delivered by violent incidents to the livelihoods of Hong Kong people. "As the society was in chaos, people's work and life were unstable." "Hong Kong should be administered by those who love it, and Hong Kong people need a stable society," he said. Shortly after Fung set up the booth, he was overwhelmed by passersby who stopped to sign their names. Such a scene occurred on Friday at more than 1,000 promotional booths placed across Hong Kong as local people actively expressed their support for the decision adopted by the National People's Congress Thursday in Beijing. A resident surnamed Chow helped his six-year-old daughter sign her name outside the Wan Chai metro station. "My father told me that we should love and support our country," the little girl said. Confirming his daughter's words, Chow said, "Whenever we saw 'black terror' violence (over the past years), I taught her that we are Chinese and we love our country. She learned it well." Chow's remarks were echoed by William Liu, a retired teacher. "Most Hong Kong people hope Hong Kong will continue to be harmonious, peaceful and prosperous. We don't want illegal activities of anti-China disruptors," he said. "They will exert a bad influence on our younger generation for a long time. We must right the wrongs." At the entrance of Tsuen Wan Park, New Territories, a resident surnamed Lau wrote her name without any hesitation. "Of course I support (the NPC decision). Stop messing up Hong Kong. I will be just happy as long as Hong Kong returns to prosperity and stability," she said. Lau, working in the transportation sector, said she was heartbroken to see the fallout of social unrest and she volunteered to brief people in her neighborhood about the national security law in Hong Kong last year. "We, Hong Kong people, truly wish the best of Hong Kong and the best of our country," she said. Enditem New chief getting to know officers by riding shotgun Mayor Barbara Volk congratulates new Police Chief Blair Myhand on his swearing-in as Myhands wife, Nana, looks on. When he spotted an ad about a police chief job opening in Hendersonville, Blair Myhand was taken back 40 years, to the summer days when he played with cousins around his step-grandmothers brick house on Third Avenue West. I knew what Hendersonville was. I had been here before, he said. My stepfather is from here. His sister and her daughters and their families still live here. It wasnt foreign to me. Neither was the job description. When I read the announcement what the city said it was looking for was exactly the type of leader that I was. It just spoke to me, he said. Myhand, 51, emerged from a months-long search as one of two finalists for the job and in January was picked by City Manager John Connet to become the new police chief. He succeeds Herbert Blake, who took a job as chief deputy under Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller last August after 12 years as the citys top law enforcement officer. In an interview last week, Myhand gushed about the welcome he has received from city employees and businesses. One business sent a box of brownies. After he enjoyed a lunch at Bay Breeze, the restaurant owners gave him a gift certificate. Everybody has been overwhelmingly welcoming and warm to us, he said. At new-employee orientation last week, he looked around and marveled: Im the only person whos not from here. But I dont feel like an outsider, he added. I envy the fact that Im not from East, West or Hendersonville High School, because obviously theres some (rivalry) history there. To be honest, its a very refreshing feeling for people to be sincere about, Were excited that youre here and looking forward to what youre going to do. Wardak province was the wild wild west Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Myhand graduated from high school in Nashville, Tennessee, and joined the Army. He was a sergeant in the National Guard when he deployed to Afghanistan in 2005. Assigned to a forward operating base in Ghazni, he led a 19-man reconnaissance platoon roving the rugged mountains in Wardak province, population 560,000. Imagine the sheriff had 19 deputies to patrol all of Henderson County thats kind of what it was like, he said. It was the wild wild west back then. We were gone for weeks at a time without ever going back to our base. We lived out in the country, hiked mountains, searched for the Taliban. It was exciting for me back then but I was a younger man back then. It was high-risk combat. Ive been shot at, IEDd, rocketed, mortared sometimes all in one night, he said. We had some very close calls. I dont know how we didnt get blown up. I was lucky to bring all the guys back from my platoon. When he came home, he moved from Washington, D.C., where he had served on the Metro police force, and joined the Apex police department. Still in the National Guard, he was sent to combat again, this time in Iraq. By then a 1st sergeant, he led a platoon of infantry soldiers that patrolled an area 20 miles south of Baghdad that U.S. troops called the triangle of death. Clayton chapter is closed After rising to the rank of captain at the Apex police department, Myhand was hired in 2017 as police chief in Clayton. In what he and Connet have described as a shift in the political winds, Myhand was placed on administrative leave from the chiefs job. In January, Claytons city manager dropped a 400-page draft report on the City Council dais that he said detailed a culture where various forms of misbehavior were tolerated, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. (The city manager refused to release the draft report on the grounds that an investigation is ongoing.) Connet has said he is convinced Myhand did nothing wrong. Clayton a few years ago hired a manager and police chief that they wanted to be very professional and raise the standards, Connet said when he announced Myhands hiring on Jan. 15. Over time, things changed and the council felt like they needed to go in a different direction, which is perfectly within their right. Myhand was aware of the Clayton city managers report. I dont know what is in it because I havent seen it, he said. I do know that the manager was asked, was I the subject of any allegations that was being investigated and he said no and that was reported by a local television station. Since leaving there, I am making a conscious effort not to pay attention to the things that are going on there because I have put that behind me. I hope that that chapter is closed and Im looking forward to the future. Riding shotgun The future will bring a major change, in the works long before the police chiefs job became vacant. The city is building a new $11.5 million police station on Ashe Street in the Historic Seventh Avenue District. Myhand describes that as a source of pride but for now his focus is on human resources. He is getting to know the officers that patrol the streets. Hendersonville and Clayton have exactly the same number of sworn officers 45 and a similar-sized police department budget. The new chief is practicing management by riding shotgun. I want them to be more comfortable in their office than sitting in my office, he said of his patrol shifts. I get to see the city more, riding around with them and (having them) showing me stuff. My No. 1 goal right now is to get to know the staff and really hear what their concerns are, the things they think we should focus on as an organization. After 18 days on the job, he detects from the force a really positive culture and attitude about their city, about the department. Theyre glad to be employees here, they really like working for the city, he said. My No. 1 goal is to make sure we are policing fairly, ethically, treating everybody equally in this community. I dont want anybody to feel disparaged or left out or mistreated. I dont have any indication that the opposite of that (fair treatment) is happening right here, but that is one of my goals to make sure police officers really understand what our role in society is. We are not punishers. Thanks in part to his time with the Metro Police Department in majority-African American Washington, D.C., Myhand said, Im very comfortable in the black community. In Hendersonville, he said, wants to meet residents where they live and he wants to hear their concerns. I have no idea what its like to be a black person in America but I have to believe that if a person feels this way (that theyre a victim of racism) that its real to them, he said. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing and I dont want to be part of a continuing problem. I want to hear what they have to say because if we could do something better, why wouldnt we? Over time, he sees a shift to analysis driven policing that looks at trends of car crashes, crime and complaints so we can deploy our people effectively. Bo loves the mountains Myhand and his wife found a home just outside the city limits, three miles from City Hall. (He wanted to live in the city but could not find an affordable home, he said.) Nana, his wife, was able to keep her job with a Raleigh-based venture capital firm, working remotely. They share their home with Bo, a 12-year-old Shelty. I call him Bo, Bodacious, Bojangles anything with Bo in it, Myhand said. Bo seems to think the Blue Ridge Mountains are the fountain of youth. I dont know if its the coolness of the mountain air but he acts like hes 3, running around, Myhand said. Theres a little retaining wall and hes jumping off of it and his legs are not strong enough to do that. Hes chasing bunnies in the backyard. Hes having a good ol time. So is the new chief, riding shotgun, meeting lots of people and scoping out the lay of the land. President Joseph Biden announced during a prime time televised address Thursday that he will direct states to make all adults eligible to receive a vaccine no later than May 1. And the president offered another glimmer of hope to a pandemic-weary nation now facing one year since lockdowns began: that they might be able to celebrate the Fourth of July with some degree of normalcy in small backyard gatherings. U.S. territories and tribes will also be directed to make everyone over the age of 18 eligible for the vaccine by that date, the president said. Let me be clear that doesnt mean everyones going to have that shot immediately, but it means youll be able to get in line beginning May 1, he said. For Connecticut residents, the presidents announcement moves the timetable up by two days. Under the plan announced by Gov. Ned Lamont on Feb. 22, the final group of adults to be eligible for the vaccines, those between the ages of 16 and 34, would be able to register for appointments starting May 3. A statement from the governors office Thursday evening offered a full-throated endorsement of Bidens directive to states. Achieving universal access to vaccines for all adults by May is a bold, aggressive goal coming from President Biden, and this is the kind of leadership that is necessary to get our state and our country back to normal, the statement from Lamont said. On behalf of the people of Connecticut: I accept this challenge. I also echo the Presidents call for each of us to get our vaccine as soon as we are eligible. Lamont said the state will work with vaccine providers to ensure an equitable distribution. Reaching our underserved communities remains a priority of my administration and we will do everything we can to get as many vaccines administered as we can in the coming weeks, the governor said. News of the announcement leaked to the press in the hours leading up to the presidents live address, which aired at 8 p.m. The presidents address marked the one-year anniversary of the date most of the country went into lockdown, as schools and businesses were shuttered and daily life ground to a virtual halt for millions around the country. It was a point Biden touched on repeatedly throughout his address. He noted the cost in lives from the disease 527,726 in the United States, the president said, reading from the back of his schedule kept in his pocket. But he also reflected on a less tangible loss, as the pandemic put life on hold, canceling all the things that needed to happen but didnt. Weve lost so much time, time with each other, Biden said. And our children have lost so much time with their friends, time with their schools. He said returning a majority of kindergarten through eighth grade schools to in-person learning will be the No. 1 priority of his new secretary of education former Connecticut Department of Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona. Biden asked those watching, at one point staring into the camera directly and imploring them, to get vaccinated when they are able to and encourage others to do the same. He also urged watchers to continue social distancing, washing their hands and with added emphasis to keep wearing masks. He offered the prospect of a more normal Fourth of July as incentive, with a cookout and a barbecue with friends and family. That doesnt mean large events with lots of people together but it does mean small groups will be able to get together, the president said. Lamont said he is looking forward to it. I thank President Biden for this approach and for working to end this pandemic, supporting families and small businesses, and working to get our economy back on solid ground, the governor said. I, too, look forward to Independence Day so we can celebrate with family and friends our collective achievement of getting back to normal. Enthused, the government has decided to take the last quarter earnings into consideration while drafting the new Budget 2021-22 to be presented to the Legislature on March 18. (DC file photo) Hyderabad: The state government's revenue earnings bounced back in the last quarter of this fiscal (January-March 2021) after remaining low for the first three quarters (April-Decemer 2020) due to the corona impact. Enthused, the government has decided to take the last quarter earnings into consideration while drafting the new Budget 2021-22 to be presented to the Legislature on March 18, official sources in the finance department said. The decision was taken on the basis of instructions from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao at the meeting he held with finance officials at Pragathi Bhavan to finalise the Budget proposals. Officials were asked to draft a realistic budget, based on the improved earnings in the last quarter. This implies that there would not be much of a variation in the new budget size compared to the last year's budget though the state government's earnings took a nosedive in the first quarter (April-June 2020) in the context of the lockdowns and the subsequent slowdown in economy in the next two quarters (July-December 2020). The CM had obtained complete data on the government's revenue earnings, sector-wise, from April 2020 to February 2021. The data showed that the earnings fell short by 28 per cent over the Budget estimates for 2020-21. However, the earnings bounced back to pre-Covid levels in the last quarter (January-March 2021), rekindling the hopes of the state government on achieving higher revenue earnings in the new fiscal 2021-22. The CM's review on the previous fiscal (2020-21) earnings found that, barring excise, none of the sectors could meet the budgetary targets. Against the Rs26,400 crore target set for commercial tax collections, Rs20,800 crore came in during the April 2020 - February 2021 period. Earnings through VAT on excise surpassed the target. Against a target of Rs 11,439 crore, the collections were of Rs 11,675 crore. Coming to GST, Rs 22,205 crore was realised as against the Rs27,600 crore target. While the target for excise earnings was Rs16,000 crore, the earnings touched Rs 13,241 crore. Earnings through stamps and registrations nosedived due to the lockdown from April to June 2020 and later too due to suspension of property registrations for three months from September to November 2020, to enable launch of the Dharani website. Against the budgetary target of Rs 10,000 crore, only half -- Rs5,000 crore -- was met. Earnings through the transport department was of Rs3,443 crore against the Rs4,300 crore target. Earnings from mines stood at Rs2,077crore against the target of Rs 5,600 crore. The target to raise funds through auction of government lands was Rs25,000 crore, but only Rs 800 crore was realised. KYIV. March 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) The Asset Recovery and Management Agency of Ukraine (ARMA) advocates the involvement of its specialists in the investigation of criminal proceedings. As acting Head of ARMA Vitaliy Syhydyn said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday, the agency's functions and powers require legislative regulation. So, according to him, a planning procedure should be introduced before the seizure of assets. "This is the inclusion of ARMA as a potential participant in criminal proceedings... ARMA, using the function of tracing and identifying assets, could help find a much larger number of assets that can be seized," he said. In the future, Syhydyn said, when attracting ARMA specialists to the group of prosecutors who are investigating criminal proceedings, it would be possible to correctly work out a petition for court to further manage the seized assets. He also drew attention to the need to unblock the asset sale procedure and streamline the selection of managers for crisis assets. "Another of our functions is keeping a register of seized assets. Despite the fact that almost all spending on the register in the previous year were essentially reduced, we were able to do a lot, and work on the register was carried out by our forces. Hope that this year, if we have proper funding, we will fully launch the register, integrate it with other registers and databases," Syhydyn said. Speaking about the achievements in the work of ARMA in the past year, the acting head of the agency announced the provision of a transparent asset management policy. "Tenders for asset management businesses have become public, and information about active asset managers has become completely open," he said. According to Syhydyn, ARMA provided the highest budget receipts, despite the lack of funding for the development of the agency. "The management activities of the business last year made it possible to significantly increase net receipts. And we see this trend now. In 2020, we transferred more than UAH 15 million to the budget, and in the first two months of this year, 40% of the 2020 budget receipts were provided," the acting head of ARMA said. Despite the surging border crisis and the alarm caused by the failed immigration policies of the White House. Biden's massive misstep is defended as it deepens with more immigrants worry US citizens. White House Still Denies Surging Border Crisis The White House does not want to acknowledge that a full-blown crisis is at the US border. The press that was once uncritical is asking the President why the crisis is ignored. Last Thursday, the White House reporters went full-court press on immigrants' overflowing arrival with minors traveling alone. Another is why the president keeps silent despite the pleas to know what he thinks exactly on the 'Crisis,' reported The Epoch Times. The main White House Correspondent for CNN, Kaitlan Collins, in the daily White House briefs mentioned a valid point why the crisis exists. Border patrol officials are saddled with more than 3,700 unaccompanied minors. Collins said that these minors traveling alone would spend four days in the border stations. She asked Psaki why the complete denial. Psaki responded to Collins' question, which did not answer the question directly, instead skirted the issue again. Despite called for Biden's intercession, he still is not on point. She added that the president is not ready to decide on the surging border crisis spilling over negatively. Despite the urgency of the migrant children and criminals' entry, he has to mull what needs to be done. Also read: Top ICE Officials Say Flooding Migrants Might be Exploited by Criminals The safety at the borders for the flooding migrants is supposed to be Biden's concern, but no action from him yet. Psaki said that the border facilities are not designed as permanent residences. An effort to get the children out of the centers will be next in the White House agenda. Psaki gave an additional statement to the border issues, and this is part of it. The focus is on where the issues started, and there is no need to play games. This meant that the president is serious about solving the border problem. Allegedly, Biden's critic is making an issue of the border crisis that would not have happened if Trump's orders weren't recalled. Reporters again pressed the @WhiteHouse over the surge of #IllegalAliens and unaccompanied minors crossing the US-Mexico #Border as they questioned why the Biden administration has repeatedly refused to acknowledge it as a #BorderCrisis. https://t.co/Ww1aNcvOsK The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) March 12, 2021 During the last 21 days, the Customs and Border Protection had met 435 unaccompanied children daily from 340 children before. Increased influx of unescorted minors is suspected to be the doing of criminals and Mexican cartels profiting from an ill-advised open border. #BorderCrisis: The situation is completely unstable. Rep. @DanCrenshawTX visited the southern US #Border over the weekend, describing the situation there as unstable. https://t.co/XzYS7jNf2l The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) March 9, 2021 According to the Border Patrol, last February, even a week of frigid weather has caught a record number of 100,441 illegal border-crossers on the southern border. This was the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report, which added that 26,000 escaped them. Jaeson Jones, a former Texas Department of Public Safety captain, gave the CBP information checked by the Epoch Times. One report asked Psaki comments on the statements of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Obrador said that many migrants are expecting Biden to admit every single illegal migrant looking for asylum. He said something must be done with Biden's policy to solve the border crisis that was curbed during the Trump administration. Psaki said that Mexico is part of the answer to control the surging border crisis. Solutions to reunite minors with family in the states are in the works, but the border crisis is there. Related article: Migrants at the US-Mexico Border Wear Shirts Pleading Biden to Allow Entry into US @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New Delhi: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was held guilty in a 15-year-old rape case by a CBI court in Haryana's Panchkula on Friday. After his conviction, over 1 lakh supporters of Dera chief rampaged the towns of Haryana damaging public property, setting media vehicles on fire, pelting stones on security forces, and setting railway stations alight. Ram Rahim, also known as "Rockstar baba" or "baba of bling" for his shiny clothes, was taken to Rohtak jail in government helicopter as the streets of Panchkula, where he was convicted were full of his angry supporters. With his conviction, the anonymous letter that was sent to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has done its work by ensuring justice for the victims after a 15-year long wait. Also Read: You are not BJP's Prime Minister, says enraged High Court on Panchkula Violence News Nation has access to the anonymous letter that remained in oblivion for 15 long years. In the letter, a Sadhavi (women followers) wrote about her horrid experiences in Gurmeet Ram Rahim's Dera Sacha Sauda. The victim wrote the letter to Atal Bihari Vajpayee pleading for justice against politically powerful self-proclaimed "godman" Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who sexually molested her and many other women for years. Watch the video to know the entire story of the letter that scripted the "Waterloo of Rockstar Baba" Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. CHICAGO Masks and social distancing are about to meet their stiffest test to date: St. Patricks Day. The booziest weekend of the year for many Chicago bars will run headlong into a buzz saw of COVID-19 restrictions, and several St. Patricks Day hot spots say they are committed to subdued celebrations because there is no other choice. The rules are the rules, said Bobby McGuire, the second-generation owner of Butch McGuires bar in the Gold Coast. The challenging part will be turning people away. Parades have been canceled for a second consecutive year, and restaurant and bar capacity will be limited by COVID-19 restrictions not to mention those masks and social distance but bar operators still expect healthy St. Patricks Day crowds. A typical Saturday before St. Patricks Day sees Butch McGuires packed to its usual capacity of 235 from opening at 9 a.m. until its 2 a.m. close. This year, Butch McGuires took reservations for seated parties of six with 6 feet between tables, and sold out this week. No walk-ins will be allowed. McGuire said there will be little tolerance for people flouting the rules that have become second nature during the pandemic. Some people may feel emboldened to ignore them on one of the most festive days of the year, but thats one reason the bar is hiring extra security. In a normal year, 3% of customers can be problematic. And its the same with the masks and rules a low percentage that have a hard time comprehending that the rules apply to them, McGuire said. My philosophy has always been keep your problems outside. Anyone we think will be a problem, we wont let in. The citys department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection says it will be watching. Throughout much of the pandemic, BACP investigators have looked for COVID-19 violations in bars and restaurants on weekends between 1 p.m. and 2 a.m. This weekend, it will expand the practice from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. The agency will also conduct enforcement checks on St. Patricks Day itself, though details have yet to be announced. Story continues BACP sent guidance this week to businesses with liquor licenses, saying COVID-19 regulations will be strictly enforced on St. Patricks Day and the surrounding weekends. Fines for violating COVID-19 regulations can go as high as $10,500, along with a one-day closure or an indefinite shutter until a plan to safely reopen is approved. Many of the restrictions are anathema to the usual free-flowing St. Patricks Day festivity: Customers must wear masks at all times except when seated and actively eating or drinking; drinks can only be ordered while seated; dancing isnt allowed; activities such as darts and pool are permitted, but patrons cannot eat or drink while doing them and must wear face coverings. Bars and restaurants also remain beholden to capacity limits, which are currently set at 50% or 50 people per space, whichever is less. Lines outside bars and restaurants are strongly discouraged, said BACP, which noted that businesses will be held responsible for the behavior of people waiting to get in; they must also wear masks and maintain 6 feet of distance. The agency is also discouraging bar crawls and party busses. Some operators who traditionally feast on St. Patricks Day are sitting out this year. Peter Shen, founder of MPC Events, faced criticism for pushing ahead with 10 St. Patricks Day bar crawls last year. This year, he said, it was obvious that he shouldnt organize any such events. Other bar crawl organizers have followed suit. Events still taking reservations as recently as Thursday have canceled weekend activities. Last year was much more unknown, but now I think its just better to be slow and right than fast and regretting, Shen said. I definitely want to do events again, but limited until were ready for normal. But that might not be until later this year. Last St. Patricks Day arrived at a strange moment, where the enormity of the public health crisis was swiftly coming into view, but still not fully understood or taken seriously. Robust crowds turned out to celebrate the holiday March 14, 2020, the Saturday before St. Patricks Day. Former President Donald Trump had declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency one day earlier after previously (and subsequently) downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic. Social distancing was still a new concept, and mask wearing wasnt yet conventional wisdom. Shutdown orders for bars and restaurants across the nation began as soon as the next day. McGuire said St. Patricks Day 2020 was an off year for sure, but still busy and lacking mitigation efforts. Nothing was really official yet no occupancy rules, no social distancing, no mask rules, none of those things in place yet, he said. Dominique Simonetti, the bars operations manager, said that mistakes were made last St. Patricks Day, not just us, but society as a whole. I think this year will be better than last because people realize the enormity of what we have been facing, she said. For bars hosting events this year, BACP encouraged reservation systems to control crowds. Many bars, including Butch McGuires, are doing so. Its seatings on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. were sold out by Thursday. McGuire said customers are made aware of the restrictions, such as showing up on time and not bringing extra people, and are reminded with subsequent emails. Fatpour Tap Works, which opened for the first time since October on Wednesday, put its Saturday morning St. Patricks Day offerings on sale this week: packages for parties of two to 12 people ranging in price from $100 to $475 and featuring hard seltzers, Miller Lites, champagne and appetizers. As of Thursday afternoon, the Ukrainian Village bar had sold nearly half the packages, general manager Justin Siersma said. Normally wed have all the tables sold already and wed be standing room only all day, he said. This year, capacity will be cut from more than 400 to 120 due to COVID-19 restrictions, he said. The bar will allow a line to form outside, but extra security and management will be on hand to make sure things stay orderly, he said. If theyre not compliant, then well take care of them and ask them to leave, Siersma said. We have to keep in mind the safety not just of the guests, but staff as well, so well be enforcing the rules. He said he expects customers to be mostly compliant. Its not like the pandemic is a new thing, he said. Were all completely aware of the rules and regulations we need to adhere to. We hope everyone is ready to have a good time, but a safe time. Chief ONeills, an Irish restaurant on Chicagos Northwest Side, is selling tickets in advance and doing four seatings of 300 people each on Saturday and for St. Patricks Day on Wednesday. The bar is also pressing ahead with live music, though the performances will be moved to an outdoor tent that bar co-owner Siobhan McKinney said will have walls open for ventilation. COVID-19 restrictions will be strictly enforced, she said. It wont be like previous years, but people are so happy to get out and hear live music, and were happy to provide the service, McKinney said. Shes hopeful that people will comply, even after several hours of drinking. Well see, but were feeling confident based on events last summer, she said. At three or four hours of drinking, we were finding people are still responsible. McKinney is more worried about people unable to resist dancing to the live Irish music. It might happen now and again, she said, but well get our baton out. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The office-warming cocktail party on MinterEllisons floor in a flash new Collins Street skyscraper on Wednesday last week was supposed to be a celebration for the law firms partners a chance to mingle and mark the end of Melbournes long lockdown. But considering what had happened only hours earlier between the firms chief executive Annette Kimmitt and one of its most senior and storied partners, Peter Bartlett, many arrived expecting ugly scenes over the canapes and sparkling wine. Annette Kimmitt was forced to leave her job as Minter Ellison CEO in the fall-out over an email she sent. Credit:Louie Douvis/AFR That morning Kimmitt had fired a broadside against Bartlett on the firms all-staff email channel to more than 2000 people. It was the legal equivalent of a barbecue stopper. Earlier, the media had revealed the lawyer (and long-time defamation adviser to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald) was helping Attorney-General Christian Porter respond to allegations he had raped a 16-year-old girl in 1988 allegations he strongly denies. Kimmitts email was a direct challenge to Bartlett. The acceptance of this matter did not go through the firms due consultation or approval processes. Had it done so, we would have considered the matter through the lens of our Purpose and Values, she wrote. Advertisement The nature of this matter is clearly causing hurt to some of you, and it has certainly triggered hurt for me. I know that for many it may be a tough day, and I want to apologise for the pain you may be experiencing. She followed up with a second, similar missive addressed directly to the firms more than 250 partners, saying, we have a process that we follow when accepting new work. Senior sources at the firm, who do not want to be named, say the email blast caught Bartlett by surprise. But, like a lawyer presenting his defence, he fired back fast, proclaiming his adherence to traditional legal principles the right of a client to counsel and, subtly, the importance of loyalty to the firms clients. Peter Bartlett is a veteran media lawyer and former chairman of the firms board. Credit:Jim Rice With the claims against the [Attorney-General], I would have thought that a majority of our partners would believe that everyone is entitled to a presumption of innocence and legal representation, Bartlett wrote in an email to the firms partners. Ive worked with many corporate, employment and other partners over the years to try and protect their clients from media exposure, some of whom have been accused of harassment and more. I have advised many federal and state ministers, premiers and prime ministers from both parties. These are the leaders of one of the firms largest clients, he added. MinterEllison has contracts worth $93 million with the federal government, and Bartlett is advising the Prime Minister himself. Scott Morrisons office, he wrote, had recently called to thank him for the assistance he had rendered the Attorney-General. Advertisement By the end of this week, the email exchange had cost Kimmitt her job. She is the highest profile scalp so far from the public debate over sexism and sexual assault now engulfing Australian politics. The other person seemingly under most pressure is another woman, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds. Once again, a woman pays the price for speaking up, tweeted the Greens Senate leader, Larissa Waters amid a stream of social media criticism of the firm. But the events at MinterEllison this week highlight another issue too: the tension inside many venerable legal firms between legal tradition and a new emphasis on their social licence to operate. Dozens of lawyers, junior and senior, interviewed this week off the record said this conflict was playing out across legal precincts in Sydney and Melbourne. Credit: To some extent its a generational split between Millennials and the old guard, but it also divides old-style lawyers and newer managerial experts for whom reputation is key. Big firms sell the idea that they are socially responsible to appear attractive to younger staff, while still taking on clients who can pay the bills big tobacco, big pharma and in this case, someone accused of historical rape. A showdown didnt end up happening that night at the cocktail party Bartlett arrived late and Kimmitt never showed. Advertisement Instead, cliques supporting either side continued the fight anonymously in the media as a lobbying campaign ensued among the partners. Annette Kimmitts position immediately came under fire after her all-staff email. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Purpose with a capital P Much has been made in some media reports about the fact that Kimmitt is an accountant rather than a lawyer in charge of the nations most prominent legal firm. This is actually traditional at Minter Ellison. But insiders say Kimmitts most profound impact in the firm was her drive to instil a greater sense that it needed a social licence to operate. This, at its simplest, describes the ongoing commitment a business has to its employees, stakeholders and the wider society beyond its basic legal obligations, and without which it could find itself with a damaged reputation. In high-impact industries such as mining, for example, social licence encompasses how they treat the local environment, their response to climate change or their relationship to Indigenous communities. But, maintaining social licence is a growing focus for businesses everywhere. Advertisement At MinterEllison, particularly under Kimmitts stewardship, this has meant dedicating resources towards pro bono work, outreach to disadvantaged communities, investment in social enterprises and a pledge to (act) ethically and sustainably in all of our business operations. Among lawyers, its a contentious idea. Some say its mostly virtue-signalling a public relations exercise to attract clients and potential high-talent recruits. And its questionable how much influence corporate responsibility mission statements exert when firms are deciding who to represent. Law firms dont really have too many values. Like most businesses, they think about dollar signs and their reputation, which are linked together, said a lawyer who formerly worked at MinterEllison. Media lawyer Peter Bartlett on stand-by as AFP officers raid The Age offices in 2011. Credit:Craig Abraham The decision to stop taking a particular type of client is mostly done because they are so reviled by the public or other clients or government like tobacco companies that keeping them means losing reputation, potentially other business and therefore money. MinterEllisons client list makes it difficult to discern a pattern of what is acceptable. It has included asbestos and coal companies, troubled casino giant Crown Resorts and barrister-turned-police informer Nicola Gobbo. MinterEllison, whose official communications in the past fortnight have been virtually nil, has refused to provide the Purpose and Values policy that Kimmitt cited in her email. Neither she nor Bartlett has responded to requests for an interview, nor has the chairman and partner David OBrien, who moved decisively against Kimmitt on Wednesday. Advertisement The Toast of Moscow To the Editor: I was pleased to see Jason Zinoman acknowledge Harpo Speaks!, by Harpo Marx, as the gold standard of the comedian memoir (Feb. 21). As a teenager in the early 60s, I got my hands on the book and found it to be thoroughly entertaining. Particularly enjoyable is the chapter about Harpos trip to Russia in the fall of 1933. He ended up spending eight weeks there and put on shows that earned him standing ovations. Posters that announced his appearances, written in Cyrillic, spelled his name XAPIIO MAPKC. Harpo had no idea how to pronounce it, so he called himself Exapno Mapcase, the Toast of Moscow. His trip to Russia ended in intrigue. On his last day in Moscow he met with the U.S. ambassador, who asked him if he would be willing to smuggle some sensitive dispatches to America. They were taped to his leg and concealed by a sock, and after a nerve-racking ocean voyage he successfully turned them over to Secret Service agents in New York. As a performer, Harpo never spoke a word while in character, but as a member of the Algonquin Round Table he hobnobbed with the likes of George S. Kaufman, Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker. 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! Michigan reported 2,091 new coronavirus cases and 23 new deaths Thursday, March 11. Of the 23 deaths reported Thursday, 16 occurred previously and were identified through a vital records review. These records reviews take place three times per week. The state is averaging 1,442 new COVID-19 cases per day and 18 new deaths per day over the last week. This is the highest weekly average for cases since Feb. 1. The weekly average for cases has remained over 1,000 for 13 days. Since the pandemic began, Michigan has reported 603,375 confirmed cases and 15,729 deaths related to COVID-19. The state has also reported 61,288 probable cases and 993 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.) Of Michigans 83 counties, 67 reported new cases Thursday. Southeast Michigan led in new cases with Wayne County reporting 293 additional cases, followed by Macomb and Oakland with 279 and 270, respectively. Other top reporting counties for cases included Kent with 95, Genesee with 92, Jackson with 60, Ottawa with 59, Saginaw with 44, Livingston with 43 and Kalamazoo with 42. Sixteen counties reported a new death, including Chippewa County with 19 new deaths. Thats an unusually high reported increase for a county with 23 total COVID-19 deaths before this month. Other top reporting counties for deaths include Kent with three, followed by Macomb, Bay, Shiawassee and Montcalm counties with two each. Counties with one new death include Wayne, Oakland, Genesee, Ottawa, Saginaw, Ingham, Newaygo, Lenawee, Hillsdale and Gogebic. (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.) Michigan hospitals were treating 967 patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, including 236 patients in the ICU. Thats up from March 4, when hospitals were treating 876 such patients with 229 in the ICU. Of the 45,468 diagnostic tests processed on Wednesday, 4.4% came back positive for SARS-CoV-2. The average positivity rate over the last seven days is 4.5%, which is up from the week prior. As of Tuesday, Michigan had administered more than 2.75 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. This includes about 1.76 million first doses and 984,653 second doses. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines recommend two doses administered weeks apart, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only needs one dose. 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: Thursday, March 11, coronavirus data by Michigan county: Macomb, Calhoun and Van Buren now above 7% positivity rate. A year of coronavirus deepens Michigans political division Michigan nears 1M residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 At least one Michigan hospital isnt using its extra coronavirus vaccine doses The death has occurred of Mary Denagher St. Brigid's Tce., Clane, Kildare Denagher, Mary, St. Brigid's Tce., Clane, Co. Kildare, March 10th 2021, peacefully at Naas Hospital, deeply regretted by her loving nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends. Rest In Peace Due to current government guidelines, a private family funeral will take place for Mary. 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. Mary's Funeral Mass can be viewed on Sunday morning at 11.30am by clicking on the following link https://www.claneparish.com Mary will be leaving Reilly's Funeral Home, Woods House, Clane on Sunday morning at 11.15am to arrive at Clane Parish Church for 11.30am funeral mass, followed by burial in Mainham Cemetery, for those that would like to line the route in a socially distanced manner. Oliver Reilly Funeral Directors accept no responsibility for any live webcam interuptions or issues. Family flowers only, please. Donations, if desired, to Little Way Cancer Support by clicking on the following link http://www.little-way.org/donate/ The death has occurred of Eilis (Elizabeth) FULLAM Naas, Kildare Fullam (Naas, Co. Kildare) - Mar 10, 2021, (peacefully), in the loving care of The Little Sisters of the Poor, Sybil Hill, Dublin, in her 101st year, Eilis (Elizabeth); Deeply regretted by her sisters Burga (Monaghan) and Maura (Murray) and her many nieces and nephews across the generations together with her wider family and circle of friends. Pre-deceased by her brothers Peter, Jack, Rayme and Tom and her sister Ita (Dillon). Due to current Government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a Private Funeral will take place. Those who would like to join the private funeral service remotely by webcam can do so by clicking on https://www.naasparish.ie/our-parish/naas-webcam/ or via the Naas Parish App under the Web Cam Folder on Saturday at 10am. Those who would have liked to attend the Funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the Condolence Book below. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to The Little Sisters of the Poor or to St. Francis Hospice, Raheny. May Eilis Rest in Peace The death has occurred of James (Seamus) Kenna Ballyhagen, Carbury, Kildare Unexpectedly, at home. Predeceased by his parents Brian and Rose, brothers Ned, Barney, Thomas, Paddy, John and Bill, sisters Mary, Rose and Julia. Deeply regretted by his loving sisters Pattie, Kathleen and Lilly, brother Mick, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends. May Seamus Rest in Peace Due to current Covid-19 restrictions there will be a family funeral on Saturday at 1.30pm in The Holy Trinity Church, Derrinturn, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. You can take part in the Funeral Mass of Seamus on the Carbury Parish live web-cam via the following link: https://www.carburyparish.ie/our-parish/webcam-derrinturn/ Condolences can be left on this page using the link below. The Kenna family would like to thank you for your support at this difficult time. People can line the route from the house to the church with social distancing and adhering to government guidelines. The death has occurred of Stephen Weldon 'Meadow Brook House', Moone, Kildare Brother of the late Ann Kirwan and Dick Weldon. Deeply regretted by his loving wife Kathleen and loving father to P.J., Declan (who died in infancy), Brendan, Valerie, Gavin and Stephen. Sadly missed by his grandchildren, extended family, friends and neighbours. Rest in Peace Due to government restrictions a private family Requiem Mass will take place at 2pm on Saturday afternoon (13th March) in The Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Moone limited to 10 people. The Funeral Mass will be live streamed on https://narraghmoreandmoone.ie Burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral but cannot due to current restrictions may leave a message in the 'Condolences' section below. The death has occurred of Joe Flynn Grogan House, Athgarvan, Kildare / Ballycumber, Offaly Late of Ballycumber, Co. Offaly. Peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family. Sadly missed by his loving wife Marie, sons Joe and Mark, daughters Aoife and Helen, (and their partners and husbands Rowena, Diane and Fintan), grandchildren Jamie, Jake, Alex and Issey, brother Paddy, sisters Helena and Teresa, brothers and sisters in law, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. May Joe Rest In Peace Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below. Removal on Friday morning to arrive at St. Conleth's Parish Church, Newbridge for Requiem Mass at 11o'clock. Mass will be lived streamed on www.newbridgeparish.ie/webcam-1 Cremation afterwards at Mount Jerome Crematorium, Harolds Cross, Dublin. Joe's cremation service will be available to view from 1pm at the following link https://vimeo.com/event/153499 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Ningo-Prampram National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears to have disowned its Member of Parliament (MP), Sam George Nartey, following his claims that some anonymous Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) have vowed to unseat him in the party's next parliamentary primaries if he continues to attack them. According to a statement issued by the Constituency Deputy Communications Officer, Shehu Usman Mohammed, Samuel George Nartey's claim that unknown LGBTQI reached him on his telephone to warn him that if he continues to be loud against their operations in the country was yet one of his usual attention-seeking acts and must be ignored. The Deputy Communications officer, in the statement, said that claim could not be true and that it was just a cunning move by the MP to court sympathy votes ahead of the next primaries. "We have taken note of the claim by Hon. Sam George, MP for the Ningo-Prampram Constituency, that he received a call from an unknown person who said they [LGBTQ people] will use their financial power to ensure that he [Sam George] losses the next parliamentary primaries election he may be contesting in his constituency so that he would not be able to have a speaking voice in the country again. "The MP is said to have made this claim on GhOne TV last week. This claim by our MP has been published by websites like Vanguard.com and modernghana.com. We find the claim as one borne out of mischief and a plain lie calculated to tarnish the image of whoever will contest the MP at our next primaries in the eyes of all right thinking citizens in the constituency. "Obviously, the claim is to make those who will not be able to see through this lie to arrive at the conclusion during the partys next constituency primaries that Hon. Sam Georges opponent is being financed by the LGBTQ group. By so doing, the vast majority of Ghanaians in the constituency who are vehemently against this kind of debase sexual orientation will automatically rally to his cause against whoever is contesting him," Shehu Mohammed said. The statement continued that "One does not need to be a rocket scientist to see through the inferior tactics the MP is employing. Why will LGBTQ people target only him when he is not the only MP who has spoken against their attempt to have their activities recognised and legalised in Ghana? It is a fact that some MPs from both sides of the political divide, including Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, the leader of the NDC caucus in Parliament and MP for Tamale South, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, who is MP for Bawku Central, Hon. Clement Apaak, MP for Builsa South, Hon. John Ntim Fordjour, MP for Assin South, and Hon Adwoa Sarfo, MP for Dome-Kwabenya have all spoken publicly against LGBTQ's attempts to gain a foothold in Ghana.Their comments have been carried by both the electronic and print media and is on the World Wide Web. Why have they also not received the same call from the LGBTQ threatening to ensure they lose in their next primaries? "Hon. Sam George should stop the lies and the attempt to smear decent persons who will want to contest him. We call on Ghanaians, especially NDC supporters in the Ningo-Prampram Constituency to ignore the claim by our MP, which is a figment of his own imagination. There is no way any such group as the LGBTQ will play any role either covertly or overtly in the primaries of the party in the constituency because the constituencys next primaries will be contested, as has always been the case, by men and women of high moral standards who will cringe at the very idea. When the time comes, let any citizen who wish to contest in the primaries do so without let or hindrance. He or she must not be put off by Hon. Sam Georges false claim," the statement concluded. Shehu Mohammed's press statement followed the burning anger among some branch executives of the NDC in the Constituency, who said they have deserted their MP even before the party starts its reorganisation in the area, for his alleged derogatory comments suggesting that they, as delegates, could be influenced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) community to vote against him in the next primaries. The Ningo-Prampram controversial MP, last weekend, made a questionable allegation that his political future had been threatened after he recently condemned LGBTQ advocates and their financiers in the country. According to him, after making his comments on TV last Friday, February 19, he received a call from an unknown person the next day who said, they [LGBTQ], would use their financial power to ensure that he, Sam George, loses the next parliamentary primaries he may be contesting in his constituency. "You know when I spoke first last week Friday on a TV network, over the weekend; I got a call and that's what has irritated me and made me go all out that let's have an all-out fight. Someone told me that look, do I [Sam George] know how rich the LGBTQI community is and that they will bring money and make sure that the platform that I have as an MP that I think gives me the right to speak...they will meet me at my primaries," the MP said on GhOne television last Friday. But in a sharp response to the claim which they described as fictitious, some of the branch executives who angrily spoke to this portal said Mr Sam George already knows that he does not have the slimmest opportunity of winning the next parliamentary primaries in the constituency, hence the courting for sympathy from the public. They said his early conceding of defeat ahead of the primaries does not come to them as a surprise since they are all aware that he did not win the last parliamentary primaries as the party illegally and shamefully manipulated the process to impose him on them. "He knows we will not vote for him even if he engages the devil himself in a fight. And he also knows that he didnt win the last primaries and was tasked by the same party that manipulated the process to favour him to be caretaker Parliamentary Candidate. He knows we voted for him during the general elections just for the sake of the party," a group of residents at Dawhenya angrily noted. Some of them noted that his claim that the LGBTQI community had threatened to finance somebody to unseat him during the primaries is a direct attack and an outright insult on anybody who would contest him in the next primaries. We all know his opponent when it comes to Ningo-Prampram NDC and he is an established businessman and a self-made man with enough resources and does not need any financial support from anybody or LGBTQ community to be able to beat he (Sam George). His opponent has the financial muscle to beat him any day, anytime. "To suggest that his opponent, who is married with children and an avowed anti- LGBTQ will condescend so low to accept evil money from such a despicable group to finance his political, is to say the least a disrespectful and rude cannot continue accommodate such character in silence. Ningo-Prampram constituency deserves a decent leader as a Member of Parliament," they averred. A visit to both Old and New Ningo as well as Prampram revealed that most electorate are not happy with their MP's wild claim, describing it as an act of cowardice and mere attention-seeking since almost all MPs are speaking against the ungodly activities of the LGBTQI community in Ghana. He is not the only Member of Parliament who is standing up against the evil activities of gays and lesbians in the country. Many of his colleagues have boldly spoken against them and we have never heard any of them making the wild claim that gays and lesbians have threatened them. Why he alone?" one of the residents queried. Some of them accused him of setting an evil agenda ahead of the primaries to tag his opponent as one who received support from the LGBTQI community should he be beaten in the next parliamentary primaries. What our MP is trying to do is to set an agenda to paint his opponent, who he knows will win the next parliamentary primaries, as somebody who accepted support from the gays and lesbians should he (opponent) beat in in the next primaries which very obvious. He has being painting his opponent all the time and we have been silence but this time we wont sit back and allow him to continue it. Enough is enough," one of them said. STATEMENT Hon Sam George Nartey claims of LGBTQI Threat false. We have taken note of the claim by Hon Sam George, MP for the Ningo Prampram Constituency that he received a call from an unknown person who said they [LGBTQ people] will use their financial power to ensure that he [Sam George] losses the next parliamentary primaries election he may be contesting in his constituency so that he would not be able to have a speaking voice in the country again. The MP is said to have made this claim on GhOne TV last week. This claim by our MP has been published by websites like Vanguard.com and modernghana.com. We find the claim as one borne out of mischief and a plain lie calculated to tarnish the image of whoever will contest the MP at our next primaries in the eyes of all right thinking citizens in the constituency. Obviously, the claim is to make those who will not be able to see through this lie to arrive at the conclusion during the partys next constituency primaries that Hon Sam Georges opponent is being financed by the LGBTQ group. By so doing, the vast majority of Ghanaians in the constituency who are vehemently against this kind of debase sexual orientation will automatically rally to his cause against whoever is contesting him. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to see through the inferior tactics the MP is employing. Why will LGBTQ people target only him when he is not the only MP who has spoken against their attempt to have their activities recognized and legalized in Ghana? It is a fact that some MPs from both sides of the political divide, including Hon Haruna Iddrisu, the leader of the NDC caucus in parliament and MP for Tamale South, Hon Mahama Ayariga who is MP for Bawku Central, Hon Clement Apaak, MP for Builsa South, Hon John Ntim Fordjour, MP for Assin South and Hon Adwoa Sarfo, MP for Dome-Kwabenya have all spoken up publicly against LGBTQ attempts to gain a foothold in Ghana; their comments have been carried by both the electronic and print media and is on the World Wide Web. Why have they also not received the same call from the LGBTQ threatening to ensure they lose in their next primaries? Hon. Sam George should stop the lies and the attempt to smear decent persons who will want to contest him. We call on Ghanaians, especially NDC supporters in the Ningo Prampram Constituency to ignore the claim by our MP; the claim is a figment of his own imagination. There is no way any such group as the LGBTQ will play any role either covertly or overtly in the primaries of the party in the constituency because the constituencys next primaries will be contested, as has always been the case, by men and women of high moral standards who will cringe at the very idea. When the time comes, let any citizen who wish to contest in the primaries do so without let or hindrance; he or she must not be put off by Hon. Sam Georges false claim. Thank you (Shehu Usman Mohammed) Ningo-Prampram Constituency Deputy Communications Officer. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video For decades, early March has seen Boston College students travel throughout the United States and to other countries, assisting people and communities affected by poverty-related problems or the aftermath of natural disasters. While these service learning experiences can take place just about any time of the year, spring break week is arguably the peak period for such activity. With most service trips for the 2020- 2021 academic year shut down due to COVID-19, the groups that organize them, at BC and elsewhere, have sought to come up with alternativesworking with local or regional service and charitable organizations instead of going farther afield, for example, or doing some projects in a virtual format. But the pandemic also has prompted a deeper examination of the service-trip model itself, and whether its goals and benefitsfor the students and the communities being servedcan be realized by other means, according to BC administrators. Not that the University doesnt delve into such questions already: Service learning is connected to BCs Jesuit mission, encouraging students to contemplate the world beyond them by working for others. However, according to Daniel Ponsetto, the Welles Remy Crowther Director for BCs Volunteer and Service Learning Center, service programs need to focus more than ever on those needing the help. Obviously, the disruption caused by COVID not only affects our programs and our students, but it has had a devastating impact on the communities and organizations we have historically visited. I think this realitythat the vulnerable communities we typically visit, as well as the organizations that facilitate our work, have suffered great losses as a result of the pandemichas caused those of us who run our programs to examine the nature of our commitment to what we often refer to in Jesuit education as solidarity. What does it mean for us to practice solidarity with the most vulnerable? The pandemic has highlighted the truth that there has to be a mutuality or reciprocal element to our relationships. These are organizations and communities of people who provide strong experiences and facilitate important learning for our students. But hopefully we bring something of value to them as well. I think we have been making the most of what we can accomplish, but there is an invitation to really ask ourselves if we are truly committed to the people we hope to serve and learn from. Chronicle reached out to three BC service learning programs, two of them traditionally centered around spring break, to see how they are confronting such issues. Serving Boston and beyond Facing a pandemic that could potentially paralyze its long-running service immersion program, Boston College Appalachia Volunteers seemed to heed presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gormans words, Where can we find light in this never-ending shade? In a more typical year, more than 400 BC students would travel nationwide during spring break, conducting community service and living in solidarity with the families it serves in under-resourced urban areas such as New Orleans and Detroit, as well as rural areas throughout the South and the Appalachian region. More commonly known as Appa, the 42-year-old programs rootsand its nameare embedded in the central and southern portions of the range. But this year, Appa has adapted its program structure and opted for service weekends in March throughout Eastern Massachusetts, where we can safely and effectively address community needs, said Campus Ministry Associate Director Ryan Heffernan, who leads the program. Launching what Heffernan calls our first deep dive into the Boston area and beyond over the first weekend of March, 71 student volunteers sorted and packed food at Catholic Charities Yawkey Center in Dorchester, Our Daily Bread-Mansfield Food Pantry, and Kylees Kare Kits for Kidz in Leominster, and helped transport food donated by Boston-area restaurants to local social service agencies, all to address food insecuritya skyrocketing need during the pandemic, according to Heffernan. Another team conducted deferred maintenance work at Dorchesters St. Marys Center for Women and Children to round out the first slate of activities. Nearly 250 students will participate throughout the month. Future projects include sorting donated childrens items collected through grassroots community drives and corporate contributions at Newtonville-based Cradles to Crayons, which then distributes them to local disadvantaged children; preparing evening take-out meals for the hungry and homeless at Mustard Seed Catholic Worker in Worcester; and sorting and packing food donations at Catholic Charities Friends Feeding Families in Boston and the Centre Street Food Pantry in Newton Centre. Return visits to Our Daily Bread, and Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, the restaurant food donation program, are also scheduled. An on-campus group will pack welcome baskets composed of non-perishable necessities purchased by Campus Ministry for former Pine Street Inn guests who have moved from the Boston homeless shelter into their permanent residences. BC was one of the first universities to undertake an alternative spring break when 20 students traveled to Kentucky in 1979 for an eight-day trip centered on service and solidarity. Were out to raise the awareness [among] BC students in terms of the people of Appalachia, Gregg Cassin 80 told The Heights at the time. People cant conceive of Third World conditions existing in our own country. Chennai, March 12 : The Congress and BJP, which are the junior partners to the two Dravidian parties -- the DMK and AIADMK respectively -- are engaged in a direct fight in five Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu. The seats are Colachel, Vilavancode, Udhagamandalam, Karaikudi and Coimbatore South. Other than these seats the national parties are fighting against each other in the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat for the bypolls. Protests have already erupted in Coimbatore with the supporters of sitting MLA Amman Arjunan sitting on dharna against the likely candidature of BJP Women's wing national president, Vanathi Srinivasan. BJP state president L.Murugan told IANS said, "We fighting against the Congress directly is not a big issue. Whether the fronts are fighting against each other and individual parties are immaterial. AIADMK, BJP, PMK combine will rule Tamil Nadu after the April 6 elections and we are happy at the cohesive front in which we are part of. Pon Radhakrishnan will win the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat in the by-polls." The DMK is likely to announce its final list on Friday as the seats allocated to the CPM candidates are still uncertain. The CPM has been sulking over the seat sharing as the party wanted 12 seats while the DMK managers allocated only 6, which the CPM had to accept reluctantly. Tamil Nadu State Congress Committee President, K.S. Alagiri while speaking to IANS said, "The aim of our alliance is not to bring about a change in Tamil Nadu only but to make this as a catalyst for a change in other parts of the country and also to change the present government in New Delhi. So minor issues are immaterial and we are fighting 25 seats and the direct fight against the BJP will be important as we want to defeat them in all the five seats where we are contesting against each other." With the DMK also bringing out its final list on Friday, the election scenario will hot up in the days to come. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Regulatory News: Sensorion (Paris:ALSEN) (FR0012596468 ALSEN) a pioneering clinical-stage biotechnology company which specializes in the development of novel therapies to restore, treat and prevent within the field of hearing loss disorders, announces the participation of management in two separate virtual conferences on March 16, 2021. CEO Nawal Ouzren will present an overview of Sensorion's strategy in a virtual CEO Roundtable event at the WuXi Healthcare Forum 2021, an investor and partnering meeting. The presentation will be followed by an open Q&A session. Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 Time: 3.45 pm-4.15 pm CET (09.45-10.15 Eastern time) Event: CEO Roundtable, WuXi Healthcare Forum 2021 Sensorion's Head of CMC Gene Therapy, Christine Le Bec, will speak in the "Gene Therapy Analytics and Manufacturing" session at the 4thAnnual Bioprocessing Summit Europe, held virtually. Dr Le Bec's talk on "Quality Control for a Dual AAV Vector" will focus on product characterization and quality control aspects of Sensorion's gene therapy program in Otoferlin deficiency, where the size of the Otoferlin gene requires the use of a dual AAV vector system. Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 Time: 10.35 am-10.55 am CET (04.35-04.55 Eastern time) Event: 4th Annual Bioprocessing Summit Europe About Sensorion Sensorion is a pioneering clinical-stage biotech company, which specializes in the development of novel therapies to restore, treat and prevent within the field of hearing loss disorders. Its clinical-stage portfolio includes one Phase 2 product: SENS-401 (Arazasetron) for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Sensorion has built a unique R&D technology platform to expand its understanding of the pathophysiology and etiology of inner ear related diseases enabling it to select the best targets and modalities for drug candidates. The Company is also working on the identification of biomarkers to improve diagnosis of these underserved illnesses. Sensorion has launched three gene therapy programs, currently at preclinical stage, aimed at correcting hereditary monogenic forms of deafness including deafness caused by a mutation of the gene encoding for Otoferlin, hearing loss related to gene target GJB2 as well as Usher Syndrome Type 1 to potentially address important hearing loss segments in adults and children. The Company is potentially uniquely placed, through its platforms and pipeline of potential therapeutics, to make a lasting positive impact on hundreds of thousands of people with inner ear related disorders, a significant global unmet medical need. www.sensorion.com Label: SENSORION ISIN: FR0012596468 Mnemonic: ALSEN Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Sensorion and its business. Such forward looking statements are based on assumptions that Sensorion considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will be verified, which statements are subject to numerous risks, including the risks set forth in the 2020 Half-Year financial report published on October 21, 2020 and available on our website and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Sensorion operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Sensorion or not currently considered material by Sensorion. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Sensorion to be materially different from such forward-looking statements. This press release and the information that it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe for, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for, Sensorion shares in any country. The communication of this press release in certain countries may constitute a violation of local laws and regulations. Any recipient of this press release must inform oneself of any such local restrictions and comply therewith. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311005981/en/ Contacts: Press Relations Sophie Baumont LifeSci Advisors sophie@lifesciadvisors.com +33 6 27 74 74 49 Investor Relations Ligia Vela-Reid LifeSci Advisors lvela-reid@lifesciadvisors.com +44 74 13 82 53 10 INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WLFI)-Hoosiers struggling to pay the rent now have a resource that can help them get back on their feet. The state of Indiana has rolled out the Emergency Rental Assistance program. "The big difference with this new program is it provides up to 12 months of rental assistance and also for utilities the are in arrears," said Jacob Sipe the Executive Director of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority The previous program only provided 500 dollars towards rent for up to four months with a maximum of 2,000 dollars. The new program doesnt have a cap on how much money It can provide renters however, the size of your unit will determine how much money you can receive towards your rent. "The maximum monthly rental assistance that we can provide is based on the fair market rent here in Indiana," said Sipe. For Efficiency apartments, the maximum amount in rent the program will pay is $678. For One-Bedroom $781, for Two-Bedroom $946, for Three-Bedroom $1248, for Four-Bedroom $1455. This program also helps with utilities. "We can bring folks current on their utilities as well," said Sipe. "That includes electric, gas, water, wastewater, trash removal, and internet." The funding for this program came from the coronavirus relief bill former President Trump signed back in December. In that relief package, the state of Indiana received 448 million dollars. However, six local municipalities received their own portion of funds. Tippecanoe county did not because it doesnt have a population of 200,000 or more. So, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority will be responsible for distributing funds in Tippecanoe county. They have around 380 million dollars that they will distribute to the other 85 counties in the state. Jennifer Layton, the President of Lafayette Transitional Housing, says this funding is crucial to keeping people in their homes and off the streets. "We are thrilled that there is going to be these additional dollars and less red tape for renters to actually stay in their homes," said Layton. Previously, the only way a renter could take part in the rental assistance program is if their landlord agreed to accept the payments. Now the state will be able to work directly with renters in need. "We will cut a check directly to the renter and it will also be in the name of the landlord as well," added Sipe. The state will give landlords 10 days to respond to their request for cooperation. If they don't agree to take direct payments, then they will cut the check for the renter. Jennifer Layton says keeping people in their homes is the best way to avoid a crisis. "It is so much easier to keep people housed than to re-house them," added Layton. To qualify for this program renters must meet the following criteria. -Qualifies for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19 -Demonstrates a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability -Has a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median To apply for the rental assistance program click here. People who are struggling to pay their mortgage also have an opportunity to receive assistance. For more information click here. SABA:--- The Public Entity Saba receives a one-time amount of US $1 million from the Dutch Government. State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops wants to add the monies in 2021 to the free allowance, allowing Saba to take its own decision on how to spend these funds, he informed the local government in a letter on Friday, March 12. State Secretary Knops: I have been consulting with the Saba Executive Council for a while about the height of the free allowance and the shortage of structural means. Saba has in the past years shown that it has its financial management and the rightful spending of means. With this contribution, I want to accommodate Saba. In comparison to Bonaire and St. Eustatius, the two other public entities within the Caribbean Netherlands, Saba has little liquidity. As a result of this, Saba has had to increasingly use incidental means to cover structural costs. The addition of the intended US $1 million to the free allowance will be finalized after approval of the Dutch Parliament. State Secretary Knops: In the longer term, we will work towards a structural solution through the advice from the Council of State investigation and the Intra-departmental Policy Review. Saba Commissioner of Finance Bruce Zagers is very content with the contribution from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK). The Public Entity can use this additional financial contribution to help finance areas in the 2021 budget that were lacking due to the shortage of means. Commissioner Zagers: Although this is only incidental financial assistance, it will go a long way in allowing the public entity to meet its legal obligations without having to reduce the quality of services. It will also improve the liquidity position which has been weakened during the past few years. The 2021 budget, approved by the Saba Island Council in November last year, showed a deficit of over US $1.3 million. This was the first time that Saba presented a budget deficit since it became a public entity of the Netherlands in 2010. The free allowance in the 2021 budget was a little over US $10.2 million, an amount that has basically remained the same since 2012. The free allowance is insufficient to cover governments structural and operational costs. Only the most urgent needs were accounted for in this years budget, covering governments basic legal obligations, such as the payment of salaries, keeping the offices open and providing the necessary services to the public, Commissioner Zagers said during the budgets presentation. The budget lacks the means for structural investments and the upkeep of infrastructure. Commissioner Zagers: Hopefully the negotiations with the new Dutch Government will bring structural solutions for the structural financial problems. However, we are very appreciative for this support. It is another confirmation of the good relationship which has been built based on respect and trust between Saba and the Netherlands. And, it confirms the More for more approach of State Secretary Knops. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 00:50:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Friday assured that he will not hesitate to sign the Cyber Security and Crimes Bill into law once it reaches his office. The Zambian leader told reporters that there will be no delays in signing the bill into law once it is handed to him. He said the days for people abusing cyberspace were numbered as the law will deal with perpetrators of the abuses. The bill passed through the third reading in parliament this week and was just waiting for presidential assent. The introduction of the bill has raised eyebrows, with some sections of society saying it would silence dissenting views and prey on people's privacy. But the government has dismissed the allegations saying the bill was meant to promote the safety and security of all citizens and that offenders who abuse cyberspace are held accountable. Enditem WASHINGTON, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The members of the Data: Elemental to Health campaign applaud Congress and President Biden for enacting the American Rescue Plan, which provides much needed relief from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we are grateful for the inclusion of essential funding to support the public health Data Modernization Initiative (DMI) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Years before COVID-19 struck, our organizations identified significant gaps in our nation's public health surveillance systems that curtailed our ability to effectively and efficiently respond to emerging public health threats. To provide the necessary upgrades to our public health data systems we called for a foundational investment of $1 billion and sustained annual funding to keep systems up to date with evolving technology. Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 exposed the shortfalls of our antiquated public health data systems. We need an interoperable, high-speed, network to move information from health care to public healthfrom laboratories to health care facilities to public health authoritieswith fast and reliable data in order to protect Americans from health threats. The American Rescue Plan, which includes $500 million in funding for DMI and infectious disease epidemic forecasting and analytics, will help us get there. Modernization is a commitment to building a world-class data workforce and data systems that are ready for the next public health emergency. We thank Congress and the administration for providing a robust investment in upgrading our public health surveillance system and look forward to working with them to ensure sustained long-term investments in our public health surveillance systems help us better respond to the next threat. Association of Public Health Laboratories Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society National Association of Public Health Statistics and Information Systems Contact: Jeremy Arieh (CSTE): [email protected], 770-458-3811 SOURCE Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Related Links http://www.cste.org Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Roughly 2,300 National Guard troops will support Capitol Police efforts in Washington, D.C. through at least May 23 after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request to extend their deployment on Tuesday. The state of play: The approval for continued deployment represents a 50% reduction to the current number of troops at the Capitol, which has been occupied by the Guard since the Jan. 6 attack by pro-Trump supporters. Context: Congress is still receiving threats months after the insurrection. The House canceled voting plans for a day last week after a report from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned of threats against Democratic lawmakers. What they're saying: "During this extended period, DOD officials will work with the U.S. Capitol Police to incrementally reduce the National Guard footprint as conditions allow," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement. ROME - Most of Italy is expected to be a COVID-19 red zone next week, due to a sharp rise in contagion and new rules the government is expected to apply on how to classify regions in the nation's tiered system of coronavirus-linked restrictions. The government is set to make it automatic for a region with an incidence of 250 COVID-19 cases or more in a week per 100,000 inhabitants to become a red zone. Italy is set to be split in two in the upcoming COVID risk decree with 12 regions turning red, eight becoming orange and only Sardinia staying white, sources said Friday. The red regions will be the autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento, Basilicata, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany and Marche, the sources said. The orange ones will be Abruzzo, Calabria, Liguria, Molise, Puglia, Sicily, Umbria, and Val d'Aosta. The new classification is set to be in force from March 15 to April 6. At Easter, all of Italy will be red. Lazio Health Chief Alessio D'Amato said the region's COVID Rt reproduction rate was 1.3, over the 1.25 threshold, but added that other factors, such the incidence of cases and the proportion of intensive-care places taken up by coronavirus patients, were not at alarm levels. Sources said that Health Minister Roberto Speranza told a meeting with governors on Friday that any of Italy's regions that qualify as moderate-risk yellow zones will be bumped up to orange zones, which have more stringent restrictions, during the period of a new decree, March 15 to April 6. In red zones all restaurants and bars are closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries, and all non-essential shops are closed too. Pupils must have lessons via distance learning. In orange zones, shops can do business but restaurants and bars must stay closed, except for takeaways and home deliveries.. In yellow zones, shops are open and so are bars and restaurants until 6pm. In low-risk 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. The government intends to make almost the whole of Italy a COVID-19 'red zone' from April 3 to 5, a period which includes Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, sources said Friday as Premier Mario Draghi's administration held talks with regional governments and other local authorities on new restrictions. Emilia-Romagna Governor Stefano Bonaccini, the president of Italy's conference of regions, gave a "positive judgement" of the decree with the measures that the government is set to present, the sources said. Bonaccini, welcomed the fact that the decree gives governors the ability to impose measures at the provincial level, if contagion is especially high in a specific area within a region. "The virus is expanding and (we need) restrictive measures today to save the summer," Bonaccini said, according to the sources. "The sooner we act the better. "The utmost caution and prudence is needed". Italy's average COVID-19 Rt reproduction number rose to 1.16 in the period of February 17 to March 2, according to the weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the government's 'cabina di regia' task force. That is a significant rise on the Rt of 1.06 in last week's monitoring report. An Rt number over 1 indicates that the epidemic is expanding. The task force, which features experts from the health ministry, the Higher Health Institute (ISS) and regional officials, said the incidence of cases for every 100,000 inhabitants went up to 225.64 in the week of March1-7 from 194.87 the previous week. The report said the proportion of intensive care places taken up by COVID-19 patients has crossed the critical threshold of 30%, going from 26% to 31%. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is defending the government's plan to provide half-price flights, amid criticism it's focused on coalition or marginal seats. Peter Dutton has pushed back against widespread criticism of the federal government's tourism package. Airlines have welcomed half-price flights in the $1.2 billion plan but almost all other stakeholders have panned the stimulus scheme. The subsidised airfares are only available on about 15 select routes, leaving many hard-hit regions reeling. Almost a million airline tickets will be go on sale at half price on April 1 under a $1.2billion package to boost the ailing the tourism sector. Flights to the Gold Coast (pictured) could be as cheap as $49 Facing a barrage of backlash, the home affairs minister took aim at local mayors and others 'playing politics' with the program. 'There are lots of people that will take any dollar that you give them, and if you give them one dollar they ask for a second,' Mr Dutton told Nine on Friday. 'The fact is mums and dads love this policy because they want a cheap airfare and they want to go for a holiday, they want to be able to spend money in regional areas.' Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles said the tourism package was a massive let down. Mr Marles described the package as merely 'half-price tickets to marginal seats'. 'What they have got here is a lemon,' he told Nine. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has a far rosier view of the program. 'One again we're the white knight on the shining white horse,' he told reporters in Melbourne. The $1.2 billion tourism and aviation rescue package will provide an estimated 800,000 subsidised airfares on government-nominated routes. Adelaide and Darwin are the latest cities to be added to the list of destinations, with more expected to follow. In Queensland the government has listed the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, and the Whitsundays and Mackay region including Proserpine and Hamilton Island. Tickets to and from 13 holiday hotspots such as Alice Springs (pictured) will be subsidised by the federal government until July 31 and airlines will ramp up their flight schedules to deal with an expected surge in demand Uluru and Alice Springs in the NT, the Tasmanian towns of Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, Broome in WA, Avalon near Melbourne, Merimbula in NSW and SA's Kangaroo Island are also included. The destination list covers eight marginal electorates including four that are Labor-held, three with coalition MPs and one independent seat. Victoria's Avalon is the only airport in a safe Labor seat, while the rest are in safe Liberals or Nationals territory. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said it was a predictable approach from the government. 'They always look at one thing and it's not who needs support the most,' he told reporters. 'It's not regional economic development and priorities and how we go forward. It is the electoral map.' Mr Albanese noted Launceston, Devonport and Burnie were included but southern Tasmania missed out. 'I wonder what the distinction is between the two? The two marginal seats are in northern Tasmania,' he said. But the government is adamant selections were made based on how much local economies rely on tourism and aviation. Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected suggestions the choices were political. 'I'd say it's absurd, it's ridiculous,' he told reporters. Labor state governments also blasted the package, with Queensland concerned the flights could not be intrastate and Victoria claiming it is unfair. Rodeo Hyundai is hosting an upcoming blood drive at the end of March. The Rodeo Hyundai dealership near Peoria is teaming up with the American Red Cross to host a local blood drive this March. On March 22, the dealership is hosting a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Interested donors are able to sign up for a donation time by visiting the American Red Cross website, https://www.redcrossblood.org. The Rodeo Hyundai team likes to take part in community outreach opportunities throughout the year to give back to the Surprise and Buckeye communities. The dealership also offers local discount programs, such as its Military Discount, First Responders Discount and College Grad program, to help community members get behind the wheel of their next vehicle. Rodeo Hyundai is a part of the Earnhardt family of dealerships and offers an inventory full of new and certified pre-owned Hyundai vehicles and used vehicles from a variety of manufacturers. The Rodeo Hyundai dealership prides itself on offering No Bull pricing and flexible services that meet the needs of its customers. Currently, Rodeo Hyundai is offering in-person and online shopping for locals looking for their next vehicle. The online shopping experience offers prospective buyers a convenient and intuitive array of online tools that make shopping from home as easy as shopping in person. The Rodeo Hyundai dealership is located at 12925 N Autoshow Ave in Surprise, AZ. The dealership is open seven days a week with sales hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Anyone can view the dealership's lineup of in-stock vehicles by visiting Rodeo Hyundai online, rodeohyundai.com. Members of the Rodeo Hyundai team can be reached by phone, 623-214-4100, to assist with any questions about this months American Red Cross Blood Drive or available inventory. CALGARY - The Alberta Energy Regulator says Land Petroleum International Inc. has been ordered to pay an $80,000 fine for failing to allow AER staff access to a natural gas processing plant to inspect it in August 2018. CALGARY - The Alberta Energy Regulator says Land Petroleum International Inc. has been ordered to pay an $80,000 fine for failing to allow AER staff access to a natural gas processing plant to inspect it in August 2018. It says the Calgary-based company was found guilty in provincial court of one charge under the Oil and Gas Conservation Act. The provincial regulator laid eight charges last year against the company and president Bill Fung after inspectors were refused entry to the facility near Ponoka in central Alberta to inspect it. The AER says charges against Fung were withdrawn by the court after he agreed to enter a common law peace bond, a court order that requires he comply with all AER requirements for three years. According to the written court decision, after several attempts, inspectors were able to access the site and conduct a 90-minute inspection that found 22 "non-compliances." The AER says the facility has since been sold and licensed to a different operator and is currently operating within AER requirements. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021. Egrets are seen at the Xiangshan Forest Park in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, March 10, 2021. As the temperatures rises, hundreds of returning egrets have settled down at the park to spend their breeding season. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang) The campaign to vaccinate Floridians against COVID-19 moved to doctors offices this week, allowing patients to obtain the shots from their own medical providers rather than at pharmacies or mass vaccination sites. The state arranged delivery this week of 85,000 doses to private medical practices, setting off thousands of phone calls to patients on waiting lists and increasing the reach of the states campaign to defeat the disease. Vaccines went to a variety of providers, including large practices with multiple offices, kidney dialysis centers, medical offices that serve poor people, people with AIDS, the elderly and rural communities. Most Florida doctors still dont have the shots, as supplies remain limited, but the number of practices receiving them is expected to increase in coming weeks now that President Biden has secured promises of increased production from the manufacturers. We have 10 medical centers that will be vaccinating people, said Dr. Raul Daza, regional medical director for Sanitas, which received 9,600 doses and serves patients in South Florida, as well as the Tampa and Orlando areas. We are advocates of the vaccine, and we know that this is the way to end this pandemic. The company will work down a waiting list of about 15,000 people who have pre-registered, as well as offering it to people coming in for office visits and patients at higher risk for serious disease with COVID. Like other providers, the company will offer it free and provide it only to those who qualify under state rules. Jason Mahon, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, did not respond to multiple requests for information on how these medical practices were selected to receive doses or any other details of the physician program. The health department has repeatedly withheld information from the news media on details of vaccine distribution, except when threatened with legal action. The largest allotment, about 19,500 doses, went to Conviva Care Solutions, which operates more than 90 Florida offices that focus on senior care. Nearly 10,000 doses went to dialysis centers around the state operated by DaVita Kidney Care, whose patients face a higher risk of severe illness from COVID. Story continues We are vaccinating directly in our centers eliminating the need to navigate online appointment systems, transportation challenges, and mass vaccination sites, the company said in a written statement. Keeping our community healthy is key to protecting at-risk dialysis patients, and these vaccines will help ensure that we continue to do that. Many medical practices have been preparing for months for the vaccines arrival. One chain of medical offices, Cano Health, said its 60 locations in Florida began getting ready in December, filling out government paperwork, buying refrigerators, training staff and urging health officials to send doses its way. By Friday, the Cano group will have given out about 15,000 doses. CEO Marlow Hernandez said Canos patients are seniors, mostly Black and Hispanic, many of whom had not planned to be vaccinated at existing sites or pharmacies. Our patients trust their doctors. We have had an established relationship with them for years, he said. High-risk, minority seniors want to speak to their doctors about the benefits and risks and have got a lot of questions. Chen Senior Medical Centers, a family-owned chain of clinics in 10 states serving Medicare-eligible seniors, had been seeking doses for its Florida clinics for weeks. Many of Chens centers are in neighborhoods where patients can walk in and where primary care doctors are scarce, said Dr. Jason Lane, ChenMed National Medical Director of Clinical Strategy and Outcomes. By the end of the week, Lane said, Chen will have given out more than 11,000 doses in Florida. This is tremendous progress in under three weeks, he said. Dr. Gianni Neil, ChenMed market chief medical officer for Broward and Palm Beach counties, says while supply has varied over the last three weeks, demand has stayed strong. Most of our appointments are already scheduled. Along with the private physician groups, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation received 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine Tuesday at each of its 18 Florida clinics. Obviously we need a lot more, said Michael Kahane, southern bureau chief for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Florida. Most of our locations have a clientele of 2,000 to 4,000 patients. To get the doses out quickly, Kahane hired additional staff. Now, he has asked health officials to increase the foundations allotment next week. The state knows that we dont have enough to vaccinate our current population and we want to provide our services to the general public, he said. To do that, they would have to give us more. Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com; David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sunsentinel.com Where to find the vaccines Many private physician groups have received doses; listed below are just some of the bigger groups. Call your local office to learn more. Cano Health Chen Senior Medical Centers Conviva Care Solutions Diagnostic Clinical Medical Group Family Physicians Group Florida Health Care Plans Millenium Physicians Group PanCare of Florida Sanitas Medical Centers WellMed Employees unload the newly arrived coronavirus vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm at the logistics base set up to in the parking lot of the government office in the 13th district of Budapest, Hungary, March 3, 2021. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP) Hungary has emerged as a European Union leader in COVID-19 vaccinations thanks to a strategy that sought shots from Russia and China as well as from inside the bloc, spurring increasing trust in jabs from eastern nations. But that strategy is up against a skyrocketing rise in new COVID-19 cases and deaths blamed on a more infectious virus variant first found in Britain that is putting an unprecedented strain on Hungary's health care system. A new round of lockdown measures took effect Monday to curb the surge, which saw deaths averaging around 150 per day and hospitalizations and new cases breaking records set during the previous peak in December. As of Friday, 11.9% of Hungary's adult population had received at least one dose of a vaccine. That is the second-highest rate of vaccination in the 27-member EU after the small island nation of Malta and substantially above the EU average of 7%. With five vaccines approved for use in Hungary, more than in any other EU nation, more than 1.2 million Hungarians have received a jab in the country of fewer than 10 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The vaccination campaign is only growing in importance, for Hungary has the 7th worst death rate per 1 million inhabitants in the world, at 16,627 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. Boxes of Sputnik V vaccines are unloaded from a truck at a warehouse of Hungaropharma, a Hungarian pharmaceutical wholesale company, in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, March 4, 2021. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP) Dr. Karoly Dery, a general practitioner in Hatvan, a town 35 miles east of Budapest, said the rapid spread of the virus has led to increased acceptance of all vaccines. "I always tell anti-vaccination people that any vaccine is better than a month on a ventilator and possible death," Dr. Dery told The Associated Press. "There's nothing uglier or more awful than death by suffocation." Right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban broke with the EU's common procurement program to purchase millions of doses from Russia and China that were not approved by the EU's medicines regulator. He has been harshly critical of the speed of the EU's vaccine rollout. In February, the country became the first in the EU to begin using China's Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik V vaccines, even as polling showed that public trust in non-EU approved vaccines was low. A January survey of 1,000 people in the capital of Budapest by pollster Median and the 21 Research Center showed that among those willing to be vaccinated, only 27% would take a Chinese vaccine and 43% a Russian vaccine, compared to 84% who would take a jab developed in Western countries. In this file photo taken on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, Nurse Szilvia Lukacs administers a shot of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to a patient at Zala County Szent Rafael Hospital in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary, as the vaccination with Sputnik V against the new coronavirus continues in the country. Russia's boast in August that it was the first country to authorize a coronavirus vaccine led to skepticism because of its insufficient testing on only a few dozen people. Now, with demand growing for the Sputnik V, experts are raising questions again, this time over whether Moscow can keep up with all the orders from countries that want it. (Gyorgy Varga/MTI via AP, File) Dr. Bela Merkely, the rector of Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest, told the AP that Hungary's exceptional performance in vaccinations can be attributed to its purchase of the Russian and Chinese vaccines. He said the initial public distrust is being overtaken by a sense of urgency to bring a devastating third surge of the pandemic under control. "Hungary has more vaccines because it gave emergency approval to the Sputnik and Sinopharm vaccines," he said, adding that he had received a Sputnik V jab. "(When) people ask which is the best, I always say, 'The best vaccine is the one that's in my arm.' A vaccine that is in transit or is sitting in the refrigerator ... cannot protect a single human life." Other EU countries are taking notice. Slovakia's prime minister, Igor Matovic, angered members of his governing coalition when he made a secret deal to purchase 2 million doses of Sputnik V this month, while the president of the hard-hit Czech Republic has written to the leaders of Russia and China requesting emergency doses. A pharmacist holds a packet of Sputnik V vaccines to be used for the first dose in the pharmacy of the Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County Medical Center and University Teaching Hospital in Miskolc, Hungary, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. (Janos Vajda/MTI via AP) A pharmacist holds a packet of Sputnik V vaccines to be used for the first dose in the pharmacy of the Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County Medical Center and University Teaching Hospital in Miskolc, Hungary, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. (Janos Vajda/MTI via AP) Boxes of Sputnik V vaccines are ready to be unloaded from a truck at a warehouse of Hungaropharma, a Hungarian pharmaceutical wholesale company, in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, March 4, 2021. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP) Boxes of Sputnik V vaccines are unloaded from a truck at a warehouse of Hungaropharma, a Hungarian pharmaceutical wholesale company, in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, March 4, 2021. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP) Boxes of Sputnik V vaccines at a warehouse of Hungaropharma, a Hungarian pharmaceutical wholesale company, in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, March 4, 2021, after a shipment of 280,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V arrived in Hungary. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP) Employees unload the newly arrived coronavirus vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm at the logistics base set up to in the parking lot of the government office in the 13th district of Budapest, Hungary, March 3, 2021. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP) Merkely expects Hungary's new lockdown restrictions and increasing vaccination rate to produce results within three to four weeks and the latest surge to be under control by mid-May. Still, he says, Hungarians won't be safe until all countries in the world have access to vaccines. "A global pandemic cannot be managed locally," he said. "As long as COVID-19 is still present in the world, then not even vaccinated countries will be safe because a mutation can form at any time." 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. Gab CEO Andrew Torba has released a statement as a response to the allegations of anti-Semitism and racism brought about by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The squabble began on Tuesday, when GOP Vice-chair Cat Parks called on the party to delete its Gab account. Gab is well-known as a "free-speech" platform that is not held back by Big Tech restrictions, attracting many of former President Trump's supporters, Republican lawmakers, and supporters of the GOP. In a shocking turn of events, Republican Gov. Abbott, who has an account on the platform, supported Parks' call to delete the GOP Gab account. According to the Texas Tribune, Parks condemned Gab as "not a viable or healthy outlet for RPT to share our message of opportunity, liberty and personal empowerment." Much to the surprise of many, Gov. Abbott took to Twitter to share a video of himself and Republican Representatives Craig Goldman of Fort Worth and Phil King of Weatherford. In the video, the Texas governor said, "Anti-Semitic platforms like Gab have no place in Texas and certainly do not represent Texas values. What does represent Texas values is legislation like this by Rep. King and Rep. Goldman that fights anti-Semitism in Texas." However, it was unclear what exact legislation Gov. Abbott was referring to, or what substantial proof he had looked into before deciding to condemn Gab as "anti-semitic." Gab CEO Andrew Torba has responded to the allegations from the Texas governor through a statement that pointedly shows how the Texas GOP itself has a verified Gab account. Torba also pointed out how the legislator behind the "despicable and false statement smearing Gab as an 'anti-semitic' platform" is the same governor who took a stand against Big Tech censorship just a few days ago. According to FOX News, the Texas governor was at a press conference in Tyler on Friday where he confirmed his support of the Senate Bill 12, which objective is to prevent social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter from censoring conservative users. He said during the press conference, "Texas is taking a stand against Big Tech political censorship. The United States of America was built upon free speech and healthy public debate. Big Tech's efforts to silence conservative viewpoints is un-American, un-Texan and is unacceptable." Gab CEO Andrew Torba took aim at the Texas governor for seemingly appearing hypocritical especially after last Friday's statements. He argued that Gab is "not an 'anti-semitic' platform" and that its goal is to "protect the political speech of all Americans, regardless of viewpoint, because in this age of cancel culture nobody else will." Torba added that because they allow free speech, many "unpopular viewpoints may be found on the site." He also called out the Texas governor and the Republican lawmakers for falling into the trap that the "enemies of freedom" have made for them, especially during a time when "conservative values are under sustained attack all over the country." Torba reiterated that the platform does not have "political tests" for their millions of users. Instead, "Ban decisions are made on an individual basis. Our test for political speech is whether it is legal or not. Pretty simple rule." The Gab CEO also revealed that there are a lot of Jewish users on the site, "whose lawful speech we protect with just as much zeal as we would protect the lawful speech of any person of any faith, ethnicity, or creed." Gov. Abbott has yet to respond to the Gab CEO's arguments. Irans Red Crescent Society (IRCS) signed a contract with Russia's company Russia Helicopter for purchase of rescue helicopters. Speaking during the signing ceremony, IRCS chief Karim Hemmati said that Irans Red Crescent Society has had an active presence in different domestic and international disasters and rescue operations, as its presence in Beirut Blast and Sisakht earthquake set two records for the organization last year. "In Beirut blast, we were at the scene in less than 24 hours and in Sisakht earthquake we were at the scene in less than an hour and thanks to God, we were able to help the injured," IRNA cited the official as saying. Hemmati said that the IRCS is among the worlds top five humanitarian organizations with more than two million volunteer members working with the agency in different ways. The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Liberal Ludovic Orban, stated that the exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea is important for Romania's energy security, mentioning that a fund could be created from the taxes collected from these exploitations to finance major investments. Orban met in Parliament on Friday with representatives of OMV Petrom to discuss legislative changes in the case of the Black Sea offshore gas exploitation project. "Today I had a meeting in Parliament with Mrs Christina Verchere, Executive General Manager of OMV Petrom, and with Mr Alexandru Marinescu, Vice President of Regulation and Corporate Public Affairs of OMV Petrom, about the status of the offshore Black Sea gas exploitation project, as well as about the legislative modifications that will help in the development of this major project for Romania. The exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea is important for the energy supply and energy security of our country. Also, the taxes that will be collected from these exploitations can be constituted in a fund to finance major investments, so necessary for the development of Romania," Orban wrote on Facebook. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. An elderly man looks at the syringe before getting a jab of the Sinovac vaccine at a drive-thru site in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, March 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Brazil's federal government said Friday it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, though the shot is yet to be approved by the South American nation's health agency. The Brazilian Health Ministry said on Twitter that the jabs will be imported by Uniao Quimica, a company that has lobbied the government to purchase the vaccines, though its own experience is based on other medical products. Brazil's government expects to receive 400,000 shots in April, 2 million in May and another 7.6 million by June. The ministry said it would also evaluate possible production of the Sputnik V vaccine by Uniao Quimica plants in Brazil. Brazil has already secured contracts for 200 million vaccine doses, half made by AstraZeneca and half by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac. Russia has sent millions of doses of Sputnik V around the world, even as it vaccinates its own population. Analysts say Russia seeks to bolster its image as a benevolent technological power at a time when COVID-19 jabs are in short supply because richer nations are stockpiling Western-made vaccines. According to Our World in Data, an online research site that compares official government statistics, only 5.5% of Brazilians have been vaccinated, and the country experiences a deadly second wave of COVID-19 with more than 2,000 registered deaths in each of the last two days. More than 270,000 people died of the disease in Brazil, with authorities expecting grim weeks in March and April. Explore further Brazil aims to buy 30 mn Sputnik V, Covaxin shots 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Amid the political crisis in Beirut, Frances foreign minister on March 11 said that Lebanon is running out of time before it could see a total collapse. According to AP, Jean-Yves Le Drian urged the countrys politicians to form a new government to save it from economic and financial disaster. He said that a collapse would spell disaster not only for the Lebanese people but also for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Palestinian refugees it hosts, as well as the entire region. Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diabs government had resigned days after the massive explosion at Beirut port in August. After the blast, Lebanon has witnessed widespread protests against the economic woes that the country has been facing, which worsened after the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year. Protesters have been blocking roads and demonstrating in front of the parliament, demanding banks to release their deposits. The delay in the formation of the new government is not helping the people because it is pushing behind the much-needed reforms. Previously, French President Emmanuel Macron had proposed a road map to break Lebanons political statement over the formation of a new government. Macron has also been pressing the countrys politicians to form a Cabinet made up of non-partisans specialists that can work on urgent reforms to extract Lebanon from a financial crisis worsened by the August 4 explosion. Moreover, the French President has also travelled twice to Beirut since then and has made it a personal mission to try to repair the damaged country. It is not yet too late However, even with the worst economic crisis, Lebanons politicians have been bickering about the shape and size of a new cabinet. While speaking to reporters in Paris, Le Drian noted that despite promises last year, it has been seven months, and nothing has budged. He added that it is not yet too late, but the country is running out of time before a total collapse. Further, the French minister said that there is still time to act but we have to do it fast because tomorrow it will be too late. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said he is willing to isolate himself and stop working to pressure politicians to form a new government. Diab said if isolation helps he is ready to turn to it, but warned that it will disrupt the state and harm Lebanese people. Diab is currently serving as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed. Former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has been nominated by the members of parliament to form the new government but the leader is facing a roadblock because of Lebanon's sectarian form of politics. In Lebanon, parliamentary seats are equally divided between Christians and Muslims for fair representation, and choosing a cabinet without disrupting the status quo is a humongous task for any new prime minister. Mumbai, March 12 : The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC)'s preliminary examinations for 2020 shall be conducted on March 21, according to an official announcement here on Friday. The exams were scheduled for March 14 (Sunday), but were postponed for the fifth time in past 12 months in view of the Covid-19 crisis, sparking off massive protests across the state on Thursday, rattling the government. Late last night Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray addressed the states and declared the candidates that the preliminary exams shall be conducted "within a week". He also assured that over 2.60 lakh candidates appearing throughout the state, shall not be deprived of the opportunity to sit for the preliminary exams on various grounds like age-bar, etc. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Community News Editor / Librarian Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com. NPP Ashanti Regional Secretary, Sam Pyne has slammed the Minority in Parliament over their behaviour towards Chief Justice Anin Yeboah during President Nana Akufo-Addo's State of the Nation Address. The President delivered his State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, March 9 on the floor of Parliament. He touched on his achievements and development initiatives to be implemented in his second term. Although the President had his share of Minority interjections, what has caught attention is the Minority's cold reception to the Chief Justice. The Minority booed and hissed when the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin acknowledged the Chief Justice's presence at the function. Sam Pyne is utterly disappointed in the Minority. Contributing to Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", he described the Minority's action as an embarrassment to the world. "It wasn't a good thing to show the world. If we do that, then we're portraying that either someone didn't tell us the truth or we don't respect the court decision. Moreover, the Chief Justice is not the court; it's a panel and none of them dissented," he said. Watch video below 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 The Winnipeg Art Gallery showed just how bright and lit Qaumajuq is on Thursday. The Winnipeg Art Gallery showed just how bright and lit Qaumajuq is on Thursday. Qaumajuq, which means "it is bright, it is lit" in Inuktitut, is the curvy, new 40,000 square-foot building the gallery has finished building beside its original home on Memorial Boulevard. The white granite-clad addition is devoted to Inuit art, and a virtual gallery tour held during a press conference offered glimpses of its architectural and artistic highlights. It also announced a three-day grand opening that begins March 25 and includes an opening to all on March 27. "Qaumajuq is connected to the WAG building on all levels," said Stephen Borys, the WAG's director and chief executive officer. "Qaumajuq also connects Canada's North and south, promoting sharing and understanding and bringing communities together in the universal language of art." The new building's highlights include a huge main gallery, Qilak "sky" in Inuktitut and its three-storey-tall ceiling. On Thursday morning its 22 skylights allowed light in to shine on the large art installations that are part of INUA, Qaumajuq's inaugural exhibition. Perhaps Qaumajuq's most permanent artistic feature is its visible vault, which dominates the centre's lobby. The three-storey glass structure exhibits nearly 5,000 stone sculptures assembled by the WAG and the Nunavut government. Prior to Qaumajuq, they had been mostly kept in the WAG's private vault for safekeeping. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Stephen Borys, the WAG's director and chief executive officer, The virtual tour focused mostly on Qaumajuq's striking architecture, which was designed by Michael Maltzan of Los Angeles. He said Thursday that a visit with Inuit artists and to northern communities such as Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital, brought inspiration to the plan, and he showed a photograph of dozens of exterior proposals that were created and scrapped before the final wavy design was chosen. "We studied many shapes and forms in the design process, searching for the right one that would create two unique buildings that also seem to strengthen each other," Maltzan said, adding how much he admires the quality of Winnipeg's light. "It's such a presence and a beauty, just like the light of the North. The scallops of the building's facade allow the light and shadows to animate the facade while the white granite's colour and texture were chosen to interact with the range of colour and the quality of light across the year." LINDSAY REID PHOTO South-facing view of Visible Vault. One of the driving forces behind Qaumajuq has been the calls from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which included a commitment to preserve and promote Aboriginal languages and cultures. Borys said museums and galleries were among the institutions needing to examine their colonial assumptions and structures and change the way they present works. "Qaumajuq is a response to the TRC's calls to action," Borys said. "This is a transformational shift in our way of thinking, doing and being. Throughout the development of the centre, we have declared loudly that art is a voice, it reflects and shapes our experiences. "Art heals and inspires and fuels understanding." The WAG has added Indigenous and Inuit staff in recent years and has presented more exhibitions by Indigenous artists across Canada. For INUA, it commissioned artists who represent the four regions of the Inuit Nunangat to serve as co-curators: Heather Igloliorte is an Inuk from Nunatsiavut, in Labrador; asinnajaq is from Nunavik in northern Quebec: Kablusiak hails from the western Arctic; and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, curator for Inuit art for Nunavut, represents the Inuit of the central and eastern Arctic. Igloliorte is also an art history professor at Montreal's Concordia University and, along with University of Winnipeg prof Julie Nagam, co-chairs the WAG's Indigenous advisory circle. She said INUA's 100 works by 90 artists from Canada's Arctic, Alaska and Greenland will challenge people's perception of Inuit art. "Emerging artists are celebrated alongside more senior and even elder artists," she said. "It really speaks to where we come from and what we are grounded in as Inuit." LINDSAY REID PHOTO View of Qilak, the main gallery at Qaumajuq. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the WAG to adjust its opening plans for Qaumajuq. A virtual celebration on March 25 at 6:30 p.m., that includes Indigenous performers from North and south, will be part of a presentation filmed by Eagle Vision, a Winnipeg-based television and film production company. On March 26 at 6:30 p.m., elders from Inuit, First Nations and Metis communities across Canada will take part in Indigenous ceremonies that include welcoming Qaumajuq and the artworks to Treaty 1 territory. Qaumajuq opens to the public March 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is free admission that day it is a Canada Life Free day at the WAG and Qaumajuq but it will have timed ticketing to ensure the galleries follow provincial pandemic guidelines, which allow museums and galleries to open at 25 per cent capacity. Masks are mandatory. alan.small@freepress.mb.ca Twitter:@AlanDSmall The Market Report with Katie Pilbeam. FTSE 100 opened lower as rising US bond yields again grabbed investors attention on a quiet day for UK company news. Londons blue-chip index shed 15 to 6,721. Britains GDP shrank by 2.9% in January due to the impact of the third lockdown said the Office for National Statistics, though this was a lot better than many forecasts. The UK economy is now 9% smaller than at the start of the pandemic. Royal Mail is to trial Sunday parcel deliveries ahead of a possible seven days a week service to keep up with the boom in online shopping. Parcel volumes have rocketed since the first lockdown with 10,000 temporary Christmas stuff retained to cope. Motor insurance claims plunged by 19% in 2020 as people stopped driving during lockdown, but premiums only dropped by 1% said trade body the ABI. Payouts fell by 6% compared with the previous year. Among the small caps, ( ) has signed a 470,000 agreement with the UK government. The AI specialist will provide its MagnifEye software to transform smartphones into COVID-19 test readers. ( ) said it has demonstrated the potential of its LIGHT technology to treat resistant cancers. LIGHT is a proton therapy that can pinpoint tumours more precisely, causing limited damage to surrounding healthy tissues. ( ) has completed the acquisition of a 70% interest in a cobalt stream at the Voisey's Bay mine in Canada. The miner paid US$205mln to private equity sellers. uschools/iStockBy KELLY MCCARTHY, GMA (WASHINGTON) -- After nearly a year since bars and restaurants were forced to close their doors, adjust service or permanently suspend operations, the hard-hit industry is set to receive some much-needed relief. The American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden includes a hard-fought $28.6 billion grant program modeled after the RESTAURANTS Act that will help independent restaurants and bars rally in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, along with a handful of co-founders from the Independent Restaurant Coalition, (IRC), explained how the plan will directly help independent restaurants, bars, cafes, food trucks, caterers, breweries, distilleries, and others devastated by COVID-19. "Without the IRC, I dont know if it would have gotten done at all," Schumer said. "The IRC designed this bill to work well. Well stick with [the IRC] to make sure its implemented quickly and well be ready to renew." Blumenauer, who first introduced the bill, called the IRC's work "awe-inspiring" and said "this bill would not look like it does without the IRC -- [who] provides a network to be able to communicate that will be essential to replenish the fund." "I hope the IRC becomes a permanent fixture for restaurants across the country and in D.C.," he added. The group encouraged all struggling neighborhood restaurants and bars to use the $28.6 billion grant program and go about the process of receiving funds. How It Works This program is direct grant support through the Small Business Association for restaurants devastated by the pandemic. It can be used alongside the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans and the Employee Retention Tax Credit to help vulnerable businesses survive the remainder of this crisis. For more information, check out the full breakdown of how the program works from the Independent Restaurant Coalition here. Of the $25 billion total package, $5 billion has been reserved for establishments with less than $500,000 in gross receipts in 2019. The SBA administrator can create other tiers but the administrator will first prioritize grants for eligible entities owned or controlled by women or Veterans or are socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, as defined by existing SBA codes. Which Restaurants Are Eligible? Grants will be made available to establishments that are not part of an affiliated group with more than 20 locations. Additionally, the restaurant or bar cannot be publicly traded or have a pending application under the Save our Stages program and there are limits on the participation of private equity funds. How Grant Amounts Will Be Calculated The size of the funds will be based individually on the difference between 2019 and 2020 revenue. Eligible expenses include rent, payroll, supplies, mortgage, COVID-related construction, personal protective equipment and paid sick leave. For established restaurants, the total is calculated by the 2019 revenue minus 2020 revenue minus PPP loans. For restaurants that opened in 2019, the total will be the average of 2019 monthly revenues X12, minus 2020 revenues. Restaurants that opened in 2020 are eligible to receive funding equal to the eligible expenses incurred. A grant maximum of $10 million per restaurant group and $5 million per individual restaurant has been established. Any grant money that is not spent by Dec. 31, 2021, will be returned to the federal government. How To Apply for the Grant During the programs initial 21-day period, the Small Business Administration will prioritize awarding grants to eligible entities that are owned or controlled by women or veterans or are socially and economically disadvantaged businesses. What Expenses Are Eligible for Grant Funds Payroll and benefits, not including employee compensation exceeding $100,000/year, mortgage and rent (no prepayment), utilities, maintenance, supplies (including protective equipment and cleaning materials), food, operational expenses, covered supplier costs as defined by the SBA under the PPP program, sick leave, and any other expenses deemed essential by the Administrator. Grants can be spent on eligible expenses from Feb. 15, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2021. The SBA may extend that period through two years from enactment if conditions warrant. What Restaurant Leaders Are Saying "Everyone that depends on restaurants and bars for their livelihoods, the 500,000 small businesses, the 11 million workers, from dishwashers to farmers, servers to florists to chefs, each of them can sleep a little easier and start dreaming of a post pandemic future," Erika Polmar, executive director of the IRC said. "None of that would have been possible without the support of our champions in Congress. Tom Colicchio, owner of Crafted Hospitality in New York City and an IRC co-founder, said this group "did not exist a year ago -- when you think about doing what we did in a year, this bill is unprecedented -- Every single person on this call. Every single member of the IRC. I love these people. I would go to war with them." New York City restaurant owner Amanda Cohen recalled testifying before the House committee on small businesses over the summer. "I implored Congress to find a way to help independent restaurants," she said. "Today, I can confidently say that Congress heard me. The $28.6 billion program for our broken businesses will help countless restaurants, not only survive the pandemic, but will also make them whole again." 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. SOURIS With the pandemic wearing people down as it enters its second year in Manitoba, the teaching staff at Souris School is sharing a similar resolve. Advertisement Advertise With Us SOURIS With the pandemic wearing people down as it enters its second year in Manitoba, the teaching staff at Souris School is sharing a similar resolve. "You do the best you can, and I think in every profession everybodys making do," principal Guy Williams said, reiterating a common theme expressed by school staff, of making the best of a bad situation. Physically distanced, with student and teacher facial expressions hidden behind masks and some classes still taking place via Zoom, this presumably temporary "new normal" has come with both merits and pitfalls. All the while, everyone is waiting for the return to some semblance of normalcy. "I think you just have to remember this is hopefully just a small blip in time and well go back to the way things were eventually," said Grade 1/2 teacher Danica Hutlet. "Even though this isnt exactly what I signed up for, Im going to make the most of it." The Sun caught up with Williams and a handful of Souris School teachers earlier this week to learn more about what theyve done and how they were doing in advance of todays one-year anniversary of COVID-19 reaching Manitoba. While every educator will share a unique story, the collective story of Souris School a K-12 operation of approximately 440 students exemplifies what all schools have been going through, to varying degrees give or take some regional and structural nuance. THE BEGINNING When it came to health restrictions, the COVID-19 pandemic hit schools fast and hard on March 13, 2020, when classes were suspended until further notice. Although rumblings of the pandemic made their way through media in the preceding weeks, the public only learned about the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Manitoba the previous day. The final few months of the 2019-20 school year were the most challenging, Williams said, adding that although they were able to cap off a stinted school year, it came with a number of logistical headaches. "We started to really dabble in Google Classroom and learning Zoom, and we figured out some best practices pretty quickly and got moving," he said, crediting the adaptive nature of both staff and students with getting them through it. Hutlet was on maternity leave during the start of the pandemic, and upon returning to work met her new grades 1/2 class for the first time over Zoom. Souris School principal Guy Williams is seen in the Souris Glenwood Memorial Complex, where some high school classes are being held. (Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun) "That was quite the shock," she said, adding its important for students to build connections with their teacher, and Zoom adds complications that do not exist with in-person interactions. "To have that time one-on-one to get to know them without having other Zoom people chiming in it was hard." High school math teacher Cory Skelton said the Zoom platform was the hand they were dealt, but was not then and still isnt an ideal means of instruction. "You cant tell if theyre listening to you," he said. "You have no idea if theyre engaged. At least in (the classroom), they can fake it a little less well their eyes are going to let you know if they have struggles." The school partially reopened to students near the end of the school year for year-end assessments and general closing of the school year, during which Hutlet met her students in person for the first time. "That was really special," she said, adding students seemed even more excited than she was to be back in a school setting, no matter how brief it might have been. A NEW SCHOOL YEAR Although grades 5/6 teacher Brian Elder considers himself a pretty easy-going guy able to roll with the punches, the summer offered a much-needed recharge. "When it first happened, it was BANG!" he said of early pandemic health restrictions, and that although September brought continued uncertainty, there was less of the unknown factor to contend with. "It was going to look different for us, but I think the kids, along with the staff, were extremely happy to be back in the building. I think we had a new appreciation for education." Allowing students back into the school required drastic changes at the building. "Its been fun," Williams said with a chuckle. Various measures were taken to ensure there was enough physical distancing between students, including the creation of cohort sizes of no greater than 75 students. Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Souris School teacher Mike Kindle heads a class at the Souris Glenwood Memorial Complex earlier this week, where some high school classes are being held to help ensure physical distancing. In preparation for this, staff cleared various pieces of furniture out of classrooms to make space, alongside other measures. High school students attended class in person on alternating days, during which the other half tuned in from home using Zoom. More changes followed as COVID-19 sunk its claws deeper into Manitoba, including the temporary shifting of high school classes to an entirely online format. To get high school students back into the building, staff found more space by shutting down their gymnasiums, cafeteria and woodshop, converting everything into classrooms. With that, high school students were able to return to in-class instruction one day per week. On Jan. 18, the school expanded into the Souris Glenwood Memorial Complex, which allowed their high school classes to shift back to the blended in-person/online model they started the school year with. Various makeshift classrooms are now sprinkled throughout the complex. Other classes, such as Elders, have been divided into two classrooms, with him at the helm of one room while the other room features a livestream broadcast of his instruction projected alongside an education assistant. Accommodating this change, Williams said they hired more education assistants, bumping their total from 12 to 22. DEALING WITH CHANGE Change can be stressful, and the numerous changes teachers and students alike have had to contend with can be a bit much for some. Its impossible to escape a pandemic when it permeates almost everything. Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Souris School grades 5/6 teacher Brian Elder heads his classroom earlier this week. "Its kind of like having a wart on your foot you cant get rid of," said Williams. "Every time you go for a walk, youre reminded of it, and were in it." Everyone has their own unique tolerance level, he said, drawing a metaphor in which the speed limit is 60 km/h. Some people are driving at 30 km/h during normal times, so have more leeway and are more likely to be fine during trying times such as we find ourselves. Others, he said, were at 55 km/h before the pandemic started and have inched progressively close to or even beyond their threshold. "On any given day, that one thing can cause that tipping point on that one day," he said. "People are getting tired." Williams said hes closer to the limit some days than others. "You just figure out different ways to put your focus somewhere else," he said. "I decided to start walking to school every day its about a mile one way and thats just a personal thing I decided to do. Ive got lots of time on my hands, so I might as well get out and get some exercise rather than drive my vehicle." Skelton said a healthy work-life balance is key, and he strives to leave work at work when hes home, which helps him re-energize for the following day. "I wouldnt say that myself, personally, that Id be stressed out," said Elder. "Im used to it now, so this is the new norm, and I think the kids in many ways are the same way they understand the protocols and how we do things in the school every day." Whatever she might be feeling on any given day, Hutlet said she tries her best to shield negatives from students. "I think you just have to remember youre doing it for the kids, so at this point whatever were feeling they feel it 10 times," she said. "Were thankful for the fact were in-person right now thats not something everyone has." The kids are "resilient human beings," she said, adding theyve even made various games of the pandemic, such as declaring "Sanitize!" whenever someone sneezes. Souris School teacher Danica Hutlet reads her grades 1/2 class a story earlier this week. (Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun) "Were trying to keep the fun alive," she said. Still, theres a longing for sunnier days. "They want to give hugs and not elbow bumps," she said, adding that preventing them from being as tactile and fun-loving has been heart-wrenching "to say the least." FINDING SILVER LININGS Some of the technology required to keep schools running during a pandemic might translate well into a post-pandemic world. Google Classroom, in which various student resources are compiled and easily accessed at any time, is one such example, Williams said. "If a student isnt here today, they have access to the material tomorrow if they so choose," he said, adding theyd previously have to be on the same page as teachers to acquire the material. Certain structural changes have also proved beneficial, such as limiting the number of children on the playground at any given time. A noticeable reduction in negative behaviours means this practice might continue moving forward. Smaller in-person class sizes have meant more one-on-one time with students, said Skelton, adding he has been learning more about students now than at any time in his 20-year career thus far. One student, he said, taught him all about ameraucana hens the other day. Coming out of the pandemic, Elder said he expects to see people looking at the world differently. "I think prior to, we took things for granted, whether it was in school or outside of school hours, and I think we have a new appreciation of what we had." tclarke@brandonsun.com Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB An architect of JobKeeper fears bosses will stop hiring much-needed staff if the wage subsidy scheme continues. From March 29, full-time and permanent part-time workers in struggling industries will stop receiving $1,000 a fortnight wage subsidies. Part-time staff working fewer hours will lose their $650 wage top up. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who announced the emergency welfare scheme almost a year ago during the Covid shutdowns, said keeping JobKeeper going would discourage bosses from taking on new staff as workers continued working in loss-making businesses. Scroll down for video An architect of JobKeeper fears bosses will stop hiring much-needed staff if the wage subsidy scheme continues. From March 29, full-time and permanent part-time workers in struggling industries will stop receiving $1,000 a fortnight wage subsidies. Pictured is a Sydney cafe worker 'The advice to me from Treasury has been that as the economy strengthens and people get back to work, that JobKeeper needs to come to an end,' he told the ABC's 7.30 program. 'It has a number of perverse characteristics and features in that program that prevent workers more efficiently moving to other roles across the economy and it can prop up what are unsustainable long-term businesses.' On Thursday, the government announced a $1.2billion aviation and tourism package that will fund 800,000 half-price interstate flights to popular tourist destinations like the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Broome and Kangaroo Island. A day earlier, on Wednesday, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said the end of JobKeeper would cause unemployment to temporarily rise. 'Unemployment rate will continue to trend lower, although this trend could be temporarily interrupted when JobKeeper comes to an end later this month,' he told The Australian Financial Review's Business Summit on Wednesday. Dr Lowe's fears about rising unemployment were voiced a day after the Commonwealth Bank said 110,000 jobs would be lost unless the government extended JobKeeper for struggling sectors. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who announced the emergency welfare scheme a year ago after the early Covid shutdowns, said keeping JobKeeper going would discourage bosses from taking on new staff as workers continued working in loss-making businesses JobKeeper in three different phases has cost taxpayers $90billion, as it subsidised the wages of 3.6million Australian workers. The Covid welfare program means Australia's gross government debt levels will approach the $1trillion mark by June 2022. 'That was an emergency payment. It was initially planned for six months, we continued it for a full year at $90billion, it is the single largest economic program that any Australian government has ever taken,' Mr Frydenberg said. The Liberal Party's deputy leader, who once told Parliament - 'our government is too big' - in October delivered a Budget deficit of $213.7billion for 2020-21 - comprising 11 per cent of gross domestic product or the highest proportion of the economy since World War II. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 08:33:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WELLINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's largest city Auckland relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions on Friday. "Auckland is moving to Alert Level 1 at midday," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press conference. Auckland joins other New Zealand cities at Alert Level 1, which relaxes restrictions for the scale of gatherings. Due to the level adjustment, large events such as Sunday's Super Rugby Aotearoa game could proceed with spectators. The cabinet made the preliminary decision to move down levels on Thursday. They awaited test results and confirmation that there was no further community spread before confirming the decision and announcing it, Ardern said. This follows six days of Auckland being at Alert Level 2, with seven days prior to that at Alert Level 3, after 15 positive community cases emerged outside managed isolation facilities, she said. "I know everyone in Auckland will be looking forward to a weekend with fewer restrictions, but we are asking that everyone keeps up the good habits that help us deal with cases if they emerge. That includes scanning in or keeping a record of everywhere you go," Ardern said. "We're relieved to see Auckland move back to Alert Level 1, allowing our Auckland based businesses to recoup some revenue after prolonged periods of restricted trading," Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said in a statement. Enditem Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - Brand X Lifestyle Corp. (CSE: BXXX) ("Brand X" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has created CNV Mining Holdings Corp. as a wholly-owned subsidiary for its resource investments allowing these investments to develop through a series of subsidiaries with a focus on mining and mineral exploration. The corporate structure will allow the Company to divest certain interests in its subsidiary companies in order to maximize the value potential for Brand X, and its shareholders, from an investment perspective. "As mentioned we will continue on our path as an investment issuer and feel this proposed structure allows us to apply focus to these investments while maintaining our current portfolio and interests," commented CEO Arni Johannson. About Brand X Lifestyle Corp. Brand X (CSE: BXXX) is an investment issuer that actively invests in a diversified portfolio of early-stage to mid-level companies and projects. Brand X leverages its extensive network of operators and global thought leaders to provide investors with a unique multi opportunity portfolio. Contact: Arni Johannson 604-960-1878 Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements the timing, consideration, and completion of the joint venture are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "will", "may", "should", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, statements as to the completion of the Acquisition, the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, including the Acquisition, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, delays in obtaining regulatory approvals (including of the Canadian Securities Exchange), changes in laws, regulations, and policies affecting the Company's operations and the Company's limited operating history. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this presentation or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76966 There was dim light and rough seas on Thursday morning as authorities trailed a small fishing boat in Port Botany. Authorities spent two days training for the operation to seize hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, search two boats including a 330-metre ship and arrest a 27-year-old Australian man. Police will allege a small boat was launched from Port Botany, south of Sydney, to meet its 330-metre mother ship, the MSC Joanna, which originated in Antwerp, Belgium. Drugs, believed to have been stored on the larger ship, were transferred to the small fishing boat. South Australian man Jake Hurkmans has been charged in relation to an alleged cocaine importation. Credit:Facebook On board the smaller boat, police will allege, was Jake Laurens Hurkmans, who was completing the drugs transfer at sea. What we observed was the daughter vessel heading closely behind the container vessel the MSC Joanna, Australian Federal Police Commander Kirsty Schofield said. The daughter vessel was observed to be stationary for about an hour. 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"The absence of a specific range for a growth target in 2021 is welcomed. And should reinforce this focus in high-quality growth, and re-balancing, which is a discussion we've been engaged in with Chinese authorities quite constructively for the last several years," IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told Xinhua at a virtual press briefing. China aims to expand its gross domestic product (GDP) by over 6 percent in 2021, with more efforts on reform, innovation and high-quality development, according to the government work report approved by the national legislature Thursday. "In our January WEO (World Economic Outlook) forecast on China, we had projected 8.1 percent growth for this year. And that suggests that the above 6 percent that has been mentioned should be easily reached, given China's fast recovery, and the large base effects from the impact of the pandemic on growth last year," the IMF spokesperson said. In 2020, China emerged from the epidemic-induced slump with a 2.3-percent GDP growth, making it the world's only major economy to attain positive growth. In terms of the just-concluded annual sessions of China's national legislature and top political advisory body, Rice said that the IMF welcomes China's continued commitment to medium-term reform to strengthen what he called as "high-quality, more consumption-driven growth" as well as the confirmation of China's efforts in tackling climate change and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. "And we think this should help reinforce China's quest to re-balance this growth model toward greener and more consumption-oriented growth," he said. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Patna, March 12 : Following an orchestra event organised in Hajipur police line, Vaishali SSP Manish Kumar took cognisance of the matter and has ordered a probe into the matter on Friday. The SSP has constituted a team headed by SDPO rank officer to inquire about this incident and submit a report in a week. The officials of police line Hajipur organised an orchestra event on Thursday without the permission of district administration. Moreover, they have not even informed senior officials of the department. Sources said that a number of bar dancers were also present. The event also continued after midnight. A video of the event also went viral on Friday. "We have started the inquiry and departmental action will be initiated after the report is submitted by the team. Such an act attributes to indiscipline which cannot be tolerated," the officer said. The officer further said that officials involved in this event would be penalised. Craig Roth has seen what a funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic looks like from two perspectives: as a mourner and as the person helping the bereaved make arrangements. In June, his father, Norman, died from cancer at age 75. Meanwhile, the family business, Rindskopf-Roth Funeral Chapel, has seen an increase in the number of people seeking its services during the pandemic. (The Jewish Light printed 373 obituaries from March 2019 through the end of February 2020 and 417 from March 2020 to the end of February 2021, an 11% increase.) Still, whether it was his father or a client, Roth said, We were bound by the same rules as the rest of the world. We were limited in attendance and had to do things like we were doing for everyone else. Roth and others in the local Jewish funeral business said the past year has proved challenging in large part because they are counseling families who are unable to gather for funerals and shivas as they normally would. Its been a very, very hectic, taxing, overwhelming year, said Emily MacDonald, funeral director with Berger Memorial Chapel. Its been that way for a lot of reasons: one, because we have received more calls. Two, because we are doing things a little differently. And three, because we want to stay safe and want each other to remain healthy. ADVERTISEMENT Before the pandemic, MacDonald would often make a shiva call, which is a visit during the gatherings Jewish families host in the week after the funeral. But with shivas being restricted to very small numbers or taking place only virtually, If I am not at a funeral, its hard to let families now that I am thinking of them, said MacDonald, who is in the fifth generation of her family to work at the chapel. Early in the pandemic, MacDonald called a mourner who told her how isolated she felt. She just said, I drove to the service alone. I was surrounded by my immediate and extended family, but then I drove home and just kind of waited, MacDonald recalled. Her friends wanted to do so much for her, but no one really knew what to do because our personal interactions were so limited. It put things in perspective for me. I think I have adjusted by following up with families more readily, checking in to see how everyone is doing. In the first months of the pandemic, fewer peopled believed that the virus posed such a great threat and that all the new rules were necessary, said Anita Feigenbaum, director of the Chesed Shel Emeth Society, which manages cemeteries in Chesterfield and University City. Having the restrictions felt like you were penalizing the family, but as COVID became more rampant, then people understood, and we had no complaints whatsoever, she said. She and others in the local Jewish funeral industry have also made the familiar COVID adjustment: adding a virtual option. Zoom calls during shiva have helped families cope with the loss of a loved oneand the loss of the usual support, Feigenbaum said. Roth expects video streaming to become a fixture of funerals, even after the pandemic. If the threat posed by the virus continues to subside, Feigenbaum anticipates that gravestone dedications will act as an occasion for family and friends to gather the way they would have for a funeral. In the meantime, during the February cold, Berger Memorial decided to open its chapel for small, socially distanced services. The chapel has used industrial cleaner and different microphones for services, MacDonald said. If the infection numbers continue to trend in the right direction, MacDonald said, she hopes to open for larger gatherings. And while Roth continues to mourn the loss of his father, he said he is encouraged by how the local Jewish community has really stepped up and seems to really have a good grasp of what is going on, how to protect themselves in public situations, and has been very understanding when I have had to tell them, Your attendance can only be 10 people. I am grateful that there has not been a lot of anger. 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. Poppy Delevingne seemed to be missing her wild child days on Thursday, when she shared a series of throwback photos of herself and her famous friends going wild. In the photos, taken four years ago, Poppy, 34, and the likes of Derek Blasberg, 38, Alexa Chung, 37, and her then-boyfriend Alexander Skarsgard, 44, downed drinks and danced up a storm as they clambered over one another. In one particularly hilarious snap, Poppy, who looked stylish in a breton top and dungarees, poked her tongue out at the camera while clutching a cocktail in hand. Fun night: Poppy, 34, shared a series of four-year-old photos of herself and her famous friends letting loose in a plush apartment on Instagram on Thursday In others, True Blood star Alexander balanced a beer in one hand as he cradled fashionista Alex in the other, who looked gorgeous in a sleeveless black dress. Poppy and Alexa also showed off their moves on a makeshift dance floor, with Poppy playfully dancing up against her famous friend. Actress Poppy landed herself in hot water when she was revealed to be one of the guests at Rita Ora's lockdown-flouting party held at Casa Cruz restaurant in Notting Hill in December. The older sister of supermodel Cara Delevingne, 28, she is currently starring in Sky Atlantic's Riveria as Daphne Eltham. In October Poppy revealed she landed her role in Riviera by having an argument with her co-star Jack Fox, who plays her twin brother Nico, during her audition. Speaking on This Morning, Poppy told how she was already a fan of the show and watched the entire first season a flight from London to LA. BFFs: Poppy has been close friends with fashionista Alexa Chung, 37, for many years, and the pair is seen here at Miu Miu's 2020 show When she was offered to audition for a role on the series, the socialite told Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford she 'jumped at the chance'. She said: 'The very first audition was just a generic audition where they gave me a few scenes to learn. 'But the second audition was a chemistry read with Jack Fox who plays my twin, Nico, and we'd known each other for a few years before. 'The director wanted us to do some improvisation and we ended up having a little bit of a fight between us about what we were improvising.' Poppy told how the argument ended up working in her favour, adding: 'At that point the director turned around saying... 'I think I found my twins, if they're having an argument off set [it will work]'.' Meanwhile, Poppy and Cara put their stunning Hollywood Hills home on the market for $3.75 million in February, four years after purchasing the property for a comparatively modest $2.5 million. Leading lady: Poppy, who is descended from British aristocracy, is currently starring in Sky Atlantic's Riviera as Daphne Eltham The pair jointly bought the two-storey house on America's West Coast in 2017, but are now keen to make a substantial profit by putting it up for sale. The home measures at a sizeable 4,021 square feet and offers space, seclusion and privacy courtesy of its prime location on a 'quiet' Hollywood street. Cara and Poppy worked with architect Nicolo Bini for 18 months to redesign the home to their exact specifications. According to the Observer, Poppy and Cara bought the 1950s style four-bed, three-bath home from actor Jared Leto in 2017 for $2.05 million. An immigration officer walks near trucks parked in a queue at the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, after Nicaragua's government closed the border for freight traffic, during the outbreak of the CCP virus (COVID-19), in Penas Blancas, Costa Rica on May 21, 2020. (Juan Carlos Ulate via Reuters) Updates on CCP Virus: DHS to Hold Mass Vaccination Clinic for Border Patrol Agents in Texas The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will hold a mass vaccination clinic next week in the Rio Grande Valley to vaccinate Border Patrol agents in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott and National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) Brandon Judd said in a joint statement on Friday. We are glad to hear that the Biden Administration is finally stepping up and holding a mass vaccination clinic next week for Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley who had been left vulnerable and exposed to COVID, they wrote in the statement. They added that they had to publicly request the federal government provide vaccines for Border Patrol agents. Beijing Pushes for Door-to-Door COVID-19 Vaccinations Chinese authorities recently launched a door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination program in Chaoyang District, in the capital city of Beijing. Some residents shared their concerns with The Epoch Times over their distrust of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its propaganda about COVID-19 vaccines and the pandemic. Mainland Chinese media reported on March 10 that Beijings Chaoyang District began a new door-to-door vaccination program in residential communities and villages. The program is also carried out in five types of places such as government offices, the Central Business District (CBD), industrial parks, business offices, and school campuses. Italy Seeks to Triple Vaccination Pace as Nation Eyes New Lockdown and New Wave of CCP Virus Outbreak Italys new premier, Mario Draghi, has pledged to triple the number of daily vaccinations administered daily throughout the country as CCP virus cases rise and restrictions for Easter weekend tighten as many hospitals across the country warn theyre running out of ICU beds. The government decided at a Cabinet meeting the entire nation will be under strict red zone rules on the Easter weekend of April 3-5. The day after Easter, called Little Easter, is a national holiday when many Italians travel for vacations or gather in parks or at beaches for picnics with friends and families. Travel between regions is already banned under previous restrictions. US Passenger Airline Traffic Fell 63 Percent in January: USDOT U.S. airline passenger traffic fell 63.3 percent in January, as the industry recorded its worst month since September amid CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus concerns, the U.S. Transportation Department said Friday. The largest U.S. airlines carried 25.8 million passengers in January, compared with 70.5 million passengers in the same month last year. For all of 2020, U.S. airline passenger traffic fell by 60 percent to 368 million passengers, the lowest since 1984, as the industry reported pre-tax losses of $46 billion. All Restrictions Lifted From New Zealands Largest City All remaining restrictions in New Zealands Auckland have been lifted after no locally transmitted cases of the CCP virus were reported for two weeks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday. Ardern imposed a seven-day lockdown on the city of 1.7 million after a cluster of cases were detected domestically. The lockdown was eased earlier this month but some restrictions were retained, including limits on large public gatherings under an alert level 2 setting. Country Star Larry Gatlin Tests Positive After Getting 2nd Moderna Vaccine Dose Country music star Larry Gatlin of The Gatlin Brothers said he tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving his second Moderna vaccine dose. Gatlin, 72, told Fox News he is feeling fine after the diagnosis. What are the odds? he said. According to the singer, he received his second Moderna vaccine dose on March 4. On March 8, he received a rapid test that came back positive. A second test on Tuesday also showed a positive result for the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19. Bulgaria Halts AstraZeneca Vaccine Rollout, Citing Safety Concerns Bulgaria has temporarily suspended inoculations with the AstraZeneca CCP virus vaccine and demanded safety guarantees from the European Union. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told a cabinet meeting that the immunization with this vaccine will be suspended until the European Medicines Agency issues a written statement that it is safe. Bulgaria becomes the tenth European country to suspend vaccination using the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab following reports of blood clots in some people following the jab. Hong Kong Reports 60 New Infections, Majority Linked to Gym Cluster Hong Kong on Friday reported 60 new infections of the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, the highest number of infections in the city since late January, prompting fears of a fifth wave of the virus. Of the new infections, 47 were linked to an outbreak at a gym in the Sai Ying Pun neighborhood that is popular among expatriates. Health authorities have ordered all employees of gyms in Hong Kong to be screened for the virus. The gym cluster has so far infected 64 people. Medical Examiner Not Jumping to Conclusions After Utah Mom Dies Following Vaccination A Utah medical examiner on March 12 said there is not yet any evidence to suggest a connection between a death following a COVID-19 vaccination. Kassidi Kurill, a 39-year-old mother of one from Ogden, received the vaccine due to her work as a surgical tech for several plastic surgeons. She received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine on Feb. 1. She had no underlying medical conditions. Just four days after receiving the second dose of the vaccine, Kurill passed away. Her family believes her death may be directly linked to the vaccine. Slovenian School Closed as Teachers Report Side Effects From Vaccine A school in Slovenia cancelled classes on Friday after 26 teachers called in sick due to COVID-19 vaccine side effects. Slovenian media say the staff at the school in the northwestern town of Velenje received AstraZeneca jabs on Wednesday and later reported side effects to the jabs including strong headaches, dizziness, high fever, and nausea. Thailand Delays Use of the AstraZeneca Vaccine Thailand delayed the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday after several European countries temporarily suspended the jabs following reports of blood clots in some people. A publicity event with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha receiving his first shot was canceled with dozens of media attending, less than an hour before the scheduled start. Instead, health officials held a news conference to explain the delay was based on the decision made by Denmark, Austria, and others as a precaution. The Danish health authority said Thursday it has found no evidence yet the vaccine was responsible for blood clots. Texas AG Sues Austin Officials Over Not Lifting Mask Mandate The Attorney General for Texas is suing officials in Austin after they refused to enforce an order that ended a statewide mask mandate, he said on Thursday. Texas announced the lifting of that restrictionwhich had made mask-wearing compulsory in public buildings and many outdoor spaces to help contain the CCP virusalong with an end to occupancy curbs on businesses. The city council in Austin, the state capital, voted to still require masks to be worn. Katabella Roberts, Jack Phillips, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2021 / KULR Technology Group, Inc. (OTCQB:KULR) (the "Company" or "KULR"), a leading developer of next-generation lithium-ion battery safety and thermal management technologies, today announced that CEO Michael Mo will be presenting and meeting with investors at two investor conferences the week of March 15, 2021: the 33rd Annual Virtual ROTH Conference and the 2021 Emerging Growth Virtual Conference, presented by Maxim Group LLC. Mr. Mo will provide an overview of the Company, including its technology solutions, market opportunities, growth strategy, client engagements, and recent strategic developments. Investors can view Mr. Mo's general corporate presentation once they register for the conference where an archived replay of the presentation will be available via the conference website starting the day of the conference. Investors can also request a 1x1 meeting with Mr. Mo to be arranged via the conference website. 33rd Annual Virtual ROTH Conference Date: March 15-17, 2021 Presentation link: KULR Presentation Conference registration: https://ibn.fm/ROTH2021Registration The conference will feature presentations from public and private companies across a variety of industry sectors. During previous events, ROTH has hosted close to 550 participating companies and attracted more than 5,000 attendees, including institutional investors, analysts, family offices and high-net-worth investors. 2021 Emerging Growth Virtual Conference, presented by Maxim Group LLC Date: March 17-19, 2021 Conference registration: https://www.m-vest.com/events/2021-emerging-growth-virtual-conference The conference will feature roundtable discussions, issuer presentations, fireside chats, and live Q&A, moderated by Maxim research analysts, with C-level executives of small and mid-cap companies across multiple industries, including technology, industrials, electric vehicles, healthcare and consumer products. About KULR Technology Group, Inc. KULR Technology Group, Inc. (OTCQB:KULR) develops, manufactures and licenses next-generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronic systems. Leveraging the company's roots in developing breakthrough cooling solutions for NASA space missions and backed by a strong intellectual property portfolio, KULR enables leading aerospace, electronics, energy storage, 5G infrastructure, and electric vehicle manufacturers to make their products cooler, lighter and safer for the consumer. For more information, please visit www.kulrtechnology.com. Safe Harbor Statement This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 14, 2020. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," and "would" or similar words. All forecasts are provided by management in this release are based on information available at this time and management expects that internal projections and expectations may change over time. In addition, the forecasts are entirely on management's best estimate of our future financial performance given our current contracts, current backlog of opportunities and conversations with new and existing customers about our products and services. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Media Contact: Derek Newton Head, Media Relations Main: (786) 499-8998 derek.newton@kulrtechnology.com Investor Relations: KULR Technology Group, Inc. Main: (888) 367-5559 ir@kulrtechnology.com SOURCE: KULR Technology Group, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/635253/KULR-Technology-Group-to-Participate-in-Upcoming-Investor-Conferences Fire has ripped through a furniture factory store in the northern Melbourne suburb of Preston as crews managed to save a nearby pub. A factory fire in Melbourne's north has been contained after sending thick smoke billowing into the air. More than 70 firefighters were battling the blaze after it broke out in the roof of Preston's Makedonia Furniture about 9am on Friday. More than 70 firefighters were battling the blaze after it broke out in the roof of Preston's Makedonia Furniture about 9am on Friday Workers self-evacuated along with staff of nearby businesses on High St as fire ripped through the store and closed the road. The adjacent Preston Hotel copped the brunt of the smoke, although crews prevented flames from spreading to the pub. The blaze was declared under control less than an hour after firefighters arrived. Fire Rescue Victoria crews are expected to remain on the scene throughout Friday afternoon to extinguish hotspots. BOGOTA, March 12 (Reuters) - An international court has dismissed a lawsuit for 4.8 trillion pesos ($1.3 billion) filed by Spanish company Naturgy against Colombia over the seizure of its subsidiary Electricaribe, the Andean country's government said on Friday. Colombia's Superintendency of Domiciliary Public Services took possession of Electricaribe from Naturgy - previously known as Gas Natural - in late 2016, citing risks the company would default and its inability to provide services across an extensive area in the north of the country. Naturgy subsequently began arbitration proceedings in 2017 to recover Electricaribe or receive compensation. Last September, Colombia's government handed over control of Electricaribe to Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM) and the consortium Energia de la Costa, which is made up of Empresa de Energia de Pereira - EnerPereira - and Latin American Capital Corp. "Today the international arbitration tribunal ruled in Colombia's favor and totally rejected Gas Natural's claims. Thanks to this decision, Colombia will not have to pay a single peso," Colombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy said in a statement. Naturgy was not immediately available to comment on the ruling. Naturgy chose to seek arbitration before the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law Tribunal, rather than the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which it could have chosen on the basis of a reciprocal investment protection agreement between Spain and Colombia. (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) The revamped credit is a better program theres more money, and its available to more employers, said Shelly Abril, the head of tax compliance at Gusto, a payroll services provider. But with that comes all this extra complexity. Devon Lind plans to seek retroactive 2020 credits for his workers at Blender, a collection of businesses in Spokane, Wash. Blenders two core businesses Photoboxx, which sells photo printing and display technology, and Smash, a mobile rage room where people can destroy plates both depend on events, and sales plunged last year. The company had nine employees before the pandemic. It laid off five. Because Blender took a Paycheck Protection Program loan, it was initially ineligible for the retention credit, but Mr. Lind now plans to seek it for two quarters last year. The credit is really going to help us continue to retain employees as were gaining back business, he said. But extracting the most money allowed from the credit is complicated because of the way it interacts with P.P.P. proceeds and the Internal Revenue Service hasnt yet provided detailed guidance. Theres just tons of nuance in the credit, said Andre Shevchuck, a partner at the accounting firm BPM. We have instructed a lot of clients to first check in with their payroll provider to see how the rubber meets the road, and it may also make sense for businesses to talk to a C.P.A or a lawyer. Unemployment benefits Self-employed workers are normally not eligible for unemployment compensation, but the CARES Act extended benefits to them. Ms. Holcomb filed for unemployment when her contract job temporarily eliminated her hours. Some who collected the money are in for a tax-time shock, though: The payments are taxed as income. States are supposed to offer recipients the option of having federal taxes withheld, but in their scramble to deal with a deluge of claims, some states didnt do it and many people, faced with urgent bills and a reduced income, declined the option. Researchers at the Century Foundation estimate that fewer than 40 percent of unemployment payments last year had taxes withheld. 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. Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. When Queen Elizabeths most recent pet corgi died in 2018, it marked the end of an era. For decades, the monarch had been surrounded by a pack of the short-legged dogs but shed reportedly vowed not to adopt any more, since she didnt want any of her beloved pets to outlive her. That resolve evaporated last week, as the British royal family braced itself for the fallout from Oprah Winfreys interview with Harry and Meghan. Days before the explosive interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex aired, the 94-year-old queen acquired two new corgi puppies, British tabloids reported. The corgis are intensely loyal and loving and they have never let her down, royal biographer Penny Junor told The Sun. And, of course, corgis also seldom rush off to LA to give interviews. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace did not dispute The Suns report, but declined to provide further details about the dogs. Cynical observers might conclude that adding a few adorable corgi puppies to the royal family is a strategic ploy. After all, even people with little enthusiasm for the monarchy can be charmed by these inquisitive, excitable dogs. Symbols of friendliness, they are shrewdly deployed for publicity purposes, lending warmth to her public image, Vanity Fair noted in 2015. But so far there have been no leaked pictures of the corgis to counter the negative headlines about the racism and rejection that Harry and Meghan allegedly faced inside the palace. We dont even know the puppies names. British media reports suggest that the dogs are also providing emotional support while the queens husband, Prince Philip, is hospitalised. The 99-year-old was admitted last month for heart surgery and has spent the past 20 nights in the hospital his longest stay to date. A royal insider told The Sun that the bright-eyed new corgis are bringing in a lot of noise and energy to an otherwise sombre Windsor Castle. Over the years, the castle and palace have been home to at least 30 different corgis, and Philip has referred to the queens insistence on feeding and walking them herself as her dog mechanism a kind of therapy. But before the crisis, the royal household was home to just one dog Candy, an aging dachsund-corgi mix who is the last of the queens dorgis. Distinguished by their long, floppy ears, the crossbreeds became a beloved part of the royal family after one of the queens corgis mated with a dachshund belonging to Princess Margaret, according to Vanity Fair. Corgis and dorgis alike live a charmed life. They reportedly sleep in their own corgi room and dine on chef-prepared fillet steaks. They appear to have been far more welcoming than some other members of the royal family. In 2017, when Harry announced his engagement to Meghan, he recalled in a television interview that the corgis had taken to her straight away, wagging their tails as they lay on her feet during tea. Ive spent the last 33 years being barked at. This one walks in, absolutely nothing, he said. Kolkata: Members of Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday (March 11) announced that the party would hold a two-hour-long 'silent protest' tomorrow. The announcement for the silent protest comes a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured during her Nandigram campaign. "Tomorrow from 3pm-5pm we will raise black flags and cover our mouths with black bands as a mark of silent protest, condemning the incident," said Partha Chatterjee, West Bengal minister. Earlier, Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (March 10) alleged that she was attacked by four-five men who pushed her during her campaign in Nandigram. The West Bengal Chief Minister, who is currently undergoing treatment at a state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, also issued a video statement from the hospital on Thursday (March 11). In the video message, West Bengal CM can be seen urging people, party workers to be calm and exercise restraint. She also said she will not be affecting her election work for the injury but will have to remain wheel-chair-bound for some time. "We have noticed how West Bengal is being ignored by the Election Commission. Other than Bengal all (the other 3 states & 1 UT that will undergo elections) have minimum phases in the voting schedule," added Mukherjee in her address to the media. Additionally, a delegation of TMC, consisting of TMC MP Derek O'Brien and TMC Secretary General Partha Chatterjee, also filed a complaint with the Election Commission in Kolkata over the alleged attack on the CM. "When the Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken over the law and order machinery in the state in the name of conducting elections, appropriated the whole governance structure, summarily removed and replaced the Director General of Police without any consultation with the state government, at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the person of the CM and a candidate from Nandigram, West Bengal who is Z plus protectee is threatened," the complaint letter read. Following the alleged attack, Mamatas party postponed the release of its manifesto for the upcoming state assembly elections. Meanwhile, the assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled to be held in eight phases. The voting for phase 1 for 30 constituencies will take place on March 27, voting for phase 2 for 30 constituencies will be held on April 1. The polling for phase 3 for 31 seats will take place on April 6, for phase 4 for 44 constituencies on April 10, for phase 5 for 45 constituencies on April 17, for phase 6 for 43 constituencies on April 22, for phase 7 for 36 constituencies on April 26 and for phase 8 for 35 constituencies on April 29. Tim Keller: Church's affiliation with Republicanism has given Christian nationalism 'a place to incubate' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Famed pastor and author Tim Keller said the American Churchs championing of the Republican Party over the last several decades has given Christian nationalism a place where it could incubate. Christian nationalism works on fear and resentment, Keller, founder and former pastor of Redeemer Church in New York City, said in an interview with the Church Leaders Podcast on Wednesday. Friedrich Nietzsche said there is no truth. So you can't appeal to truth. What you appeal to is fear and resentment, and that's how you get power and that's how you win. Keller said that while he agrees with the Christian Right on policies like abortion and same-sex marriage, but asserted that the way many Christians handled hot-button issues in the 80s and '90s simply fueled fear, resentment, and anger in their communities. You know how they raised their money: For 20 years, they sent out letters talking about how, 'You've got to send us money because the gay people are going to try to come and take your children away, because they're evil and because the Democrats and the Left are going to destroy your religious liberty, he said. They just said awful things and vilified people, he continued. It's one of the reasons why so many gay activists now just don't want to forgive evangelicals because when they had a little more power in the '80s and '90s, that's how they raised their money. That's how they got people out." But this behavior, Keller stressed, is not the Christian way at all. The Christian way is, the way up is down. The way to rule is to serve. This is how Jesus did it. The way to get happy is to not think about your own happiness but the happiness of others. The way to get any influence is to empty yourself and be a servant. That's Jesus' way, and they're not doing that. They're actually using the Nietzschean way. He added: And I think what that did was, for a long time, just keeping evangelicals frothing at the mouth about how everything is going so bad and making everybody so angry. Keller said hes not denying that things are, in fact, getting bad for evangelicals, warning that its very possible that 10 years from now, those who hold to evangelical convictions about sex and gender might not be able to work for a major university, the government, or for a big corporation. Nevertheless, having said all that, yeah, we nurtured this. And Christian nationalists use that. And therefore, we brought it on ourselves, he said, adding that Christian nationalists are recruiting very well because the Christian Right has made its people recruitable. In churches across the U.S., many members are falling into one of two camps, Keller said. On one hand, many young evangelicals, particularly those living in cities, almost have a tendency to be over-woke and take their cues from the secular world, talking about Christian nationalists in "nasty ways. It is dangerous. But it's also one of the ways that you fuel the extremism is by treating the extremists as sort of subhuman, he said. When I talk to evangelical pastors ... people are actually leaving their churches ... because they don't talk about justice and about how bad Trump is or how bad Christian nationalism is, he said. Theyre not preaching enough about it. They're actually just staying with a biblical text and very often not even mentioning it, just talking about Jesus and how you have to be born again. But a bigger number of evangelicals, many of them in the South and Midwest, are unhappy because their minister isn't denouncing the Left enough and isn't telling people they need to vote for Trump. They're very upset and people are just walking away, he said. Keller said he hopes the extremism and craziness on both sides will die down as time goes on. I dont know, he said. I'm saying you just can't give in. You might as well be principled because pragmatism won't work, he said. So you might as well lose money and members over something where you feel like, I'm just following Christ here, I'm following real good principle. If you try to avoid losing members and money too much, you probably end up losing them anyway and then have a bad conscience too. A recent study found that evangelical Protestants are more likely than any other religious group to sympathize with and accept Christian nationalism, defined as a cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life, with Christianity being more cultural and tribal than spiritual. In an op-ed for CP, conservative author and radio host Michael Brown clarified that those who simply love and appreciate America are not Christian nationalists, but warned that equating America with Gods Kingdom or merging the cross with the flag is a terrible and dangerous mistake. And that is the error of Christian nationalism, he wrote. The irony of all this is that if we would be Kingdom-minded people first and foremost, we would bring the most blessing to America. If we would look at America as our mission field rather than our spiritual refuge, we would help our nation fulfill whatever plans the Lord has for us. And if we would exalt Jesus infinitely more than any political leader, we would best serve our country (and our leaders). Mumbai, March 12 : A special court on Friday granted bail to Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot in a case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) concerning alleged money laundering concerning his company and the ICICI Bank. Special Judge, Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases, A.A. Nandgaonkar granted conditional bail on a Rs 5 lakh bond to Dhoot, who has been ordered to surrender his passport to the ED, not to travel abroad without the special court's permission and appear before the probe agency, whenever required. On January 30, the special court had issued summons to Dhoot, ICICI Bank's ex-CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar, and her husband Deepak Kochhar after taking cognizance of the ED chargesheet. Netflix is testing a feature that asks viewers to verify that they share a household with the account holder, the company said on Thursday, a move that could lead to a clampdown on sharing of passwords. A small number of Netflix users are receiving a message asking them to confirm they live with the account owner by entering details from a text message or email sent to the owner. 'If you don't live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching,' the message says. Users are then prompted to use a code texted or emailed to the account owner to continue. Viewers can delay the verification and keep watching Netflix. But the message may reappear when they open Netflix again, and eventually they could be required to open a new account to continue streaming. 'This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so,' a spokesperson for the multi-billion dollar firm said. The alert, which is being shown to users 'in a number of countries', follows recently announced hikes in Netflix fees, now in effect for users. The cost of a standard account has increased from 8.99 to 9.99 ($12.99 to $13.99) a month and a premium account from 11.99 to 13.99 ($15.99 to $17.99), but its basic plan remains at 5.99 ($8.99). According to a 2019 study, Netflix may be losing out on a whopping $192 million (138 million) worth of revenue each month from password sharing. The message reads: 'Start your own Netflix for free today.' Netflix asks 'Is this your account?' and 'We'll send you a verification code' with three options - 'Email Code', 'Text Code' and 'Verify Later'. Viewers can delay the verification and keep watching Netflix. But the message may reappear when they open Netflix again NETFLIX USERS SLAM 'GREEDY' PRICE HIKE Netflix users have slammed the 'greed' of the streaming giant for hiking subscription fees by up to 24-a-year. The firm announced it was increasing its standard package - which allows two screens to access an account, as well as HD - by 1 per month, from 8.99 to 9.99, in January. The premium package - providing four-screen access per account and Ultra HD - is bumped up by 2, from 11.99 to 13.99. Netflix said the price hikes are essential to reflect the 'significant investments' it has made in new TV shows and films. However, the move has angered many, with users rushing to vent their frustration on social media. The number of households in the UK subscribing to Netflix grew to reach more than 15 million in the third quarter of 2020, according to Statista. Advertisement Netflix which is known for hit shows like The Crown, Bridgerton, The Queens Gambit and Black Mirror announced the price hikes back in October for new subscribers, while existing subscribers saw their fees increase in February. The service lets users create multiple profiles within an account but terms and conditions state that they should be people in the same household. Netflix confirmed to MailOnline that this new message is a test and therefore not everyone will see it when they open the app. It's being tested in a number of countries, which Netflix wouldn't disclose. The firm plans to evaluate the results of the test before making any other decisions, a spokesperson told MailOnline. The message, which appears when users open the app, reads: 'Start your own Netflix for free today.' Under that it says 'If you don't live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.' A button underneath says 'Join free for 30 Days' which is the firm's window for new subscribers before they start having to pay. Under the button it asks 'Is this your account?' and 'We'll send you a verification code' with three options 'Email Code', 'Text Code' and 'Verify Later', for people who want to put off the issue. Netflix, the world's largest streaming service with 200 million global subscribers, constantly tests new features with users and it is unclear if the household verification requirement will be implemented more widely. The Netflix terms of service say that users of an account must live in the same household, though the company and other streaming services have declined to broadly crack down on sharing. Netflix has historically ignored password sharing, since strong growth in subscribers and the company's steady stock price have offset concerns about lost revenue. Netflix last month announced last month the cost of of a standard subscription would be increasing from 8.99 to 9.99 a month. Now it's testing a feature that hopes to reduce password sharing, which means lost revenue. But the site now faces increased competition from new streaming services, including Disney+ which also recently boosted its monthly price to 7.99 and added a new channel, Star. Other competition is coming from AT&T's HBO Max, NBCUniversal's Peacock and ViacomCBS's Paramount+, and in the UK Britbox and Now TV. Research firm Magid determined about 33 per cent of Netflix users share their passwords with at least one other person. Netflix launches hundreds of tests yearly with select customers, according to the company headquartered in Los Gatos, California. This trial may not lead to a larger crackdown around password sharing and could be applied to uses involving account security in addition to password sharing policies. Disgruntled Netflix customers took to social media to voice their discontent. One said: 'If Netflix is serious about password sharing, why [are] they okay with people using other's email for signing up?' Netflix users took to Twitter to voice their discontent about the clampdown on password sharing NETFLIX HITS 200M SUBSCRIBERS In January, Netflix announced it had reached 200 million subscribers worldwide. The streaming giant added about 8.5 million paid subscribers in the quarter prior to reach 203 million, topping 200 million despite recent price hikes, its quarterly earning update showed. 'Covid-19 has accelerated that big shift from linear to streaming entertainment,' Netflix chief financial officer Spencer Neumann said on an earnings call. 'So, the underlying long-term looks good.' The company's cash flow was so strong that it will no longer borrow money to pay for operations, and it is considering starting to buy back shares, according to a letter to investors. Netflix shares jumped more than 12 per cent in after-market trades following the release. Profits dipped to $542 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $587 million in the same period in 2019. But overall revenue in the quarter surged 21.5 percent to $6.6 billion. For the full year, Netflix added a record 37 million paid memberships, according to the earnings report. Source: AFP Advertisement Another bitterly tweeted: 'Netflix is mad about ppl sharing passwords as if there's anything good to watch on there...' Jake Moore, a cybersecurity specialist at ESET, highlighted the potential issues linked to password sharing. Once you share your password with one person, whether it gets shared to someone else is out of your control, he pointed out. 'We ran some research that found that over a quarter of people surveyed had willingly given away their passwords to someone else,' Moore said. 'This may not sound worrying when you know the other party with whom you are sharing the password but what if they pass it on to someone without thinking? 'However, it is unrealistic to expect that people are going to stop sharing their accounts completely, so my advice would be to regularly change your passwords in order to flush out anyone who has gained access over the last year who shouldnt have. 'Creating complex passwords, combined with a password manager, will reduce your risk of compromise.' Moore also noted the dangers of using the same password for multiple accounts on the same email address, as the risk of an account getting hacked increases. Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings addressed password sharing during an earnings webcast in 2016. 'Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with, because there's so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids,' Hastings said. 'So there's no bright line, and we're doing fine as is.' In October 2019, chief product officer Greg Peters said Netflix was looking at the issue of password sharing, but that it had no 'big plans to announce at this time in terms of doing something differently'. Netflix, a multi-billion dollar firm, is known for hits shows like The Crown, Bridgerton, The Queens Gambit. Pictured, Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown A 2019 study conducted by Cordcutting.com found there were more than 40 million accounts for major streaming systems being 'borrowed' by non-paying users. Yet a portion of those users said they would pay for their own account if they lost access, which represented more than $2.7 billion in potential revenue for streaming services. Netflix shares have underperformed the S&P 500 index this year as investors moved away from growth stocks. Co-Founder and director of Netflix Reed Hastings delivers a speech as he inaugurates the new offices of Netflix France, in Paris in January 2020. Hastings addressed password sharing during an earnings webcast in 2016, saying it 'is something you have to learn to live with' Netflix has underperformed the S&P index this year, but a strong stock price is one of the reasons the company normally has not been overly concerned about loss revenue from shared passwords THE HISTORY OF NETFLIX PRICE HIKES May 2014: Netflix announced an increase in its monthly fee for streaming movies and television shows from 5.99 to 6.99. The price hike was immediate for new subscribers but was delayed for two years for its existing members. But Netflix allowed subscribers to keep paying 5.99 a month if they opt for a lower-resolution 'SD' quality service. May 2016: Netflix raises its monthly price for UK basic users from 5.99 to 7.49 a month. A similar price change took place for US customers, who saw their subscription fee increase by $2 (around 1.40 at the time). Anyone who signed up to Netflix when it launched in Britain would have received the standard package for 5.99 per month. But in an email to subscribers Netflix wrote: 'When we raised prices for new Netflix members in 2014, we kept your price the same for two years. Your special pricing is now ending and your new price will be 7.49 per month.' October 2017: The company raised prices in both the UK and US for the first time in two years. The standard package price increase by 50p to 7.99 per month. The premium packagejumped to 9.99 a month, an increase of 1. Netflix said at the time that the price change reflected the additional content added to its service. May 2019: Netflix confirms that British customers will see the price of the standard tarriff increase from 7.99 to 8.99. The premium tarriff was also bumped up by 2 to 11.99. January 2021: Netflix hikes subscription fees for UK users as the country entered its third lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. The standard package - which allows two screens to access an account, as well as HD - was raised by 1 per month, from 8.99 to 9.99. The premium package - providing four-screen access per account and Ultra HD - is bumped up by 2, from 11.99 to 13.99. Advertisement Last year, Netflix revealed it would be starting to cancel user accounts that have been inactive for a year. In an effort to help users who havent been using the service to save their hard earned cash, it's now eliminating unused accounts that are still billing the user. Emails or app notifications will be sent to users who havent watched anything on their account in a year or more than two years, asking if they want to keep subscribing. Any Netflix user who ignores the message and doesnt confirm they want to keep using their account will automatically have their subscription cancelled. The Biden administration this week amended licenses for companies to sell to China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd , further restricting companies from supplying items that can be used with 5G devices, sources said. The changes could disrupt existing contracts with Huawei that were agreed upon under previous licenses that have now been changed, two of the sources said. A U.S. Commerce Department spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the licensing information is subject to confidentiality. A Huawei spokeswoman declined to comment. The initial export licenses were granted by the Commerce Department after the company was placed on the department's trade blacklist in 2019. This week's new conditions make older licenses more consistent with tougher licensing policies implemented in the waning days of the Trump administration. ALSO READ: Game of drones: Chinese giant DJI hit by US tensions, staff defections In January, the Trump administration decided it would deny 116 licenses with face values totaling $119 billion, and only approve four worth $20 million, according to a Commerce Department document reviewed by Reuters. Most of those denied fell into three broad categories: memory, handset and other devices, and network applications. Between 2019 and 2020, the administration approved licenses for companies to sell $87 billion worth of goods and technology to Huawei, the document said. Licenses are generally good for 4 years. While new restrictions on those licenses hurt some suppliers, one source noted, they also level the playing field between companies, since some received licenses under less restrictive policies. According to one revised license seen by Reuters, which took effect March 9th, items may not be used "with or in any 5G devices," a broad interpretation that prohibits the item from going into a 5G device even if it has nothing to with 5G functioning. ALSO READ: China's Huawei, reeling from US sanctions, plans foray into EVs Another amended license was not authorized for use in military, 5G, critical infrastructure, enterprise data centers, cloud or space applications, effective March 8. Both revised licenses say, prior to export, Huawei or customers must implement a parts control plan and make inventory records available to the U.S. government upon request. Companies are placed on the trade blacklist, known as the "entity list," over national security and foreign policy concerns, and licenses to sell to them generally face a standard of likely denial. ALSO READ: This little piggy went to market: Huawei turns to pig farming as smartphone sales dwindle But Trump had an inconsistent approach to Huawei, opening the door to more sales when he was seeking a trade deal but then coming down harder as tensions began rising over the coronavirus and Beijings crackdown in Hong Kong last year. According to the January document seen by Reuters, some 300 applications with stated values of $296 billion were still pending. It's not clear how many of those have been decided. Press release no. 2-2021 Sborg, March 12, 2021 Konsolidator signs first Consolidation as a Service (CaaS) partner agreement with a local Beierholm entity in Denmark Konsolidator has signed the first CaaS partner agreement with Beierholm Hobro. Beierholm is one of the leading audit firms in Denmark. The partner agreement will allow the local Beierholm entity to use Konsolidator to deliver consolidation and reporting services for their clients. Offering a CaaS partner agreement is an integrated part of Konsolidator's growth strategy for 2021 and a way of expanding the sales channel to the existing partner program that counts end-user sales partners and onboarding-partners. Konsolidator launched the CaaS partner program in February 2021 and estimates the potential for this type of partner program to be significant. Adding a CaaS partner channel to our current sales channels allows us to tap further into the end-user market through audit firms and other providers of financial reporting. Being able to sign the first CaaS partner in March after just launching the program in February is a good indication that the market is ready and will drive new business revenue for Konsolidator says CEO Claus Finderup Grove. About Konsolidator Konsolidator A/S is a financial consolidation software company whose primary objective is to make Group CFOs around the world better through automated financial consolidation and reporting in the cloud. Created by CFOs and auditors and powered by innovative technology, Konsolidator removes the complexity of financial consolidation and enables the CFO to save time and gain actionable insights based on key performance data to become a vital part of strategic decision-making. For further information: CEO Claus Finderup Grove, mobile. +45 2095 2988, e-mail: cfg@konsolidator.com Konsolidator A/S Vandtarnsvej 83 A 2860 Sborg www.konsolidator.com Attachment Britain is the legitimate owner of the Elgin Marbles and they will not be returned to Greece, Boris Johnson insisted yesterday. In his first interview with a European newspaper since taking office, the Prime Minister rejected the often-repeated requests from Athens to return the 2,500-year-old sculptures. He told Greeces Ta Nea newspaper: I understand the strong feelings of the Greek people and indeed prime minister [Kyriakos] Mitsotakis. But the UK Government has a firm long-standing position on the sculptures, which is that they were legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museums trustees since their acquisition. The Elgin Marbles were taken from the Arcopolis in Athens more than 200 years ago. Greece insists the 5th century BC sculptures were stolen, but Boris Johnson says they were 'legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time' Although Mr Johnson has previously said the Marbles should remain in the British Museum, it is the first time he has commented on the issue as Prime Minister. The remarks are likely to trigger fresh controversy. Greece insists the sculptures, which date from 5th century BC, were stolen by Elgin, a diplomat, from the Acropolis in Athens more than 200 years ago. Politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn, have backed returning the Marbles but the Government insists they were purchased legitimately and have been painstakingly preserved in the UK. The row intensified last year when the EU suggested the return of the Marbles could form part of the Brexit trade deal. Mr Johnson, who was a classics student at Oxford, described himself as a keen scholar of Greek history in the Ta Nea interview. Boris Johnson, who studied classics at Oxford, made the comments during his his first interview with a European newspaper since becoming PM. The Marbles, which show scenes from Greek mythology and Athenian ritual, decorated the Parthenon until it was blown up in warfare in 1687 His personal hero is the Athenian statesman Pericles, who led the artistic drive to build religious monuments on the Acropolis. The Marbles, which show scenes from Greek mythology and Athenian ritual, decorated the Parthenon until it was blown up in warfare in 1687. After their purchase by Elgin from the ruling Ottoman Turks, the sculptures were shipped to London, finally reaching the British Museum in 1817. The museums website insists Elgin removed them with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities. NEW YORK An investigation into the official response to Daniel Prude's police suffocation death last year in Rochester is faulting the city's mayor and former police chief for keeping critical details of the case secret for months and lying to the public about what they knew. The report, commissioned by Rochester's city council and made public Friday, said Mayor Lovely Warren lied at a September press conference when she said it wasn't until August that she learned officers had physically restrained Prude during the March 23, 2020, arrest that led to his death. Warren was told that very day that officers had used physical restraint, the report said, and by mid-April she, then-Police Chief La'Ron Singletary and other officials were aware that Prude had died as a result and that the officers were under criminal investigation. "In the final analysis, the decision not to publicly disclose these facts rested with Mayor Warren, as the elected mayor of the city of Rochester," said the report, written by New York City-based lawyer Andrew G. Celli Jr. "But Mayor Warren alone is not responsible for the suppression of the circumstances of the Prude arrest and Mr. Prude's death." Warren said in a statement that she welcomed the report "because it allows our community to move forward." When he retired from his Denver bench at the end of last year, there was no doubt in Judge Gary Jacksons mind as to where he would go next. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Australias central bank maintained its policy settings as it prepares to decide on extending its yield target and quantitative easing programs, with a Covid-19 lockdown complicating the outlook.The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate and three-year yield target at 0.10% in Sydney on Tuesday, as expected. It will make a decision in July on whether to extend the yield target and undertake further quantitative easing. A weeklong shutdown in the nations second-largest city adds a layer of uncertainty to the outlook.Despite the strong recovery in the economy and jobs, inflation and wage pressures are subdued, Governor Philip Lowe said. The board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions to support a return to full employment in Australia and inflation consistent with the target.The Australian dollar edged lower, trading at 77.41 U.S. cents at 2:53 p.m. in Sydney from 77.62 cents just before the release.The case for Lowe to maintain the April 2024 bond as the target maturity had been strengthening amid strong hiring, sentiment and investment plans. This was reinforced by the government keeping open the fiscal spigot in the May budget as it joins the RBA in seeking to drive down unemployment to revive wages growth and inflation.Progress in reducing unemployment has been faster than expected, Lowe said in his statement. There are reports of labor shortages in some parts of the economy.Risks AheadYet the RBA may be encouraged to err on the side of caution if Melbournes outbreak worsens and extend both of its bond programs to keep maximum support for the economy.An important ongoing source of uncertainty is the possibility of significant outbreaks of the virus, although this should diminish as more of the population is vaccinated, Lowe said. The board continues to place a high priority on a return to full employment.Globally, central banks are beginning to edge away from emergency monetary settings. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets last week in presenting projections of its official cash rate rising in the second half of next year.Back in Australia, economists predicted ahead of data Wednesday that gross domestic product rose 1.5% in the first three months of the year from the prior quarter, and advanced 0.6% from a year earlier.Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy, in testimony to a parliamentary panel earlier today, said partial data showed around 56,000 workers had lost their jobs in the four weeks following the end of the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy that expired March 28.He said strong employment data and forward indicators continue to give us confidence that the labor market has the underlying strength to absorb workers transitioning off the JobKeeper payment.End of Australias $68 Billion Job-Saving Stimulus Tests EconomyLowe estimates Australias jobless rate will need to fall to close to 4% before driving economy-wide pay increases. It stood at 5.5% in April.The governor expects wages growth will need to increase at a pace faster than 3% -- more than double the current rate -- for inflation to return sustainably to the central banks 2-3% target.Lowe reiterated that this is unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest.(Updates with further comments from governor throughout text.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Poland has expelled two Belarusian diplomats in what a deputy minister called an act of "reciprocity" as the two sides fight over a recent World War II commemoration and Warsaw's support of pro-democracy activists in Belarus. Poland's government has repeatedly condemned Alyaksandr Lukashenka and called for increased sanctions against Minsk. Belarus has been the site of nearly daily protests since last August when Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared winner of a presidential election that the West and tens of thousands of Belarusians say was rigged. Poland has also sheltered Belarusian activists who have fled across the border to escape the crackdown on Belaruss pro-democracy supporters. More than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten, and several killed, in the Belarusian government crackdown, triggering Western sanctions and refusals to recognize Lukasehnka, 66, as the legitimate leader of Belarus. "Due to the ongoing unfriendly gestures from Minsk towards Polish diplomats, Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to expel Belarus' General Consul in Bialystok as well as the consul from Warsaw according to the principles of reciprocity," Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz wrote in a tweet on March 12. The move comes a day after the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said it had expelled the two diplomats "in connection with the excessive, asymmetric, and destructive response of Poland." The two senior staff members of the Polish Consulate in the city of Hrodna were given 48 hours to leave the country, the ministry said. The unofficial, commemorative event at the heart of the dispute took place on February 28 in the southwestern Belarusian city of Brest in honor of so-called "cursed soldiers," Polish fighters who initially fought against Nazi occupation and later turned against Soviet occupiers. The soldiers often acted violently against non-Poles, especially Belarusians. On March 9, Minsk announced it was expelling the Polish consul, Jerzy Timofejuk, saying he had taken part in the ceremony, prompting Warsaw to also declare a Belarusian diplomat "persona non grata" the next day. Belarus then responded with the expulsion of the two Polish diplomats on March 11. Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said that Warsaw reserved its right to an "adequate response" to the move. Belarusian prosecutors said on March 10 that they had opened a criminal case into the Brest event for actions aimed at inciting national, religious enmity, and hate based on nationality, religion, language, as well as actions aimed at glorifying Nazism. The Foreign Ministry in Minsk said celebrating "war criminals and the justification of genocide against the Belarusian people" was unacceptable. The Day of Cursed Soldiers has been commemorated in Poland every March 1 since 2011. Discover with us how to teach important basics to consumers in an engaging way and to keep them continuously sold by your messaging. In the latest in a series of Thought Leader Thursday webinars hosted by integrated Direct Response agency and infomercial production company Script to Screen, its Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director Ken Kerry will join with former REV Group CMO Tony Besasie to discuss innovative advertising strategies that dont just brand but actually sell a product in this case, electric cars. Electric vehicles are poised to take over the automotive industry, but the competition in the sector is fierce. This webinar is designed to examine: What if your advertising media could do more than just set a mood with your prospective customers, but actually brand, educate, and sell them on your product? In this webinar, to be held on March 25, 2021, at 11:00 AM PT/ 2:00 PM ET, you will learn: How do you become the brand of choice in the electric vehicle field? In what way can an electric vehicle company scale? Tesla has a head start, how do you catch up? Can you build consumer confidence from a combustion engine customer? What are the ways a Direct-to-Consumer marketing strategy be applied to electric vehicles? How can you brand, while educating and selling, in your media? To register for this complimentary event: https://www.scripttoscreen.com/electric-vehicles-webinar/ Kerry said: The dominance of electric cars is on the horizon. Join us in this webinar to learn how to best craft and then execute the most effective campaign for this still evolving, but destined technology. Discover with us how to teach important basics to consumers in an engaging way and to keep them continuously sold by your messaging. Kerry serves as Executive Creative Director and Executive Producer at Script to Screen, and his hands-on involvement ensures the highest production values are combined with solid Direct Response principles. He co-founded Script to Screen in 1986, along with his wife, Barbara, CEO. Besasie is a brand strategist and marketing consultant who covers a diverse scope of industry sectors and commercial channels. Most recently, he was CMO of REV Group, where he oversaw marketing for the companys portfolio of specialty vehicle brands in the fire and emergency, public transportation, and outdoor recreation segments. Prior to REV Group, Besasie was president of Cannella Media, a direct response media company providing performance-based media services to direct-to-consumer marketers. Before Cannella, he held executive management positions at Omnicoms experiential branding agency GMR Marketing and at integrated marketing agency Momentum Worldwide, a subsidiary of Interpublic Group. His background also includes more than a decade in the beer business at Miller Brewing Company where he held various sales and marketing management positions including brand director of the companys flagship brand, Miller Lite. About Script to Screen Established in 1986, Script to Screen is an industry-leading Integrated Direct Response Agency, delivering a single, end-to-end solution for Direct-to-Consumer sales, lead generation, web traffic and conversions, and retail lift. Specializing in a strategic combination of cost-effective customer acquisition and brand building, Script to Screen has successfully collaborated with entrepreneurs and big brands alike to expand revenue channels and build businesses. Clients such as AAA, Amazon, Bare Escentuals, Beachbody, Blink, Bose, Church & Dwight, Cleva, Comcast, Conair, Ehealthinsurance, Estee Lauder, Generac, Guthy-Renker, Hoover, Keurig, LifeLock, LOreal, Nescafe, Netspend, Nugenix, Nutrisystem, Omaha Steaks, philosophy, SharkNinja, Snow Joe, SoClean, Tria Beauty, Pfizer, and Wahl are among the major companies that have turned to Script to Screen for creative strategy, messaging and production in all channels in both offline and online of their DRTV campaigns. UK Students Find Message in a Bottle From 60 Years Ago After It Washes Up on Beach A message in a bottle thrown out to sea from Blackpool, Englandin the hope it would reach Americahas washed up 60 YEARS later. Two students discovered the glass bottle lying in the stones on Hove Beach seafront in East Sussex, and were amazed to find it had a letter inside addressed to the Yanks written in 1961. Housemates Indiana Tarrant and Luca Gamberini, both 21, found the brown beer bottle on Feb. 2 and are now hoping to reunite it with the sender, one Bobby Doseuegs. (L-R) Indiana Tarrant and Luca Gamberini on the beach where they found the bottle (Caters News) The bottle washed up over 300 miles away from Blackpool, near a newly renovated seafront property. We were skimming stones along the front on Hove Beach and there it was, Indiana said. It must have only been washed up that day as it was on the surface, close to the shoreline and the sea was out. The digital film graduates took the brown beer bottle home and used a knife to break open the wax seal cap. They managed to get the letter out with a pair of tweezers and were amazed to see the letter was dated August 7, 1961. Two students discovered the glass bottle lying in the stones on Hove Beach seafront in East Sussex, and were amazed to find it had a letter inside addressed to the Yanks written in 1961. (Caters News) Luca, originally from Folkestone, added: The wax seal must have weakened slightly over the years as there was some water in the bottle and the ink has run and faded. But the two students believe the letter reads: Dear you Yanks, Hows life across the Pond? Threw this from the Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, UK. Suppose I should say cheers for the help in the war. Roy Orbison is starting to kick off here and everythings seeming to get pretty groovy. I wonder what its looking like on your side. Never been to America but Id love to put on a Stetson and ride on horseback. Hope this message finds somebody well. It was signed by Bobby Doseuegs and mates. A message in a bottle thrown out to sea from Blackpoolin the hope it would reach Americahas washed up 60 YEARS later. (Caters News) The lads are hoping to reunite the letter with the sender and have searched online but havent had much luck so far. We would love to find Bobby and his friends and let them know what happened to their letter and where it ended up all these years later, Luca said. From the content of the letter, the lads guess that Bobby may have been a young lad or teenager when the letter was written, meaning he would be in his 70s now. The bottle washed up over 300 miles away from Blackpool, near a newly renovated seafront property. (Caters News) Indiana added: It is a shame it never reached the United States, but to wash up down here 60 years later really is something. Its amazing that it has survived all these years, you would think the bottle would have been smashed a long time ago. The beer bottle still has part of its label intact, and the words imperial stout can still be partly read. The housemates think it may be a bottle of Russian Imperial Stout. We would love to frame the letter and get it back to Bobby and we hope sharing this story will help us find himor his family, Luca added. We were so shocked when we realized what it was, we couldnt believe it and even more shocked to see how old the letter is. Its like something out of a film. Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. 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 Roger Mathews and Jersey Shore star Jenni JWoww Farley are divorced but co-parenting their two children. Now that Farley is engaged to be married, many Jersey Shore fans are curious about Mathews love life. Find out whether Mathews is in a relationship and who his current girlfriend is. Roger Mathews | Steven Lawton/FilmMagic JWoww and Roger Mathews divorce was finalized in 2019 After three years of marriage, Farley started the divorce process in September 2018. She cited irreconcilable differences after claiming her relationship with Mathews starter to suffer six months prior. In her filing, Farley requested to maintain primary residential custody of their two children, Meilani and Greyson. In August the following year, Farley and Mathews were legally divorced. Jenni and Roger have reached an amicable conclusion and finalized their divorce, Farleys representative told E! News. They remain devoted to co-parenting their children in a happy and healthy environment and they both wish each other the best. Jenni Farleys boyfriend proposed on Feb. 27, 2021 JWoww got engaged to Zack 24 Carpinello on her 35th birthday. On 2.27 I said yes on the top of the Empire State Building, Farley shared on Instagram. My always and forever, Carpinello wrote when he shared his own set of photos. You made me the happiest Ive ever been. I love you more than anything. As Mathews explained to Us Weekly in April 2019, Carpinello is a good friend of [Farleys] little brother. Ironically, Carpinello attended Farley and Mathews wedding in October 2015. When the couple started dating in 2019, Mathews told Page Six [Carpinello] seems like a terrific guy and Im very happy for them. More recently, Mathews spoke out about Farleys engagement. I didnt think it was my place to comment, [but] Im happy for her, he said on his podcast (via TMZ). Im happy for them. Does Roger Mathews have a girlfriend? Like Farley, Mathews began dating shortly after their divorce was finalized. Im casually dating cautiously so, Mathews told Us Weekly in September 2019. My kids are my focus. At the time, Mathews said he was looking for an established woman with her career and personal life in order [someone] who is understanding that [his] children will always come first. Communication was another big focus for Mathews, who said it was critical at this point in his life. RELATED: Jersey Shore: Family Vacation: A Reality TV Editor Explains When Fans Can Expect the Rest of Season 4 If youre a bad communicator, we probably wont make it far, he explained to the outlet. I want peace and stability in my life for myself and my children. A few months later, Mathews seemed to have found that person. In January 2020, TMZ reported Mathews was in a relationship with Danielle Miele. Sources told the outlet the couple were officially together but taking things slow. Unlike Farley, Miele wants to keep her life out of the spotlight. Who is Roger Mathews new girlfriend Danielle Miele? Miele is Mathews current girlfriend. Mathews allegedly met the hairdresser in May 2019 at a concert. According to her professional Instagram profile, Miele specializes in bridal hair and is a licensed cosmetologist in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Most recently, Miele and Mathews vacationed at the Crystal Springs Resort in New Jersey. Met some cool people this trip, Mathews captioned a photo. We absolutely will be back with the kids to do some things we didnt get to do this time. Its unclear how close Miele is with Meilani and Greyson, but she has spent time with Mathews children. (Reuters) - Firefighters were responding to a fire at Inc's factory in Fremont, California, a fire department official said on Thursday. Local media outlet KTVU Fox 2 tweeted https://bit.ly/3rEHWNH a video of smoke coming out of the factory. It was not immediately clear whether production was affected. "The fire appeared to be located within machinery and is in an area that is under construction," local broadcaster KRON 4 https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/crews-respond-to-fire-at-tesla-fremont-factory said, adding that personnel were using sand to help extinguish the fire. There were no reports of injuries and all personnel were accounted for, KRON 4 reported. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco and Kanishka Singh and Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool) (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.) March 12, 2021 Oil Spill Caused By Israeli Attacks On Iranian Oil Bound for Syria The Wall Street Journal reports today: Israel has targeted at least a dozen vessels bound for Syria and mostly carrying Iranian oil out of concern that petroleum profits are funding extremism in the Middle East, U.S. and regional officials say, in a new front in the conflict between Israel and Iran. Since late 2019, Israel has used weaponry including water mines to strike Iranian vessels or those carrying Iranian cargo as they navigate toward Syria in the Red Sea and in other areas of the region. Iran has continued its oil trade with Syria, shipping millions of barrels and contravening U.S. sanctions against Iran and international sanctions against Syria. Some of the naval attacks also have targeted Iranian efforts to move other cargo including weaponry through the region, according to U.S. officials. The attacks on the tankers carrying Iranian oil havent been previously disclosed. Iranian officials have reported some of the attacks earlier and have said they suspect Israeli involvement. The 'exclusive' leak to the WSJ, by U.S. officials(!), is designed to damage the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahoo. It explains a number of recent incidents which Israel had claimed to be 'Iranian aggressions' but which were caused by Israel itself or were in obvious retaliation for Israeli deeds. In mid February oil which had leaked from an unknown tanker damaged the beaches of Palestine: Israel closed all its Mediterranean beaches until further notice on Sunday, days after an offshore oil spill deposited tons of tar across more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) of coastline in what officials are calling one of the country's worst ecological disasters. Activists began reporting globs of black tar on Israel's coast last week after a heavy storm. ... The Environmental Protection Ministry and activists estimate that at least 1,000 tons of tar, a product of an oil spill from a ship in the eastern Mediterranean earlier this month, have already washed up on shore. The ministry is trying to determine who is responsible. It declined commenting on details of the investigation because it was ongoing. What made this event curious was the unusual Israeli attempt to censor reporting on it: In a surprise move, a Haifa court on Monday imposed a seven-day gag order on the ongoing investigation into the massive oil spill that devastated Israels Mediterranean coast over the weekend, according to Hebrew media reports. The order prohibits the publication of any details of the investigation, including the name of the ship, company or individuals involved, as well as the ships point of origin, destination and cargo, until Sunday. ... Before the gag order was put in place, Israeli media speculated that the ship belonged to a nearby friendly country, to which it has possibly already returned. That Israel put out a gag order makes it likely that the incident was related to the now reported Israeli operation against an Iranian vessels on its way to Syria. Israel investigated a Greece ship for the oil spill but later found it to be innocent. Meanwhile the Prime Minister Hassan Diab of Lebanon, which was also hit by the spill, blamed an Israeli ship for causing it. Israel later claimed that a Libyan owned ship had caused the oil spill. Finally the Israelis settled on blaming Iran: Over 90% of Israel's 195 kilometre (120-mile) Mediterranean coastline was covered in more than 1,000 tons of black tar, the result of the mysterious oil spill in international waters. Israel's environmental protection minister Gila Gamliel said a Libyan-owned tanker transporting oil from Iran to Syria was responsible for spilling tons of crude into the eastern Mediterranean. Ministry officials said it is believed the ship dumped its oil in the eastern Mediterranean, around 70 kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of Israel, in early February. Gamliel called the incident a deliberate act of "environmental terror" and blamed Iran. Gamliel, a junior minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, provided no evidence to support that theory. In late February an Israeli owned vessel was attacked with limpet mines while sailing in the Gulf of Oman: The network said that Israel increasingly believes a naval force from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind the attack. Channel 12 news raised the possibility that the explosion was the work of a commando team in a fast boat that attached explosives to the ship. As a result of the explosion, Israeli ships were instructed to increase alertness and change their typical conduct in an attempt to evade potential problems, Channel 12 said. The exact instructions were not revealed for security reasons. The MV Helios Ray, a vehicle carrier, was traveling from the Saudi port of Dammam to Singapore when the blast occurred on Thursday. 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. To summarize: Israel attacked Iranian fuel supplies going by sea to Syria thereby causing an oil spill on its own beaches. It also exposed itself to additional retaliation measures against Israeli owned ships by Iran, which naturally officially denied any involvement. U.S. officials then leak the whole scheme to the WSJ to stop Netanyahoo from continuing the self-defeating campaign. Posted by b on March 12, 2021 at 9:17 UTC | Permalink Comments Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The shuhada (martyrs), families, survivors and all those affected by the terrorist attack on two Christchurch Mosques are being acknowledged with an official remembrance service as the second anniversary approaches. The service will take place this Saturday, March 13, in Christchurch. Lead Coordination Minister for the Governments response to the Royal Commission Andrew Little says they are taking this opportunity to share details of the Governments ongoing commitment to working with the victims and those affected. Our thoughts continue to be with the victims, survivors, families and all those affected by the horrific attack. As part of that, Andrew Little and Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, have completed the first round of 33 hui with Muslim, pan-ethnic and multi-faith communities across New Zealand. We are thankful to all those who took part in the hui and offered their time, insights and feedback and we will continue to engage with communities and groups as this work progresses, says Priyanca. Communities priorities expressed at many of the hui included There are continued concerns over the Royal Commission of Inquirys finding that no individual or specific Government agency was at fault for the terrorist attack Safety within New Zealand for those from Muslim and other ethnic communities remains a concern The media can perpetuate negative stereotypes towards ethnic and faith communities, and this should be addressed Hate speech, hate crime and hate incidents are experienced by many within the community, and legislative reform is an important tool for change Many face barriers in accessing services and discrimination in securing employment Any response needs to be inclusive of all-of-society, and these conversations need to be wider than just within Muslim and other ethnic communities The Government needs to work in partnership with community organisations to effect true change The public service needs to be committed to diversity and inclusion, and ensure that ethnic and faith voices are heard in policy development A full summary of the feedback has been published on the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet website, fulfilling a commitment for early report back to those who attended the hui. Andrew Little and Priyanca Radhakrishnan have today outlined four initiatives as part of progress made following the release of the Royal Commissions report in December. The Government will also continue to support communities with the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry Ethnic and Faith Community Engagement Response Fund to help minority ethnic and faith communities engage with Government to inform the Governments response to the Royal Commission. This new fund will receive $1 million over three years and will prioritise funding for groups most directly affected by the attack. The fund can be used to support individual initiatives, as well as building long-term capability within communities. A key message to come out of the hui was the need for government to recognise that community representative groups involved in engagement are usually non-profit with unpaid voluntary staff. This fund is about addressing the disparity in resources between community groups and the state. It will support communities to have representatives that can engage as we implement the Royal Commissions recommendations, says Little. Additionally the Implementation Oversight Advisory Group will be a partner in the Governments response by ensuring timely, effective and accountable implementation of the Governments response to the Royal Commissions Report. The Collective Impact Board will enable affected whanau of March 15 to guide and advise on services to support their long-term recovery needs. This is in line with recommendations 25 and 26 of the Royal Commissions report and reflects feedback from the community. Nominations open to affected whanau for the Collective Impact Board on March 15. The Ethnic Communities Graduate Programme will create employment opportunities for graduates and build the diversity of knowledge and experience within the public sector. This new programme will provide a pathway into the Public Service for skilled graduates from ethnic communities, with the added benefit of bringing broader cultural competency across the Public Sector. Applications are open now until March 25 for the first intake of the Ethnic Communities Graduate Programme. The Government has extended the Safer Communities Fund, with $3.255 million available to provide a broader range of communities with funding to upgrade and implement security measures intended to reduce the risk of a potential attack and increase their feeling of safety. Applications are open until May 5. The Governments response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry is a long-term programme of work, Andrew Little says. We are committed to strengthening social cohesion and ensuring that New Zealand is fair and safe for all. Northbound lanes of Interstate 83 have been shut down since earlier this afternoon due to a multi-vehicle crash, according to PennDOT. The crash was first reported around 3:30 p.m., at Exit 18: PA124/Mt Rose Ave in Springettsbury Township. All lanes are closed. Multi vehicle crash on I-83 northbound between Exit 18 - PA 124/Mt Rose Ave and Exit 18 - PA 124/Mt Rose Ave. All lanes closed. 511PA Harrisburg (@511PAHarrisburg) March 11, 2021 It is unclear exactly how many miles of the interstate is closed and for how long it will stay closed. State police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the crash. London, March 12 : Public Health England (PHE) said that it has designated a new Covid-19 strain identified in the UK as a Variant Under Investigation (VUI). Two cases of the variant, called VUI-202103/01, have so far been found in southeast England in individuals who had recently travelled to Antigua, Xinhua news agency quoted the PHE as saying on Thursday. The variant contains the spike mutations E484K and N501Y, both of which are usually associated with some previously identified variants that have been designated as Variants of Concern (VOC), the health agency further said. Contact tracing teams have completed thorough investigations to identify and follow up any close contacts and no additional cases have been found to date, it added. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Some provinces believe they will require much stronger airport infrastructure for the next decade and beyond. Photo: Duc Thanh A number of proposals by cities and provinces to build an airport have been announced. On February 25, the Peoples Committee of the southern province of Binh Phuoc proposed to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to have Binh Phuoc airport included in the national planning on airport development for 2021-2030, with a vision towards 2050. Binh Phuoc currently has four military airports. The province envisions that it will become one of the countrys industrial hubs with a number of industrial parks (IPs) and clusters like Chon Thanh 1, 2, and 3, and Minh Hung IP and others. Moreover, it has a 260-km border with Cambodia. Therefore, a dual-purpose of military and civil airport is deemed important to spur socioeconomic development, while ensuring security and defense. Similarly, the Transport Department of the northern province of Bac Giang proposed to develop the existing Kep military airport into a dual-purpose military and civil airport, attributing the sparse density of civil airport in the region, which has Noi Bai, Haiphong, and Van Don. Currently, Bac Giang, Lang Son, and other neighbouring localities are using Noi Bai, which is facing an overload. Moreover, the distance from Bac Giang to Noi Bai is 150km. Earlier, the Peoples Committee of the northern province of Ha Giang also submitted a similar proposal to the MoT. The province plans to locate the Ha Giang airport project in Tan Quang commune designed as a category 4C airport. Another northern province, Ninh Binh, has also made a similar proposal. Leaps and bounds The first meeting is to be held in the next two months to appraise the draft being built on national planning on airport development for the decade and beyond. Currently, the MoT has received proposals to build airports from eight localities. Although cities and provinces all reaffirmed the importance and necessity of airport development to their future socioeconomic development, the picture of existing airport operations raise concerns. In the last 10 years, Vietnams aviation market has seen two-digit growth, averaging at 15.8 per cent annually which also brings about tourism growth and socioeconomic development. For this reason, cities and provinces have been rushing to build airports which has somewhat damaged aviation network planning as well as the inefficiency of many. Aviation and economic experts have raised their objections to the proposal, saying that travelling demand in Ha Giang, Ninh Binh, and Bac Giang is not high enough, while terrain for airport development is not favourable. Aviation expert Nguyen Bach Tung said that Ninh Binh reported an increase in the number of tourists in recent years. However, the travelling demand among locals remains low. Meanwhile, the Tho Xuan airport in the northern central province of Thanh Hoa and the Cat Bi airport in the northern port city of Haiphong have enough capacity to serve passengers from neighbouring localities like Ninh Binh, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, and Ha Nam. Similarly, senior economist Ngo Tri Long analysed that a similar race occurred 10 years ago and the consequences still exist today as a lot of airports are operating in moderation. Some even consist of only one flight a day, inevitably creating a large waste of money. The country now has 22 airports, but just six or seven operate profitably. Airport development is costly, therefore, airport planning should be built based on reality and market demands to increase efficiency and prevent waste, Long noted. A province is likely to have three airports, if it can prove persuasively that they will spur socioeconomic development. A leader of Airports Corporation of Vietnam, the operator of 21 airports in the country, once admitted that a number of airports (Vinh, Tuy Hoa, Can Tho) lost VND80-90 billion ($3.48-3.9 million) annually, while the threshold of some others (Dong Hoi, Phu Quoc, Phu Cat) is a little bit lower. According to Tran Tuan Linh from the Vietnam Aviation Scientific Institute, it is necessary to consider the criteria on peoples access to airports within a radius of 100km before adding a new airport project to the planning. In other countries, besides traditional airports, they also have various kinds of aviation airports like general aviation business and seaplanes. Therefore, the density is acceptable. However, if this criterion is applied for Vietnam, it may be too dense. Linh said that the compilers are yet to clarify the criteria on adding new airports and those to develop a domestic airport into an international-level one in the final-term report on the draft. This has prompted a batch of new proposals. Echoing Linhs view, Tran Kim Chung, vice head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that the national airport development planning should go properly with development planning of other means of transport. Land funds, manpower, technology, and finance should be considered together. Chung recommended that total investment for airports should be balanced with the countrys total infrastructure investment and general total investment in the periods. In response, the MoT said that it is gathering ideas from ministries, agencies, and localities about the draft. Accordingly, studies on operation of existing airports, travelling demands, and international experience are a focus in the draft making. Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, which is working on the draft, said that it does not mean that all airports in the planning will be built immediately, and that airport plans are to serve the regional demand, not serve province-to-province flights. The density of 22 airports per the national area is about 16,000 square kilometres per airport. In comparison with other regional countries, that density and number in Vietnam are at an average rate, Thang said. New prospects Under the draft, the country will by 2030 have 26 airports, including 14 international ones, with another four airports to be built by 2050 on top of that, including one cross-border one. This means that eight new airports will be built Long Thanh International Airport and a second airport for Hanoi, as well as airports in Son La, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Binh Thuan, and Quang Tri. If the draft is approved, it is estimated that the total investment for 2020-2030 is VND365.1 trillion ($11.52 billion), and VND866.36 trillion ($37.66 billion) for 2030-2050. Amid state budget constraints, calling for private investment is a solution, thus creating an opportunity for domestic private and international ventures to take part. Foreign investors are indeed interested in various aspects of an airport, with numerous additional services that relate to airports, aircraft, or airlines. The main ones are typically passenger terminal operation, cargo warehouse operation, aviation petroleum services, aircraft maintenance, air navigation, and personnel training. There are some driving forces for international financiers, such as those in the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which came into force in August 2020 and which will eventually make it easier for foreign investors to provide these services. After the success of Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh from private player Sun Group, it has been proven that efficiency can be achieved with a privately-invested project. Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The previously told VIR, One of the lessons that the MoT learned is to pay due attention to attracting more private investment in the sectors projects in the future to tap into their strong financial capacity and good development strategies. Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched 'Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav', the government's initiative to mark 75 years of India's Independence. Modi said the 75th anniversary celebrations will continue till August 15, 2023. Narendra Modi After landing at Ahmedabad airport, Modi drove to Sabarmati Ashram, where he paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. He also visited Hriday Kunj, the house in the Ashram where Mahatma Gandhi stayed with his wife Kasturba from 1918 to 1930. Modi wrote in the visitors' book that the Mahotsav is a tribute to our freedom fighters and freedom struggle. "By coming to the Sabarmati Ashram and with the inspiration of Bapu, my determination for nation building is strengthened," the prime minister wrote. "Mahatma Gandhi gave the message of atma-nirbharta (self-reliance) and atma-vishwas (self-confidence) from here, Modi wrote. Narendra Modi Azadi Ka Amrut Mohatsav is a tribute by our people to our freedom fighters and freedom movement. During the celebrations the country will not only remember all the important milestones, important times during the freedom movement but also gain new energy for development of our future, Modi wrote. "I am confident that with the blessings of Bapu, we Indians will follow our duties and achieve the goals set during this Amrut Mohatsave," he added. Modi then went to the venue of the cultural programme adjacent to the Ashram. Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani were present at the launch of the celebrations. New Delhi, March 12 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed a charge-sheet against seven people, including the then executive engineer of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), P.D. Kumar, and IMA CEO Mohammed Mansoor Khan, in connection with the multi-crore IMA ponzi scam case in Karnataka. Besides Kumar, Khan and the IMA, the CBI also named IMA directors Nizamuddin Ahamed, Vaseem, Naveed Ahmed and Nazir Hussain in the charge-sheet, which it filed before the principal sessions judge for CBI cases in Bengaluru. A CBI official said that during investigation, it was found that a bribe amount of Rs 5 crore was allegedly paid in four instalments of Rs 1.5 crore, Rs 1 crore, Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 1 crore during April-May, 2019 by the directors of IMA based in Bengaluru. According to the CBI FIR, these amounts were paid on the instructions of Khan as part of the conspiracy hatched between him and Kumar in which it was decided that the then executive engineer of BDA would influence the officials of the revenue department of the Karnataka government to accept the closure report submitted by the competent authority and the then assistant commissioner, Bengaluru North sub-Division. It alleged that the closure report was submitted in April 2019 to the revenue department. Khan was allegedly waiting for this closure report to be accepted. It was further alleged in the FIR that Kumar was identified due to his old acquaintance with the senior officials of the revenue department of the Karnataka government. Kumar demanded Rs 5 crore with a promise to ensure the acceptance of the closure report. However, the said report was not accepted by the then principal secretary in the revenue department and instead it was sent to the law department. Not satisfied with the report, the department referred the report to the DGP, Karnataka, to conduct further enquiry into the matter. It was also alleged that since the work was not done, Khan and the other directors put pressure on Kumar to return the bribe amount. Kumar then allegedly returned Rs 30 lakh as per the books of accounts of the said IMA group and also issued two cheques of Rs 2 crore and Rs 2.5 crore as security till the return of the remaining bribe amount in cash. The IMA scam involves unauthorised deposits allegedly collected from a large number of depositors to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore. The illegal activities of the I-Monetary Advisory had continued unabated, leading to several thousands of investors losing crores of rupees, the statement said. It may be recalled that the CBI had registered four cases in connection with the said scam. The probe agency had earlier filed several charge-sheets in connection with the scam. In October last year, the CBI had filed an additional charge-sheet against 28 accused persons, including five police officers, in connection with the multi-crore IMA scam. The police officers named in the charge-sheet included IGP Hemanth Nimbalkar and DCP Ajay Hilori. The I-Monetary Advisory first came to the attention of the authorities in 2015 because of the large discounts that IMA Jewels was giving on purchases of gold in its stores, but nothing was done because of a legal loophole and inaction by the investors. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suspected the company of being a ponzi scheme and tipped off the revenue department. However, the latter was unable to take action for two reasons: First, the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act (PIDFE) only allowed action to protect the depositors, and an Islamic banking company is structured so that people paying money to it are legally partners in the business and not investors making deposits. Second, no one actually complained as the company was still paying them. The I-Monetary Advisory was co-founded in 2006 by Mohammad Mansoor Khan and a business partner named Iliyas, which they named Iliyas-Mansoor Advisory. However, this company was not successful and was dissolved in 2008. Mansoor Khan's next company kept the same IMA initials. Founded in 2013, according to the records at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and contrary to claims made on the company's website, the IMA Private Limited was presented as an Islamic banking company. Mansoor Khan encouraged ulemas and other people with influence in the Muslim community to believe that it was a continuation of the same company founded in 2006 and was a successful business of several years' standing, promising them that the company would build hospitals and schools. JSC Ukrzaliznytsia is not blocking the work of companies in the framework of a pilot project on admission of private locomotives to operate on certain public railway routes, Ukrzaliznytsia Board Chairman Volodymyr Zhmak has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. "Within this pilot project, Ukrzaliznytsia has signed one contract with the Ukrainian Locomotive Building Company [...] The contract is already in force, it remains to agree on issues related to operation. I do not know when this will commence. But it is clear that they will start operating when find the cargo. There is no blocking from our side," he said. He also noted that this pilot project is being implemented by the Ministry of Infrastructure, and Ukrzaliznytsia is just an executor. And after the commission of the Ministry of Infrastructure, which is considering applications from private operators, approves such an operator, Ukrzaliznytsia inspects the locomotive fleet, checks their certification and serviceability, and then signs an agreement with the company on the declared routes. According to Zhmak, among the restrictions on the operation of private traction on the Ukrzaliznytsia's railway tracks is the impossibility of admission to sections with high-speed traffic. "We have received an explanation from the Ministry of Infrastructure which tariff can be applied, since there is no such line in the existing register of tariffs the tariff for access of private traction to the Ukrzaliznytsia's infrastructure," the head of the company said. Zhmak also noted that Ukrzaliznytsia has no claims to the fleet of locomotives of Promvagontrans LLC, the second company to take part in the pilot. "They, too, can now enter the part of signing an agreement. With regard to other participants who pass this commission and come to us, we repeat the same procedure. This is technical work that does not affect the timing of the launch of their services by these companies, because the main thing for them is find the cargo," Zhmak said. As reported, Ukrainian Locomotive Building Company LLC, which became the first participant in the pilot project on private traction, asked the Cabinet of Ministers to extend the pilot for the next two years. HOUSTON, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EP Energy Corporation ("EP Energy" or the "Company") announced today that its Board of Directors (the "Board") intends to evaluate a range of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, including without limitation, a corporate sale, merger or other business combination, or other transactions. The Company has engaged Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC ("Credit Suisse") and Jefferies LLC ("Jefferies") as financial advisors to assist with the evaluation process. President and Chief Executive Officer Russell Parker stated, "We are very pleased to be working with our advisors to explore strategic alternatives that maximize value for our shareholders. With the completion of our Southern Midland Basin asset sale, the management team and our Board believe now is an opportune time to evaluate alternatives to bring value forward for our shareholders. The Company now has minimal leverage and a strong oil-weighted asset base in the Eagle Ford and Northeastern Utah that generates attractive returns and significant EBITDAX and free cash flow. I am extremely proud of our team's performance and we will remain highly focused on executing our business plan throughout this process." There can be no assurance that such evaluation will result in one or more transactions or other strategic change or outcome. The Company has not set a timetable for the conclusion of its evaluation or strategic alternatives, and it does not intend to comment further unless and until the Board has approved a specific course of action or the Company has otherwise determined that further disclosure is appropriate or required by law. About EP Energy Corporation The Company focuses on enhancing the value of its high quality asset portfolio, increasing capital efficiency, maintaining financial flexibility, and pursuing accretive acquisitions and divestitures. EP Energy is working to set the standard for efficient development of hydrocarbons in the U.S. Learn more at epenergy.com. Forward Looking Statements This release includes certain forward-looking statements and projections of EP Energy. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from the Company's expectations. While the Company makes these statements in good faith, neither the Company nor its management can guarantee that anticipated future results will be achieved. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by the Company, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on the Company's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and, except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE EP Energy Corporation Related Links http://www.epenergy.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... The Journals Feb. 25 editorial correlates the high and rising enrollment of New Mexicans on Medicaid with our states economic challenges. Growing Medicaid enrollment and the federal dollars brought into our state during an emergency are not the cause of our economic problems; we believe they are just the opposite. Lets look at the numbers. The Human Services Department provides support to 1,015,713 low-income New Mexicans 48% of our population who meet strict federal requirements for our programs. That includes Medicaid 911,572 people, 43% of our state, SNAP food benefit program 505,841, 24%, energy assistance, among others. New Mexico has the third-lowest annual per capita personal income, $43,326, in the United States. Consequently, it ranks as the second-highest state for poverty at 18.2%, third for child poverty at 24.9% and first for seniors at 13.5%. New Mexico also ranks second for child hunger at 23.8% and has the second-highest suicide death rate, 25 per 100,000 residents, in the country. Review hundreds of pages of related details in the 2021 HSD Data Book. New Mexico receives a very generous federal match for every dollar we spend from our state general fund because of our low average per capita income. It averages around $4 federal to $1 state, with some programs as high as 9 to 1. The poorest states get the most federal tax dollars because we have the greatest need to maintain a strong safety net. Its true, Medicaid pays less than commercial insurance, and hospitals struggle with this. But payment rates at a 90% level are much better than the 5-10% hospitals would get if our Medicaid recipients were uninsured. Additionally, Medicaid takes steps to help ensure the financial viability of our safety net. When utilization decreases impacted revenue for health care providers early in the pandemic, Medicaid temporarily raised rates to help providers weather the decrease. To our knowledge, this was a step that commercial insurers did not take. The Journal editorial points out that there is some cost shifting from public to commercial programs. But we are certain that without federal support for our Medicaid program in a state such as ours, it would be impossible to sustain commercial insurance at all. Hospitals and other practitioners would face a market where 60% of New Mexicans were uninsured. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Make no mistake we have no goal to maximize federal dollars in our state. That is not our economic model. But we are strongly committed to ensuring every state dollar we spend goes as far as it possibly can to improve the health of our lowest-income neighbors. What has happened during the pandemic? Unemployment immediately rose from 5.1% in February 2020 to 13.3% in July before reaching 7.7% at years end. The Human Services Department applied for dozens of waivers to provide additional assistance to our most vulnerable New Mexicans to help them face the scourge of the pandemic. The enhanced federal coronavirus aid New Mexico receives requires us to keep everyone on Medicaid until the end of the pandemic, and we will have 100,000 members more than originally projected very soon. But we get an additional match, now averaging $4.72 federal to $1 state for Medicaid. SNAP has grown by 88,527 people (21%) in 12 months. Low-income New Mexicans are sicker than others. They have more chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease. We have recently learned they are four to 10 times more likely to have a COVID infection, and two to three times more likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus. And of the hundreds of graphs and charts shown over the past year, the most important driver of the pandemic in New Mexico has been poverty. Programs that multiply state dollars during times of crisis are not the cause of our economic problems. Nor are they the torpedo that put the hole in the ships hull. They do not cause the economic crisis we face poverty combined with the pandemic have done that. Rather, we believe that our programs provide one million life preservers they help people in times of crisis, and many low-income New Mexicans are in the biggest crises of their lives. Of course the hole in the boat needs repair. Of course, a diversified economic development approach is required. The pandemic has certainly been a wake-up call for all of us in that regard. But the $6.3 billion that our programs bring into the state each year have created and sustain tens of thousands of jobs, further stimulated the economy when those hard-earned wages are spent here, and most importantly improve health. A healthier population will be a necessary tool to repair the hole. But lets ensure every New Mexican who needs one has a life preserver until this pandemic health care crisis has passed. The forecasts that the new type of bird flu A(H5N8) will soon mutate and acquire the ability to be transmitted between humans are likely to come true, Head of Russias consumer watchdog Anna Popova said. "The forecast that it can happen has a rather high probability rate. It is likely to happen. Colleagues say that the zone where the mutation happen is very movable and the mutation there continues. However, we saw that before a disaster happened," TASS cited her as saying. Popova also lauded the detection of infection cases in people from birds as a "world-level discovery" made by Russian scientists from Novosibirsks Vektor Center. President Joe Biden has condemned the rising number of attacks on Asian Americans during his Thursday nights address to the nation on the COVID-19 pandemic. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Biden called the hate crimes vicious and un-American in his speech which coincides with the anniversary of the first pandemic shutdowns. At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, theyre on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives, and still, still, theyre forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America," he said. "Its wrong, its un-American and it must stop.The message comes as Asian Americans across the country continue to be on the receiving end of attacks ranging from verbal insults to violent crimes. By the end of last year, advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate had received more than 2,800 reports of hate crimes and incidents, most likely not reflective of the true numbers since these were self-reported. Police department numbers showed an almost 150% increase in violence against Asian Americans from 2019 to 2020, NextShark previously reported. Biden had earlier signed an executive order condemning anti-Asian racism amid the pandemic days into his inauguration.The order comes with a directive to the Department of Justice to increase efforts in addressing hate crimes and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.Advocates have partly attributed the anti-Asian hate to the rhetoric used by Donald Trump when he was president.Do you have a hate incident to report? Help us document the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans by going to STOP AAPI HATE to report an incident. Please stay safe out there. Feature Image via WFAA Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! Marvels Eternals Star Kumail Nanjiani Body-Shamed for Being Too Ripped NY Post, NY Times Use Photos of Asians in Flushing to Cover Manhattan's First Coronavirus Case Rude, Genderless Giant Penguin With Millions of Fans is Now Korea's Biggest Star Viral TikTok of 'COVID-19 Positive' Asian Woman Spitting on Bananas is FAKE Advertisement The bodies of 16 Guatemalan nationals massacred in the northern Mexican border state of Tamaulipas were repatriated on Friday. The victims were among 19 people who were shot and badly burned on January 22 along a migrant smuggling route in a remote area of the municipality of Camargo. The incident caused renewed consternation about the dangers faced by migrants bound for the United States. Covered with Guatemalan flags, the coffins arrived at La Aurora International Airport at 7:45am local time in Guatemala City. Relatives who had traveled in the same plane from Mexico City held photographs of the dead during a somber ceremony next to the airport tarmac. 'I want to express my deepest regret and condolences to the families of the 16 victims of the Camargo massacre,' Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said. 'We will exhaust all the options to find out who was responsible.' A coffin containing the body of one of the 16 Guatemalan migrants who were shot and burned in Mexico on January 22 is carried at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City on Friday. The remains of all of the victims were expatriated Friday before the government held a ceremony to honor them People transport a flag-draped coffin on the runway as the remains of 16 Guatemalan migrants who were killed near the U.S.-Mexico border in January arrive at the Air Force base in Guatemala City, Friday, March. 12, 2021. The migrants were among 19 people shot and burned in Camargo, located in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas on Jan. 22. Five people survived People stand with photographs as the remains of 16 Guatemalan migrants who were killed near the U.S.-Mexico border in January arrive at the Air Force base in Guatemala City, Friday, March 12, 2021. The migrants were among 19 people shot and burned in Camargo, located in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas on Jan. 22. Five people survived A woman is comforted during Friday's ceremony at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, Guatemala, after an airplane arrived from Mexico with the bodies of the 16 Guatemalan migrants who were found massacred inside a pickup truck that was found on a road on January 22 in the northern border state of Tamaulipas Relatives of lean over the casket containing the remains of Anderson Mauricio, one of the 16 Guatemala migrants who were massacred in Tamaulipas, Mexico on January 22 Relatives receive the coffins with the remains of the 16 Guatemalan migrants who were found murdered in the northern Mexico state of Tamaulipas in January. Authorities discovered 19 charred bodies, including three Mexican nationals. All of the Guatemalan victims were found on the back of a pickup truck that was shot up at least 113 times and burned Giammattei asked for a minute of silence before his speech, and expressed his condolences to every family. Guatemala declared three days of mourning to honor the victims, who were identified as Elfego Miranda; Marvin Tomas; Ribaldo Jimenez; Edgar Lopez; Adan Coronado; Madelyn Garcia; Santa Garcia; Osmar Miranda; Ivan Tomas; Paola Zacarias; Dora Lopez; Bramdon Garcia; Anderson Mauricio; Rubelsy Isidro; Leyda Gonzales and Uber Feliciano. Evaristo Agustin broke into tears when he saw the casket with the remains of his brother-in-law, Tomas. He said the 23-year-old 'was a good guy.' The bodies, along with three other Mexican nationals, were found piled in a charred pickup truck with 113 bullet holes that was abandoned on the side of road, some 249 miles south of the Mexico-United States border. Mexican security forces inspect a vehicle discovered January 22 in the border town of Camargo with 16 burned bodies of Guatemalan nationals who had entered the country January 11 in hopes of crossing the Mexico-United States border Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei speaks during a ceremony Friday in Guatemala City to receive the remains of Guatemalan migrants who were killed near the U.S.-Mexico border in January People transport flag-draped coffins on the runway as the remains of 16 Guatemalan migrants who were killed near the U.S.-Mexico border in January arrive at the Air Force base in Guatemala City, Friday, March 12, 2021. The migrants were among 19 people shot and burned in Camargo, located in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas on Jan. 22. Five people survived. The flag-draped coffins of Guatemalan migrants who were killed near the U.S.-Mexico border on January 22 in Tamaulipas, Mexico, stand on the runway after they were flown to Guatemala City, on Friday. The migrants were among 19 people shot and burned in Camargo, an area that has been bloodied for years by turf battles between the remnants of the Gulf cartel and the old Zetas cartel The area, across from the Rio Grande, has been bloodied for years by turf battles between the remnants of the Gulf cartel and the old Zetas cartel. Every year, thousands of Central Americans and Mexicans flee poverty and violence to seek a better life in the United States. Many fall victim to crime on the perilous journey. Tamaulipas investigators on February 2 announced the arrest of at least 12 police officers identified as Mayra V.; Jorge C.; Williams F.; Edgar A.; Horacio H; Carlos R.; Jorge C.; Jose L.; Hector A.; Christian O.; Ismael V. and Horacio Q. They all face charges which include homicide, abuse of authority and making false statements. People stand with photographs as families receive the remains of the 16 Guatemalan migrants who were killed in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on January 22 Families stand by the remains of Guatemalan migrants who were massacred in Mexico A flag-draped coffin is transported on the runway at La Aurora International Airport moments after the remains of 16 Guatemalan migrants who were killed near the U.S.-Mexico border on January 22 arrived in Guatemala City on Friday The bodies were scheduled be transported to Comitancillo, in the western department of San Marcos, to be buried in their place of origin. Authorities had identified the bodies using DNA samples after relatives of the missing came forward. President Giammattei said his government would remain in contact with their Mexican counterparts to guarantee that 'those responsible for such a deplorable act' are punished. He said the crime must be cleared up so that nothing similar happens again. 'To you who are living this sorrow we will obtain reparation and hope,' Giammattei said to the families. 'The government of Guatemala expresses its absolute rejection of the atrocities committed in this massacre.' Giammattei confirmed earlier this month that five Guatemalans had survived the attack and were under protection in the United States. He also vowed to continue to work with governments in the region to eradicate all of the smuggling organizations known for deceiving migrants and setting them up on a dangerous journey to the Mexico-United States border. 'I want to send a clear and forceful message to human traffickers, who distort and promote irregular migration,' Giammattei said. 'We are collaborating closely with the countries of the region and with the Guatemalan security forces to locate, persecute and dismantle gangs of criminals who take advantage of the needs of our compatriots. ... We will not tolerate that they continue to commit crimes and expose the lives of Guatemalans.' The state Attorney General's Office in the northeastern Mexico state of Tamaulipas announced February 2 the arrest of 12 state police officers who were allegedly involved with the massacre of 19 people, including 16 migrants from Guatemala, on January 22. The AG's office identified the suspects as Mayra V.; Jorge C.; Williams F.; Edgar A.; Horacio H; and Carlos R. (top row) and Jorge C.; Jose L.; Hector A.; Christian O.; Ismael V.; and Horacio Q. (bottom row). They are all facing charges for homicide, abuse of authority and making false statements Immigration from Central America and Mexico has returned to the forefront of regional affairs since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January vowing to roll back the hardline policies of his predecessor Donald Trump. Biden on Wednesday restarted a program from former President Barack Obama's era that permits children fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to settle in the United States. The program, known as Central American Minors [CAM], was set in place between 2014 and 2017. However, former President Trump shut it down in 2017. CAM had allowed children under 21 years old with parents lawfully living in the United States to apply for a refugee resettlement interview before making the journey to the United States. The move was the latest step taken by Biden as he tries to create a more humane situation along the border with Mexico. 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. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. The Bible translation alliance IllumiNations has a goal of making Gods Word accessible to all people by 2033, and its inviting partners to support its work one verse at a time. Through IllumiNations 12 Verse Challenge (12VC), donors can cover translation costs for 12 verses of Scripture at $35 a month for a year. The challenge kicked off at this months virtual womens conference IF: Gathering, where attendees pledged over $1.5 million toward the effort enough to sponsor translating the entire Bible for an unreached people group and make significant progress on a second one. As thousands of women tuned into the March 6 event, the display on the 12VC site scrolled through the chapters and verses their pledges had sponsored. More than 750 views signed up for the challenge within the first five minutes. Were going to be Christians that know this book, love this book, believe this book, and give this book away, said IF: Gathering founder Jennie Allen. Allen watched alongside pastor David Platt, a speaker at the event, as the campaign met the cost of its first full Bible translationjust over $1 millionin a span of five hours, and the donations kept rolling in. This is our most important work to date, she said. Translators estimate that nearly 1 billion people have little or no access to Scripture in a language they can understand (they call it Bible poverty). IllumiNations, a collaboration among 10 top translating ministries, has been able to accelerate the timeline for all people to have access to the Bible from 2150 to 2033as long as the funding comes through to back the translators already in the field. IllumiNations currently tallies 307 current projects on their website, each with a bar indicating how much more money is needed to complete the translation. The translation funded by IF through the 12 Verse Challenge will go to people in western Ethiopia. Because of you, we're able to help the Konta, Oyda, and Melo people groups of Ethiopia have the Bible in their language, IllumiNations wrote in an Instagram post. According to the Joshua Project, a combined 235,000 people speak Oyda, Melo, and Konta. Though Christianity is considered their primary religion, and they all have portions of the New Testament, none of these groups has a full Old Testament translation. Allen said the funds raised will also help a translation project in a restricted country where churches must meet in secret. As of March 12, more than 6,300 women had pledged. IllumiNations has a goal that by 2033: 95% of the global population would have access to a full Bible 99.9% would have access to a New Testament 100% would have access to at least some portion of Scripture 2 viable Bible translations would be available in the worlds largest 100 languages, including key revisions completed in 26 major languages of the world The IF fundraising campaign is the launch of the new 12 Verse Challenge model, and churches can now sign up to host a challenge themselves. IllumiNations says, If just one percent of the Christians in America alone would fund the translation of 12 verses at $35 per verse, this task would be completed. This isnt the first time IF: Gathering has highlighted Bible translation. The 2017 the event featured a Seed Company translator, and 650 women committed to monthly sponsorships to fund verse-by-verse translation. Framing unreached people groups as living in Bible poverty makes the broad challenge of Bible access seem tangible and personal, like sponsoring a child in poverty. And during a time when many ministry connections have gone digital, it allows women participate in global missions without having to leave their ZIP codes. Incremental faithfulness leading to global impact is baked into the DNA of IF: Gathering, founded in 2014. Its website says that if 4,000 women each disciple two women each year, and those two women then disciple two more each year, the chain reaction will lead to 4 million women discipled in a decade. Historically, Christian women have been a driving force in Bible translation work. If it hadnt been for single women over the 70-year history of Wycliffe, half of the translations wouldnt have been completed, Russ Hersman, Wycliff Bible Translators former chief operations officer, told Christianity Today in 2017. At the time, women made up 85 percent of Wycliffes translation force. I cannot imagine a more powerful force on earth than these women in their places coming together to change things, Allen said. They are a tremendous force for good and change. Texas health officials and Gov. Greg Abbott say the federal government is using outdated population figures to calculate the number of COVID-19 vaccines sent to Texas an inaccuracy that has potentially cost the state millions of doses. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been using a five-year average of census data, from 2014 to 2018, to determine weekly vaccine allocations. But state officials say those numbers underestimate Texas adult population by roughly 1 million people a large part of the reason why Texas ranks so low in its distribution compared to other states. At the end of the day, the amount of vaccine that each state gets helps determine how many people are actually vaccinated and how quickly we can do that, Imelda Garcia, the head of the states Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel, said during a Thursday news briefing. So the fact that Texas is receiving less than what we should be is directly impacting those numbers. Typically, when Texas is provided vaccines based on population numbers, the state receives about 10 percent of the total supply, Garcia said. Using those numbers, the state should be due more than 2 million additional doses. In response to follow-up questions, Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen cautioned that the 10 percent figure is a very loose rule of thumb. TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday State leaders have been asking the federal government to correct the data for months to no avail, Garcia said, partly attributing the delay to the change in presidential administrations. She said officials plan to again address the issue with federal leaders in a Friday meeting. When asked why the numbers have yet to be fixed, Van Deusen said thats a good question for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, and Operation Warp Speed, the White Houses program to accelerate vaccine production and distribution. CDC indicated weeks ago that the federal government was reviewing its formula, but we havent seen a change at this point, he said. Requests from Hearst Newspapers for information on the matter were passed along to Health and Human Services, which replied with an explanation for its vaccine allocation formula that did not address concerns about the outdated data. Still, the problem has captured the attention of nearly every top Texas official, from the health department upward. Gov. Greg Abbotts office said he has raised the issue with the federal government, as have members of Congress. Working with Texas congressional delegation, the governor and his team have repeatedly called on the federal government to stop using this outdated information so Texas receives its appropriate per-capita allocation of vaccines, said Renae Eze, a spokeswoman for the governor. We will continue to fight for Texans to receive the vaccine distribution that accurately reflects our current population until everyone who wants a vaccine receives one. To date, more than 4.8 million Texans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 2.6 million are fully vaccinated. Two of the three vaccines approved for use in the United States, made by Pfizer and Moderna, require two shots for full immunization. Those numbers have placed Texas toward the bottom of the nation in vaccine administration, with just 22.6 percent of Texas adults having received at least their first dose of the vaccine. While federal allocations are not directly tied to putting shots in arms, state leaders contend that if the state were given more doses, they could up their administration rate. Delays caused by Texas freeze also cited Twenty-six Texans serving in Congress sent a letter directly to CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky late last month requesting a review of the states complaint. The bipartisan delegation noted the tremendous population growth over the past decade, including an increase of 3.1 million residents between 2010 and 2018. Between July 1, 2019 and the same day in 2020, Texas counted nearly 375,000 new residents, they wrote. Last year, Texas led the nation in population growth. To the extent that population is the leading factor governing the distribution of vaccines to states and territories, it is important that the CDC use the most current information available, the members wrote. U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican, has repeatedly pushed for more transparency on how vaccine allocations are decided. Crenshaws office said he is requesting that the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector General at health and human services conduct an audit of the process. But even with the population figures that health and human services has been using, the federal government should be allocating Texas and other populous states tens of thousands more vaccine doses, a Chronicle analysis found. The Chronicle took each states population of adults older than 18 and multiplied it by the cumulative number of doses allocated to all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The analysis revealed that Texas should have been allocated roughly 83,000 more doses than it has so far. A similar trend was seen in other big states, including California, which had been allocated about 130,000 fewer doses than it was due; Florida came up 67,000 doses short; and New York was missing 52,000 doses. Those numbers are also proportionate to their adult populations. Health and human services did not respond to the Chronicles questions regarding this finding, and its unclear why that discrepancy might exist. But Van Deusen said the state health department has observed a similar trend, which is why weve been attempting to address it with our federal partners since January. Still, the lack of federal supply does not completely explain why Texas has ranked so low in its vaccine administration. In the Thursday briefing, Garcia the head of the states Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel also attributed the rank to delays caused by last months freeze, which crippled the power grid and temporarily halted vaccinations. That took us a week out of really active vaccination, she said. It had a significant impact on those doses being administered. And so, as a nation, we are a bit behind now because of that winter storm. And I don't want us to forget that that occurred, because it did have an impact on how we were vaccinated. By Monday, an estimated 12 to 14 million Texans will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, the state is vaccinating health care workers, nursing home residents, senior citizens, teachers, child care employees, and anyone 16 and older with a pre-existing condition. Starting Monday, any Texan over age 49 will also be eligible for a dose. Staff writer Benjamin Wermund contributed reporting from Washington. cayla.harris@express-news.net jordan.rubio@chron.com Swiss voters on Sunday narrowly approved a Verhullungsverbot (veiling ban) that prohibits Muslim women from covering their faces in public and wearing a niqab or burqa. A total of 1.43 million voted in favour of the ban. That is only one in six of the countrys 8.7 million inhabitants, of whom 2.2 million do not hold a Swiss passport and 1.7 million are minors. But with a turnout of just over 50 percent, this was enough for the ban to be accepted with 51.2 percent of the vote. Swiss Parliament Building (Photo: Wikipedia) The constitutional initiative and the campaign for it has served to fuel racist and anti-Muslim sentiments. According to research, only 30 women wear the niqab in the whole of Switzerland. Also, there are several hundred female tourists from Arab countries. There are no female burqa wearers at all. The referendum was launched by the so-called Egerkingen Committee, in which politicians of the right-wing populist Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) and blatant fascists set the tone. The committee, which according to the Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ) has over 4,500 sympathisers, was already successful in 2009 with a legal initiative banning the construction of minarets in Switzerland. The managing director of the Egerkingen Committee, 31-year-old Anian Liebrand, describes himself as a man of conviction. He had joined the SVP at 16 and pursues the goal of breaking the alleged left-wing mainstream in the country. To influence society in such a way that the trend turns back to the right: that is one of my greatest goals, he told the NZZ. Liebrand was convicted of multiple counts of defamation for publishing photos of young left-wing politicians on an SVP website and denouncing them as cowardly slobs, wretched creatures and perpetrators of violence. He is also active in initiatives against same-sex marriage and sex education in schools. His greatest fear, writes the NZZ, is that the Swiss are dying out. Because of foreign infiltration and too few births of Swiss children. He has called Holocaust Remembrance Day a guilt inculcation programme meant to re-educate the Swiss in schools. Liebrand is not the only leading member of the Egerkingen Committee to espouse fascist ideas. Twenty-four-year-old Nils Fiechter, also a member of the SVP, was convicted of violating the Racial Discrimination Act for designing an inflammatory poster that read: Millions in costs for construction and maintenance, dirt, faeces, noise, theft, etc. We say no to transit places for foreign gypsies! In the campaign for the burqa ban, he appeared dressed as a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt under the burqa. The campaign posters were also reminiscent of Nazi propaganda in style, form and content: two dangerous-looking eyes behind a niqab, black on a red background, with the words Stop extremism! The Egerkingen Committee also includes many veterans of earlier xenophobic campaigns by the SVP and its environs. Its president is National Councillor (member of the lower house of the Swiss parliament) Walter Wobmann, who is on the right wing of the SVP. The SVP has been initiating plebiscites against immigrants, refugees and Muslims for many years and has had some success with them. The last time it succeeded was seven years ago with the so-called mass immigration initiative, which was adopted by an extremely narrow majority. It obliged the Swiss government to renegotiate the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons with the EU within three years. Since then, corresponding initiatives have failed, and the SVPs influence has declined somewhat. The fact that the burqa ban initiative has now succeeded again is mainly due to the support of some liberals and feminists who made common cause with the far-right. For example, a womens committee was formed for the burqa initiative. Writer Gisela Widmer explained in the Tages-Anzeiger that she had no sympathy for the initiators but would vote yes. It was not about the political agenda, but only about the question: Ban the veil, yes or no? she said. And a left-liberal would have to answer this question in the affirmative. Because the niqab was the habit of political Islam. Regina Probst, former staff member of Terre de femmes, also told Der Spiegel that she would vote yes. The German feminist Alice Schwarzer, who had already been agitating against Muslim men in the refugee crisis, spoke out in the NZZ and supported the initiative, saying, Is this what we want after 200 years of enlightenment and 50 years of fighting for equal rights? Conditions in which a woman has to be invisible to protect herself from male gaze? However, there were many other voices denouncing the racism of the campaign and condemning the ban as an attack on the democratic right to freedom of religion and expression, which discriminates against Muslim women, who are the only ones who would be punished if they violate it, whether voluntarily or under duress. Even if not everyone who voted for the burqa ban is a convinced right-wing extremist, the adoption of this undemocratic and discriminatory initiative shows that even Switzerland is not immune to the return of fascist currents, as they are making themselves heard in the US (Trump and his followers), Germany (Alternative for Germany, AfD), Spain (Vox) and numerous other countries. Switzerland is often portrayed as having always been an oasis of democracy immune to fascism and Nazism. But this is not true. Around 1930, an extensive Frontenbewegung (Front Movement) developed in Switzerland as well, advocating volkisch (Swiss-ethnic), anti-Semitic and fascist goals. It gave rise to the National Front party, which reached its peak in 1935 with 9,000 members and was represented in the Swiss parliament with its own deputies. A direct line leads from the National Front to the Egerkingen Committee. Ulrich Schluer, the political supporter of Anian Liebrand, who co-founded the committee and was in charge of the minaret initiative, had worked as a secretary for James Schwarzenbach in the 1970s. Schwarzenbach, a member of the Swiss National Council, launched the National Action against the Alienation of the People and the Homeland in 1968, which sought to limit the proportion of foreigners in each canton to a maximum of 10 percent. A corresponding initiative was rejected by 54 percent after a bitter referendum campaign. If it had been accepted, 300,000 to 400,000 people would have had to leave Switzerland. Propaganda poster of the burqa ban initiative reads: Stop Extremism! In his youth, Schwarzenbach had admired Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and had been a member and later even party leader of the National Front. In November 1934, he was recorded as having taken part in a raid on the Cabaret Pfeffermuhle. The cabaret had been founded in Munich by Erika and Klaus Mann, the children of the famous writer Thomas Mann, and had moved to Zurich because of Nazi persecution. Schwarzenbach justified the raid by saying that it was time to show emigrants and Jews that there was no place for them in Switzerland if they abused the right of hospitality. The return of these fascist forces is a reaction to the deep crisis of capitalism, which has not spared Switzerland either. Measured by GDP per inhabitant, the country may be one of the richest in the world, but it is also, more than almost any other country, dependent on the world economy. The oversized banking sector, tourism for the upper class and highly specialised industry respond extremely sensitively to economic fluctuations. Added to this is the sharp social polarisationranging from a filthy rich upper class to seasonal workers without permanent residency statusand an underdeveloped welfare system. The coronavirus crisis has exacerbated these contrasts. Despite high infection rates, the government puts the interests of the economy above the lives of the people. Ski resorts, hotels and restaurants have remained mostly open, as have factories. As a result, 565,000 people have been infected with COVID-19, more than twice as many as in Germany in terms of population. More than 10,000 have died. As everywhere else in the world, the ruling class is preparing for fierce class struggles in Switzerland by promoting fascist forces. HSBC has caved into calls to improve its climate change commitments ahead of its annual shareholder meeting in May. Major investors had threatened to table their own resolution at the meeting, urging the bank to cut back its financing of fossil fuels. The threat was enough to force the Asia-focused financial giant into action. Climate pledge: HSBC has pledged to phase out its financing of coal by 2030 in the European Union and the 36 countries of the OECD and by 2040 in other markets HSBC has pledged to phase out its financing of coal by 2030 in the European Union and the 36 countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and by 2040 in other markets. The bank will also develop a science-based strategy to make sure HSBCs business aligns with the goals of the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming to a minimum. HSBC is to put this proposal forward at Mays annual meeting, and will be bound to it as long as 75 per cent of shareholders vote in favour. The concessions from HSBC follow months of negotiations with shareholders, after a group of institutions managing 1.7 trillion threatened to intervene at the banks annual meeting. The group, consisting of 15 institutional investors such as Amundi and Man Group as well as 117 individual shareholders, had filed their own resolution which was set to be voted on at the meeting. It called on HSBC to publish a climate change strategy and targets while reducing its exposure to fossil fuels. But they have now agreed to withdraw their proposal and back HSBCs. Katrin Ganswindt, finance campaigner at environmental group Urgewald, said: HSBC is the European bank with the biggest exposure to coal on the Asian market. The fact that they are defining an end-date for their coal financing is a long overdue step. It remains to be seen if they will implement stringent thresholds to flesh out their coal exit. The next step should be clear: coal developers have to go immediately. Lenders such as Barclays and Standard Chartered are still under pressure over their commitments to coal. Chairman of the State Committee on Television, Radio Broadcasting and Cinematography of Turkmenistan Arslan Ashirov and First Deputy Director General of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) Anton Zlatopolsky discussed online the opportunities for enhancing cooperation in information exchange and interaction through the mass media. During the online talks, the sides paid special attention to the development of cooperation in the field of television and radio broadcasting. In this regard, Arslan Ashirov invited Russian colleagues to Turkmenistan to participate and cover the festive events on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the country's independence and the 140th anniversary of the founding of Ashgabat. Following the talks, the sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the State Committee of Turkmenistan on Television, Radio Broadcasting and Cinematography and the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021 Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. The signing led to an increase in the Russian military contingent in Crimea, subsequently involved in the annexation process. The Security Service of Ukraine has launched criminal proceedings into the signing of the Kharkiv Accords on prolongation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's stay in Crimea and their ratification by the Verkhovna Rada back in 2010. According to the SBU press service, the agency's Main Investigation Department began a pre-trial probe into high treason committed in the period from 2008 to 2010. "Criminal proceedings have been opened against state officials," the message says. Read alsoUN tells of human rights violations in occupied CrimeaInvestigators are looking into the circumstances of preparation and signing of the "Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the territory of Ukraine until 2042" of April 21, 2010, as well as compliance with the regulations and procedures during its ratification by Parliament. According to preliminary investigation data, the signing of the deal led to an increase in the number of Russian military personnel and security services' operatives in Crimea, subsequently involved in the annexation of the peninsula. Futher investigative and procedural actions are underway. Kharkiv Accords: Background On April 21, 2010, in Kharkiv, the-then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the-then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation extending the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea's Sevastopol from 2017 to 2042 with the right of further extension for another five years all in exchange for "cheap" gas for Ukraine. On January 28, 2021, Yanukovych was charged with high treason in connection with the signing of the said deal. Investigators believe that by signing the agreement, he artificially created conditions for upping Russia's military presence in Ukraine and undermining the country's defense capabilities. According to the investigation, prior to the signing, the price of Russian gas for Ukraine was twice artificially inflated: as of the end of 2008, the price per 1,000 cubic meters was $179.5, while in late 2010 it stood at $352.33. Law enforcement say the Russian Federation first artificially created and accumulated Ukraine's debt for gas supplies, and then, as part of repayment, including by allegedly reducing it, deployed the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the territory of Ukraine free of charge. As a result of the Kharkiv Agreements signed by the ex-president, the Russian military contingent on the territory of Ukraine saw an increase instead of preparations for its reduction and pullout. Reporting by UNIAN Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. The information has been confirmed by the ship owner. Spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Oleh Nikolenko says no Ukrainians were on board the Davide B chemical tanker attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria. "According to the ship owner, no Ukrainian citizens were on board the Davide B vessel, which was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea," he wrote on Twitter on March 12, 2021. Read also Black Sea shipwreck: Rescued sailors arrive at Romanian port Ukraine's MFA Pirate attack on tanker: What is known Earlier, the media reported the Davide B chemical tanker with the citizens of Ukraine, Romania and the Philippines onboard had been attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria. Fifteen crew members have been captured, while six other sailors are safe and unhurt, according to the FleetMon maritime news portal. The tanker was on a commercial voyage from Riga, Latvia to Lagos, Nigeria. Reporting by UNIAN A refugee at the Gashora transit centre in Rwanda receives his COVID-19 vaccine. Plaisir Muzogeye As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten the lives and rights of refugees, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the Rwandan governments vaccination this week of 416 refugees - one of the first countries in Africa to do so. Nearly one year since the countrys first registered COVID-19 case and as part of Rwandas national vaccination drive, the Rwandan Ministry of Health inoculated 224 refugees residing in the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) centre in Gashora and 192 refugees in six refugee settlements working on the front lines of the pandemic as community health workers and cleaners or security guards at health clinics in the refugee settlements. Some 230,000 people in Rwanda have been vaccinated against COVID-19, one week after a countrywide campaign began. We commend Rwandas inclusion of refugees in its response to the pandemic, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCRs Regional Bureau Director Bureau for the East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes. We appeal to all countries to include refugees in their vaccination programs on par with nationals to ensure that everyone is safe. There are nearly 138,000 refugees hosted the country, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. The first dose of COVID-19 vaccine is being given to high-risk groups such as health workers, teachers, elderly people with chronic health issues, those aged over 65 years, and other frontline workers. Refugees who meet these criteria are included in the first stage of Rwandas vaccination campaign. UNHCR reiterates that refugees, internally displaced and stateless people and their local host communities must be included on an equal footing with citizens in all national responses to the pandemic, including public health access, vaccines, and social safety nets. National authorities are responsible for public health responses and COVID-19 vaccination programmes. We are aware that of the 151 countries currently developing national COVID-19 vaccination strategies, 106 have included refugees and asylum-seekers in their plans and 33 are in the process of doing so. Safeguarding refugee health also protects the health of their host communities and societies. It is not in the interest of any community, state or for the world at large to have people falling through the cracks; marginalized, exposed and unprotected. The ETM centre was agreed and set up in mid-2019 by the Government of Rwanda, UNHCR, and the African Union, to evacuate refugees and asylum-seekers trapped in Libya, providing them with a vital lifeline and a safe and organized pathway to longer-term solutions. Presently, 303 refugees and asylum seekers are staying at the ETM. Many have been victims of human traffickers along the routes leading to Libya. The number of places available through the ETM and other humanitarian evacuation flights is still insufficient. UNHCR is advocating for more resettlement countries to offer places and speed up processing of refugees at the ETM. 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. When disasters strike in the times of Covid-19, the challenge for disaster managers increases manifold. In the last one year, India was hit by three cyclones in its coastal areas while Uttarakhand faced a tragedy as recent as February. Learning from its experiences, New Delhi would be hosting the annual conference of International Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) from March 17-19. To be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the conference would be attended digitally by prime ministers of Britain, Fiji and Italy. We expect 900 participants and are looking at a whole lot of issues around resilient infrastructure including those of policy, sectoral focus, technical issues, etc, said Kamal Kishore, member, Authority. CDRI has 22 member countries and 6 international organisations of which four are multilateral agencies and two private sector networks. The Indian chapter of CDRI plans to take findings of cyclone Fani that hit Odisha in 2019 during which there was a loss of about $1.4 billion of which 40 per cent was in the power sector. We are looking at how in future, the power sector infrastructure can be built better. We also are going to take findings of that work to other countries so that they can be better prepared in saving lives and infrastructure, said Kishore. Apart from its focus on power and telecom infrastructure, CDRI is also developing an airport risk index based on their exposure, vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Airports will be classified based on the index. The conference is planned to include other sets of activities like launch of global knowledge project, a fellowship for Indians and other member countries. On being asked whether CDRI has concentrated on cyclones alone, Kishore said their focus was multi disaster. A large number of CDRI members are impacted by cyclones. For instance, Fiji approached us. We are looking at how hazards come together and inter-connect and exasperate the impact, he added. When there is no pandemic, people in a disaster area are mostly safe since the cyclone has passed but in this case they are exposed to the virus. Normally, we have two cyclones but last year we had three in the middle of a pandemic. That really compounded the problem and the challenge of saving lives. You have to design special gear for them. There are a whole range of things that you have to do when a range of hazards come together, said Kishore. The conference will have sessions on health and digital infrastructure. CDRI has collaborated with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and International Telecommunication Union on the resilience of digital infrastructure. Digital infrastructure has kept the world going in the last one year. It has also been used for office work and telemedicine. Suppose there is an undersea cable, which is impacted, so how do we see there is enough redundancy in the system which acts as a back-up. We need telecom infrastructure such as towers that are designed to withstand the impact of wind. Data centres that are secured and they can survive disaster, he added. One of the key issues is to have telecom centres that have enough power back so that if there is an outage there is enough power available to run the systems. 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 Rome, N.Y. - It has been just under six weeks since the Rome City School District welcomed students back into the classroom for hybrid learning. Thursday night, the Rome Board of Education further discussed developments into welcoming in students full time. On Wednesday, Rome Superintendent Peter Blake, along with eight other superintendents met with Shelly Mayer, the State Senate Education Committee Chair, to discuss government and education-related topics. "The big three takeaways was that she did tell us that the State Health Department and the State Education Department have no intention of revising their August 2020 school reopening guidance documents, said Blake. And that we should not expect any changes or relief from either the State Health Department or the State Education Department from the guidance that was set in place in August 2020. Another note was that as of right now there isn't any information or thoughts about this fall's reopening of schools which hinders budget planning. That continues to be concerning and alarming for all leaders because we continue to reiterate to people that we are trying to plan budgets now for next year and if we know what to plan for, our budgets can be more sensible, we can put our resources in the right place, and we can make sure next year September re-opening schools is a lot more seamless and sensible than it was last year," said Blake. After the passing of the new federal stimulus package by President Biden on Thursday, Blake added that Senator Joseph Griffo released a statement saying that he believes that the information on school funding may be underserving what they will receive. Which can help assist in planning reopening strategies for the district. We are committed to getting kids in five days-a-week, said Blake. It does seem like all agencies are leading towards plastic barriers being the solution to the problem. I don't believe that's a wise investment of funding. If we need to do this for next year then that may be a different story, but if it's a Band-Aid that will help us get from the middle of April to the end of June spending roughly $500,000 on plastic that's going to go in the storage shed in two years when we could use social workers, counselors, support staff, teachers, I think our money would be better invested in the students education. Blake goes onto say even if they were to order the plastic barriers now they are not certain they will receive them by May or June. But they are still investigating shipping times and costs. As for future events Blake says the district is planning for a full in-person commencement for students in June. "As of today we are planning for a full commencement. I am anticipating that things will relax enough by then that will be able to do that for our students. So let's all keep on that train and keep our fingers crossed by June that we will be there, said Blake. The district also created a new school committee that includes parents from all grade levels who will give feedback on education during the pandemic and consider long-term needs going forward. "It was good to see the dialogue, said Blake. We used several live thought exchanges that yielded quite a lot of thoughts, ideas, kind of good dialogue and some breakout groups and some good questions and answers among the whole group towards the end of it. We all felt - from the three of us that were here at the board office - pretty positive about the meeting. The parents seem to feel pretty positive about it and we are looking forward to doing more things like this in the future, said Blake. Sorry! This content is not available in your region 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. Editor's note: On April 8, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office confirmed to LAist that they've charged the driver for the death of Monique Munoz. The reporting below is from mid-March and does not reflect that update, but does contain details about the fatal crash and the police investigation, as well as address speculation about how and when the driver was arrested. A 17-year-old driver could be charged with vehicular manslaughter after police say he killed a 32-year-old woman in a traffic collision in West Los Angeles. Monique Munoz, of Culver City, died at the scene of the fatal crash, which happened shortly after 5 p.m. on Feb. 17 at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Overland Avenue, according to officials from the Los Angeles Police Department's West Traffic Bureau. In the weeks since Munoz was killed, there has been much speculation and rumors circulating on social media about the circumstances of the crash, the police investigation, and process of arresting and charging the teen driver, who is the son of a wealthy Beverly Hills entrepreneur. I spoke with officials from the Los Angeles Police Department's West Traffic Bureau, which is investigating the crash. Here's what we know about what happened and where things stand now. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE CRASH? West Traffic officials explained what their investigators know at this point, based on the testimony of witnesses at the scene. Munoz was driving a silver Lexus west on Olympic and had nearly completed a left turn onto Overland Avenue. The teen driver, who has not been identified by police due to his age, was driving a black Lamborghini SUV east on Olympic and entered the intersection "well in excess of the speed limit," West Bureau Traffic Captain Brian Wendling said, when he struck Munoz's car. Police officials believe Munoz was killed almost instantly. The teen driver was transported to a local hospital with injuries. "It was a very, very horrific crash," Wendling told me. "The cars were just completely decimated." LAPD Detective James Dickson is supervising the crash investigation and described the scene as almost "complete devastation" and "among the worst aftermath of a traffic collision that I've seen." A costly reminder for everyone to slow down. Another Fatal Collision bringing @LAPDWestTraffic to a total of 8 year to date. Incident occurred at Olympic & Overland in @LAPDWestLA area. #Lapd#WestTraffic#TrafficSafety#TrafficAlert pic.twitter.com/u08LzB6tlN LAPD West Traffic (@LAPDWestTraffic) February 18, 2021 HOW IS THE CRASH BEING INVESTIGATED? In this case, investigators felt they had enough evidence for the DA to charge the driver with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. I asked Dickson how his team came to that conclusion. He said the charge was warranted based on the driver's "observed driving immediately prior to the collision," plus the fact that the 17-year-old had been cited recently "for similar driving activity." There have been allegations that the teen had been racing with another vehicle at the time of the crash. LAPD officials I spoke to did not characterize this as a street race, but Dickson said witnesses reported the teen driver and someone in another car "had some kind of connection and were going at a high rate of speed." Wendling said investigators have obtained video of the crash and are reviewing it. There were allegations online that the teen was not licensed to drive. Dickson told me the teen had previously been cited twice for driving without a valid license, but investigators were getting documents from the DMV to verify if the driver had a provisional license or not. Investigators will also reconstruct the conditions of the crash to help determine exactly how fast the teenager was driving. That process "requires a lot of math and measurements and laser-gridding and analysis of the damage to the vehicles," Dickson said. WAS THE DRIVER ACTUALLY ARRESTED? Munoz's mother, Caroline Cardona, and community activists had been calling for the teen's arrest as recently as this week, but Dickson clarified that the arrest occurred on Feb. 23 -- six days after the crash. Because the teen was hospitalized and is a juvenile, he was processed differently than a typical arrest, Dickson explained. "When someone is hospitalized, there's no urgency to place them under arrest because they have to be released from medical care for booking," he said. "So we had officers standing by at the hospital -- were he to be released -- to take him into custody. With a juvenile, it becomes a bit more convoluted because once they're taken into custody, there are certain time constraints with which we have to do things." Once police determined they had enough evidence to charge him, they did what's called an "absentee booking," Dickson said, meaning the driver was fingerprinted and photographed at the hospital, then investigators took all that information back to a police facility for processing. "I think some people were expecting us to arrest and 'perp walk' a minor out of a hospital in a gown in handcuffs," he said. "That's how they deem they got their pound of flesh or justice, and things don't work that way." "I see posts on social media saying the family needs justice," Dickson said. "We're trying our best to give it to them." Monique Munoz's family has not yet responded to our requests for comment. WILL THE DRIVER BE CHARGED? That's up to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, which prosecutes felony vehicular manslaughter cases (though not all vehicular manslaughter charges are pursued as felonies, as I explained earlier this year.) A spokesperson from the DA's office provided this statement to LAist on Thursday: "Monique's death is a giant loss for her family, our community and for all of us as Angelenos. This case was recently presented to our office and is under review. Juvenile court proceedings, records and case files are confidential pursuant to Welfare & Institutions Code section 827. As such, we are unable to provide further information at this time." Family, friends and supporters have been sharing the hashtag #JusticeForMoniqueMunoz and held a protest last weekend on the street where she was killed. Another protest is planned at the intersection this Saturday. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE FOCUS ON THE DRIVER'S FATHER? The father of the 17-year-old has been at the center of much of the social media discussion about Munoz's death. While police and DA officials have not named the teen, members of the victim's family and people calling for justice in the case began posting photos and information about a man they said was his father. On Wednesday, that man, James Khuri, posted an apology on Instagram. Khuri is a millionaire entrepreneur, according to Forbes, and his verified Instagram page includes several photos of him posing with Lamborghinis. TRAFFIC VIOLENCE IN L.A. In the first two months of this year (excluding Feb. 28), 45 people have been killed in traffic collisions on L.A. streets, according to preliminary LAPD data. That works out to an average of one person killed in traffic every 30 hours. That figure is up from 30 traffic deaths in the same time period in 2020 (for context, that was a couple weeks before pandemic stay-at-home orders were issued locally). Clarification: A previous version of this story said an official noted the teen had a valid driver's license. LAPD Det. James Dickson clarified that authorities still looking into his driver's license status. Pfizer logo pictured outside their building in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., (Photo : REUTERS/Carlo Allegri) Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Thursday that real-world data from Israel suggests their COVID-19 vaccine is 94% effective in preventing asymptomatic infections, meaning it could significantly reduce transmission. The companies also said the latest analysis of the Israeli data shows the vaccine was 97% effective in preventing symptomatic disease, severe disease and death. That is basically in line with the 95% efficacy Pfizer and BioNTech reported from the vaccine's late-stage clinical trial in December. Advertisement Israel's Health Ministry, which has been sending data to Pfizer and is working with the healthcare providers giving the vaccine, did not respond to requests for comment. The analysis also shows real-world evidence of the vaccine's effectiveness against a highly infectious variant of COVID-19 first discovered in Britain, known as B.1.1.7. More than 80% of the tested specimens when the analysis was conducted were variant B.1.1.7. There were only a limited number of infections in Israel caused by the so-called South African variant - known as B.1.351 - so they were not able to evaluate effectiveness against this variant. In terms of population covered, Israel is leading the world in its vaccination programme, thanks in part to an agreement to share data with Pfizer and BioNTech. As of Wednesday, around 55% of Israel's 9 million population had been given at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, according to Health Ministry data, and 43% have received both doses. Since the mid-January peak, Israel has seen 71% fewer COVID-19 deaths, 55% fewer cases, 45% fewer new critically ill patients and 40% fewer critically ill patients in hospitals, according to Eran Segal, a data scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science. On Wednesday, 2,802 Israelis tested positive -- or 2.9% from nearly 99,000 tests. According to the analysis, unvaccinated individuals were 44 times more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 and 29 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who had received the vaccine. The data, collected from Jan. 17 to March 6, has not yet been peer reviewed. Israel's Health Ministry previously found that the Pfizer vaccine developed with Germany's BioNTech reduces infection, including in asymptomatic cases, by 89.4% and in symptomatic cases by 93.7%. That was in data collected from Jan. 17 to Feb. 6. Pfizer did not provide further details on its analysis of asymptomatic infections. In a previous unpublished study by the health ministry and Pfizer, Israeli researchers said further study was needed on asymptomatic transmission among people fully vaccinated because they are less likely in Israel to be tested for COVID-19. The Biden administration, under intense pressure to donate excess coronavirus vaccines to needy nations, is moving to address the global shortage in another way: by partnering with Japan, India and Australia to finance a dramatic expansion of the vaccine manufacturing capacity. The agreement was announced Friday at the Quad Summit, a virtual meeting between the heads of state of those four countries, which President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attended Friday morning. The goal, senior administration officials said, is to address an acute vaccine shortage in Southeast Asia, which in turn will boost worldwide supply The United States has fallen far behind China, Russia and India in the race to marshal coronavirus vaccines as an instrument of diplomacy. At the same time, Mr. Biden is facing accusations of vaccine hoarding from global health advocates who want his administration to channel supplies to needy nations that are desperate for access. AMHERST, Mass. - Skin microbiome researcher Dr. Kelly Haas, of the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Biology Department, recently began a research partnership with Akron, Ohio-based GOJO Industries to study the structure, stability, and resilience of the hand microbiome. The collaboration focuses on understanding fundamental aspects of the hand's microbiome: what microbes are supposed to be growing on a hand in the first place, and where do they come from? The microbiome works in synergy with the skin itself to provide a barrier against infection. Haas says, "think of a healthy skin microbiome as a defense for your first line of defense: your skin." A healthy skin microbiome maintains an acidic pH and provides colonization resistance against the harmful microbes you encounter but which should not be taking up residence on your body. However, the hands are a main intermediary for germs and must be frequently cleansed to reduce transmission of potential pathogens between surfaces, other people, and yourself. Haas believes that there is an endogenous hand-microbiome community that grows from hard-to-clean niches on your hands and/or from touching your body, face, and hair. "We want to know how this community responds to hand-hygiene events and what the aftermath looks like. How long does it take to 'return to normal'?" She asks. Haas's clinical studies, in collaboration with UMMS Dermatology, will be combined with benchwork focused on optimizing the methods to improve the accuracy of skin microbiome studies. For healthcare workers, or for anyone living in a pandemic, frequent hand washing also scrubs away the protective acid mantle and endogenous microbiome, leading to dermatitis or atopy characterized by red, dry, irritated, and itchy skin. "Combating disease spread is the top priority," Haas says, "so there is a trade-off. What we hope to do is to figure out how to replace or support the good things that were killed or washed-off." Haas says, "The people at GOJO are wonderful to work with in addition to being very focused on the science, and we both hope this partnership will continue for many years and result in new hand hygiene products that minimize that trade-off between public health and personal hand health." ### Contact: Kelly Haas, hass@umass.edu Daegan Miller, drmiller@umass.edu LA School Board OKs Agreement With Teachers Union for Campus Return LOS ANGELESA tentative deal with the teachers union that would restart in-person instruction for Los Angeles Unified District (LAUSD) preschool and elementary students by mid-April was approved March 11 by the districts Board of Education. After a roughly two-hour question-and-answer session focusing on the mechanics of the agreement and anticipated structure of school days, the board unanimously OKd the pact with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). The deal still needs to be ratified by UTLAs membership, with voting expected next week. It has been a long, long 361 days, I believe, since school facilities were closed back in March, Superintendent Austin Beutner said March 10. And our goal since then has been the same. It never waversto reopen schools as soon as possible and in the safest way possible. The tentative agreement announced late March 9 ended a tense few weeks, during which UTLA members overwhelmingly supported a statement saying they would not return to in-person classes until three conditions were met, most notably COVID-19 vaccinations for all school staff. But with the governor earmarking 25,000 doses of vaccine for the LAUSD, and Los Angeles Countys COVID case rates dropping to the verge of moving into the less-restrictive red tier of the states economic-reopening blueprint, pressure mounted for a return to class. Given the vaccination schedule, the goal is to have elementary students back in classrooms by mid-April, although an exact date has not yet been set. The county Department of Public Health had already approved the districts COVID Safety Plan, a required document outlining safety measures being implemented at schools to protect students and staff, leaving the stalemate with the teachers union the only remaining roadblock to reopening. But that roadblock was removed with the tentative labor agreement. Today we start a new chapter of public education in Los Angeles, one of collaboration, of accountability and resolve, UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said March 11. She said the agreement moves the district one step closer to our new normal. While hailed as a return to classes, the agreement actually proposed relatively limited face-to-face interaction between students and teachers, with elementary students returning to campus for three hours of instruction, either in the morning or afternoon, in alternating groups. Students will have the option of being on campus for the full day, but half the day would be spent in activities overseen by non-teachers. All students will continue to have the option of remaining with solely online learning. Under state guidelines, Los Angeles County schools can reopen for students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Students in grades 7 through 12 can return to in-person classes once the county advances to the red tier of the states economic reopening blueprint. That could happen as soon as this weekend. The tentative agreement would maintain online instruction for secondary students, but they will have the chance to return to campus for peer interaction, social-emotional learning and lessons for college and career exploration. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a $6.6 billion legislative package providing funds to schools throughout the state to help recoup learning lost during the pandemic, which has forced students into online-only instruction. The package includes $2 billion in incentive funds for schools that resume in-person instruction for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade by April 1. Schools that fail to reopen by that date will lose 1 percent of their share of funding for every day they miss the deadline. Newsom, during a visit to a mobile vaccination clinic in South Gate on March 10, hailed the agreement between LAUSD and teachers as a major advancement in resuming in-person classes in the state. We are very pleased to hear the progress, very grateful for the hard work that was done on both sides to advance the cause of getting our youngest kids back into in-person instruction sooner than later, Newsom said. Weve been working as you know for many, many months to get to this place, not just LA Unified, but districts all up and down the state. This is real progress and its very encouraging, not only to parents but to all of us that recognize the urgency, the social-emotional side of this conversation and debate, he said. Its not just an academic issue. Its about those rights of passage. It is about the mental health and well-being of our kids. TORONTO, March 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CANAQUEST MEDICAL CORP (OTC Markets: CANQF) (the "Company" or CanaQuest), a Life Science/Pharmaceutical Company developing health products utilizing cannabinoid molecules and other botanical compounds (pharmaceutical grade), is pleased to announce its new partnership with the Canadian Cannabis Dispute Resolution Centre ("CCDRC"), a national organization that has developed cannabis-related education and training programs, both domestically and internationally, to assist different levels of government, the private sector, industry-specific organizations and associations. The CCDRC/CanaQuest partnership will serve to raise global awareness. The common theme of all education relates to conflict resolution, which can be mitigated through education. A critical component of the partnership will be its focus on promoting scientifically backed evidence, pre-clinical data and published research papers of Dr. Steven Laviolette and his 13-person team at Western University in Canada. For the past 20 years, Dr. Laviolette and team have studied the effects of cannabinoids on mental health and wellness. Their research focuses on using cannabinoids for the development of novel pharmacotherapies to address anxiety, depression, addiction, schizophrenia and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Treena Reilkoff, a Trauma Informed Mediator and Facilitator with the CCDRC stated, We are pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with CanaQuest. Our common goal is the recognition that medicinal cannabis is an alternative treatment to traditional pharmaceuticals and through education about the practicality and safety of medicinal cannabis, barriers and stigmas are reduced. The CCDRC is pleased to provide education and consulting services to help prevent cannabis-related workplace conflicts from escalating. Paul Ramsay, CanaQuest Co-founder and President, added, Our joint recognition of the importance of education and of people being able to have self-determination in their choices of prescriptions are the key drivers of this partnership. About CanaQuest Medical Corp: CanaQuest Medical Corp is a Life Science/Pharmaceutical Company developing health products utilizing cannabinoid molecules and other botanical compounds (pharmaceutical grade). The Company is the industry partner for research and product development with Dr. Steven Laviolette, a professor and neuroscientist, who has 20 years of research experience in the field of mental health and cannabinoids and oversees a team of 13 scientists at Western University. The Companys research is focused on the use of cannabinoids for the development of novel pharmacotherapies for mental health, such as anxiety, depression, addiction, schizophrenia, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD. CanaQuest has identified the regulatory pathways to obtain Drug Identification Numbers (DINs) for its two Master Formations, MentanineRx and MentabinolRx in Canada and the USA. As well, CanaQuest will be selling both products through its wholly owned subsidiary, ADC BioMedical Corp, which was awarded a Cannabis Medical Sales, Import/Export License, from Health Canada under the Cannabis Act. Licenced GMP Contract Manufacturers in Canada and the USA, capable of formulating, processing, and packaging, have been selected for production and distribution. The Company won the Go Global Awards, 2019, "Business of the Year Category of Life Science, presented by the International Trade Council. For a short video on the research, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_D4wkHHbDg For more information on CanaQuest, visit http://www.canaquest.com About Canadian Cannabis Dispute Resolution Centre: The Canadian Cannabis Dispute Resolution Centre is a national organization of Canadian alternative dispute resolution specialists and conflict resolution trainers with expertise in cannabis law, policy and dispute resolution. The CCDRC aspires to be an innovator in identifying practical and pre-emptive solutions to cannabis-related disputes. Its members and training partners have developed training programs that focus on conflict resolution in the cannabis field, which has included the mediation of cannabis related disputes in the areas of workplace, multi-residential structures and law enforcement. The CCDRC has also provided guidance to local and regional governments on the development of dispute resolution mechanisms and by-law creation that concerns the use and growth of cannabis in the community. This knowledge and experience will assist organizations who encounter challenges of managing and defusing internal cannabis-related conflicts that may arise from its personnels use of recreational cannabis, edibles, extracts and topicals and the growing presence of medicinally prescribed cannabis. For more information on Canadian Cannabis Dispute Resolution Centre, visit https://www.cannabisdispute.ca/about-us FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, use of proceeds and the development, costs, and results of current or future actions and opportunities in the sector. 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 and development stage companies, our ability to raise the additional funding we will need to continue to pursue our exploration and development program, and our ability to retain important members of our management team and attract other qualified personnel. 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 the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual Disclosure Statement filed with the OTC Markets for the most recent fiscal year. CANAQUEST CONTACT: Paul Ramsay, Co-Founder & President CanaQuest Medical Corp paul@canaquest.com : Tel.: 416-704-3040 Pro-life group slams COVID relief bill for failing to include Hyde protections Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A pro-life group is slamming the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package for failing to include a guarantee that taxpayer dollars will not fund abortions. Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, released a statement Thursday slamming President Joe Biden for signing into law the so-called "American Rescue Plan," the most recent legislative package passed purportedly to address the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but largely funds other projects. Dannenfelser slammed congressional Democrats for failing to include Hyde Amendment protections for funds distributed in the massive spending bill. The Hyde Amendment prevents the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. "How far the Democratic Party now led by Joe Biden has fallen. Once an ardent supporter of the Hyde Amendment, today Biden's transformation is complete," she lamented. "He has fully caved to the extremists in his party, signing a massive expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion." Dannenfelser had previously released a statement following the bill's passage in the House on Wednesday: "Shame on pro-abortion Democrats who exploited the COVID-19 relief to expand taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, breaking with more than four decades of bipartisan consensus. Most Americans, including millions of rank-and-file Democrats, oppose forcing taxpayers to fund abortions. "Keeping taxpayers out of the abortion business should not be a partisan issue. Joe Biden himself was once an ardent supporter of the Hyde Amendment. He has caved to pro-abortion radicals within his party who chose to ignore this reality to their own political peril. Susan B. Anthony List will work tirelessly to educate voters so their elected officials are held accountable," she vowed. Dannenfelser sounded the alarm about the relief package last week after the House passed it for the first time. She noted that "While previous bipartisan COVID relief packages have included Hyde protections on funding streams that fall outside of existing limits on abortion funding, this bill departs from the status quo by leaving funds open to use for abortion." "This bill appropriates large sums of money for health activities and for community health centers outside of the Labor, Health, and Human Services appropriations, purposefully exempting the funds from the protection of the Hyde Amendment. This would allow the funding to be used for elective abortion, destroying rather than saving life," Dannenfelser warned. In a press release published over the weekend, Dannenfelser thanked Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and James Lankford, R-Okla., for introducing an amendment to the bill that would insert Hyde protections. While three Democrats joined all Republicans in supporting the amendment, it failed to pass because the amendment required the support of three-fifths of the senators as opposed to a simple majority. As Dannenfelser mentioned, the previous coronavirus relief packages received bipartisan support. However, the American Rescue Plan passed both houses of Congress without attracting any support from congressional Republicans. Democrats had to rely on the reconciliation process to pass the measure. The reconciliation process enables legislation to pass the United States Senate with a simple majority, in contrast to most other legislation, which requires 60 votes to pass the upper chamber. Under the reconciliation process, the legislation passes the House and then moves to the Senate, which then passes its own bill, and then the House signs off on the Senate-approved legislation before it goes to the president's desk. Because Democrats have a 50-50 majority in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote, the bill passed without any support from Republicans. After the Senate passed the bill on a party-line basis, the House approved the bill by a 220-211 vote, with Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, joining all Republicans in opposing the measure. Although the effort to include Hyde protections in the stimulus package failed, Republicans did succeed in addressing another one of Dannenfelser's concerns about the stimulus package. The pro-life activist had highlighted how the bill, as passed by the House, "changes the rules for small business funding so that the abortion giant can tap into that money as well." An intervention from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., prevented that provision of the bill from making it into the final legislative package approved by the Senate. According to a press release from Paul's office, "Democrats had planned to waive affiliation rules for nonprofits to provide paycheck protection loans to Planned Parenthood in the House version of the COVID-19 relief package. "The Paul team strenuously argued to the Senate Parliamentarian that this waiver would only benefit Planned Parenthood and thus violated the so-called Byrd Rule. Before the parliamentarian was able to rule on the arguments presented, the Democrats filed an updated version of the bill that did not include the offending provision." The operator of a Big4 holiday park where a camper was tragically killed by a tree branch that crashed onto his tent says the park has a thorough maintenance program. WorkSafe investigators arrived at the Healesville caravan park, north-east of Melbourne, on Saturday afternoon, hours after the man was pinned by the falling tree branch that crushed his tent. The 44-year-old, from Knoxfield, was alone in his tent at the Big4 Yarra Valley Park Lane Holiday Park on Don Road when the tree branch came down shortly before 6am. He died at the scene. No other people were injured during the incident, a police spokeswoman said. Paramedics and State Emergency Service crews from Healesville and Lilydale were called to the scene about 5.50am. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) walks through Statuary Hall to the House Chamber for President Donald Trumps State of the Union address in the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Trump Met With NRSC Chair Rick Scott at Mar-a-Lago, Adamant in Opposing Murkowski Former President Donald Trump on Thursday dined with National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a Trump adviser confirmed to The Epoch Times. The meeting took place on the heels of a spat with the NRSC and the Republican National Committee (RNC) over the use of Trumps name and likeness to raise funds, especially considering the committees ongoing support of incumbents who backed Trumps impeachment. The group includes Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), whom Trump vowed to oppose in the primary. During the dinner with Scott, Trump would not budge on opposing Murkowski, according to the adviser. Politico was the first to report on the dinner. Trump and Scott discussed candidate recruitment for the 2022 election and getting Trumps support for specific incumbents, the Trump adviser confirmed. Scott mainly focused on finding the best candidate for the midterm elections and figuring out how to best work with Trumps team. In an interview with the Miami Herald ahead of the dinner, Scott said that he hoped to use the meeting to reinforce the need for Trump to work with the NRSC as Republicans look to win back their Senate majority next year. I want to be an additive, I want us all to row the boats in the same direction, Scott said. My goal is to tell [Trump] what Im doing. Ive talked to him, and he tells me he wants to be helpful to me. Hes committed to Republicans taking back a majority in the U.S. Senate. On Feb. 23, Scott swooped in to cancel a brewing GOP cold war after Trump issued a statement lambasting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in response to McConnell laying blame on Trump for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In his comeback speech on Feb. 28, Trump mentioned McConnell but did not attack the Kentucky Republican. Jason Miller, a Trump adviser, told Steve Bannons War Room earlier this week that the brief dispute between Trump, the RNC, the NRSC, and the National Republican Congressional Committee over the use of Trumps name and likeness has been resolved. When Bannon pressed Miller to explain how the spat is over if the committees are still supporting the incumbents who voted to impeach Trump, Miller said the committees are just following the bylaws. He nonetheless warned that Trump would quickly cease cooperating if the committees attacked any of the Republicans he endorses against the GOP members who voted for impeachment. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-13 00:45:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KAMPALA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said refugees in the East African country will all receive the COVID-19 jab. Museveni, according to a State House statement issued here on Friday said this while meeting the visiting UN Refugee Agency chief Filippo Grandi on Thursday. Uganda on Thursday rolled out a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination exercise starting with health workers. The country, according to figures by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is host to about 1.4 million refugees mainly from neighboring South Sudan. Grandi thanked Uganda for the flexible refugee policies that have enabled people from the neighboring countries to take refuge in Uganda and amicably coexist with the hosting communities. Museveni urged UNHCR to look into providing refugees with alternative means of energy for cooking to avoid the practice of environmental degradation by cutting trees. According to UNHCR, Uganda is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa. Enditem Former lawmaker from Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition Ted Hui (R), accompanied by veteran pro-democracy politician Albert Ho (L), speaks to the media as he leaves the Western Police Station in Hong Kong on November 18, 2020. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images) The West Should Learn From Hong Kongs Painful Lessons With the CCP: HK Lawmaker in Exile 'If those who enjoy freedom don't speak out, then no one else can' Self-exiled former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui has warned that Western nations need to heed the lessons of Beijings takeover of the city, saying despite the many extensive trade ties to China, democratic nations had to see through the facade and take firmer action against the tyrannical regime. Motivated by a desire for Hong Kongers to be free while ignoring potential risks to his safety, Hui is in Australia hoping to galvanise support for his people, and is due to meet local parliamentarians and Hong Kong community members to accelerate efforts at developing a safety net for those fleeing the communist crackdown in the former British colony. I feel a responsibility to speak up for them because if those who enjoy freedom dont speak out, then no one else can, he told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview. Former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-Fung appears outside West Kowloon Magistrates Courts in Hong Kong, China Nov. 19, 2020. (Lam Yik/Reuters) As a safety precaution, Hui prefers to keep his whereabouts in Australia a secret. He said it was now crystal clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was willing to breach international laws and that Western political and business leaders needed to stop placing trust in the regime. If you look at Hong Kongs situation, we were promised a high degree of autonomy, One Country, Two Systems, a gradual progression towards democracy, and an independent judiciary, he said. These promises are now empty promises. You can see people are thrown in jails, and it is basically One Country, One System now. It has become another Mainland Chinese city. Whats the point believing Beijing will uphold its international obligations? he added. I think these are the painful lessons that Hong Kongers have learned, and I wish the West and free countries can learn from them too. Pro-democracy legislator Ted Hui (C) is removed by security guards after throwing a jar containing a foul-smelling liquid onto the floor during a debate on a law that bans insulting Chinas national anthem at a session of the Legislative Council (Legco) in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) The call comes as some prominent Australians continue to push the Morrison government to be more subdued in its response to the CCPs trade dispute with Australia and human rights violations. There is an opportunity for some diplomacy and probably a bit more behind-the-scenes discussions and negotiations, Elizabeth Gaines, CEO of Fortescue Metals, told the Australian Financial Review Business Summit earlier this week. On this issue, Hui said despite China being a lucrative market for business, ultimately, there was a contradiction between the CCPs Marxist ideology and the liberal democratic values of the free world, including freedom, democracy, and universal values like human rights. The Gradual Erosion of Hong Kongs Autonomy Under the Sino-British Joint Declaration Treaty, which is registered with the United Nations, Hong Kong was to maintain a democratic governance model for a 50-year period until 2047. However, since the handover of Hong Kong to the CCP in 1997, this framework has been steadily eroded, despite repeated assurances from communist leaders. In recent years, Beijing has taken a more overt stance, introducing two laws that not only sparked millions-strong protests but ushered in the death-knell for Hong Kongs autonomy. An anti-extradition bill protester is detained by riot police during skirmishes between the police and protesters outside Mong Kok police station, in Hong Kong, on Sept. 2, 2019. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) The 2020 National Security Law, which was passed without the Hong Kong legislatures approval, gave the CCP the authority to crack down on activities it deemed could split the country, subvert state power, organize and carry out terrorist activities. A wide interpretation of the law effectively gave the CCP free rein to target pro-democracy activists or groups and overrule local governing bodies. Beijing has exploited the law to tighten its grip over the city, arresting several lawmakers and pro-democracy activists, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Galvanising Australias Response to the Crisis Ted Huis visit to Australia is centred around three goals. First, Hui hopes to accelerate the governments rollout of Magnitsky-style legislation that would give Australia the authority to place sanctions on specific human rights abusers and family members. This would effectively hamstring their ability to travel or move wealth to Australia. For Chinese officials, it could be a major deterrent to breaching international human rights laws, as a high proportion of high-net-worth Chinese have long term plans to leave China, with the United States, Canada, and Australia traditionally being the most popular destinations. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other officials applaud after the vote on the national security legislation for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the closing session of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on May 28, 2020. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters) Second, Hui will push Australia to continue diversifying its trade relationship away from China. A trend that was sparked by last years trade war that was instigated by Beijing in response to Foreign Minister Marise Paynes call for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Australian wine, barley, and salmon industries are beginning to see the fruits of diversifying away from China. Finally, Im here lobbying for more concrete plans for those who face persecution and need to flee Hong Kong urgently, Hui said. In response to the crackdown on Hong Kong protestors, the Australian government last year granted five-year visa extensions to all Hong Kong students or skilled visa holders in the country. Supporters of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters hold placards during a demonstration as part of the global anti-totalitarianism movement in Sydney on Sept. 29, 2019. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images) Hui, however, called for more clarity around whether those visa extensions could result in permanent residency. A sentiment echoed by Independent Senator Rex Patrick, who said in February, In these circumstances, Australia must open our door wider to give our Hong Kong friends refuge, safety, and full opportunity to enjoy democratic freedoms. Ultimately, stronger action would send a clear message to Beijing that Australia and democratic nations would not compromise its values, according to Hui. He conceded however that it was too early to make a judgement on U.S. President Joe Bidens stance on Hong Kong and whether his administration would remove the Trump-era sanctions placed on Chinese officials involved in cracking down on pro-democracy activists. Determined to Return Home After Tyranny is Extinguished Hui has been a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council since 2016. In November, he resigned along with 18 other pan-democracy lawmakers who protested the Hong Kong governments decision to disqualify four pro-democracy legislators. Hui decided to leave Hong Kong in December for Denmark and the United Kingdom, spending the past three months lobbying parliamentarians and human rights activists. CCP officials meanwhile have issued repeated warnings to the Australian government to stop meddling in Hong Kongs affairs. Otherwise, the China-Australia relationship would sustain further damage. Australias Foreign Minister Marise Payne speaks during a news conference at Australian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 10, 2019. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters) The CCP has also taken direct measures to intimidate and threaten local dissidents, with some fearing to speak out against the regime due to potential reprisals against family members in China. When asked how he felt about possible repercussions, Hui responded, No, I have no fears. Nothing is more terrible than being teargassed, pepper-sprayed, and beaten with police batons. Nothing is more fearful than losing your freedom at any moment when the police come after you and can jail you for decades, he said. Hui has ruled out any immediate return to Hong Kong, saying he would likely be arrested right away and thrown into prison. But I am determined to return home after removing and dissolving the tyrannical regime that has occupied my home. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Joan McDermott was 16 and fresh out of boarding school when she met her boyfriend Tony, a medical student, in their rural hometown in County Cork, Ireland. Together for about a year, they had sex twice. She fell pregnant. I honestly didnt know that was how you got a baby, says Joan, now 73 and living in the small coastal town of Cobh in Cork. When I told my mother I was three months pregnant, she said to go upstairs and pack a small bag; Id be going away. Then she stood in the hallway while I rang my boyfriend. His family ran a well-known local business; he said he was sorry but that he could do nothing for me. Joans father, a vet, had died earlier that year and her mother was in a new relationship with a local politician. It was the mid-1960s. She was about to marry this man if word of the pregnancy got out it could have ruined his career, says Joan, a handsome woman with pretty drop earrings and fair hair cut in an elegant short bob. She makes a point of dressing well, she tells me, even to walk her dog in the mornings. The next day, I was told to get in the car with them [her mother and future stepfather]. I had no idea where we were going and nobody said anything for the whole 40-kilometre journey. Then there were these big gates and a house with steps going up to a red door. My mother said, This is a home for unmarried girls and you will stay here. A nun came out onto the steps, they had a few words, then my mother turned on her heel and walked away. Joan was taken inside, where she was allocated a house name, her identity to be kept secret. It was a dreadful place, strict and humiliating, she tells me with finely controlled contempt. There was no contact with the outside world and I was told if you attempted to leave, the Gardai [police] would bring you back. It was summer when I got there and we girls were put to cutting the lawn with scissors, kneeling on all fours. In the winter months you had to clean the place. She had been there for six months when she had her first contractions. I told a nun and she said I was suffering because of the Devils work. When the pain got worse, she put me in a room and left me there all night, alone. There was no pain relief. She came back at 8am and I said I could feel the babys head presenting. I had to walk along a corridor holding it in. There was a metal table but I couldnt get up on it, so I lay across it. Advertisement After the birth a boy her baby was taken away to the nursery, Joan sent back to her chores. You werent allowed to go to the nursery except when the bell rang for feeding time. One morning, I was breastfeeding when a nun came and took my son away. He was seven weeks old. When I asked where he was, I was told, Hes gone. Two days later, Joans mother arrived to pick her up. She sent me to stay with an aunt in England. It was there that Joan eventually rebuilt her life, training as a nurse, meeting and marrying her husband and bearing two more children, both now in their 40s. I told no one my secret, not even my husband. Were divorced now. Joan McDermott, who fell pregnant at 16, says of meeting her son 47 years later: I thought my heart would burst. Credit: For most of the 20th century, Ireland was a dreadful place to be single and pregnant. According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, considered the guardian of the nations moral health, such women were grave sinners and a disgrace to their families. Abortion was illegal and continued to be so until 2018. Illegitimacy being born out of wedlock was denounced from the pulpit and remained a legal status until 1987. Families could not bear the shame and girls left home or were sent away, some barely in their teens, some pregnant as a result of rape or incest. Many, like Joan, were terrifyingly ignorant of the workings of their own bodies. For most, the only escape from destitution was recourse to one of the countrys 14 homes for unmarried mothers, run by religious orders and funded by the state, or one of the many county homes funded by local authorities. While at their peak in the 1960s and 70s, several of these homes did not close their doors until the late 90s. Unless paid for privately by their families, the women worked their passage by skivvying until, and often after, their babies were born. Advertisement A few returned alone to their families; some left to find work where they could; others would stay on in the homes with their babies. After adoption was made legal in 1953 decades later than in Australia or the UK almost all illegitimate babies were adopted out. This was often against the wishes of their mothers, though they had little choice in the matter. Until then, there were unofficial adoptions and what was called boarding out, a form of fostering. Babies who remained in the homes did not tend to thrive: conditions in some were appalling, food was usually poor and, in the worst places, the mortality rate was at least twice that of the general population. St Marys Mother and Baby Home was one such place, run by the Bon Secours Sisters at Tuam, County Galway. It housed destitute and disabled women and children as well as unmarried mothers who had fallen more than once. In 2012, local resident Catherine Corless began to share her research into the history of the home, which operated from 1925 to 1961. She found the names of 796 babies who had died, but no record of their burials. Where were all these small bodies? Not in the local graveyard; not in the churchyards of the parishes where their mothers came from. As a result of Corlesss dogged, multi-year pursuit of the truth, archaeologists would eventually discover the remains of hundreds of babies, deposited in a decommissioned septic tank in the grounds of the home. It was described as a chamber of horrors in 2017 by the then taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, Enda Kenny. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The unfolding scandal of Tuam, with its attendant international media coverage, led the Irish government to set up the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in 2015. It would scour the records of 18 homes many of which were incomplete or missing examining the living conditions for inmates and what happened to them afterwards. It would find that of the 57,000 babies born in those institutions, 9000 died while in their care, the majority without burial records. Five years in the compiling, when the commissions report landed 3000 pages in January this year, it contained quietly devastating details from the testimonies of former residents. Women told how they were stripped of their identities and, like Joan, given house names. No matter the cause of a pregnancy there was little empathy, you were there to atone for your sin. They spoke of being left alone in labour, as Joan was; some reported complications in later life as a result of their difficult first childbirth. Advertisement Catherine Corless: her discovery that there were no official burials for hundreds of babies at a mother and baby home in Galway, Ireland, led to an investigation into 17 more institutions. Credit:Getty Images Bonding with babies intended for adoption was discouraged, and they were to be fed on their backs, no cuddling. One woman told of hiding her child in the room for disabled babies so that no prospective adoptive parent would pick him. A few spoke of their time with the nuns as a refuge from violence and poverty at home, or a way to escape public judgment: You were [considered] an absolute slut if it happened to you. The rules of admission for one home stated: This community will direct their attention towards the reformation of unmarried mothers and their children but no girls who had a second child will be accepted under any circumstances. Some women would go back to their families after the birth but the babies all too obvious evidence of the mothers sin were rarely welcome. As the report noted, the moral stain of illegitimacy could affect the marriage prospects of other family members. Those who had stayed on as children in the homes and were later boarded out or sent to residential schools spoke of feeling unloved and unwanted the product of an evil union. They, as well as adoptees and birth mothers, told of the enduring pain of searching in vain for family and identity. At the launch of the report in January, the Taoiseach Micheal Martin said it was unforgivable that children born outside of marriage were treated as outcasts. He spoke of their sense of abandonment and of the stigma and lack of birth information which had been a terrible burden in their lives. We honoured piety but failed to show even basic kindness to those who needed it most. The Catholic Church acknowledged an underlying, but enormously influential, strain of misogyny, and a negative and oppressive attitude to sexuality, particularly in relation to women. Such statements were the latest in a litany of mea culpas from church and state prompted by similar official reports over two decades. Investigations of clerical child sexual abuse, of the suffering of children in orphanages and industrial schools and of the slavery of young women working in convent laundries have each thrown light on Irelands dark past. But for those waiting for the commission to acknowledge the fault of church and state in their suffering, the report was a savage disappointment. Noting that women who gave birth outside marriage were subjected to particularly harsh treatment, the report concluded, responsibility for that harsh treatment rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families. Advertisement There were angry and emotional scenes in the Dail the Irish Parliament as the house debated the report. One member said women were not just treated as second-class citizens as described in the report. They were a caste apart, she said. They were untouchable even by their own parents. Another was close to tears as he quoted from a 1943 health inspectors report describing babies in one home as miserable scraps of humanity, wizened, some emaciated and almost all had rash and sores all over their bodies, faces, hands and heads. The home in question only closed in 1999. In the weeks following the launch of the report, live TV and radio programs carried a stream of interviews with former residents. It has opened up a huge wound, says actor-playwright Noelle Brown, who was adopted from a home. People have taken to the airwaves and are haemorrhaging stories of absolute horror. There isnt a family in Ireland that hasnt been affected by this issue. It is massive. Childrens socks line a grotto on an unmarked mass grave at the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, which closed in 1961. Credit:Getty Images Many of the 550 witnesses who gave evidence to the commission were shocked to find the report contained only very brief extracts of their testimonies, or nothing at all. Their courage in coming forward had been utterly disrespected, says Brown, who was a witness herself. I was told, Everything you say will be put away and no one will ever hear it. I said, Well, why am I here? I want my story to be heard. It later emerged that the audio recordings of the testimonies had been destroyed and there were apparently no transcripts. But after a barrage of protests from witnesses, the Minister for Children, Roderic OGorman, said efforts were being made to retrieve the data and provide transcripts to all who requested them. On long northern winter days under COVID-19 lockdown, I sat for hours on Zoom and WhatsApp calls listening to Irish voices, in turn passionate, angry and confiding, telling me terrible things. Well, now, Jane, they would say, The thing was, you see Women who as young pregnant girls fled to England to escape censure, and labelled PFI pregnant from Ireland were found by the Catholic Protection and Rescue Society of Ireland and brought back to a mother and baby home. It was prison, said one, if you escaped, the Gardai would bring you back. Advertisement You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close The Congress on Friday asserted that India needs to get maximum advantage of the grouping and said the government should share with the country the benefits that will be accrued from it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the first summit on Friday, which will be attended virtually by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. According to sources, the most significant among the deliverables envisaged in the historic summit of leaders of the countries is a coronavirus vaccine initiative that will allow new manufacturing capacity to be added in India for export to the Indo-Pacific region. Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the Quad grouping should not become an agenda of one particular country being pushed. He said as far as Quad is concerned, it is not known which of the four members will benefit the most. "The government should share with the country the benefits which India will accrue from Quad. It should not just become an agenda of one particular country being pushed. We need to get maximum advantage out of Quad," Khera told reporters. The Congress leader sought to know whether the benefits will be fair to each and every member of Quad. "We do not have an answer (for it) yet," he said. When India was facing tensions on the border with China, there was not much that India could achieve out of its diplomatic initiatives which could apply pressure on China, he noted. "Therefore, questions on Quad are not yet settled. We don't have answers yet from the government, we don't have convincing answers," 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.) The level of casual contacts in Ireland remains high, gardai warned (Liam McBurney/PA). The level of casual contacts in Ireland remains high, gardai warned. The force is still breaking up house parties despite their strict prohibition on public health grounds. A further 10 people have died with Covid-19, NPHET said. And another 646 infections were confirmed. Recent surveys have shown that the majority of people believe that they are doing the right thing, but the reality is that the level of casual contacts remains high A Garda statement said: An Garda Siochana continues to find groups gathering (house parties, social gatherings, exercise etc) in breach of regulations. These are not just breaches of regulations, but are a risk to the individuals involved, their families and loved ones, and continue to put everybodys health and the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic at risk. Recent surveys have shown that the majority of people believe that they are doing the right thing, but the reality is that the level of casual contacts remains high. The force will be continuing nationwide checkpoints and high visibility patrols at public amenities, parks and beauty spots across the country this weekend in support of public health regulations. It is again advising the public of the need to plan their activities over the weekend to take into account that people are only allowed to exercise within five kilometres of their home. Deputy Commissioner Anne Marie McMahon said: The vast majority of people are complying with the public health regulations. In doing so, they have made major sacrifices. This effort has saved many lives. We thank them for that. Unfortunately, despite the constant public health advice, we are still seeing people attending house parties and other large social gatherings. Going to such gatherings puts yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else you come into contact with after of getting Covid-19. The Garda has issued approximately 13,600 Covid-19 fines across the range of all Covid-19 breaches. They include: non-essential travel; non-essential journeys to airports/ports; organising or attending a house party; not wearing a face covering and discretionary travel by people not ordinarily resident in the State. More people travelling and going back to their workplaces could increase coronavirus infection levels in coming weeks, public health experts have warned. Progress in reducing infection rates has stalled while the country remains at Level 5 restrictions. About 60% of employees are going to work compared with a quarter during the first lockdown. NPHET Statement: The @hpscireland has today been notified of 10 additional deaths related to #COVID19. The median age of those who died was 67 years and the age range was 41 - 83 years. There has been a total of 4,518 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. Department of Health (@roinnslainte) March 12, 2021 The R number rate of reproduction of the virus is estimated as stable, at 0.6-1, NPHET has said. The number of daily hospital admissions is running at around 20-30. Thursday marked one year since medics reported Irelands first death related to Covid-19. More than 4,500 people have lost their lives with this disease. On Thursday, NPHET endorsed new guidance which allows for more regular nursing home visiting. The new guidance comes into effect from March 22. REDDING, Calif. The City of Redding welcomed the new Chick-fil-A with open arms and long lines Thursday morning. The Redding Police Department Traffic Unit had to ask people Thursday night to avoid the Dana Drive entrance to Mt. Shasta Mall due to the long line at the restaurant. Staff at the restaurant, known for chicken its sandwiches and special sauce, said some customers arrived at about 11 p.m. Wednesday night to be the first in line to get their chicken sandwich fix. The national chain restaurant is located at the Mt. Shasta Mall, and traffic to get in once the store opened Thursday morning was backed up for blocks on Hilltop Drive. Redding Police were dispatched to the area to help keep traffic flowing. Shas-Com dispatcher Shannon Peterson, said Thursday afternoon, she would be there if she could. She laughed and said, "I'm taking my husband there for dinner tonight." One Chick-Fil-A employee said, by 2 p.m. Thursday, thousands of customers had already been through the drive-thru. The restaurant has not yet opened the in-person dining. This Chick-Fil-A location is the only one of its kind north of Sacramento. Big Ben was stolen from Palestine. So claimed an elderly woman, in Arabic, in a retweeted clip I received recently. Yes, that Big Ben: the great bell in the iconic clock tower of Londons Palace of Westminster. The British took it, she said, from a tower they demolished at Hebron Gate in Jerusalem in 1922. The claim pulled me up short. It seemed so outlandish. Who would invent something so easy to refute? And why? The woman spoke with great conviction, but could she really believe what she was saying? And if this was a hoax, then who was perpetrating it on whom? ADVERTISEMENT These questions sent me down a Big Ben rabbit hole. A matter of seconds Before I share what I discovered, lets pause here for a moment, where many would have shrugged and moved on. Youd have to have some prior interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict or the history of British colonialism to give the claim even a moments thought. And even then, youd most likely judge it fact or fake, depending on your prior allegiances. Palestinians and their allies would likely see it as further evidence of colonialist dispossession; their opponents would see a Palestinian lie to garner sympathy and incite resentment. In neither case would viewers have felt any need to investigate further. In this age of information overload, its a matter of seconds before the next incoming message pings for our attention. From my perspective, as a cognitive psychologist who researches how people justify their beliefs and assess the credibility of sources, it seems that this is where misinformation causes most damage less by convincing people of specific untruths than by reducing the motivation to distinguish fact from fiction. Relentless bombardment by incoming stories on social media makes our attention an increasingly scarce resource. And, as technologies of fabrication proliferate, the chance increases that any given story we encounter is fake. Worse still, research suggests that fake stories travel six times faster and farther on social media than do factual ones. The net effect is general pollution of the information environment. Long before the invention of the smartphone and the rise of social media, trust was declining in institutions and those who lead them. New communication technologies are accelerating and intensifying these processes. People are becoming less trusting in general and more likely to place an exaggerated level of trust in sources whose views echo their own. If these trends continue, reasoned debate with those whose views differ from our own will become rarer and more difficult. There will be a shrinking pool of facts on which those at the ideological extremes will be prepared to agree and a growing sense among the skeptical that debate is pointless because everything is ultimately a matter of opinion. So, when do facts matter? And how can we distinguish them from fabrications? Down the Big Ben rabbit hole In my case, the clip hit a nerve. I was born in London and emigrated to Israel 25 years ago. Im familiar enough with London, Jerusalem and Middle Eastern geopolitics to have smelled a rat. So, I had motive to investigate. But, were it not for recent research, I might not have had the means. In a recent series of pioneering studies, Stanford cognitive psychologist Sam Wineburg and his History Education Group have shown how bad people are at assessing the credibility of what they read online. With the notable exception of professional fact checkers, were all bad at it: professors no less than schoolkids; digital natives no less than digital immigrants. Based on what fact checkers did differently, Wineburgs group developed online lessons to teach lateral reading which involves quick comparison across sites and sources rather than close reading of the target source. This enables readers to determine where information is coming from before they read it. So, going lateral, I went straight to Wikipedia to look up Big Ben. Contrary to snobbish dismissals by some academics, Wikipedia is perhaps the most robust engine of peer review ever created. Although it can be edited by anyone, and entries on controversial topics are occasionally inaccurate, Wikipedias processes of editorial oversight and control, including insistence on accurate citations to substantiate claims, make it a useful first stop on any fact-checking journey. I discovered (well, duh!) that the bell was cast at Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London and installed in the Palace of Westminster, with much pomp and circumstance, in 1858. Next, I checked the Wikipedia entry on the clock tower at Hebron Gate in Jerusalem and discovered that it was not built until 1908 a full half-century after Big Bens installation in London. Next, I tracked down the Twitter account from which the clip had been forwarded. It belonged to a pro-Israel satirical site, TheMossadIL, which masquerades as the official Twitter feed of Israels secret service. But the clip hadnt originated there it had been reposted by that account as an object of ridicule. I noticed that the clip had a TikTok watermark a stamp that appears automatically at the top and bottom of every downloaded TikTok video, comprising the TikTok logo and video creators username which identified the clips author as @aliarisheq. So, thats where I went next. The feed, seemingly curated by a young Arabic-speaking woman, contained additional clips featuring the woman in the Big Ben clip and advertisements for jewelry. Using the View Page Source (Ctrl + U) function in my Chrome browser, I learned that the clip in question was uploaded at 17:12 on Dec. 19, 2019. The woman claiming that Big Ben was stolen in 1922 looked like she was in her 70s. To have witnessed the alleged theft, she would have to be a centenarian. So she wasnt a witness: What we had here was an oral tradition, of which she was, at best, a second- or third-hand bearer. Protecting from pollution All of which means that unless the many corroborating sources cited in Wikipedias Big Ben entry are an elaborate hoax of QAnon proportions, her claim doesnt have a leg to stand on. Big Ben was not stolen from Palestine and has no place on lists of controversial cultural artifacts like the Parthenon Marbles that former colonial powers are being asked to return to their countries of origin. I emerged from this rabbit hole reassured about my ability to ferret out fakery when it matters. But it had taken hours. And I could think of few people to whom the outcome of my investigation would matter. For me, the moral of the tale is threefold. First, the idea that a person can, on any given day, sift through every incoming story, sorting fact from fiction, is increasingly implausible. Theres just too much of both. [Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversations newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.] Second, this doesnt mean that the fact-versus-opinion distinction should be retired as a quaint idea from a bygone era. When it matters, theres little we cant eventually figure out. Third, the greatest challenge fake news poses may be an ecological one: namely, how to protect precious natural resources our time and attention from its pollution. Disproving fake news is time-consuming. But ignoring it corrodes trust. A disgraced former Royal Navy commander, who was once honoured by the Queen, has avoided jail after being caught on camera by paedophile hunters posing as a 14-year-old boy. Lieutenant Commander Graham Trewhella, from Gosport in Hampshire, blamed 'loneliness' after being arrested for using dating app Grindr to meet someone he thought was a teenage boy, a court heard. But when he arrived to meet George, the 62-year-old was instead greeted by a man from vigilante paedophile hunting group Trap, an online organisation with more than 241,000 likes on Facebook. Hampshire Police were called by the group and later found more than 1,000 indecent images of children on his computer. Trewhella was arrested by officers on October 28, 2017, before retiring from his position in the Navy. Portsmouth Crown Court heard that the father of three, who used his own photos for his Grindr profile, spent two days messaging someone he believed to be a 14-year-old boy called 'George'. Following his arrest, police found nearly 1,100 indecent images of children on his Dell computer - including 329 of the most severe category - with analysis suggesting searches for the images dated back to 2015. Trewhella pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to arrange or facilitate a child sex offence, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and three charges of making indecent images. Prosecutor Nicholas Hall told the court the disgraced naval officer at one point said he wanted 'maybe (sex) later'. Mr Hall said: 'The person posing as George made it plain that he was only 14 and asked whether the defendant would be happy with that and he said that he was. 'This went on for certainly two days.' Lieutenant Commander Graham Trewhella (pictured) 62, from Gosport in Hampshire, was caught by paedophile hunters from the online group Trap when he tried to meet a 14-year-old boy In a video uploaded to Trap's social media pages, a shocked Trewhella stands in a hat and grey Rab coat, and is challenged by a man who tells him: 'You've thrown your life away'. Struggling for words, Trewhalla replies: 'I don't do anything outside' and 'I wasn't going to do anything'. When he later spoke to probation, Trewhella admitted his actions were 'absolutely wrong' and 'unbelievably irresponsible'. 'When I look at what I've done now it horrifies me - I'm incredibly remorseful.' Trewhella had been named on the New Year's honours list in 2009 for services to the Royal Navy. In mitigation, Phillip Allman told the hearing that Trewhella's three children had remained supportive of their father. He added that his actions came as 'a result of loneliness' after splitting with his wife 15 years ago, saying: 'This is the most remarkable stain on his character. 'It's something he will ultimately have to live with for the rest of his life,' Mr Allman said. Sentencing, Recorder Simon Levene handed him a 17 month jail sentence suspended for two years, commenting that putting him behind bars would do 'nothing towards he rehabilitation'. Mr Levene said: 'You are deeply ashamed and very, very embarrassed - not just at being caught but at what you realise you've been up to over the last few years. 'I accept that this is a case where I can suspend the sentence because I think that you fall into that category of offender who can be helped.' He added that in jailing him there was a risk that sex criminals in prison could make him an even worse offender. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 22:25:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on March 11, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) - It is vital to recalibrate U.S.-China relations and beware of miscalculation and misperception, experts said. - "We should be hopeful that 2021 could be a pivotal year in rethinking the way in which the two nations approach one another in the broadest senses of the world." NEW YORK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- It is vital to recalibrate U.S.-China relations, which have strained over the last four years, and beware of miscalculation and misperception, experts have said. "The U.S.-China bilateral relationship is undoubtedly the most important relationship between two countries in the first half of the 21st century," Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, told Xinhua in a recent interview. "If we were staying on the path that we had been on," he said, referring to the approach put in place by the former U.S. administration, "that would really be an unfortunate and very disturbing outcome for the two countries individually as well as for the world as a whole." "We should be hopeful that 2021 could be a pivotal year in rethinking the way in which the two nations approach one another in the broadest senses of the world," said Roach, a longtime watcher on U.S.-China relations. Noting the framework that was put in place by the previous U.S. administration "was a framework that was destined for conflict and failure," which "really accomplished nothing," he said a more workable approach is needed to bring bilateral ties back to the normal track. People walk on Broadway in Burlingame, California, the United States, March 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) The renowned scholar said it is better for President Joe Biden's administration to "start with a clean piece of paper" when framing policies toward China. Experts have noted that it is crucial to spur the cooperative elements in this consequential bilateral relationship, as cooperation brings benefits, whilst confrontation will only cause harm. Despite the differences between the United States and China, "there's much that we share in terms of the aspirations of our large populations in both nations," said Roach. "If we focus on the aspirations of our respected people, we will be in a better place to resolve the conflict," he noted. Kenneth Quinn, former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, recently told Xinhua via email that "U.S.-Chinese cooperation is absolutely essential to our planet" dealing effectively with critical issues such as ensuring global food security, offsetting the effects of climate change, preventing future pandemics in human and animal diseases, and preserving global peace. Both the United States and China have much to gain from cooperation, including "peace, expanded markets, accelerated technological progress, the avoidance of a new arms race, progress against COVID-19, a robust global jobs recovery, and a shared effort against climate change," Jeffrey Sachs, an economics professor at Columbia University and a senior United Nations advisor, said in an article published last month. "Cooperation is not cowardice," he said in the piece titled "Why the U.S. Should Pursue Cooperation with China," adding the Biden administration's foreign policy with China "should begin with a search for cooperation rather than a presumption of conflict." Citizens wearing face masks are seen on an escalator in Hong Kong, south China, March 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Lo Ping Fai) As China has pledged that it will take an active part in international cooperation on fighting COVID-19, continue to open up to the world, and promote sustainable development and a new type of international relations, "U.S. diplomacy would be wise to aim for engagement with China in these areas," said Sachs. In their efforts to foster a constructive relationship, both sides should be mindful of miscalculations, according to experts. While both the United States and China have an incentive to cooperate in a number of areas, miscalculation is possible, Joseph S. Nye Jr., a professor at Harvard University, said in an article published on Project Syndicate last week. Miscalculation can lead to overreaction, said the renowned U.S. political scientist. "Both sides must beware miscalculation. After all, more often than not, the greatest risk we face is our own capacity for error," he emphasized. Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2015 shows the national flags of China (R) and the United States as well as the flag of Washington D.C. on the Constitution Avenue in Washington, capital of the United States.(Xinhua/Bao Dandan) Although it may take time to fix the relationship, experts have voiced their hope for sound and healthy U.S.-China ties. Roach said he remains "hopeful that we have an opportunity to do much better." Quinn, who had a 32-year career as a U.S. diplomat, said he was encouraged that leaders from both countries spoke right before the Lunar New Year. He said he hoped this development could provide a "welcome opportunity for the Year of the Ox to be one during which steady progress can be made in improving both the atmosphere and the substance of the bilateral relationship." 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. The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade with decent gains in mid-morning trade amid positive global cues. Shares in capital good segment gained for the second day. The Nifty was trading above the 15,250 mark. At 11:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 336.71 points or 0.66% to 51,616.22. The Nifty 50 index added 97.5 points or 0.64% to 15,272.30. Global investors cheered the European Central Bank (ECB)'s pledge to step up the pace of bond purchases to keep rising yields from derailing the European region's economic recovery. The ECB on Thursday said it would use its 1.85 trillion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) more generously over the coming months to stop any unwarranted rise in debt financing costs. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.81% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1%. The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1686 shares rose and 1027 shares fell. A total of 196 shares were unchanged. COVID-19 Update: Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 118,545,934 with 2,629,240 deaths. India reported 1,97,237 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,58,306 deaths while 1,09,53,303 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Primary Market: The initial public offer (IPO) of Anupam Rasayan India received bids for 37.60 lakh shares as against 97.01 lakh shares on offer, according to the stock exchange data at 11:30 IST on Friday (12 March 2021). The issue was subscribed 0.39 times. The issue opened for bidding on Friday, 12 March 2021, and it will close on Tuesday, 16 March 2021. The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 553-555 per share. The IPO comprises of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 760 crore (including anchor portion of 40,48,647 equity shares). Buzzing Index: The S&P BSE Capital Goods index was up 1.43% at 22702.52. The index has added 2.62% in two sessions while the benchmark Sensex has added 1.14% during the same period. Among the index components, Kalpataru Power Transmission (up 2.82%), Siemens (up 2.70%), Larsen & Toubro (up 2.28%), Grindwell Norton (up 1.90%), V-Guard Industries (up 1.66%) were the top gainers. Other gainers included Carborundum Universal (up 2.08%), Lakshmi Machine Works (up 1.93%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.82%) and Havells India (up 1.30%). Stocks in Spotlight: SBI Life Insurance Company slipped 1% to Rs 930.60, amid strong volumes. On the BSE, 5.43 crore shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 85,648 shares in the past one quarter. The media reported that BNP Paribas Cardif is looking to sell its stake in SBI Life Insurance. As of 31 December 2020, BNP Cardif, classified as promoter group, held 5.2% stake in SBI Life. Happiest Minds Technologies rose 1.05% to Rs 547.35 after the IT company said that it has entered into a partnership with Ilantus Technologies to enhance its identity and access management capabilities. The partnership enables Happiest Minds to manage and safeguard an organization's intellectual property from Identity and Access theft while enhancing their risk and regulatory governance landscape. Global Markets: Asian stocks drifted higher Friday, taking cues from Wall Street where stocks climbed to record highs overnight. US stocks climbed to record highs Thursday as the comeback in tech shares resumed, while the signing of additional fiscal stimulus gave sentiment a further boost. President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package into law Thursday afternoon. The plan will send direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans, and will also put nearly $20 billion into Covid-19 vaccinations and $350 billion into state, local and tribal relief. The White House said Thursday that stimulus checks could start hitting bank accounts this weekend. On the data front, investors cheered a slightly better-than-expected reading on weekly jobless claims. The Labor Department reported that first-time filings for unemployment insurance in the week ended March 6 totaled a seasonally adjusted 712,000. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for unemployment aid dropped by 42,000 from 754,000 the week before. Elsewhere, Euro zone bond yields fell after the European Central Bank said it was ready to accelerate money-printing to keep a lid on borrowing costs, using its 1.85 trillion euro Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) more generously over the coming months to stop any unwarranted rise in debt financing costs. Bond yields in the euro zone have been ticking higher since February, in line with the yield on U.S. Treasury notes. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippine, March 12) Amid calls from lawmakers to declare a state of emergency due to the spread of African Swine Fever, the Department of Agriculture said it will submit its recommendation regarding the matter any time next week. We are finalizing our recommendation base doon sa rekomandasyon galing sa Senado (based on the Senate's recommendation). Anytime this week we will be sending our position and recommendation to the palace, DA Secretary William Dar said Friday during the Laging Handa briefing. He later clarified he meant anytime next week. In a hearing on Tuesday, members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform supported Senator Francis Pangilinans request to file a resolution urging the DA to declare a state of emergency in Luzon, where most of the 40 provinces affected by the hog disease are located. A state of emergency would allow the government to allocate more funds for additional measures to address the problem and to provide support to affected hog raisers. Once the country declares a state of calamity due to the worsening ASF situation, Pangilinan on Saturday said the DA can raise money from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund and Quick Response Fund to help the hog industry recover from the impact of "what has been called COVID of pigs". Pangilinan also assured that the Senate will pass on Monday the resolution seeking to place the country under a state of calamity. This came after senators on Wednesday agreed with Pangilinan's resolution urging the DA to recommend to the President the declaration of a state of calamity due to ASF. Currently, Dar said they have alloted 1.1 billion to a hog repopulation program this year. Broken down, 400 million be used to establish breeder farms, 200 million repopulation in ASF-affected areas, and 500 million for loans to backyard raisers. Another 1.5 billion has been allocated to the agencys monitoring program in the barangay-level, and some 27 billion has been secured from the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines as additional loan program. But Dar noted a decreasing trend in the number of ASF incidents in the country since October last year. Based on data from the Bureau of Animal Industry, cases peaked to 1,773 in August 2020, then went down to 1,556 the following month. By October, it declined to 597, which continued until it reached only 62 cases as of March 2021. I would like to believe that this is an indication that quarantine and surveillance strategies that we have put in place are really working and we will continue to do so and much more with working with the local government units, Dar said. The country first reported an ASF outbreak in 2019. Since then, more than 400,000 pigs have been culled, around 4% of the total swine inventory of 9.72 million head as of January 1, 2021. Latest data in inventory was a decline of 24.1% from the previous years level, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. On This Day The Day Aung San Left for India to Discuss Anti-Colonialism Ko Aung San (second from left) and the five-member Doh Bamar Asiayone (We Burmans Association) delegation. Kano, Nigeria, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Mar, 2021 ) :Gunmen raided a college in northwestern Nigeria and kidnapped 39 students, government officials and parents said on Friday, in the latest mass abduction targeting a school. The kidnap gang stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Kaduna state, around 9:30pm (2030 GMT) on Thursday, shooting indiscriminately before taking students. The Kaduna college was said to have some 300 male and female students -- mostly aged 17 and older -- at the time of the attack. Kaduna state commissioner for internal security Samuel Aruwan said 39 of the students were missing while the army was able to rescue 180 people after a battle with the gunmen. "Further checks in the wake of the attack by armed bandits... indicate that 39 students are currently unaccounted for," including 23 females and 16 males, Aruwan said in a statement late Friday. He had initially said 30 students were unaccounted for. Aruwan said the state government "is maintaining close communication with the management of the college as efforts are sustained by security agencies towards the tracking of the missing students." The commissioner said some of the rescued students were injured during the operation and were being treated at a military hospital. - 'Appeal to the government' - Police and military personnel stood guard around the college at the outskirts of Kaduna city on Friday afternoon as anxious parents and families waited for news. A fighter jet flew overhead. Government officials said the students were found to be missing after a headcount at the college, and parents said they had been taken by the gunmen. "We have confirmed from her colleagues our daughter Sera is with the abductors," Helen Sunday told reporters, tears rolling down her face. "I appeal to the government to help rescue our children." "It is unacceptable for parents to send their children to school only to be kidnapped by criminal elements," said Denis John, who said his brother was among those taken. Heavily-armed gangs in northwest and central Nigeria have stepped up attacks in recent years, kidnapping for ransom, raping and pillaging. The bandits have recently turned their focus to schools where they kidnap students or schoolchildren for ransom -- Thursday's was at least the fourth such attack since December. Mass kidnappings in the northwest are complicating security challenges facing President Muhammadu Buhari's security forces who are also battling a more than decade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast. He heard those taunts from friends, neighbor kids, a relative, and yet never inside the Chicago church where he grew up. In that South Side house of worship, he was encouraged and praised, and if anyone imagined he was gay, no one said it. He didnt say it either, even as he got older and felt the stirrings of his sexuality. He was willing to stay silent if it meant he could stay in that church where he felt loved. Angola, IN (46703) Today Partly cloudy this morning. Increasing clouds with periods of showers this afternoon. High 67F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 56F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stated in a monthly update yesterday that the current reading signalling a further expansion in the services sector in India, which makes up more than 50% of India's gross domestic product, further increases the positive prospects for the economy. As is the case with other economies around the globe, there is cautious optimism due to the high dependence of the economic recovery on improvement of vaccination rates, which would translate into a reduction in social distancing restrictions. So far India has been highly proactive in securing vaccines yet the vaccinated population rate needs to increase considerably to meet the government goal of reaching 300 million Indians by the end of 1H21. Uncertainty remains and the downside risk is related to the stressed financial market, the waning fiscal impulse as well as concerns about another COVID-19 wave on both global and local levels. OPEC noted that considering the signs of broader recovery in 4Q20 and the first two months of 2021, India's 2021 GDP growth forecast is revised up to 9.0% from 7.5% last month. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Methodist Hospital received its first COVID-19 patient one year ago Saturday. Since then, its treated more than 3,200 patients, officials said. To mark the somber milestone, the COVID-19 unit care teams will gather for a candlelit vigil at 7 p.m. at the main entrance of Methodist Hospital, 7700 Floyd Curl Drive. Masks and social distancing are required. With fly-tipping figures rising once again, what can be done to tackle the growing scourge on farmers and landowners? The UKs rural areas are suffering from a rapid surge in fly-tipping, with the number of recorded incidents in England having increased by nearly 50% since 2012/13. The growth of the crime is more than just a blot on the landscape and an inconvenience, it is extremely expensive. Landowners and farmers are often left to bear the costs of rubbish left on private land. It has led to widespread anger amongst rural communities and resulted in calls for rules to go further in supporting landowners. The problem The latest figures from Defra show that councils dealt with just under 1 million incidents of fly-tipping in 2019-20, which is a 2% rise on the previous year. However, these statistics only account for reported incidents on public land. Incidents on private land are likely to be far greater, but with most authorities unwilling to take responsibility for cases on private land, it is difficult for landowners to report and they are usually left to clear up the rubbish themselves. There is no requirement for councils to play a role when waste is dumped on private land, meaning these cases are rarely investigated, leaving it as one of the only crimes where the victim is left to bear the costs of criminal action. In fact, if a landowner fails to clear up fly-tipped waste, they themselves are liable to be prosecuted. Punishments Harsh new sentencing laws were brought into force back in 2014, these mean that magistrates can hand down fines of up to 50,000 or a 12 month prison sentence, whilst those convicted in a Crown court can receive an unlimited fine and up to 5 year behind bars. There were also new rules introduced that meant householders can face fines of up to 400 if they pass their waste onto an unlicenced carrier and it is subsequently found illegally dumped. However, although these powers now exist, they are rarely used, as magistrates commonly hand down fines around the 400 mark, at the same time landowners are left with an average clean-up cost in excess of 800. What needs to change? Many farmers have been taking steps such as barricading access to land and putting up cameras to try and counter fly-tipping, as well as wider rural crime. However, farming leaders believe significant change is required to stop the problem at source. Tim Bamford is the Country, Land and Business Associations (CLA) leading authority on fly-tipping, he believes that reform needs to begin with greater punishments. We and others are lobbying for increased sentencing. The amount of money landowners and authorities spend dealing with the scourge of fly-tipping in no way correlates with the fines that magistrates are handing down. Fly-tipping incidents on private land are likely to be far greater "Punishments have got to be increased so that the risk-reward profile changes and criminal gangs see less worth in fly-tipping." He also explained that there is far too much onus on the landowner to deal with the problem on private land, and that authorities need to be doing more. Fundamentally, this is a criminal activity and we do not believe that it is right that the landlord should be the one left out of pocket for being affected. I think local authorities have a very big part to play in this, there has got to be more investigation of fly-tipping on private land, far too often these incidents are not investigated at all. The CLA have introduced a five-point action plan to combat fly-tipping, in which they call for the appointment of a national figurehead to co-ordinate national agencies in tackling fly-tipping and monitor the scale of the problem on both public and private land. The lack of statistics showing the size of the problem on private land is holding action back. Mr Bamford said: For government to take this seriously we need hard statistics not just anecdotal evidence to back up our claims. "Government figures do not look at incidents on private land, it is a challenge to collect this data, we ran a trial to record these numbers last year, but it was cut short by the pandemic. He went on to say that there are various apps farmers can use to report cases and suggests that one called ClearWaste is particularly effective as it is linked to the authorities. Local authorities should also be doing more to offer legal routes for people to dispose of waste, according to Mr Bamford. Small scale drops make up the largest percentage of fly-tipping which points to a problem with the reduced availability, and growing costs of using council tips. "If it is much easier for someone to throw their rubbish in a hedge than it is to take it to a tip then there is a problem. The other significant issue is that it is far too easy for people to get a waste carrier licence, he added. The system is not fit for purpose, it needs improving so that there is greater scrutiny placed on applicants, and I am glad that this is now under review. Case studies Swanbourne Estate, Buckinghamshire, has a wide bridleway running through it which had always suffered from small drops of household waste in the ditches. But it has recently witnessed a more serious spate of fly-tipping. Just after the first lockdown a lorry load of car parts were found tipped on the path, which cost the estate around 1000 to remove. Many farmers have been taking steps such as barricading access to land Manager Tom Finchett said: I did report it but because it is private land, albeit on a right of way, they were not interested, and neither were the police even though the car parts turned out to have been stolen from a site in Kent. Five months later the same spot saw a repeat performance which persuaded the estate to take action. We have put a sinkable bollard in to block up the entrance without closing off the bridleway, this seems to have worked and fortunately we have not yet had anything tipped in front of it, he said. Elsewhere, the Beech Estate, near Battle, East Sussex has been victim to a spate of fly-tipping by organised criminals. Most recently they found a lorry load of building waste dumped in one of their wildflower meadows. Owner Harry Wills said: Whoever dumped it must have scouted the site out very well as it was not straightforward, they had to reverse through two gateways and behind a hedge. He said that it cost just shy of 1000 to clear up and that it came just two months after they had cleared two skips worth of waste that had been dumped in the farms woodland. I tried to register it with both Rother Council and the police, but neither were interested because it is on private land, meaning that it is not officially recorded anywhere. We have locked all of the gateways we can in a bid to put off potential fly-tippers, but it will not stop anyone who is really determined. For the last seven years, Elisa Cardona has worked as a hostess at the Pacific Gateway Hotel near Vancouver, greeting guests at the breakfast restaurant and helping servers when needed. With the job, Cardona, a single mother who immigrated to Canada from Mexico nearly two decades ago, had been able to afford a comfortable lifestyle for her and her two children. Elisa Cardona, who was laid off from her job at Pacific Gateway Hotel, poses for a photograph outside the hotel in Richmond, B.C., on Thursday, March 11, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck For the last seven years, Elisa Cardona has worked as a hostess at the Pacific Gateway Hotel near Vancouver, greeting guests at the breakfast restaurant and helping servers when needed. With the job, Cardona, a single mother who immigrated to Canada from Mexico nearly two decades ago, had been able to afford a comfortable lifestyle for her and her two children. But when the pandemic struck last March, she and the hotels other employees, many of whom are women and immigrants, were laid off. With a lack of travel weighing down bookings, the hotel has refused to commit to bringing its workforce back, leaving workers like Cardona to fend for themselves with no end in sight. Im on the verge of going homeless if things continue this way, Cardona said. Even if I had enough savings, Im looking at a long way to get back to work. Canadas tourism industry has been devastated by the pandemic, with a full recovery not expected for at least several years. But COVID-19 has taken an especially difficult toll on women, immigrants and youth, who make up an outsized share of the tourism industry, according to a report released Monday by Destination Canada, a Crown corporation that promotes domestic tourism. The report highlights the pandemics toll not only on a particular sector of the economy, which shed 500,000 jobs in 2020, but also its disproportionate impact on the economic well-being of certain communities. For example, immigrants comprise 26 per cent of Canadas tourism workforce, compared with 23.8 per cent of the total labour force, the report says. In addition, more than 30 per cent of the jobs in tourism are held by Canadians aged 15 to 24, compared with 12.7 per cent of the total workforce, it says. In travel services, the business sector most impacted by COVID-19, women make up 70.7 per cent of the workforce, the report says. Women employed in accommodation and food and beverage services, two other sectors within tourism, comprise 60.3 per cent and 57.7 per cent of total employees in those areas, respectively. In response to the layoffs at their hotels, Cardona and other workers in British Columbia launched a campaign this week called Unequal Women, an effort to help women employed in the hotel industry keep their jobs. The campaign, which is led by Unite Here Local 40, the hotel and hospitality workers union, says the hotels have permanently laid off workers even as they anticipate an eventual recovery. The job losses in the tourism industry, if sustained for long periods of time, could lead to further economic struggles for laid-off workers. In particular, women and any other group that is experiencing prolonged bouts of joblessness may find it more difficult to re-enter the workforce once the economy picks up again, said Dawn Desjardins, vice president and deputy chief economist at RBC. The longer you remain unemployed, the more risks are generated with respect to an erosion of your skills, Desjardins said. The networks you set up when you are working, those networks also erode. In a report co-authored by Desjardins, RBC found that women have been disproportionately affected by job losses since the start of the pandemic, echoing Destination Canadas findings. Almost 100,000 women aged 20 and up have exited the labour market entirely, compared with fewer than 10,000 men, says the report, which was released this month. Meanwhile, the tourism industry faces a long road to recovery. Eve Pare, president and chief executive officer of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal, said she isnt expecting a meaningful rebound in hotel bookings before 2022. At the start of the pandemic, her organizations members were forced to lay off about 90 per cent of their staff, many of whom are youth, women and immigrants. But when business finally picks up again, she is worried that the industry may struggle to find workers, as laid-off employees are forced to seek work elsewhere during the pandemic. We were in a labour shortage before, Pare said. Are they going to come back? Im not quite sure. This report by The Canadian Press was first publishedMarch 12, 2021. House lawmakers approved a COVID-19 relief bill that authorizes the governor to borrow money to stabilize the unemployment system and freezes the UI rate for Massachusetts business owners. The bill authorizes the governor to borrow up to $7 billion to bring the unemployment insurance fund out of the red. At the end of December, the fund was more than $2 billion in the negative. The legislation also requires employers to offer paid leave to employees who test positive for COVID-19 or need time off to get vaccinated, as well as offer tax relief to unemployed workers whose income falls below 200% of the poverty line. Were trying to help small businesses get back on their feet, said House Speaker Ron Mariano, a Quincy Democrat. The more money we can keep in and under the control of the small business owners, the better off were all going to be. The bill will head to the Senate next. After hours of debate Thursday, lawmakers approved the bill, 155-0. Three Republicans Reps. Jay Barrows, Angelo DEmilia and Donald Wong and Independent Rep. Susannah M. Whipps of Athol voted present. Under the bill, small business owners with forgiven Paycheck Protection Program loans would be allowed to exclude the money from their gross income and still claim the deductions for expenses that were originally paid for with PPP money. House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said he heard from small business owners who didnt expect to have to include the forgiven PPP loans into their grants. Congress passed a stimulus bill in December that allows businesses with forgiven PPP loans to exclude the funds from their gross taxable income and still claim the deductions for expenses that were paid for with PPP money. In Massachusetts, corporations were able to take advantage of this benefit because the state conforms to the federal tax code when it comes to corporations. But the state does not default to the federal tax code when it comes to individual income taxes, meaning smaller businesses known as pass-through entities including LLCs could not exclude forgiven PPP loans from their gross income come tax time. They werent thinking about, you know, what tax decision theyd have to make in the future, said Michlewitz, a North End Democrat. They were thinking of how they were going to stay open in the midst of an economic shutdown, and I think in order to protect these small businesses and allow them to get back to potentially where they were ... I think this loan forgiveness here is an appropriate step to be taking. Critics of the proposal, however, say that the money offers a double benefit for PPP recipients, not only receiving loans that were ultimately forgivable but also getting to claim deductions for expenses they didnt pay for with their own money while other business owners have access to neither form of relief. It simply is not true that without legislation people are going to be taxed on their forgiven PPP loans, Peter D. Enrich, professor of law emeritus at Northeastern University School of Law who serves on the board of left-leaning think tank MassBudget, told MassLive earlier this month. That is simply a confused narrative that has been exploited by lobbyists for the business community. When asked about business owners who did not receive PPP loans, Michlewitz said, Its hard to say exactly what to speak to those that didnt get it, but he said small businesses who did receive PPP loans, even those that were forgiven, still need relief. When a lot of the businesses were getting the PPP loan or requesting the PPP loan, they were in the midst of survival, he said. The unemployment insurance rate freeze aims to bring relief to Massachusetts employers, who expected to see rates increase from $539 per employee to $866 per employee. The freeze takes effect immediately, covering the period from Jan. 1 of this year through Dec. 31, 2022. State officials said the state is facing a potentially $5 billion gap in unemployment insurance. The ability to borrow up to $7 billion to help stabilize the unemployment system not only lessens the burden on employers and the states minimizes borrowing costs, said Labor and Workforce Development Chairman Josh Cutler, a Duxbury Democrat. Mariano said the bill includes language mandating a report on any issues with the unemployment system with a December deadline. We are facing a potential $5 billion hole, and thats real and something were going to have to deal with, he said. The bonding is a short-term solution. If we could figure a way to make some long-term changes in the system, we will do that. Related Content: Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 41 Colleges In Connecticut for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 151 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each institution 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 151 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 41 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. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-colleges-in-connecticut/ 2021 Top Colleges In Connecticut featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Academy Di Capelli School of Cosmetology Albertus Magnus College Asnuntuck Community College Capital Community College Central Connecticut State University Charter Oak State College Connecticut College Fairfield University Gateway Community College, Connecticut Hartford Seminary Holy Apostles College and Seminary Housatonic Community College Lyme Academy College Of Fine Arts Manchester Community College Manchester Community College Middlesex Community College Mitchell College Naugatuck Valley Community College Northwestern Connecticut Community College Norwalk Community College Paier College Of Art Post University Quinebaug Valley Community College Quinnipiac University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hartford Sacred Heart University Southern Connecticut State University Three Rivers Community College Trinity College Tunxis Community College United States Coast Guard Academy University of Bridgeport University of Connecticut University Of Connecticut, Avery Point University Of Connecticut, Stamford University of Hartford University of New Haven University of Saint Joseph Wesleyan University Western Connecticut State University Yale 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/. BANGALORE, India, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blister Packaging Market is Segmented by Type (Low Speed: up to 200 Blisters/min, Medium Speed: 200-600 Blisters/min, High Speed: above 600 Blisters/min), by Application (Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Industrial Goods, Food) : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2026. This report is published on Valuates Reports in the Packaging Category. The global Blister Packaging market size is projected to reach USD 22430 Million by 2026, from USD 15760 Million in 2019, at a CAGR of 5.1% during 2021-2026. Major factors driving the growth of blister packaging market size are: Growing demand from end-use industries such as healthcare, food, consumer goods, and industrial goods. Offers advantages such as marketing, cost-effectiveness and tamper-evident design for product protection. Get Free Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-35Z3757/Global_Blister_Packaging BLISTER PACKAGING MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS On the basis of material, the plastic films segment, which is projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period, held the largest share in 2018. This is attributed to its excellent visibility of the product and secure & attractive packaging. On the basis of technology, the thermoforming segment accounted for the largest share in 2017 and is expected to dominate during the forecast period. This is due to its wide applications in the end-use sector, such as healthcare and food. Thermoforming technology is preferred over cold forming technology for blister packaging and requires low initial tools and equipment costs. The healthcare segment dominated the applications of blister packaging in 2017. Blister packaging of healthcare products reduces the possibility of product contamination and protects healthcare products from moisture, gas, light, and temperature. This is driving the demand for blister packaging in the healthcare end-use sector. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-35Z3757/global-blister-packaging TRENDS INFLUENCING THE BLISTER PACKAGING MARKET SIZE The cost-effective feature of blister packaging is expected to drive the growth of blister packaging market size. Since it uses very little material, it has proven to be both cost-effective and less wasteful than other forms of packaging. Dosage, Branding & visibility. Aesthetically, a plastic blister container is a good choice because it provides the product with a range of options for creating a visually appealing and texturally pleasing experience. Blister packaging allows the brand to create its own identity through packaging. Blister Packaging offers the possibility of creating a compliance pack or calendar pack by printing the days of the week above each dose. This allows the patient to know the dosage. Furthermore, with a plastic front, these containers allow consumers to view the product before they purchase it. Doing so provides assurance that the amount of product included is as advertised and that all parts are accounted for. Even though customers can see the item, they cannot touch it. As such, the product is protected from thieves and tampering. The rising need for product safety from manufacturers in terms of product integrity and extended shelf life is expected to drive the growth of blister packaging market size. Considering that most consumers store their drugs in a temperature variant atmosphere that can be harmful to unprotected medicines, blister packaging helps to protect drugs against external factors, such as humidity and microbial contamination, for an extended period of time as well as offers a degree of mechanical resistance from physical tampering. Opaque blisters also protect light-sensitive products against UV rays. The rising demand for convenient and easy-to-use packaging products is expected to fuel the growth of blister packaging market size. The convenience of a blister consists of its small capaciousness when carried the customer does not need to carry the whole blister-pack, but yet the hygienic safety is intact. Furthermore, The growth of blister packaging market size has increased due to the increase in demand for pharmaceutical and medical products during the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain drugs have been approved for use as an interim drug to control COVID-19 by international regulatory organisations such as the FDA. New hospitals and COVID-19 centres around the world have increased the demand for medical devices. These factors contribute to the increase in demand for blister packaging. Blister packaging is also used for industrial goods, consumer goods and food products. The demand for blister packaging in industrial and consumer goods declined, whereas a sharp increase in food products was presented to the manufacturers. Inquire for Regional Data: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-35Z3757/Global_Blister_Packaging BLISTER PACKAGING MARKET SEGMENTS Blister Packaging Breakdown Data by Type Low Speed: up to 200 Blisters/min Medium Speed: 200-600 Blisters/min High Speed: above 600 Blisters/min. Blister Packaging Breakdown Data by Application Health Care Consumer Goods Industrial Goods Food. Amcor Dowdupont Westrock Sonoco Products Constantia Flexibles Klockner Pentaplast Honeywell Tekni-Plex CPH GROUP Pharma Packaging Solutions Shanghai Haishun. Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-35Z3757&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-35Z3757&lic=enterprise-user SUBSCRIPTION We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans. SIMILAR REPORTS : - Pharmaceutical Blister Packaging Market is Segmented by Type PVC, Lidding Foils, Cold Form, PVDC, by Application Capsule Drug, Tablets Drug and by various regions. - Cold Form Blister Packaging Market size is projected to reach USD 78 Million by 2027, from USD 66 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 2.9% during 2022-2027. - The Double Blister Packaging Market is Segmented by Type Thermoforming, Coldforming, by Application Electronic Product, Personal Care, Food Industry, Cosmetics and Toiletries, Health Care, Pharmaceutical Industry and by various regions. - Thermoforming Blister Packaging Market is Segmented by Product Type Paper & Paperboard Material, Plastic Material, Aluminum Material, by Application Industrial Goods, Health Care, Consumer Goods and by various regions. - The Carded Blister Packaging Market is Segmented by Type Thermoforming, Cold forming, by Material Type Plastic, Aluminum, by Application Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics & Personal Care, Nutraceutical and by various regions. - Sliding Blister Packaging Market is Segmented by Type Low Speed: up to 200 Blisters/min, Medium Speed: 200-600 Blisters/min, High Speed: above 600 Blisters/min, by Application Pharmaceuticals, Foods, Chemicals, Consumer Goods and by various regions. - Blister Packaging Equipment Market is expected to grow from USD 1,167.75 Million in 2019 to USD 1,589.87 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.27%. Click Here To See Related Reports On Blister Packaging Market ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains a detailed research methodology employed to generate the report. Please also reach our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources. CONTACT US: Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll-Free Call +1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp : +91 9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Linkedin - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports SOURCE Valuates Reports More than five years on, many alleged victims remain unheard and disenchanted, amid claims the CFA had bowed to pressure from the powerful United Firefighters Union and allowed the problems to fester. The Age has spoken with several employees, who have asked not to be named because they fear retribution from CFA management. They have provided dozens of emails and internal CFA documents that support their claims of a quasi-military management structure that refuses to tolerate any dissent and routinely ignores misconduct. The allegations come amid a wave of anger and concern about sexual harassment within institutions and workplaces, including allegations of sexual assault levelled against men in positions of power. A CFA spokeswoman did not respond to specific questions from The Age, but issued a general statement saying the organisation was extremely concerned by the allegations raised. There is no place for bullying or harassment in the CFA and we wont back away from taking action to stamp this out, the statement said. There has been considerable reform in our HR and investigation processes over the past six months, supported by external advice and we will continue to review our work in this area, the spokeswoman said. She said the CFA was currently undertaking a number of investigations in relation to complaints raised and were continuing to provide support to staff or volunteers who wish to raise a complaint. Another woman who was employed by the CFA for almost 20 years told The Age that a group of victims were now considering legal action over the organisations repeated failure to protect its employees and properly investigate complaints. She and about seven other colleagues had first raised their concerns at a meeting in December 2018 that was attended by then chief executive Paul Smith and others. Mr Smith, who did not respond to requests for comment, had been appointed to overhaul the CFAs dysfunctional culture. But within months of commencing in the role in February 2018, Mr Smith was undermined by some members of the CFA board and executive, according to three senior CFA sources not authorised to comment publicly and fearful of recrimination. Mr Smith resigned a little over a year into his tenure and five months after the meeting one of seven chief executives to depart from the CFA in the past six years. The serious health and safety issues raised at the meeting have never been properly dealt with, according to the complainants, but instead flicked between departments, outsourced to independent investigators or kicked down the road. Loading There has been no real investigation that I could see. I was constantly ringing at the time the [CFAs] integrity department, which was the first complaint, to say where are we at, whats going on? And I wouldnt be spoken to like I was an inconvenience and a piece of dirt. It was always us ringing them we never got anything in writing about what processes they were really following, a female employee said. She said women were repeatedly overlooked for promotion, or excluded from interviews because they had not ingratiated themselves themselves with management. Another woman, who had been employed by the CFA for about five years, also raised concerns at the meeting over her mistreatment by a female manager. She claims to have been further ostracised after taking her grievance to the union in July 2018, which was immediately relayed back to her boss and at least six other CFA managers. On WorkCover for more than two years, she said CFAs integrity department and support staff had barely made contact. I have no idea where my investigation is at. Its been an ongoing nightmare that has left me in some very dark places at times, she said. Complaints raised in the 2018 meeting including the serious sexual assault allegations were eventually referred to an external company to investigate. The company said it interviewed witnesses and reviewed relevant documentation between March and June 2020. However a report by the external investigator was never released and the complainants were not told what disciplinary action, if any, was taken. CFA is unable to reveal details regarding the investigation report given its highly sensitive and legally privileged nature, according to a letter from acting CFA chief executive Catherine Greaves on October 20 last year. While CFA is not in a position to share with you all the actions that have been taken in response to this matter, you can be assured that the learnings have been taken seriously and are focused on the moving forward and establishing an environment that is safe, respectful and inclusive, Ms Greaves stated in the letter. Ms Greaves then warned the complainants could face disciplinary action if they were to leak the contents of her letter. The woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted on two occasions a decade apart said the letter she received following the completion of the external investigation felt like the CFA was just checking a box. She described the culture at the CFA as toxic. Thats the only word for it, a toxic wasteland, she said. She is now on Workcover, and prior to that was on sick leave. Ive likened it to a domestic violence relationship. The reason you stay [at the CFA], for me it was about serving the community and the frontline workers. And you have some really good experiences, really good interactions with your members. Thats what makes you stay. But then you have some really shitty experiences and you cant escape. You dont feel you can leave, she said. In 2015, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission was asked by the state government to investigate the workplace culture of the CFA after reports of systemic bullying and sexual discrimination. The findings were due to be released in 2017, however the United Firefighters Union successfully challenged the public release of the document in court and the report has since been suppressed. At the time, the Human Rights Commission expressed dismay at the courts decision, with commissioner Kristen Hilton saying she was disappointed. Thousands of people participated in the process and it is a real blow that these stories will not be heard, she said. In 2018, UFU boss Peter Marshall released a separate report that the union commissioned into workplace culture at the fire services which found firefighters do not tolerate discriminatory or improper behaviour. People in Haryana have written letters to the state's chief minister expressing concerns regarding the coronavirus vaccination. Around 50-60 residents in the southern Haryana district of Palwal claimed the COVID-19 vaccine contains cow blood, meat, and fat so they don't want to take the vaccine. According to the Times of India report, the health department in Nuh district administration also said that people were avoiding the vaccination drive as they also felt it contains "pig parts" and could "cause "infertility". So far, the phase 3 turnout in the rural districts has been very low. In Charkhi Dadri, only 463 people have been vaccinated, while in Nuh only 470. Palwal is at 17th spot among 22 districts with 1,252 inoculations. Narender Kumar, who lives in Palwal, has made up his mind that he will not take the vaccine as "there is no authenticity". Kumar told the daily that the vaccine contains "parts of the aborted foetus, pigs and chimpanzees and is also made of cow's blood". He added: "We are not even sure if COVID-19 is a real disease. We are being fed lies". Nuh deputy chief medical officer Basant Dubey also informed about the looming fears among the local residents about the coronavirus vaccines. Dubey said people think vaccines will make them infertile. While others think the vaccine contains part of a pig. To alleviate the fear, Dubey said officials are holding meetings with local communities ad spreading awareness through radio and multimedia platforms. The Palwal health department, which was asked by the government to take measures to improve the vaccination numbers, said it cannot force people to take the shots. Brahmdeep Sandhu, the district's chief medical officer said it is a voluntary affair and therefore he is not getting involved. At the moment, Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula, Sirsa, and Karnal are the five districts that have administered the most number of vaccine shots in the northern state. In Gurugram, 28,949 people have been vaccinated followed by Faridabad ( 7,406), Panchkula ( 9,068), Sirsa ( 8,903) and Karnal (6,787). Also read: 6 reasons why cryptocurrencies need to be regulated Also read: Finance Ministry asks Sebi to withdraw new rules on perpetual bonds In a primetime address on the pandemics first anniversary, President Biden told Americans that if they do their part there's a possibility they can gather with friends and family members for barbecues by Independence Day. But in a nation deeply divided over how people should conduct their lives amidst COVID-19, the president's remarks quickly came under scrutiny amid the ongoing debate between advocates of a more robust nanny state versus those who are eager to return to pre-Covid normalcy. "This is a free people, this is a free country, how dare you tell us who we can spend the Fourth of July with," conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said on his Fox News program not long after Biden had concluded his speech. He can wait for Independence Day to meet his three best friends on the White House lawn but most of us aren't living that way," author and former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson said during an interview on Carlson's program. "It was a bizarro speech ... in this bizarro world where we're all still desperately afraid of the coronavirus, where cases haven't fallen 90% since January and hospitalizations 70%, where, you know, we know exactly who's at risk from this and how most of us are at very, very low to no risk from this," Berenson said. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also characterized the speech as "bizarre." "That was the most bizarre speech from any US President Ive ever seen. Does Biden know about all the open states? He says everyone must get the vaccine & we might get to have a BBQ with our families on July 4th. Should we tell him most of us have been doing that the past year?" the Georgia Republican tweeted. GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted : "If youre waiting for permission from the chief executive to celebrate Independence Day with your family, you clearly don't grasp the concept of Independence." During the speech Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated and said that he would instruct states, tribes and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination no later than May 1. "First, tonight I'm announcing that I will direct all states, tribes and territories to make all adults people 18 and over eligible to be vaccinated no later than May 1," the president said. This "doesn't mean everyone's gonna have that shot immediately," he explained, though people can "get in line beginning May 1" and all adults will be eligible for vaccination. "I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well," Biden said. "Because here's the point: If we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4th there's a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn't mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together. After this long, hard year that will make this Independence Day something truly special where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus," the president said. The Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that individuals who have been completely inoculated can visit with other vaccinated individuals inside. It also states that those who have been vaccinated can "Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing." "So Biden says that if we're good little boys and girls, we can get together in small groups by July 4," conservative commentator Ben Shapiro tweeted, while pointing to the CDC recommendations. "In other words, he's promising something by JULY that we're already doing today. And the CDC guidance is already too restrictive by an order of magnitude. But I guess we're supposed to be grateful for any crumbs of liberty offered by his beneficent hand," Shapiro wrote. President Joe Biden has officially signed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, the largest one to date. He also did it with zero Republican support, with Texas' Republican senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz among those who voted against the bill, per the Texas Tribune's Abby Livingston. FOR THE CULTURE: Black Twitter takes Black resilience and humor online The relief plan will provide $350 billion to cities and states that saw a drop in tax revenue but increase in expenses, more than $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, nearly $10 billion in emergency mortgage aid for homeowners, extensions of unemployment payments through early September and a third round of stimulus checks, starting at $1,400. "Moneybagg Joe," a play on the moniker given to Megan Thee Stallion's rapper ex-boyfriend Moneybagg Yo, began to trend shortly after. And as of Friday morning, Twitter still had memes rolling in. The money could begin being distributed to Americans as soon as this weekend, the president said. An independent research institute based at University of Gothenburg in Sweden has branded India as an electoral autocracy in its latest Democracy Report 2021 just days after the Freedom House of the United States downgraded it from a Free Country to a Partly Free Country. The V-Dem Institute stated in its annual report that India, which was the largest democracy in the world, turned into an electoral autocracy. A major change is that India formerly the worlds largest democracy with 1.37 billion inhabitants turned into an electoral autocracy, it stated, adding, With this, electoral and closed autocracies are home to 68 per cent of the worlds population. The institute, which was founded by Professor Staffan I Lindberg in 2014, noted that liberal democracies diminished from 41 countries in 2010 to 32 in 2020, with a population share of only 14 per cent. The electoral democracies account for 60 nations and the remaining 19 per cent of the population, it added. Indias level of liberal democracy registered at 0.34 by the end of 2020 after a steep decline from its high of 0.57 in 2013. It represented a 23-percentage point drop on the 0 to 1 Liberal Democracy Index scale, making it one of the most dramatic shifts in the world over the past 10 years, alongside autocratizing countries like Brazil, Hungary, and Turkey, the V-Dem Institute reported. Also Read | US index downgrades India from 'free' to 'partly free' It claimed that Indias decline on the Liberal Democracy Index started after Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the 2014 parliamentary elections. The Indian government rarely, if ever, used to exercise censorship as evidenced by its score of 3.5 out of 4 before Modi became Prime Minister. By 2020, this score is close to 1.5 meaning that censorship efforts are becoming routine and no longer even restricted to sensitive (to the government) issues, the V-Dem (or Varieties of Democracy) Institute noted. India is, in this aspect, now as autocratic as is Pakistan, and worse than both its neighbours Bangladesh and Nepal. In general, according to the report, the Modi-led government in India has used laws on sedition, defamation, and counterterrorism to silence critics. It cited the example of over 7,000 people being charged with sedition after the BJP assumed power. It noted that most of the accused were critics of the ruling party. The Freedom House, which is based in the US, recently gave 67 points out of 100 in its latest report, Freedom in the World 2021, four points lesser than its performance last year. It scored 34 marks out of 40 in terms of political rights and 33 out of 60 in civil liberties. The country scored 51 out of 100 in a separate assessment of the extent of internet freedom. Read full report here. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 47 Colleges In Minnesota for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 153 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each institution 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 153 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 47 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. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-colleges-in-minnesota/ 2021 Top Colleges In Minnesota featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Academy College Alexandria Technical & Community College Anoka Technical College Anoka-Ramsey Community College Augsburg University Bethany Lutheran College Bethel University Carleton College Central Lakes College Century College College of Saint Benedict, Saint John's University College of Saint Scholastica Concordia College Concordia University, Saint Paul Crown College Dakota County Technical College Dunwoody College of Technology Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Hamline University Hennepin Technical College Herzing University Hibbing Community College Inver Hills Community College Itasca Community College Lake Superior College Macalester College Martin Luther College Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science Metropolitan State University Minneapolis College of Art and Design Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Moorhead Minnesota West Community and Technical College Northwest Technical College Northwestern Health Sciences University Saint Catherine University Saint Cloud State University Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Saint Olaf College Southwest Minnesota State University University Of Minnesota, Crookston University of Minnesota, Duluth University of Minnesota, Morris University Of Minnesota, Twin Cities University Of Northwestern, Saint Paul University of St. Thomas Winona 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/. Covid-19: Non-essential shops in Mumbai can now operate 7 am to 2 pm on alternate days, says BMC Vaze denies having used Hirans car India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Mumbai, Mar 12: Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze has denied that he was using the Scorpio which was in possession of Mansukh Hiran, a senior Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS) official said on Thursday. The ATS, which is probing Hiran's mysterious death, recorded Vaze's statement earlier this week, he said. Hiran's wife had claimed that her husband had given the SUV to Vaze in November, which the Mumbai crime branch officer returned in the first week of February. On February 25, the SUV was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house in south Mumbai with explosives and a threat letter inside. Hiran had claimed that it had been stolen a week earlier, but the case got murky when he was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5. Vaze, accused by Hiran's wife of involvement in her husband's suspicious death, was shunted out of the Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News Meanwhile, the investigators have yet to trace the Innova car in which the man who parked the Scorpio near Ambani's house is seen leaving the spot in CCTV footage, another official said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 9:53 [IST] Tiktok users in Pakistan won't be able to access the app yet again after the Peshawar High Court issued an order to ban the short-form video sharing platform in the country. According to Al Jazeera, Ary News TV and other local news outlets, the court made the ruling during a hearing into a petition against the app. TikTok had around 33 million users in Pakistan (out of a total of 100 million users) as of last month, App Annie told TechCrunch. After receiving the order from the court, Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) published a statement on Twitter confirming that it has issued directions to service providers "to immediately block access to the TikTok App" in compliance. In respectful compliance to the orders of the Peshawar High Court, PTA has issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App. During the hearing of a case today, the PHC has ordered for the blocking of App. PTA (@PTAofficialpk) March 11, 2021 Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan said TikTok videos "are peddling vulgarity in society," Ary News TV wrote, and that the platform hosts unethical and immoral content. He also decided that the app should remain blocked until TikTok cooperates with authorities after PTA told the court that it approached the company to have "objectionable and indecent" content removed to no avail. In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, a spokesperson defended the platform and its moderation practices: "TikTok is built upon the foundation of creative expression, with strong safeguards in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform. In Pakistan we have grown our local-language moderation team, and have mechanisms to report and remove content in violation of our community guidelines. We look forward to continuing to serve the millions of TikTok users and creators in Pakistan who have found a home for creativity and fun." This isn't the first time the app was banned in the country, which recently rolled out digital laws that give regulators the power to censor content. As Financial Times notes, the new laws require companies to remove offensive content, including ones that threaten the "integrity, security and defense of Pakistan." The first time TikTok was banned was before the new laws came out, though, after authorities decided that it hosted "immoral and indecent" videos. That said, PTA lifted the ban a few days later after TikTok promised to moderate clips according to Pakistani "societal norms" and laws. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 21:23:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW YORK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- It is vital to recalibrate U.S.-China relations, which have strained over the last four years, and beware of miscalculation and misperception, experts have said. "The U.S.-China bilateral relationship is undoubtedly the most important relationship between two countries in the first half of the 21st century," Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, told Xinhua in a recent interview. "If we were staying on the path that we had been on," he said, referring to the approach put in place by the former U.S. administration, "that would really be an unfortunate and very disturbing outcome for the two countries individually as well as for the world as a whole." "We should be hopeful that 2021 could be a pivotal year in rethinking the way in which the two nations approach one another in the broadest senses of the world," said Roach, a longtime watcher on U.S.-China relations. Noting the framework that was put in place by the previous U.S. administration "was a framework that was destined for conflict and failure," which "really accomplished nothing," he said a more workable approach is needed to bring bilateral ties back to the normal track. The renowned scholar said it is better for President Joe Biden's administration to "start with a clean piece of paper" when framing policies toward China. Experts have noted that it is crucial to spur the cooperative elements in this consequential bilateral relationship, as cooperation brings benefits, whilst confrontation will only cause harm. Despite the differences between the United States and China, "there's much that we share in terms of the aspirations of our large populations in both nations," said Roach. "If we focus on the aspirations of our respected people, we will be in a better place to resolve the conflict," he noted. Kenneth Quinn, former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, recently told Xinhua via email that "U.S.-Chinese cooperation is absolutely essential to our planet" dealing effectively with critical issues such as ensuring global food security, offsetting the effects of climate change, preventing future pandemics in human and animal diseases, and preserving global peace. Both the United States and China have much to gain from cooperation, including "peace, expanded markets, accelerated technological progress, the avoidance of a new arms race, progress against COVID-19, a robust global jobs recovery, and a shared effort against climate change," Jeffrey Sachs, an economics professor at Columbia University and a senior United Nations advisor, said in an article published last month. "Cooperation is not cowardice," he said in the piece titled "Why the U.S. Should Pursue Cooperation with China," adding the Biden administration's foreign policy with China "should begin with a search for cooperation rather than a presumption of conflict." As China has pledged that it will take an active part in international cooperation on fighting COVID-19, continue to open up to the world, and promote sustainable development and a new type of international relations, "U.S. diplomacy would be wise to aim for engagement with China in these areas," said Sachs. In their efforts to foster a constructive relationship, both sides should be mindful of miscalculations, according to experts. While both the United States and China have an incentive to cooperate in a number of areas, miscalculation is possible, Joseph S. Nye Jr., a professor at Harvard University, said in an article published on Project Syndicate last week. Miscalculation can lead to overreaction, said the renowned U.S. political scientist. "Both sides must beware miscalculation. After all, more often than not, the greatest risk we face is our own capacity for error," he emphasized. Although it may take time to fix the relationship, experts have voiced their hope for sound and healthy U.S.-China ties. Roach said he remains "hopeful that we have an opportunity to do much better." Quinn, who had a 32-year career as a U.S. diplomat, said he was encouraged that leaders from both countries spoke right before the Lunar New Year. He said he hoped this development could provide a "welcome opportunity for the Year of the Ox to be one during which steady progress can be made in improving both the atmosphere and the substance of the bilateral relationship." Enditem I wondered how long it would take the national press to notice SB 228 now working through the Kentucky Legislature. It effectively takes the power of filling a U.S. Senate appointment away from the Kentucky governor, Democrat Andy Beshear. The Republican sponsors claim they are just covering the bases, so to speak, with a modern law on U.S. Senate vacancies. There's some truth to that. For example, it's smart to protect Rand Paul's seat in the next few years, if he moves on by taking a Cabinet post in the next administration. Nonetheless, this has set off speculation that Sen. McConnell is leaving soon in some sort of deal for Biden's resignation, where the Democrats will then briefly have a window to fill the V.P. vacancy. Sorry, folks. I've known Mitch for 45 years. That's about the last thing he would ever do. Monster ego? Yes. Liberal Republican roots? You bet. He still goes weepy over his old boss, John Sherman Cooper, the Nelson Rockefeller of Kentucky. But he is also an ultra-partisan Republican. He may not care much for what conservatives in the GOP think, but he has mortal contempt for anybody with a D by his name. For someone so obsessed with his Republican legacy and having worked so many years to burnish it, the last thing he wants is to be remembered as the sell-out who did Dementia Joe an enormous favor and let the Democrats off the hook when time comes to fill the V.P. post after Harris vacates it. No, instead, you can be sure McConnell is already salivating over the prospect of holding the V.P. slot open as long as possible (just like the Supreme Court vacancy) and getting a pound of flesh straight from Chuck Schumer's heart. So what's really going on back in the Bluegrass? The understanding in Kentucky has long been that Mitch would serve out his term, using the time to try to install his protege, A.G. Daniel Cameron, as heir apparent. But that's become more difficult. McConnell's break with Trump has made him very unpopular with Kentucky grassroots Republicans. Many county GOP committees have even censured him, and some members of the state committee would do so as well. Neither Cameron nor others close to McConnell, like Kelly Kraft, would do well in a special election. The heavy favorite, if he chose to run, would be the congressman from Western Kentucky, James Comer, a frequent guest on Fox News. So an early exit for McConnell would spoil his succession plans. And he badly wants those to happen, so he will be inclined to stay in the Senate for now. The I.G. report on Elaine Chao is not a big deal, either. Using government staff to run personal errands that's the sort of thing that might get a sitting Cabinet member fired, but the DOJ has already declined criminal charges here. At worst, she might be asked to write a check to cover the costs for such services. For McConnell, the real issue is going to be the 2022 Senate elections. If the Republicans lose seats, he will likely not be retained as GOP leader and may want to move on from the Senate. However, 2022 is a long way down the road. Republicans have 20 seats to defend, but mid-term elections seem to operate now in national waves. Unhappiness with Mr. Biden, and V.P. Giggles when she succeeds him, will dominate the voting and will be the deciding factor in the next cycle. Look for McConnell to work hard for more Republican Senate victories in 2022. Only if that doesn't happen will he consider making use of the new Senate vacancy law. Frank Friday is an attorney in Louisville, Ky. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Johnny Sexton says Ireland must prevent his opposing fly-half Finn Russell from producing his "full box of tricks" in their Six Nations clash against Scotland on Sunday. The Irish skipper masterminded two wins over the Scots last year but both times Russell was absent. Ireland go into the match in Edinburgh after their first win of this year's tournament -- a 48-10 thumping of Italy -- but Sexton said the Scots would be a "big step up". Scotland beat England at Twickenham last month for the first time since 1983 before losing narrowly to Wales when they were reduced to 14 men. "He (Russell) is obviously a big threat for us, knowing he has a full box of tricks he tries to pull out in most games," Sexton said on Wednesday. "He is a threat to the line and has a good short kicking game, he can pull the strings if we let him. He has hurt us in the past and he did not play in our two wins over them last year. "He is a massive threat -- one of many across the team but him and Stuart Hogg are the standout guys." Sexton said Russell and Hogg brought world-class panache to the Scotland team but credit must also be given to head coach Gregor Townsend and his backroom staff. "But for a tap tackle towards the end of the game with Wales they could still be on course for the Grand Slam instead of the Welsh," he said. "They are full of confidence and will fancy themselves against us. We have massive respect for them as a team and they are a really well-coached team as well." - 'Hungry' - Sexton put immediate speculation over his future to rest by signing a one-year extension to his contract last week. He said nothing should be read into the length of the contract, with others such as lock Iain Henderson and flanker Peter O'Mahony signing two-year deals. "I am at an age like most guys in their mid-30s that a year is suitable," he said. "It lets you see how you are feeling next year and also performing and one can reflect on that when the time comes." Story continues He added: "I am hungry still for success with both Leinster and Ireland and that is what my team-mates see on the training pitch. "That is what means the most to me." The British and Irish Lions Test series against world champions South Africa is scheduled to take place later this year but Sexton said that was still at the back of the Irish players' minds. Sexton has been a pivotal part of coach Warren Gatland's previous two tours -- a series win over Australia in 2013 and an epic drawn series with then world champions New Zealand in 2017. With England's Owen Farrell and George Ford's form faltering, Sexton could be competing with Russell and perhaps one of Wales pair Dan Biggar and Callum Sheedy for the fly-half spots. "It is not at the forefront of our minds," he said. "Winning our two final games (against Scotland and England) of course puts our best foot forward. "It is in the back of our minds that the Scotland game is pretty important in terms of Lions selection. A couple of wins and we get more Irish bodies on the plane." pi/jw/dmc AARP After a year of forced hibernation, people are ready to emerge from their pandemic caves. While some may harbor grand post-COVID-19 dreams, others just look forward to the little things that will brighten our days like hugging friends and family and seeing their smiles. For Sal Alfano, 71, that means taking a walk without having to think about who to avoid or who is avoiding him. When the former remodeler and now part-time editor rambles around his Montpelier, Vermont, neighborhood he watches fellow walkers give each other a wide berth, much more than the requisite six feet. They do this even when the wind is blowing, and everyone is masked, he says. His wife Elaine Alfano, 69, adds: There's a lot of anxiety because we've spent so much time thinking about things we normally wouldn't think about. BENTLEYVILLE, Pa. (AP) A woodworking business owner from western Pennsylvania is accused of joining rioters inside the U.S. Capitol two months ago, rifling through Electoral College vote certification related paperwork from a desk on the Senate floor. Federal court records unsealed this week show Dale Jeremiah DJ Shalvey was charged in February with trespassing on Capitol grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct and obstruction of Congress. Dani Jahn, his federal public defender in Washington, where charges were filed, declined comment Thursday. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday that Shalvey runs a woodworking business in Bentleyville, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. Witnesses told the FBI he attended high school in West Virginia. An FBI affidavit says agents fielded several tips that Shalvey was the person shown in photos wearing a green helmet and other tactical gear. A tipster said Shalvey sent them texts and photos that appear to depict official correspondence that was handled by Shalvey from at least one of the desks in the Senate chamber. More than 300 people, including several from Pennsylvania, have been charged with federal crimes as federal agents continue to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. More: Judge removes house arrest restriction on central Pa. cop charged in U.S. Capitol riot Investigation into U.S. Capitol riot narrows in on organized extremist groups New Delhi: After years of wait, the Indian Army will finally get an advanced medium-range surface to air missile (MRSAM) system by 2020 which will be able to shoot down ballistic missiles, fighter jets and attack helicopters from a range of around 70 km. The missile system will be produced by premier defence research organisation DRDO in collaboration with the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a senior army official said. The MRSAM system will be capable of shooting down enemy ballistic missiles, aircraft, helicopters, drones, surveillance aircraft and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) aircraft, the official said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. The current version of MRSAM is operational with the Indian Air Force and the Navy. Read | DRDO successfully test fires anti-tank guided missile 'Nag' in desert ranges of Rajasthan The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a Rs 17,000 crore deal with the IAI for the ambitious project. The MR-SAM, a land-based version of the long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) for the Navy, will have a strike range of up 70 km, the official said. The deal envisages 40 firing units and around 200 missiles. The MRSAM for Armys Air Defence is an advanced all weather, 360 degree mobile land based theatre air defence system capable of providing air defence to critical areas against a wide variety of threats in a combat zone, the official said. The first set of missile system will be ready in the next three years, he said.The Army has been pressing the government to enhance its aerial attack capability considering the evolving security challenges. Read | India test fires surface-to-air short range quick reaction missile In May, the Army successfully test fired an advanced version of the Brahmos land-attack cruise missile in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Indian Army, which became the first land force in the world to deploy the Brahmos in 2007, has raised several regiments of this formidable weapon. In May 2015, the Army had inducted the indigenously-developed supersonic surface-to-air missile Akash which is capable of targeting enemy helicopters, aircraft and UAVs from a range of 25 km. The Army thinks procurement of the MRSAM will mark a paradigm shift in its strike capability. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Exclusive: EU told to expect no AstraZeneca vaccines from U.S. in near future - sources A test tube labelled "vaccine" in front of an AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, (Photo : REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo/File Photo/File Photo) Washington has told the European Union that it should not expect to receive AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States any time soon, two EU sources said on Thursday, in a new blow to the bloc's supplies. The U.S. message could complicate vaccination plans in the 27-nation EU, which has been grappling since January with delays in deliveries from vaccine makers. Advertisement "The U.S. told us there was no way it would ship AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU," said a senior official directly involved in EU-U.S. talks. AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year it would cut its supplies in the second quarter by at least half to less than 90 million doses, EU sources told Reuters, after a bigger reduction in the first three months of the year. Later, however, AstraZeneca offered to partly plug the gap with vaccines produced outside Europe, including in the United States. A senior EU diplomat said the European Commission told member states' diplomats at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday that the bloc should not expect any exports from the United States "at this point in time". AstraZeneca declined to comment. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the U.S. government had been clear publicly and privately that it would focus first on ensuring Americans were vaccinated, but direct purchases would be up to countries and companies. It is unclear whether AstraZeneca is producing much vaccine in the United States or if Washington would apply a restrictive measure on trade. AstraZeneca's vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the United States. "The vaccine isn't approved in the United States, so of course we can't sell it to other countries yet," said Margaret Cekuta, a former U.S. trade official who is now a principal with the Capitol Counsel lobbying firm. She said exporting a vaccine before it is approval by the Food and Drug Administration could also raise potential liability problems. The U.S. comments came after Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Asked about vaccine talks with the United States, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said on Thursday: "Whatever the legal situation in the United States, we want to work on the ground with the United States to keep the supply chains open." The EU's executive did not reply to specific questions about a possible move on exports from the United States. The U.S. stance could jeopardize AstraZeneca's attempts to bring deliveries closer to its contractual obligation with the EU of 180 million doses in the second quarter. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the U.S. government will first give Americans COVID-19 vaccines, but any surplus would be shared with the world. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines are produced in the United States in a plant near Baltimore run by Catalent, which is listed in the EU supply contract with AstraZeneca as a "back-up supply site" and has been authorized by the EU drugs regulator as a manufacturer of vaccine ingredients. Vaccines were discussed during a call between the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Biden last week, and in a meeting between EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton and White House COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, according to EU statements. New calls were expected this week, one EU official said. INDIA AstraZeneca had also told the EU it could provide extra doses from India, where its vaccines are manufactured by the Serum Institute. The EU drugs regulators are currently reviewing Serum's manufacturing site, Reuters exclusively reported earlier in March. But another EU official said on Thursday the auditing process was "complicated" because the site and the substances used for vaccine production had to be authorised. The United States is also part of the production network for Johnson & Johnson vaccines due to be used in the EU, because under the EU-J&J contract shots made in the Netherlands would need to be bottled in the United States. Several European diplomats said they were concerned about J&J production. J&J plans to begin supplying the EU in April. Reuters exclusively reported on Tuesday that J&J told the EU it was facing supply issues that may complicate plans to deliver 55 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc in the second quarter of the year. In a separate development, health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland said they had suspended the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine shots after reports of the formation of blood clots in some recipients.[L1N2L91Q3] AstraZeneca on Thursday told Reuters the safety of its vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials and peer-reviewed data had confirmed the vaccine was generally well tolerated. American tourist COVID test deemed positive after Phuket visit, returns to US PHUKET: The Department of Medical Sciences has revised the test results of an American man who visited Phuket before returning to Bangkok and flying home back to the US, and have now recorded his test results for COVID-19 as positive. COVID-19Coronavirushealthtourism By The Phuket News Friday 12 March 2021, 04:03PM The timeline of the American mans movements shows that the man stayed in Phuket for three days before returning to Bangkok. Image: PR Bangkok The timeline of the American mans movements shows that the man stayed in Phuket for three days before returning to Bangkok. Image: PR Bangkok The news follows the Bangkok office of the Public Relations Department (PR Bangkok) posting a timeline of the mans movements while on holiday in the country, showing that he stayed three days in Phuket, staying at the Sri Panwa resort on Cape Panwa. Although the man exited Thailand on Mar 4, PR Bangkok posted the timeline of his movements within the country and confirmation that he was now considered as COVID-positive when he left the country only yesterday (Mar 11). The man was identified only as Case 951, reported PR Bangkok, citing that the information of the mans movements were provided by the Health Department of Bangkok The man was cleared to travel freely within the country after he tested negative for the virus on Jan 26, the last day of his mandatory quarantine, said the report. From Jan 26 to Feb 16, the man stayed in the Silom area of Bangkok and sometimes went shopping at a nearby convenience store. On Feb 17, he took a morning flight with AirAsia to Phuket and was taken to the Sri Panwa resort located on Cape Panwa by taxi, the report added. On Feb 18, the man stayed in the resort all day, and on Feb 19 he returned to Bangkok on an afternoon flight with AirAsia. After landing in Bangkok, he drove by himself back to his accommodation. From Feb 20 to 28, the man was back staying in Silom, stepping out only to do some shopping at a nearby convenience store, the report said. On Mar 1, the man went to a hospital to be tested for COVID-19 again, as part of his requirements for re-entering the United States, the report noted. On Mar 2, the test result was deemed inconclusive and the hospital staff called him to be tested again. This time the test was deemed to be negative, and the man returned to his place of accommodation in Silom, the report explained. The next day, Mar 3, the man boarded a flight back to the US. However, on Mar 4, officers from the Department of Medical Sciences reviewed the results of the mans second test and have now recorded the test result as positive, PR Bangkok reported. The report did not indicate whether the Department of Medical Sciences believed the man had contracted the virus in Phuket or during the week that followed while the man was in Bangkok, or whether the revised test result was to be treated as absolutely conclusive. Sitting low among the hills, just north of the city of Frejus, in southern France, not far from the French Riviera coast, are the broken remains of the Malpasset Dam. This river barrier, completed in 1954, was built to regulate the flow of the Reyran River, and store water for agriculture and domestic use. The Reyran River is very irregular. It remains completely dry for most of the year including the hot summer months, but in winter and spring, this 27-km-long river becomes a raging torrent. A dam would help tame the river and provide water all round the year. The ruins of the Malpasset Dam near Frejus, in southern France. Photo: Chromoprisme (null) / Dreamstime.com Andre Coyne was selected to build an arched dam across the valley. Coyne had been building dams throughout his career. He was the chief engineer of dams in the Upper Dordogne River, and while in that position, he designed the Mareges Dam which incorporated several innovative advancements in dam design. In 1935 he became the head of France's Large Dam Engineering Department and between 1945 and 1953 he served as President of the International Commission on Large Dams. Coyne built dams in fourteen countries, including Portugal, India, Morocco, Zimbabwe, and Canada. Construction of the Malpasset Dam began in 1952 and completed in 1954. Shortly after, the first filling of the reservoir began. The filling of a reservoir is a gradual process that can take many years, especially when its fed by a river that flows for only three months a year. Five years later, in 1959, the water in the reservoir was still 7 meters below the top, when small leaks began to develop along the right bank of the daman ominous sign of things to come. The Malpasset Dam before it failed. Photo: www.fluidsandco.com That year, the region experienced more than the average rains causing the water level to surge up by nearly 5 meters. Instead of opening the spillway to relieve pressure upon the dam, it was decided to allow the dam fill up because opening the drain valves would have hampered the construction of the Marseille-Nice motorway about a kilometer downstream. On the evening of 2 December 1959, the water level in the dam reached the top of the concrete barrier for the very first time. The four last meters had filled up in less than 24 hours. Later that night, the thin walls of the dam collapsed under the massive weight of the water and a huge wave swept through the valley, destroying all structures including houses, roads, railway lines, telephone and electricity network all the way to Frejus. Large chunks of concrete, from the breached dam, some weighing up to 600 tons, were found more than a mile away. Over 400 people perished and 7,000 were left homeless. Andre Coyne, the dams chief engineer, was deeply affected by the tragedy. He died less than a year later. The major takeaway from the disaster was that it was important to adequately understand the geology of the rocks over which a dam was to be constructed. But the most immediate consequence of the dam failure was the laying down of a law that legalized marriage with a dead partner. The ruins of the Malpasset Dam near Frejus, in southern France. Photo: Chromoprisme (null) / Dreamstime.com Among the dead was a young man named Andre Capra, who was engaged to his then-pregnant girlfriend Irene Jodart. Despite the death of her partner, Jodart was determined to marry him. When President de Gaulle visited the town a week later, Irene Jodart pleaded with him to let her go along with her marriage plans even though her fiance had drowned. de Gaulle agreed to look into the matter. Within a month, the National Assembly had passed a unique law allowing the President of the Republic to authorize the celebration of the marriage if one of the future spouses is dead providing a sufficient gathering of facts establishes unequivocally his consent. Hundreds of widows and widowers have applied for post-mortem matrimony since then. Anyone wishing to marry a dead person must send a request to the president, who then forwards it to the justice minister, who sends it to the prosecutor in whose jurisdiction the surviving person lives. If the prosecutor determines that the couple planned to marry before the death and if the parents of the deceased approve, the prosecutor sends a recommendation back up the line. The president, if he wishes, eventually signs a decree allowing the marriage. Every year, French authorities receive around fifty requests for posthumous marriage. About 20 get approval. The ruins of the Malpasset Dam near Frejus, in southern France. Photo: Greger Ravik/Flickr While many get married for purely sentimental value, posthumous matrimony also play a practical role if the woman left behind is pregnant, as was the case with Irene Jodart. Legitimizing a marriage ensures that the children are recognized as the legitimate offspring of their dead father and the legal heir. Indeed, the practice of marrying the dead actually dates back to the First World War, when grieving girlfriends wanted to assure the legitimacy of their children whose fathers had died on the front before being able to tie the knot. Most posthumous weddings are organized quietly. Usually, the woman will stand next to a picture of her deceased fiance. Instead of a priest, the mayor will conduct the ceremony reading aloud the Presidential decree instead of the deceased man's marriage vows. But some marriages have drawn media attention. In 2004, Christelle Demichel married her dead fiance who was hit by a drunken driver and killed while he was riding his motorcycle home from work. In 2009, Magali Jaskiewicz married her fianceanother victim of a road accident. Magali Jaskiewiczs boyfriend who had asked her to marry him two days before he was killed. Again in 2017, when a police officer Xavier Jugele died in a terrorist attack, his longtime partner Etienne Cardiles received the Presidents approval to marry him. Outside of France, there have only been a handful of cases where the law have upheld posthumous marriages. References: # Burst of a dam, French Ministry for Sustainable Development # Malpasset Dam, damfailures.org # Did you know: Why marrying dead people is possible in France, The Local # Craig S. Smith, Paris Journal; A Love That Transcends Death Is Blessed by the State, The New York Times 404 Have breadmaking skills, will travel. At least, thats the case for Kenya Sookermany. Have breadmaking skills, will travel. At least, thats the case for Kenya Sookermany. The 22-year-old baker has been making sourdough bread in Manitoba and abroad since graduating from the professional baking and pastry program at Red River College, where she realized her future didnt have to be tied to one place or one bakery. "You can be a little bit nomadic with this career," she says. "Id like to travel and bake at different places." Sookermany embarked on her first culinary exchange in the fall of 2019, when she spent a month learning how to work with artisanal German breads at Akademie Deutsches Backerhandwerk in Weinheim, Germany. "There were, like, 20 different countries represented there and I made a lot of good friends," she says. "I was gonna go visit a friend who owns a couple of bakeries in New Zealand and work for him then COVID happened and nothing is the same." Instead, Sookermany has spent the last year grounded in the Prairies, living in Steinbach and working at Old Church Bakery, the towns local temple of sourdough. But adventure is on the horizon again. This spring, shell be moving out to Prince Edward Island for a seasonal position at the farm-to-table restaurant of the Inn at Bay Fortune, a resort owned and operated by chef Michael Smith of Food Network Canada fame. Sookermany actually landed the job in 2020, but it was another item on her itinerary delayed by the pandemic. Shes looking forward to visiting the East Coast for the first time and baking bread in a wood-fired oven using flour grown on the picturesque property. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sookermany has been working at the Old Church Bakery in Steinbach for the past year, but also bakes at home for her own pleasure. "Its a bunch of stuff I havent done before," she says. "Im very excited... hopefully it will lead to some other doors being opened." Sookermany is at the beginning of her career, but food has long been a staple in her life. Her dad is an RCMP officer and the family lived in northern Manitoba, moving between Cross Lake and Churchill, until relocating to Niverville when Sookermany was 10 years old. Prior to joining the force, her dad pursued a career in the culinary arts and the pair have spent a lot of time cooking together over the years. "One of the biggest ways we have a relationship is being in the kitchen with him, even though sometimes its stressful, because he acts like a chef," she says with a laugh. "Hes from Trinidad and so he makes a lot of traditional foods; one of the biggest connections I have to that side of my heritage is the food that my dad made." Favourites include pelau, a chicken and rice dish, curry chicken with roti, and doubles, a saucy chickpea mixture sandwiched between pieces of deep-fried turmeric dough; the latter is "to die for." Eating is also a family pastime. Sookermany is the youngest of three siblings and growing up, the whole household would sit down for a meal together every night. "So much happens around the dinner table," she says. "Even after youre done eating, you will spend hours talking." Its no surprise, then, that Sookermany likes to share her baking with family even if it means opening herself up to criticism. "My mother is always very kind, and I tend not to believe her as much," she says. "When it comes to my siblings, whenever they say something nice, Im like, OK, then it must be good." RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kenya Sookermany says her Winter Citrus Pavlova tastes like a spicy Creamsicle. The reviews for her pavlova recipe have been overwhelmingly positive. Made with crisp meringue, whipped cream and fruit, the dessert has become a centrepiece at family birthday parties. Berries are a common topping, but Sookermany likes to play around with seasonal flavours and whatevers on hand the iteration included in this article was inspired by the mountain of citrus she had in her kitchen, paired with the warm spiciness of curried almonds. The end result "tastes like a Creamsicle, but its kind of spicy," she says. "I always like a bit of savoury in what I bake." Sookermany bakes at home at least three times a week, although she stays away from bread, preferring to experiment with cakes and pastries outside work hours. Her creations are usually dictated by a craving and a desire to experiment. While many approach it as an exact science, she enjoys the freedom of home baking. "Who wants to follow a recipe word-for-word, you know?" she says. "If it fails, then no ones gonna know." Cooking has been a source of comfort during the pandemic. Her roommate is also a baker and although Sookermany recently left her job at Old Church, theyve shared the same schedule for the better part of a year: up at 5 a.m. for work, home in the early afternoon and then cooking together and talking until the evening. In the kitchen she can usually be found with a beer or glass of wine in hand, listening to classical piano or Joy as an Act of Resistance by the British band Idles. Baking has been a global hobby during the pandemic and while Sookermany has offered her share of tips to friends delving into the process for the first time, shes also noticed other up-and-coming local bakers making a name for themselves on social media by selling their goodies from home, outside the usual channels. Its something shes been dabbling in as well, posting artfully iced mini-cakes for sale on Instagram. "You have to support yourself somehow," she says. "Its amazing that people are able to find spaces that allow them to do their own thing." eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @evawasney This is the outfit an aspiring rapper wanted to wear as he ran amok with an 18-inch gladiator-style sword during a terror attack he planned last summer. Sahayb Abu, 27, bought two blades, a combat vest, balaclavas and a camouflage hat online in readiness for an attack during coronavirus lockdown last year, the Old Bailey heard. He was arrested on July 9 after discussing guns with an undercover police officer, whom he met on a so-called Islamic State (IS) supporters' Telegram chat group. A photograph released by Metropolitan Police shows the outfit Sahayb was planning to wear during the terror attack. It features a combat vest, camouflage hat, layers of fabric to cover his face and green finger-less gloves. A jury deliberated for 21 hours and 32 minutes to find him guilty of preparing for terrorist acts by a majority of 11 to one. His brother, Muhamed Abu, 32, wept as he was cleared of failing to disclose information about a plot to authorities. He appeared distressed at his sibling's conviction, sobbing: 'He's a clown, he's a buffoon.' This is the outfit Sahayb Abu, 27, wanted to wear as he ran amok with an 18-inch gladiator-style sword during a terror attack he planned last summer The court heard the pair would fight like Liam and Noel Gallagher and Muhamed blamed his younger brother for landing him in the dock over the plot. Sahayb spent his 400 monthly benefits on two balaclavas, body armour, gloves, a camouflage hat and two blades, including an 18in sword, paying extra to get it sharpened. He posed in his combat gear in homemade videos sent to Muhamed Abu. Sahayb pictured in a handout issued by the Met Police showing him in one of a series of homemade videos he sent to his brother in June last year Addressing the camera, he said 'What, are you talking to me?... Boom!', in reference to the Robert De Niro line from the film Taxi Driver. He boasted the balaclava would 'do the job' and said he was 'just waiting on the body armour... the body armour stop a bullet'. Giving evidence Sahayb claimed he was brimming with business ideas including one for a juice drink called Healthily Wealthy and another for a gardening charity inspired by Alan Titchmarsh. He told jurors he would need to become rich and famous to fund the agricultural scheme, which he hoped to achieve by getting his spoof drill videos to go viral on TikTok. Following the verdicts, Commander Richard Smith said Sahayb Abu was a 'very dangerous individual', despite portraying himself as a clownish aspiring rapper called Masked Menace. Mr Smith, head of the Met's counter-terrorism command, said: 'There is no doubt in my mind that Sahayb had murderous intent, some of that was evidenced from the kind of things that he was posting online and sharing with others, including his brother.' Following the verdicts, Commander Richard Smith said Sahayb Abu (pictured in a police handout image) was a 'very dangerous individual', despite portraying himself as a clownish aspiring rapper called Masked Menace A handout photo issued by the Met Police of the 18-ins blade allegedly bought online by Sahayb The court heard how some of the defendants' relatives had been linked to extremism in the past. Mr Smith declined to speculate on whether Sahayb was radicalised within the family, online or in jail, but said: 'Nobody is born with hatred and intolerance within them.' The court heard how the defendants' half-brothers Wail and Suleyman Aweys went to Syria in 2015, where they are both believed to have died. Two years later, the defendants were caught with their older half-brother Ahmed Aweys putting up poppy posters in east London saying British tax was used to 'kill Muslims'. Sahayb Abu went on to associate with known terrorists while serving a sentence for burglary at Wandsworth prison in south London. Sahayb pictured in one of a series of homemade videos he sent to his brother. Jurors convicted him by a majority of 11 to one after deliberating for 21 hours and 32 minutes Among them was IS supporter Husnain Rashid, who was jailed for at least 25 years in 2018 for calling for an attack on Prince George. Sahayb Abu was released from prison on March 20 last year, and went from being 'locked up to locked down' as the Covid-19 pandemic struck, jurors heard. Over the next three months, Sahayb Abu trawled the internet for IS propaganda, including pictures of fighters in balaclavas with guns. Muhamed Abu (pictured above), 32, wept as he was cleared of failing to disclose information about a plot to authorities In one disturbing rap, he described London Mayor Sadiq Khan as a 'sell-out' and talked about murdered fusilier Lee Rigby. He said: 'I'm trying to see many Lee Rigby's heads rolling on the ground, man I shoot up a crowd cos I'm a night stalker, got my shank got my guns straight Isis supporter, reject democracy... 'Got my suicide vest, one click, boom and I'll see you later.' He also posted extremist comments online and came to the attention of undercover officer Rachid via an exclusive IS supporters' encrypted chat group on Telegram. The pair met up twice, and during their conversation used code words 'silah' and 'duty free' for firearms, which Rachid claimed he could import. Sahayb said the time was coming to be an 'action man rather than a chatty man' and commented 'we need a 9/11 2.0', in reference to the World Trade Centre attacks in New York. By then, police took the decision to arrest the brothers on July 9 last year. In a search of their father's flat where Sahayb Abu had been living, a black IS flag was discovered. In his defence, Sahayb Abu denied buying the sword and combat gear for a terror attack. CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police of Abu and his brother Muhamed in a fast food restaurant, which was shown during the trial at the Old Bailey A photograph of an unknown police officer was sent on a chat group. The image was shown at the Old Bailey, London, during the trial of the brothers He dismissed extremist posts as 'trolling' and claimed he joined the IS Telegram group to attract women with his 'bravado'. Sahayb Abu wanted to become famous like Stormzy, who wore a stab vest when he performed at Glastonbury, jurors were told He claimed to hate IS, saying his interest in the terror group was for news of his lost half-brothers Wail and Suleyman Aweys. Sahayb Abu also said the undercover police officer, dubbed the Man with the Golden Gun after the James Bond film, had 'tricked' him. His lawyer Michael Ivers QC said the personas - 'merciless troll', 'Jihadi fan boy', and 'wannabe drill rapper' - all betrayed a desperate desire to be accepted. Mr Ivers said: 'If there was no lockdown there would be no trial, as simple as that.' Autistic Muhamed Abu, of Norwood, south London, declined to give evidence, but in an outburst in the dock denied he was 'anti-British'. It was claimed on his behalf that the trainee plumber was 'very upset' with his fantasist brother for landing him in the dock over his 'bullshit'. The defendants had no previous terror convictions but had been jailed for the same commercial burglary. Sahayb Abu, of Dagenham, Essex, had also been caught drug dealing in France and having a knife. He will be sentenced on April 9. His half-brother Ahmed Aweys, 35, was jailed for 25 months in 2019 for disseminating terrorist material. His sister Asma Aweys was imprisoned for 19 months for collecting terrorist information, and her partner Abdulaziz Abu Munye received 15 months for dissemination. SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Some prisoners who helped fight the destructive Oregon wildfires last year could be released early. KOIN-TV reports Gov. Kate Brown commended adults in custody who bravely fought these wildfires and helped prevent further destruction and loss of life across the state, according to the March 5 letter provided to the news outlet. The governor in the letter said these adults in custody should be rewarded and acknowledged for their contribution to this historic firefighting response. Marion and Polk county district attorneys say theyre opposed to the early release of violent offenders who helped fight the fires. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. AUSTIN, Minn. - In order to get kids to school, buses need to be running. This has become a problem for the Austin School District and the Palmer Bus Service. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases at the Palmer Bus Service, which is the company Austin Public School District partners with. Superintendent David Krenz says the school district was made aware this past weekend when Palmer Bus Service told them there were some people with symptoms, who then received positive COVID-19 test results. On Wednesday, Palmer Bus Service said it had five positive cases, but could continue the transportation service. 45 minutes later, Palmer Bus Service learned from the Minnesota Department of Health that the company had 12 positive cases and would not be able to assist in transporting students. Superintendent Krenz says the district felt the safest option was to switch to distance learning. "Not knowing where the isolation was on Monday and Tuesday, we felt that to keep all our staff and students safe, the safest remedy was to go to distance learning," says Krenz. Distance learning will continue through March 19th and students will go back to school on the 22nd. SALEM, Ore. After Oregon Senate Republicans started the legislative floor sessions with a walk-out, Democrats are proposing a rule change to ensure that lawmakers who avoid votes don't get their per diem pay. The first floor vote of the 2021 legislative session was set to happen on February 25, but Senate Republicans were absent from the chamber protesting the state's coronavirus restrictions and touting their own remedies to the state's pandemic ills. On Thursday, Senate Democrats proposed their response to the practiced walk-out tactic, introducing an amendment to Senate chamber rules that would allow the Senate President to fine absent and unexcused senators for the amount of their per diem $151 a day. These payments are separate from a lawmaker's salary. Each of us was elected to serve our constituents and all Oregonians. The centerpiece of legislative service is showing up on the Senate Floor to do the peoples work, said Senate Majority Leader Rob Wagner. State Senators receive daily taxpayer-funded pay for fulfilling this basic responsibility. If they are unwilling to fulfill that responsibility, they should not receive that pay. RELATED: Gov. Brown marks one year since issuing executive order on climate Senate Republicans characterized the proposed rule change as punishment for senators who "exercise their Constitutional right to protest." Republican Leader Fred Girod opined that the rule change was not enough, pointing the finger at coronavirus precautions at the Capitol. As Republicans, we believe rules should be applied fairly. This rule change doesnt go far enough," Girod said. "No senator should be receiving their per diem when the public is shut out of the democratic process and their Capitol." Legislative leaders have curtailed in-person proceedings at the Capitol since March of last year in accordance with COVID-19 guidance, closing the building to the public and taking most hearings virtual with space for public testimony. While votes still happen on the floor of each chamber albeit masked the schedule has been more limited since the pandemic hit. Virtual testimony and other coronavirus limitations have become a sticking point for many Republicans, and Girod recently pushed to reopen the Capitol to the public in April. The Democrats think that just because they control the schedule, they can walk out whenever they want. By scheduling minimal floor sessions, they have held up the peoples work for weeks now," Girod continued. "We have important work to do this session, but it is being held up by the Democrats. Oregonians deserve better than these performative gestures to appease radicals in their own party. Senate Democrats said that the proposed rule change will need to be taken up for a vote in the full chamber in order to take effect. Housing Minister Darragh OBrien has postponed his nationwide tour to promote regeneration grants following backlash over his decision to travel the country during Level 5 restrictions. The minister was scheduled to visit Galway and Sligo today to announce State funding for regeneration projects, meet councillors and attend media events. However, Mr OBrien has said he did not want his travel itinerary to overshadow or detract from the funding he was announcing under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund (UDRF). I took that decision because I dont want anything to take away from the really good news, Mr OBrien told Ocean FM as he announced funding for Sligo. The minister signalled the tour could resume next month saying he would hopefully visit Sligo in April. Read More The decision to cancel the tour came despite Tanaiste Leo Varadkar insisting Mr OBrien was entitled to travel the country during lockdown to announce grants. However, the tour had raised eyebrows in Fine Gael with ministers wondering if Mr OBrien was using the ministerial trip to promote his standing in Fianna Fail ahead of a potential leadership contest. The Dublin Fingal TD has publicly said he is interest in succeeding Taoiseach Micheal Martin as Fianna Fail leader. Fine Gael ministers have also resisted from travelling the country to promote their work over concerns about the message it would send while the country was under Level 5 lockdown. Labour Party TD Aodhan O Riordain has said the only reason the minster needed to be in nine counties in the space of two weeks during the highest level of restrictions was if he was running for the leadership of his party. Does he really consider travelling the country to do photo-ops essential travel while the rest of the public are being told to stay within 5km of their homes? In my view, he doesnt need to be in nine different counties unless he is running for the leadership of Fianna Fail, the Dublin Bay North TD added. However, Clare TD Michael McNamara commended the minister for travelling the country during Level 5 restrictions. "I applaud you for visiting areas of the country, I think a minister should know what's going on across all areas of the country," he said in the Dail. The postponement of the tour comes after the minister made stops in his own constituency along with visits to Cavan and Longford where he met party colleagues and posed for photographs while announcing funding for local projects. He was due in Galway and Sligo today and next week he is scheduled to travel to Carlow, Meath, Limerick and Cork where he will announce more regeneration. In Cork, he will attend an event alongside Taoiseach Micheal Martin. [March 11, 2021] Douglas Emmett Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE: DEI), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on each share of its common stock of $0.28, or $1.12 on an annualized basis, to be paid on April 15, 2021 to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2021. About Douglas Emmett, Inc. Douglas Emmett, Inc. (DEI) is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), and one of the largest owners and operators of high-quality office and multifamily properties located in the premier coastal submarkets of Los Angeles and Honolulu. Douglas Emmett focuses on owning and acquiring a substantial share of top-tier office properties and premier multifamily communities in neighborhoods that possess significant supply constraints, high-end executive housing and key lifestyle amenities. For more information about Douglas Emmet, please visit our website at www.douglasemmett.com. Safe Harbor Statement Except for the historical facts, the statements in this press release regarding Douglas Emmett's business activities are forward-looking statements based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to us about known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties and factors that are beyond our control or ability to predict. Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and some will inevitably prove to be incorrect. As a result, our actual future results can be expected to differ from our expectations, and those differences may be material. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on forward-looking statements to anticipate future results or trends. For a discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311006091/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HR 1 'will make it easier to cheat, easier to manipulate election results': Voter fraud expert Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The United States House of Representatives passed a controversial bill last week that one election expert warns will make it easier to cheat and easier to manipulate election results. The House passed H.R. 1, also known as the For the People Act of 2021 last Wednesday on almost an entirely party-line vote. Not one Republican voted for the measure, while just one Democrat, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, broke with his party in opposing the legislation. Billed as a necessary measure to expand Americans access to the ballot box and reduce the influence of big money in politics, the sweeping legislative initiative, which stands at nearly 800 pages, has become a target of criticism from conservatives. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee as it considered the Act in 2019, elaborated on the bills deficiencies in an interview with The Christian Post. Describing H.R. 1 as a federal takeover of the administration of elections, which have been run by the states, von Spakovsky concluded that there are parts of the bill that are unconstitutional. The mandate and the prohibitions that it puts on the states, I think, are extremely dangerous, and they basically get rid of any and all of the safety and security protocols that the states have in place, he warned. H.R. 1 would eviscerate state voter ID laws because it tells states they have to allow someone to vote by just simply signing a form in which he swears that he is who he says he is which is worthless for proving identity, von Spakovsky stressed. On absentee ballots, it tells states they cant enforce their witness signature requirement, which again, is just a basic security provision for absentee ballots in a state that has been in place for years. All of the rules being put in will make it easier to cheat and easier to manipulate election results, and all of that will be extremely damaging to our democratic process of running our elections, von Spakovsky added. Citing the widespread distrust in the outcome of the two most recent presidential elections (2020 and 2016), he predicted that kind of loss in public confidence, in the integrity of the election process, is something that will further increase if H.R. 1 is passed. Von Spakovsky also explained that another section of the bill is dedicated to making changes in federal campaign rules, which he contended will restrict and chill First Amendment-protected political activity and political speech. As an example, he mentioned the requirement for nonprofit organizations to reveal who their donors are. There is no purpose for that disclosure other than to subject the donors of disfavored organizations to harassment and intimidation, he added. I think its the most dangerous, reckless bill Ive seen introduced in Congress in my 20 years in Washington. Additionally, 20 state attorneys general across the U.S., all Republicans, signed a scathing letter addressed to the House and Senate leadership of both parties outlining a series of concerns and vowing to seek legal remedies to protect the Constitution, the sovereignty of all states, our elections, and the rights of our citizens if it becomes law. As introduced, the Act betrays several constitutional deficiencies and alarming mandates that, if passed, would federalize state elections and impose burdensome costs and regulations on state and local officials, they wrote. The letter outlined the constitutional requirements for the administration of presidential elections, specifically that States have principaland with presidential elections, exclusiveresponsibility to safeguard the manner of holding elections. The attorneys general also expressed concern about the Acts regulation of congressional elections, including by mandating mail-in voting, requiring states to accept late ballots, overriding state voter identification ('ID') laws, and mandating that states conduct redistricting through unelected commissions. After contending that it is difficult to imagine a legislative proposal more threatening to election integrity and voter confidence than the so-called For the People Act, the signatories described the Acts limitations on voter ID laws as the most egregious provision in the legislation. They warned that should the For the People Act become law, it would dismantle meaningful voter ID laws by allowing a statement, as a substitute for prior-issued, document-backed identification to attest to the individuals identity and that the individual is eligible to vote in the election. Adding to the threat of increased voter fraud, the Act would mandate nationwide automatic voter registration and Election Day voter registration. Such systems would provide too many opportunities for non-citizens and others ineligible to vote, to register, and cast fraudulent ballots before officials can take preventive action. States should determine appropriate methods for voter registration based on their experiences with voter access and voter fraud. In addition to characterizing H.R. 1s limits on how states maintain voter registration rolls as an attack on reliable methods that states have been using to maintain voter lists without specifying any reasonable permissible alternatives, the attorneys general concluded that the purpose of the bill seems to be to prevent meaningful voter list maintenance altogether. While he lauded the effort of the multi-state coalition of attorneys general, von Spakovsky warned that the authors of the For the People Act made it deliberately difficult to challenge the law in court. Part of the problem with the attorneys general of the states is another provision in the law that I find unprecedented and which to me is clearly intended to try to deny due process rights because the bill says that any lawsuit filed by those 20 attorneys general can only be filed in one federal court and thats the federal court of the District of Columbia, he asserted. Not only that, it says the judges can order anyone challenging the law to be represented by only one lawyer at oral arguments and to have to file joint pleadings. So in other words, theyre saying that no matter how many states sue, they may be only allowed one lawyer in court and they cant file potentially more than one brief in the court. I have never seen a provision like that; its clearly intended to deny due process rights and to make it hard for states or anyone else to challenge it. ... Thats what they would have to do. The letter was signed by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. Concerns about the For the People Act extend beyond the aforementioned provisions of the legislation regarding election integrity and the First Amendment. The legislation contains a provision featuring findings related to District of Columbia Statehood, asserting that the 705,000 District of Columbia residents deserve voting representation in Congress and local self-government, which only statehood can provide. The rest of that particular provision of the bill goes on to argue for reasons why the nations capital should become a state before noting that Congress has the power to admit new states and reduce the size of the seat of the government to the area surrounding the Capitol, the National Mall and the White House. H.R. 1 also calls for the creation of a Congressional task force on voting rights of United States citizen residents of territories of the United States, as part of an effort to grant voting rights to those living in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam. While the For the People Act narrowly passed the House, its future remains uncertain in the Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes to pass. Democrats have a 50-50 majority in the upper chamber, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Under current Senate rules, Democrats would need to secure the support of 10 Republicans for the bill to pass. Democratic leadership has repeatedly promised to invoke the so-called nuclear option that would abolish the filibuster and enable legislation to pass with a simple majority, but last weekend Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., doubled down on his commitment to keeping the filibuster in place. The abolition of the filibuster is likely not possible without Manchins support. President Joe Biden, who has put his support behind H.R. 1, signed an executive order to promote voting access on Sunday, the 56th anniversary of the tear-gassing of civil rights protesters in Selma, Alabama. Von Spakovsky described the executive order as mostly for show, adding, all it does is tell federal agencies really to do everything they can to essentially help people register to vote. In addition to directing federal agencies to improve and modernize Vote.gov, increase federal employees access to voting, analyze barriers to voting for people with disabilities, increase voting access for active duty military and other overseas voters and establish a Native American voting rights steering group, the executive order has a provision calling on the U.S. Attorney General to provide voting access and education to citizens in federal custody. Von Spakovsky found this portion of the executive order revealing. So the Biden administration, apparently their chief interest is making sure that dangerous felons who are held in the federal prison system are able to register and vote as soon as they are able. I think that would concern me a lot and should concern the American public that would be his chief focus. Kolkata, March 12 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had received injuries while campaigning in her constituency Nandigram in East Midnapore on Wednesday evening, is likely to be discharged from the state-run SSKM Hospital on Friday evening. She may resume election campaign from next week, sources said. According to medical experts, Banerjee has expressed her wish to go home. She has recovered marginally and had a sound sleep last night. A six-member medical team reviewed her health condition on Friday and reportedly gave a go-ahead to Banerjee, sources said. If the West Bengal Chief Minister feels fit, she can be taken home on a wheelchair, the medical team said. The medical team formed to look after the CM comprised experts from neuro-medicine, neuro-surgery, orthopaedic, medicine, general surgery, cardiology, endocrinology, general medicine and anaesthesia. The medical team also advised the Trinamool supremo to be under observation, even after she is discharged from the hospital. The doctors have also given her a detailed chart to follow, mentioning all the necessary medical precautions. Sources said that Banerjee has expressed her desire to go home and undergo treatment from there. Banerjee had received injuries while campaigning in Nandigram on Wednesday evening. She was rushed to the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata with injuries to her leg. (JTA) - I can't stop thinking about Flory Jagoda, Joseph Sassoon and Kitty Sassoon, three American Jews in their 90s who died last week. As an Ashkenazi Jew, I do not share their family backgrounds. But their deaths hit home for me, as they were among the last native speakers of endangered Jewish languages - languages I'm helping to document before it's too late. Flory Jagoda devoted much of her life to preserving one of those languages. She grew up in Bosnia speaking Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish, which her ancestors had maintained since their expulsion from Spain in 1492. She survi... Tiffany Trump was spotted holding a suspicious looking cigarette on a balcony in Miami this week. Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show the former president's youngest daughter wearing a form-fitting floral dress as she held a neon lighter and hand-rolled smoke. She was seen in Miami on Tuesday, where she's said to be house-hunting to join the rest of the Trump clan in their move to Florida. During the break for fresh air, Tiffany flashed her large diamond engagement ring from fiance Michael Boulos, has an estimated worth of $1.2 million. Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show Tiffany Trump on a balcony in Miami holding a lighter and a suspicious cigarette A close up reveals what looks to be a cigarette and a neon lighter in Tiffany's hand The former first daughter wore a form-fitting floral dress as she took the break on Tuesday The 27-year-old flashed her large diamond engagement ring from fiance Michael Boulos Tiffany and Boulos have been staying at the swanky Setai Hotel in Miami Beach Tiffany was later seen putting out the smoke on a plant on the balcony. She is not known to be a cigarette smoker and has never been seen smoking. DailyMail.com has reached out to the Trump team for comment. The 27-year-old announced her engagement to 23-year-old Boulos the day before her father left office in January. Boulos presented her with a rock designed by Samer Halimeh New York. The main stone is an enormous emerald cut, which is flanked by two trapeze-cut gems. The couple have been staying at the swanky Setai Hotel in Miami Beach, but they are on the hunt for a place to call her own. 'She has been in Miami looking at properties,' a source close to Tiffany previously told DailyMail.com. 'She was staying at the Setai Hotel while she was viewing different options.' Tiffany was later seen putting out the smoke on the balcony floor Tiffany has not been known to smoke and has never been seen smoking before these DailyMail.com photos 'She has been in Miami looking at properties,' a source close to Tiffany previously told DailyMail.com. 'She was staying at the Setai Hotel while she was viewing different options' Rooms at the hotel start at $800 per night and go up to $2,150, which is likely no problem for Michael, who is the heir to the multi-billion dollar Nigerian conglomerate Boulos Enterprises. The couple have been together for two years, and he seems to be close with both sides of her family. Tiffany, President Donald Trump's only child with his second wife Marla Maples, graduated from Georgetown Law School in May, but she has yet to take the bar exam, which she needs to pass to officially become a lawyer. 'She hasnt decided on her next career move,' a source told Page Six. 'She truly thought her father would win a second term and shed continue as part of the First Family. She became more involved with the family and politics during his last campaign.' Tiffany, who celebrated New Year's Eve at Mar-a-Lago, has yet to take the bar exam since graduating from Geogetown Law School in May The 27-year-old announced her engagement to 23-year-old Boulos the day before her father left office in January It was revealed this week that Tiffany's mother Marla Maples has moved from New York to Florida to be closer to her daughter It was revealed this week that Tiffany's mother Marla Maples has moved from New York to Florida, where her daughter has been living with her fiance Michael Boulos. The 57-year-old actress relocated to New York to be closer to her daughter in 2016 but took to Instagram on Tuesday to show off her new Florida license while opening up about her decision to move again. 'Transitioning to a new life adventure with so much joy and gratitude,' Marla captioned a photo of herself wearing a cowboy hat while proudly holding up her license. It seems likely that she moved to Florida to be closer to her daughter and future son-in-law, but she said she was considering other locations. 'Officially a Florida Resident, though I look like I mightve chosen Texas or Nashville instead, both were in the running,' she explained. Marla raised Tiffany in Calabasas, California, after divorcing her ex-husband Donald Trump in the late '90s. US Consulate General Chennai honours courageous women who inspire a better world India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Chennai, Mar 12: On March 11, the U.S. Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin hosted an event titled "Courageous Women Inspire a Better World." At the event, the Consulate honored Tamil Nadu-based anti-caste activist and human rights defender Gowsalya Shankar. Ms. Shankar was U.S. Mission India's nominee for the 2021 U.S. Secretary of State's International Woman of Courage (IWOC) Award. This award honors women who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in acting to improve the lives of others, from families to communities to countries - often at great personal risk and sacrifice. The Hindu Chairperson Dr. Malini Parthasarathy and National General Secretary of the People's Union of Civil Liberties Dr. V. Suresh also spoke on the central theme of courageous women. In her late husband's honour, Gowsalya launched the Shankar Social Justice Trust in March 2017 to fight atrocities against caste-based violence. The trust provides psychological, legal, and moral support to victims and builds awareness against social discrimination and injustice. Speaking on the occasion, Gowsalya said: "Women's History Month is not just another occasion to celebrate. This is the time for women to take a pledge to fight for their rights.... The moment I resolved to fight against caste-based discriminations that dehumanise human beings, I grew new wings. It gave me confidence and courage to fly higher and higher and touch the sky." U.S. Consul General Judith Ravin presented Gowsalya with an IWOC Award Certificate of Nomination at the event. Addressing the socially distanced guests, U.S. Consul General Judith Ravin said: "The United States is committed to gender equality, social inclusion, and advancing the status of women and girls globally as a foreign policy priority. Global prosperity, security, and stability cannot be achieved without the full participation of women and girls in the economic, social, and political spheres." Each March, the president of the United States designates Women's History Month to shine a light on the extraordinary legacy of trailblazing women and girls who have built, shaped, and improved upon our societies. In this year's proclamation, U.S. President Joe Biden noted that in our current moment of crisis, women continue to lead. From vaccine researchers to public health officials to the countless heroines on the frontlines, women are working around the clock to defeat COVID-19. Women, and particularly women of color, also make up the majority of America's essential workers, including educators and childcare providers, grocery store workers, farmworkers, and others who are keeping our families, our communities, and our country afloat. This year has also marked an historic milestone of women's leadership 232 years in the making, with the inauguration of America's first female Vice President Kamala Harris. Background: Since the inception of the International Women of Courage award in 2007, the U.S. State Department has recognised more than 155 women from more than 75 different countries. U.S. diplomatic missions overseas nominate one woman of courage from their respective host countries, with finalists selected and approved by senior Department officials. On March 8, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosted the annual IWOC virtual ceremony to honor a group of extraordinary women from around the world, including Muskan Khatun who has been instrumental in bringing about new legislation criminalizing acid attacks and imposing strong penalties against perpetrators in Nepal. The First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, delivered remarks to recognize the courageous accomplishments of these women. Learn about this year's IWOC award recipients: https://www.state.gov/2021-international-women-of-courage-award-recipients-announced/ For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 16:00 [IST] The Queen had a team of scientists in stitches when they asked what Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, was like when she met him. 'Russian!' the monarch dead-panned, before bursting into giggles. The 94-year-old sovereign was taking part in a virtual science showcase via video link with British scientists, educators and schoolchildren to mark British Science Week - a celebration of the role played in UK society by STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and maths. With a focus on space exploration, the session demonstrated how the science community has found new ways to promote science education during the pandemic. Presenter of The Sky At Night, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, explained that one of the reasons she became a space scientist was because she shared a birthday - March 9 - with cosmonaut Gagarin. (Gagarin embarked on a four-day tour of Britain in 1961, during which time he met the Queen at Buckingham Palace.) While taking part in a virtual science showcase via video link today, the Queen had a team of scientists in stitches when one of them asked what Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, was like when she met him. 'Russian!' the monarch dead-panned, before bursting into giggles. (Gagarin had embarked on a four-day tour of Britain in 1961, during which time he met the Queen at Buckingham Palace) Presenter of The Sky At Night, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, said one of the reasons she became a space scientist was because she shared a birthday - March 9 - with cosmonaut Gagarin (above). Dr Aderin-Pocock said: 'I believe, ma'am, that you met him. Can you tell us about that?' The Queen replied: 'I did. I did indeed yes. It was very interesting to meet him.' 'What was he like?' Dr Aderin-Pocock continued. 'Russian,' said the monarch, prompting a roar of laughter The 94-year-old sovereign chatted with British scientists, educators and schoolchildren to mark British Science Week - a celebration of the role played in UK society by STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and maths. Those present included Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock (bottom left); Prof Caroline Smith (top right), Alexandra White, Explainer, Science Museum (top centre); and Fiona Evans, Explainer, Science Museum (bottom centre). Pupils from Thomas Jones Primary School (top left) also took part Dr Aderin-Pocock said to the monarch: 'I believe ma'am that you met him. Can you tell us about that?' 'I did. I did indeed yes. It was very interesting to meet him,' the Queen replied. 'What was he like?' Dr Aderin-Pocock continued. 'Russian,' she said, prompting a roar of laughter. 'He didn't speak English. But no no, he was fascinating. And I suppose being the first one, it was particularly fascinating.' Dr Aderin-Pocock replied: 'Yes, yes. He's been quite an inspiration for me getting into space science. I also think it must have been very terrifying to be the first one and not knowing what's really going to happen.' ' Yes could you come back again? Very important! ' the Queen laughed. The Queen listened intently as Professor Caroline Smith, Professor of Earth Sciences and Principal Curator of Meteorites at the Natural History Museum, showed her updates from the NASA Mars Perseverance mission (also pictured) Professor Smith is a member of the science team working on the mission to understand the geology of Mars and look for signs of ancient life, as well as test technology that could pave the way for human exploration. (Above, the rover carries out checks of its robotic arm on the surface of Mars on March 8) Her Majesty spoke to Professor Smith about the discovery of pieces of a meteorite in the UK earlier in the week. Fragments of the rare meteorite (above) were discovered in a driveway in Gloucestershire. On hearing more about the space rock, the Queen said: 'I'm glad it didn't hit anyone!' The Queen also listened intently as Professor Caroline Smith, Professor of Earth Sciences and Principal Curator of Meteorites at the Natural History Museum, showed her updates from the NASA Mars Perseverance mission. Professor Smith is a member of the science team working on the mission to understand the geology of Mars and look for signs of ancient life, as well as test technology that could pave the way for human exploration. Examining the Jezero Crater region where the Perseverance Rover has landed, the Queen remarked: It's very rock-strewn isn't it?' Professor Smith explained that the areas is actually a crater that formed early in Mars's history, around four billion years ago, and was once full of water. 'And water obviously is a key element you need for life, so that's one of the reasons why we're going there, why we've chosen this specific part of Mars to explore,' she said. The Queen remarked: 'I think it's fascinating to see the pictures of Mars - unbelievable really to think one can actually see its surface.' Her Majesty also spoke to Professor Smith about the discovery of pieces of a meteorite in the UK earlier in the week. In May 2007, the Queen met NASA astronaut Mike Foale (also pictured), who introduced her to the crew aboard the International Space Station during her visit to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland The Queen with British-born astronaut Foale in Mission Control at NASA in Maryland. She spoke to three astronauts on the International Space Station on the final day of a state visit to the US Fragments of the rare meteorite were discovered in a driveway in Gloucestershire, which Professor Smith called a 'heaven-sent opportunity' for research, and described how the pieces are currently being curated by the Natural History Museum. On hearing more about the meteorite discovery, Her Majesty said: 'I'm glad it didn't hit anyone!' Before the call ended, the Queen watched as children from Thomas Jones School in West London had the opportunity to demonstrate their 'rocket mice' experiment to Her Majesty. The Year 4 pupils had taken part in a session for British Science Week with the Science Museum's Learning Team ahead of the call with the Queen. The Queen remarked: 'It's been very interesting to hear from you all. I hope the children have enjoyed it too they might learn something from it as well. 'Thank you very much indeed. It's wonderful work you are all doing.' Her Majesty was presented with a set of Mars Perseverance rover face masks, sent from NASA headquarters to Windsor Castle, at the end of the call. Above, the monarch at Buckingham Palace in 1970 with the crew of Apollo 11 - the first spaceflight to land humans on the moon, in July 1969. (From left, with the Queen, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin) Professor Smith asked that one of the masks be gifted to The Duke of Edinburgh, given His Royal Highness's particular interest in space exploration. 'Bye!' the Queen said and waved cheerily at the children, proving just how well she has got to grips with the new video-call technology. Dr Aderin-Pocock said afterwards: 'It was such an honour to speak to the Queen. It is one thing to visit Buckingham Palace but quite another to have a Zoom call with Her Majesty. I couldn't quite believe it. 'When I mentioned Yuri Gagarin to her, I couldn't believe her answer. It was not what I expected! She made us all laugh. 'She has a wonderful sense of humour. And it makes you realise, given the fact that he died in 1968, how long she has been our monarch. She is living history, in fact. 'Her Majesty had a wonderful enthusiasm for what we had to show her and was fascinated by the Mars footage. I am a science communicator, so it was fantastic to speak to someone who was so interested. 'The children loved getting the chance to show her their experiments, although they took meeting the Queen far more in their stride than we did.' Professor Caroline Smith added: 'It was really exciting and very interesting and inspiring. Seeing the children's pleasure and excitement at showing Her Majesty their experiment was wonderful. The Queen's reaction was fabulous. 'It was a very surreal experience. I'm working from home and I am sitting there at my computer on the kitchen table and then the Queen appears on your screen! 'It was odd but very exciting and very special. Not something you can imagine doing but a real honour and a privilege to speak to the Queen and tell her a little bit about the work I am doing and that NASA is doing. It was really thrilling. 'She appeared to be fascinated and asked some really pertinent and interesting questions. Obviously, she was genuinely interested. 'The Yuri Gagarin moment was honestly so funny. The Queen has had a long interest in science and technology. One of her first engagements as Queen was opening an atomic power station. She met the Apollo astronauts... it is quite something to think what she has seen in her life.' She's taking on the role of 'black widow' Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott's forthcoming drama House Of Gucci. And Lady Gaga, 34, was pictured wearing a vintage mustard cape on Friday, as she took direction alongside Adam Driver, 37, who plays her husband Maurizio Gucci. Gaga takes a starring role as Reggiani, whose marriage, divorce and subsequent plot to murder ex-husband Maurizio - an heir to the celebrated Italian fashion empire - is documented in the new film. Chic: Lady Gaga wore a vintage fringed cape on set with onscreen husband Adam Driver while filming the House Of Gucci movie in Milan's famous shopping mall on Friday The pair were shooting scenes in Milan's famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II luxury mall with Gaga teaming her cape with a pretty blouse, tweed skirt and heels. She had a vintage black Gucci handbag in hand and an oversized silk hat, while Adam looked lean in a suit wearing a wig to get into the role of the fashion mogul. Spotted nearby was acting veteran, Al Pacino, who greeted fans as he exited his hotel in the city. Taking direction: The pair were shooting scenes in Milan's famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II luxury mall with Gaga teaming her cape with a pretty blouse, tweed skirt and heels The star, 80, was seen sporting a black face mask and shades, partially concealing his identity. He also wrapped up warm in a classic navy coat. He takes on the role of Aldo Gucci, the brother of Maurizio. Reggiani was found guilty of paying a hit man 300,000 (240,000) to murder 46yearold Gucci, an heir to the fashion empire. Her husband had left her for another woman 10 years previously after telling her he was going on a short business trip, from which he never returned. Black widow: Lady Gaga plays Patrizia Reggiani, who was found guilty of paying a hit man 300,000 (240,000) to murder 46yearold Gucci, (Driver) an heir to the fashion empire (pictured in the 80s) Fans: Spotted nearby was acting veteran, Al Pacino, who greeted fans as he exited his hotel in the city Keep a low profile: The Hollywood star, 80, was seen sporting a black face mask and shades, partially concealing his identity. He also wrapped up warm in a classic navy coat She was also said to be furious her former husband had started seeing other women, and feared her daughters $170million inheritance was at risk if he remarried before ordering the hit. She also wanted more than the $650,000 she had been offered in a divorce settlement, the court heard. Reggiani was initially sentenced to 29 years in 1998, which was reduced to 26 on appeal. She served 18 before being released in October 2014. The film is based on the bestselling novel The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by author Sara Gay Forden. Reggiani eventually hired hitman Benedetto Ceraulo, a debt-ridden pizzeria owner who shot Gucci dead on the steps of his office in Milan as he arrived for work. Ceraulo was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Greetings: Al was photographed and filmed by numerous pedestrians Acting chops: He takes on the role of Aldo Gucci, the brother of Maurizio Shocking: Reggiani, pictured with Maurizio, was initially sentenced to 29 years in 1998, which was reduced to 26 on appeal. She served 18 before being released in October 2014. Wealth: Maurizio was the grandson of Guccio Gucci founder of the eponymous fashion house while Patrizia came from rather more humble beginnings She was convicted after her clairvoyant and confidante Pina Auriemma turned informer and told police about the plot. During the murder trial, which transfixed Italy, Reggiani arrived each day wearing head-to-toe Gucci clothes and accessories. The court heard how she had ordered the murder of her husband after he offered her $650,000 in a divorce settlement. She was initially sentenced to 29 years in 1998, which was reduced to 26 on appeal. She served 18 with her pet ferret Bambi as a companion for some of the time - before being released in October 2014. Having Bambi by her side was a special privilege negotiated by her lawyers however he was to suffer an unfortunate demise when a fellow inmate accidentally sat on him. Well-known for her luxury lifestyle, Reggiani once said: Id rather cry in a Rolls than be happy on a bicycle' and turned down the offer of day release while in prison because it would have meant doing 'menial' work. In 2017 a court ruled Reggiani was entitled to receive 900,000 a year from her ex-husband's fortune and she was given a lump sum of 16million for her time in prison. Maurizio Gucci was the grandson of Guccio Gucci, founder of the fashion company made famous with its double G logo. In the early 1990s it was hit by problems and he sold the label for $120 million, just two years before his death. The new film is scheduled to go on general release from November 24th 2021. The European Union has been declared an LGBTIQ freedom zone in response to an increase in discriminatory policies against the queer community in Poland and Hungary. Members of the European Parliament (EP) voted to adopt the symbolic resolution after local authorities in Poland declared parts of the country LGBTIQ-free zones. The resolution passed with 492 votes in favour to 141 against and 46 abstentions. But what are LGBTIQ-free zones and why has the EU been declared an LGBTIQ freedom zone now? The EP resolution states that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and other queer peoples should enjoy the freedom to live and publicly show their sexual orientation and gender identity without fear of intolerance, discrimination or persecution. It goes on to call on all levels of governance across the EU to protect and promote equality and the fundamental rights of all, including LGBTIQ persons. The resolution is effectively a statement of intention that MEPs hope will translate into action. Previously, the European Commission has rejected Polish towns which have declared themselves free of LGBTIQ ideas from EU funding for their town-twinning programme. It is hoped that the Commission will use infringement procedures, regulation on protecting the EUs budget and Article 7 of the Treaty on EU a provision that means member states failing to respect minorities human rights can have their voting rights revoked to address the issue. Terry Reintke, a German MEP who was among those who put the resolution forward, described it as a first step towards freedom for LGBTIQ people. The resolution comes two years on from the establishment of LGBTIQ-free zones in Poland, which now encompass more than 100 towns and cities or about a third of the country. The zones are declared by local authorities and are aimed at banning Pride marches and other LGBTIQ events. Although these zones are largely symbolic and their rules largely unenforceable, they reflect growing anti-LGBTIQ attitudes in the country, where same-sex relationships are illegal and same-sex couples cannot adopt children. It is believed that they are helping to normalise increased hate speech from elected officials, including President Andrzej Duda, and pro-government media, as well as the arrests of LGBTIQ rights activists and attacks and discrimination. The EPs resolution comes as the Polish government consider widening their adoption ban to include single homosexual parents, thereby closing a loophole through which same-sex couples could raise a child. The resolution also singles out Hungary as having a deteriorating relationship with LGBTIQ rights. In December 2020, the countrys constitution was amended to define parenthood as the mother is a woman, the father is a man. Adoption laws were changed so that only married couples can adopt children in most circumstances, thus effectively banning same-sex couples from doing so. Hungarys government also officially defined sex as being that which a person is born with. Poland and Hungary have both indicated that they will take legal action against EU regulation that makes funding conditional on respecting the rule of law, although this does not appear to be related directly to their anti-LGBTIQ legislation. The bushy red beard and bald pate helped but it was the smattering of tattoos on the mans face and neck that gave him away as a front-line capitol rioter on Jan. 6. On video the man smashing the window with a tomahawk and hurling a flagpole, rod and a desk drawer at officers had a fleur de lis tattoo under his eye and MAMA TRIED inked on his neck, an FBI agent said. Just like the man sitting in a Houston federal courtroom Thursday. The FBI special agent testified that Shane Leedon Jenkins could be seen at the front of the melee on multiple videos taken outside the U.S. Capitol the day of the election certification. He was shown throwing at least nine objects at police officers who were in a defensive posture at Lower West Terrace tunnel. On Facebook and Twitter profiles in his name, a man who looked like him posted images from the capitol and a message calling it a historic day for America. When agents showed up at Jenkins home last Friday, he admitted he had been in D.C. that day, the agent said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison ruled that the 43-year-old roofer and oil field worker presented a danger to society and given his criminal history and multiple incidents of defying authority figures, there were no conditions under which Jenkins could be safely released on bond. Before ruling, Edison gave his perspective on the larger event that played out live for the whole country two months ago: What happened at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 was horrible. It was unpatriotic, I think on behalf of all Americans I can say it was truly shocking to watch it on television, it was absolutely heartbreaking to think that there are those in society that think that storming the U.S. Capitol, the symbol of our fragile but precious democracy, is somehow a good idea. That is not how Americans act. That is not how democracy works. We do not participate in an insurrection trying to overthrow our government simply because our preferred candidate did not win. The magistrate went on to say that the evidence was overwhelming that Jenkins traveled to D.C. and expected to engage in violence. How else do you explain that he happened to havea crowbar, a hatchet or tomahawk in his backpack. Theres video evidence that he pulled the weapon out of the bag and used it to smash a window in the United States Capitol, but even more alarming and telling is the evidence that he threw items at law enforcement officers. Jenkins is presumed innocent, he said. But because of the danger he poses, the judge ordered him to remain in custody until his trial in Washington, D.C. on charges of civil disorder, assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, destruction of government property, entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds. Jenkins sat handcuffed in a Houston courtroom during the two-hour Zoom hearing, wearing the olive green jail uniform used at the downtown detention center. He removed his mask briefly for the FBI agent to identify him. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Winter said Jenkins had spent most of the last 25 years in correctional facilities on an array of assault charges, including attacks on police officers. She said he failed to comply with the terms of his probation. Jenkins also has prior cases involving terroristic threats and resisting arrest. Dennis Hester, from the federal public defenders office, told the judge the government had offered no proof that the social media accounts belonged to Jenkins, nor any proof that any of the objects hurled at officers on the video actually caused an injury. He also questioned the agent as to whether the FBI had investigated the online sleuth who told them about Jenkins. The agency did not, the agent said. Hester also questioned the agents testimony that it would cost $1,500 to repair the broken window. The tipster contacted investigators in mid-January with information about Jenkins, the agent said. The man appeared in multiple images at the front of a crowd outside the Capitol wearing a red beanie, blue hoodie, balaclava and camouflage pants. Police captured body cam footage of a man outside a D.C. hotel violating curfew in a similar outfit. Many of matching articles of clothing and the tomahawk were found during a search of Jenkins home in northwest Houston. FBI agents arrested Jenkins Friday without incident at a home run by a prison ministry where he roomed with other former inmates. David Trickett, the founding director of the Christ Hope and Reconciliation Ministry where Jenkins lives, told the judge Jenkins worked for the ministry and he trusted him with his own wife and children. He said he thought Jenkins had five children and was in contact with three of them. He described Jenkins as very submissive, very humble, and said he takes correction very well. Other Houston-area men charged in the Capitol breach are bakery owner Wilmar Jeovanny Montano Alvarado; Tam Pham, a Houston police officer who has since resigned; and Joshua R. Lollar, a 39-year-old disabled veteran from Spring. A far right filmmaker known as Baked Alaska also made his first appearance in a Houston federal court, on allegations he was livestreaming inside the Capitol during the riot. gabrielle.banks@chron.com Watertown, NY (13601) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. POTTSVILLE Schuylkill County inmates on their way to state prison now make their first stop in Montgomery County instead of Cumberland, county prison Warden David J. Wapinsky announced Wednesday at the monthly prison board meeting. Everybodys going to State Correctional Institution/Phoenix instead of SCI/Camp Hill, Wapinsky said. Opened in 2018 in Collegeville to replace the now-closed SCI/Graterford, SCI/Phoenix houses more than 3,000 prisoners. Sheriff Joseph G. Groody said inmates are now being sent to SCI/Phoenix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the county chose that prison instead of SCI/Fayette in the southwestern part of the state. Once they are evaluated at SCI/Phoenix, the inmates are assigned to the institution where they will reside until release or death. Wapinsky said the inmates go through the quarantine before being taken to SCI/Phoenix. Were trending back to normal with state inmates, he said. That is welcome news for the prison, where overcrowding forces three inmates to share a number of cells. We are triple-celling a total of 12 cells, he said. Wapinsky said there were 234 inmates 184 men and 50 women in the county prison as of Wednesday. That does not count 22 inmates outsourced to other countys prisons, with nine in Columbia, seven in Centre and six in Northumberland, he said. Fortunately, Wapinsky said, there is no health crisis in the county prison. We have no active cases of COVID in the jail, he said. The board also approved the creation of a full-time maintenance worker position. Groody also said the prison on March 1 started using female inmates as utility workers. He said they probably will use a couple more inmates, who are paid for the work they perform. March also is when prison employees undergo mandatory sexual harassment training, Groody said. He thanked Doreen Kutzler of the county human resources office for providing that training at the jail, adding that she sometimes starts at 4 a.m. in order to enable everyone to be trained. On Saturday, March 6, the Nevada Democrat Party officially elected a self-described socialist, Judith Whitmer -- and her entire socialist slate -- to lead their party. This isnt just a local story. Democrats view Nevada as a national bellwether, especially since the party rearranged its presidential-selection process to put the Silver State near the front of the line in 2024. That gambit was orchestrated by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who retired in 2017 after more than three decades in Washington. His fellow Democrats may rue the day they went along with it. In the four years since leaving office, Reid has maintained control over the state party apparatus and operations, which many have called the Reid Machine. Through his hand-picked loyalists, Reid oversaw the partys operations and funding and ensured that public, intra-party squabbles and expensive, contested primaries would be quashed. That discipline and structure collapsed last weekend. Just as President Biden, with the help of a compliant press corps, ran and won as a purported moderate, we have seen similar posturing by Nevada Democrats. When Reid retired from the Senate, Catherine Cortez Masto stepped forward to fill his shoes, also running as a moderate and winning by a slim 2.6 percentage point margin. Likewise, Steve Sisolak ran for Nevada governor and won in 2018 as -- you guessed it -- a moderate, pro-business Democrat. Such nods to the middle make sense in a state that saw narrow margins in both its 2016 and 2020 presidential contests. As it turned out, Nevada Democrats like national Democrats -- effectively shielded their radicalism behind anti-Trump rhetoric, allowing the party to unite in opposition to Trump, thus de-emphasizing their internal divisions. No longer. In just a few short weeks, without Trump in the White House or his Twitter account to attack, Democrats have revealed their true colors. In Nevada, Democrats have provided first ever collective bargaining rights to state employees, passed extreme and costly green energy mandates, completely overhauled our 2020 election process (now working to make California-style universal mail-in balloting and ballot harvesting permanent), and they continue their push to allow biological males to compete in female sports. Their agenda threatens to destroy jobs, schools, and border security, while obliterating any chances for fiscal sanity or American energy independence. No Democrat daring to self-identify as a moderate is welcome in this iteration of the party, nor allowed to vote against its radical agenda. No matter how careless, dangerous, or inefficient a particular policy might be, Democrats will all be pushing the same approval button in unison with the far-left Biden administration. In his first 50 days, Biden has killed thousands of jobs and careers by canceling the Keystone pipeline. He rejoined the Paris climate accords, unconcerned that it disadvantages the United States with regard to China and India. He has blithely accepted the perverse logic and insult to the federal government of so-called sanctuary cities. Democrats have ended effective border-security efforts, while placing an unconstitutional halt on deporting dangerous illegal immigrants. There is no hiding from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the socialist base of the party. They are brazenly taking control of public policy in America and of Democratic Party apparatuses in early swing states like Nevada. Americans and Nevadans are witnessing this watershed moment where the long, methodical project of radically transforming America is occurring in double time. The frog is not being slow-boiled; it is being flame-roasted. All of the powerful institutions in American life are converging with the political elite to force America to be progressive. Of course, progressivism is really just a rebrand of what the ideological roots were always about -- socialism and an all-encompassing federal administrative state. The Democratic Party and the political elite want one thing: to rule and control every nook and cranny of American life. One critique of the early Marxist socialist party apparatus was that it operated like an authoritarian schoolteacher, bringing up the masses within narrow confines of thought. In Nevada, with the democratic-socialists in charge, they are one step closer today. REDDING State Department of Agriculture officials seized several goats from a local residence Wednesday after receiving a complaint about injured goats and general care issues, according to a statement issued by the department. Department of Agriculture officials Wednesday morning were taking the goats off the property one at a time and evaluating them at tables, photographing and tagging them on before moving them into a trailer. Cross Highway, where the property is located, was closed in the early morning according to a town announcement. Redding police said in a statement they were assisting with the execution of a search warrant at the property. State officials said they planned to take the animals into department custody for transportation to a state rescue and rehabilitation facility in Niantic. The animals will be evaluated and treated by a veterinarian and will remain in [the Department of Agricultures] custody and care until the case is adjudicated in the court system, the release said. Property owner Nancy Burton, who was on the property, did not immediately comment. In addition to a complaint received last October about general care issues, the department received complaints dating to 2017 regarding roaming goats and the number of goats on the property, according to the Department of Agriculture statement. The departments release said local and state animal control officers made multiple visits to the property in attempts to assess and resolve the situation. The Department of Agriculture ultimately resorted to obtaining a search and seizure warrant. Based on citizen complaints and surveillance that revealed animal welfare concerns, including mobility issues due to untrimmed hooves, excessive manure, lack of sufficient water, and structures in poor condition that did not provide adequate protection from the weather, the Department of Agriculture applied for, and was granted a search and seizure warrant for the goats in question, the release said. Removal of the animals is a last resort after attempting to work with the owner to voluntarily improve the standard of care, officials added. Burton first adopted a goat Katie the Goat in 2008, according to court documents Burton has filed, including an appeal against Reddings Zoning Board of Appeals and a complaint against the town of Redding and First Selectwoman Julia Pemberton. The goat had lived in Waterford, about five miles from the Millstone nuclear power plant. Katie the Goats milk had been tested for radiation and Burton moved her to the Redding property to initiate a milk-sampling project downwind of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y., she stated. [Burton] later rescued two other goats from southeastern Connecticut and since that time the goat population at [Burtons] property has expanded, she wrote in a complaint against the Zoning Board of Appeals. In the zoning appeal, dated January 2018, she stated the milk-testing continued after Katie the Goats death in 2012 and that the goat population on the property expanded to some 50 adult goats, but that she was working with a nonprofit organization to have them adopted. The population has been reduced to date by 20. A total of nine adult goats are allowed on Redding properties before the Zoning Board of Appeals has to approve additional goats. In a 2019 complaint against the town and Pemberton, Burton argued she should be allowed to keep 30 goats on the property. The case was supposed to have a status conference Wednesday, but did not go forward due to the unavailability of the plaintiff, Burton. Pemberton spent much of her morning observing the states action from the road. She said recent surveillance confirmed the towns concerns. Anyone can observe, from the road, that theres a shed with manure stacked so high that the goats can barely get into the shed, Pemberton said. They shouldnt be living, standing on a pile of [manure] barely getting out of the cold. Its deplorable, she added. Pemberton said she doesnt know if Burton will get her goats back but personally hopes she doesnt. Staff photographer John Voorhees contributed to this report. Nationals MPs are drafting a plan to add destinations to the $1.2 billion federal scheme to slash the cost of flights to major tourist hubs, in a revolt against the narrow list of travel options. The federal MPs are furious about rules that limit the half-price flights to 13 regions and offer only one destination each in Victoria and NSW, setting up a test of the coronavirus rescue package when Parliament resumes on Monday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the government is open to adding regions to the scheme. Credit:Kate Geraghty Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged the demands on Friday by saying he would look at adding other locations to the scheme, which promises to save tourism jobs by subsidising 800,000 cheap flights to be taken by the end of September. Saying they are livid that some regions have missed out, Nationals MPs intend to meet on Monday to bring pressure to bear on Mr Morrison and Nationals leader Michael McCormack. Watch: The key revelations from Meghan and Harrys Oprah interview It's been quite a week for the royal family. When news emerged that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were set to sit down with Oprah Winfrey to talk about life as senior royals, parents, and their plans for the future, speculation was intense about what they would say and any potential fallout. Teaser clips released before the programme aired gave an indication it would be open and honest, with Winfrey asking Meghan "were you silent or were you silenced?", while Harry spoke of fears of "history repeating itself". But no one expected the bombshells that were dropped to cover allegations of racism, and ignorance of a suicidal duchess. Yahoo News UK recaps the week that was and asks what's next for Harry, Meghan, and the Royal Family. Sunday: The interview airs in the US The interview was shown first on US television on Sunday evening, in a primetime slot with some 17m people tuning in. It started with Meghan sitting down in a one-on-one with Winfrey, where she revealed she'd suffered suicidal thoughts during her time as a royal; claimed she had been denied support to cope with them; and said a member of the Royal Family raised "concerns" about what colour Archie's skin might be before he was born. When Harry joined the two women, he said he had felt "awkward" when he had the conversation with the family member, but refused to go into more detail. He also said the family had cut him off, that his father had stopped taking his calls, and described his relationship with his brother as "space". The first part of the interview featured Meghan one on one with Winfrey. (CBS) Read more: 5 most explosive claims about Royal Family from Meghan Markles Oprah interview The pair concluded they would still be senior royals if they'd been given the support they needed. The interview was jaw-dropping. Chris Ship, ITV's royal editor, said: "When the show was over, it dawned on me that the couple had effectively loaded up a B-52 bomber, flew it over Buckingham Palace and then unloaded their arsenal right above it, bomb by heavily-loaded bomb." Story continues Camilla Tominey, The Telegraph associate editor said: "In allowing his wife to throw a grenade under the Duchess of Cambridge and detailing how his father stopped taking his calls, Harry lit the fuse on a slow burn stick of dynamite that arguably promises to cause the greatest devastation of all in the long run." Monday: The interview airs around the world With coverage through the night, the interview ran as the main story for breakfast shows across TV networks - including Good Morning Britain, with Piers Morgan. Morgan caused outrage when he said he "didn't believe a word" of Meghan's interview with Winfrey. More than 41,000 people complained to Ofcom about his comments. Although news websites ran stories all day, more than 12m people in the UK tuned into the interview when it aired on ITV on Monday evening. Speculation began to mount as to how the Queen would respond. As the palace initially remained silent, there were calls for an investigation into the issues Meghan and Harry raised. Labour MP Nadia Whittome tweeted: When Meghan Markle was accused of bullying, Buckingham Palace immediately announced an investigation. Now that Meghan has revealed comments about her childs skin colour, will they investigate racism in the Palace? I wont be holding my breath." Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the allegations should be taken seriously, but Boris Johnson refused to be drawn on the interview. As to the public's reaction, a YouGov poll showed that the row did not appear to be helping anyone, with people saying they had little sympathy either with the duke and duchess or with the rest of the Royal Family. The poll of 2,111 British adults on 8 March showed that from what they had heard and read, 47% of people thought the interview was inappropriate, and about a fifth (21%), said the interview was appropriate. The Society of Editors, which represents large parts of the UK press, issued a statement which refuted Harry's claim that the press was "bigoted", saying: "The UK media is not bigoted and will not be swayed from its vital role holding the rich and powerful to account following the attack on the press by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex." Society director Ian Murray added that it was unreasonable for the couple to conflate the legitimate coverage provided by the edited and regulated UK media with the wild west of social media. Watch: How Are People Reacting to the Harry and Meghan Interview? Tuesday: The palace responds Some reports suggested the Queen had wanted more time to respond to the claims made in the interview by Harry and Meghan. Others said she had wanted to sleep on the comment prepared on her behalf by aides. Eventually, at nearly 6pm, a statement was released on behalf of the Queen. It read: "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. "The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. "Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members." Within moments of the palace statement, another was released. This time from ITV confirming that Morgan had stepped down from his presenting role at Good Morning Britain, after the comments he made about Meghan. Earlier in the day, Meghan's father Thomas Markle Snr had his say on the interview, revealing he had been upset to hear his daughter had suicidal thoughts. Queen Elizabeth II, before the interview, walking past Commonwealth flags in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle, to mark Commonwealth Day. (Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Read more: Why didn't Harry and Meghan's race claim go straight to HR? Speaking to Morgan on GMB, he branded Prince Harry "snotty" and said he felt Meghan had let him down. Prince Charles and Camilla were out in public for the first time since the interview, at a set of engagements in London. Charles chuckled when he was asked about the interview, as he met people waiting to get their COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up centre. Following the divisive society statement, Murray appeared on BBC News where he had a heated exchange with Victoria Derbyshire. He refused to say if headlines which Derbyshire raised during Meghan's time in the UK were racist. Wednesday: Meghan's friend comes to her defence Speaking publicly for the first time since the interview, and for many years, actor and musician Janina Gavankar appeared on This Morning to defend Meghan. Addressing bullying allegations made against Meghan the previous week, Gavankar said there would be "texts and emails" which would show the duchess was "not a bully". Gavankar said the duchess felt "free" after the interview had aired. She repeatedly said she spoke for herself, but acknowledged that Meghan and Harry did know she was appearing on the show. Janina Gavankar, here in March 2020, came out to support her friends Harry and Meghan. (Jim Spellman/Getty Images) Elsewhere, Murray stepped down as executive director of the Society of Editors after the fallout from his statement, and said: "While I do not agree that the Societys statement was in any way intended to defend racism, I accept it could have been much clearer in its condemnation of bigotry and has clearly caused upset." Meanwhile, Morgan continued to stand by his comments, saying he still did not believe what Meghan said in the interview. He said: "If people want to believe Meghan Markle, thats entirely their right. I dont believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth and I think the damage shes done to the British monarchy and to the Queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and, frankly, contemptible. If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it. Piers Morgan smiles as he takes his daughter Elise to school, after he left his high-profile breakfast slot with the broadcaster ITV, on 10 March 2021. (Reuters/Toby Melville) Read more: 'History repeating itself': The striking similarities between Meghan and Diana It also emerged that Meghan sent a personal letter to ITV complaining about his comments. It's understood the letter was not complaining about whether or not he believed her, but citing concerns that his comments "may affect the issue of mental health generally and those attempting to deal with their own problems". Thursday: William breaks his silence Prince William and Kate made their first appearance since the interview as they visited a school in east London as part of their work with the Royal Foundation on mental health. Sky News reporter Inzamam Rashid called out to the Duke of Cambridge "Is the royal family a racist family, sir?" to which he got the reply: "Were very much not a racist family." William also said that he had not spoken to his brother yet, but added "I will do". Prince William visited a school in East London where he told reporters his family was "very much not a racist family". (Justin Tallis - WPA Pool/Getty Images) The remark was the first time a member of the family had spoken in public about the interview. Reaction to Morgan leaving GMB also continued, with Alex Beresford - the GMB presenter who had been critical of Morgan during the show - saying he had always had a "lively, cheeky on-air relationship" adding "I didnt want him to quit, but I did want him to listen". Friday: Poll shows a dip in popularity for Harry and Meghan After watching the fallout of the interview over the week, YouGov polled 1,664 British adults to see what they thought of Harry and Meghan between 10-11 March. The ratings showed Harry's lowest ever popularity scores - with his net favourability down to -3 points. YouGov found that 45% of Britons have a positive opinion of Prince Harry, but 48% regard him negatively, giving a net score -3. The couple's popularity had dropped again, having slightly improved before the interview was aired. (YouGov) The polling company said this was a drop of 15 points from 2 March - and the first time attitudes have been more negative than positive towards the prince. Meghan's scores had dropped too, having been on the rise shortly before the interview. Only three in ten people (31%) have a positive opinion of her, while six in ten view her negatively (58%), giving her a net rating of -27, down from -14 just over a week ago. Meanwhile, a poll by Redfield and Wilton for The Times Redbox showed that 51% of people want the crown to pass straight to Prince William, skipping his father who is next in line. About a third, 31%, support Charles becoming King as will happen when the Queen dies. What's next? The wording of the Queen's statement - and subsequent reports - suggests the Royal Family is desperate to keep this matter behind closed doors. It considers the issues private and should be dealt with between family members. According to some reports, the Queen is preparing to speak to Harry in the next few days, and to quiz members of her family about the conversation about race. She's also said to be supportive of William's comment that they are "very much not" a racist family. But their efforts to keep things quiet may not be successful. There will be questions that are continued to be asked about the most famous family in Britain, and it will remain to be seen how much pressure they can withstand. Already some Commonwealth realms, where the Queen is head of state, are reopening the frequently revisited conversation of keeping her as their monarch. Polls have shown a stark generational divide in the response to the interview, with younger people siding with Harry and Meghan, which suggests there may be longer-term battles ahead for the House of Windsor. Questions about the future of the monarchy are being raised across the Commonwealth. (Anwar Hussein/WireImage) Read more: What Commonwealth countries are saying about Harry and Meghan's racism claim PR expert Anthony Burr said: "This interview has been massively divisive. I cant think of a more divisive interview, ever. "This has created chasms between countries, cultures, race, industries and tradition. We are now seeing arguments such as Generation X vs Gen Zs; US vs UK; Celebrity vs Royalty, US media vs UK media, Black vs White, Republicans vs Royalists. "It is playing out across the world through social media and almost every media platform." He added: "Meghan could have been our ambassador for decades to come. Instead she has become our fiercest critic." What next for Harry and Meghan? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appear to have laid out their grievances in full, and so this could be the final word for them. Gavankar said the couple could now look to their work together, through Archewell, the non-profit organisation which they have founded in the US. However, her appearance on British TV hours after the palace's statement in response to the interview might mean this is not over yet from the Sussex camp. She said they were excited for a "new era" in which they could "tell the truth, we can finally validate them". While they may be unconcerned about dropping levels of popularity from a personal point of view, there could be an impact on their future work if they cannot restore a public image. Meghan and Harry have set out their life as primarily being in the US now. (CBS) The couple's main line of work is set to be making documentaries, children's programmes, and scripted series for Netflix as well as podcasts for Spotify. Those all need viewers and listeners, and might need the couple to be popular in order to do well. Burr told Yahoo UK: "With this interview, Meghan and Harry have confirmed their position of living and working in the United States. Their earning power there will surely remain, unless they make some huge missteps now. Harry proved that by sealing the deals with Netflix and Spotify. "The dust will take a while to settle in the UK, and they will analyse what their popularity may be on this side of the pond after a period of time. But they will be welcomed in to US celebrity royalty and that is where they will prosper. Expect more deals like the ones they have already made." Only time will tell. The UK economy shrank again in January as the latest round of national lockdowns and restrictions over the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. Gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 2.9% month on month in January, reversing a rise of 1.2% between November and December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. GDP remained 9% below its pre-pandemic levels in January. The fall came at a time when the economy had been placed under some of the toughest restrictions since coronavirus first hit a year ago. However, businesses have adapted better to changing circumstances, the data suggests, with the 2.9% decline lower than the 4.9% economists had predicted. The services sector took the brunt of the fall, shrinking by 3.5% in January as rafts of hospitality and leisure firms were forced to shut due to new lockdown restrictions. (PA Graphics) The sector is now 10.2% smaller than it was in February 2020, before the impact of the pandemic was first fully felt. Construction grew by 0.9% during the month as its recovery continued and new work came in. But the production sector fell by 1.5% in January 2021, after manufacturing contracted for the first time since last April down 2.3% according to the figures. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow said: The economy took a notable hit in January, albeit smaller than some expected, with retail, restaurants, schools and hairdressers all affected by the latest lockdown. Manufacturing also saw its first decline since April, with car manufacturing falling significantly. However, increases in health services from both vaccine rollout and increased testing partially offset the declines in other industries. Both imports and exports to the EU fell markedly in January, with much of this likely the result of temporary factors. Returns from our more timely surveys and other indicators suggest trading began to recover towards the end of the month. Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts have GDP dropping 3.8% in the first quarter before bouncing back by 3.9% in the second quarter, if the Governments vaccination rollout and road map reopening goes to plan. Januarys decline is expected to continue in February, with last weeks Budget by Chancellor Rishi Sunak extending support packages across several sectors, including furlough until September, a business rates holiday until April, and 5 billion in grants for struggling businesses. Alpesh Paleja, lead economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: Activity fell in January, as widely expected, with much of the UK entering some form of lockdown at the start of the year. However, the decline was notably smaller than the first lockdown in spring 2020, demonstrating the growing ability of businesses and households to adapt to greater restrictions on mobility. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 She stunned in a futuristic Dion Lee leather bustier dress during a Melbourne Fashion Festival event on Thursday night. And Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) looked equally chic for a school run in Sydney earlier in the week. The mother-of-three showed off her slender legs in a short shirt dress teamed with Hunter Wellington boots. School pick-up, but make it chic! Lara Worthington shows off her slender legs in a shirt dress and boots as she enjoys a quick nap in her car before collecting her sons Rocket and Racer The 33-year-old shared a picture of her look on Instagram. She was captured taking a quick nap in the passenger seat of her luxury SUV, before collecting her older sons, Rocket, five, and Racer, four. 'School pick up,' she captioned the black and white photo. Despite taking some time to rest her eyes, the busy mum also happened to fit in a coffee run before heading to the school. In a January interview with Marie Claire, the Aussie beauty explained that having her three children taught her to 'be happy' in her body. Hot: She stunned in a futuristic Dion Lee leather bustier dress during a Melbourne Fashion Festival event on Thursday night 'Before I had kids, I was always trying to get skinny or be a certain weight,' she told the publication. 'My mind was so focused on that and then the moment I just let myself be happy in my body and had kids it really changed for me. I feel like my whole early 20s were just so centred on body issues.' Lara, who is married to Avatar star Sam Worthington, is also a mum baby boy, whose name is yet to be revealed. Couple goals: Lara is married to Avatar star Sam Worthington The notoriously private couple are yet to reveal the baby's name and exactly when their son was born. Lara had confirmed her pregnancy in November 2019, telling Vogue Australia: 'I'm having a boy, early next year. It's my third boy and we're all very excited and very happy. 'I think any addition brings joy and happiness to the family, but more so when you can share it with the other boys. It's such a boy's club in my house!' Doting mum: They are parents to Rocket (pictured), four, Racer, three, and a newborn, whose name is yet to be revealed Meanwhile, the doting mum told Marie Claire that she thinks her body was 'meant to have kids' and she would 'happily' have more in the future. 'It's like my body was meant to have kids, and maybe that's why I've had so many and would happily have more,' she said. Lara and Sam welcomed their most recent addition, a baby boy, early last year. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 It is a year since then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gave Irelands first lockdown speech during his St Patricks Day trip to Washington DC. Mr Varadkar announced the closure of schools, colleges and other public facilities. It was the first of many pivotal speeches from Mr Varadkar until Micheal Martin was elected as Taoiseach last June. Leo Varadkars speech in full: I need to speak to you about Coronavirus and Covid-19. Yesterday, the World Health Organisation formally described it as a pandemic and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) updated its guidelines, advising us all to act early to be effective Leo Varadkar For the past few weeks, the Government and our public services have been focused on the impact of the virus. In that time, we have taken several important and unprecedented measures to protect public health. We have been preparing for all eventualities. Yesterday, the World Health Organisation formally described it as a pandemic and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) updated its guidelines, advising us all to act early to be effective. Our own National Public Health Emergency Team met last night and has issued new advice to Government. We are acting on that advice today. There will be many more cases. More people will get sick and unfortunately, we must face the tragic reality that some people will die. The virus is all over the world. It will continue to spread but it can be slowed. Its impact can be reduced, making it easier for our health service to cope and giving our scientists more time to develop better testing, treatments and a vaccine. We have a duty as a society to protect ourselves and above all to protect others - our parents and grandparents, our family and friends, co-workers and neighbours. Leo Varadkar It is important to remember that the disease effects will be mild for the majority of people, especially the young and healthy. We know that older people and those with chronic diseases are at real risk. We have a duty as a society to protect ourselves and above all to protect others our parents and grandparents, our family and friends, co-workers and neighbours. We have not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory. This is unchartered territory. We said we would take the right actions at the right time. We have to move now to have the greatest impact. So, from 6pm today, the following measures are being put in place. They will stay in place until March 29. Schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow. Where possible, teaching will be done online or remotely. Cultural institutions will close. Our advice is that all indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor mass gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled. Arrangements are being made to ensure that everyone entering Ireland through our ports and airports is fully informed and self-isolates if they develop symptoms. We need the public and businesses to take a sensible and level-headed responsible approach Leo Varadkar You should continue to go to work if you can but where possible should work from home. In order to reduce unnecessary face-to-face interaction in the workplace, break times and working times should be staggered and meetings done remotely or by phone. Public transport will continue to operate. The shops will remain open and we have plans to ensure that supply chains will not be interrupted. We need the public and businesses to take a sensible and level-headed responsible approach. Restaurants, cafes and other businesses can stay open but should look at ways that they can implement the public health advice on social distancing. As a general rule, outside of work people should seek to reduce social interactions as much as possible. You can play your part by hand washing, coughing and sneezing into your elbow and seeking medical advice if you develop symptoms. This is now more important than ever. I know that some of this is coming as a real shock and it is going to involve big changes in the way we live our lives Leo Varadkar The Cabinet will meet later today. Opposition party leaders and our counterparts in Northern Ireland and Britain will be briefed. In the period ahead, the Government will deploy all the resources we can muster, human and financial, to tackle this threat head-on. Those resources are extensive but not unlimited. Healthcare workers have been at the forefront of this crisis since it started. They will be at the frontline of the crisis in the time ahead. We must do all we can to help them, so they can help those who need help the most. I know that some of this is coming as a real shock and it is going to involve big changes in the way we live our lives. I know that I am asking people to make enormous sacrifices. Were doing it for each other. Together we can slow the virus in its tracks and push it back. Acting together, as one nation, we can save many lives. Our economy will suffer; it will bounce back. Lost time in school or college will be recovered. In time, our lives will go back to normal. Above all, we all need to look out for each other. Ireland is a great nation. And we are great people. We have experienced hardship and struggle before. We have overcome many trials in the past with our determination and our spirit. We will prevail. Vietnam to continue with AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine Vietnam has not reported any blood clot incidents in people receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and will continue with the programme according to a health official. Vietnam to continue with AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine Head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Dang Duc Anh, said that Vietnam has so far given the AstraZeneca vaccines to nearly 1,600 local people over the past four days and no blood clot incidents have been recorded. "Well continue with the vaccine in our campaign and will tightly monitor possible reactions," the official said. Vietnam launched the first national Covid-19 vaccination campaign on March 8, using more than 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for local medical workers and those participating in the anti-virus activities in virus-hit areas. This is the first batch of the 30 million doses that Vietnam is expected to receive from AstraZeneca this year under a recently-signed deal with the manufacturer. According to the National Expanded Immunisation Programme, most of the vaccinated people displayed normal symptoms such as muscle pain, fatigue, fever, headache, chills, pain at the injection spot and nausea. Nine people experienced anaphylactic shock and have all recovered quickly. Several European nations and Thailand have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in their programmes over blood clot fears. Anyone who took advantage of Gov. Greg Abbotts repeal of the mask mandate and capacity limits on Texas businesses last week probably did not notice the average age, race or class of those serving them. If they had looked around the restaurants, bars and theaters where they celebrated the lifting of COVID rules, they would have seen that most workers are young, non-white and low-income. Yet these are not the people getting vaccinated, most of whom are older, Anglo and wealthier. If Abbott wants to open Texas for business 100 percent, he should allow 100 percent of Texans to protect themselves from the coronavirus and those unwilling to show basic consideration for their fellow humans. The governor could crow about getting ahead of President Joe Bidens May 1 deadline. TOMLINSONS TAKE: Texas restaurants, retailers expecting a blue Valentine's Day amid COVID-19 Of course, Abbott and state leaders should follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, but theyve shown no inclination to trust the science. A recent CDC study proved wearing a mask slowed transmission and that eating in restaurants sped it up. The Republican primary voter, though, opposes these necessary measures, according to a recent survey by Public Policy Polling. Since Abbott does not want to take any chances with his political career, hes gambling with the health of working Texans instead. But why the half-measure? If hes going to ignore health professionals, he should go all the way and declare all Texans eligible for the COVID-19 vaccinesno need to restrict the program to those over 50 years of age or people with pre-existing conditions. Let Texans compete for survival; thats how free markets tend to work in Texas. The logic of putting older adults, the disabled and the chronically ill at the front of the line only makes sense if the governments primary concern is keeping people healthy. But Abbott has made clear his priority is restarting the economy. Getting butts on barstools is mission number one. Science shows that vaccinated people are less likely to transmit the virus. Just as the state initially prioritized nursing homes and hospitals, inoculating hospitality workers makes sense if businesses open at full capacity. We should be vaccinating bartenders, servers and cooks and their customers, not wasting time saving doses for those responsible people who will probably stay home because of their age or health and not run up a $200 dinner tab with a big night on the town. Allowing young, healthy workers to get vaccinated might even help with the disturbing racial disparity in vaccinations so far. The fatality rates among Texas Latinos and Blacks are significantly higher than whites, yet minority vaccination rates are substantially lower, according to CDC data. Prioritizing vaccination based on age only adds to the problem, as medical ethicists recently pointed out in the Washington Post. The median age for White Americans is 44, while the median age for minority Americans is 31. Eliminating phased vaccination would also end the confusion of what qualifies as a pre-existing condition to be eligible for Phase 1B. Cancer and diabetes patients make the list in most places, but confusion surrounds obesity and smoking, two things that increase a persons likelihood of suffering a life-threatening infection. Not to mention, almost everyone can come up with some kind of condition to justify counting themselves as 1B. Since state law forbids vaccination centers from asking people about their healthy, all operate on the honor system. Less scrupulous Texans are clicking the pre-existing condition box and getting their jabs whether they genuinely qualify or not. A wide-open approach would also end the jaw-dropping inconsistency of Texass decision not to prioritize grocery workers. No other group is more critical to our survival, yet we underpay and under-protect them. Doing away with the phases would also allow entire households to get vaccinated and slow infection. Under the current system, an immuno-compromised person qualifies for a vaccine, but their spouse or caretaker might not, even though he or she is the one probably going to the store. TOMLINSONS TAKE: COVID makes the rich even richer - and takes away from workers The inconsistencies and inequities of the current system are countless, which is perhaps the most compelling reason to do away with the pretense that the system is fair. Luckily, the federal government has told states to prepare for a flood of doses in April. Biden intends to make a vaccine available to everyone who wants one by the end of May, which is why he set May 1 as the deadline to open vaccinations to everyone. For many Texas businesses, though, vaccinations cannot come soon enough. Some business owners care little for the health of their employees and customers; they are desperate for revenue. The responsible ones are holding back, trying not to make the pandemic worse. If Abbott wants to help business, he would have kept the mask mandate and allowed more frontline workers to get the vaccine. As usual, hes getting things backward to inoculate himself against right-wing critics. Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and politics. twitter.com/cltomlinson chris.tomlinson@chron.com KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LEGAL NOTICE If You Bought Natural Gas in Colorado Between January 1, 2000, and October 31, 2002, You May Be Entitled to Settlement Proceeds. __________________________________________________ Why was this notice published? A Settlement has been reached with certain defendants in a lawsuit involving natural gas. What is this lawsuit about? The lawsuit, styled as Breckenridge Brewery of Colorado, LLC, et al. v. ONEOK, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:06-01110-REB-MEH, pending in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (the "Action"), alleges that certain companies involved in the production, marketing, or sale of natural gas engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to manipulate the price of natural gas. Plaintiffs further claim that commercial and industrial purchasers of natural gas who purchased natural gas other than from utilities or local distribution companies and for their own use or consumption in Colorado may recover for the effect that the alleged conspiracy had on the prices of the natural gas they purchased. Plaintiffs allege that, as result of the unlawful conspiracy, they and other purchasers paid more for natural gas than they would have absent the conspiracy. The settling defendants deny Plaintiffs' claims. Who is included in the Settlement? All industrial and commercial direct purchasers of natural gas from e prime Energy Marketing, Inc. or Xcel Energy Inc., for their own use or consumption during the period from January 1, 2000 through October 31, 2002, and which gas was used or consumed by them in Colorado. Excluded from the Settlement are (a) entities that purchased natural gas for resale (to the extent of such purchase for resale); (b) entities that purchased natural gas for generation of electricity for the purpose of sale (to the extent of such purchase for generation); (c) defendants and their predecessors, affiliates and subsidiaries; (d) the federal government and its agencies; and (e) Reorganized FLI, Inc. (f/k/a and successor to Farmland Industries, Inc.). Who are the Settling Defendants? Settlements have been reached with the following Defendants: e prime Energy Marketing, Inc. and Xcel Energy Inc. (collectively, the "Settling Defendants"). What does the Settlement provide? The Settlements create a settlement fund of $2,500,000 (the "Settlement Fund"), before deductions for court-approved expenses and attorneys' fees. What are my rights? If you wish to remain a member of the Settlement Class you do not need to take any action at this time. If you stay in the Settlement Class, this Settlement and all of the decisions by the Court will bind you, and you will be unable to sue the Settling Defendants about the alleged misconduct or legal issues in these cases, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Settling Defendants about such issues. Please carefully review the specific provisions of the Settlement Agreement, including the release of claims contained therein, at www.NaturalGasAntitrustSettlement.com. If you do not want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself in writing or you will not be able to sue, or continue to sue the Settling Defendants about the alleged misconduct or legal claims that were or could have been asserted in these cases. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you may not intervene as a party plaintiff in the Action. If you would like to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must send a letter that includes the following: (a) your name, address, and telephone number; (b) any trade names or business names (and addresses) you or any parent, subsidiary, or affiliate that purchased the natural gas used during the relevant time period; (c) an estimate of the total dollar amount or volume of natural gas purchased by the entity(ies) listed in subparts (a) or (b) and the names of all entities from or through whom such natural gas was purchased; (d) a statement saying that you want to be excluded from Breckenridge Brewery of Colorado, LLC, et al. v. ONEOK, Inc., et al. (D. Colo.) Settlement; (e) the statement that "[name of person or entity] and all of its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates hereby request to be excluded from the proposed class settlement described in the notice of settlement pertaining to the Action;" (f) in the case of an entity, identify the title or position of the person signing on behalf of the entity, and state that the person is duly authorized to sign on behalf of such entity; and (g) your signature or the signature of the duly authorized person identified in subpart (f). All exclusion requests must be sent to Natural Gas CO Claims Administrator, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd., P.O. Box 173001, Milwaukee, WI 53217 and must be postmarked no later than May 11, 2021. The Court will exclude from the Settlement Class any member who validly requests exclusion. You may also enter your appearance through an attorney if you so desire. If you wish to object to any aspect of the proposed Settlement, you must do so in writing no later than May 11, 2021. The Settlement Agreement, along with details on how to object to it, are available at www.NaturalGasAntitrustSettlement.com. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado will hold a Fairness Hearing on July 22, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. (MDT), in courtroom A-1001 on the 10th floor of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse-Annex, 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado 80294 to consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them at that time. You may also appear in person at the hearing, but you do not need to do so. If you wish to appear, however, you must first provide written notice of your intention to appear. We do not know how long these decisions will take. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check the website, at www.NaturalGasAntitrustSettlement.com, for information. Please do not contact the Court about this case. The Court has appointed the law firms of Polsinelli PC and Barry Law Office, LLC, to represent Settlement class members in Colorado. This is a Summary Notice. For more details, call toll free 1-877-883-8112, visit www.NaturalGasAntitrustSettlement.com, or write to Natural Gas CO Claims Administrator, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd., P.O. Box 173120, Milwaukee, WI 53217. Please do not contact the Court about this case. Source: Polsinelli PC 900 W. 48th Place, Suite 900 Kansas City, MO 64112 Barry Law Office, LLC 5340 S.W. 17th Street Topeka, KS 66604 SOURCE Polsinelli PC and Barry Law Office, LLC Related Links http://www.NaturalGasAntitrustSettlement.com San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safai's car was broken into outside City Hall on Tuesday, the supervisor tweeted. Safai represents the city's 11th Supervisorial District and said the break-in happened while he was calling attention to a rise in property crime across the city. "Ironically, as this was happening outside of City Hall, I was calling for a hearing to review the rise of shoplifting and theft in our small businesses and anchor stores such as Walgreens, Safeway and CVS," he tweeted. "We cannot just turn a blind eye." A wave of burglaries in San Francisco has prompted some businesses to hire armed security guards, and home burglaries are also rising, the San Francisco Chronicle has reported. (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another.) The increase in crime has led to dissatisfaction with San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who is now the target of a recall campaign. Organizers received a green light from the city's Department of Elections to begin gathering signatures. The recall needs 51,000 signatures by mid-August to be successful. After Safai tweeted images of his car's smashed window, several Twitter users replied and asked him to back the Boudin recall efforts, though Safai did not engage directly. "Theft and burglary in this City has been emboldened and rampant no one is immune to this issue," Safai tweeted in his thread about the break-in. South Chinas Guangdong province has launched various tree-planting programs to mark the 43rd National Tree Planting Day. According to the provinces afforestation committee, a total of 60 million trees have been planted so far this year. Residents of Guangdong province plant a tree. (Photo courtesy of the Forestry Administration of Guangdong Province) Some 20 million people have taken part in tree-planting activities in Guangdong, the committee said, predicting that the number will reach 40 million throughout the year. This year, virtual tree planting has become a new way of contributing to these efforts. In Foshan, Shaoguan, Maoming and Yangjiang, all in Guangdong, people are joining an online tree-planting campaign in which they plant a virtual tree on an app via their phones. When the tree grows to a certain height, the app company will plant a real tree on behalf of the users. Also, a tree-planting activity, the third of its kind in the province, will be held by the Forestry Administration of Guangdong Province and the tech giant Tencent. Guangdong has cultivated more than 10 million saplings for the activity before the arrival of spring. Volunteers plant trees. (Photo courtesy of the Forestry Administration of Guangdong Province) Between 2016 and 2020, Guangdong advanced key ecological projects, including increasing forest carbon sinks, building forest belts, and improving the ecological environment in rural areas. During the same period, some 652 million trees have been planted, over 19.12 million mu (about 1.27 million hectares) of land has been afforested, and 9,104 villages have become greener and more beautiful. By the end of 2020, Guangdongs forest stock volume had reached 584 million cubic meters. Other health officials have defended the appointment systems, and the developers behind the software said the complaints about their products were overblown. Tiffany Tate, PrepMods creator and the executive director of the Maryland Partnership for Prevention, said criticisms of her system largely stemmed from health providers lack of knowledge about how to use it, or from the constantly shifting needs of states. The pandemics evolving, and weve got to be able to keep up with it, she said. We just have to be a very flexible platform. Deloitte, whose software is used by nine states, said VAMS was originally intended for smaller groups at early stages of states vaccine rollouts, so the company was responding quickly to meet their changing needs and was updating the system to handle a greater load. Health experts say multiple factors complicated the software rollout. In some cases, developers condensed work that would normally take years into weeks, leading to glitches. In addition, the varied approaches to determining eligibility in the dozens of localities using the software have made it difficult to develop a one-size-fits-all approach. Some states use more than half a dozen appointment scheduling systems, from tools used by federal, state and local agencies to the software employed by private hospitals and pharmacies to rudimentary solutions like SignUpGenius. Some sites do not support appointment scheduling at all, but allow people to browse databases to find available vaccines or get on wait lists. Often, the systems cannot communicate with one another. Action-thriller Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth, became the most-watched feature film premiere on Netflix last year. And the Russo Brothers, who are famous for directing and producing Marvel movies, have hinted that at least part of Extraction 2 will be filmed in Australia. In an interview with Nova's Smallzy's Surgery on Friday, host Kent 'Smallzy' Small asked the filmmakers, who produced Extraction, about plans for its sequel. Filming Down Under? The sequel to Chris Hemsworth's Extraction will be filmed in Australia, after the original became the most-watched feature film premiere on Netflix last year Joe Russo said: 'We like working hard and we like telling stories. We love making movies and we love working with our friends. 'We're really excited about Extraction 2, and I think that part of that film will actually be shot in Australia as well.' Chris revealed in May last year that Extraction had reached 90 million households in its first four weeks on streaming platform Netflix. Details: In an interview with Nova's Smallzy's Surgery on Friday, host Kent 'Smallzy' Small (right) asked filmmakers Anthony (left) and Joe Russo (centre) about plans for Extraction 2. 'I think that part of that film will actually be shot in Australia,' Joe said Breaking records: Chris revealed in May last year that Extraction had reached 90 million households in its first four weeks on streaming platform Netflix That same month, Joe also revealed he was 'in the formative stages' of coming up with the storyline for Extraction 2. He told Deadline at the time: 'The deal is closed for me to write Extraction 2, and we are in the formative stages of what the story can be. 'We're not committing yet to whether that story goes forward, or backward in time. We left a big loose ending that leaves question marks for the audience.' In the works: Also in May last year, Joe Russo (right, with brother Anthony) revealed he was 'in the formative stages' of coming up with the storyline for Extraction 2 Thriller: Extraction follows Tyler Rake (Hemsworth), a mercenary who is hired by India's biggest drug lord to rescue his son who was kidnapped by Bangladesh's biggest drug lord In July 2020, Variety reported that Extraction had reached 99 million viewers. The movie surpassed Netflix's previously most-watched film, the 2018 Sandra Bullock thriller Bird Box, which recorded 89 million viewers. Extraction follows Tyler Rake (Hemsworth), a former SASR operator-turned-mercenary who is hired by India's biggest drug lord to rescue his son who was kidnapped by Bangladesh's biggest drug lord. The film is based on the graphic novel Ciudad by Ande Parks, Fernando Leon Gonzalez, Eric Skillman, and the Russo brothers. Hours after the TMC approached the Election Commission over the alleged attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, an 8-member BJP delegation led by Union Minister Piyush Goyal has reached the EC to discuss the incident. As per sources, the BJP delegation which includes leaders such as Swapan Das Gupta, Bhupendra Yadav, Anirban Ganguly, and Sambit Patra has demanded that the EC make the video of the 'attack' on Mamata Banerjee public so that it is made clear what actually transpired in Nandigram. TMC alleges BJP hand in attack Earlier in the day, a TMC delegation comprising of Derek O'Brien, Saugata Roy, Satabdi Roy, Kakoli Dastidar, Pratima Mondal, and Santunu Sen had reached the EC claiming that the attack on Mamata Banerjee was a 'deep-rooted conspiracy' hatched by the BJP to take the life of the Chief Minister. Seeking an unbiased inquiry into the matter, the TMC alleged that the DGP and IGP of West Bengal were abruptly removed and eye-witnesses who are 'associates' of BJP leader and Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari were planted on the site to bring the 'gruesome attack' to fruition. On Wednesday, hours after filing her nomination from Nandigram, the TMC supremo claimed that she was attacked by 4-5 people while she was returning after performing prayers in a temple at Barulia Bazar in Nandigram. Issuing the first statement after her attack, Mamata Banerjee said, "I have injuries on my chest, ankle, shoulder and neck. I appeal to everyone to not do anything due to which people will have to suffer. The doctors are taking care and I will be able to return to work within 2-3 days as I don't want to spoil my scheduled meeting. Even if I will have to move around in a wheelchair, I will not let my meeting be hampered with this." She is currently being monitored at Kolkata's SSKM institute. The West Bengal Assembly with 294 seats will go to the polls between March 27-April 29 with the counting of votes on May 2. Van Buren, N.Y. A Port Byron man was charged Thursday with second-degree menacing after displaying a gun during a road rage incident on the New York State Thruway, according to the New York State Police. Peter M. Wyckoff, 67, was stopped on Tuesday by state troopers at Thruway exit 40 in Weedsport, police said in a news release Thursday. Police received a description of a silver Toyota Prius Wyckoff was driving after speaking with a truck driver who said Wyckoff had pointed what looked like a handgun at him near the I-90 and I-690 interchange in Van Buren, police said. Police said they received the report of menacing at about 3:10 p.m. Tuesday. Wyckoff was found with a legally-owned Glock 43 9mm handgun, which was loaded with six rounds, police said. It was determined he displayed the handgun during the road rage incident with a tractor trailer driver, police said. Wyckoff was taken into custody and transported to the North Syracuse state police barracks, police said. He was charged with second-degree menacing with a weapon a misdemeanor. He was released with an appearance ticket to return to the Van Buren town court at 7 p.m. next Monday, police said. Staff writer James McClendon covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach him at 914-204-2815 or jmcclendon@syracuse.com. Hopes for travel abroad from May suffered a blow yesterday after the Welsh First Minister said he opposed the idea. Mark Drakeford said the thought of foreign holidays within two months filled him with horror. Predicting a fourth Covid wave, he argued that overseas trips should not resume on May 17, the date suggested in Boris Johnsons roadmap. Hopes for travel abroad from May suffered a blow yesterday after the Welsh First Minister said he opposed the idea. Mark Drakeford (pictured) said the thought of foreign holidays within two months filled him with horror A Government taskforce is due to report on the issue next month. But Mr Drakeford said he would lobby against the border easing because it would lead to cases of the virus being brought back into Britain. The idea that we will have international travel back as it was before in the middle of May fills me with horror really, he told the i newspaper. Because I just think there is such a risk that it will lead to the reimportation of the virus just as weve all worked so hard to get it under control. He said the second wave of coronavirus in Wales last year was very significantly driven by people coming back from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, bringing the virus with them. The Labour politician also said Mr Johnsons desire to lift all coronavirus restrictions from June 21 was fanciful. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps (pictured) this week said he was hopeful that foreign holidays could go ahead this summer but warned it was still too early to book a break He added: Coronavirus is with us for the rest of this year. A fourth wave is baked into things now. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps this week said he was hopeful that foreign holidays could go ahead this summer but warned it was still too early to book a break. Greece says it will let in British tourists without restrictions from May 14 if they have had two doses of vaccine. Other visitors will need a negative test result. Peer-reviewed study shows large, severe burns heal faster when treated with Kerecis fish skin Researchers from the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research have found that Kerecis Omega3 Burn fish skin has better wound-healing properties than fetal bovine dermis. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005348/en/ Researchers from the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research have found that Kerecis Omega3 Burn fish skin has better wound-healing properties than fetal bovine dermis. (Photo: Business Wire) The Institute's 62-day study is described in the article "Accelerated Wound Closure of Deep Partial Thickness Burns with Acellular Fish Skin Graft" in theInternational Journal of Molecular Science. The peer-reviewed study compared the results of treatment with Kerecis Omega3 Burn with the treatment results from a bovine product on 24 deep, partial-thickness burn wounds. The results appear in the journal's special Advanced Biomaterials for Wound Healing 2021 issue Kerecis Omega3 Burn is intact fish skin that specifically addresses the challenges of healing burns. It can be used to treat partial and full-thickness wounds, trauma wounds and second-degree burns. The authors concluded that the Kerecis fish-skin graft integrated into the wound bed faster than the bovine product, improved the wound-closure rate and increased the blood flow. The authors said that "(t)hough further evaluation is needed, this study indicates FSG's (the fish-skin graft's) potential as a clinically advantageous therapeutic for the temporary coverage of DPT (deep partial-thickness) burn wounds after NSD (nonsurgical debridement)." "This scientific study is part of the growing body of clinical evidence that our fish skin may help wounds heal faster," explained G. Fertram Sigurjonsson, CEO of Kerecis. "Because it is only minimally processed, Kerecis Omega3 Burn retains the bioactive compounds that support cell in-growth, including Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Faster wound closure means less suffering, which is particularly important for wounded warriors," he said. Split-thickness skin grafts-what the study calls "the gold standard treatment for severe burns"-may not be an option when no donor is available. Some burns are so large that little of the patient's own skin can be used as a graft source. This creates a need for treatments that can provide immediate, complete coverage and also function like normal skin. The study tested Kerecis Omega3 Burn and fetal bovine dermis on six anesthetized female pigs in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, the implementing Animal Welfare Regulations and the principles of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, National Research Council. The authors of the study came from the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn and Soft Tissue Injury Research Department (Randolph Stone II, Emily C. Saathoff, David A. Larson, John T. Wall, Shanmugasundaram Natesa and Robert J. Christy) and Comparative Pathology Department (Nathan A. Wienandt) at the Joint Base San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston in Houston, Texas. Hilmar Kjartansson, M.D., and Skuli Magnusson of Kerecis drafted the protocol for the study. This work was supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command through the Military Burn Research Program under Award No. W81XWH-16-2-0045. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the U.S. Army. About Kerecis Kerecis develops products from fish skin and fatty acids that protect and regenerate human wounds and heal damaged tissue. Because there is no risk of a viral-disease transfer from Atlantic cod to humans, the fish skin needs only mild processing for medical use and maintains its natural structure and elements, including Omega3 fatty acids. The Kerecis fatty-acid-based products protect the body against bacterial and viral infections. The Kerecis fish skin has favorable reimbursement and is available to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) through a purchase agreement with MellingMedical. Some 9 million veterans are served by the VHA, the largest integrated health care system in the United States. A progressive and innovative company, Kerecis is committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The fish skin used in Kerecis products derives from wild and sustainable fish stock caught in pristine Icelandic waters and processed with 100% renewable energy in the town of Isafjordur, close to the Arctic Circle. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005348/en/ Contacts: Kay Paumier Communications Plus kay@communicationsplus.net 408-370-1243 Mobile: 408-806-1177 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 government of southwestern Yunnan province is tracking 15 wild Asian elephants round-the-clock as the herd moves northward. The elephants, which started their journey from the southernmost prefecture in the province on April 16, were 10 kilometers away from the provincial capital Kunming on Tuesday. The local government has been tracking and escorting the animals to keep them away from residents. The elephants have damaged 561 square meters of cropland, according to media reports Jun 02, 2021 05:22 PM Community News Editor / Librarian Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com. INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Department of Health announced today that 922 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at state and private laboratories. That brings to 670,074 the number of Indiana residents now known to have had the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous days dashboard. The totals include 3,964 historical tests affecting 63 individuals from a lab that had not previously submitted that data. All of those results were negative. A total of 12,382 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 32 from the previous day. Another 420 probable deaths have been reported based on clinical diagnoses in patients for whom no positive test is on record. Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard & Map To find testing sites around the state, click here. To date, 3,166,538 unique individuals have been tested in Indiana, up from 3,161,087 on Wednesday. A total of 8,353,553 tests, including repeat tests for unique individuals, have been reported to the state Department of Health since Feb. 26, 2020. To schedule, visit https://ourshot.in.gov or call 211. As of today, 1,203,613 first doses of vaccine have been administered in Indiana, and 771,091 individuals are fully vaccinated. The fully vaccinated number includes individuals who have received a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and those who received the single Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 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. Advertisement New Yorkers were last night dancing in the streets as the City's indoor dining capacity prepares to increase to 50 per cent and Joe Biden told the nation 'there is hope and light ahead.' Times Square was packed with revelers dancing to speaker systems, while diners in Midtown were enjoying their favorite restaurants, which are now operating at an indoor capacity of 35 per cent, up from a meagre 10 per cent last month. The joyous scenes came as President Biden gave his first prime-time address to America, giving people hope that though 'this fight is far from over,' he was targeting some semblance of normality for family celebrations on July 4. 'If we all do our part, this country will be vaccinated soon, our economy will be on the mend, our kids will be back in school, and we'll have proven once again that this country can do anything, hard things, big things, important things,' Biden said. It comes as New Yorkers were told on Wednesday that they can look forward to restaurants operating at half of their indoor capacity from next week, a huge increase from only one in ten tables being available before February 12. Outdoor dining capacity will also be increased from 50 to 75 per cent on March 19 as the City prepares for a sunny spring of alfresco eating. Times Square was packed with revelers dancing to speaker systems last night as New Yorkers look to spring with hope of a return to happier days. The joyous scenes came as Biden gave his first prime-time address to America, giving them hope that though 'this fight is far from over,' he was targeting some semblance of normality for family celebrations on July 4. People make their way through local restaurants amid the pandemic in NYC's Midtown. New Yorkers were told on Wednesday that they can look forward to restaurants operating at half capacity from next week, a huge increase from only one in ten tables being available before February 12. Diners sit outside at socially distanced tables. From March 19, outdoor dining is to be increased from 50 per cent to 75 per cent in a further sign that the economy is getting back on track in the Big Apple Diners sit at outdoor tables as the frigid winter temperatures seen last month begin to lift towards a spring of alfresco eating A maitre d' puffs on a cigar as he accepts outdoor diners in NYC. Covid deaths in the City have been steadily declining from a peak of 91 fatalities at the end of January, with 61 deaths recorded yesterday Covid deaths in the City have been steadily declining from a peak of 91 fatalities at the end of January, with 61 deaths recorded on Monday. Daily infections peaked at almost 8,000 at the beginning of January and are now down to a seven-day average of less than half that at 3,500 cases per day. More than 2.5 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the city of 8.4 million to date, that's a shot for nearly a third of New Yorkers. Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Wednesday: 'In New York State, our decisions are based on science and data and we are encouraged by the continued decline in [COVID-19] infection and hospitalization rates.' He added: 'We will continue to follow the science and react accordingly. If we keep the infections down and vaccinations up, we will continue to stay ahead in the footrace against this invisible enemy and reach the light at the end of the tunnel together.' The hospitality industry, which has desperately been calling for restaurant capacity to be increased, were buoyed by the news. Andrew Rigie, the head of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, told the New York Post: 'While city restaurants may not increase occupancy to 75 per cent like restaurants are safely doing throughout the rest of the state, it is still welcome news to the battered restaurant industry.' He added: 'Cautiously and safely increasing indoor dining capacity at New York City restaurants to 50 per cent, with an eye toward expanding in the future, more vaccinations, and dedicated restaurant relief on its way from the federal government gives our industry some optimism among all the doom and gloom of this past year.' People walk underneath a restaurant and bar which is set up for outdoor dining in Midtown. Daily infections peaked at almost 8,000 at the beginning of January and are now down to a seven-day average of less than half that at 3,500 cases per day. A crowd, largely wearing face masks, watches people performing in Times Square. Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Wednesday: 'In New York State, our decisions are based on science and data and we are encouraged by the continued decline in [COVID-19] infection and hospitalization rates. We will continue to follow the science and react accordingly. If we keep the infections down and vaccinations up, we will continue to stay ahead in the footrace against this invisible enemy and reach the light at the end of the tunnel together.' Mounted New York Police officers patrol Times Square during the pandemic The increases in capacity are part of Cuomo's plan 'to jump start their post-COVID recovery and reinvigorate the economy.' In the governor's announcement he noted that the opening up of more dining tables had seen the passing of two Covid-19 incubation periods, roughly around four weeks total, which 'have passed without any significant rise in infection and hospitalization rates.' In his address to the nation last night, Biden struck a note of similar optimism. 'I need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well,' the president said. 'If we do all this, if we do our part, we do this together, by July the 4th, there's a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day.' People await the results of a rapid Covid test taken on the street, just yards away from other New Yorkers enjoying some early spring alfresco dining People without face masks are seen at Times Square during the coronavirus disease pandemic in New York City on Thursday evening Biden announced moves to speed vaccinations, including lifting eligibility qualifications, deploying an additional 4,000 active-duty troops to support vaccination efforts and allowing more people to deliver shots. He is also directing more doses toward some 950 community health centers and up to 20,000 retail pharmacies, to make it easier for people to get vaccinated closer to their homes. Speaking in the White House East Room, Mr Biden marked one year since the onset of the pandemic that has killed more than 530,000 Americans and disrupted the lives of countless more. 'While it was different for everyone, we all lost something,' he said, calling the past year 'a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice.' Earlier on Thursday, the president signed into law a 1.9 trillion dollar relief package that he said will help defeat the virus, nurse the economy back to health and deliver direct aid to Americans in need. 'This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,' Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office. Ferguson has also pleaded guilty in a separate case alleging he and his son along with another associate tried to intimidate a witness against him after the drug and gun charges were unveiled in 2018. Prosecutors said that the day Ferguson was released on bond, he visited the victim, a former business partner, at his suburban warehouse and urged him to ignore a grand jury subpoena. The UK's second largest university has been accused of 'utter madness' and pandering to the woke brigade after it told staff to stop using terms like 'mother' and 'father' in a bid to be more inclusive. Manchester University released the guidance on their website which covered advice on how to use language involving sex and gender identity. Under the new advice, which was slammed by critics today, phrases like 'mother' and 'father' will be replaced by 'guardian' or 'parent' and man and woman should be dropped for terms like 'individuals'. Other terms on their list include advice on replacing 'he' and 'she' with 'them' and 'their'. Other words for the axe include 'manpower', 'mankind' or 'chairman', and should be replaced with 'workforce', 'humankind' and 'chair' respectively. The famous redbrick institution, which was first established almost 200 years ago and is one of 24 exclusive Russell Group universities, announced its updated guidelines to staff on Wednesday, March 10. But critics, including Laurence Fox, have been quick to push back against the newly published advice, with some even saying their children, once prospective pupils, are now pulling out. The University of Manchester updated its inclusive language advice, and sent it out to all staff on Wednesday, March 10 The new guidance (pictured) was published on their website this week Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, told the BBC that the university has 'wasted time and money' teaching staff how to 'speak woke-ish'. He added: 'If I was a student at Manchester University I'm not sure I would regard this as a good use of my 9,250 a year. 'Instead of focusing on educational standards, or supporting those students who've been short-changed during the pandemic, Manchester has wasted time and moneyon producing a guide to how to speak woke-ish. 'Young people hate it when you call them snowflakes, but Manchester has done its students no favours.' Lawrence Fox tweeted the guidance and simply wrote: 'Stunning bravery'. Social media users have labelled the decision as an attempt to appease the 'woke agenda' The University of Manchester's new gender-inclusive language Previous term: He/She/Her New term: You/They/Them/Their Previous term: Man/Men/Woman/Women New term: People/Person/Individual Previous term: Ladies/Gentlemen New term: Everyone/colleagues Previous term: Mother/Father New Term: Parent/Guardian Previous term: Husband/Wife New Term: Partner Previous term: Mankind New Term: Humankind Previous term: Manpower New term: Workforce Previous term: Chairman New term: Chair Advertisement Social media users have ridiculed the decision online, arguing gender-neutral terms only serve to advance a 'woke agenda' and branded the policy 'utter madness'. One user wrote: 'I'm a mother, a daughter and a sister. My own daughter saw this and has delisted Manchester Uni from her UCAS selection: she doesn't want to be deleted by woke men.'r Another asked: 'Will this madness ever end?' Some parents have said that their children and prospective pupils at the University of Manchester are now pulling out. Social media users have labelled the decision as an attempt to appease the 'woke agenda'. The new rules state that language around sex and gender identity is 'evolving constantly' and staff should 'understand the difference' between them. The University concludes: 'Where it is not clear what, if any, gendered pronouns or nouns are appropriate for an individual, ask and respect their wishes.' A University of Manchester spokeswoman explained that 'mum' and 'dad' haven't been banned from campus, rather staff have been encouraged to use 'more inclusive' language. 'The University has not scrapped or banned any words, we have simply produced a guidance document for our staff that encourages the use of more inclusive language to avoid bias or assumptions. 'In that, we recommend the use of the term 'parent or guardian'. This is well established terminology and does not in any way mean that we are banning the words mother or father.' 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. Advertisement College students in Florida are making the most of Spring Break by packing the beaches despite fears the partying could lead to a surge in Covid cases. Crowds of maskless revelers gathered together in their swimsuits to soak up the sun in Fort Lauderdale despite the ongoing pandemic. Miami is expecting students from 200 colleges to visit in the coming weeks, ignoring the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention telling people not to travel. College students in Florida are making the most of Spring Break by packing the beaches despite fears the partying could lead to a surge in Covid cases The young revellers have descended on Florida for spring break with Fort Lauderdale beaches packed with maskless revelers Crowds of maskless partygoers gathered together in their swimsuits to soak in the sun in Fort Lauderdale despite the ongoing pandemic Miami is expecting students from 200 colleges to visit in the coming weeks, ignoring the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention telling people not to travel The Sunshine State is recording more Covid variants than any other state in the country, with 696 cases detected, with Michigan the second worst affected on 563 Experts fear many more variants could be present as Florida's testing rate is far lower than other states The Sunshine State is recording more Covid variants than any other state in the country. It has had 696 reported cases of variants, with Michigan is the second worst affected on 563. Experts fear many more variants could be present as Florida's testing rate is far lower than other states. Matthew Wellington, public health campaigns director for the nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Research Group, told The Orlando Sentinel: 'Theres definitely a concern that the spring breakers who are traveling to Florida might bring home more than just the souvenir shot glass this year. 'We know this virus thrives on people traveling.' Many are traveling across the country to celebrate the vacation which is normally accompanied by riotous partying and hedonism. Many are traveling across the country to celebrate the vacation which is normally accompanied by riotous partying and hedonism In the past week alone, Florida has recorded 32,419 new coronavirus infections and 653 deaths While locals say the spring break numbers so far are down on the usual crowds, there are still fears that the influx of students could cause a spike in infections Traffic around the beaches has been busy all week with spring breakers pouring in to the sunny destinations Revelers were seen hugging, partying and drinking together on the sand and the local beach bars without social distancing or masks in sight While locals say the spring break numbers so far are down on the usual crowds, there are still fears that the influx of students could cause a spike in infections. In the past week alone, Florida has recorded 32,419 new coronavirus infections and 653 deaths. Cases and deaths have been declining in the Sunshine State but it was the first in the US to record more than 600 cases of the more contagious UK variant, a fifth of the country's total. Just over 10 per cent of people in Florida have been vaccinated, meaning many could still be vulnerable. Cases and deaths have been declining in the Sunshine State but it was the first in the US to record more than 600 cases of the more contagious UK variant Maskless police officers have been patrolling the beaches but have not interfered with the large gatherings of students Nearly 70 colleges and universities in the US have changed schedules to eliminate week-long spring breaks Some schools giving students a week off are encouraging 'staycations' on campus, but many are ignoring the advice The CDC said: 'CDC recommends that people not travel at this time, and delay spring break travel until 2022' Traffic around the beaches has been busy all week with spring breakers pouring in to the sunny destinations. Revellers were seen hugging, partying and drinking together on the sand and the local beach bars without social distancing or masks in sight. The CDC said: 'CDC recommends that people not travel at this time, and delay spring break travel until 2022.' It also warned that people who have received a vaccine should still observe the regulations and not travel. Nearly 70 colleges and universities in the US have changed schedules to eliminate weeklong spring breaks. Some schools giving students a week off are encouraging 'staycations' on campus, but many are ignoring the advice. The first president of Ukraine and chief negotiator on Donbas has commented on Russia's possible reaction to Kyiv's moves as regards sanctions on pro-Russian elements. The head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group, Leonid Kravchuk believes that Russia would make a tragic mistake if it started a full-blown war against Ukraine. Reflecting on the latest decisions by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on sanctions targeting pro-Russian forces, the countyry's first president said they were unlikely to lead to an eruption of a large-scale conflict on the part of Russia, an UNIAN correspondent reported from an event marking the anniversary of the Kurenivka Tragedy in Kyiv's Babyn Yar. Read alsoAbkhazia scenario: Russia could deploy its troops in Donbas as "peacekeepers" journalistSpeaking with journalists, Kravchuk was asked if Russia would somehow react to the recent sanctions imposed by Ukraine authorities, including through exacerbating the conflict in Donbas. "The situation was never completely peaceful. It goes in waves rising, then falling. Perhaps, today's situation has become aggravated, perhaps this is just a reaction to our moves, because when we used to act, I'd say, more conditionally and calmly, they were just observing... And when President Zelensky and the NSDC began to really act, take appropriate measures, impose sanctions, suspend operations of propaganda channels that were already doing whatever they wanted, it is clear that they (the Russians) began to act as well," said Kravchuk. "But I don't think this could result in a large-scale conflict. If someone ever comes up with such an idea, I believe this wouldn't be just a mistake, this would be a tragic mistake for Russia," he added. NSDC sanctions: Backgronud On February 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enforced the NSDC's decision to impose sanctions on MP Taras Kozak with the Opposition Platform For Life party, as well as eight entities that are the founders of the 112 Ukraine, ZIK, and NewsOne TV channels that gained notoriety for spinning Russian propaganda narratives. The said channels were taken off cable and digital on February 3. On February 19, the NSDC hit with sanctions another 19 legal entities and eight individuals, including Viktor Medvedchuk, Vladimir Putin's main political ally in Ukraine, chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform For Life Party, and his wife Oksana Marchenko. Sanctions have been imposed on all of their property and assets. The NSDC also decided to re-nationalize part of the Samara - Western Direction fuel pipeline, owned by the PrykarpatZapadTrans company, believed to be affiliated with Medvedchuk. NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov says the SBU security service is investigating a case on charges of financing of terrorism. Sanctions introduced against Medvedchuk, Marchenko, and other persons are linked with the said probe. On March 11, the NSDC extended sanctions against two Russian banks, which will expire on March 19. Danilov said that at the next NSDC meeting another package of sanctions will be imposed against more individuals. Reporting by UNIAN An exclusive interview of Chair of the Supervisory Board of NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine" Clare Spottiswoode to the Interfax-Ukraine agency Text: Dmytro Koshovyy - The main event that took place last week was the presentation of Naftogaz's strategy for 5 years. As far as I understand, strategy should be approved by the Board - We have obviously been involved in the creation of the Company Strategy. We have regularly discussed it at the Board and seen its various development phases. So, we are absolutely behind that strategy. We think its very important for Naftogaz. And we very strongly encourage its implementation - And yet, there must be confirmation from the supervisory board, some official decision in this regard? Does everything that was said there suit you, or do you have any questions or topics or do you need additional information? - Its evolving. Clearly, this is the strategy as of today. But there are vast parts of that strategy that will continue to evolve over the years. So, for example, we have made a commitment to go to carbon zero by 2040. Now, we dont know yet how were going to get there. They are parts of the strategy, but there is a lot to evolve between now and the next few years on how we get there. So, all of our whole green agenda is very much being worked on right now. For example what is appropriate.... For Naftogaz to get involved in and what is appropriate to leave to other companies. It is very painstaking work, but we know our tasks for next year and we know our ultimate goal. As for the formal decision, we have already adopted it and approved the strategy. - My question is related to the fact that during the presentation a rather large amount, necessary for its implementation, was mentioned: 7.3 billion US dollars. Do you already understand the sources of raising these funds and what, in your opinion, can be the main sources? - There is a combination of our own internal reserves as we make profits and retain some of those to pay for the investment. But we absolutely are dependent on going for a bond issuance. And for a bond be successful, first of all, Ukraine itself has to be politically stable, and investors will need to know that Naftogaz is going to be allowed by the Government to earn the money required to pay back that bond. So, yes, raising a bond is really crucial to being able to implement our strategy. Which means we need the conditions to enable investors to make the decision to invest in us. - The strategy is approved by the supervisory board, but the Company's profit is distributed by the government. We know that last year 95% were sent to budget. How to reconcile these external conditions with implementation of this strategy and to provide the necessary funding? How do you see communication with the government to implement this strategy? - We have alternative plans if we arent allowed to keep some of the money for investment and if we cant issue a bond . clearly, we cannot invest money we do not have. Given we are a state owned company it is crucial to communicate with Government so Government understands what we propose to do what we want to do and why and we understand the Governments position. Again, providing profit for the state budget is a joint enterprise with the Government. If the government will choose instead to step back from the reform and, for instance, keep price cap for the households, they should also understand, that such decision will stop Naftogaz development and ruin companys ability to attract investment. - There was criticism of this strategy that Naftogaz deviates a little from its main profile and spends investment in some new sectors - alternative energy, solar energy, energy efficiency, electricity trade. To what extent, in the opinion of the supervisory board with international experience, is this approach to doing business now relevant and will increase the Company's capitalization? - The whole intention is it increases the capitalisation. What is absolutely clear in the world is that companies that are in the oil and gas business have to work out how they are going to work in a green future. And that is one of the things, I would say, weve been slightly late in that. Its something I keep on bringing up. What we are now seriously considering within Naftogaz is how we move to a new world. Now, we need to build on the capabilities that we have. So, for example, we probably are not going to go into solar. I mean we might, but its not a commitment because others might be more appropriate investors. Solar does not necessarily build on our core strengths, unlike Hydrogen. Ukraine has got a huge agricultural sector with lots of agricultural waste that can be used to create biogas. Again, thats something thats in our core competence. We are in a continuous process of working out how we move from where we are today to this new world over time in a sensible cautious but well thought through way to make sure that we are able to afford it and that it will make money. There is no point in investing in anything that does not make profits because those profits are for the Company and for the people of Ukraine. So, we are guardians of an important company in Ukraine. Wed better make sure that it works for the Ukrainian people. - When we talk about public companies, when presenting such strategies, as a rule, always give some financial forecasts, profit, because it is of interest to shareholders, or again it is possible to increase the value of the company, capitalization to get these growth through stock value. We did not hear this during the strategy. Do you have such predictions? Did the Management Board and the Company's management provide you with such forecasts? - First of all, companies dont give predictions often. Because profits depend, for example, hugely, in our case, on gas prices. Fore casting gas prices we may think we can do it, but frankly we cant and nor can anyone else. But what we do have is scenarios. So, we look at high-price, low-price, mid-price gas and look at the profits. The key change within Naftogaz is transformation. We are making sure that we know the individual who is responsible for delivering. Everything we do will have someone responsible for delivering it with their team. We will give that team proper measurement targets to ensure that we all understand what that team is supposed to deliver and whether they then deliver those targets well or not. nternally we have much more discipline than we ever had in the past. This transformation is in the process of being rolled out throughout the organisation. Otto is doing a really good job spreading that whole culture through the organisation. Some of our profitability is not in our hands, because things are outside our control. Where things are in our control, we absolutely have projections and forecasts. nd we judge our teams on their performance. - You just said about the prices. We really see prive up and downs, that are now taking place on the world market. On the one hand, gas began to fall in price, but oil rose to prices that few expected a few months ago. To what extent do you think this strategy is dependent on world market prices? Are you satisfied with the fact that there are any factors that allow to ensure its implementation in the rather large fluctuations of these prices, which we see in recent years? What is the protection system? Will there not be a recurrence, because one of the reasons why the 20/20 program failed is that it was developed when prices were high and prices really fell dramatically? - We clearly manage our portfolio based on a series of projections. Things have to work in low prices and high prices. So, when we look at investments in new discoveries, in new wells, one of the things we look at is the projection of prices and then what the level of prices has to be for not making money. And if you can make it profitable at a very low price, you are fine. And the other action you can take is to hedge your price risk. We can hedge against both high prices and low prices. Hedging costs money, but protects against losses. Hedging is not available for more than two or three years in advance. So although you cant hedge out, say ten years of risk, you can hedge the risks of the first two or three years. And that Makes a huge difference to having some confidence in your cash flow. - Another question about Ukrnafta. We already know that Naftogaz's management has proposed the first steps to split the company. To what extent is this agreed with the supervisory board? Do you support these steps or not? - Yes, because oil is a different business. As it is a different business it can be managed separately as an independent business. So yes, I do support it. - Is it a complex business simply because it is a complex business, or because Naftogaz's partner in this business is the Privat group? And we constantly see new accusations against Ukrnafta that it sells gas cheaply, sells oil cheaply. - Ukrnafta has been a real problem for us. Because, for example, the accusations are correct that Ukrnafta has been selling gas too cheaply to its owner, one way or another. But the problem is, the way that the auction has been set, it enables manipulation of the price. Its something weve been well aware of. We tried to change the rules. We havent succeeded because the rules are set by the government and the law (Oil and gas bill, article 4- ed.) We as Naftogaz cant change the rules and the current rules create the ability to manipulate prices. If we can separate that business from the rest of Ukrnafta and divide into two, so We have some control over our part of the company things will be hugely cleaner. And we wont have to deal with all those issues. Because the other issue is, we struggled to have their accounts, we struggled to get the audited numbers from Ukrnafta, because they have tried to keep us out. And we are a majority owner of that business. I find that extraordinary. We cant get data from a company we have majority ownership in meaning we cant manage the business or check on accusations. - Maybe you want to add something to the strategy, something I did not ask? - I think, people from outside shouldnt underestimate the changes that are going on at Naftogaz. The transformation of the way in which we do business through the cultural changes, through the transformation effort is just huge. It will change enormously the way in which management responds to the demands of the business, and the ease with which we can make sure that the Company does the right things. It takes a lot to change the culture of business, but it is being changed. - Does it make sense to change the supervisory board during the implementation of such a large-scale strategy? And leadership? - First of all, I think, weve got a superb management team. And one of the key tasks of a supervisory board is to ensure that a particular CEO is right for the job, that he makes right judgement calls, that he is good in collecting around him a very good team, and making sure that team works as a team. And frankly, Naftogaz is working really well right now. I believe the Supervisory Board has had a good hand in ensuring that we help and encourage the right things to be done. So, obviously, I personally dont think that either the Management Board or the Supervisory Board should be changed. But that is, at the end of the day, for others. But if the management team was changed, I would be really upset because, I think, they are doing a very good job for the people of Ukraine. And to change that management team would be a big mistake for Ukraine. - I have already heard the response to the accusations against the management and a proposal to change it. But there are also accusations not on your side, but against, I still think, the shareholder who forms the supervisory board, for the absence of it, according to Mr. Vitrenko, for example, specialists in gas production and international financial reporting. Could you comment on them? - On the audit side, Ive got a very strong background in audit. Ive been an audit chair of companies in the UK andI sit on lots of audit committees. Both big companies and small. So I understand audit. As does Bruno. He has also been audit chair and set on many audit committees. So we both understand audit matters and weve worked with auditors for decades. So I certainly dont think we need a qualified auditor on our board itself. We also employ really good independent qualified auditors to audit our business. And we have an extremely good CFO, Peter. So, I think, we have audit abilities coming out of ears. We certainly dont need an additional audit person on the Bord itself. When it comes to production, I was upset when Steve Heysom resigned because he did understand production and we did not want to lose him. Steve resigned at our first board meeting. I believe because he just did not want to get involved with the Ukrainian politics. He just did not want to get involved with the complexities. He wanted to do his job with production and be able to do that freely, and he just felt he was never getting allowed to really do his job properly on the Board. Since then, its been difficult to recruit someone. I personally have looked for people from the production site to add to our Board. ut the Government appoints the Supervisory Board. It is not easy to recruit good board members with all the changes and political uncertainties there have been in Ukraine. However within the company I now believe we have within Naftogaz a very strong production team as well as a strong audit team. This team is Led by Otto Wallender. Who is very knowledgeable about production, and he is bringing discipline and understanding to that side of Naftogaz which I dont believe weve ever had before enough. We are partnering with organisations and people from outside the country, because we are dealing with things we have not seen before in Ukraine. We need to use expertise from people who have got this experience. For example we are dealing with tight gas. So, one of our tasks is to ensure that we partner with people who have superb expertise from around the world. And again, you need political stability, and you need Naftogazs stability to attract these partners. There is no doubt I would like to have someone with production expertise on our Supervisory Board. But we dont need it because I trust the people weve got on the ground and I trust our partners. And Ive regularly had meetings with our partners outside Naftogaz in Europe, in London to talk to them about partnership. And we have some really good partners now. - I have not heard any accusations lately that independent members of the supervisory board are dependent on the government, but from time to time there are accusations that there is dependence on management. Could you also comment on that? - I would find this question kind of a bit odd because clearly none of the Supervisory Board is in any way in any way dependent on management team. We have no problem at all in disagreeing with management and telling them what we think. We all say what we think and do not hold back However, if we were antagonistic with that management team, and in particular with our CEO, it would mean that we had no faith in that CEO. And frankly, at that point we should have changed out that CEO. And Ive been involved, throughout my career, in a number of cases where Ive led the dismissal of a CEO , the dismissal of a hairman, because I didnt feel they were doing the right job for the company. If youve got the CEO who you trust to do the right thing, whos got the right integrity, makes the right judgement calls, then we shouldnt be always objecting to everything he does and standing up to him. Because, frankly, he is doing the right thing. So, I think its a good sign that we trust him and that we think, in general, he does the right thing. It doesnt mean that we dont have questions. Certainly, if we ever disagreed, we would make our views very strongly felt. But if we were always in antagonism with him, that would be something wrong. - One more question. Recently, there has been a discussion about KPIs for members of the supervisory board. How do you feel about that? How would you suggest evaluating the effectiveness of your work? - No Supervisory Board in any company that Ive ever been involved in has got any KPIs because that should be really difficult to set. Our success is really the success of the management team. And if there is no right management team, that is our duty to change out that team. And weve got a really good management team. So, I think thats a key measure of our success. Our success is really through the Companys success. And the success of the company will be dependent on the strategy. The SB is very international which gives us very wise experience of business and good practices across the world. We bring that experience in a controlled and thoughtful way to one of the most important companies in Ukraine. That should make Naftogaz more successful and profitable. So, I think, part of it is making sure that Naftogaz is fit for the future world. And I think again how do you set KPI for that? If we are not pushing to keep the agenda moving then we are not doing our job. I hope you can see that Naftogaz is changing. That is has good ethics and a good top team. Most of that is due to our CEO and a good and much improved management team. Which means we are also doing out job as Supervisory Board right. - By the way, the issue of KPI was discussed with Mr. Vitrenko, he has the same opinion. The last but one question is, are you ready to extend the contract if such a proposal comes from the Cabinet of Ministers? - I will accept as long as I believe I am making a difference - through the company and our results for the benefit of the people of Ukraine. As long as I can continue to do that, I would very much like to do that. So, the answer is yes, because I believe we are making difference. And I would like to see that difference continue. - Regarding COVID-19, I also heard a lot of discussions among the members of the supervisory boards, and this was really a problem, especially at the beginning of the quarantine. How much did it hinder Naftogaz? Have you learned to work in these new conditions? To what extent is this now a really serious reason that hinders the work of the supervisory board? -- The really big changes being that we havent been able to come to Ukraine recently because of Covid 19. And thats a real shame because I used to really value my visits to Ukraine because I was able to meet the IMF, the G7 embassies, the people within Naftogaz. We were able to do a lot of diplomatic work on behalf of the Company with the Energy Community. Thats much more difficult to do now. But I think the Board itself is actually working amazingly well remotely. And weve done some site visits remotely, which were very effective. Because we can go to places that would be very expensive and difficult to take the Board to by video and drone. And it works rather well. So, I dont think the Board itself has suffered that much, so much to my surprise. But Ive already had my first vaccine, because the UK is well ahead of other countries. So, in three weeks time Im going to be pretty much fully protected against COVID. So, I could actually travel. But the problem is nobody else can so. I think, were going to continue to work remotely for a while. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Committee for Constitutional Affairs and Decolonization (CCAD) held its first committee meeting on Wednesday 10th March 2021. Chairperson of the Committee MP Ludmila Duncan requested that the first meeting be closed-door in order to discuss the working methods of the committee. In my capacity as Chairperson, I presented a proposal on the contextual framework for the committee as well as a proposal to host a roundtable discussion of experts to discuss the democratic deficits in the Kingdom Charter and possible ways forward, stated the MP. Local experts will be invited to present position papers and present their views in Parliament. This would be the first roundtable discussion held in Parliament. No matter what everyone thinks about decolonization, whether we are fully decolonized or not, the committee was established unanimously to deliberate and work on the issues that do exist because of our status as a so-called country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is also about how we are treated. Another agenda point in the meeting included the 2020 Dutch NGOs contribution pertaining the Twenty-second to Twenty-fourth Periodic Report on the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination report by the Dutch Section of the International Commission of Jurists (NJCM) stated that Kingdom interference in the autonomous matters of the Caribbean countries is in fact interference by the Netherlands and that this historically grown constitutional imbalance upholds racialized discourses and practices. MP Duncan noted that we often do not debate discrimination in the Kingdom when it exists systematically. In 2020 legal experts all around the Dutch Caribbean agreed that the conditions for liquidity support and the imposing of a Caribbean Reform Entity in its original state trampled on our autonomy and in some cases human rights. We cannot forget that this was and will continue to be the case as long as major democratic deficits exist in the Kingdom, added the MP. MP Duncan during her presentation in the meeting also called on her colleagues to deliberate on matters at three levels; international, kingdom, and local. A majority in Parliament supported the international trajectory towards fixing our democratic deficits with the submission of a petition at the UN. Some are against and they have a right to be however there has also been debate and a lack of action taken at the Kingdom level with the Kingdom Charter being the key instrument in need of reform. For some Members, this is the only trajectory that we should on. This is why I proposed the hosting of a roundtable discussion in Parliament with local experts to deliberate possible actions, added the MP. Aruba, Curacao, and St. Maarten have been waiting for a dispute regulation to handle matters of conflict within the Kingdom for 10 years. Why hasnt it been finalized as yet? This is why there are different trajectories and I believe that all are valid at this crucial time in our history. The MP looks forward to chairing public meetings of the CCAD and aims to have the Committee publish reports within short for public consumption. 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 picture from the International Space Station orbiting 261 miles above Africa looks northeast across Niger to the Tibesti Mountains of Chad. Credit: Roscosmos iss064e040726 (March 5, 2021) - Larger image Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. FLINT, MI -- Chancellor Deba Dutta is confident the University of Michigan-Flint will be back to normal for students this fall. While stressing that the campus will maintain safety protocols in alignment with state and CDC guidelines, Dutta told MLive-The Flint Journal Wednesday, March 10, the university is excited to bring students back to in-person, full-time class. Thats what we are planning for, Dutta said. Thats what things look like. Cases are down, the vaccine is rolling out, so we are planning for a normal fall with students back on campus. Return-to-school plans are headed by the campus reopening committee. Only a small percentage of students were on campus in fall 2020 in Flint, enabling the university to keep density low while providing opportunities in academic areas that require hands-on experience, according to the university. Programs with some in-person options included physical therapy, physicians assistant, music, nursing and chemistry. Spring and summer terms will continue to be held mostly online, according to the committee. UM-Flint will have many more programs increase face-to-face options in fall 2021, while also expanding campus activities. The university would like to make up for the time missed for fall semester sophomores who lost much of their normalcy during their freshman year due to the pandemic, Dutta added. We feel very bad, as do most universities for the freshmen of fall 2020 who really had their first year disrupted, he said. The university is highlighting its new Blue For You initiative, which is a source of scholarships, grants and other resources for students to help them make it to graduation. Programs through the initiative offer scholarships, assistance and grants to new students and currently enrolled students. For new students, this includes Promise Scholarship Support and the Detroit Promise Scholarship, which expands on the Flint Promise. The Promise Scholar Program makes a University of Michigan degree accessible for a range of high school students by providing a room and board scholarship and a $2,000 stipend for each of a qualifying students first four semesters. Some students lived on campus in the Riverfront Residence hall during the academic year, but there is room for more students, according to the university. There is currently enough room to house approximately 700 students. Normally 55-60% of on-campus housing is occupied. The initiative is funded through $11 million from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. After the one-time stipend, the Flint branch hopes to keep the program sustainable through increased enrollment gained through the additional resources, Dutta said. New additions to the university campus and programming will also be available to students. UM-Flint unveiled its new Murchie Science Building wing in January, a $39 million project more than five years in the making. Related: UM-Flint opens new $39M Murchie Science Building wing The 61,000-square-foot expansion of the 33-year-old building will house classes for the universitys new College of Innovation and Technology. In the fall, the new college will start offering the colleges first new programs: digital manufacturing technology and information technology and informatics, said Chris Pearson, dean of the college of innovation and technology. Digital manufacturing technology helps prepare students for next generation digitally-oriented technology, Pearson said. Information technology and informatics focuses broadly on computer-related skills and techniques, preparing for an intersection between people and technology. Its more than a technical program but less than the really math and science intensive engineering program, Pearson said. It really helps prepare people for the workforce of the future. The two programs are the inaugural programs for the College of Innovation and Technology, but the university plans to add additional programs in following semesters, Pearson said. Possible future programs include biomedical technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and energy an sustainability. More on MLive: Grand Rapids Community College preparing for new normal in fall with more in-person classes SVSUs Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum seeks art submissions from across Michigan Saginaw Valley State University offers free tuition to low-income Michiganders Flint Board of Education approves student return to classrooms by mid-March Grand Rapids Community College to offer indoor, in-person commencement ceremonies in May Bella Hadid recently walked the runway for the likes of Givenchy and Fendi during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France. But the 24-year-old took a step back from her modeling duties on Thursday night as she share a slew of snapshots from a trip she had taken 'a few summers ago' to Instagram. In the snaps, Hadid flashed her toned tummy in a purple striped crop top and a pair of denim jeans as she posed next to Japanese nail artist Mei Kawajiri. Reminicing: Bella Hadid took a step back from her modeling duties on Thursday night as she took to Instagram to share a slew of snapshots from a trip she had taken 'a few summers ago' 'Mei Kawajiri and a fan a few summers ago,' joked Bella, referring to herself as the 'fan' in her caption, before tagging Mei's Instagram handle. Layered over her trendy striped top was an army green wind breaker that nearly matched the green and black high top sneakers on her feet. The Vogue covergirl sported noticeably shorter hair, which she wore in a middle part. For the fun-filled photos, Bella and Mei struck numerous poses for the camera that showed off their creative manicures. Fashionista: Bella Hadid recently walked the runway for the likes of Givenchy and Fendi during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France Earlier in the day, Bella uploaded a stunning portrait that appeared to be much more recent than her snaps with Mei due to the length of her brunette hair. She had a portion of her tresses pulled away from her face with a bright purple clip and she smiled with a pink lollipop wedged between her teeth. She layered a red tartan dress over a yellow graphic tee and fastened a quirky chain around her neck for the shot. Strike a pose: In the snaps, Hadid flashed her toned tummy in a purple striped crop top and a pair of denim jeans as she posed next to Japanese nail artist Mei Kawajiri Big fan: 'Mei Kawajiri and a fan few summers ago,' joked Bella, referring to herself as the 'fan' in her caption, before tagging Mei's Instagram handle She appeared to be laying on a grey couch and a had a green teddy bear pressed to her ear. Thursday's shot appeared to be taken during a recent photoshoot, based on the similarity of the couch to one she posed atop of in a photo posted on Wednesday. Rocking a more sultry ensemble, Bella played with her hair and posed with her knees pressed together and lower legs out to the side. Something in the works? Thursday's shot appeared to be taken during a recent photoshoot, based on the similarity of the couch to one she posed atop of in a photo posted on Wednesday She rocked a black strapless mini dress with matching arm-length gloves and her long hair was styled into voluminous waves. The secret shoot appeared to be for Marc Jacobs, due to its whimsical styling and the fact that Bella tagged one of the brand's go-to stylists in her post. Along with her fellow models, Hadid trotted down the runway several times during Paris Fashion Week last week. Fashion Week: Along with her fellow models, Hadid trotted down the runway several times during Paris Fashion Week last week; Bella pictured She commanded the runway at the Givenchy Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2021/2022 show, before gracing the runway for the renowned high fashion brand Fendi. Bella recently gushed that she was thrilled to be back in Paris for a 'business trip,' after travelling to the city for Fashion Week. She penned the caption: 'One year ago. Feeling Lucky to be back for work. She always shines for me.' She went on to post a series of behind-the-scenes shots from Givenchy's virtual fashion show on her Instagram page on Monday. [March 11, 2021] HappyEasyGo launches discount offers on Air travel for Holi - Ties-up with Amazon Pay, MobiKwik, Zest Money, Ola Money & Bank of Baroda for air travel discount campaign - Brings striking offers for customers NEW DELHI, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HappyEasyGo (HEG), one of India's leading online travel aggregators, has come up with amazing deals this Holi to offer its customers a pocket-friendly experience. HEG has tied up with big digital giants Amazon Pay, MobiKwik, Zest Money, Ola Money and a leading Indian bank - Bank of Baroda, to launch its discount offer campaign for air travel. Customers using Amazon Pay to book domestic flight tickets on HappyEasyGo.com will get a flat INR 700 off along with an additional 5% cashback up to INR 750 on using the code HEGAMZ. Please refer to Terms & conditions- https://bit.ly/2OPVnMg for more details. With MobiKwik, the leading travel aggregator, is offering Instant Flat INR 300 Off and INR 300 MobiKwik instant cashback on all flight bookings via MobiKwik using coupon code HEGMBW1. his offer is available for all days till 31 March. Please refer to Terms & conditions- https://bit.ly/3tcsSHn for more details. Another offer that HappyEasyGo has come up in collaboration with Bank of Baroda Credit Card gives its customers a Flat Rs. 900 off on domestic flight bookings. This offer is exclusively for Bank of Baroda Credit Card customers and can be availed every Saturday till 31 March, using the coupon code HEGBOB. Please refer to Terms & conditions- https://bit.ly/3eqDVIS for more details. HappyEasyGo has also tied-up with ZestMoney (no-cost EMIs) for a flat 10% off on domestic flights up to Rs. 2,000 & flat 10% off on domestic hotels up to Rs. 10,000 using the coupon code EMIZESTHEG for flights & EMIZESTHEGH for hotels. Plesase refer to Terms & conditions- https://bit.ly/38x4ecm for more details. With Ola Money, HappyEasyGo is offering a Flat Rs 300 off and get assured cashback between Rs. 150-1,000 on domestic flights paid via Ola Money Post-paid + using the coupon code HEGOLAA. Please refer to Terms & conditions- https://bit.ly/3crZVjZ for more details. All these offers can be availed till 31 March 2021. About HappyEasyGo Founded in 2017, HappyEasyGo is amongst the fastest growing OTA in India. Recently ventured into the hotel booking, it is already showcasing a promising potential in the space. Millions of businesspersons and holidaymakers book flights and hotels with HappyEasyGo and enjoy big savings with HappyEasyGo deals, coupons and promotional offers. The plethora of offers by HappyEasyGo help people save thousands of rupees on their air travel. A minimum discount of 10% is available for customers on their flight booking with HappyEasyGo. Those travelling on domestic sectors can save more than Rs.600 with the ongoing Special Flight Sale. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Joan McDermott was 16 and fresh out of boarding school when she met her boyfriend Tony, a medical student, in their rural hometown in County Cork, Ireland. Together for about a year, they had sex twice. She fell pregnant. I honestly didnt know that was how you got a baby, says Joan, now 73 and living in the small coastal town of Cobh in Cork. When I told my mother I was three months pregnant, she said to go upstairs and pack a small bag; Id be going away. Then she stood in the hallway while I rang my boyfriend. His family ran a well-known local business; he said he was sorry but that he could do nothing for me. Joans father, a vet, had died earlier that year and her mother was in a new relationship with a local politician. It was the mid-1960s. She was about to marry this man if word of the pregnancy got out it could have ruined his career, says Joan, a handsome woman with pretty drop earrings and fair hair cut in an elegant short bob. She makes a point of dressing well, she tells me, even to walk her dog in the mornings. The next day, I was told to get in the car with them [her mother and future stepfather]. I had no idea where we were going and nobody said anything for the whole 40-kilometre journey. Then there were these big gates and a house with steps going up to a red door. My mother said, This is a home for unmarried girls and you will stay here. A nun came out onto the steps, they had a few words, then my mother turned on her heel and walked away. Joan was taken inside, where she was allocated a house name, her identity to be kept secret. It was a dreadful place, strict and humiliating, she tells me with finely controlled contempt. There was no contact with the outside world and I was told if you attempted to leave, the Gardai [police] would bring you back. It was summer when I got there and we girls were put to cutting the lawn with scissors, kneeling on all fours. In the winter months you had to clean the place. She had been there for six months when she had her first contractions. I told a nun and she said I was suffering because of the Devils work. When the pain got worse, she put me in a room and left me there all night, alone. There was no pain relief. She came back at 8am and I said I could feel the babys head presenting. I had to walk along a corridor holding it in. There was a metal table but I couldnt get up on it, so I lay across it. Advertisement After the birth a boy her baby was taken away to the nursery, Joan sent back to her chores. You werent allowed to go to the nursery except when the bell rang for feeding time. One morning, I was breastfeeding when a nun came and took my son away. He was seven weeks old. When I asked where he was, I was told, Hes gone. Two days later, Joans mother arrived to pick her up. She sent me to stay with an aunt in England. It was there that Joan eventually rebuilt her life, training as a nurse, meeting and marrying her husband and bearing two more children, both now in their 40s. I told no one my secret, not even my husband. Were divorced now. Joan McDermott, who fell pregnant at 16, says of meeting her son 47 years later: I thought my heart would burst. Credit: For most of the 20th century, Ireland was a dreadful place to be single and pregnant. According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, considered the guardian of the nations moral health, such women were grave sinners and a disgrace to their families. Abortion was illegal and continued to be so until 2018. Illegitimacy being born out of wedlock was denounced from the pulpit and remained a legal status until 1987. Families could not bear the shame and girls left home or were sent away, some barely in their teens, some pregnant as a result of rape or incest. Many, like Joan, were terrifyingly ignorant of the workings of their own bodies. For most, the only escape from destitution was recourse to one of the countrys 14 homes for unmarried mothers, run by religious orders and funded by the state, or one of the many county homes funded by local authorities. While at their peak in the 1960s and 70s, several of these homes did not close their doors until the late 90s. Unless paid for privately by their families, the women worked their passage by skivvying until, and often after, their babies were born. Advertisement A few returned alone to their families; some left to find work where they could; others would stay on in the homes with their babies. After adoption was made legal in 1953 decades later than in Australia or the UK almost all illegitimate babies were adopted out. This was often against the wishes of their mothers, though they had little choice in the matter. Until then, there were unofficial adoptions and what was called boarding out, a form of fostering. Babies who remained in the homes did not tend to thrive: conditions in some were appalling, food was usually poor and, in the worst places, the mortality rate was at least twice that of the general population. St Marys Mother and Baby Home was one such place, run by the Bon Secours Sisters at Tuam, County Galway. It housed destitute and disabled women and children as well as unmarried mothers who had fallen more than once. In 2012, local resident Catherine Corless began to share her research into the history of the home, which operated from 1925 to 1961. She found the names of 796 babies who had died, but no record of their burials. Where were all these small bodies? Not in the local graveyard; not in the churchyards of the parishes where their mothers came from. As a result of Corlesss dogged, multi-year pursuit of the truth, archaeologists would eventually discover the remains of hundreds of babies, deposited in a decommissioned septic tank in the grounds of the home. It was described as a chamber of horrors in 2017 by the then taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, Enda Kenny. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The unfolding scandal of Tuam, with its attendant international media coverage, led the Irish government to set up the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in 2015. It would scour the records of 18 homes many of which were incomplete or missing examining the living conditions for inmates and what happened to them afterwards. It would find that of the 57,000 babies born in those institutions, 9000 died while in their care, the majority without burial records. Five years in the compiling, when the commissions report landed 3000 pages in January this year, it contained quietly devastating details from the testimonies of former residents. Women told how they were stripped of their identities and, like Joan, given house names. No matter the cause of a pregnancy there was little empathy, you were there to atone for your sin. They spoke of being left alone in labour, as Joan was; some reported complications in later life as a result of their difficult first childbirth. Advertisement Catherine Corless: her discovery that there were no official burials for hundreds of babies at a mother and baby home in Galway, Ireland, led to an investigation into 17 more institutions. Credit:Getty Images Bonding with babies intended for adoption was discouraged, and they were to be fed on their backs, no cuddling. One woman told of hiding her child in the room for disabled babies so that no prospective adoptive parent would pick him. A few spoke of their time with the nuns as a refuge from violence and poverty at home, or a way to escape public judgment: You were [considered] an absolute slut if it happened to you. The rules of admission for one home stated: This community will direct their attention towards the reformation of unmarried mothers and their children but no girls who had a second child will be accepted under any circumstances. Some women would go back to their families after the birth but the babies all too obvious evidence of the mothers sin were rarely welcome. As the report noted, the moral stain of illegitimacy could affect the marriage prospects of other family members. Those who had stayed on as children in the homes and were later boarded out or sent to residential schools spoke of feeling unloved and unwanted the product of an evil union. They, as well as adoptees and birth mothers, told of the enduring pain of searching in vain for family and identity. At the launch of the report in January, the Taoiseach Micheal Martin said it was unforgivable that children born outside of marriage were treated as outcasts. He spoke of their sense of abandonment and of the stigma and lack of birth information which had been a terrible burden in their lives. We honoured piety but failed to show even basic kindness to those who needed it most. The Catholic Church acknowledged an underlying, but enormously influential, strain of misogyny, and a negative and oppressive attitude to sexuality, particularly in relation to women. Such statements were the latest in a litany of mea culpas from church and state prompted by similar official reports over two decades. Investigations of clerical child sexual abuse, of the suffering of children in orphanages and industrial schools and of the slavery of young women working in convent laundries have each thrown light on Irelands dark past. But for those waiting for the commission to acknowledge the fault of church and state in their suffering, the report was a savage disappointment. Noting that women who gave birth outside marriage were subjected to particularly harsh treatment, the report concluded, responsibility for that harsh treatment rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families. Advertisement There were angry and emotional scenes in the Dail the Irish Parliament as the house debated the report. One member said women were not just treated as second-class citizens as described in the report. They were a caste apart, she said. They were untouchable even by their own parents. Another was close to tears as he quoted from a 1943 health inspectors report describing babies in one home as miserable scraps of humanity, wizened, some emaciated and almost all had rash and sores all over their bodies, faces, hands and heads. The home in question only closed in 1999. In the weeks following the launch of the report, live TV and radio programs carried a stream of interviews with former residents. It has opened up a huge wound, says actor-playwright Noelle Brown, who was adopted from a home. People have taken to the airwaves and are haemorrhaging stories of absolute horror. There isnt a family in Ireland that hasnt been affected by this issue. It is massive. Childrens socks line a grotto on an unmarked mass grave at the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, which closed in 1961. Credit:Getty Images Many of the 550 witnesses who gave evidence to the commission were shocked to find the report contained only very brief extracts of their testimonies, or nothing at all. Their courage in coming forward had been utterly disrespected, says Brown, who was a witness herself. I was told, Everything you say will be put away and no one will ever hear it. I said, Well, why am I here? I want my story to be heard. It later emerged that the audio recordings of the testimonies had been destroyed and there were apparently no transcripts. But after a barrage of protests from witnesses, the Minister for Children, Roderic OGorman, said efforts were being made to retrieve the data and provide transcripts to all who requested them. On long northern winter days under COVID-19 lockdown, I sat for hours on Zoom and WhatsApp calls listening to Irish voices, in turn passionate, angry and confiding, telling me terrible things. Well, now, Jane, they would say, The thing was, you see Women who as young pregnant girls fled to England to escape censure, and labelled PFI pregnant from Ireland were found by the Catholic Protection and Rescue Society of Ireland and brought back to a mother and baby home. It was prison, said one, if you escaped, the Gardai would bring you back. Advertisement Northern Irish pig and poultry producers will be able to apply for financial support worth 4 million from next week as part of the government's Covid-19 measures. The support is being made available to pig and poultry farmers who saw their income fall last year due to the impact of the pandemic. Northern Ireland's Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots announced today that the scheme would open from Monday 15 March. For the pig sector, many producers incurred financial loss when the processing plant they supplied was temporarily closed due to an outbreak within the workforce. "This financial support will address the effects of the temporary loss of the lucrative Chinese export market, additional penalties on overweight and overfat pigs, and the price impact of alternative pig marketing arrangements, Mr Poots said. For the poultry sector, farmers producing parent stock and hatching eggs for Moy Park Ltd saw falling demand for hatching eggs last year. "This support will address the financial impact of depleting laying flocks earlier than normal, and the cash flow consequences of longer intercrop periods for both rearing and laying farms, Mr Poots added. I am pleased that over 19m has already been paid out by DAERA to farm businesses impacted by the pandemic and this financial support has been helpful in these difficult times. Eligible farm businesses in the pig and poultry sectors will receive a letter inviting them to apply for the support package, he said. Producers must complete the application form available on DAERA Online Services from Monday 15 March to Wednesday 24 March 2021. People take part in a rally against anti-Asian hate crimes in San Mateo, California, the US, on Feb 27, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua] WASHINGTON -- Several legal groups have demanded an Ohio judge apologize after he used the term "China Virus" in a column published in a local bar association's newsletter, local media reports said. Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O'Donnell used the term "China Virus" three times in his article in the Lake Legal Views while addressing how he handled his duties during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lake County Bar Association distributed the edition to its members last Wednesday, which quickly ignited a firestorm in the legal community. Leaders from the Asian American Bar Association of Ohio, the Anti-Defamation League and the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, among others, condemned O'Donnell's use of the term. O'Donnell's word choice had "discriminatory and xenophobic connotations associated with it," the Asian American Bar Association of Ohio said in released a statement on Friday. "Our organization, and community-at-large, is deeply troubled by the use of such discriminatory and racially-charged language by a member of the judiciary, particularly at a time when stereotypes associated with this language have led to a documented surge in anti-Asian bias and racist attacks," read the statement. James Pasch, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League chapter covering Ohio, said that someone of O'Donnell's stature in the community using this type of language feeds into the racism and xenophobia that Asians have dealt with since the pandemic began. "There's no place for racism in Ohio, and certainly no place for it in the courts," Pasch said. "During difficult times, it's up to leaders in our community to elevate those being targeted, not to contribute to further harm and feed into conspiracy theories." Ciera Colon, president of the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, said she plans on filing grievances with the state's disciplinary counsel to seek potential sanctions against O'Donnell for comments she called "racist, stigmatizing and discriminatory." The Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also released a statement on Saturday, condemning O'Donnell's use of the term. "Courts are to be an example of honor and integrity wherein all who come before them should confidently expect they will be treated fairly. Such overt and reckless language sends the exact opposite message," it read. "Considering Judge O'Donnell's clear and public feelings, it is next to impossible to think that an Asian American, any person of color, or other minority could walk in his courtroom believing she or he would be afforded such fair treatment," it said. The use of the phrase "China Virus" has led to a surge in discrimination against Asian Americans, according to a study made by the University of California Berkeley. Racial bias against Asian Americans had been slowly decreasing in the United States since 2007, but the trend was reversed in early 2020 following the increase in stigmatising language published by media outlets. 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 FILE - This Saturday, March 6, 2021 file photo shows vials of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the pharmacy of National Jewish Hospital for distribution in east Denver. The European Medicines Agency is meeting Thursday March 11, 2021, to discuss whether Johnson & Johnsons one-dose coronavirus vaccine should be authorized, a move that would give the European Union a fourth licensed vaccine to try to curb the pandemic amid a stalled inoculation drive. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) LONDON (AP) The European Medicines Agency on Thursday gave the green light to Johnson & Johnsons one-dose coronavirus vaccine, handing the European Union's 27 nations a fourth vaccine to try to speed up the bloc's much-criticized vaccination rollout. The EU medicines regulator advised that the vaccine be cleared for use in all adults over 18 after a thorough evaluation of J&Js data found the vaccine met the criteria for efficacy, safety and quality. With this latest positive opinion, authorities across the European Union will have another option to combat the pandemic and protect the lives and health of their citizens, said Emer Cooke, EMAs executive director. The EMA has already recommended COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca but all of those vaccines require two doses, several weeks apart. Production delays have also plagued all three vaccine manufacturers. In its statement Thursday, the EMA said the J&J vaccine was about 67% effective. The most common side effects were pain at the injection site, headache, tiredness, muscle pain and nausea. The European Commission quickly granted a conditional marketing authorization to the vaccine. The entry on the market of the (J&J) vaccine ensures that we have access to a total of up to 1.8 billion doses of approved vaccines from different technology platforms, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave an emergency authorizatio n to the J&J shot in late February. Health experts hope that having a one-dose vaccine will speed efforts to immunize the world against COVID-19, especially given the recent infection spikes in Europe driven by worrying new variants. The EU has struggled to quickly roll out shots and immunize its most vulnerable citizens. It ranks far behind countries including Israel, Britain, Chile and the U.S. J&J said it has committed to providing the EU with its pre-ordered 200 million doses starting in the second quarter. Story continues The greatest barrier to rolling out the vaccines so far has been the availability of vaccines, said Dr. Peter English, who previously chaired the British Medical Association's Public Health Medicine Committee. This new addition can only add to the quantity of vaccine available in the EU, as well as providing another alternative if there are hitches with the supply or use of other products. Europe recorded 1 million new COVID-19 cases last week, an increase of 9% from the previous week and a reversal that ended a six-week decline in new infections. The World Health Organizations European office blamed that surge partly on virus variants, including one first identified in Britain that is thought to be 50% more transmissible. A massive study that spanned three continents found the J&J vaccine was 85% effective in protecting against severe illness, hospitalizations and death. That protection remained strong even in countries like South Africa, where variants have been identified that appear to be less susceptible to other vaccines, including the one made by AstraZeneca. The J&J vaccine can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, similar to the AstraZeneca vaccine, which should make rolling out its use easier than vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, which require colder storage. J&Js shot uses a cold virus like a Trojan horse to carry the spike gene of the coronavirus into the body, where cells make harmless copies of the protein to prime the immune system in case the real virus comes along. Its similar to COVID-19 shots made by AstraZeneca and Chinas CanSino Biologics. J&J is also seeking emergency authorization of its vaccine in Britain and by the World Health Organization. It has already been approved for use in Bahrain and Canada. Thomas Mertens, the head of Germanys independent vaccine advisory panel, said he expected the shots use to be recommended in Germany. However, Mertens wouldnt rule out that the panel might recommend using the vaccine only for certain groups within the population, as it initially did by limiting the AstraZeneca shot to under 65s - a restriction it later lifted after receiving more data. J&J has faced production delays in the U.S. and Europe but has recently signed agreements with rival pharmaceuticals who will help make their vaccine. In February, Sanofi Pasteur said it would be able to make about 12 million doses of the J&J vaccine at one of its French production sites once the shot is cleared by the EMA. It is aiming to make 1 billion doses this year. ___ Mike Corder in The Hague, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report. Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak In new TN assembly DMK has most MLAs with pending criminal background, crorepatis Tamil Nadu elections 2021: DMK to release election manifesto today, finalises seat-sharing deal with allies India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Mar 12: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, leading party of the Opposition alliance in Tamil Nadu, will likely release its much-awaited manifesto for the April 6 Assembly elections in Chennai on March 11. Notably, the DMK has almost sealed its seat-sharing deals with its allies and is eyeing to dethrone the ruling AIADMK and stage a comeback in the state On Thursday, the DMK and Congress reached an agreement on the 25 seats the latter will field its candidates, with the national party set to lock horns with rival BJP in five segments including two in Kanyakumari, reports PTI. TN elections 2021: DMK concludes seat-sharing with allies for upcoming Assembly polls The AIADMK allotted six seats to former Union Minister GK Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) and one segment to a local outfit, with candidates of both parties set to contest on the ruling party's Two Leaves symbol. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News With today's allocations, AIADMK, eyeing a third record term, would face the polls from 189 of the 234 seats while two more are yet to be allotted. DMK and ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) agreed upon the six segments the latter will fight from, including four reserved constituencies. The DMK has been out of power since 2011 and it is leaving no stone unturned to storm back to power. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 10:11 [IST] VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 12, 2021 / Sassy Resources Corporation ("Sassy" or the "Company") (CSE:SASY) (FSE:4E7) (OTCQB:SSYRF) is pleased to announce that it has received permit approval from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to undertake an exploration program including diamond drilling on the recently optioned Gander North group of claims. Approximately eight drill holes will be completed during a Phase 1 reconnaissance program to commence this spring as soon as conditions allow. Gander North is situated approximately 15 km northeast of New Found Gold's (TSXV: NFG) Keats Zone and is intersected by a major regional fault zone (GRUB Line). Notably, Gander North features high historic gold-in-till anomalies up to 2 g/t along its western and northern boundaries. These till anomalies are coincident with a series of magnetic lineament structures, yet no drilling has ever been carried out at this property. Westmore Discovery Sassy expects to release an update on its 100%-owned flagship Foremore Project in the Eskay Camp during the second half of March, including final 2020 drill results from the Westmore gold-silver discovery. Qualified Person The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Ian Fraser, P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration for Sassy Resources. Mr. Fraser is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards. About Sassy Resources Corporation Sassy Resources is an exploration stage resource company currently engaged in the identification, acquisition and exploration of high-grade precious metal and base metal projects in North America. Its current focus is the Foremore Gold-Silver Project located in the Eskay Camp, Liard Mining Division, in the heart of Northwest B.C.'s prolific Golden Triangle. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements Investors are cautioned that, except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained in this document includes "forward looking information", with respect to a performance expectation for Sassy Resources Corporation. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections formulated using assumptions believed to be reasonable and involving a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, without limitation, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, the price of commodities in both the cash market and futures market, changes in legislation, taxation, controls and regulation of national and local governments and political and economic developments in Canada and other countries where Sassy carries out or may carry out business in the future, the availability of future business opportunities and the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions or operational difficulties related to technical activities of mining and reclamation, the speculative nature of exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks obtaining necessary licenses and permits, reducing the quantity or grade of reserves, adverse changes in credit ratings, and the challenge of title. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update publicly or revise forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Some of the results reported are historical and may not have been verified by the Company. Contact Info: Mark Scott Chief Executive Officer & Director info@sassyresources.ca www.sassyresources.ca Dr Kevin Quinn, his daughter clinical nurse Aoife Gallagher and Sgt Niall O'Connor carry boxes of Moderna vaccines delivered by helicopter to Arranmore. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne The aim to administer 100,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine will not be met again next week with the HSE admitting it still has no confirmation how many dos es it will be getting from AstraZeneca. Talks are still ongoing about next week and one recent delivery dropped from 52,000 to 10,000 doses with short notice. It comes as new advice from vaccine experts here is expected to say the jab can be used for the over-65s. Next week the plan is to administer between 75,000 to 85,000 but the exact number is still in doubt over uncertainty of supply from AstraZeneca. Confidence levels in this have been rocked, HSE chief Paul Reid said yesterday. So far over 100,000 people over 70 have been vaccinated . Prof Karina Butler of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee said last night a new recommendation on the use of AstraZeneca had been made to the deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn. The advice has not been disclosed but it is expected to allow the vaccine be used to inoculate over-65s following recent research showing its efficacy in older age groups. Taoiseach Micheal Martin is seeking to speak to the global chief executive of AstraZeneca. Earlier, it emerged a batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, at the centre of investigation by health authorities in Denmark after reports of number of people who got the jab formed blood clots, was administered here in February. Two cases here of people who got the vaccine forming blood clots have been reported to the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA). The matter was first raised by Austria while Denmark has suspended the vaccine for two weeks pending an investigation. This has been followed by Norway and Iceland. Read More Prof Butler said the real world benefits of the vaccine were known but it was very reassuring to hear the results of the European Medicines Agency which said the number of clot events were no higher than in the general population. They confirmed the vaccine continue to be used while they continue their investigations, she said. In the UK, 11 million doses of the vaccine had been administered and its regulatory authoritys review saw no incease in a clot events. Prof Butler said the EMA examination would continue but the HPRA believed it was right to continue with the vaccine roll-out. Dr Colm Henry, chief medical officer of the HSE, said earlier that in any vaccine programme there will be events that happen that are unrelated to the vaccine programme. An event can be associated in time with vaccination but there is not necessarily a cause or link between the two. He said the batch of vaccine under review was used here around February 22. The HPRA has had two cases of thromboembolic disease reported after the vaccine. It happened around the time of vaccination. It does not imply a cause and effect, he added. Mr Reid told the HSE briefing that a notice would go out to hospitals to start resuming non-Covid services on a phased basis. Waiting lists have escalated as hospitals have been swamped with Covid-19 patients since December leaving hundreds of thousands of patients needing outpatient and other care on hold. Dublins St Jamess Hospital is to resume more services for cancer patients. Dr Henry said work was ongoing in identifying people with underlying conditions who are at very high risk if they catch the virus. Hospitals were drawing up lists but it would also be necessary to look elsewhere, including GPs. Around 150,000 at-risk cases will be vaccinated over March and into April, he said. Around 500 over-85s are waiting and around 1,500 over-70s are to be inoculated at home. The benefits of vaccination are already coming through with infections in healthcare workers falling by 95pc, with the numbers of staff absent from work reduced to 1,100. "When you clean out your closet, think of us "said Nancy Ludin, CEO of the Jewish Pavilion. Special thanks to Larry Kahn, Alan Perlman, Roz Murray and many other generous people who have recently donated Judaica to the Jewish Pavilion. All of the gifts received are used as presents for seniors to go in their welcome bags. The Jewish Pavilion always welcomes gifts such as Jewish holiday paper goods, Chanukah wrapping paper, ritual objects, etc. Shown here is Joe Aronson of Westminster Towers with his new prayer book, donated by the Jewish Pavilion The Pavilion also thanks Janice Kagan, Mard... Sirsa: Two licensed pistols were recovered at Sirsa from the relatives of two Punjab Police personnel, who were deployed as security guards to self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim, police said on Saturday. "We are questioning 3-4 relatives of the two guards for carrying weapons despite imposition of section 144 (of CrPC)here," a senior police official, who did not wish to be identified, said. The officer said police also questioned the two Punjab Police personnel who were wearing a civilian uniform and carrying licenced AK-47. ALSO READ: Ram Rahim case: Crackdown against Dera centres, HC slams Khattar govt The security personnel were on their way back to Punjab to resume their duty. Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief has been convicted in a rape case. READ: NN Exclusive: The letter that scripted 'Waterloo of Ram Rahim Singh' For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Congressman Jamaal Bowman has hit out at C-SPAN, the non-profit public affairs network, for confusing him with Mondaire Jones, a fellow Black member of the House. The apparent confusion between the two men came during a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, when C-SPAN incorrectly identified Mr Bowman, as the New York Daily News first reported. The Democrat afterwards wrote on Twitter about the confusion, along with a screenshot showing Mr Jones name on screen as he delivered a speech to the House. Ive got love for Rep Mondaire Jones but Im Rep Jamaal Bowman. Im here to do my job, C-SPAN, please, do yours, wrote the congressman on Wednesday. Twitter users also criticised C-SPAN, with one writing: Come on, C-SPAN. Read more: Lauren Boebert criticised for calling Equality Act supremacy of gays Mr Jones, who represents a neighbouring New York district, added that While Im flattered to be confused yet again for an exemplary public servant like Congressman Bowman, I am not, in fact, Congressman Bowman. The network appeared to apologise to both members of Congress in an unofficial statement on Twitter, writing that mistakes were clearly made. Sincere apologies to both representatives. The Independent have also approached C-SPAN for further comment on the incident. On Thursday, Mr Bowman shared a picture of both men standing outside the US Capitol, with the caption: Dear white people: Mondaire is on the left, Jamaal is on the right. No, your other right. Both Democrats were recently elected to Congress as part of a wave of insurgent candidates in New York, in which the party retained control of the House. It is not the first time a Black member of Congress has been misidentified, after two Republican senators paid tribute to former senator John Lewis with an image of former Rep Elijah Cummings, who died the previous year. Former Somali state minister for presidential affairs Abdulkadir Moallim Noor, centre, prays over the body of former president Ali Mahdi Mohamed (Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP) Somalia held a state funeral for former president Ali Mahdi Mohamed, who died with Covid-19 earlier this week in neighbouring Kenya. The seaside capital was brought to a standstill, with all the main roads blocked by the army and police as the hearse was transported to a mosque where the late presidents family paid their last respects. Somalia has declared three days of mourning during which the national flag will be lowered to half-mast in honour of Mr Mohamed, who was 86. Although President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and his opponents appeared united in grief, there was notably no close interaction between the opposing groups, not even handshakes, amid a continuing stalemate over how and when to hold the Horn of Africa countrys overdue elections. Heavy security deployment also added to the grim atmosphere in Mogadishu, which has seen repeated attacks by Islamic extremists in recent days as the countrys leaders fail to agree on the way forward after the expiry of the presidents term last month. Liban Ali Mahdi, a son of the deceased former president, told reporters that his father died of Covid-19 and that his widow remains in hospital with coronavirus in a Nairobi hospital. Expand Close Somali military officers carry the body of former president Ali Mahdi Mohamed (Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Somali military officers carry the body of former president Ali Mahdi Mohamed (Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP) Mr Mohamed was appointed interim president of Somalia in neighbouring Djibouti in 1991 immediately after the fall of the dictator Siad Barre. But his presidency was immediately disputed by a rival, the warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid, against whose fighters Mr Mohameds loyalists fought a clannish, violent war in the streets of Mogadishu. The violence contributed to a famine that devastated the country until the intervention of the United States-led Operation Restore Hope in 1992. Mr Mohamed had joined politics early, becoming the countrys youngest legislator in 1969 before the rise of Mr Barre, who toppled a democratically elected government. In recent years Mr Mohamed was a respected elder as well as a successful businessman who made a fortune as the owner of one of Mogadishus best hotels in addition to holdings in other businesses. Just before his death, Mr Mohamed urged Somali leaders to hold peaceful elections as tensions rose over delayed polls. No one could control this country using force, so I appeal you all leaders and the current government to convene a free and fair elections as the alternative could be a civil war, he said. As she removes the fish from the oven, smells of garlic, pepper, and lemon fill the community kitchen. For Glenda Andrew, the smells bring back memories of family meals, community events and religious get-togethers. They bring her back to the warmth of her native Caribbean in the middle of a cold, gray British winter that has seemed darker because of COVID-19. This is food for the soul, Andrew told the Associated Press. The 57-year-old adds that such food is needed now more than ever for Britains older immigrants. Most of them have not been able to see their family and friends in many months because of the pandemic. Once a week, Andrew joins other volunteers to prepare hot meals with flavors of the islands. They bring the hot meals for free to people in an area called Preston, as well as surrounding communities in northwestern England. This area has recorded some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in Britain. The home-cooked meals are a reminder of home. One day a week for the last 42 weeks, the seniors on Andrews list have enjoyed island specialties such as jerk pork, curry goat, and cow foot soup. The meal program grew out of her work with an organization called Preston Windrush Generation & Descendants. The group fights for the rights of early immigrants from the Caribbean and other former British colonies. In recent years, they found themselves threatened with deportation. The Windrush Generation is named after the ship that carried the first migrants from the Caribbean in 1948. It came to Britain following a government call for workers from throughout the Empire to help rebuild the country after World War II. But in 2018, long-term legal residents lost jobs, homes, and the right to free medical care as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration. Many arrived to Britain from the Caribbean as children. They did not have paperwork proving their right to live in Britain. Some were detained. An unknown number were deported to countries they did not know or remember. When the coronavirus pandemic struck Britain, the free-spirited Andrew did not want the community to be victimized again. So, she created the food program. Her food honors the tastes of the people she grew up with. She uses the best food she can find. Theyre worth it, she said. They brought us up, theyve taught us so many things. They gave up their life in the Caribbean to come here. In addition to food, the volunteers offer a bit of human contact. The loneliness of the past year has been painful for many of the seniors. When the hot meals arrive, they get to talk with the volunteers and share stories. Sylius Toussaint is 81 and came from the island nation of Dominica in 1960. He said talking with the volunteers helps him as much as the food does. He told the Associated Press, They say hello and give you a meal, and maybe for just a few seconds at least you see someone new; someone you havent seen all week, Toussaint says, smiling at his wife. If you are on your own, it is so nice to see a fresh face especially bringing gifts. Britains COVID-19 vaccination program may soon mean lockdown restrictions will be eased. But Andrew wants to keep making and sharing her island meals. The project runs on donations and the energy of Andrew. She seems to be in several places at once as she organizes the volunteers. In the future, she said, she hopes to find a place where the community can meet and spend time together. But for now, the volunteers plan to continue to connect with the community through food. Im Anna Matteo. Danica Kirka reported this story from London for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story oven n. a piece of cooking equipment that is used for baking or roasting food soul n. the essential or most important part of something flavor n. the quality of something that affects the sense of taste freeze v. to become a hard substance (such as ice) because of cold resident n. living in a place for some length of time deportation n. the removal from a country of an alien whose presence is unlawful or prejudicial crackdown n. a serious attempt to punish people for doing something that is not allowed : an increased effort to enforce a law or rule lockdown n. the confinement of prisoners to their cells for a temporary period as a security measure Im writing today on behalf of the Charleston Wine + Foods Board of Directors. We are deeply appreciative and admiring of our staff, talent, volunteers, partners and community members who have invested their hearts and souls in the successful execution of this event. While there is much we refute in Hanna Raskins article in Wednesdays Post and Courier, this response focuses on one facet of her reporting. We are enormously proud of the astute management of the festival team and the organizations commitment to our local community. Organizing a multiday festival with more than 100 events presents complexities that can hardly be imagined. We are an organization that continues to evolve and makes decisions with integrity. We welcome feedback and seek to improve, knowing we cannot be perfect. Our goal will always be to spotlight and uplift the community we serve. Community is the soul of this festival, and we saw from social media last week that many mourned its absence this season. Their love was sadly missing from Ms. Raskins article, which neglected to include insights from any satisfied partners, chefs, staff and volunteers who reached out during her reporting. Ms. Raskin says individuals are sad about our future, in light of perceived slights and unfortunate consequences of human error. While we are saddened to hear of anyone who is unhappy, in the spirit of fair and balanced journalism we would suggest its equally sad when thousands of supporters positive experiences are omitted. Were excited about what lies ahead. STEVE PALMER President, Charleston Wine + Food Board of Directors Line Street Charleston Oyster farming In Saturdays Post and Courier, Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, takes a strong stance against oyster farming. In the article, there was one reported boating accident. According to the Code of Federal Regulations, all tidal waters are federal waters. The navigational channels are marked with Coast Guard Aid to Navigation where boaters should and should not be out of the channel when underway. Those unmarked creeks require the captain to operate cautiously. Boating accidents involving an oyster cage quite possibly can be from the lack of a proper lookout, which is required by navigational rules. Oyster farms should be permitted outside these marked channels and positioned carefully in unmarked creeks, considering boat traffic. Sen. Senn, whom I rarely disagree with, is wrong to object to this helpful environmental process that provides much needed jobs and food for me and fellow citizens. These waterways are not just for the enjoyment of those having homes on the waters edge. I suggest that the senator take a boat ride in all areas of Senate District 41 where farm permits have been issued so she can see for herself that these farmers take very good care of their floating cages because they provide income. Any cage, as well as crab pots, in a marked channel should be removed by law enforcement and the owner cited for obstructing a waterway. With enough feedback, Sen. Senn may drop these proposed restrictions. 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! ROBERT KLOWAS Ashley Crossing Drive Charleston Loan forgiveness The effort touted by President Joe Biden to forgive student loans is bad as government policy and worse as an example to young people. Many of us saved to send our kids to college while requiring them to work summers and part time to meet their living expenses. They grew up taking on more and more responsibility. If approved, the parents and students who followed the loan forgiveness path would be paying the bills a second time by footing the bills of others through their taxes. And we would all eventually pay as we add to an unsustainable federal debt. The idea of bailing out those in debt because of inflated college price tags always brings to mind one of the most moving scenes in the wonderful Depression-era film, Cinderella Man. The movie chronicles the heavyweight fight between underdog Jim Braddock and Max Baer. Braddock, injured and out of work, reluctantly gets in a long line for government assistance to feed his family. Later in the film, he lands a job on the docks. Braddock gets back in line at the government office to pay back what he was given. It is a great lesson in personal responsibility set in a time of incredible hardship. Today, President Biden and his supporters want us to believe that they will always have a government solution to offer and it is free. What a sad commentary. And how foolish those parents and kids will have been to think they had a responsibility to use the college years as a stepping stone to maturity. CLARK THOMPSON Pignatelli Crescent Mount Pleasant Domestic terrorists Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp is a deterrent for terrorists. Those imprisoned there have not been given trials. I know why we wouldnt do it, but would not the same standards deter domestic terrorists from forcefully invading the U.S. Capitol? PAUL FLAHERTY Atlantic Avenue Sullivans Island By the end of this month the Gibraltar government hopes to have vaccinated its entire population over the age of 16 and all its cross-frontier workers against the Covid-19 coronavirus. This would mean that around 40,000 people have had the vaccine, under the Operation Freedom campaign. By Wednesday this week 28,932 had received their first dose of the vaccine, and 15,962 had had their second dose. The vaccines have been arriving in batches from the UK. There have been five so far, delivered to the Rock by the RAF. Gibraltar has recently begun to ease lockdown restrictions after a considerable drop in Covid-19 cases, and there is a general sense of relief and optimism. Schools have reopened and so have bars and restaurants, and masks are now only compulsory in certain places and circumstances, but Health Minister Samantha Sacramento has warned that people should not let down their guard, even after being vaccinated. The state quietly passed a milestone this week, recording its 7 millionth COVID-19 test, but even as the pace of testing has slowed, laboratory data suggest that the number of cases that could be caused by the B.1.1.7 variant is rising sharply. The new data released late Thursday by Dr. Nathan Grubaugh, an associate professor of epidemiology at Yales School of Public Health, show there were at least 152 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant at the end of February. For the week of Feb. 13, nearly 15 percent of the samples Yale tested had characteristics that indicated they could be of the B.1.1.7 strain, although they werent confirmed. By the week of Feb. 27, that percentage increased to nearly 28 percent, although the increase from Feb. 20 to Feb. 27 was only about 2.5 percentage points. Some Yale epidemiologists, including Grubaugh, have questioned whether the state should push back its date for reopening because of the increasing appearance of the variant, but Gov. Ned Lamont reiterated Thursday that he has no plans to change his timetable. The governor announced last week that he was lifting capacity restrictions on restaurants, houses of worship, retailers and most other businesses on March 19. Mandates for social distancing and masks will continue, however. While the variant may be expanding and is a bigger piece of the infected community here in the state of Connecticut, its not reflected in higher infection rates, and thats very important, Lamont said. While acknowledging they are monitoring the variants closely, state officials have said they arent particularly worried because hospitalizations continue to fall even as the percentage of positive COVID tests has hovered between 2 percent and 3 percent. 20 percent to 40 percent of cases could be B.1.1.7 The number of cases of B.1.1.7., commonly referred to as the U.K. variant, have been steadily increasing to the point where the two laboratories doing specific genomic testing to isolate the variant believe it is present in up to 40 percent of the cases in the state now. The two labs doing the genomic sequencing for the variant, other than the state Department of Public Healths own laboratory, are Jackson Laboratories and the Yale School of Public Health. Both have said the variant is more prevalent now in the state than even a few weeks ago. Mark Adams, director of microbial genomic services and deputy director of JAX Genomic Medicine, said there is no question the number of cases of the variant are higher than what the testing data show. For example, B.1.1.7 shares a common genome with regular COVID-19, and in January, Jackson lab technicians were finding about 1 in 25 random positive test samples had the common genome, Adams said. The number is now roughly 21 out of every 25 samples, although Adams cautioned that doesnt mean every one of those 21 cases is B.1.1.7. So we have a reduction in overall cases while at the same time an increase in the proportion of those cases that have U.K. lineage, Adams said. Its hard to say maybe about 20 percent, to as much as 40 percent, of all positive cases now are the variant. Adams said they have been watching the states case positivity rates closely. Theres a fair amount of noise, that it is hard to get an idea of the trends, but it is worth keeping an eye on, Adams said. Theres a lot of scientific concern about the U.K. strain and other variants, but I think were now getting the epidemiological picture about what it means for the trajectory of the pandemic. And I think its still difficult to predict that. Not an overwhelming concern Some Yale officials have been critical of Lamonts decision to expand the reopening. Grubaugh called it a terrible decision in a recent WNPR radio interview. But Keith Grant, director of infection prevention at Hartford HealthCare, said Thursday that Connecticut right now is in a very good place to start having discussions about reopening more. Grant said hospital admissions are down about 80 percent in some areas, and the mortality rate from the virus has shifted significantly because of the vaccine particularly in nursing homes and other areas that have had higher mortality rates. Also, he said, the state has consistently ranked high in the number of vaccinations administered. Take all that data together, and Grant believes B.1.1.7 isnt the threat some fear it is. So I think we have enough data to be comfortable with where the epidemiology is, and I dont think its significant at this point in time, Grant said. I do think were making good progress on our vaccinations. At this point, I dont think its a concern. We need to watch it, but I dont think it is the overwhelming concern that has been reported at this time. Lamont and other state officials have acknowledged they are tracking the variants, not only here but in other areas such as Florida and San Diego but the increasing number of cases hasnt swayed them from delaying the planned relaxing of restrictions on March 19. They believe the number of people that have already been vaccinated, coupled with people who have already had COVID, makes it less likely for B.1.1.7 to cause a major outbreak, even though it is considered much more transmissible than standard COVID-19. Ive seen that it is increasing it could be the dominant strain but at least it is not increasing exponentially and if we did find things were changing, we have the ability to change course, Lamont said at a press conference earlier this week. But right now I think the vaccine is staying ahead of the variant, and thats slowing its increase. And by the way, the vaccine works against the variant. Small town shock Earlier this week, Lamont announced the first COVID death from B.1.1.7 and said the states cases of that variant had increased to 81, with 15 additional cases through Feb. 17. Unlike the early variant cases, which were focused mostly in New Haven County, the newest 15 cases were spread out across the state from East Canaan to Bridgeport to Rocky Hill, suggesting that this version of the virus has spread across the state more than officials have been able to quantify. The state reported two cases of B.1.1.7 in East Canaan, a village in North Canaan, which has been relatively unscathed by the virus except for a major outbreak at a nursing home facility in town last spring. North Canaan First Selectman Charles Perrotti said no one had informed him that his small town had cases of the variant until he saw the towns name listed during the governors press conference. Perrotti said he called Torrington Health District officials to see if they had any more information, but as of Thursday, he was still in the dark. It would be nice to know how or where we got the variant in our town and perhaps possibly get more vaccine available up this way, because right now, other than Walgreens, we dont have much in this corner of the state, Perrotti said. Lamont also announced the states second case of the B.1.351 variant of COVID-19, commonly known as the South African variant. That new case is an individual who is between 15 and 25 years old and a resident of Greenwich. The patient was tested in early February and reported having traveled to Massachusetts. Testing demand is down The Jackson Laboratory and Hartford HealthCare have conducted about 1.2 million tests and more than 900,000 tests respectively, and both agencies said testing is starting to dwindle. Dr. James Cardon, Hartford HealthCares chief clinical integration officer, said Thursday they are doing about half the tests that they were just a few months ago. Certainly the demand at our testing sites has reduced significantly, Cardon said. We have scaled back the double lanes, the multiple cars at once, because theres no real wait. Hartford has closed down testing sites in Newington and Westport and is running reduced hours on the weekend at several sites across the state because there wasnt anybody coming through. We watch the volumes very closely to make sure were not starting to see real lines and other things forming, Cardon said. For Jackson labs, the demand has lessened mostly because nursing home testing has slowed. The state is still testing staff at every nursing home each week but is now testing residents only when they have a positive case in the building. We are getting fewer tests to perform, and I would say that theres probably a complicated set of reasons for that, but one of our main testing partners through the state is nursing homes, Adams said. The number of cases in nursing homes is dramatically lower as an increased proportion of both residents and staff are vaccinated, and so the intensity of screening in nursing homes has gone down. The state has spent more than $284 million on testing, according to documents that Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw recently submitted to legislators. It has contracts with labs all over the state that submit their testing data daily to the DPH. State officials said earlier this week the DPH database passed 7 million tests, almost exactly a year after Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency following the states first COVID case. The milestone is a far cry from last March, when testing was so scarce that only people in the hospital could get one, and Lamont announced at press conferences that the state lab had ramped up to 30 tests a day. Porterville, CA (93257) Today A good deal of sunshine. Near record high temperatures. High around 105F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 68F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) A mayor is flagging the countrys tight stock of COVID-19 vaccine doses at present and how this hampers inoculation efforts as well as the publics ability to choose when it comes to vaccine brands. The real issue about the vaccine is the supply. We have a very limited supply of vaccines kaya nakakaranas tayo ngayon ng napakabagal na [and thats why were currently experiencing very slow] deployment and administration of the vaccine, Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro told CNN Philippines The Exchange with Rico Hizon. The Metro Manila mayor emphasized that the country is only in its first priority group for vaccination: medical frontliners. The Philippines only kickstarted its vaccination drive last March 1, among the latest Southeast Asian countries to do so, with the arrival of 600,000 donated China-made CoronaVac vaccines. The countrys 525,000 doses allocation from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility arrived a few days after. Pati yung [Even the] option to chooseand the right to refuseif you want a particular brand is being absent at this point in time. Nawawala, dahil wala nga walang mapagpilian na bakuna, added Teodoro. [Translation: Its missing because there arent enough vaccines to choose from.] The government projects millions of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccine doses more from the COVAX facility will be arriving in the second quarter of the year, along with initial procurements from Sinovac and Novavax. Authorities hope to inoculate 50 to 70 million Filipinos by year-end as they aim for herd immunity against the contagious disease. The Philippines already has over 611,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with experts flagging the surge in cases recorded on a daily basis. RELATED: OCTA projection: Up to 6,000 new daily COVID-19 cases in PH by end-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. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION BH Global Limited (the "Company") (a closed-ended collective investment scheme established as a company with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 48555) LEI: 549300BIIO4DTKEMXV14 12 March 2021 Publication of Shareholder Circular Further to its announcement of 16 February, the Board of Directors of BH Global Limited announces that it has today published a shareholder circular giving notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting (the "EGM"). At the EGM shareholders will be asked to consider and, if thought appropriate, approve a proposal to amend the Company's management fee arrangements in conjunction with an undertaking by the Board to facilitate an exit for those Shareholders who do not wish to remain invested in the Company on the new fee basis. Further details of the EGM, which will be held on 25 March 2021 at 3.30 p.m., are set out below. Background On 22 January 2021, the Company received a letter (the "BH Letter") from its Manager, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP, proposing an increase in the Manager's fees for managing the Company and requesting that the Board should take certain steps by 17 February 2021, failing which the Manager advised that it would be serving notice to terminate the Management Agreement. The Company forthwith released the entire text of the BH Letter by way of an announcement on 22 January 2021. The Board has made, in good faith, various proposals regarding alternative fee arrangements to the Manager and the Manager has been unwilling to adopt any Board-proposed alternative to the fee structure set out in the BH Letter. Consequently, the Board has decided that Shareholders, as a whole, should determine whether the new fee arrangements should be put in place. At the same time, the Board is conscious that some Shareholders may not want to remain invested in the Company if the new fee arrangements are implemented. Accordingly, the Board intends to facilitate an exit for such Shareholders by means of a tender offer prior to any change in the management fee taking effect. The Board is therefore convening an Extraordinary General Meeting to allow Shareholders to vote on this proposal as a whole (the "Proposal"). Amendments to the management fee arrangements The Current Management Fee Pursuant to the Management Agreement, the Manager currently receives the following fees from the Company in respect of its services to the Company: - a fee equal to 1/12 of 1.0 per cent per month of the "Reference Net Asset Value" of each class of Shares (before deduction of that month's management fee and before making any deduction for any accrued Performance Fees). The "Reference Net Asset Value" is defined as the lower of: (A) the Net Asset Value for the relevant class of Shares; and (B) the "Base NAV" for that class of Shares, being the Net Asset Value for that class of Shares as at 3 October 2016, adjusted for any increases or decreases in the Net Asset Value arising from issues, repurchases, redemptions, cancellations or conversions between currency classes of Shares, (the "Current Management Fee"); and - a performance fee (the "Performance Fee") calculated by reference to the increase (if any) in the Net Asset Value per Share of each class of Shares since the end of the Calculation Period in respect of which a Performance Fee was last earned. The Performance Fee in respect of each class of Shares is equal to (A) 20 per cent of the extent to which (if any) the Net Asset Value per Share of the relevant class of Shares as at the final Brevan Howard Multi-Strategy Master Fund NAV Calculation Date in that Calculation Period (adjusted for any increases or decreases in the Net Asset Value arising from issues, repurchases, redemptions, cancellations or conversions between currency classes of Shares) exceeds the "Base Net Asset Value per Share" of the relevant class of Shares multiplied by (B) the number of Shares of such class in issue on the final date of such Calculation Period and calculated before deduction of the Performance Fee in respect of that Calculation Period. The "Base Net Asset Value per Share" is the greater of (a) the Net Asset Value per Share of the relevant class as at 31 December 2016 and (b) the highest Net Asset Value per Share of the relevant class of Shares achieved as at the final Brevan Howard Multi-Strategy Master Fund NAV Calculation Date as at the end of any Calculation Period after the Calculation Period ending on 31 December 2016. These fee arrangements were agreed with the Manager in the Management Agreement that was entered into on 4 July 2017. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company is invested in a share class in the Master Fund to which no management or performance fees are charged to the Company by the Manager nor any affiliate of the Manager. In respect of the Current Management Fee, the Base NAV calculation does not take into account an increase in the Net Asset Value of a class of Shares by reason of an increase in the value of the Master Fund through positive performance alone. This means that, in effect, the Company paid the Manager a management fee equivalent to: (A) 0.82 per cent. of Net Asset Value in the financial year ended 31 December 2020 in respect of the US Dollar Share class; and (B) 0.88 per cent. of Net Asset Value in the financial year ended 31 December 2020 in respect of the Sterling Share class. The New Management Fee In respect of the Current Management Fee, the Manager is proposing to: (A) increase the applicable percentage rate from 1.0 per cent. to 2.0 per cent.; and (B) apply the increased rate to the Net Asset Value of the relevant class of Shares, removing the concepts of Reference Net Asset Value and Base NAV from the calculation. Accordingly, the new management fee would be equal to 1/12 of 2.0 per cent. per month of the Net Asset Value for the relevant class of Shares (the "New Management Fee"). The New Management Fee would apply from 1 July 2021 by which time it is expected that the proposed tender offer shall have been completed. The New Management Fee would equate to more than double the Current Management Fee payable in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2020. No changes have been proposed by the Manager to the Performance Fee. The Manager is a related party of the Company for the purposes of the Listing Rules. While the amendments made pursuant to the Proposal only constitute a smaller related party transaction between the Company and the Manager for the purposes of Listing Rule 11.1.10R, Shareholders will be asked to vote on the Proposal as the Board believes it appropriate in the circumstances for Shareholders to have the opportunity to opine on the amendments as part of the Proposal. The changes to the management fee will therefore only take effect if Shareholders approve the Proposal at the EGM. Planned Tender Offer As noted above, the Board believes it appropriate as part of the Proposal to provide an exit opportunity for those Shareholders who do not wish to remain invested in the Company in the event that the amendments to the fee arrangements are implemented. The provisions of the Management Agreement do not prevent the Board considering, and implementing, a return of capital to Shareholders should it wish to do so following the EGM. However, any return of capital would be subject to the provisions of the Management Agreement; in particular, if the Net Asset Value of either class of the Company's Shares were to be reduced by a return of capital, the Company would be required to pay to the Manager an amount equal to 2 per cent. of the amount by which the Net Asset Value of that class is reduced (save to the extent that the Annual Buyback Allowance in respect of that Share class was being utilised for the relevant calendar year). The Board has however reached agreement with the Manager that, provided that a return of capital as part of the Proposal is effected by way of a tender offer limited to no greater than 40 per cent. of each Share class, and that the pricing of such tender offer represents the prevailing Net Asset Value per Share less 2 per cent. plus the associated costs of the tender, the Manager will waive its right under the Management Agreement to receive 2 per cent. of the amount by which the Net Asset Value of either class is reduced in excess of the Annual Buyback Allowance; and that such sum will instead accrue to the benefit of the Company's continuing Shareholders. Accordingly, the Board currently intends to undertake a tender offer to Shareholders on these terms in the weeks following the EGM if the Proposal is approved. The precise form in which the exit will be effected will be determined by the Board following the EGM, with a further shareholder circular to be published, if required. The EGM The implementation of the Proposal requires the approval of Shareholders at the EGM. The EGM has been convened for 25 March 2021 at 3.30 p.m. at 7 New Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 2PF. At the EGM, Shareholders will be asked to consider and, if thought fit, pass an ordinary resolution to approve the Proposal. The majority required for the passing of the Resolution to be proposed at the EGM is a simple majority of the voting rights cast (in person or by proxy) on that Resolution at the EGM. If Guernsey's existing restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place at the relevant time, physical attendance at the EGM will not be possible. Accordingly, attendance at the EGM is expected to be limited to the minimum necessary quorum of two Shareholders entitled to vote and attending in person or by proxy. All votes on the resolutions contained in the Notice of EGM will be held by poll, so that all proxy votes will be counted. Neither the Manager nor any of its associates (as such term is defined in the Listing Rules) own any Shares in the Company. The Manager will not vote on the Resolution and has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that none of its associates (as such term is defined in the Listing Rules) will vote on the relevant resolution. In addition, Alan Howard, who is the co-founder of Brevan Howard and indirect majority owner of the Manager, has agreed to procure that any Shares in which he has a beneficial interest will not be voted on the Resolution. Defined terms in this announcement will have the same meaning as defined in the Company's shareholder circular dated 12 March 2021. A copy of the circular will be available shortly on the Company's website www.bhglobal.com. Enquiries: Sir Michael Bunbury Chairman David Yovichic Investec Bank plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7597 5970 The captain of the AM Ghent has been prosecuted for the oil spill which occurred off Gibraltar last month. In addition to a 20,000 fine, the ship's owner has had to pay a 1.5 million pound security bond to cover clean-up expenses. The spill occurred on 12 February in Gibraltar port, and the AM Ghent's captain confirmed that one of its venting valves had failed while bunkering. A counter-pollution plan was put into immediate operation and a clean-up began, but the oil affected numerous sea birds and some of the spill still remains in areas north of the harbour. These accidents are rare, but they come at great environmental cost. Gibraltar's Environment Minister, Dr John Cortes, said at the time, "Over the last ten years the marine life in our harbour had come back in strength and it was becoming a key wildlife area. "This is a significant setback which we are monitoring closely and we are working hard to minimise the impact as much as possible. But it will take time to recover." Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that lifting travel quarantine rules in New York is absolutely the wrong thing to do and reckless. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the change on Thursday, in a release that said rules for people entering from out-of-state -- requirements that have been in place for most of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic -- will be lifted on April 1. I dont know if thats the States idea of an April Fools joke, but its absolutely the wrong thing to do, de Blasio said at his daily press briefing. Its reckless. It doesnt help us with our recovery. Look, if you say someone is vaccinated, they can fly, they can visit, of course. But if someones not vaccinated, whats so hard about following the same process that has been followed to date? This is what our health care leaders believe makes sense. The mayor urged the state to reevaluate the decision, which he said could undermine progress on slowing the disease, and pointed out the ongoing concerns about variants. Throughout this epidemic, weve seen the travel associated cases have represented anywhere from 5-to-10% of all of the cases that we see here in New York City, said city advisor Dr. Jay Varma. That may not seem like a lot, but as we know with this disease, even one case can lead to an outbreak and spread. So, we need really everything on our side at this point as we continue in this sort of tense fight that we have right now with the virus. Although the requirement to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival in the state will end, the state Department of Health still recommends quarantine as an added precaution. Mandatory quarantine remains in effect for international travelers, the announcement said, and all New Yorkers who have been away from the state for more than 24 hours must continue to fill out the states Traveler Health Form. As we work to build our vaccination infrastructure even further and get more shots in arms, were making significant progress in winning the footrace between the infection rate and the vaccination rate, allowing us to open new sectors of our economy and start our transition to a new normal in a post-pandemic world, Cuomos statement in the announcement read. As part of that transition, quarantine for domestic travelers is no longer required, but it is still being advised as an added precaution. This is great news, but it is not an all-clear for New Yorkers to let their guard down. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... TUCSON, Ariz. U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a five-term Arizona Democrat, announced Friday she wont run for reelection in 2022. Her decision means her district is sure to draw heavy national attention in the election, with an open seat and potential control of the U.S. House of Representatives on the line. Democrats now hold a narrow House majority and Republicans have promised to target her 2nd District as a possible flip opportunity, while Democrats will fight to hold it. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The wild card will be redistricting, with the state expected to be assigned a 10th congressional district. How that district is fit into the state map by the independent state commission charged with redrawing lines will help determine if Kirkpatricks district is competitive. Kirkpatrick, 70, has represented two different districts during her congressional career first a district in mostly rural northern and eastern Arizona and more recently the 2nd District that includes much of the Tucson area in southeastern Arizona. Serving Arizonans has been my absolute honor and joy, but after much consideration, I have decided not to seek re-election in 2022, she said in a statement. I will continue the good fight through this Congress, and when the term is up, I will hand over the baton. In between her House stints, she ran unsuccessfully in 2016 for U.S. Senate, losing to incumbent Republican John McCain, who died in 2018. In early 2020, Kirkpatrick was absent from Congress for six weeks for treatment of alcoholism, a move she said was prompted by a fall that she saw as a little bit of a wake-up call. Kirkpatrick, who won reelection in November to her second term from her current district, told Arizona media outlets that her health and recovery werent factors in her decision to leave Congress and that she wanted to spend more time with family, including three grandsons. The district has been competitive in recent elections but Kirkpatrick defeated Republican challenger Brandon Marlin by a nearly 40,000-vote margin in November. An attorney, Kirkpatrick was born and raised in eastern Arizona, where her mother was a teacher on the White Mountain Apache Reservation and her father ran a small general store. She earned bachelors and law degrees at the University of Arizona in Tucson, was a prosecutor and in private practice, and served two terms in the state Legislature before first running for Congress in 2008. She initially represented the sprawling 1st District, which covers northern and eastern Arizona and includes the Navajo Nation and other tribal reservations. She cited her 2010 vote for the Affordable Care Act as one of her key accomplishments. But that vote also contributed to her loss in 2010 to Republican Paul Gosar, a year when the GOP had key wins and tea party activists targeted her support of former Pesident Barack Obamas signature achievement. After redistricting made that district more Democratic, Gosar switched districts and Kirkpatrick won the 1st District seat again in 2012 and was reelected in 2014. The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has just started meeting about the next round of changes, but the U.S. Census Bureau announced last month that it would not deliver key data to states until late September rather than this month. That will compress the schedule for the commission to draw Arizonas new congressional and legislative district maps and likely limit campaigns as candidates wait to see which district they will run in. Multiyear preventive actions at workplaces can slow down the increase in health risks for working-age people. Photo: 4event Oy / Tuomas Vuorio A multiyear workplace health promotion program can slow down the increase in health risks for working-age people. A study by the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyvaskyla followed what kind of changes happened among participants during an eight-year workplace health promotion program in smoking, minor exercise, high blood pressure, musculoskeletal disorders, and overweight. The results of the study were encouraging for health promotion. According to earlier studies, a high number of health risks are connected to an increase in occupational health care costs, lower productivity at work, and the growing number of sickness absences. Multiyear preventive actions at workplaces have not yet been studied much, and no research results have previously been available for studying which changes in health risks can be achieved during several years of intervention. "Earlier studies have indicated that prevention is possible, but most of the studied programs have lasted only from one to three years," states Antti Aikas, a doctoral student at the University of Jyvaskyla. "Our research showed that in the long run we can prevent people in the low- or moderate-level risk groups from transitioning into the group of high-level health risks." According to the research results, the study group had fewer health risks than average Finnish working-age people.The health risk assessments showedthat 5060% of the male-dominated personnel were categorized to the low-level health risk group (01 risks), 3035% to the moderate-level group (23 risks), and 911% to the high-level health risk group (more than four risks). The study also compared changes between low-, moderate- and high-risk groups during the multiyear health promotion program, and found that most of the personnel remained at the same level, 1315% improved their rating, while the rating deteriorated for only 1221%. Impacts of aging were delayed Health risks tend to get more common as people age. However, this study showed no statistically significant growth in the total number of health risks in the target population. "Our research team detected improvements as well as deterioration among the participants, which means that the overall change was minimal," Aikas notes. "The results are encouraging for maintaining working ability and enhancing national health." The study examined a multiyear workplace health promotion program that was carried out by a Finnish forest corporation (N = 523651) and a Finnish wellness company 4event Ltd from 2010 to 2017. The average age of the participants was 43.8 years. Over 120 separate services were performed around Finland during the program. During the first four years, the services were focused to support the lifestyle change of the employees, and the last four years were focused on mental resources and workplace atmosphere. The incidence of health risks was surveyed through three different health risk assessments by carrying out physiological measurements and questionnaires in 20102011, 20132014, and 20162017. Explore further Survey shows half of all American workplaces offer health and wellness programs More information: Antti Aikas et al. Eight-Year Health Risks Trend Analysis of a Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion Program, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2020). Antti Aikas et al. Eight-Year Health Risks Trend Analysis of a Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion Program,(2020). DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17249426 The virus is to blame for most of these extra deaths, but not all, Mahr continues. For every five known COVID-19 deaths in Illinois, there were two other deaths that exceeded the typical numbers. Some of those deaths are undiagnosed cases, researchers have said; others are likely people who were unwilling or unable to get critical care for other serious medical conditions during the pandemic. Read more here. THE UL Hospitals Group is to lose almost half its current intake of intern doctors as a government support scheme ends. A hospital spokesperson has confirmed that as of July, the number of these medics will go down to 54 in line with the end to national funding for the extra interns. It was allocated an additional 47 intern posts on a once-off basis, meaning there were over 100 last year, in a bid to tackle the Covid-19 crisis. Students are lobbying Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to keep the extra interns on. Adare man Colum Horan, a final year student at the Royal College of Surgeons, said there is still a need for a greater number of interns as the Covid-19 pandemic is not yet over. Your intern doctors are the people who do a lot of the routine work getting people ready for surgery and day procedures. Theyre the first person to be called if someone starts getting sick on the ward. The loss of them is not good for anyone, he said, arguing those left will suffer burnout. "In the short-term if there are half the number of interns there were in 2020, there will still be the same number of sick people, the same number of people coming in for procedures. But there will be half the number of interns doing the work," he said, "For the people who do get jobs, they will have to work so much harder. They'll be run off their feet. Mr Horan - who hopes to start working as an intern at University Hospital Limerick in July - pointed out that today's interns are the surgeons in a decade's time, with many not from the European Union. "If you lose much of these Irish trained, but non-EU students, you'll lose them forever. It's something we as a health service and country cannot afford to do," he added. Nationally, there will be around 350 fewer intern doctors working in the public health service. It was when this emerged that this campaign began, with a number of interns linking up through social media. Thousands of people have already signed the petition calling on Mr Donnelly to retain the intern doctors. It can be found online here. In a recent article, state Attorneys General Eric Schmitt, Chris Carr, and Steve Marshall (of Missouri, Georgia, and Alabama) rallied the American public to reject the lefts radical idea to pack the Supreme Court. Court packing, they argued, will destroy the rule of law in America. They are 100% correct. The public must stop such a politically motivated miscarriage of justice. Court packing means that Congress and the president create additional seats on the Supreme Court with the aim to fill those new seats with justices whom they believe will vote the right way. Court packing rests on the cynical view that justices are policymakers who rule according to their politics rather than the law. Radical progressives seethe that they have not captured the Supreme Court. And so they seek to increase the courts size from nine to 13. By adding four more justices, they can change the court from a so-called 6-3 conservative majority into a 7-6 liberal majority. That option is what President Biden will soon form a commission to consider. We should all be alarmed by this sweeping power grab. As Schmitt, Carr, and Marshall argue, court packing and its consequences will destroy the rule of law in America. I have written elsewhere that court packing will subordinate every citizens constitutional rights to the fickle mercy of politicians. The fluctuation in size will lead to unstable legal doctrine. Just as new presidential administrations undo the policies of their predecessors, a new bloc of justices surely will seek to undo existing law. After all, thats the point of court packing. In concrete terms, this means that free speech rights will vacillate based on whether woke social justice advocates hold a majority on the court. Religious and educational liberties too. Property rights, civil rights, and victims rights all will ebb and flow based on the courts new majoritarian impulses. We enjoy a written constitution precisely to avoid such mobocracy. As Schmitt, Carr, and Marshall put it: We dont need the Supreme Court to be turned into a political institution, with its justices acting as politicians in robes, deciding cases based on their politics instead of the words of a statute or the Constitution. The courts perceived legitimacy will suffer if Democrats pack it. A recent poll showed that 65% of Americans believe the Supreme Court has the right amount of power. The responses were nearly identical among conservatives and liberals. Imagine what those numbers will look like if politicians pack the court. Likewise, the reasonably strong support the court enjoys today (53% overall approval rating) will nosedive after court packing. So long, judicial independence. So long, legal stability. And so long to the rule of law. Not only are the long-term effects dangerous to the rule of law, but the claims being made to support court packing are flat out wrong. Those making them should be ashamed. Consider former American Constitution Society president Caroline Fredrickson. She reportedly once justified court packing by asserting: the Supreme Court is not defined as a nine person body in the Constitution, and it has changed size many times. While Frederickson is correct that the Constitution does not require a court of nine, she is absolutely wrong to say that it has changed size many times. Over the Constitutions 233-year history, Congress and the president changed the courts size only seven times. Seven changes over 233 years. Thats a yearly average of 0.03. For context, a 0.03 probability is the same likelihood as getting a perfect SAT score. Its also roughly the same probability as getting a four-of-a-kind in five-card poker. That hardly happens many times. The claim is false. Moreover, the last time Congress and the president altered the size of the court was 1869. It has remained at nine for over 150 years. A court of nine has become a norm whose violation requires serious justification. Such justification does not now exist. Others have justified court packing on the grounds that a conservative Supreme Court needs to be reined in. But that claim is a fairy tale. As the Figure below shows, the Supreme Court in recent years has been one of moderation. Attorneys General Schmitt, Carr, and Marshall are correct when they say, Democrats are attempting to obscure historical facts for political gain. The lefts radical and wrongly justified attempts to pack the court will destroy the rule of law. The ending of the Britains lockdown is witnessing the most open embrace of herd immunity in ruling circles since the pandemic began. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lifting of restrictions on February 22 while admitting this would mean more infections, more hospitalisations more deaths. Johnson and scientists close to the government have since spelled out the grisly details. Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty speaking during a Covid-19 press conference in Downing Street (Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street-FlickR account) Speaking to the House of Commons science and technology committee Tuesday, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said a new surge of the virus was inevitable: All the modelling suggests there is going to be a further surge that will find people either that have not been vaccinated, or where the vaccine has not worked, and some of them will end up in hospital and sadly some of them will go on to die, and that is the reality of where we are. The day before, Professor Calum Semple, of the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), told BBC Breakfast that the reopening of schools meant it was inevitable that we will see a rise in cases of COVID-19. Johnson himself wrote in the Daily Telegraph Wednesday, We can see the signs of a surge of Covid among some of our European friends, and we remember how we in the UK have tended to follow that upwards curve, if a few weeks later Mondays successful return to school will inevitably add to the budget of risk. In defence of this criminal policy, the Conservative government and its supporters have launched a relentless propaganda campaign insisting that the population must learn to live with the virus. On February 12, Health Secretary Matt Hancock gave an interview to the Telegraph titled, We hope to live with Covid like flu by end of the year. This line was endorsed by the BBCs health correspondent Nick Triggle who wrote the same day, This is simply about being realistic. Covid isnt something that can be eradicated like smallpox was Thousands will still die in winters to come. But each year this should lessen until it gets near to the levels of mortality we see with flusomething which society readily accepts. Triggle followed this comment with an article on February 16, Why goal is to live with the virusnot fight it. Speaking alongside Whitty at the Commons science and technology committee Tuesday, Chief Scientific Officer Sir Patrick Vallance was explicit: I do not think that zero Covid is possible. I think theres nothing to suggest that this virus will go away, at least any time soon. Its going to be there, circulating. It may be a winter virus that comes back over winters with increasing infection rates during that period. SAGE member Andrew Hayward told Times Radio Wednesday that the UK would be talking in the tens of thousands of deaths, and hopefully in the low tens of thousands of deaths. And that sounds terrible. But actually, thats not so dissimilar to what we put up with every year for flu and other respiratory infections. And so, I think, as a society, we need to really think what trade-offs were willing to make in terms of restrictions. These ghoulish arguments are an endorsement of another terrible wave of infections and death. By its own admission, the governments reopening policy means at least multiple tens of thousands more fatalities in the next year. The most cited number in the media is 30,000 by summer 2022. But this is a minimum figure based on the most optimistic set of assumptions modelled, according to the researchers involved. In early February, scientists from Imperial College London, together with the University of Warwick, presented a range of modelled reopening scenarios to SAGE. The scenario closest to that set out in the governments roadmap (the government reopens faster) predicted between 33,200 and 81,200 COVID-19 deaths between February 12 and June 30, 2022. Much worse can happen, according to the modelling. If infection rates are higher than expected once lockdown measures are lifteddue to ineffective test, trace and isolate systems, for examplethen the range of predicted deaths is between 58,900 and 143,400. The coming death toll could exceed the two waves of COVID-19 already suffered. By comparison, flu kills roughly 12,000 people a year in England and Wales on average. Hundreds of thousands more people will also be struck down with the debilitating effects of long COVID. Disease will fall overwhelmingly on the poorest sections of society. Infection rates remain higher in more deprived regions, thanks to crowded, sub-standard accommodation, a growing number of people unable to work from home, and lower vaccine take-up rates. There is nothing inevitable about any of this. A disaster is being prepared even as multiple highly effective vaccines are deployed, creating the potential, in a rationally organised global society, for the suppression of the virus to extremely low levels. The ruling class does not view vaccines primarily as a tool to save lives, but as a means of enforcing its back-to-work strategy. Johnson hopes that partial vaccination will keep a lid on daily hospital admissions, removing the threat of a complete collapse of the National Health Service, while allowing the infection rate to rise. The deaths along the way of those left unprotected will be written off as the necessary costs of a return to normality, doing business and accumulating profits. Under these conditions more dangerous variants of the virus will be allowed to develop. A study published in the British Medical Journal Wednesday found that the UK variant, already dominant, is between 30 and 100 percent more deadly than previous strains. It was already known to be 40 to 70 percent more transmissible. In addition to the UK variant, the UK is currently monitoring three other variants of concernthe South African, Brazilian and Manausand four variants under investigation. The serious risk is that the virus will develop mutations that helps it evade current vaccines, producing another huge surge of the pandemic. Allowing the number of infections to rise rapidly while placing the virus under selective pressure through vaccination is the perfect recipe for this deadly outcome. Whitty and Vallance, et al., have made a deal with the devil. When they speak of trade-offs they are rationalising the deadly consequences of putting profits before lives. The reopening is taking place so quickly to satisfy the demands of big business and the competitive needs of British capital against its international rivals. This was the governments intended policy, signed-off on by its advisers, since the beginning of the pandemic. The first comments made by Johnson, Whitty and Vallance last March were about the need to prepare for large numbers of deathswith Vallance promoting herd immunity explicitly. Now the same arguments are made from atop a mountain of corpses. Only resistance in the working class forced three lockdowns in the last year. In declaring for the irreversible end of the last lockdown, Johnson is seeking to ram the programme of herd immunity down peoples throats, rebranded as learning to live with the virus. This will provoke widespread opposition in the working class. Telegraph columnist Ross Clark asked nervously last month, Matt Hancock may be ready to live with the virusbut is Britain?, warning that over the last year, Death has become less tolerable. Opposing the policy of herd immunity requires a socialist political programme. The basic desire of workers to save lives at the expense of capitalist profits necessitates effective lockdowns until the virus is under control, allowing vaccination programmes to be safely completed. Workers and their families must receive full income and social support, including quality online education, paid for out of the fortunes of the billionaire pandemic profiteers. The fight for this programme, led by the Socialist Equality Party, demands the formation of rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the trade unions and the Labour Partywho have done nothing but support the governmentthe unification of workers across Europe and internationally, and the organisation of a political general strike against governments who continue to preside over a preventable bloodbath. Ghosh alleged the TMC supremo resorted to theatrics knowingly as she has realised she will lose in the hot seat of the Assembly election Ghosh said that he heard that her car driver hit a roadside post and demanded a CBI probe into her allegation to unravel what actually happened. PTI file photo Kolkata: West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Thursday mocked chief minister Mamata Banerjees high voltage claim of an attack by a group of men on her in the absence of the police in Nandigram as Nachte Na Janle Uthon Banka (A bad carpenter quarrels with his tools). Those who always made a drama of everything are not trusted by anyone. There is beautiful proverb in Bengali. It says Nachte Na Janle Uthon Banka. There were so many media! But no one could find her being attacked by so many men who also managed to flee. It is a matter of concern since she is a Z-plus category protectee. Does that mean the police and administration have become worthless? he asked. Mr Ghosh also alleged the TMC supremo resorted to theatrics knowingly as she has realised she will lose in the hot seat of the Assembly election. Anyone can lie down, to stoke public sentiments, wearing a bandage on the leg. But it will not help someone to get votes in the election, the Midnapore MP added. According to the state BJP chief: I heard that her car driver hit a roadside post. There should be a CBI probe into her allegation to unravel what actually happened. At least Ms Banerjee should allow that inquiry to happen for her own satisfaction. The truth will be out only then. He also bantered with the TMC chief and said: We want her to get fit fast. We know when someone visit a place of devotion, he or she stays well. But we do not know why it is happening the other way round. It was just a drama. More dangerous things will happen later to win the polls as those who are trailing can do anything. The people as well as the administration should stay alert. Study marks the first time this complex has been visualized for human cells For the first time ever, a Northwestern University-led research team has peered inside a human cell to view a multi-subunit machine responsible for regulating gene expression. Called the Mediator-bound pre-initiation complex (Med-PIC), the structure is a key player in determining which genes are activated and which are suppressed. Mediator helps position the rest of the complex -- RNA polymerase II and the general transcription factors -- at the beginning of genes that the cell wants to transcribe. The researchers visualized the complex in high resolution using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), enabling them to better understand how it works. Because this complex plays a role in many diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, HIV and metabolic disorders, researchers' new understanding of its structure could potentially be leveraged to treat disease. "This machine is so basic to every branch of modern molecular biology in the context of gene expression," said Northwestern's Yuan He, senior author of the study. "Visualizing the structure in 3D will help us answer basic biological questions, such as how DNA is copied to RNA." "Seeing this structure allows us to understand how it works," added Ryan Abdella, the paper's co-first author. "It's like taking apart a common household appliance to see how everything fits together. Now we can understand how the proteins in the complex come together to perform their function." The study will be published March 11 in the journal Science. This marks the first time the human Mediator complex has been visualized in 3D in the human cell. He is an assistant professor of molecular biosciences in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Abdella and Anna Talyzina, both graduate students in the He lab, are co-first authors of the paper. Famed biochemist Roger Kornberg discovered the Mediator complex in yeast in 1990, a project for which he won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. But Mediator comprises a daunting 26 subunits -- 56 total when combined with the pre-initiation complex -- it's taken researchers until now to obtain high-resolution images of the human version. "It's a technically quite challenging project," He said. "These complexes are scarce. It takes hundreds of liters of human cells, which are very hard to grow, to obtain small amounts of the protein complexes." A breakthrough came when He's team put the sample on a single layer of graphene oxide. By providing this support, the graphene sheet minimized the amount of sample needed for imaging. And compared to the typical support used -- amorphous carbon -- graphene improved the signal-to-noise ratio for higher-resolution imaging. After preparing the sample, the team used cryo-EM, a relatively new technique that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, to determine the 3D shape of proteins, which are often thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. The technique works by blasting a stream of electrons at a flash-frozen sample to take many 2D images. For this study, He's team captured hundreds of thousands of images of the Med-PIC complex. They then used computational methods to reconstruct a 3D image. "Solving this complex was like assembling a puzzle," Talyzina said. "Some of those subunits were already known from other experiments, but we had no idea how the pieces assembled together or interacted with each other. With our final structure, we were finally able to see this whole complex and understand its organization." The resulting image shows the Med-PIC complex as a flat, elongated structure, measuring 45 nanometers in length. The researchers also were surprised to discover that the Mediator moves relative to the rest of the complex, binding to RNA polymerase II at a hinge point. "Mediator moves like a pendulum," Abdella said. "Next, we want to understand what this flexibility means. We think it might have an impact on the activity of a key enzyme within the complex." ### The paper, "Structure of the human Mediator-bound transcription pre-initiation complex," was supported by Northwestern's Chemistry of Life Sciences Institute, the Chicago Biomedical Consortium with support from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, the American Cancer Society (award number IRG-15-173-21), the H Foundation (award number U54-CA193419) and the National Institutes of Health (award numbers R01-GM135651 and P01-CA092584). .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A man was killed and three others were injured when suspects opened fire on a crowded SUV early Thursday morning in Chamita, a community 7 miles north of Espanola. State Police spokesman Mark Soriano said police have detained six people after a standoff at a nearby home. He couldnt give a condition on the three people who were injured in the shooting. Soriano said that around midnight authorities responded to a shots fired call on County Road 56 near House 89A. He said police found several people, four with gunshot wounds, who had been fired upon in an SUV on the property. Soriano said a woman and two men were taken to the hospital and another man was found dead inside the SUV. He said police learned the SUV had pulled into the property and people inside the house told them to leave before shooting at the SUV. Soriano said the driver of the SUV drove through a fence and stopped on a neighbors property. Then, he said, a bald man walked out of the house toward the SUV and asked do you want some more? ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ He said when police tried to talk to those inside the house a standoff ensued with tactical officers and negotiators. Eventually, six people in the home surrendered peacefully. This investigation is active and is being led by the New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau, Soriano said. The apex child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the streaming platform Netflix to stop streaming their recent release Bombay Begums, saying the portrayal of children in the web series is inappropriate. NCPCR reportedly sent a notice to Netflix on Thursday (March 11) asking that Netflix furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours. The notice also said that NCPCR will initiate appropriate legal action against the platform if the content is not taken down. According to reports, the NCPCR took action based on a complaint that Bombay Begums normalises minors indulging in casual sex and drug abuse. The commission has expressed objection to the alleged inappropriate portrayal of children and claimed that "this type of content will not only pollute the young minds but may also result in abuse and exploitation of children." "Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content in respect of the children or for the children and shall also refrain themselves from getting into such things," the commission said in its notice. "Therefore, you are directed to look into this matter and immediately stop streaming of this series and furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which the Commission will be constrained to initiate appropriate action pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of the CPCR (Commission for Protection of Child Rights) Act, 2005," the commission added. Bombay Begums directed by Alankrita Shrivastava follows five women from different sections of society who all want different things in life. The show stars Pooja Bhatt, Shahana Goswami, Plabita Borthakur, Amruta Subhash and Aadhya Anand in lead roles. Netflix describes the show as, "From boardrooms to society's margins, five ambitious women from various walks of life navigate dreams, desires and disappointments in modern Mumbai." ALSO READ: Bombay Begums Web Series Review: Alankrita Shrivastava-Pooja Bhatt's Show Celebrates A Blend Of Real Women ALSO READ: Pooja Bhatt Reacts To Facing Gender Bias, Says People Tried To Curtail Her To Behave In A Certain Way The government has helped invest 74m into a new virtual agri-tech hub to improve the efficiency and output of agricultural technology. The Easter Bush AgriTech Hub will be centred at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies Easter Bush Campus Europes largest concentration of animal science research expertise. The virtual centre will foster collaboration between researchers and companies to advance food production, work with new tech and move toward net zero goals. Experts will use data to develop genetics and health innovations for agricultural science and business, and to build initiatives and novel systems of production, such as robotics. Work in innovative areas, such as data-driven breeding and aquaculture, will enable data generation and analysis that will improve the agriculture industry worldwide. Investment comprised 27 million from the UK government, including 1.3 million from the Scottish government, as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. Professor Bruce Whitelaw, Interim Director at Roslin Institute, said the new hub was a very exciting time for agri-science. "The City Region Deal will drive an innovation pipeline nucleated from Easter Bush campus in Midlothian, with reach both across our country and internationally." Iain Stewart, UK Government Minister for Scotland, added: "The Easter Bush Agritech Hub will be a great boost to Scotlands world-leading agri-food and drink industries, promoting cutting-edge innovation and sustainability. "This new facility will attract new businesses and jobs and help us to build back better for Midlothian communities." Quad leaders will meet with Joe Biden to discuss the threat of Chinese growing aggression in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad's discussions will set the pace for all members, but most notable is Donald Trump, who steered the US as the leader. Quad Leaders Discuss Security Problems in China with Biden One of the first meetings Biden will have with the Quad deals with ex-president Trump who worked with US partners to counter China. One of the issues that Australia, Japan, and India have to reckon with is how Biden will continue Trump's legacy. On Friday, President Biden will hold a virtual meet with the Quad members from Japan, India, and Australia, said a White House representative last Tuesday. It will be the first meeting of Quad member nations during the Biden administration to discuss the Indo-Pacific issues. Another top item on their agenda is the aggressive CCP pushing China's economic interest in the South China Sea, reported NTD. According to White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the Quad members' meeting is a relevant demonstration of Biden's commitment to Quad allies. His predecessor had shown initiative in pushing back China. The US Navy was repeatedly alone until the Quad was actively involved in naval drills in the South China Sea waters. All the Quad Leaders agreed with then-president Trump is demonstrating to China it cannot get away with its malign activity. One example is aggression toward Asian neighbors who cannot stand up against China. One example is the sinking of a Vietnamese and Philippine fishing boat by the Chinese. China denied having caused the sinking despite first-hand accounts by the victims. Also read: India-Japan Naval Exercises Ramp up Push Back Against Chinese Navy. Psaki said that China is accused of having a hand in creating and spreading COVID 19, and even economic concerns and the climate crisis. One contrast from the Biden administration is the former administration was intent on engaging the Chinese. According to a senior Biden administration member, who told Reuters the following statement, a Quad meeting says a lot to the CCP how united members are in the Quad. The meeting will establish the Quad as part of the diplomatic activities in the Indo-Pacific. One of the points discussed in the meetings will be financing agreements to add more COVID-19 vaccines in India. Fear exists that China uses vaccines for the virus as leverage in dealing with countries who need it. Vaccine diplomacy will be the CCP's ace as it allegedly created the virus. According to the official, more COVID vaccines must be made available. They will be distributed in Southeast Asian countries. All partners in the Indo-Pacific should have a closer relationship with the CCP getting more daring in the East and South China seas. The Quad must have the necessary unity to work together. The White House official said it would be a two-hour conference that will lead to face-to-face this year. It's no secret that Quad leaders from Japan and India have been challenged by the CCP seriously. Biden's challenge is to lead as Trump, and his lieutenants did. Related article: Japan's Dispute Over Chinese Ships in the East China Sea Near Senkakus Will Get U.S. Support @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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. He died at 4 a.m. and by 7 a.m., she was on a ventilator; neither made it, she said. There doesnt seem to be a rhyme or reason as to why some people are more susceptible than others. Ive seen a lot of people aged between 40 and 50 hit hard. One of our own nurses, who is in her 30s, had a 105-degree fever for three and a half weeks. Lights up even earlier! WhatsOnStage can confirm that In the Heights will have its UK and Ireland premiere earlier than expected which definitely feels like cause for a "carnaval". Previously expected on 30 July, one month after its premiere in the USA on 18 June 2021 (after having its 2020 plans disrupted by the pandemic), the musical will now arrive on UK and Irish shores on 25 June 2021. What's more the show will be unveiling a new trailer over the weekend so there's plenty of In the Heights to be hyped about. We'll be releasing these new bits and pieces as they arrive. The film is set to be released via HBO Max and in cinemas simultaneously in the US, though there are not currently any streaming plans for the UK release. Jon M Chu's film, based on Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes's musical of the same name, tells the story of a Hispanic-American community threatened by gentrification. The film stars Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Dascha Polanco, Stephanie Beatriz, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera and more, with Lin-Manuel Miranda also appearing as Piraguero. It has a screenplay by Quiara Alegria Hudes (who also wrote the original book). After running on Broadway from 2008 to 2011, the piece had its UK premiere at Southwark Playhouse in 2014 before transferring to the King's Cross Theatre, where it ran from 2015 to 2017 and won three Olivier Awards. Miranda also confirmed earlier this year that a new song will be added to the final version. Watch the first trailer here: We continue to face challenges with COVID and people being able to teach and learn while in the middle of it, she said. Im in higher education myself and feel like there are many of the same issues and were still in it. We need to continue to advocate for the staff and be open to technology and teaching online and we need the necessary technology tools to do that from home students still dont have adequate access. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Nicola Gilio (pictured) will be awarded the Stanhope Gold Medal at NSW Parliament House on Friday A hero mechanic who was stabbed while saving a young girl from an ice addict rapist in the toilets of a dance studio is set to receive a bravery award for his actions. Nicola Gilio will be awarded the Stanhope Gold Medal at NSW Parliament House on Friday after being nominated by the UK-based Royal Humane Society, news.com.au reported. The award recognises Mr Gilio's bravery after fighting with rapist Anthony Sampieri who was found guilty of raping the seven-year-old girl inside the bathroom of a dance studio in Kogarah, in Sydney's south in November 2018. Sampieri, who was on parole at the time of the disgusting attack, was looking for a place to shoot up cocaine and walked into the dance studio bathroom. The girl had been waiting with her mother in the carpark for her sister's class to finish when she returned to the hall to use the bathroom. There she was confronted by Sampieri who had been watching porn for the past hour and dragged her into the cubicle. The seven-year-old resisted and pushed Sampieri before he punched her in the face, threatened her with a knife and tied a cord around her neck. Rapist Anthony Sampieri (pictured) was found guilty of raping a seven-year-old girl inside the bathroom of a dance studio in Kogarah, in Sydney's south in November 2018 Sampieri was last year sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to 10 charges including three counts of sexual intercourse with a child (pictured: the dance studio) Sampieri raped the girl in the bathroom (pictured) of a Kogarah dance studio in November 2018 Maintaining a grip of the cord, he then sexually assaulted her before stuffing toilet paper into her mouth, binding her hands and leaving the cubicle. Mr Gilio was with the girl's mother searching frantically for the missing child when they encountered Sampieri walking out of the bathroom. They asked if they had seen a young girl to which he said no and continued walking off. The mother walked into the bathroom and her shriek alerted the other parents who ran in and saw the girl tied up. Mr Gilio grabbed Sampieri, slamming his head into the wall. Police are seen coming to the aid of Mr Gilio after he was stabbed by Sampieri when he came to the girl's aid Jeffrey Stack, a former boxer, knocked Sampieri unconscious after he was found in the bathroom with the small girl After grappling with Sampieri, Mr Gilio suffered large cuts but put the rapist in a headlock before dentist Jeffrey Stack ran in and knocked out Sampieri. Stack had rushed to the bathroom after hearing the screams, where he found Sampieri attempting to free himself from the headlock by biting Mr Gilio. Mr Stack then punched Sampieri hard in the face, knocking him out. Mr Stack will also receive a bronze bravery medal from the Royal Humane Society of NSW. Sampieri was last year sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to 10 charges including three counts of sexual intercourse with a child. He has since launched an appeal against his sentence in the Supreme Court. Lucknow: The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court has ordered to put a stop to the reservation and allocation process in the UP Panchayat Election. In this regard, orders have been sent to all the District Magistrate's, the court also reprimanded the Uttar Pradesh government over the reservation process. Uttar Pradesh government will file its reply on Monday during the next hearing. The Bench of Justices Ritu Raj Awasthi and Manish Mathur passed the order on the PIL moved by Ajai Kumar. The court directed the government and commission to furnish their response on the issue and fixed March 15 as the next date of hearing. Notably, the reservation list was to be published on March 17, but it is being told that the reservation process of 2015 has not been followed this time. Also, all the District Magistrates have been ordered not to finalise the reservation and allotment proceedings for the Panchayat General Election-2021 till further orders. Around 750 objections have been lodged in Basti district on a total of 2268 seats. The candidates have accused the administration of issuing an erroraneous list on a large scale. After which the District Collector ordered to form a team to investigate these complaints. A total of 1185 seats have been created for the village head in Basti district, in which 622 candidates have filed complaints. At the same time 1040 posts have been created for Kshetra Panchayat Member (BDC) and 43 posts for Zilla Panchayat Member. Out of this, objection has been rasied on 99 seats in Kshetra Panchayat and 29 seats of Zilla Panchayat member. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. The Ontario Superior Court building is seen in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. A senior provincial employee alleged to have embezzled at least $11 million in COVID-19 relief money is now arguing the Ontario government is to blame for any losses it suffered. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 10:50:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged a concerted effort worldwide to end conflict. "I urge all states to make ending conflict, not simply mitigating its impact, a key foreign policy priority," the UN chief told the Security Council open debate via videoconference on conflict and food security. "I call on council members to use your privileged position to do everything in your power to end violence, negotiate peace, and alleviate the hunger and suffering that afflict so many millions of people around the world," said Guterres. "There is no place for famine and starvation in the 21st century." On the widespread famine, the UN chief said, "we face multiple conflict-driven famines around the world." "Climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic are adding fuel to the flames," he said. "Without immediate action, millions of people will reach the brink of extreme hunger and death." Talking about the most serious concern in relation to food security, Guterres said that it "must be the more than 34 million people who already face emergency levels of acute food insecurity." The secretary-general also stressed that that humanitarian access must be unimpeded, and starvation of civilians as a method of war must be prohibited. "Sadly, we have many recent examples of the use of starvation as a war tactic," he said. He urged the members of the Security Council "to take maximum action to seek accountability for these atrocious acts, and to remind parties (related) to conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law." The UN chief called on the global community to transform the food systems to make them more inclusive, resilient and sustainable. Enditem [March 12, 2021] Research Presentations at the 2021 Annual AAAAI Meeting Highlight Limitations of Current Food Allergy Treatments and Further Validates Intrommune Therapeutics' Approach NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The clinical and scientific team of Intrommune Therapeutics, a New York-based clinical stage biotechnology company developing patient-friendly treatments for peanut and other food allergies, participated in the virtual 2021 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) on February 26 - March 1. A number of notable AAAAI oral presentations, abstracts, and posters lend clinical validation to Intrommunes food allergy treatment platform, while others underscore the persistent need for additional treatment options. Edwin Kim, MD, UNC Chapel Hill, presented findings from his groups investigational study1 of peanut allergic toddlers (1-4 yrs) with Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT), which is the daily placement under the tongue of liquid drops containing peanut protein. After a period of gradually increasing doses, children were treated with 4mg per day of liquid peanut protein for a total of 3 years. Treated subjects increased the threshold of peanut protein they could safely consume by over 30-fold (median of 4443 mg protein tolerated after treatment). Moreover, there was no need for epinephrine use with SLIT in this study. These results suggest that targeting the oral mucosa with SLIT is at least on par with previous studies of daily ingestion of powder peanut protein, an approach known as oral immunotherapy (OIT), while utilizing a lower, safer dosing protocol. This important SLIT study demonstrates the high efficacy and safety that can be attained by targeting the oral cavity of food allergic toddlers when compared to oral immunotherapy. Similar to SLIT, Intrommunes Oral Mucosal Immunotherapy (OMIT) toothpaste platform, INT301, targets only the tissues of the oral cavity. OMIT also avoids ingestion of peanut protein as the OMIT toothpaste is spit out after use which is expected to mitigate the side effects seen with OIT ingestion. A poster presented at the meeting by Sara Patrawala, MD and colleagues from University of Rochester Medical Center, demonstrated the adoption difficulties of Palforzia (Nestle Health Science), the only currently FDA-approved treatment for peanut allergy2. This OIT-based product was approved last year for children and adolescents suffering peanut allergy. The presentation collected information on 131 peanut allergy patients who were offered the treatment in their clinic. Eightytwo percent of those patients declined the therapy while only eleven pursued it. The most common reasons to decline were concerns over side effects and time commitment required for therapy. The dosage protocol for this product necessitates at least 12 physician visits over 6 months to reach maintenance dosing. An initial dose escalation is required on the first day of treatment requiring several hours in the physician's office. Adverse events and the time and logistical commitments for OIT have been cited as potential hurdles, particularly considering childrens school schedules and work demands of the parents. The limited adoption observed by Patrawala and colleagues is an indicator of these features, and underscore the persistent unmet need among these patients for additional therapies that have safer and more convenient profiles. Intrommunes OMIT platform is expected to reach maintenance dosing within 2-4 months, with no extended dosing schedule on the first day of treatment. AAAAI presentations help elucidate why peanut OIT treatments have not been well accepted. There is a need for new, convenient, safer and efficacious modalities, such as OMIT, capable of substantively mitigating the risk of adverse events and use of epinephrine as seen with OIT, said Abhit Singh MD, VP Medical Affairs, Intrommune Therapeutics. About Oral Mucosal Immunotherapy Oral mucosal immunotherapy (OMIT) using a specially formulated toothpaste stabilizes and delivers allergenic proteins to immunologically active areas of the oral cavity with the greatest potential for allergy desensitization. Success with allergy immunotherapy hinges on consistent exposure of a patients immune system to gradually desensitize the patient to the specific allergy trigger over time. OMIT delivered while a person brushes their teeth promises advantages over other approaches to allergy immunotherapy due to its targeted delivery, simplified administration, and support of reliable, long-term adherence. About Intrommune Therapeutics Intrommune, dedicated to improving and protecting the lives of people with food allergy, is developing the revolutionary oral mucosal immunotherapy (OMIT) treatment platform for food allergies. OMIT is a long-term, patient-friendly, disease-modifying solution for the 220 million people, including approximately 32 million in the U.S., who suffer from life-altering food allergies. Intrommunes lead product, INT301, is expected to be a safe, effective and convenient therapy for patients who suffer from peanut allergy. For more information on Intrommune Therapeutics, please visit https://intrommune.com Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements This release may contain "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are identified by certain words or phrases such as "may," "will," "aim," "will likely result," "believe," "expect," "will continue," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "contemplate," "seek to," "future," "objective," "goal," "project," "should," "will pursue" and similar expressions or variations of such expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect the company's current expectations about its future plans and performance. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions and estimates which could be inaccurate and which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could vary materially from those anticipated or expressed in any forward-looking statement made by the company. The company disclaims any obligation or intent to update the forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. This release does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. John F. Kouten JFK Communications, Inc. 609-241-7352 jfkouten@jfkhealth.com References: 1. Safety and efficacy of peanut sublingual immunotherapy in toddler-aged peanut-allergic children: Edwin Kim, MD MS FAAAAI, Univ. of North Carolina SOM, Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, JACI, February 2021 Vol. 147 No. 2, 2807 L2. 2. Patrawala, S. (2021, February). Real World Adoption of FDA approved Peanut Oral Immunotherapy with Palforzia. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the AAAAI. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Your kind words, messages of support and help on the picket line will never be forgotten, Lundmark said. Because of you, we will be able to continue to provide an outstanding education to the students of Bourbonnais for years to come. The nonprofit Community Labs will provide free COVID-19 screenings this weekend to students in several school districts to help ensure a safe return to classrooms after this weeks spring break. Students families also may get tested. The screenings are free and dont require proof of health insurance. The highly sensitive and self-administered tests yield results in less than 24 hours. The COVID-19 tests will be done Saturday at two locations in Southside Independent School District from 7 to 9 a.m. at Pearce Elementary, 19190 U.S. 281 South, and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Southside ISD District Office at Losoya Middle School, 1610 Martinez Losoya Road. Tests also will be done from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Southwest ISDs Christa McAuliffe Middle School at 9390 SW Loop 410. On Sunday, Community Labs will offer COVID-19 tests to students from 1 to 3 p.m. at Judson ISDs Educational Resource Center, 8205 Palisades Drive, in Live Oak. On ExpressNews.com: When and where Texans can get the COVID vaccine This testing strategy identifies coronavirus-infected patients quickly, which allows them to quarantine while letting others return safely to school and work. Community Labs has performed more than 400,000 COVID tests in its first six months of operation, making it the largest provider of such testing in the San Antonio market. The nonprofit provides free COVID-19 tests at more than 250 schools and university campuses, as well as four sites open to the public. Its also served more than 30 private businesses. Anyone not showing COVID-19 symptoms may still get tested at any of the four public sites Barshop Jewish Community Center, 12500 NW Military Highway; Rackspace Technology Headquarters, 1 Fantatical Place; Cuellar Community Center, 5626 San Fernando St.; and Ramirez Community Center, 1011 Gillette Blvd. Hours of operation can be found online at communitylabs.org/community-labs-free-covid-19-screening. Community Labs, which was established last June and began testing people in September, can process up to 16,000 tests each day. pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Astronauts never travel to space alone. Each person voyaging off-world is accompanied by up to 100 trillion bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms, any number of which could jeopardize human health. Yet we are still mostly in the dark about how these communities of microscopic hitchhikers react to microgravity. We do not even know the full spectrum of spacefaring species living onboard the International Space Station (ISS). New studies, however, are designed to change that. Last month astronauts collected samples from across the interior of the ISS to build an unprecedented three-dimensional map of its microbiome. This effort at a space-based microbial census is the first step toward understanding, preventing and mitigating dangerous outbreakswhether they arise onboard the station, during long-duration flights toward Mars or even back home in hospitals. We are constantly overrun by microbes. From the bacteria lining our guts to the too-small-to-see mites living at the base of our eyelashes, it is estimated that there are at least as many microbes on and within us as there are human cells. You can think of people as walking ecosystems, says Pieter Dorrestein, a chemical biologist at University of California, San Diego. Most of these minuscule creatures are actually essential and have such far-reaching impacts on our healthaffecting our immunity, our heart and perhaps even our mental healththat scientists often refer to the microbiome as an invisible organ. In fact, the microbial multitudes within us are so numerous that their total mass can add up to roughly the weight of our brain. Gallery: A glimpse of Mars from NASA's Perseverance rover It might not come as a surprise, then, that understanding how the microbiome behaves during spaceflight is crucial if we want to send astronauts on long-term missions to Mars and beyond. But scientists are not only worried about the human microbiomethey are also worried about the spacecrafts microbiome. Take the Russian space station Mir as an example. In 1998about three years before the station deorbited into the Pacific Oceanscientists discovered several dozen species of bacteria, fungi and dust mites hiding behind a service panel. I never pictured an inanimate objecta machine that works beautifully like the stationas having a microbiome similar to someone whos alive, like a human, says Serena M. Aunon-Chancellor, who is both a physician and a NASA astronaut. Yet, counter to the notion of space as a sterile, inert environment, any spacecraft will inevitably host an assortment of microbes in numbers sufficient to make any astronauts skin crawl. A spacecrafts microbiome could prove hazardous to the health of the astronauts. Can you imagine youre on a long flight and all of the sudden you start to get, lets say, a flesh-eating bacterium, and you cant get rid of it? Dorrestein says. Those are the kinds of consequences that could materialize. It is not a crazy idea. In 2006 a team of scientists sent a culture of salmonella bacteria for an 11-day ride on the space shuttle Atlantis only to find that once the microbes returned to Earth, they more easily killed mice. Bacteria that have slipped Earths surly bonds can also become more resistant to antibioticsa recipe for disaster, given the fact that long-duration spaceflight tends to weaken astronauts immune systems. The new project launched by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and U.C. San Diego could help mitigate the microbial threat. In February astronaut Kate Rubins swabbed 1,000 different locations throughout the ISS. That is about 100 times greater than the number of swabs in typical microbial tracking studies, which usually focus on the most suspect parts of a living space such as kitchens, bathrooms and exercise areas. The samples will be placed in cold storage and, in a few months, sent back to Earth, where scientists will analyze their genetic signatures and name the various microbes to build a three-dimensional map of the ISSs full microbiome. Moreover, each swab will capture trace molecules from food, oils, skin, and more. That prospect particularly excites Dorrestein, who is working on the project. Scientists currently know very little about what kinds of molecules are present on the ISS that nourish the growth of different microbial communities there. The new map will help them link specific molecules or nutrients to specific microbes. With that connection, scientists can craft guidelines to promote the growth of beneficial microbes and reduce the dangerous onesthrough nutrients alone. That might be as simple as utilizing specific construction materials on a spacecraft to Mars. All of this suggests the problem of a sick spacecraft could be partially solved before it even reaches the launchpad. But Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a microbiologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and principal investigator of the project, is most excited about the protective measures that could take place in transit. Although the current samples are being sent back to Earth, he notes that astronauts will need to cut out that middleman on future missions. When we go all the way to other planets, you dont have a FedEx to send the samples back, Venkateswaran says. Although scientists do have the capability to perform genomic analysis onboard the ISS, the process is not particularly speedy, and in the event of a dangerous outbreak, every moment may count (just think about how long it often takes to get results back from a PCR test for COVID-19). You want to make sure you can stay on top of thatas were all too aware these days of how some little bug can kind of mess up your world, says David Klaus, a space microbiologist at the University of Colorado Boulder. To combat that issue, the swabs Rubin used in the station-sweeping assay are double-headed. One tip collects microbes for simple detection whereas the other intends to capture their metabolitesthe microorganisms natural chemical by-products. Once Venkateswaran and his colleagues have created a database linking specific microbes with certain metabolites, they can build small biosensors that look for just the metabolites. Picture a handheld device that could diagnose the presence of bacteria or fungi on the spacecraft and alert astronauts of an outbreak immediatelysimilar to a carbon monoxide detector. A notification from such a system (which Venkateswaran suspects will take another five to 10 years to become a reality) would spark immediate actionas astronauts would intensify their cleaning protocols to prevent the an onboard outbreak. This will make for a better maintenance of tomorrows habitat, Venkateswaran says. Astronauts onboard the ISS already work hard to keep the microbiome population under control. Every week they vacuum the vents and wipe down surfaces with disinfecting wipes. Aunon-Chancellor estimates that when she was in orbit, each of the crews six astronauts spent roughly three hours a week cleaning. That is 18 hours each week for the ISSs total habitable volume of just 388 cubic meters (around half of the passenger space in a Boeing 747), which may seem excessive. But given the ISSs unique circumstances, all that sanitizing is necessary. Up there, food just doesnt fall to the floor, she says. Food goes to the ceiling. Food sticks to the walls. Food is everywhere. So its 3-D cleaning. This kind of conscientious cleaning leads some scientists to dismiss worries about an outbreak en route to Mars. I dont think that the influence of bacteria is really a big showstopper for long term spaceflight because evidence suggests otherwise, Klaus says. Weve had people living on the [ISS] with rotating crews continuously for over 20 years now. And there hasnt been any kind of outbreak there. Aunon-Chancellor notes that simply finding dangerous bacteria is not cause for alarmit is only worrying if the microbes are making astronauts sick. I see it more as an identification and a heads up, she says. And then were just kind of watching and mapping and waiting to see what those bacteria do in that stressful environment, she adds. But Venkateswaran is worried not only about risks to the astronautsbut also the chances of microbial contamination of any otherworldly destinations they visit. Astronauts are basically a pathogen to the planet, Aunon-Chancellor says. Theyre a new microbiome thats suddenly stepping foot on Mars. Even the spacesuit that they step out in will have their own missions microbiome on the material surface of that suit. If scientists could map the microbiome on that suit better, they might be able to clean it better, too. Venkateswaran is hopeful that the research will even help scientists design superior suits with joints that prevent even the smallest microbes from leaking through. The unique applications do not end there. For Liz Warren, senior program director at the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, the most tantalizing aspect about all this research has little to do with space. Any partially closed environmenta house, an airplane, a hospitalwill have its own microbiome. So learning how to prevent certain microbes from thriving in space (or how to halt them when they do) offers helpful lessons for similar environments on Earth. For example, consider another project running on the ISS that tests the efficacy of antimicrobial coatings manufactured by Boeing. The idea is that if the coatings work in spacewhere microbes can be far more dangerousthen they will work on Earth. In short, the ISS is an incredible laboratory in its own right. You cant do that on Earthyou cant take gravity out of the picture, Klaus says. Having microgravity is kind of like having a microscope for the first time in a different way. You see behaviors that you couldnt otherwise see. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 07:07:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Thursday reaffirmed that it would not offer any unilateral incentives for talks with Iran. "We will not offer any unilateral gestures or incentives to induce the Iranians to come to the table," State Department Spokesperson told reporters during his daily briefing. "If the Iranians are under the impression that absent any movement on their part to resume full compliance with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) that we will offer favors or unilateral gestures, that's a misimpression," he added. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday made clear in a congressional hearing that Washington would not make concessions only to get a meeting with Tehran. Blinken also dismissed media reports that South Korea would release frozen Iranian assets before Tehran "comes back into compliance" with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The United States and Iran are in a standoff over reviving the nuclear deal. The Joe Biden administration said that if Iran returns to full compliance with the JCPOA, the United States would do the same. But Iran insisted its compliance would only take place once U.S. sanctions were removed. Tehran recently also rejected an offer from the European Union to hold nuclear talks with European countries and the United States. In response to the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018 and the reimposition of sanctions, Iran has suspended implementing parts of its obligations under the deal. Enditem SPRINGFIELD A second woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to her role in a local sex trafficking conspiracy built on a stable of women addicted to heroin. The sex workers were rarely paid and many were recruited from the womens jail in Chicopee, according to prosecutors. Nearly all the women were addicted to heroin, affording lead pimp William Coleman a vice grip to control them. Virginia Maldonado, 32, of Springfield, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of conspiracy, one day after Shannon Yelinek, 36, also of Springfield. Yelinek admitted to acting as a recruiter inside the walls of the womens jail, while Maldonado admitted running the business for a month while Coleman did a short stint behind bars, plus shooting photos of the women for online prostitution ads. The victims were typically required to turn over all of their earnings to Coleman and were subject to his tight control over their daily lives. Most of the women were not allowed to keep any of the money they earned, and they were only to obtain the drugs they needed from Coleman. In most cases, the victims were addicted to heroin, read a statement from Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Mendell. Coleman previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Both women face a maximum sentence of life in prison, but since both pleaded guilty under deals with prosecutors, it is likely they will serve far less. Sentencing will take place on June 4 in U.S. District Court. Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohsin Raza Friday condemned the attack on a reporter by Samajwadi Party (SP) workers in the presence of party chief and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. While speaking to Republic TV, Raza said, "They are attacking the fourth pillar of democracy. They are disrespecting democracy. This is their frustration. They did what they are known for." SP Workers Assault Reporter In Public On Monday, a reporter was heckled by SP workers. the whole incident was caught on tape. Akhilesh Yadav's security personnel, along with SP workers, heckled media persons in full public view at Hotel Holiday Regency while the former UP CM watched on. In multiple videos of the attack doing rounds, SP workers can be seen heckling a reporter who attempted to pose questions to Akhilesh Yadav following which the reporter falls to the ground. SP workers, sporting red caps, can be seen pushing media persons following which Akhilesh Yadav is heard telling the media that the reporter was working for a 'BJP's channel'. Both Congress and BJP came down heavily on SP's attack on the reporter and condemned the shocking incident. UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu called SP's assault on media persons as an insult to 'Lohiya's Samajwadi' while condemning the attack. Sharing a video of the incident, BJP MLA Rakesh Tripathi called the attack shameful and claimed that Samajwadi Party 'hooliganism' had met its end. Akhilesh Yadav's SP 'disrespecting democracy' says Mohsin Raza; condemns attack on reporter "The remarkable work that Banques alimentaires du Quebec have been doing since the start of the pandemic has made a difference for many Quebecers who found themselves unemployed overnight and for families struggling to make ends meet. It is therefore with great humility that we are donating 500,000 masks that we produced in Montreal to support the Banques in their honourable mission of providing food assistance to vulnerable populations," commented Guillaume Laverdure, Chief Operating Officer of Medicom. Since all production of procedure and N95-type masks produced at the Saint-Laurent plant is currently dedicated to supply contracts with the governments of Quebec and Canada, the Medicom team worked hard to produce a half-million surplus units for Banques alimentaires du Quebec. "The pandemic has put additional pressure on the daily operations of our members who want to ensure the health and safety of their employees, volunteers and beneficiaries. We are very grateful for this donation from Medicom, which will allow the network to continue to focus on its primary mission of addressing food insecurity in their region in a safe and secure manner," said Veronique Beaulieu-Fowler, Banques alimentaires du Quebec's Director of Communications and Philanthropy. "Food insecurity is a cause we care about." Every year, Medicom team members from around the world meet in Montreal. In 2020, due to the pandemic, this annual gathering was not possible. Determined to find a silver lining in the situation, Medicom decided to donate the significant savings (airfare, hotel accommodations, room rentals, etc.) to World Central Kitchen, an international NGO that fights food insecurity around the world. One year of a historic pandemic The entire Medicom team wishes to add its voice to the initiatives of governments and several organizations paying tribute to the direct and indirect victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. "COVID-19 has taken too many people in Quebec, Canada and around the world. These people left us too soon and are leaving their families and communities in mourning. They will remain in the collective memories of Medicom and our extended team. We would also like to take a moment to thank our healthcare workers and other essential workers who have been on the front lines since day one to ensure that we are protected and able to maintain a degree of normalcy in our daily lives," concluded Mr. Laverdure. About the Medicom Group The Medicom Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of high-quality, single-use, preventive and infection control products for the medical, dental, industrial, animal health, laboratory, retail and health and wellness markets. Medicom distributes infection control products under the Medicom, Ritmed, Kolmi, Hopen, Ocean Pacific and Hedy brands. Medicom subsidiaries include Kolmi-Hopen in France, Medicom Asia in Hong Kong, United Medical Enterprise in the U.S.A., KHM Engineering in Singapore and Medicom HealthPro Limited in the U.K. Medicom has extensive experience in responding to the demand for personal protective equipment in the event of a pandemic. Medicom was founded in 1988 in response to the urgent need for medical gloves for healthcare professionals during the global HIV crisis. Since then, the company has been a reliable supplier of infection control solutions during multiple epidemics, including avian flu, SARS, H1N1 and Ebola, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about Medicom and their comprehensive portfolio of infection control solutions, including an extensive range of medical face masks, please visit Medicom.com , follow us on Twitter @MedicomNA or visit pages on Facebook or LinkedIn. About Banques alimentaires du Quebec For more than 30 years, throughout Quebec, the Banques alimentaires du Quebec network has supported and represented 19 Moissons (sorting, distribution and storage center), 13 Associates (organizations covering the North Shore, the Gaspe Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands) and 1,200 local community organizations affiliated with our members, serving more than 500,000 hungry people every month. The network's model makes it possible to recover and redirect foodstuffs throughout the food chain. This unique structure promotes food recovery and reduces environmental impact. In this way, the Banques alimentaires du Quebec ensure the equitable sharing of food and financial donations throughout Quebec, pooling resources, expertise and information so that its members can respond more effectively to the needs of Quebecers in vulnerable situations. www.banquesalimentaires.org SOURCE AMD Medicom Inc. Related Links www.medicom.ca Sorry! This content is not available in your region Vietnamese authorities are in talks with partners on how to safely resume commercial flights, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang. Vietnamese authorities are in talks with partners on how to safely resume commercial flights. Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA) To achieve the twin goals of combating COVID-19 and boosting economic growth, Vietnamese authorities have been discussing with foreign partners highly effective in COVID-19 response about reopening regular commercial air routes, she said at regular press conference on March 11 in reply to a reporter's query that Taiwan (China) is considering promoting "travel bubbles" with certain countries and Vietnam is on the list thanks to its response to COVID-19. For other partners wishing to resume commercial flights with Vietnam, aviation authorities are studying and discussing on how and when the air routes should be restored, Hang said. For Taiwan, according to the spokesperson, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on September 15, 2020, agreed with a plan to resume commercial flights with this territory. Aviation authorities of both sides have basically agreed on procedures regarding this matter. In the short run, arrivals to Vietnam on commercial flights could be Vietnamese citizens, foreign relatives of Vietnamese citizens, foreigners on diplomatic mission or official duty, experts, investors, business managers, skilled workers, and international students. the spokesperson said, adding they must adhere to Vietnams post-entry quarantine and testing rules, including a 14-day mandatory quarantine, under the guidance of the Ministry of Health. The time for air route reopening must be carefully considered by concerned parties, with the developments of the pandemic regionally, globally and in Vietnam taken into account, she said. Regarding vaccine passports, Hang stated that this is a measure applied by some countries. According to her, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is cooperating with local authorities and Vietnamese agencies overseas to study and propose proper amendments to entry and exit rules in order to make them stay relevant to the current situation. Reopening and gradual restoration of people's travel and tourism promotion must meet requirements on COVID-19 prevention and control, she emphasised./.VNA Learning Spaces U Louisiana Monroe Outfits Classroom for Active and Hybrid Learning A new active learning classroom at University of Louisiana Monroe's College of Pharmacy is designed for one-on-one interaction in class as well as participation from remote students. The college worked with ed tech provider Trox to outfit the institution's first active/hybrid learning space with a variety of collaboration and audiovisual technologies. Features of the classroom include: Seats for up to 84 students; 14 student collaboration tables with displays, microphones and WolfVision Cynap Core collaboration and presentation hardware; WolfVision vSolution MATRIX collaboration solution for wireless sharing of notes, presentations and other project materials between multiple screens, from any device; and A camera that allows remote students to participate alongside their in-classroom peers. "Student-centered, technology-rich classrooms are the future of higher education," explained Greg Andrews, classrooms and AV coordinator for the university, in a statement. "The University of Louisiana's first active learning classroom will give students more exposure to real-world experiences. Trox's expertise in the understanding of how to use technology to improve learning environments helped us create a space that fosters better communication and collaboration between teachers and their students whether they are remote, in the classroom or a blend of both." Belfast councillors are calling for more powers over houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) to tackle anti-social behaviour in the Holyland student area. One said the lack of powers had left him like a "nodding dog for poor legislation". Holyland residents are angry over repeated house parties and disorder as St Patrick's Day looms. HMOs make up around 45% of properties in the area. As of April 2019 all HMOs must be licensed, with councils given responsibility for the scheme. It has emerged, however, while councils have power to decline new applications, they can't turn down the renewal of licences. HMOs have become increasingly controversial, with some arguing they negatively affect communities, causing overcrowding and anti-social behaviour. The issue was raised during a meeting of Belfast City Council's licensing committee on Wednesday. Committee deputy chair Michael Collins said he was "very concerned" about the situation and parties wanted the legislation changed to give the council more control. "Because we have such a high saturation of HMOs in areas like Botanic, if we want to stick to our criteria, we will eventually have to stop renewing these licences. At the moment we are being hamstrung with legislation and, let's be honest, landlords have proved time and time again that they will pick and choose which laws to follow," he said. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Brian Smyth, also a licensing committee member, said the situation was a "quagmire". "The legislation is just awful. It's not fit for purpose. It puts too much power in the hands of landlords," he said. "The residents do not have a voice, long-term communities are being left abandoned. "The issues in the Holyland... we're actually looking at them spreading outward, particularly with the expansion of the university down by York Street." Mr Smyth said there needed to be a balance. "We're fighting with two hands tied behind our back, never mind one," he added. "Council officers are doing a really good job, but they're under-resourced. "The Holyland was always seen as an issue around St Paddy's Day, but talk to the police, it's a year-round problem. Throw in Covid and it's just a dog's dinner. "We're the ones getting it in the neck from residents, and I don't mind that, but we as councillors have no power to effect change in this regard. "As councillors we are legally responsible for the management of HMOs, but we need powers to deal with the over-provision of HMOs. Right now? I'm just a nodding dog for poor legislation." The Department for Communities said a review of the legislation was under way and it was studying more than 200 written responses. It added: "Following an invite from Belfast City Council to discuss the legislation, the department advised that a senior housing official was available to meet. "The council has not yet arranged this meeting. Separately, the department has offered to attend BCC licensing committee to brief them on the HMO review when all the responses to the survey have been received and we have had adequate time to analyse them." A "No Entry" sign hangs on the door of the ASUO student government's office due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the ASUO student government is operating remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the offices will remain empty throughout fall term. (Will Geschke/Emerald) 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. Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has cut the supply of April-loading crude to at least four north Asian buyers by up to 15%, while meeting the normal monthly requirements of Indian refiners, refinery sources told Reuters on Friday. Saudi Arabia's reduction in supplies come as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, decided earlier this month to extend most of its supply cuts into April. Saudi Arabia has pledged to continue with an extra 1 million barrels per day voluntary output cut for a third month in April. Chinese refiners received a small cut in their Saudi supply, while the reduction in volumes for Japanese buyers was between 10% and 15%, the sources said. Saudi Aramco is also commissioning its 400,000-bpd Jizan refinery in the south west of the country which may have reduced its exports, one of the sources said. For India, Saudi Aramco has rejected Indian refiners' requests for extra supplies in April, but will keep average monthly supplies to the country unchanged, three Indian refining sources said. Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, had repeatedly called on major oil producers to ease supply curbs and had pointed to Saudi Arabia's voluntary cuts for contributing to a spike in global oil prices.[nL4N2JU3 E6] Saudi Aramco did not cut supplies for some Asian buyers in March, but reduced volumes by up to a quarter in February. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. New Orleans police will be authorized to pick up 17-year-olds who are caught out after curfew under a new policy that the City Council has approved over objections from groups pushing for criminal justice reform and advocating for youths. The council passed the measure unanimously on its consent agenda, which is typically reserved for routine matters. The Police Department has been pushing to expand the curfew, saying it is needed to curb crimes such as car break-ins that are attributed to teens and to stave off more serious criminal violations. But dozens of people told the council that enforcement would fall hardest on Black youths, leading to increases in imprisonment while doing little to prevent crime. "Manufacturing opportunities for adversarial encounters [between teenagers and the police] is not a strategy for preventing crime; its a strategy for over-incarceration," Leslie Molson wrote in a comment to the council. New Orleans' curfew ordinance forbids anyone 16 or younger to be on streets or in public places after 8 o'clock on school nights and after 11 p.m. on weekends. The weekday curfew is pushed back an hour during the summer, although the French Quarter is under an 8 p.m. youth curfew at all times. The change that the council approved Thursday applies those rules to 17-year-olds as well. The Police Department currently takes curfew violators home to their parents, because the curfew center is closed due to coronavirus restrictions, Chief Deputy Superintendent John Thomas said. Will New Orleans teens have a stricter curfew? City Council could decide 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. In a previous committee hearing on the change, police officials framed it as an attempt to bring the curfew in line with criminal justice reforms passed by the Louisiana Legislature in recent years intended to prevent 17-year-olds from being treated like adults in the criminal justice system. Critics rejected the idea that it was at all in keeping with the spirit or intent of the state law, known as "raise the age." "It's disingenuous to compare this to raise the age, which was intended to keep more youths out of the criminal justice system - not to funnel them into it," said Rachel Gassert, policy director for the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights. 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 Others raised similar points, arguing that the policy would just lead to youths particularly minorities being stopped and searched by police, potentially leading to a harassment and arrests. "We're not targeting anybody based on their race or anything," Thomas said. Thomas said there are no "biases, nor is anyone suggesting that" in curfew enforcement, although multiple commenters cited a 2013 report that found 93% of those arrested for curfew violations are Black. Council members suggested that the Police Department's federal consent decree, which includes monitoring the agency for signs of biased policing, would provide a check on any abuse. Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration is seeking to end that federal oversight. Even as they prepared to vote for the measure, council members did little to argue in its favor. Councilmember Helena Moreno called on Thomas to come back in six weeks to two months with a report on how the curfew was being enforced. Councilmember Jay Banks, who co-sponsored the ordinance change with Councilmember Cyndi Nguyen at the Police Department's request, said he agreed with many of those who wrote in that New Orleans would not arrest its way out of crime. He said he agreed with a need for greater funding of education and other programs for young residents. "By no means do I want to infer that this is the answer, this is the one thing that everyone needs to do for everything to be hunky-dory, because its not," Banks 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. 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 (Newser) The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd's family over the Black man's death in police custody, even as jury selection continued in a former officer's murder trial. The Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the record settlement, which includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Floyd was arrested, the AP reports. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump said it was the largest pretrial civil rights settlement ever, and "sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end." Floyd was declared dead on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a former officer who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for about nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked protests in Minneapolis and beyond and led to a national reckoning on racial justice. story continues below "I hope that today will center the voices of the family and anything that they would like to share," Council President Lisa Bender said. "But I do want to, on behalf of the entire City Council, offer my deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, his friends and all of our community who are mourning his loss." Floyd's family filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in July against the city, Chauvin, and three other officers charged in his death. It alleged that the officers violated Floyd's rights when they restrained him, and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism, and impunity to flourish in its police force. Chauvin and three other officers have been fired; the others face an August trial on aiding and abetting charges. (Read more George Floyd stories.) New Delhi: Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, exiled chairman of the United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP), said that Gilgit Baltistan is a historical and legal part of the disputed state of Jammu Kashmir. Since Gilgit-Baltistan is a historical and legal part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, we have serious concerns and strongly oppose, and condemn Pakistani attempts to annex Gilgit Baltistan as its part, he said, while talking to the media. Sardar Shaukat said, This an open secret that Pakistan is treating Gilgit Baltistan and so-called Azad Kashmir as its colony, assemblies at Gilgit Baltistan and so-called Azad Kashmir is powerless and at the mercy of Pakistan, its law enforcement forces and secret agencies. Kashmiri mentioned that according to UNCIP resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir, the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed. "Pakistan has no locus standi on it. Even the constitution of Pakistan clearly says that Gilgit-Baltistan is a disputed territory and part of the state of Jammu Kashmir. Annexing disputed areas into Pakistan would not only be against the constitution of Pakistan," he added. Kashmiri further said, nationalists are bared to take part in the elections each candidate pre-screened and has to submit an oath of loyalty to Pakistan that he/she believes in State of Jammu Kashmir accession with Pakistan, he/she is loyal to Pakistan and will be loyal to Pakistan. It shows that Islamabad always imposed subservient and puppet governments in our areas to implement its agenda and policies. The same is happening in Gilgit Baltistan there is no true representation of local people in government. In a statement, UKPNP said that we never opposed development in the region but we always demanded from Pakistan for improvement of local people of Gilgit Baltistan, we asked Islamabad to give them the right to full self-governance and ownership of their natural resources but Pakistan never considers these demands her main purpose is to take full control of our areas, she and China are already involved in the plundering of natural resources in the name of CPEC and other mega projects without the consultation of the local population. Natives of our areas are denied ownership of their natural resources, royalty, and self-governance, basic human and fundamental rights. Live TV It said that Pakistani officials and defence analysts on mainstream media and in their articles mentioned that China has invested Billions of Dollars in CPEC and now it wants to secure its investment and pressurize Islamabad to merge Gilgit Baltistan into Pakistan. This is unfortunate that Pakistan gave free hand to China in our areas, annexation of Gilgit Baltistan is very sensitive and dangerous to peace and security in the region, it will not only be destructive for people of the State of Jammu & Kashmir but the entire South Asian region, Sardar Shaukat added. BAY CITY, MI - Bay County residents looking to get the COVID-19 vaccine will now be able to access an online scheduling calendar through the health department. The Bay County Health Department announced that it launched its new online scheduling system called Appointiv. The new system allows registrants to select a date and time to receive their vaccine. Those across Bay County who are now eligible in the 50 and older age group are asked to register for the COVID-19 vaccine through an online registration form at https://www.baycounty-mi.gov/health/. Those who do not have access to the internet may register by calling 989-308-1828 to leave a message. Bay County employees will return these calls to register individuals to receive the vaccine. Those who register for the vaccine via the Bay County Health Department and supplied an email address to the department will be given an email link, based upon eligibility and vaccine supply. The link will contain instructions for how to choose a time slot. According to the department, this link is personalized and it will only work for the person it is sent to, meaning that it cannot be shared. These emails will come from the Bay County Health Department from bchd@baycounty.net. Registrants that did not provide an email address to the health department will instead receive a call to schedule their vaccine. Bay County health officer Joel Strasz said that the health department is also working on making sure northern Bay County residents will be able to access the COVID-19 vaccine. Strasz said that the health department will be hosting a by appointment only clinic at Pinconning High School on Saturday, March 20. Strasz said that the number of providers offering the vaccine aside from the health department is growing across the county. Theres a lot of people that are getting their vaccines through Walgreens, Rite Aid, Meijer, he said. We encourage people - if you get the chance to get a vaccine, go take it. Dont wait for us, go get it. More from MLive COVID-19 vaccine access expands in Bay County, heres how to register Bay County seeks volunteers to help distribute the COVID-19 vaccine United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 found in Tuscola County Got the COVID-19 vaccine somewhere else? Remove your name from the registration list, says Bay County Health Department Coronavirus vaccination scam calls reported in Bay and Saginaw counties The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Apo, Abuja, on Friday ordered that a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, be served afresh with the suit filed by his ex-wife, Precious Chikwendu, seeking the custody of their children. Ms Chikwendu, a former beauty queen, alleged in her suit that Mr Fani-Kayode, beat her up on several occasions even while she was pregnant. She made the allegations in an affidavit she deposed to in support of his suit filed in line with Section 69 of the Childs Rights Act, 2003. She, therefore, demanded full custody of their four sons. Fani-Kayodes signature forged The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judge, S.C Oriji, on Friday, set aside an earlier service of the suit on Mr Fani-Kayode, after his counsel, Adeola Adedipe, said his clients signature purportedly confirming receiving the previous service was forged. Mr Adedipe prayed the court to decline jurisdiction on the matter and prayed for an order either striking out the suit or alternatively setting aside the earlier purported service of the processes filed by Ms Chikwendu on his client. In his submission, the defence counsel said his client never received service of court process from the bailiff, adding that the signature of his client on the certificate the bailiff returned was forged. The lawyer said the only reason the minister was present in court was in protest and not because he was duly served. He added that the issue of the purported service was currently being investigated by the police. Response Responding, Ms Chikwendus lawyer, Enohor Moi-Wuyep, prayed the court to dismiss Mr Fani-Kayodes application. According to Mrs Moi-Wuyep, the respondent was duly served, and there was a text message by the respondent acknowledging receipt of the court summons. This is the text message he sent: I received your summons, I thought we were making progress and the matter can be resolved amicably in the interest of the children. What a pity, we shall meet in court. On the issue of jurisdiction, the counsel argued that it was the court that would decide on whether to decline jurisdiction or not. Ruling In a short ruling, Mr Oriji held that from what the bailiff told the court, service was not effected personally on the respondent. The judge held that the bailiff should have insisted on serving the respondent personally, saying the fact that the bailiff did not see him personally raises the question of invalid service. The issue is not that he has not received it, but that it was not served on him personally. In the light of the doubt on personal service, what is left for the court to do is to set aside the service. The purported service of the processes is hereby set aside, the judge said. ADVERTISEMENT He, however, refused the prayer to decline jurisdiction over the matter. The judge made an order that fresh hearing notice along with the originating motion be served on Mr Fani-Kayode. He adjourned the matter until April 21 for hearing. (NAN) The Capitol is seen at dusk as work in the Senate is stalled on the Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, in Washington on March 5, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo) GOP House Members Introduce Bill to Rein in Bidens Regulatory Plans A group of Republican House members this week introduced a bill aimed at preventing overreach by the executive branch in substituting Congress-passed laws with its own rulemaking. This comes about two months after the Senate introduced an identical bill. The bill, known as the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2021, seeks to affirm Congresss legislative power by requiring every new major rule proposed by federal agencies be approved by both the House and Senate before they can be enforced. The proposed law defines major rule as any federal rule or regulation that may result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or cause significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises. The bill was introduced by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and co-sponsored by more than two dozen House lawmakers, including Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). The REINS Act is a measure that ensures Congress is the only lawmaker in the United States. This bill reasserts Article I authority that vests all legislative power in Congress and provides necessary oversight of the executive rulemaking process, Cammack said in a statement on Wednesday. Its about making sure the executive branch does not unduly overstep its vested authority through a necessary system of checks and balances. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced an identical Senate version of the bill in January. His office explained at the time that under the REINS Act, once a major rule is drafted, it would trigger a process that would require both chambers of Congress to approve and then be signed by the president. This requirement, he said, would satisfy the bicameralism and presentment requirements of the Constitution. For too long, an ever-growing federal bureaucracy has piled regulations and red tape on the backs of the American people without any approval by Americans elected representatives, Paul said in the statement. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times. In an interview with The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders last year, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Congress has itself to blame for overreach by the judicial and executive branches. Congress has in many instances surrendered its legislating authority to the executive branch of government, he said. This has led to the executive, the judiciary, and administrative agencies expanding their reach in order to fill the void left by lawmakers. The far more common type involves a delegation to the executive branch. We pass a law that says, in effect, we shall have good law in area X and we hereby delegate to commission or department or division Y the power to make and interpret and enforce rules carrying the force of generally applicable federal law in that area, Lee said. And from that moment forward, that division or department, or commission, is the lawmaker, and is also the law enforcer. Meanwhile, states have also cautioned Biden and his administration from engaging in federal overreach that could contravene the states authority to enact laws or violate various constitutional rights. Six attorneys general wrote a letter to Biden in January to put his administration on notice that any actions that might exceed their statutory authority, are inconsistent with constitutional tenets, or place civil liberties at risk could trigger legal action by the states. We stand ready to meet with your administration to discuss more how the issues below affect our States; litigation is never first option, and we would like to help your team in its important job on behalf of all Americans, consistent with the Constitution and the rule of law, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is leading the group, wrote in the letter addressed to the White House (pdf). Yet, if you sign unconstitutional laws passed by Congress, it will be our responsibility and duty to challenge those laws in court. If cabinet officials, executive officers, and agencies go beyond the bounds of their statutory authority, fail to follow legally required procedures, or fall short of the bedrock Administrative Procedure Act obligation of reasoned decision making, it will likewise be our responsibility to take action. The Administrative Procedure Act is a federal law that governs the process for agency rulemaking and has been frequently invoked to challenge executive branch rules and regulations. Frankfort, KY (40601) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with thundershowers developing for the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 63F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. HOUSTON (AP) Flood control projects approved by Houston area voters in 2018 in response to Hurricane Harvey are facing a $1.4 billion shortfall that could delay their completion, officials have announced. The projects in need of the most funding are in some of the areas poorest neighborhoods that have repeatedly flooded in recent decades and have not received the same amount of funding for flood mitigation as other local communities, according to experts and community advocates. That has reinforced the belief by many residents of low-income areas in eastern Harris County along Greens and Halls bayous, which have repeatedly flooded, that they will continue to be left behind and forgotten about, said Iris Gonzalez, director of the Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience, a Houston-based advocacy group. A lot of the questions that the community has for our elected officials is, `When is the investment going to come? How many hurricane seasons do they have to face before they can feel and see the level of protection that they deserve, Gonzalez said Wednesday. Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm on Aug. 25, 2017, killed 68 people and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage in Texas. Thirty-six of the deaths were in the low-lying Houston area, where days of torrential rainfall and decades of unchecked development contributed to the flooding of more than 150,000 homes and 300,000 vehicles. More than 24,000 homes along Greens and Halls bayous flooded. In 2018, voters in Harris County, where Houston is located, approved the issuance of $2.5 billion in bonds to fund flood-control projects that might mitigate the damage caused by future storms. Officials said the $2.5 billion bond referendum would be supplemented by another $2.5 billion in state and federal funding to help complete more than 180 projects, most of which are underway. But Harris County Budget Director David Berry told county commissioners on Tuesday $1.4 billion of that state and federal funding has yet to come through. The hope after Hurricane Harvey that federal and state partners would really be focused on Harris County, where we saw the worst damage from Harvey, has not altogether turned out to be true, Berry said. We do have a real issue to work through. In 2019, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state would allocate more than $4 billion in federal funding awarded for flood mitigation after Harvey. Officials in Houston and Harris County had hoped the funding would have been directly awarded to local governments. Local communities are having to compete with one another by applying for grants through the Texas General Land Office for the funding. Harris County has applied for $900 million from the state, but its unclear if it will get all of that funding. The flood control projects along Halls and Greens bayous still need about 75% of their funding. Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis said he worried that if officials cant make up that shortfall, We would be telling people in these neighborhoods, Greens and Halls, `Thats all youre going to get. We can give you swimming lessons. The Harris County Flood Control District, which is building the various projects, was directed to create a plan by June 30 to secure funds to make up for the shortfall. ___ Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Lee Trio will present its spring concert on Thursday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Squires Recital Hall, in Lee Universitys Humanities Center. The Trio will share the music of Ludwig van Beethovens Ghost Trio, Sergei Rachmaninoffs Trio Elegiaque, and Cafe Music by Paul Schoenfeld. We invite the community to come and share the most gorgeous music ever written, said Xiaoqing Yu, associate professor of violin at Lee and Trio member. The pieces are chosen with our audience in mind. Formed in September 2017, the dynamic Lee Trio features faculty members from the Lee University School of Music Xiaoqing Yu, violin; Theodore Kartal, cello; and Jason DuRoy, piano. The Lee Trio advocates for cross-cultural unity through music, and its members serve as artistic ambassadors for music education between the United States and Asia. The ensemble has appeared in concerts and masterclasses in North America and Asia, and its performances have won the trio popularity with large public audiences as well as educational institutions. When not touring internationally, Lee Trio regularly performs on campuses and surrounding communities across the U.S. During the summers of 2018 and 2019 Lee Trio performed in Bangkok, Hua-Hin (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi (Vietnam), Lanzhou, Dongying, Chongqing, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai, Rizhao, Qingdao (China), and Pusan, (South Korea). Mr. Yu says they plan to return to Asia in the summer of 2021. This concert is free, non-ticketed, and open to the public with limited seating. Livestream viewing is also available and can be found at https://livestream.com/leeu. For more information, contact the School of Music at 614-8240. The Indian Navy's INS Talwar rushed aid to a stranded merchant navy cargo vessel, M.V.Nayan, with 7 Indian crew on board, which had suffered all equipment failures on March 9, in the Gulf of Oman, while voyaging from Oman to Iraq. Image Source: IANS News The Indian Navy's INS Talwar rushed aid to a stranded merchant navy cargo vessel, M.V.Nayan, with 7 Indian crew on board, which had suffered all equipment failures on March 9, in the Gulf of Oman, while voyaging from Oman to Iraq. Image Source: IANS News The Indian Navy's INS Talwar rushed aid to a stranded merchant navy cargo vessel, M.V.Nayan, with 7 Indian crew on board, which had suffered all equipment failures on March 9, in the Gulf of Oman, while voyaging from Oman to Iraq. Image Source: IANS News The Indian Navy's INS Talwar rushed aid to a stranded merchant navy cargo vessel, M.V.Nayan, with 7 Indian crew on board, which had suffered all equipment failures on March 9, in the Gulf of Oman, while voyaging from Oman to Iraq. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, March 12 : The Indian Navy rushed to the aid of a stranded merchant navy ship after most of its onboard equipment failed in the high seas while sailing from Oman to Iraq, officials said here on Friday. During its voyage on March 9, the cargo ship, M.V. Nayan, drifted out at sea after its propulsion, power generation machinery, navigational and other equipment failed, and it sent out an SOS call. After receiving the broadcast, the Indian Naval Ship INS Talwar, deployed in the Gulf of Oman made a preliminary aerial assessment about the distress situation onboard the cargo carrier. Later, INS Talwar dispatched its Visit Board, Search and Seizure team and a technical team by boat to render assistance to the stranded cargo ship which had 7 Indian crew members onboard. After working for over 7 hours onboard, the Indian Navy's teams managed to restore its two generators, steering pump, sea water pump, compressor and main engine, making the vessel seaworthy again. The team also helped operationalise all navigation aids like GPS and lights before M.V. Nayan could safely proceed to her next port of call in Iraq later on Thursday. 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. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. Our members were heartened by the fact that Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Chair Lofgren, these important leaders on Capitol Hill, were willing to meet with us and hear out our member concerns, said Dayanara Ramirez, the president of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Congressional Staff Association, who is the communications director for Representative Mark Takano, Democrat of California. The organizations had a long list of requests. They want leaders to reduce wait times for mental health resources and approve emergency funding for lawmakers to support the mental and physical health of their staffs, including with more paid time off and counseling. They want the oversight board of the Capitol Police to include a member of the congressional staff. And they want the 9/11-style commission to look into the disparate treatment that Black Lives Matter protesters received from law enforcement compared with the relatively restrained tactics used against the pro-Trump mob. Many of my members, we marched last summer in the protests against police brutality, Ms. Mathieu said. We were overwhelmed with the security. But in their push for a safer environment, the aides are also pressing to ensure that the Capitol Police does not resort to racial profiling or cracking down on minority groups in response to the latest rash of violence. Weve seen in post-9/11 that South Asians have been disproportionately profiled, said Nishith Pandya, the president of the Congressional South Asian-American Staff Association and the legislative director for Representative Bobby L. Rush, Democrat of Illinois. It is very clear who the perpetrators of this attack were, and its nobody who looks like the people here. Yet we all have to be concerned about racial profiling because of how this country has reacted to attacks like this before. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 47 Veterinary Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 196 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 196 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 47 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 Veterinary Degree Programs. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-veterinary-degree-programs/ 2021 Veterinary Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Andrews University Auburn University Barry University Becker College California Polytechnic State University Carroll University Clemson University Colorado State University Cornell University Eastern Kentucky University Ferris State University Florida A&M University Fort Valley State University Hofstra University Illinois State University Iowa State University Kansas State University Lincoln Memorial University Louisiana State University Lubbock Christian University Medaille College Mercy College Michigan State University Mississippi State University Morehead State University North Dakota State University Northwest Missouri State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana Oral Roberts University Otterbein University Pennsylvania State University Purdue University South Dakota State University Southern Illinois University State University of New York, Canton State University of New York, Delhi Texas A&M University, Kingsville Tuskegee University University of Arizona University of Delaware University Of Findlay University of Georgia University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of Nebraska, Lincoln University of Nevada, Reno Wilson College 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/. Theres so much I miss about home as St Patricks Day approaches. I am often planning my return to Donegal before I even leave Dublin Airport on my way back to Huntington which lies on the northern shore of Long Island in New York. Living Stateside of course has a lot to offer. The weather makes it possible to enjoy a lot of outdoor activities, which I love. But no beaches for me compare to Rossnowlagh. To be able to walk it daily in a wooly hat and winter jacket would be a dream come true for me. I love telling my American friends that on a good day there you can see a fish and chip van followed by the ice cream van. They find that amazing. I think its genius! Of course, doing the famous Roguey Walk in Bundoran and feeling the sea breeze on my face is something I cant wait to do again. I also cant wait to visit a few of my favourite haunts around Ballyshannon. Just crossing the bridge over the River Erne is a wonderful emotion when youve been away for so long. I have been in New York since 2004 and finally became a US citizen last year. I dont feel American except when I blast my car horn in midtown Manhattan and I laugh at how naive I was when I emigrated with two suitcases packed, one half filled with CDs. Read More Since I emigrated, I usually return home two to three times a year. Now I havent been home since November 2019. Its always difficult being away from home but this has been especially tough not knowing when I can return. But of course, in the face of a pandemic which has affected so many people in many ways around the world, we know the restrictions on movements are there to protect as many people as possible. My husband Daniel and I have two children, Ronan (9) and Tara (7). They love to wear their Donegal hats and jerseys, often picking them over their American teams for special days at school. I try to keep up with the Donegal matches, gladly paying $20 to see them on TV over here, while we wait for the Sam Maguire to head our way again. For my children, no trip to Ireland would be complete without visiting Donegal Castle, followed by a 99 cone across the road at Timoneys, and especially seeing their granny and granddad, and playing with their cousins. My mother and father have been great in keeping us well fed with Irish goodies crisps, chocolate, bread and butter regularly arrive on our doorstep. And while we cant get home, eating as if we were sitting in Donegal is so lovely. The most wonderful and reliable part of Ireland that I miss is the craic. How do you describe it? Yet we all know what it is, and the laughing that I do in Ireland is unlike anywhere else. I love hearing my friends chat about things, and the quick one-liners that pepper their conversations. So that is probably what I am looking forward to doing the most when I get home meeting up with friends and family and just having a laugh. I hope the day when we will all see each other again will come soon. Write to us If you live overseas, let us know which slice of Ireland you miss the most, and what you long to do when you next arrive back home. Please email your letter (550 words approx) and a photograph of yourself in your new home to letters@independent.ie and mark the subject line Dear Ireland... National Guard soldiers patrol outside the U.S. Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 5, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) House Armed Services Leadership Calls for Measured Drawdown of National Guard Troops From Capitol The House Armed Services Committee leadership called for a review of the security level required at the U.S. Capitol and said that the current security posture is not warranted at this time. The chairman and ranking member of the committee, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), issued a joint statement calling for a security review after the Pentagon announced that a reduced number of National Guard troops will remain at the Capitol for an additional 60 days, through May 23. We are deeply troubled by the current level of security around the United States Capitol. More than two months after the January 6 attack, the seat of our nations democracy remains heavily protected by guardsmen and surrounded by a perimeter fence, the lawmakers said in a statement. As the U.S. Capitol Police continues to build its personnel capacity, there is no doubt that some level of support from the National Guard should remain in the National Capital Region to respond to credible threats against the Capitol, the two House members added. However, the present security posture is not warranted at this time. They want a measured drawdown of the Guard deployment. In addition, we cannot ignore the financial costs associated with this prolonged deployment, nor can we turn a blind eye to the effects it will soon have on the National Guards overall readiness. We appreciate our guardsmen answering the call to protect the Capitol, but its time for us to review what level of security is required, so they can return home to their families and communities. The number of troops will be about half of the 5,100 to 5,200 currently patrolling the site, the Pentagon had announced. Prior to the extension they had been scheduled to leave on the weekend. National Guard members were deployed after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, and more than 20,000 were on hand during the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joe Biden. Officials also set up a non-scalable fence topped with razor wire around the Capitol facility. On Jan. 6, the Capitol building was breached as congressional proceedings were underway to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. The violence occurred amid otherwise peaceful protests that were taking place in surrounding areas, calling for election integrity. Smith had accused then-President Donald Trump of having incited and encouraged the breach. Trump in the week after Jan. 6 had repeatedly called for peace and repeatedly condemned the violence that took place that day. The incursion of the U.S. Capitol struck at the very heart of our republic. It angered and appalled millions of Americans across the political spectrum, Trump said on Jan. 13. I want to be very clear, I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week. Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and no place in our movement. The unrest on the Capitol grounds included the shooting death by Capitol Police of a woman who was part of the groups of people who entered the Capitol and clashed with police. Three other protesters reportedly died from medical conditions. Meanwhile, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who had protected lawmakers during the riot was confirmed dead by the department on Jan. 7. The FBI cannot disclose the cause of death, the agencys director, Christopher Wray, said on March 2. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission 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. Superman & Lois, a new CW series, premiered on Feb. 23 and moved to its regular time slot (8 p.m.) on March 2 (catch-up on episodes via on-demand or CW web site/app). This iteration of the Man of Steel saga finds Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane married, with two sons, and looking to live again in Smallville, Clarks boyhood home. EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI, 45 (Sloan on Entourage) has a recurring role as Lana Lang, an old friend of Clark who still lives in Smallville. Also appearing in a recurring role is STACEY FARBER, 33. She plays Leslie Larr, a business honcho. Both actresses are Canadian. Chriquis parents were Sephardi Moroccan Jews who settled in Montreal. Farber grew-up in Toronto and, like many Canadians, got her start with a big role on the popular Canadian series DeGrassi High: The Next Generation. Next year, she will also have a recurring role on Virgin River, a hit Netflix drama series. After years of relative obscurity, SOLEIL MOON FRYE, 43, is back. A 10-episode re-boot of Punky Brewster, the popular 80s sitcom, began streaming on the Peacock Channel on Feb. 25. In the original, Punky (Frye) was a warm and funny 7-year-old abandoned by her parents. Luckily, she met a kind old man who eventually became her legal foster parent. In the new version, Izzy, a young girl who is suffering in the foster system, is taken in by (the adult) Punky (Frye, again). In 1998, Frye wed TV producer JASON GOLDBERG, now 48, in a traditional Jewish ceremony and they have had four children. Sadly, they separated last year. But Goldberg is the producer of Fryes new documentary, kid 90. Back in the 90s, a teenage Frye always carried a video camera and amassed tons of footage (many shots of famous teens). Those videos provide a focus for (director) Frye and about a dozen actors, all about her age, to talk about fame, sex, drugs, aging, and the unique problems of young female actors. It starts streaming March 12 on Hulu. March is the last month in which WOLF BLITZER, 74, will hold the title of lead political anchor of CNN. Starting April 1, JAKE TAPPER, 51, will assume that title. Also, on April 1, Blitzers daily CNN program, The Situation Room, will be reduced from two hours to one. The Lead with Jake Tapper will expand to two hours. Meanwhile, Tapper has already begun to share his Sunday program, The State of the Union, with correspondent DANA BASH, 49. They host on alternate weeks. ADVERTISEMENT All three have strong Jewish backgrounds. Blitzer is the son of Auschwitz survivors and became fluent in Hebrew while working for the Jerusalem Post. Tapper is a Jewish day school grad. His mother is a Jew-by-choice, as is his wife, JENNIFER BROWN, 43, a Missourian who grew-up near Kansas City. He was married by his brothers wife, a Conservative rabbi. Bashs mother has a masters degree in Jewish studies. She was formerly married to JEREMY BASH, the son of a Conservative rabbi, and CNN correspondent JOHN KING, 59, who converted to Judaism before marrying Bash. It occurred to me that if SNL ever revives Hanukkah Harry the fantasy character who brings presents to Jewish kids Harry could name his reindeer Bash, Blitzer and Tapper. Just sounds right somehow. A few weeks ago, I came across a publicity release from last October that said that a biopic about SAMMY DAVIS JR. (1925-1990) was in the works, and that the film would be based on a 2014 memoir, Sammy Davis Jr.: A Personal Journey with My Father, by TRACEY DAVIS. The release noted that Tracey Davis said she was thrilled by the announcement. I recently got a library copy of the book, a lavish production with great photos. Tracey writes about some of her familys Jewish ties, and she includes the full text of a moving statement that a rabbi made as he presided over the 1960 interracial wedding of her father to Swedish-born actress MAY BRITT, now 86 (both converted to Judaism before the wedding). Tracey said her mother always celebrated Shabbat on Friday night, but, sadly, her father was rarely there because he was always working. She added that his work schedule, and not a lack of love, caused her parents to divorce in 1968. Last week, I looked up Tracey and was shocked to learn she died on Nov. 2, age 59, following an unspecified short illness. She is survived by her four children, three brothers and her mother. MUSKEGON, MI A new drug and alcohol detox facility in Muskegon is expected to open next month. Catholic Charities West Michigan held a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday, March 12 to celebrate the new facility in Muskegon. Catholic Charities expects to serve 700 people each year out of the 14-bed center. Previously, the closest detox facilities to Muskegon were in Grand Rapids or Traverse City. The Kolbe Center, 1713 7th St., will provide stays of three to five nights for people withdrawing from substance abuse, a process that can be dangerous and require medical supervision. Catholic Charities CEO David Bellamy expects there to be great demand for the service. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health published last year, nearly 7% of West Michigan residents responded that they needed treatment for substance abuse but didnt receive it. In 2017, Muskegon County reported the highest rate of opioid-use hospitalizations in Michigan. Unfortunately, the community does have a high use of opioid and other substance abuse issues. And theres just not a facility nearby, said Bellamy. Often times, the immediacy of the service availability impacts somebodys willingness to enter the treatment, Bellamy added. Catholic Charities expects to open the center in April. Staffing has been challenge for the organization, Bellamy said, due to a high demand for nurses. Related: Catholic Charities set to open new Muskegon drug and alcohol detox center in March The Kolbe Center was blessed by Bishop David Walkowiak of the Grand Rapids Diocese. Its named after Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish friar who is considered the patron of drug addicts. The 4,700-square-foot detox center is a part of Catholic Charities $4.5 million campus constructed on a formerly vacant lot in Muskegons Nelson neighborhood. Catholic Charities entered a land swap agreement with the city of Muskegon in 2019 to obtain the property in exchange for its building on Third Street. Muskegon Mayor Stephen Gawron sees the new facility as a rejuvenation for both the neighborhood and the services offered to the community. It brings life, so that we can hopefully restore lives, he said. After people detox at the Kolbe Center, Catholic Charities will help connect them to other services in the community to assist in recovery and move them seamlessly through the process, Bellamy said. The Kolbe Center is built on the same parcel as a 21,000-square-foot Catholic Charities administration building. It will provide child welfare, family preservation, behavioral health and counseling services as well as a pregnancy resource center and baby pantry. The administrative building is set to open in May. More on MLive: Veterans COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Muskegon among several planned as eligibility soon expands to all Hackley Public Library offers sense of normalcy with longer hours, more services Michigan vaccine expansion an exciting surprise to health departments 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. Commentary Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? An anti-regime protester injured during the crackdown by security forces in Mandalay in late February. / The Irrawaddy As chaos and crackdown continue across Myanmar, there is a significant risk that the country could descend into civil war or become a failed state. Instability in Myanmar would create a major headache for the region and for China and India in particular. It would be a nightmare for the countrys two giant neighbors. The question now is, how can anyone prevent this? Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that all parties in Myanmar should keep calm and exercise restraint, address their differences through dialogue and consultation within the constitutional and legal framework, and continue to advance the democratic transition. China will not change the course of promoting friendship and cooperation, no matter how the situation evolves, Wang Yi said in his annual press conference. Instead, Beijing will try to bring about reconciliation by engaging with all relevant parties, he said. China has faced strong condemnation from the people of Myanmar following its failure to condemn those responsible for the coup. Amid ongoing, nationwide, mass anti-coup demonstrations, many protesters gathered daily in front of the Chinese Embassy in Yangon last month, demanding that China refuse to support the military regime. Young people across the country have also launched campaigns to boycott Chinese products and called on Myanmar employees of large Chinese projects to participate in the civil disobedience movement (CDM), to show their opposition to the military regime. There has also been anger over allegations that China was sending technicians to help the military build an Internet firewall. Faced with growing anger toward Beijing, Chen Hai, Chinas ambassador to Myanmar, told local media that the current situation in the country is absolutely not what China wants to see. Chen Hai also said Beijing was not informed in advance of the military takeover, adding that China hoped all parties in Myanmar could handle the current problem through dialogue and consultation properly and lead the country back on track as soon as possible. China has characterized the Myanmar militarys takeoverinternationally condemned as a coupas a major cabinet reshuffle. Along with Russia, China blocked a recent effort by the UN Security Council (UNSC) to condemn the militarys actions. Beijing and Moscow continued to defend the military regime at a recent special session of the UN Human Rights Council, insisting that the seizure of power from the democratically elected government was an internal affair. But Myanmar citizens responded by stepping up their criticism of China and its economic interests, including gas pipelines, in Myanmar. According to a leaked document, Beijing held an emergency meeting with Myanmar officials from the Home Affairs and Foreign ministries. The document revealed that Bai Tian, the director-general of the Department of External Security Affairs under the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asked the military regime to assure the security of oil and natural gas pipelines, following the emergence of anti-Chinese sentiment across the country because to its stance on the coup. That drew a sharp response from the people of Myanmar on social media, suggesting that whether or not the pipelines are blown up is an internal affair. Now Chinas geopolitical interest and economic interest in Myanmar are under stress. Beijing will lose the most if Myanmar descends into civil war. (China supplies arms and ammunition to ethnic rebels in the north, a policy that also upsets the generals.) Chinas key strategic interests include an economic corridor between southern China and Kyaukpyu port on the Indian Ocean, part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and gas pipelines. China also has several other projects including new city projects in Yangon and Mandalay. Western nations and the international community at large have called on the junta to return the elected government under the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi leadership to power. That is not likely to happen at this stage. Ethnic armed groups in the south and north are watching the situation closely. Ethnic armed groups in the north do not oppose the coup. (They will follow Chinas lead.) In the south, Myanmars oldest ethnic armed groupsethnic Karen, Mon and Shan rebel armieshave expressed concern over the military coup and the detention of government leaders. They also see that China could play a crucial role in preventing further bloodshed. Chinas oil and gas pipelines run through Shan State and several other impending projects will also go through Shan State. It is clear that Chinas geostrategic interests are under threat, if Myanmar descends into civil war. If the risks are higher, China will intervene diplomatically. If Myanmar becomes increasingly unstable, China will most likely intervene to persuade the junta to refrain from its crackdown and free elected leaders. But it is still uncertain how China can ask both parties to negotiate. You may also like these stories: Asian Development Bank to Halt Funding for Myanmar Government Projects Myanmars Military Junta Launches Corruption Probe of Suu Kyi and President At Least 12 More Killed as Myanmar Regime Steps Up Violence VICTORIA British Columbia's premier and health minister refused to directly answer questions Wednesday about the government's contract with Telus, the provider whose call centres for COVID-19 vaccine appointments got off to a chaotic start. The Opposition Liberals repeatedly asked Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix during question period to release the contract and to provide basic information including its monetary value and the number of staff promised to the centres. Both Horgan and Dix did not provide specifics, but instead repeated earlier remarks that Monday was a "bad day," when Vancouver Coastal Health was only able to book 369 appointments, but that steps have been taken to improve the situation. "People have bad days all the time," Horgan said. "I'm fairly confident that Wayne Gretzky didn't score in every game he played in, but he kept getting on the ice and doing the best he could. That's exactly what we did in Vancouver Coastal Health." The health authority was the only one that did not have a backup call centre to the system provided by Telus. More staff were added and 4,000 appointments were booked in Vancouver Coastal on Tuesday and 2,500 more as of 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dix said. Telus apologized for the performance of the call centres on Monday, when residents 90 and up and Indigenous people over 65 became eligible to book appointments, but many experienced repeated busy signals and messages telling them to call back later. The company has said it was asked to provide 156 agents to answer calls at all times across the province, and it increased that number to 250 by Tuesday afternoon. The Opposition Liberals said only 33 call-takers were originally assigned to Vancouver Coastal the second-largest authority in the province. The Liberals asked why the government thought it would be an adequate level of staff as well as who signed the contract and when. Story continues Liberal Renee Merrifield, a member of the legislature for Kelowna-Mission elected last fall, called on the premier to take full responsibility for the "botched" rollout of the system. "I fully appreciate that accountability ends with me," Horgan said. "If that doesn't meet the bar set by the newly minted member for Kelowna, I apologize to her as well." Dix said that 35,500 appointments have been booked over the past three days. He has previously said about 54,000 people are eligible to book this week. He said each health authority signed an agreement with Telus to provide call centre capacity under a long-standing master agreement with the company. "It's natural that we would turn to an outstanding provider such as Telus to do this," Dix said. The minister added that Telus president Darren Entwistle has "personally" driven the effort over the past two days to make things right. B.C. reported 531 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and one new death, for a total of 1,394 people who have died from complications of the virus in the province. There have been 51 new cases of variants of concern. Of the 627 variant cases, 580 are the strain identified in the United Kingdom, 33 are the variant detected in South Africa and 14 are linked to Brazil. The province confirmed it has started to receive supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which will assist with outbreak response in communities and high-risk industries. There have been two COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes where most residents and staff were vaccinated, which experts say is a reminder of the limits of immunization. Fraser Health said Tuesday that one resident and one staff member tested positive for COVID-19 at Fleetwood Place, a long-term care facility in Surrey where 88 per cent of residents had been vaccinated. The outbreak followed one declared Sunday at the Cottonwoods Care Centre in Kelowna, where 11 residents and two staff members tested positive despite 82 per cent of residents being immunized. Some of the cases at the Kelowna care home are in people who received two doses of the vaccine, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said earlier this week. Henry said vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness and death, but they don't necessarily stop all transmission, so masks and physical distancing remain important. Dr. Sue Pollock, Interior Health medical health officer, said in a statement eight of the cases had at least one dose, and five were not immunized for a variety of reasons. Some of the vaccinations only happened recently and it can take two to three weeks to build up immunity, she said. "Among the current cases, all of the individuals are doing well. We are monitoring them all and doing testing to detect anyone else who may be infected." Pollock said the vaccine is being offered again to all staff and residents who may not have had it the first time and some who were hesitant before will accept it now. No variants of concern have been identified, she added. Horacio Bach, a University of British Columbia infectious diseases expert, said older people's immune systems may take longer than three weeks to produce antibodies or may not produce them at all. Bach said no vaccine prevents illness 100 per cent of the time, but the COVID-19 shots have been proven to be safe and very effective against serious illness and hospitalization. By Laura Dhillon Kane in Vancouver This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2021. The Canadian Press The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will conduct a rate hearing on Monday, March 15 on proposed rate increases from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The hearing will be held virtually at 9 am EST and will include testimony and public comment on the insurers proposed rate filings. The Citizens Board of Governors approved 2021 rate recommendations in January that call for a statewide average increase of 7.2% for personal lines policyholders homeowners, condominium unit owners, mobile homeowners, dwelling, and renters. Homeowner policies would increase by an average 6.1%. Condo owners would see an average 9.4% increase. Renters rates would increase 4% on average. If approved by OIR, the 2021 rates would go into effect for policies renewed after August 1. The approved rate recommendations came after Citizens Board deferred action on a slate of rates that called for an average 3.7% increase in personal lines coverage, including a 2.2% increase in homeowners coverage. The board directed Citizens actuarial staff to work with OIR to address the growing disparity between Citizens rates and those charged by private insurance companies in many areas of the state. The insurer said the higher rates would make it more competitive with the private market and slow the flow of policyholders returning to Floridas insurer of last resort. Since March 2020, Citizens policy count has grown from 443,444 to 551,613, an increase of 26.4%. Citizens is now receiving more than 3,000 new customers per week, the company said at its March 3 board meeting. It is preparing for 150,000 additional policyholders by the end of the year as private insurers continue to raise rates, limit coverage and exit particular markets to stem rising losses. Citizens is required by law to recommend actuarially sound rates, while complying with a legislative glide path that caps individual rate increases at 10%, excluding coverage changes and surcharges. However, private insurers are implementing rate increases far in excess of the 10% cap, widening the premium gap between private insurer and Citizens policies. The board also approved in January a recommendation that new policyholders pay actuarially sound rates instead of joining the insurer with capped premiums that existing Citizens policyholders receive. If approved by OIR, the recommendation would increase rates for new business by an average of 21%. A recent report commissioned by Citizens identified the need for the insurer to make changes to the Citizens glide path for rate increases. Florida law allows OIR to hold a public hearing for any purpose within the scope of the Insurance Code deemed to be necessary. Input from consumers and interested parties, as well as from representatives of Citizens, will be received during the virtual public hearing. Public comments can be made on the proposed rates through March 26, 2021 and may be submitted at the rate hearing or emailed to ratehearings@floir.com with the subject line Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Related: Topics Trends Florida Pricing Trends Workers examine electronic components at the factory of the Young Poong Electronics VINA Co. Ltd in Binh Xuyen II Industrial Park, Vinh Phuc province (Photo: VNA) Hanoi Many international organizations have forecast robust economic recovery for Vietnam in 2021. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Vietnams economy to grow 6.5 percent in 2021 despite some economic scarring. In its 2020 Article IV Consultation report with Vietnam, the IMF said the countrys growth is projected to strengthen to 6.5 percent, as normalisation of economic activity continues, businesses recover, and private consumption and business investment rebound. Per the report, manufacturing and retail sales are expected to lead the recovery, while the travel and hospitality services will remain subdued. Net exports will continue to contribute positively to growth as external demand picks up. Economic scarring due to disruptions to domestic activity and the labour market will temporarily weigh on potential growth as labour re-allocation gradually takes place, and capital stays idle in the hardest-hit sectors. The Standard Chartered Bank has forecast Vietnams economy will grow at 7.8 percent this year with manufacturing driving the revival. Meanwhile, a preliminary assessment by the ASEAN 3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) said the nations GDP growth will rebound to 7 percent this year, driven by a recovery in external demand, a resilient domestic economy, and increased production capacity. Market researcher Fitch Solutions expects that Vietnams economy will grow 6.5 percent each year over the course of the next 10 years as the Government diversifies export markets and improves infrastructure. Ordering food online or even offline can sometimes be an irritating experience, especially if when you are hungry and your food is late. One such incident took a nasty turn in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar recently. Amit Swarup Mahapatra, a resident of Lingaraj in Bhubaneswar was arrested by the police on Thursday for allegedly throwing hot oil at a street food seller. File Image What happened? According to the police, the incident happened on March 4 at a momos stall owned by one Somanath Rout. The customer had ordered a plate of momos and when his order got delayed, he became angry and got into an argument with the seller. Mahapatra, in a fit of rage then threw hot oil, used for frying momos on Rout leaving him seriously injured. The accused who then fled the scene was arrested by the police on Thursday. Similar story elsewhere The incident come to light at a time when another similar case in Bengaluru is making headlines across the country. Screengrab A Bengaluru woman named Hitesha Chandranee, had recently posted a video on social media alleging that she was attacked by a Zomato delivery executive after an argument over a delay in delivery. Chandranee, who posted a video of her nose bleeding said, "So guys my Zomato delivery order was late and I was talking to the customer care executive. And meanwhile the delivery person just did this. He hit me, left me bleeding here and ran off." After her video went viral on social media, the delivery executive, identified as Kamraj was arrested by the police. He was booked under IPC section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt). AFP However, after he was granted bail, Kamraj rejected the allegations and claimed that the woman was hurt accidentally by her own ring. As she was hitting me, I tried to block using my hands. When she tried to push my hand away, a ring on her finger hit her nose, he said. France has eased its border restrictions for UK holidaymakers. The French government announced that from Friday the UK is one of seven countries outside the EU that people can travel from and to without justifying their journey. The others are Australia, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and New Zealand. Tourism minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said people travelling to France from the seven countries will need evidence of a negative, coronavirus test taken within the previous 72 hours. About 17 million British nationals normally visit France every year. But the easing of border rules will not lead to an immediate return to travel across the Channel as foreign holidays for people living in the UK are currently banned. Boris Johnsons road map for easing restrictions in England states that overseas leisure travel could be permitted from May 17. Cyprus is aiming to welcome the return of foreign tourists from May 1, while Greece is aiming to reopen its borders from May 14. (CNN) Prince William has denied the royal family is racist in his first public remarks since his brother Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan, made explosive claims in a TV interview. Asked by a reporter during a visit to a school in east London if the royals were a "racist family," the Duke of Cambridge said, "We're very much not a racist family." Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made a series of damning accusations against the royal family in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired in the UK on Monday night. In response to a question on whether he had spoken to his brother since the interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince William said, "I haven't spoken to him yet but I will do." Harry and Meghan's interview has sent Buckingham Palace into a tailspin and triggered a nationwide debate on the royals, race and the role of the media in perpetuating xenophobia. In the interview, Meghan said that the skin tone of the couple's child, Archie, was discussed as a potential issue before he was born. The couple would not reveal who had made the remarks, but said it wasn't Queen Elizabeth II or her husband, Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. The palace broke its silence on Tuesday evening, saying in a statement on behalf of the Queen that the allegations of racism were concerning and were being "taken very seriously." "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan," the statement read. "The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately." CNN correspondent Max Foster said Prince William's remarks were unusual and a sign of how rigid systems surrounding the monarchy were breaking down following the interview. Foster noted that the Duke of Cambridge "decided to speak back" to the reporter, despite the Queen's stated preference to handle the matter privately. "This was a reporter at a major network, breaking a protocol which is not to throw questions out at senior royals in this way. So ... that's something that's broken down," he said Thursday. "We've got to this point in the story where a senior royal is asked if his family is racist, which is just quite extraordinary." Couple cite lack of support In the interview, Meghan described having regular suicidal thoughts during her pregnancy and brief time as a working royal, and the couple said the palace had offered Meghan and Archie inadequate security and protection. The couple cited a lack of support over invasive press coverage and the royal institution's decision not to give their son Archie a title -- and with it his eligibility for protection -- as the basis for their decision to relocate from the UK. The interview has also had consequences for the British press, whose tabloids are infamous for invading the privacy of royals and celebrities, and are regularly embroiled in legal battles for defamation. High-profile TV personality Piers Morgan stepped down from his role as presenter of ITV's "Good Morning Britain," a day after questioning whether the Duchess was being truthful about having suicidal thoughts. Morgan stormed of the set live on TV as his own co-host, Alex Beresford, admonished him in a scathing rebuke of his remarks. The Duchess of Sussex had complained about Morgan's remarks to the television station. The executive director of the UK's Society of Editors, Ian Murray, resigned Wednesday after appearing in an interview in which he refused to acknowledge racist media coverage in the country. Prince Charles -- who is William and Harry's father, and heir to the throne -- appeared in public earlier on Tuesday for the first time and did not respond to a question on the furor surrounding his family. Harry had told Winfrey that his father had briefly stopped taking his calls after the couple announced they were stepping back from the royal family last January. He added that they were now speaking again. President of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev has attended the inauguration of a newly-built military unit of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Sabunchu district, Baku. Minister of Internal Affairs Colonel General Vilayat Eyvazov reported to President, the Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. The head of state viewed conditions created at the military unit. BENGALURU, India, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mr. P.R.Sivakumar founded Maven Silicon with the vision of producing highly skilled VLSI engineers towards meeting the growing demand of chip designers in the semiconductor industry worldwide. Since 2010 they have successfully deployed 2500+ VLSI engineers collaborating with over 250+ industry partners, and emerged as a top class Centre of Excellence in VLSI for both academia and corporates. His perspectives shared with Semiconductor Engineering on Hard-To-Hire Engineering Jobs based on his entrepreneurial journey with a decade of excellence. Maven Silicon offers cloud-based online VLSI courses worldwide for the electrical engineers who aspire to grow as Chip Designers in the Semiconductor Industry Using the State-of-the-Art Technologies, Maven Silicon offers a wide range of Courses through ILT, VILT, & Self-Paced Learning to Hybrid Learning to support academia and corporates. The learners are equipped with modern EDA Tools, Techniques, and Skills that sync with the learning goals of the MNC's and Service Co's that are vital in an era of rapid change where advances in technology are disrupting the very way they work. Corporate Solutions During this pandemic situation, when the semiconductor industry was looking for innovative learning solutions to upskill and support their workforce remotely, they helped the industry with online learning solutions. In June 2020, they were awarded a two-year contract by a top US-based Wi-Fi company towards upskilling 600 VLSI engineers across various countries for their worldwide operations. In September 2020, they delivered a rapid online training program to upskill VLSI Engineers for a world's largest mobile manufacturer. Newsletter As the industry demands more and more chip designers with processor design expertise for AI, ML, Server, laptop and Smartphone chips and SoCs, our Founder and Author Mr. P R Sivakumar had initiated a collaboration with RISC-V in October' 2020 as their Global Training Partner primarily to upskill the VLSI Engineers on RISC-V Processor Design. In a short span, he authored and successfully launched the courses in January 2021. A RISC-V Training Partner Story continues About Maven Silicon: A Decade of Excellence supported by seamless operations helped them extend and transform New College Graduates [NCG] as job-ready VLSI Engineers. They were able to continue with the operations and train 500+ NCGs, irrespective of the COVID crisis and the enormous challenges faced during 2020. Through their social responsibility initiative, "Maven Silicon to Community", provided 100% Scholarships for the deserving NCGs considering their family and financial situation. Media Contact: Veeresh SG, info@maven-silicon.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1455094/Maven_Silicon_VLSI_courses.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1455093/Maven_Silicon_Logo.jpg Maven Silicon Softech Pvt. Ltd. SOURCE Maven Silicon Softech Pvt. Ltd. Published: 12 March 2021 Altogether 5.9 per cent of students discontinued education In all, 5.9 per cent of students attending education leading to a qualification or degree discontinued their studies and did not resume them in any education leading to a qualification or degree in the 2018/2019 academic year. In upper secondary general education aimed at young people the discontinuation percentage was 3.0, in initial vocational education it was 9.4, in university of applied sciences education (university of applied sciences qualifications) 7.5 and in university education (lower and higher university degrees) 5.8 per cent. These data derive from Statistics Finlands Education Statistics. Discontinuation of education leading to a qualification or degree 2918/2019, % The population used in the calculation of discontinuation in vocational education has changed and the data on discontinuation in vocational education are no longer comparable with previous years. Male students discontinued studies in all sectors of education more frequently than female students Men discontinued their education leading to a qualification or degree more often than women. Of men, 7.1 per cent discontinued education completely and 4.8 per cent of women in the academic year 2018/2019. Women changed the sector of education slightly more than men. Both men and women discontinued their vocational education most often. Men discontinued their university of applied sciences education as often as their initial vocational education. Discontinuation of education leading to a qualification or degree by sex and sector of education in academic year 2018/2019 1) Sex / sector of education Number of students used in the statistics on discontinuation of education 20 Sept. 2017 Discontinued in own sector of education Changed sector of education Discontinued completely education leading to a qualification or degree Pieces % % % Total 498 584 6,7 0,9 5,9 Men and women Upper secondary general education (aimed at young people) 96 853 3,0 1,5 1,6 Vocational education (initial vocational qualifications) 140 019 9,4 0,7 8,8 University of applied sciences education (university of applied sciences degrees) 127 419 7,5 0,9 6,6 University education (Bachelors and Masters degrees) 134 293 5,8 0,6 5,2 Men Total 237 105 7,9 0,8 7,1 Upper secondary general education (aimed at young people) 40 612 3,4 1,5 1,9 Vocational education (initial vocational qualifications) 72 638 9,7 0,5 9,3 University of applied sciences education (university of applied sciences degrees) 61 808 9,7 0,9 8,7 University education (Bachelors and Masters degrees) 62 047 6,8 0,6 6,2 Women Total 261 479 5,7 0,9 4,8 Upper secondary general education (aimed at young people) 56 241 2,8 1,4 1,4 Vocational education (initial vocational qualifications) 67 381 9,1 0,9 8,2 University of applied sciences education (university of applied sciences degrees) 65 611 5,4 0,8 4,6 University education (Bachelors and Masters degrees) 72 246 4,9 0,6 4,3 Large differences in fields of education 1) Numbers of students used in calculating discontinuation differ from total numbers of students, because part of students had to beremoved from the data (see the quality description, only in Finnish). The data do not include the Emergency Services Academy Finland and Alands yrkesgymnasium (Aland Vocational Gymnasium), because discontinuation could not be calculated due to insufficient monitoring data. In the academic year 2018/2019, studies were discontinued most in the field of agriculture and forestry (12.4 per cent), information and communication technology (ICT) (11.6 per cent) and natural sciences (11.2 per cent), and least in general education (3.0 per cent) and education (5.7 per cent). Discontinuation in various sectors of education focuses on different fields of education. In initial vocational education discontinuation was most common in natural sciences (20.8 per cent) and agriculture and forestry (15.1 per cent), and lowest in health and welfare (9.0 per cent). (See more details in Appendix table 2.) When examining with a more detailed classification of field of education discontinuation was most common in the field of environment (20.8 per cent), fisheries (18.5 per cent) and agriculture and forestry (16.9 per cent) and lowest in the field of health and welfare (9.1 per cent) and administration and commerce (9.5 per cent). Discontinuation in applied sciences education was most common in ICT (11.9 per cent) and natural sciences (11.6 per cent). Discontinuation in university education was biggest in agriculture and forestry (11.1 per cent) and ICT (10.7 per cent). Discontinuation in both university of applied sciences education and university education was lowest in health and welfare, in university of applied sciences education 5.1 per cent and in university education 3.0 per cent. The statistics on discontinuation of education use the National Classification of Education 2016 in examining discontinuation. The discontinuation figures were calculated to levels 1 and 2 of the National Classification of Education. The database tables of the statistics contain information on discontinuation of studies by sector of education in different fields of education and regions. There is a new table including students under the age of 25 in initial vocational education. The figures are not comparable with earlier years when the population consisted of students in vocational education aimed at young people, but give information on those aged 16 to 24 in initial vocational education. Calculation of discontinuation of education These statistics describe the discontinuation of post-comprehensive school education leading to a qualification. Data concerning discontinuation in the academic year 2018/2019 have been obtained by examining the situation in September 2019 of the students who attended education in September 2018. If a person has not obtained a qualification or continued education during this period, he/she is counted as having discontinued education. In order to calculate the discontinuation, students have been followed in a certain logical order where completion of a qualification is always prioritised above studying. The calculation of discontinuation and the definition of the population are explained in the quality description (in Finnish). More information related to the progress of studies is available from statistics describing Progress of studies and Employment of students. Source: Education. Statistics Finland Inquiries: Heli Hiltunen 029 551 3314, koulutustilastot@stat.fi Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala Publication in pdf-format (258.5 kB) Updated 12.3.2021 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Discontinuation of education [e-publication]. ISSN=1798-9302. 2019. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 2.6.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/kkesk/2019/kkesk_2019_2021-03-12_tie_001_en.html 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 Green Party peer has defended calling for a 6pm curfew for men to make women feel safe at night - but clarified the suggestion was 'not entirely serious'. Baroness Jones was criticised after using a House of Lords debate to propose legislation that would require all men to stay at home. She raised the idea in the chamber as thousands of women shared their sobering experiences of walking alone in the dark following the abduction of Sarah Everard. Women demanded action and organised Reclaim These Streets marches - but Baroness Jones went a step further, which drew a backlash. Today she doubled down, telling Sky News: 'Nobody makes a fuss when the police suggest women stay at home, but when I suggest it, men are up in arms. You should see my inbox. It's full of misogynistic and racist emails to me. 'Men just don't understand the pressure that women are under and if this has sparked intense scrutiny then I'm really happy.' First Green peer who boasts of having 'no pets, no car and grows her own vegetables' Jenny Jones is a mother of two who has sat in the House of Lords since 2013 as the first Green Party peer. She made several unsuccessful bids to be elected as an MP but spent 16 years on the London Assembly. She came third in the 2012 election won by Boris Johnson. Previously she served as deputy mayor to Ken Livingstone from 2003-4, when the hard Left icon was mayor (below). She was born and raised in Brighton on the Moulsecomb estate, 'the daughter of a hospital cook and a dinner lady'. She did various jobs including crafts teacher, a secretary, a book keeper, a shop assistant and an office manager before going to university aged 45 to study archaology and working as an academic for 10 years. Before election, she was an archaeologist working mainly in the Middle East. Her website boasts that she 'has no pets, no car and grows her own vegetables in summer'. In 2013 the Green Party was asked to nominate its first member of the House of Lords. Jones was chosen by party members and became a life peer. She was later joined in the upper house by former party leader Natalie Bennett. In 2015, Jones grabbed headlines when she refused to let Bennett answer a question from a reporter, who had referred to a car-crash interview with her that day as 'excruciating'. Advertisement Baroness Jones was scathing of Scotland Yard, who she claimed had advised women in London about venturing out after dark. The Met has issued general advice to women to stay safe - but stress it has not asked women to stay at home. Baroness Jones said this morning: 'It's not an entirely serious suggestion as I don't have the power to do that. 'I was just trying to highlight that when police victim-blame by telling women to stay home, we don't react, we just think it's normal. 'When I suggest it about men, everyone's up in arms. What's the difference? The difference is that there's misogyny out there. We need to fix it.' Baroness Jones, one of two Green MPs in the upper house, said the 6pm curfew was not party policy. She first made the remarks on Wednesday, when she said: 'In the week that Sarah Everard was abducted and, we suppose, killedbecause remains have been found in a woodland in Kent I argue that, at the next opportunity for any Bill that is appropriate, I might put in an amendment to create a curfew for men on the streets after 6 pm. 'I feel this would make women a lot safer, and discrimination of all kinds would be lessened.' Her calls for a curfew echoed those made during the Reclaim The Night rallies in the 1970s, when members of the Women's Liberation Movement took to the streets in the wake of the Yorkshire Ripper murders. Baroness Jones said today 'the whole Government does not seem to understand the pressure women are under and the deep misogyny buried in our society'. Yesterday Priti Patel said 'every woman should feel safe to walk our streets without fear of harassment or violence. The Home Secretary vowed that she would 'do all [she] can to protect women and girls from violence and harassment' and praised women for sharing their own experiences on social media. Sadiq Khan acknowledged the capital was a dangerous place for women at night. Asked by LBC's Shelagh Fogarty if the streets of London were safe for women, he said: 'No, they aren't or for girls and it's really important that people of my gender understand that. 'If you're a woman or a girl, your experiences of our city, in any public space, whether it's in the workplace on the streets, on public transport is very different to if you are a man or a boy, and it's really important that people like me in positions of power and influence understand that and take steps to address that.' Baroness Jones was criticised after using a House of Lords debate to propose legislation that would require all men to stay at home As well as the growing online movement, Covid-secure events have been planned. A vigil called 'Reclaim these streets' has been organised on Facebook and is due to take place at Clapham Common bandstand in south London at 6pm on Saturday. Women took to social media by the thousands to stress that the vulnerability felt when walking alone in the dark resonates with almost all women. Nicola Sturgeon, arguably the most powerful woman in the country, said 'there will be few - if any - women who don't completely understand and identify with this'. Labour MP Diane Abbott wrote: 'Even after all these years if I am out late at night on an isolated street & I hear a man's footsteps behind me I automatically cross the road. 'It is the habit of a lifetime to try & keep safe. But it should not have to be like this #SarahEverard.' Actress Katy Brand also said: 'Important to clarify I think that although instances of kidnap and murder from a stranger are indeed rare, being aggressively followed in the street by a man is not rare at all. 'I think it would be good to separate the two things. Lots of us have been scared many times.' ATLANTA, GA (Friday, March 12, 2021) - - Urban Contemporary gospel recording artist, entrepreneur and visionary Karlos Cobham releases his latest single "Moving On," available now for download or streaming on all digital platforms. Download or Stream "Moving On" Now: https://unitedmasters.com/m/KarlosCobhamMovingOn The Barbados native experienced a Job and Joseph journey, but God still had a plan, even though he found it hard to believe that during his valley moment. His new single "Moving On" sums up the pain and hurt he has been through over the years, particularly in 2020, a year the world will never forget. 2020 was rough for a lot of people, with the "C" word causing multiple deaths in a short space of time, job losses at its peak, political uprises, discriminatory scenarios and more. A year we definitely need to move on from as a people. Cobham wants us to remember that no matter what you had to face in 2020, you can find the courage in 2021 to move on and don't look back. Constantly looking back will never take us forward, but learning from what is behind you will help us reach our destination. May this song inspire you to dream again and step into all that God has assigned for you to do. "Moving On" is now available on all digital platforms. CONNECT WITH KARLOS COBHAM Instagram: @IAmKarlosCobham | Facebook: /IAmKarlosCobham| Twitter: @IAmKarlosCobham | Website: www.karloscobham.com | Booking: bookings@karloscobham.com ### Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. GREENWICH When Carolyn Tarpey began having difficulty swallowing in August, she didnt think much of it, according to her friends. But then she began losing weight and had trouble keeping food down. Tarpey visited an internist, who sent her to an ear, nose and throat specialist. After a procedure, the ENT doctor determined that her esophagus was blocked, and he scheduled a biopsy. The diagnosis was esophageal cancer, and she was prescribed chemotherapy and radiation just after New Years Day. She completed 3.5 weeks of the seven- to eight-week treatment cycle but had to stop after testing positive for COVID-19 in February, just as doctors were preparing to insert a feeding tube. Her friend of three decades, Joan Andrews, said Tarpey has not been able to eat since August. The 53-year-old now has COVID-induced pneumonia, likely caused by her weakened immune system due to the cancer treatments. Friends said Tarpey has no idea where she contracted the virus. After five weeks at Greenwich Hospital, she was moved to the facilitys COVID-19 intensive care unit Monday morning. The next day, she was transferred to the same kind of unit at Yale New Haven Hospital for more advanced care. She is in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator, friends said. Four women who have known Tarpey for years met at Bruce Park on Thursday morning to share her story and rally support during a sometimes tearful interview. We have not been able to see her at all since shes been at Greenwich Hospital, said Lisa Beeson, who employed Tarpey as a nanny for 19 years and has known her for more than two decades. Weve been only able to FaceTime, and now shes not in a position to communicate. During her hospitalization, Tarpey has expressed concerns for her 14-year-old son Henry. He has been staying with Amanda Vigale, a close friend of Tarpeys for nearly 35 years who has also worked as a nanny, sometimes on the same job. This is devastating for him, Vigale said of Henry, who now attends Eagle Hill School, a private school in Greenwich. He often asks difficult questions, such as one from Wednesday night: Can you promise my mom is not going to die? Vigale said. I think, for him its very difficult, because we cant tell him theres an end in sight right now. Setting up support To give back to someone who have given all her heart to the Greenwich community, Andrews set up a GoFundMe campaign last week to raise money for Carolyn and Henry Tarpey. In less than a week, it has nearly $110,000 in donations for the mother and son, garnering over 1,400 page shares and 550 donors. The four women said they organized and contributed to the fundraising campaign to alleviate the stress on Tarpey and to help her focus on recovery without worrying about her climbing medical bills. The goal is to raise at least $250,000 for the single mother and her son, the friends said. Even for those with insurance, the costs of cancer care are astronomical, Beeson said. The four friends are also hoping to provide for Tarpey if she needs money for rehabilitation or nursing care. She doesnt receive disability insurance, which presents another challenge for Tarpey, who has been off work. Before Tarpey was placed on a ventilator on Monday, she was aware of the GoFundMe page, and sent a few text messages to express her gratitude. She has no idea how much has been raised, said Stephanie Karp, who has known Tarpey for 14 years. I think $45,000 was the last I knew she was aware on Sunday. Adopting her son, caring for kids Becoming a mother and a nanny was a longtime dream for Tarpey, Andrews said. In 2007, several people, including Andrews and Vigale, accompanied Tarpey to adopt her son Henry in Kazakhstan. Karp and Vigale were so inspired that they adopted their own children from there three years later. The mothers have supported each other throughout the adoption process, they said. They are members of a few Facebook groups that hold annual reunions for families who adopt from Kazakhstan, and group members are banding together to pray for Tarpey and her son, Karp said. Karp said that when she returned to the U.S. from Kazakhstan, with young her son in tow, Tarpey was there to help. She cautioned me about various things, such as attachment and bonding, and I credit her so much for the relationship that I have with my son, Karp said. When Vigale moved from England to America to work as a nanny, she and Tarpey hit it off. Vigale had no family in the U.S., but Tarpey included Vigale in her own family gatherings. Likewise, when Vigale visited her family in England years later, she took Tarpey along. Over the years, the two had become accustomed to speaking several times per day. I think thats the hardest thing for me now, and I found myself the other day just calling her cellphone, just so that I could hear the voice that we all know and that we all love. Because, in the hospital, it was very hard for her to breathe, so we would all say, Dont talk, just listen, Vigale said. She said that she had called Tarpeys phone because she wanted to pretend, just for a minute, that all was normal. And ... I left a silly message, Vigale said. And I said, Well, OK, when you wake up, youll hear this silly message, and realize its just me. To donate to the GoFundMe page for Carolyn and Henry Tarpey, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-carolyn-and-henry-tarpey?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_34wd+support-for-carolyn-and-henry-tarpey tatiana.flowers@thehour.com @TATIANADFLOWERS Lucknow, March 12 : The paediatric team of the Command Hospital in Lucknow has achieved a rare feat of saving a preterm baby, Meghna, born at 24 weeks and weighing just 725 gram. Her chances of survival looked slim as the baby's vital organs had not developed properly due to the premature birth but the 162-year-old military hospital in Lucknow managed to save the baby. "Meghna, born on November 10, was so weak that during intensive care her weight dropped to 600 grams, but the doctor and nursing assistant gave in everything to save my daughter," said 25-year-old mother, Sunita Chauhan who is married to Sepoy Raj Kumar Chauhan. Meghna was discharged on February 8, becoming the first baby born at the Command Hospital to survive so young when delivered before the stipulated 37 weeks. "Our team created history after we managed to save a 24-week infant along with two other preterm babies-born at 25 and 26 weeks during the pandemic," said Lt Col Dr Ashutosh Kumar. Surgeon Capt Ashok Bhandari, head of paediatrics department, Command Hospital, said, "WHO recommends abortion if the baby is less than 28 weeks. But our neonatal intensive care staff led by Lt Col Ashutosh Kumar went ahead against the odds, including the pandemic, to save the infants. Intensive hygiene was maintained. We are happy that all three pre-term babies will lead a healthy life as their organs are now functioning properly." The first preterm baby to be discharged from the hospital was the daughter of Richa Singh and Naik Kuldeep Singh, born at 25 weeks on October 31. After intensive care of 65 days, she was discharged in January. According to the World Health Organization, about one million children die each year across the world due to complications of premature birth. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Before filing to divorce disgraced actor Armie Hammer last summer, Elizabeth Chambers allegedly found evidence that he had an affair with a co-star, according to a new expose by Vanity Fair. In February, a source close to Chambers told E! News that Hammer first told her a couple years ago that he was unfaithful and admitted it was not a one-time thing. The insider said he was apologetic and they started couples therapy to try to save their marriage of 10 years. On Thursday, March 11, a friend close to Chambers confirmed to Vanity Fair that Hammer confessed to cheating on her soon after their son, Ford, was born in January 2017. VF wrote, "Years later, this friend says, Elizabeth found evidence of an affair Armie was having with a costar." From 2018 to 2021, Hammer has appeared in Home Shopper, Sorry to Bother You, Hotel Mumbai, On the Basis of Sex, Wounds, Query, Rebecca, We Are Who We Are and Crisis. His next film, Death on the Nile, is set for release in September. Most Expensive Celeb Divorces Hammer told British GQ in September that he had been seeing a therapist multiple times a week and was still working with her weekly. However, the final straw for the mother of two was Hammer's alleged infidelity and his choice to leave his family in the Grand Cayman Islands in the middle of the pandemic. They had been quarantining there together, but, as Hammer told GQ, he came "very close to completely losing my mind" due to "big personalities all locked in a little tiny place." Elizabeth Chambers, Armie Hammer The pair shared matching statements on Instagram on July 10 announcing their breakup. In January 2021, Hammer faced a social media scandal after he was accused of sending unverified private messages that mentioned sexual fantasies involving cannibalism. At the time, the 34-year-old actor addressed the accusations in a statement obtained by E! News. "I'm not responding to these bulls--t claims, but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot, in good conscience now, leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic," he said. "Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I'm grateful to them for that." Story continues He stepped down from the Jennifer Lopez film Shotgun Wedding and was later replaced by Josh Duhamel. On Jan. 28, Variety reported that Hammer also exited the Paramount+ series The Offer amid the scandal. Less than two weeks later, he was dropped by his talent agency WME, a spokesperson for WME confirmed to NBC News. CFDA Awards 2017, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Chambers Model Paige Lorenze, 23, said in January that she met Hammer in September 2020 after she moved to Los Angeles. "We were in what he would call a polyamorous open relationship, but we both spoke about how we were not sleeping with other people and we were just seeing each other," she told E! News. Lorenze added that Hammer "slowly started easing" her into BDSM activities, which she said were consensual. This week, a source close to Chambers told Vanity Fair that she was "blindsided left, right, and center" and felt humiliated by photos of Hammer meeting up with other women after their divorce filing (he was previously spotted in Los Angeles with Rumer Willis in September). Apparently, their children, Ford and Harper, had not yet been told their parents had split up, per VF. The magazine reported Chambers has told her friends she's trying to appear strong for their children and has been joking to friends that the Netflix film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy) is "the only thing that makes sense" to her, as VF wrote based on information from her friend, when she thinks about their estranged relationship. Elizabeth Chambers, Armie Hammer, Thanksgiving 2017 A source that has known the couple for 10 years attributed the scandal to Hammer's "very dry sense of humor" and a lack of context behind the purported texts, while another friend said he was being unfairly targeted. Hammer's lawyer, Andrew Brettler, told Vanity Fair in a statement, "All interactions between Mr. Hammer and his former partners were consensual. They were fully discussed, agreed upon in advance with his partners, and mutually participatory. The stories perpetuated on social media were designed to be salacious in an effort to harm Mr. Hammer, but that does not make them true." A representative for Chambers declined to have her interviewed for the story. On Feb. 1, the 38-year-old chef released her own statement on Instagram, seemingly to address the accusations against her estranged husband, although she did not mention him by name. "For weeks, I've been trying to process everything that has transpired. I am shocked, heartbroken, and devastated. Heartbreak aside, I am listening, and will continue to listen and educate myself on these delicate matters. I didn't realize how much I didn't know," she wrote. "I support any victim of assault or abuse and urge anyone who has experienced this pain to seek the help she or he needs to heal." E! News has reached out to Hammer's lawyer and Chambers' rep for comment. To read more about the couple's downward spiral, click here. on Friday set a price a band of Rs 303-305 a share for its initial share-sale, which will open for public subscription on March 17. The IPO consists of a fresh issue of Rs 250 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to Rs 350 crore by existing shareholders. The three-day public issue would conclude on March 19 and bidding for anchor investors would be open on March 16. Those offering shares through OFS include International Finance Corporation, Gaja Capital Fund II, DWM (International) Mauritius, HDFC Holdings, IDFC First Bank, Americorp Ventures, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and Gaja Capital India AIF Trust. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - Skychain Technologies Inc. (TSXV: SCT) announces the appointment of Mr. Kym Anthony as advisor for financial and capital markets consulting . Mr. Anthony provides Skychain with extensive experience in financial markets. His career of more than 30 years includes roles as Chairman and CEO of TD Securities, Vice-Chair of Toronto Dominion Bank and President and CEO of National Bank Financial. Mr. Anthony also gained investment banking experience with CIBC/Wood Gundy and the Investment Dealers Association of Canada. "We look forward to working with Mr. Anthony and believe he will be invaluable as Skychain continues to grow," said Skychain President and CEO Bill Zhang. "His financial markets experience and broad perspectives will play key roles in helping us fund our plans to become a leader in crypto/data mining hosting services." About Skychain Technologies INC Skychain Technologies is a Vancouver based company providing Blockchain Infrastructure services and power solutions. Our vision is to become a leading player in the crypto/data mining hosting by growing to 100Mw of crypto hosting capacity. To learn more, visit www.skychaintechnologiesinc.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bill Zhang President and CEO ______________________________________________________________________ Contact: 604-456-0608 info@skychaintechnologiesinc.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release. Statements in this news release may be viewed as forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. There are no assurances the company can fulfill such forward-looking statements and the company undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Such forward-looking statements are only predictions; actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing the company, some of which are beyond the company's control. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION INTO THE USA To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76971 ING to file 2020 Annual Report on Form 20-F ING will today file its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2020 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission) later today. Shareholders or holders of ADRs can also request a hard copy of ING's audited financial statements, free of charge, at www.ing.com/publications.htm Note for editors For further information on ING, please visit www.ing.com. Frequent news updates can be found in the Newsroomor via the @ING_newsTwitter feed. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at Flickr. ING presentations are available at SlideShare. Press enquiries Investor enquiries Raymond Vermeulen ING Group Investor Relations +31 20 576 6369 +31 20 576 6396 Raymond.Vermeulen@ing.com (mailto:Raymond.Vermeulen@ing.com) Investor.Relations@ing.com (mailto:Investor.Relations@ing.com) ING Profile ING is a global ?nancial institution with a strong European base, o?ering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 57,000 employees o?er retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries. ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N). Sustainability forms an integral part of ING's strategy, evidenced by ING's leading position in sector benchmarks by Sustainalytics and MSCI and our 'A-list' rating by CDP. ING Group shares are included in major sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) index products of leading providers STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell. In January 2021, ING received an ESG evaluation score of 83 ('strong') from S&P Global Ratings. Important legal information Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014. Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation:. This document may contain inactive textual addresses to internet websites operated by us and third parties. Reference to such websites is made for information purposes only, and information found at such websites is not incorporated by reference into this annual report. ING does not make any representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of, or take any responsibility for, any information found at any websites operated by third parties. ING specifically disclaims any liability with respect to any information found at websites operated by third parties. ING cannot guarantee that websites operated by third parties remain available following the filing of this document or that any information found at such websites will not change following the filing of this document. Many of those factors are beyond ING's control. Any forward looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Attachment ADVERTISEMENT Seven people have been killed and several others injured by bandits in fresh attacks in Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local government areas of Kaduna State. The bandits also rustled cows and destroyed properties in the attacks. The states Commissioner for Internal Security and Homeland Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. The statement was on operational feedback to the Kaduna State Government by the security forces. Mr Aruwan said the first incident took place in Gangi village in Igabi Local Government Area where bandits in what seemed a cattle rustling operation killed four residents. He gave the names of those killed as Wada Sulaiman, Amiru Saidu, Yushau Mohammadu and Osama Abdulwahab. Two others sustained gunshot injuries and are receiving treatment in hospital. They are Ibrahim Jibrin and Abdulhamid Suleiman, the statement added. In the course of the raid, the bandits razed three houses belonging to Mohammad Jibril, Salisu Yau and Idris Muhammad. A pick-up truck belonging to one Umaru Saleh was also burnt. In all, 20 cows belonging to two residents of the village were rustled and herded away by the bandits. In another incident, armed bandits attacked Marke village in Giwa Local Government Area and killed one Rabiu Haruna. Similarly, at Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area, armed bandits killed two people along the Buruku road linking with Birnin Gwari Local Government Area. The victims were identified as Ibrahim Yahu Birnin Gwari and Haruna Usman. Another victim, Mansur Dada, sustained injuries and is receiving treatment in hospital. Governor Nasir El-Rufai noted the reports with sadness, and sent his condolences to the families of those killed, while praying for the repose of their souls. He also wished the injured citizens a quick recovery. Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kourtney Kardashian had a little fun with Throwback Thursday by sharing a snap of herself wearing a leopard-print tank and panties in the year 2000. It was a rare glimpse of the 41-year-old Poosh founder without her breast implants which she got, age 21, while studying theatre arts and Spanish at the University of Arizona. 'I have had breast implants, but it's so funny because it's not a secret, I could care less,' Kourtney told Nightline back in 2010. TBT: KUWTK star Kourtney Kardashian had a little fun with Throwback Thursday by sharing a snap of herself wearing a leopard-print tank and panties in the year 2000 'It's so funny because the "before" picture that [In Touch magazine] showed was after I had my boob job, so I'm like, they should have written "before Mason" and "after Mason." Like my boobs have like tripled since breastfeeding.' Kardashian is the only member of her family - aside from her late father Robert and brother Robert Jr. - to earn a bachelor's degree as well as join a sorority (Alpha Phi). On Tuesday, the Calabasas socialite revealed she decided to freeze her 'top notch, top tier' eggs at age 39. 'Hopefully they are sitting there okay, you never now. I really got talked into it,' Kourtney told Sarah Hyland on her Ellen Tube show Lady Parts. All natural: It was a rare glimpse of the 41-year-old Poosh founder without her breast implants which she got, age 21, while studying theatre arts and Spanish at the University of Arizona Kourtney told Nightline back in 2010: 'I have had breast implants, but it's so funny because it's not a secret, I could care less' College grad: Kardashian is the only member of her family - aside from her late father Robert (2-L) and brother Robert Jr. (R) - to earn a bachelor's degree Current: She shared a butterfly-filtered selfie on Thursday with a Poosh towel on her head 'It gave me a feeling of taking a deep breath. I was about to turn 40. Everyone was like, everyone stop rushing me I don't even know if I want to have another kid or if that is in the future.' Kardashian made no mention in the family-planning interview of her current boyfriend, Grammy nominee Travis Barker. The Estates at the Oaks neighbors reportedly knew each other for years before going Instagram official with their relationship on February 16. The half-Armenian beauty already has three children - son Mason, 11; daughter Penelope, 8; and son Reign, 6 - from her on/off nine-year romance with Talentless CEO Scott Disick, which ended in 2015. 'Hopefully they are sitting there okay': On Tuesday, the Calabasas socialite revealed she decided to freeze her 'top notch, top tier' eggs at age 39 Kourtney told Sarah Hyland (T-L) on her Ellen Tube show Lady Parts: 'It gave me a feeling of taking a deep breath. I was about to turn 40. Everyone was like, everyone stop rushing me I don't even know if I want to have another kid or if that is in the future' Instagram official on February 16! Kardashian made no mention in the family-planning interview of her current boyfriend, Grammy nominee Travis Barker June 21 family portrait: The half-Armenian beauty already has three children - son Mason, 11; daughter Penelope, 8; and son Reign, 6 - from her on/off nine-year romance with Talentless CEO Scott Disick, which ended in 2015 Christmas family portrait: The 45-year-old drummer has three children - stepdaughter Atiana Cecilia De La Hoya, 21; daughter Alabama Luella, 15; and son Landon Asher, 17 - from his 22-month marriage to Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler, which ended in divorce in 2008 The 45-year-old Blink-182 drummer has three children - stepdaughter Atiana Cecilia De La Hoya, 21; daughter Alabama Luella, 15; and son Landon Asher, 17 - from his 22-month marriage to Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler, which ended in divorce in 2008. Kourtney and her famous family will next host the 20th (and final) season premiere of E! series Keeping Up with the Kardashians this Saturday at a Los Angeles drive-in. Audiences must wait until March 18 for the televised premiere. On December 10, Kardashian and her fam signed a new multi-year global content deal with Hulu/Star, which starts streaming in late 2021. 'Reserve your ticket!' Kourtney and her famous family will next host the 20th (and final) season premiere of E! series Keeping Up with the Kardashians this Saturday at a Los Angeles drive-in Firefighters work to put out a house fire in Toronto, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. The Office of the Fire Marshal says there were no working fire alarms at house fire in Toronto that killed four people. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn Jessika Power has seen her fame skyrocket over the past year. Now the Married At First Sight star has truly gotten her A-list credentials, posing for a high fashion photo shoot for the Abyss by Abby clothing label on Friday. The 28-year-old shared behind-the-scenes footage from the glamorous session to her Instagram Stories, after flying into Sydney from the Gold Coast especially for the shoot earlier that day. Star power: Jessika Power (pictured) has seen her fame skyrocket over the past year. Now the Married At First Sight star has truly gotten her A-list credentials, posing for a high fashion photo shoot for the Abyss by Abby clothing label on Friday In the stunning footage, Jessica posed in a glittering, silver sequin gown with cut-outs at the midriff and a deep v-neck cut which flaunted her bust. The dress also featured hip-high slits, with the blonde beauty's shapely legs on display as she reclined back on a number of disco balls. Jessica wore her hair slicked back off her face, and had on a show-stopping red lipstick as well as elaborate eye makeup to compliment her flawless visage. High flyer: The 28-year-old shared behind-the-scenes footage from the glamorous session to her Instagram Stories, after flying into Sydney from the Gold Coast especially for the shoot Wow! In the stunning footage, Jessica posed in a glittering, silver sequin gown with cut-outs at the midriff and a deep v-neck cut which flaunted her bust Leggy: The dress also featured hip-high slits, with the blonde beauty's shapely legs on display as she reclined back on a number of disco balls Gorgeous: Jessica wore her hair slicked back off her face, and had on a show stopping red lipstick as well as elaborate eye makeup to compliment her flawless visage She completed the look with diamante statement earrings and extra long nails painted pale pink. In further video clips from the same shoot, Jessika posed in a more modest but equally eye-catching outfit consisting of a black sequin top cut at the midriff. She wore a more muted, peachy makeup palette for that look, and had her blonde bob dead straight. Pretty: In further video clips from the same shoot, Jessika posed in a more modest but equally eye-catching outfit consisting of a black sequin top cut at the midriff Turning heads: She wore a more muted, peachy makeup palette for that look, and had her blonde bob dead straight The blues: A further look saw Jessica in a sparking, blue, off-the-shoulder gown, with a nude makeup palette and neatly-blow dried hair A further look saw Jessica in a sparking, blue, off-the-shoulder gown, with a nude makeup palette and neatly-blow dried hair. A final costume change consisted of a pink, metallic sequin dress, with Jessika again posing among disco balls. In a short clip, the reality star revealed 'The Jessika Power Edit' for the Abyss by Abby label would be released at the end of the month. The Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 Elections, John Dramani Mahama has made a cash donation of GHS10,000 to the families of the teenagers who drowned at a beach in Apam last Sunday, March 7, 2021. He also donated GHS 3,000 to the Apam Fishermen Council. The donation was made on behalf of Mr. Mahama by the Running Mate of the NDC in the 2020 elections, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang. She said the donations are to support traditional rituals and the burial service of the young victims of the fatal incident. She used the occasion to console the bereaved families and engaged the two survivors and their families. She also registered her profound gratitude and appreciation to all persons who have risen to the challenge both with rescue efforts and material support. She particularly thanked the rescue teams, the Fishermen Council, the youth of Apam, management and staff of St. Luke Catholic Hospital, and the District Police Command. Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang was accompanied by the Member of Parliament for Gomoa West, Richard Gyan-Mensah together with other colleagues of the Central Regional MPs Caucus such as Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, James Gyakye Quayeson, Abeiku Crentsil, David Vondee and Gizella Tetteh Agbotui. Theophilus Aidoo Mensah, the Central Regional Vice Chairman of the NDC, Mr. Kojo Quansah, Regional Secretary, Ms. Faustina Lamptey, Regional Women Organiser, Alhaji Muhammed Kassim, Constituency Chairman and his executives were all part of the entourage. President Akufo-Addo had earlier donated GHS36,000 to the bereaved families and chiefs of Apam. Source: citinewsroom Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. 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on acting PM's invitation to debate with 1st and 2nd Presidents Armenia acting FM dismissed upon presidential decree Biden Signs $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Bill By The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Tough as it was for Democrats, passing President Joe Bidens sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package into law was the easy part.Now, they are hunkering down to push the next priorities in Bidens agenda past a wall of entrenched Republican opposition in the so-very-split Congress. It's likely to be a long slog.Popular legislation to expand voting rights, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and develop the presidents Build Back Better infrastructure package are all on deck this spring and into summer. But halfway through the president's first 100 days, sending the next measures to Biden's desk is expected to take many months. Democrats are even considering changing historic filibuster rules to overcome opponents and speed the bills along.It will take time to put all the pieces together, said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., a member of party leadership.Democrats face mounting pressure from within their centrist ranks to try harder to win support from Republicans, especially on the coming infrastructure bill a multi-trillion-dollar investment in roads, bridges, ports and broadband that could be even bigger than the coronavirus rescue package.At the same time, the progressive flank is eager to waste no time and take more dramatic steps, including changing the Senate's 60-vote margin required by filibuster rules, if needed, to leave Bidens opponents behind.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said all options remain on the table.We need a big bold agenda, just like we passed, Schumer said this week, vowing to "do everything we can to get that bold agenda done.If Republicans won't join us in that, he said, "our Congress is going to come together and figure out next steps.The next big test will come quickly, even before the big infrastructure bill is fully formed.The House is rapidly sending the 50-50 split Senate a series of bills to expand voting rights, raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and expand background checks for gun purchases.If Senate Republicans start blocking the legislation, Democrats are prepared to force them into long days and nights of dramatic floor filibusters, like the movie version in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has been among the most outspoken Democratic opponents of doing away with the filibuster, but he is not alone. While it takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster on legislation, a tall order in the evenly split Senate that would require at least 10 votes from Republicans, it also takes 50 votes to change the Senate's rules. As many as 10 other Democrats are also hesitant to eliminate the tool.The filibuster gives the minority enormous ability to halt action, and Senate Democrats used it plenty of times when they were out of power. But filibuster opponents say it has been abused over the years, particularly as a mid-century tool to delay civil rights legislation, and call it a historically racist tool that affords the minority too much power over the majority."Theres lots of ways we can test that the next couple of months," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.The House bills headed to the Senate are largely do-overs that stalled in the last session of Congress. In the weeks and months ahead, some Republicans will likely happily seize the opportunity to give lengthy floor speeches against bills they oppose as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, once did, reading Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham to his then-young daughters who were watching on television from home.Many lawmakers fundraise off such efforts, raising vast small-dollar donations.If in a 50-50 Senate, were stumped on basic legislation by the filibuster, its just a reminder that (Mitch) McConnells approach of legislative graveyard is going to prevail, Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip, told reporters on the Hill. And I think members are fed up with it.The outcome of the debates ahead will set the stage for Bidens next big effort, the Build Back Better infrastructure plan thats already taking shape in public committee hearings and private conversations on and off Capitol Hill. Along with the infrastructure investment, it could include vast new policy changes on green energy and immigration, and even make some of the just-passed COVID assistance like child tax credits permanent.House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky., said he expects it to roll out by the end of summer or in the fall.Still, Biden's infrastructure package may be one bill that could win over Republican support. Road- and bridge-building legislation has a long history of bipartisan support from lawmakers who need to deliver investments back home.But the bill is likely to be vast, and the other provisions on climate change or immigration may drive Republicans away. McConnell has warned Democrats off the go-it-alone strategy. MIDDLETOWN Wesleyan University has chosen the speaker and honorary degree recipients for its 189th commencement. The date was previously announced as May 30; however, given current pandemic conditions, the university is reviewing other options for the last week of May, according to a press release. The university is planning to hold the ceremony in-person on Wesleyans Middletown campus, though off-campus guests will be restricted to virtual attendance given the ongoing threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Reginald Dwayne Betts, an award-winning poet, memoirist and teacher, is this years commencement speaker. MacArthur-winning researcher, writer and activist Catherine Coleman Flowers, and Scott Gottlieb 94, a physician and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, also will be honored. The recipients were chosen on the basis of their significant contributions to the social, environmental, and public health of the United States, according to the news release. Betts is the award-winning author of four collections of poetry, a nonfiction memoir, and a body of essays and scholarship that have been featured in such publications as The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Washington Post, according to the college. The founder and director of the Million Book Project, his work has earned him a Radcliffe Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, NEA Fellowships, and a PEN New England Award for poetry, among many other recognitions. He is pursuing a PhD. in law at Yale University and continues to lecture on his formative experiences and the importance that grit, perseverance, and literature have played in his success, as well as the intersection between literature and advocacy, the release said. His most recent collection of poems, Felon: Poems (2019) was a winner of the American Book Award and the NAACP Image Award, and a finalist for the LA Times Book Award. Flowers is a renowned environmental health advocate whose work focuses on bringing attention to and developing solutions for failing water and waste sanitation infrastructure in rural areas, and increasing the understanding of how this infrastructure failure perpetuates health and socioeconomic disparities, the release said. For her work, Flowers was awarded a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a Genius Grant, which goes to citizens or residents of the United States who demonstrate extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. Originally from Lowndes County, Ala., Flowers earned a bachelor of arts degree from Cameron University in 1986 and a master of arts degree from the University of Nebraska in 2015. Flowers also worked as a high school teacher in Detroit, Mich., and Washington, D.C., before returning to Lowndes to begin her advocacy work. She is the founding director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, an Alabama-based policy and advocacy organization devoted to addressing the root causes of poverty in the state and developing multidisciplinary, grassroots solutions and models that can be replicated in rural communities throughout the country, the release said. Gottlieb is a special partner with the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. He served as the 23rd commissioner of the FDA from 2017 to 2019, and is a resident fellow at public policy think tank the American Enterprise Institute. His work spans a great many aspects of health care. At the FDA, he oversaw a record number of generic drugs, novel medicines, and innovative medical devices in two consecutive years, helping to make the regulatory process in those areas more efficient; advanced policies to address opioid addiction; reduced death and disease from tobacco; and guided important progress on drug pricing, food safety, and vaccination, the release said. After graduating from Wesleyan with a bachelor of arts degree in economics, Gottlieb went on to earn his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and conducted his residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He serves on the boards of Pfizer, Illumina, Aetion, and Tempus; was previously a senior policy adviser to the administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and a clinical assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine. He is a frequent contributor to CNBC and CBSs Face the Nation, and has also published commentary and articles in Health Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, among many others. Jan Hetfleisch/Getty ImagesBy Dr. ERIC SILBERMAN, MD, ABC News (NEW YORK) -- Pfizer's vaccine is successful in preventing not only symptomatic COVID-19, but also asymptomatic disease according to new real-world data, Israel's Ministry of Health and Pfizer/BioNTech announced Thursday. As concerning COVID variants spread and the companies behind the three authorized vaccines hurry to test their shots against them, there's other promising news from Thursday's announcement: this latest analysis was performed when more than 80% of Israel's COVID-19 cases were from the UK variant B.1.1.7 -- demonstrating that the Pfizer vaccine is equally effective against this variant, which is known to be more contagious, and possibly even more deadly, Israel's Ministry of Health reported. The announcement included a key statistic related to an alarming way the virus can spread -- via people who are asymptomatic, who may not even know they're contagious. The Pfizer vaccine is so far 94% effective at preventing this type of infection, Israel's Ministry of Health reports -- encouraging news that the vaccine could help slow silent transmission. The Pfizer clinical trials were designed to measure how well their two-dose vaccine worked to stop symptomatic cases of the disease -- cases where people knew they had the virus, including severe cases leading to hospitalization or death. Israel's most recent announcement cites the Pfizer vaccine as 97% effective at preventing these sorts of cases -- which roughly matches the 95% efficacy Pfizer noted in its trials. Israel's latest data, yet to be peer reviewed, was collected two weeks after administration of the second vaccine dose, reinforcing the idea that both doses are needed to achieve the full efficacy they report. And those who did not receive the vaccine were up to 44 times more likely to develop symptomatic disease, and 29 times more likely to die from COVID-19. "For the people that have already been vaccinated, it's another reason why it's so important that we've already rolled up our sleeves and received the vaccine," said Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of Infectious Diseases at South Shore Health. "And for those who are vaccine hesitant, hopefully data like that shows that these vaccines are unbelievably effective at not just preventing severe disease, but also markedly reducing infection. And if you can reduce infection, you will reduce transmission." Eric Silberman, MD, a resident physician in internal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, is a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Srinagar, March 12 : An unidentified armed robber looted Rs 2.25 lakh from a rural bank in J&K's Baramulla district on Friday. The police said that as per the complaint filed by the manager of the Grameen Bank branch at Kunzer in Tangmarg, an unidentified man carrying a pistol looted Rs 2.25 lakh from the branch. "A manhunt has been launched to trace the miscreant," the police said. Chandigarh, March 12 : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday presented a deficit Budget of Rs 1.55 lakh crore for the financial year 2021-22 with no provision of tax. Presenting the Budget estimates in the Assembly here, Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, proposed a Budget of Rs 1,55,645 crore, an increase of 13 per cent over the previous fiscal's Budget of Rs 1,37,738 crore. Presenting his second Budget, the Chief Minister said that the Covid-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges and "taught us several lessons". "It is important for the Budget to prioritise specific sectors that are key to leverage a rebound in the economy, particularly in times of crisis. We have identified health, agriculture and infrastructure as key priority areas that need to be focussed on for recovery and resurgence," he said. Khattar also announced free education from class IX to XII for all categories in the government schools. He is also aiming to achieve a minimum of one lakh job linkages for the youth in the private sector in the coming fiscal. Amid farmers' protest against the three Central farm laws, the Chief Minister said that his government is committed to doubling the peasants' income and ensuring their well-being. He also announced a slew of schemes to aid soil health and crop choices, crop residue management, crop diversification, zero budget farming, organic and natural farming and procurement. The Chief Minister launched the 'Mukhyamantri Antyodya Parivar Utthan Abhiyan' scheme for the poorest one lakh families in the state. Despite the year-long pandemic, the Budget estimates for FY 2021-22 indicates an increase of Rs 10,084 crore in revenue expenditure as compared to the revised estimates of FY 2020-21. As per the FY 2021-22 Budget estimates, the revenue deficit is estimated to be at Rs 29,193 crore (3.29 per cent of the GSDP) as compared to Rs 20,856 crore revenue deficit in the current fiscal. The state's debt liability is likely to go up to Rs 229,976 crore as on March 2022 from Rs 199,823 crore as on March 2021, constituting 25.92 per cent of the GSDP. To reduce air pollution from stubble burning by the farmers, Khattar proposed a comprehensive management plan for its management on site and at other locations. Steps have been initiated to install 100 compressed bio-gas and bio-mass plants for utilisation of crop residue in association with the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, he said. There is a proposal to establish a new milk plant in the southern part of the state that will cover the NCR with a packaging capacity of three lakh litre per day, extendable to five lakh litre. The Chief Minister said the government is considering a proposal to bring a policy for performance-indexing of the municipalities at municipal corporation as well as municipal council or committee level so as to create a positive atmosphere of healthy competition among these bodies. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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. Our Top 5 Magazines + Digital We get it. You live by the Ski Valleys snow report even when youre hours away. You follow every Taos post on Instagram. Our small town occupies a BIG part of your heart. Keep in touch with all things Taos when you subscribe to FIVE of our national award-winning magazines, plus access to the website and e-edition for a full year at the special low rate of just $55. (@ChaudhryMAli88) ADDIS ABABA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 12th Mar, 2021) The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) delegation, now visiting Ethiopia, have inspected the progress of work at the projects of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), the Honorary Chairwoman of the Emirates Red Crescent. The developmental projects are carried out by the UAE top humanitarian arm in the Ethiopian Bale Province and include the integrated establishment of 1600 houses, including their health and educational services, from which tens of thousands of refugees will benefit. During their visit, the delegation opened a nursery in Robi City, 400 km of Addis Ababa, as part of the ERC's initiatives in support of the education sector in the African nation. They've also delivered a number of school buses to facilitate the transportation of pupils to and from their schools. The UAE top humanitarian arm has accelerated its aid programmes in Ethiopia over the past two years due to the natural disasters and crises that caused increased number of Ethiopian peoples to flee the Bale Province to neighbouring areas. The projects have reached about 90% completion and are about to open soon to ensure their beneficiaries enjoy decent life the soonest possible. Dr Mohamed Ateeq Al Falahi, the ERC Secretary General said the directives made by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, reflect the UAE leadership's interest in easing the suffering of the disaster-hit Ethiopian people. He also cited in this regard the follow-up of Sheikh H. H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region, Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent, and his directives to ensure the reunion of the displaced across various parts of the nation with their families. He added that the directives made the UAE leadership embody the values of tolerance championed by the Emirates and re-affirm the breadth and strength of relations between UAE and Ethiopia. "The ERC's initiatives in Ethiopia fall within the UAE's commitment as a donor nation that plays a significant role in assuaging human suffering and responding to the developmental needs of peoples across the world," he added. The ERC's initiatives target tens of thousands of Ethiopians displaced around Addis Ababa and other provinces. They include the establishment of fixed abodes and new residential complexes for the displaced in their own original regions while supporting them to resume their social and economic activities after the long suffering they have been reeling under. These developmental projects target the Bale Province, which is the worst hit across Ethiopia, and include the erection of 1600 residential units in a number of territories affiliated to the province, including Juba, Borana, Guji, and Ginir in addition to constructing three schools for all educational stages and a nursery in Robi City that consists of 70 classes, management offices, labs and other educational facilities. They also include the establishment of a maternity hospital that consists of outpatient clinics, an operation complex, a lab, patient wards and a neonatal intensive care unit in addition to management offices, and other service facilities. This is together with providing a number of school buses. Over the last four years most Islamic terrorist violence has shifted to Africa. Currently the worldwide top-ten nations suffering terrorism-related deaths are; Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, India, Yemen, Philippines, and Congo. Some nations suffer more from non-Islamic violence. These include India, Philippines, Yemen and Congo, which all have Islamic terrorism but that accounts for a minority of terrorism-related deaths. Nigeria would as well except that many of its non-Islamic terrorist deaths are from Moslems attacking fellow Moslems for purely economic reasons. Despite that, in 2018 worldwide terrorism deaths declined 15 percent to 15,952. In 2019 there were 13,826 deaths and the decline continued into 2020. This decline is, so far, a five-year trend. Even Syria has experienced fewer deaths in the last few years. Egypt saw an even more dramatic 90 percent decline in 2018 and that decline has continued but the headline news does not cover trends like that. The old news adage, if it bleeds it leads is as true as ever and in Nigeria there are bloody headlines daily because of Islamic terrorist or tribal violence. Since 2014 five nations (Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan) have accounted for most of the terrorism-related deaths. That list has recently changed with Syria and Pakistan replaced by Somalia and Mali (including neighboring Sahel states). The largest source of Islamic terror deaths during that period was ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), a more radical faction of al Qaeda that is currently the most radical practitioner of Islamic terrorism. Islamic terrorism continues to be, as it has been since the 1990s, the main source of terrorism-related deaths, accounting for about 90 percent of the fatalities. The remainder of the terrorism-related deaths are ethnic (often tribal) conflicts in Africa and Asia. Purely political terrorism accounts for a fraction of one percent of all terrorism-related deaths and are outnumbered by terrorism deaths inflicted by common (often organized) criminals. Nigeria is where most Islamic terrorist deaths occur. The main reason for this is that about half of all Nigerians are Christian but most of them live in the south, where the oil and most of the developed economy is. Christians are better educated and more successful economically, which strikes many Moslem Nigerians as not right. After all, Christians are infidels and enemies of Islam. Boko Haram is more direct and believes that all Christians must convert to Islam. Those who resist must be killed or enslaved. Most Nigerian Moslems disagree with these Boko Haram attitudes towards Christians, Boko Haram considers Moslems who disagree with them over Christian misdeeds to be enemies of Islam and subject to death unless they change their attitude. While Islamic terrorism remains a major issue in Nigeria, such is not the case in the rest of the world. Islamic terrorism no longer dominates the world news now that ISIL has been largely suppressed. Global Islamic terrorism-related deaths have fallen by over 50 percent since 2014 when there were 35,000. This activity is most visible in the GTI (Global Terrorism Index), which counts all forms of terrorism. That puts Nigeria in the top ten because its casualties from Boko Haram violence alone would not do it. In the last year or so most terror-related deaths in Nigeria have come from tribal warfare, which has been a problem long before Islam showed up in sub-Saharan Africa about a thousand years ago. That was about the same time Islam underwent a religion-based shift in which science and technology went from being a useful area of study to a forbidden topic for devout Moslems. That was a side effect of a civil war that destroyed the caliphate (Islamic empire) because of nationalism and disputes over who the new caliphs (head of the caliphate) should be. The attitude created Boko Haram, which translates as Infidel education is forbidden. Most Moslems would prefer a more positive towards tech but such attitudes will get you killed during the periodic outbreaks of Islamic terrorism that have occurred over the last millennium. Within the Islamic world efforts are being made to change this. That is difficult because there was central authority to decide what is true Islam and what is not. This is a big deal among Moslems because Islam was founded as a religion that also served as a form of government. No other major religion has that as part of their basic beliefs as described in the Koran (the Moslem bible). This ongoing civil war is currently represented by the conflict between Iran, which follows the Shia school of Islam and is currently ruled by a religious dictatorship. Shia represent about ten per cent of all Moslems while the mainline Sunni represent about 80 percent. The Sunnis have no recognized leader and are divided into numerous subsects. Saudi Arabis is considered the most influential Sunni state by virtue of being Arab and ruled by the Saud clan which took control of the two most important Islamic shrines (at Mecca and Medina) in the 1920 when the Turkish Ottoman Empire was taken apart by the victorious World War I Allies, mainly Britain and France. Most of the Arab world had not been independent for centuries after the Turks seized control of the eastern Roman Empire, a process that was completed in the 15th century and managed to survive until the 20th century (1918). The Turks solved the caliph/caliphate problem by recognizing the Ottoman ruler (the sultan) as the caliph and eliminating any Moslems who challenged that claim. The 20th century also brought with it global dependence on oil and most of that was found to be in Moslem majority areas. Suddenly Islamic radicals had access to more cash than ever before. Islamic radicals had no objections to accepting infidel cash for their oil, and they eventually used all that wealth to attack the infidel states, as well as seeking to gain control of Moslem majority areas. That is why there was such an unprecedented outbreak of Islamic terrorism in the late 20th century. Groups like Boko Haram still despised infidel education but were eager to purchase all the gadgets and weapons that the Western scientific and industrial revolution made possible. The Moslem contribution to all that new tech was miniscule and still is despite many Moslem majority states making an effort to become more competitive in tech. Middle Eastern and Asian Moslem majority states were more effective at developing governments able to keep their Islamic terrorists under control. Africa lagged in that area, in part because sub-Saharan Africa was the last region to be exposed to the scientific and industrial revolution as well as nationalism. Moreover, there were many African countries where Moslems were a minority and largely ruled by corrupt and incompetent governments. That provided more opportunities for Islamic terror groups to establish themselves. By the early 21st century Africa, for all its economic, government and infrastructure problems, because the easiest place for Islamic terror groups to survive and even thrive. Nevertheless, each African country suffering from Islamic terrorism found that the problem had a local flavor. In northeast Africa (Somalia) the main source of Islamic terrorism deaths is al Shabaab, a local group affiliated with al Qaeda. The ISIL presence is miniscule and barely surviving in northern Somalia. Al Shabaab tries to expand into neighboring countries like Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda but has little success. In central Africa, landlocked Mali is the center of growing Islamic terrorist activity that has spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso which is, like Mali, landlocked and has 17 million people (about 20 percent more than Mali). Burkina Faso also lacks the troublesome Tuareg/Arab minority in the north. Because Burkina Faso is south of Mali it also lacks the semi-desert north in Mali. That is where the Tuareg/Arab minority live. Burkina Faso also has more religious diversity with a quarter of the population being Christian and 60 percent Moslem. Moreover, the Moslem population consists of several different schools of Islam, some of them quite hostile to Sunni Islamic terrorism as practiced by al Qaeda and ISIL. In contrast, Niger and Mauritania are almost all Moslem and have always been the home for some Islamic conservatives who were not satisfied unless their neighbors also adopted Islamic conservatism. ISIL does not have effective central authority at the moment with the senior leadership still dispersed and on the run from recent defeats in eastern Syria and western Iraq. In Nigeria Boko Haram is divided into factions and one of them, ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) is one of two Central Africa ISIL affiliates. It is often difficult, at first, to determine which faction of Boko Haram made an attack. Ultimately one of the factions will take credit. ISWAP is usually quicker to do so and has a much more efficient media operation than most Africa based Islamic terror groups. ISWAP is also finding that there is a downside to using ISIL techniques. More Western nations are willing to help Nigeria or at least coordinate existing counter-terrorism in the region (from Somalia to Mali and the Atlantic coast). There are smaller ISIL factions in northern Somalia, southern Libya and eastern Algeria. These groups were once larger but have suffered heavy losses from local and/or international counter-terrorism efforts. In Mali, the violence shifted since 2012 from northern to Central Mali where 74 percent of the 1,500 2019 deaths took place. The rest were in the northeast where ISIL is most active. The situation in Central Mali is worse than it appears because in the adjacent Sahel province of Burkina Faso there were 918 deaths in 2019. The two provinces can blame it on Islamic terror groups using the two provinces for their drug/people smuggling operation (north to the Mediterranean coast) which is so lucrative that it has expanded, at least in central and northern Mali, to include extortion and all manner of criminal activity. At the center of all this violence and cash producing activity are Fulani tribesmen who are numerous (20 million in all) throughout a belt of territory stretching from Central Mali, through northern Mali then through southern Niger into northern Nigeria. French troops in Mali killed the leader of AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) during a miod-2020 operation. This was a big deal because the Maghreb is the Arab word for North Africa and that is where AQIM came from. Most of the Islamic terrorist violence in North Africa took place during the 1990s and by 2000 Islamic terror groups were in decline. That decline continues to the present and led to many surviving al Qaeda men heading south where they tried to rebuild their strength by recruiting locals. This ran into problems because the largely Arab population of North Africa had never got on well with the non-Arab people living south of the Sahara Desert. AQIM did introduce the concept of Islamic terrorism down there and that led to local Islamic terrorist groups forming and operating independently of AQIM. As a result, the largest Islamic terror group in Mali is JNIM (Jamaah Nusrah al Islam wal Muslimin, or Group for the support of Islam and Moslems). This is an al Qaeda coalition formed in early 2017 to consolidate the many separate Islamic terror groups in Mali. In part, this was a reaction to the growing threat from ISIL, which is hostile to everyone who is not ISIL and will attack or recruit from the JNIM members like AQIM, Ansar Dine, FLM and several other smaller groups. Another reason for the merger was to make it easier to pool resources, especially information and practical advice, and coordinate with other Islamic terror groups in the region. This reduces friction and destructive feuding. Making a coalition like this work is always difficult, especially considering the importance of ethnic differences. FLM is Fulani (the largest local tribal contribution) while the other groups are largely Tuareg and Arab, and some have a lot of foreigners. Note that JNIM did not absorb all of AQIM groups in the area, just local groups that had long been identified with al Qaeda. Drug trade income keeps a lot of these factions in business and Islamic terrorists know that business and religious fanaticism do not mi. Those groups that do not go broke and wither to nothing. Islamic terror group members evolved and the more radical JNIM members joined more radical groups like ISIL, which is universally hated by other Islamic terrorists and Moslems in general. In early 2020, Malian ISIL members released a video on the Internet in which the group pledged allegiance to Abu Hamza al Qurayshi, the new ISIL leader. By 2018 there were two ISIL provinces in central Africa. The smaller one was ISGS (Islamic State in Greater Sahara), which showed up in 2018. ISGS is currently active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The other, slightly older and larger, ISIL province was ISWAP, which is actually a faction of the Nigerian Boko Haram Islamic terrorists who had been around since 2004. ISWAP personnel are mostly in northeastern Nigeria as well as smaller numbers in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. There has been increasing friction between ISGS and JNIM (and other al Qaeda affiliates). This is not unusual because, worldwide, ISIL demands all other Islamic terror groups acknowledge the supremacy of ISIL. This rarely happens anymore. In areas where both ISIL and al Qaeda operate, there is usually an informal truce or, as is now the case in Mali, open warfare. ISIL groups are usually outnumbered but often survive because they are more ruthless and vicious. In northern Mali, ISGS also accuses JNIM of collaborating with the security forces against the ISIL group. That is not unusual worldwide but it is unclear if it is actually happening in Mali. What is happening is that ISGS continues to recruit new members from al Qaeda factions. This is how ISIL was created back in 2013 and the practice continues. While Islamic terrorists are the source of much violence and death in Mali and neighboring countries, the main source of violent death is still tribal feuds. In Mali, the primary one is between the Fulani and Dogon and so far in 2020 that feuding has killed more people than all the Islamic terrorist violence in Mali. California, home to nearly 40 million people, says it has the capacity to vaccinate 3 million per week but is getting about half that number of doses. By April 1, the state plans to ramp up weekly shots to 4 million people. But so far, vaccines are still limited to those 65 and older, educators, farmworkers, emergency service workers and, starting Monday, an estimated 4.4 million people with disabilities and certain health conditions. 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. London A CBS News investigation revealed a disturbing trend last year of child abuse suspects managing to flee from justice in the U.S. to Israel. One of those suspects, Gershon Kranczer, was finally returned to New York City on Thursday to face charges after more than a decade in Israel. He's accused of molesting two female relatives, one of them just six years old at the time. CBS News correspondent Ian lee has investigated these cases for years, and his reporting has had an impact. Gershon Kranczer is seen in police custody in New York City after being extradited from Israel, March 11, 2021, to face U.S. charges of child molestation. / Credit: CBS Activists say people like Kranczer have for decades exploited a process called the Law of Return, whereby any Jewish person can move to Israel and automatically gain citizenship. Our investigation revealed how dozens of accused and convicted American pedophiles have used the process to flee to Israel. In 2019, Lee and a CBS News crew were there as a private group in Israel went on a stakeout looking for Jimmy Karow, an American wanted for sexually assaulting multiple children. After spending 20 years on the run, police arrested him. He was held over a rape in Israel, but our report broke the news of his detention to one of his alleged victims in America, Kacey Meier-Smith. As he was led away by police, Karow denied to us that he'd abused any girl in America, or that he fled to Israel to avoid the accusations. Meier-Smith told Lee that she was thankful to see Karow led away in handcuffs, because she had "wanted to see that gotcha moment for so long. But also, I was even more angry, because he denied what he did to me." Alleged pedophile faces justice in Australia after extradition from Israel She and her twin Katie were just 9 years old when they met Karow at their neighborhood pool in Clackamas County, Oregon. "He would make jokes and start poking fun at us, playing games with us. and then touching us and grabbing us and getting us closer. And then he, he sexually abused me and my sister repeatedly," Meier-Smith told CBS News. Story continues Her family went to the police. "I remember we had exams as children, and I remember that we also had a grand jury," she recalled. Julius Jimmy Karow is seen in a handout photo provided by INTERPOL. / Credit: Interpol Karow fled before he was indicted, but no one told Meier-Smith. For years she thought he was locked up. It was a shock, and "very frustrating" when she found his name on the Clackamas County "Most Wanted" list. She felt let down by the authorities and began her own search, eventually tracking Karow to Israel. "I found him. I found his work even, and I sent it to Clackamas County." she told CBS News. It was another seven years before Meier-Smith saw Lee follow Shana Aaronson and her team from the Jewish Community Watch organization as they tracked Karow down south of Tel Aviv. She immediately reached out to Aaronson. "They were so grateful that there was somebody out there that had been looking for him and that actually cared about this," Aaronson recalled. Soon after our investigation aired, Israel changed its policy and it now requires immigrating Americans to undergo an FBI background check. "This was a really important step," Aaronson said. "Not enough to close all the holes, because there are so many people that can get through, through other ways and through other means, and there [are] certainly other efforts that are needed, but this was a very significant step." It was a significant step to stop more people like Karow, who last month was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Israel for raping a child, using the Law of Return to evade justice. But Meier-Smith and her twin sister now want Karow extradited to the United States to face justice for what he allegedly did to them. We reached out to the district attorney in charge, who told us they're diligently working with U.S. authorities to get Karow back. Ultimately it will be Israeli authorities who decide whether to hand him over, and there are no guarantees. Israeli authorities may be reluctant to hand Karow over as he is already serving a 13-year sentence in that country. In addition, had he been accused in Israel of committing the crimes he's accused of committing in Oregon, the statute of limitations would have expired by now, which could give authorities another reason to deny extradition. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz eases COVID restrictions Expert discusses mental health effects of COVID-19 pandemic House Republicans blame Biden for surge in migrant children at the border South Africa: Virtual meeting to discuss gang activity in Gauteng The Gauteng Provincial Legislatures Portfolio Committee on Community Safety has called on the MEC for Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko and the Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela to appear before the committee to discuss criminal gang activity in the province. Both the MEC and the Police Commissioner are expected to appear before the Committee virtually today to give a detailed account on how they are dealing with the scourge of organized criminal gangs in the province. According to the Committee, this is an effort to eradicate the existence of violent activities perpetuated by the gangs in communities. It comes after a number of community members had marched to their nearest police stations to complain about organized criminal gangs terrorizing them. Over a week ago, residents of Atteridgeville marched to their police station to hand over a memorandum in protest of crime in their community. Though the Committee strongly condemns the approach taken by the community of Atteridgeville of burning tyres and blocking roads during their protest, the Committee feels that members of the community were raising legitimate concerns. The Committee is also concerned about media reports of organized criminal gangs in Mamelodi which have been there for years instilling fear in the community. The Committee has learned of three notorious gangs called Boko Haram, Farasai and the Al Qaeda which are alleged to be operating in Mamelodi. It is alleged that these organized criminal gangs specialize in business extortion, hijackings, murder and drugs dealings. The increasing number of media reports around gang related activities especially in Mamelodi suggests that more needs to be done to fight the scourge of crime. The Committee is of the view that the terror caused by these gangs has no place in society and that law enforcement agencies must develop gang targeted strategies aimed at dismantling every opportunity that allows them to prevail in communities. It is for this reason that the Committee feels that the police must give an account on their strategies to deal with gang-related activities in order to allow Members of the Committee to interrogate the effectiveness of these strategies and provide appropriate recommendations where necessary. The Committee also feels that communities must play an active role as part of joint intervention strategies aimed at creating gang and crime free communities by reporting gang-related activities. Law Enforcement Authorities should demonstrate and value this form of partnership by prioritizing the protection of those reporting these crimes. This will lead to a more structured and coordinated approach of fighting gangsterism in Gauteng thus creating a province where every resident is safe, the Portfolio Committee on Community Safety said in a statement. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Gabriel Byrne is a fine actor but he is an even finer writer. Full of the theatre of our street, as his father called it, this exquisite memoir is alive with the many voices of Byrnes past that bubble to the surface, speaking their truth before they return to the stream of consciousness from which they came. Above all, it is his mothers voice that sings in counterpoint to his own, recalling his birth, reciting poetry, telling jokes, charming everyone with her gift of the gab. Eschewing the predictable narrative of working-class Dubliner to Hollywood star, Byrne weaves a much more melancholy yet often funny tale reminiscent in its stylistic polyphony of James Joyce and Dylan Thomas. Its a story whose richness has little to do with Byrnes fame and everything to do with a soulful sensibility in full flight. In the fable about the mice terrorised by a predatory cat, the big question is: Who will put the bell on the cat? When Eliot Higgins blog, which used open-source information to expose war crimes and disinformation, burgeoned into a global investigative community, he wanted a name that would reflect their mission to hold the marauding cats of the world to account. Working online rather than on the frontline, these detail-oriented obsessives plumbed the resources of the internet to prove that Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons on the Syrian people, expose who was behind the downing of flight MH17 and give the lowdown on the Kremlin kill team in the Skripal case. In a world of cyber fakery, this is an inspiring, people-power story about how evidence can triumph over lies. The Panic Years Nell Frizzell Bantam Press, $29.99 Credit: What comes between adolescence and menopause? Nell Frizzell calls it the flux, the tumult of hormones, social pressure and maternal hunger that smacks into many women like a train at the end of their 20s and early 30s. These are the panic years when ambition, desire and independence race against the ticking of the biological clock. This frenetic, at times hyperbolic, memoir documents Frizzells own panic years the freefall of breaking up with a long-term boyfriend, the years of singledom and failed relationships, the bewilderment of watching friends getting pregnant and married and finally the longed-for chaos of becoming a mother. While anyone who has been through this will relate, it probably holds most appeal for twenty and thirtysomethings who are in the grip of the flux themselves. Into the Loneliness Eleanor Hogan NewSouth, $34.99 Leominster had the largest number of student COVID-19 cases in the past week with 15, according to state data, as teachers work to get vaccinated before full-time schooling is required to start in a few weeks for elementary students. In total, there were 523 coronavirus cases reported among 377 students and 146 staff members at schools across the state from March 4 to 10, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. That total includes 373 student cases and 141 staff cases at local school districts, three student cases and three staff cases at education collaboratives, and one student case and two staff cases at approved special education schools, according to a weekly report from the department. This weeks report shows a slight increase from last week, when 476 virus cases among 343 students and 133 staff members were reported. The coronavirus case report from DESE comes out each Thursday and includes cases from students or staff members who tested positive within seven days of being inside a school building. There were nine student cases each in Dracut, Grafton and Quincy. District staff cases were highest in Boston with 12 cases, followed by Leominster and Worcester with six each. Find numbers for your district or school in this searchable database. If youre having trouble accessing the database, click here. On Thursday, K-12 employees and childcare workers became eligible to make COVID vaccine appointments but faced long online wait times. The demand for the vaccine is much higher than the states weekly supply. Teachers and school staff are eager to get an appointment, especially as the state moves to require five days a week of in-person learning. DESE is requiring districts to switch from hybrid and remote plans to five days a week of in-school learning next month. However, parents can choose to keep children remote through the remainder of the school year. Districts must have five days a week of in-person learning for elementary schoolers by April 5 and middle schoolers by April 28, education officials announced this week. There are waivers available in some circumstances, like for districts that have been primarily remote this academic year. As of March 10, there are 177 school districts, charter districts, and collaboratives that have applied to participate in a pooled COVID-19 testing program currently paid for by DESE. That number includes more than 1,000 schools and 325,000 students, state officials said. The initial data from those pooled tests indicate a low level of the virus in schools, officials said. In the first month of the program, vendors have conducted more than 8,500 pools across the state at elementary, middle and high schools. Just 0.7% of those pools have been positive, officials said, and because most pools have contained only one positive individual, the prevalence among the tested school population is likely <0.2%. Related Content: AS dusk fell over the Winnipeg riverside, tight rows of 645 flameless candles gleamed near The Forks. AS dusk fell over the Winnipeg riverside, tight rows of 645 flameless candles gleamed near The Forks. Its been one year since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, and the memorial is meant to honour each person who has lost their life to the coronavirus in the city. Just behind the panorama, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights lit its Tower of Hope blue, in support of health-care workers. The memorial and the blue lights will remain in place until Sunday night, with additional candles added should there be more fatalities announced by the province. "This time last year, the world as we know it had changed completely," Mayor Brian Bowman said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. "I hope this small gesture of support will provide some measure of solace to those who have lost loved ones, and I hope each of them know that Winnipeggers share in the sorrow that they feel." Manitoba reported its first cases of COVID-19 on March 12, 2020. Since then, 911 people in the province have died from the disease. That number includes 645 people in the Winnipeg health region two more of which were announced Thursday, prompting city staff to add more candles just hours before the memorial was lit. "All of these numbers represent real people. These are our neighbours, our friends, family members," said Bowman. "Many Winnipeggers were restricted from being by the side of their loved ones in their final days... Its absolutely heartbreaking to think of how much that has impacted so many in our community." Edie Louise was walking by The Forks to catch some fresh air with her young granddaughters Thursday evening, when she noticed the candles. "I immediately paused in my steps and had to let the girls walk ahead of me because I needed to catch my breath," she told the Free Press. "I lost my best friend to this virus," Louise said. "It happened last fall, Im still trying to process it all... This is just a beautiful thing to honour her life, because she just loved walking right here with me." Earlier, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Services assistant chief of emergency management recalled the "team effort" required to respond for pandemic protocols, as the provincial capital scrambled in the early days of the crisis. "Our emergency operations centre has now been in activation for the longest period in the citys history," said Jay Shaw. "While we may see a glimmer of the light at the end of the tunnel, we know were not out of the woods yet. This pandemic is not over." temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @temurdur The West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees are organizing the enormous opposition among educators, parents and students to the homicidal reopening of schools throughout the region. Register today and invite your coworkers and friends to attend our next meeting at 2 p.m. PST this Saturday! Elementary schools in the Inland Empirea region inland of Los Angeles which is home to some four million peoplebegan opening to in-person instruction last week. This reckless move takes place even though the region remains in the states most dangerous purple tier classification, which designates infection rates higher than seven per 100,000. Students return to class. (Image credit: AP/Emilio Morenatti) Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the two largest counties in the Inland Empire, are overseeing some of the most aggressive school reopening plans in the state. Elementary schools in San Bernardino County were approved to resume in-person classes on February 24. In Riverside County, the Corona-Norco Unified School District resumed in-person instruction for elementary school students on March 1. Riverside Unified School District followed on March 8, and three more districtsMurrieta Valley, Palo Verde and Desert Sandsplan to reopen next week. The drive to reopen schools in the Inland Empire is part of an aggressive and reckless push to open schools across California and the entire West Coast, which is the final region in the US where the majority of large school districts have not yet reopened. Since taking office, the Biden administration has spearheaded this campaign with the full collusion of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA), and their state and local affiliates. Under state rules in California, elementary schools can reopen when new infections fall below 25 per 100,000 residents, an extremely high benchmark which ensures that all but the hardest hit counties can begin their reopening plans immediately. Preschool and elementary school students are resuming in-person instruction under a hybrid model in which students are divided into morning and afternoon groups, in order to decrease class size. While high schools and middle schools remain online for now, they can reopen in a given county once it moves from the purple tier to the red tier. Riverside County is planning to reopen middle and high schools as early as April 1. Last week, state officials announced that seven counties in Northern and Central CaliforniaEl Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Napa, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and Santa Clarawould be moved to the red tier, clearing the way for a reopening in those districts. Upon reclassification, San Francisco Unified School District immediately approved a tentative agreement to resume in-person instruction starting April 12. Schools across the state are being pressured to reopen following an agreement between the state legislature and Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on March 1 allocating $6.6 billion for schools that reopen by March 31. In what amounts to bribing financially strapped school districts to reopen, the deal stipulates districts that have moved to the red tier would have to resume in-person instruction for elementary school students and at least one grade in middle school and high school in order to receive the additional funding. The most critical role in facilitating the reopening of schools is being played by the teachers unions. On Tuesday, the leadership of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) reached a tentative agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second largest in the country, to resume in-person instruction in April. This abject betrayal follows the model set by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) last month, and if approved will set a precedent for reopening schools throughout California. Across the country, the reopening of schools has been an unmitigated disaster, leading to at least 675,000 COVID-19 infections among students and staff, according to the COVID Monitor curated by whistleblower Rebekah Jones. The dangers are now compounded by the spread of new, more virulent strains of the virus, including the B.1.427 variant that emerged in California last summer and has become the dominant strain in the state. This variant is expected to account for as much as 90 percent of the states infections by the end of March. It appears to reduce the effect of antibodies in neutralizing the virus and has likely contributed to the rapid spread of the disease throughout the state. Alfonzo, a UPS worker in the Inland Empire, told the World Socialist Web Site, Before working for UPS, I was a substitute teacher. If theres one thing I learned, its that the classroom is the most fertile ground for any infection. That is exactly where you catch anything, and all teachers know it. Schools here in the Inland Empire are being reopened basically not for educational purposes, since that could be accomplished remotely, but as day care centers where working people drop off their kids while they need to go back to work. And that is not a choice they are making voluntarily. Capitalism is pushing them into very hard decisions. For example, most families cannot live on one salary and the pressure to get out there is enormous. There are also school staff that are not being mentioned in the media. These are people, like janitors and cleaning crew, who are being sent back to work, and I dont think they are being offered hardly any type of protection. Yet, they are the staff that make schools run. Now with the danger of variants, what will happen to them? The efforts to send hundreds of thousands of students and educators into poorly ventilated classrooms throughout California and the West Coast region will be disastrous and has already provoked an outpouring of anger on social media among educators, parents and students. This opposition must find conscious expression through the building of rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the unions and both big business parties. Such committees now exist in Los Angeles, San Diego, Northern California, as well as in Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, New York City, Chicago and other cities and states across the US and internationally, with plans to form committees in Oregon, Washington and throughout the West Coast region. We urge educators, parents and students in Riverside, San Bernardino and throughout the region to sign up today to help build rank-and-file committees at every school and workplace to fight to implement the lockdown measures necessary to contain the pandemic and save lives, while providing full compensation to all workers affected. Sign up today to get involved and make plans to attend Saturdays meeting of the West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees! Thomas Novelly is a political reporter based in Charleston. He also covers the military community and veterans throughout South Carolina. Previously, he wrote for the Courier Journal in Kentucky. He is a fan of Southern rock, bourbon and horse racing. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Robin Ganzert, Ph.D., is president and CEO of American Humane. She is the author of "Mission Metamorphosis: Leadership for a Humane World." Last month, retired military working dog Bogi traveled more than 4,000 miles, from Iwakuni, Japan, to Honolulu, Hawaii, to be reunited with her former handler, Marine Corps Sgt. Angela Cardone. It was a heartwarming, beautiful reunion, and one that deserves to be replicated every time an MWD retires from service. Sadly, however, this is not the case, as bringing these K-9 veterans back home after service and ensuring they receive proper veterinary care can be a logistical nightmare too difficult to overcome. On National K-9 Veterans Day (March 13), we pay tribute to the contributions of our four-legged military heroes and call on Congress to introduce and pass legislation that provides grants for the transportation and care of retired MWDs. For more than eight decades, MWDs have officially served alongside our brave men and women in uniform, keeping our sons and daughters safe from harm. While today's MWDs no longer ferry messages through combat territory, they provide an invaluable layer of added security that modern technology cannot replicate. A dog's nose has up to 300 million olfactory receptors, which are the biological tools used to detect airborne odors. Human noses, for comparison, have just 5 to 6 million. That means a canine can detect a single drop of a dangerous substance in more than 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. Each dog can save hundreds of lives. Consider MWD Troll, who was awarded the American Humane Lois Pope K-9 Medal of Courage on Capitol Hill in 2019. While deployed to Afghanistan, Troll logged 1,240 hours while conducting 89 combat missions. During a single raid on an insurgent compound, Troll sniffed out three improvised explosive devices, keeping 65 coalition force members safe. There is no price tag that can be put on this courageous feat or others like it. Just a few years ago, Congress recognized these irrefutable facts and signed into law legislation to give courageous K-9s the retirements they deserve. The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act mandates that handlers of these special veterans be given first rights of adoption upon retirement. This provision helps ensure that battle buddies who serve together, and protect one another, can remain together. The law also stipulates that MWDs retire on American soil. To make these laws a reality for retired MWDs and their handlers, American Humane and other non-governmental organizations work to marshal and allocate the funds necessary to bring these dogs to U.S. soil and give them the retirements they so rightfully deserve. Flying K-9s back from military bases abroad and foreign combat zones is no easy task. Many airlines and planes aren't equipped to ensure the safest possible journey, and the cost can easily reach into the thousands of dollars. Congress is to be applauded for taking the first step in allowing our MWDs to be adopted by their battle buddies. It's time, however, for Congress to take the next courageous step and allocate funds for their safe return and veterinary care so that our K-9 veterans may enjoy healthy, happy retirements. -- 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. Now even Mexico's leftwing president is accusing Joe Biden of encouraging illegal immigration into the United States and of enriching Mexico's criminal cartels through its new border policies. Those criminal cartels now make more money off of human smuggling than off of drug smuggling. Many illegal aliens now travel through Mexico from Central America to sneak into the US, paying Mexican criminal cartels to smuggle them in. .They see him as the migrant president, and so many feel theyre going to reach the United States," said Mexican President Lopez-Obrador. Mexico's president also repeated his offer to work with the US to reduce to flow of illegal migrants, but he is getting little cooperation from Biden. Part of the surge in illegal alien migrants is a tripling in one month of those who claim to be "unaccompanied minors" but the US does almost nothing to verify that the age their migrants claim is real. Multiple other countries that have conducted tests to determine actual age have found that many of these alleged children are really adults. In Norway, for instance, when immigration authorities started doing dental development tests to establishment correct ages, they found that ninety percent (90%)of those claiming to be unaccompanied minors were really adults who were lying about their age. 12. 3. 2021 / Jan Culik On Wednesday 10th March, 2021, Czech public service television broadcast a TV premiere of a shocking feature documentary entitleddirected by the well-known film maker Vit Klusak and radio journalist Barbora Chalupova. The film highlighted a serious problem of online sexual grooming of under-age girls and boys by a large number of men in the Czech Republic. The film Caught In the Net has carried out an experiment. Its producers published an advertisment for grown-up women who look under-age, actresses, who would be willing to pretend that they were 12 years of age and who would be willing, under the watchful eyes of film cameras, to create their own profiles on social networks and to wait to be contacted by members of the public. The ongoing experiment was followed by psychologists, child abuse specialists, criminologists and lawyers. The child abuse specialists explained that of all these men, only some 3-5 per cent are actually paedophiles. All the others are men who have been for some reason unsuccessful in finding a female partner, so they abuse underage girls online for their sexual gratification. It became evident that this is a massive problem and that a whole generation of young children is being traumatised while no one is doing anything against it. Although the film featured only girls, the film makers pointed out that underage boys are also victims of this abuse. A lawyer on the team explained that the grooming predators were actually committing a large amount of fairly serious criminal offences for which they should be in prison. He also pointed out that the internet providers of access to the social networks should be vetting their spaces for pornographic and other abusive material and should be instantly removing it. Nothing like that happens, on the contrary, the owners of the social networks are interested in clickbaits only and are raking in profits using advertising on these sites which heavily rely on the sexual exploitation of minors. The abuse is taking place on the social networks Facebook, Skype, Lide.cz, Snapchat and Omegle. The whole film in Czech: During the casting procedure, the production team interviewed 23 young actresses. Of these,told the film makers that when they were around 12, they were subject to online sexual abuse.The producers selected three under-age looking girls and the filming started. The experiment lasted 10 days. During this time, the three "12-year-old" girls were contacted bywho were trying sexually to manipulate them. Those men that the girls actually came to talk to online were insisting that the girls strip naked in front of the laptop cameras, the men sent them pornographic videos, showed them close-ups of their erect penises and masturbated in front of them. at the beginning of the conversations, the girls told all the men they were about to talk to that they were only 12 years of age and asked them whether they minded. None of them minded that they were seriously under-age.Yet again the social infrastructure of the Czech state has proven to be ineffectual. Why is the Czech government not telling the owners of the social networks that unless they IMMEDIATELY block sexual grooming on their websites, their social networks will be blocked in the country? St. Augustine High School and its famed Marching 100 are the subject of a 60 Minutes profile scheduled to air Sunday. A crew from the long-running CBS newsmagazine, led by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi and producer Laura Dodd, visited the campus on A.P. Tureaud Avenue in January. They interviewed St. Aug's band director, Ray Johnson, himself a former Marching 100 drum major; president and CEO Kenneth A. St. Charles; students and parents. "Its incredibly exciting to witness the St. Aug brand of leadership on such an enormous global stage through the incomparable 60 Minutes, St. Aug chief development officer Aulston Taylor said. Individuals all around the world will get a glimpse of our wonderful school culture through our students, faculty and families. The feature is being told through the lens of the Marching 100, but theres so much more to how we transform our boys into men and, most importantly, leaders of tomorrow." The segment will air ahead of Sunday's Grammy Awards, which, like 60 Minutes, is on CBS. Four former St. Aug students Jonathan Batiste, PJ Morton, Luke James and Jay Electronica are individually nominated for Grammys. Both Electronica, who was known as Timothy Thedford at St. Aug, and James, who was still using Boyd as his last name as a Purple Knight, were members of the Marching 100. The 60 Minutes segment likely wouldnt have happened were it not for a chance encounter last summer. Taylor was invited to be one of 25 participants at a symposium, titled American Neighbor: Courageous Conversations on Race, at the Peristyle in City Park on Aug. 2. The participants wore masks and were seated 6 feet apart. The woman to Taylors left introduced herself as Laura Dodd. She did not mention what she did for a living but said she had moved back to New Orleans in 2020 after a decade in New York. Similarly, Taylor had worked in New York for 16 years before returning to New Orleans in 2019 to take the chief development officer job at St. Aug. The symposium participants were asked to give an example of how the Catholic Church had improved race relations. Taylor cited the Josephite priests, who extended their mission to New Orleans from Baltimore and founded St. Augustine in 1951. Ninety percent of the priests were White, Taylor said. But they addressed students as Mr. Brown or Mr. Arnold. To see White men addressing Black boys as mister, it gave the boys confidence and a safe haven from the different way they were addressed by other Whites in the 1950s. At St. Aug, they were built up and given confidence. Following the symposium, Taylor and Dodd spoke about the similar New Orleans-to-New York-and-back trajectories of their lives. Three days later, she texted him, suggesting they get coffee. At the CCs Coffee House on Esplanade Avenue, she revealed that in New York, she was a producer for 60 Minutes, and was now working as a freelance producer. She wanted to explore the possibility of doing a 60 Minutes segment about St. Aug and the Marching 100. Of course I said yes, Taylor said. For her part, Dodd said that while listening to Taylor talk about St. Aug, story ideas started sparking: My ears perked up: 'I want to know more about that.'" Multiple angles and layers revealed themselves: the history of the school and its beloved band, Ray Johnson returning to lead the band at his alma mater, the challenges of the pandemic and the canceled parade season, the resolute spirit needed to carry on. The layers were really compelling: Oh yeah, this is a story Ive got to tell, Dodd said. She called Alfonsi and pitched the idea: It took her two seconds to come on board: New Orleans? Music? Kids? Of course. A series of meetings and interviews followed. Weeks later, Dodd confirmed that the segment had been given the green light by 60 Minutes. There was a moment of excitement, Taylor said, to know the schools story was about to go global. Cinematographers filmed and Alfonsi conducted interviews at the school from Jan. 7-11. They shot a tremendous amount of footage, Taylor said. The resulting segment is titled Best Band in the Land. The same motto is emblazoned on a wall of the band room on the St. Aug campus. Taylor is thankful he followed up on Dodds original message. Thats my job, to stay connected and curious. Its about relationships, respect and always following up. If I hadnt responded to her text, this doesnt happen. Dodd, too, described the process as "very kismet, very organic." As a student at Benjamin Franklin High School, she watched the Marching 100 at many a Mardi Gras parade. After leaving New Orleans for college, then living and working around the globe, producing a story about St. Aug was, for her, a homecoming in many ways. The hardest part was telling this story in 12 minutes, Dodd said. That was excruciating. Twelve minutes is just a taste of all the stories on that campus. Every kid on that campus has a story. Im already brainstorming a follow-up. The alleged Sinaloa Cartel takedown by federal authorities in Chicago reads like El Chapo's playbook for how operatives smuggle cocaine from South America through Mexico and straight to Chicago. Video Transcript CHUCK GOUDIE: [INAUDIBLE] a 43 page Federal criminal complaint, an El Chapo's fingerprints are all over the cartel scheme, even though Chapo's name is only mentioned once, and the drug lord was long behind bars when the Feds moved in. But tonight, the Sinaloa Cartel takedown by Federal authorities in Chicago reads like Chapo's playbook for how operatives smuggle drugs from South America through Mexico, and straight to Chicago. This is the end of the cartel supply line story. Drugs for cash in Chicago neighborhoods. These pages amount to the beginning and middle of the story, how those drugs get here, according to Federal agents, and who they say was behind one major trafficking operation run by the Sinaloa Cartel. The narrative in a newly unsealed complaint and indictment against five accused Sinaloa associates. Roberto Velasquez Martinez, recently extradited to Chicago from Peru, and a resident here in Southwest suburban Stickney. 44-year-old Luis Reyes Velez. Prosecutors tonight say some of the multimillion dollar cartel cocaine deals allegedly went down in a garage here on Wisconsin Avenue in Stickney, the suburb where Reyes Velez lives. The complaint describes how police in Mexico were bribed. A police official would assure the safety of delivery of cocaine to the airstrip in Durango. One of those charged is allegedly heard to say on an undercover recording, from there to the border, all the police is paid for. Investigators describe how the cartel would use cars like these, shown in recent I-team reports, with secret trapdoors and hidden panels. The Sinaloa crew, accused of hiding dozens of bricks of cocaine in one transport vehicle to Chicago. And to get the drugs here to the streets, Sinaloa used a fleet of cars and planes. This played out two years after the ruthless kingpin El Chapo was arrested and locked up in the US, even though authorities believe several of his sons continue to call the shots in Mexico. And tonight, according to prosecutors, two of the major unnamed informants who penetrated the cartel when Chapo was still free ended up toppling this Chicago organization years later. Those tandem informants are both convicted felons, not American citizens, since 2012 working undercover inside the Sinaloa Cartel. One informant was paid more than a million dollars by the US government, the other a quarter million. And late word now from Federal court in Chicago, that Stickney man charged in this case has now been ordered released on bond, according to prosecutors. Judy? Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) Should she become the next Supreme Court chief justice, SC Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe said she will espouse judicial activism, which she describes as an act of going "beyond the law to consider some societal implications," if the situation calls for it. "If the law is vague and intent is not clear then I can be a judicial activist, meaning I could look at the societal implications of the ruling, the impacts on society. I will exercise reason and logic and fairness in my decisions," she said Friday during her public interview for the top position in the Supreme Court. But she said she cannot be an activist justice "if the law is clear and the intent of framers is clear." Bernabe said she is "very predictable" when it comes to deciding cases, explaining she bases her decision on their merits. She noted she may only be unpredictable when it comes to deciding cases that are political in nature. Bernabe is the most senior of the applicants for the chief justice post. Other aspirants are SC Justices Alexander Gesmundo and Ramon Paul Hernando. The successful applicant will take the reins from incumbent Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, who is set to retire a year early and will bow out of the high court on March 27, 2021. Peralta, appointed as the top magistrate in 2019, signified in December his intention to step down on his 69th birthday. If appointed, Bernabe will serve until May 2022. She said since she may be serving for only about a year, she plans to create an advisory council composed of the five most senior justices to ensure the continuity of the plans and programs which she will pursue. Among her long-term plans is to fully implement the judiciary's digitization program, which was "adopted in 2014 but not really pursued," she said. The Three Percenters movement has gained representation in the Wyoming Legislature at least symbolically. A photograph resurfaced this week of freshman Rep. Marshall Burt (L-Green River) that shows a tattoo on his left forearm the Roman numeral III surrounded by 13 stars, above the year 1776. The symbol is commonly associated with a far-right, anti-government movement and the popularization of militia groups. In a written statement this week, Burt said he is not involved in any militia groups, and got the tattoo because he enjoyed the symbolism of what it stood for. I got... Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/11/2021 -- According to the new market research report "Industrial Metrology Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Offering, Equipment, Application (Quality & Inspection, Reverse Engineering, Mapping & Modelling), End-User Industry, Geography - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Industrial Metrology Market is expected to grow from USD 9.8 billion in 2021 to USD 13.2 billion by 2026; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period The industrial metrology market has been witnessing significant growth over the past years, mainly owing to the rising demand for big data analytics, and increasing demand for automobiles in emerging economies. However, the COVID-19 outbreak is likely to result in a decline in the growth rate of the Industrial metrology market, especially in 2020 and 2021. This is because organizations in most of the major demand-generating verticals are currently, or were, non-operational in various countries, thereby negatively impacting the industrial metrology market. The COVID-19 pandemic has also operations on a massive scale, and manufacturers are facing the challenge of assessing the impact. Past and current lockdowns resulting in the shutdown of manufacturing facilities have put a lot of strain on the industrial sector. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=190782079 Hardware segment to hold the largest share of the industrial metrology market, by offering, in 2020 Hardware segment will lead the industrial metrology market, by offering, in terms of size, in 2020. Companies offering hardware in the industrial metrology market are continuously working on updating their product portfolio. For instance, in recent years, FARO Technologies (US) have done various developments in its industrial metrology products, including portable measuring arms. These are the second most used hardware in the industrial metrology market. There are different variants of portable measuring arm provided by the companies, such as FARO Arm and FARO Scan Arm by FARO and absolute arm series by Hexagon (Sweden). These are majorly used for inspection purposes. They can deliver high accuracy measurements and are very easy to operate. With the new designs that companies offer, the movement of devices has become easier. Scanners like RS5Laser scanner can bring ultra-high productivity 3D white light scanning to the absolute arm. The market for coordinate measuring machines (CMM) equipment to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period On the basis of equipment, the industrial metrology market has been broadly classified into coordinate measuring machines (CMM), optical digitizers and scanners (ODS), measuring instruments, X-ray and computed tomography (CT), automated optical inspection (AOI), form measurement equipment, and 2D equipment. Among these, the market for the coordinate measuring machines (CMM) equipment is expected to record the highest CAGR between 2020 and 2025. The rising need for precision dimensional analysis and validation of geometric accuracy in the manufacturing, automotive, and aerospace & defense industries is the factor responsible for the largest share of the CMM segment. Quality control and inspection application to hold the largest share of the industrial metrology market, by application, in 2020 The quality control and inspection application segment dominated the industrial metrology market and is expected to hold the leading position throughout the forecast period. The increasing competition and need for improving safety have resulted in the high adoption of quality control and inspection systems in various industries, including automotive, aerospace & defense, and semiconductor. In these industries, maintaining and enhancing the quality of a product is of high importance. As industrial metrology equipment are the best available options in the market for quality control and inspection application, their adoption has increased at a significant rate. Browse in-depth TOC on "Industrial Metrology Market" 157 Tables 64 Figures 233 Pages Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=190782079 Automotive end-user industry to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period On the basis of end-user industry, the industrial metrology market has been broadly classified into aerospace & defense, automotive, manufacturing, semiconductor, and others. Among these, the market for automotive industry is expected to record the highest CAGR between 2020 and 2025. The shift in preference from off-line quality inspection to near-line or in-line measurement techniques, enabling higher sampling rates and shorter inspection times in the automotive industry, is expected to drive the growth of the industrial metrology market for the automotive industry. Moreover, the growing demand for electric vehicles is also expected to fuel the growth of the industrial metrology market in the near future. North America to hold the largest share of industrial metrology market by 2020 North America is expected to hold the largest share of the industrial metrology market by 2020. The US leads the market in North America owing to its well-established economy that encourages government and private investments in new technologies. APAC is expected to account for the second-largest share of the industrial metrology market during the forecast period. China and Japan are significant demand-generating countries for industrial metrology solutions in this region. A few key players operating in the industrial metrology market are Hexagon (Sweden), Carl Zeiss (Germany), Nikon (Japan), KEYENCE (Japan), FARO Technologies (US), Jenoptik (Germany), Creaform (Canada), KLA Corporation (US), Renishaw (UK), and Mitutoyo Corporation (Japan). Related Reports: 3D Metrology Market with COVID-19 Impact by Product Type (CMM, ODS, VMM, 3D AOI, 3D X-ray &CT), Application (Quality Control & Inspection, Reverse Engineering, Virtual Simulation), Offering, End-user Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2026 3D Scanner Market by Offering (Hardware & Software, Aftermarket Service), Type (Laser, Structured Light), Range, Product (Tripod Mounted, Fixed CMM Based, Portable CMM Based, Desktop), Application, Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Trafficking, forced marriages of Christian women on the rise worldwide, Open Doors reports Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Persecution of Christian women worldwide has risen dramatically in the last year as a new study released by Open Doors International found that forced marriages have increased by 16%, and physical violence against women has increased 31%. Global persecution watchdog group Open Doors International released the 2021 Same Faith, Different Persecution report on gender-specific religious persecution ahead of International Women's Day finds(GSRP) to detail the plight of the global persecuted Church and how this especially affects women. GSRP has risen to the highest level recorded in the three years since the report was first issued in 2018, as women face a higher potential risk of religious persecution than men. The report's data comes from the top 50 countries on the group's annual World Watch List between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sep. 30, 2020. Helene Fisher, a global gender persecution specialist for Open Doors International and one of the authors of the report, told The Christian Post that the increased threat to women is often because women have fewer rights in most of the top 50 countries for religious persecution. Because [women] have fewer rights and fewer protections, theyre just an easier target, Fisher said. They can also be targeted with impunity, which means that if there is a population that doesnt want the Christians to thrive, they can go after the women and girls. And there arent consequences for those aggressors. So, it is a question of the women and girls having fewer rights for legal protections. [Women] are more vulnerable in the society, and they are just the easiest way to disable the Christian population. Fisher and the other authors of the report Eva Brown, Elizabeth Lane Miller and Rachel Morley highlight that faith, combined with their gender, puts women more at risk. The five most common pressure points among women in the top 50 countries on the World Watch List for religious persecution are forced marriage, sexual violence, physical violence, psychological violence and forced divorce. Each category increased since last years study. Ninety percent of the top 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted report forced marriage as a pressure point, and 86% of countries report sexual violence. Reports of psychological violence among women in these countries rose from 40% to 74% from the 2020 report to the 2021 report. Forced marriages increased by 16%, and physical violence increased by 31%. Women are often used as pawns to target the Christian community. Persecutors often target the daughters of pastors to weaken the core of the church community. It is a well-documented fact that rape can be used as a weapon of war, the report reads. Womens bodies essentially become the second battlefield. The capture of women in a community demonstrates to the men that they were unable to protect them. Persecutors are seen as dominant. In the midst of using these women as pawns, of course, real women are violently abused. Targeting women, the child bearers, and forcing them to convert is a tactic used to destabilize the future generation of the Church, the development of families and the raising of Christian children. Trafficking women as a form of religious persecution is on the rise, particularly in Asia and Africa, the report finds. Christian refugees or internally displaced peoples are especially vulnerable to this. Trafficking as a form of religious persecution continues to pose a threat in all regions on the World Watch List and it is rising, particularly in Africa and Asia. Globally, 17 countries (up from 10 the previous year) reported incidents of trafficked women and girls, the report adds. Countries engaged in conflict were most likely to report instances of sexual violence and trafficking. Extremist groups in the Middle East and North Africa often weaponize trafficking by forcing or seducing Christians into marriage or sexual slavery and forced conversions to Islam. Women who are able to escape their captors often struggle to reintegrate into their home society due to shame, stigma and damaged self-worth. A young Nigerian girl named Ester was abducted by Boko Haram and was impregnated by one of her captors, the report chronicles. When she returned home, she was shunned, and the community called her baby Boko after the militants who abducted her. This tactic of shame is sometimes part of the extremists goal. Fisher said the narrative in Christian communities in response to this should use biblical truth to fight the false narrative Islam seeks to spread through the shame of rape and sexual exploitation of women. Doing so will foil the persecutors strategies, she said. Our value is not determined by what has been done to us, but is determined by what has been done for us by Jesus Christ. Just holding on to that truth can radically change the future of a community, Fisher shared. In China, the shortage of women due to gender-biased sex selection of males and the one-child birth policy has led to human trafficking webs that force women into marriages to produce male children. The U.S. State Department reported that traffickers increasingly sent girls to China for arranged marriages from impoverished Christian communities. In its 2020 Trafficking Persons profile on Pakistan, the U.S. State Department noted that traffickers increasingly targeted impoverished Christian communities to send females to China for arranged marriages. The persecution of men and women presents itself very differently due to structural vulnerabilities. Since women are more confined to the home, their persecution is less visible in nature. The religious persecution against men is focused, severe, and visible, whereas the religious persecution of women tends to be complex, hidden and violent, Fisher explained. Men are more likely to face imprisonment and are pressured by the government in the workplace or public sphere. But women are often held hostage in their own homes, Fisher stated. Men are also likely to be killed or forced to join the military, while women are likely to be trafficked, forced to flee the country and have an increased chance of being abducted. When they are going after the women, they can accomplish the same ends in a much less visible manner. Now, if its less visible, its less of a risk to the persecutor , Fisher said. We find that a lot of the ways women and girls are targeted tends to be hidden because its in the domestic sphere. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the situation as levels of persecution, especially domestically, have risen to produce a shadow pandemic. The pandemic has also led to a rise in abductions due to decreased security. We have noticed of course that COVID has made the vulnerable even more vulnerable, Fisher shared. In Latin American and sub-Saharan Africa, criminal groups especially intensified criminal activity against Christians during the vulnerabilities of the pandemic and lockdowns. Oftentimes, Christians in heavily persecuted countries are met with backlash from the government when they report persecution inflicted on them. When governments turn a blind eye to violence, it takes tremendous tenacity from the Christians to even be acknowledged. [Governments] doing nothing is failing to provide justice and protection. That is doing something that is effectively aggressive against Christians by not providing those basic citizenry services or human rights services, Fisher said. And we do find that around the globe, we have so many cases where it is difficult for Christians to bring a case of individual attacks against someone. The attacks against Christian women especially target the family unit, marriage and the individual by targeting the womans worth. The GSRP report concludes that a multi-faceted solution is required to address such a complex problem. The GSRP analytical team suggested that local faith actors develop a faith-based approach to respond to the toll on the church, family and community. Although someones choice to convert to Christianity may expose them to persecution, that faith can also be a resource for strength, comfort and forging a path forward as a response to the persecution and discrimination they might encounter as part of a minority religion, the report stated. Research from the World Watch List shows more than 340 million Christians globally endure high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith, which amounts to one in eight Christians around the world. Ill fight to my last breath to defend every Americans freedom to have his or her own opinion about Washingtons flawed history, wrote Duckworth, who was awarded the Purple Heart after her helicopter was shot down. What some on the other side dont seem to understand is that we can honor our founders while acknowledging their serious faults, including the undeniable fact that many of them enslaved Black Americans. ... Every American has the right to question those in charge. Anyone claiming to stand up for patriotic values should recognize that, because, without it, the country these impostor patriots claim to love so much would not exist. Chennai, March 12 : Doles and freebies are expected to figure in the manifestoes of two major political parties in Tamil Nadu with the precursor being the monthly financial assistance to housewives announced by the AIADMK, DMK and MNM. Freebies promised by political parties shakes the root of free and fair elections to a large degree, observed the Supreme Court in 2013. The apex court had observed while deciding the case of S.Subramaniam Balaji vs Government of Tamil Nadu and others in 2013. The Election Commission of India too told the apex court that the promise of freebies at government cost disturbs the level playing field and vitiates the electoral process. Late Balaji had fought against the freebie schemes of the both parties -- DMK and AIADMK governments -- going up to the Supreme Court. In its judgement, the apex court said: "Although, the law is obvious that the promises in the election manifesto cannot be construed as 'corrupt practice' under Section 123 of the RP Act (Representation of the People Act), the reality cannot be ruled out that the distribution of freebies of any kind, undoubtedly, influences all people. It shakes the root of free and fair elections to a large degree." Balaji had filed the case against the distribution of free colour television sets by the DMK to the people as part of its pre-election promise in 2006. Later the AIADMK then under late J. Jayalalithaa promised mixers, grinders, fans and laptops and other freebies during the 2011 Assembly polls. Cheap rice, free TV, free power, free stove, cash dole promises by political parties is nothing but "bribery", Balaji had contended. A government cannot enrich private individuals out of consolidated funds, Balaji had said. The apex court had said a separate head for guidelines for election manifesto released by a political party can also be included in the Model Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Political Parties and Candidates. Later, the Election Commission after meeting the political parties on the subject said they should avoid making those promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise. "In the interest of transparency, level playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it. Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled," the poll body said. A conversation on the academic performance of Black law students between two faculty members teaching at Georgetown following a Zoom session was recorded and posted online without their knowledge. As a result, one of them has been fired and tearfully apologized, while the other one is "on leave until the investigation by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action is complete" for failing to react in outrage over what the dean of the law school termed "reprehensible statements concerning the evaluation of Black students." Both professors are adjunct faculty, meaning they are professionals brought in teach students with their real world experience, and they have no tenure protections. Here is the 43 seconds of video that engendered the indignation: .@GeorgetownLaw negotiations Professors Sandra Sellers and David Batson being openly racist on a recorded Zoom call. Beyond unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/q5MoWjBok8 Hassan Ahmad (@hahmad1996) March 10, 2021 The UK Daily Mail's description and transcription: 'They were a bit jumbled. It's like let me reason through that, what you just said,' Sellers said of a student's performance, who the Black Law Students Asssociation [sic] claims is the only black person in the class. 'You know what? I hate to say this, I end up having this angst every semester, that a lot of my lower ones are blacks,' the adjunct professor of mediation and negotiation continued. 'It happens almost every semester, and it's like, oh, come on. You know, we get some really good ones but there also usually some of them that are just plain at the bottom,' Sellers concludes. Batson, also a mediation law expert, does not initially respond but simply looks down and nods in the short 43-second clip, which was allegedly leaked to social media by a student. He subsequently returns to discussing the student in question, stating, 'what drives [him] crazy is...the concept of how that plays out in whether that is [his] own perceptions playing in here with certain people' or '[his] own unconscious biases playing out in the scheme of things'. While the syntax is fractured and almost incoherent in places, both professors seem distressed, not exultant, over the grading results, and they even question whether unconscious biases are at work. Ex-professor Sellers during the Zoom call. Is this the face of a racist or of a woman who is troubled by the reality she is describing? Twitter video screen grab cropped. But that is not how the Black Law Student Association sees it: The Black Law Student Association had been among the groups calling for Sellers' resignation and an apology from Batson. The group issued a statement on Wednesday in which they claimed that the recorded conversation is proof of Sellers' bias in her grading of black students. 'These racist statements reveal not only Sellers' beliefs about black students in her classes, but also how her racist thoughts have translated to racist actions. Professor Sellers' bias has impacted the grades of black students in her classes historically, in her own words,' the statement said. Here is statement from the dean of the law school, William Treanor, after he updated it: To the Georgetown Law Community, As I wrote to you last night, I am appalled that two members of our faculty engaged in a conversation that included reprehensible statements concerning the evaluation of Black students. I have further reviewed the incident and have now spoken to Professor Sellers and Professor Batson, giving each the opportunity to provide any additional context. I informed Professor Sellers that I was terminating her relationship with Georgetown Law effective immediately. During our conversation, she told me that she had intended to resign. As a result of my decision, Professor Sellers is no longer affiliated with Georgetown Law. Professor Batson has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action, the results of which will inform our next steps. Until the completion of the investigation, Professor Batson will have no further involvement with the course in which the incident arose. We are taking significant steps to ensure that all students in this class are fairly graded without the input of Professor Sellers or Professor Batson. This is by no means the end of our work to address the many structural issues of racism reflected in this painful incident, including explicit and implicit bias, bystander responsibility, and the need for more comprehensive anti-bias training. This is a matter of great concern to me. I will be writing to you soon with a range of actions and changes that we will implement to address these issues. I will also send information about a listening session for the Georgetown Law student community that we plan to hold tomorrow. Sincerely, Bill Treanor As Paul Mirengoff noted, Dean Traynor does not say Professor Sellers is incorrect on the facts. So, apparently, it is "reprehensible" to truthfully discuss the academic performance of Black students...at least in the tone of voice the recording reveals. That is the definition of a taboo. One aggravating feature of the problem is affirmative action, which admits Blacks and Hispanics to highly competitive schools with lower grades and test scores than Whites and Asians who gain entry. Hans Bader reflects on this, adding a personal note: Black students get lower grades at selective colleges because they are admitted with lower grades and test scores than their non-black classmates, due to racial preferences in admissions at schools like Georgetown. Recipients of non-racial preferences in admissions also get lower grades at the schools that admit them. I received lower-than-average grades as a student at Harvard Law School. Why? I was admitted with lower-than average credentials than most of my classmates (because I pledged to go into public-interest law afterwards). So I was less prepared than most of my classmates and occasionally had to struggle to keep up with my classmates. This did not mean I flunked out of school: I later passed the bar exam and played a key role in litigating three Supreme Court cases dealing with federalism and the constitutional separation of powers, one of which is discussed in the Washington Times. This affirmative action consequence has been labeled as "mismatch," meaning that the purported beneficiaries are placed in schools where their chances of success are lower than those of the other groups admitted without preferences. This results in lower grading performance and lower graduation rates, because they start from behind. If the policy were designed to frustrate and anger Blacks, it could not be better constructed. The outrage of the Black Law Student Association may be misplaced. There is systemic racism at work, but it is the affirmative action programs that drive it, by putting Blacks in situations where they have fewer chances to succeed. Paul Mirengoff comments on what may lie ahead: Georgetown's diversity crew is going to investigate. Investigate what, though? It could investigate the comparative performance of Black and White students at the law school to see whether Sellers' angst is based on facts or prejudice. However, I doubt the law school wants to go there. Instead, Georgetown apparently will investigate whether Black students in Sellers' class are graded fairly. It's not clear how investigators will make this assessment, unless "fairly" means simply that Blacks fare as well as Whites in terms of grades. The law school may want to go there. Quota grading might be its next frontier in the war on standards. In the name of "equity," of course. As "equity" (meaning equal results, regardless of achievement) replaces "equality" (meaning equal opportunity for achievement), we are in store for an even more insidious situation, one that justifiably angers and frustrates Blacks even more. If it becomes the rule that grading for Blacks is guided by quotas, not by academic achievement, people will inevitably assume that Blacks who achieve professional status based on academic achievement got their credentials as a result of quotas, not merit. Who will want to be operated upon by a Black surgeon, or fly on an airplane with a Black pilot, if it becomes an open policy that standards are lower for Blacks? In other words, prejudices against Blacks would be enflamed, and self-preservation would fuel the racism that tars all Blacks with brush of presumed underachievement. This is a blind alley leading to a trap of racial conflict at the end. Honesty is necessary before problems can really be solved. (@ChaudhryMAli88) JOHANNESBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2021) Lesotho is handling the clinical side of the coronavirus pandemic well but there are economic consequences to manage, newly appointed Minister of Health Semano Sekatle told Sputnik on Friday, commenting on the situation in the African country as the vaccination campaign rolled out. As Lesotho received the first 36,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine free of charge through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility, the country intends to implement plans to deal with any future related coronavirus eventualities, the minister said. "Life against the economy, it is a difficult situation for Lesotho. We had a surge in December and January and then followed by a hard lockdown. We moved 47 [percent of] positive ... [cases] down to a 3-percent positivity rate. Lesotho is well managing the clinical side but there is the economy side to manage as well, but however, in terms of the disease, we are managing well," Sekatle said. According to the minister, Lesotho is now extremely prepared compared to the situation in December when the virus took the country by surprise. Due to the country's porous borders, the authorities have heightened screening efforts at the various border entrances, using a rapid antigen test to detect those infected so that they can be quickly isolated and treated. "We are going to receive 40 percent more vaccines from the African Union. Our plan is to vaccinate 20 percent of the population," Sekatle said, adding that the first batch received last week is designed for frontline medical staff, senior citizens and risk groups. The minister added that China and Russia had also promised to assist in vaccinating more people in the country. Meanwhile, Sekonyela Mapetja, the programs director at the Lesotho Council of NGOs, expressed right the opposite opinion in an interview with Sputnik, saying that the African country is not prepared to fight the pandemic, as it simply calling on people not to enter the country in numbers. "We need to be ready here for protocol. NGOs must lead from the front. The government wants to lead but they do not have enough capacity. Vaccines were rolled out last week but there are issues. People have no faith. No research has been undertaken. We are close to South Africa and our proximity only tells you that the 501.V2 variant detected in South Africa should be scientifically detected here too. So far, all what we know is that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines currently in the country have a 20 percent efficacy rate in terms of preventing or lessening the severity of the disease," Mapetja said. Mapetja called on the government to not take the virus lightly, saying that the health minister ought to be cognizant of the fact that winter in the tiny landlocked country's cold season bites. The specialist recommended the government speed up its vaccination drive. "The rate, at which people are vaccinated, must be rolled out at double. The 20 percent the government is eyeing for April and May is little. People will be confronted with colds of all sorts. For us, oxygen is not enough, we need more plants. The fuss created in December and January must continue. Maybe the lockdown broke the transmission. Right now, transmissions are at a lower rate than ever and I think we cannot manage COVID-19 by lockdown, as this suffocates the education and economy of the country," Mapetja added. Commenting on the low numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths, the expert argued this was because of the country's poor statistics. "For us, unlike anywhere in the world, one death is one too many because of the homogeneity of our society. One death affects a number of people and raises alarms. Another thing [is that] numbers are not accurate and we cannot manage well because we need facilities, much as numbers are low, we see people dying and presenting symptoms," Mapetja said. According to the specialist, the government should allow NGOs to go into the villages to educate the masses. And since winter is around the corner, the government must be prepared and make arrangements for food parcels, should there be a serious outbreak. Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, Lesotho has registered more than 10,500 COVID-19 cases, including 3,922 recoveries and 309 deaths, according to the latest data provided by the health authorities. Franchise Cannabis Joint Venture in Europe Remains in Place VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 11, 2021 / Thoughtful Brands, Inc. (CSE:TBI)(FWB:1WZ1)(OTCQB:PEMTF) (the "Company" or "Thoughtful Brands"), an eCommerce technology company that researches, develops, markets, and distributes natural health products through various brands in North America and Europe, has cancelled the acquisition of Franchise Cannabis Corp. ("FCC"), previously announced in January. The move allows the existing joint venture with FCC to remain in place, ultimately providing stronger sales and operations networks in North America, and throughout Europe. The positive changes in the market during Q1 2021 within the cannabis and CBD sectors were key factors in the decision by management to not move ahead with the FCC acquisition. Over the past two quarters, the Company has focused on increasing profitability through improved customer retention rates, contributing to higher net margins as customer acquisition costs were front end loaded and initial margins were typically lowered. Economies of scale are a key lever when it comes to customer acquisition, end-to-end product supply chain management, and timely delivery. The Company has commenced integration of the production of distillate and isolate produced by its subsidiary, American CBD Extraction. New superior quality CBD products have been formulated and are planned to be introduced to the market in Q2 of 2021. In addition to the new product lines, the Company plans to establish a supply chain for its wholesale hemp biomass throughout the United States and Europe, which will increase topline revenues and contribute to overall net margins. The Company has also initiated sales in Europe, implementing its proprietary test-marketing program that is currently identifying demand for specific natural health products with the highest net margins. The joint venture with FCC will continue and allow the Company to tailor products to European consumer demands. With a focus on the United Kingdom and Germany, FCC will assist with local licensing, regulatory and supply chain. "Franchise has a well-established European medical cannabis, genetics and distribution business. Though we are not proceeding with an acquisition, our ongoing, strong relationship with the management team at Franchise will enable us to fulfill our expansion goals in Europe, allowing both of our businesses to flourish. We look forward to a successful joint venture in Germany and the UK with our CBD eCommerce business," said Ryan Hoggan, CEO of the Company. "This decision also allows us to spend time pursuing our initiatives with American CBD Extraction and other product extensions in the natural health and beauty sectors for the North American market." In addition to the above, the Company announces that it has issued 3,460,636 common shares as repayment to settle a USD$150,000 debt to Juan Patricio Villalba Gomez at a deemed price of CAD$0.055 per share. Mr. Villalba Gomez has agreed to accept common shares using the Bank of Canada closing rate on February 10, 2021 of CAD$1.2689. All common shares of the Company issued to Mr. Villalba Gomez will be subject to a thirty-six month time release escrow following the NP 46-201 release schedule, such that 10% are released on closing with the remaining shares released in 15% increments every six months. About Thoughtful Brands Inc. Thoughtful Brands Inc. is an eCommerce technology company that researches, develops, markets and distributes natural health products through various brands in North America and Europe. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS THOUGHTFUL BRANDS INC. Ryan Hoggan Chief Executive Officer For further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, President at +604.423.4733 or by email at info@thoughtful-brands.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 Statement 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, including with respect to its plans to increase operations in both Europe and North America with the goal of establishing an international distribution network utilizing its eCommerce technology platform. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. 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 information, 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 information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law. SOURCE: Thoughtful Brands Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/635098/Thoughtful-Brands-Bolsters-Sales-Channels-in-North-America-and-Europe A CHILD pornography suspect secretly took photographs "of a personal nature" of women and children on public transport and in shops around Dublin, it has been alleged. Paul Boyle (43) appeared in court today charged with 23 separate offences after 250,000 pictures of people taken without consent were allegedly found on his devices. He is accused of specifically targeting some of the alleged victims, while gardai said other offences were opportunistic. Mr Boyle, a Scottish national with an address at Sandyford View, Blackglen Road, Dublin 18 was remanded in custody with consent to bail at Dublin District Court. He is charged with 12 counts of harassment, nine of offensive conduct of a sexual nature and two of possession of child pornography - a text and video file. Read More Detective Garda Colm Grogan said he arrested the accused at 4.47pm yesterday at his home and he replied: Can we not do this tomorrow? He was taken to the Bridewell garda station, where he made no reply to any of the charges after caution. Objecting to bail, he said the accused came to the attention of the gardai on a date in December 2019, when a detective sergeant allegedly observed Mr Boyle attempting to take a photograph of a personal nature of a young female travelling on the Luas at Harcourt Street. When this was investigated, a number of electronic devices were seized from the accused and they allegedly contained 250,000 images of persons taken without their consent. These included a number of women and children in places of employment and on public transport. A text document with explicit child pornography was also allegedly found. The alleged offences carried maximum jail terms of seven years for harassment, five for possession of child pornography and two for the offensive sexual conduct charge, Det Gda Grogan said. The accused was a Scottish national who had moved to Ireland in 2018. We believe he poses a risk to children, Det Gda Grogan said. The DPP consented to a return for trial to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court when a book of evidence is ready. Applying for bail, defence solicitor Brian Coveney said the accused, who was presumed innocent, was arrested in December 2019 and detained but not charged with anything at the time. He presented himself at Dundrum Garda Station by arrangement in July 2020. Det Gda Grogan said there was a previous incident when they called to his home address, the accused attempted to evade us, exiting his home and scaling balconies. Mr Coveney said Mr Boyle had remained in the jurisdiction and gardai had previously returned his travel documents. A trial might not take place until mid 2023, he said. The judge asked if the alleged victims were targeted or if the alleged offences were random. Det Gda Grogan said the 12 alleged harassment victims were specifically targeted and the other nine incidents were more opportunistic. Judge Smyth granted bail in the accuseds own bond of 1,000, with no cash needed. However, he required an independent surety of 10,000, half of which must be cash. Under conditions, Mr Boyle must surrender his passport and sign on three times weekly at his local garda station. He is to have no contact directly or indirectly, including by electronic means, with any of the alleged victims. He is not to engage in any photography of children or members of the public and is to stay away from Harcourt Street and Harcourt Road. He was remanded in custody with consent to bail, to appear in Cloverhill District Court on March 18. A mask-less Uber passenger who was caught on video ripping off her driver's mask and coughing on him is planning to turn herself into police, reports say. A now-viral video showed Arna Kimiai, 24, berating driver Subhakar Khadka after he asked her to put on a mask while transporting her and two friends through San Francisco's Bayview District last Saturday. Kimiai then coughed on him, tried to grab his cellphone and ripped off his face mask before he pulled over to drop the women off. As the women got out of the car, 24-year-old Malaysia King allegedly deployed a chemical believed to be pepper spray at Khadka. King was taken into custody on charges of assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy and violation of health and safety code on Thursday, the Las Vegas Police Department said. Kimiai's lawyer has said she will turn herself in to the San Francisco Police Department to face similar charges, according to local media reports. Scroll down for video Viral video showed maskless Arna Kimiai (backseat, left) ripping off driver Subhakar Khadka's mask and coughing on him after he picked her and two others up in San Francisco's Bayview District last Saturday. As Khadka dropped the women off, Malaysia King (backseat, right) allegedly deployed a chemical believed to be pepper spray into the car Shocking footage filmed on Khadka's car camera showed Kimiai coughing before leaning forward to grab the driver's phone and then rip off his mask The developments came hours after Kimiai defended herself in an Instagram video and threatened to sue Uber because Khadka kicked her out of his car. Dressed only in her underwear, Kimiai claimed the driver forced her to get out of his vehicle on a freeway and refused to wait for another Uber to arrive, which she argued was unsafe because it was 'in the hood'. Kimiai suggested the driver was 'lucky as hell' she didn't beat him up. 'He lucky as hell I ain't have nothing on me... Cause if we would've played with me, bruh, it would've been a whole different story,' she said. '75 percent of people I know would have smacked the s**t out of him. 'All I did take his mask off and cough a little bit but I don't even have corona.' She stopped short of apologizing, saying instead: 'I ain't gonna lie, that was disrespectful as f**k. I was dead a** wrong for that'. She insisted the whole ordeal could have been avoided if the driver had just waited and made sure she and her friends were safe. Kimiai, who has threatened to sue Uber, said in the Instagram video that she preferred rival Lyft anyway. 'F**king stupid a** Uber bruh, that's why I take Lyft,' she said. Kimiai defended herself in an Instagram video (pictured) and threatened to sue Uber because Khadka kicked her out of his car. Dressed only in her underwear, Kimiai claimed the driver forced her to get out of his vehicle on a freeway and refused to wait for another Uber to arrive, which she argued was unsafe because it was 'in the hood'. Both Uber and Lyft have since banned Kimiai from using their ride-sharing services. In response to her Instagram Live video, Lyft tweeted: 'Although this incident did not involve the Lyft platform, the unacceptable treatment of the driver in this video compelled us to permanently remove the rider from the Lyft community.' Khadka, the driver, told ABC's Good Morning America on Thursday that the ordeal was 'unbearable' and he believes it was racially motivated. 'She started taunting me, cursing me... they were making fun of my race,' Khadka said. 'It was unbearable. It was threatening, I was scared for my life.' After the women got out of his car, Khadka said one of the women sprayed pepper spray at him through the window. San Francisco Police are still investigating the incident. In the now-viral video, the three women can be seen sitting in the back seat of Khadka's car - with Kimiai not wearing a mask. When Khadka asked her to cover her face, she coughed in his direction and the three friends could be heard saying: 'F*** the masks.' San Francisco police confirmed they are investigating the incident Uber says it has suspended the account of the woman who ordered the car. Khadka - who is from Nepal - said he believes the incident was racially motivated Khadka moved to the US from Nepal eight years ago to support his family, pictured As the women continued to shout at Khadka, Kimiai then tried to grab his cellphone before ripping off his face mask. Khadka told CBS: 'I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way. I don't hit people, I am not raised that way, so they were not getting out of my car.' He said the altercation began when he asked the woman to put on her face mask. When she refused, he said he pulled into a gas station so she could buy one. That's when he says the insults and racial slurs began. Khadka - who moved to the US from Nepal eight years ago to support his family - added: 'You guys are animals to treat other human beings like this. 'She pepper sprayed inside my car, from the passenger window that was open little bit, that was the only window open in my car. 'If I was another complexion, I would have not gotten that treatment from them. The moment I opened my mouth to speak, they realized I'm among one of them, so it's easy for them to intimidate me.' He told the women: 'Since you were born and raised here in the United States, don't think the other person is less human.' Uber said in a statement: 'The behavior seen in the video is appalling. The rider no longer has access to Uber.' They have given Khadka $120 in cleaning funds. The Formula 1 season of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing has started well. On the first day of testing in Bahrain the Dutchman was not only the fastest by mid-afternoon but also drove the most laps. Christian Horner is satisfied with the result. "It's slippery, for everyone out there," he said in a conversation with Sky Sports. "We're trying to learn as much as we can and getting a feel for the car. It is what it is, our driver is pretty happy with the car, so I think this is a positive start." Read more Special Mercedes floor design also spotted at Aston Martin, not Red Bull What does Horner think of Mercedes? Meanwhile, off the track, speculation about Mercedes' floor is rife. It does look very advanced compared to that of the RB16B. On the track Mercedes didn't do well at all today. Horner doesn't seem to be bothered by it all. "Not really, we focus more on ourselves than what others are doing. At the moment, of course, all the teams are taking pictures of the other cars. That information will come in overnight. Our focus now is on making our own progress," said the Red Bull Racing team boss. Sammy Wilson has hit back against criticism of his support for gay conversion therapy. Mr Wilson told the Belfast Telegraph he believed people who wished to seek it out should be entitled to. Why shouldnt people be free to practise it and free to use it? the DUP East Antrim MP asked. I dont even know what it all entails, but I know some people have found it beneficial and some believe it will be beneficial to those people who are concerned about their sexuality. Asked about those who consider the practice harmful, Mr Wilson replied: They have every right not to avail of it. If there was no need for it, people wouldnt choose it. I dont know anyone whos ever been coerced into using it. Why wouldnt we, in a society where we allow people to have sex changes, allow for conversion therapy? You cant have it both ways where you can say people who are confused about their sexuality can have sex change operations on the NHS, yet people who are concerned about their sexuality cant avail of conversion therapy. That seems a bit contradictory. Expand Close Alliance activist Micky Murray (Credit: https://www.facebook.com/micky.murray.75) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alliance activist Micky Murray (Credit: https://www.facebook.com/micky.murray.75) Alliance Party activist Micky Murray, a long-time opponent of conversion therapy, said Mr Wilson remarks were not surprising. He also noted, however, that DUP health spokeswoman Pam Cameron had said the party was opposed to the practice. I think its very dangerous, especially for someone in Sammy Wilsons position, to advocate this practice, Mr Murray said. It happens a lot more in Northern Ireland than people think. Many people just dont know about it. Youre not going to be able to end it. Youre only going to be able to ban it. There will always be someone who pushes the boundaries to try and do it. Mr Murray called for an outright ban on conversion therapy, including in religious orders. You cant support a ban if you only support part of a ban. The most unregulated area of conversion therapy is the religious aspect how its done in churches and how its performed in faith groups, he said. Thats the reason we need a ban. Theres no point legislating for a ban that allows faith groups to carry on as they see fit. People make the point that it doesnt work, (but) thats not the issue. Its the fact that you are telling people they are wrong for feeling the way they do. The row erupted after Mr Wilsons stance on the matter was revealed in an email to one of his constituents. Earlier this week, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said that while she would like to bring forward conversion therapy legislation immediately, she had received expert advice saying more time was needed. She added it was important to establish the scale of the practice and the different names it is given to ensure that no loopholes remained. Both Westminster and the Assembly are looking at banning the conversion therapy. Stormonts main political parties have all expressed their opposition to a practice the UN said may amount to torture. Children are among the worst sufferers of the urban migration in Vietnam, with many left behind by parents leaving for cities to work. Six-year-old Nguyen Thanh Tien in the central Ha Tinh Province had a fever after returning from school last week, but it was not until the next day that his grandmother found out the problem and quickly took him to hospital. Living alone and independently coping with his difficulties, even when sick, are what Tien has been doing for the last few years after his parents left home to earn a living. They work in Bac Ninh Province, 370 kilometers away, and came home for the week-long Lunar New Year holidays, and left one early morning when the boy was still sleeping. Normally Tien goes to school on his own and comes home for lunch as his grandparents are busy with farm work. Sometimes they return home only when he is asleep after having leftover food for dinner. In Tien's class, 13 children are similarly separated from their parents. "These students tend to be shy and do poorly," Le Quynh Anh, a teacher in their school, says. Millions of children suffer from this forced separation from parents, and only meet them once or twice a year, mostly during the Lunar New Year holidays. In rural areas they are dubbed the "left-behind children." The plight of such children has not been researched in any depth in Vietnam, but the impacts of long-term separation from their parents are "significant and widespread," according to a UNICEF report. Children in the northern mountain province of Dien Bien prepare to have lunch provided by their school of rice and fried eggs. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Duong. Even if parental migration delivers economic benefits for the family and the children left behind, it negatively impacts their mental health and well-being. One of the impacts can be seen in the children's academic performance. In the northern province of Ha Nam, nine-year-old Nguyen Thu Trang and her five-year-old brother have not met their parents, migrant workers in the southern province of Binh Duong, for more than two years. Trang's daily activities include helping her grandmother cook, grow vegetables and bathe her brother. They take turns to wash dishes. Their parents, living 2,000 kilometers away, usually visit them once a year, but have not been home for two years because they want to save money to rebuild their house but had their incomes reduced because of the Covid-19 pandemic. On a Sunday evening in March, while Trang and her brother argued about sharing the TV during their dinner time, the hunch-backed grandmother, 62, tried to comfort both of them. "Don't get angry and shout, let's eat," she said as the children cried and screamed. When their granny threatened to call the parents if the children did not behave, Trang burst into tears. "I don't want to see them anymore. They always say they will come home, but never do. Liars." Trang refuses to speak to them on the phone these days. In class, she is always reticent and gets angry when her friends ask her about her parents. "When I have problems at school, I cannot tell my parents because they are too far away and busy, they have no time for my story." HCMC psychiatrist Nguyen Thi Tam says these are signs of mental instability children can have when their parents work away from home. "Left-behind children" often face more psychological and behavioral problems than other children of similar age, according to many experts. The lack of parental care also leads to health and nutritional problems, as extended family members in rural areas are not often well equipped to care for migrants children, particularly elderly grandparents. Another boy in Ha Tinh, Le Thanh Nghi, has lived with his grandparents for seven years since his parents work in a factory in Hanoi, 350 kilometers away. At the age of 12, the skinny boy weighs 26 kilograms and never enjoys eating. Whenever his grandparents force him to eat, he grumbles and sometimes throws his bowl of rice away. "I know he is underweight, but I have tried my best. It used to be easier to feed children," said the boys grandmother Nguyen Thi Tu. According to the National Institute of Nutrition, 10.7 percent of children in rural areas are malnourished, compared to 3.9 percent in urban areas. When the parent-child bond is poor, the childrens school performance suffers. "While the migration brings some financial benefits for the children left behind, their education suffers without direct attention and encouragement from the parents," teacher Anh says. Trang, having to do housework lacking parental attention, had to remain in grade one for two years. She says: "I hate school. I will be a farmer like my grandparents so that I can go to the farm and go home whenever I want." Hobson's choice Many migrant workers miss and worry about their children. They would love to take the children along, but the cost of living is very high and the complicated household registration is another deterrent. "I sent my son to my hometown in Lao Cai when he was just 18 months old because I do not have a house here, and everything is expensive in Hanoi," said Hanoi-based textile worker Le Thi Tram, who normally sees her son, now three years old, for just 10 days a year during the Lunar New Year holiday. In her neighborhood in Hanoi's Long Bien District, many migrants workers have similar stories to share. They cannot afford childcare in the city, "so sending the kids away is the only choice." Tram earns around VND10 million ($433.05) per month, and sends VND5 million to her parents in Lao Cai. "I must be very stingy to live on just VND4 million per month, the rest is for saving." Workers at a company in Ho Chi Minh City leave their factory after a working day in April, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa. The household registration system is a major factor in separating the children from their parents, as migrants workers are wary of the procedures involved in obtaining the KT3 paper (for long-term temporary residents) which is essential for their children to get admitted to local schools. "My landlord only helped me register for short-term temporary residence. If I want the KT3 for my daughter to go to school, I must apply and do it myself, and this would require a lot of documents and processes," said Hanoi-based worker Hoang Van Hanh, whose daughter lives with her grandparents in the central province of Nghe An. A UNICEF study on Vietnamese children found that the household registration system and working conditions in most industries are compelling forces in the separation of working parents from their children. "The household registration system, although it has been relaxed in recent years, limits access to public schools for migrants children," the report said. While several enterprises have opened kindergartens for their employees children, such efforts are few and far between. Millions of children are consigned to a life without their parents because, as Hanh said: "It is easier for my parents to look after them. In the countryside, the costs are much lower. Without worrying about my babies, my wife and I can focus on making money for them." Hanh said he calls his offspring almost every day, "except when I am exhausted at work." Tien has no idea when he will see his parents again and constantly asks his grandmother about it. Sometimes the old woman gets angry and shouts at him to stop, and he starts to cry: "They leave me because they do not love me, and now you hate me too." Myanmars security forces have accused the deposed government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose supporters carry posters of her above, of taking cash and gold bars from a political ally (AP) Myanmars security forces have accused the deposed government leader Aung San Suu Kyi of taking money and gold bars from a political ally. She has been detained since the takeover on February 1 and the new accusation was clearly aimed at discrediting her. Military spokesman brigadier general Zaw Min Tun said at a news conference in the capital that former Yangon Division Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein had admitted giving 600,000 dollars (429,000) and gold bars worth slightly less by a political ally gold to Ms Suu Kyi in 2017-18. No evidence of this was presented. The military also shot to death at least 10 people and in doing so spurned a UN Security Council appeal to stop using lethal force. Myanmar has been roiled by protests, strikes and other acts of civil disobedience since the coup toppled Ms Suu Kyis government, reversing years of slow progress toward democracy. Amnesty International has alleged the military is using lethal tactics and battlefield weapons against peaceful protesters. On February 22nd, in an office in White Plains, two lawyers handed over a hard drive to a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, who, along with two investigators, had driven up from New York City in a heavy snowstorm. Although the exchange didnt look momentous, it set in motion the next phase of one of the most significant legal showdowns in American history. Hours earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered former President Donald Trump to comply with a subpoena for nearly a decades worth of private financial records, including his tax returns. This is the shocking moment a Just Eat delivery driver was caught on CCTV stealing a ginger cat from an apartment block in Paris. The man was delivering a pizza to trainee lawyer Caroline Simon-Provo on Tuesday night in the west of the city when the theft took place. Miss Simon-Provo said residents noticed that the cat, which belongs to the concierge, was missing shortly after the delivery took place. CCTV has captured the moment a pizza delivery driver stole a ginger cat from an apartment block in Paris because his restaurant was infested with mice The next morning, when the cat had still not showed up, Miss Simon-Provo said she decided to review the building's CCTV camera. Footage clearly revealed the driver leaving with the cat in his arms. She said residents filed a complaint with police and contacted Just Eat around 8am, but did not receive an answer. She and a friend then went to the restaurant at 10.30am and waited until employees showed up and confronted them. The employees called their boss, who it turns out had delivered Miss Simon-Provo's pizza the previous evening and admitted taking the cat. Avec toute cette emotion jai oublie la petite photo du chat retrouve !!! pic.twitter.com/6PGLp0LXV3 Mini Mousse (@CarolineSPB) March 10, 2021 He attempted to justify his actions by saying his restaurant has a mouse problem and he intended to use the cat to get rid of them. Despite CCTV clearly showing him leaving the building with the cat, he denied it - saying he found the feline on the street. Miss Simon-Provo said she found the cat 'shivering' in the corner of the pizza restaurant and took him back to the apartment building. A spokesman for Just Eat told The Independent, which first reported the story, that an investigation has been launched. Police are also investigating and an official complaint has been lodged. Police, private detectives and family and friends of a missing Massachusetts man are still searching for him after he went missing more than two weeks ago, leaving behind his car and phone in a storage unit in Rhode Island, according to law enforcement. The Bellingham Police Department as well as the family of Mark Brunelle are seeking any information related to the 59-year-old mans whereabouts, authorities said. Brunelle was last seen at his one-bedroom apartment at 60 South Main St. around 2 p.m. on Feb. 23, Bellingham police Lt. Kevin Ranieri said. He may have been in Woonsocket, Rhode Island the following day, according to the department. His car was eventually discovered parked at his self-storage unit in Woonsocket. The mans cellphone was found in the vehicle, according to Ranieri Every day its different information that comes in. Were just trying to make sure we follow up on everything, the lieutenant told MassLive. There have been multiple searches with dogs, with friend of Marks. We used the air wing over certain locations. The missing mans two daughters, who have hired private detectives to assist in the case, come into the Bellingham police station regularly. Members of the department have known the Brunelle family for quite some time, Ranieri noted. We have no indication at this point - you can speculate - but theres no indication that there was foul play as of right now, Ranieri said. The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine provides less protection in cancer patients than healthy individuals following a single dose, a new real-world study in the UK suggests, raising questions about whether the UK's strategy to delay second doses should apply to such patients. A second dose of the vaccine at three weeks, however, boosted their protection significantly, with the researchers calling for earlier boosts in this group in the UK. The UK's vaccine strategy currently involves a 12-week gap between doses of the coronavirus vaccines; Pfizer recommends 21 days between doses. The study analyzed the impact of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on 205 participants 54 healthy volunteers and 151 elderly patients with solid cancers, such as breast or prostate cancer, and haematological (blood) cancers, such as leukemia. The preprint study has not yet been peer-reviewed or published. The researchers looked for levels of antibodies and T cells in their blood to identify the level of immune response generated against the coronavirus. Three weeks after one dose of the vaccine, an antibody response was found in 39% of solid cancer patients and just 13% of people with blood cancer. The response in healthy volunteers was 97%. In the solid cancer patients who received a second dose three weeks after the first, the antibody response shot up to 95% within two weeks of the boost. There were not enough booster vaccines given to blood cancer patients to determine the response in that group. Further evidence of the need for a boost was shown by the fact that antibody levels only increased to 43% in people with solid cancers and 8% in those with blood cancer five weeks after their first dose. It was 100% in healthy volunteers. "Our data provides the first real-world evidence of immune efficacy following one dose of the Pfizer vaccine in immunocompromised patient populations. We show that following first dose, most solid and haematological cancer patients remained immunologically unprotected up until at least five weeks following primary injection; but this poor one dose efficacy can be rescued with an early booster at day 21," said Dr. Sheeba Irshad, a senior clinical lecturer from the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences who led the research. "Based on our findings, we would recommend an urgent review of the vaccine strategy for clinically extremely vulnerable groups. Until then, it is important that cancer patients continue to observe all public health measures in place such as social distancing and shielding when attending hospitals, even after vaccination," Irshad added in a statement. Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, highlighted that certain limitations needs to be taken into account. "The change in UK policy around delaying a second dose of vaccine allowed for the authors to make some comparisons between those who received a second dose within 21 days and those who did not. They have not yet provided data on those who received a second dose after a 12 week delay," he said in a statement to the UK's Science Media Centre. "Nevertheless, these results do suggest that the vaccines may well not protect those patients with cancer as well as those without cancer," he added. "All of these findings are consistent with our understanding of the immune system function in cancer patients.," said Shoba Amarnath, Newcastle University research fellow at the Newcastle University Centre for Cancer. "We know that the immune system within cancer patients is compromised as compared to healthy controls. Hence, a 2nd vaccine boost prepares the dysregulated immune system to function at the same efficiency as healthy controls. "The data in the study supports the notion that in solid cancer patients a considerable delay in second dose will extend the period when cancer patients are at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection." In Bulgaria, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov today ordered to suspend the administration of AstraZeneca's anti-Covid vaccine, "until the European Medicines Agency has dispelled any doubts about its safety with a written declaration". Sofia's decision came in the aftermath of similar measures by other European countries. Denmark was the first to do so, for "reports of serious cases of blood clots among vaccinated people", one of whom has died. Clarifying that "it has not been determined, at the moment, that there is a link between the vaccine and blood clots", Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen nevertheless explained that "further research needs to be done on this point". Discontinuation of use of AstraZeneca is scheduled for two weeks. A new evaluation will take place on 22 March. Shortly after Denmark, Norway and Iceland also suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution until further notice. For its part, the EMA stated that "there are currently no indications that vaccination has caused these diseases, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine. The position of the EMA Safety Committee (PRAC) is that benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigations into cases of thromboembolic events are ongoing. " In Italy, the Aifa drug agency has decided as a precaution to issue a ban on the use of batch ABV2856 throughout the country due to three suspected deaths . (Unioneonline / D) Jennifer Weisselberg told The New Yorker she met Donald Trump at her former father-in-law's mother's shivah Donald Trump has been accused of hitting on women and showing around naked photographs of others while attending a shivah for Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg's mother. The allegation surfaced in an article by The New Yorker about Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan DA, and his pursuit of Trump and Weisselberg. Among the interviews is one with Weisselberg's former daughter-in-law, Jennifer, who claims that while mourning Allen's mother sometime in the late 1990s, early 2000s, Trump went to the home, hit on her and showed inappropriate photographs to other women. Jennifer was married to Allen's son Barry between 2004 and 2018. She did not give a date for when she met Trump but said it was before her wedding and was at Weisselberg's former home in Wantagh, on Long Island. Property records show he owned the property until 2001. According to her, Trump got out of his car when he arrived at the property and said: 'This is where my C.F.O. lives? Its embarrassing!' Once inside, she claims he showed around photos of naked women with him on a yacht, then started hitting on her. 'After that, he starts hitting on me.' She sad she was irate that Allen did not 'stand up' for her. Weisselberg's lawyer did not comment on the alleged incident, and representatives from The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to inquiries on Friday. Weisselberg started working for The Trump Organization in the early 1970s. According to his ex-daughter-in-law, he only ever sought approval from his boss. 'His whole worth is "Does Donald like me today?" 'Its his whole life, his core being. Hes obsessed. He has more feelings and adoration for Donald than for his wife,' she said. Trump, Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump Jr, in a photo taken at Trump Tower. She claims that her former father-in-law measured his self-worth on if 'Donald liked him' She was asked by the reporter if he would 'flip under pressure' from Vance, who is said to be investigating the Trump family business. 'I dont know. For Donald, its a business. But for Allen its a love affair,' she said. She said that he knows 'everything' there is to know about the Trump business. 'You walk down the hall, its Allen-Donald, Allen-Donaldthey dont do anything separately. Allen would know,' she said. Vance has already subpoenaed the Trump Organization's accounting firm, Mazars, for financial records between 2011 and 2016. Vance has been in office since 2010 and has eight people vying to replace him But on Friday, he announced he would leave office at the end of the year and hand over the investigation to his successor. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. made the announcement in a memo to his staff, ending months of speculation about his future. His term expires at the end of the year. Vance, a Democrat, counted Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction a year ago among his crowning achievements but faced withering criticism over other high-profile cases, including dropping rape charges against French financier Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011 and declining to prosecute Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. over fraud allegations in 2012. Vance also missed an opportunity to prosecute Weinstein in 2015, declining to file charges against him in a case of alleged groping due to a cited lack of evidence despite an incriminating tape possessed by the model making the accusation. 'He was cautious in what high-profile cases he brought,' Marc F. Scholl, who worked in the district attorneys office, told the New York Times. 'He was more interested in not making mistakes than anything else.' Vance has also faced criticism for being slower to stop prosecuting low-level marijuana cases, doing so as recently as 2018. 'I never imagined myself as District Attorney for decades like my predecessors. 'I never thought of this as my last job, even though it's the best job and biggest honor I'll ever have. I said twelve years ago that change is fundamentally good and necessary for any institution,' Vance wrote in a statement about his decision. ATLANTA, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Invesco Advisers, Inc., a subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ), announced today portfolio management changes for the following Invesco closed-end municipal funds (the "Funds"): Invesco Advantage Municipal Income Trust II (NYSE American: VKI) Invesco California Value Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: VCV) Invesco Municipal Opportunity Trust (NYSE: VMO) Invesco Municipal Trust (NYSE: VKQ) Invesco Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: VPV) Invesco Quality Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: IQI) Invesco Trust for Investment Grade Municipals (NYSE: VGM) Invesco Trust for Investment Grade New York Municipals (NYSE: VTN) Invesco Value Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: IIM) The following individuals are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of Invesco Advantage Municipal Income Trust II, Invesco Municipal Opportunity Trust, Invesco Municipal Trust, Invesco Trust for Investment Grade Municipals, Invesco Quality Municipal Income Trust and Invesco Value Municipal Income Trust's portfolio: Mark Paris , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. John Connelly , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2016. From 1994 to 2015, he was employed by Raymond James & Associates, where he served as Senior Vice President of Municipal High Yield Trading from 2012 to 2015. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2016. From 1994 to 2015, he was employed by & Associates, where he served as Senior Vice President of Municipal High Yield Trading from 2012 to 2015. Joshua Cooney , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 1999. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 1999. Tim O'Reilly , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. James Phillips , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. John Schorle , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. Rebecca Setcavage , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. Ms. Setcavage was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm, since 2017. From 2004 to 2017, she was employed by T. Rowe Price where she last served as a Portfolio Investment Analyst. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. Ms. Setcavage was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm, since 2017. From 2004 to 2017, she was employed by T. where she last served as a Portfolio Investment Analyst. Julius Williams , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. The following individuals are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of Invesco California Value Municipal Income Trust and Invesco Trust for Investment Grade New York Municipals' portfolio: Mark Paris , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. Michael Camarella , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2003 to 2019, Mr. Camarella was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2003 to 2019, Mr. Camarella was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. John Connelly , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2016. From 1994 to 2015, he was employed by Raymond James & Associates, where he served as Senior Vice President of Municipal High Yield Trading from 2012 to 2015. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2016. From 1994 to 2015, he was employed by & Associates, where he served as Senior Vice President of Municipal High Yield Trading from 2012 to 2015. Scott Cottier , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2002 to 2019, Mr. Cottier was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2002 to 2019, Mr. Cottier was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. Mark DeMitry , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2001 to 2019, Mr. DeMitry was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2001 to 2019, Mr. DeMitry was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. Tim O'Reilly , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. James Phillips , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. John Schorle , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. Julius Williams , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. The following individuals are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of Invesco Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust's portfolio: Mark Paris , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. John Connelly , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2016. From 1994 to 2015, he was employed by Raymond James & Associates, where he served as Senior Vice President of Municipal High Yield Trading from 2012 to 2015. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2016. From 1994 to 2015, he was employed by & Associates, where he served as Senior Vice President of Municipal High Yield Trading from 2012 to 2015. Joshua Cooney , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 1999. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 1999. Elizabeth Mossow , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2007 to 2019, Ms. Mossow was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2019. From 2007 to 2019, Ms. Mossow was associated with OppenheimerFunds, a global asset management firm. Tim O'Reilly , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. James Phillips , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. John Schorle , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. Julius Williams , Portfolio Manager, who has been associated with Invesco and/or its affiliates since 2010. Manager Inception Dates: VKI VCV VMO VKQ VPV IQI VGM VTN IIM Mark Paris 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 Michael Camarella N/A 2021 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2021 N/A Joshua Cooney 2021 N/A 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021 N/A 2021 John Connelly 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 Scott Cottier N/A 2021 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2021 N/A Mark DeMitry N/A 2021 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2021 N/A Elizabeth Mossow N/A N/A N/A N/A 2021 N/A N/A N/A N/A Tim O'Reilly 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 James Phillips 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 John Schorle 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 Rebecca Setcavage 2021 N/A 2021 2021 N/A 2021 2021 N/A 2021 Julius Williams 2015 2011 2015 2015 2009 2015 2015 2009 2015 For more information, call 1-800-341-2929. About Invesco Ltd. Invesco Ltd. is a global independent investment management firm dedicated to delivering an investment experience that helps people get more out of life. Our distinctive investment teams deliver a comprehensive range of active, passive and alternative investment capabilities. With offices in more than 20 countries, Invesco managed $1.3 trillion in assets on behalf of clients worldwide as of January 31, 2021. For more information, visit www.invesco.com. Invesco Distributors, Inc. is the U.S. distributor for Invesco Ltd.'s retail products. Invesco Advisers, Inc. is an investment adviser; it provides investment advisory services to individual and institutional clients and does not sell securities. Each entity is a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. Note: There is no assurance that a closed-end fund will achieve its investment objective. Common shares are bought on the secondary market and may trade at a discount or premium to NAV. Regular brokerage commissions apply. NOT A DEPOSIT l NOT FDIC INSURED l NOT GUARANTEED BY THE BANK | MAY LOSE VALUE | NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY CONTACT: Jeaneen Terrio 212-278-9205; [email protected] SOURCE Invesco Ltd. Related Links https://www.invesco.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. 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. Appearing remotely, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (l) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (r), participate in a virtual meeting with leaders of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue countries March 12, 2021 at the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with leaders of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue countries to discuss regional issues. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference being held in the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Republican Lawmakers Push for Scrutiny of US Sister City Relationships With China A group of Republican lawmakers is seeking to lift the veil on more than 100 sister city agreements between the United States and China. The partnerships, they say, are vehicles through which the Chinese regime expands its influence in local communities across America. There are 157 such sister city agreements with China in the United States. Most of these are not made public and thus have not been scrutinized. But a new bill, introduced by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on March 11, would direct the U.S. Comptroller General to conduct a study of these partnerships to identify how the Chinese regime and other foreign governments with significant public corruption could exploit them to carry out malign activities, such as academic and industrial espionage. The opacity of sister city partnerships impedes proper oversight and could enable malign activity, a fact sheet (pdf) released by Blackburns office reads. Blackburn, in a statement, called the agreements yet another tool in Beijings campaign to infiltrate our culture to achieve their economic ends. She described one incident in which the Chinese regime used a sister-city partnership to force an unnamed local government to abide by Chinese policies or face economic retaliation. The push comes amid growing calls to combat the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) malign influence activities targeting academia, businesses, and governments from local to national across the United States. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), co-sponsor of the bill, said sister-city agreements require more oversight because Beijing has a history of conducting its malign activities by exploiting cultural and economic partnerships. Its in our national and economic security interest to better understand, and counter, Chinas growing malign influence at the state and local level, Rubio said. Companion legislation was also introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). Conduit to Expand Influence Last year, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned about these Chinese sister programs during a speech to U.S. governors, saying that CCP officials were cultivating relations with county school board members and local politicians through these programs. For years, the Chinese regime has also been piggybacking off sister city agreements to drive its establishment of Beijing-funded Confucius Institutes worldwide. Billed as language and culture centers, Confucius Institutes have drawn intense scrutiny over their role in spreading Chinese propaganda and stifling academic expression across college campuses around the world. In January 2007, Chinese state-run media Xinhua reported that 123 institutes were established in 49 countries and regions as of July 2005, a sign of Chinas soft power. The article said that many Chinese schools, with government support, were establishing Confucius Institutes and signing language-learning agreements through sister-city programs. Chinas Ministry of Education, when announcing its global Confucius Institute development plan for 2012 to 2020, pointed out that sister-city programs should be one of the mechanisms that regional authorities take advantage of to establish more centers. The regime also seeks to leverage its sister-city relationships to aid its repression of overseas dissident groups. A 2017 internal document previously reported by The Epoch Times said sister city channels should be fully utilized to effectively suppress Falun Gongs space for activities outside the country. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that has been brutally persecuted by the CCP for more than two decades. Beijing has also sought to include certain CCP political narratives in sister-city agreements. In 2019, Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, dropped its sister-city agreement with Chinas capital Beijing when the latter refused to re-negotiate wording related to the one China policy in the agreement, according to Taiwanese media. Beijing sees Taiwan as a part of its territory and has forced foreign governments, international organizations, and companies to adopt its one China principle, as a way to legitimate its territorial claim over the island. Taiwan is a de-facto independent country with its own democratically-elected officials, military, and currency. After dropping Beijing, Prague signed a sister-city agreement with Taiwans capital Taipei in January 2020. Eva Fu and Frank Fang contributed to this report. Not his time? Shep Rose opened up about courting controversy yet avoiding being ostracized from public life. Read article I consider myself a kind person. Im not out for blood, the Southern Charm star, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting his book, Average Expectations: Lessons in Lowering the Bar. Im smart enough to know to stay away from certain situations. And I dont know. Its easy. I mean, heres the thing: The far left is too quick to cancel, the far right is too quick not to. Like, you can get away with anything and say anything. Courtesy of Shep Rose/Instagram Rose emphasized his efforts to change when he realizes he is in the wrong: I think its important that we if were going to evolve or whatever, as a society if [there is] a word that is inflammatory and not very nice, dont use it. Its not that hard, you know, and its not, like, cultural and its not, like, a punitive for the user. Just use other words and consider someone elses feelings. So Im trying to do that. Read article However, the reality star acknowledged there is a learning curve. Its not easy because, like I said in the book, Ive used all sorts of words that would get me in big, big trouble in the past. I think almost everyone has. I mean, besides, like, Mother Teresa, he said. Ive taken them out of my vocabulary, so to speak, and so thats kind of the thing. And, you know, the stubborn refusal to change or evolve doesnt make any sense to me because we should all want to do that. Read article Rose, who attended the University of Georgia and was in a fraternity during college, then addressed the controversy surrounding Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell. The 24-year-old graphic designer has apologized for going to an antebellum-themed sorority party in college. I dont think they do it at University of Georgia anymore. I hope the hell they dont, but they did in the early 2000s, in the late 90s. There was these big ornate, guys dressed up like soldiers and stuff like that, he told Us. I thought back then it was a little much. Honestly, I cant believe in 2017 theyre doing it. That surprised me. So I know everything. I mean, I know, yeah. I know what that is all about, that controversy that hit the airwaves, which I dont know what I think of it honestly. Im like, OK, look, shes from north Georgia. I mean, you know, yeah. The South, youre going to be in situations where maybe you dont agree with a whole hell of a lot of people in that setting. So yeah, you got to be careful. For more on Rose and his book, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now! With reporting by Christina Garibaldi Detectives tracking a man who fled the country after the murder of a Norwegian student in London have warned him that their search will not 'go away.' Martine Vik Magnussen was just 23 when her body was found partially covered by rubble in a basement of a property in Great Portland Street in March 2008. She was last seen with Farouk Abdulhak son of billionaire sugar magnate Shaher Abdulhak as the pair left the Maddox nightclub in Mayfair in the early hours on Friday, March 14. But Mr Abdulhak fled to Yemen via Egypt within hours of her death and was identified by detectives as a key suspect in their investigation. Detective Inspector James Howart, who leads the investigation into Ms Magnussen's murder, said: 'I would like to make it clear to Farouk Abdulhak that this matter is not going to go away. 'My team and I will continue to seek justice and use all opportunities available to pursue him and bring him back to the UK. Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen was celebrating the end of exams with friends at the exclusive Mayfair nightclub Maddox in March 2008 CCTV footage dated 14/3/2008 issued by Metropolitan Police of Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen and billionaire playboy Farouk Abdulhak leaving Maddox nightclub in Mayfair 'His status as a wanted man will remain and I will not cease to in my efforts to get justice for Martine's family. Martine was last seen with Farouk Abdulhak (pictured) son of billionaire sugar magnate Shaher Abdulhak in the early hours of March 14 'I'm appealing to Farouk Abdulhak directly. Come back to the UK. Come back to face justice. 'Since Martine's death, her family have shown true determination together with my investigation team as we want to provide some closure for the family.' Mr Abdulhak and Ms Magnussen studied international business relations together at the private Regent's Business School in the capital. Ms Magnussen, a Norwegian socialite, had spent the evening celebrating the end of exams with friends on the night of Friday, March 14th. A post-mortem examination gave her cause of death as compression to the neck, and it was confirmed that she had also been raped. An inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court on November 24, 2010 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. Odd Petter Magnussen (left), with Norwegian rector Torbjorn Holt (middle) and head of Martin Foundation Patrick Lundevall-Unger in Great Portland Street, 2018, where Martine's body was discovered Farouk Abdulhak remains the only suspect in the death of Ms Vik Magnussen, and was described by the victim's father, Odd Petter Magnussen, as a 'coward'. Speaking last year, Mr Magnussen warned the suspect that he 'cannot hide forever', according to Metro. In todays globalised world, you cannot hide forever from the oldest and most serious crime known to man the rape and murder of a woman. 'I appeal to you to return to the UK to assist the police in finding out what happened to Martine. I regard you as a coward unless you take responsibility for your actions. The European Union is standing firm on sanctions against Syrias President Bashar al-Assad and will not support reconstruction for the war-torn country until the dictator in Damascus steps aside. There will be no end to sanctions, no normalizations and no support for reconstruction until a political transition is underway, Josep Borrell, the EUs top foreign affairs official, said Tuesday at a European Parliament debate marking the 10th anniversary of Syrias unresolved civil war. Borrell doubled down on the EUs stance that providing international reconstruction aid to Syrian territory under Assads control would vindicate the dictators crushing of the countrys 2011 uprising and pursuing a war until the whole country gets on its knees. The EUs policy, initially spearheaded by the United States, seeks to isolate Assad until free and fair elections are held in Syria, as called for by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254. The top diplomat said the EU is prepared to provide "substantial support" for Syria's reconstruction once elections are held, according to the political process outlined in Resolution 2254, noting that the EU has already given $26 billion in aid, Turkey's Anadolu News Agency reported. Borrell's comments came the same day as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) top diplomat called for the Damascus regime to be restored to the Arab League, and for joint action with its regime and private sector to help the country return to normal. Speaking alongside Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Dubai Tuesday, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's foreign minister, said that Washingtons pressure on its allies and partners to withhold reconstruction money for Syria make[s] matters difficult. Nahyan specifically mentioned the 2019 Caesar sanctions, which target Assad regime figures for complicity in mass war crimes. The UAE opened its first diplomatic mission in Damascus in 2018 for the first time since Assads regime was ousted from the Arab League in 2011. Russia, whose military intervention on Assads side in 2015 helped turn the tide of the war in Damascus favor, continues to seek to back Assad's political and military initiatives. Roughly half of Syrias population has been displaced by the civil war. More than 80% of Syrians in the country live below the poverty line, though there is little sign the Assad regime is willing to enact reforms demanded by the United States and its allies. 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. QUAD Virtual Summit 2021 is currently underway. It is the very first virtual summit where PM Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will participate and The Quad summit, which is the first summit of the Quad leaders held virtually this evening, is being attended by US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Our agenda today covering areas like vaccines, climate change, and emerging technologies makes the Quad, a force for global good, Prime Minister Modi said in his opening remarks. He went on to say Quad has come of age and will remain an important pillar of stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Sharing Indias vision of regional and global topics of mutual concern, as well as exchanging ideas on realistic ways to work together to keep a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, Prime Minister Modi said, I see this positive vision as an extension of Indias ancient philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which regards the world as one family. We will work together closely as ever before for advancing shared values & promoting secular, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific Updates via Twitter- #1stQuadSummit 'QUAD is an important pillar of regional stability': Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the 1st Quad Summit pic.twitter.com/u1tll4h8z5 NewsX (@NewsX) March 12, 2021 #1stQuadSummit | Our agenda today covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes the Quad, a force for global good: PM Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) addresses 1st QUAD Summit pic.twitter.com/TmwLwDtSwZ NewsX (@NewsX) March 12, 2021 The vaccine initiative will allow new manufacturing capacity to be added in India for exports to the Indo-Pacific region. It will not impinge on our existing manufacturing capacities: Sources on Quad meet ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 Also Read: QUAD The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue was set up in August 2007 by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the then Prime Minister of India, Dr. Mamohan Singh was also a part of it. The aim of the summit was to counter Chinas growing influence in Asia and it was revived in 2017 during the ASEAN Summit. Todays summit will be the first after the 2017 revival. China has referred to the QUAD Meeting as Indo Pacific NATO. The QUAD countries shall also discuss how to deal with Beijings recent moves in the Pacific and its intrusion in the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. it is yet to be seen whether a joint statement will be released at the end of the meeting, which will also be the first joint statement as so far, in the past meetings, separate readouts were issued by the countries having different positions over key matters. Ahead of the Summit, US Secretary Anthony Blinken, who is reported to visit Japan and South Korea next week said that he expected to see something on vaccines, as an outcome of the Summit. The Ministry of External Affairs released a statement ahead of the summit which underlined that the leaders would discuss cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region as well as the challenges such as resilient supply chains, emerging and critical technologies, maritime security, and climate change. Also Read: The police officer, who was suspended after the incident, had severely beaten up a colleague while off duty. He will serve half of his sentence on probation. In November 2016, the then 25-year-old former police officer violently attacked another police officer in a club in Limpertsberg, most likely out of jealousy. The blows were so severe that the victim's face was fractured, injuries which still affect the victim's life today. The two police officers were not on duty at the time of the dispute. In addition to the three-year prison sentence, half of which he will serve on probation, the man will also have to pay a fine of 1,500. One of the leading figures in European climate policy, Peter Vis, just last month fretted that the European Union might be rushing too fast towards the sort of border carbon tax it voted for this week. Such a tax might put the EU in the role of judging the adequacy of other countries [climate policies], which is awkward, Vis, who helped oversee the creation of the EU emissions trading system, told the UK climate journal, The ENDS Report. The EU is moving to force polluters to cut carbon emissions. Credit:AP Some members of the EU Parliament felt far less awkward about sitting in judgment. Belgian socialist MEP Kathleen van Brempt told the ABC after the vote that Australia had not been loyal to the Paris agreement and was a free-rider. Van Brempts comment was not loose political rhetoric. In relation to the proposed EU tariff, the term free-rider has a specific meaning, and understanding it helps you to understand the purpose of the tariff. New York, March 12 : If we're smart about the accounting, Facebook should be paying all of us - is one of the ways Timothy Wu thinks about technology. Wu, until recently a Professor at Columbia University's law school and the man who coined the term 'net neutrality', is wading into a new role as the Joe Biden administration's linchpin on technology and competition policy. His scholarly work so far signals a bare knuckle regulatory agenda against big tech platforms. There's also Lina Khan, from Columbia Law, who Biden has reportedly tapped for a role in the Federal Trade Commission. If nominated, and that seems to be the plan, Khan will have to survive Senate confirmation. If confirmed, Khan, 32, would be one of three FTC Democratic commissioners (and the youngest ever) overseeing privacy, data security and antitrust. Together, Wu and Khan embody an intellectual construct that has become the signature anthem of the progressive antitrust revival after Donald Trump's election in 2016. The alarm bells have already gone off, a while before Wu and Khan's ascendancy in the Biden era became public. "They may think they're too big to be held accountable, but Lina Khan is proving them wrong," Senator Elizabeth Warren gushed in a recent TIME appreciation. The duo's approach to Big Tech is clear in their groundbreaking papers. While still a law student at Yale, Khan cranked out a 96 page zinger titled "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox", published in the Yale Law Journal in January 2017. Broadly, Khan's argument is that the old antitrust framework needs an internet era fix. She makes the case that the consumer surplus argument alone isn't enough or ever intelligent anymore. Khan frames the next era of competition policy for platform markets in the form of two questions: "First, does our legal framework capture the realities of how dominant firms acquire and exercise power in the internet economy? And second, what forms and degrees of power should the law identify as a threat to competition? Without considering these questions, we risk permitting the growth of powers that we oppose but fail to recognise. Khan suggests applying elements of public utility regime or essential facilities obligations to dominant online platforms to "maintain the benefits of scale while limiting the ability of dominant platforms to abuse the power that comes with it". Wu, the author of "The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age", has a way of constructing stories via analogies - "it is not the biological chisel but the technological chainsaw that is most quickly redefining what it means to be human". In his public remarks, he asks audiences to think deeply about what it means to pay with data, rather than with traditional forms of payment and whether societies are worse off when technology gets better. He makes the case that collective action by consumers must persist and push technology giants in directions that will define how we live, work and thrive in the age of algorithmic mediation. When the Department of Justice and 11 US states sued Google in 2020, Wu told NPR: "This case signals that the antitrust winter is over." Former Bachelor star Locky Gilbert came under fire on Friday when he shared a video of himself standing on a cliff's edge while on a hike in Tasmania. The adventure tour guide, 31, posted a video to Instagram of himself smiling as he stood in a dangerous position at The Blade, in Tasmania's Cape Pillar. Locky balanced on a thin column of rocks by the ocean, which the area is known for, and recorded himself and the view using an iPhone on a selfie stick. 'Foolish': Ex-Bachelor star Locky Gilbert came under fire on Friday when he shared a video of himself standing on a cliff's edge while on a hike in Tasmania. Pictured with Irena Srbinovska Fans couldn't believe their eyes, and criticised Locky for being 'irresponsible' and 'risking his life' for an Instagram video. 'Very irresponsible I think, but your choice I guess,' one follower commented. Another added: 'That could have gone terribly wrong. Thank God it didn't... be careful, there are plenty of ways of taking great shots without risking your life.' Dangerous: The adventure tour guide, 31, posted a video to Instagram of himself smiling as he stood in a dangerous position at The Blade, in Tasmania's Cape Pillar Shocked: Fans couldn't believe their eyes, and criticised Locky for being 'irresponsible' and 'risking his life' for an Instagram video Another remarked: 'Didn't think you'd be foolish for a shot on Instagram.' Others said it was a risky move to shoot a video from Locky's position, but praised him for the spectacular footage nonetheless. 'Way to go Locky... glad it's not me,' one wrote, while a second added: 'That's crazy but so cool at [the] same time.' Be careful! Locky balanced on a thin column of rocks by the ocean, which the area is known for, and recorded himself and the view using an iPhone on a selfie stick Daredevils: Locky's supporters said it was a risky move to shoot a video from his position, but praised him for the spectacular footage nonetheless 'If you are going to do a hike in Tasmania, this has to be it! The Blade, Cape Pillar Tasmania,' Locky captioned the video. Locky told Daily Mail Australia on Friday that he always puts safety first and wouldn't suggest for others to do dangerous hikes. 'I have been doing stuff like this for years now and I take all safety into account,' Locky said in a statement. 'I am a professional adventurer so things like this are what I do. I don't suggest people do this at all but at least they can live a little on edge through my adventures.' He finished: 'But hey I wouldn't be the guy from Survivor and Bachelor if I was normal and boring would I?' The footage was accompanied by the song Way Down We Go by the Icelandic rock band Kaleo. Locky was doing the trek with his girlfriend, Irena Srbinovska, but she was not featured in the clip. The couple met on Channel 10's The Bachelor last year. Keeping her distance: Locky was doing the trek with his girlfriend, Irena Srbinovska, but she was not featured in the clip. The couple met on Channel 10's The Bachelor last year According to Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service, the hike around Cape Pillar takes two to three days, and visitors are warned about the cliff edges. 'Hazardous, unfenced sheer sea cliffs at numerous places near the cape. Please keep at least two metres back from exposed cliff edges. Beware of strong, gusty winds en-route to Cape Pillar,' the website states. Cliffs along the coastline at Cape Pillar can reach up to 300 metres high. The comments were made during a conference call held after more than a dozen Democratic members of the state's congressional delegations, including U.S. Reps. Brian Higgins, Jerrold Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called on Cuomo to resign. According to The Citizen's review of public statements made by the 29 members of New York's congressional delegation, at least 20 Democrats and Republicans believe Cuomo should resign. Nadler, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and played a leading role in both impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump, lauded the women who have accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct. He said the allegations against Cuomo and how he has responded to them "have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point." Ocasio-Cortez, along with U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, released a joint statement calling for Cuomo to resign. But they did not limit their criticisms of the governor to the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. They also noted that there is an investigation into his administration's withholding of the true COVID-19 death toll in nursing homes. 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. At a Washington Post Live virtual conference, General Motors President Mark Reuss provided more details about GMs next-generation Ultium lithium metal battery and announced a joint development agreement with lithium metal battery innovator SES (formerly known as SolidEnergy Systems) (earlier post). GMs lithium metal battery with a protected anode will feature a combination of affordability, high performance and energy density. The initial prototype batteries have already completed 150,000 simulated test miles at research and development labs at GMs Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, demonstrating real-world potential. GMs prototype lithium metal batteries were developed at the companys research and development labs in Warren, Michigan. To accelerate lithium metal battery commercialization, GM announced a joint development agreement with lithium metal battery innovator SES. (Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors) To accelerate Li-Metal battery commercialization, GM is working with several innovative companies and making investments that will allow the company to scale quickly. GM Ventures was an early investor six years ago in MIT spin-out SES, a research, development and manufacturing leader of Li-Metal technology and AI-powered battery management software to optimize performance and safety. The 2015 investment was the start of a close working relationship between SES and General Motors research and development organization. Todays joint development agreement is the next progression of that ongoing collaboration. As part of the agreement, GM and SES plan to build a manufacturing prototyping line in Woburn, Massachusetts, for a high-capacity, pre-production battery by 2023. Affordability and range are two major barriers to mass EV adoption. With this next-generation Ultium chemistry, we believe were on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation improvement in energy density and cost. Theres even more room to improve in both categories, and we intend to innovate faster than any other company in this space. Mark Reuss The expected battery energy density increase could enable higher range in a similarly sized pack or comparable range in a smaller pack. The weight and space savings from smaller battery packs could help with vehicle lightweighting or create more room for additional technology. Part of the foundation of GM and SES collaboration on Li-Metal prototype batteries is GMs extensive lithium metal battery experience. The companys expertise in this field has resulted in 49 patents granted and 45 patents pending. SES will also bring its own lithium metal intellectual property to the collaboration. GM announced this rapid technical progress for possible use in future Ultium-based vehicles just one year after the reveal of the first-generation Ultium Platform. The first Ultium-based products are expected to go on sale later this year. GM has said that the second-generation Ultium cells would reduce costs for EVs such as the Chevrolet Bolt by 60% by mid-decade. Although it began by pursuing a solid-state Li-metal solution, SES altered its approach to develop a safe electrolyte paired with an ultra-thin Li-metal anode. The electrolyte greatly enhances battery safety, and the ultra-thin Li-Metal anode reduces battery weight and production costs. The company says that its SES Li-metal cells can deliver 400-500 Wh/kg and more than 1000 Wh/L. SES is offering Li-Metal cells in three formats: 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. Nifty, Sensex reverses gains as the US premarket futures fall Weekly closing report To bookmark you need to sign in We had mentioned in last weeks closing report that Nifty, Sensex will follow global cues on tech stocks. The major indices rallied this week but faced a correction on Friday ending the week with minor gains over previous Fridays close. The trend of the major indices in the week is given in the table: On Monday, the indices opened higher but lost all gains and ended flat. On the NSE, there were 1,175 advances, 728 declines and 85 unchanged. Muthoot Group Chairman MG George Muthoot was admitted to a hospital after falling from the fourth floor of his house in Delhi and was later declared dead. Just Dial signed an advertising agreement with Star India for the Indian Premier League to be held in April-May 2021. Tata Motors shareholders have approved hiving off its passenger vehicles business into a separate entity. Vivimed Labs received approval from the Uzbekistan government for for Bilastin tablets, Urticaria and Orzole combi. On Tuesday, the indices opened higher and ended with major gains. On the NSE, there were 1,175 advances, 728 declines and 85 unchanged. BPCL board approved the sale of up to 15,89,93,397 of it equity shares held by the BPCL Trust for Investment. Inox Wind signed a binding agreement with Integrum Energy Infrastructure Private Limited to supply, erect and commission 92 MW of wind power project with end to end solutions from development and construction to commissioning and providing long term operations and maintenance services. JMC Projects signed an agreement with Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation Ltd for the design, finance and construction of 2,000 social housing units in Hulhumale Island of Maldives. On Wednesday, the indices opened near its days high but ended lower with minor gains. On the NSE, there were 1,078 advances, 853 declines and 95 unchanged. Magma Fincorp plans to raise up to Rs 3,456 crore by issuing preference equity shares to Rising Sun, a company controlled by Adar Poonawalla and and existing promoters, Sanjay Chamria and Mayank Poddar. Welspun Enterprises joint venture with Kaveri Infraprojects bagged a water supply project worth Rs 2,500 crore. Quick Heal Technologies will buyback up to 63,26,530 equity shares equal to 9.85% of the total paid up equity share capital for Rs 155 crore at Rs 245 per equity share. Indian Energy Exchange divested its 26% equity holding in Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) to National Stock Exchange of India and additional 5% equity holding to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. The equity markets were closed on Thursday on account of Maha Shivratri. On Friday, the indices opened high but suffered a correction and ended in losses. On the NSE, there were 780 advances, 1,126 declines and 95 unchanged. IDBI Bank shares rallied after The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it will be taken out of prompt corrective action (PCA) framework following improvement in its overall performance. Quick Heal Technologies board approved the proposal to buyback up to 63,26,530 equity shares, being 9.85 percent of the total paid-up equity share capital, of the company for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 1,550 million at Rs 245 per equity share. The buyback is subject to the approval of the members by means of a special resolution through a postal ballot. Hatsun Agro Products board approved setting up of a dairy plant in northern Andhra Pradesh besides the already approved proposal for a dairy plant in Odisha. IL&FS Transportation Networks arm received compensation of Rs. 707 crore from NHAI on foreclosure of road development project in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Prabhas-Saif Ali Khan's upcoming epic drama Adipurush is one of the most anticipated films which has caught everyone's attention ever since the makers announced this pan India project. While we already know that the magnum opus has Prabhas essaying the role of Ram who is pitted opposite Saif Ali Khan's character Lankesh, there were various speculations doing the rounds as to who would play the leading lady. Well, the cat is finally out of the bag! Kriti Sanon will be essaying the role of Sita opposite South star Prabhas' Ram. Along with her, Sunny Singh has been roped in to play Lakshman in the film. Kriti took to her Instagram page to express her excitement about being a part of Adipurush and wrote, "A new journey begins.. #ADIPURUSH This one is too special.. Proud, honoured and beyond excited to be a part of this magical world.. ." Director Om Raut also welcomed Kriti and Sunny onboard and tweeted, "Welcoming @kritisanon and @mesunnysingh to the #Adipurush family." "When I was casting for the female lead, I needed an actress who not only has an amazing screen presence but more importantly, is also a great performer. Kriti was our obvious choice for the film. Sunny is a great actor and we're sure he will impress viewers with his performance," the filmmaker said in a statement. T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar talked about getting the power-packed ensemble cast on board and said, "When Kriti heard the script she instantly agreed for the part. On the other hand, Sunny fits the character perfectly. I am happy to have them on board." Speaking about bringing Ramayan to life with Adipurush, Raut who earlier helmed Ajay Devgn's Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, told Film Companion in an interview, "With Adipurush, I want to create a great world around it and have our characters from our great epics interact with it. I want to stay truthful to my imagination - the kind of aesthetic that I would bring into the story." The filmmaker had also opened up about casting Saif as an evil man in the film and said, "Saif is a genius actor. I think he is one of the finest that we have in our nation. He brings so much passion to the set every morning. He will go into the deep and study the character thoroughly. I personally learn a lot from him every morning. I just enjoy working with him. His passion and commitment and pure acting talent is what I always admire. For an actor or a director, whether it is a good guy or a bad guy, you need committed performers who will put in their energy, efforts and time." Adiprush is slated to have a massive release on August 11, 2021, in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. The multilingual pan-India movie has left us all excited! ALSO READ: Adipurush: Sunny Singh Starts Shooting For Prabhas-Om Raut's Film; Might Play Lakshman In The Epic Drama ALSO READ: Adipurush Director Om Raut: I'm Not An Accidental Filmmaker; Attended Film School And Worked With MTV USA New Delhi : Fielded by the Communist Party of India-Marxist from Jamuria assembly seat, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Aishe Ghosh said she will have Jawaharlal Nehru University in her heart and mind as she tests the politics she has practised so far in the coal fields of West Bengal. The first sitting JNUSU functionary to fight assembly polls, Ghosh, a latecomer into politics, blossomed as the president of the union at a time when student politics saw a resurgence after Left leader Kanhaiya Kumar came into media limelight following a sedition case. When asked what is it like to be catapult into national politics from JNU, she replied, "It is a big responsibility, but my politics will remain the same." "The issues we fight for in JNU are an extension of what is happening across the country. Be it reservations, communalism, our fight for better education, employment, better living conditions. The issues are the same everywhere in this country. I will carry these issues that I fought for in JNU to the people of West Bengal," Ghosh said. Busy arranging her papers for travelling to Bengal for the election, Ghosh apologised for not being able to field calls while packing for a long and arduous battle that begins the day she arrives in Jamuria. A resident of Durgapur, where her parents still stay, Ghosh will be contesting from Jamuria, known for its illegal coal mining. But the 26-year-old seems to have a handle on her agenda. "The youth of Bengal is asking for jobs, better standards of living. Bengal itself has turned into an old age home where the youth are being forced to leave for better lives elsewhere. "Even for higher education, youngsters are leaving the state. In the coal belt, where I come from, after the coronavirus crisis there is a huge issue of migrants who have returned and have no jobs," she says. Ghosh passed her secondary and higher secondary exams in Durgapur, before joining Daulat Ram College in New Delhi from where she graduated in political science. Thereafter, she enrolled at the JNU for masters degree. After completing her masters, she enrolled for MPhil at School of International Relations in JNU. She is at present a second-year student of MPhil. She left Bengal in 2013 and her politics has remained centred around Delhi. When asked will she be treated as an outsider, Ghosh said, "My roots are still in the state. I was born and brought up here. I see no contradiction in this. I faced all the issues that are being faced by the people there. I know what the situation is there. My parents still live in Durgapur." When asked how she will balance her roles as a politician in Bengal and a student at JNU in case she wins the assembly polls, Aishe exuded confidence about being able to do so. "I am yet to think about it. While I believe education is extremely important and I will continue it, I can promise the people of Bengal that I will not run away like others have done in the past. If they show their faith in me by electing me, I will stand by them forever," Ghosh said. Her conviction seems similar to her confidence barely a year back as she appeared at JNU campus addressing the media with injuries on her hand and head, and lashing out against the university administration and demanded the resignation of the vice-chancellor. "I had mixed emotions when the nominations were announced. Actually it is difficult to describe. When I told my parents about it, they were proud, happy and of course as parents may be a little apprehensive. However, there is a battle to be fought, it is not an individual fight, and I am all in." 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. Los Angeles County hit the red tier today, which means L.A. officials will likely allow restaurants to resume indoor dining on Monday -- with a few restrictions. Restaurants will have to: Operate at 25% capacity or seat no more than 100 people (whichever is lower) Space tables 8 feet apart Seat no more than 6 people at a table Forbid people from different households to sit at the same table (although there's not much restaurants can do to confirm and enforce this) Food courts at indoor shopping malls will also be able to, once again, let patrons sit and eat their food under the skin-enhancing glow of a Sbarro sign -- as long as the food court doesn't exceed 25% capacity. Restaurants in Long Beach, which has its own health department, can open indoor operations with modification on Monday, too, according to officials. The city of Pasadena, which also has its own health department, is also going to let restaurants resume indoor dining on Monday, per an announcement from the Pasadena Public Health Department. After today's move into the red tier -- which happened when California administers 2 million COVID-19 vaccines in the hardest-hit communities -- the L.A. County Department of Public Health will need to amend the public health order so businesses can reopen. Officials could pull the trigger earlier or later but the formal reopening will likely happen Monday. In more good news, California recently loosened restrictions so breweries, wineries and distilleries that don't serve food can reopen outdoors in counties in the purple and red tiers, starting this Saturday, March 13. (Previously, these establishments had to wait for future tiers to reopen.) Breweries, wineries and distilleries will have to: Require advance reservations Limit visits to 90 minutes End alcohol consumption at 8 p.m. However, counties have the ability to amend the state rules to make them stricter and L.A. health department officials could decide to do that. If you're confused because your neighborhood bar has been open during most of the pandemic, we don't blame you. Breweries and wineries that serve food are classified as restaurants and get to follow those rules, which allow for earlier reopenings. Diners eat out in Little Tokyo. (Chava Sanchez/LAist) What about bars that don't serve food? They'll remain closed until a county makes it to the "orange" tier. In the orange tier, they'll be allowed to reopen but only outdoors. In the red tier of California's four-tier reopening blueprint, other businesses will also be able to reopen: Indoor shopping malls can increase capacity to 50% and their food courts can reopen at 25% capacity. Museums, zoos and aquariums can also open indoors at 25% capacity Gyms, fitness centers, yoga and dance studios can open indoors at 10% capacity. Masks are still required. Happy dining. Spanish officials on Friday sought to allay misgivings about the coronavirus vaccine produced by Oxford-AstraZeneca after several European countries temporarily halted its use following a few reports of blood clots among recipients that are being investigated by European authorities. Government spokesperson Maria Jesus Montero said citizens should feel confident about the Covid-19 vaccines because they are safe and no adverse effect has been recorded in Spain, where people are receiving doses made by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca. Although vaccination with AstraZeneca continues in Spain, a few thousand doses from a batch that arrived in mid-February have been set aside while the European Medicines Agency (EMA) conducts its investigation. Denmark, Norway and Iceland have halted all AstraZeneca inoculations, while Austria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Italy and Romania have halted injections of specific batches. Use of batch ABV5300 was halted in Austria after a person was diagnosed with multiple thrombosis and died 10 days after vaccination, and another was hospitalised with pulmonary embolism. The EMA says there is no indication that the vaccine caused these conditions. In Spain, the AstraZeneca vaccine is being administered to essential workers under 55 years of age In Spain, many vials from the batch number ABV5300 have already been administered as they arrived in February, the Health Ministry said. But several regional governments Andalusia, Catalonia, Castilla y Leon and the Canary Islands have set aside their remaining doses of this batch. The Valencia region said later on Friday that it was also halting injections of this batch. Authorities in Castilla y Leon have put AstraZeneca doses on hold out of precaution. In a statement, the government said that no serious adverse effect from the inoculation of this vaccine or any of the other vaccines has been recorded. Although the regional government did not say how many doses are affected, to Thursday the region had received 85,800 doses of AstraZeneca. Andalusia received 4,000 vials of AstraZenecas ABV5300 batch on February 12, enough to extract 40,000 doses, said a spokesperson for the Andalusian department of health and family. Those vaccines started to be administered and weve had no reports about negative reactions among recipients. There are only 1,200 doses left from that batch, and out of precaution we have decided to halt injections until the EMA clears up the issue. The Canary Islands government has temporarily placed 110 doses on hold, while Asturias withdrew some vaccines on Thursday, but decided to go ahead with their administration on Friday. In Catalonia, 35,000 out of the 37,000 available doses from that batch have already been injected, and the remaining 2,000 have been set aside while the EMAs investigation is ongoing. Other regions of Spain are going ahead with inoculations, including the Basque Country, Cantabria and Madrid, where the regional deputy health chief Antonio Zapatero said the vaccine is very good, it is a safe vaccine and an effective vaccine. In Spain, the AstraZeneca vaccine is being administered to essential workers under 55 years of age, including teachers, firefighters, police officers and healthcare workers who are not in the front lines. They will be followed by the general population between 45 and 55 years of age, according to the governments priority guidelines. English version by Susana Urra. First Minister Arlene Foster has said she is "bemused" by those critical of proposals for a bridge or tunnel connecting Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, on the other hand, described such a project as a "pipe dream" of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It comes after it was announced that an official feasibility study including examining potential for either a 'Boris Burrow' or 'Boris Bridge', as they have been dubbed, is to get under way. Transport expert Sir Peter Hendy - who was reappointed as Network Rail chairman yesterday - was asked by the UK Government to examine how to keep the Union connected and he has now said work should be carried out to look at a "fixed link" across the Irish Sea. The proposals have drawn criticism from many quarters, including from Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, who described it as a "fantasy". Speaking during a press conference in Dungannon yesterday, Mrs Foster welcomed the news of the review. "It's not just about the 'Boris Burrow' or the tunnel, it's much wider than that and I hope people will look at that, because if the UK national government are looking at infrastructure across the UK, then that is a good thing," she said. "I'm somewhat bemused by the fact that our Infrastructure Minister does not think it is a good thing. You would think that the Infrastructure Minister would welcome the fact that government is focusing on infrastructure across the UK." Expand Close Prime Minister Boris Johnson Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister Boris Johnson Ms O'Neill however, described a bridge or tunnel as a "pipe dream" that is just a way of creating a smokescreen to distract from the UK Government's handling of Brexit and its "reckless and partisan" approach to the Withdrawal Agreement. "For me that's all about deflection, [Boris Johnson] would be better spending money on giving healthcare staff additional wages, proper wages," she added. One major factor that could sink any "fixed link" before it even breaks ground is Beaufort's Dyke, an area of the Irish Sea where surplus munitions from the two World Wars and radioactive waste were dumped. It is thought that in excess of one million tonnes of munitions dumped there by the War Office and its successor the Ministry of Defence up until the mid-1970s. The UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities campaign group said it would be a "real challenge" to develop either a bridge or tunnel project between NI and GB. One leading bomb disposal expert said either project would be "impractical but not impossible". Former Royal Navy clearance diver Michael Fellows told the Belfast Telegraph earlier this month that a tunnel would be a "dodgy operation", considering the volume of munitions on the seabed. "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," he added. "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." Ballia : , March 12 (IANS) The Ballia police have arrested a man said to be a Samajwadi Party (SP) worker for performing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "pind daan" (one of the last rites among the Hindus). Brijesh Yadav was apprehended after he posted a video of it on the social media and one of the priests, who performed the ritual filed a complaint against him. He has been sent him to judicial custody. On the complaint of a priest, Sudhakar Mishra, the police lodged an FIR against Yadav under sections 420 (cheating), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of IPC and 66 IT Act. Revati station officer Yadvendra Pandey said the accused is a resident of Dalchapra village in and he had performed the rituals on the banks of river Ganga by misleading five priests, including the complainant. Mishra, in his complaint alleged that Yadav took the priests for puja at Pachrukhiya ghat. After the ritual was over, he performed the last rites ritual by placing a photo of the chief minister. The accused has been sent to jail. Historians point to a number of obvious problems with the cow story: If a cow had, in fact, kicked over a lantern while Mrs. OLeary was milking it, why would she leave the barn and go back inside after the fire broke out? Why wouldnt she scream for help? Why wouldnt she try to save her cows or the barn? So where did the cow story come from? Ann Durkin Keating, a history professor at North Central College in Naperville, Ill., who specializes in Chicago history, said the cow story caught on because of anti-Irish and anti-immigrant sentiment and it all started with a rogue reporter. More than 20 years after the fire, Michael Ahern, who at the time was a reporter for The Chicago Republican, admitted that he had concocted the cow tale because it made for a better story. His story had not implicated Mrs. OLeary by name, but Ms. Keating said Catherine OLeary an Irish immigrant was an all-too-convenient scapegoat. Within 48 hours, theyre blaming the OLearys for this, Ms. Keating said. Mrs. OLeary in particular. They were looking for a scapegoat, and she was Irish and a woman. Newspapers published caricatures depicting Mrs. OLeary as bumbling, ignorant and, in one case, a drunken old hag. They leaned on ethnic stereotypes as they lampooned the stupidity of the old Irish woman who swore she would be revenged on a city that would deny her a bit of wood or a pound of bacon. (And that the OLeary home survived the fire while much of the rest of the neighborhood burned didnt exactly help matters, Ms. Keating said.) In 1997, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution that exonerated Mrs. OLeary and her cow. But it was far too late for Catherine, who never allowed herself to be photographed and who, according to her physician, bore the weight of blame and notoriety until she died in 1895. Mar. 11The state Senate voted Thursday to reject a Republican-backed effort to terminate Maine's state of emergency and assert more legislative control over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike during a Wednesday vote in the Maine House, Senate Republicans managed to pick up a few Democratic colleagues in their campaign to rein in Gov. Janet Mills' emergency powers during the pandemic. But the outcome was the same as the measure failed on a 15-19 vote a day after dying in the House on a vote of 67-81. A group of Maine residents, meanwhile, filed the latest federal lawsuit against Mills seeking to end an emergency declaration that will turn one year old on Monday. "The emergency mandates have stripped the people of this state of their fundamental rights and dignity. Our daily lives are now directly and comprehensively micromanaged by the summary edicts of executive officers," reads the lawsuit filed by a group called Maine Stands Up. Republicans have been pushing since last spring to rein in Mills' emergency powers, which both parties had granted to the governor last March as COVID-19 cases began appearing in the state. The civil state of emergency declared by Mills on March 15, 2020, allows her to quickly mobilize or shift state resources and tap into billions of dollars in federal relief funds. Mills has also imposed a host of public health measures, including restrictions on businesses, face covering mandates, testing and/or quarantine requirements on travelers to Maine and gathering limits that extended into churches or religious settings. She has done much of that unilaterally, as allowed under the emergency powers granted to the governor. But Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, said the resolution "is about restoring the functioning of our democracy." "A central tenet of our fragile democracy is separation of powers," Bennett said. "The Legislature has a unique role in being the ears, the eyes and the voice of the people. And I think we all will agree that there has been pernicious degradations of our democratic traditions over these past months and, indeed, over these past few years." Story continues Republicans also insisted that the current emergency declaration was no longer necessary to tap into federal COVID-19 relief funds. While many Democratic lawmakers have lamented being sidelined during the pandemic, the vast majority of members sided with their leadership and the Democratic governor in preserving the existing state of emergency. And several Democrats pointed to Republicans' refusal to reconvene the Legislature last year and this week's partisan fighting over a supplemental budget as evidence why Mills still needs the ability to quickly respond to the pandemic. "We are great at making long-term policy," said Democratic Sen. Mark Lawrence of Eliot said in response to Bennett. "But if my good friend from Oxford thinks that he can get two-thirds of the Senate to agree upon something, and two-thirds of the House to agree upon something, and act within a day or even two days, i would suggest that he is living in a different world than I'm living in." Sen. Heather Sanborn, D-Portland, said there was "not a chance" that both chambers of the Legislature could quickly reach the two-thirds consensus needed to pass emergency measures to deal with complex and fast-moving issues of the pandemic. "We need to continue doing our work as legislators and we need to continue letting the governor deal with one of the biggest emergencies our state has ever faced," Sanborn said. Lindsay Crete, a spokeswoman for Mills, said "the governor is not interested in making the pandemic political. "She is focused solely on saving the lives and livelihoods of Maine people," Crete said in a statement. "Her administration will continue to balance public health and economic health within the bounds of her Constitutional authority and in a strictly non-partisan and non-political fashion. A Republican member of the Maine House, Rep. Heidi Sampson of Alfred, was among four named individuals on the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. In addition to challenging the governor's emergency orders, the suit claims that COVID-19 case numbers and deaths have been inflated. It also says the virus is no more dangerous than the seasonal flu, which is demonstrably not true. Mills already has won multiple lawsuits against plaintiffs making similar arguments. A federal judge last summer dismissed a lawsuit by business owners who challenged the governor's restrictions on their operations during the pandemic. One of the plaintiffs in that suit Rick Savage, co-owner of Sunday River Brewing Company in Bethel opened the brewpub in defiance of the governor's orders, causing him to temporarily lose his state licenses. Last spring, a federal judge denied a preliminary motion in a lawsuit brough by campground owners who sought to strike down Maine's 14-day quarantine for out-of-state visitors. And a church in Orrington lost its court bid last year to hold in-church religious services that would have violated restructions on indoor gatherings. Attorney General Aaron Frey called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said his office would "vigorously defend" the governor and state officials. "The fact that we were first made aware of this lawsuit by a publicist for the plaintiffs' attorney leads us to question the real motives behind this," Frey said in a statement. "Throughout this unprecedented public health crisis, the governor has acted well within her constitutional authority to take necessary actions to protect public health and save lives. In previous challenges, courts have consistently upheld her actions. Maine has benefitted from Governor Mills's steady hand on the tiller, and the measures she has taken have led to Maine having some of the best public health metrics in the country." Staff writer Eric Russell contributed to this report. Pierre Gasly drove the morning session for the AlphaTauri team. The 25-year old Frenchman is satisfied with the new AT02 and speaks of 'a good start'. The team had no problems so far. Start could hardly be better "We had a good start in Bahrain, everything went smoothly," Gasly is quoted by Speedweek.com as saying. The one-time Grand Prix winner reveals that everything on the to-do list has been ticked off and he says he will be on the attack from Saturday. Gasly wants to make as few mistakes as possible in 2021, so he can improve on his tenth place among 2020 drivers in the upcoming season. "We have shown a good season, but we can still do more. I know my team and I can improve. To score more points, we need to make as few mistakes as possible." Lost downforce already regained The floor of the car is the biggest change from last season, but Gasly says he feels little from the reduction in downforce. "I don't feel a dramatic difference now. I also think that the development in Formula 1 is so fast that we quickly made up for the lost downforce." Read more Special Mercedes floor design also spotted at Aston Martin, not Red Bull Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Numerous appointments have been made to build capacity at Morila in advance of the recommencement of mining. The Ntiola satellite pit at Morilla Gold Project before being dewatered. ( ) (OTCMKTS:EEYMF) (FRA:N9F) continues to make strong progress at Morila Gold Project in Mali, West Africa and is on track to meet production guidance this quarter while advancing plans to begin mining satellite pits in mid-2021. To enable processing of this satellite ore, capital work programs are being undertaken at the processing plant and tailings dam with these projects being funded by cashflow from operations. Morila is producing gold from reprocessing of tailings with guidance suggesting production of around 10,000 and 10,500 ounces of gold this quarter. In January, the mine produced 3,494 ounces of gold and 3,372 ounces in February and Firefinch says it is on-track to meet Q1 guidance. Processing plant work Major projects at the processing plant include carrying out refurbishment of the primary crusher and oxide crusher dump pockets, civil works around the primary crusher retaining structures (90% complete), sandblasting and painting the mill structure (80% complete) and replacing corroded steelwork in the process plant. Other works include refurbishing laboratory buildings, undertaking civil works to install the temporary 6MW power plant as well as vendor inspections of the crusher and mill. Tailings dam work At the tailings dam, while the design of the TSF facility has begun, the company continues to establish deposition compartments within the dam footprint to accept tailings and allow congruent hydraulic mining and tailing deposition. Deposition of tailings into the tailings dam started on January 25 and is the first step towards dewatering the Morila pit. Mechanical mining is being carried out of the basal layer of tailings after hydraulic mining and prior to deposition of tailings with 50,000 tonnes at approximately 0.4 g/t gold placed on the ROM pad for treatment once comminution commences. The refurbishment of main drains in the tailings dam has been completed. Satellite pits Projects at satellite pits include: Ntiola pit: dewatering completed, first-pass drilling complete, resource estimate and first-pass mine design nearing completion with further infill drilling underway targeting mineralisation near surface. Viper Pit: first pass infill and extension drilling complete, first results are being received. Further infill drilling is anticipated to be carried out. Domba pit: dewatering underway to permit access to pit floor to undertake infill and extension drilling. Koting deposit: first pass drilling is complete while further infill drilling is also completed with all samples submitted to laboratory. Pit 5: infill drilling is complete with resource estimation and pit design in progress. Mining tender for Viper, NTiola and Koting nearing award. Haul road extension to Koting has been designed with permitting to commence. Planning and design Morila has an in-house laboratory which is completing an average of 800 grade and plant samples per week and 1,600 drill samples per week. There is a backlog of 7,000 samples and to clear the backlog additional shifts have been engaged at Morila as well as utilisation of commercial laboratories in Bamako. Numerous appointments have been made to build capacity at Morila in advance of the recommencement of mining. Mine planning and design for the main Morila pit is well-advanced and social programs continue with a heightened level of engagement with community leaders as activity at the mine ramps up. Shares are more than 7% higher to A$0.225 while the company's market cap is approximately A$152.5 million. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 You wouldn't know it from watching the show, but Married At First Sight's Jake Edwards and Cameron Dunne became unlikely friends during filming last year. The two men, both 32, formed a close bond on set, and even went out together several times - although their outings weren't included in any storyline. The grooms 'bonded over their failing marriages', a source said, with Jake unhappily paired with Beck Zemek and Cameron stuck with Samantha Harvey. Who knew? You wouldn't know it from watching the show, but Married At First Sight's Jake Edwards (left) and Cameron Dunne (right) became unlikely friends during filming last year A well-placed insider claimed the pair formed a friendship while regularly catching up to discuss their turbulent TV marriages. Last month, the duo were thick as thieves during a break from filming after they returned to Sydney to shoot the reunion episode. Cameron also discreetly showed his support for Jake on the show this week by wearing a T-shirt from his clothing brand, Speak Clothing. Bond: A well-placed insider claimed the pair formed a friendship while regularly catching up to discuss their turbulent TV marriages. Last month, the duo were thick as thieves during a break from filming after they returned to Sydney to shoot the reunion episode (pictured) Meanwhile, Jake has been spotted wearing a range of different Speak T-shirts, singlets and hats during his time on Nine's social experiment. He teamed up with professional boxer Adam Fenton to launch the brand in 2018. All profits are donated to charity every three months. Did you spot it? Cameron also discreetly showed his support for Jake on the show this week by wearing a T-shirt from his clothing brand, Speak Clothing Self-promotion: Jake has been spotted wearing a range of different Speak T-shirts, singlets and hats during his time on Nine's social experiment Cause: Jake teamed up with professional boxer Adam Fenton (right) to launch the brand in 2018. All profits are donated to charity every three months It comes just days after Daily Mail Australia revealed Cameron had consulted Jake during filming hours before meeting with Coco Stedman for a secret rendezvous. According to an eyewitness, a nervous Cameron was pacing up and down the lower lobby of the Skye Suites apartment complex when Jake walked over for a chat. 'Jake could see Cam looking tense while waiting for a producer and walked over to see how he was going,' the on-set spy said. Cameron and Coco's affair will play out on Married At First Sight in the coming weeks, with a recent trailer showing them kissing for the first time. Spotted: It comes just days after Daily Mail Australia revealed Cameron had consulted Jake during filming hours before meeting with Coco Stedman for a secret rendezvous By Ankit Ajmera (Reuters) - Stanza Living, a managed accommodation provider in India, is in the final stages of sealing a deal to raise up to $120 million in a Series D round led by an Abu Dhabi based investor, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters. The latest funding round values the company at about $600 million, one of the sources said, up from about $300 million in the prior Series C round in 2019, adding that the deal is expected to close by the end of this month. Stanza's business model centres around the huge market in small guesthouses - locally called PGs, short for Paying Guest - which provide affordable food and accommodation to both students and workers migrating to India's fast-growing megacities. The company had about 50,000 beds as of March end 2020 with per bed rents in cities including Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad ranging from 3,000 rupees ($41.31) to 25,000 rupees per month. The company expanded to four new cities last year and has previously said it aims to add 100,000 beds by the end of 2021. India's overall residential rental market was worth more than $20 billion in 2019, according to some estimates. Stanza has so far raised $70 million from venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Matrix Partners, Falcon Edge Capital and Equity International. Sequoia, Matrix and Falcon Edge were not immediately available for comment. The latest fund-raising round had participation from some of the existing investors, the sources said, declining to name which ones. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the matter publicly. Stanza did not respond to a request for comment. The New-Delhi based firm's competitors in a highly fragmented market include Zolo Stays and Oyo Life, among others. ($1 = 72.6250 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) (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.) YouTube is one of the largest content creation platforms in the world with a reach that spans more than 2 billion users worldwide. India has a countless number of successful and semi-successful content creators on YouTube who depend on the Ad revenue and sponsorships from their videos as their means for earning money. In recent news, Google has announced that they are going to start charging taxes to content creators who are based outside of the US. Read on to know how this will affect content creators for Youtube India. YouTube To Implement Additional Taxes On Non-US Content Creators As per the Google announcement, content creators who profit from their YouTube videos with views from the US will have to pay a proportionate amount of taxes. Google has announced that they may start to implement these taxes as early as June 2021. It should be noted, this policy only affects non-US-based content creators, as the US YouTubers already come under the country's tax systems. How Will The New Tax System Work? Apart from Ad Revenue, Google will also be accounting for taxes on other revenue methods like channel memberships, Super Chat and chat donations. The official Google support forum says, all monetizing creators on YouTube, regardless of their location in the world, are required to provide tax info. Please submit your tax info as soon as possible. If your tax info isnt provided by May 31, 2021, Google may be required to deduct up to 24% of your total earnings worldwide. So, unless Indian Youtubers want to face hefty taxes, they should submit their tax information to their Google Adsense account as soon as possible. As per Google's blog, if content creators do not submit their tax information and their accounts are classified as a business account, Google may deduct up to 30% of tax from the creator's US revenue. If the content creator classifies as an individual account and does not submit their tax info, they may be charged up to 24% of their US revenue. India and the US have a special tax treaty in place. Essentially, if you qualify under the US-India tax treaty as a YouTube content creator, you will only have to pay a 15% tax on your revenue from the US viewers. TN polls: Filing of nominations open today; AIADMK to contest in 178 constituencies, DMK 174 India oi-Madhuri Adnal Chennai, Mar 11: Arch-rivals DMK and AIADMK on Thursday almost sealed their seat-sharing deals with allies for the coming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu on the eve of opening of nominations, with both set to contest in over 170 segments each out of the total 234 at stake. While the AIADMK is eyeing a record third straight term, the DMK is keen to dethrone its traditional rival and stage a comeback to the ruling saddle after a gap of a decade. Keen to ensure a majority on their own in the April 6 single phase elections, the AIADMK will fight from 178 constituencies directly and the DMK from 174. Besides, their smaller allies would contest on the Two Leaves and Rising Sun symbols respectively of the AIADMK and DMK, in effect giving the two Dravidian majors a larger pie of 190 and 187 seats as they face their first assembly elections post the demise of their towering leaders J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi. Filing of nominations will start on Friday and the last day is March 19. The ruling party, which has declared incumbent K Palaniswami as its chief ministerial candidate, has firmed up seat sharing for 233 seats, allotting 23 and 20 to PMK and BJP, respectively. The remainder is spread between the AIADMK and its other allies that include former Union Minister GK Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC-Moopanar) and some more smaller outfits. The MK Stalin-led DMK and Congress reached an agreement on the latter's 25 constituencies, out of which the national party will be locked a direct fight with the BJP in five. The principal opposition party also firmed up constituency arrangements with others including the MDMK, VCK CPI and CPI (M), when reports last came. MDMK leader Vaiko also named his party''s candidates for the six seats. However, the DMK is yet to release its list of nominees. The 25 constituencies allotted to Congress included five segments won by it. The Congress will take on BJP in Colachel and Vilavankode, both in Kanyakumari, besides Karaikudi and Udhagamandalam--all held by it and Coimbatore South. Tenkasi, Nanguneri (won by the party in 2016 but lost to AIADMK in 2019 bypoll), Srivillliputhur and Velachery in Chennai are the other seats allotted to it by the DMK. VCK will contest from Kattumannarkoil, Arakkonam, Cheyyur, Vanur-- all reserved constituencies and Nagapattinam and Tiruporur, party founder leader and Lok Sabha member Thol. Thirumavalavan told reporters. AIADMK's ally TMC will contest six seats, including Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and Patukkotai, on the Two Leaves symbol, party chief Vasan said. TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam also released its second list of candidates, with the party chief taking on ruling AIADMK Minister and local strongman Kadambur Raju in Kovipatti. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News AMMK also struck a poll pact with Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and allotted it six seats including Ambur and Palayamkottai to its partner. It has earlier earmarked three seats for AIMIM headed by Asaduddin Owaisi. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 10:28 [IST] How California Is Embracing Mandatory Racial-Injustice Study for All of Its 1.7 Million High Schoolers California has struggled for five years to create a politically palatable ethnic studies curriculum that would teach high schoolers how systemic racism, predatory capitalism, heteropatriarchy and other structures of oppression are foundational to American society. Now, after more than 82,000 public comments, and four major rewrites, the state Board of Education is expected to approve the latest version next week, clearing the way for lawmakers to make a semester-long course in the material a graduation requirement for all of Californias 1.7 million high school students. The latest curriculum, however scaled back, still shares similarities with an earlier, rejected draft that a top state official said failed to comply with state law, and the Los Angeles Times editorial board characterized as a jumble of politically correct pronouncements that feel like an exercise in groupthink, designed to proselytize and inculcate more than to inform and open minds. When all is said and done, the material emphasizing whites subjugation of non-whites is not a conventional textbook subject, but an ideology with an activist political agenda. Revisions may never satisfy parents and teachers who believe public schools shouldnt be in the business of teaching kids how to develop a social consciousness or using class time to pinpoint a students intersectional identity to determine where they fit on a hierarchy of power. At the same time, ethnic studies activists are furious that their efforts at promoting social justice, and centering voices of color are being diluted by, as they put it, power structures such as whiteness, Zionism and assimilationism. Passage of the landmark curriculum at the boards scheduled meeting on March 18 should mark a hard-fought victory for the half-century-old ethnic studies movement and help advocates promote their movement across the country. But it will not end the conflict in California, where the issue will be forced to the local level to be decided by local schoolboards or in individual classrooms. The reason: The states guidelines grant teachers wide flexibility in how they teach the subject. Ethnic studies activistsincluding those who wrote the first, rejected draft of the curriculumsay high school teachers will have an escape clause to teach a watered down version that the activists deride as a Foods, Heroes & Holidays and all lives matter pabulum. These advocates insist on hewing to a heroic narrative about how people of color have suffered from and fought against European capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism. Practitioners have formed their own organizationthe Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Instituteto promote an authentic ethnic studies, a discipline born in the late 1960s out of student campus protests led by the Third World Liberation Front to end Eurocentrism in education. For the past year, these activists have been meeting in online sessions to hash out strategy, expound upon their liberatory and transformational ideology, and encourage educators to teach the full-strength curriculum that the state has flunked. Their unguarded comments in numerous videos convey the combative tone and spirit of ethnic studies already evident in some California classrooms, and likely to be adopted by many more teachers regardless of the model curriculum approved by the state. Inside of the United States, native people have been actively fighting a long war to dismantle the United States, said Stevie Ruiz, who teaches in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the California State University, Northridge, during a May 2020 online strategy session. So then we can actually think about what happens if we honor native peoples acknowledgments and begin to tear apart the United States internally, continued Ruiz, who was listed as one of the leaders of the Liberated group until February. What if we decide to call this place the United States no longer? Hollywood High hallway is seen in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2020. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images) A Way of Life The Liberated Ethnic Studies group includes many of the original authors of the 2019 Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum that the state has gutted, as well as 50 scholars, teachers, practitioners and students, according to Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, an Asian American Studies professor at San Francisco State University, speaking during a Feb. 2 online event. The advocates say that many state officials fail to grasp that ethnic studies is not a traditional school subject, but a movement and a philosophy best described as narrative medicine, radical healing and even a way of life. Its distinguished from traditional classroom instruction by its emotional, immersive pedagogy designed to deprogram kids from European cultural assumptions, to make teenagers conscious of systemic inequities, and to reconnect them with forgotten ancestral knowledge. According to one of the Liberated institute leaders, Theresa Montano, a professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at the California State, Northridge, the groups K-12 lesson plans should be available online for free this spring. According to the groups web site, the material will be based on five themes: racialized intersectional identity, collective narratives, systems of power and oppression, resilience and resistance, and solidarity among people of color. And the Liberated institute is open for business: We have packages and experts that can help you with your Ethnic Studies professional learning needs. We know that when districts begin to implement their ethnic studies programs, theyre not going to go to the state of California and say, Excuse me, state of California, can you come to L.A. and help me implement my ethnic studies program? Montano said last August. No, theyre going to come to us. And so we are continuing the work that we need to do to develop ethnic studies while simultaneously holding on to some critical hope that we can still influence what the state of California does. In repeated expressions of frustration, the advocates attribute the states political compromises to a common enemy: whitenesswhat they call the oppressive force that their movement and its precursors have been seeking to disempower for 500 years. All of the attacks against the ESMC [Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum] came from the realms of whiteness and authoritarian whitesplaining, read a statement Los Angeles public school intervention counselor Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona posted during her May presentation on ethnic studies and teacher preparation. Well-funded attempts at whitewashing the ESMC ranged from right-wing white nationalists at Breitbart, to Wall Street Journal white capitalists who deny the climate crisis, to white moderates who superficially may say they support ethnic studies, but only if its done in the way they as gate-keeping white moderates say it needs to be done. The model curriculum that Cardona, Montano, Tintiangco-Cubales and others wrote in 2019 hit a tripwire with references to Palestinian resistance to the state of Israel as an example of ethnic studies in action. The removal of those references from the states revised curriculum, and the addition of lessons about anti-Semitism, is seen by the advocates as emblematic of the way white power structures erase the histories of those they oppress. Cardona, one of the founding members of the Liberated Ethnic Studies group, said by phone that she expects an anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions lesson to be included in the Liberated materials that the group is developing. Cardona is a longtime public school teacher and a veteran of Californias ethnic studies skirmishes, having been fired from a teaching position three years ago after some parents found out she was a member of a Marxist organization that advocates for political revolution, emulates Cubas Fidel Castro and Venezuelas Hugo Chavez, and vows to crush all forms of oppression and reactionary tendencies. Rejecting the states assimilationist bent, Cardona suggested that ethnic studies has a totally different focus than the current equity push to get people of color into middle management positions. They just want little youth to want this little piece of this American pie because thats what they think social justice is: put black, brown, indigenous bodies in college, put them into these corporate positions and have them do the same old thing that this country does, she said in a May podcast. And were saying, No, theres something wrong with this system. We want black, brown and indigenous bodies in universities to learn about it and to transform and to end all of this oppression, not to continue the roles of the oppressor. Another flash point in the 2019 model curriculum was the exclusive focus on people of color, with no mention of European ethnicities that were subject to discrimination and genocide. The experiences of European groups, including Jews and Armenians, deserve to be studied, the advocates say, but they have no connection to the ethnic studies movement, whose true focus is the worldview and struggle of people of color against white supremacy. The sweeping 1,000-plus pages of the states revised model curriculum and appendices have toned down the language of the original version, but the public comments cite a number of concerns. Judea Pearl, the mother of the late Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter beheaded by Al Qaeda terrorists, wrote: I am particularly alarmed by its attempt to depict inter-ethnic relationships as an irreconcilable struggle between racially-defined oppressed and []oppressors, and by the way it associates whiteness with oppression and colonialism. According to one of several definitions of race provided, American society comprises two opposing racial factions: In the United States today, races very broadly break down as people of color (POC) and white people. That definition comes from Rethinking Ethnic Studies, a primer co-edited by R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, a consultant and one of the authors of the rejected 2019 version of the model curriculum. Breaking New Ground The states Department of Education described its ethnic studies undertaking in the previous draft as a groundbreaking projectthe first of its kind among the 50 states. And given Californias outsize influence in the textbook industry and educational trends, it is assumed by many in the field that Californias standards could serve as a national model for years to come. Californias push to make a semester-long ethnic studies class a graduation requirement for all of its 1.74 million high school students in 1,322 high schools would be an exponential expansion for a course taught to 20,500 students in 314 high schools during the 2018-19 academic year. Ethnic studies advocates believe that after four years of President Donald Trump, a pandemic that hit minorities hard, and a summer of Black Lives Matter demonstrations, Americans are ready to grapple with the moral implications of the nations origins and history. All the horrific [expletive] that white people have been doing to us, has now began to haunt them, Ruiz told his colleagues in the May video. Because theyve been experimenting on us for 500 years, its no longer something you can contain anymore. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a tour at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Meriden, Conn., on March 3, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) They also see encouraging signs in President Bidens choice of education secretary, Miguel Cardona, considered a champion of the cause who will be well positioned to put federal muscle behind it. As Connecticuts commissioner of education last year, Cardona oversaw that states adoption of a requirement that all high schools offer courses in African American, Black, Puerto Rican, and Latino studies. For Ethnic Studies advocates, thats really encouraging and suggests that maybe we might see some national efforts that are encouraging folks to implement Ethnic Studies in the K-12 setting, said Ravi Perry, chairman of Howard Universitys political science department and immediate past president of the Association for Ethnic Studies. Education is a local issue, Perry said. But perhaps like theyve done with transgender bathroom directives in the Obama administration, they can provide some incentives, some strongly worded language to districts, to encourage them to adopt this curriculum while working behind the scenes in the House and Senate to get a bill passed that would perhaps require this [nationally]. Theres no way of getting around the fact that ethnic studies is going to make some people uncomfortable. Its an explicit, straight-out confrontation with power, said Ron Scapp, professor of humanities and teacher education at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, in New York, and past president of the Association for Ethnic Studies. And the power in the U.S. is predicated on the white supremacist, Christian nationalist, unfettered capitalist caste system. Scapp, who was editor of the journal Ethnic Studies Review for a decade until last year, said the strident tone of some advocates can sound extreme, but that rhetoric is part of the spirit of resistance. They are expressing the outrage, the pain, the suffering, and the longing for home, the longing for validity and legitimacy, he said. But in that expression of pain and hurtand maybe a bit of, like, [Expletive] you, white manI actually think they do a disservice because they wind up participating in a discourse of violence. Conversely, the movements culture is capable of expressing an almost utopian exuberance. Advocates repeatedly say that ethnic studies has saved their life and that it saves the lives of students. In a Feb. 2 organizing session online, Jeff Duncan-Andrade, professor of Latina/o Studies and Race and Resistance Studies at San Francisco State University, hyperbolically declared that Western knowledge stands in awe of the wisdom contained in ethnic studies. There isnt even a debate in the medical field, in neurobiology, in psychology, in social epidemiology, and in public health, about how important an ethnic studies framework and project is to the wellness of the nation, he said. Still, confronting complicity in or victimization by European colonialism, imperialism and genocide can take a toll on teenagers, and the California Department of Educations proposal initially advised schools to have trained counselors on standby to assist distraught students. Indeed, the language in Californias third draft of the proposal read like a surgeon generals warning: Engaging topics on race, class, gender, oppression, etc. may evoke feelings of vulnerability, uneasiness, sadness, guilt, helplessness, or discomfort. The fourth draft removed the warnings, saying instead: Given the unique and often sensitive material and discussions that may unfold in an ethnic studies course, being able to establish trust and building community within the classroom are essential. Proselytizing in Public Schools Some warn that the ethnic studies curriculum amounts to political indoctrination, violates state anti-discrimination policy, and at times borders on child abuse. These critics are concerned that kids wont be required to just study the material, take a multiple-choice test, write a paper and move on; they may be required to espouse progressive politics as a condition of passing the class and graduating from high school. Its a totalitarian worldview that is every bit as much a faith community as any religion, said Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of AMCHA Initiative, an anti-Semitism watchdog group in Santa Cruz, Calif. In a public school, it really is the imposition of a state religion, she said. This kind of proselytizing has no place in public schools. Even though California offers flexibility on teaching the material, the advocates say a state curriculum reflecting their outlook would provide an important tactical advantage: the necessary political cover to advance their agenda against the expected public backlash. If its watered down in that curriculum, yes, its just a model, you can adjust it, Cardona said in a December podcast interview. But you dont have that sort of political coverage that you could have if it was already in the model curriculum. Cardona is speaking from personal experience. In 2018 she was suspected of teaching Marxist and communist ideology, and was fired from a teaching position at the El Rancho Unified School District, which is about 98 percent Hispanic and holds the distinction of being the first school district in California to adopt, in 2014, an ethnic studies high school graduation requirement. According to local news coverage, local residents began to voice concerns about Cardonas involvement in several activist organizations, including Union del Barrio. According to the organizations website and 17-page political manifesto, the group is committed to dislodging European imperialists from the Western Hemisphere and regaining political sovereignty for people of color from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska, forming a single geopolitical unit called Nuestra America, ultimately advancing Simon Bolivars dream of a unified continent. We will never unite with bourgeois, capitalist, neo-colonialists, who actively unite with imperialism, exploit their own people, and choose to advance their individual self-interest over the interests of all others, the group declares. Cardona said by phone that she subscribes to the revolutionary philosophy of Union del Barrio, but she does not mix her extracurricular political activities with her day job as a teacher. And she does not hide it: To this day her personal website declares: She is a proud member of the socialist political organization, Union del Barrio. Guillermo Gomez, who teaches ethnic studies at Lincoln High School in San Diego, declared himself in May 2020 as actually accountable and responsible to Union del Barrio, which has developed my political ideology in order to continue the work that we do. In the May webinar, Gomez gave a detailed account of the step-by-step process used to introduce teachers and students to the Ethnic Studies worldview. Its important to ground ourselves in this concept of love, of revolutionary love, he described the initiation. The training starts by establishing that ethnic studies is grounded in social justice, Gomez said, astutely noting: Who can argue against social justice, right? The process advances through progressive stages of buy-in. For example, students are taught to see themselves not as individuals but through their identity. And after they start seeing themselves through the prism of race, gender and other intersectional modes of power and oppression, they are taught that their identity is exposed and vulnerable to malevolent external forces. Once theyre grounded and theyre very strong about what their identity is, then we start bringing the teachers and students into ideas and attacks against their identity, he explained. And once theyre able to analyze and identify the systems of oppression, the question becomes, Well what can we do now? Some teachers and students become totally committed. Ethnic studies is not just an academic disciplineits like your whole lifeits life, period, Gomez said in the webinar. Gomez did not respond to an email, but Scapp said Gomez represents something very encouraging in ethnic studies: He uses the language of love rather than confrontation, and hes helping students declutter their minds of toxic ideas. Its the opposite of indoctrination, Scapp said. The starting point is that people are already indoctrinated, even if they are not white, by white supremacy. In the video, Gomez said that teaching effectively ultimately comes down to trust. Once you have a strong, positive loving community in the classroom, Gomez said, you pretty much can teach anything. This article was written by John Murawski for RealClearInvestigations. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Spruce Forest opens for season through a new door With the crashing of the trees, three of the cabins were destroyed, along with damaging the village church and other buildings as well. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Ibadan Zonal Office has arrested 57 suspected internet fraudsters at their hotel hideout... The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Ibadan Zonal Office has arrested 57 suspected internet fraudsters at their hotel hideouts in Ilaro area of Ogun State. A statement by the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren said the suspects were arrested on Friday in an operation that followed actionable intelligence linking them to alleged fraudulent activities. The anti graft agency said the activities of the fraudstars range from love scam on numerous dating sites, obtaining money by false pretense and other cybercrimes. The EFCC said two pump action rifles, four exotic cars, mobile phones, laptops and several incriminating documents were recovered from the suspects. The anti graft agency said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded. Underlying quality: Aryzta chairman Urs Jordi said the business will perform well under new owners Aryzta is selling its North American business to an affiliate of private equity group Lindsay Goldberg for $850m (711m). This division accounted for 1.26bn of Aryzta revenue and earnings of 67m in its financial year 2020. In a statement on Friday evening, the Irish-founded food company said the early conclusion of the disposal validates the boards strategy to remain independent. It said the board of Aryzta is fully convinced its strategy serves shareholders and stakeholders best interests and provides the best route for value creation. In December, after careful review" and a unanimous decision, the board of Aryzta rejected an offer of CHF0.80 (0.74) per share from the US hedge fund Elliott which valued the company at 734m. This agreement represents a significant inflection point for Aryzta and vindication of our simplification strategy to the outright sale option, said chairman and interim CEO Urs Jordi on Friday. I want to thank our shareholders and stakeholders for their confidence and support since September which enabled this transaction to materialise. The sale of the North American business will deliver significant debt reduction and increase the strength of Aryztas balance sheet, he said. It will now allow the company to focus on delivering further operational improvements and returning to organic growth, according to the group. The agreed price reflects well on the underlying quality of the North American businesses, its assets, the significant recovery in performance achieved by the team and bodes well for its future performance prospects under its new owners, Mr Jordi said. The company now will report its first-half results on Monday, one day earlier than originally planned next week. Aryzta was advised on the transaction by Houlihan Lokey and Alantra, Goodwin Procter, Homburger and KPMG. Earlier this month, Aryztas Irish shares were delisted from the Euronext stock exchange in Dublin. Aryztas primary listing was already in Zurich. The exit from the Irish stock market follows last years upheavals at the company, best known here as the baker of Cuisine de France branded goods. The past year has seen major changes at the group with its previously Irish-dominated leadership ousted in a bid to improve shareholder value by Swiss fund management group Veraison Capital which has helped install a new chairman. In January, Aryzta reached an agreement with Lion Capital and Invest Group Zouari to sell its remaining 4.64pc interest in French frozen foods group Picard for around 24m. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. Washington: Scott Morrison has declared the arrival of a new dawn in Australias region, as the Prime Minister and his US, Indian and Japanese counterparts pledged to distribute one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries in the Asia-Pacific. Morrison was speaking at the first-ever joint leaders meeting of the Quad, a strategic dialogue between the four countries that the Biden administration views as central to its efforts to counter Chinas growing dominance in Asia. Prime Minister Scott Morrison participates in the inaugural Quad leaders meeting. Credit:AAP Pool It is the Indo-Pacific that will now shape the destiny of our world in the 21st Century, Morrison said at the beginning of the joint meeting, held online in the early hours of Saturday (AEDT). As we begin a new day here in Australia its not yet dawn, but we join together as Quad leaders of nations to welcome what I think will be a new dawn in the Indo-Pacific through our gathering. The counsel appearing for the accused told the court that his case was entirely different from the co-accused Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana granted the relief after police sought an adjournment in the proceedings related to an anticipatory bail moved by Chaudhari in the matter. (Representational image) New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday extended by three days the interim protection from arrest granted to climate activist Shubham Kar Chaudhari, a co-accused along with Disha Ravi and others in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a "toolkit" on social media related to the farmers' protest. Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana granted the relief after police sought an adjournment in the proceedings related to an anticipatory bail moved by Chaudhari in the matter. He was recently granted transit bail by the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court. During the brief hearing on Friday, the police urged the court to adjourn the matter till March 15, when the anticipatory bail applications filed by co-accused Disha Ravi and Shantanu Mukul are scheduled for hearing. No coercive action be taken against the accused till next date of hearing, the court directed, after the accused informed the judge that the protection garnered by the high court was scheduled to end today. The counsel appearing for the accused told the court that his case was entirely different from the co-accused as he had no role in making the toolkit. The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court had granted him protection from arrest until March 12, so that he can approach a court in Delhi, where an FIR had been registered under IPC Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). The court had earlier granted regular bail to climate activist Disha Ravi in the case. The 21-year-old activist was arrested from Bengaluru in connection with the formulation and dissemination of the toolkit document, in the ongoing farmers' protest. She was one of the editors of the toolkit document. 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. Israel is introducing a new, larger helicopter to operate from its new Saar 6 corvettes. The American SH-60 Seahawk will complement and eventually replace a smaller French helicopter. Since the late 1990s, the Israeli navy has maintained a squadron of French AS 565 naval helicopters. These were based on land and used to support warships at sea. The only Israeli warship the 4.3 ton AS 565 could land on were the three 1,075-ton Saar 5 ships. Israel obtained the Saar 5s in the early 1990s and while these ships had a helicopter landing pad, there was no hangar so that a helicopter could be carried and used regularly. The Saar 6 was deliberately made two meters longer than originally planned to accommodate a hangar and the 10.4-ton SH-60. Israel obtained the larger SH-60 because it has greater carrying capacity and endurance. Israel is equipping its SH-60Fs with Israeli electronics, some of them classified. The primary weapons will be the Israeli Spike NLOS (Non-Line-Of-Sight) missile, which weighs 70kg (155 pounds), making it the heaviest of the Spike missiles. Spike is a series of anti-tank (or anti-whatever) missiles with ranges from 1,500-25,000 meters. Spike NLOS can be fired at a target the operator cannot see, but someone else, with a laser designator, can see. Spike NLOS is usually fired from helicopters, which also provides the laser designator. Back in 2014 Spike NLOS was adapted for use on 10-ton class South Korean naval helicopters. Spike NLOS fired from naval helicopters was seen as a good way to improve defenses off their west coast, to help block North Korean attempts to invade South Korean islands near the maritime border. The South Korean Wildcat helicopters can carry four Spike NLOS missiles. A helicopter only has to be about 40 meters (122 feet) high to spot something 25 kilometers away. The Spike NLOS has multiple guidance systems, including a live video feed that allows the pilot to fly the missile into to the target, or use the image of the selected target to have the missile home in by itself (fire and forget). On the downside Spike NLOS is expensive, costing over $250,000 each. Israel is receiving eight used, but refurbished, American SH-60F naval helicopters. These wont arrive until late 2021 but Israel has already decided what electronics and weapons their SH-60Fs will carry. At least four of the SH-60Fs will operate from a land base and both Saar-based and land-based SH-60Fs will be used to deal with Iranian threats from Lebanon or Syria against Israel in general and in particular the new Israeli offshore natural gas fields near the Lebanese maritime border. In late 2020 Israel accepted its first of four Saar 6s. The handover was at the German shipyard where it was built and where the Israeli crew has been learning how to operate the new ships as they become available at six- month intervals. The 1,900-ton Saar 6s are the largest ever ships to serve in the Israeli Navy. The Saar 6 is based on the German Braunschweig class corvettes, which have been in service since 2008 and proved effective. Before Saar 6, the largest Saar ships were the three 1,075-ton Saar 5s. The much larger Saar 6s are armed with a 76mm gun, anti-missile/aircraft systems and anti-ship missiles. Saar 6 has a max speed of 46 kilometers an hour and normal endurance of 10-12 days. Crew size is 70 and these ships have a longer range than earlier Saars. That means anywhere in the Mediterranean or to the Red Sea, Indian Ocean or Persian Gulf. Israel recently spent $100 million to equip all its Saar type ships with the latest version of the 76mm Oto Melara rapid fire cannon. The Israeli Navy has wanted these guns for a long time, and American sailors who used them on the U.S. Perry class frigates spoke highly of them as did sailors in navies throughout the region. Some 40 other navies have used these innovative naval guns and all have been satisfied. The 76mm Oto Melara has a 4.7-meter (15.5 foot) barrel and is operated remotely. The gun has an 80-round magazine under the gun turret and can fire up to 80 round a minute at surface targets. Thats apparently what the Israelis want the 76mm gun for, especially because a primary threat is many (up to dozens) of speedboats equipped with missile, rockets or packed with explosives for suicide attacks. This is a tactic favored by Iran and its Lebanese franchise Hezbollah. The 76mm gun can hit small targets (including cruise missiles) out to 20 kilometers (or twice that using a smaller guided shell). The standard 76mm shell is 12.5 kg (28 pounds), which is capable of accurately hitting and destroying small speedboats. The gun could hit about 60 targets in a few minutes. The fire control systems on all the Saar ships were upgraded in general and this will include the ability to handle the new 76mm gun. All active Saar type ships have received new Israeli made radars and EW (Electronic Warfare) equipment. The SH-60Fs will be equipped to communicate with the new warship electronics, which includes encrypted real-time exchange of voice and data. Currently the Israelis have sixteen Saar type ships in service; one Saar 6, three Saar 5, ten Saar 4.5, and two Saar 4. Most of the older Saar 4s were retired, sold off, or converted to Saar 4.5. The older Saar 4.5s are 500-ton ships that are 61.7 meters (203 feet) long and heavily armed with a 76mm gun, eight anti-ship missiles, 32 anti-aircraft missiles, a Phalanx anti-missile 20mm autocannon, a 25mm autocannon, two 20mm autocannon, two 12.7mm machine-guns, a helicopter, and an extensive set of electronics (for a ship of that size). The Saar 5 and Saar 6 were similar in concept but larger. The Saar 6 design underwent upgrades even while under construction. For example, in early 2017 the design was modified to improve anti-missile capabilities. This increased the number of VLS (vertical launch system) cells to include forty Tamir (range 70 kilometers) missiles used by the C-Dome (ship-based Iron Dome) system on these ships. Another 32 VLS cells contain Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles which can handle aircraft and missiles out to 110 kilometers. The 90-meter (288 foot) Saar 6 is equipped with an AESA radar like the one used for the American Aegis system. Both Barak 8 and C-Dome missiles use the same Israeli designed AESA radar and fire control system. All the Saar type ships mainly guard the Mediterranean Coast, especially the offshore natural gas fields. Israel began pumping natural gas in 2013 from deposits discovered and developed since 2008. Israeli firms have found over $200 billion worth of oil and gas there so far. Israel is using these finds to achieve energy independence. The offshore facilities and pipelines have to be defended from terrorists and military threats. Some of the offshore gas wells are within range of rockets fired from Gaza or southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah does as it wants. The unguided rockets are not accurate enough to hit a gas well, unless dozens (or more) are fired at once. To counter that tactic some of the offshore platforms will also be equipped with Iron Dome batteries. Iron Dome and C-Dome have a unique feature in which the radar system computes where the incoming rocket will land. If the rocket will not hit an inhabited (by ships, people or off-shore facility) area, it will be ignored. Otherwise, an interceptor missile will be fired. Since the early 1970s Israel has built 36 Saar type ships. This began with the Saar 1, 2, and 3 classes of fast missile boats, all under 250 tons. These boats were variants on older German designs. The Saar 4 was a unique Israeli design for a 450-ton warship built in Israel and armed with eight anti-ship missiles, a Phalanx anti-missile 20mm autocannon plus a rather complete set of electronics for a ship of that size. These could stay out for about ten days at a time, had a top speed of 60 kilometers an hour, a crew of 45, and entered service in 1972. In 1980 the Saar 4.5 class vessels arrived as a major upgrade to Saar 4. Five 4.5s were exported but most were used by Israel. The three Saar 5 class corvettes (also referred to as the Eliat class) were, because of their size, built in the United States. The 1,075-ton vessels are 85.6 meters (281 feet) long and carry an impressive amount of firepower that includes 64 Barak surface-to-air missiles, eight Harpoon (or Gabriel) anti-ship missiles, two triple 12.75-inch torpedo tubes firing Mk 46 torpedoes, two 25mm Sea Vulcans, a 20mm Phalanx CIWS (for destroying incoming missiles), and a helicopter. Top speed is 61 kilometers per hour and a crew of 74. Twelve Saar 4.5, 5 and 6 surface ships and six German built submarines are the Israeli Navy. Follow-up on a recent metro killing and a tragic sign that the NEXTGEN is armed & dangerous as well. Read more . . . by: Travis Meier Posted: / Updated: LIBERTY, Mo. - A Clay County grand jury has charged an 18-year-old after a Northland man was found shot and killed outside of a gas station earlier this year. Jraud D. Elliott, 18, is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, according to a statement from the Clay County Prosecutor's Office. 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 19 States file motion to stop Biden admin. from using Title X to fund abortion clinics Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A coalition of 19 states, led by Ohio, have filed a joint motion to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the Biden administration from scrapping a Trump administration rule that would allow federal Title X family planning funds to go to organizations that provide and promote abortions. Filed Monday, the attorneys general's motion came in response to President Joe Biden telling the Department of Health and Human Services to consider repealing a rule enacted in 2019 that barred health clinics that provide or promote abortion from receiving Title X funding. To be sure, some States provide such funding. And many advocates would like to see more public funding. But the broader national consensus against funding elective abortion remains, stated the joint motion. Title X reflects this consensus. Since its 1970 enactment, the law has funded non-abortion family planning. All the while, it has banned the use of Title X funds in programs where abortion is a method of family planning. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement that the usage of Title X money to fund or promote abortion is against the law, adding that Im intervening to stop it, no matter what the presidents personal agenda may be. The other states that joined the motion are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. "[T]he new rules eliminated the requirement that Title X recipients make abortion referrals, adopting a new policy that permits (but does not require) non-directive counseling about the availability of abortion," the court filing reads. "For another, the new rules required Title X recipients to maintain stricter physical and financial separation between abortion services and programs that spend Title X money." Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron released a statement Wednesday expressing his support for the motion. He declared that we will not stand by while the Biden Administration tries to weaken the protections against using federal dollars for abortions. Weve filed this motion to ask the nations highest court to allow us to represent the interests and values of Kentuckians by defending the Title X rules and ensure that funding from that program is not used to support abortions, he continued. In January, days after taking office, Biden issued a memorandum asking HHS to review Title X rules prohibiting funding of abortion providers. In particular, the memo cited the 2019 rule from the Trump administration that prevented the funds from being used by facilities that promote abortion as a family planning option. Biden's order stated that the previous administration's Title X rule caused the termination of federal family planning funding for many "womens healthcare providers." The nation's largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood made headlines in 2019 when it left the Title X program rather than comply with the new rule. Biden contends that the Title X rule puts "undue restrictions" on the use of federal funds and puts "womens health at risk by making it harder for women to receive complete medical information." He called on the agency to review the policy "as soon as practicable" and consider whether the rule should be suspended, revised or rescinded. "The Act specifies that Title X funds may not be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning, but places no further abortion-related restrictions on recipients of Title X funds," Biden's memorandum reads. The Trump administration's rule faced legal challenges, which resulted in split decisions from federal appeals courts. The Supreme Court last month agreed to take up the matter. Biden's memo also revoked the Mexico City Policy, a measure that prohibits federal funds from going to foreign nonprofits promoting or performing abortions. These excessive conditions on foreign and development assistance undermine the United States efforts to advance gender equality globally by restricting our ability to support womens health and programs that prevent and respond to gender-based violence, Biden's memo argued. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 09:58:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SYDNEY, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Australian police have seized a boat packed with an estimated 200 kg of cocaine off the coast of New South Wales (NSW) near Sydney, authorities revealed Friday. A 27-year-old man was charged in relation to the haul, worth an estimated 90 million Australian dollars (70 million U.S. dollars) on the street. According to a joint statement by local law enforcement, the Australian Federal Police were tipped off last weekend that a cargo vessel was allegedly carrying a large quantity of cocaine bound for Australia. Police then tracked the vessel as it made its way to Sydney. The drugs were transferred to a smaller vessel before dawn on Thursday, which was intercepted by law enforcement as it made its way to shore. The police conducted a search of the larger cargo vessel after it docked at Port Botany, as well as a storage unit linked to the man where authorities uncovered 500,000 Australian dollars (about 387,800 U.S. dollars) in cash. Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) Executive Director Intelligence Operations Matt Rippon said that a national wastewater testing program report recently showed an estimated 5,675 kg of cocaine was consumed in the 2019-20 reporting period. "There is an insatiable appetite for illicit drugs in Australia," Rippon said. "This is causing ongoing social harm in the community and diverting astronomical amounts of money into the criminal economy." Enditem Unfortunately, the governor is not only facing the accusation that he engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment and assault. There is also the extensive report from the Attorney General that found the Cuomo administration hid data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from both the public and the state legislature, Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman said in a joint statement. Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges. (JTA) Jewish groups are criticizing NBC for airing an offensive portrayal of an Orthodox Jew on one of its medical dramas. The objectionable storyline occurred on an episode of Nurses, a Canadian hour-long drama following a group of nurses in a Toronto hospital. In the episode, a young Hasidic patient is told he will need a bone graft to heal his broken leg, leading his devout father to recoil at the possibility of a dead goyim leg from anyone. An Arab, a woman. The incident occurs in the series eighth episode, Achilles Heel, which originally aired on NBC on Feb. 9.... Government analysis of the western Sydney airport metro advised the state against trying to rush the delivery of the multi-billion dollar project in time for the airports opening, warning it could affect the cost. The internal document outlining potential cost and timeline concerns was tabled to NSW Parliament less than 24 hours before a scathing Infrastructure Australia report was released on Friday, which found the benefits of the project did not justify its $11 billion price tag. An artists impression of a train on the new Sydney airport metro line. The Infrastructure Australia report recommended higher contingency funding for the metro given the strong demand for contractors amid a mega-project building boom on the countrys east coast. Meanwhile, the governments own business case evaluation summary, which was completed in November last year and tabled to state parliament under an upper house order, said the cost of building the metro would outweigh its benefit by $1.8 billion. KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo Public Schools is launching a Summer Readiness program to help students who struggled academically during the pandemic. The Summer Readiness program will begin in-person on June 28 and will be offered for students of all ages, Superintendent Rita Raichoudhuri said during a board of education meeting Thursday, March 11. Our Summer Readiness program is an initial step in starting to undo some of the damage caused by COVID-19, Raichoudhuri said. Youll notice that we are not calling it summer school because it isnt. This was not a typical year. Our students didnt fail, our children survived a pandemic, and they are still surviving it. KPS students have been out of the classroom since last March and will remain in virtual mode through the remainder of the school year. Kalamazoo Public Schools is the last remaining major school district in Michigan to offer virtual only learning for its students. During the Summer Readiness program, students will attend in-person during one or both of two three-week sessions. Middle school students will focus on content mastery, while high school students will be given the opportunity for credit recovery. Students will attend from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, except for July 5. Transportation will be provided by the district, the superintendent said. The program will also be available in a virtual mode for those who want that option, she said. Students will be chosen for the summer program based on teacher recommendations, the superintendent said. The sessions are as follows: High School: June 28 to July 15 and July 20 to Aug. 5 at Loy Norrix High School Middle School: June 28 to July 15 and July 19 to Aug. 5 at Hillside Middle School Elementary School: June 28 to July 15 and July 19 to Aug. 5 at Northeastern, Parkwood-Upjohn, Woodward and King-Westwood and Greenwood for incoming kindergarten students The final locations are contingent on staffing and signup, Raichoudhuri said. The district is currently in the process of hiring many school staff including principals, teachers, secretaries, achievement behavior support specialists, reading specialists, paraprofessionals, student mentors, library clerks, campus safety officers, hall monitors and others. KPS increased teacher salary for the summer, the superintendent said. The 2021 summer rate is $50 per hour for those who apply by March 25, and $45 per hour for those who apply later. Raichouduri again gave her personal guarantee that students would return to school in the fall full-time in-person. All KPS schools will offer five days a week in-person instruction starting the first day of school for SY 2021-2022, the superintendent said. Parents will be asked to choose from a full-time in-person five days a week option or a year-long virtual option with the ability to move to in-person at each trimester mark. Prior to Thursdays board meeting, a handful of students gathered at the Administration Building to protest the lack of in-person learning. KPS is the only district in Kalamazoo County to remain in fully virtual mode through the remainder of the school year. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged all districts to get kids back in school by March 1 due to falling grades and the negative affects on students mental health. Also at Thursdays meeting, Raichoudhuri announced the district launched its own app to help parents connect with their childrens school. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play. Parents can search Kalamazoo Public Schools to find it. Also on MLive: Kalamazoo Public Schools lost nearly 700 students in the last year Handful of Kalamazoo students protest school district remaining virtual only More than half of Portage students still learning virtually despite in-person option 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. Aerial photo taken on Aug. 13, 2020 shows a view of Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian) WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that it welcomes China's greater focus on high-quality growth over speed. "The absence of a specific range for a growth target in 2021 is welcomed. And should reinforce this focus in high-quality growth, and rebalancing, which is a discussion we've been engaged in with Chinese authorities quite constructively for the last several years," IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told Xinhua at a virtual press briefing. China aims to expand its gross domestic product (GDP) by over 6 percent in 2021, with more efforts on reform, innovation and high-quality development, according to the government work report approved by the national legislature Thursday. "In our January WEO (World Economic Outlook) forecast on China, we had projected 8.1 percent growth for this year. And that suggests that the above 6 percent that has been mentioned should be easily reached, given China's fast recovery, and the large base effects from the impact of the pandemic on growth last year," the IMF spokesperson said. In 2020, China emerged from the epidemic-induced slump with a 2.3-percent GDP growth, making it the world's only major economy to attain positive growth. In terms of the just-concluded annual sessions of China's national legislature and top political advisory body, Rice said that the IMF welcomes China's continued commitment to medium-term reform to strengthen what he called as "high-quality, more consumption-driven growth" as well as the confirmation of China's efforts in tackling climate change and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. "And we think this should help reinforce China's quest to rebalance this growth model toward greener and more consumption-oriented growth," he said. MELBOURNE, Australia Australias defense minister on Friday settled a defamation complaint and agreed to pay damages to a former aide whom she called a lying cow after the woman reported being raped in the Parliament building. The minister, Linda Reynolds, retracted the remark made in private after lawyers for the former aide, Brittany Higgins, sent a letter last week to Ms. Reynolds demanding a public apology for the demeaning and belittling comment. The letter described the remark as defamatory of our clients good character and unblemished reputation, according to local news reports. Last week, Ms. Reynolds issued a formal apology, saying she had never questioned Ms. Higginss account. On Friday, in a short public statement, the minister retracted the comment, which, she said, she had never intended to make public. I did not mean it in the sense that it has been understood, Ms. Reynolds said. It was not immediately clear how much Ms. Reynolds agreed to pay in damages. In a text message, the ministers office declined to reveal the amount. Ms. Higgins did not immediately respond to calls or text messages seeking clarification. But she said in a statement that damages beyond the cost of her legal fees would be donated to a charity supporting sexual assault survivors. This aerial photo shows shipping containers stacked at a port in Lianyungang, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province, on Jan. 14, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) German Industry Urges EU to Toughen Response to Unfair Chinese Trade Practices BERLIN-The European Union should take a tougher approach to protecting companies from unfair Chinese trade practices as Beijing is not keeping its promise to further open up its economy, Germanys BDI industry association said on Thursday. China has become Germanys most important trading partner and exports of Made in Germany goods to the country have helped Europes largest economy cushion the domestic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Thursday concluded its annual, week-long session of its rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), in which it laid out medium-term policy goals as part of its latest five-year plan. BDI Managing Director Joachim Lang said German industry was missing clear signals in the five-year plan for a real change of course towards market openness and free business economy. A successful partnership will only work on the principles of reciprocity and establishing a level playing field in competition, Lang said, adding that Beijing had to do more to live up to its promises of opening up its economy. While the EU has made some progress with its Investment Agreement towards a more balanced economic relationship with China, the deal also showed the limits of cooperation, he said. The EU must continue on its multi-pronged path that treats China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival, Lang said. German industry wants the EU to shore up its defenses against unfair trade practices by China by implementing a powerful anti-subsidy instrument and concluding work on an international procurement instrument, Lang said. The EU should work closely together on this with the United States and Japan, he added. The BDI also warned the Chinese government that its human rights record could damage future business ties. The human rights situation in Xinjiang and the political situation in Hong Kong put a strain on political and economic relations, Lang said. The CCPs hard line in Hong Kong and the situation in Xinjiang are already dampening prospects for a successful ratification of the EU Investment Agreement, Lang said. By Michael Nienaber Local News, Community, Charity & Cause By Long Island Published: March 10 2021 The leadership and crew of the Los Angeles class fast-attack submarine USS Key West (SSN 722) were presented with the Commander, Submarine Squadron 15 Battle E Award in a ceremony held at Naval Base Guam, ... Capt. Bret Grabbe, Commander, Submarine Squadron 15, presented Cmdr. Michael McGuire, commanding officer of Key West, and his crew with the award. We are humbled to represent warfighting excellence for Squadron 15, said McGuire, a native of West Babylon, New York. This crew will continue to provide the United States with the competitive advantage necessary to meet our adversaries within the Indo-Pacific region. Availability of the complete version of the 2020 Annual Financial Report Dassault Aviation complete version of the 2020 Annual Financial Report (Rapport financier annuel) as of 31 December 2020 is available to the public and has been filed with the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des Marches Financiers). This financial annual report can be found on the company's website at www.dassault-aviation.com , in the "Finance / Regulated information / 2021" and "Finance / Publications / 2021 Publications" sections. ABOUT DASSAULT AVIATION: With over 10,000 military and civil aircraft delivered in more than 90 countries over the last century, Dassault Aviation has built up expertise recognized worldwide in the design, development, sale and support of all types of aircraft, ranging from the Rafale fighter, to the high-end Falcon family of business jets, military drones and space systems. In 2020, Dassault Aviation reported revenues of 5.5 billion. The company has 12,441 employees. dassault-aviation.com CONTACTS: Corporate Communications Stephane Fort - Tel +33 Investor Relations Armelle Gary - Tel +33 Attachment Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. ALTON Brian Fogarty and Ruth Kvistad of the Alton Memorial Hospital EMS team are both heading to medical school later this year. Kvistad said she hadnt planned on more school. An EMT with Alton Memorial Hospitals EMS team since November 2020, she has even loftier goals. Neither of her parents had college degrees, and her high school wasnt pushing students to apply. Then, during her senior year, Kvistad was cleaning out fryers as part of a fundraiser for a local organization. One of her co-volunteers accidentally opened the valve at the bottom of a fryer and a mixture of boiling water, soap and remnant oil gushed onto Kvistads foot badly burning her. Through the intensive care needed to heal her injury, Kvistad ended up in the office of Dr. John Felder at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. During her treatment they would talk, with Kvistad peppering Felder with questions about medicine. She recalls one appointment in particular. He told me, You should go to med school, she said. Honestly, I thought he was joking. I was like, Hes not talking about me. Im not smart enough for that. That encouragement kicked things into motion for Kvistad. She decided to try college, study biology, and see how she liked it, then think about medical school. It turned out that Kvistad was more than smart enough. In December, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a bachelors degree in philosophy and a certificate from the Pierre Laclede Honors College. She has also completed premed studies and, in November, started working as an EMT while going through the lengthy process of applying to medical school. That has paid off, as she has been accepted into the MD/JD (Juris Doctor) program at Southern Illinois University. Growing up in a military family, Kvistad moved frequently and lived everywhere from Rhode Island to Alaska to Seattle. Halfway through middle school, her family relocated to New Baden, Ill. After graduating from Trenton Wesclin High School in 2017, she decided to attend the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Attending school as a first-generation student presented challenges. I didnt know that you were supposed to study for the ACT, for example, she said. I went into it blind, like, OK, this is just testing our aptitude which, looking back on, is kind of funny to me. Despite her continued interest in biology and medicine, Kvistad started wondering if she should be taking a more comprehensive approach to her studies. She wandered into advising and asked their advice. Next thing she knew, Kvistad was sitting in a philosophy seminar where the professor went around the room asking all the students why they were there. I told the professor, I actually dont know why Im here, Kvistad said. I guess the first question I need answered is what is philosophy? He thought that was funny. He told me hes still trying to figure that out. Kvistad said she enjoyed studying philosophy so much she switched her major. Being a superior doctor, she said, involves building human connections, and philosophy has helped her in that regard. It made me learn how to think in new patterns, she said. It made me more critical when learning about new things I had more of a drive to understand why something is occurring. An MD/Juris Doctor program combines the study of medicine with the legal field. She hopes to go into health care policy once her degrees are completed. In the meantime, she continues as an EMT at AMH. She earned her license last year at Southwestern Illinois College and ramped up efforts to get hired during the pandemic, feeling a moral obligation to help out however she could. Ruth has been with the AMH EMS for a short time, and during this time Ruth has excelled in her position, said Jason Bowman, manager of EMS at AMH. I wish Ruth the best of luck in medical school. For Kvistad, the experience of being an EMT and helping others is personal. Im glad in a way that I got my foot burned when I was in high school because thats what showed me that I had a curiosity about these things, she said. Actually, Ive wanted to be an EMT for a while, she said. My older brother struggled with a severe mental illness. Unfortunately, he took his own life at the age of 14, when I was 6 years old. I understood what was happening and was very grateful for the first responders who showed up to my house. I will always have a feeling of gratitude toward them, she said. They took over during the most painful and scary time of my familys life. The impact that they left on me was great. When the opportunity presented itself, I knew I wanted to be there for others in the way that they were there for my family on that day, Kvistad said. Fogarty said medicine hardly seemed like his calling when he was finishing high school in 2011. I was scared of crisis, Fogarty said. The sight of blood made me uncomfortable. But Fogarty, a paramedic with the Alton Memorial Hospital EMS team since 2015, has learned things about himself he never imagined and taken advantage of opportunities that werent always planned to bring him to the cusp of an unexpected future. He is awaiting acceptance to medical school after graduating summa cum laude with a degree in biology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. As long as I become a physician, I will be happy with any medical school, Fogarty said. The service aspect of it is what I really appreciate the most. It just gives me a great sense of purpose, being there for people during stressful times. Fogarty, a native of Hazelwood, Missouri, had been contemplating a career in the military when he graduated from North County Christian School in 2011. He enrolled at the University of Missouri-Columbia and planned to go through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program as a step toward becoming an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. But he quickly realized that path wasnt for him. He had a difficult time adjusting to the rigors of college coursework. My first semester at Mizzou was definitely a wake-up call, said Fogarty, who left Columbia after that semester. He decided becoming a firefighter might suit him better, so he started preparing to apply to the St. Louis County Fire Academy. Fogarty first had to undergo training as an emergency medical technician. He admits he was nervous when he enrolled at St. Louis Community College to fulfill that requirement. But something surprising happened when Fogarty landed a part-time job as an emergency department technician at Mercy Hospital South in 2013. I fell in love with it, he said. I really appreciate being there for people. I find a sense of passion and purpose in helping others who are experiencing crisis. Fogarty graduated from the Fire Academy in 2014, but soon after decided working on an ambulance suited him better than putting out blazes. He sought additional training, earning his associate degree in Paramedic Technology from St. Louis Community College in 2014 and his critical care paramedic certification from IHM Academy of EMS in 2015. He worked full-time as an emergency department paramedic at SSM Health St. Josephs Hospital-Lake St. Louis and then DePaul Hospital, while working per diem as a paramedic on the ambulance with Alton Memorial Hospital EMS. He then left DePaul to work full-time as a paramedic on a St. Louis Fire Department ambulance in 2016. I felt that I could be doing more for patients, he said. I wanted to increase my knowledge, help in a more active role, and lead in a greater capacity. That started him on his pursuit of a bachelors degree, so he could apply to medical school and become a physician. He enrolled at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Fogarty chose to major in biology, figuring it would best prepare him for medical school and allow him to transfer a few of his credits from his associate degree. Fogarty recently accepted employment as a flight paramedic with ARCH on a helicopter stationed in Highland. He does all of that while continuing to work a couple of shifts per week as a paramedic and serving as an American Heart Association instructor at AMH, gaining further experience and displaying a level of discipline and time management that will serve him well in medical school. Brian is a very knowledgeable and thorough paramedic who provides the highest level of patient care, said Bowman. He is an outstanding paramedic and it is a blessing to have such a great employee working here at AMH. Fogarty took the MCAT in January 2020 and has applied to about 40 medical schools. Wherever he ends up for medical school, Fogarty envisions himself remaining close to his roots in emergency medicine. Im leaning toward emergency medicine, with an ultimate goal of being an EMS medical director, he said. I think my professional experiences as an ED tech, ED medic, medic on the ambulance, and flight medic will bring a versatile approach to being an emergency medicine physician and EMS medical director. Now I just remain calm under stress, he said. Ive really learned how to do that well over the last eight years. During chaotic situations, Im able to focus on what needs to be done and be there for the patient. A waterfront home in Clearwater, FL, with apparent ties to John Travolta has floated onto the market. The thoroughly modern property is available for $4.65 million. The gated estate last changed hands in 2017 for $3 million. The transaction was made through the Hawker Investment Trusta trust with Travolta's sister Ellen Bannon as the lead trustee. That same trust was used to purchase another of his Florida properties, his fly-in estate located in Ocala, FL, according to the Tampa Bay Times. This harborside home now on the market is about a mile from Scientology headquarters in downtown Clearwater. More clues: The home is next door to two homes owned by Travolta's friend and fellow Scientologist, Kirstie Alley, the Tampa Bay Times notes. 1/11 John Travolta's Clearwater, FL home (realtor.com) 2/11 Entrance (realtor.com) 3/11 Living room (realtor.com) 4/11 Dining area (realtor.com) 5/11 Open kitchen (realtor.com) 6/11 Breakfast nook (realtor.com) 7/11 Media room (realtor.com) 8/11 Master bedroom (realtor.com) 9/11 Bath (realtor.com) 10/11 Backyard with pool (realtor.com) 11/11 Dock (realtor.com) It's not clear if the silver-screen icon spent any time at this modern oasis, or simply bought it as a real estate investment. Whatever his reasons, he's now looking to cash in. Behind the gates, a surprisingly contemporary abode painted in bright shades of red and orange features 4,346 square feet of living space, along with five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. ___ Watch: Sandra Bullock Just Unloaded These 2 Gorgeous Homes for $4.2M ___ The impeccably streamlined space sits on over an acre on the western shores of Clearwater's Harbor, and features views of the coast and skyline. The floor plan features French oak flooring, a fireplace, walls of glass, and water views. The seamlessly integrated two-story space includes a family room, dining room, kitchen, and breakfast area. The five bedroom suites include quartz-encased baths and Swedish slat flooring. A deck overlooks the backyard, and some of the other bedrooms open directly outside. Outdoors, a covered area for dining and lounging looks out to the infinity-edge pool and spa. A separate one-room cabana or studio with bath offers more flexibility, for an office, gym, or guest room. Other details include a bonus room currently used as a media room, a wet bar, carport, a dock, and direct access to the Intracoastal Waterway. This wouldnt be the first time that Travolta has made a purchase based on his friends property portfolio. The star of Look Who's Talking snapped up a hotel-sized mansion in Maine, after apparently hearing about the area from Alley, who also had a vacation getaway in the far north. After the death of his wife, Kelly Preston, last year, he placed the family's long-time vacation home in Maine on the market in February, for $5 million. He also reportedly owns homes in Hawaii and Los Angeles. Along with his flying skills and an eye for real estate, Travolta is known for his iconic roles in Grease and Saturday Night Fever, as well as Look Whos Talking, Pulp Fiction, and Get Shorty. Rafal Wazio with Coldwell Banker Realty-Clearwater Beach holds the listing. The post Ultramodern Waterfront Florida Home With Ties to John Travolta Is Listed for $4.65M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Former co-owner of Spar retailer put under house arrest in embezzlement case The Smolninsky District Court of St. Petersburg 16:17 12/03/2021 ST. PETERSBURG, March 12 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) A former co-owner of a company heading retailers Spar, Semya (Family) and Idea Allakhverdi Abdullayev, charged with being accessory to embezzlement of 8.65 billion rubles ($117.5 million) from Sberbank, was put under house arrest until May 9, the United press service of St. Petersburg courts told RAPSI on Friday. The citys Smolninsky District Court also ordered house arrest for the companys financial director Marianna Litvinova. Levintova, Allakhverdi Abdullayev and lawyer Igor Zashcherinsky were arrested on March 10. The main case defendant and second co-owner of InterTorg company is Mushviga Abdullayev, the brother of Allakhverdi Abdullayev. He was put on the international wanted list as he escaped abroad in 2019. According to investigators, the defendants submitted reporting documents with false information on income and financial standing of the organization to Sberbank in otder to receive a loan. The bank checked the data and granted an 8.65 billion-ruble credit to InterTorg. In February 2020, the company was declared bankrupt. Its joint liability to suppliers, according to the claims, reaches 5.9 billio rubles, exluding loan funds. There was a three-month gap between South Australia Police passing a womans rape claims about federal Attorney-General Christian Porter to their NSW counterparts and when she first spoke to Sydney detectives. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told a state parliamentary hearing he would look into why the delay from November 28, 2019, to February 26 last year occurred, as a document produced to Parliament also confirmed police had chosen not to interview Mr Porter, nor any witnesses at the event before the alleged incident occurred in 1988. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller wants to see reform around the handling sexual assault allegations. Credit:Rhett Wyman He was also willing to look at any new information from a former partner of the woman who has come forward saying he had relevant discussions with her within months of the alleged incident. Mr Fuller said the NSW Police were reviewing the appropriateness of terminating a sexual assault investigation where the victim has withdrawn a complaint amid the allegations surrounding Mr Porter, who has publicly denied raping the then member of the national debating team when he was 17. LARAMIE (Wyoming News Exchange/Green River Star) A man who was previously sentenced for a sexual assault in Sweetwater County was recently sentenced for a similar crime in Albany County. Mark Douglas Burns, 70, of Ogden, Utah, was sentenced Feb. 17 by Albany County Second Judicial District Court Judge Tori Kricken for the 1996 sexual assault of a Laramie resident. Burns pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault in the first degree; one count of burglary; and one count of kidnapping-confinement. He received a sentence of 206 230 years in prison. In May 2015, after DNA enter... 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. Blinken says that if Beijing has nothing to hide, it should show the world. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 10, 2021. China should open up its borders for international monitors to probe reports of rights abuses in its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, amid a growing global movement that has labeled the situation there as genocide. Blinkens remarks were delivered as part of testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about U.S. President Joe Bidens top-level foreign policy initiatives for his administration. I think it would be very important, if China claims that there is nothing going on, that it gives access to the international community, to the United Nations, Blinken said. If they have nothing to hide, show it to us, show the world. Blinken said that the U.S. and other nations have an obligation to speak out against Chinas policies in the XUAR and ensure they are neither importing goods from the region made with forced labor nor exporting good that can be used to further oppress minorities there. Chinese officials have said the camps are centers for vocational training, but reporting by RFAs Uyghur Service and other media outlets shows that detainees are mostly held against their will in cramped and unsanitary conditions, where they are forced to endure inhumane treatment and political indoctrination. Under increasing international scrutiny, authorities in the region have begun to send detainees to work at factories as part of an effort to label the camps vocational centers, although those held in the facilities regularly toil under forced or coerced labor conditions. On the last day of the former President Donald Trumps administration in January, Blinkens predecessor Mike Pompeo--who met with Uyghur activists in the U.S. on Thursday--designated the situation in the XUAR as genocide and crimes against humanity. The Biden administration has embraced the label and vowed to pursue a more forceful approach in holding China accountable for its abuses in the region, while legislatures in Canada and the Netherlands have adopted measures embracing the designation. Earlier this week, the first independent report to investigate claims of abuses in the XUAR, published by the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, found that China has demonstrated intent to destroy the Uyghur ethnic minority, and therefore bears state responsibility for committing genocide, based on the U.N.s 1948 Genocide Convention. Weve been clear, and Ive been clear, that I see it as genocide, other egregious abuses of human rights, and well continue to make that clear, Blinken said later in his testimony on Wednesday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks at the Lanting Forum on China-US relations in Beijing, Feb. 22, 2021. AFP Upcoming talks Blinkens comments came as State Department spokesman Ned Price announced that the secretary and national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18. The genocide designation and access to the XUAR to investigate reports of abuses are likely to be on the agenda. China in 2019 organized two visits to monitor internment camps in the XUARone for a small group of foreign journalists, and another for diplomats from non-Western countries, including Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Thailandduring which officials dismissed claims about mistreatment and poor conditions in the facilities as slanderous lies. During the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September last year, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan told the gathering that these trips and the China-friendly accounts they produced were Potemkin tours in a failed attempt to prove that the camps were humane training centers. In July 2019, after Chinas ambassador to the U.N. invited its human rights czar Michelle Bachelet to visit the XUAR to see for herself what he called education training centers in the region, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) told RFA that she would not accept unless given access to the camps on her own terms. Samsung launched the Galaxy F62 smartphone in the F Series in India last month, soon after the launch of M51. This comes with the same quad rear cameras, 6.7-inch Infinity-O AMOLED display, and 7000mAh battery, but replaces the Snapdragon 730G with Samsungs own Exynos 9825 SoC that powers the companys flagship Samsung Galaxy Note10 series. Specifications look great on paper. Is the phone worth the price? Let us dive into the review to find out. Box Contents Samsung Galaxy F62 6GB RAM, 128GB storage version in Electric Green colour 2-pin 25W charger with Adaptive Fast Charging (5V-3A/9V-2.77A/11V-2.25A) USB Type-C to Type-C Cable Quick Start Guide and Warranty information The phone comes with a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Infinity-O Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 10802400 pixels at about 392 PPI, aspect ratio of 20:9. The display looks bright, thanks to 420 nits brightness, offers good color reproduction and the sunlight legibility is good as well. Since it has an AMOLED panel, it offers true blacks. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Similar to the other Samsung phones, there is Blue light filter, which is now called Eye comfort shield. This is said to reduce eye strain by limiting the amount of blue light emitted by the screen, You can set it for sunrise to sunset and also set a custom schedule. You can change font size and style and select apps that you want to use in the full screen aspect ratio. There is also dark mode, which looks great on the AMOLED screen. You can choose from Vivid or Natural screen modes based on your preference or set the white balance manually. The phone doesnt have DC dimming or low brightness anti-flicker mode that is present in some AMOLED screen phones in the price range. I didnt notice any screen flicker issues in low brightness on the phone. It doesnt have notification LED, but there is Always on display with tap to show option that shows the AOD screen for 10 seconds after you tap the screen. You can also set a schedule. There are a lot of options to choose from such as clocks, GIF or you can download any AOD from Themes section. On the top, there is an 32-megapixel camera in the tiny punch-hole and the earpiece is present on the top edge. The punch-hole is slightly bigger compared to some phones, but it is not intrusive. There is also a tiny space in the top left corner for the proximity sensor and the phone also has an ambient light sensor. It has gyroscope and magnetic sensor, otherwise known as magnetometer for VR. There is a small chin below the screen. The phone has glossy plastic frame which is prone to scratches and smudges, but it is not slippery. On the right side, there is a fingerprint sensor, which doubles up as a power button, just below the volume rockers. On the left side there is a single tray that houses dual nano SIM slots and a microSD card slot that accepts cards up to 1TB. At the bottom, there is a 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C port, primary microphone and the loudspeaker grill On the back, there is a quad camera module arranged in a rectangular array. There is single LED flash below the camera module. Even though the phone has a huge 6.7-inch screen, it is compact to hold. It is 9.5mm thick, same as the M51, and weighs 218 grams, compared to 215g M51. The glasstic back attracts fingerprints and is also prone to scratches with day-to-day use, but change there is a gradient finish that looks attractive. In addition to the Green colour variant that we have, the phone also comes in Blue and Grey colours. It is recommended to get a case since Samsung doesnt provide one in the box. The overall the build quality is decent, but it cant be compared to some of the Samsungs A or S series phones that have a glass back. It is not splash resistant like some phones in the price range. Camera It has a 64-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX682 sensor, 0.8m pixel size and f/1.8 aperture, compared to Samsung GW1 ISOCELL Bright sensor in the predecessor. The secondary camera is 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, and there is a 5-megapixel depth sensor and a 5-megapixel macro sensor with f/2.2 aperture. The phone has a 32-megapixel camera on the front with Sony IMX616 sensor with f/2.2 aperture. There is Live Focus that makes use of the 5-megapixel depth sensor. You can also adjust the bokeh effect before or after the shot. There is selfie portrait option for the front camera that uses software to blur the background. There is also a wide-angle option for the front camera. It has Auto mode, Food, Night, Panorama, Macro, Pro, Live Focus, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion and Hyperlapse as well as Pro mode to adjust ISO, shutter speed, focus, white balance and exposure manually. You can choose 64MP option from the aspect ratio settings on the top. It also has AR stickers that lets you add stickers. It also has scene optimizer, which is AI mode that automatically detects modes and you can also enable auto HDR option. The Single Take feature can now capture footage, up to 15 seconds of it, and then use AI to produce up to 14 different outputs 10 photos and 4 videos. The phone has Cam2API support, but there is no RAW support since it uses an Exynos processor. Coming to the image quality, daylight shots are good, and the camera captures a good amount of detail, creates well exposed photos with good dynamic range and detailing, and dynamic range can further be improved enabling HDR mode from the settings, which automatically turns on HDR when needed. Even though the phone has a 64-megapixel sensor, the final output has 16-megapixel resolution, which is common in phones with large sensors. Autofocus speeds are fast and accurate. Ultra-wide shots from the 12MP camera is good in daylight. Even though the edges look a bit curved due to the ultra-wide lens, Shape Correction is automatically applied that automatically crop the edges, still some images look a bit curved at the corners, which is common in wide-angle lenses. Macro shots from the main camera is good, and there is a dedicated macro camera mode, but there is no touch to focus option in this mode since it is fixed focus, so you have to keep it in 5cm distance. Live focus is good at detecting the edges. Low-light performance is good, which can be improved further with Night mode that offers more details, but you need to keep your hand steady, since it takes two to three seconds to process. 64-megapixel shots have good amount of details, but the colours are not vibrant, and the images are about 15 to 18MB in size. Images with flash is good and is not overpowering. The 32-megapixel front camera is good in most cases. Wide-angle mode takes images in 10-megapixel resolution after pixel binning, while the normal mode takes images in 6.5-megapixel. Software blur in the live focus mode doesnt have good edge detection which is common in most phones with a single camera. Check out some camera samples. It can record videos at maximum 4K resolution at 30 fps from both front, rear and ultra-wide cameras, even though the processor is capable of shooting 1080 60 fps and 4K 60fps videos, there is no option for it. It can shoot slow motion at 720p at 480fps and there is also super slow motion, which shoots an 8-second video with 6 seconds of slow motion, and also lets you add custom music for the slow motion part. You can also enable EIS for 1080p videos. Video quality is good, and the audio crisp since it has a secondary microphone. Software, UI and Apps Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 11 with Android security patch for February 2021. On the top of Android 11, it has the latest Samsung One UI 3.1, which brings several new features. The advanced features option has Games Launcher that gathers your games downloaded from Play Store and Galaxy Apps into one place for easy access, smart pop-up view, Screenshots, direct share, motion gestures like lift to wake, double tap to wake, smart stay, smart alert that vibrates when you pick the phone up after missing calls or receiving messages, easy mute by putting your hand over the screen or turning your phone face down, one-handed mode that lets you use the phone easily with one hand, finger sensor gestures to open and close the notification panel using the fingerprint sensor, palm swipe screenshot capture, swipe to call or send messages. Dual messenger lets you sign in to a second account of social media apps and the Panic mode lets you Send SOS message by pressing the Power key three time. The Device maintenance option lets you manage your devices battery life, storage, RAM usage, and security all in one place. Out of 128GB (UFS 3.0) in our unit, 108GB is free. Out of 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, about 5.4GB is usable and 3GB is free when default apps are running in the background. Since this has UFS 3.0 storage, we got sequential read speeds of about 1437.18MB/s. Apart from the usual set of utility apps and Google Apps, the smartphone comes with Facebook, Netflix and Microsoft apps such as OneDrive. There is also Samsung Max, My Galaxy and other Samsung apps. You get the option to install apps when you are setting up the phone, which you can choose not to. Unlike the Galaxy M series phones this has Samsung Pay via NFC, Samsung Pass, Secure Folder, Bixby Voice/Vision, Samsung Cloud, Easy Mode and Samsung Knox. Fingerprint Sensor and Face unlock The fingerprint sensor is present on the side, and it immediately unlocks the phone just by keeping your finger so that you dont have to press it. You can add up to 3 fingerprints, and adding fingerprint is easily with few swipes. It has support for Face recognition, which doesnt work well if the lighting is poor in the room, if you are hats, or use heavy makeup. Both these are protected by Knox security. Music Player and FM Radio YouTube Music is the default music player. It has equalizer, Dolby Atmos, UHQ upscaler, Surround and Tube Amp Pro sound effects that can be enabled from the settings. All these improve the audio when listening through earphones. It has FM Radio support with support for recording. That said, audio through third-party headphones is good. Loudspeaker output from the mono speaker is decent, but stereo speakers would have been better. The phone comes with Widevine L1 support out-of-the-box so that you can enjoy HD content on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and other streaming apps. Dual SIM and Connectivity The connectivity options include, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), VHT80 with VoWiFi for Jio and Airtel, Bluetooth v5.0 and GPS with GLONASS. It has support for USB OTG and NFC that works with supported payment apps. It has 4G connectivity with support a lot of bands and has Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and WiFi-Calling or Vo-WiFi support for Reliance Jio, Airtel and more, but it doesnt have support for LTE-A or Carrier Aggregation even though the chip supports it. The dialer and messaging have familiar UI. Since this is a dual SIM phone, you get option to select either SIMs when calling or sending text message. Moving on, the call quality is good, and we did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume was loud. Speaker output during calls were good as well, but compared to the competitors which have stereo speakers, audio from the single bottom-ported speaker is average. The Galaxy F62s head SAR is 0.739 W/Kg, which is less than 1W/kg, even though the limit in India is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g). This is less than the M51 which was 1.381 W/Kg. Performance and Benchmarks This is the first mid-range Samsung smartphone to be powered by Exynos 9825 7nm EUV (extreme ultra violet), which has tri-cluster architecture that uses two custom Exynos M4 cores clocked at 2.73Hz for ultimate processing power, two Cortex-A75 cores clocked at 2.4GHz for optimal performance, and four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.95GHz for greater efficiency and has an integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU). It has Mali-G76 MP12 GPU with support for Open GL ES 3.2, Open CL 2.0, as well as Vulkan 1.0 graphics, up to 8GB LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB UFS 3.0 storage. This is faster than most mid-range Snapdragon and MediaTek processors in the price range when it comes to CPU, but the GPU is not that powerful. We did not face any issues or frame drops in the graphic-intensive games. It gets a bit warm on intensive gaming and 4G data, but it doesnt get too hot to handle. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below. Battery life The 7000mAh battery offers brilliant battery life that lasts for 2 days even with heavy use. With average use it should last for three days. I got close to 9 hours of screen on time during my use with use of camera, videos and apps like Instagram, YouTube playback, Chrome browsing etc. mostly on Wi-Fi and ocassionally on 4G for over 2 days. Adaptive battery saving and other options will let you increase the battery life, but the performance might be affected. In our One Charge rating, the Samsung Galaxy F62 scored 21 hours and 02 minutes, which is better than the M51 with the same 7000mAh battery, thanks to the Android 11 optimizations and more power-effecient processor. Samsung has offered USB Type-C and 25W fast charging, same as the M51. Charging with the bundled charger takes about 1 hours and 50 minutes to reach 0% from 100%, and 0 to 50% took about 50 minutes. Conclusion Overall, the Galaxy F62 is another solid mid-range smartphone from Samsung in the F series that retains the brilliant Infinity-O AMOLED display, 7000mAh battery from the M51 while boosting the performance with the flagship processor, adding features like Samsung Pay and Knox security. There is still no glass back, the phone lacks a splash-resistant body and stereo speakers that are a few things that needs to be compromised. Alternatives OnePlus Nord is an option at a slightly higher price is good option if you need a 90Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen and 5G support. The latest Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is another option if you need 120Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen, better build quality and better cameras at a cheaper rate. If you have more budget, the iQOO 3 after the price cut. Availability The Samsung Galaxy F62 comes in Laser Green, Laser Blue and Laser Grey colours, and is priced at Rs. 23999 for the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage and Rs. 25999 for the 8GB RAM with 128GB storage version, and is available from Flipkart and Samsung.com online as well as Reliance Digital stores and select Jio stores across India. As a part of launch offer buyers get Rs. 2500 instant cashback with ICICI Credit and Debit cards so the effective starting price of the phone is Rs. 21,499 which is a good deal. Pros Brilliant Infinity-O Super AMOLED screen 7000mAh battery with 25W fast charging Good cameras Smooth performance Samsung Pay, Knox security and Secure Folder Dedicated Dual SIM and microSD Slots Cons Back is prone to scratches Average low-light camera performance No stereo speakers No 60fps 1080p or 4k recording Might be huge and bulky for some Here's a quick recap of how we went from seeking revenge to thinking the worst following Thursday's dramatic midseason premiere of Station 19 - where Grey's Anatomy doc Andrew DeLuca's ticket seems to have been punched at a train station. Dean and Sullivan arrested Station 19 firefighters were left reeling by the arrests of Dean and Sullivan by the cops. Andy has always regarded the cops as their allies because of Ryan. Vic's New Crush Travis attempted to divert Vic's interest away from him by pushing her to chat about her new crush. However, the incident had left her with a lifelong ache that she couldn't forget. She said, "You know, if those girls were white, they'd be on the front pages of newspapers right now." She was still sick of having to scream to be heard. She screamed out that black women "shouldn't have to scream in the driveway." READ ALSO: 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Station 19' Crossover 2021 Spoilers, Release Date, What to Expect The chase with a sex trafficker DeLuca and Carina played chase with sex trafficker Opal, who pulled over into an alley to share an envelope that was full of money with an anonymous individual. Andrew had no intention of getting Opal out of his sight; he hated himself for being too unstable to be trusted in the first place when he should have easily busted her. When Maya told her squad, she freed Jack and Ben to do what the cops couldn't: provide protection to the DeLucas. "Aren't we going to sit here and wait for the cops?" Dean inquired of his captain. All of us at home right now #GreysxStation19 pic.twitter.com/xEeVSev4Vk Station 19 (@Station19) March 12, 2021 Miller raged, "When you could've just got my back, those girls had to set fire to get your attention." The DeLucas at this time pursued Opal to a train station and took a snapshot of her car's Idaho license plate to pass through the device. It turned out that it was registered to Bob, which caused law enforcement to act. Ben's advice to Jack Ben gave Jack some advice on being there for Dean on the ride to the train station, starting with, "Well, you know, there are a lot of good cops out there." "You saw how some of those decent officers handle Black men when they aren't wearing firefighter uniforms yesterday," Warren said. The DeLucas accompanied Opal into the train station. Maya's big attempt Maya was so concerned that she left Andy in charge of the inspection station, ignoring what Battalion Chief Gregory would think. She had gone against her instincts and towed the line the day before, fearful that she would not only be the first female captain, but also the last. Dean's Decision Dean disrupted Travis' speech back at the station. He'd reached a huge decision: he was going to court to sue the police. He said, "If we don't fight them, nothing will change." Vic Breaks Down Gregory also knew what they had been through in the past 24 hours and appreciated their courage, which caused Vic to weep. She sobbed, "I don't want this." DeLuca broke from Carina as the hour came to a close to find Opal across the train station where they'd arrived. He was only delayed when he collided with a guy who apparently had stabbed Andrew. ALSO READ: Grey's Anatomy' Season 18 Spoiler: Ellen Pompeo Shares What Could Be Next For the Show See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles 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. A minor girl of Indian origin who allegedly eloped with a Bangladeshi national was reunited with her family by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). As per reports, the girl was a resident of District North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Revealing details about the case, BSF said, "Indian girl, a resident of Dist North 24 Parganas, had allegedly eloped with Mohammed Zakirul Dalal, a Bangladeshi national. As per available information, the girl was traced from Md Zakirul Dalal's uncle's house in Dist Sathkhira." The BSF revealed that the minor girl had to undergo a medical checkup and after that, she was reunited with the family. BSF said, "After taking over by BSF, a medical checkup of the girl was carried out at government Hospital Sarapul and further returned to her family members. Bangladesh nationals released by BSF as a good-will gesture Recently, the Border Security force (BSF) handed over two minor boys to the Border Guard Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds. Both the minors carrying wheat bran in two sacks were detained by Border Security Force at Rangiyapota in West Bengal's Nadia district near the international border. During the interrogation, it was revealed that they illegally entered India to get wheat bran from someone and the plan was to return back to their nation. It was also revealed they were promised money to do this job. However, at the request of Border Guard Bangladesh and the minors' parents, the BSF released them as a good-will gesture. Indo-Bangladesh sensitive border The Indo-Bangladesh border is regarded as a very sensitive border. The population lives in close proximity on both sides (India and Bangladesh) of the border and has ethnic and cultural similarities that make it sensitive which poses a serious challenge to guard the border for the BSF. The same challenge is faced by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). A new book reportedly talks about what Christians in India suffer for their Faith and is said to be a timely publication with "India's rapid decline in religious freedom." The book "Anti-Christian Violence In India" by Butler University Religion Professor Chad Bauman, as per International Christian Concern (ICC), highlights the history of India's predominantly Hindu country that has seen the increase in Christian persecution since 2014. Published by Cornell University Press, the book's description says that it presents how religion causes conflict and gives particular emphasis to Christian-Hindu relations in India that focuses on the Kandhamal, Odisha riots that took place in 2007-2008. Bauman "examines religious violence and how it pertains to broader aspects of humanity" by integrating anti-Christian violence theories in economics, globalization, politics, and proselytization. He points out that "resistance to secular modernities" is "an important but often overlooked reason behind Hindu attacks on Christians." The ICC reported that the increase of persecution on Christians began in 2014 when Prime Minister Modi was elected. The "anti-Christian and anti-Muslim rhetoric" of Modi encouraged the persecution and expansion of anti-forced conversion laws in India. In addition, the ICC revealed that India's rapid decline in religious freedom was so alarming that it was recommended by the United States Commission on International Freedom that India be designated as a Country of Particular Concern by the Department of State. However, former President Donald Trump's Administration did not carry out India's designation. "Religious freedom conditions in India are taking a drastic turn downward, with national and various state governments tolerating widespread harassment and violence against religious minorities," the United States Commission International Religious Freedom website said on India. "The BJP-led government enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which provides a fast track to Indian citizenship only for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan already residing in India," it added. "This potentially exposes millions of Muslims to detention, deportation and statelessness when the government completes its planned nationwide National Register of Citizens." The United States Commission International Religious Freedom said that under President Joe Biden's Administration it continues to prioritize countries when it comes to religious freedom in its effort to formulate broader human rights policy and condemns, as well as prevents, freedom violations around the globe. Although the constitution of India ensures religious freedom is given to all, said ICC, the actual practice of it in the country shows otherwise as widespread anti-religious minority measures are implemented across its states such as those that enforce anti-conversion laws. The ICC explains that there is such a thing as the Hinduva ideology, as mentioned in Bauman's book, whose primary aim is to strip India of all other religions except that of Hindu. This rhetoric, the ICC emphasized has "continually vilified religious minorities as others" making them unwelcome in India as pushed by several of its BJP leaders or lawmakers. In a September 2020 blog posted at the Cornell University Press website and promoted in the University's Twitter account, Bauman said that there have been "roughly 200-300 incidents of anti-Christian violence in India annually" over the last decade, which he called "certainly troubling" in a country that has 1.2 billion in population. Bauman is also the author of two other books on India: "Christian Identity and Dalit Religion In Hindu India, 1868-1947" published by Wm. B. Erdmans Publishing Co. and "Pentecostals, Proselytization, and Anti-Christian Violence In Contemporary India (Global Pentecostalism and Charismatic Christianity)" published by Oxford University Press. Tropicasa Latest Job Trend: Working Remotely from Mexico If your current job allows you to work remotely, Tropicasa Realty agents are here to help you find the perfect new home in Puerto Vallarta, complete with a home office space and reliable, fast internet. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The changing way in how we work has led to a major rise in the availability of online work positions that allow you to work from a home office, no matter where that office may be located. While once primarily a vacation property and retirement destination for foreign buyers, Puerto Vallarta is now home to many American and Canadian young professionals, enjoying both the freedom of working online and benefits of the tropical Vallarta lifestyle. Working remotely can take many forms. Some foreigners teach English online to students in other countries from the home in Mexico. Others are able to transition their current job in their home country to a fully remote workplace. Some work full time positions and others work temp positions, freelance or contract work. Working remotely in Mexico not only often gives you the freedom to work with a more flexible schedule, but also allows you to make your living in USD or CAN dollars, which stretch further considering the favorable exchange rates and affordable cost of living in Puerto Vallarta. A common question is if foreigners working remotely in Puerto Vallarta will require a work visa. Simply put, as long as the company that you are working for is located outside of Mexico (i.e., Canada or the USA) and pays you into a Canadian or American bank account in your home country, you are not required to have a work visa to work remotely in Mexico. A tourist visa, a temporary residency visa, or a permanent residency visa all allow you to work legally from a home office for a foreign country in Puerto Vallarta. If your current job allows you to work remotely, our agents are here to help you find the perfect new home in Puerto Vallarta, complete with a home office space and reliable, fast internet. If you are interested in looking for remote work positions, Click HERE for more Puerto Vallarta real estate and lifestyle tips from Tropicasa Realty. Since 1997, Wayne Franklin and his team at Tropicasa Realty have been a trusted name in Puerto Vallarta real estate. Tropicasa Realty is the region's representative for "The Leading Agents of the World" and with over 100 years of combined experience in real estate, all agents of the company are affiliated with AMPI. Wayne Franklin or any member of his knowledgeable team can be contacted in-person at their Romantic Zone Office - Pulpito 145-A at Olas Altas. While in PV they can be reached at (322) 222-6505 or by calling 866-978-5539 (Toll-Free) from the U.S. - The changing way in how we work has led to a major rise in the availability of online work positions that allow you to work from a home office, no matter where that office may be located.While once primarily a vacation property and retirement destination for foreign buyers, Puerto Vallarta is now home to many American and Canadian young professionals, enjoying both the freedom of working online and benefits of the tropical Vallarta lifestyle.Working remotely can take many forms. Some foreigners teach English online to students in other countries from the home in Mexico. Others are able to transition their current job in their home country to a fully remote workplace. Some work full time positions and others work temp positions, freelance or contract work.Working remotely in Mexico not only often gives you the freedom to work with a more flexible schedule, but also allows you to make your living in USD or CAN dollars, which stretch further considering the favorable exchange rates and affordable cost of living in Puerto Vallarta.A common question is if foreigners working remotely in Puerto Vallarta will require a work visa. Simply put, as long as the company that you are working for is located outside of Mexico (i.e., Canada or the USA) and pays you into a Canadian or American bank account in your home country, you are not required to have a work visa to work remotely in Mexico.A tourist visa, a temporary residency visa, or a permanent residency visa all allow you to work legally from a home office for a foreign country in Puerto Vallarta.If your current job allows you to work remotely, our agents are here to help you find the perfect new home in Puerto Vallarta, complete with a home office space and reliable, fast internet. If you are interested in looking for remote work positions, here is a great website to start your search.Since 1997, Wayne Franklin and his team at Tropicasa Realty have been a trusted name in Puerto Vallarta real estate. Tropicasa Realty is the region's representative for "The Leading Agents of the World" and with over 100 years of combined experience in real estate, all agents of the company are affiliated with AMPI. Wayne Franklin or any member of his knowledgeable team can be contacted in-person at their Romantic Zone Office - Pulpito 145-A at Olas Altas. While in PV they can be reached at (322) 222-6505 or by calling 866-978-5539 (Toll-Free) from the U.S. Click HERE to learn more about Tropicasa Realty , or visit tropicasa.com. Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top A Pennsylvania-based security company will pay $110,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of an employee in Louisiana, federal officials say. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said U.S. Security Associates Inc., a security company doing business as Conshohocken, Pa.-based Allied Universal, has agreed to pay a uniformed security guard $110,000 to settle the suit filed after the company fired her after finding out she was pregnant. In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Allied Universal transferred a security guard at a Baton Rouge location to a more strenuous post after it became aware that she was pregnant. When the guard told Allied Universal that the new post was causing her pain, the company told her to obtain a doctors note rather than returning her to her initial post. The guard provided the note, and Allied Universal placed her on involuntary leave. The company then told the guard that she needed another doctors note releasing her to return to work. The guard provided this note, but Allied Universal kept her on leave for over a month and then fired her. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including pregnancy. The EEOC filed its suit (Civil Action No. 2:20-cv-02467) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana last year. Under the three-year consent decree settling the suit entered March 5, 2021, Allied Universal will pay the security guard $110,000 in back pay and damages and will also conduct training and provide regular reports to the EEOC. Source: EEOC Topics Lawsuits Louisiana President Joe Biden (L), with Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd L), meets virtually with members of the "Quad" alliance of Australia, India, and Japan, in the State Dining Room of the White House on March 12, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) US, Quad Allies Set Partnership to Boost Vaccine Supply in Indo-Pacific WASHINGTONPresident Joe Biden held his first multilateral summit on March 12 with the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia to begin a partnership for the distribution of at least a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Asia to counter Chinas influence in the region. The four leaders made a joint commitment to bring together Indian manufacturing, U.S. technology, Japanese and American financing, and Australian logistics capabilities to address the severe shortage of vaccine supply across the world, particularly in Southeast Asia. The informal alliance, called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, held its first leaders level meeting. Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga of Japan, Narendra Modi of India, and Scott Morrison of Australia joined the virtual summit hosted by Biden. Weve got a big agenda ahead of us, Biden said in his opening remarks during the summit, but Im optimistic about our prospects. He stressed that the Quad would be a vital arena for cooperation to ensure the region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values, and free from coercion. The leaders also addressed climate change and several regional issues, including freedom of navigation and freedom from coercion in the South and East China Seas, [North Koreas] nuclear issue, and the coup and violent repression in Burma, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters during a press conference on March 12. Sullivan, however, said the meeting wasnt about China, downplaying the message that was delivered earlier. The foreign leaders did discuss the challenge posed by China and they made clear that none of them have any illusions about China, but today was not fundamentally about China, Sullivan said. The Quad is not a military alliance, its not a new NATO, despite some of the propaganda thats out there. Last year, the Trump administration expressed a hard line against Chinas ambitions to expand its footprint in emerging countries by taking advantage of the pandemic. And these concerns have continued as the regime in Beijing now seeks to further expand its geopolitical influence through its vaccine efforts. There will be an honest, open discussion about Chinas role on the global stage, a senior administration official told reporters on March 11 during a conference call ahead of the summit. The official said the Quad summit will show Americas determination to step up our game in the Indo-Pacific. The four countries cooperated for the first time in 2004 to form a joint response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami that devastated Indonesia. This relief cooperation led to the formation of the Quad in 2007 to address security issues in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States, through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, will finance Biological E Ltd., an Indian company, to support its effort to produce at least 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022, according to a White House fact sheet. The Quad leaders will also create a number of working groupsfor vaccine efforts, climate change, and critical technologies. The technology group will help set standards in key technologies, including 5G and artificial intelligence, and help address shortages in critical supplies. It isnt clear whether the leaders will take collective action to purge Huawei and other Chinese tech companies from global 5G networks. During the meeting, however, the United States expressed its concerns about Huawei and the relationship between Huawei and elements of the Chinese government and military apparatus, Sullivan said. Working with three allies on a common framework for policy and strategy is hugely important, especially when it comes to dealing with the challenge that China poses to all democracies in the region, according to Arthur Herman, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Herman told The Epoch Times that the summit is an important recognition of the fact that the development of the Quad, which really began to take shape as a strategic vision during the Trump years, will have enormous implications for developing progress and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Herman, who is also director of the Quantum Alliance Initiative at Hudson, believes that the Quad partners should work together on the new technologies of the 21st century, mainly quantum technology. Sullivan, together with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will hold a meeting with Chinas top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor Wang Yi in Alaska, on March 18. Biden believes that the United States will end up in a stiff competition with China and we intend to prevail in that competition, Sullivan said. We believe we are in a better position to deal with the challenge from China than we were the day that he took office, he said. The U.S. team wont discuss tariffs or export controls during that meeting, Sullivan said, but will focus on issues with respect to Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan, as well as Beijings economic coercion of Australia, assertiveness around the Senkaku Islands, and aggression on the Indian border. [March 11, 2021] Former Microsoft CEO and Founder of USAFacts Begins State of the Union in Numbers College and University Talks on March 12 at the University of Texas at Austin Beginning on March 12, former Microsoft (News - Alert) CEO and founder of USAFacts, Steve Ballmer will begin a virtual college and university speaking tour to discuss USAFacts' new State of the Union in Numbers report with students and communities across the nation. The State of the Union in Numbers provides government facts and figures against a contextual background so citizens can decide, for themselves, how the nation is doing. This year's data guide reveals insight into COVID-19's impact on wages and steep job loss. "Numbers are essential in determining where we stand as a nation," said USAFacts founder and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (News - Alert) . "I believe that government data is th best way for Americans to understand the state of the country. Americans deserve a unified presentation of the people's data to independently decide if the country is moving in the right or wrong direction on any given issue." What : The multi-city speaking tour will help university students and communities learn about the State of the Union in Numbers. Who/When/Where: March 12, 11am-12pm CST: Former Microsoft CEO and founder of USAFacts Steve Ballmer will discuss the 2021 State of the Union in Numbers report at the University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs. Register. March 18, 4pm-5pm EST: Former Microsoft CEO and founder of USAFacts Steve Ballmer will discuss the State of Education in Numbers Panel Discussion at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. Register. March 29, 4pm-5pm EST: Former Microsoft CEO and founder of USAFacts Steve Ballmer will discuss the State of the Union in Numbers at Spelman College. Registration TBA. April: Former Microsoft CEO and founder of USAFacts Steve Ballmer will discuss the State of the Union in Numbers at Stanford University. Registration TBA. Contact: Members of the press may contact lana@purposenorthamerica.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311006112/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Guwahati, March 13 : Two days after quitting the party, a BJP MLA in Assam on Friday announced to campaign for the saffron party while another legislator submitted nomination as an independent candidate. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party so far this time denied party tickets to 10 sitting legislators and a Minister Sum Ronghang. BJP's Silchar legislators Dilip Kumar Paul and his Hojai counterpart Shiladitya Dev resigned from the party on Wednesday after they were denied tickets to contest the coming Assembly elections in the state. Following the persuasion of Assam Minister and senior party leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, Dev on Friday announced to campaign for the party while Paul on Friday submitted his nomination paper in the Silchar assembly constituency in southern Assam. BJP minister Sum Ronghang joined the Congress after denied ticket, the opposition party on Thursday nominated him to contest the Assam Assembly polls from his Diphu constituency. Paul was elected to the Assam Assembly in the 2014 by-elections. He won again in the 2016 state polls to become the Deputy Speaker, while Dev, an RSS member, was elected to the House for the first time in 2016.The BJP this time nominated Dipayan Chakraborty for the Silchar Assembly constituency, while Ramakrishna Ghosh has been fielded from Hojai. Both the constituencies are dominated by Bengali speaking people.Talking to the media, Paul accused Silchar Lok Sabha MP Rajdeep Roy of adividing' the BJP members. In 2018, after serving two years as the Deputy Speaker in the Assam Assembly, Paul had submitted his resignation. The 126-member Assam Assembly will go to the polls in three phases on March 27 (47 seats), April 1 (39 seats) and April 6 (40 seats). The results will be declared on May 2. BJP national General Secretary Arun Singh on March 6 in New Delhi said that of the 126 seats in Assam, his party would contest in 92 seats, giving 26 seats to its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and 8 seats to new partner United People's Party Liberal (UPPL). The BJP strategist Himanta Biswa Sarma, the convener of the saffron party backed regional body Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA), said that one seat will be contested by the Rabha Joutho Mancha, but under the BJP symbol. KY Positivity Rate Falls to 3.88 Percent By West Kentucky Star Staff FRANKFORT - On Friday, Governor Andy Beshear provided the latest COVID-19 information from across the state.Kentucky's positivity rate currently stands at 3.88 percent."The number of new cases, deaths and the positivity rate all continue to decline," Beshear said. "While this is encouraging, we need to remain committed to the public health measures that have helped Kentucky curb the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths that would have otherwise occurred."Beshear reported 963 new cases of the virus and 29 deaths. There are currently 520 Kentuckians hospitalized with the virus, with 88 on a ventilator. Some 133,000 underserved homes and businesses in Texas are in line to receive high-speed broadband after the federal government and Charter Communications announced hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the areas. That service, to be funded by $400 million from Charter and more than $186 million from the federal government, will be extended to several key areas across the state, including into Deep East and parts of Southeast Texas. The effort is a part of Charters initiative to expand service to unserved and underserved locations. Of the rural areas included in the expansion, Deep East Texas is one of the most underserved. According to the Deep East Texas Council of Governments 2020-2025 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, the lack of widespread broadband internet availability and affordability is one of the top challenges facing the region. Related: COVID economy prompts look at economic security Nearly half of residents in the region have download speeds of 10 MBPS or less, according to the study. Charter expects its service rollout will help close that gap and help make faster connections available in areas across all 12 counties in the region. Customers will see starting speeds of 200 MBPS up to 1 GBPS, which would allow customers to engage in remote learning, work, telemedicine and other applications that require the faster internet speeds. The pandemic has highlighted the need for broadband availability and adoption, chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said in a Charter Communications news release. He committed the company to furthering its efforts as part of the comprehensive solution needed to address these challenges and positively impact the local communities we serve. Preparation for the first phase of the broadband rollout already has begun and is expected to be connected within the next six years. Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox However, the timely execution and potential reach of that rollout are dependent on the speed of utility pole permitting and other preparation processes, according to the news release. With fewer homes and businesses in these areas, broadband providers need to access multiple poles for every new home served, as opposed to multiple homes per pole in higher-density settings, the release said. As a result, pole applications, pole replacement rules and their affiliated issue resolution processes are all factors that can have a significant impact on the length of time it takes to complete projects in these rural areas. Lonnie Hunt, executive director of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments, said Charter is one of three service providers granted federal government funds to enhance broadband access in the region. However, the other two companies received funding for specific locations, and Charter secured the lions share of about $85 million. The Council of Governments has been in communications with Charter about the rollout and wants it to be successful, Hunt said. However, the federal government grants target specific census blocks, which would still leave a number of residents without broadband access. As a result, the Council of Governments still is moving forward with its own plan to provide broadband access, which ultimately would fill the remaining gaps. Related: Federal flooding dollars focus more on resiliency than recovery Our ultimate goal remains to see that each of our homes in the region will have access to affordable broadband, he said. While were not looking at being in competition with anyone, we still need to move forward with our initiative for all of our residents. The regional government body currently has two grant applications pending with the Texas General Land Office for two phases of the 12-countywide broadband plan. He said he expects to hear about $9 million for service to Newton County any day now, while news about a grant of $100 million for the whole region is expected to come back by early April at the earliest. The Council of Governments has been working on its broadband plan for at least three years, and already has a network plan for the first phase of the roll out thats been designed and certified by engineers. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and connectivity issues that it raised seems to have increase buy-in to actually get the project off the ground from needed partners at the state and local level. I dont know that we were visionary with this plan years earlier. I think we were more desperate, Hunt said. We are a totally rural region - one of two in the state thats totally rural. Its a bigger problem for us than anyone else, and thats why I think it was on our radar before anyone else. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/KaitlinBain Workers at famed Long Island cookie company Tate's Bake Shop have claimed management threatened to call immigration authorities and have them deported if they joined a union. Employees said they were warned of repercussions including being 'sent back' to their countries if they voted in favor of unionizing next month. Tate's, owned by multinational conglomerate Mondelez International, has been a staple in Southampton, New York for four decades. But while the store caters to the wealthy Hamptons' clientele, with Neighborhood Scout finding the average Southampton home goes for around $1.9 million, most of its 450-strong workers are reportedly undocumented immigrants. Workers at famed Long Island cookie company Tate's Bake Shop (above) have claimed management threatened to call immigration authorities and have them deported if they joined a union Several staff members, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of a backlash from their employer, told News12 they have been left in fear of losing their jobs or being deported if they join the union. They claimed Tate's management has been harassing them and threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One female staffer said through a Spanish interpreter she was no longer happy working there because she is being treated differently over her right to organize in the workplace. 'She is not happy there anymore because when she gets there, everyone is looking at her saying, 'Oh you're with the union so you shouldn't be here,'' the interpreter said. Another worker told Gothamist staff are now 'scared to talk' and 'express themselves' for fear of a backlash. The sanitation worker, who said he earns $16 an hour and has not had a raise in five years, told the outlet he wants to unionize because he feels staff are not supported by HR at the company. Employees said they were warned of repercussions including being 'sent back' to their countries if they voted in favor of unionizing next month 'I believe we need to be represented by someone because the company doesn't represent us,' he said. He said he arrived from the Dominican Republic 11 years and is in the US legally but is still fearful of reprisal for speaking out. Cosmo Lubrano, president of Eastern States Joint Board union, told News 12 the company has been doing everything in its power to stop staff unionizing. 'They began threatening people based on their immigration status, telling them that if their documents are not in order and they attempted to join the labor union they would get deported,' he said. The firm has also allegedly hired labor relations consultant Carlos Flores, who boasts of helping firms stay 'union free' on his LinkedIn, to double down on the efforts to stop unionization Under the National Labor Relations Act, undocumented workers have the same legal rights to organize in their workplaces as documented workers. The law also states it is illegal for employers to use a worker's immigration status to threaten or retaliate against them because they are taking action about their working conditions. Tate's, owned by multinational conglomerate Mondelez International, has been a staple in Southampton, New York state for four decades But while the store caters to the wealthy Hamptons' clientele, with Neighborhood Scout finding the average Southampton home goes for around $1.9 million, most of its 450-strong workers are reportedly undocumented immigrants If an employer does for example threaten to call ICE or demand workers produce new immigration papers because workers try to join or talk about joining a union, the National Labor Relations Board can pursue legal action against the company. Mondelez International has denied the allegations leveled against the company. 'Any allegation that the company has violated any aspect of the National Labor Relations Act is untrue,' a spokesperson told News 12. 'Tate's prides itself on treating all its employees with respect, and we have fostered over many years an inclusive, supportive, caring work environment and culture with our employees.' DailyMail.com has also reached out to Tate's for comment. Workers will receive their ballots about unionization March 26 and have until April 21 to vote. Tate's, known for its chocolate chip cookies, was founded by Kathleen King in 1980. Named after her late father, King's business grew from one bake store to a full line of American baked goods now available to buy across the US and Canada. The Southampton's store still draws lines of customers. Tate's was acquired by Mondelez in 2018 in a deal worth $500 million. The Manitoba government has not put in safeguards to prevent people from lying about being First Nations in order to jump the queue for a COVID-19 vaccine, leaving it up to doctors and pharmacists to take patients at their word. The Manitoba government has not put in safeguards to prevent people from lying about being First Nations in order to jump the queue for a COVID-19 vaccine, leaving it up to doctors and pharmacists to take patients at their word. First Nations people have a shorter lifespan than the general population and have been shown to have more severe outcomes and a higher death rate from COVID-19. As a result, Manitoba has offered vaccines to First Nations people who are 60 years of age or older, while the list of those eligible in the general population includes people who are 80 years of age or older. Dr. Marcia Anderson, an Indigenous medical officer of health, announced the policy Feb. 24, and said she knew people would try to lie in order to get the vaccine. "Too often we see the pretendian phenomena, where people falsely identify as First Nations, or claim distant or tenuous ancestral connections for personal gain," Anderson said at the time. Not all First Nations people have Indian Act status. For example, status has been stripped from the descendants of women who married non-Indigenous men, and from men who joined the army. Thats why Anderson announced a process would be launched in the coming weeks to verify when someone is First Nations. She said people will be asked for their Indian status number, and those without one will be asked for proof, such as having an immediate First Nations relative who does have a status number. Two weeks later, nothing is in place. On Thursday, doctors and pharmacists started booking appointments for a small number of AstraZeneca shots for patients with certain severe medical conditions. People who identify as First Nations can qualify from age 30 and up, compared with age 50 for the rest of the population. Ryan Chan, the head of Exchange District Pharmacy, said hes asking patients to self-identify on a form that indicates theyre answering questions truthfully. "Theres no direction on verifying the (Indian Act) status," said Chan, who did not criticize the province as he explained the process in an interview. "If they check off the First Nations box, theyre First Nations," he said. "Were basing the information on what they tell us. The government didnt tell us to clarify, or verify with actual proof." Manitoba Health confirmed it has not issued any directive. "We anticipate self-declaration (display of status card) will be the process used by clinics and pharmacies," a spokesman wrote. The province confirmed there is still no process to weed out people who falsely identify as First Nations to get a shot at a vaccination super-site. The First Nations pandemic team did not have a response on where that process stands, or who would be in charge. The provincial government said its not yet set up. "The escalation screening process will be established by the First Nation partners. This is currently ongoing," the spokesman wrote. The province does not want doctors guessing based on skin tone. "Racist actions and behaviour are not tolerated. If an individual experiences this, they are strongly urged to file a complaint with Doctors Manitoba or College of Pharmacists of Manitoba," a spokesman wrote. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. Sorry! This content is not available in your region In states where elementary schools primarily offered remote instruction, the gender gap between parents in workforce surpassed 23 percentage points in 2020 Decades of feminist gains in the workforce have been undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has upended public education across the United States, a critical infrastructure of care that parents -- especially mothers -- depend on to work, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis. The research, published in Gender & Society, draws on new data from the Elementary School Operating Status (ESOS) database to show that the gender gap between mothers and fathers in the labor force has grown significantly since the onset of the pandemic in states where schools primarily offered remote instruction. And if these circumstances continue, it could deliver a long-lasting blow to mothers' lifetime earnings and occupational trajectories. At the start of the 2019-20 school year, U.S. mothers' rate of labor participation was, on average, 18 percentage points less than fathers'. By last September, the gap grew to over 23 percentage points in states where schools primarily offered remote instruction. In comparison, in states where in-person instruction was most common, the gender gap in parents' labor force participation grew by less than 1 percentage point, to 18.4%. "Our research shows schools are a vital source of care for young children, and without full-time, in-person instruction, mothers have been sidelined from the labor force," said Caitlyn Collins, assistant professor of sociology in Arts & Sciences and co-author of the study. "The longer these conditions remain in place, the more difficult it may be for mothers to fully recover from prolonged spells of non-employment, resulting in reduced occupational opportunities and lifetime earnings." As the pandemic continues into the spring, states with significantly curtailed in-person learning will likely continue to see low maternal labor force participation with the potential for devastating, long-term employment effects for many women with children, Collins added. How do school reopening plans impact working parents? While the primary function of schools is children's education, they also provide an expansive infrastructure of care -- especially for elementary school-age children -- that parents, businesses and the economy rely upon, Collins said. COVID-19 has strained that infrastructure in unprecedented ways. States have varied considerably in their approaches to slow the virus' spread and reopen schools, resulting in a patchwork structure of K-12 education across the United States. Collins and co-authors -- Liana Christin Landivar at the Maryland Population Research Center; Leah Ruppanner at the University of Melbourne; and William Scarborough at the University of North Texas -- wanted to understand the nature and magnitude of school closures across states. They used the ESOS database to measure the percentage of school districts offering in-person, remote and hybrid instruction models for elementary schools by state in September 2020. Then, they linked the data to the Current Population Survey to evaluate the association between school reopenings and parents' labor force participation rates, comparing such 2020 rates with those observed pre-pandemic in 2019. In the paper, the authors describe results from the 26 states currently available in ESOS, and highlight three states as illustrative examples of the consequences of various reopening statuses. Their findings illustrate the critical role schools play not only in supporting children's well-being, but also enabling parents, especially mothers, to maintain employment. Absent fathers' equal participation at home, mothers bear the brunt of responsibility for childrearing, both before and during the pandemic, according to Collins. Maryland - where schools across the state primarily opened remotely in 2020 - experienced the largest drop in mothers' labor force participation. In 2019, Maryland mothers with elementary-age children had a 90% predicted probability of being in the labor force. When schools opened in 2020, that probability dropped to 74%, representing a 16-point drop. In comparison, Maryland fathers' predicted probability of labor force participation dropped by 5 percentage points, from 92% to 87% - a statistically insignificant change, the authors wrote. Just 200 miles away, New York took a different approach: Nearly half of the elementary schools in the state offered hybrid programs consisting of a mix of remote and in-person education. Researchers found that mothers' labor force participation in New York declined by 7 percentage points, from 79% to 72%. Fathers' labor force participation dropped by 4 percentage points, from 96% to 92%. Neither of these drops was statistically significant. Finally, in Texas - where more than half of school districts offered full-time, in-person education for elementary students - mothers' labor force participation dropped by 10 percentage points, from 77% to 67%, and fathers' from 96% to 93%. While this was a larger shift than observed in New York, it was still substantially smaller than the changes observed in Maryland. Across all states, mothers' work attachment fell to a greater extent than fathers', but the gap is widest in states, like Maryland, where schooling was fully remote at the start of the school year. Upon completion in spring 2021, the ESOS database will be made publicly available via the Open Science Framework, offering the reopening status of all elementary school districts in the country serving more than 500 students, or approximately 9,000 school districts. 'Something had to give' One in three U.S. women who left employment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic cite childcare demands as a primary reason for their departure. Perhaps that's not surprising, though. Preliminary evidence suggests that gender inequality in the domestic division of labor worsened under the pandemic, Collins said. Collins, Landivar, Ruppanner and Scarborough have been studying the impact of the pandemic on mothers' paid work since the first shutdowns in March 2020. Their early analysis found that mothers were more likely to reduce their work hours or exit the labor force altogether - even when both parents were able to telecommute. They suggest this is likely because mothers picked up a larger share of housework, childcare and homeschooling than fathers. "Mothers have also reported greater increases in anxiety, depression and disturbed sleep compared to fathers, especially after experiencing a job loss or an increased housework or childcare load," said Ruppanner, associate professor of sociology at the University of Melbourne. "Without more support from fathers, employers and the government, something had to give under this unsustainable pressure. What seems to be giving is mothers' employment," Collins said. The fallout will last well beyond the pandemic When mothers are forced to choose between their families and jobs, it impacts not only their immediate financial stability, but also their psychological well-being, economic independence and lifetime occupational attainment and earnings. As the current research illustrates, mothers have paid the price of the childcare crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. "This is an injustice with long-term consequences for mothers' job prospects and economic stability," the researchers wrote. "These are not personal problems, but deeply political issues that require policy interventions. Well-funded and evidence-based reopening plans are necessary to allow children to return to school face-to-face, and to allow parents to engage in paid work. "Now, more than ever, it is crucial that federal and state governments invest in expanding the public care infrastructure for children of all ages." ### GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mathematics is a vital skill that people use throughout their daily lives; from tracking finances to using measurements in a recipe, learning mathematics skills at an early age is a necessary and valuable skill for students now and as adults later in life. However, various studies indicate that children and adults who feel stressed or nervous when faced with doing basic math-related functions may be experiencing "math anxiety." In fact, "In a representative survey of U.S. teachers, 67 percent told the EdWeek Research Center that math anxiety was a challenge for their students, and one in four said they often feel anxious doing math themselves." School leaders at National Heritage Academies (NHA) continuously work to combat math-related anxieties by making the subject relatable and less intimidating to students. NHA's Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) team developed the organization's math curriculum to cultivate a mathematical growth mindset by focusing on conceptual understanding and developing problem-solving skills that can be transferred to real-life decision making. "Our students use math stories and games as part of the problem-based curriculum," said Elisa Gibbs, director of math curriculum at NHA. "Math isn't a checklist of skills. Everything for our kindergarten through eighth-grade curriculum is connected, aimed at moving students along a developmental trajectory." In re-imagining an effective mathematics curriculum, NHA leaders moved away from memorization and drills to a problem-based approach, leaning heavily towards students building number sense and fluency. Similar to how students learn language arts by speaking, reading, and writing, these concepts also are beneficial in understanding mathematics. Reasoning is at the core of mathematics, encouraging students to think through why methods make sense and talking about different approaches. "Math can be fun; it's creative and about different ways of thinking," said Gibbs. "Math is for all of us." She shared that the role of school leaders and teachers is to encourage students not to be fearful or scared. "We learn from trying things out, sharing ideas, and listening to our peers." One fun way NHA schools encourage creativity in math is by participating in annual Pi Day celebrations. Keystone Academy seventh-grade students associate creativity with math by entering the digits of PI into a graph to create an artistic and mathematical skyline. In 2019, one Milwaukee Scholars Charter School sixth-grader stunned his classmates by reciting the first 115 digits of Pi during a school-wide assembly and has held the school record since! Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi Day is an annual opportunity for math enthusiasts to recite the digits of Pi, talk with friends about math, and eat pie. About National Heritage Academies: National Heritage Academies is a network of 90 tuition-free, public charter schools across nine states, serving more than 60,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. For more information, visit nhaschools.com. SOURCE National Heritage Academies Related Links https://www.nhaschools.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. Stockholm, March 12 : Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and her spouse Prince Daniel have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, it was announced. The royal couple isolated themselves on Wednesday following cold symptoms, the Royal court's information manager Margareta Thorgren told local media on Thursday. "They both show milder flu-like symptoms but feel good under the circumstances," Xinhua news agency quoted Thorgren as further saying. The couple's children Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar were also quarantined at home. As Crown princess, Victoria, 43, is next in the line of succession to the Swedish throne currently held by her father, King Karl XVI Gustaf. Demonstrators attend a Black Lives Matter protest following protests in the United States in Melbourne on June 6, 2020. (Con Chronis/AFP via Getty Images) State to Launch Australias First Probe Into Impacts of Colonisation The Australian state of Victorian has announced the establishment of a truth and justice commission that will investigate the historical and ongoing effects of colonisation on Aboriginal Victorians and propose steps for reconciliation. As the first commission of its kind in Australia, the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission will be modelled after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission led by Nelson Mandela in South Africa after the end of its apartheid. It will be charged with investigating all acts committed against Aboriginal people, both in the past and present, and is expected to begin in July with a final report due three years later. In a joint statement with the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria (FPAV), Premier Daniel Andrews said his government was committed to a truth-telling process after what they characterised as 233 years of violence, dispossession, and deprivation. Today, we commit to telling the truth, the joint statement said. We do so in partnershipa shared commitment between the Victorian Government and the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, the states first and only democratically-elected body for Aboriginal people. Acting Premier James Merlino, who has replaced Andrews as he undergoes treatment for a serious spine injury, said that the inquiry was a long time coming. This is long overdue. Its an acknowledgement that the pain in our past is present in the lives of people right now. Its a recognition that, without truth, without justice, you cant have a treaty, Merlino said. You cant take that incredibly powerful step forward until we go through this process of truth and justice. Truth-Telling About the Aboriginal Experience Named after the Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba word for truth, the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission will be made up of a panel of five men and women nominated jointly by the FPAV, the Victorian state government, and the International Center for Transitional Justice. It will be given all the powers of a royal commissionAustralias highest form of public inquiryto look into the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal people, which will include giving the commission the power to compel witnesses to appear before public hearings. One of the issues the commission will probe, the joint statement noted, is how and why Aboriginal Victorians continue to experience poorer outcomes than non-Aboriginal Victorians in modern times. Its why the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission will investigate both historical and ongoing injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians across all areas of social, political, cultural and economic life, the joint statement read. In a media statement on their website, the FPAV said that the commissions purpose is to achieve truth-telling and truth-listening. Yoo-rrook Justice Commission builds on our states nation-leading work on treaty, and the Victorian Governments commitment in 2018 to address historic wrongs and ongoing injustices through the treaty process, the FPAV said. Transitional Justice The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) will work alongside the FPAV and the Victorian government to select candidates to become commissioners. According to the ICTJ website, the centre says it works for justice in countries that have endured massive human rights abuses under repression and in conflict. It has also worked as an advisory to help in the justice and truth-telling processes of countries that have come out from under repressive regimes. Some of the countries it works in include Colombia, Cote dIvoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Tunisia, and Uganda. Using a process the ICTJ call transitional justice, the organisation says it utilises truth-seeking, or fact-finding, processes to look into human rights violations by non-judicial bodies. From this perspective, the centre says it can also look not just at events but their causes and impacts, and this will often result in the reform of laws and institutions, including the police, judiciary, military, and military intelligence; as well as reparations in the case of human rights violations. Seeking Commissioners In the meantime, the FPAV is seeking expressions of interest from people who wish to be commissioners. All candidates must demonstrate impartiality, moral character and cultural integrity, and be empathetic and trauma-informed, the FPAV said on its website. The eligibility requirements also include having expertise in Indigenous rights, community engagement, government system reform and/or historical inquiries, and understanding the concepts of decolonisation, systemic disadvantage and its causes. German economist Moritz Julius Bonn, who famously accused Karl Marx of falsifying a quotation, coined the term decolonisation in the 1930s to refer to former colonies that achieved self-governance. It has since morphed to incorporate the influence of colonising cultures on indigenous societies, which over time, have come to live by the laws and norms of the colonising nations. The concept of decolonisation takes as a given that colonisation equals invasion, and in Australia, left-wing Aboriginal activists have long agitated this to assert their sovereignty over the nation. Haiti - News : Zapping... New York : CIN production system installed The identity registration system is permanently installed at the Consulate of the Republic of Haiti in New York. Soon, the Haitian community in New York will have access to their Unique National Identification Card (UNIC). A Gang Leader shot dead in the North One of the leaders of the "Aji Lives" Gang Mackendy Silmonor aka "Ti Fethiere" was fatally shot in a firefight with police in Madras in the northeast. "Ti Fethiere" was involved in numerous crimes including the assassination of the head of the Intervention Brigade in the North, Inspector Telfort Ferrer, on December 26, 2020 See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-32627-icihaiti-cap-haitien-assassination-of-the-divisional-inspector-telfort-ferais.html and https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-32804-icihaiti-justice-two-arrests-in-the-assassination-of-police-inspector-telfort-ferais.html The US will actively monitor the elections in Haiti US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, interviewed in Congress by Congressman Andy Levine on Wednesday, responded that the United States will "actively monitor" the elections announced this year in Haiti to be "genuinely free and fair." Rehabilitation of CLACs After the installation of solar panels to allow the Reading and Cultural Animation Center (CLAC) to fully pursue their activities, at regular times, the National Book Directorate (DNL) begins operations to rehabilitate the physical spaces of these centers. Work has started at the CLAC in Saint-Marc. The DNL encourages the citizens of the host communities of the CLACs to help the institution to protect the infrastructures while using the library and game library spaces free of charge. A clean environment facilitates more enriching reading experiences. Renovation of the Anse-a-Veau police station The Haitian National Police (PNH) inaugurated the rehabilitation and renovation work of the Anse-a-Veau police station carried out with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP - Haiti) to improve well-being police officers, by offering them a better working environment, with the financial support of the Embassy of Canada in Haiti in partnership with the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). HL/ HaitiLibre Bangkok: Facing a possible 10-year jail term, former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled the country ahead of a court verdict her supporters say was politically motivated, a senior member of her party said. Yingluck's whereabouts were not immediately known on Saturday, but local media cited anonymous officials as saying she travelled by land to Cambodia then flew to Dubai to join her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra another exiled former premier whose government, like hers, was toppled in a military coup. An official of Yingluck's Pheu Thai party, who is close to the Shinawatra family, told The Associated Press she was no longer in Thailand. The official gave no other details and declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. Yingluck, who became Thailand's first female prime minister when her party swept elections in 2011, is accused of negligence in overseeing a money-losing rice subsidy program. She has denied charges as politically motivated.A verdict had been expected yesterday, as thousands of Yingluck supporters gathered outside the court and thousands of police stood guard. Also Read | Beleaguered Thai PM Shinawatra pleads for justice, fair treatment But Yingluck never appeared, and a judge read out a statement saying her lawyers had informed the court she could not attend because of an earache. The judge said the court did not believe the excuse, however, because no official medical verification was provided. He said a warrant would be issued for her arrest and postponed the trial until September 27. Norrawit Larlaeng, Yingluck's lawyer, confirmed a warrant had been issued but said he had no details on her whereabouts. "I was told this morning that she was ill, that she had vertigo, that she felt dizzy, so I requested the postponement... that's all I have to say." Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the military chief who engineered the 2014 overthrow of Yingluck's government, also said he did not know where she was, and the government was "looking for her." "If she's not guilty she should stay and fight the case," Prayuth said. "If she's not here, what does that tell you? Will she still say that she didn't get justice?" Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said security forces had not allowed Yingluck to leave and are checking possible routes she may have used if she did. He said security officials monitoring Yingluck had not seen her leave her Bangkok home in the last two days. The trial is the latest chapter in a decade-long struggle by the nation's elite minority to crush the powerful political machine founded by Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 coup. Thaksin, who has lived in Dubai since fleeing a corruption conviction he says was politically motivated, has studiously avoided commenting on his sister's case, apparently to avoid imperiling it. Thaksin is a highly polarising figure, and his overthrow triggered years of upheaval and division that has pitted a poor, rural majority in the north that supports the Shinawatras against royalists, the military, and their urban backers. When Yingluck's government proposed an amnesty in 2013 that could have absolved her brother and allowed him to return without being arrested, street protests erupted that eventually led to her government's demise in the 2014 coup. The junta that seized control of Thailand has since suppressed dissent and banned political gatherings of more than five people. The long-awaited decision on Yingluck's fate has rekindled tensions in the divided nation, but the military remains firmly in charge. Fearing potential unrest, authorities tried to deter people from turning out yesterday by threatening legal action against anyone planning to help transport Yingluck supporters.Yingluck posted a message on her Facebook page urging followers to stay away, saying she worried about their safety. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - PharmaDrug Inc. (CSE: BUZZ) (OTC Pink: LMLLF) ("PharmaDrug" or the "Company"), will hold its Annual General Meeting ("AGM" or "Meeting") on March 25, 2021 at 10:00AM Eastern Standard Time at its corporate office, Suite 2905 - 77 King Street West, Toronto. The call-in number for the Meeting is 1-855-473-1059 and the access # 0091269. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the Company strongly encourages registered shareholders and proxyholders not to attend the AGM in person, and Shareholders are encouraged to vote using one of the methods described in the Management Information Circular ("MIC") which can be viewed on SEDAR. The Meeting can be accessed by conference call. This call will be listen-only and shareholders will not be able to vote or speak at, or otherwise participate in the Meeting via the conference call. The Corporation's board of directors and auditors do not plan to attend the Meeting in person. About PharmaDrug Inc. PharmaDrug is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of controlled-substances and natural medicines such as psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived approved drugs. The Company owns 80% of Pharmadrug Production GmbH, a German medical cannabis distributor, with a Schedule I European Union narcotics license and German EuGMP certification allowing for the importation and distribution of medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany and throughout the EU. The Company also owns 100% of Super Smart, a Dutch company building a modern adult use psychedelic retail business with an elevated and educational focus. PharmaDrug recently acquired Sairiyo Therapeutics, a biotech company that specializes in researching and reformulating established natural medicines with a goal of bringing them through regulatory and research driven clinical trials. For further information, please contact: Daniel Cohen, Chairman and CEO dcohen@pharmadrug.co (647) 202-1824 Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information: THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED NOR DOES IT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results of the Company. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulations under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein, such as, but not limited to dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; the ability to locate additional supply of medical cannabis, owning interests in companies or projects that are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under United States federal law; changes in laws; limited operating history, reliance on management, requirements for additional financing, competition, hindering market growth; regulatory and political change. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/77090 A married couple who met when they were just 18 have revealed that they brought another woman, 10 years their junior, into their relationship to form a polyamorous throuple when the wife realized that she was bisexual and wanted a romance with another female. Psychologist Rachael Meir, 39, and client success manager Aaron Meir, 40, from Colorado Springs, met in their first year of college when they were just 18 years old back in 2000, and they fell quickly in love - tying the knot just six years later. But while the couple were incredibly happy, Rachael realized seven years into their romance that she was developing feelings for other women, and decided that this was something she needed to explore, first through swinging, and then through polyamory - despite criticism from her family members and strangers, who have branded her and Aaron 'perverts'. Coming together: Married couple Rachael (left) and Aaron Meir, from Colorado Springs, were married for 15 years when they formed a polyamorous throuple with Kasey Kershner (center) New thinking: Rachael (left), 39, and Aaron, 40, met when they were just 18, but seven years into the romance, Rachael realized she was bisexual and wanted a relationship with a woman Support: Aaron was fully supportive of his wife exploring her feelings, and the couple (pictured on their wedding day) began swinging together back in 2010 Welcome: Rachael soon realized that she wanted a permanent female partner, so the couple started searching on dating apps - which is where they met Kasey (pictured with Aaron) When Rachael initially discussed her feelings with Aaron, he was fully supportive of her newly-discovered bisexuality, and in 2010, the couple began swinging together in order to fulfill those desires. However, over time it became clear to Rachael that what she really wanted was a more committed relationship with another woman as opposed to a play partner. In 2019, with both Aaron and Rachael fully onboard with the idea of bringing a woman into their relationship, the couple each set up profiles on the dating app Bumble to complete the triad they wanted to form. In August 2019, Rachael matched with digital marketing specialist Kasey Kershner, 30, from Kansas City, Missouri, and the trio arranged a date. Despite Kasey having reservations about entering a throuple, having recently ended a similar relationship with another married couple, the three got on incredibly well and were soon talking about taking things to the next level. Rachael and Aaron were living in Mexico at the time, however they decided just twelve days after meeting Kasey that they would make plans to move back to the US to start a new life together as a trio. The announcement of their new relationship came as a shock to all of the couple's family members. Since Rachael had never told her parents about her bisexuality or swinging lifestyle, the news appeared to come out of thin air. There were also question marks surrounding Kasey's motivations for joining the relationship since she is ten years younger than the married couple. Falling: Rachael (center) and Aaron (right) were living in Mexico when they met Kasey (left) on Bumble - however they all met up for a date when the husband and wife were home in Colorado True love: Just 12 days after meeting Kasey (left), Aaron and Rachael decided that they wanted to settle down with her, so they moved back to the US so they could all be together Confusion: Aaron and Rachael's families were stunned when the couple revealed they were bringing another woman into their relationship However, with all family members having been introduced to each member of the throuple and having witnessed first hand how committed their relationship is, these fears have fortunately been alleviated. When in public, the throuple say that they constantly have people staring and discreetly trying to whisper about them whenever they decide to display affection for one another. On social media, the throuple have received comments from trolls who have called their relationship 'perverted', 'disgusting' and have told them that they are going to hell. Others have asked Aaron what his secret was to getting two women, believing him to be rich or being well-endowed. Moving forward: Aaron and Rachael (pictured) insist that their marriage is better than ever thanks to their romance with Kasey However the throuple admit that most of the feedback they get is overwhelmingly positive, with strangers telling them that their life goal is to have a relationship as beautiful as Aaron, Rachael and Kasey's. Whilst the trio say that they are not naturally jealous people, they have put in place a set of rules for when disagreements do arise. 'Aaron and I had experimented in the swinging lifestyle for about a decade together,' Rachael said. 'Over time, me, being bisexual, came to realize my strong desire for a more committed female relationship than just play partners. 'I was deeply in love with Aaron and had no desire for additional male relationships so I began to learn about and research polyamory. 'The idea of an ethical triad relationship with another female interested me greatly. 'Aaron was incredibly supportive when I fully realized that a relationship with a woman was something I wanted and we set about making our dream of being in a poly relationship a reality. 'We both created individual profiles for different dating apps, but made sure the profiles all explicitly stated that we were a married looking to form a long-term triad with another woman. 'While we were home visiting our family in Colorado during the summer of 2019, my Bumble profile matched with Kasey's. Reassurance: Rachael, Aaron, and Kasey all made sure to introduce one another to their families in order to show them how happy they really are Happy: Thankfully, after seeing how comfortable the trio is together, their families have let go of their initial fears about the relationship Spite: However the throuple still faces daily criticism from trolls on Instagram, who have branded them 'perverted' and 'disgusting' 'Kasey, who is also bisexual, had previously been in a relationship with another married couple. 'The three of us started messaging right away and we were all up front about our desires, fears, concerns and expectations. 'We met for a date a couple of days later and all felt an instant connection that first day. 'Aaron and I were supposed to be leaving to return home to Mexico about a month later and therefore we all committed to spending as much time together over those coming weeks to see if the relationship was truly worth pursuing. 'Only twelve days into knowing one another, Aaron and I made the decision that we were willing to relocate back to the states to give it a shot. 'For me, most everyone in my family was shocked, to say the least. I had not told anyone except my sister about my previous swinging lifestyle experiences or that I was bisexual, so the news came 'out of thin air'. 'Initially, they had fear that any one of us, but Aaron and I especially, would get hurt in the process. 'But overtime, family members opened up about their concerns, met Kasey and were reassured that this was consensual and desired among all of us.' According to Kasey, the throuple have been called pretty much every name imaginable, but they manage to laugh it off. 'We always have men commenting about how "lucky" Aaron is for scoring two girls, and there are always women in the comments who say they could never "share their man" those give us a giggle,' said Kasey. 'I came across one comment recently that said that we're "not normal", "perverted", 'sick, 'disgusting', disturbed' and 'hell bound' and it kind of made me smirk because I wondered how long it took them to come up with that many hateful words to string together. 'It's pretty easy to brush off, though, honestly, because I know it's because people just don't understand our lifestyle. 'It's really nice to interact with people who say that they aspire to have a relationship like ours, or that they think our love is beautiful.' Whilst Aaron admits that their relationship is naturally more complex than a traditional relationship, he believes that if entered for the right reasons can be more rewarding than a conventional coupling. 'I think for me being in a triad means as a person we really have to grow, develop, and understand ourselves on a very deep level to be successful in this type of lifestyle,' said Aaron. 'One really has to dig deep, understand what their motivations are for wanting to be poly, and has to ensure that they are doing it for the right reasons. 'It's certainly not for everyone. 'Being poly, there is a lot more complication and with it challenges, but in my opinion, and experience, if done right and for the right reasons, is also a lot more rewarding than a traditional relationship. 'You are able to feel a deeper connection to more than one person which is an amazing thing.' In late February, Vestnik Kavkaza visited liberated territories of Azerbaijan where the work on recovery of the devastated region is going on. Our reporters visited Aghdam, Fizuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, and the Iranian and Armenian border and recorded scales of destruction committed by the occupation forces of the Armenian army in Azerbaijani cities. The first stop of the photo return is Aghdam. Previously, it was the biggest city of Low Karabakh. Occupants leveled it with the ground. Our photos show why Aghdam is called a ghost city and Caucasian Hiroshima. March 12 : Parineeti Chopra is all set to rock the theatres with her back to back releases this year. While The Girl in the Train is already streaming on an OTT platform, her films Saina and Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar will hit the theatres soon. Amidst a busy promotional schedule, Parineeti is spicing up her style game and acing her looks in a variety of ensembles. At the Saina trailer launch, the Hasee Toh Phasee actress opted for a white power suit, shelling out major boss lady vibes. She donned a long white jacket that featured big buttons. The actress teamed the jacket with a pair of white high-waist flared pants and a white cropped tube-top. To complete her classy look, the actress chose a pair of white pumps. She skipped all accessories and went for just a pair of pearl studs. To glam up her style, Chopra went with a dewy base, kohl rimmed eyes and nude lips. She kept her straight middle-parted hair open. At a red carpet event, Parineeti aced a black sequinned midi dress by a Spanish designer label, Lakkioui, and made all heads turn to her direction. The sultry black dress featured a ravishing cut at the back to add the oomph factor to her look. The Girl in the Train actress glamed up her look with dark-toned smokey eyes, nude lips, and a perfectly contoured face, while her side-parted soft curls were left open. For yet another promotional event of her recently released film, The Girl On The Train, Parineeti showed how to slay in an all-black outfit. The Jabariya Jodi actress wore a black crop top, and layered it with a turtle neck crop sweater which came with ribbed details and drop-shoulder. Parineeti paired the sweater with a calf-length black pleated skirt that featured elasticated waist. She rounded off her look with a pair of black heels and accessorised the outfit with stud earrings. The actress opted for a dewy makeup with shimmery eyes, bronzed cheeks and nude glossy lips. She tied her hair in a messy high ponytail. The actress stepped out for yet another promotional event for her psychological thriller in an oversized power suit. The actress looked stunning in the light brown pantsuit that came with an oversized blazer and wide-legged pants. The actress paired the suit with a black halter neck tank top. Parineeti left her look simple and let the ensemble do all the talking. For the glam quotient, she opted for smokey eyes and left her shoulder-length hair straight and open. She completed her look with a pair of black patterned heels. Parineeti opted for another bold in black outfit that came with a high-neck black pullover that she teamed with a pair of black leather pants. Looking sultry and fierce, the actress rounded off her look with a pair of black heels. Her dramatic eye makeup and a messy ponytail added to her glamorous look. Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded at 15,387 as against Wednesday's close of 15,209, indicating a firm start for Indian on Friday. Here are key stocks that are likely to sway the market today: IDBI Bank: The bank has been taken out of PCA framework by the RBI. The bank has provided a written commitment that it would comply with the norms of minimum regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio on an ongoing basis. JSW Steel: The company posted a marginal decline of 1 per cent in its crude steel output at 13.06 lakh tonnes (LT) in February this year. Max Healthcare: The company has raised Rs 1,200 crore via qualified institutional process. Quick Heal Technologies: The board has approved buyback of 63.26 lakh shares for up to Rs 1,550 crore at a price of Rs 245 per share. REC, PFC: REC Ltd and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) have entered into a pact with Bhutan-based Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Ltd (KHEL) to finance a 600-megawatt hydroelectric project at Trashiyangtse in the neighbouring country. Wipro: The IT major has appointed Pierre Bruno as Chief Executive Officer of its European operations. M&M: (M&M) has got a green signal from the Reserve Bank of India to reduce its ownership in Korean automaker SsangYong Motor, putting the sale process with the potential investor on fast track, according to this report. READ HERE Insurance stocks: Shares of insurance companies are likely to be in focus today after the cabinet approved changes to the Insurance Act for increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to 74 per cent from the present 49 per cent. SBI: State Bank of India (SBI) will conduct e-auctions of 12 bad accounts this month to recover dues of over Rs 506 crore under sale to asset reconstruction company (ARC) mechanism. Cholamandalam, Karur Vysya Bank: Cholamandalam Investment and Finance company has inked a partnership with private sector Karur Vysya Bank Ltd for co-lending business, eyeing to garner a larger market share across segments, the companies said on Thursday. Projects: The company has completed sale of commercial assets worth Rs 7,467 crore to global investment firm Blackstone in the first round of divestment. India Glycols: Swiss chemicals major Clariant AG has formed a 51:49 joint venture with Bhartia family-promoted India Glycols to manufacture and market renewable ethylene oxide (EO) derivative products. Infosys: Infosys BPM, the business process management arm of Infosys, on Thursday announced a five-year extension of its strategic collaboration with Newmont Corporation to standardise and digitise delivery models across the latter's mine sites. SBI Life Insurance: BNP Paribas is looking to sell 3.5 crore shares of the company through an accelerated placement, according to Bloomberg. The shares are being offered at a price range of Rs 870 - Rs 917 per share, representing a discount of 2.5 per cent-7.5 per cent to Wednesday's closing price, the report added. NBCC India: The company has received contracts for construction of cooling tower (NDCT) CT-1, 3 and 5 for Yadadri Thermal Power Station, (5x800 MW) owned by Telangana State Power Generation Corporation. JK Tyre & Industries: CARE has revised outlook on company's long term bank facilities to stable from negative and retained rating at A-. AstraZeneca Pharma India: The company has received marketing approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for its product for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque startup Build with Robots is moving into new Downtown digs with $360,000 in Local Economic Development Act funding, the state Economic Development Department announced Friday morning. The company will relocate from a 2,200-square-foot space at the Verge Building to an 8,600-square-foot office suite at the corner of Commercial Street and East Marquette. The new space is part of a remodeled facility at Glorieta Station just east of the Convention Center, an area targeted for revitalization by the city and private developers, said Build with Robots CEO Chris Ziomek. The company makes small mobile robots for autonomous cleaning and disinfection of facilities, a business thats growing rapidly in the pandemic. It also sells collaborative robots, or cobots, which are mechanical arms that use customized programming for a wide variety of mundane industrial and commercial tasks. The company launched in 2017 at the FUSE Makerspace at Innovate ABQ Downtown, where it still maintains space for metal working, Ziomek said. The new offices will be dedicated to robot exhibitions, demonstrations, programming and prototype work. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The company workforce expanded from just two full-time employees in 2019 to 17 today, creating need for larger accommodations. And, under the LEDA grant, staff will grow a lot more, to 24 full-time employees by year-end 2021, and 64 by 2024. The City of Albuquerque will act as fiscal agent for the LEDA grant, pending approval by the City Council. The state also approved $573,000 in three separate Job Training Incentive Program grants last year for Build with Robots. New Mexico has a flourishing innovation ecosystem that is supporting new startups like Build with Robots, Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes said in a statement. It is yet another homegrown, high-tech company that is creating high-paying jobs with economic assistance from the state, expertise from the national labs, and our skilled workforce. CHICO, Calif. - Sierra Nevada Brewing Company made history today as they launched their Big Little Thing keg 438 feet. When we launch a beer we have live sampling or bring the beer to music festivals and other events, said Sierra Nevadas communications director, Robin Gregory. But obviously with COVID, we cant do that. So they had to get creative in how to launch their newest beer in a big way. What bigger way than trying to break a Guinness World Records title, said Gregory. The number they were up against 253 feet. The day consisted of three different launches. The first launch hit a decommissioned trailer full of scrap metal that was set up as a target. The second launch got fans on social media involved to guess how far the keg could go. And the third launch was fired up to break a world record. They used a 20-foot high trebuchet-style catapult to launch each of the kegs into the air. They are not full of any beer, said Terance Sullivan, brand manager and official lever puller for the event. We didnt want to sacrifice any beer. Beer is for drinking so we loaded them up with water. The mission was a success as the custom-made catapult propelled the keg 438 feet. I am just really proud with how this all came together, said Nicole Spring, the divisional sales manager in Sacramento. Its really cool and unique. Pavan Ravindra, University of Maryland senior who was awarded a 2021 Churchill Scholarship. Receiving this scholarship is a testament to the incredible mentorship I've received during my time at Maryland, and I am very excited for my upcoming year at Cambridge. Senior Pavan Ravindra from the University of Marylands College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) has been awarded a 2021 Winston Churchill Scholarship, which offers him full funding to pursue a one-year masters degree at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Ravindraa biochemistry and computer science dual-degree studentwill pursue a Master of Philosophy degree in chemistry. Nationally, 17 students in the sciences, engineering or mathematics received Churchill Scholarships this year. Five UMD students have received the award since 2018 and six total since its inception in 1963. The scholarshipvalued at around $60,000covers all educational fees and provides living and travel allowances. Pavan has excelled in the classroom and in his independent research efforts, with two published papers and an algorithm that is already being used by other researchers in academia and industry, said CMNS Dean Amitabh Varshney. The Churchill Scholarship will offer him unique opportunities to deepen his interests at the intersection of biochemistry and computer science. The Churchill Scholarship will allow Ravindra to join the ICE Group at the University of Cambridge. There, Ravindra will work with Angelos Michaelides, the 1968 Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, in the field of chemical simulations. Cambridge has attracted researchers at the forefront of many different directions in theoretical and computational chemistry, and this scholarship gives me the chance to learn directly from these scientists, Ravindra said. Receiving this scholarship is a testament to the incredible mentorship I've received during my time at Maryland, and I am very excited for my upcoming year at Cambridge. Ravindra, who is from Clarksville, Maryland, previously received a 2020 Goldwater Scholarship, a citation from the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College, a Banneker/Key Scholarship, and he was named a 2020 Merrill Presidential Scholar. In 2018, when Ravindra joined the laboratory of Pratyush Tiwary, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, he and biophysics graduate student Zachary Smith tried to find a way to describe proteins and chemical systems more generally. Eventually, they did it, developing an algorithm named AMINO, Automatic Mutual Information Noise Omission. The algorithm describes proteins and chemical systems using a minimal set of parametersa difficult task that is usually done manually. Researchers can now use AMINO to hopefully overcome the barrier of needing information beforehand about the system they are looking at, Ravindra said. AMINO led to a first-author scientific paper for Ravindra, which was published in the journal Molecular Systems Design & Engineering in 2019, and a second-author paper that applied AMINO to complex biophysical problems, published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry in 2020. In addition, the open-source code is already being used by other research groups and pharmaceutical companies to help improve their modeling and workflow of drug design. Along with graduate students in my lab, Pavan has continued working on challenging problems combining the frontiers of physical chemistry with artificial intelligence. This includes new method development, as well as applications to different ambitious and relevant problems, such as how molecules fundamental to lifeproteins, DNA and RNAadopt different shapes and forms, Tiwary said. Predicting this flexibility is often the key to designing effective, nontoxic drugs for different diseases. Pavans methods are helping make it possible to predict this flexibility in an inexpensive, effective and insightful manner. In addition to his campus research, Ravindra also worked at the National Institutes of Healths National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke with Jeffrey Smith (B.S. 73, zoology). There, he developed a computational model of neurons in the pre-Botzinger complex, an area responsible for regulating intrinsic breathing patterns in humans. In the classroom, Ravindra serves as a head teaching assistant for CMSC 330: Organization of Programming Languages and as a teaching assistant for CHEM 242: Organic Chemistry II Laboratory. He is also treasurer of UMDs chapter of the American Society for Microbiology and founding member and webmaster of the Informative Association for Maryland Science Advancement. In his spare time, Ravindra is president of UMDs Rubiks Cube Club and organizes Rubiks cube competitions. He has ranked as high as 4th in the world for the fastest time solving a Rubiks cube and 2nd in the world for solving it one-handed, setting five U.S. national records in the process. After his time in Cambridge, Ravindra plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry with a focus on computational and physical chemistry. I am committed to expanding the role of computation in understanding chemical systems, especially in using molecular simulations, Ravindra said. Im particularly interested in developing and applying approaches aimed at overcoming the limited time scales of computationally intensive molecular simulations. 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 owners of a former Christian reform school for girls in southwest Missouri have been charged with more than 100 counts over alleged horrific sexual, emotional and physical abused of the students. Sixteen former residents of the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Cedar County say Boyd and Stephanie Householder frequently restrained them with handcuffs, whipped them with belts, taped their mouths shut and struck or punched them for minor offenses such as drinking from a spring or singing. The couple's daughter Amanda, who attended the school, started posting TikTok videos about the alleged abuse she and her peers suffered, prompting other girls to come forward. Boyd Householder (pictured), 71, is charged in 22 counts with having sexual contact, including sexual intercourse, with one girl who was younger than 17 at the time Boyd Householder, 71, is charged in 22 counts with having sexual contact, including sexual intercourse, with one girl who was younger than 17 at the time. The couple pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Wednesday afternoon. A bond hearing was scheduled for next Wednesday. Attorney General Eric Schmitt said during a news conference Wednesday that the alleged victims also said they were forced to shovel manure for hours on end, stand with their noses against a wall while handcuffed for days at a time, and were locked in rooms without beds or lights. He said: 'Today, my Office has filed a total of 102 criminal charges against Boyd and Stephanie Householder, proprietors of the now-defunct Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. 'The charging documents allege extensive, and horrific, sexual, physical, and mental abuse perpetrated by the Householders. 'There are no words that I can say here today to describe the mixture of great sadness, horror, disgust and sympathy that I feel about these reports of cruel and almost unbelievable abuse and neglect,' Schmitt said. 'We intend to do everything in the power of this office to get justice for these victims.' Stephanie Householder, 55, was charged with 22 counts, most involving abuse or neglect of a child Schmitt said Boyd Householder also told at least seven girls the 'proper way' to commit suicide, and he's accused of forcing a girl to drink at least 220 ounces of water, run a mile until she vomited and then run again. The Householders were charged Tuesday and are being held in the Vernon County Jail. Boyd Householder faces 79 felony and one misdemeanor charge, including several counts of statutory rape, statutory sodomy, and abuse and neglect of a child. Stephanie Householder, 55, was charged with 22 counts, most involving abuse or neglect of a child. Her charges do not involve sexual contact. She is also accused of restraining students and allowing her husband to have continued contact with several girls after he physically assaulted them. 'With 16 victims so far, we believe this to be one of the most widespread cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse practiced against young girls in Missouri history,' Schmitt said. The couple's daughter Amanda (pictured), who attended the school, started posting TikTok videos about the alleged abuse she and her peers suffered, prompting other girls to come forward He declined to say the ages of the victims who have come forward, describing them only as girls and young women. Circle of Hope closed in August after investigators removed about two dozen girls. Many of the girls were sent to the home from out-of-state. The charges came after an investigation by law enforcement in Cedar County and elsewhere that started when former residents of the home made allegations against the Householders on social media. Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither asked Schmitt's office to help with the investigation in mid-November. Online court records do not name attorneys for the Householders. The Householders told The Kansas City Star in September that the allegations were lies prompted by their estranged daughter and girls who have not been successful in life after leaving the ranch. 'They're angry and they're bitter, and they want to blame somebody,' said Stephanie Householder. 'They feel like they're victims, and they just want to take their anger out on somebody.' Circle of Hope (pictured) closed in August after investigators removed about two dozen girls The Householders' estranged daughter, Amanda, has said she was kicked out of the home when she was 17 because of disagreements with her parents. She led efforts to have Circle of Hope shut down and says she '100 per cent' believes the allegations against her parents. But the announcement of charges is bittersweet. 'It didn't really hit me until I saw their mug shots,' she told The Star. 'I don't want my parents to go to jail. That's something that I never wanted. But I'm happy they're being held accountable.' Schmitt said the investigation continues and urged anyone who was a victim or knows of further cases of abuse to contact his office. Four former residents of the boarding schools have filed lawsuits alleging they were abused while they lived there. All the lawsuits were filed under the names 'Jane Doe.' Under Missouri law, faith-based boarding schools such as Circle of Hope are not subject to state oversight and are not required to be licensed. Circle of Hope described itself as a school that used the Bible to teach the girls proper behavior. After The Star published an investigation of faith-based homes last year, Democratic Rep. Keri Ingle, of Lees Summit, and Republican Rep. Rudy Veit, of Wardsville, introduced identical bills that would require some regulation of these unlicensed schools. The Missouri House Committee on Children and Families unanimously passed those measures last month and they are expected to be considered by the full House. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed that the Islamic Republics presence in countries such as Iraq and Syria is not for military control, but rather for advisory assistance. We are there to support sovereign governments at their own behest, he said, rejecting the US depiction of Iran as a destabilizing factor. Khamenei also criticized the American military for establishing bases in those two countries without permission from the hosts. The issue of Irans influence in the region has been at the core of its tensions with the West and Khameneis latest remarks appeared as yet another message of defiance and a clear statement that the issue is not up for negotiations. Instead, he insisted that it is the United States that must leave Iraq and Syria. They claim they are against Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Iranian leader said, before throwing a sarcastic quip at the US lying because they possess the worst and most dangerous of such weapons and they have used them. In response to Western worries regarding Iranian plans to develop nuclear bombs, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly referenced a Fatwa, or religious edict, by Khamenei that places a strict ban on the pursuit of such arms as religiously forbidden. Last month, however, a slip of tongue by the countrys Intelligence Minister, Mahmoud Alavi, sparked controversy when he suggested Iran might change course and produce such weapons if it continues to remain targeted by crippling sanctions. The comment cost him a rebuke from President Hassan Rouhani. Khameneis speech also targeted Washingtons ties with Riyadh, Tehrans top rival in the region. The Americans defended a convict who dismembered his opponent with a saw, Khamenei said of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his role in the 2018 murder of prominent dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Americans have been inverting the truth. Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been on the rise, especially since 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition invaded Yemen to defend the Yemeni government and curb the influence of Tehran-backed Houthi rebels. Iran is accused of providing arms including a range of rockets and missiles which the Shiite group continues to launch against Saudi interests, among them military bases and key oil installations. In his speech, however, Khamenei appeared to be distancing Tehran from the Yemen conflict. While defending the Yemenis, he denied any Iranian involvement. Yemenis are gifted people. They have managed to produce or provide means for their defence on their own to respond to the six-year-long bombardments." Episcopal school defends language policy, telling students to stop saying 'mom' and 'dad' after backlash Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A prominent Episcopal school in New York City is standing by its decision to publish an Inclusive Language Guide after the document received criticism for, among other things, encouraging students to refrain from using terms such as Mom and Dad. The Grace Church School, a private Manhattan Episcopal school serving 770 students in Junior Kindergarten-Grade 12, published an Inclusive Language Guide to address ways we can remove harmful assumptions from the way we interact with each other. The 12-page guide suggests students and teachers use alternatives to gender-specific words and phrases as well as other terms it sees as problematic. The guide prompted considerable backlash, causing the Head of School George P. Davison to issue a statement. Policing language demonstrates more concern for getting a community to use the right words than for cultivating a sense of belonging for its members, George said in part. That is why our Inclusive Language Guide does not ban any words. After defending the guide as a necessary instrument to give us all words that will bring people together, Davison indicated that Grace Church School, which has a tuition rate of more than $57,000 per year, has no intention of abandoning it. So if the boorish cancel culture press wants to condemn us a newly dubbed Woke Noho school of politeness, dignity and respect, then I embrace it, and I hope you will too, he asserted. The guide begins with a push to encourage students to use gender inclusive language to provide critical affirmation to students across the gender spectrum. It asks students and staff to refrain from using terms such as boys and girls, guys and ladies and gentlemen, and instead use gender-neutral terms such as people, folks, friends, readers, (and) mathematicians. Additionally, the guide takes issue with the use of sweetheart/honey/similar pet names, which are often used to address people of both genders. The terms hermaphrodite and transsexual/transvestite/crossdresser are singled out as outdated terms. Stressing the importance of not making assumptions about who kids live with, members of the Grace Church School community are urged to abandon the use of the terms Mom and Dad in favor of grown-ups, folks, or family. The aforementioned gender-neutral terms are also cited as favorable alternatives to the term parents, along with guardians. The idea of the traditional family is described as an outdated term because each family is unique. The guide also treats the terms husband, wife, boyfriend, (and) girlfriend as problematic, instead advocating for the use of spouse/partner/significant other. Asserting that human sexuality exists across a spectrum, the guide instructs students to avoid using heteronormative assumptions and identifies phrases such as ladies man, boys will love those eyelashes and your mom and dad must be so proud as problematic. If someone says a boy cant marry a boy or a girl cant marry a girl, students are advised to respond by saying, People can love and commit to whomever they please, its their choice who they marry. Students are also being taught to reject the belief that sexual orientation is a choice rather than an identity and to affirm: Who we love/are attracted to is part of who we are. Much like Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, who during the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, who is now an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, the school deems the terms sexual preference and "homosexual" as outdated. While the guide firmly rejects the idea that sexual orientation is a choice, it implies that a person has the ability to choose their race or ethnicity. Students are encouraged to ask their classmates how they (self-)identify as opposed to asking, What race are you? Additionally, the guide rejects the idea that people can be colorblind as it pertains to race because we see the skin tones of people and assumptions are made about how someone identifies racially. The guide even objects to the phrase Happy Holidays, often touted as an inclusive alternative to Merry Christmas, which is also listed as a problematic phrase. Instead, students are encouraged to tell their classmates Have a great break! The guide concludes with a glossary of identity and shared value terms that include words and phrases such as antiracism, equity, institutional racism, intersectionality, microaggression and race. Links to videos about gender identity and pronouns, race, nationality and ethnicity, antiracism, white privilege, and implicit bias are also included throughout the guide. Chef Rebecca Wilcomb has stepped down from her position at Gianna and left the downtown Italian restaurant's parent company, the Link Restaurant Group. Wilcomb was chef and partner at the 2-year-old restaurant, which is named for her grandmother and showcases the rustic Italian food of the chefs family heritage. The decision to resign came after a long period of soul searching, Wilcomb said, as she spent time in the pandemic reevaluating the direction of her career and life. She found herself at a turning point and concluded that stepping away from the high-profile role as head of a large restaurant was the best move. Its a really, really hard decision to make, but its the right decision for me, Wilcomb said. Im leaving amicably and feeling very supported in my decision. Company founder Donald Link also described the departure as amicable. Link said the company is in the process of evaluating the next chef for Gianna, and he said the restaurant would continue in its current format. Gianna isnt going anywhere, Link said. The restaurant opened in 2019 in the newly developed Kalorama Building, close to other restaurants in Link's group, including Herbsaint, Peche Seafood Grill and Cochon. Gianna takes a regional and seasonal approach to Italian flavors, with menus running through antipasti plates, polenta with lamb gravy, roasted fish and pork shoulder with fennel and citrus. Wilcomb built her career in the Link Restaurant Group, starting as a line cook at Herbsaint in 2008. She later became chef at this downtown bistro and in 2017 won a James Beard Foundation award for her work there. 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 I have just the highest amount of love and respect for that company and the people in it, Wilcomb said. I think what theyre doing for the community and how theyve run it has been so impressive. +10 With garlic butter and brotherhood, Dee's Xquisite Seafood soars on St. Bernard Avenue The recipe at Dees Xquisite Seafood is a three-part harmony of flavor. It plays through tight clusters of Dungeness crab legs, lobster tails, What Wilcomb will do next in her career remains an open question, she said, though she predicted she will remain in the culinary field. Well see what the angle of this turn actually ends up to be, she said. But Im not done with restaurants yet, and I don't think theyre done with me. I love restaurants too much. Gianna 700 Magazine St., 504-399-0816 Dinner daily, 5-9 p.m. The 50-year-old politician was chosen "by a slim majority" during a meeting of ambassadors of the 37-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development based in Paris. Former Australian finance minister Mathias Cormann was elected Friday as the new head of the influential Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, sources told AFP, in a choice that dismayed environmental campaigners. The 50-year-old Belgian-born politician was chosen "by a slim majority" during a meeting of ambassadors to the OECD, which acts as a think-tank and club of democratic countries, the sources close to the organisation said. Cormann served as Australia's finance minister for seven years until late 2020, a record for the country, having been first named to the job by right-wing premier and climate change sceptic Tony Abbott in 2013. He has criss-crossed Europe by plane in the last two months, where most of the OECD's members are located, promoting his candidacy and promising an agenda of "inclusive and sustainable economic growth". In a statement on Friday, Cormann said leading the organisation would be a "privilege and an honour." "It provides a great platform for international cooperation and best practice policy development, from the foundation of a shared commitment to democracy, human rights, the rule of law, market-based economic principles and a rules-based international order," he said. This month, more than two dozen global civil society leaders took the unusual step of writing to the OECD's selection chair to criticise Cormann's record on climate change while in government. Greenpeace on Friday expressed "deep dismay and anger" at the choice for one of the world's major multinational institutions, while the head of E3G campaign group Nick Mabey said the appointment sent a "dangerous signal". Cormann has defended his political career and promised to work to cut emissions at the OECD, telling AFP earlier this month that "action on climate change, to be effective, requires an ambitious, globally coordinated approach". Story continues The conservative church-goer, who moved from the German-speaking part of Belgium to Australia in his mid-20s, emerged as a surprise frontrunner to beat fellow contender Cecilia Malmstrom, a Swedish former EU trade commissioner. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called it "the most senior appointment of an Australian candidate to an international body for decades." He said in a statement that Cormann's experience in Europe and Australia "will ensure he makes an outstanding contribution as leader of the OECD." - Past statements - Green groups have sought to highlight Cormann's sceptical statements on climate policy in the past, such as when he called Australia's emission-trading scheme "economic self-harm which does nothing to help global emissions". When students in Australia took part in a global strike for climate action, Cormann suggested they "stick to school". During his first stint as finance minister under Abbott, the government made killing off a carbon tax a political priority, while the last election in 2019 saw the ruling Liberal party repeatedly attack its Labor rival over its pro-climate policies. "He helped lead the charge on dismantling an effective legislative and regulatory framework for bringing down emissions and reshaped Australia into a global laggard and anchor on climate action," Julie-Anne Richards from Climate Action Network Australia said in a statement. Cormann will take over from longstanding OECD chief Angel Gurria, who is stepping down at the end of May after 15 years at the helm. The new appointment must still be ratified by the OECD's decision-making council on Tuesday. The Paris-based OECD, which has 37 member nations, publishes influential analysis on government policies and compiles databases to compare country performances. It also serves as a forum to discuss policy, and has recently spearheaded talks on a new global plan to tax multinational tech groups that has become a tense issue between European countries and the United States. That issue is likely to be one of the first Cormann will have to confront as leading nations aim to reach a deal by July. Under Gurria, the body has also become a vocal backer of policies to tackle the climate emergency, and it has been critical of the Australian government's actions in the past. - Asia experience - Cormann grew up in the small town of Raeren in eastern Belgium and speaks in strong German-accented English, which has seen him likened to "Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger in his adopted homeland. While campaigning for the OECD job, he emphasised his multilingual background and experience in Asia. As well as German and English, he speaks French and Flemish. According to the sources who spoke to AFP, he was strongly backed by the United States, and his Asian experience was decisive. evs-adp/js/mjs/pvh An advanced technology facility is set to be established in Brisbane to produce micro-wearable sensors that can monitor diseases and other health conditions. The facility is a first-of-its-kind, and part of a $30million partnership funded by the Australian National University, the Queensland government and the Australian National Fabrication Facility. The 'sticker-like' sensors can provide real-time monitoring and accurate reports on a patients' health for timely medical care. An advanced technology facility is set to be established in Brisbane to produce micro-wearable sensors that can monitor diseases and other health conditions It is believed that they can also replace frequent blood tests for some more serious diseases. ANU's first innovation company, the Brisbane-based WearOptimo, will make the micro-wearable devices. Professor Mark Kendall who is the founder and CEO says it's a thrill to receive this kind of support. 'The microwearables we're working on are designed to empower individuals and their healthcare providers to put them in charge of tailored, rapid treatment and recovery,' he said. 'Our sensors are at the cutting-edge of personalised treatment and healthcare, and we're working on tackling some of the biggest killers on the planet.' Professor Kendall said some examples of sensors range from alerting workers to dehydration, to detecting heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. Deputy Premier Steven Miles says the government is proud to invest in world-leading technology and improving the care of seriously ill patients. 'It's exciting that such a revolutionary medical technology will be manufactured and distributed globally from Queensland and it will be the only one of its kind in Australia,' he said. Dr Miles added that 90 high-value jobs will be created with the potential for many more when the facility is operational. Algerias moderate Islamist parties are unlikely to be able to capitalize on the snap general and local elections that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said will be held later this year. The regime does not have to worry about preventing Islamists from occupying a high proportion of seats in the legislature. This is at least partly because Algerias moderate Islamist parties are unlikely to capture the publics imagination and make strong inroads at the ballot box. Though not actively engaged in politics, the Dawa Salafiya movement is and will remain far more appealing for pious and traditional Algerians. They reject the corrupt political establishment and distrust moderate Islamist parties that have a history of being coopted by "le pouvoir" the coterie of ruling elites. Islamist parties to remain marginal players The leadership of Algerias moderate political Islamist parties are largely responsible for their failure over previous years to emerge as viable challengers to spar with the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the Democratic National Rally (RND), which have in partnership served as the structural, legislative backbone of the regime. Algerias largest moderate Islamist Party the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) has been a part of several government coalitions, having benefitted from the multiplicity of financial and other rewards flowing from its willingness to dance with the regime. Though giving up its support for former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2012 and putting its leader Abderrazak Makri forward as presidential candidate in January 2019, the party is still tarnished by its past. Moderate Islamist parties have likewise been weakened over the years by internal disputes and fragmentation. Disagreements within the MSP over whether to support Bouteflika in the run-up to the 2009 presidential election caused a faction to formally split and form the Movement for Preaching and Change (MPC). The MSP was given another blow in 2012 when politician Amar Ghoul jumped ship and formed the Rally of Algerian Hope (TAJ), taking at least 50 deputies with him. The MSP is not the only Islamist party to have been weakened by factionalism and internal disagreements on whether to work as partners with the government or not. Ennahda saw one of its founders, Abdallah Djaballah, leave and set up El-Islah in 1999 over his opposition to engaging with the regime. Djaballah was subsequently forced out of El-Islah and established El-Adala in 2011. Past efforts by Algerias Islamic parties to join forces at the ballot box have fallen flat. Notably, the Green Algeria Alliance (AAV) between the MSP, Ennahda and El-Islah failed miserably in the May 2012 legislative elections. The alliance won only 48 of 462 parliamentary seats. This was followed by equally disappointing results in the May 2017 general elections when Algerias moderate Islamist parties were unable to improve on their performance. Dawa Salafiya outshining moderate Islamist parties The main beneficiary of moderate Islamist parties inability to expand their public support base has been the quietist, apolitical Dawa Salafiya. Numbering in the millions, Dawa Salafiyas socially conservative and pious sea of members has continued to expand thanks at least partly to its moral code and robust social support networks. Its elevated profile stands in stark contrast to the tainted reputations of Algerias political Islamist party leadership. Though not engaging with the regime, Dawa Salafiya has made a point of not antagonizing le pouvoir a reality that is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. The regime tolerates the movement precisely because it has no intention of challenging the powers that be and frowns upon anti-government protests. It also rejects democracy and Western influence. Le pouvoir essentially sees the benefit of allowing Dawa Salafiya to thrive. If repressed, the movements members may resort to political mobilization, which could pose a new challenge to the political establishment, or so the thinking goes. Trauma of the Dark Decade transcends generations Even if heavily repressed, very few if any Dawa Salafiya members are likely to resort to armed struggle, which the movement outright rejects. The Black Decade, when at least 150,000 individuals died, has left a legacy of trauma in its wake for the overwhelming majority of Algerians. The way the anti-government Hirak protest movement which cuts across different segments of Algerian society has shirked violence likewise shows how the civil war of the 1990s continues to penetrate the national conscience. It has had a direct bearing on the restraint exercised by Algerias pacifist protesters who hanker for a civilian rather than military-run state and the dissolution of le pouvoir. The pacificist nature of resistance to the regime is a source of frustration for militant Islamist groups that only have the ability to launch sporadic, localized and for the most part low-casualty attacks. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), other militant Islamists and their affiliates may be able to capitalize on increasing socio-economic pressures, rising unemployment and intensified repression against dissent to attract some new recruits. But their pool of would-be Algerian fighters is unlikely to expand dramatically. AQIM is in any case outmuscled by Algerias formidable security apparatus and most of its fighters operate across the southern border. All the locally based oil and gas executives I have spoken to in Algiers tip their hats to the Algerian army for its effectiveness at deterring cross-border incursions toward oil and gas operations since the Tigantourine gas facility hostage crisis of 2013. Although looking to contain a reinvigorated Hirak protest movement and reeling economy, the regime is unlikely to have to contend with an indigenous surge in religious radicalization over the coming years. It can also count on Algerias moderate Islamist parties to remain weak, divided and discredited. Dawa Salafiya will remain the most influential Islamic movement in Algeria one that the regime can be expected to continue tolerating. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Officials in Indiana Gov. Eric Holcombs administration on Thursday defended his use of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic as lawmakers continued to push bills that would limit the governors executive orders authority. A half dozen top Holcomb staffers told a state Senate committee the governors capacity to quickly address emergencies has been critical to the states response, arguing that limitations to those powers could hinder the states current progress and delay urgent reactions to future public health emergencies or natural disasters. Their testimony came as a response to bills advanced by the House and Senate that would curb a governors authority to impose emergency restrictions such as mask rules and business closures. The differing proposals would set up ways to either force the governor to call lawmakers into a special session during a long-lasting emergency or give legislative leaders new authority to take such action. Senators contended theyve been shut out of conversations about how to respond to emergency situations, however. They said the proposed legislation wouldnt impede how the state responds to emergencies, but instead would involve lawmakers in decision-making. I find it interesting that so many members of the administration find it threating that legislators want a seat at the table, said Republican Sen. Susan Glick of LaGrange. We are part of the Constitution, we are a branch of this government. For a year now, weve been very patient. But weve been simply ignored on many occasions. We have attempted to deal with the governors office... and state government, and we have repeatedly, like our constituents, been stymied. Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said the governors emergency orders allowed the state health department to quickly and directly work with hospitals to address statewide shortages of staff and equipment early in the pandemic. An order issued last fall suspending non-emergency procedures at hospitals also ensured a swift solution to patient surges, she said. Our ability to respond efficiently and effectively to this once-in-a-lifetime emergency has been tied to the governors executive orders, Box said. This was especially crucial in those first several months when we had to deal with issues as they arose and address them immediately. The executive orders have additionally streamlined the states access to federal funding and allowed health and safety agencies to expedite the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, said Indiana Homeland Security Executive Director Steve Cox. Lapses in emergency declarations could jeopardize those resources, Cox said, and potentially affect our ability to save lives. If this continues to move forward, introducing a new layer of approvals and analysis into decisions that need to be made with extreme urgency could drastically change the way Indiana responds to emergencies in the future, Cox said. Currently, were in the middle of this pandemic ... this response still. We have many lessons to be learned, and I think it would be very good for us to make sure that we go through that process before we make substantive changes. The debate arrives as the state reaches a full year under a public health emergency from the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed some 12,800 people in Indiana, according to the state health department. Action to stem the coronavirus spread occurred quickly after Indiana lawmakers ended their 2020 session last March, with Holcomb issuing a stay-at-home order that closed businesses deemed nonessential two weeks later. The Legislature didnt meet again until November, despite some lawmakers calling for a special session. Holcomb and others have questioned whether the proposals written by Republican lawmakers are allowed under the state constitution, however, since the state constitution gives the governor not the Legislature the authority for calling a special session. Theres a difference of opinion on that constitutionality, frankly, and that may not be something that is able to be resolved, said Republican Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray of Martinsville. But were going to try and do something and obviously if we do, we are going to vet it and make sure that it feels constitutional to us. The Senate Rules Committee is expected to make additional revisions to the bill before taking a vote on the measure next week. ___ Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationa Spectators brave the cold and early morning as they wait for the start of the 28th annual Great Prosser Balloon Rally in Prosser, Wash. on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. Wind and the chance of rain prevented balloons from taking off. The rally continues Saturday at sunrise. By Lee Kyung-min Hyundai MOVEX, an IT and logistics affiliate of Hyundai Group, was listed on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market, Friday. The firm held a ceremony at the Korea Exchange (KRX) in Yeouido, Seoul, attended by CEO Hyun Ki-bong, as well as the head of Kosdaq's market division and the chief of NH Investment & Securities' investment banking (IB) division. Hyundai MOVEX operates a logistics automation system, platform safety door (PSD) and IT services. It was launched in 2017 after merging with Hyundai U&I, which provided IT services as an automated logistics business before being spun off from Hyundai Elevator. "Hyundai MOVEX has been transformed into a logistics automation company that provides smart logistics total solutions by adding advanced IT technology to its logistics automation system. The firm is expanding its business gradually into the market for logistics robots," the firm said. The market's assessment of Hyundai MOVEX's business potential is positive, since demand for unmanned logistics automation facilities has been on a steady rise encompassing a variety of industries including delivery and courier services amid a boom in the e-commerce market following the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm reported a solid year-on-year sales growth of over 30 percent between 2017 and 2019 and saw operating profit rise between 6 percent and 9 percent over the same period, year-on-year. The firm reported 197.1 billion won ($174.2 million) in annual sales in 2020 with operating profit reaching 16.9 billion won. "We will boost market confidence in the firm following the KOSDAQ listing and strengthen its competitiveness through the development and application of differentiated technologies," a Hyundai MOVEX official said. "We will become a platform pioneer for the global industry in the future." 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. MOSCOW -- When Russia announced it was slowing down Twitter access this week, citing the social networks alleged failure to delete objectionable material, it was seen as a sign that the Kremlin was acting on repeated threats to bring the Internet under control. "This will make all other social networks and major foreign web companies understand that Russia won't continue to silently watch as our laws are flouted," a lawmaker who co-authored laws legalizing the move told reporters. But the initiative appeared to badly backfire when users across the country began reporting that a host of government websites, including the homepages of the Kremlin and Interior Ministry, were temporarily down. Just months ago, authorities halted a failed two-year push to block the Telegram messaging app that had led to the disabling of 16 million IP addresses on Amazon's and Googles cloud platforms and prompted ridicule from tech experts worldwide. So the latest debacle led to fresh claims that Russia was shooting itself in the foot while trying to exert control over a foreign-based tech company, and served as a reminder of the Kremlins clumsy, long-standing campaign to rein in the Web. "They want to channel the minds of Russian citizens in the direction they deem correct," says Dmitry Galushko, an independent Internet consultant based in Moscow. "But often it doesnt quite go to plan." China's Great Firewall With its Great Firewall, China moved quickly and early to institute a system of inspecting data and blocking IP addresses and domain names. Russia, where 78 percent of the population is online, was slow to act and in many ways missed the boat. Today, the Internet is so unwieldy and complex that ratcheting up regulation is far more difficult, setting up a protracted tug of war between the Russian government and Internet companies since Vladimir Putin began his third term as president in 2012 and set about narrowing the space for dissent both online and offline. Following mass anti-government protests that year, Putin signed a law that allows authorities to block websites and force them offline without a court trial. Hundreds were added to an official blacklist, but the method was seen as too crude and piecemeal, and the availability of cheap VPNs and other proxy services enabled Russians to bypass state censorship. Meanwhile, the Internet continued to rapidly gain clout, offering a vehicle to challenge the Kremlin narrative broadcast daily to the 70 percent of Russians who still get news predominantly from government-controlled TV. The shift was highlighted by the growing influence of opposition figures like Aleksei Navalny, the anti-corruption crusader who survived what he calls a state-sponsored poisoning and now languishes in prison on what his allies denounce as fabricated charges. Navalny and his team released slick investigations into corruption that sometimes gathered tens of millions of views on YouTube, enraging a swath of society coming of age as the U.S. video-hosting platform experienced its meteoric global rise. "A zone of free information has arisen, and that makes the authorities nervous," says Denis Volkov, deputy director of the Levada Center, an independent polling organization that has documented state TVs waning popularity relative to online platforms. "People who use the Internet, read Telegram channels, and watch YouTube are far more critical of the government." In 2020, Putins New Year address was watched by 26.5 million people, according to viewing figures from the six main state TV channels. By comparison, two videos published in December 2020 by Navalny -- who revealed details of alleged Kremlin involvement in his poisoning last August -- gathered 22 million views each on YouTube alone. (Another Navalny investigation, into a Black Sea palace allegedly owned by Putin, has close to 115 million views.) The response has been a concerted, but often bungling, crackdown on free speech online. In 2019, Russia passed a "sovereign Internet" law that gives officials wide-ranging powers to restrict online traffic, up to the point of isolating the country from cross-border Internet connections during national emergencies. Moscow has repeatedly warned that it is ready to use the new measure if unrest were to reach a serious scale. The year 2020 saw 289 criminal cases launched against Russians for social-media posts, most of them judged by the authorities to be peddling disinformation, according to a report on Internet freedoms by the Agora human rights group. Libel online is now punishable by up to two years in prison. In January and early February, a series of massive anti-government rallies actively promoted on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, the Chinese video app that played an outsize role in hosting pro-Navalny content, ushered in an intensified push to fine-tune the online censorship apparatus. We all know what the Internet is, and how it's used to promote absolutely unacceptable content," Putin, who has called the Internet a CIA project and is known to avoid it, said in a meeting with security officials in early March. Western Platforms Targeted The move against Twitter came shortly after. The government accused the company of failing for years to comply with demands that it remove almost 3,000 posts about illegal drugs, child pornography, and suicide, and threatened it with fines. Twitter acknowledged the effort to slow its operation in Russia and denounced attempts to block and throttle online public conversation. It also cited its zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual exploitation and other unlawful behavior promoted on the website. Other Western platforms are also being targeted. Communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has issued demands that Navalny videos be removed from YouTube while pressuring Google, YouTube's parent company, to change its algorithms to bump up content by pro-Kremlin journalists. The carrot to the stick of threats and fines is a homegrown infrastructure of services meant to replace Facebook, YouTube, Google, and other foreign websites. Companies like Yandex and Mail.ru started out, respectively, as a search engine and e-mail service and expanded to become major players in Russias segment of the web. And with many government services in Russia already offered exclusively online, citizens have few choices but to interact with them, opening opportunities for fledgling Russian developers come April when a new law will mandate that a suite of apps vetted by the government be preloaded on smartphones and other electronic devices sold in the country. "This is the Chinese model: making people live in a bubble of homegrown apps," says Andrei Soldatov, co-author of Red Web and an expert on the Russian Internet. "And that infrastructure is not so difficult to create, especially when you have a country as centralized as Russia." But while Russia is incubating developers capable of spearheading that process, theres pushback from companies that route traffic through Amazon and Google, and new apps like Clubhouse keep springing up to capture the imagination of Russian users. "Youre constantly playing catch-up and finding ways to plug the holes," says Soldatov. With further protests planned ahead of parliamentary elections in September, there are now fears that Russia will resort to the nuclear option: blocking major social-media networks wholesale in the style of countries like Iran, Turkey, and Egypt. In 2018, Russia cut access to the business network LinkedIn in what was widely seen as a trial run, and after the latest move against Twitter, few analysts discount the chance that bigger platforms are next. "This is the start of a new era, of Russia experimenting with methods it has honed over time," says Sarkis Darbinian of Roskomsvoboda, a nongovernmental organization that monitors online censorship in Russia. "It's sloppy and heavy-handed, but the offensive is reaching a new level. And it's clear that Facebook and Google could well be next." Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the speed of the national COVID-19 vaccination rollout as he confirmed Australia would continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine. Mr Morrison said Australia would not follow the handful of countries that had paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots in a handful of people who received doses from the same batches. Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded the rollout would not be complete by October. Credit:Kate Geraghty Australian health experts, including Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly, agreed the countrys rollout with the AstraZeneca vaccine should continue. The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is effective, it is safe, and its a high-quality vaccine, Professor Kelly said. Malaysia court strikes down ban on Christians using the word 'Allah' in publications Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment After a decades-long legal battle, a Malaysian court has overturned a policy banning Christians from using the word "Allah in publications in the Muslim-majority country. On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court deemed unconstitutional a 35-year-old government ban on the use of Allah and three other Arabic words by Christian publications. An earlier court ruling had stated that Allah should be reserved exclusively for Muslims, as the word is not an integral part of the faith in Christianity and could cause confusion among religious groups. Three other words kaabah (Islams holiest shrine in Mecca), baitullah (house of God) and solat (prayer) were also banned in a 1986 government directive. This week, government counsel Shamsul Bolhassan was quoted as saying by CNA that the four words can now be used in Christian materials following the courts ruling, as long as it clearly states that materials are intended for Christians only and a symbol of a cross is displayed. The case began 13 years ago when officials seized religious materials in the local Malay language from a Christian at Kuala Lumpur International Airport that contained the word Allah. The Christian woman Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, a member of an indigenous group then launched a legal challenge against the policy. On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court sided with her, ruling she had the right not to face discrimination on the grounds of her faith. The judge also ruled the ban on Christians using Allah was unlawful and unconstitutional, her lawyer Annou Xavier said. The court has now said the word Allah can be used by all Malaysians, Xavier said, according to The Associated Press. Todays decision entrenches the fundamental freedom of religious rights for non-Muslims in Malaysia enshrined in the constitution. Christians in Malaysia, who make up only 9% of the population, have historically used the word "Allah" to refer to God, in their Bibles, prayers and songs. Though most Christians in the country worship in English, Tamil or other Chinese dialects, some Malay-speaking people have no other word for God but Allah. Controversy over the use of the word "Allah" has been ongoing for several years in Malaysia, sparking tension between religious groups. In 2014, Malaysias top court denied a Catholic Church the right to use the word Allah in the Malay-language edition of a church newspaper. That same year, a church was hit with petrol bombs. In recent years, Islamic authorities have seized more than 20,000 Bibles that used the word Allah, according to International Christian Concern. Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List ranks Malaysia as the 46th-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution. In Malaysia, Christians have suffered from many forms of Islamic repression. According to Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, Catholics and Methodists are monitored by authorities in Malaysia, but nontraditional Protestant groups are more often targeted because they are usually more active in evangelizing. Open Doors reports that it is illegal to share the Gospel with Malaysian Muslims. Catholic priest James Martin stands by retweet of post calling God 'Her' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Catholic priest has responded to criticisms from Christians who rebuked him for retweeting a post referring to God as Her and suggesting that using female imagery as a representation of God is theologically correct. Fr. James Martin, who has developed a reputation as a progressive Catholic and serves as an editor at large for the Jesuit publication America magazine, wrote an article for International Womens Day titled, God is not a man (or a woman). Martin began the piece by noting that he inadvertently caused controversy after he shared a reflection from the director of a campus ministry at a Catholic high school in Cleveland, Ohio, on social media on Feb. 28. In the reflection, Vickey McBride referred to God as Her. Following accusations of heresy, apostasy, and blasphemy, Martin said that he considered leaving a comment asserting that I was simply reposting the summary from Catholic Women Preach. He ultimately decided not to because that would imply that I had a problem calling God Her. And I dont. God is not a man, he declared. And while Jesus Christ was (and is) a man and invites us to call God the Father, that does not mean that God is male or that God is only masculine. Vickey McBride Preaches for the Second Sunday of Lent https://t.co/bNtzzyrZ8gpic.twitter.com/lRvtoBmf32 CatholicWomenPreach (@CWP112716) February 27, 2021 Describing it as just as theologically correct to use feminine imagery about God as it is to use masculine imagery, Martin pushed back on the belief among most Christians that referring to God using female pronouns is contrary to our faith. He claimed that it's damaging to envision God as solely one gender and argued that in predominantly patriarchal cultures, Christians have been conditioned to think of God as not only male, but exclusively male. This has wide-ranging consequences for our theology, the way that we worship in common, how we pray on our own and the manner in which we lead our lives as Christians. It also has profound consequences for how we see women. If God is male, as the saying goes, then the male is God. Martin attributed his views about the gender of God to a book titled, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse, written by Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a Catholic nun who now works as a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Theology at Fordham University. The book concludes that conceptions of God as an earthly monarch, to take just one image, gave rise to an oppressive and idolatrous image of God as a literal patriarch. As Martin explained, Johnson pointed to several passages from the Bible when making the case that God is our Mother-Creator as much as Our Father. She considers the maternal image of the God who gave you birth in Deuteronomy (32:18) which recurs in Isaiah, with God saying, Now I will cry out like a woman in labor/I will gasp and pant (42:14). Martins contention that God is female is not the first time the Jesuit priest has attracted controversy. Earlier this year, Martin tweeted a picture of the Black Madonna painting with rainbow-colored halos surrounding Mary and Jesus as opposed to the golden halos in the original Black Madonna painting. The website Life Petitions began circulating a petition urging the Jesuit Order to censure Martin for the tweet in light of the fact that the Black Madonna painting, also known as Our Lady of Czestochowa, is venerated and revered in Poland as representing the Virgin Mary, who is the patroness and protectress of the country. The petition gathered more than 22,200 signatures. Martin, who is one of the most ardent supporters of LGBT advocacy within the Catholic Church, tweeted the altered picture of the Black Madonna when claiming that homophobia is rampant in Poland. Martin is not the only progressive who has referred to God using female pronouns. After congressional Democrats unsuccessfully tried to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., one of the impeachment managers who worked to make the case against Trump, remarked that We could have called God herself and the Republicans werent going to be willing to convict. Similarly, as the 117th U.S. Congress began its first session in January, Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., concluded a prayer by saying, Amen and awoman in an attempt to come across as gender-inclusive, as opposed to Amen. The word Amen has nothing to do with gender, it simply means so be it. Cleaver also prayed to the Hindu god Brahma instead of the Christian God. Judge Peter Hall the Vermont judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York died Thursday at the Rutland Regional Medical Center. He was 72. Halls judicial assistant Rose Rizzico, who confirmed his death, said he had been suffering from cancer. Hall was appointed to the seat on the New York appeals court, which hears cases from New York, Connecticut and Vermont, in 2004 by former President George W. Bush. Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston said that, during his years on the court, Hall distinguished himself as a thoughtful and humane jurist who was generous and considerate with his colleagues. Judge Hall was committed to public service and taught us all by his example, Livingston said in a statement. "He was a kind and very dear friend. This is a sad day for the judges of the Court of Appeals. Hall announced last week that he was taking senior status, the term used for a judge deciding to take a reduced workload. His last public appearance came last month, when he traveled to Montpelier to swear in Vermont Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, who had clerked for him in 2014 and 2015. He has worked tirelessly and with great humility and integrity, on the bench in New York and in his Chambers in Rutland, Vermont to offer his voice, Vermonts voice, in the Courts pursuit of justice, Gray said in a statement when Hall took senior status. Vermont U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy said Hall was a good friend. Vermont and the country are richer for his many years of service, Leahy said in a statement. Hall was born in Connecticut in 1948 and moved to Vermont at age 11. A tribute to Hall from the appeals court said that Hall's great-great-grandfather served as governor of Vermont and he always considered himself a native Vermonter. Hall graduated from Cornell Law in 1977 and went on to serve as a law clerk to Vermont's late U.S. District Court Judge Albert Coffrin. He also served as Vermont's U.S. attorney. After he joined the appeals court, Hall said he enjoyed spending one week a month in New York and then working the rest of the time in Vermont. He loved being in New York with the judges," said Rizzico. Hall is survived by his wife Maria Dunton, five children and five grandchildren. Being aware of science allows people to hold leaders to account and is an essential part of a democracy, Britains first astronaut has said. Dr Helen Sharman said the world is changing quickly and science can be an integral part of solving the big issues such as climate change. She is supporting Thales Alenia Spaces MARSBalloon project which will launch more than 150 experiment capsules designed by UK schoolchildren into the Earths atmosphere. Dr Sharman told the PA news agency: The worlds changing really rapidly and I think its going to be Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) opportunities that are going to form, I think, the vast majority of those jobs out there in the future for young people. Of course you dont have to do Stem and to get involved in space. But actually, I think Stem subjects will give you a lot of opportunities that you cant imagine right now, just like I went into space and never imagined that my degree in chemistry would take me there. According to a survey commissioned by Thales Alenia Space, in the UK the pandemic has inspired more than a third (35%) of children to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Most are inspired to be doctors or nurses (29%) and astronauts (25%). Dr Sharman said that over the last year science had become part of everyday life and people had seen that it can solve problems and make an impact. She told PA: Young people are interested in all sorts of things in their life. And theyre really interested as well in some of those big issues, and we know that young people are very, very interested in things like climate change. She added: Things like climate change, of course, the pandemic as well all of these things are big deals that young people realise science can be integral in solving. We cant solve climate change without science. She added: It is vital that young people are involved in that (science) because they are our future, and they will help to solve these big issues in the future. But even more than that. I think if we all take on board aspects of science, it means that we integrate science into our lives, were not scared of it, we dont mind asking questions. And we can ask questions to find out the answer, but we can also ask questions of our leaders, we can hold them to account, make sure that our leaders make the right decisions for the whole world. Which of course then brings us right back to the climate change issue and making sure that the leaders arent just going gung-ho after one particular aspect of something theyre interested in, but we want them to make the right decisions for everybody on this planet. So I think yes, science is really important its about being part of a democracy, as much as theres opportunities in life later on. In 1989 Dr Sharman became the first British astronaut when she was selected for the joint UK-Soviet Union mission Juno. However, she explained that there are a lot of jobs in the space industry, and children can start getting involved now by taking part in the MARSBalloon project, which begins registration on April 1. Dr Sharman said: Its the role (astronaut) that a lot of people want but few people will actually end up getting. But I think that its not just the astronauts but the whole aspect of spaceflight is interesting and human spaceflight particularly because the children are thinking about how they would feel if they were there. But it doesnt mean to say that actually theyre only interested in it if they can be astronauts. Kathmandu, March 12 The Ministry of Health and Population has informed that the countrys Covid-19 tally has reached 275,118 as of Friday afternoon. The ministry says 48 new cases were confirmed in the country in the past 24 hours. In this period, 2,512 swab samples were tested. So far, 2 million and 210,434 people have been tested in the country. As of today, 929 cases are active. Of the total cases so far, 271,177 people have achieved recovery whereas 3,012 died, according to the ministry. In the past 24 hours, 61 people have achieved recoveries whereas no death was reported. Over 50 people are quarantined across the country. Publishers Note: CUInsight is hosting a free webinar Wednesday, March 24th titled, 5 Ways to Transform Your Credit Union with Texting. We hope youll join us! Register here. The growth in credit unions adopting 2-way texting technology has never been higher. The key driver of texting adoption is the simple need to effectively communicate with members. But its where the texting is being used in credit unions that is most telling. Typically, credit unions will implement the technology within various business units and tailor the system to their particular needs. One such example is using two-way business texting to communicate with members who have missed loan payments to help reduce delinquencies. This was the initial use-case for Baylor Health Care System Credit Union that used texting to help minimize delinquencies and saw success in all categories, including driving down their over-60-day delinquency numbers by 25% across 60 days. Another common line of business to implement business texting is loan sales departments that wish to accelerate the loan process to create growth. Texting holds tremendous value for loan departments in that the average person has zero unread text messages in their in-box and will respond to a text message from a business within an hour (State of Texting 2019). Immediate responses from members significantly reduces loan processing times. When Towpath Credit Union implemented texting on existing business phone numbers, they improved their loan closing ratio by 10-15% and grew to #1 in loan growth in their peer group of credit unions in Ohio. Credit unions must build trust to grow and retain members and texting holds a key part in that. Another interesting statistic from the 2019 State of Texting report was that 58% of consumers said theyve tried to reply to a missed call via text. This means that members are already trying to text their credit unions and if those phone numbers arent able to receive those texts, then the members are having a poor customer experience. Furthermore, in Zipwhips, 2021 State of Texting report, we learned that over half (51%) of consumers trust texts more than phone calls and emails for important messages. Erin Wilson, Credit Union Senior Account Executive at Zipwhip, states: Texting has become an integral part of credit union work-flows and communication strategies. It is now being used to facilitate appointments and curbside lending in addition to the traditional use-cases of creating loan growth and reducing delinquencies. What I have found is that texting accelerates every part of the conversation with members. This ultimately leads to loan growth and reductions in charge offs and delinquencies for the credit union. Galli Davis, Credit Union Lending and Sales Training Specialist at ASG Results states: Once a credit union unleashes the power of texting they will realize a wealth of benefits. When you make it easy, convenient, and efficient to do a loan with you, and offer sound financial advice, you will have a member for life, and they will refer business to you. Texting creates efficiencies, convenience, a positive experience, and loyalty. This creates growth. Dont forget to join CUInsight and Zipwhip for our free webinar titled 5 Ways to Transform Your Credit Union with Texting, on Wednesday, March 24th. Register yourself and a colleague here. Native American women and girls know their heritage puts them at risk. They tell each other to take care. They all know it is easy for someone to take them and kill them and get away with it. Preyed upon by attackers, rapists and killers familiar with the empty reaches of reservations, the patchwork of jurisdictions, the disregard of some and the silence of others, they are in danger just for being a Native woman or girl. The statistics are grim. A report from the National Institute of Justice found that more than four out of five Native American women have experienced violence in their lives. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control reported that homicide is the third leading cause of death among Native American women between the ages of 10 and 24. The Department of Justice has reported Native American women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than other Americans. On the 1.3-million-acre Yakama Reservation, women have passed down stories from as far back as the mid-1800s of rape and murder by miners, by soldiers, by other outsiders. The passage of time does not diminish the terror of these assaults, which continue today. No one knows exactly how many Native girls and women have gone missing on or near the Yakama reservation. Resident Evil 2 Comparison - Xbox One vs. Xbox One S vs. Xbox One X vs. PS4 vs. PS4 Pro It appears drug dogs aren't as needed as they used to be The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th NPC is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)-- Chinese lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to adopt a decision on improving Hong Kong's electoral system. -- The Election Committee of the HKSAR will be reformed in its size, composition and formation method, and will be given more power. -- A new committee will be set up to vet the qualifications of election candidates. -- The decision will help form a new democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's realities and with Hong Kong characteristics. BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature Thursday adopted a decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), unveiling a series of measures that will reform how the region's chief executive and local lawmakers are elected to ensure the financial hub is run by patriots. The decision was endorsed by an overwhelming majority vote at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC). Lawmakers attending the session at the Great Hall of the People burst into thunderous applause after it was passed. It came months after the NPC Standing Committee enacted the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, which has helped Hong Kong make the transition from chaos to stability. "The decision will help form a new democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's realities and with Hong Kong characteristics," said Qi Pengfei, a researcher on Hong Kong at the Renmin University of China. According to the decision, the NPC Standing Committee will amend two annexes to the HKSAR Basic Law, which govern the selection method of the HKSAR chief executive and the formation method of the Legislative Council (LegCo), respectively. To become more "broadly representative, suited to the HKSAR's realities, and representative of the overall interests of its society," the Election Committee of the HKSAR will be reformed in its size, composition and formation method, and will be given more power. The Election Committee, expanded to 1,500 members from 1,200, shall be responsible for electing the Chief Executive designate and part of the members of the LegCo, as well as for nominating candidates for the Chief Executive and LegCo members, said the decision. The LegCo shall be composed of 90 members in each term. Members of the LegCo shall include members returned by the Election Committee, those returned by functional constituencies, and those by geographical constituencies through direct elections, according to the decision. A candidate qualification review committee of the HKSAR will be set up to vet and confirm the qualifications of candidates for the Election Committee members, the Chief Executive, and the LegCo members. The HKSAR is required to improve the system and mechanisms related to qualification review, amend local laws in accordance with the decision and the amended Basic Law annexes, and organize and regulate election activities accordingly. In a statement, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she would like to pledge "staunch support" for and "sincere gratitude" to the passage of the NPC decision. "I, together with the HKSAR government, will render our full cooperation in facilitating the amendments, and press ahead with the necessary amendments to the relevant local electoral legislation thereafter," Lam said. Explaining a draft of the decision to lawmakers at the start of the week-long session, senior legislator Wang Chen said the rioting and turbulence that occurred in the Hong Kong society in recent years reveals that the existing electoral system in the HKSAR has clear loopholes and deficiencies, which the anti-China, destabilizing elements jumped on to take into their hands the power to administer the HKSAR. Necessary measures must be taken to improve the electoral system and remove existing institutional risks to ensure the administration of Hong Kong by Hong Kong people with patriots as the main body, said Wang, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. In a statement issued Thursday, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said it firmly supports the decision and will resolutely implement it in the work, adding that implementing "patriots administering Hong Kong" is the key to improving the electoral system. Hong Kong residents display China's national flag and the flag of the HKSAR in support of implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" at Tamar Park in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Li Gang) The decision fits the common expectations of Hong Kong residents and will help Hong Kong end chaos and usher in good governance, said Lo Sui-on, an NPC deputy from Hong Kong. According to a survey by think-tank Bauhinia Institute, more than 70 percent of Hong Kong residents support the NPC decision and believe that the move will create better conditions for the HKSAR government to focus on developing the economy and improving people's livelihood. "I strongly support the NPC decision," Jacky Ko, a young social network influencer of Hong Kong, said. "We are really angry at troublemakers entering Hong Kong's executive, legislative and judiciary organs as they caused the legislative chaos and obstructed projects that concern people's livelihoods, which made ordinary people suffer," he said. (Video Reporters: Zhao Xu, Xia Zilin; Video Editor: Wu Yao) [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Retired Navy Lt. Jason Redman is on a mission. The former SEAL wants to help others build leadership skills, create an overcome mindset and learn how to protect themselves from the aftereffects of life ambushes. Those ambushes, defined as the life-shaping personal and professional challenges encountered daily, can lead to anguish or triumph. The reality is theres always hope, Redman said. Those words are especially meaningful in the midst of the pandemic. In March 2020, as COVID arrived, 90% of Redmans scheduled U.S. and international speaking engagements via Eagle Rise, the speakers network he founded, came to a standstill. Eager to take the life lessons he learned in 30 years of military and business experience to another level, Redman created Pointman for Life, a coaching and training program for personal and professional development. The program, launched in January, aims to help people overcome adversity and set and achieve goals. It includes a daily, weekly and quarterly planner/tracker and a tactical workbook focused on four primary principles: Relentless belief in a clearly defined mission. Specific destination and a set course. Research, understand and maintain situational awareness of risks. Ability to react and rapidly get off the X. These are the four principles that make people successful in life or in business, Redman said. Redman, who survived an enemy ambush in 2007 on the battlefield of Iraq that left him with grievous injuries from eight bullet wounds, is living proof when it comes to overcoming. The ambush almost took his life and abruptly ended his 21-year military career. I had hoped that someday Id command a SEAL team, Redman said. Unfortunately, obviously, that brought everything to a grinding halt, but it changed my path and took me on a whole new path. Fourteen years and 40 surgeries later, the Chesapeake husband and father of three has two books to his name: The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader (2013) and Overcome: Crush Adversity With the Leadership Techniques of Americas Toughest Warriors (2019). Story continues All of Redmans products, including signed copies of his books, merchandise, and online group and courses, can be purchased at jasonredman.com. An inspirational coach and speaker, he has several initiatives including Overcome Army, a monthly subscription-based group coaching program. His teachings focus on three main rules: lead yourself, lead others and lead always. Redman said that applying these rules to his own life gave him the ability to earn back his credibility as a leader. Its about perspective and choice, Redman said. Its choosing positivity in the face of negativity. Its choosing to get up and drive forward despite the overwhelming feelings we have when a life ambush occurs. Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.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. Georgia Fowler has revealed she's scared of having a daughter because of the pressure social media puts on young women. The New Zealand model, 28, who has walked the runway for Victoria's Secret, said it worries her that 'young girls' are sharing 'provocative' images of themselves online. She told Stellar magazine that while 'Instagram can be a really positive thing for creatives' there are downsides too. Scroll down for video Future fears: Georgia Fowler has revealed she's scared of having a daughter because of the pressure social media puts on young women. Pictured on October 28, 2020, in Sydney Georgia, who has more than 1.2 million Instagram followers, added: 'It does worry me on the flipside if there are very young girls posting images of themselves, that may be a bit too provocative for their age.' 'That part... oh, god, that scares the s**t out of me if I ever have girls.' She also revealed there are some aspects of her life she won't share on social media. Anxieties: The New Zealand model, 28, who has walked the runway for Victoria's Secret, said it worries her that 'young girls' are sharing 'provocative' images of themselves online Too much, too young: Georgia told Stellar magazine,'It does worry me... if there are very young girls posting images of themselves, that may be a bit too provocative for their age' 'Personally, I've never enjoyed showing too much,' she said. 'It's a fine line between over-sharing and connecting with your followers, who want to see your real life. So it's always a seesaw, trying to figure out that balance.' Georgia is dating restaurateur Nathan Dalah, who is the founder and CEO of restaurant chain Fishbowl. While they are yet to have children, they welcomed a pup into their family last year. IDBI Bank surged 13.86% to Rs 43.55 after the Reserve Bank of India took the bank out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) Framework subject to certain conditions and continuous monitoring. In a statement, the central bank said that the performance of IDBI Bank, currently under the Prompt Corrective Action Framework (PCAF) of RBI, was reviewed by the Board for Financial Supervision (BFS) in its meeting held on 18 February 2021. It was noted that as per published results for the quarter ending 31 December 2020 the bank is not in breach of the PCA parameters on regulatory capital, Net NPA and leverage ratio. The bank has provided a written commitment that it would comply with the norms of minimum regulatory capital, Net NPA and leverage ratio on an ongoing basis and has apprised the RBI of the structural and systemic improvements that it has put in place which would help the bank in continuing to meet these commitments. Taking all the above into consideration, it has been decided that IDBI Bank be taken out of the PCA framework, subject to certain conditions and continuous monitoring. IDBI Bank offers a wide range of products from savings and current bank account to loans for retail and MSME customers or agri-loans to farmers. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Researchers have cautioned that Antarctica could be at the center of the world's chaos if the volcanoes under the ice were to spew and reach up to a level that renders the Earth uninhabitable. The frozen continent is native to several 5,000 researchers across the globe who discovered the unruined parts to learn more about the planet's history and the impacts of climate change. But scientists got a surprise when they found over 100 dormant volcanoes beneath the continent's frozen layer, making it the biggest volcanic part of the world. The Scary Discovery The discovery was especially crucial because the action of these volcanoes could have vital clues for the rest of the world. If one burst, it could proceed to destabilize several of the area's frozen layers, which have been impacted by world changes. Professor of Volcanology at the University of Leicester, John Smellie explained that the volcanoes would melt big caverns in the root of the ice and produce massive quantities of meltwater. "Because the West Antarctic frozen layer is wet relatively than iced to its bed - visualize an ice cube on a kitchen table - the meltwater would function as a lubricant and could result in the overlying ice slipping and shift more quickly." Read More: New Sensors Help Detect and Predict Volcanic Eruptions Ice Stabilization These volcanoes can also stabilize the ice, still, as they offer it something to hold onto - visualize that exact ice cube grasping onto a pile-shaped object. In any way, the quantity of water that would be produced by just a whole volcano is a little related to the quantity of overlying ice. So a sole eruption won't have ample impact on the ice flow. What would give rise to a significant difference, is if some volcanoes erupt near to or below any of the prominent ice streams - West Antarctica Eruption Under the Ice Over 80 percent of the world's clean water reserves are stocked in Antarctica - available to provide global sea level around 60meters if it melted - make the world unlivable - as researchers formerly indicated. And Prof Smellie explained that: "An eruption under the ice could activate a destructive speeding up of this event." He further explained: "Frost streams are lakes of ice that flow much quicker than their environments. They are the regions along which much ice in Antarctica is conveyed to the ocean, and hence instabilities in their speed can impact the sea level. Antarctica's Biggest Ice Shelf If the extra lubricant offered by numerous volcanic eruptions was transmitted under ice streams, the successive quick flow may toss out rare amounts of West Antarctica's hard interior ice into the ocean, resulting in sea levels rising. Volcanoes under the ice are likely what activated a quick flow of very old ice streams into the caormous Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica's biggest ice shelf. Around 2,000 years ago something similar may have happened with a little volcano in the Hudson Mountains that lay below the West Antarctica frozen layer - if it exploded too, today it could cause the close-by Pine Island Glacier to speed up. Related Article: Volcanoes Erupt Without Warning Because of New Findings For more news, updates about volcanoes and simialr topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw For more information about the class action lawsuit against Pregis Innovative Packaging LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. The Los Angeles labor law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against Pregis Innovative Packaging LLC alleging the company violated California labor laws. The Pregis Innovative Packaging LLC lawsuit, Case No. 285886, is currently pending in the Tulare County Superior Court for the State of California. A copy of the complaint can be accessed by clicking here. According to the lawsuit filed, Pregis Innovative Packaging LLC allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required business expenses, and (f) failed to provide wages when due, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in Labor Code Sections 201, 202, 203, 226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802 and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct. Additionally, it's alleged that DEFENDANT failed to reimburse employees for required business expenses incurred in direct consequence of discharging their work related duties. Allegedly, DEFENDANT failed to reimburse or indemnify for the cost associated with the use of their personal cellular phones. Cal. Lab. Code 2802 expressly states that "an employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee..." For more information about the class action lawsuit against Pregis Innovative Packaging LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Sacramento County, and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct. ***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT*** AMSTERDAM - A man discovered bleeding on a sidewalk early Friday morning had been shot in the head, city police said. The victim, 37, was in critical condition after being airlifted to Albany Medical Center Hospital. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... PHOENIX Efforts by Republicans who control the Arizona Legislature to strip elected utility regulators of their power to require utilities to get more electricity from clean energy sources have hit a big bump, with the states largest utility coming out in opposition to the move. In addition, it appears the measure is falling short of votes in the state Senate after one GOP lawmaker said he cannot support the bill. With only a one-vote majority and all Democrats opposed, the loss of Republican Sen. Paul Boyers backing could be fatal for the legislation. The push in the Legislature to gut the Arizona Corporation Commissions authority to require utilities to use renewable power comes as the nation is getting larger amounts of electricity from solar, wind and other clean sources. The nation is moving away from coal-fired power generation as carbon emissions driving climate change are targeted for elimination. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The commission voted for standards in November that would require most utilities to get half their power from renewable sources by 2035 and 100% by 2050. If given final approval this year, the rules would replace current standards requiring regulated utilities to use at least 15% renewable energy by 2025. The move in the Legislature was prompted by a 2020 state Supreme Court ruling that called into question the commissions ability to oversee anything other than rates if the Legislature gets involved. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is backing the effort. Boyer learned of the opposition from Arizona Public Servic on Thursday,. The measure passed the House on a party-line vote last week. Boyer raised reliability and other issues involving the possible change in oversight. He pointed to failures in Texas during the recent freeze and said similar problems could happen in Arizona if power pricing were the only concern the commission could evaluate. He said lawsuits over a change were also possible. He asked if the Legislature is the appropriate venue to govern energy policy, given that were not year-round and we do not have staff devoted solely to energy policy, Boyer said. The bigger roadblock could be APS, a powerful political force in the state that provides power to 1.1 million residential and commercial customers in 13 of 15 counties. The utility supported the draft rules adopted by the commission in November but had not taken a position on the Legislatures efforts until this week, saying the company believes the issue of energy rules should be settled in court. APS announced last year that it would get all its power from carbon-free sources by 2050. APS has become increasingly concerned with the legal and regulatory uncertainties these bills would create over the Companys ability to plan and procure infrastructure and generation necessary to continue ensuring the reliability and affordability of electricity, Michael Vargas, director of state and local affairs for APS, wrote in a letter to Duceys office and bill sponsors in the House and Senate. Calls to GOP Sen. Sine Kerr, the sponsor of the Senate bill, were not immediately returned Thursday. Boyer said he wants more thought put into any effort to block the commission from imposing clean energy standards, suggesting lawmakers work through the issues for a year and possibly consider a change again in 2022. It was moving so quickly that I think we need to make sure that everybodys comfortable, Boyer said. And now that APS is not comfortable, I really think we need to think this thing through. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-11 23:33:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People display China's national flag in support of implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" at Tamar Park in Hong Kong, China, March 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) Improving the electoral system is to ensure that Hong Kong is administered by patriots, HKSAR LegCo president Andrew Leung said. HONG KONG, March 11 (Xinhua) -- President of the Legislative Council (LegCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Andrew Leung on Thursday expressed support for the decision of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR. In a statement, Leung said he hopes that after the NPC Standing Committee completes the relevant amendments, the executive authorities of HKSAR will expeditiously present the draft local legislation to LegCo for scrutiny, so that the relevant elections can be held in an orderly manner in the next 12 months. The purpose of improving the electoral system is to ensure that Hong Kong is administered by patriots and to prevent the occurrence of events that endanger national sovereignty and security and undermine the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, Leung said. After the constitutional order has been rationalized, the LegCo will continue to work for the well-being of the people of Hong Kong, he said. Pro-establishment lawmakers said in a joint statement that the decision will further resolve hazards and risks in Hong Kong's electoral system and provide solid institutional guarantee for "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" with patriots as the main body and the implementation of "one country, two systems." They vowed to actively cooperate in related works so that various elections can be held in Hong Kong under the new electoral system. Fans of Abba have been 'blue since the day we parted' from the mother of all popular musicals, Mamma Mia! But here we go again take heart, because the show is returning, for a limited run, in the 100-acre grounds of one of the country's grandest stately homes. Judy Craymer, the brains behind the long-running hit, told me a full production of Mamma Mia! will play 23 performances on a specially erected stage, complete with giant sound system and spectacular lighting design, at Harewood House in Leeds, in August. The producer said it would be the first opportunity for people to see the musical since its West End and touring versions closed in the UK a year ago. Fans of Abba have been 'blue since the day we parted' from the mother of all popular musicals, Mamma Mia! Craymer was feeling decidedly jubilant (it made me want to warble 'there's a fire within her soul') when we talked yesterday. 'It's literally under the stars!' she said of the show's first full outdoor run, which will begin on August 12 with an invitation-only performance for NHS and key workers. Craymer revealed the public can see it from August 13 until August 30; and she promised a 'mega-mix extraordinaire' finale, devised by choreographer Anthony Van Laast, guaranteed to get people dancing. The show will be able to cater for 1,800 people per performance. 'We are socially distanced, by the nature of the event,' Craymer said. Judy Craymer (pictured), the brains behind the long-running hit, told me a full production of Mamma Mia! will play 23 performances on a specially erected stage, complete with giant sound system and spectacular lighting design, at Harewood House in Leeds, in August Audiences can arrive early, tuck into a varied menu of picnic boxes, sit on seats (or a Mamma Mia!-themed rug) and 'enjoy a drink and then watch the show', though no food will be allowed once it starts. The production will star Sara Poyzer as heroine Donna Sheridan. Poyzer's husband Richard Standing has been cast alongside her, to play Sam, one of Donna's former suitors. 'They have done that before,' Craymer told me. 'I used to laugh and think: what goes through their minds when she bellows Winner Takes It All?!' The cast will be formed from members of the UK and international touring troupe, who were playing at Hull's New Theatre last March when it was forced to shut down because of Covid restrictions. The producer said it would be the first opportunity for people to see the musical since its West End and touring versions closed in the UK a year ago The production will star Sara Poyzer (pictured) as heroine Donna Sheridan. Poyzer's husband Richard Standing has been cast alongside her, to play Sam, one of Donna's former suitors Helen Anker and Nicky Swift will play the Dynamos with Poyzer; Daniel Crowder and Jamie Kenna play Donna's other former beaus. By the time Mamma Mia! opens at the 18th-century Palladian pile, Craymer said most people would have had the Covid vaccine including the cast, musicians, technicians and the front of house and backstage crews. She's considering filming the Harewood House show, though she ruled out streaming it. The stately home experiment is one she'd like to repeat next year. 'There are some wonderful places to be able to do it . . . like Blenheim, for instance.' Craymer revealed that the musical would re-open at the Novello Theatre in London, with Mazz Murray as Donna and Emma Mullen as Sophie, possibly as early as September without social distancing. 'We can't play to 50 per cent capacity,' she told me. 'We're on our knees; big and small producers.' Oh, yes, and the Mamma Mia! 3 movie, which I revealed last June, is bubbling away in development. Tickets 39.50-75.50, on sale from March 19, mamma-mia.com/harewood-house. DERREN ADDS MAGIC TO THE INVISIBLE MAN Whoosh . . . he's gone! Derren Brown, the award-winning mentalist and illusionist, is disappearing into his bag of tricks to create an immersive production of The Invisible Man, based very loosely on the H.G. Wells book. Brown has been developing the show for 18 months, and has been joined by playwright and author Barney Norris who will write the script. And just to stress: Brown won't be in it. Iain Gillie, its producer, along with Peter Wilson (a driving force behind The Woman In Black), assured me there'll be 'invisibility in front of your face' in the show, which plans to open at a non-traditional theatre space in London in autumn 2022. Gillie observed that 'Derren's brilliant at the showmanship aspect of performance'. Brown's tricks which often leave audiences gasping will begin when people buy their tickets (they're not on sale yet!). 'The show has sort of started the moment you book,' Gillie said mysteriously. 'Very Derren Brown-ish.' He said Brown was approached as they wanted someone 'left field' to re-imagine The Invisible Man as a modern thriller. 'We need to do stuff a young audience will find exciting enough to spend their money on,' he said. 'Younger generations are keener than older ones to get their money's worth and they need that buzz.' Keep updated at derrenbrown.co.uk. Derren Brown (pictured), the award-winning mentalist and illusionist, is disappearing into his bag of tricks to create an immersive production of The Invisible Man, based very loosely on the H.G. Wells book Musical The Prince Of Egypt has pulled off a little miracle the show will re-open at London's Dominion Theatre on July 1. Owing to the venue's enormous 2000-plus capacity, it can spread out the audience so that they are able to socially distance. Based on the 1998 animated film (and the Book of Exodus), the musical which stars Luke Brady, Liam Tamne, Christine Allado, Alexia Khadime and Debbie Kurup is about the rivalry between Moses and Ramses. Musical The Prince Of Egypt has pulled off a little miracle the show will re-open at London's Dominion Theatre on July 1 Owing to the venue's enormous 2000-plus capacity, it can spread out the audience so that they are able to socially distance Several other performances, such as Les Miserables: The Staged Concert, will resume from May 20. But the lack of Covid insurance is a big problem for producers. As Cameron Mackintosh noted: 'We plough through the treacle of what coming out of lockdown means.' Tickets for The Prince Of Egypt go on sale from noon today at theprinceofegyptmusical.com. Based on the 1998 animated film (and the Book of Exodus), the musical which stars Luke Brady, Liam Tamne, Christine Allado, Alexia Khadime and Debbie Kurup is about the rivalry between Moses and Ramses Disturbing footage has emerged showing a wild brawl between schoolchildren outside a shopping mall - before an adult joined the melee. The brawl, which unfolded at Shalvey Shopping Village in Sydney's west, involved students from Chifley College in nearby Mt Druitt on Thursday afternoon. The confronting video begins with one girl in school uniform throwing a vicious punch at another student. The victim is then comforted by an adult woman at the scene. Alarming footage has emerged of a shocking brawl between schoolchildren and an adult outside a shopping plaza in Sydney's west The woman approaches the student who threw the punch, with the child heard shouting, 'What? What are you going to do?' Seconds later, the woman and student become involved a physical altercation, with the woman eventually holding the student in a headlock. 'It was chaos - everyone could see it,' one witness said. 'It's pretty bad what happened, but it's how people have been raised around here.' Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting the adult woman instigated the fight. Police from the Mt Druitt Police Area Command confirmed the incident in a statement. 'On Thursday afternoon, officers responded to reports of a brawl outside Luxford Rd at Shalvey,' the statement read. 'Upon arrival, police were told those involved had left the scene. No formal report or statement has been made to police about the incident. 'As inquiries continue, police are urging anyone with information about the incident, or the identities of those involved, to come forward.' The NSW Department of Education also issued a statement about the brawl. 'Chifley College is working with the NSW Police on this matter,' the statement read. 'The school will be taking appropriate disciplinary action and counselling support has been offered.' Three Houston police officers shot a 28-year-old man early Friday in north Houston after the man allegedly fired at them, police said. Officers were dispatched shortly after midnight to a family disturbance on the 7300 block of Sandle Street in the Acres Homes neighborhood, said Heather Morris, a Houston Police Department assistant chief. Someone told authorities that an assailant hit someone in the head with a gun. Responding officers found multiple people outside the residence, including a man sitting in a vehicle. When officers commanded the man to show his hands, the man pulled out a gun and fired shots at officers, Morris said. No officers were injured. NEWS IN YOUR INBOX: Sign up for breaking news email alerts from HoustonChronicle.com here Three officers returned fire, striking the man multiple times. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive, Morris said. Morris did not identify the man and said he may be charged with assaulting a peace officer. Investigators did recover a gun at the scene. Police are still trying to figure out what happened at the residence before the shooting, Morris said. The police department's internal affairs division, special investigations unit and the Harris County district attorney's office are each conducting an investigation into the shooting. The shooting marks the department's second officer-involved shooting in less than two weeks. Last Thursday, an officer shot and killed a robbery suspect attempting to carjack a woman; the officer's gunfire also struck the woman's 1-year-old infant in the head. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. 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Washington, March 12 : US President Joe Biden has condemned what he called "vicious hate crimes" targeting Asian-Americans since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying such acts must stop. "Too often, we've turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives, sometimes, it divides us... vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated" during the pandemic, Biden said in his first primetime speech as President on Thursday. "At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, they're on the frontlines of this pandemic trying to save lives, and still, they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America," he said while addressing the nation. "It's wrong. It's un-American and it must stop." Biden issued a memorandum late January condemning "inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric" that has put Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAP) at risk, including references to geographic locations of the virus origins that have stoked "unfounded fears". A recent research conducted by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism (CSHE) at the California State University, San Bernardino, found that there was nearly a 150 per cent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes across major cities in the US in 2020, while overall hate crimes fell by 7 per cent. According to the research, New York City saw the highest jump, rising from 3 to 28, Boston and Los Angeles followed, with increases from 6 to 14, and 7 to 15 respectively. The first spike occurred in March-April 2020 amid a rise in Covid-19 cases and negative stereotyping of Asians relating them to the pandemic. More than 2,800 of these hate incidents targeting Asian-Americans had been reported in 47 states and the District of Columbia since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Stop AAPI Hate, a non-profit group formed in 2020. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text So far, China has donated or is donating COVID-19 vaccines to 69 developing countries in urgent need, and is exporting vaccines to 43 countries, to help the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 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Speaking on Friday's This Morning, the presenter, 46, told how in the moment, she believed she was 'going to die', after recalling her fears as someone 'followed' her across the road. It came during the topical news segment with guests Matthew Wright and Giles Brandreth in which they discussed the disappearance of Sarah Everard and the resulting social media calls for women to feel safer on the streets. Personal experience: Alison Hammond has recounted her terrifying experience of feeling like she was being followed home During the chat, Alison told how she plans to 'educate' her 16-year-old son Aidan on how to act around women, while her co-star Dermot O'Leary, 46, insisted more needs to be done to make women feel safe. Former Big Brother Alison then shared her experience of feeling scared as she walked home as a man crossed the road just after she did. She explained: 'I felt that adrenaline rush when you think you're being followed. 'When I've walked across the road and somebody's followed me across the road, I've got a little bit faster and that person has got faster, and I'm telling you, you think you're going to die! Thoughts: Alison told how she plans to 'educate' her 16-year-old son Aidan on how to act around women, while her co-star Dermot O'Leary, 46, insisted more needs to be done to make women feel safe 'It could be easily nipped in the bud by just crossing the road.' To which Dermot responded: 'Right! Because me and my friends have talked about it! 'When you are on a street, you're walking home, and there's a woman walking on the same street, you cross the road, you get into the light, you make sure they know you are not a threat, you get your phone out, you do anything it takes, you do anything to make sure they know you're not a threat.' With Alison adding: 'It's just a sad state of affairs that we still have to feel like that.' Fears: Speaking on Friday's This Morning, the presenter, 46, told how in the moment, she believed she was 'going to die', after recalling her fears as someone 'followed' her across the road Chat: It came during the topical news segment with guests Matthew Wright and Giles Brandreth in which they discussed the disappearance of Sarah Everard and the resulting social media calls for women to feel safer on the streets Earlier in the chat, Dermot further shared his thoughts on the issue, telling the panel: 'You would like to think that men of a certain age and a certain responsibility don't need to be educated, but, so where does it start?' While Alison replied: 'I think it starts when your child is quite young to be honest. 'Aiden is a teenager... I will always say, "Walk a girl home when you can, if you do see someone in front of you, a lady in front of you, maybe just cross over the road".' 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah 'vanished into thin air' after leaving a friend's house in Clapham, south London at around 9pm on Wednesday, March 3. Wayne Couzens, a diplomatic protection officer based at the Palace of Westminster, was arrested on Tuesday night over the disappearance. Memory: 'When I've walked across the road and somebody's followed me across the road, I've got a little bit faster and that person has got faster, and I'm telling you, you think you're going to die!' In the wake of Sarah's disappearance, women took to social media by the thousands to stress that the vulnerability felt when walking alone in the dark resonates with almost all women. Nicola Sturgeon, arguably the most powerful woman in the country, said 'there will be few - if any - women who don't completely understand and identify with this'. Labour MP Diane Abbott wrote: 'Even after all these years if I am out late at night on an isolated street & I hear a man's footsteps behind me I automatically cross the road. 'It is the habit of a lifetime to try & keep safe. But it should not have to be like this #SarahEverard.' Important: Earlier in the chat, Dermot further shared his thoughts on the issue, telling the panel: 'You would like to think that men of a certain age and a certain responsibility don't need to be educated, but, so where does it start?' Education: While Alison replied: 'I think it starts when your child is quite young to be honest' Actress Katy Brand also said: 'Important to clarify I think that although instances of kidnap and murder from a stranger are indeed rare, being aggressively followed in the street by a man is not rare at all. 'I think it would be good to separate the two things. Lots of us have been scared many times.' Meanwhile, Priti Patel has said that 'every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets' as dozens shared their harrowing personal stories with #saraheverard and #TooManyMen Reclaim These Streets marches, designed to show that women should feel safe no matter the time of day, are now being organised. Mumbai, March March 12 : Alia Bhatt was spotted along with filmmaker Ayan Mukerji offering prayers to Lord Shiva at the Mukteshwar Temple in Juhu on the occasion of Maha Shivratri. The actress was dressed in traditional attire, in a bright red suit with a matching mask, during her temple visit on Thursday night. Asked to take off the mask for paparazzi, the actress indulged rather reluctantly."It is not fair to take off the mask even for spotting," she said. With her rumoured boyfriend having tested Covid positive, did she ask for something special? Did she pray for health and recovery perhaps? "I have asked for something special but cannot share it with you," she replied. Ranbir, who recently tested positive for Covid-19, has been receiving treatment at home, in isolation. Incidentally, it has been rumoured for a while that Alia and Ranbir are set to tie the knot and get an apartment in Pali Hills soon. The duo was spotted at the construction site together last month. Meanwhile, Alia shared a social media note on Thursday assuring fans that as she has tested negative, and that she would resume work. Her note on Instagram stories had read: "I've been reading all your messages of concern and care. I have tested negative for Covid-19 and after isolating and speaking with my doctors, I am back to work from today. Thank you all for all your good wishes! I am taking care and staying safe. You please do the same. Love to you all!" At the temple with Alia, friend and filmmaker Ayan Mukerji was seen in white kurta and pyjamas. The priest at the mandir had applied three lines of Tripundra in sandalwood on their foreheads. Media giant Ekta Kapoor also visited the same temple, but of course a little later. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Pope Francis holds a private audience with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Portugal, and discusses various topics related to the pandemic and the European Union. By Vatican News staff writer The Holy See Press Office announced Friday that Pope Francis has met with the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in a private audience in the Vatican. During the visit, the Presidents first foreign trip since his re-election, satisfaction was expressed at the good relations between the Holy See and Portugal, as well as the contribution made by the Church to the life of the country, with special reference to the management of the current health crisis, the defence of life, and peaceful social co-existence. According to the Press Office, the two leaders also spoke about Portugals presidency of the European Union. Their discussions ranged from multilateralism, commitment to peace, and the need to overcome the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Afterwards, President Rebelo de Sousa also met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States. 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. South Africa: King Zwelithini remembered as great cultural custodian KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Sihle Zikalala, has paid an emotional tribute to King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu, describing him as a custodian of culture and repository for customs and traditions. The news of the King's passing this morning after a battle with ill health has seen tributes streaming in from all over the nation. Today, we are a nation in sorrow, a nation in pain and a nation in mourning, said Zikalala at a media briefing on Friday afternoon. Zikalala described King Zwelithini as an inimitable symbol of unity, saying his passing has dealt a devastating blow to the people of the province. Zikalala said the King's passing is a seminal moment for the province. Even though we knew the King was unwell, we had hoped that he will recover and continue to lead us as our loadstar and custodian of our way of life. His Majesty sadly departed in the early hours of this morning to the world beyond. His Majesty may have made the transition to the next world, but our pain will be alleviated by the lasting legacy that our Monarch left for us. Death has robbed us of our loadstar, who brightly lit the path to growth and development, made unity possible and sought lasting prosperity for the province of KwaZulu-Natal, Zikalala said. Zikalala said 12 March 2021 will be etched on the collective memory as a day on which "the sun set during the day in KwaZulu-Natal, as the Monarch breathed his last breath". Our Monarch was our compass, pointing the way as a custodian of our culture and tradition, a repository for all our customs and traditions. Zikalala said for five decades in South Africas ever-changing socio-political and cultural landscape, the internationally-renowned Monarch has been a constant, enduring, influential and unshakeable force for positive change, and an ever-shining symbol of hope and unity. It is indeed an extraordinary burden that fate and the mysterious forces of nature, which dictate the beginning and ending of life, have placed on us to be the generation that bears the responsibility to announce something as heavy and heart-breaking as the demise of our beloved Monarch. We have lost the father and pillar of our nation, who placed himself forward as our unique torch-bearer during some of the darkest times that this country has ever seen. We have entered a period of profound sadness in the history of KwaZulu-Natal and indeed, that of the country. Zikalala said King Zwelithini made history as the longest serving among the Kings of the Zulu Nation, but also presided over the nation during some of the most tumultuous and difficult periods in history. His Majesty played a key role in the consolidation of post-apartheid South Africa into a democracy that recognised the diversity of our country, and will be remembered for his role as an apolitical, non-partisan and uniting Monarch above the different political parties which contest political power. His Majesty occupied the Zulu throne during a very difficult period in the politics of KwaZulu-Natal, when violent conflict among his subjects resulted in the death of thousands of people. "His Majesty will be remembered as a champion of peace and stability in the province ,having led many peace initiatives, Zikalala said. The Premier said the King has departed at a time when the country is grappling with the devastating impact of COVID-19, and the looming spectre of the feared third wave of the virus leaves the nation bereft of one of its important leaders. Zikalala praised the role the King played in the revival of cultural ceremonies and rites such as Umkhosi Womhlanga (Reed Dance), which promoted moral regeneration and medical male circumcision, which won him the admiration of the world. Mourning and funeral preparations Following the death of His Majesty, the Premier has requested President Cyril Ramaphosa declare a State funeral for the King. KwaZulu-Natal has declared a week of mourning, meaning all government and private functions are suspended. Zikalala called for a prayer service on Thursday, 18 March 2021 throughout the province to pray for the Zulu nation following the passing of His Majesty. Government will appoint an Inter-Ministerial Committee that will work with the Royal House in preparation for all the activities leading to the burial (Ukutshalwa kweSilo). The Office of the Premier, guided by the Royal Family and the Presidency, is preparing the logistics for the King's send-off. The provincial government will give support and ensure adherence to all level 1 regulations and COVID-19 health protocols. The Provincial Executive Council will visit the Royal Family on Saturday, 13 March, to offer its condolences. Deputy President David Mabuza, at today's South African National Aids Council (SANAC) meeting, described King Goodwill Zwelithini as a torchbearer leading the South African nation and the people of KwaZulu-Natal out of the grip of HIV and Aids and TB, which has given meaning to the work of SANAC. The passing of King Goodwill Zwelithini makes this day all the more wrought with a twist of pain and a spear to the heart of all South Africans who identify with the ideals of development, justice and equality of opportunity of all genders. Mabuza said in the fight against the scourge of HIV and AIDS, TB and STIs, King Goodwill Zwelithini played a pioneering role for the betterment of the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the entire South Africa. He took a brave stance and spoke uncomfortable truths on prevailing socio-economic challenges facing our nation. In recognition of the social impact of his work in changing the lives of the people, the University of Zululand conferred him with an honorary doctorate, Mabuza said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Water Governance in Cape Town, South Africa In 2018, the city of Cape Town, South Africa, was close to the Day Zero, requiring all taps to be shut off and citizens to fetch a daily 25 litre per person. Though the day-zero was avoided, it is estimated that, at the current rate, South Africa will experience a 17% water deficit by 2030 if no action is taken to respond to existing trends. Lessons learned during that drought crisis have been valuable for the city to manage the short-term COVID-19 implications and design long-term solutions towards greater water resilience. As a result of a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue involving 100+ stakeholders from the city of Cape Town and South Africa, this report assesses key water risks and governance challenges in Cape Town, and provides policy recommendations towards more effective, efficient and inclusive water management building on the OECD Principles on Water Governance. In particular, the report calls for strengthening integrated basin governance, transparency, integrity, stakeholder engagement, capacities at all levels of government, financial sustainability and for advancing the water allocation reform to better manage trade-offs across multiple users. In series:OECD Studies on Waterview more titles Agra : , March 12 (IANS) Three Hindu Mahasabha activists, including a woman, were arrested while trying to offer prayers on Taj Mahal premises. They were caught by CISF personnel and handed over to local police, which booked them under IPC section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground religion, etc) at Tajganj police station. The three activists, Meena Diwakar, provincial chief of the organisation, district in-charge Jitendra Kushwaha and one Vishal Singh entered the monument's premises and offered water, which they carried in a bottle, to Lord Sun near a central tank. On the occasion of Maha Shivratri on Thursday. They were caught by CISF personnel when they were going to offer prayers before the main mausoleum. Later, Hindu Mahasabha activists staged a protest outside the police station and demanded their release. Tajganj police station in-charge Umesh Tripathi said that Kushwaha and Vishal have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. Diwakar was issued a notice as she fell ill and was taken to S.N. Medical college for treatment. This was the second such incident in the last three years. In November 2018, a group of women activists performed puja in the mosque, located on the Taj Mahal premises. The organisation claims that Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple and was called Tejo Mahalaya. Pirates attacked the DAVIDE B tanker off the coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea, with fifteen crew members reported as captured, the Splash reported. The crew of the vessel of 21 people includes citizens of Ukraine, Romania and the Philippines. It is noted that another six sailors are safe and sound and remain on the ship. Security personnel also arrived onboard. According to maritime safety consultancy Dryad Global, the 2016-built 19,800 dwt tanker Davide B, operated by Dutch company De Poli Shipmanagement, has been boarded by nine armed men. According to the FleetMon ezine, DAVIDE B is a 2016 built chemical tanker which was on a commercial voyage from Riga, Latvia to Lagos, Nigeria. The vessel is flying the Maltese flag. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informed the Interfax-Ukraine agency that they are verifying this information. An ALP elder or union heavyweight is sent out to give the tap on the shoulder. The message is simple, but unequivocal: for the good of the party, your time is up. But this is the Liberal Party. The home of individual freedom and free enterprise, which makes it all the more harder. There is a growing frustration in Liberal land about who should deliver the message to the seven or so MPs singled out by colleagues as having little more to offer and no chance of returning to the frontbench. Victorian Opposition Leader Michael OBrien is under pressure to freshen up the ranks. Credit:Luis Ascui Party administrators want Opposition Leader Michael OBrien and his leadership team to deliver the blunt message, claiming its not up to them. On Spring Street, there is a general consensus that its the job of the party machine to call time on these careers. One Liberal MP recently mused that perhaps the party might benefit from some workplace reforms to encourage underperforming MPs to work a little harder, and dump those who dont. The proposal would see politicians who boost their margin offered protection from preselectors. Additionally, MPs who landed a blow on their opponents or contributed to policy formation would be rewarded with promotions or parliamentary positions that offer a little more cash. Conversely, the party would encourage eager young Liberals to challenge pollies caught coasting. Think of it as a tiered reward scheme, but for Liberal politicians. To the rest of us, this doesnt sound so radical. Work hard and youll be looked after. In fact, it almost sounds like a Liberal Party slogan. Traditionally conservative MPs froth over incentive schemes or performance targets when it comes to public service, but not themselves. Premier Daniel Andrews and Opposition Leader Michael OBrien in Parliament. Credit:Jason South During the week, former National Party leader John Anderson, who served as deputy prime minister under John Howard, revealed he wants to re-enter politics due to grave concerns he holds for Australias future. Andersons announcement added to the growing concern in Victorian Liberal circles that a number of rejected MPs those voted out in 2014 or 2018 want to make a comeback. If social media is anything to go by, it appears the humiliation of losing a seat once held by Jeff Kennett has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of former Burwood Liberal Graham Watt. Watt, who was dumped by voters in 2018, has spent the best part of 18 months acting like an MP in exile, ready to come back at any time. No community event or photo opportunity has been safe. In the nearby seat of Ringwood, former Liberal MP Dee Ryall, who lost her seat despite a 5 per cent buffer, has published more opinion pieces in this citys news media since leaving office than most of OBriens frontbench. While their work ethic should be commended, the Liberal Party should resist the urge to revive the political careers of all those knocked out at the last election. The voters have had their say. Exceptions exist here too. Former MP John Pesutto was considered a leadership contender before losing his seat at the last election. Credit:Justin McManus Dumped MP John Pesutto was regarded as a leadership contender before he lost his safe seat of Hawthorn at the last election. He is one of a growing number of MPs expected to recontest in the November 2022 election. In this case, it might just be worth the risk given the skills and professionalism he would bring to the frontbench. Loading 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. 2021-03-12 Maeci On 12 March 2021, at the Foreign Ministry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, met his Albanian counterpart Olta Xhacka. The issues discussed at the meeting: - the fight against Covid-19 - bilateral cooperation between Italy and Albania - Italian support to the European integration process of the West Balkans - regional cooperation One school came up with a tempting incentive to keep students from making nonessential travel plans for spring breakmoney. The University of California, Davis announced that it will pay members of its student body who stay home during the notorious party week the total sum of $75. The idea behind this was to provide positive incentive for students to follow public health guidance, explains Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Sheri Atkinson, to the Los Angeles Times. In order to get this cash, students must apply by giving a short run-down on how they plan on spending their break. Then they must pledge to stay within the area throughout the entire time, and must also complete a COVID-19 test. Should they be found honest in their proclamations and, most importantly, should they stick to their words, successful applicants will then receive the $75 in the form of a gift card. According to a statement released by the university, the student response to the initiative has been awesome. While those listed in the Associate Presss report on the matter view this move as clever on the schools part, other members of the public remain doubtful. Many who commented on the matter didnt exactly see the process of vetting these applications as foolproof. Furthermore, theres no total guarantee that students will uphold their promise. Students arent dumb, says one Twitter user. Theyll finesses the system, get the $75 bucks and head to the beach anyways. Other users decided to use the moment to point to even greater problems in higher education. They give you $44k in tuition, quips another tweeter. You give them $75 bucks. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Key equity indices further extended losses and hit the day's low in mid-afternoon trade. Auto shares tumbled. The Nifty slipped below the 15,000 mark. At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 599.32 points or 1.17% to 50,680.19. The Nifty 50 index lost 181.4 points or 1.20% at 14,993.40. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.61% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.23%. Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1222 shares rose and 1729 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Auto index shed 1.48% to currently trade at 10,403. The index gained 0.91% in the previous session. Maruti Suzuki (down 2.44%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.42%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.86%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.59%) and Eicher Motors (down 1.53%), Tata Motors (down 1.18%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.15%), Ashok Leyland (down 1.29%) and Bharat Forge (down 0.76%) declined. Economy: The Department of Financial Services (DFS), under the finance ministry, has reportedly sent a memorandum to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) asking the regulator to withdraw a rule treating AT1 bonds (perpetuals) as having 100-year maturity. The memorandum was sent on Thursday, reports suggested. A circular on the AT1 bonds was issued by Sebi on 10 March and the rule was to take effect from 1 April. Numbers to Track: In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2021 settlement shed 9 cents to $69.54 a barrel. The contract gained 2.55% or or $1.73 to settle at $69.63 a barrel in the previous session. The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.229% as compared to its previous close of 6.247%. In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 72.8025, compared with its previous closing of 72.9150. MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2021 settlement shed 0.76% to Rs 44,540. The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.42% to 91.81. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Activated Carbon market will register an incremental spend of about USD 4.38 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 10.04% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Activated Carbon sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report Key Highlights Offered in the Report: Activated Carbon Sourcing and Procurement Report Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices. Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models. Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers. Get a free sample report for more information Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers: Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Activated Carbon market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Activated Carbon pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives. For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, Click here. Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth: The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers. Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 5.00%-8.00%. Identify favorable opportunities in Activated Carbon TCO (total cost of ownership). Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes. Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities. Some of the top Activated Carbon suppliers listed in this report: This Activated Carbon procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. Cabot Corp. Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. Ingevity Corp. Kureha Corp. Kuraray Co. Ltd. Haycarb Plc Donau Carbon GmbH Silcarbon Aktivkohle GmbH Puragen LLC Oxbow Carbon LLC To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free. Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us. About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more: https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo Contacts SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us SOURCE SpendEdge Credit: CC0 Public Domain Health workers in the United States have administered more than 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, an official tracker showed Friday, around 30 percent of the world's total of shots in arms so far. A total of 101,128,005 shots have been administered, according to the latest tally posted Friday afternoon by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. President Joe Biden's administration had initially targeted achieving this milestone by his hundredth day in office, that is, April 30. But the goal was quickly revised up to 150 million shots in the first 100 days, and this week Biden said there will be enough vaccine to cover the whole adult population of 258 million by the end of May. In terms of the breakdown, 65.9 million people have received at least one dose while 35 million are now fully vaccinated, or 10.5 percent of the total population of 331 million. Sixty-one percent of those over 65 years old, the group most susceptible to severe COVID-19, have received at least one dose. Some fifty million doses of the Pfizer shot have been administered, 49 million of Moderna's, 900,000 of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine, and a further 100,000 that haven't been identified. More than 340 million doses of COVID vaccines have been administered worldwide, according to an AFP tally. The US therefore accounts for almost 30 percent of those despite making up just over four percent of the world population. Also Friday, the administration announced that new personnel such as dentists, veterinarians and health care students will be recruited to the inoculation campaign nationwide. "The Department of Health and Human Services will launch a new portal to help individuals determine where they can sign up to volunteer to administer shots," Marcella Nunez-Smith, who leads the administration's health equity task force, told reporters. The administration previously authorized any physician or most classes of nurse, either active or retired in the past five years, to administer the shots. The United States is currently administering around 2.2 million shots per day. The state of Michigan said Friday it wanted to drop eligibility requirements for vaccines by April 5, effectively ushering in "open season" for all adults. Alaska became the first state to eliminate priority groups on Tuesday. In addition to the three vaccines already authorized, AstraZeneca and Novavax are also carrying out late stage US clinical trials for their vaccines. These could also be authorized if they perform comparably to those already being distributed, and are still required. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP France said on Tuesday that researchers will get easier access to classified government files more than 50 years old, especially those pertaining to the Algerian war, still a highly controversial chapter of French history. President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the archives services to speed up access to documents that qualify for declassification up to 1970, his office said in a statement, "notably documents relating to the Algerian war". French heritage laws say official documents must be released to researchers and the public after 50 years. But an interministerial order from 2011 says that the process is not automatic. Instead, each document must be formally declassified before it becomes accessible, a slow process that has effectively kept much information under wraps. The decision to speed things up comes after Macron's admission last week that French forces "tortured and murdered" Algerian freedom fighter Ali Boumendjel in 1957 during his country's war for independence. In July last year, Macron had tasked French historian Benjamin Stora with assessing how France has dealt with its colonial legacy. In January, however, Macron stoked outrage when he refused to issue an official apology for abuses committed during the occupation of Algeria. Stora's report made a series of recommendations, including creating a "memory and truth commission" that would hear testimony from people who suffered during the war. Macron's office said the president was aware of complaints from historians about difficulty getting access to files which, even after being technically declassified, are meticulously checked page by page for sensitive military secrets before being handed over. Algeria would also like to know more about French 1960s nuclear testing in the Sahara / AFP Le Parisien newspaper said the process was "not only long, but also arbitrary", and said documents would now be made available in batches rather than page by page. Macron's office said it was working on a new draft law, to be ready next year, making archive access easier while protecting the nation's official secrets. Algeria's government has welcomed Macron's moves towards greater transparency, but still wants the full truth about more than 2,200 people it says disappeared during the 1954-1962 war. It also wants light to be shed on French nuclear testing in the Sahara desert in the 1960s, but files about the tests fall under the French state's nuclear policy and therefore classified top secret. Shrugging off the disruptions of the year gone by, businesses and agencies are looking for a strong revival in 2021. Over the next few weeks, Adgully as part of our annual TRENDING NOW endeavour will be presenting the strategies and views of a cross-section of industry leaders as they go about reclaiming lost time and market opportunities and build for a stronger future, armed with the lessons of 2020. Rakhee Lalvani, Vice President, Public Relations and Corporate Communications, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), speaks about the key trends that will drive travel in 2021, including Drivecations, Staycations, Homestays, Wellness Travel and more. Outlook for 2021 2020 was a year of monumental change, which has altered the tourism and hospitality landscape forever. Health, hygiene and social distancing have been shaping travel, with travellers viewing health and safety as a key consideration; and gravitating towards reputed brands for their travel plans. With around 90 per cent people keen to resume travel after being confined to their homes for months, more and more travellers have been exploring the myriad beauty of India, leading to a rise in domestic travel, which will drive the revival of the sector in the short- to mid-term. Some of the key trends that will drive travel in the year ahead include: Drivecations While drivecations gained much popularity in 2020, with people keen to travel to destinations within close vicinity of their homes, this trend is here to stay. Moreover, some travellers are even comfortable driving slightly longer distances to offbeat destinations to ensure that they can maintain a comfortable level of social distancing. Destinations such as Goa, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Karnataka, all driving distance from key cities, have seen a rise in leisure travel in recent months. Staycations Confined to the safety of their homes, people have increasingly been seeking creative yet safe ways to spend quality time with their close friends and family. Staycations at city hotels across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata, among others, will continue to be in demand with guests. Combined with minimal required travel, low on holiday planning time, cost and carbon footprint, staycations are perfect for travelers of all generations. Homestays The premium homestay market in India will continue witnessing a steady growth as travelers are looking for more exclusive, unique, and immersive experiences. With people preferring longer holidays, homestays give travelers an opportunity to bond together in beautiful private bungalows and villas at unique locations, while experiencing authentic local culture and heritage. Wellness Travel The past year has compelled us all to slow down and focus on our health and wellbeing. The future of travel is increasingly shifting to focus on experiences that positively impact ones overall wellness. There has been a rising trend of travellers embarking on wellness retreats that allow them to reconnect with nature, indulge in curated wellness menus and rejuvenate their body and mind. Great expectations While 2021 has started on a positive note, with the news of the vaccine roll-out, it is still pertinent to be cautious, especially given that many countries under the globe are still under strict lockdown. And while travel might be muted in comparison to pre-COVID times, we have seen green shoots of travel beginning to gather steam. People are keen to escape the routine of daily life and leisure domestic travel will continue to lead the revival of the sector in the coming months.In comparison, corporate travel and MICE will be slower to resume. Safety and hygiene will continue to be the key currencies of travel, with people gravitating towards trusted brands with strong safety and hygiene protocols laid out. Moreover, aside from the key travel trends we have been seeing springing recently, slow travel with focus on authentic experiences that allow travellers to delve into the history, culture, heritage and cuisine of a destination will gain more popularity as will sustainable travel with a strong voluntourism angle as awareness about ones impact on the environment increases. Hence, offbeat locations that offer a myriad of immersive experiences such as IHCLs Stays & Trails Indias first branded homestays will rise in popularity, as will brands that have a strong focus on sustainable practices. The past year has also brought to fore the pivotal role that technology has to play in our daily lives seamless and integrated services harnessing the power of digital and AI will be the way forward for the hospitality industry. We are possibly amongst the most resilient industries. And we believe that with agility, innovation and collaboration, travel will not just return but may well surpass pre-COVID numbers, when full recovery happens. Traveling is a fundamental need and people cant stay without it for too long. Key learnings from 2020 2020 has been a year that has impacted lives and businesses across the globe. It not only forced us all to stay apart to stay safe, but also glaringly reminded us of the frailty of human life. But it also was a stark reminder of the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity, and that no challenge is insurmountable when we stand united. And that in the face of the storm, ones purpose and inherent values should always be ones North Star. Be it IHCL providing over 3 million meals to frontline and migrant workers across the country or hosting over 60,000 room nights for the medical fraternity, community is and will always be at the heart of all that we do. The year also reminded us to never waste a crisis, because every crisis is an opportunity in disguise. At IHCL, it forced us to relook at our business and innovate to identify new potential sources of revenue. It not only highlighted the importance of constant innovation but also emphasized the need for agility and collaboration to sail through unchartered territories successfully. Brian Kilmeade, right, co-host of Fox Newss Fox and Friends, expressed frustration that Joe Biden references the more than half a million Americans killed by the coronavirus because of how it makes Donald Trump look. (Screengrab via Twitter) Fox News host Brian Kilmeade complained on-air that Joe Biden continues to mention that more than 500,000 have died due to the coronavirus, and lamented that Donald Trump trusted health experts too much. Mr Kilmeade, one of the hosts of Fox and Friends, argued Friday that Mr Biden was not being fair to Mr Trump's administration. He said Mr Biden should spend less time talking about the 500,000 Americans who died and instead focus on the positives. We dont need to go over the 500,000 dead, we had that moment. Lets talk about the future moving forward. Every time he has a chance to praise the previous administration, he not only doesnt praise, he kicks them in the groin, Mr Kilmeade said. It is unclear why Mr Kilmeade thinks the Biden administration is interested in praising Mr Trump, who continues to peddle conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Mr Biden spokes about the death total in a recent speech, saying he kept the number on the back of his daily schedule, which he stores in his jacket pocket. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The Fox News host complained that by not praising Mr Trump, Mr Biden is failing at his stated goal of unification. Just to keep in mind, some of the things that Joe Biden had the opportunity to be that unifier, that uniter that he talked about at his inaugural," Mr Kilmeade said. "He could talk about Operation Warp Speed, how it exceeded expectations. He could talk about the vaccine how it was almost ready to go when he took office. Prior to that, Mr Kilmeade referenced a Wall Street Journal critique of the president, which alleged his biggest mistake was "putting too much faith in health experts and their lockdown models". Mr Kilmeade's frustration that Mr Trump is not receiving enough positive attention mirrors that of Mr Trump himself, who issued a desperate statement claiming the public would not have the vaccine without him. I hope everyone remembers when theyre getting the COVID-19 (often referred to as the China Virus) Vaccine, that if I wasnt President, you wouldnt be getting that beautiful 'shot' for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldnt be getting it at all. I hope everyone remembers! Mr Trump wrote. Story continues Because Mr Trump is still banned on most major social media sites, the memo had to be leaked to news outlets. The memo includes the Great Seal of the United States - despite it not being an official US government document - and claims to come from the "Office of Donald J Trump." Read More Biden to launch $650m coronavirus testing plan in schools and other group settings US, Indo-Pacific allies to expand India's vaccine production Sean Hannity ridiculed for saying Biden should phone Trump and thank him for his Covid response A Bakersfield family is turning its grief into action by advocating for reform of the state board that oversees medical doctors to make it mor There is no escaping the immense damage done to Britains premier engineering group Rolls-Royce by the pandemic. The cash outflow of 4.2billion is truly horrendous and Warren East, for all his efforts to sound positive, acknowledges there will be some permanent scaring. Airline hours flown, a critical metric for Rolls, will be as much as 30 per cent down from where they might have been in 2025. Grounded: Airline hours flown, a critical metric for Rolls, will be as much as 30 per cent down from where they might have been in 2025 Fears that Covid might prove an existential threat for Rolls-Royce and require a Tory government bail it out for the second time in its history are dismissed. Rolls-Royce will thrive, the chief executive assures us. The aerospace group has managed to juggle several balls at the same time as it has dealt with rolling lockdowns across the globe. It has burnished its finances and at year end has some 9billion of liquidity. It has also managed to upgrade debt by switching short-term borrowing and bonds into more secure financing with the help of export credit guarantees. Rolls has also hammered down costs, with 7,000 jobs gone and another 2,000 still to go. It has resolved the labour dispute over the proposed rundown of manufacturing at the Barnoldswick plant in Lancashire. The best thing which could happen for Rolls-Royce is that the airports do return to service in June allowing it to move towards breaking even in 2021, with a return to profit in 2022 and beyond. The group is allowing Covid to slow down R&D. A pointer of things to come is the deal made with Italys air frame group Tecnam to supply Swedish regional airline Wideroe with first generation electric aircraft. For its more traditional long-haul routes, Rolls is counting on creating synthetic fuels, and combined with its new UltraFan engine should offer carbon neutral flying. It is investing, along with government, half-a-billion pounds in its small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear programme which is part of Boris Johnsons ten-point green deal. What it needs now is the orders to make SMRs a reality. Shares have taken a terrible battering and in spite of a recent snap back on vaccine hopes are trading at one third of the 2018 price. Air travel in Asia, where wide-bodied jets are used to move people around domestically, is already recovering. But it needs long-haul trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic travel to return for confidence to be restored. Partners hit Another beloved institution battered by Covid is John Lewis. Not only has Carrie Symonds dumped its Downing Street flat decorations in favour of Lulu Lytle rococo, but it ran up losses 517million before tax in 2020-21. The shortfall is exaggerated by the big one-off costs which come with store closures. But with underlying profit coming in at 131million it is hard to be optimistic about the coming year, with an additional eight stores to be closed, bringing the size of the portfolio down from 42 to 36. Partners, used to annual bonuses, job security and the camaraderie of working for a mutual, must be wondering where it will all end. In executive chairman Sharon White, the group at least has imaginative leadership. Middle Britain could soon see smaller, convenience John Lewis outlets springing up in the suburbs and local high streets. The rollout of little John Lewiss has begun on an experimental basis in the Waitrose store in Crawley and elsewhere. The fusty departmental store concept is due for a makeover with much more life-experience stuff such as more brands, fitness, coffee and sushi bars. Online and click and collect will be sharpened up. White must keep an eye on the cash outflow. John Lewis doesnt have the option of paying for change with new equity. There is a cash cushion of 1billion but, with the need for capital spend for the transformation, nothing can be taken for granted. White is not counting on a coiled spring recovery. Longer-term fixes are required. Mining guru As one of the worlds most eminent earth scientists and champion of the rights of indigenous people, Andrew Mackenzie may look just the person to take on the role as chairman of Shell. Yet with big oil is under huge pressure to decarbonise, his commercial background in mining groups BHP and Rio Tinto does not inspire immediate confidence. Maybe we are missing something. The ex-boyfriend of a woman who accused Christian Porter of raping her when they were both teenagers says he had "relevant discussions" with Mr Porter over a number of years. James Hooke, who is now senior managing director with Macquarie Group, has offered to appear before an independent inquiry into the historical rape allegation. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has resisted such an inquiry, saying he stands by his cabinet colleague, who is on mental health leave. Mr Porter has firmly denied the historical allegation and does not recall having discussed it with anyone. Mr Hooke said in a statement issued on Friday he was concerned for Mr Porter's wellbeing and was devastated by the untimely death of his very dear friend. "Mine is just one set of recollections, and I am aware of the fallibility of human memory, however unintentional," he said. "That said, I have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with her over the years from mid-1988 until her death. "I also have what I consider to be clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with Christian Porter from April 1992 in Perth and through the mid-1990s." Australia's Attorney-General Christian Porter speaks during a press conference in Perth on March 3, denying the rape allegation. Source: Getty Mr Hooke said he made himself known to NSW police last year after the woman's death and understood why they were unable to interview him. "In relation to any criminal prosecution, Christian Porter was manifestly and appropriately entitled to the presumption of innocence it is essential to the rule of law," he said. "In relation to any investigation of the important non-criminal aspects of this matter, I support an inquiry, like either that conducted by three retired eminent judges after Justice Lionel Murphy was acquitted of charges, or that conducted by Dr Vivienne Thom into allegations about Justice Heydon. "I am willing to testify under oath at any appropriately convened inquiry." Woman contacted police five times The statement came as NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller told a state estimates hearing the woman made five primary contacts with police via email and phone before she took her own life last year. Story continues But the woman never lodged a formal statement of complaint that could be admissible in court. Mr Fuller had a "high-level discussion" about it with deputy commissioner David Hudson. But asked whether he kept politicians including Prime Minister Scott Morrison informed of the matter, Mr Fuller said: "At no point in time in this matter have I had any communication with any member of government, federally or from a state perspective." Mr Fuller said it was police custom and practice if a victim withdrew the matter "then, outside the victim care aspect of it is, the matter is finalised". "And that is not (just) for the Attorney-General, that is for every matter," he said. "Now whether that is right or wrong, they are certainly things that we are looking at the moment with a whole broader range of things around the journey for victims into the justice system, particularly around sexual assault and historic sexual assault matters." Covid prevented NSW Police interviewing woman in Adelaide Police intended to travel to the woman's home city of Adelaide to talk to her but were prevented due to Covid restrictions. Mr Fuller said the last contact between investigators and the woman involved her saying she no longer wanted to proceed in the matter. He said such a withdrawal was not unusual for victims, and it took enormous courage for people to come forward. The police chief was aware the woman had prepared another document which he described as a "diary entry" and friends had passed it on to the AFP. "I understand that at least the document that the alleged victim had prepared some years ago is now in the possession of NSW Police but I'm unsure about what other evidence came with that." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. Guns confiscated by the Santa Ana Police Department are displayed for a press event in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 11, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Santa Anas Crime Surge Prompts Taskforce Police and city officials in Santa Ana are launching a multifaceted crime-fighting initiative in response to a rise in homicides and other violent crimes. The increase in violent crime, unfortunately, is consistent with patterns, both in small and large cities across the country throughout 2020, Santa Ana Chief of Police David Valentin said during a March 11 press conference. The department remains committed to community-oriented policing and partnering with our community to address violent crime. Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin speaks at Santa Ana Police Station in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 11, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) There have been eight homicides in Santa Ana so far this year, compared with one homicide during the same period last year, he said. Half of this years slayings were gang-related, and an additional three were related to illegal gambling dens. Another death was the result of domestic violence. Shootings are also up year-over-year, although there has been an overall decrease during the past five years. Community First To combat violent crimes, Santa Ana police and city officials spearheaded Operation Community First, a policing approach that includes community engagement, investigative resources, and collaboration with code enforcement officers. One of the initiatives top priorities will be getting illegal guns off the streets; Santa Ana police seized 71 illegal weapons during the first 70 days of the new year. Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento highlighted the need for transparency during a time of higher crime. As we address these spikes in crime, these irregular activities that were experiencing in the city, were going to do it in a responsible way, were going to include the public, and were going to include the community, and not just rely on traditional methods and conventional ways of dealing with workplace function, but really engaging with our public, Sarmiento said during the press conference. Crime Crackdown Crime-fighting efforts among the Santa Ana polices gang unit have led to 68 arrests, 15 seized firearms, and more than two pounds of illegal drugs. Under-the-table gambling rings, which can be a haven for organized crime, have been a focus for police this year, the police chief said. [Illegal gambling dens] have forced adjacent businesses to close and tormented neighborhoods with violence, crime, and public disorder, Valentin said. Our police department developed a comprehensive strategy to target and address the nuisance created by these establishments. A three-pronged approach targeting customers, business operators, and property owners was utilized. To date, the city of Santa Ana has closed, via search warrant, arrests, and voluntary compliance with business owners, a total 36 of these 41 illegal establishments. The increased enforcement on slap houses this year has resulted in 103 arrests, the seizure of two firearms, $87,111 in currency, 169 gambling machines, and a half-pound of narcotics. Additionally, the city is developing partnerships with nonprofit organizations such as Taller San Jose, which provides job training and resources to adult offenders to reduce recidivism rates in the city. 'When Meghan gave that appalling interview, she had already negotiated deals worth over $100m and she still has the poor mouth on her,' says Caroline Devine Caroline Devine never normally turns the television on in Classiebawn Castle. It didnt even go on for The Crown last year. That changed last Monday night. She watched Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with what can best be described as an open mouth. I was quite shocked, she says. It was utter tripe. I would like to point out one unique (point) that no one picked up on, she said, and that is where Meghan stated: The Institution took away my passport and my driving license. They have diplomatic immunity. They dont need a passport or a driving licence. They have drivers as security. They dont even have to go through customs. That is why Meghan was able to bring back a planeload of very expensive gifts from her shower in New York. Caroline lives in the former home in county Sligo of Lord Mountbatten, the great uncle of Prince Charles who was murdered in an IRA explosion in 1979 aboard his 29-foot Shadow V fishing boat and has corresponded through the years with the royal family. She could not be described as being on Team Meghan. Read More When Meghan gave that appalling interview, she had already negotiated deals worth over $100m and she still has the poor mouth on her, she said. Megan and Harry were not homeless when they left England. They were given free homes to live in. Meghan is now trying to put all the burdens on the royal family who welcomed her with open arms. The British royal family should not have to be dealing with this tripe when people are dying of Covid, which is far more important, and Prince Philip is so ill. I like Harry a lot, misguided I dare say. He had built up great rapport with everyone. Caroline says that Harrys ex, Chelsy Davy they broke up in 2010 after six years together is still a valued friend to William and Kate. "I am so sad for Harry, she says. Has Caroline ever met Meghan? I am happy to say I have not. Caroline has met Prince Charles. First, in 1979, when she and her partner Hugh Tunney (who died 10 years ago) attended the Hampshire wedding of Mountbattens grandson Lord Romsey, where Prince Charles was the best man; and again in 2015 when he came to visit Mullaghmore. Caroline has also met the Queen, in 2017, when she was invited to the funeral in London of Lady Brabourne, Countess Mountbatten. The Queens statement in reaction to the interview was, Caroline says, reaching out to her grandson and his son". That is why she wants to handle this between themselves herself. The Queen is holding two roles here: the monarch and the grandmother. The media does not cover the daily work the British royal family carry out. Take the Princes Trust. This gives opportunities to so many young people from every race and background. It helps them with apprenticeships. They get places in the best kitchens around the UK and become great chefs. Andrew Barton, one of Londons best hairdressers, told me that he trains people from the Princes Trust. The Princess Royal is one of the hardest workers. She trains people with horses." "Who would want their job? But the British royal family are an integral part of the Commonwealth and the UK. Many charities would not survive without their patronship. So, yes, I follow and support the British royal family, said Caroline down the phone from Classiebawn Castle, because I know how hard they all work. "Their motto is, Never complain, never explain.' Meghan might have been better served to remember that. Read More A United Nations investigator is accusing Myanmars military junta of likely crimes against humanity and is urging international coordinated action to isolate and get rid of the regime. The report is under review by the U.N. Human Rights Council. Special raporteur Thomas Andrews says that since Myanmars military seized power from the elected government February 1, security forces have murdered at least 70 people and arbitrarily arrested more than 2,000. He says there is video evidence of security forces viciously beating protestors, destroying property, looting shops, and firing indiscriminately into peoples homes. He says the junta has been systematically destroying legal protections and crushing freedom of expression and assembly. Andrews notes the current leadership of what he calls a murderous, illegal regime is facing charges of genocide before the International Court of Justice. The military is accused of human rights abuses committed in Rakhine state against the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority. It should come as little surprise that there is growing evidence that this same Myanmar military, led by the same senior leadership, is now engaging in crimes against humanity, including the acts of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture, and imprisonment in violation of fundamental rules of international law," Andrews says. Andrews says there is growing evidence that these acts of cruelty are part of a coordinated, systematic campaign rather than a series of isolated events. He is calling on other countries to take strong, coordinated action to stop these atrocities. Stop the flow of revenue into the illegal juntas coffers. This can happen now," Andrews says. "Multilateral sanctions should be imposed on both senior junta leaders and their major sources of revenue, including military-owned and -controlled enterprises and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. He notes Myanmars natural gas projects will generate an estimated $1 billion in revenue this year. Without sanctions, he warns, the military junta will be able to use these funds to support its criminal enterprise and attack innocent people. Permanent secretary of Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chan Aye, says the Tatmadaw, as the military is also called, did not want to stall the nascent democratic transition in the country. However, he says, it had no choice, given, what he described as last Novembers fraudulent general election. The fraud allegations have been denied by Myanmars electoral commission. He says the authorities have been exercising utmost restraint in dealing with violent protests. He says his government is committed to restore and maintain the democratic transition in accordance with the existing State Constitution. Google wants to double-down its efforts for selling Pixel smartphones in India, ahead of the rumoured launch of Pixel 5a. The Pixel 4a (Review) was the only smartphone from Google to launch in India in 2020. However, the Mountain View giant did launch the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G phones globally. In 2021, Google wants to increase its presence in the Indian smartphone market where it has started seeing growth in the affordable mid-premium smartphone segment with its a-series Pixel phones. According to a report by Danish Khan of ET Telecom, Google is looking to expand its inventory for the upcoming Pixel smartphones this year in India. Moreover, the company is also exploring possibilities to manufacture Pixel phones in India. Recently, Apple also started assembling its latest iPhone 12 in India and many smartphone manufacturers have been testing waters for expanding their presence domestically. Googles push to bring more Pixel phones A Senior Executive at Google told ET Telecom that "Google doubled inventory for Pixel for India last year and this year the intention is to further increase the focus and get a larger share from global inventory for the India market. Google largely owes its recent success to the Pixel 3a and Pixel 4a smartphones that were launched in 2019 and 2020 respectively priced in the sub-Rs 40,000 segments. The company also aims to be available in more price segments in India going forward. "We also want to play brand value in the smartphone segment. Pixel awareness is in the market now, the executive adds. Google registered a growth of 36% in 2020 in comparison with 2019, according to Counterpoint Research. This year, however, many smartphone manufacturers are pushing 5G as a key selling point and most upcoming processors are already compatible with 5G networks. So its not very unlikely that Google could launch a 5G phone in India as well. Why Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G did not launch in India? Google had the 4G Pixel 4a as its only offering for India for the year 2020. Now, the company executive has revealed to ET Telecom that the reason why Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G did not launch in India was due to the unavailability of 5G networks in India and it would not have translated well with the pricing of the phone. "Why do we want an expensive phone when Indians can't use 5G. Because of hardware cost, 5G variants weren't launched in India, the company executive said. Google Pixel 5a is rumoured to launch sometime in June and the latest leak also revealed its alleged specifications. The Pixel 5a is expected to feature a 6.2-inch Full HD+ OLED display with support for high-refresh-rate and could have the same build and finish as the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5. The phone is expected to have dual cameras on the back along with a rear fingerprint reader and stereo speakers. We will know more about the upcoming Pixel 5a as we near the official launch which could be held in June. A decision by a Whitehall department to open offices in Belfast undermines Stormont, nationalist say. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is poised to recruit a small number of civil servants here to "help implement new UK-wide investment programmes". But SDLP Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon expressed concern the Government will take unilateral decisions "ignoring the intricacies of devolution". "This move circumvents and undermines the core principle of power-sharing," she said. "These offices will not be accountable to people in Northern Ireland and they will not have to work in partnership with other parties to form common priorities. "We can't have a system of direct rule lite where London ministers ignore the priorities of people and parties here to pursue budget-busting sea bridges or tunnels and ignore our real needs." Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard said it was a "power grab" and an effort to "undermine the Good Friday Agreement and its institutions". He added: "The Executive and the Assembly are the only bodies with a mandate to make decisions for the people of the north on housing, communities and local government. "The British Tory party has no mandate in Ireland." MHCLG said the UK Government was "fully committed to devolution in Northern Ireland and any suggestion to the contrary is wrong". And DUP Economy Minister Diane Dodds said: "Devolution doesn't mean that we don't have a national Government with national priorities, it means that we work together with our national Government." AstraZeneca today dismissed concerns that its Covid-19 vaccine is linked to blood clots, joining the WHO, No 10 and EU regulators in rejecting the fears that have led several European countries to suspend their use of the jab. The pharma giant said its analysis of more than 10million records showed there was 'no evidence of an increased risk' in any age group or any batch of doses, after Austria and others black-listed a particular shipment over fears of side-effects. 'In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than would be expected among the general population,' the firm said. EU regulators are looking into 30 cases of blood clots among nearly five million people who have had a dose of the vaccine, after Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended their use of the jab altogether this week. Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg have suspended one batch of doses after a 49-year-old nurse died soon after getting one of the jabs. But AstraZeneca's findings today match those of the EU safety panel which says there is 'no indication' the nurse's death was caused by side-effects from the vaccine and found that the batch in question is 'unlikely' to be defective. Despite Austria's concerns, chancellor Sebastian Kurz sought to rally support for the AstraZeneca shot today by saying that he himself would be injected with it. Kurz, one of the world's youngest leaders at 34, said he would take the jab in order to 'show that I trust this vaccine' which has become an unloved choice in Europe after top officials feuded with AstraZeneca and questioned the shot's effectiveness. Germany and France are pressing ahead with AstraZeneca jabs, rejecting the blood clot fears, after Downing Street yesterday urged Britons to keep taking the shots. WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris also weighed in by telling reporters: 'Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine. There is no indication to not use it.' 'AstraZeneca is an excellent vaccine, as are the other vaccines that are being used,' she said at a briefing in Geneva. Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz (pictured), one of the world's youngest leaders at 34, said he himself would take the AstraZeneca jab to rally public support A pharmacist gives a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine to a patient in Paris today after France said it would continue using the product Empty chair: Thai premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha was due to get the first AstraZeneca vaccine at a televised event this morning, but he was nowhere to be seen as officials called a halt Thailand also called off the start of its AstraZeneca programme on Friday just moments before the prime minister was due to get the televised first injection. Thai premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha was nowhere to be seen at the event this morning which was replaced by a press conference where health officials said they would wait for Denmark and Austria to deliver their verdict. Officials said Thailand's batch of AstraZeneca jabs was made at a factory in Asia, saying they would wait to see if any issues were confined to the European shipment. 'Vaccine injection for Thais must be safe, we do not have to be in a hurry,' said Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, an adviser for the country's vaccine committee. But Germany and France have backed the jab after EU regulators said there was no evidence it was causing dangerous side-effects and found there was 'no specific issue' with the shipment blocked by Austria. While defending the jab's efficacy, the Austrian premier today renewed the EU's supply row by claiming some countries were getting more than their fair share. Kurz spoke in Vienna on Friday, saying when he and other European leaders had received the latest numbers, 'many couldn't believe their ears.' He said the Netherlands had received double the number of jabs per person as Croatia, citing Bulgaria and Latvia as two other countries with low deliveries. 'This is a clear contradiction of the political goal of the European Union that every member nation gets the same number of vaccine doses per person,' he said. Austria on Sunday stopped using doses from the so-called ABV5300 batch after the 49-year-old nurse died of 'severe blood coagulation problems' days after receiving an anti-Covid shot. Another person was taken to hospital after suffering a pulmonary embolism following their vaccination, and is now recovering. The EU's safety panel that 'there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine'. The batch in question contained a million doses and was sent to 17 countries, and is now being probed by safety experts at the European Medicines Agency. But the EMA says data so far suggests that the number of blood clots in vaccinated people 'is no higher than that seen in the general population'. 'Although a quality defect is considered unlikely at this stage, the batch quality is being investigated,' it said. Bulgaria joined the countries black-listing the batch today, with prime minister Boyko Borisov saying authorities would await a 'written statement' saying the jab is safe. The country has mainly been using the AstraZeneca shot in recent weeks after deciding to scrap prioritisation lists and offer jabs to anyone willing to take them. But German officials today stood by the vaccine, saying that some deaths soon after inoculation were inevitable because of the old age of many of those getting jabs. A Thai nurse prepares a syringe with an AstraZeneca dose after officials announced a temporary delay while some EU countries investigate reports of blood clots Thai premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha, pictured spraying hand sanitiser at journalists in an attempt to evade questions on Tuesday, was forced to cancel his televised jab No 10 yesterday insisted the jab is safe and that Britons should continue to take it, pointing to the success the vaccination programme is having on Covid cases. Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson, seen on Wednesday Thailand already rolled out its vaccination campaign last month, with the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine, and health workers were the first to receive the injections. The Sinovac shipment arrived with huge fanfare at Bangkok's airport, with a Chinese embassy official saying it the 'strengthened relations between China and Thailand'. But the Thai prime minister, a gruff former military general, was due to take the AstraZeneca shot which was first approved in Britain in December. No 10 yesterday insisted the jab is safe and that Britons should continue to take it, pointing to the success the vaccination programme is having. The PM's office said: 'We've been clear that it's both safe and effective, and when people are asked to come forward and take it, they should do so in confidence.' 'And in fact you're starting to see the results of the vaccine programme in terms of the (lower) number of cases we're seeing across the country, the number of deaths, number of hospitalisations.' Denmark, the first to announce it was suspending the jab, stressed that the move was precautionary. 'It has not been determined, at the time being, that there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots,' the country's health authority said. The Danish suspension, which will be reviewed after two weeks, is expected to slow down the country's vaccination campaign. If Denmark were to move on without AstraZeneca, officials said they expected to have the entire adult population vaccinated by mid-August instead of early July. 'We are of course saddened by this news,' said Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen. 'Things have gone well in Denmark, but there are some risks linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine that need to be examined more closely,' she told reporters. 'That seems to me to be the right way to proceed.' European countries are lagging behind the UK in vaccination numbers after fuelling fears over the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca jab 'We are of course saddened by this news,' said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (pictured centre) on the decision to halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Lithuania have all banned jabs from the particular batch being scrutinised by EU regulators. Italy meanwhile suspended a different batch, ABV2856, after non-commissioned naval officer Stefano Paterno died of a cardiac arrest 24 hours after receiving a dose in Sicily, where a second man also died after receiving the jab. 'This is a super-cautious approach based on some isolated reports in Europe,' said Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 'The risk and benefit balance is still very much in favour of the vaccine,' he said. France meanwhile said it would carry on using the jabs, which were recently extended to over-65s in a U-turn by health authorities. 'There is no need to suspend AstraZeneca,' health minister Olivier Veran told a news conference. 'The upside of vaccinations at this stage outweighs the risks.' Veran said France's own medicine watchdog had urged him to follow the EU drug regulator's ruling that AstraZeneca was still safe to use. Other European nations also signalled their intention to continue using the vaccine, including Sweden, Spain and The Netherlands. Swedish authorities said they did not find sufficient evidence to stop vaccination with AstraZeneca's jab. 'There is nothing to indicate that the vaccine causes this type of blood clots,' Veronica Arthurson, head of drug safety at the Swedish Medical Products Agency, told a news conference. Spain on Thursday said it had not registered any cases of blood clots related to AstraZeneca's vaccine so far and would continue administering the shots. EU regulators on January 30 approved the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying it was effective and safe to use. But many European leaders have frequently doubted the effectiveness of the Oxford vaccine which has subsequently seen a low uptake compared to other jabs. French leader Emmanuel Macron previously said the jab was 'quasi-effective' in over-65s. The claim was widely rejected by scientists and was criticised as a political move born out of post-Brexit ill will. But France, along with a host of other European nations, then blocked use of the jab for the elderly. France's health minister Olivier Veran (pictured on Thursday) said last night that the country has 'no need' to suspend use of the jab after he consulted with the French medicines agency which advised him against taking a similar action to other countries Last week, Macron made a partial U-turn on the decision after a slow uptake of the Oxford jab among the French was seen to be contributing to the country's sluggish immunisation programme. Germany followed with its own U-turn, recommending the jab for the over-65s. The scaremongering around the jab has led some Europeans to refuse to take it, with authorities in Germany forced to resort to threatening people who balk at it. That has hampered Europe's already-slow vaccine drive which has been plagued by supply issues and has seen just 10 per cent of people given at least one dose, compared to 36 per cent in the UK. Over the weekend, it was reported that the EU had gone cap in hand to Washington to beg them to provide some of their surplus AstraZeneca. Meanwhile yesterday, AstraZeneca said in a statement that its vaccine had met 'clear and stringent' safety standards before being approved for use in Europe in January. An AstraZeneca spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'We're aware of the statement made today by Sundhedsstyrelsen [the Danish health authority] that they are currently investigating potential adverse events related to vaccination against COVID-19. 'Patient safety is the highest priority for AstraZeneca. Regulators have clear and stringent efficacy and safety standards for the approval of any new medicine, and that includes Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca. 'The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in Phase III clinical trials and Peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine is generally well tolerated.' The UK's Medicines And Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has also suggested that the number of blood clots reported in the EU is no greater than the amount that would occur naturally. AstraZeneca's share price was however down 2.28 percent in mid-afternoon trading in London. Fidelity Bank Ghana has launched the Fidelity Young Entrepreneurs Fund (FYEF) to support existing businesses and startups of young entrepreneurs with financial and non-financial resources to harness social impact potential, build capacity and guide youth-related businesses to grow and scale up their businesses. The Fidelity Young Entrepreneurs Fund is a project which will provide both financial and non-financial support to enable youth-related businesses to survive and thrive. The focus of this fund is on businesses that are solving a problem in society, employing climate-smart adaptation or mitigation climate change processes in their activities and those that are easily scalable. Fidelity Bank, together with its partners will provide training programmes and up to GHC200, 000 in financial support to strengthen and grow selected businesses. Some of the businesses being supported by the Fidelity Bank Young Entrepreneurs Fund (FYEF) are Sue Shimmers, a jewelry manufacturer; Pure and Just Farms, an agro-processing company; Giant Gas, a gas supplier; Giddins Innove, a leather goods and shoe manufacturer; Leather on Call, a leather goods and shoe manufacturer; Agrokings, an agribusiness company; and Neat Eco Feeds, an animal feed manufacturer. Speaking on the Fidelity Young Entrepreneur's Fund, Julian Opuni, Managing Director (MD) of Fidelity Bank said, The initiative underscores our commitment to empowering young entrepreneurs and businesses to be the catalyst for social and economic development in Ghana. Mr. Opuni disclosed that this initiative is targeted at businesses that fall into any one of the three categories listed below. 1. Companies that have been in operation for at least two years and have demonstrated a steady flow of revenue/sales and profit. 2. Businesses in their first stage of operations that are primarily funded or equipped with personal investments or assets of the founders/promoters and that have been in operation for at least six months. 3. Businesses operated by women or that have at least 60% female ownership. According to the Director of Commercial & SME Banking at Fidelity Bank, Linus Kumi, Fidelity Bank recognizes the difficulties that young entrepreneurs face in growing their businesses and it is important that we take a different approach that enables these young people to achieve personal and economic empowerment. Mr. Kumi expressed gratitude to FYEFs strategic partners-Growth Mosaic, Innohub and HOPin Academy for contributing to building the capacity of these SMEs to enable them to positively impact the economy. The Bank has over the years contributed to the development of entrepreneurs in the areas of fashion, technology, food services, agriculture, agro-processing, health services, transportation, water sanitation and hygiene, he added. Another initiative of Fidelity Bank Ghana that seeks to support young entrepreneurs is the Orange Corners Innovation Fund, which was launched in 2019 in partnership with the Kingdom of the Netherlands and executed by MDF West Africa. The Orange Corners Innovation Fund is to, among other things, increase access to affordable credit for young entrepreneurs, promote growth and contribute to the sustainability of a young entrepreneur ecosystem by leveraging on strategic partnerships. Fidelitys support of young entrepreneurs forms part of the Banks Together Were More brand promise that viewssuccess as a collaborative effort among key stakeholders working together towards a greater good. In this instance, Fidelity has proven that by working together with entrepreneurs, they can help them realise their business dreams which ultimately contributes to the economic growth of our nation. 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 China has signaled it will move ahead soon with the trials of two Canadian nationals held on "spying" charges, according to a report in a newspaper controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Canadian nationals Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who face spying charges, will soon be tried, the Global Times newspaper cited a person familiar with the matter as saying. Kovrig stands accused of using an ordinary passport and business visa to enter China "to steal sensitive information and intelligence through contacts in China since 2017," the paper said. Spavor's charges rest on the allegation that he was "a key source of intelligence" for Kovrig, the paper said. Kovrig and Spavor were detained days after the arrest of Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, sparking criticism that the move was a form of "hostage diplomacy" on the part of Beijing. They stand accused of "stealing and illegally offering state secrets abroad," and are being held at an unknown location under "residential surveillance at a designated location." Neither has been allowed access to a lawyer, and they have had visits only from consular staff, which have been suspended since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. "Another source close to the matter told the Global Times previously that due to the COVID-19 epidemic situation, the hearings for both cases have yet to commence, and the court will push forward the trial soon," the report said. Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1, 2018 pending a U.S. extradition request. China has repeatedly called for Meng's release, and has warned Canada that it could face consequences for aiding the United States in her case. The espionage charges are deemed "particularly serious" by state prosecutors, meaning that Kovrig, 50, and Spavor, 44, could face sentences of anything between 10 years and life imprisonment. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, lost a legal bid to avoid extradition to the United States to face bank fraud charges, and the case isn't likely to be decided finally until May. 'Trumped-up charges' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this month that the spying charges against Kovrig and Spavor were trumped-up, warning that Ottawa won't give in to political pressure from Beijing to release Meng. "It is obvious that the two Michaels were arrested on trumped-up national security charges days after we fulfilled our extradition treaty responsibilities toward our ally, the United States," Trudeau told reporters on March 3. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has indicated that Washington will continue to work with Canada to get Kovrig and Spavor released. "We stand strongly with Canada when it comes to the need to see the two Michaels released immediately and unconditionally," Blinken told Canadian public service broadcaster CBC on Feb. 28. "We will continue to stand with Canada on that. I've made that clear in my own conversations with Chinese counterparts. And we look forward to the day when they're able to return home," he said, suggesting that his administration is unlikely to reverse the process started under the Trump administration. "Using people, human beings, as pawns for political purposes is totally unacceptable conduct by any country," he said. A recent Canadian opinion poll found that more than half of respondents view China as the biggest security threat facing their country, followed by Russia and North Korea. In a survey published in March 2021 by Maru Public Opinion, 55 per cent of respondents said that a global war is already happening in the form of "death by a thousand cuts," in which some countries use "ongoing activities to destabilize, disrupt and undermine" the sovereignty and political institutions of others. Reported by Liu Fei and Han Qing for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation ("Toshiba") has launched 650V super junction power MOSFETs, TK065U65Z, TK090U65Z, TK110U65Z, TK155U65Z and TK190U65Z, in its DTMOSVI series that are housed in a TOLL (TO-leadless) package. Volume production shipments start today. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005381/en/ Toshiba: DTMOSVI series of 650V super junction power MOSFETs in TOLL package (Graphic: Business Wire) TOLL is a surface-mount package that has an approximately 27% smaller footprint than the usual D2PAK package. It is also a 4-pin type package that allows Kelvin connection of its signal source terminal for the gate drive. This can reduce the influence by the inductance of the source wire in the package to bring out the high-speed switching performance of the MOSFETs, suppressing oscillation when switching. Compared to Toshibas current product, TK090N65Z[1], the turn-on switching loss is reduced by about 68% and turn-off switching loss by about 56%[2][3]. The new MOSFETs are suitable for power supplies for industrial equipment such as data centers and photovoltaic power conditioners. The combination of TOLL packaging with the latest[4] generation DTMOSVI process technology extends the line-up to cover a low On-resistance of up to 65m(max)[5]. Toshiba will continue to enhance products with the TOLL package to contribute to equipment downsizing and improved efficiency. Notes: [1] A product in DTMOSVI series with equivalent voltage and On-resistance that uses the TO-247 package without Kelvin connection [2] As of March 10, 2021, values measured by Toshiba (Test condition: V DD =400V, V GG =+10V/0V, I D =15A, R g =10, T a =25). [3] TK090U65Z only [4] As of March 10, 2021 [5] TK065U65Z only Applications Data center (Server power supplies, etc.) Power conditioners for photovoltaic generators Uninterruptible power systems Features Thin and small surface-mount package Turn-on and off switching loss are reduced by using 4-pin type package. Latest[4] generation DTMOSVI series Main Specifications (T a =25C) Part number TK065U65Z TK090U65Z TK110U65Z TK155U65Z TK190U65Z Package Name TOLL Size typ. (mm) 9.9x11.68, t:2.3 Absolute maximum ratings Drain- source voltage V DSS (V) 650 Drain current (DC) I D (A) 38 30 24 18 15 Drain-source On-resistance R DS(ON) max () @V GS =10V 0.065 0.09 0.11 0.155 0.19 Total gate charge Q g typ. (nC) 62 47 40 29 25 Gate-drain charge Q gd typ. (nC) 17 12 11 8 7.1 Input capacitance C iss typ. (pF) 3650 2780 2250 1635 1370 Channel-to-case thermal resistance R th(ch-c) max (/W) 0.462 0.543 0.657 0.833 0.961 Conventional series (DTMOSIV) Part number - - - TK20G60W[6] TK16G60W[6] Sample Check & Availability Buy Online Buy Online Buy Online Buy Online Buy Online Note: [6] V DSS =600V, D2PAK package Follow the links below for more on the new product. TK065U65Z TK090U65Z TK110U65Z TK155U65Z TK190U65Z Follow the link below for more on MOSFETs. MOSFETs To check availability of the new product at online distributors, visit: TK065U65Z TK090U65Z TK110U65Z TK155U65Z TK190U65Z Customer Inquiries Power Device Sales & Marketing Department Tel: +81-3-3457-3933 https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/contact.html *Company names, product names, and service names may be trademarks of their respective companies. *Information in this document, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the announcement but is subject to change without prior notice. About Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation combines the vigor of a new company with the wisdom of experience. Since becoming an independent company in July 2017, the company has taken its place among the leading general devices companies, and offers its customers and business partners outstanding solutions in discrete semiconductors, system LSIs and HDD. Its 24,000 employees around the world share a determination to maximize the value of its products, and emphasize close collaboration with customers to promote co-creation of value and new markets. The company looks forward to building on annual sales now surpassing 750-billion yen (US$6.8 billion) and to contributing to a better future for people everywhere. Find out more about Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation at https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/top.html View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210310005381/en/ Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 72F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable. Tiffany Trump was spotted holding a suspicious looking cigarette on a balcony in Miami this week. Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show the former president's youngest daughter wearing a form-fitting floral dress as she held a neon lighter and hand-rolled smoke. She was seen in Miami on Tuesday, where she's said to be house-hunting to join the rest of the Trump clan in their move to Florida. During the break for fresh air, Tiffany flashed her large diamond engagement ring from fiance Michael Boulos, has an estimated worth of $1.2 million. Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show Tiffany Trump on a balcony in Miami holding a lighter and a suspicious cigarette A close up reveals what looks to be a cigarette and a neon lighter in Tiffany's hand The former first daughter wore a form-fitting floral dress as she took the break on Tuesday The 27-year-old flashed her large diamond engagement ring from fiance Michael Boulos Tiffany and Boulos have been staying at the swanky Setai Hotel in Miami Beach Tiffany was later seen putting out the smoke on a plant on the balcony. She is not known to be a cigarette smoker and has never been seen smoking. DailyMail.com has reached out to the Trump team for comment. The 27-year-old announced her engagement to 23-year-old Boulos the day before her father left office in January. Boulos presented her with a rock designed by Samer Halimeh New York. The main stone is an enormous emerald cut, which is flanked by two trapeze-cut gems. The couple have been staying at the swanky Setai Hotel in Miami Beach, but they are on the hunt for a place to call her own. 'She has been in Miami looking at properties,' a source close to Tiffany previously told DailyMail.com. 'She was staying at the Setai Hotel while she was viewing different options.' Tiffany was later seen putting out the smoke on the balcony floor Tiffany has not been known to smoke and has never been seen smoking before these DailyMail.com photos 'She has been in Miami looking at properties,' a source close to Tiffany previously told DailyMail.com. 'She was staying at the Setai Hotel while she was viewing different options' Rooms at the hotel start at $800 per night and go up to $2,150, which is likely no problem for Michael, who is the heir to the multi-billion dollar Nigerian conglomerate Boulos Enterprises. The couple have been together for two years, and he seems to be close with both sides of her family. Tiffany, President Donald Trump's only child with his second wife Marla Maples, graduated from Georgetown Law School in May, but she has yet to take the bar exam, which she needs to pass to officially become a lawyer. 'She hasnt decided on her next career move,' a source told Page Six. 'She truly thought her father would win a second term and shed continue as part of the First Family. She became more involved with the family and politics during his last campaign.' Tiffany, who celebrated New Year's Eve at Mar-a-Lago, has yet to take the bar exam since graduating from Geogetown Law School in May The 27-year-old announced her engagement to 23-year-old Boulos the day before her father left office in January It was revealed this week that Tiffany's mother Marla Maples has moved from New York to Florida to be closer to her daughter It was revealed this week that Tiffany's mother Marla Maples has moved from New York to Florida, where her daughter has been living with her fiance Michael Boulos. The 57-year-old actress relocated to New York to be closer to her daughter in 2016 but took to Instagram on Tuesday to show off her new Florida license while opening up about her decision to move again. 'Transitioning to a new life adventure with so much joy and gratitude,' Marla captioned a photo of herself wearing a cowboy hat while proudly holding up her license. It seems likely that she moved to Florida to be closer to her daughter and future son-in-law, but she said she was considering other locations. 'Officially a Florida Resident, though I look like I mightve chosen Texas or Nashville instead, both were in the running,' she explained. Marla raised Tiffany in Calabasas, California, after divorcing her ex-husband Donald Trump in the late '90s. TikTok was banned in Pakistan, according to local media reports, in another blow to the viral video apps ambitions in south Asia after it was shut down in India last summer. The Peshawar High Court ordered a ban on TikTok over "immoral and objectionable" content on the platform, reported Pakistani news channel ARY News. "TikTok videos are peddling vulgarity in society," said chief justice Qaiser Rashid Khan, adding that the app should be banned until it complies with authorities. TikTok was previously shut down in Pakistan in October after complaints over "indecent" content on the platform, though it came back online less than two weeks later, The Financial Times reported. (Reuters) - China's antitrust regulators are considering levying a record fine on Group Holding Ltd over suspected anticompetitive behavior, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The fine could surpass the $975 million that Qualcomm paid in 2015 over anticompetitive practices, the report said https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-regulators-plan-to-tame-tech-giant-alibaba-jack-ma-11615475344?mod=latest_headlines. The regulators are also considering whether the Chinese e-commerce giant should divest some assets unrelated to its main online-retailing business. declined to respond to a Reuters request for comment. Founder Jack Ma's business empire has been put under intense scrutiny by Chinese regulators following his stinging criticism of China's regulatory system in late October. In late December China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced it launched an antitrust probe into That news came after authorities in Beijing halted a planned $37 billion IPO from Ant Group, Alibaba's internet finance arm. The company has come under fire in the past from rivals and sellers for allegedly forbidding its merchants from listing on other e-commerce platforms, a practice known as "two-choose-one." Alibaba's Hong Kong shares climbed 1.7% on Friday morning, after its New York shares gained 2.8% overnight amid a broad stock market rally. The New York shares are still down about a quarter from their October levels. (Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru and Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Muralikumar Anantharaman) (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.) Alex Edelman/Getty Former President Trump has chosen Jesse Binnall, a Republican lawyer who filed a lawsuit attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Nevada, to represent him in a lawsuit that alleges he violated the 1871 Ku Klux Klan act by inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Mississippi Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson and the NAACP filed the suit in February against Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the Oath Keepers militia, alleging that they conspired to incite an assembled crowd in Washington, D.C. to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6 and disrupt the counting of electoral votes. Court documents filed in the lawsuit on Thursday show that Jesse Binnall will represent Trump in the suit. Binnall represented former Trump national security adviser Mike Flynn alongside Sidney Powell in his criminal trial for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russias ambassador to the U.S. Flynn was subsequently pardoned. More recently, Binnall was involved in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election with a lawsuit against election officials in Nevada. He testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in December and claimed that 42,000 people voted more than once during Nevadas 2020 electiona claim since debunked by fact-checkers. Binnall is also representing Defending the Republic, a legal organization founded by Sidney Powell to pursue lawsuits that sought to overturn election results from the election, in a $1.3 billion lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Powell and the legal group. On Twitter, Binnall is a vocal conservative and member of the MAGA faithful. On Jan. 6, as Congress tallied up President Joe Bidens electoral victory, Binnall echoed Trumps disdain for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who the former president viewed as disloyal for his refusal to prevent the certification of Bidens win. He is going to be the minority leader because hes a coward and turning a blind eye to voter fraud. Any Senator that continues to support his leadership should be thrown out, Binnall tweeted. Story continues 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. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has backed plans by Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg to have House of Commons sit in Northern Ireland each September. The DUP MP said such a move, reported in the Daily Telegraph, would be "terrific" to witness parliamentary proceedings take place here. "It would be a historic occasion. It would be wonderful to see that happening in our centenary year, if possible," he explained. The proposal by Mr Rees-Mogg, leader of the House of Commons, comes as the Prime Minister Boris Johnson said centenary programme marking the anniversary of Northern Ireland's foundation will champion young people of the future. Read More Plans for 2021 include a major business showcase in London, a 1million Shared History Fund, an ambitious programme for young people, tree-planting projects, academic and historic events and an international church service for all denominations. It will also tribute to those who worked tirelessly to support the region during the pandemic. Nationalists and unionists hold sharply differing views of the history of Northern Ireland: on its past governance and public representation; the security situation including decades of conflict; seismic events like the Second World War or the civil rights movement; over issues like public housing, freedom to demonstrate and equal voter representation. Mr Rees-Mogg's plan would also see the House of Commons sitting in Scotland and Wales. Sir Jeffrey told the BBC's The View programme on Thursday that he would welcome such a proposal. "As a member of Parliament for almost 25 years it would be terrific to have the House of Commons sitting in Northern Ireland," he explained. "I will certainly be making a bid for Northern Ireland to have first crack of the whip. To host a meeting of the House of Commons here, in Northern Ireland, I think it would be good for the United Kingdom." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Aoife Moore with her husband Kerill and two kids, Aibhlin and Diarmuid. Ms Moore's life has been turned upside down since contracting Covid-19 a year ago. Photo: Aoife Moore/PA Wire A woman who was among the earliest Covid cases in the country is still experiencing intense symptoms one year after her diagnosis. Aoife Moore (38), a mother of two from east Galway, is one of thousands of people across Ireland suffering from what is known as long Covid. Her life has been upended since she first began experiencing symptoms, before St Patricks Day last year. She said: Make no mistake about it, if you get long Covid, its going to affect every facet of your life. It affects every single part of you. Your mental, your emotional, your physical, your financial, your relationships. You feel so alone, you feel like nobody else gets this. The medical community arent providing any help, because they dont know themselves. Ms Moore is an activist who has worked on numerous campaigns, including for the pro-choice movement and direct provision. She is a manager to the author Erin Darcy and stay-at-home mother to her daughter Aibhlin (5) and son Diarmuid (3). I was the kind of person who is constantly busy, constantly doing something, involved in plenty of different things. Unfortunately Ive had to give pretty much all of that up now, she told the PA news agency. Everything changed when she got her positive Covid diagnosis last year. I started feeling really unwell. I was very cold and I just could not get warm. I just couldnt regulate my body temperature. The way I describe it is like your lungs are being grated. It was like nothing I have had before. While her condition has improved since then, Ms Moore is still dealing with a range of symptoms including chronic fatigue, severe coughing, difficulty concentrating, inflammation, swelling, mouth sores and various aches and pains. I constantly feel like Im being knocked back and knocked back. Its really hard, she said. The worst one would be the chronic fatigue. Its a whole body thing. Your head is too heavy to lift off the pillow. Your arms are heavy and so are your legs. I would get that on top of my symptoms. So I had to try to find a balance between doing too much and doing too little. If I did too much, Id be in bed for up to a week if I pushed myself too far. I would not be able to get out of bed. The cough that came with her initial diagnosis has never left. She said: The cough stays with you, it doesnt ever go. The way I describe it is I feel like I have two knots in my chest, in my lungs. Theyre constantly there and sometimes theyre more aggravated than not. Read More But one of the biggest impacts long Covid has had is on Ms Moores family life, particularly for her husband Kerill. She said: My husband is effectively my carer. He looks after the house. Hes a software engineer and he works from home. On top of that he looks after the kids. Hes basically almost like a single parent in one respect. Because my ability to physically do things is hugely impacted. I cant lift the kids from a standing position. I cant bathe them. I cant do simple things like getting their dinner together. From day to day, I have to assess what my energy is like. My energy dictates my ability to do anything. I constantly have to prioritise and make choices. If I decide Im going to go for a shower, that might be my activity for the day. That means I cant do something else. Her son Diarmuid was diagnosed with autism last year, and she fears he has regressed as she is unable to give him the same level of attention as before. Mammy was there all the time, I was kind of his main person. The next thing I get sick, Im in bed and he cant come in to me. Ive just disappeared from his world. That was really hard. He kind of regressed for a while, she said. Professor Danny Altmann, from Imperial College London, said last month the number of people suffering symptoms of Covid-19 weeks after their diagnosis could be as high as 20pc of those who get the virus. He has called for long Covid clinics to be opened across the UK, and Ms Moore wants the Irish Government to do the same thing. We need clinics that arent just based in Dublin or Cork. They have to be nationwide, they have to be available to everybody across the country. We need these centres that arent urban-centric. I know were getting the vaccine. It doesnt mean that this is going to go away. We dont know how long were going to have this for. Surely somebody can do something, surely someone with better knowledge than us can do something about it, she said. The group Covid Cases Ireland has been a source of support for Ms Moore. They now have 1,600 members across the country and have petitioned Government for stronger support. Thats the one support, the one good thing. You feel like were all in the same boat together, she said. She said she believes long Covid is a result of the virus lying dormant in her body. When you have long Covid, I do honestly believe that its still somewhere in my body, dormant. And when I get run down, that it activates and you get a relapse. You get the symptoms and you think, Oh God, this is what it felt like at the start. Children as young as 15 are being used by organised criminal gangs to act as money mules to launder the proceeds of online fraud through their clean bank accounts, gardai have revealed. Secondary school and college students are being lured into the practice of having money moved through their accounts for a tempting commission but are destroying their futures when they are caught, gardai warned. A money mule is someone who allows others to use their bank accounts. The accounts are used to receive or disburse fraudulent or illegally obtained funds, most likely from online fraud and other cyber crime. The gangs like to use young people with no criminal records because they have no previous interaction with gardai and the gangs feel it lessens their chances of being traced. Students are contacted by messaging apps and social media, or by word of mouth. And while some are complicit and aware the money is the proceeds of criminal activity, there are naive young people recruited unwittingly in a too good to be true earning opportunities via recruitment websites with job offers of financial manager or money transfer agent. Read More A money mule can also be coerced against their will, either bullied or threatened, or they could be paying off a drug debt or think they are helping a friend who cant access a bank account, said Detective Superintendent Mick Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB). Speaking as part of the bureaus Fraud Awareness Week, he said one ongoing investigation has identified 53 people acted as money mules where 1.5m was transferred through their accounts. Thirty-two have been arrested to date, 17 are juveniles, 20 are males average ranging from 16 to 38 years, and 12 are females, ranging 15 to 22 years, he said. Det Dupt Cryan warned the young money mules are destroying their futures when they are caught. He also warned the proceeds of the crimes these young people are acting as agents for are used for international crimes including drug distribution and people smuggling. The Advice from the GNECB, particularly for parents, guardians, and teachers is to recognise money muling this for what it is and advise on the dangers and ramifications. By working together and reducing numbers prepared to act as money mules then we seriously reduce organised crimes capacity, said Det Supt Cryan. Parents and teachers need to know how serious this is and the ramifications for the children, and to educate their children not to act as money mules. Teachers need to be alert to the people in their classes recruiting money mules, and students need to know how they will destroy their future if they act as a money mule, he added. Up to a dozen garda vehicles attached to the Laois Offaly Kildare policing division were involved in chase in Kildare on Tuesday, it was claimed at Naas District Court. Eoin Murphy, 21, whose address was given as 28 Rosconnell Square, Newbridge, and Daniel Kelly, 23, whose address was given as 59 Cedarwood Park, Newbridge, face allegations of criminal damage of a car at Oaktree Avenue, Kildare and assault at the same location. They are respectively charged with alleged possession of a knife and a crowbar at Oaktree Avenue, Kildare. Daniel Kelly faces an allegation of dangerous driving at Great Connell, Newbridge, on March 9. Paddy McDonagh, 20, whose address was given as 136-137 Phibsboro Road, Dublin 7 faces allegations of criminal damage, assault and possessing a crowbar, all on March 9. Brigid McDonagh, 18, whose address was given as 494 North Circular Road, Dublin and Willows Gate, Naas Road, Newbridge and stated to be Patricks sister, faces allegations of criminal damage, possession of a blade and assault on March 9. Sgt Jim Kelly said the injured party suffered a broken nose and bruising and had to have stitches to his face. The criminal damage allegation refers to a car. Garda Danielle Farragher said the motive for the incident was unclear and it was being alleged that alcohol was driven to a location and a false 50 note was produced. Garda Dave Marshall said that up to a dozen garda vehicles were involved in a pursuit for a distance of 15 kilometres. He said that air support was summoned but could not be provided because of the weather conditions. The defendants were granted bail, subject to conditions and Judge Desmond Zaidan adjourned the matter. A Myanmar national living in South Korea carries a banner with image of Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a news conference calling for the recovery of Myanmar's democracy and against the military coup in front of the Myanmar embassy in Seoul, March 12, 2021. AP South Korea will grant special stay permits for Myanmar nationals on humanitarian grounds starting next Monday, amid mounting violence there following a coup last month, the justice ministry said Friday. The ministry said the measures will cover approximately 25,000 Myanmar nationals who are staying in South Korea, until conditions stabilize in the Southeast Asian country. The first summit of the leaders of the US, India, Australia and Japan on Friday will result in them announcing a historic agreement to expand the COVID-19 vaccine capacity and a key climate change initiative, according to senior officials involved in the major foreign policy initiative of the Biden administration. Known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, representatives for the four member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will attend the virtual summit, which is the first conclave of the top leaders of the Quadrilateral alliance. The four countries plan to establish a series of working groups that will focus on climate change; critical and emerging technologies, including working to set technology standards and norms and jointly developing some of the critical technologies of the future, officials said. The meeting to be held virtually on Friday is expected to last about 90 minutes, during which all the four leaders would also lay out their vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. amidst China flexing its muscles in the region. Biden, who has initiated this leadership summit of the Quad, which has been in the making since 2004, would attend the meeting from the State Dining room of the White House along with the Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and Security Advisor Jake Sullivan among others. It will be about each leader laying out a series of views on strategic issues that are important to them. We're going to talk about each of our conceptions of what we call the "free and open Indo-Pacific", a senior administration official told reporters ahead of the historic meeting. In addition to major COVID and climate initiatives to be announced, the leaders will also put in place a number of working groups in initiative, which are really all about building habits of cooperation between these countries and thickening the bonds and ties that exist already among the four strong democracies, said an official who spoke on condition on anonymity. The US, working closely with India and Japan, have put together complex financing vehicles that will allow for a very substantial, frankly dramatic, increase in the capacity to create vaccines, up to a billion by 2022. "In addition, working with all the countries in the on delivery mechanisms, on issues associated with what we call 'last mile capacity' that will allow these vaccines to be into the arms of the key people across Southeast Asia, the official said. Describing it as a historic agreement to expand COVID-19 vaccine production capacity, which will be a key deliverable for the summit, a second senior administration official said that the leaders of the four countries understand that, as long as the pandemic continues to spread, none of them are safe. Achieving global vaccination and ending the pandemic absolutely requires expanding vaccine manufacturing and delivery, and through the Quad, the leaders have identified several concrete areas where they can work together. We are in discussions, including through the US Development Finance Corporation, working with companies in India, as well as with the Government of Japan, the Government of India, obviously, and the government of Australia, with a focus of significantly increasing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines that are authorised by the World Health Organisation or stringent regulatory authorities, the official said. The summit is also expected to establish a senior level Quad vaccine expert group. The focus of this expert group will be to implement this new deliverable, but also to focus on downstream cooperation to bring vaccines to people in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, the official said Quad partners will also be taking important steps on climate change. They'll be pledging to fully implement the Paris agreement, to work together on global climate actions, and to cooperate on climate mitigation... and climate finance, the official said. The four countries also plan to establish a series of working groups that will focus on climate, on critical and emerging technologies, including working to set tech standards and norms and jointly developing some of the critical technologies of the future. Senior administration officials said Quad countries are interested, both in cybersecurity, and all of them have been subjected to cyberattacks. It is also the case that each of these countries are acutely interested in standard settings for 5G and other global technologies that are going to be critical in the 21st century, the official noted. Describing Quad as a bipartisan initiative since 2004, the official said Biden wants to put his stamp on this at the leader level and that's why he has basically summoned the capacity of the US government, to apply its strategic ingenuity on the most important challenges that are confronting them. Responding to a question, the officials said that one of the many great things about this Quad partnership is that India is already producing vaccines that are providing the rest of the world with access to vaccinations including through Covax. Some of the first vaccines that were delivered through Covax came from India...On expanding access and in manufacturing, we're looking at global benefit through expanding supply of vaccines coming out of India, the official added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ashley Singleton and Nathan Arrowsmith took a photograph together within minutes of meeting each other in 2017. The image doesnt mark the moment they fell in love, or even the first time they felt drawn to one another. That all came later. It was snapped for a mutual friend who suggested to Mr. Arrowsmith that he keep an eye out for Ms. Singleton at Georgetown University, where they were both beginning the master in business administration program. He didnt have to look far. The future couple ended up assigned to seats next to each other on the first day of class. I leaned over and said in retrospect its super creepy sounding Chad says hello, Mr. Arrowsmith said. Unfortunately, Ms. Singleton hadnt been told to expect the message. I was definitely really confused, she said. Instead of capitulating to the awkwardness of the situation, Mr. Arrowsmith explained that he also graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology and that they knew some of the same people from their time there. They decided to commemorate the encounter with a selfie and used it to let their inadvertent matchmaker know theyd met. 12 March 2021 Karelian Diamond Resources plc ("Karelian Diamonds" or "the Company") Update on migration of uncertificated shares from CREST to the Euroclear Bank system As previously announced, at the extraordinary general meeting of the Company held on 17 February 2021 ("EGM") the shareholders of the Company approved resolutions in relation to the replacement of CREST with a system operated by Euroclear Bank for the electronic settlement of trading in its Shares. In accordance with Resolution 1 approved at the EGM, on 17 February 2021 the board of directors of the Company approved the Company giving its consent to the Migration of the Migrating Shares to Euroclear Bank's central securities depository in accordance with the Migration of Participating Securities Act 2019. The requisite notifications in connection with the Migration have also been made by the Company to the Irish Companies Registration Office and Euronext Dublin. Timetable for the Migration Euronext Dublin announced on 8 March 2021 that Market Migration remains scheduled to occur over the weekend of 12-15 March 2021, in line with the indicative timetable that was included in the Company's circular to Shareholders in relation to the EGM dated 22 January 2021 (the "EGM Circular"). Euronext Dublin has advised that the 'live date' on which Migration is to take effect is 15 March 2021 and further that this date will be formally appointed by Euronext Dublin as the Live Date for Migration on 12 March 2021. Accordingly, no change is anticipated in relation to the timetable set out in the Company's EGM Circular in respect of Migration. Euronext Dublin maintains a dedicated web page relating to Market Migration (on which details of the timetable and other relevant details can be found) at the following link: https://www.euronext.com/en/migration-csd-services-for-irish-securities-crest-euroclear-bank The Company does not intend to issue any further updates on Migration as it affects the Company before Migration, save to the extent that there is a material change to the information previously provided. For further information please contact : Karelian Diamond Resources plc Professor Richard Conroy, Chairman +353-1-479-6180 Allenby Capital Limited (Nomad) Nick Athanas / Nick Harriss +44-20-3328-5656 Brandon Hill Capital(Broker) Jonathan Evans +44-20-3463-5000 Lothbury Financial Services Michael Padley +44-20-3290-0707 Hall Communications Don Hall +353-1-660-9377 http://www.kareliandiamondresources.com Note Capitalised terms used, but not otherwise defined, in this announcement have the meanings given to those terms in Part 10 of the Circular dated 22 January 2021 and sent to shareholders on 25 January 2021 and also available at News Releases and Announcements | Karelian Diamond Resources END Bhubaneswar, March 12 : A BJP legislator on Friday attempted suicide by consuming sanitiser in the Odisha Assembly over paddy procurement issues in the state. Subash Chandra Panigrahi, an MLA from Deogarh constituency, tried to consume sanitiser as a mark of protest when Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain was replying to the House on the paddy procurement issues. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha and other legislators managed to prevent Panigrahi from consuming sanitiser and recovered the toxic material from him. "I tried to consume sanitiser as the state government left me with no option. Even though the farmers' issue was raised in the House time and again, the state government did not pay heed to the plight of the farmers," Panigrahi told mediapersons. Panigrahi alleged the government has failed to resolve farmers' issues like mismanagement at mandis and token system. Earlier in the morning, the BJP MLA had threatened to commit suicide to mount pressure on the state government. During the first phase of the budget session, he had staged a protest in the House and also threatened to self-immolate if all paddy is not procured from the farmers at the earliest. Boris Johnson pictured on Friday. The UK's lockdowns, as well as the successful vaccine rollout, have seen new COVID infections plummet. (Charles McQuillan/pool/AFP via Getty Images) The UK now has one of the lowest coronavirus infection rates in Europe, the latest data suggest. Figures from Oxford Universitys respected Our World in Data website show that on Wednesday, the UK had the fifth-lowest rate of new infections 89 per one million people out of all 44 countries on the continent. It compares to the 1,436 cases per one million seen in the Czech Republic, one of the central European countries which have suffered spikes in cases in recent weeks. Europes average, meanwhile, is 259 per one million (lists with the continents five highest and five lowest infection rates are at the bottom of this page). The darker shades on this Our World in Data map indicate the European countries with the higher COVID rates per one million people. (Our World in Data) Its a marked change in fortunes for the UK, having been one of the worst-hit countries in the world with 125,343 total deaths as of Friday: the fifth-highest death toll in the world. The UK was particularly hit over the winter, when the new, more transmissible variant of the virus first discovered in Kent rapidly spread across the country. Boris Johnson, who over the autumn and winter faced strong criticism for his response to the second wave of the pandemic, eventually imposed a third national lockdown on England on 4 January. Watch: Friday's UK coronavirus in numbers That strict lockdown, as well as the UKs successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, has seen infections plummet. The first easing of restrictions happened on Monday, with schools returning and people allowed to socialise with one other person outdoors. However, Englands chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty was on hand earlier this week to deliver a trademark dose of realism. Appearing at a House of Commons committee, Prof Whitty told MPs to expect a further surge of infections later this year, with this causing significant numbers of deaths. Europe's third wave Where the UK is aiming to have lifted all restrictions by 21 June, many European countries are now facing a third wave due, in part, to the spread of the Kent variant. Story continues Germany, one of the countries which has struggled with a slow vaccine rollout, posted its biggest daily increase in cases 14,356 in five weeks on Thursday. Lothar Wieler, president of Germanys health ministry, the Robert Koch Institute, said earlier this week: I see the beginning of the third wave. Read more: The picture from a year ago that tells the story of the UKs disastrous COVID response Next COVID surge will cause significant number of deaths this year, warns Chris Whitty We have to vaccinate as soon as possible, as much as possible, strategically. Germany had a case rate of 253 per one million on Wednesday, the 28th highest in Europe. Italy, meanwhile, is imposing further restrictions following growing numbers of cases. The country was the first in the world to impose a national lockdown a year ago. Its infection rate per one million on Wednesday was 368, the 20th highest in Europe. The countries in Europe with the highest infection rates on Wednesday Czechia: 1,436 per one million San Marino: 1,355 Malta: 1,155 Estonia: 1,117 Montenegro: 1,041 The countries in Europe with the lowest infection rates on Wednesday Iceland: 6 per one million Russia: 62 Portugal: 63 Belarus: 64 UK: 89 Watch: How England is leaving lockdown Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 45 Colleges In South Carolina for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 186 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each institution 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 186 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. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-colleges-in-south-carolina/ 2021 Top Colleges In South Carolina featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Aiken Technical College Allen University Anderson University Benedict College Bob Jones University Central Carolina Technical College Charleston Southern University Clemson University Clinton College Coastal Carolina University Coker College College of Charleston Columbia International University Converse College Erskine College Florence-Darlington Technical College Francis Marion University Furman University Greenville Technical College Horry-Georgetown Technical College Lander University Limestone College Medical University of South Carolina Midlands Technical College Morris College Newberry College North Greenville University Northeastern Technical College Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Piedmont Technical College Presbyterian College Remington College Sherman College of Chiropractic South Carolina State University Southern Wesleyan University Technical College of the LowCountry The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina University of South Carolina Aiken University of South Carolina Beaufort University of South Carolina Upstate University of South Carolina Voorhees College Winthrop University Wofford College York Technical College 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/. At the Cemetery of Penance on the outskirts of Rio on Thursday, COVID-19 victims continue to be buried on the first anniversary of the day the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus to be a worldwide pandemic. "March 22 will be one year since we had the first burial from COVID here," the head of the crematorium commented, as bereaved families of a COVID victim gathered outside the facility. The state of Rio has registered 33,893 deaths since the outbreak began, according to Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the numbers continue to rise, albeit at a slower rate in the state, as compared to the rest of Brazil. New restrictions on bars, restaurants, clubs and other public places in Rio de Janeiro, announced last week, have been extended, in a bid by city officials to dampen the numbers of new cases and avoid crashing the health care system. And while a mass immunization program has started, less than 2% of the Brazilian population has received a vaccine to date, and until more people are inoculated, the pandemic will continue to rage. On Wednesday, the Pan American Health Organization issued a dire warning about Brazil, saying, "cases are rising at alarming rates in Brazil." Death rates from COVID-19 are reaching similar levels to when the pandemic began a year ago, and vaccinations are not happening fast enough to affect the numbers. But some are optimistic the end may be near to what has been a trying year for the people of Rio. "This has been a horrible time, not only for me but also for my family, my grandchildren. We are afraid, but now there is light at the end of the tunnel!" 86- year-old Adaleia Carvalhlo exclaimed at the State University of Rio, where she received her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday. At the Municipal Hospital Evandro Freire, one of the main medical facilities used to treat COVID patients in the city, some 58 new ICU beds have been added. It's an unwelcome reminder that the year-long health crisis continues to grip the country, and weary Rio residents hope the vaccines will provide the much needed relief they have spent a year waiting for. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Police and military forces in Mexico have managed to rescue a woman with U.S. citizenship held captive by the Sinaloa Cartel for more than a year. The Attorney General's Office said the U.S. citizen had been moved around to several different safe houses since she was kidnapped in Culiacan in February last year, Mexico News Daily reported. The safe houses, also located in Culiacan, allegedly belonged to the Sinaloa Cartel. Officials noted that the woman was in good health. Reports said the African-American woman, whose name was not revealed by authorities, spent 13 months with Sinaloa Cartel members. It was unclear whether the kidnappers asked relatives for ransom. According to a Vallarta Daily report, agents from the Federal Ministerial Police, Secretary of the Navy and the Criminal Investigation Agency found the woman in the first building they went into. The kidnap victim was reportedly being watched by someone identified as Oscar "G." During the rescue operation, only one firearm shot was fired, and three suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel were arrested. Aside from Oscar "G," the Prosecutor's Office identified the other arrested members of the Sinaloa Cartel as Luis "C," and Ericka "Q." READ NEXT: Mexican Border State Cops Kidnapped Teens for Cartel, Investigators Say Cartels' Kidnappings in Mexico Kidnapping in Mexico has been on the rise since 2005, which is largely triggered by the drug trades and an increase in the number of criminal gangs, according to a World Nomads report. Authorities said the drug cartels are choosing kidnappings to get high volume, low reward income compared to long-term hostage-ransom incidents. Last September, two men in Texas were kidnapped by Mexican Gulf Cartel members and took them to Mexico, where they were tortured for days and forced their relative to pay for a seized drug load, Breitbart News reported. The two men experienced being tied up and being beaten with wooden boards. The Gulf Cartel released the victims after days of being held captive. They returned to Texas, and it remained unclear if their families paid the ransom. Last May, four individuals were also reportedly kidnapped in the border city of Progreso for a $500 debt owed to a commander in Mexico. The state of Coahuila has become known to be the center of the kidnapping crisis in Mexico due to the huge presence of organized crime in the area. It accounts for 42 percent of the country's abductions, according to a DW report. Families in Coahuila have become part of search operations doe with local police and investigators. "In Coahuila alone, authorities have 120,000 human remains and only 20 of them have been properly identified," Grace Fernandez of civil group FUNDEC said in the report. Fernandez noted that these remains are rarely identified since there is a lack of means and trained professionals to carry them out, and the labs are usually occupied. Humberto Guerrero, who handles human rights at the research center Fundar, said there have only been 12 sentences handed down in over 37,000 missing persons' cases. Guerrero believed that officials' collusion and active participation in the said crimes could result in a low conviction rate. READ MORE: Mexican Beauty Queen Among Those Arrested in Kidnap Gang WATCH: Mexican Cartels' Kidnapping Tactics - From Stratfor A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested and may face hate crime charges for assaulting a Filipino-American woman while riding the Caltrain in San Jose, California on Wednesday morning. Mercury News reported the incident as being a sexual assault. The woman sent an exclusive video from the scene of the incident. What happened: The woman, 26, who requested to be identified only as Tiffany, took the Caltrain at San Joses Diridon Station on Wednesday at around 6:30 a.m., according to KTVU. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The medical worker was on her way to work in Palo Alto when a man suddenly approached her and grabbed her neck from behind. He reportedly pulled her hair back and started cursing at the woman for her Asian ethnicity. He made his way to the back of my head and just pulled me back and tossing me from front to back and side to side," the woman recalled the assault. Tiffany began screaming when the man forced her to the ground and started tossing her back and forth. He was saying f-u, f-u Asian, this is completely bull," she said. All while he was keeping me on the ground with his grip on my hair." Bystanders came to her rescue and yelled at the man to stop the assault. He attempted to run away from the scene. The woman was not injured physically, Victoria OBrien, Caltrain Deputy Director of Safety and Security, told KTVU. Aftermath: One of the bystanders who witnessed the assault stayed by the suspect until authorities arrived to arrest him. I hope that we as a community help stop all the violent racial crimes against us, the Filipino American victim told NextShark. That even shouting out at the person assaulting can make a huge difference in saving a life. No one deserves to go through what Ive gone through or all those that were assaulted. To not be afraid to call law enforcement because they are there to help and protect us. The suspect was taken to the Santa Clara County jail. Although police have already identified the man, they have yet to release a formal picture and name of the suspect. Do you have a hate incident to report? Help us document the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans by going to STOP AAPI HATE to report an incident. Please stay safe out there. Feature Image via Tiffany Story continues Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! Man Ordered to Pay Ex-Wife for Housework in Landmark Divorce Case in China Japanese-Ghanaian Aisha Harumi Tochigi is Crowned Miss Universe Japan 2020 Tony Hsieh Was Trapped in Storage Unit During Fatal Fire, Died of Smoke Inhalation, Police Say Teen Calls Out Instagram for Policy Negligence, Starts Campaign to Make Instagram Safer 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. Subway was established in Connecticut more than 50 years ago by a teenager looking for a way to pay for his education to become a doctor. In 1965, Fred DeLuca received a loan of $1,000 from a family friend, Peter Buck, to start a submarine sandwich shop, according to the company's website. Buck became DeLuca's partner, and they opened the first Pete's Super Submarine in Bridgeport. The shop's name later changed to Subway in 1968. The company has been headquartered in Milford, but on March 12, it was announced that Subway's new CEO is moving some corporate staff to an office in the Miami-area. READ MORE: New Subway CEO moving some Milford HQ jobs to Miami Check out some more things you may not know about Subway. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. During a speech reassuring Americans that the pandemic could be nearing its end in this country, President Joe Biden on Thursday promised that all U.S. adults will be eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by May 1. His remarks came on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 to be a pandemic. Biden said his administration's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill is about to shore up the U.S. economy, the pace of vaccinations is rapidly accelerating, and COVID-19 death rates are dropping nationwide. Americans are on track to return to some sort of normalcy by July 4 as long as they get vaccinated and do not prematurely abandon mask wearing, social distancing and other measures to contain the spread of the virus, he predicted. "July 4th with your loved ones is the goal," he said. But, "just as we were emerging from a dark winter into a hopeful spring and summer is not the time to not stick with the rules," Biden noted. "This is not the time to let up." To back up his promise, Biden started with a requirement that all states act by May 1 to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated. The administration had already announced last week that it would have enough doses for every adult by the end of May. Biden said Thursday that Americans should expect to get in line for a vaccine by May 1. He said the federal government would also create a website that would allow Americans to search for available vaccines, make the vaccine available at more pharmacies, double the number of mass vaccination sites and certify more peopleincluding dentists, paramedics, veterinarians and physician assistantsto deliver shots into arms, The New York Times reported. "I'm using every power I have as president of the United States to put us on a war footing to get the job done," Biden said. The speech followed Biden's signing of the stimulus package, known as the American Rescue Plan, into law, the Times reported. The legislation will send federal funds to individuals, states and struggling businesses. Among its many other provisions, the plan provides some $130 billion to assist in reopening schools. Nursing home residents can hug their loved ones again After nearly a year of painful isolation, the U.S. government said Wednesday that vaccinated nursing home residents can hug their loved ones again and enjoy more indoor visits. The new guidance, issued by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), comes after coronavirus cases and deaths among nursing home residents have plummeted in recent weeks as the country's vaccination rollout accelerated. "Now that millions of vaccines have been administered to nursing home residents and staff, and the number of COVID cases in nursing homes has dropped significantly, CMS is updating its visitation guidance to bring more families together safely," Dr. Lee Fleisher, chief medical officer at the CMS, said in a statement. Nursing homes have borne the brunt of the pandemic's pain, representing about 1% of the U.S. population but accounting for 1 in 3 deaths, according to the COVID Tracking Project. But coronavirus hasn't been the only thing this vulnerable population has suffered through: Loneliness and isolation have contributed to physical and mental declines, officials say. "There is no substitute for physical contact, such as the warm embrace between a resident and their loved one," the CMS stated in its new guidance, "Therefore, if the resident is fully vaccinated, they can choose to have close contact [including touch] with their visitor while wearing a well-fitting face mask and performing hand hygiene before and after." The CMS also said that maintaining 6 feet of separation is still the safest policy, and outdoor visits are preferable even when residents and visitors have been vaccinated. "All of us feel enormous relief that we are at this next juncture and feel confident that reopening visitation can be achieved safely, given all we have learned during the pandemic," Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, which works to improve care for older adults, told the Associated Press. "A great deal more has been learned about infection control, and families and facilities are ready." Under the new guidance, homes in counties with high rates of COVID-19 can still have indoor visits, provided they take precautions. When an outbreak occurs at a facility, it doesn't have to go on lockdown for 14 days. Visits can still happen as long as the outbreak is isolated to an area or unit of the facility. Compassionate care visits should be allowed at all times, the guidance said, even if there's an outbreak or a resident is unvaccinated. The nursing home industry said it is ready for the change. "This is the right thing to do," said Katie Smith Sloan, president of LeadingAge, which represents nonprofit facilities, told the AP. "Federal policy now reflects the real progress that has been made in vaccinating nursing home residents and staff." New guidance gives vaccinated Americans more freedom New social distancing guidance released by the federal government on Monday gives fully vaccinated Americans more freedom to socialize and move through their communities. As of Friday, more than 64 million Americans had received their first shot, while over 33.8 million had gotten their second jab, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said people who are two weeks past their final shot can safely visit indoors with unvaccinated members of a single household at low risk of severe disease without wearing masks or social distancing. That recommendation would free many vaccinated grandparents who live near their unvaccinated children and grandchildren to gather for the first time since the pandemic began a year ago. The CDC also said fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with those who are also fully vaccinated, and they do not need to be quarantined or tested after exposure to COVID-19. "We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an agency news release. "There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in their own homes. Everyoneeven those who are vaccinatedshould continue with all mitigation strategies when in public settings." Some restrictions were still advised, even for the vaccinated. For example, if a vaccinated person lives in a group setting and is around someone with COVID-19, he or she should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even without symptoms. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development, welcomed the new guidelines, but added they have been too long in coming. "The sooner we move to telling people if you're fully vaccinated, you don't have to wear masksthat will be an incentive for people to get vaccinated," Hotez told the Washington Post. The level of caution people need to exercise should be determined by the characteristics of those who are unvaccinated in a social setting, the CDC said. For instance, if a fully vaccinated person visits an unvaccinated friend who is 70, and therefore at risk of severe disease, the visit should take place outdoors, with masks and physical distancing, the guidance says. A global scourge By Friday, the U.S. coronavirus case count passed 29.3 million while the death toll passed 530,000, according to a Times tally. On Friday, the top five states for coronavirus infections were: California with over 3.6 million cases; Texas with more than 2.7 million cases; Florida with over 1.9 million cases; New York with more than 1.7 million cases; and Illinois with over 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 over 11.3 million by Friday, a Johns Hopkins University tally showed. Brazil had nearly 11.3 million cases and nearly 273,000 deaths as of Friday, the Hopkins tally showed. Worldwide, the number of reported infections passed 118.6 million on Friday, with more than 2.6 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. Tevin Crockett was convicted a decade ago by a non-unanimous jury of murdering a man in Baton Rouge at the age of 15, and was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without parole. Benefiting from later U.S. Supreme Court rulings that struck down automatic life without parole sentences for juvenile killers and split-jury verdicts in criminal cases, Crockett pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter in the 2009 killing and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. +5 Supreme Court's ruling on non-unanimous juries could force retrials in Baton Rouge Jace Crehan, Jimeelah Crockett and David Bueso shared something in common heading into last week: Each had been convicted of second-degree mur Under a deal between his attorney and the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office, Crockett's manslaughter sentence will run concurrently with a 50-year prison term he received in the 2009 case on a unanimous armed robbery conviction -- meaning his sentence is capped at 50 years. Crockett's attorney, Kristen Rome with the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights, said in court that he should be parole eligible after serving 25 years of his sentence. Because state District Judge Christopher Dassau gave Crockett, now 27, credit Thursday for the 12 years he has served in jail since his 2009 arrest, Rome is hopeful that Crockett, of Baton Rouge, will have a parole hearing in another 13 years. "Tevin was a kid and we're happy to resolve this," Rome said after court. Prosecutor Tracey Barbera said outside the courtroom that she agreed to the manslaughter plea in lieu of a retrial on the second-degree murder charge and a full-blown sentencing hearing if Crockett had been found guilty again on that charge. Barbera said the family of Theodore Lange, the victim in the April 2009 killing at the Brandywine Condominiums, was consulted and agreed with the plea deal. 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 BR man, 18, found guilty in 09 slaying An 18-year-old Baton Rouge man is awaiting sentencing on Sept. 30 following his conviction in the 2009 slaying of a 57-year-old man and robber "I'm glad we resolved this," she said before Crockett left the courtroom. Lange, 57, entered the Brandywine complex to buy drugs when Crockett fatally shot him during an attempted armed robbery. Crockett was found guilty of robbing another man at gunpoint at the Darryl Drive complex. "I was a kid, a juvenile," Crockett said Thursday to Dassau, who inherited the case after being elected to the 19th Judicial District Court last year. Crockett's co-defendant, Rondale Simpson, previously pleaded guilty to armed robbery and manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was 16 at the time of the offense. A year after Crockett was convicted by a 10-2 vote, the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 in an Alabama case that automatic life terms without the possibility of parole for juvenile killers are unconstitutional and said they are entitled to hearings to determine whether they're capable of reform. The high court then decided in 2016, in the case of a 17-year-old boy who fatally shot an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriffs deputy in 1963, that its ruling should apply retroactively. The justices last year used a New Orleans case to declare split-jury verdicts unconstitutional. Crockett's lawyer said he would have been entitled to a new murder trial under that ruling. Researchers at UCL have solved a major piece of the puzzle that makes up the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism, a hand-powered mechanical device that was used to predict astronomical events. Known to many as the world's first analogue computer, the Antikythera Mechanism is the most complex piece of engineering to have survived from the ancient world. The 2,000-year-old device was used to predict the positions of the Sun, Moon and the planets as well as lunar and solar eclipses. Published in Scientific Reports, the paper from the multidisciplinary UCL Antikythera Research Team reveals a new display of the ancient Greek order of the Universe (Cosmos), within a complex gearing system at the front of the Mechanism. Lead author Professor Tony Freeth (UCL Mechanical Engineering) explained: "Ours is the first model that conforms to all the physical evidence and matches the descriptions in the scientific inscriptions engraved on the Mechanism itself. "The Sun, Moon and planets are displayed in an impressive tour de force of ancient Greek brilliance." The Antikythera Mechanism has generated both fascination and intense controversy since its discovery in a Roman-era shipwreck in 1901 by Greek sponge divers near the small Mediterranean island of Antikythera. The astronomical calculator is a bronze device that consists of a complex combination of 30 surviving bronze gears used to predict astronomical events, including eclipses, phases of the moon, positions of the planets and even dates of the Olympics. Whilst great progress has been made over the last century to understand how it worked, studies in 2005 using 3D X-rays and surface imaging enabled researchers to show how the Mechanism predicted eclipses and calculated the variable motion of the Moon. However, until now, a full understanding of the gearing system at the front of the device has eluded the best efforts of researchers. Only about a third of the Mechanism has survived, and is split into 82 fragments - creating a daunting challenge for the UCL team. The biggest surviving fragment, known as Fragment A, displays features of bearings, pillars and a block. Another, known as Fragment D, features an unexplained disk, 63-tooth gear and plate. Previous research had used X-ray data from 2005 to reveal thousands of text characters hidden inside the fragments, unread for nearly 2,000 years. Inscriptions on the back cover include a description of the cosmos display, with the planets moving on rings and indicated by marker beads. It was this display that the team worked to reconstruct. Two critical numbers in the X-rays of the front cover, of 462 years and 442 years, accurately represent cycles of Venus and Saturn respectively. When observed from Earth, the planets' cycles sometimes reverse their motions against the stars. Experts must track these variable cycles over long time-periods in order to predict their positions. "The classic astronomy of the first millennium BC originated in Babylon, but nothing in this astronomy suggested how the ancient Greeks found the highly accurate 462-year cycle for Venus and 442-year cycle for Saturn," explained PhD candidate and UCL Antikythera Research Team member Aris Dacanalis. Using an ancient Greek mathematical method described by the philosopher Parmenides, the UCL team not only explained how the cycles for Venus and Saturn were derived but also managed to recover the cycles of all the other planets, where the evidence was missing. PhD candidate and team member David Higgon explained: "After considerable struggle, we managed to match the evidence in Fragments A and D to a mechanism for Venus, which exactly models its 462-year planetary period relation, with the 63-tooth gear playing a crucial role." Professor Freeth added: "The team then created innovative mechanisms for all of the planets that would calculate the new advanced astronomical cycles and minimize the number of gears in the whole system, so that they would fit into the tight spaces available." "This is a key theoretical advance on how the Cosmos was constructed in the Mechanism," added co-author, Dr Adam Wojcik (UCL Mechanical Engineering). "Now we must prove its feasibility by making it with ancient techniques. A particular challenge will be the system of nested tubes that carried the astronomical outputs." ### The discovery brings the research team a step closer to understanding the full capabilities of the Antikythera Mechanism and how accurately it was able to predict astronomical events. The device is kept at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The UCL Antikythera Research Team is supported by the A.G. Leventis Foundation, Charles Frodsham & Co. and the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. The team is led by Dr Adam Wojcik and made up of Professor Tony Freeth, Professor Lindsay MacDonald (UCL CEGE), Dr Myrto Georgakopoulou (UCL Qatar) and PhD candidates David Higgon and Aris Dacanalis (both UCL Mechanical Engineering). China in Focus (March 11): CCP Pandemic Marks One-Year Anniversary Its the one-year anniversary of when the World Health Organization labeled the virus outbreak a pandemic. NTD looks back on how Beijings response impacted the outbreaks timeline. The Chinese Communist Party describes its definition of patriotism. The meaning in a communist system marks a departure from what the word conveys in the West. NTD looks back to Chinas history for a lesson on what to do when faced with tyranny. A top Chinese official admits China has a serious unemployment problem. He says one in every seven have no stable income. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China. For more news and videos, please visit our website 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. Americans are reportedly leaving their homes and going out more than they were before the pandemic, the Washington Post reports based on recent cell phone data. Cell phone movement, which shows when the device is moved more than one mile away from someone's home, was tracked by researchers at the University of Maryland, and they found it was higher the first week in March of this year compared to last year. Depending on location, the number of daily trips one was higher by at most 13.6 per cent compared to this time last year. In states like New York, 36 per cent of the population was currently staying home each day, which was higher than the national average and higher than pre-pandemic levels. But that state was an outlier compared to other areas across the United States. Many states including Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, and Tennessee showed just 24 per cent of the population staying home currently. Mississippi was one state that has lifted its coronavirus restrictions as more residents access a vaccine, which could be encouraging people to go out more. Nationally, about 26 per cent of the population was staying home and people were taking an average of 3.75 trips per day out of their home. This time last year, 21 per cent of the population was staying home but people were only taking an average of 3.47 trips per day. Quarantine fatigue one year after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic could likely be one reason why more Americans have decided to leave their homes each day. "We've been through a long winter and a lot of [Covid] cases," Mofeng Yang, the lead researcher on the Maryland Transportation Institute project, told the Washington Post. "People might want to escape from their homes." Fatigue wasn't just being seen based on people's current movements, but also in how Americans would currently describe their mental health. In a survey conducted by CNBC and SurveyMonkey, they found that 53 per cent of American women reported mental health problems that have caused burnout in their workplace due to the strain of the pandemic. Reasons why women could be feeling this burnout higher than men could be because females tend to take on more of the household work, which was likely adding to some strain as more people remain in their homes for extended periods of time. Also, women report experiencing a lack of fairness in the workplace, something that has only further increased during the pandemic. Public health experts have implored Americans to hang on a little bit longer as more and more of the public receives a coronavirus vaccine. "Just be prudent a bit longer. We are going in the right direction, we're almost there," Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading health expert, said earlier this week. The CDC and Biden administration have called on state officials to temporarily halt rolling back coronavirus guidelines at a time when the decline in cases across the US appears to be stalling. "There is so much that's critical riding on the next two months," CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky told the National League of Cities on Wednesday. "How quickly we will vaccinate versus whether we will have another surge really relies on what happens in March and April." Washington: A Catalan translator has been removed from the task of translating the poem written and performed by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman at US President Joe Bidens inauguration because he did not fit the profile, according to AFP. The move by Barcelona publisher Univers marks the second instance of backlash in Europe against a white person being chosen to translate The Hill We Climb by Gorman. American poet Amanda Gorman recites a poem during the Inauguration of US. Credit:AP Translator Victor Obiols told AFP on Thursday (AEDT) that Univers had commissioned him last month to translate Gormans work into Catalan, a language spoken in Spain and Andorra. After he completed the job, the publishing house informed him that he was not the right person, he said. They told me that I am not suitable to translate it, Obiols told AFP. They did not question my abilities, but they were looking for a different profile, which had to be a woman, young, activist and preferably black. Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) The need for movement restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a transition towards digital banking. More Filipinos have turned to online fund transfers instead of ATM transactions when the enhanced community quarantine was imposed in March 2020. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier reported a 25 percent increase in online bank transactions for the first one and a half months of the ECQ, compared to 45 days before strict stay-at-home rules took effect. Recognizing this shift in customer behavior, the BSP late last year approved a new set of rules for fully online banks or those that accept deposits and fund transfer requests as legitimate entities even if they do not have brick-and-mortar branches. Following the release of the banking industry framework, a digital-only bank based in Singapore sought to launch in the Philippines. Digital bank UNObank is currently working with regulators to obtain its license to operate in the Philippines and is on a mission to help bring unbanked Filipinos into the formal banking system. Financial inclusion is a big challenge in the Philippines, UNObank founder Manish Bhai told CNN Philippines New Day on Friday. Fifty million people are unbanked, so making banking available to the unbanked or bringing innovative products and solutions - which are simpler and more competitive to those who already have bank accounts - is a very exciting and eventful journey, he added. Helping UNObank realize its goal is a global financial technology (fintech) company, Backbase, with their Asia Pacific hub in Singapore. Providing a digital-first engagement banking platform to financial institutions, Backbases digital-first strategy stems from a focus on the customer experience. This includes addressing the various issues and pain points throughout the customer banking journey to help banks create better digital customer experiences. We believe that a one-single platform that we are bringing to the table should be able to do four things - delight customers of banks, empower the employees of banks, orchestrate a lot of value from an ecosystem perspective and finally, digitize these operations, Riddhi Dutta, regional head for ASEAN and India at Backbase, said in an interview on New Day. Riddhi also shared that there are opportunities for incumbent banks to work together with fintech firms to leverage each others skillsets and niche. This allows banks to have better operation efficiency to stay much more agile while focusing on customers needs. At the end of the day, we want to make a difference to the way people are banking and the way people are doing their financial transactions, he added. Students who were waiting to be moved from remote learning to in-person classes have already made the switch, Talley said in his message. Families who had to send their children to other schools or were assigned a new teacher because their home school could not accommodate them will have the option of returning to their normal school and teacher, he said. One of the few dairies allowed to make Stilton said it has lost 20% of its online turnover overnight due to Brexit. Hartington Creamery at Pikehall, Derbyshire, has said that the paperwork needed to send orders to the European Union was too expensive to make business with the EU viable. Simon Spurrell, the director of Hartington Creamery, said each parcel, pallet or container of Stilton required a veterinary surgeon certificate costing 180 per destination while each order costs only 30, which he said meant there was absolutely no way the dairy could continue with their online sales to the EU. Mr Spurrell said the costly paperwork, which he first came across in January after having 60 parcels returned from the EU with no explanation, would stifle his profits. About 20% of our overall online turnover was with the EU, he said. Weve had that completely and utterly wiped off overnight. He called the situation very upsetting and said it came as a total surprise. The cheese has Protected Designation of Origin status and by law, blue Stilton can only be produced in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Mr Spurrell has said, however, that sales have surged in the US and Canada, but shipping costs to these countries were expensive. A trade deal agreed just before Christmas also saw the dairy get its first Canadian shipment. A spokesperson from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said: We continue to work closely with traders and there is extensive advice available to support businesses as they adjust to the new arrangements. It is vital that traders ensure their exports have the correct paperwork to comply with new animal and animal product checks when they cross the EU border. Mr Spurrell is now looking at future models for his international business, with options either being to create a distribution warehouse in the EU, or to focus on the US market. The expensive certificates have also affected Mr Spurrells ability to sell barrels of cheese - traditionally known as truckles - directly to consumers in the EU. Spurrell said his company sold 180,000 worth of truckles to countries across Europe last year and had forecasted a 40% rise in sales this year due to investment in multi-lingual websites. Dylann Roof is the white supremacist who killed nine African-Americans while they were studying the Bible at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The Obama Justice Department prosecuted Roof. In doing so, it had to decide whether to seek the death penalty. Vanita Gupta, then the acting assistant attorney general, recommended against seeking the death penalty. However, the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, overruled Gupta. The legal issue was whether, in Roofs case, extenuating factors outweighed aggravating ones. In making her recommendation, Gupta argued that, somehow, they did. The argument was preposterous. This is clear from the statement Loretta Lynch issued after Roofs conviction. She accurately described the facts as follows: Roof conceived of his goal of increasing racial tensions throughout the nation and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African Americans had committed against white people. To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African Americans because of their race. An essential element of his plan, however, was to find his victims inside of a church, specifically an African-American church, to ensure the greatest notoriety and attention to his actions. As alleged, Roof set forth the evening of June 17, 2015 to carry out this plan and drove to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, known as Mother Emanuel. Mother Emanuel was his destination specifically because it was a historically African-American church of significance to the people of Charleston, of South Carolina and the nation. On that summer evening, Dylann Roof found his targets, African Americans engaged in worship. Met with welcome by the ministers of the church and its parishioners, he joined them in their bible study group. The parishioners had bibles. Dylann Roof had his 45 caliber glock pistol and eight magazines loaded with hollow point bullets. And as set forth in the indictment, while the parishioners of Mother Emanuel were engaged in religious worship and bible study, Dylann Roof drew his pistol and opened fire on them, ultimately killing nine church members. (Emphasis added) Roofs mass murder spree wasnt just premeditated. Apparently, it was re-meditated. Roof said that the Blacks at the church were so welcoming to him that he reevaluated whether to kill them. He decided, again, to do so. There is no plausible argument that extenuating factors outweigh aggravating ones in Roofs case. To conclude that they do would plainly contradict the view that Black lives matter. Im not saying that Gupta believes that Black lives dont matter. Her leniency recommendation wasnt animated by insufficient regard for Black lives. Rather, it was the product of her opposition to the death penalty. But this opposition does not excuse the recommendation. Gupta had options other than making ridiculous legal arguments against seeking the death penalty for Roof. She could have recused herself from the matter, on the grounds that her ideological opposition (or religious opposition, if that was the case) precluded her from recommending the death penalty even if the applicable law called for its imposition. That would probably have been the most honorable thing to do. I imagine, though, that Gupta felt she couldnt disengage from such a high profile case. Indeed, at her Senate confirmation hearing this week, she claimed credit for Roofs conviction and death penalty sentence occurring on her watch. Alternatively, Gupta could have recommended against the death penalty on policy grounds. The recommendation would have fallen on deaf ears because the law, not Guptas policy preferences, govern the matter. But at least the reasoning would have been intellectually honest. Finally, Gupta could have argued faithfully to the law. In that case, she would have reached the only plausible conclusion that the DOJ should seek the death penalty for Roof. Gupta rejected all of these options. She chose instead to stand on an embarrassing memo recommending against the death penalty for a white supremacist who wanted to trigger a race war by mass murdering Blacks at a church. And now, Gupta claims credit for the mass murderer getting the death sentence. The Senate should reject Guptas nomination to be associate attorney general, the number three job at the DOJ, because (1) she recommended leniency for Dylann Roof based on the view that extenuating factors outweighed aggravating ones in the premeditated massacre of Blacks at a church and (2) she tried to mislead the Senate about the matter. We bet on Israel, and were glad we did, because what youve done here exceeds anything we could have imagined, said CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla in a March 11 interview with Israels N12 news agency. He was explaining why Pfizer chose Israel to serve as the pilot for his companys international vaccine distribution project. It has a relatively small population and a health-care system that collects data efficiently. In fact, the successful nationwide campaign turned a small country in the Middle East into a global leader, when it comes to the percentage of the population that has already been vaccinated against the coronavirus. But there is a problem. At the start of the month, the nationwide infection rate was 1, while the infection rate in the Arab public reached 1.17. Thus, most of the towns still marked red by the traffic light model now being used come from the Arab sector. On March 23 just a week and a half away Israel will be holding its fourth election in just two years. For the Arab public, which is mostly Muslim, the really important date will be sometime in mid-April when Ramadan begins. This is when people gather in large groups for the iftar meal to break the daily fast, for special prayers in the mosques and for spending time with family and friends until the wee hours of the morning. What will happen during the month of Ramadan obviously depends on the success of the vaccination campaign over the next few weeks. Especially since Israel now starts emerging from the lockdown. The more people who get vaccinated, the greater the chances of really celebrating Ramadan, especially when compared to last year after the pandemic first erupted. Back then, celebrations were necessarily curtailed, because of the many restrictions, which included a nighttime curfew. Mosques were closed and the festive iftar meals were limited to the immediate family. Nevertheless, many people in the Arab public have been unwilling to get the vaccine for a number of reasons. These include a sense of distrust in the authorities, the dissemination of fake news about the vaccine itself and apathy (or just tiredness) toward the pandemic, especially when compared to the first few months of the coronavirus outbreak. On the other hand, none of this justifies the fact that the rate of inoculation in the Arab population is lower than it is among the Jewish one. While people all around the world are waiting for the vaccine, in Israel vaccines are waiting for people, especially in the Arab towns and villages. Because vaccination rates are so low, clinics dispensing the vaccine have begun giving shots to young people, even though the available vaccines were earmarked for older people first. So what is expected for Ramadan this year? Ziyad Abu Mukh, head of the Interior Ministry's Muslim desk, told Al-Monitor, We will prepare a list of guidelines for Ramadan, which is fast approaching. We plan to release them to the media and on social networks. It should be remembered that for the spread of the virus, mosques could become a problematic spot due to the high number of worshippers during Ramadan. Two weeks before Ramadan begins, we will decide what steps to take, after looking at the rate of infection and the percentage of people who already received vaccinations. We will meet with the Ministry of Health and decide on the guidelines together. When asked whether closing the mosques like last year was an option, he responded that he did not think that would happen, given the vaccination campaign. We appeal to worshippers in the mosques every Friday and ask them to get vaccinated. This year the mosques could be kept open during Ramadan in accordance with the guidelines. These will likely include social distancing between worshippers, compulsory face masks and limits on the number of worshippers in attendance. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health already started putting together its own guidelines for Ramadan, based on the assumption that the infection rate will remain in the same range as it is today, despite efforts to increase the rate of vaccination in the Arab sector. In practical terms, the ministry does not anticipate a nighttime curfew like last year. On the other hand, iftar meals will still be limited to the immediate family and prayers will be held outdoors, with access to the mosques limited to people who have a green tag, meaning that they have been vaccinated or have recovered from the disease. Furthermore, movement at the crossing points with the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be limited. One of the most pressing questions is what will happen at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Given the volatility of the site, a decision about it has yet to be made. There are too many considerations that must be taken into account. The Health Ministrys spokesman for the Arab public, Zahi Saeed, told Al-Monitor, The vaccination rate in the Arab population is about 20% less than the Jewish population. Fifteen people died of the coronavirus on Wednesday [March 10], of whom eight were Arabs. In fact, most severe cases now in the hospital are from the Arab sector. Apathy toward the vaccination campaign is very disconcerting. That is why we are working on guidelines for Ramadan that will emphasize celebrating the iftar meal with the immediate family only and result in fewer interactions between people. At the same time, it is important to remember that we are also under intense political pressure. To tell you the truth, it is quite possible that this pressure will impact our final decisions. Asked what particularly worries him, he answered, The whole situation is worrying, even though the overall vaccination rate in Israel is very impressive. What we must not forget is that people in the PA have yet to be vaccinated, and the crossing points are open, weddings are allowed and they [Israel] are about to reopen the airport. Taken together, all of this could cause the infection rate to rise again. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to online closing. Fannie Mae saw eMortgage volume $38.8B in the first half of 2020, a nearly 1500% growth rate over full year 2018 volume of $2.7B. Additionally, JetClosing service partner, Notarize, saw a 700% increase in online notarizations in the months following the pandemic. JetClosing is positioned to leverage this shift to online transactions, as well as increased consumer demand for convenient, mobile eClosing solutions to track and do everything remotely. "Anna brings a deep understanding of customers, how to scale teams and deliver innovative technology products to the market, which is critical as JetClosing continues to be an industry disruptor," said Geoff Entress, Managing Director of PSL Ventures and Co-Founder and Director, JetClosing. "JetClosing is poised to become an impactful company in the title & escrow industry for the long term." "I'm incredibly jazzed to join the JetClosing team," said Collins. "JetClosing is changing the way customers have experienced title & escrow for the past 150 years and we are on a mission I believe in to make eClosings the norm for everyone from anywhere, any time." Since founding in 2016, JetClosing has several notable achievements: Closed $5.5B in home value in home value Licensed in 7 states with $5B revenue opportunity revenue opportunity Launched 3 product lines: Resale, Refinance, iBuyer Partnered with over 2,000 real estate agents About JetClosing JetClosing is the leading digital title and escrow company for real estate transactions. Through its innovative platform, JetClosing provides unprecedented transparency, security, and efficiency throughout the home closing process. With a presence in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, JetClosing's team of veteran title professionals and technology leaders is expanding nationwide to provide digital title and escrow services to buyers, sellers, agents, lenders and borrowers. To learn more, visit www.jetclosing.com . About PSL Ventures PSL Ventures is a Seattle-based venture capital fund that invests in early-stage technology companies, primarily based in the Pacific Northwest. PSL Ventures is a part of Pioneer Square Labs, which also operates a startup studio to create and launch new companies with local founders. For more information, visit www.psl.com. SOURCE JetClosing Inc. Related Links jetclosing.com Lawmakers announced Thursday that they are reintroducing hate crime legislation in an effort to mitigate the ongoing pandemic racism Asian Americans have long been confronting. The legislation, spearheaded by Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, would equip law enforcement with added support to address hate crimes related to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement provided to NBC Asian America, Hirono said the act would address the surge in violence directed toward the Asian American community. Weve seen the horrifying consequences of racist language as AAPI communities across our country experience hate crimes and violence related to the pandemic, Hirono said. The bill also provides resources for communities to come together and fight intolerance and hate. This is no less than victims deserve. The legislation would dedicate an official at the Department of Justice to review and prioritize hate crimes reported to federal, state and local law enforcement. It also would issue guidance for state and local law enforcement to establish online reporting of hate crimes and incidents in multiple languages, expand public education campaigns that are both culturally competent and linguistically appropriate, as well as collect data on hate crimes. In addition to law enforcement support, the act would call on the secretary of health and human services, the Covid19 Health Equity Task Force and community-based organizations to make a coordinated effort in issuing guidance and best practices to mitigate the discriminatory and racist rhetoric being used to describe the coronavirus pandemic. According to a report released earlier this month, hate crimes decreased overall last year, but those targeting Asian Americans increased by nearly 150 percent in major cities. New York City and Los Angeles observed particularly large surges. Researchers noted the initial spike in anti-Asian hate crimes occurred in March and April last year, coinciding with a rise in Covid-19 cases and ongoing negative associations of Asian Americans with the virus. Story continues Meng previously introduced similar hate crime legislation last May, proposing a DOJ point person to provide oversight of Covid-19-related hate crimes. She explained that she updated the provisions of this reintroduced act based on the communitys need for education and empowerment. It follows the memorandum that President Joe Biden signed in January that denounced the discrimination directed at the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The lawmaker said the act would build on the memorandum, which issues guidance on how the Justice Department should respond to the heightened number of anti-Asian bias incidents. Meng called Bidens attitudes toward the Covid-19 racism in comparison to the previous administrations as night and day. The lawmaker who also spearheaded a House resolution last year that demanded the condemnation of all forms of racism and scapegoating and called on public officials to denounce any anti-Asian sentiment has been outspoken in calling out how dismissive both former President Donald Trump and certain members of the Republican Party, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of California, have been toward both the violence and concerns about the racist China virus rhetoric. During last year's debate on the floor over the resolution, McCarthy, who has been frequently criticized for potentially endangering Asian Americans by using China virus rhetoric, opposed the measure, saying, "I will promise you this: There is no kitchen in America that thinks this is the priority. President Biden has demonstrated his leadership on this issue when he unveiled the presidential memorandum to address anti-Asian hate that has spiked since the outbreak of Covid-19, as well as actions to promote racial equity in Covid-19 response, Meng said. These acts of hate and discrimination have been nonstop since over a year ago. I look forward to continue working closely with President Biden on addressing the meteoric rise of anti-Asian hate and other issues. 21 Shares Share This has been a very difficult year. COVID-19 has rampaged the country, worked hospitals to their breaking point, torn families apart, and kept families apart. The grief seems never-ending. At the beginning of 2020, we watched in horror at the destruction in Wuhan, China, and Italy. We could not fathom what was happening over there, with mandatory quarantines, over-filled hospitals, freezer trucks, and body bags because of insurmountable casualties. Global air travel became restricted. Cruise lines came to a halt. And then COVID-19 made its way into the U.S. What we had seen on television, from YouTube videos and news articles from across the world, became a reality something we thought would never happen here. Words and phrases like wear a mask, social-distancing, and stay at home became the norm. Perhaps the most tragic of all the consequences of this virus has been the no-visitor policy at hospitals. Most hospitals have instituted a strict no-visitor inpatient policy, applying to many outpatient clinics as well. The rationale behind these policies is to protect all parties, minimizing person capacity in these enclosed areas; as we know, this virus is mainly person-to-person spread via respiratory droplets. Depending on individual hospital policy, typically, patients in the emergency department can be allowed one visitor. If they were transported via an ambulance, no visitors are allowed if any aerosolizing procedures are being done (i.e., CPR). This is to protect both the health care workers and family members. Once a patient is admitted to a floor, there is a strict no-visitor policy unless it is a parent/guardian for a patient who is a minor, support for a patient in labor, or end-of-life/goals-of-care meeting. Aside from that, we have Zoom calls, FaceTime, Skype calls, and phone calls if the service is offered. Even when calls are arranged, technical and logistical difficulties can make these calls near impossible. It is scary enough for a patient to have an urgent condition that requires hospitalization. It is even scarier when you have to go through that process alone in an unfamiliar environment, let alone if a patient has a disability, does not have the means to use a personal cell phone, does not speak English, and on and on. The number of times I have seen patients struggle because they do not have a cell phone, do not know how to operate one, cannot reach an outlet to charge their phone because they are bedridden, cannot speak due to a breathing tube, are innumerable. Families often wait every second of every day for an update from the medical team regarding their family member in the hospital. Typically, they should expect a phone call once a day regarding overall updates, but even that can be scarce when hospital staff is stretched then, with staff being sick, on quarantine, or overworked. Whether those additional calls are made between patients and their families depends on their department, staffing available, and local policies on who facilitates those calls. Nurses are often quite busy going from patient-to-patient, taking care of timely nursing orders and all other staff have their own responsibilities. But everyone has had to lean into their compassion at times, sparing whatever time they may have or not have, to facilitate some of this communication between patients and their families. My heart hurts for every family who has to go through a family member being hospitalized amidst this pandemic. I cant imagine how frightening and emotionally taxing it must be to wait for updates on their loved ones, with uncertainty if additional communication can be arranged by way of video or phone calls with staff assistance. As a medical student, I can attest to the joy of families on the other line when I call regarding patient updates, taking the time to explain a condition, lab finding, or share with the family some progress that their loved one has made. While delivering bad news is difficult, families still nevertheless appreciate the time spent explaining the situation to easily understand and have a clear picture of what is going on. It has been my privilege as a student-doctor to take care of patients, be present, listen to them, hear their concerns, encourage their spirit, and connect them to their families. I think it is important to ask the question, What can I do for you? to each and every patient, as well as family members, when applicable. This helps identify pertinent needs and can help prioritize patient care. At times, it may be something completely unrelated to medical care, be it paperwork, nursing services, phone calls, getting a patient water, a warm blanket. However, all of this is encapsulated under practicing good medicine. Medicine is not all about prescribing the right medications and getting to a definitive diagnosis and treatment for a patient. It is about taking care of all of a patients needs and connecting them to the right providers and services if you do not have access to the appropriate resources. This is of utter importance with changes that have resulted from COVID-19 precautions. Before the pandemic, there would always a be a family member by a patients side, being the eyes and ears of the patient in terms of listening to all the doctors as they round. They knew what medications have been given and when and keeping track of everything that may be too much to handle for a patient. Doctors and specialists used to speak to both a patient and family member when in a patient room; now it is just with the patient with maybe a family member on speakerphone, and the family receives a summary of all that has been said and done in a day at a later point in time. Overall, I believe that this generation of student-doctors is being trained under the most extenuating of circumstances, and we will be better prepared to serve our patients, knowing how the smallest of gestures can shift the paradigm on how we approach patient care. There are things that I and many others have seen, stark realities, that cannot be unseen. Tears shed for unnecessary sacrifices and dilemmas. What drives me to push forward in the face of this unrelenting virus is for a better day, where families can once again be with one another, laugh and rejoice with one another, and grieve with one another, together. Until then, we must continue this fight, social distancing with due diligence, wearing masks, and fighting the greater fight for a brighter future. Linda Nguyen is a medical student who blogs at Medium. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. This initiative is to connect and support people who have undergone a kidney transplant, dialysis patient and also to create awareness among the public about dialysis Rela Hospital and Prof Mohamed Rela have announced the launch of South Chennai Dialysis Support Group, a health equity initiative, focused on addressing access of information, care and support for diverse families living with kidney diseases. This initiative is to connect and support people who have undergone a kidney transplant, dialysis patient and also to create awareness among the public about dialysis, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and other treatments incidental to kidney diseases. This group renders support through regular meeting and campaign which will be taken across hospitals in future. South Chennai Dialysis Support Group will have a steering committee of doctors from different specialties ranging from nephrologists to urologists to renal transplants who are experts in kidney disease research and care to guide this health equity initiative. Rela Hospital is proud to launch South Chennai Dialysis Support Group. Going beyond treatments, they believe that support groups for patients dealing with kidney disease are an important need. In addition to providing medical knowledge through their experts, they are enabling patient-to-patient collaboration and exchange of information. Spread the word! It's a space for people with kidney conditions to feel connected informed and empowered. Speaking at the launch, Prof Rela said, What makes this initiative different is our focus on creating action-oriented, meaningful, and measurable change for the dialysis community in the near-term. We want to put interventions in place to reach people before they show up in the emergency room with kidney failure. This initiative also focus on this years theme Living well with Kidney diseases. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Where is mass testing, tracing, and isolation one year on: Pangilinan SENATOR Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Friday said it will take more than the newly-imposed uniform curfew in Metro Manila and the presence of the police to rein in the coronavirus infection which is on the rise anew. "Mag-iisang taon na ang kung ano-anong CQ o lockdown. Nakita na natin ang epekto. Hindi nakokontrol ang pagkalat ng sakit ng pag-aresto at lalung-lalo na ng pagkulong sa mga quarantine violators kung walang mass testing, contact tracing, at isolation," Pangilinan said. "Kailangan natin ng mga solusyong galing sa mga eksperto sa public health, hindi yung mga eksperto sa baril o giyera. Kailangan natin ang kamay na ma-aruga ng mga doktor, nurse, contact tracers at vaccinators, hindi kamay na bakal. What we need are the caring hands of healthcare workers not the iron fist of armed men," he added. The Metro Manila Council recently announced that it will impose a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in the capital region starting March 15 in an effort to control the spread of the infection. Police personnel are being eyed to patrol communities again to enforce health protocols. The Philippine National Police has also warned against making public displays of affection as it could spread the virus. Pangilinan said the year-long government experience with Covid control should inform the next steps, including the vaccine roll-out. "Today feels like March 2020 all over again, with the spike in Covid cases and the slow vaccine roll-out," Pangilinan said. "Ilan na ba ang na-test? Paano yung mga walang pambayad ng test? Has the much-touted 10 million tests by the first of quarter of 2021 been achieved? What's our data on contact tracing? Has it been effective? How is our vaccine procurement, delivery, and administration going?" he asked. According to Malacanang, the Philippines has vaccinated at least 114,000 people out of its 70 million target this year. To reach its target, the Philippines would need to vaccinate nearly 229,000 people a day until end of year 2021, said Edson Guido of the ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team. As of March 11, the country posted 3,749 new cases for a total of 607,048. A total of 12,608 have died of Covid. A CONVICTED sex offender who failed to tell gardai when he changed address left the hostel he was staying at because his wife was being racially abused, a court has heard. Patrick Toner (57) was legally obliged as a registered offender to notify gardai of where he was living and made a mistake when he neglected to do this, his defence said. He had felt he and his wife had to move because of the abuse she was getting. Judge Bryan Smyth fined him 250 at Dublin District Court. Toner, of St Marys Place, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to failing to notify gardai of a change of address under the Sex Offenders Act between September 25, 2019 and January 29 last year. A garda sergeant said Toner, who was a registered sex offender, moved to an address at Emmet Road, Inchicore, in April 2019 and left on September 25 that year. Breakdown He lived at various addresses before moving on to accommodation in the city centre last October, the sergeant said. Toner had been obliged to notify gardai of his new address within seven days and failed to do so. He had 10 previous convictions, the court heard. The accused was a married father of two adult children and was in receipt of disability payments, his barrister Donal Pattison said. Toners wife had suffered racial abuse at the hands of other residents in the hostel they were staying in, he said. He felt they had to leave and move out, Mr Pattison said. In addition, members of Toners family had died during this time. The accused himself had suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised given everything else that was going on in his life. Mr Pattison asked the judge to be as lenient as he could in the circumstances and to consider the offence a slip. There was a lot happening in his life, he said of the accused. The milestone year of record-giving reflects unique emergency response efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to increased need, Smithfield expanded donations through Helping Hungry Homes , the company's signature hunger-relief initiative which proudly partners with Feeding America and its network of food banks across the U.S. to alleviate hunger year-round. Donations of nourishing protein products and cash to Feeding America amounted to over 68 million food servings and accounted for more than $62 million of the company's total 2020 giving. "As Smithfield continues to work overtime to safely maintain America's food supply amid a pandemic, our company has been fortunate to be in a position to not only continue our philanthropic giving, but to significantly increase our efforts to help our local communities endure extraordinarily difficult times," said Stewart Leeth, chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. Smithfield's ongoing charitable initiatives program contributes millions of dollars in cash and in-kind donations each year. Given the unexpected circumstances of 2020, Smithfield's total philanthropic giving figure amounts to several times the company's historic and projected annual contributions. To increase support for Feeding America and the millions of people facing hunger as a result of the pandemic, in April Smithfield announced its largest donation commitment in company history: 10 million pounds of protein to food banks across America, the equivalent of 40 million food servings. The commitment, a more than $30 million value, was fulfilled by the end of September. "Even before COVID-19, hunger impacted every community in our country. Unfortunately, the pandemic has been increasingly burdensome for our neighbors who live paycheck to paycheck," said Blake Thompson, chief supply chain officer for Feeding America. "We are thankful for Smithfield's generous donations in times of both calm and crisis that help our network of food banks provide meals to communities in need." Since 2008, Smithfield's signature Helping Hungry Homes initiative has provided more than 212 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs in all 50 states. In March 2020, Smithfield launched the "Good Food Challenge", a COVID-19 response fund and public call-to-action to raise awareness of Feeding America's ongoing crisis-relief efforts. In another COVID-19 emergency response effort, last June, Smithfield donated personal protective equipment (PPE), including 115,000 face shields valued at nearly $700,000, to frontline healthcare workers in nursing homes and hospitals across the nation fighting the pandemic and hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes and face shields to more than 10,000 students in North Carolina. In fall 2020, Smithfield pledged $5 million in grants and scholarships to reinforce its corporate commitments to education and diversity, equity and inclusion. Expanded outreach efforts include partner initiatives supporting: The North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) to fund wireless hotspots for students in rural areas and address long-term internet access solutions for underserved communities. Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) to promote a diverse K-12 student pipeline interested in food, agriculture and natural resource careers. The Heritage STEM Camps Foundation (HSCF) to fund a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) summer camp empowering young minority women ages 12-18 in the Mid-Atlantic region. An Achievable Dream (AAD) to support equity in education and provide resources to public-school districts in underserved communities in Tidewater Virginia . To complement these outreach initiatives internally, in 2020 Smithfield also expanded its long-time scholarship program, committing more than $1 million in educational scholarships to children and grandchildren of U.S. employees. The program, which presently includes several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), will be expanded to include additional HBCUs to further support Smithfield's diversity and inclusion efforts. Smithfield encourages employees to volunteer and donate to these and other local causes they are passionate about year-round. More information about Smithfield's ongoing commitment to helping communities is available here. To join Smithfield in support of Feeding America visit: www.smithfieldfoods.com/goodfoodchallenge. About Smithfield Foods, Inc. Headquartered in Smithfield, Va. since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Our 40,000 U.S. team members and 14,000 European employees are dedicated to producing "Good food. Responsibly." and have made us one of the world's leading vertically integrated protein companies. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including many industry firsts, such as our ambitious commitment to cut our carbon impact by 25 percent by 2025. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to our neighbors in need. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield, Eckrich and Nathan's Famous, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. SOURCE Smithfield Foods, Inc. Related Links www.smithfieldfoods.com An ongoing probe into the Capitol riot is expected to be "one of the largest in American history," prosecutors have said as they reveal plans to charge about 100 more suspects. U.S. attorneys in Capitol riot cases on Friday sought 60-day delays due to the large amount of evidence and defendants, and prosecutors write that "the investigation and prosecution of the Capitol attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence," Politico reported. The evidence prosecutors pointed to includes over 15,000 hours of surveillance and body cam footage, while authorities are also in the process of reviewing 210,000 tips and 80,000 interviews with witnesses, according to Politico. Prosecutors called this "likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice." More than 300 people have so far faced charges in connection with the riot, during which supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on the day Congress was meeting to certify the 2020 presidential election results. According to ABC News, federal prosecutors also said in a court filing Friday that the government "expects that at least one hundred additional individuals will be charged," adding, "the number of defendants charged and the volume of potentially discoverable materials will only continue to grow." More stories from theweek.com 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Andrew Cuomo's political peril The invisible president? The 2 most surprising nominations at the 2021 Oscars Namaste Trump: Five things you need to know about Sabarmati Ashram PM gifted copy of Gandhi's speech about need to make India 'Atmanirbhar': Sabarmati Ashram trust India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Ahmedabad, Mar 12: The Sabarmati Ashram trust on Friday gifted Prime Minister Narendra Modi a framed copy of a page from Mahatma Gandhi's 1919 speech where he talks about the need to make India "Atmanirbhar" (self-reliant). PM Modi, in recent times, has often stressed the need for economic policies aimed towards Atmanirbhar Bharat'. The Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust which manages the century-old Ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi here found a speech by Gandhi where the term was used. "In October 1919, Gandhiji gave a speech at Bhagini Samaj, Mumbai. In that speech, he stressed the need for making India Atmanirbhar. We framed a copy of that part of the speech and gifted it to the PM during his visit today," said trustee Kartikeya Sarabhai. PM Modi all set to address Global Ayurveda Festival today The exact words used by the Mahatma in the Hindi speech were: "Hindustan ko Atmanirbhar hona sikhna hi hoga (India must learn to be self-reliant)." The speech referred to the benefits of the charkha or spinning wheel which could be a source of income for women. "There is no other occupation in which millions of women can engage while staying at home. It does not call for much intelligence. India must learn to be self-reliant. "When India produces brave men and women, we shall become self-reliant," Gandhi further said in the speech. PM Modi launches ''Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav'' celebrations He went on to say that satyagraha needs more courage than that needed for using arms, and if the nation could show that bravery, "we shall be free right away." PM Modi visited the Ashram before launching Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav', the government's initiative to mark 75 years of India's Independence. Incidentally, in his speech later, the prime minister said that India's 'Atmanirbhar' approach of development will give momentum to the development journey of the world. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 20:49 [IST] Simon Cowell walks over 40 miles a week to help him recover from breaking his back in an electric bike accident last year, it was revealed on Friday. In August, Simon was rushed to hospital to undergo six hours of surgery after breaking his back in an electric bike accident, forcing him to cancel all his planned TV work for the rest of the year. But now the music mogul, 61, is determined to do everything he can to ensure he makes a full recovery, including walking for several hours a day and holding business meetings at 9AM so that he no longer lives like a 'vampire'. Impressive: Simon Cowell, 61, walks over 40 miles a week to help with his recovery after breaking his back in an electric bike accident, it was revealed on Friday (pictured last week) Of his new fitness regime, a source told MailOnline: 'Simon said how he hasn't worn trainers as much as this in 20 years. 'He feels fitter than ever before and is keeping to a normal routine rather than being on the phone until into the early hours of the morning.' The source also added that Simon would return to America's Got Talent at the end of March to film the new series. Injury: In August, Simon was rushed to hospital to undergo six hours of surgery after the accident, forcing him to cancel all his TV work for the rest of the year (pictured in April 2020) Adding to this, The Sun also reported that Simon was set to start filming the reality competition show as a source said he was excited to be back A source told the publication: 'Simon cant wait to get back to doing what he loves. Hes been focused on his return for months.' Last year, sources claimed Simon was considering legal action against the manufacturers of his electric bike after breaking his back. The TV mogul and his team were said to be 'weighing up' legal options and have been 'pressing' the manufacturers, Swindon Powertrain. Road to recovery: The music mogul is determined to do everything he can to ensure he makes a full recovery, including walking several hours a day and holding business meetings at 9AM One lawyer claimed that a successful lawsuit could see Simon get up to 10million for medical bills and loss of earnings, The Sun reported. Last year, a whistleblower from the manufacturers reportedly claimed the 20,000 electric bike an 'accident waiting to happen' due to Simon's lack of training. He told the publication: 'It should never have been sold to Simon without him being taught how to use it.' The former employee claimed the Swind EB-01 bike, which can reach up to 60mph and is banned on public roads in the UK, should not be used without specialist training. Healthy: A source told MailOnline: 'He feels fitter than ever before and is keeping to a normal routine rather than being on the phone until into the early hours of the morning' The source continued: 'I said to my boss, "Are you showing Simon how to use this?" He said he was just dropping it off and I said, "Are you serious?"' The X Factor boss' team were said to be studying the claims made by the former employee and are 'pressing the manufacturers' about the safety of the bike. A spokesperson for Simon told MailOnline at the time: 'Simon is understandably extremely concerned for other peoples' safety in relation to this bike. 'We have been pressing the manufacturers about this and will continue to press them, including in relation to the claims of the former member of staff.' Back to work! The source added Simon will return to America's Got Talent at the end of March (pictured in March 2020 with Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Terry Crews, and Sofia Vergara) A spokesperson for Manufacturers Swindon Powertrain told MailOnline: 'With any device, it is important to read the user manual before attempting to operate, acknowledged by Mr Cowell himself. 'The EB-01 user manual includes a detailed process of how to familiarise oneself with the performance features and procedures to follow.' They added that they are 'in contact with Mr Cowell's aides to progress this', noting, 'the company has acted in good faith at all times.' Simon broke his back in August after falling from his electric bike, leaving him forced to undergo a six-hour surgery to try and fix the injuries. Time to recover: Simon's injuries and ongoing recovery saw him sit out of the resumed 2020 series of Britain's Got Talent after it returned following England's first lockdown The accident occurred when the powerful machine 'flew up in the air and did an accidental wheelie' after he tried to change gears. The music boss is thought to have been 'surprised by the power' of the bike and knew immediately that he 'was in trouble'. Following the accident, Simon tweeted: 'Some good advice... If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time.' He went on: 'I have broken part of my back. Thank you to everyone for your kind messages.' He then added in a second tweet: 'And a massive thank you to all the nurses and doctors. Some of the nicest people I have ever met. Stay safe everyone Simon.' His injuries and ongoing recovery saw him sit out of the resumed 2020 series of Britain's Got Talent after it returned following England's first lockdown. Last year, Simon's BGT colleague Amanda Holden confirmed he'd be back to work filming the new series later this year, telling the Loose Women panel: 'He is, Mr Cowell is coming back. 'I spoke to him on the phone a few weeks ago and he feels on top of the world and apparently he looks fantastic as well. So he'll be back for the new season which we're filming in January. I can't wait for it.' A sex offender and a prison gang member were arrested in a 48-hour period as they tried to cross the border illegally, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. The first case occurred on Monday morning, when agents assigned to the Laredo West Station detained three immigrants who attempted to enter the country illegally. One immigrant was identified as Rene Becerra-Esparca, 32, a Mexican citizen. A records check revealed that Becerra-Esparca had been convicted in 2008 for sexual assault. (Natural News) 4/7/20 Update: Several hours after publishing this article, Twitter deleted Greenmedinfo, an account with13 years of good standing. We believe this was coordinated and in direct retailation for us calling out CCDH for publishing a digital hitlist as reported below. Read our latest report here: Twitter Deletes GreenMedInfos 13-Year Old Account after Calling Out CCDHs Digital Hit List (Article by Sayer Ji republished from GreenMedInfo.com) An organization calling itself The Center for Countering Digital Hate, has published a digital hit list of ten health freedom advocates, including Greenmedinfo founder Sayer Ji and his wife Kelly Brogan, MD, calling for their canceling/deletion from social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. In the past few days, censorship across the natural health and health freedom community has ramped up, including the deletion of our Greenmedinfo.com Instagram account (for the second time), the functional disabling of both our Sayer Ji and Greenmedinfo Youtube channels, and the deletion of Kelly Brogan, MD and the National Vaccine Information Centers professional Facebook accounts. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the increased targeting, silencing and vilification of those individuals and organizations who reference open source, evidence-based data which call into question the presumed safety and effectiveness of the experimental mRNA COVID vaccines and/or advocate for natural and safer alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions, in general. Facebook has removed the NVIC, another page spreading vaccine misinformation run by Barbara Loe Fisher. But Facebook has allowed the NVIC to carry on spreading misinformation on @Instagram, which it owns.@Facebook it's time for action across your platforms. pic.twitter.com/McU6B6tR9z Center for Countering Digital Hate (@CCDHate) March 3, 2021 [Note: clearly someone at CCDH cant count, as this is a list of 11 and not 10 anti-vaxxers.] In response to the CCDHs twitter post above, we asked the following question: Youve posted what appears to be a digital hit list. Do you not see anything ironic about this considering your brand is countering digital hate? An hour later, the Greenmedinfo.com Twitter account which has been in good standing for 13 consecutive years was deleted without reason, nor recourse. Feel free to leave your own comments or questions to the CCDH Twitter post as well. Some of the more appreciated ones can be viewed below. Center for Countering Digital Hate linked to UK and American Spy Agencies, according to Dr. Mercola. According to a revealing expose published by Dr. Mercola (hitlist member), titled, Spy Agencies Threaten to Take Out Mercola, the CCDH is part of a campaign by British and American intelligence to eliminate anti-vaccine propaganda from public discussion using sophisticated cyberwarfare tools. Dr. Mercola writes, According to Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, anti-vaxxers are an extremist group that pose a national security risk, because once someone has been exposed to one type of conspiracy its easy to lead them down a path where they embrace more radical world views that can lead to violent extremism Among the websites cited by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate as promoting extremism that poses a national security risk to the U.K. are Mercola.com, Childrens Health Defense, the Informed Consent Action Network, the Organic Consumers Association and the National Vaccine Information Center. According to an article first published on Off-Guardian written by Iain Davis titled,Inside The Center For Cancel Culture And Digital Hypocrisy, Part 1, the CCDH is using the anti-vaxx label and propaganda to sow division and animosity within the public: CCDH vaccine propaganda is focused upon polarising opinion. This fake division is created through CCDH disinformation. Like many propagandists before them, they deal in inaccurate, empty generalisations. They hope to convince their consumers that anyone who ever questions a vaccine must be a nutter. The same dross was recently promulgated the UK Conservative Prime Minister. By misleading people that there is no scientific basis for some vaccine scepticism, nor any legitimate concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy, the CCDH are creating fake social divisions in the hope of building real ones. In order to achieve this aim, the CCDH assert that anyone who asks any questions about vaccines is driven by hate and is therefore an extremist who threatens public health, ultimately posing a threat to national security. They are creating the ludicrous, fake bogeyman of the public health terrorist. The alleged anti-vaxxer as subhuman, a vile, hateful extremist. They are other. Johnson thinks anyone who questions vaccines is a nutter, unlike him The CCDH propaganda narrative on vaccines is part of a wider slew of nonsense which underpins government efforts to censor the internet and freedom of speech. In the UK we were due to get our first clear sight of the legislative censorship grid with the arrival of the Online Harms Bill. As I pointed out in a previous article titled, Vaccine Extremism, Hate Speech, and the Well-Beaten Path Towards Genocide, the rhetoric organizations like CCDH are engaged in promulgating, characterized by dehumazing, hateful and even violent messages targeting those exercising their basic human and health rights, bear concerning resemblance to previous phases of human history marred by genocide. The call to end discussion and to silence/cancel individuals who ask questions or present information that counters or challenges the media, corporate, or government narratives is highly concerning if there is to be any hope for the freedom of speech in the future. Join our Telegram channel here: https://t.me/sayeregengmi Dr. Mercola has written an excellent article on the CCDHs campaign to shut down our vocies here: Dr. Mercola Defamed by Digital Anti-Hate Group. Read more at: GreenMedInfo.com and Lies.news Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 23:57:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- Inspired by China's prominent achievements amid the pandemic and heartened by the country's new development blueprint, observers worldwide believe China's resolution to achieve modernization through high-quality development will definitely promote world prosperity. -- China has avoided the "trap" of a dilemma between safeguarding health and beefing up the economy, and its strategy "has resulted in overcoming the health crisis inside China and at the same time protecting its economy." -- China has always put the people first during its development, increasing their benefits, ensuring that the people are their own masters and supporting development in an all-round way. by Xinhua writer Dong Yue BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- In the past few days, China's annual "two sessions" have attracted much global attention, with the international community watching closely where the world's second largest economy is heading and what impetus it will generate for global development. Inspired by China's prominent achievements amid the pandemic and heartened by the country's new development blueprint, observers worldwide believe China's resolution to achieve modernization through high-quality development will definitely promote world prosperity. ACHIEVEMENTS AMID PANDEMIC During the annual sessions of the country's top legislature and political advisory body, China reviewed its achievements and experience in coordinating epidemic control and economic development, which observers believe will inject confidence into the global fight against the deadly pathogen. The country became the only major economy that registered positive growth last year, with its gross domestic product (GDP) increasing by 2.3 percent year on year to cross the 100-trillion-yuan (about 15.40 trillion U.S. dollars) threshold, while its imports and exports of goods expanded 1.9 percent. People work at a workshop of Harbin Dongan Automotive Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) In 2020, all of China's nearly 100 million impoverished rural residents living below the current poverty line cast off poverty after eight years' efforts. China has demonstrated its ability to cope with unexpected challenges facing the world, said Andrei Vinogradov, head of the Center for Political Studies and Forecasting at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies under the Russian Academy of Sciences. "China's victory in eradicating absolute poverty is a major achievement ... This experience is of global importance," Vinogradov said. Women of the Miao ethnic group make clothes at a workshop in Huawu Village in Bijie City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu) China has avoided the "trap" of a dilemma between safeguarding health and beefing up the economy, and its strategy "has resulted in overcoming the health crisis inside China and at the same time protecting its economy," said Pelagia Karpathiotaki, a Beijing-based researcher at China's University of International Business and Economics. Praising the Chinese people's dynamism in fighting the pandemic, Bernard Dewit, chairman of Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said "this can be a model for the rest of the world, because despite being severely hit by the pandemic, they could overcome it and even go further with growth, with improving the situation of its population." China has displayed the "generosity spirit" of international cooperation in its global anti-virus efforts, said Munir Akram, president of the UN Economic and Social Council. HIGH-QUALITY DEVELOPMENT During the "two sessions," China set its goals for 2021 and adopted the country's development blueprint for the next five to 15 years, which, with an emphasis on high-quality development, are expected to bring fresh opportunities to the pandemic-battered world. China aims to expand its GDP by over 6 percent year on year in 2021, with more efforts on reform, innovation and high-quality development, according to the government work report. The growth target shows "the determination and confidence of the Chinese government to promote sustained economic recovery to the world, and China will continue to boost the world economy," said Tursunali Kuziev, a professor at Uzbek University of Journalism and Mass Communications. In the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period and beyond, high-quality development will remain the theme for China's economic and social development, and it concerns the overall situation of the country's socialist modernization drive. Customers visit a duty-free shop in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng) At the same time, the country will implement opening-up policies in a wider scope and broader areas and at a deeper level, and better participate in international economic cooperation. The goals for 2021 and the blueprint for economic and social development over the next five years "are impressive," said Jeffrey Sachs, an economics professor at Columbia University and a senior UN advisor. "They aim for sustainable development, based on reduced pollution, resource efficiency, scientific and technological advance, expanded education, and improved quality of life," Sachs said. Visitors learn about an automatic aircraft on display at an exhibition during the "China 5G + Industrial Internet Conference" in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Nov. 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min) According to the blueprint for its development in the next five to 15 years, China will accelerate forging a new development paradigm of "dual circulation," in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other with the domestic market as the mainstay. "'Dual circulation' puts a parallel emphasis both on domestic and international circulation. A high-level opening-up certainly serves this end, brings win-win outcomes both for Chinese and multinational companies," said Jochen Goller, chief of BMW Group Region China. PEOPLE-CENTERED APPROACH For observers, the annual "two sessions" provide them with an opportunity to decode China's enormous successes and better understand its democracy. China has always put the people first during its development, increasing their benefits, ensuring that the people are their own masters and supporting development in an all-round way. From the massive poverty alleviation campaign and the handling of the pandemic, to the development blueprint and goals that aim to meet people's aspiration for a better life, China has shown that its modernization involves not only a remarkable increase in economic production capacity, but also comprehensive targets to improve people's well-being. Nurses administer COVID-19 vaccines to drivers and conductors of the Shenzhen Bus Group Co., Ltd. at the health service center of the Xiameilin community in Futian District, Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian) China's poverty alleviation campaign is "the work of a nation committed to its people," according to Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club. Describing China's response to the pandemic as "first class," Perry said no other country could get thousands of doctors and nurses to Hubei, once the hardest-hit province in China, within days. "As soon as the Chinese government knew about the severity of this epidemic, they moved the priority to saving lives," Perry said. Meanwhile, the agendas of the "two sessions" have demonstrated that China's democracy features an extensive collection of public suggestions, thorough discussions and a gradual formation of consensuses. Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies, said that the "two sessions" present a window on how China efficiently builds consensuses for its development strategies and goals. "I think the consensus-building process is just as hard, but it's more efficiently conducted in China," Gupta said. "You have so many delegates from the provinces and from local levels at the 'two sessions' showing ... how broad and wide that consensus is," Gupta said. (Video editor: Liu Xiaorui) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. An enormous brood of black cicadas is getting ready to emerge from beneath the earth for the first time in 17 years. Should Staten Island brace for an infestation of buggy red eyes and deafening chirps? Not exactly, experts say. Though some area naturalists plan to hunt down members of the expected Brood X in Staten Islands wooded areas this spring, New York City isnt actually due for a 17-year resurgence of its own flying, buzzing Brood 2 cicadas for several more years. The Brood X insects that have been gnawing on underground tree roots since 2004 are expected to show up later this month in more southern regions of the country. Also known as the Great Eastern Brood, it is expected to be one of the largest in recent history with billions of insects predicted to surface, according to PestWorld.org. Residents of the Washington, D.C., area, Maryland and Virginia will be overwhelmed with them in late spring hosting more cicadas than any of the 14 states expected to share the experience, according to a University of Connecticut cicada mapping website. But, locally, not so much. Its overplayed here in NYC, said Cliff Hagen, president of Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, Staten Islands largest environmental organization. Its going to be a huge deal down in D.C. and Baltimore and parts of Long Island. Staten Island isnt due for a large infestation until 2030 17 years from the last event, when Brood 2 took over the Island with incessant flying and buzzing. Then, we have to worry, said Hagen, whose organization boasts more than 1,000 members. Thats the one that overwhelms us. The insects come out when the temperature is 64 in the soil two feet down, Hagen said. Then, something is triggered, and they tunnel up, crawl into a tree and go through their final metamorphosis. They mate, lay their eggs, and then they die. Back in 2013, the great cicada gathering took Staten Island by storm in late spring, but was pretty much over by early July. By then, massive numbers of females had already laid their eggs in tree branches, and the daylong sounds of buzzing were beginning to die down. By late July, the nymphs drop, burrow underground and begin the process of chewing tree roots for another 17 years. This year, not much cicada activity is predicted, except for the annual arrival of the dog day harvestflies, a species of cicadas that show up on the Island around July 4. That one has a shorter lifecycle, Hagen said, and their unique chirping sound has come to signal the start of summer here. Its a comforting sound, he said. Theyre very common throughout the summer. Yet, Hagen and his naturalist contemporaries are still a bit eager about the arrival of Brood X, he said. Some of his peers insist they saw and heard them on the Island 17 years ago though not in the overwhelming numbers we can expect from Brood 2. Were going to go out and look for them, Hagen said. Were excited. The Protectors will be searching in late May for cicadas deep within the Islands wooded parks, particularly some older growth parks on the South Shore, he said. You dont necessarily see them, you hear them, he said. I wasnt out last time, but Im looking forward to it this year. Its a matter of curiosity, a matter of knowing. Armie Hammer has been dodged with numerous scandals in the past year after years of a successful Hollywood career. Now, the 34-year-old "Call Me By Your Name" star is being described as a "disgraced actor" following cannibalism, BDSM, abuse, and over-all a "scary person," as per one of his exes. Paige Lorenze spoke to Vanity Fair about their four-month courtship and even claims how Hammer made her feel unsafe. As per Lorenze, Hammer made some rules for the things she can and can't do. Hammer also reportedly had a list of people who can and can't come over. "He told me that I couldn't have anyone else in my bed. And then I just started to feel unsafe and sick to my stomach about things. I was also emotionally dependent on him." Lorenze also claimed that she decided to break up with the A-lister via text message because "you never know what you're going to get with him. He's a scary person." In January, Paige Lorenze told Page Six that she and her then-boyfriend engaged in some knife play and even claimed she had bruises on her body several times while Armie Hammer expected her to show them off. READ ALSO: Armie Hammer Scandal: Disturbing Item Left Behind After Actor Moves Out of LA Home "I said, 'How am I supposed to see other people when I have bruises?' He said, 'That's the point.' I think it was a part of marking and branding." Armie Hammer Affair Before filing for divorce in July 2020, Armie Hammer's then-wife Elizabeth Chambers reportedly found proof that he had an affair with one of his co-stars. A close friend of Chambers told Vanity Fair that Hammer cheated on Chambers after their first son, Ford, was born in January 2017. In the last three years, Armie Hammer starred in movies such as "Home Shopper," "Sorry to Bother You," "Hotel Mumbai," "On the Basis of Sex," "Wounds," "Query," "Rebecca," We Are Who We Are," "Crisis" and "Death on the Nile." Many speculate that his "Rebecca" co-star Lily James because of the previous rumors about their alleged relationship. Chambers and Hammer attended family therapy, but the final straw was when Hammer decided to flee the family during a pandemic. Hammer even reportedly mistakenly sent a naughty text to his wife, which was meant for someone else. An insider revealed to Vanity Fair that the scandal is attributed to Hammer's "very dry sense of humor." Because of the scandal, Armie Hammer lost a few projects, including his supposed movie with Jennifer Lopez. READ MORE: Armie Hammer Guilty: 'Call Me By Your Name' Star New Charges Come to Light Amid Scandal See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles The Eagle: A Times Union Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Exactly one year ago this week, the coronavirus pandemic changed the Capital Region as many knew it. The next four weeks are crucial to framing the 2021 Budget. In the Premiers absence, Mr Merlino will chair Cabinet and also meetings of the Expenditure Review Committee which is responsible for laying out the major themes of the Budget and weighing competing requests of government departments and agencies. Loading He also hopes to represent Victoria at National Cabinet meetings but Victoria must first secure the support of the Prime Minister and other state leaders who have previously denied acting premiers access to the nations peak COVID-19 decision-making forum. The pandemic is still dominating Victorias policy agenda, with the states mothballed hotel quarantine system and proposed, alternative arrangements at Avalon and the vaccine roll-out at the top of the list of urgent matters to be resolved. How will the government function without Mr Andrews? At the very least, its inner workings will feel and look different. Where Andrews tends to focus Cabinet discussions by making clear his views from the outset, Mr Merlino is likely to invite more discussion and brook more dissent. Where Mr Andrews, a Premier in his seventh year, has continuity in all key policy areas, Mr Merlino will need to be quickly brought up to speed before puts his signature to any substantial initiatives. Government sources predicted the tempo of decision-making will slow and where possible, some decisions will be parked. One government insider said Mr Merlino should consider relinquishing his portfolio responsibilities in education and mental health to enable him to focus his full attention on being Premier. Government sources said Mr Merlino would not relinquish his portfolios but likely delegate some of his policy responsibilities. He will also work predominantly from the Premiers first floor office in Treasury Place instead of his own office on the third floor. Mr Andrews is not completely incapacitated. He will expect to be consulted on and influence major policy decisions. His chief of staff Lissie Ratcliff and her deputy Jessie McCrone will ensure communications are kept open between his recovery bed, Mr Merlino and senior ministers. Mr Merlino has declared the government will proceed as normal and he would continue to speak regularly to the Premier. However, due to the nature of his injuries, Mr Andrews will be flat on his back and under the influence of pain killing medication. Anyone who has experienced a serious back injury will understand how difficult this makes it to use a computer, read lengthy materials in hard copy and do work of any kind. This could create a tension between the political instincts of a workaholic Premier and the rest required for his recovery. If it gets to the point where Mr Andrews needs to be told for his own health to stop working, the task will likely fall to Ms Ratcliff, his most trusted staff member. As one government insider told The Age: She will certainly have that short straw. The most powerful arms of a highly centralised state government bureaucracy -- the Premiers Private Office and the Department of Premier and Cabinet -- have been directed to support Merlino and provide continuity of administration. This means that 60-odd staff within the PPO and the media advisers attached to all other ministers will answer to Mr Merlino. ABC psephologist Antony Green says there are historic cases of acting premiers and prime ministers serving in those roles for many months. Former Victorian premier William Watt served as acting prime minister for 16 months. George Pearce was acting prime minister for seven months in 1916 when Billy Hughes made the sea voyage to England to press Australias interests in WWI. At the end of the war, when Hughes returned to Europe, William Watt, a former Victorian premier, filled in as PM for 16 months. There are also instances when state premiers have resigned their commission due to a forced absence of parliament and been sworn back in on their return. NSW premier Neville Wran followed this course in 1983 while the Street inquiry investigated and ultimately cleared him of any involvement in perverting the course of justice. Tasmanias long-serving premier Robert Cosgrove stepped down in 1947 after he was charged with bribery and corruption. He returned as Premier two days after his acquittal. For the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on The Bahamas' vital tourism sector, and the shutdown of the cruise industry has been felt greatly. The return of Crystal Serenity is exceptionally positive news that will benefit many tourism-dependent businesses on multiple islands, from straw market artisans, to shops and restaurants, excursion and tour operators, taxi drivers and more. "The Bahamas is ready and delighted to welcome cruise visitors back to the islands and to partner with Crystal Cruises in the effort to restore and help re-activate our tourism industry and protect jobs and businesses," said Bahamas Minister of Tourism & Aviation Dionisio D'Aguilar. "Crystal Cruises will go on record as the only cruise line offering Bahamas-only voyages that highlight the signature features and experiences travelers can find here in our islands, and the support that these cruises will bring to multiple communities within the country will be tremendous. Guests will find ample room to roam and a warm welcome from the people of this unique destination." All guests will experience the highest standards of health and safety practices throughout every aspect of their vacation, thanks to the combination of Crystal Cruises' extensive Crystal Clean+ 4.0 protocols and the Bahamas Clean & Pristine Certification program. There is great confidence in the ability to offer travelers a safe and warm welcome to The Islands of The Bahamas. Full details related to testing and entry requirements, including Bahamas Health Visa application and more can be found on Bahamas.com/travelupdates. The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation appreciates and values the partnership with Crystal Cruises during this unprecedented time and looks forward to continued collaboration and the successful restart of cruising in The Bahamas. ABOUT THE BAHAMAS Explore all the islands have to offer at www.bahamas.com or on Facebook , YouTube or Instagram . PRESS INQUIRIES Anita Johnson-Patty Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation [email protected] Weber Shandwick Public Relations [email protected] SOURCE Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation Related Links http://www.bahamas.com Dinosaur Jr. will undertake a fall North American tour with two stops in Massachusetts. The band will play the Academy of Music in Northampton on Nov. 26 and the House of Blues in Boston on the following night. Prior the fall the tour, Dinosaur Jr. has rescheduled dates for its Camp Fuzz, which will now take place July 27- 30 in Big Indian, NY. The tour announcement comes on the heels of news of the bands forthcoming album, Sweep It Into Space, which will drop on April 23 on the Jagjaguwar label. Presale tickets for the North American tour and Camp Fuzz are available at dinosaurjr.com/tour with general on-sale tickets available March 19. Dinosaur Jr. was formed in Amherst in 1984 by guitarist J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph. Shop for concert tickets here: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster Pedestrian Charged after Reidland Road Incident By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - A Tennessee man was arrested Thursday after he reportedly was walking his dog down the middle of a Reidland highway.McCracken County Sheriff's deputies responded to Kentucky Dam Road where the man was reported to be jumping in front of vehicles as they drove past. Deputies said when they approached 31-year-old James Bowen from Tennessee, he refused to leave the road and allegedly pulled a large metal tent spike from his pocket and began waving it at them. Bowen also allegedly tried to have his dog bite the deputies.Bowen tried to flee on foot, then reportedly fought with officers, lunging at them with the spike. He was subdued and arrested with the help of a passerby.Medical personnel on the scene treated Bowen for injuries, and he was taken to McCracken County Jail.Bowen is charged with obstructing a highway, menacing, disorderly conduct, fleeing or evading police, wanton endangerment of a police officer, third-degree assault and resisting arrest. Hungary has agreed to pay about $36 a dose for the Covid-19 vaccine made by Sinopharm, a Chinese state-owned company, according to contracts made public by a senior Hungarian official on Thursday. That appears to make the Sinopharm shot among the most expensive in the world. Hungary has agreed to buy five million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, priced at 30 euros ($36) each, according to contracts that Prime Minister Viktor Orbans chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, uploaded to his Facebook page. The contract is between the Hungarian government and a third-party vendor, and that price far surpasses what the European Union has agreed to pay for vaccines from Western manufacturers. The European Union has said it would pay 15.50 per dose for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to Reuters, which cited an internal E.U. document. For AstraZeneca, it agreed to pay $2.15 per dose, according to Belgiums budget secretary. The contracts that Mr. Gulyas published also show that Hungary, which has recorded nearly half a million coronavirus cases and more than 16,000 deaths, has agreed to pay $9.95 per dose for the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine. VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - A Vigo County man is facing charges after he was accused of sex crimes against children. The Indiana State Police Task Force arrested 59-year-old Paul Hoopingarner, Jr. Police say it stemmed from an investigation back in January. That's when a tip came in from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Police arrested Hoopingarner at his home in Fontanini. He is in the Vigo County Jail without bond. POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo speaks during the company's annual general meeting at POSCO Center in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of POSCO By Nam Hyun-woo POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo received the green light from shareholders to stay in the top job for another term and pledged to focus on eco-friendly business while improving efficiency. According to POSCO, its shareholders approved Choi's second term during the company's annual general meeting in Seoul. Following the approval, Choi will lead POSCO and its affiliates until March 2024. Choi was appointed as POSCO chairman in July 2018 and was recommended to serve another three-year term by the POSCO board last December. The future of his second term had been clouded with uncertainties as politicians and civic groups demanded POSCO's largest shareholder, the National Pension Service (NPS), object to Choi's leadership citing a series of fatal accidents that took place at POSCO facilities during Choi's tenure. However, the NPS decided to go neutral in the vote on Choi's second term, and a number of global proxy advisers also recommended shareholders give him three more years, citing shareholder value may be damaged if Choi fails to get a second term. "POSCO will concentrate on preoccupying the market demand for eco-friendly vehicles and construction materials," Choi said. He added POSCO affiliates will expand investments for growth sectors such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and food trading, while internalizing raw material businesses for rechargeable batteries to become top-tier companies in the global electric vehicle supply chain. As he embarks on his second term, the pursuit of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) values will further expand to prioritize safety, following politicians' and civic groups' calls for improved workplace safety. POSCO shareholders also approved the establishment an ESG committee in the company's board, to have the committee to look into safety issues. Choi is expected to invest more in battery material-oriented business in accordance with governments' focus about investing more in eco-friendly business projects. In January, POSCO Chemical raised 1.27 trillion won by issuing new rights to shareholders including POSCO. Following the investment, POSCO Chemical plans to raise its capacity of producing cathode and anode materials to 124,000 tons and 121,000 tons by 2023, respectively. Also, POSCO plans to increase its annual supply of lithium and nickel to 220,000 tons and 100,000 tons by 2030, respectively. When these are combined, the company believes it will be able to log 23 trillion won in sales from the battery materials business in 2030. For the hydrogen business, Choi reiterated his earlier commitment to achieving the goal of producing 5 million tons of hydrogen by 2050. POSCO Group forecasts 102 trillion won in combined sales of all of its affiliates in 2023, up from 90 trillion won in 2020. "In Choi's first term, POSCO Group focused on reorganizing low-performing units and exploring new growth opportunities. In his second term, the group will be able to see more outcome from new growth businesses," a POSCO spokesman said. Loews Corp said on Friday it would sell 47% stake in subsidiary Altium to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund in a deal valuing the solutions provider at $2 billion. Loews, which owns in the insurance, energy, hospitality and industries, expects to receive about $410 million in cash as part of the deal, resulting in about pre-tax gain of $490 million. Atlanta, Georgia-based Altium Packaging serves a diverse network of market segments, and its recycled resin business is a top supplier of recycled high-density polyethylene in North America. Having Loews and as partners will help pursue growth strategy and seek accretive acquisitions that add further scale and end-market diversification, according to Sean Fallmann, Altium's chief executive officer. The transaction is expected to close in the next 30 days. The California Department of Education will vote next week on a new ethnic studies curriculum that calls for the 'decolonization' of America. It's the latest in a trend of schools adjusting their curriculum in wake of the protests that gripped the nation after George Floyd's murder. California's new curriculum will focus on 'social consciousnesses' and cultures often ignored or skimmed over in traditional educational textbooks, such as 'African American, Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x, Native American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander studies,' according to resources available on the CDE website. 'By affirming the identities and contributions of marginalized groups in our society, ethnic studies helps students see themselves and each other as part of the narrative of the United States,' the overview reads. The goal of the curriculum appears to be to 'decolonize' American society and start a 'counter-hegemony' in its place. A new ethnic studies curriculum could be coming to California next year (stock) The curriculum, which will be presented for a vote on March 17, has resources for it to be taught anywhere from kindergarten to 12th grade. More controversial than the study of marginalized groups, however, is the religious component of the curriculum. Within the lesson resources are affirmations and chants designed to 'bring the class together, build unity around ethnic studies principles and values, and to reinvigorate the class' after a difficult lesson. One chant goes: 'Tezkatlipoka, Tezkatlipoka, x2 smoking mirror, self-reflection Tezkatlipoka.' Tezkatlipoka was an Aztec god sometimes honored with human sacrifice. That chant will likely be scrutinized during review, as the separation between church and state is muddied. The curriculum says of the chant: 'In Lak Ech translates as you are my other me and relates to our habit of mind, empathy, and also compassion, interdependence, ecology, love, and mutual respect.' The model curriculum also comes with a number of goals that students and teachers can achieve together. A representation of Tezkatlipoka, an Aztec god that is the focus of one of the unity chants in the proposed curriculum Together, classes can 'critique empire-building in history and its relationship to white supremacy, racism and other forms of power and oppression.' They can also 'challenge racist, bigoted, discriminatory, imperialist/colonial beliefs and practices on multiple levels' and 'connect ourselves to past and contemporary social movements that struggle for social justice and an equitable and democratic society' as students look to 'build new possibilities for a post-racist, post-systemic racism society.' The outcomes hoped for with this curriculum include the pursuit of justice, greater inclusivity, better self-understanding, more empathy for others, and recognizing intersectionality, which is the merging point of people's various identities. The curriculum also aims for more civil engagement through self-empowerment, more focus on the community, and better interpersonal communication. A final draft and public comments on the curriculum are set to be presented to the State Board of Education beginning March 17. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that some of the pushback to the curriculum was a lack of representation for several ethnic groups, including Sikhs and Jews. This led to one of the drafts switching from clear outlines and lesson plans to more thematic and general ideas to avoid ostracizing others. Reaction to the curriculum proposal on Twitter has been strong. One person tweeted, 'Check the old testament regarding sacrifices. Unfortunately, that stuff is taught every day in U.S. schools. What's the difference?' Another: 'Have students always been required to be so aware of social issues? I don't remember this from high school.' Chad Ikerd seemingly criticized the praise of an Aztec god, saying 'Do these people really believe that only white people went to war and colonized? The Aztecs literally sacrificed members of other tribes they were at war with. They were an empire as well that also partook in taking over foreign lands.' One even joked that this was a poor year to make a change to praising Aztec gods, considering all of the bad things happening in the world. According to City Journal, the California public school system consists of 10,000 schools and around six million students. California's ethnic studies model curriculum follows proposed changes across the country in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder and the protests that followed. Last month, a public school system in Buffalo revealed a new curriculum that would teach 'all white people play a part in perpetuating systemic racism.' City Journal reports the curriculum if followed would teach children as young as kindergarten about police brutality while showing victims of black children killed by the police. According to Education Week, Republican lawmakers in three states are seeking to ban The New York Times' 1619 Project, which reframes educational materials in regards to slavery and Black contributions to society. Arkansas, Iowa, and Mississippi are the states leading the charge in fighting off the potential curriculum. On Thursday morning, a new group known as the Laredo Mask Coalition formed consisting of over 40 local leaders and organizations who promise to campaign for the continued use of face masks around the city. READ MORE: Laredo, Webb County to receive a combined $150M from stimulus package The title of the campaign launched by the group is known as Keep It on Laredo. The group plans to reach out to a range of people around the community by posting its messages in newspapers and on television, radio, billboards around the city and social media. And the coalitions central message is for Laredoans to Keep your mask on so that we can end this pandemic safely and as quickly as possible. Forty stellar organizations and community leaders came together to say, with one voice: Yes, we will work together to continue standing for the surest of all safety measures against COVID-19 the face mask, said Laredo Mask Coalition member and Webb County Democratic Party Chair Sylvia Bruni. The coalition was created in just a series of days after the individuals involved felt there should be a collective front against Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts mandate to life the statewide mask mandate on Wednesday. Abbott declared that it was time to make Texas open 100%, which went into effect on Wednesday. That includes all businesses, with even the MLBs Texas Rangers announcing this week it would allow full capacity at its games beginning on Opening Day on April 5. As the largest local COVID-19 waves have previously followed the last two biggest reopening efforts, the Laredo Mask Coalition fears a new surge could occur in the wake of the lifting of safety protocols including mask requirements and full capacity inside businesses. One of the main points the coalition made during their ceremony is that vaccination at the local and state level is still extremely low. According to the CDC, Texas ranks as the state with the fourth-lowest percentage of individuals vaccinated with their first dose (15.2%) and the third-lowest percentage who are fully vaccinated (8.2%). Specifically in Webb County, those figures are 10.4% and 9.1%, respectively. Im doing so for my family, my friends, loved ones and for every single member of our community, Webb County Treasurer Raul L. Reyes said. As a community leader, I like to listen to our health experts and follow the science. Weve come so far in our attempt to flatten the rise of COVID-19 in our community, and I feel its important to continue the recommendations of our health experts. This includes: wearing a mask, socially distancing and washing your hands periodically. Local leaders are not the only ones forming the coalition as organizations also also a part of the campaign. The Keep It On Laredo logo was designed by AlphaGraphics Laredo, featuring a heart image, which serves as the icon of the campaign. It was designed to communicate a sense of optimism, empathy and hope, according to the organization. Laredoans are resilient, and we know that when we come together, we can make a difference, A.B. Barrera of AlphaGraphics Laredo said. This campaign helps tell the story of how strong we really are as a community and encourages everyone to do their part to help keep us safe. Bruni states that the conglomeration of various local leaders and organizations to help make this campaign larger shows how united the city is in its efforts to keep people practicing safety measures amid the fact that they have been lifted. I was reminded once again of a beautiful little book that I read many years ago, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Bruni said. The story told by a father who lost his only child his son to progeria, that ravishing disease that ages children rapidly, leading to early death, cutting his son's life short, too soon. His message: When bad things happen to good people, God surrounds us with the love and presence of those who care for us. Bruni believes that the continued work of all the leaders in the community is what will ultimately help bring a formidable end to the virus once and for all, as once most people are vaccinated and herd immunity is reached, helping numbers stay low and hopefully eliminate any further waves. Bruni and Barrera hope that the campaign gains momentum and businesses and people continue using masks encourage others who feel more relaxed to eventually get involved and promote the usage of them as well. The Laredo Mask Coalition is composed of more than 40 individuals and various local organizations working together to make sure that people continue using masks despite the lifting of the mandate. These members include: Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Texas State Sen. Judith Zaffirini (SD21), Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, Laredo City Manager Robert Eads, Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino, Doctors Hospital CEO Emma Montes Ewing, Laredo Medical Center CEO Jorge Leal and Area Health Education Center director Julie Bazan. Laredo Morning Times is among the organizations that are part of the coalition. Others include: Laredo Chamber of Commerce, Webb County Democratic Party, LULAC District 14, LULAC Councils 7, 624, 22387 and 22413, Veterans Council 777, American Legion Post 59, Vietnam Veterans, Veterans Peer Support, Laredo Area Retired School Employees Association, Rio Grande International Study Center, H-E-B, Mall del Norte, Hachar Media, Guerra Communications, El Manana, Televisa, Univision, AlphaGraphics Laredo, Association of Logistics & Forwarding Agents, Haute Mommas, Lamar Advertising, People Business Solutions and Worthy Promotions. The coalition announced the launch of its campaign and other details about what it hopes to achieve through a Zoom meeting Thursday morning. Local businesses and organizations interested in joining this venture are encouraged to download the campaign logo at AlphaGraphicsLaredo.com for use within their own internal and external marketing campaigns. READ MORE: Laredoans wary about end of mandates as pandemic continues Social media filters and other elements such as posters, banners, yard signs, window clings and more have also been created for the campaign as well. For information on these items, people and businesses can email abarrera@alphagraphics.com. jorge.vela@lmtonline.com By Karolos Grohmann (Reuters) - Brisbane's bid to host the 2032 summer Olympics got the backing of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday, who told the International Olympic Committee all levels of government were firmly behind the candidacy. Brisbane was named as the preferred choice for the 2032 Games late last month, beating several other cities and countries who had publicly expressed an interest, and will now enter into a detailed dialogue with the IOC before any final decision is taken. "Every level of government is working together to deliver Brisbane 2032," Morrison told the IOC session via a short video message. "We will leave nothing to chance as we work with you during this period of dialogue." "We want to be a trusted partner, a certain partner in uncertain times," Morrison said, adding his country could deliver another successful Games after Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000. "It would be a greater honour for Australia to once again host your Games." The IOC praised Brisbane's candidacy, saying it provided stability to the Olympic movement amid turbulent times. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year became the first Games to be postponed outside world-war periods, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Brisbane presented an excellent opportunity to secure the future of the Olympic movement at times of uncertainty," Kristin Kloster Aasen, who heads the IOC's future host commission, told the session. She cited the positive technical assessment of Brisbane's plans, a favourable economic outlook for the region and the country as well as strong political, private sector and public support. "Moving to a targeted dialogue means we are moving the project to a second stage," Kloster Aasen said. "It does not however mean we are electing an Olympic host now." Other countries and cities interested in the 2032 Games included, Indonesia, the Hungarian capital Budapest, China, Doha and Germanys Ruhr valley. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis) The creators of blockbuster musical The Book Of Mormon have agreed to go over the show with key actors to discuss points of unease and possibly make adjustments after black cast members wrote a private letter expressing concerns. Twenty actors from the original and current Broadway cast signed their names to the letter, sent in the wake of protests over the killing of George Floyd, to the show's devisers, including Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the brains behind South Park) and Robert Lopez (who co-wrote the songs for Frozen and Avenue Q). They said America was being forced to evaluate 'the systemic racism and racial inequality' in every industry and theatre was no exception. The Mormon creatives told me that after reading the letter and consulting producers Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin and Sonia Friedman, they decided to invite principal actors from New York, London and other productions around the world, as well as some original cast members, to attend a workshop in New York. The creators of blockbuster musical The Book Of Mormon have agreed to go over the show with key actors to discuss points of unease and possibly make adjustments after black cast members wrote a private letter expressing concerns Stone (right), Parker (left) and Lopez spent seven years sharpening their lacerating gags. 'We wrote it for a snooty liberal New York crowd who are going to laugh at those Mormons,' Stone said The aim would be to go through the show, line by line and thrash out any problematic issues. (They're now figuring out when and how to fly the widely scattered artists in to NYC safely.) Any changes would impact on the West End first, as Friedman said the show will probably re-open in London (at the Prince of Wales) before New York. Even prior to the Black Lives Matter protests, there had been rumblings from outside the Mormon camp about whether the musical, which tells of two shiny-faced Latter-Day Saints on a mission to evangelise a northern Ugandan village in thrall to a brutal warlord, was racist. Some suggested it should not return to Broadway until it was made more politically correct. The Mormon creatives told me that after reading the letter and consulting producers Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin and Sonia Friedman, they decided to invite principal actors from New York, London and other productions around the world, as well as some original cast members, to attend a workshop in New York Well, that won't be happening. Lopez insisted no wokeness would be added to the phenomenally successful formula, which has sold in excess of 1 billion worth of tickets globally. 'What's great about Matt and Trey is they'd rather close the show than make it feel PC and not funny,' he declared, before quickly adding: 'No one wants to close. We want to make it better.' During a separate Zoom call, Stone sporting a bushy beard and wild hair that he joked made him look 'like Tom Hanks in Castaway' told me: 'I can't imagine trying to make a politically correct Book Of Mormon.' The musical is outrageous by design, targeting what Lopez called the 'absurdity' of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints and its founder, Joseph Smith, who wrote the actual Book of Mormon in the early 1800s. (When I asked Stone if The Book Of Mormon was racist, he said: 'Yes. But our musical is not.') Nikki M. James, who created the role of Nabulungi, the touchingly naive teenage Ugandan villager, was involved in the development process Stone, Parker and Lopez spent seven years sharpening their lacerating gags. 'We wrote it for a snooty liberal New York crowd who are going to laugh at those Mormons,' Stone said. Nikki M. James, who created the role of Nabulungi, the touchingly naive teenage Ugandan villager, was involved in the development process, too; long before the show opened on Broadway ten years ago. James, who won a Tony award for her performance, recalled the experience. President Obama was in the White House, and 'rightly or wrongly, Trey, Matt and Bobby were not as concerned with the concept of race' as they were about the concept of Mormons and missionaries. James recalls a 'roomful of black Americans saying things like 'F*** you, God!' ' (during work on scenes where the villagers berate the Lord for apparently abandoning them to the joint ravages of disease and General Butt F***ing Naked). She said: 'We were gauging our level of comfort some people were uncomfortable.' Some so much so that they chose not to continue with the project. The creatives, she felt, had not fully understood what 'it meant for black artists to do what they were doing': uttering blasphemous curses, or joking about someone scratching their scrotum because it's full of maggots. On a personal level, she was concerned that audiences should see Nabulungi as an innocent, with dignity and heart and not a stupid African girl. Arbender J. Robinson, an acting teacher and member of the current Broadway ensemble, told me the original cast had the benefit of Stone, Parker and Lopez being present during rehearsals, to explain the nuances of every line and joke. But Robinson said 'things seemed to get cloudy' as the run, and the years, rolled on. The two actors also told me that they were grateful for how The Book Of Mormon team reacted to the letter. Other shows in London (pictured) and on Broadway have received similar entreaties from actors but, from what I understand, their concerns have been dismissed The musical is outrageous by design, targeting what Lopez called the 'absurdity' of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints and its founder, Joseph Smith, who wrote the actual Book of Mormon in the early 1800s Now, he worried audiences were leaving the theatre 'laughing at the Ugandans'. Both Robinson and James believe each successive company became a bit more distanced from the core concepts that underpinned the show and gave it its strength and humour. They said current casts needed the same level of directorial guidance. 'We can't expect our audience to fully understand it, if all of us aren't completely on the same page of understanding as well,' Robinson said. James likened the process to performing Shakespeare for a contemporary audience. 'How do we find what's true today?' She smiled and said that 'there's an opportunity for incredible dramaturgy there'. Twenty actors from the original and current Broadway cast signed their names to the letter, sent in the wake of protests over the killing of George Floyd, to the show's devisers, including Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the brains behind South Park) and Robert Lopez (who co-wrote the songs for Frozen and Avenue Q) The two actors also told me that they were grateful for how The Book Of Mormon team reacted to the letter. Other shows in London and on Broadway have received similar entreaties from actors but, from what I understand, their concerns have been dismissed. Speaking to me from NYC, where his wife was nursing their third child, born just a few weeks ago, Stone said he had mixed emotions when he first read the cast's letter. 'You know, it's hard to have people that you love and respect tell you that you have fallen short,' he said. He said that, inadvertently, the creative team may have allowed 'a blind spot' to develop, when it came to black actors delivering incendiary dialogue (their 'high-wire act', he called it). Pictured: Robert Lopez (who co-wrote the songs for Frozen and Avenue Q) 'First of all, once we'd digested the letter, we said we're sorry and that it's s***ty what they went through,' Stone said. 'Before we get back on stage, we're going to have another workshop.' One with himself, Parker, Lopez and Casey Nicholaw, Mormon's co-director (with Parker) and choreographer. Plus 'members of the original cast, and lead actors, black and white, from the touring and international productions'. Remedies could include 'some tweaks to certain lines of dialogue, so things are more insulated against misreadings'. 'No one is going back on stage until they feel great about it,' Stone insisted. He also hinted he wanted to capture the stage show on film to ensure 'a definitive record of intentions and context'. Lopez, meanwhile, said he was looking forward to the workshops, and getting everybody into a room together. 'It's a chance to get creative again!' he said. 'Matt and Trey are so funny. They're filthy but great people. That's the secret.' Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Ron Land, president of Port Stephens Koalas, a group of volunteers that helps rescue and care for sick and injured marsupials on the NSW mid-North Coast, scoffs at claims the so-called koala wars are over in the state. Showing visitors around the hospital at the new Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary, Land predicts this weeks truce over koala planning policy between the NSW Liberals and Nationals will be bad news for an animal already listed as vulnerable in the wild. Ron Land, president of the Port Stephens Koalas, a volunteer group that cares for injured and sick koalas. The animals are held at the new Port Stephens Koala sanctuary and returned to the wild if possible. Credit:Janie Barrett I think therell be a significant spike in incoming koalas when the new laws hit, the co-ordinator of 140 volunteers says. This is just going to accelerate their demise. The laws in question are the revised State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) that Deputy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro and Planning Minister Rob Stokes hailed on Monday as a big step forward for the protection of koalas. However, several key issues remain unresolved, threatening to reignite divisions that came close to breaking the Coalition government last September. A sign in the Port Stephens region. The local koala population is under stress due to the destruction of their habitat as more people move into the region. Credit:Janie Barrett Advertisement Its not clear whats protected and whats not, says Ryan Witt, a University of Newcastle researcher who has studied the Port Stephens koalas. As with many parts of NSW, woods around the town are being converted into other uses, such as housing and aged-care homes, eating into koala habitat. Loading Youre not required to offset locally at all [for cleared land], Witt says. That doesnt help the populations being impacted. Few disagree that koala numbers are plunging. A cross-party upper house inquiry last year concluded the animal was on track for extinction in the wild in NSW before 2050 without urgent intervention primarily because of habitat loss, chlamydia, drought and bushfires. Doubts the new policy will reverse the decline have fanned interest in other steps, such as creating a Great Koala National Park inland from Coffs Harbour. The apparent haste to quell bickering between Liberals and Nationals also stirred doubts that the best processes had been at work. Barilaro, for instance, surprised Stokes by calling an unscheduled Zoom meeting on Monday afternoon for his partyroom. Several MPs speculated their leader was about to declare his retirement from politics. Instead, he used the meeting to trumpet his success in carving out rural zones covering 80 per cent of NSW from the provisions of the new SEPP. Advertisement Stokes, Barilaros Liberal counterpart in the negotiations, had wanted the codes for those rural areas that will cover land management and private native forests to be settled before going public. About 60 per cent of koalas in NSW are on private land. Planning Minister Rob Stokes had to defend the governments new planning policy for koalas during budget estimates in parliament on Tuesday. Credit:Louise Kennerley For his part, Stokes highlighted his success in holding the line of the number of tree species deemed by scientists to be koala habitat at 123, up from just 10 in the old SEPP. The pact also covers regions of NSW where 95 per cent of development applications take place. The premature release, though, exposed Stokes to hours of heated queries from Labor, Greens and independent MPs in Tuesdays parliamentary hearing. He had hoped to rebut questions with watch this space answers. Nationals Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall and Environment Minister Matt Kean, a Liberal, now have until April 9 to resolve acceptable codes. Kean, who has kept a low profile on the SEPP issue, pledged in July to double koala numbers in the wild by 2050. That was a stretch goal scientists on the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee advised against in part because of the difficulty of knowing how many koalas there are in NSW. Please do not under any circumstances give a number that we shall achieve, one scientist said, according to documents released last week. If we are pushed to give a koala number it is highly likely we will live to regret it. Advertisement One senior government official said Kean now has the opportunity to ride in on a white horse and demand strong environmental safeguards in the codes. The NSW Farmers, a lobby group, expressed its dismay at not being consulted on the SEPP revamp, and wants input on the code revisions. It does make you question the legitimacy of it all, says Gemma Porter, a grazier near the Forbes River on the mid-North Coast and a NSW Farmers spokeswoman. Were very unclear about where we actually do stand. While rule changes for forests on private land are not expected to require legislative amendments those for land management probably will. One of the koalas in the Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary. The next threat may come from increased clearing of forests on private land. Credit:Janie Barrett Catherine Cusack, the Liberal MP who was dumped by Premier Gladys Berejiklian as parliamentary secretary for blocking weaker koala protections in late 2020, is signalling a similar move this year. Weve got a policy for 20 per cent of the state and we havent got a clue for the rest, Cusack says. Do they want me to keep crossing the floor? Advertisement She fears the value of land with koalas on it could start to rise if developers think they can get around previous curbs on clearing. Well have a system that incentivises the destruction of habitat, Cusack says. Another layer of complexity is that shire councils can have their own so-called Koala Plans of Management that localise protections. Only a handful of shires, though, have had their KPOMs approved, such as Tweed, Byron Bay and Wollondilly, leaving councils such as the Clarence Valley confused. Council developed and adopted a Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management for Ashby, Woombah and Iluka in 2016, however this KPOM has never been approved by state government, despite having been submitted several times, Clarence Valley shire told the Herald. Bellingen Mayor Dominic King is unclear where his councils Koala Plan of Management stands. Credit:Janie Barrett The council says the reason given for past rejections was whether the tree species in the Clarence region were preferred koala food trees or not. There are many details regarding [the new SEPP] that have not been released yet, such as the list of [food trees] and how the SEPP will apply to residential zoned land, a council spokesperson says. Advertisement Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? 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Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Aerial photo taken on Feb 8, 2021 shows staff members arranging the loading of "Qilu" freight train in East China's Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua] Efforts advance agreements on origin declarations, preferential tariffs China is taking concrete action at home and overseas to advance free trade, with the country signing and implementing a number of such agreements. The General Administration of Customs has stepped up efforts to implement agreements regarding declaration of origins and preferential tariff treatment, according to its website. Last month, the Ministry of Commerce made progress in negotiations with the Republic of Korea on trade, investment and markets, after signing a free-trade agreement upgrade protocol with New Zealand in January. These developments follow the landmark Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade pact China signed with Japan, the ROK, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Nov 15. The 15 RCEP countries account for nearly 30 percent of the world's population and about 28 percent of global GDP and form the world's largest trade bloc. China is seeking more platforms to promote free trade with other countries. During the 27th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting on Nov 20, President Xi Jinping said China is eyeing the opportunity to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. China has signed 19 free trade agreements with 26 countries and regions, the Ministry of Commerce said on its website. In the infographics that follow, China Daily explains trade agreements, including the RCEP and CPTPP. YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan received on March 12 Ambassador of Finland to Armenia Kirsti Narinen. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, during the meeting the Defense Minister of Armenia presented the situation following the military operations, the implementation process of the agreements, the security and humanitarian issues in Artsakh under the light of the Russian peacekeeping forces on the ground, particularly highlighting the issue of return of POWs. The interlocutors also discussed other issues related to the security atmosphere of the region, existing threats and expected 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. Washington, March 12 : More US states were on track to lift their mask mandates and fully reopen economies despite warnings from officials and health experts to tread carefully amid the still raging Covid-19 pandemic. Maryland became the latest state to largely restart its economy as Governor Larry Hogan announced that restaurants, retailers and other businesses would be allowed to reopen without capacity restrictions from Friday onwards, Xinhua news agency reported. Texas, Mississippi, Connecticut, Arizona and Wyoming have also unveiled similar plans in recent days, as the country is ramping up Covid-19 vaccination, and new cases and deaths are dropping. But some others states are easing restrictions gradually. Governors of New Jersey and New York announced on Wednesday that restaurants will be allowed to reopen at half capacity, up from 35 per cent, from March 19. Theme parks and stadiums in California will reopen as early as April 1 with capacity restrictions and other safety modifications, local authorities announced last week. The states' decisions to loosen restrictions and reopen economies have defied warnings from top public health officials and experts who have been calling for strict measures to maintain progress in curbing the pandemic and guard against increasing variants infections. "There is so much that's critical riding on the next two months," said Rochelle Walensky, head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "How quickly we will vaccinate versus whether we will have another surge really relies on what happens in March and April," she said. Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, said: "The baseline level of coronavirus cases needs to fall further before the country can confidently resume normal activities, even as the vaccine rollout accelerates." He noted that in past periods of the pandemic, "when we started to pull back prematurely, we saw the rebound. We definitely don't want that to happen". Experts are concerned that coronavirus variants may take hold and cause another surge in new cases and deaths if the public are careless about protective measures. A total of 3,389 cases of coronavirus variants have been reported in the US, according to the CDC. The vast majority of these cases, 3,283, were caused by the variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in Britain. There were 91 cases of a new strain initially discovered in South Africa, called B.1.351, and 15 cases of the P.1 strain first discovered in Brazil. Modeling data suggest that B.1.1.7 could become the predominant variant in the US in March. The US is still the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 29,214,421 and 530,712, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University. It is a year since then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gave Irelands first lockdown speech during his St Patricks Day trip to Washington DC. Mr Varadkar announced the closure of schools, colleges and other public facilities. It was the first of many pivotal speeches from Mr Varadkar until Micheal Martin was elected as Taoiseach last June. Leo Varadkars speech in full: I need to speak to you about Coronavirus and Covid-19. For the past few weeks, the Government and our public services have been focused on the impact of the virus. In that time, we have taken several important and unprecedented measures to protect public health. We have been preparing for all eventualities. Yesterday, the World Health Organisation formally described it as a pandemic and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) updated its guidelines, advising us all to act early to be effective. Our own National Public Health Emergency Team met last night and has issued new advice to Government. We are acting on that advice today. There will be many more cases. More people will get sick and unfortunately, we must face the tragic reality that some people will die. The virus is all over the world. It will continue to spread but it can be slowed. Its impact can be reduced, making it easier for our health service to cope and giving our scientists more time to develop better testing, treatments and a vaccine. It is important to remember that the disease effects will be mild for the majority of people, especially the young and healthy. We know that older people and those with chronic diseases are at real risk. We have a duty as a society to protect ourselves and above all to protect others our parents and grandparents, our family and friends, co-workers and neighbours. We have not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory. This is unchartered territory. We said we would take the right actions at the right time. We have to move now to have the greatest impact. So, from 6pm today, the following measures are being put in place. They will stay in place until March 29. Schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow. Where possible, teaching will be done online or remotely. Cultural institutions will close. Our advice is that all indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor mass gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled. Arrangements are being made to ensure that everyone entering Ireland through our ports and airports is fully informed and self-isolates if they develop symptoms. You should continue to go to work if you can but where possible should work from home. In order to reduce unnecessary face-to-face interaction in the workplace, break times and working times should be staggered and meetings done remotely or by phone. Public transport will continue to operate. The shops will remain open and we have plans to ensure that supply chains will not be interrupted. We need the public and businesses to take a sensible and level-headed responsible approach. Restaurants, cafes and other businesses can stay open but should look at ways that they can implement the public health advice on social distancing. As a general rule, outside of work people should seek to reduce social interactions as much as possible. You can play your part by hand washing, coughing and sneezing into your elbow and seeking medical advice if you develop symptoms. This is now more important than ever. The Cabinet will meet later today. Opposition party leaders and our counterparts in Northern Ireland and Britain will be briefed. In the period ahead, the Government will deploy all the resources we can muster, human and financial, to tackle this threat head-on. Those resources are extensive but not unlimited. Healthcare workers have been at the forefront of this crisis since it started. They will be at the frontline of the crisis in the time ahead. We must do all we can to help them, so they can help those who need help the most. I know that some of this is coming as a real shock and it is going to involve big changes in the way we live our lives. I know that I am asking people to make enormous sacrifices. Were doing it for each other. Together we can slow the virus in its tracks and push it back. Acting together, as one nation, we can save many lives. Our economy will suffer; it will bounce back. Lost time in school or college will be recovered. In time, our lives will go back to normal. Above all, we all need to look out for each other. Ireland is a great nation. And we are great people. We have experienced hardship and struggle before. We have overcome many trials in the past with our determination and our spirit. We will prevail. Democrats are slamming U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw for failing to timely disclose that he was trading stocks during the start of the pandemic, a violation of laws meant to prevent members of Congress from using their offices for profiteering. If you are a Texas elected official, your first job in a crisis is to keep Texans safe. Instead, Dan Crenshaw was thinking about his portfolio, said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa. In March 2020, the Houston Republican made five stock transactions while Congress was shaping the first COVID-19 relief package. According to the since-filed disclosure reports, Crenshaw bought stock in Amazon, Southwest Airlines, Boeing, North Carolina-based SPX and Houston-based Kinder Morgan, which owns and operates oil and gas pipelines and terminals. He also bought a stake in an index fund that tracks the performance of the S&P 500. Crenshaw, first elected in 2018, didnt report the trades within 45 days as required by congressional ethics laws. Instead, he reported them in December, a month after winning his second term in the Nov. 3 election. Any reporting issues were unintentional and are being corrected immediately, Crenshaw said about the late paperwork, which was first reported by The Daily Beast. PANDEMIC POLITICKING: Gov. Abbotts order to reopen Texas fuels primary foes who say hes too slow Because Congress reports stock transactions in ranges of $1,001 to $15,000, it appears Crenshaw could have bought up to $120,000 in stock during that time. A Crenshaw spokesman said it was actually $13,000. My highest transaction was around $3,000, Crenshaw said. Im not the Wolf of Wall Street, Im a 36-year-old who listens to Dave Portnoy and Jim Cramer for stock advice. Crenshaw was hardly alone in trading stocks while Congress was working on the first COVID-19 relief package. A data analysis from the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center showed at least 12 senators and 37 other House members made more than 1,500 securities transactions between early February and early April. That includes five transactions by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and stock purchases and sales by three other Texas House members. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Former Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Midland; Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin; and Van Taylor, R-Plano, were the others. Conaway made 53 transactions during those two months that were valued at between $2.2 million and $5.3 million, the data analysis showed. Doggett traded four times, with the value being between $4,000 and $64,000. Taylor reported seven transactions between $1 million and $2.2 million. The stock trading reports for members of Congress include trades of funds held by spouses and those made by brokerage firms or financial advisers on a members behalf. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center found that the biggest trader in Congress during the early days of the pandemic was then-Rep. Phil Roe, a Tennessee Republican who made 366 transactions during those two months. Those trades were valued at between $2.4 million and $10.6 million. Roe told a Knoxville television station last year that the trades were all done by a financial adviser. They included purchasing stock in online communications programs like Zoom and Slack and selling off stock from a cruise line. It is not illegal for members of Congress to trade stocks while in office. But over the last decade, Congress has tried to prevent lawmakers from dealing in insider trading, which is illegal. In 2012, Congress passed the STOCK Act, which barred lawmakers and their staffers from trading stocks, bonds and other investments using information obtained from private congressional briefings. That law also required new public disclosures to allow the public to track a Congress members Wall Street activities. jeremy.wallace@chron.com Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Friday urged justice for 16 migrants gruesomely murdered in Mexico in January, as their remains were received with honors. On January 22, 19 charred bodies were found in Tamaulipas, a state on the border with the United States that has been rocked for years by organized crime gangs. Sixteen of the dead were determined to be Guatemalan and the other three of Mexican origin. The bodies were found on a country road inside a truck that had been riddled with 113 bullets and then burned, according to investigators. "We will not rest until we obtain reparation, trial and punishment of those responsible for this deplorable act," Giammattei said as the coffins arrived at a Guatemalan Air Force base in the capital. The Mexican government had offered to cover the costs of repatriating the remains. The bodies arrived in coffins draped in the blue-and-white Guatemalan flag. Foreign Ministry officials dressed in black carried photographs of the victims as relatives sobbed. - Warning to traffickers - Most of the dead are from the town of Comitancillo, a remote, indigenous community near the border with Mexico. The corpses will be taken to their communities for burial. The Mexican state prosecutor's office has said 12 elite police officers were arrested on suspicion of having participated in the killing. Tamaulipas, on Mexico's Gulf coast, is the shortest route to the United States from the south, but also the most dangerous because of the presence of criminal gangs which kidnap, extort and murder migrants. Camargo, the town where the victims were found, is the scene of turf battles between the Noreste cartel, which controls a part of Nuevo Leon, and the Gulf cartel, which has been active in Tamaulipas for decades. Giammattei also had a message to human traffickers: "We are working closely with the countries of the region and with the Guatemalan security forces to locate, chase and dismantle all those criminal gangs that unscrupulously take advantage of the needs of our fellow citizens." Story continues Migration from Central America has increased since 2018 as waves of people seek to flee poverty and violence at home, hoping to make a new life in the United States. More than half of Guatemala's 17 million people live in poverty. yug/gma/jh/to/mlr/jm Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) -- The Vigo County Health Department said with more people getting vaccinated, positive COVID-19 cases are going down. Now, the county is entering blue on the Indiana color-coded map. This means it can ease up COVID-19 restrictions. The Vigo County Health Department said its vaccinating more than 1,000 people every week. Even with this huge milestone, the health department said it's still worried about cases rising again in Vigo County. Just this week Vigo County moved out of the yellow zone to the blue. The zone colors are an indication of how much COVID-19 is spreading in the county. Blue is the lowest spread and red is the highest. While health officials are thrilled Vigo County is in blue they warn us that we aren't in the clear just yet. Ashlee Stewart with the Vigo County Health Department said, "We are still though in yellow guidelines, so, if we continue to stick around where we are right now and we're blue again next week, then we'll actually be blue." The yellow guidelines control how many people can gather at certain places with blue meaning more people can gather with one another. Stewart said the dropping COVID-19 cases prove the vaccines do work, but she fears there's something else also playing a part in cases declining. That fear, that people aren't getting tested regularly for COVID-19. Stewart said, "It makes me a little nervous to hear so many people telling me when I trace them 'I just lost taste and smell so I got tested." Health officials are trying to urge you to get tested even if you have a slight cough. Stewart said even if you don't lose taste and smell you may have contracted a very mild case of the virus. Stewart said right now is not the time to drop your guard in the fight against COVID-19. She said, "In order for us not to see cases rise we still need to continue practicing social distancing, wearing our masks, and sanitizing regularly. " She said the best thing you can do to help slow the spread is to stay home when you feel ill and get tested. Netflix could soon start cracking down on password sharing. The company has started showing messages to some Netflix subscribers using a borrowed password that If you dont live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching. To continue watching, subscribers need to confirm the account by entering a verification code that will be sent to the linked email address or mobile number. Netflix has known about password sharing, in which one subscriber shares their account with their friends and family who are not living in the same house. The company never actively cracked down on such users, but it looks like thats about to change. As The Streamable reports, Netflix right now is only testing the account verification prompt on TVs. A Netflix spokesperson told The Streamable, This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so. It is not clear how Netflix is determining whether multiple viewers using one account are in the same household or not. Netflixs terms and conditions state that one account can only be shared among family members living in the same household. The company already has limitations on streaming devices across its various plans. The Basic plan allows streaming content to only one device, while the Standard plan allows streaming on up to two devices. The Ultra plan allows streaming on up to four devices at once. It is unclear when and how Netflix plans on rolling out an account verification prompt for all its subscribers. It is also unclear if the company has taken this step to crack down on password sharing or for other reasons. [Via The Streamable Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. New Delhi: Indian Navy is known for being quick and precise. In a recent development, the Indian Navy provided assistance to a stranded cargo ship with seven Indian crew members as it was drifting in the Gulf of Oman following the failure of its propulsion and power generation systems, officials said on Friday (March 12). The cargo ship was going from Oman to Iraq, they said. The Indian Navy provided support to the stranded ship MV Nayan on Thursday (March 11) after its frigate INS Talwar received a call from the cargo vessel requesting for technical assistance, the officials said. INS Talwar was deployed in the Gulf of Oman. They said the cargo ship was drifting at sea since March 9 owing to the failure of its propulsion, power generation and navigational systems. "Based on preliminary aerial assessment about the distress of MV Nayan, the Indian Naval ship dispatched its VBSS (Visit Board, Search and Seizure) team along with a technical team by boat to offer assistance to the vessel that had seven Indians as her crew," an Indian Navy spokesperson said. The official said the naval teams worked continuously for seven hours onboard MV Nayan to operationalise her key equipment such as generators, steering pump, seawater pump, compressor and main engine. "The naval team also assisted in operationalising navigation equipment like GPS and navigation lights before MV Nayan could proceed for her next port," he said. Speciality chemical company Anupam Rasayan opened its initial public offer today. The IPO comprises fresh issuance of equity shares and proceeds of the issue would be mainly used to pay the debt. The company has fixed a price band of Rs 553-555 for the share sale. The public subscription will close on March 16. The allotment of shares is likely to be held on March 19, 2021. The share is likely to be listed on March 24. Shares can be purchased in the IPO in a lot of 27 shares. A maximum 13 lots comprising 351 shares can be applied for in the share sale at an amount of Rs 1,94,805. The Surat-based firm has reserved about 2.20 lakh shares for employees. Half of the issue is reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 35 per cent for retail investors and 15 per cent for non-institutional bidders. Axis Capital, Ambit Private, IIFL Securities and JM Financial have been appointed as merchant bankers for the issue. On March 2, the firm received market regulator Sebi's approval to raise Rs 760 crore through the share sale. Kalyan Jewellers' Rs 1,175 crore IPO offer to open on March 16; price band fixed at Rs 86-87 per share On March 11, the firm raised Rs 225 crore from anchor investors. It has been decided to allocate 40,48,647 shares to 15 anchor investors at Rs 555 per share, which is the upper band of the initial public offer. At this price, the company mopped-up Rs 225 crore. Aditya Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund (MF), Nomura Funds Ireland Public Ltd Company, Fidelity International, Sundaram MF, SBI Life Insurance Co, IIFL Special Opportunities Fund, Malabar Select Fund and Max Life Insurance Co were among the 15 anchor investors. The IPO aggregating up to Rs 760 crore is an entirely fresh issuance of equity shares and proceeds of the issue would be mainly used to pay the debt. Craftsman Automation IPO to open on March 15: Price band, lot size, issue size & other details Geojit has given a subscribe call to the IPO. "At the upper price band of Rs 555, the stock is available at a PE of 86.4x (annualized basis on FY21E EPS of 6.4) which is aggressively priced. Focus on R&D, cost rationalisation, strong tie-ups with MNCs and improving margin profile, we expect profitability to improve led by higher capacity utilisation and reduction in debt. We assign a Subscribe rating, with a long term perspective." Angel Broking in a note said, "The company has strong and long-term relationships with various multinational corporations, including Syngenta Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited and UPL Limited. The company has posted strong revenue growth of 24.3% CAGR between FY2018 to FY2020. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has posted revenue growth of 45.0% for the nine month period ending December 2021. Given strong revenue growth and long-term relationships with various multinational corporations we recommend a "SUBSCRIBE" rating to the IPO." Anupam Rasayan is a company engaged in the custom synthesis and manufacturing of specialty chemicals in India. Company started its business as a partnership firm in 1984 as a manufacturer of conventional products and have, over the years, evolved into custom synthesis and manufacturing of life science related specialty chemicals and other specialty chemicals, which involve multi-step synthesis and complex technologies, for a diverse base of Indian and global customers. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... State governments will get a big influx of federal money from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that could suddenly enable them to undertake large, expensive projects that have long been on their to-do lists, including high-speed internet for rural areas and drinking water improvements. The aid plan, approved by Congress in close party-line votes and signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday, includes $195 billion for states, plus separate funds for local governments and schools. While the package contains considerable short-term financial relief for businesses and individuals who have suffered from the outbreak, its Democratic supporters also see it as a rich opportunity to help states attack poverty more broadly and accomplish the kind of big things government used to do. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Since most state budgets are not in the tailspins that many feared last spring, states can use their share of the money to go way beyond balancing the books and dealing with the direct costs of the coronavirus pandemic. There are no words to describe the impact that has on a state that has long had extreme and persistent poverty, said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat. This is exactly the investment that we have always deserved and that we need now more than ever. Even Republican governors who have argued against the plan are drawing up ambitious plans similar to whats on the wish lists of Democratic lawmakers and governors. In Democrat-controlled California, GOP-held Idaho, and Vermont, with a Republican governor and Democratic legislative majority, priorities include drinking water and rural broadband projects. In New Mexico, officials expect to use $600 million to pay off debts to the states unemployment fund a move that would prevent a spike in payroll taxes for businesses and still have more than $1 billion for projects such as economic development grants, road improvements and others still to be determined. While the behemoth CARES Act adopted last March included $150 billion for state, local and tribal governments, that help was restricted mostly to direct pandemic-related costs. The new package gives states much more flexibility. Republican governors are arguing that the economy is already in recovery and that all the spending will eventually need to be repaid by the taxpayers. They also object to a formula that distributes more money per capita to states with higher unemployment rates, which they see as penalizing them for keeping more of their economies open through the pandemic. Instead of using the bipartisan blueprint of previous federal coronavirus relief bills, this legislation is literally a wish list for California and New York, said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Its a slap in the face for my fellow Georgians. The Republicans who control state government in Georgia are working on plans to cut taxes something being pursued in other GOP-run states, including Arizona and Iowa. But that might run afoul of a provision in the relief package that bars the money from being used to pay for tax cuts. Around the country, it turns out that the state budget picture generally isnt as bleak as it was expected to be. Last years relief spending helped by sending money directly to governments, businesses and individuals. It helped keep workers on the payroll and paying taxes. Further, investors who supply much of the tax revenue in states like New York and California, which announced a $15 billion surplus in January, had a good year because of the soaring stock market. And the job losses from the pandemic were deepest among lower-wage workers, who account for a smaller portion of tax revenue. An analysis by the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes pro-growth policies, found that 28 states brought in less revenue in 2020 than 2019. The hardest-hit states included Florida, Hawaii, Nevada and Texas, which rely heavily on tourism and sales taxes. The amounts states are in line to receive from the COVID-19 relief package exceed the revenue declines in every state, though, and amount to more than 100 times the combined revenue loss, the group found. Even while objecting to the Democratic measure in general, Idaho Gov. Brad Little outlined some of the same priorities as his Democratic counterparts. We know the debt is mortgaged from our grandkids, he said, and I will push to use those funds to directly support them through long-range investments in education, broadband and water infrastructure. ___ Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Follow him at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill ___ Associated Press reporters Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Adam Beam in Sacramento, California; Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Keith Ridler in Boise, Idaho; and Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont, contributed to this 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 22:13:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISTANBUL, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey may buy 50 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccine from China, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. "The second shipment may arrive from China. If we agree on that matter, we can purchase an additional 50 million (doses) from China," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Anadolu. Turkey launched its nationwide vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech in mid-January. So far, more than 10.8 million doses have been administrated as part of the vaccination campaign, according to the health ministry's latest data. Enditem Researchers in Spain have conducted the most extensive study to date investigating the effectiveness of vaccinating healthcare workers with a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The team says one dose of the vaccine induced a much stronger antibody response against the causative agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among healthcare workers who had previously been infected with the virus than among those who had not. The researchers say that given the controversy over how to ensure adequate immunization of the population in times of vaccine shortages, the study findings might help inform decisions over whether to only administer a single dose in some cases. So far, this is the largest study investigating the immune response after one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine, writes Maria Velasco from the Alcorcon Foundation University Hospital in Madrid and colleagues. These data may inform prioritization of the booster dose in times of vaccine shortage. A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the medRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review. The current challenges faced in controlling COVID-19 Currently, the primary approach to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic is the rollout of recently-approved vaccines and continued adherence to social distancing and hygiene practices. However, limited vaccine supplies present challenges in terms of ensuring a sufficient proportion of the population is vaccinated for herd immunity to be reached. The standard vaccination protocol for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is a 2-dose regimen separated by an interval of 3 to 4 weeks. However, a single-dose regimen for some individuals who do not necessarily require a booster shot could help to ensure herd immunity is achieved in the setting of vaccine shortages. Velasco and colleagues say that data on immune responses to a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is currently limited to a few observational studies with a small number of patients. Moreover, the impact of previous natural infection on vaccine response is not well known, they add. What did the researchers do? The team investigated the antibody response induced by a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech BNT162b2 vaccine among 641 healthcare workers (aged a mean of 45.8 years) who had previously participated in a SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence survey conducted in April and November of 2020. Participants were divided into three groups, according to whether they were seronegative for the virus in both surveys (SARS-CoV-2 naive); transient seropositive (positive in the first survey, but not the second) or persistent seropositive (positive in both surveys). Seropositive individuals were further divided by COVID-19 severity into those with asymptomatic infection, those with mild-to-moderate disease treated on an out-patient basis, and those with severe disease requiring hospitalization. Blood samples were taken from the participants after they had received one dose of the vaccine and just before they received a second dose (21 days after the first dose). The samples were tested for immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies against a SARS-CoV-2 surface protein called a spike. The spike protein is the main structure the virus uses to bind host cells and a major target of the neutralizing antibodies induced by infection or vaccination. What did the study find? The median anti-spike IgG titer induced by a single vaccine dose was approximately 20 times higher among previously seropositive participants (22,267.3 arbitrary units [AU]/mL) than among SARS-CoV-2 naive participants (median 1,022.3 AU/mL). Compared with SARS-CoV-2 naive participants, median anti-spike IgG titers were about 4 times higher among transient seropositive individuals (3,860.0 AU/mL) and about 34 times higher among persistent positive individuals (34,551.6 AU/mL). Among those who were seropositive, the level of disease severity was also associated with anti-spike IgG titers. The median titer for asymptomatic infection was 15,386.4 AU/mL, compared with 24,388.8 AU/mL for mild-to-moderate disease and 43,671.7 AU/mL for severe disease. Our serological evaluation of healthcare workers showed a dramatic differential response 3 weeks after a single dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine, according to previous exposure to SARS-CoV2 and serological status, writes Velasco and colleagues. The combination of previous clinical COVID-19 and the presence of anti-spike IgG antibodies prior to vaccination were strong predictors of a robust serologic response to a single vaccine dose, says the team. What do the authors suggest? Our results suggest that deferring the second dose of the vaccine for some individuals with a predictable strong serologic response may not be a high-risk strategy, say the researchers. This would enable the vaccination of other at-risk individuals until vaccine availability is sufficient for the standard, clinically tested protocol (two-doses 3 to 4 weeks apart) to be followed, they conclude. *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. Millions of struggling families face average council tax bills of more than 2,000 a year for the first time, research suggests. The typical fee in England is set to rise by 78.31 or 4.3 per cent next year, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy found. This means an average band D property in the North East and South West is set to pass 2,000 a year to 2,029.90 and 2,008.78 respectively. There were major regional variations in the increases on 2020/21 council tax bills, the researchers said. The highest rises were in inner London (5.5 per cent) and the lowest were in the East of England (3.5 per cent). In London the average council tax for a band D property in 2021/22 is 1,377.34 surprisingly, the lowest in the country for this category. The typical fee in England is set to rise by 78.31 or 4.3 per cent next year, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy found (file image) The average bill is expected to be 1,895.25. The news will anger Tory MPs in former red wall constituencies in the North East that are facing higher taxes, as well as those representing the South West. Rob Whiteman, chief executive of the Chartered Institute, said: The stark contrast between the levels by which different regions are raising their council tax is indicative of the difficult political position created for them by central government. The survey was based on questionnaire responses from 290 authorities in England and Wales. Of those councils in England, all but 13 will be increasing their council tax. The typical bill in Wales is set to increase by 3.9 per cent, or 64.58. Council tax varies across the country because local authorities have the power to add their own levies, known as precepts, to bills. Harry Fone, of the TaxPayers Alliance, added: Council tax bills are going sky-high and feel like a kick in the teeth to taxpayers These are capped by the Government so can only be raised to a certain level each year. For example, local authorities with responsibility for adult social care can increase their council tax by an additional three per cent this year. Kick in the teeth to taxpayers Robert Palmer, of Tax Justice UK, said: It cant be right that a Park Lane millionaire can end up paying a comparable amount of council tax as a just-about-managing family in the North. Harry Fone, of the TaxPayers Alliance, added: Council tax bills are going sky-high and feel like a kick in the teeth to taxpayers. He added: With new fiscal powers a long way off, local authorities must do more right now to eradicate wasteful spending and stop these huge hikes. But a Local Government Association spokesman said authorities faced tough choices. He said: Council tax rises particularly the adult social care precept have never been the solution to the long-term pressures faced by councils, particularly in social care which is desperately in need of reform. The Ministry of Housing said local authorities have always been responsible for setting council tax levels and it recognises that councils are best placed to decide which services need support in their area. I collect Soviet newspapers. Years ago, I used to travel to Moscows Izmailovsky flea market every few weeks, hooking up with a dealer who crisscrossed the country digging up front pages from the Cold War era. I have Izvestias celebration of Gagarins flight, a Pravda account of a 1938 show trial, even an ancient copy of Ogonyek with Trotsky on the cover that someone must have taken a risk to keep. A fire that ravaged a leading French web hosting service, disrupting services for thousands of sites and leaving some clients concerned that they may have lost data, appears to have started by accident, a source close to the investigation said on Thursday. OVHcloud's facility in the eastern city of Strasbourg caught fire in the early hours of Wednesday, completely destroying one of four data centres and damaging a second. No one was injured. "The initial elements in the investigation... point towards an accidental fire," the source, who asked not to be named, told AFP, adding that "the investigations are however still ongoing". The firm told AFP that 12,000-16,000 clients suffered impacts, some only temporary, including a French government public data site, the Centre Pompidou museum and bitcoin trading site Coinhouse. British video game studio Facepunch said that 25 servers running its survival game Rust were knocked out and that data on player progression were completely lost. OVHcloud said it could not confirm any complete losses of data, as various backup protocols were subscribed to by clients. The French firm offers services similar to Amazon and Microsoft, such as hosting websites, as well as internal systems like email and other computing resources, and has sites around the world. While firms like to promote the safety of storing data in the "cloud", the cloud is in reality a network of data centres that are vulnerable to threats such as fires and flooding. OVHcloud was set up in 1999 as OVH by Octave Klaba, a young Frenchman of Polish origin who arrived in France as a teenager. The company began by hosting websites, before launching into "cloud" services during the 2010s. "Many thanks for all the empathy messages you sent us today!" Klaba wrote on Twitter, thanking the teams "who have been working all night/day." "It's been the worst day for the last 22y and there is no word strong enough to say how sorry I feel today," he said, vowing that the affected units would restart as soon as possible. Story continues Along with just a few other players, OVHcloud carries the hopes of a European cloud presence in the face of the American and Chinese giants in the hugely strategic sector. The group has 2,450 employees, half of them in France and operates 32 data centres around the world. It announced last week that it was "preparing" to list on the stock exchange. dsa-sjw/jh/spm Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 84F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 67F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Mayor Erin Stewarts declaration that New Britain schools arent doing enough for students is just a political ploy to dodge responsibility for underfunding education, city Democrats charged on Friday. This type of leadership is unacceptable, especially in the midst of a pandemic, Rep. Robert Sanchez said. During Mayor Stewarts term, New Britain has gone from middle of the pack to dead last in achievement and funding. Sanchez, who is running for Democratic endorsement to challenge Stewart in the November election, is a former teacher and currently chairs the General Assemblys Education Committee. This new attack on the hardworking educators in our schools is part of a larger disturbing trend where if youre looking for someone to take responsibility, youre not going to find them at City Hall, Sanchez said in a statement. City Treasurer Ron Jakubowski, a former superintendent of New Britain schools, called Stewarts remarks disrespectful to teachers and school administrators. In her state of the city speech Wednesday night, Stewart called the citys school system a massive bureaucracy that is failing our students. She cited state data ranking New Britain students last in statewide performance measurements in language arts, math and sciences in 2018-19. Every year, the Consolidated School District of New Britain receives about $126 million of taxpayer money and today it is dead last in every metric, she said. Chris Anderson, minority leader of the common council, said Stewart is deliberately omitting how she frequently flat-funded education in her annual budgets over the last seven years. Her statement is completely misreading the data and misleading the public on why our schools are struggling its well known were at the bottom of the barrel, but were also at the bottom of the barrel in per pupil funding, Anderson said. Its totally unreasonable to ask our district to do more with less. Stewarts message signaled that she wont recommend any significant increase in school spending in her budget proposal next month. Story continues The schools are receiving $23 million in federal aid for COVID-19 recovery efforts for students between now and 2023, and will get an estimated $55.3 million from President Bidens American Rescue Act. Thats above the regular $126 million budget. Surely next year, $204 million should buy a better outcome for our 9,426 students, she said. But Democrats contend that misses the point: New Britain consistently spends less on each student than any other district in Connecticut except Danbury. The city puts $75.3 million toward its schools; the rest of the $126 million budget comes from state aid and grants. To blame the schools for poor outcomes is simply disingenuous, they said. There continues to be a disturbing trend from the mayors office a lack of accountability and transparency, said Andy McIndoo, Democratic town chairman. The mayor is blaming educators and our school system for not being able to improve while shes happily not providing them new resources. If you cant look to the mayor to take responsibility for whats happening within the city, who are you supposed to look to? Sanchez said Stewarts criticism does nothing to help the situation. What is most tragic in these discussions is that we lose track of whats most important, he said. When adults who are in positions to improve student lives are simply pointing fingers, the kids lose. CAIRO A few days after Egypt and Sudan signed a military cooperation agreement March 2, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited Khartoum March 6, in a move that carried political and security messages against Ethiopia's decision to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) reservoir without consulting Egypt and Sudan. Sisi had not visited Khartoum since the Sudanese revolution and the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The official and diplomatic relations between the two countries had gained momentum recently, culminating in the military cooperation agreement. The chief of staff of the Egyptian army, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Farid, who arrived in Khartoum March 2, described the agreement as achieving an unprecedented level of military cooperation at a time when Egypt and Sudan face common challenges and multiple threats to the national security of the two countries. Speaking at a press conference following his March 6 meeting with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudans Sovereign Council, Sisi expressed his countrys dissatisfaction with the Ethiopian stances regarding the GERD and the attempts to control the waters of the Nile, saying, We reject any approach that seeks to impose a status quo and extend control over the Blue Nile through unilateral measures that do not take into account the interests and rights of the two downstream countries, stressing that the GERD affects the vital interests of Egypt and Sudan. Speaking about the possibility of resuming the GERD negotiations, Sisi said, We discussed ways to put the negotiations back on track by forming an international quartet made up of the United States, United Nations, European Union and African Union [AU] to mediate in the negotiation process, noting that reaching a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement regarding filling and operating the GERD before the next flood season is imperative. During a March 5 call between Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Shoukry stressed his countrys support for a Sudanese proposal to expand the umbrella of mediators in the GERD negotiations to be through an international quartet since the AUs efforts to reconcile the three countries and formulate an agreement that would achieve the interests of all had failed. Meanwhile, Ethiopia began to impose a fait accompli policy and initiated the first phase of filling the GERD in July 2020, and announced its intention to complete the second phase by storing 13 billion cubic meters of floodwater next July. In a meeting with leaders, officers and soldiers of the armed forces during an educational symposium of the Egyptian army on the occasion of Martyr Day on March 9, Sisi reiterated Egypt's keenness to resolve any pending issues with Ethiopia through negotiations, saying, We have always remained calm without showing emotion, pretension or antagonism and we insist on resuming negotiations. He continued, These negotiations will certainly come to an end and we must reach a binding legal agreement." An Egyptian government source familiar with the Nile Basin file told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Resorting to international quartet members as mediators instead of observers [in the GERD negotiations] has become an Egyptian-Sudanese condition to resume negotiations. Many scenarios [which he did not name] can happen if Ethiopia refuses to agree to the international quartet mechanism and resume negotiations in good faith in order to reach a binding legal agreement on the GERD in a way that secures the strategic interests of Egypt and Sudan in the Nile waters and preserves Ethiopia's rights to generate electricity. Article 10 of the Declaration of Principles signed by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in March 2015 stipulates that the three countries commit to settling any dispute through talks or negotiations and they can ask for mediation. However, since Egypt raised the dispute with Ethiopia to the UN Security Council in June 2020, the AU-brokered negotiations failed to make any progress over six months on the pending legal issues in terms of reaching a binding agreement that guarantees the protection of the Egyptian-Sudanese water security from any future Ethiopian actions, be it in the GERD or any other water projects on the Blue Nile. Ethiopia refused to resume negotiations through any international mediator other than the AU, as Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti revealed in a statement March 9, saying, Solving the outstanding issues does not require other mediators. This tendency to adhere to agreements of the colonial era in the name of reaching binding agreements is unacceptable. Observers believe that coordination and joint Egyptian-Sudanese positions will be the strongest card to confront unilateral Ethiopian stances, especially with further Egyptian-Sudanese cooperation in the military field at a time when Sudan faces another security crisis with Ethiopia in al-Fashqa region in eastern Sudan, where armed Ethiopian groups are trying to gain control with the help of the Ethiopian government. Sayed Fleifel, a professor of African studies at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor, Sisi's visit to Sudan had a strategic nature, especially in the context of political tension with Ethiopia over the GERD on the one hand and the tension on the Sudanese-Ethiopian borders on the other. Cairo is well aware of the strategic importance of Sudan, which has always been a political supporter to Egypt. Speaking about military cooperation, Fleifel noted, There has always been ongoing coordination [between Egypt and Sudan]; after the 1967 [Arab-Israeli War and the Egyptian military defeat], all Egyptian military and air colleges moved to Khartoum, and the new army recruits were trained in Sudan, while Sudanese forces participated alongside Egypt in the October War [also known as Yom Kippur War in 1973]. Maj. Gen. Nasr Salem, a retired officer of the Military Intelligence Service and former adviser at Nasser Military Academy, told Al-Monitor, Cooperation with Sudan in the military field and others will strengthen Egypt's negotiating positions with Ethiopia to reach a political and technical solution before the second filling in July, especially since Ethiopia is now facing both Egypt and Sudan together. He added, There has been no coordination in the positions between Egypt and Sudan throughout the negotiations with Ethiopia on the GERD since 2012. Without a doubt, the [current] unified Egyptian-Sudanese position will be stronger in the face of any unilateral Ethiopian actions. Salem added, Egypt firmly rejects any unilateral Ethiopian action, and we hope that any developments will be in the interest of the Nile Basin countries without having to take any other measures, as Cairo is still dealing with this conflict through diplomatic and legal solutions. As the Egyptian-Sudanese ties gain further momentum, questions remain about the strength of the tools that the two countries possess in persuading Ethiopia not to dispose of the Nile River's water unilaterally and to stop any preparations for the second filling until an agreement is reached, so long as it protects the two downstream countries and ensures coordination and joint management of the waters of the Blue Nile with trust and good faith. Published: 12 March 2021 One-half of students are working during their studies According to Statistics Finland's education statistics, one-half of students aged at least 18 were working alongside studies in 2019. Working was most common in connection with university and university of applied sciences studies. Fifty-five per cent of university students had an employment contract while studying and 58 per cent of university of applied sciences students. In vocational education, 47 per cent of students were employed during studies. In upper secondary general education, 33 per cent of students were employed alongside studies. Shares of employed students aged at least 18 of all students in 20102019 The figures concerning vocational education for 2019 are not comparable with those for earlier years. The figures concerning vocational education for 2019 are not comparable with those for earlier years. As regards vocational education, starting from 2019, data for the cross-sectional period concerns all students regardless of the way of acquiring skills. The ways of acquiring skills are educational institution-based education, training agreement and apprenticeship training. The cross-sectional number of students is not comparable with the numbers of students in previous years, because prior to 2019, data for the cross-sectional period on 20 September included students in apprenticeship training for the entire statistical reference year. From 2019 onwards students in apprenticeship training are included only if they have been registered as students by the provider of education at the cross-sectional period. Further information about employment of students in vocational education can be found in the database tables. Women worked while studying more frequently than men: 55 per cent of women and 47 per cent of men had an employment relationship while studying. Thirty-eight per cent of women in upper secondary general education were working alongside studies and 26 per cent of men. Of women studying in vocational education, 50 per cent were employed while studying and 44 per cent of men. Fifty-nine per cent of women studying for a university of applied sciences degree were employed while studying and 50 per cent of men. Of women studying for a higher university degree, 62 per cent were employed during studies and of men, 62 per cent. There were differences in working during studies among different age groups. In all, 31 per cent of 18-year-old students, 38 per cent of 21-year-old students and 51 per cent of 24-year-old students had an employment relationship. Among students aged 25 or over, 62 per cent were employed during their studies. Employment of students during studies varied by field of education. At the end of 2019, altogether 62 per cent of students in the fields of business, administration and law, 60 per cent of students in education, 58 per cent of students in social sciences, 58 per cent of students in health and welfare, and 46 per cent of students in humanities and arts had a valid employment relationship. Employment during studies was more common than average for the whole country in the regions of Uusimaa, Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Southwest Finland, Kanta-Hame, South Ostrobothnia, Lapland and Aland. More detailed information about students' employment can be found in the database tables. More information related to the progress of studies is available from the statistics on Progress of studies and Discontinuation of education . Source: Education. Statistics Finland Inquiries: Vesa Hamalainen 029 551 2594, koulutustilastot@stat.fi Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala Publication in pdf-format (226.2 kB) Updated 12.3.2021 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Employment of students [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-0017. 2019. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 2.6.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/opty/2019/opty_2019_2021-03-12_tie_001_en.html Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord, Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, has deplored the mismanagement of funds earmarked for the fight against the coronavirus in Libya which raises suspicions of corruption (Natural News) Japanese automaker Toyota recently introduced a fuel cell system module that can be easily integrated into a wide range of products, including electric ships. Unveiled at the end of last month, the hydrogen fuel cell system will be available in four models when it hits showrooms sometime in the next few months. Components of Toyotas fuel cell system module Hydrogen fuel cells convert the energy in hydrogen to electricity and generate only water and heat in the process. Their applications today are mostly for transportation, having been used to power electric vehicles. Toyotas Mirai, for instance, runs on hydrogen fuel cells. The firms new hydrogen fuel cell system is a single compact module equipped with a fuel cell stack, a built-in boost converter and components that handle air supply, hydrogen supply, cooling and power control. This modular nature eliminates the need for companies to create additional components and reduces the number of locations that the module must be connected to for easier installation. Toyota was also able to do away with a humidifier by circulating the water produced during power generation inside the fuel cell stack. This, in turn, led to what the firm described as a world-class, top-level output density per unit volume. The module can be connected directly to any existing electrical equipment that has a motor, inverter and battery, such as electric trains, buses, trucks and ships, as well as stationary generators, among other things. Toyota has applied safety countermeasures to ensure the safe use of hydrogen and designed the module so it can operate in a wide range of environments, from low or high temperatures to high altitudes. The fuel cell system will be available in four models a vertical module with a rated output of either 60 kilowatts (kW) or 80 kW and a horizontal module with a rated output of either 60 kW or 80 kW. All models have a wide voltage range of 400 to 750 volts and can be easily combined to scale things up. The module is part of Toyotas commitment to popularize hydrogen fuel cell products. Along with the likes of South Koreas Hyundai and Japans Honda, the firm has led the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology in a bid to achieve carbon neutrality by switching to hydrogen fuel. (Related: Hyzon Motors to build largest fuel cell material production facility in America.) Prior to the new module, Toyota has already been selling hydrogen fuel cell systems to companies and allowing them to use its patents without royalties. The firm hopes that this new module will reel in more companies from across a wide range of industries. More automakers to release hydrogen fuel cell vehicles Many automakers outside Asia also plan to make their own hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Last year, British automaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced an initiative to develop a hydrogen car as part of a government-funded program aimed at reducing the U.K.s tailpipe emissions. Called Project Zeus, this program will see JLR working on the technology with a number of British partners, including Delta Motorsport and Marelli Automotive Systems. According to a government document, the project will deliver a premium fuel cell prototype SUV with JLR attributes and zero carbon emissions. Also last year, German automaker BMW announced that it will make a hydrogen-powered version of its X5 SUV in a bid to produce as many models as possible until one technology proves dominant. Called the i Hydrogen NEXT, the vehicle will use Toyotas fuel cells and is set to get a limited production run in 2022. European automakers Volvo and Daimler (also known as Mercedes-Benz) also joined a group of companies last year to develop hydrogen-powered trucks as part of a project to decarbonize road freight vehicles. Called H2Accelerate, the project included oil and gas companies Shell and OMV, as well as Italian truckmaker Iveco. The consortium will pool investments in hydrogen trucks and fueling infrastructure to make the 2020s a decade-long scale-up. Learn more about the future of hydrogen fuel at Electricity.news. Sources include: TheDriven.io AZOCleanTech.com AutoExpress.co.uk Bloomberg.com GreeTechMedia.com (Newser) Japan will not take part in China's offeraccepted by the International Olympic Committeeto provide vaccines for participants in the postponed Tokyo Games and next year's Beijing Winter Games. Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said Friday that Japan had not been consulted by the IOC about the Chinese vaccines, and that Japanese athletes would not take them, the AP reports. She said the vaccines have not been approved for use in Japan. "We have been taking comprehensive anti-infectious disease measures for the Tokyo Games in order to allow participation without vaccinations," Marukawa said. "There is no change to our principle of not making vaccinations a prerequisite." story continues below Announced by IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday, the surprise deal comes as China faces mounting international pressure over the internment of at least 1 million Muslim Uyghurs, which has been labeled a genocide by several governments and human-rights bodies. Marukawa pointed out that the Olympics are being held as if vaccines are not available, relying on testing, masks, social distancing and keeping athletes in a "bubble." Distribution of China's vaccine will be through international agencies or existing vaccine agreements countries have with China, Bach said. China, where COVID-19 first emerged in late 2019, has actively engaged in vaccine diplomacy, using doses developed by Sinovac and Sinopharm. Trials have produced generally lower levels of efficacy than vaccines produced outside China. (Read more Olympics stories.) (Natural News) The chief executive of CNNs parent company drew flak following remarks he made about the news organization finding a silver lining in the coronavirus pandemic that has already killed over 500,000 Americans. It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and thats not going away anytime soon, said WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, speaking about CNNs coverage at a media conference. It turns out its really good for ratings. Wall Street Journals Joe Flint compared Kilars statement to that of disgraced media executive Les Moonves during the 2016 election. Moonves said at that time that Donald Trumps candidacy may not be good for America, but its damn good for CBS. Careful. Thats awful close to Moonves line that Trump may be bad for U.S. but hes good for CBS, said Flint in a Tweet. In a reply Flints tweet, Kilar was apologetic about his statement. I agree Joe. I would like nothing more than for this pandemic to be well behind us. I mean that with every fiber in my body. I wish I could go back and be more thoughtful about my communication, Kilar wrote. Another Twitter user replied to Flint just after Kilar. He said: Nah, its worse. Liberals claim to have benefited from COVID, but CNN actually got good ratings from Trump Supporters of President Joe Biden have been caught a few times telling insensitive remarks about the coronavirus pandemic. Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to Biden, said during the 2020 campaign that COVID is the best thing to ever happen to [Biden], according to a new book about last years election. Actress and Biden campaign surrogate Jane Fonda called the pandemic Gods gift to the Left before apologizing that it was a terrible thing to say. But recent metrics do not support Kilars claim. CNN actually got really good ratings because of its coverage of Trump. On Feb. 8, one day before the start of Trumps second impeachment trial, CNN led all cable news networks with an average of 332,000 total viewers and 483,000 primetime viewers in the coveted 25-54 age demographic. On Feb. 15, two days after Trump was acquitted for the second time, CNN averaged just 255,000 total viewers and 316,000 primetime viewers. The network fell behind Fox News in terms of total viewers and trailed both Fox News and MSNBC in primetime viewership. (Related: Trust in mainstream media continues to tank, led by CNNs abysmal numbers: Nobody trusts CNN except the stupid.) Fox News surged from third to first and was the only cable network to gain viewers in the target demographic during that same period. Fox News and MSNBC finished ahead of CNN in total viewers for the month of February. Biden is good for Fox News business For Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch, Biden is good for business. From a ratings point of view, the main beneficiary of the Trump administration was MSNBC, said Murdoch. And thats because theyre in loyal opposition, right? They called out the president when he needed to be called out. Thats what our job is now with the Biden administration. Fox News finished February as the most-watched network in all of cable during the key primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. The network averaged of 2.5 million primetime viewers compared to 2.2 million for MSNBC and only 1.7 million for CNN. HGTV and the Hallmark Channel completed the top five. The network is also the top-rated network on cable television among primetime total viewers post-Biden inauguration. To date it has been the No. 1 network among weekday primetime viewers since Memorial Day 2020. Trumps recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) speech was the most-watched cable telecast for the entire month of February. Trumps speech also became Fox News highest-rated program to ever air at 5 p.m. on a Sunday. Follow CNNsoFake.news for more news and information related to CNN. Sources include: FreeBeacon.com 1 FreeBeacon.com 2 NYTimes.com FoxNews.com By Yiming Woo PARIS (Reuters) - Dozens of show business workers are occupying theatres in at least nine cities in France to demand President Emmanuel Macron's government reopen cultural venues and end a months-long halt to performances because of the coronavirus pandemic. At the Odeon Theatre on the Left Bank in Paris, the sit-in entered its eighth day on Friday as protesters rejected an additional financial support for cultural venues and artists pledged by the government a day earlier. Sleeping bags, inflatable mattresses and donated food are laid out in the 19th-century theatre's ornate hall and velvet-lined balconies, while the 54 protesters share a single shower. "We've got everything we need to sit tight for several days," said comedian Jennifer Catelain. "We started with polite petitions, then peaceful protests, we occupied venues for a day here and there, but we were not listened to. So we decided to step it up, stay a little longer in a place that is emblematic." Theatres, cinemas, art galleries and other cultural spaces have been shut since October when France was put into its second full lockdown. Much of the economy reopened in mid-December but cultural venues, like bars and restaurants, remained closed. The protesters, among them actors, theatre workers and students, say there is no reason to keep cultural venues closed when social distancing measures can be imposed. They have been demanding an opening date as well as an extension to special unemployment benefits for actors, musicians and other show business workers who work on short-term contracts, known collectively as "intermittents du spectacle". The government on Thursday promised an extra 30 million euros in financial aid and made sick leave and maternity leave more widely available for intermittents during the crisis. However the protesters said the response did not go far enough - and for now the public appears on their side. "They have no choice when it seems they have no other solution, said Paris resident Beatrice Philippe. (Reporting by Yiming Woo; Editing by Richard Lough and Mark Heinrich) This page requires Javascript. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. Airline workers, NJ Transit and New Jersey airports were among the big winners of federal aid after President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief and stimulus act Thursday. Officials for U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, D-NJ, broke down what is coming to help New Jersey transportation recover from travel and ridership declines and the revenue losses that accompanied them. The below outlines the anticipated funding. NJ Transit NJ Transit is slated to receive an estimated $2 billion in funding that will help the agency recover from coronavirus ridership losses. It also could help it cover projected funding gaps in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Ridership declines due to coronavirus have taken a toll on revenues from fares and federal funding has helped the agency maintain full service, which is being primarily used by essential workers. In 2023, the agency predicts a $354 million funding need to support a $2.77 billion budget. That need increases to $916 million in FY 2024s proposed $2.88 billion budget. It lands at $957 million in 2025. Options to close that gap include federal funding from the American Rescue Act, additional state support or additional passenger revenue as riders return, William Viqueira, NJ Transit chief financial officer, said on Wednesday night. NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett said he anticipates an upturn in ridership and fare revenue starting later this year, as businesses and attractions, particularly in New York City, reopen, and more people get vaccinated. Portal Bridge The federal share of the $1.8 billion Portal Bridge replacement will increase by an additional $78 million, they said. That adds to an almost $800 million full funding grant agreement that was signed on Jan. 14. Amtraks Northeast Corridor line will receive $970 million from a total of $1.7 billion for Amtrak in the rescue act. The Portal Bridge replacement is part of the larger Gateway Project that would build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River so two 110-year old tunnels damaged by Hurricane Sandy could be taken out of service and rehabilitated one at a time. Airports Airline workers, some who received layoff notices in January, will be spared, thanks to $15 billion to protect employees in that industry. Those who received a furlough notice will no longer be furloughed, said Robert Einhorn, a United Airlines spokesman. United had issued 14,000 WARN notices on Jan. 29 about potential layoffs on April 1 to workers who could be affected. Continued travel downturns due to the coronavirus were blamed. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, metro area airports looked nothing like the busy hubs they were in 2019, despite an uptick in travel. United is Newark Airports largest carrier. Thousands of frontline workers will now receive paychecks and healthcare through September, which is especially critical while vaccine distribution continues to ramp up, United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement on LinkedIn. Airlines and the travel industry are banking on pent-up demand for vacations after vaccines are widely distributed to spur a recovery for the industry. Now, airline passenger volumes are down by 60% from pre-COVID-19 levels and carriers are operating 40% fewer flights, said Airlines For American, an industry association. American Airlines CEO and president also told 13,000 employees to tear-up their layoff notices, CNN reported. NEW: American Airlines is telling 13,000 workers who received notices of April 1 furloughs "you can tear them up!" House passage of $1.9 trillion stimulus bill extends airline Payroll Support Program once again. pic.twitter.com/a23SkVfhwd Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) March 10, 2021 Kirby sounded an optimistic note for the future in his statement saying United was strategically positioned to emerge as the best global airline. Americans CEO went a step further, advising employees, if you see your local congressional representative on flight, be sure to thank him or her for their work this past year. Out of $8 billion to support airport operations nationwide, New Jersey airports received a total of $177.2 million. The largest grant of $164.02 million went to Newark Liberty Airport. Passenger volumes at all Port Authority of New York and New Jersey airports, including Newark, was down 73% in January 2021 compared to January 2019. Atlantic City International Airport received $6.4 million and $5.4 million was allocated to Trenton-Mercer airport. New Jerseys smaller general aviation airports will split $854,000. Still yet to be determined is whether the Port Authority will receive any other aid from the recovery act. The authority saw a $1.7 billion revenue loss in 2020 and has unsuccessfully sought federal assistance to compensate for a projected $3 billion loss by March 2022. The only assistance the authority has received was $450 million in federal airport assistance in the original CARES act. Without substantial aid to help cover the losses, Authority officials warned its ambitious $37 billion capital plan is headed for the chopping block. Projects that are not moving to construction have already been put on hold by the bi-state authority. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Pope Francis reflects on his recent Apostolic Journey to Iraq during the weekly General Audience, and highlights a penitential sense he felt during his visit, as well as the joy of the Iraqi people at welcoming Christ's message. By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ In the past few days, the Lord allowed me to visit Iraq, carrying out a project of Saint John Paul II, Pope Francis said. Never before has a Pope been in the land of Abraham. Providence willed that this should happen now, as a sign of hope, after years of war and terrorism, and during a severe pandemic. Pope Francis focused his catechesis during Wednesdays General Audience - the first after returning from his Apostolic Journey to Iraq on his reflections on his four-day visit to the Middle Eastern nation from 5 - 8 March. Gratitude The Pope said his soul is filled with gratitude: first to God, and to all who made it possible the president and government of Iraq, the Patriarchs and bishops of the country, as well as the ministers and the faithful of their respective churches. He also acknowledged other religious authorities, beginning with the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani, with whom the Pope had an unforgettable meeting at his residence in Najaf. A hopeful church in spite of trials I strongly felt a penitential sense regarding this pilgrimage, said the Pope. I could not draw near to that tortured people, to that martyr-Church, without taking upon myself, in the name of the Catholic Church, the cross they have been carrying for years; a huge cross, like the one placed at the entrance of Qaraqosh. Pope Francis explained that he felt this sense in a special way when he saw the still open wounds of the destruction, and even more so, when he met with and listened to the witnesses who had survived the violence and persecution. However, at the same time, the Pope noted that he saw all around him, the joy of welcoming Christs message and the hope of being open to a horizon of peace and fraternity which were summed up in Jesus words expressed in the motto of his Apostolic visit to Iraq: You are all brothers (Mt 23:8). This hope, the Pope insisted, he saw in the discourse of the Iraqi president, in the many greetings and testimonies, in the songs and gestures of the people, and on the luminous faces of the young and in the vivacious eyes of the elderly. War destroys peace The Iraqi people have the right to live in peace; they have the right to rediscover the dignity that belongs to them, Pope Francis stated. Recalling the countrys religious and cultural roots which are thousands of years old, the Holy Father noted that Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization. Historically, he added, Baghdad is a city of primary importance, "hosting for centuries the richest library in the world." And what destroyed it? War! the Pope lamented. War, he explained, is always the monster that transforms itself with the change of epochs and continues to devour humanity. But the response to war is not another war, the response to weapons is not other weapons... The response is fraternity, Pope Francis affirmed. This, he insisted, is the "challenge not only for Iraq but for many regions in conflict and, ultimately, for the whole world. You are all brothers Recalling his meeting with religious leaders in Ur during his Apostolic journey, Pope Francis said that Christians, Muslims and representatives came together to pray in Ur, where Abraham received Gods call about four thousand years ago. He further explained that Abraham is our father in faith because listening to God's voice promising him descendants, he left everything and departed. And at Ur, standing together under the same sky in which our father Abraham saw us, his descendants, the phrase You are all brothers seems to resound once again. God is faithful to his promises, the Pope said. He guides our steps toward peace still today. He guides the steps of those who journey on Earth with their gaze turned toward Heaven." Messages of fraternity: Baghdad, Mosul, Qaraqosh and Erbil Further emphasizing the importance of fraternity, Pope Francis noted that a message of fraternity came from the ecclesial meeting in the Syrian Catholic Cathedral of Baghdad where forty-eight people, including two priests were killed during the celebration of Holy Mass in 2010. He said that in that temple which bears the names of those martyrs inscribed in stone, the joy of encounter resounded as his amazement at being in their midst mingled with their joy at having the Pope among them. The Holy Father also launched another message of fraternity from Mosul and Qaraqosh, on the Tigris River, near the ruins of ancient Nineveh. There, the occupation of the so-called Islamic State caused several thousands to flee for their lives, including Christians and other persecuted minorities, in particular the Yazidis. He noted that reconstruction efforts are underway and Muslims and Christians are working together to restore churches and mosques. The Pope enjoined all to pray for them that they may have the strength to start over. He also remembered the many Iraqi emigrants and reminded them, who have left everything like Abraham, to keep the faith and hope and be weavers of friendship and fraternity where they are. Another message of fraternity came from the two Eucharistic celebrations in Baghdad and Erbil. Pope Francis explained that Abrahams hope, and that of his descendants is fulfilled in the mystery we celebrated, in Jesus, the Son that God the Father did not spare, but gave for everyones salvation: through His death and resurrection, He opened the way to the promised land, to that new life where tears dried, wounds are healed, brothers and sisters are reconciled. Prayers for Iraq, the Middle East Concluding his remarks at the General Audience, the Pope praised God for the Apostolic Journey, and encouraged all to pray for Iraq and the Middle East where, in spite of the destruction and weapons, the palm trees, symbol of the country and its hope, have continued to grow and bear fruit. So it is for fraternity, the Pope said. It does not make noise, but is fruitful and makes us grow. (Newser) Tucker Carlson had something to say about women in the military, and now the military has a lot to say about Tucker Carlson. On his Fox News show Tuesday, the host mocked President Biden's announcement that the armed services now have uniforms that fit females correctly, and maternity flight suits for pregnant service members. The hairstyle requirements have also been updated, as the military seeks to recruit more women. "So we've got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits," he said. "Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It's a mockery of the US military. While Chinas military becomes more masculine as it has assembled the worlds largest navy, our military needs to become as Joe Biden says more feminine, whatever feminine means anymore." Senior members of the military did not hold back in responding, per CNN, Politico, and the Hill: Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby: While the military has "a lot of work to do" to become "more inclusive, more respectful of everyoneespecially women," he said, "We pledge to do better, and we will. What we absolutely won't do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military. Maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove. That's on them." story continues below Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin: Kirby said Austin "shares the revulsion" expressed by many in the military at Carlson's rhetoric. Kirby said Austin "shares the revulsion" expressed by many in the military at Carlson's rhetoric. Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston: "Women lead our most lethal units with character," he tweeted. "They will dominate ANY future battlefield were called to fight on. @TuckerCarlsons words are divisive, dont reflect our values. We have THE MOST professional, educated, agile, and strongest NCO Corps in the world." "Women lead our most lethal units with character," he tweeted. "They will dominate ANY future battlefield were called to fight on. @TuckerCarlsons words are divisive, dont reflect our values. We have THE MOST professional, educated, agile, and strongest NCO Corps in the world." General Paul Funk, head of Army Training and Doctrine Command: "Thousands of women serve honorably every day around the globe," he tweeted. "They are beacons of freedom and they prove Carlson wrong through determination and dedication. We are fortunate they serve with us." "Thousands of women serve honorably every day around the globe," he tweeted. "They are beacons of freedom and they prove Carlson wrong through determination and dedication. We are fortunate they serve with us." Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Scott H. Stalker, the senior enlisted leader at US Space Command: "Drama TV - my response to Mr. Carlsons comments on women in the Armed Forces," he tweeted alongside a video in which he pointed out that Carlson's "opinion, which he has a right to, is based off of actually zero days of service in the armed forces." He ended with, "Let's remember that those opinions were made by an individual that has never served a day in his life. Let's remember that's all about drama TV." "Drama TV - my response to Mr. Carlsons comments on women in the Armed Forces," he tweeted alongside a video in which he pointed out that Carlson's "opinion, which he has a right to, is based off of actually zero days of service in the armed forces." He ended with, "Let's remember that those opinions were made by an individual that has never served a day in his life. Let's remember that's all about drama TV." Major General Patrick Donahoe: "Just a reminder that @TuckerCarlson couldn't be more wrong," he tweeted. "Just a reminder that @TuckerCarlson couldn't be more wrong," he tweeted. Fort Hood Deputy Commanding General John B. Richardson IV: "Mothers in uniform fight & win our nations wars. Fathers in uniform fight & win our nations wars. Soldier is not a gendered noun," he tweeted. "Americas army is made up of countless mothers and fathers. Being a parent (& being pregnant) does NOT negatively impact on our nations defense." "Mothers in uniform fight & win our nations wars. Fathers in uniform fight & win our nations wars. Soldier is not a gendered noun," he tweeted. "Americas army is made up of countless mothers and fathers. Being a parent (& being pregnant) does NOT negatively impact on our nations defense." Lieutenant General Theodore D. Martin: He tweeted a photo of his daughter in uniform, saying, "Contrary to what you may be hearing this WOMAN & 1000's of WOMEN like her are NOT 'making a mockery of our military'. You WISH your daughter was as AWESOME as MINE! so BACK OFF." He tweeted a photo of his daughter in uniform, saying, "Contrary to what you may be hearing this WOMAN & 1000's of WOMEN like her are NOT 'making a mockery of our military'. You WISH your daughter was as AWESOME as MINE! so BACK OFF." Sen. Tammy Duckworth, former combat pilot who served in Iraq: "F--- Tucker Carlson. While he was practicing his two-step, Americas female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of Americas women," she tweeted alongside a video of Carlson on Dancing With the Stars. "Happy belated International Womens Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than." "F--- Tucker Carlson. While he was practicing his two-step, Americas female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of Americas women," she tweeted alongside a video of Carlson on Dancing With the Stars. "Happy belated International Womens Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than." The US Army: The branch tweeted pictures throughout the day Thursday of female service members captioned, "I am an American Soldier." As for Carlson, he was back at it during his Thursday show, saying it's not the point of the military to make people "feel valued and included." He also complained in a tweet that the Department of Defense was attacking his show "like were a hostile foreign power. Remarkable." (Read more Tucker Carlson stories.) Google CEO Sundar Pichai Stephanie Keith/Getty Images Google accused Microsoft of diverting attention away from the hack on Exchange servers. Microsoft president Brad Smith took aim at Google ahead of an House hearing on antitrust. A Chinese-sponsored hacking group attacked Microsoft Exchange servers in 30,000 US organizations. See more stories on Insider's business page. Google accused Microsoft of attempting to divert public attention away from a major Microsoft server hack. Kent Walker, Google's head of global affairs, said in a blog post Microsoft is attacking his firm to divert attention away from the massive hack on Microsoft Exchange servers. The statement came ahead of a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on competition among news outlets at which Microsoft testified. Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a testimony ahead of a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing that Google "dominates" digital advertising and requires news outlets use the tech firm's tools to operate. "Microsoft was warned about the vulnerabilities in their system, knew they were being exploited, and are now doing damage control while their customers scramble to pick up the pieces from what has been dubbed the Great Email Robbery," Walker said. "So maybe it's not surprising to see them dusting off the old diversionary Scroogled playbook." Microsoft announced on March 3 a Chinese-sponsored group Hafnium had hacked into its Exchange email servers, impacting an estimated 100,000 organizations globally and 30,000 in the US. Cybersecurity experts warn the attack could be "1,000 times more crippling" than the well-publicized Solar Winds attack. Microsoft was recently grilled by US senators over the massive Solar Winds hack that infiltrated Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies. Smith said a lack of competition among search engines results in Google acting as a gatekeeper for news outlets. Microsoft-owned Bing has had trouble competing with Google's search engine, which controls 81% of all general search queries in the US on desktop and 94% on mobile, per the House Judiciary subcommittee. Story continues Google's Walker said Microsoft owns also platforms where news is consumed, like LinkedIn, MSN, and Microsoft News, but gives less financial support to outlets. The two tech firms took aim at each other recently after Australia passed a law requiring news tech giants to pay news publishers before displaying content in their search results. Microsoft supported the law, and suggested Bing could replace Google as the primary search engine in Australia. Walker responded to Microsoft's comments by accusing the firm of imposing an "unworkable levy" to gain better market access. Microsoft was not immediately available for additional comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. OnePlus is all set to launch the new OnePlus 9 series this month. While the official launch date is still a couple of weeks away, the company has started teasing the phones across different channels. Now, the company has posted a short 15-second video on its YouTube channel, talking about the OnePlus 9 Pro's camera prowess. For those of you who don't know, OnePlus has partnered with Swedish brand Hasselblad to improve camera performance on the OnePlus 9 series. Both OnePlus 9 Pro, and the standard OnePlus 9 variants, will have cameras that are tweaked and fine-tuned by Hasselblad. The new video, however, only shows the OnePlus 9 Pro in action. The video shows Hasselblad ambassadors Sarah Cooper and Nina Gorfer using the OnePlus 9 Pro to capture some images. What if the colours we saw in the real world were the same colours we could keep in our memories, the video narrates. OnePlus is clearly hinting that the phone will be able to capture images with true-to-life colours. The photos look very promising, but it remains to be seen how the cameras will perform in real-world testing scenarios. The teaser video also shows the phone from the back, and you can see the curved back and the OnePlus logo in the middle. We are looking at a silver colour variant of the phone, but we already know the other colours variants, thanks to this leak OnePlus 9 Pro leak from yesterday. A married woman who tried for a year to get pregnant without success was shocked to find she was born a biological man. The 25-year-old Chinese woman was told she had the male Y chromosome, despite having female genital organs and having lived as a woman all her life - a rare condition affecting people who sometimes describe themselves as intersex. The discovery emerged following an X-ray on an injured ankle, but also explained why she had never had a period and failed to get pregnant with her husband. A hospital doctor told the South China Morning Post that the patient was now mulling her future as she reconsiders her gender identity. A 25-year-old Chinese woman was told she had the male Y chromosome, despite having female genital organs and having lived as a woman all her life (stock photo) Rare 'disorders of sexual development' that affect intersex people The patient in China was told she had what is known as a '46 XY disorder of sexual development', part of a family of rare conditions affecting people who are sometimes described as intersex. A 46 XY disorder means someone has the male Y chromosome but may have ambiguous, underdeveloped or missing genital organs and might be raised as either a boy or a girl. One type of this known as Swyer syndrome is thought to occur in about one in 80,000 births, according to one estimate. Medical experts say it can sometimes be hard to tell whether a child's organs are more like a boy's or a girl's, for example if they have testes which are not fully developed. Some people with this condition may have ostensibly female organs such as a uterus, while others will not. A counterpart to this condition is called a 46 XX disorder, which means people have female chromosomes but their genitals may appear male. These people normally present as male, experts say, but may suffer from conditions such as infertility. There are also some people with patterns other than XX or XY, for example girls with only one sex chromosome (XO) or boys with an extra one (XXY). Experts say all of these conditions can be inherited, but there is often no clear reason why they occur. Advertisement The woman, whose name was given as Pingping, was told she had a condition called a '46 XY disorder of sexual development' in which people with male chromosomes have ambiguous, underdeveloped or missing genital organs. Because the woman had ostensibly female organs, she had never questioned her sex, and had turned a blind eye to the fact she had never menstruated. When her mother took her to a doctor as a child, she was told that she might simply be developing more slowly than others. 'After I grew up, I found this issue quite embarrassing so I didnt treat it seriously,' she said. But the doctors who looked at her ankle were struck by her underdeveloped bones and investigated further - bringing forth the surprising result. Doctors informed her that she had no uterus or ovaries, which explained why her 12-month effort to get pregnant had ended in disappointment. But she also had no male genitalia or testes, with doctors saying that these might have existed once but 'degenerated and atrophied'. The medics said Pingping's family should have taken her for more thorough checks years ago, adding that her parents were closely related. They said they had treated Pingping for high blood pressure and low blood potassium, but said she would need professional help dealing with the sex finding. 'It takes a long time to rebuild the social role and reconstruct the family and its going to be a painstaking process, where psychological intervention is necessary. But Pingping has not asked for help from us so far,' one mental health doctor said. The US-based Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) says many people with this condition have 'genitalia that is not clearly male or female'. GARD experts say that some people with 46 XY have 'fully to underdeveloped female reproductive organs' such as a uterus and fallopian tubes, while others do not. Treatment can involve surgery or hormone replacement therapy, but Pingping is apparently still deciding how to respond. GoFundMe Like many others around the country, Jose Villarruel has been struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic. The substitute teacher from Southern California saw his hours cut as schools around the country closed their doors to slow the spread of the virus starting in early 2020. According to KCBS, Villarruel had already been living out of his car for years to help provide for his family with the little income he made, and the change to his situation made things worse. "I couldn't possibly support my family and extended family in Mexico and rent an apartment here at the same time with the income that I can have," Villarruel, who lives out of a 1997 Ford Thunderbird LX, told the news station. Steven Nava, Villarruel's former student, remembered seeing Villarruel retrieve items from his car. "Every day I'd go out to work around 5 a.m. and see him going through his trunk," Nava told KCBS. "I just felt the need to do something about it." RELATED: Teacher Transforms Old Treehouse into Stunning Virtual Classroom: It 'Has Made My Year' Under normal circumstances, substitute teachers can expect to bring in anywhere betwen $22,000 to $32,000 a year in the United States, according to data from ZipRecruiter. Typically, substitutes make around $10 to $15 an hour. Nava took it upon himself to start a GoFundMe earlier this month to help Villarruel. The campaign raised more than $27,000 in six days. "Mr. V was a great funny and helpful educator and substitute teacher in the Fontana Unified School District," Nava wrote on the donation page. "He's struggled with getting back on his feet after the pandemic hit and has been living in his car ever since despite the brutal weather and living conditions." "This fundraiser is to help him out financially and getting back to normal life," he added. "Any help is appreciated, thank you god bless." Story continues RELATED VIDEO: Teachers Surprised with Celebrity Zoom Calls Nava presented Villarruel with the $27,000 check generated from the donations on Thursday, which also happened to be Villarruel's 77th birthday. "We don't appreciate these teachers enough, and that's something that we should be doing," Nava told KCBS. RELATED: Teachers Had a Parade Through Their Community to See Students and Social Distance The money will undoubtedly give Villarruel a bit of relief as the country continues to make strides during the pandemic. "I'm still trying to digest the entire experience," Villarruel told KCBS. "It's extraordinary, totally unexpected." Cullman County Schools wont require teachers or students to wear masks when full-time in-person instruction resumes April 12. Students in grades K-8 at Cullman County Schools will be able to return to on-campus classes five days a week without masks, the district said in a news release Thursday. The state mask mandate, which currently requires students, staff and visitors to wear face coverings when in school buildings, expires April 9. The district said that decisions to continue to wear masks will be left up to each individual. High school students will have the option to come to school on Wednesdays beginning April 12, according to the district. State officials have said that after Gov. Kay Iveys mask mandate expires, individual districts still have the power to enact their own restrictions. Cullman County, which has about 9,200 students and 1,154 staff members, has reported fewer than five COVID-19 cases among students and staff in the most recent update of the dashboard kept by the Alabama Department of Public Health. Alabama schools have been required to offer remote options throughout the school year, but many began transitioning back to in-person learning last fall. The majority of Alabama schoolchildren now have the option to attend school in-person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended schools return as many students as possible to in-person instruction -- but only if social distancing and consistent mask recommendations are followed. Other schools and businesses in states that have recently lifted mask requirements now are grappling with whether or not to enforce public health best practices themselves. In Texas, many districts have decided to keep mask rules, citing concern from teachers who are not yet vaccinated; others said they did not want to make staff responsible for enforcing any rules, according to the Dallas Morning News. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has helped lead the nations federal response to the coronavirus, said he does not recommend relaxing masking and other mitigation strategies until vaccination rates are much higher. Alabama does not track teacher vaccination rates. About 9% of the state has completed the doses needed for full vaccination, according to the state. Military leaders, veterans and veterans groups are slamming Fox News host Tucker Carlson after he attacked the notion of pregnant women serving in the armed forces. Carlson called women in maternity flight suits a mockery of the U.S. military, while also making a transphobic aside in his speech during a Tuesday night broadcast. His segment was in response to President Joe Bidens acknowledgment that the military has tailored combat uniforms for women during his International Womens Day remarks. While Chinas military becomes more masculine as it's assembled the worlds largest navy, our military, as Joe Biden says, needs to become more feminine whatever feminine means anymore since men and women no longer exist, Carlson said. The bottom line is its out of control and the Pentagon is going along with it. Again, this is a mockery of the U.S. military and its core mission, which is winning wars. tucker carlson reclines in a chair with a microphone (Rich Polk / Getty Images for Politicon) The Department of Defense would not be taking personnel advice from a talk show host or the Chinese military, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a response to the remarks Thursday. Maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove, that's on them, Kirby said. We know were the greatest military in the world today, and even for all the things we need to improve. Kirby added that the military is better and more effective when they represent all the American people. A number of active military members, veterans and veterans groups took issue with Carlsons remarks, frequently noting that the Fox News host has never served in the military. I served with women who risked their lives to protect our country. Tucker did not, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., a former Navy helicopter pilot, said in a tweet. While he denigrates those who serve, our military remains the best fighting force due, in large part, to our amazing servicewomen. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Il, an Army veteran who lost her legs during a deployment in Iraq, responded to Carlson with a tweet referencing his brief appearance on "Dancing with the Stars. Story continues "While he was practicing his two-step, Americas female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of Americas women," Duckworth said. "Happy belated International Womens Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than." Duckworth is also notably the first sitting senator to give birth while in office and brought her newborn daughter, Maile, to a 2018 Senate floor vote. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Scott Stalker, a command senior enlisted leader of U.S. Space Command, reduced Carlsons comments to what he called drama TV in a video posted to Twitter on Thursday morning. Stalker said Carlsons opinion was based on actually zero days of service before offering his own, which he said is based on 28 years in the military. Those decisions were made by medical professionals, by commanders and our civilian leadership, that allows for women to have more time with their children to recuperate, to get fit and ready, Stalker said. To take that time thats necessary that our medical professionals know is needed, which actually makes us a more lethal, ready and fit force," he said. "The bottom line is that we value women in our armed forces. Carlson on his show Thursday night said that his critics were trying to "silence dissent" and that one does not need to have served to question the military or its policies. He accused the Pentagon of "a large and coordinated public relations offensive against this show." "The DoD even issued a news release attacking us Press secretary smites Fox News host," Carlson said. "Smites, like we're a hostile foreign power." The piece in question, titled "Press Secretary Smites Fox Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military" was not a press release but was an article on the news section of the Department of Defense's web site, bylined by a reporter employed by the department and which contained Kirby's remarks. Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. Mr. Curtis joins Burger King from industry giant Domino's where he built an impressive 35-year career and most recently served as Executive Vice President, U.S. Operations and Support, overseeing both franchise and company-owned operations. Prior to that role he led U.S. company operations as Executive Vice President of Corporate Operations. Curtis will report to Christopher Finazzo, President of Burger King, Americas. "We are excited to add another seasoned expert to our leadership team and for our entire system to benefit from his impressive experience and operational expertise," said Chris Finazzo. "Tom will be an important leader and asset in our journey to provide an exceptional guest experience at Burger King, including rapidly scaling our digital capabilities and offering a consistent and loved experience at our restaurants." "I'm proud to join the iconic Burger King brand at a time when leadership is focused on building a world-class guest experience," said Tom Curtis. "After 35 years in the industry, it's exciting to start a new role with a loved global restaurant brand that is driving product innovation and digital leadership." Mr. Curtis began his career in QSR in 1985 as a Domino's store manager. He later joined the brand as a franchisee in the New Haven, Connecticut area from 1987 until 2006. After franchising, Mr. Curtis joined Domino's corporate in 2006. Tom Curtis will join the brand mid-May and will be based out of Miami HQ. About BURGER KING: Founded in 1954, the Burger King brand is the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the world. The original Home of The Whopper, the Burger King system operates more than 18,600 locations in more than 100 countries. Almost 100 percent of Burger King restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. To learn more about the Burger King brand, please visit the Burger King brand website at www.bk.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. SOURCE Restaurant Brands International Inc. (CNN) We've had pre-travel testing, quarantine on arrival and "covid-free" flights. Now comes something new in the travel industry's battle against the pandemic: "covid-free" trains. The concept is being launched in Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by COVID-19, which, one year on, is in the grip of a feared third wave. Italy already has "covid-free" flights -- where passengers are tested before boarding and on arrival -- from Rome to Atlanta and New York JFK. But the country's main train operator has announced plans for "covid-free" trains including to Italy's main tourist destinations this summer. Gianfranco Battisti, CEO of state-owned Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, has said that on these trains, both passengers and staff will be tested for COVID-19 before boarding. Passengers will have to arrive at the station an hour ahead of departure. "We will launch a covid-free train at the start of April," said Battisti. "We have chosen the Rome to Milan route for the initial testing phase. Then we will implement this for tourist destinations for the summer. "It will be a unique opportunity which will allow people to visit destinations such as Venice and Florence." The company is working with the Red Cross and Italian Civil Protection on the testing. A spokesperson for Trenitalia told CNN that further details cannot be confirmed at present. However, it is expected that the Rome-Milan tickets will go on sale in the near future, on the high-speed Frecce trains. Currently, Italian trains run at 50% capacity. Passengers must wear masks and, on high-speed trains, where booking is mandatory, must sit in their allocated seat. Battisti's comments came at a presentation in Rome of the "treno sanitario," or "health train" -- a mobile hospital, with eight carriages designed to care for patients being shuttled between regions. It has been developed as Italy struggles with a third wave of COVID-19, and some regional health services are under more pressure than others. The train -- which has three ICU carriages equipped with ventilators -- will even be able to take passengers abroad, if needed. Meanwhile, 11 major train stations across Italy will allocate "screening" areas, to be run by the Red Cross -- presumably to be used for the Covid-free services. Hubs include Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples, Venice Mestre, and Bari, for those traveling to beach resorts in Puglia. Termini station in Rome is also due to become a hub for the vaccination program, which the government has vowed to speed up, as many 80-something Italians still wait for their injections. Giovanni Rezza, director of prevention of Italy's health ministry, predicted Tuesday that it will take "seven to 15 months" for the country to return to normality, if they can accelerate the vaccination drive. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Italy unveils 'covid-free' trains to tourist destinations." Police officers raise China's and Hong Kong's flags at a flag raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong, China, March 11, 2021. Reuters Many details of Beijing's drastic shake-up of Hong Kong's electoral system were already known, yet Thursday's formal announcement still left many wondering about the future of local politics with the opposition virtually wiped out. Pro-establishment politicians presented a united front, insisting that reforms were needed urgently. "If Hong Kong continues to be stranded in political infighting, we can never find a way out on our own," said Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the largest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB). Opposition players slammed the reforms as rendering participation in elections meaningless. Democratic Party veteran Lee Wing-tat said the major changes set in motion by Beijing were a "flawed exercise" for the lack of consultation, and called the overhaul a retrogression that would snuff out all democratic elements in elections. "In the past, we could still say half the seats in the Legislative Council were directly returned, but not anymore," he said. At the core of the proposals endorsed by Beijing on Thursday are plans to expand and give more power to the Election Committee, a select group already dominated by the pro-establishment camp, which picks the city's chief executive. Its membership will be raised to 1,500 by adding 300 Beijing loyalists. It will also get sweeping new powers to nominate lawmakers and send some of its own representatives to the Legislative Council, which will be expanded to 90 seats from the current 70. A new "candidate qualification review committee" will be set up to vet the qualifications of candidates in all elections, ensuring only "patriots" are cleared to run. Here are some key concerns and questions regarding the changes to come for Hong Kong's election system. The newly endowed Election Committee is supposed to have broad representation, but how broad will it be exactly? The committee's 1,200 members currently represent the business, social, professional and political sectors. A fifth sector will be created when 300 Beijing loyalists are added, increasing its membership to 1,500. Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - the country's top political advisory body - as well as some "grass roots representatives" will join as new members. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor refused to provide a breakdown of the committee's membership, but made a point to mention that the social services sector, a stronghold of pan-democrats, will move from the committee's social grouping to the professional grouping. That effectively means less representation. Currently, each sector under the social grouping - such as social welfare and labour - is allocated 60 seats, whereas those listed under the professional grouping get only 30 seats each. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam listens to questions during a press conference in Hong Kong, Thursday, March 11, 2021. AP New Delhi: The wait for Xiaomis Mi Mix 2 smartphone seems to be finally over as according to reports, the company is all set to launch its much-awaited smartphone on September 12. September 12 is not like any other date as it is said that the company has intentionally chosen this specific date to release its phone. But whats so unique about this date? Xiaomis Mi Mix 2 will share its release date with the iPhone 8. The news is not yet confirmed but there is a possibility that both the giants will come up with their smartphones on the same day. ALSO READ | iPhone 8 Release Date: Specification, features and all you need to know According to reports, the Chinese smartphone maker has decided to snatch some market shares from Apple. But if it is true, the Xiaomi would be playing a huge gamble by releasing its phone on the same day looking at the hype and craze among people for iPhone 8. Talking about Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 features, the phone may have a 6-inch display, which will be layered with 2.5D curved glass. According to rumours, the phone will be equipped with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal memory. The higher variant will come with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal memory. Meanwhile, the news about the release dates of both the phones is not confirmed yet and the official statements from both the giants are yet to come. ALSO READ: Xiaomi teams up with Google to launch Xiaomi A1, know key specifications and feature Our Top 5 Magazines + Digital We get it. You live by the Ski Valleys snow report even when youre hours away. You follow every Taos post on Instagram. Our small town occupies a BIG part of your heart. Keep in touch with all things Taos when you subscribe to FIVE of our national award-winning magazines, plus access to the website and e-edition for a full year at the special low rate of just $55. Police have charged two women they say approached a doctor looking to get a two-week-old girl circumcised. Child abuse squad detectives allege the women went to the doctor in January 2021, but the doctor refused to perform the procedure. The women, aged 23 and 50, who live in the Cannington Police District, have been charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. A police spokeswoman said the police force embraced the diversity provided by the many cultural and ethnic groups that formed the WA community. Practices which may be acceptable by some cultures and in some countries may constitute criminal offences in Western Australia, she said. Andrew Cuomos fall from media sainthood has entered its sexual-harassment phase. The last couple of weeks, theres been a new accuser or allegation every several days. Lets review the six accusers: One: Cuomos former aide, Lindsey Boylan, accused the governor of pervasive harassment of women, in both touching including kissing her on the lips without warning and sexual comments. Two: Charlotte Bennett, an executive assistant and health-policy adviser in the Cuomo administration, said Cuomo asked her numerous questions about her personal life, including whether she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships, and had said that he was open to relationships with women in their 20s comments she interpreted as clear overtures to a sexual relationship. Three: Anna Ruch had never met Cuomo when she encountered him at a wedding reception, and the governor put his hand on Ms. Ruchs bare lower back. . . . When she removed his hand with her own, Ms. Ruch recalled, the governor remarked that she seemed aggressive and placed his hands on her cheeks, and asked if he could kiss her. Four: Ana Liss, a policy and operations aide to Cuomo from 2013 to 2015, told the Wall Street Journal that Cuomo regularly asked her and other female staffers about their dating lives, touched them and commented about their physical appearance. She described an event where he hugged her, kissed her on both cheeks and then wrapped his arm around her lower back and grabbed her waist. Five: Karen Hinton, who was Cuomos press aide when he was secretary of housing and urban development in 2000, said he summoned her to his dimly lit hotel room and embraced her after a work event. . . . She says she pulled away from Cuomo, but he pulled her back toward his body, holding her before she backed away and left the room. Six: An unidentified member of the governors Executive Chamber staff told her supervisors that she had been summoned to the mansion to assist the governor with a work-related matter, and that Cuomo groped her, according to the Albany Times Union. Story continues Needless to say, if the rules Democrats applied to Brett Kavanaugh were still operative a mere accusation, if even vaguely plausible, and sometimes not even that, is enough to sink someone Cuomo would be gone yesterday. His accusers, without any apparent coordination, several of them his own former aides rather than political enemies, are describing a consistent pattern of behavior that doesnt require any wild leaps of faith to believe. Whats more, in the case of Anna Ruch, we have an actual photo of the behavior and Ruchs facial expression makes clear that she is not welcoming Cuomos hands on each side of her face. Andrew Cuomo is an impulsive, temperamental, sometimes-raging, often-bullying egomaniac prone to spectacular failures of self-awareness, and its notable that no one who knows the governor is exclaiming, Talking to female underlings about their sex lives and pressuring them for a relationship? That just doesnt sound like the Andrew Cuomo I know! Some of Cuomos denials have been carefully couched, or hes claimed that his attempts at friendly banter or, incredibly enough, mentorship have been misunderstood. By his own standards, too, he should also be gone yesterday he was eager to get in front of the me too parade when it was politically convenient, and he even changed New Yorks law to make the standard for harassment lower in a way that might come back to bite him now. That said, everyone accused of a crime or inappropriate behavior is entitled to some due process, and the allegations against the governor should indeed be investigated by an independent third party. (A genuinely independent third-party investigator, not one appointed by the governors office, as he initially suggested.) State attorney general Letitia James has now appointed to conduct that investigation two well-regarded lawyers a former federal prosecutor who, as acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, oversaw some of the Justice Departments previous investigation of the Cuomo administration, in which some top officials were convicted on corruption charges (although the governor himself was not charged); and an employment-law expert with extensive experience representing plaintiffs in sexual-harassment cases. In addition, the sixth complainants groping allegation has now been referred to the Albany Police Department for a potential criminal investigation, though it is unclear whether the unidentified former staffer will seek to press charges. No one has to await the end of an investigation, though, to conclude that Cuomo catastrophically mishandled the COVID crisis, tried to cover up his failure, lied about when and why he covered it up, and on top of all that, probably cant be trusted alone in a room with younger female government workers. That he may well remain governor of New York and is likely better than some of the alternatives including his bumbling left-wing nemesis, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is calling on him to resign is a stinging indictment of the state he has so ill-served. More from National Review To his Afton Oaks neighbors, Mohamed Mokbel was notorious for hosting extravagant parties and having a Bentley and a Ferrari adorn his driveway. Now, the 4M Pharmaceuticals CEO is sitting under house arrest inside his lavish $2 million mansion after being charged in a $134 million Medicare scheme. On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison approved bond for Mokbel but under specific restrictions. According to his attorney Charles Flood, Mokbel had to provide $250,000 for a secured bond in addition to wearing an ankle monitor. Federal prosecutors argued Thursday that Mokbel might be a potential flight risk. Attorneys portrayed Mokbel as being a criminal mastermind since the 1990s, according to ABC's 13 Miya Shay. When Mokbel's mansion was raided, agents discovered $100,000 worth of casino chips, $32,000 in gift cards, numerous bank accounts, and details of ownership for a 12-story building in Egypt. "As Judge Edison pointed out, it's not against the law to be wealthy. It's not against the law to be successful," Flood told ABC-13. "It's not against be successful, make a lot of money running a pharmacy." Judge Edison who presided over Mokbel's hearing ultimately decided against Mokbel being locked up in federal custody after weighing certain considerations. Specific factors, including the fact that Mokbel has a small child and that he was a U.S. citizen, led to the judge's decision. Mokbel, 56, and his accountant, Fathy ElSafty, 62, were both charged on one count to commit healthcare fraud, three counts of healthcare fraud and four counts of money laundering, acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery announced on Tuesday. Federal investigators allege that Mokbel and ElSafty preyed upon the most vulnerable individualsthose over the age of 55. Within the eight-count indictment, investigators claimed 4M Pharmaceuticals functioned as an outbound telemarketing call center that solicited Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance patients. Medicare payments were allegedly used to pay for lavish luxury items for Mokbel, according to the indictment. "The funds were allegedly used, in part, to pay for Mokbel's $1.5 million residence, $15 million in gambling and casino expenses and purchases and payments for a Ferrari and Bentley autom0bile," the U.S. Attorney's Office stated. After former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont lost his immunity as a Member of the European Parliament this week, the complex legal battle between Spain and Belgium that began in October 2017 entered another round. And once again, it looks like Belgium will emerge victorious. In January, Belgian courts rejected an extradition request for Puigdemont's colleague Lluis Puig, audaciously arguing that Spain's Supreme Court lacked sufficient authority to demand his return. Why would they now make a different decision for Catalonia's ex-president (under whom Puig served as Culture Minister), especially given that they've dismissed all of Spain's previous attempts to bring him home? Angered by Belgium's decision about Puig, Spain's Supreme Court has asked the European Court of Justice to publish guidelines on how a new European arrest warrant (EAW) for Puigdemont should be interpreted under EU law. But even if such a document materialises, it's hard to see how it could place Belgium under any legal obligation to return the pro-independence firebrand to his home country (which he would no doubt name as Catalonia first, Spain second). Ironically, this is because of the EAW, which was introduced to make extradition agreements between EU countries more straightforward. According to the requirement of double-criminality, a court may refuse to extradite someone if they're accused of an offence that is not a crime in the country to which they've fled. Sedition and rebellion do exist in Belgian law, but they're defined differently; in other words, it's up to a Belgian judge to decide if Puigdemont's actions in Spain in 2017 would have been criminal offences in Belgium. If not, he's staying put. There is, however, a list of over 30 offences - from arson to trafficking - where the double requirement doesn't apply: if you've committed an offence on this list, you can be extradited even if you're not judged to have committed a crime in your country of exile. It would be easier for Spain to secure Puigdemont's extradition if sedition, rebellion or the misuse of public funds were among these exempted offences, although it would still be up to a Belgian judge to make the final decision. But none of them are, presumably much to the relief of the Catalan's lawyer. A country can also refuse to hand over a fugitive if they have grounds to suspect that they're being persecuted for their political opinions, or if they doubt that they would receive a fair trial in their home country. Belgium will almost certainly argue that Puigdemont wouldn't be treated with impartiality by Spain's Supreme Court, a body that's already handed nine of his colleagues draconian sentences for the same offences, and that, in any case, the double requirement isn't met. My money's on Belgium winning this round of the legal bout. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 39 Colleges In Georgia for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 166 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each institution 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 166 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 39 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. To access the complete ranking, please visit: https://www.intelligent.com/best-colleges-in-georgia/ 2021 Top Colleges In Georgia featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Agnes Scott College Albany State University Augusta University Berry College Brenau University Clayton State University Columbus State University Covenant College Dalton State College Emory University Fort Valley State University Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Southern University Georgia Southwestern State University Gordon State College Kennesaw State University LaGrange College Life University Mercer University Morehouse College Oglethorpe University Paine College Piedmont College Point University Reinhardt University Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah State University Shorter University Spelman College Thomas University Toccoa Falls College Truett McConnell University University of Georgia University of North Georgia University of West Georgia Valdosta State University Wesleyan College Young Harris College 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/. Downtown Restaurant Investments (DRI) announced its CEO Dave Dittenber has been named to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) Board of Directors. I am proud of the work I have done and continue to do with the MRLA and pleased to be named to the NRAEF Board so I may continue to serve the restaurant industry on a national scale, Dittenber stated in a news release. I believe that restaurant technology and its adaptation is key to the recovery of the restaurant industry and increasing consumer confidence. I am honored to named to the NRAEF Board and look forward to making a positive impact by giving back to the industry I have loved since the age of 11. (Natural News) On May 18, the Oregon counties of Baker, Grant, Lake, Malheur and Sherman will hold a special election to decide if they want to try to part ways with the Beaver State and join next-door Idaho. Move Oregons Border, also known as Greater Idaho, confirmed that an initiative aiming to absorb most of Oregons land mass into Idaho received enough signatures to reach the special election ballot in the aforementioned counties, meaning voters will soon have the opportunity to make their voices heard. In Baker County, population 16,000, organizers secured 630 signatures, which was enough to get the initiative on the ballot there. Similar signature numbers were achieved in the other counties. Back in November, voters in two counties approved measures requiring county commissioners to hold meetings about relocating the states borders. The other two counties defeated the measure. Oregon is a powder keg because counties that belong in a red state like Idaho are ruled by Portlanders, complained Mike McCarter, president of Move Oregons Border, in a statement. The city of Ontario in Malheur County, which borders southern Idaho, is unlikely to end up supporting the initiative because if Greater Idaho were to ever become a reality, it would have to shut down all of its thriving cannabis businesses to comply with Idaho prohibition. In January alone, Ontario brought in $9.5 million in cannabis sales. Ontario, by the way, supplies cannabis to the greater Boise area, as all forms of the healing plant remain fully and totally illegal in Idaho. Ontario, population 11,080, now has more than half a dozen cannabis shops that are thriving due to all of the Idahoans who drive there to purchase goods. Right across the river from Ontario on the Idaho side is a town called Fruitland that has been struggling for years to pay for desperately needed infrastructure. Because Idaho tends to be very resistant to change, there is simply no money to be had in Fruitland to keep things properly maintained. Meanwhile in Ontario, new parks and other amenities are being feverishly built thanks to all that new cash coming in from an industry that is open and accepted in Oregon, but that continues to be vilified in Idaho. Be careful what you wish for, rural Oregon Should Greater Idaho ever become a thing, any Oregon county that currently benefits from industries like cannabis that are prohibited in Idaho would have to conform to the Idaho way. This would spell disaster for places like Ontario. Even industrial hemp is illegal in Idaho the only state left in the Union where this is still the case. What this means, of course, is that all of those rural Oregon counties currently growing hemp would have to stop if they got absorbed into Idaho. Divisions in Oregon are getting dangerous, so we see the relocation of the border as a way to keep the peace, McCarter insists, obviously not concerned about these other ramifications. Oregon and Idaho are already divided by a state line. The problem is that the location of the state line was decided 161 years ago and is now outdated. Its current location doesnt match the culture divide in Oregon. When questioned why he and the other several hundred disgruntled Oregonians in his movement do not just move to Idaho if they like it there so much, McCarter said he loves his community and is tied to it. Its just the state government that we cant stand, he explained. In order to ever move the state lines in the way McCarter wants, both Oregon and Idaho would have to approve it legislatively. Congress would also have to approve. More related news about the growing civil unrest in America can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: WashingtonTimes.com NaturalNews.com KTVB.com BOCA RATON, Fla., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Although they are unaware of any actual or attempted misuse, Sachs Sax Caplan, P.L. ("SSC") is providing notice of a data privacy event impacting the security of certain information stored on its systems. What happened? On February 26, 2020, SSC identified suspicious activity related to certain SSC systems. Upon discovery, SSC immediately commenced an investigation, which included working with third-party forensic specialists, to determine the full nature and scope of the incident and to secure its network. SSC determined that an unauthorized actor gained access to certain systems and email accounts within its environment in January and February 2020. As a result, the unauthorized actor may have gained access to or exfiltrated information located within these systems and email accounts. While SSC was able to determine that these systems and email accounts were accessed, SSC was unable to determine which sensitive information located within these systems and email accounts may have been actually accessed or acquired by the unauthorized actor. Therefore, in an abundance of caution, SSC conducted an extensive programmatic and manual review of the affected systems and email accounts to identify the information stored therein that may have been affected by this event. What information may have been affected by this incident? The affected systems and email accounts contained information related to certain SSC clients and other individuals involved in legal matters handled by SSC. The type of information affected varies per impacted individual, and includes one or more of the following types of information: name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license number or state identification card number, credit or debit card number, electronic signature, financial account number, and medical or health-related information. Although SSC cannot confirm that any individual's information was actually viewed by an unauthorized individual, they are providing this notice because they determined the types of information listed above were present in the affected systems or email accounts. SSC has no evidence of actual or attempted misuse of any individual's information as a result of this incident. How will individuals know if they are affected by this incident? SSC is mailing notice letters to the potentially affected individuals for whom they have valid mailing addresses. If an individual did not receive a letter but would like to know if they are affected, they may call the dedicated assistance line listed below. What is SSC doing in response? Upon discovering this incident, SSC immediately launched an investigation and took steps to secure its systems and determine what personal, confidential, and client data might be at risk. SSC has reviewed its existing policies and procedures, implemented additional safeguards, and is providing additional training to its employees on data privacy and security. SSC is also notifying state and federal regulators, as required. Because SSC has insufficient contact information for some of the individuals whose information may be contained in the impacted systems and email accounts, they are providing notice to those potentially impacted individuals by way of a notification published in Florida media outlets. Who should individuals contact for more information? If individuals have questions or would like additional information, they may call SSC's dedicated assistance line at 800-668-0605 Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time. What can individuals do to protect their information? While SSC is unaware of any actual or attempted misuse of any information involved in this incident, they encourage those potentially impacted by the event to take steps to better protect against identity theft and fraud if they feel it is appropriate to do so. Monitor Your Accounts . To protect against the possibility of identity theft or other financial loss, SSC encourages consumers to remain vigilant, to review account statements, Explanation of Benefits statements, and to monitor their credit reports for suspicious activity. Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your credit report. Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below. As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a "credit freeze" on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer's express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report. To request a security freeze, you will need to provide the following information: Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.); Social Security number; Date of birth; Addresses for the prior two to five years; Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill; A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver's license or ID card, military identification, etc.); and A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if you are a victim of identity theft. Should you wish to place a fraud alert or credit freeze, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below: Equifax Experian TransUnion https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/ https://www.experian.com/help/ https://www.transunion.com/credit-help 888-298-0045 1-888-397-3742 833-395-6938 Equifax Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348-5069 Experian Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016 Equifax Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 Experian Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094 You may further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps you can take to protect your personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov ; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and your state Attorney General. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement. For District of Columbia residents, the District of Columbia Attorney General may be contacted at: 441 4th St. NW #1100 Washington, D.C. 20001; 202-727-3400; and [email protected]. For Maryland residents, the Maryland Attorney General may be contacted at: 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; 1-410-528-8662 or 1-888-743-0023; and www.oag.state.md.us. SSC is located at 6111 Broken Sound Pkwy NW #200, Boca Raton, FL 33487. 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We encourage you to review your rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. For New York residents, the New York Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; or https://ag.ny.gov/. SOURCE Sachs Sax Caplan, P.L. NORTHAMPTON Displays of the Confederate flag are now banned within the citys school district. By unanimous vote Thursday, the 10-member School Committee approved a ban on displays of the flag by students, staff and visitors on school property, at school-sponsored activities and during virtual events and learning. The measure allows the flag to be shown in library and other learning materials, during lessons or as a part of an assignment supervised by a teacher. More than 100 people attended the virtual meeting Thursday night, with about 10 people speaking in favor of the ban prior to the vote. John F. Kennedy Middle School music teacher Erica Caron, of Hatfield, spoke of the elementary school she attended and how it recently banned the peace flag for being too political. She said that while the peace flag which she likened to the pride flag with a peace sign on it was banned in what she described as a conservative community, she has never seen a Confederate flag there. It was not even a thing, she said. Its very troubling to me that that can get banned, but not the thin blue line, not a swastika and maybe the Confederate flag, but not all of them. The peace flag should be the least of our worries. In addition to voicing support, several of the speakers, including Mareatha Wallace, an education support professional at John F. Kennedy Middle School, suggested expanding it beyond the Confederate flag to include hate symbols and images. As important as this issue is, the use of the Confederate flag in this manner is a symptom of a larger problem that is present here in our schools, she said. While I would love to say that there is only a race issue here, I cannot. There is homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, sexism, anti-Semitism, ableism and as well as the uptick of violence toward Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities in our school. These pressing issues need to be at the forefront of our conversations. We cannot dismantle one and not the others. Hatred and bigotry in our community affects everyone and we must take action now. Wallace said the ban would not put an end to the issues she described, but it would be a starting point. She further suggested hiring a more diverse staff, having a curriculum with a more accurate and correct history of the U.S. that includes those outside the dominant culture. Heather Brown, vice president of the Northampton Association of School Employees a union representing the teachers, administrators and staff within Northampton schools and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School shared how the association submitted an extensive document supporting the ban of the Confederate flag and other hate symbols. The document includes examples from throughout the country of schools and other organizations that have already adopted a similar policy. The union supported the ban so the wider community can be safe and welcoming for everyone, Brown said. We have to take firm action now not to speak, but to show that our schools will be a place where educators and students can teach and learn in a welcoming and affirming environment, said Brown, who noted that one of the districts goals includes having open dialogue. Hate symbols disable the trust thats necessary for that kind of dialogue. Brown also offered support for John F. Kennedy Middle School Principal Desmond Caldwell, who created a video in February to address student concerns about the Confederate flag being displayed during remote learning. Shortly thereafter, a JFK White Student Union page appeared on Facebook accusing Caldwell in posts of being an anti-American tyrant. Those behind the page said they would be ensuring the protections of civil liberties for white students in Northampton. Nearly 200 people assembled outside of the school on Feb. 24 to denounce white supremacy and show support for Caldwell and his efforts to educate the school community about the history of racism associated with the Confederate flag. Northampton Public School Superintendent John A. Provost also referred the Facebook page to the FBI, and said he was concerned it was trying to recruit students into white supremacist groups. A question of free speech Because displaying the Confederate flag is considered a form of free speech, which is protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the school district tapped its attorney Layla Taylor, a partner at Springfield-based law firm Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn, LLC, to help draft the policy. Mayor David Narkewicz said Taylor worked with committee members and researched case law. Federal law has not addressed this issue since Tinker v. Des Moine, a Supreme Court ruling from 1969 that cemented students rights to free speech in public schools, Taylor said. Appeals courts throughout the country that have looked at the issue in various ways. What theyve typically found is that when theres a history of discruption in a school, they will entertain Confederate flag bans and often, the bans arent universal, she said. For example, a policy might arise out of a situation where a student was asked to turn a T-shirt inside out. In addition to constitutional law, Taylor said such policies involve freedom of expression and dress codes in public schools, in a state statute that has very little case law. In a 1996 ruling involving the statute, the states Supreme Judicial Court said there needs to be actual disorder or disruption. We cant ban something if we dont know its going to cause disruption, she said, explaining the case law. So what youre faced with here is a unique thing: theres been an actual disruption in the school. Absolutely. The last few months at JFK have shown that. There are kids that have expressed that they feel unsafe by this flag, and legitimately so. Taylor further explained that courts havent entirely ruled on the matter, but have remarked that people have a right to be left alone and to feel safe when going to school. Youve got kids that are expressing that it is impacting their health and safety and theres a question about whether moving forward if this hate symbol is so fraught that it inherently disrupts the learning environment. And thats what Im hearing from this School Committee, she said. It is an absolutely reasonable basis to move forward with this based on these terms. She said the schools should develop a broader policy, with input from professionals, on the impact hate symbols have on the learning process. School Committee Ward 5 member Dina Levi said she has been working with Taylor and Provost on language for a new policy that would prohibit writing symbols and images associated with intimidation, violence or violent groups, which advocate racial or ethnic or religious prejudice or denigrate others on a protected class. Levi then made a two-part motion to pass the flag ban and refer a potential hate speech policy to the Rules & Policy subcommittee. Fellow committee members also suggested friendly amendments to the policy. Member Roni Gold proposed including a sentence about continual education on the matter and why the policy exists in the first place. Levi accepted the amendment. I think this policy is an important first step toward ensuring a safe learning environment and hope we soon find a way to expand this beyond just one of these images and symbols. As important as it is to ensure that these images do not have a place in our schools, schools have a primary responsibility to educate our students. Its equally important that we educate our students and staff about this policy, Gold said. As a teacher Ive learned that its critically important when putting an end to a behavior to at the same time educate and continue to educate as to why such an action is taken and to hopefully change the behavior for the long run. By including this amendment, we can ensure that we are banning and educating within the same policy. The approved, amended policy reads: Given the documented history of substantial disruption to the learning environment in the Northampton Public Schools caused by displays of the Confederate Flag, including the negative impact to the health and safety of students who have a right to equally access the learning environment and have credibly reported feeling unsafe when it is displayed, and the ongoing disruption to the learning environment that is reasonably anticipated to continue by its display, neither students, staff, nor visitors to the schools shall, at school (whether in person or online), on school property or at school-sponsored activities, display or transmit images of the Confederate Flag (in any medium, including clothing, jewelry, posters, stickers, flyers or buttons). Images and symbols covered by this policy are permissible in library or other approved learning materials, or in a classroom setting, (e.g., a history class discussion of the Civil War or the Civil Rights Movements) as part of a learning assignment supervised by an educator. Annually, at the beginning of each school year, and intermittently throughout the year, all schools will inform and educate all students about this policy and the reasoning for it. Related content: Editor's note: Paul Thau is an industry veteran with a wealth of experience in cosmetic product development. He shares the following commentary to provide the industry with insights on leveraging technology transfer and surveillance to advance cosmetics R&D. In the last five years I was employed in the cosmetic industry (~2005 to 2010), I was the U.S. representative for an International Group involved with Technology Surveillance (T.S.) activities. In the ten years following (~2010 to 2020), as a cosmetic industry consultant, I have employed T.S. for several of my clients. Herein, I provide a brief introduction to technology transfer, historic moment in its evolution and key useful resources for your consideration. See related: CES 2021 Beauty Tech Highlights Defining Technology Transfer Technology transfer is the process universities and other research organizations use to translate research discoveries and scientific findings into new products, technologies and services that benefit the public. Also referred to as transfer of technology (TOT), it can further be described as the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it, to another person or organization. Often times, this transferral occurs by a concerted effort to share skills, knowledge, technologies, manufacturing methods, samples and facilities among the participants. It also ensures that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users who can then further develop and exploit the technology into new products, processes, applications, materials or services. Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 The Bayh-Dole Act, or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act, is a piece of U.S. legislation that deals with inventions arising from federal government-funded research. Sponsored by two senators, Birch Bayh of Indiana and Bob Dole of Kansas, the Act was adopted in 1980. This legislation was significant because it enabled universities to patent technologies even if the U.S government had contributed funds for some of the research. This change stimulated many universities to establish technology transfer groups. It also enabled small businesses to own patents that arose from federal sponsorships. Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Since its founding in 1925, prior to the Bayh-Dole Act, WARF has helped steward the cycle of research, discovery, commercialization and investment for the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Through its patents and licensing efforts, WARF enables university innovations to advance into industry. Notable discoveries through WARF include the irradiation of milk and the development of warfarin, from which the blood thinner Coumadin was developed. Technology transfer provides access to areas of technology beyond the companys expertise. AUTM Formerly the Association of University Technology Managers, but now simply "AUTM," this group was founded in 1970 and is the non-profit leader in efforts to educate, promote and inspire professionals to support the development of academic research that changes the world and drives innovation forward. The community is comprised of more than 3,000 members who work in more than 800 universities, research centers, hospitals, businesses and government organizations around the globe. See related: 1HQ Proposes Digital Lipstick for Smart Personalization Technology transfer is about evaluating, protecting and transferring intellectual property from the lab to the marketplace; corporate engagement; start-up and entrepreneurial support; and economic development. I was a member if this organization from 1994 to 1998 as a representative from Cosmair/LOreal USA, and when I attended AUTM meetings, I learned about early stage research projects at numerous universities. One example, which was novel at the time, was a UCLA process for creating stable nanoscale double emulsions, with both inner and outer droplet diameters below 100 nm. These droplets could carry biologically active co-polypeptide moieties. Licensing Executive Society The Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) is another organization, consisting of 33 national and regional member societies of men and women interested in technology transfer or licensing intellectual property rights. These range from technical know-how and patented inventions, to software, copyright and more. Nine Sigma Nine Sigma enables users to source innovative ideas, technologies, products and services from outside organizations quickly and inexpensively by connecting them to top innovators from around the world. Its unique "Discover-Connect-Solve" approach is based upon the principles of open innovation. Users gain access to the largest and most comprehensive open network of scientific researchers in the world to solve scientific and business needs. Benefits of Technology Transfer Technology transfer affords various product development benefits: 1. It offers the potential to leverage internal R&D programs with external R&D programs. 2. It moves projects more rapidly into development through partnerships. 3. Joint technology development yields results that neither group can achieve alone. 4. It provides access to areas of technology beyond the companys expertise. Conclusion In conclusion, the selective and discriminating use of technology surveillance and transfer by trained R&D staff members can serve to expand resources and enhance innovation in new product development. Useful Websites www.sciencedaily.com www.autm.net www.uspto.gov www.lesi.org www.ninesigma.com One year after COVID-19 arrived in the Lehigh Valley and Gov. Tom Wolf ordered schools closed, the process to vaccinate Pennsylvania teachers and resume in-classroom instruction is underway, and the next steps are becoming clearer. State officials on Friday announced that 6,500 teachers have been vaccinated under the education initiative that began this week. After that is complete, further efforts will target essential workers. And the Wolf administration made a new promise: All of the 4 million to 5 million Pennsylvanians eligible under Phase 1A will have access to the vaccine by the end of March. The initiatives will supplement Pennsylvanias ongoing immunization efforts. At least 72,000 people are getting a shot daily, the state health department reported. Almost 10% of the states approximately 13 million people have received all required doses, including statistics from Philadelphia, which receives its own allotment. (Cant see the map? Click here.) Also in the health departments daily report: 3,074 new cases and 40 more deaths. That brings the statewide totals, now over a year into the pandemic, to 961,456 cases and 24,530 deaths. Among them are 59,581 total cases and 1,443 deaths in the Lehigh Valley. Lehigh and Northampton counties combined for 240 cases and one death reported Friday. The 240 new cases are the most here in three weeks. Pennsylvania continues to focus on vaccinating residents in a system prioritizing medical workers, seniors and people with high-risk health issues. This week, a separate initiative to vaccinate Pennsylvanias teachers began, providing the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to educators and school staff who dont already qualify. By end-of-day Thursday, 6,500 teachers were vaccinated at 10 of the states intermediate units, which were converted into clinics and opened on a staggered schedule starting Wednesday, officials said in a joint news conference Friday morning with the Department of Education and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. Another 10 intermediate units were to begin vaccinations on Friday including Northampton Countys Intermediate Unit 20 followed by the states remaining eight over the weekend. Officials said current projections put them on track to vaccinate teachers and school staff by the end of the month. After the initiative is completed, the facilities could be converted for other clinics, PEMA Director Randy Padfield said in the morning briefing. In a separate news conference Friday afternoon, Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will next go to regional clinics for all eligible Pennsylvanians, and special initiatives targeting essential workers including law enforcement, firefighters, grocery-store workers, meat-processing and agricultural workers. (Not sure if youre eligible? Pennsylvanias Your Turn online tool can tell you and send alerts.) All this comes a day after President Joe Biden directed states to make the vaccine available to all adults by May 1. The limited quantities of vaccine have been constraining the entire system since the beginning, Padfield said Friday morning. As supply increases over the next few months, the states distribution system will become the primary factor in determining who gets vaccinated, and when, he said. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) Meanwhile, the rate of new cases has fallen far from its winter peak, when more than 10,000 cases a day were reported on average in December. Lately, however, the decline has stalled. Pennsylvania has averaged between 2,400 and 2,500 cases a day for a week straight as of Friday, and between 2,400 and 2,700 for 20 days. Thats a little above rates seen in the first peak last spring, but still well above last summers rates when daily case counts were in the hundreds. (Cant see the chart? Click here.) About 10,000 tests a day were conducted, on average, statewide over the last week down from more than 25,000 tests a day over the winter. Hospitalizations and the rate of reported deaths continue to decline. The health department also estimates that 92% of Pennsylvania coronavirus patients have recovered so far, meaning they have survived at least 30 days since their initial positive test. Its the states highest survival rate to date. In Friday afternoons news conference, Wolf said he is encouraged by Pennsylvanias declining rate of new infections, deaths and hospitalizations as the vaccine rate rises, mirroring a national trend over the last eight weeks. But hes not ready to start rolling back more coronavirus restrictions as the state is still at a level that is too high. The governor said he wants to do things right the first time and get the state back to normal life. Were within striking distance of the finish line. I just dont want to stop the race before we get to that finish line, Wolf said. But we are almost there. READ MORE: All Pa. residents eligible for COVID vaccine in Phase 1A should have appointment by end of March, Wolf says (Cant see the vaccine provider map? Click here.) Lehighvalleylive.com journalist Sara K. Satullo contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. As school districts across the country prepare to welcome students to face-to-face learning, they do so armed with the confidence of vaccinated teachers and much more information about how to stay safe from COVID-19 than they had just a few months ago. But children will still need to be vaccinated for the country to reach herd immunity.Those were the key takeaways from a briefing by the Infectious Diseases Society of America this morning.Some schools have already been open for face-to-face learning, and data from those schools has helped the understanding of the appropriate protocols for keeping students and staff safe. The CDC this week announced that students in classrooms are safe if desks are spaced three to six feet apart. Thats a difference from the previous guidelines of six feet.Of course, the CDC doubled down on mask wearing and hand hygiene, both important mitigation steps to keeping COVID-19 at bay.It didnt seem possible to do this in the fall, but a lot of schools have gone back and weve learned because they have been sharing, said Dr. Preeti Malani, the chief health officer and professor of medicine at the University of Michigan.The one thing that has been consistent, Malani said, Is that mitigation masks, ventilation, distancing can make it safe to get back to face-to-face learning.She said the risks vary depending on the community, but the bigger risk is not going to school. Striking that balance has been difficult.But it will also be important for schools to be able to transition back to virtual learning if the numbers of infections rise again.A big question still is when will children be vaccinated, and what will happen if the variant strains of the virus take hold. Tan said the vaccination of children may begin by fall and will occur in phases.She said Pfizer has completed enrollment in its vaccine trials for children 12 to 16, and Moderna has an ongoing trial for the same age group; results for both may be known in late spring or early summer. Johnson and Johnson just started its vaccine trial in the 12-to-16 age group. Trials for infants and children under 12 are scheduled to start by the end of spring or early summer, and the results may not be available until late 2021 or early 2022.When the vaccinations become available for children, they will be distributed based on age, with those six to 12 years first, then the two- to six-year-olds, then those six months to two years.Its uncertain what impact the emerging COVID variants will have on the effectiveness of the vaccines, and we really need to track those variants to get a better idea of the vaccine effectiveness and if there is a need for booster vaccinations, Tan said.In Israel, Italy and Sweden, school-age children infected with a variant of the virus were much more likely to spread it to others. That has some epidemiologists in the United States calling for testing of school-age children.Malani said that the University of Michigan is testing 20,000 students per week, but that testing will likely diminish everywhere and that testing for the virus in young children may not be that effective.Tan added that although the testing in Israel, Italy and Sweden showed that school children were much more likely to be infected and transmit a variant of the virus, those places didnt have mitigation protocols in place. Thats something thats really important to remember. Masking does work, social distancing does work, hand hygiene does work. Mar. 11CONCORD An attempt to stop "verbal or physical violence" on public lands was killed in the state Senate on Thursday, as Republicans charged it would "make us snitches against others." The Senate instead endorsed mandating that all law enforcement agencies receive training on implicit bias and cultural diversity, a central plank of the Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency that Gov. Chris Sununu formed after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. Several racial minority members of the state House of Representatives joined with Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Hopkinton, to pursue the original bill (SB 114), which would have created a database in the Department of Cultural and Natural Resources of all incidents of threats of violence or discrimination against residents. "This bill addresses public safety," Whitley said. "If incidents do occur, what are we going to do about that?" Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, led criticism of the bill, taking issue with its use of the term "verbal violence." "This introduces thought police. What is verbal violence? Who defines it?" he said. Avard said the bill amounted to an assault on the First Amendment. High school students working as lifeguards and park attendants would have to undergo diversity training they would not be equipped to enforce, Avard said. "This only divides us and makes us snitches against others," he said. Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, said fears of discrimination and threats of violence are valid and already have been identified. "There is nothing in here about enforcement of free speech or creating crimes about free speech. It's simply not in the bill," Watters said. The bill would only lead to more polarization, according to Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry. "We live in a society where people get offended by the smallest thing," Carson said. "I don't see where a bill is going to fix that." Story continues The Senate voted along party lines, 14-10, with Republicans uniting to strip the bill of its four original sections. The law enforcement training mandate passed, 24-0, and the bill moved over to the Senate Finance Committee for further review. klandrigan@unionleader.com You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Malaysians were quick to dissociate themselves from the American woman named Malaysia King, who was part of a group of passengers who harassed an Uber driver in San Francisco. Soon after names of the 24-year-old and another accomplice were released to the public, Malaysians almost immediately jumped online to protect their countrys reputation, including comedian Ronny Chieng. Malaysia King does not represent the views of Malaysia, the US-based comedian said today. Malaysia King has no relations to Malaysia, another Twitter user @PrancingPapio chimed in, while @Hzm_mj said: We dont claim her. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. King and two others were filmed on Monday attacking the Uber driver after he told one of them to put on a mask before starting his journey. The group was then heard coughing at him and yelling profanities. King was seen on the left of the video with a red mask tucked below her chin. Police arrested her in Las Vegas yesterday. Arna Kimiai, the woman who sat behind the driver, has turned herself in. The remaining one has yet to be identified. The driver, Subhakar Khadk, told reporters that the Monday incident was unbearable. Police also suspect that King may have pepper-sprayed Khadks vehicle. Other stories to check out: Police probe Penang restaurant for alleged propaganda over Mao Zedong wallpaper Seductive aroma of what?! Malaysian billboard becomes butt of jokes This article, We dont claim her: Malaysians react to Malaysia King, woman who attacked Uber driver in US, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. An eccentric landlord and her partner who set up camp in their tenants' backyard have fled the property and vanished - but the renters are moving out in fear they will return. Nicky, William and their three young children had only moved into the house in Yamba on the NSW north coast a few weeks before owner Pascale Hubert and her partner who calls himself 'Ronald McDonald' arrived. Setting up a tent in the yard where there was no running water, 'Mr McDonald' was repeatedly filmed by the tenants yelling abuse at them. Tenants Nicky and William had been living on their rental property in Yamba on the NSW north coast for two months when their landlord suddenly arrived and pitched a tent in the backyard But they abruptly left in their black ute with their boat in tow after council stepped in and told the owner and her partner they would be fined if they stayed. 'Youll be lucky to be breathing by the time Im f****** finished with you,' 'Mr McDonald' was filmed saying as he prepared to leave the property. Nicky said 'Mr McDonald' was irate as he attached the boat to the vehicle and fled. 'He left in a huff and a puff He was difficult until the very end when he physically went down the driveway,' she said. Nicky and William have no idea where the couple have gone and they haven't heard from them since. But with their lease expiring in two weeks, they won't be hanging around to find out if the landlord and her partner return. 'Its just really uncomfortable knowing that they might just turn up today or are they going to show up tomorrow and were going to have all sorts of drama again,' William said, adding they plan to leave in the coming days. The four-bedroom property is now being advertised on rental site NoAgentProperty for $560 a week. The listing, which does not have the security of going through a real-estate agent, mentions that the rear yard is not included in the lease. Homeowners Pascale Hubert and her husband 'Ronald Mcdonald' were forced to leave their makeshift campsite (pictured) in the backyard of their tenant's home But the advertisement also states the landlords 'do not reside on the property but will be using the shed and rear yard for storage'. That experience was very different for Nicky and William, who said the pair refused to leave, ruined their Christmas and scared their children. The tenants were sent a text informing them of the impending move by Ms Hubert on Christmas Day. Police were powerless to remove the couple as the backyard clause was also was part of their $560-a-week lease agreement through First National Yamba. But in a surprise development, Clarence Valley Council discovered the couple were indeed illegally occupying the property. 'The council said that they (the landlords) can actually stay on the property in a tent but for only two days at a time', Nicky told Nine's A Current Affair. Fiery footage showed the landlord's husband in a heated confrontation with the couple before being told by council to move 'And no more than 60 days in a 12 month period'. Council have said Ms Hubert and Mr McDonald have moved back to Sydney and don't intend to return. 'They (landlords) were advised that occupying the property for longer than is permissible may result in Council issuing an infringement notice,' the council said in a statement. 'She (Ms Hubert) was unaware of the Regulation and apologised for staying longer than permissible'. But the homeowners didn't leave without a fight - with the shirtless 'Ronald McDonald' taunting Nicky's husband by saying he's a 'marked man'. The council claim they are working with local real estate agents to better understand the rules around camping on private property. Before council came to the rescue of the traumatised family, Ms Hubert claimed she was justified in taking over the back of the block as per their lease agreement. The rental contract includes the phrase 'rear yard is not included'. Landlord Pascale Hubert had abruptly informed the family in a text message that she would be moving onto the property 'Our children are terrified, they keep asking, 'Who are they?' and we can't give them any answers,' Nicky said. The landlord's husband was also filmed having a number of heated confrontations with the couple, including one occasion where he ordered the pair to move their car. 'Listen here, s*** for brains, I've given you a warning, move that frigging car now, you are in big s***,' he said in one video filmed by the tenants. Tenant advocates argued the landlord was trespassing by using the side of the house to get to the backyard. 'It could be that the landlord is trespassing whenever they go across that driveway area because they are entering into a place that they've given someone else possession,' Tenants Union of NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross said. (JTA) About 200 academics from the United Kingdom and the United States have signed a petition defending a British university lecturer who had called Jewish students on his campus pawns of Israel, a violent, racist, foreign regime engaged in ethnic cleansing. Jewish groups and organizations have protested the remarks by David Miller, a professor of political sociology at the University of Bristol, made during an online videoconference Feb. 13. Some have called for his ouster. The signatories of the letter published Friday supporting Miller include linguist Noam Chomsky and... 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. 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The ratings are based on an advanced ranking algorithm that considers various factors to deliver unbiased ratings. These include regulations, overall reputation, commissions, banking fees, customer feedback, payment timeframes, and trading platforms. The newly purchased domain will enable new and seasoned traders alike to quickly find online brokerages that correspond to their individual requirements and trading needs. The website prioritizes the objective assessment of brokers, allowing readers to compare them and make their own decisions about where to take their investments. BestBrokers.com has made its mission to make the overly complex world of finance simple for new investors, helping them build the confidence necessary to effectively manage all aspects of their trading activities. The domain provides all-inclusive content to ensure traders from all walks of life can elevate their trading expertise to the next level. US President Joe Biden, during his first prime time address to Americans, confronted grief and loss on the first anniversary of the Covid-19 shutdowns in the US and said that total deaths in the country is "more deaths than in World War One, World War Two, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined." Reuters "A year ago we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, then months. That led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness," Biden said in a nationally televised address. Denmark, Norway, Iceland Suspend Use Of AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine over concerns about patients developing post-jab blood clots, as the manufacturer and Europe's medicines watchdog insisted the vaccine was safe. Reuters Denmark was first to announce its suspension, "following reports of serious cases of blood clots" among people who had received the vaccine, the country's Health Authority said in a statement. Myanmar Junta Accuses Suu Kyi Of Taking Bribes Myanmar's military government accused deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday of accepting illegal payments, while eight people were killed when security forces opened fire on protests against the coup, witnesses said. AP Rights group Amnesty International accused the military of adopting battle tactics against demonstrators. ECI Reacts To TMC's Memorandum, Calls It 'Insinuation And Averments Which Question Commission's Functioning Reacting to Trinamool Congress's memorandum submitted to West Bengal CEO, the Election Commission of India said that it is unfortunate and full of 'insinuation' and averments which question the creation and functioning of the Commission. BCCL The letter written to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) by the Election Commission of India (ECI) says, "It is completely incorrect to say that the Commission has taken over the law and order machinery in the state in the name of conducting the election and appropriated the whole governance structure." Leopard Strays Into Residential Area, Injures 5 In Madhya Pradesh Five people, including a one-year-old girl, were injured in an attack by a leopard that strayed into a residential area in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Thursday, officials said. ANI The leopard was later tranquilised and caught by the authorities after five hours of efforts, they said. Government Hospitals Have Administer Over 71% Of Doses A majority of anti-Covid vaccines are being administered in government hospitals with over 71% doses given in public health facilities, whereas around 29% doses were dispensed in private hospitals. BCCL Till Thursday evening (7 pm), India administered over 2.6 crore doses of the two Covid-19 vaccines Bharat Biotechs Covaxin and Serum Institute of Indias Covishield (developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca) approved for restricted emergency use. Patrick Henry. Ben Franklin. George Mason. George Wythe. James Wilson. Alexander Hamilton. John Jay. Thomas Paine. Gouverneur Morris. John Dickinson. Robert Morris. George Washington. John Adams. Thomas Jefferson. James Madison. John Marshall. In 1776, when these patriots broke with Great Britain and fought for independence, there were 2.5 million people in the American colonies. In 1787, at the time the Constitution was written, there were 3.9 million residents in the newly formed United States. Today, America has a population of 330 million. Yet one would be hard pressed to come up with a list of men and women comparable to those who formed this nation nearly 250 years ago. Instead, we are saddled with politicians who seek to do whatever is necessary to retain their offices. Heraclitus famously said, Much learning does not teach understanding. For proof, one need look no further than to the statements of members of Congress and the Executive Branch, who in past weeks have made a mockery of their first-rate educations. In adopting the claim the presidential election was stolen a claim rejected by 61 courts (including by judges appointed by the former president) these sycophants and their talk show host enablers became party to the tragic events that followed the invasion and riot at the Capitol. Hardly reminiscent of the patriots who gave us our independence and Constitution! Amazingly, a number of these presidential acolytes claim it was antifa or Black Lives Matter members, not presidential supporters, who invaded the Capitol. Tell that to the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who loudly proclaimed to TV cameras and on social media that it was they, not antifa or BLM, who sought to block the elections certification. Ironically, none of those who question the election seems to have any difficulty with votes cast for Republicans who won. Somehow, only votes on the presidential line were magically changed. Of course, there are historical parallels to what is happening now. Not surprisingly, telling a lie and repeating it again and again until millions believe it is not new. Hitler and the Nazis used that playbook effectively. In the Reichstag fire of 1933, Nazis blamed the communists, used the fire as an excuse to ban communists in the Reichstag (legislature), and suspended civil liberties. Increasingly, historians believe it to have been a false flag operation that, in fact, was planned by the Nazis. (In 2008, Germany pardoned the communist arrested and executed for supposedly starting the fire.) Six years later, using the pretext of a Polish attack on a German radio station, Germany declared war on Poland and triggered World War II. However, this operation, too, was a false flag attack, with Germans soldiers posing as Polish nationals, after first murdering a German they had dressed in a Polish uniform. Of course, many will continue to claim the Capitol event was also a false flag operation. The statements of those who took part in the riot (and ones eyes) say otherwise. We are stronger as a nation if competing points of view are tested. Challenging conservative and liberal positions makes this country better, especially when common ground can be found between those positions. Unfortunately, the past few years have seen the death of thoughtful public debate. Rather than forceful policy discussions, the focus all too often is on alternative facts. What has become of our leaders? In place of the patriots of 1776, we now have too many minions in Congress and the executive branch. While there are many brilliant people in this nation in a range of professions, we clearly could use patriotic leaders with backbone, courage, and gravitas in the political arena. Roger H. Hull is a former Union College president and president of the Schenectady-based Help Yourself Foundation. A Queensland man has been charged with child sex offences after he allegedly travelled from Mount Isa to Brisbane intending to have sex with an underage girl. Little did he know he had been speaking online with an undercover Taskforce Argos police officer, who posed as a 15-year-old child on social media. The man travelled from Mt Isa to Brisbane. Credit:QPS The 20-year-old man was arrested on Friday at a Taringa fast food business where, police said, he believed he would meet the girl. Instead, he was met by detectives. The two-month investigation was sparked by a referral from police in Western Australia, who received intelligence the man was being inappropriate with underage girls online. Sichuan province joined a line of local governments to issue special-purpose bonds (SPBs) to raise money for recapitalizing cash-strapped small and midsize banks. But how the government will collect repayment was left vague in some cases. The southwestern Chinese province will issue 11.4 billion yuan ($1.76 billion) of 10-year SPBs at a coupon rate of 3.5%, the provincial finance department said. Some small and midsize banks, especially rural credit cooperatives, have suffered a surge of bad debt over the past few years after a rapid expansion in credit left a large amount of nonperforming loans on their books as economic growth slowed. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation as many businesses and individuals were unable to repay debts on schedule. In response, the State Council, Chinas cabinet, in July 2020 authorized local government units to use funds from last years quota of 3.75 trillion yuan of SPBs to shore up bank balance sheets as part of measures to expand credit to micro, small and medium-sized businesses. SPBs are a kind of local government debt used to fund infrastructure and other public welfare projects that are commercially viable. The borrowings are generally repaid from income generated by the projects they fund. Unlike general-purpose bonds, they are usually not allowed to be repaid from government fiscal revenue. The Sichuan government will inject the proceeds of the borrowing into 21 small and midsize banks. The investment will mainly take place through a form of convertible deposit, in which the government designates a company to deposit money into the bank, then the company converts the deposit into bank equity. Ideally, the company could eventually sell the equity on the market and use the proceeds to repay the SPBs. But whether the banks equity can be sold depends on whether the banks improve their business after receiving the capital injections. Some of the recapitalization agreements in Sichuan make a clear arrangement for future repayment but others dont. For example, according to an agreement with Yaan City Commercial Bank Co. Ltd., one of the recipients of SPB funds, the local government can start to sell its equity in the bank six years after the injection. If the equity cant be sold, the government can tap the banks outstanding receivables and liquid assets to repay the SPBs. Bank of Zigong Co. plans to seek strategic investors to raise funds to repay the SPBs. But agreements with some of the other recipients only vaguely mention marketized transfer of equity in the future without a specific plan. As of now, Guangdong, Shanxi, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia provinces have issued SPBs to recapitalize banks. Among them, Guangdong has a relatively better arrangement for the governments exit in the future as it found a strategic partner for each recipient bank. Whether through strategic partners or convertible deposits, uncertainties always exist, said Zeng Gang, deputy director of the National Institution for Finance and Development (NIFD). Having an outside institution become the banks shareholder can help the bank to improve governance and increase its equity value, Zeng said. Each bank and province has a different situation, so theres no solution that fits all, Zeng said. Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com). Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! A romantic lawyer who spent five months planning an elaborate fake trial to propose has finally married after rearranging the wedding three times during the pandemic. Brandon Dinetz, 30, from Palm Beach, Florida, popped the question to fellow lawyer Jen Lettman, 31, by planning an imaginary DUI trial and telling her to watch his opening statement. The touching video, shot at the County Courthouse in February 2019 made headlines around the world - but due to Covid-19 restrictions, the couple had to reschedule their nuptials three times. Now, the couple are finally husband and wife, after a Covid-friendly wedding ceremony at the Canopy by Hilton hotel, in downtown West Palm Beach, on February 13. Scroll down for video Brandon Dinetz, 30, from Palm Beach, Florida, popped the question to fellow lawyer Jen Lettman, 31, by planning an imaginary DUI trial in 2019 The couple are finally husband and wife, after a Covid-friendly wedding ceremony at the Canopy by Hilton hotel, in downtown West Palm Beach, on February 13 'We had to plan a few weddings because Covid made the first one impossible,' said Brandon. 'The second one fell through and the third one we were able to arrange. 'It was a smaller event than we had originally planned with just 50 guests and a Zoom option for anyone who couldn't come because of the virus. 'But it was absolutely wonderful. The bottom line is that we wanted to get married and we did it. 'Because the reception was on the roof, we were able to see the courthouse where I proposed.' The couple, pictured before their wedding in February, where thrilled to wed after delaying their nuptials three times due to the pandemic The proposal saw Brandon rope in a judge, a defence attorney, a fictional defendant and 17 of Jen's family and friends to act as the fake jury to witness him dropping to one knee Brandon added that despite his law-themed proposal, he never intended to do the same with his wedding. He said: 'Nobody expected me to do a law-themed wedding. There wasn't going to be a big surprise, getting married was special enough.' Brandon is continually reminded of the proposal because the clip often shows up on different lawyers' Instagram pages. The proposal saw Brandon rope in a judge, a defence attorney, a fictional defendant and 17 of Jen's family and friends to act as the fake jury to witness him dropping to one knee. Jen burst into tears in the touching video as she suddenly realised this was not a trial, but a proposal from the man she loves. It was a smaller event than the couple had originally planned with just 50 guests and a Zoom option for anyone who couldn't come because of restrictions Brandon, pictured kissing his wife on their wedding day, added that despite his law-themed proposal, he never intended to do the same with his wedding Brandon recalled: 'My back was to her but I could hear her start to cry. When she said "yes", there was a huge cheer from the jury. 'The judge said, "Mr Dinetz you have been sentenced to life". Everyone laughed.' Brandon revealed that sadly his grandmother, Ellie Dinetz, who was the reason he shared the proposal video on the internet in the first place, passed away before she could see him get married. Ellie died from breast cancer at the age of 82, just six weeks after Brandon popped the question to Jen. Brandon told the couple were able to see the courthouse where he had originally proposed to Jen from their venue in downtown West Palm Beach Brandon, pictured with Jen on their wedding day, added that he believes growing up with four sisters made him a romantic He added: 'It was bittersweet. My grandmother was the whole reason I put it on the internet, so that she would be able to share it with her friends. 'She was at the courthouse and you can see the back of her head in the video. She died a month and a half later so she wasn't there for the wedding.' Brandon added that he believes growing up with four sisters made him a romantic. He said: 'I would absolutely describe myself as a romantic. I am a big brother to four sisters. 'My relationship with my wife is strong because of the female influences in my life.' An Islamic Studies expert released a report last Wednesday that states how Pope Francis' Apostolic Journey in Iraq last March 5-8 highlighted the dwindling number of Christians there. According to "Alien Citizens: The State And Religious Minorities In Turkey And France" author Ramazan Kilinc, the Pope's visit in Iraq raised the awareness that Christians there face. "The Iraqi government invited Pope Francis to visit. The president of Iraq, Barham Salih, described the visit as 'a message of peace to Iraqis of all religions'. Media reports have quoted a Vatican source as saying the Pope aims 'to comfort Christians who, amid wars and conflicts, have been forced to flee from Iraq'," he wrote in an article for MercatorNet. To which he added, "One cannot know if the pope's visit will help Iraqi Christians heal from many years of suffering, but it will definitely bring public attention to their situation." "In the past two decades, the Christian population in Iraq has fallen by over 80%. The 1987 Iraqi census reported that there were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, and today it is estimated that the Christian population is less than 250,000. Spurred by political instability and war, many Christians have immigrated to other regions, including North America, Western Europe and Australia," he stressed. A similar report by the Pakistani Christian Post said that the Pope's visit reassured Iraqi Christians of his prayers as their number dwindled due to years of Islamic attack and persecution. It cited the Pope leading an interfaith ceremony where he prayed "for the victims of war" in Mosul,in northern Iraq, the Nineveh Plains, and in Qaraqosh. "We all hope that this visit will be a good omen for the Iraqi people," expressed Adnane Youssef to reporters on the Pope's visit being a Christian from northern Iraq. "We hope that it will lead to better days. This very important visit will boost our morale after years of difficulties, problems, and wars," echoed Iraqi Christian leader, Reverend George Jahoula to Pakistani Christian Post. In addition, Vatican News reported that the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity hailed Pope Francis' concluded Apostolic Journey to Iraq "as a crucial moment for promoting tolerance, inclusiveness, and human fraternity." It cited Al-Azhar University President Professor Mohamed al-Mahrasawi and member of the committee who said Pope Francis' visit to Iraq provided the Iraqi people healing from their wounds caused by years of wars and destruction. The report written by Kilinc, who is a University of Nebraska Islamic Studies Program Director and Political Science Associate Professor, presented material from his recent book that examined the status of religious minorities and how international factors influenced them. He raised in his report that the decline of Iraqi Christians came from a series of international interventions that started in 2003 with the invasion of the United States. He pointed out that the U.S. invasion of Iraq led to the "large-scale persecution of the Christian population" since the "ousting of Saddam by U.S. troops led to a power vacuum in which sectarianism and instability helped create the conditions for the rise of extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq from 2004". In addition, Kilinc explained that the Saddam Hussein's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who served the Cabinet from 1979 to 2003, was a member of the Chaldean Catholic Church and this influenced how Hussein's government treated Christians better. He referenced religion scholar Kristian Girling in saying that Christians were protected and even experienced prominence in cultural and business life in exchange for "their acquiescence to Saddam's authoritarianism," which is renowned to repress ethic and religious groups that included the Kurds and Shiites. He narrated that after Hussein left the picture, Christians experienced a series of violence in the form of attacks, kidnappings, and killings. This prompted many Iraqi Christians to flee. He cited a report of the U.S. International Religious Freedom that said more than half of Iraqi Christians have fled the country by 2013. This was aggravated by the Islamic State group who came in 2014 and overtook the country forcing more than 100,000 Christians to flee Mosul and the Nineveh Plains. Even when the Islamic State group was defeated in 2017, Kilinc added, Christians continued to flee because the Shiite militant groups that helped the Iraqi government defeat the Islamic State group turned out to be the ones who attacked the country next. After the Shiite militant group was tamed by the government, "skirmishes with them over properties and lands" became another reason for many more Christians to flee Iraq. As per Kilinc, Iraqi Christians can be classified according to ethnicity as Assyrians or Syriacs. The Assyrian communities are majority Chaldean Catholics (two thirds) and 5% members of the Assyrian Church of the East and members of the Ancient Church of the East. While 10%-15% of Iraqi Christians are Syriacs who are either members of the Syriac Catholic Church headquartered in Lebanon and the Syriac Orthodox Church headquartered in Syria. The remaining Iraqi Christians are Armenians and Arabs and other small ethnic groups. A Republican governor sparked criticism when he claimed that if you legalise marijuana youre gonna kill your kids. Nebraskas Pete Ricketts spoke out against the legalization of medical marijuana in his state as Nebraska lawmakers consider approving it. Officials at the federal governments Drug Enforcement Administration say that cannabis has never been linked to any fatal overdoses. This is a dangerous drug that will impact our kids, claimed Mr Ricketts. If you legalise marijuana, youre gonna kill your kids. Thats what the data shows from around the country. The bill under consideration restricts the use of medical marijuana in the state to oils, pills or tinctures and bans marijuana smoking, even in the patients own home. Mr Ricketts claims that the bill was a dangerous attempt to get around federal approval of a drugs use. Big pot, big marijuana is a big industry, Mr Ricketts added. This a big industry that is trying not to be regulated, to go around the regulatory process. And thats going to put people at risk: when you go around regulations that are designed for the health and safety of our society. The governor then cited the cases of two men who died by suicide after consuming edible marijuana and pointed to increased marijuana-related ER visits in California and Colorado after legalisation was passed. Supporters of legalisation slammed the governor for his comments. Governor Ricketts comments are so outlandish that they border on pure parody. Upon seeing them, I had to check my calendar to make sure it was still 2021, and not 1950, said Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. His claims are not backed up by science or the real-world experience of the over a dozen states which have already legalised marijuana for adult use, they seem to exist only in his troubled imagination. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic held talks with a top European Union official on Friday over the country's plan to join the Eurozone - the group of EU countries that use the Euro as their national currency. Plenkovic was speaking after a meeting with European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels. He said they had also talked about Croatia's ambition to join the border-free Schengen zone. In addition, Plenkovic said he met Thursday with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and described their encounter as "very good". Dombrovskis promised that EU funds available to Croatia over the next seven years would be higher than for any other member state in proportion to GDP. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Uber and Lyft have largely operated in silos when it comes to deactivating drivers over the most severe reports of safety incidents, potentially allowing bad actors to hop from one platform to the other. Now, the companies say they are ready to change that, announcing the creation of an industry sharing safety program Thursday to relay information about drivers and delivery people deactivated from their platforms over the most serious safety incidents. These incidents will include sexual assaults -- which range from non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part to rape -- and physical assaults resulting in fatalities. The program will be managed through a third-party consumer reporting agency called HireRight. Uber and Lyft said they will share information on deactivations of this nature beginning Thursday, as well as past deactivations of the sort dating back to 2017. The program will also be open to other transportation and delivery network companies for a minimal fee if they comply with requirements, including how to classify incident reports, as laid out by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center's taxonomy. "I've often said that safety should not be proprietary," Uber's chief legal officer, Tony West, told CNN Business this week. "While Uber and Lyft are fierce competitors on many fronts, I think on this safety issue we agree that folks should be safe no matter what ridesharing platform they choose." The news comes more than a year after Uber released its first safety transparency report in response to a 2018 CNN investigation into rideshare drivers in the United States who had been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing their passengers. Uber's report revealed that it had received 464 reports of rape on its platform, among 5,981 reports of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018. In the report, Uber said it was "committed to finding a way to share the names of drivers who have been banned from our platform for the most serious safety incidents with our ridesharing peers." "Deactivation data sharing is not a new concept -- we do this already in certain jurisdictions like Chicago where there's a regulatory framework that allows us to share this information,' said West. He added that "one of the difficult hurdles we had to work through was how do we share this information in a way that respects the various privacy laws that exist in many different states; that address the various antitrust laws that exist in various states; how do you do this in a way that is legally compliant and that is appropriate." Uber and Lyft drivers undergo annual background checks, as well as continuous monitoring for criminal offenses, but as Lyft's head of policy development Jennifer Brandenburger, pointed out, sexual assault tends be under-reported. "Even when these crimes are reported, they are much less likely than others to result in an arrest and charges and very unlikely to result in a conviction," Brandenburger said. "As a result, these types of crimes are just less likely to show up on the screenings both companies already do." Brandenburger added: "That said, when survivors report these types of incidents, what we hear often is that while they may not feel comfortable going to the police, they do want to make sure what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else. That's where we believe we can play a role." For now, the program only applies to deactivations of drivers, not riders. When asked whether it may expand the program in the future, West said, "I can see why adopting this for riders would also be desirable. I would say, this is a first step." According to West, there are also logistical issues to sort through. "We have a lot more information about drivers we can share than we have about riders." At the time of its first safety report, Uber said it would release a safety transparency report every two years; West reiterated to CNN Business that the next one is forthcoming. The report, however, has become the subject of scrutiny by California regulators. California's Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) fined the company $59 million and threatened to take away its license if it failed to disclose more information about the sexual assault and harassment incidents on the platform in the state. Uber appealed, stating that it would not turn over the names and contact information of survivors, citing a risk of re-traumatizing them. Last month, Uber's motion for an alternative resolution was granted. While Lyft similarly pledged to release a safety transparency report after CNN's investigation nearly three years ago, it has yet to do so. Lyft's Brandenburger said it is waiting for the ongoing issue with the CPUC to be resolved before it releases its report. The National Institute for Medical-Military Research and Development Cantacuzino will receive 106,800 doses of Moderna vaccine on Friday, according to the National COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Committee (CNCAV). "106,800 doses of Moderna vaccine will arrive on Friday at the National Institute of Medical-Military Research and Development Cantacuzino. The transport is provided by the manufacturing company, and the doses of the vaccine will be brought to Bucharest by land. The doses will be stored at the National Storage Centre and in the next period will be distributed in existing regional centres at national level," reads a press release sent to AGERPRES by CNCAV. (@ChaudhryMAli88) BUENOS AIRES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2021) Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Luis Gallegos Chiriboga has submitted resignation without explaining his decision, media reported. Deputy Foreign Minister Arturo Cabrera Hidalgo will perform the duties of the top diplomat until the appointment of the next foreign minister by President Lenin Moreno, El Comercio newspaper reported on late Thursday citing Chiriboga. Chiriboga, 74, headed the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry in July; before that, he served as the country's ambassador to the United Nations. The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. He was accused of sexual assault decades after it allegedly occurred, in a way that makes police investigation all but impossible. Backed by his party and the most powerful man in the country, he maintained his innocence and held one of the most important legal positions in the country, even as questions continued to swirl around him. Which man are you thinking of: Australias attorney general, Christian Porter, or the United States Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh? Of course, there are key differences too: Kavanaugh was a new appointee, while Porter is a longstanding member of the government. And Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaughs accuser, was able to publicly testify, which is impossible for Porters accuser, who died by suicide last year. Still, the similarities between the two cases have unsettled many Australian women, intensifying concerns that Australias government is continuing to follow the playbook of the (now departed) Trump administration on a variety of issues. A resurfaced clip of Princess Diana's infamous interview with Martin Bashir in which she discusses feeling 'unsupported' by the royal 'establishment' has sparked comparisons to Meghan Markle's bombshell sit-down with Oprah Winfrey. The Duchess of Sussex told the chat show host she 'couldn't be left alone' and confessed she 'didn't want to be alive anymore' before claiming the Buckingham Palace HR department ignored her plea for help because she wasn't a 'paid employee'. She claimed she was 'silenced' by Buckingham Palace officials, who told her to always answer 'no comment' because they would 'protect' her, adding: 'It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family, but they weren't willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.' Meghan told Oprah she later reached out to one of Dian'a's best friends because she felt unsupported by the palace, and said Harry had 'saved [her] life' by agreeing to move to Los Angeles. After the two-hour Oprah interview aired in the US on CBS on Sunday, American filmmaker Ava DuVernay shared a clip from Diana's 1995 interview with BBC Panorama to Twitter. In it, the Princess of Wales explains why she felt 'the establishment' she married into had 'decided that [she's] a non-starter' - because she did things 'differently'. A resurfaced clip of Princess Diana's infamous interview with Martin Bashir in which she discusses feeling 'unsupported' by the royal 'establishment' has sparked comparisons to Meghan Markle's bombshell sit-down with Oprah Winfrey The Duchess of Sussex told the chat show host she 'couldn't be left alone' and confessed she 'didn't want to be alive anymore' before claiming the Buckingham Palace HR department ignored her plea for help because she wasn't a 'paid employee' Prince Harry's mother told journalist Martin Bashir: 'Because I do things differently, because I don't go by a rule book, because I lead from the heart, not the head, and albeit that's got me into trouble in my work, I understand that. But someone's got to go out there and love people and show it.' She adds that she suspects she doesn't have 'as many supporters in that environment as I did' because the Royal Family saw her as a 'threat of some kind', despite the fact she is 'here to do good' and is 'not a destructive person'. Diana said she believed 'every strong woman in history has had to walk down a similar path', explaining: 'I think it's the strength that causes the confusion and the fear. Why is she strong? Where does she get it from? Where is she taking it? Where is she going to use it? Why do the public still support her? When I say public, you go and do an engagement and theres a great many people there.' During the Panorama interview Diana also opened up about her mental health struggles, including her eating disorder, and the unhappiness she felt during her relationship with Charles, famously claiming there were 'three people' in her marriage. After the two-hour Oprah interview aired in the US on CBS on Sunday, American filmmaker Ava DuVernay shared a clip from Diana's 1995 interview with BBC Panorama to Twitter The clip shared by Ms DuVernay has since been viewed more than 1.8million times, and notched up 64,400 likes - with several people claiming Meghan's experience within the Firm echoed that of her late mother-in-law's. One person commented: 'The parallels are astonishing. I have MAD respect for Harry for recognising the same cycle was about to repeat itself if he didn't get out. And for Megan for being unbelievably strong and true to herself in all that madness.' Another remarked: 'I thought of this Diana interview the whole time Meghan was speaking, history was repeating itself.' And one tweeted: 'Unbelievable that some people still think Meghan may be lying after everything Diana went through. Literally history repeating itself.' The clip shared by Ms DuVernay has since been viewed more than 1.8million times, and notched up 64,400 likes - with several people claiming Meghan's experience within the Firm echoed that of her late mother-in-law's The tweets echoed remarks made by Harry during the Oprah interview; when discussing Megxit, he claimed his biggest fear was that 'history would repeat itself'. Speaking about his and Meghan's experience in relation to his mother, who died in 1997, he told the chat show host: 'For me, Im just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side because I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago. 'It has been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we have each other.' The tweets echoed remarks made by Harry during the Oprah interview; when discussing Megxit, he claimed his biggest fear was that 'history would repeat itself' Meghan also told Oprah a relative of Harry asked him 'how dark' their unborn child would be, and said Archie being mixed-race was a 'problem' for the royals after Oprah asked her if they were worried their son would be 'too brown'. The former Suits star said she would not name the person because it would be 'too damaging' for them. She then said Archie may have been denied the title of prince because he is mixed-race, but has never been told. Harry was also asked to identify the culprit but said he didn't feel 'comfortable' discussing it. Yesterday Prince William defended the Firm, insisting it is 'very much not' a racist family - first senior Windsor to address directly the string of allegations made by his brother and his wife. His firm rebuttal came after Buckingham Palace issued a statement on Tuesday on behalf of the Queen expressing the family's sadness at learning the 'full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan'. The statement said the issues they raised, particularly that of race, were very 'concerning'. But it made clear that the Queen and other senior royals were keen to stand their ground, adding: 'While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.' Before a March 13, 2020, police raid of her Louisville, Ky., apartment woke her from her sleep and claimed her life, Breonna Taylor was planning for her future. She wanted to be a NICU nurse, Taylors mother, Tamika Palmer, told Yahoo News. But she was already working in two hospitals [as an ER technician], and she loved doing that. She was prepared that year to get back into school, and she wanted to get a house and just work on having a family. A nurturer at heart, her mother said, Taylor was always helpful to others, even as a kid. She was just a mama bear, Palmer said. Now, after a year in which Taylors case helped propel a global movement against police brutality, moving thousands to demonstrate in the streets of Louisville and beyond, Palmer says her daughters absence still seems surreal. I cant get used to Breonna not being here, she said. Breonna Taylor. (Family handout) Taylor, 26, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police officers executing a search warrant at her apartment. Police shot Taylor after her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was with her at the time, fired a warning shot at who he believed were intruders, injuring an officer in the leg, according to police and Walkers interview with investigators after the incident. None of the officers directly involved in the late night shooting were criminally charged in Taylors death. The decision drew outrage when it was announced last September by state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who faced intense scrutiny for his role in the investigation. The announcement also sparked more demonstrations in Louisville and other U.S. cities. Cameron, a Republican and Kentuckys first Black elected attorney general, was accused of misrepresenting the findings of the grand jury convened to decide if charges should be brought against the officers who fired into Taylors apartment: Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detectives Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison. Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, in front of a mural of her daughter at Jefferson Square Park in September 2020 in Louisville, Ky. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Cameron said Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in the shooting because they fired in self-defense after Walker fired first. He indicated that the jury declined to pursue homicide charges against the officers, deciding to only indict Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment. (The department terminated Cosgrove and Hankison.) Story continues But two members of the jury came forward anonymously, telling reporters in October that the jury was never given the opportunity to deliberate on charges other than the ones against Hankison. They also said the proceedings seemed to be steered toward a specific result. Cameron stood by his handling of the case, and Palmer sought a new special prosecutor to present the evidence to another grand jury. In December, the Kentucky Prosecutors Advisory Council, which had the authority to appoint a new prosecutor, voted to decline Palmers request. Palmer told Yahoo News that she will keep pushing for a new special prosecutor in Taylors case. She was not given a fair chance, Palmer said. In Louisville, many residents have continued to call for police accountability. LeAndrea McCampbell, 32, who protested for more than 100 days last year for Taylor, told Yahoo News that shes still demonstrating and says many people she knows in the community dont trust law enforcement. We havent healed, McCampbell said. We have a mother who is still grieving her daughter, who hasnt received the justice that she deserves. No one has apologized. Its still all [about] placing blame, because [Taylor] was associated with someone from her past. Breonna Taylor. (Family handout) The 2020 police raid was reportedly targeting Jamarcus Glover, a former boyfriend of Taylors, in connection with a narcotics investigation. Another police officer involved in planning the raid, Detective Joshua Jaynes, obtained the warrant to search Taylors home based on speculation that Glover was receiving packages there. But an investigative report released by police in October revealed that Jaynes did not confirm this with the Postal Service and indicates that the information he used to secure the warrant was misleading. The LMPD also fired Jaynes in early January. A search of Taylors apartment after the raid found no drugs. The FBI continues to investigate Taylors death and has been in contact with Palmer, Lonita Baker, Palmers attorney, told Yahoo News. But little is known about the specifics of the investigation. In a statement to Yahoo News, the FBIs Louisville office said it is continuing to actively investigate all aspects of the death of Breonna Taylor but that theres no timeline on the completion of the investigation. Regardless, the statement said, FBI Louisville has made significant progress in the investigation since it was initiated in May 2020, and will continue to work diligently until this investigation is completed. The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division will ultimately determine whether a federal criminal prosecution is warranted. Theres still the avenue for a prosecutor here to present charges to a grand jury on behalf of Breonna. That has not been done, Baker said. Until that happens, Palmer said, she wont stop advocating for her daughter. She still wants real justice. Were tired, Palmer said, speaking for herself and Taylors supporters. But what else do you do now besides fight back? ____ Read more from Yahoo News: The government of southwestern Yunnan province is tracking 15 wild Asian elephants round-the-clock as the herd moves northward. The elephants, which started their journey from the southernmost prefecture in the province on April 16, were 10 kilometers away from the provincial capital Kunming on Tuesday. The local government has been tracking and escorting the animals to keep them away from residents. The elephants have damaged 561 square meters of cropland, according to media reports Jun 02, 2021 05:22 PM The Rev. R.A. Mathews is a faith columnist, seminary graduate and the author of Reaching to God. Contact her at Letters@RAMathews.com. Essays on Faith may be submitted to amanda.gibson@hdmediallc.com. Find more Essays on Faith at www.wvgazettemail.com/life/religion. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 23:33:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close An elder woman receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac at an inoculation site in Acaxochitlan, State of Hidalgo, Mexico, March 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Xin Yuewei) Alejandro Lopez, head councilman of Acaxochitlan, described the Sinovac vaccine as a "light of hope" amid the health and economic ravages of COVID-19. ACAXOCHITLAN, Mexico, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Leocadia Longino, an elderly resident of an indigenous mountain village in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, gazed at a dam outside her home as she recounted how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her business and aroused fear in her community. The tree-lined banks and crystal clear water in the dam in Santa Ana Tzacuala, a poor village nestled in Sierra Otomi-Tepehua, used to attract many visitors who love to taste the trout cooked by her small family-run restaurant. The dam has been empty since the pandemic broke out in Mexico last year, resulting in her family sales plummeting by half. The dam "is our livelihood," the 67-year-old told Xinhua, adding that the lives of the villagers in the municipality of Acaxochitlan have been greatly affected by the pandemic. However, her hope for the future was ignited again after being vaccinated against COVID-19. The vaccine, developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, was distributed by the Mexican government to poor communities, especially for priority groups, such as the elderly, following the arrival of the first batch in late February. The first day of vaccination in the village drew dozens of elderly people, some arriving at the site with canes. "The vaccine is a new life, a new salvation," said Leocadia, expressing her gratitude for China to provide the vaccines to them. The Mexican government sent dozes of vaccines to indigenous Nahuatl, Otomi and Tepehua communities in six municipalities in eastern Hidalgo, as part of its pandemic-fighting strategy to attend to poor high-risk groups first. The Sinovac vaccine helps to save lives by facilitating vaccination in rural areas, since doses can be stored in normal refrigerators, said Abraham Mendoza, the federal government's delegate for development programs in Hidalgo. Alejandro Lopez, head councilman of Acaxochitlan, described the Sinovac vaccine as a "light of hope" amid the health and economic ravages of COVID-19. "We appreciate the support the Chinese people are giving us and we recognize the work they are doing, we recognize the nobility they have for humanity," Lopez said, adding that Chinese people not only have developed the vaccine, but also are sharing it. 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On March 10 the government extended the night curfew, maintained the full Friday lockdown, suspended Friday and Sunday prayers and closed restaurants, parks and sports clubs until the end of March. The day before, the government suspended in-class teaching in schools and universities until further notice. Minister of State for Media Affairs Sakher Dudin said on March 9 that the government would avoid imposing extended lockdowns so as not to exasperate the country's economic situation. Jordan was hailed last year for imposing a full nationwide lockdown that quickly contained the spread of the virus. Daily cases have spiked since the middle of February, reaching more than 6,000 in the past week. On March 10 the Ministry of Health reported 6,649 new cases and 60 deaths, bringing the total cumulative cases to 448,851 and deaths to 5,016, one of the highest fatality rates in the world. But medical experts warned that limited testing means the actual number of daily infections is much higher. On March 10 Minister of Interior Mazen Al-Farrayeh said that Jordan registers a new case every four minutes and one death every 20 minutes as a result of the pandemic. Jordanians have become critical of what they see as a slow government response in administering vaccinations, a process that began in January. According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, only 150,000 doses have been administered so far and only 30,000 Jordanian are fully vaccinated. By early March only 450,000 Jordanians and residents had registered to receive the vaccination, according to Farrayeh. Last month Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh said that Jordan is seeking to procure vaccines from different sources, adding that it had already received limited doses of Chinas Sinopharm and the United States' Pfizer vaccines. On March 10 the kingdoms Food and Drug Administration approved Russias Sputnik V vaccine and the government said it will receive doses within a month. Political commentator and editor of the digital forum Black-iris.com Naseem Tarawnah told Al-Monitor that the government has indeed been slow to take action on vaccines. Imagine if resources invested in the political theater of the November elections and the two government reshuffles had gone to securing vaccines, communicating a clear inoculation plan and combating misinformation. Jordan might be in a very different situation. Columnist Fahd Al-Khitan agrees that the government has failed Jordanians on the recent spike. He wrote for Al-Ghad March 8, It is not the first time that the public has been misled by health officials and we still dont know how we will flatten the curve and when. He added that while vaccine supplies will arrive by the end of this month, we still have a problem with supply chains, which means at the present rate we will need more than three months to vaccinate half a million residents. Khitan concluded that with new variants of the virus now reaching the kingdom, We need to impose wider lockdowns while accelerating the inoculation process and thats what worked in other countries. Head of the coronavirus portfolio of the Ministry of Health Wael Al-Hayagneh admitted that the biggest challenge facing the health sector is in the capital Amman. He told Al-Monitor that Ammans hospital capacity has already reached its limit, especially concerning ICU beds. We need to adopt stricter measures but we are also aware of the negative effects such measures will have on the economy, he said. So far we are avoiding the option of a full and lengthy lockdown. But Dr. Bassam Al-Hijjawi, a member of the kingdoms Epidemics Committee, believes that a full lockdown cannot be avoided. We as a committee have called on the government to impose a nationwide full lockdown in order to contain the rate of infections, he told Al-Monitor. Another challenge is to convince people to register for vaccination. So far only 450,000 have registered and the number of those who have gotten the two jabs remains small, he said. Meanwhile, head of the Doctors Association Dr. Mohammed Al-Tarawnah warned in a March 8 interview of new virus mutations that could hit the country. He said that more infections mean a higher probability of mutations and suggested that the government restrict travel by air, especially to and from countries where new strains have emerged. A MAN appeared in court on Friday charged with a double murder exactly 14 years to the day that the bodies of two men were discovered in Belfast. The remains of Edward Burns and Joseph Jones were found hours apart on March 12, 2007. Appearing at Belfast Crown Court via videolink from Maghaberry jail, Gerard Lagan, from Raheen Close in the Tallaght area of Dublin, denied their murder. The body of 36-year old Edward Burns, who was shot in the head, was found at Bog Meadows in west Belfast. Hours, later the battered remains of Joseph Jones (38) were discovered in an alleyway in Ardoyne. Mr Justice OHara asked the Crown and defence whether the case was ready for trial. After being informed that expert evidence was still being sought and that the hearing was due to last between four to six weeks, the judge said he hoped the trial could begin in autumn. He remanded Lagan back into custody and said he would review the case on April 16. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- A 14-year-old Vancleave girl is being charged as an adult with 2nd degree murder in the shooting death of a 19-year-old male in the early morning hours Wednesday. The shooting took place around 2 a.m. at the intersection of Spruce and Center streets in the Ocean Beach Estates subdivision adjacent to the St. Andrews community southeast of Ocean Springs. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell says deputies responding to the scene and located a male victim -- later identified as 19-year-old Mikell Gordon -- in the roadway, dead from a gunshot wound. After interviewing witnesses, deputies located the suspect -- 14-year-old Bridgett Leann Forehand -- and took her into custody as investigators continued to gather evidence and conduct interviews with witnesses. Forehand and Gordon did not know each other prior to meeting through mutual friends that night and a motive for the shooting is unknown at this juncture. Initially charged as an adult with manslaughter, Forehand made her initial appearance before Jackson County Judge Mark Watts Thursday afternoon, at which time the charge was upgraded to 2nd degree murder. Forehand remains in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center under the $100,000 bond set by Watts. Ezell said the investigation continues. Julia Roberts sneaked into Australia last week with her husband and children, and they had some A-list help settling in, according to a new report. The Hollywood actress, 53, her husband Daniel Moder, 52, and their children, twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, both 16, and Henry, 13, arrived in Sydney by private jet. After a stay at a hotel, the family have moved to 'a luxurious private home north of Sydney' to undergo quarantine, claims The Daily Telegraph. Julia Roberts (pictured) sneaked into Australia with her husband and children, and they had some A-list help settling in to 'a luxurious private home north of Sydney', a new report claims Pictured: Julia Roberts arrives on private jet in Sydney to begin shooting a romantic comedy Assisting the family with their clandestine arrival was Nicole Kidman, 53, the paper claims. Nicole reportedly, 'donated her personal security team and a band of handlers to help smooth the process.' The women are understood to be good friends, and together starred in the 2015 film Secret In Their Eyes. Family: The Hollywood actress, 53, her husband Daniel Moder, 52, and their children, twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, both 16, and Henry, 13, arrived in Sydney by private jet. All pictured Julia is in Sydney to film the new political thriller Gaslit, alongside fellow American actor Sean Penn, 60. The Hollywood A-listers, who will be joined by Aussie actor Joel Edgerton, will begin filming in coming weeks. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Joel and his brother Nash will also act as directors and executive producers on the series. Gaslit is about the Watergate scandal adapted from the Slate podcast Slow Burn. Julia Roberts, pictured arriving, is in Australia to film a new political thriller called Gaslit A friend indeed: Nicole Kidman (pictured right) reportedly, 'donated her personal security team and a band of handlers to help smooth the process' for Julia Roberts (pictured left) It's a modern take on the scandal that focuses on some of the untold stories from Watergate. Besides Gaslit, Julia is set to film the romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise with George Clooney. The Oscar winner will begin shooting the film on the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland later this year. George, 59, and Julia play a divorced couple who travel to Bali, Indonesia, to save their daughter from making the same mistake they did 25 years ago. Australia has become the new Hollywood during the Covid-19 pandemic as major movie studios relocate their productions Down Under. Stars: Julia is in Sydney to film the new political thriller Gaslit, alongside Sean Penn. Julia will also film the romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise with George Clooney (right) in Queensland Julia, 53, and George, 59, play a divorced couple who travel to Bali, Indonesia, to save their daughter from making the same mistake they did 25 years ago. The production has received $6.4million from the Australian government as part of a location incentive program. 'I'm so pleased to support Ticket to Paradise with a $6.4million grant as part of our highly successful Location Incentive Program,' said Paul Fletcher, the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts. In return, the film is expected to bring $47million to the local economy and create more than 270 jobs. George will arrive in Australia later this year. You may have read the stories on Facebook or on other social media platforms. Tantalizing and captivating claims from across Michigan: cougars seen wandering backyards in the suburbs around Detroit, black panthers skulking through farm fields and attacks all over the state on pets and livestock. But whats the truth about mountain lions in Michigan? How many are there? Where are they? And how worried should we be? Cougars, also called mountain lions or pumas, are native to Michigan and would have been found here prior to European colonization of the region. Early European settlers, however, saw the cat as a threat to them and their livestock, as well as a competitor for venison and other wild game. Consequently, by the late 1800s, cougars were almost eliminated from the eastern United States, driven by these fears. Wholesale logging of the forests the cougars called home also played a role, as waves of settlement converted much of the state to farmland. Many states and the federal government created bounties, money paid to people to kill cougars and other predators, with the goal of erasing them from the landscape. These efforts worked so well that cougars were eliminated from Michigan by the early 20th century. While memories of these big cats persisted in communities across the state, trying to find physical evidence to support reported sightings proved to be a bit like chasing a ghost. When evidence was collected at the scene of a reported cougar sighting, like photographs, the culprit was often found to be something other than a mountain lion. These would-be cougars were actually animals as mundane as a large housecat seen from an angle that made it appear much larger or as unusual and exotic as an escaped pet serval a large wild cat from Africa thats definitely not legal to keep as a pet in Michigan. As reported sightings became more common, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources created a cougar team in 2008 to review reports of cougars and to try to verify them. Brian Roell, a DNR wildlife biologist at Marquette, takes the mission of the cougar team very seriously. The team is made up of wildlife biologists for the DNR who have received specialized training in how to identify cougars from photos, as well as from tracks, scat and other physical evidence they may leave behind, Roell said. Its important that were able to identify these animals correctly, not just for conservation purposes but also so that residents can be informed about the wildlife living around them and take commonsense precautions. Over the 13 years since the formation of the cougar team, its members have met weekly to review reports with supporting evidence submitted to the DNR. If the evidence appears to have come from a cougar, DNR staffers will follow up with a site visit. This helps the biologists verify that photos havent been faked or reported from false locations. The visits also let the biologists measure trees and other objects to help estimate the size of animals in photos submitted with reports. Sometimes, the team members even use a life-sized, cardboard cougar silhouette to try to recreate the photo to help arrive at a correct identification. So far, their hard work has verified 65 cougar reports in Michigan. We dont think these are all different cougars, Roell said. Many of these reports include photos from trail cameras, and its very likely that the same cat is being spotted in different places as it moves through the forest. What does this tell us about how many cougars are in Michigan? Theres no evidence of a breeding population here no signs of kittens in any verified report, and all of the animals where weve been able to determine their sex have been male, said Kristie Sitar, DNR wildlife biologist at Newberry. Sitar said some DNA studies have been conducted on the cougars found here, using evidence collected from verified reports or a cougar poached in Schoolcraft County several years ago. This testing has shown the animals being reported in Michigan have traced back to a population found in South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska. These are likely young male cougars looking for areas far from home where they can find mates and establish their own territories, and they just keep moving when they dont find any female cougars, Sitar said. Should you be worried about seeing a mountain lion near your home? All but one of the verified cougar sightings the team has reviewed have been from the Upper Peninsula. Chances of seeing one in the Lower Peninsula are extremely low. Like with most wildlife, there are some simple preventative steps you can take to make your home less attractive to cougars. Remove sources of food, shelter and safety. For cougars, this means not letting pets roam outside alone, providing shelter for livestock, not feeding wildlife, removing landscaping that provides shrubby cover for animals to hide in near buildings and installing outside lighting with motion detectors. If you encounter a cougar when youre outdoors, your best bet is to try to appear too dangerous to tangle with: dont turn your back on the animal, look as large as you can by standing tall and waving your arms, and talk loudly. Never run from a cougar, though you can move away slowly. If you are attacked, fight back and never play dead. Remember that the likelihood that youll ever see a cougar in Michigan is extremely low, and the likelihood of an attack is even lower. These cats are very rare in Michigan, said Pete Kailing, a DNR wildlife biologist in Paris. Much of the data weve been able to gather so far is thanks to the willingness of Michiganders to share their photos and other evidence with us. If youre interested in learning more about cougars in Michigan, Kailing suggests starting at Michigan.gov/Cougars, where you can find tips on how to tell if the animal youve seen is a cougar, how to report a cougar sighting and the current status on where cougars have been confirmed in Michigan. Auburn native Brian McKeon is on the verge of being confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become President Joe Biden's deputy secretary of state for management and resources. But he may have to wait for the full Senate to consider his nomination. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee met Thursday and voted unanimously to advance McKeon's nomination. With the committee's approval, the next and final step is for the Senate to vote on whether to confirm McKeon to serve as a top official at the State Department. But U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, revealed at the committee meeting Thursday that he will be placing holds on McKeon's nomination and another Biden nominee, Wendy Sherman, who is the president's pick to serve as deputy secretary of state. A hold is an attempt by senators to prevent consideration of bills or nominations on the Senate floor. Cruz said he is placing holds on the two nominations because he doesn't believe the Biden administration has done enough to prevent the construction of a massive pipeline called Nord Stream 2, which would deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany. Cruz has placed holds on other Biden nominees to pressure the administration to take a stronger stance on the Nord Stream 2 project. The royal family institution and the firm were mentioned throughout Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussexs interview with Oprah Winfrey. But what is the difference between the royal family institution and the firm? Theyre similar, but separate. Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge | Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Meghan Markle asked the royal family institution for help and was denied Meghan revealed in her interview with Oprah that she was experiencing suicidal ideation while pregnant with Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. I just didnt want to be alive anymore, she said. The racist treatment she experienced via the U.K. press caused her distress, she explained to Oprah. That, and the fact that she felt unsupported by the royal family and the institution. She eventually asked for help and wanted to check into a mental health facility, but her request was denied. I share this because there are so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help, Meghan said. And I know personally how hard it is to not just voice it, but when you voice it to be told no. But what is this institution that denied her help? Prince Charles, Prince of Wales walks with Queen Elizabeth II, his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and his sons and their wives, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex | Dominic Lipinski/POOL/AFP via Getty Images RELATED: Why Couldnt Meghan and Prince Harry Get Security in the U.S.? A Royal Expert Weighs In What is the difference between the firm and the institution in the royal family? The institution is basically the institution of the monarchy. Think of it as a business, with Queen Elizabeth II as the CEO. Within the institution there are various staffs, all hired to help keep the royal household and calendars running. This includes a communications staff that handles press, a household staff that cares for royal residences, a human resources department, and more. The royal family members are part of the institution, but they arent hired staffers. Thats why, when Meghan reached out to the institutions HR, they werent able to give her the same help a paid employee would receive. The firm, on the other hand, is the nickname for the senior working royals. The firm exists within the institution, but only royal family members are part of the firm. Royal expert Victoria Arbiter told Vox that Queen Elizabeths father, George VI, coined the name. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at the 2018 Trooping of the Colour | Chris Jackson/Getty Images RELATED: Meghan Markle Reportedly Complained About Piers Morgan to ITV, Along With 41,000 Others Which royal family members run the institution and the firm? The Queen is the head of both the institution and the firm because she is the monarch. But as Meghan and Harry said, there are a select few members of the firm who make most of the familys decisions. It is believed that Queen Elizabeth, Charles, Prince of Wales, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, are running the show. But the other senior working royals include Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Harry told Oprah that when they moved to Canada, they lost their security, patronages, and his honorary military titles because of their change in status. According to Arbiter, losing their security made sense because it is funded by British taxpayers. The difficult part is that the royal business is also Meghan and Harrys family. It was their loved ones who decided to strip them of protection. While the structure of the institution might make sense to the members of the firm, Harry and Meghan were clearly looking for help from their family that they dont feel they received. How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 to speak with a trained crisis counselor at the free Crisis Text Line. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during his daily press briefing in Albany, N.Y., on May 1, 2020. (Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images) Ocasio-Cortez, Nadler, Other House Democrats in NY Say Cuomo Must Resign Several top New York Democrats have joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign in the wake of allegations that he sexually harassed several women amid reports that his administration covered up nursing home COVID-19 deaths. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.) Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Friday said Cuomo should step down, according to statements released by their offices. This week, the second sexual assault allegation and the sixth harassment allegation was leveled against Governor Cuomo. The fact that this latest report was so recent is alarming, and it raises concerns about the present safety and well-being of the administrations staff. These allegations have all been consistent and highly-detailed, and there are also credible media reports substantiating their accounts, Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman said in a statement. They added: Unfortunately, the Governor is not only facing the accusation that he engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment and assault. There is also the extensive report from the Attorney General that found the Cuomo administration hid data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from both the public and the state legislature. As a result of these allegations, they said that Cuomo, a Democrat, can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges. Nadler, the head of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, called the accusations against Cuomo serious and credible. Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York. Governor Cuomo must resign, he said. Maloney, who is the head of the House Oversight Committee, said she is joining New York state legislators in calling on Cuomo to resign and [supports] those who spoke out about their stories against the governor. In previous media appearances, Cuomo told reporters that he will not resign from office and denied he did anything inappropriate. I was elected by the people of the state. I wasnt elected by politicians. Im not going to resign because of allegations, he stated. Cuomo, however, acknowledged interacting with aides in his office in a way that may have been insensitive or too personal. A lawyer for the governor said Thursday that the state had reported an allegation from a sixth woman the Albany Police Department after the woman involved declined to do so herself. In this case, the person is represented by counsel and when counsel confirmed the client did not want to make a report, the state notified the police department and gave them the attorneys information, said Beth Garvey, the governors acting counsel, according to The Associated Press. AP contributed to this report. More than 500 birds have been seized in Sydneys south-west, as part of an ongoing investigation into what is alleged to be one of the states largest illegal cockfighting syndicates. Police executed a search warrant on Thursday at a property at Horsley Park, where officers located roughly 540 fighting cockerels, roosters and chickens, as well as cockfighting paraphernalia. More than 500 fighting roosters have been located at a south-west Sydney property. Credit:NSW Police The discoveries came after investigations by NSW Police alongside RSPCA NSW led to charges being laid against 34 men allegedly involved in the syndicate in December. The men are accused of promoting, organising or attending an animal fight. They will face Moss Vale Local Court on April 1. March 12 : The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has demanded that Alankrita Shrivastavas web series Bombay Begums, currently streaming on Netflix, be banned immediately. The NCPCR has objected to some of the scenes featuring the shows youngest protagonist Aadhya Anand. On different Twitter handles, netizens have condemned some objectionable scenes featuring Aadhya Anand, who plays a rebellious 13-year-old. This has eventually brought the show under NCPCRs scanner. NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo demanded that Netflix stop streaming Bombay Begums within 24 hours as it has portrayed children in an inappropriate manner. The Commission has taken this action based on the complaints that the series normalises casual sex and drug abuse among teenagers. According to the complaints, such portrayal will pollute young minds. From normalisation of minors indulging in casual sex we now have web series showing minors having Cocaine. Screengrab from #BombayBegums where a 13yr old is snorting coke as the party she goes to is all about alcohol, drugs. Sink it in. pic.twitter.com/RXOyq1GaJS Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) March 10, 2021 In a notice to the streaming giant on Thursday, the child protections body has asked Netflix to furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which it will be forced to initiate legal action. The Commission said this type of objectionable content will pollute young minds and may also lead to abuse and exploitation of children. Since when did the size of a girls breasts become an important part of school life that a girl needs to take a selfie and share it to prove that she is cool and attractive. #BombayBegums #Bollywood always trash values. Savio Rodrigues (@PrinceArihan) March 12, 2021 In the notice to the OTT platform, the Commission said, Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content in respect of the children or for the children and shall also refrain themselves from getting into such things. The notice further said, Therefore, you are directed to look into this matter and immediately stop streaming of this series and furnish a detailed action report within 24 hours, failing which the Commission will be constrained to initiate appropriate action pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of the CPCR (Commission for Protection of Child Rights) Act, 2005. Applaud to all of you who initiated this #BombayBegums to be stopped in 24 hours @NetflixIndia India has awakened, no one can play with our emotions and destroy the beautiful Image of our culture. https://t.co/ipCx1hdcw9 GLK - SSR (@smitaparikh2) March 11, 2021 Alankrita Srivastava of Lipstick Under My Burkha and recently Dolly Kitty Ke Haseen Sapne fame, has always made films with strong female voice and explored their issues. Bombay Begum also narrates the story of five women and their aspirations in an urban city. Alankrita has shown her women in the show unapologetic and ambitious. While three of them have extra-marital affairs, one is exploring her sexuality, while the youngest one wants desperately to hit puberty. Catherine Zeta-Jones has a new business venture. On March 22 the Academy and Tony Award-winning actress is launching her artisan crafted coffee line, Casa Zeta-Jones Coffee, via talkshoplive. The news was shared on Friday as the 51-year-old Chicago actress looked youthful in a pink blouse with white slacks at home with her cup of Joe. Coffee craze: Catherine Zeta-Jones has a new business venture. On March 22 the Academy and Tony Award-winning actress is launching her artisan crafted coffee line, Casa Zeta-Jones Coffee via talkshoplive Casa Zeta-Jones Coffee was developed in partnership with some of the finest coffee roasters in the industry, according to a press release. And it is sourced from a 'variety of select beans from all over the world to create six specialty coffee blends.' On the heels of her successful talkshoplive show featuring her Casa Zeta-Jones makeup collection last month, Zeta-Jones will return to the platform to launch the coffee line with her fans. Guests are invited to a coffee break with Zeta-Jones LIVE, where she will highlight the blends as well as discuss inspiration behind the partnership. Elegant as always: The news was shared on Friday as the 51-year-old Chicago actress was seen in pink and white at home with her cup of Joe Good taste: Casa Zeta-Jones Coffee was developed in partnership with some of the finest coffee roasters in the industry, according to a press release To celebrate that launch, five shoppers who purchase coffee, a coffee mug or tumbler from the talkshoplive channel either prior or during the LIVE show will be selected at random to receive a coffee tumbler signed by Catherine herself. Talkshoplive is a live streaming, social selling online network. Sellers showcase their products via live shows, displaying product details and chat in real-time with customers that they can purchase with one-click on the buy button. The blend: And it is sourced from a 'variety of select beans from all over the world to create six specialty coffee blends' Drink up: On the heels of her successful talkshoplive show featuring her Casa Zeta-Jones makeup collection last month, Zeta-Jones will return to the platform to launch the coffee line with her fans Last week she shared how it has been going for her under lockdown with her family. The Zorro actress said she has had her 76-year-old husband Michael Douglas by her side as well as their children Dylan, 20, and Carys, 17. And the Oscar-winning Chicago star also told Extra on Wednesday that she is enjoying getting to know the new baby boy Ryder of Michael's son Cameron while sharing she adopted her 'third child,' a puppy, this year. Going strong: Last week she shared how it has been going for her under lockdown with her family. The 51-year-old Zorro actress said she has had her 76-year-old husband Michael Douglas by her side. Seen in February The little baby: Michael Douglas is grandfather to Cameron Douglas' son Ryder Happy at last! Cameron seen with his wife Viviane and their two kids - daughter Lua and son Ryder - at home Extra's Cheslie Kryst asked the beauty about being at home with her family. 'It gave me solace to have my babes, my man, my team in here, safe,' said the Vogue cover girl. She continued, 'They wanted to protect us as parents, Michael as well, who is a little older than me We played lots of games.' She then talked her stepson Cameron's baby boy. Cameron is Michael's son with ex wife Diandra Luker; they were wed from 1977 until 2000. In the early days of marriage: Catherine and Michael with their kids as well as his son Cameron 'His name is Ryder Douglas. He came out kicking. When the news isn't necessarily uplifting in any sense, to have a newborn baby was just a joy, a real joy,' she said. Cameron and his wife Viviane also have daughter Lua. 'And I got a puppy, which was just as equally joyous for me,' she added. The star then joked, 'My third child was born. It's the TLC of life: puppies and babies.' Puppy joy: 'And I got a puppy, which was just as equally joyous for me,' she added, joking, 'My third child was born' And she has a new show: she plays Dr Vivian Capshaw, the resident M.D. at a psychiatric institute in Prodigal Son. Catherine said, 'It is great to get back to work. There's a past with these two doctors in the bowels of the Claremont Psychiatric Facility. Things start to unravel. It's fun.' Prodigal Son airs Tuesday nights on FOX. On Instagram on Tuesday she shared three photos from the show: 'Dr. Vivian Capshaw has officially arrived at Claremont. Tune in to @prodigalsonfox tonight at 9/8c on FOX! #ProdigalSon.' She is here: And she has a new show: she plays Dr Vivian Capshaw, the resident M.D. at a psychiatric institute in Prodigal Son The native of Wales is designing clothes too: she has ready-to-wear Spring collection from her Casa Zeta-Jones clothing line. 'It was such a passion project,' she said, explaining it was created 'thinking of the woman that needs great pieces to go with her favorites she has at home great mix-and-match pieces that can take you from day to night.' Her inspiration was her own vintage collection of clothes at home. 'I made clothing. I'm a seamstress I'm the daughter of a seamstress so my inspiration is what real women wear, what real women can afford,' sh A victim of police abuse has been awarded N7.5 million by the Lagos Judicial Panel on Friday for the ordeal he went through. Chidiebere Nwadi was arrested on his first day in Lagos in 1999 and was detained. He was thereafter remanded in prison where he spent six years without any offence, charge or trial against him. He was 18 years at the time of arrest and was in prison up till 2004, six years after. Mr Nwadi, now 40, told PREMIUM TIMES he wasted his prime age in the prison. The petitioner, who first appeared before the panel on November 28, 2020, narrated that he was detained and tortured by police officers hours after he arrived the state from the South-east in 1999. He left Abia state in May 1999 to see his brother in Lagos, but on arrival, he said he had no means to contact his brother and was stranded before his encounter with the police. I arrived in Lagos at 8 p.m. and was heading to Desert Street, Egbeda. It was late, at about 9:30 p.m. When I got there, I was told my brother no longer lived there. The new occupants (a barbershop) didnt know my brothers new address. I begged them to allow me to sleep in the shop and I slept there till in the morning. I carried my Marlboro bag with me, trying to get to Ojuelegba from Oshodi to meet an uncle who could help, then a van drove by. People ran, but I was confused and before I could react, I was grabbed, beaten, and my head was hit with the butt of a gun. When I asked what I did, I was beaten and later taken to Idimu police station along with others, he said. Mr Nwadi said he was detained for three months at the police cell because he could not provide a sum of N10,000 allegedly demanded by the police. He told the panel that he was taken to a nearby court where he was charged with armed robbery and sent to Kirikiri Medium Prison. After three years, I developed partial blindness and deafness from the slaps I received. I did not know that telling the police you have no money makes them more angry. The victim said he was released in 2004 with help from a missionary from the Catholic church. Ruling Giving her ruling on Mr Nwadis case on Friday, Doris Okuwobi, a retired judge heading the panel, said they found that the petitioner was tortured and abused by officers of the Nigerian Police at different times without any justification. His experience was escalated by the inability to provide a bribe. This inability to provide a bribe led to a trumped-up charge and as a result, he was kept in awaiting trial section of Kirikiri maximum security prison for six years. The duration of his stay for six years on awaiting, trial was not justifiable, is inhumane and the failure of the system, Mrs Okuwobi said. The retired judge said the petitioner was incarcerated by the Nigerian Police Force at the prime of his life without justification for six years and was never tried for a crime. For a long six years stay in prison and losing a vital part of his youth and opportunities, we hereby give an award of N7.5 million in favour of the petitioner, the retired judge ruled. Recommendations Giving recommendations, the panel said the officers involved in the case be sanctioned by the police force and suspended for six months without pay. ADVERTISEMENT The Nigerian Police Force should have a human rights desk in each station which should be manned by lawyers all from the Nigerian Police with a background in human rights. A daily audit of cells in police stations should be carried out by the DPOs and head of the human right desks, the panel recommended. Mrs Okuwobi added that the police should stick to the time frame stipulated by the law for the detention of suspects and curb cases of bribery in the police force. It should be the duty of the arresting officers to ensure that relatives of arrested persons are made aware of their arrests and circumstances surrounding the arrest, she said. Police 'more than minimally' contributed to a father-of-two's death when they restrained him, an inquest jury has found. Leon Briggs, 39, was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to Luton police station in handcuffs and leg restraints on November 4, 2013. The lorry driver died around two hours later at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital of 'amphetamine intoxication in association with prone restraint and prolonged struggling', with a secondary cause of heart disease, senior coroner Emma Whitting has said. Leon Briggs, 39, was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to Luton police station in handcuffs and leg restraints on November 4, 2013 An inquest jury today ruled that the use of force by officer in the arrest of Mr Briggs, pictured, 'more than minimally contributed to his death' by leaving him in a 'dangerous' face-down position for more than 13 minutes Returning a conclusion today after nearly three days of deliberations, the jury at the inquest in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, found the use of force by officers who restrained him for more than 13 minutes in a 'dangerous' face-down position on the concrete 'more than minimally contributed to his death'. The jury of 10 also found that although police officers did 'reasonably believe' it was appropriate to use force to restrain Mr Briggs while he was suffering a psychotic episode and had taken amphetamines, 'inappropriate weight' was used against him 'at times'. Officers' failure to recognise that Mr Briggs was in a state of medical emergency, and failure to monitor him in the police van and cell, also contributed to his death, the jury said. Mr Briggs' family said the inquest into his death has allowed his 'story to be told for the first time' more than seven years after he died, but added the fact the jury's conclusion fell short of a verdict of unlawful killing has 'not brought the closure we wanted'. The family's lawyer, reading a statement outside the court on behalf of Mr Briggs' mother Margaret Briggs, who stood nearby with other members of the family, said there is 'no justice'. Police arrested Mr Briggs after receiving reports Mr Briggs was acting in a strange fashion by darting in and out of shops The statement said: 'Seven and half years ago, my life changed forever, when my son Leon was cruelly and brutally taken away. 'On this day, his children lost a devoted and much-loved father. Since then, all we have wanted, is to know how a vulnerable man who needed help could end up dead in police custody. 'Over the last seven-and-a-half years, we have faced what can only be described as a travesty of justice. 'There is no justice for people like Leon. Instead of learning lessons from what happened, the police have closed ranks, they have tried to disrupt and derail the investigation from the start. 'During this inquest, we have heard evidence that has convinced my family and me, that Leon was unlawfully killed by the police - this should have been the verdict today.' Police received emergency calls advising them that Mr Briggs appeared to be a risk to himself and was acting strangely Paramedics from the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, who attended calls to Marsh Road where Mr Briggs was restrained, had already admitted prior to the inquest the failure to check Mr Briggs's vital signs or take him to hospital in an ambulance for medical treatment. Bedfordshire Police officers attended a call over concerns that Mr Briggs was 'behaving unusually', by darting into shops, talking to himself and wandering into traffic near the junction between Marsh Road and Willow Way in Luton just before 2pm. After Mr Briggs pushed past acting Sergeant Short and PC Geoff Bennett, they used 'excessive force' to restrain him face-down on the concrete in a 'very dangerous fashion', according to Dexter Dias QC, who was representing the Briggs family. Witnesses said they heard Mr Briggs call out 'please help me', while another described him as 'like a child crying out for a toy'. The officers said they 'wanted to do the best [they] could' for Mr Briggs while he was 'shouting, struggling, and kicking out', but Mr Dias accused them of 'telling a pack of lies'. The footage showed Mr Briggs running in and out of shops before the arrival of police Experienced paramedic Kevin Meade and emergency care assistant Sarah Freeman also attended Marsh Road, but failed to check Mr Briggs's vital signs which could have indicated that he needed to go to hospital rather than custody. Ms Freeman described carrying out a 'visual assessment' because Mr Briggs being clothed, struggling and handcuffed made it 'difficult' to carry out proper pulse and temperature checks. Lewis Andrews, clinical general manager at East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, agreed with Mr Dias that the medics 'did not even speak to Leon' or 'offer medical advice to police' when they saw he was being restrained in a 'dangerous' way. But Ms Freeman agreed with Bedfordshire Police's lawyer John Beggs QC that officers were 'doing their best' with Mr Briggs and did not 'deliberately try to hurt' him. PC Peter Baron, who assisted the officers as Mr Briggs was restrained for more than 13 minutes, admitted the way they moved him to a police van 'wasn't ideal'. PC Daniel Sullivan, who teaches personal safety and physical training for Bedfordshire Police, said some of the police who carried Mr Briggs to the van had no training to do it correctly, and his treatment breached national guidelines. Mr Briggs' mother, Margaret, today said she was 'truly shocked by the brutality' of his treatment by police officers who restrained and detained him under the Mental Health Act in 2013. Standing outside the court, the family lawyer said on behalf of Mrs Briggs: 'I cannot face watching the video footage, or to listen to the audio footage of Leon crying out for help, but over the last two months, I have made myself sit through evidence, as I needed to know what happened to him. 'I have been truly shocked by the brutality of the treatment of Leon, and by how he suffered in his last hour of life - he had committed no crime, and yet he was restrained face down on the floor with force used against him, and he was shackled. 'I have been shocked by the utter disregard for his life as he lay dying on the police cell floor. Why did the police choose to treat my son, who was mixed-race, as though his life had no value? They took away his human rights. 'How can a family move on from this? I do not know, but all we can do is carry on the best we can. I would like to thank the coroner for the inquest she has held, which has allowed Leon's story to be told for the first time. 'I remain determined that lessons will be learned from Leon's death, and those who were responsible will be brought to justice eventually.' The jury had been shown CCTV footage of the moment Mr Briggs arrived at the police station repeatedly shouting 'no' and screaming. Members of Mr Briggs's family, who attended the court every day, left the room while the CCTV was shown because they found it 'distressing' Members of Mr Briggs's family, who attended the court every day, left the room while the CCTV was shown because they found it 'distressing'. Several officers carried Mr Briggs into a cell before he lay still, face-down and silent for a few minutes before officers called out his name and asked 'are you alright?', while one referred to him 'sweating', before attempting to resuscitate him. Sweating should have been a 'key indicator' that Mr Briggs was suffering from acute behavioural disturbance (ABD), the inquest has previously heard. The inquest heard that PC Baron, who was at Luton station, went to wash his hands instead of immediately checking on Mr Briggs. Mr Dias accused officers of ignoring the 'potentially life-threatening' signs of positional asphyxia, a condition in which a person cannot breathe adequately. He said Mr Briggs was having an 'acute mental health crisis' and should have been treated as a 'medical emergency', instead of being left alone in the cell. An ambulance arrived later on to take Mr Briggs to Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, where he died just after 4pm. Emma Carter, secretary of Bedfordshire Police Federation, said: 'All investigations into the conduct of police officers must be fair, timely and transparent. 'The outcome today means our Bedfordshire Police colleagues can finally get on with their careers and lives having been scrutinised for their actions in November 2013 for more than seven years. 'Police officers are out there every day fulfilling a difficult and challenging role on behalf of society. They have no issue with being held accountable - we are the most accountable of public services. But how can it be just or justified to have your lives put on hold for so long? 'The Crown Prosecution Service, The Independent Office for Police Conduct, and now a public inquest - held in front of a jury - have all thoroughly probed this incident. Six colleagues were suspended from duty for more than five years as part of this process. A cloud has unfairly been hanging over them since 2013. This has changed their lives; their family's lives and the officer's careers immeasurably. 'This now thankfully concludes today, and we hope this also brings some long-awaited answers for Leon's family. 'We must pay credit to our colleagues for maintaining their professionalism and dignity throughout the process - A CPS investigation, a police complaints process and now an inquest - and we wish them and their families well as they get on with their lives.' Deputy Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police Trevor Rodenhurst expressed condolences to Leon Briggs' family, following the inquest jury finding that his death was partly caused by the way officers restrained him. Mr Rodenhurst said: 'The family and friends of Leon Briggs have had to wait far too long to hear all the facts surrounding his death and our thoughts are of course with them at this very difficult time. 'The jury has today identified a number of significant failings by the police which contributed to the death of Mr Briggs and for this we are truly sorry. 'This inquest focused on a period of 36 minutes as we responded to public concerns for Mr Briggs, who was suffering a drug-induced psychosis triggered by amphetamine levels described by one expert as being 'off the scale'. 'Unbeknown to officers he also had a serious underlying heart condition. There is no easy way of managing such a situation. 'The attending officers chose to restrain him so he could be taken to a police custody suite where he could be assessed. By the time it became apparent that he was a medical emergency it was too late to save him, despite their concerted efforts. 'We've made extensive changes since 2013 but we remain absolutely committed to working with the coroner and all of our partners in order to identify and make any necessary further improvements.' East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) offered its 'deepest condolences' to his family. US President Joe Biden steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on February 8, 2021. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images A man who broke into the Air Force One base last month was caught partly because of his cap. The intruder wore a cap that seemed to resemble "mouse ears," according to officials. An Air Force investigation concluded that the security failure was due to "human error." See more stories on Insider's business page. In a rare security breach, a man broke into Joint Base Andrews last month and went unnoticed for about five hours until his strange headpiece that appeared to resemble "mouse ears" blew his cover, several news outlets reported Thursday. The 36-year-old trespasser from Maryland, whose name has not been disclosed, was unarmed and wore "a bright red or pink cap that partially covered his ears and had distinctive balls on top that looked a little like mouse ears," according to an Air Force investigation of the February 4 incident reported by The Associated Press. An employee at the base saw the man on the flight line and was suspicious of the intruder partly because of his cap, and notified security, according to AP. The Air Force report blamed the unusual security failure on "human error." The Air Force first reported the security breach last month and released its investigation on Thursday. Military officials handed him over to local law enforcement at the time because he had two outstanding warrants. Air Force Lt. Gen. Sami Said said that a "distracted" security guard had let the unauthorized man drive through an entrance gate and onto the military base located in Maryland, which is home to the presidential aircraft, Air Force One. Afterward, the intruder slipped past another fence and entered the flight line, walked aboard a parked plane and stayed for a few minutes then left. He was stopped and arrested as he walked back on the flight line toward the security gate, AP reported. The man went aboard a C-40 aircraft assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing, sometimes referred to as the "President's Wing," which is used by senior military and government officials. He never got close to the highly-protected Air Force One, officials said. Story continues The report concluded that the intruder was "simply wandering" and did not harm anyone nor have plans to meet anyone. He told officials that he came to the base "because he wanted to see airplanes," the report said. The White House did not immediately return Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Jeff Martin had only been at his new job as mayor of Hamilton Township for two months when he started receiving briefings about the coronavirus. And about 75 days (after being sworn in), I was making decisions that I never thought in the world Id have to make, like shutting the municipal buildings to the public and the like, Martin told NJ Advance Media. As New Jersey begins to mark the anniversary dates of the pandemic the first positive COVID-19 case, the initial restrictions, the first death members of Hamilton reflect on the past year and how the community has supported one another through the difficult times. Martin spoke of the resiliency of residents, not just in Hamilton, but across the state and the country. The townships first COVID cases were reported on March 19, Martin said, and the virus has since claimed the lives of more than 200 residents. The virus has not only taken a physical toll, but a mental and economic toll as well. Many people no longer had their usual routines, were stressed by the unknown, and struggled to pay rent or put food on the table, Martin said. In part of its response, the township has maintained regular communication with residents, pointing them to various resources and informing them of updates. Fred Dumont, the townships director of community and economic development, credited the mayor with steady leadership throughout the pandemic. Township officials quickly pivoted to online meetings, passed a temporary ordinance allowing outdoor dining, and held a listening session in September with almost 60 restaurant owners, Dumont said. Out of that meeting, we put together a propane program, he said. We pay for all the propane for that. Since its launch in November, the program has covered roughly $25,000 in propane costs for local restaurants. The township also secured money from the federal government to help pay up to $10,000 in rental, mortgage or utility assistance for low to moderate income households impacted by the pandemic. Dumont said the township has given out more than $100,000 since the programs launch, with new applications processed on a daily basis. Gov. Phil Murphy, center, gives thumbs up while waiting to speak at a ceremony at Carella's Chocolates & Gifts in Hamilton Township. Joan Carella, a co-owner of the shop, said the pandemic's forced closure of the shop was difficult.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Joan Carella, a co-owner of Carellas Chocolates and Gifts a family-owned shop thats been open for more than 40 years said she and her co-owner sister didnt know how long they would have to remain closed during the initial shutdown. That was quite scary, because you cant do everything online to hold the business up, Carella said. So you still need that walk-in traffic. They were able to reopen for in-person shopping just after Mothers Day last year, Carella said, and have remained open since then. The federal Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, loans also helped the business, she said, and shes optimistic things will bounce back in the comings months. Summer is actually a slow time for us as it is, but I feel well be open and people will be out shopping, Carella said. The local YMCA, a community fixture, also initially struggled during the pandemics start. Shut down by statewide restrictions and facing a loss in revenue, officials at the Y launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money. Since its launch, the campaign has raised more than $486,000, enabling it to stay afloat. Diana Zita, the Ys executive director, said the organization has had enormous community support. Its just heartwarming, and just unbelievable, honestly, how the community has supported us, Zita said. But while closed, the organization continued to help the community it has hosted regular food drives since April, several blood drives, and has provided childcare for essential workers. This year the Y is celebrating its 70th anniversary in Hamilton, Zita said. As people continue to come back to the facility and express their appreciation for the community at the Y, Zita said shes optimistic for the months ahead. You know, I think, all too often in the last maybe couple of decades people thought of the Y because they thought of the facility and this really re-focused people and highlighted all the other things we do and for us, quite honestly, the facility is just there, Zita said. Its a tool to do all the other things that we do, she added. In some weird way, the pandemic has just shown who we really truly are as an organization at the ethos. 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. Walks scheduled Beginning tomorrow, The Green House Project will host guided nature solace walks for grief, loss and isolation. Abby Peck will guide walkers through an easy walk at Lackawanna State Park on Saturday, as well as March 20 and April 10, from 1 to 2 p.m. Research shows that being out in nature can help with grief, feelings of loss and isolation, according to The Green House Project. The walks in the silence of nature and awakening of spring will help participants reconnect with others. Peck is the founder, director and facilitator for P.A.I.S.B.C. (Physical Activity Intervention for Surviving Beyond Cancer), a free, one-on-one exercise program for cancer patients and survivors based in Dunmore. She was a member of the United States Olympic Rowing Team in the late 1980s. Participants should meet at the boat launch parking lot at Lackawanna State Park (first lot on the left from the main park entrance) by 12:45 p.m. Masks are required and the Green House asks that no pets tag along. For more details, contact getGHPinfo@gmail.com. If you need directions on the day of the walk, contact 570-702-1787. Pre-register by email or just arrive. The walks are also sponsored by the Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging. High notes Members of the Society of Irish Women, including Cathy Wechsler, Mary Clare Kingsley, Patty Jones, Lori Wagner, president, Barbara Partyka, Tammy Jackson, Diane Jeffers, Nancy Welby, Mary Beth DeAndrea, Karen Savage and Mauri Kelly, donated to the Shamrock Heart Foundation of Lackawanna County. The foundation will provide carnations for area hospitals and nursing home patients. Due to the current pandemic numerous issues arose, but through hard work by the Shamrock Foundation, the carnation distribution will go on this year and we cannot be happier to donate, said Wagner. In a small way we are showing that patients are not being forgotten despite families not being able to visit their loved ones. The flowers will be delivered on Wednesday. Super studentsLocal members of the Bloomsburg University (BU) Players are part of the production of Much Ado About Murder, an audience participation murder mystery by Pat Cook. The production is directed by faculty member, Dr. Carrie Winship, and features: Jacob Eiden from Scranton, who is performer in the production; Madison Fick from Wilkes-Barre, assistant stage manager; Mark Obrzut from West Pittston, assistant stage manager; Avery Roberts from Moscow, production stage manager; Olivia Spory from Scranton, actor; Rebecca Thomas from Shickshinny, makeup/hair designer; and Reagan Venturi from Mountain Top, actor and production manager. The play will be performed today and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Audience members will receive a link to the performance after reserving tickets; sign an online ticket reservation form at www.bit.ly/BUPMAAM. A body found in a woodland in Kent is that of missing woman Sarah Everard, Scotland Yard have confirmed. The 33-year-olds remains were found in an area of woodland in Ashford, in Kent, on Wednesday. On Thursday night, Ms Everards family released a statement describing her as a shining example to us all, and said she had brought so much joy to our lives. Read More Ms Everard vanished while walking home from a friends flat in south London on March 3, with her suspected kidnap and murder prompting anger over the safety of women on the UKs streets. A serving police officer, who is aged in his 40s, remains in custody after being detained on suspicion of Ms Everards murder and kidnap, and a separate allegation of indecent exposure. Police have been granted more time to question him. The arrested officer, who is in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was treated for a head injury sustained while in custody on Thursday. He was later discharged and returned to the police station where he is being held. Scotland Yard is facing an investigation by the police watchdog into its handling of an allegation of indecent exposure involving the suspect in the Sarah Everard case. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is to probe whether officers responded appropriately after receiving a report that a man had exposed himself at a fast food restaurant in south London on February 28 three days before the 33-year-old went missing. Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave made the announcement outside Scotland Yard on Friday. He said: On Wednesday evening detectives investigating the disappearance of Sarah Everard discovered a body secreted in woodland in Kent. The body has now been recovered and a formal identification procedure has been undertaken. I can now confirm that it is the body of Sarah Everard. Clearly Sarahs family have been updated with this most distressing news. I just want to pause for a moment and say that my thoughts and prayers, and those of the entire organisation, remain with her and with them at this awful time. With additional reporting from PA. Read More Students, Staff honored at Eagle Awards Ceremony Fri, 03/12/2021 - 13:59pm | By: David Tisdale The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Office of Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement held its annual Eagle Awards Ceremony online Feb. 28, during which USM students and staff were honored for outstanding achievement and contributions to the university community in multiple categories. The event also included artistic performances by USM students. The Eagle Awards Committee accepted nominations for the awards from across campus, and the committee, made up of several student leaders from various organizations, voted unanimously on a winner for each category. Student Organization of the Year Southern Miss Activities Council Outstanding Female Graduate Student of the Year Roshanna Stallings- Columbus, Mississippi Outstanding Male Graduate Student of the Year JaLen Husband- Laurel, Mississippi Outstanding Female Undergraduate Student of the Year McKenzie McDavid- Greenville, Mississippi Outstanding Male Undergraduate Student of the Year Jakobe Smith- Jackson, Mississippi Outstanding Sorority Woman of the Year Samantha Manaway- Hattiesburg Outstanding Fraternity Man of the Year Marquan Lewis- Mobile, Alabama Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year Daishai Almond, Athens, Georgia Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year Bethal Miles- Chicago, Illinois Living the Southern Miss Creed Award Earl Stoudamire- Clinton, Mississippi Langston Hughes Artistic Excellence (Dance) Keldric Holmes- Brandon, Mississippi Langston Hughes Artistic Excellence (Theatre) Brandon Spann- Gulfport, Mississippi Humanitarian Award: Ms. Valencia R. Walls Lifetime Achievement Award: Gloria Peterson Press Release March 12, 2021 De Lima blames Duterte for rash of killings in PH Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has maintained that President Duterte is the driving force behind the unabated spate of killings and human rights abuses in the country because he continues to promote a culture of violence and impunity. De Lima, the staunchest critic of Duterte regime's crooked policies, made the statement following the killing of nine individuals believed to be with activist groups in Southern Tagalog last March 7 and the recent release of a video showing a policeman allegedly planting evidence on a slain drug suspect. "The stark truth stares at us: No one else to blame for the killing spree (of drug suspects, lawyers, former and incumbent LGU officials, media practitioners, non-combatant activists and HRDs), but Duterte himself. He's the instigator or driving force behind the spate of violence and assassinations unparalleled in modern PH history," she said in her Dispatch from Crame No. 1042. "That's the most crucial, damning fact that the Guevarra report to the UNHRC chose to gloss over, if not conceal. Tigilan na nila ang pagbubulagbulagan at pagkukunwari. Harapin ang katotohanan!," she added. Two days after Duterte instructed police and soldiers to "kill" and "finish off" communist rebels in encounters, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) mounted a deadly crackdown in Calabarzon that led to the demise of nine and the arrest of six activists. Moreover, a viral video that made the rounds online shows a cop firing a gun three times before placing it beside a drug suspect. The incident reportedly took place in Valencia City, Bukidnon, on February 20. "Whether it's drugs, insurgency, COVID-19 or poverty, he [Duterte], indeed, governs through violence and killings. 2016 pa lang, pumapatay na ang rehimeng ito. Duterte's latest marching order is just a reiteration and a reminder of his long-standing policy of brutally eliminating perceived enemies," De Lima said in a separate statement. Last Feb. 24, it may be recalled that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told UNHRC that more than half of thousands of anti-drug operations launched by police under the Duterte administration failed to comply with rules of engagement and protocol, but he failed to address Duterte's accountability in relation to the government's drug war. This 18th Congress, the lady Senator from Bicol filed Senate Bill No. 1842 to define and criminalize extrajudicial killings and related acts, to ensure an independent investigation of summary killings and provide compensation for the victims. A former National Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Yaw Boateng Gyan is worried about the internal wrangling within his party. He stressed that, some of us suffered to form this party - hence, he will not tolerate any row that will ruin the purpose of which the party was formed and their aim to recapture power in 2024. . . I am a founding member of the party . . . we have suffered for this party and wouldnt want to see it collapse because of internal disputes, he noted. Yaw Boateng Gyan was addressing recent issues within the NDC which triggered his partys National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi to lambast the leadership of the minority side in Parliament and Speaker Alban Bagbin for betraying the party. After condemning Sammy Gyamfis outburst, Yaw Boateng Gyan urged the leadership to serve the partys purpose before their personal interest if any. He spoke in an interview with Kwesi Aboagye on NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie. 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 In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, three experts on global health explain why COVID-19 is a moment of reckoning for the World Health Organization (WHO), and where it goes from here. And to mark one year since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, we hear from Conversation editors around the world on the situation where they live. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. The WHO had a torrid 2020. Although it declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern in late January, much of the world was slow to react. And it wasnt until March 11, when the WHOs director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described it as a pandemic, that countries began to take the virus seriously and began locking down. But the WHO faced criticism for the way it initially responded to the emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan. It was lambasted for being too China-centric by President Donald Trump, who suspended funding for the WHO in April and began withdrawing the US from the organisation. While the Biden administration has since rejoined, serious questions are still being asked of whether the current system for protecting the world from emerging viruses is fit for purpose. And an ongoing WHO investigation into the origins of the virus in Wuhan continues to cause controversy. In this episode, we speak to Peter Gluckman, former scientific adviser to the prime minister of New Zealand and director of Koi Tu, the Center for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, about why he thinks world leaders should use this moment as a catalyst for reform. I think we must learn from this is that theres a need to separate the technical from the political, he says, and explains how momentum is growing around proposals hes been involved in for a new way to respond to future disease outbreaks. Ana Amaya, assistant professor at Pace University and an associate research fellow at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies, says the current global health system is no longer acceptable to many developing countries in the global south. Were in a strange time where the WHO will only be strengthened or weakened, says Amaya. Theres no possibility of it going back to the status quo pre-pandemic. She explains her new research on the role that regional organisations, such as Asean in south-east Asia, or Mercosur in South America, can play in reacting to global health emergencies. Story continues But calls for reform of the WHO are not new, and the organisation has faced criticism over the way its handled previous epidemics, from H1N1 to Ebola. Andrew Lakoff, professor of sociology at the University of Southern California, explains what process of assessment and reform the WHO went through after each of these. He says that whatever diagnosis emerges of what and where the failures were, will ultimately influence what solutions are built in the future. If the origin of this one is understood to have to do with a zoonotic transmission, a spillover from wildlife into human populations, that would lead to a whole set of possible reform measures and initiatives that would try to prevent that in the future, says Lakoff. Read more: Why the WHO, often under fire, has a tough balance to strike in its efforts to address health emergencies This episode also features perspectives from The Conversations global network about the current coronavirus situation around the world. We hear from Hannah Hoag in Canada, Ina Skosana in South Africa, Lionel Cavvicchioli in France, Ika Krismantari in Indonesia, Liam Petterson in Australia and Elena Sanz in Spain. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Wed love to hear what you think of the show too. You can email us on podcast@theconversation.com A transcript of this episode is available here. News clips in this episode are from the UN, DW Espanol, France24 Arabic, Tagesschau, KTN News, Astro News, Global News, CBS News, CNA News, US Department of State, CNN, Sky News Australia, DW News, Vox Africa, Al Jazeera English, The Guardian and EU Council. You can listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, our RSS feed, or find out how else to listen here. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 robber who beat a man on the street and was apprehended seconds later by an off-duty garda has been jailed for four years. Dubliner Kevin Murphy (30) had attacked a man in the city centre, punching and kicking the victim while he was on the ground, and was running away from the scene when he was apprehended by an off-duty garda who happened to be passing by. Murphy of Mount Olive, Park, Kilbarrack pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery at Aston Place, Temple Bar, Dublin city centre, on June 29, 2020. His previous convictions include possession of drugs for sale or supply, possession of stolen property and violent behaviour in a garda station. Detective Garda Chris Fitzgerald told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that the victim had been drinking with his friends in a park on the date in question and was walking around the Temple Bar area. Det Gda Fitzgerald said the next thing the man knew he was bleeding, surrounded by people and his phone was missing. He was brought to hospital to treat a cut above his eye, although his phone was returned to him by a garda before he left in an ambulance. A security guard from a nearby restaurant observed the incident when he looked down the laneway and saw the victim lying on the ground. Murphy stood over the man beating him by punching and kicking him. Murphy fled the scene and was observed running away by an off duty garda member who caught and apprehended him. The garda recovered the victim's stolen phone from the accused's hand. Det Gda Fitzgerald agreed with Carol Doherty BL, defending, that her client was heavily intoxicated when he was apprehended. He agreed that a thread of intoxication runs through the accused's offending. Ms Doherty said her client began smoking crack and heroin at the age of 28. She said he was homeless after being released from prison for a previous offence. Counsel said her client is appalled at his actions and has engaged with Merchants Quay. She said he has two children and asked the court to give him the opportunity to prove he can remain intoxicant free and be the family man he wants to be. Judge Martin Nolan said this was a nasty enough robbery. He noted that the property was recovered and that the accused wants to reform and change himself. He sentenced Murphy to four years imprisonment. There were no cases of severe illness or deaths among those who got the vaccine. Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine was 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage trial conducted in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday, moving it a step closer to regulatory approval. There were no cases of severe illness or deaths among those who got the vaccine, the company said, in a sign that it could stop the worse effects of new variants that have cropped up, Reuters reported. The vaccine was 86% effective in protecting against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the United Kingdom, for a combined 90% effectiveness rate overall based on data from infections of both versions of the coronavirus. Read alsoUkraine expects batch of Pfizer vaccine to arrive in coming weeksThe UK trial, which enrolled more than 15,000 people aged 18 to 84, assessed efficacy of the vaccine during a period with high transmission of the UK virus variant now circulating widely. Novavax plans to produce its two-shot vaccine at eight manufacturing locations, including the Serum Institute of India. Vaccination in Ukraine On February 24, 2021, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. An emergency room doctor from Cherkasy region was the first one to get 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. Ukraine also expects the supply of 15 million doses of the Novavax vaccine from July 2021. Reporting by UNIAN Maruti Suzuki has announced that its driving training school Maruti Suzuki Driving School (MSDS) has successfully trained over 15 lakh applicants in driving. MSDS currently has branches in over 238 cities and employs around 1,400 qualified expert trainers across the nation. The program consists of an advanced training methodology that includes state-of-the-art driving simulators along with practical and theoretical courses. The skilled trainers provide the applicants with sessions like road behavior, defensive driving, Good Samaritan Law, and traffic rules and regulations. These courses can specifically be personalised based on the requirement of every applicant. Other value-added services like license assistance and assistance on own cars are also offered by MSDS. Speaking on the milestone, Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, Maruti Suzuki Driving School (MSDS) was conceived with an aim to provide best-in-class driving training to the citizens. It has grown to become Indias leading professional driving school chain with over 492 facilities in 238 cities across India. The MSDS network has around 1,400 certified and qualified expert trainers. At MSDS, our focus is to inculcate safe & responsible road behaviour in each applicant while imparting safe driving skills with 360 knowledge about the vehicle, basic maintenance, and emergency handling techniques. I am delighted to share that through MSDS we have trained over 1.5 million applicants on safe driving. This milestone also demonstrates our commitment to offer scientific and technical driving knowledge. MSDS has also introduced a mobile application and a website to provide an enhanced experience and expand the reach through digital medium. Maruti Suzuki Swift 5.73 Lakh Onwards Maruti Suzuki | Swift | Maruti Suzuki Swift Transportation minister Kazuyoshi Akaba says will tighten border controls and limit the number of entrants to up to 2,000 per day to guard against the more contagious variants of the has confirmed 345 cases of the more contagious new variants, mostly the kind first found in Britain, the health ministry said. The health authorities have found the cases of the new variants to have quadrupled over the past month. They said the cases have been found in about half of Japan's 47 prefectures but need to be closely watched and precautions should be increased. Tokyo and its three neighbouring prefectures are under a non-binding state of emergency since Jan. 7. The measure, which was to end on March 7 in those areas, has been extended for two weeks as the infections have not slowed enough. had about 444,300 cases and 8,451 deaths as of Thursday, the health ministry 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.) Irish pubs have endured one of the longest shutdowns in Europe, with most traditional pubs closed for a full year. As the pandemic took hold in March 2020 and coronavirus measures were brought in, bars across the country closed their doors. When then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that schools, colleges and public places would close for around two weeks, cases of Covid-19 had jumped to around 70. A year on, pubs are now facing a second St Patricks Day with no customers. The reopening of traditional pubs was pushed back repeatedly during the summer, but they were eventually allowed to open for a brief few weeks in September. We knew at the time it wasn't going to be for two weeks, but we never anticipated we would go a year without trading a single day Daniel Smith, Grogan's However, around 250 pubs in Dublin were kept shut by the Government over concerns of the infection rates in the capital. Among those closed for a full year is Grogans pub in Dublin city centre. Daniel Smith, manager of Grogans and son of the owner, said it has been shut since March 12 last year. We closed before the pubs were mandated to close because we are a small pub and we couldnt social distance the way we were being asked, he said. We never had to operate like that before and didnt know how to do it. We knew at the time it wasnt going to be for two weeks, but we never anticipated we would go a year without trading a single day. You look back then and understand why we were closed but when you look back to June where there were 10 cases a day, you think it was mad we were never given a chance to trade. Expand Close Noel McNally joined a number of other publicans during a protest in Dublin last September (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Noel McNally joined a number of other publicans during a protest in Dublin last September (Brian Lawless/PA) A full year without trade is very straining on the business. For myself and the staff its been draining. Theres been some extremely tough and dark days over the last year, particularly at the time when we were supposed to reopen and then let down. It was really tough to take, even now you have down days. You dont want to talk to anyone about it. I see the incredible strain on my dad, hes really up and down, as we all are. When you are sitting around all day and you feel like you have nothing to do and no purpose and no reason to get up and go out, it takes its toll on you. Gorgans had 16 staff last year but a number have left to find work outside the hospitality sector. Some of the staff have worked in the traditional pub for up to 30 and 50 years. Mr Smith said: They are good friends and its tough to tell them time and time again that the reopening wasnt happening. The biggest thing people miss is the social side of things. I miss the pub and talking to other people Noel McNally, McNally's bar What has been really frustrating is seeing (Taoiseach) Micheal Martins attitude when asked about our industry. He and Leo Varadkar laughed when asked about pubs reopening. Are we just an afterthought? We deserve to be told upfront our industry has given so much to the country over the years. He said there is now light at the end of the tunnel and he is hopeful the pub can reopen in June without outdoor seating. But he added: Its not going to be a Eureka moment where everything is great again, people and businesses have been struggling so we need the grants to keep going. Noel McNally, owner of McNallys bar in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, opened for just five weeks in the past year. Mr McNally joined a number of other publicans during a protest in Dublin last September. He briefly met with Mr Martin about the closures and concerns for publicans livelihoods, though he says nothing had changed since that meeting. When we eventually reopen I dont want to see another traditional pub or pub that serves food closed again, Mr McNally said. Expand Close Noel McNally has opened for just five weeks in the past year (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Noel McNally has opened for just five weeks in the past year (Brian Lawless/PA) It has been a very long year in which I had to make work for myself. I did things like cleaning the yard and painting the cellar. During the first lockdown I painted the bar and had it all ready. But then it continued and what do you do next? I went down to the cellar and cleaned it out. It was a purpose and to have something to do. Its just to pass time and to keep myself right. Mr McNally said he walks for an hour every day, no matter what the weather. He said he is concerned about the future of traditional pubs, particularly in a rural areas. The biggest thing people miss is the social side of things. I miss the pub and talking to other people, he added. Theres men who spend the whole day on their own and the only bit of socialisation they got was in the pub. Its the company and the craic, not always the drinking. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2021) New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he has authorized an impeachment investigation into allegations of misconduct against Governor Andrew Cuomo. "After meeting with the Assembly Majority Conference today, I am authorizing the Assembly Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation, led by Chair Charles D. Lavine, to examine allegations of misconduct against Governor Cuomo," Heastie said on Thursday evening. New York Attorney-General Letitia James' office is currently investigating multiple complaints of sexual harassment brought against Cuomo. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has told of her five years of 'traumatising' torture in Iran for the first time. In a video interview with independent investigators, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, revealed she was threatened with execution and the torture of her family. She was also chained and forced to wear a blindfold in prison where she suffered sensory and sleep deprivation. The British-Iranian aid worker, from North London, was interrogated for up to nine hours at a time in solitary confinement. She was bombarded with bright lights and blaring TVs to prevent her sleeping. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (pictured) has told of her five years of 'traumatising' torture in Iran for the first time after she was released on house arrest last year In the investigators' report, seen by the BBC, she is quoted as saying officials threatened to take away her daughter Gabriella, now six, who was with relatives at the time. She said they told her that her British husband Richard 'was a spy, that he had already left me, that he was lying to me, that he worked for the British intelligence service. 'They said he was unfaithful. They said he was not an accountant and that he had always been lying to me. They told me I had been fired from my job.' Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed for alleged spying while visiting relatives in Iran in 2016. She was released on house arrest last year and forced to wear an ankle tag during the pandemic. That sentence ended last weekend and the tag was removed but she faces a new court hearing over separate propaganda charges on Sunday. She told investigators she was confined to a 6ft by 5ft cell during solitary confinement. She said: 'The light was left on all the time. There was only a dirty mat on the floor with a thin blanket to sleep on. There were times I could not breathe.' In 2018 she spent a week in a psychiatric hospital with her hands and feet chained to the bed. In jail her hair began to fall out and she was too weak to climb up to the top bunk in a ward where she was being held. Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, with his daughter Gabriella pose for photographers during a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Britain, March 8 The report was commissioned by human rights charity Redress. She has now been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. It linked these conditions to due to 'extremely stressful, traumatising experiences in the prisons of Iran' and the uncertainty about her fate. The evaluation was carried out by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims. Investigators have said there is no chance of a full recovery unless she is brought back to the UK for mental health treatment. On Wednesday Boris Johnson demanded the 'immediate release' of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a phone call with Iran's president Hassan Rouhani. In a statement, the Foreign Office said: 'Iran continues to put Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe through a cruel and intolerable ordeal. Nazanin must be allowed to return permanently to her family in the UK.' On Wednesday Boris Johnson demanded the 'immediate release' of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a phone call with Iran's president Hassan Rouhani (pictured in Tehran on Wednesday) Downing Street said in a statement: 'The Prime Minister spoke to Iranian President Rouhani this afternoon. 'The Prime Minister raised the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other British-Iranian Dual Nationals detained in Iran and demanded their immediate release. 'He said that while the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's ankle monitor was welcome, her continued confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK.' Mr Johnson and Mr Rouhani also discussed the status of the Iran nuclear deal. Number 10 said: 'The Prime Minister also stressed that while the UK remains committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, Iran must stop all its nuclear activity that breaches the terms of the JCPoA and come back into compliance. 'He stressed the importance of Iran seizing the opportunity presented by the United States' willingness to return to the deal if Iran comes back into compliance. 'The Prime Minister underlined the need for Iran to cease wider destabilising activity and be a positive force in the Gulf region.' Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, held a vigil, along with the couple's six-year-old daughter Gabriella, outside the Iranian embassy in central London on Monday. Mr Ratcliffe attempted to deliver an Amnesty International petition of more than 160,000 signatures calling for his wife's immediate release, but was turned away by someone speaking over the building's intercom. A small group of protesters stood in front of the embassy holding placards carrying the messages 'Free Nazanin' and 'still not forgotten'. Speaking to the press, Mr Ratcliffe said the recent developments in his wife's situation were 'slightly better news than was expected' but highlighted that she was still being 'threatened' with another court case in Iran next week. Explaining the purpose of Monday's protest, he said: 'I wanted to do something just to say listen, she's not forgotten. We're still going to keep battling until she's home.' He added: 'It is still the Iranian authorities that are holding Nazanin. They are now holding her even after the end of her sentence. That remains outrageous.' Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker who was employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has strongly denied the widely refuted allegations that she was plotting to overthrow the Islamic Republic's government. She was arrested at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport while taking their daughter Gabriella to see her parents in April 2016. What is VPS Hosting? A virtual private server (VPS), also called a virtual dedicated server (VDS), is a virtual server that appears to the user as a dedicated server, but that is actually installed on a computer serving multiple websites. A single computer can have several VPSes, each one with its own operating system (OS) that runs the hosting software for a particular user. In this article, you will learn: What is VPS Hosting? Shared vs VPS Hosting Security and Performance Control Server Administration Scalability Pricing Cloud vs VPS Hosting Performance Customization Security VPS vs VPN Shared vs VPS Hosting Shared hosting is the most common form of hosting in existence today. Due to its low cost and beginner-friendly features, it is most commonly used by those who are building their first websites. 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However, if you lack the technical knowledge of how to take care of your virtual private server, you should consider other options. Control VPS hosting provides more controls than a shared hosting plan. When using a VPS, you get root access to the server, so you can install your own OS and software to optimize site performance and security. On the other hand, using a shared hosting plan limits you only to standardized server setups. This might be more convenient for people who do not want to handle server management tasks on their own. Server Administration If you choose to host your site with shared hosting, you will need to perform little to no technical maintenance. In this model, the shared hosting provider will not only set up the shared server, but also install and upgrade necessary software, like cPanel. They also monitor the servers to avoid downtime and take care of the server backend. Managing a VPS can be complex. However, you can customize and configure applications and software to increase your websites performance, gain root access, and tailor the back end to your needs. Security and Compliance If you are developing a healthcare application, you can customize and configure applications and software to attain compliance, but that requires ensuring that your VPS meets the compliance requirements, before any managed security services can be added to it. Scalability VPS hosting is much easier to scale up when compared to shared hosting. While shared hosting is a good option for a short-term plan or a small online website, it might not be effective and could even cause issues if your site reaches high traffic numbers. VPS hosting lets you scale quickly and easily, and plan a cost-effective budget for the future. Pricing Shared hosting often offers the lowest costs. However, VPS web hosting prices, while higher, provide significant value. For example, VPS hosting plans offer more storage space and bandwidth, when compared to what shared hosting plans offer. Cloud vs VPS Hosting Cloud servers are similar to a VPS hosting environment. The key difference is that instead of having a single server thats dedicated to your site (as is the case with VPS), the resources are spread out amongst a bunch of different physical machines. With cloud hosting, you have a network of potentially unlimited virtual machines. All of these virtual machines rely upon an underlying network of physical servers. With all of these virtual machines connected together, youre basically creating one massive VPS. Performance VPS Before cloud hosting became popular, VPS was the best-performing option you could get without paying the premium for a dedicated server. With VPS, you are guaranteed server resources that you wont have to share with other websites, and your page load will be faster than with shared hosting. Performance is crucial for website conversion and customer engagement. But VPS hosting is limited in that your website is still hosted on a physical server even if you have your own separate partition. There are other websites on that same server, so theres still a chance, even if it is a small one, that your website will be affected if another website is hogging a bunch of resources. Your VPS is also limited by the capacity and hardware of the physical server. Cloud Cloud hosting can distribute your website across many servers on multiple global data centers. Even during times of high demand such as Black Friday sales, for example cloud hosting can help you scale up to deliver the same speed and reliability. It can handle even the biggest traffic spikes. Cloud hosting can also protect your website from downtime because of its ability to migrate the website or application to another server if one fails. Customization VPS VPS hosting gives you access to a similar level of customizability as with a dedicated server. Having full root access means you can control every aspect of your VPS setup, including the OS (usually Linux or Windows). Not all hosting providers offer Windows VPS, however, so if youre looking to install a Windows Server, youll have to shop around. Cloud Cloud hosting also gives you a degree of customizability. For instance, youll be able to configure firewalls, change your network architecture, and implement load balancing. However, because your hosting is built on a vast network of servers, your hosting company has to limit your control over certain settings to ensure that your cloud hosting works efficiently. Cloud hosting is also more complex than other hosting types because of how its set up. Youll need more technical knowledge to take full advantage of the configuration options available to you. Security VPS VPS hosting gives you a high level of security comparable to that of a dedicated server. Since each VPS is separate from other VPSes on the same physical server, your website wont be affected even if another website on the server is hacked or infected with malware. Plus, being hosted on a single physical server means that security is much tighter than with cloud hosting. However, you should know that VPS hosting isnt risk-free. If another website on your server is hit with a DDoS attack, the physical server may still be incapacitated if the attack is large enough. Youre also responsible for your own security customizations and installations on a VPS, so the level of protection depends on the measures you take to keep your VPS secure. Cloud With cloud hosting, security levels are relatively high, since your website is kept separate from others. Youll be able to put in your own security measures on top of those offered by your hosting provider. The main limitation, however, is the cloud-based nature of the setup. Your hosting is spread across multiple physical servers, which makes it more difficult to keep your website completely secure. Like all web-based services, there are vulnerabilities: cloud hosting is more likely to suffer from cyber attacks. VPS vs VPN A VPS is created when one massive server is partitioned up so that it can have several servers on it running independently of each other. Virtualization layers are then created to make sure each virtual environment appears as a standalone server with the ability to run its own OS and applications. Therefore, a VPS enables multiple virtual servers to be located on one physical server. A VPS is great for companies if they have outgrown a shared hosting plan and are not yet ready to leap into the financial commitment involved in owning a dedicated server. On the other hand, a VPN is very different as its purpose is to extend a private network (as well as its resources) across public networks, such as the Internet. For example, a VPN allows a computer to send and receive data across other networks, shared or public as if it were a private network. It secures your computers Internet connection to guarantee that all of the data youre sending and receiving is encrypted and secured. Whatever you do, you are always behind the VPN. For nearly 20 years, Atlantic.Net has helped thousands of businesses with industry-leading cloud hosting solutions. Atlantic.Net Cloud VPS is a far superior alternative to traditional VPS, providing full control of your cloud server hosting software backed by dedicated and premium hardware resources. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! 2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning -- 4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS. We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover. We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come. OSHA Launches Program to Protect High-Risk Workers from COVID-19 In response to an executive order from President Biden, OSHA has released details on how it will focus in on worker safety and health amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a highly anticipated move, the Occupational Health & Safety Administration announced a new program intended to protect high-risk workers from coronavirus. In a press release, OSHA said it launched a national emphasis program (NEP) focusing enforcement efforts on companies that put the largest number of workers at series risk of contracting the coronavirus. This deadly pandemic has taken a staggering toll on U.S. workers and their families. We have a moral obligation to do what we can to protect workers, especially for the many who have no other protection, said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Jim Frederick. This program seeks to substantially reduce or eliminate coronavirus exposure for workers in companies where risks are high, and to protect workers who raise concerns that their employer is failing to protect them from the risks of exposure. According to OSHA, NEP inspections will enhance the agencys previous coronavirus enforcement efforts, and will include some follow-up inspections of worksites inspected in 2020. OSHA said it recognized the state plans that have adopted varying requirements to protect employees from the virus. While the agency is not requiring the rest of the states to adopt the NEP, they are strongly encouraging it. State plans must notify federal OSHA of their intention to adopt the NEP within 60 days of its issuance. In a related action, OSHA has also updated its Interim Enforcement Response Plan to prioritize the use of on-site workplace inspections where practical, or a combination of on-site and remote methods. OSHA will only use remote-only inspections if the agency determines that on-site inspections cannot be performed safely. On March 18, 2021, OSHA will rescind the May 26, 2020, memorandum on this topic and this new guidance will go into and remain in effect until further notice. With more people being vaccinated and the number of infections trending down, we know there is light at the end of the tunnel, Frederick said. But until we are past this pandemic workers deserve a Labor Department that is looking out for their health. OSHA will ensure that its Compliance Safety and Health Officers have every protection necessary for onsite inspections. When conducting on-site inspections, OSHA will evaluate all risk and utilize appropriate protective measures, including appropriate respiratory protection and other necessary personal protective equipment. Sometimes, a fun and educative book, teaches valuable lessons about friendship, empathy, and inclusivity in todays world. Sometimes is the creation of published author Melissa Brady Petrillo, an educator who is committed to promoting empathy and inclusivity in her classroom. In college, the author did a research project on how childrens ability levels are depicted in literature.This inspired her to write and publish her first book, which looks at the world in a childs perspective. Brady Petrillo writes, Sometimes shares Samanthas perspective of her world with her readers. Within this text, readers learn that Samantha sometimes feels differently every day. She describes her interactions with other people and how she communicates her feelings with others. By reading this book, children and adults learn ways to understand and best support their peers, including individuals with autism. Sometimes highlights the importance of friendship, empathy, and inclusivity in the modern world. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Melissa Brady Petrillos new book is a lighthearted, meaningful read that will leave readers with several points to ponder on. View a synopsis of Sometimes on YouTube. Consumers can purchase Sometimes at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Sometimes, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Addis Ababa, March 11, 2021 (SPS) - The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mohamed Salem Uld Salek held a meeting today with his counterpart from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Mr. Demeke Mekonnen, to deliver a letter from the President of the Republic, SG of Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Brahim Gali, addressed to the Prime Minister of his country, Mr. Abiy Ahmed, on the latest developments regarding the question of Western Sahara. Both addressed issues of regional and international context, particularly the situation in Western Sahara, marked by the resumption of the war caused by the Moroccan aggression to the El Guerguerat region, on November 13. of 2020, that ended the ceasefire that has prevailed since 1991 as a result of a peace plan sponsored by the UN and the African Union (former OAU). In this regard, the foreign ministers of both countries welcomed the excellent and historic bilateral relations between the Saharawi Republic and Ethiopia, expressing their willingness to promote them in the best interest of their peoples. SPS 125/090/TRA Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has insisted he will not resign and branded politicians calling for him to quit as reckless and dangerous and engaging in cancel culture. Many leading members of the Democratic Party are calling on Mr Cuomo to step aside amid allegations of sexual harassment. After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney Generalas investigation finding the Governoras admin hid nursing home data from the legislature & public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign. pic.twitter.com/jV5dwtuVPr Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 12, 2021 I did not do what has been alleged. Period, he said, again calling on the public to let ongoing investigations into his conduct to play out. Wait for the facts. Politicians who dont know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and an opinion are, in my opinion, reckless and dangerous, he added. With a sprawling coalition of congressional leaders joining dozens of state lawmakers in calling for the embattled governor to step down, the Democrat hit back. You need to know the facts before you make a decision, he said. People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth. Mr Cuomos growing list of detractors now covers virtually every region in the state and the political power centres of New York City and Washington. His allies insist he will not resign, but as allegations of sexual harassment grow, his political isolation has reached unprecedented levels. Expand Close Activists outside New York Gov Andrew Cuomos office (Mary Altaffer/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Activists outside New York Gov Andrew Cuomos office (Mary Altaffer/AP) The victims of sexual assault concern me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe Governor Cuomo must step aside, said Rep Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York Democrat who leads his partys House campaign arm. Prominent progressive Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said she believes the women who have accused the three-term Democratic governor of wrongdoing. After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney Generals investigation finding the Governors admin hid nursing home data from the legislature and public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign, Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. r Cuomo has denied he ever touched anyone inappropriately and has said he is sorry if he ever made anyone uncomfortable. He reiterated that Friday while insisting: I never harassed anyone. I never assaulted anyone. I never abused anyone. But, he said, what is being alleged simply did not happen. Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum apologizes over the snowballing land speculation scandal, at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum said Friday he will come up with measures to prevent employees at public developers from making speculative land purchases and could step down if his role falls behind public expectations. Byeon made the remark after a joint investigation team found that Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) employees allegedly bought land for speculation in two cities, south of Seoul, before it announced a major public housing development project. The minister has faced criticism as he served as the chief of LH before taking his current position in late December. Among 20 LH employees subject to police investigation, 11 bought land in public housing development sites during Byeon's term. "I will create measures to resolve public concerns and take responsibility to prevent reoccurrence of (land speculation)," Byeon said in a parliamentary meeting. "If my role is evaluated as not enough, I will not stick to my position and follow (the president's) decision." Land speculation by the employees at the state developer has drawn strong backlash, as many non-homeowners are feeling the pinch of rising housing prices despite a series of government measures. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will seek to root out land speculation attempts and take a strong punishment against those caught for speculative deals, vowing to stage a "war" against crimes related to real estate. "The government will draw up measures to eradicate property speculation and prevent the reoccurrence of similar cases as soon as possible in a bid to tackle speculation and illegal practices in the housing market," Hong said at a meeting with related ministers on the housing market. The government earlier vowed zero tolerance for public servants found involved in real estate speculation using insider information, including filing criminal charges and having them disgorge more than ill-gotten profits. Despite rising public distrust over the public housing development projects, policymakers said the government remains committed to its housing supply plan to stabilize the real estate market. The government aims to increase over 830,000 new houses by 2030 via new housing development projects, redevelopment and other public housing schemes, mostly in the greater Seoul area. Last month, the land ministry announced Gwangmyeong and Siheung, two satellite cities near Seoul, as the sites for approximately 70,000 new homes. A month after announcing the sites, civic groups revealed that more than a dozen LH officials used insider information to buy about 10 billion won (US$8.88 million) worth of farmland in the two cities between April 2018 and June 2020, which raised questions about the public developer's credibility. (Yonhap) A heartwarming Shanghai-produced series National Children started being rebroadcast on Dragon TV from yesterday. Based on touching true stories, it tells of how 3,000 orphans from southern China were adopted and raised by nomadic mothers in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region during the 1960s. Produced by the Shanghai Film Group, the series stars veteran actor Liu Xiaofeng and is set against the backdrop of the late 1950s and early 1960s when the country was suffering from natural disasters and severe food shortages. Many parents from Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces had no choice but to leave the children they couldn't feed at orphanages in Shanghai in the hope they would survive and be cared for. This became such a heavy burden for Shanghai that it sought assistance and support from the central government. Initially, then Premier Zhou Enlai asked Ulanhu, chairman of Inner Mongolia, to get more milk powder for the orphans. Ulanhu, instead, offered to adopt the children. It is estimated that more than 3,000 orphans were sent to Inner Mongolia between 1960 and 1963. Xi Zhongxun, then vice premier of China, made detailed arrangements for the relocation. In September 2019, the TV series made its debut on China Central Television to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. It was well received by audiences, pulling in the most number of viewers in its time slot. Recently, at the 13th National Peoples Congress, President Xi Jinping mentioned the touching story of the steppe herders' generous help decades ago, which convinced the Shanghai Media Group to rebroadcast the series to a wider audience. This event has been an inspiration for films and television dramas. In 2019, the film Song of Love by director Peng Jun was released nationwide. Renowned Hong Kong filmmaker Yee Tung-shings new movie Fu Bei, based on the same historical event, will begin production next month. The TV series is centered on the lives of four children after they are adopted by the nomadic families. The true story of Mongol woman Duguima is told in the series. The then 19-year-old young woman offered medical aids and care for 28 orphans, including newborn babies and kindergarten-age children. She looked after all the kids, teaching them to speak Mongolian and even traveling long distances on horseback to take sick children to a hospital. Duguima said the moment she saw these orphans, she had a strong feeling from the bottom of her heart that all of them were her own children. The script of the series was incubated in Shanghai. It depicts the kindness and devotion of the Inner Mongolian people based on interviews and real-life stories. Among the heartwarming scenes are local people standing in a long line to donate blood for the sick kids, nomadic parents sparing candies for the orphans and a young nomadic woman giving up the chance to further her studies to care for her adopted child. Director Bateer said he was moved to tears by the script. He had been waiting six years for a chance to shoot a TV series, supported by actor Liu Xiaofeng, producer of the series. We hope to show todays young people how our parents generation grew up, said Liu. Our country is like a big family. We can overcome any hardships in life with solidarity and love. Later this year, several more TV productions, including The Glory and the Dream and Order of Republic, will be broadcast on local TV channels to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. On the afternoon of March 11th, Anhui's advisors of the 4th session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) arrived in Hefei in batches by high-speed rail after completing their agenda during the 2021 Two Sessions. During the CPPCC annual session, advisors from Anhui submitted 65 proposals to the conference, of which 62 were accepted for approval, both increased 5 cases compared with last year. The acceptance rate was 95.38%, 0.38 percentage points higher than last year and nearly 12 percentage points higher than the average level of the whole conference. New Delhi, March 12 : In a major recovery, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday said that it has seized cash to the tune of Rs 91 lakh concealed in a field in Jammu and Kashmir village in Samba district by arrested BSF officer in connection with the Handwara narco-terror probe. An NIA spokesperson here said Rs 91 lakh in cash was dug up from a field in Gurwal village, following the disclosures made by the five accused earlier this month. While, the NIA had arrested Altaf Ahmed Shah, Showkat Ahmad Parray, Mudasir Ahmad Dar and Amin Allaie aka Hilal Mir from Srinagar on March 1, the BSF personnel, Romesh Kumar was arrested on March 3. According to the sources, Kumar is an assistant sub-inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) from Handwara. He is the second security personnel to be arrested in Jammu and Kashmir since January 2020 for allegedly helping militants. The NIA had earlier arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh for helping Hizbul militants. He has since been charge-sheeted and dismissed from service. The official said, "Investigation revealed that Kumar had received the cash proceeds of drugs from the drug smugglers based in Kashmir valley for self as well as for further channelling to different terrorist entities." A Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) source said that Kumar allegedly connived with drug traffickers linked to terror groups when he was posted with the drug law enforcement agency on deputation and investigated drug traffickers' networks in Baramulla and Handwara regions. The source said that NCB had alerted the NIA as well as other agencies. After his role with the drug traffickers emerged and he was sent back to the BSF. The NIA case relates to the case registered by the J&K Police in June last year wherein during checking of vehicles in Handwara, accused Abdul Momin Peer's Hyundai Creta vehicle was intercepted by police at a naka and during searches Rs 20 lakh along with two kg Heroin was recovered and seized. A charge sheet was filed on December 5 last year against six accused persons in the NIA special court, Jammu. The official said that the investigation so far has 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. "They were also in regular communication with the operatives of proscribed terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) 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-Taiba operating in the Kashmir Valley," he added. A judge has issued an order allowing Texas to remove Planned Parenthood from the state Medicaid program, preventing the abortion provider from getting an injunction. State District Judge Lora Livingston of Travis County issued an order on Wednesday, blocking the injunction request, arguing that Planned Parenthood should pursue action through federal courts. This decision is not made lightly. In the light of the ongoing public health crisis, the risks of the individual losing healthcare and medical attention requires increased attention and scrutiny, wrote Livingston, as reported by the Austin-American Statesman. Jennifer Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, said in a statement approving of the removal that Texans already have better options for healthcare. Source:The Christian Post CLEVELAND, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on early fulfillment of its groundbreaking $16.5 billion Community Benefits Plan, KeyBank today announced it will increase its commitment to $40 billion. The investments will continue to focus on economic access and equity for underserved communities and populations. KeyBank also announced it has received its 10th consecutive "Outstanding" rating from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for reaching the highest standards of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The Community Reinvestment Act requires banks to meet the credit needs of low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities across America. KeyBank is one of the only U.S. national banks to be rated "Outstanding" by the OCC for ten consecutive review periods, since the Act's passage in 1977. KeyBank's announcement comes as it has surpassed the goal of the initial five-year $16.5 billion commitment one year early by delivering more than $18 billion in lending and investments across its footprint. These investments have supported affordable housing and community development projects nationwide, small business and home lending in low- and moderate-income communities, and philanthropic efforts targeted toward education, workforce development, and safe, vital neighborhoods. Through its expanded commitment, KeyBank's aggregate investments under the Community Benefits Plan will include: $36 Billion - Economic Equity & Inclusion - KeyBank will continue its commitment to providing affordable housing, home and small business lending in low- and moderate-income communities, and transformative philanthropy throughout the markets where it does business. In addition, KeyBank plans to support homeownership by investing in down payment assistance. From hiring and career development to increasing spend with diverse suppliers, KeyBank will continue its longstanding focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion inside and outside of the company. KeyBank will also build partnerships with CDFIs focused on serving minority-owned businesses and will develop and deliver financial education in minority and LMI communities. KeyBank will continue its commitment to providing affordable housing, home and small business lending in low- and moderate-income communities, and transformative philanthropy throughout the markets where it does business. In addition, KeyBank plans to support homeownership by investing in down payment assistance. From hiring and career development to increasing spend with diverse suppliers, KeyBank will continue its longstanding focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion inside and outside of the company. KeyBank will also build partnerships with CDFIs focused on serving minority-owned businesses and will develop and deliver financial education in minority and LMI communities. $4 Billion - Renewable Energy & Sustainability - Since 2012, KeyBank has made more than $15 billion in renewable energy investments and was a top provider of renewable energy financing in North America in 2019 and 2020. The updated commitment will include this long-standing focus to increase KeyBank's renewable energy financing, as well as accelerating Key's efforts to reduce the company's environmental footprint. To implement the Community Benefits Plan, KeyBank will work with community leaders and organizations to develop specific plans for each market it serves across 15 states. For more information on KeyBank's more than $40 billion National Community Benefits Plan, log on to Key.com/Community. Chris Gorman Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President, KeyCorp "Corporate citizenship matters; it matters for our communities, for our clients, and for our colleagues. Delivering on the commitments of our Community Benefits Plan has brought access to capital for neighborhoods and neighbors who have often faced unfair barriers to financial support. Receiving a tenth consecutive 'Outstanding' rating for exceeding the requirements of the Community Reinvestment Act serves as affirmation that KeyBank's approach is the right one- but we recognize the work isn't finished." "Doing our part to address social justice and racial equity, increasing environmental concerns, and an international pandemic with disproportionate impact on low- and moderate-income communities is both an opportunity and an obligation. Creating shared value with the communities we serve means facing head on the issues we have long been working to address. These systemic issues must be addressed collectively inside and outside our company - to drive the outcomes we want to create." Greg Jones Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, KeyCorp "While 2020 has brought significant challenges to our communities and a collective awakening about the injustices people of color face every day in America, these challenges have presented each of us with opportunities to take action and influence change. Through the National Community Benefits Plan, we are committed to addressing these issues in ways that provide both comprehensive and sustainable social, racial, and economic solutions. Whether it is providing access to affordable housing, supporting local small businesses, or increasing representation within KeyBank's executive ranks, the extended Plan is designed to build upon our strong foundation and create lasting change in our communities." Eric Fiala Head of Corporate Responsibility, KeyCorp "We know our markets and have a proven track record of helping clients and communities thrive. KeyBank will work closely with local leaders and organizations to develop comprehensive solutions to the pressing issues of economic disparity, racial equity, and climate change. We know that change only comes through understanding the unique situations of each community and standing with those working to improve our neighborhoods." About KeyCorp KeyCorp's (NYSE: KEY) roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $170.3 billion at December 31, 2020. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of more than 1,000 branches and approximately 1,400 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC. SOURCE KeyCorp Related Links https://www.key.com The Bennett family is tired of changing schools. From public, to private, to charter and back again, theyve shifted their two sons around the education landscape of San Antonio, trying to get help for their special learning needs. The Bennetts are not alone. A recent University of Texas at San Antonio Urban Education Institute study found high rates of this phenomenon, known as student mobility, in Bexar County schools. Our analysis of 2.8 million student records over 12 years 2007 to 2018 found that nearly 1 in 5 students changed schools from the start of one year to the next, not including when students graduated to a new school. We also found that school mobility was a strong predictor of lower rates of high school graduation, college enrollment and degree completion. Among our most important findings was that, on average, students enrolled in charter schools changed schools more frequently than their peers in traditional public schools. In the Bennett familys case, their older son, Jonathan, began at a public school that refused his moms requests to test him for language and reading issues, so his parents moved him to a local charter that took a year to diagnose dyslexia. Their younger son, Scott, began at that same charter school, and soon officials told his parents they suspected he was emotionally disturbed. His mother, who requested the use of pseudonyms for this op-ed, sought an opinion from a developmental pediatrician, who diagnosed him with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Charter school officials created a specialized learning plan for Scott. But rather than relying on the plans positive reinforcement strategies, the school began suspending him for each infraction. He was soon told not to return. In our research, we heard story after story like the Bennetts happening in state- and school district-created charters: A students special needs go unmet, and disciplinary action occurs rather than accommodation. Then officials hint that another school would be a better fit. Known as counseling out, this unlawful process weeds out hard to serve students commonly those with behavior issues in need of special education services. We saw this pattern in the data. A students probability of changing schools increased from 27.5 percent to 41.3 percent once a charter school filed a disciplinary report. For traditional public schools, the likelihood of school mobility increased from 16.5 percent to 26.2 percent. This pattern occurs in both types of schools, but it occurs at much higher levels in charter schools. What might explain such high rates of student mobility? Two answers: School incentives and charter-school law. Students with behavioral issues and special needs cost more to educate and are less likely to score well on state standardized exams. Low student scores can affect a schools accountability rating, making it harder to market and attract students. Texas law allows charters to exclude students with disciplinary histories, and they can expel those who get into trouble at their school. Charters can create their own rules and justify the actions they want to take. Some schools issue disciplinary infractions for uniform violations, such as wearing the wrong shoes. In past legislative sessions, charter schools have fought successfully to retain these rights. These state charter school laws are not good for children. Consider this: Every year in Bexar County, 27.5 percent of charter students change schools, a rate 66 percent greater than traditional public schools. Seven of every 10 students who depart a charter school end up enrolling in a traditional public school. The negative effects of student mobility are not just felt by the mobile student. In schools with high mobility, teachers must slow instruction to incorporate new arrivals. Greater student churn means more paperwork for central offices and less sense of community. This makes school mobility everyones problem. Charter advocates say the schools raise the quality of public education through experimentation and competition by allowing students and families to choose their schools. There are examples of this positive influence, particularly in districts with dysfunctional school boards. But as our study suggests, we must ensure that school choice means that families are doing the choosing, not the schools. Its time to close loopholes that produce toxic competition between schools and harm our kids in lasting ways. Mike Villarreal is director of the Urban Education Institute at the University of Texas at San Antonio and an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Infosys the Bangalore headquartered IT services company said that it will hire 500 Career Certificate graduates over the next two years. had announced the enrollment for its latest Career Certificates, in the fields of data analytics, project management and user experience (UX) design. About 50 per cent of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 as businesses move towards becoming digital enterprises. In an email response Srikantan Moorthy, EVP & Head, US Operations, Global Head, Education, Training & Assessment, Infosys said: "The new Google Career Certificates come at a critical time for job seekers in America. There are over 1 million jobs nationally in the certificate fields. Upon completion of the program, graduates will share their resumes. Infosys will hire through Merit America, a nonprofit that partners with tech giants to prepare workers to thrive in higher-wage jobs, and directly through Google." Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and in a blog said that Google is also announcing a new Associate Android Developer Certification, which prepares learners for entry level jobs in Android development. With 1.3 million jobs open in these fields right now in the US, the opportunity is significant. More than 130 employers have joined Googles employer consortium, eager to hire people who have earned these certificates. Graduates can share their resumes directly with employers like Anthem, Verizon, Bayer, Deloitte, SAP, and Better.com, who are joining Accenture, Walmart, Infosys and, of course, Google. Were also partnering with Guild Education, which works with Fortune 1000 companies, to bring Google Career Certificates to help some of the countrys largest employers upskill their workforce, wrote Pichai. Pichai further said, Not only is Google hiring these certificate graduates, were using the certificates themselves to upskill and reskill Google teams, from IT support techs to data analysts. Were also opening applications for Google's apprenticeship program in our Career Certificate fields in addition to a few other professional tracks. We will hire hundreds of apprentices over the coming years to participate in on-the-job training and applied learning. In India, Pichai wrote, Google is working to make certificates more accessible and launching an employer consortium. And in addition to our Career Certificates, today were also making our cloud computing, big data and machine learning trainings free for U.S. job seekers to help prepare for jobs in these high-growth fields. "Globally, were sponsoring 100,000 scholarships for our Career Certificates in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In India, were working to make certificates more accessible and launch an employer consortium," he said. Thailand delayed the use of AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine scheduled to start on Friday with its prime minister and cabinet members taking the first shots, citing safety concerns after reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people in Europe. The Asian nation is the first country outside of Europe suspending the use of the AstraZeneca shot, while several countries including Canada, Australia, the Philippines and South Korea said they would go ahead. In a health ministry news conference, Prasit Watanapa, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital, confirmed the rollout would be delayed after a suspension of inoculations using the vaccine in Denmark, Norway and Iceland. AstraZeneca is still a good vaccine but with what has happened ... the health ministry based on this advice would like to postpone the usage of the AstraZeneca vaccine momentarily, Kiattiphum Wongjit, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry. Thailand was in a position to suspend the rollout for safety investigations because it had largely brought a second wave of coronavirus under control through quarantines and border controls, he said. AstraZeneca said on Thursday it had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis - marked by the formation of blood clots - in safety data of more than 10 million records, even when considering subgroups based on age, gender, production batch or country of use. More than 11 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine have so far been administered across the United Kingdom. Yong Poonvorawan, a Thai virology expert, told the news conference the investigation would also check on whether any issues might be related to particular batches in Europe and said the vaccines supplied to Thailand were made in Asia. Thailand has so far recorded just over 26,500 coronavirus infections and 85 fatalities in a population of 66.5 million. New cases are now registering below 100 per day. This may reflect how much the decision makers in a country tolerate temporary uncertainty about vaccine safety and balance that against the vaccines undoubted benefits of protection from COVID-19, said Julie Leask, a public health professor at the University of Sydney, referring to varying government decisions. Thailands overall vaccination strategy is heavily reliant on the AstraZeneca shot to be produced locally by a company owned by the countrys king, with 61 million doses reserved for its population. However, the Thai-produced AstraZeneca is not due until at least June, and Thailand last week began limited inoculations with 200,000 imported doses of Sinovac vaccine from China. Thailand last week received 117,300 doses of imported AstraZeneca vaccine, which the prime minister and his cabinet had been scheduled to receive on Friday. Austria said on Sunday it had stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. It later said the batch, ABV5300, amounted to roughly one million doses in total and was sent to 17 European countries. It is not immediately clear whether the same batch has been sent to other countries. Sreekram review: Strong message, regular narration Sreekaram is a different take on Mahesh Babu's Maharshi Source: SIFY By: Jalapathy Gudelli/Telugucinema.com Critic's Rating: 2.5/5 Friday 12 March 2021 Movie Title Sreekram review: Strong message, regular narration Director Kishore B Star Cast Sharwanand, Priyanka Arul Mohan, Rao Ramesh Karthik (Sharwamand) works as a software professional in Hyderabad with good pay and position in the firm. He hails from a village near Tirupati. Farming has traditionally been the source of income for his village dwellers but over the years agriculture became untenable forcing the migration. Seeing the plight of his villagers condition, Karthik decides to quit his job and take up farming much to his fathers chagrin (Rao Ramesh). He has new ideas to make farming a viable option. In Mahesh Babu starrer Maharshi, a corporate company CEO leaves his high-paying job for farming, and the film talked about the concept of weekend farming. The protagonist in Maharshi realizes the importance of agriculture after seeing the miserable condition of his friend. The villain was the powerful land-grabbing corporate companies and politicians. In Sreekaram, Sharwanand quits the job when he sees the distress of his villagers, who are migrating to the cities for menial work. His father, who only saw piles of debt from years of farming, opposes his idea, creating a wedge between them. But here the villain is a local villager, who lends money to the farmers. Sreekaram talks about community farming. This is not to say that Sreekaram and Maharshi are the same. They are poles apart. But both films have highlighted the agrarian crisis, the migration, and the farmers debts. They have also come up with cinematic solutions. To boost the village economy, community farming and the new-age marketing of the agriculture produce is the best solution is what the writer-director Kishore thinks and he presents these ideas in Sreekaram. But the director has shown his limitations in narrating this drama. While he has handled the emotional bond between father and son quite well, his narration and writing are too regular to applaud. There is a dialogue in the film Nuvvu Inka Rajanala Kaalam Aatalu Adutunnavu Ra. This dialogue is apt in describing certain scenes we see in the film. Especially, the romantic track between Sharwanand and Priyanka reeks of mediocrity. Coming to performances, Sharwanand has played his role convincingly. Priyanka Mohans character is irritating, to say the least. Rao Ramesh as Sharwas father is brilliant as always. The scenes between them are the major highlight. Aamani as a mother is okay. Sai Kumars villain role is a major minus. Among the technicians, cinematographer Yuvraj and music director Mickey J Meyer impress with their output. Sreekaram is a film that talks about the importance of community farming. It has a noble intention and right emotional core. But the narration is not engaging enough. Predictability is its major drawback. Her fresh narrative came after many local residents, who witnessed the accident at Birulia of Nandigram, punctured her allegations Sharing her plans in the video, Ms Banerjee, whose her party postponed it's manifesto release which was earlier scheduled during the day, vowed to bounce back in her poll campaign. (Photo: PTI) Kolkata: Apparently deviating from her explosive claim on Wednesday evening of being attacked and injured by a group of men in a conspiracy in the absence of the police in Nandigram, the hot seat of the West Bengal Assembly polls, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday shifted the blame of leaving her hurt on her own moving car, hit by the pressure of the crowd, as she stood out of its open door on the front and was greeting people in her trademark poll campaign style. There was, however, no reference to any foul play or any ill-motive in the latest version of the Trinamul Congress supremo, who underwent a plaster on her left leg for ankle fracture and feet injury and a series of medical tests since she was admitted at the Woodburn Ward of SSKM Hospital here on Wednesday night. Lying on the bed, Ms Banerjee said in a video message: It is true I suffered heavy injuries yesterday. My hands and legs, including ligament, were hurt. I also felt severe pain in my chest and head after suffering such a massive injury. Standing on the bonnet of my car, I was doing namaskar (to the crowd). Naturally, heavy pressure fell on it then all of a sudden. My legs got crushed in the car. I took the medicines that were with me. We started for Kolkata immediately. Since then, I have been under the treatment of the doctors. Her fresh narrative came after many local residents, who witnessed the accident at Birulia in Ranichak of Nandigram on Wednesday evening, had punctured her allegations. They, however, claimed that the open front door on the left side of the white SUV, in which the CM was travelling in a long convoy through a crowded narrow road, was hit by a lamp post. Also, videos of the moment, which went viral later, did not corroborate Ms Banerjees initial version, while the BJP found gaps in her claim and demanded a probe into the security breach by the CBI. Further, the state police, in its report to the Election Commission, concluded that the event was an accident, not an attack. Soon after the incident, the CM had alleged: Standing beside my car, I was doing namaskar. Suddenly four-five men blocked my car. They shoved and pushed me, leaving me injured. My legs got swollen. It is paining very much. It was a conspiracy definitely. The attack was deliberate. No police was present there. Even the SP was not there. Sharing her plans in the video, Ms Banerjee, whose party postponed the release of its manifesto that was earlier scheduled for Thursday, vowed to bounce back in her poll campaign. I appeal to all, including our party workers, to stay calm and show restraint. Do not do anything which troubles people. I hope to return to my field within two to three days. Though problems in my legs will continue, I will manage. I will not let my meetings go to waste. I might have to travel in a wheelchair with your cooperation for a few days, she added. Acting on local TMC leader Abu Sufiyans complaint, the East Midnapore police, meanwhile, initiated a case under IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) against unknown persons after district magistrate Bibhu Goyel and superintendent of police Praween Prakash inspected the incident spot on Thursday morning. Apparently deviating from her explosive claim on Wednesday evening of being attacked and injured by a group of men in a conspiracy in the absence of the police in Nandigram, the hot seat of the West Bengal Assembly polls, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday shifted the blame of leaving her hurt on her own moving car, hit by the pressure of the crowd, as she stood out of its open door on the front and was greeting people in her trademark poll campaign style. There was, however, no reference to any foul play or any ill-motive in the latest version of the Trinamul Congress supremo, who underwent a plaster on her left leg for ankle fracture and feet injury and a series of medical tests since she was admitted at the Woodburn Ward of SSKM Hospital here on Wednesday night. Lying on the bed, Ms Banerjee said in a video message: It is true I suffered heavy injuries yesterday. My hands and legs, including ligament, were hurt. I also felt severe pain in my chest and head after suffering such a massive injury. Standing on the bonnet of my car, I was doing namaskar (to the crowd). Naturally, heavy pressure fell on it then all of a sudden. My legs got crushed in the car. I took the medicines that were with me. We started for Kolkata immediately. Since then, I have been under the treatment of the doctors. Her fresh narrative came after many local residents, who witnessed the accident at Birulia in Ranichak of Nandigram on Wednesday evening, had punctured her allegations. They, however, claimed that the open front door on the left side of the white SUV, in which the CM was travelling in a long convoy through a crowded narrow road, was hit by a lamp post. Also, videos of the moment, which went viral later, did not corroborate Ms Banerjees initial version, while the BJP found gaps in her claim and demanded a probe into the security breach by the CBI. Further, the state police, in its report to the Election Commission, concluded that the event was an accident, not an attack. Soon after the incident, the CM had alleged: Standing beside my car, I was doing namaskar. Suddenly four-five men blocked my car. They shoved and pushed me, leaving me injured. My legs got swollen. It is paining very much. It was a conspiracy definitely. The attack was deliberate. No police was present there. Even the SP was not there. Sharing her plans in the video, Ms Banerjee, whose party postponed the release of its manifesto that was earlier scheduled for Thursday, vowed to bounce back in her poll campaign. I appeal to all, including our party workers, to stay calm and show restraint. Do not do anything which troubles people. I hope to return to my field within two to three days. Though problems in my legs will continue, I will manage. I will not let my meetings go to waste. I might have to travel in a wheelchair with your cooperation for a few days, she added. Acting on local TMC leader Abu Sufiyans complaint, the East Midnapore police, meanwhile, initiated a case under IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) against unknown persons after district magistrate Bibhu Goyel and superintendent of police Praween Prakash inspected the incident spot on Thursday morning. New Delhi: On the festive occasion of Maha Shivratri which was celebrated this year on March 11, actress Alia Bhatt and filmmaker friend Ayan Mukerji visited Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati Temple in Mumbai. Dressed in pulpy red silk kurta and pants with organza dupatta, Alia Bhatt looked gorgeous in Indian wear while Ayan Mukerji opted for a simple white kurta-pyjama. Here are the pictures: (Pic Courtesy: Viral Bhayani) The entire nation was soaked in the spirit of celebrating Maha Shivratri with full festive fervour. Many celebrities thronged social media and extended wishes to fans, near and dear ones. Meanwhile, Ranbir Kapoor tested positive for COVID-19 and his mother Neetu Kapoor confirmed the news through a social media post. She updated the fans about his health and well-being. He is currently advised home-quarantine and is recovering well. Also, Gangubai Kathiawadi filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali also tested positive for coronavirus. Alia tested negative for the virus and shared the good news with fans recently on social media. On the work front, Alia and Ranbir will be seen together for the first time on the big screens in Ayan Mukerji's much-awaited 'Brahmastra'. The release date has been pushed multiple times and the new date is yet to be announced by the makers as yet. It is bankrolled by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. (@FahadShabbir) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2021) Spanish frigate Cristobal Colon entered the Black Sea on Friday, it is being tracked by the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, the Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center (NDCC) told reporters. "The forces and means of the Black Sea Fleet began to monitor the actions of the frigate Cristobal Colon of the Spanish Navy, which entered the Black Sea at 15:00 [noon GMT] on March 12, 2021," the center said. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 DETROIT, MICH. -- The historic Mariners Church of Detroit will still hold its annual springtime Blessing of the Fleet, albeit with a few changes to ensure safety during the continuing pandemic. The tradition dates back more than 50 years and is considered by local boaters to signal the start of a new season. The event includes blessing boat flags and honoring the names of people who died in Michigans waterways during the previous year. This years Blessing of the Fleet will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 14 and will have limited in-person attendance, plus a Facebook livestream at facebook.com/marinerschurchofdetroit to welcome all who would like to participate. We obviously wish we could have more people inside the church, said Fr. Jeffrey Hubbard, pastor of Mariners Church. But as we found with our Great Lakes Memorial Service in November, the livestreaming symbolically opens our doors and enables participation for a much larger congregation. They dont get to experience the majesty of the church itself, but they do get to see the church, experience the service, enjoy our incredible professional choir, and receive the blessing for themselves, their boats, crews, passengers and the boating season ahead. Local boaters are invited to bring their burgees, colors, pennants and pennons to the church prior to the service to receive blessings directly. Founded in 1842 as a place of worship for Great Lakes sailors, Mariners Church is now the oldest structure on the Detroit riverfront. More information on the event can be found at marinerschurchofdetroit.org and facebook.com/marinerschurchofdetroit. A 24-year-old central Pennsylvania woman is facing the prospect of spending decades in prison after a Dauphin County jury convicted her of third-degree murder for a friends heroin overdose death that was partially captured on video. Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Zawisky said that video and other evidence showed the callousness of Kara Hartmoyer of Mechanicsburg as Zachary Myers literally gasped out his last breaths. Myers overdosed after he, Hartman and Hartmans boyfriend used fentanyl and cocaine as a Super 8 motel in Swatara Township on Oct. 1, 2017. After Myers began exhibiting obvious signs of an opioid overdose, Hartmoyer and her boyfriend then wrapped Myers in a blanket and dragged him from the hotel to his SUV in the parking lot at approximately 4 a.m. The transportation of Myers, who was alive at the time, was recorded on hotel video surveillance, Zawisky said. He was struggling to breathe, the prosecutor said. You could see that on the video. He said Hartman and her boyfriend Andrew Shirk, who is awaiting trial for the death, then drove to a Sheetz store for food and returned to the motel. Hartmoyer then waited another four hours before calling for help. Myers was dead when police arrived, Zawisky said. The handling of Myers while he was obviously in dire distress constituted a malicious act that justified the murder conviction, he said. Zawisky and his fellow prosecutor at the trial, Deputy District Attorney Erin Varley, said Myers likely would have survived had medical aid been summoned promptly. Hartmoyer is scheduled for sentencing in April. She could get up to 40 years, Zawisky said. Money Heist season 4 made a huge splash when it was released on Netlfix in 2020. Eight brand new and fresh episodes of the show were released for the massive fan base of the series. Also known as La Casa De Papel, the show had gripped the fans from the very start. Find out is Money Heist based on a true story? Money Heist true story? Is Money Heist based on a true story? The answer is straight and simple no. Money Heist is a fictional story created by Alex Pina. However, a lot of elements from this jaw-dropping thriller have been taken from real life. Season 1 and 2 of the show followed the gang as they planned to rob the Royal Mint of Spain in an ambitious 11 day heist. The show portrays that the heist was orchestrated by a Professor who enlists a group of people with very special skills to carry out the heist. Money Heist Season 3 saw the gang trying to save Rio, one of their members who got captured in Panama. Season 3 of the show featured the masks that became a signature costume of this shows. The mask of a man with a strikingly large moustache was the shows reference to Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali and his iconic moustache. A report in Express.co.uk reveals that the artist had anti-capitalist leanings and had worked during the Dada movement that began in Switzerland. The gang also wore their distinct red jumpsuits that referenced to socialism and the ideals of distribution of wealth among the people. Throughout the show, we also hear a version of the song Bella Ciao performed by Manu Pila. Hence the show clearly takes a lot of references from real life. Money Heist season 5 release date Money Heist aka La Casa De Papel Season 5 release date has not been announced yet. Earlier this year Spanish site Marca had announced that both Money Heist Season 5 and Season 6 have been confirmed. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia the shows director, Jesus Colmenar, affirmed the greenlight of Money Heist Season 5 at the least. However, the director did not dispel more details about the same. Money Heist season one was released in May 2017 which was followed by Part 2 in October same year. The viewers had to then wait for 21 months before season three was released on Netflix in July n of 2019. The fourth season was released in April 2020. But due to the delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic Money Heist season 5 release date could be in 2021 or could be as late as 2022. Source:Still from Money Heist (Netflix) Image Source: Still from Money Heist (Netflix) 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. People were last night promised a good summer but warned they have to pull back from the brink and stick with Covid-19 restrictions for the next two to three months. Cases of the virus have risen in recent days, sparking fresh alarm among public health officials. Professor Philip Nolan told last nights Covid-19 briefing that the increase could be the beginning of something. He said: We are sailing very close to the wind. A gust of wind in the wrong direction and we are in real trouble. He was speaking as 10 more Covid-19 deaths were reported, as well as 592 new cases. There is evidence that people are moving about more and the numbers at work have risen from 50pc to 60pc. Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said vaccines needed to cover more at-risk groups. He added that, if people stick with it over the next two to three months, there is the promise of a good summer and brighter days ahead, barring the unexpected. The over-70s will not be fully vaccinated until mid-May and the vaccine also has to be administered to around 150,000 people with underlying conditions at high risk from Covid-19. The daily case numbers, although far lower than at the January peak, are still high. In fact, they are two times higher than when the country came out of lockdown in early December and 50 times higher than last June. The first vaccine bonus was announced last night as the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) gave the green light to easing restrictions on nursing home visits. Read More Prof Martin Cormican, the HSEs infectious diseases lead, said nursing home residents could have two visits a week on compassionate grounds, from March 22. The visits will be permitted two weeks after full vaccination, where 80pc of the residents and staff in the home have been vaccinated. There is no requirement to limit visits to less than one hour. Nursing home residents have been particularly impacted by the severity of Covid-19 restrictions, he said. He said there would be a review next month, with the aim to relax the restrictions further. He said nursing homes that do not feel ready to implement the new guidelines need to give good reasons for the decision and communicate it clearly to residents and their relatives. Meanwhile, there has been a rise in the number of variants of the virus detected. The South African variant has now been detected in 19 people found to be positive for the virus, a rise of four. The Brazilian P1 variant has been identified in six cases. There have been 11 cases of the P2 Brazilian variant, which is of less concern. Other variants are under investigation, including seven cases of the B1525 variant which was found in Nigeria, as well as five cases of the New York variant B1526. The briefing also heard that there have been six outbreaks of the virus in schools over the past week, involving 10 cases. There is concern that, as more schoolchildren return to the classroom next week, the movement of people it generates could lead to another rise in infection. To date, most cases of the virus detected in schools have been picked up outside. Dr Glynn asked people who could work from home to do so and he appealed to employers to facilitate this. The R number, which indicates the average number an infected person can pass on the virus to, is now at 0.6-1.0. Asked about the freedoms vaccination would bring, Prof Karina Butler, chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, said they were also dependent on a fall in the levels of virus in the community. Asked about grandparents meeting grandchildren, she said once grandparents were protected with two doses and cases of the virus were brought down, they could get together. The easing of restrictions on nursing home visits was welcomed last night by Tadhg Daly of Nursing Homes Ireland. Nursing home residents, families and staff have had the toughest of years and this makes a psychological difference to many, he said. (Natural News) On Wednesday, I wrote about how corporate journalists, realizing that the publics increasing contempt for what they do is causing people to turn away in droves, are desperately inventing new tactics to maintain their stranglehold over the dissemination of information and generate captive audiences. That is why journalists have bizarrely transformed from their traditional role as leading free expression defenders into the the most vocal censorship advocates, using their platforms to demand that tech monopolies ban and silence others. (Article republished from Greenwald.Substack.com) That same motive of self-preservation is driving them to equate any criticisms of their work with harassment, abuse and violence so that it is not just culturally stigmatized but a banning offense, perhaps even literally criminal, to critique their journalism on the ground that any criticism of them places them in danger. Under this rubric they want to construct, they can malign anyone they want, ruin peoples reputations, and unite to generate hatred against their chosen targets, but nobody can even criticize them. Any independent platform or venue that empowers other journalists or just ordinary citizens to do reporting or provide commentary outside of their repressive constraints is viewed by them as threats to be censored and destroyed. Every platform that enables any questioning of their pieties or any irreverent critiques of mainstream journalism social media sites, YouTube, Patreon, Joe Rogans Spotify program has already been systematically targeted by corporate journalists with censorship demands, often successfully. Back in November, the media critic Stephen Miller warned: Its only a matter of time before the media tech hall monitors turn their attention to Substack. And ever since, in every interview I have given about the success of Substack and every time I have written about journalist-led censorship campaigns, I have echoed that warning that they would soon turn their united guns on this platform. Millers prediction was prompted by a Columbia Journalism Review article entitled The Substackerati which claimed that Substack was structurally unfair because most of the most successful people on Substack are white and male; several are conservative and have already been well-served by existing media power structures. All of that was false. The most-read and highest-earning writer on Substack is Heather Cox Richardson, a previously obscure Boston College History Professor who built her own massive readership without ever working at a corporate media outlet. And the writers that article identified in support of its claim Matt Taibbi, Andrew Sullivan, Matt Yglesias and myself do not remotely owe our large readerships to existing media power structures. The opposite is true, as The Washington Posts Megan McCardle explained: [These Substack writers] got so big by starting blogs that they could sell to traditional publications. They are not monetizing an audience they acquired through larger institutions, but reclaiming one they created themselves. [O]bviously, one major characteristic of the successful one (wo)man show is the ability to swim against a crowd. Given that, it seems almost obvious that Substack would select people who are not in tune with the dominant views of the establishment media. And that the biggest audience numbers will come from folks who are not in tune with the establishment media. That is precisely why they are so furious. They cannot stand the fact that journalists can break major stories and find an audience while maintaining an independent voice, critically questioning rather than obediently reciting the orthodoxies that bind them and, most of all, without playing their infantile in-group games and submitting to their hive-mind decrees. In fact, the more big stories you break while maintaining your independence from them, the more intense is the contempt they harbor for you: that explains, among other things, their willingness to watch Julian Assange (who has broken more major stories than all of them combined) be imprisoned for publishing documents. That they are angry and upset is irrelevant. It only matters because these resentments and fears that they are losing their monopolistic power over public thought are translating into increasingly concerted and effective censorship campaigns. As it turns out, we did not have to wait long for the initiation of the censorship campaign aimed at Substack. It has arrived. And amazingly, the trigger for it was my criticism of the work of a front-page New York Times reporter which, as I wrote yesterday, is like all criticisms of journalists in Good Standing and Decent Liberal Society being recast as abuse and harassment and violence in order to justify the banning and outlawing of that criticism. A long-time tech reporter at BuzzFeed who was fired by that outlet in June for serial plagiarism, Ryan Broderick, wrote an article on Wednesday night warning that Substack is now dangerously providing a platform to a cadre of writers which, in addition to me, includes such societal menaces as Bari Weiss, Andrew Sullivan, Jesse Singal, and, Id argue, Slate Star Codex writer Scott Alexander Siskind. He darkly notes: There are more. This group of writers, he says, is focusing on culture war Twitter drama about being canceled and trans people in bathrooms and woke college students. Broderick detailed how he had carefully reviewed a prior article of mine, one that examined the emergence of tattletale culture in the countrys largest corporate media outlets, to determine like the good little diligent junior-high hall monitor that he is whether it ran afoul of Substacks terms of service rules against doxing and harassment. That article of mine was devoted to a critique of the prevailing journalistic practices at the most powerful and influential media corporations on the planet: The New York Times, CNN, and NBC News. But to Broderick, whether that article should be banned on the grounds of harassment is a close call. While reluctantly conceding that I did not dox anyone, he called the article a vicious screed and said that the danger signs from my critiques of corporate journalists are clear: online harassment is a constantly evolving process of boundary testing. He lamented that Substacks terms of service are too permissive (One thing that worried me was how simplistic their definition of harassment was) and insisted that Substack is soon going to have to step in and put a stop to this: Right now most of the abuse being carried out by this group is confined to Twitter, but it stands to reason that it will eventually spill over to Substack. And dealing with people like Greenwald is going to be much harder to moderate than your average troll. [Please permit me to pause here just a moment and marvel at the towering irony that a journalist who spent years at BuzzFeed doing absolutely nothing of value and then got fired for serial plagiarism (again: he got fired for ethical breaches by BuzzFeed) is now, with a straight face, holding himself out as the Guardian and Defender of Real Journalism. Even more amazingly, he believes he is fulfilling that role by demanding that I not a journalist but just a troll who is the enemy of Real Journalism despite having more impactful scoops and journalism awards and, as I detailed yesterday, resulting persecution campaigns from governments than all of these petulant fragile babies combined be silenced in the name of saving journalism and protecting real reporters like him and his friends from harassment]. In case Brodericks article was not explicit enough in his demand that Substack start censoring me and others, he took to Twitter to promote his article, where he made that even clearer. He described his article this way: I wrote about the attacks against @TaylorLorenz and the growing community of right-wing culture warriors and TERFs that are using Substack to network and organize. I wrote about the attacks against @TaylorLorenz and the growing community of right-wing culture warriors and TERFs that are using Substack to network and organize.https://t.co/zxmncxTYA2 pic.twitter.com/MiLWMfXieU Ryan Broderick (@broderick) March 10, 2021 Multiple other journalists, professors and even a Google Vice President applauded his censorship calls. Here, for instance, is journalist Mike Masnick of Techdirt adding his own censorship calls to Brodericks (see correction below): I've been warning people for a while that Substack was going to go through its own content moderation crisis. It's a rite of passage for any platform https://t.co/5jBRvXxSS8 Mike Masnick (@mmasnick) March 11, 2021 And here is Googles Vice President of Privacy Product Management, Rob Leathern, who previously was a Facebook official, sternly decreeing that any serious business needs to silence voices that are disruptive or upsetting: Yep. These policies cant be afterthoughts anymore for serious businesses https://t.co/i7L2F5nvnD Rob Leathern (@robleathern) March 11, 2021 And here is UCLA Professor of Information Studies Dr. Sarah Roberts, who last month posted an unbelievably deranged rant urging people not to subscribe to or write for Substack because it is, in her words, dangerous, adding her voice to this orgy of censorship calls for Substack writers: Substack is a dangerous direct threat to traditional news media. But more importantly? It is a threat to journalism. Dr. Sarah T. Roberts (@ubiquity75) February 28, 2021 This is why Substack is incredibly dangerous and damaging to the fourth estate (journalism), one of the few failsafes against anti-democratic maneuvers when at their best. We really cant afford to lose that right now. Dr. Sarah T. Roberts (@ubiquity75) February 28, 2021 Please, do not write for or pay for Substack. I have to say it. I believe its dangerous. Take heed. You read it here first. Dr. Sarah T. Roberts (@ubiquity75) February 28, 2021 Before briefly discussing the censorship aspects of all this I basically do not need to do much since I peremptorily described it all in yesterdays article that prompted all this upset I do feel compelled to note two points. First, look how they grant themselves license to use their platforms to attack the journalists they dislike and generate hatred and harassment toward us. I really need someone to explain this to me: why is it permissible for Ryan Broderick to write articles attacking me and maligning my work, and for New York Times front-page reporter Taylor Lorenz to use her large Twitter platform and recruit all her media friends to attack me as well (or Taibbi, Weiss, Singal, Sullivan, etc.), but we are not allowed to write critiques of their work because doing so constitutes dangerous harassment that must be silenced? Do you see how these online journalists have been taught to think about themselves and the world? Do you see the bottomless sense of entitlement and self-regard and fragility that defines who they are and how they behave? They specialize in trying to ruin peoples reputations and wreck their lives not just other journalists but private citizens but the minute someone objects to their journalism or what they say or do, they summon a team of teachers, psychologists, therapy dogs, digital police officers and tech executives to demand that their critics be silenced and their anguish be treated. They really do believe that the world should be organized so as to authorize them to attack whoever they want, while banning anyone who criticizes them when they do it. In the last three weeks alone, my name has trended three times on Twitter because a bunch of journalists and other activists were sufficiently angry with views I expressed that they united and maligned me enough to make Twitters algorithms put my name on the trending list. And that is completely fine. I know that I have sought out a public platform. I know I do reporting and express views and analysis that makes others angry and generates intense disagreement. The result is that many journalists use their social media platforms and columns to attack me and thats how it should be. It would never occur to me to crawl to authorities and beg them to be silenced so that I am protected from the bile and threats that I receive as a result (the most I do is write things like this to mock their censorious mindset and satirically apply their own warped standards to them; but because this kind of outlandish whining is so common in their world indeed, it is honored they cannot even recognize it as satire). And thats to say nothing of the actual recriminations, state-sponsored attacks, and credible threats of violence that have been and still are directed at me and my family by actually repressive governments and their followers for the reporting I have done. Thats one reason I have nothing but contempt for the pathetic efforts of these influential journalists to cast themselves as victims of harassment campaigns by which they mean being criticized when I and so many other real journalists have endured and continue to endure retaliation greater than what their coddled, fragile brains could even ponder let alone have to endure. Second, the way Broderick lies about my work focusing on culture war Twitter drama about being canceled and trans people in bathrooms and woke college students is worthy of a quick response. That is because journalistic lies should always be refuted (which is why people write about Taylor Lorenz and others like her) but also because it reveals what they think journalism is and is not. Any even casual reader of mine knows that I have rarely if ever even mentioned let alone focused on trans people in bathrooms or woke college students in the reporting and analysis I do here. Here are the last four articles I wrote prior to yesterdays: Again, these are not four aberrational articles I cherry-picked to make a point. They just happen to be the last four articles I wrote here. I could have chosen in the four months Ive been writing here my reporting on efforts in Congress and security state agencies to institute a new Domestic War on Terror, an interview with a French Muslim civil liberties activist warning of French President Marcons increasing repression, the ongoing militarization of the American capital, the abuse of tech monopoly power and political influence to destroy a new social media platform, the case for pardoning NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the threats to press freedom posed by Julian Assanges prosecution, growing U.S./Russia tensions, the dangers of military rather than civilian control over the Pentagon, the noble challenge posed to hedge funds by GameStop Redditors, how and why the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is being blocked, systemic flaws in the U.S. vote-counting process, and on and on and on. And thats to say nothing of the years of reporting and investigation I have been doing and still am doing on the various abuses of the industrial agriculture and factory farm industry. Does my actual work bear any remote resemblance to the way The Serial Plagiarist characterized what I do? Of course not. So many of these journalists are completely unmoored from any ethical constraints or obligations of truth. When they are writing about the enemies of their media clique, they feel completely free to outright lie about people in order to malign them (in between demanding censorship of those they claim spread disinformation). As for Brodericks claim that I am now a right-wing culture warrior, that would come as quite a surprise to many people, including The New York Times Brazil reporters in 2020 (Mr. Greenwald, an ardent critic of Brazils far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, is a deeply polarizing figure in Brazil, where his work is lionized by leftists and condemned as partisan and heavy handed by officials in the Bolsonaro administration); former Brazilian center-left Presidents Lula da Silva (Greenwalds investigation was key to demonstrating how Operation Car Wash violated my legal and human rights) and Dilma Rousseff (Glenn Greenwald has helped secure Brazilian democracy by revealing the truth about our countrys recent history, which makes this book indispensable); Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose 2018 candidacy I vocally supported when few in media even knew who she was, along with former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and deposed Bolivian president Evo Morales, both of whom I have interviewed, defended and supported in various ways. What strange things for a right-wing cultural warrior to do. But that is what is so revealing about this. The reason these little hall monitors do not consider this to be real reporting is because they do not care about except when they venerate real power centers like security state agencies (CIA/FBI/NSA/DHS) or the Pentagon, Wall Street hedge funds, Silicon Valley monopolies, repressive regimes. They think reporting means writing what those agencies and power centers tell them to say, or ruining the reputations of people for saying bad words on 4Chan and expressing prohibited thoughts with Facebook memes and Clubhouse chats. That is all they recognize as journalism; everything else is harassment because real reporting makes the lives of elites and people who wield real influence more difficult (and in those rare cases when they do focus on people with real power, its to expose them for trivial transgressions like saying the word retarded in the context of discussing Redditors attacks on hedge fund power). This use of right v. left here is also quite important. In the war of information they have launched to ensure that control over discourse rests solely in their hands and that everyone who dissents from their pieties be silenced or moderated those traditional left/right labels have no real currency or cogency. That is why this Serial Plagiarist can refer to me as a right-wing culture warrior despite everything I have done and believe and have it not be regarded as bizarre by his media comrades. That is the stunted, blinkered prism on which they rely to make sense of the world. But it has no applicability to the world they are creating, the information battle they are waging. The real division here is between those who believe in a free internet, free discourse, free thought, and those who do not between those who want corporate journalistic elites to control what people can say and think and those who do not. Some of those who support that authoritarian vision of centralized information control are on what used to be called the left and some are found on the establishment right. But that is not the relevant breakdown. It is really a war between liberty and authoritarianism, and amazingly, it is journalists who have become the leading proponents of repression. That is why platforms like this one that empower independent thinkers and critically-minded dissidents from their in-group repression are so vital: it is what enables a challenge to their hegemony. And they know that it is this important, a threat to their hegemony, or, in the words of Dr. Roberts, so dangerous. That is why they are waging war on these platforms and those of us who use them. The way to fight against them and their campaign to stifle dissent is to support these platforms and the independent journalists and commentators who use them. Read more at: Greenwald.Substack.com Haynes Appears in Court on Multiple Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - A Paducah man was in court again on Thursday, facing multiple charges.Thirty-eight-year-old Mauricus Haynes appeared in District Court, facing charges of receiving stolen property, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, fleeing or evading police in a vehicle, tampering with physical evidence, failure to signal, failure to provide proof of insurance, and trafficking in synthetic drugs.A preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 18.Haynes is also facing multiple charges related to an arrest on February 14, when he allegedly resisted arrest and assaulted an officer when they tried to arrest him for having a gun in his vehicle.He is still in McCracken County Jail. Rep. Jared Golden, right, walks with Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) in Washington on May 28, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) 1 Democrat Joins Nearly All Republicans in Voting Against Gun-Control Measure One Democratic House lawmaker joined nearly all Republicans in voting against a bill that would expand background checks on guns in the latest gun-control bill pushed by House Democrats and the White House. The bill, called the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, passed 227203, receiving eight Republican votes. Five Republicans co-sponsored the bill along with several Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that he will attempt to get senators to vote on the measure. Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) was the lone Democrat to vote with the vast majority of Republicans. In a statement, Golden stated that we need to strictly enforce the laws we have in place as well as provide money and staffing to the federal background check system. Many of my constituents have a proud tradition of responsible gun ownership, Golden said. The eight Republicans who voted to pass the measure are Rep. Vern Buchanan (Fla.), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Rep. Andrew Garbarino (N.Y.), Rep. Carlos Gimenez (Fla.), Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Rep. Maria Salazar (Fla.), Rep. Chris Smith (N.J.), and Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.). Upton, Smith, and Fitzpatrick co-sponsored the legislation. The measure will utilize the current background checks process in the United States to ensure individuals prohibited from gun possession are not able to obtain firearms, according to the bills summary. Essentially, it would implement new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties. Private and unlicensed sellers arent required to carry out background checks for gun transfers, according to the current law. Federally licensed firearms dealers are required to do so. President Joe Biden is a supporter of expanded gun control measures. The legislation may face a tougher battle in the U.S. Senate, where Bidens fellow Democrats hold an even slimmer majority than in the House. Many Democrats want to go further by banning sales of some higher-capacity rifles such as the popular AR-15. Republicans also pushed back against the bill, saying it infringes on Americans constitutional rights while saying it could hinder abuse victims from getting a gun for protection purposes in a quick manner. The House Judiciary Committees senior Republican, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, wrote on Twitter that House Democrats were making it harder for law-abiding citizens to buy a gun. The National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest gun rights group, said the bill would criminalize the private transfer of firearms, eroding Americans Second Amendment rights. Reuters contributed to this report. The United States will directly raise with the issue of genocide against Uighur Muslims, the Biden Administration said on Thursday. It added that a range of global issues is expected to part of the conversation of the Quad's leadership summit. "Addressing the genocide against is something that will be a topic of discussion with the Chinese directly next week but certainly this conversation (Quad summit) tomorrow... I have invited National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to come and give you a readout of that meeting. "I know there's a lot of interest in the Quad summit tomorrow, but we expect the conversation to be about a range of global issues," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference. The Quad summit, she reiterated, is not focused on "Of course, is a topic on the minds of many leaders and countries, but we expect they will talk about the climate crisis, about economic cooperation, about addressing COVID, a range of issues and discussions and you know certainly the position of the United States is that what is happening is genocide and we will look for opportunities to work with other partners on putting additional pressure on the Chinese, but we also raise it directly, and it will be a topic of discussion next week," she said. Days after the Quad summit, US Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor are scheduled to meet their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18. "This meeting next week, we felt it was important to have it on US soil, we certainly anticipate that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Tony Blinken will be discussing both the challenges we've had, and not holding back on issues and concerns we have with the behaviour of Chinese leadership, whether it's on Taiwan or recent, you know, efforts to push back democracy in Hong Kong or on concerns we have about the economic relationship," Psaki said in response to another question. "So they will certainly raise those issues and the lack of transparency as it relates to COVID, human rights abuses as well. But they'll also talk about areas of opportunity and ways we can work together. They will not be holding back in the conversation. But they wanted to, you know, it's an important moment next week to engage directly and in person. I know they're looking forward to it. We'll have a robust readout, I'm sure, when that meeting concludes," Psaki said. At a separate news conference, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that the US will engage China from a position of strength. "There will be some difficult conversations, I would expect. We will certainly not pull any punches in discussing our areas of disagreement," he said. "But as Secretary (of State Tony) Blinken has said, our relationship with Beijing is a multifaceted one. It is fundamentally competitive. It is adversarial, in some ways. And there also are potential areas for collaboration. And so I suspect all of those elements will come up during these discussions on March 18," he said. The United States, he said, expects Beijing to demonstrate seriousness regarding its own often stated desire to change the tone of the bilateral relationship. "This will be a difficult conversation. We'll be frank and explain how Beijing's actions and behaviour challenge the security, the prosperity, the values of not only the United States, but also our partners and allies," he said. "Now, on the flip side of that coin, we also will explore avenues that, for cooperation, that are in our interest. When Secretary Blinken first spoke with Director Young, when Secretary--when President Biden first spoke with President Xi, they made very clear that there will be areas for collaboration, or at least there will be the potential for areas of collaboration. But there has to be one common denominator, when it is in our national interests," he said. "Of course, climate change, I think, is one of those that we can tangibly point to is undeniably in our own national interests for the world's largest and the world's second largest emitters to be able to work productively and constructively together when it comes to climate change. But the point remains that we're not looking to engage in talks for the sake of talks, Price said. The US is looking for Beijing to demonstrate that seriousness of purpose, to demonstrate that it seeks to live up to its own oft stated desire to change the tone of the bilateral relationship. The relationship between US and China, he said is multifaceted. "It is primarily and fundamentally a relationship that is predicated on competition. Our goal, when it comes to our relationship with Beijing, our approach to Beijing is to compete and ultimately to out compete with Beijing, in the areas that are competitive. We have talked about them, the economic realms, the security realms are primarily competitive," he said. "There are, of course, areas in this relationship that are adversarial. And there are areas for potential collaboration. So I wouldn't want to attach one label to it, because it truly is multifaceted. We are going to discuss those more difficult areas with the Chinese," he said. He said there was every expectation that when it comes to more difficult issues -- Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, pressure on Taiwan, broader human rights abuses, the South China Sea, the Mekong, economic pressure arbitrary detentions, the origins of COVID-19 -- they would come up. (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.) Progressives pushed for continuous payments during the COVID-19 pandemic until Congress approved a third round of stimulus checks as part of the American Rescue Plan. Any possible fourth stimulus check, however, will face a legislative challenge. Is a fourth stimulus check possible? Once President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion package, which is scheduled to happen on Friday, the Treasury Department will begin sending out the third round of payments to qualifying Americans. Full payments of $1,400 will be in bank accounts at the end of the month, with people making less than $75,000 and couples earning less than $150,000, with payments phasing out at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for couples. This is better than the original two stimulus checks of $1,200 and $600, increasing the likelihood of a new round of payments to Americans. A group of 50 Democratic US lawmakers signed a letter urging the Biden administration to proceed with recurring checks prior to the passage of the stimulus package, which provided billions of dollars to help schools and colleges reopen as well as funds for vaccination delivery. Read also: Third Stimulus Check: Why Do You Need to Track It? The letter, which was also signed by CPC chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), did not indicate the amount of any potential fees although progressives have expressed support for monthly $2,000 checks. "During this public health and economic crisis, one more check is not enough," Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar and the other lawmakers wrote in a letter signed last month. However, since it was part of budget reconciliation, the third stimulus check succeeded with just a straight majority in the upper house, without the need for Republican support in the divided upper house. Besides, Democrats will have to wait until after October 1 to use this process again since it can only be used once a fiscal year. By the time Biden's administration could have moved on to other issues like climate change and health care, Newsweek via MSN reported. Democrats faced a close deadline with passing this round of COVID relief bill before unemployment benefits expired on March 14. They won't expire again until September 6, so lawmakers won't be under as much pressure. Senators could also be more interested in using the mechanism to pass an infrastructure package later in the year rather than another stimulus bill, which has little Republican support. Read also: Third Stimulus Check: Are You a Recipient? Third stimulus check: Is it the last? As President Joe Biden is set to sign the COVID relief bill containing third stimulus check into law, speculation of a possible fourth stimulus check is circulating. Although another stimulus check might be forthcoming, don't expect a fourth stimulus check. Although some progressives would like to see more relief, the issue's politics are likely to get complex. "You'll have to ask the virus," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday when asked if there will be another round. Senate laws are one of the main reasons that a fourth stimulus check would face opposition at first. According to The Denver Channel, only reconciliation allowed the third stimulus check to pass the Senate. The number of times Congress will use this procedure per year is capped under current law. Senators could be more likely to spend it on infrastructure legislation than another COVID relief bill, which failed to gain Republican support. Biden and the Democrats have one more opportunity to use the streamlined, go-it-alone strategy this year, and they'll have to wait until the new fiscal year begins on October 1 to do so. With other issues such as climate change, health care, and housing in his mind, the president is unlikely to take up his remaining time to distribute further stimulus checks, as per Marca. Read also: Stimulus Check: The Good, Bad Side that Would Surprise You @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Newser) An Illinois city has planned its first reparations to Black residents: $25,000 for housing assistance. The money will go to all Black people who lived in Evanston before 1969 and endured discriminatory housing practices by governments and banks, or who are descended from a Black resident who did, the Guardian reports. "Although many of the anti-Black policies have been outlawed, many remain embedded in policy, including zoning and other government practices," an alderman said. "We are in a time in history where this nation more broadly has not only the will and awareness of why reparations is due, but the heart to advance it." Evanston, which is just north of downtown Chicago, approved the policy in 2019, and the city council will vote on the first distribution this month. The initial $400,000, raised through donations and a marijuana tax, is to go toward home improvements or mortgages. story continues below The council's approval would make Evanston the first city to issue reparations in response to past discriminatory housing practices, per the Hill. Evanton's fair housing ordinance was passed in 1969, per NBC, but discriminatory housing practices remained in effect for years afterward. Banks would only approve mortgages for Black people for certain areas. White people set up covenants restricting residence to whites. Real estate brokers limited Black residents to a section of west Evanston. A group of activists is opposed to the current plan, saying, "Historically racist financial institutions like banks, corporations and various individuals will profit from this proposal. Reparations should not be monetized." An organizer said that the group supports the general idea but that reparations involve more than writing a check: "It's also proving the harm that took place will not take place again and ensuring that more harm will not be caused." (Read more reparations 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. Clenera is ecstatic about this new solar project and the successful partnership with CIPCO that made it possible. Clenera, LLC is pleased to announce that as of March 8, 2021, the 127.5 MWdc Wapello Solar photovoltaic project in Louisa County, Iowa has been delivering energy to the grid. Located near Wapello, the project was developed by Clenera, a company that acquires, develops, builds, and manages utility-scale solar farms and energy storage facilities throughout the United States. In addition to acting as the project developer, Clenera is also providing ongoing asset management for Wapello Solar LLC. Clenera partnered with RES (Renewable Energy Systems) to construct Wapello Solar in six months, creating approximately 250 jobs at peak construction. Despite beginning construction during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wapello Solar progressed with little to no delays. We are thrilled to celebrate the commercial operation of our first solar project with Clenera, said Tim Jordan, RES Senior Vice President of Solar Construction. We are proud to make clean energy a reality in Iowa and we thank our team for their hard work and support to reach this milestone project. Located on nearly 800 acres, Wapello Solar features 318,000 bifacial solar panels supplied by Risen Energy that are fixed to FTC Solars Voyager single-axis trackers, which are optimized for bifacial performance. The 34 SunGrow inverters work to convert the 127.5 megawatts of direct current into alternating current. Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) is purchasing the demand and energy from Wapello Solar through an exclusive 25-year power purchase agreement. We are pleased that Wapello Solar has reached commercial operation, said CIPCO Executive Vice President and CEO Bill Cherrier. This is an important source of energy for our member-owners. With our mission of providing wholesale power and services in a safe, reliable, and cost-effective manner, the completion of this project helps meet member expectations. Clenera is ecstatic about this new solar project and the successful partnership with CIPCO that made it possible. Wapello Solar is now Iowas largest solar project, said Jason Ellsworth, CEO of Clenera. We look forward to more projects with CIPCO and other excellent utility partners. About Clenera Clenera, LLC (Clenera) is a privately-held renewable energy company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Clenera acquires, develops, builds, and manages utility-scale solar farms and energy storage facilities throughout the United States. Combining breakthrough technology with a deeply integrated team approach, Clenera provides reliable, affordable energy systems and helps its utility partners become clean energy leaders in their communities. Cleneras current operating portfolio exceeds 1.4 GW, with more than 13 GW of solar and storage assets in development. Learn more at http://www.clenera.com. About Central Iowa Power Cooperative CIPCO is a generation and transmission electric cooperative owned by member cooperatives and the communities they serve. With a balanced, 24/7 energy portfolio, CIPCO is committed to providing cost-effective, safe, and reliable energy. CIPCO and its 13 members serve over 300,000 Iowans in 58 Iowa counties. CIPCOs offices are located in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Creston, and Wilton, Iowa. For more information visit http://www.cipco.net. About RES RES is the worlds largest independent renewable energy company active in onshore and offshore wind, solar, energy storage, transmission and distribution. At the forefront of the industry for 39 years, RES has delivered more than 19 GW of renewable energy projects across the globe and supports an operational asset portfolio exceeding 7 GW worldwide for a large client base. We understand the unique needs of corporate clients and have secured 1.5 GW of power purchase agreements, enabling access to energy at the lowest cost. RES employs more than 3,000 people and is active in 10 countries. For more information, visit http://www.res-group.com. ### ADVERTISEMENT As leader of opposition, Zurabishvili led massive protests in Tbilisi in 2009 and then left the country to take a UN job. In 2016, she was elected to Parliament as an independent and two years later, ran for the presidency winning the rerun elections with 60 per-cent of the votes. The world, this Monday, marked the 2021 International Womens Day with the traditional elite emphasis on women getting more leadership positions and not necessarily what they do in power or with power. A case which deserves attention is Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili who transformed from being the French Ambassador in Georgia to president of her host country. She came from a big, rich country to manage the affairs of a small troubled state. Where France is a super power with nuclear weapons, a landmass of 643,801 square kilometres and a population of 67.06 million, her new country with a 69,700-square-kilometre territory and a tiny population of 3.716 million, cannot militarily defend itself. However, her Presidency tells a story of fate, the strength to tell the electorate the truth, even when it conflicts with what they strongly believe and the common sense neither to rely on calculating allies nor act like the drunken monkey, which believes it can take on the lion. She was born French in 1952 by parents who, in the 1920s, migrated from Georgia. After graduating from the Institute of Political Studies, Paris, she did a 1972 post graduate at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, New York, United States and joined the French Foreign Ministry. After serving in countries like Italy, the United States and Chad, and with French Missions in the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and the European Union (EU), she was, in 2003, appointed ambassador to Georgia. Zurabishvili arrived Tbilisi when Georgia was boiling. It was one of the 15 countries that emerged from the 1991 disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). After independence, it was led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was overthrown in a 1992 violent coup. This led to the emergence as president, of the last Soviet Foreign Minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, who had the distinction of helping to reunite East and West Germany. The year Zurabishvili assumed office as ambassador, witnessed the Rose Revolution, which in November 2003 forced Shevardnadze out of power and in his place emerged Mikheil Saakashvili. This change in Georgia was also to change her from French to Georgian; from France Ambassador to Georgia, to Georgian Foreign Minister; diplomat to partisan politician. She explained how the transformation took place: In fact, it happened without me. And it happened with two persons: One was President Saakashvili, who was a newly elected President of Georgia in 2004, and the second one was President Chirac they met for the official visit of President Saakashvili in Paris, and they decided it would be a good idea for me to become the Foreign Minister. I was the last to know. I was three months French ambassador to Georgia when that was decided. It turned out she could not work with President Saakashvili. So, the following year, she was sacked. But rather than return to France, she decided to stay in Georgia and fight for a reformed country. On March 11, 2006, she founded the political party The Way of Georgia and became a major opposition figure. The Georgian parliament met and conferred Georgian citizenship on her. She tried to carry out fundamental reforms in the Ministry, but met with stiff resistance, including by the countrys diplomats, who could not understand or accept a supposed imposition of a foreigner on them. She also built an alliance with some former Soviet states. It turned out she could not work with President Saakashvili. So, the following year, she was sacked. But rather than return to France, she decided to stay in Georgia and fight for a reformed country. On March 11, 2006, she founded the political party The Way of Georgia and became a major opposition figure. She led massive protests against an eclectic Saakashvili and his attempt to turn Georgia into a police state. A major event happened in 2008, which shot up the president in national and international politics, and eventually led to his fall. As was inevitable in such cases, there were issues of minorities who were part of the new state of Georgia when it emerged in 1991. The regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia had been made part of Georgia in 1921 when the country was fully integrated into the USSR. At that time, the most famous Georgian in history, Josef Stalin, was part of the Soviet leadership of Vladmir Illiych Lenin. When Georgia emerged from the ashes of the USSR, it claimed both regions, but some of the inhabitants resisted and insisted on being independent entities. These led to clashes and eventually quite bloody civil wars. Russia played a neutral game, as all sides which were just a few months before, part of its larger territory, fought with its weapons. Saakashvili, who thought he had the full support of the West and that NATO would come to Georgias defence, decided to end the deadlock by pouring in troops to take over the two regions. In the process, the Georgian troops encountered Russian peace keepers on the ground and decided to capture them as Prisoners of War. The humiliated Russian troops were paraded before being eventually released. One thing that stood her out, even at the risk of losing the polls, was her courage to tell her fellow citizens that far from being the victims of the 2008 war against Russia, they were actually the aggressors. She said the president should have been held responsible for launching the military aggression. The Russians threw away their peace keeping garments and took on the Georgian troops. Within days, they were at the gates of Tblisi and only quick peace talks and a ceasefire stopped the Russians from overrunning Georgia. Georgia dragged Russia to the International Court of Justice and many countries accused Russia of seizing the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The issue drags on. As leader of opposition, Zurabishvili led massive protests in Tbilisi in 2009 and then left the country to take a UN job. In 2016, she was elected to Parliament as an independent and two years later, ran for the presidency winning the rerun elections with 60 per-cent of the votes. One thing that stood her out, even at the risk of losing the polls, was her courage to tell her fellow citizens that far from being the victims of the 2008 war against Russia, they were actually the aggressors. She said the president should have been held responsible for launching the military aggression. She clarified: If you would like me to give you an assessment of what happened in 2008, lets put the question this way how can we describe the fact that the military operation was started when Georgia had absolutely no advantages, when it was warned by all of its partners not to pursue military steps, when it was warned that there would be no assistance [from partners]? This January, she was in Brussels to meet the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the future of Georgia-EU-NATO relations. But all she noticed was foot dragging by NATO and the EU, who do not seem in any hurry to bring in Georgia. She has enough common sense not to put her hopes on such allies and not to provoke Russia. Although her term will be up in 2024, I do not see her serving it out. Her balancing act may not hold for long. Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author. Foldable phones have been around for some time. So far, Samsung, Huawei, and Motorola have offered commercial devices, but other brands are likely to join the trend sooner or later. A new report says that Chinas Oppo is all set for its first-ever commercial foldable phone in the second quarter of this year. Interestingly, Oppo was one of the first companies to showcase a foldable phone. In February 2019, the company demonstrated a prototype device with a hinge design and a camera strip on the back that shows up in the folded form. The phone, however, did not hit the market in the corresponding months. Even as foldable phones have gained traction, smartphone companies are also experimenting with rollable design. Oppo last year showcased an Oppo X 2021, a concept smartphone with a rollable screen. The rollable smartphone features a 6.7-inch display that can be stretched from the side to offer a 7.4-inch display. Apart from Oppo, LG is also working on a rollable phone. Earlier this year at the CES conference, LG showcased LG Rollable that could be stretched into a tablet. At the moment, there is no word on when the rollable phone will be available commercially. New York, March 12 : US President Joe Biden has visions of freedom from Covid-19 by Independence Day, July 4, as the pace of vaccinations was accelerating and the infection rates decelerating. "After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus," he said on Friday in an address to the nation commemorating the anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. As of Friday, Covid-19 has claimed 530,712 lives in the US and infected 29,214,421 others. To be free of Covid-19 by Independence Day, he announced a four-point programme with making all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1 as its linchpin. Currently, states have different criteria for who could get the vaccine based on age, vulnerability and work exposure to the virus. The other elements of the programme are creating an easy way for people to register to get vaccinated, inoculating teachers and school staff, and issuing uniform guidance on what those who are vaccinated can do. But he warned that the July 4 deadline is only a goal and before then "a lot can happen, conditions can change". "The scientists have made clear that things may get worse again as new variants of the virus spread," he said. He pleaded with everyone in the US to get vaccinated. "We've got work to do to ensure everyone has confidence in the safety and effectiveness of all three vaccines." Repeating the prevention mantra, the President said: "We need everyone to keep washing their hands, stay socially distanced, and keep wearing the masks as recommended by the CDC (Centre for Disease Control)." While the US has a population of about 330 million, Biden has ordered enough vaccines for 500 million people to provide for contingencies and risks. Nearly 19 per cent of the US population has been vaccinated, 65 per cent of seniors over the age of 65 have received their vaccines. The CDC has eased restrictions for those who are vaccinated allowing them to gather indoors without masks and to gather indoors with people like relatives living together. The seven-day new Covid-19 infection rate has come down from 254,000 two months ago to 65,000. On Thursday, Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion 'American Rescue Plan' to aid the nation's recovery from the pandemic. It was done a day earlier to speed up the relief payment of $1,400 to individuals to reach most bank accounts by the weekend. The plan covers funding for individuals, small businesses, vaccinations, infrastructure, cash-strapped states and cities, and educational institutions. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Photo: The Canadian Press In this Jan. 24, 2020 file photo, Bart Staszewski, an LGBT activist, holds up a sign he uses to protest anti-LGBT resolutions, in Warsaw, Poland. The European Parliament is due to debate a resolution that would symbolically declare the entire 27-member European Union to be a freedom zone for LGBT people. The resolution comes largely in reaction to developments over the past two years in Poland, where many local communities have adopted largely resolutions declaring themselves to be free of what Polish conservative authorities have controversially dubbed LGBT ideology. The European Parliament has overwhelming adopted a resolution declaring the entire 27-member European Union a freedom zone for LGBT people, an effort to push back on rising homophobia in Poland and elsewhere. The parliament announced Thursday that there were 492 ballots in favour of the resolution and 141 against in a vote that came after a debate in a session of parliament in Brussels on Wednesday. The resolution came largely in reaction to developments over the past two years in Poland, where many local communities have adopted largely symbolic resolutions declaring themselves free of what conservative authorities have been calling LGBT ideology. These towns say they are seeking to protect traditional families based on unions of men and women, but LGBT rights activists say the designations are discriminatory and make gays and lesbians feel unwelcome. The areas have come to be colloquially known as LGBT-free zones. Polish President Andrzej Duda won re-election last summer after a campaign in which he spoke out often against the LGBT rights movement, depicting it as a threat to families. In once instance, he described it as an ideology more dangerous than communism. The resolution is the work of a cross-party group in the European Parliament, the LGBTI Intergroup. The text refers to growing hate speech by public authorities, elected officials including by the current President" of Poland. But it also mentions that discrimination remains a problem across the EU. The Polish government has denounced the resolution. It argues that Poland, as a sovereign nation and a society more conservative than many Western European countries, has the right to defend its traditional family values based on a long attachment to Roman Catholicism. It accuses the EU lawmakers of overstepping their jurisdiction. The government also has argued that the rates of hate crimes are lower in Poland than in many countries in Western Europe. However, LGBT rights activists say this is impossible to measure. Kuba Gawron, who has been documenting local anti-LGBT resolutions with the group Atlas of Hate, said that there is no mention in the Polish penal code specifically about homophobic crimes, so police do not keep statistics of such crimes. We dont know the full number of such cases, he said. The European Parliament's resolution said the fundamental rights of LGBT people have also been severely hindered recently in Hungary, due to a de facto ban on legal gender recognition for transgender and intersex people. It also notes that only two member states Malta and Germany have banned conversion therapy, a controversial and potentially harmful attempt to change a persons sexual orientation. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) The Philippines will continue to include Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in its nationwide inoculation drive even as more European nations pause its use as blood clot reports are being investigated. The Health Department and the Food and Drug Administration on Friday acknowledged that some countries temporarily halted including the vaccines made by the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical, but they stressed that this was done as a precautionary measure while investigations find out if there is any link between the vaccination and the reported adverse events following immunization. "At present, the DOH and FDA emphasize that there is no indication for the Philippines to stop rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines," DOH and FDA said in a joint statement, adding the benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh the risk. Denmark, Iceland, and Norway suspended the use of AstraZeneca on Thursday. Earlier this week, a number of EU nations paused the use of doses that came from a particular batch of AstraZeneca vaccine after a 49-year-old woman in Austria died of multiple thrombosis. The European Union's medicines regulator is investigating whether the shot could be linked to a number of reports of blood clots. In the Philippines, AstraZeneca is the more popular vaccine choice for healthcare workers as they can only choose between this or CoronaVac vaccines made by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac. Many of them opted to defer getting Sinovac to wait for the arrival of AstraZeneca vaccines. The country has received 525,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines supplied by global initiative COVAX facility. World Health Organization country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe also said the Philippines will receive 4.5 million additional doses of AstraZeneca vaccines by April or May. The new $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was passed by both the Senate and the House this week and signed into law by President Joe Biden yesterday. The legislation marks a total of roughly $5 trillion in government stimulus spending passed since the pandemic began a year ago. The new law includes stimulus payments for a large majority of U.S. households, as well as supplemental unemployment benefits and tax credits, aid to local and state governments, money for COVID testing, grants for schools to facilitate reopening, healthcare subsidies, aid for restaurants, expanded child tax credits, provisions to aid struggling multiemployer pension plans, and much more. The new legislation once again brings into sharp focus conflicting opinions on the appropriate role of the federal government in Americans' daily lives -- at the center of controversy and dispute since the drafting of the U.S. Constitution 230 years ago. The stimulus plan accelerates the use of government as a mechanism for solving problems and helping Americans financially, a sharp contrast to what we saw in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan said, "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." This is a sentiment we have not often heard expressed over the past year. Some observers certainly think that we have entered a new era of government control and influence. In recent weeks, we've seen opinion writers and journalists arguing that "the era of small government is over" and "the Reagan era is over" and opining on the "return of big government" and a "seismic shift in U.S. politics." Of course, government has been a huge part of our American lives for many, many years. The issue is one of incremental change. Is government now going to settle into an even more expanded role than it has in the past? And, importantly, is the American public now going to be even more welcoming of a major government presence in their daily lives, and to increasingly turn to the government as the solution to their financial problems? Arguments for Increased Public Acceptance of Big Government One thing is clear. The American public, taken as a whole, strongly endorses this current stimulus legislation. Every survey I have seen shows majority support, including a new poll from CNN/SSRS showing 61% approval, a Monmouth University poll showing 62% support and a Pew Research poll showing 70% approval. This is not new; Americans have supported government stimulus spending since the pandemic began. Plus, there are other signs of the public's approval of government involvement in their lives. Gallup's September Governance poll each year includes a general question asking about the optimal role of government. The latest update shows that 54% of Americans say the government should do more to solve our country's problems, while 41% say the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. This is the highest percentage choosing the "government should do more" option since Gallup began asking the question in 1992. A major concern for those who are worried about big government is a ballooning deficit, but I can't find evidence to suggest that is a big issue for Americans at this point. Indeed, if the deficit is a concern, Americans appear to be willing to increase government income with elevated taxes on high-income families and with a wealth tax on "ultra-millionaires," as proposed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Plus, it is worth reiterating that the American public has for a long time been quite accepting of government intervention in our lives on a number of fronts. The American people appreciate Social Security (the No. 1 source of income for retired Americans) and admire the military (one of the biggest recipients of federal spending each year), and older Americans welcome their government-funded Medicare. And, by contrast, Americans historically have little interest in proposals for radically cutting back on the size and power of federal government. Before the 2016 election, for example, presidential candidate Ted Cruz and others advanced proposals for such things as eliminating entire government Cabinet departments, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, cutting back on government hiring, and requiring that government regulations be eliminated before new regulations could be put in place. Well less than half of Americans agreed with any of these proposals. Arguments for Why Big Government Will Not Be Accepted There are, on the other hand, reasons to argue that this is not the beginning of an era of public acceptance of massively bigger government. For one thing, we are not seeing a new, glorious era of bipartisanship surrounding the decision to spend trillions on another stimulus package. The Monmouth University poll found 92% support for the stimulus plan among Democrats but only 33% support among Republicans. CNN found similar numbers, with 94% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans favoring the plan, while Pew Research showed 94% support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents compared with 41% among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. This partisan bifurcation in attitudes toward the stimulus plan is even stronger in Congress, where zero Republican senators and zero Republican members of the House voted in favor of it. The fact that Republicans are holding on to their traditional views that government should be restrained could mean less big government if and when Republicans take back control of one or both houses of Congress. I noted earlier that 54% of Americans favor more government intervention to solve problems, the highest in Gallup's almost 30-year history of asking the question. But this is not necessarily a permanent trend. Attitudes toward the role of government have waxed and waned over the years, prompting Gallup analysts to conclude that a "rise in pro-government views may be episodic." An extensive review of public opinion on government conducted by my colleagues Jeff Jones and Lydia Saad in November 2019 found that while pro-government views had increased since 2010, there were still signs of trepidation about government taking on a larger role in society. For example, a relatively small 25% of Americans said they would opt for more services and higher taxes rather than fewer services and lower taxes. Another question showed that less than half of Americans wanted the government to take active steps in every area it can to try to improve the lives of its citizens, while the rest were more negative about the role of government. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has called the new stimulus plan "a Trojan horse for socialism," while Missouri Republican Sen. (and 2024 presidential aspirant) Josh Hawley said the "coronavirus stimulus bill is a left-wing socialist giveaway." In their use of the word socialism as a pejorative, these conservative politicians are generally in sync with majority American public opinion. The 2019 review showed that socialism as a concept has a more negative than positive connotation among Americans, with 57% reporting a negative view of the term and 39% a positive view. This contrasts with the much more favorable views of free enterprise and capitalism in the same poll. In other words, if critics succeed in branding government stimulus spending as creeping socialism, they may strike a responsive chord. Other public opinion data suggest that Americans are not in favor of big government in all instances, including healthcare, where Gallup's latest update shows the majority of U.S. adults still favor a system based mostly on private health insurance. Americans are also not overly enthusiastic about the government taking on more responsibility for protecting major U.S. corporations that are in danger of going out of business, reducing income differences between the rich and the poor, or upholding moral standards among its citizens. Last August, Americans had a generally negative image of the federal government, lower than the image of any other of the 25 business and industry sectors tested. This does not bode well for long-term acceptance of an expanded role for the federal government in Americans' daily lives. Additionally, a Gallup report noted a few months ago that "Trust in Federal Government's Competence Remains Low" -- while trust in state and local government is much higher. (It is possible that trust in the federal government could rise as a result of the vaccine rollout or maybe the new stimulus law itself, while the February power crisis in Texas probably did little to enhance the image of state government leadership.) Bottom Line The newly passed $1.9 trillion stimulus plan is the latest in a series of massive government spending bills passed into law since the beginning of the pandemic, and it will in turn be followed by Biden administration efforts to pass a huge infrastructure bill. And progressive Democratic politicians would like to see even more government action -- including universal healthcare, the provision of housing for everyone and even a guaranteed basic income for all Americans. Whether we are indeed at the threshold of a new era of the public's acceptance of bigger-than-ever government is, however, not yet clear. The pandemic has been the major factor in Americans' lives for the past year but will -- hopefully -- be receding in its impact as increasing numbers of Americans get vaccinated and the nation reaches herd immunity. If the economy and jobs situation improve markedly, there could in turn be a backlash of sorts to continuing increases in government spending. And the razor-thin margins of Democratic control of the House and Senate could shift in 2022 or 2024, allowing Republicans to again press their emphasis on curtailing major government spending programs. History shows that Americans tend to adopt big government initiatives when there are big problems facing the nation -- including COVID-19, the Great Recession, 9/11, World War II and the Great Depression. Some of these big government initiatives have stayed in place ever since, including Social Security, intrusive screening procedures at airports and increased federal regulation of banks. On a cumulative basis, there is much more government involvement in Americans' lives today than there was 120 years ago, when there was no income tax, no entitlement programs, no national healthcare programs, no equal opportunity mandates and little government regulation of business. Big government, in short, has clearly been a fact of life in the U.S. before the stimulus plans of the past year. The question going forward is more about the trajectory of the continuation of this long-term trend, and less about the sudden arrival of a new era of government involvement in our lives. The new website seeking to streamline access to the COVID-19 vaccine for Massachusetts residents has launched. The website, unveiled Friday morning, allows all who live or work in the commonwealth to pre-register to receive the vaccine. This includes both residents who are currently eligible to receive the vaccine as well as those who will become eligible during later phases of the vaccine rollout. Residents will be notified when they may book an appointment, and Gov. Charlie Baker urged patience. It could still take several weeks for eligible individuals to receive a notification, Baker told reporters Thursday, citing limited doses from the federal government. For those who register and are eligible, residents will start getting notified starting March 16 for open appointments, Baker said during a press conference on Friday. The website was launched to replace the states previous online booking platforms. Numerous issues were reported with the previous system. The morning nearly a million Massachusetts residents became eligible to book their vaccine appointments, the website crashed. Leadership at PrepMod, the company which created Massachusetts previous booking platform, said the issue was due to the team being unaware state health officials were expanding eligibility and hadnt scale up the website in time. COVID continues to spread in Massachusetts as health officials work to get vaccines in the arms of residents as quickly as possible. Another 1,589 new COVID-19 cases and 42 virus-related fatalities were confirmed Thursday. Cases have been decreasing since the state hit its second surge peak on Jan. 4, but that decline has slowed in recent weeks. Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of Baker declaring a state of emergency in Massachusetts due to the pandemic. Massachusetts has administered over two million doses of COVID vaccine since the vaccination effort began in late in 2020. A growing number of residents are now fully vaccinated. As of Thursday, 819,559 residents are immunized. This includes 43,035 who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine and 776,524 residents who received both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. An additional 1.5 million residents have received their first Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. How to register People who live, work or study in Massachusetts can pre-register for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at a large-scale vaccination site by going to mass.gov/covid-19-vaccine. After registration is completed, residents will receive weekly updates regarding their eligibility. We will contact you when there are appointments available for you and provide you with a link to use to select and book your appointment, the website states. The website is only for the states seven large-scale vaccination sites: Fenway Park in Boston, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, the DoubleTree Hotel in Danvers, the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, the Natick Mall in Natick and the former Circuit City in Dartmouth. Are appointments still available elsewhere? Yes, the states new website is only for the large-scale vaccination sites. There are hundreds of other vaccination locations now open across the commonwealth. CVS, which began offering the vaccine in February, has expanded the number of locations where the vaccine is offered. First available at just a dozen locations, now CVS stores in just under 300 Massachusetts communities offer the vaccine. Hospitals, regional vaccination centers and local boards of health continue to receive vaccines for first and second-dose appointments. How many appointments are available next week? Massachusetts receives about 150,000 doses weekly, which are distributed to the states seven large-scale vaccination sites, hospitals and locally-run vaccine centers. First and second doses available in Massachusetts this week include: 83,000 for the seven large-scale vaccination sites, 38,000 for the states 12 regional collaboratives, 25,000 for community health centers and another 25,000 for local boards of health to complete second-dose appointments and support 20 communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Massachusetts hospitals received a combined 79,000 doses. Appointments were available for booking at the large-scale vaccination sites Thursday ahead of the shift to the states new preregistration site. However, first-dose appointments for this week ran out within hours. Appointments are made available at regional and local vaccination sites at varying times. Check with local boards of health for more details. CVS Health is expected to post new appointments online daily and received about 95,000 doses this week. Appointments can be made directly through the pharmacys website. Who is eligible to receive the vaccine? Massachusetts entered Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout last month. Residents 65 years and older and individuals with two or more medical conditions considered at increased risk for severe illness from the virus, and residents and staff of low income and affordable senior housing are eligible to receive the vaccine. Medical conditions prioritized include: Asthma (moderate to severe) Cancer Chronic kidney disease COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) Down Syndrome Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant Obesity and severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher) Pregnancy Sickle cell disease Smoking Type 2 diabetes mellitus An estimated 400,000 educators became eligible to receive the vaccine at state and local-run sites on Thursday. Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364. San Francisco, March 12 : San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a $2.2 million funding over the next two years to serve the city's African-American transgender community. This is the first city funding dedicated to providing services to the Black trans community and is part of the newly announced Dream Keeper Initiative, Xinhua news agency reported. The Dream Keeper Initiative is a citywide project that reinvests $120 million over two years in redirected funding from law enforcement into San Francisco's African-American community. "With the Dream Keeper's significant investment in the black community, we knew that it was critical to provide dedicated funding to address the unique needs in the Bblack transgender community," Breed said in her announcement on Thursday. The $2.2 million over the next two years will go toward technical assistance and capacity building for non-profit organisations serving this community, so that they can be better positioned to work with the city in developing and implementing programs within the Dream Keeper Initiative and other City programs, she added. According to a statement issued by the Mayor's office, black trans people across the US have experienced the dual crises of the Covid-19 pandemic alongside an epidemic of violence since March 2020. At least 44 transgender people were murdered in 2020, and black transgender women accounted for over half of the cases. According to the National Transgender survey report, 42 per cent of black transgender people have experienced homelessness at least once in their lifetime compared to 30 per cent in the general transgender community. Black transgender people are incarcerated more than four times the rate the general population and 47 per cent of black transgender women have attempted suicide at least once in their lifetime, the survey report revealed. In recent years, the concept of U.S. citizenship has figured in public debate largely in connection with immigration reform. Should immigrants who are in the country illegally be given a path to citizenship? Should children born to parents who are not here legally be entitled to birthright citizenship? Should young people who are here illegally be allowed to stay indefinitely as non-naturalized residents or would that constitute second-class citizenship? But citizenship has meanings that are deeper and more subtle than legal permission to live in this country. It defines an individuals relationship to his country and thus strikes chords of nationalism and personal responsibility, duty and rights. America, it is often said, is a nation of immigrants. Is it also a nation of citizens? In this series, we will explore that question and examine the changing nature of citizenship today. As with so many foundational questions in American life, this one has its roots in the language of the Constitution. And as with so many constitutional questions, that language embraces large and sometimes competing values. The Constitution refers to the privileges and immunities of citizenship, for example, but it also offers important protection for persons living here regardless of nationality, including the right to equal protection of the laws and due process of law. Persons may attend schools, hold jobs, pay taxes and receive benefits. Holders of permanent resident cards better known as green cards may apply for citizenship after five years of living in this country. But even if they never apply for citizenship, permanent residents are participants in the economy and their local communities, and often have spouses and children who are U.S. citizens. Some would argue that they should also be allowed to vote (if only in local elections) or serve on juries. If permanent residents were to be given a role in the political process and the judicial system, should they be required to meet the same conditions imposed on naturalized citizens, such as proficiency in English? Advertisement Complicating the picture further is the fact that many U.S. citizens native-born and naturalized hold citizenship in another country, and sometimes vote in foreign elections and even serve in foreign armies. Although the State Department discourages dual nationality, the Supreme Court has ruled that a U.S. citizen must affirmatively intend to renounce his citizenship before it can be taken away. In an increasingly globalized world, dual citizenship is, for some, an attractive option. Is it also good for the American political process, or does the existence of multiple allegiances undermine social cohesion? The notion of good citizenship, meanwhile, has been redefined by political, legal and technological developments. The advent of the Internet has altered the way citizens express their opinions to, and about, their elected representatives and potentially could transform voting as well. Supreme Court decisions recognizing a right of corporations to engage in political speech have been so controversial that some would overturn them by amending the Constitution. In The 21st Century Citizen, The Times will take up these and other issues: Immigration and citizenship. Is a path to citizenship the only acceptable way of legalizing 11 million immigrants? If so, should the criteria for naturalization be more rigorous? Does the current immigration system place too much emphasis on family unification and not enough on attracting potential citizens with valuable skills or financial resources? Should foreign temporary workers in agriculture and other industries receive special consideration for permanent residence and ultimately citizenship? Should the U.S. desist in efforts to persuade permanent legal residents to acquire citizenship? Birthright citizenship. Although the Supreme Court has held that the Constitution ordinarily confers citizenship on children born in the U.S. so-called jus soli citizenship some legal scholars note that the 14th Amendment defines a U.S. citizen as anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, a phrase they interpret as a license for Congress to exclude from citizenship persons born of foreigners in the country temporarily or illegally. The campaign to abolish birthright citizenship has been led by opponents of illegal immigration who claim that it induces women to come to this country to give birth to anchor babies. Thats largely a canard, but the idea that place of birth guarantees citizenship is not universally accepted, even among modern nations. Citizenship and culture. In California, campaigns for English-only education or public services often have been veiled efforts to marginalize immigrants. But there are serious, nonpunitive arguments for the unifying effects of a common language. Many Americans agree with the late Harvard professor Samuel P. Huntington that immigration from Spanish-speaking countries threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures and two languages. Does this concern justify a more exacting requirement for proficiency in English as a condition of citizenship? Should mastery of English also be a requirement for holding public office over and above the requirement of U.S. citizenship? Dual citizenship. U.S. citizens who hold citizenship in another country in some cases are able to participate in the political life of that country and to serve in its armed forces. Does this create an undesirable dual loyalty and undermine the bond between citizens and the United States? Or is it a natural and even advantageous reflection of the interconnectedness that comes with globalization? Qualifications for citizenship. Currently, naturalized citizens must demonstrate a familiarity with U.S. history and government. But some critics suggest that the requirements should be strengthened to ensure that new citizens are better prepared to participate in the democratic process, and that its legitimate to impose higher standards of political knowledge on would-be citizens than are required of native-born citizens. Advertisement Political participation by noncitizens. Should long-term noncitizen residents of the U.S. be permitted to vote in elections or serve on juries (as a bill vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown would have allowed)? Such openness could make the U.S. an attractive place for citizens of other countries who might be more willing to live (and invest) in communities where they would have a say over how they were governed, though it also would remove an incentive to pursuing full citizenship. Education in citizenship. Proposed Common Core academic standards have been criticized for treating the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as sources of information and not as blueprints for political engagement. Should public schools do more to inculcate values of patriotism and civic participation? Corporate citizenship. Have Supreme Court decisions allowing corporations and unions to spend money on political campaigns undermined the role of individual citizens in American democracy? Should the Constitution be amended to decrease the role of corporations and wealthy individuals in the political process? Is there a positive notion of corporate citizenship to which profit-making businesses should subscribe? Citizens influence in government. Although some states, including California, allow citizens to enact laws directly through initiatives and referendums, in general American democracy is of the representative or indirect variety. Advances in technology make it possible for a dramatic increase not only in the expression of political opinions but also, potentially, in public access to the ballot box. Should officials seize on that opportunity to encourage more citizens to exercise their right to self-government? Advertisement The future. Immigration, globalization and technology all have taxed traditional notions of citizenship, but are there ways to reinvigorate participation in civic life that would give modern meaning to the idea? In short, yes. This is part of an ongoing conversation exploring the meaning of citizenship in America today. For more, join us at latimes.com/citizenship and #21stCenturyCitizen. Wed love to hear from you. Share your thoughts, rebuttals and experiences with us at letters@latimes.com. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Once a small, chic boutique store located in the heart of Wilmington, N.C., Monkee's has now become one of the most sought after franchise opportunities in the woman's retail space. Fittingly, the women owned company with 30 locations across 11 states is celebrating its 25th anniversary in franchising with notable and promising growth news. The high-end, luxury-lifestyle brand recently broke into the Northeast region of the United States, with their newest location opening in Ocean City, MD last month, and the boutique franchise is on track to cut the ribbon on five additional U.S. locations by Fall 2021. These new stores will open in Huntsville, Alabama, Alpharetta, GA, Atlanta, GA, & two unannounced locations. The Monkee's executive team, led by Founder DeeDee Shaw and Co-CEO Brenda Maready, is actively pursuing new franchisees as they continue to expand the Monkee's name in new markets. "I am thrilled to speak with fashion-forward entrepreneurs who are interested in the unique opportunity to own a Monkee's Boutique and bring the world's top designers into their own neighborhood," said Troy Taylor, VP of Sales, Monkee's Franchising LLC. "This has been our company's vision since we started 25 years ago," said Andrea Rice, Monkee's VP of Operations. "Both Shaw and Maready saw a unique opportunity in the early stages to bring high-end fashion into local communities throughout the United States, and they have empowered small-business owners to do just that for a quarter of a century." Because of its franchise business status, Monkee's local owners have access to top luxury brands, distribution rights, retail buying and strong vendor partnerships. The company's expert operations team will also assist franchisees with their merchandise mix, making initial buys and visual merchandising all to ensure owner success and create an in-store experience that parallels the high-quality of Monkee's merchandise. "Monkee's has always been about offering women a captivating, personalized shopping experience," said Rice. "That remains a constant because of the support we offer franchisees at every stage of ownership, including our ongoing marketing support, vast creative services and digital tools. This support allows owners to focus on providing each customer an elevated shopping experience." While the in-store experience remains a retail sanctuary for avid shoppers, franchisees can also implement shopping through their e-commerce store, social media platforms, and partnerships through influencer marketing channels. "We know the strength of retail when done correctly and continue to welcome new franchise owners who are eager to pair the Monkee's name and proven systems with their own design flare," said Shaw. "Fashion is an extension of making women look and feel their best, and Monkee's has been at the forefront of that for 25 years. We've grown with hands-on owners who know exactly what their community of women are looking for, and we look forward to the next 25 years." To learn more about the Monkee's Franchise opportunity visit shopmonkees.com. About Monkee's Franchising, LLC Monkee's Franchising, LLC is a franchisor with nearly 30 upscale ladies' boutiques specializing in shoes, clothing, and accessories. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., Monkee's was founded in 1995 and has become one of the most successful organizations of independently owned boutiques in the U.S. Boutiques can be found in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, and continues to grow nationally. Monkee's is recognized as a leader in providing the finest fashions from the world's top designers. SOURCE Monkees Franchising, LLC Related Links https://www.shopmonkees.com/ A nanny who decapitated a four-year-old girl then carried her head through the streets shouting 'Allahu Akbar' will be free after just five years in a psychiatric ward, reports claim. Gyulchehra Bobokulova, 43, has been 'cured' of the 'chronic psychiatric disorder' that led her to kill Anastasia Meshcheryakov and parade her head in Moscow, Russian doctors claim. Horrifying footage shows burka-clad Bobokulova clutching the severed head of Anastasia - known as Nastya - and shouting 'I am a terrorist' outside Oktyabrskoye Pol metro station in Moscow. Anastasia's head falls from the nanny's hands and disturbingly rolls along the ground as Bobokulova is overpowered by bystanders and police officers. Bobokulova claimed she conducted the brutal killing to get revenge on Vladimir Putin for bombings in Syria. She will be let out of jail just five years after the horrifying attack because doctors are 'confident' she is 'harmless', reports claim. A nanny who decapitated a four-year-old girl then carried her head through the streets (pictured carrying the head) shouting 'Allahu Akbar' in Moscow will be free after just five years in a psychiatric ward, reports claim Gyulchehra Bobokulova, 43, has been 'cured' of the 'chronic psychiatric disorder' that led her to kill Anastasia Meshcheryakov and parade her head outside (pictured), Russian doctors claim Horrifying footage shows burka-clad Bobokulova clutching the severed head of Anastasia - known as Nastya (pictured) - and shouting 'I am a terrorist' outside Oktyabrskoye Pol metro station in Moscow In the aftermath of the killing, the girl's parents disputed the ruling by courts that the nanny - who had lived with her family for several years - was sick, and demanded she face a proper trial. They were backed by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who questioned whether the psychiatric diagnosis was politically motivated. But Bobokulova was sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment in hospital. 'Doctors are confident that their patient is harmless, (but) opinion leaders vote for strict control,' reported a Russian television network. The victim's mother Ekaterina Mescheryakova said: 'My family cannot feel safe if Bobokulova, in the future, finds me or my other child. 'During the investigation she testified that she had an intention to kill our entire family.' Bobokulova (pictured in court) claimed she conducted the brutal killing to avenge Vladimir Putin for bombings in Syria Anastasia's head (circled) falls from the nanny's hands and disturbingly roles along the ground as Bobokulova is overpowered by bystanders and police Popular blogger Lena Miro questioned the planned release, which had been revealed by Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. 'It is important that a person who cut off a child's head with a kitchen knife should under no circumstances be given a chance to return to society,' she said. 'Such a person must spend their life either in prison or in a psychiatric hospital. This cannot be cured. 'They cannot be sent home with a prescription to take pills and to see a psychiatrist regularly. 'But here (in Russia), it turns out, you can.' Psychiatrist Artem Gillen said: 'With schizophrenia, relapses are always possible. 'It is impossible to avoid them 100 per cent, you can only minimise them. 'After being discharged from the hospital, such patients are under special supervision.' Three years ago, the victim's father died after becoming ill with meningitis. Her mother has since remarried. The court ruled that Bobokulova suffered from paroxysmal paranoid schizophrenia but the mother said she was 'sane' and 'cheerful' before she was influenced by extremist ideologies on the web. A Banksy mural which appeared overnight on the side of a house on England's steepest road just before it was sold was today removed. The piece, entitled 'Aachoo!', was first discovered on the external wall of the semi-detached property on Vale Street in Totterdown, Bristol, last December. The image depicted an elderly woman sneezing and created the illusion that the force of the pensioner's sneeze had knocked over houses built above it. Today crowds of onlookers nervously watched on as workers began the delicate and arduous task of removing the piece from the property by crane after it appeared to have been sold. Workers remove the Banksy mural from the external wall of the semi-detached property on Vale Street in Totterdown, Bristol The image, entitled 'Aachoo!', depicted an elderly woman sneezing and created the illusion that the force of her sneeze had knocked over the houses A crane arrives to the property in Bristol today to remove the Banksy artwork Local reports say one of the people helping move the Banksy was Federico Borgogni - a restorer from Italy. He is a specialist at removing frescos and had previously help move one from nearby Fishponds. Mr Borgogni, who was present at the Banksy today, confirmed he was involved in the restoration, but refused to divulge any more information. The task of removing the Banksy today was in the hands of Mass Developments UK Limited. Owner Mark Steventon-Smith said it had been a tough job, but would not shed any light on the owners, sale, or potential destination of the 'Aachoo' Banksy. Speaking after the high-value wall was grounded, he said: 'I really can't say anything, and I can't say where it's going either. 'But I'm so happy to finally see it on the ground. We were told to be very careful, but the owner has insured the Banksy.' Another neighbour refused to comment, except to say the whole process left her feeling 'irate.' The 'Aachoo!' artwork caused a stir last year when it appeared on the external wall of the 300,000 property which was due to be sold. A team of workers from Mass Developments UK Limited lift the delicate artwork off the ground A man who claimed to be a family friend of the house's previous owners said they had turned down an offer for the piece for 2.5 million Workers attach rope to the Banksy artwork as it is removed from the property just months after it appeared overnight Despite the Banksy being valued at 5million, rumours that the owner had pulled out of the sale were quickly quashed. Nick Makin - whose mother Aileen Makin had previously owned the home when the street art appeared overnight - had denied claims the family had decided against exchanging contracts. The family had said they wanted the artwork to stay in place and be protected, insisting the sale was merely put 'on hold for 48 hours.' Mr Makin admitted the family had to 'take a moment to think about it' after the valuation was revealed, and that his mother had been left distressed by the attention. It is understood the property sold for between 300,000 and 320,000. However it later appeared that a new family had moved into the property and the artwork was later covered with a scaffolding board. Crowds of locals watch on nervously as the workers remove the artwork from the property It is unknown who the buyer of the artwork is. The scenes come after Banksy took to social media this month to claim responsibility for a mural which appeared overnight on the walls of a Victorian jail where Oscar Wilde was famously held. The painting, which depicts a prisoner attempting to escape over the wall with a typewriter in his hand, was etched onto the side of HMP Reading. The prison is renowned as the location where Irish poet Oscar Wilde was incarcerated from 1895-1897 for committing 'gross indecency' and went on to inspire his final published work 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'. Before the piece was confirmed as belonging to Banksy, it was welcomed by Labour's Reading East MP Matt Rodda who said it highlighted the 'national and international importance of this unique historic building'. Just months earlier, a mural of a little girl hula hooping with what appeared to be a bicycle tyre was painted on a brick wall on the side of a beauty parlour in Lenton, Nottingham. Banksy confirmed responsibility this month for the artwork which appeared overnight on the walls of HMP Reading Last year a mural of a little girl hula hooping with what appeared to be a bicycle tyre was painted by Banksy on a brick wall in Lenton, Nottingham Meanwhile in July last year, Banksy's artwork inside a London Underground train carriage, with messages about the spread of coronavirus, was removed by Transport for London (TfL). The artist uploaded a 59-second video captioned: 'If you don't mask - you don't get' to his Instagram and YouTube pages. It showed Banksy spray painting stencils of his famous rats inside a Circle Line train. The anonymous street artist, who made his name with his trademark stencil-style 'guerrilla' art in public spaces, including on walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and on the West Bank barrier separating Israel and Palestine, is known to create his masterpieces under the cover of darkness. He will often confirm he is the creator of a piece of artwork by posting images of them on Instagram or on his website. Establishing himself as the world's most elusive artist, the 'graffiti guerrilla', who began his street art 25 years ago, has seen his works coveted by collectors and celebrities including the Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. U Mon's primary star, an elderly yellow supergiant, has around twice the Sun's mass but has billowed to 100 times the Sun's size. Scientists know less about the companion, the blue star in the background of this illustration, but they think it's of similar mass and much younger than the primary. Credit: Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) Astronomers have painted their best picture yet of an RV Tauri variable, a rare type of stellar binary where two starsone approaching the end of its lifeorbit within a sprawling disk of dust. Their 130-year dataset spans the widest range of light yet collected for one of these systems, from radio to X-rays. "There are only about 300 known RV Tauri variables in the Milky Way galaxy," said Laura Vega, a recent doctoral recipient at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. "We focused our study on the second brightest, named U Monocerotis, which is now the first of these systems from which X-rays have been detected." A paper describing the findings, led by Vega, was published in The Astrophysical Journal. The system, called U Mon for short, lies around 3,600 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. Its two stars circle each other about every six and a half years on an orbit tipped about 75 degrees from our perspective. The primary star, an elderly yellow supergiant, has around twice the Sun's mass but has billowed to 100 times the Sun's size. A tug of war between pressure and temperature in its atmosphere causes it to regularly expand and contract, and these pulsations create predictable brightness changes with alternating deep and shallow dips in lighta hallmark of RV Tauri systems. Scientists know less about the companion star, but they think it's of similar mass and much younger than the primary. This infographic shows U Mon's components to scale. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) The cool disk around both stars is composed of gas and dust ejected by the primary star as it evolved. Using radio observations from the Submillimeter Array on Maunakea, Hawai'i, Vega's team estimated that the disk is around 51 billion miles (82 billion kilometers) across. The binary orbits inside a central gap that the scientists think is comparable to the distance between the two stars at their maximum separation, when they're about 540 million miles (870 million kilometers) apart. When the stars are farthest from each other, they're roughly aligned with our line of sight. The disk partially obscures the primary and creates another predictable fluctuation in the system's light. Vega and her colleagues think this is when one or both stars interact with the disk's inner edge, siphoning off streams of gas and dust. They suggest that the companion star funnels the gas into its own disk, which heats up and generates an X-ray-emitting outflow of gas. This model could explain X-rays detected in 2016 by the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite. "The XMM observations make U Mon the first RV Tauri variable detected in X-rays," said Kim Weaver, the XMM U.S. project scientist and an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It's exciting to see ground- and space-based multiwavelength measurements come together to give us new insights into a long-studied system." In their analysis of U Mon, Vega's team also incorporated 130 years of visible light observations. Two stars orbit each other within an enormous dusty disk in the U Monocerotis system, illustrated here. When the stars are farthest from each other, they funnel material from the disks inner edge. At this time, the primary star is slightly obscured by the disk from our perspective. The primary star, a yellow supergiant, expands and contracts. The smaller secondary star is thought to maintain its own disk of material, which likely powers an outflow of gas that emits X-rays. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR) The earliest available measurement of the system, collected on Dec. 25, 1888, came from the archives of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), an international network of amateur and professional astronomers headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. AAVSO provided additional historical measurements ranging from the mid-1940s to the present. The researchers also used archived images cataloged by the Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard (DASCH), a program at the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge dedicated to digitizing astronomical images from glass photographic plates made by ground-based telescopes between the 1880s and 1990s. U Mon's light varies both because the primary star pulsates and because the disk partially obscures it every 6.5 years or so. The combined AAVSO and DASCH data allowed Vega and her colleagues to spot an even longer cycle, where the system's brightness rises and falls about every 60 years. They think a warp or clump in the disk, located about as far from the binary as Neptune is from the Sun, causes this extra variation as it orbits. Vega completed her analysis of the U Mon system as a NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellow, a program funded by the NASA Office of STEM Engagement's Minority University Research and Education Project. On May 12, 1948, astronomers at Boyden Observatory in Bloemfontein, South Africa, captured a portion of the sky containing U Monocerotis (left, circled) on a glass photographic plate. The logbook entry (right) for the observation reads: Gusty S wind. H.A. [Hour Angle] should be 2 02 W. Credit: Harvard College Observatory, Photographic Glass Plate Collection. Used with permission. "For her doctoral dissertation, Laura used this historical dataset to detect a characteristic that would otherwise appear only once in an astronomer's career," said co-author Rodolfo Montez Jr., an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, also in Cambridge. "It's a testament to how our knowledge of the universe builds over time." Co-author Keivan Stassun, an expert in star formation and Vega's doctoral advisor at Vanderbilt, notes that this evolved system has many features and behaviors in common with newly formed binaries. Both are embedded in disks of gas and dust, pull material from those disks, and produce outflows of gas. And in both cases, the disks can form warps or clumps. In young binaries, those might signal the beginnings of planet formation. "We still have questions about the feature in U Mon's disk, which may be answered by future radio observations," Stassun said. "But otherwise, many of the same characteristics are there. It's fascinating how closely these two binary life stages mirror each other." Explore further Astronomers see star with dust disc that is being fed by surrounding material More information: Laura D. Vega et al. Multiwavelength Observations of the RV Tauri Variable System U Monocerotis: Long-term Variability Phenomena That Can Be Explained by Binary Interactions with a Circumbinary Disk, The Astrophysical Journal (2021). Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Laura D. Vega et al. Multiwavelength Observations of the RV Tauri Variable System U Monocerotis: Long-term Variability Phenomena That Can Be Explained by Binary Interactions with a Circumbinary Disk,(2021). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abe302 The Spanish government on Friday approved an 11-billion economic relief package that includes 7 billion in direct aid to distressed businesses. Announced over two weeks ago by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and greenlighted at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting today, the package includes three separate funds: a 3 billion pool to restructure state-guaranteed loans, to be managed by the banking sector; a 1 billion reserve to recapitalize medium-sized companies, run by the state-owned financing company Cofides; and 7 billion in non-refundable direct aid to self-employed workers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by the coronavirus crisis. Of this latter amount, 2 billion will go to the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, two regions hard hit by the crisis. Eligible companies must prove that their revenues fell by at least 30% in 2020 from 2019, and the cash grants must be used for fixed expenses or debt reduction. The aid targets sectors particularly affected by the pandemic, such as hospitality, wholesale and retail distribution, or culture. The self-employed may collect up to 3,000 or 4,000 depending on whether they file taxes under the modulos system or not. Businesses may be eligible for up to 200,000, said Economy Minister Nadia Calvino at a news conference following the Cabinet meeting. Direct aid to struggling businesses has been a longstanding demand in Spain, where restrictions to contain successive waves of the coronavirus have pummelled the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors. The government had expressed concern about the possibility of so-called zombie companies taking payouts and then shutting down, as has been the case in other countries. But international organizations said that the risk of not providing direct financial assistance outstrips the risk of helping out non-viable firms. To reduce this risk, aid will be contingent on keeping the business open until at least June 2022, and not raising company executives pay, among other conditions. Recipients will have to be up to date with their tax filings and not operate in tax havens. Poniente Beach in Benidorm in March, a month of the year when it is normally full of people taking advantage of the warm weather. EFE Ever since Sanchez, of the Socialist Party (PSOE), announced the 11-billion aid package two weeks ago, the executive has been struggling to find a way to ensure there are clear targets and strong oversight for the direct aid. This will be the first instance of mass aid for businesses since Spain joined the European Union in the mid-1980s. Who should hand out the checks, and who should provide the oversight, has been a subject of heated debate over the last two weeks. In one of the most controversial decisions affecting the plan, regional governments will be in charge of handling the payouts, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Finance Ministry will monitor the aid to make sure recipients use it to cover fixed expenses (such as rent) and to reduce debt levels (such as paying suppliers and employees). Supporting tourism The government hopes the package will help stimulate a sluggish economy dealing with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Spain have all been warning for months about the risk of a wave of corporate insolvencies once existing government programs are phased out, including the job retention scheme known as ERTE. Some ministers feel that Spain is late stepping up to the plate: with Brussels consent, similar schemes have been in place for some time now in Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom and neighboring Portugal. The package will allocate 2 billion of the 7 billion direct aid fund y to the Balearic and Canary islands, the two regions of Spain most affected by the coronavirus restrictions. In the Balearics, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 27% in 2020; in the Canary Islands it dropped by around 20%, according to Bank of Spain data. English version by Susana Urra. Diversity of Thought Is Important in Schools Commentary If you visit the website of any Canadian teachers union, you might think that all teachers reside on the far left of the political spectrum. For example, the British Columbia Teachers Federation (BCTF) is not shy about taking left-leaning stands on controversial political topics. Among other things, the BCTF supports student climate strikes, advocates for more spending on social programs, promotes unrestricted access to abortion, and opposes the construction of new oil pipelines. Surprisingly, the BCTF doesnt limit its political opinions and activism to Canada. It takes positions on foreign policy matters. Notably, the union urges the Canadian government to promote a peace settlement in the Middle East, which will advance the struggle of the people of Palestine for national sovereignty and human rights. Regardless of what one thinks about the Israel-Palestine conflict, it is far removed from the everyday lives of Canadian teachers and their students. The BCTF also calls on the federal government to reject a military approach to problem solving conflicts between states. The union wants to cut military budgets and reallocate the money to social programs. One can only imagine how uncomfortable Canadian military families must feel when their children are subjected to this type of left-wing propaganda in B.C. public schools. Sadly, the BCTF is not an outlier among Canadian teachers unions. Other teachers unions also sink significant resources into lobbying activities that make them virtually indistinguishable from the NDP or the Green Party. During election campaigns, teachers unions regularly run attack ads against right-leaning political parties, especially if those parties have a good chance of winning. This was certainly the case during the last provincial election in Ontario. The left-wing activism of teachers unions clearly sends a loud message about the political leanings of manyperhaps mostteachers. Fortunately, not all teachers are left-of-centre. But you wouldnt know that if you listened to the organizations that speak on behalf of teachers. While right-of-centre teachers do exist, they are outnumbered by left-wing teachers. Otherwise, teachers unions would be singing a different tune. An important reason for this imbalance is the one-sided indoctrination prospective teachers typically receive in faculties of education. Right-of-centre education professors are few and far between. The vast majority are politically left-wing. For example, York Universitys faculty of educationone of the largest faculties in the country for training teachershas professors that teach courses in typical left-wing subjects such as intersectionality of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and citizenship, feminist pedagogy, critical race theory, and educating for activism. Based on the profiles available on its faculty website, it is highly unlikely that York has a single education professor who votes Conservative or who sympathizes with conservative ideas and policies. Frankly, its hard to find one York education professor who might even be in the centre of the political spectrum. Simply put, any prospective teacher who earns an education degree from York University will encounter one left-wing professor after another, with hardly any that balance this perspective with centrist or right-wing perspectives. Unless a student already has a well-entrenched political position, most of those who graduate from Yorks faculty of education will graduate as political liberals. The predictable result of this kind of indoctrination in faculties of education is that schools end up being staffed by teachers from one side of the political spectrum. While many left-wing teachers make a genuine effort to expose students to a variety of viewpoints, its important that students are taught by teachers who do not all share the same, narrow range of political beliefs. Many school divisions have slogans that emphasize the importance of diversity. However, in far too many cases school divisions end up with schools that are diverse in race and gender but uniform in thought. In other words, people look different, but think the same. This is not true diversity. The reality is that Canada is a diverse country, not only in ethnicity but also in political and ideological beliefs. Each major political party is supported by a significant number of Canadians. Classrooms are filled with students whose parents voted Conservative, Liberal, or NDP, and they should all feel welcomed at school. There should be no pressure, whether direct or indirect, on students to conform to any one political ideology. Diversity of thought is perhaps the most important type in schools. Faculties of education and school divisions should pay more attention to diversity of thought when training and hiring teachers. The last thing students need is to be educated in an ideological echo chamber. Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher, a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and author of A Sage on the Stage: Common Sense Reflections on Teaching and Learning. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 67F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. A six-member parliamentary delegation of the Trinamool Congress will meet Election Commission officials in Delhi on Friday over concerns following the alleged attack on TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the party sources said. Six TMC MPs from both the Houses of Parliament have flown to the capital to be part of the delegation which will meet the EC at 12 noon. The delegation comprises Derek O'Brien (Leader, AITC Parliamentary Party, Rajya Sabha), Saugata Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (MP, Lok Sabha), Satabdi Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Pratima Mondal (MP, Lok Sabha) and Santanu Sen (MP, Rajya Sabha). A delegation of the party also met poll panel officials in Kolkata on Thursday and later alleged that the "Election Commission did nothing despite there being reports of a possible attack on Banerjee". Claiming that the attack was a "deep-rooted conspiracy to take the life of the TMC supremo", party leaders alleged that anti-social elements have been mobilised from the neighbouring states by the BJP in Nandigram to unleash violence. The EC can't shun responsibility as it is in charge of the law-and-order situation in poll-bound West Bengal, it said. The Trinamool Congress supremo was injured in the leg after being allegedly pushed by unidentified people near a temple at Reyapara area during campaigning at Nandigram on Wednesday, where the BJP has pitted her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari against her. Banerjee alleged that she was pushed by four to five men while she was trying to get into the car, following which she fell flat on her face. The EC on Thursday sent a strongly-worded letter to the TMC on its memorandum over injuries to Banerjee during campaign, saying it looks "undignified to even respond" to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a "particular party". (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.) Timatyos, of Hillside, and Peoples, of Burr Ridge, appeared in court on Thursday before Judge Charles Beach, who ordered Peoples held on $50,000 bond, meaning she would need to pay $5,000 to be released. Beach granted Timatyos a personal recognizance bond, releasing her but placing her on a curfew that would allow her to attend physical therapy appointments. Several Armed men breached a college in the early hours of Friday morning, executed another Nigerian kidnapping, abducted an undetermined number of students, and opened fire in the educational institution in the northwest portion of Nigeria. Armed Men Abduct Students According to CNN, an unknown number of students were kidnapped from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando in the Nigerian state of Kaduna. The latest Nigerian kidnapping marks the third mass kidnapping from an academic institution in the northern portion of Nigeria as police have stated that they are working in rescuing the students. Based on the Kaduna police spokesman, Mohammed Jalige stated that the police together with the military are cooperating and are on top of the situation. He also added that they are trying to liaise with the school management to know the exact number of students that were kidnapped and then see the possibility of rescuing them safely and arresting the criminals. In addition, a student at the college shared to a news outlet what he had experienced during the incident. Jamilu Abdullahi, shared that he heard attackers shooting at around 3 am, which is also the arrival time of the perpetrators. The student also added that the armed men made a beeline for the female hostel despite that the male dormitory is closer to the fence where they came in. Abdullahi mentioned that they saw them running away and the bandits came and they were firing their guns and took away the girls. Read Also: Pentagon Fires Back at Carlson's Sexist Remarks Meanwhile, the police have not yet confirmed the number of students that were abducted but Abdullahi shared that the number of girls who were living in the breached hostel was between 80 to 100 female students. The abduction is the latest in a string of similar kidnapping cases, as earlier this month, not less than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped from the northwest portion of Nigeria, which is a school in Zamfara State, The Wall Street Journal reported. Moreover, at least 42 individuals were abducted last month from a state-run school in Kagara, which is a town in Nigeria. Later on, they were also released by the suspects. In December, more than 300 schoolboys were also taken but later on, they were also freed by the suspects. In most parts of Nigerian kidnapping for ransom is rife. The problem has also slowly become a major security challenge for the Nigerian government. State governors even had regularly paid ransoms in order to secure the safety of the victims from the kidnappers but they rarely admit to doing so. Moreover, the president of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari recently shared with the state governors that they need to start reviewing their policy in terms of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles. The Nigerian President also mentioned that the policy could backfire with potentially disastrous consequences, NBC News reported. Aside from reviewing the said policies, Buhari emphasized also to the governors and urged them to work hard in securing the schools in their area of responsibility. Related Article: Woman Turns into Uber Driver Attacker @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell six-tenths of a percentage point to 7.8% in January, according to figures released Friday by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Preliminary estimates show that Massachusetts gained 35,500 jobs in January. This followed a December loss of 8,700 jobs. Over the month, the private sector added 26,300 jobs as gains occurred across all sectors, led by education and health services and professional, scientific and business services. The states labor force participation rate the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed but actively sought work in the last four weeks remained unchanged at 66.5%. Compared with pre-pandemic January 2020, the labor force participation rate is down one-tenth of a percentage point. The January unemployment rate was 1.5 percentage points higher than the national rate of 6.3% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for that month. The most recent national unemployment rate is 6.2%, released March 5 and related to data collected in February. But state-level data lags and February numbers wont come out for a few weeks. Numbers are also delayed because February is a short month. The statistics come from two sources. Jobless numbers come from a survey of households and employment numbers come from a survey of employers. That means the number of jobs can lag because new companies are not included in the survey. The Massachusetts labor force increased by 3,600 from 3,753,100 in December, as 23,300 more residents were employed and 19,700 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. Massachusetts unemployment rate was about 2.9% before the coronavirus pandemic, a level most economists believe indicates full employment. The rate ballooned to 16% in April 2020. From January 2020 to January 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates Massachusetts lost 334,200 jobs. Losses occurred in each of the private sectors with the exception of mining and logging. The largest percentage losses were in leisure and hospitality, with 32.8% of jobs lost; other services, with 18.7% of jobs lost; and education and health services, with 8.7% of jobs lost. Here is a breakdown of job losses and gains by sector: The 18.1 million announced for Kilkenny today will be used to achieve key ambitions such as a Greensbridge boardwalk, refurbishment of squash courts as a cultural hub, and public realm upgrades, Fine Gael Deputy John Paul Phelan has said. The second round of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) will see 11.46 million for phase two of the Abbey Quarter Plan and over 6.64 million for the Kilkenny City Enhanced Liveability Project. Deputy Phelan says it will fund transformation projects that will benefit the community. It will deliver phase two of the Abbey Quarter Plan including a Greensbridge boardwalk to the Abbey Quarter and the refurbishment of the squash courts to serve as a cultural home, among other improvements. The URDF fund will also deliver major improvements through the Kilkenny City Centre Enhanced Liveability Project with funding for smarter travel options and shared spaces along High Street and Rose Inn Street, upgrades along Ormonde Street, better connections for St Kierans Street with High Street and public realm improvements in Carnegie Plaza and the streetscape along Barrack Lane, linking to John Street," says the Fine Gael TD. Based on applications from local authorities, the URDF will see substantial investment in infrastructure, improving transport and connectivity, quality and location of housing, recreational and cultural facilities, among other areas. This new investment will unlock the potential of our urban areas, making the best use of land available, promoting sensible development and compact growth, and ensuring that our urban communities are attractive and vibrant places in which to live, work and visit. The support from the URDF for our communities is more vital than ever with the growth in remote and blended working which means more time spent at home locally, reduced time spent commuting as well as a boost for local businesses. I commend the work of Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Peter Burke and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh OBrien in overseeing the administration of this unprecedented investment in urban regeneration and development. By aligning with both the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan, the URDF focuses investment on infrastructure, including transport, housing and recreation, in a way that improves quality of life for all. I know the work that has gone into planning and developing these transformative projects and Im eager to see their implementation which will benefit us all here in Kilkenny and Carlow.," Deputy Phelan said. MIDDLETOWN As a nonprofit, the Middlesex United Way is lucky to have the opportunity to work alongside some amazing volunteers. Fortunately for us, we are often contacted by college students hoping to volunteer in the form of an internship, where they can develop their own professional skill set while assisting us in our crucial work. Today, we are excited to introduce our newest intern, Caitlin Miller, a junior at Sacred Heart University working toward her bachelors degree in social work. Caitlin will be interning alongside our Community Impact Director, Christina Heckart. Among other duties, she will be assisting with the Middlesex United Way grant process by joining the Community Impact Team meetings and meeting with our current funding partners. During her internship, Caitlin will focus on gathering data related to the Connecticut United Ways COVID-19 Response Fund and the Middlesex United Way COVID-19 fund to help better serve people in the future. She will work to analyze the demographics of who received assistance, as well as review the distribution process to streamline in the event of the need of anther emergency distribution fund in the future. Caitlyn will also gain experience engaging with families and individuals who are recipients of assistance, which is one of her goals for the internship. Alongside interning with Middlesex United Way, Caitlin spends her time raising her 6-month-old daughter, Everly, as well as nannying and working as a Door Dash driver. She is an active member of the community, volunteering at her local church in the infant/toddler classroom. Caitlin has also spent time as a volunteer at Middlesex Health in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where she watched over the babies and helped cuddle them. I am interning at Middlesex United Way to earn field hours for my major, Caitlyn said. I am majoring in social work. I chose Middlesex United Way because it seemed like the right fit for me. I live in the Middlesex County, so I felt like I could help to make a difference in my own community and be familiar with it. Caitlin resides in Clinton with her daughter Everly. In the spirit of giving back and volunteering, we would also like to highlight that to help ensure families have fresh food, especially during this time of need, the Middlesex United Way is partnering again with the USDA Farmers to Families program and St. Vincent de Paul Middletown. They are working to distribute boxes of fresh food to individuals and families at Amazing Grace food pantry, 16 Stack St., Middletown, March 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We are also requesting volunteers to help with the distribution, which will be contact-less, and volunteers will assist with putting food boxes into cars. To sign up, please call 860-346-8695. Farmers Feeding Families is a USDA program created in response to food insecurity as well as farmers suffering from the closure of restaurants due to the pandemic. To learn more about this or other volunteering opportunities, including internship opportunities, please contact our office at 860-346-8695. Kevin Wilhelm is president and CEO of the Middlesex United Way in Middletown. Elif ULUG Translation by Janet MITRANI What is Blue Homeland? The Blue Homeland is Turkeys maritime jurisdiction via ab ipso initio self-proclaimed rights due to the international laws, declared or not declared, but projected to be declared. Turkey still has undeclared maritime zones. Even though, as of now, our maritime jurisdiction has been declared in the Black Sea, in the rest of our country, such as the Aegean Sea, they havent been declared. Today in the Eastern Mediterranean, the western borders have been drawn with Libya. Even though a Continental Shelf Agreement has been signed with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 2011, to partially designate the maritime zones, this development only includes acts such as reporting a set of continental shelf coordinates. Therefore, right now we cannot exactly say that we have an exclusive economic zone border declaration in the Eastern Mediterranean. What do you think about the relations between Israel and Turkey? Israel and Turkey are two countries that have supported each other strategically and maintained a harmonious relationship for years. Turkey was the first predominantly Muslim country to officially recognize Israel after its establishment. During the Ottoman Empire Era and after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, thousands of Jews have moved and been moved from the countries they have been persecuted to the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. Ever since its establishment, many of our Turkish Jewish citizens have moved to Israel, some settling there while some have come back. However, Turkey has always remained as a homeland for our citizens. States dont have friendships, hostilities; states have interests. Turkey and Israel have also occasionally experienced conflicts of interest, and sometimes have united around common interests. Likewise, this is what interstate relations and governing a state requires. States must act pragmatically not ideologically, nor do they... Turkeys foreign policy has always been based on peace, stability, security and equality, and has always given a special emphasis on fairness. Israel is also among the countries we have opposite coasts with, per our Blue Homeland doctrine, that we advocate the justification due to the international law, in the Eastern Mediterranean based on these same principles. Israel just like Libya is a maritime neighbor of Turkey. Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus have also deceived Israel in Eastern Mediterranean just like it did to Egypt and Lebanon (The agreement still has not been passed by the Parliament of Lebanon). Likewise, even though Greece has deceitfully seized Albanias rights with the maritime jurisdiction limitation deal they had signed in the past, Albania realizing the situation quickly, chose to cancel the deal. Turkey, just like it is warning all the countries in the region, is trying to warn Israel about its loss. A maritime jurisdiction deal that will be signed between Turkey and Israel is in the interest of both countries. However, even though a deal is not signed, Turkey can determine its own maritime jurisdiction declaring its exclusive economic zone. So, Israel should never assume that Turkey needs this. If Israel is contemplating its own long-term interests, it should improve relations with Turkey. Have the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus deceived Israel? The Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus have deceived Israel. Everyone is asking me; who can deceive Israel? Well, they have been. The Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus is a small island of 5,670 square kilometers. Israels coastline length is four times that of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus. Due to the proportionality principle, if Israel takes four shares, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus should take one. However, thats not how it happened. They divided it in two, they split it in half. They havent observed neither the proportionality principle, coastline lengths, nor the population in the calculations. The most important principle is the proportionality principle. The Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus has a land area of 5,600 square kilometers. Therefore, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus have seized an area as big as its own and clearly deceived Israel. An article related to this interview was also published in the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. To read this article, you may click the link below: https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/03/10/erdogan-confidante-calls-for-re-normalized-ties-with-israel/ Looking back on the first year of the pandemic, I think we can all agree that COVID-19 was beyond a health crisis, it was a financial one as well, said Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and World Vision will mark the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic declaration on Saturday, March 13, at 10 a.m. during their weekly food distribution at 6400 Woodrow Rd. in Stonecrest. With 560,000 individuals fed through this program, the collaborative effort marks a sobering milestone for the ongoing pandemics impact to local families and those now facing food insecurities. Early last year, New Births ministry program, The Kings Table helped address local food insecurity faced by families in DeKalb County and surrounding areas. The effort began in January 2020 with 300 families taking advantage of free food and other in-demand household items. As the impacts of COVID-19 reached global proportions, New Birth saw a drastic spike in attendance, which now serves approximately 8,000 individuals each week. Looking back on the first year of the pandemic, I think we can all agree that COVID-19 was beyond a health crisis, it was a financial one as well, said Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Our desire to be the hands and feet of God to serve our community remained the same. Im in awe of all that God graced us to accomplish in partnership with like-minded organizations that answered the call to help when it was needed the most. The collaborative effort has expanded beyond the DeKalb County community with partnering ministries based throughout the state of Georgia and beyond. Its always a blessing when World Vision can come alongside our church partners to help when its most needed, said Nate Butler, innovative, engagement and growth strategist at World Vision. What Im most proud of is that our work together went beyond Atlanta. We were able to help New Birth scale significantly throughout the southeast region, assisting them to serve more individuals as well as churches in S. Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida, who in turn served their communities. Since March 11, 2020, New Birth has also partnered with several organizations including DeKalb County Government, City of Stonecrest, Cigna and Diabetes Association of Atlanta to enhance the ongoing outreach effort. Armenias Metsamor nuclear power plant poses a real threat to people in neighboring Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and southern Europe, according to Brenda Shaffer, an international energy and foreign policy specialist and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Global Energy Center. In an article published last week in the USs The Bulletin magazine, Shaffer made her case for why Armenias outdated nuclear plant should be closed permanently. By closing Metsamor, Armenia would not only contribute to the safety of its own citizens and those in neighboring countries but strengthen peace in the South Caucasus, Shaffer wrote. Caspian News reports that Armenias two-reactor Metsamor nuclear power plant is a one-of-a-kind facility in the South Caucasus and is located about 36 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital of Yerevan. The plant was built on an earthquake-prone zone in the town of Metsamor and was put into operation in 1976 without a containment building. In 1988, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the nearby Spitak region, about 70 km (45 miles) north of the plant, leading to deaths of thousands of people and the closure of the facility. But by 1995, the plants second reactor was back in operation. In 2019, the plant generated 27.8 percent or 2 terawatt-hours (TWh) of total electricity produced in Armenia. As far back as 1995, observers termed it a reckless gamble with Armenia's future and the lives of millions of people living in the surrounding countries. At the time, the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington, D.C. said in a report that Metsamor is not in line with Western-style safety standards, comparing it to Ukraines collapsed Chernobyl reactor. That plant, too, lacked a containment facility that would prevent radioactive substances from escaping, in the event of an accident. Metsamor is frequently cited as the most dangerous reactor of its kind in the post-Soviet region and a core of one of the worlds five nuclear disasters waiting to happen along with the UKs Nuclear Submarine Fleet, the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant in Romania, the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant in Russia, and the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in the U.S. In 2011, National Geographic even suggested that Metsamor might be "the worlds most dangerous nuclear plant." Shaffer is convinced that Armenia has viable options, such as thermal plants and renewable sources, to replace the output of Metsamor, over half of which is not even consumed domestically but exported to Iran. In addition, the country with a nearly 3 million population gets the most in-demand energy resource natural gas from Russia, which accounts for 65 percent of the countrys overall energy consumption, according to Shaffer. Most energy in Armenia is used for residential purposes and transportation, with only 15 percent consumed by industry, she wrote, adding that if Armenia shuts down Metsamor NPP and stops electricity exports to Iran, the remaining domestic needs could be met by building one additional thermal-powered electricity plant. The analyst further added that the EU might urge Armenia to consider a closure in light of recent developments, referring to the last years war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The clashes marked the most intense fighting between the two countries since the 1994 ceasefire and resulted in liberation of the Azerbaijani territories that had been illegally occupied by Armenia over the last 30 years. Azerbaijani forces managed to regain control over 300 settlements, including five major cities, in the Karabakh (Garabagh) region, which is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan. Now the overall regional trade and transportation links are expected to undergo a major overhaul in line with the post-war strategy. According to Shaffer, the post-war peace process paved the way for a new road, railway, and energy-development plans that would serve to boost trade and transportation linkages in the South Caucasus region. With the new infrastructure and financing, Armenia could get a fresh opportunity to tap newer, safer, and more diverse energy supplies, the analyst believes. Meanwhile, Armenia and the EU have been negotiating to close Metsamor NPP since the late 1990s. Armenia agreed to shut down the reactor in 2004. The EU had even supplied Armenia with funds to close the plant and find substitute energy supplies. However, Yerevans unwillingness to close the plant led to failure and the grant aid was frozen in 2005. The subsequent formal cooperation agreements between the EU and Armenia, including in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2017 have all failed to produce a final agreement for the closure and decommissioning of the Metsamor plant. Yerevan has reportedly held simultaneous talks with Moscow to extend the reactors lifespan. The Nuclear Safety and Security in Europe resolution notes that 82 out of 184 reactors in Europe have been in operation for 35 years or more, and roughly one in six reactors, including Metsamor NPP, are already outside their 40-year lifespan. The EU has insisted on the shutdown of Armenias outdated nuclear plant and similar facilities in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Lithuania. All except Metsamor was closed. The EU is fully aware of the risks posed by the Metsamor nuclear power plant, therefore, a swift closure and decommissioning of the plant remains a key objective for the EU, as this power plant cannot be upgraded to meet internationally recognized nuclear safety standards, the European Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini said in a statement released in October 2017. In February 2020, the Armenian government included the reactor in the countrys 2040 energy strategy, which highlights the further extension of the plants life and a 12-15 percent increase in its output. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reportedly confirmed the continuation of Metsamor NPPs operation, saying we will extend the lifecycle of the nuclear power station as long as possible although it is clear that it cannot work forever. In late 2020, the Armenian government announced that its Metsamor nuclear power plant would close for five months in 2021 to attempt some upgrades. Federal Look into Taylor's Death Casts Wider Net By The Associated Press LOUISVILLE - Their numbers have dwindled since protesters first flooded Louisvilles streets after police fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her home a year ago, but their push for justice has never waned.A federal investigation of the shooting that has been quietly proceeding could be their last chance.We cant expect people to continue to emotionally and mentally keep moving forward when there hasnt been any justice yet for Breonna Taylor, said Rep. Attica Scott, a state lawmaker who was tear-gassed and arrested during summer protests in the city. Weve been failed every single time from every level of government, and we need a freaking break.That could come in the form of the ongoing inquiry by the U.S. Department of Justice, which appears to have expanded well beyond the actions of the three police officers who fired their guns into Taylor's home on March 13, 2020. Last year, a grand jury formed by state Attorney General Daniel Cameron charged one officer with putting Taylor's neighbors in danger but issued no charges related to her death.The warrant that sent the police to Taylors home was not part of Cameron's criminal investigation, but that document and how it was obtained are under review by federal investigators. And there are signs the investigation could range into the Louisville police response to protests after the shooting.Taylor's death initially flew under the media radar, as the COVID-19 crisis shut down society, but George Floyd's death in Minnesota and the release of a chilling 911 call from Taylor's boyfriend in late May sparked interest in the case.Months of protests, police reforms and investigations followed. The city banned controversial no-knock warrants, hired a new police chief and paid a $12 million settlement to Taylor's mother. Two of the officers who fired shots were dismissed from the department, along with a detective who sought the warrant.Through it all, protesters continued to chant, Arrest the Cops! But that hasn't happened.The federal investigation into her death will be slow and methodical, experts said, examining everything from what the officers may have been thinking that night to how they were trained leading up to the shooting.The civil rights investigation will turn the whole situation upside-down, said Cynthia Deitl, the former head of the FBI's civil rights unit who has overseen similar police shooting probes. You look at everything everything the officers ever learned.It takes time to build a case against police officers, Deitl said.She said a change in administrations in Washington wouldn't have an effect on the officials who are leading the case.After Taylor's front door was breached by officers, her boyfriend fired his gun once, saying later that he feared an intruder was entering the apartment. One officer was struck, and he and two other officers fired 32 shots into the apartment, striking Taylor five times.The FBI has declined to comment on specifics of the investigation, but there are signs that other actions by the Louisville Metro Police Department have drawn their attention. That includes the response to citizen protests, especially in late May and early June when the city was under a curfew and officers patrolled the streets in force.FBI agents have interviewed a local TV reporter who was struck with pepper balls fired by Louisville police during Taylor demonstrations in early summer.They also have interviewed witnesses to the shooting death of West Louisville eatery owner David McAtee, who was killed by a National Guard member after Louisville police sprayed his customers with pepper balls during a curfew prompted by protests. McAtee fired two shots from his gun before he was shot dead.Steve Romines, a lawyer who is suing Louisville police on behalf of McAtees family, said he didnt know if federal investigators' witness interviews were part of a larger investigation tied to Taylor or a separate probe.Despite disappointment with the grand jury outcome, there is cautious and guarded hope that the federal investigation could bring some measure of justice, community activist Christopher 2X said.The FBIs Louisville office has declined to provide details of the federal investigation into the Taylor shooting while it is ongoing.But on a July conference call with an AP reporter and others organized by 2X, Robert Brown, Louisville FBIs special agent in charge, said investigators would look at all aspects of it, where the facts that led up to this, the actual incident and things that might have occurred afterwards. Civil rights violations by individuals acting in an official capacity, like police officers, can bring up to a life sentence in prison upon conviction, according to the Justice Department.Cameron, the Kentucky attorney general, has confirmed that federal investigators were looking at how the warrant was obtained.Two of the Louisville officers, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, who fired guns during the March 13 raid have been dismissed, along with Joshua Jaynes, the detective who sought the warrant and later acknowledged that it contained false information. The third officer, Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg by Taylor's boyfriend during the raid, remains with the department.Jaynes may face scrutiny for a false line in the warrant that he wrote for Taylor's apartment. The detective said he confirmed with a U.S. postal inspector that a suspected drug dealer was receiving packages at Taylor's home. He later admitted he didn't contact the postal service.In a response to a civil lawsuit filed by Taylors boyfriend, Jaynes said he made an honest mistake and did not knowingly break the law.A recent internal investigation of the Louisville Police Department by a consulting firm found numerous problems with Louisville's warrant process. It said supervisors generally approved probable cause statements in search warrants without performing an in-depth review of the content.Proving that Jaynes and other officers were aware they were violating Taylor's or others' civil rights will be key to a conviction in a federal case, Deitl said.It's a high standard.The feds have to prove that the officer knew what he was doing, knew it was wrong and did it anyway, Deitl said.That can lead to long-term investigations that sometime last years.Its frustrating for the public, but what I always try to tell the victim's family is: I know youre antsy; I know you want an answer from us today, Deitl said. But what you really want is an honest and truthful and very thorough investigation, and thats going to take time. WEST COLUMBIA U-Haul has targeted former Kmart stores for redevelopment as self-storage sites nationwide, and the West Columbia's location could be next for the moving and storage giant. AMERCO Real Estate Co., a real estate subsidiary of U-Haul, has applied for zoning exceptions for the 12-acre property on Charleston Highway. The property owner says the deal is still being finalized. But if everything goes through, the nearly 100,000-square-foot building could be retrofitted to house storage units and the large lot could hold U-Haul trucks and trailers available for rent. "Our philosophy is to place U-Haul stores in high-growth residential areas," AMERCO wrote in its proposal. We feel U-Haul would be an appropriate use for the property and there are proven benefits for allowing self-storage facilities in communities." The company said the site would employ 10 to 15 full- and part-time workers and draw customers from residential areas in the 5-mile radius around the store. This is far from the first time U-Haul has sought to create a new storage center in an empty Columbia area big box retail location, said Rox Pollard, a real estate broker with Colliers International specializing in retail properties. The company announced in March 2019 that it had purchased and was converting the former Kmart on Two Notch Road near Columbia Place Mall to a storage facility with 700 units. At that time, U-Haul had also moved its regional offices to a former Ford dealership farther south on Two Notch. Sign up for our Columbia business and real estate newsletter. Get all the latest industry happenings from the Midlands, plus exclusive development news and more in your inbox each week. Email Sign Up! Five years ago in Irmo, Pollard said he brokered the deal to bring another storage provider, Extra Space Storage, to the former St. Andrews Road Kmart. "Typically, Kmarts in particular, are really well located," he said. "That (West Columbia) area is not as vibrant but it's still well located on that corridor." The building is owned by Baker & Baker Real Estate, which helped develop 22 Kmart stores around the Southeast, according to the company's website. It also owns the former Lexington Kmart, which Pollard said the firm is also working to find new use for. Other Baker & Baker properties in the Columbia area include AT&T's regional office, Lowe's Home Improvement and Capitol Square, the shopping center across from House of Raeford chicken plant that the city of West Columbia has marked as a target for redevelopment as part of its so-called River District. Before they closed at the end of 2019, the West Columbia and Lexington Kmarts, as well as one in Greenville, were the last three locations of the long-struggling retailer, once famous for its Blue Light Special, still operating in the Palmetto State. In addition to self-storage other big box retrofit options popular around the Midlands have been churches, gyms and trampoline parks, Pollard said. Hobby Lobby moved into a Kmart in Camden and the popular Rosewood Crossing shopping center on Garners Ferry, housing to Michaels, PetSmart and Marshalls, was once home to the discount retailer. And, most recently, Stars and Strikes bowling alley took a former Irmo Piggly Wiggly site. Want more Columbia area business news? Sign up for our weekly newsletter here. Daniel Andrews may never return as Victorian premier after a horror fall while he was getting ready for work at a holiday home, according to radio presenter Neil Mitchell. Specialists are still evaluating whether Mr Andrews will need surgery to repair his T7 vertebrae after the accident on Tuesday morning at a Mornington Peninsula rental property. While surgeons have so far delayed operating, it is understood they hold 'significant concerns' for his health. Daniel Andrews (pictured with wife Catherine) may never return as Victorian premier after a horror fall while he was getting ready for work at a holiday home, according to radio presenter Neil Mitchell Mitchell has predicted a long road back for Dan Andrews after his serious fall this week Mitchell, a leading Melbourne radio presenter, said he understands it will be a long road ahead for the Premier. 'This is serious stuff. Despite the bravado and I can understand that from the ministers nobody can be sure he'll return as premier,' he said on 3AW. 'I am sure he wants to, I'm sure he intends to and he probably will, but at this stage, nobody really knows. 'I know I disagree with him on a lot of things, a lot of us do, but in the end, we wish him well.' Specialists are still evaluating whether Andrews will need surgery to repair his T7 vertebrae after the accident on Tuesday Acting Premier James Merlino on Thursday said Mr Andrews would eventually return to lead the state. 'I spoke personally with Dan this morning his focus is getting better and the care that he needs,' he said. Mr Andrews also suffered fractures to his left and right ribs, with concern growing over his spine following subsequent CAT scans. The vertebrae injury is considered very serious and surgery would have likely involve adding reinforcing screws and pins. Orthopaedic spine surgeon John Cunningham said the kind of fracture the Premier suffered would be painful. 'It can cause immobility and I would expect the pain to last if not three, maybe six months,' Dr Cunningham told Nine News. 'These fractures can be really common and often caused by minor trauma, but the pain from them can persist for quite some time. 'Fortunately they don't all end up in paraplegia.' A government source said there still remains a '50-50 chance' Mr Andrews will require surgery on his spine. However the head of the intensive care unit where Mr Andrews is recovering said there were no immediate plans for him to go under the knife. Mr Merlino (pictured) revealed Victorians will have a much clearer picture of Mr Andrews's recovery in the coming days and assured residents they will get regular updates on the premier's condition Daniel Andrews fractured his T7 vertebrae (pictured), which is in the middle of his spine after slipping on wet stairs at a Mornington Peninsula holiday rental Mr Merlino, who has been deputy premier since 2014, sought to reassure Victorians he would be able to fill Mr Andrews' shoes for a longer period if required. 'We made a commitment back in 2014 when we first came into government to not waste a day,' he said. 'Government will continue. I'll be the acting premier, leading cabinet.' Mr Andrews was initially treated at Peninsula Private Hospital but transferred to Alfred Trauma Centre in Melbourne after specialists assessed an MRI scan. Associate Professor Steve McGloughlin, the head of the intensive care unit at The Alfred hospital said the premier was 'comfortable and his pain is well-controlled'. The head of the intensive care unit at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne has confirmed his injuries are serious but said he is in a stable condition and there are no immediate plans for surgery A statement from Mr Andrews on Tuesday revealed a series of horrific injuries uncovered by a CT scan (pictured) 'A multidisciplinary team including intensive care, trauma and orthopaedic specialists has developed a treatment plan, together with the Andrews family,' Prof McGloughlin said late on Wednesday. 'Mr Andrews has sustained some serious injuries and his condition is being monitored closely. At this stage there is no immediate plan for surgery.' He has been cleared of any internal or head injuries. 'Heartfelt thanks to the entire team at @AlfredHealth for taking such good care of me. We're so very grateful,' Mr Andrews tweeted on Wednesday. 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 police have arrested a former official of the Bayelsa State Government who accused Governor Douye Diris administration of diverting N3 billion agricultural loan. The former official, John Idumange, headed a state-run radio station, Radio Bayelsa, and was also an aide to the former governor of the state, Seriake Dickson. The N3 billion loan was obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria by Mr Dicksons administration which Mr Idumange was part of. Mr Idumange who said he has filed a complaint with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Mr Diris administration, claimed he had so far recorded 17 cases of diversion of the loan. The police in Bayelsa State on Friday confirmed Mr Idumanges arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He was arrested based on a complaint by the Bayelsa State Government. We have charged the man to court, it is no longer the police that is detaining him, but the courts. We took him to court and the court decided he should be remanded, the Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, Mike Okoli, told NAN. According to the NAN report, Mr Idumange was arraigned for sedition on Thursday before a Chief Magistrate, Mirinn-John Tari, in Yenagoa. The magistrate ordered him remanded in police custody for 30 days to enable the police conclude investigation. The former governor of Bayelsa, Mr Dickson, who is now a senator representing the state, had discredited Mr Idumange over his remark against his successor and the state government. The senator said he had no hand in the attack against Mr Diris administration. He said he remained supportive of the administration. I want to advise that no one who is supportive of me, a member of our party or who claims to be, should be publicly critical of our government. This is unacceptable, he added. Meanwhile, Governor Diri on Monday dismissed Mr Idumanges allegations as a ploy to blackmail and arm-twist his administration to give appointments. Let me say it clearly before the full glare of the press that we are open to criticism if they are constructive, but this one is entirely not based on facts, the funds are being managed by CBN and warehoused at Access Bank. The N3 billion is not in the treasury of Bayelsa Government to be disbursed and the CBN has come here to say that no funds are missing. I want to tell Chief Idumange that I am not the type of person to be blackmailed into giving out appointments, the governor said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT Research Roundup is a monthly feature that offers a sample of recent grants and publications for Emory faculty and staff. To suggest items for the next column, please email your submission to researchroundup@emory.edu. As an academic research institution, Emorys faculty and staff conduct studies across every discipline, from the sciences to the humanities. Heres a sample of recent grant awards and the work they will support, plus highlights from some published research findings. Grants highlighted: Publications highlighted: Grants Rollins receives $6 million grant from Gileads HIV initiative Emorys Rollins School of Public Health has announced a $6 million grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc. over three years to continue to build the capacity of organizations working on the frontlines of the HIV crisis in communities across the Southern United States. Emory will serve as one of four Gilead COMPASS coordinating centers alongside the Southern AIDS Coalition, the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, and Wake Forest School of Divinity to provide direct support to local community organizations to help mitigate the HIV epidemic in the South. This is part of a second wave of funding from Gilead, manufacturer of antiretroviral therapies for HIV/AIDS. Emorys COMPASS coordinating center has directly distributed more than $4.3 million to 104 community organizations, and is directed by Neena Smith-Bankhead, director of capacity building and community engagement. More information here. Collaborators receive grant for Smoke-Free SafeCare intervention Investigators from Rollins School of Public Health and Georgia State University have received a National Cancer Institute grant to collaborate on the development of Smoke-Free SafeCare. The hybrid type 1 trial will be disseminated to families with young children in the child protection system, a high-risk group for tobacco-related cancer disparities. The first year of the five-year grant provides more than $610,000. Principal investigators are Michelle Kegler, professor of behavioral sciences and health education at Rollins, and Shannon Self-Brown, professor and chair of health policy and behavioral sciences at Georgia State University. Winship Cancer Institute team to develop nanoparticle-driven immunotherapy Lily Yang, professor of surgery and the Nancy Panoz Chair of Surgery in Cancer Research, is principal investigator of a new National Cancer Institute grant to develop a targeted immunotherapy that can treat patients with cancer and comorbid atherosclerosis. The first year of the five-year grant provides more than $540,000. The research is expected to generate preclinical data for a future phase I clinical trial. Co-investigators include Lei Zhu, Charles Staley, Bassel El-Rayes and Hanjoong Jo. Exploring ecological consciousness in Atlanta and Germany Jennifer R. Ayres, associate professor of religious education in Candler School of Theology, has been awarded a Collaborative Research Grant from Emorys Halle Institute for Global Research. Ayres and Bert Roebben, professor of religious education at the University of Bonn in Germany, will share the $30,000 award as they pursue their two-year project Religion and the Cultivation of Ecological Consciousness: Place, Narrative and Performance. Ayres and Roebben plan to travel to their respective partner institutions to explore the particular landscape of each place and how its incorporated into ecological learning in the institution. Theyll also develop a hybrid travel seminar and remote course on place, pilgrimage and environmental consciousness for graduate students from both Emory and Bonn. A key element of the course will entail working with students to develop digital practices such as podcasts and documentary footage to strengthen international collaboration in place-based learning efforts. They expect the collaborative research to have broad impact, contributing to new scholarship in the fields of religious and theological education, as well as interdisciplinary research in religion and ecology. The Halle Institute for Global Research at Emory University supports and promotes global research opportunities for faculty, students and visiting scholars. It offers nine different Collaborative Research Grants, open to regular, continuing full-time faculty in all schools and disciplines. Connecting worship with other study and practice disciplines Antonio Alonso, assistant professor of theology and culture in Candler School of Theology, has been awarded a $16,275 Vital Worship Grant for 2021 by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, one of 17 to be given this year. Geared toward teacher-scholars in any field doing integrated research that connects worship with other disciplines of study and practice, the grant funds a research project that shows promise to serve worshiping communities by strengthening Christian public worship spaces. Alonsos project aims to explore the theological significance of the Second Vatican Council through the prism of the ordinary material objects of Christian worship such as communion hosts, new editions of hymnals or devotional materials like home altars and holy cards. Alonso, who is also Candlers inaugural director of Catholic Studies, will be on leave from teaching for one year to focus on the project and ultimately plans to publish a book on his findings. Since it began in 2000, the Vital Worship Grants Program has now awarded over 900 grants to churches, schools and organizations across North America for projects that generate thoughtfulness and energy for public worship and faith formation at the local, grass-roots level. Simpler, more portable ECGs: Emory experts hosting computing challenge Emory biomedical informatics specialists are hosting an international computing contest aimed at reducing the number of leads on a conventional ECG (electrocardiogram), from 12 down to two or three. The goal is to make future ECG devices smaller, more convenient and lower in cost, so they can aid in diagnosing common conditions such as atrial fibrillation or supraventricular tachycardia. Gari Clifford, chair of biomedical informatics, and Matthew Reyna, assistant professor of biomedical informatics and pharmacology and chemical biology, are co-organizers. The contest is part of PhysioNet, an archive of biomedical computing resources supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. It is being co-sponsored by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Google and MathWorks. More information here. Publications Analyzing occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 among Emory health care workers Among 353 health care workers at four Emory hospitals, spending most of a typical shift at bedside and Black race were associated with the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, indicating exposure to the virus, according to a communication published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The Emory staff were part of the COPE (COVID-19 Prevention in Emory Healthcare Personnel) study, designed to assess occupational risk factors contributing to coronavirus exposure. Researchers did not observe an association between seropositivity (the presence of antiviral antibodies in the blood) and other occupational factors such as job title, working in COVID-19 units or performing aerosol generating procedures in COVID-19 units. In the COPE study, a group of Emory health care workers is being followed with monthly surveys on occupational activities and quarterly antibody tests over a full year. The first author of the ICHE paper was infectious disease fellow Jessica Howard-Anderson, with senior author Scott Fridkin, professor of medicine and epidemiology at Emory University School of Medicine and director of antimicrobial stewardship research at Emory Healthcare. Emory Healthcare workers were also part of a broader study of several health care systems, which found that exposure to COVID-19 outside the workplace, as well as Black race, were the strongest predictors of seropositivity. That study was published in Annals of Internal Medicine. First, massive whole-genome study of IBD in African Americans In African Americans, the genetic risk landscape for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is very different from that of people with European ancestry, according to results of the first whole-genome study of IBD in African Americans. Findings of the multi-center study, which analyzed the whole genomes of more than 1,700 affected individuals with Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis and more than 1,600 controls, were published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The lead author was Subra Kugathasan, scientific director of the pediatric IBD program and director of the Childrens Center for Transplantation and Immune-mediated Disorders at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, as well as Marcus professor of pediatrics and human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine. The co-senior authors and co-organizers of the study were Steven Brantfrom Rutgers and Dermot McGovern from Cedars-Sinai. The authors say that future clinical research on IBD needs to take ancestry into account. As part of their analysis, the researchers developed an algorithm that corrects for ancestry when calculating polygenic risk scores, which are tools for calculating gene-based risk for a disease and used for IBD as well as other complex conditions such as coronary artery disease. More here. Multi-species analyses accelerate research into genes linked to tobacco use Animal models can provide valuable information about the human predisposition to tobacco use, finds a meta-analysis led by Rohan Palmer, who directs the Behavioral Genetics of Addiction Laboratory in Emorys Department of Psychology. Translational Psychiatry published the work, which used an integrative framework to explore how genes associated with nicotine exposure in model organisms contribute to the genetic architecture of human tobacco consumption. The Emory team examined whether insights into humans could be gained by integrating data across species. Using a mixed-methods analytical approach, the researchers first identified a set of about 700 genes whose levels are altered in the brains of animals following nicotine exposure. They then showed that these 700 genes accounted for up to one third of the genetic effects on the average amount of cigarettes smoked daily by human participants in other studies. The study provides proof-of-principle that integrating genetic and transcriptomic data across species can speed up the identification and interpretation of genes associated with tobacco addiction in humans. The researchers are now working to further develop and refine their analytical model to see how it may enhance the ability to uncover the biological mechanisms of addiction and promising gene targets for potential treatments. Political hedging versus financial risk As a business term, hedging can mean both trading to insure against future price swings in key goods, or lobbying to influence policy makers decisions. Goizuieta Business School faculty member Suhas Sridharan recently had a paper accepted for publication in Management Science analyzing political hedging as a business strategy, using the energy/utility industry and President Obamas Clean Power Plan as a case study. Political hedging is associated with reduced financial volatility and can be an effective risk management tool, the authors find. The authors include colleagues from University of Oregon, University of Utah and Penn State. The impact of enrollment: lung cancer patients in study reduce smoking rate Winship Cancer Institute investigators Conor Steuer, Suresh Ramalingam and colleagues reported the first comprehensive, prospective study on smoking habits in patients with non-small cell lung cancer in a phase III early-stage trial. Their study, which took advantage of a multicenter trial of bevacizumab conducted by ECOG-ACRIN (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group American College of Radiology Imaging Network), was published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Steuer is assistant professor of hematology and medical oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. The researchers found a high rate of smoking reduction and cessation after patients enrolled in the trial. Out of more than 1,500 patients enrolled, 90% reported a current or previous history of cigarette smoking. Most of those who did not smoke at their enrollment in the study still reported smoking immediately after diagnosis, but only one percent were smoking after one year. Social connectedness key to war veterans mental health The mental health of war veterans is significantly impacted by feelings of social connectedness, as well as sleep quality and anxiety disorders, found a joint study by Clark Atlanta University and Emory. The journal Psychoneuroendocrinology published the work. Second author of the study is Edward Valentin, a graduate student of social work at Clark Atlanta. His advisor, Corinne Warrener, is first author. A veteran himself, Valentin did a rotation at Emory with James Rilling, senior author of the study and a professor of anthropology, to investigate the potential role of oxytocin in veterans mental health. The Rilling Lab is a leader in studies of oxytocin, a hormone known to influence human bonding and other behaviors. Nearly 90 male veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars participated in the study, which included biological sampling for oxytocin levels, as well as a series of mental health questionnaires and interviews. The results showed that while social connectedness was strongly associated with less depression and fewer suicidal symptoms, increased oxytocin did not appear to mediate this relationship. Additionally, sleep quality and anxiety levels were significantly associated with mental health symptoms. The findings suggest that efforts to support the mental health of returning veterans should focus on re-integrating them into society, as well as treating anxiety disorders and sleep problems. Emory co-authors include Lynnet Richey (formerly with the Department of Anthropology) and Adriana Lori, Joseph Cubells and Sheila Rauch (School of Medicine). Emory researchers SNARE new Alzheimers targets Diving deep into Alzheimers data sets, a recent Emory Brain Health Center paper in Nature Genetics spotted several new potential therapeutic targets, only one of which had been previously linked to Alzheimers. The list of 11 genes/proteins named as consistent with being causal may be contributing to Alzheimers pathogenesis through various mechanisms: vesicular trafficking, inflammation, lipid metabolism and hypertension. The researchers identified the targets by tracing connections between proteins that are altered in abundance in patients brains and risk genes identified through genome-wide association studies, which they describe as a new approach. The spousal team of Aliza Wingo, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and Thomas Wingo, associate professor of neurology and human genetics, are first and senior author. Among the new genes identified, they highlighted STX4 and STX6, genes involved in the SNARE complex, which drives vesicular trafficking in neurons. For more, see Lab Land. HBO Max Plans Global Expansion This briefing has ended. Follow our latest coverage of markets, business and the economy. HBO Max plans to expand globally and add an ad-supported version. A recut of Justice League by Zack Snyder is among the films available on HBO Max as AT&T looks to build out its streaming service. Credit... Warner Bros. Pictures HBO Max is going global. The new streaming platform, currently only available to U.S. subscribers, will launch in 61 other markets starting in June. The company also plans to launch an advertising-driven streaming service in the United States at the same time. The announcements came Friday as part of a broader presentation outlining a set of goals for AT&T, which owns HBO. The company hopes to reach between 120 million and 150 million total customers for HBO Max and its traditional HBO TV channel by the end of 2025, a more ambitious target compared with its previous goal of 75 million to 90 million. The company also expects between 67 million and 70 million customers by the end of 2021. It had 61 million as of the end of December, but the number of people actually watching HBO Max is much smaller. About 41.5 million customers are in the United States, and of that group about 17.2 million have HBO Max accounts. That suggests that of the companys new subscriber target, not all of them will necessarily be streaming HBO Max. The company has a complicated setup around HBO Max. People can sign up for the service directly, and those who already pay for the premium cable channel through their cable or satellite provider also have access, but not everyone has set up their streaming account. The service is also offered for free or at a reduced price to AT&Ts wireless customers. The jump into international markets shows how aggressively AT&T needs to expand its streaming enterprise. The addition of an advertising-based service means the company sees an opportunity to capture the ad dollars that have started to move away from traditional television. Its unclear if the ad-supported version will be free or whether it will only be available at a reduced price from HBO Maxs current $15 per month cost. Jason Kilar, the chief executive of WarnerMedia, the unit that manages HBO, said the service is expected to start making money after 2025. It should generate about $15 billion in sales by that year, he added. HBO Max has become a key part of AT&Ts overall strategy to keep and grow mobile customers, so losing money is less of an immediate concern if it helps AT&T retain its core wireless subscribers. Mr. Kilar emphasized HBO Maxs value to the phone business, citing that 25 percent of HBO Max customers have come via AT&T. He ended his presentation with a cliche from the Warner Bros. film archives: Its the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Microsoft takes aim at Google as it supports bill to give news publishers more leverage over Big Tech. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:25 - 0:00 transcript Microsoft Executive Says Tech Consolidation Threatens Journalism Brad Smith, Microsofts president, told Congress he supports the Journalism Competition and Protection Act, which empowers news publishers to collectively bargain with online platforms like Facebook and Google. I think that you all are on the right path. Thats why Microsoft is endorsing the Journalism Competition and Protection Act, the J.C.P.A., to give news organizations the ability to negotiate collectively, including with Microsoft, because as presently drafted, we will be subject to its terms. I hope that the subcommittee will continue its work to think more broadly about the fundamental lack of competition, especially in search and digital advertising, that are at the heart of not just the decline in journalism, but the decline and challenge in many sectors of the economy. What were finding is that the big publishers are not interested in negotiating collectively. The three largest news organizations in Australia are all negotiating separately. It is the small publishers that are negotiating collectively. If this bill is passed, that means that these news organizations would be able to negotiate collectively with us. I assume that they will negotiate effectively with us. It is far bigger than us. It is far bigger than technology. It is more important than any of the products that any of us produce today. And lets hope that if a century from now people are not using iPhones or laptops or anything that we have today, journalism itself is still alive and well because our democracy depends on it. Brad Smith, Microsofts president, told Congress he supports the Journalism Competition and Protection Act, which empowers news publishers to collectively bargain with online platforms like Facebook and Google. Credit Credit... Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Lawmakers on Friday debated an antitrust bill that would give news publishers collective bargaining power with online platforms like Facebook and Google, putting the spotlight on a proposal aimed at chipping away at the power of Big Tech. At a hearing held by the House antitrust subcommittee, Microsofts president, Brad Smith, emerged as a leading industry voice in favor of the law. He took a divergent path from his tech counterparts, pointing to an imbalance in power between publishers and tech platforms. Newspaper ad revenue plummeted to $14.3 billion in 2018 from $49.4 billion in 2005, he said, while ad revenue at Google jumped to $116 billion from $6.1 billion. Even though news helps fuel search engines, news organizations frequently are uncompensated or, at best, undercompensated for its use, Mr. Smith said. The problems that beset journalism today are caused in part by a fundamental lack of competition in the search and ad tech markets that are controlled by Google. The hearing was the second in a series planned by the subcommittee to set the stage for the creation of stronger antitrust laws. In October, the subcommittee, led by Representative David Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island, released the results of a 16-month investigation into the power of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. The report accused the companies of monopoly behavior. This week, the committees two top leaders, Mr. Cicilline and Representative Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado, introduced the Journalism and Competition Preservation Act. The bill aims to give smaller news publishers the ability to band together to bargain with online platforms for higher fees for distributing their content. The bill was also introduced in the Senate by Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat of Minnesota and the chairwoman of that chambers antitrust subcommittee. Global concern is growing over the decline of local news organizations, which have become dependent on online platforms for distribution of their content. Australia recently proposed a law allowing news publishers to bargain with Google and Facebook, and lawmakers in Canada and Britain are considering similar steps. Mr. Cicilline said, While I do not view this legislation as a substitute for more meaningful competition online including structural remedies to address the underlying problems in the market it is clear that we must do something in the short term to save trustworthy journalism before it is lost forever. Google, though not a witness at the hearing, issued a statement in response to Mr. Smiths planned testimony, defending its business practices and disparaging the motives of Microsoft, whose Bing search engine runs a very distant second place behind Google. Unfortunately, as competition in these areas intensifies, they are reverting to their familiar playbook of attacking rivals and lobbying for regulations that benefit their own interests, wrote Kent Walker, the senior vice president of policy for Google. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Decrying Amazons woke values, Marco Rubio comes out in support of a union drive. Union members canvassing at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Ala. Credit... Lynsey Weatherspoon for The New York Times Senator Marco Rubio of Florida became the most prominent Republican leader to weigh in on the unionization drive at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., with a surprising endorsement of the organizing effort on Friday. The days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over, Mr. Rubio wrote in an opinion piece published in USA Today. Heres my standard: When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy I support the workers, he continues. And thats why I stand with those at Amazons Bessemer warehouse today. More than 5,800 workers at the Amazon warehouse, outside Birmingham, are voting by mail this month to decide whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Last week, President Biden posted a video message on Twitter referring to the vote in Alabama and espousing on the importance of unions in helping build the middle class, while excoriating employers who interfere in unionization efforts. He did not mention Amazon by name, but his remarks followed reports that the online retailer was engaged in aggressive anti-union tactics. We welcome support from all quarters, the unions president, Stuart Appelbaum, said in a statement. Senator Rubios support demonstrates that the best way for working people to achieve dignity and respect in the workplace is through unionization. This should not be a partisan issue. The unionization drive has also continued to attract backing from Democrats. A spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an email on Friday that she supported the workers in their effort. Mr. Rubio, who recalls marching in a union picket line with his father, a hotel bartender, accused Amazon of expressing woke values, while bowing to Chinese censorship. And he warned the company not to expect Republicans to come to its rescue and condone its anti-union efforts. Its workers are right to suspect that its management doesnt have their best interests in mind, Mr. Rubio wrote. Wealthy woke C.E.O.s instead view them as a cog in a machine that consistently prioritizes global profit margins and stoking cheap culture wars. The companys workers deserve better. Michael Corkery and Ant Groups C.E.O. resigns, months after China halted the fintech giants I.P.O. Simon Hu, the chief executive of Ant Group, at a conference in Shanghai in September. Mr. Hu asked to resign for personal reasons, the company said. Credit... Cheng Leng/Reuters The chief executive of Ant Group, the Chinese internet finance giant, has stepped down, the company said on Friday, a move that came in the middle of a business overhaul meant to address regulators concerns about its rapid growth. Ant said its chief executive, Simon Hu, had asked to resign for personal reasons. The companys chairman, Eric Jing, was named as Mr. Hus replacement, effective immediately. Mr. Jing, who will remain Ants chairman, previously served as chief executive until December 2019, when Mr. Hu took over the post. Hundreds of millions of people in China use Ants Alipay app to make everyday payments, sock away savings and shop on credit. Ant, which was spun out of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, has faced rising scrutiny from Chinas government, and officials scuttled the companys plans last year to go public in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company had been preparing to raise more than $34 billion by listing its shares in November, in what would have been the largest initial public offering on record. Instead, days before Ants shares were scheduled to begin trading, Chinese officials summoned company executives namely, Mr. Hu, Mr. Jing and Jack Ma, Alibabas co-founder to discuss regulation. The I.P.O. was halted soon after, and financial watchdogs said Ant had taken advantage of gaps in Chinas regulatory system and ordered it to revamp its business. Mr. Hu joined Alibaba in 2005 and was president of its cloud division from 2014 to 2018. He joined Ant as president that year before becoming chief executive in 2019. Mr. Jing, also an Alibaba veteran, has been Ants executive chairman since April 2018. They are both members of the Alibaba Partnership, the companys club of elite management partners. Two Ford family members join the automakers board. Ford Motor said two members of the Ford family have been nominated to join the automakers board of directors, replacing one family member who is retiring and an independent director who has chosen not to seek re-election. Alexandra Ford English, 33, daughter of Fords chairman, Bill Ford, and Henry Ford III, 40, son of Edsel B. Ford II, a current board member, are expected to be elected to the board by shareholders at the companys annual meeting on May 13. Both are great-great-grandchildren of Henry Ford, who founded the company in 1903. Ms. English is a director in corporate strategy at the company. Henry Ford III is a director in investor relations. They will replace Edsel Ford II, 72, who is retiring after being on the board since 1988, and John C. Lechleiter, 67, who joined Fords board in 2013 and is a former president of Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company. Although the Ford family only owns a small portion of the companys common stock, it retains effective control of the automaker though Class B shares with super-voting rights. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Shares of Coupang, the Amazon of South Korea, drift after its I.P.O. A banner for the South Korean retailer Coupang hung in front of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the day the companys shares began trading. Credit... Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange, via Associated Press The stock of Coupang, a start-up in South Korea that is sometimes called the Amazon of South Korea, drifted after trading publicly for the first time in New York on Thursday. Coupang the companys name is a mix of the English word coupon and pang, the Korean sound for hitting the jackpot was founded by a Harvard Business School dropout and has shaken up shopping in South Korea, an industry long dominated by huge, button-down conglomerates. The initial public offering raised $4.6 billion and valued Coupang at about $85 billion, the second-largest American tally for an Asian company after Alibaba Group of China in 2014. Coupangs shares rose 6.6 percent on Friday as trading began but ended the day down 2 percent. Coupang is South Koreas biggest e-commerce retailer, its status further cemented by people stuck at home during the pandemic and those in the country who crave faster delivery. In a country where people are obsessed with ppalli ppalli, or getting things done quickly, Coupang has become a household name by offering next-day and even same-day and dawn delivery of groceries and millions of other items at no extra charge. Lordstown Motors exaggerated interest in its electric vehicles, a short seller claims. The electric Endurance pickup truck made by Lordstown Motors. An investment firm claimed the company had inflated the number of orders for its pickup trucks. Credit... Tony Dejak/Associated Press Shares of Lordstown Motors, an electric-vehicle start-up, fell more than 19 percent on Friday after an investment firm claimed the company had inflated the number of orders for its pickup trucks and overstated its technological and production capabilities. The revelations are the latest to call into question the promises made by an electric vehicle company that has gone public by merging with a shell company that has a stock market listing, cash and no operating business. Lordstown, which gained prominence by buying a former General Motors factory in Ohio to make electric trucks for commercial users, completed its merger with a shell company and started trading on the stock market in October 2020. In a lengthy post on its website, the investment firm, Hindenburg Research, said that Lordstowns claim of having 100,000 pre-orders for its electric pickup truck included tens of thousands from small companies that do not operate fleets, and others who merely agreed to consider buying trucks but made no commitment to do so. Hindenburg said it had bet against Lordstowns stock by selling its shares short, a maneuver used by some professional investors when they believe a stock is overvalued and poised to fall. Our conversations with former employees, business partners and an extensive document review show that the companys orders are largely fictitious and used as a prop to raise capital and confer legitimacy, Hindenburg said. A Lordstown spokesman said, We will be sharing a full and thorough statement in the coming days, and when we do we will absolutely be refuting the Hindenburg Research report. One company that Lordstown said was prepared to buy 14,000 trucks, E Squared Energy, appears to be based in an apartment in Texas, have two employees and owns no vehicles. Hindenburg also unearthed a police report that showed a Lordstown prototype caught fire and burned to a shell during a test drive in January in Michigan. On Friday morning, Lordstown shares were trading at just over $14 a share, down from their close the previous day of $17.71. Former President Donald J. Trump hailed Lordstown in 2018 when it agreed to buy a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that General Motors had closed, and former Vice President Mike Pence participated in an unveiling of the companys truck in June. In September, Mr. Trump hosted Lordstowns chief executive, Steve Burns, at the White House and praised the companys technology. Hindenburg Research gained prominence last year when it released a report saying Nikola, an electric truck start-up, and its executive chairman, Trevor Milton, had mislead investors and exaggerated the capabilities of that companys technology. The revelations resulted in Mr. Miltons departure from Nikola, and prompted General Motors to scale back a partnership with the company. Nikola denied some of Hindenburgs claims but recently acknowledged to the Securities and Exchange Commission that Mr. Milton had made statements that were inaccurate in whole or in part. Target gives up some Minneapolis office space, moving to partial work-from-home model. Target will cease operations in the City Center building in downtown Minneapolis, relocating 3,500 employees. Credit... Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Target, a fixture in downtown Minneapolis, is giving up space in a large office building there, becoming the latest company to permanently allow its staff to spend more time working from home. The retailer told employees it would cease operations in the City Center building in downtown Minneapolis and that the 3,500 employees working there would relocate to other nearby offices, while also working from home part of the time. More than a quarter of Targets corporate employees in the Minneapolis area work in the City Center building. This change is driven by Targets longer-term headquarters environment that will include a hybrid model of remote and on-site work, allowing for flexibility and collaboration and ultimately, requiring less space, the company said Thursday. Office landlords across the country have been struggling to retain tenants as the pandemic drags on and companies realize their staff has been able to work effectively in a remote setting. Empty office buildings are putting a squeeze on city budgets, which are heavily reliant on property taxes. Salesforce, the software company based in San Francisco, adopted a flex model in which most of its employees would be able to come into the office one to three days a week. In a bet that more people would work from home after the pandemic ends, Salesforce acquired the workplace software company Slack in December. After the move, Target said it would still occupy about three million square feet of office space in the Minneapolis area. Its not easy to say goodbye to City Center, but the Twin Cities is still our home after all these years, Targets chief human resources officer, Melissa Kremer, said in an email to employees. Advertisement Continue reading the main story LinkedIn is pausing registrations for new members in China while it addresses legal concerns. Microsoft offices in Beijing. Microsoft owns LinkedIn, which has operated in China by conforming to the authoritarian governments tight restrictions on the internet. Credit... Wu Hong/EPA, via Shutterstock LinkedIn has stopped allowing people in China to sign up for new member accounts while it works to ensure its service in the country remains in compliance with local law, the company said this week, without specifying what prompted the move. A company representative declined to comment further. Unlike other global internet mainstays such as Facebook and Google, LinkedIn offers a version of its service in China, which it is able to do by hewing closely to the authoritarian governments tight controls on cyberspace. It censors its Chinese users in line with official mandates. It limits certain tools, such as the ability to create or join groups. It has given partial ownership of its Chinese operation to local investors. In 2017, the company blocked individuals, but not companies, from advertising job openings on its site in China after it fell afoul of government rules requiring it to verify the identities of the people who post job listings. The backdrop to the suspension of new user registrations is not clear. The government has previously blocked internet services that it believes to be breaking the law. In 2019, Microsofts Bing search engine was briefly inaccessible in China for unclear reasons. Microsoft also owns LinkedIn. Heres what happened in the markets today. United States The S&P 500 inched further into record territory on Thursday, rising 0.1 percent. The index gained 2.6 percent this week, its best weekly performance since early February. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.9 percent. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes jumped as much as 10 basis points, or 0.1 percentage points, to 1.64 percent, its highest level in more than a year. Higher interest rates and tighter central bank policies are now considered to be the single biggest threat to so-called risk assets, mainly stocks, according to a Bank of America survey of fund managers. Investors have grown concerned that the stimulus bill and economic rebound will trigger inflation, prompting central banks to pull back on stimulus measures. Europe The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.3 percent, while the FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 0.4 percent. Data published on Friday showed that the British economy declined 2.9 percent in January as the country entered its third lockdown, shut schools and left the European Union single market and customs union. Separate data for the same month showed the largest monthly drop in trade since records began in 1997. Exports to the European Union dropped 40 percent and imports fell nearly 30 percent. Some of the fall is because of stockpiling at the end of last year, but many businesses struggled to keep trading as they dealt with new customs requirements. Heres how the stimulus bill will help the middle class. Shoppers wait in line at an outlet mall in Southaven, Miss. on Saturday. Many Americans are set to benefit from the new economic relief plan. Credit... Rory Doyle for The New York Times The economic relief plan that is headed to President Bidens desk has been billed as the United States most ambitious antipoverty initiative in a generation. But inside the $1.9 trillion package, there are plenty of perks for the middle class, too. An analysis by the Tax Policy Center published this week estimated that middle-income families those making $51,000 to $91,000 per year would see their after-tax income rise by 5.5 percent as a result of the tax changes and stimulus payments in the legislation. This is about twice what that income group received as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Here are some of the ways the bill will help the middle class. Direct checks Americans will receive stimulus checks of up to $1,400 per person, including dependents. The size of the payments are scaled down for individuals making more than $75,000 and married couples earning more than $150,000. And they are cut off for individuals making $80,000 or more and couples earning more than $160,000. Those thresholds are lower than in the previous relief bills, but they will still be one of the biggest benefits enjoyed by those who are solidly in the middle class. Tax credits for parents The most significant change is to the child tax credit, which will be increased to up to $3,600 for each child under 6, from $2,000 per child. The credit, which is refundable for people with low tax bills, is $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17. The legislation also bolsters the tax credits that parents receive to subsidize the cost of child care this year. The current credit is worth 20 to 35 percent of eligible expenses, with a maximum value of $2,100 for two or more qualifying individuals. The stimulus bill increases that amount to $4,000 for one qualifying individual or $8,000 for two or more. Cheaper health insurance After four years of being on life support, the Affordable Care Act is expanding, a development that will largely reward middle-income individuals and families, since those on the lower end of the income spectrum generally qualify for Medicaid. Because the relief legislation expands the subsidies for buying health insurance, a 64-year-old earning $58,000 would see monthly payments decline to $412 from $1,075 under current law, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A rescue for pensioners One of the more contentious provisions in the legislation is the $86 billion allotted to fixing failing multiemployer pensions. The money is a taxpayer bailout for about 185 union pension plans that are so close to collapse that without the rescue, more than a million retired truck drivers, retail clerks, builders and others could be forced to forgo retirement income. The legislation gives the weakest plans enough money to pay hundreds of thousands of retirees their full pensions for the next 30 years. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The oil industry is avoiding the drill-and-pump cycle when oil prices rise. A drill ship contracted by ExxonMobil off the coast of Guayana in 2018. The temptation to produce more when prices rise has not disappeared completely, especially for countries like Guyana that want to pump as much oil as they can while oil is still valuable. Credit... Christopher Gregory for The New York Times Even as they are making more money thanks to the higher oil and gasoline prices, industry executives pledged at a recent energy conference that they would not expand production significantly. They also promised to pay down debt and hand out more of their profits to shareholders in the form of dividends. I think the worst thing that could happen right now is U.S. producers start growing rapidly again, Ryan Lance, chairman and chief executive of ConocoPhillips, said at the IHS CERAweek conference. Scott Sheffield, chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, a major Texas producer, predicted that American production would remain flat at 11 million barrels a day this year, compared with 12.8 million barrels immediately before the pandemic took hold. Even the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers like Russia surprised many analysts this month by keeping several million barrels of oil off the market, The New York Timess Clifford Krauss reports. OPECs 13 members and nine partners are pumping roughly 780,000 barrels of oil a day less than at the beginning of the year even though prices have risen by 30 percent in recent months. Chevron said this week that it would spend $14 billion to $16 billion a year on capital projects and exploration through 2025. That is several billion dollars less than the company spent in the years before the pandemic, as the company focuses on producing the lowest-cost barrels. So far, these guys are refusing to take the bait, said Raoul LeBlanc, a vice president at IHS Markit, a research and consulting firm. But he added that the investment decisions of American executives could change if oil prices climb much higher. Its far, far too early to say that this discipline will last. Subways new CEO is moving some corporate staff to an office in the Miami-area where he lives, raising questions about the companys Milford headquarters. Subway confirmed it will move an unspecified number of Milford staff south, including managers in marketing, culinary and global strategy. A company spokesperson told Hearst Connecticut Media that less than 10 percent of Milford employees are being affected in the moves, without providing a precise number. The report comes on the heels of 500 layoffs at Subway last year during the pandemic from a Milford work force of about 1,200 people at the start of 2020. Milfords head of economic development Julie Nash responded to a Hearst Connecticut message to Mayor Ben Blake for comment on the Subway decision, with describing as a great relationship the citys dealings with the giant with its headquarters on Sub Way, Theres a lot of restructuring wtih a lot of companies these days, Nash said. We'll see what happens I am confident that they are going to be in Milford for a long time. Fred DeLuca, who founded Subway in Bridgeport in 1965 with backing from Dr. Peter Buck of Danbury and built it into one of Connecticuts best-known, homegrown brands, died of cancer in Florida in September 2015. In November 2019, Subway hired CEO John Chidsey as the permanent replacement for Suzanne Greco, who took over as CEO in 2015 in place of DeLuca, her brother. Between 2006 and 2010, Chidsey led Burger King which has its headquarters in Miami. Chidsey has a large home fronting the Coral Gables Waterway canal south of downtown Miami, last appraised at $6 million two years ago by Miami-Dade County. Subway did not provide additional details immediately Friday in response to a Hearst Connecticut query, with a spokesperson forwarding a corporate statement that the majority of the companys workforce remains at our Milford ... headquarters and that the relocation allows Subway to collaborate more closely with the Independent Purchasing Cooperative based in Miami, which supplies Subway restaurants. In a statement Friday afternoon, state Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, called the news disappointing and said the company has a history as an excellent corporate citizen in Milford. Unfortunately, it is a trend for many companies to relocate employees to be closer to where the CEO lives and its unfortunate there will be more layoffs as units will close here, Maroney said in a press release. The good news is, a majority of employees will remain in Milford. In April of 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor approved enhanced unemployment benefits for about 100 workers that lost their jobs at Subways headquarters many of them outside information technology contractors under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance, invoked to help workers whose companies move jobs to countries with lower labor costs. Chidsey took the Subway job with the central task of revamping Subways appeal, as Jersey Mikes Subs gains steam and the fast-food old guard of McDonalds and Burger King expand menus and redesign restaurants. Within a few months, Chidseys job would morph into crisis response as the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the food sector. Chidsey told NBCs Today last May that about 18 percent of Subways U.S. locations closed during the first wave of the pandemic, largely those located in malls, college campuses and other sites subject to mandatory closures. A new team basically came to Subway in the last year, Chidsey said in response to a question on the layoffs after he took the job. We were already underway with restructuring and making the company more entrepreneurial, making it more efficient, so all the plans that we had really were laid well before coronavirus. I will be honest coronavirus caused us to move up one or two of our staged moves. I think Subway will actually do quite well in this environment, Chidsey added. We have such a smaller footprint than our traditional [quick service restaurant] competitors, and because of that we can make money at a much lower sales level than a lot of our competitors. For many years, Subway was a fixture at the top of the influential Franchise 500 list published by Entrepreneur Media, the first stop where many would-be franchise owners shop for potential business territories to purchase. But Subway has plummeted since 2016 on the Franchise 500, and in this years installment dropped off the list completely. Jersey Mikes, McAlisters Deli, Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches and Firehouse Subs have hung onto their Franchise 500 rankings amid significant competition from chains offering Mexican fare, fried chicken and emerging concepts like Hawaiian poke. According to Entrepreneur, as of 2019 a Subway franchise cost $15,000 to cover the initial fee and anywhere from $140,000 to $340,000 for startup costs, with franchise rights extending 20 years before renewal. At that point, franchisees paid 8 percent of their receipts as a royalty fee and chipped in another 4.5 percent for advertising the company coordinates. Connecticut lost another homegrown franchise success story in 2018, after Edible Arrangements moved its headquarters to Atlanta after hiring a new CEO. Several other heads of Connecticut-based companies have Florida abodes, including Steve Hafner of Kayak and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment in Stamford and Thomas Peterffy of Interactive Brokers in Greenwich. A few took their headquarters offices with them to Miami in establishing residency there, including Barry Sternlicht with Starwood Capital Group and Eddie Lampert with his ESL Investments. A little bit of irony, because Connecticut benefited from its ... proximity to New York City, in that a lot of CEOs were living in Greenwich so they moved their companies to Connecticut, said Fred McKinney, a Quinnipiac University professor who chairs the schools entrepreneurship and innovation programs. The CEOs location and that of the senior management where they actually live is a factor. I dont think its the only factor, but it is one. Includes prior reporting by Luther Turmelle. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman [March 11, 2021] Oak Street Health Announces Pricing of $800.0 Million of Convertible Senior Notes Oak Street Health, Inc. ("Oak Street") (NYSE: OSH), a network of value-based, primary care centers for adults on Medicare, today announced the pricing of $800.0 million aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2026 (the "notes") in a private offering (the "offering") to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Oak Street also granted the initial purchasers of the notes a 13-day option to purchase up to an additional $120.0 million aggregate principal amount of the notes. The sale of the notes to the initial purchasers is expected to settle on March 16, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to result in approximately $780.5 million in net proceeds to Oak Street after deducting the initial purchasers' discount and estimated offering expenses payable by Oak Street (assuming no exercise of the initial purchasers' option to purchase additional notes). The notes will be senior, unsecured obligations of Oak Street. The notes will not bear regular interest, and the principal amount of the notes will not accrete. The notes will mature on March 15, 2026, unless earlier redeemed, repurchased or converted. Oak Street may not redeem the notes prior to March 20, 2024. Oak Street may redeem for cash all or any portion of the notes, at its option, on or after March 20, 2024, if the last reported sale price of Oak Street's common stock has been at least 130% of the conversion price then in effect for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive), during any 30 consecutive trading day period (including the last trading day of such period) ending on and including the trading day preceding the date on which Oak Street provides notice of redemption at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be redeemed, plus any accrued and unpaid special interest to, but excluding, the redemption date. No sinking fund is provided for the notes, which means that Oak Street is not required to redeem or retire the notes periodically. Holders of the notes will have the right to require Oak Street to repurchase all or a portion of their notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change (as defined in the indenture governing the notes) at a purchase price of 100% of their principal amount plus any accrued and unpaid special interest. In connection with certain corporate events or if the Company calls any notes for redemption, the Company will, under certain circumstances, increase the conversion rate for noteholders who elect to convert their notes in connection with any such corporate event or convert their notes called for redemption. The notes will be convertible at an initial conversion rate of 12.6328 shares of Oak Street's common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $79.16 per share, which represents a conversion premium of approximately 42.5% to the last reported sale price of $55.55 per share of Oak Street's common stock on The New York Stock Exchange on March 11, 2021). Prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding December 15, 2025, the notes will be convertible at the option of the noteholders only upon the satisfaction of specified conditions and during certain periods. On or after December 15, 2025 until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day preceding the maturity date, the notes will be convertible at the option of the noteholders at any time regardless of these conditions. Conversions of the noteswill be settled in cash, shares of Oak Street's common stock, or a combination thereof, at Oak Street's election. In connection with the pricing of the notes, Oak Street entered into privately negotiated capped call transactions with certain of the initial purchasers or their respective affiliates and other financial institutions (the "option counterparties"). The capped call transactions will cover, subject to anti-dilution adjustments, the number of shares of common stock initially underlying the notes sold in the offering. The capped call transactions are expected generally to reduce potential dilution to Oak Street's common stock upon any conversion of notes and/or offset any cash payments Oak Street is required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to a cap. The cap price of the capped call transactions will initially be $138.875 per share, which represents a premium of 150% over the last reported sale price of Oak Street's common stock of $55.55 per share on The New York Stock Exchange on March 11, 2021, and is subject to certain adjustments under the terms of the capped call transactions. Oak Street has been advised that, in connection with establishing their initial hedges of the capped call transactions, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates expect to purchase shares of Oak Street's common stock and/or enter into various derivative transactions with respect to the common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricing of the notes. This activity could increase (or reduce the size of any decrease in) the market price of the common stock or the notes at that time. In addition, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to the common stock and/or purchasing or selling the common stock or other securities of Oak Street in secondary market transactions from time to time prior to the maturity of the notes (and are likely to do so on each exercise date for the capped call transactions, which are expected to occur on each trading day during the 40 trading day period beginning on the 41st scheduled trading day prior to the maturity date of the notes, or following any conversion, repurchase or redemption of the notes, to the extent Oak Street exercises the relevant election under the capped call transactions). This activity could also cause a decrease or avoid an increase in the market price of the common stock or the notes, which could affect the ability of noteholders to convert the notes and, to the extent the activity occurs following a conversion or during any observation period related to a conversion of notes, it could affect the number of shares and value of the consideration that noteholders will receive upon conversion of the notes. Oak Street intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to pay the cost of the capped call transactions described above. If the initial purchasers exercise their option to purchase additional notes, Oak Street expects to use a portion of the net proceeds from the sale of such additional notes to enter into additional capped call transactions with the option counterparties. Oak Street intends to use the remainder of the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, capital expenditures, and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions. However, it has not designated any specific uses for such remainder of the net proceeds and has no current agreements with respect to any strategic transactions. The notes are being offered only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act. Neither the notes nor the shares of Oak Street's common stock potentially issuable upon conversion of the notes, if any, have been, or will be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. About Oak Street Health: Founded in 2012, Oak Street Health is a network of value-based, primary care centers for adults on Medicare. With a mission of rebuilding healthcare as it should be, the company operates an innovative healthcare model focused on quality of care over volume of services, and assumes the full financial risk of its patients. Oak Street Health currently operates more than 80 centers across Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Indiana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, New York and Mississippi. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as those, among others, statements concerning the expected closing of the offering or completion of the capped call transaction. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the offering and the impact of general economic, industry or political conditions in the United States or internationally. There can be no assurance that Oak Street will be able to complete the offering or the capped call transaction on the anticipated terms, or at all. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events, which statements apply only as of the date of this press release. Additional risks and uncertainties relating to the offering, Oak Street and its business can be found under the heading "Risk Factors" in Oak Street's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements represent Oak Street's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. Oak Street expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, except as may be required under applicable law. Source (News - Alert) : Oak Street Health View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210311006107/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BAGHDAD, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi health workers have expressed their appreciation for the Sinopharm vaccines, saying the safety and efficacy of the China-developed vaccine is worthy of trust and confidence. "I am very excited. I advise all the health workers and anyone who feels endangered by the coronavirus to take this vaccine," said Dr. Husam Baban, head of the main hospital in the town of Dhuluiyah, some 90 km north of Baghdad. "I assure everyone that this vaccine is very good, and I haven't felt any pain or side effects," Baban told Xinhua after taking his first shot. Baban believes that the Chinese vaccine is very important because it will contribute to the return to normal life. Faryad al-Dhari, a physician in Dhuluiyah hospital, also noted after taking the first shot of the Chinese vaccine that "the Sinopharm vaccine is safe." "In addition to its safety, there are other comprehensive indicators to evaluate the vaccine, such as its effectiveness, accessibility, and affordability," al-Dhari added. The China-developed vaccine has brought hope for a new beginning to Iraqis who are combating the disease and striving to overcome the economic crisis afflicting their country due to the pandemic. Ziyad al-Jubouri, professor of economics at the University of Baghdad, told Xinhua that the arrival of the Chinese vaccine is "a glimmer of hope for Iraqis, as it launched the first steps to eradicate the disease to restore our economic activities." He said that vaccination would reduce coronavirus infections and thus would serve those who are struggling to make a living, as it would end the need for restrictions such as curfews. At dawn on March 2, a C-130 military plane with the China-donated Sinopharm vaccines arrived at Baghdad airport. The Chinese vaccines came at a critical time that saw an increase in coronavirus infections, especially after the spread of the new coronavirus strain. Upon the arrival of the China-donated vaccines, Iraq's Ministry of Health announced that Iraq wants to purchase millions more doses of the Chinese vaccine to meet the country's urgent need to control the pandemic. Like other Middle Eastern countries, Iraq faces great difficulty in obtaining COVID-19 vaccines due to the uneven distribution of vaccines worldwide. However, the country started to roll out its vaccination program with the arrival of the Chinese vaccine. Observers believe that China's pledge to make the COVID-19 vaccines a global public good would play a crucial role in addressing the uneven vaccination situation all around the world. Nadhum Ali Abdullah, a political expert with Arab Forum, a Baghdad-based think tank, said China's aim is to build a community of health for all by expanding access to vaccines for developing countries. "China is not seeking to achieve political gains from the vaccine issue, on the contrary, China repeatedly announced its readiness to make its vaccines available to other countries," Abdullah told Xinhua. Like many developing countries, Iraq is hoping that China's vaccination policy of making the COVID-19 vaccines a global public good can help bolster the war-torn country's struggle to combat the pandemic. Muthanna al-Mazrouei, a professor of geopolitics at al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, said "Iraq received great support from China, which made it easier for the authorities to put in place appropriate plans to confront the pandemic." "China has worked extensively to confront the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic, including the production of vaccines, which enabled it to be at the forefront of countries in combating the virus," al-Mazrouei added. From March 7 to April 26, 2020, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help fight the disease. China has also been sending batches of medical aid to Iraq since the early stages of the pandemic. Enditem New Delhi, March 12 : A six-member delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs met the Election Commission on Friday and raised the issue of "attack" on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram where she was injured while campaigning. New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) A six-member delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs met the Election Commission on Friday and raised the issue of "attack" on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram where she was injured while campaigning. Trinamool MP Saugata Roy said that there should be "unbiased investigation" and the poll panel should decide on it. "We have demanded a high-level probe into attack on Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram. When the incident happened, there was no police presence there. There is no doubt that the attack was part of deep-rooted conspiracy," Roy said. The BJP has also urged for a free and fair probe into the incident. The injured chief minister on Thursday vowed to return soon to canvassing for the upcoming Assembly elections, which is scheduled in March and April over eight phases. Releasing a video clip from her hospital bed at SSKM where she was rushed to late Wednesday, the Trinamool Congress supremo said: "I received injuries in my leg and ligaments. Hopefully I will be discharged in a couple of days. There will be problems in my leg but I shall not cancel any of my political programmes. I will take part in the campaigns on a wheelchair, if necessary". She also appealed to all her party workers and supporters to maintain discipline and peace across the state. "I urge everyone not to indulge in any action that will disrupt normal life," she added. Banerjee is contesting from the Nandigram assembly constituency in Purba Medinipur district against former party MLA and turncoat Suvendu Adhikari, who has joined the BJP. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text News Around the Republic of Mexico Lawmakers Approve Bill to Legalize Recreational Pot The bill will now have to pass Mexico's upper house of Congress, the Senate, where it is broadly anticipated to be passed. President AndrAs Manuel LApez Obrador has expressed his support of the bill. Mexico City - Mexican lawmakers on Wednesday night greenlighted a bill to legalize marijuana for recreational, medical, and scientific uses. The Mexican legislature's lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, passed the legislation by a 316-129 vote, with 23 abstentions. The ruling followed a decision by the The bill will now have to pass Mexico's upper house of Congress, the Senate, where it is broadly anticipated to be passed. The bill was previously passed by the Senate The legislation as it currently stands allows consumption for recreational purposes for those over 18 years of age, as long as it does not affect third parties, especially minors. In addition, it allows individuals to carry up to 28 grams (1 ounce) of marijuana, but if caught with more than one ounce they would be fined. They could face jail time if they had more than 5.6 kilos (12 pounds). The bill also contemplates the possibility of establishing cannabis associations to cultivate and possess up to four plants per member and a maximum of 50 plants in total for recreational use. It emphasizes that the production of cannabis and its derivatives will have the following purposes: Self-consumption: Production at home for personal use for recreational purposes and production by associations of cannabis for consumption by associates for recreational use; production for commercialization and sale for recreational purposes; production for research purposes, and production of hemp for industrial purposes. A system of licenses has been established that requires individuals, not just associations of users, to have a permit to grow plants for personal use. These licenses are required for the entire chain of production, distribution, transformation and sales. The bill also mentions that the sale of cannabis and its derivatives for recreational use will be carried out exclusively within the national territory, in establishments authorized by the Commission under the terms of this Law. In the case of medicinal, palliative, pharmaceutical uses, or for the production of cosmetics, as well as scientific use for said purposes, the provisions of the General Health Law and other applicable regulations will be followed. Sources: diputados.gob.mx - elpais.com - abc.es - Mexican lawmakers on Wednesday night greenlighted a bill to legalize marijuana for recreational, medical, and scientific uses.The Mexican legislature's lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, passed the legislation by a 316-129 vote, with 23 abstentions. The ruling followed a decision by the Mexican Supreme Court in 2018 ruling that the federal prohibition of recreational use of the drug is unconstitutional.The bill will now have to pass Mexico's upper house of Congress, the Senate, where it is broadly anticipated to be passed. The bill was previously passed by the Senate in November, but it will have to be voted on again following changes made in the lower chamber, to be ratified before April 30.The legislation as it currently stands allows consumption for recreational purposes for those over 18 years of age, as long as it does not affect third parties, especially minors. In addition, it allows individuals to carry up to 28 grams (1 ounce) of marijuana, but if caught with more than one ounce they would be fined. They could face jail time if they had more than 5.6 kilos (12 pounds).The bill also contemplates the possibility of establishing cannabis associations to cultivate and possess up to four plants per member and a maximum of 50 plants in total for recreational use.It emphasizes that the production of cannabis and its derivatives will have the following purposes: Self-consumption: Production at home for personal use for recreational purposes and production by associations of cannabis for consumption by associates for recreational use; production for commercialization and sale for recreational purposes; production for research purposes, and production of hemp for industrial purposes.A system of licenses has been established that requires individuals, not just associations of users, to have a permit to grow plants for personal use. These licenses are required for the entire chain of production, distribution, transformation and sales.The bill also mentions that the sale of cannabis and its derivatives for recreational use will be carried out exclusively within the national territory, in establishments authorized by the Commission under the terms of this Law.In the case of medicinal, palliative, pharmaceutical uses, or for the production of cosmetics, as well as scientific use for said purposes, the provisions of the General Health Law and other applicable regulations will be followed. Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Dogged already by rows with European politicians, AstraZeneca was forced anew to defend its coronavirus vaccine on Friday over concerns about a potential link to blood clots. The decision of some countries in Europe and Asia to suspend their use of the COVID-19 jab was extra bad news for the UK-based pharmaceutical company, which has taken a knock with investors even as authorities around the world insist the jab remains safe. "An analysis of our safety data of more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country" from the jab, AstraZeneca said. "In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than would be expected among the general population." The jab, developed with Oxford University, forms the mainstay of Britain's vaccination programme, and of many developing economies. It is relatively cheap, and easier to store than other jabs. But it has been repeatedly hit by controversy in Europe, with some governments initially refusing to certify its use for people aged over 65initially over sparse data proving it was safe for the elderly, although this has now been provided. The company has also been embroiled in a dispute with the European Union over its delivery schedule, amid accusations that it is favouring Britain because its home country secured a contract earlier, prior to its full exit from the EU. The controversies have taken a toll on public confidence in Europe, with millions of AstraZeneca jabs sitting unused to the consternation of experts who say that needless rows are setting the inoculation campaign back. "When something bad happens after you have had a vaccination, it's natural enough to wonder whether the vaccine was the cause," said Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol in southwest England. But in any mass inoculation campaign, "unexpected and unusual illnesses are going to happen in the period following vaccination by chance", he said. "In the meantime the risk benefit balance is very clearbetter to get vaccinated as soon as the invitation arrives both to minimise your personal risk and to help get the epidemic under control, so we can all progress towards a more normal future." 'Dubious' politics This week Denmark, Norway and Iceland all paused their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots. Italy and Austria have also stopped the use of shots from separate batches, while Bulgaria and Thailand said they would delay its rollout. However, the World Health Organization earlier Friday said there was no reason to stop using the vaccine, stressing there was no causal link between the jab and any clotting. A range of other health authorities have also insisted it is safe, including the European Medicines Agency. But the EMA on Friday also said that severe allergies should be added to its possible side-effects. Britain began the world's first vaccination drive in the general population in December, underpinned largely by the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab and another from Pfizer-BioNTech, and has strenuously defended AstraZeneca's safety and efficacy. But the impact of the rolling disputes is being seen on the London stock market. In Friday afternoon trading, AstraZeneca shares were down 1.11 percent at 6,935.00 pence. They have lost five percent over the year to date, compared to a rise of 4.50 percent for London's FTSE-100 share index. "Coming on top of reports in some countries that are linking the vaccine to blood clots, the company can't seem to catch a break when it comes to reports around its vaccine," CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson said. The EU delivery shortfalls were "more of an optics problem than anything else", he added. "The reality is that the EU currently has up to 11.5 million unused vaccine doses due to a reluctance to take the vaccine as a result of dubious efficacy claims by some European politicians, which has meant that uptake of the vaccine has struggled to gain traction." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Top Poker Vlogs Of The Week: Mar 1-7 March 12 2021 Jesse Fullen Check out our favorite Poker Vlogs from the last week. If we missed any of your favorites from that last week, let us know on social media! Greg Goes All In I make poker memes and poker vlogs for degenerates like you. Greg showcases his excellent sense of humor in all of his uploads. If youre new to his channel, smash that subscribe button. Follow Greg on Twitter here Ben Deach Ben Deach heads back to the Peppermill Poker Room and Atlantis Poker Room in Reno, Nevada. Ben also opens up and answers the top questions from his youtube comments. Great poker vlogger we often suggest. Follow Ben on Twitter here The Poker Odyssey Poker VLOG Episode #1 Caleb is creating a poker vlog that Solve for Why is supporting and hosting on their channel. The thing that really captures you in this successful first vlog from Caleb is his timing for a trip to Texas. Caleb heads into Texas as the crazy winter storm from late Feb is quickly approaching. Definitely one you will want to watch. Follow Caleb on Twitter here PokerfaceAsh This is just PokerfaceAsh's 3rd poker vlog on her YouTube channel. Ash heads to the Venetian to showcase some of their deepstack tournaments. Follow Ashley on Twitter here Kyle Fischl Vlog #74 and Kyle shows you what it looks like to run like God. Its like watching a scripted drama and almost every hand ends perfectly. Kyle has a good eye and tells a good story as he describes his hands. Definitely worth checking out. Follow Kyle on Twitter here Third wave of COVID-19 could be as severe as second one: Report Under Quad initiative, India to produce COVID-19 vaccines for Indo-Pacific region India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 12: In their first summit, the leaders of Quad countries on Friday decided to launch a mega vaccine initiative under which coronavirus vaccines will be produced in India for the Indo-Pacific region with financial assistance from the US and Japan while Australia will contribute in logistical aspects. The Quad leaders also delved into the evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific and vowed to work unitedly for ensuring peace and stability in the region. "A free and open Indo-Pacific is essential to each of our futures," US President Joe Biden said in the meeting. Quad has come of age; its agenda makes it a force for global good: PM Modi on Quad Summit In his remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Quad has come of age and its agenda covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes it a force for global good. Briefing reporters on the summit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said it was decided that India's manufacturing capacity is something that is going to be leveraged to make US vaccines. He said the financing for creation of additional capacities will come from the US and Japan while Australia will contribute to the last mile logistics and delivery issues. Australia will finance countries which are going to receive the vaccines. "In today's context, it is one of the most important initiatives. We are talking about huge investments in creating additional vaccine capacities in India for exports to countries in the Indo-Pacific region for their betterment. We are talking about producing a billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2022," he said. Quad going to be vital arena for cooperation in Indo-Pacific: Joe Biden He said the summit saw Quad leaders adopting a positive agenda focusing on contemporary issues such as vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies. Shringla said the vaccine initiative is a special one which is designed pro-actively to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 among countries in the Indo-Pacific. "India welcomes Quad vaccine initiatives as it recognises our own manufacturing capacities and capabilities," he said. Shringla said Friday's virtual summit has set a benchmark for Quad's future efforts in the interests of Indo-Pacific region. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 23:05 [IST] STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Yes, Theyre Open is a web series highlighting local bars and restaurants that are open for takeout, delivery, pickup or dining during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Live streams from the featured restaurants are broadcast on the Advance Facebook page every weekday around 3 p.m. On Thursday, the Advance/SILive.com visited The Hop Shoppe at 372 Van Duzer St., which offers pickup and indoor dining from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information, visit TheHopShoppe.com. YES, THEYRE OPEN: The Hop Shoppe is open for indoor dining and pickup at 372 Van Duzer St. The restaurants hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Friday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, visit TheHopShoppe.com. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Thursday, March 11, 2021 Staten Island restaurant owners: If you would like your establishment featured for free as part of Yes, Theyre Open, email reporter Victoria Priola at vpriola@siadvance.com. WANT MORE YES, THEYRE OPEN? Check out the listings below or check out all of our previous coverage here. Kills Boro Brewing Co./Craft House, 60 Van Duzer St. The RoadHouse, 1400 Clove Road Killmeyers Old Bavaria Inn, 4254 Arthur Kill Road Sals Bakery, 245 Richmond Valley Road Tensions Between NSW, Queensland and the Federal Government Flare Over New Tourism Package New South Wales (NSW) state ministers say they are being left behind in the newly announced federal tourism support package. The package, announced on March 10, is part of a $1.2 billion support package for the struggling Australian tourism industry and will subsidise half the cost of 800,000 airfare tickets for domestic travellers to 13 regions. Of the 13 announced destinations, only one location in NSW was listed. Meanwhile, Queensland had five locations that occupied the list of eligible destinations. NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres says it appeared the federal government was rewarding bad behaviour, referring to Queenslands tendency to do snap border closures which destroyed their own tourism sector. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian also expressed her disappointment at the announcement. She was frustrated at the contrast in the level of support given to Sydney, which had been smashed by COVID, compared to Queensland. It is frustrating. I think that the tourism problem in Queensland is completely self-inflicted, Berejiklian told 2GB radio. I would love to see some measures to get people back to the (Sydney) CBD and spend money. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is also unhappy with the package, saying it failed to support Queenslanders who wished to travel within the state. The program, scheduled to run from April to July, is the next step in economic support for the tourism industry after JobKeeper ends in March. However, airfare subsidies only apply to interstate flights, meaning that state borders must remain open to receive the programs benefits. Prime Minister Scott Morrison stressed the listed destinations were based on tourist regions affected by international border closures rather than domestic ones. Depending on the industry response, the list was open for expansion to more destinations in the future. Morrison noted that tourism within regional NSW saw a strong rebound from people travelling within the state. In NSW in particular, in many locations weve seen, because of the internal travel, the returning strength of the Australian economy, he said. However, Ayres said one fundamental tourist area hardest hit by the lack of international tourists was Sydney, with some hotels sitting below 10 percent capacity. Theres an incentive to encourage people from Sydney to travel outside of Sydney and into other states, Ayres told 2GB radio. But theres no incentive for people to travel from around Australia into NSW, and particularly into Sydney. However, federal minister Peter Dutton has called out the infighting between the state governments, saying it was playing politics with the program. There are lots of people that will take any dollar that you give them, and if you give them one dollar, they ask for a second, Peter Dutton told Nine. The fact is mums and dads love this policy because they want a cheap airfare and they want to go for a holiday, they want to be able to spend money in regional areas. 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 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 11, 2021) - PARKIT ENTERPRISE INC. (TSXV: PKT) (OTC: PKTEF) ("Parkit" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire a property located in Ottawa, Ontario (the "Property") for an aggregate purchase price of $28,500,000, subject to customary adjustments (the "Proposed Acquisition"). The vendor of the Property, Access Self Storage Inc. (the "Vendor"), is a related party to Parkit and the Proposed Acquisition constitutes a non-arm's length transaction. It is anticipated that the Proposed Acquisition will be completed on March 18, 2021, concurrent with the anticipated closing of the Company's previously announced private placement of common shares (see press releases dated March 1, 2021). Property and Industrial Real Estate Growth The Proposed Acquisition continues Parkit's growth as an industrial real estate platform with the addition of a Class A industrial building with a fully tenanted 180,000 square feet of rentable space on 7 acres of land. Steven Scott, the Chair of Parkit, states, "The Proposed Acquisition is another great purchase, which will add significant cash flows, as the Company continues to grow its platform beyond the Greater Toronto Area." Purchase Price and Payment The purchase price of $28,500,000, subject to adjustments, will be satisfied through the issuance of an aggregate of 2,667,000 common shares in the capital of Parkit at a deemed price of $1.50 per share with the remainder of the purchase price being paid with funds on hand. The common shares issued in connection with the Proposed Acquisition will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day. Conditions Precedent to the Acquisitions The closing of the Proposed Acquisition is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, completion of satisfactory due diligence, obtaining first mortgage commitments, satisfactory environmental site assessment reports and acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). Exemption from MI 61-101 and TSXV Policy 5.9 As the Vendor is a non-arm's length party to Parkit, the Proposed Acquisition is considered to be a "related party transaction" under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") and TSXV Policy 5.9. Parkit will rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61-101 and TSXV Policy 5.9, in respect of the Proposed Acquisition set forth in Section 5.5(b) (Issuer Not Listed on Specified Markets) and Section 5.7(a) (Fair Market Value Not More Than 25% of Market Capitalization) of MI 61-101, respectively. About PARKIT Parkit is an industrial real estate platform focused on the acquisition, growth and management of strategically located industrial properties across key markets in Canada, with a focus on the Greater Toronto Area+ ("GTA+"), Ottawa and Montreal, to complement its parking assets across the United States. For further information: please contact Mr. Steven Scott: Investor Relations, Contact Number: 604-424-8700, Email: ir@parkitenterprise.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the 1933 Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Forward-Looking Information: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein is forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information in relation to: statements as to the closing of the Proposed Acquisition and the private placement and the timing thereof; and the receipt of regulatory approvals and other conditions precedent in connection with the closing of the Proposed Acquisition. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. These risks, uncertainties, and factors may include, but are not limited to the inability to satisfy the closing conditions for the Proposed Acquisition or the private placement, general business uncertainties, and in particular uncertainties relating to the impact and duration of COVID-19 on future financial performance. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what impacts they will have on the Company. A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward looking information can be found in Parkit's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although Parkit has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Parkit as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. However, Parkit expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76953 Then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) and then Chinese Vice Chair Xi Jinping talk during an expanded bilateral meeting with other U.S. and Chinese officials in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on Feb. 14, 2012. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) US Needs a Strong Counterattack as the CCP Regime Poses the Biggest Threat Commentary Since President Joe Biden took office, his administration has repeatedly emphasized that America is back. The Biden administrations foreign policies have attempted to be all-encompassing by demonstrating leadership in all areas, but so far, the new administration still does not have an effective approach to deal with the Chinese communist regime. Leading the world will be just an empty phrase if the United States cannot muster enough strength for a powerful pushback against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP is now openly challenging the power of the United States, and it has been preparing for this for 71 years. The CCP sent troops to the Korean peninsula, invaded South Korea, and entered a war with the United States in 1950. Since then, the CCP has never stopped its anti-U.S. propaganda. The CCP has regarded the United States as an enemy since the beginning. Deng Xiaopings approach of hiding ones capabilities and biding ones time was a means to blindfold and deceive the United States and the West. And, it did fool many people. It was only after Xi Jinping came to power and publicly stated, The vast Pacific Ocean has ample space to accommodate both China and the United States that the United States really woke up. On Feb. 10, when Biden spoke with Xi on the phone, Xi still claimed that the issue of Taiwan and issues relating to Hong Kong and Xinjiang are Chinas internal affairs and that the United States should respect and act with caution. Later, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai drew a direct red line in this regard. Xi also said during the call that China and the United States, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, have special international responsibilities and obligations. Both sides should follow the world trend and work together to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Faced with direct and open challenges from the CCP, the United States needs to launch a strong counterattack in order to demonstrate its ability to lead the world. Being defensive alone or avoiding the CCP, without taking counterattacking actions, will not only fail to contain the CCPs provocations, but will instead encourage the CCP to intensify its efforts. I am concerned that U.S. leadership in the world will be continuously eroded. It will even be difficult to preserve its own security and interests. The CCPs direct challenge to the United States may be less than a decade long, but its infiltration of the United States and its covert global struggle has been going on for decades. The Chinese Regime is the Greatest Threat to the United States In recent years, the CCPs military expansion has been in full swing in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the East China Sea. In addition, the CCP has attempted to start a global military framework as soon as possible through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CCP claimed its intermediate-range ballistic missile DF-26, also known as Guam Killer, has a range of 3,400 miles which means it could potentially target the U.S. Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. If the United States is not able to fight back with strength, but on the contrary allows the CCP to expand and establish its global framework, the security of the United States itself will be in question. So, how can we talk about leadership then? By using massive subsidies and export dumping on the one hand, and erecting trade barriers on the other, the CCP has successfully crushed a significant portion of the U.S. manufacturing industries. To many peoples surprise, the United States has relied heavily on imports from China for many essential goods, including masks, vaccine syringes, a large number of medicines, and various industrial products. Behind the huge trade deficit numbers, there is a direct threat to the basic livelihood of the United States, and it has led to a high unemployment rate. The CCP continues to acquire U.S. dollars to expand its armaments, expand the Belt and Road Initiative, and exert influence in the international arena. The CCP has been challenging the United States not only for world leadership, but it has also been encroaching on U.S. soil. Technology theft like the Thousand Talents Plan has left the United States off guard, with the direct and large-scale involvement of the CCPs embassies and consulates. Had the Chinese Consulate in Houston not burned the materials, the outside world would have had little idea how serious it was. Chinas Thousand Talents Plan is one of the most prominent Chinese talent recruitment plans designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of Chinas scientific development, economic prosperity, and national security. It seeks to lure Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their knowledge and experience to China, and they often reward individuals for stealing proprietary information, the Department of Justice said. How can the United States truly stop the CCPs theft by only blocking it without bringing the bandits to justice and putting them behind bars? The United States cant defend itself from the CCPs cyberattacks. And if it doesnt fight back, its a sitting duck. The Confucius Institute is on the rise in the United States. Its extensive infiltration of both Americas political and business world and the capture of Congressmen by beautiful honey trap spies are just the tip of the iceberg. The world will be stunned if it is revealed how many Americans have been acting as the CCPs agents and lobbying the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and all levels of the U.S. government. The CCP has been exporting revolution to the United States, and more and more socialist and communist slogans and agendas are being brought to the forefront. More Americans are waking up, but the dark forces of evil have also been building up their strength over the decades. The CCPs mouthpiece is directly engaged in its propaganda campaigns in the United States. All types of social media have become propaganda channels for the CCP, and ads glorifying the CCP are played at will in New Yorks Times Square. If the Trump administration had not vigorously banned and blocked Huawei, the 5G network in the United States could have fallen into the hands of the CCP, and Europe could have fallen as well. Would the United States still have a leadership position then? The blocking of Huawei exemplifies a successful counterattack against the CCPs challenge. Only by continuously implementing such counterattacks can the United States truly defuse the CCPs provocations and destroy its ambitions. Counterattack Is the Way to Win The United States cannot stop the provocations and attacks of the CCP by being defensive alone. Evasion is self-destructive. The United States needs to counter the evil Communist regime in all aspects, to make the CCP lose its ability to provoke, in order to truly uphold justice and universal values and to convince the world to side with the United States. This is the way for the United States to maintain its leadership in the world. The CCP openly provokes the western values of democracy and freedom and openly provokes universal values in Hong Kong. The United States needs to galvanize the West to stop the CCP from undermining Hong Kongs freedom and democracy. If Hong Kong is lost, how can Burma and Taiwan hold on? If the United States fails to be at the forefront of the fight against the CCP, its global leadership position will be in jeopardy. Likewise, the United States should take the lead in going after the CCP for concealing the epidemic. The CCPs attempt to use the pandemic for hegemony was aimed most notably at the United States, and it has partially achieved its goal, with the United States suffering enormous losses of life and property as a result. If the U.S. government shies away from holding the CCP accountable for the pandemic, it will lose its leading influence in the world and will be subject to more insidious tricks by the CCP. As long as the Chinese Communist regime continues to exist, it will not give up being an enemy of the United States. This is not the idea of Xi Jinping alone, but the essence of the Chinese Communist regime. The CCP dictatorship, facing the free world, will always have a sense of crisis and inferiority. It is the CCP regimes innate need to bring down the United States and the free world. World domination is the CCP regimes unchanging goal. While the United States has completely failed in its past attempts to change the CCPs policies, the CCP has been trying to change the United States. If the United States is to remain a world leader, countering the Chinese Communist regime should be the most critical thread in its foreign relations. If the United States continues to ignore the CCPs infiltration and challenges, even if it tries to advance more and different diplomatic agendas, it is putting the cart before the horse. The United States should not be passive and defensive against the Chinese regimes provocations, but should also be proactive and take both offensive and defensive measures to win. There is no race in the world that can be won by being defensive alone, and avoidance and dodging will lead to defeat. It is not that difficult to set up policies to serve this purpose. The international situation may seem complex, but it becomes simple when one examines the core issues. When focusing on political maneuvering it is certainly easy to get lost, but standing on the height of conformity to history, it will soon become clear. The Biden administration should formulate a strategy to counter the CCP as soon as possible so that the United States can naturally continue to be embraced as a world leader. Yang Wei has been closely following China affairs for many years. He has been contributing political commentary on China for the Chinese language Epoch Times since 2019. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Johannesburg, Mar 12 (PTI) The South African government is concerned about fake COVID-19 vaccines allegedly being sold privately in the black market. Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said this in response to a question in Parliament on Wednesday. 'We have noted that of late there has been the existence of reports of fake vaccines found in South Africa. This was brought to our attention by the South Africana Police Services (SAPS) working with Interpol and we would like to indicate that it's a very worrying issue,' Mkhize said. The minister gave an assurance that an inter-ministerial committee led by Deputy President David Mabuza was looking at how to deal with this, even while the police were on high alert about the issue. Earlier, SAPS cautioned South Africans to be wary of people selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines after a raid on a warehouse near Johannesburg following a notice from Interpol. Nearly 3,000 doses of the fake vaccine as well as R 6 million worth of fake medical face masks were seized in the raid. Three Chinese nationals and a Zambian national were arrested on the scene. 'Since COVID-19 reached the shores of SA, the government has adopted an integrated, multidisciplinary law enforcement approach,' national police spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo was quoted as saying in an Interpol statement. 'This, together with our association with counterparts from all Interpol member countries, is proving to be very effective as we have seen in the arrests for foreign nationals attempting to peddle fake vaccines to unsuspecting people within South Africa,' Naidoo added. Mkhize said COVID-19 vaccines were not for sale in the country. 'We want to encourage our people to be aware that the vaccines are free at the point of administration. In the rest of the continent, this matter has also been taken up quite seriously and the governments in those countries are working with manufacturers to limit these particular black markets. Story continues 'We hope we will always be a step ahead of the black market and fake vaccine syndicates,' Mkhize said as he highlighted that the government was the sole purchaser of vaccines. He said their procurement process is to ensure that there is a very short line between the purchaser and the producers, so they are buying directly from the manufacturers even though there are many people in between who have offered to sell the vaccines. 'But because we have a direct relationship with the manufacturers, we are able to do so. That is how we are able to limit the number of vaccines that can come through outside the lines that the government has designated,' the minister said. Mkhize said even the private sector had agreed that COVID-19 vaccines would only be accessed through governments' procurement processes. PTI FH AAR AAR Thought Leaders Dr. Jean-Francois Rupprecht Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Aix-Marseille University How could pooling SARS-CoV-2 tests help to detect future viral outbreaks? News-Medical spoke to Dr. Jean-Francois Rupprecht to find out more. What provoked your latest research into the COVID-19 pandemic? I am a researcher from the CNRS, a French public institution. In March 2021, my fellow co-authors and I joined MODCOV19, a national modeling task force on COVID-19. After discussing with biology experts about the promising results on the testing method called pooling (see below for a definition) for SARS-CoV-2, we decided to apply our mathematical expertise to evaluate whether such testing technique could be envisaged for mass screening of healthcare workers with the objective to track early pre- and asymptomatic infections. SARS-CoV-2 Virus. Image Credit: Merlin74/Shutterstock.com Please could you give an overview of the different tests available for COVID-19? There is a large array of tests and techniques available for COVID-19; I will limit myself to the most commonly used ones. The RT-qPCR technique is the gold standard for medical diagnostics in detecting the presence of very few viral molecules in a micro-liter of the sample solution. However, the test results take some time (a few hours to a few days) to come back - even though one-hour RT-qPCR setups have also emerged. By opposition, fast tests such as antigen-tests and RT-LAMP tests can be used out of the laboratory and provide results in a minute to an hour. Antigen tests most often rely on nasopharyngeal swabs, while RT-LAMP tests can be saliva-based. Nasal swabbing may cause some discomfort, which could, as an example, refrain K12 pupils from complying to the sampling protocol. What is meant by pooling tests? Pooling refers to the process of mixing samples from different individuals. Imagine that one hundred samples need to be tested. Rather than using one hundred tests (one per sample), one possibility is to create ten pools that are each composed of ten mixed samples and to use only one test for each of these pools. If the test result for a group is positive, then at least one sample in the pool comes from an infected individual. Conversely, a negative result should, in principle, indicate that none of the combined samples contains the infectious agent. What problems could be encountered by using this pooling method for large-scale testing? Quite generally, there two potential main drawbacks associated with pool testing: The first is, what do you do once a pool is positive? During the 70s and 80s in France, prospective civil servants were asked to go through a pooled testing for syphilis infections. If the pooled sample tested positive, everyone was asked to come back on a subsequent day to get retested individually; although a similar protocol was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic at Cambridge University, UK, standard health regulations may not encourage such practices, e.g. the USA Center of Disease Control issued guidelines regarding the pooling of samples for SARS-CoV-2 detection (see references below). The second one is a potential increase in the risk of false negatives compared to individual testing, which could delay the detection of pre-symptomatic individuals. Early in the infection, a person will shed a very low amount of the virus in their samples; that poses a challenge to all testing techniques since there is always a certain threshold below which the testing device probably will not detect the virus. That issue is particularly critical for pooling. Combining an infected sample within a group of un-infected samples implies a dilution of the viral concentration; the number of viral copies in the sample could possibly be diluted up to the point where the testing machine will not be able to detect it. A danger is that a pooled test would miss an infected person who is not feeling sick, and who could subsequently take fewer precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. While pooling of rapid tests could solve the first issue of isolation within positive pools to be less critical by drastically reducing the time of detection of the positive individual within the pool, the second issue of sensitivity becomes even more substantial. In many cases, pooled testing is intended to be an added layer of protection and should not replace mask-wearing or other precautions. Whether regular testing would have an impact (positive or negative) on the adhesion to protective measures is a question to ask epidemiologists. (see this Nature press article entitled we did not model that people would go to a party if they tested positive). Pooled Testing. Image Credit: DesignPrax/Shutterstock.com Can you describe how you carried out your latest research into pooling tests and tracking COVID-19? Our starting question was: what is the proportion of individuals currently detected as positive through individual RT-qPCR tests be missed by pools of 5 samples? How much would that proportion change if the number of samples of the pool was increased to 30? If most of the swabs from positive individuals have a concentration of virus that is very close to the detection limit of the individual RT-qPCR test, then one would expect the fraction of missed individuals through pooling to be very large. Conversely, if the concentration of swabs is very large compared to the limit of detection of individual RT-qPCR tests, then the fraction of missed individuals should be almost zero. To estimate the impact of pooling we, therefore, needed to determine the proportion of swabs with low, intermediate, or high viral concentrations which we obtained by analyzing several extracted clinal datasets from publications and pre-prints. We then interpreted the differences between those datasets based on mathematical models for the viral load evolution with time. In the analyzed datasets, low viral loads were most often correlated to ancient infection (e.g. two weeks or more before the test). Correspondingly, the proportion of swabs with low viral loads hence the false-negative rate of pooling compared to individual tests - should depend on the stage of the epidemic within the community. How could this research be used to aid in the earlier detection of outbreaks? What did you discover? By regularly testing groups of people, you can detect the presence of the virus very early in the community; this early warning system tells you when to implement preventative measures. Rather than waiting for the first person to get sick, you implement action as soon as a group tests positive. This reduces the duration of the silent epidemic spread. Beyond the objective of breaking transmission chains, we find that pools are extremely efficient at estimating the viral fraction of positive individuals (the prevalence). Lets take an example: a screening is performed within a community with an existing prevalence at 2% (to be discovered). With a budget of 200 individual tests, the measured prevalence is to be estimated around 1-3% with 95% confidence. However, if we use a group testing method with a pool size of 60 individuals, we only need 10 pool tests to get the same results. Such estimates of the prevalence could serve as a metric to help scale prevention measures within a predefined graded response scheme - e.g. in a college university campus, the decision to switch to remote teaching could be triggered once the critically measured prevalence is reached. Surveillance protocols based on sample pooling have been implemented in several universities across the United States, including Duke University and the State University of New York, but also at Liege University (Belgium) as well as at Nottingham and Cambridge universities (United Kingdom). Though highly dependent on model hypothesis, we concluded in our article that, through random daily testing of 256 individuals among a community of 4000 would result in an 80% of chance in detecting an outbreak that would involve more than 20 infected individuals; in practice, these 256 samples could be analyzed in a single RT-qPCR cycle each day if the samples are pooled by groups of 16; the loss in sensitivity in a pool of 16 is assumed in this calculation to be of the order of -20%, which in order of magnitude corresponds to the estimate given in a publication on saliva pooling (Watkins et al. bioRxiv, see reference below) as well as estimated through our analysis of the viral load distribution found in several clinical datasets from nasopharyngeal samples. Do you believe that with further research, pooled testing will become a more frequently used tool? Yes. My hopes are that vaccinations will reduce viral circulation to very low levels. Pooling is more efficient at enhancing the screening capacities when the prevalence is low. A reduction in the incidence rate may also imply newly available testing capacities which could be allocated to large-scale screenings, targeted for example against asymptomatic spread among young people at school. Several companies in the USA already propose saliva-based pool sampling for school environments. By enhancing screening capacity, pooling might play a role in the detection of new variants although, in some not-so-distant future, Next Generation Sequencing protocols might bypass the limitations of pooling, combining sensitivity, individual results, and high-yield testing capacities. What are the next steps in your research? Our work is theoretical; we need to provide a mathematical framework detailing the probabilities that individuals in the community have a low or large viral concentration within their samples. Correlating such probabilities to the epidemic stage is a complex task that would need to be addressed in collaboration with epidemiologists. As such, we cannot directly answer the question any practitioner will ask, namely "how do I adapt the Brault et al. PLOS Comp Biology workflow to my specific situation (nursing home/school, etc...)". To answer that question, one could envisage the development of an app that would help practitioners to decide of the size of their pools. Inputs would be information about the screening context (e.g. number of individuals in the community, the best estimate of the local prevalence). The output of the app/software would be a given number of samples to be pooled together from 5 to 25 (a typical range used in the State University of New York campuses student screening, fall 2020) or even 30 samples (as mentioned among nursing homes in Germany, March-April 2020). Designing such an app would likely require collaborations with epidemiologists, medical data, and IT developers. School Children. Image Credit: Halfpoint/Shutterstock.com Where can readers find more information? I would recommend the following websites, official guidelines, and scientific papers: About Dr. Jean-Francois Rupprecht Dr. Rupprecht a researcher from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) based at the Aix-Marseille University. He is a group leader of the Turing Center for Living System; his group is interested in the interplay of Statistical Physics and Life Science modeling. Please find his webpage here: http://centuri-livingsystems.org/jf-rupprecht/ The content of Dr. Rupprechts interview should not guide clinical practice. Researchers at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and at Massachusetts General Hospital find that neutralizing antibodies raised by COVID-19 vaccines are not as effective at neutralizing some new, circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants BOSTON -- SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has mutated throughout the pandemic. New variants of the virus have arisen throughout the world, including variants that might possess increased ability to spread or evade the immune system. Such variants have been identified in California, Denmark, the U.K., South Africa and Brazil/Japan. Understanding how well the COVID-19 vaccines work against these variants is vital in the efforts to stop the global pandemic, and is the subject of new research from the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. In a study recently published in Cell, Ragon Core Member Alejandro Balazs, PhD, found that the neutralizing antibodies induced by the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were significantly less effective against the variants first described in Brazil/Japan and South Africa. Balazs's team used their experience measuring HIV neutralizing antibodies to create similar assays for COVID-19, comparing how well the antibodies worked against the original strain versus the new variants. "We were able to leverage the unique high-throughput capacity that was already in place and apply it to SARS-CoV-2," says Balazs, who is also an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and assistant investigator in the Department of Medicine at MGH. "When we tested these new strains against vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies, we found that the three new strains first described in South Africa were 20-40 times more resistant to neutralization, and the two strains first described in Brazil and Japan were five to seven times more resistant, compared to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus." Neutralizing antibodies, explains Balazs, work by binding tightly to the virus and blocking it from entering cells, thus preventing infection. Like a key in a lock, this binding only happens when the antibody's shape and the virus's shape are perfectly matched to each other. If the shape of the virus changes where the antibody attaches to it - in this case, in SARS-CoV-2's spike protein - then the antibody may no longer be able to recognize and neutralize the virus as well. The virus would then be described as resistant to neutralization. "In particular," says Wilfredo Garcia-Beltran, MD, PhD, a resident physician in the Department of Pathology at MGH and first author of the study, "we found that mutations in a specific part of the spike protein called the receptor binding domain were more likely to help the virus resist the neutralizing antibodies." The three South African variants, which were the most resistant, all shared three mutations in the receptor binding domain. This may contribute to their high resistance to neutralizing antibodies. Currently, all approved COVID-19 vaccines work by teaching the body to produce an immune response, including antibodies, against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. While the ability of these variants to resist neutralizing antibodies is concerning, it doesn't mean the vaccines won't be effective. "The body has other methods of immune protection besides antibodies," says Balazs. "Our findings don't necessarily mean that vaccines won't prevent COVID, only that the antibody portion of the immune response may have trouble recognizing some of these new variants." Like all viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is expected to continue to mutate as it spreads. Understanding which mutations are most likely to allow the virus to evade vaccine-derived immunity can help researchers develop next-generation vaccines that can provide protection against new variants. It can also help researchers develop more effective preventative methods, such as broadly protective vaccines that work against a wide variety of variants, regardless of which mutations develop. ### About the Ragon Institute The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard was established in 2009 with a gift from the Phillip T. and Susan M. Ragon Foundation, with a collaborative scientific mission among these institutions to harness the immune system to combat and cure human diseases. Focusing on global infectious diseases, the Ragon Institute draws scientists, clinicians and engineers from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to study and understand the immune system with the goal of benefiting patients. For more information, visit http://www. ragoninstitute. org About the Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2020, Mass General was named #6 in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals." Riga City, Latvia -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/12/2021 -- NFTs are currently experiencing a surge of interest, with a growing recognition of their potential impact on the crypto ecosystem. The purpose of having a Non Fungible Token over a Fungible Token is the ability to own an NFT irrespective of the type of asset it represents. Whether tangible or non-tangible, an item connected to an NFT can be bought and sold in the market with guaranteed authenticity and complete uniqueness. There is no need to worry about fakes or scams, as every type of NFT can be traced back to its owner or the original issuer. How are NFTs Built, and What Are Their Features? Almost all NFTs are built with two types of Ethereum Token standards: ERC-721 and ERC-1155. These standards help create the token blueprints onto which software developers deploy NFTs. The developers are also responsible for ensuring that the tokens are crypto compatible, making them easily exchangeable and tradable throughout the vast crypto ecosystem. As far as the features of NFTs are concerned, they are non-interoperable and indivisible. NFTs exist as one whole item and cannot be divided into smaller denominations, so no two people can own an NFT in fractions. While this enhances security, it limits usability and flexibility. Finally, NFTs are indestructible. Some Existing Hurdles in Creating NFTs The use cases of NFTs are unlimited; a list of potential uses would take up the entire space of this article. Despite all the possible use cases, the potential power of NFTs has yet to be fully appreciated, and wider application of the technology has been limited. One important reason for this is the high price of NFT creation. There are several marketplaces that provide a platform to create and trade NFTs, including OpenSea and Rarible, but in general NFT creation fees have remained prohibitive. In addition to the cost of creation, there are three core challenges to the future of NFTs: regulatory structures inhibiting their adoption, a lack of infrastructure, and user experience issues. The community requires a simple to use NFT creation and adoption platform that can overcome these challenges at cost-effective fees. With 2021 hyped as the breakthrough year for the NFT market, the challenges of creation cost, a lack of flexibility, and indivisibility have so far limited their impact on the crypto industry. The Diverse Use Cases of NFTs in the Crypto Space Although the integration of NFTs in the crypto space is still at a nascent stage, the community has already devised multiple ways to leverage them. For example, NFTs can replace printed artworks with digital versions, doing away with the concept of preservation. In addition, these innovative assets can help protect the intellectual property rights of creators and secure their transactions through the blockchain. While delivering on these aspects, other NFT-enabled platforms experience lags and charge high fees. Syscoin offers solutions to these problems, and is set to change the way users interact with NFTs. In the future, the usability of NFTs may extend beyond collectibles and games towards tokenizing other types of physical assets. Any physical item could be converted into a digital asset, and information on paper can be stored in the form of an NFT, from a simple contract or an asset-backed lending instrument to complex insurance paperwork. Smarter Alternatives to Existing NFT Platforms While NFTs have several use cases, these future-ready assets are encountering significant challenges around their high creation cost and lack of interoperability. Syscoin provides a powerful alternative. Powered by Z-DAG technology, Syscoin NFTs deliver high performance and efficiency, enabling blazing-fast NFT creation. The platform is also light and future-proof, making it easier to create, comply, and scale NFT creation at lower costs. One of the primary benefits of using Syscoin for NFT creation is divisibility. These NFTs are light, as the token identifier on Syscoin requires just 4 bytes as opposed to 32 bytes on other platforms. Syscoin has built a system for the instant sharing of fungible tokens, and is one of a group of forward thinking platforms helping to make NFTs more affordable and usable. Summary With NFTs set to make a profound impact on the crypto world and beyond, Syscoin is in the vanguard of efforts to overcome the challenges that have limited widespread NFT adoption. Syscoin makes user NFT creation simpler and more affordable, making a major contribution to the industry's attempts to harness the power of NFTs for a wider range of applications. About Cryptoshib Criptoshib tries to keep crypto enthusiasts updated with the latest happenings and stories from the crypto world. We try to post stories about projects and people of the crypto and blockchain communities from around the world. Media Contact https://cryptoshib.com/nfts-how-they-fit-into-future-of-cryptocurrency/ Rabbi Yossi Abenson and his wife, Goldie, serve a unique segment of the St. Louis Jewish community. The Jews who connect with Chabad of the Central West End are largely young professionals, often in the medical field, as well as graduate students. Many are single and dont have family in the area. The pandemic has made their dating life especially challenging, Abenson said. Dating in general is one of my big interests. It keeps me up at night coming up with ways to get people together, Abenson said. When we moved here, we started to create a community for young Jews to meet each other, create healthy relationships and eventually build a family. Achieving that goal during 2020 became tricky, so the Abensons worked with 15 other Chabad chapters in North America that serve a similar demographic. The online meetings enabled single young adult Jews to connect with people outside their immediate social circle. It was such a success that Abenson decided to make speed dating more accessible. In late February, he helped add St. Louis to the virtual Jewish dating app CoronaCrush. St. Louis becomes the fifth U.S. city for the international Facebook group, joining Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. ADVERTISEMENT CoronaCrushs creator, Ian Mark, said he and his team initially started the group to help their single friends in Israel meet each other during quarantine. Weve partnered with over 25 organizations on speed dating events, and were always looking for more, said Mark, 32. Rabbi Abenson found me through a Chabad rabbi in New York who I worked with on three prior events. Abenson sees CoronaCrush as another option for single Jewish St. Louisans who havent found a successful match in their social circles or via existing dating apps. If they make a successful connection on CoronaCrush with another single who lives in Tel Aviv, Australia or London, its up to the couple to figure out dating logistics. If they choose to date long distance, then itll work like any long distance relationship, Mark said. Abenson said that since Chabad of the CWE announced the CoronaCrush opportunity Feb. 21, its already generated a lot of interest and positive feedback. Pictured with the donation, from left, are Johanna Hernandez, Carol Mackie, April Prado, Tiffany Uranker-Webband Robin Fife, all with MHSC; Healther Peterson and Shelly Moen, of the Fourth Ward; Dawn Larsen with MHSC; Andy Moen of the Fourth Ward; and Lena Warren of MHSC. The staff at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County received donations from the Green River's 4th Ward of the LDS Church for the hospital's Caring Closet as well as the Labor and Delivery Unit. Every quarter, the church group adopts an organization for their humanitarian project and this quarter, they chose the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. "We like doing things for the community and donating to the hospital helps our community," group member, Shelly Moen, said. The Caring Closet was created by Emergency Department staff, years ago, to serve patients who need clothing, usually fo... Doodnath Maharaj was the general secretary of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union for nearly two decades. This is out of a total of 40 years service. He was a dedicated and loyal comrade who did his best work away from the limelight. Indeed, he shunned it, embodying a self-effacing personality that was deeply mystifying to many who came to know him. Monique French, Chief Credit Officer at CIBC FirstCaribbean is the winner of 2021 We Qual Award. She aced 24 female executives of some of the biggest companies in the Americas identified as having the leadership traits for top-level executive management positions. She was one of three finalists in the Finance category in this years award, a first for the Caribbean. The WeQual Awards (wequal.com/awards) recognized outstanding women in senior roles. With a mission to tackle the slow progress in appointing women to executive positions, the organization aims to make businesses more inclusive by identifying exceptional women executives and address the gender imbalance across the worlds executive committees. Katie Litchfield, Founder, and CEO of WeQual Awards devised the new platform which calls for women senior executives to build their case as to why they deserve to be appointed to the executive committee. Nigel Holness, Managing Director of CIBC FirstCaribbean congratulated Ms. French on her achievements in advancing the contribution and recognition of women in finance as well as women in Jamaica and across the Caribbean. Ms. French has extensive experience in the Financial Services Industry including leadership positions in Credit & Investments, Risk Management, Treasury, Sales & Trading, Reporting & Analytics. An executive with a depth of expertise in the treasury, retail, small business, corporate, sovereign, and private banking segments, she is presently the group-wide Chief Credit Officer for the CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank across all the territories in which the FirstCaribbean Group operates. Ms. French has served on various for-profit, community, non-profit, industry, and economic committees and boards and currently serves as a Director and the Governance Committee Chair of CFA Society Jamaica (industry association). Monique earned the CFA Charter in 2000, in addition to holding a BSc Accounting degree with First Class Honors from The University of the West Indies (Mona, Jamaica) & an MBA from The University of Western Ontario (London, Canada), completing the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) Designation. In addition to CIBC FirstCaribbean, the Americas finalists were from a wide range of sectors and companies, including ABB Ltd, Analog Devices, AstraZeneca, BlackRock, Capital One, CGI, Comcast, Diageo, FIS, HSBC, IBM, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Marriott International, Morgan Stanley, Prologis, ServiceNow, SiriusXM, TELUS, Kellogg Company, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. They were all assessed against specific criteria: Leadership, Cognitive Ability, Drive & Resilience, Integrity, Emotional Intelligence, Personal Development, Approach to Equality, and Knowledge of the Business. All candidates were assessed blind with no name or company revealed in their application. While the company did not name the supplier partners, sources said Foxconn will be making the iPhone 12 at a facility in TamilNadu New Delhi: Apple Inc is commencing assembly of its iPhone 12 model in the country, a move that is expected to help the US tech giant further consolidate its position in the burgeoning smartphone market in India. Apple has partnered with third-party manufacturers like Foxconn and Wistron to make some of its phones in India. These include iPhone SE, iPhone 10R and iPhone 11. "Apple is dedicated to making the best products and services in the world to delight our customers...We are proud to be starting production of iPhone 12 in India for our local customers, Apple said in a statement. While the Cupertino-based company did not name the supplier partners, sources said Foxconn will be making the iPhone 12 at a facility in Tamil Nadu. Comments from Foxconn could not be immediately elicited. Apple had started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with iPhone SE. In a tweet, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "Nice to see our efforts to make India a big hub of mobile and components manufacturing is attracting global attention. This will create jobs in large numbers." Apple, which competes with players like Samsung and OnePlus in the premium smartphone segment, has been aggressively ramping up its presence in the Indian market. In December last year, a section of workers at Wistron Corporation's manufacturing facility in Narasapura Industrial Area near Bengaluru - which assembles the latest version of the iPhone SE at the plant - went on a rampage over non-payment of their wages. At that time, Apple had said Wistron had been placed on probation and that the contract manufacturer will not receive any new business from the US-based company before corrective actions are completed. In the past, Apple has highlighted that it sees growth opportunities in the Indian market. In January, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook had stated that the company has doubled its business in India in the December quarter on the back of the strong performance of its online store and that the tech giant sees a good growth trajectory going ahead. "India is one of those, where our share is quite low. It did improve from the year-ago quarter. Our business roughly doubled over that period of time. And so, we feel very good about the trajectory. We are doing a number of things in the area. We put the online store there, for example, and last quarter was the first full quarter of the online store," Cook had said. Apple also plans to set up brick-and-mortar outlets in India in addition to the online store as the iPhone maker looks to further cement its position in one of the world's biggest smartphone markets. In the past, Apple has stated that it is keen on offering online and in-store experiences to Indian users that are at par with its global standards and that it aims to open its maiden retail store in India. The growth seen by Apple has been noted by research firms like Counterpoint. According to Counterpoint, Apple captured the sixth spot in terms of shipment in India in the October-December 2020 quarter with 171 per cent year-on-year growth, and 93 per cent growth in 2020 over the previous year. The report had pointed out that the launch of the iPhone 12, aggressive offers on the iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone 11, and online expansion had driven this growth. For the first time, the brand crossed 1.5 million shipments in a single quarter, it further noted. Apple had clocked about a 29 per cent jump in its revenues in India at Rs 13,755.8 crore, while its net profit witnessed manifold growth to Rs 926.2 crore in financial year 2020 over the previous fiscal, as per regulatory documents. Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is transforming its New Shepard rocket into a moon simulator for NASA to test innovations in lunar gravity. The team plans to update the spacecraft to use the capsule like a large centrifuge, a device that uses a rotating force to separate specific components from liquids, to create artificial gravity for payloads inside. The capsules reaction control thrusters would generate a spin amounting to 11 rotations per minute during the free-fall phase of the flight, which NASA says would produce a centripetal force equivalent to the moons gravity. Blue Origins new lunar gravity testing capabilities are set to be available in late 2022 and will be a key player in experimenting with payloads that are set to accompany the Artemis mission that is sending the first woman and next man to the moon in the mid-2020s. Scroll down for video Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is transforming its New Shepard rocket into a moon simulator for NASA to test innovations in lunar gravity. The team plans to update the spacecraft to use the capsule like a large centrifuge Although sending humans to outer space is a challenge, the real obstacle will be when space fairing heroes step foot on the lunar surface the gravity is one-sixth that of Earths. Christopher Baker, program executive for NASAs Flight Opportunities program, said in a statement: One of the constant challenges with living and working in space is reduced gravity. Many systems designed for use on Earth simply do not work the same elsewhere. Astronauts have training in artificial gravity here on Earth, which mostly takes place while they are submerged in water. The capsules reaction control thrusters would generate a spin amounting to 11 rotations per minute during the free-fall phase of the flight, which NASA says would produce a centripetal force equivalent to the moons gravity Blue Origins new lunar gravity testing capabilities are set to be available in late 2022 and will be a key player in experimenting with payloads that are set to accompany the Artemis mission that is sending the first woman and next man to the moon in the mid-2020s But Blue Origin and NASAs partnership could simulate the same type of gravity crew will experience while exploring the moon When upgraded, New Shepard will use its reaction control system (RCS) to activate a rotation of the capsule. The RCS uses the rockets thrusters for altitude control and steering, and is capable of providing small amounts of thrust to move the craft in a desired direction or combination of direction. Blue Origins first flight of this capability will target 11 rotations per minute to provide more than two minutes of continuous lunar gravity, exposing the technologies to this challenging but difficult-to-test condition. NASA announced Wednesday that it passed a key assembly milestone with the Space Launch System (SLS) 'megarocket' that brings it closer to launch the Artemis crew to the moon. The US space agency said the ten segments that make up the two booster rockets were vertically stacked over several weeks at the Kennedy Space Center. When launched, the $18.6 billion SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever made and capable of taking cargo and astronauts to the moon in a single trip. NASA announced Wednesday that it passed a key assembly milestone with the Space Launch System (SLS) 'megarocket' (pictured) .The US space agency said the ten segments that make up the two booster rockets were vertically stacked over several weeks at the Kennedy Space Center. Getting the rocket off the ground for Artemis I in 2021 is critical to meet the 2024 target of landing the first woman and next man on the moon with Artemis III. Bruce Tilleer, SLS booster manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center, said: 'Seeing the Space Launch System solid rocket boosters stacked completely on the Mobile Launcher for the first time makes me proud of the entire team. This team has created the tallest, most powerful boosters ever built for flight, boosters that will help launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon. This 2023 launch will be reminiscent of Apollo 10 and is intended to act as a crewed dress rehearsal for the 2024 mission. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Look up to the night sky just before dawn, or after dusk, and you might see a faint column of light extending up from the horizon. That luminous glow is the zodiacal light, or sunlight reflected toward Earth by a cloud of tiny dust particles orbiting the Sun. Astronomers have long thought that the dust is brought into the inner solar system by a few of the asteroid and comet families that venture in from afar. But now, a team of Juno scientists argues that Mars may be the culprit. They first published their finding online on Nov. 11, 2020, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, with a final peer-reviewed paper published on March 9, 2021. "Distribution of Interplanetary Dust Detected by the Juno Spacecraft and Its Contribution to the Zodiacal Light" An instrument aboard the Juno spacecraft serendipitously detected dust particles slamming into the spacecraft during its journey from Earth to Jupiter. The impacts provided important clues to the origin and orbital evolution of the dust, resolving some mysterious variations of the zodiacal light. Though their discovery has big implications, the scientists who spent years studying cosmic debris did not set out to do so. "I never thought we'd be looking for interplanetary dust," said John Leif Jrgensen, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark. Jrgensen designed the four star trackers that are part of Juno's magnetometer investigation. These onboard cameras snap photos of the sky every quarter of a second to determine Juno's orientation in space by recognizing star patterns in its images -- an engineering task essential to the magnetometer's accuracy. But Jrgensen hoped his cameras might also catch sight of an undiscovered asteroid. So he programmed one camera to report things that appeared in multiple consecutive images but weren't in the catalog of known celestial objects. He didn't expect to see much: Nearly all objects in the sky are accounted for in the star catalog. So when the camera started beaming down thousands of images of unidentifiable objects -- streaks appearing then mysteriously disappearing -- Jrgensen and his colleagues were baffled. "We were looking at the images and saying, 'What could this be?'" he said. Jrgensen and his team considered many plausible and some implausible causes. There was the unnerving possibility that the star camera had caught a leaking fuel tank on Juno. "We thought, 'Something is really wrong,'" Jrgensen said. "The images looked like someone was shaking a dusty tablecloth out their window." It wasn't until the researchers calculated the apparent size and velocity of the objects in the images that they finally realized something: Dust grains had smashed into Juno at about 10,000 miles (or 16,000 kilometers) per hour, chipping off submillimeter pieces. "Even though we're talking about objects with only a tiny bit of mass, they pack a mean punch," said Jack Connerney, Juno's magnetometer investigation lead, and the mission's deputy principal investigator, who's based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. As it turned out, the spray of debris was coming from Juno's expansive solar panels -- the biggest and most sensitive unintended dust detector ever built. "Each piece of debris we tracked records the impact of an interplanetary dust particle, allowing us to compile a distribution of dust along Juno's path," Connerney said. Juno launched in 2011. After a deep-space maneuver in the asteroid belt in 2012, it returned to the inner solar system for an Earth gravity assist in 2013, which catapulted the spacecraft towards Jupiter. This visualization shows NASA's Juno's spacecraft on its five-year flight path to Jupiter, beginning with its launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2011. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; flight path animation courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI Connerney and Jrgensen noticed that the majority of dust impacts were recorded between Earth and the asteroid belt, with gaps in the distribution related to the influence of Jupiter's gravity. According to the scientists, this was a radical revelation. Before now, scientists have been unable to measure the distribution of these dust particles in space. Dedicated dust detectors have had limited collection areas and thus limited sensitivity to a sparse population of dust. They mostly count the more abundant and much smaller dust particles from interstellar space. In comparison, Juno's expansive solar panels have 1,000 times more collection area than most dust detectors. Juno scientists determined that the dust cloud ends at Earth because Earth's gravity sucks up all the dust that gets near it. "That's the dust we see as zodiacal light," Jrgensen said. As for the outer edge, around 2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun (1 AU is the distance between Earth and the Sun), it ends just beyond Mars. At that point, the scientists report, the influence of Jupiter's gravity acts as a barrier, preventing dust particles from crossing from the inner solar system into deep space. This same phenomenon, known as orbital resonance, also works the other way, where it blocks dust originating in deep space from passing into the inner solar system. The profound influence of the gravity barrier indicates that the dust particles are in a nearly circular orbit around the Sun, Jrgensen said. "And the only object we know of in almost circular orbit around 2 AU is Mars, so the natural thought is that Mars is a source of this dust," he said. A team of Juno scientists argues that Mars may be responsible for the interplanetary dust behind the zodiacal light, a faint column of light extending up from the horizon. An instrument aboard the Juno spacecraft serendipitously detected dust particles slamming into the spacecraft during its journey from Earth to Jupiter. The impacts provided important clues to the origin and orbital evolution of the dust. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center "The distribution of dust that we measure better be consistent with the variation of zodiacal light that has been observed," Connerney said. The researchers developed a computer model to predict the light reflected by the dust cloud, dispersed by gravitational interaction with Jupiter that scatters the dust into a thicker disk. The scattering depends only on two quantities: the dust inclination to the ecliptic and its orbital eccentricity. When the researchers plugged in the orbital elements of Mars, the distribution accurately predicted the tell-tale signature of the variation of zodiacal light near the ecliptic. "That is, in my view, a confirmation that we know exactly how these particles are orbiting in our solar system," Connerney said, "and where they originate." While there is good evidence now that Mars, the dustiest planet we know of, is the source of the zodiacal light, Jrgensen and his colleagues cannot yet explain how the dust could have escaped the grip of Martian gravity. They hope other scientists will help them. In the meantime, the researchers note that finding the true distribution and density of dust particles in the solar system will help engineers design spacecraft materials that can better withstand dust impacts. Knowing the precise distribution of dust may also guide the design of flight paths for future spacecraft in order to avoid the highest concentration of particles. Tiny particles traveling at such high velocities can gouge up to 1,000 times their mass from a spacecraft. Juno's solar arrays escaped harm because the solar cells are well protected against impact on the back -- or dark -- side of the array by the support structure. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of XL Fleet Corporation ("Gannett" or the "Company")(NYSE: XL). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether XL Fleet and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On March 3, 2021, Muddy Waters published a report on the Company entitled "More SPAC Trash." Citing interviews with former employees, the Muddy Waters report asserted that XL Fleet's management systemically inflates the Company's backlog and grossly overstates XL Fleet's customer base, with at least 18 of 33 touted customers being inactive. The Muddy Waters report also alleges that the Company significantly exaggerates sales projections and overstates its technological capabilities. On this news, XL Fleet's stock price fell $2.09 per share, or 13.1%, to close at $13.86 per share on March 3, 2021. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 Chinas first COVID-19 vaccination vehicle in which vaccine recipients will no longer have to go to a specific site but can get a shot on their very own doorstep will be put into use starting in April, first in places including Beijing and north Chinas Hebei province, as reported by Beijing Daily. (Photo/Beijing Daily App) The inside of the vehicle resembles that of a bus, only with fewer seats. It has two vaccine storage boxes that are able to transmit data and refrigerate the vaccines at a constant temperature, connected to an electric charge with a voltage of 220 volts, according to Beijing-headquartered commercial vehicle manufacturer Foton Motor, the vehicles maker. Mounted outside the door of the vehicle is a facial recognition system that also takes the body temperature of vaccine recipients. The whole vaccination process will be carried out inside the vehicle. After getting a shot, vaccine recipients are required to remain under observation outside of the vehicle. (Photo/Beijing Daily App) The car is covered by a Wi-Fi system and a 5G network for faster data transmission, said Cheng Hua, product executive with the business division of Foton Motor. The car manufacturer disclosed that it can produce 12 such vehicles in one day. NSU swim coach Monanian moving on after four seasons Monanian moves on to Purdue after accepting an assistant position at their program. STRATFORD A local man pleaded guilty to federal offenses in connection with sexually exploiting several children, prosecutors said. Edward Galpin, 39, pleaded guilty Wednesday before Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven. During his court appearance, Galpin pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography and two counts of distribution of child pornography. He faces up to 30 years and up to 20 years on each count, respectively. Meyer scheduled sentencing for June 2. Galpin ran a private Kik messaging app group chat that served as a forum for people to discuss their sexual interest in young children and exchange images and videos of child sexual abuse, authorities said. As the groups administrator, officials said, Galpin distributed child sexual abuse imagery, requested it from others and removed members from the group if they didnt share these images. Authorities said Galpin had and shared a significant amount of child sexual abuse imagery, including photos and videos of prepubescent minors and content portraying sadistic and masochistic conduct and the sexual abuse of toddlers. Galpin used Instagram to identify young girls for child sexual abuse imagery, authorities said. In one case, authorities said, Galpin arranged to meet with a 17-year-old girl, picked her up at her house and engaged in what officials called sexually explicit conduct with the teen. Officials said Galpin recorded the encounter and shared images and video in his Kik group chat. Galpin also enticed a 15-year-old girl he found on Instagram to send him explicit images of herself, officials said. While the victim used Instagrams self-destruct feature which automatically deletes an image after a short period of time authorities said Galpin video-recorded his conversation with the victim and obtained the images. In a third instance, authorities said Galpin convinced an eighth-grade girl to send explicit images. He also found her on Instagram, authorities said. Officials said Galpin also used spy cameras to record videos of women and girls while they were undressing. He then distributed the video, including one of a minor girl, in his Kik group chat, authorities said. Authorities did not provide more information about where the videos were set up. In June 2020, Galpin reached out an undercover law enforcement officer pretending to be a 14-year-old girl through Kik, authorities said. Galpin asked when the girls mom would be away from home and arranged to meet the teen at a coffee shop in Connecticut, authorities said. When Galpin showed up at the spot on June 25, 2020, law enforcement approached him and seized his phone. He was arrested later that day and has been detained since. Authorities said Galpin was originally charged by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia before it was transferred to Connecticut. Joe Biden has told America he hopes the nation can celebrate 4 July cookouts as independence from the coronavirus, but warned he needs everyone to do their part. In his first televised primetime address, considered a presidential rite of passage for every occupant of the Oval Office, Mr Biden said he was ordering that every adult be made eligible for one of the three approved vaccines by May 1. He said he was also hopeful of pressing ahead with a plan to open most schools for youngsters from kindergarten to the eighth grade, within the first 100 days of his presidency. A year ago we were hit with a virus that was met with silence, and spread unchecked. Denials for days, weeks, then months. That led to more deaths, he began in speech, in a clear reference to his predecessor, Donald Trump. Later, he said he needed all Americans to do their part to fight the spread of the illness - to wear masks, get vaccinated and continue to observe social distancing. He warned it was not the time to give up such efforts. If we do all this, if we do our part, we do this together, by July Fourth theres a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard, or in your neighbourhood, and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day, he added. That doesnt mean large events, with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together. After this long hard year that will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus. READ OUR US POLITICS LIVE BLOG Mr Bidens words, both sombre and hopeful, and stretching close to 24 minutes, came as the nation approached 30m infections of the disease, and 530,000 deaths. In one dramatic flourish, he took from his pocket a piece of paper he said he carried with him every day, containing the total number of Americans whose lives had been taken by the disease, or else had fallen ill; as it was, the figure Mr Biden quoted was slightly less than the total tallied by the John Hopkins University of Medicine, but it was not far off. I promise I will do everything in my power. I will not relent until we beat this virus, he said. But I need you. The American people, I need you, I need every American to do their part. Thats not hyperbole, I need you. The speech, delivered from the East Room of the White House, came on a day of no small significance. Precisely a year ago, Mr Trump had spoken from the Oval Office, to announce he was shutting down travel to Europe, as the pandemic took hold on the other side of the Atlantic. In that instance, Mr Trump finished his remarks by saying: I will always put the wellbeing of America first. If we are vigilant and we can reduce the chance of infection, which we will we will significantly impede the transmission of the virus. The virus will not have a chance against us. Tucker Carlson erupts at Biden ambition for small 4 July groups Yet, Mr Trump was widely condemned for what was seen as a refusal to either take the disease seriously, or lead the governments response to it. Rather, he said it was the responsibility of individual states to confront the virus, something that led to chaos, waste and confusion. The White House on Thursday said more than 81 million Americans had already been vaccinated, but that the president wanted to rapidly expand that number. As part of a plan to try and return life to a version of normalcy, he is to deploy an additional 4,000 US troops to support coronavirus vaccination efforts, and greatly expand the number of people able to serve as vaccinators. Dentists, paramedics, physician assistants, veterinarians and medical students will become eligible to administer vaccinations under new guidance, announced by the White House. Another promise the president claimed he would meet was a plan to reopen most schools within 100 days of his taking office on January. His speech took place the same day he signed into law a $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, the American Rescue Plan, that will help provide money into the hands of millions of Americans, and help fund more vaccination roll out, and testing. It contains $130bn to help schools pay for mitigation, staff and other accommodations to try and protect against the spread of infection. Our children have lost so much time with their friends, time with their schools, - no graduation ceremonies, he said. You know, something else we lost. We lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can deliver for the American people. While there was no immediate response to the speech from Mr Trump, Republicans and conservatives were quick to attack it. Unsurprising to anyone paying attention, Joe Biden was eerily silent on Governor Cuomos controversies surrounding his handling of Covid-19 in New York after receiving repeated praise from Biden over the past year, said Republican National Committee spokesperson Michael Joyce. Meanwhile, Fox New host Tucker Carlson began his evening show with an eruption at the president. Who are you talking to? This is a free people, a free country. How dare you tell us who we can spend the Fourth of July with, he said. In his address, Mr Biden reflected that for so many people it was the small things of life they had missed. So many of you, as Hemingway wrote, being strong in all the broken places, he said. I know its been hard. I truly know. A new study claimed that warp drives for future spacecraft are possible, thanks to the so-called soliton. If space agencies can have this capability, astronomers and other space experts will reach other planets and even distant galaxies in no time. Also Read: Giant Gravitational Wave Detector Reads Space Ripples-- Two New Concepts' Major Details According to Interesting Engineering's latest report, scientists and researchers are studying superluminal travel, which could lead to faster-than-light propulsion. This technology could allow humans to travel distant stars in a single lifetime. And now, new novel research found a way on how to make this a possibility. Classical and Quantum Gravity journal is the first one to publish this study. The researchers involved in the latest study claimed that hyper-fast solitons could make space warp drive a possibility. Here's how this innovation works: How soliton could achieve warp drive To give you more idea, a soliton, also called a warp bubble is a compact wave capable of retaining its original shape as it moves at a constant velocity. If you watch "Star Trek" or "Star Wars," you will notice that the spaceships in those movies are getting distorted when they enter warp mode. This could destroy the spacecraft and also endanger the passengers. A soliton could be the answer to this problem. However, the study's researchers explained that solitons need to rely on sources with only net-positive energies capable of traveling at any speed. On the other hand, Erik Lentz, the new study's author, explained that their innovation employs the structure of space and time organized in a soliton or warp bubble. This will help space experts to achieve a unique solution for superluminal travel. Will NASA and SpaceX have this new technology? As of the moment, the researchers involved in the study didn't confirm if they will work with SpaceX, NASA, or other giant space agencies. It is important to remember that this innovation is still a theory. On the other hand, the hyper-fast solitons also don't exist yet. If the scientists decide to work with giant space agencies, it will still take them more than 50,000 years. You can click here for more details. For more news updates about warp drive and other space innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Scientists Announces Space Warp Drive is Now Possible: NASA Might Apply it for Space Exploration This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A man in his 30s was taken to hospital after being stabbed at a flat on the Antrim Road. Detectives have appealed for information following a stabbing north Belfast on Thursday afternoon. Detective Sergeant OFlaherty said: We received a report at 2.15pm that a man had been stabbed at a flat in the Antrim Road area. The man, aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries. A 40-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. He is currently in custody assisting with police enquiries. Anyone with relevant information is asked to call 101, quoting reference 898 of March 11. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... WOODSTOWN, N.J. A man who is a person of interest in the death of his ex-wife and three others in New Mexico has been extradited to New Jersey for a separate murder investigation. Sean Lannon was arrested in St. Louis on Wednesday morning after a manhunt stretching from New Jersey to Missouri ended when he was arrested driving a car stolen from the New Jersey victim. A district commander at the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Thomas Gilbert, said that Lannon was processed Friday morning and is now in custody at Salem County Correctional Facility. Lannon, 47, is scheduled to appear Saturday in court via video. It could not be immediately determined whether Lannon has retained legal counsel. Lannon is accused of breaking into 66-year-old Michael Dabkowskis home and beating him with a blunt object on Monday, according to an affidavit. Officers performing a well-being check found Dabkowskis body, according to the prosecutors office. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Lannon is also a person of interest in the death of his ex-wife and three others in New Mexico. Authorities say a vehicle was discovered last week at the Albuquerque International Sunport garage with four bodies later identified as Jennifer Lannon, 39, Matthew Miller, 21, Jesten Mata, 40, and Randal Apostalon, 60. Sean Lannon lived 80 miles away in Grants. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 13:22:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People view at an exhibition themed on COVID-19 pandemic in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, March 11, 2021. Brazil recorded 2,233 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the second highest daily increase, taking the national death toll to 272,889, the Health Ministry said Thursday. (Photo by Luciana Whitaker/Xinhua) RIO DE JANEIRO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Brazil recorded 2,233 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the second highest daily increase, taking the national death toll to 272,889, the Health Ministry said Thursday. The daily increase was only next to Wednesday's figure, which stood at 2,286. In addition, 75,412 new COVID-19 infections were registered, the third highest number since the beginning of the pandemic,, bringing the country's accumulated caseload to 11,277,717. Brazil has the second highest number of COVID-19 deaths, behind the United States, and the third highest number of confirmed cases, after the United States and India. The South American country is currently facing a second wave of the pandemic, which has paralyzed the health system in most of the country's state capitals, and forced state governments to tighten restrictive measures. The state-run Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, considered one of the world's leading public health research institutions, warned on Thursday that Brazil is experiencing the worst moment of the pandemic. Enditem [March 12, 2021] The First-Ever IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity in Advertising) Competition from ICA and Bell Media is Now Open For Entries Entries showcasing and celebrating diversity with this year's focus on Indigenous communities in advertising can enter to win $1 Million of media inventory TORONTO, March 12, 2021 /CNW/ - The first-ever IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity in Advertising) competition from Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA), in partnership with Bell Media, is calling on brands and agencies to enter for the chance to win $1 million worth of media inventory on Bell Media platforms. The focus for the inaugural IDEA contest is on campaigns that highlight Indigenous communities with a clear message of diversity and inclusion. Announced in October 2020, the IDEA competition is open to national and international brands and their agencies, who are invited to submit groud-breaking work that celebrates diversity through advertising. Entries can be now submitted, with a closing date of Friday, April 23. Creators of the winning entry will have access to the full range of Bell Media's platforms - TV, radio, out-of-home, and digital to execute their $1 million campaign in 2021. Entries are required to be new creative executions in English and French, and must show how diverse producers, directors, writers, and crew contribute significantly to the campaign beyond on-camera talent. Entrants must also commit to demonstrating, as part of their submission, that inclusion and diversity are components across all of their advertising, even when not the key message. The IDEA competition builds on the broader IDEA initiative, launched in 2017 by the ICA, to promote inclusivity, diversity, and equity in advertising. An early supporter of the program, Bell Media participated in ICA's IDEA Summit at TIFF in 2018 with the theme "How Diversity of Thought Leads to Powerful Storytelling", featuring THE SOCIAL's Melissa Grelo. Brands and their agencies can enter the IDEA competition at this link. About the Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA) Since 1905, ICA has been the recognized, not-for-profit association for Canadian advertising, marketing, media, and public relations agencies. ICA's mission is to Amplify, Protect and Transform the agency sector through advocacy, awards, community, consultancy, insight, networking, research and training. ICA membership and board of directors represent some of the most recognized and influential businesses in our industry, both in Canada and internationally. Learn more at www.theica.ca. About Bell Media Bell Media is Canada's leading content creation company with premier assets in television, radio, out-of-home advertising, digital media, and more. Bell Media owns 35 local television stations led by CTV, Canada's highest-rated television network, and the French-language Noovo network in Quebec; 27 specialty channels, including leading specialty services TSN and RDS. Bell Media is Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 215 music channels including 109 licensed radio stations in 58 markets across the country, all part of the iHeartRadio brand and streaming service. Bell Media owns Astral, an out-of-home advertising network of 50,000 faces in five provinces. The country's digital media leader, Bell Media develops and operates websites, apps, and online platforms for its news and entertainment brands; video streaming services Crave, TSN Direct, and RDS Direct; and multi-channel network Much Studios. The company owns a majority stake in Pinewood Toronto Studios and a minority interest in Montreal's Grande Studios; is a partner in Just for Laughs, the live comedy event and TV producer; and jointly owns Dome Productions Partnership., one of North America's leading production facilities providers. Bell Media is proud of its role in fostering diversity and inclusion with equity-seeking groups within the company and across Canada's media industry. Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. Learn more at www.BellMedia.ca. SOURCE Bell Media [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. is boosting its spending this year to 13 billion, with almost a quarter earmarked for its common tower business. In a statement on Friday, Aboitiz Group's infrastructure arm said capital expenditures for 2021 are 250% higher than the 3.7 billion it coughed up last year. "COVID-19 may have affected our short-term plans, but we remain committed to our businesses, and to the same growth pathway and trajectory," Aboitiz Group President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz was quoted as saying in the statement. As the government continues to put pressure on telco players to improve their services amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Aboitiz InfraCapital sees this as an opportunity to join incumbents' network buildup. With 2.5 billion investment, the firm is eyeing to further ramp up the rollout of mobile network operators' (MNOs) small cells into its pole network and the construction of macro towers. The company is also already working with MNOs for the deployment of common towers. Aboitiz InfraCapital is among the tower builders that have secured independent tower company certificates of registration from the Department of Information and Communications Technology. The majority or 6.5 billion of its capex, on the other hand, has been allotted for water projects, particularly for the construction of Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc.'s bulk water supply project with Davao City Water District. Aboitiz InfraCapital has also assigned 2.8 billion for land acquisition and redevelopment efforts, while 1.2 billion will be spent on the development of other projects. "With its robust line-up of infrastructure projects, the company is well-positioned to help the economy recover from the staggering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," Aboitiz InfraCapital said. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will keep people alive and out of the hospital, and protect them from severe COVID-19 symptoms. It only requires one shot. It hit impressive efficacy rates in a study flush with coronavirus variants that earlier vaccines have yet to be fully vetted against. And yet, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, two weeks after its emergency approval and as it starts to roll out across the United States, has been labeled by some as second rate to its two older siblings, Moderna and Pfizer. One city initially turned away doses, and even in the Bay Area health officials say they hear eligible people balk at the third choice. State and local health officials spent Thursday on a Johnson & Johnson vaccine public relations tour, attempting to dispel those concerns or fears. They shared the hashtag #oneanddone. And at the Oakland Coliseum, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris the surgeon general of California, who is Black got a shot of Johnson & Johnson in her left arm. I will tell you, after working with my colleagues at the state behind the scenes combating this pandemic for the past year-plus, the thing that came into my mind when the vaccine went into my arm was hugging my mom again, she said. I think thats something that too many Californians have been without since this pandemic has begun. In fact, her mother, who has been ill and stuck in a hospital bed, also got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week. Bay Area distribution Number of Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses sent to Bay Area counties so far: Contra Costa: 4,000 received (1,000 administered) Marin: 1,000 received (100 administered) Napa: 300 received San Francisco: 4,800 received (346 administered) San Mateo: 3,200 received Santa Clara: 7,500 received Sonoma: 1,700 received Alameda and Solano counties did not respond immediately to requests for information. See More Collapse We have looked at the science and the research, and this vaccine is so good, its good enough for my mother, Harris said. As we think about that light thats at the end of the tunnel, its going to require all of us to get vaccinated. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines both of which require two shots are both about 95% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, including mild to severe illness. Johnson & Johnson, which needs just the one shot, prevents about 85% of severe illness. People achieve full immunity faster overall with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine about four weeks after the injection, compared with 10 days to two weeks after the second injection for the other two. All three vaccines are about 100% effective at preventing hospitalization and death, which Dr. Philip Grant, an infectious disease physician at Stanford Health Care who led its Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial, said is most important. There will always be people fixated on the relatively small differences in protection of mild disease, Grant said. The Johnson & Johnson efficacy on mild cases likely took a hit because the study took place after the virus had already mutated and created trickier variants. But whats key is the protection from hospitalization and death, he said. For me, its a no-brainer, Grant said. Get the vaccination to get back to a normal life. Counties across California received their first large shipments of Johnson & Johnson doses this week and were already putting them to use at large vaccination sites, as well as mobile units and other clinics meant to serve hard-to-reach populations. The vaccine, in addition to only needing the one dose, also is easier to move around than the others, which require cold storage. In Marin County, the public health department received 1,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson early this week and it has administered 100 shots so far, said Dr. Matt Willis, the health officer. The remaining doses will be brought to mobile clinics scheduled to visit skilled nursing facilities looking for new residents or those who slipped through the cracks during earlier vaccination events. For the mobile effort, its really helpful as a one-and-done, Willis said. One dose is also good for people who dont want to go through that experience twice, maybe theyre afraid of needles or its difficult to get to appointments. He had no concerns over the Johnson & Johnson option. The best vaccine for you is the one available at that time, Willis said. The faster shots go into arms, the sooner herd immunity can be reached, he said. The San Francisco Department of Public Health received 4,800 doses of the Johnson & Johnson and almost 350 people have been given shots so far. About 1,500 San Francisco teachers started getting those shots Thursday in a three-day effort at the district offices. Contra Costa County public health received 4,000 doses this week and have put 1,000 into arms, said Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano. Many have been sent to hospitals to vaccinate older patients upon discharge or used in mobile units. He said the county gets people requesting certain vaccines, but theres not enough supply to offer options. The county has allowed people to reschedule in the hopes of getting a different vaccine, but with no guarantees, he said. Compared to other things we offer vaccines for, these are all some of the most effective for treating infectious diseases, he said. Napa County received 300 doses Tuesday, which officials sent to private partners to disperse, said spokesperson Janet Upton. What Im hearing is, anecdotally, the one-and-done factor is a plus, she said. In San Mateo County, public health officials received 3,200 doses. They plan to disburse them in a Saturday clinic and are exploring other options. The simpler storage and handling requirements provide more flexibility, said Anand Chabra, the COVID-19 vaccination branch chief. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine took some early public relations hits, such as the mayor of Detroit turning down 6,200 doses, saying he favored shots from Pfizer and Moderna. He quickly walked back the comments and accepted shipments, but it helped fuel concerns that Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients may be less protected than others. No Bay Area counties have expressed any concerns. Not at all, Farnitano said. All the vaccines are great and we want as much of every flavor as we can get our hands on. Another hiccup for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been criticism from religious groups, including the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The newer Johnson & Johnson vaccine ... is more morally compromised in that stem cells from a line deriving from an aborted fetus were used in its manufacture, not only in testing, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in an early March statement. He said it was still OK to get that vaccine, but advised taking Moderna and Pfizer over Johnson & Johnson if given the option. Matthias Gafni and Meghan Bobrowsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, meghan.bobrowsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni, @MeghanBobrowsky CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio moved a bit closer this week toward Gov. Mike DeWines benchmark for lifting coronavirus restrictions: a rate of 50 cases per 100,000 people. Its good progress, but the virus is still at high levels, and were not there yet. Were discussing how far we have to go on This Week in the CLE. Listen online here. Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with columnist Leila Atassi and politics editor Jane Kahoun. Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom account, in which he shares what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802. Here are the questions were answering today: Why did an appellate court rule unanimously that the man who shot and killed Tamir Rice will not get his job back as a Cleveland police officer? Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine set a threshold last week for when he will lift all coronavirus restrictions, so did we get any closer to that over the past week? Is the woman who took to Facebook to criticize a nursing home where her mother lived before she died going to prison, as a Brook Park prosecutor wished? What do the self-titled vaccine queens, who have helped so many people get appointments for coronavirus vaccines, think of the new centralized Ohio site for scheduling vaccinations? What are some of the reasons Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine listed Thursday for why he will veto a bill that would severely restrict his powers to issue health orders to protect the public during pandemics? Why does data guru Rich Exner, whose work helped get gerrymandering reform on the ballot a few years ago, have hope that the next redistricting will make Ohios representation in office look more like the voter breakdown by party in the state? What is the tale of the jilted lover from Northeast Ohio accused of delivering a bomb that exploded in front of a rival suitor? Want more? You can find all our past episodes here. We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here. Do you get your podcasts on Spotify. Find us here. If you use Stitcher, we are here. RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here. On Google Podcasts, we are here. On PodParadise, find us here. And on PlayerFM, we are here. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says hes siding with organizers in Bessemer in a union fight against Amazon at its fulfillment center. Writing in USA Today this morning, Rubio said that Republicans have understood the dangers posed by the unchecked influence of labor unions, but that uniquely malicious corporate behavior like Amazons justifies a more adversarial approach to labor relations. Heres my standard, Rubio writes, When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy I support the workers. And thats why I stand with those at Amazons Bessemer warehouse today. Ballots went out last month to more than 5,000 workers at Amazons Bessemer fulfillment center in a mail-in vote on whether to organize with the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU). Votes will be counted March 30. Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said the union welcomes support from all quarters. Senator Rubios support demonstrates that the best way for working people to achieve dignity and respect in the workplace is through unionization. This should not be a partisan issue, Appelbaum said. The op-ed appears as Republicans have stepped up rhetoric in recent weeks aimed at making in-roads with working class voters. But Rubio is also making the statement as he has engaged in a public fight with Amazon over its decision to pull the book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, from its website, Kindle store and Audible audiobook platform. This week, Rubio and Sens. Josh Hawley, Mike Lee and Mike Braun sent a letter to Amazon challenging the decision. The letter said Amazons action openly signaled to conservative Americans that their views are not welcome on its platforms, according to Florida Daily. Amazon responded that it has chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness. In his opinion piece, Rubio writes that unions have hurt management and worker relations and allowed left-wing social organizers to take over workplaces. Opposing a union, the senator says, is inconsistent with the progressive values (Amazon) has forced on everyone else. By waging a war on small businesses and working class values, Rubio says Amazon has burned bridges with former allies. Today it might be workplace conditions, but tomorrow it might be a requirement that the workers embrace managements latest woke human resources fad, Rubio said. Larry Walker, the last living translator of the original team of scholars who produced the New International Version of the Bible, died on March 8 at age 88. Walker was a Hebrew scholar and a Semitic languages specialist who used his skills in the extinct Amorite language of Ugaritic to shed light on the Old Testament, illuminating the details of everything from the trading ships of Isaiah 2:16 to the darkest valley of Psalm 23:4. He cared deeply about accuracy and specifics and believed a commitment to the doctrine of inerrancy could serve as the basis for the highest quality of scholarship. Walker served on the International Council of Biblical Inerrancy and was one of the original signers of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 1978. When he and other translators were accused of turning the NIV into a unisex Bible and subverting the Scripture with a secret feminist agenda in the late 1990s, Walker reiterated that his commitment was to inerrancy, accuracy, and the hard work of translation. Accuracy. Thats what mattered. The accuracy, Walkers son Daniel Walker told CT. He could just drill down, drill down, drill down into the Word. He said unless you were a scholar, you just wouldnt understand all the reasons they have done what theyve done because there was so much behind a specific word. Walker taught Hebrew and Old Testament to an estimated 4,000 seminary students over his career. He was a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth from 1965 to 1980; Criswell Bible Institute in Dallas from 1970 to 1980; and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis from 1980 to 1997. After 1997, he held visiting positions at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Beeson Divinity School, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Tyndale Theological Seminary in the Netherlands. One of his students at Southwestern, Al Jackson, now a Baptist pastor in Auburn, Alabama, recalled Walker as a valiant defender of the veracity and trustworthiness of the Old Testament. John D. Massey, dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions at Southwestern, said Walker had a profound influence on my life as a young seminarian in his Hebrew classes at Mid-American Seminary in the early 1990s. He had a deep love for Gods Word and passed that along to his students. Walker was born to Gilbert and Eleanora Walker in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in July 1932, in the home his Norwegian grandfather built when he immigrated to the US. Walker was raised a Mennonite, according to his son, and committed his life to Christ at a young age. As a teenager, he rededicated his life during a Baptist revival and became passionate about Scripture. He went to Bob Jones University to study the Bible in 1955 and met a nursing student named Becky Brown who played saxophone in the university band. They married two years later. Walker went on to earn another degree at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1958, a masters from Wheaton College in 1959, and a doctorate from Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning in Philadelphia in 1967. As he studied Hebrew and other Semitic languagesAramaic, Akkadian, and UgariticWalker became more convinced of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. He strongly rejected the dominant scholarly approach of higher criticism, noting it was held up as scientific but hadnt changed since the 18th century, despite the discoveries of massive amounts of new linguistic and archaeological information. Armchair speculation of higher criticism has been repeatedly overturned by continuing discoveries from the lands of the Bible, Walker wrote. The founders of higher criticism were totally ignorant of such important ancient cognate languages as Ugaritic and Akkadiannot to mention such non-Semitic languages as Egyptian, Hittite, Hurrian, [and] Sumerian. Words once claimed to be late (and therefore betraying a late document) are now attested in the early Canaanite source materials from Ugarit; syntactical features of Hebrew poetry once labeled incorrect are now attested in the poetry of Ugaritic. The year he earned his PhD, Walker was recruited to join the core committee of 15 scholars who would oversee the translation of a new, evangelical version of the Bible. The committee was started in 1965, but one of the members, E. Leslie Carlson of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, died before the work began. Walker was brought on as his replacement. He spent the next decade working on the first edition of the NIV while simultaneously teaching at Southwestern. He had a full-time job at the seminary, as a seminary professor, Daniel Walker recalled. And then hed come home at night and hed work all night on the NIV. He spent his whole life in the Word. This is just what he did. The NIV was published by Zondervan in November 1978. The initial press run of 1.2 million copies sold in advance. According to historian Peter Thuesen, the NIV lived up to its billing as a more evangelical Bible than the Revised Standard Version, but also drew on recent scholarship and received generally positive reviews from academics. One point of academic contention was an area Walker worked on: The NIVs use of capital letters for Christological terms in the Old Testament. In Psalm 2, for example, the NIV capitalized Anointed One, One, King, and Son, since Christians have traditionally understood those as proper nouns referring prophetically to Jesus. Since Hebrew doesnt have capital letters and English does, capitalization is an interpretive choice based on theological commitments and style preferences. Thuesen describes the fight as more symbolic than substantive, writing that the disagreement may have been more about Protestant party politics than about Hebrew and Greek philology. Walker faced a bigger controversy while working on NIV revisions in the 1990s. Zondervan published an NIV update branded as an inclusive language version in the United Kingdom in 1995 and had plans to release a similarly revised in the US in the early 2000s. World magazine published an expose in March of 1997, claiming this would be a unisex Bible, and a feminist seduction that was likely to transform understandings of how God views the sexes he created. The piece said Zondervan was forcing the Bible translators to make the changes for financial reasons and prominently quoted Walker, making him the face of the reluctant scholar pressured into evolving views. When it first came up, no one was for [unisex language]. Now at the present time, almost everyone is for it, World quoted Walker. The language is shifting underneath our feet. World was later criticized by the Evangelical Publishers Association, which deemed the reporting distorted, incomplete, and inflammatory. Walker, for his part, insisted there were scholarly reasons for the changes. He didnt have a political agenda and certainly wasnt part of a subversive feminist effort to undermine Scripture. He was committed to accurately translating the text, based on the best scholarly understanding, into a contemporary idiom that could be widely understood by modern English speakers. Theres so much behind the translation and whats behind the words, Daniel Walker said. He could tell you the history of the English word, and the Hebrew word behind it, the other languages that were used in biblical times, how they were all different, and then talk about gender in the German translation too. After the World report, however, Mid-America asked Walker to disassociate himself from the NIV. When he refused, he was pressed into retirement, according to CT reporting at the time. Walker went on to teach at six other seminaries and harbored no resentment over the controversy, according to his son. He just took as it what it was, Daniel Walker said. He knew he was right and it was done. The lifelong Bible scholar also continued to work on revisions to the NIV, and was involved with the gender inclusive Todays New International Version in 2002. Bible scholars at Wheaton and Dallas Theological Seminary told CT that the changes in it were not particularly radical and were faithful to the original biblical texts. Walker was personally less interested in the debate over the gender questions than details like the best translation for the valley of the shadow of death in Psalm 23an odd and debated word found only once in the Bibleand tracking down the correct identities of animals in the Old Testament. Based on his linguistic sleuthing, Walker argued that the greyhound found in the King James Version of Proverbs 30:31 is actually a rooster, the turtle in Song of Songs 2:12 is actually a turtle dove, and the unicorn in Deuteronomy 33:17 is actually a wild ox. Walker spent the last years of his life in Gray, Tennessee, regaling his neighbors with Bible knowledge and working on a book about his work on the NIV, his scholarship, and his philosophy of translation. It was near completion at the time of his death, his son said. Walker was proceeded in death by his wife, Rebecca Elizabeth, in 2018 and their son Craig in 2010. He is survived by children David, Daniel, Linda Enzor, and Melissa, as well as ten grandchildren. A small memorial service will be held at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary on Saturday. By Michelle Nichols and Lisa Barrington NEW YORK/DUBAI, March 12 (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme is hoping to get a share of hundreds of millions of dollars from a private foundation set up to help Yemen by U.S. private equity investor Tim Collins, U.N. food chief David Beasley said on Friday. 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 United Nations describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis. In a document shared with aid groups and seen by Reuters, the 2021 Famine Prevention Foundation aims to "avert a widespread famine by getting immediate assistance to the maximum number of people" experiencing famine or on the brink of famine. Beasley said that he has spoken with Collins several times about the foundation, which has yet to be publicly announced. "Tim's working hard on a private foundation of funds," Beasley told reporters. "He expressed his concerns about the governments around the world being stretched because of the crisis that we're now facing because of COVID." Collins, founder of U.S. private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC, declined to comment. Most funding for U.N. aid appeals comes from governments, so the creation of the Famine Prevention Foundation is novel. Contributors to the fund are thought to include entities in Gulf countries, an aid source told Reuters. Aid agency Action Contre la Faim told The New Humanitarian media outlet, which first reported on the new fund this month, that the money was thought to have come from private Gulf entities. "The aim of the fund is to demonstrate that the U.N. can promptly scale up responses when given the means to do so ... it is a way to reassure donors, in particular Gulf donors," the aid source said. The foundation is being run by John Ging, former director of U.N. aid operations, and Neal Keny-Guyer, the former chief executive of Mercy Corps aid organization, said two sources familiar with the situation. Story continues Earlier this month countries only pledged $1.7 billion for humanitarian aid in Yemen - less than half the $3.85 billion the United Nations was seeking for 2021 to avert a large-scale famine. DUE DILIGENCE Beasley estimated the foundation would have sums in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Yemen director Mohammed Abdi said the group had applied for money from the foundation. "These funds, if received, will be a much-needed addition to our work," he said. "Far more money is still needed, along with concerted international action to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Yemen and stop pushing millions more into starvation and misery." While it's not clear where the money for the foundation has come from, both Beasley and Abdi said accountability and due diligence had been carried out. Abdi said it had received assurances from the foundation that if the Norwegian Refugee Council receives a grant it will be "free to provide assistance based only on the needs of the most vulnerable." Some 80% of Yemenis need help, with 400,000 children under the age of 5 severely malnourished and more than half the population of the Arabian Peninsula country - 16 million people - are going hungry, according to U.N. data. A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthi group ousted the country's government from Sanaa. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system. The people's suffering has been worsened by an economic and currency collapse, and by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York and Lisa Barrington in Dubai; Editing by Howard Goller) The government of southwestern Yunnan province is tracking 15 wild Asian elephants round-the-clock as the herd moves northward. The elephants, which started their journey from the southernmost prefecture in the province on April 16, were 10 kilometers away from the provincial capital Kunming on Tuesday. The local government has been tracking and escorting the animals to keep them away from residents. The elephants have damaged 561 square meters of cropland, according to media reports Jun 02, 2021 05:22 PM Hundreds of thousands of San Antonians were panicked. They had no lights, no way to cook meals, and the temperature in their homes and apartments kept falling. Under orders from the operator of Texas electric grid, CPS Energy cut off power to large swaths of its service area during the fiercest winter storm in memory. Some of the outages lasted hours; some persisted for days. I spent every night past midnight delivering firewood, recalled District 8 City Councilman Manny Pelaez. Everywhere I went, people were weeping. On ExpressNews.com: Texans will recover just a fraction of $16 billion energy overcharge On Feb. 16 at 3:03 p.m., less than two days into the emergency, CPS posted this tweet from a media briefing: Paula Gold-Williams: We arent looking at individual people. We are looking at the stability of the grid and trying to help San Antonio through this situation. Safe to say CPS Energys board of trustees didnt appoint Gold-Williams CEO in 2016 for her human touch. In her defense, she didnt have a lot of options. Texas power grid was on the verge of collapse. To shore it up, the grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, a.k.a. ERCOT had called on power companies to conduct rolling outages, some of which never rolled off the neighborhoods theyd squashed. If that was bad, a grid failure would have been much worse, plunging the state into darkness for weeks. An accountant by training, Gold-Williams, 58, is intensely focused on two things: maintaining low rates for customers and reliability that is, ensuring that the city-owned utility has the generating capacity to keep the lights on with only the occasional hiccup. And shes succeeded; CPS has had among the lowest rates in Texas and fewer outages than most of its peers. Thats why she has broad support among San Antonios business leaders. Thats also why CPS customers had paid almost no attention to her until the storm. They had few complaints, except for grumbles now and then about her compensation. (Her base salary is $486,000; in non-pandemic years, she usually receives a hefty bonus on top of that.) Both groups like that CPS hasnt sought a rate increase from City Council since 2013. But the deep freeze and its financial and political aftermath have pushed Gold-Williams and CPS into treacherous territory. Customers trust in their utility has been damaged. And CPS now faces an unprecedented financial threat that will probably leave her with no choice but to ask for rate increases. Is Gold-Williams, who climbed to the top of CPS as a numbers woman, the right person to lead the utility at this juncture? The answer is yes. But its complicated. Just like Gold-Williams, the first Black woman to run the utility. Target of vitriol For ratepayers who saw her tone-deaf comment, it fed their bitterness, which already had plenty of fuel. They felt abandoned by CPS, ERCOT and politicians. CPS, of course, is the closest target with some justification. It had weatherized its six wholly owned plants, but not well enough to withstand long stretches of freezing temperatures. Some of them seized up in the storm. The utility also owns 40 percent of the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Matagorda County. The storm knocked it temporarily offline, too. In District 8 on the North Side, hit with more outages than many other parts of town, residents anger is palpable. Fairly or not, Pelaez said, The vitriol is aimed squarely at Paula. And at the same time, shes struggling to make sure CPS isnt crushed under the weight of this crisis, he said. He was talking about the financial crisis CPS faces. In the world of municipally owned utilities, this crisis is almost as savage as the storm that brought San Antonio to its knees. During the week beginning Feb. 14, CPS estimates that it spent between $875 million and $1.1 billion, mostly on purchases of scarce natural gas on the spot market, where prices went through the roof. To put things in perspective: During its entire 2019-20 fiscal year, the utility spent $692.6 million on fuel for its plants, including coal and natural gas. In a matter of days during last months storm, it racked up between $675 million and $850 million in bills for gas alone. That doesnt count what it spent on wholesale electricity and on fees charged by ERCOT. Unscrupulous gas suppliers more than likely gouged CPS in some of its purchases. And CPS will almost certainly sue them to reclaim some of that money and push down its debt. Gold-Williams has said the utility also will seek relief read: money from the state and federal governments. Theres no way of knowing how either effort will pan out. Whats certain is that the utility has a mega-tab and ratepayers are on the hook for it. When CPS Energy is in financial trouble, its customers are, too. Paulas world Gold-Williams has pledged to spare CPSs 840,000-plus ratepayers from the shock of sky-high bills, at least for the time being. CPS is opening its financial taps. The utility held about $892 million in cash as of Jan. 31 that it can draw on to pay expenses. And it can borrow up to $280 million through short-term loans. . Last month, CPS trustees cleared the utility to sell an additional $500 million in commercial paper unsecured, short-term debt if necessary. City Council could vote on the new borrowing capacity as early as this week. They have the liquidity to make those payments, said Jennifer Chang, an analyst at Moodys Investor Services, a credit-rating agency that cut its outlook on CPS Energys debt from stable to negative last week. Coming into this event, they had the liquidity. One way the utility might handle storm-related expenses is to bundle them into what Wall Street calls a regulatory asset. CPS would sell bonds to cover the expense, and its customers would pay off the debt over the next 10 to 20 years. The new debt could trigger credit-rating downgrades like the one Fitch Ratings just dealt the utility and others in Texas. In the long run, that would mean bigger interest payments to bondholders. CPS already carried a ton of debt before last months disaster: $5.9 billion as of Oct. 31. But its nothing like the debt most of us are familiar with, unless ones hobby is building billion-dollar power plants. You cant just look at its debt in isolation, Chang said. You have to look at the size of the utility. CPS is a complex enterprise. It generates, distributes and sells electricity to its residential and business customers and to other utilities on the wholesale market. With total assets of $11.6 billion as of Oct. 31, it has the financial wherewithal to make debt payments, maintain and operate its plants, employ more than 3,000 workers, cover pension expenses and still pour 14 percent of its gross revenue into the city of San Antonios general fund every year. Last year, its tribute to the city totaled $330 million. This is Paulas world. An auditor through and through Before arriving at CPS in 2004 she was its controller, then moved up to CFO Gold-Williams was Luby Inc.s chief financial officer when the cafeteria chain was headquartered in San Antonio. There, she lived a through a debt crunch that nearly crippled the company. In a 2019 interview, she told me she worked 14 hours a day for 45 consecutive days during the corporate crisis. Her kids visited her in the office for parenting time. From Luann Platters to power plants, heres Gold-Williams perspective on her work: Because I was raised as an auditor, I already had a very diverse background, so I didnt feel like I had to specialize, she said then. Financials pretty much are the same. Even if you talk to an accountant in Japan, they think about things in terms of assets and liabilities. They may use a different denomination, but its about the same. Gold-Williams experience and comfort in the financial side of the house is a big reason shes the CEO the utility needs at this moment. But, again, CPS is a complicated beast thats enormously consequential to San Antonios well-being. In a twisted, inverse way, sitting in the dark last month drove that point home. Well-being includes clean air outdoors as well as heat inside our homes. Were seeing more severe weather events in Texas, and climate change is likely a major contributor. Power plants that burn fossil fuels coals and natural gas are among our biggest polluters. CPS plans to lean more heavily on solar and wind energy, but Gold-Williams commitment to that shift is fuzzy. Under her leadership, CPS is pursuing the FlexPower Bundle, which Staff Writer Diego Mendoza-Moyers described as a plan to replace the utilitys aging power plants with solar farms, battery storage and other energy technologies. Bids for the initiative were due Feb. 1, two weeks before the winter storm struck. Rates and reliability As San Antonio thawed out, Gold-Williams said the FlexPower plan might have to wait because of CPSs new financial burden. She also said the utility may consider building another natural gas plant. Faster de-carbonization, utilizing technology those sound great, she said. Referring to the cost of renewable energy projects, she added: They were already going to be hard before we had this weather event. That set off alarm bells for DeeDee Belmares, a climate justice organizer at Public Citizen and a leader of the failed Recall CPS petition drive, which sought to put the utility under City Councils direct control. Belmares suspects Gold-Williams of fear mongering, using the financial crisis as cover to slow the utilitys turn to clean energy. She also thinks CPS is likely to convert Spruce, its one remaining coal plant, to natural gas instead of simply shutting it down. I think Paula Gold-Williams lacks the vision to move the utility into a future that is inevitable, she said. She sees things strictly from a financial perspective. Just focusing on those factors, she doesnt have the broad perspective. The factors Belmares was referring to: rates and reliability. In other words, Gold-Williams strong suits. greg.jefferson@express-news.net President Biden on Thursday dramatically expanded the ways Americans can get vaccinated and the pool of people who can administer shots, moves enabled in part by new funding in the American Rescue Plan. The changes, he pledged in a prime-time address to the nation, would mean no more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones. Heres a look at what the Biden administration is doing to offer more access. Centralizing how you can find a vaccine. By May 1, when Mr. Biden directed that states should have opened up eligibility for every adult in the United States, the federal government will debut a vaccine finder website that guides people to sites near them offering shots. By the same date, the administration will launch a call center with a 1-800 number to assist those who might not have internet access in finding a vaccine. For states that sponsor vaccine appointment websites, the administration will assign staff in technical support jobs to help improve the sites performance. Opening more vaccination sites In the next six weeks, the administration will send vaccines to up to 700 more community health centers that typically serve lower-income patients, bringing the total number of those sites serving as vaccination centers to 950. More than 20,000 pharmacies will now administer the shots as part of the federal governments pharmacy vaccine program, double the number that have so far participated. The administration is more than doubling the number of federally run mass vaccination sites, settings that the White House said would now be able to administer hundreds of thousands of shots a day under the aegis of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the military and other agencies. At least 4,000 more active duty troops are to be deployed to help the effort. Expanding the number of people who can administer vaccines Watertown, NY (13601) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Methacholine Challenge Test. Credit: healthgrades.com In asthma, the airways become hyperresponsive. Researchers from Uppsala University have found a new mechanism that contributes to, and explains, airway hyperresponsiveness. The results are published in the scientific journal Allergy. Some 10 percent of Sweden's population suffer from asthma. In asthmatics, the airways are hyperresponsive (overreactive) to various types of stimuli, such as cold air, physical exertion and chemicals. The airways become constricted, making breathing difficult. To diagnose asthma, a "methacholine test" is commonly used to determine whether a person is showing signs of airway hyperresponsiveness. Methacholine binds to what are known as muscarinic receptors in the smooth muscle cells lining the inside of the trachea. These muscle cells then begin to contract, causing constriction of the trachea. In the new study, the scientists show that the airway hyperresponsiveness induced by methacholine is due partly to the body's mast cells. The research was conducted using a mouse model of asthma, where the mice were made allergic to house dust mites. Mast cells, which are immune cells of a specific type belonging to the innate immune system, are found mainly in tissues that are in contact with the external environment, such as the airways and the skin. Because of their location and the fact that they have numerous different receptors capable of recognizing parts of foreign or pathogenic substances, they react quickly and become activated. In their cytoplasm, mast cells have storage capsules, known as granules, in which some substances are stored in their active form. When the mast cell is activated, these substances can be rapidly released and provoke a physiological reaction. This plays a major part in the body's defense against pathogens, but in asthma and other diseases where the body starts reacting against harmless substances in the environment, it becomes a problem. In their study, the researchers were able to demonstrate that the mast cells contribute to airway hyperresponsiveness by having a receptor that recognizes methacholine: muscarinic receptor-3 (M3). When methacholine binds M3, the mast cells release serotonin. This then acts on nerve cells, which in turn control the airways. Thereafter, the airways produce acetylcholine, which also acts on M3 in smooth muscle cells and makes the trachea contract even more. A vicious cycle is under way. The scientists' discovery also means that drugs like tiotropium, which were previously thought to work solely by blocking M3 in smooth muscle, are probably also efficacious because they prevent activation through M3 in mast cells. Accordingly, the ability of mast cells to rapidly release serotonin in response to various stimuli, thereby contributing to airway hyperresponsiveness, has been underestimated. Explore further Obesity alters airway muscle function, increases asthma risk More information: Erika MendezEnriquez et al. Mast cellderived serotonin enhances methacholineinduced airway hyperresponsiveness in house dust miteinduced experimental asthma, Allergy (2021). Journal information: Allergy Erika MendezEnriquez et al. Mast cellderived serotonin enhances methacholineinduced airway hyperresponsiveness in house dust miteinduced experimental asthma,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/all.14748 In the Tapajos Gold Province, the site of the largest gold rush in Brazil's history Two defined gold deposits found so far - Central and Moreira Gomes (MG) Management team has a long history of success in Brazil What Cabral Gold does: ( ) (OTCMKTS:CBGZF) is unlocking the high-grade gold potential of north-eastern Brazil. The Vancouver-based companys flagship asset is the 100%-owned Cuiu Cuiu project in the Tapajos region, an infrastructure-rich area located approximately 20 kilometres (km) NW of Eldorado Golds Tocantinzinho precious metals project. The Tapajos Gold Province is the site of the largest gold rush in Brazil's history, producing an estimated 30 to 50 million ounces of placer gold between 1978 and 1995. It is the largest placer gold province in Brazil, and the third-largest in the world. Cuiu Cuiu has Indicated resources of 0.2 million ounces (Moz) and Inferred resources of 0.8 Moz. It boasts a gold-in-soil anomaly that is 18 km long and largely untested. Drill intercepts in six other targets outside of the existing resources include 39 metres (m) at 5.1 grams per ton (g/t) and 27m at 6.9g/t gold. Exploration work at Cuiu Cuiu has identified multiple high-grade gold vein target areas outside of the historic resource and gold-in-soil anomaly. This work has so far defined two gold deposits; Central and Moreira Gomes (MG), which are 5 km apart. Central extends over a strike length of at least 800 m in a northwest-southeast direction, and is 50 to 70 m wide, with a maximum known vertical depth of 450 m; MG extends over a strike length of 1,200 m east-west, is 30 to 50 m wide, and has a vertical depth of 400 m. In 2019, the exploration company made a new discovery at Cuiu Cuiu, known as the Machichie zone. Earlier drilling at Machichie revealed a significant new mineralized zone that is open along strike and down-dip, with a high-grade vein structure that looks to be continuous over nearly 450 metres. One intercept from the Machichie West zone returned 3.4 metres at nearly 37 g/t of gold. And another target, Climar is 10 km east of the Central gold deposit and 7 km northeast of the Moreira Gomes deposit on the property. In addition to Cuiu Cuiu, Cabral Gold has three other projects in the Tapajos Region of Para, Brazil, including the Bom Jardim project which is located about 25 km northwest of the Cuiu Cuiu property and 45 km NW of Eldorados Tocantinzinho deposit Cabrals management team has a long history in Brazil, having made four previous discoveries. CEO Alan Carter is ex-Rio Tinto and founded Brazil-focused Magellan Minerals Inc, which was acquired by Anfield Gold Corp in 2016. How is it doing: Cabral Gold was named in the 2021 TSX Venture 50, placing second in the exchanges mining category having seen its share price increase by 492% and a market cap increase of 1,047% during 2020, and the company is setting itself up for an equally exciting time in 2021. On April 15, Cabral said it had identified a new high-grade gold zone at the MG deposit on the flagship Cuiu Cuiu project. Assay results from a pair of holes drilled on the deposit returned intersections of 2.1 metres at 29.4 grams per ton (g/t) gold, including 0.5 metres at 120.6 g/t gold. Cabral told investors that the result indicates the presence of a parallel high-grade zone located 75 metres south of the main MG deposit. Results from the second hole suggest the presence of an extensive gold-in-oxide blanket up to 48 metres thick averaging 0.5 g/t gold and covering an area of approximately 500 metres by 400 metres, it added. Results on five additional diamond drill holes recently completed at MG are pending, as well as several RC holes at the Jerimum Meio (JM), JN, Hamilton Novo and Maranhao West targets. And at the end of March, reported new assay results at the previously untested Indio target at Cuiu Cuiu, with intersections including four metres at 2.5 g/t gold, including one metre at 8.7 g/t gold in one hole. Another hole hit five metres at 2.6 g/t gold, including 2 metres at 5.7 g/t gold, suggesting the presence of a previously unknown high-grade vein, according to Cabral. Meanwhile, at the more advanced Machichie target, it said assay results from follow-up reverse circulation drilling revealed 34 metres at 5.4 g/t gold, including 8 metres at 1.3 g/t gold, 2 metres 4 g/t gold from the eastern extension to the zone and 5 metres at 1.4 g/t gold, including 1 metre at 4.7 g/t gold in the western part of the zone. On February 16, Cabral revealed that a third rig had been added to its 5,000-metre diamond drill program at Cuiu Cuiu. The company said the drill will initially focus on the high-grade zones at both the MG and Central gold deposits, the aim being to further define the size and grade of those high-grade zones. At the end of January, Cabral reported new sample results from the JM target at Cuiu Cuiu that showed numerous high-grade gold mineralization exposed at surface. Highlights from the results included an outcropping vein structure where channel sampling returned 0.9 metres (m) at 35.5 grams per ton (g/t) gold, and surface grab samples of 23.7, 42.6, 126.4, 145.8, 162.2 and 700.2 g/t gold. The JM structure has never been previously drill-tested and will be included in the reconnaissance drill program. However, the company noted that drilling at the target would likely be delayed until mid-late February after an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) at the companys reconnaissance drill camp, although all of the affected personnel were exhibiting only mild symptoms. And in the same month Cabral said a northeast-trending vein structure had been identified in reconnaissance drilling at the Tracaja target, where a total of seven reconnaissance reverse circulation holes had been completed to date. It noted that 19 surface grab samples collected from the edge of historic placer workings at Tracaja in November 2020, returned gold values of 24.2 g/t to 165.0 g/t gold and averaged 74.9 g/t gold. In the boardroom in April, Cabral announced the appointment of Rodney Cooper to its board of directors with immediate effect. Cooper, a mining engineer, is principal at Cooper Mine Management and Valuation Consulting and is a director of which has a number of gold exploration projects in Ontario, including a 50% JV with Kirkland Lake Gold. He was formerly a director at Klondex Gold until the company was acquired by Hecla. From the period 2011 to 2017, Cooper was president and COO of Labrador Iron Mines, prior to establishing his own consulting firm. He joined in 2000 and was VP Technical Services for Kinross from 2002 to 2006. During that time, he made numerous trips to Brazil evaluating gold opportunities, and worked on Kinross' world-class Paracatu gold mine and the Gurupi project. At the same time, the company also announced that Dennis Moore had resigned from its board of directors as part of his retirement process. On the financing front, in November 2020, Cabral said it had raised over C$4 million from the exercise of share purchase warrants, which would ensure that an "exploration drill program well into 2021" can take place. The company said 22,296,832 million warrants were exercised, from a total of 22,796,832 that were issued in connection with an oversubscribed private placing that closed in July 2019 which had itself generated nearly C$4.2 million for the gold exploration company. Cabral had initially planned to raise $2 million when it launched the placement in May 2020 but upsized the financing twice due to increased investor demand. Inflection points: Further drilling news from established MG and Central gold deposits Drilling at main Machichie structure to complete several in-fill holes and step-out holes More news from compelling new drill target at Indio within Cuiu Cuiu What the boss says: "The initial diamond drill results from MG are highly encouraging and indicate the presence of a parallel high-grade zone 75m south of the main MG deposit, which also contains considerable high-grade mineralization, Cabral CEO Alan Carter said in April's statement. These new drill results suggest we have a significant high-grade zone parallel to the main deposit at MG which could contain a significant amount of gold, Carter added. It also appears that the MG deposit is covered by a large low-grade oxide gold blanket which was also not previously included in the historic resource estimate and could add significant ounces to the MG resource. Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com The State of Vietnam was the first state in history to exercise its sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) since they were ownerless pieces of land, at least since the 17th century. Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence that has legal value to testify to its sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, Dr Tran Cong Truc, former head of the Governments Boundary Committee, has said. Platform DK1/12 on the southern continental shelf of Vietnam. DK1 platforms are the country's offshore economic, scientific, and technical service stations. Many countries and international scientists have recognised historical and legal evidence of Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa which show that the State of Vietnam was the first state in history to possess and exercise its sovereignty over these two chains of islands since they were ownerless pieces of land, at least since the 17th century. And Vietnams possession and exercise of sovereignty over the two archipelagos are clear, continuous, and peaceful, and in conformity with the current acquisition of territory principle - the principle of effective occupation - of Public International Law. Over the course of three centuries, from the 17th to late 19th century, as the State of Dai Viet (a former name of Vietnam), three different dynasties performed the sacred mission of possessing and exercising sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. The Hoang Sa Flotilla, established by the State to manage, protect, and exploit the two archipelagos, is a typical example. The flotilla and the Bac Hai Flotilla, established later and also led by the leader of the Hoang Sa Flotilla, worked under the order of seven lords, from the time of Lord Nguyen Phuc Lan and his son Lord Nguyen Phuc Tan in the 17th century until the Tay Son Uprising (1771 - 1802), without encountering any disputes or resistance. A close look at Platform DK1/19. Truc pointed out important evidence for the feudal state of Vietnams actual and effective management over these chains of islands, which is the designation of the then Hoang Sa (consisting of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos) as an administrative unit of the State at that time. During the reign of the Nguyen lords, Hoang Sa was part of Thua tuyen Quang Nam or Quang Nghia (Ngai), an administrative unit equivalent to a province, in todays central region, as seen in Toan tap Thien Nam Tu chi Lo do thu (Handbook of the Souths Road Map) or Phu bien Tap luc (Miscellaneous Records of Border Pacification) by Le Qui Don (1726 - 1784). In the Tay Son era, Quang Nghia was renamed Hoa Nghia. In the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 - 1945), Hoang Sa belonged to Quang Ngai Province. After that, as the representative of the State of Vietnam in terms of diplomacy under the 1884 Patenotre Treaty, the French colonial administration conducted the protection and management of the two archipelagos in line with then legal procedures. In 1938, Emperor Bao Dai of the Nguyen Dynasty decided to separate Hoang Sa from Quang Ngai and merge it into Thua Thien Province. During the period Vietnam was temporarily divided into north and south, as the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos are located to the south of the 17th parallel - the provisional demarcation line between the two regions under the 1954 Geneva Accords, the regime in South Vietnam, as the one with the legal status in international relations, continued to safeguard and manage these archipelagos from 1954 to 1975. The regime in South Vietnam continually exercised Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa via State administrative documents as well as actual activities. For example, on October 20, 1956, the administration of the Republic of Vietnam issued a decree renaming southern provinces and put Truong Sa archipelago under then Phuoc Tuy province. On July 13, 1961, the Republic of Vietnam merged Hoang Sa into Quang Nam province. On September 6, 1973, Truong Sa was merged into Phuoc Hai Commune of Dat Do District, Phuoc Tuy Province. Platform DK1/10. Photos: VNA From April 13 to 28, 1975, forces of the Peoples Liberation Army of South Vietnam under the leadership of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam took over the islands guarded by troops of the Republic of Vietnam and deployed personnel to defend some other islands and sites in the Truong Sa archipelago. After the south was completely liberated, on July 2, 1976, at the first session of the 6th-tenure National Assembly (1976 - 1981), the legislature decided to rename the country the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which has continued to manage and safeguard the countrys sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. In 1982, Vietnam established Hoang Sa and Truong Sa districts, with the former now subordinate to Da Nang City and the latter to Khanh Hoa Province. Truong Sa District is comprised of several administrative units, such as Truong Sa township (consisting of Truong Sa Lon (Big Truong Sa) Island and its vicinity), Song Tu Tay Commune (consisting of Song Tu Tay Island and its vicinity), and Sinh Ton Commune (consisting of Sinh Ton Island and its vicinity). Truc affirmed that Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence that has legal value to testify to and safeguard its sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos over different periods in history. Vietnams consistent policy is very clear: persistently and resolutely protecting its territorial integrity, national sovereignty, rights, and legitimate interests, he said. The country takes every possible measure to guarantee its territorial integrity, national sovereignty, rights, and legitimate interests but still has the responsibility for maintaining regional peace, stability, and cooperation. In other words, it will settle related issues by peaceful means, according to Truc. VNA Ancient Chinese books say Hoang Sa, Truong Sa belong to Vietnam Many ancient Chinese bibliographies, recorded by the Chinese themselves, directly or indirectly, recognize Vietnams sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands) and Truong Sa (Spratly Islands). President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Federal President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen to take part in the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence and in the Crimean Platform summit to be held in Kyiv in August 2021. This was said during a phone conversation between the two leaders on March 12, Ukrinform reports with reference to the press service of the Ukrainian president. Zelensky thanked his Austrian counterpart for supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The parties agreed that international sanctions against Russia should be maintained until the full restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. At the same time, the Ukrainian president stressed the importance of keeping the attention of the world community to the development of the situation on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea and informed the interlocutor about the Crimean Platform initiative. Zelensky invited Van der Bellen and his wife to take part in the inaugural summit of the initiative, which will take place in Kyiv in August 2021, and in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. 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. ish New benchmark could allow Yuba-Sutter to move to less restrictive tier soon Shaoxing rice wine to be introduced at Dubai World Expo By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-03-12 09:28 A signing ceremony was held on March 9 in Shanghai for a Shaoxing rice wine to be a designated wine in the banquet hall of the Chinese Pavilion at Dubai World Expo 2021. An iconic brand in Chinas rice wine industry which is reputed as the crown of Oriental wine, Guyue Longshan Rice Wine, originated from the Shaoxing city of east Chinas Zhejiang province, and has been exported to more than 40 countries and regions such as Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. Before the Dubai expo, it also shone at the Panama Pacific International Exposition 1915 and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. China is one of the earliest countries that confirmed participation in this event, which is rescheduled to be held from October 1 to March 31, 2022.Covering an area of 4,636 square meters, the Chinese Pavilion is currently the largest pavilion in the Dubai expo park except for the host UAE Pavilion. In the view of Wang Hui, head of business operations of the Chinese banquet hall, the Dubai World Expo is an excellent platform to promote Chinese culture and brands to the world. In the banquet hall, visitors can have an in-depth experience of Chinese food culture. There were no Romanian citizens aboard the "Davide B" ship, where abductions took place off the coast of Benin, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). "The Inter-institutional Crisis Task Force, convened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, carried out as a matter of urgency a series of complex steps on several channels to verify the situation, confirm information on the citizenship and identity of potentially involved persons and taking the necessary steps in such cases", show the representatives of the ministry. According to the data and information obtained, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that there were no Romanian citizens aboard the mentioned ship. Therefore, there were no Romanian citizens victims of an abduction. Haiti - Education : Permanent baccalaureate, holding of the session for those that failed The Ministry of National Education informs that the 1st session for students that failed in the 2020-2021 academic year will be held from March 15 to 18, 2021, as planned in the school calendar https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32156-haiti-flash-final-school-calendar-2020-2021-official.html According to figures communicated by the National Bureau of State Examinations, 10,999 candidates will take part in these official exams, including 6,149 candidates for the traditional secondary and 4,850 candidates for the renovated secondary. Remember that candidates will undergo only in the subjects for which they did not have their average. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32156-haiti-flash-final-school-calendar-2020-2021-official.html HL/ HaitiLibre New Delhi, March 12 : Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said he has not seen a finer judge than Justice Indu Malhotra, the first woman advocate to be appointed directly as a Supreme Court judge, as she sat on the bench for the last time on Friday. Justice Malhotra got emotional on her last day in the court. With almost tearful eyes, she thanked the members of the bar. "I retire with great satisfaction of having contributed to the system with utmost capacity," she said. She also expressed her gratitude to her fellow judges for acknowledging her contribution. Justice Malhotra was one of the two woman judges in the apex court. Previously a senior advocate, she was elevated to the bench on April 27, 2018. From now on, Justice Indira Banerjee will be the only woman Supreme Court judge. Chief Justice Bobde said he has not seen a finer judge than her and he could understand her feelings, citing her emotional state. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said it is sad that a Supreme Court judge has to retire at the of 65. Citing her historic dissent in the Sabarimala temple case, he said that she did a good job reminding the judiciary about constitutional morality. Justice Malhotra had dissented from her four male colleagues while deciding the Sabarimala case. Four judges on the bench had decided in favour of allowing women of all age groups to enter the shrine in Kerala. However, she had maintained that courts should not interfere with the matters of faith until the practices are fundamentally unconstitutional. Senior advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh said the retirement age of judges in the top court should be increased from 65 to 70. He also said that the Chief Justice should take steps to fill the vacancy, created after the retirement of Justice Malhotra, with a female judge. Chief Justice Bobde also said Justice Malhotra is a great role model for younger advocates, adding that her judgments are filled with knowledge, sagacity and firmness. Recollecting an episode when Justice Malhotra was a lawyer and had argued before his bench, he said that she continued to argue at length and he asked another judge on the bench that why is she still arguing, when the bench has understood the point. "I was told she prepares everything so well that she would not stop until everything is told," he added. The Chief Justice said though he did not have many occasions to sit with her, but he did sit with her on some very important cases. "I don't know of a finer judge than Justice Indu Malhotra..... May you have the best," he said. In her parting words, Justice Malhotra said that she was very blessed to serve on the bench of the Supreme Court. Tourism Minister Martin Pakula has written to his federal counterpart Dan Tehan outlining the four additional Victorian destinations he would like included in the half-price flight scheme announced by the federal government this week. Flights would be subsidised into Mildura, Bendigo, Albury-Wodonga and Melbourne airports under Mr Pakulas proposal, in addition to Avalon Airport, which was already part of the initial 14 airports on the federal list. Tourism Minister Martin Pakula wants five, not one, Victorian airport to receive subsidised flights. Credit:Simon Schluter The Victorian government on Thursday went on the front foot, criticising the $1.2 billion federal tourism package that was headlined by 800,000 half-price flights from April to July. Acting Premier James Merlino pointed to Queenslands five airports, Tasmanias three and the Northern Territorys two as evidence the program is not fair, backed up by Mr Pakula who said somewhere in the Canberra bubble there seems to be a misunderstanding of how Victorian tourism works. LG Energy Solution has said it will invest more than 4.5 billion dollars (3.2 billion) in its US battery production business by 2025 as car makers ramp up production of electric vehicles. The Korean company, which has a joint venture with General Motors (GM), said the investment will help create 10,000 jobs, including subcontractors. GM and LG are currently building a 2.3 billion dollar (1.6 billion) battery factory in Lordstown, Ohio, near Cleveland, that will employ about 1,000 people when it is completed in 2022. The site is close to GMs two other designated electric vehicle plants one in Detroit and the other north of the city in Orion Township, Michigan. The companies hope to obtain a decision on a second site in the first half of the year. Expand Close Car makers across the planet are preparing for the switch to electric vehicles (John Walton/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Car makers across the planet are preparing for the switch to electric vehicles (John Walton/PA) General Motors has changed its corporate logo and launched an electric vehicle marketing campaign to reshape its image as clean vehicle company, rather than a builder of petrol-powered pickups and SUVs. The 112-year-old Detroit car maker has promised to roll out 30 new battery-powered vehicles globally by the end of 2025 and said the new campaign will highlight its progressive vision for the future. GM is likely to need far more battery capacity if it is able to deliver on a goal of converting all of its new passenger vehicles from internal combustion engines to electricity by 2035. Consulting firm LMC Automotive predicts that US battery powered vehicle sales will hit over one million per year starting in 2023, reaching more than four million by 2030. Industry analysts have said that car makers face a global shortage of batteries as the industry moves away from petrol and diesel-powered vehicles. Most of the worlds batteries are built in China and other countries. LGs investment also comes as US president Joe Bidens administration laid out its plans to tackle climate change which will likely include taking on the oil and gas industry. The goals of the US president and automakers will be a propelling factor in the growth of the countrys electric vehicle and energy storage systems markets, said Jong Hyun Kim, CEO of LG Energy Solution. LG Energy Solution is dedicated to expanding its battery production capacity and structuring a stable, localised supply chain that provides everything from R&D to production. LG also makes batteries for Chevys electric Bolt vehicle. 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 An indigenous Orang Asli woman in Kampung Aur, a village along a river in Malaysias Taman Negra National Park, reaches out to her pet Toek, Aug. 30, 2018. Indigenous Orang Asli people who live in two villages in Kelantan are suing the government of the northern Malaysian state for allegedly allowing firms to run mining, logging and plantation operations on what they say are their ancestral lands. Around 200 families have lost their livelihoods because of the alleged encroachment by such operations on some 100 acres since 2015, Ahak Uda, one of three Orang Asli plaintiffs, told BenarNews about the lawsuit filed on Thursday. The villagers want the court to declare that they hold customary or ancestral rights to the land, Rajesh Nagarajan, one of their lawyers, told BenarNews. We have previously discussed with state government agencies, as well as the state government and even the late chief minister Nik [Abdul] Aziz Nik Mat, but they do not care about customary land, Ahak Uda told BenarNews, referring to Kelantans former chief minister who died in 2015. To me, if talking does not bring you anywhere, its a waste of time. If we write a letter, they might just roll it up, burn it, or throw it in the trash can. So now we are filing a lawsuit. Uda said he and his fellow activists from the Orang Asli Network in Kelantans Gua Musang district had yet to meet Ahmad Yaakob, the current chief minister, despite writing letters to his office and taking action such as setting up blockades near companies operations on the villagers land. Therefore, he and two other Orang Asli, on behalf of the residents of Kampung Kelaik and Kampung Cabil, filed a civil suit through lawyers in the Kota Bharu High Court, Ahak Uda said. In their lawsuit, the villagers also want licenses granted to the firms, which run the various commercial operations, declared illegal and therefore voided, Nagarajan said. And pending such a declaration, the Orang Asli villagers are seeking an injunction to stop all operations on the land. The villagers have named the Kelantan state government, the states Land and Mines Department and Forestry Department, the Orang Asli Development Department, and 10 companies as respondents in their lawsuit. BenarNews repeatedly contacted two state government officials in charge of land, agricultural and environment, via email and phone, but did not get an immediate response. The Kelantan state government was also sued by the then-federal government in January 2019, for alleged intrusions and violations of rights of Orang Asli peoples lands in Pos Simpor, which is also in Gua Musang. It was an unprecedented move, because until then, such cases had only be filed by non-governmental parties, or Orang Asli themselves. In August 2019, the Kota Bahru High Court dismissed the Kelantan governments application to strike out the suit, state-run Bernama news agency reported. And last October, the Court of Appeals adjourned by a month a hearing on another state appeal to end the federal suit, Free Malaysia Today reported. They have destroyed our ancestors graves Orang Asli are the indigenous minority people of Peninsular Malaysia; there are a few thousand in southern Thailand as well. Orang Asli is a Malay term that translates to original people, or native people, or first people. What these indigenous people call customary land are lands passed on to them from their ancestors who settled them some 4,000 years ago. In 2010, there were around 178,000 Orang Asli in Malaysia, according to the Center for Orang Asli Concerns. The Orang Asli in these villages said many parties during the past six years had encroached on their land for durian and oil palm cultivation, in addition to mining and logging activities, the law firm said in a statement. The lands these Orang Asli inherited from their ancestors have been their source of livelihood for generations, a supporting affidavit filed along with the lawsuit said. The encroachment has almost completely destroyed the Ipoh tree, which is used to make poison for darts in sumpit, which we have used for generations to hunt, the affidavit said, referring to a Malaysian blowgun. It has also contaminated our water sources, and destroyed the graves of our ancestors. Ahak Uda said that before the alleged large-scale encroachment, the Orang Asli in the two villages were self-sufficient. It was easy for us to find food before the encroachment. You see, our market is the forest. We pick our vegetables from the land, our meat too. We hunt and catch frogs, monkeys, boar, but now our resources are depleting, he said. As for the financial aspect, we depended on certain types of woods, such as Agarwood and the Manau tree which is like bamboo. But due to the encroachment it is becoming difficult for us to find these types of wood and bamboo, which are the source of our income. Orang Asli considered trespassers The Orang Asli villagers are seeking ancestral land rights enshrined in the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954, attorney Nagarajan said. He was referring specifically to two sections in the act, which say that the state can declare any area predominantly or exclusively inhabited by aborigines to be an aboriginal area or reserve. In essence, the Orang Asli have to rely on the state government, as land is a state subject in Malaysia. A plot of land can only be declared as native ancestral land by the state government, but unfortunately, they do not bother to gazette any land as ancestral land. So, the Orang Asli are basically considered trespassers on state land, Nagarajan told BenarNews. For instance, the logging and mining companies that are operating on these so-called ancestral lands have licenses from the Kelantan government to do so. Legally, the companies operations are sound. In that sense, this particular civil suit is being undertaken to compel the state government to declare the land as ancestral land, Nagarajan said. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, commonly called Suhakam, said indigenous people in the country have been suffering for a long time because of the ancestral land-rights issue, said Jerald Joseph, one of the commissioners. The rate of ancestral land recognition is very low even 60 years after independence, Joseph told BenarNews. Going to court, therefore, seems like a shorter process than waiting for more than 60 years. Last year, some Orang Asli in southern Johor state won a significant victory related to ancestral land rights in a case they had filed 15 years previously. The Johor High Court ordered the state government to pay a group of the indigenous people from the Seletar tribe 5.2 million ringgit (U.S. $1.26 million) as compensation for relocating them from their ancestral land in 1993. The court also ordered Johor to classify the land they lived on at the time as an Orang Asli settlement. In 2010, Orang Asli members of the Temuan tribe won 6.5 million ringgit ($1.57 million) in a settlement with highway authorities for forcibly taking away their ancestral land for road development, the Associated Press reported at the time. That settlement also took 15 years to achieve. For the Orang Asli, their land is akin to God, Ahak Uda said. This, the forest and the lands, are treasure, he said. We should care for it. We will not allow the destruction of this treasure. Nisha David in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. UPDATE: RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports that Ihar Losik on March 15 ended his latest hunger strike, after four days without food or water. Losik was released from solitary confinement on March 16, and returned to a regular cell. WASHINGTON -- RFE/RL President Jamie Fly condemned the Belarusian governments apparent plans to file new charges against prominent blogger and RFE/RL social media consultant Ihar Losik who has been detained since June 2020. In response, Losik reportedly declared a new hunger strike after attempting to slit his wrists. Said Fly, All of us at RFE/RL are deeply distressed by the new charges against Ihar, and his deteriorating health situation. Journalism is not a crime and Ihar has been unjustly detained for far too long. Ihar and his family should not be tortured in this way. I urge Alexander Lukashenko to release Ihar immediately so he can be reunited with his wife and daughter. According to Losiks wife, Darya, citing his lawyer, Losik acted immediately after learning of the as-yet unknown charges during a meeting with an investigator and the lawyer at Belarus notorious Zhodzina prison. Losik has been held in pre-trial detention at Zhodzina for the past 260 days, charged with prepare to disrupt public order ahead of the controversial August 9 presidential election in Belarus. In mid-December 2020, additional charges were filed against Losik that that could result in an eight-year prison term if he is convicted. In response, Losik began a nearly six-week hunger strike that he ended in late January, citing an "unbelievable wave of solidarity" among his Belarusian compatriots. But the bloggers state of mind apparently declined soon afterward based on a handwritten letter that he wrote on February 18, after learning of the sentencing of two Belsat journalists to two-year terms for reporting live from an anti-government rally in November 2020. Losiks letter was published on Telegram on March 11 by the Viasna Human Rights Center. In his letter, Losik said he believed everyone who has protested against the government will be jailed and those who arent will leave or be silenced. I have no illusion. I think itll be about five more years, and by that time I will have died. I no longer have any desire to do anything, Losik wrote. So much has already been done, and all for naught: Nothing influences anybody. Ill say it honestly: I doubt anything will change. Russia will assist with money, and thats how it will remain for several years to come. Thats why Im thinking I have to somehow prepare myself. Because Ive grown tired of waiting and hoping for something good while, each week for the past eight months, things only deteriorate, he said. Losik wrote of a sense of helplessness, saying it was sad, but he saw no reason to believe otherwise, and said he didnt want his wife to witness a trial. Better they should just quickly shoot me, so as not to have to witness all that. About RFE/RL's Belarus Service Despite the government's information blockade, RFE/RL's Belarus Service continues to provide independent news and analysis of the fast-moving events to Belarusian audiences in their own language, relying on social media platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as mirror sites and an updated news app to circumvent pervasive Internet blockages and access disruptions. About RFE/RL RFE/RL relies on its networks of local reporters to provide accurate news and information to more than 41 million people in 27 languages and 23 countries where media freedom is restricted, or where a professional press has not fully developed. Its videos were viewed 6.5 billion times on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram/IGTV in FY2020. RFE/RL is an editorially independent media company funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media. ----- FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Martins Zvaners in Washington (zvanersm@rferl.org, +1.202.457.6948) Jana Hokuvova in Prague (hokuvovaj@rferl.org, +420.221.122.072) Apple claimed it had found a simple way to enhance its next-generation iPhone and MacBook products' battery life. Previously, the tech giant manufacturer promised its consumers that it will develop batteries that could last longer. However, Apple wasn't able to pull it off for the past few years. But now, the giant tech firm has released a new patent application that reveals how it will improve the batteries of its upcoming Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. Apple's alleged innovation is expected to solve the issue the company has created way back in 2015. According to 9to5Mac's latest report, this problem was specifically found in 12-inch MacBook batteries. To give you more idea, here's how Apple's new metal can batteries work: Apple's new metal can batteries Patently Apple reported that the new metal can batteries will have an electrode surrounded by a rigid or semi-rigid housing. The tech giant manufacturer explained that this housing can be in close proximity to electric components without interfering or damaging the electronic parts. Also Read: Apple to Repair iPhone 12 Pro Cracked Rear Screen Instead of Replacing Entire Device On the other hand, the metal housing can also be coupled between the ground terminal of the electrode and common ground. The alleged metal can batteries also have what Apple calls a flange. This component is expected to reduce the amount of excess material that needs to be fitted into the space designated for batteries. This feature allows Apple's innovation to be increased in size. It will also allow the new metal can batteries to reduce the wasted space, enabling the electronic device to have longer battery life. With the new metal can batteries, Apple no longer needs to increase the size of its upcoming next-gen iPhones, MacBooks, and iPads. Will there be a WiFi 7? Aside from the rumored metal can batteries, Apple is also allegedly working on its latest WiFi 7. The tech giant company's new patent explained that this new internet connection is expected to focus on WLAN indoor and outdoor operation. Some rumors also claimed that it will have stationary and pedestrian speeds in the 2, 4, 5, and 6 GHz. For more news updates about Apple and its upcoming innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Apple 5G Cellular Modem Could Debut in iPhone 2023 Models: Company Chipmaker Partner TSMC Could Be Manufacturer This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Gen. Daniel Hokanson speaks to members of Congress during a hearing in Washington on June 18, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) National Guard Chief Advised Against Extending Capitol Deployment: Memo The National Guards chief recommended against extending the deployment of personnel in the U.S. Capitol, arguing the military reserve force didnt have enough volunteers and faced pressing needs within their states, according to a newly published memorandum. Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the Guard chief, wrote in the memo that officials hadnt been successful in securing enough volunteers to meet the U.S. Capitol Polices request for over 2,200 soldiers to remain in Washington. Only 500 had volunteered, he wrote. States deployed tens of thousands of Guardsmen to the Capitol in the wake of the Jan. 6 breach, reaching a peak of some 26,000 on inauguration day. The number has steadily declined since then, but thousands continue guarding the Capitol, which also remains behind razor-topped wire. Hokanson noted that states are experienced unprecedented demand for Guard support because of the COVID-19 pandemic, riots, and weather events, along with the typical deployment requirement overseas. Additionally, faced with pressing needs within their states, numerous Adjutants General and Governors have expressed their unwillingness to order the involuntary mobilization of NG personnel to man the mission, he said. Moreover, I am concerned that the continued indefinite nature of this requirement may also impede our ability to man future missions as both adjutants general and guardsmen alike may be skeptical about committing to future endeavors, he added, recommending the pursuit of other inter-agency law enforcement options. The memo was obtained and published by Fox News. It appeared to be from last week. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on March 9 overruled the concerns, signing off on the Capitol Polices request for continued Guard deployment. Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, who made the request, told lawmakers earlier this month that threats to the Capitol, the surrounding area, and members of Congress are increasing. National Guard stand their posts around the Capitol at sunrise in Washington on March 8, 2021. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo) Maj. Matt Murphy of the National Guard told The Epoch Times via email on Friday: We cannot discuss internal deliberations that may have taken place as part of the Department of Defense decision-making process. The National Guard will carry out this mission with professionalism for as long as we are required and approved to support. Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell of the Department of Defense (DoD) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement, Beyond saying that its important for leadership to have open and frank discussions prior to making decisions, DoD doesnt comment publicly on internal conversations and pre-decisional documents and memos. John Kirby, the departments press secretary, told reporters on Thursday that Lloyd doesnt want our National Guard troops up on Capitol Hill one day longer than they need to be. I dont think anybody wants to see this become an enduring mission. And by enduring I mean a forever mission. At the same time, he recognizes that there is a legitimate need for them, he added, calling the Capitol Polices request valid. Pressed on whether Guardsmen would be forced to serve if enough volunteers werent found, Kirby said, I think the decision for the involuntary activation makes sense on a couple of different levels, and that gets us to May. Students sitting six feet apart in classrooms may be no better protected from coronavirus than those sitting three feet apart, a new study suggests. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently have guidelines that recommend spacing of six feet or more in most situations, including schools. But researchers from Harvard University found no higher case rates of COVID-19 among pupils or staff in districts that had students spaced more closely together. It comes as President Joe Biden calls for bringing students back to classrooms, and wants kindergarten through eighth grade back for in-person learning in his first 100 days in office. The findings also heap pressure on the CDC to revise its recommendations and allow millions of more pupils to return to schools. A new study found no difference in COVID-19 cases rates among students or staff in districts that had students sitting three feet apart compared to six feet apart. It comes as President Joe Biden calls for kindergarten through eighth grade back for in-person learning in his first 100 days in office. Pictured: Students sitting six feet apart at the Sinaloa Middle School in Novato, California, March 2 For the new study, published by the Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the team looked at 251 Massachusetts school districts open for in-person learning in fall 2020. In those districts, there are 37,336 students who attend classes and 99,390 teachers and other faculty members. Between September 30 and January 7, 194 districts had students sitting a minimum of six feet apart and 49 had three feet of distance between desks. Next, the team compared COVID-19 cases rates among the districts during the autumn semester. Researchers found 'no significant difference' in coronavirus infection rates for either children or adults sitting six feet apart or three fee apart. Rates of COVID-19 infections were lower in schools were lower than in the surrounding communities The authors wrote that the findings mean 'lower physical distancing policies can be adopted in school settings with masking mandates without negatively impacting student or staff safety.' Additionally, the team found that rates of COVID-19 infections were lower in schools were lower than in the surrounding communities. This suggests that school buildings may be safer locations for both students and teachers to be than in cities or towns. They noted that schools with desks only three feet apart would allow more students to be seated in each classroom. It would also prevent children from having to stay home and do remote learning even if conditions for in-person learning are safe. 'This is a groundbreaking study,' Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley said at a recent board meeting. 'What they found was there was not a higher rate of cases of COVID-19 in either students nor staff in districts that had students spaced more closely.' Joseph Allen, director of Harvard's University's Healthy Buildings program, told Boston 25 News last month that all current evidence suggest students can return safely to school sitting with three feet of space between desks. 'The distancing question taken in context of universal masking and better ventilation and filtration in schools, we don't think six-foot distancing make sense,' Allen said. 'And it shouldn't be the reason we're keeping kids out of school, precisely because the costs of keeping kids out of school are so severe.' It comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City will welcome high school students back into classrooms beginning on March 22. The news marks a milestone in the city's fight to return to normalcy from the throes of the pandemic. In addition, schools in Los Angeles are going to open for in-person learning next month. It comes after the teachers union and the state government ended a standoff with elementary students returning for in-person learning, with alternating morning and afternoon groups. However, one of the country's largest teachers union said nothing less than six feet of schools is acceptable. 'The CDC is still recommending six feet of distancing in schools,' Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said in a statement to the Boston Globe. 'The CDC is the authoritative body on this subject.' Shocking footage of an American astronaut watching the Twin Towers collapse in New York on 9/11 has re-emerged after it was shared on TikTok. Frank Culbertson was widely billed at the time as the only US citizen not on earth when the four Al Qaeda terror attacks took place on September 11, 2001. They resulted in the deaths of 2,977 people, and left a further 25,000 injured, sparking a global war on terror. The then 52-year-old NASA aerospace engineer from South Carolina was part of the Expedition Three team aboard the STS-105 Discovery, which launched on August 10 and docked at the International Space Station on August 15. When the first aeroplane attacks took place in New York City less than a month later, the space station commander was suspended around 250miles (400km) above earth with two Russian aviator colleagues. A still from the video shot by Nasa astronaut Frank Culbertson of the second Twin Tower falling on September 11, 2001 (Getty Images) During a routine call to earth he discovered the news when an operator told him: Well, Frank, were not having a very good day down here on earth. Both towers and the Pentagon had been hit and news of the plane going down in Pennsylvania happened during their conversation. It was clear to me without anybody saying it, that we were under attack, he told the 2014 documentary, Astronauts: Houston We Have a Problem. In the widely circulated footage that was recently reposted to TikTok and shared by others, a clip is played from the documentary in which Culbertson recalled what happened that day. The crews of the International Space Station (ISS) and the US space shuttle Endeavour gather during a video down link 09 December 2001 from the station discussing commemorative items they have on board for the victims and heroes of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the US. Commander Culberton bottom right (NASA VIDEO/AFP via Getty Images) He said: The weather was perfectly clear that day. I could easily see New York City a big black column of smoke coming out of the city, and as I zoomed in with the video camera, I could see this big grey blob enveloping southern Manhattan, as reported by MSN . He added that he raced around and found a video camera and a window facing in the right direction. The big grey blob would later be confirmed as the falling of the second tower. In the original footage Culbertson can be heard saying: We can see New York City and the smoke from the fires. Our prayers and thoughts go out to all the people there and everywhere else. Im looking up and down the east coast to see if I can see anything else. Culbertson pictured in August 2001 as he prepared to launch his three month mission to the International Space Station (AFP via Getty Images) The American Airlines Flight 77 that later crashed into the Pentagon was piloted at take-off by his Naval Academy classmate, Charles Burlingame. Culbertson spoke in the documentary about what he took from the experience and said: Its important to continue to learn the lessons from this and make sure we are in fact making ourselves a better country as a result of it, not regressing or turning inward or changing into a society we wont be proud to pass on to our grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Three Palestinian fishermen died when they found an Israeli drone at sea rigged with explosives, Hamas said Thursday. Others have disputed the claim, however. The Palestinian political and military organization said the fishermen died when the drone exploded in the water off the coast of the Gaza Strip. However, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the boat may have been hit by rockets being test-fired recently by Palestinian military groups in Gaza, Reuters reported Thursday. Hamas denied rocket fire killed the men, saying the Israeli drone was in their fishing nets and exploded when the nets were lifted, according to the outlet. The Israel Defense Forces has not commented on the incident. A Palestinian official said the drone may have been in the water following an Israeli attack on a Palestinian naval boat last month. Several military organizations are active in Gaza alongside Hamas, including the Islamic Jihad. Hamas controls Gaza internally, though Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade of varying degrees over the Palestinian territory. Statement by Minister Coveney at UNSC Open Debate on Conflict and Food Security Statement Thank you Madam President and I would like to extend my best wishes to you in your new role and also on a power contribution today. Ireland deeply appreciates your leadership in dedicating the signature event of your Presidency to the Councils responsibility to address the role that conflict is playing as the most significant factor in driving global hunger today. Id also like to thank Secretary General, Guterres for his remarks and also David Beasley and Gabriela Bucher for their contributions and of course for their organisations important work. Madam President, My country, Ireland, has a historical memory of famine. The Irish famine was the worst humanitarian disaster of nineteenth century Europe. A million people perished and another million were forced to emigrate. This historical experience has left a legacy in Ireland. That legacy is our belief that we have a shared global responsibility to act. To protect populations. Famine is unconscionable. The use of hunger as a weapon of war is unconscionable. We have a collective responsibility and this Council has a particular responsibility to see famine become a thing of the past. Madam President, I will make three main points today. First, it is undeniable that conflict is now the main driver of hunger. Too often, we have seen starvation used as a weapon of war. Every time the Council is briefed on Yemen and Syria we are reminded that too many are facing death by hunger. This, in the 21st century, should be a cause of great shame. Just a few months ago, the UN released emergency funding to help stave off famine in seven high-risk countries in which conflict is widespread. We cannot claim to be surprised. Conflict-induced hunger is a phenomenon that we, around this Council table, are briefed on time and time and time again. By the end of last year, an estimated 88 million people - the majority women and girls - were suffering acute hunger in countries where conflict and insecurity played the key role in driving that food insecurity. In Yemen, 24 million people are in receipt of humanitarian assistance. Thats 24 million individual human beings. The kind of children that we have head about in the stories so far today. What conflict in Yemen means is that the Yemeni people now face the real possibility of facing into the worst famine that the world has seen in many decades. In Ethiopia, even before the conflict in Tigray, we anticipated that 1.4 million people in that region would need food assistance in 2021. As we speak and notwithstanding commitments made by the Ethiopian government - humanitarian access remains inadequate compared to the urgent, large-scale needs that are there. Comprehensive assessment missions are not yet being permitted. An effective civil-military coordination system has yet to be properly facilitated to allow for the safe movement of humanitarian actors. Some of them on this call. In Syria, ten years into the conflict, 60 per cent of the population and 80 per cent of those in the North West of the country - face food insecurity. This, in a country that ranked in the top half of the Human Development Index some twelve or thirteen years ago. I visited the Bab Al-Hawa crossing last month, where emergency humanitarian aid is channeled to 2.7 million people in the Idlib area. Speaking to Syrian and international NGOs and UN agencies working in North West Syria brought home to me again the sheer human misery and the utter waste of human potential that results from conflict. Madam President The unanimous adoption of Resolution 2417 was an impressive moment in this Councils recent history. It was a testament to the Councils unity on the need to counter conflict driven hunger. The resolution is a call to action. It restates core humanitarian principles. It demands the effective application of international humanitarian law - and accountability for those who violate it. And it emphasizes the importance of humanitarian access to vulnerable populations; Resolution 2417 gives us the tools we need to tackle the issue of conflict and hunger. What we need is the collective political will to use those tools. Madam President, this brings me to my second point. In spite of unanimous commitments by this Council, the intention of Resolution 2417 is not being realised for those most affected. We need to recognise that food security and armed conflict now has to be at the heart of the work this Council. Conflict induced hunger is not a rare or infrequent occurrence anymore. It calls for our close attention and prioritization. Conflict displaces people, destroys livelihoods, disrupts trade and the supply of food and agricultural inputs, damages infrastructure and reduces access to vital resources. This suffering is not limited to the most severe contexts it affects millions of vulnerable people, in many conflict contexts across the globe. Ireland is honoured to be working with Niger as the Focal Point on Hunger and Conflict on the Council for the next two years. We will host the first of the bi-annual briefings for 2021 next month, to discuss the findings of the upcoming joint WFP-FAO report to Council members on this issue. We intend to keep a strong focus on Hunger and Conflict throughout our two years on the Council. Madam President, my third point is that we must adapt our approach to unique country contexts, and acknowledge the difference, the different ways in which food systems are damaged by conflict. In situations of armed conflict, the Council must be seized of the need to ensure the proper functioning of food systems and local markets. While rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access is vital during an acute food crisis, the Council must look at early action to prevent food insecurity and famine, especially to safeguard child and maternal health. Early warning and early action leads to prevention. Prevention saves lives and prevents misery and saves money and allows food systems to survive. Where there is good reason to fear that food insecurity could be setting in including by the deliberate denial of humanitarian access this Council must act. And it must act quickly. Madam President, in closing, let us remember that the relationship between conflict and hunger is not new. War by its very nature disrupts food systems. In the worst scenarios, hunger is used as a brutal and medieval tactic - and one which is in direct contravention of international law. All parties to armed conflicts must comply with their obligations under International Humanitarian Law, including in relation to humanitarian access. And those who fail to do so must be held fully accountable by this council. Resolution 2417, unanimously adopted by this Council, demands no less. It is the responsibility of this Security Council to implement this Resolution. It is our duty, as UN Member States, to garner the political will to do so. And History will judge us harshly if we fail to do so. Thank you. Previous Item | Next Item Kantar, the worlds leading data-driven analytics and brand consulting company today announces the appointment of Ted Prince Jr to the newly created position of Chief Product Officer. Reporting to CEO Alexis Nasard, Mr Prince will be responsible for defining and delivering the next generation of Kantar offerings and real-time platforms, using advanced technologies to scale and augment our world-class data, insights and advice. Ted Prince Jr. Most recently Mr Prince was President of Neustar Analytics Solutions, where he led the companys largest P&L, enabling clients to effectively promote their brands and protect their customers through real-time analytics and insights. In that role he oversawall aspects of the business including product development, operations, business developmentand product marketing. Prior to joining Neustar, Mr. Prince was Chief Operating Officer, Global Media, at National Geographic, and President, National Geographic Ventures the for-profit arm of National Geographic. During his tenure from 2003-2012, he led the companys cable assets, television and digital media businesses and new initiatives, including strategy, content, marketing, technology, mobile, distribution and partnerships. In addition, he also directed its corporate development and strategy.Mr Prince also previously served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at AOL. Mr Prince attended Duke University (JD/MA), Yale University (BA) and Landon School. He serves on the Boards of the Landon School and the Duke Nicholas School of Environment. Commenting on Mr Princes appointment, Alexis Nasard, CEO, Kantar said Teds appointment is a key step in delivering on our new vision as the worlds leading Brandtech company; at the intersection of brand building and technology, enabling our clients to deliver growth in a fast-changing environment. Ted has a proven track record in integrating new technologies, data and analytics to build new business models and products that drive a sustainable competitive advantage for Kantar and our clients. Speaking about his appointment, Ted Prince said Kantar is renowned for having the most complete view of how people think, feel and act, and a portfolio that is core to their clients' ways of working. I am excited to play such a crucial role in defining the next generation of technology-enabled insights and new platforms for our clients. Ted Prince joins Kantar effective 1 April 2021 and will be based in London. Armenias defence ministry on Friday said military exercises involving 7,500 troops would be held in Armenia on March 16-20. The ministry said that, in accordance with the Armed Forces combat-readiness plan for the first half 2021, joint tactical and tactical-professional military exercises will be held from March 16 to 20, in all operation directions of the Armed Forces. These military exercises include about 7,500 servicemen, about 200 missiles, rocket-artillery and artillery, more than 150 antitank weapons, about 100 armored vehicles, and more than 90 air defense systems. The ministry said the goal of the exercise was, among other things, to test the combat readiness of troops. This announcement was made two days after Azerbaijan has announced large-scale military exercises. The Azerbaijani Army will start to conduct the operational-tactical exercises with the involvement of types of troops on March 15. The exercises that will be held under the leadership of the Minister of Defense involve up to 10,000 military personnel, up to 100 tanks and other armored vehicles, up to 200 missiles and artillery systems of various caliber, multiple launch rocket systems, and mortars, up to 30 military aviation assets, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles for various purposes. COVID-19 continues to spread across State University of New York (SUNY) campuses. Six weeks into the semester, more than 4,000 students and staff have been infected. Several campuses have seen a high percentage of students infected, including SUNY Cortland (5.7 percent of the campus population); SUNY Geneseo (5.6 percent); SUNY Delhi (3.6 percent); and the University at Albany (3.2 percent). Binghamton University, with 677 cases, has had the highest number of positive cases, infecting 4.5 percent of its on-campus population. Binghamton University main campus in Vestal (Credit: Wikipedia) For the spring semester at Binghamton the university raised campus capacity to 85 percent, limiting the available space for isolating students. Once the available space to isolate and quarantine students began to fill up, the university took to drastic measures. According to students, as isolation housing became scarce, buildings and apartments were hastily chosen to make room, effectively mixing healthy, sick and potentially infected students. Multiple students have reported that several residents of the Hillside Community apartments were given four days to pack up their belongings and relocate to another dorm in order to make room for quarantining students. A student who spoke to the WSWS reported a similar experience, They also emptied an apartment building near me to make more room for isolation, and as of today those people have gone. I fear that may happen to me as well. I am under a lot of home pressure to move to an online student and come home, however I do not want to continue to pay for an apartment. I guess if my life is at risk I will have no choice. I have packed up a lot of my things and am living out of a suitcase at this point, afraid that at the drop of a hat we could be told we need to leave our dorms for more QI [quarantine and isolation] housing. The shortage of isolation housing has been so dire that the university reportedly began offering some students $1500 housing credits if they agreed to return home to quarantine. Incentivizing potentially ill students to return home could spread the virus to far flung communities and exacerbate the situation more broadly. Some students who tested positive were told to return to their dorms to await further instruction about where they would be sent for isolation, putting fellow residents at risk of infection. Multiple students also reported that they did not receive food during part of their time in quarantine. When trying to get help from administrators, they ran into significant bureaucratic hurdles. Rather than taking measures to lower transmissions, including shutting down all in-person classes, the university has placed blame for the outbreaks squarely on students. In a campus-wide email, Brian Rose, Binghamton Universitys Vice President for Student Affairs, asked students, What are you going to do to allow us to stay together for the rest of the semester? Rose added, Be a member of the campus community and not just a consumer of our services. After outbreaks began, the university initially took limited measures to help slow the spread of the virus. A few weeks into the spring semester, the university suspended campus activities and made dining halls take-out only. However, last Saturday, officials reopened recreation and non-academic activities and opened dining halls to 25 percent capacity. In-person instruction was never suspended, as had been done during the fall semester. Students have taken to social media to express their frustration with the handling of the outbreak. One widely up-voted post by a student on the Binghamton University subreddit stated, I want some tuition money back, I want my friends in the dorms to be able to get out of their insanely overpriced housing contracts, I want in-person classes canceled so that people have the option of getting the hell out of here, and, more than anything else, I want an acknowledgment that the student body is being asked to bear the entirety of this load with zero slack. We are here right now because the college is worried about its solvency, full stop. Several students on social media and in comments to the WSWS remarked that they believe that Binghamton only remains open in order to maintain revenue. In response to a question as to why the university continues with in-person classes, a student told the WSWS, Money. The school lost an insane amount of money due to suspending in-person classes last spring semester. Another Binghamton student told the WSWS, the lack of care for human life is appalling. [University officials] do not care who lives and dies as long as they can have the money and comforts they had before. They do not care about the student workers who have not been able to find jobs or the ones who are working and are being put under severe strain or risk of illness. We should not be open. We should not have schools open. We should not have student activities open. We should not be in-person. The only way I can see this even remotely working in the current environment is if they vaccinate every single person on campus. With universities across the country facing a collective $183 billion budget gap and little if any public financing forthcoming, many colleges cannot afford to shut down in-person classes, which would lead to most students studying at home, forgoing expensive campus housing and dining. With billions of dollars in cuts to state funding over the past several decades, the SUNY system is largely supported by tuition, fees and housing payments that it cannot afford to lose. The reopening of colleges and universities is also bound up with the drive to reopen public schools and the broader economy. While health experts have warned against relaxing restrictions, especially with more infectious and potentially vaccine-resistant variants spreading rapidly, the Biden administration is following in the footsteps of Trump and pushing for a reopening of the economy before the pandemic is brought under control. Despite constant rhetoric about helping students who have fallen behind and those with mental health needs, neither capitalist party has provided the necessary resources for education. For decades, these same parties have slashed budgets for public education and social services by billions of dollars. Their primary concern is the protection of the profits of the corporations they represent, not the social needs of workers and students. Lauren, a student at SUNY Fredonia, also spoke to the WSWS about the issues with school reopenings. I dont think any teacher should be pressured to teach in person if theyre not comfortable doing so, especially because many teachers have not been able to get vaccinated yet. The move to hybrid teaching seems good on paper, but from what I have seen, it is actually incredibly stressful on the teachers. My brother is a middle school teacher in Nevada and he works nonstop. While I am sure the kids would learn a lot better if they went fully in-person, I think with the spread of more dangerous strains, we need to put the lives of our teachers and children before something like learning. Risking human lives is not worth it for any reason, in my opinion, especially not when half a million people have already died. She added, [New York Governor] Cuomo cut the SUNY funding by millions recently and it could mean my tuition could go up. Overall, I am disgusted by the way politicians, including President Biden, are valuing the American economy over American lives. Nothing is worth the death of American citizens. The economy can rebound, but you cant bring people back from the dead. Putting the economy before people is an ethical and moral act of treason, in my opinion. SUNY administrators and New York politicians, including principally Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, bear direct responsibility for the ongoing outbreaks at SUNY. Despite numerous outbreaks in the fall semester, in-person classes were allowed to proceed this semester, leading to the predictable mass outbreaks now unfolding. To contain the pandemic, students, faculty and staff must organize independently of the corporatist trade unions. We encourage students, faculty and staff at Binghamton University and all SUNY schools to join the National Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, which demands the shutdown of all in-person classes and non-essential production, full funding for quality online education, along with full income support to all workers and small businesses affected, until the pandemic is brought under control. Such a response must be paid for by the major corporations and banks, which have been provided trillions by the federal government in bailouts. To report on unsafe conditions at your campus or join a rank-and-file safety committee, contact the WSWS here or contact the author on social media. 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 New Mexico could set more stringent air quality and hazardous waste regulations than the federal government under legislation approved Friday by the state Senate. The proposal, Senate Bill 8, will head next to the House with about a week left in the session. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said the legislation would allow New Mexico to craft its own regulations tailored to local conditions, such as contaminants found in groundwater near Cannon Air Force Base. This bill is about states rights, he said. I think that its important for our state to be in a position to protect our air, protect our water. The legislation passed the Senate on a 23-15 vote, largely along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The bill would amend the states air quality and hazardous waste laws to allow the state or local agencies, in some cases to establish rules more strict than federal regulations. Republican legislators said the state should either stick with federal standards or go even further toward local control by allowing each county to choose either state or federal laws. They said the proposal could hamper the oil and gas production that fills state coffers with revenue. Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, said the proposed law could be manipulated to shut down anything the governor wants to shut down, not just this governor, but any governor in the future. Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, said counties should have the right to opt out. I trust the county commission of Lea County to know whats best for Lea County more than I trust the bureaucrats in Santa Fe, Pirtle said. Wirth, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the proposal has adequate guardrails that will ensure any departures from the federal standard are justified and well-vetted. Debate on the bill was delayed by a procedural maneuver by some Senate Republicans. Earlier this session, they had placed a call on the item, a move that requires every senator to be present for the debate. The motion is sometimes used to delay action if a legislator is absent or hard to track down immediately. But senators lifted the call Friday afternoon, allowing debate to move forward. The bill was passed about two hours later. Prince Harry and his mixed-race wife Meghan's popularity has fallen sharply in Britain after their explosive interview accusing the royal family of racism, a poll suggested Friday. More than 11 million people in Britain, and 50 million in the United States watched the couple claim that an unnamed royal had asked how dark their baby's skin would be. The allegations, which the royal family said would be investigated, have plunged the monarchy into its biggest crisis since the death of Harry's mother, princess Diana, in 1997. But the controversy has also polarised opinion on both sides of the Atlantic. A YouGov poll said Harry's popularity rating has fallen to 44 percent and for the first time, a larger proportion of British people view him negatively (48 percent). In a poll early this month, in anticipation of the interview, 53 percent of the public said they viewed him positively. Meghan already had a net negative rating, which has now risen to 58 percent from 53 percent, but only three in 10 (31 percent) view her positively, down from 38 percent. The couple's popularity has gradually fallen since their 2018 wedding, according to YouGov, as they reportedly fell out with Harry's brother Prince William and his wife Kate, and announced they were stepping away from royal duties. The couple split the generations, with strong support from young people in Britain. Among 18-24 year-olds, 55 percent like Meghan and 59 percent like Harry. Those over 65 overwhelmingly dislike both -- 69 percent view Harry negatively, while the figure for Meghan is 83 percent. The poll found the interview also hit Prince Charles's popularity. He has not commented after Harry said that his father at one point stopped taking his calls and complained his family "literally cut me off financially". Charles is now viewed favourably by 49 percent of British people, down from 57 percent. Most royals have not seen their popularity affected, the poll found. Queen Elizabeth II has a popularity rating of 80 percent. Story continues The 94-year-old monarch said in a statement that she was saddened at hearing of the couple's unhappiness. She called the racism claim "concerning", although suggested that "some recollections may vary". The results contrast with a US poll by Morning Consult which found the Oprah interview boosted the couple's popularity there by more than 20 percentage points, with 69 percent now taking a favourable view of Harry and 67 percent of Meghan. am/phz/kjl Salt Lake City, Utah--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) -Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC PINK: GSPI) has announced it now has a new president. Miss Kristy Hunt has been appointed President of Green Star Products, Inc., and will also bring new resources to expand the Antiviral COVID Program. Kristy Hunt stated, "Green Star Products is an Environmental Company; we must concentrate immediately on this pandemic which is far from over and negatively impacts all parts of our environment." Michael Osterholm, a former Biden adviser on COVID-19, appeared on "Meet the Press". Mr Osterholm warned on Sunday that although progress was being made in combatting the Coronavirus Pandemic, the threat from new virus variants still loomed. Also noted; several countries in Europe have recently reported requiring 2-month lockdowns to contain the new variants. Early research has found that it is possible that variants such as those from Brazil and South Africa are capable of re-infecting those who have already recovered from a previous Covid-19 case. Osterhelm stated "Let me just say that we are in the Eye of the hurricane right now". Also, please read press release dated December 21, 2020, "Green Star Products; New Research Data Indicates 99.9% Effective Against the COVID-19 Virus" regarding Viro Spectrum Shield (VSS) a proprietary blend of natural herbs and native plants. See https://vssmt.net/ for more information and testimonials (use coupon code GSPI30 at check out). Joseph LaStella, now ex-President of Green Star stated, "I will be 81 years old in a couple of months, it is time to turn our Company to younger people who have the talents to push this Company to its rightful position in the industry. Many of our stockholders first heard of Kristy Hunt at the 2021 Stockholders Meeting. The Company received many emails praising Kristy's contribution to the meeting. Miss Hunt is a smart, seasoned, and capable leader, and will be a great President." Some of President Hunt's previous projects include: Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos - Designed and implemented a new process to dispatch special operations communication equipment for the Army, Navy & Air Force Rockwell Collins/Aviation Division of Rockwell International - Upon acquiring Sony Trans Com, created a strategic planning process to improve project communications between engineering and production. American Diabetic Association - Streamlined the process by which the association was able to obtain public donations more efficiently. Kristy Hunt Homeopathic Research Foundation - Owner and operator, supporting homeopathic research. President Hunt stated, "We now have an opportunity to capitalize on all the technology Joe LaStella has created and brought to the Company. We now need a strong, experienced management team to take that technology and turn it into a positive cash flow." Joseph LaStella also stated, "I am returning to private research and, of course, I will assist Kristy and the Company in any way I can, if needed. I hope our stockholders welcome and assist Kristy in her new capacity to lead our Company into the ever-changing Environmental Industry, and through the world pandemic and beyond." About Green Star Products Green Star Products, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: GSPI) is an environmentally friendly Public Company creating innovative and cost-effective products to improve the quality of life and the environment. For more information, please go to our website https://gspiusa.com/ Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, continued acceptance of the Company's products, its dependence on third-party suppliers, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic filings. CONTACT: Kristy Hunt, President Green Star Products, Inc. kristy@gspiusa.com https://gspiusa.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76972 The main reason for the decision was that studies in the U.K. of the efficacy of the vaccine on people over 70 showed a similar success rate as Pfizer's vaccine. The news comes just as European countries have halted AstraZeneca injections to investigate reports of blood clots. But in Korea, elderly patients in geriatric hospitals and nursing homes will be able to get injections of the AstraZeneca vaccine starting late this month. The government has decided to give AstraZeneca's vaccine to people over 65 after all as new studies suggest it is safe and effective for them. Just a month ago, a committee of experts selected by the government recommended that the AstraZeneca vaccine be administered only on people under 65 due to a lack of research data for elderly people. Health officials intend to sound out elderly patients to see if they are willing to take the vaccine. There are about 376,000 eligible people in that age group at the moment. For those who agree, vaccinations will start in late March. Kwon Joon-wook, the deputy chief of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said, "We will make sure people in poor health will not be inoculated against their will." So far, 15 people have died after their vaccination, most of them patients in nursing homes with chronic diseases. The government plans to announce the second-quarter vaccination schedule on Monday. It will target some 9.4 million senior citizens who are not hospitalized, disabled people, people in homeless shelters, medical workers and pharmacists. Also included are around 20,000 airline crew on international routes who had originally been scheduled to be inoculated much later this year. The decision aims to try and prevent variant strains from entering Korea. But there are concerns about a shortage of vaccines because the government has been so tardy in trying to procure them. Only enough AstraZeneca's doses for some 785,000 people and Pfizer's doses for some 58,5000 people have been delivered so far. They were originally intended to inoculate 776,000 priority cases in two stages, but due to a delay in additional shipments, the government plans to expand the number of people who will be given only their first dose for now. To make that possible, the government extended the interval between shots from eight to 10 weeks, which is well within the recommended range. As a result, around 8.5 million elderly people are expected to be prioritized according to age. The fatality rate of COVID-19 rises among elderly people, requiring them to be vaccinated first. Two million people over 80 are up first, followed by 1.6 million people aged 75 to 79, 2.1 million people aged 70 to 74 and 2.8 million people aged 65 to 69. Kwon said, "We expect senior citizens to develop herd immunity by the end of September." Police, firefighters, childcare and educational workers and ordinary adults aged 18 to 64 will not be vaccinated until after July. The minibus drives made known their feeling in a quiet demonstration last Monday. Minibus operators here withdrew their services for a second time, last Monday and Tuesday and partially on Wednesday, to register their concern about the impact of the governments COVID-19 protocols on their "livelihood. Under the banner of the Vincentian Transportation Association (VINTAS), minibus operators are questioning, among other things, why the governments COVID-19 related protocol allows an increased number of people to attend church services, a non-revenue generating exercise, but severely limits the number of passenger a minibus can carry at any one time. Under the existing protocol, minibuses are allowed a maximum capacity of eight (including the driver and the conductor). VINTAS is officially requesting a capacity increase to 12, though many minibus operators with whom THE VINCENTIAN spoke would prefer 14. Meanwhile, as he expressed some three weeks or so ago when the minibus operators withdrew their services even as they had submitted demands to the government, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves expressed disappointment at the decision by minibuses to withdrew their service on Monday and Tuesday. While he did not address the request for an increase in passenger capacity, Dr. Gonslaves said that the recent withdrawal of service comes amid the finalizing of arrangements to make payments to the minibus operators, especially to those who continue to deliver their service during the COVID-19 pandemic. A payment of $500.00 a month for three months is earmarked for operators of 18-seater buses, while $600.00 will be made to operators of buses of greater capacity. And even while that stimulus payment is forthcoming, Prime Minister Gonsalves issued a stern warning to minibus operators: "You cant expect to be parked up and get the money! Notwithstanding governments promise, there has been expressed dissatisfaction by VINTAS that it has not to date received a written response from government to their request. Prime Minister Gonsalves, however, confirmed that he had communicated with VINTAS President- Royron Adams by telephone. By Thursday, it appeared that that the minibus service had returned to a near normal level of operation across the state. WINDSOR LOCKS JetBlue will add nonstop service from Hartford/Springfield to Miami International Airport starting June 24, Bradley International Airport and the state of Connecticut announced Friday. Earlier this week, Bradley saw the first flights for new nonstop Southwest Airlines service to and from Nashville, Tennessee, as the airport and its airlines rebound from a 2020 decimated by the coronavirus pandemic. The number of enplanements and deplanements at Bradley fell 64% in 2020. The numbers are still running 65% to 70% lower in 2021 compared with pre-pandemic passenger volume. The planned flight to Miami would depart Bradley at 9:25 a.m. and arrive at 12:30 p.m. The return flight would leave Miami at 1:15 p.m. and arrive at Bradley at 4:10 p.m. On JetBlues website, tickets are selling for as little as $99. The airline said it is flying the route with an Airbus A320. This is great news for both business and leisure travelers who utilize Bradley Airport, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. Bradley International Airport is a vital asset for our region, serving as a convenient option for businesses and families, and seeing JetBlue commit to yet another route builds confidence in our residents and our economy. We are proud to see JetBlue expand at Bradley. JetBlue has already commenced new service from Bradley to four destinations. Nonstop service to Cancun launched in November, and nonstop service to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco launched in December. The announcement of new Miami service via JetBlue is a positive development for Bradley Airport as the aviation industry continues on its road to recovery, said Connecticut Airport Authority Board Chair Thomas A. Tony Sheridan. We thank JetBlue for their partnership, and we look forward to continuing this progress together so we can keep providing the vital services that the states tourism, meetings, and conventions industries rely on. JetBlue also flies nonstop from Bradley to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We welcome JetBlues expansion at Bradley International Airport and the addition of new, nonstop service to Miami, said Kevin. A. Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority. This new route, which follows JetBlues other recent route launches, is a significant vote of confidence in our airport and the market we serve. We appreciate JetBlues continued investment in our region and are confident that our strengthened partnership will provide major benefits for our travelers. Related content: LUDLOW A fire in a two-family home that displaced nine people Thursday was first spotted by a young boy who alerted the residents so they could evacuate. The fire was reported about 5:25 p.m. at 877 Center St. When firefighters arrived a minute later, smoke was coming from the eves and heavy smoke was in the attic, Fire Chief Ryan Pease said. The fire started in the kitchen and was caused by cooking. Investigators determined it was accidental, he said. The quick-thinking of the elementary-school-aged boy meant an adult was able to call 911 immediately. Firefighters extinguished the fire before flames spread beyond the kitchen, he said. Good for him and it was good for us because we didnt have to get anyone out of the house, Pease said. No one was injured in the fire. Four adults and five children lived in the house. They are being assisted by the American Red Cross of Western Massachusetts, he said. Firefighters did an excellent job stopping the fire and everyone is grateful for the early notification, he said. The house is over 100 years old, and like a lot of homes that age with balloon construction, fire travels really fast. Ludlow Firefighters were assisted by those from Westover Air Reserve Base and Ludlow Police. Wilbraham firefighters manned the stations and answered calls, Pease said. Center Street was closed for about 90 minutes while firefighters worked at the fire, he said. Related Content: Sami Vatanen checked Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom into Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood after he made a save. With the puck sitting free in the crease, Damon Severson tried to clear it. Instead, it ended up in the net. It was just that kind of night for the Devils. That goal put the Islanders up by three in the second period, and despite the Devils showing a brief glimmer of hope for another third-period comeback, the Islanders cruised to a 5-3 victory on Thursday at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Sign up for Devils Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers The Devils fell behind 4-0 before the end of the second period. Janne Kuokkanen and Mikhail Maltsev scored 40 seconds apart in the opening 4:03 of the third period, suddenly making things interesting in a game where they were generating nothing offensively. But the Islanders called timeout and promptly responded with a Brock Nelson goal for a 5-2 lead at 4:44. The Devils needed to kill off a double minor when Ryan Murray went off for high sticking later in the third period, taking away more valuable time. Jack Hughes scored with 4:08 left in regulation to pull the Devils within 5-3, but a Kyle Palmieri tripping penalty with 2:27 left erased almost any chance of pulling closer. Buy Jack Hughes Devils gear: Fanatics, NHL.com, Lids The Islanders scored a pair of goals in the first and second periods. Both first-period goals came off point shots that managed to beat Blackwood through traffic. Matt Martin connected on the first for the Islanders, and Adam Pelech got the second. Noah Dobson was credited with the score on Seversons own goal at 14:05 of the second period. The Islanders went up 4-0 when Josh Bailey scored on a 3-on-1, set up by a poorly timed Devils line change. The Islanders finished with a 34-21 advantage in shots. The Devils posted 10 of their 21 shots in the third period. Next up The Devils and Islanders will both head to New Jersey for back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday at Prudential Center in Newark. The two games will mark the start of another five-game home stand for the Devils. They will host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday before the Pittsburgh Penguins visit next Thursday and Saturday. Get Devils Insider text messages from reporters: Cut through the clutter of social media and communicate directly with Devils beat writer Chris Ryan. 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. Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook. The work that must be done in the continuous pursuit of Nigerias unity includes the hard work of ensuring justice, equity and fairness for all segments of society, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Mr Osinbajo made the point today while delivering the Convocation Lecture of the Sokoto State University. The vice president who was received at the airport by Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, also paid a courtesy call on the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar. The Sultan welcomed him noting that he knew the vice president is here because he loves what he is doing for the development of the country. Emphasizing the roles that leaders must play to engender unity, the vice president in his lecture titled Nigeria: Some Defining Issues for the Future, noted that we must not overlook any fears or allegations of marginalization or discrimination on account of religion or ethnicity. Political, especially ethnic leaders and religious leaders must do the difficult work of educating their publics about the need to live together. It is the elites, leaders that will do the onerous job of ensuring unity in our communities. According to Mr Osinbajo, unity is not just a slogan or even merely a good idea. It has manifest expression in our communities where Nigerians from diverse backgrounds are commingling, trading, partnering, inter-marrying and blending in various ways. We live in a complex web of multi-layered social, cultural, economic, and political synergies playing out in every sector of our individual and national lives. Despite the scale of the challenges facing us, unravelling this web of commonality as proposed by enthusiasts of disintegration is a cure that is worse than the disease. This is why we must understand that even though managing diversity can be politically and administratively onerous, diversity itself is an economic strength and harnessing it properly is hugely rewarding. The vice president further stated that if properly harnessed, a countrys diversity could ensure lasting prosperity for all. It is a matter of interest that the most prosperous economies in the world are typically diverse places. Because the true wealth of nations in the 21st century is human capital, societies that set out to attract and retain the most diverse pool of skilled human resources are ordained to prevail in the race for prosperity. With diversity comes a broad range of cultural, philosophical and intellectual approaches for solving problems. Innovation can only flourish in this kind of setting. This is why we must understand that even though managing diversity can be politically and administratively onerous, diversity itself is an economic strength, and harnessing it properly is hugely rewarding, Mr Osinbajo added. Speaking against the call for Nigerias disintegration, the vice president called citizens to consider the importance of national unity, stressing that the country is more than a sum of its many parts and its diversity ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, religious diversity is a value-add for our nation. Difference should not mean division. On the way forward, Mr Osinbajo, a law professor, noted that it is essential for us to establish a culture of tolerance, open-mindedness and acceptance of people of all cultures and creeds. There is unity to be found even in the face of such differences. There is a Nigerianness that binds us all, there is a shared commitment no matter how suppressed to build a better Nigeria for ourselves and future generations. It is who we are, it is in our very beings, that love of country, that aspiration to do better. Justifying the need to adopt a decentralized policing system, Mr Osinbajo said given the countrys size, growing population, and emerging concerns, the old system was no longer fashionable. His words: It is clear that our centralized model of policing, which was entrenched when the country was less populous and less complex is not capable of addressing the challenges of a 21st-century society in the throes of fast-paced changes. The time has come to evolve a decentralized policing model that will operate along state and local lines. I believe that there is an emerging consensus on this issue. There are a number of proposals for the establishment of State Police entities before the National Assembly. ADVERTISEMENT READ ALSO: The Nigeria Police Force has also commenced implementation of its community policing programme. Taken together these initiatives indicate a growing realisation that policing and security management should be more localized and entirely centred around the public safety needs of our communities, Prof. Osinbajo submitted. Citing the resolutions of the National Economic Council in addressing challenges relating to security, climate change, among others, the vice president stated that governments across different levels was committed to resolving the issues. Political leadership obviously has a role to play in the all-important task of securing our people. On 18th February this year, at the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), which I chair monthly, State Governors agreed to a set of principles to guide the approach of State Governments to peace and security issues. Among other things, the Governors committed to ensuring the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of crime, to collaborate with federal authorities to reconstruct destroyed homes and pay compensations where appropriate for damage to properties and livelihoods during targeted attacks on communities as well as the unequivocal condemnation of manifestations of hatred, hate crimes and related violence against communities, the vice president disclosed. On the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan, the vice president assured that the NLTP will bring an end to the farmer-herder conflict as the goal is to make livestock breeders more sedentary and ranching rather than random grazing is central to the new plans. This approach will lead to high yield in dairy and meat, and ultimately greater financial benefits. While thanking the vice president for honouring the invitation to deliver the lecture, Governor Aminu Tambuwal said the submissions made by Mr Osinbajo were apt, noting that education, the security of lives and property and the unity of Nigeria were the most important issues that should bother every Nigerian as clearly enunciated in the lecture. He said: I have always said that education is the key to everything in our country. With it, we can address poverty, insecurity, poor health indices and many other problems affecting us. We must not play politics with the security and unity of this nation, this I have also emphasized. We must all close ranks to address these issues as clearly observed by the Vice President. And there is no better person to have put these issues before us than Prof. Osinbajo. Aside the convocation lecture, the vice president also inspected a number of state projects including the 950-bed State University Teaching Hospital. Other guests at the Convocation lecture include Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Manir Daniya; Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III; members of the Sokoto State Executive Council, the Legislature in the state, among others. Laolu Akande Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity Office of the Vice President 12th March 2021 US President has said that the "vicious" against Asian Americans in the country amidst the pandemic was "un-American" and it must stop. Denouncing "violent" attacks on the Asian Americans, Biden in his first prime-time address to the nation since assuming office in January, said that members of the community were harassed, blamed and scapegoated. A surge in anti-Asian attacks has been reported since the start of the pandemic. It has left Asian Americans across the country scared and concerned. The actual number of hate incidents against them could be even higher, according to a civil rights group. Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition aimed at addressing anti-Asian discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic, received more than 2,800 firsthand reports of anti-Asian hate, including physical and verbal assaults, between March 19 and December 31, 2020, the National Public Radio (NPR) reported. Recent attacks, including multiple violent attacks on elderly Asian Americans, have sparked outrage and activism in the Asian American community and spurred lawmakers and organisers to respond to the threat. Biden said that during this coronavirus pandemic too often, Americans turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives sometimes, it divides us. States pitted against one another instead of working with each other; vicious against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated, Biden said. At this very moment, so many of them are our fellow Americans on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives, and still they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It's wrong, it's un-American, and it must stop, Biden said. Biden's reference to the hate crime against Asian Americans was welcomed by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna. Thank you President Biden for speaking up clearly and forcefully against the scapegoating of Asian Americans, Khanna said in a tweet. Congressman Ted Lieu also thanked Biden for the strong words to protect Americans of Asian descent, and for the executive order to combat "This is in stark contrast to the former President who made racist remarks like Kung Flu that inflamed prejudices against Asian Americans, Lieu said. Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris said that hate of any kind is simply unacceptable. Right now, Asian Americans and Asian immigrants in our country are facing an increase in hate and violence, the first Asian-American US Vice President said. Biden and Harris said are committed to working with the community to ensure all Americans are protected and respected. On January 26, Biden issued the Presidential Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. It mandates that the Attorney General shall explore opportunities to prevent discrimination, bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) individuals, and expand collection of data and public reporting regarding hate incidents against such individuals. The reported incidents range from verbal harassments to physical altercations. (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.) More than one million operations are performed in Switzerland every year. A surgeon's skill has a direct impact on the outcome of the operation. Training and experience, as well as momentary fatigue and other influencing factors all play a role. At present, skill is tested by experts, either directly during an operation or by evaluating video footage. This approach is very costly and only a limited number of experts are available. Moreover, the assessment may vary and is not always fully reproducible. For some time, attempts have been made to automate and objectify the assessment of surgeons' skills. Proof of feasibility The key result of the study is the proof of the fundamental feasibility of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based assessment of a surgeon's skill in the context of a surgical procedure. The AI used in the study identified good or moderate surgical skill with 87 percent accuracy. This can be considered a very good finding. Lead author Joel Lavanchy explains: "What was surprising was the high degree of algorithms' accuracy with the selected method. Our method of assessing surgical skills is based on the analysis of instrument movement. Surgical instruments were identified using computer algorithms and their movement was analyzed during the time period." Innovative, three-stage approach with AI The research team used a newly developed, three-stage approach. The study was based on 242 videos of laparoscopic gallbladder removal procedures. The first step was to identify the instruments used. For this purpose, a convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained to recognize the instruments. In the second step, the movements were analyzed, and their patterns were extracted. In the third step, the extracted movement patterns correlated with rating results by experts using linear regression. Broader database and in-depth training of algorithms is needed The present study is an important first step towards assessing surgical performance. More in-depth steps are needed before the technology can be used in clinical practice. For one thing, the AI algorithms need to be trained on a broader database to further improve instrument recognition. For another thing, additional surgeries need to be investigated and, in the medium term, videos of open surgeries as well as procedures apart from the abdominal area can be addressed. Dr. Enes Hosgor, a co-author of the study who leads the AI division at caresyntax, a medical technology company headquartered in Berlin and Boston, classifies the results as follows: "AI has mainly been used thus far to identify instruments or specific surgical phases. In our study, we now assess surgical skill based on surgical videos. In the future, the use of AI can solve problems at multiple levels: it is available on-demand peri-operatively (not dependent on a few hard-to-find experts); it is objective using algorithm-driven standards; it is comparable at a transregional level as well as surgeon level and could thus provide important support for decision-making processes at certification institutes." AI at medical location in Bern: CAIM as an opportunity The project provides an important indication of the future development of the use of AI in medicine. In the future, it will shift from the erstwhile evaluation of image material to the provision of expert systems. Prof. Guido Beldi, head of the study, clarifies: "The study is a first step. Now that we have demonstrated the fundamental feasibility, we can start planning assistance systems that will support surgeons during operations. For example, they will be alerted when fatigue is detected, thereby helping to prevent complications." ### The promotion of AI at the Bern medical center will contribute to its further development when the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (CAIM) opens here on March 19. Every Memorial Day weekend, a crowd gathers at Lands End in San Francisco to stand in ceremony beside the gray, shell-pocked bridge of the heavy cruiser San Francisco, which served valiantly at the desperate naval battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. Chief Petty Officer Richard Jongordon, known to his shipmates as Chief Johnny, stood with his fellow sailors to the last man which turned out to be him. Among 1,200 men who fought aboard the Frisco in the great sea battle of Nov. 12-13, 1942, against a vastly superior force of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Chief Johnny is believed to have been the last survivor, and was definitely the last among the 50 who regularly attended the ceremony. Jongordon, who always gave the opening remarks at the Memorial Day ceremony, died March 6 at a hospice facility in Alamo near his home at Rossmoor in Walnut Creek. He died of natural causes, said his daughter, Cidnee Lusk. He was 98. Chief Johnny was a national treasure, said John McKnight, president of the USS San Francisco Memorial Foundation. He inspired generations of sailors and veterans through both his actions during his years of service, and the remarkable life he lived afterward. Postwar life included many years as founder and owner of the Neptune Society of Northern California, an Emeryville cremation service. But the accomplishment he was most proud of was the creation of the monument at Lands End, which was built after Chief Johnny, among others, found the remnants of their heroic ships bridge in a Mare Island scrap yard. The memorial contains the names in brass of all 100 sailors and seven Marines who died in the battle, and is inscribed with a stirring commendation by Commander-in-Chief Franklin D. Roosevelt. I talk to people out there every year, and they are immensely moved by it, said McKnight, who organizes the ceremony, usually attended by a crowd of 300. They stare at the names on the plaque and they stare at that piece of ship and the look on their faces is hard to describe, and then comes Chief Johnny to tell stories about that night of battle. Richard Gordon Johnson he later legally changed his last name to Jongordon was born Dec. 6, 1922, in Wheaton, Minn., where he grew up on a farm, the second-oldest of eight children. He shined shoes in town, starting at age 5, and also worked in a butcher shop anything to help his family through the Great Depression. At age 17, he dropped out of high school to join the Navy, an impulse that required a waiver signature from his mother. Because he was a farm kid who had worked in a butcher shop, he was a mess specialist, organizing and distributing three meals a day aboard the Frisco, a 588-foot treaty cruiser with a displacement of 11,000 tons. Chief Johnny turned 19 on Dec. 6, 1941, and one day later he was aboard the Frisco while it was docked at Pearl Harbor. It was a sitting duck as the bombers flew overhead, but they were intent on the ships at anchor. Saved from destruction, the Frisco left the yard Dec. 14, 1941, to serve in the War in the Pacific and at the Battle of the Coral Sea before multiple actions in the long battle of Guadalcanal. It was in a task force of U.S. Navy vessels that headed off an enemy fleet intent on bombarding the U.S. Marines who had landed. A gunbattle at close range ensued after midnight. Chief Johnnys main duty was getting the meals out, but when all hands were ordered to battle stations, he was enlisted as a medic in the confusion. I was trying to find the men who were wounded. They were scattered all up and down the decks, Chief Johnny recalled in an oral history. The men dead, we could not help, but the wounded needed attention immediately. In this dark night a flashlight in my hand would have been great. The communication and electrical systems were shot out. Chief Johnny went below deck in the pitch black darkness to look for survivors and found himself in water up to his waist. A crew stacked mattresses against the shell holes and secured them with tables from the mess hall. The ship took 45 major hits, but the crew saved it. For its valor, the Frisco received the Presidential Unit Citation and was sent home to Mare Island for major repairs. By late February 1943, when the Frisco returned to the War in the Pacific, the bridge was left behind for scrap. The Frisco saw action during the landings at Okinawa and Iwo Jima. It was preparing to support the planned invasion of Japan when the war came to an end. The Frisco was awarded 17 battle stars, making it one of the most decorated warships of World War Two. Chief Johnny was involved in all 17 of its battles. Chief Johnny left the Navy in 1947 and returned to his original name of Richard Johnson, until he decided the business world was lousy with Richard Johnsons. So he legally changed his last name to Jongordon. He entered business in San Diego, with Prudential Insurance. He also developed custom homes in Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County) before finally making his way to the Bay Area to enter the mortuary business, by starting the Neptune Society, and expanding to the San Francisco Columbarium, along with a chain of crematories. Richard really disrupted the industry back in the day when cremation was considered a disposal service, said Frank Rivero, owner of Pacific Interment Service. He was the first person to offer direct cremations without any frills, saving families a ton of money. He had a lot of guts to take on the funeral industry. A smart guy and a good guy, too. In 1978, he married Felicia Mehler, whom he met on a blind date. They lived in Concord, San Francisco and Lafayette before moving to Rossmoor 12 years ago. Then, as always, he told stories about the war with great flourish. The bell from the San Francisco is in the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco, and he could tell stories about that, too. He was without a doubt a most unusual man, said Lusk, oldest of his four daughters. He was always thinking of a new way to do things. That started when he was a boy during the Great Depression and continued on to when he was in the war. He finagled a handmade coffee machine so that sailors always had hot coffee. Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Felicia Jongordon of Walnut Creek; daughters Cidnee Lusk of Goodyear, Ariz., Lia Trocano of Sebastopol, JoJo Youngs of Kailua, Hawaii, and Pamela Ellis of Pleasanton; stepsons Kenneth Mehler of Half Moon Bay and Brian Mehler of Long Beach; sisters Mary McGowen of New York Mills, Minn., and Alice Durham of Nixa, Mo; brother Carl Marxen of Minneapolis; 12 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren. The USS San Francisco Memorial Foundations ceremony will be virtual this year, with a special program dedicated to the life of Chief Johnny. Donations in his honor may be made to the USS San Francisco Memorial Foundation. Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF Each of the three companies has a presentation slot followed by a Q&A at the end, giving investors the best chance to discover the real story. The livestreamed webinar will be available on the Proactive YouTube channel Proactive will host a CEO Investor Session next Tuesday, March 16, featuring three ASX-listed growth companies ( ), ( ) and ( ). The webinar, which will begin at 12noon Sydney time and 9am Perth time provides investors with the inside story, knowledge and understanding of the company behind the performance a key factor in making informed decisions. Each presentation will extend for around 12 minutes followed by a 5-minute Q&A session and to register for the session, please follow this link. A live stream will be available on the Proactive YouTube channel, which can then be viewed at any time following the presentation. RPM's ongoing growth RPM Automotive Groups non-executive chairman Grant Carman will outline the company recent acquisition of Traralgon Tyre Service, a step towards building on its strong foundation to deliver ongoing revenue and earnings growth throughout 2021. Non-executive chairman Grant Carman. The company, which is on track for a strong revenue increase in FY2021, comprises a growing number of automotive sector businesses involved in importing, wholesaling and retailing of tyres, mechanical repairs, motorsport apparel and safety equipment. CV Check expanding revenue streams CV Checks chief executive officer Rod Sherwood will present on the companys expanding business and growing revenue streams within the tech industry. CEO Rod Sherwood. The company offers screening services for individuals, businesses and enterprises on demand. K2fly has mining technical solutions K2flys chief commercial officer Nic Pollock will speak to investors about the recent signing of a five-year contract with Inc for the RCubed Resource Inventory solution across five operating sites. Chief commercial officer Nic Pollock. The global software company provides enterprise-level technical assurance and reporting solutions across all aspects of the environmental, social and governance functions. Event details Date: Tuesday, March 16 Time: 12pm Sydney time/9am Perth time Register: Follow this link Questions for the speakers can be submitted before and during the presentations by email to John Phillips at john.phillips@proactiveinvestors.com or by text to 0431 597 771. The deadline is March 26 for Sweetwater County graduating seniors to apply for three Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County college scholarships opportunities. The purpose of all three scholarships is to provide financial assistance to students who choose to pursue post-secondary education within the healthcare field. Sweetwater Memorials General Medical staff will award one scholarship to a high school senior from Sweetwater County School District No. 1, and one scholarship to a high school student from Sweetwater County School District No. 2. Both scholarships are $3,000 each the... If you are an Android smartphone user, you should be aware of an important new security alert. Recently, eight android apps have been discovered that are potentially dangerous. These applications have the ability to access all the banking details from your device. These apps are so harmful that they can even overcome the two-factor verification process. If these apps are installed on your Android device, they need to get removed right away. For further assurance, users are advised to investigate their bank accounts for any unusual behavior. Security researchers at CheckPoint alerts about the hackers scheme of trapping all the bank details of the users. According to the researchers bad actors are more advanced than the Google's Play Store security protocols. Play Store faces a hard time preventing hackers from invading their apps privacy. This time, Google Play Store has been severely hampered and hackers have plotted a simpler way to destroy the apps which is even more dangerous.The latest threat, dubbed Clast82 is more potent as it can fit the virus anywhere on the device. Clast82 monitors all the infected devices as it uses a remote access Trojan.Users are now requested to uninstall the malware ridden apps if they are still available on the Play store despite all the warnings. Google is being pushed to strengthen the Play Store's security. Although, the improvements are made but they are insufficient.Even after a security campaign like Googles Apps Defense Alliance, hackers find the strategies and invade the privacy measures constructed by the Play store.According to a Check point team, hackers keep it basic this time. Gathering all the third-party apps to get around Play store privacy measures and causing malware in a couple of apps. The easiest way to stay aware of them is that users should not download apps when not in need and thoroughly understand the privacy policy and terms and conditions of each app. As in the case of any flashlight apps that are asking the user to permit to access the contacts is instantly skeptical. Moreover, reviews given below each app helps a lot in such case.Google only confirmed the removal of apps being reported by the Check point. Other than that, Google refuses to comment on this situation.The dangerous Clast82 applications from the Play store include Cake VPN, Pacific VPN, eVPN, BeatPlayer, QR/Barcode Scanner MAX, Music Player, tooltipnatorlibrary, and QRecorder.If any user owns such apps, they should remove them immediately, or else their financial assets will fall into dangerous hands. The danger will remain there, the only thing that users can do to avoid such scams is becoming aware.Read next: An Old Version Of Automatic Call Recorder iOS App Put Apple Users Data At Risk Vaibhav Saxena and Nguyen Hoang Anh Linh from Vietnam International Law Firm The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has been analysing the existing airport system, demand for air transport, and international experience to propose additional airports and prepare a master plan for development of the national airport system in the period of by 2030, with a vision to 2050. The new airports will be put into consideration based on 22 criteria on the necessity and feasibility of the airports which include but are not limited to production demand, socio-economic factors; national security and defence, natural conditions, and locations. According to the current draft of the MoT, based on the analysis and scoring of the 22 criteria, in 2021-2030, new airports which were not mentioned in the airport system approved by the prime minister are not proposed to be supplemented into the master plan. In addition, the airport in the northern province of Cao Bang will be considered for the second stage, which is envisioned for 2050. Based on the final draft report, the MoT is currently consulting ministries, agencies, localities, and relevant agencies on the planning. In addition, the MoT is also directing specialised agencies, who are consulted to synthesise suggestions from localities, as well as study and review reports for the MoT. Currently, there are 22 airports in operation in Vietnam, including seven international and 15 domestic ones. According to the previous master plan from 2018 (Master Plan 236), Vietnam was set to have a total of 28 airports by 2030, which would be allocated in the following areas: - Ten airports in the northern region five international (Noi Bai, Van Don, Cat Bi, Tho Xuan, and Vinh) and five domestic (Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Sapa, Na San, Dong Hoi); - Eight airports in the central region four international (Phu Bai, Danang, Cam Ranh, and Chu Lai) and four domestic (Quang Tri, Pleiku, Phu Cat, and Tuy Hoa); and - Ten airports in the southern region four international (Tan Son Nhat, Can Tho, Phu Quoc, and Long Thanh) and six domestic (Buon Ma Thuot, Lien Khuong, Phan Thiet, Con Dao, Rach Gia, and Ca Mau). According to Le Tuan Anh, Deputy Minister of Transport, Master Plan 236 set out an important basis for the development of the aviation industry and in Vietnam and has been invested and upgraded in accordance with the defined scale to meet the demands of air transport and economic, social, and national security development. With the 28 airports approved in Master Plan 236, nearly 96 per cent of the population could reach an airport within 100km, which is higher than the worlds average of 75 per cent. With the new draft master plan up to 2030, with a vision to 2050, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) proposed that by 2030, Vietnam will develop 26 airports only. Accordingly, in this phase only four out of the six originally planned airports would be implemented, while the construction of Na San and Lai Chau airports would be temporarily delayed. By 2050, Vietnam would then have 30 airports 15 international and 15 domestic ones. The total area of the 26 airports by 2030 would amount to just under 20,000 hectares, and the 30 airports by 2050 would cover around 24,000ha. The estimated investment costs in the 2020-2030 period sits at about VND365.1 trillion ($15.87 billion), and for the period until 2050, the estimated costs would be around VND866.36 trillion ($37.66 billion). According to the mid-term report on the development plan of Vietnams airports system in 2021-2030 by the CAAV, the trend of developing the worlds airports looks as follows. The interconnectivity of larger airports will increase while smaller ones will be increasingly less connected. This shows the key role of large airports and the need for investment and development. Moreover, the growth rate of short-distance flights is higher than of long-distance ones, which means that the allocation of airports should take this into account. There is also a fast growing trend of direct flights compared to transit routes, and a rapid growth of international routes. Travel now contributes about 10 per cent of GDP and 50 per cent of the market share of air passengers. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on developing airports to meet the needs of tourists. Despite the massive impact of global events like the health crisis, the airline industry is expected to continue to grow steadily after reopening international routes around the globe. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts that the impact of COVID-19 on global aviation will last until 2024. According to the IATA, Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets globally. In 2015, the ASEAN Open Skies policy was implemented, allowing airlines to fly freely throughout the ASEAN member states in a unified market. The continued strong market growth presents opportunities, especially as Vietnam contributes large investments in airport construction and upgrades of aircraft and traffic services. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. Jamesville, N.Y. The mother of a 17-year-old shot and killed by police last week in Jamesville today detailed some of the efforts she made to get help for her son who had two mental health disorders. Judson Albahm of Jamesville was fatally shot on March 4 by members of the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office, DeWitt police and New York State Police during a confrontation with the teen who was suffering a mental health crisis. We tried to find answers, Judsons mom, Carissa Albahm, said in a statement posted on Facebook, but we couldnt even find help to ask questions. Judson had been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder and Aspergers Syndrome by the time he was 8 years old, his mother said. When Judson was young, Jamesville Elementary School pointed the family in the direction of services to help him with ODD and Aspergers, she said. But over the next eight years, Albahm said Judsons behaviors escalated without explanation and she called those years some of the most difficult of her life. She described sometimes feeling hopeless. When Judson would make progress, a new barrier would pop up and his progress unraveled, Albahm said. Albahm described a revolving set of therapists and doctors. In time, Judson was moved to BOCES from Jamesville-DeWitt High School, Albahm said. The constant referrals and phone calls stopped, Albahm said, but the effects of his mental health issues grew faster than we could keep up with. She repeatedly called the DeWitt Police Department when Judson was in distress or was struggling with his mental health, Albahm said. They knew Judson, but they didnt know how to help him either, Albahm said. Judson Albahm, 17, was shot and killed by police officers in Jamesville. Here he poses in a police officer costume when he was younger. When Albahm was younger, he loved to dress up in a police uniform, though he eventually became scared of them, his mother said. At about 12:30 p.m. last Thursday, Albahm called police when Albahm drove a white Ford Fusion from their house on Apulia Road. At the time, mental health care workers from St. Josephs Hospital Health Centers Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program were at the Albahms house, according to sheriffs spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber. About an hour later, Judson was shot multiple times by four officers from three agencies after police say he pointed what appeared to be a gun at them. It turned out the gun was an airgun, a type of BB-gun designed to look like a handgun. Albahm believes what happened to Judson could have happened to anyone, though she doesnt want his death to have been in vain. I want everyone to know our story and I want that helpless mother to keep pushing to find answers and a better way, Albahm said. Carissa Albahms full statement: Judson is my first born son. My baby. He was perfect. As a baby, he was wild and free. Always ahead of his time, he kept us on our toes. By the time he was 8 years old, we knew our baby was very different, and since we were such young parents, we had very little idea of what to do. Jamesville Elementary School was amazing for us and they helped guide us to some answers. It was Asburgers and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. I felt sick. I had absolutely no idea what to do next. In many ways, I wish I didnt even find out a diagnosis because the next 8 years would be some of the most difficult years of our lives. His behaviors escalated without explanation, and we were now experiencing what sometimes felt hopeless. By middle school it was hard to get Judson to do be normal like he so badly wanted. My baby was tormented by all of this in ways that nobody could explain. We tried to find answers, but we couldnt even find help to ask questions. Everything started to be a revolving door of confusion and frustration. Just as soon as Judson started to make progress with managing his challenges was just as soon as a new barrier popped up and all his progress unraveled. Judson couldnt get settled into any of the supports we were actually able to find for him because the therapists and doctors always changed. Although we were all doing our best to provide him the resources and supports, it was just not enough to make a difference. Sadly, my son was labeled as a problem and too much for JD to handle anymore, so the alternative became BOCES. Surely the constant referrals and phone calls stopped, but the effects of his mental health issues grew faster than we could keep up with. Having to deal with law enforcement took a toll on our family, as well as Dewitt Police Department. They knew my son well, as he had frequent contacts, whenever he was in distress or experiencing a mental health breakdown. They knew Judson, but they didnt know how to help him either. When he was a little boy, his favorite thing to do was put on his uniform and be a cop. Eventually he became scared of them. How sad. As a mother, I was shamed for not having control. That broke my heart, but not as much as seeing my son struggle without the help he so badly needed. What happened to my son, Judson, could have been avoided. What happened to him could have happened to anyone. Maybe I could have done something more to help or maybe something different. Maybe it doesnt even matter anymore because I know my baby finally has help and he has peace. But I dont and neither does his father or his siblings or his friends and anyone that can relate to what this family has been through. His life was ended too soon, but it wasnt in vain. I want everyone to know our story and I want that helpless mother to keep pushing to find answers and a better way. Right now my family just wants to find peace and try to make sense of what happened. Please respect our wishes and privacy. I just want #JusticeForJudson. --- 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.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. Related articles 4 officers from 3 agencies fired guns during fatal shooting of Jamesville teen, deputies say 3 days after officers fatally shot teen in Jamesville, police have answered few questions about what happened Jamesville teen killed in police shooting IDed Dispatcher warned of Jamesville teens airgun and suicide by cop before fatal shooting by police Listen to 911 dispatcher call to police 17-year-old fatally shot near Jamesville after pointing what police say appeared to be a gun at officers DA: Civilian dead after police shooting off Apulia Road in Jamesville Officer involved in Jamesville shooting Credit: Shutterstock With the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines now underway, University of South Australia sleep experts are urging people to reprioritise their sleep, as getting regular and sufficient sleep is known to boost your immune system. In Australia, four in every ten people suffer from a lack of sleep. Globally, around 62 percent of adults feel that they don't sleep well when they go to bed. UniSA sleep and fatigue researcher, Dr. Raymond Matthews, says sleep is an essential factor for maintaining good health and wellbeing, especially during the pandemic. "At the moment, we're all very focussed on staying healthysanitizing our hands and keeping socially distancedbut what many people forget is that sleep plays an essential role in our overall health," Dr. Matthews says. "Sleep plays a vital role in our body's immune system. When we get enough sleep, our white blood cells can more efficiently fight invading bacteria or viruses. But when we cut back on sleep, the reverse happens, our white blood cells are reduced, and we end up with a compromised immune system. "For example, one laboratory study, restricted sleep of healthy participants to four hours a night for six nights before administration of an influenza vaccine. Up to 10 days later, the sleep-deprived individuals possessed half the number of vaccine antibodies than the non-sleep-deprived controls. "Understanding the importance of sleep is critically important, especially now, as Australia starts to administer COVID-19 vaccines." With World Sleep Day acknowledged this Friday 12 March, Dr. Matthews says it's a timely reminder to pay closer attention to our sleep routines. "We're urged to get at least eight hours of sleep a night, but with the daily pressures of work, school, and family life, it's often too easy to sacrifice," Dr. Matthews says. "If you're struggling to get a good night's sleep, there are things you can do: choose light, rather than heavy meals in the evening keep your bedroom dark, cool and quiet avoid bright light in the eveningespecially light from phones and devicesand make sure you get enough sunlight in the morning exercise during the day avoiding cigarettes, caffeine, and alcohol. "Having a relaxing a bedtime routine can help. This could include turning the TV off earlier, or reading a book in bed, but really, it's whatever makes you feel calm and comfortable. "Of course, if you find you just can't sleep, sometimes it's best to get up and do something relaxing until you start to feel tired. "These times are no doubt challenging, but sound sleep is something we should all prioritise, especially during COVID-19." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak Matt Hancock last night hailed the Novavax vaccination's 86.3 per cent effectiveness against the Kent strain of Covid-19. The Health Secretary confirmed the UK has 60 million doses of the jab, developed in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on order ahead of its approval by the medicines regulator. He said: 'Really encouraging results from Novavax tonight on its efficacy against variants. 'We've ordered 60 million doses and if approved by the medicines regulator it will be another boost to the UK's vaccination rollout as we work to overcome this virus.' New data released on Thursday confirmed the Novavax vaccine is safe and 96 per cent effective at preventing infection against the original strain of Covid-19. Matt Hancock last night hailed the Novavax vaccination's 86.3 per cent effectiveness against the Kent strain of Covid-19 The firm released results from two clinical trials yesterday, one held in the UK and another in South Africa. Both countries have seen highly infectious variants of coronavirus emerge in recent months, which have quickly spread around the world. Across both trials, the vaccine candidate, called NVX-CoV2373, demonstrated 100 per cent protection against severe disease, including all hospitalisation and death. In the Phase III UK trial, the vaccine was found to be 96.4 per cent effective against mild, moderate and severe disease caused by the original coronavirus strain. It was also 86.3 per cent effective against the Kent strain, known as B.1.1.7. However, in South Africa, the Novavax jab was found to only be 55.3 per cent effective against the native variant. In a late-stage UK study, Novavax's coronavirus vaccine was shown to be 96% effective against the original COVID-19 strain and 100% effective at preventing severe disease. Pictured: Dr Stephaun Wallace (left) receives his second injection from Dr Tia Babu during the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trial in Seattle, Washington, February 2021 Novavax's vaccine uses synthesized pieces of the surface protein that the coronavirus uses to invade human cells and spurs antibody production (file image) 'We are very encouraged by the data showing that NVX-CoV2373 not only provided complete protection against the most severe forms of disease, but also dramatically reduced mild and moderate disease across both trials,' Stanley Erck, president and CEO of Novavax, said. 'Importantly, both studies confirmed efficacy against the variant strains. 'Today marks one year since the WHO officially declared the Covid-19 pandemic, and with this data in hand, we are even more motivated to advance our vaccine as a potential weapon in the fight to end the suffering caused by Covid-19.' The Novavax vaccination contains synthesised pieces of the surface protein that coronavirus uses to invade human cells. The idea is that the protein will cause human cells to spur production of antibodies to fight the infection. This technology is a more traditional method of administering vaccines compared to newer technology found in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The biotechnology company has been running trials in Britain, South Africa, the US and Mexico. The Health Secretary confirmed the UK has 60 million doses of the US jab, developed in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on order ahead of its approval by the medicines regulator The UK trial involved more than 15,000 participants between ages 18 and 84, including 27 per cent who were over the age of 65. Overall, there were 106 cases of Covid-19 in the trial, with 10 in the vaccine group and 96 in the placebo group. In volunteers who were 65 year old or older, there were 10 cases of coronavirus, nine of which were among those who received the placebo. Researchers determined the vaccine was 96.4 per cent effective against the original strain and 86.3 per cent against the Kent variant circulating in the UK. However, the US-based, late-stage trial did not begin until December after Novavax had issues in scaling up the vaccine's manufacturing. The South Africa trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in 2,665 healthy adults. In total, 51 cases of Covid-19 were identified the vaccine group and 96 in the placebo group - the vast majority of which were linked to the South African varaint. Researchers determined this demonstrated 55.3 per cent efficacy against strains in South Africa. The news come less than two months after Novavax released data from an interim analysis shows. That data showed, that the vaccine was 95.6 percent effective against the original virus and 85.6 per cent effective against the B 1.1.7. variant. At the time, the mid-stage study in South Africa found that the shot was just 49.3 per cent effective against that country's variant. CLEMSON, South Carolina -- By using laser spectroscopy in a photophysics experiment, Clemson University researchers have broken new ground that could result in faster and cheaper energy to power electronics. This novel approach, using solution-processed perovskite, is intended to revolutionize a variety of everyday objects such as solar cells, LEDs, photodetectors for smart phones and computer chips. Solution-processed perovskite are the next generation materials for solar cell panels on rooftops, X-ray detectors for medical diagnosis, and LEDs for daily-life lighting. The research team included a pair of graduate students and one undergraduate student who are mentored by Jianbo Gao, group leader of Ultrafast Photophysics of Quantum Devices (UPQD) group in the College of Science's Department of Physics and Astronomy. The collaborative research was published March 12 in the high-impact journal Nature Communications. The article is titled "In-situ Observation of Trapped Carriers in Organic Metal Halide Perovskite Films with Ultra-fast Temporal and Ultra-high Energetic Resolutions." The principal investigator was Gao, who is an assistant professor of condensed matter physics. The co-authors included graduate students Kanishka Kobbekaduwa (first author) and Pan Adhikari of the UPQD group, as well as undergraduate Lawrence Coleman, a senior in the physics department. Other authors from Clemson were Apparao Rao, the R.A. Bowen Professor of Physics, and Exian Liu, a visiting student from China who works under Gao. "Perovskite materials are designed for optical applications such as solar cells and LEDs," said Kobbekaduwa, a graduate student and first author of the research article. "It is important because it is much easier to synthesize compared to current silicon-based solar cells. This can be done by solution processing - whereas in silicon, you have to have different methods that are more expensive and time-consuming." The goal of the research is to make materials that are more efficient, cheaper and easier to produce. The unique method used by Gao's team - employing ultrafast photocurrent spectroscopy - allowed for a much higher time resolution than most methods, in order to define the physics of the trapped carriers. Here, the effort is measured in picoseconds, which are one trillionth of a second. "We make devices using this (perovskite) material and we use a laser to shine light on it and excite the electrons within the material," Kobbekaduwa said. "And then by using an external electric field, we generate a photocurrent. By measuring that photocurrent, we can actually tell people the characteristics of this material. In our case, we defined the trapped states, which are defects in the material that will affect the current that we get." Once the physics are defined, researchers can identify the defects - which ultimately create inefficiency in the materials. When the defects are reduced or passivated, this can result in increased efficiency, which is critical for solar cells and other devices. As materials are created through solution processes such as spin coating or inkjet printing, the likelihood of introducing defects increases. These low temperature processes are cheaper than ultra-high temperature methods that result in a pure material. But the tradeoff is more defects in the material. Striking a balance between the two techniques can mean higher-quality and more efficient devices at lower costs. The substrate samples were tested by shooting a laser at the material to determine how the signal propagates through it. Using a laser to illuminate the samples and collect the current made the work possible and differentiated it from other experiments that do not employ the use of an electric field. "By analyzing that current, we are able to see how the electrons moved and how they come out of a defect," said Adhikari of the UPQD group. "It is possible only because our technique involves ultrafast time scale and in-situ devices under an electrical field. Once the electron falls into the defect, those who experiment using other techniques cannot take that out. But we can take it out because we have the electric field. Electrons have charge under the electric field, and they can move from one place to another. We are able to analyze their transport from one point to another inside the material." That transport and the effect of material defects upon it can impact the performance of those materials and the devices in which they are used. It is all part of the important discoveries that students are making under the guidance of their mentor, creating ripples that will lead to the next great breakthrough. "The students are not only learning; they are actually doing the work," Gao said. "I am fortunate to have talented students who - when inspired by challenges and ideas - will become influential researchers. This is all part of the important discoveries that students are making under the guidance of their mentors, creating ripples that will lead to the next great breakthrough. We are also very grateful for the strong collaborations with Shreetu Shrestha and Wanyi Nie, who are top materials scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory." ### Support for this project was provided by the Center for Integrated Nanotechnology at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as well as the South Carolina Research Authority. By Chris Worthy Special to the College of Science By Lee Gyu-lee TvN's new crime thriller series, "Mouse," is enjoying a surge in viewership ratings, which soared to a new high on Thursday. The latest episode scored a 6.2 percent viewership rating nationwide, with 7.2 percent in the Seoul metropolitan area. The series started airing last Wednesday, with a 4.9 percent viewership rating. But ratings dropped to 4 percent when the second episode was broadcast, only to pick up again afterwards. Directed by Choi Joon-bae, whose work includes the romance series, "Come and Hug Me," the thriller revolves around two police officers rookie cop Jung Ba-reum (Lee Seung-gi) and detective Go Mu-chi (Lee Hee-jun) hunting down a notorious psychopathic killer nicknamed the "predator." It was written by Choi Ran, who is known for penning other thrillers, including "Black" and "God's Gift: 14 Days." Mu-chi has dedicated his life to catching criminals after witnessing the murder of his parents by a serial killer when he was young. About 26 years after the killer was put behind bars, another serial murder, the "predator," appears in town. The story intensifies as it peels off the layers of connections between the murder of Mu-chi's parents and the "predator," as well as the relationship between the two cops. The series' endless twists and turns and suspense become even more compelling thanks to the actors' performances, which seem to hit just the right notes to attract more viewers. Thursday's episode ended with a huge cliff-hanger by raising suspicions that model cop Ba-reum may be a cold-blooded psychopath. "Mouse" airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 10:30 p.m. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 17:38:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A group of unidentified gunmen attacked a college in the northwestern Nigerian state of Kaduna in the early hours of Friday, abducting a yet to be ascertained number of students, local police said. Mohammed Jalige, a police spokesperson in Kaduna, confirmed the incident to Xinhua on the phone, noting that gunmen invaded the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization located in Mando area of Kaduna state and abducted an unspecified number of students. "We have no details of the number of (the) students (kidnapped)," said Jalige. He said the police were working with other security forces to track down the kidnappers and rescue the students. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The bizarre phenomenon of ships appearing to 'float' above water may help unlock some of the mysteries surrounding the Titanic, which sank in 1912, according to historian and author Tim Maltin. Recently, a photo of a ship off the coast of Falmouth, Cornwall went viral after people became confused by the fact that it seemed to be hovering above the water. The strange optical illusion is known as Fata Morgana and it is a type of mirage often associated with the open ocean. Also read: An Alternate Ending Clip Of Titanic Is Going Viral & People Are Glad It Didn't Make The Cut! Twitter Maltin believes the 100ft iceberg that sunk the historic ship may have been missed by lookouts on board because of a similar Fata Morgana mirage event. The event is caused when cold air near the sea's surface sits under a blanket of warmer air. It creates an abnormal refraction in which light bends downwards in an effect known as thermal inversion. According to The Sun, Maltin said that in the case of the Titanic, the phenomenon may have meant that the iceberg wasn't spotted against the white haze along the horizon known as a 'mirage strip' until it was too late. He said. "The Titanic sank in the freezing waters of the Labrador Current in the North Atlantic, surrounded by dozens of large icebergs, some of which were 200 feet high." He added, "But above the level of the top of those icebergs much warmer air drifted across from the nearby warmer waters of the Gulf Stream, trapping cold air underneath it. This created the same thermal inversion conditions at Titanic's crash site as seen along the coast of Britain recently, creating a band of light haze above which ships appeared to float in the sky." Britannica The photo of the 'hovering ship' in Falmouth was captured by walker David Morris, who told the BBC he was 'stunned' after taking the snap while looking out to sea from the hamlet of Gillan. BBC meteorologist David Braine explained: "Superior mirages occur because of the weather condition known as a temperature inversion, where cold air lies close to the sea with warmer air above it. Since cold air is denser than warm air, it bends light towards the eyes of someone standing on the ground or on the coast, changing how a distant object appears." He said, "Superior mirages can produce a few different types of images - here a distant ship appears to float high above its actual position, but sometimes an object below the horizon can become visible." Also read: Adventure Of A Lifetime! You Can Now Go On An Underwater Tour Of The 'Titanic' For Rs 93 Lakh Farmer's Almanac Mother nature blows our mind away every day. Also read: Not Just Jack And Rose's Tormenting Story, 16 Characters From Titanic That Tug At Our Heartstrings A 31-year-old woman identified as Yesutor Elizabeth Akpalu, has died after she was allegedly assaulted by her fiance. It was gathered that the deceased, a 300 level student of the Evangelical Presbyterian University College, was rushed to the Ho Teaching Hospital by her friends on Sunday, March 7, after she complained of severe pain in the chest, ribs and neck. She died in the early hours of Monday, March 8. According to the Volta Regional Police Commander, DCOP Oduro Kwateng, the victim had complained to her friends about being physically assaulted by her boyfriend, Phillip Ceasar, said to be the Deputy Director of Youth Employment Agency (YEA) at Akatsi North. Medical reports sighted by journalists allegedly indicates that the deceased had injuries on her left shoulder as well as swollen eyes as a result of the assault. Her friends alleged the suspect has been assaulting the deceased for a long time but she refused to report to the police because her wedding was pending and she did not want to ruin her relationship. Further investigation by Ghanaian Times revealed that the suspect allegedly tortured the deceased in December 2020 and again in February 2021. Kwateng confirmed that the suspect was arrested by the Ave-Dapka police on Tuesday, March 9. He was later moved to the Volta Regional Headquarters in Ho, where he is in custody while further investigations are ongoing. "The suspect is in police custody and we have begun investigations into the matter." he added. Also confirming the incident, spokesperson of the Volta Region Police, Prince Dogbatse, said he said the got a call from the Ho Teaching Hospital about the case. "The Volta Region Police Command has initiated investigations into the incident. Currently, bits and pieces of information that we have picked from the students and some other individuals suggest that the deceased suffered from assault from her boyfriend," Dogbatse stated. "We have picked that boyfriend and he is in our custody assisting in investigations. As is normal with death, we are waiting for the pathologists report." he added. Source: The Ghanaian Times Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A 36-year-old Emmaus man died late Thursday night after being critically injured Tuesday evening when the bicycle he was riding was struck by a car in Lower Macungie Township, authorities say. Alexander Zarnas was pronounced dead from multiple blunt force injuries at 11:38 p.m. at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, the Lehigh County Coroners Office said Friday morning. His death was ruled an accident, the news release added. Zarnas was hit just after 5 p.m. Tuesday by a 2015 BMW 528i driven by a 48-year-old Macungie man in the 6700 block of Mountain Road near Gehman Road, Pennsylvania State Police report. The crash remains under investigation, Trooper Nathan Branosky said. The state police Fogelsville Patrol Unit is being assisted in the probe by the Troop M Collision Analysis Reconstruction Unit, Troop M Forensic Services Unit, the Lehigh County District Attorneys Office and the coroners office. The Macungie Ambulance Corps took Zarnas to the hospital. 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. Quad leaders all set to roll out COVID-19 vaccine initiative at historic summit India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Mar 12: The most significant among the deliverables envisaged in the historic summit of leaders of the Quad countries is a coronavirus vaccine initiative that will allow new manufacturing capacity to be added in India for export to the Indo-Pacific region, sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the first summit of the Quad leaders which will be held virtually this evening. Quad summit: Cooperation between countries should not target third party, says China Under the initiative to contain the coronavirus pandemic, it is envisaged that vaccines will be developed in the US, manufactured in India, financed by Japan and US, and supported by Australia, the sources said. The leaders will also discuss regional and global issues of shared interest, and exchange views on practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, they said. The summit will provide an opportunity to exchange views on contemporary issues such as post-pandemic recovery, resilient supply chains, emerging and critical technologies, maritime security, and climate change, they added. According to the sources, the vaccine initiative will allow new manufacturing capacity to be added in India for exports to the Indo-Pacific region and it will not impinge on the country's existing manufacturing capacities. All you need to know about the historic first Quad summit today They said the pooling of individual capacities and strengths by Quad countries is aimed at expediting global vaccine delivery and it will help meet the demand-supply gap, focusing on the Indo-Pacific region. They said India's role in the 'Quad Vaccine Initiative' will project and re-inforce the country's credentials as a trusted, reliable manufacturer and supplier of quality vaccines. "It will appreciably expand our 'Vaccine Maitri' effort. It will strengthen India's standing as the 'pharmacy of the world', as a critical node in global health supply chains, and as a selfless contributor to global health security," said a source. The sources said the impact of the 'Quad Vaccine Initiative' on overcoming the pandemic will be noteworthy as the bloc's model of enlightened, humanitarian and collective action through supply of vaccines will also offer a template for peace, cooperation and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. The genesis of the Quad lies in 2004 when the four countries formed a "core group" for a joint response to the Indian Ocean tsunami to undertake rescue and relief operations. In many senses, that pioneering effort still determines the core identity of Quad, and the instinct for collective welfare and security for the people of the Indo-Pacific. The salience of the Quad has run in parallel with the emergence of the Indo-Pacific as a key strategic region. With a growing similarity of assessments about geopolitical dynamics in the region, in 2017, the Quad dialogue resumed at the official level. In November 2017, the four countries gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. The four Quad member countries have been resolving to uphold a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific amid growing Chinese assertiveness in the region. India's approach to the Indo-Pacific was enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in 2018. Inclusiveness, openness and ASEAN centrality and unity lie at the heart of India's Indo-Pacific vision. The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a key stakeholder in the Indo-Pacific region. The strategic significance of the Indo-Pacific was also acknowledged by the US in 2018 when it renamed the US Pacific Command (PACOM) as INDO-PACOM. Several European countries too have published their Indo-Pacific strategies, in recognition of the political and economic weight of the region. The first foreign ministerial meeting of Quad countries was held in New York on September 26, 2019 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the second Quad foreign ministerial meeting in Tokyo on October 6. The third Quad foreign ministerial meeting took place virtually on February 18. The meeting took place within a month of the Biden administration assuming office. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News Earlier this year, for the first time the four countries appointed Sherpas to coordinate Quad-related issues. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla is India's Sherpa. The Biden administration recognised the significance of the Indo-Pacific region in its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance document. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 16:49 [IST] | Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Rupee falls 19 paise to close at 73.09 (provisional) against US dollar. Sensex drops 85.40 pts to settle at 51,849.48; Nifty inches up 1.35 pts to 15,576.20. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik writes to all chief ministers for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute among states. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 23:01:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The decision by the National People's Congress (NPC) on improving Hong Kong's electoral system serves to plug the electoral loopholes of Hong Kong and build a security barrier for its long-term prosperity and stability, various sectors in Hong Kong have said. The NPC, China's top legislature, on Thursday adopted a decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The decision was passed by an overwhelming majority vote at the fourth session of the 13th NPC. Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, said that improving the electoral system of the HKSAR can help the local Legislative Council (LegCo) avoid being stormed and paralyzed so that normal operation of the HKSAR government will be ensured. The adopted decision will help bring long-term prosperity and stability to Hong Kong and enable the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems", said Tam. Maria Tam Wai-chu, deputy director of the HKSAR Basic Law Committee under the NPC Standing Committee, said that improving the local electoral system will help consolidate Hong Kong's executive-led political system and establish a more broadly representative election committee. Hong Kong should be administered by patriots and pledging allegiance to the country is a universal fundamental requirement, she said. According to Starry Lee Wai-king, chairperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, chairperson of the New People's Party, Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, vice chairman of the All-China Youth Federation, the NPC decision is a necessary and timely move to plug the loopholes of the current electoral system, ensure "patriots administering Hong Kong", and facilitate Hong Kong's transition from chaos to stability. Jonathan Choi Koon-shum, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, said that the NPC decision helps expand the political participation of all sectors in Hong Kong, which guarantees the democratic rights of Hong Kong residents. Lam Kin-ngok, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Chan Hiu-fung, head of the Hong Kong and Mainland Legal Profession Association, said after the implementation of the NPC decision, Hong Kong will improve the governance efficiency, get greater trust and support from the central authorities, and better integrate itself in the national development landscape. Chan Ching-chuen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary professor of the University of Hong Kong, said the related contents concerning Hong Kong in the 14th Five Year Plan is like putting a pair of wings to Hong Kong's development, one is a safe and free environment, the other is development opportunities. Yuen Mo, chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong and Ho Hon-kuen, chairman of Education Convergence of Hong Kong, expected the HKSAR government to push for cooperation of various sectors of the Hong Kong society in improving the local electoral system and to start the work related to the needed local legislations at an early date. Enditem The classic New York City bodega is all things to all people: a one-stop shop for anyone looking for wares ranging from a bunch of bananas and a sandwich to a pack of smokes and a few cans of cat food. Theyre also community beacons, drawing people from across a neighborhood together at any hour of the day to pick up their random assortments of provisions. DC now has its own admittedly rather more upscale version, as Chicago-based Foxtrot Foxtrot Market has landed in Georgetown, with its sights set on Mount Vernon Triangle and multiple other locations around the District. A new kind of convenience store, Foxtrot is full of curated products and brands, everyday essentials, and local must-haves, including goods from Ice Cream Jubilee, Vigilante Coffee, Mason Dixie, ANXO Cider and more. Their unique business model is also pretty pandemic-friendly, promising delivery in under an hour should you choose not to give the store an in-person visit. We call it a modern-day corner store, says Foxtrot co-founder and CEO Mike LaVitola. So, for us, what that means is curating a menu of stuff that fits into your everyday life. Thinking about whats in a convenience store or corner store, youve got beer, wine, cheese, sandwiches, all that kind of fun stuff. What we do is go in each of those categories, find things that we love, and bring them all into one place, and we always want to be a platform or space for new and local brands to have the spot in retail. Foxtrot is also finding creative ways to support local business, like partnering up with DC culinary powerhouse Erik Bruner Yang to serve easy-to-grab dishes at their all-day cafe in Georgetown like mapo tofu bowls and pork and chili tacos. When they first opened at the start of March, donations were made on every delivery order to Bruner Yangs Power of 10 Initiative, with its mission of bringing restaurant workers back to work and providing access to food for those who need it the most. Prior to opening, Foxtrot even held an inaugural Up and Comers Small Makers Awards competition in their search for the best hyperlocal brands. Northern Virginia-based cookie company Surprisingly Baked took home the win, earning them $8,000 in marketing support and placement in Foxtrots DC stores. So, for the hungry, the thirsty, or the curious, weve asked LaVitola to put together a list of some of the products hes most excited about seeing stocked on their shelves in Georgetown right now. This is your sign to go grab your groceries for dinner tonight. Foxtrot x Vigilante Coffee Foxtrot AM Coffee Blend Prior to their East Coast arrival, Foxtrot teamed up with local roaster Vigilante to create their very own AM Coffee Blend. Roasted and bagged in Maryland, it provides hints of orange marmalade and chocolate, with a toasty flavor upon brewing. Surprisingly Baked The OG Surprise The winners of their Up and Comers Small Makers Awards competition, Surprisingly Baked is known for decadent cookies that arent always as they first appear. LaVitolas favorite, the OG Surprise, looks like your typical chocolate chip cookie but reveals a double-stuffed Oreo once you bite into it. Nomad Dumplings Hunan Hottie LaVitola is a big fan of this local and woman-owned dumpling company, which takes traditional Chinese recipes and puts a regional spin on them. Grab a bag of Hunan Hotties, inspired by street food in the region, if all-natural dumplings made with bok choy, chili, shiitake, and wood ear mushrooms sounds good to you. The Andy Factory Regular Mambo Sauce Mambo, or mumbo, sauce is a DC must-have, and this one by the Andy Factory is the perfect bottle to have on your home shelf. The signature wing sauce from Uncle Dells, its slightly spicy and tangy in just the right way. Aslin Power Moves Hazy IPA As the weather finally starts to warm, we all know that means an imminent start to IPA season. Kick it off with this Power Moves Hazy by local Alexandria brewer Aslin, an easy-drinking, low-ABV juice bomb. Foxtrot x Eric Bruner Yang Chile and Pork Breakfast Taco The best way to start your day is definitely with a breakfast taco in hand. This one a collaboration between Foxtrot and Erik Bruner Yang features locally-sourced scrambled eggs, Chinese roasted pork, chili crisp, and pickled cucumber aioli on a homemade flour tortilla. Ice Cream Jubilee Banana Bourbon Caramel Ice Cream One thing DC definitely doesnt lack is a wide selection of bangin local ice creams. Ice Cream Jubilee is known for its sort of wacky flavors that just work, like their Banana Bourbon Caramel. The post DCs Luxe New Answer to the Corner Bodega Has Arrived appeared first on InsideHook. Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 82F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Ashland Zions Reformed United Church of Christ, 2400 Centre St., will sponsor an Easter egg hunt for youngsters 12 and younger at 11:15 a.m. March 28. CDC safety guidelines will be followed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic so masks must be worn by all. Advance registration is required by calling the church office from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays or Fridays at 570-875-2700. Frackville The Frackville Food Bank will be open from 9 to 10 a.m. March 18 at Zion Lutheran Church, 48 S. Nice St., for a drive-thru distribution. People must follow Frack Street to Beech Street and line up on Beech Street, not exiting their vehicles or parking in the lot. In case of inclement weather, follow the North Schuylkill School District weather announcement. If school is closed or on delay, so is the food bank. If closed, the food bank will be held the following day. For more information, call Shannon Mozdy, church secretary, at 570-874-0255. Port Clinton St. Johns Church, 36 Penn St., will have shops and drops from 4 to 7 p.m. March 18 and 19, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 20 for its annual basket auction. Tickets will be pulled at 3 p.m. March 20. There will be a variety of prizes and gift cards available, plus food trucks on March 19 and 20. For more information, go the churchs Facebook page. Pottsville Diakon Living & Learning, 118 S. Centre St., Suite 1, has announced the resumption of weekly fitness classes including line dance, Zumba gold, and gentle and seated yoga, in Schuylkill Haven and at Fairlane Village mall. For times and sites, call Susan Long, director of center services, at 570-624-3018 or email her at longs@diakon.org. 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. Wonderful new Federal Sentencing Reporter issue explores "Weinstein on Sentencing" | Main | Are we soon going to start seeing notable judicial nominees from Prez Biden? March 12, 2021 "Are Life Sentences a Merciful Alternative to the Death Penalty?" The question in the title of this post is the headline of this new extended Mother Jones article. Here are excerpts: In the midst of [recent] victories in the fight against capital punishment, many advocates are attempting to address a different form of punishment, questioning how much more merciful life imprisonment is compared to the death penalty. Life without parole has many of the same qualities that make the death penalty so abhorrent. Capital punishment is riddled with racial disparities, junk science, and a legal system that routinely fails the marginalized. Those same exact flaws exist across the whole system, says Ashley Nellis, a senior research analyst at the advocacy organization The Sentencing Project. Looked at logically, staying alive, albeit in prison, just has to be a better outcome than being executed. But looked at more closely, is the lesser sentence really better than the harshest one? I would not call it a humane alternative to the death penalty, Shari Silberstein, the executive director of the Equal Justice USA, a criminal justice nonprofit, tells me. In fact, its a punishment both extreme and one that disproportionately affects the most marginalized people.... For Silberstein, anti-death penalty activists shouldnt focus solely on life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty, but they should consider an entire reconfiguration of what justice means, and what it should look like. After someone has been harmed, theres a need for healing, safety, accountability, and a sense of justice, she explains. But it is unrealistic to expect that a prison sentence can meet all of those needs. Clearly, they havent, she notes. Harsh sentences persevere, even in places where the death penalty has already been abolished because of the underlying belief that, as Silverstein explains succinctly, The only sense that justice has been done is if someone else suffers. Perhaps now when execution as a punishment has never seemed so obscene and unacceptable its the right time to reconsider all punishments. What is the real difference between spending years behind bars only to die strapped to a gurney while correctional staff administer enough drugs to kill you, and languishing behind bars until so-called natural causes finally, mercifully, takes your life? Are these differences sufficient to end one punishment and while still justifying another? If the United States is on the cusp of abolishing the death penalty, perhaps it should take the next logical step and abolish another form of cruel and unusual punishment as well: life imprisonment. March 12, 2021 at 03:46 PM | Permalink Comments It's difficult for anti-death penalty advocates to make the case for more humane sentences than life without parole when life sentences are still given to individuals for nonviolent crimes. Shari Silberstein is correct. When talking about the death penalty, it is necessary to review the entire spectrum of sentencing. It's hard to imagine that the death penalty will be replaced by life without parole when that is a sentence that is given to many categories of nonviolent people. Posted by: beth curtis | Mar 13, 2021 4:03:17 PM Just goes to show that the people arguing against LWOP as an alternative years ago were right, that if execution were abandoned (as it has been for practical purposes) the debate would simply shift. I say "no more", the courts were wrong to say that the eighth amendment has any sort of proportionality requirement and that is what should be fixed. Make it clear that only method of punishment is banned, not reason for punishment. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Mar 13, 2021 4:28:54 PM I'd have no problem with giving the death penalty greater frequency and greater speed. The only caveat is that courts reviewing death sentences need to feel free to review claims of actual innocence de novo, regardless of whether or not the claim was raised in a timely fashion. We could make up for that by banning appeals that the execution itself would be too painful. Then we'd have less LWOP. Posted by: William C Jockusch | Mar 14, 2021 1:17:25 PM Actual innocence is pretty much the only claim I believe should be recognized after an initial claim (IAC, diminished capacity, whatever) has been rejected. I also believe that Strickland poses a decent framework for evaluating IAC. That if an offender cannot satisfy both prongs there should be no relief. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Mar 15, 2021 12:07:34 AM Post a comment Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. UPDATE: Flint residents march on 1-year anniversary of Breonna Taylors death FLINT, MI Saturday will mark the one year anniversary of Breonna Taylors death. Some women in Flint are planning to march to make sure she isnt forgotten. The most important thing is that Breonna Taylors death is not in vain, Eeshyia King, one of the organizers for the solidarity march, said. We want to see actual actions from what happened and we want to see consequences and we want to see these laws changed. The solidarity march is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 13 starting at the Black Lives Matter mural near Soggy Bottom Bar, 613 Martin Luther King Ave., and will continue with a march down Saginaw Street to the Flint Police Department. Taylor, 26, a Black emergency medical technician, was shot and killed by Louisville police on March 13, 2020. She was a native of Grand Rapids. While the event was organized to be peaceful and celebrate Taylors life, organizers of the event will also make some demands at the police department to stop events such as what happened to Taylor. There will also be a song and a moment of silence to honor Taylor. Organizer LaShaya Darisaw, 32, said the incident transpired between Taylor and police because of the war on drugs. There was a no-knock warrant because they believed there would be drugs in her house, Darisaw said. But it is a reaction to the war on drugs. Three officers fired weapons while serving a warrant at Taylors Louisville, Kentucky apartment as part of a narcotics investigation. Taylors boyfriend, believing someone was breaking into the apartment, fired shots toward the door and officers returned fire. Thats when Taylor died. The warrant used to search Taylors home was connected to a suspect who did not live there and no drugs were found. A grand jury indicted one officer on wanton endangerment charges in September for shooting into a neighbors apartment, but no officers were charged in connection with her death. One of the demands of the group of organizers is clemency for the majority of Michiganders who have been a victim of the war on drugs. The group plans to elevate the demands to the state level, Darisaw added. This is a peaceful thing and as much as people are hurt and saddened by this that we cant just be reactionary that we have to create action and policy and create a cultural change, Darisaw explained. That will assist in things like this not happening. Masks and social distancing will be enforced at the event, according to organizers. Read more on MLive: Marchers in Flint push for end to police brutality as protests reach third day Organizers call for seat at the table with police during second night of protests in Flint Flint-area police join protesters marching to seek justice for George Floyd Flint Police Department will have Black Lives Matter advisory council Breonna Taylors cousins lead protest march through downtown Grand Rapids Its negligence, Breonna Taylors cousin speaks in Grand Rapids after ruling Grand Rapids leaders ahead of rally following Breonna Taylor ruling: We see you, we hear you Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2021) - Quantum Numbers Corp. (TSXV: QNC) (OTC Pink: QNCCF) (FSE: 34Q) ("QNC" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Rickards to its Board of Directors. QNC continues to strengthen the membership of its Board of Directors and announces the nomination of Scott Rickards as Director of the company. He brings relevant financial knowledge and a significant international network, which he developed during his 20-year tenure in the Hedge Funds, Private Equity and Venture Capital industries. He is currently Founder, President & CEO of Waterfund, a company that develops financial risk management products for the water industry. Scott has been based in both the Middle East and Latin America as a hedge fund investor and developer of financial products. He was most recently Senior Business Development Executive at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), an agency of the Dubai Government, responsible for Dubai Commodity Asset Management, a hedge fund and ETF investment platform licensed by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. Scott began his career in the Commercial Service of the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was an analyst in the International Listings division of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Scott earned his BA from Columbia University and holds an MA in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) having studied in Bologna, Buenos Aires, Zaragoza, and Washington, D.C. He speaks regularly at water conferences on the topic of private finance and has been quoted and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Television, Fox Business, and other media outlets. Also, Pierre Paul Samson, currently Director and Chairman of QNC Board, has announced he will not seek the renewal of his candidacy as Director for the forthcoming AGM. "It's been an honor to serve on QNC's Board and I believe it's now time for a new generation to take the helm and help propel our company to the next level. I trust that Scott has the right pedigree to help position QNC's value proposition in targeted markets and support our CEO's endeavors," stated Pierre Paul Samson. Francis Bellido, CEO, comments, "Scott is a great addition to the QNC team. His international financial expertise and rich US network will be invaluable as QNC grows to become a key player in the Cybersecurity industry." He also added "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Pierre Paul for his 2-year mandate as Chairman of the Board, as well as his continuous support and many contributions to QNC's development. Thanks to him and other members of the Board the company is now ready to fulfill its potential". Scott Rickards comments, "I am very excited to join QNC as I believe its QNRG technology has the potential to make a significant difference in fighting Cybercriminality. Having witnessed firsthand the direct threat nation state actors pose to critical infrastructure such as water, I am delighted to help contribute to QNC's truly innovative technology. QRNG technology is not only an additional tool in the cybersecurity arsenal, but one that can transcend existing cyber solutions." As new Board member, Scott Rickards will be receiving a grant of 500,000 stock options submitted to the terms of the Company's Stock Option Plan, the same number of stock options granted to Dr. Larry Moore when he joined the Board in January 2021. About QNC The Corporation's mission is to address the growing demand for affordable hardware security for connected devices. The patented solution for a Quantum Random Number Generator exploits the built-in unpredictability of quantum mechanics and promises to provide enhanced security for protecting high value assets and critical systems. The Corporation intends to target the highly valued Healthcare Services industry while ensuring its technology is also relevant and applicable to others, such as Financial Services, Cloud-Based IT Security Infrastructure, Classified Government Networks and Communication Systems, Secure Device Keying (IOT, Automotive, Consumer Electronics) and Quantum Cryptography. For further information, please contact: Francis Bellido, Chief Executive Officer Tel: 514.887.5469 Email: info@quantumnumberscorp.com Website: www.quantumnumberscorp.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 press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from targeted results. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in the Corporation's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by Quantum from time to time with securities regulatory authorities. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76980 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. KABUL A consultative meeting aimed at preparations for the 9th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process, co-chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab and Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to Kabul Dr. Sadi Sharifi, was held today at the Storay Palace of the MoFA. The meeting was also attended by representatives of organizations and ambassadors of supporting countries of the Heart of Asia- Istanbul Process. At the outset of the meeting, Deputy Minister Nab stressed the importance of regional and global consensus in supporting the Afghan peace process and thanked the countries and organizations supporting the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process for their sympathies with the government and people of Afghanistan in connection with the killing of women, journalists and civil society activists. Mr. Nab also briefed the participants about the arrangements and preparations for the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process scheduled to take place on the 30th of March 2021 in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. The Tajik Ambassador to Kabul reaffirmed his country's support for the peace process and the Afghan government's efforts thereof, and reassured the participants of Tajikistans readiness to host the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process in Dushanbe. Meanwhile, discussing the joint declaration of the said conference, the participants underlined the importance of convening the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference under the current circumstances in Afghanistan promising to share the perspectives of their respective countries with the Afghan MoFA regarding the declaration in the near future. Television | Production House Technology needs to be upgraded for quality storytelling The Indian media and entertainment industry is standing at a point when the requirement for video content is, more or less, growing in tandem with the investment in it. While Indian producers are branching out into new types of content across genres, formats, they need to scale up their investment in technology. Read More... iWorld | Social Media Eye on TikTok, Facebook to let content creators earn money from short videos The short-format video space is heating up and social networking giants are fighting tooth and nail against ceding ground, or more importantly, revenues, as more and more people turn to the short, snackable content form. Read More... Television | TV Channels Reliance Big Synergy CEO Rajiv Bakshi calls it quits, joins ZeeL Reliance Big Synergy CEO Rajiv Bakshi has stepped down from his position. Bakshi has now joined Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZeeL) as its chief operations officer - revenue. According to sources close to the development, he will report to ZeeL South Asia business president Rahul Johri. Read More... Regulators | MIB Prakash Javadekar meets with Digital News Publishers Association Information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday held a meeting with the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) to discuss new rules for digital media. "In a follow up to meeting with OTT platforms, held an interaction with Digital News Publishers Association today. Read More... Mam| Media And Advertising Truecaller elevates Rishit Jhunjhunwala to managing director Caller ID app Truecaller has elevated chief product officer Rishit Jhunjhunwala to managing director, with immediate effect. The firm's co-founder & CEO Alan Mamedi made the announcement via a post on professional networking site LinkedIn. Read More... Mam| Media And Advertising Hyundai goes big on debut of premium 7-seater SUV Alcazar 2021 has started on a positive note for the auto industry with multiple new launches and brands foraying into new segments. One such venture is the Hyundai Alcazar. With this model, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) enters the seven-seater premium SUV category, competing with the likes of Mahindra XUV500, Tata Safari and MG Hector Plus. Read More... Mam| Marketing Possible signs Sania Mirza as brand ambassador Possible has roped in Indian tennis star Sania Mirza as brand ambassador to unveil its signature breakfast and snack box collection. Mirza will be seen promoting the brand's newly launched 'breakfast kit' and 'snacks kit'. Possible co-founder and chief operating officer Megha More said, "We are thrilled to launch the signature collection on Possible. Read More... He recently revealed that he celebrated his 50th birthday by releasing sea turtles into the ocean during a trip to Costa Rica. And Gerard Butler was spotted settling back into his everyday life on Thursday, when he went out for dinner at West Hollywood hotspot Craig's. The Scottish actor looked casually cool for the outing, donning a black leather jacket, which he teamed with gently faded jeans. Fine dining: Gerard Butler was spotted enjoying a night on the town on Thursday, when he went out for dinner at West Hollywood hotspot Craig's Rounding out his look with a brown button-down shirt and taupe suede shoes, the screen star was escorted by security to his waiting car following his meal. Last month, the Olympus Has Fallen star revealed he marked his milestone 50th birthday in Costa Rica doing 'environmental stuff'. Gerard turned 50 in November 2019 but has only recently discussed how he celebrated, saying that it was attended by 'spiritual people' and was 'very powerful'. The Scottish actor, now 51, told Total Film Magazine: 'I'm not a birthday party guy. I've often, on my birthday, at 7PM, said "okay, let's have dinner". And everybody is told with 15 minutes to spare. Casually cool: The Scottish actor looked casually cool for the outing, donning a black leather jacket, which he teamed with gently faded jeans 'But this time, I actually did a big event in Costa Rica and brought loads of friends down. And it was very, very powerful. We brought down a lot of spiritual people, a lot of performers. 'We did a lot of environmental stuff, like releasing sea turtles out into the ocean. It was such a mix of so many things, I'm so glad I did it.' This took place several months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, with many unable to celebrate their birthdays over the past year. In his latest movie, Greenland, which was released in 2020, Butler and his family struggle for survival in the face of a terrifying cataclysmic natural disaster. Birthday trip: He recently revealed that he celebrated his 50th birthday by releasing sea turtles into the ocean during a trip to Costa Rica. Ensemble: Rounding out his look with a brown button-down shirt and taupe boots, the screen star was escorted by security to his waiting car following his meal The pandemic delayed the movie's release several times, eventually being made available through video on demand in December. This follows Gerard's recent controversial gender stereotyping row, leading to the banning of a South African beer advert. The Paisley-born actor fell foul of advertising standards with his TV ad for Diageo-made Windhoek beer. They banned the commercial for suggesting real men, like Butler, drink real beer. Butler agreed to take part in the ad despite having his well-publicised battle with the booze. He went tee-total after a spell in rehab, checking into the Betty Ford clinic in 2012 and claims not to have consumed alcohol since then. Row: The star's outing follows Gerard's recent controversial gender stereotyping row, leading to the banning of a South African beer advert Butler is seen casually dressed and bearded while enjoying a pint at the bar with the slogan: 'It's time for the perfect beer.' The beer campaign features the tag line, 'Keeping It Real With Mr Gerard Butler'. The beer brand used a 'gentle looking' man who succumbs to the pressure of 'macho' movie star Gerard Butler, said South Africas Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB). The ad features Butler, described in the regulator's decision as 'a macho looking movie star', remonstrating with a bar patron who asks for a slice of lime with his Windhoek. Drive: The star drove off solo following his outing to the popular West Hollywood restaurant Great Scot: While he hails from Scotland, he has been based in Los Angeles for several years 'Hey, thats a Windhoek. Its 100% beer. You dont need any lime,' Butler tells the other customer, before turning to the camera and says, 'Keep it real, Joe. Keep it real.' The man he takes to task, says the ARB, 'is a gentle looking, red-headed man two characteristics that might typically make him a target for teasing in a toxic environment'. By showing a man deciding against having a lime with his beer, Windhoek is entrenching toxic masculinity, the regulator ruled. The interaction between the two, the regulator ruled, sends an unavoidable message that is not acceptable in advertising, especially because it does not actually come out and say that real men drink real beer. Birthday: Gerard recently said of his 50th birthday, 'We did a lot of environmental stuff, like releasing sea turtles out into the ocean. It was such a mix of so many things, I'm so glad I did it' 'The reality is that it is exactly the unspoken nature of the communication that makes it particularly dangerous the gender stereotype portrayed as so normal that it does not even require explanation,' said the ARB. It took issue with both 'the entrenchment of the role of men as having to behave in a certain way' and 'the entrenchment of male behaviour that is bullying, and what has come to be labelled as "toxic masculinity"'. The decision cites a clause in the ARB's code of advertising practice that bans 'gender stereotyping or negative gender portrayal' unless it is 'reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom'. Heineken, the brewers of Windhoek, had argued its central character had ordered a lime out of habit, 'and when he tasted the Windhoek Lager without the lime, his response was one of appreciation. He does not react with offence or shame'. KYODO NEWS - Mar 12, 2021 - 15:59 | Others An inquest body has concluded that former Japanese trade minister Isshu Sugawara merits indictment over a money and gift scandal. Following the decision by the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, Tokyo prosecutors will now resume investigating the allegation that the Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker's office offered money and gifts to supporters between 2017 and 2019 in violation of the election law. Such panels, composed of 11 eligible voters chosen by lottery, are set up to review decisions by prosecutors not to put a suspect on trial if complainants challenge the decision. In June last year, the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office decided not to indict Sugawara for giving condolence money and gifts totaling 300,000 yen ($2,760) through his secretary and others to 27 voters from 2017 to 2019. The decision took into account that the 59-year-old House of Representatives member had stepped down as minister of economy, trade and industry and apologized for the case. The Public Offices Election Law prohibits politicians from making donations to voters in their constituencies, except for money given in person at ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. But in a rare move, the panel decided last month to review the proceedings after a Tokyo resident who brought the initial complaint challenged the dismissal of the case, arguing the special investigation squad's handling of the case was "questionable." The panel said in a document that it is natural to think that the provision of condolence money and gifts was intended to not only build personal relations with recipients but effectively ask them to vote for Sugawara in future elections. Sugawara stepped down from a ministerial position on Oct. 25, 2019, a day after a weekly magazine reported that his secretary had given condolence money to the bereaved family of a supporter in his Tokyo constituency. The resignation came a little more than a month after he had assumed the post under the government of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Sugawara admitted to the allegations in a press conference last year and said he was aware of the illegality of the acts, but expressed his intention to continue as a lawmaker. Related coverage: Japan PM Abe vows reforms to tackle demographic, diplomatic challenges Japan's justice minister to quit over wife's alleged election law breach 48% want ex-trade minister Sugawara to quit as lawmaker: poll Brett John Callaghan faces up to 20 years jail time for the horrific attack on the 12-year-old last April It is the haunting conversation that will alarm every parent - the moment a stranger lured a 12-year-old Sydney girl alone from a park and into his car so he could drug and rape her. Court documents have laid bare the evil tactics of predator Brett John Callaghan, 38, who faces 20 years behind bars over a nine-and-a-half hour ordeal he inflicted upon the child last April. Callaghan, 38, pleaded guilty to a series of charges this week, admitting what he did to the girl after approaching her and offering to charge her phone at his house 'down the road'. According to a statement of agreed facts obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia, the child had been waiting for a friend to arrive at a Thornleigh park, about 3.30pm, on Tuesday, April 28, when Callaghan pulled up in a silver Mazda. His daughter, 8, was in the car at the time. It was the school holidays and Callaghan's target had been in constant contact with her mum throughout the day. She had been left alone for just a few moments - a friend she had spent most of the day with had just been called home by his mum. About 3.34pm, the girl was sitting alone in a stairwell when Callaghan asked her: 'What are you doing here?' Family were alarmed when the schoolgirl failed to meet up with her mother on April 28 last year - disappearing instead of meeting her friend at the above park in Thornleigh The victim replied that she was waiting for a friend and supplied his first name, the court documents said. Callaghan told her he knew a person with a similar name, leaving the victim with the impression he actually knew her mate. They kept talking. During the conversation the girl told him she was 12-years-old. He asked her if she used drugs and also for what the time was. The victim didn't know. Her phone was dead. According to the court document, the conversation continued as follows. Callaghan said: 'If you want to charge your phone you can come for a ride with me, it's only five minutes down the road.' The victim replied: 'Could I just wait here maybe?' Callaghan: 'Well I can't bring the charger with me.' The victim: 'Well OK it's only five minutes down the road.' The offender: 'We will just be there for like ten minutes and I can drop you back.' The offender told the victim he wouldn't hurt her as he had his daughter with him. The victim agreed and got in the car about 3.43pm, nine minutes after first meeting Callaghan. Two minutes later, the girl's friend arrived. He couldn't find her. For the victim, what followed was an ordeal that didn't end until 1.15am the next morning, many details of which are too distasteful to publish. The 12-year-old girl was taken to the offender's granny flat behind his parents' home in Dural The girl's mother was alarmed when her daughter failed to show up at their meeting point at Hornsby as planned later that afternoon, the court heard. The mum rang police, who quickly used CCTV footage to piece together whose car the girl had entered at Thornleigh. Police attended Callaghan's home that evening. The predator and his victim had already attended and left his granny flat, located out the back of his parents' acreage. Officers spoke to Callaghan's daughter, who confirmed the missing child had traveled in the car with them. The court documents, released this week, revealed that the girl twice attempted to flee from her abuser. Early in the afternoon she tried to run from Callaghan's granny flat. Neighbours heard screams. 'I need my phone. I want my mother,' she said - but was unable to get past the property's front gate. She was then picked up by Callaghan in his car, thinking he would take her home. But he didn't, instead saying that his friend was going to 'drop something off.' The girl attempted to make a run for it from Callaghan's granny flat that afternoon - but was unable to get past the gates at the front of his parents' acreage in Dural Later, Callaghan's car broke down in a remote area, and the victim managed to run away for two minutes. But she was unable to find anyone to help, and returned to Callaghan. After a passing stranger jump-started their car - Callaghan referring to his victim as his 'sister' - he brought the girl back to his flat, where he abused her. 'She felt that she was stuck at his house and gave up trying to get home,' the court facts said. At about 1am, Callaghan hid the girl under a blanket when he heard footsteps coming down the driveway. He initially denied knowing what police were talking about, the court was told. But after he was cautioned by officers, Callaghan admitted picking the girl up, claiming he thought she was '19, easy'. The girl was struggling to breathe when police found her and the court has previously heard she was traumatised by the ordeal. 'I haven't hurt her,' Callaghan claimed to police, according to the statement of court facts. Brett Callaghan, above, was arrested and charged with allegedly detaining and sexually assaulting the 12-year-old But Callaghan on Thursday admitted to doing just that via Legal Aid lawyer Alexander Reetov. He pleaded guilty to six charges of aggravated sexual assault, sexual touching and supplying a prohibited drug to a teenager. Further charges, including taking and detaining a child, were withdrawn as part of a deal between prosecutors and his defence. Callaghan watched on via video link, dressed in prison greens, as did a senior police investigator who has worked with the girl to bring the predator to justice. Magistrate Peter Feather committed Callaghan to the NSW District Court for sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment. Callaghan will next appear in court on April 9. 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. Sluggish economic growth during the pandemic held back hiring as employers dropped jobs and the unemployment rate remained nearly unchanged at 8.1% in January, the state reported Friday. The decline of 100 jobs was slight, but it marked the third consecutive monthly loss after six straight months of gains, the state Department of Labor reported Friday. Connecticut employment sprinted out of the lockdown in the middle of 2020, but growth stalled as infection rates rose at the end of the year, said Patrick Flaherty, acting director of research at the Labor Department. Employment The number of jobs was down by 127,300, a drop of 7.5% from a year ago as businesses struggled to hire after being shut or forced to scale back during the coronavirus pandemic. Connecticut has recovered 166,800 jobs, or 57% of the 292,400 jobs lost in March and April 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown. The unemployment rate Unemployment was 8.1%, significantly higher than the national jobless rate of 6.3% in January. The U.S. rate fell to 6.2% in February. Where are the hopeful signs? The economy remains poised for a recovery, state Department of Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby said. Once people are vaccinated, the department predicts that pent-up demand will lead to people to start spending money, sparking economic growth. Theres no doubt that the pandemic was tough on the economy and the workforce; we saw that throughout 2020 with historic unemployment insurance filing levels and large employment declines in many industries,' Westby said. This information also reveals a light on the horizonthe labor market is well-positioned to recover once the vaccine is widely distributed. Where were the most workers hired? Areas hardest hit by the pandemic retail trade and education led employment increases in January. The category of trade, transportation and utilities, which includes retail workers, gained 2,400 jobs, an increase of 0.8%. Employers hired 1,200 workers in educational and health services, up by 0.4%. Story continues Where did employment decline? Job losses were posted in more sectors than those that recorded employment gains. Information, which includes publishing, broadcasting and telecommunications, took the biggest hit, shedding 1,400 jobs in January, a drop of 4.8%. Construction and mining lost 700 jobs, down 1.2%. Government jobs were down 500, or 0.2%. Leisure and hospitality, which was hurt badly by the coronavirus, dropped 400 jobs in January, a 0.3% loss. Connecticuts financial services industry lost 300 jobs, while manufacturing was down by just 200, And the states manufacturing industry was nearly unchanged, losing just 200 jobs, or one-tenth of a percent. Where are people getting jobs in Connecticut Just two of the six Connecticut Labor Market Areas Waterbury and Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk posted job gains in January. In each area, employers added 300 jobs each. The New Haven Labor Market Area shed 900 jobs, a drop of 0.3%, the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford area lost 400 jobs, a drop of 0.1%, and and the Norwich-New London-Westerly labor market dropped 300 jobs, a loss of 0.3%. Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com. Addiction-Counselor is proud to announce the release of its Top 75 Addiction Counseling and Substance Abuse Counseling degree programs (https://addiction-counselor.org/degrees/best-addiction-counseling-schools/). The website is confident that this list will help aspiring addiction counselors find the perfect program for them. To narrow down the top 75 programs from the hundreds available nationwide, Addiction Counselor analyzed each college according to a set of key educational statistics. In particular, researchers evaluated each addiction counseling degree program on the basis of its retention rate, graduation rate, cost of education, and expected earnings, among other factors. The researchers' goal was to rank the substance abuse counseling programs based on objective measures that students can use when choosing the best college or university for them. When armed with the most analytical and objective educational research, students can weigh their personal goals against those findings. The Addiction Counselor researchers factored in the cost of education for each program. These days students are more sensitive than ever to the short and long-term costs of their college education. Researchers weighed cost against the other purely academic factors to determine the overall value presented by each addiction counseling college program. Researchers dove deeper into the numbers and evaluated both the gross costs and the net price for each school. One key metric the researchers relied on was each institution's retention rate. This number reflects the percentage of first-time, full-time students who return to a college or university after their first year. When students return for a second year it's assumed that both they and their families are happy with the school's academics, campus life, and even the student body. Each of the top institutions on the websites list, starting with University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, boasts very high retention rates. Researchers also evaluated each addiction counseling program based on its graduation rate. When they weighed the retention rate against the graduation rate, they could determine how committed students were to their education goals. If a school reports both strong retention and graduation numbers, it can be assumed that students are fully engaged with their degree programs for the entire duration of their undergraduate and graduate education. The researchers also found another interesting statistic that complimented many school's graduation rate. The graduation rate for many schools is accompanied by their transfer-out rate. While this may seem like a strike against an institution, it can also reflect how well the school has prepared students for success. That is, most students are known to transfer to schools that offer the same or better academics. Thus, without a firm academic foundation, they couldn't transfer. It's this complete, objective view that Addiction Counselors researchers hope students will weigh against their personal needs. For instance, if a small private school is financially and academically comparable to a large public university, students can focus on other factors. Some may prefer a larger student body and the wide variety of social possibilities that entails. Once finances are considered equal, some may make their final decision based on campus amenities such as a fitness center or they may prefer one school's location over that of another. It's also important to weigh each student's long-term goals when reviewing Addiction Counselors list of the top 75 substance abuse counseling programs. While it's hard to tell how many students applied their addiction counseling degrees to a position in the mental health field, the team did evaluate the average reported salaries for each school's graduates. This figure can further inform students and their families when evaluating each program's financial impact. Ultimately, any student's academic choices should be based on what feels best for them and makes the most sense from an objective perspective. Some students may love a particular school's approach to academics, the professors, and their fellow students. Other students may need an entirely different approach simply due to their personal needs. Addiction Counselors list of the nation's top addiction counseling degree programs will guide students toward their best academic choice. These objective measures can inform all the various subjective factors that are involved when evaluating a bachelor's degree or masters degree program. Students and their families are encouraged to visit Addiction Counselor at https://addiction-counselor.org. The Treasury market selloff last week came amid signs investors are deleveraging. In a curious twist though, instead of dealer inventories rising as a consequence, they unexpectedly collapsed. Treasury holdings at primary dealers dropped by a record $64.7 billion to $185.8 billion in the week through March 3, leaving them at the lowest since 2018, according to data from the Federal Reserve released on Thursday. Typically, when investors offload Treasuries, dealer inventories balloon, as they did in March last year amid the early stages of the pandemic. The breakdown of the most recent data shows the bulk of the decline came from position reduction in under six-year Treasury paper, where holdings fell by $30.8 billion. One explanation for the disconnect is that dealers are taking steps to trim holdings before the expiry of a key regulatory exemption on March 31. From April last year, banks have been allowed to exclude Treasuries and reserves when calculating their supplementary leverage ratio as part of crisis measures introduced that month. This allowed them to hold more Treasuries than they otherwise may have done. Fed officials opted not to provide any guidance on the topic during the recent series of speaker engagements that took place in the run up to the current blackout period before next weeks policy meeting. appeared to have interpreted this to mean there is a rising risk the exemption will not be extended. Indeed, the view now is that it is something of a coin toss. The shift can be seen in the Treasury market as the spread between bond yields and swap rates has tightened. The latest Fed data also revealed there was a $23.5 billion decline in holdings of While these have been volatile, continued bill paydowns by the Treasury should gradually shrink this dealer inventory. There was also an anomaly in six-to-seven year holdings, which rose slightly. This may reflect the disastrous auction during the same week, which saw dealers stuck with 39.8% of the $62 billion sale, or $24.7 billion, the largest ever nominal take-down at a seven-year offering. BANGALORE, India, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sorbitol Market is Segmented Type (Sorbitol Liquid, Sorbitol Powder, Others), Application (Toothpaste, Vitamin C, Food and Beverage, Chemical, Pharma, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2026. This report is published on Valuates Reports in the Food and Beverage category. The global Sorbitol market size is projected to reach USD 2918.1 Million by 2026, from USD 2400 Million in 2019, at a CAGR of 2.8% during the forecast period 2021-2026. Major factors driving the growth of sorbitol market size are: Rising consumer preference for low-calorie food Increasing health problems due to consumption of sugar-based products The growing organic personal care market is expected to fuel the demand for Sorbitol in cosmetics & personal care products View Full Research Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-7H740/global-sorbitol TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF SORBITOL MARKET SIZE The increasing diabetic patient population is expected to drive the sorbitol market size. There is an increase in the number of patients with diabetes worldwide. The diabetic population is therefore opting for a sugar substitute. This, in turn, is expected to accelerate the growth of the sorbitol market size during the forecast period. Growing consumer preference toward low-calorie food is expected to drive the growth of sorbitol market size. Since Sorbitol is slowly absorbed by the human body, some of the consumed Sorbitol makes it to the large intestine, where digestion produces fewer calories. As a result, unlike sugar, which has four calories per gram, Sorbitol has a caloric contribution of around 2.6 calories per gram. As a result, Sorbitol is useful in the formulation of "low calorie" and "light" food products. Furthermore, the increasing consumer preference for ready-to-eat food products is also expected to fuel the sorbitol market size during the forecast period. Sorbitol is also used as a feedstock for the manufacture of propylene glycol, which has a wide range of applications, including unsaturated polyester resins, functional fluids, food and feed, and cosmetics. This diverse range of applications in the pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetics, food, beverage, plastics is further fueling the growth of sorbitol market size. Furthermore, increasing chocolate confectionery consumption is expected to drive the sorbitol market size. Sorbitol is a humectant, moisture-stabilizer, and texturizer that is commonly used in the manufacture of confectionery and baked goods. Request a Sample Copy of the Report For COVID-19 Impact Analysis on Sorbitol Market: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-7H740/Global_Sorbitol_Market SORBITOL MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS Liquid Form is Dominating in the Global Marketplace. Because of advances in the production process, ease of use, and low manufacturing costs, liquid Sorbitol accounts for the majority of the global sorbitol market share. The food and beverage segment is leading the application segment of Sorbitol. To boost the overall organoleptic profile of processed foods, food producers and processors are using Sorbitol's sweetener, texturizing, moisturizing, and softening abilities. Roquette is the largest supplier of Sorbitol, which takes up more than 12.75% in production. Roquette will reinforce its position as the world leader in Sorbitol. For other suppliers, Chinese corporation PT AKR Corporindo occupies the largest market share in China. The rapid growth of the personal care & cosmetics industry to drive the market in Asia pacific. Due to the involvement of China, which has one of the largest productions of Vitamin C using substantial amounts of Sorbitol, the Asia Pacific sorbitol market is expected to hold the largest market share. On the other hand, the sorbitol market in North America is also expected to have significant growth due to the high U.S. contribution. Inquire for Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-7H740/Global_Sorbitol_Market SORBITOL MARKET KEY SEGMENTS Valuates Reports has segmented the global sorbitol market on the basis of component, classification type, application, vertical, and region( North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, etc). Segment by Type Sorbitol Liquid Sorbitol Powder Segment by Application Toothpaste Vitamin C Food and Beverage Chemical Pharma Others Key Players Roquette ADM Ingredion Ecogreen Oleochemicals PT Sorini Agro Asia Corporindo Tbk B Food Science Gulshan Polyols Maize Products Ueno Fine Chemicals Mitsubishi Shoji Foodtech Tereos Cargill Global Sweeteners Holding Shandong Tianli Pharmaceutical PT AKR Corporindo Luwei Pharmacy Lihua Starch Qingyuan Foods Dongxiao Biotechnology Caixin Sugar Luzhou Group "We can also add the other companies as you want" Buy Now for Single User + Covid-19 Impact: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-7H740&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise License + Covid-19 Impact: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-7H740&lic=enterprise-user SUBSCRIPTION We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans. SIMILAR REPORTS : - The global Natural Sweeteners market size is projected to reach USD 27940 Million by 2026, from USD 22490 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 3.7% during 2021-2026. The increasing demand for Natural Sweeteners drives the market. High disposable incomes and a growing population are key drivers to boost the growth of the Natural Sweeteners market. - Stevia market size was valued at USD 637.1 Million in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 1,169.4 Million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 8.0% from 2019 to 2026. - Sorbitol Powder Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth, Industry Analysis, Forecast 2020 to 2026. The Report contains segmentation by Type (Pan-agglomerated Sorbitol, Spray-dried Sorbitol), By Application (Food and Beverage, Pharma, Others) and Regional Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2026 - Crystal Sorbitol Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth, Industry Analysis, Forecast 2020 to 2026. The Report contains segmentation by Type (Food Grade, Pharmaceutical Grade, Industrial Grade), By Application (Cosmetics, Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals) and Regional Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2026 - The global Feed Flavors and Sweeteners market size is projected to reach USD 1301.7 Million by 2026, from USD 1105.9 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 2.8% during 2021-2026. - The global Polyol Sweeteners market size is projected to reach USD 2933.8 Million by 2026, from USD 2408.1 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 3.3% during 2021-2026. This report focuses on Polyol Sweeteners' volume and value at the global level, regional level, and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents the overall Polyol Sweeteners market size by analyzing historical data and future prospects. - In 2019, the global Specialty Food Ingredients market size was USD 62 Million, and it is expected to reach USD 76 Million by the end of 2026, with a CAGR of 2.9% during 2021-2026. Top companies in the Specialty Food Ingredients Market include Kerry Groups, DuPont, Cargill, ADM, and DSM. Kerry Groups was the world leader, with a 7.29% production market share in 2016. - The global Sugar Substitute market size is projected to reach USD 16040 Million by 2026, from USD 13790 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 2.6% during 2021-2026. - Artificial Sweeteners market size is projected to reach USD 7640.4 Million by 2026, from USD 6449.9 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 2.9% during 2021-2026. - Flavored Syrups market includes The Hershey Company, Monin, Torani, Tate & Lyle, Fuerst Day Lawson(FDL), Concord Foods, Kerry Group. The Morin Sales Flavored Syrups market share was about 33.47% in 2015 in China and the sales share of FDL was 19.72% in 2015. - Sugar Toppings market size is projected to reach USD 6537 Million by 2026, from USD 5348.2 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 3.4% during 2021-2026. Major factors driving the growth of Sugar Topping's market share are rising consumption of confectioneries, growth in the consumption of low-sugar topping products, marketing of breakfast syrups and beverage sauces, and the rising demand for sugar toppings from emerging markets. - Industrial Sugar market size is projected to reach USD 272600 Million by 2026, from USD 210540 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2021-2026. This report focuses on Industrial Sugar volume and value at the global level, regional level, and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents the overall Industrial Sugar market size by analyzing historical data and future prospects. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, India, etc. - Specialty Sweeteners Market size is projected to reach USD 2337.5 Million by 2026, from USD 1957 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 3.0% during 2021-2026. - Monk Fruit Sugar Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth, Industry Analysis, Forecast 2020 to 2026. The Report contains segmentation by Type (Powder, Liquid), By Application (Food & Beverages, Pharmaceuticals, Others) and Regional Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2026 To see the full list of related reports on the Sorbitol ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains detail research methodology employed to generate the report, Please also reach to our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources CONTACT US: Valuates Reports sales@valuates.com For U.S. Toll-Free Call +1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp: +91 9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Follow us Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Follow us Linkedin - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports Follow us Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg PSNI Chief Inspector Graham Dodds who has donated one of his kidneys A PSNI officer who is donating a kidney to a nine-year-old boy next month will be included in an exhibition celebrating front line workers not attached to health care professions. Photographer and visual artist Lise McGreevy was moved to act after reading the inspiring story of Chief Inspector Graham Dodds in the Belfast Telegraph last week. Mr Dodds has agreed to donate one of his organs to Enniskillen youngster Josh Dolan after discovering they were a perfect match. So impressed was Ms McGreevy with the officer's amazing act of generosity that she contacted him and asked if she could take his portrait for her exhibition, Covid-19 - The Other Frontliners. Read More Keen to raise awareness of the importance of live transplants, Mr Dodds readily agreed. Lise said: "The UK National Health Service have been rightly hailed as heroes by the media throughout the pandemic but I want to complete a portrait series of works which focuses on and highlights the essential work of other professionals. "I feel that they put their own health and safety at risk daily to help the wider community. "Graham's portrait shall be a wonderful asset to the collection. His portrait shall be a tribute not only to Graham, but also to the service he represents. "I cannot commend Graham too highly for his selfless deed. "I wish both Josh and him every good health and success in the forthcoming months and beyond." Expand Close Joshua with his mother Mary / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Joshua with his mother Mary Chief Inspector Dodds said the interest in the story will hopefully raise awareness of a very important cause. He added: "Not enough people realise that live transplants are a really effective way of enhancing or even saving the life of someone who is waiting on a new kidney. "People assume that only relatives can have a good enough match. "But this isn't the case in so many instances, and Josh and I are a perfect example of how two people who are not related can have matching kidneys. "Anything I can do to change that notion and to raise awareness of the issue on behalf of the Kidney Research Fund NI, I will gladly do. "Hopefully this exhibition will be part of that." Gurugram, March 12 : The Gurugram police have arrested two drug peddlers and seized seven kilograms of cannabis from their possession, the police said on Friday. The police have also seized a motorcycle which the accused used for transportation of the contraband. The accused were arrested by a crime unit Sector-39 from Ram Chowk near Dundahera village in Gurugram after they received a tip-off. The police said the suspect -- Rambhagat Singh aka Goli of Dundahera village in Gurugram and Rahul Kumar alias RK of Budaun in Uttar Pradesh were nabbed red handed by the crime branch team of the Gurugram police. During questioning the accused disclosed that they had sourced the narcotics from Bhubaneswar in Odisha for Rs 3,000 per kg and sell it to Rs 14,000 in the city by making small packets to addicted people. A case under various sections of the IPC including NDPS Act has been registered against the arrested accused at Udyog Vihar police station and further probe is on," Subhash Boken, spokesperson of the Gurugram police said. Auckland, March 12 : New Zealand's largest city of Auckland relaxed its Covid-19 restrictions on Friday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. "Auckland is moving to Alert Level 1 at midday," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press conference. Auckland joins other New Zealand cities at Alert Level 1, which relaxes restrictions for the scale of gatherings, reports Xinhua news agency. Due to the level adjustment, large events such as Sunday's Super Rugby Aotearoa game can now proceed with spectators. The cabinet made the preliminary decision to move down levels on Thursday. They awaited test results and confirmation that there was no further community spread before confirming the decision and announcing it, Ardern said. This follows six days of Auckland being at Alert Level 2, with seven days prior to that at Alert Level 3, after 15 positive community cases emerged outside managed isolation facilities, she said. "I know everyone in Auckland will be looking forward to a weekend with fewer restrictions, but we are asking that everyone keeps up the good habits that help us deal with cases if they emerge. That includes scanning in or keeping a record of everywhere you go," Ardern said. WASHINGTON, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The White House Historical Association has released the latest episode of its podcast, the 1600 Sessions: The First White House Guidebook: Mrs. Kennedy, National Geographic, and the White House Historical Association. In this episode, host and Association President Stewart McLaurin speaks with National Geographic Society's Senior Director of Library and Archives, Renee Braden, who shares an oral history recorded with Bob Breeden, who was instrumental in the creation of the first White House Guidebook. The first Guidebook was published in 1962 as collaboration between First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the new White House Historical Association, and the National Geographic Society. "Mrs. Kennedy knew exactly what she wanted the White House guidebook to be. The impact of this particular project was really big at the National Geographic," Braden explained. In speaking about photography for the Guidebook, Branden said, "Mrs. Kennedy insisted that she wanted the entire White House in the shot, not just an angle. So there was George Mobley, a wildlife photographer, who had been all over the world, was sent down to the White House. They had to use a fire ladder on a fire truck to get the right height and distance." Listen to the podcast here. Watch the podcast video here. The 1600 Sessions In this podcast series, White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin interviews luminaries, historians, and eyewitnesses to history about America's most famous residence and officethe White House. The 1600 Sessions is available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher. About The White House Historical Association First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy envisioned a restored White House that conveyed a sense of history through its decorative and fine arts. In 1961, the White House Historical Association was established to support her vision to preserve and share the Executive Mansion's legacy for generations to come. Supported entirely by private resources, the Association's mission is to assist in the preservation of the state and public rooms, fund acquisitions for the White House permanent collection, and educate the public on the history of the White House. Since its founding, the White House Historical Association has contributed more than $50 million in fulfillment of its mission. To learn more about the White House Historical Association, please visit www.whitehousehistory.org. SOURCE White House Historical Association Related Links http://www.whitehousehistory.org Attorney General Ken Paxton made good Thursday on his threat to sue the city of Austin for requiring face coverings after the governor ordered that masks be strictly voluntary. Paxton, a Republican who is the states top law enforcement officer, said he filed litigation against the Democratic-led city after it failed to comply with a warning letter sent Wednesday. They blew me off, Paxton tweeted. So, once again, Im dragging them to court. The petition, filed in Travis County District Court, accuses Austin of unfairly trying to constrain businesses and residents. Defendants know this is wrong, it says. AUSTIN BUCKS: Austin will keep enforcing rules with fines, defying Abbotts order Leaders in Austin had planned to defy Gov. Greg Abbotts order rescinding the mandate, explaining that they believe it to be in the best interest of public health. Mayor Steve Adler said several business owners had asked the city to keep the rule in effect as a shield for them against having to set their own mask policies. Refusing to comply with a local health order is punishable with fines up to $2,000. We will fight Gov. Abbott and Attorney General Paxtons assault against doctors and data for as long as we possibly can, he said in a statement late Wednesday. State leaders have previously stepped in to quash local health directives that were not in line with Abbotts rules, which he has enacted throughout the pandemic via emergency order. Paxton sued the city of Austin in December and won after local leaders declared a curfew for indoor dining services over the New Years holiday weekend. That restriction, however, was not enacted by the local health authority. jeremy.blackman@chron.com WASHINGTON Seeking to comfort Americans bound together by a year of suffering but also by hope and the possibilities, President Biden made a case to the nation Thursday night that it could soon put the worst of the pandemic behind it and promised that all adults would be eligible for the vaccine by May 1. During a 24-minute speech from the East Room, Mr. Biden laced his somber script with references to Hemingway and personal ruminations on loss as he reflected on a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life, and the loss of living, for all of us. Speaking on the anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic and the moment at which the virus began tightening its grip, the president offered a turning point of sorts after one of the darkest years in recent history, one that would lead to more than half a million deaths in the country, the loss of millions of jobs and disruptions to nearly every aspect of society and politics. With the stimulus bill about to give the economy a kick, the pace of vaccinations increasing and death rates down, Mr. Biden said Americans were on track to return to a semblance of normal life by July 4 as long as they took the chance to get vaccinated and did not prematurely abandon mask wearing, social distancing and other measures to contain the virus. Texas AG Sues Austin Mayor for Defying Governors Lift of Mask Mandates Paxton says the decision should be reserved for private businesses Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Thursday that his office is suing officials in the City of Austin and Travis County for failing to comply with a governor order that lifts a mask mandate across the state. I told Travis County & The City of Austin to comply with state mask law. They blew me off. So, once again, Im dragging them to court, Paxton said in a statement on Twitter while responding to an article about the lawsuit. [Austin Mayor Steve] Adler will never do the right thing on his own. His obstruction wont stop me from keeping TX free & open! Paxtons announcement comes a day after he sent a letter warning Adler and Travis County judge Andy Brown of legal consequences if they continue refusing to comply with Gov. Greg Abbotts order. Austin is located within Travis County. Abbott lifted a statewide mask mandate that was enforced in mid-2020 and is working toward loosening other restrictions on businesses so they can operate again at full capacity. The move comes as the state is seeing a downward trend for patients infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, as hospitalizations drop to levels not seen in months. Just a week after Abbott issued his order, officials in Austin and Travis County announced that they intend to contravene the order by keeping their existing health rules in place through April 15, with the possibility of extension. The rules were also updated to require everyone over the age of six to wear a face-covering when on or in city property, subject to a few exceptions. This rule is set to expire on July 8. Paxton told Adler and Brown that Abbotts order has the force and effect of state law and supersedes local rules and regulations, and that the decision to require masks or impose other CCP virus pandemic restrictions is reserved to private businesses on their own premises. It does not rest with jurisdictions like the City of Austin or Travis County or their local health authorities. Nor do they have the authority to threaten fines for non-compliance, Paxton wrote. He demanded on Wednesday that Austin officials rescind their local mask mandates and other restrictions by 6 p.m. As they refused to comply, Paxton is filing his court challenge. Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment on the lawsuit. On Wednesday, Adler had told media outlets that he had no plans to rescind the mask mandate and will continue to do everything within our power, using every tool available to us, to reduce the spread of the virus. Adler said he was disappointed by Abbotts decision to lift the mask mandate, arguing that wearing a masks does not slow down businesses and schools from being re-opened. Wearing a mask doesnt slow down opening up businesses. It doesnt slow down getting more and more children in school in person. The health folks here in Texas seem to be pretty unanimous that wearing masks helps minimize the risk that were not going to be able to open up schools or open up businesses, Adler told Fox News Neil Cavuto in a previous interview. Im disappointed that the mandate is being withdrawn. Our governor has said that its still important to wear masks, and I appreciate that. But by removing the mandate, I think we create an ambiguity. There are many people in the state that are hearing that as a message that masking doesnt work, its not effective, or that were past concern on the virus. And that ambiguity and communication is what I have the biggest issue with. Earlier this year, Paxton and the same officials clashed in the courts over a different set of CCP virus pandemic restrictions. Paxton had petitioned the high court for orders blocking the City of Austin and Travis County from enforcing local orders that would prohibit bars, restaurants, and other venues from offering dine-in food and beverage services between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Jan. 1 through Jan. 3. The Texas Supreme Court ultimately ruled to halt enforcement of two orders that sought to impose curfews on dine-in services during the new years weekend. Lorenz Duchamps and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report. Barefoot and with their pant legs rolled up, Haitians wade through a river into the neighboring Dominican Republic. They do this every morning on their way to work, and return by the same arduous route at day's end. Vendors, farmhands, cleaners and construction workers, they avoid the formal border posts where they say soldiers are waiting to take chunks of their meager income as bribes for letting them cross illegally. Shoes in hand, the day laborers hold aloft wheelbarrows or tools, others bear big bundles of second-hand clothes to be sold at market. Tens of thousands of people in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas and one of the poorest in the world, rely on informal labor in the much richer Dominican Republic for their survival. Those with a job are poorly paid, often off the books, as few Haitians have identity papers. But even this unpredictable source of income is now at risk, with the government in Santa Domingo announcing plans for a high-tech border fence along the 380-kilometer (236-mile) frontier between the nations that live side-by-side on a single island. President Luis Abinader announced last month that work on a wall would begin in the second half of this year to tackle what he said were problems of illegal migration, drug and human trafficking, and smuggling of stolen goods. The government in Santa Domingo has announcing plans for a high-tech border fence along the 380-kilometer (236-mile) frontier to stop illgal migration / AFP Dominican migration director Enrique Garcia told AFP this would be "no ordinary fence", mooting facial recognition and digital fingerprinting technology and infrared cameras. The proposed barrier comes as the Dominican Republic, like many other countries, deals with economic decline driven by the coronavirus pandemic. The country recorded its first recession in nearly 25 years with about 40,000 jobs lost between March to October last year, according to the World Bank. Haitians, with whom Dominicans have a complicated relationship, make for an easy scapegoat when things go wrong. About one in 20 people in the Dominican Republic is Haitian, according to national migration data. And thousands more cross the border daily, in and out, mainly on foot. - Republic 'is full' - "They say they are going to build a wall. God willing it will be built. The Dominican Republic is full of Haitians," said Carlos Mateo, 43, a resident of the Dominican border town of Dajabon. But others believe a barrier is not the answer. Four official border posts separate Haiti with its 11 million inhabitants from the Dominican Republic with its population of 10.5 million / afp/AFP "Yes, you have to build a wall, but a wall of companies, of industries" to give Haitians a means of subsistence, Dajabon major Santiago Riveron told AFP. "When an individual works he does not need to emigrate. If the Haitians are well, we are well," he said. Four official border posts separate Haiti with its 11 million inhabitants from the Dominican Republic with its population of 10.5 million. Previous attempts at curbing the one-way traffic have ranged from issuing work and identity documents to illegal workers, to mass deportations. - Abusing workers' fear - Migration is a long-standing cause of friction between French-speaking Haiti with its population of mainly African slave descendants, and the Spanish-language Dominican Republic. Militares dominicanos vgilan el acceso fronterizo en Dajabon / afp/AFP International agencies have long accused the Dominican Republic of allowing rights abuses on its soil, denying Haitians access to health care and documentation services. In a recent report, Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the "precarious status" of Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants in the republic. "In response to Covid-19, the Dominican Republic suspended temporary legal status for more than 150,000 Haitian workers," it said. Their uncertain legal status made Haitian workers vulnerable to forced labor, and not insisting on their rights "due to fear of being fired or deported," added a 2019 human rights report of the US Department of State. - A wall but no doctors - Some say a wall, whatever the motivation, will have no effect as long as border guards accept bribes to let people in. Residents interviewed by AFP said soldiers charge at least 1,000 pesos (about $18) per Haitian wishing to enter. According to Ivan Reina, a Dominican aged 30: "Even if we build a wall as big as the Great Wall of China, as long as a person is charged (a bribe) to cross the border, it won't make sense." Others, like 63-year-old Maria Altagracia Perez, does not understand how the government would spend "so many millions" on a wall when construction on a local hospital was halted for a lack of funds. "People here are dying for a lack of doctors, for lack of an operating room," she said. EAST LANSING, MI East Lansing has approved a policy that temporarily limits social gathering sizes and restricts lines outside of businesses on St. Patricks Day. City council approved the new order from East Lansing Mayor Aaron Stephens at its meeting on Tuesday, March 9. The new policy applies to businesses located within the East Lansing Downtown Development Authority, which includes most of the bars and restaurants frequented by Michigan State students on Grand River Avenue between Michigan and Hagadorn. Under the order, all outdoor social gatherings are limited to no more than 15 people. All participants must wear face coverings and maintain six feet of physical distance from individuals outside of their household. Additionally, outdoor lines for entry into businesses, bars and restaurants in the DDA district are temporarily prohibited. Individuals planning to visit a downtown East Lansing bar or restaurant on St. Patricks Day should take advantage of the various line management applications and reservations systems that businesses are using to schedule their visit, city officials said. The order will be in effect from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17 through 2 a.m. on Thursday, March 18. The intent of this order is to limit long lines and large groups of people gathering outside bars and restaurants in downtown East Lansing on Saint Patricks Day, which is something we have seen in past years, said East Lansing Mayor Aaron Stephens. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in mind, we want to be able to break up areas where there are large congregations of people, especially if people are not wearing masks or properly distancing. Per the East Lansing City Code, Stephens is empowered to declare a City State of Emergency and issue orders, rules, and regulations regarding the use of public property to protect life and property during the declared emergency. A downtown mask order was previously extended to May 16. A violation of this new order or the downtown mask order is a civil infraction punishable by a fine of up to $25. The mayor of Portland Oregon, announced Thursday he would seek $2 million in one-time funding for police, other agencies and outreach programs to try to stem rampant gun violence in the city. The move by Mayor Ted Wheeler represents an about-face after city leaders in June voted to cut nearly $16 million from the police budget, reductions that included the elimination of a gun violence reduction unit. The cuts came amid racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis Oregon's largest city has seen a spike in violence. So far this year, there have been 20 homicides, most the result of shootings. During the same period of 2020 the deadliest year in the city in more than a quarter century there was one. A group of community members and leaders sent a letter to the City Council Thursday with a list of actions they believe will slow gun violence, including expanding the ranks of street-level outreach workers, increasing gun crime investigations and re-establishing a uniformed patrol team to engage in violence prevention and response. We believe very strongly that it is important to intercede at this point, and appeal to the city to work with us and and to hear us, as it relates to the need for the tide to be stemmed with the number of shootings on the street," said J.W. Matt Hennessee, chair of Inter-Faith Peace & Action Collaborative. During an hour-long news conference Thursday, Wheeler, activists, faith leaders and community members reiterated that in order to solve the problem of gun violence, the community must work together. There is just too much blood on the streets, Pastor Ed Williams said. We have got to be determined, we have got to be fed up about (the violence) and to want to do something about it. I see this issue in front of us as an opportunity to come together." As of March 8, there have been 278 shootings in the Portland region, 58 people have been injured from shootings, and there have been 17 gun-related homicides, according to the mayor's office. At the current pace, shootings and homicides are on track to surpass last year's totals. Portland Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis said the rise in violence is not just a police problem, and it needs attention from the entire community. Certainly the police bureau has a very specific role, but we need your help, Davis said. Policing has gone through changes in the past year, as protesters for eight months marched in the street's of Portland demanding change and an end to systemic racism. Among the recommendations in the Inter-Faith Peace & Action Collaborative letter was a request to re-establish a team to engage in violence prevention and response, which includes responding to shootings, engaging people at risk of gun violence and following up on investigations. Wheeler said the tactic is not the same as the now-eliminated Gun Violence Reduction Team and would be more transparent. Wheeler said he supports the ideas, beginning with asking City Council to appropriate $2 million in one-time fiuds from the citys reserve stability contingency account created last fall, to address gun violence. - Cline is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Louisiana is getting 112,210 coronavirus vaccines doses next week, including 5,200 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a higher-than-expected batch of the life-saving jabs, according the governor's office. Ochsner Baton Rouge, meanwhile, announced a vaccine pop-up for Sunday, March 14 where they will administer 900 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. To get an appointment, a special call center line will open Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The phone number is 866.624.7637. Gov. John Bel Edwards expanded eligibility requirements earlier this week to include anyone 16 and older with one of two dozen broadly defined health conditions. The Pfizer shot is the only vaccine approved for those aged 16 or 17. +3 Who's now eligible for coronavirus vaccines in Louisiana? Here's the list of health conditions Louisiana is expanding its eligibility requirements for the coronavirus vaccine to include people 16 and up with certain health conditions. A. I could tell you about the zoomies otherwise known as frenetic random activity periods! When the zoomies overtake us, we run like crazy and you might think that your cat is going crazy. We often get a wild look in our eyes and we can reach speeds you didn't think we were capable of. We can bound on and off the furniture, zoom up and down the stairs and then collapse. Zoomies last only a few minutes at most, but they are real and that is a fact. Q. Do you have any advice for our Citizen readers? A. Yes, we do! We want to remind our good Citizen readers that just because the temperatures are moderating does not mean that it's OK to leave pets outside without adequate shelter! And it is especially never OK to leave them out 24/7! Please, good Citizen readers, provide shelter for your fur-kids even if they are outside for short periods of time. It's humane and it's the law. Thank you for doing that. P.S.: Please do not let your fab felines outside! Outside is dangerous for us! Much love, many licks and purrs, Anastasia and friends. Pandemic pets: Auburn shelter says adoptions high since March "It's just amazing how people have opened up their homes to these animals." The Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York is a New York state-registered shelter/rescue, registration No. RR-181. Pursuant to Article 26-A, Section 408 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, the registrant is authorized to operate as a registered pet rescue, in compliance with such law. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 New Delhi: India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday (March 12) said that the vaccine initiative "is the most pressing and valuable" among the concrete takeaways of the first summit meeting of Quad leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, United States President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison took part in the meeting, which was hosted by the US. Addressing a press conference after the Quad summit meeting held virtually, Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, "Quad Vaccine initiative is the most valuable. Four countries have agreed to pool their financial resources, manufacturing capabilities and capacities, logistics to ramp up the manufacture and distribution of COVID19 vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region." "India welcomes this initiative as it recognises our own manufacturing capacities and capabilities. We look forward to wholehearted participation in this endeavour. This vaccine supply chain is built by trust and being build to convey trust," Shringla added. He said, "PM Modi emphasised Quad is a partnership for global good," adding that today's summit saw Quad leaders adopt a positive agenda and vision. Focusing on contemporary issues such as vaccine, climate change, and emerging technology. Shringla said the initiative was designed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in the Indo-Pacific region, adding "It is an example of human-centric international cooperation and globalisation, and a validation of our reputation as a reliable manufacturer of high-quality vaccines and pharmaceutical products during this COVID-19 crisis." He further said, "Today`s summit saw the Quad leaders adopt a positive agenda and vision, focusing on contemporary issues such as vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies. At the summit, the leaders sought to strengthen peace, stability, and well-being among the people of the Indo Pacific." "Many of the objectives that were enunciated at the Quad summit are reflected in the concrete takeaways of the meeting, of which the Quad vaccine initiative is the most pressing and valuable," he added. (With Agency Inputs) DUBLIN, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Datacenters Become the Lifeline for Enterprises in the COVID-19 Era. Datacenter Infrastructure Management Market Spikes by 16.1%. As one of the few industries to ride high on the killer wave of COVID-19 and the ensuing Tsunami of WFM and digital transformation, the global market for Datacenter Infrastructure Management (DCIM) is expected to spike by 16.1% in the year 2020. The market will continue to grow to reach US$ 3.1 billion by the year 2020, trailing a post COVID-19 CAGR of 11.9%, over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. The year 2020 is the tipping point with the internet along with its entire ecosystem witnessing a revolutionizing impact as the COVID-19 pandemic changes human relationship with technology. Internet and its allied technologies are witnessing growth and newfound importance as they become critical vehicles to not just fight the pandemic but also survive its impact. Businesses are migrating online to ensure business continuity amid unprecedented times that have separated employees from their workplaces. Governments are utilizing mobile apps and GPS technologies to track, monitor citizens health and identify and quarantine infected people. Hospitals have shifted to telemedicine to safely deliver healthcare services as physical outpatient (OP) centers close down. The over 4 billion people shut up at homes as a result of the shelter-in-place orders have increased their use of internet video, chat and messaging platforms and services to remain in touch in friends and family. The internet in short has become the umbilical cord to the outside world for society and businesses alike amidst the pandemic. Global online traffic in a single week ending April-20 spiked by 28%, while online transactions rose by 48% & average page views by 30%. Video chat services like Google Duo, Nextdoor, and Houseparty have all witnessed large increases in traffic since January 2020. Similar popular work from home (WFH) remote collaboration apps like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Classroom, have skyrocket to popularity. Market cap of Zoom Communications in just a few months has exploded to US$ 48.7 billion, bigger than the combined market cap of the world's top 7 airline companies. While consumers cut spending on other non-essential products like clothing and furnishings, spending on digital offerings is increasing as media consumption increases. Overall internet usage has increased by over 75%, while streaming content spiked by over 15%. In-home media consumption is rising to unprecedented levels. Worldwide online watching of news has risen by 67%, while time spent on messaging services has risen by over 50%. Engagement with different digital devices is also rising. There is over a 35% increase in desktop PC usage as evidenced by the increase in desktop browser use and a 70% and 40% increase in smartphone and laptop uses. As offices and schools worldwide move into the basements and living rooms of homes, cable modem, an important piece of network hardware that allows computers to connect to the internet, is witnessing uninterrupted gains. Panic buying of computer, internet and IT hardware has additionally pushed up sales of cable modems over the last few months. With home IT suddenly assuming critical importance, consumers are focusing on acquiring new internet connections and upgrading existing connections and broadband speeds to enable multiple home devices to hook-up to the internet without speed degradation. As a result, new residential internet connections are creating a parallel demand for modems and routers. Classified as an essential service, ISPs are upgrading internet infrastructure with no interruptions in new installations and maintenance. Companies worldwide are turning to the cloud to stay online and afloat, especially desktop-as-a service (DaaS). The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the significance of data centers as critical enablers of business continuity. Businesses are today relying more on data center service providers for supporting online presence. The global data center industry is playing a prominent role in facilitating massive shift of businesses, organizations and schools to online services for continued operations during the pandemic. Despite witnessing increasing workload, data centers are expected to continue providing digital infrastructure services seamlessly. The growing demand for data centers is reflected by revenue gains and expansion strategies voiced by public cloud computing giants such as Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft. These players are expected to bolster the industry growth with self-operated and co-location facilities, leading to gains for third-party data centers. Cloud services are experiencing robust demand. Participants in the data center industry are expected to witness extensive adoption of network services for supporting transition towards digital platforms. Leading datacenter operators including Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft are pursuing expansion strategies. These players are expected to bolster market growth. While the outbreak is expected to delay construction and expansion projects, it is unlikely to impact these plans. The COVID-19 crisis is also expediting digital transformation as companies across different sectors are realizing the significance of digital infrastructure. Key Topics Covered: I. METHODOLOGY II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. MARKET OVERVIEW No Prizes for Guessing the Importance of a Datacenter for Businesses & Why Support Infrastructure Becomes Critical With Focus Shed on Harnessing Digital Transformation in the COVID-19 Era, Datacenters Storm into the Spotlight Here's Why Datacenters Are the Starting Point for Successful Digital Transformation How the COVID-19 Pandemic Destroyed the Global Economy Beyond COVID-19 Lies a New Normal With New Opportunities for Datacenters Demand for Datacenters Surge as Remote Working Becomes the New Normal It's Cloud Datacenters that Allow Dynamic Scaling to Accommodate X Times Increase in Remote Working IP Traffic Explodes Amid the Pandemic That Has Made the Internet the Umbilical Cord to the Outside World for a Society Thrown Asunder by Fear of Contagion & Social Distancing Is It Any Surprise that Blade Server Demand Has Spiked by 3.1% in the Year 2020 There is No Stopping the Rise & Rise of Data Flowing Through Datacenters So What's Driving Growth in Global IP Traffic. These Interesting Statistical Facts Provide the Answer Are Datacenters Prepared for this Onslaught of Data Flood? Here's How Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Can Help Recent Market Activity Innovations World Brands 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS ABB CommScope Inc Cormant, Inc Delta Electronics, Inc Device42, Inc Eaton Corporation plc FNT GmbH Graphical Networks GreenField Software Private Limited Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd Modius, Inc Nlyte Software Panduit Patchmanager B.V RACKWISE, Inc RF Code, Inc Rittal GmbH & Co. KG Schneider Electric Siemens AG SolarWinds Inc Sunbird Software, Inc UnityOneCloud Vertiv Co 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS Why Datacenters are Becoming Increasingly Complex & How Do We Manage Datacenter Complexity? DCIM Evolves From Facilities Management to a Unified IT Management Tool Software-Defined Data Centers Emerge as the Future of Datacenter in this Age of Cloud Computing Need for Top of Class Data Center Power Solutions Accelerates Market Expansion Soaring Investments on Data Center Cooling Systems Drive Overall Market Momentum Focus on Energy Efficient Data Center Operations Throws the Spotlight on Cooling Innovations A Deep Dive Into Big Data & Its Impact on Datacenters Hyperscale Data Centers Emerge In Response to the Big Data Challenge Rising Incidence of Data Breaches Drives the Focus on Datacenter Security Here's How 5G Will Affect the Structure of Data Centers With the IoT Ecosystem Exploding, Now is the Time for Datacenters to be IoT Ready Automated Data Centers Gain Interest Amid the Pandemic, Opening Up Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence to Transform Datacenters Into Self-Driven Data Centers Here's How DCIM Can Make a Datacenter Green & This is Brings the Promise of Additional Opportunity in the Post COVID-19 Period When Focus on the Environment Will Be Bigger Here's Why the Environment & Sustainability Will be Top Priorities After the Pandemic How DCIM Can Address the Carbon Challenge 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE III. MARKET ANALYSIS GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS IV. COMPETITION Total Companies Profiled: 221 For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/12vj9a About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com AXA SA, Frances biggest insurer, is dropping German energy giant RWE AG as a client in a decision that highlights how taboo the coal business has become. Not even an appeal from RWE Chief Executive Officer Rolf Martin Schmitz to his counterpart at AXA, Thomas Buberl, was enough to persuade the insurer to retreat from its conviction that the utilitys coal operations are too large and its moving too slowly to shrink its carbon footprint, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who declined to be identified. By turning away one of Europes biggest utilities because they are too dependent on coal, AXA has set an important precedent for itself and other insurers, said Peter Bosshard, finance program director at environmental nonprofit the Sunrise Project, adding that RWE must be an account worth millions of dollars a year in insurance. Rejecting customers amid Europes deepest recession since World War II, shows how, for some companies, climate change has gone from a talking point on panel discussions to a key factor in day-to-day business decisions. Insurers like AXA carry a particularly big stick, since there are only a handful big enough to cover global customers. An AXA spokeswoman said the Paris-based insurer doesnt comment on individual clients. She wasnt more specific, except to say that we have just applied our policy. At RWE, a spokeswoman said the company doesnt provide information about the scope of its relationships with its many individual insurers. RWE is changing and is already a global leader in the field of renewable energy and has cut its CO2 emissions by 90 million tons since 2012, she said. AXA became the first insurer to impose coal-related underwriting restrictions when it made the choice in 2017 and the company stopped providing insurance for coal mines and plants at the end of 2020 after a two-year grace period expired, people familiar with the matter said. With RWE, one of Europes biggest coal mine operators and largest emitters of greenhouse gases, AXA is going even further. The French company will sever all its ties with the utility by the end of next year, even refusing to insure RWEs renewable projects, the people said. Nicolas Jeanmart, head of personal and general insurance at Insurance Europe, the European federation of national insurance associations, said he isnt aware of any other companies that have been dropped by an insurer due to concerns about climate change. AXAs coal policy prohibits insurance to companies producing more than 20 million tons of coal per year. Last year, RWE extracted 65 million tons, company filings show. RWEs installed coal capacity surpassed 10 gigawatts in 2020, accounting for 25% of its total power capacity, while renewable energy sources contributed a similar amount. What makes the move by AXA particularly striking is that RWE, though a major coal producer, has committed to become a carbon-neutral company by 2040. In December, a group of climate scientists gave validation to RWEs climate targets, saying they were in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Armed with an endorsement from the Science Based Targets Initiative, a nonprofit that helps companies translate the Paris Agreements aim of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius into concrete measures, RWE launched a charm offensive at the start of the year. This included a call from Schmitz to AXAs Buberl asking to be allowed back into the fold, said the people familiar with the matter. As coal is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, restricting support to companies involved in extracting or consuming it is typically a first step for financial firms that are designing sustainability strategies. At least 65 insurers with combined investments worth $12 trillion more than 40% of the industrys total assets have either adopted a divestment policy or committed to making no new coal investments, according to the Insure Our Future campaign, which is pressing insurers to stop underwriting and investing in climate-damaging projects. The result is it has become more expensive and harder to get insurance, something thats a regular gripe of companies from the U.S. to Australia. Coal companies are facing rate increases of as much as 40%, according to a report from broker Willis Towers Watson. And for a company the size of RWE, which has a market capitalization of more than 20 billion euros ($24 billion) and operations spanning 18 countries, losing an insurer can be very burdensome, said Heffa Schuecking, a director of German environmental nonprofit Urgewald. By the end of next year, Allianz SE, Germanys biggest insurer, has plans to exclude, from its property and casualty insurance portfolio, any company that derives 25% of its energy generation from coal or has 5 gigawatts or more installed thermal coal capacity. RWE currently fails on both counts. Zurich Insurance Group AG is giving companies that generate more than 30% of their revenue from mining thermal coal, or generate more than 30% of their electricity from coal, a transition period to become compliant with the Paris Agreement. The insurance business is very concentrated, Schuecking said. If a few big players exclude a company, everyone else knows it and the writing is on the wall that in the future you wont be a welcome client at the other major insurers. Top photograph: Steam and exhaust rise from the RWE Weisweiler coal-fired power station on Feb. 11, 2021 near Inden, Germany. Photo credit: Lukas Schulze/Getty Images. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics AXA XL Germany France The Education Secretary has ruled out scrapping GCSE exams in the years to come, despite growing calls to reform national assessments at the age of 16. Gavin Williamson told heads that the Government is absolutely going to keep GCSEs, adding that the assessments will be here for an awful lot longer. His comments came after ministers confirmed that teachers in England will help decide pupils A-level and GCSE grades this summer after exams were cancelled for the second successive year due to Covid-19. Richard Sheriff, president of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), told delegates at the unions virtual conference that a reliance on exams on an industrial scale now felt excessive and outdated. But speaking on the first day of the conference, Mr Williamson said he believed it was really important to have exams and full assessment at the age of 16 to help pupils transition to different colleges and schools. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (John Sibley/PA) Addressing 1,500 delegates, the minister acknowledged that the 1.7 billion package for children who have faced disruption only scratches the surface. Mr Williamson said changes to the school day and term dates will be considered by the Government as part of long-term measures. Our children have lost so much of their childhood and we have to make that up to them, he said. During a discussion with the unions president, Mr Williamson admitted that he had been lobbied at home on how to improve the Department for Education. He said: My wife is a teaching assistant and it is always interesting because I obviously get quite a bit of lobbying. You know, our pillow talk is maybe a little bit different. Shes always sort of highlighting various issues where maybe the Department for Education hasnt always got it perfect all the time and its always good to hear it from the frontline. Mr Williamson who has faced calls to resign over his handling of education policy during the pandemic admitted not every day has been brilliant as he told school leaders that he had bought a puppy. He said: The one thing about pets is that they always seem to be pleased to see you, especially dogs. So I think that sort of combination of family and dogs are probably the things that keep you sane. But the Education Secretary stressed that some good had come from the pandemic, adding that he had heard from heads that bullying had radically reduced in schools because year groups had been kept separate. He said: So we mustnt, as we come out of this pandemic, not look back at some of the things that have really benefited and helped schools and how we can learn from that as well. Last month, Jane Prescott, president of the Girls Schools Association (GSA), said ministers should reform old-fashioned GCSEs in the long-term. The head said it would be timely for the Government to consider changing the national assessments at age 16 and look at their future relevance. Addressing exams in a speech to the conference, Mr Sheriff said: The fragility of our qualification system and its reliance on endless pen-and-paper examinations in exam halls has been brutally exposed by the pandemic. In approach to assessment which is not dissimilar to that of the 1950s is this really the best we can do for students in the 2020s? Isnt it time to rethink assessment, make more use of technology, and provide children with wider opportunities to show what they can do? It is not just a matter of future-proofing the exam system in case, heaven forbid, there is another pandemic. It is more because the reliance on taking terminal exams on an industrial scale now seems so excessive and outdated. Gonzales County was the site of the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution, and its residents hold on to that pride nearly 200 years later. The county seat still displays the Come and Take It flag similar to one flown by Texians who fought for the states independence. So when the FBI arrested resident Jaylyn Christopher Molina, 22, in September on a charge that he conspired to provide material support to the terrorist organization ISIS, it seemed incredible to some that a young man who backed then-President Donald Trump and his America First credo had been online with other ISIS supporters, discussing plans to attack the White House, Trump Tower and other U.S. landmarks. How in the world did he get tied into something like that? said Randall Sutton, who owns the mobile home in the town of Cost that the FBI raided when they arrested Molina. I think he just got in with the wrong people. Molina pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS and to receiving child pornography, a count that was added after agents found images on his cell phone. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count at his sentencing, scheduled for next month. It is the first ISIS-related criminal case in San Antonios federal judicial district. Court records show he was being recruited as an ISIS operative by Kristopher Sean Matthews, 34, of South Carolina, who held chat sessions with at least 20 other suspected ISIS supporters on encrypted online platforms that the FBI had infiltrated. Interviews and a review of public records and Molinas social media accounts indicate that his disenchantment and a need to belong pushed him into extremism. Raised in the Pentecostal faith, he spent most of his life in the Gonzales area, about 75 miles east of San Antonio. He tried to embrace the Catholic faith on his fathers side, but it wasnt strong, said his mother, Misty Rhoades. He just bounced around to whatever accepted him, Rhoades said. Rhoades, who described Molina as smart and giving, split up with Molinas father when her son was not yet 2. She said the boy was bullied in school, and teachers were tough on him. Molina dropped out of Gonzales High at the beginning of his senior school year in 2016. Before his federal case, Molina had been arrested at least twice in Gonzales, for criminal trespass and possession of synthetic marijuana. His mother said Molina had used drugs on and off since he was at least 14, and he couldnt work for long because of back problems. She added that he didnt have two dollars to go to town and get a soda. Yet he doted on a daughter, now 3, and would take care of her a couple weeks a month. He and his ex-girlfriend share custody of the child, Rhoades said. He didnt go and join some Muslim brotherhood, said Rhoades. Everything was through the internet. Hes a hermit, Rhoades added. Im not saying that what he did isnt wrong, but hes not this evil monster. Pledging allegiance The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is a Sunni jihadist group with a violent ideology that that took key cities in Iraq and Syria and formed a caliphate. Beginning in 2014, U.S.-led coalitions began a series of airstrikes targeting ISIS, as the group expanded into a network of affiliates in at least eight other countries, according to the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., and other think tanks that track extremism. Its branches, supporters, and affiliates used social media to recruit followers that included young Americans, some of whom traveled overseas to fight with ISIS. With the expanded reach, ISIS carried out terrorist attacks beyond the borders of its caliphate, targeting the U.S. and its coalition partners. In 2015, ISIS terrorists killed 130 people and injured more than 300 in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris. And in June 2016, a gunman who pledged support to ISIS killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 others at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla. By 2019, one of its key leaders had been killed and more U.S.-led offensives prompted President Trump to declare that ISIS had been defeated. But court documents in Molinas case indicate that ISIS, with new leadership, is seeking a resurgence and still relies on the internet for recruits. Think of it in terms of a local gang looking for members, said Abel Pena, a retired FBI special agent who collected intelligence for the bureau in San Antonio. But its a slow activation process, talking to each other and vetting each other, cultivating relationships. Unlike the structure of a gang, which normally has jump-ins to initiate new members, ISIS uses the internet to find like-minded recruits and uses propaganda that some of its members are tasked with distributing online. Its broken up like an organization, said Pena, who now runs a security consulting company. You have people in finance, some in media. You might have an outreach coordinator and recruiters. Pena said he was not surprised that ISIS had targeted Molina in a rural, conservative area because it has been known to recruit people from all walks of life, often exploiting those who are confused about their lives. Molina is believed to have converted to Islam in 2019, when he posted quotes on one Twitter account from the Quran alongside animated selfies with his young daughter. In another Twitter account with restricted access, his profile picture appears in the foreground of a larger photo of ISIS and the groups black flag. Molinas co-defendant, Matthews, who pleaded guilty to the terrorism conspiracy charge in November, converted to Islam when he was 15 and has a jihad tattoo on his neck, his rap sheet shows. Matthews admitted in court that he was a co-administrator of at least one online encrypted chat group for ISIS ideology that allowed only vetted members to participate, among them Molina. Matthews faces sentencing in San Antonio in May. Matthews had been drawn in by his own use of social media. In November 2019, he posted in one chat group his own video pledging bayat, or allegiance, to ISIS newest reported leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashim al-Quraishi. The FBI was watching. It was unclear when Matthews began using the alias, Ali Jibreel. Molina, meanwhile, had publicly made known his change to Islam in Gonzales County because he dressed differently and grew facial hair, according to Sutton, his landlord. It was not immediately clear when he began using his alias, Abdur Rahim. He ran around with a towel on his head, Sutton said. He looked like a Taliban. Netflix worthy In April 2020, Matthews asked Molina to offer his own bayat to ISIS. Thanks ahki (brother), Ill do that as soon as possible, Molina replied. At the end of May 2020, Molina submitted his own video declaring allegiance to al-Quraishi and referring to Matthews as Molinas emir, or chief in America. Molina then got to work, posting ISIS videos showing how to train with an AK-47 rifle and other propaganda on social media that offered justification for the 9/11 terrorist attacks and showed support for ISIS and violent jihad. It identified America as Molinas enemy, a view he espoused in other forums. According to court records, Molina told Matthews he wanted to get deeper into spreading awareness of whats going on overseas. Exposing kuffar (infidels) and spreading the truth of Islam. When Matthews asked him if he wanted to be head of a media department, Molina replied yes, until he could go to war. Molina produced and edited propaganda and distributed it on various social media channels, court records show. He also participated in discussions about bomb making, including in one chat room called The Real BOOM BOOM Group. In some chats, instructions for making bombs were shared. At one point, Matthews cautioned Molina not to tell anyone they had bomb-making materials because it will have them alphabet boys knocking on the door referring to the FBI. Knock on my door that (expletive) going to go, Molina responded, making the sound of an explosion. In one chat, the pair discussed Matthews disdain for solo jihad and rattled off potential targets government buildings and economic centers, the headquarters of the FBI, CIA and DEA. They agreed maximum casualties were better, with small teams carrying out coordinated attacks. Id be willing to do it...lets face it, were (sic) jihadists...not normal Muslims, Matthews said. This is real, not a joke. Matthews advised against attacks on places such as malls, where innocent children are. Instead, he said targets should be government centers, the stock market, Trump Tower in New York or the White House. Molina discussed setting up traps as part of the plots, which he said could be carried out with 20 or less brothers. It would ring bells if we accomplished the mission ... rock star status baby, Matthews replied. This could be Netflix worthy. Rhetoric or real? Some in Gonzales County dismiss the online discussions as boastful rhetoric. Sutton didnt think Molina was capable of carrying out an attack because he was generally quiet. He added: But you dont know, it might be a front. Rhoades said: That thing about attacking the White House, theres no way. He loves President Trump. As far as (the claim) of not liking America, its not that he doesnt like America. Its that he didnt understand why we were out there bombing and killing people and babies. Like Molina, Matthews had dropped out of high school and used drugs. His parents werent around and he was raised by his grandmother. He also was a loner and joined a gang, according to public documents reviewed by the Express-News. The National Counterterrorism Center says those who embrace ISIS ideology tend to be disenfranchised individuals seeking ideological, religious and personal fulfillment. A search for belonging, meaning and/or identity appears to be a crucial motivator for many Americans who embrace ISIS ideology, according to the center. Matthews and Molina fit those characteristics. If I were overseas and I was recruiting, those are the kinds of people Id reach out to, said retired FBI agent Pena. Theyre perfect. He cautioned against dismissing as mere rhetoric discussions of the kind Molina and Matthews had. I think if anybody is making threats like that, youve got to take it extremely seriously, Pena said. You dont want it to slip through and be the next 9/11. guillermo.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland The nonprofit, Hands Across Decatur, is moving and growing. Now, it needs your help. They motivate and support those who are homeless with free help and resources. The new location will be at 1025 Fifth Avenue SE, just one block from their old building at 1032-C Fourth Avenue SE. WAAY 31 spoke with the executive director of the organization about why this program is needed with greater access now. Hands Across Decatur will be moving into a 5,600-square-foot building very soon. There will be a number of opportunities for people in need, and some of which who need it now more than ever. "We look at them and we don't see them. They're somebody's mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle...Somebody out there, they belong to," said Sue Terrell. Terrell is the executive director with Hands Across Decatur. She told us the number of homeless is growing and could be anyone due to a number of circumstances. They used to see an average of about 8 to 10 come in for help per week. Now, possibly due to COVID, they're seeing nearly 80. At the new building, they'll have resources for a doctor, GED programs, a library, food distribution and more. Terrell told WAAY 31 with the growth happening across North Alabama, those who are experiencing homelessness need help now more than ever. "I think they need us to come together as a community and recognize before bringing new business to our community, take care of those who are here right now," said Terrell. Hands Across Decatur is a nonprofit, so right now, everyone is lending a helping hand in moving them into their new place. Terrell told us they're working around the clock and want to remind you of the work you and she can do to get you to a better place. "We're Hands Across Decatur, a Path Forward Center. We can't change what happened yesterday, but what I can help you change is your future and the path forward," she said. Services and programs will start at the new address May 1, and they're always looking for monetary donations. One of the biggest announcements is that the building will serve as the city's first cooling and warming center during severe weather. To help financially, volunteer for work or to donate items needed for their expansion, click here. From 1 January 2021, people from the UK are no longer EU citizens and, although they can still travel to Spain, they can only stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days PER 180-day period. For those wishing to stay longer or even permanently, a residence permit is now required. A relatively simple way of acquiring such residency for British nationals wishing to purchase property in Spain dates back to 2013. In September of that year, the Spanish government passed a law to encourage foreigners to invest in Spain for residential purposes. The Golden Visa or Residencia por Inversion is an authorisation that allows non-EU foreigners (those who are not nationals of a country of the European Union, European Economic Area or Switzerland) to reside and work together with their family in Spain by demonstrating that they have made a significant capital investment in the country and that they meet the other requirements set out in the Spanish legal system. This visa entitles them to reside and work in Spain and to travel in Europe (90 days out of 180 days). In order to apply for the Golden Visa in Spain, you can choose one of the following ways: By purchasing real estate worth more than 500,000. But what if the property has been purchased by several individuals/investors? In that case, we must bear in mind that the investment will be computed at an individual level. This means that if our personal contribution to the property in question is less than 500,000, we will not be able to apply for the visa. Buying shares or participations in a Spanish company or having a bank deposit in a Spanish entity for a value of more than one million euros will also give you access to this residence permit. Holding Spanish public debt to the value of 2 million euros or more. By investing in a business project to be developed in Spanish territory. Here, the requirements are that the project must generate employment, promote scientific and technological progress in the country, or have a minimum socio-economic impact. The requirements are common sense and are as follows: Not to be irregularly present in Spanish territory. Be over 18 years of age. Not have a criminal record in Spain or in the countries where they have resided during the last five years, for offences under Spanish law. Not be ineligible for rejection in the territorial space of countries with which Spain has signed an agreement to this effect. Have public insurance or private health insurance arranged with an insurance company authorised to operate in Spain. Have sufficient economic resources for themselves and their family members during their period of residence in Spain. Pay the fee for processing the authorisation or visa. It is important, at this point, to emphasise that this Golden Visa can be applied for relatives of investors. To this end, the spouse and children under 18 years of age, or children of full age who are objectively unable to provide for their own needs due to their state of health, who join or accompany the aliens listed in Article 61(1), may apply, jointly and simultaneously or successively, for authorisation and, where applicable, for a visa. In order to do so, they ONLY have to prove that they fulfil the conditions laid down in the previous paragraph. This way of obtaining residence in Spain is proving to be very successful, because it offers many advantages: It allows you to be absent from Spain for long periods without losing your residency. All residence authorisations in Spain, both under the general and community regime, require a constant stay in the country (more than 6 months per year). However, with the Golden Visa, you and your family members will be able to be absent for practically its entire duration, without losing it. This is provided for in the sixth additional provision of Law 14/2013, of 27 September, on support for entrepreneurs and their internationalisation (hereinafter Law 14/2013), according to which the renewal of residence may be carried out even if there are absences of more than 6 months per year in the case of residence visas and authorisations for foreign investors. This will allow you to travel to other countries within and outside Europe, either for pleasure or even to attend to business you carry out in other latitudes. Allows the investors family members to accompany him/her from the beginning. The Golden Visa allows the investors family members to benefit from this type of residence simultaneously. In other words, there will never be a separation of the family unit as they will not have to wait 1 year to exercise this right (Article 62.4 of Law 14/2013). It allows the accompaniment of children over 18 years of age, as long as they are financially dependent on the family member and have not formed their own family unit (Article 62.4 of Law 14/2013). Parents, even under the age of 65, can obtain a residence as accompanying persons and this can be done from the beginning, i.e. it will not be necessary to wait 5 long years to reunite them (Article 62.4 of Law 14/2013). Moreover, if you need a Schengen visa because of your nationality, you will no longer need to apply for it every time you want to enter Europe. In other words, you will be able to enter and leave Europe as many times as you want without having to go through the tedious procedures at the different Consulates and Embassies. Obtaining Spanish nationality by residence. In accordance with the provisions of Article 29.1 of Organic Law 4/2000, of 11 January (hereinafter Law on Foreigners), foreigners may be in Spain in the situations of stay or residence. Typical cases of foreigners in a stay situation are tourists and students. These will never be eligible for Spanish nationality by residence because their situation in Spain is one of stay. On the other hand, a person with a permit such as the Golden Visa will be eligible for nationality because he or she has been in a residence situation. Therefore, he/she complies with the provisions of article 22.1 of the Civil Code for the acquisition of nationality, which in the case of British subdites will be 10 years. It includes a work permit for the investor and his/her family members. Although, in accordance with the provisions of Article 36.1 of the Law on Foreigners, foreigners will require, in order to carry out any lucrative, work or professional activity, the corresponding prior administrative authorisation to reside and work, with all the requirements and obstacles that this supplies, the good news is that, the granting of the residence visa for investors will constitute sufficient title to reside and work in Spain during its validity (Article 65 of Law 14/2013). In other words, by obtaining the Golden Visa, not only you, but also all your accompanying family members of working age (from the age of 16 as provided for in Article 6.1 of the Workers Statute) will have the possibility to work without the need to get an employer to sponsor you or in general without having to do any additional paperwork before the immigration authorities. For further information please do not hesitate to contact the Non-Resident Department of Despacho Lamas. Contact information C/ Sindicat, 69, 10 07002 Palma de Mallorca Tel: +34 971 720 202 Fax: +34 971 728427 jaimelamas@despacholamas.com London: A serving British police officer has been charged with the murder and kidnap of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday. Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said Wayne Couzens has been charged with murder and kidnapping in relation to the death of Everard. The case has sparked an outpouring of anger online about the safety of women in Britain. A woman stops to view flowers left at the bandstand on Clapham Common to mourn Sarah Everard. Credit:PA Couzens, 49, works in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, which is responsible for protecting government ministers and buildings, including 10 Downing Street and Palave of Westminister. He had been arrested on suspicion of Everards kidnap on Tuesday night. by Sumon Corraya Two arrested militants have confessed to taking part in organising trans people by teaching them the Quran. The campaign is promoted by the same groups that attack scientific communicators, bloggers and journalists. COVID-19 fundraisers have also become a means of Islamist propaganda. Dhaka (AsiaNews) Bangladeshi Islamist groups are looking to the transgender community as a new source for recruits. Two Islamist militants recently arrested by police have said they had been trying to recruit transgender people (hijras) for their group. They turned to them in the name of Islamic doctrine, but it is also relatively easy to convince them since members of the transgender community are often in need, poor and socially marginalised. Local law enforcement agencies are very concerned about such activity. Sources have revealed that Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami and other groups involved in attacks against scientific communicators, bloggers and journalists are leading the campaign. The two arrested militants have confessed to being active in Islamist organising within the transgender communities by teaching the Quran and trying to get them to become militant. A Dhaka trans woman named Nur Jahan told AsiaNews that she was recently invited to participate in some Quranic lessons. We transgender people are forgotten by family and society, she said. An organisation contacted me for a course that hasn't started yet. Jahan noted that she is aware of the activities by Islamists and does not approve of them, so she will not attend the course. A police officer who requested anonymity told AsiaNews that Islamist groups are involved in many projects, including teaching the Quran and fundraising for COVID-19-related needs. They also collect zakat (alms) among Bangladeshi emigrants in foreign countries, and use social media to urge people to make donations for their activities. According to government estimates, Bangladesh is home to about 10,000 hijras, the name used for transgender people in South Asia. According to local NGOs, however, their number is much higher, in excess of 50,000. The main goal of most Islamist groups in Bangladesh is to set up an Islamic state and govern the country according to Sharia (Islamic law). To this end, they have carried out attacks against the government and civil society groups. The bloodiest incident was the Gulshan Cafe massacre on 1 July 2016, in which 29 people were killed, including nine Italians. John Lewis will permanently shut several more department stores after it fell to its first loss in its 157-year history. The closures are the second time the partnership, which also owns Waitrose, has been forced to take drastic action to protect the business in the pandemic. It is fighting back after losing a mammoth 517million in 2020 because of closures and consumers rapid shift to online shopping. Speaking about the effect Covid has had on the business, John Lewis Chairman Dame Sharon White (pictured) said:'It's a decade's worth of change in the space of a year' Bosses warned financial results will be even worse next year and staff will not receive the coveted bonus for two years running, the first time in the firms history. The firm is also reviewing its Never Knowingly Undersold price pledge, which has been in place since 1925, and is already cutting prices to widen its appeal. It is thought that around eight of department stores will shut, on top of eight shops closed last year, as part of plans to cut 300million of annual costs. The retail giant did not say exactly how many of its 42 John Lewis shops will close, saying a final decision will be made at the end of March following talks with landlords. Such a move would likely result in hundreds of redundancies. It has already shed 1,300 shop staff and 1,500 head office workers. The closure of the large outlets will also be a blow to British towns, which are already reeling from the closure of 600 Debenhams and Arcadia stores. In total 20,000 stores are expected to close their doors permanently this year, costing 200,000 retail jobs. Chairman Dame Sharon White said: Its the biggest economic challenge and public health emergency anyone has lived through, a real economic earthquake. Its a decades worth of change in the space of a year. Those shopping habits have changed irreversibly. Bosses said they will open some smaller John Lewis shops on the High Street, which will offer a limited range of products and a place to pick up orders and get advice. Small John Lewis shopping areas have also been placed in the corner of five Waitrose stores. If successful, they will be rolled out to a significant number of our 331 Waitrose shops. But retail expert Andrew Busby said: It feels like the business is being run by consultants. It didnt seem like there was too much conviction about the stores. Its almost as if bosses see the stores as a necessary evil for its online business, which is plainly ludicrous. A John Lewis spokesman said it would always try to redeploy elsewhere in the business, with redundancies a last resort. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. The last few nights, after work on the farm, Ive been drifting off to sleep with the words of a special writer in my mind. Ive dreamed not of sheep nor cows but loftier things, matters of the present moment and the eternal now. It is not an adventure nor a romance, it is the words of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, and his book Let Us Dream. Pope Francis is a man with a special mission and someone I admire from bathing the feet of criminals and refugees to visiting Iraq these last few days to promote interfaith dialogue. Let Us Dream is a work that crystallises the ever-evolving thoughts of this church leader. They are deep and slow thoughts, thoughts that make a man think, if only for a moment, of the others of this world the faceless billions we shall never know but who are all our brothers and sisters. Pope Francis is a Latin American pope and perhaps there is an influence from liberation theology, the radical left-leaning idea from that continent of a more common church for the poor. But his novel ideas of a church for all the people shines through, that the church is, in short, for the masses and not for itself. Pope Francis begins the book with a thought-provoking idea: to enter into a crisis is to come out a different person. We must all cross a threshold, he says, either by choice or by necessity. All of us, this entire world, has crossed that threshold for a year now we have changed as a human family. If you get through it, he says, you come out better or worse but never the same. In coming through the trials of life you reveal your own heart and find out how big or small it is and, perhaps most importantly, how merciful it is. The truth is none of us, not even the Taoiseach or President, knows what tomorrow will bring and who will win or lose in this great moment of change. But Pope Francis goes on to say that Covid is just another form of crisis that we have faced many Covids in our long history. There are, he writes, many coronas, the coronavirus of climate change, the coronavirus of war and the weapons trade, and the coronavirus of hunger and starvation that killed nine million people last year. Just because we cannot see these other forms of the virus with our own eyes does not make them any less deadly. Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, commented last year that there could be a doubling in the numbers of those who starve to death. One only has to think of Yemen and the perilous situation the small gulf nation now faces. To be touched by others pain is the message of Pope Franciss book. To allow ourselves to feel that pain is a solidarity, and one hopes it will inspire us to do something about it. In a time of global stoppage, we are perhaps now given, for the first time in a generation, an empty blueprint on how to rebuild a world that is in pain. As the leaders of developing nations say in relation to coronavirus vaccines, no one is safe until everyone is safe. Perhaps that is a mantra we need to employ for everything in this world not just this virus. In a world where our churches and sacred spaces are closed where the ministry of hope has been taken from our lives there is still a hunger for the spiritual. No human society has ever existed that did not have a spiritual practice as part of it, from the ancient animist beliefs of the Aboriginal Australians (the oldest continuous culture in the world) to the ultra-urban metropolis of Tokyo or New York. We have always had the need for sacred spaces, spaces of reflection and memory and peace and so too a need for sacred texts. At a time when our faith has become private, a book like this lets us dream and think, at least from my own perspective, outside ourselves and ask if only for a brief moment not about the self, but the collective. In my own life as an investigative journalist and mental health spokesperson I have tried to think of others but this book has radicalised me to think of doing more, to help the great we of this world. We have a word for that in the countryside the meitheal. Pope Francis makes me think of the spirit of meitheal. That we are all linked. That the republic of mankind is the republic of the collective. In making your choice for those around you, Francis says you reveal your heart. There are so many hearts on the line at the moment, from a nurse tending to a dying patient to a delivery driver bringing groceries to an elderly neighbour. These acts, in this time, are driven by more than just a weekly wage. They are driven by the spirit. In his summation, Pope Francis asks us to see where we are centred at the moment and try to decentre. What we must do, he says, is not get bogged down in the centre of ourselves. We will not pray away the virus, it is our actions that will do this be they Christian, Muslim or atheist perhaps that is the real magic of this book. The call to action is also a spiritual one. I for one will be thinking of how to make the world better in this strange time. I hope you will too. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Fondly remembered: James Ellis as Sergeant Bert Lynch in Z Cars, the TV drama that made him a household name Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar is taking part in a birthday tribute to the late Belfast actor James Ellis, who played the first major Northern Irish policeman on national television. Adrian, who returns to TV screens later this month as Supt Ted Hastings in the hit BBC cop drama, is honouring his friend in a series of events to mark what would have been James' 90th birthday on Monday. James, who starred in the BBC's Z Cars as Sgt Bert Lynch in the 1960s when Belfast accents were rarely heard on national TV series, died in March 2014 from a stroke and wanted to be buried in his native city. Adrian is among contributors to a special video to be released on social media on Monday. There are also tributes from other friends and family who share their memories of the actor and other people who talk about how they were inspired by his legacy. Adrian said: "Jimmy was a great actor, friend and mentor to me. His presence will always be missed. He found himself at the forefront of the theatre after leaving Queen's University and his work with the Group Theatre and then with playwright Sam Thompson propelled him across the water where he once again found himself at the forefront of a TV revolution in the 60s promoting his own people." James, who also starred in the Billy plays, in Ballykissangel and Only Fools and Horses, released a record of him singing Johnny Todd, the theme song of Z Cars. Adrian and fellow Northern Ireland man James Nesbitt were among a large number of theatre and TV actors who attended James Ellis's funeral in an east Belfast church before he was buried in a churchyard at Castlereagh. Expand Close Adrian Dunbar PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Adrian Dunbar Four years ago the James Ellis Bridge was named in his honour on the Connswater Community Greenway close to his family home in Park Avenue and it is on their social media site that the video will be posted next week. On Friday, March 26 there will be an online celebration of James's life via Zoom. The organisers EastSide Greenways said: "The evening will also reveal for the first time the unpublished and surprising written talents of James Ellis." Michele Bryans from the Eastside Greenways said James Ellis was an actor, director, writer and trailblazer who inspired many people. James' widow Robina said: "The Ellis family are very grateful for this 90th birthday celebrations and we also fondly remember the fourth anniversary of the opening of the James Ellis bridge. It is truly heart-warming that so many people want not only to pay tribute to Jimmy and continue the James Ellis legacy, but also remember Jimmy the man who made an early call that he was going to pursue his career with his native accent." Gardai have arrested a second man in relation to an ongoing investigation into the fraudulent claiming of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). Gardai seconded to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) assisted by GNECB personnel arrested the 35-year-old man in the Midleton area of Cork today, having previously arrested a man in his 40s back in December 2020 as part of the investigation. The man is currently detained at Cobh Garda Station under the provisions of Section 50 Criminal Justice Act 2007 and he can be detained for up to seven days. In June last year, An Garda Siochana issued a warning to the public in relation to a phishing email purporting to be from Courts Service where individuals were told they had been selected for jury service. To date, 73 people have been identified as having had their details fraudulently obtained in order to claim the payment. All 73, received an email under the pretence that it was from the Courts Service Ireland looking for them to do Jury duty. This email sought personal information, which included their PPSN, name, address, date of birth and mothers maiden name. These details were then used to apply online and claim the Covid payment of 350 per person, weekly, with an estimated 187,000 paid out in relation to the 73 people. Families and some educators are planning to protest for the full reopening of San Francisco public schools, one year after school closures and days after the school board approved plans to bring younger children as well as special education and vulnerable students back to classrooms for in-person learning starting next month. Decreasing the Distance, a group advocating for reopening classrooms, is organizing the march, which will depart from Alamo Square Park at 11 a.m. Saturday, and will conclude with a noon rally with Mayor London Breed at Civic Center Plaza. When did the idea that kids should be in school become controversial, and what does that say about our citys values? executive member of Decreasing the Distance Yvette Edwards said in a statement. The law and science are clear: Kids need to be in school. Period. The planned protest is one of many actions parents, city officials and some educators have taken to pressure the district to reopen schools. It follows months of demonstrations, a possible recall of school board members and an unprecedented lawsuit brought by the city. Proponents of reopening say it can be done safely, arguing that children are suffering and citing the emotional toll of distance learning. Opponents say the safety of families and school staff must take precedence. District leaders say they are working hard to return as many students as possible and they recognize that students have been struggling. The group organizing the march is demanding the immediate safe reopening of all public schools for all interested students, five days a week. Current plans call for some students to attend nearly five full days with others attending two days, depending on demand for in-person instruction at each school. Bringing back all students five days a week is complicated by health guidelines that require 4 feet of distance between desks, reducing the ability to fit big groups into classrooms. The district hasnt said why its not yet bringing back middle and high school students, but their return was not part of a recent deal with the teachers union. The march organizers are also asking for a binding commitment from the SFUSD Board of Education that students will be offered five full days of school with in-person teachers beginning on the first day of school year 2021-2022. The district released a statement Friday saying it is committed to reopening schools for pre-K to 12th-grade students in the fall, but did not specify five full days a week. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. We see health conditions improving and we will continue working with public health authorities, labor unions, educators, staff, families and other stakeholders to create an equitable and safe plan for reopening all our schools by next fall, the statement from Superintendent Vincent Matthews and school board President Gabriela Lopez said. On Thursday, the school board approved plans to begin bringing back in-person learning for preschool through fifth-graders, special education students and vulnerable older groups starting April 12, following months of bitter debate with the teachers union. Teachers have until Saturday to vote on the deal. And some teachers have been critical of the plan, expressing concerns about proposed schedules that leave little time for planning lessons or bathrooms breaks. The union is organizing a car caravan for Sunday to demand changes to the daily schedule, which is separate from the formal agreement. Emma Talley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: emma.talley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emmat332 Stolen Vehicle Investigation Leads to Four Arrests By West Kentucky Star Staff GRAVES COUNTY - Four Farmington residents were arrested Thursday morning during an investigation into a stolen vehicle.The Graves County Sheriff's Office said deputies went to a home in the 13000 block of KY Highway 564 Thursday morning, after learning a vehicle stolen from McCracken County was at the home.Deputies arrived to find the vehicle. They also reportedly found methamphetamine, cash, Xanax, and drug paraphernalia during a search of the home.Deputies arrested 38-year-old James Pierce, 37-year-old Toni McDowell, 32-year-old Lindsey Yoder, and 41-year-old Timothy Chambers. All are charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Pierce was also charged with receiving a stolen vehicle, possession of marijuana, and possessing a controlled substance not in a proper container.All four suspects were booked into Graves County Jail. 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. Venezuela's attorney general announced the arrest of 12 police officers who are tied to the 'execution' of a 21-year-old university student in the southern state of Zulia. Jhonny Boscan was waiting for his mother outside a bakery in the municipality of San Francisco on Monday when he was approached by the law enforcement agents, according to Venezuelan online portal QuePasa.com. A woman who identified herself as Boscan's aunt said three armed men forced him into an SUV and that one of the suspects drove off in his car. Boscan's mother, Yenci Teran, stepped out of the store and went home after noticing her son was no longer there. She went home thinking she would locate him there, but then returned to the bakery and learned from a witnesses that her son had been taken by force. 'While the victim was parked in a shopping center, the policemen took him away in his vehicle, they killed him with their respective [service] weapons and then simulated a confrontation,' Attorney General Tarek William Saab tweeted on Thursday. At least 12 police officers have been arrested in Zulia, Venezuela, for the alleged murder of Jhonny Boscan, a 21-year-old university student who had aspirations of becoming a cop. Boscan was last seen Monday waiting for his mother outside a bakery in the Zulia municipality of San Francisco when at least three men forced him into a SUV while another drove off in his vehicle The cops included in their initial incident report that Jhonny Boscan led them in a high speed chase before he crashed into a light pole and then engaged them in a shootout before he was shot dead The cops were identified as Jesus Bermudez; Mario Aparicio; Francisco Nunez; Pedro Salazar; Carlos Rios; Marcos Gomez; Yimmi Reverol; Antonio Ferrer; Franschelys Mendoza; Jelvin Marin; Jhimmu Gelis and Jefgery Montilla. Boscan attended the Experimental Security University in Caracas, where future members of the police and security forces are trained, and had dreams of one day joining Venezuela's National Police. The cops initially said Boscan had been identified as a member of a local gang and that he sped off in his vehicle, leading the police officers on a chase and crashed into a light pole before he was intercepted. The police alleged that Boscan then engaged the agents in a shootout before he was shot. The officers will be each be charged with three counts that include 'simulation of a punishable act, improper use of [service] weapon, and treacherous homicide.' Venezuela's attorney general Tarek William Saab tweeted on Thursday that Jhonny Boscan was executed after the cops 'killed him with their respective [service] weapons and then simulated a confrontation' Attorney General Tarek William Saab was among 13 officials sanctioned by the US in 2017 for 'undermining democracy or human rights' in Venezuela 'The Public Ministry, in full adherence to the provisions of our Constitution on human rights, will continue to act in accordance with the law to sanction these unacceptable criminal practices that later turn into mafias that attack innocent people,' Saab added. In 2017, Saab and 12 other officials were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for 'undermining democracy or human rights' in the South American nation. Saab's announcement into the investigation of Boscan's murder came a day after the United Nations said it was looking into 200 killings that had been allegedly committed by Venezuelan police officers in 2021 amid concerns about possible summary executions. Marta Valinas, head of a U.N. fact-finding mission, said the toll included people killed in a police operation in La Vega, Caracas in early January. 'Our preliminary investigations indicate that at least some of those killed were victims of extrajudicial executions,' she told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday. Venezuela's delegation swiftly dismissed the allegations without addressing them specifically. 'Once again the fact-finding mission presents politicized information with no balance and fairness,' it told the Geneva forum. Spruce Forest opens for season through a new door With the crashing of the trees, three of the cabins were destroyed, along with damaging the village church and other buildings as well. When the Apostle Santiago Church in Nurio, Michoacan state, went up in smoke on March 7, few could say they hadnt seen it coming. Flames have licked the walls of this historic temple several times before, but were always extinguished before major damage was done. This time a blaze has destroyed a piece of Mexican heritage permanently, and the recriminations have begun. Just a shell of four walls remains of the place of worship built by Spanish missionaries in one of Michoacans indigenous Purepecha areas in the 16th century, with charred wooden beams littering the ground. Santiago, or Saint James, is the patron saint of this area, home to 5,000 people. Michoacan states culture body had projects underway to preserve the church, but these were tragically late to be implemented The cause of the fire that broke out on a Sunday evening is unknown, but the loss is irreparable. The World Monuments Fund described the churchs interior as elaborately decorated in the Mexican Baroque style, which combined mudejar carpentry and... a pre-Hispanic painting method that incorporates natural oils and minerals. Indigenous art adorned the walls, and while neighbors were able to remove some objects of value, the majority of this history is gone. Mexicos National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and Michoacan states culture body had projects underway to preserve the church, but these were tragically late to be implemented. Representatives of the town met with culture officials on Monday and asked for explanations for the delay. The anger was palpable. The local authorities criticized INAH because they did not meet their deadlines. By January 8 they should already have started their projects, said the mayor of the nearby town of Paracho, Jose Manuel Caballero, who also oversees the locality of Nurio. Almost everyone agreed on one culprit: the barebones culture budget. Michoacan State Secretary for Culture Claudio Mendez conceded this in a telephone interview. [The firefighters] could not even direct the jet of water against the stone walls, because we did not know if they would hold, he said. Fortunately we have records to copy the paintings of the artists of the time and the interior decoration, he added. The Covid-19 pandemic has only aggravated shortages to culture budgets. Mendez also warned that the Apostle Santiago Church was not the only place of worship in danger in the area. The outside of the church, before the fire took place TURISMO DE MICHOACAN Now the task will not be one of restoration or conservation, but of reconstruction. Wood has already been sent to the town to shore up the structure and INAH insurance experts will arrive soon. An insurance payout will be essential to start rebuilding, though some funds will also come from the Michoacan state budget and from the federal government. The terrible reality is the low budgets we have, said INAH delegate to Michoacan Marco Rodriguez. The townspeople had requested reinforcements for the roof for some time, but historic buildings of this kind require specific care that is expensive. Nelly Sigaut, an art historian at the Colegio de Michoacan, said the tragedy had wrung out her heart. Priests to whom she gives heritage classes had tears in their eyes when greeted with the news. This is a treasure that was unique in the world, singular in its style, Sigaut said. They call it the Sistine Chapel of the Plateau, and they werent exaggerating, she added, referring to Michoacans Purepecha Plateau. She recalled with sadness the angels with musical instruments painted onto the main altar. The church was part of a hospital complex built by the Spanish bishop of Michoacan, Vasco de Quiroga, and the rest of the architectural ensemble survives. But tourists are hard to come by in an area plagued by insecurity. Visitors who had the luck to visit over the years have only their memories to comfort them today. Algiers, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Mar, 2021 ) :Thousands demonstrated in Algiers on Friday, rejecting early legislative elections announced the day before, as weekly rallies by the resurgent Hirak pro-democracy movement gain momentum. Protesters defied a coronavirus-related ban on gatherings to rally from different parts of the capital, converging on the central post office, the Hirak movement's emblematic rallying point, AFP correspondents said. Demonstrators shouted slogans including "No elections with mafia gangs" and "a civil not a military state", a key Hirak slogan. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday issued a decree setting June 12 for early legislative elections, after dissolving parliament last month. "To safeguard itself, the system says: legislative (elections)," one poster read Friday. The Hirak movement broke out in February 2019 in outrage at then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office. The ailing strongman was forced to step down weeks later, but the movement continued with demonstrations, demanding a sweeping overhaul of a ruling system in place since Algeria's independence from France in 1962. Since its second anniversary on February 22, the Hirak has restarted weekly Friday protests, suspended for almost a year due to the pandemic. "The same system is still in place. We will not vote on June 12," M'Hamed, a 50-year-old shopkeeper who only gave his first name, told AFP from the protest. People also took to the streets in other parts of the country, including northwestern Oran, central Tizi Ouzou and eastern Annaba. The CNLD prisoners' rights group said protesters had been arrested in Tizi Ouzou, without providing further details. Once a premier under Bouteflika and elected in a widely boycotted presidential poll in December 2019, Tebboune has reached out to the protest movement while also seeking to neutralise it. In a gesture of appeasement, last month he announced pardons for dozens of jailed pro-democracy activists, including several prominent figures. Tebboune has pledged that the June elections will be free of corruption and will "open the doors of parliament to young people". A constitutional referendum in November saw record-low participation. With significant political weight now across Congress, and with President Joe Biden in the White House, Democrats are pushing on with some key policy changes to support their agenda. One of these is related to gun control in the United States, and it coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Dunblane massacre in Scotland, which took place on 13 March 1996, the deadliest mass shooting in the United Kingdom's history. Following that, gun laws in the UK were changed, and incidents of gun killings dropped significantly. The hope is that the same reduction can be seen across the pond. What gun control bills have been introduced? On Thursday, the US House of Representatives approved a pair of gun control bills after years of failed attempts due to Republican opposition. The first measure, which passed the Democratic-led House 227-203, would close a long-standing loophole in gun laws by expanding background checks to those purchasing weapons over the internet, at gun shows and through certain private transactions. Only eight Republicans joined the Democrats in backing the bill. The second bill, passed 219-210 with only two Republicans supporting it, would give authorities 10 business days for federal background checks to be completed before a gun sale can be licensed. Currently, such sales can proceed if the government cannot complete complicated background checks of prospective buyers within three days. President Joe Biden is a supporter of expanded gun control measures. The legislation may face a tougher battle in the US Senate, where Biden's fellow Democrats hold an even slimmer majority than in the House. The bills follow a series of deadly US mass shootings over the past decade. Gun control is a divisive issue in the United States, which enshrines gun rights in its Constitution. Most Republicans strongly oppose gun restrictions, while most Democrats argue that new laws are needed to curb gun violence. The House Judiciary Committee's senior Republican, Jim Jordan, wrote on Twitter that House Democrats were "making it harder for law-abiding citizens to buy a gun." Many Democrats want to go further by banning sales of some high-capacity, military-style rifles that can fire ammunition rapidly. Democratic Representative Mike Thompson, who has spearheaded a drive for expanded gun control for years, said 30 people are killed by gun violence daily in the United States, with that number growing to 100 if suicides and accidental deaths involving firearms are counted. At the same time, Thompson said, 170 felons and 50 domestic abusers are stopped from buying a gun every day. "It only makes sense that if you expand it you'll stop even more felons, more domestic abusers," Thompson said. Republicans opposing the bills argued that the legislation would not make American streets safer and would infringe upon the right to bear arms guaranteed under the US Constitution's Second Amendment. Gun control bill: Senate filibuster obstacle With Democrats now controlling the White House along with both chambers of Congress, they are seeking to pursue liberal goals thwarted when Republicans led either the House or Senate. Democrats have said their position has been further strengthened by turmoil within the National Rifle Association, the influential gun lobby closely aligned with Republicans. The Senate's longstanding filibuster rule makes it so most legislation requires 60 votes to proceed in the 100-seat chamber rather than a simple majority, and Republicans could use the maneuver to try to block gun control measures. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said if that happens, Democrats would "come together as a caucus and we'll see how we're going to get this done," possibly hinting at ending or altering the filibuster rule. A bipartisan gun control bill in 2013 - proposed after a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school - failed on a vote of 54-46 in the Senate, short of the needed 60 votes. During a news conference before the gun control votes, a tearful Representative Lucy McBath, who lost her son to gun violence, said: "No one deserves the kind of pain and anguish that people are suffering." The news of a Zomato delivery boy punching a beauty influencer from Bengaluru had gone viral and everyone was contemplating how everything exactly did things result in this. People had heard her side of the story wherein she accused the delivery person of assaulting her and hitting her right in her face, leaving her nose injured and bleeding. She shared the video wherein she was narrating the entire incident. I ordered food from Zomato as I was working since morning. I ordered food around 3:30 pm, which was supposed to get delivered by 4:30 pm, and I did not get the order on time, so I was constantly following up with the Zomato customer care that either give me free delivery for the same or just cancel the order Hitesha says in the video. And then the Zomato delivery guy came here. He was so rude I didnt open the full door, I spoke to him from a gap in the door and told him am talking to the customer care I told him I dont want the order since it was very late. But he refused to take the order and started screaming, bloody I am your slave or what It felt so threatening, I got scared and I tried to push the door. But he was so huge, he pushed back the door, snatched the order back from me, and punched me. Then he ran away she added in another video on Instagram. Heres the video: Now, the other side of the story has found its voice on social media as the delivery person has refuted all her claims. In an interview with The News Minute, the delivery person named Kamaraj, who has been suspended by the company after the complaint, said, "After I reached her apartment door, I handed her the food and I was expecting her to pay me (as she had opted for cash on delivery mode of payment). I also apologized since the delivery was delayed due to traffic and bad roads. But she was very rude from the outset. She asked me Why are you late? I replied apologetically, as there were road blocks due to ongoing civic works and there were traffic jams as well. But she kept on insisting that the order has to be delivered within 45-50 minutes. I am working on this job for more than two years and this is the first time that I have had to go through this kind of an ordeal." He also claimed that he had to plead with her for the money as it affects his job and after which, she called him a slave. Sharing his ordeal, he said, At this point, when I was walking towards the lift, she started using expletives in Hindi. She suddenly threw slippers at me and started hitting me. For my safety, when she was hitting me, I tried to use my hand to shield her blows. When she was trying to push my hand away, she accidentally hit herself with her finger ring on the nose, which led to the bleeding. Anybody who sees her face will understand that this wouldn't be created by a punch. And I dont wear any rings." Kamaraj added, "the Zomato support system person in Delhi also supported me and offered me empathy after I narrated the ordeal that I had to go through. The problem is there is no CCTV footage to prove my innocence." After his side of the story came out in public, people started to ask, wheres the justice for men? People even requested if the man is innocent, he should be given his job back. Where is justice for men? #zomatodeliveryboy Kaasi Visva (@kaasi_visva) March 12, 2021 Hello @zomatoin , I urge you that if the guy is found innocent then please give him back his job along with his dignity. And please provide moral support to your own family member, because media fails to do so.#zomatodeliveryboy Prashant (@prshntsharma_) March 12, 2021 Perfect example of 'Fake feminism'. Always listen to both side of story before making or judging a person from both perspective.#MenToo#menarevictimtoo #zomatodeliveryboy#fakefeminism pic.twitter.com/GRKwdwamIJ Rutuja. S (@SukhdeveRutuja) March 12, 2021 we as public always desperate to share the story without knowing the story of both side..... we assumed always men are wrong, i agree there are many cases where men are wrong but not always.... women are wrong too.#zomatodeliveryboy pic.twitter.com/6u73vFvVaT sourav ojha (@Souravojha03) March 12, 2021 #zomatodeliveryboy India demands police action against the lady if her complaint is found to be fake ..... Fake complaints and misuse of women protection laws is a harsh reality. pic.twitter.com/dw51jxMK6u Nikita K (@AK52979491) March 12, 2021 I apologize for judging the boy wrong, Without hearing his side story. Why a man is always guilty until proven innocent.. & a woman is always innocent until proven guilty? Is this the equality. I'm not talking beyond the woman empowerment n woman safety. 1/2#zomatodeliveryboy pic.twitter.com/i7v84AMsvL - (@RealAjayTiwari) March 12, 2021 This isn't the first time Zomato has been in the limelight for wrong reasons. Here's another such incident when Zomato grabbed the headlines. People seem to be infuriated by the incident and want the woman to be punished. Now that you have heard both sides, what do you think of this entire episode? Let us know in the comments below. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media STAMFORD Days after former state Rep. Patricia Billie Miller was sworn in as a state senator, the governor on Friday set April 27 as the date for a special election to determine her replacement in the Connecticut House of Representatives. Miller was sworn in Monday as the state senator for the 27th District, taking the place of Carlo Leone, who became an adviser to the head of the state Department of Transportation earlier this year. Before winning a special election this month, Miller represented the state Houses 145th District for 12 years. Next week the U.S. and China will hold their first senior-level talks since President Biden took office. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Beijing's diplomats in Alaska on March 18th. CBS News senior foreign policy correspondent and "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan joins "Red and Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano with more on that, plus the U.S. response to a major cyberattack against Microsoft. Video Transcript ELAINE QUIJANO: The US and China will hold their first senior level meetings in person next week. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, will hold talks with Chinese foreign policy officials in Alaska. It's the first such meeting between the countries under the Biden administration. Here's how Secretary Blinken is outlining his priorities. ANTONY BLINKEN: This is an important opportunity for us to lay out in very frank terms the many concerns that we have with Beijing's actions and behavior that are challenging the security, the prosperity, and the values of the United States and our partners and allies. ELAINE QUIJANO: The talks are expected to come after Secretary Blinken meets with US partners in South Korea and Japan. For more, let's bring in CBS News Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and Face the Nation moderator, Margaret Brennan. Hi, there, Margaret. Good to see you again. So what specific issues will be a priority for Secretary Blinken to discuss with Chinese officials next week and where might we see cooperation? MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it's interesting, because Friday, tomorrow, you will see President Biden meet with the so-called Quad. And in some ways he's setting the table for the conversations that will come at the Secretary of State and Defense Secretary levels in the coming days. President Biden will be meeting with the leaders of Australia, of India, of Japan. And while they're saying oh, this isn't about China, it's about China. All of these powers have seen themselves under threat from that behemoth in the region. And so you hear the Biden administration talk about the US in the Indo-Pacific, they're basically saying that's what we're going to call China's backyard, and we're going to come up with a strategy to counter this weight. Story continues And so that is what we will expect the Secretaries of State and Defense to follow up on next week when they fly to our treaty allies in South Korea and in Japan, countries that we have a military commitment to help defend, but also other areas of interest with. And that's coming before the face to face with those top Chinese officials that you mentioned. But part of this is to show that the Biden administration is just throwing out the Trump administration's plan to go head to head and instead try to build these alliances up to show a unified front. So two things that I'm watching there are to see what coordinated action there might be, for instance, in terms of military exercises in the region. But also, in-- we're seeing the Wall Street Journal report tonight that you're about to see the European Union announce the very first sanctions related to human rights abuses in China since 1989. And that they will do it because of what the US and some European officials are calling genocide underway at the hands of China against Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. So those are the kind of coordinated policies you can expect to see more of. And in terms of cooperation with China, we'll have to wait and see. This is something that the administration, they will look to broker areas of common interest, climate for example. No climate agreement really means much unless you have the world's two biggest emitters, and that's the United States and China, agreeing to actually do something about their own problems at home. So we know that the administration is going to lean on them for cooperation on that front. But there's a lot of confrontation ahead on a lot of different issues otherwise. ELAINE QUIJANO: All right, we'll continue to watch that. Meantime, let's talk about the hacking of Microsoft Exchange servers that was reported last week. Hundreds of thousands of customers are believed to have been victims of this really aggressive cyber attack. Margaret, what is the Biden administration doing to address this? MARGARET BRENNAN: We're waiting to hear exactly what they plan to do in terms of shoring up US capabilities to defend ourselves. We know that there are executive actions that were already in the works to deal with the last major hacking, the SolarWinds hacking, which really was a major espionage effort throughout the federal government on behalf of Russia to get into our systems and steal our sort of very top secrets. And they did that through private sector entities. This time you are seeing this different attack that was launched through Microsoft and these Exchange servers and it's really targeting businesses, it's state governments, it's local governments. And from what I'm hearing, it is very widespread. It is a massive hacking. I know our Nicole Sganga has done some reporting to say that even President Biden himself was personally briefed on how deep this goes into the US infrastructure. And we don't know yet what they're going to do to respond. You have seen the FBI, you've seen sites of that agency take some actions to warn the public and to warn companies how to protect themselves. But in terms of the punitive action against the criminal groups that are also exploiting some of these hacking vulnerabilities, that's TBD. We will have to see what the Biden administration does to go after some of these criminal elements that I'm told have roots in Russia and also have roots in China. ELAINE QUIJANO: Well, Margaret, it has been one year now since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. We know a lot more now than we did when it started. I'm wondering at this point, what questions do you have now as we head into spring? MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, there's still so many. I think for all of us we're waiting to see how serious these new variants that are showing themselves to be growing out of the New York City area in particular, also out of the UK, that appear to be resilient against some of the therapies and vaccines, just how much they can actually pierce our protection level because we're riding, our hope is riding on these vaccines and returning us to normal. That's a huge question. And I feel like we're still not scientifically fully informed yet on how dangerous these new mutants could be. I have bigger policy questions in terms of what needs to be fixed still within our health infrastructure. Right now you are looking at a situation where you keep hearing from the Biden administration, don't worry, supply is coming but the problem in addition to supply is getting it out there and convincing the public. And that vaccine hesitation is going to become more and more of a real issue for the rest of us as we start to see how much of our American public just refuses to take the vaccine. So do we ever really get to a place where this is under control or do we have to prepare ourselves every few months to take a look around and say it's cold weather, it's Christmas again, you've got to put your mask back on, you've got to stay indoors, you can't go out into restaurants. I mean, those are the kind of questions I have and then for the World Health Organization I got plenty, in terms of what's coming up with this report that will touch on China and the origins of the virus in the first place. ELAINE QUIJANO: Yeah, but there's so many questions as you point out with respect to these variants and with the vaccine skepticism or hesitancy. It's really just a variety of reasons too that people have. It's not sort of just any one thing which just adds to the constellation of uncertainty moving forward here. MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. ELAINE QUIJANO: Very quickly, Margaret, before we let you go, on a lighter note, I learned about something called Dispo last week from your new podcast Facing Forward. MARGARET BRENNAN: Oh, you listened. Great. ELAINE QUIJANO: You have another new episode dropping tomorrow. Of course I did. It was great. But you have another new episode dropping tomorrow what can we expect? MARGARET BRENNAN: We do. And it's a good conversation I think, I had with Sallie Krawcheck, who I covered for years, knew her as one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street when she was at the top of Citigroup, at the top of Bank of America also, by the way, one of the most powerful women. And now she is running her own boutique firm that is giving financial advice and sort of robo investing, where you can go in and invest small amounts automatically to build up your savings, that's her business. But her perspective here is on what to do coming out of this pandemic, which has economically really set women behind. We have been hurt the most in terms of the disproportionate share of job cuts, in terms of productivity, in terms of highlighting the lack of social safety net in this country. And so she lays out I think in some really useful terms, some advice there for planning for women to be thinking, but not just for women, also for our broader society because that's the point here, is you can't get the economy to return to where it was unless you get all the participants back into it. And those participants disproportionately who have been hurt are women, particularly those of color. So she's got some advice there on what to do. I think it's a pretty good conversation, I hope you'll listen. ELAINE QUIJANO: Yeah, I'm absolutely looking forward to it. New episodes of Facing Forward come out on Fridays. Margaret Brennan, Margaret, thank you so much. MARGARET BRENNAN: Thanks, Elaine. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Industries Oleh Urusky considers it necessary to strengthen cooperation with Uzbekistan. He said this during a meeting with Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Ukraine Alisher Kurmanov, the press service of the Ministry for Strategic Industries reported. "We emphasized the need to revitalize the work of the Joint Ukrainian-Uzbek Commission for Comprehensive Cooperation. Its last meeting was held in 2007, and now we have 2021. This situation is unacceptable and requires appropriate measures to resume the effective work of the commission," the report reads. In addition, Urusky supported the ambassador's proposal to organize and hold exhibitions of Uzbek products in Ukraine and of Ukrainian products in Uzbekistan. The minister noted that the volume of trade in goods and services between the two countries in 2020 increased to USD 449.6 million, which is 130% more than in 2019 (USD 345 million). Exports of Ukrainian goods to Uzbekistan grew by 137% and amounted to USD 295.6 million. Imports also increased up to USD 137 million. As reported, Urusky held a number of important meetings as part of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2021, which are aimed at expanding Ukraine's cooperation with the UAE, Jordan and Brazil. ish When new leaders came to power in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in recent years, people hoped it would spark an era of significant change in how the countries were governed. New Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev said soon after gaining power (in 2019 and 2016, respectively) that reforms were coming to their countries, and their governments are fond of telling the international community that the changes have already begun. What many Kazakh and Uzbek people in those two countries were hoping to see was the right to make their voices heard and to be able to participate meaningfully in politics. And while there have been changes, particularly in Uzbekistan, the situation with freedom of speech and the right to be active in politics does not seem to be any different than it was during the reigns of their repressive, autocratic predecessors: Nursultan Nazarbaev and Islam Karimov. One need only look at events in the first two months of this year. Kazakhstan There were widespread protests in Kazakhstan on February 28, with all of them but one, in the western city of Uralsk, being unsanctioned. In some cases, individual activists called for local rallies, in other cases it was unregistered opposition parties calling on their supporters to come out into the streets and air their discontent. But in all cases except Uralsk, police moved to stop the demonstrations and, in what has become a familiar scene, scores of people were detained. On March 19, it will be two years since Nazarbaev, Kazakhstans founding president, stepped down from office and ushered in his handpicked successor, Toqaev. It was disappointing for those who had dreamed of a different style of government in Kazakhstan after the long-ruling Nazarbaev would leave office. But their hopes were dashed quickly as the capital, Astana, was quickly renamed Nur-Sultan, and Nazarbaevs eldest daughter Darigha was selected for the second-highest post in the country, speaker of the Senate. Protests erupted afterward and dozens of people were detained. Demonstrations against those leadership changes that followed Nazarbaevs departure from office continued and peaked before, during, and after the snap June 9, 2019, presidential election that Toqaev won easily. It soon became apparent that while Nazarbaev was no longer president, he was still the main power in Kazakhstan, even though Toqaev attempted to show he was different from his predecessor and would make serious changes. On December 19, 2019, Toqaev said in a speech to parliament that Kazakhstan needed a new law that made it easier to conduct public meetings and rallies. He also said there needed to be genuine opposition parties in parliament. Kazakhstan passed a new law on public assemblies in May 2020. But the law imposed limits on how many people could participate, designated areas where rallies could take place and, while it officially dispensed with the pesky requirement of having to register with authorities ahead of time, it still forced organizers to inform local officials in advance of their intention to conduct a public meeting. According to the law, local officials cannot deny permission for rallies and meetings but they can deny requests from unregistered parties and groups to conduct a public gathering, and they have. Some groups were denied permission to hold public meetings. Others simply called on people to come to the demonstrations knowing that the authorities would work to stop them. So police were out in force on February 28, carrying people into police cars and vans or employing their new tactic of kettling -- surrounding protesters with a ring of police who for hours allow no one to join the crowd and prevent anyone from leaving it, for any reason. Police used this tactic on January 10 when there were protests in several of Kazakhstans major cities prompted by parliamentary elections many described as rigged. Mihra Rittmann of Human Rights Watch wrote on May 28 -- just after the law on protests was signed -- that in 2015, the then-United Nations special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Maina Kiai, said it best: [Kazakhstans] approach to regulating assemblies deprives the right of its meaning, and concluded by saying: "Sadly, despite promised reform, that assessment remains just as true today." And despite Toqaevs statements about the need to have a true opposition in parliament, no such parties were registered to take part. A new law on opposition in parliament was also passed in late May, but by that time Kazakhstans Justice Ministry had denied registration to a half dozen new parties. After Toqaev signed the law, parliamentary deputy Azat Peruashev from the Aq Zhol party gave a curious explanation of the need for an opposition party or parties in parliament, saying: There should be a parliamentary opposition, which will express the opinion of the people and raises issues of concern to the entire population, seemingly confirming that the pro-government parties in parliament are not working on behalf of Kazakhs. The election results in January showed that the only three parties to win seats in Kazakhstan's parliament since 2012 -- the ruling Nur-Otan party, the Peoples Party of Kazakhstan (formerly the Peoples Communist Party of Kazakhstan), and Aq Zhol -- once again were the only three parties to win seats in 2021. And despite the bitter cold weather, people came out to protest and were again detained and loaded onto police buses. Protesters being dragged or carried away to waiting buses has become the dominant image of Toqaevs presidency thus far and while authorities might brand these people as troublemakers or even extremists, it is clear there are many people in Kazakhstan who have not seen the type of reforms that they want. Uzbekistan Uzbekistan under Mirziyoev is a different country in many ways than it was under Karimov -- especially in the country's vastly improved relations with its neighbors -- but many areas that are glaringly the same as they were are freedom of speech, media freedom, and the inclusion of new political parties that are not pro-presidential. Mirziyoev was made acting president on September 8, 2016, six days after the announcement that Karimov had died. He won the snap presidential election on December 4 that year and will run for reelection in October. Uzbek media outlets are reporting on topics now that they would have avoided when Karimov was president, such as corruption among lower-level officials, social issues like evictions and the demolition of homes, activist and blogger detentions, and the use of forced labor in Uzbekistans cotton fields. On February 4, Mirziyoev was quoted by state media as telling journalists: "I am counting on your help. Do not stop delivering justice, do not be afraid. The president is behind you." An increase in inquisitiveness by some media outlets is obvious, though limitations on a free press still remain. Just two months earlier, authorities warned media outlets about reporting on electricity and heating shortages and the problems officials had restoring power to homes in many parts of Uzbekistan. Another example of self-censorship in Uzbek media was the recent case when there was no follow up on an extensive investigative report from RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, about massive construction at a site that appears to be a resort used by Mirziyoev except by referring to information that has appeared on Internet sites. They continued by defending the president, saying the luxurious retreat was intended as a holiday area for Uzbekistans approximately 90,000 railway workers. WATCH: Sloppy Uzbek Video Tries To Discredit RFE/RL Investigation Into President's Secret Residence In early December 2019, Senate chairwoman Tanzila Narbaeva boldly said that the government needs to deal with criticism in the media "correctly" and not respond with insults and threats. On January 30, blogger Otabek Sattori in the southern Uzbek city of Termez was taken into custody and accused of extorting money and a mobile phone. Sattori was known for criticizing local authorities on his video blog Halq Fikiri (Peoples Opinion), including Tura Bobolov, the governor of Surhandarya Province where Termez is located. On February 24, additional charges of slander and insult were filed against Sattori. Sattoris relatives have thus far been unable to see him since he was detained. U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Rosenblum tweeted about Sattoris case, writing: "full transparency needed regarding circumstances of his arrest." On February 22, Mirziyoev addressed the UN Human Rights Council via video link. In it, Mirziyoev said: We intend to further develop the institutions of civil society, not stopping at the progress already achieved, and fully support freedom of speech in Uzbekistan. On February 26, officers from the National Guard detained Khidirnazar Allaqulov at his home in Tashkent. Allaqulov is the founder of the unregistered Haqiqat va Taraqqiyot (Truth and Progress) party that had planned to hold a congress later that day. He was questioned and released but still could face charges of violation of privacy and the unlawful collection and dissemination of information about a persons private life without consent. Allaqulov has suggested he was intending to run for president in the election due later this year. Uzbekistan has five registered political parties; all of them are pro-government. No genuine opposition party has ever been registered in Uzbekistan. In January, Justice Minister Ruslanbek Davletov met with representatives from the unregistered opposition Erk Democratic party, which was founded in 1990. He told Erk representatives that their party would not be registered. Allaqulovs party met outside of Tashkent on March 10 for a founding congress but it remains doubtful the party will be officially registered. Despite the ample examples against greater freedoms in their countries, Toqaev and Mirziyoev have appealed to the international community to take another look at their countries and appreciate the small changes that they say have occurred. Both governments have even hired international lobbying and advertising firms to promote their countries, drawing attention to the investment and tourism potential. The Kazakh and Uzbek leaders have also repeatedly promised reforms, but it has been years since they've been in power and the most important domestic reforms have been either superficially addressed or not addressed at all. Maybe it is time for officials in those countries to either stop talking about reform or, better yet, to actually take action and make the changes they've pledged to make. AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford are preparing to file for emergency use authorization (EUA) for their COVID-19 vaccine later this month or in early April. The British drugmaker and school completed enrollment in their trial of more than 32,000 volunteers in January 2021 and now have data on at least 150 cases of COVID-19, two sources familiar with the trial told Reuters. The number of COVID-19 cases among those who got the vaccine versus infections in participants who received a placebo will show how effective the inoculation was at preventing illness in those age 18 and over. So far, the shot has been authorized in several countries, including the UK and the EU, but not yet by U.S. regulators. AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford will file for emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine with the FDA this month or early next month. Pictured: A vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, March 2021 Researchers now have data on at least 150 cases of COVID-19 that they believe will show their immunization is safe and effective. The U.S. is vaccinating an average of two million people per day AstraZeneca's immunization combines genetic material from the new virus with the genes of the adenovirus, which causes the common cold. It codes for the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to enter and infect cells in order to train the body to recognized the virus and induce an immune response if infected. This is the same technology that Johnson & Johnson used to make an experimental Ebola vaccine for people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in late 2019. 'The U.S. Phase III study results are necessary for the FDA's evaluation of an EUA request for our vaccine,' a company spokeswoman said, without confirming trial details being reported by Reuters. 'We expect data from our U.S. Phase III trial to be available soon, in the coming weeks, and we plan to file for emergency use authorization shortly thereafter.' Highly anticipated results from the U.S. trial could help settle safety concerns arising over reports of serious blood clots in some vaccine recipients that have led several nations to pause administering the vaccine. A World Health Organization expert advisory committee is looking into the matter. The data could also help determine what becomes of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses sitting in cold storage in warehouses across the U.S. It comes on the heels of the news the U.S. is sitting on a small inventory of the vaccine, which it plans to deploy to Americans should an EUA be granted as 19.3% have received at least one dose In a Friday press briefing, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said the U.S. has a small inventory of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which it plans to keep and deploy to Americans should an EUA be granted. But some countries are prodding President Joe Biden to release the supply, noting that the administration has already lined up enough doses of three other vaccines to cover every American adult by the end of May and the entire U.S. population by the end of July. EU member states' ambassadors this week discussed the challenge of accessing US-produced doses of the AstraZeneca shots. The German government said on Friday it was in contact with U.S. officials about vaccine supplies, but stressed that the European Commission had the lead when it comes to procuring shots for member states. 'Hopefully, we will be in a position on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure that sufficient quantities of vaccine doses are distributed out in line with the schedule so as to complete the vaccination campaigns,' EU commission chief spokesman Eric Mamer told the Associated Press. Asked whether the EU's executive arm had asked AstraZeneca to deliver US-made doses of the vaccine to Europe, Mamer declined to provide details of discussions with the company. Even though it is not approved in the U.S., well over 10 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine are stockpiled in the country for domestic use and cannot be exported under the terms of the companys agreement with the federal government. Drug manufacturers that received federal assistance in developing or expanding vaccine manufacturing of doses were required to sell their first doses to the U.S. In the case of AstraZeneca, whose vaccine was initially expected to be the first to receive federal emergency use authorization, the U.S. government ordered 300 million doses - enough for 150 million Americans - before issues with the vaccines clinical trial held up its approval in the U.S. The late-stage study was put on hold on September 9 when a British participant was rushed to the hospital after suffering a serious reaction that triggered spinal cord inflammation. An internal safety report revealed the British patient was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of a section of the spinal cord. The condition damages the myelin sheath, an insulating barrier of fatty protein that protects the nerves, and interrupts messages sent by spinal cord nerves. The trial was on hold for about a month in the U.S. before regulators determined testing was safe to resume. New Delhi, March 12 : Upping the ante against the government over the issue of unemployment and failed governance, hundreds of National Students Union of India (NSUI) activists on Friday staged a protest demanding jobs. Hundreds of NSUI activists led by national chief Neeraj Kunda had organised 'Chhatra Adhikar March'. They were stopped by the Delhi Police soon after they started the march towards the Parliament. The police also detained 150-200 NSUI activists. Some people started pelting stone on the activists and the Delhi Police following which the police had to resort to mild lathi charge. NSUI had earlier started a campaign called as "Naukri Do Ya Degree Vapis Lo" (give jobs or take back degrees). Speaking to media during the protest, AICC general secretary and Delhi Congress in-charge Shakti Singh Gohil said, "We have to wake up this sleeping BJP government and make them realise their faults." AICC secretary and Uttarakhand in-charge Devendra Yadav said, "Student community is very powerful and playing with their future will never benefit the government." Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary said that it requires a lot of courage and dedication to organise a campaign like 'Naukri Do, ya Degree Vapis Lo' and only a students' union like NSUI can do so. "The BJP government has lost the ability to understand the sufferings of the people. Unemployment is at an all time high, there are a lot of irregularities in various exams, the placement cells are inactive, there is an issue in Bihar teachers recruitment and various results are pending. A lot of people are not able to realise how dangerous the situation can be," he added. Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja said that unemployment is a major problem and the current government is not at all seeing the dangers caused by this. Just when it seems weve been there and done that with the fried chicken sandwich didnt we peak with Popeyes 2019 hot take? Bay Area chefs are rolling out more signature styles from extra hot and sour versions on Dutch crunch buns to those using chicken thighs first brined in pickles for 48 hours. Of course, fried chicken sandwiches are nothing new; theyve been on menus at other restaurants such as mom-and-pop shop Bakesale Betty in Oakland, which debuted its now famous sandwich nearly 20 years ago. But these versions go to new extremes. So what gives? For Collin Hilton, chef at ABV in San Francisco, it was a way to keep the restaurant afloat. It was a weird time in the pandemic when every restaurant was trying to reinvent themselves, noted Hilton. Like other restaurants, ABV was dabbling in retail. One item on offer was a package of pastured poultry, which Hilton tested by turning it into a fried chicken sandwich. The version he ended up creating was such a hit with staff that he put it on the menu. It was the result of us trying to navigate the pandemic and stay in business, but it ended up being special, said Hilton of the sandwich. For David Fisher, who runs the fine dining restaurant Marlena with his wife, Serena Chow, the chicken sandwich is a creative outlet. Its funny, because I love getting complex with food, and I also absolutely love simplicity, said Fisher, who typically serves labor-intensive, intricately plated dishes during dinner service at the restaurant. Others, like True Laurels executive chef Geoff Davis, see it as a way to keep customers happy. Im not someone who wants to have two sandwiches on the menu, said Davis, whose impressive patty melt has been a menu mainstay since the cocktail bar opened just over four years ago. But Davis needed an additional item that was portable, so he introduced the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Enjoy it while you can. I dont see it staying on when things return to normal, Davis said. Heres a look at some of these new fried chicken sandwiches around the Bay Area. Omar Mamoon Marlena Before wife-and-husband duo Serena Chow and David Fisher had the chance to serve their first diner at their tasting menu restaurant, Marlena, the couple started off assembling picnic baskets for patrons to take to Precita Park across the street. One of the offerings in the basket was a buffalo fried chicken sandwich, which Fisher put on the menu as a nod to the buffalo chicken tenders he ate as a child at his parents diner back in Buffalo, N.Y. Fisher uses free-range heirloom chicken thighs that he seasons with salt, dredges in cornstarch and all-purpose flour, fries in rice bran oil until golden and crispy, then tosses in the familiar emulsion of Franks Hot Sauce and butter. The chicken is placed between a griddled brioche bun slathered with Meyer lemon-garlic aioli for a layer of bright richness, along with house-made quick pickles and a simple green cabbage slaw that add a cooling crunch. When we tried to switch the sandwich, people kept asking for the buffalo chicken, said Chow. It became our heavy hitter. Marlena now offers the sandwich a la carte on the weekends in addition to the picnic baskets. Marlena isnt the only fancy restaurant that has turned to fried chicken sandwiches in the pandemic Michelin-starred Birdsong introduced Claude the Claw in its pivot to Birdbox, and Kim Alters fine dining spot, Nightbird, spun off as Nightburger, where general manager Roy Boyd garnishes his behemoth of a sandwich with fried chicken skin. Marlena: 300 Precita Ave., San Francisco. $13 a la carte. www.marlenarestaurant.com or www.instagram.com/marlenarestaurant/ Nightbird: 330 Gough St., San Francisco. $15. www.exploretock.com/hayesvalleyburger or www.instagram.com/nightburger138 Omar Mamoon True Laurel True Laurels Geoff Davis brines halal chicken thighs in a white wine-dill pickle brine fortified with herbs and spices for 48 hours so that it stays extra juicy. The chicken is dredged, fried and dunked in a spicy chile oil (his nod to Nashville) that features almost 30 spices, including Calabrian chiles, Aleppo and Sichuan peppercorn, and more. Its then dusted with a dry fermented chile bouillon powder to add an extra layer of funky heat and served on a soft Martins potato roll with a smear of MSG-spiked dill pickle mayo. 753 Alabama St., San Francisco. $16. www.truelaurelsf.com or www.instagram.com/truelaurelsf/ Omar Mamoon Belfare Belfare is a Sonoma pop-up started by chef Erik Lowe, formerly of fine dining restaurant Maybecks on Lombard Street in San Francisco. At the beginning of the pandemic, Lowe left the restaurant and started his pop-up, where he serves up his spin on the fried chicken sandwich. Unlike others who use thighs, Lowe uses chicken breast, which he pounds down to provide even thickness before dipping in buttermilk, dredging in panko and frying. I was definitely going for a tonkatsu kinda vibe theres always Japanese influence in the food that I do, said Lowe, who worked at Hiro Sones shuttered Michelin-starred Japanese-Californian fine dining Ame in a previous life. Cajun-spiced cabbage slaw lends a subtly spiced crunchy note, mayonnaise spiked with Japanese sesame oil provides creaminess and nuttiness, and house-made dill pickles give the necessary acidity. The soft Parker House-like buns are custom made by Fire Swamp Provisions, a local bakery pop-up that also started during the pandemic. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Lowe can be found at the Petaluma East Side Farmers Market on Tuesdays, as well as various wineries throughout the month. Petaluma East Side Farmers Market. 320 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma. $14. www.belfaresonoma.com or www.instagram.com/belfaresonoma/ Omar Mamoon ABV Collin Hilton, of the 16th Street cocktail bar ABV, brines thighs overnight then dredges them in a spiced flour mixture studded with toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds for additional texture and depth of flavor. A spicy aioli made with fermented jalapeno hot sauce provides subtle heat and flavors an undressed green cabbage slaw, and the atypical addition of creamy avocados and melted Havarti provides an extra buttery note to the sandwich. 3174 16th St., San Francisco. $14. www.abvsf.com or www.instagram.com/abvsf/ Omar Mamoon Fowl + Fare Chef Will Allen started his weekend-only pop-up Fowl + Fare in May during the pandemic as a side hustle while working his day job at a dispensary. Allen makes carefully constructed, heavily seasoned, extra-crispy fried chicken sandwiches on soft Dutch crunch buns baked in-house. A chipotle aioli provides creaminess and slight smokiness, a cabbage-pear slaw adds a touch of vinegary sweetness, and house-made quick pickles provide saltiness and crunch. It sounds like a lot and it is but each component plays a role. The citric hot version comes with a thick hot sauce spiked with citric acid, a citrus-derived white powder that has a variety of culinary uses ranging from preserving to providing the sour flavor profile in candies. Its like lemon juice in powder form, said Allen of the ingredient, which adds a note to his hot sauce unlike any other. Everyone does Nashville hot chicken but I wanted mine to be different, said Allen. He cited Princes Hot Chicken as his inspiration. It is a very fair assumption I was high when I came up with the idea. 101 Broadway, Oakland. $13.50. www.instagram.com/fowlfare Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (CNN) -- The House passed gun legislation that would expand background checks on all commercial gun sales, marking the first congressional move on significant gun control since Democrats won the White House and the majority in both chambers of Congress. The House passed the legislation in two separate votes. The first vote on H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, passed 227-203 and would expand background checks for all firearm sales or transfers in the country. Currently, background checks are not required for gun sales and transfers by unlicensed and private sellers. And eight Republicans supported the legislation and one Democrat voting against it. The eight Republicans were Vern Buchanan of Florida, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Maria Salazar of Florida, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Fred Upton of Michigan, Carlos Gimenez of Florida and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. And the lone Democrat was Rep. Jared Golden, who also voted against the Covid-19 package. Two Republicans voted for it in 2019 but did not support it this time around Reps. Brian Mast and Mario Diaz-Balart. Separate legislation, H.R. 1446, introduced by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and called the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, passed 218-210 would close what's known as the "Charleston Loophole," which allows some licensed gun sales to go through before a required background check is done. Using that loophole, Dylann Roof was able to legally purchase a firearm to kill nine people at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. Two Democrats opposed the legislation Reps. Ron Kind of Wisconsin and Golden. And the Republicans who voted for this legislation were Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Smith of New Jersey. "These people who were practicing their faith, their faith that taught them to welcome in a stranger, a stranger came to their door and they welcomed into their Bible study, he sat with them for an hour," Clyburn said on the House floor Wednesday. "The stranger that they had welcomed in had opened fire and killed nine of them, one of who was the pastor, a former intern of mine." "This law would have prevented that gentleman from getting a gun," Clyburn added. The bills are expected to pass the House but will face a steep uphill climb in the Senate as Democrats hold a slim 50-50 majority and would need significant Republican support to overcome a legislative filibuster. Still, the legislation remains a priority for the Biden administration. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer committed to putting the Bipartisan Background Checks Act on the Senate floor for a vote and suggested having discussions after on how to work with Republicans. "We'll have the good sense to have had this bill twice and in the past when they send it over to us last time, it went into Mitch McConnell's legislative graveyard. The legislative graveyard is over. H.R. 8 will be on the floor of the Senate and we will see where everybody stands," Schumer said. "No more thoughts and prayers. A vote is what we need. A vote." When asked what will need to happen for Senate Democrats to get to 60 votes on the legislation, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said there have been "ongoing conversations" to get Republicans to sign on. "There have been ongoing conversations off and on all the way through. And, you know, I think Sen. Schumer was clear that the initial vote would be on H.R. 8, and then we would talk about what might be advisable and necessary to pass it," he told reporters. And Sen. Chris Murphy, also a Connecticut Democrat, expressed hope some sort of gun control legislation could pass in the Senate. "I just think we're living in such a different world than 2013. So much has changed. The politics around us are fundamentally different....I just think that you can't compare 2013 to 2021. I think there are a lot of Republican senators that are thinking about voting for a proposal allows them to get right on this issue," Murphy said, who represents Connecticut where the Sandy Hook shooting took place. He added: "And we will see where people stand. And maybe we'll get the votes and if we don't we'll come together and figure out how we're going to get this done because we have to get it done." The White House has also said gun control legislation is a "priority" for President Joe Biden. "I will say that the President is somebody, throughout his career, who has advocated for smart gun -- smart gun safety measures," press secretary Jen Psaki said during a White House briefing last month, adding that the President is "not afraid of standing up to the NRA -- he's done it multiple times and won -- on background checks and a range of issues. And it is a priority to him on a personal level." Brian Lemek -- the executive director of Brady PAC, the sister organization of gun violence prevention group the Brady Campaign -- praised the House members who supported the legislation. "Members of the House of Representatives made it clear today, with bipartisan support, where they stand on preventing a countless number of deaths from happening again in the future. Between now and 2022, Brady PAC will make sure every voter knows and doesn't forget who did and did not vote for this lifesaving piece of legislation that 90% of Americans support," he said. This story and headline have been updated with additional developments Thursday. The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques takes a photograph through the windows of the space station's cupola. Credit: Canadian Space Agency/NASA Those who see Earth from the International Space Station often say it provides a new appreciation of our planet. The Avian Migration Aerial Surface Space project, or AMASS, takes advantage of thousands of images captured by astronauts to give people an appreciation of the migrations many birds undertake across the planet. Also called Space for Birds, the project maps the routes taken by seven endangered or threatened bird species, highlighting along those routes habitat changes caused mainly by human activities. After more than four years, astronauts now have captured images of key locations along the migratory paths of all seven species. The Roberta Bondar Foundation sponsors AMASS in collaboration with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The foundation is a research and education effort started by Bondar, the first Canadian woman to fly in space. "We look at environmental education as a way to get people to love something," says Bondar. "If they love something, they will want to protect it." She traveled to remote areas, taking photos on the ground and in the air of the birds and their environment, but knew that images from space could help people grasp the bigger picture. The images are part of the space station's Crew Earth Observation (CEO) project, which supports a wide variety of research and education projects. AMASS began working with CEO in 2016, photographing locations along the North American migratory path of the Whooping Crane. The collaboration expanded in 2018 and 2019 when CSA astronaut David Saint-Jacques flew aboard the space station. "It has always been one of my passions to look at Earth from space," Saint-Jacques says. "Because birds are affected by what we do to the planet, this was a beautiful way for me to give a theme to my Earth observations. Seeing the span of migrations from space, to imagine birds flying these incredible distances, was awe inspiring." This image taken from the International Space Station shows Lake Victoria, left, and Lake Natron, upper middle, in Africa. Lesser Flamingoes rely on both for important habitat. Credit: CEO/NASA Subsequent crews continued the work. Taking images is a popular activity on station, Saint-Jacques says, so it took little effort to recruit new crew members. The seven species for the project, which Bondar chose in consultation with the United Nations Environment Program and US Fish and Wildlife Service, are the Curlew Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Lesser Flamingo, Piping Plover, Sprague's Pipit, Red Knot rufa species, and Whooping Crane. The project plans to host exhibits and educational events, but during the pandemic, decided to create online story maps. These maps provide information about the biology and threats to survival for each of the species, as well as images, video, and maps of land use changes. The first completed story map covers the Lesser Flamingo. In addition, CSA's Exploring Earth, an educational project using photos from space on an interactive map, is incorporating bird migration information. The map has photographs from space, information on each species, and resources for teachers. Users can learn about a species, its breeding grounds, migratory pathways, and overwintering areas. Worldwide, some 1,500 bird species face extinction, and the disruption of migratory corridors represents a serious threat. Space images help bring attention to those threats. Roberta Bondar of the Bondar Foundation and AMASS investigation takes aerial photos of birds on Africa's Lake Bogoria for the Space for Birds project. Credit: Roberta L Bondar "Space imagery shows the position of a habitat in the broader scope of the planet," Bondar says. "The overlapping of emotion and vision focuses people on conservation." Taking photos from the space station presents unique challenges, including the speed at which the station movesfive miles per secondand the crew's busy schedule. "You have these little slivers of time going over a location and not a lot of time to prepare," Saint-Jacques says. "You're looking forward as the scene comes toward you pretty fast and have just a few seconds over that location and a few more as you look back flying away. Chasing the right frame is a bit of an art." In addition, all the logistics must be in place, including identifying the target and having the correct camera lens, while also accounting for the amount of cloud cover and season. But the effort is worth it. "The distances these birds fly instinctively is still mysterious to zoologists," Saint-Jacques says. "It takes humans immense technology to fly around the world, and birds just do it. I gained more respect for those animals, to see that the entire world is their environment." Bondar notes that almost everyone has a camera these days, even if just on a phone, providing an accessible lens through which to view nature. "Photography can reconnect people to the natural world. From space, we can see entire migratory corridors and patterns we didn't even know existed. It's a view of the extraordinary feats of these birds." For Saint-Jacques, one of the less tangible of the many benefits of space exploration is that new perspective. "The space station is a great testament to the unifying power of space exploration. Very quickly you feel that you are not a citizen of a particular country, but an Earthling. We share this planet with many other species, and we have the responsibility to be decent housemates." Explore further 2 Russians venture into open space from Space Station Vietnam is "seriously concerned over "escalating violence and fatalities" in Myanmar recently and has asked Myanmar to protect Vietnamese citizens and businesses in the country, the foreign spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said on Thursday. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang responded to press queries during the regular briefing on Thursday in Hanoi. Responding to media queries on the protests against the military rule in Myanmar, the Vietnamese diplomat called on all related parties to exercise "utmost restraint", avoid the use of excessive violence, and try to resolve conflicts via dialogues. "We hope the situation in Myanmar soon stabilises, for the sake of the people and for the sake of stability in the region," Hang noted. Vietnam also shares the common position of Southeast Asian members stated in the ASEAN Chairmans Statement on The Developments in The Republic of The Union of Myanmar (dated February 1, 2021), the Chairs Statement on the Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (IAMM) on March 2, 2021, in which emphasis is placed on the adherence to the ASEAN Charter to promote "dialogue and reconciliation", and hopes that Myanmar would soon return to normal on the basis of the people's will, conducive to the building of the ASEAN Community, Hang said. She affirmed that Vietnam will work actively with other ASEAN members to seek solutions for the Myanmar issue. Regarding citizen protection measures, Hang said Vietnam has asked Myanmar to ensure the lives and health of Vietnamese citizens along with legitimate interests of Vietnamese businesses in Myanmar. There are currently 600 Vietnamese citizens residing, working or studying in Myanmar. Earlier this month, 390 Vietnamese citizens have been repatriatied from Myanmar, against the backdrops of recent developments in Myanmar as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Under the directives from the foreign ministry, the Vietnamese embassy in Myanmar has been constantly monitoring the situation, working with local authorities and keeping in touch with contact points of the Vietnamese community to remain updated on information, and to provide recommendations based on the current situation and citizen protection measures when necessary. "Should you seek information or need help regarding Vietnamese citizens in Myanmar, please dial the citizen protection hotline of the Vietnamese embassy in Myanmar or the citizen protection operation system under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Hang said. Earlier on Wednesday, during the United Nations' Security Council meeting on the Myanmar situation, Viet Nam emphasised the need to end violence, stabilise the situation and ensure safety for civilians. Vietnam also informed participants on ASEANs efforts in promoting dialogue and seeking a solution to the issue, adding that ASEAN is willing to assist Myanmar in a goodwill manner and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter. Indo-Pacific Vietnam on Thursday has also condemned Chinas military drill on Triton (Tri Ton) island in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, which Viet Nam has claimed as its own, as illegal. Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence and legal basis to assert its sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Paracel) and Hoang Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Hang said. All activities in the Paracel and Spratly islands, which belong to Vietnam, without the permission of Vietnam, constitute a violation of Vietnams sovereignty over the two islands, complicate the situation and are not conducive to peace, stability, order, security, and maritime freedom and freedom of overflight in the South China Sea (known in Vietnam as East Sea), Hang stressed. In response to US President Joe Biden administration's recently announced Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, spokesperson Hang said there are currently various initiatives and ideas regarding cooperation in the Indo-Pacific led by countries within and outside the region. Vietnam always appreciates and welcomes the initiatives that contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region, on the basis of the law and respecting international laws for the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, and to ensure the ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture, Hang said. Regarding the 'Quad' summit between leaders of US, Japan, India and Australia, the diplomat said Viet Nam hopes all countries continue to contribute to regional peace, security, stability, and prosperity, as the country closely follows the policies of all major powers. Hong Kong election Asked for comments on Chinese National People's Congress adopting on Thursday a decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), which has been criticised by many countries as eroding Hong Kong's democracy, the Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesperson maintained that the Hong Kong issue is purely China's domestic affairs. "Vietnam's position regarding Hong Kong has been clearly stated many times before. Vietnam respects and supports China's "one country, two systems" principle, the Hong Kong Basic Law and regulations related to Hong Kong," Hang said. Vietnam always hopes for stability and prosperity in Hong Kong, she noted. Vietnam's freedom Regarding the recent report of Freedom House claiming that Vietnam continues to be among groups of countries that lack freedom of speech, spokesperson Hang said: "Vietnam's consistent policy is to protect human rights, including the basic freedoms stipulated in our 2013 Constitution and other legal documents." "In the past, Vietnam has been continually perfecting our system and laws, implementing a lot of concrete measures to better improve human rights and citizen rights," Hang noted, adding that Viet Nam has had international cooperation regarding human rights. "In the last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council (HRC), many countries have highly regarded Vietnam's achievements and efforts, they have appreciated our approach and have offered constructive recommendations," the spokesperson said. Vietnam takes ensuring safety for foreigners seriously Vietnam always take ensuring safety for both local residents and foreigners living in the country very seriously and will strictly punish rule violators, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang. Hang made the statement in response to a question regarding recent sexual harassment against foreign women in Hanois Tay Ho district which has stirred up complaints from several foreign diplomatic missions in the capital city. Upon receipt of the complaints, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has exchanged with concerned foreign diplomatic missions and asked local authorities, including Hanois police department, for cooperation in verifying and investigating the cases, Hang said at a regular press conference on March 11. The harassers will be strictly punished so as to not only restore security and safety for foreigners living in Hanoi but also warn off others from committing the same wrongdoing, she added. She further noted that the Hanoi police has summoned a number of suspects for questioning. They have confessed to involving in the assaults, she said. Tay Ho district police have communicated with local residents, especially owners of houses rented to foreigners, to maintain security and safety in the area, according to Hang. Vietnam intensifying border surveillance to prevent illegal entry, exit Vietnam is intensifying surveillance along its borders to prevent any illegal entry and exit, Hang said. Foreigners have been discovered illegally entering Vietnam by authorities in some localities, she said, and these people were tested for COVID-19 and sent to quarantine or given treatment if infected. They will be punished under Vietnamese law after their quarantine is completed, Hang added. She revealed that Vietnamese authorities have been actively coordinating with their counterparts in other countries, especially those with which it shares a border, like China, to better manage the border and stop illegal entry and exit. The spokesperson noted further that in response to the Prime Ministers order, the Ministries of National Defence and Public Security and the Peoples Committees of border provinces have strengthened inspections and surveillance along the border and examined control over illegal entry and exit, particularly via unmonitored paths and trails. Vietnam will vigorously punish those breaking immigration rules, according to Hang. Authorities have investigated and strictly dealt with a number of people organising illegal entry into or exit from Vietnam, with cases published in the media, she said. VNA/VNS A pharmacist holds a container of chlorine dioxide at the Farmacia Boliviana in Cochabamba, Bolivia. REUTERS/Danilo Balderrama Argentinian authorities raided labs producing a toxic bleach marketed as a miracle cure. The substance was fueled by an online misinformation campaign and has been linked to two deaths. Officials are investigating German national Andreas Kalcker's role in promoting the bleach. Kalcker called the probe a "witch hunt." See more stories on Insider's business page. Prosecutors in Argentina have raided labs suspected of producing and selling the fake "miracle mineral solution," a type of toxic bleach, as a treatment for COVID-19. Officials raided six places where the substance was suspected of being produced or sold, with five located in suburbs of the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires and one in the coastal city of Mar del Plata, Argentinian newspaper La Tercera first reported Tuesday. The details of the raids were confirmed to Insider by an Argentinian official. As part of the raids, investigators seized quantities of chlorine dioxide, as well as bottles in which the substance was to be sold branded as "Miracle Mineral Solutions" or "MMS" as a treatment for COVID-19 and other illnesses. The investigators also seized computers and electronic equipment. MMS is how the substance is known to a large network of conspiracy theorists and alternative health advocates, which mainly operates online. The movement was inspired by a fake church in Florida whose leader, Jim Humble, claimed to have discovered its miraculous healing powers while on a jungle mission. The followers claim, groundlessly, that MMS is a miracle cure for a range of illnesses and conditions, and is being suppressed by medical authorities. Chlorine dioxide's common use is for treating wood products and stripping paint. Public-health authorities including the Pan American Health Organization, the US Food and Drugs Administration, and Spain's leading medical regulator, the Organizacion Medical Colegial, have issued warnings that consuming chlorine dioxide is potentially lethal, and that there is no evidence that it's effective as a treatment for any illness. Marketing and selling it as a treatment is already banned in several countries. Story continues Insider has reported on how advocates have seized on the COVID-19 pandemic to turbocharge the popularity of the substance in South America using Facebook. Andreas Kalcker, a German self-described "biophysicist" with no medical qualifications, has played a key role in the campaign. Wednesday's raids were launched in connection with the investigation into Kalcker, which was started in EFbruary by Argentina's medical regulator a five-year-old boy and 50-year-old man died after taking the substance. Kalcker has not been charged with any offenses. Several Argentinian nationals are under investigation in connection with the premises raided on Wednesday, though no arrests were made and no charges were filed. Kalcker, who is believed to reside in Switzerland, described the investigation as a "witch hunt." "In Argentina they are simply leading a witch hunt because Clo2 [chlorine dioxide] is not only legal in the neighboring country of Bolivia but is proving to be most effective against Sars-Cov 2 with no negative side-effects whatsoever," he wrote in an email to Insider. In response to Argentinian authorities launching the investigation in February, he claimed that the doses he recommends of the substance is not toxic. He provided no evidence to substantiate this claim. Argentina's crackdown on the ring of advocates suspected of producing and promoting MMS contrasts with the response in neighboring Bolivia, where the government, ignoring a warning from its own ministry of health, embraced the substance and licensed it for mass production. A conference for the promotion of MMS was held in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz De La Sierra on Wednesday. Listed speakers included Jim Humble, the founder of the Florida church where the movement originated. Last July Mark Grenon, a leader of the church, was arrested in Colombia and charged with producing and selling MMS,. The substance has been linked to seven deaths in the US. Read the original article on Business Insider Police in Richmond are searching for two missing 11-year-old girls late Thursday evening. It is believed that both girls are together and likely still in the Richmond area. Missing are Zxitlali Serrano and Lizzy Madrid-Orellina. Zxitlali is Hispanic, stands 5'2" tall and weighs 100 pounds. She has black hair, green eyes and was last seen wearing black clothing and black boots. Lizzy is Hispanic, stands 5'3" tall and weighs 100 pounds. She has black hair with a red stripe in it, and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing all black clothing. If seen, or if anyone has information about their whereabouts, please call the Richmond Police Department at (510) 233-1214. In response to the growing rate of hate crimes being reported amid the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco leaders rallied Thursday to show support for the city's Asian and Pacific Islander community. Since the onset of the pandemic several high-profile crimes against Asians and Pacific Islanders have been reported in the Bay Area and nationwide. In January, an assault in Oakland's Chinatown left a 91-year-old with serious injuries. In another case in January, also in Chinatown in Oakland, a suspect shot a 52-year-old Asian-American woman in the head with a flare gun. Days later, in San Francisco, a suspect attacked an 84-year-old Thai America man without provocation, ultimately killing him. In an effort to address the escalating problem, District Attorney Chesa Boudin said his office has hired one full time assistant district attorney to focus solely on hate crimes. In addition, Boudin's office has requested funding for additional victim services to bolster support for victims throughout the course of their investigation. Boudin's office is also working with the Coalition for Community Safety and Justice in San Francisco to promote culturally competent services for non-English speaking victims. Police in San Francisco on Thursday announced the arrest of a woman connected to the assault of an Uber driver that was caught on camera -- prompted after the driver asked his passengers to wear a mask. According to police, 24-year-old Malaysia King was apprehended on Monday in Las Vegas by police and arrested on suspicion of assault with a caustic chemical, assault, conspiracy, and violating a health and safety code. King remains in custody in Las Vegas and is being held without bail, according to jail records. King's arrest stems from an incident that began Sunday around 12:45 p.m. when a 32-year-old Uber driver picked up King and two others near the corner of San Bruno Avenue and Felton Street. Shortly after picking them up, the driver realized one of the three passengers was not wearing a mask, violating local and state health orders. When the driver refused to continue the ride unless all passengers had masks on, an argument ensued. At another point in the now viral video, the passengers can be seen intentionally coughing on the driver and taunting him. One of the passengers, identified as 24-year-old Arna Kimiai, then reached over the took the driver's cellphone. The driver was able to get his cellphone back and the suspects ultimately exited his vehicle. However, upon exiting, one of the suspects reached into the driver's window and sprayed what investigators believe was pepper spray. Although Kimiai remains outstanding, police said they've learned through her legal counsel that she's planning on turning herself in. The suspect in an officer-involved shooting in Danville Thursday was throwing rocks from an Interstate 680 overpass and onto freeway traffic lanes directly below, according to a Danville town spokesperson. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department and the county's District Attorney's Office are continuing to investigate the incident, which began at 11:48 a.m. when police dispatch received several calls from motorists regarding an individual throwing rocks off the Sycamore Valley Road overpass. Town spokesperson Geoff Gillette said Thursday evening that a Danville police officer arrived at the scene and contacted the individual in the area of Sycamore Valley Road and Camino Ramon, just east of the freeway. The officer approached the man and attempted to speak with him. The man then pulled out a folding knife and then opened it. The officer ordered him to drop the knife several times. The man then approached the officer, who then discharged his weapon, striking the man once. Firefighters from the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District and an ambulance responded to the scene. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he is being treated. His identity has not been released. During the investigation on scene Thursday, Sycamore Valley Road was closed to traffic for hours between San Ramon Valley Boulevard and Brookside Drive. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff's department's investigation division through dispatch at (925) 646-2441 or at (925) 313-2600. For any tips, please email tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message. The fire that burned for several hours Thursday at the Tesla Factory in Fremont's Warm Springs District was located in an area of the automobile assembly plant that is under construction and is contained to a vehicle manufacturing stamping machine, according to a Fremont Fire Department spokesperson. The fire was first reported at 4:27 p.m. at the plant, at 45500 Fremont Blvd., according to fire department spokesperson Aisha Knowles. She added that it is a "deep-seated fire", and that Fremont firefighters have been coordinating the firefighting effort with the Tesla Fire Response Team. Two Fremont fire engines and one truck remain at the scene to monitor the fire. Knowles said the cause of the fire is molten aluminum and hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic fluid has been identified as the source of the fire. There are no reports of injuries to Tesla or Fremont Fire Department personnel. The fire is not affecting traffic on Fremont Boulevard nor nearby Interstate 880. The Bay Area's fourth largest city is the happiest city in the country, according to WalletHub, a personal finance website. Fremont is receiving the distinction of "Happiest City in the United States" for 2021, a new WalletHub survey reports. The criteria, which measures emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, community and environment, and location, compared more than 180 of the nation's largest cities with one another. WalletHub examined each city based on 31 key indicators of happiness, ranging from the depression rate to the income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day. Fremont came up No. 1 in the country. That is certainly something for the residents and civic leaders of this city of nearly 250,000 people to smile about. This year's top listing is the third time Fremont has been chosen No. 1. Fremont was not the only Bay Area city to make the list. San Jose, the region's largest city with more than 1 million people, came in as the fifth happiest city. Santa Rosa, with 175,000 people, came in 10th place, with San Francisco, with approximately 900,000 residents, placing 13th. Oakland, with 425,000 people, placed 38th. The National Weather Service forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area calls for a chilly Friday morning with overnight lows in the 30s and 40s. During the day Friday, it will be sunny and clear with highs reaching the upper 50s to the 60s. Sunny skies are expected through the weekend. Copyright 2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. 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. 33110 Quzara joins the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) to support customers better defend themselves against cyber attacks. FREMONT, CA: Quzara, a leader in cloud security & cybersecurity compliance, announces that it chooses to join the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), an ecosystem of independent software vendors and managed security service providers that have integrated solutions to support customers better defend themselves against cyber attacks. Quzara was selected for their managed security services and use of Azure Security Center, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Cloud App Security, and Microsoft Azure Sentinel. Quzara Cybertorch, Managed Detection & Response (MDR) Platform, has deep integrations for the Microsoft Commercial and Government Clouds. It offers threat protection, investigation, and incident response abilities for Microsoft 365 Defender & Azure Defender. Leveraging the Microsoft security graph's power and using Microsoft Azure Sentinel to ingest, investigate, and respond to alerts, Quzara Cybertorch allows customers to meet security and compliance demands such as FedRAMP and CMMC. The company is honored to be part of MISA, a community of cybersecurity experts across the sector with a shared goal of enhancing customer security with valuable and effective solutions. Cybertorch uses Microsoft Azure Sentinels built-in artificial intelligence and custom alerts and actions to accurately identify security threats strengthening the customers' security operations. GTM and Evangelism is pleased to welcome Quzara LLC to the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA). By including the strategic Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) in MISA, the company hopes to further allow collaboration between pioneering security technology companies. Together, the firms can better secure and protect their joint customers. MISA members are the cybersecurity industry leaders, unified by the common aim of helping secure customers by providing their valuable expertise and making the association more effective as it expands. Quzara is a WOSB, SBA 8(a), and GSA HAC SINS approved Cybersecurity firm based in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan. Quzara offers compliance advisory, security engineering, and managed security services. Quzara also performs U.S. Citizen only/24x7x365 Managed Detection & Response (MDR) Platform on a FedRAMP Authorized service environment on Microsoft Azure Government. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 (AP) President Joe Biden is set to sign into law Thursday the $1.9 trillion relief package that he says will help the U.S. defeat the virus and nurse the economy back to health. He originally planned to sign the bill on Friday. But the White House moved that up to Thursday afternoon, hours before the president plans to give his first prime-time address to the American public on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. Chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted that the bill actually arrived at the White House late Wednesday, more quickly than than anticipated. We want to move as fast as possible, he said. He added, We will hold our celebration of the signing on Friday, as planned, with congressional leaders! THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below. WASHINGTON (AP) Marking a year of loss and disruption, President Joe Biden will use his first prime-time address since taking office to steer the nation toward a hungered-for sentiment hope in the next phase of the fight against the pandemic that has killed more than 529,000 Americans. Previewing his remarks, Biden said he would talk about what weve been through as a nation this past year, but more importantly, Im going to talk about what comes next. Biden's challenge Thursday night will be to honor the sacrifices made by Americans over the last year while encouraging them to remain vigilant despite virus fatigue and growing impatience to resume normal activities given the tantalizing promise of vaccines. Speaking on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization's declaration of a pandemic, he'll mourn the dead, but also project optimism about the future. This is a chance for him to really beam into everybodys living rooms and to be both the mourner in chief and to explain how hes leading the country out of this, said presidential historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley. This is a big moment, Brinkley added. Hes got to win over hearts and minds for people to stay masked and get vaccinated, but also recognize that after the last year, the federal government hasnt forgotten you. Bidens evening remarks in the East Room are central to a pivotal week for the president as he addresses the defining challenge of his term: shepherding the nation through the twin public health and economic storms brought about by the virus. On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released initial guidance for how vaccinated people can resume some normal activities. On Wednesday, Congress approved the presidents $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, aimed at easing the economic impact of the virus on tens of millions of people. And the nation was on pace to administer its 100 millionth dose of vaccine as soon as Thursday. Biden said he would focus his remarks on what his administration plans to deliver in the coming months, but also reiterate his call for Americans to continue to practice social distancing and wear face coverings to hasten the end of the pandemic. Im going to launch the next phase of the COVID response and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask of the American people, he said. He added: There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of the past year. There is real reason for hope. Almost exactly one year ago, President Donald Trump addressed the nation to mark the WHO's declaration of a global pandemic. He announced travel restrictions and called for Americans to practice good hygiene but displayed little alarm about the forthcoming catastrophe. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he had been deliberately playing down the threat of the virus. For Biden, who has promised to level with the American public after the alternate reality of Trumps virus talk, the imperative is to strike the correct balance "between optimism and grief, said Princeton history professor and presidential scholar Julian Zelizer. Generally, the country likes optimism, and at this particular moment theyre desperate for optimism, but you cant risk a Mission Accomplished moment, he said, warning against any premature declaration that the threat has been vanquished. Fifty days into his presidency, Biden is experiencing a polling honeymoon that his predecessor never enjoyed. Yet public sentiment remains stubbornly polarized and fewer people among his critics seem willing to say theyll give him a chance than was the case for earlier presidents. Overall, he has earned strong marks on his handling of the pandemic. According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released last week, 70% of Americans back the Democratic presidents handling of the virus response, including 44% of Republicans. The White House hopes that as Biden assumes the role of cheerleader for the virus relief package, the elements of the $1.9 trillion bill that are popular with Republicans will boost his support even further. Brinkley said Bidens decision to deliver a speech aimed directly at the nation before he makes the traditional presidential address to a joint session of Congress signals that it is as much an introduction of the president and his administration to the American people as a status report on his first 50 days in office. Presidential addresses to Congress "tend to be a series of soundbites, Brinkley said. This way, he can make his case directly. Still, the prime-time speech is in many ways an anachronism, better suited for an era when Americans had vastly fewer television options and in which a presidential address could reframe the national conversation. The fragmented media landscape makes it more difficult for Biden to reach people, Zelizer said, but that may be beside the point. Everything hes doing is throwback, said Zelizer. Its part of his effort to create normalcy after the last four years. Tamara Ecclestone and husband Jay Rutland went swimming with dolphins in the Maldives on Thursday to celebrate his 40th birthday. Mother-of-two Tamara, 36, looked incredible in a sexy low-cut swimsuit as she and Jay held hands while snorkelling underwater for a sweet Instagram snap. Jay posted the snap and wrote: 'Celebrating my 40th Birthday yesterday swimming with Dolphins and @tamaraecclestoneofficial.' Lovely: Tamara Ecclestone wore a sexy swimsuit as she celebrated husband Jay Rutland's 40th birthday swimming by with dolphins in the Maldives on Thursday Love: The couple held hands as they swam underwater on Jay's special day The couple, who have been permitted to travel because they are currently living in G'Staad and not the UK, have been sharing lots of content from their trip. They are away with their beloved daughters Sophia, also known as Fifi, six and Serena, six months. Jay also shared a video on his Stories of how beatutiful the beach was looking as his family swam in the clear blue waters. Family time: They are away with their beloved daughters Sophia, also known as Fifi, six and Serena, six months, (pictured) Tamara was holding little Serena who was lovingly placed in a sunhat, while little Fifi swam nearby wearing pink love-heart sunglasses. It appears the couple flew to the Maldives after an extended break in Dubai. Tamara has barely been back to their UK home since June and her husband admitted concerns over his family's safety was one reason they had not been back more. Tamara's husband Jay revealed to MailOnline that the family have no plans to return to London following the dramatic security lapse that led to a multi-million pound jewel heist at her West London home in December 2019. Home is where the heart is: Jay also shared a picture of this hut which could be where the family are staying Previously speaking from Dubai about their plans, Jay told MailOnline: 'We do not intend to return to the UK from Dubai. 'There are a host of reasons why we are not going back to London any time soon and security is one of them. The truth is we are playing it month by month and watching how the situation develops.' Jay denied he and Tamara had broken travel restrictions as he explained: 'We have not broken the lockdown rules to come to Dubai, that is not what we have done. Not breaking any rules: The family have been permitted to travel because they are currently living in G'Staad and not the UK and have no plans to return for now Happy days: Tamara looked the picture of happiness as she covered her baby while Sophia splashed around by her side 'At the beginning of the outbreak last year we really stuck to the rules. 'From March to May we locked down and did not leave the house [in London]. We went to Croatia in [June] the summer, but that was only after the rules changed and everyone was allowed to travel. 'From there we went to Switzerland and we stayed there until Christmas when we came here to Dubai.' Making memories: The family were in Dubai before heading to the Maldives Special time: Tamara looked enamoured with the latest addition to the family Spruce Forest opens for season through a new door With the crashing of the trees, three of the cabins were destroyed, along with damaging the village church and other buildings as well. Raw iron ore exports almost double in Jan-Feb Major buyers of Ukrainian iron ore were Poland, Germany, and China. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter When it launched, the first-generation Lexus SC (the series is now in car Valhalla, and the LC has taken its place) arrived as a two-door grand touring coupe with a traditional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive setup, and available space for up to four passengers.That was a logical choice since the SC went against models such as the Mercedes-Benz CL or the Acura Legend Coupe, among others. It was Lexus first attempt at a luxury coupe, and the emphasis on the North American market was plain obvious looking at its Calty Design Research center-developed lines.Interestingly enough, the Lexus SC wasnt only related to the third generation, JDM-focused Toyota Soarer but also to the all-mighty Mk IV Supra . Unlike the 2JZ-toting Supra, though, the SCs premium demeanor required a more elegant V8 solution, namely the 1UZ-FE 4.0-liter.This 1992 Lexus SC400 has that engine under the hood, and even though its approaching the 30-year anniversary, the car only gathered some 18k miles (almost 30,000 km) on the odometer. Just like many of the Supras that deliciously pop up here and there for another shot at underground racing glory, this unit is also dressed up stealthily and comes with a gray leather interior.The V8 is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission and, in keeping with tradition, the GT has lots and lots of creature comforts. We could name a few: automatic climate control, powered sunroof, Nakamichi sound system, 16-inch alloy wheels, and more. Still, theyre less important than a simple fact: the car was first registered in Minnesota and stayed there until 2020 when a North Carolina-based dealer snatched it.With around five days left on the auctions clock , its still early to know if the SC400 will turn out a steal or not. So far, the highest bid hasnt gone overboard , standing in at $15k (at the time of writing). We would like to get as many of those wanting the vaccine in as quickly, effectively and equitably as possible, Polokow said in the email. Our whole team has one common goal to get our community vaccinated, and help to create positive change and connection through this process. 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. Agartala, March 12 : The Constitution has ceased to function in Tripura and a total anarchy is prevailing in the BJP ruled state, former Tripura Chief Minister and veteran CPI-M leader Manik Sarkar said on Friday. Sarkar, who is now the Leader of Opposition in the Tripura Assembly, said that despite seeking interventions of Governor Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on a number of occasions, attacks and atrocities against opposition leaders and workers are going on unabated in the state. "CPI-M MLAs, Rajya Sabha MP and senior leaders are not allowed to visit their areas. The Constitution has ceased to function in Tripura and a total anarcy is prevailing in the state ever since the BJP government came to power three years ago," Sarkar, a CPI-M politburo member, told the media. He said that while attacks on Left leaders and its political activities are rampant, Deb, who also holds the home portfolio, remains a mute spectator. "The Chief Minister did not make any statement or never asked the ruling party workers and members to restrain from attacking the opposition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speeches has often said that a double engine government is functioning in Tripura. But people's lives have been devastated by a 'trouble engine' government," said Sarkar, who was the Chief Minister of Tripura for 20 years from 1998 to 2018. The Left leader said that before the Assembly elections in 2018, the Bharatiya Janata Party had made 299 promises, including providing jobs to thousands of unemployed youth, but not a single assurance has been fulfilled. Criticising the Prime Minister's virtual address on March 9 on the occasion of three years of the BJP-led alliance government in Tripura, Sarkar said that when the Left Front was in power, Tripura became an electricity surplus state and started supplying power to most of the northeastern states, besides supplying 160 MW electricity to Bangladesh. "But the Prime Minister falsely claimed that Tripura became an electricity surplus state after the BJP came to power in March 2018. No rural works are being carried out in Tripura. The people, especially the tribals, are facing crisis of food and employment, while a cut money system has been introduced by the BJP leaders. From the Prime Minister to the state leaders, everyone is making false statements on governance," Sarkar said, alleging that the people are being cheated at every opportunity in Tripura. Sarkar said when the Left government came to power in Tripura in 1998, the per capita income was less than Rs 8,000, which subsequently increased to Rs 80,000. Amazon Prime will carry a newly-announced A Very British Scandal, starring Claire Foy (The Crown, Wolf Hall) and Paul Bettany (WandaVision, Uncle Frank, Avengers: Infinity War). Written by Sarah Phelps (The Pale Horse, Dublin Murders), it focuses on the divorce of the Duke (Paul Bettany) and Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy), one of the most notorious, extraordinary and brutal legal cases of the 20th Century. This is a BBC One / Amazon Studios production to film in the United Kingdom later this year and comes from the producers of A Very English Scandal. Sarah Phelps said: Writing the story of Margarets life and the events leading up to and including her divorce from the Duke has been a passion project of mine since 1993 when I first heard her name and started learning about her. I felt very strongly that shed been punished for being a woman, for being visible, for refusing to back down, be a good girl and go quietly. This drama is my tribute to her. Claire Foy said: Im so excited to work with Anne, Sarah and Paul on this extraordinary project, and to explore through this story, how often shame, judgement and controversy surrounds a womans sexuality. Paul Bettany said: Im delighted to be working with the remarkable Claire Foy to tell the fascinating and scandalous story of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll and their very complicated lives. Im also extremely happy to get the chance to once again be working with the wonderful teams at the BBC and Amazon Studios. Pete Czernin, co-founder of Blueprint Pictures said: Were thrilled to be able to bring together the uniquely brilliant voices of Sarah Phelps and Anne Sewitsky with the class of Claire Foy and Paul Bettany. Uniting their outstanding talents, A Very British Scandal will shine a new light on the scandalous divorce of Margaret Argyll for a 21st century audience. Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama, said: Argyll v Argyll was one of the defining scandals of the 1960s. In the face of vilification in the press, Margaret fought valiantly but often in vain to control the narrative around her. With the help of our incredible writer Sarah Phelps, director Anne Sewitsky, the perfect casting of Claire Foy and Paul Bettany and the team at Blueprint, we are delighted to be able to shine a new light on these events and reframe the life of this infamous character. Brad Beale, Vice President, Worldwide Licensing for Prime Video, said: A Very English Scandal was a tremendous success among Prime Video customers and critics alike, and were incredibly excited to work with the BBC and Blueprint again. We cant wait to see Claire and Paul bring the fascinating Duchess of Argyll Scandal to life. Emmy and Golden Globe award-winner Claire Foy (The Crown, Wolf Hall) and BAFTA-nominated Paul Bettany (WandaVision, Uncle Frank, Avengers: Infinity War) will lead the cast of BBC One and Amazon Studios A Very British Scandal, from the makers of the multi-award winning and critically-acclaimed A Very English Scandal, Blueprint Pictures. The three, 60-minute episodes will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and will be available on Amazon Prime Video in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Written by Sarah Phelps (The Pale Horse, Dublin Murders), A Very British Scandal focuses on the divorce of the Duke (Paul Bettany) and Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy), one of the most notorious, extraordinary and brutal legal cases of the 20th Century. Famed for her charisma, beauty and style, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, dominated the front pages as a divorcee featuring accusations of forgery, theft, violence, drug-taking, secret recording, bribery, and an explicit polaroid picture all played out in the white-hot glare of the 1960s media. A Very British Scandal turns this scandal inside out in order to explore the social and political climate of post-war Britain, looking at attitudes toward women, and asking whether institutional misogyny was widespread at the time. As her contemporaries, the press, and the judiciary sought to vilify her, Margaret kept her head held high with bravery and resilience, refusing to go quietly as she was betrayed by her friends and publicly shamed by a society that revelled in her fall from grace. A Very British Scandal will be directed by Anne Sewitsky and produced by Chris Ballantyne. Executive Producers are Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Diarmuid McKeown and Delyth Scudamore for Blueprint Pictures, Lucy Richer for the BBC, Sarah Phelps, Anne Sewitsky, Claire Foy, Kate Triggs, John Preston, and Dominic Treadwell-Collins. Amazon Studios is co-producing in the US. It was commissioned by Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama, and Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer. Related Subways new CEO is moving some corporate staff to an office in the Miami-area where he lives, raising questions about the companys Milford headquarters. Subway confirmed it will move an unspecified number of Milford staff south, including managers in marketing, culinary and global strategy. A company spokesperson told Hearst Connecticut Media that less than 10 percent of Milford employees are being affected in the moves, without providing a precise number. The report comes on the heels of 500 layoffs at Subway last year during the pandemic from a Milford work force of about 1,200 people at the start of 2020. Milfords head of economic development Julie Nash responded to a Hearst Connecticut message to Mayor Ben Blake for comment on the Subway decision, with describing as a great relationship the citys dealings with the giant with its headquarters on Sub Way, Theres a lot of restructuring wtih a lot of companies these days, Nash said. We'll see what happens I am confident that they are going to be in Milford for a long time. Fred DeLuca, who founded Subway in Bridgeport in 1965 with backing from Dr. Peter Buck of Danbury and built it into one of Connecticuts best-known, homegrown brands, died of cancer in Florida in September 2015. In November 2019, Subway hired CEO John Chidsey as the permanent replacement for Suzanne Greco, who took over as CEO in 2015 in place of DeLuca, her brother. Between 2006 and 2010, Chidsey led Burger King which has its headquarters in Miami. Chidsey has a large home fronting the Coral Gables Waterway canal south of downtown Miami, last appraised at $6 million two years ago by Miami-Dade County. Subway did not provide additional details immediately Friday in response to a Hearst Connecticut query, with a spokesperson forwarding a corporate statement that the majority of the companys workforce remains at our Milford ... headquarters and that the relocation allows Subway to collaborate more closely with the Independent Purchasing Cooperative based in Miami, which supplies Subway restaurants. In a statement Friday afternoon, state Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, called the news disappointing and said the company has a history as an excellent corporate citizen in Milford. Unfortunately, it is a trend for many companies to relocate employees to be closer to where the CEO lives and its unfortunate there will be more layoffs as units will close here, Maroney said in a press release. The good news is, a majority of employees will remain in Milford. In April of 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor approved enhanced unemployment benefits for about 100 workers that lost their jobs at Subways headquarters many of them outside information technology contractors under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance, invoked to help workers whose companies move jobs to countries with lower labor costs. Chidsey took the Subway job with the central task of revamping Subways appeal, as Jersey Mikes Subs gains steam and the fast-food old guard of McDonalds and Burger King expand menus and redesign restaurants. Within a few months, Chidseys job would morph into crisis response as the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the food sector. Chidsey told NBCs Today last May that about 18 percent of Subways U.S. locations closed during the first wave of the pandemic, largely those located in malls, college campuses and other sites subject to mandatory closures. A new team basically came to Subway in the last year, Chidsey said in response to a question on the layoffs after he took the job. We were already underway with restructuring and making the company more entrepreneurial, making it more efficient, so all the plans that we had really were laid well before coronavirus. I will be honest coronavirus caused us to move up one or two of our staged moves. I think Subway will actually do quite well in this environment, Chidsey added. We have such a smaller footprint than our traditional [quick service restaurant] competitors, and because of that we can make money at a much lower sales level than a lot of our competitors. For many years, Subway was a fixture at the top of the influential Franchise 500 list published by Entrepreneur Media, the first stop where many would-be franchise owners shop for potential business territories to purchase. But Subway has plummeted since 2016 on the Franchise 500, and in this years installment dropped off the list completely. Jersey Mikes, McAlisters Deli, Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches and Firehouse Subs have hung onto their Franchise 500 rankings amid significant competition from chains offering Mexican fare, fried chicken and emerging concepts like Hawaiian poke. According to Entrepreneur, as of 2019 a Subway franchise cost $15,000 to cover the initial fee and anywhere from $140,000 to $340,000 for startup costs, with franchise rights extending 20 years before renewal. At that point, franchisees paid 8 percent of their receipts as a royalty fee and chipped in another 4.5 percent for advertising the company coordinates. Connecticut lost another homegrown franchise success story in 2018, after Edible Arrangements moved its headquarters to Atlanta after hiring a new CEO. Several other heads of Connecticut-based companies have Florida abodes, including Steve Hafner of Kayak and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment in Stamford and Thomas Peterffy of Interactive Brokers in Greenwich. A few took their headquarters offices with them to Miami in establishing residency there, including Barry Sternlicht with Starwood Capital Group and Eddie Lampert with his ESL Investments. A little bit of irony, because Connecticut benefited from its ... proximity to New York City, in that a lot of CEOs were living in Greenwich so they moved their companies to Connecticut, said Fred McKinney, a Quinnipiac University professor who chairs the schools entrepreneurship and innovation programs. The CEOs location and that of the senior management where they actually live is a factor. I dont think its the only factor, but it is one. Includes prior reporting by Luther Turmelle. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman The Chabad centers in St. Louis are once again offering free Seder-to-Go kits for every Jewish household throughout the greater St. Louis area. This year, you can choose from six locations to pick up your kit. Its been a challenging year for us all, so were excited to be doing this community service again and help make this years celebration that much more joyous for our community, said Rabbi Yosef Landa, regional director of Chabad of Greater St. Louis. Last year, more than 600 Jewish households benefited from this service, and this year were preparing for even more. Collaborating with the organizations five chapters in the region the Morris & Ann Lazaroff Chabad Center in University City, Chabad on Campus, Chabad of Chesterfield, Chabad of the Central West End and the Chabad Jewish Center of St. Charles County the organization is offering the free kits, which includes the necessary items needed to host and lead a seder (everything but the brisket, that is). Among these items are: ADVERTISEMENT Handmade Shmurah Matzah Passover Wine/Grape Juice Seder Plate & Food Symbols Hebrew/English Annotated Haggadah Game for the Entire Family The local effort is part of a global Passover campaign that began in 1954, when the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, launched the shmurah matzah initiative as part of an effort to create awareness and promote observance of the Passover holiday. Partnering with Chabad on this initiative is Schnucks and the Vaad Hoeir Maot Chitim Fund. Visit www.ShowMeChabad.com/Passover to receive your free seder-to-go kit and brush up on your seder-leading skills. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A quarrel erupted Thursday between the Baker administration and the Massachusetts Teachers Association as the union asked for their doses to be distributed within their communities instead of at super vaccination sites doses that Gov. Charlie Baker and an aide said would be taken away from older, high-risk residents. But House Speaker Ron Mariano, a Quincy Democrat and a former teacher, said he believes educators should be vaccinated if the Baker administration expects teachers and students to have to resume in-person learning five days a week as early as April. Its a problem that was created by the administration setting a date certain at which to have schools reopen and raising the issue of safety in our schools and not having a plan on how to make sure that they can guarantee schools are safe, Mariano told reporters Thursday afternoon. The Baker administration on Wednesday announced some 400,000 educators, school staff and child care workers will have four days set aside for them to get vaccinated, though it is unclear whether they will have access to the single-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson or a two-dose vaccine produced by Moderna and Prizer. Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders estimated educators and child care workers should have access to up to 25,000 doses, a fraction of the workers in this category. Educators unions have pushed the state to speed up teacher and staff vaccinations for weeks, and the MTA had a meeting with Sudders Thursday morning to discuss vaccinations, including administering their allotted vaccines at schools. After the meeting, senior advisor Tim Buckley issued a statement saying the teachers unions sought to take hundreds of thousands of vaccines away from the sickest, oldest and most vulnerable residents in Massachusetts. He said 95% of union members are under age 65. Building an entirely new, exclusive, teacher-only, school by school distribution system would make Massachusetts vaccination system slower, less equitable and far more complicated, Buckley said in his statement. The Administration implores the unions to do the math: the state only gets 150,000 first doses every week. There are about one million eligible residents comprised of educators, older adults and people with serious health conditions. Diverting hundreds of thousands of vaccines to an exclusive, teacher-only distribution system would deny the most vulnerable and the most disproportionately impacted residents hundreds of thousands of vaccines. Most school districts in Massachusetts already offer in-person learning, between districts resuming in-person learning entirely and those using a hybrid model. But the state is requiring districts to ditch the hybrid and remote learning plans to send elementary school students back to the classroom five days a week. The state plans to mandate in-person learning for older students later in the school year. Under this plan, parents will have an option to opt their children out of in-person learning for the rest of the school year. State officials have contracted CIC Health to conduct pool testing at K-12 schools that have resumed in-person learning. An estimated 377 students and 146 staff members across Massachusetts schools tested positive for COVID-19 between March 4 and Wednesday, according to the state Department of Public Health. Months of data from right here in Massachusetts and countless studies from world class medical organizations have made crystal clear that schools are safe, Buckley said in a statement after Marianos media availability. No legitimate public health or medical organization, nor the CDC recommends vaccinating all teachers before returning to school. Editors note: This article was updated to clarify the Massachusetts Teachers Associations request. Related Content: NEW YORK, March 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hodges Ward Elliott ("HWE") has arranged the sale of SL Green's 25% interest in its commercial condominium units located at 55 West 46th Street, also known as Tower 46. A Brookfield Asset Management real estate fund is the purchaser at a gross valuation of $275 million. Tower 46 is a Class-A office property in Midtown Manhattan. The interest sold totals approximately 320,000 rentable square feet, as well as parking and amenity space. An HWE team composed of Managing Directors Paul Gillen, Anthony Ledesma, and Daniel Parker, and Kyle van Buitenen, Senior Vice President, represented SL Green in the transaction. "It was great working with both SL Green and Brookfield," noted Gillen. "Despite Covid-related challenges, we were able to run a thorough process which resulted in a sale with a strong buyer and price. It is clear there remains an abundance of liquidity for quality New York City office product." SL Green first acquired the commercial condominium units at Tower 46, consisting of office floors 2, 22-34, a retail store on 46th street and the building's parking garage and fitness center, in 2014. The well-located Tower 46 is considered one of the preeminent newly constructed office towers in Midtown Manhattan and within walking distance of Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center, and Bryant Park. About Hodges Ward Elliott: Hodges Ward Elliott ("HWE") is the premier boutique real estate capital markets advisor, empowered to deliver exceptional results across a broad spectrum of business lines and product types. HWE's multi-disciplined platform includes commercial, hotel and debt capital markets teams, with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Washington D.C., and London. As a privately held company, HWE is dedicated to cultivating long-term client relationships and takes pride in the reputation and track record established over its 46-year history. HWE has closed over $70 billion of transactions, including $29 billion since 2015. For more information, please visit https://hodgeswardelliott.com/ Contact: Great Ink 908-392-0333, Tom Nolan ([email protected]) SOURCE Hodges Ward Elliott Elizabeth Holmes, 37, who has been charged with fraud in the spectacular rise and fall of the blood-testing company Theranos Inc, is pregnant, prompting prosecutors and her attorneys to seek a delay in her trial until after her July due date, according to a court filing. Lawyers for Holmes, once a rising star of Silicon Valley, informed the government on March 2 of the pregnancy, according to the filing. Holmes' lawyers and prosecutors asked the judge to delay the start of jury selection to August 31. 'On March 2, 2021, counsel for Defendant advised the government that Defendant is pregnant, with an expected due date in July 2021,' prosecutors and attorneys for Holmes write. 'Both parties agree that, in light of this development, it is not feasible to begin the trial on July 13, 2021.' The trial has already been delayed three times due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The baby's father is believed to be 29-year-old hotel heir fiance William 'Billy' Evans, whom Holmes married in 2019. Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, whose criminal fraud trial was scheduled to start in July, is asking for a delay because she's pregnant. Holmes is pictured arriving at the White House (left) in 2015 and at the 2015 Time 100 gala (right) Holmes is seen sitting next to then-vice president Joe Biden during a visit to Theranos manufacturing in Newark, California, in July 2015. Biden toured the facility and took part in a roundtable discussion on preventive health care at the time Evans is the heir to the Evans Hotel Group, which was founded by his grandparents William and Anne Evans in San Diego in 1953. Currently, the business has three resort properties on the West Coast. Evans graduated from MIT in 2015 with a Bachelor's Degree in Science and Economics, at which point he took a post at LinkedIn. In 2017, he became the director of special projects at Luminar Technologies, a company which develops sensors for driverless cars, although it appears he left the company in 2019. In her court case, Holmes and former Theranos President Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani have pleaded not guilty to charges they defrauded investors, doctors and patients by falsely claiming Theranos could revolutionize medical lab testing with technology that could enable a wide array of tests with a few drops of blood. Holmes was indicted in 2018 and her federal trial in San Jose, California, was originally scheduled for July 28, 2020 but was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Holmes' legal team was said to be preparing to raise the issue of mental health as part of her defense strategy. In an earlier court filing, Holmes' attorneys wrote they intend to introduce evidence 'relating to a mental disease or defect or any other mental condition of the defendant bearing on... the issue of guilt.' Holmes (pictured), a Stanford University dropout, launched her Palo Alto blood-testing start up in 2003. She and Balwani are accused of scamming investors out of more than $700million Holmes, 37, married hotel heir Billy Evans, 29, in 2019 Testimony was to be heard from Dr. Mindy Mechanic, a clinical psychology professor at California State University Fullerton, who 'focuses on the psychosocial consequences of violence, trauma and victimization with an emphasis on violence against women and other forms of interpersonal violence,' according to NBC. Holmes, who started Theranos at the age of 19, was celebrated in tech circles until it became clear that many of the claims about the company's supposedly revolutionary blood test were bogus. Now, she and her ex-boyfriend Balwani are awaiting their day in court after being accused of falsely claiming the company's machines could perform breakthrough blood tests with a single drop of blood, duping investors out of millions and misleading doctors and patients. The company's COO, Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani (seen above in a San Jose courtroom in November 2019), is also charged with fraud She and Balwani are accused of scamming investors out of more than $700million. Holmes attracted investors and venture capital firms which saw company reach a $9 billion valuation based on its promise to disrupt the laboratory testing business. Prosecutors submitted a filing in January claiming that Theranos executives destroyed data that proved their blood-testing product was inaccurate. Knowingly misleading investors by providing false data is a federal crime. The company knew about its inaccurate testing data that was collected over a period of three years, according to The Register. The data was stored on a specially-developed SQL database called the Laboratory Information Systems (LIS), according to the court filing. The database even flagged blood test results that might require immediate medical attention, and communicated this to the patients physician'. Before its collapse, Theranos boasted that it had developed a test that would allow patients to receive results in minutes after providing a drop of blood. But federal prosecutors allege that Theranos executives knew their product was only half-reliable, as the failure rate for the tests was 51.3 per cent. In other words, Theranoss TT3 blood test results were so inaccurate, it was essentially a coin toss whether the patient was getting the right result, prosecutors said, citing the companys own data. Theranos' ground-breaking invention, a machine Holmes claimed could perform hundreds of tests on a drop of blood taken from a pin-pricked finger, was exposed as a humiliating sham A grand jury investigating fraud claims against the company subpoenaed the database, only for the company to allegedly destroy it. On or about August 31, 2018 - three months after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena requesting a working copy of this database - the LIS was destroyed, the federal government alleges in its court filing. The government has never been provided with the complete records contained in the LIS, nor been given the tools, which were available within the database, to search for such critical evidence as all Theranos blood tests with validation errors. The government also alleges that Balwani hired a crony and paid his firm $10million over seven years to run the database. Instead of handing over all of the data with the inaccurate results, Theranos only provided backup of the database, meaning that the evidence given was incomplete and investigators needed to piece it together with other findings. The backup data that was given to investigators was only accessible through a computer password that Theranos executives couldnt remember, according to prosecutors. The government retained a computer forensic expert to assist in retrieving this data, who found that the key file on the hard drive, required to reconfigure the SQL database, is itself encrypted by a distinct password (not the one provided with the transmittal letter to open the hard drive), and cannot be opened, according to the court filing. As investigators were demanding to see the database, Theranos decided to shut down the facility that housed the database in Newark, New Jersey. Company executives were warned beforehand by IT contractor Michael Chung that taking apart the hardware and servers would make it almost impossible to recreate the database. But the company went ahead and shut down the database anyway, denying both its own executives and the government access. Holmes, a Stanford University dropout, launched her Palo Alto blood-testing start up in 2003 when she was 19 years old. A notoriously secretive company, Theranos shared very little about its blood-testing machine with the public or medical community. Holmes said she was inspired to start the company in response to her fear of needles. But an investigation by The Wall Street Journal in 2015 found that Theranos' technology was inaccurate at best, and that the company was using routine blood-testing equipment for the vast majority of its tests. Federal authorities also allege Holmes and Balwani, 56, used funds from investors to subsidize an extravagant lifestyle while peddling a fraudulent product. Balwani's case is being handled separately and his trial is scheduled to begin January 18, 2022. Mitch McConnell has warned that Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief package is a 'multitrillion-dollar Trojan Horse' - insisting that it was not needed, as the economy was going to 'roar back' later in the year regardless. McConnell, the leader of Republicans in the Senate, addressed his colleagues on Thursday and told of his concerns. Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of COVID being declared a global pandemic, McConnell accused Democrats of wanting 'to sprint in front of the parade and claim credit' for this year's likely economic comeback. 'This wasn't a bill to finish off the pandemic, it was a multitrillion-dollar Trojan horse full of bad old liberal ideas,' the Minority Leader said. Mitch McConnell, seen in the Senate on Thursday, spoke out against the $1.9 trillion COVID bill People stand in line outside a New York City food bank on November 20 McConnell argued that the economy was poised to come 'roaring back', without the bill 'President Biden's own staff keep calling this legislation quote 'the most progressive bill in American history.' Hardly the commonsense bipartisanship that the president promised.' The bill passed the Senate on Saturday, without a single Republican approving it, before going back to the House for final approval. Biden signed the bill into law on Thursday, and later that evening delivered his first primetime address, reassuring Americans that there was light at the end of the tunnel. The legislation is more than twice the size of the $787-billion 2009 American Recovery Act. It is the latest in a series of such aid packages since last spring that together have provided roughly $4 trillion in assistance for individuals, businesses, states and local governments. Joe Biden on Thursday night delivered his first prime-time address, discussing COVID relief Biden held up a card with his daily schedule, on which he writes every day the COVID death toll McConnell pointed out that much of the money in the new bill went on helping state and local governments. He said that only about one per cent of the cash would be spent on vaccines and about nine per cent on the healthcare issues. 'The rest of the tab went to things like this a $350 billion bailout for state and local budgets unrelated to pandemic needs, with strings attached to stop states from cutting taxes on their own citizens down the road,' said McConnell. 'Take the money, you don't get to cut taxes.' McConnell complained about the 'massive federal school funding' without requiring quick reopening, and new benefits 'with no work requirements whatsoever.' He was particularly angered by 'agricultural assistance conditioned not on specific financial need but solely on the demographics of the farmer, which some liberal activists are celebrating as reparations.' McConnell, seen on Thursday with Jim Risch of Idaho, said the COVID bill was wasteful McConnell stressed that the health and economic recoveries were already underway by the time Biden was inaugurated. 'For weeks, every indicator has suggested our economy poised to come roaring back, with more job openings for Americans who need work. 'None of these trends began on January 20. 'President Biden and his Democratic government inherited a tide that had already begun to turn toward decisive victory.' He concluded: '2021 is set to be an historic comeback year, not because of the far left legislation that was passed after the tide was already turned but because of the resilience of the American people.' A contractor from Co Down fell seven storeys to his death in a construction site accident in America on Wednesday. Colm Quinn (44) was originally from Ballyholland and had been living in the US for a number of years. According to local media reports, Mr Quinn fell down an elevator shaft in Jersey City and was taken to the Jersey Medical Centre but was later pronounced dead. The tragedy occurred around 7.45am local time at 136 Summit Avenue in the Bergen Hill neighbourhood of the New Jersey city. No other details of the accident have been released. The Newry-based Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust is helping to bring Mr Quinn's body home. Following the accident, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was called to the site, which was later shut down. SDLP councillor Karen McKevitt, who knows the Quinn family, described Mr Quinn as a "lovely fella" and said the Ballyholland community will rally around his loved ones. "The community is in shock and they're devastated," said Ms McKevitt. "This is the second son the family have lost after losing a son to cancer three years ago. "The family are well respected people in the area and they are members of this close-knit community. Everybody is just devastated. "I had to drive past their house myself today to go into Newry and you couldn't but bring a tear to your eye. It is just so, so sad. "Colm was a lovely fella and had been in America for some time. A really lovely lad. It's just heartbreaking. "I had heard quite early on that it had happened and I could hardly do a thing yesterday afternoon because we were that annoyed about it. "God knows what the poor family are going through and the community is just numb. "The family only live a mile-and-a-half from me and the Ballyholland community will rally around the Quinn family. We will do everything in our power to get them through this desperate, desperate situation." The site where the tragedy occurred was the location of the former Fairmount Hospital, which later became the Fairmount Hotel and then an adult daycare centre. When completed, the building is expected to include 99 apartments, 2,240 square feet of retail and parking garage with a capacity for 75 vehicles. Utah's top medical examiner is urging the public not to jump to conclusions about a 39-year-old mother who died four days after she received her second dose of moderna's coronavirus vaccine. Kassidi Kurill, of Ogden, died on February 5 after falling ill and being rushed to hospital. Her family, who are still awaiting results of her autopsy, believe her death may have been the results of complications due to the COVID-19 vaccine because she had no known health issues. Dr Erik Christensen, Chief Medical Examiner for the Utah Department of Health, disputed that belief this week after Kurill's death garnered national media attention, saying that it was only 'temporally related' to her second vaccine dose. Christensen said his office hasn't certified any vaccine-related deaths so far and that there doesn't appear to be a link between the death of four Utah residents - one of which is Kurill - and the vaccines. 'We don't have any evidence that there are connections between the vaccines and deaths at this point,' he told Fox News. 'We don't have any indication of that.' Kassidi Kurill, 39, died four days after receiving her second dose of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine in Utah last month. Pictured: Kurill with her nine-year-old daughter Emilia Dr Erik Christensen (pictured), Chief Medical Examiner for the Utah Department of Health, urged the public not to jump to conclusions about Kurill's death Christensen noted that side effects from the vaccine are common, and that each person's response is determined by their unique biology. 'Certainly, there are side effects of a vaccine that are directly linkable to the vaccine and what's going on in your body,' he said. 'You know, the pain in the arm ...the fever-like symptoms related to your immune response to what was put into you. Those kinds of things clearly happen.' He said proving the vaccine was a cause of death is very rare, unless there was an immediate case anaphylaxis, which would be an instant death. An autopsy, which the family are still waiting on, can potentially reveal an undiagnosed condition that may have caused the death, Christensen added. Kurill's family say the mother-of-one was healthy and had no pre-existing conditions prior to her sudden death. 'She was seemingly healthy as a horse,' Kurill's father, Alfred Hawley, told Fox News. 'She was healthy, happy and active, the greatest mom you ever saw in your life, and then she was so sick that, in less than 12 hours, intubated and on life support.' Kurill worked as a surgical tech for several plastic surgeons. Healthcare workers in Utah were among the first to be eligible to receive the vaccine. She received her second vaccine dose on February 1 and began complaining the following day about headaches, nausea and being unable to urinate despite drinking fluids. Her condition improved slightly on her second day post-vaccination but she took a turn for the worse and was rushed to the hospital on February 4. 'She came in early and said her heart was racing and she felt like she need to get to the emergency room,' her father said. Kurill received her second vaccine dose on February 1 and began complaining the following day about headache, nausea and being unable to urinate despite drinking fluids CDC says no deaths are linked to COVID vaccine safety Of the more than 92 million COVID vaccine doses administered in the US to date, fewer than 1,700 deaths have been reported, the CDC says. The FDA requires vaccine providers to report any death after a COVID vaccine to the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System, otherwise known as VAERS. Four Utah residents are currently listed on that database and one of them is believed to be Kurill. Anyone can submit reports to the VAERS database, including family, next of kin and doctors. It is an unverified reporting system that does not determine if a vaccine caused the death that is reported. 'To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines,' the CDC website states. Advertisement When she arrived at the hospital, Kurill immediately began throwing up as doctors worked to figure out an explanation. 'They did a blood test and immediately came back and said she was very, very sick, and her liver was not functioning,' Hawley said. Kurill was airlifted that night to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray where doctors tried to stabilize her for a liver transplant. Her condition continued to deteriorate to the point that she was unable to talk by the next morning and her heart and kidneys shut down. 'She got worse and worse throughout the day. And at nine o'clock, she passed,' Hawley said. 'It was a total shock. I was even afraid to tell my wife.' Hawley said that until the family gets other data, they 'must believe there was something with the shot'. But he did say that he hopes his daughter's experience will not discourage others from getting vaccinated. He urged anyone experiencing symptoms after the vaccine to take them seriously. 'If you have a reaction to it, don't ignore it. Don't be stoic and just say: 'Oh, I'll be fine,' he said. 'Pay attention. If it persists beyond a day, you might ought to go see a doctor. And make sure that you're not another one in a million.' Loved ones set up a GoFundMe campaign to support Kurill's nine-year-old daughter, Emilia. An autopsy is underway to determine the cause of Kurill's sudden death. Loved ones set up a GoFundMe campaign to support her daughter Emilia (above together) Deaths from coronavirus vaccines are extremely rare, according to the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Of the more than 92 million doses administered in the US to date, fewer than 1,700 deaths have been reported. 'To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines,' the CDC website states. The FDA requires vaccine providers to report any death after a COVID vaccine to the Vaccine Adverse Event Report System, otherwise known as VAERS. Four Utah residents are currently listed on that database and one of them is believed to be Kurill. Anyone can submit reports to the VAERS database, including family, next of kin and doctors. It is an unverified reporting system that does not determine if a vaccine caused the death that is reported. The agreement will enable D'vash Organics to dramatically grow its business via retail, wholesale, and e-commerce channels, both throughout the US and internationally. It will also give the company the tools to create new and innovative products, ranging from date snacks to date sugar. "The new product lineup is so exciting. With access to Al Barakah's entire product portfolio, we can now share our love of dates in so many new forms, all of which are sustainable and affordable for the consumer," says the company's President, David Czinn. D'vash Organics was founded after Finkel and Czinn met while studying abroad in Israel, where they developed the idea of bringing date syrup, an ancient Middle Eastern delicacy, to the US for American consumers to enjoy. They first introduced their product at a farmer's market five years ago and the response was just what they expected. D'vash then quickly expanded into e-commerce and retail, and by 2020, the company was selling its products in 5,000 stores nationwide. "We were on the verge of scaling our business and weren't sure what was going to happen after COVID struck, but after sitting down to devise a pandemic-oriented strategy, we were able to turn 2020 into our best year yet, crushing our previous sales records and putting ourselves in a position to close this fantastic deal with Al Barakah. It truly felt like we rose from the ashes like a phoenix," says Czinn. News of the deal, which comes on the heels of the recent Abraham Accords peace agreement between Israel and the UAE, has already made waves - in the Middle East and beyond. The disclosure of Finkel and Czinn's Jewish and Israeli roots was received warmly by their new Muslim partners in Dubai, and both sides see the partnership as an opportunity to promote tolerance and understanding. "Beyond the obvious and exciting business opportunities afforded by this deal, we see our agreement as a triumph of coexistence, peace, mutual respect, and hope for a prosperous future," says Finkel. D'vash Organics is one of the leading superfood sweetener and snack brands in the US today. The company, which was founded by Brian Finkel and David Czinn in 2016, creates healthy sweeteners using only natural ingredients. D'vash Organics products are non-GMO, paleo-friendly, vegan, low-glycemic, and contain 25% less sugar than honey. D'vash products are carried by over 5,000 stores nationwide, including Costco, Whole Foods, Walmart, Sprouts, Safeway, Meijer, and HEB. They are also sold online via Amazon and at www.dvashorganics.com . Visit D'vash Organics on Facebook and Instagram @dvashorganics. SOURCE Dvash Organics St. Martins Secondary School remained closed. It is credited with having one of the better platforms in SVG for facilitating online classes. A date for the re-opening of schools seems imminent. This is the expectation on the heels of a meeting of health and education officials that was expected to be held on March 10, last Wednesday, to discuss the issue of the resumption of schools across the country. THE VINCENTIAN is not privy to any decisions of that meeting, not for the want of trying. According to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Chief Medical Officer Dr Simone Keizer-Beache and members of her team, along with top officials from the ministry of education, were expected to discuss the issue, following which they would advise Cabinet on the way forward. Schools here did not reopen for the second term (January 2021), because of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases during December, in particular. All secondary and senior primary schools classes reverted to online schooling, which coincided with governments distribution of tablets to secondary and senior primary school students across the state. "I want to discuss with them the matter of returning to school because other than the cluster which we have had at the Mental Health Centre, the numbers have been falling significantly, Dr. Gonsalves said on NBC Radio on March 10. He stressed that most stakeholders wanted to get back to school and expressed a personal view that the country was ready for it. All the circumstances were properly aligned for the resumption of school, Gonsalves said, but he cautioned that " we have to make sure that we judge the matter based on the facts of the science and that is what I am seeking to do. It was important, he said, that we listen to what the health officials had to say. "And I want them to come to Cabinet to come and tell me the reasons for not going back to school, he said. South Korea has agreed to pay 13.9 percent more towards the cost of the US troop presence on the peninsula, its foreign ministry said Wednesday, in a six-year deal resolving an issue that festered under the Trump administration. The financial dispute had bedevilled the two allies' security alliance after former president Donald Trump -- who had a transactional approach to foreign policy -- repeatedly accused South Korea of freeloading. Washington stations around 28,500 troops in South Korea to defend it from the nuclear-armed North Korea, which invaded the South in 1950, and protect US interests in northeast Asia. Under the new deal, Seoul has agreed to pay 1.18 trillion won ($1.03 billion) for 2021, with annual increases thereafter linked to its defence budget. The sum represents a 13.9 percent increase on the roughly $920 million Seoul was paying under the previous agreement, which expired in 2019 -- but is a far cry from the Trump administration's initial demand of $5 billion a year. The new pact "again reaffirmed the need for a stable presence of US troops in Korea," Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement, adding it resolved a vacuum that had lasted for about 15 months. Both governments announced earlier this week that they had reached an agreement in principle, but the amounts involved were only confirmed on Wednesday. The new deal must still be approved by the South Korean legislature. The agreement came as Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual military training on Monday, which has been scaled down from the usual level due to the pandemic, with no large-scale physical troop involvement. The nine-day exercise is still likely to infuriate North Korea, which has long considered such drills rehearsals for invasion. North Korea has put itself under strict self-imposed isolation to try to protect itself against the pandemic, adding to the pressure on its moribund economy. Analysts will be watching to see whether Pyongyang will use the military drills to launch provocations against Washington as it seeks to test the new Biden administration. 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 In a move that could benefit India and other countries in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, New Delhi will manufacture Johnson & Johnsons single-dose coronavirus vaccine as part of the initiative of the Quad group of countries. According to The Times of India, the project will be financed by Japan and US, while Australia will use its logistics capability to ship the vaccines to Southeast Asia and Pacific countries. Reuters What is QUAD summit? The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is an informal strategic forum between the United States, Japan, India and Australia that is maintained by semi-regular summits, information exchanges and military drills between member countries. The development came in the first Quad summit between Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Yoshihide Suga and Scott Morrison. The report further added that this only the first of the vaccines and more will be added to this initiative. This comes as the vaccine, the first single-shot COVID-19 vaccine so far has been getting clearance for use around the world. The European Union on Thursday authorised the use of the vaccine after the bloc's medical regulator gave its approval. REUTERS "More safe and effective vaccines are coming to the market," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet. EU's medicines regulator has approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. More safe and effective vaccines are coming to the market. We have just authorised the use of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine in the EU, following @EMA_News' positive review. With the number of doses we ordered, we could vaccinate up to 200 million people in the EU. pic.twitter.com/YsrcfF9ZE8 Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 11, 2021 "We have just authorised the use of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine in the EU.... With the number of doses we ordered, we could vaccinate up to 200 million people in the EU" with the J&J jab this year, she said. US was the first to approve the use of the vaccine in the country. AFP Earlier this month the US government had brokered a deal between Johnson & Johnson and Merck, a leading vaccine maker, who failed in its efforts to make its own vaccines to use the latter's manufacturing facility. Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses Exceeding $50,000 In Jianpu Technology Inc. To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - March 11, 2021) - Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Jianpu Technology Inc. ("Jianpu" or the "Company") (NYSE: JT) and reminds investors of the April 19, 2021 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company. If you suffered losses exceeding $50,000 investing in Jianpu stock or options between May 29, 2018 and February 16, 2021 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310). You may also click here for additional information: www.faruqilaw.com/JT. There is no cost or obligation to you. Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading minority and Woman-owned national securities law firm with offices in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. As detailed below, the lawsuit focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose: (1) that certain of the Company's transactions carried out by the Credit Card Recommendation Business Unit involved undisclosed relationships or lacked business substance; (2) that, as a result, Jianpu's revenue and costs and expenses for fiscal 2018 and 2019 were overstated; (3) that there were material weaknesses in Jianpu's internal control over financial reporting; (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company's fiscal 2018 Form 20-F was reasonably likely to be restated; and (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Story continues On February 16, 2021, Jianpu announced the results of its review into "transactions carried out by the Credit Card Recommendation Business Unit" with third-party business entities. The Company concluded that previously reported revenue and associated expenses had been inflated due to "certain transactions [that] involved third-party agents (including both upstream agents and downstream suppliers) with undisclosed relationships and some transactions [that] lacked business substance." In the same press release, Jianpu stated that it would restate its financial statements for fiscal 2018 and that "investors must exercise caution" with respect to the previously reported fiscal 2019 financial information. Jianpu stated that it "anticipates the total amount of overstated revenue for the fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to be approximately, RMB 90 million and RMB 164 million, respectively, representing approximately 4.5% and 10.1% of the total revenue previously reported." On this news, the Company's share price fell $0.60, or 13%, to close at $3.94 per share on February 16, 2021, on unusually heavy trading volume. The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Jianpu's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others. Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76941 In recognition of their community involvement and their dedicated support of The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center and the vision for the new Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity, the Center looks forward to presenting the Harvey and Carol Massey and their family with the Tess Wise White Rose Award on April 28 at the new White Rose Tribute Event. Harvey and Carol Massey of Winter Park have three children and 10 grandchildren. The Massey's philanthropic interests in education, arts and culture, human and health services, and community service, are evidenced by their g... Connecticut has administered more than 1.2 million COVID vaccines, but statistics released Thursday show that nearly half of those receiving inoculations are not yet fully vaccinated. As Connecticut plans to ease pandemic restrictions next week, Gov. Ned Lamonts administration has touted falling COVID-19 metrics and the states success at administering vaccines as signals that it is time to reopen further. Those that are infected tend to be a little healthier than they were six months ago, so our hospitalizations, complications, fatalities continue in the right direction, Lamont said Thursday. He said there is no change to the planned easing of restrictions set to begin March 19, when he said occupancy caps can be lifted on businesses and houses of worship, and gathering sizes can increase. Mask and social distancing mandates will remain in place. Lamont has maintained that Connecticut will have many more people vaccinated by March 19. President Joseph Biden wants all states to make every adult eligible for the vaccine by May 1, which is closely in line with Connecticuts plan to have everyone 16 and older eligible on May 3. While Connecticut ramps up inoculations, the state has a sizable difference between the number of people who have received a first dose, giving them some immunity against the disease, and those who have been fully vaccinated. Vaccination figures released Thursday show 813,616 people have received at least a first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, while 417,873 have received their second dose. Coupled with the 27,358 people who received doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the data shows a little more than 12 percent of the states population of 3.6 million have been fully vaccinated, while about 24 percent have received at least one dose. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show only around 9.9 percent of Connecticuts population has been fully vaccinated. Connecticut sits right at the national average for the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. However, Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, said the CDC is misidentifying some of Connecticuts second doses. Its up to about 81,000 doses that they have misclassified that are actually second doses that are administered that are counting in their data as first doses, Geballe said. The good news on this topic is they have committed to us they understand what the fix is thats required. He said the data should be adjusted by Saturday. On Thursday, there were seven fewer Connecticut patients hospitalized with COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 383. The daily positivity rate stood at 2.36 percent dipping back below 3 percent for the first time in three days after 735 new cases were reported out of 31,185 tests. Another nine deaths attributed to the disease were reported, bringing the states official death toll to 7,761. With Connecticut offering the vaccine to anyone age 55 and older, the governor acknowledged shortcomings in inoculating the states most vulnerable populations including communities of color where he said more work needs to be done. The state is targeting 50 high-need ZIP codes, which comprise about a quarter of the states population. Vaccine providers have been given a benchmark of administering 25 percent of their doses to those communities. But a chart Lamont showed during his presentation Thursday showed only federally qualified health centers health organizations that work in underserved communities like people experiencing homelessness or public housing residents have met that mark. Pharmacies, which now receive all their vaccine doses directly from the federal government rather than a portion from the state allocation, were farthest from the mark at 14 percent, according to the state. Asked to reflect on the one-year anniversary of March 11, the day when Connecticut and much of the U.S. shuttered in the face of the pandemic, Lamont said he wished the state had acted sooner, but noted it did so as early as anybody. The people of Connecticut really rallied, Lamont said. We were all confronted with something that was totally unknown and alien to us and we had to work on it together. We had to give each other the benefit of the doubt, we had to do things wed never dreamed wed ask anybody to do wear a mask, close a school, cant go to a restaurant. I think people understood why we were doing what we were doing, and we worked together, he added. My hats off to the legislature, it was a deep politicized situation, we worked together hand-in-hand. That comes as President Biden signed a sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package into law on Thursday, a day earlier than expected. Along with direct payments of $1,400 to many Americans and expanded unemployment through early September, the nations third pandemic-related stimulus will provide Connecticut with about $1.1 billion for education funding, according to the governors office. He also emphasized using stimulus funds to support mental health services. The commissioners of the states education and mental health services departments, both of whom were Lamonts guests for Thursdays press conference, were asked what challenges lie ahead for the post-pandemic world. Charlene Russell-Tucker, acting commissioner of the state Department of Education, suggested the feeling of being safe for both educators and families will be key. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, suggested the funds could partly be used to let residents know what mental health services are available in the state. She also said one focus could be working with people coming to terms with emerging back in public. One thing Im hearing about is people may have struggles with just managing some of the post-pandemic anxieties around, is it really safe now? she said. Blue Dart Express climbed 2.55% to Rs 5493.80, extending its winning run to fifth consecutive trading session. Shares of Blue Dart rallied 18.5% in five trading days from its previous closing low of Rs 4636.65 on 4 March 2021. The counter hit a 52-week high of Rs 5,526.25 in intraday today. The counter is up 195% from its 52-week low of Rs 1860 posted on 17 August 2020. In last one-month, Blue Dart added 19.37% compared with a 8.87% rise in S&P BSE Small Cap index. On the technical front, the stock's RSI (relative strength index) stood at 79.354. The RSI oscillates between zero and 100. Traditionally the RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30. The stock is trading above its 50 and 100 days simple moving average placed at 4404.20 and 4107.06 respectively. These levels will act as crucial support zones in near term. Blue Dart Express is South Asia's premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution company. It offers secure and reliable delivery of consignments to over 35,000 locations in India. On a consolidated basis, Blue Dart posted a net profit of Rs 95.32 crore in Q3 FY21 as compared to a net loss of Rs 31.9 crore registered in Q3 FY20. Net sales rose 20.9% YoY to Rs 1037 crore in Q3 FY21. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and 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. Second Man In Nearly A Week To Be Reported Missing Tuolumne County, CA There has been a second report of a missing person in Tuolumne County in just under a week. The latest missing man is pictured in the image box and has not been heard from since last Thursday (March 4). That is just one day before Tuolumne Sheriffs officials alerted the public to missing Bakersfield resident, 31-year-old Eduardo Martinez Perez, whose pickup was found stuck at the gate of the Highway 108 Sno-Park and has not yet been located, as reported here. In this recent case, sheriffs spokesperson Nicco Sandelin detailed that dispatch got a call Monday afternoon from a family member of 36-year-old Stacey Jordan, a transient, who has been known to visit the Groveland and Pinecrest areas and may have traveled here again. Sandelin added, the relative reported that Jordan had told a friend he was going to the high mountains. Sheriffs officials describe Jordan as a black male adult, 5 feet 11 inches tall, thin build, dreadlocks, and likely wearing Rasta style clothing. He drives a 2005 gold-colored Chevrolet Tahoe with California license plate 8TUU915. It may also have a temporary paper plate number of AB41W43. Anyone with information on Jordan or his possible whereabouts is asked to call the sheriffs dispatch at (209)533-5815. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. "Founded in 1819, Mottville Cemetery meets Criterion A in the area of Exploration/Settlement as a pioneer-era burial ground that provides information about the earliest citizens of the area," the report reads, in part. "The cemetery includes several Revolutionary War veterans who served in New England, New York, and Nova Scotia. Notable burials include Rev. Isaac Root, an early missionary of the Universalist faith in Central New York, and several members of the Earll family, an early prominent family that helped build the Mottville area. The cemetery meets Criterion C in the area of Art for its collection of funerary monuments ranging from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. The earliest gravestones, those dating to the later 1810s and 1820s, exhibit simple neoclassical-inspired designs. The mid-nineteenth-century period is marked by more austere design in the tablet-type gravestone which is typical of broader stylistic trends. Stones from the latter stages of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century are more considerable in size and are often crafted from granite, with both polished and rough-hewn surfaces. Mottville Cemetery remains an important historic resource that chronicles the settlement of the Mottville area, with representative examples of period gravestone design that portray shifting tastes in gravestone design." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-03-12 08:01:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close As China makes great strides toward its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, companies like CATL are helping to create the energy solutions of the future, but now! To find out more, we headed to the company's headquarters in Fujian, southeast China. Produced by Xinhua Global Service New York, March 12 : The leaders of the Quad agreed on Friday to cooperate in providing vaccines to the Indo-Pacific region by harnessing their scientific, manufacturing and financial capabilities, charting a new course of close cooperation. Marking the new, enhanced phase of cooperation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the start of the quadrilateral virtual summit involving the US, India, Japan and Australia that "Quad has come of age". A joint statement issued after the virtual summit said, "Building on the progress our countries have achieved on health security, we will join forces to expand safe, affordable and effective vaccine production and equitable access, to speed economic recovery and benefit global health." "We will combine our nations' medical, scientific, financing, manufacturing and delivery and development capabilities and establish a vaccine expert working group to implement our path-breaking commitment to safe and effective vaccine distribution," said the statement issued after the meeting also involving Prime Ministers Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, and US President Joe Biden. US Vice President Kamala Harris was also present at the meeting. As the coronavirus roared through Texas last spring, H-E-B sought out distributors of surface cleaning products to meet unprecedented demand from its customers. H-E-B says it struck a deal in July with a Beaumont partnership to supply the San Antonio grocery chain hundreds of thousands of canisters of BioErase antimicrobial surface wipes. The arrangement quickly deteriorated, however, with the grocer alleging Maverick International Ltd. failed to deliver the quantities ordered and missed deadlines. THE DOCKET: True crime, legal buzz, courtroom news and more. Delivered to your inbox. H-E-B now is suing Maverick for breaking its purchase-order agreement, and seeks more than $1 million in damages. The case was filed last week in state District Court in San Antonio. H-E-B agreed to buy nearly 599,000 canisters, the suit says, while Maverick alleges the grocer committed to buy 500,000 canisters a month over a 12-month period for a total of 6 million units. Jerry Nelson, a Maverick official, hinted the partnership may be filing its own complaint. Well, I guess probably within the next week or two you may see another one, and youll be shocked, Nelson said. It wont be for that chump change a reference to the damages H-E-B seeks in its lawsuit. H-E-B spokesman Valentino Lucio described Maverick as a vendor that consistently failed to honor its commitments in a timely manner. H-E-B was left without the products to fulfill customer needs, costing it sales, he said in an email. While H-E-B has satisfied its commitments and made every attempt at reaching a compromise, we cannot sit back and allow others to make unreasonable demands and threaten litigation, Lucio added. We would prefer to not go to court, but H-E-B must seek assistance to resolve this dispute based on meritless claims. Nelson referred questions to Beaumont lawyer Glen Morgan, who also owns half of Maverick. Morgan didnt respond to a request for comment. Maverick identifies itself on a website as the worldwide distributor of BioErase. The ingredients in its wipes include citric acid, lemon grass extract, water and soap bark. The wipes are bleach-free. There are 160 wipes in each canister. In a June email, H-E-Bs lawsuit says, Maverick represented that it could provide 500,000 canister units of wipes a month. The following month, H-E-B says it issued a series of purchase orders for about 599,000 canisters. It expected to get the canisters in August. Maverick delivered 56,000 BioErase canisters in August falling short of its promise by more than 500,000 units, H-E-B alleges. It took Maverick 12 weeks to fulfill H-E-Bs first set of purchase orders, according to the lawsuit. The chain adds the late deliveries were harmful to both parties as it significantly diminished the opportunity for BioErase to gain product equity and consumer confidence in the context of the scarcity of related product. SA Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox The grocer also blames Mavericks inability to fulfill purchase orders for creating an inventory back-up for the chain, the complaint says. The suit doesnt mention how many canisters H-E-B received. H-E-B says it has had to take losses on the sale of BioErase. The product was marked down at one of its stores Tuesday to $7.99 from $9.98. There were coupons offering an additional $2.50 off. That would bring the price for each canister to $5.49 a 45 percent reduction. H-E-B wants the court to enter a judgment declaring the chain fulfilled it obligations to Maverick and that the grocer did not commit to purchasing 6 million canisters. pdanner@express-news.net LOS ANGELESAVN Media Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Luckiest Charms Contest on AVN Stars. In the spirit of St. Patricks Day coming up on March 17, share your luckiest charms on AVN Stars this weekendand take home extra green. What brings you good luck? Show your fans in a personal photobut please be sure that youre in the image that you submit. This three-day, 72-hour, fan-voting contest starts at midnight PDT on Friday, March 12 and goes until 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, March 14. All AVN Stars are eligible to enter and the Top 10 vote-getters will each receive cash prizes with the winner getting $750! To enter, just go into your Settings, click on the Contests tab and upload your image. Under contest rules, all uploaded images must feature the content creator; in addition, creators are required to post a tweet about their participation in the contest. As a reminder, AVN Stars implemented new rules for the 2021 contests. The winner of the previous contest may join the following weeks contest, however for that week their fan votes will only count 50% toward their contest ranking. For example, every 2 votes would count as 1 toward the following weeks contest ranking. The payout amount for votes will remain unchanged. Additionally, for every consecutive week that the same creator wins a contest, that following week their votes for ranking purposes will be reduced by 50%. For example, if the same creator wins two weeks in a row, their votes for the third week would accrue at 25% toward their contest rank for Week 3. To join AVN Stars for free, visit stars.avn.com. Built for adult entertainers, AVN Stars is a subscription-based community where creators can monetize their content without the worry of censorship, discrimination, shadow-banning or suspensions. Creators may charge a subscription fee or make their posts available for free. HBO Max's Gossip Girl reboot is bringing the teen drama to a new generation. And production on the series looked like it was in full swing in New York City on Thursday. Stars Jordan Alexander, Savannah Smith, and Zion Moreno made it clear this version of the show would be just as fashionable as its predecessor. Girl gang: Gossip Girl stars Jordan Alexander, Savannah Smith, and Zion Moreno were seen shooting the HBO Max revival in New York on Thursday Chic: And production on the series looked like it was in full swing in New York City on Thursday As the girls sat down to chat, Moreno took a second to touch up her makeup. Savannah joined them, looking chic as ever in a Chanel-style tweed suit worn with a pearl-buttoned blouse and black loafers with a shiny buckle across the toe. Touch-up: As the girls sat down to chat, Moreno took a second to touch up her makeup Filming: Elsewhere Emily Alyn Lind was seen filming Action! The Babysitter actress, 18, had her platinum locks down in loose curls, seen chatting with Thomas Doherty while cameras rolled Expressive: Later on she was captured making a funny face with a pink-tressed Evan Mock nearby She carried a camera, appearing ready to document another day on the Upper East Side. Elsewhere Emily Alyn Lind wandered around filming scenes elsewhere. The Babysitter actress, 18, had her platinum locks down in loose curls, seen chatting with Thomas Doherty while cameras rolled. Later on she was captured making a funny face with a pink-tressed Evan Mock. Lonely boy? Eli Brown sported a charmingly disheveled combination of dark, cuffed khakis with a well-loved version of his school blazer Fun: Brown was seen sharing a playful moment with Doherty between takes Next generation: The Gossip Girl reboot is set eight years after the original Gossip Girl website went dark, following a new generation of New York City private school teenagers Eli Brown sported a charmingly disheveled combination of dark, cuffed khakis with a well-loved version of his school blazer. He was seen sharing a playful moment with Doherty between takes. The Gossip Girl reboot is set eight years after the original Gossip Girl website went dark, following a new generation of New York City private school teenagers. These new cast members are introduced to the 'social surveillance' of the mysterious Gossip Girl as it turns their lives upside down. The show will address just how much social media, and New York City itself, has changed in the years since the original went off the air in 2012. New York, March 12 : "The Quad has come of age," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Friday at the start of the summit of the leaders of the four nations to take the group to a next level of enhanced cooperation. "We will work together closer than ever before for advancing our shared values and promoting our secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific," he said. "Today's summit shows that Quad has come of age. It will now remain an important pillar of stability in the region." He said that the Quad working together as a "force for the global good" is an extension of the Indian creed of 'Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' or that the world is one family. "We are united by our democratic values and our commitment to a free and open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he said in a reference to the regional threat from China. Modi is participating in the summit along with Prime Ministers Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, and US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. "The Quad is going to be a vital arena for cooperation," said Biden, who was presiding from the White House over the meeting held virtually with the other leaders appearing on video screens. Of the new impetus for the Quad's cooperation, he said: "We're establishing a new mechanism to enhance our cooperation to raise our mutual interests." Biden announced the formation of a new joint partnership that is going to boost Covid-19 vaccine production for global benefit and will help the entire Pacific too. "This is a group is particularly important because it's dedicated to the practical solutions, and concrete results," he said. He added: "We're renewing our commitment to ensure that our region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values and free from coercion." Biden was flanked by Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Sumona Guha, the National Security Council's senior director for South Asia, were also participating. A free and open Indo-Pacific is essential, Biden said. "The United States is committed to working with you, our partners, and all of our allies in the region to achieve stability. This is a group particularly important because it is dedicated to the practical solutions and concrete results." As Biden said in his opening remarks this was the first multilateral summit he is participating in, showing the urgency with which he views the situation in the Indo-Pacific where an aggressive China is emerging as a challenge to both the soft and hard power of the US and its partners. The push is now for the Quad to become a new model of multilateral cooperation that melds security interests with development. It plans to start by harnessing India's vaccine development and manufacturing capacity to project the new outlook. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) SIUs Touch of Nature to host two Leave No Trace Master Educator courses by Christi Mathis CARBONDALE, Ill. Southern Illinois University Carbondales Touch of Nature Environmental Center is hosting two Leave No Trace Master Educator courses this spring. The courses will offer online or on-site training followed by hands-on scenic learning expeditions. Both courses focus on providing participants with teaching skills and framework within Leave No Trace principles for assuring minimal impact when visiting the outdoors. April session will visit scenic Missouri river The first session, April 11-14, begins with a one-day online prerequisite course before moving to the Eleven Point National Scenic River in Missouri. The class will start with an introduction to the seven principles of Leave No Trace, a history of the program and preparation for backcountry travel. Participants will then put into practice what theyve learned during a 28-mile paddling trip on the Eleven Point National Scenic River in southeastern Missouri. The moderate-skills trip includes some Class I and Class II rapids so it will be helpful if participants have some prior paddling and backcountry experience. There will be time for exploration and discussion of outdoor ethics, front-country issues and backcountry Leave No Trace principles. May session will be in Southern Illinois The second Master Educator course will take place May 17-21 at various locations in Southern Illinois. The five-day training will include time in backcountry laboratory sites at Touch of Nature Environmental Center, the Shawnee National Forest, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Little Grassy Lake and Devils Kitchen Lake. The Mad Dog Flatwater Expedition will give participants experience in paddling, hiking, portaging and camping in natural flatwater areas as they learn, practice and prepare to teach Leave No Trace skills. Participants must be comfortable in the outdoors and be familiar with their gear. Sign up now Touch of Natures outdoor learning laboratory will incorporate enhanced social safety measures, including social distancing measures to ensure the health and safety of participants. Those enrolled in either of the two courses will be able to bring their own food to cook and may enjoy tent camping. The cost of the Eleven Point class in April is $550 and the Mad Dog course in May is $525. Online registration is underway for both classes. Additional course information and equipment lists are at ton.siu.edu/programs/certifications-trainings-and-workshops/leave-no-trace/. For more details, contact Erik Oberg at 618-453-3945 or eriko@siu.edu. Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has warned that US and Nato troops withdrawing too quickly from the country could lead to chaos. Photo: Rahmat Gul/AP The recently floated US draft for a deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government is the best chance to accelerate stalled peace talks between the countrys warring sides, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai said. After decades of war and conflict, the Afghans themselves are in a hurry for peace and eager to start to heal their nation, Mr Karzai told reporters. Frustrated by escalating violence and the slow pace of negotiations that have been underway in Qatar since last year, Washington handed both sides in the protracted conflict a proposal for peace, a copy of which reporters obtained earlier this week. Mr Karzai, considered a key player in the talks going forward, said that the proposed US peace plan contains important provisions that could help bring peace to Afghanistan with some revisions by both sides. Despite Mr Karzais optimistic assessment, the Washington plan could encounter serious opposition from president Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban. Mr Ghani opposes the idea of an interim government as part of a transition period, viewing it as an attempt to diminish his power. Some Taliban practices, particularly on the public role of women and demands for an Islamic system, may run contrary to ideas put forward by the United States. Mr Karzai, who served as Afghan president from 2001 to 2014, does not have a formal role in the negotiations but is seen as an important player. He is consulted routinely by Washingtons peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, and has been instrumental in bringing political opponents to the table. Mr Karzai said the US proposal can shepherd a war-weary nation to elections; it protects rights of women and minorities, offers a way to achieve constitutional reform and proffers an interim administration. The US has already tried to convey the need for quick action to the negotiators. In a letter to Mr Ghani that accompanied the proposal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it is urgent Afghanistans warring sides find a peaceful end to a war that has gone on for nearly 20 years and cost the US nearly $1 trillion. Mr Karzai said that Afghans themselves are in a hurry for peace. Peace is such a deep, deep, deeply desired wish of the Afghan people, he said. You cant imagine how much of a hurry we are in to reach peace for us and for our younger ones. He expressed hope that the US proposal could serve as a catalyst for both sides to make peace perhaps even before May 1 the deadline for a final US troop withdrawal under a US-Taliban deal reached a year ago. For now, the talks in Qatar appear hopelessly stalled, with the negotiators still arguing over the agenda. Mr Karzai did not elaborate on his cause for optimism. Meanwhile, Washington is still reviewing the Taliban deal with the Trump administration, signed on February 29, 2020. Mr Blinken said in his letter to Mr Ghani that a withdrawal of US troops by May 1 was still on the table. Mr Karzai said he was against the May 1 withdrawal of US and Nato troops, warning it would create chaos. He said it was in both Washingtons and Kabuls interest to have a responsible exit. Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-12 15:30:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CANBERRA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was not worried about the decision by European countries to suspend the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine. Denmark, Norway and Iceland have all stopped the rollout of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine after it was linked to blood clots in recipients. Addressing the concerns on Friday, Morrison, who is also the acting health minister, said he was confident in Australia's quality control measures. "The (Therapeutic Goods Administration) obviously looks at these reports when they come through, but they do their own batch testing," he said. "I was watching them do it just earlier this week." "We have a very robust process for examining that," he said. The Australian government has agreed to acquire 53.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, significantly more than any other vaccine, and 50 million doses will be manufactured domestically. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said there was currently no evidence the vaccine causes blood clots. "Safety is our first priority and in a large vaccine rollout like this, we need to monitor carefully for any unusual events so we will find them," he said in a statement. As of Friday, Australia had administered about 135,000 vaccines. Morrison on Friday defended the rate of vaccinations after the Australian Medical Association (AMA) warned that the government would not meet its goal of inoculating the entire population by October, saying the rollout has been delayed by short supply. "That obviously has an impact on the amount of doses available in the early stages of the rollout," he said. Enditem If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Qualifies for the Lifeline program. Lifeline serves low-income Americans, including those on Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits; Receives benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision, or did so in the 2019-20 school year; Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; Experienced a substantial loss of income since February 29, 2020, and the household had a total income in 2020 below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers; or Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating providers' existing low-income or COVID-19 program. (TNS) Residents grappling with the increasingly high costs of home Internet services may see some relief soon thanks to a new $3.2 billion federal program.Established last week by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program will make use of funds provided through the COVID-19 relief bill established by Congress last December. The program will provide qualifying low-income households with a $50 discount on their monthly bill to help bridge the digital divide that has become even more pronounced since schools and many businesses were forced to rely on virtual communication in the wake of COVID-19. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute $10-$50 toward the purchase price.The FCC intends to open the program up to qualifying applicants within 60 days. The Emergency Broadband Benefit will be limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household.A household is eligible if one member:Eligible households will be able to register for the program directly with participating broadband providers or with the Universal Service Administrative Company, a non-profit designated by the FCC to administer funding for broadband connectivity.The program is open to all broadband providers. Participating providers will receive reimbursement from the program for delivering qualifying broadband services or devices to eligible households.More information on how to apply should be made available on the FCC's website, fcc.gov, in the coming weeks.According to doxo, the online and mobile bill pay service, residents in New Bern pay $120 on average per month on cable/Internet, slightly above the national average of $115 per month.In a statement, Jessica Rosenworcel, acting FCC chairwoman, said the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program was the nation's largest-ever effort to help households afford broadband service."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," she commented.In addition to the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, there are a number of other assistance programs and nonprofits working to make Internet access more accessible. The following options are suggested by broadbandnow.com.Human I-T is a nonprofit that works in collaboration with Frontier Communications and their Affordable Broadband program. The Human-IT and Frontier collaboration provides affordable connections as well as a free Chromebook while supplies last. Residents can access affordable Internet by signing up at the Human-IT website PCs For People offers low-cost Internet to individuals with an income under 200% of the Federal Poverty Line or who are on income-based assistance programs. The service offers high-speed 4G LTE Internet service for as low as $10 per month, and is available nationwide. Details on plans and pricing are available here EveryoneOn is a resource for learning more about affordable Internet connections that works to create social and economic opportunity by connecting low-income families to affordable Internet service and computers.2021 the Sun Journal, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. New York, March 12 : US President Joe Biden's spokesperson has defended his assertion that Indian Americans are "taking over the country" against criticism that it could play into the hands of racists. Jen Psaki said on Thursday: "The President was just recognizing and honouring and valuing -- or this was his intention -- the incredible contribution of Indian Americans to science." sked by a reporter at her briefing in Washington about the criticism, she said that what he had said "was a reflection of his belief that Indian Americans have made a great contribution to the fabric of society, whether it's science or education or the government and that was what he was trying to convey". Biden had told Swati Mohan, the NASA engineer who guided the Mars rover Perseverance to a soft landing on the Red Planet, during a virtual meeting last week, "It's amazing. Indian of descent Americans are taking over this country. You, my Vice President, my speechwriter Vinay (Reddy). But I tell you what, thanks. You guys are incredible." For context, while Biden's statement is taken as a compliment in India and by many Indians, in the ethnic cauldron of the US such comments are viewed with caution as they could lead to a backlash against Indian Americans, who are a minority. For example, any such statements about Jews, however well-intentioned, are considered anti-Semitic as these claims have historically been used to foment violent attacks against them leading up to the holocaust in Europe. In the US, such assertions about Jews have led to physical attacks and institutional measures like elite educational institutions imposing quotas to limit the admission of Jews and are, therefore, considered anti-Semitic. The US State Department's definition of anti-Semitism includes "stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective -- such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions." Criticising Biden, a rightwing publication RedState said that if former President Donald Trump had made such a statement about Indian Americans he would have been denounced as "racist". RedState said, "Show me one sane person who believes an unknown group of Indian Americans are immediately going to assume control of the federal government, or is stupid enough to believe Indian Americans are the majority of America." Trying to introduce context, Psaki said, "He was speaking to an Indian American woman who is, of course, a scientist and an important part of the NASA team." She added, "And he also was, of course, recognising the incredible contribution of his own Vice President, Kamala Harris." Indians and other Asians are already facing a backlash in academia because of their outstanding performance. Many elite universities require them to score as much as 140 points more than Whites in the entrance exams while also rating them low on subjective evaluations like personality by marking them as less "widely respected" to lower their rankings. Four Indian American organisations joined other Asian groups that sued Harvard University alleging that it violated the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings by discriminating against Asians in admissions. A federal appeals court ruled against them last year and the groiups plan to appeal to the Supreme court. In New York City, the former Schools Chancellor Richard Carrenza campaigned against Asians accusing them of dominating the high-performing schools by outperforming them on admissions tests and tried to abolish the tests and created ill-will against them. Asians have been subjected to violent attacks in the city and elsewhere in recent months by mostly other non-Whites. The situation got so bad in the New York that a special police unit has been set up to tackle anti-Asian violence. In 2008, Biden faced criticism for the opposite reason. He had played into another stereotype of Indian Americans as low-level store employees when he said, "You cannot go to a 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Structural adhesives inspired by mussels A University of Delaware professor is drawing inspiration from shellfish to develop resilient adhesives for affordable housing and next-generation infrastructure. Jovan Tatar, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and an affiliated faculty in the Center for Composite Materials, received a prestigious NSF CAREER Award to create new durable adhesive joints for concrete structures by mimicking mussel adhesion -- how the shellfish stick to things. Concrete -- a mix of water, gravel or rock, and cement -- is a useful building material for many structures, from museums to bridges. To join two hardened concrete surfaces together and glue other structural materials to concrete, engineers must use a special adhesive, a super-strong type of glue. Existing concrete adhesives are not durable when exposed to moisture, said Tatar, and that's a problem. Most adhesives do not bond well to damp surfaces, and concrete is, intrinsically, a moist material. In addition, many concrete structures, such as bridges and building exteriors, are often exposed to water. In fields such as the automotive and aerospace industries, engineers use special adhesives to accelerate production, prolong product life, reduce stress concentrations, and control maintenance costs, said Tatar. "Similar benefits could be attained in the structural engineering field with adhesives that are specifically designed to withstand the environmental stressors and structural demand in concrete structures," he said. "This need in the field has inspired me to seek nature-inspired solutions for durable adhesive bonding to concrete." Mussels piqued his interest because of their ability to establish and maintain adhesion underwater, on substances made of minerals similar to those found in concrete. Before they end up in your bouillabaisse, mussels live in shallow waters and make special proteins that allow them to plod along and stick to surfaces. A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report recently identified externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (EBFRP) composite retrofits, which strengthen structures made of reinforced concrete, as critical for making concrete infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and restoring decaying urban infrastructure. NIST identified the durability of adhesive bonds to concrete in structures where moisture is a significant concern -- such as along coastlines -- as the highest priority research area. "By enabling durable adhesive bonding to concrete, this project will improve the durability of EBFRP retrofits, which addresses two important needs: the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program's call to improving retrofit technology; and the National Academy of Engineering's Grand Challenge to restore and improve urban infrastructure," said Tatar. After all, to keep up with rapid urbanization, it is estimated that the construction industry must deliver over 13,000 buildings (excluding single-family homes) per day across the world by 2050, which is 3,600 buildings above the current rate of production, he said. "The booming urban population will also generate unprecedented demand for affordable housing and next-generation infrastructure to support sustainable growth," said Tatar. "To meet the needs of modern society, the construction industry must substantially accelerate production which will likely be possible through prefabricated construction and additive manufacturing." New, stronger adhesives could join together prefabricated structural components and combine layers of 3D-printed concrete in a way that promotes structural integrity and enables the seamless transfer of loads through a structure. "I envision fundamental advances in the understanding of bio-inspired adhesion to concrete will enable the development of durable adhesive joining techniques that support innovation and increase productivity in the construction sector," said Tatar. Outreach for students with ADHD Every NSF CAREER Award has an outreach component, an opportunity for scientists to engage with the community and promote STEM. In this portion of this project, Tatar is focusing on outreach to individuals with ADHD. As he wrote in his proposal: "Increasingly wicked problems require disruptive solutions; most often, these originate in highly creative, interdisciplinary teams. Individuals with ADHD exhibit creativity to a much greater extent than the neurotypical population, along with cognitive disinhibition that allows them to consider ideas outside their field. These qualities do not serve them well as engineering students, however -- they are twice as likely to change majors after their first year as their neurotypical peers, largely because engineering curricula rely on teacher-centered modes of instruction which are not sufficiently open to diversity in learning. The overarching goal of my education plan is to nurture a cadre of highly creative engineers capable of creating transformative knowledge." Tatar will design accessible outreach activities for students in grades 4 through 12 in collaboration with UD Engineering's K-12 Outreach group. He will provide summer research internships and personalized mentoring for high school students and first-year undergraduates with ADHD. This aligns with Tatar's research, which requires out-of-the-box thinking and is highly interdisciplinary -- he's collaborating with faculty in biology, biomechanics, surface science, quantum chemistry and materials engineering. Tatar joined UD in 2018 after two years as an assistant professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He holds a doctoral degree and master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Florida and a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Montenegro. ### This story has been published on: 2021-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Microsoft will switch to a four-week release cycle for stable builds of Edge later this year. It plans to move to that schedule starting with Edge 94, which should arrive in September. Earlier this month, Google announced that Chrome would move to that cycle with Chrome 94 (which should drop in the third quarter) as part of an effort to release new features faster. At the moment, stable Chrome builds emerge every six weeks or so. Chrome and Edge are both based on Chromium , so it makes sense for Microsoft to adopt the same schedule. Microsoft noted that the four-week cycle might not be ideal for everyone. Enterprise customers will have an Extended Stable option, through which Microsoft will roll out major Edge updates every eight weeks. It will still provide bi-weekly security updates to those who choose that option. Google will offer a similar Extended Stable option to its enterprise customers. The upcoming schedule change will bring Edge and Chrome in line with Firefox. That browser adopted a four-week release cycle in early 2020. Piers Morgans toxic treatment of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is chillingly familiar for many women. We may not all be royalty with a public figure repeatedly vilifying us in front of millions, but we know the dynamic: to reject a man can be just about one of the most dangerous things a woman can do. Morgans attitude towards Meghan was not always negative. A look back through the British TV presenters Twitter history surfaces many complimentary tweets about and to her, from when she still had an active account. According to Morgan, their friendship began in 2015, when she messaged him to say she was a big fan after he followed her on Twitter. They met up for a drink in 2016, when Meghan was visiting London, and Morgan says it was immediately after this that she met Prince Harry and, in his words, ghosted him, which he says hurt. Morgan subsequently spent years growing increasingly hostile to Meghan in the media and on Twitter, culminating in him declaring on Good Morning Britain he didnt believe a word she said in her interview with Oprah Winfrey including the vulnerable admission of suicidal thoughts. When confronted about his comments the next day, he stormed off set. Meghan hasnt responded publicly to his attacks, although she did lodge a formal complaint with ITV along with more than 41,000 viewers. US actor Leonardo DiCaprio, centre, stands with models posing as Pan Am air hostesses at the UK premiere of the film 'Catch Me If You Can' in London on 27 January 2003. DiCaprio plays a criminal mastermind and compulsive liar in the film. Photo: Reuters Most people have told a little white lie at work at some point. Maybe you told your boss you were late because of the traffic when you overslept, or told a colleague you were working on a task right now when it was actually at the bottom of your to-do list. You may have even told someone they were doing a great job, when they werent. According to a survey of more than 1,000 UK employees by Glassdoor, 49% have lied at work. The most common reasons for doing so included to avoid getting into trouble (44%) and to hide mistakes (34%). Of those polled, 40% said they had lied because it was easier to agree with the majority, while 24% said they had done so because their boss or colleagues do not like to hear diverse opinions. An older study by the University of Massachusetts found that 60 percent of adults could not have a 10-minute conversation without lying at least once. Telling a little white lie every so often isnt going to cause too many problems for most people. But workers with a tendency to lie can cause a whole host of issues for businesses and their employees. Rob Ball, director of Work Horizons, an organisation supporting business leaders to make the most of individuals and teams, says there are many reasons why some people lie frequently at work. WATCH: How To Resign Without Burning Bridges READ MORE: Why it is a bad idea to lie on your CV Incompetence, ambition, politics, impossible targets from impossible bosses, boredom, sociopathy, control over others are some, he says. Too often we are just embarrassed by missing a target, or not knowing something. We cover up and this means falsehoods of various levels of significance. Research suggests people who are skilled at lying have several characteristics. There is evidence to suggest that successful lying requires significant cognitive effort and memory capacity, which is related to intellect. Frequent liars also often dont see anything wrong with it, with studies showing that people who commonly lie are more likely to admit to lying. Story continues In addition, frequent liars can be hard to detect because they may have higher levels of EQ or emotional intelligence. A 2011 study suggests this can lead to a heightened ability to simulate emotional expressions and the ability to avoid emotional leakage when deceiving people. In other words, theyre good at controlling their emotions and any non-verbal signs that may give away that theyre lying. While many people tell the occasional lie, problems occur if lying becomes commonplace at work. A vicious cycle can begin with one little white lie from a co-worker, diminishing the ability of other employees to read others and undermining the entire workplace, researchers at Michigan, Harvard, Virginia and Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis found in 2019. Dishonest deeds diminish a persons ability to read others emotions, or interpersonal cognition, the research found. In addition, one dishonest act can lead to more dishonesty. READ MORE: How to be more resilient at work when everything is stressful This can harm businesses because our ability to read emotions is crucial in negotiations and in building relationships. Everything in business, as in life, is founded on relationships and all relationships must be based on trust. Lying totally undermines this. Reputations are easily lost and if you are a supplier to a client, this can have dramatic effects, Ball says. Indeed, just one example of lying can be terminal in a relationship. I like the story of the new CEO who asked his secretary to lie to a supplier regarding his availability. The secretary refused because if she did the CEO would know she lied and his trust in her would be undermined. Of course, this means the better the liar, the more dangerous they are. When you have that first inkling that someone isnt being truthful, it can be helpful to consider their intentions and how they would benefit from the lie. Persistent liars may be adept at hiding non-verbal cues, but this can be difficult and people often wring their hands, fiddle with something or avert their gaze if they are lying. Consider their tone and how they come across they may appear nervous, over confident or fast-talking. Certain phrases may be used to conceal a lie, too. The statement as far as I remember suggests the person is relying on memory, which is notoriously unreliable and provides an excuse if their lie is discovered. Phrases like in all honesty emphasise the sincerity of what they are saying, or they may repeat questions to give them more time to think of a lie. Ultimately, though, a truly skilled liar can be extremely difficult to detect and outing them requires guesswork, which can easily backfire. Spotting the liar can only be based on subsequent factual information being in conflict with the statement, Ball says. However, very many people indulge in white lies, perhaps to cover themselves. WATCH: How to negotiate a pay rise? TORONTO, March 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QMX Gold Corporation (TSX-V: QMX) (QMX or the Company) is pleased to announce that both Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC (Glass Lewis) have recommended that holders (the QMX Shareholders) of common shares of the Company (the Shares) vote FOR the proposed plan of arrangement (the Arrangement) with Eldorado Gold Corporation (Eldorado). ISS and Glass Lewis are leading independent proxy advisory firms who provide voting recommendations to institutional shareholders. Pursuant to the Arrangement, each QMX Shareholder (other than Eldorado and any dissenting QMX Shareholders) will receive, in exchange for each Share held, (i) C$0.075 in cash and (ii) 0.01523 of an Eldorado common share (the Consideration). Favourable ISS and Glass Lewis Recommendations In reaching its conclusion, ISS noted: In light of the reasonable strategic rationale, significant premium, improvements in liquidity and certainty of value based on the mixed consideration offered to QMX Shareholders, and positive market reaction, shareholder approval of this resolution is warranted. Glass Lewis report cites Eldorados previous key financing in QMX, the negotiation process which resulted in a higher price for QMX Shareholders and the strong premiums along with the mixed structure of cash and equity offered within the Consideration in recommending QMX Shareholders vote in favour of the Arrangement. The Meeting The special meeting of QMX Shareholders (the Meeting) to vote on the Arrangement is scheduled to be held in a virtual-only format on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. (Toronto time) via live audio webcast online at https://virtual-meetings.tsxtrust.com/1080. YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT PLEASE VOTE TODAY The proxy voting deadline is 11:00 a.m. (Toronto time) on Friday, March 19, 2021. The board of directors unanimously recommends that QMX Shareholders vote FOR the Arrangement. Full details of the Arrangement are described in the Companys management information circular dated February 9, 2021 (the Circular) and can be found on the Companys website at https://www.qmxgold.ca/special-meeting/. The Circular is also available under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. How to Vote Your vote is important regardless of the number of Shares you own. Please vote today. Voting for Beneficial Shareholders INTERNET: Go to www.proxyvote.com. Enter the 12-digit control number printed on the voting instruction form and follow the instructions on the screen. Voting for Registered Shareholders INTERNET: Go to www.voteproxyonline.com. Enter the 12-digit control number printed on the form of proxy and follow the instructions on the screen. Shareholder Questions and Assistance QMX Shareholders who have questions regarding the Arrangement or require assistance with voting may contact Laurel Hill Advisory Group, the Companys proxy solicitation agent, by telephone at 1-877-452-7184 (North American Toll-Free), or 1-416-304-0211 (Outside North America), or by email to assistance@laurelhill.com. About QMX Gold Corporation QMX is a Canadian based resource company traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol QMX. The Company is systematically exploring its extensive property position in the Val dOr mining camp in the Abitibi District of Quebec. QMX is currently drilling in the Val dOr East portion of its land package focused on the Bonnefond Deposit and in the Bourlamaque Batholith. In addition to its extensive land package QMX owns the strategically located Aurbel gold mill and tailings facility. About Eldorado Gold Corporation Eldorado is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkey, Canada, Greece, Romania, and Brazil. Eldorado has a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, a portfolio of high-quality assets, and long-term partnership with local communities. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: ELD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EGO). Contact Information: Brad Humphrey Sandy Noyes Louis Baribeau President and CEO Investor Relations Public Relations & Communications Tel: (514) 667-2304 Toll free: +1 877-717-3027 Email: info@qmxgold.ca Website: www.qmxgold.ca Laurel Hill Advisory Group North America Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184 Calls Outside North America: 1-416-304-0211 Email: assistance@laurelhill.com Cautionary Note About Forward-Looking Statements and Information Certain of the information or statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which are collectively referred to as forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, words such as will, to be, to seek, should, potential, target, strategy and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements as well as phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, should, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation of such terms. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements relating to: the transaction and the proposed Arrangement and the Meeting, which involve numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including the risk factors identified in the Circular and the documents incorporated by reference therein along with QMXs Managements Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and Eldorados current Annual Information Form, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Such factors include, among others, obtaining required shareholder and regulatory approvals, meeting the conditions in the Agreement, material adverse effects on the business, properties and assets of the Company, and whether any superior proposal will be made. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements in this news release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied therein. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the transaction have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine Mykola Balan has held an online working meeting with California National Guard Adjutant General David Baldwin to discuss areas for further cooperation. According to the press service of the National Guard of Ukraine, during the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects for the training of officers and sergeants of the National Guard of Ukraine by the National Guard of California. Baldwin said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, unfortunately, a number of important joint events were canceled, adding that their implementation will still happen with an improvement in the epidemiological situation. He said that the vaccination of their military personnel has already begun, and that they are ready to resume their cooperation with Ukraine in the same level, as well as expand it. So, he assured that the planning of joint activities with the National Guard of Ukraine for the next two years has already begun. Particular attention is focused on planning the development of the National Guard of Ukraine in the long term and on training staff officers. In particular, it is noted that the delegation of the California National Guard, headed by the commander, plans to visit Ukraine in the near future. In turn, Balan emphasized the importance of cooperation with the California National Guard under the State Partnership Program (SPP) and proposed the beginning of cooperation between the Rapid Response Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine and the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the California National Guard in order to exchange experience, participate in joint exercises and jointly perform official -combat missions in the future. "Since 2014 alone, the California National Guard has held 21 joint events with the National Guard of Ukraine ... Joint work on reforming the control system of the National Guard of Ukraine in order to achieve compatibility with the military formations of NATO member states was important," Balan said. In total, since 1993, the California National Guard has organized and conducted 37 events of international cooperation with the National Guard of Ukraine, of which 21 are of an educational nature. The rule 'broken' by a major general accused of swindling the taxpayer out of 48,000 to send his children to private school 'was not strictly enforced and was set to change', according to an internal Ministry of Defence (MoD) email read to court. Nick Welch, 57, is alleged to have falsely claimed the money to pay for his children's boarding schools between December 2015 and February 2017. The prosecution states that the senior Army officer, who is on trial at Bulford Military Court, applied for the allowance on the basis that both he and his wife would not be living close to the children's schools in Dorset. This was in order to claim for the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to allow their children to stay at the 37,000-a-year Clayesmore School and the 22,500-a-year Hanford School. Nick Welch (pictured left and right), 57, is alleged to have falsely claimed the money to pay for his children's boarding schools between December 2015 and February 2017 The payment is aimed at allowing children of service personnel to remain at the same schools to enable their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse when they are posted to different locations. But the prosecution claims his wife Charlotte actually spent most of her time at a cottage in Blandford Forum, Dorset, close to the two schools, rather than at their stated military accommodation in Putney, London. The current policy states a soldier would be ineligible to claim CEA if their spouse is away from the registered military home for more than 90 days per year, which the prosecution suggests Mrs Welch had done. But the court was read an internal MoD email concerning the implication of the CEA rule which stated: 'We will introduce more flexibility to allow (absences) beyond the 90-day point. 'In practice we are already doing this in casework.' Explaining the email, Andrew Beer, CEA desk officer and member of the MoD's remuneration allowances policy team, said: 'This email is a discussion internally that could result in a policy change. Bulford Military Court (pictured above) was read an internal MoD email concerning the implication of the CEA rule which stated: 'We will introduce more flexibility to allow (absences) beyond the 90-day point' 'The 90 days is a guide to the commanding officer (CO) to locate the person's accompanied status, there will be a lot of occasions where it's perfectly appropriate for this to exceed 90 days and the CO can make a decision on that accordingly. 'If we put in 90 days as a limit then the whole system would become unworkable. 'The service person is encouraged to seek advice from HR when they are not sure, the worst thing they can do is come to the conclusion they are eligible because their colleague is, it would be a foolish thing to do.' Welch denies the charge and his barrister, Sarah Jones QC, has told the court the CEA rules were a 'mess' and he and his wife had not acted dishonestly. The trial continues. (Natural News) In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court has established that students can sue educational institutions for violating their free speech rights while only needing to establish nominal damages as standing. Actual damages do not necessarily need to be proven, which reports indicate opens up a whole new avenue of litigation that attorneys all across the country are sure to take advantage of on behalf of individuals whose free speech rights have been violated. Under normal circumstances, a plaintiff would have to establish some level of real damage to have any standing in a lawsuit. However, Justice Clarence Thomas ruled, with considerable support, that the violation of a core constitutional right in this case the First Amendment substantiates enough real damage to grant standing. Plaintiffs will still need to meet other requirements such as particularized injury and a cognizable cause of action, it is important to note. A request for nominal damages does not automatically guarantee entry into the court, though it does substantially decrease other barriers to entry. Our holding concerns only redressability, the court explained in its ruling. It remains for the plaintiff to establish the other elements of standing (such as a particularized injury); plead a cognizable cause of action and meet all other relevant requirements. We hold only that, for the purpose of Article III standing, nominal damages provide the necessary redress for a completed violation of a legal right, it added. Watch out, academia: We the People are coming for you The plaintiff in the presented case upon which the Supreme Court came to this decision was determined to have sustained a violation of his constitutional rights when his school, Georgia Gwinnett College, enforced unconstitutional free speech restrictions against him. Because every violation [of a right] imports damage,' the court ruled, adding that nominal damages can redress Usuegbunams (in the case of Uzuegbunam v Preczewski) injury even if he cannot or chooses not to quantify that harm in economic terms. The only dissenter was none other than Chief Justice John Roberts, a Supreme Court turncoat who complained that Article III access can now be purchased for $1. Todays decision risks a major expansion of the judicial role, he wrote in his dissent, suggesting that cases seeking nominal damages of any amount, including as little as $1, will now flood the courts while failing to alleviate the harms suffered by plaintiffs. If nominal damages can preserve a live controversy, then federal courts will be required to give advisory opinions whenever a plaintiff tacks on a request for a dollar, Roberts added. Roberts further complained that federal courts will be required to perform such a function simply to find out if their rights have been violated. Federal courts, which he describes as the least dangerous branch, will become the least expensive source of legal advice, he scoffed. Thomas dismissed this criticism by explaining that it misses the point. He says that because nominal damages were already available at common law in analogous circumstances, a simple request for nominal damages satisfies the redressability element of standing where a plaintiffs claim is based on a completed violation of a legal right. It is a lot of legalese to digest, but suffice it to say that this is a big win for everyday Americans whose core constitutional rights have been violated. They represent the first real set of consequences for colleges and universities that thought they could forever infringe on the free speech rights of conservatives, for instance. Just the added risk of ending up in federal court might be enough of an incentive to force these universities and colleges to recalculate risk and reward, reports Hot Air. More related news can be found at FirstAmendment.news. Sources for this article include: HotAir.com NaturalNews.com A bitter neighbourhood feud has erupted over 11 trees as a prominent family fights to destroy them so they can build 28 new homes on their sprawling estate. Locals in the exclusive Adelaide suburb of Brighton are up in arms over a proposal by the Le Cornu family, executors of late furniture mogul Llora Shirley's property, to axe the trees on Sturt Road. Furious residents have started a petition against the family's plans, arguing it will take centuries to re-establish the 'valuable canopy cover' the trees provide. Locals are fighting controversial furniture Le Cornu dynasty over their proposal to destroy the trees on their late matriarch's property in Brighton, Adelaide (pictured) The trees include four lemon-scented gums, six sugar gums and a weeping bottlebrush The Lofty Building Group has lodged a 28-house subdivision plan for the block which the Le Cornu family plan to sell when and if the proposed development is complete. Petition organiser, Joanna Wells, is pleading with Holdfast City Council to save the trees - four lemon-scented gums, six sugar gums and a weeping bottlebrush. She has so far gathered more than 3,000 signatures. 'Tree canopy such as they provide takes hundreds of years to create. Once we lose it we will never get it back,' the petition states. A bitter neighbourhood feud has erupted over 11 trees as a prominent family fights to destroy them so they can build 28 new homes on their sprawling estate 'These trees not only remove air pollutants from the traffic on busy Sturt Road but keep the street and surrounding homes shaded and cool.' Resident in the nearby suburb of Seacliff and petition signatory, Lynda Yates, told Daily Mail Australia removing the trees would destroy the habitat of native birds. 'There's quite a bit of wildlife that lives there at the moment. There's nowhere for it go now there's hardly any green places around,' she said 'So the wildlife is going to suffer and probably die as a consequence.' The existing home, which was previously recommended for heritage listing, would be demolished if the subdivision is approved Ms Yates said the application to demolish the trees and build a 'dense' housing estate was unpopular among the community. 'It's a shame a nursing home or an aged care home or something couldn't buy that land and actually utilise the advantages its got there, rather than just put it into 28 allotments which could be predominately concrete,' she said. Lynda Yates (pictured) said the application to demolish the trees was unpopular with locals The house was bought by Lancelot Le Cornu - who was the managing director and chairman of the successful furniture business Le Cornu - in the 1960s. Mr Le Cornu died in 2013, and after his wife Llora Shirley passed in March 2019 the family estate took ownership of the property. The existing home, which was previously recommended for heritage listing, would be demolished if the subdivision is approved. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Lofty Building Group for comment. A spokesman told The Advertiser: 'Lofty Building Group is not yet in a position to make any comment on the plan. 'Lofty will be happy to comment once there is clear direction on how they will move forward on this project.' The council will consider the proposal in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Kuleba calls on Russia to abandon its aggressive policy against Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the European Union to be ready to strengthen restrictive measures against Russia in the event of further escalation of the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine. That's according to a commentary by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on the extension of EU sanctions against a number of individuals and entities for Russian aggression against Ukraine. Read alsoUN tells of human rights violations in occupied CrimeaIn particular, Ukrainian diplomats say the move to prolong restrictions "is unconditional evidence that the EU remains a reliable partner of Ukraine in its struggle to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity." "The Russian Federation must immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and return to fulfilling its international legal and political obligations. In the event of further continuation and escalation of aggressive actions by Russia against Ukraine, the response of the international community must be adequate, and sanctions must be strengthened," the statement says. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba via Twitter welcomed the EU decision to extend Russia sanctions for undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine. "I welcome EUCouncil's decision to extend sanctions on 177 persons & 48 entities involved in Russian aggression against Ukraine. EU sanctions should remain until Ukraine's sovereignty & territorial integrity are fully restored. Russia must cease its aggression against Ukraine," Kuleba tweeted. Reporting by UNIAN One of three men accused of killing a Maltese anti-corruption journalist has revealed the full details of the deadly plot. Vince Muscat was sentenced to 15 years in prison in February after admitting his involvement in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia - who was killed in a car bomb attack near her home in 2017. The journalist and mother-of-three - described as a 'one-woman WikiLeaks' - was known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite. Muscat was hired as a lookout responsible for monitoring the location of Ms Galizia ahead of the attack, he told the court. Speaking publicly for the first time since pleading guilty, he told today how the original plan to shoot the journalist was dropped in favour of a using car bomb. They felt using a car bomb was 'cleaner' because killing her with a close-range rifle shot would have been 'too noisy'. Vince Muscat was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in February after admitting his involvement in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia - who was killed in a car bomb attack near her home in 2017 Journalist and mother-of-three Ms Galizia (pictured) - described as a 'one-woman WikiLeaks' - was known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite Muscat allegedly worked alongside brothers, Alfred and George Degiorgio - but both have pleaded not guilty. Local tycoon Yorgen Fenech ordered the hit, according to police, but he too denies wrongdoing. Muscat claimed the alleged group of assailants hired a car similar to the one Caruana Galizia drove to practice breaking into it. How murder investigation unfolded Car Bomb - October 16, 2017 On October 16, 2017 Daphne Caruana Galizia is killed in a car bomb targeting her vehicle not far from her home in the north of the island. Aged 53, she was known for investigating high-level corruption, including contributing to the 2016 Panama Papers data leak. Her killing triggers an outpouring of grief on the island, one of her sons accusing Muscat of being complicity and turning Malta into a 'mafia island'. On December 4, 2017, authorities arrest eight people in connection with the murder. Charges - July 16, 2019 On July 16, 2019, three suspects are formally charged in connection with the assassination: brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, as well as Vince Muscat, all in their 50s. The mastermind has not yet been identified. On September 20, the government announces a public inquiry into the killing, just ahead of the expiry of a three-month deadline by the Council of Europe to set up such an investigation. Legal Immunity - November 20, 2019 On November 20, Maltese police arrest tycoon Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder as he is sailing away from Malta on his yacht. Fenech owns a Dubai company called 17 Black that Caruana Galizia had reported had connections with the government. The arrest comes a day after the prime minister promises to pardon an alleged middleman if he names the person who ordered the assassination. On the 23, Fenech demands legal immunity before revealing what he knows about the case. He is released on bail three days later. Ministers quit - November 26, 2019 On November 26 Muscat's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and his tourism minister, Konrad Mizzi, resign. They had been accused by Caruana Galizia of being involved in corruption, which they denied. Economy minister Chris Cardona says he is 'suspending himself'. Schembri is arrested but released two days later without charge, sparking accusations of a cover-up. Some sources claim Schembri was the mastermind of Caruana Galizia's killing. Prime Minister to step down - November 30, 2019 On November 30, party sources say Muscat will step down on January 18 once those behind the murder of Caruana Galizia have been charged 'He always said that he will be leaving soon and he feels that now is the time to go,' said one party source. Advertisement He also used his statement to apologise to members of Ms Galizia's family, who were sitting in the courtroom. In pre-trial testimony against the Degiorgio brothers, Muscat said Alfred had got him on board, telling him they would be paid 150,000 euros (128,343) for the murder - 30,000 euros (25,675) of which was paid in cash upfront. He said: 'Alfred Degiorgio came to me and told me there was a good job for me. 'The plan was to follow her steps and shoot her when the time was right.' He and Alfred followed Ms Galizia's movements for weeks - with George pushing to use a bomb because it could be planted at night, making it easier to avoid detection, Muscat said. The pair used an auto-focusing telescope to spy on her in cafes and through the windows of her home, local media reports. Muscat told the court: 'We'd be sitting there on two bricks. It was uncomfortable and you'd get sore. 'I'd go and get food sometimes. I was buying three packs of Rothmans Red a day. 'We disposed of the butts in a water bottle, so as not to leave any trace. We watched Daphne on her sofa with a laptop until 2am.' The initial plan was to shoot Ms Galizia inside her home in the village of Bidnija using a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight device. Alfred was ready to carry out the assassination - but George said the noise could get them caught. Muscat said: 'The plan was to have Alfred shoot from under the tree. 'I would take him away from the scene in a stolen car. As soon as he shot, I would have to raise the gate so we could escape.' While keeping watch over Ms Galizia's house on the night of October 15, 2017, they noticed that, unusually, she had parked her car outside the gate. Muscat said he picked up the bomb, which was hidden in a shoebox, and met up with the other hitmen. The trio placed the device beneath the driver's seat. The bomb - which had 500g of explosives - had a petrol-filled water bottle attached to it to maximize the devastating impact, the court heard. He described it to the court, saying: 'Six inches thick, five inches wide and three inches long 'It was a neat bomb, it had a stainless steel face.' The bomb 'came with a mobile phone' with a slot for a SIM card. To detonate it, a particular text needed to be sent to the SIM. At 5am the next morning, Muscat told the court that he and Alfred returned to a vantage point overlooking the house. In the early afternoon the court heard they saw Ms Galizia drive off and informed George, who was in a boat off shore ready to trigger the bomb remotely. He detonated the bomb before his brother had given him the go-ahead. Ms Galizia's car was out of sight and Muscat said they did not hear the explosion. 'I thought it didn't go off, it was no good,' he said. Then they looked back and saw a plume of smoke. The murder of Caruana Galizia sparked international outrage and protests that forced prime minister Joseph Muscat to resign He added: 'We were walking back to the car. We didn't hear anything. 'Alfred said, "I don't think it exploded." I looked back and saw black smoke. I swear, your Honour, we heard nothing from there. We heard only a small sound.' A few weeks later, Muscat met Alfred who warned of looming police raids. They found out about the date of their arrest two or three weeks ahead of time. Muscat said Degiorgio had told him he was getting information from Chris Cardona, who was then economic services minister and had often been attacked in Caruana Galizia's blogs. Cardona has always denied any involvement in, or knowledge of the murder case. The three alleged hitmen were eventually arrested on December 4, 2017. They made sure they were together in the same place when the police arrived. They expected to be released after a few days, but bail was repeatedly refused. Seven people in total have been charged with the plot, including tycoon Fenech. Muscat also named former-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's former chief of staff Keith Schembri. The accused Muscat is no relation to the former-PM. 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. Reuters Videos There's a probable link between young men who received the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and a heart inflammation condition.That's what Israeli health officials said Tuesday (June 2) they'd observed from December to May.Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than it would normally be expected in the general population. In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, according to a study commissioned by the health ministry. Most patients who experienced heart inflammation spent no more than four days in hospital, and 95% of the cases were also classified as "mild."The study found the link between myocarditis and a Pfizer second dose was observed more among men aged 16-19 than in other age groups. Israel has now held off vaccinating its 12-15 year-old population. Pfizer said in a statement that it is aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis, but it noted that no causal link to its vaccine has been established.Israel has been a world leader in its vaccination rollout. About 55% of its population has already been vaccinated. In January, nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the downtown outpost of local coffee roaster and cafe Indah Coffee experienced one of its worst months yet 70 percent down compared to the same month a year prior. The moment, which came during one of coronavirus' worst surges, is emblematic of the plight faced by downtown restaurants in Columbia and throughout the country. Such businesses have had to weather losing much of their main clientele: office workers. Its left operators like Nick Hauser, who operates Indah locations on Main Street and Sumter Street in Columbia, wondering how long to hold out on what shouldve been a reliable revenue stream with the regular, five-day work week and its hordes of workers. Still, burgeoning vaccination efforts and the promising trend of lower positive testing rates provide some reason to hope. Thats a high density area, Hauser said of normal customer traffic downtown. Suddenly that density is just not there anymore. Hauser added that hes optimistic the office environment could turn around, but he's uncertain how habits could shift when workers return. Their patterns have been disrupted, he said. Its going to be challenging for at least the next six months. His business, which opened its downtown outpost in 2018, is now mulling its longterm future at its space in the Arcade Mall. Initially, he shared the relatively small space with two other tenants Granger Owings and Circa Barbershop but they have since elected to not renew their lease. For now, Hauser is taking a wait-and-see approach, attempting to balance the cafes seeming strong potential with the short-term losses. He's hopeful that if he can persevere, the location's advantages the eclectic bunch of tenants in the Arcade Mall and Main Street's overall growth will help him regain momentum. Were excited about the potential, Hauser explained. Were feeling a little more optimistic." Even the most entrenched downtown restaurants have struggled amid the pandemic. At downtowns iconic fried chicken sandwich eatery Drakes Duck-In, manager Edwina Tiny Harmon said the downturn is among the worst of her tenure, which began in 1997. The only other time that compared was when the city redid Main Streets roads, creating literal roadblocks that hampered access to the Main Street store front. As people stopped working, we really felt the pinch, Harmon explained of the current downturn. The restaurant, whose main patrons includes downtown office workers, has relied heavily on, and succeeded with, delivery services like Uber Eats and GrubHub, she said. But, as of late, business has trickled back up to more normal levels, despite Drake's not offering indoor eating yet. Theres no need to worry," she reasoned. "I dont think this place has been around this long for our future or our past to interrupt that." Joey Von Nessen offered similar optimism. The economist at the University of South Carolinas Darla Moore School of Business said the nature of the city's snug business center makes it ripe for a rebound. The first thing to recognize is the difference between cities like Columbia and cities within South Carolina compared to other metropolitan regions, he explained. One of the things were likely to find in cities like Columbia, were likely to see people returning to work faster than we would in these larger cities. Von Nessen pointed to the relative lack of skyscrapers, transit systems and other vertical office buildings compared to cities like Charlotte and, on a much larger scale, New York City. Those buildings and services create inherent obstacles to social distancing, a necessary requirement for offices attempting to return to work. Still, while companies desire to return to normal operations which Von Nessen attributes to the productivity and teamwork building fostered by in-person meetings he said there will be marked shifts based on the efficiency that has come with employees working from home. Were not going to the 2019 economy and the way of doing things, those professional norms, he said. I think youre going to see a movement back to the office, although its going to be a different normal than in 2019. This uncertainty is further complicated though by the food industrys reliance on consumer confidence. Even if the workers return, will they patronize the businesses who desperately need them to do so? Andy Gendil is counting on it. The owner of the lunch spot Hampton Place Cafe, which has endured for more than three decades, said hes relying on workers returning to the office for his businesss success. Hampton Places sales are down by half and he laid off one of his employees to help sustain the business through the pandemic. Its been rough, Gendil offered. I think its due to the people working at home. He said there was little he could do to stem the losses, particularly in catering, which used to make up 10 percent of the restaurant's business and has been reduced to nearly nothing. Theres no way to predict whats going to happen," he concluded. "This has never happened before." Von Nessen suggested that worker-focused downtown businesses are also in the same boat as the hospitality industry at large, waiting for vaccination efforts to increase consumer confidence. The best case scenario is a situation to where the vaccine is rolled out to virtually the entire population ahead of Memorial Day, before tourism season, he posited. Then we could see a really strong year for leisure and hospitality. (JNS) Exactly one year ago, Israel was poised to realize the dream of applying sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria with U.S. support and the tacit consent of a few Arab states. Israel, however, chose not to take this path, preferring the immediate achievements of the signing of the Abraham Accords to a possible confrontation with the Palestinians and the international community. The realization of the sovereignty dream was postponed and, as Israel Hayoms Ariel Kahana argued earlier this week, may have been missed entirely. With Joe Biden now president of the Unite... Judge allows Texas to remove Planned Parenthood from Medicaid program Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A judge has issued an order allowing Texas to remove Planned Parenthood from the state Medicaid program, preventing the abortion provider from getting an injunction. State District Judge Lora Livingston of Travis County issued an order on Wednesday, blocking the injunction request, arguing that Planned Parenthood should pursue action through federal courts. This decision is not made lightly. In the light of the ongoing public health crisis, the risks of the individual losing healthcare and medical attention requires increased attention and scrutiny, wrote Livingston, as reported by the Austin-American Statesman. Jennifer Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, said in a statement approving of the removal that Texans already have better options for healthcare. There are hundreds of providers throughout the state of Texas willing to serve poor women with authentic healthcare services that are not also peddling abortion, stated Allmon, as reported by Life News. The Texas Pregnancy Care Network has a list of such providers throughout the state and if these providers do not accept Medicaid, they can make referrals to life-affirming Medicaid providers who can offer genuine healthcare to women in need. Dyana Limon-Mercado, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, denounced Texas removal of Planned Parenthood from Medicaid as harming healthcare [abortion] access for the most vulnerable Texans. Planned Parenthood will do everything it can to protect and fight for its patients since it remains painfully clear that [Texas Gov. Greg] Abbott and his administration will continue to fail Texans in the most devastating ways, stated Limon-Mercado, as reported by NPR affiliate KUT. Last November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an en banc ruling that said Texas and Louisiana could cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. Overturning an earlier panel opinion, the majority concluded that the law does not give Medicaid patients the right to challenge a states determination that a particular Medicaid provider is unqualified. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a supporter of his states Planned Parenthood Medicaid ban, released a statement last year approving of the Fifth Circuit's ruling. Planned Parenthood is not a qualified provider under the Medicaid Act, and it should not receive public funding through the Medicaid program, he stated. However, last month, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble had temporarily blocked Texas from removing Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, arguing that the abortion provider deserved more time to make their case. [March 12, 2021] Medeze Commended by Frost & Sullivan for Dominating the Stem Cell Banking Market with Its Pioneering, Full Spectrum Services Medeze's expansion strategies and customer-focused innovation in MSC banks and regenerative therapies have enabled it to garner a major share of the market SINGAPORE, March 12, 2021 /CNW/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the Southeast Asia stem cell banking market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Medeze Group with the 2020 Southeast Asia Stem Cell Banking Technology Innovation Leadership Award and the 2020 Thai Stem Cell Banking Company of the Year Award. Medeze has launched numerous first-to-market solutions in the Southeast Asian market and has maintained its leadership position in the Thai market with more than a 60% market share. "Medeze was the first stem cell banking company in Thailand to bank mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from placenta, cord tissue, and adipose tissue. Its excellence in conducting advanced stem cell-based regenerative therapies is reflected in more than 15,000 successful treatments in applications that help address emerging healthcare needs," said Norazah Bachok, Analyst, Best Practice, Asia-Pacific. "Through its non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) application, it managed to capture a 70% market share in Thailand within a year of introduction. Its comprehensive and advanced technologies, prestigious global accreditations, and strong customer-centric relationships contributed to a tremendous impact on its customer satisfaction rate, which is greater than 90%." On top of being Thaiand's largest and most experienced MSC bank, Medeze offers cord blood banking, cord tissue banking, and adipose tissue banking. In addition, the company is involved in the full spectrum of stem cell research, with its research and development (R&D) department focused on assisting researchers and scientists in evolving the field of advanced regenerative medicine that could become a crucial tool in saving lives. The company has shown a firm commitment to upholding industry-leading quality and international standards, customer satisfaction, and future-focused initiatives both in storage and in the development of clinical applications and research. In addition to innovative stem cell applications, Medeze has experienced success in stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cirrhosis, and other degenerative diseases and has successfully delivered quality services with more than 97% customer satisfaction. Moreover, the company has provided storage services for 60 years, instead of the standard 20 or 25 years. With ten regional branches in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, New Zealand, and Australia, Medeze is firmly entrenched in the market. "Medeze pioneered the application of cord MSCs, early amniotic fluid collection, and the NIPT application to emerge as the undisputed leader in the market," noted Bachok. "Aggressive development of advanced facilities, excellent technology innovations, and continuous research partnerships with leading global industry organizations have established it as the stem cell banking partner of choice." Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Technology Innovation Leadership Award to the company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing and leveraging new technologies that deliver significant customer value. Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year Award to the organization that demonstrates excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of 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: Kala Mani.S. P: +6012-2323 550 E: Kala.Manis@frost.com About Medeze Group We are creating a standard of practice that is paving the way for a transformation in the way we look at age and illness. We look towards a day when saving newborn stem cells will be a routine practice and stem cell therapy will be the first line of treatment for many of today's incurable diseases. Contact us for more info. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/medeze-commended-by-frost--sullivan-for-dominating-the-stem-cell-banking-market-with-its-pioneering-full-spectrum-services-301246311.html SOURCE Frost & Sullivan [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Acting finance minister: Armenia state employees were paid AMD 22bn in bonuses in 2020 Acting minister: Armenia high-tech ministry for first time received military development budget in 2020 Armenia President to pay working visit to Kazakhstan Several Artsakh roads to be improved this year Judicial farce against Armenian POWs kicks off in Baku Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: We will give such pace in terms of jobs that we will look for good professionals Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Let railway be opened but using the word "corridor" is outright crime Armenia legislature, government reduce expenses for bonus pays, business trips Netherlands acting FM: Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan must be released immediately BSTDB Provides EUR 23 million Loan to Ameriabank to Boost SME Financing in Armenia EU envoy to Armenia visits Meghri Murder takes place in downtown Yerevan 92 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia World oil prices continue to be on the rise Paris mayor to visit Yerevan in October Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Gyumri: I said 'If nothing changed second time I come, they will beat me here Acting premier meets with Armenian community in France Armenia parliament committees continue discussion on 2020 state budget report Iran navy ship catches fire in Persian Gulf US man commits suicide live on Instagram after police chase Newspaper: What is situation at Sev Lake area of Armenia? Newspaper: What instructions did Armenia acting defense minister get in Moscow? Israel removes many coronavirus restrictions Armenia acting PM arrives in Belgium Emmanuel Macron: The Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenias sovereign territory Armenia 3rd President on authorities and the upcoming elections Armenia 3rd President reacts to photos of bodies of soldiers in freezer: It felt like the blood froze in my veins Armenia Ombudsman addresses OSCE officials in regard to Ilham Aliyev's Armenophobic statements Turkey's Erdogan expresses willingness to support Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral cooperation Armenia acting MOD visits Border Guards Department of Russia Federal Security Service French-Armenians hold protest against Armenia acting PM's visit to France Karabakh ex-Ombudsman appointed State Minister Rapid reaction service set up ahead of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia Armenia has new ambassador to Ukraine OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are ready to visit the Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia President appoints judges Wargonzo: Russian MOD is dealing with settlement of conflict in Armenia's Syunik Province on a daily basis Armenia police encircle stage placed at Republic Square (PHOTO) Yerkir.am: ARF-D Bureau member: Armenia acting PM ignored Macron's phone calls on November 9, 2020 7 EU countries start issuing vaccination certificates Latest on scandal over improper storage of Armenian soldiers bodies, more on COVID-19, Jun. 1 Armenia Constitutional Court launches case proceedings based on President's application Armenia acting emergency situations minister says he's concerned about situation in army Armenia acting education, science, culture and sport minister receives ICRC Delegation Armenia ex-President Sargsyan nephew acquitted Armenia deputy police chief: No real cases of vote-buying reported to date Armenia human rights activists: Nearly 10 protesters detained during protest in front of government building Audit Chamber director: About half of Armenia state agencies, institutions were not audited in 2020 Robert Kocharyan: Acting PM is an unsuccessful, political Lilliput Armenia 2nd President: Authorities shamelessly deceived people throughout the 44-day war Acting emergency situations minister: Armenia's Seismic Protection Service is the best in the region Dollar gains value in Armenia Macron: France will work towards restoration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Richard Ferrand: France stands with Armenia Armenia 2nd President: Incumbent authorities failed to fulfill their promises Armenia Diaspora Youth Ambassador Program is launched Yerevan court rules to conditionally release man who attempted to assassinate ex-presidential candidate People came to power in Armenia who consistently destroyed army combat-readiness, says ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President rules out collaboration with Nikol Pashinyan Central Bank chief: Armenia national debt exceeded 63% of GDP Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Turkey persistently crosses boundaries of permissibility Finance ministry: Armenia 2020 economic growth forecasts are revised downwards Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: It is disgrace when law enforcement agencies are subject to PM himself US sells oil seized from Iran Robert Kocharyan: Government does not pay enough attention to security issues Armenia 1st President spokesperson: Ter-Petrosyan has nothing to speak with the nation-destroying plague Armenia acting PM orders internal investigation into case of storage conditions of fallen soldiers bodies, remains 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 Traffic police in Hanoi issued a VND10.5 million (US$455) fine and confiscated the motorcycle of a driver caught ripping through Hanoi on Tuesday According to the traffic polices record, T.T.Kien, 26, was found riding a big displacement motorbike at 299km per hour (km/h) on Thang Long Avenue at 2:18 pm on Tuesday. A four-minute video recording Kiens deadly race from Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in Thach That District to the city center, during which he gradually accelerated from 160km/h to 299km/h, was shared to social media on Wednesday. A video shared on the Internet shows T.T.Kiens deadly race in Hanoi, Vietnam. Video: Otofun From the video, Hanoi traffic police were able to identify the speed camera along Kiens route that held video footage of the incident. Kiens action violated regulations prohibiting two-wheeled vehicles from driving on a four-wheeler-only highway, as well as speeding and not having a driver's license. The Hanoi traffic police thus fined Kien VND10.5 million and confiscated his motorcycle for seven days, as per the regulations. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! 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. 100 years ago 1921 Two boys were sentenced to two years each and two more given a year each by Judge Berger on Monday morning for participation in two robberies at Shenandoah last December. 75 years ago 1946 WASHINGTON John L. Lewis left for the coal industry to puzzle over a wage demand that specified only the highest pay and the shortest hours his 400,000 soft coal miners can get. 50 years ago 1971 FRACKVILLE The boroughs of Mahanoy City, Shenandoah, Frackville, Girardville and Mahanoy Township appointed a delegation to meet with Reading Railroad officials in a effort to seek a temporary detour in the immediate area of St. Nicholas bridge. 25 years ago 1996 Pottsvilles first city administrator is resigning to become executive director of the Pottsville Housing Authority. Richard J. Schuettler said Tuesday will begin his new job April 15. City Council plans to begin its search for a replacement immediately by advertising across eastern Pennsylvania, said Councilman Michael P. Halcovage. Schuettler who was previously the authoritys Section 8 coordinator accepted the job after the starting salary was raised from $46,000 to $52,000. He currently makes $48,200. The authority will also provide him with a car, although they denied his request that the residency requirement be waived: He will be required to move from Lake Wynonah to the city within six months. The former municipal tax collector for three Warren County municipalities was indicted Thursday on 15 counts for alleged misappropriation of $824,000 in residents payments. Rachellyn (nee Edinger) Mosher was the tax collector for Harmony, White and Lopatcong townships. She was arrested in 2018 by New Jersey State Police on accusations she stole more than $75,000 in residents property tax payments. Municipal officials at that point had already moved to fire her. That arrest led to a two-year investigation by a Hunterdon County Grand Jury, which generated the indictment handed up Thursday, Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer said. Forensic audits by each township revealed Mosher misappropriated residents property tax payments between 2013 and 2018 in the amounts of approximately $124,000 in Harmony, $166,000 in White and $534,000 from Lopatcong, according to the prosecutors office. Thats the amount we believe well be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, Pfeiffer told lehighvalleylive.com, referring to the sum. Moshers attorney, Flemington-based Steven Lember, was not immediately available for comment Thursday afternoon. Phone numbers associated with Mosher were out of service. The indictment alleges that instead of depositing residents cash payments into the townships bank accounts, Mosher would keep the money then tamper with the subsequent entries into the municipal computer systems. She is charged with first-degree corruption of public resources; six counts of second-degree official misconduct; second-degree official misconduct; second-degree pattern of official misconduct; three second-degree counts of computer theft; and three third-degree counts of tampering with public records or information. Upon conviction, first-degree offenses carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in New Jersey State Prison, second-degree charges carry a penalty of up to 10 years in state prison and third-degree counts carry a maximum penalty of five years in state prison, according to the prosecutors office. Mosher is free on bail, and the next step in her case will be an arraignment in New Jersey Superior Court, Pfeiffer said. The prosecutors office says it conducted the investigation with the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption North Unit. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. (Newser) More than two decades ago, Mark Dribin vanished. While police haven't yet found the Oregon man's remains, they have a suspect. That man, 53-year-old Christopher Lovrien, is now being accused not only of murdering Dribin, but also of murdering Kenneth Griffin, who disappeared in February 2020 and whose body was found months later in a shed on Lovrien's Portland property, reports the New York Times. A statement from the office of Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt lays out the timeline, starting with the disappearance of Dribin, a 42-year-old airline cargo worker, in July 1999. A DNA sample found at Dribin's residence didn't turn up any suspect matches. Though his body hasn't been found, Dribin was declared dead in August 2000, and his case went colduntil March 2019, when it was reopened using genetic geneaology. This time, the forensic analysis pointed in Lovrien's direction. story continues below Investigators obtained Lovrien's DNA with a search warrant, a definitive match was made, and he was arrested in May 2020 for Dribin's death. It was while detectives were searching Lovrien's property after his arrest that they discovered Griffin's dismembered remains in a shed there. Police say it doesn't appear Lovrien knew either of the victims, or that they knew each other, per the AP; a motive for their killings is unclear. "Time will never stand in the way of justice," Schmidt said, per his office's statement. Investigators suspect there may be more victims and are asking for tips on anyone who may have lived under a particular bridge in Southeast Portland and gone missing. Lovrien pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit Court to charges of second-degree murder, first-degree abuse of a corpse, and possessing a firearm. (Read more murder charges stories.) Bob Riddell has joined Cuhaci & Peterson Architects, Engineers and Planners as Executive Vice President of Quality and Process Improvement, a new role at the firm. In this capacity, Riddell will develop and oversee quality improvement programs and strategies and identify and lead the selection of process improvement activities, leveraging lean project management principles. We are excited to have Bob apply his expertise and leadership in lean management to help us deliver additional value to our customers, eliminate waste, and continuously improve our ability to deliver more with less, noted Greg Simpson, Chief Executive Officer. We expect this will lead to increased customer satisfaction, reduced project risk and minimal project waste, he added. Riddell, a registered architect with more than 32 years of professional experience, is currently licensed in 20 states and Puerto Rico. He completed his undergraduate work at The University of Tennessee, where he earned a bachelors degree in Architecture. Prior to joining the firm, he served as Director of Architecture-Principal at BRPH Companies, Inc. in Melbourne, FL. About Cuhaci & Peterson Cuhaci & Peterson is a national architecture, engineering and planning firm specializing in end-to-end commercial design solutions. The Central Florida-based company is licensed in 50 states. Albertsons Companies to Participate in Citi's Retail Madness Virtual Conference Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) announced today that its President and CEO, Vivek Sankaran, will participate in Citi's Retail Madness Virtual Conference at 11:20 a.m. ET on March 19, 2021. The presentation will be webcast here or on the Company's website at https://investor.albertsonscompanies.com/Event-Calendar. A replay of the webcast will be available for at least two weeks following its completion. About Albertsons Companies Albertsons Companies is a leading food and drug retailer in the United States. The Company operates stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2019 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the Company gave $225 million in food and financial support. In 2020, the Company made a $53 million commitment to community hunger relief efforts and a $5 million commitment to organizations supporting social justice. These efforts have helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, social justice and programs for people with disabilities and veterans' outreach. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210312005023/en/ Steel maker Liberty was rocked last week by the implosion of Greensill Capital Unions have urged the Government to step in if Liberty Steel collapses. France vowed not a single job would be at risk if the company went under and Community, Unite and GMB have pressed ministers to give the same assurances to workers in Britain. Steel maker Liberty was rocked last week by the implosion of Greensill Capital, which was the biggest financer to its parent company, GFG Alliance. Metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta, which owns and runs GFG, is scrambling to find new backers. But the funding troubles could threaten the future of Libertys steel plants, which employ 3,000 people in the UK. Liberty has about 1,200 staff at several steel plants in France. This week French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said he had no worries over job losses because the government would step in to protect jobs. A spokesman for the National Trade Union Steel Coordinating Committee said: We look to the Business Secretary to confirm he will intervene if necessary. A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said it was still monitoring the situation. Malawi has unveiled a five-year Digital Economy Strategy aimed at massively boosting access to connectivity by 2026. The strategy has been developed by Malawis National Planning Commission (NPC), with local outlet ITWeb reporting that it is aimed at increasing the percentage of Malawis population with internet access from the current level of 14% to 80%. Another goal of the plan is to make internet access more affordable, and the government has outlined plans to phase out taxes including the 10% excise duty on purchasing data and SMS tariffs (introduced in July 2015) and the 3.5% revenue tax for ICT providers imposed by regulator MACRA (Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority). The government has also pledged its intent to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to construct a backbone network between Malawis capital Lilongwe and the city of Nacaroa in Mozambique. Affordable internet access is a key goal of the Malawi 2063 initiative which the government is pushing as a means of expanding urbanisation and industrialisation in a way that preserves and protects the natural environment. President Joe Biden, in his first prime-time address since taking office, sought to offer comfort and hope after a devastating year. Mr Biden also sought to lay down a marker to reflect on his first 50 days in office. It was last March 11 that then-president Donald Trump gave his own widely criticised Oval Office address, suspending travel from Europe while also telling Americans of the virus: The risk is very, very low. Mr Biden attempted to mark the successful passage of the administrations $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which he is scheduled to sign during a White House ceremony later today. White House advisers believe the coronavirus response will be the determinative factor in the success of Mr Bidens presidency, acknowledging his term will rise or fall on his teams ability to get the virus under control and Americans back to work. One aide said: Its a speech about where weve been, where we are and where we can be. Mr Biden is expected to travel to Pennsylvania next week and hold his first solo news conference of his presidency this month, as well as offer a joint address to Congress in the coming weeks, though a specific date has not yet been set. The presidents top advisers have also been contemplating an additional speech before the congressional address, which would outline his vision and approach for the next steps in his presidency, providing indications of his upcoming priorities. Administration officials are so optimistic about the relief package which according to public opinion polls is popular with the majority of Americans that they view their job less as pitching it to an already supportive public than explaining how Americans can access the various benefits. You dont actually need to go sell this bill, the aide said. Its one of the few bills that has become more popular as it moved through Congress, not less. We dont need to convince people that Americans need help; we need to tell them how they can get that help. A CNN survey found that 61pc of Americans supported the overall $1.9 trillion relief legislation, with a clear majority in favour of four major parts of the plan, including increasing child tax credits, expanding school funding, and injecting more money to state and local governments. Mr Biden also has a 51pc overall approval rating, which is higher than Mr Trumps 45pc at a similar time into his presidency but below where Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton stood at this point. Republicans have criticised the plan as too costly and too sprawling, saying Mr Biden used it to push through liberal priorities that had little to do with combatting the coronavirus. They have also criticised Mr Biden for not doing more outreach to Republicans, who voted unanimously in the House and Senate against the bill. Republicans have also argued that Mr Biden is taking far too much credit for the success of vaccinations, saying the groundwork was laid before he took office. Democrats inherited a turning tide, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a floor speech on Tuesday. The vaccine trends and economic trends were in place before this bill was ever voted on, before this president was sworn in. But theyre determined to push to the front of the parade with this effort to push America to the left. Mr Biden was able to keep his party unified during the debate over the relief package, but that task could get more difficult depending on what legislation he chooses to pursue next. Ahead of the speech, Mr Bidens White House paused to assess the midway point to his first 100 days, the timeline on which many of his goals during the campaign were set. His first two weeks were marked by signing executive orders, including re-entering the Paris climate accord, ending the ban on travel from majority-Muslim countries and reversing the ban on transgender people in the military. He also rejoined the World Health Organisation, which has been co-ordinating the global response to the pandemic. Read More Washington Post THE main opposition MDC Alliance and its key allies labour, student movements and church have resolved to force President Emmerson Mnangagwa to convene a broad-based dialogue to end the countrys multifaceted crisis. The Nelson Chamisa-led party and its allies made the resolution yesterday during commemorations of the 2007 Save Zimbabwe Campaign prayer meeting, where the late MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai and several opposition activists were brutally attacked by State security agents at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare. The savage attacks marked a turning point in the southern African nations politics as it jolted the Southern Africa Development Community to intervene and facilitate talks that culminated in the formation of a government of national unity in 2009. Yesterdays meeting was organised by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and attended by Chamisa and his acolytes from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu). Chamisa said it was now time to forego individualism and bring Mnangagwa and Zanu PF to the negotiating table to collectively resolve the Zimbabwean crisis. As a party, we resolved to dissolve individualism and amplify collective voices of Zimbabweans. It is no longer time for us to be divided in our little silos. It is time for collective action and we are not going to be coming to these platforms as politicians, but as citizens, said Chamisa, who has persistently declined to meet Mnangagwa under the auspices of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), describing it as a charade. We are going to be calling Zanu PF to be part of it because hunger knows no (political) party. We should also encourage Zanu PF to join the convergence of forces because if they are a force, they must be part of it. Efforts to get a comment from Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo were fruitless, but the ruling party previously insisted that Chamisa can only engage Mnangagwa under the Polad platform. Chamisa said he had the keys to unlock the current political logjam as he had the backing of over two million voters who voted for him in the 2018 presidential poll. When I am here, I am carrying the voice of over two million voices, not just of voters, but Zimbabweans who believe and who are clear about what the country needs, he said. We also need the war veterans, dont leave them out in this journey as they are important and we need women organisations. We remain optimistic and I also hope that finally, Mr Mnangagwa will begin to see light and begin to understand that he has to feel for Zimbabweans. It is not a normal country when you wake up and see nothing is working, including workers who cant even work. Nothing is working and nothing is functioning. Zimbabwe is said to have an unemployment rate of over 90%, with millions of people surviving on informal trade. On divisions in the MDC Alliance, Chamisa said: The MDC is not divided. The people are united except for a few individuals who chose to go, and that doesnt make us divided. They have chosen to dine with our oppressors. Dont confuse and conflate the MDC-T with the MDC Alliance, it is like Zanu Ndonga and Zanu PF. Dont waste time on non-issues. On the issue of him being mum on the Zimbabwean crisis, he said: What do you mean I have been quiet? What is your definition of silence? Over 98% of people with cases before the courts are in the MDC Alliance leadership and we are acting. A revolution is never a walk in the park. This thing of saying Chamisa is quiet, Zanu PF is saying Chamisa is making a lot of noise, and so it depends where you stand. ZCTU president Peter Mutasa said Zimbabwe was now a failed State, adding that it was time for workers, students, politicians, churches and citizens to act. In our view, Zimbabwe is a failed State that has also lost on legitimacy. We can argue on this all we want, but you can tell Zimbabwe is a failed State when you go to Parirenyatwa, Mpilo or Mutare hospital and you fail to get medication or even a painkiller, he said. You will realise that Zimbabwe is a failed State when you send your children to school on March 22 this year, and you find that there are no teachers because they are incapacitated. From a working class perspective, nothing is working in this country. Zinasu representative Nancy Njege said: We need to come together and not fight each other as we are doing in our movements. We have students and young activists who are in custody for speaking out against the system. We are fighting a State that is armed and we need a united approach and a united front. Zimbabwe Divine Destiny leader Bishop Ancelimo Magaya said: Fourteen years ago, the State descended on the masses and violently disrupted a prayer meeting, resulting in a number of people being injured in the process and Gift Tandare brutally shot dead. If 14 years ago we coalesced around issues that bedevilled our country and we still have the same issues, if not more, we have to come around once more and build the Zimbabwe that we want. Newsday Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Burma Medical Officials Resign as Myanmars Military Regime Pressures Medics on Strike Ayeyarwady Region Public Health Department. / The Irrawaddy Pathein, Ayeyarwady Region Two of the top officials in Ayeyarwady Regions Public Health Department resigned their positions on Thursday. Deputy director-general Dr. Than Tun Aung submitted his resignation to the chairman of the Ayeyarwady Regions military council, citing his and his familys health as the reason. He said in his resignation letter that he had transferred his duties to assistant director Dr. Saw Mya Khaing while waiting for approval of his resignation. Dr. Saw Mya Khaing also submitted his resignation on Thursday, however, saying that he has problems with continuing his duties. The military council has been putting pressure on Ayeyarwady Region Health Department heads to re-open hospitals. And the council is also planning to transfer those medical superintendents in Ayeyarwady Region who are participating in the civil disobedience movement (CDM). At the same time there has been criticism from the public. So health department heads have difficulties and they have therefore resigned, said a source close to the Ayeyarwady Region Public Health Department. Over 5,000 health workers in the Ayeyarwady Region have joined the CDM since the movement began on Feb. 3, when hundreds of doctors and nurses in Yangon and Mandalay began refusing to work in protest at the military juntas Feb. 1 coup. The movement and anti-regime protests have now spread across the country and the CDM continues to gain momentum. While many hospitals remain closed with doctors, nurses and health workers participating in the CDM, free clinics are in operation to provide healthcare services for the public. You may also like these stoires: Kachin Independence Army Attacks Myanmar Military Outpost Can China Prevent Further Bloodshed in Myanmar? "How Compassionate? Political Appointments and District Court Judge Responses to Compassionate Release during COVID-19" | Main | Wonderful new Federal Sentencing Reporter issue explores "Weinstein on Sentencing" March 11, 2021 Split Washington Supreme Court, relying on state constitution, forbids mandatory LWOP sentences for those under 21 Today, via a 5-4 ruling in In re Pers. Restraint of Monschke and Bartholomew, No. 96772-5 (Wash. Mar. 11, 2021) (available here), the Supreme Court of Washington extended the reach of the US Supreme Court's Miller ruling by declaring mandatory LWOP for those under 21 to be unconstitutional (pursuant to Washington's state constitutional prohibition of "cruel punishment"). Here is how the majority opinion starts and ends: Dwayne Earl Bartholomew and Kurtis William Monschke were each convicted of aggravated first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole a mandatory, nondiscretionary sentence under Washingtons aggravated murder statute. RCW 10.95.030. Bartholomew was 20 years old; Monschke was 19. Many years after their convictions, each filed a personal restraint petition (PRP) asking us to consider whether article I, section 14 of our state constitution or the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution permits a mandatory life without parole (LWOP) sentence for youthful defendants like themselves. Specifically, they ask us to decide whether the constitutional requirement that judges exercise discretion at sentencing, which forbids such mandatory LWOP sentences for those under 18, also forbids those sentences for 18- to 21-year-old defendants. Modern social science, our precedent, and a long history of arbitrary line drawing have all shown that no clear line exists between childhood and adulthood. For some purposes, we defer to the legislatures decisions as to who constitutes an adult. But when it comes to mandatory LWOP sentences, Millers constitutional guarantee of an individualized sentence one that considers the mitigating qualities of youth must apply to defendants at least as old as these defendants were at the time of their crimes. Miller v. United States, 567 U.S. 460, 469-80, 132 S. Ct. 2455, 183 L. Ed. 2d 407 (2012). Accordingly, we grant both PRPs and order that Bartholomew and Monschke each receive a new sentencing hearing.... There is no meaningful cognitive difference between 17-year-olds and many 18-year-olds. When it comes to Millers prohibition on mandatory LWOP sentences, there is no constitutional difference either. Just as courts must exercise discretion before sentencing a 17-year-old to die in prison, so must they exercise the same discretion when sentencing an 18-, 19-, or 20-year-old. We grant Monschkes and Bartholomews PRPs and vacate their mandatory LWOP sentences. We remand each case for a new sentencing hearing at which the trial court must consider whether each defendant was subject to the mitigating qualities of youth. The dissent authored by Justice Owens begins this way: Kurtis Monschke and Dwayne Bartholomew committed brutal murders decades ago. At the time, they were 19 and 20 years old, respectively. They were not children. Under Washington law, when an individual turns 18 years old, they are empowered to make a range of life-altering decisions: suddenly, they can form contracts, drop out of school, get married, work a hazardous job, and serve in the military. But at this same moment, they also obtain the full responsibilities and consequences of adulthood, and the court will no longer intervene on their behalf on the basis of age. Nonetheless, the lead opinion holds today that we must create an exception in treating these individuals as adults when they commit aggravated murder between the ages of 18 and 20. Mandatory life without parole (LWOP) sentences are now prohibited for this age category. The lead opinion crafts this new rule by filtering our state constitutions cruel punishment prohibition through a handful of scientific studies and circumvents the reality that no legislatures or courts in the other 49 states have ever recognized such a protection. WASH. CONST. art. I, 14. As the final arbiters of what cruel means under article I, section 14 of our state constitution, this court must use a disciplined and evenhanded approach in evaluating its meaning. If we do not, we risk transforming our protection against cruelty into whatever is supported by a smattering of studies and five concurring members of this court. At the heart of this case is the important question of when a person should be held fully accountable as an adult. This is a question that requires a meticulous examination of a number of scientific, moral, ethical, and practical considerations. Our court is not a legislature, and it is insufficiently equipped to decide this issue on selectively presented evidence put forth by limited parties on a constrained schedule. The lead opinion broadly seeks to protect against the unacceptable risk that youthful defendants without fully developed brains will receive a cruel LWOP sentence. Lead opinion at 29. But I struggle to identify at what precise age we will stop redrawing these lines based on this brain development evidence, be it 20, 22, 25, or even older. I further caution that todays decision may eventually compel us to revisit and invalidate a staggering number of LWOP and Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA), ch. 9.94A RCW, sentences for this growing group under our recent decisions in State v. Bassett and State v. Houston-Sconiers. This task would tremendously burden the States resources and the victims families. I respectfully dissent. March 11, 2021 at 10:21 PM | Permalink Comments This opinion reflects the same scientific (neurological) knowledge, social science and policy as the opinion of Fayette County (Kentucky) Circuit Court Judge Ernesto Scorsone, who has ruled in 2 cases that the death penalty cannot constitutionally be applied to defendants who were younger than the age of 21 when they killed a victim. In March 2020, the Kentucky Supreme Court avoided ruling in Judge Scorsone's position by holding that the parties lacked standing to appeal, since they had not yet been convicted or sentenced. The cases were remanded for trial. One case involves defendant Travis Bredhold, who was 18 years, 5 months old when he killed a 50s store clerk during an armed robbery. Bredhold's psych evaluation concluded that his brain functioned like that of a 14 year old at the time he committed the crimes. In reviewing Bredhold's case to write this comment, I discovered that Bredhold has "secretly" pleaded guilty and been sentenced within recent months, without any press coverage. He was sentenced to 10 years for 1st degree robbery, with 30 years for murder, to run consecutively, and 1 more consecutive year for violating conditions of release in a prior case, where Bredhold was out on bond when he committed the robbery and murder. Other charges, including carrying a concealed deadly weapon and trafficking in marijuana were dismissed. It is truly astonishing to me that there has been no local press coverage of this case, where in the Coronavirus era, his change of plea (guilty) hearing and sentencing would have been conducted on ZOOM Hearings instead of in open court. It now appears that Judge Scorosne's holding about it being unconstitutional to subject defendants younger than 21 when they committed their crimes to he death penalty will not be tested in the appellate courts in the Bredhold case, but it may be in the other case, involving 2 youths between 18 and 21, when they shot and killed the student photo editor of the "Kentucky Kernel" newspaper (Univ. of Kentucky) for a few dollars and his watch. Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 12, 2021 2:16:07 AM Travis Bredhold's convictions and sentences were discovered by visiting his entry on the website for the Fayette County Detention Center on March 12, 2021. Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 12, 2021 2:19:24 AM Post a comment This article will be updated with the latest San Antonio news about the coronavirus vaccine and other need-to-know information about the pandemic in San Antonio. Thursday March 11 CVS Health announced Thursday they will begin administering the COVID-19 vaccine in Texas on Sunday, March 14, according to a press release. CVS says they will administer the vaccines to eligible populations at 74 more COVID-19 vaccine sites. Were proud to play a part in increasing access to the vaccine to as many people as possible to enable reopening efforts in the communities we serve, said Neela Montgomery, President of CVS Pharmacy and Executive Vice President, CVS Health. Individuals can book their appointments on Saturday, March 13 as the stores begin to receive the vaccines. To register, individuals can go to CVS.com, the CVS Pharmacy app or call the CVS Customer Service line at (800) 746-7287. Walk-ins will not be accepted without an appointment. Wednesday March 10 Starting March 15, all Texans above the age of 50 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a release from Texas Health and Human Services. "More than 93 percent of the Texas fatalities directly caused by the coronavirus have been in people 50 and older, with those ages 50 to 64 accounting for 20 percent of all fatalities," the release states. Tuesday March 9 Target stores are partnering with CVS Pharmacy to offer COVID-19 vaccines to over 600 stores nationwide, according to a release. The retailer says they will administer the vaccine through state and federal guidelines. Target will also make fitting rooms available to CVS at select stores to host appointments, their release states. To see participating locations visit CVS.com Monday March 8 There will be 40,000 vaccine appointments at the Alamodome available throughout the next four weeks, with 10,000 allotted per week. Those appointments for the first-dose Pfizer vaccine will start today at 6 p.m. Residents can register on the Metro Health COVID-19 vaccine registration website. For residents who don't have access to the Internet they can call 311, option 8 to help with registration. Sunday March 7 The appointment hotline for two of WellMed's community vaccination clinics is closed today for maintenance, according to a release. WellMed's COVID-19 vaccine hotline will reopen on Monday, March 8 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until all the vaccine supply is finished. Currently, there is still 4,600 slots available, according to the release. The vaccines are given at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez One-Stop Center vaccination site.The hotline number is 833-968-17845. Thursday March 4 WellMed's COVID-19 vaccine hotline will reopen on Friday, March 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. where they will be taking first-dose appointments only for the 9,000 new doses of the Moderna vaccine, according to a release. The hotline will be open everyday until all slots are filled. The hotline number is 833-968-17845 and is the only way to get an appointment. The vaccines are given at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez One-Stop Center vaccination site. Wednesday, March 3 WellMed's COVID-19 vaccine hotline has shutdown because all appointment slots at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior are full, according to a release. The hotline should be restored by Friday after 9,000 more COVID-19 vaccine shots are delivered. The hotline number is 833-968-17845. WellMed continues to require people to wear masks in its facilities. Monday, March 1 The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District latest batch of vaccines 10,000 first dose vaccines were filled. All of the appointments were taken within minutes, according to Laura Mayes, city spokeswoman. Due to limited quantity, vaccine registration is temporarily unavailable, read a message on the citys vaccine website. The link to register will become available when more vaccines are received. Thursday, February 25 Governor Greg Abbott announced a newly launched "Save our Seniors" initiative that will deploy more than 1,100 National Guardsmen to assist Texas communities in vaccinating homebound seniors, according to a press release. The initiative will launch on Monday, March 1, sending up to 8,000 vaccines through organizations such as Meals On Wheels and nursing homes to help identify homebound seniors in its first week. Wednesday, February 24 Text updates: The City of San Antonio announced Wednesday that they've partnered with some of the Bexar County vaccine distribution sites to create a vaccine availability text alert system to keep the community informed about the release of more COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals who decide to opt-in, can text VACCINE to 55000 or in Spanish VACUNA to 55000 starting Wednesday. By signing up they will receive a text notifying them which locations have available appointments. Tuesday, February 23 WellMed: The reservation hotline reopened at 8 a.m. Wednesday to schedule 30,000 first-time COVID-19 vaccine doses. Operators will be staffing the hotline, 833-968-1745, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until slots are filled. This number must be called to get an appointment. The appointments will be scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25, through Saturday, Feb. 27, and Monday, March 1, through Friday, March 5, at the Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center and Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center. In addition, appointments that were canceled last week because of bad weather have been rescheduled for the same day, time and place this week. Visit the website or WellMeds Facebook page for the latest information. Thursday, February 18: University Health: Due to the continued freezing temperatures expected tomorrow morning and the timing of the vaccine's arrival, the University Health COVID-19 Vaccine site at Wonderland of the Americas will be closed on Friday, Feb. 19. Those with appointments to get the vaccine on Friday will automatically be rescheduled. All Monday, Feb. 15 appointments have been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20 at the same time.* Those who missed their appointment on Tuesday, Feb. 16, who did not come the next day, should come on Saturday, Feb. 20, anytime between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Those who missed their appointment on Wednesday, Feb. 17, may come on Saturday, Feb. 20, Monday, Feb. 22 or Tuesday, Feb. 23, anytime between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. All Thursday, Feb. 18 appointments are rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 22 at the same time. * All Friday, Feb. 19 appointments are rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23 at the same time.* *Coming at the appointed time will help reduce lines. However, if people are not able to come at that time, they will not be turned away as long as they come to Wonderland on their new scheduled day. Alamodome: Second dose vaccine appointments at the Alamodome will begin at noon on Friday, Feb. 19. Due to road conditions, anyone with second dose appointments scheduled for Friday will be vaccinated from noon to 6:30 p.m. Appointments for different days will not be accepted. Those with appointments for Tuesday have been rescheduled for Saturday and, Wednesdays appointments have been moved to Sunday and Thursday's appointments were moved to Monday, Feb. 22. Wednesday, February 17: Alamodome: Appointments for Thursday will be rescheduled to Monday, Feb. 22 at the same time. University Health: Citing vaccine delivery delays and road conditions, appointments for Feb. 18 will be rescheduled for Monday, if the vaccines are delivered. Patients with appointments for Friday should check University Health social media or WeCanDoITSA.com for availability before visiting. Tuesday, February 16: WellMed to reschedules again: WellMed-run facilities are expected to re-open on Feb. 22. Patients who were scheduled to receive their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are asked to return to their assigned location on the same day of the week next week to get their shot. For example, if patients were originally scheduled to receive their vaccine on Wednesday, they will get their second dose on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The WellMed-run clinics administer the Moderna vaccine. The CDC says the second dose can be administered up to 42 days after the first inoculation to remain effective. University Health: Appointments will proceed as scheduled with a noon start time unless Wonderland Mall loses power. Missed your Tuesday appointment? University Health says you can visit Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, February 15: WellMed reschedules: Both WellMed vaccination clinics in San Antonio will be closed again on Tuesday, Feb. 16 due to severe winter weather conditions and out of concern for the safety of patients and staff. Patients with appointments to receive second-dose vaccinations will be contacted and re-scheduled for an appointment later this week, per a press release. Alamodome reschedules: Appointments for Monday and Tuesday of this week at the Alamo will be rescheduled for Friday and Saturday at the same times as freezing on Monday temperatures mean road conditions are poor. Tuesday weather is also forecast to have low temperatures in the single digits and teens, per the National Weather Service. Metro Health states individuals who are scheduled for the dates will receive further communication through the email address or phone number provided with their registration. Tuesday, February 9: More vaccine access: Walmart and Sams Club announced Tuesday that they have started making vaccines available at their Texas pharmacies. As of now, their only distribution site in San Antonio is at the Walmart Supercenter at 5555 De Zavala Road. Appointments must be made through walmart.com and samsclub.com. WellMed Hotline reopen: San Antonio Senior Centers are once again taking reservations for COVID-19 vaccinations. Call the WellMed hotline at 833-968-1745 to start making appointments as soon as Wednesday Feb. 10. The hotline will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until all appointments are booked. Tuesday February 3: WellMed Hotline booked: As of Wednesday, Feb. 3, all available doses of the COVID-19 vaccine being offered at San Antonio senior centers have been spoken for and scheduled, according to a post on WellMed Medical Management's Facebook page. Monday February 2: COVID-19 vaccine appointments rescheduled: The Texas State Health Department have delayed the shipment of COVID-19 vaccines that were supposed to supply those with appointments receiving the second doses. The appointments scheduled at the Alamodome on Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 have been rescheduled to Feb. 16 and 18 at the same times. Friday January 29: Reservation hotline for COVID-19 vaccine resumes Saturday: You can once again make an appointment for both WellMed community vaccination clinics starting Jan. 30 at 8 a.m. Appointments will begin Feb. 1. To make an appointment call 833-968-1745. You must schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine. The vaccinations will be held at the following clinics: Elvira Cisneros Senior Community Activity Center 517 SW Military Drive San Antonio, TX 78221 Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior One-Stop Center 8353 Culebra Road San Antonio, TX 78251 Tuesday January 26: Johnson & Johnson gives hope to Texas: Gov. Greg Abbott said in a press conference Tuesday that the approval of Johnson & Johnson's one dose COVID-19 vaccine will speed vaccinations in the state. But it's unclear when approval of the vaccine would take place. The company hoped to have clinical data available by the end of this month, according to CNN. Monday January 25: Search for COVID-19 vaccine sites through Google Maps: Looking for vaccine sites? Pretty soon you will just need to open up Google Maps. According to Google, searches for vaccines near me have increased five times since the beginning of the year. To make sure they're providing locally relevant answers, COVID-19 vaccination locations will be available in Google Search and Maps, the tech giant announced. The initial rollout will include a limited number of states, including Texas. The vaccine location will include details like whether an appointment or referral is required, if access is limited to specific groups, or if it has a drive-through. Friday, January 22: H-E-B COVID-19 Tracking Site: Wondering which H-E-B pharmacy locations will have the COVID-19 vaccine? There is now a new website that will tell you. H-E-B launched a website dedicated to COVID-19 vaccine distribution information. You can visit the website at https://vaccine.heb.com/ Take Your Second Dose in S.A.: Metro Health has an update for anyone needing information on how to take the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Metro Health staff will call you or you can call 311 and choose option 8. Residents can also email COVID19@sanantonio.gov. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in its 2020-21 Approval Process Handbook has released new rules for the eligibility for undergraduate engineering courses, and people have some serious concerns. If youre not sure what the entire issue is, read on. According to these new rules, students are only required to clear three of the following subjects in Class XII to apply for B.Tech or BE programs: Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Electronics, Information Technology, Biology, Informatics Practices, Biotechnology, Technical Vocational subject, Agriculture, Engineering, Graphics, Business Studies, and Entrepreneurship. Both academics and the public are now raising concerns over what this would mean for the quality of our engineers. Maths, physics not a must for engineering! Are you serious? Indian students already fare poorly in #engineering #math . Your want to worsen this further? https://t.co/aoF1oepsCY Viraj Kulkarni (@VirajZero) March 12, 2021 U cant even survive one semester of Education in a Tier-1 college if u r not good in Maths & physics. With AICTE making PCM no longer mandatory for engineering education, it is only paving the way for further degradation of STEM education. Pikachu (Pika/Pika) (@zLaTaNPiKaPi29) March 12, 2021 WTF!! Maths & physics are fundamental subjects in engineering pic.twitter.com/S2O809Jb01 Neha (@NehaKoppula) March 12, 2021 MBBS not a must for Doctors. Maths and Physics not must for Engineers. These guys want other professions to be run by useless, incompetent people, just like they run the country. "Loin King PM" Lion (@Loquacious_Lion) March 12, 2021 Engineering without Physics and Maths is like cooking hot food without Oven, cooker, stove... What morons are ruling our country is beyond embarrassing now.. https://t.co/WEPd1S0Yw9 Vinay Kumar Dokania (@VinayDokania) March 12, 2021 The All India Council for Technical Education has scrapped the mandatory requirement for maths and physics at the 12th grade for admission to engineering colleges. Scrapping maths will definitely affect the quality of engineers produced. However scrapping physics is debatable. Daniel Davekumar James (@DanielDavekumar) March 12, 2021 However, the organisation said that those with insufficient background in any required subjects will be offered bridging courses in universities. This includes subjects such as mathematics, physics, engineering drawing for students coming from diverse backgrounds to achieve learning outcomes of the programme, according to the handbook. And some others think thats fair enough. If a student without maths is admitted he will be required to do a lot of math courses in first year. This approach should be good enough no? If a kid wants to study something else in school and then is motivated enough to work extra hard to study engineering, its good only. Harsh (@harsh8848) March 12, 2021 They have relaxed the eligibility to join an engineering course. They are not removing those subjects from engineering courses. Pradeep Ananth (@PradeepAnanth_) March 12, 2021 What are your thoughts? Should maths and physics be compulsory in 12th or will the new rules help us find better engineers? Tell us in the comments! North Adams OKs Ban on Puppy, Kitten Sales at Pet Stores NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Any pet stores that open in the city are now prohibited from selling puppies, kittens and bunnies. The City Council on Tuesday passed to a second reading an ordinance designed largely to prevent the sale of dogs from puppy mills in local pet shops as well as cats and rabbits. The measure was introduced by City Councilor Marie T. Harpin in October but was put on hold as the attorney general's office reviewed similar bylaws and ordinances passed last year to see if it conflicted with state language. The ordinance had gendered significant support but the General Government Committee had wanted to wait to ensure it would not have to be amended. The attorney general did largely approve the language with a couple exceptions. Harpin had explained at the General Government meeting on March 3 that the language regarding definitions of a pet store something several councilors had raised as possibly preventing home breeders was considered appropriate. "However, there was some language regarding the seizure of the animals if there was an issue. And that language needed to be changed in our ordinance, it was something that we were unaware of prior to this," she said, referring to the summary provided by the attorney for the Humane Society. That language around "pet store" was also made so "it was easier to understand" by Laura Hagan of the Humane Society of the United States, Harpin said. "The attorney general found that there was not a conflict, that the bylaw, which is similar to what is before North Adams Council, did not in any way prevent the state from regulating pet shops or shelters, and that pet shops and shelters were still required to meet state law," Hagan explained on Tuesday. "The attorney general found that localities are not allowed to seize animals, they do not have that remedy available to them, they are allowed to issue the fine." Both Harpin and committee Chairwoman Lisa Blackmer said they had received numerous calls supporting the measure. It would ban sales of dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores but would allow for display of these animals for adoption from a public animal control agency, shelter or rescue organization. It would also prevent sales and barters of these animals on the street, parking lots, flea markets, or other market except in those cases of adoption or as part of an agricultural fair or 4-H program. Any animal rescue, shelter or public pound would not be considered a pet shop. The fine had been set a $500 but was reduced to $300 in line with state law relating to maximum fines by municipalities and language regarding "seizure" of animals was removed. A number of people spoke in favor of the measure during hearing of visitors at Tuesday's City Council meeting, several of whom had also spoken at the General Government meetings. Shrila Leslie Luppino of Pittsfield, which passed a similar ordinance last year , thanked Harpin for her support in bringing the ordinance forward. Luppino, a member of Berkshire Voters for Animals, said Massachusetts pet stores do source from puppy mills and that many of these breeders have licenses from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "North Adams should adopt the humane pet store ordinance for several reasons and one is these ordinances protect consumers from a deceptive sales models. Pet stores often claim they obtain their animals from small-scale humane readers, but the reality is responsible breeders don't sell puppies to pet stores, because those breeders sell their dogs directly to the consumer," she said. "And second, pet shop ordinances are business friendly. This ordinance is intended to require pet stores to adhere to a humane business model, not to prevent or to put pet stores out of business. ... And then lastly, pet shop ordinances support responsible breeders." Berkshire Humane Society Executive Director John Perrault also spoke in support of the measure, and said the society had received numerous calls and complaints when pet stores in Pittsfield were selling these animals on their conditions and medical issues. "I think one thing to keep in mind that if you end up with a pet store in North Adams that is selling dogs, cats and rabbits, your animal control officer which is already much overworked will have an abundance of calls and spend much of her time dealing with this situation," he said. "So I encourage everybody to follow Pittsfield's lean on this particular one and certainly pass this ordinance." Christa Abel, who had owned the city's only recent pet store, Bark 'N' Cat, said selling pets is an outdated model, noting her store was about pet services and items. She said the argument supporting sales has been about providing access to people to get pets "but actually it's really about profit and not about pets. It's treating pets as a commodity. ... pets are considered family members now." "No one is entitled to have a pet. It's a huge commitment, responsibilities, and getting rid of the pet store selling the dog in the window is important," she said. Harpin said she had a lot of notes on the ordinance to share with her fellow councilors "but our attendees pretty fluently and eloquently went through the whole process. And so I think it's a great ordinance. I did bring it to the City Council a few months back, because I think it is an important issue and a basic step forward in supporting animal rights." Blackmer also acknowledged that the speakers had covered all the points and said the General Government Committee recommended the ordinance with the amendments to align with state law and to better define "pet store." The ordinance was passed to a second reading and to be published unanimously with no debate. An NHS GP is pocketing 700,000 a year while nurses earning as little as 24,907 are forced to fight for more than a 1 per cent pay rise. The nation's highest-paid family doctor is one of hundreds earning more than the Prime Minister, the Daily Mail can reveal. Patient and nursing groups last night blasted the 'staggering' sums and questioned how the vast disparity could be justified. The fat cat medics are likely to be benefiting from a contract that allows them to run several surgeries and earn money for providing extra treatments. The Royal College of Nursing says nurses earn an average of 33,384, while figures from NHS Digital show GPs earn an average of 98,000 three times more. But the starting salary of a newly qualified nurse is 24,907. The starting salary of a newly qualified nurse is 24,907 - but a Freedom of Information request has revealed there are 270 GPs in England and Wales with pensionable annual incomes above 200,000 Meanwhile 270 GPs in England and Wales have pensionable annual incomes above 200,000, the latest figures show. Of these, 18 earned between 300,000 and 399,999, four received 400,000 to 499,999 and one was on 500,000 to 599,999. The unidentified highest earner was on more than 700,000 more than four times Boris Johnson's salary of 157,372. There are also 7,447 GPs with incomes of 100,000 to 199,999, the NHS Business Services Authority said. The revelations, disclosed under a Freedom of Information request, relate to the financial year 2018/19. Hundreds of GPs earn more than prime minister Boris Johnson, who is paid 157,372. The highest was on more than 700,000 It comes after the Government faced a backlash over its proposal to give health service workers a 1 per cent pay rise. Yesterday a minister insisted it would not be a U-turn if the Government decided to increase nurses' pay by more than 1 per cent. Universities minister Michelle Donelan told Good Morning Britain that reviewing NHS salaries was a 'process'. An independent panel is due to make its own pay recommendations in early May, when the Government will make its final decision. Many nurses have been left exhausted as they have borne the brunt of the pandemic, often while serving alongside higher earning doctors. Anthony Johnson, lead organiser of Nurses United UK, said: 'Nobody in the NHS should be earning 700,000 and it is frustrating that some GPs are playing the system like this. 'There is a big disparity between what these doctors are earning and what their staff are being paid. 'Nurses working in GP practices typically earn less than those working in hospitals and have worse terms and conditions. I'd like to see this wage gap narrowed.' GP practices are run as businesses, whose NHS income depends on the number and type of patients on their books and the services they provide. The GP partners, who run each practice, pay salaried doctors, other staff and running costs from this income and split the remainder between themselves. Doctors may manage a group of surgeries, with many thousands of patients, pocketing the surplus from each. Anthony Johnson, lead organiser of Nurses United UK, said: 'Nobody in the NHS should be earning 700,000 and it is frustrating that some GPs are playing the system like this' Joyce Robins, from Patient Concern, said: 'GPs do work hard but these are staggering sums that appear hard to justify. I cannot see how a GP can earn so much more than the Prime Minister, given his responsibilities running an entire country. 'Nurses have been through a lot during the pandemic and do deserve more. 'It would be nice if there was less inequality.' Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the GP committee at the British Medical Association, said: 'GPs and their teams together make a huge contribution to the NHS highlighted over the last year in their response to the pandemic and in their vital work leading the vaccination campaign. 'GPs with the highest incomes... will more than likely be managing groups of practices with large numbers of staff and services, providing care for tens of thousands of patients or could be also delivering other NHS services for the local area.' New Delhi, March 12 : The Congress has attacked the BJP in the Scania bus deal and alleged corruption in the process. Addressing a press conference on Friday Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, "In the year 2014, SVLL announced a partnership with international luxury bus manufacturer Scania to launch services comprising of "in-house restrooms and pantries, and ultra-luxurious facilities like Personal LCD screen with USB compatibility and Sennheiser headphones along with Mobile/Laptop charging points and Wi-Fi connection." Khera said the company in question Siddhi Vinayak Logistics Limited (SVLL) was registered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2002. It is a transport company run by Surat based businessman Roop Chand Baid. Khera alleged that SVLL is close to the BJP leaders. "And the latest scam is the one confirmed by the CEO of Scania, Henrik Henriksson, that bribes were paid in order to get contracts for buses in India. The revelation by the CEO of Scania also brings to light claims by SVT that an Indian Minister was paid bribes by the company," he said. Pawan Khera said that in a February 2015 report, it was highlighted that SVLL was the Bank of Maharashtra's largest defaulter. Despite being a defaulter, the fact that the company had friends in the highest echelons of power, meant that neither were the loan accounts tagged as NPA's nor were they classified as wilful defaulters. "The central element of this entire fraud is P N Deshpande, General Manager, Resource Planning, Government Business, Marketing & Publicity, Bank of Maharashtra and Roop Chand Baid. A complaint against Deshpande was filed with the CVC, KV Chowdhary in February 2016. Subsequently the CBI also filed an FIR in this connection," Khera alleged. I think there will be a huge demand for people to be back in person, meeting with clients and colleagues, Brown said. When Ive had the opportunity to meet with people over the past year, often outdoors, Ive come away energized by the interaction. I dont believe that everyone will suddenly decide to be at home behind their computers. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Australias central bank maintained its policy settings as it prepares to decide on extending its yield target and quantitative easing programs, with a Covid-19 lockdown complicating the outlook.The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate and three-year yield target at 0.10% in Sydney on Tuesday, as expected. It will make a decision in July on whether to extend the yield target and undertake further quantitative easing. A weeklong shutdown in the nations second-largest city adds a layer of uncertainty to the outlook.Despite the strong recovery in the economy and jobs, inflation and wage pressures are subdued, Governor Philip Lowe said. The board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions to support a return to full employment in Australia and inflation consistent with the target.The Australian dollar edged lower, trading at 77.41 U.S. cents at 2:53 p.m. in Sydney from 77.62 cents just before the release.The case for Lowe to maintain the April 2024 bond as the target maturity had been strengthening amid strong hiring, sentiment and investment plans. This was reinforced by the government keeping open the fiscal spigot in the May budget as it joins the RBA in seeking to drive down unemployment to revive wages growth and inflation.Progress in reducing unemployment has been faster than expected, Lowe said in his statement. There are reports of labor shortages in some parts of the economy.Risks AheadYet the RBA may be encouraged to err on the side of caution if Melbournes outbreak worsens and extend both of its bond programs to keep maximum support for the economy.An important ongoing source of uncertainty is the possibility of significant outbreaks of the virus, although this should diminish as more of the population is vaccinated, Lowe said. The board continues to place a high priority on a return to full employment.Globally, central banks are beginning to edge away from emergency monetary settings. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets last week in presenting projections of its official cash rate rising in the second half of next year.Back in Australia, economists predicted ahead of data Wednesday that gross domestic product rose 1.5% in the first three months of the year from the prior quarter, and advanced 0.6% from a year earlier.Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy, in testimony to a parliamentary panel earlier today, said partial data showed around 56,000 workers had lost their jobs in the four weeks following the end of the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy that expired March 28.He said strong employment data and forward indicators continue to give us confidence that the labor market has the underlying strength to absorb workers transitioning off the JobKeeper payment.End of Australias $68 Billion Job-Saving Stimulus Tests EconomyLowe estimates Australias jobless rate will need to fall to close to 4% before driving economy-wide pay increases. It stood at 5.5% in April.The governor expects wages growth will need to increase at a pace faster than 3% -- more than double the current rate -- for inflation to return sustainably to the central banks 2-3% target.Lowe reiterated that this is unlikely to be until 2024 at the earliest.(Updates with further comments from governor throughout text.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Astronauts of the Artemis era, heading back to the moon this decade, are 'made of the same stuff' as the early Apollo adventurers, says the man who wrote the book on the first human lunar landings. A Man on the Moon was first published in 1994 and tells the story of the real life adventurers that set foot on the surface of the moon for NASA. This includes the 12 men who actually stepped on the moon, those remaining in the capsule in lunar orbit and the engineers and support crew who made it possible. A new edition of this work, spread over two volumes and complete with dozens of sensational images, has been published by the Folio Society. Author Andrew Chaikin spent a decade speaking to 23 of the 24 astronauts who travelled to the moon, and told MailOnline they were all very different people. However, they all shared some common traits including 'intelligence, courage, ingenuity, a desire to be the best, and most of all, a burning commitment to accomplish whatever mission they are given.' Chaikin, who personally selected all the images for the stunning new edition with his wife Victoria, says the new Artemis generation astronauts share the same traits. Astronauts of the Artemis era, heading back to the moon this decade, are 'made of the same stuff' as the early Apollo adventurers, says the man who wrote the book on the first human lunar landings A Man on the Moon was first published in 1994 and tells the story of the real life adventurers that set foot on the surface of the moon for NASA A group of 13 astronauts have joined NASA under the mission that will bring the first female to the moon and some may be the first humans to step on Mars.(Top row, L-R) Matthew Dominick, Kayla Barron, Warren Hoburg, and Joshua Kutryk of CSA, (middle row, L-R) Bob Hines, Frank Rubio, Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons of CSA, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Jessica Watkins, (bottom row, L-R_) Raja Chari, Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, and Loral OHara THE MEN WHO STEPPED ON THE MOON In total twelve people have walked on the moon. 1 + 2. Apollo 11 - July 21, 1969 Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first person to set foot on the moon. Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong on to the surface of the moon. His popular nickname gave itself to the animated characte Buzz Lightyear. 3 + 4. Apollo 12 - November 19 and 20, 1969 Pete Conrad and Alan Bean were the moon walkers on the Apollo 12 mission. The Apollo 12 crew experienced two lightning strikes just after their Saturn V rocket launched. 5 + 6. Apollo 14 - February 5, 1971 Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell who were part of the Apollo 14 mission. They launched on January 31, 1971, and landed in the Fra Mauro region of the moon, the original destination for Apollo 13. 7 + 8. Apollo 15 - July 31, 1971 David Scott and James Irwin landed on the moon and stayed for three days, until August 2nd. 9 + 10. Apollo 16 - April 21 1972 John Young and Charles Duke were the next men to walk on the moon. When the crew reached lunar orbit, the mission almost had to be aborted because of a problem with Command/Service Modules main engine. 11 + 12. Apollo 17 - December 11, 1972 The final people to walk on the moon were Eugene (Gene) Cernan and Harrison (Jack) Schmitt. Before he left the moon, Cernan scratched the initials of his daughter Tracy into the lunar regolith. Since the moon does not experience weather conditions like wind or rain to erode anything away, her initials should stay there for a very long time. Advertisement Chaikin, who sat down for long periods of time to better understand the first men on the moon, said it is unlikely trips to our natural satellite will become commonplace anytime soon, telling MailOnline 'the moon is still very much a frontier.' For now the moon will remain the domain of the men and women of NASA, ESA and other international space agencies, taking that one small step for all of humanity. The early explorers, stepping food on another world for the first time as part of the NASA Apollo program, were motivated by a chance to carry out a mission of national importance, Chaikin told MailOnline. One that 'would directly bear on America's prestige in the world, and would also have the potential to inspire the world.' 'And, of course, they had the kind of courage and faith in their abilities you must have to climb on top of an enormous rocket and ride it away from your home planet, with no guarantee you'll get back,' he added. Chaiken, an American science journalist, also worked on the the Viking program for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory while studying geology. His pivotal work, A Man on the Moon, was first published in 1994 to tell the story of a generation of men who went where nobody had gone before. He spoke to astronauts who ventured to space on Apollo's eight through to 17 and got a picture of the achievements, heartbreak and celebrations in their own words. The novel formed the basis of the 1998 miniseries From Earth to the Moon produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Tom Hanks. A paperback version of the novel was published in 2007 by Penguin Books, with a re-issue in 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 that saw Neil Armstrong become the first human to step foot on another world. The latest version of the novel is a beautifully bound Folio version, published in two fully illustrated volumes by the Folio Society. Featuring personally selected images from the Apollo era and a foreword by Tom Hanks, the Folio Society edition of a Man in the Moon brings this classic tale of real world adventure and exploration to a whole new level - and generation. Chaikin told MailOnline in an exclusive interview: 'It was a great opportunity to revisit the book and take the storytelling to a new level with the addition of the astronauts' incredible photographs.' This includes the 12 men who actually stepped on the moon, those remaining in the capsule in lunar orbit and the engineers and support crew who made it possible A new edition of this work, spread over two volumes and complete with dozens of sensational images, has been published by the Folio Society 'I was excited when Folio proposed doing a two-volume illustrated edition, and then agreed to let me and writer-editor Victoria Kohl (an Apollo fanatic who happens to be my wife) choose the images from among the thousands taken during the missions.' Almost a decade in the writing, A Man on the Moon is the definitive story of the Apollo programme, described by Arthur C Clarke as a 'superb account'. The science fiction icon said the Apollo program 'may be the only achievement by which our age is remembered a thousand years from now.' Andrew Chaikin's authoritative account is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the astronauts, as well as the scientists, engineers and flight controllers who shared every heartbeat of their voyages. A space suit is seen during a press conference displaying the next generation of space suits as parts of the Artemis program The Folio edition is packed with a photography selection curated by the author from his personal archive that features previously unpublished images and sharp new scans of frames from NASA films. As well as nearly 200 colour and black-and-white photographs integrated within the text, it has additional full-colour sections including an eight-page fold-out in each volume that show off the superb images to their best advantage. The author worked tirelessly to match each image to the text, giving a complete and unrivalled visual and oral history of the Apollo missions. It is the complete story of humankind's greatest feat of exploration, from the deadly Apollo 1 capsule fire, the pioneering flight of Apollo 8 and Neil Armstrong's 'giant leap for mankind' to near-catastrophe aboard Apollo 13. Author Andrew Chaikin spent a decade speaking to 23 of the 24 astronauts that landed on the moon and told MailOnline they were all very different people Chaikin, who personally selected all the images for the stunning new edition with his wife Victoria, says the new Artemis generation astronauts share the same traits APOLLO: A MISSION TO THE MOON Apollo was the NASA programme that launched in 1961 and got the first man on the moon eight years later. The first four flights tested the equipment for the Apollo Program and six of the other seven flights managed to land on the moon. The first manned mission to the moon was Apollo 8 which circled around it on Christmas Eve in 1968 but did not land. The crew of Apollo 9 spent ten days orbiting Earth and completed the first manned flight of the lunar module the section of the Apollo rocket that would later land Neil Armstrong on the Moon. The Apollo 11 mission was the first one to land on the moon on 20 July 1969. The capsule landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, carrying mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin. Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins remained in orbit around the moon. When Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, he said, 'That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind.' Apollo 12 landed later that year on 19 November on the Ocean of Storms, writes NASA. Apollo 13 was to be the third mission to land on the moon, but just under 56 hours into flight, an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to cancel the lunar landing and move into the Aquarius lunar module to return back to Earth. Apollo 15 was the ninth manned lunar mission in the Apollo space program, and considered at the time the most successful manned space flight up to that moment because of its long duration and greater emphasis on scientific exploration than had been possible on previous missions. The last Apollo moon landing happened in 1972 after a total of 12 astronauts had touched down on the lunar surface. Advertisement It is also includes the often-overlooked later missions, which saw scientists and astronauts test the limits of lunar exploration and deliver geological insights that revolutionised our understanding of both the moon and our own planet. 'What I found, after interviewing 23 of these 24 men (Jack Swigert died before I got started), was how interesting the differences were,' Chaikin told MailOnline. 'A couple were pure cold warriors who had little interest in exploration per se. Others really became caught up in the chance to explore another world and make scientific discoveries. 'When they got back, some maintained they were completely unchanged by the experience of going to the moon, while others admitted to having been affected, whether slightly or significantly, by their flights.' The timing of the release is pertinent, as NASA begins to ramp up development of its next great crewed adventure to the moon and beyond - Artemis. Apollo was named for one of the most significant gods in Greek and Roman mythology - Apollo, a patron of herdsmen and shepherds. NASA's Abe Silverstein chose the name 'Apollo' after perusing a book of mythology at home one evening in 1960. He said the image of 'Apollo riding his chariot across the sun was appropriate to the grand scale of the proposed program.' The next generation of lunar missions takes its inspiration from Apollo - named Artemis - the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology. Artemis was a patron of girls and young women, fitting given one aspect of the NASA mission is to land the first woman on the moon by 2024. 'The astronauts who went to the moon on Apollo were a different generation, but today's astronauts share the same key traits,' said Chaikin speaking to MailOnline. This includes 'Intelligence, courage, ingenuity, a desire to be the best, and most of all, a burning commitment to accomplish whatever mission they're given.' Whether the media-savvy astronauts of the 21st century will match those trailblazers of the Apollo-era remains to be seen, but Chaikin said their memories and desire to speak about their experiences varied from man to man. 'When they got back, some maintained they were completely unchanged by the experience of going to the moon, while others admitted to having been affected, whether slightly or significantly, by their flights,' Chaikin told MailOnline. Chaikin, who sat down for long periods of time to better understand the first men on the moon, said it is unlikely trips to our natural satellite will become commonplace anytime soon, telling MailOnline 'the moon is still very much a frontier. A paperback version of the novel was published in 2007 by Penguin Books, with a re-issue in 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 that saw Neil Armstrong become the first human to step foot on another world 'Some mostly put their moon flight behind them and didn't want to delve into it too often. Others were happy to reminisce.' The stories ranged from the hair raising and truly inspiration, through to the heartbreaking - including moments where they lost colleagues. Chaikin said he couldn't pick a single story out of the decades worth of interviews that stands out as 'the best' or most memorable but said some were highlights. 'On the first flight to the moon, Apollo 8, there was a moment, a couple of hours before the astronauts went into lunar orbit, when they flew into the moon's shadow. 'Bill Anders told me that he was looking out the window and suddenly the sky was filled with stars, more than he'd ever seen on the clearest nights on Earth. Chaikin said he couldn't pick a single story out of the decades worth of interviews that stands out as 'the best' or most memorable but said some were highlights It is also includes the often-overlooked later missions, which saw scientists and astronauts test the limits of lunar exploration and deliver geological insights that revolutionised our understanding of both the moon and our own planet 'The astronauts who went to the moon on Apollo were a different generation, but today's astronauts share the same key traits,' said Chaikin speaking to MailOnline ARTEMIS: THE NEXT GREAT NASA LUNAR ADVENTURE Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology. NASA has chosen her to personify its path back to the Moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2024 - including the first woman and the next man. Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars. Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASAs deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. It will travel 280,000 miles (450,600 km) from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before. Eventually NASA seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2028 as a result of the Artemis mission. Advertisement 'But when he looked over in the direction they were headed there were no stars at all, only blackness,' Chaikin recalled when speaking to MailOnline. 'All of a sudden it hit him that this 'hole in the stars' was the moon, and they were falling towards it. 'Bill told me the hair on the back of his neck stood up. And he said to himself, 'Come on Anders, you're not supposed to feel this way.' When I heard that story, I couldn't wait to write about it,' Chaikin said. Another happened on Apollo 12 during their second moonwalk when Pete Conrad and Alan Bean had to run for fairly long distances between exploration stops. This was before the days when NASA would send a rover to help get the astronauts between exploration stops on the lunar surface. 'Running in the moon's one-sixth gravity wasn't like running on Earth; each step sent them sailing through space for a long moment,' Chaikin said. 'On one of those runs Alan said he found himself looking up at the Earth, high in the black sky, and saying to himself, 'This is the moon, that is the Earth. I'm really here.' 'It's another great human moment: It's the kind of thing I can imagine myself doing if I were in his place.' Chaikin told MailOnline Apollo was a 'moment in time', an adventure unlikely to be replicated in the same way again. 'There will never be anything like seeing humans go to another world for the first time in history. But Artemis will be really exciting, in part because they're going to do so much more than the Apollo astronauts were able to do,' he said. 'They'll be living on the moon for weeks or months at a time, and that's going to be a new experience. 'And of course we'll have much more information about that experience while it's happening, through the images and audio that we get back. I'm really looking forward to seeing this next chapter unfold,' Chaikin added. He said the Apollo program has inspired his life since first watching Neil Armstrong take that 'one small step' on television in 1969. 'It was incredibly exciting and I remember it as if it were last year. But that's the way I feel about all the Apollo missions,' he told MailOnline. Chaikin told MailOnline Apollo was a 'moment in time', an adventure unlikely to be replicated in the same way again He said the Apollo program has inspired his life since first watching Neil Armstrong take that 'one small step' on television in 1969 'It was incredibly exciting and I remember it as if it were last year. But that's the way I feel about all the Apollo missions,' he told MailOnline 'It's all one big, once-in-a-century adventure that has powered me through my life and continues to inspire me.' He is actually working on a new book that explores how to take the lessons from the Apollo program and apply them to carrying out group endeavours. I finished by asking him if he'd go to the moon if given the opportunity, possibly on top of a SpaceX rocket in the future. His response was unequivocal. 'I've wanted to go to the moon since I was five years old in 1961,' Chaikin said. 'That hasn't changed. I would have been overjoyed to be a stowaway on an Apollo flight, and I would go in a heartbeat today, given the chance. The only difference today is that I'd want to take Victoria with me.' The Folio Society two-volume edition of Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon, including a new preface by the author and never before seen photographs, is available exclusively from www.foliosociety.com/moon. KOLKATA: The Central Bureaus of Investigation (CBI) has summoned the brother-in-law of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on March 15 in connection with an illegal coal-mining case, officials said on Friday. Ankush Arora, the husband of Abhishek Banerjee's sister-in-law Menaka Gambhir, and his father Pawan Arora have been asked to appear before the investigating officer in the case on March 15, they said. West Bengal: CBI summons Abhishek Banerjee's sister-in-law Manekas husband and father-in-law for questioning on March 15th, at its Kolkata office, in connection with coal scam. ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021 The central probe agency recently questioned Banerjee's wife Rujira and sister-in-law Menaka Gambhir in the case pertaining to illegal coal mining and pilferage from the mines of the Eastern Coalfields Limited. West Bengal is set to witness an eight-phase Assembly election starting March 27 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading a vigorous campaign in the state to oust the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had secured consecutive electoral wins in 2011 and 2016 under its leader Mamata Banerjee. Abhishek Banerjee, the Lok Sabha MP from the Diamond Harbour constituency and the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, wields considerable influence in the party and has been leading the TMC's counter-attack in the run-up to the Assembly polls. Live TV Love conquers all, even racism. Id like to believe that. After watching the Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry last week, it was bittersweet to see a happy ending for the mixed-race couple who have endured microaggressions and race-related hate. No one should have to go through that. The interview, which was seen by 17 million in the United States, captivated supporters of the couple for several reasons. First, Markle revealed that the racial attacks became so intense that she contemplated taking her own life. When she sought help, she was met with a dismissive sorry-not-sorry shrug. Second, she and Prince Harry shocked Winfrey when they shared that certain royal family members were concerned about how dark their sons skin would be. Perhaps Markle, who has an African American mother and white father, was naive to believe the British monarchy and media would accept her. Critics have said that Markle had been living a charmed life at Buckingham Palace, and therefore, should not bristle at rudeness. But rudeness and racism are not the same thing, she told Winfrey. Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions, MBR / TNS Markles mental health and the racism she experienced are inherently connected. You cannot talk about her mental state without discussing the tabloid headlines that called her upbringing (almost) straight outta Compton and that labeled her skin as rich and exotic, an objectifying stereotype often given to women of color. From the beginning of our relationships, they were so attacking and inciting so much racism, really. It changed the risk level, Markle told Winfrey. Houston native Danielle Burns-Wilson, like me, watched the interview intensely, and she found herself feeling connected to the couple. Burns-Wilson is a Black woman married to David Wilson, a white man, and together they are raising their young son. There were always undertones about race when we married, but, for us, it was a hair thing, she said. People were curious what his hair would look like. Theres always a mystery with interracial couples, particularly when they have children. Burns-Wilson said she and her husband never really discussed race or how their child may be perceived in the world. Maybe Markle and Harry didnt either. These are conversations that you think youve had, but you really havent, Burns-Wilson said. Not in any in-depth way. After our son was born, we had to talk about how he would be seen. I knew he would be seen as a Black boy, but David didnt see that. White people think about race differently than Black people, so we had to talk it out. Burn-Wilsons fair complexion, like Markles, adds another layer to the race discussion. I do know that being light skinned, you are often seen as not as threatening because youre not as obvious, but race still matters. Im a Black woman, and I see the world through that lens, she said. As this nation continues to deal with a racial reckoning, Hollywood seems focused on normalizing interracial marriages and relationships. Nexflixs Bridgerton, a series set during Britains Regency Era of the 1800s, features a multiracial cast and courtships. Theres a Black queen based on the real-life Queen Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who is believed to have had African ancestry. Among her descendants is Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harrys grandmother. A variety of new Netflix and Amazon Prime rom-coms pair couples from different ethnic groups without race ever being mentioned in the story line. I find that refreshing. In an ideal world, race should not be an issue, especially in love. Until someone has something to say about your childs skin or hair, or worse. Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer The experience of racism can have a devastating effect on mental health and can lead to depression and other stress illnesses. We need a bigger conversation in our society with regard to how we help people who are struggling and dealing with mental health issues, said Rheeda Walker, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist, University of Houston professor and director of UHs Culture, Risk and Resilience Lab. Then we need a conversation on how we deal with racism because part of the problem with racism is having to convince people that it is a problem. Black people often have to convince others that racism is as bad as it is and as stressful as it is. And nobody wants to have to go through that. Walker, who is also the author of The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health (New Harbinger Publications), said research shows that people who grow up in a mixed-race family tend to identify more with the race of the mother. So having a mother who is African American, Markle would have had some understanding about how Black women are treated in society, Walker said. So I wonder what was her disconnect that it would not be the case once she married into the royal family. It could be that she felt so incredibly loved by both Harry and the queen that she allowed herself to believe that she would not be subjected to what other Black people are subjected to. But it doesnt matter who you are as a Black person, you will have to navigate racism. According to the Pew Research Center, one in six newlyweds is married to someone of a different race or ethnicity. Asian and Hispanic people are by far the most likely to intermarry in the United States, and white people are the least likely of all major racial or ethnic groups to marry someone of a different race or ethnicity. Although Houston is recognized as the most diverse major metropolitan city in the nation, only 19 percent of Houston-area marriages were interracial between 2011 and 2015, according to the center. Stephanie Dedeaux, who is Black, and husband Charlie Keene, who is white, have been married since 1996, when there werent a lot of interracial couples, Dedeaux said. They have three teenage daughters. Everyone wanted the Meghan and Harry fairy tale to be real, but even in interracial marriages, you will still face headwinds, she said. My girls have grown up with other interracial children. Ive had to learn to see things through their eyes, not ours. A lot of my concern has been more about them being a woman and the vulnerabilities we face. I try to help them live in the world they live in, but still when you see racism or hear it, you feel it. Interracial marriage has been legal in the United States only since 1967 with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia. Burns-Wilsons brother, Stafford Burns, is also in an interracial marriage to wife Jill, who is white. They lived in Britain for several years and saw first hand the scrutiny Markle, in particular, faced from the British media. I thought the royal family was turning a corner, he said. But (after watching the Winfrey interview) it felt like we had a seat at the table, but they took the seat away by not giving their son a title. Markle told Winfrey that the royal family decided that their son, Archie, who turns 2 in May, would not receive a title or the security that goes with it. Prince William has defended the family, saying the royals are very much not a racist family. Regardless of her naivety, Markles decision to speak candidly about the emotional toll of racism makes Walker proud. While we wait for our larger society to fix racism, we as women of color, Black women, have to be here for each other (as well as) the people who care about Black women because obviously Harry cares about his wife, Walker said. The people who are in the inner circles of Black women have to reach out and be available to those women. Because I dont see racism going anywhere. joy.sewing@chron.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. Metis Settlements are unique to Alberta. They are the only Metis land base in Canada, and likely in all of North America. Since becoming Minister of Indigenous Relations, I have visited most of the 8 Metis Settlements. I have been impressed by their strong sense of identity, community and their pride in their history and culture. Settlements members told me about issues that matter to them, like self-sufficient community finances and strong government. They are looking for greater autonomy in a way that the current legislation doesnt allow. These conversations stayed with me. It is time to change the Metis Settlements Act, to open the door to self-determining Metis Settlements. The settlements governance structure and financial authority come from the Government of Alberta through the Metis Settlements Act. Bill 57 makes greater governance and financial autonomy possible for the settlements the kind Metis leaders and people have expected for their communities for a long time. Bill 57 will: Increase Metis Settlements councils responsibility to charge for services such as water, sewage and roads. Leave it to councils to determine the number of elected councillors for their community from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 5. Reduce the size of the Metis Settlements General Council executive from 4 officers to a maximum of 2. Remove Albertas Indigenous Relations minister from any decision-making powers related to the Metis Settlements General Councils financial policies. Two events make this the right time to amend the Act. One is the end of the Long-Term Governance and Funding Arrangements Agreement or LTA on March 31, 2023. Thats when Albertas government wraps up our $85 million, 10-year commitment to the settlements. The second is the Metis Settlements Council elections in October. Current councils must decide the number of council members before those elections. Settlements leaders have told us that they want the flexibility to determine their government structure and have control of their finances. It is also true that Alberta is in a tough fiscal situation right now and we have to look at spending within our means. This makes it even more important that settlements have the means to operate more efficiently, like having greater authority over charges for essential services. Settlements can take advantage of opportunities through the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation and provincial municipal grants programs. These avenues are open to help settlements gain a financially self-sufficient and sustainable future. Metis Settlements need a chance to exercise more of the self-determination they have long fought for. It is time for Albertas government to get out of their way. London: Mathias Cormann first came to Australia from Europe 27 years ago and now Australia is sending him back there. The former finance ministers selection as the next secretary-general of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development is not just a diplomatic coup for the Morrison government; it also represents the pinnacle of an extraordinary career for the 50-year-old political operator. Mathias Cormann beat nine other candidates for the top international post. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The Belgium-born Cormann only flew to Australia in 1994 to meet the family of a girl hed recently met, but fell in love with Perth instead and made the permanent move two years later. He rose through Liberal Party ranks, entered the Senate in 2007 and spent a record seven years and 42 days as finance minister. Critics laughed when he quit Parliament last October to run for the top international post. They argued he would have no chance in a crowded field of 10 candidates and predicted the OECDs Europe-dominated membership would rally behind one of their own. They said the OECD was too good an outfit to ever consider someone like Cormann as its leader, but the further he advanced in the selection process, the more they started arguing the OECD must be worthless. t comes ahead of 'neurodiversity network' initiative which will launch next week Vice Admiral Nick Hine has revealed he is autistic after being diagnosed 10 years ago and said that the military needs more 'neurodiversity'. The Second Sea Lord, 55, opened up about his condition as he encouraged others with autism to join the armed forces. Hine said that the only way the British military could compete with adversaries that have more advanced technology and larger funds would be through 'thinking differently' and hiring people with neurological disorders. It comes ahead of his 'neurodiversity network' initiative which will launch next week, allowing workers with the condition to raise issues and discuss their experiences. Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Nick Hine (pictured left), 55, opened up about his condition as he encouraged others with autism to join the armed forces Hine said that the only way the British military could compete with adversaries that have more advanced technology and larger funds would be through 'thinking differently' The father-of-one told The Times: 'I have a brain that is wired differently. 'It doesnt mean that I am disabled, it doesnt mean that I am odd, it doesnt mean that I am in any way shape or form less capable. It means that I am different.' The military changed its 'medical employment standards' in 2018 to give greater consideration to applicants with autism. There are 177 staff in the navy, army and RAF who are known to have been diagnosed with the condition, reported the paper. Hine added: 'The only way we are going to win and compete is by thinking differently, and therefore having people who think differently has got to be part of the solution.' Since his diagnosis 10 years ago, the former defence policy advisor to HM Treasury initially only told close family members, such as his wife and daughter, before recently opening up to close colleagues. He said that his precision and desire for order had helped him to flourish in the Navy, but admitted to grappling with large group discussions and noise. Hine joined the Royal Navy in 1985 and was awarded the Howard-Johnston Memorial Sword in 1991 after becoming the first submariner to have completed the inaugural Specialist Navigation course. He was also the first submariner to command the patrol vessel HMS Blackwater before the Northern Ireland ceasefire in 1995. Hine was promoted to Commander in 1999 when he became the Executive Officer of HMS Splendid, firing the first Tomahawk missiles from a Royal Navy submarine while in Kosovo. A ceremony was held on board the HMS Victory in Portsmouth, pictured above, when Hine became Second Sea Lord in 2019. He said that his precision and desire for order had helped him to flourish in the Navy, but admitted to grappling with large group discussions and noise The military changed its 'medical employment standards' in 2018 to give greater consideration to applicants with autism (pictured: servicemen at the Second Sea Lord ceremony in 2019) Hine was promoted to Commander in 1999 when he became the Executive Officer of HMS Splendid and became a Rear Admiral one year later, rising to Second Sea Lord in 2019 He was made Captain in 2008 and Commodore in 2014, becoming a Rear Admiral one year later, rising to Vice Admiral and Second Sea Lord in 2019. Earlier this month, cage fighter and reality star Alex Reid revealed he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the age of 45 after years of 'relentless bullying for being different'. 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.' 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. Meanwhile, several other high-profile people have also spoken out about being diagnosed with Asperger's. Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg told of her Asperger's diagnosis and revealed that it led to her suffering from an eating disorder. Earlier this month, cage fighter and reality star Alex Reid revealed he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the age of 45 after years of 'relentless bullying for being different' Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg has also opened up about her Asperger's diagnosis and revealed that it led to her suffering from an eating disorder Chris Packham, who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in his 40s, revealed how his love for punk rock music as an 'isolated and very unhappy' teenager saved his life In a 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'. She said: '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 further 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'. | Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Rupee falls 19 paise to close at 73.09 (provisional) against US dollar. Sensex drops 85.40 pts to settle at 51,849.48; Nifty inches up 1.35 pts to 15,576.20. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik writes to all chief ministers for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute among states. Armenias Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan today visited the National Defense Research University of the Ministry of Defense. Head of the University, Major General Genady Tavaratsyan presented the functions, as well as the educational and prospective programs of the University. The defense minister talked to the officers undergoing training at the University and attached importance to not only their professional knowledge, but also the role of officers vested with knowledge about regional security and analytical skills in making decisions for solving security crises. Harutyunyan also paid a visit to the workplace of the commission for specifying and collecting data of servicemen captured or missing during military operations (the commission is located in the premises of the University) and was told about the current activities. The chairman of the commission, Major General Artur Simonyan presented the past and current activities of the commission, and Harutyunyan attached importance to the activities. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 March, we celebrate International Womens Day, and the focus is on the impact women have made to all sectors of technology, social causes, the military, politics, our communities and more. To all the female veterans, military spouses and veteran military spouses reading this, thank you for your service to our great nation. Id like to share a story of one brave and amazing female veteran I worked with who found her voice and continues to serve after her time in the military. I first met Mary (not her real name) as she was leaving the Army as a JAG officer with many years of experience and several notable accomplishments to her credit. She handled several high-profile cases and worked alongside influential leaders and now was facing a civilian career. She feared that what shed do next wouldnt carry the same level of significance as her work in the military. One of her first comments to me was, What if my work just doesnt matter when I leave the Army? Mary was right to be concerned about meaning and significance. Many veterans struggle to express their passion for service after the military. But with several job offers in front of her, Mary and I evaluated each for the opportunity and risk they presented. She had an offer from a rural community that was looking for an assistant district attorney, another offer from a large bank that was adding to its roster of in-house counsel and she was offered a position with a community activist group in her hometown to focus on helping underserved populations. We evaluated each offer for what it could afford her: The District Attorneys Office The pay was commensurate with entry-level legal advocacy work in a rural community. This position meant Mary could grow her visibility as shed get to be hands-on with interesting cases that could change peoples lives significantly. But living in a rural community -- she grew up in major metropolitan areas from Singapore to New York City -- could be problematic. She never lived in a small town before. The Big Bank The financial rewards of this opportunity were stunning. Mary quickly imagined all the things she could buy and do with that kind of salary. The position was in New York so her cost of living would be high, but she really could help a lot of people she knew with extra resources. There was risk to her sense of service, however, because she didnt see how she could be connected to a cause that was meaningful. The Community Group This one felt the riskiest to Mary. The pay was unpredictable (could they retain their grants and funding?). They were also a polarizing group (some members of her community wished them to stay silent), but to Mary, their cause was exciting and noble. She was a huge supporter of the issues the group advocated and felt compelled to see whether she could retain her career progression and serve a population she cared deeply about. After much consideration and soul-searching, Mary accepted the position with the community group. As she put it, Service is who I am and serving an underrepresented population feels consistent with the work I know Im meant to do. In making this decision, some of the realizations Mary came to included: Each position had risk. To think she could make a safe choice was naive. The question became which risk was more tolerant to her. Service would look different in her post-military career. While she wouldnt be serving the same mission as when she was in the Army, she still could serve a population she cared about. Money was not her main motivator. The bank position offered a handsome salary and package, but the meaningfulness of the work became more compelling with the community organization. Making this decision was not life or death. Mary recognized that no option was a bad option if she was clear in her thinking and reasoning. She embarked on her new civilian career with all the enthusiasm and bravery as the first day she arrived on an Army post. She leveraged her deep experience in the courtroom (in the Army), her love of the law and serving justice and her passion for her community to help underserved individuals find their voice and get heard. For Mary, this bold transition from the military was just beginning. As long as I keep my focus on service, Ill be fine, she told me. And she is. Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. 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. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Definition: Thioglycolic Acid Market, as per the recently released study report by Market Research Future (MRFR), is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 3.8% during the forecast period. The market is primarily driven by the rising demand for high purity grade TGA in leather processing chemicals, oilfield chemicals, and PVC heat stabilizer applications. Moreover, it is also reported that the market is gaining pressing demand from the personal care and cosmetics industry. This is most likely expected to support the growth of the market in the forthcoming years. The evolving consumer lifestyle and changing perspective towards their own personal health and wellbeing is projected to spike the demand graphs for thioglycolic acid. Lastly, the booming youth demographic and the high disposable income among these consumer group is also forecasted to be a key factor positively impacting the global thioglycolic acid market in the coming years. Get a Free Sample of This Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6453 Market Overview and Growth Factors: However, if exposed for long periods of time, certain thioglycolic acids can be fatal as they are carcinogenic in impact. The price of the product is inversely dependent upon the availability of raw materials. This is another key factor that can severely hamper the growth trajectory of the market during the forecast period. Thioglycolic acid or TGA is an organic compound that is often referred to as mercaptoacetic acid. It is a colorless liquid with a highly unpleasant odor and comprises the functional groups of thiol and carboxylic acid. Competitive Landscape: The global COVID 19 Impact on Thioglycolic Acid Market is expanding with decent numbers. A major factor pushing the growth of the market is the presence of various prominent players. Some of the key players anticipated to boost the market positively are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Bruno Bock Chemische Fabrik GmbH & Co. KG, Arkema, Merck KGaA, Qingdao LNT Chemical Co. Ltd., Daicel Corporation, Tokyo Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., and others. Market Segmentation: The global Thioglycolic Acid Market segmentation is done on the basis of type and application. By type, the market segments into low purity grade, high purity grade, and technical grade. The high purity grade segment holds the maximum potential and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.06% with a projected reach of USD 56,532.2 million by the end of the forecast period. By application, the market includes PVC heat stabilizer, cosmetics, oilfield chemicals, leather processing chemicals, metals recovery, cleaning formulations, chain transfer agent, and others. The cosmetics segment is reported to garner a growth rate of 4.17% during the review period. Furthermore, the valuation of the market is expected to reach an approximate figure of USD 39,676 million by 2025. Browse key industry insights spread across 144 pages with 166 market data tables & 19 figures & charts from the report, Thioglycolic Acid Market Research Report: Information by Type (High Purity Grade, Low Purity Grade and Technical Grade), Application (Cosmetics, PVC Heat-Stabilizer, Oilfield Chemicals, Cleaning Formulations, Leather Processing Chemicals, Chain Transfer Agent, Metals Recovery, Agrochemicals and others) and Region (Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa) - Forecast till 2025 in detail along with the table of contents @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/thioglycolic-acid-market-6453 Regional Analysis: The regional segmentation of the global thioglycolic acid market covers the following regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. The Asia Pacific region holds the dominant share in the global market and is growing with each passing year. The region holds 42.49% market share and is expected to grow with the fastest CAGR of 4.24% during the forecast period. The region is further anticipated to reach a market valuation of USD 50,289.4 million by the end of the forecast period; strikingly higher than the other covered regions. The regional market is spearheaded by China, which contributes significantly to the overall growth and revenue generation of the Asia Pacific region. North America holds the second largest share in the global market and is expected to grow significantly in the forthcoming years of the forecast period. The valuation of the market is calculated to touch USD 25,646.8 million by the end of 2025. A monumental share of the overall North American regional market can be attributed to the US, which holds a massive potential and is anticipated to achieve USD 19,956 million by the end of the forecast period. The European market stands third in the global regional standings. However, the region is expected to significantly contribute to the overall welfare of the global market. The European region is primarily spearheaded by countries like the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and others. Among these pioneering nations, Germany hogs the spotlight with the largest market share and is forecasted to reach a valuation of USD 5,246.7 million by 2025. Access Complete Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/thioglycolic-acid-market-6453 Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Houston officials broke ground Friday on a new park in south downtown that by next year will provide the area with its first addition of major greenspace since Discovery Green opened more than a decade ago. The park will take up most of the block surrounded by Bell, Fannin, Leeland and San Jacinto streets, replacing a Goodyear Auto Service Center. It will include a central lawn area, gardens on the north and south sides, dog runs for large and small breeds, water features and art installations, and a second location of Tout Suite, the East Downtown cafe. Construction is expected to wrap up next March. Officials have dubbed the new area Trebly Park, a nod to the three street corners surrounding the park, and the implication that therell be three times as much here for everybody who lives in the neighborhood and who visits, said Bob Eury, president of the Downtown Redevelopment Authority. The project previously had gone by the name of Southern Downtown Park. It will be fully funded by the areas tax increment reinvestment zone, a special district that captures any increases in property tax revenue beyond the base amount collected when the zone was established. The additional revenue, or the increment, funds improvements within the zone, such as the new park. The Downtown Redevelopment Authority administers funds collected by the tax increment reinvestment zone. The Downtown Management District, also overseen by Eury, will manage the park, similar to its oversight role of Market Square Park. Officials have budgeted $9.5 million through the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, to cover the cost of planning, designing and building the park, along with acquiring the land, according to budget documents. The redevelopment authority is leasing the space from a privately held trust. In October, it began making annual rent payments of $355,992, the rate for the first five years of a 30-year lease. The rate will increase by 10 percent every five years, according to a spokeswoman. Mayor Sylvester Turner said the project is part of city leaders ongoing efforts to bring more parks and greenspace to the downtown area, such as the renovation Jones Plaza farther north. Those types of investments will spur further growth downtown, Turner said, adding that when he was growing up in Houston decades ago, the central business district would become dead shortly after everyone left work for the day. When I grew up in this city, there were probably, other than the hotels, I dont think there was anybody living downtown. And now we have about 10,000 people living downtown, he said. The developments have led to the design and construction of this park, and at the same time, the parks are leading to residential and other transit-oriented development downtown. The park also will include a B-Cycle station, bike racks and a bike repair station, along with outdoor seating areas and a play structure for children. An art installation at the northern entrance of the park near Fannin and Bell streets will rotate every two years, according to redevelopment authority officials. The Tout Suite cafe will hold room for about 70 guests indoors and 48 outside. Rebecca Schuetz contributed to this report. jasper.scherer@chron.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. A Member of the Council of State, Mr Sam Okudzeto, has appealed to Ghanaians to support the government to implement its programmes to spur the nation on to growth and development. He stated that nation-building was a joint effort by all stakeholders and urged the citizenry not to allow their political differences become a stumbling block to development. "This question about winner-takes-all always triggers division and this does not help anybody. We all need to unite as one people and make suggestions that can move the nation forward, he said. Support President Speaking to the Daily Graphic in reaction to the Presidents first State of the Nation Address in his second term, Mr Okudzeto said: The President has put forward fantastic programmes that require the citizenry to lend support to. "If there is something that the President is doing and maybe it is not the right way or can be twisted and improved on, the important thing is to bring up suggestions to that effect. That is what nation-building is all about, and this is the emphasis that the President is laying and we should all give him the support. Effect of pandemic Mr Okudzeto noted that while many nations had been devastated by the impact of the COVID-19, Ghana had been spared such devastation. He said per what the President said, nobody in the country had been starving, as we have all been fed well. In many countries, there are shortages of food and people are dying needlessly like rats in the streets. We should thank God that we have been spared, for which reason we should move forward as a united people to achieve a more prosperous nation for ourselves, he stated. Supreme Court verdict Sharing his view on the misgivings of some Ghanaians against the ruling on the election petition by the Supreme Court recently, Mr Okudzeto, a legal practitioner, said those who still opposed the verdict of the apex court were still being misled. He said following his keen interest in the trial, he had personally prophesied the outcome of the petition. He said when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said it did not agree with the outcome of the 2020 general election, as declared by the Electoral Commission (EC), the party never brought up any figures to challenge the EC, as had happened in the previous election petition. "If you do not go to court with any figures, how do you expect the court to give a judgement in your favour? The verdict has been given and it is final. There is no appeal and the subject is closed; let us move forward as a nation, so that we can achieve our development goals, he said. Political interest The legal luminary asserted that the practice where opposition political parties always opposed a government because they were in opposition was not the right approach to the practice of healthy democracy. When they say you are an opposition party, it does not mean you must support everything your fellow opposition parties do. If the government does a good thing, praise it for that, but if there are things which it may not do the way you want them, tell us what the alternatives are, and that is the essence of democracy, he stated. Critical institutions Touching on the fact that the government had doubled funding for accountability institutions, Mr Okudzeto commended it for its financial support to those institutions. According to him, the stability of every nation depended on the proper functioning of its governance institutions. The stability of a country depends on the stability of its institutions, without which you cannot govern a country. No matter how benevolent you are, you can never succeed because you cannot control all your party people, some of whom are there to make money. It is these institutions that will check such people, he stated. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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 Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 67F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Google on Friday took aim at Microsoft, accusing its technology rival of "distraction" for siding with governments seeking to force tech platforms to pay media organizations for news content. In a blog post, Google argued that Microsoft was trying to divert attention from a potentially devastating attack on Exchange emails servers by hackers taking advantage of software vulnerabilities. The comments came amid a heated battle of words over efforts in Australia and elsewhere to require digital services to negotiate payments for news content. Google and Facebook have resisted mandatory payments, while Microsoft has taken a more collaborative stance. Microsoft president Brad Smith, in a letter to a congressional subcommittee hearing, blamed Google's business model for "devouring" ad revenue on which news groups rely. Google senior vice president of global affairs Kent Walker fired back in the blog post, saying of Microsoft: "They are now making self-serving claims and are even willing to break the way the open web works in an effort to undercut a rival." Walker added, "This important debate should be about the substance of the issue, and not derailed by naked corporate opportunism." In his letter, Smith lauded the role news organizations play in defending democracy and contended that the "internet gutted the already ailing local news business by devouring advertising revenue and luring away paid subscribers." Microsoft has lobbied for other countries to follow Australia's lead in calling for news outlets to be paid for stories published online, a move opposed by Facebook and Google. "News today is part of the technology ecosystem, and all of us who participate in this ecosystem have both an opportunity and responsibility to help journalism flourish," Smith said. Backers of Google and Facebook have claimed that mandatory payments for news links would fundamentally change the way the internet works and ultimately be detrimental to free online services. gc/rl All airlines must ensure passengers complete electronic health declarations before boarding flights at all airports nationwide as requested by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). Security staff check the body temperature of passengers at the security screening checkpoint at Noi Bai International Airport. The request is among efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and airlines who fail to do so will face legal responsibility. In a circular sent to airlines, CAAV director Dinh Viet Thang said all airport passengers have to fill in the e-health declaration at the security screening checkpoint before boarding a flight. The health declaration can be completed on the website http://tokhaiyte.vn. Airlines are responsible for notifying and instructing passengers to make e-health declarations. The need to fill in an e-health declaration before flights must be notified on the speakers system or notification screens at airports. Any passenger refusing to complete the form should not be allowed to board the flight. Airport authorities will explain the procedure to all foreign airlines at airports. For online or kiosk check-in services, Thang asked airlines to add the e-health declaration to the procedures. Airlines should arrange personnel at the kiosk check-in counters at terminals to assist and guide passengers in the e-health declaration. VNS US Vice President will also participate in the first summit with President Joe Biden and Prime Ministers of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan on Friday, according to the White House. The virtual summit is scheduled for 8.30 a.m. in Washington and 7 p.m. in Delhi (10.30 p.m. in Canberra and 12.30 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo). Reporters will be allowed to see the opening of the meeting, according to the White House schedules for Biden and Harris. Biden's spokesperson Jen Psaki said that Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will give a readout of the meeting at noon (10.30 p.m. India time). Harris has had limited personal exposure to international leaders and has started a round of talks with some of them, starting with President Emmanuel Macaron of France and Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. According to readouts, they discussed a wide range of regional and global issues during the one-on-one calls. Introducing her during their visit to the State Department, Biden said that Harris was committed to "crafting a foreign policy that puts diplomacy first and that keeps our nation safe and delivers real results to the American people". Most of Harris's political career has been in California and during her four years in the Senate, she gained direct exposure to international affairs as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. She is reported to be planning regular lunches with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to deepen her familiarity with the nitty-gritty of foreign policy. Modi and Harris will probably be face-to-face, though virtually, for the first time on Friday as there does not appear to be a record of any meetings between them. After her election, Modi tweeted: "Your success is pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for your chithis, but also for all Indian-Americans." "Chithis" as it is pronounced, is the Tamil term for aunts who are mother's younger sisters and Harris used the word to include them while acknowledging her extended family in her speech accepting the Democratic Party nomination for vice president. Harris has been frosty towards the current Indian government. While a Senator she criticised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for refusing to meet with the House Foreign Affairs Committee because it wanted to include Indian-American Pramila Jayapal, a critic of Modi's government, in the meeting although she is not a member of the committee. Harris's niece Meena recently got involved in the farmer's agitation in India tweeting support for it even though she has not opposed conditions in the US similar to what the Indian farmers are against. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis)--IANS al/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.) Photo: The Canadian Press A vial of some of the first 500,000 of the two million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that Canada has secured through a deal with the Serum Institute of India in partnership with Verity Pharma at a facility in Milton, Ont., on March 3, 2021. Canadian health authorities are keeping a watchful eye on European investigations of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots following inoculations, but say there is no evidence they were caused by the vaccine. At least nine European countries hit pause on their use of AstraZeneca's doses _ some entirely, and others only on specific batches _ pending further investigation of blood clots, though none suggested there is a link between the clots and getting the vaccine. Canada's first 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca are being put to use just this week. Late Thursday, Health Canada issued a release saying it is aware of the reports out of Europe and would like to reassure Canadians "that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh its risks." Health Canada said it authorized the vaccine based on a thorough, independent review of the evidence and determined that it meets Canada's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements. "At this time, there is no indication that the vaccine caused these events," reads the release. "To date, no adverse events related to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, or the version manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, have been reported to Health Canada or the Public Health Agency of Canada." Health Canada said none of the identified batches under investigation have been shipped to Canada. Officials in several provinces said Thursday they don't intend to stop the rollout. ``At this time, we have no information to suggest that this vaccine poses more risks than any other,'' said Dr. Horacio Arruda, director of public health in Quebec. Carlo Mastrangelo, the head of corporate affairs, communications and sustainability at AstraZeneca Canada, said the company has completed a new safety review of 10 million patients who received the vaccine. He said it uncovered ``no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country'' with its COVID-19 vaccine. ``In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than what would be expected among the general population,'' said Mastrangelo. Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease doctor at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, said he has been inundated with calls from family doctors who are supposed to start inoculating patients this weekend, wondering if there was reason to be concerned. Chagla said he will give the vaccine to patients this weekend as planned, because he trusts that Health Canada, which is constantly monitoring safety reports, would step in if there was any concern. ``Health Canada, they are working 24-7,'' he said. ``Their role is if there's anything that goes on, you know that they essentially put a halt to it.'' Health authorities in Denmark, which halted AstraZeneca vaccinations Thursday after an undisclosed number of blood clots were reported, and one patient died, said they stopped using the vaccine to be extra cautious, not because there was an expected connection. The European Medicines Agency is probing the issue itself but says 30 blood clots in more than five million patients who received the vaccine is not out of step with the normal rate of blood clots in the general population. Chagla said the normal incidence of blood clots is about one in 1,000 patients over the course of a year. When vaccinating millions of people, it is not unusual to see some of them develop blood clots. The question is whether they could have had the clot without the vaccine. Chagla said these kind of investigations are totally normal in the rollout of any new pharmaceutical. ``This is what I think the European Union is going through,'' he said. ``Now they're trying to say, 'Hey, is this an issue with the vaccine or are these people that we're just going to have blood clots regardless?' And you know, if it was the same thing as being struck by lightning, we would very easily say, 'Well, OK, the vaccine has nothing to do with people being struck by lightning.''' Chagla said if a link is found, it may also be specific to one batch of the vaccine, which also has to be examined. Canada's doses, he noted, are currently coming from the Serum Institute of India, while Europe is getting its doses from facilities there. Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said on Twitter that the blood clots are ``extremely rare events in an area that is using a lot of this vaccine.'' ``There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these events and the actions these countries have taken is out of an abundance of caution,'' she said. ``We will continue watching closely and monitoring every dose of the vaccine in Alberta.'' Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province won't discontinue AstraZeneca but is working with Health Canada to follow the evidence. ``We are continuing with our AstraZeneca inoculations and we know that several million doses have already been administered around the world with no adverse effects,'' she said. B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said officials have followed scrutiny of the vaccine and they haven't seen any similar issues. ``We are watching this very carefully,'' she told a news conference. ``It is something that is not unexpected when a new product, a new vaccine, is used in large numbers of people.'' This latest setback for AstraZeneca's vaccine came just after concerns about its efficacy in seniors started to wane. Several European nations reversed earlier decisions not to give it to people over 65 because there weren't enough seniors in the clinical trials. Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended seniors be prioritized for the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which had more evidence of how they work on seniors. The chair of the committee, Dr. Caroline Quach, told The Canadian Press the board met Wednesday to discuss newer evidence of how the AstraZeneca vaccine worked for seniors in ``real-world'' use, and expects an updated statement on the vaccine in Canada ``in the next few days.'' 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. Approximately 500 troops belonging to the Romanian Army, the United States of America and Poland will train together, between March 16 and March 24, during the "Justice Eagle 21.1" exercise, according to a press release sent on Friday by the Information and Public Relations Department of the 9th Mechanized Brigade "Marasesti." According to the same source, the exercise, which will take place at the Secondary Training Centre for Combat of the Romanian Land Forces, in Smardan, Galati County, aims to increase the interoperability of NATO member armed forces: the US, Poland and Romania, maintaining the joint deployment and training capability by exercising related logistical support, developing a regional environment conducive to multinational military cooperation and increasing the professionalism of the military. The Romanian Army is represented in this exercise by soldiers from the following structures: 341st Infantry Battalion "Constanta"/9th Mechanized Brigade "Marasesti," "Capidava" 911th Infantry Battalion/9th Mechanized Brigade "Marasesti," 168th Logistic Support Battalion"Pontus Euxinus"/9th Mechanized Brigade "Marasesti," 631st Tanks Battalion "Oituz"/15th Mechanized Brigade "Podu Inalt," 285th Artillery Battalion "Vlaicu Voda"/282nd Armored Brigade "Union of Principalities." West End theatres are preparing for the return of audiences once lockdown restrictions ease. The Government's roadmap out of lockdown allows indoor events with a capacity of 1,000 people or half full, whichever is lower, to take place from May 17. It is at this point that the majority of London's theatres are planning to return, with Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Les Miserables: The Staged Concert among the first to reopen their doors. Other big name musicals including Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Jersey Boys and Anything Goes have also recently announced their dates for reopening, with returns staggered until later in the summer. Some including Wicked have yet to confirm a date as they process tickets that have been cancelled and await further confirmation from the Government. Here, FEMAIL reveals when you should be able to enjoy your favourite show... Pretty Woman: The Musical FROM MAY 17, PICCADILLY THEATRE From screen to stage: Aimee Atkinson and Danny Macsent in Pretty Woman: The Musical Based on the classic film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, Pretty Woman tells the story of Vivian Ward who is hired by a rich businessman called Edward Lewis to escort him to a number of events during his stay in the city. Now booking until September 2021. Back To The Future: The Musical FROM MAY 17, ADELPHI THEATRE Based on the iconic 1985 film starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, Back to the Future The Musical is bringing the beloved movie to the stage for the first time. It had its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House in February 2020, but its initial run was cut short due to lockdown. It is now set for its West End premiere. Everybody's Talking About Jamie FROM MAY 20, APOLLO THEATRE Fan favourite: Hit musical Everybodys Talking About Jamie returns to the Apollo Theatre this May, making it one of the first major musicals to reopen in London Hit musical Everybodys Talking About Jamie returns to the Apollo Theatre this May, making it one of the first major musicals to reopen in London. With a hotly-anticipated new film adaptation due to be released this year, tickets for the popular show, inspired by a true story of a schoolboy drag queen, are being snapped up. Les Miserables: The Staged Concert FROM MAY 20, SONDHEIM THEATRE One run more! Les Miserables: The Staged Concert will return for a three-month run this year Les Miserables: The Staged Concert opened to critical acclaim at the Sondheim Theatre in December 2020, and was extended twice by public demand. Now, performances are set to return from May 20 until September 5, when the theatre will close for three weeks in order to be able to re-mount the full production of Les Miserables. SIX FROM MAY 21, LYRIC THEATRE History brought to life: SIX, about Henry VIII's wives, reopens at the Lyric Theatre on May 21 From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. It reopens at the Lyric Theatre on May 21 and will transfer to the Arts Theatre from August 24. Jersey Boys FROM JUNE 2, TRAFALGAR THEATRE The Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning smash hit musical Jersey Boys is returning to Londons West End, opening at the new sparkling new Trafalgar Theatre. The playhouse will combine the two smaller studio spaces at Trafalgar Studios: Trafalgar Studio One and Trafalgar Studio Two. TINA: The Tina Turner Musical FROM JUNE 3, ALDWYCH THEATRE Simply the best! Tina: The Tina Turner Musical returns to the Aldwych Theatre from June 3 Tina: The Tina Turner Musical - which is presented in collaboration with the music icon herself - will return to the Aldwych Theatre from June 3, continuing the musical's West End run. The musical features hit songs like Proud Mary, River Deep Mountain High and (Simply) The Best. Anything Goes FROM JUNE 5, THE BARBICAN This major new production of Cole Porter and P. G. Wodehouses classic musical of pure escapism, Anything Goes opens at the Barbican this summer. It features a 50 strong company including a full-sized live orchestra and 15 tap-dancing sailors and marks the West End debut of US star Megan Mullally. Come From Away FROM JUNE 19, PHOENIX THEATRE Coming to a screen soon: Come From Away is being adapted into a film Come from Away, the Broadway musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, is based on the events in the week following the 9/11 attacks on America, when 38 planes were ordered to land in the small Canadian town of Gander. This true story tells the tale of the town who kept 7,000 stranded visitors housed and fed following the biggest tragedy the US had seen. Since opening in 2019, it has become a fan favourite. A film adaptation is now in the works. Cinderella FROM JUNE 25, GILLIAN LYNNE THEATRE Andrew Lloyd Webbers Cinderella is set to completely reinvent the worlds best-loved fairytale when it opens in Londons West End this Summer. This highly anticipated new production stars Carrie Hope Fletcher in the title role and has a book written by the Killing Eve scriptwriter Emerald Fennell. Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat FROM JULY 1, LONDON PALLADIUM Fifty years on from its original release as a concept album, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat opens at the London Palladium this summer. Jason Donovan, who starred as Joseph, returns to play the Pharaoh in this production of the popular family-friendly musical. Phantom of the Opera FROM JULY 20, HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE Andrew Lloyd Webber's sensational long-running musical The Phantom of the Opera continues to run in its original form at the West End's Her Majesty's Theatre. Frozen: The Musical AUGUST 2021, THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE Disneys FROZEN as it comes alive at Londons Theatre Royal Drury Lane. This new West End musical celebrates the extraordinary story that melted hearts across the world. Tickets are currently not available to buy but the show is expected to open in August 2021. The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. Leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan attended the meeting, and Li Zhanshu presided over the closing meeting and delivered a speech. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi] BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) The National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, concluded its annual session Thursday afternoon. Chinese leaders Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan attended the closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Li Zhanshu, an executive chairperson of the presidium of the session, presided over the meeting attended by nearly 3,000 NPC deputies. Lawmakers adopted the amendments to the organic law and procedural rules of the NPC. President Xi Jinping signed presidential orders to promulgate the amendments. The meeting adopted a decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The lawmakers also approved the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, the government work report, and the work reports of the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. They approved a report on the implementation of the 2020 plan for national economic and social development, and the 2021 plan for national economic and social development. They also passed a report on the execution of the central and local budgets for 2020, and approved the central budget for 2021. Addressing the meeting, Li Zhanshu said that the annual session has successfully completed its agenda. The decision on improving the electoral system of the HKSAR has been highly endorsed by the deputies, Li said. Li called for better leveraging the role of people's congresses on the journey toward fully building a modern socialist China. Li urged rallying even closer around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, as the CPC will celebrate its centenary this year. He also called for advancing toward realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. Before the closing meeting, Li presided over the meetings of the session's presidium and the presidium's executive chairpersons. The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. Li Zhanshu presided over the closing meeting and delivered a speech. [Xinhua/Li Xueren] Li Zhanshu, an executive chairman of the presidium of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), presides over the fourth meeting of the presidium at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan] Li Zhanshu, an executive chairman of the presidium of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presides over the third meeting of executive chairpersons of the presidium at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Liu Bin] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Yue Yuewei] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Chen Yehua] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Pang Xinglei] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Wang Yuguo] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Pang Xinglei] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Yue Yuewei] The closing meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2021. [Xinhua/Liu Bin] News Around the Republic of Mexico U.S. Sends Archaeological Artifacts Back to Mexico The artifacts were delivered to the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City to be catalogued, studied, safeguarded and publicized, according to Mexican officials. The pieces were seized after two separate investigations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations special agents, according to a The first group of artifacts returned included pre-Hispanic archaeological pieces, the majority of which are made from stone, officials said. The second group was comprised of 10 objects, the most notable of which are anthropomorphic ceramic figurines. The artifacts were delivered to the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City. The Mexican government touted the repatriation as a coordinated effort by Mexico and the United States. "[The repatriation] is an example of the daily and coordinated work carried out by the institutions of the Mexican government and of the shared commitment with the United States government to recover, protect and respect the cultural, historical and archaeological heritage of our peoples," Mexican Secretary of Culture Alejandra Frausto Guerrero said. The artifacts were delivered to the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City to be catalogued, studied, safeguarded and publicized, according to Mexican officials. The repatriation of the artifacts was in accordance with a treaty signed by the U.S. and Mexico 50 years ago to recover stolen archaeological and cultural antiques. "50 years ago, our countries signed a collaboration treaty to recover stolen archaeological and cultural antiquities," Laura Biedebach, the U.S. consul general in Nogales, said. "This agreement has led us to work together closely to return property that has been taken illegally out of the country to which it belongs. Today that work has paid off and we can celebrate these actions," she added. Biedebach continued, "The Government of the United States will continue to collaborate with all agencies and across borders, in keeping with its commitment to stop the theft and trafficking of cultural heritage." Original article The U.S. government returned more than 270 pre-Columbian archaeological pieces to Mexico in an effort to recover and respect the country's cultural heritage, according to a statement from the Mexican government on Tuesday.The pieces were seized after two separate investigations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations special agents, according to a statement from ICE. The Nogales mission began in October 2012, and the Phoenix case started in October 2013.The first group of artifacts returned included pre-Hispanic archaeological pieces, the majority of which are made from stone, officials said. The second group was comprised of 10 objects, the most notable of which are anthropomorphic ceramic figurines.The Mexican government touted the repatriation as a coordinated effort by Mexico and the United States."[The repatriation] is an example of the daily and coordinated work carried out by the institutions of the Mexican government and of the shared commitment with the United States government to recover, protect and respect the cultural, historical and archaeological heritage of our peoples," Mexican Secretary of Culture Alejandra Frausto Guerrero said.The artifacts were delivered to the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City to be catalogued, studied, safeguarded and publicized, according to Mexican officials.The repatriation of the artifacts was in accordance with a treaty signed by the U.S. and Mexico 50 years ago to recover stolen archaeological and cultural antiques."50 years ago, our countries signed a collaboration treaty to recover stolen archaeological and cultural antiquities," Laura Biedebach, the U.S. consul general in Nogales, said."This agreement has led us to work together closely to return property that has been taken illegally out of the country to which it belongs. Today that work has paid off and we can celebrate these actions," she added.Biedebach continued, "The Government of the United States will continue to collaborate with all agencies and across borders, in keeping with its commitment to stop the theft and trafficking of cultural heritage." Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top Nation fighting COVID-19 with all its strength: PM Narendra Modi at Mann ki Baat All you need to know about the historic first Quad summit today India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Mar 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be participating, along with Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison and Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga and President of the United States Joseph R Biden, in the first Leaders' Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework, being held virtually on 12th March 2021. The Leaders will discuss regional and global issues of shared interest, and exchange views on practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. The Summit will provide an opportunity to exchange views on contemporary challenges such as resilient supply chains, emerging and critical technologies, maritime security, and climate change. The Leaders will discuss ongoing efforts to combat Covid-19 pandemic and explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region. India perceives the summit as key to building on crucial partnerships and would look to address challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. The leaders will meet virtually at 7 pm today. Zomato agent's version on Bengaluru woman 'attack' charge | Oneindia News The vaccine initiative is being seen as the most significant deliverable from the summit. The focus would be to discuss ways on ensuring greater access to the vaccine so that there would be a quick global economic recovery. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, March 12, 2021, 10:52 [IST] .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The state House late Thursday narrowly passed a bill that would make it a crime to conduct targeted residential picketing focused on a persons home legislation supporters said would ensure families arent terrified in what should be a place of safety. The proposal won approval 33-31 after about three hours of debate. It ignited intense opposition as legislators wrestled with whether the proposal would infringe on the First Amendment rights of protesters. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The debate didnt fall along party lines. Democrats and Republicans lined up on both sides of the measure. Rep. Jason Harper, a Rio Rancho Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, said the proposal came about after protests at peoples homes throughout the country, including in Rio Rancho. He described harassment and intimidation that affected spouses and children. I dont think thats right, Harper said. I think your home is your sanctuary. Youre somewhat captive there. Rep. Daymon Ely, a Corrales Democrat and the other co-sponsor, said the bill would meet constitutional requirements by remaining neutral on the content of the protest. But opponents questioned whether the bill goes too far. It doesnt have a specific zone such as, for example, 100 feet from the property line making it clear where protesters could assemble. Some said they just didnt feel comfortable restricting protest rights. I know what its like to picket, to rally, to express peaceful protest, said Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, an Albuquerque Democrat who opposed the bill. This is something Ive been in the trenches to protect that right. Violation of the law would be a misdemeanor, with a potential sentence of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Anti-abortion protesters in New Mexico have sometimes targeted individuals at their homes, especially in the mid-2010s when Albuquerque was at the center of a debate over banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. City voters rejected the measure in 2013. Those targeted include a doctor, a hospital administrator and a political adviser to then-Gov. Susana Martinez. In 2013, for example, members of a California-based group called Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust protested outside the home of a physician, denouncing him through a megaphone. The doctor wasnt home, but friends said the protest terrified his family. More recently a family in Rio Rancho faced protests for the flag they were flying. How to remove, in a very Marianist way, what divides us. In a divided democracy, the signs of discord can be found everywhere. Unfriend me or unfollow me have been popular social media posts for distancing ourselves from those not holding the same beliefs. Illustration by Brent Beck With a click, we remove a point of possible conflict in our lives, and for a moment, we may even feel better. But were also removing a friend, family member, colleague or acquaintance and along with them, we lose an opportunity for understanding and growth. Theres a better way to respond to this disconnect. The Marianists have modeled it since 1800, and the University of Dayton has embedded it in its education since its founding in 1850. Community building or rebuilding requires dialogue and dedication, with rewards for both neighborhood and nation. Community roots It arose from the ashes of the French Revolution, when Blessed Father William Joseph Chaminade founded small faith communities called sodalities that brought diverse people together for faith development and prayer. In 1817, one of these communities became the men of the Society of Mary. It was clear to him, coming out of the revolution, that Catholics were isolated and needed to come together, said Brother Thomas Giardino, S.M. 65, assistant for special projects in the Office for Mission and Rector and a member of UDs board of trustees. He shaped a space, or a structure, that gathered diverse people in their gifts so they could build relationships by joining regularly in frequent reunions. Giardino knows that current Marianists often get kidded that the abbreviation for the Society of Mary stands for still meeting, but coming together frequently to develop greater understanding is exactly what our nation needs right now, he said. Flyers are already working toward that change. When Elise Clement, a junior mechanical engineering major from the Cleveland area, saw a just-unfriend-me-now message from a friend and fellow UD student, she made a more difficult choice. She started a conversation. A dialogue. Clement is the president of Middle Ground, a UD student organization whose mission is to encourage people to voice their concerns and to raise awareness to overlooked elements of our society and world. And they do that through dialogue. Although there is no list of steps necessary for dialogue, Clement said that Middle Ground events generally follow guidelines that ensure that participants show respect and seek understanding above all. According to Clement, this involves stepping out of your comfort zone to begin the conversation and choosing to actively listen to seek understanding. Thats the goal. Winning is not proving your point. Winning is understanding. ... this involves stepping out of your comfort zone to begin the conversation and choosing to actively listen to seek understanding. Thats the goal. Winning is not proving your point. Winning is understanding. When youre going in with an intent to have a dialogue, its really just a mindset to fully listen to someone and fully grasp what theyre trying to say, Clement said. The biggest choice is to listen and take it in. You can do that by beginning with mindfulness. Thats what we ask of people at the beginning of our conversations, or dialogues. Just be mindful and take that extra time to fully listen. Entering into dialogue about a point of difference isnt the easy decision, but growth rarely comes without some risk. Jason Combs, principal lecturer for UDs Department of Communication and director of the Dialogue Zone in Roesch Library, helps create spaces for dialogue across campus and, lately, on the video platform Zoom. Combs says that the work of dialogue is embracing the difference and appreciating those differences, which can be hard. A lot of times people dont feel confident about how to engage difference, said Combs. And he acknowledges the risks. People feel the risk like, If I tell you what I really think, then theres a chance you may reject me. You may criticize me. Fear can lead to avoidance. Combs says Flyers instead learn by leaning into the differences. Giardino found himself in a position similar to Clements before the recent presidential election when he spoke with a cousin. We ordinarily talk about family and things like that, said Giardino. As we got close to the election, it was clear to me that we were on different pages when it came to who we were going to vote for and the way we thought about that. Their initial reaction was to set aside the difference and laugh it off as their votes canceling out each other, but after a few days of reflection, Giardino reached out again. I called her up so that we could talk, so I could try to understand where she was coming from and, hopefully, she could do the same thing, said Giardino. And Id like to think that what gave me some of the motivation, courage if you will, to do that with her is having to do that in my local Marianist community. Porch lessons As a Flyer, you likely at some point defined your local community as the residence hall or neighborhood you shared with other students. One of the lessons learned is that living together isnt always easy, but it does create opportunities to discuss differences and see what works or why something isnt working. Think about the student neighborhood. At one level, the student neighborhood is a risk, said Giardino. The neighborhood is high risk, but its also high reward. Folks are learning how to live together. Theyre working, going to classes, and all of a sudden nobodys cleaning the dishes ... and they really have to figure out how to live together. Those life-learning skills radiate from each house to a wider community. Giardino points to Christmas on Campus or the UD Summer Appalachia Program. Neither of these experiences would be available to UD students if they were unable to build and maintain the trust and connection with the communities in Dayton and Salyersville, Kentucky. Thats what we constantly are trying to do, said Giardino about the efforts to build community and social trust. Its what Father Chaminade did. Public life Bringing diverse people together to work through their differences for a common purpose may start on campus, but UD graduates continue that work as they leave campus and join communities around the world. Timothy Shaffer 06 earned his masters degrees in theological studies and public administration at UD. He is now an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies and director of the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy at Kansas State University. The institute is nonpartisan and interdisciplinary, and it started in 2004 in response to political polarization and the acknowledgment that public issues are inherently complex. We talk about them as wicked problems, said Shaffer. Theyre not technical issues. Theyre not solvable in the way like, Oh, a streetlight is out. Let me call the people who fix the streetlight. The institute focuses on communication with people for democratic decision- making as a central, key element to our public life. We want to have a robust, diverse, civil society, but to make that work, we need to actually have the ability to talk to each other. We want to have a robust, diverse civil society, but to make that work, we need to actually have the ability to talk to each other, said Shaffer. Of course, political polarization isnt a new problem. Shaffer said since Hamilton was released as a movie in July 2020, his 3-year-old routinely runs through the house with one finger raised yelling, My shot! And, of course, that all revolved around a contested election in 1800. In the past six months, as we all witnessed our nations latest election drama, we saw how quickly situations can descend into chaos when people are so polarized. This is where the civility stuff can turn a lot of people off, said Shaffer. Because theyre thinking, The world is burning, and youre asking me to sit down and talk? This is a moment for action. Well, in a lot of respects thats true. There are times when protest politics, or kind of being in your face, is sometimes really necessary. But then we need to come back to a place to say, OK, so what do we do about these things that maybe now were more aware of? Part of the answer is to create a space and a process for people to meet in dialogue, as Combs does on campus. I think sometimes in the beginning of a dialogue you need these specialized spaces where people can come to the table and understand that the goal in this space is understanding, not victory over each other, said Combs. Dialogue zone Creating a space for dialogue doesnt necessarily mean a physical space. A part of creating space for dialogue is educating people about it. Illustration by Brent Beck People have to have an understanding at a more conceptual level of dialogue, said Combs. Part of that involves understanding. We can have different viewpoints, but we dont have to see each other as adversaries. We dont have to try and overcome each other. If our goal is to build understanding, then theres not necessarily a winner or a loser. When people understand this, its kind of a freeing concept, and people can carry that lens for understanding forward. For Shaffer, building understanding is critical to the democratic process, and its been guiding him since his time at UD. From my days in theology and public administration to where I am now is this question of, How do we live well with one another? said Shaffer. So, we can ask this in really big ways, and we can ask it in really practical ways. For me it shows up in civil discourse work. Because if we can honestly and candidly step into that sense of being in relationship with one another and live well, whatever that means to you, then thats a disposition that allows us to articulate and surface those things that shape who we are. Common ground As Clement found in her campus conversations, when people with opposing views come together and honestly share their differing beliefs, they often realize that they have more in common than they thought. Im lucky enough to have friends whom I love dearly, and we have very different views on certain things, said Clement. We constantly have conversations about them, and I know from experience that it really helps me evaluate why I believe something and understand and empathize with them. I may not agree with them, but were still great friends. And we still have a lot more in common than we have differences. For Clement, this is critical in how we move forward from the current political divide and bring society closer together. I think about that all the time, and its hard, said Clement. The first step is making people aware that it often starts one to one in conversation, and it takes someone willing to both talk and to understand. The first step is making people aware that it often starts one to one in conversation, and it takes someone willing to both talk and to understand. This is a learned skill that the University is committed to developing. From the founding of the Marianists, to creating a space like the student neighborhood, to developing the Dialogue Zone three years ago, to embedding dialogue in the curriculum, the campus community is consistently modeling the behavior and processes that can move our entire nation together one person at a time. Our students are constantly learning these skills, and theyre developing these open attitudes, said Combs, who noted that all UD students are experiencing the work of dialogue as a part of their Communication 100 classes. When these students enter the workforce and the community at large, I think well all be a lot better off for it because they are able to engage people who have different views and not close off from them, said Combs. Giardino calls this creating agents of unity for building community. We need to be very intentional about modeling what unity in diversity looks like today, said Giardino. It can be a witness to the outside world, but from the inside world youre really forming agents of unity. Giardino explains this by sharing how Chaminade always wanted the community to be attractive and to embody good news and for the members to experience what unity could look like no matter who is a part of the community. That way, said Giardino, wherever you go, you have some idea about how to develop unity because youve actually experienced it, including all the nonsense that can go on. The Marianists and the University of Dayton have been modeling this behavior from their beginnings, through cycles of disconnect in our nation and the world. As one alumnus said, now is a time when we can all look at what weve learned as members of the UD community and consciously take that out with us into our interactions with others. We need to do better and, especially at the local level, we can, said Shaffer. If we have the capacity to engage in sustained dialogue, then we have the possibility of consensus on some things. And thats where we can make some steps forward. We make the road by walking, and frankly, I think we need to walk. More than just talk Junior Elise Clement, president of Middle Ground, offers five tips for creating your own successful dialogue. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is alarmed over the recent spate in killings involving Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel. Commissioner Chito Gascon said the CHR is already assisting the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on their respective probes. "Medyo alarming na makita, tulad ng nangyari over the weekend, na involved naman ang mga pulis sa mga issues na kailangan nilang harapin," he told reporters Friday. [Translation: We are alarmed to see the police involved in incidents like what happened over the weekend, yet they need to face these issues.] At least nine activists were killed during the simultaneous raids that were carried out by the police and military in Southern Luzon early Sunday, March 7. RELATED: 9 dead as police crackdown vs activists in Southern Tagalog The Calabarzon Police said the activists fought the operatives during the issuance of search warrants and illegal possession of explosives. Firearms and explosives were allegedly recovered from those who received the warrants, something that human rights groups and witnesses dispute. Mayor Ronald Aquino of Calbayog City in Samar province, meanwhile, was killed in a supposed police operation on the following day, Monday, March 8. RELATED: NBI steps in to probe Calbayog mayor's slay after police linked to ambush The PNP Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana earlier said it's still validating whether or not the local chief executive died in a shootout or ambush. "We welcome the Secretary of Justice's decision that the cases over the killings last weekend will be undertaken by the NBI and we're cooperating and helping assisting the families of the victims," Gascon said. Need for stronger human rights cooperation He is also hoping to have a stronger relationship with the PNP, just like what it has with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), in terms of human rights protection. The AFP and CHR signed a new memorandum of understanding Friday afternoon that strengthens the cooperation between the two bodies on human rights. The agreement covers more human rights education for soldiers, monitoring mechanisms, data sharing on human rights incidents, among others. Atty. Gascon said the CHR has a working relationship with PNP's Human Rights Office, then headed by Usana, before he was assigned as PNP spokesperson. "Kailangan namin balikan kung sino 'yung mga kailangang kausap diyan. Pero kung anong ginagawa natin sa Armed Forces na partnership with human rights education, 'yun din ang inaasahan naming mangyari sa pulis," Gascon added. [Translation: We need to communicate (to policemen) to those who are involved there. We are expecting to have the same human rights education to our police, just like what we are doing with the Armed Forces.] Uncovering exotic molecules of potential astrochemical interest Looking at the night sky, one's thoughts might be drawn to astrochemistry. What molecules inhabit the vast spaces between the stars? Would we see the same molecules that surround us here on Earth? Or would some of them be more exotic--something rarely observed or even unknown? Recent research by a multinational team led by Prof. Robert Ko?os from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences has revealed an unusual molecule obtained and detected for the first time in laboratory conditions and also paved a smooth path to produce and further study another. Now that they can be seen and studied, they may prove worthy of wider astrochemical interest. Let's get a closer look at this scientific development. Interstellar clouds - where the story begins... The medium permeating the space between stars is mainly filled with hydrogen, helium, and cosmic dust. However, average distances between atoms or molecules in these interstellar clouds are so vast that entire days may pass before they collide. In the vacuum of space, the passage of time and the impact of radiation are crucial factors for the development of more advanced chemical compounds. As the physical conditions found in interstellar clouds are drastically different from those on our planet, the detection of some of the chemical compounds found in them requires advanced studies on Earth. As part of this, scientists create molecules which are normally unstable under Earth conditions and then conduct research on their properties. They discover them on Earth first so that we can more easily detect them in space. Sounds interesting, but how does it look in practice? Phosphorus menagerie Jupiter and Saturn have been in the spotlight in our own solar system for more than two decades due to the detection of phosphine (PH3), ammonia's analog, in their atmospheres. In 2020, all eyes shifted towards Venus following claims that PH3 had been found in its atmosphere as well. The appearance of phosphine in an astronomical object is momentous because of its tremendous importance for living organisms. Molecules containing phosphorus are crucial for enzymatic processes which are responsible for the formation of the structural materials of our skeletons, nucleic acids like DNA and RNA, and even energy transport in all living cells. Although it is the 6th most abundant element in Earth's biomass and the 12th most abundant on the planet overall, it is a billion times less abundant in the interstellar medium. Due to their rarity, detecting P-containing molecules in interstellar clouds continues to intrigue scientists. We know very little about the behavior and existence of P-containing molecules in extreme interstellar conditions. Only a few have been found and are limited to PN, CP, PO, HCP, CCP, PH3, and NCCP. Of these only PO and PN have been detected in molecular clouds. It is possible that the low abundance of reactants containing phosphorus in such media makes the formation of larger molecules quite rare and difficult to detect. We also need to characterize a wider variety of P-containing chemicals so that our search may be expanded to include a larger selection of appropriate targets. The search for new molecules is challenging since many known and promising P-containing species are unstable under typical laboratory conditions. The IPC PAS researchers: Dr. Arun-Libertsen Lawzer, Dr. Thomas Custer, and Prof. Robert Ko?os, working in collaboration with Prof. Jean-Claude Guillemin of the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Rennes (France) have recently presented an efficient, UV-light-assisted cryogenic synthesis of the HCCP molecule, opening new possibilities for the spectroscopic investigation of this unusual chemical compound. It was detected using infrared and UV-vis spectroscopy. This characterization should be useful for possible future extraterrestrial detections. "We use ultraviolet to dehydrogenate phosphorus containing organic molecules to produce exotic phosphorus species. We were able to produce triplet HCCP which is a molecule of astrochemical importance. The trick to detecting it lies in using the environment of a frozen inert gas." - remarks Dr. Lawzer. The experiments performed as part of the project, and relevant theoretical studies show that the molecule has a linear shape and peculiar chemical bonding. Prof. Ko?os comments: "You may have heard in your school days that phosphorus was either 3- or 5-valent in its chemical compounds. Well, here it is monovalent, sporting a single bond to carbon. This is pretty unusual indeed." The researchers also confirmed the existence of CH2=C=PH (phosphaallene), a molecule never observed before. It was formed along the route leading from CH3CP (the precursor species) to HCCP. Experiments backed by quantum chemical computations, recently reported in Angewandte Chemie, have proven what was once but a theoretical construct. "If you asked a regular chemist, some of the most prominent species of the astrochemical menagerie would likely be ridiculed as mere molecular fragments rather than genuine molecules" - admits Prof. Ko?os. The laboratory characterization of exotic compounds like HCCP and CH2=C=PH marks an important step towards their extraterrestrial detection. And such detections would greatly advance our knowledge concerning the astrochemistry of phosphorus. This should inspire even more scientists to look towards the stars above... ### This story has been published on: 2021-03-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. "Everything about this bill is rotten to the core. This is a bill as if written in hell by the devil himself." So says Republican Senator Mike Lee about the Democrats' H.R.1 election reform legislation that promises to make permanent the 2020 election's unprecedented use of mass mail-in balloting implemented with few voter authentication checks and done in the name of a health emergency that miraculously placed President Popsicle (because he's cold on the inside and 90% artificial) into the White House. Watching Lee fret about the Democrats' planned takeover of elections is a bit like watching a child reading "The Scorpion and the Frog" for the first time. "Bad things are going to happen," Lee said during his interview. Well, of course bad things are going to happen. Bad things have already happened. A lot of bad things. When Popsicle achieved the impossible by winning fifteen million more votes than Obama did in 2012 while simultaneously losing most bellwether counties and traditional battleground states, was Senator Lee too preoccupied with chasing phantom "white supremacists" in his party and condemning patriotic grandparents as "domestic terrorists" to look around at all the numerical anomalies surrounding the election and wonder, "Does something about this whole thing smell kinda fishy?" Republican voters could smell the fish guts of the last election from Georgia to Arizona. They had no problem understanding that mass mail-in balloting had introduced so much untraceable fraud and uncertainty into the election process that nothing about it could be trusted. Polls in November showed that half the country (including 30% of Democrats!) believed that the fix was in to give Popsicle the win. That time, not now, was the moment in history for elected Republicans in D.C. to find some resolute principle, set themselves atop it, and stand upright as if with fixed vertebrae. The war for "election integrity" can't be won by forfeiting its first and most important battle. The hour to act came and went four months ago. Instead, Uniparty Republicans mostly followed Lee's fellow Utahan, Senator Romney, in disregarding the election catastrophe before their eyes and scoffing at their own Republican voters who felt robbed naked in broad daylight after watching vote-counters on television discover enough additional Popsicle ballots well past official state deadlines to push the frozen one to victory four days after the election. Senate Republicans ignored the stench of fraud. They insisted on an orderly transition of the presidency because conserving that tradition was evidently more important than conserving ballots for forensic audits. And then they had the temerity to kick President Trump around like a mangy animal during a second farce impeachment proceeding just because he had the audacity to say out loud what most Republican voters already knew for themselves: that the election was illegitimate. Ever the propagandists intent on controlling the narrative, Democrats now insist that questioning the 2020 outcome is part of the "Big Lie" that the election was stolen, a point of view they actually insist on criminalizing should H.R.1 become law. (Once all the ICE detention facilities are emptied, it only makes sense to fill them back up with unruly Deplorables, I suppose.) It is an awfully strange "Big Lie," though, if the Democrats' first order of business in the House is to make sure the exact same unlawful rule changes that handed Popsicle victory become set in stone from here on out. That sounds more like an admission of the "Ugly Truth" that, but for the 2020 election having been radically transformed into a contest of which party could harvest the most ballots, President Trump would still be in the White House today. H.R.1 essentially codifies the 2020 contest's mid-election rule changes by instituting provisions for (1) mandatory voter registration nationwide, (2) the restoration of voting rights for convicted felons, (3) the elimination of photo identification requirements, (4) the expansion of mail-in balloting and the use of unsupervised drop boxes that eliminate traditional chain of custody security for individual votes, (5) the counting of votes received in the mail well after Election Day, and (6) legal immunity for illegal aliens caught voting (as well as a host of other changes meant to keep Democrats in power in perpetuity). As detestable a power-grab as H.R.1 is, it's preposterous that any Republican who has been vouching for the 2020 election and pretending it was conducted on the up-and-up could now turn around with a straight face and act as if the election changes contained within H.R.1 are beyond the pale. H.R.1 is like an autopsy report for how Democrats killed the last election and installed President Brain Freeze in the White House. The legislation is nothing more than Democrats' insistence on making legal what they've already accomplished. So for Senator Lee now to find H.R.1 a "wildly unconstitutional" usurpation of state sovereignty that will allow revolutionary socialists to "remain in power for many decades to come" sounds a lot like our incredulous frog, stunned and sinking to its death, exclaiming, "My goodness, I just can't believe that venomous scorpion would steal the next election after stealing the last one. How devastating." Of course scorpion socialists were going to hold onto and protect their newfound election toy of practically anonymous mail-in voting and turn it into a system for making sure Republicans never win again. It worked so well in 2020 that they managed to take a presidential candidate with historically low enthusiasm among his base and propel him to an 81-million-vote victory! If Popsicle can become the most popularly elected president in history without ever knowing where he is or what he's doing at any given time, just think what kind of socialists actually in charge of their faculties can be installed once the "2020 pandemic emergency" model becomes permanent law. 150 million votes for Kamala in 2024. 200 million votes for AOC in 2028. 400 million votes for Xi Jinping in 2032! Ah, yes, the "Chinese Century," brought to us by mail-in ballots...manufactured in China. (For the last sentence, I report directly to Camp Gulag.) It's as President Lincoln warned: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." When the Great Emancipator warned of America's collapse, he wasn't worried about external attacks from Russia and China. He was worried about a corrupt criminal justice system that targets Americans for political persecution. He was worried about a Congress dishonorable enough to conspire with intelligence agencies to take down a sitting president with frame-up jobs, smear campaigns, and public innuendo. He was worried about political operatives capable of permanently undermining Americans' faith in elections. He was worried about a Supreme Court too cowed into submission by unscrupulous actors or too compromised itself to protect the Constitution and uphold the rule of law. He was worried about people of good conscience looking the other way as great evils occur. He was worried about politicians looking out for their partners in crime while the people they represent suffer. He was worried about what would happen next after a tainted election like the one we saw in 2020. If Senator Lee didn't realize how dire the situation was until seeing H.R.1 in all its glory, then he has a lot of catching up to do. For the rest of us, the war against radical socialism has been an all-hands-on-deck affair raging for years. Better late than never, I guess. So, Senator, welcome to the party! Hat tip to Hilda. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. In view of increasing COVID-19 cases, Ludhiana's District Collector has imposed a night curfew in the district from March 12 between 11 pm to 5 am till further orders. The night curfew has also been imposed in Patiala will be effective from the night of March 12 from 11 pm to 5 am, till further orders, Patiala's District Magistrate Amit Kumar said in his order. However, the police and army personnel on duty, government officials/employees, essential services/medical emergency workers, and any other emergency related to the safety of the public/property, would be exempted from the purview of these orders. According to the Union Health Ministry's update on Thursday morning, Punjab reported 1,393 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The state recorded 17 deaths in the said period. On March 8, Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Sunday held a high-level meeting with experts to tackle the second COVID-19 wave. (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.) nito100/iStockBy NICOLE PELLETIERE, ABC News (NEW YORK) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on summer camps. There's still a lot of uncertainty and camps that have lasted for generations are now asking for help as parents. "Camp is a really special tradition in our country," said Tom Rosenberg, CEO and president of the American Camp Association (ACA). "Kids have been going to camp for over 150 years with some of the earliest camp directors actually being teachers." Camps today serve 26 million children, according to Rosenberg, and there are 15,000 camps across the United States. Last summer, the pandemic closed 82% of overnight camps and 40% of day camps. Many were also left in financial ruin, according to the ACA. Whats in store for kids at summer camp this year? @bworley takes a look. https://t.co/d8c9LqLUY6 pic.twitter.com/YQGgdTJz3O Good Morning America (@GMA) March 12, 2021 For example, the YMCA of Greater New York had to put its property, home to three summer camps, up for sale. Now, supporters of YMCA camps are trying to find a buyer to pay $5 million to keep the camps operating. Monica Bermiss, a former camper, counselor and director, said that camp is more than just a summer experience. Every kid has a story, have your kid start theirs at YMCA Summer Day Camp. Friends, experiences, and memories to last a lifetime! There is an energy and magic to summer camp that cannot be replicated! Sign up today! https://t.co/6s9yzh8V3p pic.twitter.com/ZNeCd4xvna YMCA of Greater New York (@ymcanyc) March 12, 2021 "We ensure that campers of all socioeconomic statuses have an opportunity to come together at this camp," Bermiss told GMA. "Eighty percent of the children that attend to camp receive some sort of scholarship." The YMCA camps have been providing scholarships to kids who come from lower income households. Former camper and counselor Juan Escobar said he wouldn't be where he is today without camp. "Where I was living in in the Bronx, my environment was full of violence," Escobar told GMA. Dear Y family and friends please see our update on sleepaway camp. pic.twitter.com/Vdx5vMVwV6 YMCA of Greater New York (@ymcanyc) March 9, 2021 Camper Emma Forr, 12, said her family has been going to camp for generations. "I was hoping to continue my life at camp so when I heard it was shutting down, it was very upsetting," Emma said. GMA reached out to the YMCA about the sale of the camps. It said "the decision was not made lightly." "We have had strong interest in and multiple offers for the camp property since we placed it on the market," a spokesperson for the YMCA said. "As a result we are extending the deadline to receive offers for the camp property until Friday, March 19." Bermiss said the No. 1 goal is to find donors who can invest in the future of camps. Emma said the pandemic doesn't have to last forever, but she hopes that camp does. In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published suggestions for youth and summer camps including its CDCs Youth Programs and Camps Readiness and Planning Tool to protect campers, staff and communities. Among the preparations, the CDC suggested camps appropriately train staffers and teach the importance of social distancing. If you're thinking about sending your kids to camp, be sure to research camp safety protocols and the CDC guidelines, which include hand washing, mask wearing and proper social distancing. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain India will manufacture at least one billion more COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of next year in a joint initiative announced Friday with the United States, Japan and Australia. Following the nations' first four-way summit, President Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said the so-called Quad had made a "massive joint commitment" to vaccines. "The Quad committed to delivering up to one billion doses to ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific and beyond by the end of 2022," Sullivan told reporters. The White House in a statement said that Indian company Biological E Ltd. would produce "at least" one billion doses by the end of next year, focusing on the one-dose, US-developed Johnson & Johnson jab. The manufacturing will be backed financially by Japan as well as the US International Development Finance Corporation, which provides funding for projects in developing countries. Australia will contribute another US$77 million, in addition to an earlier commitment of US$407 million, to ensure vaccines are not only delivered but administered in Southeast Asia, the White House said. Japan in turn will provide $41 million for the distribution of vaccines, which requires careful climate control. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the initiative showed unity on COVID-19. "India's formidable vaccine production capacity will be expanded with support from Japan, US and Australia to assist countries in the Indo-Pacific region," Modi wrote on Twitter. "Our discussions today on vaccines, climate change, and emerging technologies make Quad a positive force for global good and for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP TURLOCK, Calif., March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Jeffrey R. Lewis: Now that the $1.9 trillion American Relief Plan has been signed into law by President Biden, the U.S. government has authorized expenditures of $6 trillion during the last calendar year in effort to provide relief for those most affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Six trillion. It's a number that makes little sense to the human mind. But look at it this way: If that $6 trillion were divvied up equally, Uncle Sam could write a $40,000 check to every taxpayer. There are many positives associated with the package: direct relief payments, extended unemployment benefits, housing assistance, the child tax credit and, of course, aid to state and local governments. But while Congress embarked on the largest spending spree in this history of this nation, not one dime was earmarked for caregivers, those brave women and men who continue to work or leave the workforce altogether while taking care of a child, spouse, parent or parents full-time. Too often, these caregivers fall into financial instability by giving up income, by not contributing to Social Security or retirement plans. For caregivers, there are no paid sick days or vacation days or holidays, which imperils their financial, emotional, and physical health. According to AARP, more than 1 in 5 adults in the United States 53 million serve as unpaid caregivers to an ill or disabled relative. And the Family Caregiver Alliance estimates that as many as 68 percent of these caregivers are women. And here's the loose thread that could unravel the whole tapestry: unpaid caregiving is affecting women disproportionately and increasing the reality that poverty in old age has a distinctly female face. Women who leave the workforce in their 40s and 50s likely far earlier than planned are doing so at the height of their earning potential. This can affect the heft of their Social Security. It also takes women out of employee-sponsored retirement plans. And it increases their financial dependence on their spouse or partner. The U.S. Census Bureau says nearly 6 million grandparents live with grandchildren in the same dwelling and a full 40 percent of those grandparents act as caregivers. Again, females dominate this role, with nearly two thirds of these grandparent-caregivers being women. And it's not just adults. There are more than 1 million caregivers nationwide between the ages of 8 and 18, taking care of siblings or parents. This is important work. What gets lost in the shuffle, however, is that this is mostly full-time work. Stanislaus County resident Sandy Yoppini is a full-time caregiver for her 27-year-old daughter Mariah, who has Down Syndrome. Mariah also suffers from seizures and sleep apnea and needs around-the-clock care. Sandy and her husband, Steve, and their adult son Matthew work as a team to provide for Mariah, but most duties fall to Sandy, who left the workforce 20 years ago to care for her daughter. "I don't know how single parents are doing it," said Sandy. "If I wasn't home, I don't know how we'd do this. I really don't." In January 2018, Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act, which requires the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and maintain a strategy to support unpaid caregivers. The RAISE advisory council had its first meeting in August 2019, some 20 months after the passage of the act. This glacial pace is unacceptable. Some 53 million adult caregivers have put their health and financial security at risk to take care of some 53 million people who require in-home assistance, often full time. That's nearly 110 million people about the population of France and Spain combined. Six trillion dollars, and not a dime for this selfless, silent constituency. Caregivers are often sandwiched between children, grandchildren, and aging parents. They live in economic fragility. Congress could do better if it only asked families like Yoppini's how. Any elected official can talk about a problem; few have the courage to create the solution. Jeffrey Lewis is President and CEO of Legacy Health Endowment in Turlock, Calif. The opinions expressed are his own. SOURCE Jeffrey R. Lewis 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. Doha hosted the first consultative meeting of the Russian, Turkish and Qatari foreign ministers on Syria. The ministers said that they will continue to hold regular meetings. Why does each of the three players need such meetings, and how can they push for political resolution in Syria? On March 11, in Doha, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, together with his Turkish and Qatari colleagues, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, launched a new trilateral format to promote a political solution to Syrias conflict. Despite the fact that the three countries have polar positions on Syria - Russia supports Bashar al-Assad's government, Turkey and Qatar back the opposition - they still have common interests. First, they are interested in the territorial integrity of Syria. The joint statement "reiterates determination to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and to oppose the implementation of the separatist plans that undermine Syrias territorial integrity and threaten the national security of neighbouring countries," Lavrov said. For Russia, Syria's integrity is important in order to guarantee Damascus's rule over the country's uncontrolled territories. Ankara needs it in order to prevent the independence of the Kurdish separatists from the YPG. For Turkey, the fight against terrorism is, first of all, a confrontation with the US-backed YPG which controls large territories across the Euphrates River, for Russia - the destruction of Hayat Tahrir Ash-Sham (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) that settled in Idlib. But ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) is seen as an absolute evil by each of the parties. Lavrov, Cavusoglu and Al-Thani agreed on the voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons, which is important for Moscow, as well as the work of the Constitutional Committee. The latter, by the way, was launched in 2018 thanks to Russia-Turkey efforts after the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi. The topic of sanctions remains undecided. Lavrov said that restrictive measures are bad for the economy and the humanitarian situation in Syria. However, Doha and Ankara - advocating Assad's removal - insist that pressure on Damascus should continue. Cavusoglu and Al-Thani did not mention the sanctions in front f Lavrov. Motives of the parties Middle East and North Africa program coordinator at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Ruslan Mamedov believes that the trilateral format will allow Russia to influence certain groups of the Syrian opposition. "For Russia, such meetings are necessary, since Qatar is absent in the Astana format. Qatar has the opportunity to influence certain groups of the Syrian opposition, being their sponsor. In this regard, agreements with Turkey and Qatar will also allow to overcome the counteraction from part of the Syrian opposition to reconcile with the government in Damascus," he told Vestnik Kavkaza. Senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute Charles Lister told Al Monitor that for Russia this trilateral group "could feasibly offer a more realistic platform with which to bring a potential resolution to Syria to the Americans without the complicating factor of initial Iranian involvement." Turkey and Qatar want a new format to "incorporate opposition groups into the future state system and agree on the modalities of the new political system in Syria," Ruslan Mamedov said. The American expert proceeds from the fact that for Qatar, this presents another opportunity to act as "mediator and facilitator for resolving a major conflict", as well as push back against the UAE. "For the Turks, engaging in a trilateral process alongside Qatar offers an opportunity to heighten leverage against their peer rival Russia, with whom Ankara maintains a delicate relationship based on balance and deterrence," Charles Lister added. Feasibility of the format The three ministers agreed to hold regular meetings. There are already two formats on the Syrian issue - those in Geneva and Astana. The first is supported by Western countries, the second - by the Russian Federation, Turkey and Iran. Their goal is to bring the positions of the Assad government and the opposition closer. Doesn't another format overload the Syrian settlement? According to Lavrov, the "Doha format" in no way replaces the Astana format (Russia, Turkey and Iran), but complements it. The RIAC expert doubts that trilateral negotiations can advance a solution to the conflict in Syria, but admits their contribution to the settlement. "I do not think that the trilateral format will advance the resolution of the conflict in Syria, but it can make a substantive contribution. This is a chessboard around Syria. There are several boards at different levels with different players. The Qatari format is just one of the boards, but, of course, an important one. These tripartite consultations support the process launched in Astana. In particular, in terms of technical agreements on the ground. To some extent, they will help a political settlement, but will not replace the Astana and Geneva processes." According to the orientalist, Russia will try to simultaneously solve two complex tasks: the return of Syria to the Arab League and the achievement of a political settlement. The first task is partly being implemented. The UAE supported the reinstatement of Damascus in the Arab League: "I think this trilateral format between Russia, Turkey and Qatar is aimed at trying to force Qatar to be softer towards Damascus and agree on modalities for Syria's return to the Arab League in the medium term." As for the integration of the opposition into the government, a lot will depend on Assad's position. "The main question is whether Damascus will agree to any compromises, to some kind of political settlement. Of course, all the keys to resolving this issue are in Damascus. But it seems to me that it is not interested in any rapprochement with the Syrian opposition groups, simply because of upcoming elections. Only after the elections Damascus will be calm about how and with whom to communicate, how and whom to return to the "fold of the motherland" - this is what they like to say," Ruslan Mamedov emphasized. Two Camden men were arrested Thursday and charged with fatally shooting a 21-year-old Philadelphia man last month in the city, officials said. Anthony T. Shields, 20, and Jony Ramos, 21, were both charged with first-degree felony murder and weapons-related-offenses, according to a joint release from the Camden County Prosecutors Office and the Camden County Police Department. Police were called about 2 a.m. on Feb. 4 to the 1700 block of South 7th Street in Camden on a report of a shooting, the office said. Officers arrived and found a man, later identified as Alex Fernandez, suffering from a gunshot wound, police said. He was pronounced dead shortly after he was taken to a local hospital, they said. An investigation revealed that Shields and Ramos allegedly tried to rob Fernandez and shot him during the incident, the office said. They are currently being held in the Camden County Correctional Facility where they awaited detention hearings, authorities said. 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. Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Dear Editor: Unlike your latest correspondents, I am not at all ashamed by the impartial publication of opinion articles in the Heritage Florida Jewish News. I realize that the 76 percent of Jewish voters who helped elect Joe Biden are imbued by the narratives promulgated by the Democrat Party and parroted by the media designed, since Mr. Trumps election, to lead to his impeachment. They would silence anyone who lauds any of the accomplishments of this most effective president of this country in at least 20 years. Donald Trump did not commit either of the high crimes the Dem... The fight in the midfield promises to be a fierce one again this season. Last year Renault came up just short, but with a new name and new team colours, they now hope to stay ahead of the competition. The first test day in Bahrain was a good start. "Everything went well today", said Esteban Ocon in the team's press release afterwards. "It was definitely a good first day back at school! It was a solid one for the team, we completed the programme with ease and we even had time at the end of the day to do pit-stop practice with the team, which was quite nice as it meant we could get ourselves back into race situations." Read more These are the tyres F1 teams used to set fastest times in Bahrain testing Ocon drove more than 100 laps Ocon eventually set the third fastest time and by mid-afternoon was even the closest competitor to Max Verstappen. Although he drove his fastest times on a softer tyre, the Frenchman, like Verstappen, easily drove more than 100 laps. That's always a good sign during winter testing. "We put in some decent laps today and we learned everything we set out to achieve and thats exactly what you need during test days. We faced all kinds of conditions as well: heat this morning then strong gusts and a sandstorm this afternoon, so pretty much everything except rain. That was interesting but we did what we needed to, and I look forward to driving the car again later this weekend," Ocon said. Alia Bhatt has a special message for her actor-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor who is currently in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. The actress bared her heart about how she is majorly missing her ailing beau by sharing a mushy throwback picture with him. Alia Bhatt Ranbir Kapoor ; | FilmiBeat Alia took to her Instagram page to post a throwback picture of their entwined hands and wrote how she is missing Ranbir so much. The actress captioned her post as, "major missing ." The candid photo speaks volume about their love for each other. See her post. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Gangubai Kathiawadi actress had taken to her Instagram story to share that she has tested negative for COVID-19 after fans were concerned about her health post Ranbir and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali contracting the virus. Alia had even revealed in her statement that she has returned back to work after consulting her doctor. Later on the same day, Alia was spotted with her filmmaker-friend Ayan Mukerji, visiting a temple to seek blessings the Almighty's blessings on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivratri. When the paparazzi asked her if she wished for something special, the actress replied in affirmative but refused to divulge any details. On the other hand, her beau Ranbir is currently self-quarantining at home and taking all the necessary precautions. Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt have been dating for a while now. From going out for dinner dates to vacaying together, the couple has been painting the town red with their romance. When it comes to work, the duo will be seen sharing screen space in Ayan Mukerji's fantasy adventure Brahmastra which also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Mouni Roy in key roles. ALSO READ: Alia Bhatt Resumes Work After Testing Negative For COVID-19; Says 'I Am Taking Care & Staying Safe' ALSO READ: Have Ranbir Kapoor And Alia Bhatt's Wedding Preparations Begun? Read Here Half Moon Bay, CA (94019) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 58F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. Low 51F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. 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. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12) The Philippines has secured $900 million (about 43.67 billion) in fresh funding from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for its purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and measures to respond to the health crisis. In a statement emailed to the media Friday, the World Bank said its board of executive directors approved a $500 million (around 24.26 billion) loan to aid the governments vaccine purchase and rollout. Inclusive deployment of vaccines in line with the World Health Organization Fair Allocation Framework is critical for preventing grave illness and deaths from COVID-19, opening the economy in earnest, ensuring a resilient recovery, and restoring jobs and incomes, said Ndiame Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The Washington-based institution said this financing will also support the execution of public health measures until a majority of the population has been vaccinated or is deemed safe based on global evidence. The board approved the additional funding atop the current Philippines COVID-19 Emergency Response Project it approved in April last year, which aims to assist the country in fulfilling urgent healthcare needs to address the health crisis and further prepare its public health. In a separate release, the Asian Development Bank announced the Philippines is the first to receive funding support under its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility or APVAX. The regional lender said it approved a $400 million (about 19.4 billion) loan to assist the countrys efforts to procure vaccines. ADBs support will boost the Philippine governments urgent efforts to secure and deploy COVID-19 vaccines for all Filipinos, especially those who are vulnerable, such as frontline workers, the elderly, and poor and marginalized populations, as well as those at increased risk of severe illness, said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa. ADB Vice President for Southeast Asia Operations Ahmed Saeed cited the Philippine government's "strong sense of initiative and priority" as the reason why they chose the country to be the first APVAX beneficiary. He explained Philippine government officials presented a "solid" COVID-19 vaccines distribution plan and other pandemic response measures. "One of the conditions of our loan is the government should have placed a fair and comprehensive strategy for allocating vaccines and for identifying priority groups. This is something the Department of Health has done in close coordination with World Health Organization guidelines," Saeed told CNN Philippines' The Final Word on Friday. Saeed added the loan requires COVID-19 vaccines for distribution to have a high regulatory bar, notwithstanding the country where the immunizations were made. The $400 million loan from ADB will fund the Second Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 under the APVAX (HEAL 2) project, which will help the Health Department in buying and ensuring the delivery of vaccines certified by the global COVAX facility and bilateral vaccine suppliers meeting APVAXs eligibility criteria. A project document published last month on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank website said the AIIB is expected co-finance the project with a $300 million (around 14.5 billion) loan. Loans from both the AIIB and ADB will finance the purchase of up to 110 million COVID-19 vaccines that will cover as many as 50 million Filipinos. Foreign lenders are among the governments sources of funding for its pandemic response measures, along with vaccine procurement. As of January, the countrys outstanding debt shot past 10.3 trillion, a new record high. The Philippines formally commenced its nationwide vaccination drive on March 1, a day after the arrival of 600,000 doses of CoronaVac vaccines donated by Chinese firm Sinovac. Apart from being one of the last nations in Southeast Asia to roll out vaccines, the Philippines also has the highest case tally in the region next to Indonesia. To date, it has over 607,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The Philippine government hopes to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos or two-thirds of the population this 2021. New Delhi, March 12 : Delhi Government's annual estimated budget of Rs 69,000 crore for 2021-22 was passed by the Legislative Assembly on Friday. However, after the Budget was passed, Speaker Ram Nivas Goel adjourned the Budget session for an indefinite period, four days ahead of the scheduled date, due to Covid-19. The AAP-led Delhi government had presented the 'Deshbhakti' Budget on Monday. In the last two days during the discussion over the Budget, the ruling party AAP and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spared on issues such as proposed excise policy, water, farmers, MCD, however, both the parties took 'Deshbhakti' slogan as an opportunity to express their thoughts against each other in the Assembly. Reiterating the meaning of 'Deshbakti', Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia said, "For us, progress and growth, educating students, providing free electricity and water to our citizens is deshbhakti. We don't believe in making people feel small, we believe that treating everyone equally and respecting all is deshbhakti. We want to provide meaningful employment opportunities to our youth and our traders, which I believe is true deshbhakti." "As children, we used to study about developed, developing and under-developed nations. We were always told that India is a developing nation. I believe that we have the opportunity, through education, that our nation achieves the status of a developed country. We have to envision such a feat by improving our educational structures, healthcare facilities and providing our citizens with necessary welfare schemes. It is the ultimate mission of our government to take our country to progressive heights," he added. Meanwhile, he also slammed the Opposition claiming that the AAP government believes in working for the people of Delhi. He stated that the BJP has been in charge of the MCD for the last 15 years but it is astonishing to see that children who study in Grade V in the MCD schools are unable to read Grade II textbooks. Sisodia said "It is the key focus of AAP government to extend help and hope to those who are not privileged. The politics of Delhi government is politics of work. We have made schools; schools that have been constructed by all of you. We have provided free water and electricity to three-fourth of Delhi. We have subsidised healthcare. We don't just say things - we do them." Pokemon Go is giving some players the chance to peep the contents of their eggs in a move that could be aimed at preempting legal restrictions on loot boxes in Europe. Germany and Belgium have respectively passed laws limiting games that carry the gambling-like mechanisms to players aged 18 and over or banning loot boxes outright. In tweets, Pokemon Go developer Niantic said that select users can tap on an egg to view a table of possible Pokemon, and their rarity level, in their inventory though, it won't show if the Pokemon is a shiny. Eggs, which are rewarded at random to players at PokeStops or from friends and Rocket Leaders, are an integral part of the mobile game. Trainers, we're excited to share that we're starting testing where a limited number of Trainers will be able to see which Pokemon may hatch from Eggs in their Inventory! Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) March 11, 2021 There are several different types of eggs in Pokemon Go, which you can hatch using an incubator after you traverse a certain distance. While this gives you a broad clue about their contents, they still ultimately function like blind loot boxes. And that's ultimately where the issue lies for Niantic as an increasing amount of countries are clamping down on the randomized item dispensers over fears they could prompt minors to form gambling addictions. Last year, a Dutch court fined EA 10 million ($11.9 million) in a case over FIFA Ultimate Team packs, which followed a ban on loot boxes by the country's gambling authority in 2018. UK officials have also urged the government to treat the feature like gambling. Meanwhile, Epic Games recently settled a US class action lawsuit over Fortnite: Save the World loot boxes by giving players 1,000 V-Bucks each. Niantic's update comes on the heels of Pokemon's 25th anniversary. The iconic franchise's jubilee celebrations saw the announcement of new Nintendo Switch games including open-world prequel Pokemon Legends Arceus, remakes of the 2006 Nintendo DS games Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl and a closer look at New Pokemon Snap. Our week-long #IWD2021 coverage Why gender has to be at the heart of the agenda for green op-ed An op-ed by EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso set out how greater gender equality will help the world tilt to green: At the EBRD, we recognise that gender equality has to be an integral part of green investment and policy action. Learn more How women-led businesses across EBRDs regions are thriving against the odds Meet the inspiring women who have shown resilience, flexibility and strength in the face of unprecedented adversity, namely the Covid-19 pandemic. To date, the Bank has supported more than 90,000 women across 24 economies with financing and business advisory projects, training and mentoring as part of its Women in Business programme. Learn more and read more Breaking the glass ceiling at EBRD The EBRDs women leaders including President Odile Renaud-Basso, the first female leader of a multilateral development institution, as well as Chief Economist Beata Javorcik, Chief Financial Officer Soha El-Turky and Chief Risk Officer Annemarie Straathof reflected on their career paths in an IWD article. Today, women make up the majority of the EBRDs workforce, at 56 per cent. Learn more and read more Webinar: Women Leading on Green EBRD Green Cities and Gender and Inclusion teams co-hosted a panel, Women Leading on Green, on the links between green planning and gender inclusion, with an opening speech by EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso EBRD and Green Climate Fund extend cooperation by US$ 500 million The EBRD has scaled up green intermediated financing by approving additional headroom for the next phase of its successful large-scale partnership with the Green Climate Fund. An extension of the successful cooperation supports thousands of individual investments in technologies that reduce emissions and enhance resilience to climate change. Learn more and read more NIB joins EBRD and Baltic central banks to develop commercial paper market The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) has joined the EBRD and the central banks of Estonia (Eesti Pank), Latvia (Latvijas Banka) and Lithuania (Lietuvos Bankas) in a joint effort to develop a regional market for commercial papers used to address short-term liquidity or working capital needs. Learn more EBRDEconTalks: How to measure the impact of MDB lending #EBRDEconTalks discussed how to ensure that multilateral lending helps the world emerge from the current crisis, and make lending as effective as possible. Speakers included Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University, Pavan Sukhdev, an environmental economist, banker and President of WWF International and Beata Javorcik, EBRD Chief Economist. Learn more and download and subscribe to the podcast Approving a new strategy for Hungary The Board of Directors of the EBRD has adopted a new country strategy for Hungary that sets out the framework for the Banks work in the country for the period 2021-26. Learn more EBRD Literature Prize 2021: selected longlist announced The EBRD Literature Prize 2021, launched by the Bank to promote translated literary fiction from its regions of operations, announces its selected longlist. Created in 2017, the EBRD Literature Prize is a project of the Banks Community Initiative, aiming to engage staff and the institution in philanthropic, social and cultural activities in the regions where the Bank works. Learn more Project signings Investing in PPCs sustainability-linked bond issue in Greece In Greece, the EBRD is supporting the ambitious sustainability and decarbonisation targets of Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC), the largest power producer and electricity supplier, by investing 50 million in the companys sustainability-linked bond issue. Learn more Bolstering gender-equal workforce and greener stores in Turkey In Turkey, one of the leading food retailers, Migros, will expand its operations using a 60 million loan from the Bank. The company is aiming to increase efforts to employ a gender-balanced workforce and further enhance the energy efficiency of its store network with the new EBRD financing. Learn more and read more Additional 20 million in EU grants for Corridor Vc in BiH The construction of Corridor Vc, the key infrastructure project that the EBRD supports in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is progressing with 20.7 million new financing from the EU to support the completion of the construction works on two sections: Buna-Pocitelj and tunnel Zenica-Donja Gracanica. Learn more Lending 10 million to Intesa Sanpaolo Banka d.d. BiH In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EBRD has extended a 10 million mortgage credit line to Intesa Sanpaolo Banka d.d. Bosnia and Herzegovina for on-lending to private borrowers for housing purposes. Learn more and read more Increasing availability of essential medicines in the Kyrgyz Republic In Kyrgyz Republic , the EBRD, the EU, Switzerland and DemirBank are helping to increase the availability of affordable and high-quality medicines by boosting the efficiency of Darmek Pharm, a leading pharmaceutical chain operating 42 outlets in the south of the country. Learn more Donors Build Back Better in Turkey in the spirit of Circular Economy, supporting private education in the Kyrgyz Republic, women who #ChoosetoChallenge and many more in the EBRD donors monthly newsletter! Learn more EBRD in the news An article on renewables in Central Asia in PV Magazine featuring EBRD Director, Head of Energy Eurasia, SIG Aida Sitdikova and Associate Director for sustainable resource investments Cristian Carraretto. Ms. Sitdikova explained how the EBRD play an important role in Uzbek renewables. Besides a robust and clear regulatory framework, Uzbekistan has the political will to harness the huge potential of renewable energy in the country, she said. Learn more Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev held a video meeting to receive new President of the EBRD Odile Renaud-Basso and other members of the Bank's senior management. Learn more Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli met IFC and EBRD officials on Tuesday to discuss potential cooperation in the sweater desalination field. Managing Director, SEMED Heike Harmgart represented the EBRD at the meeting. Learn more Social media Barbara Rambousek talked about global progress made on gender equality in a short video Learn more We highlighted EBRDs inspiring women leaders for IWD 2021 Learn more We showed how women-led Business are thriving against the odds (with EBRD support) Learn more We promoted Barbara Rambouseks new IMF paper "Gender Equality and Inclusive Growth" in polls Learn more Charlotte Ruhe spoke about her experience of breaking the ceiling Learn more Maria Mogilnaya has been named by Trade Finance Global (TFG) as one of 47 selected Women in Trade 2021 Learn more We highlighted our colleagues who stand behind the Migros deal Learn more Subscribe to instant email updates on EBRD news about topics such as coronavirus and climate finance. Sign up CHARLOTTETOWN - Prince Edward Island's Tory government is projecting a $112-million deficit in a budget it is billing as a step on the "road to recovery" from the COVID-19 pandemic. Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King speaks after announcing a cabinet shuffle in Charlottetown, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. Added spending as Prince Edward Island recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to add another $112 million in red ink to the province's public finances. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Morris CHARLOTTETOWN - Prince Edward Island's Tory government is projecting a $112-million deficit in a budget it is billing as a step on the "road to recovery" from the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Darlene Compton provided the estimate today as she delivered a 2021-22 provincial budget with projections of $2.5 billion in spending, and $2.39 billion in revenues. Compton told the legislature the budget shortfall comes on top of the deficit for the current year, which is now expected to be $120 million by the end of March about $50 million lower than originally projected. A three-year plan presented with the budget has the deficit falling to $27.9 million by 2023-24. Compton referred to the pandemic as "the greatest social and economic disruption since the Second World War," saying funds were needed to help younger Islanders, the health system and the hard-hit tourism sector. "Our economy has done well, and that has helped us in ensuring that the COVID-19 pandemic will go down in history as an economic shock, and not a dire economic blow," she told the legislature. The Island has had its fifth straight year of population growth, reaching 160,000 people, a target originally anticipated for next year. Farm cash receipts increased seven per cent to $605 million, exports grew by one per cent amidst the pandemic and 1,359 new houses were completed in a small construction boom. However, Compton added that a "successful recovery will require the careful intervention of government and the generous support of Islanders. It will mean paying closer attention to the social and mental health impacts of COVID-19." New spending includes more than $14 million for health-care measures that include improvements to primary care, a centre for mental health, virtual care technologies and recruitment of nurses. There is also $11.3 million for young Islanders in support for pre-kindergarten programs, added school staff, added child care spaces and support to colleges and universities. Premier Dennis King's government will also introduce a $3-million fund to assist tourism businesses with costs associated with reopening this season. Compton noted the province is anxiously awaiting word on whether the Atlantic bubble, which allowed travel within the region without quarantine, would resume, and whether travel will be allowed to the region by other Canadians without quarantine. If visitors do make it to the province, they may notice more road projects underway. Delayed infrastructure projects are going to proceed, with $201.5 million planned for transportation and government building budgets, an increase of $30 million from the 2020-2021 budget. Compton also confirmed the small business tax rate will be reduced to one per cent to fulfil the party's 2019 election promise to give the Island the lowest rate in the Atlantic provinces. Meanwhile, debt is climbing. The budget is estimating net debt is projected to increase by $210 million over last year to a projected $2.63 billion. In a special report last February, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux named P.E.I. as one of four provinces that could face huge increases in long-term debt load unless they made significant changes to their fiscal policies. At the time, Giroux noted the Island faces one of the country's largest expected increases in health spending as its population ages. Michele Beaton, the Green party's opposition house leader, said her party was glad the Tories were relaxing their usual approach of fiscal restraint, but the Greens are seeking a wider economic recovery plan. "If ever there was a time to spend, this was it," Beaton told the house. "Many of the programs rolled out were helpful to Islanders, and kudos to the government for doing that." However, Beaton added there are "blind spots" in the pandemic response, particularly in terms of spending to help low-income, essential workers and lower-paid health workers. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021. By Michael Tutton in Halifax. Help India! Government machinery targeting critics, supporters of farmer movement, the prominent rights group said. TCN News Support TwoCircles The actions the Indian government has taken in response to growing international criticism of its methods of dealing with the peasant movement violate the right to freedom of expression and privacy, Access Now, article 19, association For Progressive Communications, Committee to Protect Journalists, Dangerous Speech Project, Derechos Digital, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch, Nimounik, Reporters Without Borders and Witness released a joint statement Friday. On February 14, 2021, Indian authorities arrested Disha Ravi , a 21-year-old Bangalore-based activist who volunteered for the movement Fridays for Future, launched by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, on various charges including treason and criminal conspiracy, and lawyer Nikita An arrest warrant was issued against Jacob and activist Shantanu Muluk . However, both of them got bail before arrest. Government alleged that shared by Thanberg on social media including Twitter an online toolkit , which Kisan movements was prepared for the purpose of providing information to peaceful supporters of the Sun in the main case to edit and share Conspirators . While granting bail to Ravi, a Delhi court said the evidence presented is insufficient and vague, and citizens cannot be put in jail simply because they disagree with the governments policies. He also said, Treason cannot be tried for the healing of the injured gurur of governments. These steps of the government were the latest actions to suppress criticism and control the information related to the movement and democratic opposition. At the same time, the government has been hardened to put pressure on social media companies to shut down the Internet at protest sites, prevent journalists from accessing movement sites, make unwarranted criminal accusations on journalists writing news on the movement, and to stop critical content. There are many actions like using the law. The Delhi Police said that in February, it had written a letter to Google and other technology companies to make toolkits and provide records related to the activity of those who shared them. Police said that it is also seeking information from the video conferencing application Zoom about the people who attended the meeting to prepare the toolkit. And he has also sought information from WhatsApp about a group formed in support of the peasant movements. The groups said that disclosing the protected information of a user exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly would not be commensurate with the responsibilities of companies under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. On 25 February, the Government of India announced new rules under the Information Technology Act, targeting Internet intermediaries including social media services, digital news services and curated video streaming sites . The government says that the purpose of the rules is to stop the misuse of social media, including the spread of fake news. These rules allow for greater government control over online content, present a threat to weaken encryption and will severely undermine the rights of online privacy and freedom of expression. The groups said that the government should suspend the new rules. The groups said, the Indian government should withdraw allegations of alleged involvement in a shared document on social media against Ravi and other accused, stop targeting activists involved in peaceful expression on online mediums, and social media censors and internet Attempts to restrict access to access should be stopped. Lakhs of farmers have been agitating along the Delhi border since November 2020 after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led government implemented three agricultural laws . The government says that these laws will improve the agriculture sector, while the farmers say that their livelihood will be endangered by these laws. On 26 January, violent clashes broke out between the farmers and the police who entered Delhi by breaking the police barricades. The government accused it of an international conspiracy to discredit India , registered cases against the organizers and activists of the movement, and ordered Twitter to close around 1,200 accounts, including the accounts of journalists and news organizations. Human Rights Watch wrote to Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Zoom about the governments recent orders regarding content removal and restrictions and the information sought by the government in the direction of Disha Ravi. Facebook, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, responded that it could not comment on personal matters due to confidentiality, with publicly available reports suggesting that Ravis information on his WhatsApp chat after his arrest Was obtained, indicating that the police had access to his mobile device after being detained. There is no response to the letter from Google and Zoom. Since 31 January, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has given separate orders to Twitter to close more than 1,000 accounts under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.Huh. The government claims that these Twitter accounts were spreading misinformation about farmer movements. Twitter initially complied with the order, but then said that it would not act on the accounts of news media institutions, journalists, activists and politicians. He said, We believe that doing so would violate their fundamental right to free expression under Indian law. Out of the accounts that the Government of India ordered to be closed, Twitter closed only a few. The government criticized this decision of Twitter and said that it is disappointed with the companys action . The government also sent a notice to Twitter for not complying with the orders, which, according to Indian law, warned its Indian-based employees to be fined and imprisoned. Google-owned YouTube removed two songs associated with the peasant movements . It did not respond to Human Rights Watchs question whether it was done due to confidential government orders. It is the responsibility of many companies, including social media platforms, to respect human rights by becoming independent of the governments readiness to fulfill its human rights obligations. According to international standards, companies must engage in strategies for prevention and mitigation in situations of conflict with local law that respect the principles of internationally recognized human rights as much as possible. They should interpret and execute legal demands very closely to ensure that there are minimal restrictions on expression, informing users, seeking clarification or amendments from the government, and challenging All legal options can be explored for. After the violence on 26 January, the government machinery shut down mobile internet services for several days at various demonstration sites and in several districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh states, as well as parts of the national capital Delhi . In the year 2019, India was the first in the world to do so by banning the Internet 121 times. It placed at least 109 such orders in 2020 during the Kovid-19 epidemic . It imposed a record ban on the internet in Jammu and Kashmir for 18 months , which was finally lifted in February. The groups said that shutting down the Internet and trying to control online expression has become the Indian governments default method of action on demonstrations. This violates Indias obligations under international human rights law, according to which any kind of Internet-based ban should be necessary and appropriate action against specific security concerns. Authorities should not use extensive, indiscriminate sanctions to stop information flow or to blunt peoples ability to gather freely and express political views. The Government of India should also comply with the Supreme Courts decision to publish all Internet ban orders. The government should publish the details of the meetings of the review committee and review the telecom service suspension rules of 2017 through open public consultation. The Government of India should also amend Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and related rules to strengthen the prescribed procedures before banning online content. Information Technology (Amendment) Act of 2008Under Section 69A of the Internet Intermediaries, there is a provision of a fine and a jail term of up to seven years for failing to comply. The Indian government has not yet published orders issued under section 69A of this law, claiming confidentiality, rarely informs the user of the banned content, nor seeks an independent review of its decisions. . It is imperative that a copy of each restriction order be published detailing the reasons for the ban in the revised rules and that users should be informed before the ban and allow them to appeal against the government order. Turkish authorities are hoping to turn their Anadolu landing helicopter dock into a carrier ship for combat drones and have already begun testing to make sure the dock is strong enough for the mission, Defense News reported. When the United States excluded Turkey from the F-35 project after it acquired the Russia-made S-400 systems, the Turkish Navy lost the ability to launch fixed-wing aircraft from Anadolu. Ismail Demir, head of the defense industry, said the companies are working on the Bayraktar TB2 and other unmanned aircraft projects to turn Anadolu into an aircraft carrier. With this setup, at least 10 armed drones can be used simultaneously in operations and integrated into the ship's command and control center. After the completion of the project, 30-50 Bayraktar TB3 drones will be able to land and take off from the Anadolu deck. Partner with us for Press release distribution and get best in class service, guaranteed postings on tier 1 media and maximum reach A huge undersea earthquake off Japan's eastern coast ten years ago sending a wall of water smashing into the ground. The biggest earthquake in Japan's modern history struck on a Friday afternoon in spring 2011, triggering a tsunami that smashed through seawalls, destroyed coastal towns and wreaked havoc on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. As radiation belched from the world's deadliest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, more than 19,000 people died, and tens of thousands more fled. Wide swaths of land remain polluted and devoid of any of their former inhabitants a decade later. The devastating natural disasters of March 11, 2011, and the resulting disastrous nuclear meltdown, have left an indelible impression on earthquake research, tsunami safety, and nuclear power politics. Related Article: Japan Earthquake 2021 Great East Japan Earthquake The Great East Japan Earthquake, which struck at 2.46 p.m. on Friday, March 11, 2011, with a magnitude of 9.0, caused significant damage in the city, and the massive tsunami it triggered caused even more. The earthquake struck 130 kilometers off Sendai's coast, Miyagi Prefecture, on Honshu Island (the main part of Japan) and was an unusual and complex double quake with a severe duration of around three minutes. A 650 km north-south stretch of seafloor traveled 10-20 meters horizontally on average. Japan relocated a few meters east, creating a half-meter decline in the local coastline. The tsunami flooded over 560 km2, killing about 19,500 people and causing extensive damage to coastal ports and cities, with over a million buildings damaged or partially collapsed. Nuclear Meltdown At the moment, eleven reactors at four nuclear power plants in the area were operational, and all of them immediately shut down when the earthquake struck. Following an investigation, it was found that none of the structures had sustained any major damage due to the earthquake. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) Fukushima Daiichi 1, 2, 3, and Fukushima Daini 1, 2, 3, 4, Tohoku's Onagawa 1, 2, 3, and Japco's Tokai, totaling 9377 MWe net, were the operating units that shut down. Units 4, 5, and 6 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were not operational at the time, but they were nevertheless impacted. Initially, the main concern was based on Fukushima Daiichi 1-3. Unit 4 became a problem on day five. Following the massive earthquake, a 15-meter wave cut off electricity and cooling to three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, resulting in a nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011. In the first three days, all three cores melted to a great extent. Due to high radioactive releases over days 4 to 6, the accident was ranked category 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Incident Scale, resulting in a limit of 940 PBq (I-131 eq). 10 Years Later Despite the fact that the subsequent damage resulted in the release of nuclides into the atmosphere, scientists have found no evidence that this resulted in radiation-induced health effects. The tragedy jolted the international community into motion. A team of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) experts flew to Japan a few days after the tsunami to assist engineers in assessing the impact. The Agency has continued to assist Japan for the past decade. Today, we're assisting with the current water challenge. After ten years, the IAEA had established and approved a detailed action plan to improve the global nuclear safety framework. Operators' engineers analyzed their nuclear plants all over the world and made modifications where possible. Almost every Member State of nuclear power plants has conducted "stress checks," and all use the IAEA's specialist peer-review missions. ALSO READ: Supercomputer's 700,000 Year-Earthquake Simulation Could Predict When it'll Hit For the latest news about natural calamities, don't forget to follow Nature World News! [MUSIC PLAYING] ezra klein Im Ezra Klein, and this is The Ezra Klein Show. On January 28, I published a column that began like this. I hope in the end, that this article reads as alarmism. I hope that a year from now its a peace people point to as an overreaction. It was not an optimistic column. The point was that the new coronavirus strains that were circulating in the U.S. they were filling the next six weeks with peril. On the one hand, cases were falling and governors were lifting lockdown orders. They were reopening restaurants and gyms. Vaccinations were beginning, which of course, was creating a lot of optimism correctly, but it was going pretty slowly at that point. And meanwhile, the super contagious B.1.1.7 strain, which had sent cases and deaths exploding in England and in Portugal, we knew it was circulating here, too. And so was the South African strain, which seems to have some vaccine resistance. And so I was pretty scared. I was worried that between here and mass vaccination, it would be months of hell with a combination of new strains and political exhaustion, allowing cases to go into the stratosphere and leading to maybe even hundreds of thousands of people dying. And this wasnt just my weird fantasy or nightmare. This was something that experts were telling me. But that is not what happened. That piece now does read, thank God, like alarmism. Instead, cases fell and they kept falling. They fell here in California, where I live. So now our daily case rate is down to what it was in late October. The same thing happened nationally. Cases have fallen from about a daily peak of 300,000 down to a little bit over 50,000 a day. And while this country by country variation, the same thing is happening globally, including in countries we know are afflicted by particularly dangerous strains, including countries that dont have big vaccination programs, including countries with very different weather and policy equilibriums. Meanwhile in the U.S., vaccinations have really picked up. Were getting more than two million shots in arms each day. Half of Americans 75 and older are now vaccinated. In San Francisco, one out of four adults has received at least one shot. I mean, one out of four of the people I see on the street on the rare occasion Im ever on the street have received a shot. I mean, wow. And the supply of available vaccine is about to open wide in America as Johnson & Johnson ramps up and Pfizer/Moderna expand production and the American Rescue Plan is passing with its tens of billions of for vaccine distribution. Like there is real reason to be hopeful right now. And I say this as someone who was really pessimistic, you know, at the end of January. Particularly in the United States, there is a path right now. Theres a path out of this, a reason to believe this crisis, or at least this form of it, will largely be over and soon. Hope is a scary emotion to feel right now. A lot of us dont want to let ourselves believe its going to get much better, only to be back in lockdown in two months. And to be sure, I cant tell you the future. But I think its easy right now, particularly in the media, where we dont want to repeat the mistake of being insufficiently alarmed, to endlessly focus on what could still go wrong, to just tell you all the caveats and the maybes and the way it could go off the rails. But I think hope is an important emotion, important also as a policy emotion, so people know that if they hold on a little bit longer, there is an end in sight. So I want to spend this episode talking about what is going right, talking about our way out of this. And Im joined today by the perfect guest on this subject. Dr. Ashish Jha is a physician. Hes a researcher. Hes a dean of Brown University School of Public Health. Before that, he was a Professor of Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvards Global Health Institute. And if you follow him on Twitter over the past year, @ashishkjha, as I have, you know hes been one of the clearest and most active and most thoughtful guides through this crisis. And he, like me, is feeling optimistic and is feeling that some of that message, some of how well things are going at least in the U.S. right now isnt breaking through. And so I asked him here today to guide us through these next months, to help us see what hes seeing. I can tell you having done it, this is one Covid conversation, finally, it is not going to leave you feeling despair. As always, my email is ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. Always interested to know who youd like to see on the show next. So send me your guest suggestions. Here we go. A month or two ago, I wrote this really dire column, warning that with the new variant circulating, things could get a lot worse before they got better. But instead cases, theyve plummeted. In America, theyve plummeted, almost everywhere around the world. What happened? dr. ashish jha We dont know for sure, is the bottom line. We have theories. I have my theories, which Im happy to get into. But anybody who tells you they know exactly what happened, I think, is making it up. So the three main theories are one, we have a lot of population immunity. We have a lot of people who have gotten infected. And thats really now starting to make a difference in terms of keeping infection numbers from getting too high. Second, is there really is a seasonality to this virus. And its a little weird to talk about seasonality when you see cases plummeting in late January, February, because I remember one day, I was talking about seasonality with somebody, and I looked out my window. And it was literally was 15 degrees and snowing. And I was claiming that there was a seasonal benefit of this time we were in. You see that with other coronaviruses, where they start really coming down in terms of how many infections they cause, sort of around mid-January. And so maybe, this is acting like other coronaviruses. Thats the second theory. And third is I really do think that after the holidays, with the horrible crush of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, there really was a pulling back of activity. People were being more careful. I dont think any of those three theories fully explains it. But maybe the combination of all three is how we got there. ezra klein But is one takeaway here that the variants are not as horrifying as some of the earlier reporting led us to believe? I mean, you have the B.1.1.7 variant, which is more contagious. You have the South African variant, which has at least some creates some challenges for the vaccines. You have a Brazilian variant, this one in California. And the reporting on this, including some of mine, was these might completely break our firewalls. But now it doesnt seem they have. Even in places where we know the variants are quite dominant, things are back under control. dr. ashish jha The story on variants is interesting. The one that Ive been most worried about is B.1.1.7, because it is depending on which analysis you look at between 30 percent and 60 percent more contagious. And if you run the numbers, you totally understand why in places like the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal, almost everywhere where B.1.1.7 became dominant, you saw a two, three, four-fold increase in cases. And so I think all of us were looking at the U.S. and saying, if we see a four-fold increase, even if were at 70, 80,000 cases a day, four-fold is awful. Itll be much worse than any moment of the pandemic. This is why I think people like Mike Osterholm Michael Osterholm, one of the most respected epidemiologists in Minnesota, somebody who I turn to for guidance and somebody Ive known for a long time, really respect deeply even as of this past week, he was saying the worst is still ahead of us. I dont think thats true. I think the reason why B.1.1.7 hasnt crushed us yet it may still cause a spike. Were not were not anywhere near done with that virus but may not be so bad is because again, seasonality. Its hitting us in March. In those other countries, it tended to hit in December, November, December, January. And the second is at this point, probably about close to 30 percent of Americans have been infected from this virus, somewhere between 25 percent and 30 percent. And now we have another 10 percent to 20 percent of people vaccinated. Even if you assume some overlap between those two groups, thats a lot of population immunity that B.1.1.7 is running up against. And I think thats a major part of the reason were not seeing a huge spike in cases. ezra klein So I want to talk a little bit about vaccination. But I want to start with some of the subgroups that are getting vaccinated. So I saw the number just yesterday that now, 50 percent Americans over age 75 have at least one dose of the vaccine. Numbers are similar, although a little bit lower, for Americans over age 65. And so if we get to a place in a couple of months where the real majority of seniors are vaccinated, given how concentrated hospitalizations and deaths are among seniors, even if one of these strains did become more contagious, wouldnt that lead to a very different outcome, one that has, sure a lot of coronavirus, but a lot less death and a lot less hospital overwhelm? dr. ashish jha Absolutely. So I think certainly by the end of April, we will have vaccinated almost everybody whos high risk, over 65 or with major chronic diseases. Everybody who wants a vaccine will have gotten at least one dose. And that is huge. And that means that the massive crush of hospitalizations we saw in California over December, and other places as well Arizona, et cetera that wont happen. What is going to be weird, though, is if we do see a really bad spike, is were going to start seeing a large number of young people hospitalized. Because even though young people tend to be hospitalized at much, much lower rates, if the infection numbers get bad enough, you know, you will see a proportionate chunk of them getting hospitalized. And that will be strange because what we will be seeing is young people getting sick and dying in much bigger numbers than we have seen. Thats the fear. Thats the thing that still sits out there that we have to be careful of is these variants are not done and we are not done vaccinating enough people to really stop them. ezra klein I want to hold two parts of your answer there emotionally at the same time. Because I want to tell you something that happened to me in the first part of your answer. When you said that you think by the end of April, we will have vaccinated every high risk person in the country who wants a vaccine, at least like, I actually shivered. I got emotional. Thats an extraordinary thing to say. But then I feel and Im not in any way criticizing it you did what I sort of always hear in this conversation, which is a move to what could still go wrong. And I do wonder without taking anything away from what you said there, which is true if weve almost like lost the ability to focus in on good news. I mean, if you had told me a couple of months ago that we would have a vaccination campaign that effective by the end of April, I would have sobbed. dr. ashish jha Yup. Oh, its amazing. The tightrope that I have been trying to walk I mean, and really just being driven by honesty of how I think about these things is on one hand, its unbelievable, right, like by the end of April and people are like, How sure are you? Im like, Oh yeah, I guess it could spill into like the first week of May. So somewhere around there. ezra klein Dammit, Ashish. dr. ashish jha Right. You promised April 30 and its May 4. Right. No, but the point is somewhere latter half of April, early May, were going to open this thing up to like 35-year-olds who are low risk and say if you want to get vaccinated, you probably can. I mean, thats kind of where were going to be heading into May. So its unbelievable. Were going to see hospitalizations plummet. Were going to see deaths from this disease plummet. It is absolutely wonderful. The problem is that there are plenty of folks Governor Abbott, for instance, in Texas who hears a version of this not necessarily hes listening to me but he sees this on the horizon and says time to open bars and restaurants fully. It really is a problem. And it will cause real suffering. So the question is how do you express both incredible optimism, enthusiasm, happiness, while at the same time saying, youve got to be careful? Its a tough, tough act. ezra klein Ive been struggling with this question because Ive been thinking about whats happening in Texas, which I think is reckless. But Im in California. And I think Californias has gotten way, way better on what its doing. Like, I really like, its accelerated its vaccination program. I think a lot of the ways it is apportioning vaccines make a ton of sense right now. I have a lot of good things to say about the way Californias response has evolved in the past couple of months. But there is still not an answer in California of when things go back to normal. Like you cannot look at a website, you cannot listen to a public health official and have them tell you that when this percentage of the population is vaccinated, were going to open everything back up. And Ive been thinking about whether theres a real mistake being made among some public health officials, I think among some liberal office holders, who are so afraid, for very reasonable reasons, of going to open too quickly, that theyre not giving people a way out of this they can hold on to. I mean, its one thing for me to hear from you, Listen, man, youve got to hold on till May. Like, by May, like, we should be in a totally different place. And then another thing to hear, as often we do, this is getting better. We dont know how fast. There are scary strains out here. We dont know what you can do once youre vaccinated. And if you just keep hearing endlessly from people that there may be no light at the end of the tunnel, it makes some of the more reckless voices a little bit more attractive. And so I worry that there isnt enough of a clear set of benchmarks and narrative of success, among the office holders taking this very seriously. dr. ashish jha The problem with public health officials, and I think a lot of political leaders, is they dont know what the benchmark is. And so they dont know how to talk about it. And my take is, like every month, were going to feel like life gets better and better and better. There will be things that will feel more comfortable and reasonable to open in April that we shouldnt do now. And in May, well be able to do certain things. And so let me just talk about it. Outdoor activities. I see California opening up outdoor dining in April. And I think thats great. Indoor dining is going to be later, right? And I mean, you can have that very at low levels. But I wouldnt really open up indoor dining much more substantially until were more into May or June. And it sort of should be a rolling opening. More people are getting vaccinated. Things are getting better. And riskier and riskier things are becoming safer and safer to do. And then if you ask the question, like what are things like I think about like super jam-packed lecture halls in universities. Like weve been talking a lot at Brown University about like, do we need to have the 300, 400-person lectures anymore? Maybe those just go away. Maybe those we always now do online and do everything else from those classes, everything is small group, in-person, right, because maybe the 500-person lecture is just not necessary. And Im not sure it was ever all that great. But my point is there are some of those changes that are going to come about in terms of the pandemic that were going to live with. And that might not be the worst thing in the world. ezra klein But theres a difference between changes and restrictions. So you bring up the 500-person lecture hall. What I miss doing, like almost more than anything else, is going to shows. I live in San Francisco. I like going to public works and seeing things that a lot of people wouldnt even classify as music, probably, but I enjoy it. And there are a lot of people in the room and everybodys dancing and its a great ecstatic experience. Thats more dangerous than a lecture hall pandemic-wise. But once people are vaccinated, cant I do it again? dr. ashish jha Absolutely. And so there are two parts to that question in my mind. ezra klein Thank you. dr. ashish jha Yeah, absolutely. And the question is when. And I would say it depends a little bit, but somewhere probably over the summer, maybe early fall, but maybe summer. And let me just say, if somebody called me from one of those places and said, How do we make this safe? I would say, You have two choices. You can either require that everybody be vaccinated. That would make it pretty safe. Or if youre going to let vaccinated and unvaccinated people mingle, then you may want to think about some additional safety measures. Like maybe you get everybody to do a rapid test that takes 10 minutes to come back. Its $5 and you just throw it in as a part of I was thinking about this for musical concerts its part of the thing. You show up 10 minutes early you get a test. As long as everybodys negative, everybody gets to go in. So there are modifications like that that will make it easier, and not just easier, safer to do. I can imagine with some of these modifications, that stuff becomes very safe by sometime this summer or early fall. ezra klein So it doesnt sound, when I talk you here, to be honest, that youre saying we are not going to go back to something people understand as normal. It sounds like youre saying this will change society in certain ways. Companies might retain remote work, because its efficient. There are things we were doing before that we didnt need to do. Different things are going to come back at a different pace. But it doesnt sound to me like youre saying there is something about the coronaviruss continued existence that is going to make the things we used to do perpetually unsafe. dr. ashish jha Absolutely. If your normal is 2019, we may never get there. If your point is how do we get to a point where we have a rich, high quality life where the coronavirus doesnt dominate it, but its something thats an annoyance and sometimes we have to deal with, thats coming sooner than most people think. Its coming at some point over the summer into early fall. Let me give you just one other caveat on this, Ezra, because again, as a public health guy, I feel like I ought to at least put all the negative news out there. Look, this is a seasonal virus, we think. I could see a small bump in cases in November, December, January. I can imagine for the first couple of years that for a couple of months every year, you have to pull back a little bit. Maybe you have to people have to wear masks a bit more. Maybe we have to ramp up some of our testing stuff. I can imagine for short periods of time in certain communities having to make adjustments, certainly in the first year or two. But thats not going to be most of the time. Thats going to be small periods of time in some communities over others. ezra klein One thing youre getting at here that Ive wanted to talk to you about, and I want to just talk about more, is a question of what is acceptable level of risk. And thats a conversation I think were not having well, because as youre hinting at here, the other side of this is not zero risk, which is I think something people often want to be told or implicitly believe. The other side of this is the risk we experience from coronavirus is more on the order of magnitude of risks we have from things like the flu, from driving, from climbing a ladder. There are all kinds of things we do in life that have risks attached to them eating bacon but we do them anyway. And one thing that worries me about the other side of this is I actually think something lurking in the conversation is people are quietly saying they have very different levels of acceptable risk. Texas is saying it has an incredibly high level of acceptable risk, or at least its governors are saying that. On the other hand, some other states are saying, you know, its quite low and were not even sure what it is. And I dont even know how were going to have that conversation exactly, because different people are going to have different levels. And yet, they might be in a community that disagrees with them. But I think at some point, we need to be talking about what is OK, because OK is not perfectly safe. OK is something like life, which is a risky enterprise. dr. ashish jha I get this all the time on social media and in other forums where people say, Can you guarantee that this will be safe? And Im like, Nope, cannot guarantee it. The C.D.C. just put out guidance saying vaccinated grandparents can hug their unvaccinated grandchildren. And literally, I was praising this. I said, Thats exactly right. And somebody asked me, they said, Well, can we be 100 percent sure that like the unvaccinated grandchild wont give their vaccinated grandparent the infection, and we know these vaccines are really good but theyre not 100 percent and someone might still get sick and die. And the answer is yup, like there is still that theoretical risk. But its so exceedingly low that at that point, were like well below the risk we tolerate for influenza. We dont say to grandparents, You cant come visit grandkids during influenza season. We tolerate a certain amount of risk. Now, maybe we should be a bit more careful about that. Thats a different conversation. So one is zero risk has just got to go off the table, because its not we cant live life that way. I think the issue of individual risk tolerance is a bit complicated by the fact this has been the big issue of 2020, right, and President Trump constantly and a lot of kind of right wing, I think misinformationists is often talked about letting people make choices about risk. The problem was you werent just making a choice about yourself. You really were putting others at risk. When young people went out to bars, yes, they got infected and maybe they didnt get all that sick. But they went home, infected their parents and grandparents, and they got sick and died. That begins to change with vaccinations. If high risk people are all vaccinated, or have chosen not to be vaccinated, then I think individual risk calculus is a bit more reasonable than in 2020 and early 2021 when we didnt have vaccines and your individual risk behaviors had this profound spillover effect on everybody else. And certainly governments, governors are going to think about all of that very differently. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] ezra klein So I want to talk about what were learning about the vaccines. A couple of months ago, what we had was trial data. And it looked great, but theres a difference between trial data and then the vast real world test were in right now where millions and millions of people have actually gotten these vaccines. In reality, are we seeing anything surprising or anything alarming or anything unexpectedly encouraging about what seems true after people get vaccinated? dr. ashish jha I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised at how few adverse events, bad outcomes there have been from vaccinations. I mean, we are now at a point where 60 million Americans have gotten at least one dose. Thats a lot of people. And you know, like, if there is a one in a million event, you still see 60 of them, right? So thats part of the challenge is that we should be seeing the rare events, especially given how hypervigilant the entire country is. And were seeing very, very little. Like, weve seen a few people get infected after their vaccination. Well, youd expect that. I mean these vaccines are terrific, but theyre not 100 percent. I have not seen clear data that people who have been fully vaccinated, have been hospitalized, or died from Covid. But even that is likely to happen. Again, these vaccines are terrific. Theyre not 100 percent. Israels got the best data of people in real life whove been vaccinated. And the key here is to look at people after theyve been fully vaccinated, right? So if you look at them in the first week after their first dose, theyre not really vaccinated. But if I remember, it was like less than 10 people who after full vaccination ended up getting hospitalized with Covid. And there are two potential deaths that might have been from Covid out of a sample of 600,000 people who got vaccinated. So if were talking about less than 10 in each of those buckets, those are pretty small numbers. ezra klein So I just want to say this here, because the human mind and big numbers and small numbers and all, thats incredible, actually. I mean, as I understand a lot of vaccination data, thats an incredible level of effectiveness. dr. ashish jha Incredible level of effectiveness, way better than we have for a vast majority of vaccines, better than the original polio vaccine. I mean, people just sort of forget, like, the level of efficacy that were talking about here is amazing. And again, particularly given how quickly these vaccines were developed. ezra klein One thing that I am hearing all the time right now reporting on vaccinations is that everybody is anticipating a giant supply expansion in the coming weeks and months, that everybody seems to feel that within a couple of weeks a month, the number of vaccines flooding into the U.S. is going to be like nothing weve seen unto this point. Is that what youre hearing, and why is that? dr. ashish jha It is. I am like super bullish on how much vaccines were going to have as we finish up March and get into April. I mean, one of the reasons why I feel comfortable saying that sometime in April, every high risk person who wants a vaccine will be able to get one is weve just had this huge ramping up of supply. And a couple of things have gone into that. One is some of it was kind of built into the system. Operation Warp Speed pre-purchased a bunch of vaccine doses, worked on supply, but didnt have nearly as much ready as they had promised. But that it was always going to get better over time. So one part of it is Operation Warp Speed. The second part is the Biden administration. And the Biden administration has done two things. Theyve gone back and worked with the manufacturers to say can you do any more on supply in the short run and have worked on increasing supplies in the short run. And then the other thing is that theres a bunch of little tweaks. Like you remember that in the early days, we found that actually in the Pfizer vaccine files, they were overfilling it a little bit and you could get an extra dose or two. But that was pretty hard and was unreliable and you needed a special kind of syringe. So the Biden administration went and did a bunch of stuff to make that much easier. So now like one little fix gives you a 20 percent to 40 percent bump in your supply because you could just get more doses out of each vial. So a combination of a bunch of small things and a couple of big things. Johnson & Johnson coming online. We are going to have a lot of vaccines into April. I mean, by May, were going to be like swimming in vaccines. ezra klein Ive never thought I wanted to be swimming in vaccines, but actually it sounds good the way you say it. dr. ashish jha Thats nice, right? ezra klein Ive heard people saying that they think in the next couple of months, were going to get to a point where vaccine supply in America outstrips demand. Do you think thats true? dr. ashish jha Absolutely. The big question that a bunch of us kind of debate offline is is that going to happen in early April? Is that going to happen in late April? Might it not be till early May? I tend to come down on the middle on these things. So I think sometime in late April, we will find ourselves with more vaccines than adults who want them. And I actually hope thats not true, Ezra, because that may mean that we have a decent amount of hesitancy and a decent number of people who dont want it. And so my hope is its more like early May, and thatll just mean a lot of people are actually signing up and getting vaccinated. ezra klein I do want to talk about vaccine hesitancy. So I exist in a world online, in my own social circles, where everybody wants a vaccine. Everybody wants the federal government to have higher risk tolerance. Approve AstraZeneca; Ill get Johnson & Johnson. But then you look at polling. And theres about a third of the population says they probably or definitely wont take a vaccine. And Im worried that pollsters, they tend to undercount low trust people. This is a continuous problem, because those folks dont tend to talk to pollsters. And so it may even be higher. So how does a world look different lets call it six months from now if we have 60 percent or 70 percent immunization versus 90 percent immunization because we havent gotten over our hesitancy? dr. ashish jha It looks pretty different is the point. And so Ive been doing a lot of talking to university leadership at Brown and saying, what will the fall semester look like? And my assumption is were going to require vaccinations for certainly all students and a lot of other people. If 80, 90 percent, 90 percent of people on campus are vaccinated, its going to look great, close to normal. The problem is there is a big drop off when you go from 90 to 60, because thats so many more people who are vulnerable that the level of infection in that community is just dramatically, dramatically higher. And that also means that, especially in certain communities where it might be even lower, like 50 percent, because as you know, its in pockets and its not randomly distributed. Youre going to have places with big outbreaks. Youre going to have places where hospitalizations are going to get full. Youre going to have to think about our national testing strategy in a very different way. There will be things that will be hard to do. And those people who are vulnerable and infected will be coming all the time and walking into communities with 90 percent vaccination, but then start sort of setting off little fires, which kind of eventually burn out because at 90 percent vaccination things are great. But I really worry about this patchwork nation that were going to see if the national number is like 60 percent to 70 percent. ezra klein Do you think of vaccine hesitancy as stable or lagging? And what I mean by that is theres a world where you say, a third of the population does not want to get the vaccine and will not. And theres a world where you say most of those people just dont want to be early adopters of this. They want to see if it works for their friends and family and their community. And when everybodys got the vaccine, or a lot of people have the vaccine, theyre going to be more comfortable, and youre just dealing with a lagging a lagging level of comfort. What do you think? dr. ashish jha So I think its both. I think there probably are 10, 15 percent of the people in this country who are not going to take the vaccine, almost under any circumstances. And we can talk about what circumstances they might take it. But then theres another 15, 20 percent that gets you to about the third who are much more on the fence, leaning against, but potentially open. They want to see what happens. And that group is pretty persuadable. And I think some chunk of them are just going to wait. Theyre going to see all their friends and family get vaccinated. Everybodys doing fine. No ones having horrible outcomes from the vaccination. And they will take the plunge. The other thing is that were going to see a lot of institutions require vaccinations, workplaces that say if you want to come back to the office you have to be vaccinated. Universities are going to require this of students and thinking about what they can do for faculty and staff. Those kinds of things are also going to push that 15 to, 20 percent lagging group, as you say, over, because theyre just going to decide that the inconvenience of not being vaccinated, is it worth it, and theyll get vaccinated. I hope Im right that the hard core group is more like 10 percent to 15 percent and not bigger than that. ezra klein Weve used the terms efficacy and effectiveness a couple different times. Can you just quickly go through the difference between them as related to vaccines? dr. ashish jha Absolutely. And we use this for vaccines, for therapeutics. What I say simplistically to my students is efficacy is like, what is the impact of that therapy or that vaccine in the kind of ideal setting, in a clinical trial. And then effectiveness is whats the impact in the real world setting once you actually go give it to regular people. So the Moderna trial, we often talk about like 95 percent efficacy, because it was in a very well-constructed trial. It was a very pre-selected group of individuals. And what we know from every clinical trial in history is when you go give a drug to the regular population, its never quite as good as what you saw in the clinical trials. Theres always a drop off between efficacy, that kind of ideal world setting, and effectiveness, the real world setting. ezra klein I want to talk a little bit about the vaccines and the differences, or lack thereof, between them. And in particular about Johnson & Johnson, which is a big part of this huge supply increase. What do we know about the effectiveness of that vaccine? The number of people hear, is it is 72 percent efficacy? But is that the right number to look at? Are people, when they say, well, thats 72 percent effective, are they looking at the right thing? dr. ashish jha My concern about the numbers and Ive gotten pushback for saying this, but let me walk through that I think its not a fair apples to apples comparison to look at any of the headline numbers on J&J and compare it to Moderna and Pfizer. And for a couple of reasons that are simplistic and then a couple that I think are more important. So the simple ones are J&J has actually been it was tested in Brazil and South Africa. Moderna and Pfizer werent. So the 66 percent overall number for J&J includes being tested against variants that are clearly more kind of vaccine-resistant than Moderna and Pfizer ever were. So thats one part of the reason why its not a fair comparison. The second is well, people say, what about just the United States? What if we just focus on the U.S. numbers? It does look like J&J numbers are a little bit lower. J&J was also tested at a time so its not just place but at a different time. And that time, we had many, many more infections happening. And there is at least a theoretical argument that when youre testing a vaccine during a large outbreak, its efficacy number can decline, because if you think about the vaccinated person in that clinical trial, theyre being constantly challenged, interacting with infected people, much more often than if the level of underlying infection is lower. So theres at least an argument to be made that you might see a bit of a drop off in efficacy in J&J from again, were talking about symptomatic infections. So thats why Ive never felt like there was a totally fair comparison. But at the end of the day, it may be slightly lower on symptomatic infections. But lets get to the really big issue, which is what we really care about, which is hospitalizations and deaths. And what do we know? Even against the South African variant, the B.1.351 that people worry a lot about, J&J was tested. Nobody in the vaccine trial vaccine arm of J&J was hospitalized or died after the vaccine had a chance to work. Weve never tested Moderna and Pfizer vaccines against the South African variant in that way. So there is a lot going for the J&J vaccine. You could make the case that maybe its efficacy is a little bit lower. I could make the case that we have a lot more real world data with J&J against these variants than we do with Moderna and Pfizer. J&Js a well-established platform for building vaccines in the way that they did it. Its a tried and true method. And thats why I at the end of the day, look at all of this and think, Id be pretty comfortable getting any of the three. ezra klein Well, theres another thing here, which is that J&J is one dose and Moderna and Pfizer are two. And Ive heard this argued both ways. One way is that, well if you made J&J two doses, it would be as effective as they are in these headline numbers. But the other way Ive heard it argued is actually maybe Moderna and Pfizer dont need to be two doses and theyre all quite effective at one. How do you think about the one dose versus two dose protocols? dr. ashish jha So in early January, I wrote an op ed with my colleague Bob Wachter basically saying, delay the second dose of Moderna and Pfizer, because with these variants, a lot of people are still getting sick, and we dont have enough vaccine, so lets delay the second dose. And essentially argued that the one dose has an efficacy number thats like 80, 85 percent, looks really good, lets do that. And people got very upset. And a lot of people accused me of being anti-science, which is sort of funny. Their argument was this is how we tried it in the clinical trials and we should stick to the recipe at hand. And my point has always been like these recipes were not like ordained by God. For a variety of strategic clinical timeline decisions, we set it up this way. Theres again, nothing preordained in my mind about these vaccines that require this to be one dose versus two. And it looks like two doses probably are a little bit better. And well have data on two dose Johnson & Johnson at some point, maybe over the summer. And people who got the one dose of J&J may get a second dose at that point. Or it may turn out that its not that much better. We dont know. But I just want people to not think that theres something like preordained reason to think that one should be a two dose, one should be a one dose vaccine. ezra klein One of the things Im worried about, Ive heard a lot of people who are hesitant about J&J who say theyre going to refuse it if offered. I want to say, just so people know where I am on this, if I had a choice, I would personally take J&J. I like the one dose protocol. I like that its a more known vaccine platform. It seems plenty effective to me. But also, that the one dose protocol and the ease of storage, it makes it a lot simpler to do mass vaccination. So I mean, weve seen studies on hepatitis B vaccine that show about of patients fail to get their follow-up shot within the first year. About three million Americans havent received their second Covid vaccine dose on time. So is there an argument that J&J is in some ways, the better protocol for the kind of mass vaccination we need to be doing? dr. ashish jha Yeah, absolutely. So certainly, you can imagine certain populations of people for whom not having to come back is a huge boon and therefore, you may be targeting certain groups, thinking like young people who you may have a harder time getting to come back for a second dose. Even more broadly than that, you could definitely make the case that the one and done has got so much simplicity built then you dont have to figure out a second appointment, you dont have to like call people up to have them come back when they forget, that there is so much benefit that the maybe the small loss in efficacy against symptomatic disease, not against serious disease not against severe disease, but against mild or symptomatic disease is worth the cost. Thats a pretty reasonable argument to make. Well have to see how this actually plays out in real life. But I think J&J will end up being a really important part of our toolset for getting people vaccinated. ezra klein Right now the best estimates hold that were not going have a vaccine approved for children and there are a lot of children, theyre like 20 percent of the population until late this fall, maybe early 2022. Why is it taking so long? dr. ashish jha Yeah, thats a great question. And actually, I was testifying earlier in the Senate today, and Senator Bill Cassidy and I had a very kind of vigorous exchange about this. And so let me lay out why its taking so long and then let me talk about this exchange, because I think it was interesting, and he made some really important points. So the fundamental issue is we havent tested this stuff in kids. And you want to test it in children before you give it to them. And for two different sets of issues, both on the safety front and on the effectiveness stuff. So right now, Moderna, a couple of other vaccine makers are running trials in kids. And I think that we will have really good data, certainly on safety and maybe on efficacy, on 12-plus by maybe late summer, maybe early fall. But what about under 12? That may take us 9 months, a year. And there are a couple of problems. One is its hard to often recruit children into clinical trials, as you might imagine. Its a bit more complicated from an ethical point of view. And getting consent and all that is difficult. And a lot of parents dont want to enroll children in clinical trials, which I obviously understand. So thats one part of it. The second part where were going to get into real trouble and this is the part that led to the discussion with Senator Cassidy is measuring efficacy. As you know, Ezra, its really easy to run clinical trials in the middle of large outbreaks, because theres so many people getting infected that you run the trial and within a few months, you start seeing enough cases. But what happens if over the summer, as I expect, case numbers plummet, and hopefully in the fall they stay really low. Were going to have to enroll massive numbers of children and follow them for long periods of time to show whether this vaccine works or not. And that might put us into 2022 before we have any efficacy data on children. And thats a problem, because that means were going to have a lot of kids were going to be vulnerable and theyre not going to be vaccinated. So the discussion went to first and foremost, we got to know about safety. And as a dad of three kids, I like for me, the number one issue is safety. I do want these vaccines tested in kids. And the bottom line is that we need to test for safety. What Senator Cassidy brought up, which I thought was important and this is something a lot of us have been talking about is can you identify correlates of protection. And instead of showing that these vaccines actually prevent infection, what if we had pretty good data that they generate the right kind of antibodies and the right kind of T-cell response and we knew what those right kind of antibodies and T-cell responses were and that they really did protect you from the disease. Maybe we dont have to run the trial to show efficacy. Maybe as long as we can show that its generating the right immune response, we could be done. That would be great. That would make all the stuff so much easier. It would allow us to have these vaccines authorized for kids probably by the end of the summer, certainly by early fall. The key scientific issue there is how confident are that we know how to measure the correlates of immunity. That we know which antibodies, which T-cells really confer protection. I would say right now, we have a pretty good idea, but were not totally there yet. So if the science on this advances a little bit more, then its possible. And then the F.D.A. is going to have to be comfortable authorizing it for children, saying it generates this correlative of immunity, and therefore, its good enough, and of course, that its safe. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] ezra klein So C.D.C director Rochelle Walensky recently outlined new guidance for people who have been vaccinated. Can you walk me through the headlines on that guidance, and then whether you think it ended up in the right place? Like, is that how you will act once you are vaccinated? dr. ashish jha Ill start with the headline. Like, I thought it was really good. Ill give you my assessment. I thought they got it right. Always tricky. Theyre weighing a few different things. So lets talk about whats in it. The easy one was can vaccinated people hang out with other vaccinated people. And the answer is absolutely. So Im vaccinated. If I wanted to have a friend over for a drink, whos also been vaccinated, we could hang out in my home, no mask, no social distancing. Really, really, really safe, no question. Where it gets a bit trickier is the grandparent question, right, because the challenge is lots of grandparents are vaccinated. Almost no grandkids are vaccinated. And so can you have vaccinated people mingle, spend time with, hug, be in the same household with unvaccinated people? And its tricky. But what C.D.C said, which I thought was right, was they said, if youre talking about a single household so were not talking about large groups mingling, but were talking about relatively focused mingling and nobody in the unvaccinated group is high risk so the grandkids dont have some horrible chronic illness that puts them at risk, or the parents are not particularly high risk then, yeah, its quite safe. And then, what about like more broadly, can you go socialize if youre a vaccinated person, can you go socialize with large groups of unvaccinated people. And C.D.C on that one said no, not yet. And what theyre doing is theyre balancing obviously peoples needs to start socializing and seeing each other with two facts. One, of course, we know that if youre vaccinated, youre very protected, youre very well protected. But we still think you might be, not a big source of transmission, but you might still transmit the virus a little. And therefore, if youre hanging out with low risk people in a household, its probably not a big deal. Again, not zero risk, but so low that its fine. But if youre spending time with high risk people, you could transmit the virus and obviously cause really horrible outcomes. And so thats where C.D.C said you should probably not be doing that right now. ezra klein And so let me try to get at what the implied mechanism is here. So the idea is that maybe youve been vaccinated. We know these vaccines are incredibly protective against severe infection. But maybe its possible that you get low level or asymptomatic infection, not a big deal to you, and that while youre not going to be as much of a carrier for others as you would be without the vaccination, its possible that youll have this low level infection and you could give it to someone else, even if its kind of unlikely. Am I describing this correctly and its magnitude? dr. ashish jha Yeah, exactly. And thats a nice way to describe it. Its unlikely, but its possible. And then you want to think through what are the consequences of that. If youre with a low risk person, its unlikely, and the consequences are not huge, go for it. ezra klein And then you get into a question here where this is guidance that will change as more people get vaccinated. The situation here has to do with the relationship between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, particularly when most people are unvaccinated. But when most people are vaccinated, this will not look the same, correct? dr. ashish jha Absolutely. And one of the points, like a lot of people have pushed back on the guidance saying, well, why do I have to still wear a mask? Why do we still have to do social distancing if weve been vaccinated? And my point is a large majority of people who are high risk still have not been fully vaccinated. Once theyve been fully vaccinated, then its a different ballgame. ezra klein I think this brings us in a way back to Texas and some of the other states that are beginning to lift restrictions. So Texas and Mississippi announced they would lift mask mandates and allow businesses to reopen at full capacity. But also Massachusetts removed capacity limits on restaurants. South Carolina said you can have gatherings of more than 250 people. Connecticut is opening up quite a bit. So things are getting better. Some states are racing real fast on reopening. What, to you, would responsible reopening look like here? dr. ashish jha Yeah, so people ask me like whats your mental model here. And my mental model is I want high risk people vaccinated. Like thats what I really, really, really, really want. I want people who are over 55 and I want anybody under 55 whos got significant chronic diseases. I want them vaccinated. I would be happy with one dose, at least two weeks. I want them to ideally, obviously, with Johnson & Johnson, thats good enough. But what I really want is ultimately two doses and two weeks after the second dose. But the point is most of the people I describe as high risk, again, sometime later part of April, theyll have at least one dose. Somewhere around there, most of them will get to two weeks after. Thats a point where the vulnerable people in our society are pretty well-protected and you can start peeling back. Again, youve to be careful a little bit. I dont know that Id pull all mask mandates. But outdoor mask mandates have never made that much sense to me. That can definitely go. I think indoor retail, Id keep it until, again, the infection numbers are down a little bit further and all of these folks are vaccinated. I think restaurants can go to a pretty high level of capacity. 100 percent is a little tough, because you are going to still have some number of unvaccinated people walking around. So you can imagine a ramping up, or lets say like pulling back of public health restrictions, that begin in the latter part of April. And watch what happens, right? Like look at the infection numbers. Look at whats going on. Keep vaccinating. And once you get into May and June, and youve got 60, 70 percent of people vaccinated, infection numbers are low, you probably can go back to a pretty close to a normal. Thats what I find frustrating about what some of these governors are doing. Like, theyre going about a month or six weeks too early. And the problem with that is a lot of high risk people are still very vulnerable. A bunch of them are going to get infected. And a bunch of them are going to die. And anybody who got infected and died, like now, its somebody whos going to get vaccinated in a month. Like just hold a little longer. ezra klein You know what it feels like to me is, I dont know if youve read that many histories of old wars, but particularly before we had instantaneous global communication, youd constantly have these events where a war would end. There would be a treaty. But the information that the war was over would not yet have got into all of the units. And so people would die in these battles in a war that had already finished because they didnt know it was over. And theres a way in which it feels very resonant to this moment. Its like the war is ending, like, we have some of the agreements here, and you just need to wait. Like the information needs to get out, the vaccines need to get out. And its not that its any less of a tragedy for a person to die a couple of months ago than it is now. But it feels so unbelievably useless for somebody to die three weeks before the vaccines would have taken ahold. dr. ashish jha Yeah, and useless, frustrating, and like we know this. These are not uncertainties of, oh my God, we have no idea when vaccines will get out. We know exactly what theyre going to get. out. We know exactly what people are going to get vaccinated, like within a couple of weeks timeframe, right? Like we can predict this stuff with a lot of certainty. And I just, I wish we could hold on for a little longer. ezra klein So weve been talking a lot about the U.S. here. I want to talk a little bit about the global picture, both because it is important, because everybodys lives matter, and also because it is important because what happens globally affects us. How are vaccinations going outside the U.S.? dr. ashish jha This is one where I am not so optimistic. I am really actually quite worried about the global situation. So obviously, there are some places that are doing great. Everybody knows about Israel. The UK is doing fabulously. There are pockets, right? UAE, Chile is doing a great job of vaccinating. So we can find those places. Thats great. India is starting to vaccinate, but slowly. The big problem is that even under the best of estimates, 90 percent of people who live in low and middle income countries will not have gotten vaccinated by the end of 2021. And thats a huge problem. And its a huge problem if you just go carry the models out, youre probably talking about 2024 before we reach global herd immunity. And the reason why thats a problem well, some of it is obvious, right. Like lots of people are going to unnecessarily die. But the second is we have seen a good number of variants, including some pretty aggressive ones, within a year of this virus circulating. And the question that Ive been asking folks is like how lucky do we feel about letting this virus run for in large chunks of the world for another two, three, four years? I dont feel that lucky. And the nightmare scenario, which I think is low likelihood, but not zero, is the scenario of there is rampant outbreaks in Brazil or somewhere else. And there is a new variant that essentially renders our vaccines useless. Likely, no. Possible, yeah. And imagine that happens this fall. Were all vaccinated. Life is back to some version of normal. And this variant will find its way to the United States. And were all sitting ducks. And then we have to go and formulate new vaccines and test them and then make hundreds of millions of doses and get them out to people. And its hugely disruptive, costly, people will die. And all unnecessary if we took a really aggressive global vaccination strategy. And were not doing that. No one is taking it as seriously as they need to. I think we can get a large chunk of the world vaccinated in 2021 into early 2022. But we need a totally different approach on the global scene than we are taking right now. ezra klein To add to this with some numbers, so the Think Global Health Project of the Council on Foreign Relations, they estimate that only 14 percent of low income countries have vaccinated anyone at all, anyone as of March 4. So thats really bad, actually. Thats really, really bad. To what you were just saying then, what are the biggest chokeholds in getting low income countries vaccinated? Is it supply? Is it distribution? Is it money? When you say we need to take this more seriously, what does that mean? dr. ashish jha Its supply. I think countries can figure out distribution. Look, a little bit of distribution help will be necessary in some places. But a lot of countries have fabulous vaccination programs. And they can vaccinate large chunks of their population very quickly. Problem is they just dont have vaccines. You know, so countries have pledged the U.S., thankfully, under President Biden has pledged $4 billion into Covax, which is the global vaccine program for Covid. The problem isnt money we might bump into. The problem is that the rich countries, the high income countries, have bought up about 90 percent of all vaccine supplies for the world. And Canada has enough in contracts to vaccinate every Canadian, I dont know, five or six times over. We probably can vaccinate every American multiple times over. This is not helpful. First of all, we dont need to. And second, we need to think very differently about supply. So its not just that were hoarding, but were doing a little bit of that. Its weve got to figure out how to make a lot more vaccine doses than we are making. And the one sort of simple, simplistic thing that people often say, Oh, this is all about intellectual property and we should just take these patents and make them public. Its not about that. There arent that many companies that can make these things. Theyre actually complicated to make. If you think about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, its a live virus. Its an adenovirus that youve injected some RNA actually into, and its got to be done incredibly well. There are companies that can do it. Merck can do it, which is why Merck is now going to make J&J vaccines. I think thats great. But there really is a problem here of production. And what needs to happen, in my mind I mean, we do need more money. But I think lots of people will be able to will be willing to throw money at the problem and we have plenty of money to do that. What needs to happen is U.S. leadership. I think President Biden needs to bring the manufacturers throughout of the world together, probably along with W.H.O. and some of the other leaders of some other countries, and really think about, what do we need to do to substantially scale up production. How do we get more raw materials? Who else can make more? I think this is a harder task than it looks and weve got to take this on, because the current approach is going to take way too long, and it has horrible outcomes for people in those countries and big risks for everybody else. ezra klein What could the U.S. specifically do differently here? dr. ashish jha I mean, one is certainly I would like to see America start to once we get into June and we have like more vaccines than we know what to do with, we should start shipping them out to other countries. Like theres no reason for us to be holding back vaccines once everybody who wants to be vaccinated has gotten vaccinated. I realize thats a hard thing for the president to talk about right now, because Americans are still feeling like we need more vaccines here. But once we get into May, June Id like to do that. I do want to see more pressure on really figuring out whats happening with supply chains with these vaccines and production. I mean, in some ways, we almost need a global vaccine, somebody who works out of the White House and is focused on both ramping up of production and distribution of vaccines around the globe. ezra klein I think its a good place to end with your application for global vaccines are. So I assume theyre listening at the White House. [LAUGHTER] Lets go to some book recommendations here before I lose you. So whats the book that has most influenced how you think about public health? dr. ashish jha Well, I have to tell you, a book I just read it came out a couple of years ago. Not a public health book, but it certainly has made me rethink public health, which is and Im blanking on the name of the author, but the book is called like wars. Its about kind of social media and wars, information wars in the social media age. And the reason I found that so profound in the way it shaped my thinking, is I really saw, before I read that book, as misinformation as like some version of your Uncle Bob sends you a link to a story thats junk news, and youre like, eh, Uncle Bobs always showing that kind of stuff. But what Ive come to realize is that the information pollution in our kind of information ecosystem, so much of it is so deliberate. So much of it is well orchestrated. And it has had a profound impact on the way I think about public health, public health messaging, public health communication, because you realize youre not just trying to counter people who are ignorant, youre actually trying to counter people who are very deliberately trying to undermine public health messages. And so even though this was not a public health book, per se, it certainly shaped the way I have seen the world, and not necessarily made me all that much more optimistic. Its made me realize what were up against. ezra klein That is LikeWar, just for the authors. Its by Emerson Brooking and P.W. Singer. It looks super interesting. Favorite book that has nothing to do with your work? dr. ashish jha So I reread a book I read in college, that I loved when I was a college student and loved it even more. Its The Autobiography of Malcolm X. And it was interesting because I read it as 19-year-old Indian-American kid having this huge identity crisis. Am I Indian? Am I American? How do I reconcile these things? And found the book to be kind of profound in how it shaped my sense of personal identity. And I reread it recently because obviously, with our national conversation kind of restarting, in a very different way about racism, systemic racism in our country, even though its an old one, I thought worth revisiting. And it really is quite impressive in how timely and how relevant it feels in 2020, 2021. ezra klein And finally, youve got three kids. Whats your favorite childrens book? dr. ashish jha The hungry, hungry caterpillar who ate everything. That was the book that we, like from my oldest, that was the book we went to like every night. We would read other stuff and then we would finish with the hungry, hungry caterpillar. ezra klein Dr. Ashish Jha, thank you very much. dr. ashish jha MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines received on Friday a total of $900 million in loan commitments from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and to help its pandemic-hit economy recover, the lenders said on Friday. Despite recording one of the highest number of coronavirus cases in the region, the Philippines is playing catchup with some of its neighbours in vaccine procurement and was one of the last Southeast Asian nation to receive its first doses. "Procuring and administering vaccines provides the country an added layer of defence against COVID-19 on top of public health measures," Ndiame Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, said in a statement. The World Bank extended $500 million financing for the purchase and distribution of vaccines and to strengthen the country's health systems. In May, it extended a $500 million loan to provide relief to Filipinos who had lost jobs during lockdowns. Separately, the ADB allotted $400 million for the Philippines, the first recipient of its vaccine access support programme. The Philippines, which started its inoculation programme on March 1 with 600,000 Sinovac doses donated by China, is battling a renewed surge in COVID-19 cases. The country, which aims to inoculate 70 million of its more than 108 million population, is in talks with vaccine manufacturers to buy 161 million doses. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Ed Davikes) Biden sets July 4 target as 'independence from virus' In his first prime-time address as the President, Joe Biden set an ambitious target that by July 4 a return to normalcy was possible with close gatherings, providing comfort to millions of Americans desperately yearning for an end to the pandemic after a devastating year. Biden also urged the states to make vaccines available for every adult by May 1. In a carefully balanced speech that has both caution and optimism, the President warned that restrictions could be reinstated if the nation lets down its guard against the Read here Let's look at the global statistics Global infections: 118,571,592 Global deaths: 2,629,625 Nations with most cases: US (29,286,133), India (11,308,846), Brazil (11,277,717), Russia (4,311,893), United Kingdom (4,254,714). Source: John Hopkins Research Center The US is sitting on millions of vaccine doses the world needs: Report Tens of millions of vaccine doses developed by the AstraZenca are lying idle in the United States even as the rest of the world is desperate for shots. AstraZeneca's United States clinical trial has not yet reported the results and the company has not yet applied for authorisation. On the other hand, more than 70 countries have cleared the vaccine for emergency use and are begging for access to the doses. Some nations are in talks with the US government to donate the shots. About 30 million doses are currently bottled at AstraZenecas facility in West Chester, Ohio. Emergent BioSolutions, a company in Maryland that AstraZeneca has contracted to manufacture its vaccine in the United States, has also produced enough vaccine in Baltimore for tens of millions. Read here One year ago, the WHO declared that the world was in pandemic Nearly three months after a mysterious virus causing unknown pneumonia started spreading like wildfire across the world, the World Health Organization on March 11, last year, declared that the world was in a pandemic. Many argue that the global health agency missed the crucial time in announcing the pandemic, and the delay left many nations vulnerable and unprepared. It was the beginning of a trail of death and suffering, the start of a succession of lockdowns across the globe. A year later, more than 118 million cases have been reported around the world, with more than 2.6 million confirmed deaths. Read here Several EU countries suspend AstraZeneca vaccine Three European countries, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine to investigate the cases of blood clots. However, the European medical agency said that the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot can continue to be used during the investigation. AstraZeneca said the safety of its shot had been extensively studied in human trials and that peer-reviewed data had confirmed the vaccine was generally well tolerated. The British government too defended the vaccine and said it would continue its rollout. Read here The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said his family faces further uncertainty ahead of her return to court in Iran (Family handout/PA) The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said his family faces further uncertainty ahead of her return to court in Iran. His comments came after a report warned that the 42-year-old is a victim of torture and requires urgent psychiatric treatment. Richard Ratcliffe said his wife remains in harms way despite being released from house arrest last week after her five-year prison term expired. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in 2016 as Iranian authorities made widely refuted spying allegations, and finished the latter part of her sentence under house arrest due to the coronavirus crisis. Expand Close Richard Ratcliffe during a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London (Ian West/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Richard Ratcliffe during a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London (Ian West/PA) But the British-Iranian mother-of-one must return to court to face more charges in the case, which some observers have linked to a long-standing debt Iran alleges it is owed by the UK. Mr Ratcliffe said while Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials are relieved Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes ankle monitor has been removed, they remain cautious about what could happen next. I dont think they know what to expect on Sunday, and I dont think we know what to expect on Sunday, he told the PA news agency. They said there is a range of possibilities. It getting postponed and not even happening, to it happening but not being clear on what is going on, to it being more serious and ominous. All of those things are uncertain. Mr Ratcliffe said his wife was euphoric and felt a step closer to freedom after her ankle tag was removed last week, but she fears leaving the house alone as she feels she is being followed. As the week has gone on, she has got more anxious, sleepless, and trying to keep herself busy as a way of distraction, he added. It comes after a detailed medical assessment, commissioned by a charity, found Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been a victim of torture, is suffering from major depression and PTSD, and requires urgent psychiatric treatment. Nazanin must be allowed to return permanently to her family in the UK and we will continue to do all we can to achieve this FCDO spokeswoman Human rights group Redress has called on the Government to recognise her as a victim of torture following the report from the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT). The report said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes condition has been caused by extremely stressful, traumatising experiences in the prisons of Iran and the uncertainty surrounding her immediate future. It also said at the beginning of her sentence in 2016 she was interrogated for hours on end, often blindfolded, while in solitary confinement. Mr Ratcliffe said continuing media coverage of his wifes case has kept us safer, much safer than other people, adding: Its the ones that you dont get to hear about that you really have to worry about. Its helped in the glass ceiling of abuse theres a limit beyond which they wont go and I think that is the most important thing. In response to the IRCT report, an FCDO spokeswoman said: Iran continues to put Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe through a cruel and intolerable ordeal. Nazanin must be allowed to return permanently to her family in the UK and we will continue to do all we can to achieve this. Downing Street said Boris Johnson had again demanded the release of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday. A No 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister had said that while the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffes ankle monitor was welcome, her continued confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK. Kate Allen, director at Amnesty International UK, said: Weve called on UK officials to show maximum solidarity with Nazanin at this time everything they do to help her is and will be important. Most pressingly, the UK Government should make urgent representations seeking to have this charge dropped and facilitate her immediate return back home to the UK. Dunkins got a new menu item but its only available at Massachusetts and New Hampshire locations, and it wont last long. Dunkin announced its Chicken Croissant Sandwich as one of multiple new menu items this spring. Although, its only available in the two states for a limited time, Dunkin said in a statement. Its described as fried chicken, cherrywood smoked bacon, and American cheese served on a warm, flaky croissant. Other new menu items, include grilled cheese, avocado toast and the companys version of sweet cold foam. The avocado toast is on sourdough bread and topped with everything bagel seasoning. Its also served in a special portable box, perfect to help guests enjoy avocado anywhere theyd like, the company said. It also recently teamed up with Frankford Candy to release Dunkin iced coffee flavored jelly beans just in time for Easter. Each bag contains five flavors inspired by Dunkins signature iced coffee, including French Vanilla, Caramel Latte, Butter Pecan, Toasted Coconut, and Hazelnut, the company said. The company did not state how long its Chicken Croissant Sandwich will be at Massachusetts locations. It is, however, among a growing line of chicken sandwiches from fast food restaurants. At least seven other fast-food chains have experimented with or released chicken sandwiches recently, according to Insider. The rush from these chains came after Popeyes viral chicken sandwich. When Popeyes launched their chicken sandwich in late 2019, it created a lot of buzz and excitement that fueled a lot of the other brands to look at their own chicken platforms and make a judgment on their offerings, former McDonalds chef Mike Haracz told Insider. When anything like that happens, other chains main objective is to get a piece of that share. But if you want to give Dunkins a try, you better start checking out nearby locations. Chicken sandwich lovers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire should head to their nearest Dunkin soon, the company said. Related Content: Woman Indicted in Husband's Child Abuse Case By West Kentucky Star PADUCAH - The wife of a man arrested in October on a child abuse charge was indicted this week on a similar charge.The McCracken County Sheriff's Department said 23-year-old Autumn Saunders was indicted by a grand jury on the charge of criminal abuse of a child 12 or under. She was arrested on Thursday and booked into McCracken County Jail.Autumn is the wife of 25-year-old David Saunders, who was arrested October 7 for criminal abuse of a child 12 or under. The Sheriff's Department told the grand jury that Autumn was aware of abuse by her husband of the 3-year-old who had been in their care for six days. A local hospital notified law enforcement, and reported that the child had a fractured arm and suspicious bruising on every part of his body.Detectives said David Saunders admitted that he inflicted the injuries on the child out of anger and frustration.On the Net: Reuters In the past few weeks, almost every day the country had been recording an increase in the number of new infections, and in the past 24 hours, 23,285 new Covid-19 cases were reported from across India. Though 23,000 cases in a day is far less than the over 97,000 infections the country saw in a day in September 2020, the rise of new COVID-19 infections is a matter of concern. Read more Here are more top news stories from across the country. She Hit Her Nose With Ring, Hit Me With Slipper: Zomato Delivery Guy Accused Of Attacking Woman BCCL In a huge twist in the case of a Zomato delivery executive allegedly attacking a woman in Bengaluru, the accused has refuted the charges against him. The delivery executive, identified as Kamaraj, was arrested by the Bengaluru Police on Thursday. However, he has claimed innocence and stated that he, in fact, was the victim. Read more Class 12 Mathematics And Physics Not Compulsory For Engineering Aspirants PTI AICTE has released its approval process handbook 2021-22 recently. As per the AICTE, the eligibility criteria for UG admissions have been changed. Class 12 Maths and Physics are not anymore compulsory for Engineering Aspirants. Students need to pass in any three subjects (from the list) with a minimum of 45 per cent marks in the class 12 board exam to be able to apply for admission in undergraduate courses in engineering, according to the revised rules of the AICTE. Read more Goa's Miramar Beach 'Blue Flag' Certification Is In Limbo Unplash The Bombay High Court at Goa has stayed a fresh notification issued by the environment ministry over selecting Miramar beach in the state for 'Blue Flag' certification, an international recognition conferred on beaches to conserve, protect and improve the coastal environment. The court stayed the process since the ministry hasn't explained the reasons for dispensing with the mandatory public consultation process. Read more "This Is Called Pure Joy": Forest Officer Dances As Similipal Forest Finally Gets Rain BCCL Asia's second-largest biosphere Similipal National Park has been in the news for a while after wildfires raged in the area for the last two weeks. However, thanks to rainfall and hailstorm at the Pithabata range in Odisha, the fire has been contained fully, the state government said. Amid this, a video of a forest officer dancing as it rains is going viral for all the right reasons. Read more It was just over a year ago, during the fall 2020 show season, that the fashion world gathered together in one place for the last time. Since then, the twin forces of the pandemic and the social justice movement have riven the industry, forcing it to take a new look at an old system and confront questions that had been papered over for years especially its own history of racism. So where are we now? As the fall 2021 season drew to a close, The New York Times gathered four industry power players to address the question: Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain; Maria Raga, the chief executive of Depop, the social shopping platform; Pierpaolo Piccioli, the creative director of Valentino; and Zerina Akers, the stylist of Black Is King and founder of the digital marketplace Black-Owned Everything. The conversation has been edited and condensed. Vanessa Friedman: Do you think fashion has made real progress in addressing social justice? Or is it mostly talk? Olivier Rousteing: Black Lives Matter is a topic that is really important, but its not something new. I started my fight years and years and years ago. I started the Balmain Army hashtag, like, seven years ago to fight for my values and for what I believe in. At that time, no one was talking about diversity. It was only two or three years ago that people started to realize that Im a Black designer and actually asked me things. Ive always been the same, but now its the topic that people actually dare to talk about. 03/11/2021 Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu LOWELL, Mass. When Luis Pedroso, who emigrated from Portugal as a child, was attending the Lowell Public Schools, he sometimes struggled with math homework. When I went home, I didnt have anybody to help me with anything. I was on my own, he said. Math is really a foreign language and unless you understand it, youre not going to be able to do very well. Based on his experience, Pedroso, now president and co-founder of Accutronics Inc., is a supporter of a program that employs UMass Lowell education students who assist in Lowell public schools. The students are undergraduate education majors or STEM majors with a minor through the UTeach program, which prepares students to teach science, technology, math or engineering. The UMass Lowell students work with Lowell elementary school students as tutors, mentors and classroom support. About 10 UMass Lowell students participate in the program each semester and are paid hourly for their work, according to Field Coordinator Lizzie Casanave. When the program began in January 2020, the UMass Lowell students worked in different schools across the city. Shut down last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program resumed in November, with all of the students assisting virtually at the Lowell STEM Academy, Casanave said. Senior Payal Patel, an honors biology major from Lowell who is participating in UTeach, is helping third- and fourth-graders with math at the STEM Academy now. She loves the chance to connect with the children. Working with the students really does brighten my mood, she said. Theyre hilarious. It just makes my day. Patel assists in a different class each week, meeting in a Zoom breakout room with a small group of students who are struggling with a particular lesson and breaking it down for them, step by step. She said shes learning a lot about how to teach online. And, although she plans all of her lessons carefully in advance, shes discovered the importance of having a back-up plan in case of technical issues or other challenges. You can plan a lesson second by second, but when you walk into a classroom or go on Zoom, everything can go wrong and you have to make a whole new lesson on the spot, Patel said. Giana Vozella, an education major from Reading, taught twice a week in person at Pawtucketville Memorial Elementary School when the Pedroso Tutors program started a year ago. She helped kindergarten students with writing for half an hour each day. The rest of her time was devoted to math, working in small groups with advanced second-graders, fourth-grade students who were struggling, and first-graders who were too wiggly at the end of the school day to pay attention. I got to work with so many different students and grade levels and learning levels, and with students from so many different cultural backgrounds, Vozella said. Vozella is especially proud of helping to figure out the best way to assist two fourth-graders who were trying to catch up to grade level: have them work through problems on a whiteboard, instead of on paper or in their heads. It empowered them, she said. They actually begged me to give them homework every night. Vozella is now working online at the STEM Academy. A first-generation college student, she said shes grateful to have a job related to her educational goals. Shailyn Ortiz, an education major from Fitchburg, also tutored in person last winter and is working remotely at the STEM Academy now. While on site at the McAvinnue Elementary School, Ortiz mostly worked one-on-one with kindergarten and first-grade students the grade levels she wants to teach on their numbers and letters. She also assisted fourth-graders with reading and writing. Brianna Yuen, an education major from Grafton, is tutoring a fifth-grade student who has missed a lot of school and needs help catching up. Yuen accompanies her to her math and language arts classes every day, going into a breakout room with her when needed. If that student is out, she tutors someone else one-on-one. Im taking Elementary Math for Teaching right now and its cool because I can use what I learn in that class to help the kids in math, she said. Declan Burke, an education major from Westwood, recently began helping three fourth-graders in a single class at the STEM Academy. All three children benefit from individual attention in language arts, either because they are English language learners or because they have moderate disabilities. Burke said that he works closely with the teacher to prepare the three students for new concepts and material before the whole class does a particular lesson. The goal is to keep everyone on the same, even playing field, he said. I work with the same core three students, but if another student is ill and misses a week or is falling behind on certain topics, the teacher will pull them in. He said he loves working with students in such a diverse classroom. Hes especially grateful to get direct teaching experience at a time when undergraduate field experiences are necessarily limited by the pandemic. Theres a unit on lesson-planning in every single education class we take, he said. Being able to apply that in the real world has been awesome for me. New Delhi, Mar 12 (UNI) Border Security Force (BSF) on Friday said that due to its efforts and persuasion with Bangladeshs Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), a minor kidnapped girl of border village Tarali in North 24 Pargana district of West Bengal was safely returned to India on Thursday. According to the BSF, the minor girl was trapped in the love of a Bangladeshi citizen and March 7 eloped to Bangladesh with him but some the villagers said that she was kidnapped. The Commanding Officer of 112 Batallion of BSF Arun Kumar was informed and he immediately contacted the Commander Officer of Bangladesh Border Guards and informed about the kidnapping of an Indian minor girl by a Bangladeshi citizen. Join the fight against the management-union COVID-19 cover-up in the auto plants! Join or found a rank-and-file safety committee at your facility today. For more information, visit wsws.org/workers. Those compelled to work in them know that the auto factories have been major vectors for the transmission of the COVID-19 virus throughout most of 2020. FCA workers at Warren Truck plant outside of Detroit (Source: FCA Media) At Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) Warren Truck Assembly (WTAP) just north of Detroit, at least six workers have died from the coronavirusmore confirmed deaths than any other US auto plant. Whole crews have been sent home after individual employees have tested positive for the virus. Temporary part-time (TPT) workers have been brought in to fill the gaps left by workers who have either gotten sick or chosen not to report in order to protect their own and their families safety. In spite of this, management is claiming, in official statistics reported to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), that not a single workplace-related death occurred last year at Warren Truck. Each manufacturing facility in the US is required by federal regulations to post in the view its employees a summary sheet of all injuries and illnesses causing one or more days of missed work incurred. Every year, from February 1 through April 30, OSHA form 300A is required to be on display in an accessible place for review by every employee. The summary form for WTAP claims that for 3,945 employees who worked 4,018,038.95 hours in 2020, no deaths occurred last year. According to the form, there were only two cases where illness or injury resulted in a day or more of work missed. The form is signed by Plant Manager Andrew Ragalyi. In reality, by April 14 of last year, four workers had already died from COVID-19. Two of them are known by name: Lorenzo Seldon, a United Auto Workers union steward at the paint department who died on March 25; Catherine Bright Pace, who died on March 27. WTAP workers subsequently reported to the World Socialist Web Site the deaths of two more workers after the plants reopening. Stevie Brown, a TPT working at the paint shop, died on November 21 after only one month since being hired in. Stephanie Weems, also from the paint shop, died in early December. Thats shocking that the company would blatantly tell a lie to OSHA, one Warren Truck worker said. They are reporting lies, and these are lost loved ones. These are lives they are lying about. They are blatantly saying nobody died there and that is completely false. It makes you wonder, how much weight does the truth hold? Its not like [simply acknowledging the deaths] would mean stopping production of vehicles. But I feel like it would also give insight into loved ones lost. I feel like it is used to keep people ignorant and thats not fair. The OSHA 2020 summary sheet for the Warren Truck plant that is on the bulletin board The lying official figures from Warren Truck are the consequence of a year of coverups by management, with the crucial assistance of the United Auto Workers union, on the spread of infections and deaths in auto plants. Since May, when the auto industry reopened after a two-month shutdown forced by a wave of wildcat strikes, not a single major auto company has released any figures on the nationwide death toll in its plants. In plants throughout the country, the default response from management and the UAW to infections has been: you did not get the infection here. You must have contracted it from your family and brought to the plant. At least some workers who have spoken with the WSWS say that their workers compensation claims have even been denied on this basis. In 2020, as the coronavirus raged and demands for OSHA safety inspections increased, the number of these inspections decreased by half. As if not enough that perfunctory OSHA procedures have allowed corporations run roughshod over health and safety of employees, in 2020, facilities are no longer required to post their figures online. Under the Trump Administration, the process was ended. Management has been keeping secret records on the true extent of infections in the plants. This was revealed last October in a leaked management report at nearby Jefferson North Assembly Plant, which listed 59 infections and two deaths that had not been previously reported. Meanwhile, the companies have made sure that every employee knows that if he or she divulges information concerning circumstances of the spread of the virus inside the plant, they face termination. UAW stooges loyally act as enforcers of this threat. Defying management intimidation, workers throughout the country have taken to the WSWS to expose the truth about conditions in the plants. The WSWS has reported more extensively than any other news source about safety conditions and the details about the pandemic raging through the plants. The coverup at Warren Truck is all the more significant given the central role which workers in the plant played in organizing opposition to unsafe conditions last year. On March 16 last year, 17 workers at Warren Trucks paint shop walked out in opposition to being compelled to work during the pandemic. This was an early episode in a global wildcat strike wave in the auto industry to demand the shutdown of nonessential production to contain the pandemic. Thousands of other Fiat Chrysler employees walked out around that time, including at the Windsor plant across the river from Detroit in Canada, and at the Sterling Heights, Jefferson North and Toledo North assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio. The rebellion by rank-and-file autoworkers temporarily staggered the auto companies and their bribed agents in the UAW and their Canadian counterparts Unifor. When the plants reopened last May, UAW President Rory Gamble made the position of the UAW clear: We all knew this day would come at some point. Claiming that the companies have the sole contractual right to determine the opening of plants he argued that nothing could be done to prevent, or even limit the companies reckless and homicidal drive for profit. Since the reopening of the auto industry in May, workers at plants throughout the country have taken the initiative, with the assistance of the World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party, to form rank-and-file safety committees to oppose the coverup of infections and fight for safe conditions in the factories. The WSWS is also reaching out to workers at other plants to find out whether COVID-19-related deaths are being logged in the 300A forms in their own facilities. To send us information from your plant, contact us at autoworkers@wsws.org. Google Maps has launched a map editing tool for desktop that lets users add new or missing roads to the landscape. This feature, which is rolling out over the coming months in more than 80 countries will let users add missing roads by drawing lines, rename roads, realign or delete incorrect roads and report if a road is closed. They'll just need to click on the side menu button on the Maps home, click 'Edit the map', and select 'Missing Road'. Google added that it'll be checking all contributions before they're published to make sure pranksters aren't adding roads that don't exist. Google Maps is also trying to help out local businesses by letting users leave quick photo updates instead wordy reviews. HOW TO ADD ROADS TO GOOGLE MAPS - Go to Google Maps homepage - Click on the side menu button, indicated by three parallel lines - The pop-up menu appears. Go to 'Edit the map', and select 'Missing Road' - You should then be able to add missing roads by drawing lines, quickly rename roads, change road directionality, and realign or delete incorrect roads. - You can even let Google know if a road is closed with details like dates, reasons and directions. Advertisement The tech giant is giving users new ways to edit Maps due to make sure the service 'reflects the real world' during the current pandemic. 'With all the change our world saw over the past year, people are relying more than ever on high-quality, updated information about the places around them like if a nearby restaurant is open or if a local grocery store has updated hours,' the firm says in a blog post. 'We make it easy for anyone with a Google account to contribute their local knowledge about more than 200 million places in Google Maps. 'These community-led updates help people everywhere make better decisions about what to do and where to go.' Currently, Google asks you to click the map where the missing road should be and enter its name. Once the feature rolls out, this should be updated, letting users draw in the missing roads. To make sure the tool isn't hijacked by pranksters and ensure suggestions and edits are accurate, Google is vetting contributed road updates before publishing them. The firm says it will email the authors about the status of their edits. Another update announced by the firm in the blog post, which will roll out 'in the coming weeks', lets users share photo updates on their mobile. Essentially, it lets users share up-to-date information about businesses and helpful tips by simply uploading a photo. A photo update would be a recent snapshot of a place with a short text description, without the need to leave a lengthy review or rating. This will help other Google Maps users 'find and share experiences' with recent photos. Google Maps users can upload as many photos as they want under about businesses under the Updates tab, as an alternative to writing a review To leave a photo update, users will need to go to the 'Updates' tab when they're looking at a place in Google Maps to see the latest photos that merchants and other people have shared. To add their own update, they can tap 'upload a photo update', select photos, leave a short description and then post. 'You can post as many photos as you want and find photo updates that others have left in the Updates tab,' Google says. Google is also encouraging Maps users to update 100,000 businesses with new photos, reviews and updates in the next month. To do this, users can click the Contribute tab in Google Maps and add ratings, reviews and information about local businesses that have been visited, like a cafe or bakery. Google calls this the 'local love challenge' as it aims to help businesses impacted by the pandemic. 'We see people showing love and support for local businesses in Google Search and Maps by leaving photos, writing reviews or updating factual information like a stores new hours,' Google says. 'We want to amplify that same local love with a feature we are now piloting.' This feature works with Local Guides, its community of users who share tips and photos about places on the Maps app, which anyone can join. Local Guides launched six years ago and now has 150 million contributors around the world, Google also revealed in the post. Since its launch, Local Guides have contributed more than 70 per cent of the reviews, photos and other types of user-generated content on Maps. Google celebrated 15 years of Google Maps last year with the launch of a new and updated design, giving terrain a 'more vibrant', detailed and colourful appearance. 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. Chandigarh, March 12 : Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal on Friday said he was tested positive for coronavirus. "I would like to inform everyone that I have tested positive for COVID and I will be in quarantine for the next coming days," he said. "I got myself tested before the session and then again immediately after the session. Before the session, I tested negative. After the session, I have tested positive," he added. In view of increasing coronavirus cases, authorities in Ludhiana and Patiala cities imposed a night curfew daily from March 12 from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. till further orders. Earlier, the night curfew was imposed in Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur towns. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Candidate profiles The Daily Sentinel will be profiling candidates for Grand Junction City Council throughout this week. The candidate profiles are grouped by district and based on a questionnaire the candidates returned to the Daily Sentinel. To read their full responses or to view profiles on other candidates visit gjsentinel.com. Council elections are April 6. | Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Rupee falls 19 paise to close at 73.09 (provisional) against US dollar. Sensex drops 85.40 pts to settle at 51,849.48; Nifty inches up 1.35 pts to 15,576.20. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik writes to all chief ministers for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute for urging Centre to procure COVID vaccines and distribute among states. American actress Melissa McCarthy wants to be an honorary Australian. In a new interview with InStyle Magazine, the 50-year-old revealed that after filming Nine Perfect Strangers in Byron Bay, she feels inclined to move Down Under permanently. 'I am connected to Australia in a way that I didn't anticipate. I could very easily live here for the rest of my life. I'm in love with it,' she said. Australia feels like home! In a new interview with InStyle Magazine, Melissa McCarthy, 50, revealed that she's considering moving Down Under for good 'Everyone is so chatty. I'm a Midwestern gal who lives in L.A., where no one wants to talk to you. And here I'll be in the grocery store, and I can't go down a single aisle without talking to somebody. It's wonderful,' she added. Melissa has been filming the $100million Hulu mini series in the scenic coastal town of New South Wales since August. In December, a source told the The Daily Telegraph that Melissa enjoyed working in Byron also much that she wanted to shoot her next project, God's Favorite Idiot, Down Under. 'They [Melissa and other Hollywood stars] just love it in Australia and absolutely want to make the series here,' an insider told the publication. Hollywood greats: Melissa McCarthy shared a photograph on the set of Nine Perfect Strangers in Byron Bay with co-star Nicole Kidman 'With everything going on in the U.S. right now, the pandemic is out of control, they want to stay here.' It comes after The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Melissa will be starring alongside her husband of 15 years, Ben Falcone, in God's Favorite Idiot. Netflix has commissioned a 16-episode first season of the show, which stars Ben, 47, as a character called Clark Thompson. And in her chat with InStyle, Melissa confirmed she has no plans to leave the sunburnt country. Staying put: 'We're staying at least until August. Ben wrote a show called God's Favourite Idiot for Netflix, and we're going to shoot it here,' she said. Pictured, Melissa McCarthy with her husband of 15 years Ben Falcone, 47 'We're staying at least until August. Ben wrote a show called God's Favourite Idiot for Netflix, and we're going to shoot it here.' Meanwhile, The Bridesmaid star also told the publication her love for Australia is so great, she keeps trying to enlist her Hollywood friends to follow her to our sunny shores. 'Ben says, "You can't just tell people to hop on a plane and go to Australia." I was like, "Well, I'm trying to create the world I want,"' she added. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday he will not step down amid a swirl of sexual harassment allegations and new calls by influential Democrats to quit his powerful post. "I am not going to resign. I didn't do what has been alleged," the 63-year-old said on a call to reporters. Cuomo also implored his critics to "wait for the facts" to emerge in a new investigation of the accusations. The governor first refused publicly to step down last week, but the crisis has only mushroomed since. A formal investigation was greenlighted this week to probe the claims, which now come from six women who say Cuomo sexually harassed or inappropriately touched them. Cuomo stood defiant despite the growing number of Democrats calling for his resignation, including US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said Friday the governor could no longer effectively lead New York. The latest accusation, reported Wednesday in the Times Union newspaper in state capital Albany, appears more serious than previous claims. It says Cuomo put his hand under the blouse of a female staffer and touched her "aggressively" at the end of 2020 in his private residence. "The fact that this latest report was so recent is alarming, and it raises concerns about the present safety and well-being of the administration's staff," popular progressive Ocasio-Cortez and fellow House Democrat Jamaal Bowman said in a joint statement. The lawmakers, both from New York, also mentioned the crisis over Cuomo's apparent hiding of data on Covid-19 nursing home deaths. "We believe these women... and we believe the 55 members of the New York State legislature including the State Senate majority leader, who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges," they wrote. Another powerful Democrat, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler, said investigations must be allowed to run their course, but that does not mean Cuomo should remain in office. Story continues "The repeated accusations against the governor, and the manner in which he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point," Nadler said in a statement. "Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York. Governor Cuomo must resign." Cuomo made a name for himself last year as a straight-talking pragmatist in the first onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. But he has found himself in the biggest crisis of his political career as he governs the nation's fourth most populous state. New York's two US senators, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, have refrained from calling on Cuomo to quit. But remaining in office appeared increasingly untenable for the governor, who has served in the post for 10 years and whose father Mario Cuomo was also a three-term governor of the state. After meeting with lawmakers, Democratic state assembly speaker Carl Heastie said Thursday he was "authorizing the Assembly Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation" -- the first step towards an eventual impeachment. cat-mlm/ft Families with loved ones in nursing homes are getting ready to finally hug them after being cut off for a year. The federal government has lifted some restrictions on nursing home visits during the coronavirus pandemic. If a nursing home isn't 70% vaccinated and the county it's located in has a positivity rate of 10% or higher, visits for unvaccinated residents will still be limited. If a nursing home meets all the safety requirements, visits can happen like normal. Doris Creasy's son, Bradley, has special needs and lives at El Reposo Nursing Home in Lauderdale County. She said she can't wait for those regular visits. "I get tearful thinking about it, that's going to happen, too. To not only get a hug but receive a hug," said Creasy. "I just spoke with the administrator and she was telling me they are trying to make sure they do everything exactly right, and when they get it ironed out, things should get better soon." Creasy remembers when the pandemic started and nursing homes were shut off. She was shut off from her son. "We had Facetime and we had porch visits, and that helped, but it was not the same," said Creasy. Before the pandemic, Creasy said they'd take Bradley out for fun activities and visits with family. "It was devastating. The weekend before, we had gone to a birthday party, and then, bowling with the Special Olympics on the 7th and had no idea when I took him home, that would be it for a year," said Creasy. Creasy said the hardest part was not knowing when she'd get to go inside El Reposo and be with her son, but now, with restrictions loosened, she's hopeful this is one step back to normalcy. "For months and months, there was nothing, no encouraging thing at all, and so now to have that happening soon," said Creasy. Bradley was vaccinated at the nursing home. Creasy is hopeful she will be able to get her vaccine soon. New Delhi, March 12 : In the latest development in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case, the Tihar jail officials have seized a mobile handset and SIM card on which a Telegram account in the name of 'Jaish-ul-Hind' was created, the Delhi Police said on Friday. "Based on the information provided by Special Cell, Tihar Jail authorities have seized a mobile phone from a jail where certain terror convicts are lodged. It is suspected that this phone has been used for operating Telegram Channels used recently for claiming responsibility for terror acts/threats. "Further investigation and forensic analysis will be done after the mobile handset and details of the seizure are received from the Tihar Jail authorities," Special cell of the Delhi Police said in a statement. The mobile handset was recovered allegedly from Indian Mujahideen operative Tehseen Akhtar's barrack. On Thursday evening, jail officials conducted a search operation inside sub-jail number 8 and recovered a mobile handset and SIM card on which a Telegram account in the name of 'Jaish-ul-Hind' was created. The search was conducted based on the input provided by the Delhi police special cell. Earlier, the Delhi Police Special Cell questioned several inmates in the Tihar jail after they tracked the IP address of the device on which the Telegram channel Jaish-ul-Hind' was operating from the jail premises. On February 25, an SUV containing 20 gelatin sticks was found outside Ambani's residence Antilia in Mumbai. The next day, a group which identified itself as the 'Jaish-Ul-Hind' claimed responsibility. Earlier, the Mumbai Police had said that the Jaish-ul-Hind group had used the Tor Proxy software to make the claim document letter and through Telegram, it was sent to various social media groups. According to police sources, the Telegram channel was created on February 26 and the message claiming responsibility for placing the vehicle outside the Ambani residence was posted on Telegram messaging app late in the night on February 27. The message had also demanded payment in cryptocurrency and mentioned a link to deposit the same. Jaish-ul-Hind is the same group which had claimed the low-intensity blast outside the Israeli Embassy in Delhi too. The Delhi Police, however, suspects that Jaish-ul-Hind could be a virtual group as no individual has mentioned any of its members. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text